Monday, October 25, 2010

Fear the Beard, er King????




Hollywood California press release: Grundy County Grizzlies relief pitcher Brian Wilson has recently taken to letting his facial hair grow and painting it black. It is rumored that he will be playing the role of King Leonidas in the remake of 300 coming out next fall. Filming will occur during the NASBL offseason and should not interfere with his pitching duties.

NASBL Final Four!  Hawaiians, Cannibals, Grizzlies, Pilots.


The news is in. The paradoxically underdog Pilots (79-83 regular season, yet holders of the first round home field advantage against Bill Anderson's 84-78 wildcard Pocono Chin Music) will advance to the Less Filling Championship series. Pennylegion's Pilots defeated PCM 4 games to 1 in the Less Filling Division Championship series. The Pilots dominant with their pitching, posting a team ERA of 2.94. Seattle's starters were tough, as both Cliff Lee (1-0, 1.76) and Javier Vazquez (1-0, 2.00) went the distance. Lee's complete game was a series-clinching shutout in game 5. But the Pilot pen was equally as powerful, winning two 1-run games including a 16-inning marathon that showcased both young horse starter Felix "The King" Hernandez (an amazing 11-inning start) as well as the depth of Seattle's relief corps (5 scoreless innings). Nor did the Pilots offense lack for stars. Two Seattle hitters, Aaron Rowand (.571 in 21 ab's) and Mike Lowell (.524 in 21 ab's) tallied base hits in more than half of their ab's, while Russell Branyan showed impressive muscle with 3 homeruns.


Seattle will move on to face Jack Howard's Less Filling Central champion Grundy County Grizzlies (87-75). The Grizz, led by Cy Young Award contender Zack Greinke (20-8, 2.49, 257 K's) hope to use the post-season to showcase the powerful group of arms that held NASBL hitters to a league-low .252 batting average, while a potent middle of the order (4 hitters above .280/20/70 - Matt Holliday, Kevin Youkilis, Miguel Cabrera, and Ryan Howard) hopes to light the fireworks on a few big innings.


Meanwhile, in the Tastes Great, 94-win wildcard Lake Champlain also downed their opponent in 5 games. While John Moscariello's New Jersey Trash Heap jumped out to an early 1-0 series lead behind the strong pitching of Tim "The Freak" Lincecum, after that it was all Cannibals. Never strong in the starting pitching department, LCC rode big performances from their strong and varied bullpen to two extra-inning 1-run wins before ace middle-reliever (if there is such a thing) Mike Wuertz (8-5, 3.99, 98 k's in the regular season) earned the deciding Game 5 win with an impressive 2-1/3ip, no-hit, 4 k performance.


Lake Champlain advances to face Stan Pietruska's powerhouse Honolulu Hawaiians (99-63). Honolulu rode the best batting average in the league (.296) and the 5th best pitching staff in the league (4.28 team ERA) to the best regular-season win total in the league. HHA's bullpen of Rookie of the Year candidate Andrew Bailey (9-4, 2.03, 23 saves) and all-time NASBL saves leader Mariano Rivera (4-1, 2.06, 10 saves) will ensure that the Cannibal pen does not present an advantage to Lake Champlain.

Reality Imitates Strat or Strat Halucinations

Sitting in the aftermath of the NLCS and as a lifelong Phillies fan, this article is painful to write. I have been playing strat since the 1980's and have been a Phillies fan since earlier than that. I have had strat teams that won 120+ games and lost 105 games and everything in the middle. I have seen things which defied explanation and statistics as we all have.

I have come to expect the unexpected in the NASBL feeder program known as Major League Baseball. There were a couple of situations that I had to see what the strat probabilities were.

The first situation was in the top of the 7th inning in game 5. The Phils had 1st and 3rd with one out. Ross Gload was at the plate batting against Tim "hit me again" Lincecum. Ross Gload lined out to 1b Aubrey Huff who stepped on 1st for the double play. Lincecum does not have a natural double play on his card vsL while Gload does have a line out max at 1-12 vsR. This likelihood equates to 0.46% chance. As it turns out, this play did not affect the outcome of the game, but nevertheless it was quite unlikely.

The second situation was in the bottom of the 8th inning in game 6 with the Phils trailing 3-2 in both the game and the series. Lincecum did not toke up enough prior to entering the game and retired only one of the first three batters he faced. In comes closer Brian Wilson with one out, men on 1st and 2nd with Carlos Ruiz at the plate. In a disappointing turn of events, Ruiz hits a screaming line drive to 1b Aubrey Huff who then throws to second to complete the double play. Wilson does not have any double plays on his card vsR and Ruiz has only one on his card at 2-2 vsR. This equates to the same 0.46% chance as the previous game.

