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Old 08-03-2019, 09:44 PM   #401
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Joe Brodeur captures SJL batting Triple Crown!

The San Antonio Keys 23-year old left fielder Joe Brodeur captured the batting Triple Crown, pretty easily winning the batting title over last year's SJL batting champ Lazaro Lowndes (.361 to .349), and the RBI title over Jacksonville superstar Jesus Casiano (141 to 124) and narrowly winning the HR title over Pittsburgh right fielder Bill Winchester (41 to 38).
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Brodeur finished the season with 10.1 WAR and having led the league in a great many offensive categories and is the odds on favorite to win the SJL MVP award.
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Old 08-03-2019, 09:59 PM   #402
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Originally Posted by pauwoo View Post
Denver missing the dance bums me out, Bird. But - my support for the franchise is unwavering as I have no doubt they will retool and reclaim their place at the top of the table - let's get it brew-crew!
It was a bit of a disappointing finish for sure, though the Brewers played quite well in September, going 18-8. But the Spinners and Aces were even better down the stretch and we just couldn't quite catch them.
It might be interesting to look at the run differentials for the 3 teams to see just how close this one was.
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Three really fine teams, with the Spinners over-achieving their pythagorean wins total just a bit and the Brewers under-achieving slightly more than the Aces, who probably should have taken the title. All three finished with a better run differential then the SJL champions Jacksonville (+166). The Brewers offense was pretty impressive in spite of only hitting 103 HR's (8th in the MGL). We finish 2nd in runs scored, 1st in batting average (.297) and OBP (.353). Our pitching staff wasn't as dominant as it often has been, but a 3rd place finish in runs allowed, 3rd in starters ERA, 2nd in bullpen ERA, 2nd in pitching WAR and 1st in strikeouts isn't bad.

The team will largely return intact for the 1974 season though batting champ Pat Rondeau will surely be lost to free agency. Still, with Ryan Rodgers and Andrew Kennedy being joined mostly full-time by rising star Joe McPhillips and the steady Josh Schaeffer, we shouldn't lose much, if anything, in the outfield or the lineup.
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Old 08-03-2019, 10:13 PM   #403
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Rondeau wins MGL batting title!

At age 30, the Brewers outfielder Pat Rondeau had by far the best season of his career, capturing his first batting title by finishing the season with a .364 batting average. This not only led the MGL, but was the best batting average in all of the WPK in 1973. He finished the season with 24 doubles and 7 triples and stole 25 bases while being caught 8 times. He provides elite defense on the corners of the outfield and is still an adequate center fielder as well. His great arm helped him pick up 12 outfield assists on the season and he only committed one error.
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And he certainly picked a good time for a break out season, as he is eligible for free agency in the off-season and it is likely the team will let him walk as they have an over-abundance of quality outfielders.
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All of Rondeau's competition for the batting title came from his own team, as the top four hitters in the league (by batting average) wore Brewers purple this season.
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Old 08-03-2019, 10:22 PM   #404
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rising star Joe McPhillips and the steady Josh Schaeffer
Where can I get my replica kit?!?
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Old 08-04-2019, 04:28 PM   #405
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1973 Brewers players performance wrap-up

A few weeks ago I started making some lists of Brewers players this season breaking them into five categories mostly based upon their performances during the 1973 season.

I have now reviewed them and made a few tweaks based upon the final month or so of the season.
The five categories are:
1- The Predictably Excellent
2- The Surprise Performers
3- The Disappointments
4- The Role Players/The Modestly Valuable
5- The Up-and-Coming.


So let's take a look at these five categories and how the Brewers players fit into them.

1- The Predictably Excellent:
Cheol-han Lee, SP. Brewers ace Cheol-han Lee is the career leader in the WPK in WAR, innings pitched, and shutouts and is near the top in many other categories. Cheol-han has won 3 Pitcher of the Year awards. And he might be the favorite for another this year. He led all Brewers in WAR this season with 8.1. He was 2nd in the MGL in wins (19) and 3rd in ERA (2.81). He led in shutouts with 6. He was 4th in strikeouts with 154. He was 1st in FIP at 2.67. His BABIP of .308 was the highest of his career, so if anything he was probably a bit unlucky. He is almost surely a Hall-of-Famer.

