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reds1 · 10-08-2015, 12:05 PM

November 1, 1940

Western League: Kingston Asserts Itself

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Coming off a disappointing season (at least for them), the Kingston Pelicans were determined to get back on track for 1940-41. Their performance in October certainly bore out that determination, as they dominated to take first place in the West; three games up on both the Cambria Cannons and Sherburn Tigers.

The Pelicans’ pitching really shined, as five shutouts were thrown during the month: two by Joey Cumberledge and one each by Brady Murdy, Darwin Monday and Francis Slocock. Good thing, as the bullpen had a rough month, ranking last in the West (7.30 ERA). But that was the only blight on a team that appears to be firing on all cylinders – again.

Top Position Player: Oh my. Okura Ito and Fergus Chitty are tied for WAR (1.2) and are playing their best defense at their respective positions in the early going. Both are playing tremendous ball right now. Who do I choose? I’ll give the nod to Chitty, as the 1B played to the tune of .316/.411/.589, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 16 R, 15 BB. For comparison, SS Ito’s stat line was .343/.372/.569, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 18 R, 6 BB.
Pelican fans don’t care; they’re just glad they both play for their team.

Top Pitcher: Ok guys, you’re not making this easy. With four pitchers with WHIPs of 0.90, 1.09, 0.87 and 0.91, who really stands out above the others? I’ll give it to the 0.87 guy, I guess. RHP Francis Slocock had a great month, going 3-1, 1.85 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15 K, 4 BB. But really, any of the starters could have been singled out.

Noteworthy: This will be discussed more when we get to Balmoral, but the Pelicans determined that they had too many starting pitchers on hand and deemed LHP Dave Mapp expendable. Balmoral claimed him on waivers. Guess who won Pitcher of the Month honours in October. Oops!

Key Injury: LHP Hirotada Fukushima (2-1, 2.30 ERA, 1.39 WHIP), who missed all of last season due to a torn flexor tendon, suffered a tired arm on October 27 while pitching against Cambria. He is expected back in 1-2 weeks.

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The Cambria Cannons have been hampered a bit by the injury bug, but they hung in there in October to keep within three games of Kingston. Offensively, the Cannons are doing alright (2nd-3rd), but their rotation is struggling mightily (8th-4.83 ERA) and they are doing poorly in defensive efficiency (7th). They faced Kingston seven times in October and dropped five decisions. With a resurgent Pelican team, there is little room for slack, so the Cannons will need to figure out their pitching struggles quickly if they want to keep pace.

Top Position Player: LF Ron Westmacott picked up where he left off last season and I was about to select him as the top Cannon, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give SS Hyun-jung Moon his due, as he went .320/.347/.505, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 16 R, 4 BB on the month. But Westmacott leads in a slew of categories just the same.

Top Pitcher: Cambria’s starting pitchers are glad to put October behind them, as it wasn’t very memorable. LHP Owen Tautor went 5-0, but with a 5.09 ERA. Looking at his game logs, nearly all of those runs were earned, so his bacon was saved in each start by his teammates.
The bullpen performed much better, so I’ll go with RP-RHP Shaun Alford, who in 12.1 IP, went 1-0, 1.46 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 11 K, 10 BB.

Key Injuries: On October 20, RP-RHP Jason Fortenberry (0-0, 2 SV, 4.38 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) suffered acute elbow soreness while pitching against Sherburn. He is gone 2-3 months.

C Glen Yeend (.325/.349/.463, 9-2B, 15 RBI, 10 R, 3 BB) suffered a sprained thumb in a collision at home plate against Wolseley on October 28. He is out 2 weeks.

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It’s much too early to get my hopes up, but it’s great to see a bunch of teams nipping at the heels of the Kingston and Cambria. Case in point is the Sherburn Tigers. After one month, the Tigers are tied for 2nd place with Cannons. However, they lost 3 of 4 to Cambria in October and have yet to meet the Pelicans, so I guess it’s too premature to celebrate. (Last year, Fort Richmond got off to a good start, but faded quickly after that.)
The Tigers were quite respectable on offense (4th) and nearing respectability in pitching (6th). But outside of C Joe Gault, 3B Mick Lanfear and LF Robin Harney, Sherburn is in dire need of some talent infusion to keep it up. But they have the deepest farm system in the ULB and one pitching prospect, LHP Daniel Pierson has already joined the bullpen. It is hoped that he will one day move to the rotation.

Top Position Player: 32-year old 3B Mick Lanfear was outstanding in October, going .320/.389/.653, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 15 R, 11 BB.

