Fingers HBD

Random Facts

2011-07-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

Tallest: 6'7"
Samuel Wohlers - big Texan lefty. career stats: 81-69, 3.92 ERA
Alberto Roque - Venezuelan reliever. career stats: 296 games, 4.17 ERA
Lawrence Morris - 12th overall pick in Season 8. only 182 2/3 IP in career

Shortest: 5'5"
Alex Arroyo - big power for little man. 365 career HR. 2x All-Star

Heaviest: 248 lbs.
Ralph Hall - career stats: 98-105, 45 saves, 4.19 ERA. 1x All-Star

Lightest: 163 lbs.
Kent Walker - rule 5 draft pick. 1-for-16 in career

Oldest: 41
Scott Hoffman - 367 career saves. seven seasons w/ 30+ saves. 4x All-Star

Youngest: 20
Willie Duran - $13.0M Int'l FA from Season 17.

All-Star Game 19

2011-07-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

American League 8, National League 7

WP: Ruben Ramirez

LP: Pete Norris

Save: Santos Encarnacion

- Two players hit grand slams (Game MVP Crash Purcell & Reid Kennedy.
- Five others hit home runs (J.D. Aspromonte, Dario Dickens, Rick Wakeland, Hugh McNeil & Hugh McNeil)

Hardball Dynasty's

Darrell Rivera

Home Run Derby Champion

Second All-Decade Team

2011-06-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

There's a little under two seasons left in the second decade of the Fingers League. After the first decade we had a position-by-position vote for the All-Decade team. You can view that team lower on the blog. Most of that team are Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers. When Season 20 concludes we will have another ballot put together so everyone can vote.

Here's a quick list of some of the potential candidates. Sorry if I forgot anyone. Please comment in the league chat if I left anyone off. I'd like the list to be as complete as possible when Season 20 ends. Thanks

C - J.D. Shelby, Rick Wakeland, Darrell Rivera

1B - Chuck Moore, J.D. Aspromonte, Juan Henriquez

2B - Louie Ma, Buzz Stewart, Pascual Mesa, Horacio Martin, Alex Rivera

3B - Gary Buckley, Victor Lopez, Russ Bale, Ed Harvey

SS - Hugh McNeil, Jay Worrell, Kennie Duncan

RF - Santos Lopez, Josh Cardona, Taylor Glynn

CF - Vince Moriarty, Ike Riggs, Reid Kennedy, Del Campos

LF - Hipolito Lee, Julian Alcantara

NL SP - Leonardo Walker, Vicente Delgado

AL SP - Brad Tebeau, Boomer Charles

RP - Darwin Ledesma, Gene Greer, Al Duvall, Fausto Lee, Luis Hernandez

Tampa Bay Wins World Series

2011-05-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

Tampa Bay Cheetahs win the franchise's 9th Fingers League World Series.

Game 1 @ Tampa Bay

MTY 2 6 0

TBC 3 6 3

Game 2 @ Tampa Bay

MTY 3 11 0

TBC 6 8 0

Game 3 @ Monterrey

TBC 3 7 1

MTY 4 11 0

Game 4 @ Monterrey

TBC 4 8 0

MTY 2 5 0

Game 5 @ Monterrey

TBC 5 7 0

MTY 8 14 0
Game 6 @ Tampa Bay
MTY 5 11 0
TBC 4 9 2
Game 7 @ Tampa Bay
MTY 2 10 0
TBC 7 12 0

WORLD SERIES MVP

Hardball Dynasty's

Gary Buckley

.346 - 9 for 26 - 7 runs - 5 hr - 9 rbi - hit safely in all seven games.

GAME SEVEN HERO

Hardball Dynasty's

Jack Webber

Webber hits three home runs - two solo shots and an eighth inning, three-run bomb that put the game and series out of reach for the Gringos.

WORLD SERIES 18

2011-05-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Tampa Bay Cheetahs (AL)
jmayhew
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

109-53

VS.

Monterrey Gringos (NL)
taz21
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

102-60

Division Play-in Series

2011-05-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

American League

Milwaukee Brewmasters over El Paso Federales, 3 games to 1
Series MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Santiago Pichardo

8 for 17, 5 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 8 rbi, 2 bb - With the Brew Crew down two runs in the top of the ninth inning of Game 3, Pichardo hit a bases loaded double that put Milwaukee up 6-5. The clutch hit swung the series in Milwaukee's favor.

Tucson Saguaros over Wichita Shockers, 3 games to 1
Series MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Nick Ransom

2-0, 1.13 ERA, 16 IP, 8 hits allowed, 2 earned runs, 12 k, .148 OAV - Ransom was the winning pitcher in the first and last games of the series.

National League

Little Rock Stars over Las Vegas River Snakes, 3 games to 1
Series MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Reid Kennedy

7 for 16, 3 runs, 2 doubles, home run, 4 rbi, bb, sb - Scored the eventual game-winning run in the 8th inning of Game 2 that tied the series 1-1. Drove in two runs in the series-clinching victory.

Columbus Wild Laminal, it is over Charleston Men of Risk, 3 games to 1
Series MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Hideo Bong

8 for 17, 7 runs, double, 2 home runs, 6 rbi, 2 bb - Scored game-tying run on Ned Ashburn's walk off home run in Game. It was his two out, RBI double that got Ashburn to the plate. Bong also drove in two runs in the Game 4 clincher.

All-Star Notes

2011-04-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Did anyone notice who is not on the AL All-Star team this season? The great Louie Ma. It is only the 2nd time since Season 9 that he has missed making the AL All-Star team.

Vicente Delgado will be making his 11th trip to the All-Star Game. Santos Lopez is making his 9th. Chuck Moore, Leonardo Walker, Al Duvall - 7th. Russ Bale, Luis Hernandez - 6th.

Three Former All-Star MVPs will be playing. Kennie Duncan Season 17. Chuck Moore Season 16. Alex Rivera Season 12

Five former #1 Overall Draft picks will be playing: Brad Tebeau, Chuck Moore, Roger Haren, Santos Lopez, Leon Padgett

Average Age:
AL pitchers - 28.7
2.5 All-Star appearances per pitcher
NL pitchers - 28.9
3.1 All-Star appearances per pitcher

AL position players - 27
2.9 All-Star appearances per player
NL position players - 27.5
2.4 All-Star appearance per player

There are 12 players on the AL roster and 14 on the NL who are playing in their first All-Star Game. Harry Zoltan is the oldest first timer. He's 32.

123456789 RHE

AL 000000100 170

NL 00002000x 271

WP: Vicente Delgado

LP: Charlie Strong
MVP: Harry Martinez 1 for 1, rbi double, scored eventual game-winning run
Starting Pitchers: Brad Tebeau AL, Leonardo Walker NL

Mid-Season Report - AL

2011-04-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

AL North
MVP: Rafael Silva
Cy Young: Pablo Ordonez
Rising Star:

Hardball Dynasty's

Samuel Davis

AL East
MVP: Archie Miller
Cy Young:

Hardball Dynasty's

Brad Tebeau

Rising Star: Darrell Rivera

AL South
MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Josh Cardona

Cy Young: Ivan Costilla
Rising Star: Banana Nichols

AL West
MVP: Hal Pickering
Cy Young: Charlie Strong
Rising Star:

Hardball Dynasty's

Ernest Richard

Mid-Season Report - NL

2011-04-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

NL North
MVP: Jose Crespo
Cy Young:

Hardball Dynasty's

Leon Padgett

Rising Star: Wes Lewis

NL East
MVP: Dario Dickens
Cy Young: Marc White
Rising Star:

Hardball Dynasty's

A.J. Hurst

NL South
MVP: Ike Riggs
Cy Young:

Hardball Dynasty's

Alfredo Castilla

Rising Star: Frank Cho

NL West
MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Ed Harvey

Cy Young: Leonardo Walker
Rising Star: Damon Zerbe

Draft

2011-03-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of draft history. Only four players drafted in the 18th round or later have played in the big leagues.

Hardball Dynasty's

Carson Weaver

Season: 8
Round: 24
Pick: 767
Owner: reitsmania
Franchise: Jackson
Age: 18
School: Edinburg HS (--)
Location: Edinburg, IL
Signing Bonus: $16,000

52 ML Games; 82 IP; 4-5; 4 saves, 4.94 ERA

Hardball Dynasty's

Pedro Perez

Season: 4
Round: 23
Pick: 743
Owner: wihargo
Age: 20
Franchise: Anaheim
School: San Jacinto College-Central (SO)
Signing Bonus: $16,250

358 ML games; 196/939; .209 BA; 29 HR; 127 RBI

Hardball Dynasty's

Ariel Perez

Season: 4
Round: 20
Pick: 640
Owner: dwevans24
Franchise: Pawtucket
Age: 22
School: Martin Luther College (SR)
Signing Bonus: $18,000

468 ML games; 459/1751; .262 BA; 112 HR; 304 RBI

Hardball Dynasty's

Kyle George

Season: 2
Round: 18
Pick: 600
Owner: dedelman
Franchise: Trenton
Age: 18
School: Lodi HS (--)
Signing Bonus: $20,000

399 ML games; 393.1 IP; 25-19; 8 saves; 4.69 ERA

Player Awards Predictions

2011-03-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

CY YOUNG AWARD

NL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Cliff Dessens

Dessens won 16 games in 26 starts after being traded to Monterrey. Undoubtedly the win total increase with a full season in the National League. The lefty is one of the few pitchers that can throw 240+ innings. That should help bloat his strikeout number.

Don't count out - Leonardo Walker, Vicente Delgado

AL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Boomer Charles

Kind of hard to choose any other American League pitcher. Charles has won three straight Cy Young Awards. He's also won 22 games in each of the last three years. He may go down as the best pitcher of the Fingers League's second decade. He's won 141 games since Season 11.

Don't count out - Rico Macias, Mariano Perez

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

NL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Juan Henriquez

Henriquez is the perfect hitter. His contact, power and splits are grade A. Then you throw in an almost perfect eye. He's a guarantee to hit .300 with 30 home runs, score 100 runs, drive in 100 runs and walk 100 times.

Don't count out - Taylor Glynn, Bruce Drabek

AL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Chuck Moore

Just let us vote Moore into the Hall of Fame right now. The guy is a first ballot lock. He's already won four AL MVP Awards, countless Silver Sluggers and has been selected to a zillion All-Star games. Moore is only 31 years old so his career offensive numbers will continue to swell.

Don't count out - Louie Ma, Kevin Pong

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

NL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Damon Zerbe

Zerbe was the 10th overall pick in Season 14 draft. The 22-year-old rookie hit .262 in 103 big league at bats last season. His contact is projected to be of elite status. His batting eye and splits don't appear to be that far behind.

Don't count out - Roger Haren, Lee Bonham, Harry Navarro

AL:

Hardball Dynasty's

Archie Miller

Archie Miller was drafted 4th overall in Season 13. He has hit 51 home runs in each of his last two minor league seasons. The power this guy has rivals Chuck Moore. He had a .717 career slugging percentage in the minor leagues. Miller will absolutely wreak havoc on left-handed pitching and he should be able to steal some bases too. His speed and power combination is unseen in this world. If he had a brain on the base paths he'd be a 40-40 guy, maybe even 50-50.

Don't count out - Ernest Richard

Hall of Fame Cases

2011-02-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

For the first time since the Fingers Hall of Fame was established there is no clear cut inductee. But there are a strong group of players with great accomplishments. We have a two guys with 200+ wins, another two with 500+ home runs and three others with 300+ saves.

Hardball Dynasty's

Quilvio Mesa

Quilvio Mesa didn't accomplish any of that. He finished his career with a stellar record of 188-97. Of the seven pitchers up for nomination with 180+ wins Mesa has the lowest OAV, OBP, SLG, WHIP and ERA. The kicker for me though was that during the three World Series runs by the Tobacco Beetles Mesa was 8-0 in 14 playoff starts.

Hardball Dynasty's

James Yamaguchi

I believe Yamaguchi is the only Hall of Fame candidate to receive an automatic nomination this season; He won four Fireman of the Year awards (a league record). The four other closers with 200+ saves that are Hall eligible combined to win only three Fireman awards.

Full Disclosure: Yamaguchi was the closer on two of my New Orleans Flashers teams that went to the World Series. He was a combined 13 for 14 in save opportunities during those two playoff runs.

Position Players
I don't think there will be a position player that makes it to the Hall. I'd be surprised if one did. Kyle Lee's stats jump off the page a bit. He finished his career with 300 HR and 300 SB. He also had a couple 30/30 seasons. But he only made 2 all-star games and his four seasons in Seattle kept his offensive numbers from being Hall-worthy.

Season 17 CHAMPS

2011-02-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Tucson Saguaros have won the Finger League's 17th World Series title! They defeated the Moterrey Gringos 4 games to 1.

The Tucson franchise had 11 straight seasons of playoff baseball and no World Series appearances with mcbain10 at the helm. This season RLeone took over and pulled a Jon Gruden. He took over Tony Dungy's team and led them to an elusive championship. Congratulations!

PLAYOFFS MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Santos Lopez

"The So-Cal Kid" crushed playoff opponents on the road to his 4th World Series title. He hit .400 with 8 home runs and 21 RBIs (all career playoff highs) in 50 at bats. His signature moment came in Game 5 of the World Series. With his team down 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th he hit a game-tying, 2-run home run off of former MAPS teammate Carlos Nunez. Tuscon scored in the bottom of the 11th to clinch the series.

FINGERS SEASON 17

2011-02-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

My apologies for the such long delay between blog posts. Real life gets complicated sometimes.

