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VOLUME:XLV ... October 1, 2019

21plateLATEST NEWS

 

The book is closed on the regular 45th season of the RCMBA. We now have six teams battling for the title including last years champion, Ken Brand's Knob Noster crew. We'll see over the next couple of weeks if he repeats. During this past six months we had five no hitters. Jacob deGrom (WNY) in June, Kyle Gibson (Kno) in July and the 100th in league history by Carlos Carrasco (Hom) also in July, and two combo no-hitters by Western NY and Syracuse. We had a new record of awfulness by Juan Nicasio (Kno) who clobbered, bombed and tattooed by Albuquerque for 33 runs and 12 homers allowed in one series as the Horsemen posted a new record for runs in a series of 63. We also saw Laurel Highlands turn 12 double plays in one series. Nothing else to say so let's look deeper into the division races.

 

wny2HARWELL DIV: Joe Reagan's North Stars held onto it's slim lead with an 11-5 home/8-8 away September to win the pennant by three games. They were very tough at home all year recording a 15-0-3 series record at home and somewhat weak away mark of 10-7-1. The terrific pitching staff performed as expected and posted the best ERA in the league by a quarter of a run, struckout a league best almost 1600 batter and walked fewest batters. This covered for the weak offense. Only Centralia & Etiwanda had fewer extra base hits and they put the 3rd fewest runners on base in the league... Mike Fisher's Horsemen took 2nd with an impressive 11-5h/11-5a month. Over the year they were pretty consistent 12-5-1h/11-5-2a. They had an offense that produced the most total bases, most homers with almost 300, most walks and they got hit far better than anyone else plus putting the 2nd most runners on base, getting 2nd best "ISO" and 2nd best batting average. That all covered up a rather problematic pitching staff... Chris Uhlhorn's Redlegs racked up a 10-6h/7-9a last month to finish 15 games behind. During the year they were 10-7-1h/8-8-2a. They had a middle of the road offense that tied for hitting into the most dp's but finished well over 500 because of a pitching staff finishing in the top third of the league... Mark Featherstone's Fat Cats ended up in 4th, 31 games behind after their dismal 6-10h/6-10a September. They were a decent 8-8-2 at home in series' at home but a not pretty 4-8-6 away. Hitting was a problem that put them in the bottom third of league and they struckout more than the rest. Pitching wasn't pretty finishing in the bottom third... Randy Prichard's Bourbons ended up 5th and 39 games out of first. They were 6-10h/4-12a last month and in series play a unimpressive 4-9-5h/4-11-3a. That was despite one of the better offenses in the league that was in top third of the league in batting average but hurt by not drawing walks and didn't get all that many runs plus the pitching staff was rather wasn't one of the best.

 

boilerCARAY DIV: Ed Morgans brought his Boilermakers home in 1st place by three games with a terrific 10-6h/13-3a final month. During the years they were 10-5-3 at home in series' and 9-5-4 away. They had the league best batting average and were one of three with over 800 runs scored, one of four with over 1900 runners on base but they also tied for hitting into more dp's than anyone else. All that "A" starting staff didn't produce many impressive stats and even allowed more homers than anyone... Bob Fenili's Grays lost their one game edge going into September and fell to 2nd after a 8-8h/11-5a month to go along with a series mark of 11-4-3h/9-8-1a. They ended up in the middle third of hitting but did draw over 600 walks and put over 1900 guys on base. That didn't get all that many runs due to the 2nd fewest team homers. The pitching staff was impressive as only WNY had a better ERA... Me and my Blues choked up a 7-9h/7-9a month, barely topped 500 ball and fell into 3rd some 11 games back. In series play we were a dismal l5-10-3 at home and almost as bad 7-9-2 away. The offense fell flat on it's face and ended up in bottom third despite all the walks, extra base hits and getting 1900+ on base. All that meant nothing because of zero clutch hitting, so less runs and nobody committed more errors than we did. The pitching staff tried to cover up that crap and ended up in top third in ERA, 2nd in k's but those errors killed off a lot of that... In 4th, 28 games back was Jim Kockler's Minefires. They were a horrible 3-13 at home last month and a much better 9-7 away. Overall a 5-10-3h/3-10-5a in series'. Nobody hit fewer homers, had fewer total bases, extra base hits and "ISO". They didn't steal either and when you toss in less than stellar pitching, you lose almost 100 games... Mark Gaudiano's Mustangs ended up 29 out of first after their 4-12h/8-8 month. In series play they were only 5-12-1 at home and a much better 8-7-3 away mark. The offense was one of the worst in average, whiffed more than anyone else and not very exciting in most other hitting stats other than a high scoring game here and there. Add in the worst pitching we had that walked more batters than any other team and recorded a league worst ERA. Not a fun year.

