Outlaw Single Season Records

Outlaw released single season leader statistics, reaching back to the predecessor 1991 NASBL Cleveland Indians and 1990s San Diego Padres:

Hits:         272  Tony Gwynn      1995
Avg:         .412  Tony Gwynn      1995
Runs:         157  Kenny Lofton    1995
Home Runs:     57  Albert Belle    1999
RBI:          177  Albert Belle    1995
Stolen Bases: 103  Kenny Lofton    1995

Wins:          22  Charles Nagy    1997
Strikeouts:   286  Jake Peavy      2008
Saves:         40  Trevor Hoffman  1997
ERA:         3.21  Mark Langston   1992

Zack Greinke Highlights Griz Award Banquet

The Grundy County Courthouse was the site of the 10th Annual Grizzly’s Awards Banquet. The master of ceremonies was Bob Uecker; and for the first time ever – NASBL Commissioner, Stephen Beard, was in attendance to present Zack Greinke with the LF’s Cy Young Award. The courthouse was filled to capacity as the fans in attendance and the overflow crowd of fans in the courtyard watched on the big screen as Mr. Beard presented Greinke with the trophy.

Greinke’s award was not a given despite being one of several preseason favorites for the award. Griz management made him earn the award by starting 24 of his 33 game assignments on the road. The results included Greinke winning 20 games, a first for a Griz pitcher and the highest season single win tally since Estaban Loaiza’s 14 in 2004. Greinke’s 2.49 ERA bested the Griz’s previous best ERA total by better than a run. The previous best single season mark of 3.54 was set by current teammate, Brian Bannister, in 2008. Greinke also set single season records for strikeouts with 257, which bested Mark Prior’s previous season high of 220 and Greinke’s 9.34 strikeout rate per 9 innings was second only to Prior’s 2004 record of 10.34 strikeout percentage. Grieke’s 2.30 bases on balls per 9 innings was the Griz’s 5th overall lowest single season mark for walks. Greinke’s 2010 winning percentage of .714 easily bested Loaiza’s 2004 .609 wining percentage, and Greinke’s 18 complete games surpassed Mark Buehrle’s 2007 total of 15. Greinke’s 5 shutouts in 2010 bested his previous Griz’s best of 3 that he tossed in 2005. Needless to say, Greinke had a record setting year for the Griz in less than the best circumstances.

Jack Howard, preceded the evening’s highlight presentation made by Beard, by reminiscenceing on the 2010 Griz season and its first NASBL playoff experience. The GM presented the following team awards:

Top Pitcher – Zack Greinke
Silver Slugger – Matt Hoiliday - .322 Average, 21 homeruns, 16 SB
Home Run King – Ryan Howard – 32 Dingers
Fireman – Rafael Soriano 18 saves (traded midseason)
Gold Glove – Nick Punto, and
Most Valuable Player – Zack Greinke

More Bulldog players going on the block

Bulldogs management has informed Matt Kemp, Micheal Young, Ronny Paulino and newly acquired catcher Ramon Hernandez that they will be put on the trading block. The team is said to be looking to get younger by acquiring either younger players or draft picks. When asked about the decision to put them on the block Young said "I knew this was coming when the trades for all these youngs guys started happening." Kemp then chimed in from a few lockers down "Ya I knew I was gonna be put on the block when that jerk owner told me that he just didn't like me and couldn't wait to get me off his team. How could he not like Matt Kemp? Matt Kemp is the greatest player of all time." When team owner Adam Leickel was asked about the move to put these guys on the trading block he answered "We just need to revamp this team. Infuse some youth." When told about Kemp's comments Mr Leickel said "Don't you just love when a person refers to themself in the third person? He just doesn't understand that this game is a team game. He is only out to help himself and I don't want players like that on my team. He can go bring down someone other teams clubhouse."

Top Picks litter Roadkill Roster

You would think a team that has a remarkable 7 former #1 draft picks on the current roster could scratch out better than a .500 record. Soriano, Markakis, Gallardo, Pence, Nolasco, Morales & Wieters were all taken in the 1st rd along with Jurrjens in the 2nd, followed by

Alexei & Wainwright in the 3rd. Only Markakis, Gallardo, Alexei & Wieters were drafted by the 'Kill's crack scouting dept.

