2077 Season (9/3 – 9/5)
San Francisco Seals (64-69, .481, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (82-50, .621, 1st NL West)
San Francisco’s SP Landon Sampson, widely considered a top-ten talent in the MLB, is having himself a pretty solid season for the ho-hum Seals. So far in 2077, he’s 10-5 with a 2.83 ERA (#1 in the League), 202 K’s (#1 in the League), and a 5.5 WAR (you guessed it, #1 in the League). He’s been a dominant force on a squad that does nothing to reward his efforts – these guys have one of the worst offenses in the League and unless your version of run support is some encouraging words of wisdom for their Ace in the dugout then they offer none. The Seals started off the season with a 5-17 April and, while they have played .500 or better ball each month since then, have never been able to make up the ground they lost at the outset of this campaign. This is a team that won the 2074 World Series after making the playoffs 15 straight times who haven’t been back there since – if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times… the future is not bright in the Bay Area… and, despite their swanky midseason rebrand, they’re not fooling anyone with this collection of misfit toys.
But first, a note… the San Marcos Supremos have not won a game since Megan’s highly touted arrival to town – an inauspicious start for my former assistant indeed. 0-6 so far with her at the helm and doing their best to sink the ship… I told her to hang in there, it takes time to install a new system. Oh, and Dontrell Gay is going to be a DtD decision over the next 4-weeks with a strained rib cage muscle. Bums me out, man. But, at least, Pepper should get some more reps – I mean, he’s getting paid and everything. We even have a uniform with his name on the back, you know what I mean?
133 of 162: Landon Sampson (10-5, 2.83) @ Newton Weiser (15-6, 2.83)
Loss, 9-4. Newton lost the battle of the two pitchers with the best ERAs in the league – and he did so early in this one after allowing three to get across in the top of the 1st… ouch. Otto went 3 for 5 with a run and 2 RBIs and O. Mack scored twice – PEPPER went 0 for 3 in his start today. Money for nothing, man.
And, another quick note: Make that 0-7 for the San Marcos Supremos – if they don’t win soon they’re going to give that girl a complex.
134 of 162: David Ouwerkerk (7-8, 3.28) @ Paul Yeager (17-6, 3.31)
Win, 5-4. Yeager tops out at around 88mph – but, it’s his control that is key and he had it in spades today – 8 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 7 K’s and ZERO WALKS… O. Mack led the offense with a 2 for 4 performance where he added a dinger and 2 runs. 5 steals in this one for the La La’s – playing fast & loose on the base paths… 2 for O. Mack and one each for Zody, Ethan, and Cooke.
And, my last quick note on the subject: The San Marcos Supremos finally won a game during Megan’s short-lived tenure as the clubs GM… I expect the drunk texts to beginning any minute now…
135 of 162: Jan Hernandez (9-11, 4.47) @ Aiden Jensen (9-11, 4.99)
Win, 5-3. Aiden showed another glimpse of what we expect him to one day become in a 7 inning, 10 K, and 2 earned performance and Dontrell Gay gutted out a 1 for 2 performance with a HR, 2 runs, and a walk. Barbaccia picks up his 37th save and Voorhis went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Elsewhere: 39-year old St. Louis Right Fielder, Malcolm Charlebois, recorded his 2500th hit as a pro – the guy has been a low-key stud for a long time and has put together a well-decorated career in the bigs – 6 All-Star appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers, and 2 championships (both with the Rams in ’67 & ’68). Charlebois started his career in a Lakers uniform and is a well-traveled vet of the Majors having spent time in Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Brooklyn, and even Nolanville of the Bush League before the Toronto Reds bought his contract and then lost him in the Rule 5 draft to the Dallas Cowboys. Also – we’re 5 games up on our division rival Phoenix Suns currently and are on an 8-2 run over our last 10 games… the other Los Angeles team is in a good way too – they’ve gone 7-3 over their last ten and are making up ground on the Seattle Sounders in the AL West… they’ve closed the gap to a scant 3 ½ games and are playing some of their best baseball of the season.
2077 Season (9/6 – 9/8)
Minnesota North Stars (64-72, .471, 4th NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (84-51, .622)
I have a bit of a soft spot for Shawna’s club and kudos to her brain trust for putting together the #2 offense in the National League – if only their advanced analytics team could tighten up their math around pitching… dead last in that department and if they could go any lower than that they would. It could be a tough set here as we’ve been winning games despite the fact that our big dogs have been inconsistent at the plate – could go either way.
136 of 162: Adrian Hollyfield (1-6, 5.50) @ Dejuan Burns (9-10, 3.98)
Loss, 14-8. A late charge in the top of the 8th, where the vaunted Minnesota offense went off for 6 runs, was all it took to do us in here… We were sloppy on the bump tonight – Burns gave up 6, Loving gave up 5 in relief, and Trevor Dotson gave up another in 1.1 innings of work. Sometimes you got it – and sometimes you don’t. Good impersonation of what we expected from Minnesota’s staff though.
137 of 162: Norm Rodriguez (11-7, 3.88) @ Michael Brisk (11-10, 3.44)
Win, 1-0. Brisky remains phenomenal – 8.1 with 2 hits and 6 K’s tonight with Barbaccia requiring only 7 pitches to close it out in the top of the 9th for the 38th time this year. Our lone score came in the bottom of the 8th on a PEPPER GRANT SOLO HOMER, his 14th of the year… money well spent, I’d say.
