NABL a History

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2041 Playoffs

Championship Series

The Eastern league Pennant Series saw Boston and Indianapolis re-acquaint themselves with each other (the pair had met at the same stage in 2039 with Boston emerging victorious), the Pilgrims were also looking to match their opponents record of reaching four consecutive World Series (which Indianapolis achieved between 2029-32). Even though wildcard team Indianapolis owned the better regular season record, Boston held the home advantage courtesy of their division title, however that advantage was not apparent in game one. In the sixth inning, Indianapolis SS Pancho Sousa smacked a 2-RBI double to break a 3-3 tie and put the visitors ahead, LF Jose Cintron’s homerun in the next inning knocked the fight out of Boston as Indianapolis took the opener 8-3. Putting a dampener on the Racers win however, was the news that star pitcher Dave Lockhart would be shelved for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The following night both starters, Brett Knight (BOS) and Jose Montoya (IND) were strong early, neither man allowing a hit through the first four innings, both offenses took turns to plate runs in the fifth and sixth innings before back-to-back homeruns from LF Rob Penney and C Eduardo Moreno put Boston ahead for good as the Pilgrims tied the series with a hard fought 4-2 victory. Game two was Boston’s turn for unwanted injury news as RF Wolfgang Worns tweaked his ankle, although there was hope he could possibly return for the World Series if the Pilgrims managed to get there. After splitting the opening two games in Boston the Racers returned home full of confidence and looking to sew up the series by winning the next three games, something that looked probable given Boston’s abysmal record in Indianapolis (the Pilgrims had only managed a mere nine victories at Raceway Stadium in the last decade). Game three didn’t go to plan for the hosts though, as a seventh inning homerun from Boston SS Alejandro Arroyo set the Pilgrims on their way to a 5-3 win with closer Chris Miller striking out C Gabriel Lopez to end the game. Boston starter Mike Mayfield struggled early on in game four allowing Indianapolis to open up a 4-1 first inning lead, after the early scoring outburst the Racers offense went ice-cold failing to collect a hit until the eighth inning, by then the Pilgrims had stormed into the lead and when closer Chris Miller once again collected the final out with a strikeout, the Racers found themselves 3-1 down in the series and facing elimination. With Dave Lockhart out Indianapolis chose to give Jose Montoya the start on three-days rest, a move which proved to be a mistake, Montoya imploded, surrendering homeruns to C Eduardo Moreno, 1B John Herman, LF Rob Penney and RF Khayn Triplett as Boston cruised to a 10-3 series clinching win that sent Boston to their fourth consecutive World Series. The defeat for Indianapolis dropped their record in Pennant series to 6-5 while Boston’s victory kept their 100% record going (now 7 for 7).

The WLCS had the potential to be a high scoring matchup with the WL’s top two scoring teams facing off, despite Sanfrancisco owning the home advantage defending champions Phoenix were seen as the more likely of the pair teams to advance due to their stronger pitching. Game one proved to be everything the neutrals desired, the two teams combined for 22-hits and 5-homeruns with the eventual winning runs being scored in the ninth as Phoenix squeezed past their hosts Sanfrancisco by the score of 8-6. Game two saw both starters, John Gates (PHO) and David Elder (SF) pitch into the seventh inning but where David Elder was supreme (allowing a single run while striking out eleven), John Gates was erratic, giving up six runs including a rare Jose Villalobos homer. Elder also helped his cause by driving in a pair of runs as Sanfrancisco ran out comfortable 6-2 winners to tie the series ahead of three games in Phoenix. The Eagles turned to star Steve Gream for the start in game three, Gream and his opposite number David Adams were in control much of the night before Sanfrancisco chased Gream from the mound with a trio of runs in the seventh. Holding a slim 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the ninth Sanfrancisco manager Cipriano Gonzalez sent Adams out for one more frame, in an up and down inning Adams retired two batters while putting another on base before yielding a 2-run walk-off homer to 1B Domingo Vargas as Phoenix edged ahead in the series. The following night saw both offenses dominate as the teams combined for 21 runs including six homers, late blasts from 2B Mike Brown and 1B Domingo Vargas helped Phoenix pull away and claim a 13-8 victory leaving the Eagles just one win away from a second consecutive World Series appearance. That victory arrived the next night, with Phoenix pitcher George Buchanan providing the winning runs on a 2-RBI double as the Eagles held on for a hard fought 5-3 series clinching win booking their place in the World Series and a chance to become to third team to repeat as champions.

[JayW UK]

2041 Playoffs

World Series

The 2041 fall classic was a rematch of the previous year’s series featuring defending champions Phoenix and Boston, just as in the 2040 series Phoenix had the home advantage and were being tipped by many to repeat as champions. Both teams possessed prolific offenses but Phoenix could call on an equally strong pitching corps unlike their opponents Boston who’s own pitching staff had been underwhelming all season. Game one unexpectedly turned into a pitching duel with both starters impressing, Boston crept ahead on SS Alejandro Arroyo’s RBI-single in the top of the ninth and held on to take the opener 2-1. Boston started game two on the front foot as they used a strong outing from starter Jim Jacques (9K in 5.2 IP) to build a 5-1 lead, 2B Mike Brown’s late homerun sparked a furious Phoenix rally cutting the Boston advantage to one, but closer Chris Miller again held firm as Boston edged game two. Holding a 2-0 series lead ahead of three games at home the Pilgrims were in a strong position, their position became even stronger after game three, as spurred on by CF Weldon Render who clubbed a second inning grand-slam and RF Wolfgang Worns (in his return from injury) who scored four runs, Boston swept to a comfortable 9-4 victory leaving them just one win away from a fourth World Series title. Phoenix were not about to surrender their title without a fight as an excellent outing from starter Nick Ford (7.1 IP, 6H, 2ER, 8K) and homeruns from 2B Mike Brown and 1B Domingo Vargas propelled the Eagles to victory in game four keeping their slim championship hopes alive. The following night saw the return to the mound of game one starters, Brett Knight (BOS) and John Gates (PHO), but unlike their outings in the opener both men struggled with neither of them lasting beyond the fifth inning. Phoenix slipped ahead 7-6 on Brandon spence’s pinch-hit homerun in the top of the ninth, before closer Al O’Brien took the mound looking to finish the job, after retiring the first man he faced O’Brien then walked CF Weldon Render on four pitches. To make matters worse O’Brien had to leave the game with a shoulder injury bringing Jorge Serrea to the mound in his place, Serrea almost had Weldon Render picked off but 1B Domingo Vargas dropped the ball an error that came back to haunt him as, after a battling 10-pitch at-bat, Boston LF Rob Penney drilled the eleventh pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a 2-RBI walk-off homerun sending the Boston faithful into a frenzy. Boston’s dramatic World Series win capped an unlikely postseason run for the 83-win Pilgrims, giving them their fourth championship title (matching rivals Indianapolis) and gaining revenge for their defeat at Phoenix’s hands the previous year.

2041 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Boston 3-0 Chicago, Indianapolis 3-2 Tampa Bay
WL: Phoenix 3-2 Omaha, Sanfrancisco 3-2 Oklahoma City
Championship Series
EL: Boston 4-1 Indianapolis
WL: Phoenix 4-1 Sanfrancisco
World Series
Boston 4-1 Phoenix

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2041 Season Leaders and Awards

EL Batting
Hits
239 Pancho Sousa (IND)
205 David Evans (CHI)
205 Edite Filgueiras (WAS)
Batting Avg
.385 Glenn Hansen (ATL)
.381 Pancho Sousa (IND)
.370 Chad Hammond (CLE)
Homeruns
55 Diego Pagan (PHI)
38 Blake Hanson (CLE)
37 Bryant Manton (TB)
RBI
143 Diego Pagan (PHI)
119 Blake Hanson (CLE)
113 Daron Murphy (CHA)
Stolen Bases
44 Jorge Luna (CHI)
34 Edite Filgueiras (WAS)
33 Pancho Sousa (IND)

EL Pitching
Wins
19 Paul Everhart (CLE)
19 Ramon Schoof (IND)
18 Mariano Rojo (NY)
ERA
2.63 Mariano Rojo (NY)
2.65 Eugene Fey (CHI)
3.05 Paul Everhart (CLE)
Strikeouts
255 Jim Jacques (BOS)
241 Paul Everhart (CLE)
231 Mariano Rojo (NY)
Saves
45 Carlos Cordero (DET)
40 Jim Cummings (IND)
38 Enrico Rodriguez (CHI)

WL Batting
Hits
195 Francisco Perez (SF)
192 Sancho Guerra (SF)
189 Brandon Buck (PHO)
Batting Avg
.348 Jose Villalobos (SF)
.347 Tom Carter (KC)
.344 Francisco Perez (SF)
Homeruns
50 Joseph Floores (LV)
43 Mike Brown (PHO)
37 Fernando Hernandez (DEN)
RBI
122 Fernando Hernandez (DEN)
118 Joseph Floores (LV)
110 Herminio Azurara (SF)
Stolen Bases
43 Jaime Perez (SJ)
37 Tom Lockhart (OMH)
37 Miguel Rodriguez (PHO)

WL Pitching
Wins
23 Jacobie Harksdale (OMH)
20 Steve Gream (PHO)
18 George Buchanan (PHO)
ERA
2.40 Jacobie Harksdale (OMH)
2.46 Steve Gream (PHO)
2.65 Lucious Sandford (AUS)
Strikeouts
269 Cristobal Chapa (SF)
262 Shane Olson (OKC)
251 Jesus Delgado (LV)
Saves
45 Jesus Tobias (DAL)
44 Brock McLaughlin (SD)
43 Barton Rogers (SF)

Batting Champion – after a season long tussle Atlanta 1B Glenn Hansen (.385) edged out Indianapolis SS Pancho Sousa (.381) to take home the EL award. In the west, Sanfrancisco 2B Jose Villalobos (.348) held off KC 2B Tom Carter (.347) by the slimmest of margins to take home his third career batting title.
Homerun Champion – Philadelphia 1B Diego Pagan (55) was the EL champion finishing with 17 more homers than his nearest rival Cleveland 1B Blake Hanson (38). In the west Las Vegas 3B Joseph Floores (50) collected his fifth career homerun title.
Outstanding Hitter – Philadelphia 1B Diego Pagan (.316, 55 HR, 143 RBI) was the unanimous winner in the east while Las Vegas 3B Joseph Floores (.290, 50 HR, 118 RBI) was the runaway winner in the WL.
Outstanding Pitcher – New York ace Mariano Rojo (18-7, 2.63 ERA) took home the EL award, seeing off challenges from Cleveland’s Paul Everhart (19-7, 3.05 ERA) Indianapolis star Ramon Schoof (19-9, 3.87 ERA). Over in the west, Omaha’s Jacobie Harksdale (23-5, 2.40 ERA) held off Phoenix’s equally impressive Steve Gream (20-7, 2.46 ERA) to claim the WL award.
Rookie of the Year – Atlanta RF Mike Robinson (.323, 16 HR, 50 RBI) was the winner in the east, winning the award by a single vote ahead of New Orleans LF Jim Hopkins (.317, 24 HR, 74 RBI), who was the people’s choice. The western league winner was Sanfrancisco’s Carlos Gonzales (.330, 14 HR, 44 RBI) who comfortably held off the challenge of 21-year-old Austin pitcher Juan Brito (9-6, 3SV, 3.46 ERA in 65 games).
Manager of the Year – Indianapolis’ first year manager Columbo Masolino pipped Boston’s Terry Nelson to the EL award while in the west OKC manager Steffen Hurtado took home the award ahead of many people’s favourite, Sanfrancisco’s Cipriano Gonzalez.
Glove Wizards EL – P – Bernie Baldwin (PHI) C – Joseph Melton (ATL) 1B – Jorge Rodriguez (DET) 2B – Jorge Luna (CHI) 3B – David Evans (CHI) SS – Jose Savonarola (BAL) LF – Mike Hicks (ATL) CF – Jim Parkes (NO) RF – Bob Ledrew (CLE)
Glove Wizards WL – P – Benton Hartman (AUS) C – Manny Mendoza (LV) 1B – Brad McGee (KC) 2B – Mike Brown (PHO) 3B – Tom Sterling (SJ) SS – Joaquin Corona (LV) LF – Juan Rodriguez (DAL) CF – Freddie Sherman (AUS) RF – Glenn McGhee (MIN)



Interesting Facts – Tampa Bay set an NABL record for drawing walks with 781 during the campaign, with Jose Mendoza (101), Rick Flynn (97), Jim Scott (95) and Bryant Manton (90) occupying the top four slots in the EL charts. Diego Pagan (PHI) 55 led the east and with Joseph Floores (LV) 50 tops in the west, 2041 was the first season that the leader in each league hit 50+ homeruns.

