Newsline

Welcome to the Season 17 of the USMLB.

Friday, June 20, 2008

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

Congratulation to the Durham Bulls for having a great season and winning the World Series is a great series with the Texas Talley Whackers.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Records Broken this Season

At Bats- 697 Scott Coffie (San Antonio Stars) broke the record of 686 held by Tony Roberts.

Hits – 232 Vicente Domingo (Colorado Sky Sox) broke the record of 225 held by Darren Higginson.

Stolen Bases – 143 Michael Long (Tucson Xpress) broke his own record of 77.

Saves – 49 Roger Newfield (Detroit Demolition) and Ed Jefferson (St. Louis Cornerstone) tied the record held by Christopher Newman and Ed Jefferson.

Loses – 22 Jim Boyd (Iowa City Raiders) broke the record of 21 held by Willie Hernandez.

Preseason Projections vs. Season Records

National League

Colorado Sky Sox
Projected 90-72 Actual 101-61 (under by 11)

Las Vegas Zone
Projected 73-89 Actual 73-89 (prefect)

San Diego Friar Power
Projected 75-87 Actual 66-96 (over by 9)

Tacoma Pioneers
Projected 81-81 Actual 82-80 (under by 1)

Durham Bulls
Projected 88-74 Actual 88-74 (prefect)

San Antonio Stars
Projected 78-84 Actual 77-85 (over by 1)

Florida GaToRs
Projected 85-77 Actual 84-78 (over by 1)

Jackson BlaZers
Projected 95-67 Actual 91-71 (over by 4)

Toledo Tornados
Projected 62-100 Actual 57-105 (over by 5)

Richmond Wrecking Crew
Projected 84-78 Actual 64-98 (over by 20)

St. Louis Cornerstone
Projected 81-81 Actual 79-83 (over by 2)

Louisville Colonels
Projected 80-82 Actual 82-80 (under by 2)

New Britain Fisher Cats
Projected 78-84 Actual 88-74 (under by 10)

Detroit Demolition
Projected 92-70 Actual 93-69 (under by 1)

Fargo Woodchippers
Projected 81-81 Actual 94-68 (under by 13)

Milwaukee Melders
Projected 68-94 Actual 86-76 (under by 18)

American League

Anaheim Beefpound
Projected 98-64 Actual 97-65 (over by 1)

Cheyenne Featherwound
Projected 70-92 Actual 77-85 (under by 7)

San Jose SaberCats
Projected 81-81 Actual 77-85 (over by 4)

Tucson Xpress
Projected 70-92 Actual 76-86 (under by 6)

Iowa City Raiders
Projected 65-97 Actual 49-113 (over by 16)

Santa Fe Sidewinders
Projected 88-74 Actual 79-83 (over by 9)

Texas Talley Whackers
Projected 98-64 Actual 101-61 (under by 3)

Houston Kings of Kumbia
Projected 78-84 Actual 72-90 (over by 6)

Atlanta Brave Vawts
Projected 100-62 Actual 100-62 (prefect)

Kansas City Dirt Bags
Projected 77-85 Actual 90-72 (under by 13)

Cleveland Barons
Projected 78-84 Actual 76-86 (over by 2)

New York Highlanders
Projected 90-72 Actual 91-71 (under by 1)

Chicago Legionaires
Projected 80-82 Actual 65-97 (over by 15)

Scranton Beet Farmer's
Projected 75-87 Actual 67-95 (over by 8)

Ottawa Crawdaddies
Projected 75-87 Actual 84-78 (under by 9)

Madison Lasers
Projected 102-60 Actual 86-76 (over by 16)

Saturday, June 7, 2008

THE FINALS - USMLB MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Update - Congratulations to Tomjames for winning the USMLB Manager of the year! A well deserved honor.


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The first two rounds of voting for the USMLB Manager of the year are in the books. Congratulations to the following teams/managers that are the finalists!

Anaheim Beefpound - beefpac
Atlanta Brave Vawts - vawt
Tacoma Pioneers - tomjames
Colorado Sky Sox – knucklebones

At this point, we’re down to only the best of the best for this season. The manager reviews below have been condensed to show the final grades and any new information. You can find full manager reviews in the blog links. The team records and other changes over the past week have been updated below. In addition, a short paragraph about each manager illustrates any points that stand out about their seasons. Best of luck to the finalists!

ANAHEIM BEEFPOUND – beefpac

ML: 97-65
AAA: 81-63
AA: 75-69
HiA: 78-66
LowA: 65-79
Rookie: 20-56

GRADES

ML team: A- Anaheim won the AL West. Veteran closer Hank Epstein led the AL with 45 saves, and is a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.
Minors: B The AAA and High A Beefpound teams have reached the semifinals of the playoffs.
Draft: C-
Trades: A Young SP Herbert Brandt was a huge acquisition for Anaheim coming over from San Diego. Brandt is a finalist for the AL Rookie of the Year
Player acquisitions: B
Player development: C+
Record compared to talent: B+

Anaheim had an excellent season and is the winner of the AL west for the 3rd straight season. Perhaps winning the division is by default in the AL West, as every other team in the division has finished with a losing record in each season so far. Two major positives stand out about the Beefpound this season. First of all, Anaheim has amassed an incredible amount of young talent in their first three seasons, and they are one of the younger teams in the playoffs. Secondly, beefpac had the best series of trades this season of any team in the league. They brought in several young stars and came away as a winner in every trade they made. Anaheim won one less game this season than last year.


