Month: January 2016

Detroit’s Shotgun

by admin

      

   That sound you hear down at the corner is not a crime in the act of taking place.   Not unless you consider what Silas ‘Shotgun’ Carvalho is doing to South of the Border pitching.  In a league that has been dubbed the “The Pitching League” Silas stands apart from the crowd.  How apart from the crowd?  Here are the top three hitters:

.409  Carvalho  (DET)

.317  Li  (MIL)

.317  Longchamps (MIL)

The numbers speak for themselves.  Can this T-Bird hit .400 in the inaugural season?  Seems impossible but 47 games and 217 PA’s argue that it might be done.  All eyes on Detroit’s Silas Carvalho.

In Control

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A Waverider in Control….

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    ‘Apeman’

The #1 Pick of the Owen Sound Waveriders in the inaugural draft was Tate ‘Ape’ Crosby.  The 5-1 Crosby has helped propel the 21-19  Waveriders close enough to the Thunder Bay Caribou to catch their attention, now just 4 games back.  Tate has a fine ERA of 3.40 and his K rate of 39 in 45 IP is better than average, too.  So, what makes this RHP stand out from the rest?  Control.  Crosby has just 3 free passes all season which translates to a WHIP of 0.93.

All eyes are on the ‘The Apeman’s’ recovery as he was pulled in the 2nd inning of his last outing with a sore shoulder.  A club spokesperson has listed him as day to day.

Can they be Grounded?

by admin

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Is the season over in the USA League?

30 Wins and 10 Losses.  Frightening when you consider it.

Consider that they are first in:

Batting Average, Runs Scored, Team ERA, Runs Allowed and too many other categories to mention.

They TC Bears have won 7 in a row to push them over .500 while gaining a paltry one game on the Eagles in doing so.  The Detroit Thunderbirds, the only other +.500 team in the USA, have a 2-6 record against the Eagles.  The aforementioned Bears?  1-5 vs. Milwaukee.

So far the single most descriptive word for Milwaukee?  Domination.  Pundits are speculating that the inaugural year may see some records set that will last a long time.  There are a few out there that say, ‘there is still time’, but that camp is dwindling with each passing day.

So, 40 games played and an 8.5 game lead.

 

 

 

Home Run Power!

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Baseball and winning.  It’s all about the Home Run, right?  Hit the long ball and win most of your games.  And, the fans love it.

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Take the high flying Milwaukee Eagles who lead the USA League by 4 1/2 games.  They have gone yard 35 times with the next closest competitor just 23.  That’s Traverse City and they are in second place.  So, yeah, the number one and two teams in the league are in the same order in home run power so we’re confirming our theory here.

Now  we’ll look at the Canadian League…but wait.  Kingston is in first place?  With 7 home runs.  The least in all of the GLBL??  Huh??    Hmmm, what does this mean?????

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Forget about what you read above it’s pitching  that determines who will be in first.  Well, sometimes, but not always.  I think.

The Rebuild Year

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It was a rebuild year.  GM Martin Abresch made it clear.  We’re drafting for the future.  So, after the draft, Toronto Maples rated #1 in Minor League Organizations.  So far, so good.  Right on script they lost their first four contests scoring a scant 5 runs total.   But, wait, 18 games into the season and Toronto is ahead of Windsor and Hamilton in the standings playing .500 ball.  And, just 3 games out of first.  Huh?

Boasting the North of Borders best defense, second best SP ERA, and third best Relievers ERA this team appears anything but just a team of the future.  It’s an interesting organizational mix with several wily veterans doing the pitching for the Maples with about to turn 29 Wayne Conboy as the youngest of the Starters.

With all that team pitching and D something has to come up short, right?  OK, the offense it not very good.  OK, they are dead last in runs scored.  Yet, they are fast (first in stolen bases) but they don’t hit a lick after top of the line up Kevin ‘Wino’ Thomas bats.  So, will Toronto reconsider  year one and shop for offense?  Fred Morris, 27 year old journey man for Mississauga Mad Katz, says, ‘coach I’m hitting over .350!

After taking the first game in Thunder Bay 2-1 the Maples will try and rebound from the 4-0 shutout last evening.

 

Dave Corbin is on FIRE

by admin

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Owen Sound (3-3) is on a 3 game skid but don’t blame that on 26 year old Dave Corbin from Los Angeles, CA.  He went 4 for 7 in the 14 inning heartbreak loss to Windsor when the Vigilantes staged an uprising in the bottom half of the inning scoring 3 runs to steal it 11-10.  Corbin has gotten a hit in every game with multi-hits in all but the opener.  His gaudy numbers:

.481/.500/.556   The GLBL will be following Corbin’s streak as heads to Kingston for a 3 game set.

Bears SP’s Pack a Punch

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#1 Punch  SP  Patrick Gerard   9 IP    0 Runs  0 BB  12 K’s

#2 Punch  SP  Willis Lewis  8 IP  1  Run   1 BB   10 K’s

Traverse City lost their home opener to the Thunderbirds but sent a message to the rest of the league in games two and three that they armed and dangerous.  The Bears lead the GLBL in STRIKEOUTS with 40 in 3 games.