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Interlude – Player Profiles

Dixon Bodean
College – N/A (High School)
Drafted - 2014 – 1st Round - #1 Overall by Kansas City Tornadoes
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – KC (2014-2023), HOU (2023), DEN (2024-2032), TB (2033-2034), BAL (2035-2037), HOU (2038), SF (2039-2040), TB (2041)

Tipped to be a generational talent in the build-up to the 2014 draft, the Florida native was duly selected first overall by Kansas City. After an initial adjustment period in the minor leagues Bodean earned a place on Kansas City’s 2017 opening day roster and didn’t look back, playing in 154 games and posting a very respectable .316 batting average. Over his first three seasons he hit only 29 homeruns leading to speculation that he would never live up to his pre-draft billing, but back-to-back 20+ homerun campaigns quietened those voices and his superb 2023 triple crown campaign (.385, 45 HR, 138 RBI) put paid to that narrative once and for all. Prior to the 2024 season Bodean hit free agency for the first time in his career where World Champions Denver came calling, signing him to a lucrative 6-year $135M contract. Bodean proved to be worth every cent as he collected his second consecutive batting triple crown (.388, 52 HR, 126 RBI) and led the Wildcats to the World Series where they were stunned by Chicago. A third triple crown followed in 2025, but another shock playoff exit, this time being swept by Houston at the first hurdle, put a dampener on his achievement. The back-to back triple crowns proved to be the high-water mark of his time in Colorado as despite Bodean’s continued excellence (4x Outstanding Hitter awards, 3x Homerun titles, 2x Batting titles) Denver could only muster a 525-609 record and a single playoff appearance (another first round exit) over the following six years. After his nine-year run in Denver came to an end Bodean, now 37, was once again highly sought after in free agency, eventually signing a lucrative two-year deal with EL heavyweights Tampa Bay for a run at a World Series ring. That dream was fulfilled at the conclusion of his first year in Florida with the Hurricanes beating San Jose in the fall classic to give Bodean his first championship ring, the following season, at the tender age of 38, Dixon Bodean rolled back the years to produce a superb campaign (.333, 49 HR, 138 RBI) to claim his tenth Outstanding Hitter Award. Baltimore, in just their fifth year of existence, were Bodean’s next stop where over the next three years he still remained productive despite his advancing age. At the conclusion of the 2037 season Bodean made the move back out west, signing a one-year deal with Houston where he suffered the first serious injuries of his career (missing six weeks with shoulder and back issues) before once again hitting free agency. Big spending Sanfrancisco became his home for the next two years as Bodean, now in the twilight of his career, chased another ring. After his two-year stay in the Bay area ended empty handed, 45-year-old Dixon Bodean signed a one-year deal with Tampa Bay which was clearly meant to be a glorious farewell tour with the chance to win a second ring. Sadly, the fairytale ending to his career never materialised, as a series of injuries limited him to just 41 appearances with a hip issue that required surgery ending his season. With speculation linking him to a return prior to the 2042 campaign, Bodean announced that he would sign a one-day contract with Kansas City so he could retire as a Tornado player, bringing to an end his legendary career. Over the course of his 28-years in the game Bodean has collected a litany of records that will likely not be broken including, 17 consecutive 100+ RBI seasons and 13 straight 30 HR campaigns (including eight of 40 or more). His 4686 career hits, 769 Homeruns and 2533 RBI’s will all stand for a very long time and along with his ten Outstanding Hitter Awards will certainly guarantee his entry into the NABL hall of fame when the time comes.

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 3681 AB - 14170 RS - 2363 H - 4686 2B - 843 3B - 55 HR - 769 RBI - 2533 BB - 1039 K - 1860 SB - 115 CS - 52 AVG - .331 OBP – .380 SLG – .561 OPS – .941 OPS+ 165 WAR – 128.9
Post Season
G - 52 AB - 208 RS - 28 H - 71 2B - 12 3B - 1 HR - 10 RBI - 33 BB - 14 K - 31 SB - 0 CS - 0 AVG - .341 OBP – .387 SLG – .553 OPS – .940 OPS+ 165

Career Achievements
Outstanding Hitter Award x 10 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2029, 2030, 2034)
Batting Triple Crown x 3 (2023, 2024, 2025)
Batting Champion x 7 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2030, 2032)
Homerun Champion x 7 (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2029, 2034)
All-Star x 18
World Series Winner (2033)

Matt “Grits” Henderson
College – N/A (High School)
Drafted – 2022 – 1st Round - #10 Overall by Chicago Zephyrs
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – CHI (2024-2031), DEN (2031), PHI (2032-2038), SF (2039-2041)

Henderson entered the 2022 draft as one of the top prospects with a reputation as a strong hitter with power potential but with a penchant for striking out, Chicago tabbed him with the tenth pick and immediately assigned him to Mesa Desert Sharks, their Rookie League affiliate. Over the next two years Henderson worked diligently on his approach at the plate resulting in a rapid rise through the Zephyrs farm system for the young first baseman. Henderson earned a call up to the Zephyrs NABL roster during the 2024 season, impressing enough to retain his place on the playoff roster as Chicago went on to lift the World Series that fall. After earning a spot on Chicago’s opening day roster for the 2025 season, his career took off and he never looked back. All the hard work he put into his batting certainly paid off, as over the next six seasons he won three batting titles, three homerun titles culminating is a batting triple crown in 2030 and also took home four consecutive Outstanding Hitter Awards. With Chicago struggling through a second consecutive disappointing campaign and Henderson due to hit free agency at the season’s end, the Zephyrs chose to cash in on their prized asset, trading Henderson to Denver for five prospects. The addition of the four-time batter-of-the-year failed to deliver Denver the World Series and at the end of the season, to add insult to injury for Denver, Henderson moved on, signing a five-year $113M deal with Philadelphia. His first four years in the city of brotherly love brought Henderson another Homerun title and the 2033 Outstanding Hitter Award but although the Independence reached the playoffs in all four seasons, they only advanced beyond the first round once, losing to Chicago in the 2034 ELCS. A two-year extension at the conclusion of 2036 coincided with the decline of the team as they struggled to a pair of fourth place finishes, barely breaking .500 over the two years (163-161). Sanfrancisco were Henderson’s next stop as the now 36-year-old signed a lucrative $48M, three-year deal to join forces with NABL legend Dixon Bodean and form a strong veteran core for the Gold. Injuries de-railed his time in Sanfrancisco as he played in only 211 of a possible 486 games (managing just 25 in his final season). After the Gold’s disappointing playoff exit at the hands of Phoenix in which a clearly hobbled Henderson hardly played, Sanfrancisco chose to withdraw their offer of a one-year contract, leaving Henderson to face free agency. At 38 with his skills clearly diminishing and injuries mounting, Henderson chose to walk away from the game, thus ending his highly successful eighteen-year NABL career.

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 2392 AB - 8184 RS - 1432 H - 2770 2B - 469 3B - 12 HR - 456 RBI - 1449 BB - 946 K - 1050 SB - 2 CS - 4 AVG - .338 OBP – .425 SLG – .566 OPS – .991 OPS+ 173 WAR – 105.0
Post Season
G - 55 AB - 193 RS - 29 H - 70 2B - 14 3B - 0 HR - 11 RBI - 34 BB - 16 K - 26 SB - 0 CS - 0 AVG - .363 OBP – .417 SLG – .606 OPS – 1.023 OPS+ 180

Career Achievements
Outstanding Hitter Award x 5 (2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, 2033)
Batting Triple Crown x 1 (2030)
Batting Champion x 3 (2027, 2028, 2030)
Homerun Champion x 3 (2029, 2030, 2033)
13x All-Star
World Series Winner (2024)

[JayW UK]

2042 Off-Season

With Boston’s fans basking in the glory of the Pilgrims World Series win, manager Terry Nelson dropped a bombshell when he announced that he was stepping down to take the reins at San Diego. Nelson, a San Diego native said he couldn’t resist the pull of managing his home-town team and hoped the Pilgrims loyal fans would understand his motives for leaving. To replace the outgoing Nelson, Boston promoted bench coach Leo MacGilchrist to the top job, MacGilchrist had big shoes to fill following in the footsteps of Christian Eberlein and Nelson who between them had led the Pilgrims to five World Series appearances and three titles. Boston’s division rivals Philadelphia and New York were also in the market for new managers after both incumbent skippers resigned, within days both teams had found their replacements, Philadelphia choosing Charlotte’s pitching coach Jose Pacheco while New York named LA bench coach and former big league pitcher Carlos Torres as their new manager. Los Angeles also needed a new manager after Kevin Carter received his marching orders for failing to build on 2040’s division crown, the Lynx eventually lured Seattle skipper Allen Richardson to town as Carter’s replacement. Former Las Vegas hitting coach Jose Castillo soon joined the Lynx as their new bench coach while Austin pitching coach Brian Walter accepted the vacant Seattle position for his first crack at management.
Sanfrancsico opened the 2042 free-agency frenzy with the additions of pitchers George Buchanan from Phoenix (4yr @ $71M) and Benton Hartman from Austin ($48M over 3yrs), the Gold then landed former Kansas City second baseman Tom Carter on a lucrative 7-year $124M deal. Sanfrancisco also waved goodbye to several key veterans, 3B Matt Romero left for Boston (3yrs @ $45M), C Sancho Guerra, who signed a lucrative five-year deal worth $96M with Philadelphia and pitcher Cristobal Chapa who landed with Tampa Bay, signing a 2-year $36M deal. Los Angeles pulled off a coup by signing the premier international free agent, star Korean closer Gwang-sam Pak on a three-year deal while Las Vegas spent lavishly on former Houston pitcher Jose Vazquez, bringing him on board for $22.5M per year over the next five seasons. Vazquez’s addition meant Adrian Knapp was allowed to leave the Gamblers, eventually joining Baltimore for $67M over four years. Chicago lured Chad Hammond away from division rivals Cleveland, signing the second baseman to a four-year $80M contract but the Zephyrs couldn’t persuade catcher Aaron Payton to re-sign, instead losing the star backstop to Minneapolis who signed him to a cool $72M four-year deal. Minneapolis then further bolstered their power offense by signing 1B Keith Fairchild to a 3-year $36M contract before adding to their rotation, bringing in former Philadelphia man Jonathan Albert on a three-year deal. Division rivals Denver also upgraded their power hitting by trading star LF Glenn McGhee to Kansas City for slugging outfielder Gary Davis and centerfield prospect Jose Reyes. After listening to multiple offers, including from Chicago and Sanfrancisco, former Minneapolis catcher Tom Walsh decided to chase money rather than championship rings, signing 4-year $66M deal with Charlotte. One veteran chasing a championship ring rather than money was LF Gregg Bambridge, who left Phoenix to join defending champions Boston on a one-year $1.5M contract. With speculation mounting that 46-year-old Dixon Bodean would return for one more season, the legendary player announced that he was signing a one-day contract with the team that drafted him Kansas City, so that he could retire a Tornado player, bringing the curtain down on the sure-fire first ballot Hall-of-Famer’s illustrious career.
Top of the prospect tree for the 2042 draft was high school catcher Dmitri Lott, already an excellent defensive player Lott possessed the potential to become a star offensively as well, another high school player tipped to be picked early was SS Justin Thomas, the son of former NABL outfielder Stephen Thomas. College pitchers made up the rest of the top prospects, Cameron Schwenke from Wisconsin-Milwaukee (who was picked second overall by Miami in 2041 before returning to school), potential ace Todd Dunn (Ohio State), power pitcher Matt Damone (Wichita State) and Steve Meyna (Arizona State) were all in the frame to be taken in the top five picks.
With the first overall selection, St. Louis wasted little time in calling the name of Dmitri Lott, providing the Reds with a future star. Seattle added pitcher Todd Dunn to their stable of young pitchers with the second pick before Miami used the first of their two top ten picks on Arizona State pitcher Steve Meyna who was said to be thrilled to be heading to Florida. The Everglades learnt from their mistake from the previous year when they drafted Cameron Schwenke even though he had made it abundantly clear he would not sign with them if picked. Denver drafted Wichita State pitcher Matt Damone fourth, before Dallas caused eyebrows to be raised when they picked High School LF Steve White fifth. Miami used their second top ten pick on shortstop Justin Thomas, banking on his untapped potential and hoping he had inherited his father’s genes, while Cameron Schwenke finally heard his name called seventh by Washington, a team he was more than happy to sign for.
With Spring Training in the books and opening day around the corner, BNN’s annual predictions were released. The Atlantic division was tipped to be a three-horse race between defending champions Boston, New York and Philadelphia and with all three teams bedding in new managers, who would come out on top was anyone’s guess and although Washington and Baltimore couldn’t be counted out entirely, they were not seen as serious contenders. In the Central division the usual suspects Chicago and Indianapolis were once again expected to vie for the division crown with St. Louis, who were looking to bounce back from their disastrous 2041 campaign, waiting in the wings for any slip ups. In the Southeast, big spending Tampa Bay were still the cream of the crop but Atlanta, Charlotte and New Orleans were all expected to push the Florida outfit all the way.
In the west BNN put Omaha and Oklahoma City as the teams to beat in the Midwest division with the improving Minneapolis and Denver as teams to watch. The two-time defending Western League champs Phoenix were expected to have their hands full with Las Vegas and Austin pushing them hard for the Southwest division crown while Sanfrancisco, owners of the league’s highest payroll, were favoured to hold off Los Angeles for the Pacific division title. At the other end of the spectrum in a seemingly yearly occurrence, Dallas, Detroit and Seattle were all once again being tipped to lead the race to the bottom of the standings and the right to pick at the top of the draft.