The GRK payroll has been taxed as witnessed by the unloading of several high picks in the '11 Rookie Draft (other than their coveted 1st/overall #4). Hopefully the front office will back-check the prospects on their board better than last year's evaluation of the overall #1. Roadkill Nation has not lost faith in "TNBT" and expect Wieters to put up Maueresque #'s now that Buck is leading the O's.

The Roadkill brass plans to hold some preliminary interviews following the Thanksgiving holiday and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has leaked some potential prospects.

Cannibals Bring Home 2nd Title!

Six years after bringing home their first NASBL World Series championship, Stephen Beard's Lake Champlain Cannibals have scratched their way to a second coveted trophy.

Having beaten out Doug Sherlag's Isotopes by the narrowest of margins (1 game) for the Tastes Great Wildcard, Lake Champlain had to run a gauntlet comprised of John Moscariello's Tastes Great South champion New Jersey Trash Heap, Stan Pietruska's powerhouse 99-win Hawaiians, and finally the return of Frank Pennylegion's Seattle Pilots to their 2nd consecutive World Series appearance.

Game 1: LCC's Clayton Kershaw (13-10, 3.75, 257 k's) vs SPL's Felix Hernandez (17-9, 3.56, 210 k's). Seattle took early advantage of Kershaw's characteristic wildness. The NASBL regular-season leader in walks (134) and wild pitches (19) brought both into play early, as Seattle put together four 1st-inning runs on an Ichiro Suzuki double, walks to Willy Aybar, Mark Texeira, Jermaine Dye, and Brendan Harris. Interspersed were a wild pitch that allowed a run, and a Freddy Sanchez single. Lake Champlain answered back with a Curtis Granderson 3-run homerun in the top of the 2nd, but LCC still trailed by a run in the bottom of the 8th. Things got worse when Seattle tallied 3 runs on singles by Texeira, Jack Cust, Jimmy Rollins, and Ichiro (as well as a Rickie Weeks error.) But as they had earlier in the game LCC answered back with the longball in the top of the 9th. With Seattle closer Heath Bell (1-4, 3.38, 25 saves) on the mound, a single by rookie Everth Cabrera drove in fellow rook Garrett Jones, and a JD Drew walk and a Ryan Zimmerman 3-run homer tied the game. But Seattle superhero Joe Mauer (.347/41/110) removed all mystery, hammering the first pitch by Alfredo Aceves for a game-winning homerun. SPL 9 - LCC 8. SPL leads the series 1-0.

Game 2: Injury-prone LCC starter Erik Bedard (2-3, 4.82 in 15 starts) vs Seattle horse and post-season hero Cliff Lee (9-17, 4.95). The normally accurate Lee unaccountably walked two Cannibals in the first, but managed to escape unscathed. However, in the top of the 3rd Lee wasn't as lucky when his control deserted him. Cannibal Juan Pierre slapped a "wild in the zone" triple into the corner, then scored on a rare Cliff Lee wild pitch. As in game 1 though, the Pilots had an answer. A Freddy Sanchez base hit and a David Dejesus walk put two ducks on the pond for Willy Aybar, who obligingly doubled in a run. A walk to MVP candidate Joe Mauer loaded the bags for the Pilots, and a Ryan Zimmerman error allowed 2 more runs to cross the plate. LCC brought the game to within 1 on a Hideki Matsui solo shot in the 7th, then Seattle once again brought Heath Bell on to close out the game. As in game 1, Bell was not equal to the task. Garrett Jones singled, and came all the way around to score the tying run on a JD Drew double. With the game tied in the top of the 10th, LCC was again able to use their footspeed to scratch out another run. Troy Tulowitzki singled, then went 1st to 3rd on another single by midseason acquisition Adam Lind. Tulowitzki scored the go-ahead run on a Brian McCann sac fly. But as in game 1, Lake Champlain's bullpen was unable to close out the game. The Pilots soundly strafed LCC bullpen workhorse Mike Wuertz. A Mark Teixeira walk set the stage for an Aaron Rowand RBI double to tie the game. Then Rowand came around to score the winning run on a Russell Branyan base knock. SPL 5 - LCC 3. SPL leads the series 2-0.

