BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, CYL, and CBA
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
13 July 2314
CBO Analysis
We have reached the approximate 70% mark of the season, and only one team has 60+ wins, the hot Vault 81 Dwellers (62-26), currently on a six-game winning streak, the second-best current winning streak in the CBO. There are no teams with 60+ losses, but there are 10 teams with 50+. We will highlight one veteran that can go to a contender from each of those teams in the league reports below. Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Vault 81 Dwellers (138.9, o)
2) The Slog Ghouls (122.9, o)
3) Glowing Sea Radscorpions (122.4, ++)
4) FHE Yao Guai (115.5, -)
5) Atom Cats (107.2, +)
6) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (105.4, -)
7) Lexington Synths (105.2, --)
8) Salem Witch Hats (102.0, ++)
9) Diamond City Swatters (99.2, +)
10) Quincy Gunners (99.2, --)
11) Cambridge Coursers (99.1, ++)
12) Bunker Hill 75ers (98.1, --)
13) Concord Radstags (97.1, +)
14) Oberland T-51s (97.1, --)
15) Southie Brews (97.0, -)
16) University Point Deathclaws (93.1, --)
17) Easy Town Assaultrons (80.9, o)
18) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (79.7, +)
19) Starlight Killers (78.8, o)
20) Egret Ninjas (72.8, +)
21) County Crossing Bloodbugs (71.5, +)
22) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (70.5, ++)
23) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (67.5, -)
24) Nahant Celtics (62.5, o)
25) Spectacle Island Reapers (62.5, o)
26) Malden Grognaks (61.6, --)
27) Roxbury Rad Sox (61.5, o)
28) Goodneighbor Hancocks (56.4, o)
Brotherhood League
The BL continues to be The Slog and then everyone else. The Ghouls are up 12.5 games over Salem and 17.5 over 3rd-place Easy Town. The Assaultrons are followed by Nordhagen Beach, Malden. County Crossing, and Nahant.
The Grognaks, Bloodbugs, and Celtics all have 50+ losses, to let's take a look at who could go for future building. We will then feature the Bugs in full below.
Malden: A good veteran to dish out for some future help would be 1B Andy Stamey (.292/11/55). Stamey has been a valuable piece of the Grognaks but could serve as veteran support for a championship contender. University Point is dealing with a banged up Barker Cocoa, so that could be one destination.
County Crossing: Honestly, the house. The Bugs are one o the older teams. If there would be one blockbuster deal, it could be dishing 35-year-old RF Babs Rooth (.309/19/53) to a team in need of power in RF.
Nahant: There could be a few options, but 30-year-old 2B Diamond Ball (.325/14/60) seems to be the obvious choice to bring in several prospects. The 10-time All-Star was a leader in the run last season, and he should be able to lead a different team there now that the Celtics need several pitchers to be competitive again.
The Bloodbugs were the BL champions in 2313, posting a record of 81-49 (.623). At 36-51 (.414), the Bugs have already lost more games in 2314 with 43 left to play. We see them as perhaps being at the cliff now as one of the oldest teams in the CBO. County Crossing is decent on offense, currently 6th in runs scored (443) with the top stat in four categories. Pitching has been a problem, though, 11th in runs allowed (488) and 14th in Starters ERA (5.74). Offense is led by 1B Plain Morris (.283/22/85) and RF Rooth (.309/19/53). SP Bendy Barman (2-2, 4.16) is the only starter with a sub-5.00 ERA. "Ace" Shaak Yi (5-8, 6.06) has not been good.
Institute League
Fort Hagen and Lexington are locked into a tight battle, with the Silver Shroud up by a game. Bunker Hill, Concord, and Cambridge had a bit of a down stretch, so they all have the hot Salem Witch Hats on their backs for playoff seeding. Starlight and Sunshine Tidings get to decide which vet to distribute to another team.
Starlight: The problem with the Killers' veterans is that most of them are just about done and have almost no value. The one exception is probably 3B/SS Nick Maris (.212/2/22) who has seen his offensive output fade but still offers excellent defensive support for a team who may want to upgrade its fielding.
Sunshine Tidings: It will take coming back from a broken foot in a couple of weeks, but 3B Ross Merchantman (.277/28/56) is the obvious choice to be a big-time prospect gainer for the Chemists.
For the Chemists, they are similar to COunty Crossing. Offense has been OK, ranked 7th in runs scored (430), while the pitching is 12th in runs allowed (494) and eth in Starters ERA (5.41). The top seven hitters have double-digit homers for the top HR team in the NCA (158). C Red Jay Jones (.363/28/67) and the injured Merchantman (.277/28/56) are tied for the team lead and 2nd in the CBO behind only Salem's Brian DeLong (29). On the mound, ace SP Tiger Fanne (5-7, 4.13) leads the starters. RP Cush Baker (3-2, 2.72) has been the best pitcher on the squad.
