NASBL Base Non-Playoff Draft Order

After overusage calculations, the NASBL base draft order (for all rounds except rounds 3 and 4) will be:


1. Illinois Chow Chows
2.  Seattle Pilots
3.  Shawnee Crows
4.  Pocono Chin Music
5.  Canyon Country Cannons
6.  Slatington Bulldogs
7.  Georgia Roadkill
8.  Outlaw Josey Wales
9.  Lake Champlain Cannibals
10.  Grundy County Grizzlies

OUTLAW CAREEER BATTING LEADERS

HITS

1. 2474, Manny Ramirez, 1995-2011
2. 1879 Omar Vizquel, 1996-2011
3. 1631, Albert Belle, 1994-2001

BATTING AVERAGE
(3000 AB)

1. .360, Tony Gwynn, 1994-2000
2. .301, Kenny Lofton, 1993-2001
3. .299, Manny Ramirez, 1995-2011

HOME RUNS

1. 564, Manny Ramirez, 1995-2011
2. 380, Albert Belle, 1994-2001
3. 202, Adrian Gonzalez, 2007-2016

RUNS BATTED IN

1. 1604, Manny Ramirez, 1995-2011
2. 1156, Albert Belle, 1994-2001
3.   769, Adrian Gonzalez, 2007-2016

STOLEN BASES

1. 613, Kenny Lofton, 1994-2001
2. 395, Omar Vizquel, 1996-2011
3. 199, Elvis Andrus, 2010-2016

OUTLAW'S TEHERAN SHARES TASTES GREAT WINS CROWN

In his first season with the Outlaw Josey Wales, Julio Teheran wildly exceeded expectations and shared the Tastes Great wins crown with Springfield's Jake Odorizzi with 18 games won.

Julio Teheran left Clayton Kershaw, Jake Arrieta, Cory Kluber, Chris Sale, teammate Carlos Carrasco, Johnny Cueto, and Gerrit Cole all eating his dust in the wins department.

Just how did a pitcher with a 4.04 MLB ERA, a 4.84 NASBL ERA, and a card resembling the firebombing of Dresden win more games than any other Tastes Great pitcher not named Jake Odorizzi while playing for a sub-.500 team in the bottom half of the league in runs scored?

1)  There's something to be said for taking the mound as often as possible.  With 33 starts, Teheran took the mound slightly more than once every five games.

2)  Earn a decision in a freakishly high 88% of his starts.  Julio earned 29 decisions in 33 starts. Pitching a respectable, but not outstanding, 5 2/3 innings per start certainly contributed to the high decision rate, but it doesn't explain it all.  Chalk up some dumb luck here.

3)  Get run support.  NASBL teams scored an average of 4.46 runs per game.  The Wales averaged only 4.44 runs per game, but when Teheran took the mound Outlaw scored a blistering 5.12 runs per game.  Chalk some of this up to dumb luck, but credit some of it up to Outlaw management making sure key batters played during Teheran's home starts after noticing his unexpected block I success.

4)  Have a wildly unbalanced card.  With a 40% on-base, 56% slugging and 5.7% homerun rate, the left side of Teheran's card does resemble the firebombing of Dresden.  But the right side is actually respectable with 20% on-base, 22% slugging, and 2.0% homerun.  While a highly unbalanced starting pitcher card is normally considered a disadvantage, Outlaw management noticed this right away and avoided starting Teheran against teams with strong left-handed lineups as much as possible.

5)  Luck.  More luck.  Dumb luck.  Smart luck.  All kinds of luck.

Haymakers Excited to Return to the Playoffs

Troy, NY:  The city is a buzz with playoff fever.  The crowds are cheering loudly, fans running the streets waiving their banners and even the mayor has declared a city holiday.  Yes it's true, the hometown Haymakers are back in the playoffs.

