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2034 Season Notes
Pre-Season – On the eve of the season Las Vegas added veteran Shortstop and all-time stolen base leader (with 509) Dustin Polk, the Gamblers took a chance on Polk (who was returning from a serious knee injury) after he was released by Sanfrancisco for failing his medical. Las Vegas planned to move him to second base where it was hoped his diminished range wouldn’t hurt his fielding too much. Tampa Bay fans had cause to celebrate as fan favourite Larry de Meza was lured out of retirement, signing on for one year and $11.5M although many in the media thought the contract was way too much to pay a pitcher with huge question marks against his game after elbow surgery and his disastrous return with Seattle the previous year. On the other hand, the announcement in Los Angeles that the Lynx had agreed a four year $68.5M extension with star pitcher Mitch Woodroffe met with an altogether different vibe in the media.
April 2nd – Denver closer Greg Gray held Kansas City at bay collecting his 400th career save on opening day.
April 4th – Kansas City pitcher Vicente Morales hurled a NO-HITTER, taking just 96 pitches to dispose of Denver, an error by 1B Keith Fairchild in the sixth denied Morales a perfect game.
April 6th – Baltimore’s big-ticket off-season acquisition, 3B Marc Baxter suffered a broken elbow ruling him out for the season after just four games.
April 7th – Tampa Bay agreed terms with star 2B Bryant Manton on an extension that would pay him $85M over the next five years.
April 8th – Baltimore moved quickly to fill the void left by Marc Baxter by signing veteran Jose Mendoza for the season.
April 14th – Las Vegas pitcher Marc Birstall suffered a shoulder injury ruling him out for 4 months.
April 16th – Miami’s star LF Todd Louthian suffered a broken thumb when he was hit by an Allen Baardsen (ATL) pitch ruling him out for five weeks.
April 17th – San Jose LF Gregg Bambridge slammed 3 homeruns lifting the Spartans to a 6-4 victory over Los Angeles.
April 19th – Houston 2B Angel Valdez collected his 1000th run as the Stars beat San Jose, Valdez drove in his 1000th career RBI the following night.
April 20th – off season acquisition Mike Fulton hurled the second NO-HITTER of the season, taking just 93 pitches to lead New York to victory over St. Louis.
April 21st – Los Angeles catcher Andrew Lewis left it late against Las Vegas hitting a walk off homerun in the 11th helping LA to a 6-5 victory.
April 22nd – Andrew Lewis was at it again the following night, this time a 2-RBI walk off homerun in the 11th lifted LA to a 3-1 victory over Las Vegas.
April 23rd – Cleveland’s offense took a hit when star LF Pantalio Igreja (signed in the off-season from Miami) suffered a sprained knee sending him to the DL for eight weeks.
April 25th – LA’s veteran LF Lucio Martinez suffered a strained MCL when he collided with teammate Dick LeDoux attempting to make a defensive play. The injury would force him to the DL for 7 weeks.
May 1st – Austin effectively threw in the towel on their season when they pulled the trigger on a trade with Oklahoma City, sending catcher Paul Heard to the Outlaws for a pair of middling prospects, MR Tony Rivas and SS Chris McNeal.
May 10th - 1b Matt Henderson drilled his 300th career homerun, helping Philadelphia to beat New York.
May 31st – Denver sent star closer Greg Gray to Sanfrancisco for four prospects, pitchers Juan Pezina and Wilson Rodriguez along with outfielders Juan Saldana and John Collins.
June 11th – Oklahoma City 2B Ronald MacDane came up big for the Outlaws in their game against San Diego, belting a pair of homeruns, including a Grand-Slam and collecting 8-RBI's, the last of which (an eighth inning sacrifice fly) proved to be the winning run in OKC’s 11-10 victory. On the same day Minneapolis and Chicago announced a trade, the Bears sending LF Roberto Escobar and CF prospect Nelson Fonseco to Chicago for 1B/OF Loren Delgado.
June 12th – NABL Legend Dixon Bodean slammed his 600th career homerun, it was all in vain as sloppy play by Tampa Bay allowed Kansas City to come from behind and take the game 4-3 in extra innings.
June 16th – just three weeks after returning from injury, Miami LF Todd Louthian hit the DL again, a knee injury sidelining him for another five weeks.
June 20th – Chicago made another trade to fill a hole on their roster, sending MR Vincent O’Carey and 20-year-old LF Roberto Gonzales to San Jose for 2B/SS Billips Johnson.
