Strangeverse

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (8/20 – 8/23)
We’ll begin this week with a 4-game set pitting two teams that have gone 3-7 in their last 10 against each other... the NL West has become something of a war of attrition – with Vancouver, San Francisco, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix each trying to weaken the others just enough to sneak into a playoff spot. Vancouver holds 2nd place in the NL West and despite their flaws has consistently found a way to get it done when it matters most – outside of having the consensus #1 reliever in the NL on their club, they don’t rank higher than 9th at any other position. We’re 8-5 against the Whitecaps this year but given our current form, or lack thereof, there are plenty of routes to flipping that on its head for Vancouver. Some financial comparisons – Vancouver has lowered their ticket prices by 11% this season, have seen a 3% decline in season ticket sales, a 5.5% decline in attendance, and a 16% decline in revenue per game. We increased our prices by nearly 10% and while we’ve seen a small decline in season ticket sales our attendance per game has increased by 50% this year which is bringing in 64% more revenue per game year over year. I wouldn’t be surprised if our owner sells high at the end of the year – the guy is 83 years old and his Son is far too interested in weaponizing dolphins to want to take over his Dad’s baseball business.

124 of 162: Game 1 Vs VAN – Listen, beggars can’t be choosers – so a tight 4-3 win is perfectly acceptable right about meow. Brisk gave us 7 innings of solid work – only 3 allowed and 8 K’s, while 1B Jacob Wells finishes 2 for 2 with a HR. We get a little bit here & a little bit there from everyone else – only 6 total K’s for the team and an error charged to LF Cash Crouch – his 3rd with us.

125 of 162: Game 2 Vs VAN – Another 4-3 win for the home team, though this one was a lot more dramatic as LF Dylan Huerta (in for Cash) hits a walk-off solo home run to close it out. Jacob Wells stays hot and finishes 2 for 4, with a well-hit double and 2 RBI’s. Derek got three hits, all singles. Both teams were impatient at the plate – we struck out 12 times, Vancouver returned the favor 11 times. No errors today – hooray for fielding prowess. The win puts us in a two-way tie for 2nd in the NL West with San Francisco.

126 of 162: Game 3 Vs. Van – Ash Newman delivers our first CG shutout of the season in a 5-0 victory for Phoenix. Ash delivered 11 K’s and gave up only 6 hits – phenomenal stuff, and clutch too. Jess Alford goes 3 for 3 with two doubles and 2 runs and Luca Milbrandt (I feel like I haven’t called him out much lately) goes 1 for 4 with a HR and 2 RBI’s. No errors and only 6 K’s – this is fun. We’re showing some signs of life now.

127 of 162: Game 4 Vs. Van – Break out the brooms! A 4-game sweep, at home in front of our fans – doesn’t get much better than that. Del Miller only gives up 2 runs in 8 innings of work and Jacob Wells went 2 for 5 with a double, a home run, 5 RBI’s, and 2 runs. Derek also went 2 for 5 with a HR… as a team we finish with 2 doubles and 2 homers, 6 K’s and only 1 error – man, we needed this.

With this 4-game sweep, we move into sole possession of 2nd in the NL West and are now ½ a game ahead of the 49ers. We face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder next – they are on a 2-game losing streak, have gone 5-5 over their last 10 and are 2 games behind us at 5th in the NL West – no rest for the wicked here, the NL West is crowded, and two games aren’t enough.

[pauwoo]

Josiah Weber is a legend. 6 Pacheco's. 3 Gold Gloves. 13-time All-Star.

Josiah is now 4th All-Time on the Career Wins Leaderboard and, outside of 9-time Pacheco winner, Toichi Enomoto, no one has won more Pacheco Awards. If Josiah has a couple more great seasons left in him he will pass Enomoto on the career wins list (Toichi has 279).

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (8/24 – 8/26: 3 V OKC)
Oklahoma City Thunder (61-65, .484, 5th NL West) @ Phoenix Suns (65-62, .512, 2nd NL West)
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the 2073 season with a .617 winning percentage. It was their first winning season in 8 years. This season, they have fallen back in line with their recent past and sit at a .484 winning percentage. Which is only 6 bips below their historical winning percentage. Theirs is a cash problem – they often have either a well-paid and excellent offense or a well-paid and excellent pitching staff. This season they are the offensive version – 1st in runs scored, 2nd in batting AVG, and 3rd in OBP. They’re not good anywhere else overall – though they do have one of the top young pitchers in the game in Josh Allen. We’ve only faced him once – he only went 4 innings, walked 4, and gave up 2 runs. They have two top 25 prospects in their development system – a couple of 22-year old infielders who should be mainstays in the major league in short order. OKC is another team that is going the wrong way financially – attendance is down 16% and RPG is down by 15% and while they are projected to make a profit in 2074 – it won’t be much of one.

128 of 162: Game 1 Vs. OKC – SP Josh Allen is better the second time around (I mean, he wasn't otherworldly or anything, but he got the job done) – he gets the win despite giving up 4 runs in 7.1 innings of work. Homer Wingard went 3 for 4 with a double, a HR, and an RBI, but we didn’t get much from anyone else in the 9-4 loss. Our other highlight was Derek hitting a sacrifice fly. We only had 5 K’s and 1 error on the day and lose despite OKC’s 4 fielding miscues. Graham Doyle got beat up by OKC – he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings.

129 of 162: Game 2 Vs. OKC – Michael Brisk gave us a quality start – only 3 earned in 7 innings – and Homer Wingard stayed hot offensively – 2 for 3 with a double & an RBI. Luca hit an RBI triple – it's his 4th triple this year. We committed a couple of errors but only struck out three times in this one. A nice 6-3 win for the Suns.

130 of 162: Game 3 Vs. OKC – Again, we lose the rubber match against a team that we should beat – this one was a heartbreaking 10-9 loss in extras. Luca came alive with a 2 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBI performance but also contributed one of our two errors. It was a costly one that allowed a run to score. Cash Crouch got three hits – but was stranded each time. Tough way to end the week… a 1-2 series loss against the 5th place (now 4th place courtesy of the burnt orange & eggplant purple) team in the NL West.

1B Jacob Wells won the player of the week award – he hit .360 with 2 homers and 10 RBI’s this week and was a major contributor to our 5-2 record this week.

After starting the week with a 4-game sweep and recapturing 2nd in the AL West, we ended it by dropping back down to 3rd and are now a game behind the San Francisco 49ers and 4 ½ behind the San Diego Chargers. We are now 12-12 in August and will travel to Los Angeles for a 3 game set before closing out the month with the 1st game of a 3-game set against the top club in the National League – the Pittsburgh Steelers. LA is currently last in the NL West – we absolutely have to take care of business against them before traveling across the country to take on the 79-win Steelers who at 79-50 have the best record in the Majors and are Power Ranked at #2 behind Seattle.