Ok, I’m a lying liar – another quick note: Megan’s Supremos have put together a nice little 3-game winning streak now and delivered their 3rd in a row by crushing the Decatur Donnybrooks by a score of 13-0. Whatever she said to them after they dumped their 6th in a row seems to be working…
138 of 162: Matt Olston (8-15, 5.17) @ Newton Weiser (15-7, 3.05)
Win, 4-2. Gettin’ it done now… Newton gave us 8, 4-hit innings and K’d 8 while allowing only 2 runs and Hamza finished 2 for 4 with a 3-run ding dong in the bottom of the 5th. Barbaccia racks up another save, Dontrell drove in a run, and we stole two bags. Nice series win here – and you gotta love how we shut down their offense after they crushed us in the first game.
Elsewhere: Rad Taylor, currently with your CITY OF COMPTON RAIDERS, twirled a complete-game, 6-hit shutout with 13 K’s over the Columbus Blue Jackets… 3 of his K’s would come at the expense of one Mr. Derek Jeter in this one – a fine day for our young(ish) prospect. Our lead over the Suns is back down to 4 ½ games – no worries though, I think we’re good for it, and the San Diego Chargers and Vancouver Whitecaps become the first regular-season casualties of the 2077 campaign as both clubs were unceremoniously mathematically eliminated from postseason consideration.
2077 Season (9/9 – 9/12)
San Diego Chargers (54-84, .391, 5th NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (86-52, .623)
The downtrodden, recently eliminated from postseason contention, and all-around mistreated club from San Diego has little to highlight, nothing to play for, and even less to lose – they are exactly the kind of club that gives you concern at this stage of the game. You can’t lose to the right? That makes you look weak in the eyes of the other clubs who are still in contention. And, you can’t afford to have somebody get injured against them, right? That’d be like losing your star player during a friendly. So, what do you do in these types of situations then? Go through the motions, bring only that which is required to get the job done to the table and nothing more? Nah. It’s none of those things – you just baseball. Because that’s what we do.
139 of 162: Alfred Ath (0-0, 5.14) @ Paul Yeager (18-6, 3.31)
Win, 7-5. It took a late burst in the 7th & 8th to get this W added to our permanent record – PEPPER was out there working for it – he went 3 for 4 with TWO doubles, TWO RBIs, and TWO runs and Voorhis hit a 2-run homer – always nice when a couple of guys who have been forgettable remind you of the good ol’ days…
Side note: San Diego Manager, Paul Porter, got a pink slip, a bus ticket, and told not to look back on his way out after the game tonight… that was uncomfortable. P-Squared had a 458-491 record and .483 winning percentage in his 6 seasons as the manager of the Chargers – he also made the playoffs three times despite his teams’ sub-standard budget… but no one cares about that, right? This is one of those, “what have you done for me lately’ situations that Janet was talking about, I think… We’ll be adding a AA team to the 6-team supplemental league that’s opening up at the end of the season – maybe I’ll take a flier out on the guy if he’s still available. Probably not though, because he’s just not all that good at baseball team management.
140 of 162: Artyom Fadeyev (6-18, 6.29) @ Aiden Jensen (10-11, 4.88)
Win, 9-5. Complete game, 4-run effort from Aiden with 6 K’s, Otto went 2 for 4 with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 6th, and Hamza finished 2 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBIs… he also committed an error and got caught stealing – you can’t always have it all.
141 of 162: George Giess (0-4, 4.39) @ Dejuan Burns (9-10, 4.15)
Win, 3-2. Tony Voorhis, seemingly awake for this one, went 3 for 5 with a double & 2 RBIs and Dom Cooke hit a solo home run that sealed the deal – ho-hum effort out of Dejuan, he went 6 innings before handing the pill off to Ferdinand Loving he would earn the win for us. SAC BUNT for HAMZA who took one for the team to advance the runner.
142 of 162: Burt McElheny (9-13, 4.58) @ Michael Brisk (12-10, 3.29)
Win, 3-2. Ethan Mullens was perfect at the plate – 4 for 4 with a double, a homer, 2 RBIs and a run, Brisky gave us 7.1 quality innings with 6 K’s, and Barbaccia gets his 40th save… we got the most beautiful of beautiful results here – a 4-game sweep at home!
Elsewhere: First thing is first – “Angry” Eloy Delando, of the Vancouver Whitecaps, hit two balls out of the park tonight during their 5-1 win over the Minnesota North Stars – the perpetually displeased Delando added 5 RBIs and 2 runs in the effort to round out his line. Our lead over the Phoenix Suns is not at an astounding 7-games… we’ve been hot, and they have, suddenly, been mired in a malaise that doesn’t look like it will lift any time soon – I know that taking pleasure in another’s misfortune is a bad look, but… whatever – this **** feels good! Our 7-game lead, coincidentally, is the largest lead between a 1st and 2nd place team in any division in the MLB… oh how times have changed… and, yeah, we punched our tickets to the playoffs after our last win – and are now the only team in baseball guaranteed to get a spot in the playoffs – and with 20 games left!