Ryan Rodgers, LF. Ryan Rodgers is another probable HOF'er. He is the WPK career leader in OBP at .438 and this year led the league in that category at .474 (his 3rd best OBP of his career and the 3rd best in league history.) His 5.5 WAR is far from his best, but still superstar level. And his .358 batting average, exceeded in the MGL only by teammate Pat Rondeau, was the 3rd best of his career. The two seasons when he hit for a better average were both batting title campaigns.

Bobby Erbakan, 1B. Erbakan will likely earn his 5th straight Gold Glove award. But his bat was better than ever with a slash line of .346/.402/.473, and an OPS+ of 125, his career best. While his WAR of 4.2 is not as good as last year's 4.8, he has established himself as one of the team's core players.

Andrew Kennedy, LF/1B. Kennedy could probably have been included on the Surprise Performers list as he did far exceed any previous season, but his bat has never been in question so this was really mostly a predictable outcome of being given more playing time than ever before. Kennedy's slash line of .355/.392/.465 gave him a career best OPS+ of 120. His WAR of 4.2 doubled his previous season high. And he has moved up to 6th on the career batting average list (.310). (Rodgers is 3rd at .331).

Harry Lyerly, SP. Lyerly's late-season struggles almost knocked him off this list, but the reality is that the ever valuable flame-thrower once again led the league in K/9, was 5th in strikeouts in the MGL, just behind teammate Cheol-han Lee, was 7th in ERA+ (128), in opponents average (.243), and in winning percentage (.636). It was just another solid season in the surprising career of Mr. Lyerly.

2- The Surprise Performers:

Pat Rondeau, OF. At age 30, Pat Rondeau had a career year. He won his 1st batting title with a .364 batting average, the 6th best in WPK history. He equaled his career best stolen base total at 25 and threw out 12 base-runners, 6 from center field and 6 from right field. He should be highly sought after in the free agency market this off-season.

Jonathan Koch, 2B. After showing very little offensive production in his first partial season as a Brewer in 1972, Koch broke through with the bat big time in 1973 while remaining one of the better defensive players on the team. Koch led the team in HR's with 18 and RBI with 108 (4th best in the MGL), while also hitting 26 doubles, scoring 83 runs, and putting up 3.6 WAR with a respectable slash line of .301/.321/.446. And he should at least be in the conversation for Gold Glove honors at second base.

Josh Schaeffer, RF. Schaeffer tore the cover off the ball in his late season call-up in 1972 and continued to be a fine hitter in 1973 with a slash line of .317/.411/.462. Along with Joe McPhillips, Schaeffer gives the Brewers fine defense with good on-base skills. He even displayed a bit of power with 6 HR's, 5 triples, and 14 doubles in 341 plate appearances. His 3.3 WAR was 6th among position players on the team. With Rondeau not likely to return, Schaeffer will be given every opportunity to take over right field full time in 1974.

Jordan Stephens, RP. Stephens didn't get many opportunities to display his two-way prowess but did slug 3 HR's in 100 plate appearances. More importantly, he helped anchor the bullpen along with Jaden Francis when veteran closer Jose de los Santos and lefty setup man Liann-wei Hua proved largely ineffective. Jordan made 42 appearances, pitching 69 innings and put up an ERA of 2.48 and a WHIP of 1.12. His 8 saves were the 2nd highest on the staff.

Jaden Francis, RP. Not a total surprise as Francis has been a solid member of the 'pen for much of the past 5 seasons, but he took a real step forward this season and his 1.6 WAR was easily his best. His ERA+ of 138 was also a career best.

Sam Pruiett, RP. Though some of Pruiett's basic stats don't look particularly impressive (3-3, 5 saves, 3.38 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) he got better and better as the season progressed and his FIP of 2.16 (FIP-, 51) and his BABIP of .327 indicate that he pitched better than a cursory glance might indicate.