Note: I read an interesting article while in OKC - it seems that there is an unknown billionaire making a bid to buy the Thunder from 67-year old Apollino Mena - it seems that the industrial carpeting tycoon is looking to retire to his private island and focus on his passion of creating a sellable Poconut - his genetically modified Pineapple that grows with a coconut shell to protect its fleshy bounty from spoilage. No word on who the mysterious billionaire is though.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (8/27 – 8/29: 3 @ LAL)
I don’t love LA. This is not to say that I hate it – nay, I approach LA with an air of indifference. But enough about the city – let’s baseball a little bit… The Los Angeles Lakers are mired in their worst season in, well, they were worse last year so never mind all that. Look, the Lakers haven’t been good for a while. They’ve made the playoffs 39 times but have never won the World Series. They’ve been profitable though, and maybe, to their ownership group, that is the most important thing. The only thing they seem to do with regularity is hit homers and steal bags – they’re suspect pretty much everywhere else. However, at 14-10 so far in August, one thing they are is better than us. This is one of those situations where you should come out on top – and even do so easily – but if you take your eye off the prize, even for a second, your routes to those easy W’s close quickly and you end up with egg on your face or in a plastic surgery office to tighten up your crows feet, or lost on sunset clutching a Motley Crue tank top in one hand a bottle of fireball in the other. In short, when in LA stay focused or suffer the life-altering consequences.

131 of 162: Game 1 @ LAL – Ash Newman continues to pitch well and only allows two runs during his 7 innings of work. SS Maddox Wahlen went 2 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI’s. Los Angeles 1B Ruben Zarate has an awesome day – 2 for 3 with a HR and 4 RBI (GRAND SLAM). Derek gets 3 hits and Donny gets a hit and scored twice. We managed 9-innings of error-free baseball but strike out 13 times – we’ll take the 6-5 extra-inning road win though. A solid W on the road has a way of curing all that ails you. Note: 3B Homer Wingard was injured running the bases – doesn’t seem too serious – he’ll be listed DTD for a few games.

132 of 162: Game 2 @ LAL – Well, Homer is a tough guy – he shook off his back tightness and went 2 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI’s. C Norton Manning was solid – 2 for 4, a double and an RBI… We designated Del Miller for assignment after the game yesterday and flew SP Evan Frazier out to LA from Tucson – he got the start today and was serviceable. We pulled him after a couple of fielding miscues let 3 unearned runs get across, that rattled him a bit so we went to the pen. Nice 10-6 win for us.

Side note: Your boy Rad Taylor put a nice 3-game winning streak together before losing his most recent start against the Louisville Bats. During the stretch, he gave up 6 runs in 19 innings of work.

133 of 162: Game 3 @ LAL – The Lake Show struck late and avoided getting swept at home. Graham Doyle pitched well enough – 2 earned in 6 innings – and Dylan Huerta finished 2 for 3 with 2 jacks and 4 RBI’s… tough loss, I feel like the sweep was there for the taking.

We’re 7-3 in our last 10 and riding some positive vibes into our travel day – a 4+ hour flight followed by some R&R before taking on the best team in the National League in their home ballpark. We’re in good form but they are too… 6-4 in their last 10 and 15-11 for the month so far. We’re 14-13 now, so that’s cool. If we can get a game 1 win against Pittsburgh, August will be our first winning month since April. I need that in my life.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (8/31 – 9/2 Part I)
Phoenix Suns (68-65, .511, 3rd NL West) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (81-52, .609, 1st NL East)
When you are 81-52 it means that you are, at the very least, good at everything. Pittsburgh is good at everything, great at getting on base, and from 1 through 12 have the best pitching staff in the game. They are led by LF Tony Voorhis (3.7 WAR), 3B Andy Gardner (2.6 WAR), and C Jorge Teixeira (2.9 WAR) – by contrast, our best player has a 2.2 WAR so far and it goes downhill fast from there. If they’re soft anywhere, it’s in their minor league system where they rank 19th out of 24 teams… If we have anything going for us as we enter this series it is that Pittsburgh hasn’t been outlandishly good lately – they are 6-4 in their last 10 with all of those losses against teams well under .500 – so, they’re beatable. This is supposed to be their year… they have 5 banners, but it’s been 54 years since they’ve managed to hang a new one. This year that most ultimate of outcomes seems likely, difficult when Jacksonville & Seattle are on the other side of the bracket, but one of the more likely end game scenarios nonetheless.

134 of 162 @ Game 1 @ PIT – We needed this win – a must have if ever there was one. After coming out of the gate like gangbusters in April, our level of play has lived somewhere between poor and mediocre. A win here would mean our first >.500 month since April – so, as you can see, it’s a big deal. And… we didn’t get it. Michael Brisk went out and got it for us – for 9 innings he stood on the mound like Mufasa, head held high, surveying his kingdom below. Mean Mr. Mustache delivered our second CG shutout of the season, and it was a 3-hitter no less… throwing beebees. Yoshi Nakamura was solid as well, better than solid really – 2 for 3 with a double and a HR. Derek hit a double, and Jason Bland a triple, and Homer Wingard added a HR to go with Yoshi’s – another team cycle. We finish August with a 15-13 record. Dance and rejoice.

Roster Expansion: SP Cam Murphy gets his first taste of the Majors as the most notable call-up with the rosters expanding. Our 1st pick (2nd overall) in the 2073 draft has amassed an 11-10 record with a 3.59 ERA and 130 K’s in AAA.

[pauwoo]

Seattle, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles Galaxy... not necessarily in that order. It would shock me if one of these clubs don’t win it all. And, yeah, I get it - I’m singling out 4 of the 12 clubs that will have a chance to take home a World Series Banner... thems good odds. But, these clubs have been the cream of the crop since April with not a stumble of any significance between them. Seattle is the team backed by the most punditry - they’ve lived at #1 in the power rank for more than a minute, but Pittsburgh is top to bottom the scrappiest club in the land. That’s where my money will go, and given the history of this funky league, that’s probably where it will be spent too.

My heart wants Josiah and the Jags to get it - if only to solidify his status as the GOAT of the Modern Strangeverse - MJ on the bump, with the gold chain and shove-off game-winner to match... the playoffs can’t get here soon enough.

Note: I have some off-season decisions to make... with an ownership change in Phoenix at Threat-Level: Midnight - should I stay (if the new owner wants to keep me) or should I go (I’ve always wanted to run the Decatur Donnybrooks in the Bush League)? Or, if unceremoniously dismissed after constructing the top rated minor league system in Phoenix, do I try to get in with another Big League club in my division and stick it to the man? I look good in purple and gold.

