NABL a History

[JayW UK]

Hi Guys,
Long time lurker, first time poster.

I first stumbled on OOTP Dynasty reports when I read Orcin’s fantastic Louisville Colonels series and soon after began following the trials and tribulations of Westheim’s Portland Racoons. I played with the idea of writing my own dynasty report for a while but after several aborted attempts I gave up, but when I found Eugene Church’s Islandian Pro Alliance dynasty and the FABL universe, I was once again inspired. So without further ado, here is my attempt at writing my own report for my fictional North American Baseball League (NABL), and with more than thirty years already in the books I shouldn’t be short of things to write about.

[JayW UK]

NABL – The beginnings

The North American Baseball League (NABL) came into being in December 2010 when 26 Charter Franchises were awarded. Twenty-Four of the teams would initially start playing in April 2014 with two more (Memphis Kings and San Jose Spartans) joining the following spring.
The NABL was to be split into two leagues, the Eastern and Western, split roughly east and west of the Mississippi River, with each league split into three divisions of four teams. The Eastern league consisting of Atlantic, Southeast and Central divisions and the Western league consisting of the Midwest, Southwest and Pacific.
In the East, the Atlantic division had the Boston Pilgrims, New York Senators, Philadelphia Independence and Washington Generals. The Southeast consisting of Atlanta Flames, Miami Everglades, New Orleans Blues and Tampa Bay Hurricanes and the Central, comprising of Chicago Zephyrs, Cleveland Corsairs, Detroit Giants and Indianapolis Racers.
In the West, the Mid West Division had the Denver Wildcats, Kansas City Tornadoes, Oklahoma City Outlaws and Minneapolis Bears. The Southwest Division contained the Dallas Mustangs, Houston Stars, Las Vegas Gamblers and Phoenix Eagles with the Memphis Kings slated to join in time for 2015. The Pacific Division consisted of Los Angeles Lynx, San Diego Mariners, Sanfrancisco Gold and Seattle Pioneers with San Jose Spartans beginning play in 2015.
Each Franchise would be assigned one team at each of the five levels of Minor League ball (Rookie, Short Season A, Single A, Double A and Triple A). All leagues, with the exception of Short Season A, would begin play in early April (alongside the NABL). The Rookie league would play a 60-game schedule which would run to early June. Short Season A, with an 84-game schedule would start early June (following Rookie ball) and run to early September. A (120 games), AA (132 games) and AAA (144 games) would all start early April and finish at various times from the End of July through to September and, for many young players, be their first exposure to full season Baseball.
The league would hold an annual Amateur draft to secure the services of the best prep and college prospects, which would be held on 1st March (just before spring training) and consist of 15 rounds. Draft picks would also be allowed to be traded between teams if they so wished. There would be no hard salary cap (although this was proposed in the early owner meetings but didn’t win enough votes) but there would be compromise, a “soft cap” set at 120% of the league average total team salary commitments, with any team spending more, being taxed heavily by the league and the resulting money pot being shared amongst the other clubs. The aim was that by taxing the overspending it would encourage the owners to be more fiscally responsible and thus the teams would be financially secure. There would also be National media revenue distributed equally amongst all the teams with franchises also allowed to negotiate for local media rights on top of this (some small market team owners felt this favoured the large market teams, but when this was put to the vote. They lost 18-8).
Now all the league needed was players. An inaugural player draft would be held which would take place during January 2014 and consist of 100 rounds, with the teams drawing lots to decide the draft order. Only 24 of the 26 teams would participate, as both Memphis and San Jose would not be ready to play until 2015. However as ‘compensation’ both teams would pick at the top of every round in the 2015 Amateur draft. Once the Inaugural draft was completed teams could still continue filling their Minor League rosters with Free Agents before the Amateur draft and Spring Training in March.

[JayW UK]

The 2014 Inaugural and Amateur Drafts

New Orleans won the lottery and the honour of picking first overall in the Inaugural Player Draft, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington and Seattle rounded out the top 5. In a slightly surprising move, the Blues selected 28-year-old Andrew Parker. The speedy, big hitting Outfielder was projected by most scouts as a possible top 10 talent, but no-one expected him to be drafted in the top 5, let alone first overall. One of the two players expected to be drafted first was Kevin Jones, the Los Angeles native was picked up 2nd by the Lynx which was a match made in heaven. As, if the rumours were to be believed, he would only play for his hometown club and if drafted by any other club, would have refused to sign his contract. The other player in the conversation for 1st overall selection was 25-year-old, big hitting first baseman Gabriel Mendez, Atlanta were over the moon he was still there at pick number three. Washington chose Tulsa native Ben Douglas next, he projected as a power hitting outfielder with a good eye who would find a way to get on base, his only weakness was defense which was average at best. Seattle picked Alberto Ruiz the consensus best Catcher, fifth overall, the 28-year-old possessed a big bat to go with his talents behind the plate. The first pitcher drafted was Ron Titley, taken 6th overall by Phoenix, the 28-year-old was a surprise to be the first pitcher taken as most scouts projected him to be a late first to early second round pick. A trio of outfielders, Francisco Martinez (CHI), Juan Santos (PHI) Charlie May (IND) and power pitcher Ed Hudson (NY) rounded out the top ten. Kansas City picked up Pitcher Jose Salinas 11th while Outfielder Al Keith went 12th to San Diego, Power hitting first baseman Tony Diaz was tabbed by Dallas 13th. Strikeout kings, pitchers Alfredo Flores (SF) and Anthony Barrett (MIN) went next, before Houston grabbed outfielder Richard Bean, a defensive standout, with the 16th pick. Robin Ashburn became the second catcher taken when he was drafted 17th by Las Vegas. Three third basemen were taken in a row, Terry Lambright (TB), Carlos Martinez (BOS) and Alberto Ortiz (CLE) before Denver grabbed High Contact hitter and speedster Marcus Witt with the 21st Overall pick. Detroit got their man in outfielder Mitchell Hendrickson 22nd, before pitchers Jose Flores (OKC) and David Rocha (MIA) were taken to close out the first round.
Other notable players picked included, Speedy second baseman Roy Kennelly (CHI), Knuckleball pitcher Vince Little by Atlanta and Slugging first baseman Albert Massey by Houston, all in the second round. Atlanta also picked up a gem in the third when they drafted LF Claudio Ortiz. Detroit snagged pitchers Lou Murphy (4th) Benedict Lewis (6th) and dominant closer Min-Jae Choi in the 16th round, they also grabbed OF Jarred Cross (10th) and 3B Brandon Bowman (12th). Indianapolis picked up two quality infielders from the Domincan Republic, 3B Luis Sanchez in the third round and SS Vicente Padilla in the fifth. Denver took versatile 1B/OF Steve Wolfe in the fourth while New Orleans drafted pitcher Zander Pace in the same round. Sanfrancisco picked up outfielder Warren Dyer in the fifth-round while Oklahoma City grabbed pitcher Juan Delgado also in the 5th then found OF Benjamin Wetherby in the 8th. Boston secured the services of catcher Jack Epps in the second, then waited until the sixth to grab 1B Sergio Woods while future team mate OF Larry Petersen lasted until the tenth round where New York ended his wait. Las Vegas picked up their ‘Ace’ pitcher in the third when they took Isreal Beasley, they also tabbed dominant closer Stephen Davis in the 11th. Indianapolis picked up closer Richard Bridgewater in the 13th and Minneapolis waited until the 19th round to claim their own closer, Jonathan Fliehman.