Greg Tietz, 1B, and Joe Willemse, UT IF. Both of these players could possibly be placed in the Up-and-Coming category but there are few indications that they will ever be stars in the league. Having said that, they have both impressed in their short stints with the big league club so far. Tietz has shown prodigious power and a great approach at the plate and had a slash line of .361/.411/.590 in 90 plate appearances this season (spread over 2 different stints in a Brewers uniform.) His 6 HR's were tied for 6th best on the team and by far the best in terms of HR/PA. Willemse, meanwhile, displayed his expected sterling defense at 3 infield positions while also hitting much better than expected (.394/.382/.485 in 68 plate apperances.) He will almost surely join Oscar Vargas next year as an infield utility man.

3- The Disappointments:

Chad Brown, SS. After getting off to a fine start at the plate in 1973, the season rapidly went downhill for the still young veteran shortstop. His 1.7 WAR was the 3rd lowest in his career. His slash line of .284/.307/.352 was not far out of line with his career average but in this strong offensive year his OPS+ of 70 was tied for his career worst. And while he remains a strong defender in terms of range and turning the double play, his league leading 37 errors was his highest total since 1966.

Steve Green, SP. Green showed some signs of life late in the season and the hope is that 1974 will be a comeback year for him, but his 1.9 WAR this year was easily the worst of his still young career and he saw increases in his HR/9 and BB/9 and a decrease in his K/9, though to be fair he was still 2nd in the league in K/9 behind only teammate Harry Lyerly. His BABIP was only slightly higher than his career average and in a season with increased offense around the league so it doesn't appear that bad luck was the culprit in his poor season. His FIP of 4.32 was by far his worst since joining the Brewers rotation full-time.

Jose de los Santos, CL. Jose de los Santos is one of the greatest relief pitchers in WPK history. But at age 36 it appears his glory days have come to an end. He really wasn't horrible. He led the team in saves with 10. His ERA of 3.44 and WHIP of 1.18 weren't horrible by any means in this good hitting year. But you never knew which Jose you would get. He could be dominant one outing and spectacularly bad the next. The team has an option to buy out his contract for next year. And he will not be back.

Liann-wei Hua, RP. Liann-wei Hua has never had an ERA that exceeded 1.76 or an ERA+ lower than 218 since joining the team in 1969. Until this year, when his ERA was 3.45, his ERA+ 121, his WHIP 1.26. The lowest WAR total in his time with the Brewers was 1.0. This year it was 0.1. His BABIP was a high .317. His HR/9 was a disastrous 1.6. The Brewers hope the normally dominant lefty bounces back in 1974.

Kevin Curtis, C. Like Chad Brown, Curtis got off to a very good start at the plate. And then just nose-dived. His final slash line of .226/.352/.317 gave him an OPS+ of 74, his worst since becoming the team's full-time catcher. He also committed 15 errors, threw out only 41% of runners attempting to steal, had 9 passed balls called against him, and had a Zone Rating of -1.0. His consecutive Gold Glove award streak will likely end at 3.

Mike Foster, 3B. His late season wake-up pushed Foster down this list and nearly out of this category. His final slash line of .283/.317/.408 was almost identical to his 1972 numbers but given the difference in the statistical environments his OPS+ dropped from 114 in 1972 to 86 this season. His 12 HR'S was 2nd best on the team and his WAR of 2.2 was respectable enough. His defense regressed and his ZR dropped from +2.2 in 1972 to -2.5 this year. And he committed 19 errors. But he is still expected to start 1974 as the Brewers third baseman.

Erik Sloan, SP. This is probably a bit harsh as Sloan had a good season. Just not nearly as good as his Pitcher of the Year campaign of 1972. He was still 2nd on the staff in WAR and his 13-9, 3.35 season can't be faulted too much.

4. The Role Players/The Modestly Valuable:

We won't spend too much time getting into the details here. But these are the players in this category: Matt Helm, SP, Eric Johnson, SP, Justin Peacock, SP, Justin Bismark, RP, Spencer Wilson, C, Oscar Vargas, UT IF, John Flores, OF.

