Here Comes The Paragon Baseball League!

[luckymann]

THOMAS PUTS BIG HURT ON LIZARDS AS TRIPS GO 3-1 UP



WP: Old Hoss Radbourn (2-1) 9 IP / 9 H / 2 ER / 5 K.
LP: Mark Langston (1-2)

• CARO: Frank Thomas 3-5 / HR [3] / 4 RBI. Larry Walker 2-2 / 3B / 2 RBI. Juan Soto, John Olerud 2-5 / 2B. Eddie Collins 2 RBI.
• LASV: Bill Dickey 3-3 / 2 2B / RBI.

PotG: Frank Thomas (CARO)

[luckymann]

MENDEZ MAGNIFICENT AS LIZARDS EASILY TAKE CRUCIAL GAME 5



WP: Jose Mendez (3-1) 8.1 IP / 5 H / 0 ER / 3 K.
LP: Nap Rucker (2-1)

• LASV: Jesse Burkett 3-5 / 2-run 3B. Bill Dickey, Martin Dihigo 2 RBI.
• CARO: Frank Thomas 2-3 / 2B.

PotG: Jose Mendez (LASV)

[luckymann]

LATE RALLY GETS TRIPLETS HARD FOUGHT VICTORY, OLERUD WITH 3 RBI



WP: Sadie McMahon (3-0)
LP: Bobby Mathews (0-2)

• CARO: John Olerud 3-4 / HR [1] / 3 RBI. Juan Soto 3-4 / 2 2B. Joe Cronin 2-3 / RBI.
• LASV: Martin Dihigo 2 RBI.

PotG: John Olerud (CARO)

[luckymann]

LIZARDS STAY ALIVE WITH GRITTY AWAY WIN



WP: Don Sutton (2-1)
LP: Juan Marichal (0-3)
SV: Bobby Mathews (1)

• LASV: Barry Bonds 2 2B / 3 RBI. Willie Keeler 3-5 / 2B / RBI. Jesse Burkett 2-5 / RBI. Dan Brouthers 2-5 / 2B.
• CARO: Frank Thomas 3-4 / 2-run HR [4].

PotG: Don Sutton (LASV)

[luckymann]

ONE OF THE BEST EVER AS LIZARDS WIN TITANIC STRUGGLE ON BROUTHERS WALKOFF HR TO FORCE DECIDER



WP: Ron Guidry (1-0)
LP: Sadie McMahon (3-1)

• LASV: Willie Keeler 3-6 / 2 RBI. Dan Brouthers walkoff 2-run HR [2]. Martin Dihigo 2-5 / RBI. Cal Ripken jr 2-2 / 2B.
• CARO: Juan Soto 3-5 / 2B / HR [4] / 4 RBI. Frank Thomas 2-4 / 2-run 3B. Larry Walker 2-4 / 2B. George Davis 2-5 / 2B.

PotG: Juan Soto (CARO)

[luckymann]

ALMOST AN ANTICLIMAX AS VEGAS TAKES CROWN WITH RELATIVELY ROUTINE WIN



WP: Jose Mendez (4-1)
LP: Nap Rucker (2-2)
SV: Don Sutton (1)

• LASV: Dan Brouthers 2-run 3B. Martin Dihigo 2-5.
• CARO: George Davis 2-4 / RBI. Jackie Robinson 2-3.

PotG: Jose Mendez (LASV)


LAS VEGAS WINS SERIES 5-4
SERIES MVP: Frank Thomas (CARO)

[luckymann]

Gold Glove





Platinum Stick





Chadwick Medal - Best Reliever





Veeck Medal - Manager

NWL: Leo Durocher (LASV)
SEL: Casey Stengel (KANC)


Adams Medal - Pitcher of the Year





Rickey Medal - Most Valuable Player

[luckymann]

This league has been an absolute dream these first two seasons, it has had everything I had hoped for and so much more. I very much hope it continues along that vein for the duration.

So, as previously advertised, we're going into a bit of a hurry-up offence for the next five seasons, with reporting scaled back to just major highlights and a monthly recap, plus full post-season coverage.

