GYBL

Pitching Leaders: BDSL Record

Wins Stieb, LLG 20 Andujar (1982) 29

K’s Gooden, BCB 202 Soto (1982) 309

ERA Berenguer, TBB 2.36 Andujar (1982) 1.78

BA Berenguer, TBB .200 Boddicker (1983) .191

CG Stieb, LLG 11 Andujar (1982) 21

Shutouts 4 players tied 3 Andujar (1982) 10

Saves Corbett, SDA 36 Holland (1983) 44

Holds 3 players tied 16 Scherrer (1983) 25

July

Our top 3 stories for July are as follows:

(3) Thanks to double-digit loses for 2 straight months (12 and 10) by Fuller and 37 wins (19 and 18) over the same period of time by Chicago, we now have a race for the best record in the BDSL. Chicago has made up 8 games over the last 2 months as they close the gap to just 3 games. What’s happening in Fuller you ask? Well, the problem for the Furies isn’t in Fuller it has been on the road. Over the 1^st 2 months of the season the Furies were 19-6 on the road, but over the last 2 months they are just 13-14 while Chicago was 18-8 on the road. Fuller seemingly has the best record in the BRL locked up with a 12 game lead over Columbia (2^nd best record in BRL), but if their road woes continue it places even more importance on the best record overall for that home field advantage in a potential World Series appearance. It should also be noted that the team with the home field advantage has won both of the 1^st two World Series.

(4) The best trade deadline deal? Based more on the seemingly overall team impact rather than individual stats of the player in question … we have to go with Barnett picking up Richard Dotson for a draft pick. Dotson pitched well as he started 6 games and have a 3.12 ERA but was only 3-2. However, Barnett did win 4 of 6 if his starts and appears to have gotten the shot in the arm they needed wining 19 games after a disastrous June (11-15). Even more dramatic is Barnett’s team ERA for July was 2.89 after sporting a 4.03 ERA prior to the trade. The 19 wins pulled them to within ½ game of a wildcard spot. Also adding Dotson to a staff that already had Alejandro Pena and John Denny will make them a formable playoff opponent if they do grab that last spot.

(5) Welcome to the party Toronto! The Crown Royals have quietly won 30 games over the past two months and are now with 4 games of a wildcard spot. Why is being 4 games out of a playoff spot significant? This is the 1^st time in franchise history that this club is in a playoff race this late in the season. At this point in the season in 1982 the club then playing in Emerald City was 32 games under .500 and 18 ½ games out and then in Toronto in 1983 they were 20 games under .500 and 12 games out. Unfortunately, the previous ownership had a tough initial draft which left current owner Tony G with a tough starting point. However, thanks to the long ball (111 homeruns and 7 players with double-digit homers) Tony G seems to have this team pointed in the right direction.

Batting Leaders:

BA Leonard , ORP .362

HR Murphy, WLK 30

RBI Armas, KST 86

Runs Murphy, WLK 85

Hits Wilson, VVK 138

OB% Murray, SSJ .425

SLG Murphy, WLK .617

SB Raines, BCB 49

Pitching Leaders:

Wins Stieb, LLG 16

K’s Gooden, BCB 162

ERA Beattie, ORP 2.10

BA Berenguer, TBB .197

CG Andujar, CLS 8

Shutouts Smithson, CHO 3

Saves Corbett, SDA 27

Holds Johnson, DDD 16

June

Our top 3 stories for June are as follows:

(6) For the past 2 months we have been following the competiveness of the Alston Division, but now the Anderson Division has taken over. Currently the Bays hold the top spot with Thunder Bay holding a .003% lead at 43-33 over Bay City who own a 45-35 record. Both teams have been very consistent so far with Thunder Bay winning 15-14-14 games and Bay City winning 15-15-15 games. Thanks to a 19 win month, Palm Beach has moved within 1 ½ games of the lead while Sleepytown makes it 32 wins in 2 months after starting the season with only 7 wins to finish the month 4 games out. The four team race was foreshadowed by the Preseason Power Index which had all 4 teams within 4 games and 2.46pts of each other. It was Sleepytown that got the nod in the preseason, but they currently have the most work to do to take the division crown.

