[JayW UK]

2030 Season Notes

Spring Training – The Las Vegas Gamblers vaunted rotation took a huge hit when newest recruit Marc Birstall suffered a torn UCL ruling him out for 12 months, the Gamblers saw their odds of winning the World Series plummet in one fell swoop.
March 31st - On the eve of the season Minneapolis learned that pitcher Lester Swindell, the No2 overall pick in the draft, would not be signing for them and instead would attend college, enrolling at USC the next day.
April 2nd – On opening day, after Las Vegas had blown a 5-1 lead in the top of the ninth, LF Claude Cummins blasted a walk-off Grand-Slam to give the Gamblers a 9-5 victory and spare the blushes of closer Rolando Cerny.
April 3rd – Denver starter Franklin Keyes collected his 2000th career strikeout with his first victim of the new season.
April 10th – In only his fourth appearance of the season, Washington’s veteran reliever Beau Bass suffered a torn UCL shelving him for at least 13 Months.
April 11th – Indianapolis starter Angel Castro spun a masterpiece, NO-HITTING New York on 127 pitches.
April 18th – LA’s SS Ignacio Castro suffered a separated shoulder in a collision with teammate 2BLucio Martinez, the injury would side-line him for the next four weeks.
April 20th – Cleveland SS Richie Rambeaux was held hitless against Charlotte, ending his 25-game hitting streak.
May 17th – Denver pitcher Pedro Escobar collected his 2500th strikeout in a losing effort against Kansas City.
June 6th – Sanfrancisco SS Gonzalo Jiminez suffered a torn hamstring sending him to the DL for six weeks.
June 11th – RF Julian Torres hammered three homeruns including a Grand-Slam collecting 7 RBI’s on the way to leading San Diego to a 10-5 victory over division rivals Seattle.
June 24th – Sanfrancisco’s disastrous season took a turn for the worse with the loss of star 3B Wes Lauderdale for three months with a quad injury and CF Salvador Colon for six weeks with a high ankle sprain.
June 25th – Detroit SS Bo Southall was hit by a pitch breaking his elbow and ruling him out for five months. The Giants placed Southall on the 60-day DL the following day and called up Luis Pena in his place.
June 26th – Detroit 2B John Ladbrooke hit for the CYCLE in a losing effort against Chicago.
June 27th to July 4th – Indianapolis 1B Nelson Vasquez set the NABL record for consecutive games hitting a homerun with seven.
June 28th – Los Angeles pitcher Roman Diaz suffered a fractured thumb ruling him out for upto six weeks.
June 29th – Charlotte traded pitcher Chris McInnes to Washington for catcher Bill Sanders and prospects SS Lawrence Smith and 3B Roberto Garcia.
June 30th – Indianapolis CF Shawn Neeley became Cleveland star Eric Parker’s 3000th career strikeout victim.
July 2nd – Sanfrancisco suffered another key injury, this time to SP Carlos Burgos who sprained his elbow keeping him out of the line-up for up to six weeks.
July 4th – Sanfrancisco raised the white flag on their season, trading away SS Jesus Garza to OKC for catcher Miguel Leyva and RF Craig Graham.
July 5th – Denver superstar Dixon Bodean continued his attack on the NABL record books when he collected his 1500 RBI.
July 7th – in a pure salary dump, Detroit sent veteran 1B Clarence Davis along with $3M to Atlanta for two prospects, LF Michael Moore and pitcher Jacob Cunningham.
July 10th – frustrated with his play, Los Angles packaged 39-year-old pitcher Felipe Sanchez (4-12, 3.60 ERA) along with $3M and sent him to Philadelphia for LF Clarence Thomason and outfield prospect Dick Ledoux.
July 11th – Miami sent veteran SS Chris O’Neil to in-state rivals Tampa Bay for pitching prospects Roger Badger and Kevin Northmore.
July 12th – New York’s Vince Little, having successfully returned from 10 months on the sidelines, collected his 3000th career strikeout in a victory over Philadelphia.
July 13th – Shoulder inflammation ruled Detroit starter Jamie Berry out until October, effectively ending his season. Berry, a frontrunner for the EL Outstanding Pitcher Award was in the midst of an outstanding season at the time of his injury having made 19 starts with a record of 13-0 and a miniscule 1.64 ERA.