As February turned to March, all eyes turned to the amateur draft. The 2014 draft pool was a strong one, led by a trio of college pitchers (including SEC foes Ray Ware and A.J Merriweather) and a couple of quality High School position players. Sitting at the top of the pile, head and shoulders above the rest, was a player that scouts universally agreed was a “can’t miss” prospect. The kind of player you build a team around, he possessed a power bat, hit for high average (potential .330+) and had a discerning eye (although didn’t draw enough walks for some scouts). His defense was average but he was very intelligent and coachable, in short, he was everything a team wanted in a franchise player. His name was Dixon Bodean.
Kansas City, having won the lottery for the right to pick first, drafted the 18-year-old Bodean No1 overall agreeing swiftly to a hefty $11.4M signing bonus. Denver snapped up 22-year-old college pitching prospect from Florida, Ray Ware, he possessed a power arm and good control to go with it. Ware signed for $8.6M. High School pitcher Reed Bush was picked next by Minneapolis while Oklahoma City bolstered their farm system with college pitcher A.J Merriweather from Alabama. Dallas and Houston picking 5th and 6th couldn’t agree terms with their draft picks, who both returned to school for another year. Twenty-year-old Bill Smith, a slick fielding first baseman from Tampa College was taken next by Phoenix while High school Shortstop Tim Calhoun went 8th to Las Vegas. It was a surprise that California pitcher, Tom Petzinger was still on the board when San Diego picked, and they wasted little time in selecting him, while 23-year-old second baseman Michael Fleming, a team mate of Ray Ware at Florida, went 10th to Sanfrancisco.

[JayW UK]

2014 Regular Season

On April 5th 2014, 32,441 spectators gathered at Capitol Field in the Nation’s capital to witness history in the making, the NABL opening day Double Header between Washington Generals and New York Senators. Led by their offense the Generals beat New York twice (7-2 and 4-1) with Ben Douglas becoming the first player in NABL history to hit a Home Run along the way. Washington would go on to challenge for the Atlantic Division title, but eventually a September slump doomed them to finish with a record of 87-75, three games back from Philadelphia and their powerful offense led by C Alaeddin Cobanoglu (38 HR, 106 RBI) and RF Juan Santos (37 HR, 105 RBI). New York would struggle for most of the season and needed a strong September to finish at .500. The fourth team in the division was Boston who, despite injury problems all season long, still managed to reach 75 wins.
The Central division as a whole was poor, with not a single team posting a winning record. Still the race to win the division went down to the wire, with every team within 2 games of the lead going into the last week. Cleveland would emerge victorious with a record of 78-84, beating Detroit (77-85) Chicago (76-86) and Indianapolis (75-87) although given their record, they were not expected to challenge in the Playoffs.
The Southeast Division was a three-way battle for the entire season. Entering the final week Atlanta held a slim one game lead over Miami and were two up on Tampa Bay. A strong week (6 wins including a 3-game sweep of Atlanta) gave the Miami Everglades the division crown with 89 wins. Atlanta held on to second, finishing 87-75 while Tampa Bay finished third with a record of 85-77 even though they owned one of the top offenses in the league powered by stars 2B Jeff Miller (.322, 37 HR, 100 RBI) and SS Mike Fisher (.343, 24 HR, 104 RBI). The New Orleans Blues, despite boasting Outstanding Hitter Award frontrunner, Andrew Parker (.311, 39 HR, 98 RBI + 37 SB), limped home a distant fourth, their record 66-96, a league worst.
Atlanta’s slump in the last week not only cost them the division crown, but allowed Washington to tie their record and force a single game playoff to determine the wildcard entry. The two teams faced off in the eliminator and the Flames slide continued, as they lost 5-2 and missed out on the playoffs entirely. The Eastern league playoff field was set, with Philadelphia, Cleveland and Miami now joined by Washington.

Over in the West only one division race went to the wire, the Southwest, where the Houston Stars (92-70) led by 1B Albert Massey (39 HR, 108 RBI) topped the LF Jesus Acedo (.300, 36 HR, 96 RBI) and Ron Titley (19-5, 2.82 ERA) led Phoenix Eagles by one game. Phoenix had to settle for the Wild Card spot while the other two teams from the division, Las Vegas and Dallas, were well off the pace and came in at 73 and 68 wins respectively.
The Midwest division was the domain of the Oklahoma City Outlaws with star duo, LF Benjamin Wetherby (.251, 43 HR, 107 RBI) and Jake Lowrey (.282, 41 HR, 97 RBI) providing plenty of offense and ace pitcher Juan Delgado (18-5, 2.34 ERA) topping a strong pitching staff, OKC wrapped up the division by the middle of September and finished with the best record in the Western League at 94-68. Denver (86-76) pipped Minneapolis (84-78) to second while the Kansas City Tornadoes were a distant fourth with only 71 wins.
Led by outstanding LF Warren Dyer (.382, 10 HR, 87 RBI, 54 SB) Sanfrancisco (87-75) were the only team to post a winning record in the Pacific division. Everyone else finished below .500 Los Angeles and San Diego (79-83) were tied for second in the division while the Seattle Pioneers, after the loss of star catcher Alberto Ruiz to a season ending knee injury, eventually fell away and equalled Dallas with just 68 wins for the joint worst record in the Western League.

