AGBA Season I, is now 30 games through its inaugural season. It's been a fun process which will only get moving along faster by switching over to the APBA BBW (Baseball for Windows) over the last 46 games of the season. Some more teams are getting into the playoff picture mix, to go along with the four teams in the Atlanta Firebirds and Carolina Twins (both from the Eastern League), the Central League's Cleveland Spiders and the Western League's Houston Rattlers. There is also some teams that sat in cellar for the first 16-20 games or so, and are starting to turn things around such as the Twin Cities Giants.
So let's dive into it.
The Eastern League's Ruth Division is still up for grabs, no one team has took firm control, but as of late the New York Pigeons might be signaling to the division, that they intend to be the team to beat. The Pigeons have won 6 of their last 8 games, while some of their bats in Wade Boggs and Paul O'Neill are starting to wake up. Their rotation is one of the best rotations in Mel Stottlemyre Sr, Stan Bahnsen, Jimmy Key, Fritz Peterson, while the 5th slot has been its weak point
The Baltimore Bombers seem to love being 'Even Steven', as they sit with a 14-14-2 record, and have not won more than 4 games straight all season, nor have they lost more than 2 straight games. The starting pitching has been expected to do more, while their closer Gregg Olson (A&C-XZ) has been a complete mess, blowing plenty of saves, but hopefully his last solid save is a indication that things might turn around. Baltimore doesn't hit for average, while they are having a big season from backstop Chris Hoiles (.352, 8 HR & 18 RBI), while fan favorite Trey Mancini (.292, 5 HR & 19 RBI) has done great in limited action and is now part of the everyday starting lineup.
The Pittsburgh Arsenal despite their solid pitching, found themselves in a 2-7 season hole at the beginning of the season, but are now 12-9 since, and that has a lot to do with their lineup coming to life as of late. Roberto Clemente broke out of an ice-cold start and lifted his batting average to .267 prior to Pittsburgh's series against Montreal, in which Clemente faltered to 3-for-16 in the series. Andy Van Slyke appears to be the most consistent hitter, batting .287 with 2 HR, 5 doubles and 11 RBI.
The Boston Colonials are having solid production from their top five hitters in the starting lineup that consists of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogarts, Mo Vaughn, Carl Yastrzemski, and Reggie Smith, while their #6 hitter DH-Andrew Benintendi (possibly the only Grade 3 fielding outfielder playing DH in the entire league, because his OF mates all are 3's as well). Vaughn has really come into his own after being moved to the 3rd slot, and is now has 8 HR and 19 RBI. Their starting pitching has been another thing with Ray Culp the first 20 games looking like one of the league's best, and has now been roughed up his last two outings. David Price (Grade 11-YZ) is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA through a light workload of 34 innings during 6 starts. One last Boston note, IF Tim Naehring (J-4) has been amazing off the bench, batting .444 (12-for-27) with 1 HR, 6 doubles & 9 RBI.
The Florida Rockets are definitely Yin-Yang when it comes to their team statistics, the team can certainly rake, while their pitching is a launching pad for other teams to tee off on. The team is similar to Baltimore when it comes to winning and losing, they have no more than 3 straight wins (which came at the expense of the weak Montreal Voyaguers), while they only lost more than 3 straight games one other time in losing 5 straight (one which consisted of being swept by Brooklyn in a 4-game series. Jeff Conine has been among the batting leaders all season, but has had a rough patch suddenly, going 1-for-14 against Baltimore.
The Montreal Voyageurs entered the season as the most likely team to be sitting in the basement of the Ruth Division, and has lived up to that. For a losing team, they seem to be a feisty bunch and will play their little hearts out. The team's most consistent hitters have been 2B/3B Robinson Cano, OF-Roy White, and Khris Davis, while they have added Utility semi-star Wil Myers and catcher Kirt Manwaring. Myers didn't join the roster until Game #13, and has struggled batting 10-for-56 through Game #26, but had a solid series against the Florida's bad pitching, going for 7-for-17 with 4 doubles -- lifting Myers' batting average to .233 and giving him 9 doubles through 18 games. Chris Bosio gave the Voyageurs their first complete game and shutout of the season (a two-hit gem), improving to 3-3 with a 2.90 ERA & 23 strikeouts through 40.2 innings.
Now we go to the Robinson Division (of the E.L.), and will start with the Atlanta Firebirds. The Firebirds have pretty much controlled the top of the division through the first 22 games, with the Carolina Twins and the Philadelphia Veterans close by in the rearview mirror. Atlanta is loaded from top to bottom -- the hitting, the pitching, and the farm is stacked with talent.
Through 22 games, Atlanta had a 3-pt, 1.5 game lead over Carolina. Atlanta would go on and hit its first rough patch of the season, as the Firebirds were swept by the Washington Maroons in a 4-game series in Washington -- Meanwhile, the Twins would go on and sweep the Brooklyn Mets, and now had a 10-game winning streak going as well. Atlanta at the point of Carolina winning their 10th straight, lost 6 of their last 8 games.
