Here Comes The Paragon Baseball League!

[luckymann]

Game 5 in Boston

BEACONS WALK IT OFF TO TAKE 3-2 SERIES LEAD

WP: Bob Friend (1-1)
LP: Old Hoss Radbourn (1-2)


BOST: Doc White 7 IP / 6 H / 0 ER / 3 K. Arky Vaughan walkoff RBI.

CARO: Joe Cronin 2-4 / 2B.


PotG: Doc White (BOST)

[luckymann]

Game 6 in Boston

INSTANT CLASSIC: TRIPLETS WIN 11-INNING THRILLER TO TIE IT UP AT 3 APIECE

WP: Tommy Bond (1-0)
LP: Bert Blyleven (0-2)


CARO: Doc White 7 IP / 6 H / 2 ER / 4 K. Joe Cronin 3-5 / 2B / solo HR [3]. John Olerud 2-5 / solo HR [2].

BOST: Felix Hernandez 7 IP / 5 H / 1 ER / 5 K. Arky Vaughan solo HR [2]. Gary Carter solo HR [1]. Graig Nettles 2-4 / 2B. Fred Clarke 2-5.


PotG: Nap Rucker (CARO)

[luckymann]

Game 7 in Boston

LATE FLURRY GETS TRIPLETS GAME 7 WIN AS STOTTLEMYRE SHINES

WP: Mel Stottlemyre (2-1) 7 IP / 3 H / 1 ER / 4 K
LP: Ned Garver (1-1)


CARO: George Davis 3B / 2-run HR [1]. John Olerud solo HR [3]. Dick Lundy 2-4 / RBI.


PotG: Mel Stottlemyre (CARO)

[luckymann]

Game 8 in Carolina

TREBLE THE FUN AS TRIPLETS COMPLETE THREEPEAT BEHIND HOSS

WP: Old Hoss Radbourn (2-2) 9 IP / 5 H / 0 ER / 1 K
LP: Greg Maddux (3-1)


CARO: John Olerud 2-run HR [4]. Larry Walker 2-4 / RBI.


PotG: Old Hoss Radbourn (CARO)


CAROLINA WINS SERIES 5-3
SERIES MVP: John Olerud (CARO)

[luckymann]

Gold Glove

Platinum Stick

Veeck Medal - Manager

NW: Terry Francona (Boston)
SE: Joe McCarthy (Carolina)

Chadwick Medal - Best Reliever

Adams Medal - Pitcher of the Year

Both first-time winners.

Rickey Medal - Most Valuable Player

And again, the first win for each.

[luckymann]

OK, so I have decided 18 seasons will suffice as I'm worried about ageing / retirements etc toward the end. Which means it is time to mix things up for the first time. I will be doing so again after another six seasons, so at the end of 1972.

The two new leagues will be the Northeast and Southwest Leagues and they will line up like this - nothing fancy or complicated, just a straight swap.

Here are some stats from the first rotation - history index / team records / leaderboards:

[luckymann]

Other than continued dominance by the Triplets, BNN thinks we'll be in for some tight races this time around. My tip for a breakout season is Virginia's Buck Leonard.

[luckymann]

Forgot to mention there was a fair bit of managerial carnage at the end of last season, with 5 managers getting the chop. As I had hoped, some of the previous managers who'd been fired earlier are making a reappearance automatically, and I have greatly reduced the number of game-generated skippers to increase the likelihood of this for the duration.

Here are the changes wrought:

• New Jersey: OUT Bucky Harris IN Tommy Lasorda
• New York: OUT John McGraw IN Bill McKechnie
• Las Vegas: OUT Leo Durocher IN Ralph Houk
• Atlanta: OUT Bobby Cox IN Tony LaRussa
• New Orleans: OUT Jim Leyland IN Dusty Baker

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

A nicely-balanced start to the 1967 PBL season, both in the standings and with regard to offence v pitching. The Gothams overcome a horror first week to sit atop the North, while the Fury has stumbled out of the blocks at 8-19. Most of these lads are hitting their peak now so I am expected this to be the start of a fascinating stretch. Also, the HIGH position player fatigue setting is working a treat in allowing the game time to be more evenly spread.


Monthly Award Winners

Northeast League

• Batter – Turkey Stearnes (Boston): 315 / 9 HR / 30 RBI
• Pitcher – Juan Marichal (Carolina): 1-0 / 0.67 / 11 SV / 4 K / 13.1 IP

Southwest League

• Batter – Ernie Banks (New Orleans): 366 / 6 HR / 22 RBI
• Pitcher – Jon Lester (New Orleans): 5-1 / 2.27 / 47 K / 47.2 IP

Weekly Award Winners

• 10th: Tris Speaker (Indianapolis) / Joe DiMaggio (New Orleans)
• 17th: Turkey Stearnes (Boston) / Ken Boyer (New Orleans)
• 24th: Larry Walker (Carolina) / Pete Alexander (Kansas City)

Milestones

• 200 saves: Bill Donovan

Top 20s

[luckymann]

Not content for "little brother" Barry to hog all the homer limelight, Bobby has a big night out against the Panthers.

[luckymann]

Really loving what I'm seeing so far in this PBL season - tight races, some good offensive numbers and plenty of pitching magic like this 11-inning gem from Bert against the Grays.

[luckymann]

Continuing on from last season's MVP, it seems Rajah's time has come...

[luckymann]

Keen to keep this zipping along and so every odd month I'll just provide standings and awards rather than the whole shebang.

Monthly Award Winners

Northeast League

• Batter – Dwight Evans (New York): 360 / 7 HR / 20 RBI
• Pitcher – Jim Bunning (Indianapolis): 4-1 / 2.50 / 22 K / 50.1 IP

Southwest League

• Batter – Johnny Mize (New Orleans): 375 / 4 HR / 20 RBI
• Pitcher – Bullet Rogan (Los Angeles): 5-1 / 1.94 / 19 K / 51 IP

Weekly Award Winners

• 1st: John Beckwith (New York) / Chet Lemon (Seattle)
• 8th: Larry Walker (Carolina) / Johnny Mize (New Orleans)
• 15th: Mel Ott (Carolina) / Bullet Rogan (Los Angeles)
• 22nd: Roberto Alomar (New York) / Bobby Abreu (New Orleans)
• 29th: Yogi Berra (Boston) / Robin Yount (Atlanta)

Other Observations and Points of Interest

• David Cone gets just his 2nd career win, Bob Feller his 3rd, Wilbur Cooper and Sadie McMahon each his 3rd in the past four seasons.
• Carlos Beltran hits just his 3rd HR.
• Mike Mussina loses his first eight decisions of the season.
• In nearly 200 AB so far this season, Babe Ruth is yet to hit a homer.

[luckymann]

This hasn't happened too many times in the PBL so far - a 6-hit game by Adrian Beltre.

[luckymann]

What are the odds? Not long enough if you are a Colonials fan... Or Kenny Rogers...

19 July




20 July

[luckymann]

First-timers

Jim Bunning, Juan Marichal, Johan Santana, Al Spalding, CC Sabathia, Buck Leonard, Dwight Evans, Chris Sale, Fernando Valenzuela, Larry Jackson, Todd Helton, Rod Carew, Cody Bellinger, Henry Aaron.

Every-timers

Clayton Kershaw, Arky Vaughan, George Cuppy.

[luckymann]

This year's Prince of Pop is Virginia's Buck Leonard.

[luckymann]

In the first ASG under the new alignment, the Northeast beats the Southwest 7-6, with Mel Ott the MVP.

[luckymann]