[JayW UK]

2014 Final Standings

Eastern League

Atlantic Division
Philadelphia 90-72 *
Washington 88-75 *(+)
New York 81-81
Boston 75-87

Central Division
Cleveland 78-84 *
Detroit 77-85
Chicago 76-86
Indianapolis 75-87

Southeast Division
Miami 89-73 *
Atlanta 87-76 (+)
Tampa Bay 85-77
New Orleans 66-96

Play-In Game
+ Washington defeats Atlanta to claim EL Wildcard.

Western League

Midwest Division
Oklahoma City 94-68 *
Denver 86-76
Minneapolis 84-78
Kansas City 71-91

Southwest Division
Houston 92-70 *
Phoenix 91-71 *
Las Vegas 73-89
Dallas 68-94

Pacific Division
Sanfrancisco 87-75 *
Los Angeles 79-83
San Diego 79-83
Seattle 68-94

[JayW UK]

2014 - Season Notes

April 8th - Houston 3B Ramon Cortez became the first player in NABL history to hit a Grand Slam when he went deep in the 3rd inning against Oklahoma City.
April 28th - in a game against Indianapolis, Detroit’s Lou Murphy became the first player in NABL history to throw a no-hitter, he allowed only a single runner on the basepaths (a walk in the second inning) while striking out eight. Just three days later Houston pitcher Brian Whaley matched the feat in a game against Los Angeles. It was his first win of the season (Whaley would go on to finish the season 12-10, but only record a further 3 wins over the next 5 seasons, in what ultimately proved to be a disappointing career).
June 7th - in lifting his Pioneers to victory over Kansas City, Seattle’s Joe Rutherford became the first player in NABL history to go deep 3 times in a game. He also set the NABL record for RBI’s in a game with seven along the way.
June 21st - Cleveland’s Bob Bane hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5, with 3 RBI’s, in a loss to Indianapolis.
July 18th - Boston Catcher Jack Epps saw his league record 22-game hitting streak come to an end when the Atlanta Flames held him hitless.
July 26th- New York’s Javier Cordero became the second man in league history to launch 3 homeruns in a game, slugging 3 solo efforts against Detroit.
July 28th - Miami’s Hector Filex smashed six hits in a game against Philadelphia but still came out on the losing side, as the Independence topped his Everglades 7-4.
August 2nd – less than a week after his six-hit performance against Philly, Miami 2B Hector Filex was at it again this time going five-for-five with a pair of doubles, 2-RBI, two stolen bases in the Everglades 6-3 win over Washington.
August 8th - Oklahoma City’s Juan Delgado became the third player to throw a no-hitter, when he blanked San Diego. It was his 10th win of the season and ignited a hot streak that would carry him to the Outstanding Pitcher Award. He finished the season 18-5 with a 2.34 ERA, dropping just one game after his no-hitter in August.
August 14th - in the Florida derby Tampa Bay 2B Jeff Miller smashed 3 homeruns, helping his Hurricanes overcome in-state rivals Miami 7-5.
September 9th - Philadelphia 1B Jesus Guillen tied the NABL record for RBI’s in a game with seven when he went 4-for-4 with two homeruns in a 10-6 Philadelphia win over Washington.
September 15th - Atlanta’s Vince Little became the first pitcher in NABL history to win 20-games in a season, pitching seven clean innings in a 4-2 Flames victory over New York.
September 28th – Los Angeles catcher Culley Clare collected 4 hits against Denver, all of them doubles, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat in NABL history.

[JayW UK]

2014 – Playoffs

In the Eastern League the best of five Divisional Round pitted the Cleveland Corsairs against the Philadelphia Independence and the Washington Generals against the Miami Everglades. While in the Western League the Oklahoma City Outlaws drew the Phoenix Eagles and the Houston Stars went up against Sanfrancisco Gold.
The Corsairs took game one in their series in a surprise result, the status quo was returned for the rest of the series though, as Cleveland dropped three straight to a superior Philadelphia team and lost the series 3 games to 1. The Miami vs Washington series pitted two power hitting offenses, Miami lead the league in Homeruns with 193 while Washington were 5th (180). However, the expected fireworks didn’t materialise as Washington’s bats were silenced by the Everglades pitchers and the series ended in a 3-0 sweep.
Over in the west, the top scoring Gold took on the Stars, the second-best defensive team in the league. Defense topped the Offense, as Houston took the series in a 3-0 sweep. By far the best series of the divisional round was played out between Oklahoma City and Phoenix. The Outlaws, paced by the best pitching staff in the majors, took the first two games but came unstuck in games 3 and 4 allowing the Eagles to tie the series and force a deciding game five. OKC had Ace Juan Delgado on the mound in the finale and he pitched a gem. Delgado shut the Eagles offense down allowing just 3 hits scattered over eight innings, the Outlaws behind Delgado’s superb outing, ran out 5-1 winners in the deciding game.

The best two teams in the east, Miami and Philadelphia faced off in the best of seven series for the Eastern league Pennant. In the end it was the depth of Philadelphia’s pitching staff that proved the difference in a hard-fought series. Miami’s hitters were kept off balance through all six games as the Independence prevailed 4-2.
In the west, the best two defensive teams squared off, with Houston taking on Oklahoma City. The series was, as expected, closely fought and went the full seven games. Ace pitcher, Juan Delgado, was not available for OKC in the decider, and with Houston able to call on 18 game winner Manuel Garcia, the Stars crept over the line 4-3 to take the Western League Pennant.

The Inaugural World Series matched the 92-win Houston Stars against 90-win Philadelphia Independence. Both teams relied heavily on quality pitching and defense, while their offenses were middle of the pack. The first six games went to the home team and so the series went to a seventh and deciding game in Philadelphia’s Freedom Field. A packed house witnessed a back-and-forth struggle with the home side leaving a number of men on base throughout the game. This came back to bite them as in the top of the ninth, Houston second baseman Curt Dwyer hit a 2-out 2-RBI single to right field giving the Stars the lead. Closer Jesse Jones sat down the Philadelphia batters in order to save the game and win the World Series for Houston.

