Vincent Memorial League part II: Flint moves on

[Honolulu Blue]

Part I of this dynasty is described here (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=210213#post210213). Briefly, I set up a fictional baseball league in OOTP4 called the Vincent Memorial League, featuring three divisions. Division I had the 8 teams with the deepest pockets, Division II had 16 teams with moderate means, and Division III had 8 teams with very limited budgets. This league features promotion and relegation, where the best teams move up, and the worst move down. The starting year for the league was 2010.

After 8 years of running the league on its own, I took over the management of the Flint franchise in Division III, a team that had started decently but before my arrival was finishing last more often than not. I shackled myself with some tough but not impossible house rules. I moved them forward in a zig-zag pattern until my 6th year there (2023) when Flint finished one game behind. The next year we lost a playoff game and finished one game behind again. Then some key members of that team left (couldn't afford to pay them) and we moved out of contention for a few years. Then in year 11 (2028) of my tenure, I finally broke through with a win in Division III. We lost the AL Cup (what was formerly known as the ALCS) to a vastly superior Division I Seattle team in 5 games.

Now we're in Division II and the franchise begins its third phase.

[Honolulu Blue]

We have our official orders: we're moving to the West part of Division II. Our team market expands a little (to small); fan loyalty was already as high as it could go. We're seeing a spike in the sales of our Roadmaster knickknacks. And our request to the Flint voters to share in the cost of our expansion is ready to go to City Hall.

Taking a look back at last year's finances, thanks to another price increase, continued sellouts, and the playoff games, we made a shade over $4 million last year, getting us out of the red and providing us with a $3 million war chest. Fan interest is up to 59. Some key contracts come due this year, including CL Ceasar, SP Daly, and 2B Katsuyuki. 10 players in all, and $16 million with which to sign them. An unthinkable $12 million can be used on free agents. I've never had that much cash available to spend before! I think I'll go crazy!! Current payroll is at $7.6 million, but look for that to explode.

This year we have two new inductees into the Hall of Fame. 1B Deandre Diaz was an 11th round pick by Pittsburgh in the reallocation draft of 2010. He played well there, but was nobody's idea of a superstar. He left the league after the 2013 season to go to Japan for three years. He made a triumphant return stateside in 2017 by signing a 4-year deal with the Rockies. He made the All-Star team his first two years in Colorado, and never hit less than .322 in the thin air up there. He then signed a 3-year contract with the Padres and his stats immediately started to deflate. He re-signed with them, and played a little better once San Diego hit Division III, making the All-Star team all three years they were there. His last season saw them move back to Div II play where he had a respectable, but not All-Star, finish to his career.

He was never any kind of fielder, but he was a good base stealer. He hit .304 in his career with 204 homers, 210 stolen bases, 1216 runs scored, and 2575 hits in 2271 games.

OF Stacy Springmann was going to be a superstar from day one. He was picked third overall by San Diego in the amateur draft in 2011. He played a little in '11 and '12, showing flashes of potential but burst on the scene in 2013 with his first big year. He hit .323 with 16 homers that year, and hit .376 and .322 in the years following. Springmann joined Diaz in Japan after no one made him an acceptable offer. But he missed California and signed with the Athletics after one year away. He had some fine years with Oakland; his best was 2020 when he hit .340 with 26 homers and 129 runs scored. He made the All-Star team and led the Athletics to the Champions Cup. He joined Texas after the 2021 season and though he was past his prime, he still put up good numbers, made the All-Star team three times and won three more Champions Cups. Springmann was a daring runner that always hustled for the extra base, even when it wasn't there. He was a fine outfielder. His career numbers: .324 BA, 225 HR, 359 SB, 1320 runs, and 2636 hits in 2139 games.

Back in the here and now, we find out that SS/IF Luigi Beliel retired. He was a good performer for us for several years, never hitting for much average, but drawing some walks and filling in around the infield as required. He was exiled to the minors last year, missing out on our pennant charge. We shed a tear for him.

We sign Brian Meredith as our hitting coach and Allan Jaspersen will head the AAA team. They're not great quality by any means, but we'll take what we can get.

In the free agency period, we make a minor deal - MR Will Wantling and OF Constantino Plasencia for OF Vincent Paulk. Paulk has been disappointing for two straight seasons, he's getting old, and has one of the larger contracts on the team. Wantling is a decent enough middle releiver, though we have better on the team already. Plasencia is hopeless but could always surprise.

We sign C Bernard Cruz to one of our biggest contracts ever - 4 years at $2,270,000 per. He has good power and draws lots of walks. His average is not the best and he doesn't have much of a throwing arm.

And on to the draft, where we're dead last. No hope of getting a superstar here, but some future role players would be nice.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: 1B Josh Serrano (21)
Round 2 pick: LF Bruce Rozwadowski (18)
Round 3 pick: 2B Mariano Duran (20)
Round 4 pick: MR Joe Hohertz (21)
Round 5 pick: LF Maynard Anderson (18)

Serrano has the potential to be a batting champion when fully developed. He has good hands around the bag, but will never hit for power. Rozwadowski is pretty ordinary; we'll have to see how he develops. Duran is hungry like a wolf for a roster spot, and he's got good reflexes, but he left his power stroke back in Rio. We'll see if there's something I should know about him. Hohertz is a solid middle relief guy; so good, in fact, the scouts are recommending he start off in AA. Anderson was literally the last guy available, and looks it. One release, coming up...

We're cautiously optimistic about our roster. There doesn't appear to be any serious weaknesses in our lineup, except for possibly third base. We're testing some unknowns at 1B and LF, but they should be all right. The rotation should be good enough. We expect about 70 wins this season; that should be more than enough to keep us clear of relegation. A .500 record would be an absolute boon.

NEXT: How will we do in our new division?

[Honolulu Blue]

April - We did fairly well, I think, against rougher competition. We ended up 11-13, in 7th, but only 4 1/2 games behind Colorado. We're 4 games ahead of Iron Mountain and Cincinnati for the relegation slot.

We're making a big splash on the league leaders list. Crawford is 2nd in hitting with his .414 average, and first in OPS (1.246). Hines is 2nd in ERA (0.83), and leads the world in strikeouts (44) and wins (6). We swap around the lineup and rotation a little. No major surgery needed.

May - We're hammered by the injury bug - SP Daly and LF Prior are out for a month, while two minor leaguers also got hurt and found their way to the DL.

Despite all that, the month wasn't TOO bad. We're now 24-28, in 6th, 10 1/2 behind Colorado. We're 8 1/2 games clear of Cincy, so we can breathe a little easier.

Most of the Flint players have fallen off the leader boards, but Hines is still tied for 2nd in wins with 9.

June - The injuries keep coming. Two more minor leaguers fall by the wayside. But slowly, the guys who were injured back in May come back.

This month was much as the same as the other two - we're now 37-42, up to 5th, now 12 1/2 behind the Rockies. No pennant in the future, but we didn't really expect one this early. We're also 12 1/2 games clear of relegation.

July - SP Casey Hines makes the All-Star team again, this time in a different division. He didn't pitch.

More of the same - we're now 48-56, back in 6th place, 13 1/2 behind LA. We're 18 1/2 games clear of relegation, so unless we hit a major slump, that's not a major worry.

August - We actually hit .500 before falling just short. 66-67, 6th place, 13 1/2 behind Battle Creek. Go Master Batters!

We make a few final tweaks and try to have a .500 season.

Sept/Oct - Almost got there, but lost our last game to finish at 80-82. We at least tied for 5th, but still ended up 13 behind Houston. Battle Creek couldn't hold on to their lead and finished 4th, 7 games out.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Estrada, .391(!)
Hits - Crawford, 150
Doubles - Katsuyuki, 38
Triples - Prior, 7
Homers - Katsuyuki, 32
RBI - Katsuyuki, 119
Runs - Crawford, 93
Walks - Cruz, 96
Steals - Crawford, 43
OBP - Estrada, .466
SLG - Estrada, .496

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Ceasar, 2.65
Wins - Hines, 19
Losses - Vargas, 15
Saves - Ceasar, 34
Games - Oswald, 78
Innings - Hines, 256.0
Strikeouts - Hines, 203

Best batter - Cori Crawford. Came back from a somewhat disappointing rookie year to become an ideal leadoff man. I suppose you're all wondering about Lloyd Estrada. He's a righty that platooned all season with our other 1B, Pedro Huezo, a switch hitter. Estrada hit "only" .327 against righties, Huezo .308 but with more power. I saw no compelling reason to break up a good platoon system.

Best pitcher - Casey Hines. Followed up his rookie year with another great performance.

Slickest fielder - Gregg Katsuyuki. 114 DPs and only 11 errors in 796 total chances. I think I'll miss his fielding more than his bat.

MVP - Hines. Gotta go with the ace of the staff.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Arizona 99 63 .611 -- .263 3.27
Texas 97 65 .599 2 .250 3.13
Atlanta 91 71 .562 8 .235 3.09
St. Louis 87 75 .537 12 .246 2.88
Boston 86 76 .531 13 .228 3.12
Seattle 83 79 .512 16 .230 2.74
San Francisco 81 81 .500 18 .230 3.20
New York 80 82 .494 19 .229 3.18
Division III
South Chicago 88 74 .543 -- .250 3.20
Pittsburgh 86 76 .531 2 .257 3.68
Troy 82 80 .506 6 .233 3.53
Saginaw 81 81 .500 7 .248 3.98
Traverse City 74 88 .457 14 .238 3.72
Anaheim 69 93 .426 19 .240 4.25
Grand Rapids 68 94 .420 20 .241 4.38
Lansing 44 118 .272 44 .205 3.83

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Cleveland 102 60 .630 -- .265 3.37
Toronto 93 69 .574 9 .261 3.44
Philadelphia 90 72 .556 12 .244 3.47
Baltimore 86 76 .531 16 .248 3.26
Chicago 83 79 .512 19 .255 3.73
Oakland 79 83 .488 23 .246 4.16
Long Island 74 88 .457 28 .251 3.95
Cincinnati 59 103 .364 43 .236 4.51
Division II - West
Houston 93 69 .574 -- .261 4.29
Colorado 89 73 .549 4 .269 4.29
Los Angeles 87 75 .537 6 .239 3.06
Battle Creek 86 76 .531 7 .246 3.73
Detroit 80 82 .494 13 .259 3.95
Flint 80 82 .494 13 .248 3.88
San Diego 66 96 .407 27 .243 4.32
Iron Mountain 49 113 .302 44 .231 5.13

AL Cup: Arizona over South Chicago, 4-1
NL Cup: Houston over Cleveland, 4-1
Champions Cup: Arizona over Houston, 4-3

Movin' up: Houston, South Chicago
Movin' down: New York, Iron Mountain

Both New York teams down in Division II for next season. Can you imagine the consternation that would erupt at whatever network(s) had the TV contract? Anyway, I can't see the Yankees staying down for long.

NEXT: Will we continue to be competitive in Division II? Will we take another step up? Did the voters pass our bond request?

[Honolulu Blue]

The bond issue passed by about a 60-40 margin, so we'll spend the next season adding a second deck to Eubanks Field. Next season we'll be able to fit 30,000 people in.

Once again we go about the process of evaluating our team's strengths and weaknesses and trying to eliminate as many of our weaknesses as possible. Right now our weakest positions are 2B (Katsuyuki's great power masked a whole host of flaws; he will be replaced), 3B (Miyazaki can hit lefties well, but not righties), starters #4 and 5 (Vargas and Daly aren't getting the job done), and long relief (Miguel and Oswald are too wild to be consistently effective). We'll see who we can find in the free agent market.