1b Jacob Wells (36th overall pick for Phoenix - out of the University of Miami) was named the Nl Rookie of the Month. .288 with 4 doubles, 5 homers, and 21 RBI. Good for him, I think there might be an all expense paid steak dinner in his future. Courtesy of the slush fund - I’m not paying for it, I’ve got kids to feed.

[pauwoo]

135 of 162: Game 2 @ PIT – Big series win for the Suns today – a 7-5 barnburner! Patrick Keith got the W after going 6+ with only 3 earned runs and LF Mitchell Cusac finished 2 for 3 with an RBI, 2 runs, and 2 walks. Pittsburgh mounted a mini-comeback in the bottom of the 9th with two runs scored – they needed 4 – and we tasted that sweet, sweet victory against the top NL club for the second game in a row. Donny got a hit batting 6th as our DH, we hit 3 doubles as a team, kept our K’s under 10, and had a single error (leading to an unearned run in the bottom of the 9th – I thought the wheels were coming off). Luca was 2 for 5 with an RBI and a stolen base – he’s been solid but isn’t playing at the clip he was earlier in the season. If he heats up, we could be really dangerous – heck, given the history of this league, if he gets hot we could hard charge our way to a championship.

136 of 162: Game 3 @ PIT – What?!? Be still my beating heart – a sweep… on the road… against the top club in the NL? Check, check, and CHECK. Ash Newman stays studly – finished with a CG, 1 earned performance… Derek Freakin’ Jeter went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI… Norton Manning goes 2 for 4 with a double a HR and 2 RBI… Morgan Heist was a genius during this series – every personnel move worked, the lineup cards were impeccable, every sunflower seed shell made it into the cup… the man is an absolute legend.

This wasn’t supposed to happen – this is just an aberration. Or is it? I’ve built a good club, not great (yet), but good – well balanced, solid fielding, speed… and it feels like it’s starting to come together. We head home for 7 straight (3 against the woeful Philly club and 4 against the surging Orlando club). I’m expecting good results. We’re now tied for 2nd in the NL West and only 1 ½ games behind the San Diego Chargers.

We have a real opportunity now - let's hope our boys make the best of it. I'm legit excited - pleased that my trades may pay some real & nearly immediate dividends.

[pauwoo]

The Philadelphia 76ers are on pace to finish with a .409 winning percentage. In 72 years of play, they’ve only finished below that once. Let that sink in for a minute. Two seasons ago, after 12 straight playoff appearances and 1 championship their GM blew the whole thing to smithereens... a reimagining he called it, after working with his marketing team to come up with a clever way to say, “we’re tanking”. In a city where being good and occasionally excellent doesn’t cut the mustard, the audacity of tanking isn’t just received poorly - it can be hazardous to your health. Let’s just say that the team-building stylings of one Mr. Johnson have not been met with kindness - not even a curt nod and shoulder shrug. There is no chill in a Philly fan. It’s win now or we hate you, everyone you know, and no opportunity to tell you all about it will go unused. If the city of brotherly love can chase the Fresh Prince all the way to Bel Air, then the future of Mr. Johnson most likely includes a stop in Fargo.

137 of 162: A nice parable for our season – we are either firing on all cylinders and over the moon or we are face down in the dirt wondering what happened… today we get the latter when in the 9th inning after Frosty Dillard loaded the bases on walks, RF-sub Preston Wallace flubbed a routine one-hopper in right to allow an unearned run that brought the score to 5-3. In total 2 of the 5 runs scored by Philly were unearned as we reintroduced our fans to our lack of fielding acumen with 3 errors on the day.

138 of 162: Cam Murphy gets his first Major League to start today – and gave up his first career grand slam in the top of the 4th. Fun times. File under cool: C Norton Manning managed to get a well-timed pickoff throw over to first for an out. File under not cool: We made two throwing errors on the day, struck out 10 times, got caught stealing twice, and lost a home series to the worst team in the National League. Hi dirt, meet face.

139 of 162: Throwing error on our first play of the game charged to SS Maddox Whalen – coming out hot! Patrick Keith gives up 1 earned and one unearned run in the first – we’re on fire. We give up 5 runs in the 4th, 6 Philly batters have earned 2-out RBI’s for the game – we are a phoenix rising from the ash. 11 K’s, 4 errors… good grief. Even Jules Winfield got an RBI in this one. Swept in the Malibu, don’t know what to do… Note: Patrick left early with shoulder inflammation – he’ll be DTD for 5.

What wickedness this way comes… we are now 3rd in the NL West, 2 behind San Francisco and 3 ½ behind San Diego.

[BirdWatcher]

Just to be clear, not liking the embarrassment your team suffered in this series. I can commiserate with that.
But do very much like that paragraph about the Philly franchise. Certainly the kind of color and context I love to read around here.

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Just to be clear, not liking the embarrassment your team suffered in this series. I can commiserate with that.
But do very much like that paragraph about the Philly franchise. Certainly the kind of color and context I love to read around here.

Hey! Cool, man - appreciate that! This team is maddeningly uneven, but it's been a fun save nonetheless.

I do miss Hamza and Pepper though...

[pauwoo]

Orlando, unlike Philadelphia, is a good baseball team. Given that Philadelphia just stole our lunch and ate it in front of us, this presents a problem. Or maybe it doesn’t - after all, it seems like our M.O. is to play like gangbusters against good clubs and like a Bush League club against the bad ones. This could be a long 4-game stretch for us... especially when you consider that we have recently reintroduced our fans to the Roger Dorn style of defense I thought I had traded away. So as we welcome the sons of Orlando - that land of joy juice and sunshine - to town we will need to tighten up and get right with the Lord if we are to get a series win (or split) against a club that boasts the #1 rated pitching staff in the NL. We’ll have to embrace our inner Wild Thing, post vision correction, and bring the most cocksure version of ourselves to bear. Otherwise, this loose collection of ne’er-do-wells’ led by a 26-year old, 2073 Boyce Rigg winning, and two-time All-Star 3B Jason Spears will take whatever is left of our confidence after the Philly series behind the woodshed as they attempt to secure their 46th Playoff appearance and add a 4th championship to their list of accomplishments.

140 of 162: It took Michael Brisk a little longer to come out of the clubhouse to warm up for his start than usual as he lost track of time while preening his mustache for today’s nationally televised game, and I got to hand it to him – he looked really good on the broadcast even if his form wasn’t always up to snuff. The ‘ol boy did enough and looked good enough doing it, to help us secure a much-needed W by a score of 5-4. Homer Wingard hit the difference-making 3-run HR in the bottom of the 4th and the rest of us just held on for dear life from there. Another good win against a good club – I just don’t know what to make of these guys.