 

knobnos2ALLEN DIV: Ken Brand's Knuckleheads grabbed this pennant with a fine 11-5 home month but an awesome 14-2 road mark to finish in front by 9 games. They were 13-2-3h/12-4-2a in series' during the year. The offense posted the most walks, steals, doubles, 2nd most total bases and runs scored along with being one of three with over 250 dingers and the only team with over 2000 runners on base. That more than made up for a bland pitching staff that was bad on the road but surprisingly had the more overall shutouts than anyone else... In 2nd was Jason Skovran's Legends after a 10-6h & a tidy 13/3a September. In series play they ended up with a 14-3-1h/9-7-2a mark. Their pitching was one of the best and top three in ERA and the offense was also in top third in average. However it was one of two with under 400 walks and apparently not much clutch hitting because it didn't produce all that many runs barely topping 700... In 3rd a whopping 37 games back was Bob Dowrick's Anteaters. They were a horrible 4-12 at home last month and 8-8 away. Overall a 4-12-2h/6-10-2a series mark. Their offense was not pretty. Nobody hit fewer homers, 2nd worst in extra base hits, total bases and drawing walks but they did make contact whiffing less than anyone else. Add in the middle of the road pitching and you get a bad season... Joe Skovran's Bears were 4th, forty games back after their 5-11h/5-11a month. In Series play they posted a not pretty 1-11-6 at home and much better 8-10-0 away. Their offense wasn't bad but not too great either. They hit the ball resulting in less walks than any other team and they hit over 200 homers but didn't score much. Couple that with an awful pitching staff that was 2nd worst in ERA, walked a ton and whiffed not many and you get not many wins... In 6th, a huge 46 games back was Andy Jeschke's Blaze who couldn't be much worse at home with a 1-15 mark and the other side of the world 9-7 away in September. Over the year they were 2-15-1 at home in series play and 6-10-2 away. Their rotation did post a very impressive complete game total that tried to covered up a thin bullpen but still they pitched worse than most in lots of stats. Then we have an offense that finished dead last in average and putting runners on base along with being one of three with over 1400 whiffs and just a tick over 600 runs, which gets you over 100 losses and a good draft slot.

 

WILDCARD: Albuquerque took the #4 seed and were 4 games up on #5 Port St Lucie. Homestead got the #6 slot 9 back of Albuquerque to secure tickets to the playoffs. Just missing out was Cincinnati by only three games. Syracuse collapsed their way to being 8 behind the Grays. All the remaining teams were under 500, almost with equal records and at least double digits behind Syracuse. Ottawa 19 back, Etiwanda 24, Centralia 25, Laurel H'lands 26, Kentucky 27 along with Miami Beach and the Blaze some 33 back.

 