(7) The WJL finishes the 1^st half of the season with 8 of the 10 teams sporting a +.500 record. All 8 teams are within 4 games of a playoff spot. Only Savannah and London are on the outside looking in on the fun. In June, 7 of the 8 teams had solid months with the lone exception being Barnett Shale who went 11-15 and might be the 1^st team to drop from the race if they don’t recover in July. Who will be left standing come October? This is a tough one but our best guess is that the 4 playoff teams for the WJL will be Chicago, Oregon, Thunder Bay and Bay City. It is really tough to write off Sleepytown, Decatur and Palm Beach but here is our thinking. Decatur is having a great season, but we aren’t willing to believe that our preseason prediction of #17 could be that far off. Palm Beach who went from 9 wins in May to 19 wins in June seems a little too inconsistent for the long haul. Sleepytown was the toughest decision and we only excluded them since they have 4 games to make up and several teams to climb over.

(8) Other than Fuller’s dominance we really haven’t talked much about the BRL. However, there were some interesting happenings in the BRL with Fuller heading the list. The Furies won only 14 games in June, they are human? LaGrange posted 15 wins to tie Columbia for the wildcard spots. Columbia is sitting at 4 games over .500 which really seems to be under achieving for a team we predicted to finish #2 overall. New York City wins 14 for the 2^nd month in a row and takes over the Division lead seemingly fully recovered from a disastrous April.

Batting Leaders:

BA Leonard , ORP .402

HR Murphy, WLK 25

RBI Armas, KST 65

Runs Sandberg, FLF 68

Hits Gwynn, SSJ 107

OB% Matthews, LLG .460

SLG Leonard, ORP .664

SB Raines, BCB 40

Pitching Leaders:

Wins Stieb, LLG 13

K’s Gooden, BCB 138

ERA Nipper, FLF 1.92

BA Valenzuela, TBB .199

CG Rhoden, NYC 6

Shutouts Smithson, CHO 3

Saves Moore, DDD 22

Holds Johnson, DDD 15

May

Our top 3 stories for May are as follows:

(9) Last month we highlighted the early success of Decatur as they won a surprising total of 17 games in April. They cooled a bit in May but still won 12 games while losing only 11 and are tied for the division lead in the Alston Division. The Alston Division is shaping up as the toughest division as on a combined basis the teams in the division have a .540 winning %. Chicago and Decatur sit a the top with .569 winning %’s and right behind them only a ½ game back is Barnett Shale at .565%. After winning 14 games in May Oregon is only 2 games back at .531%, while Savannah is in the cellar despite a respectable .471 winning % only 3 games under .500. According to our Preseason Power Index’s, the success of Chicago and Oregon is not surprising but Decatur (as previously mentioned) was ranked #19 in the preseason, Savannah #13 and Barnett Shale #12.

(10) The Fuller Furies didn’t win 20 games in May! The Furies fall 1 short of 20 as they only win 19, but still continue to make history as their 39 wins are the most through May in BDSL history. The previous best was 32 wins by Sleepytown and Wellington in 1982 and those 2 teams met in the WJL championship series. If your looking ahead, Fuller needs 16 wins in June to out pace Sleepytown who had 54 wins through June in 1982. That is the season that Sleepytown won 110 games the current record. Fuller continues on a pace to reach 117 wins this year and nothing leads us to believe they won’t get there!

(11) Leading hitter in the BDSL through May is …. Bob Brenly and the league leader in RBI is Claudell Washington? Both are nice players but league hitting leaders? Brenly who is currently hitting .365 for the season hit .357 through April and then .372 in May. Brenly is a big reason that the Fuller Furies are the #1 offensive team so far this season and will likely remain there the entire season. Washington has 42 RBI for New York City after a monster month of May where he accumulated 28 RBI. Now it would really be a story if one or both of these players are still here after June!

Batting Leaders:

BA Brenly , FLF .365

HR Murphy, WLK 17

RBI Washington, NYC 42

Runs Sandberg, FLF 48

Hits Sandberg, FLF 72

OB% Murray , SSJ .447

SLG Murphy, WLK .649

SB Raines, BCB 28

Pitching Leaders:

Wins Nipper, FLF 9

Stieb, LLG

K’s Gooden, BCB 98

ERA Gooden, BSB 1.49

BA Mason, TCR .194

CG 6 tied 4

Shutouts 4 tied 2

Saves Hernandez, FLF 18

Holds Johnson, DDD 10

April