2014 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Miami 3-0 Washington, Philadelphia 3-1 Cleveland
WL: Houston 3-0 Sanfrancisco, Oklahoma City 3-2 Phoenix
Championship Series
EL: Philadelphia 4-2 Miami
WL: Houston 4-3 Oklahoma City
World Series
Houston 4-3 Philadelphia

[JayW UK]

2014 – League Leaders and Season Awards

EL Batting Leaders
Hits
207 Mike fisher (TB)
207 Luis Sanchez (IND)
198 Robbie Howe (TB)
Batting Avg.
.351 Claudio Ortiz (ATL)
.344 Luis Sanchez (IND)
.343 Mike Fisher (TB)
Homeruns
40 Mike Fisher (TB)
40 Vicente Padilla (IND)
39 Andrew Parker (NO)
RBI’s
118 Larry Peterson (NY)
106 Alaeddin Cobanoglu (PHI)
106 Francisco Martinez (CHI)
Stolen Bases
37 Andrew Parker (NO)
36 Bob Porter (DET)
33 Hector Filex (MIA)

EL Pitching Leaders
Wins
21 Vince Little (ATL)
19 Enrique Garcia (TB)
18 Lou Murphy (DET)
ERA
2.40 Dominique Boutin (DET)
2.47 Fabio Tuzzi (CLE)
2.54 Lou Murphy (DET)
Strikeouts
239 Ed Hudson (NY)
207 Lou Murphy (DET)
202 Mike Marrero (WAS)
Saves
46 Carlos Correa (MIA)
43 Mark Powers (WAS)
42 Jose Vasquez (NY)

WL Batting Leaders
Hits
247 Marcus Witt (DEN)
198 Warren Dyer (SF)
185 Culley Clare (LA)
Batting Avg.
.382 Warren Dyer (SF)
.357 Marcus Witt (DEN)
.308 Culley Clare (LA)
Homeruns
43 Benjamin Wetherby (OKC)
41 Jake Lowry (OKC)
39 Albert Massey (HOU)
RBI’s
114 Don Bernard (SF)
108 Albert Massey (HOU)
107 Benjamin Wetherby (OKC)
Stolen Bases
55 Steve Wolfe (DEN)
54 Warren Dyer (SF)
41 Pedro Castillo (LA)

WL Pitching Leaders
Wins
19 Ron Titley (PHO)
18 Juan Delgado (OKC)
18 Luis Manuel Quinones (SD)
ERA
2.05 Anthony Barrett (MIN)
2.25 Luis Manuel Quinones (SD)
2.34 Juan Delgado (OKC)
Strikeouts
254 Anthony Barrett (MIN)
233 Alfredo Flores (SF)
232 Ron Titley (PHO)
Saves
54 Alfonso Vargas (OKC)
47 Aiden den Blick (PHO)
42 Jonathan Fliehman (MIN)

Season Awards

Batting Champion - In the Eastern League, Atlanta’s Claudio Ortiz hit .351 to take the title over Lucio Sanchez (IND) .344 and Mike Fisher (TB) .343 in a closely fought season long battle. While in the West, Warren Dyer (SF) .382 won comfortably finishing 25 percentage points clear of his nearest challenger, Marcus Witt (DEN) .357
Homerun Champion - In the East, Brad Fisher (MIA) and Vicente Padilla (IND) tied for the lead with 40 coming in one ahead of Andrew Parker (NO). Over in the West it was Oklahoma City teammates Benjamin Wetherby with 43 and Jake Lowry with 41 leading the way.
Outstanding Hitter - In the Eastern League, Andrew Parker (.311, 39 HR, 98 RBI and 37 SB) pipped Atlanta’s outstanding 1B Claudio Ortiz to the title, while Warren Dyer (.382, 10 HR, 87 RBI and 54 SB) took the award in the west.
Outstanding Pitcher - Vince Little (21-9, 2.65 ERA) the only 20 game winner in the NABL took the award in the Eastern League. After being 9-4 at the beginning of August, his late season heroics carried Oklahoma City Outlaws Juan Delgado (18-5, 2.34 ERA) to the title in the west.
Manager of the Year - Philadelphia manager Jesse Franklin deservedly picked up the award in the east. Whilst Roberto Leon won the award in the west for his stellar work guiding the Houston Stars to their World Series win.
Glove Wizard Awards EL – P Lou Murphy (DET) – C Gabriel Castillo (NO) – 1B Jesus Guillen (PHI) – 2B Mitch Brown (PHI) – 3B Carlos Martinez (BOS) – SS Brian Gray (MIA) – LF Jerry Ackland (PHI) – CF Omer Pauw (IND) – RF Robbie Howe (TB)
Glove Wizard Awards WL – P Matt Wells (KC) – C Greg Wallace (SEA) – 1B Manny Sanifel (SEA) – 2B Curt Dwyer (HOU) – 3B Ralph Tidwell (KC) – SS Kevin Jones (LA) – LF Jorge Basquez (LA) – CF Nathaniel Hill (HOU) – RF Ralph Martin (OKC)

[StLee]

Welcome to the neighbourhood! May your dynasty as long-lasting as Orcin's, Westheim's, and Eugene Church's have been! I am still trying to catch up.

[JayW UK]

Thankyou

[JayW UK]

2015 Off-Season

As 2014 turned into 2015, the NABL welcomed the two newest charter franchises. The Kings, who called Memphis home and the Spartans who would play out of San Jose. Both clubs found themselves at a major disadvantage almost immediately, due to the fact they had not been permitted to take part in the Inaugural Player Draft the previous year. Free Agency was very tough for the new clubs, as they had to compete with the other 24 teams for the few good free agent players that were available and generally pick over the rest of the leagues ‘scraps’ to fill their rosters. Memphis did manage to get one significant deal over the line though when they signed catcher Don Bernard to a 6 year $131.4M deal while San Jose’s prized acquisition was pitcher Juan Ortiz, signed from San Diego on a 4 year $61M contract. Other notable signings included 3B Larry Peterson who left New York to sign a three year $54M deal with division rivals Boston, catcher Culley Clare who swapped LA for Minneapolis on a 3-year $35M deal and former Chicago teammates LF Francisco Martinez who signed with Kansas City for $99M over five years, 2B Roy Kenelly who moved to Detroit for $53M over 4-years and outfielder Manny Limon who landed in Houston for $64M over four years.
The ‘compensation’ both Memphis and San Jose received for their disadvantage, the first two picks in each round of the coming Amateur Draft, wouldn’t benefit them in the immediate future, but it was hoped that the top picks received could help them down the line. Although in the 2015 draft there were no prospects of the calibre of Dixon Bodean, Ray Ware or A.J Merriweather expected to declare.
Three College Pitchers took centre stage on Draft night. First up the Memphis Kings made Cal-State Fullerton’s Armando Luna their first ever draft pick, next Notre Dame’s Kenny Law was passed over by new boys San Jose Spartans in favour of High Schooler Franklin Keyes who signed a lucrative $8.6M deal. Law’s fall only lasted until the third pick where New Orleans snapped him up. The first position player picked was 2B Richard Slocum, who went to Seattle with the fourth overall pick. Pepperdine University pitcher Eric Parker (who had been the Dallas first round pick the previous year but had failed to agree a deal) had declared for the draft again, picked 10th overall, this time he agreed terms, and signed a $5.6M deal with the Indianapolis Racers.

