VOLUME: XLIII ... August 1, 2017
LATEST NEWS
Since our last newsletter is APBA announcement of the release dates for next years baseball set:
"The 2017 baseball cards will be available January 15, 2018.
The 2017 BBW file or CD will be available January 29, 2018.
We will NOT be taking pre-orders for baseball products. Except for APBA GO, no other 2017 Baseball products will be available before Christmas."
This means the APBA disk that we've all relied on for hit numbers and pitcher grades will not be available until the Monday AFTER our normal free agent draft day. You cannot even order the disk or cards until January 15th meaning it's highly unlikely any of us will have our card set and/or hit numbers and grades on draft day. The question now is what do we do about the draft? Keep it as is or back up to say mid-February?
Harwell Div: Albuquerque added a couple more games to it's lead for this pennant. The Horsemen were 18-9 last month to go 13 up on second place. In second is Western NY. The Falcons were 16-11 last month. Now two games back of WNY, Armada still has a solid grip on third place. The Ciders were 14-13 in July. Ottawa after a 12-15 month are 12 back of the Ciders but two up on Cinci. The Redlegs 11-16 July puts them two back of Ottawa and 29 games behind the Horsemen..... Caray Div: Syracuse was 18-9 last month including a torrid 12-2 on the road to double their lead on Kentucky to 12 games. The Bourbons 12-15 month was good enough to stay 7 games up on third place. In third, Havre de Grace posted a 15-12 in July which keeps them 7 ahead of Laurel Highlands. The Mustangs stumbled through July with an 8-19 record. In the cellar, Red Lion was 12-15 in July but that kept them two behind the Mustangs and 28 out of first..... Allen Div: Miami Beach remains on top, still holding a four game edge after their 11-7 month. Homestead was also 11-7 in July which gave them a five game edge on Etiwanda. The Anteaters were 10-8 last month. In fourth we have Burnsville. The Blaze were 6-12 to really put a crimp in their pennant hopes. In the basement is Knob Noster. The K'head were 6-12 in July..... Wild card: This one remains a terrific battle for the three slots. Homestead has the top slot by just one thin game over Western NY. The Grays have Ottawa & Red Lion on this month's schedule. Western NY has the 2nd slot by two games and they have Red Lion plus Etiwanda coming up. The final slot is Armada. The Ciders have a rough month ahead with Miami Beach and Kentucky coming in. Etiwanda & Kentucky are only 2 games back for that final playoff slot. The Anteaters are playing Laurel Highlands and Western NY. The Bourbons are matched up against Knob Noster & Armada. Five games out is Burnsville. The Blaze have a tough road in August against Havre de Grace and Albuquerque. The Bucs 9 out of a berth are playing Burnsville plus Ottawa.
Notable team stats: Albuquerque hitting continues to stand a level above the rest of us. Almost 30 points better in batting average, the only team with over 600 runs scored and 1000 hits. They've put 1509 runners on base which is more than 200 better than any other team and only Syracuse has more extra base hits. Bottom line is they're pretty good. My Blues are hitting more bombs than anyone else which is the sole reason they've scored the second most runs because their batting average is disappointing. Homestead has a bunch of really good batting eyes. Their walk total is impressive. In Red Lion, the Steamers don't seem too patient and they might need some fielding drills. Those plus 100 errors have cost them about 75 runs. The Horsemen defense doesn't make many mistakes. Havre de Grace has killed off a lot of rallies by hitting into a lot of doubleplays. You don't want to let many Kentucky hitters single or walk because that stolen base total says they will be on 2nd base pretty quickly. Syracuse hitters spend a lot of time walking back to the dugout after whiffing. On the mound Burnsville tops our ERA list, by a lot. Pretty impressive total of complete games from Ottawa. Laurel Highlands staff has put up a league best K total with almost 1100. Only two other teams are over 1000. Problem is they also walk more than anyone else except Miami Beach. Knob Noster pitchers aren't fooling too many hitters with that home runs allowed total..... The Horsemen have a league best 10-1-1 home series record and 10-2-0 away series record. Ottawa & Knob Noster have only 3 home series wins and Laurel Highlands has won only one away series. All the team stats can be found below the Top Batting Stats on the STAT page. If they don't match your records you should check with me