Minutemen League
Watch out! The defending champions are back! While the rest of the ML struggled, the Atom Cats used a 7-3 streak in their last 10 to tie Quincy atop the ML. University Point went 3-7 during that stretch, dropping them two games back. Southie is two games above .500, so alive in the playoff race. All of Spectacle Island, Jamaica Plain, and Goodneighbor are preparing for next year and beyond. The Hancocks hold the #1 overall pick right now.
Spectacle Island: The player who will get the Reapers the most bang for their buck is 29-year-old SP Jalep Temper (2-6, 4.13). The 2303 #1 overall pick, Temper has seen his ERA at his highest since his rookie year in 2306 when he has a 4.41 ERA for Finch Farm (now Nahant). Still, he is a valuable pitcher who could see his ERA drop in the right place.
Jamaica Plain: Their star player is LF Ken Debate, but we do not foresee the 29-year-old star being dealt. One potential could be 35-year-old SP Derek Green (8-5, 5.71). Green is beyond his glory days, but he could provide depth help for a team that needs better pitching. Green is one of just three CBO pitchers with 200+ career wins (Beachboy Nut and Gavin Eviritts).
Goodneighbor: We hope the Hancocks' brass heeds this message. Trade nobody! In recent years, Goodneighbor has traded away valuable young stars trying to shake up things. Instead of a solid base, the team remains in chaos. We suggest to hold on to the youngsters they have and continue to draft well and develop those players.
The Reapers have not sown success as of late. Out of the playoffs since 2308, Spectacle Island has had a hard time climbing into the top half of the IL. Currently 11th in runs scored (413) and 14th in runs allowed (532), the Reapers still will have a long way before they are competitors again. On offense, SS Nippy ben Nippolt (.313/12/43) is the only player above .300, while RF Esau Babz (.256/21/60) is the power leader. SP Aqua Purified (8-8, 4.59) is the acting ace with Temper (2-6, 4.13) getting little run support to steal victories.
Railroad League
With an 8-2 mark and a six-game winning streak, only topped in the CBO by fellow RL team, Glowing Sea with a 9-1, 8-game winning streak mark, the Vault 81 Dwellers are the kings of the CBO, 4.5 games better than The Slog for the top record. FHE, the Radscorpions, Diamond City, and Oberland are all above .500 and heavily in the playoff race. Egret and Roxbury have hit the 50-loss mark, so here are their players to deal.
Egret: 3B Notorious Fugate (.259/10/42) is still a top defender who can provide some offensive support from the bottom half of the lineup. He is actually currently above his career averages, so the 34-year-old still has something to offer to the right team.
Roxbury: There are several we can name for the Sox, but the player with the most value currently is probably SS Purple Gupta (.260/7/33). His offensive numbers have dipped some but his defense is still top-notch, something a team with SS problems could solve.
The Rad Sox saw themselves drop from 1st place in 2312 to drafting 3rd overall in 2313. With multiple stars dropping off the age cliff or being dealt before they do, the Sox are rebuilding more so than a lot of the other traditional powerhouses. We see that coming for some others, like Nordhagen Beach and University Point, but Roxbury's drop has been more dramatic. With the 13th scoring offense (382) and 11th scoring defense (464), Roxbury is exactly where it is expected to be in the playoff race: out of it. Gupta (.260/7/33) leads the team in batting average of a team batting .244. The 1st and 8th hitters, Dan Squirrel and Azzada Lylvieve lead the team in homers with 11 each. Three of the four starters have ERAs in the 4.xx range, led by SP Freak Mouton (5-8, 4.16). The lowest bullpen ERA is by RP Ice Water Williams (3-2, 4.32).
CBO Standings
CBO Players of the Week
July 6 - It was announced today that Bunker Hill left fielder Zod Gaycey had received the North Charles Association Player of the Week Award for his impressive play last week.
All week long he was terrific at the plate and won the honor with a .556 BA (10-for-18), 4 home runs and 8 RBIs.
In this current campaign Gaycey is hitting at a .307 clip with 17 home runs and 48 RBIs.
One of the league's most exciting young players, Yvuh Jet of the Glowing Sea Radscorpions earned himself South Charles Association Player of the Week honors with a standout performance in last week's games.
For the week the 23-year-old catcher had a lofty .600 average (12-for-20), collecting 2 home runs, 7 RBIs and 6 runs scored.