[JayW UK]

2042 Regular Season

Eastern League Review

Against all expectations the Atlantic division came down to the wire with all five teams separated by just four games heading into the final week of the regular season. Boston led by the EL’s most explosive offense featuring three players who reached the 30-homerun mark (LF Rob Penney 38, C Eduardo Moreno 33 and 1B John Herman 30) eventually separated themselves from the rest to claim their seventh consecutive division title with a record of 87-75. Philadelphia, who lost two out of three games to Boston during the final week finished as runners up two-games back, uncharacteristically, closer Dave Day (8-4, 41 saves, 1.77 ERA in 71 appearances) blew two games during the week costing the Independence the chance of unseating Boston at the top. New York (84-78) also slumped over the final stretch and not even Jerry Wright’s player of the week nod (12-25, 4 HR, 11 RBI’s) could lift the Senators as they ended the season being swept by Washington. Baltimore (83-79) with off-season signing Adrian Knapp (13-8, 4.58 ERA) heading their rotation and outstanding rookie LF Cesar Amaya (.324, 29 HR, 102) leading a young exciting offense, finished the campaign strong to claim the clubs first ever winning season whilst Washington used a sweep of New York to finish the season at an even 81-81.
The expected head-to-head battle between Chicago and Indianapolis for the Central division crown never materialised, as the Zephyrs with their high scoring offense paced by star 3B David Evans (.318, 20 HR, 111 RBI) cruised to the division title, finishing the season 96-66 ten games ahead of their nearest rival. Pat Bennett’s fourth year in charge of Cleveland saw the club return to the postseason for the first time in fifteen years, with 1B Blake Hanson (.306, 41 HR, 117 RBI) leading the eastern league’s top scoring offense, Cleveland reeled of six straight wins to finish the season with an 86-76 record and claim the EL wildcard slot. Even though Indianapolis boasted four players who hit 20+ homeruns, disappointing pitching (Dave Lockhart 10-10, 4.81 the most impressive starter) and sloppy team defense saw the Racers slip back to finish the season with an underwhelming 82-80 record. With ace Les Scott (18-8, 3.06) leading the way St. Louis rode strong pitching to a 79-83 finish, a twenty-game improvement over their forgettable 2041 campaign, while bringing up the rear with 76 wins were Detroit, their eleventh basement finish one ahead of Cleveland for the most in the 29-year history of the Central division.
With the impressive Carlos Santos (17-6, 3.35 ERA) and Toshikasu Uenohara (13-4, 2.76 ERA) heading their strong pitching staff and RF Mike Robinson (.294, 47 HR, 103 RBI) carrying their offense, Atlanta rose to the top of an underwhelming Southeast division. Miami (79-83) faded down the stretch to make it now eight seasons without a winning record, but still finished as runners up to the Flames, Charlotte (77-85) boasting the EL #4 offense led by 3B Luis Garza (.320, 40 HR, 123 RBI) but also a well below average pitching staff finished third. Big spending Tampa Bay (with the EL’s highest payroll at $202M) struggled all season, eventually finishing 22-games below their 2041 pace with a 71-91 record. The Hurricanes problems were twofold, their pitching staff, with Cristobal Chapa (12-10 3.72 ERA) the only player with an ERA below 4.50, continued to be a bottom feeder in the EL but their usually potent offense fell off a cliff to become one of the NABL’s worst. Bringing up the rear were New Orleans who boasted two of the games brightest young stars in LF Jim Hopkins (.314, 44 HR, 99 RBI) and pitcher Carlos Rodriguez (20-8, 2.80 ERA) but still slid back from 82-wins to finish with a disappointing 69-93 record.

Final Standings

Atlantic division
Boston 87-75*
Philadelphia 85-77
New York 84-78
Baltimore 83-79
Washington 81-81

Central division
Chicago 96-66*
Cleveland 86-76*
Indianapolis 82-80
St. Louis 79-83
Detroit 76-86

Southeast division
Atlanta 87-75*
Miami 79-83
Charlotte 77-85
Tampa Bay 71-91
New Orleans 69-93

[JayW UK]

2042 Regular Season

Western League Review

On the back of the WL’s #3 pitching staff led by Rafer MacNeil (20-4, 2.20 ERA) and #4 offense with C Alessandro Sighel (.292, 25 HR, 106 RBI) and LF Julian Morin (.297, 27 HR, 91 RBI) leading the way, Oklahoma City (95-67) returned to the top of the Midwest division, ending Omaha’s three year run as champions. Jacobie Harksdale (15-12, 2.89 ERA) struggled to recapture the form that earned him the 2041 WL Outstanding Pitcher award, as Omaha slipped from 102-wins to just 88, their final day defeat at the hands of Denver cost the Braves the chance of making the postseason, as they missed out on the Wildcard spot by just one game. In Christian Eberlein’s second season, Denver improved to 82-wins but were still a long way off contending, whilst a superb season from pitcher Seung-Jae Park (16-6, 2.86 ERA) could not lift Minneapolis (79-83) any closer to the playoffs as injuries and underwhelming play held them back. Even superhuman efforts from LF Glenn McGhee (.297, 40 HR, 108 RBI) and 3B Mario Balderas (.302, 29 HR, 93 RBI) couldn’t help Kansas City (63-99), as the WL’s weakest pitching staff just couldn’t prevent their opponents from scoring.
A strong first campaign from off-season acquisition Jose Vazquez (17-8, 3.58 ERA) coupled with clutch hitting from the likes of 3B Joseph Floores, RF Danny Wheeler and SS Joaquin Corona helped Las Vegas (92-70) unseat Phoenix at the summit of the Southwest division. Even though they were led by an explosive offense (220 HR), featuring LF Adrian Ramirez (.318, 44 HR, 112 RBI), Domingo Vargas (.368, 28 HR, 100 RBI) and SS Brandon Buck (.363, 20 HR, 106 RBI) with a pitching staff headlined by twin aces Steve Gream (18-5, 2.97 ERA) and Nick Ford (18-9, 3.97 ERA) Phoenix still somehow contrived to miss the playoffs, finishing the season 87-75. Austin continued to tread water finishing with an 80-82 record, their third consecutive third place finish, while both Houston (70-92) and Dallas (68-94) struggled with identical issues, misfiring offenses and ineffective pitching, only Chris McAndrew (HOU) with 14 and Alfonso Barkai (DAL) 13, had double figure wins for the two clubs.
With an offense powered by 1B Herminio Azurara (.262, 28 HR, 106 RBI) and LF Dave Butler (.274, 31 HR, 74 RBI) and a strong pitching staff led by Bill Roberts (16-8, 3.67 ERA) and newcomer Benton Hartman (13-4, 3.03 ERA), Sanfrancisco proved to be the best team in the league, winning an NABL high 97-games on their way to a second consecutive Pacific division crown. With stalwarts Joe Taylor (14-5, 2.52 ERA) and Enrique Benevides (13-5, 2.71 ERA) leading the way, Los Angeles (89-73) used strong pitching to spark a late run (8-2 over the final ten games) to snatch the WL wildcard spot away from Omaha. New San Diego manager Terry Nelson had his charges playing better than anyone expected, as despite a lightweight offense (only RF James Britt, .263, 28 HR, 103 RBI and 24-year-old CF Jonah Covington, .255, 19 HR, 61 RBI offering a threat) the Mariners finished the season 79-83 and were in fact the owners of the fifth best record in the entire league over the final two months of play. San Jose’s pitchers were inconsistent all season, opening day starter Sean O’Lannigan (5-19, 5.72 ERA) struggled while #5 starter Julio Mejia (16-8, 3.20 ERA) rose to the challenge as the Spartans sputtered to a 74-88 finish, while Seattle (65-97) made it twelve years without a winning season with another hugely disappointing campaign.

Final Standings

Midwest division
Oklahoma City 95-67*
Omaha 88-74
Denver 82-80
Minneapolis 79-83
Kansas City 63-99

Southwest division
Las Vegas 92-70*
Phoenix 87-75
Austin 80-82
Houston 70-92
Dallas 68-94

Pacific division
Sanfrancisco 97-65*
Los Angeles 89-73*
San Diego 79-83
San Jose 74-88
Seattle 65-97

[JayW UK]

2042 Season Notes

April 2nd – Minneapolis off-season signing, slugging 1B Keith Fairchild suffered a broken finger on his debut when he was hit by a wayward William Gibson pitch as Minneapolis fell to KC.
April 3rd – in his first start of the season, Tampa Bay’s veteran pitcher Cristobal Chapa reached the 3000-career strikeout milestone.
April 4th – Indianapolis starter Ramon Schoof became the newest member of the 200-win club, collecting the W in the Racers 16-2 drubbing of Cleveland.
April 7th – Indianapolis SS Pancho Sousa had his 25-game hitting streak stopped by Philadelphia when they held him hitless in four at-bats.
April 8th – Tampa Bay 1B Rick Flynn clubbed his 300th career homer as the Hurricanes rallied late to edge past Miami 6-5.
April 9th – Kansas City CF Jeff Hardy was a terror on the basepaths against Dallas, stealing four bases and scoring twice as the Tornadoes beat the Mustangs 5-2.
April 9th – San Jose’s veteran 3B Tom Sterling reached the 1000-career RBI plateau in style, clubbing a Grand-Slam in the Spartans 10-5 victory over Denver.
April 11th – Omaha pitcher David Lyons, on the comeback trail from shoulder surgery, broke down during his first minor league rehab start, forcing him under the knife again and ending his season before it had begun.
April 21st – Sanfrancisco closer Barton Rogers collected the 300th save of his career as the Gold held off LA 4-3.
April 26th – OKC’s star closer Josh Renshaw became only the second player to record 500 career saves, joining only Min-Jae Choi in that exclusive club.
April 28th – Sanfrancisco’s star 3B Brandon Townsend suffered a fracture to his foot after a collision on the basepaths, the injury would send him to the DL for five weeks.
May 3rd – Seattle shortstop Joe Rogers was the difference in the Pioneers 10-8 victory over OKC, collecting five hits (all of them extra base hits, four doubles and a triple) while driving in six.
May 19th – Charlotte 2B Ramon Aquino hit for the CYCLE in a losing effort against Philadelphia.
May 27th – 1B Julio Cruz played a big part in Cleveland’s 15-8 victory over Atlanta, amassing four hits, a pair of homeruns and driving in nine of the Corsairs fifteen runs.
May 28th – Detroit 1B Jorge Rodriguez was instrumental in his clubs 9-7 victory over Baltimore, collecting four hits and going deep three times while driving in six runs.
May 30th – veteran Indianapolis LF Jose Cintron collected RBI number 1500 of his career in the Racers 4-2 victory over St. Louis.
June 5th – Cleveland pitcher Paul Everhart dominated in the Corsairs victory over Miami, in his eight innings of work he recorded 17 strikeouts.
June 8th – SF 3B Brandon Townsend suffered a strained knee making a defensive play against Dallas, the injury would see him spend another five weeks on the DL.
June 7th – Tampa Bay LF Joe Scott certainly enjoyed the day’s doubleheader against Charlotte, he opened the first game with a first inning Grand-Slam and ended the nightcap by hitting his second Grand-Slam of the day.
June 9th – Washington RF George Payne collected six hits (all singles) in the Generals 5-4 extra inning victory over New York.
June 10-16th – 35-year-old San Jose 3B Tom Sterling hit a homerun in six consecutive games.
June 13th – New York hurler Heinrich Kronburger struck out sixteen Cleveland hitters as the Senators edged past the Corsairs 3-2.
June 16th – Boston starter Jim Jacques was almost unhittable against New Orleans, of the seventeen Blues he retired he struck out 15!! A late New Orleans rally against the Pilgrims bullpen gave the Blues a 6-5 win.
June 19th – Sanfrancisco starter David Adams became the latest player to reach 2500-career strikeouts.
June 22nd – Las Vegas RF Danny Wheeler scored his 1000th run on a Vaughan Snyder sacrifice fly to give LV a ninth inning lead only to see Austin tie the game then win in extra innings.
June 26th – New York sent starting pitcher Mark Graham to OKC in a trade for 1B Juan Torres and catching prospect Jim Holman.
July 3rd- in a blockbuster move, Cleveland traded star pitcher Paul Everhart along with reliever Mitch Taylor to Minneapolis for LF Stu Leach and three prospects (BNN #48 1B Dan Wood, CF Bryan Sharp and 1B Tony Flores)
July 7th – Washington 3B Cesar Salazar collected the 2000th hit of his career as the Generals fell to division rivals Philadelphia.
July 8th – Indianapolis starter Ramon Schoof suffered a partially torn labrum prematurely ending his season.
July 11th – veteran LF Alfonso Sosa collected three hits on the day to reach the 2500-career hits plateau.
July 12th – Miami found themselves on the receiving end of another dominating pitching performance, this time St. Louis star Les Scott was the beneficiary, striking out fifteen in 12-4 Reds victory.
July 14th – Baltimore starter Randall Valentine struck out 15 Austin hitters but still ended up on the losing side as the Kings scraped home 3-2, scoring three times in a dramatic ninth inning.
July 20th – Cleveland 1B Blake Hanson led from the front in the Corsairs 6-4 victory over Charlotte, hitting for the CYCLE including a game-winning eighth inning 2-run homerun.
July 22nd – Atlanta’s star third baseman Juan Reyes’ season ended prematurely when he suffered a partially torn elbow ligament, he underwent surgery within days and would begin the long road to recovery once fit enough.
July 24th – Tampa Bay traded RF Chance Merritt and catcher Roberto Gomes to OKC for RF Luis Flores,
July 27th – Tampa Bay 2B Bryant Manton hit a 3-run walk-off homerun giving the Hirricanes a dramatic 6-4 victory over Washington and in the process raised his career RBI total to 1001.
July 28th – St. Louis starter McKenzie Ransford suffered a forearm strain sending him to the DL for an extended period. The injury also ended any speculation that Ransford (a pending free agent) was going to be traded in the coming days.
July 31st – OKC’s veteran starter Shane Olson dominated LA, recording fifteen strikeouts as the Outlaws cruised to a 13-2 victory.
August 1st – Chicago star 2B Chad Hammond landed on the DL for six weeks with a case of planter fasciitis.
August 4th- Tampa Bay’s talented 2B Miguel Rosas helped the Hurricanes to victory over Detroit, hitting for the CYCLE whilst driving in a pair of runs.
August 17th – Sanfrancisco lost pitcher Benton Hartman (13-4, 3.03 ERA) for the rest of the season with an abdominal strain.
August 24th – Dallas RF Patrick Richardson came up huge for the Mustangs in their game against New York, hitting for the CYCLE and driving in all four runs as Dallas overcame New York 4-3.
August 27th – for the second time during the season Minneapolis 1B Keith Fairchild suffered a broken finger when being struck by a wayward pitch.
August 28th – LA starter Joe Taylor suffered a torn UCL ending his season and likely shelving him for 12 months.
September 4th – Houston starter Edward Saymes took 111 pitches to record the season’s first NO-HITTER, he surrendered a first inning walk but was perfect from then on as Houston downed OKC 5-0.
September 8th – Tampa Bay 2B Miguel Rosas was at it again, collecting 4-RBI’s while hitting for the CYCLE as the Hurricanes saw off Charlotte 7-3, it was the second time on the season that Rosas had hit for the cycle.
September 14th – Indianapolis LF Jose Cintron drilled the 500th homerun of his career in a losing effort as the Racers fell to New Orleans.
September 19th – after suffering a heart attack and collapsing in the clubhouse during the Senators game with division rivals Baltimore, New York manager Carlos Torres was rushed to hospital where he underwent lifesaving heart surgery. The following day New York GM Billy Killian announced that the surgery was successful and Torres would be hospitalized for the foreseeable future while he recovered, he also took the opportunity to state that bench coach Malcolm Usama would take charge of the team until the end of the season.
September 26th – Atlanta CF Maximo Macias was forced to the DL with shoulder tendonitis, leaving the Flames without the services of their starting centerfielder for the upcoming playoffs.
September 27th – Boston catcher Eduardo Moreno drove in two runs as the Pilgrims edged past Philadelphia 4-3, Moreno’s two RBI’s took his career total to an even 1000.
September 28th – OKC starter Shane Olson struck out seven (taking his career total to 2503) as the Outlaws downed Omaha 6-2.
October 6th – Omaha pitcher David Lyons, having tried and failed twice to come back from a shoulder injury, announced his retirement at the age of twenty-six cutting short his promising career. Lyons (the #2 overall pick in the 2034 draft) left the NABL having played in 181 games starting 121 of them, he collected sixteen saves to go along with a 48-32 record and finished with a career ERA of 2.61.