This is the point where my knowledge of strat allows me to not damage my television by throwing beer at it. I have been involved in series' and games like this while playing and know that these outcomes should be expected almost as much as a Ryan Howard strikeout with the game on the line. I am happy to report that life continues as before, but I am now officially counting down the days until spring training starts next year.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Chows add 2nd Ramirez - Look to Make More Moves

Illinois Times - The Chows now have an all Ramirez left side of the infield. A-Ram comes to Illinois via Springfield and will add some power to the middle of the order. "We need to score more runs and add some pop. When healthy, A-Ram is a presence in the middle of the order. Anytime you can get someone like this without giving up one of your key cogs, you have to give it a shot."

Illinois traded Ryan Raburn and a 7th to get A-Ram.

Chows on the Block

The Chows look to make a few more moves before the season starts.

Outfielders for Sale: Take your pick - Left, Right or Center. Willingham has a fantastic OPS this season and can solidify an lineup. Fukudome is a solid on-base RF and figures to be a 2 with a negative arm again. Pagan can man CF for you and be a real asset against RHPs.

Prado : Not much to say here - one of the top 2B cards in the deck. Can also play some 3B for you. Sherlag still believes in Beckham making Prado someone the Chows might be willing to deal.

Swing Man - Playoff Starter: Duensing can do it all, start for you, be a big innings eater in the bullpen. His ERA and WHIP are outstanding. Look at the low HR he gives up.

Bullpen Arms: McClellan came into his own this year and can be a great 8th inning guy for you. O'Flaherty can help you neutralize those TGE bats.

Pudge: A decent amount of ABs and OK production against LHP

Figgins: Bounceback potential here

We are looking for primarily players but wouldn't mind making room for one more player on the roster.

Monday, October 18, 2010

A Tale of 2 Seasons

The 2010 NASBL Season will go down as one of the most exciting seasons ever. However 1 team wasn't counting the days they were counting the number of outs left. That team was DFW. Dallas Morning News beat writer Ima Dumbas wrote 'Our National Nightmare is finally over'. 'The Spurs management has driven this organization into the ground the last couple of years. They over estimated the talent 2 years ago and under estimated the talent (or lack of) this year. They got to old, to fast with the retirement of Barry Bonds and the lack of production this season from Milton Bradley and retiring Spurs hero Ken Griffey Jr. The Spurs could play long ball with any team in years past and now they are getting out HR'ed by 100, actually 239 to 147. Six different pitchers had Double Digits wins....'NOT'!... that were loses. Rookie Ross Ohlendorf was 12-10, 5.22era was the bright spot of the pitching staff while rookie Chris Volstad was 2-12, 6.51era, veteran Aaron Harang was 4-14, 6.16era, Andy Pettitte was 8-16,5.66era, Brad Penny was 7-10,5.40era, and Jeremy Guthrie was 10-11, 5.56era............see why the 101 loses!! Now after writing all that how in the hell did Brad Penny and K. Kawakami combine for the a Perfect Game?????? The Spurs better clean house from top to bottom and it might start with Redd Robbins'! When Robbins was asked if he thought Dumbas was right or wrong? He said Dumbas was wrong. When ask why? Robbins said, 'He [Dumbas] spelled my name wrong; there is only 1 'd' in Red' !

IronPigs Welcome Bulldogs to the NASBL Family

IronPigs management is pleased to welcome fellow Pennsylvanian Adam Leickel to the NASBL family. General Manager Leickel brings a dynamic trading presence to the league that is only equaled or surpassed by NASBL's own "Trader Stan". History suggests NASBL will provide Adam a more difficult time with his "turn over the entire roster monthly" concept of team management. The current Las Vegas betting line features both the Bulldogs and Hawaiians. Currently the bookmakers have the following NASBL odds (all values are for deals made prior to December 31, 2010 at midnight):

5 - Over/under for the number of Bulldog trades
7 - Over/under for the number of Hawaiian trades
2 - Over/under for the number of trades involving Bulldogs and Hawaiians
11.5 - Over/under for the number of trades involving either Bulldogs or Hawaiians
0 - Over/under for the number of trades made by Bulldogs involving quality starting pitching

Fans, Knights Players React to Franchise Move to Slatington, PA

(New York Daily Mirror - October 18, 2010)

NEW YORK - The NASBL Commissioner's office formally announced earlier today that the New York Knights, after playing for ten years in one of the largest and most baseball-savvy cities in the world, will be moving to the tiny burg of Slatington, Pennsylvania and become the Slatington Bulldogs.