This year, Jet is batting .300 with 72 hits and 16 home runs. He has scored 52 times and has batted in 52 runs.
July 13 - Thatch Heard demonstrated his potential to be a star in the game last week and today he took home the North Charles Association Player of the Week Award.
The Salem right fielder wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers last week, pounding them for a .500 average (14-for-28) with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs on his way to claiming the honor.
Heard is hitting .347 this year with 26 home runs and 88 RBIs. He also has an OBP of .360, 8 walks and scored 71 times.
Austin Engill of the Egret Ninjas might have lost a step over the years, but the 36-year-old shortstop can still get it done. He beat out several other worthy South Charles Association hitters over this past week to claim the Player of the Week Award.
Engill posted a .409 batting average with 5 home runs and 10 RBIs last week while scoring 8 runs. For the week he was 9 for 22.
This season, Engill is batting .245 with 47 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 16 home runs.
CBO Noteworthy News
July 6 - Due to public pressure to respond from the Vim! League report, the CBO has released a statement that a CBO-sponsored project to build an indoor stadium in Far Harbor or the surrounding areas of Mount Desert Island will break ground as early as next month. Asked if that means the CBO will have a team in Maine one day, the spokesperson said, "Yes."
July 6 and 7 - Slammin' Sammy Holloway collected 10 hits in two games on July 6 and 7, an amazing feat!
Holloway was on quite a roll as he knocked the ball all over Slocum's Joe Seaside Stadium on July 6, collecting 5 hits. His day of glory wasn't able to win the game, however. The Atom Cats got the 4-3 victory over the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys.
"I never realized that a few hits could cause so much commotion," the first baseman said in the clubhouse after the game, crowded by reporters. "Headlines and highlights are great, but it takes a lot of luster off it that we lost."
After his first couple of hits, all eyes in the ballpark were on him each time Holloway stepped into the batter's box. Even some opposing fans were pulling for him, knowing they were watching a little slice of league history unfold.
When asked what the secret of hitting so well is, he smiled and said "relax, concentrate, and hit the ball where they ain't."
That's exactly what he did, as Holloway finished the game with 5 hits in 5 at-bats and a line in the record book. Slammin' Sammy Holloway doubled in the 1st, doubled in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, doubled in the 7th and hit an RBI double in the 9th.
This year, Holloway has hit at a .353 clip with 68 RBIs, 18 home runs and 56 runs scored.
Some moments become linked with a particular player's career forever. Holloway of the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys had one of those moments when he went 5-for-5 at the plate in his team's 8-4 win over the Atom Cats at Slocum's Joe Seaside Stadium. It was his second-straight five-hit game.
"I can't believe I did it twice. I won't forget this anytime soon, and I don't expect it to happen too often," the 22-year-old first baseman told reporters in the postgame interview. "I'll be happy to just get a hit or two every day. Enough to hang around the league a while longer. Like 10, maybe 15 more years."
Holloway singled in the 1st, singled in the 3rd, hit a GRAND SLAM off Junkyard Gourd in the 4th, singled in the 6th and singled in the 8th.
This season, Holloway has hit 19 home runs and posted a .363 batting average.
July 8 - It was a special day at Battle of Bunker Hill Memorial Stadium for Vault 81's Exxie Summerset. The Dwellers ace logged his 150th career win against the 75ers. In the 7-4 decision Summerset tossed 6.2 innings, surrendered 8 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.
"I'm real fortunate that I had the opportunity to play with such good players during my career," said Summerset. "I just couldn't have drawn it up any better. I'm glad I did it in this uniform, too. Vault 81 is a great organization to play for."
Over the course of his career, Summerset has a won-lost record of 150 wins and 69 losses with 1400 strikeouts in 1993 innings pitched with a lifetime 3.56 ERA.
July 11 - The Quincy 4-2 loss to Concord wasn't all bad. Something good came out it, at least for Baywatch Fischler. As a consolation prize he got the 2000th hit of his career. The veteran Gunners right fielder went 1-for-4 in the game and added his name to the coveted 2000-hit club. He was given a five-minute ovation by the crowd, which included his wife and family and quite a few former Gunners teammates.
"I could have scripted it better," Fischler commented to the press after the game, "a win would have made it a lot more enjoyable. But what the hey... hit #2000 ain't so bad."
Fischler has chalked up a career batting average of .320 with 2000 hits, 179 homers and 812 RBIs.
BMU and GBRL
The Boston Minor Union (A) and Greater Boston Rookie League (R) will conclude their regular seasons this week with each division winner headed to the playoffs. We will post a story with the final regular season standings once each league has concluded its regular season.