141 of 162: Ash pitched like a boss – picking up right where he left off in Pittsburgh (maybe our performance against good clubs has a little to do with how we’ve scheduled our pitchers) – he gave us 8 IP with 12 K’s and only 2 earned runs. Jake Wells was great for us as well – 3 for 4 with 2 RBI. As a squad, we had no errors and kept our total K’s from reaching double-digits. We played well, the defense was tight, and the offense gave us a double and two triples. Frosty Dillard even looked good in the top of the 9th fanning two and getting a weak pop up to end the game. We’ve secured a split and have given the ~34K in attendance something to cheer about. ½ a game out of 2nd now and only 2 ½ from the promised land. Suns win, 5-2.

142 of 162: Frazier pitched well for us, but Orlando’s Steve Unger outdueled him in a tightly contested contest. Unfortunately for us – we lost this one on a bases-loaded walk in the 8th when reliever Maximiano Cordova walked in the game-winner. That’s gotta sting a little bit. Orlando gets a chance to earn a split tomorrow with Nacho on the mound.

143 of 162: Second Major League start for Murphy… second verse, same as the first… he gave up 6-runs in 4 innings including 4 in the top of the second. Nacho only lasted two innings – he left early with back spasms, but the Orlando Bullpen was up to the task and helped City secure a dominant 7-2 victory. We settle for a split here, but after the Philadelphia series, we’ll take that all day. The 11 K’s and 2 errors? Not so much.

There’s not much to say about this series – we earned a split and wouldn’t mind getting a run back on the 3rd game, but we played in much better form than we did while Philly was in town and hopefully we can carry that forward on our trip to Oklahoma City – a team with some promise a bit earlier in the season who have recently been hit with the injury bug as they now have 7 regulars on the IL. That’s super unfortunate.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/10 - 9/12)
The Oklahoma City Thunder are hurting. Their starting rotation is a shell of its former self. The bullpen is in shambles. In total, they have three SP’s - two straight up rotation guys and one who is just filler material - and 2 relievers (a stud and a serviceable lefty) on the IL who have 7 All-Star appearances between them. They are supposed to be a championship contender - built on impeccable offensive play with a top flight rotation. Instead, they’re hobbled - 4 months here, 7 weeks there, another 5 months that way... the #2 offense in the NL paired with a formerly fine tuned pitching staff that blew a gasket. This is good for us - we like it. But as the GM of the island of misfit toys that form the Phoenix Suns if anything about this game is clear to me it’s that you don’t need a finely tuned machine to get it over the finish line against us - sometimes you just need to get the thing to start.

144 of 162: Luca, batting 2nd, opened things up for us in the top of the first with a triple that should have went out if not for the wind blowing in from centerfield. Jacob wells brought him home on a sac fly - and then we give up 4 in the bottom of the 1st to OKC... things looked dire until we put 3 on the board in the top of the 7th to take a 7-6 lead... then it got dire again when they more than doubled their total in the bottom of the 7th and 8th to win by a final score of 13-9. Math is dumb sometimes. The OKC offense laid waste to our staff today - 13 runs put up on 3 separate pitchers. Who needs a functioning gasket anyways?

145 of 162: We would get a taste of that sweet, succulent revenge in the second game - an 11-5 win for the good guys. Dylan Huerta hit two out and tallied 5 McRib’s and Jake Wells was 2 for 5. Brisk got the win, even if his timing belt misfired a few times, and Jess Alford hit his second triple of the season.

146 of 162: Ash Newman is a finisher - he gave us his 2nd CG in his last 3 starts and only gave up a single run. Homer and Yoshi hit homers, Derek got an RBI single, Luca hit a double and scored, and the good guys finally win a rubber match, this time by a score of 9-1. A good team win for the Suns that our club can carry forward as we continue to navigate the long slog of the baseball season.

This was a fun set and after being dismantled by a club that is currently being held together by duct tape and crazy glue in the first contest we managed to hold their high powered offense to 6 total runs in the last two games... and break our streak of dropping sets to sub .500 teams. Dig.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/14 -9/16)
Phoenix Suns (75-71, .514, 3rd NL West) @ San Diego Chargers (78-69, .531, 1st NL West)
The Chargers find themselves at the top of the lonesome crowded west – for now. The NL West is something of a three-dog race between SDC, San Francisco, and Us… San Diego has earned their spot at the top with good pitching (though their bullpen is a little soft around the middle) and timely hitting (though they are light on pop). What they lack, like most of the NL West clubs, is an identity. They are as vanilla as the citizens of their host city – content to bag some rays, gnash on some seafood tacos, and frolic in the surf – these aren’t the sort that demands a whole lot from their hometown teams (if/when they even bother to show up to watch them play). Don’t get me wrong – San Diego is good, it’s just a boring kind of good, hardly inspiring much fanfare or expectations. They are 3rd in Batting Average, 1st in wrecking the base paths, 1st in starters ERA, and 1st in Defensive Efficiency – all substance, no fashion. They are coming off a series win over the San Francisco 49ers at home and will, undoubtedly, be looking to put a hurting on us over the next 3 days as we head to town. We either make up ground or they establish significant distance in this one…

147 of 162: We come out hot in this one in the top of the 1st and put two on the board and get a 3rd off an error. The Chargers would chip away a little bit but can’t get any more than 2 across in the opening game – Suns win 4-2, a good start for us. Evan Frazier pitched well – only 2 earned in 5 innings of work. 3 hits for Preston, 2 RBI for Jake Wells. We got away with a couple of errors – Jake’s 2-run double in the 1st gave us all the cushion we would require. Elsewhere: Jacksonville & Seattle clinched playoff spots – their divisional titles are all but officially sewn up.

148 of 162: San Diego jumped on us early, scoring 6 in the first two frames… and win by a score of 8-4. Patrick Keith got shelled – 6 runs in 4 innings and the bullpen wasn’t wonderful. Derek finished with 3 hits, 2 RBI’s for Preston… not much else of note other than the fact that we finished with no fielding errors. Elsewhere: 4 AL teams were officially eliminated from the playoffs – Carolina, Houston, Golden State, and Portland are now officially on vacation.

149 of 162: We started Cam again today – he was better, just not good enough – reliever Paul Williams gave up the game-winning walk-off solo shot to Benji Compton and that was all she wrote in this one. To add injury to the insult, Paul developed a nasty finger blister during his appearance and is now listed as DTD. Homer finished 3 for 3 with an RBI, and as a team, we committed 3 fielding errors. Elsewhere: Pittsburgh punched their playoff ticket… the division title is still up for grabs (but not really).