For those who don't know, Slatington is a borough of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (also home of the NASBL's Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs) and is located about 15 miles northwest of Allentown, PA. The municipality has a total area of 1.4 square miles and its total population in 2000 was 4,434 - the equivalent of about two full 10-car subway trains in Manhattan. It was founded in the early 18th century and at one time was one of the chief suppliers of slate stone (hence the name) in Pennsylvania.

Without question, the move is a shrewd one by new Knights/Bulldogs owner Matt Eddy. By moving to a tiny town in Pennsylvania and escaping the harsh glare of the New York media spotlight, Eddy will be able to tear down the Knights and create the Bulldogs pursuant to his own vision in relative obscurity.

Knights fans were, by and large, unconcerned with the move, knowing from experience that it was inevitable. Messages left on the club's soon to be closed Facebook site included the following publishable missives in a family paper: "Good riddance" from John in Queens; "So long, losers" from Albert in the Bronx and our personal favorite, "Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya" from Ira in Staten Island.

Reached at his Texas home earlier today by WFAN radio in New York, former Knights captain Michael Young was optimistic about the move, but less so on his future with the Knights. "I see it as a positive," Young told the FAN's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts this morning. "There's no question that playing in New York is a high pressure job and comes with great expectations. If you have the words "New York" on your uniform, you know you have to perform every day. Unfortunately, we didn't do well for our fans in New York, but I'm hoping they all know that we tried. Things just didn't break our way." Asked about his possible future as a Bulldog, Young was realistic. "I'm 34 years old now and I'm sure Matt's going to want to go with younger players. I'm okay with that. I really enjoyed my time as a Knights and I'm looking forward to the rest of my career. I'm pretty sure that I can still help a contender somewhere if Matt decides to go in another direction."

Matt Cain enjoyed a bounceback season under Eddy's stewardship, winning 15 games with a 3.94 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 2010, one of four Knights hurlers to win at least 13 games this season. Cain was excited about the move to Small Town USA. "I admit, I felt a lot of pressure to be a staff ace after I was drafted #1 a couple of years ago. No disrespect to Mitch, but once he was gone, I felt like I could just be myself." He was also optimistic about the prospect of being a major cog in a formidable rotation."Mitch tried to build a top rotation a few years ago but that failed. I think he left us in a great position now, though, with Josh (Johnson), Lester and myself. I think the fans in Slatington are going to love us."

Much like they did when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, Knights fans are losing the franchise just when it seems to be on the verge of becoming something special. Dodger fans in Brooklyn cheered on the Bums for 70 years but enjoyed just one championship, in 1955. But within ten years of moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers had won three more, including a sweep of the hated Yankees in the 1963 Fall Classic. Knights fans weren't looking for a dynasty, just a playoff spot. Now it looks like they will have to become Bulldog fans to get their wish.

New City and Team Name Announced for the Former NYK Team

New York may be a little upset to find out that their beloved Knights will be moving out of town. The Lehigh Valley though was thrilled to find out that another team was moving into the area. The new city is just a stones throw away from the Lehigh Valley's Pig Pen Stadium in a little town called Slatington. They will be called the Bulldogs and will play in the Dog Pound.

Due to rebuilding the first few year the Bulldogs bark will be much worse than it's bite, but management has made a commitment to it's fans to be competitive in a very short time. Trades will be made and the scouting department will have their nose to the grindstone to find the best talent in the draft to make the Bulldog bite feared throughout the league.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Cannibals Extend LCS Lead to 2-0


Down 1 game to 0, Hawaiian skipper Stan Pietruska attempted to right the ship by sending his best groundball and control pitcher, Joel Pineiro (14-10, 3.72, only 38 walks and 25 HR in 240 ip) to the bump.

Once again, speedy LCC leadoff hitter Nick Johnson rang the bell early, this time with a wall-ball double to center. He advanced to 3rd on an Adam Lind single, then scored on a Garrett Jones groundout. LCC added a 2nd run in the inning on a Ryan Zimmerman sacrifice fly.

Unlike in Game 1, the Hawaiians had an answer to the early LCC outburst. Homeruns by sluggers Jayson Werth and Kendry Morales (combined 72 regular-season HR) tied the game at 3-3 in the 7th.