PLAYER STATS: bettsdegromNobody set any new records but I think you can say Mookie Betts (Kno) had quite a season. He was the only 300 hitter, 400 on base guy, only 600 slugging man (by a lot) and the only 1000 OPS batter. Add in finishing 1st in triples, 3rd in RBI and extra base hits, 4th in total bases and top 15 in Homers. Yes indeed an very impressive year. Mike Trout (Alb) for a change was not hindered by being on Albuquerque was 2nd in OBP and OPS, 6th in Slugging, top 15 in RBI, walks, hit by pitcher & homers. Paul Goldschmidt (Alb) was the league leader in RBI and in the top 15 for average, on base, slugging, OPS, extra base hits, hits and was won of the best at hitting in double play. JD Martinez (Ben) has to be noted too for a solid year at the plate. He was 3rd in average, hits and OPS plus 2nd in RBI, top 10 in dingers and also hit into some DP's. Khris Davis (Alb) is one of two with over 50 homers and won that crown. The other one was Max Muncy (Ben). Whit Merrifield (Ben) almost made it to 200 but comfortably was the hit king. He also was tied for the lead in doubles with Alex Bregman (Alb) & Freddy Freeman (Hom). Francisco Lindor (Ott) was the only play to get 100 extra base hits (48/5/47) and he topped the total bases list too. Whit Merrifield (Ben) was not only collecting hits he was stealing bases and was one top man of the three with 50+ steals. Carlos Santana (Hom) far and away the best of the three over 100 in drawing walks. Alex Bregman (Alb) led the slew of Horsemen getting hit by pitches. around at not swinging at balls out of the strike zone. Some things didn't go so good and you don't have to tell Justin Upton (Hom) that. Nobody, of the qualifiers, was worse at getting hits. It wasn't close either. Joey Gallo (Ken), rather handily won his 2nd straight crown at being K'd. The pitchers best friend this year was Manny Machado (Syr) which you don't really have to point that out to me. Carlos Hernandez took home a Dr Stone Glove award..... On the mound Jacob deGrom was pretty special. He won the ERA title by more than a half run, struck out almost 300, had the best K/9 rate of over 11, best in K/BB ratio, tied for the lead in wins, shutouts & probably throwing strikes, using less baseballs and broken bats. Now for the best of the rest, Tanner Roark (Cin) was our WL% champ with a 14-4 mark but Blake Snell (Ben) gave him a good battle at 17-5. Edwin Diaz (WNY) as expected, took home the annual WNY crown for saves. Floro (Cin) was a long way behind him. Come on guess his first name. On the sorry side of this we can clearly see that Dylan Bundy (Bur) was a major contributor to Burnsville's horrible pitching stats. He was worst in ERA, lost more games than anyone and had the worst WL% with a 4-18 record. He was also 2nd in giving up homers. Jhoulys Chacin (PSL) handed out the most walks but Wheeler (Alb), his teammate Greinke and Godley (LHi) all made the top five in walks. All three are named Zack. Finally Floro's first name is Dylan.

 

PAGE TWO: beltmchughNot as much to see here with the expanded leader board but there are some newsworthy things. Jake Lamb (Ben) couldn't get any better as his 1000 average shows. He was 2 for 2. Not bad either for Lourdes Gurriel (Eti) with a 423 on 11/26. His teammate Tim Beckham erased all that good stuff with a 0 for 13 to claim the real worst hitter in the league crown. Brandon Belt (Ben) was the best of those with 100 plate appearances at 36/105 (343). Tyler O'Neill (Bur) had 1 extra base hit in 36 at bats. Jean Segura (Mia) was caught 8 times in 25 steal attempts something than never happened to Adalberto Mondesi (LHi) was a perfect 44 for 44. Trevor Story (Kno) & Scooter Gennett (Alb) both had 10 sac flies. We did have 9 successful bunts (7 Bennett Run) and David Peralta (Ben) plus Yaddy Molina (Hom) had two and if you don't think I remember this, one of them was a squeeze against Syracuse. Yolmer Sanchez (LHi) was best at never going yard in 154 at bats. There were 23 position players never getting into a single game..... On the hill we had 16 undefeated hurlers. Clay Buchholz (Ben) was best with a 10-0 record. Felipe Vazquez (LHi) was at the bottom of that list with a 0-8. Collin McHugh (PSL) was the best of the 50ip guys with a 0.81 ERA on 67ip. Jose Castillo (Bur) had a 0.00 ERA after 3.67ip while Felix Hernandez (Mia) posted a pretty gross ERA of 18.00 on his one inning. Gotta note Kyle Barraclough (Eti) was 2nd worst at 8.68 on his 37.3ip. Dylan Bundy (Bur) stunk it up for 20 complete games. Matt Harvey (LHi) got into 84 games and you wonder why when his stat line shows a 6.81 ERA. There were 11 pitchers never getting into a game.

 

That sums up the stat lines but you can dive in deeper on the STAT page.

 

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