[JayW UK]

2042 Playoffs

Divisional Round

Only 50% of the previous year’s playoff field returned for the 2042 postseason. In the east, defending champions Boston, making their seventh straight postseason trip and aiming for a fifth consecutive World Series appearance, would begin their title defence with a matchup against old foes Chicago, while high scoring Cleveland, making their long-awaited playoff return, drew Atlanta. Over in the west #1 seed Sanfrancisco were favoured to see off the challenge of Las Vegas, whilst Los Angeles would face off against Oklahoma and with little to choose between the two teams a closely contested series was expected.

Chicago, the best all-round team in the Eastern league, welcomed defending champions Boston to the windy city looking to avenge their defeat at the same stage to the same foes the previous season. In game one pitching held sway with the two teams combining for only seven hits and eight base runners in total. All of the hits were of the extra-base variety, three doubles and four homeruns (all solo efforts), one for Boston (RF Wolfgang Worns) and three for Chicago (C Jose Esparza, 1B Dave Jones and CF Josh Deric) as the Zephyrs took the series opener 3-1. Game two was one to forget for Boston’s third baseman George Shreeve, he struck out in all four of his plate appearances, and to make matters worse, his costly fifth inning error gifted Chicago two runs, which turned out to be all that Zephyr starter Glenn Owens required (8.0 IP, 5H, 1 ER, 6K) as Boston slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat. Two down in the series and with no room for error, Boston returned home for game three determined to not meekly surrender their hold on the World Series trophy, but Chicago starter Mario Chavez had other ideas, holding the Pilgrims scoreless through the opening five frames and leaving the game in the seventh with a 4-1 lead. Boston plated a run in the each of the eighth and ninth innings but although they managed to get two more men aboard in the ninth, Chicago’s veteran closer Pablo Hernandez enticed 2B Marcos Casas to hit into a force play to end the threat and deny Boston in their bid for a fifth consecutive World Series appearance.

The Cleveland versus Atlanta series was a strength-on-strength matchup, pitting Cleveland’s exciting high scoring offense against the Flames and their strong pitching and stingy defense. Game one saw Tad Tjaeder (CLE) and Toshikasu Uenohara (ATL) take the mound for their playoff debuts but disappointingly for Cleveland, Tjaeder was far from sharp before leaving in the fourth inning with a shoulder issue. He surrendered eight hits and three walks but a trio of double plays kept the damage down to just three runs, the Corsairs finally plated a run in the fifth on RF Bob Ledrew’s RBI-single only for Atlanta to immediately answer with a SS David Godfrey homerun. The rest of the game followed a similar pattern, as every time Cleveland scored, Atlanta answered as they took the series opener 7-4. The following evening’s game was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to take control until the eighth inning, with the game tied at 3-3 Atlanta’s offense woke up, plating five runs (four off reliever Dave Carhill who failed to retire a single batter) to break the game wide open as the Flames opened a two nothing series lead with an 8-3 victory. Game three, back in Cleveland was played in front of a packed house with the home fans witnessing playoff baseball for the first time in fifteen years, where despite the raucous atmosphere Atlanta starter Calos Santos was superb, holding the home side’s normally high-flying offense scoreless through his seven innings of work as the Flames built a comfortable 6-0 lead. With some disappointed home fans leaving the stadium, the game entered the ninth inning and the last chance saloon for the hometown Corsairs, PH Porter Raines drilled a 2-RBI single before 1B Julio Cruz slammed a 2-run homerun to cut Atlanta’s once commanding 6-0 lead to just two and give the remaining hometown fans hope that an amazing comeback was on the cards. When next man up LF Stu Leach drew a walk, it seemed that the improbable was about to become the probable but Atlanta closer Jackson Wells had other ideas, striking out both CF Wayne Moon and C Michael Meller to strand Leach at second and book Atlanta their place in the ELCS for the fifth time in their history.

The Sanfrancisco, Las Vegas series saw two similar teams meet, both possessed strong offenses and decent pitching, but where Sanfrancisco boasted the WL’s top rotation, Las Vegas had the better bullpen, ensuring a fascinating series for the neutral. Sanfrancisco’s game one starter was David Elder, who in four career starts against Las Vegas had yet to concede a run, at the other end of the spectrum was the Gamblers Jose Vazquez who had never tasted victory in nine career starts versus the Gold. Both offenses were held in check early on in the opener but in the fifth Vazquez ran into trouble, surrendering a bases loaded homerun to LF Dave Butler putting SF ahead 4-0 and leaving Vaquez on the hook for yet another loss. Las Vegas finally broke their duck against Elder when 2B Tim Hodge drove home Danny Wheeler in the eighth but Sanfrancisco closer Barton Rogers wrapped up the game without fuss in the ninth to hand the Gold a 4-1 series opening win. Las Vegas got off to a hot start in game two, homeruns from CF John Smyth and 3B Edward Kramer helped the Gamblers build an early 6-0 lead. Sanfrancisco’s hitters by contrast couldn’t get going at all, as Jesus Delgado and Michinori Morita combined for a five-hit shutout as the Gamblers squared the series. The victory came at a cost however, as star LF Vaughan Snyder suffered a broken wrist ruling him out for the remainder of the playoffs. Two days later the teams reconvened at the Nevada Coliseum with the home fans treated to another Gambler offensive outburst, this time the unlucky pitcher was David Adams who was tagged for six runs in just 2.2 innings of work as Las Vegas used the early scoring burst to cruise to a 9-1 victory. Jose Vazquez took the mound for Las Vegas in game four hoping to finally break his winless streak against the Gold, Sanfrancisco countered with game one winner David Elder who was looking to continue his good run. The Las Vegas offense finally got to grips with Elder with a fifth inning 3-RBI homerun from Joseph Floores putting the Gamblers ahead 5-1 and finally giving Jose Vazquez the chance to secure his maiden victory over the Gold. A late wobble from the bullpen (SF scored twice in the eighth) brought closer Philip Redmond to the mound for the ninth, where any hopes of a Sanfrancisco comeback were quashed as the side went down with barely a whimper. The victory secured Las Vegas a berth in the WLCS for a WL record ninth time in their history, with the Gamblers trailing only Indianapolis (11) for the most Pennant series appearances.

The second western league divisional series saw two evenly matched teams in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City face off, the pair had met on three previous occasions with LA emerging victorious each time, although it was eighteen years since the last meeting. In the opener OKC jumped all over LA starter Ike Singleton in the first, plating four runs before a single out had been recorded, but aided by a generous umpire’s call and a fortunate double play Singleton escaped the inning without further damage. After the roller-coaster first, Singleton settled down to hold the Outlaws at bay for the rest of the evening whilst his opposite number, Outlaw starter Mark Graham, serenely cruised through his seven innings of work surrendering a single run on six hits before handing the lead to his bullpen. Despite an eighth inning solo homerun from 1B Richard Shields, LA couldn’t find a way back into the game as the Outlaws held on for a 4-2 victory. The following night OKC opened an early 2-0 lead before LA embarked on a fightback culminating in a seventh inning solo bomb from catcher Andrew Lewis which gave LA a 3-2 lead, star rookie closer Gwang-Sam Pak completed the comeback with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to tie the series ahead of two games back in the city of angels. The hometown Lynx appeared to be heading towards victory in game three, carrying a slim 2-1 lead into the ninth only for closer Gwang-Sam Pak to run into trouble, blowing the save and sending the game to extra innings. For the next six frames neither team could muster much in the way of offense (combining for just two hits and a walk), in the 15th LA’s offense finally awoke from their slumber as consecutive singles from SS Steve Raines and CF Denny Kirk put two runners on base, LF Kevin Anderson won the game in style when he deposited a wayward Jesus Lopez fastball into the upper deck giving LA a dramatic 5-2 walk-off victory. Game four was another tight contest in which one inning made all the difference, with LA holding a slim 2-1 lead in the seventh OKC’s offense came to life, sparked by C Alessandro Sighel’s homerun the Outlaws scored four times to turn the game in their favour. LA managed to cut into the lead in the eighth but veteran closer Josh Renshaw made sure there were no late game heroics by the Lynx, wrapping the things up by retiring the side in order and sending the series to a deciding game five. Two nights later OKC finished off the series in style, with Shane Olson, Angel De Lopez and Roland Webster combining on a 5-hit shutout, Los Angeles for their part kept the game close until a late seven run outburst saw the Outlaws ease to a comfortable 9-0 series clinching victory.