Another Hall of Famer this year. OF Willis Nichols was drafted in the 3rd round in 2011. He got quick looks in '11, '12, and '13 before finally sticking in the big leagues for good with a .267 season. That would be his worst average until everyone knew he was washed up. After two more seasons with Anaheim, it was time to free agency. Long Island from Division I stepped up and offered a 5-year, $46 million contract. He really started to roll once he got to the Mets, always hitting over .300, with OBPs near or above .400, and SLGs near or above .500. Curiously, he only made one All-Star team in this time. But he did win his first Christopher award in 2020, his last in Long Island. This was the first of FIVE Christopher awards that Nichols would win. He left New York after his contract expired, and went to the big money Rangers who offered 6 years and $62 million for his services. He was not overpaid. He hit even better in Texas than he had in Long Island and made the All-Star team five times. He won the Christopher Award as a Ranger in '21, '22, '24, and '25. And he led Texas to the Champions Cup in '23 and '26. So every year he either won a ring or a trophy. Not bad. He was getting old at the end of this contract, but Cleveland decided to sign him anyway for 4 years and $7.5 million per. He didn't do much for the Indians and mercifully retired with one year to go on his deal.

His career record: .323 BA, .399 OBP, .491 SLG, 540 stolen bases, 1614 runs, 1402 RBI, 362 HR, and 2938 hits in 2470 games. Nichols will be remembered as one of the all-time greats.

Financially we had a banner year. Despite raising our ticket prices to $10, we only lost about 300 fans as we sold out the stadium yet again. We made well over $7 million last season, bringing our cash to $10.5 million. Only one contract expires this year, SS Harley Wood, and we have over $16 million available to re-sign him. Or we can use $14.5 million for any free agents that might come along. Clearly we're sitting pretty and can afford almost anyone we set our eyes on.

We sign Donnell Sillinger as our scouting director and Gilbert Brown as our new AA manager. Their ratings are superficially decent, but I suspect compared to the rest of the league, they're not so good.

In the free agent market, we get 2B/3B Joe Gonzalez. His average is good, he has some pop, he'll draw some walks, he's fast, a good fielder (at both positions), and hardly ever strikes out. We gave him a 4-year deal at $3.6 million per, which is probably a little much, but we can afford it. My guess is he'll move to 2B since we have more options at 3B.

And on to the draft, where we're at position #25. We can use quality players pretty much everywhere, since most of the better ones have already moved on to AA or higher.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: LF Danny Bristow (18)
Round 2 pick: RF Leon Bessey (18)
Round 3 pick: 2B Calvin Dickinson (20)
Round 4 pick: MR Cresencio Juan (23)
Round 5 pick: SS Edgard Gurrola (19)

Bristow is no superstar, but he should be able to move through the system. Bessey has a knack for drawing walks and not striking out, just don't ask about his defense. Dickinson is a slick fielder and runs like the wind, and his hitting should develop. Juan is good but doesn't have a lot of time left. Gurrola's best hope is to learn 2nd base (he already knows 3B) and become somebody else's utility infielder.

Payroll is now up around $18 million.

We reach opening day with a slightly improved team, I think. We should be able to get 80-90 wins, which is likely to put us in the chase, but won't give us the pennant.

NEXT: How does the season play out?

[Honolulu Blue]

Almost forgot one detail: 2B Gregg Katsuyuki signed a contract with the Rockies for 6 years at $3.7 million per. Perfect match for them - his batting average and extra base hits should be enhanced by playing at Coors Field.

April - A month slightly below expectations as we go 12-13, good for 5th place, 5 1/2 behind Battle Creek. Some of our hitters have been slow to warm up, but the more serious problem seems to be the pitching staff. Connell in his rookie season has been fine, Hines only OK, the other three starters not very good. And the relievers have been all over the map. We tweak things as though there's nothing really wrong.

May - We fumbled and bumbled through most of the month, getting as low as 16-27 before snapping out of it and finishing up at 25-28. That leaves us 6th, 9 1/2 behind Colorado. We're 11 1/2 clear of relegation.

Oh those injuries. SPs Vargas and Miraglia are both hurt, and Vargas will miss the rest of the season. Their replacements have done a good job so far.

June - We're playing better, getting as high as second before falling back to third. Our record is 41-39 and we're 10 1/2 behind Colorado. More tweaks.

July - Minor trade - Traverse City offers 2B Derek Shreckengost and LF Dan Lamping for OF Aaron Muzzall. This is Shreckengost's contract year but he shouldn't be too expensive, being a backup and all. He'll be a backup for us too. Lamping is a non-prospect but young enough to grow out of it. Muzzall doesn't really fit into our plans and was making too much not to.

Three All-Stars from Flint on the NL team - SP Casey Hines, C Bernard Cruz, and LF Brian Prior. Prior struck out as a pinch hitter, Cruz went 0-for-4 with a K, and Hines didn't play.
Otherwise it's a sluggish month and we finish it at 50-55, 6th place, 20 games behind Colorado. The pennant race is all but over for us. We're 12 1/2 ahead of the relegation spot, so that's not a current worry.

August - The wheels have come completely off - we're at 61-73, still in 6th, but 28 1/2 games behind Colorado. We must be mathematically out of it now, or soon. The relegation spot is still 10 1/2 behind us, so we're only slightly concerned about that.

Nothing to do now but call up a few people and hope no one gets hurt seriously.

September/October - We improved to 78-84 and tied for 5th. We couldn't see the Rockies with a miner lamp, them being 32 games ahead and all.

I can't help feeling disappointed, even though we only regressed by two games. I think we should be making better progress. Even though our $18 million payroll is the third lowest in the league, we should be playing better than this. Maybe next year.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Crawford, .297
Hits - Jantz, 177
Doubles - Cruz, 36
Triples - Prior, 12
Homers - Wood, 27
RBI - Cruz, 99
Runs - Gonzalez, 106
Walks - Prior, 107
Steals - Gonzalez, 46
OBP - Prior, .410
SLG - Prior, .477

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Guercio, 1.45
Wins - Hines, 17
Losses - Beauvais, 12
Saves - Ceasar, 34
Games - Ceasar, 79
Innings - Hines, 248.1
Strikeouts - Hines, 213

Best batter - Brian Prior. In his second major league season he lived up to the hype. I look forward to his next three years.

Best pitcher - Casey Hines. Three in a row for our #1 starter.

Slickest fielder - None.

MVP - Prior. Despite some questionable defense at times (15 errors), his hitting and speed make him an extremely valuable property.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Texas 115 47 .710 -- .269 2.88
Arizona 106 56 .654 9 .262 3.01
Seattle 98 64 .605 17 .234 2.57
St. Louis 95 67 .586 20 .242 2.89
Boston 89 73 .549 26 .235 3.04
San Francisco 79 83 .488 36 .243 3.53
Houston 72 90 .444 43 .235 4.30
Atlanta 60 102 .370 55 .242 4.32
Division III
Pittsburgh 90 72 .556 -- .259 4.07
Iron Mountain 83 79 .512 7 .245 4.04
Saginaw 75 87 .463 15 .236 3.69
Troy 75 87 .463 15 .242 3.47
Traverse City 74 88 .457 16 .233 3.97
Anaheim 66 96 .407 24 .238 3.97
Grand Rapids 65 97 .401 25 .230 4.21
Lansing 54 108 .333 36 .213 4.19

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
New York 115 47 .710 -- .254 2.54
Toronto 86 76 .531 29 .252 3.37
Long Island 82 80 .506 33 .265 3.91
Chicago 79 83 .488 36 .240 4.13
Baltimore 77 85 .475 38 .229 3.93
Cincinnati 72 90 .444 43 .239 4.12
Cleveland 70 92 .432 45 .232 3.53
Philadelphia 70 92 .432 45 .245 4.20
Division II - West
Colorado 110 52 .679 -- .278 3.57
Detroit 88 74 .543 22 .247 3.50
Battle Creek 85 77 .525 25 .253 3.61
Los Angeles 80 82 .494 30 .253 3.35
Flint 78 84 .481 32 .253 4.06
Oakland 78 84 .481 32 .233 3.40
San Diego 63 99 .389 47 .248 4.04
South Chicago 63 99 .389 47 .240 4.44

AL Cup: Texas over Pittsburgh, 4-1
NL Cup: New York over Colorado, 4-2
Champions Cup: Texas over New York, 4-2

Movin' up: New York, Pittsburgh
Movin' down: Atlanta, South Chicago

The Rangers took the lead back in the payroll race and, not surprisingly, took the Cup. In even less of a surprise, the Yankees blew away Division II and will be heading back where they belong.

NEXT: Can we move up?

[Buccaneer]

What I find amazing about this is how you and the game is able to keep the scales of the three divisions intact. This is esp. true between Div I and II where you would expect some convergence. But with a true Div I team moving down, it really showed the separation in scale and competition. Excellent work.

[Honolulu Blue]

Originally posted by Buccaneer
What I find amazing about this is how you and the game is able to keep the scales of the three divisions intact. This is esp. true between Div I and II where you would expect some convergence. But with a true Div I team moving down, it really showed the separation in scale and competition. Excellent work.

That's because I made the financial differences between the divisions quite wide. And also, a team like New York keeps its $20 million in local TV revenue, while most of the teams in Division II have to make do with $5 million.

There has been a little convergence; St. Louis started out in Div II but has been in Div I for awhile, and Houston is another Div II team that survived their first year in Div I. Meanwhile, Long Island was relegated three years ago and still can't find their way out. There has also been some convergence between Div II and Div III.

I, too, am happy with what I've seen from the results. The game could use a more customizable financial model, but it's working pretty well as is.

[Honolulu Blue]

After two hugely profitable years, we had a minor loss last season (about $750,000). No big deal as we still have nearly $10 million in cash waiting to be used. We look forward to playing in renovated Eubanks Field with luxury boxes and 15,000 additional cheap seats. For now we'll keep ticket prices at $10. We might even have to resort to some promotions if attendance starts to tail off at the end of the season. Fan interest has retreated to 43.

Four players have their contracts end this season and though none are critical, I'd like to re-sign SP Beauvais and SS/3B Miller, if only for depth/trading purposes. We have $10.6 million in which to sign them - should be no problem. We also have $7.8 million in free agency. Once again, the sky is the limit.

We sign hitting coach Clarence Pate and A manager Ryan Julyan to 3-year deals.

South Chicago offers us a neat deal - MR Brian Moser and SP Juan Colon for MR Luis Casella. Casella is 29, hadn't developed much, and was probably the last man on the staff in AAA. So losing him would mean nothing. Moser is a decent reliever, though his records have been up and down (last year: 4-0, 5.20; career: 15-18, 4.09). He's 32 and makes half a million a year, so he doesn't come without baggage. The key to the deal might be Colon. He is a solid prospect and only 20. He has lots of time and room to improve.

3B Roland Ramos comes to us as a free agent from the New York Yankees. He signs for a reasonable price ($1.5 million a year for 5 years). He hit .294 in 153 games last year for them. His career average is .274. He's not as valuable as the BA would indicate, because he doesn't draw many walks and doesn't have much power. I plan to platoon him with one of my third basemen. I haven't decided which yet.

The Rockies come through with an offer - RF Pedro Quintana for SS Harley Wood. Wood has some pop and crushes lefties but isn't much of a shortstop. Quintana hits for average - not power - and draws walks. He'll be good at clogging the basepaths for our other hitters.

One more deal - the Saginaw Gears offer us OF Jamie Larocco and SP Teobaldo Rocha for SP/MR Benito Miraglia. Miraglia is versatile and cheap, which tends to disguise the fact that he's not terribly good (17-23, 3.84 career). He's an easily replaceable commodity if I have to do so. Larocco is of limited value, being OK in all categories but not excelling in any one. He'll be a star on the AAA team. The trade is really being made for Rocha, who's a bright prospect taken by the Gears with the 8th overall pick last year. He could make this deal a lopsided one for us.

And on to the draft, where we start #13. We could use some pitchers, first basemen and outfielders.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: RF Terin Beck (21)
Round 2 pick: 1B James Almarode (18)
Round 3 pick: SP Guido Luna (20)
Round 4 pick: CL Travis Turner (20)
Round 5 pick: MR Brandon Whittle (21)

Beck probably isn't going to hit for a great average, but he has power and will draw walks to compensate. In addition, he happens to be a fine outfielder. Almarode isn't great at anything BUT drawing walks. We'll see if that talent gets him to the big leagues. Luna showed up at camp out of shape with 5 MPH off his pitches. He's all but worthless now. Turner should be pretty good in time. Whittle is an inning eater, probably in the minors.

