Power Pros Forum

4-30-08

Sacramento Slayers 6 - Salt Lake Sting 4

SUMMARY: The Slayers have won their 5th straight game, sweeping the Sting. Things didn't look so great for the Slayers at first, as the Sting scored 3 runs in the top of the first thanks to a Zobrist error and 3 extra base hits afterwards. Jose Bautista hit a home run in the bottom part of the inning to reduce he deficit to 2. In the top of the 3rd, third baseman Martelle Williamson, who has been the hottest hitter in the series, put the deficit back at 3 with a bomb to left-center field. The Slayers would not go away, however, as they scored 1 run in innings 3-5 to tie the game up at 4. In the bottom of the 7th, Adam Jones hit a go-ahead homer to right field, proving why he should still be starting in CF for the Slayers. They tacked on an insurance run in the 8th, and Brian Wilson shut it down for his 9th save of the season.

SLAYERS' LINEUP
M. Prado - 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, K, .299
B. Zobrist - 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, E, .321
J. Bautista - 1-4, HR (14), RBI, R, .299
A. Lind - 1-4, HR (11), RBI, R, .281
M. Morse - 1-4, RBI, .276
J. Francoeur - 0-4, .374
A. Jones - 2-3, 2B, HR (1), RBI, R .278 (Player of the Game)
K. Suzuki - 0-3, .259
J. Frasor - 0-0, .000
B. Wilson - 0-0, ----
S. Marcum - 0-1, .083
PH - S. Rodriguez - 1-1, 2B, .286
J.P. Howell - 0-0, .000
PH - R. Barajas - 0-1, .556

STING LINEUP
A. Grant - 2-5, 2B, .407
K. Carter - 1-5, R, 2 K, .323
D. Bacon - 1-5, 2B, RBI, R, K, .377
M. Williamson - 2-4, 3B, HR (6), 2 RBI, 2 R, K, .342
M. Sheppard - 0-4, 2 K, .150 (lol)
H. Crosby - 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, K, .242
M. Martinez - 1-4, K, .250
C. Harvey - 1-4, .209
Def Sub - G. Johnston - 0-0, .389
V. Riley - 1-3, .231
B. Ulloa - 0-0, .300
PH - T. Borland - 0-1, .238
R. Conti - 0-0, .000

SLAYERS' PITCHING
S. Marcum - 5 IP, 9 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 4 ER (2 R), 3.68
J.P. Howell - 2 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1.37 (W, 1-0)
J. Frasor - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2.76
B. Wilson - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 4.63

STING PITCHING
V. Riley - 6 IP, 7 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 4 ER, 9.62
B. Ulloa - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 ER, 7.64 (L, 2-2)
R. Conti - 1 IP, 2 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 1 ER, 3.29

Coming up: Players of the Month, and Power Rankings!

A new thing I'm doing at the end of these recaps will be reporting the blowouts around the PGL (Preston Greene League, in case that wasn't clear):

Gorillas beat Hatchlings 24-1
HAM BONES~! beat Mustangs 18-1

It took about an hour and a half at the minimum to edit each team besides the Slayers and about 45 minutes to edit the Slayers.

Jeez! If I do it, I might just tweak stats instead of creating new ones

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL ANNOUNCED

For the American League, the players of the month are:

Player of the Month: Gorillas 2B Pedro Lima, who hit .485, with 6 HR and 43 RBI.
Pitcher of the Month: Angels P Taylor Thorpe, who earned 4 Wins, with a 1.06 ERA, and struck out 31 batters.
Rookie of the Month: Malamutes P Abdul Thomas, who earned 4 Wins, with a 2.21 ERA, and struck out 36 batters.
The Reliever of the Month award was not given out.

The NL's players of the month are:

Player of the Month: Felines SS Tyler Smith, who hit .457, with 11 HR and 52 RBI.
Pitcher of the Month: Raiders P Shaun Valle, who earned 3 wins, with a 1.06 ERA, and struck out 54 batters.
Rookie of the Month: Felines P Hiroyuki Ibata, who earned 4 wins, with a 2.72 ERA, and struck out 43 batters.
Reliever of the Month: Whalers P Amaury Loaiza, who earned 1 win, recorded 7 saves, with a 0.00 ERA, and struck out 21 batters.

Congrats to all the winners for performing so well during this month! Coming up, the PGL will release its first-ever Power Rankings!

That's actually not near as long as I would have expected it to take, I'm doing something like that and it seems to be taking much longer, but I guess that's just because I'm actually basing the players on something.

