[JayW UK]

2043 Season Notes

Pre-Season – in a somewhat questionable move, Washington traded BNN #17 prospect P Cameron Schwenke (the 7th overall pick in 2042) and CF Julius Spencer to Charlotte for journeyman starting pitcher Willie Hampton (89-109, 3.98 ERA for his career)
April 1st – as was widely expected, Seattle’s first round pick Robert Caro chose to pursue a football career rather than play baseball by announcing he would not sign the Pioneers very generous (reportedly $12M) contract offer, leaving GM Luis Almiron with egg on his face, as on draft night he had confidently stated his belief that Caro would forego football to sign with the Pioneers.
April 9th – Boston’s Jim Jacques reached the 2500 career strikeout milestone in style, punching out eleven as Boston beat bitter rivals New York 8-4.
April 25th – St. Louis ace Les Scott struck out fifteen against Cleveland, but a lacklustre effort from the Reds offense meant Scott had to take the hard luck 3-1 loss.
May 2nd – Charlotte 1B Haden Bowden suffered a strained oblique muscle ruling him out for up to 4 weeks.
May 6th – Las Vegas RF Danny Wheeler collected the 2000th hit of his career in the Gamblers loss at the hands of Omaha.
May 15th – Baltimore hurler Randall Valentine took 118 pitches to NO-HIT Las Vegas, his only blemish as fourth inning walk issued to star 3B Joseph Floores.
May 19th – Tampa Bay slugger, 1B Rick Flynn reached the 1000-RBI plateau by delivering a go-ahead ninth inning sacrifice fly as the Hurricanes scraped home 4-3 against Charlotte.
May 20th – New York’s star 1B Jerry Wright collected his 300th career homerun in style, blasting a seventh inning Grand-Slam to set the Senators on their way to a 6-2 victory over New Orleans.
May 22nd to May 30th – Cleveland SS David Browne became the third player in NABL history to hit at least one homerun in seven consecutive games, joining Nelson Vasquez and Eduardo Moreno in the exclusive club)
May 27th – Kansas City’s star RF Glenn McGhee suffered a broken kneecap in a collision with teammate CF Tom Sizemore, both players had been chasing the same flyball with neither appearing to call the other off.
May 28th – Philadelphia’s veteran LF Alfonso Sosa collected the 400th homerun of his career as the Independence overcame division rivals Boston 6-5.
June 1st – Sanfrancisco chose to bolster their pitching options by trading LF Dave Butler to Philadelphia for reliver Ron Johnston and prospect SP Jesus Rivera.
June 2nd – Sanfrancisco’s Tom Carter suffered a fractured rib in the Gold’s loss to Denver, shelving the star second baseman for four weeks.
June 4th – Atlanta chose to move on from catcher Luis Guerra and commit full time to Joseph Melton at the position, the Flames found a willing trade partner in St. Louis who packaged a trio of prospects (2B Ralph Davis, 2B Jorge Romero and LF Erik Makhatadze) for the veteran catcher.
June 6th – Los Angeles pair, RF Gerald O’Colitaran and pitcher Lucious Sandford (an off-season addition from Austin) found themselves the subject of intense media speculation after being caught up in a betting scandal involving stars from multiple LA sports teams. Both players were suspended by the league while their involvement was investigated and although it was quickly established the pair were not guilty of any wrongdoing, mud sticks, and several influential stakeholders withing the Lynx organization wanted the pair gone leaving GM Warren Rothman the awkward task of finding suitable trade partners for the two players.
June 9th – veteran Tampa Bay starter Cristobal Chapa struck out 15 in just 7.0 innings of work against Atlanta as the Hurricanes cruised to an 8-3 victory.
June 10th – Indianapolis LF Allen Hood had a field day against Baltimore, collecting six hits, three of which were doubles and driving in six of the Racers runs as they cruised home 11-2.
June 11th – Sanfrancisco RF Francisco Perez (.339, 9 HR, 43 RBI) suffered a season ending hip injury making a spectacular defensive play in the Gold’s victory over Chicago.
June 12th – San Diego 3B Ramon Lems became the second player on the season to collect six hits, his haul included four doubles, a homerun and 6-RBI’s as the Mariners ran amok against Kansas City, eventually winning 15-4.
June 13th – Minneapolis RF Roberto Campos led the Bears to victory over division rivals Oklahoma City by clubbing a trio of homeruns (including a first inning Grand-Slam) and collecting six-RBI’s.
June 14th – Tampa Bay’s Luis Flores was instrumental in the Hurricanes win over Baltimore collecting four hits including a pair of homeruns and driving in seven.
June 15th – Sanfrancisco SS Jose Villalobos collected the 2000th hit of his career as the Gold fell to Seattle in extra innings.