[JayW UK]

2042 Playoffs

Championship Round

The Eastern league championship series saw a first ever playoff meeting between Chicago and Atlanta. Neither team were strangers to pennant series appearances with Chicago making five and Atlanta four, although the flames had more success winning three times to Chicago's twice. The series opener was a masterclass in pitching and defense with neither team able to muster much in the way of scoring. Between them, the two teams only managed to put eight men on base (six hits and two walks) the entire game, with 2B Tom Boyd's 7th inning RBI-single proving to be enough to give Atlanta a narrow 1-0 victory. The hometown Chicago Zephyr's dominated game two, with starter Glenn Owens on top form (7.1 IP, 6H, 1ER, 8K) and 2B Chad hammond and 21-year-old Claudio Laquenas each driving in three runs, the Zephyr's cruised to a thumping 11-1 win to tie the series. It took Atlanta just one inning of game three to double their run output for the entire series, taking a 2-0 lead on a LF Mike Hicks homerun and 1B Glenn Hansen’s RBI-single, but from then on Chicago’s pitchers led by starter Carlos Santos clamped down on the Flames offense keeping them off the board while Chicago’s own offense rallied late to tie the game. Neither team troubled the scorers in the ninth, but in the bottom of the tenth, Atlanta CF Andrew Ingram led off the inning with a sharply hit single, two batters later pinch-hitter Jed Livingston drilled a Lawrence Simmons pitch 400-feet into the left-field bleachers to hand Atlanta a 4-2 walk-off win. Chicago’s pitchers were once again in control in game four holding the Flames to a single run on the night, and although the Flames own pitchers kept a lid on Chicago’s offense for most of the proceedings, a ninth inning 3-run homer from CF Josh Deric finally put the game to bed as the visiting Zephyrs tied the series with a 5-1 victory. Chicago starter Eugene Fey ran into trouble early in game five, allowing Atlanta to score in each of the first three innings as the home side built a 6-0 lead. Flames starter Toshikasu Uenohara in contrast cruised through his six innings of work barely breaking into a sweat, but once he left the game it was a different story as the bullpen struggled. The Zephyr bats woke up with homeruns from 2B Chad Hammond and 1B Dave Jones helping to cut the lead to two, however the Chicago rally wilted as Flames closer Jackson Wells restored order, preserving Atlanta’s win with a five-out save. Chicago returned home needing to win both game six and seven to progress, game six turned out to be a cagey affair with neither side able to impose themselves on the game, an eighth inning solo bomb from pinch-hitter Roy Higgins broke a 2-2 tie and tipped the game in favour of Chicago, the Flames managed to get two men into scoring position in the ninth but Zephyr closer Pablo Hernandez held firm to send the series to a deciding game seven. The series finale was uncharted territory for Chicago, having never appeared in a winner-takes-all series deciding game seven in their history, while Atlanta held a 2-2 record in such games. The game itself was another tight battle, dominated by pitching until back-to-back homeruns from C Jose Esparza and 1B Dave Jones put Chicago ahead and sent the home fans wild, Atlanta put men aboard in the final frame but just like the previous night, Zephyr closer Pablo Hernandez held his nerve to protect the lead and send Chicago to the World Series.

The WLCS saw OKC take on Las Vegas and just as in the east, both teams had history in the WL pennant series with thirteen appearances between them (LV 8 and OKC 5). Both teams boasted potent offenses and outstanding bullpens and as such starting pitching and team defense was where this series would likely be won, with OKC, on paper at least, having the edge there. The teams split the opening two games in Oklahoma, with the hometown Outlaws edging the opener 3-2 courtesy of a 7th inning homerun from 3B Xavier Cisneros while Las Vegas took game two with a wire-to-wire victory, every member of the starting lineup (including pitcher Jose Vazquez) collected an RBI as the Gamblers cruised to a comfortable 9-2 win. Oklahoma’s pitchers succumbed to a barrage of hits in game three as paced by homeruns from SS Joaquin Corona, 3B Joseph Floores and LF John Smyth the Gamblers waltzed to an easy 8-2 victory, outhitting OKC 17-9. The following night both offenses came to play, neither starter, Gil Wallace for LV nor OKC’s Rafer MacNeil had any answers with the teams taking it in turns to score. In the eighth inning Las Vegas catcher Manny Mendoza slammed a 2-run homerun to put the Gamblers on top 8-6, before closer Philip Redmond worked around a pair of ninth inning singles to keep OKC off the scoreboard and put Las Vegas on the brink of their fourth WL pennant. Game five began well for OKC with 1B Fred Heath plating a run in the first and C Alessandro Sighel blasting a solo homerun in the second as the Outlaws built a 2-0 lead, but that early momentum dried up as Vegas starter Jesus Delgado wrestled control away from OKC, retiring thirteen straight and fifteen of his next sixteen batters. With Delgado dominating on the mound the Gambler batters found some momentum of their own and homeruns from 3B Joseph Floores and back-up catcher Luis Torres put LV ahead for good as the Gamblers eased past the Outlaws 6-2 to wrap up the series and book their place in the fall classic.

[JayW UK]

2042 Playoffs

World Series

The 2042 World Series pitted Chicago against Las Vegas, both teams calling card was their offense and while Chicago backed that up with one of the top pitching rotations, Las Vegas could call on one of the best relief corps in the majors and with the teams so evenly matched Chicago’s home advantage would be crucial to the outcome of the series. The Zephyrs called on Eugene Fey to take the mound in game one while Las Vegas countered with Jose Vazquez. In a tight contest Fey got the better of Vazquez with the key score coming from former Las Vegas shortstop Roberto Paz whose fifth inning 2-RBI double put Chicago ahead for good before reliable closer Pablo Hernandez locked down the 4-2 win with a 1-2-3 ninth. The following night saw another pitching duel, this time Las Vegas edged past the Zephyrs with current shortstop Joaquin Corona driving in the all-important run in the seventh, while Gambler closer Philip Redmond did his best Pablo Hernandez impression in picking up the save as Las Vegas evened the series with a narrow 3-2 victory. Las Vegas RF Danny Wheeler was the game-changer in game three, with the scores tied at three in the sixth he blasted a three-run homerun to put the Gamblers in a winning position, despite Chicago narrowing the gap in the eighth, Philip Redmond took just nine pitches to retire the Zephyrs for his second consecutive save. With Jose Vazquez nursing a sore ankle and unable to take the mound, Las Vegas called on Micah Bridges for the spot start, the move backfired spectacularly as Chicago hammered Bridges mercilessly, plating seven runs in just three innings including a Grand-Slam from 2B Chad Hammond. With Bridges back in the dugout the game settled down with both teams trading scores as the visiting Zephyrs eased to a comfortable 11-4 victory. Game five was one to forget for Chicago as they gifted their hosts the lead with two first inning errors before being buried under a barrage of hits as, led by 3B Joseph Floores (3 for 4, 2B, HR, 6-RBI) Las Vegas gave their fans a show in their last home game of the season. Chicago returned home for games six and seven with no room for error down 3-2 in the series, taking the mound for the visitors was Jose Vazquez, fresh from shaking off his ankle injury while Chicago turned to Mario Chavez to save their season. Neither starter fared well, both were knocked out of the game early as the momentum swung back and forth, Chicago’s precocious 21-year-old Claudio Laquenas came through for the home side with a clutch 2-out, 2-RBI double in the eighth putting the Zephyrs on top 9-8 before Pablo Hernandez closed out the game with another 1-2-3 inning sending the series to a winner-takes-all game seven. Eugene Fey took the mound for Chicago for the third time in the series while Las Vegas named Jesus Delgado as their starter, excellent defense and clutch hitting (including a 2-run homer from C Jose Esparza) saw Chicago ease into a 4-0 lead. Eugene Fey was supreme in his seven innings (7.0 IP, 2H, 0ER, 1BB, 8K) but once he left the game the Gamblers took a liking to his replacements Randall Bradford and Frank Miller to score two and put two more men on base leading manager Jeffrey Orr to call on star closer Pablo Hernandez earlier than he wanted. Hernandez held his nerve to escape the inning without further damage and returned to the mound for the ninth to face the heart of the Gamblers lineup, with ice in his veins Hernandez saw Chicago home wrapping up the game by striking out LF John Smyth on three pitches, sending the home fans wild with joy. In the aftermath Chicago pitcher Eugene Fey was named series MVP for his performances (3-0, 1.31 ERA) although he magnanimously dedicated the award to his teammates.

2042 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Atlanta 3-0 Cleveland, Chicago 3-0 Boston
WL: Las Vegas 3-1 Sanfrancisco, Oklahoma City 3-2 Los Angeles
Championship Series
EL: Chicago 4-3 Atlanta
WL: Las Vegas 4-1 Oklahoma City
World Series
Chicago 4-3 Las Vegas

[JayW UK]

2042 Season Leaders and Awards

EL Batting
Hits
226 Edite Filgueiras (WAS)
217 Allen Hood (IND)
200 David Evans (CHI)
Batting Avg
.355 Edite Filgueiras (WAS)
.349 Sancho Guerra (PHI)
.342 Allen Hood (IND)
Homeruns
47 Mike Robinson (ATL)
44 Jim Hopkins (NO)
41 Blake Hanson (CLE)
RBI
123 Luis Garza (CHA)
117 Blake Hanson (CLE)
112 Rob Penney (BOS)
Stolen Bases
26 Edite Filgueiras (WAS)
25 Rafael Cedeno (IND)
21 Hector Torres (MIA)

EL Pitching
Wins
20 Carlos Rodriguez (NO)
18 Todd Morgan (CLE)
18 Les Scott (STL)
ERA
2.73 Jonathan Furze (MIA)
2.75 S Ortega (NO)
2.76 Toshikasu Uenohara (ATL)
Strikeouts
295 Les Scott (STL)
255 Heinrich Kronburger (NY)
248 Jim Jacques (BOS)
Saves
41 Dave Day (PHI)
40 Jesse Bell (WAS)
39 Pablo Hernandez (CHI)

WL Batting
Hits
234 Brandon Buck (PHO)
219 Jose Villalobos (SF)
218 Joaquin Corona (LV)
Batting Avg
.401 Jose Villalobos (SF)
.368 Domingo Vargas (PHO)
.363 Brandon Buck (PHO)
Homeruns
44 Adrian Ramirez (PHO)
40 Glenn McGhee (KC)
35 Todd Merritt (SEA)
RBI
112 Adrian Ramirez (PHO)
112 Todd Merritt (SEA)
108 Glenn McGhee (KC)
Stolen Bases
58 Joaquin Corona (LV)
45 Miguel Rodriguez (PHO
43 Jaime Perez (SD)

WL Pitching
Wins
20 Rafer MacNeil (OKC)
18 Nick Ford (PHO)
18 Steve Gream (PHO)
ERA
2.20 Rafer MacNeil (OKC)
2.52 Joe Taylor (LA)
2.71 Michael Thomas (SD)
Strikeouts
230 Shane Olson (OKC)
226 Valentin Morales (DEN)
223 Steve Gream (PHO)
Saves
45 Philip Redmond (LV)
41 Barton Rogers (SF)
40 Josh Renshaw (OKC)

Batting Champion – Washington LF Edite Filgueiras (.355) held off a strong challenge from Philadelphia catcher Sancho Guerra (.349) to win the EL batting title. In the west Sanfrancisco 2B Jose Villalobos became only the second man to hit .400 for a season, finishing with a .401 mark, well ahead of second place man, Phoenix 1B Domingo Vargas (.368)
Homerun Champion – Atlanta RF Mike Robinson (47) took the EL award ahead of New Orleans LF Jim Hopkins (44), in the west Phoenix RF Adrian Ramirez (44) used a strong September (12 homeruns) to take the title ahead of nearest rival, Kansas City’s Glenn McGhee (40)
Outstanding Hitter – The race for the EL award was a close one with Atlanta RF Mike Robinson (.294, 47 HR, 103 RBI) surprisingly coming out on top, some in the press felt that either of Boston’s LF Rob Penney (.327, 38 HR, 112 RBI) or Charlotte 3B Luis Garza (.320, 40 HR, 123 RBI) would have been more worthy of the award. The race in the west was just as closely contested with Phoenix SS Brandon Buck (.363, 20, 106 RBI) eventually winning the vote, ahead of teammate 1B Domingo Vargas (.368, 28 HR, 100 RBI) and Sanfrancisco 2B Jose Villalobos (.401 avg).
Outstanding Pitcher – The EL award went to 24-year-old New Orleans hurler Carlos Rodriguez (20-8, 2.80 ERA) while in the west OKC’s Rafer MacNeil (20-4, 2.20 ERA) picked up his fourth pitcher of the year award.
Rookie of the Year – There was only going to be one winner in the east, Baltimore’s CF Cesar Amaya (.324, 29 HR, 102 RBI) while the WL award went to LA’s star international pickup, closer Gwang-Sam Pak (6-8, 40Sv, 2.62 ERA).
Manager of the Year – The unanimous winner in the voting for the EL award was Chicago’s Jeffrey Orr while OKC skipper Steffen Hurtado pipped Las Vegas manager Gomes Solano to the Western league award.
Glove Wizards EL – P – Mike Mayfield (BOS) C - Michel Bertin (BAL) 1B – Jorge Rodriguez (DET) 2B – Benny Graham (STL) 3B – Marc Stephens (DET) SS – Jose Ramos (MIA) LF – Mike Hicks (ATL) CF – Greg McCabe (PHI) RF – Mike Robinson (ATL)
Glove Wizards WL – P – Kevin Wilson (DEN) C – Andrew Lewis (LA) 1B – Jaime Perez (SD) 2B – Jackie Young (AUS) 3B – Tom Sterling (SJ) SS – Dave Richardson (MIN) LF – Juan Rodriguez (DAL) CF – Colton Miller (AUS) RF – Danny Wheeler (LV)


Interesting Facts – OKC 3B Xavier Cisneros became the third player to draw 100+ walks while striking out over 200 times in a season, joining Marshall Ayersome and Nelson Vasquez (four times) in the exclusive club.