The series shifts to Lake Champlain.

Game 3: Top Seattle offseason acquisition Javier Vazquez (17-10, 3.61, 269 k's) vs LCC's second-year southpaw Jonathan Sanchez (11-6, 4.70, 180 k's.) On paper, Seattle had a big edge in the pitching matchup. But down on the field, the Lake Champlain hitters, charged up by the familiar post-season music (Guns and Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle") were swinging for the fences. LCC struck early and often, tallying 3 homeruns against Vazquez in his 6 innings of work, then adding 2 more longballs against the Pilot pen for good measure. While Seattle also mustered a 2-run shot by Willy Aybar, it was not nearly enough as Lake Champlain cruised to a 9-2 victory and narrowed the Seattle series lead to a single game.

Game 4: King Felix vs LCC forgotten man Randy Wolf (10-7, 6.08). Mothballed for most of the postseason, Wolf and his ability to control opposing left-handed bats were summoned for a rare playoff start. The well-rested Wolf did not disappoint. LCC hitters gave their southpaw hurler an early 4-0 lead on a pair of 2-run homers by Garrett Jones and Ryan Zimmerman, and Wolf made it stand up with a complete game featuring 8 scoreless innings, and marred only by a 9th inning Jermaine Dye solo shot. LCC 4 - SPL 1, series tied at 2-2.

Game 5: Two lefties locked horns, with veteran Cliff Lee facing off against 2nd year man Clayton Kershaw. Seattle drew first blood for the first time in The Jungle, as uber-hitter Joe Mauer went yard in the top of the first. This touched off a see-saw affair hugely reminiscent of the game 1 and 2 back and forth battles. Lake Champlain's JD Drew hammered a solo shot in the 2nd to tie the game, and the Cannibals (temporarily) seized the lead in the 3rd on a 2-base Jermaine Dye error on a Tulowitzki flyball, followed by an RBI double by former long-time Pilot Paul Konerko. But Seattle tied the game up in the 6th on a brace of doubles by middle-infield duo Brendan Harris and Freddy Sanchez. The lead though was short-lived. Another Konerko double, followed by a homerun from backup Cannibal catcher Henry Blanco put LCC in front for the briefest of moments. Another homerun by the amazing Joe Mauer in the 7th, and a bases-loaded RBI walk by pinch hitter Mike Lowell against Cannibal ROOGY Jason Frasor had the game tied. But the balance shifted yet again in the bottom of the 8th, as a Brian McCann walk, a Rickie Weeks RBI triple, and a Ryan Zimmerman sac fly provided the final margin of victory. LCC 6 - SPL 4, Lake Champlain leads the series 3 games to 2.

The series again shifts, this time back to the west. Seattle manager Frank Pennylegion states "we need a miracle now," while Lake Champlain skipper Steve Beard is quoted as saying "It worries me that the home team has won every game so far. A couple of days ago, I liked it. Now, not so much..."

Game 6: Bedard vs Vazquez. The Pilots' offense takes off quickly with an Ichiro leadoff single. And as always, Joe Mauer is operating well at altitude. The Seattle slugger slams a 2-run blast to give the Pilots an early lead in this critical game. Vazquez controls the Lake Champlain bats until the 5th inning, when a Rickie Weeks homerun (his 3rd of the series) ties the game at 2. As in Game 5 though, Seattle has an immediate answer. Brendan Harris singles, and David DeJesus doubles. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Pilot leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki does what he does best, guiding a 2-run single over the heads of the infielders and just in front of the oncoming Curtis Granderson. Lake Champlain then unleashes a barrage of baserunners in the top of the 6th. Three singles, two walks, and a big 3-run double by Hideki Matsui score four runs for the Cannibals, giving LCC a 2-run lead. But again the resilient Pilots have an answer. Cleanup hitter Mark Teixeira leads off the bottom of the 6th with a solo shot that brings the Pilots within a run, before Aaron Rowand walks and goes 1st to 3rd on a Russ Branyan single before scoring to tie the game on a Freddy Sanchez sac fly. LCC is not done though. In the top of the 7th, a Garrett Jones leadoff double keys yet another 4-run rally, putting LCC up by 4 with 3 to play. Yet again, Seattle immediately responds with the stick. A Ronnie Belliard single and a (guess who) Joe Mauer triple score a run, and Mauer scores a second run on a Teixeira groundout. Amazingly though, these 7th and 8th runs are all the Pilots are destined to get on this night, and in this postseason. Four LCC relievers are able to close out the 8th and 9th innings, giving Lake Champlain the 10-8 victory and the World Series victory, 4 games to 2.