June 17th – Las Vegas ace Holden Willis held Baltimore off the basepaths taking 110 pitches to throw a PERFECT GAME (the 7th in NABL history) as the Gamblers cruised to a 7-0 victory.
July 1st – 1B Jamie Boden scored his 1000th career run as Denver overcame division rivals Minneapolis 2-1.
July 7th – Washington’s star 2B Jack Underwood suffered a torn quad ruling him out for up to six weeks.
July 11th - Chicago 3B Alberto Florio hit for the CYCLE in a losing effort against Cleveland. While Seattle slugger Joey Buhler had reason to celebrate, he hit his 300th career homer and the Pioneers won.
July 12th – after a number of altercations between manager Pancho Gamez and SS Richie Rambeaux, Boston decided to enough was enough and shipped Rambeaux to St. Louis for five prospects including BNN top 100 entrants, C Luis Guerra (#76) and RF Weldon Render (#41)
July 17th – Washington made a push to improve their playoff chances, sending prospects SP Campbell Huysmans and 1B Jerry Wright to New York for pitcher Domingas Fidi. The Senators were happy to get out from under Fidi’s contract and by all accounts were ecstatic to lay their hands on 1B Jerry Wright who they believed had a bright future ahead of him.
July 22nd – Indianapolis 2B Jose Villalobos collected six hits (all of them singles) driving in three, as the Racers overran the Tamp Bay Hurricanes 11-4.
July 24th – Tampa Bay star LF Dixon Bodean collected his 2000th career RBI (becoming the first player in NABL history to reach the milestone) in helping the Hurricanes down the Racers 3-1.
July 26th – Los Angeles bolstered their pitching staff, adding starter Bernie Baldwin in a trade with Philadelphia with C Mike Willis and MR Norberto Alvarte heading in the opposite direction.
August 15th – Dallas suffered a massive blow when ace pitcher Juan Rangel was diagnosed with a stretched elbow ligament ending his season, the timescale for his recovery was put at 10 months meaning he would likely be out until the 2035 all-star break.
August 17th – another playoff bound team suffered an injury blow, this time Tampa Bay lost pitcher Kyle Key for the season with Torn Triceps.
August 20th – Philadelphia LF Lee McDale led the Independence to victory over Tampa Bay, hitting for the CYCLE and driving in six runs.
August 27th – Los Angeles LF Lucio Martinez suffered his second significant injury of the season, a shoulder injury prematurely ending his season having played a career low 84 games.
September 1st – St. Louis first round draft pick P Nathan Cortez suffered a rotator cuff injury whilst pitching in his first AA game ruling him out for the next six months. The young hurler had only been promoted the previous day after spending the season at single A Okanogan Chiefs where he had compiled a 7-6 record with a 3.40 ERA.
September 7th – Tampa Bay 2B Andres Montoya belted six hits, including a double and a solo homerun (TB’s only run of the game) as the Hurricanes fell 5-1 to Atlanta
September 8th – the following night it was the turn of Jim Champion to torture Tampa Bay, as the Atlanta hurler struck out 15 Hurricane batters while allowing only a single run on two hits as the Flames beat the Hurricanes 4-1.
September 11th – Minneapolis pitcher Mark Fort struck out six batters in a losing effort but still had cause to celebrate, as the sixth strikeout took his career total to 2500.
September 17th – Phoenix pitcher Marcos Rivera blasted his way through the Austin lineup, striking out 15 in only 6.2 innings of work. The Kings had the last laugh though, as they scored five runs against the Eagles bullpen to steal the game 6-5.
September 21st – Philadelphia’s star 1B Matt Henderson scored his 1000th career run in his sides 6-3 victory over Charlotte.
September 22nd – another Dallas pitcher hit the DL, this time Kurt Banks whose season ended with shoulder inflammation. Banks was the second Dallas starter to be lost for the season joining Juan Rangel and would leave their rotation dangerously exposed come playoff time.
September 27th – New Orleans pitcher Ken Francis threw the fourth NO-HITTER of the season, holding Miami hitless in a 5-0 Blues win that ultimately proved very damaging to the Everglades playoff hopes.
September 28th – Philadelphia 1B Matt Henderson collected RBI #1000 of his career as the Independence came from behind to beat New York.
September 30th – Chicago LF Dave Cantrell closed the regular season in style, hitting for the CYCLE in the Zephyrs 8-1 demolition of Washington.
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