Helm was modestly successful as a back-end of the rotation starter and gives great value in the clubhouse as the team captain. Eric Johnson continues to show a knack for winning, going 7-2, and had a few brilliant starts as a good control finesse starter. Justin Peacock was seldom great but also rarely horrible. He looks like a valuable 5th starter or swing-man. Justin Bismark put up great numbers upon being called up after Dave Duncan was traded away, then tailed off a bit at the end. He may or may not have a role in the 'pen in 1974. Spencer Wilson's time might be coming to an end in a Brewers uniform with the emergence of Zacarias Martell. But Wilson has always been a solid backup to Kevin Curtis. Oscar Vargas is a consummate great fielding utility infielder. And while he will never hit for a high batting average, he has decent speed, a fine eye at the plate, and the ability to hit the huge bases clearing double or HR on occasion. John Flores is a solid defensive left fielder with good power potential. But he is blocked by more talented outfielders in the Denver system and will likely need a change of scenery to reach his full potential.

5- The Up-and-Coming:

Joe McPhillips, CF. Joe missed a good chunk of the season with a thumb injury. But when he was on the squad he continued to look like a future super-star with a 5-tool skill set. If he can stay healthy for a full season a break out should be right around the corner.

Eric Marino, RP. The 23-year old left-handed reliever was pretty mediocre earlier in the 1973 season while pitching out of the Oklahoma City bullpen. And he wasn't really that impressive at AAA Chester after we got him in a mid-season trade. But he looked good, albeit in a very small sample size, after joining the Brewers in early September. But more importantly, the Brewers scouting staff thinks he has all the makings of a premiere late-innings reliever. Time will tell.

Zacarias Martell, C. The 23-year old Martell profiles with similar defensive potential as the 3-time Gold Glover Kevin Curtis and likely with a bit of a better bat. He showed signs of being able to hit big league pitching with a slash line of .455/.571/.545 after being brought up in September. Okay, sure, this was in only 14 plate appearances. Still, it was nice to see the kid not over-matched. And it is the intangibles that really have the Brewers scouting staff so high on this kid. He's smart, he's a hard worker, and he's a loyal teammate. And he just might be the Brewers catcher of the future.

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Old 08-05-2019, 10:13 PM   #406
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Good race down to the wire.
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Old 08-06-2019, 11:52 PM   #407
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Two former Brewers hurlers call it quits

Two of the more important members of the Denver rotation for several years- Steve Alonso and Daniel Torres- announced their retirements shortly before the end of the WPK season, having found their careers stalled out in the minor leagues in 1973.

Alonso, who was acquired by the Brewers mid-season 1966 from the L.A. Spinners and later traded back to L.A. during the 1970 season, had most of his best seasons in a Brewers uniform. Between the two teams in 1966 Alonso had his best season, finishing with a 16-8 record, a 2.98 ERA, leading the league in K/9 at 8.0, with a career best 4.2 fWAR and 5.6 rWAR. Alonso's biggest weakness was a propensity to allow home runs but between 1967 and 1969 he was one of the Brewers most consistently reliable starters. He retires at age 36 with a career big league record of 92-83, a career ERA of 3.35, and 18.4 WAR.
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Daniel Torres was a member of the Brewers for 6 of his 8 WPK seasons and for a few years was the clear ace of the staff. Before his career took a nose dive at the age of 37 in 1972, he had led the league in ERA for 2 seasons running. Unlike Alonso, Torres was very stingy with the long ball and led the league in HR/9 in 1968 at a miniscule 0.1, having allowed just 2 HR's in slightly more than 216 innings pitched. Torres often found himself in trouble due to his wildness but he had a knack during his Brewer career of working out of jams by inducing a rally-ending double play ground ball or timely strikeouts to escape unscathed a great deal of the time. Torres was one of the team leaders and a highly popular player during his Denver years. He finishes his career with a very respectable 98-59 record, a 2.59 ERA, and 27.4 WAR.
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Old 08-07-2019, 01:08 AM   #408
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1973 WPK World Series Preview

Before the 1973 World Series gets underway let's take a quick look at the two teams and how they match up.

The 1973 WPK World Series is something of a classic match-up as it features the same two teams as the first two World Series in WPK history (1965, 1966). And while the SJL's Jacksonville Wolf Pack beat the MGL's Los Angeles Spinners in both of those Fall Classics, both series were nail-biters which required the full seven games to reach a conclusion.

