Much Ado About Updates

So here is the latest on all the leagues taking place, that are being reported by The Boys of Summer Blog.

Mid-West Baseball League (MWBL)
My Traverse City Crusaders just got done playing a face-to-face series online with the Chicago Mobsters, a 2014 American League & World Series contender. The Crusaders have a long season ahead of them, they actually entered the series on a "hot streak of sorts" winning two of their last three games, the game they lost ended up being the longest game in MWBL history that lasted 25 innings (almost the duration of three games).

The games that were close, were close -- but the other games we just got blown up, which is expected from a team in rebuilding mode. We lost the series, 6-1, as our record is now 4-22! Woohoo!

Mid-West Winter League (MWWL)

My Traverse City Tigers started a crucial road trip after our tug-of-war 4-3 series loss to the Detroit Stars. We would have a showdown for first place against the Cedar Park Bears, in which we would lose the series, 5-2 -- giving Cedar Park a one-game division lead. The Tigers would continue their road trip to Janesville to play the Janesville Juggernauts. I remember when I played them at home, they played better than their record indicates, I have seen other league managers say the same thing about playing them, so... much to my surprise, my Tigers pulled off a much-needed & impressive 7-0 series sweep!

Charlie Hough won A.L. Pitcher of the Week for his heroics, winning both outings, racking up 18 K's (allowing 7 walks) in 16 innings, while sporting a 1.12 ERA. This is one of the reasons, I decided to make this old man, a Tiger!

 A.L. West Standings
1.     Traverse City           74-45     ---     Won 7
2.     Cedar Park              71-46      2       Won 1
3.     Detroit                     60-53      11      Lost 1
4.     Mexico City             56-58     15.5     Won 2
5.     Janesville                  45-71     27.5     Lost 12

Wild Card Standings
1.     Cedar Park              71-46     ---
2.     Detroit                     60-53       9    
3.     California                 57-58      13
4.     Mexico City             56-58     13.5

Meanwhile in the A.L. East, the Chicago Demolition are running away with their division with a 85-34 record (at a .714 winning clip), pacing for a 116-46 record. They are currently 26 games ahead of 2nd-place California. Detroit is currently holding on to the last wild card spot by 4 games over California. The Mexico City Chihuahuas have officially declared themselves to be "selling" as they traded off one of their relievers to add to Chicago's all-ready impressive roster.

Chicago also made a trade that made waves off across the league...

"Demolition Derby?"

Chicago receives:
1B/3B-     George Brett
SP-           Dave Stieb
OF-          Darryl Strawberry
California's 6th Round DP (1989)
California's 7th Round DP (1989)

while

California receives:
1B/OF/3B-  Von Hayes
1B-              Kent Hrbek
3B/2B/OF-   Tony Phillips
Chicago's 1st Round DP (1989)
Chicago's 4th Round DP (1989)

With this acquisition & their record at the moment, it appears that Chicago will be a solid lock for home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Demolition are five-time American League Champions, and are hoping to win their third World Championship in the Mid-West Winter League -- they last won it, two seasons ago in 1986 & are hoping to win their second in 3 years! Both deals work out beautifully for both teams, as California received some solid on-base performers with great draft picks as well, even if it is a weak draft overall.

You can count on one thing, that both teams won't have a shot at the top couple picks that will contain Ken Griffey, Jr. & Larry Walker in the upcoming 1989 MWWL Draft.

BOYS OF SUMMER Online Baseball League (BOS) Four-Week Special will be out soon, so stay tuned!