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reds1 · 09-04-2015, 11:29 PM

February 1, 1940

Western League – It’s Cambria, Kingston into the Final Stretch

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The Cambria Cannons continued to rule the roost in the Western League, going 16-10 in January; however, they saw their lead shrink slightly as the Kingston Pelicans made a late season push. At this point though, it would appear that the playoff teams are set in the West; it’s just a question of the final order of first and second. They may be facing their toughest challenge in the remaining stretch, as a couple of injuries to key players have befallen the club in the waning days of January.

The Cannons have been remarkably consistent and lead in most pitching categories and are second in most offensive categories.

Eight Cannons were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Bradley Dodson (1st selection); SP Neil Guerin (3rd); RP Quentin Teague (1st); C Glen Yeend (2nd); 1B Keane Fysh (2nd); SS Hyun-jung Moon (2nd); CF Ron Westmacott (2nd) and RF Al Tucker (1st).

Top Position Player: This was an extremely tough choice, as the Cannons’ lineup is stocked with productive players who batted over .300. However, my pick is 1B Keane Fysh (.309/.376/.449, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 56 R, 42 BB) who was really productive in January, batting .293/.391/.505, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 15 R. His efforts earned him a Batting of the Week honour during the month.

Top Pitcher: Once again, it’s SP Neil Guerin (15-4, 3.10 ERA, 1.17 ERA) who won the Pitcher of the Month Award, the third of his career.

Key Injuries: RP Jason Fortenberry (2-3, 6 SV, 4.03 ERA, 1.52) was diagnosed with a partially torn labrum in a game on January 20. He is gone for the season (3-4 months).

C Glen Yeend (.334/.393/.475, 7 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R, 30 BB) was diagnosed with a strained posterior cruciate ligament on January 30. He will be out for 2 weeks.

LF Ron Westmacott (.316/.402/.609, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 91 R, 56 BB, 19 SB) was injured while throwing the ball in a game on January 29. The Cannons are holding their breath waiting for the diagnoses.

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After a couple of months where they played close to .500, the Kingston Pelicans came on strong in January with a 17-9 record. The Pelicans have the top offense in the West and 2nd best pitching staff. With the return of SP Francis Slocock from the DL and rehab, the Pelicans may be priming for a 1st place showdown with Cambria. They are 7 games back of first, so there is still some catching up to do. But never count out the Pelicans.

Eight Pelicans were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Joey Cumberledge (3rd selection); SP Dave Mapp (1st); SP Brady Murdy (3rd); RP Keith Kearney (1st); 1B Fergus Chitty (3rd); 2B Mo Symes (3rd); SS Okura Ito (3rd) and RF Jayden Tennant (3rd).

Top Position Player: SS Okura Ito (.402/.434/.584, 10 HR, 84 RBI, 82 R, 28 BB) is at the top of his game and his play in January earned him the Batter of the Month Award.

Top Pitcher: SP Darwin Monday (11-8, 3.97 ERA, 1.38 ERA) had the best overall month among starters, going 4-1, 2.72 ERA, 21 K, 18 BB.
RP Simon Chell (5-2, 3.35 ERA, 1.58 WHIP) performed well out of the bullpen, going 1-0, 2 SV, 1.59 ERA, 10 K, 6 BB in 28.1 innings.

Key Injuries: SP Joey Cumberledge is out for at least 3 months (effectively the season), due to a torn labrum he suffered in Spring Training.

24-year old SP Harley Bracher (3-6, 6.25 ERA, 1.77 WHIP), remains out for 6-7 weeks, due to a torn triceps injury.

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Despite a 9-16 November, the Fort Richmond Generals were putting up a game fight for the wild card, as they were just 3.5 games back of Kingston at the end of December. They began January 8-2 and crept to within 2.5 games of the Pelicans. But then the bottom fell out.

The Generals went 2-14 the rest of the way and just like that, they can for all intents and purposes, be considered an also-ran in the West. Their skid included a frustrating 12-game losing streak. Injuries were not the culprit, as they had none in January, but they regressed across the board on both offense and pitching. The Balmoral Giants are now just a 0.5 game back of them for 3rd spot.

Four Generals were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Oscar Burress (2nd); RP Kantaro Sumita (1st); C Tadayuki Jouda (1st) and CF Kade Limeburner (2nd).

Top Position Player: Some absolutely horrible performances in January by the stalwarts (Kade Limeburner - .176; Hector Najera- .200; Joshua Chown - .198), but SS Steven Wormleighton (.278/.311/.364, 3 HR, 41 RBI, 65 R, 22 BB, 21 SB) did very well, batting .306/.358/.414, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 15 R.