Top Pitcher: I’ll go with RHP Steve Greenwell, who went 2-2, 1.95 ERA, 37.0 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 17 K, 13 BB. However, rookie Daniel Pierson had a nice debut, going 3-2, 1 SV, 20.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 10 K, 4 BB.

Key Injury: None.

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The Balmoral Giants are an up-and-coming team with young talent like 21-year old SS Francisco Rodríguez, who was Rookie of the Year last season and 22-year old LF Carlton Broadbent establishing themselves in the lineup. That is reflected in an offense that is improving (3rd-5th). But the pitching is lagging behind at this point (6th) and Balmoral’s top pitching prospects are still down in AA. So the Giants could use some help. Fortunately, Kingston obliged by placing LHP Dave Mapp on waivers. The Giants swooped in and claimed in. Mapp made an immediate impact and helped his new team to finish October just one game back of 2nd place, and one game over .500.

Top Position Player: 27-year old RF Shannon Walker has bounced around with Fort Richmond and Embro before landing in Balmoral. Last year, he established himself as an all-star and his excellent play continues, as he won Batter of the Month honours for the first time.

Top Pitcher: Not to belabor the point, but after being deemed expendable in Kingston, Dave Mapp suddenly became the ace of Balmoral’s starting rotation, and played like one, winning Pitcher of the Month honours in October.

Key Injury: None.

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Like a lot of teams in the West, the Wolseley Unions are a mediocre team with only a few players of note: SP Aaron Saunderson, CF Zak Kidd and LF Blake Harmon. That is not surprising, since Wolseley traded its best players to procure future talent. Wolseley has talent down on the farm, but it will take some time to reach the main club. With that in mind, the Unions did not do too badly in October, finishing just 1 game below .500 and 2.0 games back of the wild card. Their run differential reflected that finish as well (-1). The Unions are below average on offense (6th), but are not doing too badly in pitching (2nd-4th), although the rotation had a rough month (7th – 4.79). They are sound defensively however (2nd - .720).

Top Position Player: SS Rubén Sánchez was Wolseley’s top position player in October. He went .306/.364/.449, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 14 R, 9 BB.

Top Pitcher: 31-year old RHP Joe Walrond had a fine month, going 4-2, 2.81 ERA, 48.0 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 19 K, 11 BB.

Key Injury: None.

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The Fort Richmond Generals are a team in transition at the moment, as they are starting to ease in a few of their highly-touted prospects into the lineup and rotation. Former first round picks, SS Steven Wormleighton (51/63) and C Danny Trowbridge (68/80) are still trying to find their grove. They have been joined in the lineup by former second rounder 3B Britt Wing (29/65). Meanwhile, in the rotation, RHP Dean Stroud (40/74) is now the 5th starter, after working out of the bullpen last season.
The Generals are really struggling on offense at the moment, ranking last in host of categories. However their pitching is much more consistent, ranking from 1st to 3rd in nearly every category.

Top Position Player: When your fifth starter (Dean Stroud) is ranked fourth on the offensive WAR list, just 0.3 WAR behind the leader, you know you’re offense is struggling. So I’ll have to go with SS Steve Wormeighton, who ‘leads’ the team with a .248/.306/.396, 11-2B, 6 RBI, 20 R, 8 BB stat line.

Top Pitcher: The pitching overall has been more positive; that said, RP-RHP Kantaro Sumita had the best month in my opinion, as he went 3-1, 1.10 ERA, 32.2 IP, 10.92 WHIP, 12 K, 8 BB.

Noteworthy: On October 18, Fort Richmond defeated the Wolseley Unions 4-3 in 16 innings. In the course of that game, SP Tristan Purss (2-2, 3.45 ERA) set the ULB record for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game with 13 in 12.0 IP. No one had pitched more than 11 K in a game of any length until now. Still waiting for that first 15 K game though (and the first 3 HR game for that matter)!

Key Injury: 28-year old 2B Everton Ridgley (.206/.227/.254) suffered a sprained ankle in a game against the Kingston Pelicans. He is out four more weeks.

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The Pulberry Trolleys are in the same position as the rest of the teams in the West not named Kingston or Cambria – waiting for its farm system to bear fruit. It already has former first round picks on the roster in both 2B Colin Strudwick and SS Wenceslas Jasmim, but it could sure use some more. They’re waiting in the wings, but it going to take a little more time.
The Trolleys’ pitching was quite respectable this past month, averaging 2nd to 4th in a host of categories, but it’s offense is ranked 7th.

Top Position Player: Not a lot to choose from, but it’s nice to see former 1st overall pick Wenceslas Jasmim doing well. In October, he went .304/.350/.467, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 14 R, 7 BB.