[JayW UK]

Interlude – Hall of Fame class of ‘43

On draft weekend the Hall of Fame opened its doors to its four newest members, 2B Dustin Polk, LF Daniel Garcia and pitchers Pedro Escobar and Larry de Meza. Polk who was San Diego’s first round draft pick in 2019 spent seventeen years in the NABL playing for seven teams and retired as the all-time leader in triples and stolen bases. Daniel Garcia was an international discovery out of the Dominican Republic by New Orleans, he played for the Blues for ten seasons before becoming expansion franchise Omaha’s first big free agent signing in 2031. He retired after sixteen years at the top and is currently second behind Dustin Polk in career triples and stolen bases (and is the holder of most of New Orleans’ all-time franchise hitting records). Pitcher Pedro Escobar was discovered playing in Cuba in 2019, signing with San Diego where he played for ten seasons compiling a 152-110 record, the last seven years of his career took in stops with Denver, Tampa Bay and Seattle before retiring, aged 38, after the 2036 season. During his time with Seattle, he hurled his second career NO-HITTER, joining a select band of pitchers who have thrown multiple NO-HITTERS. Hailing from the Dutch Antilles, Larry de Meza spent sixteen years in the NABL playing for five franchises and appearing in over 500-games. Making a name for himself as the most dominant power pitcher of his time de Meza retired as the all-time leader in strikeouts with 3696, he also won four Outstanding Pitcher awards and at the time of his retirement was the only player to have multiple pitching triple crowns to his name.


Dustin Polk
College – Ohio State
Drafted - 2019 – 1st Round - #6 Overall by San Diego Mariners
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – SD (2019-2023), HOU (2023-2025), PHO (2026-2029), OKC (2030-2031), NY (2031-2032), SF (2033), LV (2034-2035)

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 2363 AB - 9629 RS - 1253 H - 2906 2B - 496 3B - 146 HR - 69 RBI - 929 BB - 613 K - 1145 SB - 532 CS - 272 AVG - .302 OBP – .351 SLG – .405 OPS – 756 OPS+ 117 WAR – 65.3
Post Season
G - 27 AB - 115 RS - 20 H - 35 2B - 9 3B - 2 HR - 0 RBI - 10 BB - 4 K - 9 SB - 8 CS - 2 AVG - .304 OBP – .344 SLG – .417 OPS – .762 OPS+ 119

Career Achievements
Batting Champion x2 (2027, 2029)
5x All-Star
3x Glove Wizard Award Winner

Daniel Garcia
College – N/A
Drafted - N/A – 2017 International discovery by New Orleans Blues
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – NO (2021-2030), OMH (2031-2036)

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 2239 AB - 8936 RS - 1247 H - 2695 2B - 475 3B - 129 HR - 184 RBI - 954 BB - 604 K - 1257 SB - 444 CS - 179 AVG - .302 OBP – .348 SLG – .445 OPS – .793 OPS+ 120 WAR – 51.3
Post Season
G - 9 AB - 34 RS - 6 H - 12 2B - 2 3B - 1 HR - 1 RBI - 4 BB - 2 K - 4 SB - 2 CS - 0 AVG - .353 OBP – .378 SLG – .559 OPS – .937 OPS+ 159

Career Achievements
7x All-Star

Pedro Escobar
College – N/A
Drafted - N/A – 2019 International discovery by San Diego Mariners
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – SD (2020-2029), DEN (2030-2033), TB (2034), SEA (2035-2036)

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 571 GS - 498 W/L – 216-167 SV – 7 ERA – 3.25 IP – 3340.2 BB - 1191 K - 3426 WHIP – 1.16 ERA+ 119 WAR – 72.5
Post Season
G - 19 GS - 17 W/L – 7-7 SV - 0 ERA – 3.24 IP – 111.0 BB - 33 K - 112 WHIP – 1.05 ERA+ 120

Career Achievements
Outstanding Pitcher Award x1 (2025)
4x All-Star

Larry de Meza
College – N/A
Drafted – N/A – 2014 International discovery by Atlanta Flames
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – ATL (2020-2026), TB (2027-2032), SEA (2033), TB (2034), DAL (2035)

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 565 GS - 437 W/L – 197-144 SV - 15 ERA – 3.31 IP – 3148.1 BB - 710 K - 3696 WHIP – 1.07 ERA+ 123 WAR – 86.7
Post Season
G - 20 GS - 11 W/L – 4-1 SV - 0 ERA – 2.31 IP – 85.2 BB - 10 K - 107 WHIP – 0.86 ERA+ 302

Career Achievements
Outstanding Pitcher Award x4 (2024, 2025, 2028, 2032)
Pitching Triple Crown x2 (2024, 2032)
4-time All-Star

[JayW UK]

2043 Off-Season

Six weeks on from his heart attack and major lifesaving surgery, New York manager Carlos Torres announced that after advice from his doctors he was stepping away from baseball on health grounds, leaving the Senators to look for their second new manager in as many seasons, interim skipper Malcolm Usama immediately took his name out of the frame by announcing that he was reverting to his former role as bench coach. Also on the lookout for new managers were Detroit, who fired Mike Anderson, Omaha whose skipper (Michael Bradshaw) had accepted a lucrative offer from USC and New Orleans who were moving on from Allen Long after three mediocre years. First to land their new manager were Omaha, who named former minor league pitching coach Pat Acosta as their man for the upcoming season, Detroit kept it in the family naming Pat’s brother Ramon (also a minor league pitching coach) as Mike Anderson’s replacement, both teams were taking significant risks in naming the brothers as their field managers as neither had any managerial experience. Staying with the theme of hiring from the minor leagues was New Orleans, who tabbed former Nashville Redwings skipper Christian Flores as Allen Long’s successor while New York eventually broke the trend by luring Sanfrancisco Hitting coach Will Thompson on board as Carlos Torres’ successor.
World champions Chicago opened their off-season by saying goodbye to several key contributors from their World Championship run, RF Javier Gutierrez, SP Mario Chavez and star closer Pablo Hernandez all hit the open market, joining a star-studded free agent pool featuring talented players such as Boston pitcher Brett Knight, Charlotte LF Daron Murphy, New York ace Mariano Rojo, Phoenix pitcher Steve Gream and St. Louis 1B Glenn Hansen. First to make a splash were Philadelphia who bolstered their pitching by landing former New York ace, Mariano Rojo on a 6-year $120M deal, the Independence also added veteran outfielder Alfonso Sosa, who came on board from Indianapolis for $30M over three years. St. Louis also broke the bank to land another star pitcher adding to their already loaded rotation, signing former Boston ace Brett Knight to a 6-year $119M deal beating LA to his signature. After missing out on Knight the Lynx pivoted and landed a pair of pitchers to bolster their rotation, Brent Brown from New York (4-year $60M) and Austin’s Lucious Sandford (6-year $102M). The “Chicago three” all found new homes relatively quickly, starter Mario Chavez landed with Sanfrancisco on a 7-year $110M deal, RF Javier Gutierrez moved to New York, signing a 5-year $87M pact with the Senators, while star closer Pablo Hernandez put pen to paper on a 3-year $34M deal with St. Louis. Chicago, offset the loss of Javier Gutierrez by luring former New Orleans LF Ferry Vogalsang to the Windy City on a 4-year deal they also agreed to an extension with World Series MVP Eugene Fey but crucially missed out on several other targets, leaving some fans to wonder if the team had done enough to be able to defend their title. Denver set about bolstering their offense, signing slugging LF Daron Murphy (3-years @ $51M) from Charlotte, RF Patrick Richardson (4-years @ $73M) from Seattle and also luring 1B Glen Hansen from St. Louis with a blockbuster 7-year $105M deal. Two former Western league foes, pitchers David Elder (SF) and Steve Gream (PHO) swapped leagues signing lucrative deals with EL teams, Elder signed with Washington for $21M per year over four years, whilst Gream landed with Charlotte on an equally lucrative 3-year $64M deal. After the addition of star pitcher Brett Knight St. Louis got to work shaping their new-look rotation, shipping veteran Mitch Woodroffe and his bloated contract along with a 3rd round draft pick to Boston for a pair of prospects (2B Antonio Flores and 3B Ramiro Souza) and releasing former Pitcher of the Year McKenzie Ransford, who after recovering from injury found himself surplus to requirements and looking for a new team, overlooked by nearly everyone Ransford signed a bargain basement 2-year deal with Omaha hoping to prove his injury problems were behind him.
The top of the 2043 draft class was dominated by college players headed by the enigma that was Robert Caro, the Wake Forest outfielder possessed a mix of power and speed that gave him the potential to be a regular 30 homerun-30 stolen base player, however opinion was split on whether Caro, also a talented wide receiver, would declare for the NFL draft and chase his football dreams or commit to baseball full time, making him a classic boom or bust pick. A trio of pitchers, Carlos Flores (Texas), Greg Younger (Florida State) and Benjamin Zingler (West Virginia) along with position players SS Justin Hengstler (LSU), 3B Kelvin Keelan (South Carolina) and speedy OF Spencer Lewis (Rice) were the best of the rest and all tipped to be drafted early. The lone high-school player in the conversation for a top-ten pick, was 3B Rusty McCormick, who if he put it all together (and that was a big if at this moment) had the potential to regularly challenge for batting titles in the future.
Owners of the first pick, Kansas City, chose to bolster their pitching by drafting West Virginia’s high-upside hurler Benjamin Zingler, while Seattle choosing second swung for the fences and named Robert Caro as their man. Fellow outfielder Spencer Lewis was picked third by Dallas before New Orleans tabbed Texas pitcher Carlos Flores fourth, LSU shortstop Justin Hengstler found himself heading for Houston while Tampa Bay took a chance on high-school 3B Rusty McCormick with the sixth pick while surprisingly both 3B Kelvin Keelan (Miami @ #11) and Florida State pitcher Greg Younger (Minneapolis @ #12) fell out of the top ten all together. In a make-or-break off-season for his job security, Austin GM Jerry Phillips landed a pair of intriguing prospects later in the first round, Rice pitcher Mike Brown (#13) and high school LF Coy Benton (#21), if both players panned out then then Phillips had found a pair of future stars to build around.
With Spring Training winding down and the opening day fast approaching, New York announced that star 1B Jerry Wright (the Senators all-time homerun leader) had signed a lucrative extension, keeping him in the Big Apple for the next six years, and after the team had lost star pitcher Mariano Rojo to hated rivals Philadelphia this move allayed the fears of some fans that the club was allowing their stars fly the nest.
Heading into the season the Atlantic division was shaping up to be a bun fight between four of the teams, Boston who were looking to win their eighth straight division title were seen as the frontrunners with Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore all expected to push them all the way. In the Central, Chicago were the early favourites with Indianapolis (aiming to bounce back from an underwhelming 2042 campaign) and Cleveland (hoping to prove their successful 2042 was not a one off) waiting in the wings for any slip ups by the Zephyrs. The Southeast division was expected to be a straight fight between defending champions Atlanta and big spending Tampa Bay whose manager, Shaun Barber was firmly on the hot seat after a disastrous 2042 season.
In the west the Midwest division battle was shaping up to be one to watch, with OKC and Omaha (with first time manager Pat Acosta at the helm) the top two teams with both Denver (after spending big in the off-season) and Minneapolis listed as dark horses for the division crown. The Southwest was once again a two-horse race between Las Vegas and Phoenix while both Houston and Dallas were being tipped as 100-loss teams. In the Pacific division, Sanfrancisco and LA (with their re-made pitching rotation) were the teams to beat, with the other three teams (SD, SJ and SEA) at least a couple of years away from challenging.

[JayW UK]