PLAYOFFS

American League
1. Milwaukee Brewmasters 108-54 (REIGNING CHAMPS; 7th straight playoff appearance)
2. Tucson Saguaros 101-61 (12th straight playoff appearance)
3. Boston Brawlers 90-72 (3rd straight playoff apperance)
4. El Paso Federales 86-76 (7th straight playoff appearance)
5. San Juan T.E.M.A.P.S 89-73 (13th playoff appearance in 14 seasons)
6. Portland Fog 88-74 (1st playoff appearnace since Season 7)

National League
1. Monterrey Gringos 100-62 (2nd playoff appearance ever)
2. Trenton Capitols 99-63 (17th straight playoff appearance - League Record)
3. Colorado Springs Rainbow Trout 99-63 (6th playoff appearance in 7 seasons)
4. Rochester Spirit of Ontario 90-72 (2nd straight playoff appearance)
5. Charleston Men of Risk 91-71 (9th playoff appearance in 12 seasons)
6. Mexico City Banditos Yanquis 91-71 (3rd straight playoff appearance)

Good luck to all 12 teams. I'll be praying for a NL team to finally end this awful streak. themehl won the first 3 league titles and the NL has lost every World Series since. :(

YOUR LOUIE MA UPDATE

Louie Ma won his 4th AL Batting Title this past season. He is the only player in Fingers history to win more than three batting titles. Ma also hit his 400th career HR. The numbers he has put up during his 10-year career are as impressive as any player in League history.

Bonk Blake became the 2nd position player to enter the Fingers HOF. Like Ma, he primarily played second base. Blake was voted as the best second baseman in the Fingers Leauge's first decade. So it leads me to the question... Who is better?

HITTING
BLAKE-
2292GP/.324BA/.427OBP/.559SLG/2591H/1642R/438HR/1512RBI/952XBH/1411BB
MA-
1414GP/.333BA/.427OBP/.648SLG/1792H/1142R/402HR/1267RBI/829XBH/848BB

FIELDING @ 2B
BLAKE-
1037GS/.981FLD%/2337PO/3653A/118E/815DP/10+/37-/6.31RF
MA-
1095GS/.981FLD%/2076PO/3261A/103E/698DP/25+/14-/5.18RF

FINGERS SEASON 16

2010-09-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

Formal Congratulations to Pedro Alvarez for becoming the 3rd player inducted into the Hall of Fame. He's the first member of the MAPS dynasty to hit the Hall. He's also the first player to hit 600 home runs but certainly not the last...

Carlos Sanchez started the year with 589 career home runs. He currently sits at 594. I'm praying he hits 50 more this season.

INJURY NEWS - Four-time NL MVP Taylor Glynn goes on the 15-Day DL with a torn miniscus. Luckily for johncfremont the injury only seems to have effected Glynn's baserunning abilities and range. The hitting stroke will be okay.

Ottawa Rockets pitcher Mark Fiore had to get shoulder surgery and will be out 120+ HBD days. The young righthander had started his career off well. In 52 career starts he owns a 3.17 ERA and bater have hit a mere .235.

CYCLE - Vince Moriarty hit for the cycle against Jacksonville. The cycle continues the dream. Over the last season Moriarty has been an All-Star, postseason hero, champion and he can now add the cycle to his list of accomplishments.

SADLER - Murray Sadler is unquestionably the MVP of the first 10 games. The MuckLucks LF is hitting .432 with 21 runs batted in. He has hit safely in all 10 games and had an 8 RBI day vs. Jacksonville.

Good Luck to everyone. Can the NL please win a World Series?

HOF '16 Look

2010-08-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

SLAM DUNK

Hardball Dynasty's

Pedro Alvarez

Best hitter during the Fingers League's first decade. Currently the career leader in home runs and runs batted in. Hit over 60 home runs in a season five times including 77 in Season 2. Took home four MVP awards - two in each league. Won three WS rings for froidl's MAPS. Six-time all-star, four-time silver slugger, and one gold glove.

career - 2046 G / .295/.375/.590/.965 / 601 HR / 1652 RBI / 2211 H / 1388 R
playoffs - 81 G / .276/.345/.571/.916 / 27 HR / 59 RBI / 89 H / 52 R

THE REST
There's only one postion player eligible that has a reasonable case to get into the Hall. And I'm even stretching for it with him. Harry Hinch. He leads the rest of the eligble players in runs, home runs and runs batted in. Had eight straight season of 100+ runs, nine straight seasons of 40+ home runs and ten straight seasons of 100+ RBIs.

The knocks against him are: low career batting average, playoff regressions and peer comparison.

Hinch is a .263 lifetime hitter. That's 30 points lower than both Pedro Alvarez and Season 15 HOF inductee Nolan Wall. He did walk the third most times in league history but he also struck out the most times (struck out one more time than Alvarez did). Only hit .234 in 214 playoff at bats. AB per HR jumps from 12.8 in regular season to 21.4 in playoffs. He also had more strikeouts than hits during October.

1737 G / .263/.368/.541/.909 / 503 HR / 1335 RBI / 1697 H / 1187 R - HINCH
1729 G / .293/.378/.581/.959 / 475 HR / 1457 RBI / 1908 H / 1270 R - WALL
2046 G / .295/.375/.590/.965 / 601 HR / 1652 RBI / 2211 H / 1388 R - ALVAREZ

The first thing is Wall and Hinch played nearly the same amount of games. But even though Wall hit 28 less home runs than Hinch in that time, Wall's SLG is 40 points higher and OPS is 50 points higher. Wall also drove in more runs, scored more times and had more hits. You can clearly see that Alvarez and Wall are more comparable than Wall and Hinch.

PITCHERS
There's around five pitchers that will draw some HOF consideration. Though it's doubtful that any one of the five will receive enough votes to be inducted. Two are former starting pitchers and the three others closed ball games.

Former NL East rivals Steven Morgan and Dario Thomas are the most qualified starting pitcher candidates. But like any HOF starting pitcher candidate they will need to uphold to the Frank Chong test. Here's a look how well do these two stack up against the greatest pitcher in Fingers League's first decade.

385 GS / 182-104 / 3.78 ERA / 2616.0 IP / 1885 K / 639 BB / .266/.313/.409/ 1.28 WHIP - MORGAN
356 GS / 170-88 / 3.68 ERA / 2328.2 IP / 1639 K / 710 BB / .250/.311/.380/ 1.26 WHIP - THOMAS
397 GS / 189-108 / 3.17 ERA / 2913.0 IP / 2284 K / 697 BB / .238/.290/.361/ 1.15 WHIP - CHONG

Chong trumps both players in nearly every category. Neither stands toe-to-toe with Chonger. With 13 All-Star appearances between Morgan and Thomas it's easy to see that they were at one time great pitchers. But were they HOF-caliber?

CLOSERS
Who will be the Fingers League's first closer to make the HOF? Will it be one of the three former elite closers with over 248 career saves up for debate? David Walsh, Miguel Santana and Tino Kimura are those three closers. Here's how their numbers stack up:

727 G / 56-65 / 321 SV / 3.81 ERA / 818.2 IP / 566 K / 222 BB/ .251/.307/.383/ 1.25 WHIP - WALSH
765 G / 50-55 / 248 SV / 3.06 ERA / 892.1 IP / 698 K / 209 BB/ .215/.267/.318/ 1.03 WHIP - SANTANA
556 G / 40-37 / 276 SV / 3.63 ERA / 575.0 IP / 426 K / 209 BB/ .253/.320/.372/ 1.35 WHIP - KIMURA

Despite having the least amount of saves and personal accolades of the three Santana was clearly the most dominating pitcher. I would think any owner would want the guy with the .215 OAV and 1.03 WHIP to shut the door of our games. In five different seasons Santana had a WHIP below 1.00. The other two closers did it once combined.

The question for you is: Did any of them do enough for the HOF?

World Series Champs

2010-07-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to drvmu1 and his El Paso Federales on winning the 15th Fingers World Series.

WORLD SERIES MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Walter Swindell

.375 - 9 for 24 - 6 runs - 4 HR - 10 RBI - 3 BB - 0 errors in 24 chances at 3B

World Series 15

2010-07-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

El Paso Federales (101-61) vs. Fargo Red River Sandbags (100-62)

Game 1 @ Cash Field, Fargo

El Paso 8, Fargo 5

WP: Nick Gil (1-0)

LP: Marlon Purcell (0-1)

Save: Eli Martinez (1)

HR: El Paso - Vince Moriarty, Walter Swindell 2; Fargo - Mike Parnell, Thurman Ellenwood

Player of the Game: Walter Swindell - 2 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBI

Game Note: Purcell was chased by his former teammates during a five-run 7th inning that broke a 3-3 tie.

Game 2 @ Cash Field, Fargo
Fargo 5, El Paso 4 - 12 innings
WP: Joe Lankford (1-0)
LP: Travis Kapler (0-1)
HR: El Paso - Walter Swindell (3), Pepe Sosa; Fargo - Thurman Ellenwood (2), Ken Roosevelt, Juan Alou
Player of the Game: Juan Alou - 1 for 6, HR, RBI - hit a walk-off HR with 2 outs in the bottom of the 12th.
Game Note: Fargo was down 4-0 in the 7th inning. Ellenwood and Roosevelt hit homers to make it 4-3. Then in the 8th inning El Paso starting pitcher Felipe Moreno threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to allow Fargo to tie the game. *Fargo starting pitcher Yamid Santiago had his playoff streak of 25 1/3 scoreless innings pitched broken up in the 3rd inning with Swindell's three-run HR.

Game 3 @ Citibank Ballpark, El Paso
El Paso 10, Fargo 9 - 11 innings
WP: Howie Timmons (1-0)
LP: Tony Iwazaki (0-1)
HR: El Paso - Vince Moriarty (2), Chuck Moore, Alex Arroyo; Fargo - Bum Kent
Player of the Game: Walter Swindell - 2 for 6, RBI - drives in game winning run in 11th with RBI single
Game Note: El Paso came back from a 9-1 deficit. They scored six runs in the 7th, and Moriarty tied the game an inning later with a 2-run blast. After 3 games Moriarty is 7 for 16 with 7 runs scored, 5 RBI and 2 HR. Swindell is 5 for 16 with 3 runs, 9 RBI and 3 HR.

Game 4 @ Citibank Ballpark, El Paso
El Paso 8, Fargo 5 - 13 innings
WP: Travis Kapler(1-1)
LP: Davey Terrero (0-1)
HR: El Paso - Pepe Sosa 2 (3); Fargo - none
Player of the Game: Pepe Sosa - 2 for 5, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 SB - hit a walk-off 3-run HR in 13th inning.
Game Note: Third straight game to go into extra innings and end with a walk-off hit. The bullpens combined to allow 0 runs in 16 2/3 innings before Sosa hit the game winner.

Game 5 @ Citibank Ballpark, El Paso
El Paso 5, Fargo 1
WP: Nick Gil (2-0)
LP: Yamid Santiago (0-1)
Save: Eli Martinez (2)
HR: El Paso - Walter Swindell (4), Alex Arroyo (2), Rafael Jose; Fargo - Benji Morrison
Player of the Game: Nick Gil - 8 2/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 6 K
Game Note: El Paso wins series 4 games to 1. The Federales hit 13 HR in the series.

ALL-STAR GAME and MORE

2010-07-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Charlotte, N.C., home of the Wyverns, hosted the Fingers League's 15th All-Star Game. The NL bested the AL 14-6 for their 4th straight All-Star game victory.

Fargo's Juan Alou hit a first inning grand slam off of Milwaukee's Boomer Charles to put the NL up 6-0. Alou was named the game's MVP because of the slam. Charles only made two outs while allowing six base runners to score. He took the loss.

Colorado's Al Abreu was the winning pitcher. He allowed only two hits in his three scoreless innings of work. He easily performed the best of all the game's pitchers in what turned out to be a slugfest.

The two teams combined for 20 runs, 29 hits and seven home runs.

ALL-STAR GAME WEEKEND NOTES:
-- Seven players hit home runs. They were: San Juan's Gary Buckley, Jacksonville's Damon Washington, El Paso's Chuck Moore, K.C.'s Russ Bale, Atlanta's Buzz Stewart, Mexico City's Victor Lopez and Alou.
-- Russ Bale has hit a HR in each of the past two All-Star Games.
-- Chuck Moore won the HR Derby. He hit 37 HRs to beat San Juan's Santos Lopez, who hit 36.
-- The World Futures Team crushed the US Futures Team 8-1. Santa Fe's Dave Cannon got rocked. He gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings but at least he didn't take the loss.

LAST QUARTER OF THE SEASON
We're coming down to the final 40 games of the season and here's a list of things to watch down the stretch:

Chuck Moore is having an incredible season. He is on pace for: 78 HR, 202 RBI and 231 hits. All of which would place him top 5 in those categories for single season records. There should be no question about Moore winning his 3rd AL MVP.

Jacksonville rookie pitcher Alton Pierce has a 1-19 record. Seven more losses will put him in the top 5 for losses in a single season. It begs the question: With splits like his, why is this guy in the big leagues?/

It seems like every season one player chases the single season batting average record for 100+ games and then falls fast as the season closes. This season Julio Ramirez is that player to chase the record. Ramirez is hitting .380, which is .003 points higher than the league record. He's a .320 lifetime hitter so he has the tools to break it.

And lastly, I will go far out on a limb here and say an American League team will win the World Series again. Six of the seven major league teams playing .600+ ball are in the AL. But at least the NL owns the All-Star Game

#1 Draft Picks

2010-06-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

How have the #1 Overall Draft Picks done in the Fingers League?

It is easy to see that position players drafted first overall have outperformed their pitching counterparts. Despite that fact there hasn't been a position player drafted #1 since Season 7.

Below is a look at how #1 Draft Picks have done in the Majors.

PITCHERS
Eight pitchers have been the first overall draft pick. Six of those have played in the Major Leagues. They have pitched in a combined 593 games with a record of 174-189. Only one has made an All-Star appearance. The jury is still out on many of these players because only three have pitched more than 650 innings and the other three have thrown under 115 innings each.