We work out six of our middle relievers as starters, and our scouts say that four of them succeeded in converting. Cool.

Payroll on opening day is at $22.7 million, but we should easily cover that with this year's revenues.

NEXT: Will this be our breakout year?

[Honolulu Blue]

One thing I certainly noticed, and you may have noticed if you're sharp-eyed, is that the ERAs seem to be low overall in Division I. There are three reaons for this:

1) I set the league settings so that the ERA for the whole league would be between 3.50 and 4.00. Except for the earliest years, I have succeeded in doing this.
2) The Division I teams get to feast on the Division III teams 25-35 times a year, which would tend to lower their ERA (since the Div III teams generally aren't as good).
3) Almost every year at least 20 of the top 25 salaries belong to pitchers. Most of them cluster in Div I, since those teams have the most money to spend.

Anyway, I wanted to see how true it was, so I went back from 2013 and totaled the ERAs for each division and this is what I came up with:

Year Division I Division II Division III

2013 3.67 3.56 4.66
2014 3.50 4.17 4.42
2015 3.29 3.96 4.37
2016 3.17 4.02 4.60
2017 3.15 4.15 4.66
2018 2.93 3.99 4.31
2019 3.36 3.97 4.35
2020 3.44 3.73 4.49
2021 3.50 3.89 4.29
2022 3.36 3.69 4.16
2023 3.04 3.76 3.99
2024 3.04 3.75 3.94
2025 3.12 3.71 3.92
2026 3.17 3.71 4.14
2027 3.05 3.68 3.80
2028 3.09 3.76 3.84
2029 3.08 3.91 3.82
2030 3.32 3.73 3.95

This confirmed what I thought. Every year, the ERA in Division I has been lower than the ERA in Division III. In every year but one, the ERA in Division I has been lower than the ERA in Division II. And in every year but one, the ERA in Division II has been lower than the ERA in Division III. The ERA for Div I has been stable between 3.00 and 3.50 for years (with one spike). The ERA for Division II has been between 3.67 and 4.17 almost every year. The ERAs for Division III have been less predictable, but overall they have been dropping from the mid to high 4s into the high 3s. The difference between Divisions II and III have narrowed such that they are now .25 run or less apart. The difference between Divisions I and III have narrowed and the difference in 2030 (.63) is as small as it has ever been, though I wouldn't bet on it to continue next year.

Another story to follow around the league.

[Honolulu Blue]

April - Fun month. We actually held the lead for a few days in early April, but then the injuries started to hit and we fell back to 12-9. Good enough to be tied for 2nd, 2 1/2 behind Battle Creek. Connell and Hines, our two best starters, are on the DL for awhile, both with bicep troubles. Gotta stop showing off for the girls, guys.

May - We make a deal with Cleveland - MR Harry Johnson and 1B Paul Davis for OF Rosco Abrego. Abrego is decent and I kinda like him, but we have players who can take over his role. Johnson is another middle reliever with great ratings who hasn't performed well in the big leagues yet (career: 7-6, 2 saves, 4.18 ERA). Davis is valueless, but at least he's cheap.

We treaded water until Hines and Connell got healthy and effective, then started to win. Our record is 28-21 and we're still tied for 2nd, but now 5 behind the Master Batters.

As a team we're hitting .272 and drawing the usual number of walks, meaning we're scoring lots of runs. Alas, the pitching staff is a little leaky. We make a few minor changes.

In front office news, we're averaging a little over 28,000 per game. And we've re-signed SP Beavais (5 years, $2.7 million per) and SS/3B Miller (5 years, $2.8 million per). We'll try to get the others done also. And fan interest is up to 48.

June - We've finally hit our stride. 47-29, finally in 2nd all alone, 2 games behind Battle Creek. The pitchers are doing well, and the hitters are doing VERY well. This could be our year...

July - SPs Casey Hines and Jim Cantu made the All-Star team, along with 2B Joe Gonzalez. Gonzalez cracked a base-clearing triple in the bottom of the 1st to help the team score 5 in that inning en route to a 6-3 victory. Cantu pitched 1 2/3 innings, gave up no hits, no walks, and struck out two. Hines was jealous, because he once again didn't play.

The rest of the month wasn't all that great as we settled in at 56-44. That's still good for 2nd, but we're 7 1/2 behind Battle Creek now. A few more last-minute tweaks and we think we're ready for the next month.

August - It's looking like a pretty good year, but not a pennant winning one. We're at 72-57, still 2nd, but 10 1/2 behind Battle Creek. We lost Hines at mid-month, out for the season. We make no major changes as we head into the home stretch.

Sept/Oct - Well, they clinched but we were coming hard at the end. We had our best record at 97-65, but the Master Batters won 99, and they took the pennant. Our 97 wins would've won the East in a walk, BTW.

Something I noticed while scanning the news - our guy Jim Cantu threw a no-hitter against Toronto. He walked 4 and struck out 12. He was one of the guys I converted to start before the season and he was great.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Ramos, .335
Hits - Gonzalez, 189
Doubles - Gonzalez, 35
Triples - Crawford & Miller, 10 each
Homers - Prior, 23
RBI - Cruz, 101
Runs - Gonzalez, 130
Walks - Cruz, 118
Steals - Crawford, 34
OBP - Prior, .416
SLG - Prior, .530

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Martinez, 2.62
Wins - Cantu, 17
Losses - Guercio & Beauvais, 8 each
Saves - Ceasar, 23
Games - Martinez, 82
Innings - Beauvais, 236.2
Strikeouts - Cantu, 205

Best batter - Brian Prior. He has turned into a force. I fear next year's contract negotiations.

Best pitcher - Jim Cantu. Only because Hines got hurt and missed a third of the season.

Slickest fielder - Joe Gonzalez. 128 double plays and only 13 errors in 803 chances (.984 FP). I'll take that.

MVP - Prior. I wonder where Jim Jackson is these days. Ah yes, found him. He hit .188 in 146 games with the Padres in '28, was released in '29, picked up by Saginaw in '30, and released in '31. No takers.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Arizona 107 55 .660 -- .271 2.75
Texas 102 60 .630 5 .267 3.14
Boston 92 70 .568 15 .231 3.12
San Francisco 90 72 .556 17 .251 3.06
Seattle 87 75 .537 20 .229 2.63
New York 85 77 .525 22 .228 2.96
St. Louis 77 85 .475 30 .233 3.24
Houston 69 93 .426 38 .240 4.60
Division III
Iron Mountain 89 73 .549 -- .231 3.48
South Chicago 82 80 .506 7 .263 3.76
Anaheim 81 81 .500 8 .233 3.32
Saginaw 79 83 .488 10 .257 4.16
Troy 78 84 .481 11 .257 4.04
Traverse City 65 97 .401 24 .243 4.33
Lansing 58 104 .358 31 .229 4.01
Grand Rapids 55 107 .340 34 .229 4.43

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Philadelphia 88 74 .543 -- .273 4.72
Pittsburgh 87 75 .537 1 .251 4.16
Atlanta 86 76 .531 2 .242 3.29
Long Island 83 79 .512 5 .261 3.74
Toronto 83 79 .512 5 .266 3.63
Baltimore 82 80 .506 6 .253 3.61
Cleveland 76 86 .469 12 .237 3.79
Cincinnati 66 96 .407 22 .234 3.95
Division II - West
Battle Creek 99 63 .611 -- .267 3.64
Flint 97 65 .599 2 .278 3.72
Los Angeles 90 72 .556 9 .260 3.32
Detroit 85 77 .525 14 .242 3.31
Colorado 78 84 .481 21 .264 4.62
Chicago 77 85 .475 22 .242 4.22
Oakland 68 94 .420 31 .251 4.23
San Diego 51 111 .315 48 .241 4.72

AL Cup: Arizona over Iron Mountain, 4-0
NL Cup: Philadelphia over Battle Creek, 4-1
Champions Cup: Arizona over Philadelphia, 4-1

Movin' up: Iron Mountainn, Philadelphia
Movin' down: Houston, San Diego

It's too bad that Battle Creek couldn't overcome the Phillies; it would have been fun to see them in Division I.

NEXT: Time for another pennant push!

[Honolulu Blue]

After finishing two games behind in the last race, we feel we are ready for another pennant push. Most of the ingredients are already in place; we just need to stay healthy.

In financial news, we made a little under $5 million last year, swelling our cash near the $15 million max. We drew a record 2,357,935 to our stadium, or just over 29,000 per game. No compelling need to change our ticket prices. We have $24 million for re-signing players and $19 mil for free agents. The key players whose contracts happen to be up are C Cruz, 1B Estrada, SP Hines, and OFs Prior and Crawford. We should be able to keep most of those players.

We sign Fred Paseldoup as our pitching coach, Jason Wright to take over our AA team, and Rod Kiger to handle the key AAA squad.

We're not very active in the free agent market, just signing C Averardo Castro Jr. His skills are limited, but he does have a little potential. He'll sit in the minors while I decide what to do about our catching situation this year and next.

We make a trade with the Angels - MR Andre Lyford and OF Bernard Bejarano for SP Gabriel Ritondo. Ritondo had been squeezed out of my plans by better pitchers. Lyford is another decent middle reliever and should compete for a job on the team. Bejarano is a good prospect and the key to this trade.

On to the draft, where we have to settle for the #31 pick.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: SP Jacob Harmon (20)
Round 2 pick: C Antoni Delossantos (21)
Round 3 pick: SP Donte Gallegos (20)
Round 4 pick: 2B Robert Beckman
Round 5 pick: MR Jasper Sussmann

Harmon has solid potential and was asked to report directly to AA - always a good sign. Delossantos could be our catcher of the future. There's nothing special about Gallegos. Beckman can play 2B or 3B; too bad he's not going to hit. Sussman is a roster filler.

I suppose it's time to give a few more details on the roster I've built up. Here it is:

BATTERS :
ACTUAL RATINGS RUNNING DEF.
Name Age Pos CONTACT POWER EYE SP STA RANGE
B. Prior 24 LF 6 9 7 B B D
J. Gonzalez 34 2B 6 6 10 B A B
B. Cruz 35 C 5 8 9 D C A
C. Crawford 27 CF 6 5 7 B A A
R. Miller 28 SS 6 5 5 C B C
J. Serrano 24 1B 8 2 5 D C B
L. Estrada 27 1B 7 5 8 E C C
G. Robinson 27 C 4 6 6 E D C
R. Ramos 29 3B 7 4 4 C D C
H. Alberto 25 LF 6 3 4 D C D
C. Stamos 28 3B 4 4 5 D D C
R. Jantz 31 RF 5 4 7 E E D
J. Larocco 29 CF 4 4 4 D D C
P. Huezo 26 1B 4 3 5 E D C
S. Miyazaki 32 RF 4 3 6 D B C
M. Garza 26 SS 5 2 7 C B B
M. Duran 23 2B 4 1 6 C D C
T. Beck 22 RF 1 4 4 C C B
A. Castro Jr. 25 C 3 2 4 E D C
M. Giacobe 26 3B 1 3 6 E C C
J. Preston 26 CF 2 3 4 E A C
D. Bristow 20 LF 0 4 2 C D C
B. Bejarano 22 CF 1 2 5 C D C
G. Fagan 27 C 3 2 3 E E C
B. Rozwadowski 21 CF 1 2 5 D C D
M. Bang 22 3B 3 1 4 D E E
D. Lamping 22 LF 1 3 4 D C E
L. Bessey 20 RF 0 3 5 E D E
C. Dickinson 22 2B 2 2 3 B A B
J. Almarode 19 1B 1 2 5 D E E
A. Delossantos 21 C 0 2 3 E D B
E. Gurrola 21 SS 0 1 4 D D C
R. Beckman 20 2B 0 2 2 C B C