GAHH I'M FINALLY DONE

POST-APRIL POWER RANKINGS

I will be counting down the teams from worst to best. Hopefully you all will know the teams a bit better. Anyways, let's get started.


#30. Green Bay Mustangs (3-24)

Every league has those teams you just have to feel sorry for, unless you're a fan of their rivals, that is. The MLB had the Cubs. The NBA had the Bobcats. The NFL had the Lions, pre-2011. The Mustangs are that team for the PGL. Absolutely nothing has gone right for them this season. The lowest ERA by one of their SPs is 7.53 (Burt Fischer, who is the ace of this motley crew). For RPs? 5.57 (Patrick Park, the set up man with nothing to set up). They have 2 hitters batting below the Mendoza line (C Tito Alvarez - .189, 1B Jack Webb - .163). The bright spots for the team have been 3B Roscoe Brown, who has hit .371, and Brady Lee, who's hitting .357. Unfortunately, Brown has also been a butcher in the field, with 3 errors leading to a .940 FPCT. In short, these guys stink.

#29. Scranton Schrutes (9-20)

It's a shame, really, that this team is doing so bad. Because personally, I love their team name and want to see it succeed. However, those hopes look to never come to fruition, thanks to an awful bullpen. Half of the bullpen has an ERA over 8. Having a pitcher with the highest ERA among all qualifiers doesn't help either (13.1 by Hisanori Sasaki) The offense in a very hitter-friendly league has been mediocre, and that simply isn't good enough for the league when the pitching is struggling as much as it has been. The bright spot for this team? Second baseman Kevin Lee, who is hitting .404 with an OPS over 1.000, which is really good considering Lee has an E rating in power.

#28. Honolulu Crawdads (9-20)

This is a case where the entire team is just in a slump. They have the talent to make a huge jump in the rankings after May. The key to their improvement will be getting talented CF Milo Otis going. He is regarded as one of the better CFs in the league, yet he is only hitting at a .211 clip. If he hits, so will the Crawdads.

#27. Columbus Senators (9-19)

The pitching is okay, but the Senators need Rich Cannon (#2 starter, 0-4, 9.10) and Grant Pearce (#3 starter, 0-4, 8.53) to step up. The offense is the problem here, though. Their best hitter is only hitting .316, nowhere near good enough in a hitter-friendly league like the PGL. The two hitters who need to get it going are SS Albert Benson (.274, though he has the ability to do way better), and CF Brian Turner (leadoff man, needs to get on base more often).

#26. Pawtucket Patriots (11-18)

Just like for most of the other teams at the top of this list, pitching has been the problem. The Patriots' 3 best SPs all have ERAs above 8, which is unacceptable.

#25. Ottawa Canadians (12-17)

The hitting is the reason they're ranked so low. With the exception of RF Kazuhiro Watanabe (.427) and DH Baxter Bowen (.352), nobody on the Canadians has a batting average of .300. Which is pathetic in such a hitter-friendly league like this.

#24. Syracuse Falcons (12-15)

The pitching has been bad. The key to good teams in this league, however, is that the offense must me able to hit well enough to compensate for the lack of pitching. The Falcons are not hitting well enough, and that is why they are in this mess. SS and leadoff man Samuel Tolar needs to hit better than .267 if the Falcons have any plans of doing damage in a very tough NL East.

#23. Durham Dinosaurs (9-19)

The pitching should get better, but the area that absolutely has to improve is the offense. It's not a good sign when you have 4 starters with a batting average at .220 or lower, which is the problem with the Dinosaurs. Star CF Lon Gaspar should anchor the lineup enough for them to get better, but the 4 players, especially LF and cleanup hitter Harold Glass and 3B and #5 batter Gannon Gregory need to step up for the Dinosaurs to start winning.

#22. Indianapolis Captains (13-15)

The Captains are a team that's filled with one-dimensional players, minus CF Jonathan Diamond and SP Sittch W. And Sittch is struggling, with a 2-4 record and a 5.45 ERA. His 41 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 34.2 innings suggest he is due for a bounceback, but ultimately, the team's lack of all-around talent will hurt them in the long run.

#21. Salt Lake Sting (13-16)

The Sting have 2 SPs who have given up 8 HRs (Robin Holmes and Vaughn Riley) for the season, which ties them for 4th in the NL. You'd think having a home field that prevents homers as much as Panpaka does would limit that, but nope, apparently not.