The Best (So far): Brad Tebeau - Season 8 #1 Pick - Tebeau is the lone All-Star of the pitchers. He owns a 47-29 record in 112 starts.

Will Become the Best: Leon Padgett - Season 12 #1 Pick - Padgett was probably better than most major league starters after 1.5 pro seasons. He's in the big leagues now at age 22. Has some serious splits and two nasty pitches. Those ratings should only get higher too.

POSITION PLAYERS
Five of the six position players chosen first signed with their teams. Three of the five will be Hall of Famers. Combined they have brought home some serious accolades: 4 MVP Awards, 18 All-Star appearances, 11 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves and one Rookie of the Year.

Hall of Famers: Clarence Black, Santos Lopez, Chuck Moore - Seasons 2, 5, 6 #1 Picks

Black is approaching 500 HRs and an automatic HoF bid. He is also closing in on 2,000 career hits. Quite possibly will finish in the top three all-time in career games played, hits, home runs, RBIs, runs scored and walks.

Lopez is an MVP Award away from owning every piece of hardware that a position player can win. He has 3 WS rings, 6 All-Star appearances, 4 Silver Sluggers, 1 Gold Glove and Rookie of the Year. He's only 28 years old. Imagine the numbers when he's 36.

Moore is the only one to match the great Pedro Alvarez's power. He hits a HR every 2.5 games and he plays EVERY game. This season has started out otherworldly. The offensive numbers are off the charts.

PREDICTIONS & HALL OF FAME

2010-05-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last season I made awards predictions with some success. Going to do it again because it gives me a chance to profile some of the best players in the league as well as some up and comers.

NL MVP
Obvious: Taylor Glynn - Back-to-back NL MVP. In total, he has won three of the last four. Hit 50+ HRs in each MVP season.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Neifi Martin

Martin won NL ROY in Season 13 when he hit .352 and had 228 hits. In two seasons he's averaged 215 hits, 110 runs, 91 RBI and 25 HR. If he bats above these averages then he has got to at least be a candidate to win the award.

NL Cy Young
Obvious: Leonardo Walker - Two-time NL Cy Young Award winner. Best NL pitcher. Period.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Vicente Delgado

Delgado is a former Cy Young winner from Season 13. He will need to duplicate the 2.08 ERA from that season to challenge Walker. Has won 13 or more games in nine of 10 seasons and had a sub-3.00 ERA in six of those seasons.

NL Rookie of the Year
Obvious: Leon Padgett - Former number one overall draft pick in Season 12. Extremely good pitching ratings for a 22-year old. Looks like a future Cy Young Award winner.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Louie Hayashi

Hayashi is a $15 million free agent from Japan that rawdk27 signed in Season 11. He was later traded to Mexico City and last season he made an impression during a cup of coffee stop to the Majors. He went 7 for 13 with four extra-base hits and drove in seven runs. His carrer minor league numbers were impressive as well. .324/.425/.584/1.009

NL Batting Champion
Obvious: Pat Rivera - Has won two of the last three NL batting titles. Career .345 batting average and plays in hitter's paradise.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Nap Sherman

Nap Sherman has the 5th highest batting average in league history (.322). He also owns a batting title from Season 10 and plays in the same extreme hitter's park that Rivera plays in.

AL MVP
Obvious: Louie Ma - All this guy does is win MVPs and batting titles. Has three of each.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Hugh McNeil

Lost most of last season and his hitting streak of 20+ games because of a herniated disk in his neck. McNeil, 25, has the skill to hit .300 with 40 HRs while stealing 30 bases.

AL Cy Young
Obvious: Tomas Armas - Best pitcher in Fingers history. Seven-time AL Cy Young winner.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Rico Macias

Rico Macias has 97 career wins in 5 big league seasons with the MAPS. He's recently been involved in a trade with Richmond but that won't stop him from contending for the Cy Young. If he limits the number of home runs allowed then he can win 20 games.

AL Rookie of the Year
Obvious: Samuel Davis - The 8th overall pick from Season 11 has destroyed mino league pitching at every stop. In 307 games he's hit .377 with an OPS of 1.234.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Rudy MacDougal

Righthander Rudy MacDougal was drafted 7 picks after Samuel Davis. In 100 minor league starts he has held opposing hitters to a .232 batting average and struck out 500 batters in 510 innings pitched. MacDougal has one decent pitch and good control & splits.

AL Batting Champion
Obvious: Horacio Martin - Two-time AL Batting champ. Hit .321 despite playing in extreme pitcher's park. froidl moved the team to a hitter's ballpark and Martin will benefit greatly.

Not So Obvious:

Hardball Dynasty's

Julio Ramirez

Ramirez has quietly been one of the best hitters in the league. Only once in nine seasons has his batting average been below .313. Last season it was .342 when he moved to the hitter's park in Boise. Like always, expect Louie Ma to be in this race too.

HALL OF FAME

Hardball Dynasty's

Nolan Wall

Congratulations to Nolan Wall for becoming the 1st postion player in Fingers League history to make the Hall of Fame. While looking at his statistics I saw what he accomplished in Season 5. It made me want to pose the question: In the last decade worth of seasons, who has put up the best offensive season?

Nolan Wall - FIVE - .339/.400/.705/1.105/ 59HR / 135R / 181RBI
Pedro Alvarez - SEVEN - .322/.378/.680/1.058 / 63HR / 120R / 188RBI
Chuck Moore - TWELVE - .325/.395/.694/1.089 / 71HR / 132R/ 158RBI
Pat Rivera - FOURTEEN - .361/.442/.546/.988 / 21HR / 145R / 103RBI
Louie Ma - ELEVEN - .352/.460/.665/1.125 / 40HR / 117R / 161RBI
Horacio Martin - TWELVE - .343/.433/.552/.985 / 27HR / 167R / 90RBI

WELCOME TO SEASON 15

2010-05-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

OFFSEASON MOVES

Boston deals for some big names. In three seperate moves the Brawlers added OF Del Campos, P Cliff Dessens, P Marc White and their 10 combined WS titles. bunting also added former NL MVP Spike Cambridge and 23-game winner Felipe Marquez. Three-time AL MVP Louie Ma might have made some comments to management about the three straight seasons with no playoffs.

motey's big problem with the PooHoles was that he never provided the team with enough offense. The pitching was top notch but they always finished in the bottom half of the league in runs scored. New owner zoobaseball went out and added aging but still effective slugger Santiago Santiago, 200HR/200SB club member Byung-Hyun Chen and speedy CF Mike Pickett.

Big Money Free Agents:
Cristobal Rojas 5yrs/32.5mil (Charleston)
Kenny Borders 3yrs/20.6mil (Washington)
Jacob Wells 5yrs/40mil (Richmond)
Marlon Purcell 4yrs/37.8mil (Fargo)
Edwards Fitzgerald 4yrs/33.2mil (Santa Cruz)
Chris Green 4yrs/54mil (Scranton)
Nipsey Parrish 5yrs/43.5mil (Richmond)

THE YEAR OF THE 500th HR?

Five players are within striking distance of the 500-HR club. All need 43 HRs or less to reach the milestone.

Karim Oliva - 486 HR - Oliva was once a guy with a near perfect power rating. But that number as well as his HR total have been in steadily decline since Season 11. He struggled to hit 17 HR last season and may not reach 14 until late in the year.
Esteban Rivera - 471 HR - The longtime Chicago Blackhawks backstop quietly moved to Mexico City in what could be a steal of a signing. His power rating has also been in decline since Season 11 but his HR total has not suffered. It'll be interesting to see what type of effect the NL pitching will have on this future Hall of Famer.
Clarence Black - 469 HR - Black had his streak of nine straight 40+ HR season snapped last season. It's hard to tell why he dropped to 27 HR since I see his power rating staying the same from the prior season. Regardless though, I can't bet against this guy hitting at least 31 HR. He's just too damn good.
Dale Pritchett - 459 HR - It's been a couple of seasons since Pritchett clubbed 40 HR but if he sees enough LHP he will have a good shot at hitting 41. Again, this is another guy who is too good and too close to 500 to not reach this mark in under two seasons time.
Kenny Butler - 457 HR - The move to a pitcher's park in Portland will probably keep Butler from hitting his 500th HR this season. But it will only delay the inevitable for one more season. He is only 32-years-old so he has a good number of years to exceed 500.

HALL OF FAME

In my opinion these two players are the most deserving of entry to the Hall of Fame. Both played a huge part in the three straight championships that the Richmond Tobacco Beetles franchise won.

Wall won a NL MVP Award and went to nine of the first 10 Fingers All-Star games. He had 11 seasons where he scored 90 or more runs, hit more than 26 HRs and drove in over 85 runs.

For the seven straight seasons it was a lock that Pena would finish with this line: .300 / 14 HR / 80 R / 70 RBI/ 40 XBH. In real life a catcher has only pulled this off 19 times ever. During the three Beetle title runs he hit .353 in 46 games.

WORLD SERIES RECAP

2010-04-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Game 1: New Orleans 4, Burlington 2
WP: John Stokes (1-0)
LP: Ruben Ramirez (0-1)
Save: Jeremi Gant (1)
HR: New Orleans - Sun Liang (1), Fred Butcher (1)
Player of the Game: John Stokes - 7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 4 K
NOTE: Burlington outhit the Flashers 11 to 6. But only one of the eleven went for extra bases.

Game 2: Burlington 3, New Orleans 2
WP: Rafael Castro (1-0)
LP: Marc Foster (0-1)
Save: Arthur Booker (1)
HR: Burlington - Santos Lopez 2 (2); New Orleans - Rick Wakeland (1), Allen Ruffin (1)
Player of the Game: Santos Lopez - 3 for 4, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 2 HR, triple
NOTE: Lopez broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 7th with a 2-out, 2-run HR off Marc Foster.

Game 3: Burlington 12, New Orleans 2
WP: Ruben Ramirez (1-1)
LP: Brad Grudzielanek (0-1)
HR: New Orleans - Rick Wakeland (2)
Player of the Game: Horacio Martin - 2 for 3, 4 runs, RBI, 2 BB
NOTE: New Orleans made four errors, had a passed ball, and gave up four unearned runs.

Game 4: Burlington 4, New Orleans 3
WP: Alving Guevara (1-0)
LP: Walter Sweeney (0-1)
Save: Arthur Booker (2)
HR: Burlington - Horatio Martin (1), Julian Alcantara (1)
Player of the Game: Alving Guevara - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K
NOTE: Only once in 11 games this postseason has a team scored more than 4 runs vs. MAPS.

Game 5: New Orleans 4, Burlington 1
WP: John Stokes (2-0)
LP: Rico Macias (0-1)
Save: Jeremi Gant (2)
HR: New Orleans - Allen Ruffin (1)
Player of the Game: John Stokes - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K
NOTE: With three hits in Game 5 New Orelans rookie catcher Rick Wakeland breaks the league record for hits in a single playoffs with 34.

Game 6: Burlington 9, New Orleans 8 (13 innings)
WP: Andrea Dodd (1-0)
LP: Javy Guerrero (0-1)
HR: New Orleans - Sun Liang 2 (3), Allen Ruffin (2); Santos Lopez (3)
Player of the Game: Kevin Houston - 1 for 6, 2 RBI; drove in the game-tying and -winning runs in the 13th.
NOTE: One batter before Houston ended the game, New Orleans' Albert Ferrell made a two-out error on a routine groundball.

WORLD SERIES

2010-04-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

BURLINGTON MAPS vs. NEW ORLEANS FLASHERS

For the third time in 8 seasons the MAPS and Flashers face off in the Fingers League World Series.
MAPS took the title both times. The first was in 6 games. The second in seven games.
MAPS going for 8th WS title in 8 tries.
Flashers have no titles in 2 previous tries.
MAPS are the first team in league history to win every playoff game on the path to the WS.
On their road to the WS, the Flashers became the 5th team in league history to win two series in one and done scenarios.

***STARS TO WATCH***

Hardball Dynasty's

Ruben Ramirez

3-0 / 1.71 ERA / 21 IP / .181 OAV

Hardball Dynasty's

Rick Wakeland

.388 / 26 for 67 / 3 HR / 16 RBI / 10 R

Hardball Dynasty's

Julian Alcantara

.452 / 14 for 31 / 2 HR / 7 RBI / 7 R / 7-game hit streak

Hardball Dynasty's

Vicente Delgado

2-0 / 3.04 ERA / 26 2/3 IP / 26 K / .242 OAV

Hardball Dynasty's

Santos Lopez

.333 / 10 for 30 / 3 HR / 10 RBI / 7 R

Hardball Dynasty's

Jeremi Gant

1-1 / 6 SV / 2.08 ERA / .200 OAV / 0.69 WHIP

Hardball Dynasty's

Horacio Martin

.429 / 9 for 21 / 8 R / 5 SB / .519 OBP

Hardball Dynasty's

Jonathan Scott

.367 / 26 for 67 / 3 HR / 10 RBI / 7 R

League Championship Series

2010-04-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

ALCS
Dover Dozers vs. Burlington MAPS
The #1 seed vs. the #6 seed. Truly David and Goliath in the American League. 32 wins and seven World Series trophies seperate them. The Dover franchise is playing in its first postseason. The MAPS on the other hand have won 105+ games in ten straight seasons. These two franchises are as far apart as you will find in all of HBD. And yet here they are playing for a World Series berth.

History: Dover standing four wins of the World Series because of a trade these two teams made in S13. neldozer shipped uber-pitching prospect Mariano Perez to froidl for catcher Crash Purcell and pitchers Cliff Dessens & Carlos Nunez.