PITCHERS :
ACTUAL RATINGS DURATION
Name Age Role STUFF MOVEM. CON STA REL
C. Hines 30 SP 8 8 8 D *
T. Connell 22 SP 8 7 5 C *
J. Beauvais 31 SP 6 8 6 D *
J. Hohertz 24 SP 5 5 7 D C
V. Ceasar 32 MR 8 6 8 * A
J. Cantu 30 SP 7 6 4 D C
R. Welch 25 SP 5 5 3 D B
K. Hernandez 27 MR 7 7 6 * D
C. Martinez 23 SP 3 5 5 B *
T. Robinson 22 SP 2 3 5 B *
C. Guercio 28 SP 3 7 6 D C
K. Daly 33 SP 4 7 5 C *
T. Rocha 22 SP 2 3 5 C *
D. Childers 27 SP 3 5 4 B *
J. St.laurent 24 SP 1 2 6 B *
J. Colon 22 SP 3 5 6 B *
E. Martinez 32 CL 4 6 7 * E
A. Lyford 29 MR 7 7 5 * B
J. Kautter 25 SP 2 4 5 C *
J. Harmon 20 SP 1 2 7 C *
A. Baez 26 MR 5 8 7 * D
H. Johnson 31 MR 6 8 6 * D
B. Moser 33 MR 5 8 6 * E
A. Miguel 30 MR 5 5 3 D A
J. Rojas 36 MR 4 6 6 * A
S. Partch 25 MR 3 4 6 * A
J. Calo 27 CL 3 6 4 * C
C. Juan 25 MR 3 5 5 E B
G. Walker 28 MR 4 7 5 * C
G. Luna 21 SP 1 1 2 D *
D. Gallegos 21 SP 0 2 2 C *
T. Wilmer 26 CL 1 4 6 * B
M. Isselton 28 MR 3 5 4 B D
T. Turner 21 CL 2 4 3 * C
B. Whittle 22 MR 1 2 5 * A
J. Sussmann 22 MR 0 2 3 * A
BATTERS :
TALENT RATINGS RUNNING DEF.
Name Age Pos CONTACT POWER EYE/DIS. SP STA RANGE
B. Prior 24 LF Good Brilliant Good B B D
J. Gonzalez 34 2B Good Good Brilliant B A B
B. Cruz 35 C Fair Good Brilliant D C A
C. Crawford 27 CF Good Average Brilliant B A A
R. Miller 28 SS Good Average Good C B C
J. Serrano 24 1B Brilliant Fair Good D C B
L. Estrada 27 1B Brilliant Good Brilliant E C C
G. Robinson 27 C Average Good Good E D C
R. Ramos 29 3B Good Average Average C D C
H. Alberto 25 LF Good Average Average D C D
C. Stamos 28 3B Average Average Good D D C
R. Jantz 31 RF Average Average Good E E D
J. Larocco 29 CF Average Average Fair D D C
P. Huezo 26 1B Average Average Average E D C
S. Miyazaki 32 RF Average Fair Good D B C
M. Garza 26 SS Good Fair Good C B B
M. Duran 23 2B Good Fair Brilliant C D C
T. Beck 22 RF Average Good Good C C B
A. Castro Jr. 25 C Average Fair Good E D C
M. Giacobe 26 3B Fair Fair Good E C C
J. Preston 26 CF Fair Fair Fair E A C
D. Bristow 20 LF Fair Good Fair C D C
B. Bejarano 22 CF Average Average Brilliant C D C
G. Fagan 27 C Fair Poor Fair E E C
B. Rozwadowski21 CF Fair Average Good D C D
M. Bang 22 3B Fair Fair Fair D E E
D. Lamping 22 LF Fair Fair Average D C E
L. Bessey 20 RF Fair Average Good E D E
C. Dickinson 22 2B Average Fair Average B A B
J. Almarode 19 1B Average Average Brilliant D E E
A. Delossantos21 C Average Average Good E D B
E. Gurrola 21 SS Fair Fair Good D D C
R. Beckman 20 2B Fair Fair Good C B C

PITCHERS :
TALENT RATINGS
Name Age Role STUFF MOVEMENT CONTROL DUR
C. Hines 30 SP Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant D
T. Connell 22 SP Brilliant Brilliant Average C
J. Beauvais 31 SP Good Good Good D
J. Hohertz 24 SP Good Average Brilliant D
V. Ceasar 32 MR Good Good Brilliant A
J. Cantu 30 SP Good Good Average D
R. Welch 25 SP Good Average Average D
K. Hernandez 27 MR Good Good Good D
C. Martinez 23 SP Average Good Average B
T. Robinson 22 SP Good Average Brilliant B
C. Guercio 28 SP Average Good Average D
K. Daly 33 SP Good Brilliant Average C
T. Rocha 22 SP Brilliant Brilliant Good C
D. Childers 27 SP Average Average Average B
J. St.laurent 24 SP Poor Fair Good B
J. Colon 22 SP Good Good Good B
E. Martinez 32 CL Average Average Good E
A. Lyford 29 MR Good Good Average B
J. Kautter 25 SP Fair Fair Fair C
J. Harmon 20 SP Good Good Brilliant C
A. Baez 26 MR Good Brilliant Good D
H. Johnson 31 MR Good Brilliant Good D
B. Moser 33 MR Good Brilliant Good E
A. Miguel 30 MR Good Average Fair A
J. Rojas 36 MR Average Good Good A
S. Partch 25 MR Average Average Good A
J. Calo 27 CL Average Average Fair C
C. Juan 25 MR Good Brilliant Average B
G. Walker 28 MR Good Brilliant Fair C
G. Luna 21 SP Fair Fair Average D
D. Gallegos 21 SP Average Average Average C
T. Wilmer 26 CL Fair Average Average B
M. Isselton 28 MR Average Average Average D
T. Turner 21 CL Average Good Fair C
B. Whittle 22 MR Fair Average Good A
J. Sussmann 22 MR Average Average Fair A

And now my comments on the major league roster, and a few of the key minor leaguers:

C Bernard Cruz (35) - Last year: .231, 19 HR, 101 RBI; Career .248, 234 HR, 882 RBI
He's been the main man behind the plate for us for the past three years. A big year will definitely help us take the pennant. His contract is up; he's at an age where he could slow down quickly, so I'm undecided about whether to re-sign him.

1B Lloyd Estrada (27) - Last year: .314, 11 HR, 76 RBI; Career: .313, 20 HR, 168 RBI in 450 games
One of my bargain free agent pickups, has developed into a hitting machine. Probably should be platooned but I don't have a suitable partner. His contract is up, and I don't know if I'll re-sign him.

2B Joe Gonzalez (34) - Last year: .289, 31 SB, 130 runs; Career: .269, 374 SB, 969 runs in 1670 games
Joe is heading into the home stretch of his career. He's still a good runner and fielder.

SS Russel Miller (28) - Last year: .274, 18 HR, 86 RBI; Career: .253, 53 HR, 245 RBI in 624 games
Holds down the fort at shorstop after alternating between short and third in his career before then. We expect more of the same from him.

3B Roland Ramos (29) - Last year: .335, 5 HR, 74 RBI; Career: .285, 25 HR, 252 RBI in 759 games
The lefty half of the hot corner platoon. An effective singles hitter with OK defense; doesn't draw walks so he has to hit near .300 to be of value.

3B Cletus Stamos (28) - Last year: .290, 10 HR, 51 RBI; first major league season
The righty half of the platoon. More power but a lower average and he doesn't draw walks either. Can fill in at SS in a pinch.

LF Brian Prior (24) - Last year: .318, 23 HR, 94 RBI; Career: .284, 42 HR, 237 RBI in 440 games
He's turned into the star hitter on the team and there's still upside to go. His contract ends after this season, so I have to pony up the money to keep him.

CF Cori Crawford (27) - Last year: .297, 98 runs, 93 RBI; Career: .297, 324 runs, 260 RBI in 598 games
Another very good hitter that came up through the Flint system. His contract is up and he figures to be expensive. I'd like to keep him, but maybe I won't be able to.

RF Robert Jantz (31) - Last year: .271, 20 RBI in 192 AB; Career: .278, 453 RBI in 1010 games
The old man of the lineup; this will be his 8th year in Flint. A good but not great hitter. Not much of an outfielder but 18-for-18 stealing bases in his career.

The bench:

C Gary Robinson (27) - Last year: .273, 33 RBI in 139 AB; Career: .260 BA in 285 AB
The understudy/backup for his two seasons in the majors. Has one more season in the role, then is being groomed for the starters' job. Will he be ready then?

1B/LF Hugo Alberto (25) - Last year: .272, 43 RBI in 287 AB; first major league season
Platooned last season, but will probably stay on the bench this time. Defense is bad but can hit a little.

OF Jamie Larocco (29) - Last year: .263 in 38 AB; Career: .265 BA in 753 games
OK outfielder, would play more if he were a righty. He'll play some if any of the other outfielders get hurt.

The starting rotation:

Ace Casey Hines (30) - Last year: 13-6, 2.92; Career: 65-32, 2.73
He's been an outstanding pitcher his whole career. The only sour note is that his contract expires after this year and he's going to be really, really expensive.

SP Troy Connell (22) - Last year: 13-5, 2.89; Career: 20-14, 3.84
Figures to be the ace once Hines leaves (if he leaves). A little wild but very tough to hit. The scary part is that he's young enough to improve some more.

SP Joe Beauvais (31) - Last year: 13-8, 3.73; Career: 55-57, 3.68
Inning eater, .500 pitcher. Every staff should have one. Has kept his ERA in the 3s all five seasons with us; we expect more of the same this year.

SP Jim Cantu (30) - Last year: 17-6, 2.79; Career: 27-18, 2.88
Another wild one who's difficult to hit cleanly. His brilliant season was a shock; being even better next year would be a bigger shock.

SP Joe Hohertz (24) - Rookie
It's not easy working in new blood on this staff, but Hohertz forced me into it. He figures to have good control, which should give him a decent record.

Swingman Carlos Guercio (28) - Last year: 7-8, 5.13; Career: 18-16, 3.67
Probably best off in long relief, but his ratings are the best among those who can swing, so he's elected.

The pen:

MR Kelmo Hernandez (27) - Last year: 3-1, 4.50; Career: 7-3, 3.62
First man out of the bullpen. Should be OK in that role.

MR Harry Johnson (31) - Last year: 2-4, 2.72; Career: 9-9, 3.82
Another long reliever. Could be promoted to setup.

MR Andre Lyford (29) - Last year: 3-7, 5 saves, 4.19 with Anaheim; Career: 4-7, 5 saves, 4.30
He'll probably take over setup duties.

MR Jesus Rojas (36) - Last year: 2-6, 3 saves, 4.26; Career: 26-44, 25 saves, 4.13
He's been with us since 2019, though not always in the majors. Don't bet on him lasting the full season here.

MR/CL Enrique Martinez (32) - Last year: 10-3, 11 saves, 2.62; Career: 34-35, 64 saves, 3.20
Will fight Ceasar for closer honors.

CL/MR Vaasco Ceasar (32) - Last year: 2-6, 23 saves, 4.28; Career: 36-38, 161 saves, 3.19
Has had two bad years in a row. A third will cause me to start looking at trade offers.

The minor leaguers:

SP Kenny Daly (33) - If one of our starters were to get hurt, he'd be the first person called. Won't do too much damage.
SP Teobaldo Rocha (22) - Our next big star. Probably a year or two away.
SP/MR Alex Miguel (30) - Another guy who failed to stick for us but is a phone call away.
SP Brian Moser (33) - Same situation as Daly and Miguel.
1B Josh Serrano (24) - Looks ready, but no space.
SS/2B Marcos Garza (26) - Took a big leap last year. We're trying to teach him 2B.
3B/OF Soetsu Miyazaki (32) - For emergencies only.
2B Mariano Duran (23) - His career hasn't yet come undone. Don't say a prayer for him now, save it 'til the season after.

So, that's the team. Think we can win the pennant?

NEXT: Well, can we?