With all-time NASBL saves leader Mariano Rivera on the mound in the 8th, things seemed promising to the Hawaiian hometown faithful. But rookie of the year candidate Garrett Jones (.338/28/66) was able to jerk a Rivera cutter down the line for a crowd-quieting go-ahead homerun.

Equine Mike Wuertz again went multiple innings (2-2/3 ip, 1 hit, 4 k's), but allowed the tying run on base in the form of a 2-out Casey McGehee double before handing the game over to ROOGY Jason Frasor. Frasor was left in the unenviable position of facing Hawaiian uber-pinch-hitter Miguel Tejada (.347/10/81). Tejada stroked a single to center, and the game devolved down to one split-throw, with McGehee running on the pitch and Cannibal CF Curtis Granderson coming up throwing. With McGehee potentially safe 1-18, and McGehee, the ball, and Brian McCann all seemingly occupying a tiny slice of the plate at an identical point in time, when the dust of the home-plate collision settled, the home crowd was stunned to see the umpire's thumb up in the air and the baleful glare of a "20" on the split die.

LCC 4 - HHA 3, Lake Champlain leads the series 2 games to 0.

Cannibals Take LCS Opener vs HHA


Despite the 5,792 road trip (2,756 of which were over water, and hence not strictly speaking "road trip" miles), the Lake Champlain Cannibals started the first inning of their first playoff game in 6 years in fine form.

With Hawaiian hurler Justin Verlander (15-14, 4.72, 273 k's) taking the Honolulu hill in Game 1, Cannibal hitters knew they needed to get to the "normally gets stronger as the game goes on" horse early. Lake Champlain leadoff hitter Nick Johnson took his pre-game instructions most literally, as he jumped on the first pitch and took it out of the tidy Hawaiian yard for a 1-0 LCC lead.

The Cannibals never looked back, adding a 3rd-inning run on an Adam Lind RBI double, and 2 more runs in the 4th on a Ryan Zimmerman 2-run blast.

Erik Bedard (2-3, 4.82) went 5 scoreless innings for the win before giving way to horse-faced workhorse Mike Wuertz (8-5, 3.99, 98 k's). Wuertz pulled the plow for 3 innings, punching out 7 Hawaiians before delivering the package to Jose's Valverde and Mijares, who closed out the 9th on the 5-2 Cannibal win.

LCC leads the LCS 1 game to 0.

Friday, October 8, 2010

LCC Tradewire

Completing the TG East Tradewire postings, here are LCC's guys on the block:
Rick Porcello: 21 year had a 1.159 WHIP in the 2nd half last year. Was very hit-unlucky in the 1st half, so he's more of a back-end guy for NASBL 2011. But as the 3rd youngest player in Major League Baseball, there's not much downside to stashing a power groundball arm of this quality and potential.
Edwin Jackson: Another youngster (26) with a usable innings-eating card in NASBL 2011 (200+ IP, 181 K's, so-so 4.47 ERA), but a big 2nd half (3.24 ERA / 1.213 WHIP after returning to the AL) showed Edwin was happy to be back in the junior circuit.
Ben Sheets: Cheap. For anyone who thought LCC got a steal when they got Sheets for a 12th rounder last year, here's your chance. Offer me a 12th rounder and he's yours.
Juan Pierre: The Thief set a career MLB high with 68 sb's this year, and had 25% more SB's than anyone else in baseball. In the right hands, there's no reason The Thief couldn't add a 4th 100+ SB / 90+ runs scored season to his NASBL resume.
Randy Wolf: reverse-lefty inning-eater, (216 ip / 34gs / 4.17 ERA.) No great shakes, but would be an adequate #4, especially in the right ballpark.
LCC would like to perhaps trade the potential of a Porcello and/or Edwin Jackson for a more finished product (finished like Johan Santana's shoulder, for example) that could help fuel a 1-year playoff return for the Cannibals.
The Thief might be traded for a DH or outfielder with more traditional LCC-style pop (Jim Thome and near look-alikes, this means you).
Inquire within.
Steve
LCC