   The team was able to sneak out a last minute two game win on the wildcard over rival Grundy County.  The Grizzlies had a great season, lead by a strong pitching staff and superior defense. Their 96 win season would have been enough to make it in the menial Tastes Great division, where a number of teams had down years.
   As for the Haymakers, this is their first time back in the playoffs since their division winning season back in 2013 where they finished with an identical 98-64 record.  This will Troy's fourth playoff appearance since their inaugural season in 2007 as they go after their first NASBL championship. 
  The Haymakers began the year with the second pick of the draft, and eyeing a rebuild for the 2017 season, drafting a number of young bats and arms such as Aaron Sanchez, Rasial Iglesias, Yasmany Tomas, Jung Ho Kang and young superstar Kris Bryant.  These young players fit well into what already was a group of young sluggers and anchored by ace Madison Bumgarner.  There was promise, but the team was still lacking, especially in the pitching staff.  But after the end of the second block, GM Ken Anderson saw an opportunity and was able to trade for Sonny Gray as a compliment to ace Bumgaerner and stock the bullpen with good complements to lefty Andrew Miller by adding Mark Melancon and Carson Smith.
    Pitcher Gray was great down the stretch, going 9-2 in twelve starts while boasting 1.74 ERA.  The only possible negative is will be bounce ace and 20 game winner Madison Bumgarner in game one of the playoffs against Vermont.  New bullpen arms allowed the weaker back of the rotation to pitch shorter, which was evident by Smith and Melancon pitching a combined 68 innings down the stretch.  The five "nasty boys" of the pen will provide a lot of insurance for the games not pitched by Gray and Bumgarner.

 Possible rookie of the year Kris Bryant motorized the offense for Troy, belting 31 homers and driving in 104 runs while playing solid defense at thirdbase and rightfield.  But the leader and spark-plug of the offsense was centerfielder A.J. Pollock, who played gold glove defense in center hit .316 on the season with 59 extra base hits and stole 33 bases.

Even with all that talent, the Haymakers face a number of tough challenges for the NASBL crown.  They face the Fighting Souix in the first round of the playoffs, who won 100 games thanks to a balanced offense and a strong bullpen.  Their rotation is solid as well, fronted by ace Matt Harvey, the great Jon Lackey and longtime Pilots ace Felix Hernandez. It is going to prove to be a great matchup.

 Should Troy be lucky enough to make it past Vermont, they will still need to face the defending champion Spurs and their powerhouse offense led by Bryce Harper, who will no doubt be the league MVP. Harper won the Less Filling triple crown, hitting .334 with 51 home runs and driving in 128.  Not to be outdone, the Spurs also have ace lefty Dallas Keuchel, who will most likely win the Less Filling Cy Young, going 23-6 with a 2.82 ERA.

What's worse, Troy would still need to play the championship series against the Tastes Great winner if they get lucky enough to go to the finals.  It's going to be a long, fun road to the fans in the upcoming weeks.

BUILDING THE WALES

Every year I like to look at how I got my keepers.  No surprise here that most of Outlaw's 2016 keepers came from the draft.  Of the 18 keepers (including 1 IR player), nine are former first round Outlaw draft picks, three are former Outlaw 2nd round draft picks and one is a former Outlaw third round draft pick.  Only five came in trades.  Here are the keepers ordered by years of Outlaw service:

Tim Hudson, 16, 2000 1st round
Jake Peavy, 12, 2004 2nd round
Adrian Gonzalez, 9, 2007 1st round
Dustin Pedroia, 8, 2008 1st round
Elvis Andrus, 6, 2010 1st round
Nelson Cruz, 6, 2010 1st round
Matt Kemp, 5, 2010 postseason trade for 2011 1st round
Yan Gomes, 2, 2014 1st round
Zack Wheeler (IR), 2, 2014 2nd round
Jake McGee, 2, 2014 minor trade
Lonnie Chisenhall, 2, 2014 trade for Christian Yelich
Albert Pujols, 2, 2014 trade for Mike Napoli
Carlos Carrasco, 1, 2015 1st round
Billy Hamilton, 1, 2015 1st round
J.D. Martinez, 1, 2015 1st round
Javier Baez, 1, 2015 2nd round
Nick Castellanos, 1, 2015 3rd round
Julio Teheran, 0, 2015 postseason trade for Craig Kimbrel

Rizzo's 3-run Walk-off in the 11th wins it for Archer and the Spurs, 6-3!

[1]BOXSCORE: 2016 Lake Champlain Cannibals At 2016 Dallas Ft Worth Spu 8/18/2016

[1]  Cannibals          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Spurs              AB  R  H RBI AVG
  B.Miller SS         4  0  0  0 .202     J.Harrison DH       3  0  0  0 .225 
D-T.Tulowitzki SS     0  0  0  0 .273   C-J.Jaso PH,DH        1  0  0  0 .275 
  J.Kipnis 2B         5  1  2  0 .283     A.Hicks RF          5  1  2  1 .293 
  C.Yelich LF         5  0  0  0 .231     A.Ellis C           2  0  0  0 .268 
  F.Freeman 1B        4  1  0  0 .276   A-B.Harper PH,LF      2  1  1  1 .330 
  J.Turner 3B         4  0  2  0 .301     C.Maybin LF         4  0  0  0 .256 
  M.Betts CF          5  0  2  2 .235   B-B.Crawford SS       1  1  1  0 .236 
  Y.Grandal C         5  1  1  0 .214     A.McCutchen CF      5  1  4  1 .294 
  J.Pederson RF       3  0  0  0 .164     T.Frazier 3B        5  1  1  0 .239 
  S.Souza DH          2  0  0  1 .198     C.Joseph 1B,C       3  0  0  0 .222 
                                        E-A.Rizzo PH          1  1  1  3 .272 
                                          M.Gonzalez SS,1B    4  0  1  0 .243 
                                          B.Phillips 2B       4  0  1  0 .330 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
[1]         Totals      37  3  7  3                 Totals      40  6 12  6