We needed to have a better showing than this. With the series loss and San Francisco’s sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers, we find ourselves 3 ½ games back. Making the playoffs is likely for us as a wildcard, but I had a sincere hope that we’d put a magical run together and take the NL West crown. All routes to earning that distinction, after this series, rely far too heavily on our rivals dropping games that they should win.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/17 – 9/20)
Phoenix Suns (76-73, .510, 3rd NL West) @ San Francisco 49ers (77-70, .524, 2nd NL West)
We are 9-8 against the 49ers this season – we’re evenly matched. They’re ranked 10th, we currently sit at #12 in the league. We have a better offense, hands down. Our problem is our pitching – it’s not where we need it to be – and lately it’s been bad. The 49ers have the 3rd ranked starters in the NL – but their bullpen, at 10th, can be hit. We’ll need to be patient at the plate, make their starters work, and force the 49ers skipper to go to the pen early & often if we are to get a series win in the Bay Area. Huge series for us here – could make or break.

150 of 162: A Dylan Huerta RBI triple opens the scoring in the top of the 2nd inning. Jess Alford, with two outs in the frame, hits a nice RBI single to bring another home. A nice start to the series for us. But, after the 49ers get one back in the bottom of the 3rd, they explode for 3 in the bottom of the 4th… easy come, easy go. Ultimately, Huerta was heroic – 3 for 5 with a triple, two doubles, and 3 RBI – but it wasn’t enough. Suns get walked off in the bottom of the 13th when Titus Baldwin hit an RBI single to end it – 49ers win 5-4. Heartbreaker.

151 of 162: By the time we reached the 7th inning stretch, we were already up 7-0. Ash Newman was great – he gave us *+ with 7 K’s and 2 runs scored (SF got a couple back in the 8th and 9th). Huerta came up big again – 1 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Norton Manning and Jake Wells both got a couple of hits, and Frosty picked up his 10th save in 11 attempts. We were sloppy – 2 errors – and often impatient – 14 K’s – but got the job done. Suns win 7-2.

152 of 162: By the time we reached the 7th inning stretch – San Francisco was up by a score of 9-0. This is the life of a Phoenix GM – the ride is bumpier than crab fishing. They win by a score of 10-0… Martin Rigby gets the complete game shutout with 11 K’s and we commit 6 errors. SIX.

153 of 162: We find ourselves on the wrong side of a walk-off again. In Extras. Bottom of the 10th Scott Kaszuba hit his 133rd hit of the season – an RBI single to send us on our way. Suns lose, 4-3. We also had 3 errors today – that’s 9 in the last two days. We don’t want it.

Losing 3 of 4 to the 49ers, at this stage of the season, stinks. Notable: the Los Angeles Galaxy, Orlando City, and Brooklyn Citizens punched their playoff ticket and Josiah and the Jags secured the AL East Division Title – their 13th in the last 72 seasons. None of the NL teams have been mathematically eliminated yet.

We welcome the Lakers to town next, followed by San Diego, before ending it with a trip to Vancouver BC. This will be a stressful finish.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/21 – 9/23)
Los Angeles Lakers (71-82, .464, 6th NL West) @ Phoenix Suns (77-76, .503, 3rd NL West)
After losing 4 of our last 6, a three-game set at home against the lowly Lakers of Los Angeles should cure what ails us. Extra emphasis on ‘should’... on paper, where we take the season so far, on the whole, we are, without a doubt, the better ball club. However, given our play of late, especially that of our starting rotation, we are the ultimate paper tiger. What we are most adept at is playing to the level of our competition - we lack that killer instinct and esprit de corps that is so often associated with the top tier of our league. No, we don’t exist in that orbit yet - sure, we’ve poked our head into those clouds, and, at times, even stayed long enough to look around a little bit, but we are a long way from taking up residence there. So - either we run roughshod over these Lakers or we treat our home fans to another series fueled by uninspired defense and impatience at the plate... they’ve grown tired of our “how low can you go” limbo style of play and deserve better.

154 of 162: Coming into the game, Cam Murphy is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA… he went 4 innings today and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits but left with the game tied at 3. We took the lead, 4-3, shortly thereafter but LA managed to get a legit run in the 5th and then another on an errant throw to home from Preston Wallace that went way over Norton’s head – then they added one more for good measure… all for naught though as Norton Manning came through in the bottom of the 9th with a bases-clearing 3-RBI triple to walk the Lakers off. Preston, Jake, and Homer all finished with 2 hits, we committed 3 boneheaded errors and used 6 pitchers before all was said and done. We’ll need a good start from Brisk tomorrow. In other news: San Diego punched their playoff ticket today & Philadelphia was mathematically eliminated. Suns win, 7-6.




155 of 162: Brisk barely makes it through 3 innings and the Los Angeles Lakers crushed us 7-1. CG 1-run effort from LA SP John Aivazian – a one-man wrecking crew. Preston and Jake each get 2 hits, only one error, but we struck out 9 times. Los Angeles owned 7-1. Elsewhere: Bradley Hughes (SEA) threw a no-hitter against Portland he struck out 17 and walked 2 – Seattle won 9-0. The New York Jets won a wild-card spot.

156 of 162: Lee Sobania’s 2-run homer does us in – LA wins the series 2 to 1 and the game 7-6. Phoenix is now a .500 ball club. Derek finished 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s. We run through 5 pitchers… ugh, our pitching is an absolute mess right now.

In a series we should have won, that, really, we needed to win – we did the opposite. It’s hard to say much about this one – our squad is super disappointing right now and our pitching has been incredibly poor of late. At this point, I'll be surprised if I'm not fired at the end of the season. In other news: Green Bay secured a wild-card spot.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/24 – 9/26)
San Diego Chargers (84-72, .538, 1st NL West) @ Phoenix Suns (78-78, .500, 3rd NL West)
Except for being swept by the lowly Philadelphia 76ers early in the month, San Diego has won every series they’ve played this month. They are 11-6 against us this season… So let’s just get this over with, shall we?

157 of 162: When Ash is on the mound, I always feel like we have a good shot to get a W… but – I should know better than to trust my gut. The San Diego Chargers knocked us off at home, 6-3. Starting pitcher Arnaldo Romero improved to 17-9 and only gave up 2 runs in the game. We’re no longer a .500 team. Elsewhere: San Francisco clinched a wild-card spot, and Vancouver is only 3 games away from stealing ours.

158 of 162: Jason Bland was boss - 3-4 with a home run and a double. He scored 2 runs and drove in 3 for us. Patrick Keith went 7 innings and 2 runs plated while he was on the mound (both unearned – shoddy defense is killing me)… Patrick left with an injury (DTD – Tender Elbow… TF?) and so did Reliever Jackson Krohn (DTD – Sore thumb. We are a .500 Ball Club again. Vancouver is still 3 back. Elsewhere: Dallas earned the last Wild Card spot in the AL – AL West Division Crown still up for grabs – LAG is 4 ½ back from Seattle though, so it’s not really up for grabs.