SPL 6 PCM 00




Strat-O-Matic Report






BOXSCORE: 2010 Seattle Pilots At 2010 Pocono Chin Music 10/10/2010

Pilots AB R H RBI AVG Chin Music AB R H RBI AVG
I.Suzuki RF 4 0 0 0 .269 M.Diaz RF 4 0 2 0 .500
P.Polanco 2B 4 0 0 0 .333 A.Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 .261
J.Mauer C 3 2 3 0 .222 P.Fielder 1B 4 0 3 0 .333
M.Teixeira 1B 3 1 1 0 .333 B.Zobrist 2B 4 0 0 0 .261
R.Branyan DH 4 1 2 4 .368 D.Young LF 3 0 0 0 .250
M.Lowell 3B 5 1 3 0 .524 T.Hunter CF 3 0 0 0 .190
D.Dejesus LF 5 1 1 0 .217 M.Montero DH 3 0 0 0 .316
A.Rowand CF 5 0 4 2 .571 B.Molina C 3 0 1 0 .167
J.Rollins SS 5 0 0 0 .042 B.Inge 3B 3 0 0 0 .000
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 38 6 14 6 Totals 31 0 6 0


Pilots.......... 0 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 - 6 14 0
Chin Music...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 1

Pilots (4-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
C.Lee WIN(1-0) 9 6 0 0 0 6 0 1.76 A1
Totals 9 6 0 0 0 6 0

Chin Music (1-4) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
K.Correia LOSS(0-1) 6 11 6 5 4 5 1 6.00 A1 D6
B.Ziegler 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 D7 E4
D.Meyer 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 E5
Totals 9 14 6 5 5 7 1

ATTENDANCE- 45,446 DATE- Sunday, October 10th 2010 TIME- Night
T- 2:55
LEFT ON BASE- Pilots:12 Chin Music: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Pilots: 2 Chin Music: 0
ERRORS- A.Cabrera
DOUBLES- M.Lowell(1st), M.Diaz(2nd)
HOME RUNS- R.Branyan(3rd)
SACRIFICE FLIES- R.Branyan
WALKS- P.Polanco, J.Mauer-2, M.Teixeira-2
HIT BY PITCH- I.Suzuki
STRIKE OUTS- I.Suzuki, P.Polanco, R.Branyan-2, D.Dejesus, A.Rowand, J.Rollins,
A.Cabrera, B.Zobrist, D.Young, T.Hunter-2, B.Inge
GIDP- A.Cabrera, B.Zobrist

Cliff Lee delivered 9 solid innings as the Seattle Pilots defeated the Pocono
Chin Music by a score of 6 to 0 at Thunderdome.

Pocono was unable to recover after Seattle went ahead in the top of the 2nd
inning scoring 2 runs on 3 hits. After an out was recorded, Mike Lowell
initiated the scoring spurt when he stroked a single. David Dejesus stepped
up to the plate and he laced a base-knock, and an error was also committed.
Aaron Rowand then laced a one-base hit. That early run support was enough
for Lee(1-0) and Seattle. Seattle banged out 14 hits on the night.

Kevin Correia(0-1) was the losing pitcher. He was unable to control the
Seattle offense and allowed 11 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings.

'Lee pitched a gem of a game', Bill Anderson, Jr. recounted. 'He kept our
batters off balance the entire game.'








SPL 5 PCM 4




Strat-O-Matic Report






BOXSCORE: 2010 Seattle Pilots At 2010 Pocono Chin Music 10/9/2010

Pilots AB R H RBI AVG Chin Music AB R H RBI AVG
I.Suzuki RF 8 0 3 1 .318 M.Byrd RF,LF 4 2 3 1 .444
P.Polanco 2B 8 0 1 1 .400 C-P.Janish SS 2 0 0 0 .000
J.Mauer C 7 0 0 0 .067 S.Podsednik LF 4 0 1 0 .182
M.Teixeira 1B 6 1 1 0 .333 A-R.Winn RF 3 0 0 0 .000
R.Branyan DH 5 1 0 0 .333 B.Zobrist 2B,LF 6 0 0 1 .316
M.Lowell 3B 4 0 3 1 .500 P.Fielder 1B 6 0 1 1 .235
D-E.Dukes PR 0 1 0 0 ---- T.Hunter CF 7 0 0 0 .222
E-B.Harris 3B 2 0 0 0 .000 A.Cabrera SS,2B 6 1 4 0 .316
D.Dejesus LF 7 1 3 1 .222 M.Montero DH 5 0 2 0 .375
A.Rowand CF 6 0 3 1 .500 J.Carroll 3B 2 1 1 1 .125
J.Rollins SS 7 1 1 0 .053 B-B.Inge 3B 2 0 0 0 .000
F-M.Diaz PH 1 0 1 0 .500
B.Molina C 6 0 1 0 .133
G-O.Cabrera PH 1 0 1 01.000
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 60 5 15 5 Totals 55 4 15 4

A-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Podsednik In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Carroll In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Byrd In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Ran For Lowell In 9th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Dukes In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Inge In 16th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Molina In 16th Inning