The season itself saw the first 100-win team while also witnessing four!! 100 loss teams.

[JayW UK]

2015 - Regular Season

Boston managed to stave off the injury bug for most of the season and, led by off season pickup Larry Petersen (.300, 40 HR, 107 RBI) and 1B Sergio Woods (40 HR, 95 RBI), their power hitting lineup paced the NABL with 205 Homeruns. The Pilgrims took the Atlantic division with 89 wins, five ahead of Washington (84-78). Philadelphia failed to build on their run to the World Series and eventually finished 81-81 while New York brought up the rear at 78-84.
Detroit led the way in the Central Division with a record of 87-75, an improvement of 10 games on their record from the year before. Chicago (81-81) and Indianapolis (80-82) struggled to keep pace while 2014 division winner Cleveland, collapsed amid internal turmoil to a league worst 57-105 season.
In the Southeast Division, Atlanta, paced by an offense featuring 1B Gabriel Mendez (.371, 38 HR, 127 RBI) and LF Claudio Ortiz (.350, 35 HR, 99 RBI) and a pitching staff topped by Vince Little (18-8, 2.41 ERA) held their nerve to avoid another late season collapse and take the division crown with a record of 96-66, the best in the Eastern League. Miami finished five games back taking the Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay with 2B Jeff Miller (.302, 39 HR, 97 RBI) and 3B Terry Lambright (.304, 33 HR, 97 RBI) leading the way pushed Boston hard for the most homeruns but finished two back on 203, but more importantly, nine games back in the division race. New Orleans were even worse than the year before and finished a massive 35 games off the pace with only 61 wins.

In the Western League, Denver Wildcats became the first team to win 100 games in a season. They held off a charge from Minneapolis to take the Midwest division with 102 victories. The Bears narrowly missed the 100-win mark themselves, finishing 99-63 on the season and taking the Wildcard slot. Led by the bat of Ben Wetherby (37 HR, 100 RBI) and the arms of Juan Delgado (17-6, 2.73 ERA) and Jose Flores (15-8, 1.94 ERA) Oklahoma City were disappointed to finish the season in third with a record of 93-69 only 3 games off the pace of the year before. Kansas City finished with a record of 83-79, an improvement of 12 games from 2014, but still in last place.
The Southwest Division saw the debut of Memphis Kings and while their season didn’t go well, Houston’s did, as led by star 1B Albert Massey (.338, 34 HR, 99 RBI) they became the first NABL team to repeat as division winners, finishing 86-76. Dallas and Las Vegas finished tied second with identical 82-80 records while Phoenix fell from 90 wins and a playoff spot in 2014 to fourth and a record of 78-84 in 2015. New boys Memphis struggled mightily for most of the season barely scoring 3 runs per game, though their record of 58-104 was not the worst in the league.
The battle for the Pacific Division crown was the closest in the Western League with Seattle (83-79) topping Sanfrancisco (81-81). Despite one of the best pitching staffs in the west San Diego finished third with 76 wins with Los Angeles fourth, one game further back. San Jose gamefully battled all season but could only muster 56 wins, losing 106 along the way. The Spartans were the worst team both offensively and defensively in the Western League and only Cleveland who conceded a whopping 819 runs (106 more than San Jose) worse defensively in the NABL.

[JayW UK]

2015 Final Standings

Eastern League

Atlantic Division
Boston 89-77 *
Washington 84-78
Philadelphia 81-81
New York 78-84

Central Division
Detroit 87-75 *
Chicago 81-81
Indianapolis 80-82
Cleveland 57-105

Southeast Division
Atlanta 96-66 *
Miami 91-71 *
Tampa Bay 87-75
New Orleans 61-101

Western League

Midwest Division
Denver 102-60 *
Minneapolis 99-63 *
Oklahoma City 93-69
Kansas City 83-79

Southwest Division
Houston 86-76 *
Dallas 82-80
Las Vegas 82-80
Phoenix 78-84
Memphis 58-104


Pacific Division
Seattle 83-79 *
Sanfrancisco 81-81
San Diego 76-86
Los Angeles 75-87
San Jose 56-106

[JayW UK]

2015 - Season Notes

May 6th - Detroit second baseman Roy Kenelly became the first player in NABL history to hit 2 triples in a single game (he would go on to hit 14 on the season).
May 26th - Boston 3B Larry Petersen blasted three solo homeruns in a victory over Philadelphia.
June 6th - Michael Palmer slugged a trio of homeruns lifting Cleveland to a 9-5 victory over Boston.
June 14th - with the team a dismal 18-47, amid reports of locker room bust ups and a growing rift between GM Gerry Collins and Field Manager Allen McGuire, Cleveland ownership took matters into their own hands and fired Manger McGuire. Although he had led the team to the division crown in 2014, his harsh management style rubbed players the wrong way and his constant clashes with Collins eroded their working relationship. When the season began to go south, things quickly got out of hand, and alarmed at the increasingly volatile situation, ownership stepped in and McGuire was history. Bench Coach Walton Ashburn was named interim manager until the end of the season.
July 4th – Everglade 2B Hector Filex found himself out of favour in Miami and shipped off to Seattle with catcher Raul Flores, RF prospect Bob Chaney and $1.2M coming back in compensation.
July 7th - Seattle second baseman Edgar Garcia safely hit in his 23rd straight game, breaking Jack Epps record of 22.
July 12th - Seattle SS Edgar Garcia was held hitless in four at bats by Minneapolis ending his NABL record 27 game hitting streak.
July 27th - Miami pitcher Tom Rupert became the fourth player in NABL history to throw a No-Hitter, when he blanked Detroit, allowing just a single walk along the way.
August 2nd - Boston catcher Jack Epps became the second player in league history to hit for the cycle, doing so in a 12-6 Pilgrim victory over Atlanta.
August 24th - in the game between Boston Pilgrims and Miami Everglades, the NABL record for runs scored by both teams in a game was smashed (the previous record was 22) Boston destroyed Miami by the score of 21-7 setting the new record at 28 runs scored.
September 16th - at the conclusion of the AA season, Kansas City called up their prize prospect Dixon Bodean to give him some big-league experience. In 7 games (1 start) he went 3 for 10 at the plate with 1 RBI and struck out five times!!
October 3rd - Cleveland interim manager Walton Ashburn inherited a toxic mess when he took over from Allen McGuire in June and although he did his best in the unenviable situation, the damage was done. Cleveland finished 39-58 under Washburn’s stewardship and he went the way of his former boss, being relieved of his duties as soon as the season ended.