Top Pitcher: 4/5ths of the starting rotation was horrible, but ace Oscar Burress (14-5, 3.36 ERA, 1.26 ERA) held his own, going 2-3, 2.47 ERA, with 26 K, 8 BB in 6 starts.

Key Injuries: None.

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The Balmoral Giants enjoyed their first winning month in January, going 14-12. But they still lag far behind most of the other teams in the offence and pitching rankings. No matter, the Giants committed themselves fully to the rebuild earlier in the season and are sitting on the top-rated farm system in the ULB. They also have a dynamic shortstop in Francisco Rodríguez that has won every Rookie of the Month honour so far this season and was a stand-out at the All-Star Game.

Speaking of, four Giants were selected to the All-Star game: SP Charlie Crocombe (2nd); SS Francisco Rodríguez (1st), CF Domenic Carmody (1st) and RFShannon Walker (1st).

Top Position Player: SS Francisco Rodríguez (.348/.381/.478, 2 HR, 60 RBI, 67 R, 26 BB, 15 SB) was bound to get this sooner or later. His performance won him another Rookie of the Month Award in January.

Top Pitcher: Absolutely nothing to write home about. SP Morgan Puddiphatt (6-3, 3.60 ERA, 1.19 ERA) was the best I could find, as he went 3-1, 3.90 ERA, with 10 K, 12 BB in 4 starts.

Key Injuries: SP Scott Wadley (3-3, 4.92 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) was diagnosed with radial nerve compression back on November 11. He is gone for season (5 months).

2B Andre Walshe (.264/.308/.346, 1 HR, 25 RBI, 50 R, 18 BB) came done with plantar fasciitis while running the bases back on January 29; he will miss 4 weeks.

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After a 16-11 December, the Sherburn Tigers reverted to form, putting up a 12-15 record in January. Their offense has not been all that bad, averaging around 3rd to 4th in the West, but the pitching has not been quite as competitive. They have been racked with injuries this season and they don’t exactly have a robust farm system to compensate for them (11th overall). That is something they will need to address if they don’t want to fall any further in the seasons to come.

Two Tigers were selected to the All-Star game in January: C Joe Gault (2nd) and SS Gary Watkinson (3rd).

Top Position Player: SS Gary Watkinson (.309/.412/.416, 1 HR, 36 RBI, 64 R, 61 BB) returned from injury during the month and did very well, hitting .342/.459/.468, 4-3B, 9 RBI, 16 R, 18 BB in 79 AB.

Top Pitcher: Not a good month for the pitching staff, but I’ll go with RP Max Littler (7-6, 3.92 ERA, 1.34 WHIP), who went 1-2, 4 SV, 2.48 ERA, with 15 K, 8 BB in 29.0 innings.

Key Injuries: 2B Tim Rackham (.292/.313/.377, 7-2B, 17 RBI, 13 R, 4 BB) tore a labrum in his shoulder on October 31. He is out for another 7 weeks.

SP Yasushi Kobayashi (6-8, 5.64 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) suffered a partially torn labrum on December 18 in a game against the Balmoral Giants. He is gone for 8 more weeks.

C Joe Gault (.290/.442/.389, 8 HR, 56 RBI, 36 R, 43 BB) suffered a herniated disc back on January 14; he is out 4-5 weeks.

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Like the Giants, the Wolseley Unions are playing the waiting game, biding their time until their deep farm system delivers, hopefully in the not-too-distant future. A 12-14 January typifies what the Unions have done all season. Interestingly, they are performing well overall in a number of batting and pitching stats, but it has not translated into wins. Their pitching appears to have gotten stronger as the season has worn on. We’ll have to see if that continues and if it augers well for next season.

Four Unions were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Jim Smyth (1st); SP Reggie Jones (1st); 1B Aaron Flanagan (2nd) and CF Zak Kidd (1st).

Top Position Player: 23-year old rookie LF Nicky Williams (.299/.352/.478, 8 HR, 59 RBI, 47 R, 35 BB) was Wolseley’s best hitter this month, batting .326/.392/.478 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 13 R.

Top Pitcher: SP Jim Smyth (10-5, 3.32 ERA, 1.40 ERA) had a solid month, going 3-2, 2.30 ERA, with 19 K, 14 BB in 6 starts.

Key Injuries: None.

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The Pulberry Trolleys continued their slide, as they went 9-18 in January, after going 8-18 in December. Pulberry began their selloff, but it will hardly be enough to turn things around. They are not very good, and they will need an infusion of real talent to improve their fortunes. Other teams, like the Giants and Unions, have already got a head start on the rebuilding process. Pulberry needs to catch up if they want to be relevant in the near future.