In the two seasons with Dover:
Purcell: .312/.376/.568 - 85 HR, 232 RBI, 207 R - Season 13 AL ROY
Dessens: 31-22, 3.99 ERA, 80 GS, 527 IP, 349 K - won 4 rings w/ MAPS
Nunez: 69 SV, 12-15, 3.86 ERA, 152 G, 158 2/3 IP, 149 K - won 5 rings w/ MAPS

This Season: The MAPS took 8 of ten. Dover won the first two games and the MAPS finished with 8 straight over Dover. Santos Lopez crushed the Dozers. He batted .343 (12 for 35) with 4 HR, 11 RBI, 10 R. Lopez only had 2 hits in 12 at bats in the ALDS vs K.C.

Ruben Ramirez started two of the three games in the ALDS and won both. In 11 innings vs K.C., he only allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run. His numbers in two games against Dover during the regular season are very similar: 2-0, 10 IP, 7 H, 3 ER.

NLCS
Trenton Capitols vs. New Orleans Flashers
Although it has been awhile, these two franchises have faced off in the playoffs five times. Trenton walked away the victor in four of those five, including two NLCS matchups. dedelman's Capitols had its lowest winning percentage in 14 seasons but have found their way to within four wins of its record sixth NL pennant. New Orleans is looking for NL pennant number three.

This Season: New Orleans and Trenton split their season series 5-5. Pitching was the deciding factor in most of those games. Each team pitched two shutouts against each other. And nine times an opposing team was held to two runs or less.

Division Series

2010-04-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

National League Division Series

Trenton Capitols vs. Charleston Men of Risk
Men of Risk won season series 7-3
The winner of this NLDS matchup will undoubtedly be the favorite to represent the NL in the World Series. In seven of the past nine seasons, including four straight, one of these two NL East rival franshises have made it to the WS. It's hard to think of reason why it won't happen again.

Who to Watch
Trenton: Kris Jones - Mr. Trentonian crushed the ball in the Play-in Series (but who on theCaps roster didn't crush?). He was 8 for 13 with 3 HRs, 6 runs and 6 RBIs in three games. But against Charleston this past season he only hit .260 (6 for 23) with 1 HR, 3 runs and 2 RBIs.

Charleston: Felipe Marquez - I think I could have chosen the entire Big Three in Charleston's starting rotation but Marquez is the marked man. Marquez pitched stellar in his seven starts in postseason13. He followed that up with 23 wins this past season. He went 2-0 vs Trenton in S14 and only gave up 1 earned run in 14 innings.

New Orleans Flashers vs. Colorado Springs Rainbow Trout
New Orleans won season series 6-4
More than likely this will be a very tight series. Both teams have similar statistics on offense, pitching and defense. We know both teams have big-time aces so this series will come down to the other pitchers on the rosters.

Who to Watch
New Orleans: Vicente Delgado - In Game One, the NL Cy Young Award winner in S13 will face off against Leonardo Walker, the likely NL Cy Young Award winner in S14. Delgado will have to match Walker pitch for pitch to give the Flashers a chance to win. He didn't pitch against Colorado Springs this season but in the past has been very effective in the postseason (9-3, 3.10, 123 K in 136 1/3 innings). Personally I hope to see these two pitchers face off twice in this series.

Colorado Springs: Clarence Black - Black had a down year...at least by his past standards. He had career lows in runs (83), hits (159), HR (27) and RBIs (92) but this is a guy with 469 career HRs and two MVP Awards. He didn't hit particularly well against the Flashers this season (7 for 36, .194) but he has had success hitting in the playoffs (.315, 8 HRs in 92 AB). If he gets the bat going the Rainbow Trout are heading to the NLCS.

American League Division Series

Dover Dozers vs. Santa Cruz Spartans
Santa Cruz won season series 7-3
This series has a very MAPS feel to it. Both teams sport several ex-MAPS on their rosters, including three ace pitchers, Cliff Dessens for Dover & Nick Ransom and Tomas Armas for Santa Cruz. The latter two no doubt give Santa Cruz the edge.

Who to Watch
Dover: Cristobal Gabriel - Gabriel was the MVP for all four first round matchups. He almost single-handedly knocked out the defending champion Brewmasters himself. In those four games, he went 10 for 19 with 4 HRs, 7 runs and 13 RBIs. All this coming from the Dozers lead off spot. But in his S14 matchups with the Spartans Gabriel hit a meager .200 (7 for 35).

Santa Cruz: Nick Ransom - What a shocking pick! This quite as easily could have been Armas but of the two, Ransom had more success vs Dover this season. In 3 appearances, he went 2-0 with an ERA of 2.12. He pitched 17 innings and gave up only 10 hits while striking out 20. Total Domination.

Kansas City Fountainheads vs. Burlington MAPS
Kansas City won season series 6-4
I was shocked to see that KC had won the season series against the MAPS. With 118 wins, I assumed that no team took a season series over them. Four of the ten games these two played were decided by one run (each won 2). This series has the potential to be alot tighter than we might think by just looking at records.

Who to Watch:
Kansas City: Bullpen - 10 players recorded a save for KC in S14. So this truly is a bullpen by committee. And every guy in the bullpen will be needed in this series because when you get a lead on the MAPS you can't let them back in the game. In 10 games vs MAPS, the KC bullpen pitched 37 1/3 innings. They allowed 36 hits and 22 earned runs (5.30 ERA).

Burlington: Andrea Dodd - Dodd easily posted the best season of his career in S14. He had career highs in wins, innings pitched and starts. He also had career lows in ERA and OAV. But a side from all the critical talk of his control, the one thing lacking with this guy is postseason experience. He has pitched exactly six postseason innings in only one career start and that was way back in S5.

Playoffs

2010-04-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

National League
1. Charleston - 10th playoff appearance, defending NL Champions
2. Colorado Springs - 3rd playoff appearance
3. New Orleans - 11th playoff appearance
4. Chicago - 2nd playoff appearance
5. Trenton - 14th playoff appearance
6. Colorado - 9th playoff appearance

3-6 Matchup
Colorado won season series 6-4
Seven of 10 games decided by 2 runs or less
Jacob Wells vs New Orleans in S14 - .463 (19 for 41) 4 hr, 9 runs, 11 rbi, 2 bb, 9 k
Orlando Bennett vs Colorado in S14 - 4 games, 1-1, 6.14 era, 7 1/3 ip, 10 h, 5 er, 2 hr

4-5 Matchup
Trenton won season series 6-4
Nive of 10 games dcided by 3 or more runs
Juan Henriquez vs Chicago in S14 - .200 (5 for 25) 2 hr, 7 runs, 5 rbi, 7 bb, 6 k
Mike Parnell vs Trenton in S14 - .325 (13 for 40) 4 doubles, 2 hr, 9 runs, 5 rbi, 3 sb

American League
1. Burlington - 11th playoff appearance
2. Santa Cruz - 9th playoff appearance
3. Milwaukee - 4th playoff appearance, defending WS Champs
4. El Paso - 4th playoff appearance
5. Kansas City - 6th playoff appearance
6. Dover - 1st playoff appearance

3-6 Matchup
Season series tied 5-5
Eight of 10 decided by 3 or more runs
Cliff Dessens vs Milwaukee in S14 - 3 starts, 0-2, 7.41 era, 17 ip, 22 h, 14 er, 8 k, 6 bb
Boomer Charles vs Dover in S14 - 3 starts, 1-1, 5.51 era, 16 1/3 ip, 24 h, 10 er, 11 k, 3 bb

4-5 Matchup
Season series tied 5-5
Five games decided by one run or less
Chuck Moore vs. KC in S14 - .316 (12 for 38), 6 hr, 9 runs, 12 rbi, 4 bb, 3 k
Zephyr Casian vs El Paso in S14 - 1 start, 0-0 6.43 era, 7 ip, 9 h, 5 er, 4 hr, 6 k, 1 bb

------

Congrats to Sante Fe's Pat Rivera on breaking the single season hits record.

Best Defensive Catcher in League History

Hardball Dynasty's

John Kobayashi

Wins 5th Gold Glove Award

Greatest Collection of MVP Candidates Ever
Four of the five AL MVP Candidates are future Hall of Famers: (Santos Lopez, Horacio Martin, Chuck Moore, Louie Ma)
Four were top-5 draft picks: (Julian Alcantara, Lopez, Moore, Ma)
Two are former #1 draft picks: (Lopea, Moore)
Three will battle for highest career SLG%: (Ma, Moore, Lopez)
Two will battle for highest career batting average and OBP: (Ma, Martin)
Two will battle for most career home runs: (Lopez, Moore)

International Signings
Three international players were given bonuses of $18 million and over. There's a poll above with the question: Which of the four players will have the best ML career?

Hardball Dynasty's

Rafael Martin
$32.0 M

Hardball Dynasty's

Dennis Kobayashi
$26.0 M

Hardball Dynasty's

Victor Rodriguez
$18.1 M

Down the Stretch

2010-03-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some things to watch in the 20+ HBD days left in the Fingers League's 14th regular season.

WILD CARD RACES

Four of the divison leaders have leads of seven games or more. So the Wild Card race will be a dog fight between the left over teams. The NL has three teams within four games of each other fighting for the final spot.

The AL side has four teams in the same situation. And it's very interesting over there. The Charlotte Wyverns are rolling with a rookie owner, the Syracuse Hop Hounds and Dover Dozers have one playoff appearance combined and the Boise Ice Breakers haven't made it since Season 9.

The three NL teams have had their own futilities. The Iowa City Corn Kings have missed the playoffs every season since Season 5. The Colorado Cougars have knocked on the door of the World Series twice in three seasons only to lose in the NLCS each time. And the Pittsburgh PooHoles have made it past the second round once in nine playoff appearances.

Hardball Dynasty's

Pat Rivera

Rivera is currently hitting .379. Two points above the league record. He has 13 games at his heavy hitters home ballpark and four series at ballbarks that are at least slighty hitters. He is also within 25 hits of the league record of 233.

Burlington MAPS (AL)
froidl
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The most decorated franchise in Fingers history will hit 110 wins for the 8th straight season. I really have no clue what team could knock them off come playoff time. But I hope to see ex-MAPS and current Santa Cruz Spartans pitchers Tomas Armas and Nick Ransom get their chance at some point.

Speaking of Armas, he and teammate Donatello Davey are tied for most career wins at 218. Armas will without a doubt take hold of this record and not hand it over for quite some time. He should have two more seasons at his current ratings. But when he turns 37 he will start to lose one rating point in major pitching categories per rating cycle. I'm hoping this great pitcher will have enough left in the tank to win 300 games.

ALL-STAR GAME

2010-03-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

*** NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - ZEPHYR FIELD - HOME OF THE FLASHERS AND THE 14th ANNUAL FINGERS LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME ***

National League 7, American League 6
WP: Jarrod Diaz
LP: Nick Ransom
Save: Michael Monroe

If only the National League could be so lucky in the World Series. The NL won the All-Star Game 7-6 for their third consecutive victory over the American League. Unlike last season's pitcher duel, this All-Star Game featured 13 runs, 24 hits and 4 errors.

The player of the game was Sante Fe's Davey West. He had a pinch hit RBI single in the 3rd inning that gave the NL a lead it wouldn't lose. Although the box score says he drove in the game-winning that just isn't true. His hit gave the NL a 5-4 lead. The eventual game winning run happened the next inning when Jay Worrell stole 2nd base and the throw sailed into CF allowing Rick Wakeland to skirt home and make the score 7-4.

Game Notes:
- The host New Orleans Flashers sent a National League-best five players to the All-Star Game, including rookie catcher Rick Wakeland, who got the start. Burlington MAPS led the AL with 7 participants.
- Tomas Armas was the American League's starting pitcher for the 3rd straight All-Star Game. He started despite only being at 49%. Leonardo Walker was the NL's starter. More on him below.
- The American League pounded three home runs. The National League hit none. Horacio Martin, Russ Bale and Brian Kim each hit one out. Martin led off the game with a HR.

BREAKDOWN OF ALL-STARS BY COUNTRY
Dominican Republic 8
Cuba 2
Venezuela 1
Mexico 1
Vietnam 1
Japan 1
Nicaragua 1
USA 45

Top States:
California 6
New York 5
Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri 4

HOME RUN DERBY

Hardball Dynasty's

Cristobal Johnson

Sante Fe power hitter Cristobal Johnson defeated defending Home Run Derby Champion Sam Sobkowiak in the finals of the 14th annual Fingers League Home Run Derby. Johnson outslugged Richmond's Sobkowiak 8 to 7. In the three round competition Johnson totaled 30 HRs, 5 more than Sobkowiak hit.

Highlights include:
- MAPS second baseman Santos Lopez hit four HRs, each over 495 feet long, in a five pitch span. The longest traveled 528 feet before planting itself in the left field seats.
- Sobkowiak hit 8 home runs in a row during the first round.

FIRST HALF NEWS

- The Season of Hitting Streaks -
Five players in the first half had hitting streaks of 20 games or more. Cincinnati's Danny Stone had the longest streak when he hit safely in 28 straight games. The foure others were: Sante Fe's Pat Rivera (25), Washington's Hugh McNeil (22), Colorado's Kip Plant (20) and Kansas City's Woodie Swann (20). McNeil's streak is still in progress since he was placed on the disabled with a herniated disk in his neck mid-streak.

- Look of Greatness -
Leonardo Walker is putting up one of the great pitching seasons in Fingers League history. He is on pace to finish the season with a record of 23-5 with 9 CGs and 253 K. His potential strikeout total this season would be the highest in league history. He is also on pace to finish Top 5 in the single season record books in: K/BB ratio, batting average against, opponents' on-base percentage, opponents' slugging percentage, WHIP and ERA.

Draft 14

2010-02-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

For a 7th straight season the first pick in the amateur draft was a pitcher. Atlanta chose Roger Haren, a left-hander from high school. He looks to be a high durability fireballer with excellent control and very good splits. Since tbuddens52 took over the Aces he has drafted an arsenal of pitchers who have yet to hit the big leagues, including: Banana Nichols, Paul Higginson, Yuu Komatsu, Douglas Winn and Sammy Bell.