A-Pinch Hit For Ellis In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Maybin In 9th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Harrison In 10th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Miller In 11th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Joseph In 11th Inning

Cannibals....... 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0  0 2 -  3  7  0
Spurs........... 0 0 0  0 0 1  0 0 0  0 5 -  6 12  0

[1]Cannibals (51-56)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Happ                    7 1/3   6   1   1   3   1   1   5.47  A1 D2
H.Strickland              1 2/3   1   0   0   0   2   0   4.81  D3 D8
J.Soria                   1       0   0   0   0   2   0   3.05  D9 E2
R.Osuna LOSS(3-3) BS(4th) 0       5   5   5   0   0   2   2.82  E3
[1]Totals                   10      12   6   6   3   5   3

[1]Spurs (89-48)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Archer WIN(10-11)      11       7   3   3   4  14   0   3.87  A1
[1]Totals                   11       7   3   3   4  14   0

ATTENDANCE- 33,880 DATE- Tuesday, August 18th 2016 TIME- Day
T- 3:18
LEFT ON BASE- Cannibals: 7  Spurs: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cannibals: 1  Spurs: 1
DOUBLES- M.Betts(14th), Y.Grandal(13th), B.Crawford(28th)
HOME RUNS- A.Hicks(12th), B.Harper(44th), A.Rizzo(24th)
RBIs- M.Betts-2(46th), S.Souza(20th), A.Hicks(32nd), B.Harper(112st),
      A.McCutchen(77th), A.Rizzo-3(95th)
STOLEN BASES- B.Phillips(13th)
CAUGHT STEALING- M.Gonzalez
SACRIFICE FLIES- S.Souza
WALKS- B.Miller, J.Turner, J.Pederson, S.Souza, J.Harrison, A.Ellis, C.Joseph
HIT BY PITCH- F.Freeman
STRIKE OUTS- B.Miller-2, C.Yelich-4, F.Freeman, M.Betts, Y.Grandal-2,
             J.Pederson-2, S.Souza-2, J.Jaso, A.Hicks, B.Harper, C.Joseph,
             M.Gonzalez
GIDP- B.Miller, C.Maybin
WILD PITCHES- C.Archer
RLISP 2-out- A.Hicks, S.Souza, C.Maybin, M.Gonzalez, Y.Grandal
TEAM RISP- Cannibals: 1 for 4  Spurs: 2 for 8

Chris Archer struck out 14 batters as the mighty Dallas Ft Worth Spurs topped
the Lake Champlain Cannibals in 11 innings by a score of 6 to 3 at Turnpike
Stadium.

Both teams had scored 1 runs after nine full innings.  Dallas Ft Worth was
victorious in the 11th inning.  The key offensive moment was provided by
Anthony Rizzo who thrilled the crowd when he lofted a three-run bomb.  Dallas
Ft Worth managed 12 hits in their victory. 

The winning pitcher was Archer(10-11) who allowed 3 runs for the game. The
loss was charged to Roberto Osuna(3-3) in relief. 

Archer 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.'
   

Freeman & Miller lead LCC over DFW, 12-3.

[1]BOXSCORE: 2016 Lake Champlain Cannibals At 2016 Dallas Ft Worth Spu 8/17/2016

[1]  Cannibals          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Spurs              AB  R  H RBI AVG
  B.Miller SS         5  2  3  1 .212     J.Harrison DH       4  0  1  0 .230 
  J.Kipnis 2B         5  1  1  0 .282     A.Hicks RF,CF       5  0  0  0 .290 
  C.Yelich LF         5  2  2  2 .234     C.Maybin LF         3  0  0  0 .258 
  F.Freeman 1B        5  2  3  3 .280     A.Ellis C           4  1  2  1 .273 
  J.Turner 3B         4  0  2  1 .298     A.McCutchen CF      3  1  1  1 .289 
  M.Betts CF          4  1  0  0 .232   A-D.Mesoraco PH       1  0  0  0 .118 
  Y.Grandal C         4  1  1  1 .214   B-J.Heyward RF        0  0  0  0 .300 
  J.Pederson RF       3  1  0  0 .165     A.Rizzo 1B          3  0  1  0 .271 
  S.Souza DH          5  2  1  4 .202   C-C.Joseph PH         1  0  0  0 .230 
                                          T.Frazier 3B        4  1  1  0 .239 
                                          M.Gonzalez SS       4  0  1  1 .243 
                                          B.Phillips 2B       4  0  2  0 .331 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
[1]         Totals      40 12 13 12                 Totals      36  3  9  3