June 26th – San Jose 3B Tom Sterling reached the 2000 career hit milestone by collecting the only two hits his team mustered, as the Spartans were demolished 14-0 by Chicago.
July 9th – with their season heading south at a rate of knots, Houston packaged star second baseman Mike Bonner (.303, 10 HR, 32 RBI) along with catcher Joe Parsons and sent the pair to Boston, obtaining the services of CF Augusto Reyes and $1.2M in cash considerations in return.
July 10th – Indianapolis CF Rafael Cedeno hit for the CYCLE as the Racers fell 4-2 against rivals St. Louis.
July 23rd – one of Denver’s prize off-season signings, LF Patrick Richardson, suffered a season ending Achilles injury in the Wildcats loss to division rival Minneapolis.
July 28th – LA finally found a home for Gerald O’Colitaran, sending him to Denver for the Wildcats disgruntled first baseman Glenn Hansen, but in order to get the trade over the line, LA had to include RF Michael Miller (.307, 14 HR, 45 RBI) and BNN top 100 prospect C George Peterson. The deal benefitted all parties as it enabled Los Angeles to move a player who needed a new start through no fault of his own and also helped Denver to get out from under Hansen’s contract and add a young prospect at the same time.
July 29th – in order to finally find a buyer for pitcher Lucious Sandford, LA GM Warren Rothman had to surrender second and fifth round draft picks and a not insignificant amount of cash in any deal, the team to bite were San Diego who sent 2B prospect Francisco Rosario and underperforming RF James Britt to the City of Angels for Sandford, bringing to a close the whole sorry chapter.
July 31st – on a busy trade deadline day, Miami traded star 2B Hector Torres to Minneapolis for reliever James Lawson and 22-year-old pitching prospect Pedro Rodriguez, while Sanfrancisco sent 1B/OF Hermnio Azurara to Omaha for CF Carl Crawford and pitching prospect Marvin Hargrove.
August 3rd – Sanfrancisco IF Jose Villalobos suffered a torn PCL robbing the Gold of one of their stars for the season and probably a significant portion of the next campaign too.
August 5th – Denver chilled the 25-game hitting streak of Atlanta’s Robbie Crespo, holding him hitless in three at-bats.
August 11th – Austin 2B Jackie Young had a big day against Phoenix, going 3 for 5, including a Grand-Slam, and driving in seven as the Kings overcame the Eagles 10-9 in extra innings.
August 12th – CF Fernando Diaz became the second player on the season to hit for the CYCLE, going 5-for-5 with 4-RBI’s to help Denver overcome Dallas 6-4.
September 1st – 39-year-old St. Louis starter Gerald Helton (enjoying somewhat of a renaissance, 14-9, 3.17 ERA) suffered a torn hamstring ruling him out for the remainder of the season.
September 3rd – Las Vegas 1B Ed Matthews collected the 2000th hit of his career and closer Philip Redmond collected his 300th save as the Gamblers took care of business against Dallas.
September 4th – Philadelphia pair CF Adrian Bolton and LF Alfonso Sosa provided most of the offense in a win against New York. Sosa drilled a Grand Slam while Bolton hit for the CYCLE and drove in three as Philadelphia held off New York for an 8-7 win.
September 5th – New York’s Heinrich Kronburger became the third player on the season to strike out fifteen opponents when he achieved the feat against Philadelphia.
September 6th – Las Vegas RF Danny Wheeler carried the Gamblers to victory over Kansas City, collecting four hits including a 2-RBI double and a three-run homer and accounting for 8-RBI’s in total.
September 10th – Las Vegas 3B Joseph Floores blasted a pair of solo homeruns, the second of which provided his 1000th career RBI, as the Gamblers held on to beat Houston 4-2.
September 11th – Philadelphia LF Alfonso Sosa became just the sixth player to hit 1500-RBI’s in his career.
September 12th – OKC pitcher Rafer MacNeil struck out eleven in 8 innings of shutout ball against Kansas City, claiming his 200th career win.
September 18th – Sanfrancisco suffered an injury blow when 3B Brandon Townsend sprained his ankle, ruling him out for up to five weeks and leaving Sanfrancisco shorthanded for their playoff push.
September 20th – Los Angeles RF Stu Leach hit for the CYCLE, collecting the final leg in style blasting a three-run go-ahead homer as the Lynx topped Minneapolis 9-7.
September 28th – in another injury blow for Sanfrancisco, the Gold lost SS Felix Vazquez for the season to a strained bicep tendon.

October 1st - on a chilly early October evening, Sanfrancisco faced off against San Diego in a one-off win-or-go-home game for the Pacific division crown, in a tense hard-fought contest it was C Kent Blanton's seventh inning homerun that proved the difference as the Gold edged past the Mariners 2-1 to book their place in the postseason.