BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, CYL, and CBA
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
3 May 2315
CBO Analysis
The first month of the 2315 CBO season has been green, so let's feature the green teams this update. Salem has become the first team to hit 20 wins after a 15-game winning streak.The team to end it was The Slog, the favorites. thanks to Flirt Perez's no-hit effort. We'll get to that later in the article. In the organization, only 10 teams are above .500 with Lexington being the only other team with more than 17 wins. Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Salem Witch Hats (147.4, o)
2) Lexington Synths (127.7, ++)
3) Vault 81 Dwellers (117.7, ++)
4) Glowing Sea Radscorpions (114.7, +)
5) University Point Deathclaws (113.7, o)
6) Nahant Celtics (111.7, --)
7) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (106.7, --)
8) Bunker Hill 75ers (98.8, ++)
9) Oberland T-51s (95.8, ++)
10) Goodneighbor Hancocks (95.0, ++)
11) Spectacle Island Reapers (93.8, o)
12) Roxbury Rad Sox (90.0, +)
13) Malden Grognaks (89.0, ++)
14) Quincy Gunners (89.0, --)
15) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (85.2, ++)
16) Atom Cats (85.0, --)
17) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (84.2, ++)
18) FHE Yao Guai (81.2, --)
19) Easy Town Assaultrons (80.2, --)
20) The Slog Ghouls (80.2, --)
21) Diamond City Swatters (80.1, +)
22) County Crossing Bloodbugs (73.1, --)
23) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (72.3, ++)
24) Concord Radstags (67.1, --)
25) Cambridge Coursers (66.3, -)
26) Egret Ninjas (62.3, --)
27) Southie Brews (57.3, o)
28) Starlight Killers (55.4, o)
Brotherhood League
We mentioned the Hats, but Nahant is at 16 wins and in complete control of 2nd place currently. Malden, The Slog, and Easy Town are all hovering around. 500. County Crossing and Norrdhagen Beach are at the bottom.
The Celtics were in the Sole Survivor Series in 2313, finished in 7th in the BL in 2314, and now they are a major challenger again in 2315. Nahant is tops in the NCA in runs scored (161) and 5th in runs allowed (120). On offense, 2314 2ns-overall pick, SS Evan Keel has been the talk. Scouts expected him to go #1 overall with the expectation that he would be a Day One CBO starter. Instead, not only is Keel a Day One starter, but is currently batting .338 with 8 home runs and 19 RBI. Not that exciting? Well, Keel was the Rookie of the Month AND NCA Best Hitter. Nahant may be in great shape and can attribute their immediate turnaround to drafting Keel. Sunshine Tidings may still get an all-time hitter in 1st-overall pick Fuzz Copman (currently with the Breakheart Banks Sugar Bombs of the BMU).
Institute League
Lexington having the second-best CBO record is partially due to a six-game winning streak and a 7-3 mark in their last 10, tying the Synths with the Party Boys, Goodneighbor, and Vault 81 for the CBO's second-best stretch behind the Witch Hats' 9-1 mark. Fort Hagen is just a game back, though, followed by Bunker Hill, Sunshine Tidings, Concord, Cambridge, and Starlight.
For the Chemists, 2315 has already shown extreme improvement. Now, we're imagining what that improvement would be with Keel as mentioned in the Nahant update. Instead, Sunshine Tidings is dependent on star C Red Jay Jones (.429/7/20) and LF Family Sam Partridge (.307/8/21) to give the offense a boost. On the mound, old pro Eugene Gym (1-4, 6.62) has perhaps hit his limit.
Minutemen League
University Point has a slight lead in what may be an interesting league race. After the Deathclaws are Spectacle Island, Goodneighbor, Quincy, Atom, Jamaica Plain, and Southie. The Brews hold the SCA's worst record at 9-17, just one game up on Starlight for the CBO's worst record.