Jacksonville has been back to the post-season just once since, when they lost to the Denver Brewers in the 1970 World Series. L.A., meanwhile, fell all the way to last place by 1970 but have been working their way back up since and finally find themselves with a chance for redemption against the Wolf Pack.

Let's take a quick look at each team.

The Jacksonville Wolf Pack are a very good power hitting club with double digit home run totals in their lineup from lead-off through the 8th slot. Jesus Casiano, their 31-year old first baseman, is the anchor of the lineup in the clean-up spot, but he has a pair of very fine young sluggers in front of him in Greg Koenig and Hector Alvares, and a great contact hitter in Ricky Salinas hitting right behind him. The Wolf Pack also had a fine starting rotation this season and while they may lack a true ace (though mid-season acquisition Reece Vaughan comes awfully close) they are strong 1 through 4. And their bullpen finished with the best ERA in the SJL and is led (on the field anyway) by the universally hated and feared closer Jamel McNeil. The Wolf Pack also finished the season with the best Zone Rating in the SJL and the fewest defensive errors.
Does the Jacksonville club have any weaknesses? Well, nothing terribly significant. They did finish tied for 5th in stolen bases, so they are not supremely gifted in that area, and they finished 4th in batting average, FIP, and pitching WAR. So they aren't perfect. But they are pretty darn good and very well balanced.
They also enter the WS with no significant injuries although they do have several injury prone pitchers on the their staff so if they lose someone during the series that could alter things.
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What about the Spinners? Well, one thing that is pretty evident is that this is a World Series that will feature great pitching match-ups. The Spinners have legitimate aces in veteran iron man and team captain Jose Santos (18-8 with league leading 2.47 ERA) and 34-year old Jason Wilson (20-9, 3.83). And with veterans Jesse Hartong and Juan Soto filling out the rotation, this is an experienced and talented staff. It is such a good rotation that 26-year old Kerry Krieg, who tossed a no-hitter on September 10th and finished the season 16-8 with a 2.77 ERA, finds himself in the bullpen for the series.
The bullpen is one of the weaker areas of the team but Krieg should help shore that up a bit. The Spinners lineup isn't as strong from top to bottom as Jacksonville's, but they have some real impact bats in 2-time MVP Travis Johnson and superstar third baseman Jesus Hernandez (himself the 1966 MGL MVP.)
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How they match-up:

Pitching: I think we can call the starting rotations a virtual toss-up though the Spinners have the more durable staff and their best pitchers are more likely to completely shut down an opponent when they have their best stuff. The Wolf Pack win the bullpen contest, if for no other reason than the presence of Jamel McNeil, who is not only dominant but is an iron man with great stamina who often works multiple inning appearances.
I'm going to give this one to Jacksonville, slightly. Though they are also more likely to have an injury sideline one of their starters.

The Lineups: I think this one has to go to Jacksonville also, just for depth. The X factor might be that the Wolf Pack have only 2 left-handed hitters in their regular lineup and the Spinners are right-handed pitcher heavy (not a single lefty in their bullpen). But 2 of the best hitters in Jacksonville's lineup are left-handers and switch-hitting Jesus Casiano feasts on right-handed pitching.

Defense: The Spinners have 7-time Gold Glover Jesus Hernandez at third base. And the extremely gifted defender (and former Brewer farm-hand) Joost Poot in left field. And catcher Greg Foster had a fine season behind the plate. But they are a bit underwhelming up the middle with 23-year old shortstop Jeremy Jones, who should develop into a plus defender, still getting experience, and veteran second baseman William Lara solid but not top of the line. And with 34-year old Luke Van Dusen in center and the plodding veteran Rigby Muckenfuss in right, the outfield is weak outside of Poot. (Van Dusen won 2 Gold Gloves earlier in his career and he is a still an acceptable center fielder but probably more suited for a corner outfield spot at this time. It will be interesting to see if perhaps L.A. ends up giving Poot more time in center a slides Van Dusen into left, but the reality is that Van Dusen doesn't have much experience there and that might just exacerbate the problem.) As a first baseman Travis Johnson is a truly gifted hitter. 'Nuff said.

