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Old 03-06-2024, 11:40 PM   #47
jasg224
All Star Reserve
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Guadalajara, México
Posts: 564
The 1939 Season ends with a bang!

We went into the final day with Tunas de San Luis leading the race with a 57-26 record. Flechas de León are 2nd with a 56-27 record, so León needed a win against San Luis to force a tie at the top of the table. An early single by Carlos Renderos gave San Luis an early lead. However, a Juan Negrete leadoff homer tied the game. Then, Gustavo Ruiz hit a single to center to flip the score early in the game.

The Arrows managed to hang on to their lead until pitcher Luis Cruz came to bat in the 6th with two outs and a runner on second. His double made this a tied game once more, but León wouldn’t give up this easily. Once again with two outs, Ehécatl Cocom drove in Victor Albornoz to give the emerald squad the lead again.

In the 7th, a single from Francisco Escamilla gave the Flechas a run, while Ruiz got another RBI on a sac-fly. Then, Ezequiel Anguiano had no trouble closing out the 9th, meaning both teams finished with a 57-27 record. For the first time in history, the title would be decided by a single game!

León and San Luis put it all on the line at Estadio de la Plata, with star pitchers Roberto Mestre and Juan González taking the mound in what was sure to be a close game. As expected, the game was 0-0 going into the 9th. It was then that an error by León 3B Gustavo Ruiz and two singles in a row gave the title to San Luis.

San Luis are three time Ullamaliztli Champions!



The team managed by Jesús Grana will be happy to take home yet another trophy before The Big Free Agency*. They're set to lose 10 players, but they certainly have the budget and interest to keep a few or even sign better players. What's even better, they'll keep the likes of Roberto Mestre, Carlos Renderos and Jesús Rodríguez to build a squad around.

*So, apparently this is happening: 69 players from all teams are becoming free agents after reaching exactly 4 years service at the end of the season. This includes 9 players rated 70+ which should make for a very interesting offseason. This also means I'm putting the expansion teams in this offseason to give them the chance to sign whoever they can (more info in a following post). There will be no expansion draft, just two new teams with randomly generated teams of players from their region, less market size than the established team but perhaps a bit more financial muscle (at least for Monterrey). Anyway, we'll talk more about this in a later post, for now let's keep talking about the season that just finished.

Here's the breakdown (players stats are season totals):

Tunas de San Luis - 1st (+1), 24-14 in the final stretch

It was an epic title win for San Luis! Now they'll be hoping to keep players like Max Braud, José Trujillo and Salvador Velázquez or find suitable replacements. Having increased their attendance by 116 thousand people since 1936 means the team has a nice money reserve to find new players. This was the most dominant season in history so far, leapfrogging Mérida's 1936 55-win season.

Best hitters:
2B Max Braud - .342/.408/.418, 13 2B, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 7 SB, 111 H
C José Trujillo - .286/.351/.361, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 33 RBI
3B Carlos Renderos - .272/.323/.325, 11 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 5 SB

Rotation:
RHP Roberto Mestre - 12-5, 1.12 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 11.9 K%
RHP Francisco Barajas - 13-4, 1.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.2 K%
LHP Francisco Camacho - 10-6, 2.53 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 11.5 K%
RHP Luis Cruz - 12-6, 2.41 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 13.3 K%

Flechas de León - 2nd (-1), 23-16 in the final stretch
The club from Guanajuato fought bravely until the end, but it was a single run that decided their fate in the end. The team did improve greatly, winning 16 more games than last season, so we can probably expect them to field a very good team next season as well.

Best hitters:
CF Juan Negrete - .316/.368/.453, 24 2B, 6 3B, 4 HR, 36 RBI, 39 SB
1B Francisco Escamilla - .304/.354/.399, 17 2B, 3 HR, 40 RBI, 2 SB
2B Ehécatl Cocom - .303/.340/.361, 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 5 SB

Rotation:
RHP Juan González - 12-4, 1.76 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 12.7 K%
LHP Jonathan Estrada - 14-3, 1.54 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 14 K%
LHP Alejandro Carranza - 10-9, 2.07 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 14.9 K%
RHP Artemio Holguín - 1-0, 1.08 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 6.6 K%

Serpientes de Puebla - 3rd (NC), 22-15 in the final stretch
Another top half finish for Puebla and their best season to date. Perhaps they should have done better, with the best offense in the league and all, but they need pitching improvements, particularly in the bullpen. They are losing several key players, so perhaps we can expect a down season in 1940.

Best hitters:
3B Daniel Rivera - .289/.419/.408, 13 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 35 RBI
2B Fernando del Toro - .293/.364/.373, 13 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 42 RBI, 1 SB
CF Jorge Ramírez - .293/.339/.397, 12 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 37 RBI, 25 SB

Rotation:
RHP Faustino Campos - 8-8, 2.10 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 13.1 K%
RHP Victor Villarroel - 13-2, 1.56 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15.7 K%
RHP Antonio Aguilar - 9-7, 2.26 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 8.2 K%
LHP José García - 8-9, 2.32 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 8.6 K%

Obsidianas de Guadalajara - 4th (+1), 18-19 in the final stretch
The Obsidians had never lost more than 40 games, this year they lost 45. Their pitching was terrible and their hitting was mediocre, so unless they manage to keep the likes of Carlos Casillas and César Loaiza to build a squad around, don't expect much improvement for next season.