It seems as high schoolers were the stronger group in the draft. 34 of 59 picks in the first round and supplemental round were high school kids. But the best hitter of the draft looks to be University of Texas grad Al Cook who went #2 overall to Jackson. Cook has the power potential to hit 50 HRs a season.

The overall consesnus of the draft quality was disapointing so let's all hope the DITR update brings us some major leaguers.

600 HOME RUNS!

2010-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Pedro Alvarez

Pedro Alvarez's quest to become the first member of the Fingers League's 600 Home Run Club ended in the bottom of the 6th inning of the 2/12 PM1 game. Alvarez, who came to the plate as a pinch hitter, deposited a Damian Martin pitch over the LF wall at Coors Field.

The game was stopped for a 15-minute celebration where Alvarez gave a short speech and received an honorary plaque commemorating his acheivement.

Alvarez noted that the journey from 500 to 600 home runs has been long. He hit his 500th HR during Season 9 and has hit only 73 HRs during the last 4+ seasons. To reflect on his early greatness, Alvarez hit 77 HRs in Season 2 alone and he has four other seasons where he finished with over 60 HRs.

Predictions and Such

2010-02-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARDS

CY YOUNG:

Hardball Dynasty's

Brad Tebeau

Indy_Indians has done a very nice job in piecing together his team through the draft. 20 players on his ML squad were obtained through that avenue - tied for most in the league. It all started with this guy. Tebeau, the overall number 1 pick in Season 8, broke out last season with 16 wins, 5 CG, 235 2/3 IP and 212 K.

Dark Horse: Ruben Ramirez - Burlington MAPS

MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Chuck Moore

It's too hard to pick somebody else other than Moore. He's won back-to-back MVP Awards and deserves to be the favorite for a third. It will be interesting to see what the HR updates do to his totals. He's hit 141 bombs over the past two MVP campaigns.

Dark Horse: Spike Cambridge - Cincinnati MuckLucks

BATTING CHAMP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Louie Ma

Ma has hit at least .340 in four out of the last five seasons. And with froidl moving his MAPS to a pitcher's ballpark, Horacio Martin is removed from the conversation.

Dark Horse: Crash Purcell - Dover Dozers

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

Hardball Dynasty's

Geraldo Gabriel

rawdk selected lefthanded pitcher Geraldo Gabriel with the 8th overall pick in the Season 10 draft. In 100 career minor league starts Gabriel has a 3.26 K-to-BB ratio and he allowed just one HR per 11.6 innings pitched. Playing for the defending champion helps but so does throwing strikes and keeping the ball in the yard.

Dark Horse: John Boyd - Dover Dozers

NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS

CY YOUNG:

Hardball Dynasty's

Leonardo Walker

You're looking at the most dominating pitcher in the National League. In Walker's three-year career he has completed nearly a quarter of his starts and opponents have hit a measly .213 against him. He's a strong bet to throw 230 innings and strike out 230 batters.

Dark Horse: Felipe Marquez - Charleston Men of Risk

MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Kennie Duncan

Duncan has been a Silver Slugger Award winner in each of his two seasons. And in a lineup bursting with talent Duncan has the potential to put up a monster season. It's not crazy to think of his season ending line looking like: 200 hits, 30 HR, 30 SB, 100 RBI, 120 runs, 40 doubles.

Dark Horse: Jacob Wells - Colorado Cougars

BATTING CHAMP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Pat Rivera

Rivera won the NL batting title two seasons ago. He's never hit below .336. His home stadium is a hitter's paradise. Three out of five NL batting champs played for Sante Fe.

Dark Horse: Sam Sobkowiak - Richmond Rebels

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

Hardball Dynasty's

Bill Parkers

Parkers is a big lumbering Canuck. The 24-year-old Saskatchewan native stands 6-foot-4 and has been crushing baseballs at every level. His career minor league OPS is 1.061 and he drove in over one run a game. The Metrodome is a slight hitters park and Parkers could hit 50+ doubles there.

Dark Horse: Rick Wakeland - New Orleans Flashers

REAL LIFE COMPARISONS
Louie Ma is arguably the best position player in the Fingers League. We all know what bunting's stance on the subject is. He is only 27 years old but has already taken home two AL batting titles and two AL MVP Awards.

Similar to Ma, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols joined their respective big league clubs as a 21-year-old. Below are the three players statistics from their rookie seasons to the beginning of their seasons as a 27-year-old:

DiMaggio/ 825 G/ 3368 AB/ 735 R/ 1163 H/ 214 2B/ 198 HR/ 816 RBI/ .345
Pujols/ 933 G/ 3489 AB/ 748 R/ 1159 H/ 260 2B/ 250 HR/ 758 RBI/ .332
Ma/ 811 G/ 3030 AB/ 639 R/ 1016 H/ 237 2B/ 237 HR/ 751 RBI/ .335

The following is their 162 game average over the same time period:
DiMaggio/ 661 AB/ 144 R/ 228 H/ 42 2B/ 39 HR/ 160 RBI/ .345
Pujols/ 605 AB/ 130 R/ 201 H/ 45 2B/ 43 HR/ 132 RBI/ .332
Ma/ 605 AB/ 128 R/ 203 H/ 44 2B/ 47 HR/ 150 RBI/ .335

Hardball Dynasty's

Frank Chong

Frank Chong was the first pitcher automatically nominated to the Fingers Hall of Fame. He was the most dominating pitcher during the first decade. I think I found a pretty good comparison when I looked to see if any real life pitchers were similar. Greg Maddux.

Obviously Chong didn't have the long career that Maddux enjoyed but many of their numbers are remarkably close. Below is a look at those similarities:
Chong: 3.17 ERA/ 3.28 KtoBB/ 1.145 WHIP/ .238 OBA/ .290 OBP/ .361 SLG
Maddux: 3.16 ERA/ 3.37 KtoBB/ 1.143 WHIP/ .250 OBA/ .291 OBP/ .358 SLG

Maddux (in 1994) was also the only pitcher since 1950 to equal Chong's Season 6, which is the best single season pitching perfomance in Fingers history:
Chong: 16-4/ 1.61 ERA/ .905 WHIP/ 5.11 KtoBB/ 10 CG/ 6.7 H/9
Maddux: 16-6/ 1.56 ERA/ .896 WHIP/ 5.03 KtoBB/10 CG/ 6.7 H/9

HAPPY RETIREMENT?

Hardball Dynasty's

James Yamaguchi

No closer in Fingers history has won more Fireman of the Year Awards than James Yamaguchi. He owns four. But as of the time of writing this, Yamaguchi is a free agent. Being 35-years-old with rapidly declining skills doesn't help much with getting a job.

Yamaguchi will be automatically eligible for the Hall of Fame when he retires and rightfully so. Eight times he finished with 30 or more saves in a season and if he never pitches again he will retire as #2 on the all-time saves list with 307.

SEASON 14

2010-01-24T21:07:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE***
Defending League Champions, Milwaukee Brewmasters, have been busy making trades to improve the roster. Big names coming to town: Boomer Charles, Jesse Dixon and Willie Ruiz.

Capitols owner dedelman gave Juan Henriquez a dump truck full of cash to get him in Trenton. Henriquez signed for $92 mil over 5 seasons. This includes $30 mil for the first season.

Pitcher Antonio Nomura gets a 5 year, $89.75 mil contract from Las Vegas. Asian call girl service in Vegas just hit the jackpot.

***UPDATE***
The war continues. mcbain10's Spartans add Armas (4 years, $50 mil) and Ransom (4 years, $38 mil). The ex-MAPS helped eliminate the Spartans from the playoffs in Seasons 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 13. Good news for froidl though, he added overall draft picks 26, 35, 40 and 69. These will no doubt be packaged next season for your best prospect.

Martin went back to Trenton for 4 years, $24 mil. Governor Christie proclaimed it a great day for Trentonians and all of New Jersey.
***

Welcome to the 14th edition of the Fingers League. And a special welcome to all the new owners. Good luck to all!

It's looking to be an interesting offseason. The number of trades seems to be on the low side. It makes me think that some owners are shooting for additions via free agency.

And why not? 16 of us have more than $20 million to spend. Six lucky guys have over $40 million. Perennial 90-game winner Santa Cruz Spartans have a whopping $66 mil.

Four Type A free agent pitchers with a combined 646 career wins will break the bank. 34-year-old Tomas Armas is the best pitcher in league history. He, his six Cy Young Awards and seven championship rings may be moving to a new city with a possible maximum salary.

Armas' MAPS teammate Nick Ransom, and Trenton Capitols Mark Nakamura and Damian Martin round out the top 4 starting pitchers that expect to get massive contracts.

One position player that has offensive numbers to legitimize any lineup is 1B Juan Henriquez. At 27, he enters the market with 218 career HRs and a .302 batting average. He is automatically a MVP candidate if he can duplicate his Season 11 stats (.347/.479/.633).

Finger League Managers

2009-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

The following is a list of managers and their Fingers League Records:
dedelman: 1346-760
froidl: 1271-835
andrewfrance: 1218-888
themehl: 1213-893
Indy_Indians: 1030-1076
patrick885: 1011-933
qprime: 937-1169
waymac73: 919-1025
wihargo: 910-710
mcbain10: 906-552
bunting10: 881-901
moteydm: 857-925
kern_82: 849-771
jying98: 815-805
johncfremont: 797-823
bux_express: 773-685
drvmu1: 644-652
rawdk27: 445-365
skidmark: 334-476
godsize: 212-274
tdvy: 179-145
tbuddens52: 165-321
grivfmd1: 155-169
neldozer: 81-81
randyrossrac: 78-84
pbodine: 75-87
edw1225: 71-91
jjboogie: 61-101

RETIREMENTS

2009-12-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Bo Anderson

164-117 / 4.45 ERA / 2425.2 IP / 1857 K
won 17 or more games in a season four times.
2x NL All-Star; 1x NL Gold Glove

Hardball Dynasty's

Harry Hinch

.263 / 1697 hits / 503 HR / 1335 RBI / 1187 runs
hit 50 or more HRs in a season four times. Nine straight seasons of 40+ HRs and 100+ RBIs.
3x AL All-Star, 2x AL Silver Slugger (DH)

Hardball Dynasty's

Richard Satou

.283 / 1614 hits / 353 HR / 1150 RBI / 1033 runs / 182 SB
Nine straight seasons of 30+ HRs. Five seasons with 30+ HRS and 20+ SBs.
2x AL All-Star; 4x AL Silver Slugger (LF)

World Series XIII

2009-12-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

WORLD SERIES MVP:
Hardball Dynasty's
J.P. Nunez

J.P Nunez - won 2 games, 1.29 era, 15k/4bb

** Game Recaps **

Game One: Charleston 3, Milwaukee 1
WP: Felipe Marquez (1-0)
LP: Antonio Nomura (0-1)
Save: Juan Delgado (1)
HR: None
Player of Game: Zoltan McNeil - 1 for 4, 2 RBIs. With the game tied at 1 in the top of the sixth inning, McNeil drove in two runs with a double down the leftfield line off of Nomura.
NOTE: Juan Delgado notched a record-breaking 9th save of the playoffs.

Game Two: Milwaukee 7, Charleston 4
WP: Patrick Snyder (1-0)
LP: Emmanuel Russell (0-1)
Save: Al Duvall (1)
HR: Charleston - Dario Dickens; Milwaukee - Harry Harris, Braden Kennedy
Player of the Game: Santiago Pichardo - 3 for 4, 3 RBIs. Hit a two-out RBI single off of Russell in the third inning that gave the Brew a lead they never gave up. He later doubled home two more runs.
NOTE: Milwaukee's 1-4 hitters (Harry Harris, Rafael Silva, Braden Kennedy, Jacob Wells) combine to go 7 for 17, 5 runs, 2HRs, 3 RBIs.

Game Three: Milwaukee 4, Charleston 2
WP: J.P. Nunez (1-0)
LP: Ralph Hall (0-1)
Save: Al Duvall (2)
HR: Milwaukee - Everett Dresden
Player of the Game: J.P. Nunez - 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 earned run, 6 K, 1 BB. Nunez got out of jams in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings before surrendering his lone run in the 6th.
NOTE: The biggest spot in the game occured in the bottom of the 8th inning. With Milwuakee leading 3-2, Charleston's Harry Gwynn came to plate as a pinch hitter with two runners on and two outs. Brew setup man Clayton Mills struck Gwynn out looking to end the threat.

Game Four: Charleston 5, Milwaukee 2
WP: Felipe Marquez (2-0)
LP: Al Abreu (0-1)
Save: Juan Delgado (2)
HR: Charleston - Zoltan McNeil; Milwaukee - Rafael Silva
Player of the Game: Micah Worthington - 2 for 3, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs. Worthington hit 2-run doubles in the 1st and 3rd innings.
NOTE: The first team to score has won each of the four games.

Game Five: Milwaukee 2, Charleston 1
WP: Juan Picasso (1-0)
LP: Pedro Sanchez (0-1)
Save: Al Duvall (3)
HR: NONE
Player of the Game: Rafael Silva - 1 for 4, 1 RBI - Drove home the winning run in the top of the ninth inning.
NOTE: After pitching a scoreless 8th inning, Sanchez got into trouble in the ninth. After recording the first out, he gave up a walk and a single. Charleston's Juan Delgado came in to put the fire out but gave up a single to Silva that drove home the winning run.

Game Six: Milwaukee 3, Charleston 1
WP: J.P. Nunez (2-0)
LP: Torey Chantres (0-1)
Save: Al Duvall (4)
HR: Charleston - Howie Gordon; Milwaukee - Rafael Silva (2)
Player of the Game: J.P. Nunez - 8 IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 9 K, 3 BB
NOTE: Silva's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th gives Milwaukee a 3-1 lead and Duvall slams the door 1-2-3 in the 9th.