The Wolf Pack have 2 former Gold Glovers at second and short and while neither is quite a good as they once were, the team is still very solid up the middle with center fielder Greg Koenig's only defensive weakness being an arm only slightly above average. Their young catcher Bryan Wojtach is excellent behind the plate. Jesus Casiano has won 3 Gold Glove awards at third base and another 3 at first and remains a solid defender. The corner outfielders both have multiple Gold Gloves and not too far in the past. Third baseman Juan Mendoza should have a GG in his future, very possibly quite soon.
So, in other words, advantage Jacksonville.

Bench: The Spinners have a pair of fine backup infielders in Juan Moreno, who is also a pretty fine contact hitter, and veteran Shigetsugo Nakasone, who also provides some outfield depth. Veteran Jody Cussen gives them another good right-handed bat off the bench (though with not a great deal of power and no defensive skills.) Landon Hodges may split time at short with young Mr. Jeremy Jones, but while Hodges can still hit he is a bit of liability in the field. They have very little outfield depth (injuries to Pat Davis and Bob Hernandez, starters during the regular season, have really put the Spinners in a tough spot.)

The Wolf Pack have 4-time Gold Glove winning veteran catcher Carlos Rivera backing up Wojtech. They have some potent left-handed bats off the bench in Joe Esman and Kurt Penn. They also have the speedy left-handed hitter Alex Vazquez, who at the least could provide value in a pinch-running role. They also have captain Ryan Jaramillo on the bench as the primary second base backup
I'm going to call this one even.

Overall, it looks like the Spinners have their work cut out for them if they are going to finally claim their 1st WPK Championship and avenge their earlier World Series losses at the hands of the Wolf Pack. It might be a very different story if they didn't have key position players on the IL. But hey, in a 7-game series under the intense national spotlight anything can happen. And with that talented and experienced L.A. starting pitching, it would be foolish to count them out before the thing even starts.

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Old 08-09-2019, 12:05 AM   #409
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 1

The SJL's Jacksonville Wolf Pack drew first blood in the 1973 World Series in front of 43,684 fans at Jacksonville's Fidelity Financial Stadium.
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The Wolf Pack got 5 strong innings out of starter Reece Vaughan and held a 2-0 lead when manager Aaron Steele, respected around the league but with a fairly vanilla reputation as a pretty conventional skipper, made a rather daring move and pulled Vaughan from the game. Then again, when you have the greatest reliever in the game's history in Jamel McNeil at your disposal, that might not be such a stretch. McNeil pitched the next 3 innings, and while he wasn't flawless, giving up 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks, he held the lead and saw his teammates add to it. In the end the Wolf Pack won pretty easily, 7-2. Hector Alvares and Jesus Casiano led the way offensively, with Casiano hitting the lone homer of the game, a 2-run 1st inning shot that gave the Wolf Pack a lead they would never relinquish.
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Old 08-09-2019, 12:14 AM   #410
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Jeremy Walker AAA Reliever of the Year

Brewers left-hander Jeremy Walker was named the AAA Reliever of the Year today for his performance with the AAA Chester Big Stick.
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Walker's brief stint with the big league club was less successful but the thought at present is that he will be given every opportunity to win a spot in the Brewers bullpen next season. The real question with Walker remains whether his control will ever be adequate enough for him to take full advantage of his tremendous movement and plus stuff. Walker has an near-elite curveball with a sinker still developing towards excellence. At the very least he could be a useful LOOGY for the Brewers in the 1974 bullpen.
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Old 08-09-2019, 11:38 PM   #411
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 2

In game 2 of the 1973 World Series the visiting L.A. Spinners score 3 first inning runs off Jacksonville starter Eddie Osorio and go on to win 6-3 to tie the series at 1 game apiece.
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Veteran slugging right fielder Rigby Muckenfuss led the way for the Spinners with a 3 for 4, 2 run, 2 RBI game and hit his 2nd double of the series.
Josh Jenkins was 3 for 5 for the Wolf Pack in the loss.