[Honolulu Blue]

April - Finally, we get off to a good start. A 15-7 record puts us in first place, 3 games ahead of the crowd (Battle Creek, Chicago, and Colorado). The hitting has been great, and the pitching good enough.

The good news is we signed Crawford to a 5-year deal at $3.2 million per. The bad new is that Prior and his agent have stopped talking to me, at least for now. I put him on the block to see what offers I can get for him.

May - No mercy on the rest of the division. We go to 34-14 and that's good for a 7 game lead over South Chicago. We're taking nothing for granted, of course, but things are looking good. The hitters remain ridiculously, absurdly good. And except for Hohertz, Guercio and Martinez, the pitching staff has been all I can ask for. Fan interest is up to 56, and we've been selling out every game.

June - This has probably been our worst month as we only go 19-9. Still, that leaves us at 53-23 and a cool 6 1/2 games in front of Battle Creek. They've been hanging tough, and if they get hot at the same time we get cold... well, they could make a race out of it yet.

Troy Connell refuses to lose as he's gone 12-1 with a 2.46 ERA. All his starts have been quality starts except the loss (rocked by the Cubs for 7 runs on May 29). Sounds like an All-Star to me. Too early to think about the Clemens Award.

July - Our month is good enough as we end it at 69-32, now standing 11 1/2 games in front of Battle Creek.

SP Troy Connell, LF Brian Prior, and 2B Joe Gonzalez made the All-Star team. Prior batted leadoff and did not impress, striking out twice and going 0-for-3. Gonzalez batted 2nd and had a hit, walk, and run scored. Connell didn't play.

August - We're as good as we had to be, crusing through the month to get to 85-45, 14 games in front of the Master Batters and the Cubs. Fan interest has risen to 65, and the team continues to play well overall, with some weak spots. More tweaking.

The one bad note is that #4 starter Joe Beauvais was diagnosed with bone chips in his shoulder and will be out for the rest of the season. Too bad as he was 14-6 this season.

September/Oct - Jim Cantu was hurt in late September and is scheduled to miss about 4 weeks. He was having another great season (16-5, 3.07) and will definitely miss him in the playoffs, though there's a chance he could come back very late if we make it that far.

Oh yeah, we clinched on September 19 with a win at home over the Indians.

We end the regular season at 105-57, by far the best in the NL and 16 games ahead of Battle Creek and Chicago.

Our opponent in the NL Cup is the Toronto Blue Jays, the 2nd best team in the NL this season with a record of 96-66. They're a solid all-around team, though they don't equal us in any important category. We'll be going with a 3 man rotation with Hines, Connell, and Daly.

NL CUP:

Game 1 - The series starts at Eubanks Field. We win it 6-5 in 10 innings. Joe Gonzalez got the game ball for going 2-for-5 with 4 RBI.

Game 2 - Toronto took a 5-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings and never looked back, finally winning 5-1. Connell had one of his worst games, struggling through 7 1/3 innings while giving up 7 hits and 7 walks.

Game 3 - Moving on to the SkyDome for three games. We win 6-3 as Toronto gave the game away by making 5 errors. Bernard Cruz got the game ball for smashing a 3 run homer in the 4th breaking a scoreless deadlock. He also scored another run. Daly was lucky to survive this one, giving up 6 hits and 8 walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Game 4 - Hines comes back on short rest. We survived, 6-4. 1B Lloyd Estrada earned the game ball for stroking two homers - one with a man on base. Hines has had better days, giving up 7 hits in 6 innings, but he got the win, Ceasar got the save, and four relievers combined to hold things in check. Our old friend Esequiel Soto took the loss.

Game 5 - One game left to go to clinch; everyone is excited. We scored 2 in the first, 6 in the 2nd, and it was all over but the screaming. Troy Connell got the game ball for his 4 hit shutout (he walked five, though). We have to wait a bit to see who our opponent will be, since the Angels are playing the Diamondbacks tough.

It will be the Arizona Diamondbacks, who finished off the Angels 4 games to 2. They went 106-56 in the regular season, just a game better than us. They have a typical $100 million payroll (compared to our $26 mil) and a typical Div I 3.02 ERA. Their hitting is good but hardly outstanding.

CHAMPIONS CUP:

The oddsmakers have us as 3-1 dogs in the series. I think our odds are better than that.

Game 1 - It's ace against ace as Hines faces Quinonez (24-7, 2.19) at Eubanks. Baby! It's a blowout, 11-3. Russel Miller drove home three with two hits as he took home the game ball.

Game 2 - #2 squares off against #2 in this duel as Connell goes up against Hunsberger (19-5, 2.70). We let one slip through our fingers as we had a 5-2 lead heading into the 8th. But Arizona scored one in that inning and 3 against our ace Ceasar to pull off the 6-5 win.

Game 3 - The most critical decision of this series - who to start here? I have several fresh and ready pitchers ready to go, but none are very good. After consulting with my manager, I go with Guercio (6-6, 3.64) as the best of a bad lot. The 'Backs counter with Moon (16-11, 2.79). My move doesn't work as we go down 11-2. Guercio gave up 8 of those runs in only 4 innings. Back to the pen for him...

Game 4 - Hines goes up against Maldonado (19-7, 2.50). We fall 6-1. Hines gave up all the runs. Our backs are up against the wall now...

Game 5 - Connell faces Hunsberger. We're going back to Eubanks as we take the 'Backs 5-2. Connell got the game ball for giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs in 7 innings. Ceasar and Hernandez combined for two shutout innings to seal the deal.

Game 6 - We give the ball to Daly and hope for the best. Moon gets the start for Arizona. Daly wasn't bad, giving up 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings, but Moon was great as Arizona takes the game 4-1 and the Champions Cup 4 games to 2.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Arizona 106 56 .654 -- .253 3.02
Texas 102 60 .630 4 .252 2.91
Seattle 95 67 .586 11 .235 2.82
St. Louis 85 77 .525 21 .248 3.13
New York 82 80 .506 24 .238 3.41
Boston 79 83 .488 27 .236 3.50
San Francisco 74 88 .457 32 .238 3.30
Philadelphia 70 92 .432 36 .258 4.33
Division III
Anaheim 101 61 .623 -- .273 3.35
South Chicago 91 71 .562 10 .265 3.41
Saginaw 81 81 .500 20 .266 4.12
Lansing 79 83 .488 22 .234 3.77
San Diego 72 90 .444 29 .247 3.92
Troy 65 97 .401 36 .252 4.36
Traverse City 58 104 .358 43 .242 4.82
Grand Rapids 56 106 .346 45 .219 4.33

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Toronto 96 66 .593 -- .256 3.37
Long Island 91 71 .562 5 .265 3.69
Pittsburgh 88 74 .543 8 .254 4.25
Detroit 86 76 .531 10 .255 3.84
Baltimore 78 84 .481 18 .231 3.62
Atlanta 77 85 .475 19 .258 4.25
Cincinnati 61 101 .377 35 .227 4.10
Cleveland 58 104 .358 38 .238 4.10
Division II - West
Flint 105 57 .648 -- .276 3.28
Battle Creek 89 73 .549 16 .260 3.50
Chicago 89 73 .549 16 .266 4.28
Houston 87 75 .537 18 .258 3.96
Los Angeles 87 75 .537 18 .252 3.91
Colorado 82 80 .506 23 .266 4.73
Iron Mountain 66 96 .407 39 .249 4.42
Oakland 56 106 .346 49 .242 4.92

AL Cup: Arizona over Anaheim, 4-2
NL Cup: Flint over Toronto, 4-1
Champions Cup: Arizona over Flint, 4-2

Movin' up: Flint!, Anaheim
Movin' down: Philadelphia, Oakland

NEXT: Preparing for Division I!

[Mikekem]

Congrats on the pennant and the move to division I!!! Quick question, are you holding the teams television revenue steady? You said earlier that when New York dropped down to Div II they kept their $20 mil local tv contract. Just wondering how you're handling that.

[Honolulu Blue]

Originally posted by Mikekem
Congrats on the pennant and the move to division I!!! Quick question, are you holding the teams television revenue steady? You said earlier that when New York dropped down to Div II they kept their $20 mil local tv contract. Just wondering how you're handling that.

Thank you for your kind words.

As for TV revenues, it is split into two parts - local and national. Division I teams started out with $20 million in local TV revenue and $20 million in national TV revenue. Division II teams started out with $5 million in local TV revenue and no national TV revenue. Division III teams started out with $1 million in local TV revenue and zero national TV revenue.

Teams keep their local TV contracts as they are promoted and relegated, but receive the share of the national TV contract for the division they are in.

So when the Yankees were in Division II, they got $20 million in local TV revenue, but no national revenue. Similarly, last season Philadelphia got the $20 million in national TV revenue as part of Division I, but they only received $5 million in local TV revenue.

[Honolulu Blue]

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Alberto, .358
Hits - Prior, 195
Doubles - Prior, 46
Triples - Prior, 7
Homers - Prior, 32
RBI - Prior, 126
Runs - Gonzalez, 133
Walks - Prior, 126
Steals - Crawford, 42
OBP - Prior, .445
SLG - Prior, .595

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Hernandez, 1.72
Wins - Hines, 19
Losses - Ceasar, 11
Saves - Ceasar, 35
Games - Ceasar, 75
Innings - Connell, 233.0
Strikeouts - Connell, 169

Best batter - Brian Prior. Another couple of years of improvements and he'll turn into Babe Ruth.

Best pitcher - Casey Hines. Back to the position he deserves - ace of the staff.

Slickest fielder - None.

MVP - Prior. Two times in a row. I'll miss him.

For the fun of it, let's take a look at the payrolls as of the end of the season:

1. Texas.............$ 125,752,100
2. Arizona...........$ 105,602,700
3. Seattle...........$ 95,248,500
4. St. Louis.........$ 83,478,100
5. New York..........$ 83,065,400
6. Boston............$ 80,817,400
7. San Francisco.....$ 70,068,100
8. Philadelphia......$ 63,372,400
9. Houston...........$ 56,705,800
10. Atlanta..........$ 53,867,800
11. Colorado.........$ 52,859,400
12. Los Angeles......$ 50,028,900
13. Pittsburgh.......$ 44,943,900
14. Long Island......$ 42,693,700
15. Chicago..........$ 41,138,300
16. South Chicago....$ 36,500,200
17. Toronto..........$ 34,844,500
18. Detroit..........$ 34,832,100
19. Battle Creek.....$ 31,880,300
20. Cleveland........$ 30,302,100
21. Saginaw..........$ 28,789,000
22. Baltimore........$ 27,527,900
23. Iron Mountain....$ 27,084,500
24. Oakland..........$ 26,766,500
25. Flint............$ 26,344,800
26. Traverse City....$ 26,113,000
27. Anaheim..........$ 25,723,200
28. Cincinnati.......$ 23,592,700
29. San Diego........$ 22,609,600
30. Troy.............$ 20,455,100
31. Grand Rapids.....$ 12,506,900
32. Lansing..........$ 11,418,100

Division I teams in red
Division II teams in green
Division III teams in blue

The top 8 are all in Division I. Philadelphia will be heading down to be replaced by us. The LOWEST payroll that we'll be facing is the Giants' $70+ million. So that's what we're up against.

We sign Casey Hines to a 5 year contract for $6.5 million per year. That's by far the most I've given to a Flint player ever. With a career record of 84-39 and a 2.66 ERA, I'd have to say he's worth it. Not on the list of the top 25 paid players (that starts around $8 million), but pretty close.

Prior still isn't talking to us. We'll get one more chance at each other during free agency.

The other guys I decided to let go. I can replace them all with minimal damage with players from the minors or guys already on the roster. Even though we're raking in the big bucks, I still haven't lost my sense of financial prudence.

Two minor cogs in the minors retire.