2043 Off-Season

Six weeks on from his heart attack and major lifesaving surgery, New York manager Carlos Torres announced that after advice from his doctors he was stepping away from baseball on health grounds, leaving the Senators to look for their second new manager in as many seasons, interim skipper Malcolm Usama immediately took his name out of the frame by announcing that he was reverting to his former role as bench coach. Also on the lookout for new managers were Detroit, who fired Mike Anderson, Omaha whose skipper (Michael Bradshaw) had accepted a lucrative offer from USC and New Orleans who were moving on from Allen Long after three mediocre years. First to land their new manager were Omaha, who named former minor league pitching coach Pat Acosta as their man for the upcoming season, Detroit kept it in the family naming Pat’s brother Ramon (also a minor league pitching coach) as Mike Anderson’s replacement, both teams were taking significant risks in naming the brothers as their field managers as neither had any managerial experience. Staying with the theme of hiring from the minor leagues was New Orleans, who tabbed former Nashville Redwings skipper Christian Flores as Allen Long’s successor while New York eventually broke the trend by luring Sanfrancisco Hitting coach Will Thompson on board as Carlos Torres’ successor.
World champions Chicago opened their off-season by saying goodbye to several key contributors from their World Championship run, RF Javier Gutierrez, SP Mario Chavez and star closer Pablo Hernandez all hit the open market, joining a star-studded free agent pool featuring talented players such as Boston pitcher Brett Knight, Charlotte LF Daron Murphy, New York ace Mariano Rojo, Phoenix pitcher Steve Gream and St. Louis 1B Glenn Hansen. First to make a splash were Philadelphia who bolstered their pitching by landing former New York ace, Mariano Rojo on a 6-year $120M deal, the Independence also added veteran outfielder Alfonso Sosa, who came on board from Indianapolis for $30M over three years. St. Louis also broke the bank to land another star pitcher adding to their already loaded rotation, signing former Boston ace Brett Knight to a 6-year $119M deal beating LA to his signature. After missing out on Knight the Lynx pivoted and landed a pair of pitchers to bolster their rotation, Brent Brown from New York (4-year $60M) and Austin’s Lucious Sandford (6-year $102M). The “Chicago three” all found new homes relatively quickly, starter Mario Chavez landed with Sanfrancisco on a 7-year $110M deal, RF Javier Gutierrez moved to New York, signing a 5-year $87M pact with the Senators, while star closer Pablo Hernandez put pen to paper on a 3-year $34M deal with St. Louis. Chicago, offset the loss of Javier Gutierrez by luring former New Orleans LF Ferry Vogalsang to the Windy City on a 4-year deal they also agreed to an extension with World Series MVP Eugene Fey but crucially missed out on several other targets, leaving some fans to wonder if the team had done enough to be able to defend their title. Denver set about bolstering their offense, signing slugging LF Daron Murphy (3-years @ $51M) from Charlotte, RF Patrick Richardson (4-years @ $73M) from Seattle and also luring 1B Glen Hansen from St. Louis with a blockbuster 7-year $105M deal. Two former Western league foes, pitchers David Elder (SF) and Steve Gream (PHO) swapped leagues signing lucrative deals with EL teams, Elder signed with Washington for $21M per year over four years, whilst Gream landed with Charlotte on an equally lucrative 3-year $64M deal. After the addition of star pitcher Brett Knight St. Louis got to work shaping their new-look rotation, shipping veteran Mitch Woodroffe and his bloated contract along with a 3rd round draft pick to Boston for a pair of prospects (2B Antonio Flores and 3B Ramiro Souza) and releasing former Pitcher of the Year McKenzie Ransford, who after recovering from injury found himself surplus to requirements and looking for a new team, overlooked by nearly everyone Ransford signed a bargain basement 2-year deal with Omaha hoping to prove his injury problems were behind him.
The top of the 2043 draft class was dominated by college players headed by the enigma that was Robert Caro, the Wake Forest outfielder possessed a mix of power and speed that gave him the potential to be a regular 30 homerun-30 stolen base player, however opinion was split on whether Caro, also a talented wide receiver, would declare for the NFL draft and chase his football dreams or commit to baseball full time, making him a classic boom or bust pick. A trio of pitchers, Carlos Flores (Texas), Greg Younger (Florida State) and Benjamin Zingler (West Virginia) along with position players SS Justin Hengstler (LSU), 3B Kelvin Keelan (South Carolina) and speedy OF Spencer Lewis (Rice) were the best of the rest and all tipped to be drafted early. The lone high-school player in the conversation for a top-ten pick, was 3B Rusty McCormick, who if he put it all together (and that was a big if at this moment) had the potential to regularly challenge for batting titles in the future.
Owners of the first pick, Kansas City, chose to bolster their pitching by drafting West Virginia’s high-upside hurler Benjamin Zingler, while Seattle choosing second swung for the fences and named Robert Caro as their man. Fellow outfielder Spencer Lewis was picked third by Dallas before New Orleans tabbed Texas pitcher Carlos Flores fourth, LSU shortstop Justin Hengstler found himself heading for Houston while Tampa Bay took a chance on high-school 3B Rusty McCormick with the sixth pick while surprisingly both 3B Kelvin Keelan (Miami @ #11) and Florida State pitcher Greg Younger (Minneapolis @ #12) fell out of the top ten all together. In a make-or-break off-season for his job security, Austin GM Jerry Phillips landed a pair of intriguing prospects later in the first round, Rice pitcher Mike Brown (#13) and high school LF Coy Benton (#21), if both players panned out then then Phillips had found a pair of future stars to build around.
With Spring Training winding down and the opening day fast approaching, New York announced that star 1B Jerry Wright (the Senators all-time homerun leader) had signed a lucrative extension, keeping him in the Big Apple for the next six years, and after the team had lost star pitcher Mariano Rojo to hated rivals Philadelphia this move allayed the fears of some fans that the club was allowing their stars fly the nest.
Heading into the season the Atlantic division was shaping up to be a bun fight between four of the teams, Boston who were looking to win their eighth straight division title were seen as the frontrunners with Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore all expected to push them all the way. In the Central, Chicago were the early favourites with Indianapolis (aiming to bounce back from an underwhelming 2042 campaign) and Cleveland (hoping to prove their successful 2042 was not a one off) waiting in the wings for any slip ups by the Zephyrs. The Southeast division was expected to be a straight fight between defending champions Atlanta and big spending Tampa Bay whose manager, Shaun Barber was firmly on the hot seat after a disastrous 2042 season.
In the west the Midwest division battle was shaping up to be one to watch, with OKC and Omaha (with first time manager Pat Acosta at the helm) the top two teams with both Denver (after spending big in the off-season) and Minneapolis listed as dark horses for the division crown. The Southwest was once again a two-horse race between Las Vegas and Phoenix while both Houston and Dallas were being tipped as 100-loss teams. In the Pacific division, Sanfrancisco and LA (with their re-made pitching rotation) were the teams to beat, with the other three teams (SD, SJ and SEA) at least a couple of years away from challenging.

[JayW UK]

2043 Regular Season

Eastern League Review

Boston’s seven-year hold on the Atlantic division crown came to an end at the hands of Philadelphia, the Independence rode a solid, if unspectacular offense and a middle of the road pitching staff (with only off-season signing Mariano Rojo (19-4, 2.80 ERA) standing out) to the title, winning 92 games. Baltimore (86-76), with CF Cesar Amaya (.317, 30 HR, 99 RBI) producing a strong sophomore campaign, finished as runners up while New York (80-82), despite typically solid season’s from 1B Jerry Wright (.289, 41 HR, 99 RBI) and C Roberto Saldana (.293, 40 HR, 98 RBI) faded during September to slip below .500. Boston (72-90) slumped to their first losing record in nine years despite excellent seasons from LF Rob Penney (.285, 39 HR, 101 RBI) and CF Weldon Render (.312, 27 HR, 97 RBI), while Washington with the league’s worst pitching, endured their fourth straight year in the division basement, struggling to a disappointing 69-93 season which led to calls from frustrated fans for a managerial change for 2044.
With LF Allen Hood (.325, 38 HR, 122 RBI) and 1B Mitch Higgins (.313, 38 HR, 103 RBI) driving the EL’s #2 offense and Juan Cuesta (18-8, 2.85 ERA) at the head of a strong rotation, Indianapolis (99-63) returned to the top of the Central division for the first time in five years, although it took a final day victory to guarantee the division crown. Behind the EL’s best pitching staff featuring ace Les Scott (16-10, 2.68 ERA, 326 K) and off-season addition Brett Knight (14-6, 2.86 ERA), St. Louis pushed the Racers all the way, winning a franchise record 98-games and claiming the EL wildcard spot along the way. A mid-season swoon (a 24-29 record in June/July) saw defending champions Chicago slip from contention eventually coming home third with a respectable 91-71 campaign while Cleveland finished fourth with an 87-75 record. The Corsairs boasted the EL’s most potent offense (clubbing 207 HR) with SS David Browne (.290, 38 HR, 130 RBI) and 1B Blake Hanson (.324, 36 HR, 117 RBI) leading the way but below par pitching held them back with only Tad Tjaeder (13-10, 4.10 ERA) winning more than ten games. Bringing up the rear yet again were Detroit as under first-time manager Ramon Acosta the Giants slid backwards to finish a very disappointing 69-93, more was expected from Acosta whose strengths lay in coaching his pitchers, the whole pitching staff underperformed with only Francisco Montoya 12-6, 4.46 ERA showing promise whist Allan Albano and Todd Hudson combined for a miserable 11-37, 4.71 ERA record).
Tampa Bay took the Southeast division on the back of the EL’s top scoring offense winning 88-games, that tally could have been so many more but for their Jekyl and Hyde pitching, the starters were dead last in the EL for ERA while their bullpen, led by the impressive Billy-Ray Sanders (12-6, 2.67 ERA and 33 saves), was top three. New Orleans finished second with a 79-83 record an improvement of ten games from 2042, and while star LF Jim Hopkins (.345, 49 HR, 130 RBI) carried the offense by himself, clubbing nearly a third of the team’s homeruns (Luis Lima was second with 16 !!) the Blues were held back by a lack of depth and below average pitching. Miami finished third with an identical 79-83 record and like the blues an up-and-down campaign from their pitching staff prevented the team from truly challenging their in-state rivals for the division, their top two starters Albert Warner and Jonathan Furze combined for a 32-14, 2.86 ERA record whilst their next three starters Roberto Gomez, Francis Rogers and Jesus Castillo sported a dismal 17-42, 6.08 ERA line. Finishing fourth with a 78-84 record, Charlotte’s season played out in similar fashion to 2042 but with roles reversed, as their pitching improved (EL #5) but their once powerful offense floundered, hitting only 122 homeruns (the lowest total in club history). Atlanta slipped back from 87 to just 71-wins as injuries decimated their offense, although their pitching remained strong the lack of scoring left them no margin for error.

Final Standings

Atlantic division
Philadelphia 92-70*
Baltimore 86-76
New York 80-82
Boston 72-90
Washington 65-97

Central division
Indianapolis 99-63*
St Louis 98-64*
Chicago 91-71
Cleveland 87-75
Detroit 69-93

Southeast division
Tampa Bay 88-74*
New Orleans 79-83
Miami 79-83
Charlotte 78-84
Atlanta 71-91

[JayW UK]

2043 Regular Season

Western League Review

Riding the league’s best pitching staff headed by ace Jacobie Harksdale (21-10, 2.89 ERA) and budding star Kanko Ota (15-5, 3.02 ERA) along with a sturdy offense with RF Felipe Peralta (.319, 30 HR, 101 RBI) leading the way, Omaha returned to the summit of the Midwest division winning a franchise record 109-games. Left far behind in their wake was Denver (86-76) with CF Fernando Diaz (.302, 26 HR, 101 RBI) playing a starring role in their hot finish to the season (7-3 over their final ten games) to enable the Wildcats to claim the WL wildcard spot. OKC slipped back from 95-wins to just 80 despite the best efforts of LF Julian Morin (.271, 40 HR, 112 RBI) and wily veteran pitcher Shane Olson (16-11, 3.59 ERA), matching the Outlaws with 80-wins were Minneapolis (their fifth straight sub .500 season). Kansas City improved from 63 to 71-wins but never-the-less still finished in the division basement attracting just 1.6M fans through the turnstiles.
With Gil Wallace (14-7, 2.74 ERA) and Jose Vazquez (15-7, 3.05 ERA) leading the WL’s #2 pitching staff and LF Vaughan Snyder (.331, 28 HR, 125 RBI) pacing a steady offense, Las Vegas (95-67) claimed the Southwest division title for the sixth time in eight years. Austin were runners up, not taking advantage of a strong start to the season (36-19 on May 31st) by playing .440 baseball from June onwards to finish with an 83-79 record. Even though Phoenix (79-83) could boast the WL’s most powerful offense led by star 1B Domingo Vargas (.337, 32 HR, 98 RBI), too many unforced errors and pitching breakdowns cost the Eagles any chance of challenging the Gamblers for the division crown. Houston were disappointing with their young rotation in particular struggling finishing 69-93, while Dallas (66-96) made it eight losing seasons in a row.
The Pacific division saw a battle to the wire between Sanfrancisco and surprise package San Diego with the two teams finishing locked at 85-77 at the top of the standings. Sanfrancisco, despite numerous injuries during the season still produced nearly five runs per game although no one player stood out statistically while San Diego’s pitchers led by Francisco Sierra (17-9, 3.06 ERA) carried the load for the Mariners. Los Angeles slipped back from 89 to 75-wins, with off-field distractions sapping their early season momentum, while San Jose finished with the same 74-88 record as they did in 2042. The Spartans were an interesting case, with wildly erratic pitching, 21-year-old reliever Steve Beaubien (11-3, 1.92 ERA) being the most impressive while 35-year-old veteran Jim Champion (3-16, 6.46 ERA) struggled, their offense was particularly hit or miss, clubbing 190 homeruns (led by RF Pancho Delgado’s 41) but batting at only .232 and striking out the most of any team in the league. Bringing up the rear were Seattle, who finished the season a disappointing 67-95, which led to both GM Luis Almiron and manager Brian Walter receiving their walking papers.

On October 1st Sanfrancisco and San Diego met to decide the destination of the Pacific division title, in an entertaining game a late rally, sparked by a RF Sul-Shik Choi homerun, handed Sanfrancisco a dramatic 7-5 win, securing the Gold their third consecutive division crown.

Final Standings

Midwest division
Omaha 109-53*
Denver 87-76*
Minneapolis 79-83
Oklahoma City 78-84
Kansas City 70-92

Southwest division
Las Vegas 95-67*
Austin 82-80
Phoenix 79-83
Houston 69-93
Dallas 66-96

Pacific division
Sanfrancisco 86-77* (+)
San Diego 85-78 (+)
Los Angeles 75-87
San Jose 73-89
Seattle 67-95

Play-in Game
(+) Sanfrancisco beat San Diego to win the Pacific division title.

[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.

[JayW UK]

2043 Playoffs

Divisional Round

The EL featured four teams who had all missed the playoffs in 2042, Indianapolis and Tampa Bay, owners of the EL’s most prolific offenses, would meet in what was sure to be an entertaining series while Philadelphia would host 98-win wildcard team St. Louis. The western league returned only two teams from 2042, Las Vegas and Sanfrancisco, the Gold had the unenviable task of facing the 109-win Omaha Braves the WL’s top seed, while Denver were the opponents for Las Vegas.