Pilots.......... 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 5 15 1
Chin Music...... 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 15 0

Pilots (3-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
F.Hernandez 11 9 4 4 3 7 0 3.93 A1 E8
D.Wheeler 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 9.00 E9 F7
S.Camp WIN(1-0) 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 F8 G4
H.Bell SAVE(2nd) 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 G5
Totals 16 15 4 4 4 8 0

Chin Music (1-3) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
D.Haren 8 5 2 2 3 6 1 2.77 A1 D4
T.Hoffman BS(1st) 2 4 2 2 1 1 0 6.00 D5 E6
B.Ziegler 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 E7 F5
L.Gregerson 3 2 0 0 1 2 0 2.84 F6 G7
A.Laffey LOSS(0-1) 0 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 6.75 G8 H1
T.Coffey 0 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.86 H2
Totals 16 15 5 5 6 9 1

ATTENDANCE- 47,822 DATE- Saturday, October 9th 2010 TIME- Night
T- 4:44
LEFT ON BASE- Pilots:13 Chin Music:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Pilots: 2 Chin Music: 2
ERRORS- B.Harris
DOUBLES- M.Teixeira(2nd), D.Dejesus(2nd), M.Byrd-3(3rd), A.Cabrera-2(2nd),
M.Montero(2nd)
TRIPLES- D.Dejesus(1st)
HOME RUNS- D.Dejesus(1st)
STOLEN BASES- M.Teixeira(1st), S.Podsednik(3rd)
CAUGHT STEALING- M.Lowell
SACRIFICE HITS- P.Janish, J.Carroll
SACRIFICE FLIES- B.Zobrist, P.Fielder
WALKS- J.Mauer, M.Teixeira, R.Branyan-2, B.Harris, A.Rowand, A.Cabrera,
M.Montero-2, B.Inge
STRIKE OUTS- P.Polanco, J.Mauer-2, M.Teixeira-2, R.Branyan, D.Dejesus, A.Rowand,
J.Rollins, B.Zobrist-2, P.Fielder, T.Hunter, B.Inge, B.Molina-3
GIDP- P.Polanco, J.Mauer, P.Janish, J.Carroll
WEB GEMS- Bot 13th: Joe Mauer blocked the plate, saving a run!

David Dejesus connected with a 'big fly' as the Seattle Pilots topped the
Pocono Chin Music in 16 innings by a score of 5 to 4 at Thunderdome.

Both teams were tied at 4 runs apiece after nine innings. Seattle ended up
winning it in the 16th inning. After an out was recorded, Jimmy Rollins
slapped a base-hit. Ichiro Suzuki stepped up next and he delivered a single.
Placido Polanco then laced a single. Joe Mauer came up and he grounded into
a double play. Both teams finished the game with 15 hits.

Shawn Camp(1-0) got the win allowing no runs in 2 innings. Heath Bell earned
his 2nd save. The losing pitcher was Aaron Laffey(0-1) in relief.









SPL 6 PCM 2




Strat-O-Matic Report






BOXSCORE: 2010 Seattle Pilots At 2010 Pocono Chin Music 10/8/2010

Pilots AB R H RBI AVG Chin Music AB R H RBI AVG
I.Suzuki RF 5 0 1 0 .286 S.Podsednik LF 4 0 0 0 .143
P.Polanco 2B 4 0 1 0 .583 A.Cabrera SS 4 0 1 0 .154
J.Mauer C 4 0 0 0 .125 B.Zobrist 2B 4 1 1 1 .462
M.Teixeira 1B 3 2 2 1 .444 P.Fielder 1B 3 1 1 1 .273
R.Branyan DH 4 2 3 1 .500 T.Hunter CF 3 0 0 0 .364
M.Lowell 3B 4 0 1 0 .417 M.Montero DH 3 0 0 0 .364
D.Dejesus LF 4 1 1 1 .091 J.Carroll 3B 3 0 0 0 .000
A.Rowand CF 4 1 2 2 .500 R.Winn RF 3 0 0 0 .000
J.Rollins SS 4 0 0 1 .000 B.Molina C 2 0 0 0 .111
A-M.Byrd PH 1 0 0 0 .200
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 36 6 11 6 Totals 30 2 3 2

A-Pinch Hit For Molina In 9th Inning

Pilots.......... 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 6 11 0
Chin Music...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 2 3 0

Pilots (2-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
J.Vazquez WIN(1-0) 9 3 2 2 0 9 2 2.00 A1
Totals 9 3 2 2 0 9 2