Meanwhile, a quick look at last year's financial report reveals mostly good news. Fan interest is up to 69. We made well over $5 million last year, swelling our cash to over $20 million. Fox cuts us a check for our share of the Division I TV contract. Sweet. We have $61 million to spend on contract extensions and $55 million on free agents. Might as well be a trillion. We sold out every seat last year, so we feel safe in raising ticket prices to $11. The only key player whose contract is expiring this season is Joe Gonzalez, who may or may not be re-signed.

Calvin Stoneburner signs on as our scouting director. Clarence Pate follows as our hitting coach.

Prior's not talking, so I need a big booming outfielder and a right-handed hitting outfielder who can pick it at all three positions. There are two players I'm interested in for the key role - one is Dookie Weighorst. Remember him? He's developed nicely, 23 now, but the power has been slow to develop (.288, 10, 56 last year). He's demanding $9 million or so for a lot of years. The other is Brian Crespo, who took a big leap forward last year (.275, 27, 91). He's a 27-year-old lefty.

We make a small money offer to OF Rod Johnson, who's a decent outfielder and has some skills as a hitter. He signs with Colorado instead.

Neither Dookie nor Crespo is interested, so we go to our third option, OF Jason Pamperien, who's 28 and looks like a good hitter (.276, 11, 47). We offer $13 million for 5 years. He seems to like the sound of that and he signs after hemming and hawing a little.

Prior signed with Seattle for 5 years, at $6,851,000 per.

And now it's on to the draft, and we have the 26th pick.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: SP Shiloh Cook (19)
Round 2 pick: 2B Ubertino Suarez (22)
Round 3 pick: SP George Frith (23)
Round 4 pick: CL Alex Acosta (19)
Round 5 pick: MR Charlie Neves (23)

Cook is a great talent and might end up as the ace of the staff in a few years' time. Suarez can hit a little - though not for power. He doesn't have much range. Frith is not extraordinary in any way. Acosta is young and could be a good player in time, though it's a stretch. Neves is one of those middle relievers I seem to like.

Finishing last would be a disaster in several ways, so that's our goal for the season. I think we have just enough talent to avoid the basement.

NEXT: Do I know what I'm talking about?

[Honolulu Blue]

April - A long month, but vaguely in line with expectations - 9-14, 7th place, 9 games behind Seattle. We're two games out of the relegation spot, which happens to be occupied by Boston. The pitching has looked good, except for a few slots, but the hitting has been horrible. I guess there are a lot of good pitchers in this division. We do some tweaks.

May - We've drifted up into fifth, but our 23-28 record still leaves us 14 1/2 behind Seattle. We're 6 1/2 ahead of Boston, so we worry a little less about being sent back. Hines and Hernandez are on the shelf, so we have the B-team picking up the slack while they rehab. Fan interest has drifted down to 66 but we still sell out every game.

June - The Giants offer us OF Genaro Tijernia for MR Kelmo Hernandez. Hernandez is currently on the DL; he's decent, but I still have a surplus of good middle relievers. Tijernia is signed for this season and the next two (at $1.7 million per). He looks like a guy who can get on base. I'll send him to the minors to learn LF and bring him up as soon as he does.

Otherwise, yuck. We've fallen to 32-45, tied for 6th and 19 behind Seattle. Now we're only one game ahead of San Francisco for the relegation spot. This is getting serious now. We do some minor retooling to our lineup and hope things get better.

July - We trade long-time Flint MR/CL Vaasco Ceasar to the Orioles for MR Tom Pesetsky and OF Bernad Cipolla. Our scouts say Ceasar was losing a little zip off his pitches and had to go sooner or later. Pesetsky is about the same quality and cheaper ($1.5 million a year). Cipolla is a minor league lifer.

An up and down month as we end it at 43-59, 18 games behind Seattle. More importantly, we're tied with San Francisco for relegation. Obviously we have some work to do.

August - We're doing a little better now as we head into the underbelly of our schedule. We're 61-70, in 6th, 20 1/2 games behind Seattle. We're now 7 full games ahead of the Giants, so we can breathe a little easier. Our goal is to finish .500 or better, and of course to steer clear of relegation.

Sept/Oct - The team finally hit its stride (thanks to all those Div III teams - yum) and the season ends with us at 85-77, in 5th place, 22 behind Seattle.

Josh Serrano won the Charboneau award. He was deserving, I suppose, after hitting .319.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Alberto, .321
Hits - Serrano, 197
Doubles - Robinson, 35
Triples - Gonzalez and Robinson, 10 each
Homers - Gonzalez, 23
RBI - Gonzalez, 108
Runs - Crawford, 109
Walks - Crawford, 92
Steals - Crawford, 32
OBP - Gonzalez, .377
SLG - Gonzlez, .493

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Hines, 1.80
Wins - Connell, 20
Losses - Daly, 11
Saves - Johnson, 17 (I don't remember how many Ceasar had when he left)
Games - Baez, 85
Innings - Connell, 260.1
Strikeouts - Connell, 192

Best batter - Joe Gonzalez. Does it all - gets on base, hits with power, and runs.

Best pitcher - Troy Connell. Walks a few but is uniquely tough to hit.

Slickest fielder - Gonzalez. Only 10 errors in 820 chances (.988 FP). Also turned 110 double plays.

MVP - Gonzalez. He's not making it easy for me to let him go, is he?

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Seattle 107 55 .660 -- .239 2.55
Texas 105 57 .648 2 .266 2.82
Arizona 101 61 .623 6 .251 2.77
New York 86 76 .531 21 .243 3.23
Flint 85 77 .525 22 .262 3.63
St. Louis 83 79 .512 24 .238 3.17
Boston 78 84 .481 29 .230 3.04
San Francisco 75 87 .463 32 .231 3.29
Division III
South Chicago 91 71 .562 -- .262 3.81
Lansing 78 84 .481 13 .238 3.55
Grand Rapids 77 85 .475 14 .260 4.51
Saginaw 74 88 .457 17 .258 3.74
San Diego 70 92 .432 21 .243 4.11
Traverse City 70 92 .432 21 .250 4.38
Oakland 62 100 .383 29 .223 4.50
Troy 54 108 .333 37 .222 4.12

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Philadelphia 103 59 .636 -- .281 3.46
Long Island 99 63 .611 4 .255 3.17
Toronto 88 74 .543 15 .239 3.28
Pittsburgh 87 75 .537 16 .264 4.16
Baltimore 79 83 .488 24 .225 3.67
Cleveland 74 88 .457 29 .232 3.66
Atlanta 66 96 .407 37 .249 4.33
Cincinnati 60 102 .370 43 .217 4.07
Division II - West
Colorado 97 65 .599 -- .281 4.34
Anaheim 89 73 .549 8 .272 3.66
Chicago 82 80 .506 15 .270 4.89
Battle Creek 81 81 .500 16 .244 3.37
Detroit 75 87 .463 22 .255 3.94
Los Angeles 74 88 .457 23 .242 4.24
Houston 73 89 .451 24 .262 5.03
Iron Mountain 69 93 .426 28 .254 4.26

AL Cup: Seattle over South Chicago, 4-2
NL Cup: Philadelphia over Colorado, 4-3
Champions Cup: Seattle over Philadelphia, 4-2

Movin' up: Philadelphia, South Chicago
Movin' down: San Francisco, Cincinnati

NEXT: Only four years to go. Can I meet my goals?

[Honolulu Blue]

Our late run gave us the margin we needed to pass a special hospitality tax in the Flint area to finance the third deck. It will be finished for the start of next season.

Now is the time for me to take a hard look at my roster to see who's invaluable, who's expendable, and who's all but gone. We won 85 games last year and we probably need to get to 105 to win the pennant. How can we get those 20 wins? Let's see... catcher is not very strong and neither is the 3B platoon. 2B is fine (but Gonzalez is slowing down and will be expensive to re-sign), SS is a little weak but there are backup options there. 1B is OK with either Serrano or Alberto. Crawford in CF is a fine leadoff man, but the wings range from marginal (Jantz) to awful (Pamperien). In the starting rotation #1 and 2 are fine, #3 and 4 are marginal, and don't ask after that. The relievers all seem to have ERAs in the 3.50 range, which is good but not great.

So it seems in the free agent market our #1 priority is to get a studly corner outfielder. Not easy to find, and expensive, and would involve the dumping or exile of several players, but it looks like it has to be done. Let's see what's out there.

I roll the dice and decide not to re-sign Gonzalez; he's demanding over $5 million a year for 3 years, we might be a few years away from a title, and he's due to slow down any time.

Financially, we're rolling in it. We made over $31 million last year - so much money that we have to give $2 million back as a dividend. Atttendance was down by about 6,000 - trivial in the grand scheme of things. Fan interest is down to 50. We have $92 million available for contract renewals and $87 million for free agents. We can't spend that much, but just so you know.

Nathan Inman signs on as our A manager. Ed Cade is our new pitching coach. They should be all right.

We sign C Jason Brummitt to a 5-year, $12 million contract. He hit .282 last year and has shown some pop and patience in his career. He should be a good fit for us, though not a superstar.

We also sign OF George Whitesell to a 5-year deal at half a million per. He's a good left fielder, so we'll send him to the minors to learn right field. If he can, he'll compete for a utility outfield slot sometime.

Minor trade with the Cherries - MR Freddie Seiryo and 2B Doug Mayer for SP Jon St. Laurent. St. Laurent hasn't developed and is basically taking up space and growing mold. Seiryo looks marginally useful, though he'll probably start out in AAA. Mayer has a little potential and he's just 19.

Moving along to the draft. It looks like we need outfielders most, though I won't turn down talent at any position. We have the 21st pick.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: LF George Maloney (18)
Round 2 pick: SP Jimmy Bozier (21)
Round 3 pick: 3B Clarence Rowell (18)
Round 4 pick: C Bob Bruce (23)
Round 5 pick: MR Chris Phylis (20)

It's hard to get enthusiastic about this bunch because I don't think there's a potential star here. Maloney should be all right, given some time and seasoning. Bozier could be somebody's ace if he learns the strike zone. Rowell seems the type to stall out at AA. Bruce is a switch hitting catcher, and it's always fun to have one of those. This one doesn't seem to have a lot of talent. Chissssssyphylis is a typical middle reliever. We hope he's not a pox on our staff.

This looks like a transition year and a transition roster. We should - should - be good enough to avoid last, but we're taking a chance on too many people doing what they haven't done before. We'll probably get around 75-85 wins.

NEXT: Our second season in Division I. Will it be our last?

[Honolulu Blue]

April - Not a very good month by our standards. We went 10-14 and find ourselves in 6th, already 11 games behind the Rangers. The only thing making us feel good is that we're 4 games ahead of Philadelphia for the relegation spot. The hitters are doing better than the pitchers. I'm assuming they'll snap out of it, so no major changes.

May - A bad month gets worse as we're currently on a 7 game losing streak. A 17-34 record puts us where we don't want to be - last, 24 games behind Texas. The pennant race is all but over, but we're down 3 1/2 games to the Phillies for the ticket out. The hitters are just getting a bunch of singles, little power, few walks. The pitching staff is worse. Fan interest is only down to 48 but that figures to change soon. Attendance is down to 26,000 a game - no sellouts this year.

June - Still playing poorly. A 28-49 record puts us 28 1/2 behind Texas. The Yankees are 4 games ahead of us for 7th.

July - We get a fun trade from Houston - they're offering 2B Jason Kusuhara for 3B Cletus Stamos. Stamos was good a couple of seasons ago, but mostly he's been disappointing. Kusuhara had loads and gobs of power and is sneaky fast. I think that makes up for a lot of minor flaws. This will involve realigning my infield, but I think it's worth the risk. What the hey, we're heading back to Div II next year anyway; might as well have some fun.

Otherwise the month was more of the same. We're up to 39-63, still last, 37 behind runaway leaders Texas. We're 3 games behind the Yankees, so there's still hope. The bullpen needs to be blown up and redone. That probably won't happen until next season.

August - We're finally hitting our stride, but way way too late. The team is at 61-72, 35 1/2 behind Texas (who have a magic # of 6 already). The good news is we're 4 1/2 games ahead of New York and 5 ahead of Philly. That puts us in 6th and breathing a little easier. We might survive after all. The easy part of our schedule is coming up and despite our atrocious performance so far, we might get to .500. We're crossing our fingers...

