VOLUME:LI ... October 2024
LATEST NEWS
COMMISSIONER NOTES:
The 50th regular season in RCMBA history is over and the playoffs are underway. Looking back on the year, we had two no-hitters both in April. One by Spencer Strider (Atl) vs Lancaster a 12k/1bb game and Michael King (Syr) opened the Syracuse season with a 12k, perfect game. Randy Arozarena (Bur) had record tying 6 hit game ..... We had a tight pennant race in the Harwell division from Albuquerque & Atlanta. The Allen division was even tighter between Bennett Run and Ottawa. It went right down to the final series of the year .... We had 233 games played on-line and 9 played face to face. Those games allowed each manager to see each and every dice roll and make real-time decisions..... APBA release dates are similar to last year. That is, rostered players list around Nov 1st, APBA Go cards around Thanksgiving week, THE Cards first week of January, BBW following week
Hard to imagine 50 years. The Friendships. The competition & fun. The wins and losses. Trades. Draft picks. The time involved. The changes we've been through. The help you've given to other managers needs and to myself. The times spent talking with each other at Lancaster. The sadness regarding those who have passed away. I really can't say enough about how much I enjoy being your Commissioner and I hope you think I've done a good job. Most of all I hope you consider me a friend. Thank you.
HARWELL division: 
Albuquerque took the pennant by four games with an 18-14 (9-7h) final month. Mike Fisher's Horsemen won 98 with 52 at home, 46 away and won 40 games in the division. They had a series record of 11-4-3h/11-5-2a with a run differential of +126 ... Atlanta finished 2nd, four back after closing with a 18-14 (8-8h) record last month. Bob Fenili's Black Crackers 94 wins came from 46 at home, 48 away. In series play they were 10-4-4 home and away. Their run diff was +128... In 3rd, 12 games out was Kentucky as they stumbled into a 13-19 (5-11h) finish. Randy Prichard and his Blue Grass Boppers had 86 wins coming via 43 at home and 43 away. Their run diff was +27 and in series play they were 8-7-3h/6-6-6a.. It was Lancaster, was 17-15 (8-8h) last month and ended up 17 games back in 4th. Doug Burg's Lynx had 81 wins and 42 came at home, 39 away. They were 8-7-3h/7-8-3a in series play and they had a run diff of -8... Uniontown was fifth, 25 games behind after closing with a 14-18 (5-11h) September. Ed Farmer's Raiders won 73 with 34 at home and 39 away. They had a 6-9-3 home series record with a 6-7-5 away. Their run diff was -44.
CARAY division: 
Syracuse wins this division after a going 20-12 (13-3h) ending with and league best 108 wins that came from 61 home & 47 on the road with 50 of their wins in the division. The Blue had monster 15-0-3h series record at home and 10-6-2 away and their run differential was stellar +243 ... Manhattan was second four games back after a insane 25-7 (14-2h) September giving them 104 wins with 55 at home, 49 road and a tidy 52 division wins. Dennis Dvorak's Marauders were 12-2-4h/9-5-4a in series play and their run diff was +229 ... Rochester ended up third, 23 back after a final month of 15-17 (9-7h). Joe Reagan's Robins won 85 with home away split of 49h/36a in wins. Their series record was 11-3-4 home & 6-84 away with a run diff of -8 ... Laurel Highlands ended up fourth some 46 games back after closing with an 11-21 (7-9h) final month that gave them 62 wins via 36 at home along with 26 on the road. Mark Gaudiano's Mustang crew was 6-10-2h/4-11-3a in series play and a dismal -218 run diff ... In last was Philadelphia, a whopping 59 games out. They close with a 9-23 (4-12h) final month to get 26 home, 23 away wins for 49 total. Jeremy Fisher's Quakers series record was 3-13-2h/3-15-0 and a horrifying -377 run diff.
ALLEN division: 
Ottawa was 21-11 (12-4h) last month which gave them the pennant by 2 games. Mark Featherstone's Fat Cats won 89 and 52 came at home, 37 away and picked up 45 division wins. Their series record was 14-2-2h/5-8-5a and had a run differential of +71 ... Bennett Run closed with an 18-14 (8-8h) month ending 2 back after leading most of the year. Ed Morgans' Boilermakers series marks were 7-4-7h/7-7-4a while winning 87 with 45 at home and their run diff was +61 ... Sarasota was 16-16 (6-10h) in September to finish third with 82 wins with 41 at home. Joe Jutzi's BucO's series record was 8-7-3h/6-9-3a and a run diff of +12 ... Burnsville posted a 14-18 (7-9h) month to finish with 27 home wins of their 60 total. Andy Jeschke's Blaze had a terrible series record of 2-11-5h/3-10-5a and a -59 run diff... Iron City was 11-21 (4-12h) in September to end up with 57 wins and 26 came at home. Jim Kockler's Houserockers series record was horrible 1-13-4h/5-10-3a and the run diff was a sad -183.