[JayW UK]

2015 - Playoffs

Three of the four Divisional series ended in 3 game sweeps with the fourth only going 4 games.
In the east, Miami’s pitching staff, shut down Boston and their number one offense completely, allowing just a single homerun and 5 runs total, while sweeping the Pilgrims. Atlanta entered their matchup with Detroit as favourites and promptly imploded, their normally reliable defense conceding runs and committing errors at an alarming rate on the way to being swept by the Giants.
In the west, defending champs Houston ran into the 99-win Minneapolis Bears and barely troubled them, losing in three. The only series where both teams won at least once was between the #1 team Denver and Seattle. The teams split the first two games in Denver before the Wildcats cruised to a 3-1 series win, destroying the Pioneers 14-2 in the final game on the back of big games from Steve Wolfe and Arron Osborne.

The Eastern League Championship series was a good one, going six games. The 91-win wildcard team Miami took on 87-win Detroit. The first two games in Detroit were split before Miami took game three at home to take a 2-1 lead. But that was as good as it got for them, Detroit reeled off three straight victories to take the series 4-2 and book their place in the World Series. Over in the West, Denver was in cruise control, taking their series against Minneapolis in a 4-game sweep.

The World Series was another tight affair, going the full seven games for the second year in a row. Denver took game 1 at home before dropping game 2, when the normally reliable Hector Espinoza blew the save, serving up a 3-run homer to Mitchell Hendrickson in the top of the 9th. Games 3 and 4 went to Detroit before, with their backs to the wall, Denver took the next two to even the series. Game 7, played in front of a packed house at the Colorado Dome, saw the home team strike first with a Steve Wolfe Homerun (his third of the series). Not to be outdone, Detroit came roaring back with homeruns of their own from Brandon Bowman and Jarrod Cross. From that moment on, there was only going to be one winner, as behind strong pitching performances from starter Benedict Lewis and closer Min-Jae Choi, Detroit rolled to a 4-1 series clinching win.

2015 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Detroit 3-0 Atlanta, Miami 3-0 Boston
WL: Denver 3-1 Seattle, Minneapolis 3-0 Houston
Championship Series
EL: Detroit 4-2 Miami
WL: Denver 4-0 Minneapolis
World Series
Detroit 4-3 Denver

[JayW UK]

2015 – League Leaders and Season Awards

EL Batting Leaders
Hits
209 Brian Gray (MIA)
199 Gabriel Mendez (ATL)
193 Carlos Vasquez (MIA)
Batting Avg.
.371 Gabriel Mendez (ATL)
.350 Claudio Ortiz (ATL)
.324 Alberto Aguirre (BOS)
Homeruns
41 Carlos Vasquez (MIA)
40 Larry Peterson (BOS)
40 Sergio Woods (BOS)
RBI’s
127 Gabriel Mendez (ATL)
115 Juan Santos (PHI)
112 Carlos Vasquez (MIA)
Stolen Bases
50 Johnny Watson (MIA)
41 Jarrod Cross (DET)
35 Ryan Alston (TB)

EL Pitching Leaders
Wins
20 Benedict Lewis (DET)
18 Vince Little (ATL)
18 Katsumi Sugano (BOS)
ERA
2.13 Ed Hudson (NY)
2.34 Carlos Correa (MIA)
2.41 Vince Little (ATL)
Strikeouts
257 Carlos Correa (MIA)
237 Ed Hudson (NY)
237 Vince Little (ATL)
Saves
39 Cameron Fields (PHI)
39 Jose Maldonado (CHI)
38 Min-Jae Choi (DET)

WL Batting Leaders
Hits
229 Marcus Witt (DEN)
210 Culley Clare (PHO)
186 Jeremy Kirkpatrick (LV)
Batting Avg.
.345 Culley Clare (PHO)
.344 Marcus Witt (DEN)
.338 Albert Massey (HOU)
Homeruns
37 Benjamin Wetherby (OKC)
34 Tony Diaz (DAL)
34 Albert Massey (HOU)
RBI’s
104 Tony Diaz (DAL)
100 Benjamin Wetherby (OKC)
99 Albert Massey (HOU)
Stolen Bases
49 Hector Filex (MIA/SEA)
46 Pedro Castillo (LA)
38 Pedro Rios (KC)

WL Pitching Leaders
Wins
18 Francisco Aragon (SF)
18 Tero Lounio (DEN)
17 Juan Delgado (OKC)
ERA
1.94 Jose Flores (OKC)
2.20 Floyd Tillman (MIN)
2.44 Mike Riley (LV)
Strikeouts
266 Anthony Barrett (MNI)
246 Ron Titley (PHO)
245 Alfredo Flores (SF)
Saves
47 Hector Espinoza (DEN)
46 Stephen Davis (LV)
42 Jesse Jones (HOU)