Notable player stats: D.J. LeMahieu (Arm) continues to be our best hitter and it's a big lead. Only two other hitters are over 300. LeMahieu also has the top slot in OBP and has the most hits. David Ortiz (Mia) is the only one with a slugging pct over 600 which has pushed his OPS to a league best just a hair under 1000. Big Papi has collected a league best 65 extra base hits. Mookie Betts (Alb) has moved to the top of the RBI board by one over Chris Carter (Hav) who is way out in front of the Home Run list. Billy Hamilton (Ken) remains the best at stealing but Jonathan Villar (Syr) is closing the gap some. Mike Trout (Alb) is the best at drawing or being given a walk. Don't you wonder why anyone would trade for Ryan Schmipf (Cin)? He has the leagues worst batting average of 97 qualifiers..... On the mound Clayton Kershaw (Ott) should just be given the Cy Young award right now. He's under 2.00 and on top of the ERA list. He has the best WHIP, the best K's per 9 innings and his K to BB ratio is hideous. Only the "Big Sexy", Bart Colon might get a few votes. The big guy has top ten ERA and a league best 15-4 WL record. Robbie Ray (LHi) is the only one with over 200 strikeouts and he has the very worst ERA of the 52 qualifiers. Addison Reed (WNY) is now leading the Saves race. A special shout out to Patrick "The worst pitcher in the history of the RCMBA" Corbin (Kno). His 103.3 innings doesn't qualify him for the ERA list but someone with a 10.80 is pretty special.
Hidden Gems: Eddie Rosario (Alb) still at 2 for 2 but hats off to Josh Bell (LHi) with a 21 for 59 and a 356 average. Jose Bautista (Kno) is still hitting 000 after 8 AB's. James McCann (LHi) apparently benched is 13 for 126 season. Adeiny Hechavarria (Hom) is now our "ping" champ. He's had 10 AB's without an extra base hit. Frankie Cervelli (Hav) picked his first 2 last month after 107 PA's. Chris Carter (Hav) now has 158 whiffs after 424 at bats. Paul Goldschmidt (Alb) has been caught stealing 6 of his 21 tries. Rajai Davis (Hav) is a perfect 31 for 31 in steals. Jean Segura (Alb) still the best target in the game. He's been hit 18 times. Jonathan Villar (Syr) hasn't been nailed yet after 485 PA's. Corey Dickerson (Ott) has pushed his league leading sac flies total to 10. Leonys Martin (Arm) has laid down 3 bunts. Nolan Arenado (Alb) has hit bumped his league best GIDP to 21. Hyun-Soo Kim (Cin) still a 0 GIDP after 257 AB's. Xander Bogaerts (Hom) has 33 bobbles..... Kyle Hendricks (Syr) remains undefeated with a 12-0 in 20 starts while Scott Kazmir (Cin) is 1-12. Alex Reyes (Hom) has a 0.47 ERA after 19 innings. Nate Karns (Hom) stuck at the bottom of that list with his 15.45 ERA after 7 innings. Brad Hand (Ken) has been in 60 games. Twenty-nine pitchers have 0 games. Adam Wainwright (Ott) our best for a complete game after 18 starts with 10. Five pitchers have given up 28 homers but Jeremy Hellickson (Ken) has done it in only 125 innings. Brandon Finnegan (LHi) is now up to a league worst of 79 walks in 133 innings. Pedro Strop (Bur) is the only pitcher who hasn't given up a big fly but he's only pitched 2 innings. Andrew Miller (Hom) now at 16.3 K/9 (84k/46.3ip).
... IMPORTANT DATES ...
- Oct 1st - Playoffs
THE SHOW
Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame July 30th along with Bud Selig and John Schuerholz. The honor is quite deserving for all three players and the two executives.
This honor is what every person who has joined a little league is bestowed on them. They've worked their entire life to receive this honor and on Induction Day tens of thousands head to Cooperstown along with almost every living member of the Hall. Next to day we crown a World Series Champion, this is the most important honor the MLB has. Yet on this day, 15 MLB baseball games are played. Why is that? Shouldn't this day in the baseball world be solely focused on the events of Cooperstown? No wondering about who hit homers, got 4 hits, drove in 6-7 runs, who's in first place. None of that should be taking away from the Hall of Fame honor. Why not have this induction on one of the two days after the All-Star game. No teams are playing. Nothing is happening in the MLB world. Everyone would focus just on that highest honor the game has. I'm just sayin'