While congratulations go out to Frank Pennylegion on his excellent job guiding his Seattle Pilots to their 2nd consecutive World Series appearance, the 2010 NASBL World Series champions are... The Lake Champlain Cannibals!

My 2 cents-- 2010 NASBL Year in Review

Today we look at the TG Division. Next week LF Division.

Taste Great Division
EAST
HHA 99-63 Captured the East Crown for the 3rd time in the last 4 years with a record of 99-63. HHA lead the NASBL in hitting with a team BA of .296! DH M. Tejada lead the team and was 3rd in the league with a .347ba. Trader Stan did another outstanding job in the 2010 Draft pulling off trades that landed the Andrew (Brothers)- CF Andrew McCutchen
.297ba, 79r, 17hr, and Closer in waiting Andrew Bailey 9-4 23sv, with a 2.03era. To top it off with HHA 1st Rd pick they got ROTH contender 1B Kendry Morales .288ba, 382b, 38hr, 117rbi who lead the team in HRs and RBIs.

LCC 94-68 After kissing their sister two out of the last 3 years (granted a very good-looking sister with 94 and 97 wins and still missing the playoffs) the Beard-man made all the right moves to just get into the Tourney. LCC was second with a team BA of .280. This years success was made possible with the trades made last year acquiring SS-Troy Tulowitzki
.289ba, 86r, 33hr, 102rbi & 3B Ryan Zimmerman .276ba, 95r, 31hr, 97rbi. LCC has their ROTH candidate in OF/1B Greg Jones who hit .338ba, 26hr & 66rbi. Clayton Kershaw 13-10, 375era & Edwin Jackson 13-10, 4.87 each lead the starters while Jose Valverde 4-4-24 sv, 3.12era and CJ Wilson 5-2-12sv, 3.01era anchored the bullpen.

SPR 93-69 After another great season SPR was 5th with a Team BA of .270, lead the league in steals with 191 ROTH candidate Niger Morgan hit .302, 79r and lead the league in SB with 62 while Jacoby Ellsbury was 2nd with 52. Adam Dunn had a .267ba, .400ob, 98r, 39hr, 102rbi was 2nd in HRs & BBs. The pitching was 2nd in the league with a team ERA of 4.16, had a 20 game winner in CC Sabathia 20-8, 4.09era. The bad news is SPR plays in the toughest Division in NASBL and their 93 wins left them 1 game behind LCC for the playoffs. If someone understand how Doug Sherlag feels is Mr. Beard himself!

ILl 91-71 What a year the Chows had plus 12 in wins from 2009 to 91, however like Mr. Burns team in Springfield will just miss the playoffs. The strength of the Chows is definitely their pitching which they lead the league in team era of 3.84 and 14 team SH! CY candidates Brian Anderson (20-5, 3.07era), and Chris Carpenter (17-8, 3.30era) lead the staff with ROTH candidate Randy Wells (15-8, 3.0era). Closer Joe Nathan (1-5, 2.62era) had lead leading 44 saves. The Chows achilles heal was their hitting with Todd Helton's .288 lead the team. Carlos Pena only hit .213 however hit 35hr, 99rbi and Hanley Ramirez hit .290ba, 84r, 23hr, 90rbi. Look Brad to add some sticks with all that pitching!