Season Awards
Batting Champion – In the Eastern League Atlanta’s Gabriel Mendez hit .371 to take the award ahead of teammate and 2014 winner Claudio Ortiz (.350). Over in the West the race was much tighter as Culley Clare of Phoenix (.345) took the award ahead of Denver’s Marcus Witt (.344) by the slimmest of margins.
Homerun Champion – The Eastern League race came down to the last day where Miami 1B Carlos Vazquez hit his 41st homer to take the title by one from Boston Teammates Larry Petersen and Sergio Woods. The Western League chase was won by Benjamin Wetherby, who won the title for the second straight year with 37 homers, three ahead of Houston slugger Albert Massey and Dallas first baseman Tony Diaz.
Outstanding Hitter – In the East, Atlanta’s Gabriel Mendez (.371, 38 HR, 127 RBI) won the award that many felt should have been his the previous year. In the west Houston First Baseman Albert Massey (.338, 34HR, 99 RBI) pipped LA’s Kevin Jones to the title.
Outstanding Pitcher – Vince Little (ATL) was superb during the season going 18-8 with a 2.41 ERA to pick up the award in the east, his second. Over in the west, a lack of dominant starting pitching allowed Las Vegas closer, Stephen Davis, to win the award. He produced a stunning season going 7-0 with a miniscule 0.66 ERA, striking out 114 in just 82 innings while converting all 46 save opportunities that came his way.
Rookie of the Year – A new award for this season (as technically everyone was a rookie in 2014)
In the East, Boston’s 30-year-old International signing, Pitcher Katsumi Sugano, took the award with a stellar season going 18-8 with a 3.19 ERA. In the west Dallas Relief Pitcher Ariel Saladana and his 8-6, 3.22 ERA and 34 saves won the award.
Manager of the Year - Atlanta manager Will Harris picked up the award in the East even though his Flames team failed to win a playoff game. While in the West there was only ever going to be one winner, after he led his Denver Wildcats to the NABL’s first 100-win season, Eddie Gray was duly honoured.
Glove Wizard Awards EL – P Ron Henderson (ATL) – C Jorge Perez (WAS) – 1B Jesus Guillen (PHI) – 2B Guillermo Colon (ATL) – 3B Brandon Bowman (DET) – SS Javier Rodriguez (CLE) - LF – Alberto Agguire (BOS) – CF Glan Hallam (ATL) – RF Chris MacGregor (NO)
Glove Wizard Awards WL – P Alfredo Flores – C Pablo Hernandez (KC) – 1B Charles Mueller (KC) – 2B Marcus Witt (DEN) – 3B Ramon Cortez (HOU) – SS Kevin Jones (LA) – LF Joe Walker (SEA) – CF Nathaniel Hill (LA) – RF Pedro Castillo (LA)

Interesting Fact - Detroit Giants hit 57 triples during the season, 20 more than their nearest rivals. They placed 3 players in the top five, Roy Kenelly (14) led the entire NABL, while Jarrod Cross (12) was second and Brandon Bowman (10) was fifth. Combined, this trio hit more triples (36) than all but three franchises on the season.

[JayW UK]

2016 Off-Season

The Managerial merry-go-round in Cleveland started again after the disaster that was the 2015 season. General Manager Jerry Collins surprised many people when he plucked virtual unknown, Dennis Thompson, to be the Corsairs new manager. Thompson was managing Montgomery Kings, a minor league affiliate of the newly formed Memphis Kings, when he was chosen by Collins and up until now, had never managed above the AA level. Fans and pundits alike watched with interest, anxious to see how this would turn out. Another team in the market for a new manager was San Jose, after they fired William Bacon on the back of their 106-loss season. They settled on Allen McGuire the former Cleveland boss, it was hoped his Drill Sargent style would be good for the franchise and help the development of the team’s younger players.
In a relatively quiet offseason for player movement, Tampa Bay were the biggest spenders luring former Detroit Shortstop Bernardo Reyes on board with a 7 year $110M deal and also persuading pitcher Fabio Tuzzi to swap Cleveland for Tampa in a 2-year deal worth $32.4M. Another pitcher on the move was Mike Marrero who left Minneapolis to join Phoenix for 3 years and $42M. Minneapolis also lost their closer Jonathan Fliehman who left town to join Memphis on a one year $11M deal.
Heading into the draft five players were garnering most of the attention, four college players and one High School prospect. Max Castle (Washington St) and Will Christopher (Texas) were the top pitching prospects while Wes Lauderdale (SMU), Marshall Ayresome (Oklahoma) and Canadian High Schooler Richie Rambeaux led the way for the position players.
Come draft night it was none of these prospects, but outfielder Chris Wilson who was drafted first overall. Taken by San Jose many believed this pick to be somewhat of a reach, but enamoured by his potential and despite misgivings about his work ethic, Spartans GM Ted Garneau, pulled the trigger anyway. Richie Rambeaux was taken second by Cleveland, Ayresome third by Memphis and Max Castle fifth by LA. Phoenix picked up shortstop Wes Lauderdale with the seventh pick and many experts believed that they had got a steal with his selection. Will Christopher, amid rumours of too much late-night partying, slid all the way down to 18th, where Detroit ended his fall.

[JayW UK]

2016 - Regular Season

In the Atlantic division Philadelphia (95-67) re-claimed top spot from Boston (94-88) by a single game, although they finished the season losing three-straight to the lowly New York Senators. Both clubs boasted explosive offenses with RF Jun Santos (31 HR, 116 RBI) and 1B Jesus Guillen (40 HR, 112 RBI) fuelling the Independence while 1B Sergio Woods (45 HR, 114 RBI) and 3B/RF Larry Peterson (40 HR, 115 RBI) provided the power for the Pilgrims. Washington fell back from 84 to 71 wins to finish third and the Senators once again struggled and finished three behind the Generals in last place.
The Central division was a close season long battle between eventual winners Indianapolis (93-69) and defending champs Detroit (92-70). The contrast between the two teams offensive philosophies couldn’t be more stark, the Racers, relied on power hitting, with SS Vicente Padilla (41) and Maximo Nunez (38) leading the way they belted a new league record 214 home runs during the season. Detroit on the other hand, played more small-ball, hitting a league low 85 homers but once again leading in triples, this time with 55, and also stealing 185 bases. Chicago finished third sixteen games back from Detroit with 76 wins while Cleveland (62-100) were last and still awful defensively, giving up a league record 897 runs on their way to another 100-loss season.
The Southeast division was won at a canter by Miami (95-67) who boasted the Eastern League’s No1 pitching staff, led by star David Rocha (18-7, 2.28 ERA). Atlanta slumped from winning 96 games the previous season dropping all the way down to 80, to finish a distant second. New Orleans climbed out of the basement for the first time, improving to 76 wins while Tampa Bay brought up the rear with just 70 wins.