Top Pitcher: Again, no one player has really stood out, but RHP Dan Rogers performed well, going 1-2, 2.43 ERA, 37.0 IP, 1.319 WHIP, 19 K, 13 BB.

Noteworthy: Pulberry’s bullpen, comprised of 39-year old RHP Pete Malcolm and 29-year old LHP Quentin Teague, were both claimed off waivers. Malcolm, back on February 1 from the Stratford Barons, and Teague claimed from the Cambria Cannons on October 24. Teague is a former all-star and won the United Cup last year, but he was really struggling in the early going (2.30 WHIP) this season, before Cambria made him available.

Key Injury: None.

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Sooner or later, the Hespeler Stars are bound to escape the basement of the Western League. Their drafting and farm system is starting to produce results, in the form of last season’s 1st overall pick 22-year old CF Vic Weetman, who skipped the minors completely and is prospering as Hespeler’s leadoff man against RHP and cleanup hitter against LHP. They have 24-year old LF Steven Winstanley, who finished 2nd last season in Rookie of the Year honours. They also have 26-year old C Simon Smith, who bounced around the minors a bit. A couple of seasons ago, he was claimed by Fort Richmond in the Rule 5 draft from Heslpeler, only to be returned to the Stars a few months later. But he was a minor league all-star a couple of times and now, given the chance to start regularly for Hespeler, earned Rookie of the Month honours in October.
The Stars are very respectable on offense in the early going (1st-3rd) and are showing signs of improvement in the pitching stats (5th-7th). Time, of course, will tell whether they finally make the move upward this season.

Top Position Player: C Simon Smith won Rookie honours for the month, but LF Steven Winstanley was the Star that shown the brightest in October, batting .383/.439/.723, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 22 R, 11 BB.

Top Pitcher: 29-year old RHP Freddie Ventriss led a rotation that is still struggling for an identity. In October, he went 2-3, 1.84 ERA, 44.0 IP, 1.43 WHIP, 25 K, 19 BB.

Key Injury: 42-year old RP-RHP Hyo-cheong Yu (0-1, 2.45 ERA, 1.58 WHIP) was diagnosed with bicep tendinitis back on October 26 in a game against the Sherburn Tigers. He is out for 3 months.