The Trolleys sent one player to the All-Star game in January: 1B William Tozer (1st).

Top Position Player: Not a lot of decent performances, but 21-year old rookie RF Yoshino Ito (.294/.346/.359, 7-3B, 24 RBI, 37 R, 24 BB) had his best month yet, batting .387/.437/.510 with 3-3B, 9 RBI, 15 R.

Top Pitcher: It was bound to happen sooner or later, but no one – none – deserved to be recognized. The entire pitching staff performed poorly in January.

Key Injuries: None.

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As expected, the Hespeler Stars fell back to their old form, as they went 8-18. But as with most other teams in the West, the Stars are looking to the future. The Stars are awful in the pitching department, but their offense improved somewhat in the last four weeks. However they traded away 2B Rhett Curnow to the Stratford Barons late in the month, so that may not be sustained for very long either. But the Stars have some nice young talent in the minors and now at the major league level as well, in 23-year old LF Steven Winstanley (.287/.348/.488,15 HR, 79 RBI, 63 R, 39 BB) and 21-year old CF Vic Weetman.

The Stars sent 3 players to the All-Star game in January: SP Michael Wilberfoss (2nd), 2B Rhett Curnow (1st) and LF Steven Winstanley (1st).

Top Position Player: He’s yet to play a game down in the minors and if he continues to perform like he has this past month, he may never need to. The first overall pick in this season’s amateur draft, CF Vic Weetman (.259/.303/.384, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 31 R, 12 BB, 7 SB) became more comfortable batting in the leadoff spot. In January, he batted .293/.320/.495 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, 20 R in 99 AB. He was the best offensive player for Hespeler this month.

Top Pitcher: The rotation is made up of a couple of waiver wire picks and unfortunately for Hespeler, they performed as such. But ace SP Michael Wilberfoss (8-14, 3.23 ERA, 1.55 ERA) at least put in a valiant effort, going 1-5, 2.81 ERA with 10 K, 18 BB in 6 starts.

Key Injuries: 41-year old RP Hyo-cheong Yu (1-2, 2 SV, 7.67 ERA, 2.27 WHIP) was diagnosed with elbow inflammation on November 16. He is out for another 6 weeks.