July 14th – another day, another key injury, this time LA’s bullpen took a hit losing closer Tomas Freitas for the season with bone spurs in his throwing elbow. Freitas was leading the WL in saves with 27 at the time of his injury.
July 30th – St. Louis ace Matt Powell joined the 2000K club, striking out 10 in a victory over Tampa Bay.
July 31st – Dallas starter Kurt Banks suffered a torn Labrum putting him out of action for the next four months.
August 2nd – St. Louis closer Chuck Patrick provided the finishing touches to an impressive 9-8 Reds comeback victory over Charlotte and in doing so claimed his 300th career save.
August 12th – Las Vegas starter Will Spencer was lost for the season with shoulder inflammation, the Gamblers turn to their AAA franchise for his replacement, calling up Mike Cooper for his first taste of the big leagues.
August 16th – Los Angeles SS Ignacio Castro’s frustrating injury hit campaign came to an end when he tore his hamstring shelving him for the next three months.
August 22nd – San Diego traded CF Jorge Sanchez to Phoenix for two prospects, 3B Max Kirk and 2B Mike Springer.
August 24th – Cleveland’s Eric Parker became the latest player to reach 200 career wins.
September 2nd – Detroit 3B Florentino Garcia smashed four doubles and was responsible for driving in both the Giants runs in their 2-1 victory over Atlanta.
September 3rd – Denver star LF Dixon Bodean scored his 1500th career run, but it was all in vain as the Wildcats collapsed to a 7-4 defeat against Houston after leading 4-0 in the eighth.
September 6th – Los Angeles SS Alejandro Pichardo collected hits number 2499 and 2500 in victory over Denver.
September 7th – Kansas City 3B Gary Lee suffered a shoulder sprain sending him to the DL and likely ending his season robbing KC of their starting third baseman.
September 10th – Atlanta RF David Barnett provided the offense in an 8-6 Flames victory over New Orleans, smashing five hits including three homeruns and driving in six.
September 16th – Dallas 2B Will Moore suffered a back strain, the injury ended Moore’s season giving understudy Tom Wells his chance to shine.
September 17th – Detroit catcher Jorge Maldonado entered the NABL history books when he became the first player to hit two Grand-Slams in the same game!! going 2-for-5 with 8-RBI’s helping the Giants down division rivals Chicago 11-6.
September 19th – another injury for Las Vegas, as third baseman and key infield defensive-sub Jose Rodriguez, fractured his ankle making a defensive play. After successful surgery the following day, the Gamblers placed Rodriguez onto the 60-day DL ending his season.
September 20th – Washington CF Marc Smith stole four bases helping the Generals to a 5-3 victory over Philadelphia.
September 21st – a third key injury in less than a month saw Las Vegas lose starting pitcher Holden Willis to a hamstring strain, the injury, although not deemed too serious, would never-the-less cost Willis three weeks and force him to miss the first round of the playoffs.
September 25th – Miami 3B Juan Montoya suffered a fractured hand when he was hit by a pitch from Tampa Bay’s Larry de Meza, ruling him out for the season.
September 26th – Washington starter Frank Wilcox was lost for the rest of the season with Shoulder tendonitis.
October 1st – After a disappointing campaign, in which he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and collected his first career saves, 42-year-old Anthony Barrett called time on his career (he retired with a record of 222-129 with 3 saves, an ERA of 2.85 and 3230 career strikeouts), a three-time Outstanding Pitcher Award winner, his seventeen-year career took in stops at five clubs where he played in four World Series, winning three championship rings. Another veteran pitcher who struggled in 2030 was Phoenix’s Carlos Correa (6-16, 5.88 ERA), after back-to-back disappointing campaigns Correa found himself once again entering free agency with few suitors and a decision on retirement to make.
November 1st – Cleveland manager Pedro Garcia announced his retirement from the game after 9 years as manager of, first San Jose, then Cleveland with a career record of 741-718. His one and only time leading any of his teams to the postseason (2027 with Cleveland) ended with a Manager-of-the-year nod and a Championship.