159 of 162: Right-hander Cam Murphy earns his first Major League win – 7 innings and only 1 run plates… In the bottom of the fourth… knotted up… we get one across on an error that put us up 2-1, and we stayed up from there. We are above .500 again and get a series win against the top club in the NL West.



We got what we needed here… but Vancouver is only 3 games back as we head to their ballpark to close out the season… If they sweep us – we’re cooked – partially, we’d get another crack at them in a one-game play-in. We’re 12-5 against the Whitecaps this season – let’s hope we play like it.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (9/28 – 9/30)
Phoenix Suns (80-79, .503, 3rd NL West) @ Vancouver Whitecaps (77-82, .484, 4th NL West)
The last time we played Vancouver we completed a 4-game sweep – our only one this season. We are 12-5 against them in 2074, spend ~20m less on our payroll, and we underpay our staff by comparison. They are in rebuilding mode and have put together the 5th rated minor league system, while I have traded most of my “win now” talent away to improve ours to a 1st overall ranking. If things go according to plan – we will be fighting for divisional titles in upcoming seasons. We’re both ahead of schedule a bit – boosted by OKC’s injury misfortunes and the Lakers incompetence. On paper, we are better than them nearly everywhere (though are starters have managed to be worse than theirs, and our bullpen would be ranked lower if they didn’t lose 2-time Kingston Cashmore winner Wayne Conley for the season back in April. We only need one win here to get into the playoffs for the first time in 8 seasons – just one… so why does that feel like such a tall order?

160 of 162: We get what we need here, extend our winning streak to three, and earn an 8-2 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps. Preston Wallace and Mitchell Cusac each get 2 hits and a home run – Wallace added 3 RBI to his line. Michael Brisk pitched a complete game – and only gave up 2 runs in the effort. Most importantly, we were perfect in the field while Vancouver three costly errors – we got 3 across as a result of the flubs. It’s nice to get the win we needed in the 1st game of the set – playoff bound, baby! Elsewhere: San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Seattle all clinched their respective divisional titles.



161 of 162: We extended our winning streak to 4 today – Luca Milbrandt got 2 hits and 2 runs and Dylan Huerta did the same. We lifted Evan Frazier in the 2nd after he gave up 4 runs in 2.1 innings, but the bullpen was able to stop the bleeding in route to our 8-4 victory. Let the good times roll.



162 of 162: Vancouver blocked the sweep with a gonzo walk-off in the bottom of the 9th, sending us into the playoffs with doubt in our hearts. Gonzo in that we essentially walked ourselves off and an error with the bases loaded was the culprit – in fact, to close out the 2074 campaign we struck out 12 times, got caught thieving twice, and committed 4 errors. It’s a sad state of affairs when you give away a game that you should have won like that.

Kind of a weird way to limp into the playoffs – on an error induced walk-off loss. But, that kind of sums up my club nicely – a lot of our damage has been self-inflicted. Jacob Wells took home is second Rookie of the Month Award and Ash Newman took home his 1st ever Pitcher of the Month Award after compiling a 4-1 record in September. We open the playoffs against the always tough Orland City – we finished the regular season at 4-3 against them and they come into the playoffs on a 3-game skid. We have a shot at doing something special against them.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (Playoffs)
Orlando is a tough draw for us in the Wild Card round – but, let’s be honest, they’re all a tough draw for us. As the last team to qualify for this year’s playoffs, we were going to have our work cut out for us regardless… This will be a battle of their pitching (1st in RA, 1st in Starters ERA, 3rd in Bullpen ERA) against our hitting (2nd in RS, 4th in Avg, 4th in OBP, and 1st in jacks).

Game 1: Patrick Keith @ Vicente De La Cruz
Jason Bland worked a leadoff walk to open the game (on four pitches) – Vicente looking shaky on the bump… but Bland is quickly erased on a shoddy base stealing attempt (he wasn’t even close by the time the ball arrived) - after that De La Cruz settles into a groove with two quick & weak ground balls that lead to outs. We open the bottom of the 1st with an errant through by Catcher Norton Manning on a weakly hit grounder that doesn’t even make it out to the mound – here we go… We break it open a little bit in the top of the 2nd off of a 2-run double courtesy of Cash Crouch, get another on a Jess Alford sac fly, and finish the inning up 3-0. There will be more of that in the top of the 3rd when Jake Wells hits a 2-run homer – 5-0 & as good of a start that anyone could have hoped for. Orlando would chip away at it a bit – they got two back, 1 each in the bottoms of the 3rd and 4th respectively, but it wasn’t enough – Phoenix wins 5-2. PK pitched 7-innings of 5-hit ball, Jake and Cash each bring in two. As a team, we hit 3 doubles, a home run, and only commit the one error.



Elsewhere: San Francisco lifts game one off of the Brooklyn Citizens. Hamza goes 1 for 4 with 2 runs in the 8-3 win. Green Bay scored 2 in the 9th to take game one over the New York Jets by a score of 4-3. Benjamin Herrera of the Los Angeles Galaxy powers his club to a game 1 win with a 3 for 3, 2 run, and 2 RBI performance – LAG wins it 10-7.

Game 2: Tommy Mathieu @ Michael Brisk
Brisky starts us off with a 1-2-3 top of the first… and we return the favor by going out the same way at the bottom of the frame. Orlando opens the hitting when they get a couple of singles in the top of the 2nd, while our first time on the base comes courtesy of an Orlando throwing error. Orlando gets to us a bit in the 3rd – plating 3 and giving Brisky a tough time – his command is slipping. We finally plated a couple in the 5th, but still, trail 4-2. Derek would get us another with a solo shot in the 6th – the old man still has a little something left in the tank. In the end, we finish it with a tough home loss against City by a score of 4-3. A tightly contested game that was winnable had Brisk had a little better command today – he allowed 13 hits and walked 4 – we needed him to be better than that.

Elsewhere: San Francisco moved on to the 2nd Round with a 6-2 win over the Brooklyn Citizens – Kyle Denham finished 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored. Green Bay swept the Jets winning by a score of 7-5 despite NY’s late rally. The LA Galaxy swept the Dallas Cowboys, winning 6-2 – Medardo Garcia gave them 7 innings of 5-hit ball in the victory.

Game 3: Evan Frazier @ Steve Unger
Unger came out dealing in the 1st, Frazier did not – we gave up 3 hits and a run in the bottom of the 1st. Through 2-innings Unger has rung up 4 K’s and no hits. Jake Wells ties it up on a 2-out RBI double, bringing Derek home after the old man got us our first hit on the day. City would put themselves right back on top in the 4th though as they batter Frazier for 2 HR’s, a 2-run blast followed by a solo HR. That’s demoralizing. Jake and Derek each got us another run, but it just wasn’t enough – we lose a heartbreaker 4-3 and lose the series 2-1. The struggle is real.