WILD CARD: 
What a battle for these three playoff slots! Manhattan easily grabbed the #4 seed by 10 games. Atlanta also coasted into the #5 seed by 7 games. The final seed #6 slot had five teams within six games of each other. Bennett Run just barely grabbed the berth by a razor thin single game. Too bad, too sad was Kentucky missing by a game, Rochester 2 out, Sarasota was 5 back and Lancaster 6 out. No other teams were in the mix and or even 500+ records.
TEAM STATS:
Hitting: Syracuse was the only team with 900+ runs, 1400+ hits, the best in average, on-base, slugging, total bases & runners on base. Albuquerque was tops in extra base hits, doubles & ISO%. Atlanta way out in front in triples, steals and the only team with less than 1200 whiffs. Manhattan the only team with over 600 walks. Kentucky batters got hit far more than any others. Bennett Run hit into the fewest doubleplays. Rochester the fewest errors. On the flip side there's this. Iron City was the only team with under 600 runs, the fewest extra base hits and hardly ever tried to steal a base. Philadelphia not only had the worst HR total, they were the only team with under 2000 total bases, had the worst ISO% & they hit into the most doubleplays. Laurel Highlands by over 50 put the fewest runners on base. Uniontown fielders need more practice.
Pitching: Nobody was close to Ottawa for the best ERA. Manhattan best at WHIP, completing games and tossing shutouts. Atlanta had the most K's and Iron City the least. Rochester easily gave up the fewest homers and Philly did that a lot. Bennett Run gave up the most unearned runs. Philadelphia's staff was a disaster. The worst ERA and allowed the most hits, homers, walks. Burnsville allowed 279 runs at home and 383 away.
On-line: We had eight teams play on-line. Some for half the year and one team a single series. Syracuse clearly enjoyed playing on-line posting an over 700% in 63 games. Only other team with 500+ pct was Atlanta by one game. To say Laurel Highlands didn't do well on-line is an understatement but we all know ROLZ is biased against him.
PLAYER STATS: 
I think Shohei Ohtani (Syr) had a nice year. He hit well over 300 and was tops in all four average boards, tops by 14 in rbi, best in homers with 60, the only one with 100+ extra base hits and 400+ total bases. Oh yeah he had a 4.46 ERA winning 9 as a pitcher. Corey Seager (Ben) was tied for 2nd in average with 316 and second in the other three averages. Bo Bichette (Atl) and Ronald Acuna Jr (Atl) were the only others to hit over 300. Acuna was the only one with 200+ hits and top stealer with 80. Isaac Paredes (Alb) finished 3rd in OBP, slugging and OPS. Matt Olson (Bur) and Kyle Schwarber (Ken) collected 50+ homers. Freddie Freeman (Syr) & Luis Robert (Alb) had 50+ 
doubles. Juan Soto (Man) and Schwarber were the only ones with 100+ walks ..... On the mound Zach Eflin (Sar) just beat out Gerrit Cole (Syr) for the ERA crown. Nobody won 20 games but George Kirby (Roc) and Justin Verlander (Man) won 19. Kirby was also best in WL% at 826 (19-4). Spencer Strider (Atl) way more K's than anyone else. Josh Hader (Syr) ended Joe Reagan's consecutive run of Save titles. Gerrit Cole the lowest of three in WHIP under one ..... Not pretty stuff now. Josh Bell (Phi) & Max Muncy (Utw) tied at being horrible hitters. Josh Outman (Lan) almost whiffed 200 times. Xavier Bogaerts (Bur) killed more rallies than anyone else. Bobby Witt Jr (Syr) just disgusting at using his glove/arm. JP Sears (Lan) walked away with the worst pitcher in the league crown although Johan Oviedo (Iro) losing 18 games is notable in badness. Speaking of badness, let me close with Michael Kopech (Phi) who got started 19 games, had an 0-17 WL record and posted an 8.08 ERA.