Sept/Oct - For all my whining we finished with a record only one game worse than last year - 84-78. That's good for fifth, only 27 behind Texas. The Yankees are heading back to Division II with their 75-87 record. Better them than us...

Mariano Duran had a good view to a kill as he slaughtered the league's pitchers to the tune of a .334 average while switching between 2B and SS. He picked up the Charboneau Award. All he wants is... more!

In other news, we re-sign Troy Connell to Flint's largest contract ever - a 6-year, $63 million monster. In this division you need top starters, and Troy is one of the best. Let's hope he stays healthy.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Serrano, .350
Hits - Serrano, 207
Doubles - Crawford, 31
Triples - Crawford, 9
Homers - Kusuhara*, 27; Pamperien, 12
*20 for Houston, 7 for Flint
RBI - Kusuhara*, 91; Brummitt, 85
*51 for Houston, 40 for Flint
Runs - Crawford, 127
Walks - Crawford, 74
Steals - Crawford, 33
OBP - Serrano, .416
SLG - Pamperien, .492

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Connell, 2.75
Wins - Connell, 19
Losses - Martinez and Hohertz, 14 each
Saves - Johnson, 34
Games - Baez, 65
Innings - Hines, 252.1
Strikeouts - Hines, 190

Best batter - Josh Serrano. By an eyelash over Duran. Hits for a big average, and needs to to have much value.

Best pitcher - Troy Connell. Earned his big, fat contract extension.

Slickest fielder - Serrano. Only 9 errors in 1637 chances (.995 FP).

MVP - Serrano. A first baseman who fields well and hits .350 is pretty valuable, I'd agree.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Texas 111 51 .685 -- .262 2.88
Boston 94 68 .580 17 .238 3.04
Arizona 91 71 .562 20 .240 3.49
Seattle 88 74 .543 23 .233 2.48
Flint 84 78 .519 27 .270 3.76
St. Louis 83 79 .512 28 .248 3.92
Philadelphia 78 84 .481 33 .252 3.77
New York 75 87 .463 36 .239 3.34
Division III
Saginaw 100 62 .617 -- .266 3.17
Cincinnati 85 77 .525 15 .243 3.78
Lansing 81 81 .500 19 .225 3.40
Grand Rapids 77 85 .475 23 .252 3.87
Traverse City 75 87 .463 25 .266 4.64
San Diego 62 100 .383 38 .234 3.89
Oakland 60 102 .370 40 .217 3.86
Troy 52 110 .321 48 .216 3.85

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Long Island 93 69 .574 -- .255 3.49
Pittsburgh 90 72 .556 3 .262 4.63
Baltimore 84 78 .519 9 .243 3.46
Toronto 83 79 .512 10 .248 3.58
Atlanta 79 83 .488 14 .255 4.33
Cleveland 78 84 .481 15 .240 3.78
South Chicago 73 89 .451 20 .255 3.86
Detroit 70 92 .432 23 .264 4.49
Division II - West
Colorado 102 60 .630 -- .279 3.80
Battle Creek 95 67 .586 7 .252 3.42
Chicago 94 68 .580 8 .265 3.87
Anaheim 89 73 .549 13 .257 3.62
San Francisco 77 85 .475 25 .254 3.40
Los Angeles 71 91 .438 31 .246 4.78
Iron Mountain 63 99 .389 39 .255 4.52
Houston 55 107 .340 47 .242 4.94

AL Cup: Texas over Saginaw, 4-1
NL Cup: Colorado over Long Island, 4-2
Champions Cup: Texas over Colorado, 4-2

Movin' up: Saginaw, Colorado
Movin' down: New York, Houston

NEXT: I'm running out of time. Can I make my big move?

[Honolulu Blue]

Financially it's mostly good news for us. We made almost $29 million last year, masking the fact that we lost almost 300,000 fans. We're reducing ticket prices to $10 to see if that helps. Fan interest is down to 43. We have $69 million available for free agents and $74 million for re-signings. Kusuhara's contract is up at the end of the season, along with a few bit players. There's no way we'll spend all that money.

We sign Lee Sternaman as our AA manager. Eric McDaniel comes on as our new pitching coach. And Brent Taylor takes over the AAA team.

On to free agency. For once we have some holes in the bullpen that our minor league system is not able to fill. Perhaps we'll get an advantageous trade.

The Reds offer a decent deal - MR Levi Plymale and OF Samuel Andrus for 1B Pedro Huezo. Huezo had a good year some years back but slumped and got passed by others. He's just taking up space in the minors now. Plymale should be in the mix for a bullpen job. Andrus is minor league filler.

Another trade from Saginaw - MR Roy Dubes for 3B Roland Ramos. Ramos is a decent enough singles hitter but that's all he does with any competence. Dubes has some nice ratings though he hasn't pitched all that great yet. He should make the team.

We make a trade with the Lugnuts - 3B Bobby Price for OF George Whitesel. I like Whitesel, but we have other outfielders coming through the system that are better and I want to give them a try. Price has good range, doesn't make errors and specializes in getting on base. He'll be very useful for us. Price is damaged goods (bum knee), so we'll have to wait out that injury. He should be ready by opening day, though.

Our big free agency signing is MR/CL Alex Rodrigues. He cost us over $4.5 million a year for 5 years, but his ratings are great and he had a fine 1.71 ERA last year for Seattle. I think he'll anchor the bullpen.

After free agency we move on to the draft where we have the #5 selection. I'm a little excited but also nervous about being so far up.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: SP Michael Mendes (20)
Round 2 pick: 1B Sammie Wilson (22)
Round 3 pick: RF John Eisenbrei (18)
Round 4 pick: MR Manuel Montalto (22)
Round 5 pick: 2B Pavel Haygood (18)

Mendes isn't quite what we were looking for, but given normal development, he should become an effective starter. Our scouts say he's good enough for AA. It's nice when your roster needs and the draft align, and that's the case with Wilson. We needed a solid 1B for the A team, and we've got him. Hopefully he doesn't stay too long. Eisenbrei is a good, if unfinished, prospect. Montalto is a typical middle reliever, maybe a little bit better. He should be heading for AA soon. Haygood is a utility infielder prospect. Don't laugh; there's big money in being a utility infielder.

While we're waiting for the season to start, let's catch up on the Hall of Fame:

SP John Pickworth spent his cheap years in Grand Rapids (he was the 6th overall pick in '11), pitching very effectively after two rough years. Then he left for the big money of the Yankees and he anchored their staff for over a decade, winning 20 games four times, three Clemens Awards, 7 All-Star berths, and numerous ERAs in the ones. He was unquestionably one of the most dominant pitchers of his time. In his 19 seasons in the bigs, he had a 288-159 record with a 2.36 ERA.

SP Enrique Salinas was right behind Pickworth. He was drafted in the 37th(!) round of the reallocation draft by Detroit and he stayed there for his first 4 1/2 seasons. He went from Detroit to Philadelphia to Oakland to Arizona to Toronto to San Francisco. Overall he had 5 All-Star berths, 4 seasons with 20+ wins, and 4 Clemens Awards. Career record: 270-187, 2.45.

OF Jared Mathis hit mostly singles in his career, but he sure hit a lot of them. Taken in the 2nd round by the Phillies in 2015, he made the big club in '18. After his first three years, he never hit lower than .324. He also drew plenty of walks, stole lots of bases, and had a supreme defensive rep in both center and right. He had 2794 hits in his career, good for a .345 average, along with 549 stolen bases and 3 All-Star appearances.

We're finally ready for opening day. This looks like a team that's finally coming together. I won't say we'll win the pennant, but I would guess we'll come closer than we have. Let's try to fill that renovated 45,000 seat stadium, shall we?

NEXT: The '35 season!

[Honolulu Blue]

April - We started out 5-0 but slowly slipped from that lofty perch to end up 13-11 for the month. That's good for 4th, 3 1/2 games behind Arizona. Most of the lineup is doing well; ditto the pitching staff. We make the usual tweaks.

May - Played well for a little while, getting to within 1 of the lead, but a late month losing streak killed us and put us at 26-27, 5th place, 7 games behind the Diamondbacks. The good news is fan interest has trickled up to 49. The bad news is the bullpen continues to be leaky. We make some changes.

June - Not good. We end this checkpoint at 38-41, still in 5th, but 17 1/2 behind the Mariners. The offense is fair and we make some minor changes. The bullpen continues to be, um, disappointing, so we overhaul it. The starters are decent, but not up to Division I quality. My hands are tied there.

July - We make a trade with Detroit - MR Librando Galindez and 1B John Thorsrud for SP/MR Rob Welch. Welch is decent but had nowhere to go after failing his first opportunity with us. I wish him well. Galindez is another guy who has outstanding ratings but less than outstanding performances (0-2, 6.08 this year; his career record is better). We'll see what we can do with him. Thorsrud is a throwaway.

Otherwise, another .500 month puts us at 51-54. We're solidly in 5th, 21 behind Seattle.

August - We regress to 64-70. Still in 5th, but now 31 1/2 behind Seattle. We're officially out of it. The good news is the easy part of our schedule is coming up soon, so we should be able to save some face.

September - As per normal we get some cheap wins and finish out at 84-78, in 5th and 34 games behind the Mariners. No progress at all this season, which is quite disappointing since our payroll is ballooning.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Bessey, .328
Hits - Serrano, 200
Doubles - Robinson, 33
Triples - Crawford, 15
Homers - Beck, 29
RBI - Beck, 130
Runs - Crawford, 115
Walks - Crawford, 77
Steals - Crawford, 37
OBP - Crawford, .396
SLG - Crawford, .485

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Hines, 2.36
Wins - Hines, 15
Losses - Robinson, 12
Saves - Martinez, 19
Games - Rodrigues, 66
Innings - Connell, 242.0
Strikeouts - Connell, 173

Best batter - Cori Crawford. A perfect leadoff man with his solid average, power (but not too much power), and speed.

Best pitcher - Casey Hines. Doesn't earn it EVERY year, just most years.

Slickest fielder - Leon Bessey. Fielded .997 and had 8 assists and 289 putouts in left.

MVP - Crawford. Makes a bunch of errors in center but makes up for it with his batting prowess and hustle.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Seattle 117 45 .722 -- .256 2.68
Texas 102 60 .630 15 .269 3.04
Arizona 100 62 .617 17 .258 3.16
Colorado 96 66 .593 21 .273 4.19
Flint 84 78 .519 33 .261 3.73
Boston 76 86 .469 41 .252 4.09
St. Louis 70 92 .432 47 .255 4.47
Philadelphia 69 93 .426 48 .245 4.15
Division III
Lansing 85 77 .525 -- .251 4.09
Oakland 80 82 .494 5 .241 4.13
San Diego 79 83 .488 6 .252 3.83
Houston 75 87 .463 10 .264 4.63
Cincinnati 69 93 .426 16 .258 4.42
Grand Rapids 66 96 .407 19 .242 4.09
Traverse City 65 97 .401 20 .252 4.41
Troy 63 99 .389 22 .229 4.54

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Long Island 95 67 .586 -- .239 2.84
New York 93 69 .574 2 .248 3.17
Atlanta 85 77 .525 10 .248 3.70
Baltimore 84 78 .519 11 .238 3.25
Cleveland 84 78 .519 11 .247 3.93
Detroit 74 88 .457 21 .252 4.54
Toronto 73 89 .451 22 .240 4.01
Pittsburgh 67 95 .414 28 .234 4.17
Division II - West
Anaheim 94 68 .580 -- .244 3.23
Chicago 90 72 .556 4 .254 3.39
Battle Creek 83 79 .512 11 .247 3.08
Saginaw 82 80 .506 12 .251 3.73
Los Angeles 78 84 .481 16 .242 3.86
South Chicago 75 87 .463 19 .242 3.62
San Francisco 70 92 .432 24 .244 3.41
Iron Mountain 69 93 .426 25 .243 3.92

AL Cup: Seattle over Lansing, 4-0
NL Cup: Long Island over Anaheim, 4-2
Champions Cup: Seattle over Long Island, 4-2

Movin' up: Long Island, Troy
Movin' down: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh

Terin Beck was given the Charboneau award over teammate Bessey. Either would have been worthy, but the voters like those boomers. I thought Bessey was the better player, but I'm glad to have them both. Given some development, we should have one of the best outfields in the league in a year or two.