The series now shifts to L.A. after a day off for the teams to travel to the west coast.
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Old 08-10-2019, 12:24 AM   #412
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 3

The Jacksonville Wolf Pack pick up a narrow victory on the road to take a 2-1 series lead.
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Defense played a big role in this one as the Spinners committed 3 errors- including 2 by young shortstop Jeremy Jones- while the Wolf Pack played their usual flawless defense.
Greg Koenig paced the Wolf Pack offense with a 2 for 4, 2 run, 2 RBI game and made some fine catches in center field. Hector Alvares hit a big 8th inning home run to give the Wolf Pack their 5th run which would prove to be the game winner when L.A. scored in the bottom of the frame. The Spinners threatened in the 9th, loading the bases before the rally was finally extinguished.
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Old 08-10-2019, 12:49 PM   #413
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Future WPK Star?

The Charlotte Sting's top prospect, 21-year old centerfielder Jose Gutierrez, was named the Player of the Year in Single A for his exploits as a member of the Ft. Wayne Pelicans. In a rather unconventional move, Gutierrez spent most of 3 seasons at Ft. Wayne before being called up to big league club in late August this season.
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And his performance in 30 games with Charlotte (131 plate appearances, .299/.374/.556) would indicate that he is ready to stick in the WPK and has the potential to be a superstar in the making.
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Old 08-10-2019, 02:29 PM   #414
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 4

The L.A. Spinners scored 6 late runs in game 3 in front of the home crowd- 2 in the 7th and 4 in the 8th- to win 8-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece.
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It was a tale of contrasts with the starting pitchers as L.A. sent out 41-year old veteran Juan Soto (the 1966 SJL Pitcher of the Year when he was a member of today's opponent, Jacksonville) while Jacksonville's starter was 24-year old Juan Maldonado. At this stage of his career Soto's stuff is pedestrian at best, but his pitches have great movement and he still possesses good control of them. The much younger Maldonado, on the other hand, has near electric stuff, and decent movement, but is control challenged. The left-handed side-armer has one of the better change-ups in the game to go along with a biting cutter.

As it turned out the starters were both quite good and the game went into the bottom of the 7th tied at 2-2. But then Maldonado got into some trouble magnified with an out of control appearance (walking 3, allowing 4 runs on 2 hits, while recording just a single out) and the Spinners ended up running away with the victory.

Jacksonville's Hector Alvares his his 2nd homer of the series in the loss.
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Old 08-10-2019, 05:19 PM   #415
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 5

The L.A. Spinners picked up a huge extra inning walk-off win in Game 5 of the World Series to take a 3 games to 2 lead.
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Although they only need 1 more win to collect their first Championship Trophy, they will need to get that win on the road as the series shifts back to Jacksonville for the final 2 games, if 7 games are needed.

Young L.A. shortstop Jeremy Jones had a huge game, hitting a solo homer in the 5th inning to give L.A. their first run and another in the 9th to send the game into extra innings.

The game proved costly to both teams, also, as L.A. loses their superstar third baseman Jesus Hernandez, who suffered a strained back while running the bases and won't be back during this series. Jacksonville saw their center fielder Greg Koenig limp off the field after being injured in a base path collision. While an official diagnosis has not yet been revealed, all indications are that Koenig will also miss the rest of the series.
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Old 08-10-2019, 06:07 PM   #416
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1973 WPK World Series, Game 6

What a crazy game six!
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The game was tied 2-2 going into the 7th and remained that way until the 13th inning. In the top of the 13th the visiting Spinners scored on a Travis Johnson double and Greg Foster single.
With hard-throwing righty John Tegel on the mound, the Spinners could smell their first WPK championship in the thick Jacksonville air.
But the Wolf Pack said, as they have in the past, not so fast.
Hector Alvares opened with a walk. Jesus Casiano, who went 3 for 6 in the game but has been strictly a singles hitter this series, singled Alvares to second. Ricky Salinas hit into a force play but did advance Alvares to third. Then backup catcher Carlos Rivera, who entered the game in the 10th inning, hit a flyball deep enough to center to score Alvares with the tying run. With 2 outs now, Joe Esman singled, sending Salinas to second base. Then slick fielding third baseman Juan Mendoza collected very probably the biggest hit in his career thus far, hitting a sharp ground ball through the right side hole to score the excellent base runner Salinas with the walk-off run.