A-Pinch Hit For McCutchen In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Mesoraco In 9th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Rizzo In 9th Inning

Cannibals....... 2 0 1  5 0 0  4 0 0  - 12 13  0
Spurs........... 0 2 0  0 0 0  0 0 1  -  3  9  1

[1]Cannibals (51-55)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
G.Gonzalez WIN(8-7)       8 1/3   9   3   3   2  10   2   5.43  A1 D9
D.Pomeranz                0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   2.73  E1
[1]Totals                    9       9   3   3   2  11   2

[1]Spurs (88-48)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
M.Leake LOSS(11-11)       3 1/3   7   6   5   2   1   2   4.49  A1 C1
C.Allen                   0 1/3   2   2   2   0   0   0   2.87  C2 C5
J.Alvarez                 2 1/3   1   1   1   0   4   0   2.78  C6 D4
R.Madson                  1       2   3   3   3   2   1   3.38  D5 E3
X.Cedeno                  1       0   0   0   1   1   0   1.91  E4 E8
F.Rivero                  1       1   0   0   0   1   0   0.65  E9
[1]Totals                    9      13  12  10   6   9   3

ATTENDANCE- 25,999 DATE- Monday, August 17th 2016 TIME- Day
T- 3:44
LEFT ON BASE- Cannibals: 9  Spurs: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cannibals: 0  Spurs: 1
ERRORS- T.Frazier
DOUBLES- B.Miller-2(5th), C.Yelich-2(17th), F.Freeman(18th), J.Turner(20th),
         A.Rizzo(40th), T.Frazier(25th)
HOME RUNS- F.Freeman(14th), Y.Grandal(9th), S.Souza(6th), A.Ellis(6th),
           A.McCutchen(28th)
RBIs- B.Miller(6th), C.Yelich-2(38th), F.Freeman-3(41st), J.Turner(48th),
      Y.Grandal(30th), S.Souza-4(19th), A.Ellis(21st), A.McCutchen(76th),
      M.Gonzalez(27th)
WALKS- B.Miller, C.Yelich, M.Betts, Y.Grandal, J.Pederson-2, J.Harrison,
       C.Maybin
HIT BY PITCH- J.Kipnis, J.Turner
STRIKE OUTS- B.Miller, J.Kipnis, C.Yelich-2, J.Turner, Y.Grandal, J.Pederson-2,
             S.Souza, J.Harrison, A.Hicks-3, C.Maybin-2, A.Ellis, A.McCutchen-2,
             T.Frazier, B.Phillips
GIDP- S.Souza
WILD PITCHES- C.Allen
2-out RBI- F.Freeman-2, J.Turner, S.Souza-4
RLISP 2-out- M.Betts-2, T.Frazier-2, A.Ellis-2, C.Yelich, J.Pederson, A.Hicks
TEAM RISP- Cannibals: 6 for 15  Spurs: 2 for 7
WEB GEMS- Bot 3rd: Mookie Betts robbed Brandon Phillips of an extra base hit.
          Top 9th: Aaron Hicks robbed Steven Souza of a Homerun!

Gio Gonzalez whiffed 10 batters and Freddie Freeman lofted one into the 'cheap
seats' and had 3 RBI at Turnpike Stadium where the Lake Champlain Cannibals
beat the Dallas Ft Worth Spurs 12 to 3.

Freeman had a big day at the plate. He clubbed a two-run home run in the 1st
inning, lined a base-hit resulting in a run in the 3rd inning and doubled in
the 7th inning.  Lake Champlain ended up with 13 hits for the game while
Dallas Ft Worth had 9. 

Gonzalez(8-7) got credit for the victory, pitching 8 and 1/3 innings and
allowing 3 runs. Mike Leake(11-11) was tagged with the loss.  He allowed a
few too many baserunners giving up 7 hits and 2 walks in 3 and 1/3 innings.

Red Robbins was impressed with Gonzalez and his 10 strikeouts.  'It's tough to
generate runs if you can't make contact with the ball.'