An unseasonably warm October evening saw the first ever playoff meeting between St. Louis and Philadelphia with both starters (Les Scott for STL and Mariano Rojo for PHI) in good form. The only blemish between the pair was a SS Antonio Flores solo homerun off the pitching of Mariano Rojo which gave the visiting Reds an early lead. With both men beginning to flag in the seventh, the teams swapped scores before Philadelphia took their first lead of the night when CF Alfonso Sosa drilled a 2-run homer off Reds reliever Earl Ritter in the bottom of the eighth. With Philly holding a slim 3-2 lead heading into the ninth manager Jose Pacheco turned to Harry Davis to close out the game, Davis immediately ran into trouble walking 2B Jose Concepcion before surrendering a sharp single, leaving runners on the corners with no-one out. A sacrifice fly from CF Doyle Arnold scored Concepcion to tie the game before next man up RF Vicente Hernandez drilled the second pitch he saw, deep into the stands to give the Reds a dramatic 5-3 lead. St. Louis turned to closer Pablo Hernandez to protect their advantage, and the all-star delivered, retiring the side to preserve the win. The following evening saw another pitching duel between Brett Knight (STL) and J.R McDowell (PHI) with both men carrying shutouts into the fifth inning, Knight was the first to crack, surrendering a 2-RBI single to 1B Diego Pagan to put the Independence ahead. St. Louis tied the game on a pair of RBI singles in the sixth before C Luis Guerra drilled a solo homer to put the Reds ahead one inning later, a lead they would not surrender as Philadelphia found multiple ways to shoot themselves in the foot (hitting into inning ending double plays in both the 8th and 9th innings, and committing a vital error in top of the 9th to extend the inning and allow St. Louis to plate a pair of insurance runs) as the Reds took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best of five series. Although Philadelphia out-hit St. Louis 7-6 in game three, 1B Rodger Comber, LF Jim Scott and CF Luis Ortiz all hit homeruns for St. Louis while Philadelphia’s hitters struggled against Reds starter Anastasio Gonzalez who turned in a flawless performance, striking out 7 while scattering six hits over eight shutout innings, as St. Louis booked their place in the ELCS for the first time with a comfortable 5-0 victory.

The second ELDS featured offensive powerhouses Indianapolis and Tampa Bay, with both teams having averaged over five runs per game during the regular season an exciting high scoring series was expected. Game one was a muted affair with both offenses held largely in check by stronger than expected pitching, a seventh inning LF Joe Scott sacrifice fly put the visiting Hurricanes ahead for good as Tampa Bay edged the series opener 4-3. The following night was a similar story as once again pitching nullified the potent offenses, Tampa Bay’s veteran Cristobal Chapa (7.1 IP, 7H, 3ER, 6K) put forth a strong performance but Indianapolis starter Juan Montoya went the distance, with Rick Flynn’s 8th inning RBI-single breaking up his shutout bid as the hometown Racers evened the series with a hard fought 4-1 victory. After two closely contested games dominated by pitching, fans finally got to see the promised high-powered offenses in game three, Tampa Bay 1B Jose Otero went 2-for-2, belting two homeruns, including a Grand-Slam, while collecting 6-RBI while on the other side of the ledger catcher Gabriel Lopez and 1B Mitch Higgins both hit a pair of homeruns for Indianapolis, as the Racers topped Tampa Bay 11-9 to edge ahead in the series. The following night Tampa Bay stormed into an early lead, plating four runs off Indianapolis starter Juan Cuesta in the first, their lead didn’t last though as LF Allen Hood and 2B Percy Sterrenberg both had big hits as Indianapolis clawed their way back to tie the game. A seventh inning 3-run homer from 1B Mitch Higgins (his third HR of the series) put Indianapolis ahead and although Tampa Bay put two men aboard in the eighth and loaded the bases in the ninth, they could only muster a single run as Indianapolis booked their place in the EL pennant series for a record eleventh time.

Over in the west, Las Vegas and Denver were meeting in the playoffs for the third time in their history and in an interesting quirk of fate, both previous meetings had resulted in Las Vegas wins (2031 & 2038) and on both occasions the Gamblers had gone on to reach the World Series. Denver named Valentin Morales as starter for game one while the Gamblers countered with Jesus Delgado, a 2nd inning Joseph Floores homerun provided early impetus for Las Vegas, an impressive outing from Delgado (7.2 IP, 5H, 1ER, 10K) and timely hitting from the likes of RF Danny Wheeler and SS Joaquin Corona saw the Gamblers roll to a comfortable 6-1 victory. Denver starter Antonio Correa struggled for control in game two, issuing five walks and surrendering four runs in just 4.2 innings of work, a fifth inning RF Mike Carson homerun sparked Denver into life as over the next two innings the Wildcats turned the game on its head, scoring five unanswered runs to take a 5-4 lead. The game took another turn in the bottom of the eighth when Mike Phair hammered a Matt Damone pitch into the top deck for a two-run homer nudging the Gamblers back in front, star closer Philip Redmond completed the turnaround for Las Vegas with a routine ninth inning as the Gamblers edged past the Wildcats 6-5. Game three saw Bartolo Garcia (DEN) and Gil Wallace (LV) engage in a tit-for-tat pitching battle with the game tied at two after six innings, Bartolo led off the seventh allowing a single and a walk (the first time either team had put more than one man on base in the game) which prompted a pitching change with Francisco Borges taking the mound. Borges got off to the worst possible start, walking C Manny Mendoza on four pitches to load the bases and then issuing another free pass to SS Joaquin Corona to force home a run, next man up RF Danny Wheeler hit a deep sacrifice fly that was caught at the warning track before CF John Smyth blooped a single into rightfield bringing home yet another run. The ineffective Borges was replaced by Dave Day who finally got Denver out of the inning, but the damage was done. Las Vegas relievers Felix Martinez, Rich Sutton and Philip Redmond combined to keep Denver off the scoreboard the rest of the way as the Gamblers completed the series sweep with a hard fought 5-2 victory.

Having won 109 regular season games (the third most in NABL history), Omaha were heavy favourites in their series against a Sanfrancisco team who had had to win a play-in game against San Diego just to be in the postseason. Game one went as expected for Omaha, a strong pitching performance from starter Jacobie Harksdale and homeruns from C Manuel Barrone and 1B Alfred Bloom carried the Braves to a series opening 9-4 win. The following night was shaping up to be more of the same when Omaha took a first inning lead on 2B Tom Lockhart’s 2-RBI double but when Braves starter Russell Harris tweaked his hamstring and had to leave the game in the third, things began to turn in Sanfrancisco’s favour. Homeruns from RF Sul-Shik Choi, C Kent Blanton and CF Dennis Brookes turned the tide and put the Gold in charge while pitcher Remi Moreau recovered from his early mishap to hurl seven innings of two-run ball as Sanfrancisco evened the series with a comfortable 6-2 victory. In game three Omaha starter Kanko Ota’s outing was excellent apart from one inning, the eighth, through the first seven frames Ota had allowed a grand total of two baserunners but an uncharacteristically sloppy eighth (two walks and four hits and an error) resulted in five Sanfrancisco runs, as the Gold turned a 3-0 deficit into a 5-3 lead. Benton Hartman took the mound for Sanfrancisco in the ninth looking to wrap the game up, instead he produced an equally sloppy inning, surrendering a pair of walks and three hits, the second of which was a go-ahead Grand-Slam to 1B Carl Stokes. Omaha turned to veteran Mike Mayfield to close out the game, the former Boston man took 13-pitches to see off Sanfrancisco as Omaha edged ahead in the series. Game four saw game one starters Jacobie Harksdale (OMH) and George Buchanan (SF) back on the mound, neither man had a chance to settle as both teams came out swinging, plating four runs apiece in the first inning. As quickly as the offense came, it disappeared again as both hurlers regained control, pitching shutouts through the next four innings until George Buchanan ran into trouble, former teammate Herminio Azurara (who had been traded mid-season) took advantage, slamming a two-run homer to put Omaha ahead. Third baseman Jose Aguilar’s 2-RBI triple in the eighth put the game out of reach of Sanfrancisco as Omaha eased to a series clinching victory.

[JayW UK]

2043 Playoffs

Championship Round

Indianapolis with their explosive offense and solid pitching were seen as slight favourites to collect their seventh EL pennant, standing in their way was St. Louis who were making their second appearance in the ELCS, having fallen to Boston in ’41. Game one was a pitching duel, with both starters taking shutouts into the sixth inning, Indianapolis broke the deadlock when LF Allen Hood tagged STL starter Les Scott for a solo bomb to lead off the bottom of the sixth. St. Louis answered with a run of their own in the eighth before edging into the lead on LF Jim Scott’s RBI-single in the ninth. Star closer Pablo Hernandez was tasked with icing the game but a critical error by 2B Jose Concepcion scuppered his chances as Pancho Sousa raced home to tie the score and send the game to extras. Jim Cummings pitched a clean tenth for Indianapolis before, in the home half PH Nicolas Tate drilled a wayward Hernandez fastball deep into the stands to give the Racers a dramatic 3-2 opening game win. LF Allen Hood came up big for Indianapolis in game two hitting three doubles and driving in four runs as the hometown Racers took a 2-0 series lead with a routine 6-3 victory. Game three was dominated by pitching with both starters looking strong, it took a mistake from Indy starter Elmer Chambers, when he surrendered a 2-run homerun to RF Vicente Hernandez, to break the deadlock. Indianapolis plated a run of their own in the eighth but the Reds answered to push the score to 3-1 and closer Pablo Hernandez made amends for game one to preserve the victory. St. Louis starter Mark Madison struggled in game four, lasting just 4.1 innings and surrendering five runs as the Racers built an early lead and didn’t look back. Indianapolis starter Juan Cuesta cruised his way through seven uneventful innings before handing the game over to the bullpen as Indianapolis rolled to an easy 6-1 victory, putting them one game away from taking the series. The following night saw Indianapolis jump out to an early 2-0 lead on RF Hector Medina’s first inning homerun, far from rolling over and giving up St. Louis stormed back to take the lead in the sixth on a SS Antonio Flores solo bomb. With the Reds protecting their slim 3-2 lead Pablo Hernandez took the mound in the eighth aiming for a six-out save, he had no trouble retiring the first four batters he faced, but just as in game one he was once again the victim of a crucial error that gifted Indianapolis the tying run and sent the game to extra innings. St. Louis came unstuck in the twelfth, with one out and men on the corners, Masaki Matsunaga surrendered back-to-back RBI-singles to SS Pancho Sousa and PH Joe Clark putting Indianapolis ahead 5-3, and when LF Jim Scott’s deep flyball was caught at the warning track to end the game it signaled wild celebrations in the visiting dugout, as Indianapolis booked their place in the World Series for a record tying seventh time.

The Western League Championship Series pitted Omaha, making their second appearance, against Las Vegas appearing in their 10th WLCS and sixth in the last eight years. The two teams had met in the playoffs once before back in 2039 during Omaha’s maiden postseason, with the Braves overcoming the Gamblers on their magical run to the World Series. Both teams calling card was pitching (top two in the entire NABL) and strong defense, Omaha possessed the more potent offense (but not by much) and also owned the home advantage making them many people’s tip to represent the WL in the World Series. With RF Felipe Peralta (4 hits, 4-RBI) and LF Herminio Azurara (3 hits, 2-RBI, and a homerun short of hitting for the CYCLE) leading the way, Omaha pounded Las Vegas into submission in game one, taking the opener a 10-3. Game two the following evening was much closer, Las Vegas struck first, plating runs in the second and third innings to take an early 3-0 lead, Omaha cut the Gamblers advantage to one on a C Daniel Guerra homerun only for Las Vegas to restore their three-run lead when RF Danny Wheeler clubbed a two-run bomb of his own the next inning. Despite putting at least one man on base from the sixth inning onwards, Omaha could only muster a single score as Las Vegas evened the series with a battling 5-3 victory. A controlled pitching performance from starter Jacobie Harksdale (8.0 IP, 6H, 2ER, 8K) and homeruns from C Manuel Barrone and OF Greg McCabe carried Omaha to a comfortable 7-2 triumph in game three. McKenzie Ransford, making his playoff debut for Omaha, took the mound in game four, Las Vegas were not in a charitable mood however as Ransford was roughed up early, surrendering five homeruns (his one saving grace was that they were all solo efforts) before exiting the game after 5.1 innings. Omaha stayed in touch with Las Vegas throughout the game but could not find a way to close the gap entirely, coming up short as the Gamblers tied the series with an 8-6 victory. Starter Jose Vazquez was knocked about by Omaha’s hitters to start game five, but although the Braves collected eleven hits against Vazquez during his five innings, they plated only three runs keeping Las Vegas in the game. The Gamblers needed no second invitation with 3B Joseph Floores and CF John Smyth hitting homeruns to help propel Las Vegas past Omaha 5-3, and put the Gamblers on the verge of their fifth World Series appearance. Two nights later Las Vegas continued where they left off, torching Omaha starter Kanko Ota for four first inning runs and building a 7-0 lead after three. A change in pitcher, with Octavio Diaz replacing the shell-shocked Ota, stopped Las Vegas in their tracks while 3B Jose Aguilar’s RBI-double sparked a furious Omaha rally that eventually fell just short when RF Felipe Peralta struck out with two men aboard to end the game, and send Las Vegas onto the World Series.