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10-08-2015, 12:05 PM	#165
reds1 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 3,919	November 1, 1940 Western League: Kingston Asserts Itself -------- Coming off a disappointing season (at least for them), the Kingston Pelicans were determined to get back on track for 1940-41. Their performance in October certainly bore out that determination, as they dominated to take first place in the West; three games up on both the Cambria Cannons and Sherburn Tigers. The Pelicans’ pitching really shined, as five shutouts were thrown during the month: two by Joey Cumberledge and one each by Brady Murdy, Darwin Monday and Francis Slocock. Good thing, as the bullpen had a rough month, ranking last in the West (7.30 ERA). But that was the only blight on a team that appears to be firing on all cylinders – again. *Top Position Player:* Oh my. Okura Ito and Fergus Chitty are tied for WAR (1.2) and are playing their best defense at their respective positions in the early going. Both are playing tremendous ball right now. Who do I choose? I’ll give the nod to Chitty, as the 1B played to the tune of .316/.411/.589, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 16 R, 15 BB. For comparison, SS Ito’s stat line was .343/.372/.569, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 18 R, 6 BB. Pelican fans don’t care; they’re just glad they both play for their team. *Top Pitcher:* Ok guys, you’re not making this easy. With four pitchers with WHIPs of 0.90, 1.09, 0.87 and 0.91, who really stands out above the others? I’ll give it to the 0.87 guy, I guess. RHP Francis Slocock had a great month, going 3-1, 1.85 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15 K, 4 BB. But really, any of the starters could have been singled out. *Noteworthy:* This will be discussed more when we get to Balmoral, but the Pelicans determined that they had too many starting pitchers on hand and deemed LHP Dave Mapp expendable. Balmoral claimed him on waivers. Guess who won Pitcher of the Month honours in October. Oops! *Key Injury:* LHP Hirotada Fukushima (2-1, 2.30 ERA, 1.39 WHIP), who missed all of last season due to a torn flexor tendon, suffered a tired arm on October 27 while pitching against Cambria. He is expected back in 1-2 weeks. -------- The Cambria Cannons have been hampered a bit by the injury bug, but they hung in there in October to keep within three games of Kingston. Offensively, the Cannons are doing alright (2nd-3rd), but their rotation is struggling mightily (8th-4.83 ERA) and they are doing poorly in defensive efficiency (7th). They faced Kingston seven times in October and dropped five decisions. With a resurgent Pelican team, there is little room for slack, so the Cannons will need to figure out their pitching struggles quickly if they want to keep pace. *Top Position Player:* LF Ron Westmacott picked up where he left off last season and I was about to select him as the top Cannon, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give SS Hyun-jung Moon his due, as he went .320/.347/.505, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 16 R, 4 BB on the month. But Westmacott leads in a slew of categories just the same. *Top Pitcher:* Cambria’s starting pitchers are glad to put October behind them, as it wasn’t very memorable. LHP Owen Tautor went 5-0, but with a 5.09 ERA. Looking at his game logs, nearly all of those runs were earned, so his bacon was saved in each start by his teammates. The bullpen performed much better, so I’ll go with RP-RHP Shaun Alford, who in 12.1 IP, went 1-0, 1.46 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 11 K, 10 BB. *Key Injuries:* On October 20, RP-RHP Jason Fortenberry (0-0, 2 SV, 4.38 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) suffered acute elbow soreness while pitching against Sherburn. He is gone 2-3 months. C Glen Yeend (.325/.349/.463, 9-2B, 15 RBI, 10 R, 3 BB) suffered a sprained thumb in a collision at home plate against Wolseley on October 28. He is out 2 weeks. -------- It’s much too early to get my hopes up, but it’s great to see a bunch of teams nipping at the heels of the Kingston and Cambria. Case in point is the Sherburn Tigers. After one month, the Tigers are tied for 2nd place with Cannons. However, they lost 3 of 4 to Cambria in October and have yet to meet the Pelicans, so I guess it’s too premature to celebrate. (Last year, Fort Richmond got off to a good start, but faded quickly after that.) The Tigers were quite respectable on offense (4th) and nearing respectability in pitching (6th). But outside of C Joe Gault, 3B Mick Lanfear and LF Robin Harney, Sherburn is in dire need of some talent infusion to keep it up. But they have the deepest farm system in the ULB and one pitching prospect, LHP Daniel Pierson has already joined the bullpen. It is hoped that he will one day move to the rotation. *Top Position Player:* 32-year old 3B Mick Lanfear was outstanding in October, going .320/.389/.653, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 15 R, 11 BB. *Top Pitcher:* I’ll go with RHP Steve Greenwell, who went 2-2, 1.95 ERA, 37.0 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 17 K, 13 BB. However, rookie Daniel Pierson had a nice debut, going 3-2, 1 SV, 20.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 10 K, 4 BB. *Key Injury:* None. -------- The Balmoral Giants are an up-and-coming team with young talent like 21-year old SS Francisco Rodríguez, who was Rookie of the Year last season and 22-year old LF Carlton Broadbent establishing themselves in the lineup. That is reflected in an offense that is improving (3rd-5th). But the pitching is lagging behind at this point (6th) and Balmoral’s top pitching prospects are still down in AA. So the Giants could use some help. Fortunately, Kingston obliged by placing LHP Dave Mapp on waivers. The Giants swooped in and claimed in. Mapp made an immediate impact and helped his new team to finish October just one game back of 2nd place, and one game over .500. *Top Position Player:* 27-year old RF Shannon Walker has bounced around with Fort Richmond and Embro before landing in Balmoral. Last year, he established himself as an all-star and his excellent play continues, as