Quincy will probably be in the race until the end, but they are having struggles currently, including a 4-6 mark in their last 10. The Gunners need to find their offense, currently 11th in runs scored (111) thanks to being near the bottom in every category. 1B Baywatch Fischler (.348/3/14) is the only decent hitter so far. Make Money (2-4, 6.23) has also struggled as the ace of the team.
Railroad League
Glowing Sea and Vault 81 are knotted for 1st place in the tightest league, top to bottom. Oberland is two back, Roxbury three, FHE four, Diamond City five, and Egret six.
The Radscorpions, in their sixth season, may be taking the next step. While they just missed out on their second playoff bid in 2314 after a 71-59 finish, Glowing Sea currently has its best winning percentage at .615. The Scorpions statistcially do not seem to be at the top of a league with the 7th-best runs scored (129) and the 4th-best runs allowed (115). Glowing Sea has several weapons on offense who should eventually lead the team to even more success. C Yvuh Jet (.325/6/23) and CF Enigma Montgomery (.322/4/22) currently lead the charge of a talented starting eight.
CBO Standings
CBO Players of the Week
April 26 - It's always a thrill for fans of the team and students of the game alike when a superstar in the making shows what he's got. Packs Ton Kling, the Lexington Synths 22-year-old center fielder, put himself in the spotlight last week making him the clear-cut choice for North Charles Association Player of the Week honors.
He ripped 13 hits in 30 at-bats, compiling a .433 average with 6 home runs and 9 RBIs.
This season, Kling has posted a batting average of .286 with 24 hits in 84 at-bats, 8 home runs and 14 RBIs. He has also scored 16 runs, walked 2 times and compiled a .310 OBP.
Alex Bragman demonstrated his potential to be a star in the game last week and today he took home the South Charles Association Player of the Week Award.
The Diamond City shortstop wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers last week, pounding them for a .407 average (11-for-27) with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs on his way to claiming the honor.
Bragman is batting .284 this year with 3 home runs, 11 RBIs and 9 runs scored. He has 23 hits in 81 at-bats.
May 3 - One of the league's most exciting young players, Campy Madrid of the Lexington Synths earned himself North Charles Association Player of the Week honors with a standout performance in last week's games.
For the week the 21-year-old left fielder had a lofty .583 average (14-for-24), collecting 1 home run, 7 RBIs and 4 runs scored.
In 24 games this year, Madrid has posted a .406 average and put up these numbers: 2 home runs, 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Brother Ray Robinson demonstrated his potential to be a star in the game last week and today he took home the South Charles Association Player of the Week Award.
The Goodneighbor left fielder wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers last week, pounding them for a .538 average (14-for-26) with no home runs and 5 RBIs on his way to claiming the honor.
Hitting .354 to date, Robinson has 2 home runs and 11 RBIs. He has played in 25 games.
CBO Noteworthy News
April 20 - More retirement news of an OG. After what he called a "long and rewarding" career in professional baseball, Donny Kowalski has announced he will retire.
The Bunker Hill 75ers left fielder said it wasn't an easy decision to make, but this season will be his last and he's now "content" with his choice to walk away at age 37.
Kowalski has a career .288 batting average and .366 on-base percentage. He has recorded 1742 hits with 267 doubles, 47 triples, 352 homers, 1080 RBIs and scored 1034 runs since coming into the league.
May 1 - It was a terrific day for Flirt Perez of the The Slog Ghouls at Tarberry Field Forever. The left-hander stood out with a fantastic 3-0 no-hitter against the Salem Witch Hats.
"I knew I had a no-no going in about the sixth inning when I noticed no one was talking to me anymore," he said, referring to the time-honored superstition of avoiding the pitcher so as not to jinx the no-hitter. "Don't let people fool you. Everybody on the field and in the ballpark knows what's happening. They just pretend they don't."
For the game, Perez totaled 5 walks and 7 strikeouts in a very strong outing.
"His mechanics were perfect, and I don't think he threw one bad pitch in the whole game," The Slog manager Nate Pugh said. "He was that good."
This season, Perez has worked 53.1 innings with 43 strikeouts en route to a 3-2 record and a 3.54 ERA.