#20. Nashville Raiders (14-15)

Might as well name these guys the Nashville Valles. Shaun Valle, the team's ace, is solidifying himself as the best SP in the NL. His 4-0 record and league-leading 1.35 ERA are both impressive, but what really stands out is the fact that the has a 68/4 or 17/1 K/BB ratio. That's insane. Also, 68 Ks in 40 IP is good for a 15.3 K/9 rate. That's off-the-charts crazy LOLWTFBBQ good. Too bad nobody else on this team has performed nearly as well as he has.

#19. Louisville Dragons (13-16)

The starting pitching has been bad for the Dragons, and so has the offense, minus 3B Alex Warner and LF Teddy Arnold. That ultimately answers the question "How can a team with a player that good not succeed?"

#18. Iowa City Hatchlings (13-14)

The starting pitching for this team might be the worst in the league. That is, minus their ace pitcher Jameel Cook. Cook is 5-1, with a 1.34 ERA, and 52 Ks, good for 1st, 2nd, and 2nd in the AL, respectively. Cook will be one of the most sought-after pitchers in trades this season if the Hatchlings fall out of contention.

#17. Omaha Sheriffs (14-14)

There have been 2 problems for the Sheriffs this season: hitting, and the bullpen. For now, let's go over the bullpen. No Sheriffs relief pitcher has an ERA below 5. Closer Luis Garza has an ERA of 6.75. The bullpen has blown 3 save opportunities so far.

#16. Phoenix Cobras (12-16)

This is a team that will definitely get better as the season rolls along. They need 2 things to happen in order to clinb out of their slump: 1) Scott Finley needs to pitch better. He is the Cobras' ace, and he certainly has the ability to perform a lot better than his 4.87 ERA dictates. 2) The lineup, sans Keaton McBride, needs to step up. McBride is carrying the offense on his shoulders right now, but he can only do so much. The other hitters need to start pulling their weight.

#15. Minneapolis Flash (16-12)

If the Outlaws are the most average NL team, then the Flash are the most average AL team. You'd expect more from a team with a name like that, but the only player who lives up to that name is CF Mohammed Yabin. Yabin is proving himself to be one of the game's premier leadoff men, and his 1.18 OPS ranks 8th in the AL. He is certainly a big part of the team's success, but they just don't have the talent to keep up with a team like the Rhinos.

#14. Buffalo Soldiers (14-15)

1B and leadoff man Adam Bikowski is only hitting .231, with a measly OPS of .699. He is the catalyst to this squad and his struggles are why the team is below .500 so far.

#13. Orlando Squirrels (15-13)

The Squirrels need their #1 pitcher, Claude Braun, to step up his game in May. An 8.27 average is not what a team is looking for in their ace. The Squirrels are still in the hunt thanks to star right fielder Zora Brown, one of the best all-around talents in the game. Brown is a serious Triple Crown threat, as he ranks 6th in batting average (.402), 3rd in home runs (9), and 2nd in RBIs (40).

#12. Vancouver Whalers (16-12)

The Whalers are essentially a poor man's version of the Slayers. Mediocre hitting, but good enough pitching to overshadow that fact. Closer Amaury Loaiza has yet to allow a run in 14.1 innings, is 7/7 in save opportunities, and has a K/9 of 13.40.

#11. Alaska Malamutes (16-12)

Rookie SP Abdul Thomas looks to have a bright future, as he is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA, good for the AL's Rookie of the Month for April. He's the main reason the Malamutes are over .500.

#10. Guam Gorillas (14-14)

This is a team that should wind up better than last place in their division, even though they do play in arguably the toughest division in the AL, the West. They already have 3 hitters with a batting average over .400, including April's AL Player of the Month Pedro Lima, who is hitting .480. The Gorillas are just waiting for the pitching to figure it out, and if/when they do, they'll be a force to reckon with.

#9. San Antonio Outlaws (18-11)

This team takes the cake for most average team in the league. No batter is hitting .400 or above or .200 or below (yes, that's considered average in this league. Curse you, unrealistic sim stats!). The starting pitching and bullpen are just, meh. Nobody really sticks out from this team. They're playing some pretty good baseball while flying under the radar, though.

#8. Las Vegas Gamblers (17-10)

The Gamblers are doing well, but this is a team that will embark on a Chutes-and-Ladders type journey of these Power Rankings. They aren't very consistent, especially the pitching. They'll be able to make a climb if their 3-4 hitters (C Dieter Van Hekken and RF Billy Shepard, hitting only .269 and .227, respectively. Though Shepard does have 13 HR) can start getting on base more. They'll be falling if Van Hekken, Shepard, and the starting pitching continue to struggle, and if 3B Steve Chapman and 1B Dusty Carroll (hitting .439 and .365, respectively) fall back down to earth. Time will tell with this squad.