NEXT: A year or two is all I have left. Can I get the job done?

[Honolulu Blue]

Our payroll had expanded to nearly $46 million by the end of the season, 14th in the league but less than a third of what Texas spent ($140 million).

Another new Hall of Famer this year, bringing our total to 10. SP Matt Plavnick was a 2nd round pick by San Diego in 2014. After two learning seasons, he had his first good season in 2018 when he went 17-8 with a 2.51 ERA. After the cheap years, Plavnick was a gun for hire wandering from team to team, mostly in Division I, seeking to extract the most bucks from his target. He played for Arizona, St. Louis, and Atlanta, pitching 4 no-hitters, making 6 All-Star teams, earning 3 Clemens Awards, and compiling a 259-125, 2.21 career record.

Attendance went up to 2.5 million, but revenue was only up a bit because we had to spend a lot to get those people in the stands. Profits plunged to $13 million. Fan interest is at 49. We drop ticket prices to $9 to help fill up the bleachers for the networks.

Six players need to be re-signed this season, none of whom are terribly important.

Clarence Pate is our new hitting coach and Calvin Aspender is the new pitching guru. I have my doubts about their skills, but they were the best we could do.

We signed C Gregg Phelps, the one star-type player in this year's market. The price was hefty - 5 years, $39 million - but we think he'll be worth it. He hit with authority for the Cubs (.325 last year, .312 career).

After some fierce negotiations we pull off a blockbuster of a trade with Battle Creek. We sent them C Gary Robinson, SP/MR Jim Cantu, and OF Bernard Bejarano for CL Julio Santana. Robinson was expendable after we signed Phelps and we were looking to get rid of him for that reason alone. Cantu started out well for us, winning 17 and 16 games as a starter. But one we got into Division I, the better hitters there started laying off his worst pitches and he had to groove 'em in too often. Bejarano is decent overall, but was never going to be more than a 5th outfielder for us. Santana is 29, in his prime, and wickedly tough to hit. He was 5-5 for the Master Batters with 36 saves and a 2.85 ERA. He's had control problems throughout his career. If he can hit the strike zone half the time for us, he'll be a valuable acquisition.

And now for the draft, where we're at #20. We could use a quality SS and some arms.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: CL Bill Ward (18)
Round 2 pick: SS Lyman Robert (18)
Round 3 pick: SP Andre Gonsalez (22)
Round 4 pick: LF Miguel Saavedra (23)
Round 5 pick: MR Kenny Kopp (18)

Ward was the best pitcher we had available to us. Just two pitches - a fastball and a slider - but he mixes them up very effectively and keeps the hitters off balance. Our scouts are pointing him to AA already. Robert can't run, can't bunt, can't field, but we think he'll be a good hitter in a few years. Gonsalez has good control but not much else to recommend him - besides his left arm. Saavedra has a good arm but limited range. He's willing to take a walk. Kopp is a roster filler.

This should be a better year for us and if everyone has an off year, we can sneak away with the title.

NEXT: Can we sneak away with a title?

[Honolulu Blue]

April - Well all right. We're 13-8 and best of all we hold a one game lead over Colorado. From Division III doormats to Div I leaders!!! OK, so we're not buying the rings yet. But it is fun to dream... There are a couple of holes in our lineup - last year's Charboneau Award winner Terin Beck has decided to take batting tips from Torey Lovullo and Joe Charboneau. He's hitting a lusty .105 in 22 games. No pop either. I'm sure he'll come around, but I'm not sure whether to bench him or just move him down. Also, 3B Bobby Price is hitting under .200 again. Miller's hot, so I'll hand the 3B job to him. The pitchers are going very well, all things considered.

May - We make a minor trade with St. Louis. They offer us MR Guytano Talamantez for MR Roy Dubes. Dubes was disappointing for us and is now in the minors. Talamantez has pitched fairly well for the Cards in a couple of quick looks. His ratings are just OK. He'll fill up the minor league roster until we need him.

As for the rest of the month, we played .500 ball to get us to 27-21. We're in third, 2 games behind the Rockies.

June - Another month around .500. Our record is 39-35, in 5th, but only 4 1/2 games behind Seattle. We tweak the lineup and rotation.

July - C Gregg Phelps is our only All-Star rep. He went 0-for-3.

And so went our month as we failed to make a charge toward the top and slipped toward mediocrity. Our record is 50-48, 5th place, 9 behind Texas. The hitting and pitching are both OK, not great. I only make minor changes.

August - Played a little better this month. We're at 63-64, 5th place, 13 1/2 behind Texas. Our pitching is slowly starting to fall apart. Thank goodness we're coming into the easy part of our schedule.

Sept/Oct - We ended up at 90-72, our best record yet in Division I, but still 15 behind the Rangers. We settled for 5th place again.

Team leaders list:

Batting average (min. 200 AB) - Serrano, .344
Hits - Bessey, 202
Doubles - Duran, 31
Triples - Bessey, 7
Homers - Phelps, 22
RBI - Beck and Kusuhara, 92 each
Runs - Crawford, 95
Walks - Phelps, 84
Steals - Crawford, 34
OBP - Bessey, .412
SLG - Phelps, .445

ERA (min. 50 innings) - Hines, 2.50
Wins - Hines, 17
Losses - Connell, 14
Saves - Santana, 34
Games - Rodrigues, 65
Innings - Connell, 231.1
Strikeouts - Hines, 190

Best batter - Gregg Phelps. He's got the power, good average, and draws walks.

Best pitcher - Casey Hines. Yes, again.

Slickest fielder - Leon Bessey. 11 assists and only 1 error in 330 chances.

MVP - Phelps. Not a bad catcher either.

American Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division I
Texas 105 57 .648 -- .260 2.74
Colorado 98 64 .605 7 .274 3.93
Boston 96 66 .593 9 .260 3.34
Seattle 93 69 .574 12 .230 2.83
Flint 90 72 .556 15 .266 3.52
Arizona 80 82 .494 25 .243 3.76
St. Louis 77 85 .475 28 .250 3.64
Philadelphia 69 93 .426 36 .240 4.02
Division III
Lansing 93 69 .574 -- .251 3.68
Cincinnati 92 70 .568 1 .267 3.19
Oakland 89 73 .549 4 .265 3.53
Traverse City 75 87 .463 18 .244 4.20
San Diego 73 89 .451 20 .241 4.04
Houston 60 102 .370 33 .244 4.90
Grand Rapids 55 107 .340 38 .241 4.31
Troy 51 111 .315 42 .222 4.40

National Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division II - East
Long Island 105 57 .648 -- .264 2.74
Atlanta 91 71 .562 14 .244 3.74
Baltimore 90 72 .556 15 .255 3.22
New York 88 74 .543 17 .247 3.31
Toronto 72 90 .444 33 .237 4.04
Pittsburgh 71 91 .438 34 .260 4.22
Detroit 70 92 .432 35 .229 3.70
Cleveland 68 94 .420 37 .235 4.03
Division II - West
Anaheim 107 55 .660 -- .257 2.57
Iron Mountain 90 72 .556 17 .247 3.69
Chicago 89 73 .549 18 .241 3.45
Los Angeles 75 87 .463 32 .236 3.52
South Chicago 74 88 .457 33 .246 3.16
San Francisco 72 90 .444 35 .241 3.35
Battle Creek 71 91 .438 36 .216 3.81
Saginaw 63 99 .389 44 .232 3.93

AL Cup: Texas over Lansing, 4-0
NL Cup: Anaheim over Long Island, 4-2
Champions Cup: Anaheim over Texas, 4-2

Movin' up: Anaheim, Lansing
Movin' down: Philadelphia, Saginaw

Yes, I forgot to do the promotions and relegations this year. Oh well, the same teams won their pennants all over again.

NEXT: The last year. Will I succeed or will I fail?

[Honolulu Blue]

This is it, the beginning of the last season. This time next year, I'll turn the reins over to someone new, someone who might be able to deliver Flint to the promised land. If I don't get there first.

Three Hall of Famers are inducted this season - SP Francesco Valentino (20 seasons, 290-161, 2.69), SP Andrew Eaton (21 seasons, 255-199, 2.90), and OF John Green (19 seasons, .301, 428 HR, 1614 runs, 1549 RBI).

Financially it was a good year - attendance soared to over 3 million, and revenue creeped up to $68 million. Unfortunately, our bugeoning payroll limited our net profit to $12 million. We also give $9 million back to the shareholders. Fan interest is at 53.

10 players need to be signed for next season; the key ones are SP Hines, 2B/SS Duran, and CF Crawford. They all figure to be expensive, but we can affford them with the space we have ($81 million). We also have $64 million available for free agents. As usual, it's more than enough.

We sign led scout Jasper Szimko to a relatively large contract. He's very good, so I imagine he'll be worth it.

During the free agency season, we make a trade with the Yankees - MR/SP Bill Duchaine and 3B Kane Barr for CL Travis Turner. Our scouts feel Turner has limited talent and he had been stuck in the minors for a long time with no immediate way out. Duchaine will be of use somewhere; I haven't decided exactly where yet. Barr is a good long-range prospect, though he has miles to go and only a few years to get there (he's 23).

We sign one of the best SS in the market, Lester Petrella. He hit .298 with 17 HR and 98 RBI for Colorado last year. Even deflating those numbers some, he'll give us a good bat at shortstop. The current plan is to put Duran back at 2B, Miller at 3B and Kusuhara on the bench. But that could all change.

We make another trade, this time with LA. They send us MR Auggie Candow for SP Guido Luna. Luna was getting old, wasn't developing well, and there were no spots open for him. Candow has been effective for LA so far (2.52 ERA last year, 3.06 career), and we hope he can be the same for us.

One last trade - the Red Sox offers us 3B Jay Corzine for C Antoni Delossantos. Delossantos is another guy stuck in our minor league system with no obvious role in the majors. Corzine is a career .500 hitter (in 28 AB) with some pop. We'll let him compete for the 3B job and see if he's for real.

We make a trade near the end of the free agency period to fill out our team - Saginaw gets SP Juan Colon, and we receive OF J.D. Hawley. Hawley looks like a good platoon player with some pop (.211 with 26 HR last year). He can also field well at every position. I'll miss Colon, but he really should get an opportunity to play somewhere.

On to the draft, where we can use prospects at just about every position. We draft #8 this time around. At this place there are several good-looking prospects - a SP, a LF, a 2B, and a 1B are the ones I have my eyes trained on most.

Draft Picks :
Round 1 pick: SP Marty Mccoskey (18)
Round 2 pick: 2B John Jones (21)
Round 3 pick: CL Bradley Wallen (18)
Round 4 pick: C Gary Wheat (23)
Round 5 pick: MR Kim Frederick (18)

When I took a closer look at the field, McCoskey stood out as the best among them. He's got five pitches and good command of all of them. He's too good for A ball, so he'll report directly to AA. Jones is the 2B I mentioned above. I was glad to see him slide to the second round. He could be a batting champion someday, with walks to match. He has a lot of flaws, though - no power, no speed, and no range. I still like him. Wallen was too good to ignore at this spot. Wheat had better eat his Wheaties if he wants to get to the majors. There's something a little different about Frederick - he's a girl! A girl with an 86 MPH fastball and a wicked split finger pitch. I'll have to keep my eye on her, and not for the usual reasons.

It's hard to say how well I'll do. This doesn't look like a pennant winner to me, though we're solid or better at every position. In order to win it all, we need everyone to play at or near the top of his range. That's not something that's easily anticipated.

NEXT: Can I go out a winner?