Won't be too long until 1963 Opening Day is upon us, just some quick administrative duties and away we'll go.

[luckymann]

OK that took even less time than I'd anticipated, so here we go with the 1963 Paragon Baseball League season.

1967 LTMs in use.

Preseason predictions





Big years expected from Johnny Mize, Dan Brouthers, Albert Pujols and Lou Gehrig. I'll be keeping an eye out for the Babe, whose development is creeping up toward the point where he'll start seeing more action.

Here are the Top 20 Players at this point in time:





I think the Blues will go one better this season and win it all from the Gothams. Let's find out if I'm right.

[luckymann]

Tris Speaker is another whose ratings have come along nicely in the offseason, and he starts strongly with a fine game in a 19-inning marathon win over the Stags that he caps off with a walkoff 2-run jack.

[luckymann]

Nothing like a nice one-hitter to get the season underway.

[luckymann]

Mookie Betts looks to be continuing on from his triumphant 1962 campaign (283/351/519; 32 HR / 102 RBI; 140 OPS+ / 6.7 WAR; 4th in MVP voting) with a strong start in '63, and goes on a tear here in a tight win over the Pirates.

[luckymann]

A triumvirate of standout performances on the hill today including Tom Terrific's second consecutive shutout.

[luckymann]

Barry saved a dirty 1962 season with a bit of a late flourish and has started 1963 slowly again. Maybe this will give him the lift he needs to get back on track.

[luckymann]

Plenty of interesting goings-on in the 1963 PBL season's first month.

The Gothams win their first 9 games of the season but then fall into a hole and lose 10 of the next 14.

Ted Williams has flown out of the gate to lead all 3 Triple Crown categories early. Johnny Mize has also hit the ground running.

Babe Ruth hit his first PBL home run.

A few roster moves of note:

• Curt Schilling into the rotation at Washington.
• Greg Maddux into the rotation at Boston.
• Martin Dihigo being used as a two-way player at Las Vegas.

Monthly Award Winners


Northwest League

• Batter – Ted Williams (Connecticut): 358 / 7 HR / 20 RBI
• Pitcher – Charlie Buffinton (Connecticut): 4-0 / 1.98 / 23 K / 41 IP

Southeast League

• Batter – Johnny Mize (New Orleans): 329 / 7 HR / 15 RBI
• Pitcher – Pete Alexander (Kansas City): 5-0 / 0.85 / 23 K / 42.1 IP

Weekly Award Winners

• 15th: Walter Johnson (New York) / Pud Galvin (Florida)
• 22nd: Ted Williams (Connecticut) / Ken Boyer (New Orleans)
• 29th: Barry Bonds (Las Vegas) / Tom Seaver (Florida)

Top 20 Hitters by WAR




Top 20 Pitchers by WAR

[luckymann]

Has not been blessed with a lot of luck so far in the PBL, old Doc, and this 15-karat gem ends up being wasted as well.




No such problem for the Claw, who looks keen to keep his Pitcher of the Year perfect record going. Hate to see where his 8-17 Canaries would be without him...

[luckymann]

Big Poison might not quite mix it with the big boys in this league, but he is a consistent and dependable contributor with 4 WAR to his name over the first two seasons.

This is another fine game from him in an extra-inning win over the Colonials.

[luckymann]

After an impressive rookie campaign that saw him go 12-15 / 3.09 with 5 WAR, Cannonball Dick Redding looks set to dominate this year. The Rainiers are going along for the ride at 21-14.




Meanwhile CK goes from strength to strength, now 5-1 / 0.81 after another bottler. That .148 OBA shows just how on he is at the moment.




EDIT: the two meet a few days later and don't disappoint, with the Canaries getting home 2-0 as Kershaw pitches 8 scoreless and strikes out 13.

[luckymann]

Joe Williams and Kid Nichols duke it out for 10 sparkling innings. Makes you feel sad someone has to lose. I doubt Smoky Joe will feel that way, though, as this is his first W of the season.

[luckymann]

Three of the NeL's brightest stars dominate.