WORLD SERIES XIII

2009-12-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

Milwaukee Brewmasters vs. Charleston Men of Risk

MILWAUKEE BREWMASTERS / Owner: rawdk27
98-64 / won AL North / beat Chicago 3-2 in ALDS / beat Hartford 4-2 in ALCS

rawdk27's franchise is the only the 5th to win the American League pennant. His Brewmasters beat froid's uber-dynasty in six games, ending the 7-time champion's reign.

The Brewmasters have batted a lowly .227 in the postseason. But the offense picked up as the playoffs went on. After scoring only 13 runs in their first six playoff games, the Brew hitters came alive in their last five and dropped 33.

But like they have all season the Milwaukee pitching staff, which boasts seven 10-game winners, carried Milwaukee in the playoffs. Opponents only hit .208 and the staff ERA was 3.21. Surprisingly, if you remove ace pitcher J.P. Nunez's numbers the team ERA drops to 2.36. Nunez is currently set as the Game 3 starter but has started five of the team's 11 playoff games.

DARK HORSE SERIES CHANGER:

Hardball Dynasty's

Patrick Snyder

Snyder is slated to be the Brewmasters Game 2 starter. Durability is the only category holding him back from ace ratings. In a long series Snyder could be ready to start in Game 7. And his numbers prove he'd be hell of a game changer.
Reg Season - 18 starts / 10-4 / 1.84 ERA / .213 OAV / 1.03 WHIP
Post Season - 2 starts / 2-0 / 1.38 ERA / .184 OAV / 0.85 WHIP

CHARLESTON MEN OF RISK / Owner: andrewfrance
91-71 / NL Wild Card / beat Pittsburgh 3-2 in NL Play-in Series / beat Trenton 3-1 in NLDS / beat Salt Lake City 4-3 in NLCS

andrewfrance has led his Men of Risk to their second World Series appearance. They are the sixth NL Wild Card to make the World Series. Only one of those previous five - the Tobacco Beetles in Season 2 - won the World Series.

The thing that jumps off the page about Charleston on their drive to the World Series is the bullpen. Eight bullpen pitchers have combined for some sick postseason numbers. 7-0; 1.60 ERA; 8 saves in 9 chances; 62 IP; 50 hits; 11 earned runs; 39K/14BB.

39-year-old Juan Delgado is an original on this Men of Risk roster. He was on their big league roster in Season 1 and was a beast during Charleston's Season 6 World Series run. Delgado's career had a resurgance this past season when he became the team's closer. He saved 27 games and won seven others.

DARK HORSE SERIES CHANGER:

Hardball Dynasty's

B.J. Owens

Owens will be the backup catcher behind Stewart Hairston for most of this series since Milwaukee's staff is primarily filled with right-handed pitchers. But three of the Brew bullpen - including closer Al Duvall - is left-handed. Owens is a specialist against LHP so he may have some key late game ABs.
Reg. Season vs. LHP - .300/.354/.564; 17 HRs in 227 ABs
Post Season vs. LHP - .400/.429/.600; 1 HR in 20 ABs

PREVIOUS SERIES THIS SEASON
Milwaukee took two of three games in Charleston around Halloween.
Game 1: Milwaukee 8, Charleston 6 - Jacob Wells hits game-winning HR in top of 9th.
Game 2: Charleston 4, Milwaukee 2 - Dario Dickens breaks a 2-2 tie in the 5th with a two-run HR.
Game 3: Milwaukee 4, Charleston 1 - Patrick Snyder pitches six scoreless innings of two-hit ball.

Season 13 Wrap Up

2009-12-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

PLAYOFFS
American League
1. Hartford
2. Milwaukee

3. El Paso vs. 6. Chicago -- El Paso won season series 6-4
4. Salem vs. 5. Scottsdale -- Scottsdale won season series 6-4

National League
1. Trenton
2. Sante Fe

3. Salt Lake City vs. 6. New York -- New York won season series 7-3
4. Pittsburgh vs. 5. Charleston --Charleston won season series 6-4

AL MVP
The AL MVP race features the three best hitters in the entire Fingers League. The numbers these players put up season after season are ridiculous. Its virtually impossible to find RL players that even compare.

Chuck Moore - one-time AL MVP. 312 career HRs and only 26 years old. 70+ HRs in back-to-back seasons; 60+ HRs in 4 straight seasons; 200+ hits in back-to-back seasons; and 150+ RBIs in 3 straight seasons; career 9.8 AB/HR.

Horacio Martin - two-time AL Batting Champion. has played exactly 1000 games and has scored 1004 runs. 3 straight seasons of: .340+ avg; 150+ runs; 200+ hits, 50+ SBs.

Louie Ma - two-time AL MVP and two-time AL Batting Champion. hit .340 for the 4th time in 5 seasons; 5 straight seasons of: 35+ HRs; 100 runs; 110 RBIs.

Typical Neifi Martin Update
Came up short of the hits record but tied for second with 228. He took home the NL Batting title. And he'll more than likely take home the NL ROY. Winning the NL MVP Award will be much tougher though.

He's up against two previous NL MVP Award winners, Clarence Black and Taylor Glynn. And no player has ever taken home both the MVP and ROY awards in the same season. Only one pitcher, Leonardo Walker, has taken home the Cy Young and ROY awards in the same season.

Martin did catch a break with Cristobal Johnson not being selected as one of the finalists. Johnson led the NL in HRs and RBIs and he finished 2nd in runs scored.

CARLOS SANCHEZ - 500 CAREER HRs

2009-11-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Carlos Sanchez
Santa Fe
Scorchers
Age: 32	B/T: R/R
Born: Chinandega, NI
Position(s): SS/IF/OF/DH
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Sanchez hit his 500th career home run off of Vancouver's Matty Morgan in the 4th inning of the 9/28 PM1 game. It was a solo shot that just cleared the fence in leftfield.

The 32-year old should be able to pass all-time home run leader Pedro Alvarez, who has 596 HRs, in two to three seasons. It's ashame that an old owner moved him down to the minors in seasons 3 & 4 because he could have more HRs than Alvarez.

Season 13

2009-11-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

Can the Milwaukee Brewmasters Win the AL?

Milwaukee Brewmasters (AL)
rawdk27
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

As of the 11/20 PM2 cycle the Brewmasters have the best record in the American League. rawdk27 has his squad on pace to increase its win total for the fourth straight season. The defending AL North Champions made it to the ALCS last season but fell to the MAPS dynasty in six games. And more than likely the Brewmasters will have to beat the MAPS to take the pennant this season.

We get a little taste of the matchup with a 3-game set in Hartford starting in the 11/21 AM cycle.

The key to the Brewmasters' success has been pitching. It's been nasty to say the least. They lead the AL in: ERA, Saves, Strikeouts, Hits Allowed, Runs Allowed, Earned Runs Allowed, WHIP and K/9 IP. The bullpen has also allowed the least inherited runners to score. With 40 games still to play the Brew have three pitchers with 10+ wins, and another three pitchers have 8+ wins.

But even with pitching so deep Milwaukee will still have to go into Hartford's bambox and face the League's most punishing lineup come playoff time. So far this season the Brew are 1-6 vs. the MAPS. After winning the season's first matchup they have lost the past six. They have been outscored 48-22 in those seven games. While being swept in three games by the MAPS prior to the All-Star Break the Brew pitching staff was bombed for 31 runs.

An interesting note about the seven games between these two teams is Milwaukee's superstar closer Al Duvall saw action only one time. He picked up the save in a scoreless inning during the first game and never sniffed the mound again. Somehow, someway the Brew has to get the ball to Duvall with a lead.

More Neifi Martin

Neifi Martin continues to chew up National League pitchers. The 22-year old is still hitting over .370 and his recent ten-game stretch, where he went 16-for-46 (.348), actually lowered his season's average. I took a look at the real-life Major Leagues and found that only three players since 1901 have hit over .370 at such a young age. They are: Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson, and Ted Williams.

All-Star Game 13

2009-11-09T09:47:00.001-08:00

*** JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - BOON STADIUM - HOME of the BROWNES and the FINGERS LEAGUE'S 13th ALL STAR GAME ***

ALL-STAR GAME
For the second straight season the National League won the Fingers League All-Star Game. The NL outpitched the American League to squeak out a 4-2 victory. Sante Fe Scorchers SS Carlos Sanchez won the game's MVP Award. Sanchez belted two hits, drove in the NL's first two runs and scored the eventual game winning run in the 5th inning.

WP: Boomer Charles (Salt Lake City)
LP: Patrick Snyder (Milwaukee)
Save: Julian Williams (Salt Lake City)
HR: Alberto Granados (Washington)

Game Notes:

Hardball Dynasty's

Bonk Blake

Bonk Blake made his 10th All-Star Game Appearance, a Fingers League record. He entered the game in the 5th inning and flied out to deep LCF in his only at bat. Blake without a doubt is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

The starting pitchers for the game: Charleston's Ralph Hall and Hartford's Tomas Armas. Hall, 29, has already tied his career high in wins with 12. The 33-year-old Armas, who is arguably the best pitcher in league history, has a 14-3 record.

Washington's Hugh McNeil made the game's only two errors. He booted a ground ball in the 5th inning that allowed Carlos Sanchez to move from second base to third. The next batter, Taylor Glynn, drove Sanchez in with a fielder's choice.

HOME RUN DERBY
Winner:

Hardball Dynasty's

Sam Sobkowiak

28 HRs in three rounds. Sobkowiak was trailing Sante Fe's Cristobal Johnson by five HRs going into the final round. But in that final round Sobkowiak blasted 11 out of the park compared to Johnson's four to take the trophy.

**FIRST HALF NEWS**
The BIG story of the first half has to be New York Gothams rookie 1B Neifi Martin. Martin is hitting a major league-best .389. He also leads the major leagues in hits and on base percentage. His 23-game hitting streak is tied for the longest of the season. themehl drafted him 14th overall in season 9.

Hardball Dynasty's

Neifi Martin

Last season Chuck Moore became the 2nd player ever to hit 70 HRs in a season. He finished with 71, six behind record holder Pedro Alvarez. Moore and two others, Spike Cambridge and Cristobal Johnson, are on pace to reach 70 HRs by season's end.

Washington's Hades Simpson and Sam Blackley combined for a no-hitter vs. Houston. Simpson walked a batter with one out in the ninth to lose the perfect game. Blackley entered the ball game and recorded the final two outs.

Hardball Dynasty's

Yuu Komatsu

The Atlants Aces took high school pitcher Yuu Komatsu with the first pick in the draft. He is the 6th straight pitcher to be taken with the first overall pick. Brad Tebeau, the first of those six pitchers to be taken #1 overall, is throwing a Cy Young quality season. After going 25-22 in his first two seasons, Tebeau is 11-3 with 4 complete games.

Spring Training -- Season 13

2009-09-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome New Owners:
edw1225 -- Mexico City Banditos Yanquis -- NL SOUTH
pbodine -- Oakland Bohemians -- NL WEST
neldozer -- Dover Dozers -- AL NORTH
prezuiwf -- Texas Cattle Prods -- AL SOUTH

Movers and Shakers:
Portland Pooholes ---> Pittsburgh Pooholes
Baltimore Blue Crabs ---> New York Gothams
Detroit Motor City Mechanics ---> Milwaukee Brewmasters

Milestones Within Reach:
Donatello Davey is four wins from career win number 200. His Spartan teammate Norberto Almanza is 10 wins away from the same mark. They will be the first two players to reach 200 wins in league history.

Career HR leader Pedro Alvarez is 13 HRs away from 600. But the 38-year old has only hit 31 HRs over the last two seasons. Carlos Sanchez has 458 career HRs. He should hit number 500 this season and at 32 years old he has a great chance to be the eventual career HR leader.

Alex Flores will pitch in his 900th game early in the season. By the end of season 13 he will likely have pitched in 100 more games than any other pitcher in league history.

Who's the Best Overall Player in Fingers League?
According to my ratings only two players have an overall rating of 90 or higher. It's not surprising these players are both 5-tool players who stay healthy and are extremely durable.

Hardball Dynasty's

Rafael Silva

- 27 years old; 5 ML years; drafted 3rd overall in season 5
- 4x Silver Slugger; 4x All-Star
- Career Hitting: .303 avg; 175 HRs; 152 SBs
- Career Fielding: .957 fld%; 158 errors; 19 + plays (SS,3B,CF)

Hardball Dynasty's

Santos Lopez

- 26 years old; 5 ML years; drafted 1st overall in season 5
- 4x Silver Slugger; 4 x All-Star; 1x Gold Glove; Rookie of Year
- Career Hitting: .278 avg; 253 HRs; 103 SBs
- Career Fielding: .985 fld%; 52 errors; 14 + plays (2B,3B,1B,OF)

WORLD SERIES XII

2009-09-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

WORLD SERIES MVP
Hardball Dynasty's
Santos Lopez

7 for 19, .368 avg, 5 runs, 7 RBIs, double, triple, 4 HRs, 3 BB, SB

*GAME RECAPS*

Game One: Hartford 5, Trenton 4
WP: Carlos Nunez (1-0)
LP: Lynn Rubel (0-1)
HR: Trenton - Mark Garland, Billy Strickland; Hartford - Brook Diaz, Santiago Santiago, Santos Lopez 2
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Santos Lopez - 2 for 4, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, 2 runs
NOTE: Game One of the Season 11 World Series was also a 5-4 M.A.P.S. win. The M.A.P.S. took the lead for good in the eighth inning of both games.