In the West, Minneapolis rode the NABL’s best pitching staff featuring Floyd Tillman (17-8, 2.11 ERA and Anthony Barrett (16-8, 2.28 ERA) to the Midwest division crown, narrowly missing the 100-win mark for the second straight year finishing with 99 wins. Oklahoma City improved to second in the division but with a worse record finishing on 88-74 while Kansas City finished third with a record of 84-78. The biggest surprise was the fall of Denver, the Wildcats suffered injuries to key players throughout the season and struggled to find any consistency as a result, the 2015 division winners eventually finished with a losing record at 80-82.
In the Southwest division, the crown went to Dallas (95-67) who, with ace pitcher Jose Marino (18-8, 2.65 ERA) in top form, crept past Houston (93-69) in the last week of fixtures to steal the division title. Las Vegas was third, well off the pace at 75-87 followed by Phoenix three games further back. Memphis improved to 65 wins but still couldn’t get out of the division basement.
Over in the Pacific, Seattle (89-73) and Los Angeles (86-76) engaged in a season long back and forth struggle with the Pioneers coming out on top to take the division. For LA finishing second was a massive disappointment, as with an offense featuring 1B Dan Connibeer (32 HR, 100 RBI) and SS Kevin Jones (34 HR, 74 RBI) along with a pitching staff headlined by Javier Mendez (21-4, 1.65 ERA), much more was expected. Sanfrancisco finished at .500 for the second straight year, San Diego were fourth with only 72 wins while San Jose were once again rooted to bottom of the NABL standings, winning only 55 games.

[JayW UK]

2016 Final Standings

Eastern League

Atlantic Division
Philadelphia 95-67 *
Boston 94-68 *
Washington 71-91
New York 68-94

Central Division
Indianapolis 93-69 *
Detroit 92-70
Chicago 76-86
Cleveland 62-100

Southeast Division
Miami 95-67 *
Atlanta 80-82
New Orleans 76-86
Tampa Bay 70-92

Western League

Midwest Division
Minneapolis 99-63 *
Oklahoma City 88-74
Kansas City 84-78
Denver 80-82

Southwest Division
Dallas 95-67 *
Houston 93-69 *
Las Vegas 75-87
Phoenix 72-90
Memphis 65-97

Pacific Division
Seattle 89-73 *
Los Angeles 86-76
Sanfrancisco 81-81
San Diego 72-90
San Jose 55-107

[JayW UK]

2016 - Season Notes

April 2nd - Atlanta’s Gabriel Mendez smashed three homeruns against Washington, he was responsible for driving in all five Atlanta runs in a 5-2 opening day victory.
April 14th - Miami pitcher David Rocha was superb in pitching the fifth NABL no-hitter (the second by a Miami pitcher), he struck out 15 allowing just one walk while shutting down Tampa Bay. Three days later Ryan Rayne of San Jose matched the feat downing Memphis for the sixth no-hitter in league history.
April 25th - Cleveland shortstop Javier Rodriguez was beaned by a pitch from Philadelphia pitcher Dominque Boutin, sparking a bench clearing brawl. When the dust settled Rodriguez was helped from the field with a fractured cheekbone and concussion. Boutin (minus two teeth) along with teammate Alaeddin Cobanoglu and Cleveland Third Baseman Alberto Ortiz were all ejected and subsequently suspended for 12 games for their part in the unsavoury incident. The injury cost Rodriguez the rest of the season, as he continued to suffer from double vision and concussion symptoms well into September.
May 17th - Cleveland 1B Xin Koo became the second player in NABL history to hit four doubles in a game, his efforts were not enough though as his Corsairs fell 8-5 to Tampa Bay.
June 12th - Las Vegas closer Stephen Davis had his save streak ended at 72 when he gave up a 2-run double to Jeff Goff of Minneapolis. He had not blown a save since August 8th 2014, almost two years previously. Four days later Detroit’s Min-Jae Choi had his own streak ended at 63 his last blown save had been in September 2014.
July 10th - Indianapolis 1B Maximo Nunez set the NABL record for RBI’s in a game with eight, going 3-for-4 and hitting a Grand Slam helping the Racers to victory over New York.
July 23rd - with the team in a tailspin, Tampa Bay traded away offseason signing Bernardo Reyes, the shortstop was less than six months into a seven-year contract but found himself packaged to Sanfrancisco for middle infielder Chris McDermott and top first base prospect Vincente Gonzalez.
July 26th – New Orleans star Andrew Parker led his team to victory over New York, collecting three hits (a double and a pair of homeruns) while drawing three walks and driving in seven.
July 27th - Denver’s top young pitcher Ray Ware (their 2014 first round pick), was injured in a game against Minneapolis, his season was over when he was diagnosed with a torn Elbow Flexor Tendon and as a result would miss the next 11 months.
August 19th - Houston first baseman Albert Massey went 6-for-6, hitting 4 singles a double and a homerun with 3RBI’s in a losing effort against the Phoenix Eagles.
August 24th - Hirotada Yama****a of Minneapolis collected 8 RBI’s against Los Angeles becoming the second player in NABL history to reach 8 RBI in a single game.
September 9th - Ray Rowland smashed four doubles for New York helping them to down Philadelphia 8-3.
September 11th - Denver’s Flavio Mendez became the third player on the season to hit eight RBI’s in a game, going 3-for-5 with two homeruns, one of them a Grand Slam in helping Denver destroy Sanfrancisco 16-3.
September 26th - Cleveland Pitcher Juan Sanchez pitched five innings in yet another defeat, he ended the season 6-22 with a 7.36 ERA and became the NABL record holder for the most losses in a season.
October 1st - the managerial experiments in Cleveland and San Jose ended with the firing of both skippers after a single season in charge.
The season itself started well enough for Cleveland, after the first month of play they sat with a winning record at 14-12. But the wheels soon came off as the team once more imploded, finishing with their second consecutive 100 loss campaign. Inevitably Dennis Thompson was relieved of his duties the minute the season ended, with many saying he was out of his depth at the major league level. Jerry Collins and Cleveland were once again going to be looking for a manager during the off season.
In San Jose it was a similar story, Allen McGuire’s abrasive style soon upset many of the young players and when he sanctioned the trade of popular veteran catcher John Martin, he lost the locker room for good. The young team, bereft of leadership and riven by internal strife, slumped to a record of 55-107 including three separate double-digit losing streaks. At the end of the season McGuire was handed his walking papers and San Jose, like Cleveland, was back in the market for a new manager.