The rest of the playoffs: San Francisco got a surprising 4-2 win over the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh narrowly avoided a series loss against the surging Orlando City in the NL, while Josiah and the Jags easily dispatched the Galaxy 4-1, while Seattle narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of the Green Bay Packers – This sets up some good League Championship Series…

San Francisco versus Pittsburgh
Game 1: San Francisco wins 10-5… Starter Matthew Townsend gets it done over 7 and Tristan Cleveland finishes 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.
Game 2: Erik Melluzzo does his best Bradley Hughes impression with a CG shutout to lead his 49ers to a 2-0 start in their series against Pittsburgh by a score of 1-0.
Game 3: Landon Sampson puts on a brilliant display, handcuffs the Steelers in route to a 4-2 win for the 49ers. Hamza finishes 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. 49ers lead the series 3-0.
Game 4: Tristan Cleveland goes 2 for 3 with a double, a home run, and 2 RBI’s to lead the 49ers to an improbable sweep over the Steelers. 49ers will represent the NL in the World Series, that’s a surprise.

Seattle versus Jacksonville
Game 1: Josiah is brilliant, only give us one in 8 innings… Hughes is more brilliant in a complete game shutout, Seattle wins Game 1, 1-0. Tough one for Weber…
Game 2: The Jags even things up on a 3-1 win – former Sun, Oswaldo Flores is serviceable, but Luc Felix is the story in this one as he allowed only one run in a great 7-inning effort. Series is tied at 1.
Game 3: Arney is masterful for Seattle, allows only 2 to plate in Seattle’s 6-2 victory. Seattle leads the series 2 games to 1.
Game 4: Jacksonville evens it up – Craig Ramis gets a double with 2-RBI and the Jags win by a score of 6-2.
Game 5: Josiah outduels Hughes in this one to earn the win and help his Jags take a 3-2 series lead – he struck out 10 in the 3-2 victory.
Game 6: Austin Rollins finished the game 3 for 4 with a double, a HR and an RBI to help Seattle force a game 7. Seattle wins 4-2, series now tied at 3-3.
Game 7: The Defending Champion Seattle Sounders will have a shot at the repeat as they beat the Jags by a score of 11-7 in the decisive Game 7. Austin Rollins was the man of the match – he went 3 for 3 with 3 doubles, 2 RBI, and 2 runs.

World Series:
Seattle Versus San Francisco
Game 1: Kyle Denham keeps the 49ers win streak alive off of a 3 for 5 performance with a 3 run homer in the top of the 9th – SF wins 8-7, heartbreaking loss for Seattle. San Fran leads 1-0.
Game 2: Mateo Cruz leads the way for SF with a 4 for 5 performance as the 9ers take a 2-0 lead back home to the bay and win by a score of 8-4. Holy smokes, the 9ers are on a tear – I didn’t see this coming.
Game 3: Alan Galik helps Seattle turn up the heat with a 2 for 3, 3 RBI performance as Seattle gets a road win by a score of 10-2. SF leads the series 2-1.
Game 4: Seattle plates one in the top of the 10th and holds on to the series-tying 4-3 road win against San Francisco. Wil Lewandowski goes 2 for 2 for Seattle. Series is tied 2-up.
Game 5: San Francisco earns a game 5 win and a 3-2 series lead on the back of a 5-run bottom of the eighth. Hamza finished 1 for 1 with a HR, RBI, and 3 walks.
Game 6: San Francisco pulled off a World Series win for the Ages… Matthew Townsend, in the performance of a lifetime, allows only 2 in a complete game effort and Clifford McNevin hits a grand slam home run in the 4th – the 49ers win 8-2 and take the series 4-2.

In retrospect, my Hamza trade doesn’t look so good even if it helped stock my minor league system. Nice to see a team from my division get it though… I guess.

[pauwoo]

A leader in the field of Cognitive Science, Shawna Betts, may best be known for her work in non-linear time elasticity and how we can activate our "semantic memory" (our basic knowledge of irrefutable facts) in concert with our "episodic memory" (our autobiographical library) to create a memory of an idealized future - a theory rooted in human exceptionalism where "the Red Queen remembers the future". For the rest of us - Shawna Betts will become best known as the person who bought the Oklahoma City Thunder, and, citing her love of the music of Prince, unceremoniously moved them to Minneapolis, MN. "Baseball", she said, "is the perfect construct to test my theories of mental time travel and the visualization of a desired outcome into reality".



Listen, I don't know what any of that means - honestly, it might not mean anything at all. So then, here's what I do know - Minnesota has a baseball team and Oklahoma City doesn't. They are the only team in the MLB that is run by a woman, and the only team with an Owner who has an IQ that is higher than the sum of most MLB teams. And, while I don't expect them to become a perennial powerhouse, I do know that nothing strikes fear into the heart of the establishment like a beautiful, intelligent, and successful woman does... c'est la vie, OKC.



In other news... As expected, Jace George III took over the baseball business from his Father in Phoenix. Shortly after taking the helm - I was summarily dismissed... it seems that he didn't think I was a suitable GM to shepherd in his strategy of lowering the payroll and raising ticket prices. I would, however, land on my feet, when an unexpected ownership change in Los Angeles led to a Billionaire knocking on my door... Phil Murray, it seems, liked what I did in Phoenix and wanted to see if I could do something similar in Tinsletown. I figured, why not, after all, I hate LA less than I like being gainfully employed - and if a 1st round playoff exit is what he's looking for, I figure I got a few more of those left in me.

[pauwoo]

I’ve done a lot of work in LA. Too many trades to list, too many FA signings to go through (on account of my laziness more than anything else). The greatest hits… I traded a solid starter and an above average prospect to Phoenix for Michael Brisk – I got fleeced a bit, but if ever there was a mustache that belongs in LA, it’s his. Had to be done. I traded for your boy Rad Taylor – I had to give up a prospect with arguably more upside than Rad, but I expect his work ethic to improve while assigned to our AAA club in Compton. I picked up Ethan Mullens from Portland for a couple of so-so pitchers (one a serviceable MLB starter, the other a mid-range relief prospect). I signed Pepper Grant to a 2-year deal, not because I wanted to because I had to – he spent the offseason working out his fielding kinks - or so I’ve been told... I’m a believer, I’m slotting him in at 3rd. I traded my Ace, John Aivazian, for an Ace in the making – Josiah Kawka – this one was more about having to type Aivazian all season than anything else – they are essentially the same guy, but Kawka is a bit younger. I had to retain 15% of Aivazian’s contract to make it work - worth it, his is a hard name to type. I traded for Merl Crawford – he’s still developing, but I was able to dump an overpriced older guy with who knows how much left in the tank for him - so, that’s coo. Lastly, I made a few attempts to get Hamza – nothing doing though, they love him in San Fran…