#7. Hawaii Heroes (16-13)

The Heroes have been surviving on pitching so far, getting a surprising contribution from #4 starter James Settle, who is 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA. The key for the Heroes to stay a contender will be CF Deandre Wolf. As their #3 hitter, the Heroes need more from Wolf than a .312 OBP.

#6. Oklahoma City Ham Bones (17-10)

Ah, the Ham Bones. Everyone's favorite team is really performing well. The pitching has done adequately, but what sets the Ham Bones apart is their offense. The Ham Bones have only 2 hitters with a batting average below .300, and one of them, right fielder Edward Butcher, is hitting .288 and leads the team in HR (12) and RBI (41). Leading the charge is catcher Donald Bergen, who is crushing the ball at a .452 clip. They're bound to regress eventually, but it'll certainly be fun to see how much the offense can carry this team forward in arguably the weakest division in the NL.

#5. New Orleans Lions (17-11)

The Lions will be a true Wild Card contender. The lineup is anchored by 1B Phillip Lopez (1.28 OPS, 5th in the NL), and SS Randall Tyler (team-leading .405 AVG). Tyler is also notable for his defensive prowess, as he has yet to make an error this season, which is unprecedented for a shortstop.

#4. Sacramento Slayers (20-9)

As someone who sees the Slayers every time they play, I can say that they're for real. Their hitting isn't the greatest, but they get key hits when it matters. However, what makes the Slayers rank so high on this list is their starting pitching. From top to bottom, their rotation is the most consistent in the PGL, and is the key to maintaining their lead of the NL West.

#3. Louisville Rhinos (20-9)

The Rhinos have the best 1-2-3 pitching tandem in baseball, stats-wise. Jay Peters, the #1, has a 5-0 record, a 1.94 ERA, and a 5/1 K/BB ratio. Brad Lee, the #2 starter and flamethrower of the group, is 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA, and every single one of his and Peters' starts have been of the quality variety. Colin Bay, the #3 and a crafty lefty, is 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA and is still finding ways to succeed at the ripe old age of 37. As for the offense, it revolves around pesky leadoff man Kazuo Shinobi. Shinobi, one of the fastest players in the game, draws comparisons to the great Ichiro, who had amazing success back in the existence of the MLB. Shinobi is second in the AL in doubles and triples (11 and 8, respectively). He certainly knows how to utilize his speed.

#2. Richmond Angels (19-9)

The Angels get by with pitching. Specifically, the pitching of ace lefty Taylor Thorpe, the AL's Pitcher of the Month for April. His 5 wins and 1.13 ERA lead all of baseball and is the biggest reason to the Angels' success.

#1. Jacksonville Felines (22-6)

The Felines have everything going their way so far. 3 of their starting pitchers have ERAs under 3, which is amazing in the PGL. Ace Doug McDonald is third in the NL with a 1.96 ERA, and rookie Japanese import Hiroyuki Ibata is tied for the league lead in wins. Of course, their strong pitching is supported by an even stronger offense. Shortstop Tyler Smith, April's NL Player of the Month and likely MVP candidate, anchors the lineup with a .455 average and 53 RBIs, the most in the NL. The guy helping Smith out is Australian 2B Simon Tracey, who reaches base at a .569 clip, which allows for Smith to drive in so many runs. Smith and Tracy combine to form the most devastating middle-infield tandem in all of baseball.

Now is when I would love to hear feedback about this log. Anything to add? Subtract? Do differently? Don't be afraid to speak up!

Oh, sounds good. I'm not so sure the Ham Bones are everyone's favorite team so far, based on all the arguing going on lately... I like the Orlando Squirrels.

Add 17 and subtract the square root of negative pi, if possible

Well, nice job!

I think that you're doing just fine with this so far, PPJ!

Also, I think I'm going to steal this idea for my log, so folks will be able to be a little more familiar with the Japanese teams.

I would like to be the agent of he Scranton Schrutes!

Anyway, great log. Great update.

Columbus Senators and Ottawa Canadians? All you need is the Montreal Blue Jackets and you'd have 3 team names and locations from the NHL mixed around. Except Montreal's team is actually the Canadiens, but that's just because they're crazy Frenchmen.

Point of reference for those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the NHL has the following teams:
Columbus Blue Jackets
Ottawa Senators
Montreal Canadiens

Damn it...


Ehh, not bad


*(censored)* YEAH!

If you want to make it less time-consuming I'd cut back on the descriptions, but DON'T BECAUSE THAT WAS AWESOME AND NEVER STOP DOING THIS LOG

*like*

Ham Bones

Mhmmm

This sounds about right.