ATLANTA BRAVE VAWTS – vawt

ML: 100-62
AAA: 59-85
AA: 71-73
HiA: 74-70
LowA: 79-65
Rookie: 39-37

GRADES
ML team: A
Atlanta finished one win shy of the best record in the league, and earned a first round bye in the playoffs. Veteran RF Nick Collins has put up what may be his best season yet. Collins is among the league leaders in AVG, OBP, and OPS, and is a finalist for the AL MVP award.
Minors: C Atlanta’s Low A team has reached the semifinals of the playoffs.
Draft: A
Trades: B+
Player acquisitions: D+
Player development: A- It doesn’t matter whether he’s a starter or closer, Phil Nitkowski is one of the best young hurlers in the game and has just dominated hitters all season. Nitkowski is a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.
Record compared to talent: B+

Atlanta had another great season led by great pitching. The Brave Vawts deserve credit for winning the most difficult division in the AL. The AL East is sending three different teams to the playoffs. For Atlanta to be battling for the best record in the entire league coming out of that division is a tribute to just how good the Brave Vawts are this year. On the other hand, Atlanta is coming off of 102 wins last season. Their difference of -2 wins from last season is the worst among any of the finalists. The Brave Vawts were also by far the least active in trades and player acquisitions this season from among the finalists.

TACOMA PIONEERS – tomjames

ML: 82-80
AAA: 80-64
AA: 86-58
HiA: 95-49
LowA: 76-68
Rookie: 30-46

GRADES
ML team: C+ The Pioneers missed the playoffs.
Minors: A- The AA and High A Pioneers have reached the semifinals of the playoffs.
Draft: B-
Trades: B
Player acquisitions: A-
Player development: B+
Record compared to talent: B

Tacoma is the only finalist that did not make the playoffs this season. Still, the season must be looked upon as a success for the Pioneers, who win the award for the biggest transformation over the course of the season. They performed a great mix of moves bringing in a few solid free agents and cutting away older players that have no part in the future of the franchise. The improvement of 13 wins from a season ago is a great start to a new era in Tacoma.

COLORADO SKY SOX – knucklebones

ML: 101-61 (tied for top record in the league)
AAA: 69-75
AA: 70-74
HiA: 58-86
LowA: 50-94
Rookie: 48-28

GRADES
ML team: A Colorado finished tied with Texas for the top record in the ML. Veterans RF Earl Williams and 3B Vicente Domingo are finalists for the NL MVP. SP Gil Henson is a rare Colorado finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.
Minors: C-
Draft: A-
Trades: B+
Player acquisitions: C+
Player development: C-
Record compared to talent: A

The biggest move for the Sky Sox this season was to move the entire franchise to the mile high city. With a veteran team filled with sluggers, that move paid huge dividends for Colorado, and they tied for the season’s best record with 101 wins. Among the finalists, Colorado had the biggest increase in victories this season, with a net gain of 17 wins over last year. The Sky Sox have also done a credible job of managing reasonable contracts for a veteran team.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

USMLB ROOKIE PITCHER OF THE WEEK


Omar Diaz of the San Antonio Stars is the USMLB Rookie Pitcher of the Week for the week of 5/27/08-6/03/08 since Jeff Schourek got the Pitcher of the Week. Diaz had a record of 3-0 during the week in 4 games. He gave up only 4 runs in 26 IP for an ERA of 1.38. He had 23 strikeouts against only 5 walks as he only gave up 20 hits and had a WHIP of 0.96.

USMLB ROOKIE PLAYER OF THE WEEK


Matty Rodriguez of the Cleveland Barons the USMLB Rookie Player of the Week for the week 5/27/08-6/03/08. He had 24 hits in 65 at bats for an average of .369. He also hit 4 homeruns, had 14 RBI's and 11 runs scored. He also had a OBP of .438 and OPS of 1.100, 7 doubles.

USMLB RELIEVER OF THE WEEK


Henry Meyers of the Houston Kings of Kumbia is the Reliever of the Week for the week of 5/27/08-6/03/08. Meyers had a 3 saves in 3 chances. He gave up 0 runs in 15.2 IP for an ERA of 0.00. He also gave up only 7 hits and had 13 strikeouts against 2 walks and a WHIP of 0.69.

USMLB PITCHER OF THE WEEK


Jeff Schourek of the Tucson Xpress is the Pitcher of the Week for the week of 5/27/08-6/06/08. Schourek had a record of 3-0 during the week in 4 games started. He gave up only 7 runs in 25.2 IP for an ERA of 0.69. He had 30 strikeouts against only 7 walks and a WHIP of 1.04.

USMLB PLAYER OF THE WEEK


Vin Cordero of the Anaheim Beefpound the USMLB Player of the Week for the week 5/27/08-6/03/08. He had 27 hits in 75 at bats for an average of .360. He also hit 12 homeruns, had 31 RBI's and 26 runs scored. He also had a OBP of .442, SLG of .933 and OPS of 1.375, 5 doubles, 1 triple and 12 stolen bases.