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2018 - Season Notes
March 15th - Spring Training – Los Angeles pitcher Lou Murphy suffered a shoulder injury forcing LA to shut him down for at least three months. Three days later Denver pitcher Ray Ware, on the comeback trail after recovering from elbow surgery and playing sparingly in 2017, suffered another elbow injury, fortunately it was only a sprain but would force him to miss the start of the season.
April 22nd - Tampa Bay’s Warren Dyer had his 26-game hitting streak snapped by Miami, his streak had started the previous September when he was a member of the Sanfrancisco Gold.
May 19th - Detroit’s Ray Kenelly became the fifth member of the six-hit club in a game against his old club Chicago.
May 22nd - in only his third game of the season, Denver pitcher Ray Ware suffered another injury, this time a forearm strain that would keep him out of action for another month
May 28th - Atlanta’s Luis Sanchez collected 6 hits, becoming the sixth member of the exclusive six hit club. He went 6 for 6 with 2 RBI in an 8-6 win against Tampa Bay.
June 2th – Seattle LF Joe Walker smashed two three run homers and collected 8 RBI helping the Pioneers overcome Memphis 11-7.
June 27th - on a balmy summer’s evening in New Orleans, Blues pitcher Thomas Zimmerman became the first player in NABL history to throw a PERFECT GAME when he blanked Indianapolis.
July 5th - Los Angeles 2B Jeff Miller became the third player in league history to hit for the cycle, going 4 for 4 and collecting 3 RBI in a game against San Diego.
July 10th - In a dark day for the NABL, five players from San Jose including starters 1B Doug Roberts, CF Al Griffin and 2016 No1 overall pick Chris Wilson, were each suspended without pay for 80 games for violating the league policy on Performance Enhancing Drugs. San Jose manager Russell Hewitt and team physician Derek Rhodes were also fired a day later for their part in the scandal (they allegedly had actively encouraged the use of PED’s) bench coach Cal Buckner was promoted to interim manager, taking over a team mired at the foot of the NABL standings with a 26-61 record.
July 18th - Cleveland GM Miguel Merallas proved he would be aggressive in his efforts to improve the Corsairs by trading away starting pitcher and fan favourite Leanardo Torres for Houston’s former Outstanding Hitter award winner 1B Albert Massey, minor league shortstop Mike Kane and $3M to help cover Massey’s contract.
July 23rd - Chicago rookie Juan Fuentes hit 3 homeruns, driving in six runs in a win against Philadelphia, two days later Fuentes’ teammate Bob Dillard belted three dingers of his own going 3 for 3 with six RBI’s including a grand slam, this time against Miami.
July 30th - Oklahoma City boosted their pitching rotation by making a move for LA’s former pitcher of the year Lou Murphy. Having returned from injury Murphy was pitching well (2-0, 1.26 ERA in three starts) but with the emergence of Max Castle he was deemed expendable, allowing Los Angeles to deal him before he became a Free Agent at seasons end. The trade sent 5 minor league players including BNN top 100 prospects, SP Raul Vazquez and 1B Clarence Davis to Los Angeles while Murphy moved in the opposite direction.
August 6th - the injury bug hit Ray Ware yet again, doctors diagnosed a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament which ended his season and would put him on the shelf for another 12 months.
September 1st - Sanfrancisco pitcher David Rocha struck out 15 batters verses Las Vegas, he was still the only member of the 15K club also having previously achieved the milestone while pitching for Miami in 2016.
September 6th - Oklahoma City’s new look pitching rotation took a hit when newly acquired Lou Murphy suffered an elbow injury which ended his season and would keep him out for another six months. Murphy had not been able to capture his Los Angeles form after his move, going 2-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 7 starts after arriving in OKC and the injury threw the question of a contract extension up in the air.
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