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09-04-2015, 11:29 PM	#139
reds1 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 3,919	February 1, 1940 Western League – It’s Cambria, Kingston into the Final Stretch -------- The Cambria Cannons continued to rule the roost in the Western League, going 16-10 in January; however, they saw their lead shrink slightly as the Kingston Pelicans made a late season push. At this point though, it would appear that the playoff teams are set in the West; it’s just a question of the final order of first and second. They may be facing their toughest challenge in the remaining stretch, as a couple of injuries to key players have befallen the club in the waning days of January. The Cannons have been remarkably consistent and lead in most pitching categories and are second in most offensive categories. Eight Cannons were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Bradley Dodson (1st selection); SP Neil Guerin (3rd); RP Quentin Teague (1st); C Glen Yeend (2nd); 1B Keane Fysh (2nd); SS Hyun-jung Moon (2nd); CF Ron Westmacott (2nd) and RF Al Tucker (1st). Top Position Player: This was an extremely tough choice, as the Cannons’ lineup is stocked with productive players who batted over .300. However, my pick is 1B Keane Fysh (.309/.376/.449, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 56 R, 42 BB) who was really productive in January, batting .293/.391/.505, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 15 R. His efforts earned him a Batting of the Week honour during the month. Top Pitcher: Once again, it’s SP Neil Guerin (15-4, 3.10 ERA, 1.17 ERA) who won the Pitcher of the Month Award, the third of his career. Key Injuries: RP Jason Fortenberry (2-3, 6 SV, 4.03 ERA, 1.52) was diagnosed with a partially torn labrum in a game on January 20. He is gone for the season (3-4 months). C Glen Yeend (.334/.393/.475, 7 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R, 30 BB) was diagnosed with a strained posterior cruciate ligament on January 30. He will be out for 2 weeks. LF Ron Westmacott (.316/.402/.609, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 91 R, 56 BB, 19 SB) was injured while throwing the ball in a game on January 29. The Cannons are holding their breath waiting for the diagnoses. -------- After a couple of months where they played close to .500, the Kingston Pelicans came on strong in January with a 17-9 record. The Pelicans have the top offense in the West and 2nd best pitching staff. With the return of SP Francis Slocock from the DL and rehab, the Pelicans may be priming for a 1st place showdown with Cambria. They are 7 games back of first, so there is still some catching up to do. But never count out the Pelicans. Eight Pelicans were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Joey Cumberledge (3rd selection); SP Dave Mapp (1st); SP Brady Murdy (3rd); RP Keith Kearney (1st); 1B Fergus Chitty (3rd); 2B Mo Symes (3rd); SS Okura Ito (3rd) and RF Jayden Tennant (3rd). Top Position Player: SS Okura Ito (.402/.434/.584, 10 HR, 84 RBI, 82 R, 28 BB) is at the top of his game and his play in January earned him the Batter of the Month Award. Top Pitcher: SP Darwin Monday (11-8, 3.97 ERA, 1.38 ERA) had the best overall month among starters, going 4-1, 2.72 ERA, 21 K, 18 BB. RP Simon Chell (5-2, 3.35 ERA, 1.58 WHIP) performed well out of the bullpen, going 1-0, 2 SV, 1.59 ERA, 10 K, 6 BB in 28.1 innings. Key Injuries: SP Joey Cumberledge is out for at least 3 months (effectively the season), due to a torn labrum he suffered in Spring Training. 24-year old SP Harley Bracher (3-6, 6.25 ERA, 1.77 WHIP), remains out for 6-7 weeks, due to a torn triceps injury. -------- Despite a 9-16 November, the Fort Richmond Generals were putting up a game fight for the wild card, as they were just 3.5 games back of Kingston at the end of December. They began January 8-2 and crept to within 2.5 games of the Pelicans. But then the bottom fell out. The Generals went 2-14 the rest of the way and just like that, they can for all intents and purposes, be considered an also-ran in the West. Their skid included a frustrating 12-game losing streak. Injuries were not the culprit, as they had none in January, but they regressed across the board on both offense and pitching. The Balmoral Giants are now just a 0.5 game back of them for 3rd spot. Four Generals were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Oscar Burress (2nd); RP Kantaro Sumita (1st); C Tadayuki Jouda (1st) and CF Kade Limeburner (2nd). Top Position Player: Some absolutely horrible performances in January by the stalwarts (Kade Limeburner - .176; Hector Najera- .200; Joshua Chown - .198), but SS Steven Wormleighton (.278/.311/.364, 3 HR, 41 RBI, 65 R, 22 BB, 21 SB) did very well, batting .306/.358/.414, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 15 R. Top Pitcher: 4/5ths of the starting rotation was horrible, but ace Oscar Burress (14-5, 3.36 ERA, 1.26 ERA) held his own, going 2-3, 2.47 ERA, with 26 K, 8 BB in 6 starts. Key Injuries: None. -------- The Balmoral Giants enjoyed their first winning month in January, going 14-12. But they still lag far behind most of the other teams in the offence and pitching rankings. No matter, the Giants committed themselves fully to the rebuild earlier in the season and are sitting on the top-rated farm system in the ULB. They also have a dynamic shortstop in Francisco Rodríguez that has won every Rookie of the Month honour so far this season and was a stand-out at the All-Star Game. Speaking of, four Giants were selected to the All-Star game: SP Charlie Crocombe (2nd); SS Francisco Rodríguez (1st), CF Domenic Carmody (1st) and RFShannon Walker (1st). Top Position Player: SS Francisco Rodríguez (.348/.381/.478, 2 HR, 60 RBI, 67 R, 26 BB, 15 SB) was bound to get this sooner or later. His performance won him another Rookie of the Month Award in January. Top Pitcher: Absolutely nothing to write home about. SP Morgan Puddiphatt (6-3, 3.60 ERA, 1.19 ERA) was the best I could find, as he went 3-1, 3.90 ERA, with 10 K, 12 BB in 4 starts. Key Injuries: SP Scott Wadley (3-3, 4.92 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) was diagnosed with radial nerve compression back on November 11. He is gone for season (5 months). 