Chin Music (1-2) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
T.Hunter LOSS(0-1) 6 2/3 9 5 5 0 2 1 6.75 A1 D2
A.Laffey 2 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 1 3.86 D3
Totals 9 11 6 6 0 2 2

ATTENDANCE- 45,644 DATE- Friday, October 8th 2010 TIME- Night
T- 2:41
LEFT ON BASE- Pilots: 4 Chin Music: 1
DOUBLE PLAYS- Pilots: 0 Chin Music: 1
DOUBLES- P.Polanco(1st), D.Dejesus(1st)
TRIPLES- A.Cabrera(1st)
HOME RUNS- M.Teixeira(1st), R.Branyan(2nd), B.Zobrist(2nd), P.Fielder(1st)
HIT BY PITCH- M.Teixeira
STRIKE OUTS- R.Branyan, J.Rollins, S.Podsednik, A.Cabrera, B.Zobrist,
T.Hunter-2, M.Montero, J.Carroll-2, R.Winn
GIDP- D.Dejesus
BALKS- T.Hunter
WILD PITCHES- T.Hunter
WEB GEMS- Top 1st: Randy Winn robbed Joe Mauer of an extra base hit.

Javier Vazquez took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and Russell Branyan lofted
one into the 'cheap seats' at Thunderdome as the Seattle Pilots beat the
Pocono Chin Music 6 to 2.

Vazquez(1-0) was simply too much for the Pocono batters. He gave up just 3
hits and no walks in 9 innings and surrendered 2 'round-trippers'. The
right-handed Vazquez lost his no-hit bid when Ben Zobrist homered with two
outs in the 7th inning. Seattle banged out 11 hits on the night.

The loss was charged to Tommy Hunter(0-1). 'When Vazquez is on like that it
is a tough game to play, no doubt about it,' Bill Anderson, Jr. said. 'He
always pitches well against us.'








Thursday, October 7, 2010

Lincecum K's 15 Cannibals in TG Division Opener


St Albans Messenger, 5 October 2010

In front of a sellout Junkyard crowd of over 49,000 screaming TrashHeap fans, 25 year old NASBL strikeout leader and NJT ace Tim Lincecum (19-8, 2.81, 290 K's) took the hill to face yet another hard-throwing recent 1st-round selection, LCC's 21 year old Clayton Kershaw (13-10, 3.75, 257 K's.)

Though billed as a pitcher's duel, the matchup started out as a one-sided affair. The Freak, as the lanky dope-farming NJT ace is known, seemed a little tense on the mound. Cannibal 5-hole hitter JD Drew shook off the Heap faithful's chants of "Nancy! Nancy!" with a 2nd inning leadoff double, and scored on a Brian McCann single to give LCC a 1-0 lead.

Following a scoreless frame by Kershaw, Lake Champlain scored 2 more runs on a Luis Castillo single and a Garrett "GI" Jones homerun.

In the 4th, LCC again used the longball to post a crooked number. This time a Brian McCann single was the duck, and a Ryan Zimmerman bomb was the noise that chased him from the pond.

But it was at this critical juncture, with LCC leading 5-0, that Veeck-like NJT GM John Moscariello came on the jumbotron and announced that Lincecum was looking like he needed a toke. In a scene straight out of Cheech Marin's fondest dreams, several thousand bong-wielding NJT fans obligingly charged the New Jersey dugout and provided first aid to the tightly-wound Heap pitcher.

From then on, things went up in smoke for the Cannibals. Lincecum settled in, striking out 10 Cannibis....errrrr....Cannibals in his final 5 scoreless innings of work.

Meanwhile, Lake Champlain starter Clayton Kershaw's season-long control problems (league-leading 134 walks) were manifesting themselves. In the bottom of the 4th Kershaw allowed a Joey Votto single, then walked 4 Heap hitters (Howie Kendrick, Chris Iannetta, Nick Swisher, and Ben Francisco), losing the shutout and leaving the bases saturated for Jason Frasor against Brad Hawpe. Frasor kept the game close by inducing an inning-ending 4-3 double play.

The Heap hung another deuce on the scoreboard in the 5th, this time on back-to-back-to-back hits (a Johnny Damon double, followed by RBI singles from Heapers Ian Kinsler and Joey Votto). NJT added single digits in both the 6th and 7th on a Brad Hawpe double plating JJ Hardy and a Mike Wuertz wild pitch scoring the unlikely drawee of 2 walks, Howie Kendrick (only 13 BB's in 287 regular season pa's).