SOUTH
NJt 79-83 It came down to the last week of the season and the Heap prevailed by 1 game to win the South over defending Champ OJW. The Heap had a team BA of .261 (11th) and the offense was lead by MVP Candidate 1B Joey Votto .334ba, 76r, 422b, 29hr, 77rbi, and OF'er Nick Swisher .233ba, 82bb, 27hr, 88rbi Past MVP Champ Alex Rodriquez struggled at the plate with a .236ba, 21hr, 65rbi. NJT was 3rd in the NASBL with a 4.21era. CY Candidate Tim Lincecum lead the way going 19-8, 2.81era and league leading 22 CG! Chad Billingsley (no relation to Leave it to Beaver's Mom Barbara) was 16-12, 3.85era. The Trash Heap lead the league with 74 Complete Games-- 21 games better than the NY Knights.

OJw 78-84 After winning the NASBL Crown last year Mark Hildenbart's Outlaw's fell 1 game short of making the playoffs this year. A look inside the numbers can reveal the difference in the 2 seasons. OJW favorite son Manny Ramirez lead the team LY with a .321ba, 98r, 38hr, 114rbi, had an injury plague year with a .240ba, 16hr, 52rbi, while Ryan Ludwich had a .271ba, 94r, 35hr, 86rbi down to .278, 17hr, 78rbi. Pitching was the big difference in OJW success. Last year Jobe Chamberlain had a 'Superman' season going 14-2, 2.11era in middle relief. This season as a starter he had a devil of a time going 4-14, 6.66era. Ryan Dempster went from a 21-7, 3.11era to 11-10, 4.67era. Scott Baker had a break out year oin 20-8, 4.22era.

GRk 73-89 Just 2 seasons removed from a 91 win season, Johnny Miller had the Road Kill just 6 games out of 1st behind NJT. Granted their record was 73-89 this season but to see where the Road Kill came from in 2009 a year which saw 116 loses, they are headed in the right direction! Matt Wieters the Over all #1 pick in 2010 was everything he was advertised hitting .290, 9hr, 40rbi just 282 ab. Working towards rebuilding for 2011 Miller made key trades acquiring RF Hunter Pence and future Closer Rafael Soriano. GRK also need to have bounce back seasons from OF Alex Rois and SP Yovani Gallardo. If they can do that then Trader Johnny will have the Road Kill on the right track!

LVi 69-93 Just 2 seasons removed from a 96 win Division Winning season LVI finished 10 behind NJT. Just like the GRK above LVI finished 51-111 in 2009 and made an 18 game improvement to go 69-83. Kevin Burns needs Albert Pujos to continue to play at his MVP form again after hitting .299, 103r, 512b, 37hr, 127rbi. 3B Evan Longoria needs to live up to all the press he received a couple of seasons ago. LVI hopes his bat catches up with his wonderful fielding at third! 2B Robinson Cano looks to have a breakout season in 2011! Kevin Burns will look to the draft and thur making trades (aka like the one which brought Pujos over to LVI) to rebuild the Iron Pigs to their winning form.

Who will go #1 in the 2011 Draft?

With DFW having the #1 pick in the 2011 NASBL Draft now comes the speculation who will it be. "There are several players that could step in and help us right away said Skipper Red Robbins. You can never have enough pitching and last year DFW had a league worst team era of 5.11. Starting pitchers like Mat Latos and Clay Buchholt are just two names that are high on our list. DFW hasn't had a Ace pitcher in years. It would be nice to have a Zack Greinke or Tim Lincecum type just to name a couple. Last year we rolled the dice on some veteran pitchers like Aaran Harang (4-14, 6.16), Brad Penny (7-10, 5.40) and lefty Andy Pettitte (8-16, 5.66) and came up snake eyes. Rookies Ross Ohlendorf (12-10, 5.22 ) and Chris Volstad (2-12, 6.51) had on the job training as they were thrown into action. The kids have some upside so we will see if they can continue their improvement next season.

Milton Bradley (.208ba 5hr 23rbi) and retiring Ken Griffey Jr (.124ba 6hr 9rbi) had career lows and one of the reasons DFW only scored 704 runs and hit a league worst 147 hr. Youngsters like OF'ers Jason Heyward and Mike Stanton and 1B/C Buster Posey are names high on the Draft list for the Spurs. The Draft is like a little kid in a candy store-- he likes and wants all the flavors, however he only gets to choose 1. Right now DFW needs a lot of candy, huh I mean players!