This all set up a showdown between the Robinson Division's best 2 teams, Carolina (19-6-1, 39 pts) and Atlanta (17-9, 34 pts, 5 PB). The series was also in Charlotte, Carolina's home, so everything entering this series was showing that Carolina had the momentum. Atlanta would win the first three games in relatively close matchups, winning 6-1, 4-3 (11 innings) & 5-3. Atlanta momentarily reclaimed the division lead, until losing the series finale, 10-5. Entering the series, Carolina was 10-2-1 at home before their 3-1 series loss.
At the rate the season is going, there should be no reason that either Atlanta or Carolina will miss this upcoming postseason. Sure anything can happen, but very likely there will only be one team coming out of the E.L's Ruth Division -- whoever ends up being the division winner, while the Robinson division will likely have their division winner, plus the two wild card slots, in which at this point is Atlanta and Philadelphia. Washington has climbed into the division race, and is actually tied with Philadelphia at the moment, but Philadelphia has been great at the plate and on the mound, while sporting a +66 run differential. Washington has been more inconsistent and only has a +4 run differential.
The Twins have a good rotation, solid bullpen, and some good bats such as Gates Brown leading the entire AGBA in batting average, Don Buford and Tommy Pham (whose power has been a surpring plus-plus this season). Pham already has 12 HR this AGBA season (sitting among the AGBA leaders) through 30 games, while in real life he hit 21 HR through 137 MLB games during 2018.
Atlanta's Fred McGriff currently leads the E.L. (and possibly AGBA) with 15 HR, while knocking in 29 runs. McGriff's teammate Hank Aaron has 11 HR & 25 RBI this season. The only other teammates with 10+ HR at this point, are the Western League's San Francisco Seals with Barry Bonds and Willie McCovey.
Atlanta's rotation has been underperforming most of this season with Greg Maddux (4-1, 1.89 ERA) being the only one truly shining. Phil Niekro (5-1, 3.50) and John Smoltz (4.10 ERA) has had their moments, but Tom Glavine (1-4, 6.63 ERA) has been lousy, being outpitched by teammate Anibal Sanchez. Niekro's ERA has recently come down with his 1-run allowed complete game recently against Carolina.
The Philadelphia Veterans have possibly the most regular playing time hitters to be hitting over .300 at the moment in Kevin Stocker, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk and Dick Allen. When they are all in the lineup together, they bat in the same order in the first four slots.
- SS Kevin Stocker: .302 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 triples & 20 runs.
- CF Lenny Dykstra: .306 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 28 runs & 11 SB.
- 1B John Kruk: .375 AVG, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 10 doubles & 24 runs.
- DH/3B Dick Allen: .333 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 5 doubles, 4 triples & 34 runs.
The Vets' rotation is one of the best in all of baseball with Chris Short, Woodie Fryman, Terry Mulholland, Aaron Nola, and Curt Schilling.
Having one of their more successful stretches, the Washington Maroons have gone 6-2 during their last 8 games, and have tied Philadelphia with a 17-13 record. The problem with the Maroons has been their underachieving bats. With a lineup that consists of Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Larry Walker, Bryce Harper, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields Sr, and Darrin Fletcher -- You would think that there would be more guys with at least a .700 OPS or more, than just two (Turner and Walker). Soto has been around the fence with a .697 OPS, still a very disappointing number.
The Maroons are fortunate to have starters Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Denny Martinez, keeping Washington in games. Their bullpen is also good, if they are handed a lead going into the 7th inning and later.
The Brooklyn Mets visited the Philadelphia Veterans this past series, coming off a 1-6 stretch against Atlanta and Carolina. The Vets were the clear favorite over the Mets, so it came off as a surprise when the Mets, not the Vets, won the series, 3-1.
Coming into the season, the one concern was their hitters, and that was a legit concern. The team's lineup has been more productive of late, while their starting pitching expected to be one of the best, if not the best rotation, has for the most part lived up to its hype. The only exception is young, Nolan Ryan who has been a mess through 4 starts. Ryan has a 15.60 ERA through 4 starts & only 15 innings (that's not even 4 innings per start). The Mets have skipped him occasionally to give the young gun a break, but that has not helped. Ryan will likely for the most part finish this season coming out of the pen. The team's rotation consisted of Jacob deGrom, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Noah Syndergaard, and then Ryan. The Mets luckily have pitchers they can plug into that 5th slot, and they are Zack Wheeler, Dick Selma, Bret Saberhagen and Steven Matz.
Last is the New York Knights, who currently sit at 10-20 for the season. Their biggest offseason news was adding two Japanese superstar sluggers in Sadaharu Oh and Isao Harimoto. The addition of Oh was a success while Harimoto is still trying to find his footing in the American game. The team has a lot to improve on, but their rotation at least has starters with experienced arms in Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel, J.A. Happ and Rick Porcello. Porcello was recently signed and looked good in his season debut, earning a win, and allowing only 2 earned runs through 7 innings. The Knights released SP-Dwight Gooden, who struggle mightily, opening a spot for Porcello.
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