Best hitters:
2B César Loaiza - .295/.343/.386, 13 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 39 RBI, 2 SB
3B Oscar Torres - .285/.331/.364, 12 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 3 SB
SS Ricardo Solorio - .289/.317/.351, 17 2B, 1 3B, 22 RBI, 3 SB

Rotation:
LHP Carlos Casillas - 10-6, 2.67 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 10 K%
RHP Jacinto Santos - 9-10, 3.01 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 13.4 K%
RHP Hermenegildo Lomas - 7-8, 3.32 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 9.9 K%
RHP Mario Jiménez - 3-5, 3-21 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8.4 K%

Jaguares de México - 5th (+2), 22-17 in the final stretch
In contrast to their month of May, the Jaguars had a great finish that helped them jump up the table. This didn't stop them from having their worst season to date, losing 2 more games than in 1936, finishing in 5th place for the 3rd time in 4 years.

Best hitters:
LF Gregorio Pérez - .284/.330/.346, 14 2B, 2 HR, 30 RBI
3B Rico Santistevan - .271/.349/.322, 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 28 RBI, 1 SB
2B Antonio Sánchez - .275/.312/.350, 18 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 3 SB

Rotation:
RHP Eulalio Garza - 12-4, 2.10 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 14.4 K%
RHP Ángel Urquidi - 8-6, 1.92 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 8.3 K%
RHP David Garza - 1-7, 3.39 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8.4 K%
RHP Pedro León - 1-6, 4.71 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 5.6 K%

Aulladores de Mérida - 6th (-2), 12-27 in the final stretch
The first champions get yet another bottom 3 finish, with each season worst than the last. What's even worse is they're set to lose star SS Antonio Monterrosa. Mérida fans might need even more patience next season.

Best hitters:
RF Edwin Esparza - .317/.364/.403, 19 2B, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 4 SB
CF Guillermo Aceves - .246/.276/.329, 16 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 13 SB
3B Enrique Canul - .245/.293/.300, 4 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 2 SB

Rotation:
RHP Jesús Pérez - 8-9, 2.03 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 12.8 K%
LHP Roberto García - 5-12, 4.14 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 9.4 K%
RHP David Venegas - 8-11, 3.50 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 11.2 K%
RHP Felipe Martínez - 8-10, 3.45 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 10.7 K%

Jaibas de Tampico - 7th (-1), 15-23 in the final stretch
Tampico were a much improved team this time around, but it wasn't enough to get them out of the bottom of the table. Not losing any "important" players should allow them to improve even more in the offseason.

Best hitters:
LF Ricardo Palacios - .305/.363/.399, 8 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 15 SB
C Alfredo Hernández - .278/.318/.335, 9 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 25 RBI
2B Mario Abeyta - .264/.311/.324, 7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 8 SB

Rotation:
RHP Israel Pastrana - 6-7, 2.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 13.9 K%
RHP César Plascencia - 4-15, 3.78 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 12.1 K%
LHP Miguel Zúñiga - 7-11, 3.14 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 10.5 K%
RHP Carlos Gomez - 2-1, 4.24 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 6.8 K%

Águilas de México - 8th (NC), 16-22 in the final stretch
Finally, we have a team completing not only their worst ever season but the worst ever season, one loss worst than the 1936 Tampico team. Despite the rotation and a handful other players doing pretty well, nothing seemed to go well for the Eagles this season.

Best hitters:
2B Juan Garnica - .293/.329/.346, 16 2B, 1 3B, 26 RBI, 1 SB
RF Luis García - .275/.306/.313, 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 13 RBI
3B David Herrera - .238/.291/.289, 10 2B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 1 SB

Rotation:
LHP Andrés Amaya - 4-10, 2.26 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 9.1 K%
RHP Antonio Castañeda - 12-9, 1.95 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 8.4 K%
LHP Leo Álvarez - 4-11, 3.62 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 11.1 K%
RHP Raúl Romero - 1-5, 4.46 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 9.3 K%
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Once again, we're showcasing the season's best retiree. This time it's:

RHP Roberto Olmos - Born 7/Feb/1903 in Atlixco, Puebla


Olmos pitched four seasons for the Obsidianas de Guadalajara, before being traded to San Luis in 1939. However, Olmos wouldn't pitch at all with a San Luis squad that eventually won it all. He decided to retire at 36 years of age.

1936 - 5 G, 5 GS, 37.2 IP, 1.67 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 4.8 K%, 5.5 BB%, 3.02 FIP, 6.06 SIERA, 0.3 WAR
1937 - 31 G, 14 GS, 2 SV, 128.2 IP, 2.10 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 11.8 K%, 4.8 BB%, 2.37 FIP, 4.82 SIERA, 2.1 WAR
1938 - 21 G, 21 GS, 154 IP, 1.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 10.5 K%, 4.6 BB%, 2.41 FIP, 4.94 SIERA, 2.7 WAR
1939 - 6 G, 2 GS, 16.2 IP, 4.86 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 9.2 K%, 10.5 BB%, 3.19 FIP, 5.93 SIERA, 0 WAR

Career - 63 G, 42 GS, 2 SV, 337 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 10.3 K%, 5.1 BB%, 2.50 FIP, 5.06 SIERA, 5.1 WAR

Roberto was never an ace, but he did have 2 good seasons with Guadalajara. He was a top 10 pitcher in 1937-38, probably what earned him the move to San Luis mid-1939. Olmos didn't play long enough to be considered for the Hall of Fame, but he was good enough to earn a mention here.
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