Last month, it was Fitzroy’s Guy Pearce taking home the award -- and now it’s his teammate’s turn to shine. Kordus is just five home runs away from a 30/30 season and could even push for a 40/40 (he’s projected to finish with 39 home runs -- and he’s already got the steals).
He had two multi-homer games this month. We’ll highlight his performance in a loss to division rivals Preston Bears: Kordus went 2-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base, and two home runs.
If it hadn’t been for a two-run homer by Preston 2B Tony Meier in the top of the 8th, we might have been able to include a win with those accomplishments.
One month ago, the Tasman Suns were sitting fifth in the New Zealand South Division -- 39–41, seven games off the lead. Today, they’re 55–49 and suddenly a real threat.
Fleming has been the model of consistency all season -- his OPS has hovered around 1.000 the whole time. The difference is he’s now getting a lot more support, especially from 1B Everett Easton and RF Edward Campbell.
He also put together a 16-game hit streak from the 7th to the 27th of July, and he’s riding a 21-game on-base streak that started on the same day. The Suns have gone 15–7 since that run began -- and Tasman fans will be hoping both the streak and the hot form keep rolling.
Seth Fitzpatrick started his season with a two-hit shutout against the Fitzroy Bohemians -- and he’s stayed among the best pitchers in baseball since. Consider this:
April ERA: 2.37
May ERA: 2.74
June ERA: 2.20
July ERA: 2.42
He leads the Australia League in strikeouts, is tied for second in wins, and ranks third in ERA. He’s thrown two complete-game shutouts and posted two 10+ strikeout games. It’s wild that he’s only now getting this award. He’ll be a frontrunner for Pitcher of the Year.
On June 14, 2001, Kirby MacGinn stepped on the mound against the Otago Penguins. It started alright -- the first inning was over in five pitches --but over the next four, he gave up 11 hits and overthrew a pickoff throw. He departed in the top of the 5th with nine earned runs to his name.
His ERA was 5.36. Today it is 3.82. So how did Kirby turn it around?
“There was a guy in the training facility, dressed like a wizard. He came up to me and suggested I put my foot down slightly more to the right when I finish my delivery. I tried it and I liked it. I went to talk to him afterwards but he’d disappeared. No one else had seen him.”
The journalist asked him
"Was it Dumbledore?"
"Who the [bleep] is Dumbledore?"
MacGinn’s most iconic game is an obvious choice: a 95-pitch, five-hit complete-game shutout against the Wellington Bees. The Knights held a 1–0 lead for most of the game until the bottom of the 8th, when Henry Patel hit an RBI single to extend it to 2–0.
"How did it feel to get a Maddux?"
"What the [bleep] is a Maddux?
(Fun Maddux fact (a CGSO with 99 pitches or less): This was the 8th Maddux of the season. and the third achieved with 2 runs of run support. Geelong's Frank Martin is the only pitcher with two this season.)