2B Andre Walshe (.264/.308/.346, 1 HR, 25 RBI, 50 R, 18 BB) came done with plantar fasciitis while running the bases back on January 29; he will miss 4 weeks. -------- After a 16-11 December, the Sherburn Tigers reverted to form, putting up a 12-15 record in January. Their offense has not been all that bad, averaging around 3rd to 4th in the West, but the pitching has not been quite as competitive. They have been racked with injuries this season and they don’t exactly have a robust farm system to compensate for them (11th overall). That is something they will need to address if they don’t want to fall any further in the seasons to come. Two Tigers were selected to the All-Star game in January: C Joe Gault (2nd) and SS Gary Watkinson (3rd). Top Position Player: SS Gary Watkinson (.309/.412/.416, 1 HR, 36 RBI, 64 R, 61 BB) returned from injury during the month and did very well, hitting .342/.459/.468, 4-3B, 9 RBI, 16 R, 18 BB in 79 AB. Top Pitcher: Not a good month for the pitching staff, but I’ll go with RP Max Littler (7-6, 3.92 ERA, 1.34 WHIP), who went 1-2, 4 SV, 2.48 ERA, with 15 K, 8 BB in 29.0 innings. Key Injuries: 2B Tim Rackham (.292/.313/.377, 7-2B, 17 RBI, 13 R, 4 BB) tore a labrum in his shoulder on October 31. He is out for another 7 weeks. SP Yasushi Kobayashi (6-8, 5.64 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) suffered a partially torn labrum on December 18 in a game against the Balmoral Giants. He is gone for 8 more weeks. C Joe Gault (.290/.442/.389, 8 HR, 56 RBI, 36 R, 43 BB) suffered a herniated disc back on January 14; he is out 4-5 weeks. -------- Like the Giants, the Wolseley Unions are playing the waiting game, biding their time until their deep farm system delivers, hopefully in the not-too-distant future. A 12-14 January typifies what the Unions have done all season. Interestingly, they are performing well overall in a number of batting and pitching stats, but it has not translated into wins. Their pitching appears to have gotten stronger as the season has worn on. We’ll have to see if that continues and if it augers well for next season. Four Unions were selected to the All-Star game in January: SP Jim Smyth (1st); SP Reggie Jones (1st); 1B Aaron Flanagan (2nd) and CF Zak Kidd (1st). Top Position Player: 23-year old rookie LF Nicky Williams (.299/.352/.478, 8 HR, 59 RBI, 47 R, 35 BB) was Wolseley’s best hitter this month, batting .326/.392/.478 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 13 R. Top Pitcher: SP Jim Smyth (10-5, 3.32 ERA, 1.40 ERA) had a solid month, going 3-2, 2.30 ERA, with 19 K, 14 BB in 6 starts. Key Injuries: None. -------- The Pulberry Trolleys continued their slide, as they went 9-18 in January, after going 8-18 in December. Pulberry began their selloff, but it will hardly be enough to turn things around. They are not very good, and they will need an infusion of real talent to improve their fortunes. Other teams, like the Giants and Unions, have already got a head start on the rebuilding process. Pulberry needs to catch up if they want to be relevant in the near future. The Trolleys sent one player to the All-Star game in January: 1B William Tozer (1st). Top Position Player: Not a lot of decent performances, but 21-year old rookie RF Yoshino Ito (.294/.346/.359, 7-3B, 24 RBI, 37 R, 24 BB) had his best month yet, batting .387/.437/.510 with 3-3B, 9 RBI, 15 R. Top Pitcher: It was bound to happen sooner or later, but no one – none – deserved to be recognized. The entire pitching staff performed poorly in January. Key Injuries: None. -------- As expected, the Hespeler Stars fell back to their old form, as they went 8-18. But as with most other teams in the West, the Stars are looking to the future. The Stars are awful in the pitching department, but their offense improved somewhat in the last four weeks. However they traded away 2B Rhett Curnow to the Stratford Barons late in the month, so that may not be sustained for very long either. But the Stars have some nice young talent in the minors and now at the major league level as well, in 23-year old LF Steven Winstanley (.287/.348/.488,15 HR, 79 RBI, 63 R, 39 BB) and 21-year old CF Vic Weetman. The Stars sent 3 players to the All-Star game in January: SP Michael Wilberfoss (2nd), 2B Rhett Curnow (1st) and LF Steven Winstanley (1st). Top Position Player: He’s yet to play a game down in the minors and if he continues to perform like he has this past month, he may never need to. The first overall pick in this season’s amateur draft, CF Vic Weetman (.259/.303/.384, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 31 R, 12 BB, 7 SB) became more comfortable batting in the leadoff spot. In January, he batted .293/.320/.495 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, 20 R in 99 AB. He was the best offensive player for Hespeler this month. Top Pitcher: The rotation is made up of a couple of waiver wire picks and unfortunately for Hespeler, they performed as such. But ace SP Michael Wilberfoss (8-14, 3.23 ERA, 1.55 ERA) at least put in a valiant effort, going 1-5, 2.81 ERA with 10 K, 18 BB in 6 starts. Key Injuries: 41-year old RP Hyo-cheong Yu (1-2, 2 SV, 7.67 ERA, 2.27 WHIP) was diagnosed with elbow inflammation on November 16. He is out for another 6 weeks. -------- __________________ United Leagues of Braeland Last edited by reds1; 07-03-2017 at 02:24 PM.