Early BoS Highlights (1st 3 Weeks)

Moreland has been a runaway train for the Urbana Locomotives during young 2017 BoS Season.

Here is some of the action that has taken place during the 1st 3 weeks of the 2017 BoS Season in the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League...

Masahiro Tanaka threw the 12th no-hitter in league history, by pitching a no-no for his new club in the Seattle Rainiers (against the Holland Hitchhikers); Tanaka was acquired in a big trade with reliever Kelvin Herrera in a deal with the Traverse City Panthers.

The Seattle Rainiers and Traverse City Panthers made plenty of deals this off-season & are both at the moment, enjoying the changes they made, as both teams finished the week on top of their respective divisions. The Panthers may be the biggest surprise with a 12-5 record, while leading the National League with 29 homers, .808 team OPS & .272 team Batting Average, while they only trail the Rainiers in Runs Per Game, with 5.2 RPG. Traverse City has also wreaked havoc on the base paths with 22 steals, early on.

Miguel Cabrera is looking strong in all of the Triple Crown categories: .406 AVG (1st), 6 HR (2nd) & 18 RBI (tied for 2nd in N.L.).

The Panthers' problem will be a long season with no pitching in the bottom two rotation slots, which will eventually wear the team out. The Panthers at the moment, may be the MLB equivalent of the Chicago White Sox, a surprising start, but may have to sit back (and actually sell) when the All-Star break comes; Traverse City's pitching is 11th in the BoS in ERA with a 4.06 ERA, while their team has allowed a .246 BA (which is near the top for opponents).

Traverse City's lineup will get its first real test against the best rotation in the BoS in the King Road Kings. The Kings sport a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw, followed by Chris Sale, Rich Hill, J.A. Happ, Michael Fulmer & Ervin Santana. King Road's offense (.256 BA) has shown up a bit so far, but their 4.1 runs per game, may be a troubling sign that lies ahead, with all that pitching they may want to trade for a bat down the road, if a they want a BoS Championship -- Time will tell, if their great pitching will be enough.

Early on the Kings are in good shape for playoff contention, as they currently lead the wildcard slot, with a 10-7 record... Their 3.49 ERA (7th/BoS) will only get better from here on out.

The Vancouver Storm's Dustin Pedroia is off to a hot start, collecting a hit safely in ALL 17 of his games so far; Pedroia is batting .347 with a .415 OBP, while leading entire BoS with 18 runs scored. The Storms' lineup currently leads entire league with a .276 batting average, while tied on top (with Seattle) with 5.4 runs per game. Albert Pujols is also having a fantastic season for the Storm, batting .361 with 3 HR & 10 RBI -- while boasting a 1.032 OPS!

3 of the top 4 hitters in the American League are playing for Vancouver presently, with Brandon Belt (leading the A.L. with a .393 AVG) having a great season as well (1.151 OPS), to go along with his 3 HR & 16 ribbies.

By the way, if Pedroia hits safely in the next 5 games, he will break the A.L. record for longest hitting streak in A.L. history; Jose Abreu (Corktown) holds the mark at 21 games.

Mitch Moreland (1.142 OPS) has been a big surprise for the Urbana Locomotives, leading the entire BoS with 7 HR & 22 RBI through 17 games, while batting .309 -- He only hit .233 with 22 HR during the 2016 MLB Season, so he will certainly come back down to earth, but you certainly can't take this start away from him though.

The Portland Microbrewers currently have the best 1-2 punch in a rotation at the moment with Chris Tillman (3-0, 1.17 ERA & .815 WHIP) & Anthony DeSclafani (3-1, 1.44 ERA & 1.200 WHIP). The Brewers seem to have a great balance of pitching & hitting (although hitting is down at the moment), that they should (as always) be in the National League playoff mix by the end of the season. Portland won the National League Championship, the first 3 BoS Seasons, finally winning the World Series in 2015.

Portland's early rotation anchor - Chris Tillman.

Mad Max Scherzer is off to a red-hot start on the mound for the Corktown Tamales -- He has a 3-0 record, 2.17 ERA & has notched 47 strike outs in only 29 innings (14.6 K/9 IP)! Scherzer could have a shot at breaking his teammate Jake Arrieta's record of 306 Strike Outs in a single BoS Season.

The Corktown Tamales are one of the early A.L. favorites with a 10-7 record, while the defending World Champion Fairgrove Tigers (13-4) and Watersmeet Nimrods (12-5 Dispersal Team) are duking it out on top of the A.L. West.

The San Diego Heroes are off to a 2-14 record with the worst record in the entire BoS.