2075 Season (4/1 – 4/3)
Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix Suns
So, I’ll start my new job where I ended my old job - in Phoenix playing against a team that looks an awful lot like the one I built. I guess that the new regime doesn’t have a lot of fresh ideas. I enjoyed my season in Phoenix - I was hired to build a low-key contender around the two remaining Jeter Bros and to boost ticket sales. I went in another direction and traded away established players and error-prone personnel with bloated contracts to fill our funnel with talent for the future... and still snuck into the playoffs. It’s a bit sad that I won’t be around if/when those moves start to pay dividends, but truth be told - I just never got attached to any of the new blood I brought into the organization and as the season moved along after the trade deadline, I found myself less engaged with the team at an individual level. Los Angeles will be my team - I’ve turned over a good chunk of the roster and brought in my guys... Rad, Pepper, Ash - and even have some new early faves in Otto, Josiah, and Newman... I’m not putting too much stock in this series - it’s early, I have firsthand knowledge of Phoenix’s Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde tendencies, and like I said - they haven’t changed much. Meanwhile, in LA - I have my idea of what I got & what I think we can be - but until you play some baseball it’s anyone’s guess where this club will end up. We’re built on Starting Pitching, a serviceable Bullpen, fielding prowess, and some patience at the plate. Before we get started, let me make some introductions...

Players to watch that are not named Pepper, Brisk, or Rad:
CF Otto Isaac, 26 (15th overall pick out of Pennsylvania in 2070) – A slick fielder at Center with great speed, a good eye at the plate, and a little bit of pop… he’s starting to realize his potential – I expect him to breakout this year. He came up through our Compton affiliate where he languished for a while – I need to improve the development staff down there. We signed him to a 1-year, 1.6M extension - I already regret not trying to add in a few more years.

SP Josiah Kawka, 27 (47th overall pick by SDC out of Mississippi State in 2068) – Our newly appointed Ace, acquired by trade with the Montreal Impact. He’s got a great fastball, a solid curve, and a quickly developing changeup. Great stuff, good control. We’re hoping this will be the year that he puts it all together.

LF Joshua Newman, 28 (63rd overall pick by the Houston Dynamo out of Ridgemont Community College in 2068) – A solid above replacement guy whose jovial nature has made him a fan favorite in LA. We acquired him in the Rule 5 Draft in 2071. Newman has an absolute cannon for an arm, is a good contact hitter, and is something of a baserunning savant. Good ‘glue’ guy.

1 of 162: Josiah Kawka @ Patrick Keith
Not gonna lie – it’s weird being back in Phoenix… My time as GM in Los Angeles begins with a 3-pitch strikeout for RF Ethan Mullens – that’s inauspicious, I was hoping for something better than that. The game stayed scoreless until the top of the 5th – when, even after getting 8 hits, we break through with hit #9 – a PEPPER GRANT solo shot for the 1-run lead. We get another solo HR in the top of the 6th when SS Sammie Fregoso puts out his first of the year… 2-0 now. Phoenix CF Jason Bland knots it up in the bottom of the 6th with a 2-run shot… ugh – where was that timely hitting at when I was captaining the ship? Our homer party continued in the top of the 7th when Otto hit a 2-run blast – 396ft of payback (insert James Brown voice). We kept it up late and ended up torching the Suns 8-3 in the season opener – same old Suns… 2 errors - both costly, and weak pitching from the pen. A complete game for Kawka, Pepper hits one out, and Otto gets 2 stolen bags to go with his 2-run homer. This one felt too good.



2 of 162: The Michael Brisk @ Evan Frazier
Evan was starting to come around a little bit at the end of the 2074 season for Phoenix, it will be interesting to see what he’s been working on in the offseason… In our first two games of the 2075 season, we have started off the festivities with a leadoff strikeout – I don’t like that. The top of the 2nd ends on a pop up to LF followed by a strike thrown to 1st by Cash Crouch that catches our DH Kumar Bovie looking – didn’t see much of that arm from Cash when I was in town. Through 3 innings, Frazier would walk 2, strike out 2, hit 3 batters, and be the beneficiary of 3 DP’s… woefully uneven, but oddly effective. Phoenix would open up the scoring in the bottom of the 4th off of a Luca Milbrandt RBI double… but Kumar would answer back in the top of the 5th with a solo HR – doesn’t quite make up for his boneheaded baserunning, but I’ll take it. We start to take over in the 6th after Otto hits a 2-RBI single, which is then followed up with a bases-clearing double for your boy PEPPER – Lakers lead 6-2. We trade runs in the bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th, respectively – we get the solo shot from our Catcher Dom Cooke… and that’s where we leave it – Lakers win 7-3. Brisk gets a CG and gives up only 2 earned runs, and Pepper & Otto bring in 5 of our 7 runs… We look like a pretty good club.



3 of 162: Case Tunnell @ Al Van Wilder
Game 3, a chance at a season-opening sweep, and my first look at some new blood in the Phoenix Burnt Orange & Eggplant Purple – the Van Wilder kid has three great pitches (fastball, cutter, and changeup) but his movement leaves a bit to be desired… This one will be our first game of the season that we lead off with a hit – courtesy of Newman. We get a run in the top of the 1st, but Derek answers back in the bottom of the second with his first HR of the season and scores 2… Through 6, Van Wilder has us pretty well locked down, while Phoenix already has 5 on 5 hits for a 5-1 lead… Clay Daniels, in for Sammie Fregosi as an injury sub, got us a bit closer with his 1st HR of the season – a 2-run shot to left-center… and an inning later, Dom Cooke hits his 2nd homer of the season – another 2-run shot to tie it up… 5-5 now. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we implode in the bottom of the 8th – Merle gives up 6 in the inning – including a walked in run, a run scored on a wild pitch, and one scored on a throwing error to first – if it could go wrong, it did. Phoenix wins and avoids the sweep, 12-5.



Taking two of three off my old employer in their park is a perfectly acceptable way to start the season. The 3rd game was a tough watch, especially during that ill-fated bottom of the 8th, but we played some solid ball and showed our fans a glimpse of what we will be capable of. For the series Otto hit .500 with a HR and 5 RBI’s, Pepper got a HR and 4 RBI, and Dom punched two out – in all we had 6 players who hit at least one HR and finish the opening weekend with the #1 rating in runs scored, batting average, OBP, and home runs. In the pitching department – Kawka and Brisk were better than advertised – sharp, in command, and extremely hard to hit – while Merl, a still-developing reliever we traded for in the offseason, and Case Tunnell both had abysmal performances. An uneven performance from our pitching staff. We head to San Francisco next to take on the defending World Series Champs – maybe I’ll make another play for Hamza while I’m in town.