Game Two: Trenton 11, Hartford 6
WP: Mark Nakamura (1-0)
LP: Rico Macias (0-1)
SV: Lynn Rubel (1)
HR: Trenton - Louis Munoz, Alex Rivera; Hartford - Julian Alcantara, Santos Lopez (3), Matty Ordaz
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alex Rivera - 3 for 6, HR, 4 RBIs, run
NOTE: Trenton's 16 hits were one less than they had the entire World Series 11.

Game Three: Hartford 7, Trenton 4
WP: Tomas Armas (1-0)
LP: Damian Martin (0-1)
SV: Rafael Castro (1)
HR: Trenton - Alex Rivera (2), Billy Strickland (2); Hartford - Carlos Cervantes, Santos Lopez (4)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tomas Armas - 6 IP, 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 k, 1bb
NOTE: Santos Lopez is well on his way to World Series MVP. He is 6 for 11 with 4 HRs, 6 RBIs, and 4 runs scored in the series.

Game Four: Hartford 7, Trenton 1
WP: Davey Terrero (1-0)
LP: Steven Morgan (0-1)
HR: Trenton - Billy Strickland (2); Hartford - Carlos Cervantes (2)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Cervantes - 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBIs, run
NOTE: Down 4-1 in the 6th, Trenton puts men on 1st and 2nd with one out. Alex Rivera hits a single to LCF, but Sammy Mota gets thrown out at the plate by Julian Alcantara. The next batter, Dale Pritchett, strikes out and the M.A.P.S escape the inning.

Game Five: Hartford 4, Trenton 0
WP: Rico Macias (1-1)
LP: Stewart Roberts (0-1)
HR: none
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Julian Alcantara - 3 for 4, run, stolen base
NOTE: In games 3 through 5, Trenton scored 5 runs total and hit only .196 (18 for 92).

World Series XII

2009-08-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

Trenton Capitols vs. Hartford M.A.P.S

For the fourth time in Fingers History, including three seasons in a row, the World Series will be decided between the M.A.P.S. and the Capitols. The M.A.P.S have swept Trenton in each of their three World Series meetings.

There is a similiarity to this World Series matchup with a World Series matchup from the 1940s and 50s. Trenton plays the role of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the M.A.P.S are the New York Yankees.

From 1941 to 1953, the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series five times. It wasn't until 1955 that the Dodgers finally overcame the Yankees. In the 12 seasons of Fingers League, the Capitols have lost four World Series (three to the M.A.P.S.). Will it be 1955 for the Caps?

Season 12 Wrap Up

2009-08-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Playoff Seeds:
1. Hartford M.A.P.S.
-- 7x AL East Champs
2. Detroit Motor City Mechanics
-- 1x AL North Champs
3. Scottsdale Spartans
-- 7x AL West Champs
4. El Paso Federales
-- 2x AL South Champs
5. Salem TimberJacks
-- 4th playoff berth
6. Chicago Blackhawks
-- 8th playoff berth

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Playoff Seeds:
1. Salt Lake City Condors
-- 6x NL West Champs
2. Treton Capitols
-- 6x NL East Champs
3. Philadelphia Phonetics
-- 2x NL North Champs
4. Sante Fe Scorchers
-- 4x NL South Champs
5. Colorado Springs Rainbow Trout
-- 2nd playoff berth
6. Charleston Men of Risk
-- 8th playoff berth

FINGERS LEAGUE
Comeback Player of the Year

Hardball Dynasty's

James Yamaguchi

James Yamaguchi -- Chicago Gummy Bears
After back-to-back rough seasons Yamaguchi made his 6th All-Star Game and won his 4th Fireman of the Year Award in Season 12. He finished with a 2.06 ERA and saved 46 games in 49 opportunities. He also saved his 300th career game. In seasons 10 & 11, Yamaguchi made 164 appearances and had a combined ERA of 6.24 and only saved 14 games. At age 33 and ratings dropping it was hard to imagine this type of turnaround.

Incredible Achievement
Hardball Dynasty's
Tomas Armas

Tomas Armas -- Hartford M.A.P.S.
Forget that he plays for the M.A.P.S and that they won close to 80% of their games. The fact that Armas didn't lose one game all season is an incredible achievement. He's the first pitcher to ever accomplish it. Only two other pitchers have ever had one-loss seasons (over 15 decisions).

2nd Player to hit 70!

Hardball Dynasty's

Chuck Moore

Chuck Moore -- El Paso Federales
The 25-year-old Moore hit 71 HRs this season. Only the great Pedro Alvarez has ever hit more in one season. After 4 full seasons Moore has already hit 242 career HRs. He has gone over 60 HRs three straight seasons and has a three-year total of 197. Again only Alvarez has hit more in a three-year span (205 HRs).

All-Star Game 12

2009-07-27T10:03:00.001-07:00

NATIONAL LEAGUE 12, AMERICAN LEAGUE 11
WP: Kenny Borders
LP: Rico Macias

SV: Alan Snavely

The National League was able to cling onto a 12-11 victory in 12th installment of the Fingers League All-Star Game. The teams combined for 25 hits, 6 HRs, and 20 pitchers used. In total, 327 pitches were thrown and 53 of the 60 All-Stars played.

MVP:

Hardball Dynasty's

Alex Rivera

Trenton's Alex Rivera hit a two-out grand slam off of Felipe Moreno in the 5th inning which extended the NL's lead to 11-6. Rivera finished the game 2-for-2 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs.

Not the Game's Only Grand Slam: Boise's Juan Henriquez 4th inning pinch hit granny off of Moises Mendoza gave the AL its first and only lead of the ballgame.

Starting Pitchers: This matchup may end up being booked again in Game 1 of the World Series. Both showed up for the All-Star. The first two innings were the only innings of the game that neither team scored.

12-2, 1.97 ERA

13-0, 2.95 ERA

The Only Host: Everett Dresden was the only Memphis player to make the NL squad. He batted 8th and started in CF in what was his first all-star appearance. Dresden went 1-for-5 and his RBI single in the 5th tied the game at 6. He later scored on Rivera's grand slam.

Loves the All-Star Game: MuckLucks DH Spike Cambridge hit a 2-run HR in the 6th. He has now hit a HR in each of the last two All-Star Games.

HOME RUN DERBY WINNER

Hardball Dynasty's

Carlos Sanchez

Sanchez hit 29 HRs in route to beating Clarence Black 5-3 in the final round of the HR Derby. Black hit 19 HRs in round 1, but only managed 5 more in the final 2 rounds.

NEW ALL-TIME WINS LEADER

2009-07-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Donatello Davey

Scottsdale's Donatello Davey passed Frank Chong to become the winningest pitcher in Fingers league history. The 36-year-old currently stands at 186 wins, 2 more than Chong. Davey's career dramatically improved when mcbain10 took over the Scottsdale franchise in Season 5. He was 52-45 through Season 4, and has a record of 134-65 since.

A compatable pitcher in Real Life would be Jimmy Key. Although Davey is not a lefty, his career numbers so far are similar to Key's.

Jimmy Key 186-117 - 2591.2 IP - 3.51 ERA - 1.23 WHIP - 8.7 H/9 - 2.30 K/BB
Don Davey 186-111 - 2563.0 IP - 3.84 ERA - 1.29 WHIP - 8.7 H/9 - 2.24 K/BB

CAN TOMAS ARMAS GET TO 300 WINS?

Hardball Dynasty's

Tomas Armas

Armas is the next all-time winningest pitcher in Fingers. He's at 161 wins right now (only 32-years-old) and he plays for the MAPS. In two or three seasons he will own that record. But what would it take to get to 300?

At exactly 8.5 years into his career, he's averaging 19 wins per season. At this pace he would hit 300 near the end of Season 19 when he'll be 39 years old.

The biggest factor will be whether he's in a MAPS uniform for a majority of his remaining career. If he is, he has a chance at 300. If not, I think his ceiling is 270 career wins.

# 1 OVERALL DRAFT PICK

Hardball Dynasty's

Leon Padgett

Philadelphia chose Cedar Valley College (TX) righthander Leon Padgett with the first overall pick in the Season 12 draft. Padgett, 19, is a hard thrower that projects to dominate righthanded hitters with one spectacular pitch and a decent second pitch. Stamina and control look good, but durability will be a concern. But leave no doubt that this guy was worthy of the number 1 pick as he was far and away the best pitcher in the draft.

Mr. 4th of July

2009-07-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Milt Abbott

Milt Abbott hit 2 extra inning walk-0ff home runs on July 4th vs. Baltimore. With the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the 12th inning of the PM1 game he hit a solo shot to center field off of Santiago Cortez. And in the PM2 game he crushed a three-run homer to left off of Rafael Miranda. That home run broke a 5-5 tie in the 11th.

Abbott, 23, is a former 2nd round draft pick playing in his 2nd big league season. He has hit 16 home runs in 449 career ABs.

Special props to:
-- Trenton's Sammy Mota who hit 3 home runs in the July 4th PM2 game vs. Memphis.
-- Boston's Carlos Izquierdo for pitching a 5-hit complete game shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks.

SPOTLIGHT

Hardball Dynasty's

Boomer Charles

-- 2nd Overall pick in Season 6
-- In the Majors by Season 7
-- 28 wins - 38 losses, 4.69 ERA in first three seasons
-- 41 wins - 14 losses, 3.06 ERA since
-- This season: 6-0 in 6 starts, 1.38 ERA

Most Similar Real Life Player: Kevin Millwood

per 162 game season
Kevin Millwood: 14-11/ 208 IP/ 208 H/ 92 ER
Boomer Charles: 13-10/ 212 IP/ 214 H/ 94 ER

Kevin Millwood: 164 K/ 3.99 ERA/ 1.31 WHIP
Boomer Charles: 159 K/ 4.00 ERA/ 1.29 WHIP

Kevin Millwood: .259 oav/.316 obp/.400 slg/ 2.58 K/BB
Boomer Charles: .257 oav/.312 obp/.405 slg/ 2.64 K/BB

Bonk Blake

2009-06-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Bonk Blake

Became the 2nd player in Fingers History to reach 2,000 hits with an RBI single off of Brian Nakano in the 9th inning of the 6/26 AM game.

Comparable Real Life Player: Jimmie Foxx

162 Game Average

Foxx: 569 ab 122 runs 185 hits 37 hr 134 rbi .325/.428/.609
Blake: 576 ab 126 runs 191 hits 37 hr 124 rbi .331/.440/.600

PLAY BALL!

2009-06-23T15:43:00.001-07:00

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Memphis @ Atlanta
Charleston @ Baltimore
Vancouver @ Chicago
Iowa City @ Colorado Springs
Sante Fe @ New Orleans
Portland @ Philadelphia
Salt Lake City @ San Diego
Trenton @ St. Louis

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago @ Detroit
Washington @ Hartford
Houston @ Jackson
Las Vegas @ Salem
Boise @ Scottsdale
Cincinnati @ Seattle
Boston @ Syracuse
El Paso @ Tampa Bay

Spring Training - Season 12

2009-06-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Things to Watch in Season 12:

The jump in offensive numbers for the M.A.P.S. after the move from pitcher-friendly N.Y. to extreme hitter-friendly Hartford.

The effect that same move has on the M.A.P.S. All-Star rotation.

Will the motey's money pay off? Portland PooHoles spent. $169.8 million on 4 pitchers in free agency.

Horacio Martin vs. Louie Ma for the AL Batting Title.

The Philadelphia Phonetics young lineup. decks has 5 former 1st rounders (3 of them were Top-5 picks) and a $18.7M International Free Agent.

Bonk Blake's return to themehl's franchise needing only 7 hits for 2,000.

The Spartans trying to win the pennant with the oldest team in the AL (30.6 years).

Highest Player Ratings in Fingers ML

SP: Leonardo Walker and Brad Tebeau - 85
RP: Luis Hernandez - 85
C: Socks Bruske - 78
1B: Chuck Moore - 85
2B: Santos Lopez - 92
SS: Rafael Silva - 93
3B: Santiago Pichardo - 87
LF: Julian Alcantara - 88
CF: Del Campos - 91
LF: Dale Pritchett - 85

SPOTLIGHT

Hardball Dynasty's

Rafael Silva

- highest rated player in Fingers
- 3rd overall pick in Season 5 Amateur Draft
- current contract: 5 yrs/ $52.5M
- lost AL Rookie of the Year to David Calderon
- 3x AL All-Star, 3 x AL Silver Slugger SS
- Career Stats: .307/.367/.556, 133 HRs, 450 runs, 446 RBIs

World Series 11

2009-05-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

WORLD SERIES MVP: .500 avg, 7 for 14, 5 runs, 2 doubles, home run, 4 rbi, stolen base
Hardball Dynasty's
Horacio Martin

Trenton Capitols

vs.

New York Mets R Pond Scum

Game 1: New York 5, Trenton 4
WP: Carlos Nunez (1-0)
LP: Jorge Alvarez (0-1)
SV: Rafael Castro (1)
HR: Dale Pritchett (1), Sammy Mota (1)
Player of the Game: Horacio Martin 3 for 3, 2 runs, 2 bb, sb
Note: Harry Martinez's 2-run pinch hit double in the 8th inning wins the game.

Game 2: New York 9, Trenton 0
WP: Tomas Armas (1-0)
LP: Mark Nakamura (0-1)
HR: Del Campos (1)
Player of the Game: Del Campos 1 for 4, run, 4 rbi, 3-run home run
Note: Armas and ex-Capitol Lonny Gonzalez combined for a 1-hit shutout.

Game 3: New York 10, Trenton 1
WP: Nick Ransom (1-0)
LP: Stewart Roberts (0-1)
HR: Santos Lopez (1), Santiago Santiago (1), Chris Henderson (1)
Player of the Game: Santos Lopez 3 for 4, 2 runs, 5 rbi, 3-run home run
Note: Seven shut out innings for Ransom.