The 6th run was enough for Lincecum, as his velocity, morale, and everything else remained high through the end of the game.

NJT 6 - LCC 5, New Jersey leads the series 1-0.

[1]BOXSCORE: 2010 Lake Champlain Cannibals At 2010 New Jersey Trash He 10/5/2010

[1] Cannibals AB R H RBI AVG Trash Heap AB R H RBI AVG
N.Johnson 1B 4 1 1 0 .250 A.Gonzalez SS 2 0 0 0 .000
T.Tulowitzki SS 3 0 0 0 .000 A-B.Hawpe PH,RF 3 0 1 1 .333
G.Jones LF 4 1 1 2 .250 R.Roberts LF 1 0 0 0 .000
A.Lind DH 4 0 0 0 .000 C-J.Damon PH,LF 3 1 1 0 .333
J.Drew RF 4 1 1 0 .250 I.Kinsler 2B 4 1 2 0 .500
B.McCann C 4 1 2 1 .500 J.Votto 1B 4 1 2 1 .500
R.Zimmerman 3B 4 1 1 2 .250 H.Kendrick DH 2 2 0 0 .000
C.Granderson CF 4 0 1 0 .250 A.Rodriguez 3B 3 0 0 0 .000
L.Castillo 2B 3 0 0 0 .000 C.Iannetta C 2 0 1 0 .500
D-S.Schumaker PH 1 0 0 1 .000
E-Y.Torrealba C 0 0 0 0 ----
N.Swisher RF,CF 3 0 0 1 .000
B.Francisco CF 1 0 0 1 .000
B-J.Hardy SS 1 1 0 0 .000
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
[1] Totals 34 5 7 5 Totals 30 6 7 5

A-Pinch Hit For Gonzalez In 4th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Francisco In 5th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Roberts In 5th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Iannetta In 7th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Schumaker In 8th Inning

Cannibals....... 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 5 7 0
Trash Heap...... 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 0 - 6 7 0

[1]Cannibals (0-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
C.Kershaw 3 1/3 3 2 2 5 3 0 5.40 A1 B9
J.Frasor 1 2/3 3 2 2 0 1 0 10.80 C1 C7
E.Jackson HOLD(1st) 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 C8 C8
G.Gonzalez 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 ---- C9 C9
R.Wolf BS(1st) 0 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 D1 D2
M.Wuertz LOSS(0-1) 2 1/3 0 1 1 2 3 0 3.86 D3
[1]Totals 8 7 6 6 8 7 0

[1]Trash Heap (1-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
T.Lincecum WIN(1-0) 9 7 5 5 1 15 2 5.00 A1
[1]Totals 9 7 5 5 1 15 2

ATTENDANCE- 49,082 DATE- Tuesday, October 5th 2010 TIME- Night
T- 2:41
LEFT ON BASE- Cannibals: 3 Trash Heap: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cannibals: 1 Trash Heap: 0
DOUBLES- J.Drew(1st), C.Granderson(1st), B.Hawpe(1st), J.Damon(1st)
HOME RUNS- G.Jones(1st), R.Zimmerman(1st)
STOLEN BASES- T.Tulowitzki(1st), J.Votto(1st)
WALKS- T.Tulowitzki, R.Roberts, H.Kendrick-2, A.Rodriguez, C.Iannetta,
N.Swisher, B.Francisco, J.Hardy
STRIKE OUTS- N.Johnson-2, T.Tulowitzki, G.Jones-2, A.Lind, J.Drew-2, B.McCann,
R.Zimmerman-3, C.Granderson, L.Castillo-2, B.Hawpe, J.Votto-2,
A.Rodriguez, C.Iannetta, N.Swisher-2
GIDP- B.Hawpe
WILD PITCHES- J.Frasor, M.Wuertz
WEB GEMS- Bot 1st: J.D. Drew robbed Howie Kendrick of an extra base hit.

Tim Lincecum mowed down 15 Lake Champlain batters as the New Jersey Trash Heap
beat the Lake Champlain Cannibals by a score of 6 to 5.

Lincecum(1-0) was very good in the win. He allowed only 7 hits and 1 walk in
9 innings and surrendered 2 'long-bombs'. New Jersey and Lake Champlain each
finished the night with 7 hits.

Mike Wuertz(0-1) took the loss in relief. Lincecum was pleased with his
performance. He noted, 'I had good zip on my pitches. Just as important, my
location was right on. The fans really got into the game too - that always
helps me. Now, if I can only do that again in my next outing.'