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Four players hit 500 with less than 4 at bats, Kerry Carpenter (Syr) hit 323 in 155 at bats. At the other end of note is Jose Caballero (Atl) who was 8 for 71 which is 113 and just a hair better was Victor Caratini (Iro) at 116 in 86 ab's. Shohei Ohtani (Syr) scored 140 runs and Nick Allen (Ben) never
did score in 15 games. David Peralta (Utw) got 102 plate appearances and never homered. Tim Anderson (Roc) never had an extra base hit in 12 at bats nor did he walk once. Alec Bohm (Syr) whiffed just 3 times in 40 at bats. Esteury Ruiz (Syr) was a perfect 62 for 62 in steal attempts while Paul Goldschmidt (Lan) was caught stealing in 8 of his 14 tries. Nick Castellanos (Bur) never once got drilled in 547 pa's. Jake Burger (Utw) & Cody Bellinger (Man) had 8 sac flies. Nine players had 1 sac. Zach Neto (Man) never hit into a doubleplay in 190 pa's ..... Justin Topa (Man) had a 9-0 WL record, Michael King (Syr) was 8-0 while as noted above Michael Kopech (Phi) was 0-17. Garrett Whitlock (Atl) had a 10.12 ERA after 10.7ip and at the other end Trent Thornton (Ben) was 1.61 in 28ip. Emilio Pagan (Ben) got in 75 games. Braxton Garrett (Man) completed 7 of his 22 starts. Zach Eflin (Sar) had three shutouts. Brady Singer (Iro) gave up 15 unearned runs in 70ip and Yusei Kikuchi (Ott) the same in 165.7ip. Shelby Miller (Lan) gave up 1 dinger in 38.7ip. Ryan Borucki (Atl) walked 2 in 41ip. Justin Topa (Man) had a 0.63 WHIP in 65.3ip & Garrett Whitlock (Atl) was 2.25 in 10.7ip.
... IMPORTANT DATES ...
- October 5 (Sat): Trading begins
- Jan 31-Feb 2: Lancaster weekend
- February 1: Free Agent Draft (12 noon EST)
- March 15: Opening day
THE SHOW
The 2024 MLB regular season:
- MLB approved the Philadelphia-Kansas City-Oakland A's move to Las Vegas in 2025. They really won't get there until 2028
- Official regular season games were played in South Korea, Mexico and England.
- Three no-hitters by Ronel Blanco (Hou), Dylan Cease (SD) & Blake Snell (SF)
- Four hit for the cycle: Wyatt Langford (Tex), Yordan Alvarez (Hou), Xavier Edwards (Mia) and Weston Wilson (Phi)
- There have been two triple plays in 2024. One by Phillies & one by Padres
- Shohei Ohtani (LAD) becomes first to hit 50 homers & steal 50 bases & now even more of each
- Kyle Schwarber (Phi) 14 leadoff homers set new MLB record.
- Jose Miranda (Min) 12 consecutive hits, tied the MLB record
- Jeremiah Estrada (SD) 13 consecutive strikeouts set an expansion era record
- Tyler O'Neill (Bsx) hit a homer on Opening Day for a record 5th consecutive year
- Ronel Blanco (Hou) opened his career with an expansion era record of 44 batters retired before allowing a hit
- Gunner Henderson (Bal) became the youngest at 22 years to hit 10 homers before May 1st
- Juan Soto (NYY) the fastest at age 25 to collected his 669th walk.
- Aaron Judge (NYY) the fastest to 300 HR in his 955th game breaking the old 1,087 game mark held by Ralph Kiner
- Aaron Judge (NYY) the 5th player with 50+ homers in three seasons
- Danny Jansen (Bsx) became first player to play for both teams in same game due to a suspended game quirk
- Paul Goldschmidt (StL) reached 2,000 hits
- Lance Lynn (StL) & Charlie Morton (Atl) reached 2.000 k's
- Gerrit Cole (NYY) reached 150 wins
- Colorado became first team to get a walk off win due to pitch clock violation
- Chicago White Sox tied AL record of 21 consecutive losses
- Chicago White Sox with 120+ losses set a new standard for stinking up the joint
- Miami used 70+ players
- Tip of the cap to Yankees, Gaurdians, Royals, Tigers, Astros & Orioles.
- More tips for Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers, Padres, Mets & Braves
Sorry to hear about Pete Rose passing away at 83. A real tragedy story that he thought he was untouchable and blew his legacy over gambling. Even sadder that MLB is now in bed with the gambling world of Draft Kings and those exploiters.