We will have a game 7, naturally. This is the 3rd World Series between these 2 teams and all have gone 7 games. Can the Spinners finally win a game 7 against Jacksonville? Or will the Wolf Pack claim their 3rd WPK Championship?
Stay tuned.
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Old 08-10-2019, 06:41 PM   #417
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Jacksonville Wolf Pack once again WPK Champs!

For the third time in their history the Jacksonville Wolf Pack are crowned the WPK Champions. As with the first two times the Wolf Pack reach the pinnacle by defeating the Los Angeles Spinners in a World Series Game 7.
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It was a great pitching duel between L.A. ace Jose Santos and Jacksonville 28-year old lefty Sam Pichardo. On paper this match-up would certainly seem to favor L.A. but Pichardo was on his game, other than issuing 5 walks, and he got tremendous defense behind him. In fact, in the end it does seem that the Jacksonville defense was the key element of advantage over L.A. as they made few mistakes and consistently turned would-be hits into outs.
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In spite of his team losing, young L.A. shortstop Jeremy Jones was named the series MVP. Jones should have a bright future ahead of him and in this series he put up a slash line of .393/.433/.714. While Jones looks to be a very good defensive player in the future, he did commit 4 errors in the series.
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Old 08-10-2019, 06:58 PM   #418
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Oklahoma City Diamond Kings get new owner

The Oklahoma City Diamond Kings have been purchased by 60-year old financier Joey Bazydlo.
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Bazydlo is expected to be a profit-first owner who is hands off in terms of baseball decisions but a fiscal economizer. This might not bode well for an organization that is at the bottom of nearly every financial category, including payroll, season ticket holders, and merchandising, and near the bottom in attendance and media revenue.
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Old 08-10-2019, 08:47 PM   #419
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Gold Glove awards announced, Erbakan nets fifth

Awards season has started in the WPK and today the 1973 Gold Glove winners were announced.
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As expected, Bobby Erbakan won his 5th straight Gold Glove for first base play in the MGL. Also, as expected, Kevin Curtis did not win the award at catcher after having won it the past 3 seasons. He was unseated by L.A.'s Greg Foster, who was one of 4 players in the MGL to win a Gold Glove for the first time.
The other first-timers were former Brewer farm-hand, Joost Poot, now playing with L.A., Oklahoma City third baseman Kevin Reed, and Baltimore left fielder Vinny Alfaro. It was the second time getting the honor for L.A. veteran ace Jose Santos, Detroit shortstop Jimmy Dewing, and Baltimore right fielder Bobby Hunter.
Former Brewer Arturo Baca claimed his 3rd Gold Glove as a second baseman, the first two in the SJL with Pittsburgh and now his first in the MGL as a member of the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings.

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The SJL only saw one first time Gold Glove winner: Jacksonville's Juan Mendoza.
Veteran Philadelphia starting pitcher Danny Estrada won his second, as did Washington second baseman Larry Glinski.
For Seattle first baseman Kevin Poutre this was his third consecutive Gold Glove award.
Four SJL players won their fourth Gold Glove: catcher Erik Buonopane of San Antonio, Jacksonville shortstop Josh Nix, El Paso center fielder Bill Adams, and Jacksonville right fielder Ricky Salinas.
Having turned 25 just yesterday, Boston Berserkers left fielder Curtis Horah has already won his 6th Gold Glove.
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Old 08-10-2019, 09:00 PM   #420
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WPK Relievers of Year announced

In something of a surprise Jamel McNeil, the dominant reliever for the World Champion Wolf Pack, failed to garner a single 1st place vote in SJL Reliever of the Year voting and finished 2nd to Seattle's 26-year old righty Taylor Thies.
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In the MGL the ageless Benni Heregger, the WPK career leader in ERA (1.68) picked up his 3rd Pitcher of the Year award, his 1st in a Brooklyn Aces uniform. It was announced recently that he will remain in that uniform for some time as he was signed to a 3-year extension earlier in the week.
Denver reliever Jordan Stephens came in 4th in the MGL voting.
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