Game 4: New York 5, Trenton 2
WP: Cliff Dessens (1-0)
LP: Steven Morgan (0-1)
SV: Rafael Castro (2)
HR: Horacio Martin (1), Julian Alcantara (1), Mark Garland (1), Kris Jones (1)
Player of the Game: Cliff Dessens 7 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 k, 1 bb
Note: Trenton goes 17 for 123 (.173) and scores only 7 runs in the series.

FINGERS FINAL FOUR / LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

2009-05-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

For only the third time in league history the final four teams all won 100 or more regular season games. It happened in Season 1 and Season 6. And in both those occurences, the team with the best overall record never even made it to the World Series.

Salt Lake City vs. Trenton

Season Series: Salt Lake 7-3

Salt Lake 3-2 in one-run games; Tied 1-1 in games decided by 4 runs or more

Salt Lake finished with a franchise-record 104 wins and won their fifth NL West Championship. The franchise also won its first playoff series with a 3 games-to-one victory over Colorado Springs in the NLDS. And even though they are the #1 seed in the NL playing the #6 seed, Salt Lake looks to be the underdog in the NLCS. No Condor player hit more than 30 HRs, not one drove in 100 runs, and only one had more than 150 hits. Most of their hope rests on the pitching shoulders of three players: Boomer Charles, Donald Lee, Willie Ruiz. These three need to own the Caps' potent lineup and hope the rest of the pitching staff hangs tough.

There is no question that Trenton is the most successful franchise in Fingers without a World Series title. The Caps have 11 straight seasons of 100+ wins; 11 straight postseason appearances; five NL East division titles; and three NL Pennants. But again, no championship ring. This postseason, they have disposed of two division winners, and look to throw away another. If chicks dig the long ball, then Trenton has had multiple orgies. They led Fingers with 351 HRs in the regular season, and added nine more in nine postseason games. If a few of their six big boppers (Alex Rivera, Kris Jones, Dale Pritchett, Vasco Torrealba, Billy Strickland, Mark Garland) get hot, this series is over quick.

Scottsdale vs. New York

Season Series: New York 6-4

Tied 2-2 in one-run games; N.Y. 4-0 in games decided by 4 runs or more

For the 5th time in six season the Spartans will be playing for the AL pennant. And for the 5th time the juggernaut New York Mets R Pond Scum stand in the way. In each of the four previous ALCS matchups, the Spartans fell at the hands of their rival. Many times, the Scottsdale squad barely even fought back, posting a 4-16 ALCS record vs. the MaPS. For at least three games this team's success will fall on Norberto Almanza. The Spartans won all three times he started against the MaPS in the regular season (6 ERs in 20 IP). And he will have to lead this team to three more victories in the ALCS for them to have a chance.

New York has owned the Fingers League for six of the last seven seasons. They are on the war path for their second three-peat in what is possibly their last season in New York. Beating the MaPS in a 7-game series has been impossible for any opponent. Only one time in five Championship runs have the MaPS even been threatened during a 7-game series (They faced a 3 games-to-one deficit vs. New Orleans in the Season 9 World Series, and promptly won the last three games). It seems like the only way to stop the MaPS from winning is to have the game not simmed.

Season 11 Playoffs - First Round

2009-05-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

American League

El Paso vs. Detroit
Good News: This is the first playoff appearance for both franchises.
Bad News: The winner plays a team on a quest for a second three-peat.
Season Series: El Paso 6-4; Four games decided by less than a run. 9 of ten games was decided by 3 runs or less.
Edge: Slight edge to El Paso. Only because they are the hotter team right now. They've won nine straight and 15 of their last 17.

Cincinnati vs. Boston
Good News: Neither will get the MaPS in the next round.
Bad News: History is against both teams regardless of who wins this series. The Mucklucks have never made it to the ALCS in six playoff appearances. And Boston has made it that far only once in 5 chances.
Season Series: Tied 5-5
Edge: Goes to Boston. The Brawlers lineup should be able to take advantage of the MuckLuck pitching staff. The Mucklucks only have 3 pitchers (1 spot starter, 2 relievers) with an ERA under 4.49 and the team as a whole walked nearly 4 batters a game.

National League

Colorado Springs vs. Portland
Good News: Portland won their 7th division title.
Bad News: Portland faces the 100-win surprise juggernaut from Colorado Springs.
Season Series: Portland 6-4; all four Colorado Springs victories were by 2 runs or less; while five of Portland's wins were by 3 runs or more.
Edge: Colorado Springs. The Rainbow Trout's starting pitching should outpitch Portland's. If CSP's bullpen holds up they win this series.

Trenton vs. Sante Fe
Good News: With at least two games in Sante Fe there should be some offensive fireworks in this series.
Bad News: Sante Fe has never won a playoff series in two tries, and Trenton hasn't lost a first round matchup since Season 4.
Season Series: Trenton 9-1
Edge: Trenton. The Caps have the playoff experience, they have the offensive power to match the Scorchers when the games are in Sante Fe, and they have better pitching.

2009-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Harry Hinch

In Montreal, Hinch hit his 498th, 499th, and 500th career HRs. The 500th, a two-run shot to left center, came in the top of the sixth inning off of Bryan Patterson (5/7 AM).

2,000 Hits!!!

Hardball Dynasty's

Davey Nieves

2,000th career hit was a line drive single off of Sacramento's Felipe Seanez in 8th inning (5/4 PM1).

Seven Straight Seasons of 100 Wins

New York Mets R Pond Scum (AL)
froidl
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Fingers News

2009-04-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Countdown to 2,000 Hits

Hardball Dynasty's

Davey Nieves

1997

HR Race as of 5/3 AM

Horacio Martin's Hit Streak Ends at 28 Games

Hardball Dynasty's

Horacio Martin

Record Holder - Juan Solano - 32 Games (Season 2)

During the Streak: 50 for 121; .413 avg; 30 runs; 9 doubles; 2 triples; 5 HRs; 20 RBIs; 21 BB

First Half Look

2009-04-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

All-Star Game

American League 6, National League 5

The AL fought back from an early 4-0 deficit to win the 11th All-Star Game 6-5.

Boston's Bonk Blake drove in New York's Horacio Martin on a Sacrifice Fly for the game-winning run in the 7th inning. New York's Santiago Santiago scored the game-tying run earlier in the inning on a Brendan Strong single.

The biggest hit of the game though was Spike Cambridge's game-tying 3-run HR in the 3rd inning off Salt Lake's Boomer Charles. Cincinnati's Cambridge was playing in his first All-Star Game for the AL after two previous appearances representing the NL.

After a meager showing in the Home Run Derby, Fingers League HR leader Taylor Glynn drilled a 3-run HR in the 1st inning to give the NL a 4-0.

Game Notes
Bonk Blake makes 9th All-Star team. Most in league history.

Sante Fe and New York led the league with 6 All-Stars.

Entire Starting OF for Sante Fe makes All-Star team - Brett Krause, Davey West, Pat Rivera.

The Starting Pitchers were Emmanuel Russell for the NL and Norberto Pujols for the AL.

Home Run Derby

Hardball Dynasty's

Esteban Rivera

Chicago Blackhawks Catcher Esteban Rivera wins Home Run Derby. He hit the most HRs in every round and finished with 39 HRs. Hometown player Santos Lopez hit the longest HR of the day, a tape measure shot of 529 feet that landed far up in the left field seats of Citibank Park.

Record Book Assault

Three major hitting records may be challenged as we reach the first half's conclusion. The records for Single Season Batting Average, Hits, and Home Runs look to be threatened.

BATTING AVERAGE RECORD - .377 - Greg Byrnes

Stewart Hairston - Charleston Men of Risk - .380 - This looked a lot more possible about a week ago. Hairston's average has slipped, but he hit over .400 for most of the first half.

HITS RECORD - 233 - Juan Concepcion

Pat Rivera - Sante Fe Scorchers - 138 - The rookie Rivera is on pace for 245 hits. Playing in Sante Fe's ballpark will give him a great chance to break this record.
Horacio Martin- New York MaPS - 135 - Martin is not far behind Rivera. He's on pace for 240 hits. He's had 2 or more hits in about half the games this season.

HOME RUNS RECORD - 77 - Pedro Alvarez

Hardball Dynasty's

Taylor Glynn

Taylor Glynn - Iowa City Corn Kings - 45 - I don't know if we've seen a power hitting season like this one. Glynn is averaging a HR every other game. With 45 HRs at the break, Pedro Alvarez's HR Record is in serious danger. On pace for 80 HRs.

First Half Notes
The Detroit Motor City Mechanics are looking for its first ever playoff appearance. The franchise has only 2 seasons above .500. rwadk27 improved this team by 15 games last season and they are on pace to improve by 14 this season. The 2nd youngest team in the ML is winning with great pitching (2nd in ML in ERA, WHIP, OAV, OBP).

There's a Fight in the NL West between the Colorado Springs Rainbow Trout and the Salt Lake City Condors. They are tied for 1st place at 58-33. Colorado Springs is trying to pull off a worst-to-first. They haven't won more than 73 games since Season 3 and have never made the playoffs. The Condors are the back-to-back division champions, but have never won a playoff series. These two teams are playing .600 baseball in a division with every team at least 7 games over .500. It is very possible 3 of the 4 teams make the playoffs.

Charleston's trade for Emmanuel Russell has been the off-season move of the year. Russell is 13-0 and the team is 17-2 when he pitches. He's helped turn the Men of Risk from a sub-.500 team to a World Series contender.

Best Single Game Performances of the First Half

Hardball Dynasty's

Quilvio Mesa

No-hitter, 9K's 3 BB vs. Charleston

Stewart Hairston - Rafael Silva - Ricardo Lee all hit for the cycle.

J.D. Shelby drives in 8 runs on 2 Grand Slams vs. New York

Pedro Owen - Low A No-hitter, 11K's, 2 BB vs Pawtucket

Things to look for in 2nd Half:

Hardball Dynasty's

Davey Nieves

Davey Nieves creeping ever so closely to 2,000 hits.

Harry Hinch nears 500 HRs.

Alex Flores is 25 appearances away from 800 for his career.

Draft Recap

2009-04-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

For the first time in 11 seasons six pitchers were taken with the first six picks. All but one has signed. With the first overall pick Syracuse chose Placido Lopez, a 22 year-old lefthander from UCLA. He was quickly placed on the Lo-A Hop Hound squad. In his first start, he allowed only 3 hits and struck out 7 in 5 1/3 innings but drew the loss.

The first position player drafted was SS Angel Rojas at pick seven. He was drafted out of College of William & Mary by the Colorado Springs Rainbow Trout. He's the fourth SS that Colorado Springs has taken in the first round since season 5. They drafted a 5th SS, Bernie Elcano, at pick 23.

#4 Overall pick Johnny Donahue may be the hardest first rounder to sign. Philadelphia spent $16M on two International signings. $15.2M went to switch-hitting C J.T. Decker. Not able to see what Donahue's signability is, but even if his demands are in line with the rest of the draft ($3.75M) then Philly may have to juggle some money to sign him.

I'm sure everyone drafts players with Scott Boras-type agents. The kind of player that wants a ridiculous amount of money even though they were drafted after the 1st round. It was easiest to look mine up and I had at least two. My 20th rounder, 3B Greg Fisher wants $6M. He's projected 41 overall with 8 contact, 47 power and 40/20 splits. The other player is P Bruce Beckett. He wants $2M even though he projects 35/30 splits.

For the 5th time, the New York Mets R Pond Scum had the final pick of the draft. This year's Mr. Irrelevant was 18 year-old DH Terry Daniels. Looking back, the greatest Mr. Irrelevant ever to sign is MaPS Rookie League DH Howie Buford. Buford has 111 hits in two MiL seasons. If you look up the last pick of season 1, you will see Trenton drafted Stump Lawton, who graduated from Sacred Heart Griffin HS in Springfield, IL as a 9 year-old.

Season 11

2009-04-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

We're about 50 games into the season. After going through the leaderboard, I picked a bunch of different players and pointed out what they've done so far.

MVPs? - Clarence Black and Bill Stevenson, the MVPs from Season 10, started slow this season. Both have a batting average hovering around a .270, and neither has more than 10 HRs or 20 extra base hits. To their credit, both guys have gotten hot their past 10 games. Black .351/3/16; Stevenson .375/3/9.

Simmer Down - The NL is being terrorized by a trio of power hitters. Taylor Glynn, Kris Jones, and Cristobal Johnson have hit 24, 24, and 23 HRs respectively. All are hitting over .340 as well.

Hitting, Walking, Running - Not many players do all three better than Horacio Martin. Martin, the ML league leader in walks, has 20 stolen bases, is hitting .337, and is averaging about one run scored per game.

What the F? - The Japanese fireballer, Antonio Nomura, is 1-7, but leads the ML with 78 K's (17 more than any other pitcher).

Lose a Game, Blow a Save? Blow Me - In 14 games this year, Gene Greer has walked away a winner every time. He is 1-0 with 13 saves in 13 opportunities. Opposing teams are only hitting .140 off of him and his ERA is 1.29. Sorry if I jinxed him, but he's having a great season.

Wish I caught these Crabs - The Baltimore pitching duo of Taylor McKinley and B.J. Milliard are proving to be the best 1-2 combo in the league. In 20 combined starts, they are a 13-2 with an ERA of 1.40.

The Home Plate Ump Hates Me - Sante Fe catcher Harry Nieves has 11 passed balls. That's 5 more than any other catcher. But with 16 HRs and 49 RBIs, opposing pitchers hate him too.

One On = Two Outs - Tom North has enduced 14 double plays this season in 10 starts. On the hitting side, Butch Kirkland has rolled into 18 of them.

Just Stay Put - Don't try and steal a base on Lawrence Walker . He's thrown out 56.5% of base runners. No other catcher has thrown out better than 45%.