he won Batter of the Month honours for the first time. *Top Pitcher:* Not to belabor the point, but after being deemed expendable in Kingston, Dave Mapp suddenly became the ace of Balmoral’s starting rotation, and played like one, winning Pitcher of the Month honours in October. *Key Injury:* None. -------- Like a lot of teams in the West, the Wolseley Unions are a mediocre team with only a few players of note: SP Aaron Saunderson, CF Zak Kidd and LF Blake Harmon. That is not surprising, since Wolseley traded its best players to procure future talent. Wolseley has talent down on the farm, but it will take some time to reach the main club. With that in mind, the Unions did not do too badly in October, finishing just 1 game below .500 and 2.0 games back of the wild card. Their run differential reflected that finish as well (-1). The Unions are below average on offense (6th), but are not doing too badly in pitching (2nd-4th), although the rotation had a rough month (7th – 4.79). They are sound defensively however (2nd - .720). *Top Position Player:* SS Rubén Sánchez was Wolseley’s top position player in October. He went .306/.364/.449, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 14 R, 9 BB. *Top Pitcher:* 31-year old RHP Joe Walrond had a fine month, going 4-2, 2.81 ERA, 48.0 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 19 K, 11 BB. *Key Injury:* None. -------- The Fort Richmond Generals are a team in transition at the moment, as they are starting to ease in a few of their highly-touted prospects into the lineup and rotation. Former first round picks, SS Steven Wormleighton (51/63) and C Danny Trowbridge (68/80) are still trying to find their grove. They have been joined in the lineup by former second rounder 3B Britt Wing (29/65). Meanwhile, in the rotation, RHP Dean Stroud (40/74) is now the 5th starter, after working out of the bullpen last season. The Generals are really struggling on offense at the moment, ranking last in host of categories. However their pitching is much more consistent, ranking from 1st to 3rd in nearly every category. *Top Position Player:* When your fifth starter (Dean Stroud) is ranked fourth on the offensive WAR list, just 0.3 WAR behind the leader, you know you’re offense is struggling. So I’ll have to go with SS Steve Wormeighton, who ‘leads’ the team with a .248/.306/.396, 11-2B, 6 RBI, 20 R, 8 BB stat line. *Top Pitcher:* The pitching overall has been more positive; that said, RP-RHP Kantaro Sumita had the best month in my opinion, as he went 3-1, 1.10 ERA, 32.2 IP, 10.92 WHIP, 12 K, 8 BB. *Noteworthy:* On October 18, Fort Richmond defeated the Wolseley Unions 4-3 in 16 innings. In the course of that game, SP Tristan Purss (2-2, 3.45 ERA) set the ULB record for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game with 13 in 12.0 IP. No one had pitched more than 11 K in a game of any length until now. Still waiting for that first 15 K game though (and the first 3 HR game for that matter)! *Key Injury:* 28-year old 2B Everton Ridgley (.206/.227/.254) suffered a sprained ankle in a game against the Kingston Pelicans. He is out four more weeks. -------- The Pulberry Trolleys are in the same position as the rest of the teams in the West not named Kingston or Cambria – waiting for its farm system to bear fruit. It already has former first round picks on the roster in both 2B Colin Strudwick and SS Wenceslas Jasmim, but it could sure use some more. They’re waiting in the wings, but it going to take a little more time. The Trolleys’ pitching was quite respectable this past month, averaging 2nd to 4th in a host of categories, but it’s offense is ranked 7th. *Top Position Player:* Not a lot to choose from, but it’s nice to see former 1st overall pick Wenceslas Jasmim doing well. In October, he went .304/.350/.467, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 14 R, 7 BB. *Top Pitcher:* Again, no one player has really stood out, but RHP Dan Rogers performed well, going 1-2, 2.43 ERA, 37.0 IP, 1.319 WHIP, 19 K, 13 BB. *Noteworthy:* Pulberry’s bullpen, comprised of 39-year old RHP Pete Malcolm and 29-year old LHP Quentin Teague, were both claimed off waivers. Malcolm, back on February 1 from the Stratford Barons, and Teague claimed from the Cambria Cannons on October 24. Teague is a former all-star and won the United Cup last year, but he was really struggling in the early going (2.30 WHIP) this season, before Cambria made him available. *Key Injury:* None. -------- Sooner or later, the Hespeler Stars are bound to escape the basement of the Western League. Their drafting and farm system is starting to produce results, in the form of last season’s 1st overall pick 22-year old CF Vic Weetman, who skipped the minors completely and is prospering as Hespeler’s leadoff man against RHP and cleanup hitter against LHP. They have 24-year old LF Steven Winstanley, who finished 2nd last season in Rookie of the Year honours. They also have 26-year old C Simon Smith, who bounced around the minors a bit. A couple of seasons ago, he was claimed by Fort Richmond in the Rule 5 draft from Heslpeler, only to be returned to the Stars a few months later. But he was a minor league all-star a couple of times and now, given the chance to start regularly for Hespeler, earned Rookie of the Month honours in October. The Stars are very respectable on offense in the early going (1st-3rd) and are showing signs of improvement in the pitching stats (5th-7th). Time, of course, will tell whether they finally make the move upward this season. *Top Position Player:* C Simon Smith won Rookie honours for the month, but LF Steven Winstanley was the Star that shown the brightest in October, batting .383/.439/.723, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 22 R, 11 BB. *Top Pitcher:* 29-year old RHP Freddie Ventriss led a rotation that is still struggling for an identity. In October, he went 2-3, 1.84 ERA, 44.0 IP, 1.43 WHIP, 25 K, 19 BB. *Key Injury:* 42-year old RP-RHP Hyo-cheong Yu (0-1, 2.45 ERA, 1.58 WHIP) was diagnosed with bicep tendinitis back on October 26 in a game against the Sherburn Tigers. He is out for 3 months. -------- __________________ United Leagues of Braeland Last edited by reds1; 07-03-2017 at 08:59 PM.