A Huge Slump for Brooks.

We all have witnessed crazy slumps in APBA Baseball, it never fails -- even on  great cards. My big slump is with Brooks Robinson of the 1969 Baltimore Orioles for my Crazy 48's League project. I am using BBW of late to try to speed up the season with the cards -- and even on computer, he can't break out of his slump.

With the cards, I have went 3-for-63! That is a lousy .048, yikes!

Now let me note that 1969 was certainly not his best season in the Majors that year -- in which he batted .234, 23 HR & 84 RBI (.693 OPS) at age 32. But something has to bounce his way, by the way, he has yet to hit a HR & has only one extra-base hit (a double).

His first game on BBW (against the 1944 St.Louis Browns, I must add), he went 0-for-4, he actually got his 2nd RBI of the season, only because the bases were loaded, and the fact that he was walked. Ellie Hendricks followed with a Grand Slam (he had 2 HR's that game). He has only been walked 4 times this year, and his average falls to .045, his On-Base Percentage is not much better at .060!

I think sometimes as a dice-roller, we tend to press while rolling the dice for guys who slump. I know I have had these discussions with my younger brother Chris on this topic, and he feels that is the same in that case -- that like batters in a slump, we tend to press while rolling for guys in a slump.

Andre Dawson, Willie McCovey, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield & Johnny Bench are guys that I have not generally rolled well with, regardless of the season or setup. Dawson, McCovey & Bench have had much better luck for me, as of late though -- so it goes to show, that things can surely change.

The Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament (March 7th)

Hello, everyone!

Just trying to get the news out on The Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament for my friend, Pastor Rich Zawadzki, who is hosting the event in Jackson, MI. The Team Selection Deadline is February 1st -- There are 28 teams already in the tournament, and there is still room for 4 teams, if you are interested or know someone that may be interested, spread the news folks!

I know that the Michigan/Detroit area is a hotbed for APBA Baseball action, so come on out! Not too many of these tournaments happen often (certainly not enough), especially big ones with many people involved like this.

I have had the privilege to play in a tournament like this in the past in the Chicagoland World Series Tournament in November 2013 & it's a blast! Playing the game you love, with other people that share the same passions -- It's a great way to start new friendships, and the thrill of facing someone face-to-face in a competition with history's greatest teams brings the players & teams back to life.

I will be going to this tournament that takes place March 7th in Jackson, MI -- I will be bringing "Shoeless Joe" Jackson & the 1917 Chicago White Sox to the tourney, hope to see you there!

I'll share the information that was posted on Facebook by Rich....

LOCATION & LUNCH Details

TOURNAMENT RULES

There may be more information I need to hunt down...

Here is a link to the Facebook page for the event, below...

https://www.facebook.com/events/1501436706779073/

Crusaders Report

The Traverse City Crusaders have three 1st Round Picks in this upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft (February 21st) for the Mid-West Baseball League -- including the most important pick of them all, the 1st Overall Pick.

I can honestly say at this moment, I have no clue who I am drafting for the top overall pick, I have a few ideas -- I do know that I will get a really good choice out of it, that's for sure. A lot has happened since I joined the league last January, and there has been many trades that have now shaped up the current roster. We are definitely still a few years away, and we do know it's not going to happen over night.

Do I question at times if I should have traded Miguel Cabrera or not? Sure...

I think everyone from time to time thinks about that one trade, the key is not to dwell on it, and have fun with the new path ahead of you. I think it was Billy Beane, who said you never think about the past once you move forward -- he made this remark after making the trade with the Cubs to acquire Jeff Samardzija and Dan Straily, a trade that watched Addison Russell go to Chicago. Beane always has to make moves to keep his team moving in one direction, I believe to get somewhere in a league, you have to be aggressive. Aggressive is definitely better than too cautious -- something I may have been guilty of in this past off-season in the Mid-West Winter League (too cautious), while I watched other teams in my division make good aggressive moves.

I needed to put some sort of spark in a ballclub that I felt had a couple strong trees in a relatively dead/burnt down forest. Those trees were Miguel Cabrera, Matt Holliday & Brian McCann. I had a few other guys, but nothing that I could really call prospects or future stars, the one guy that stood out that I could consider part of my future was catcher Yan Gomes. My only starting pitcher with a future was Tyler Skaggs.

My first real deal would involve Miguel Cabrera. I traded him with Tim Hudson, he really wanted Hudson, I really wanted Travis Wood involved, so it happened. I had a older rotation in Mark Buehrle, Tim Hudson, and Yovani Gallardo with David Phelps and Stephen Fife. I think I threw in a late 12th pick that ended up being Matt Shoemaker as well.

Overall, I would say yes, I am losing in this trade so far -- I got Travis Wood, Todd Frazier & Luke Gregerson with Jeanmar Gomez, Matt Davidson, Cesar Ramos, Heath Bell and a draft pick that would be Burch Smith for me. I consider Wood, Frazier & Gregerson as the bulk of this deal; I still like Wood, but he had a lousy 2014 for the Cubs, Gregerson is one of the most consistent relievers in the last few years, while Frazier is an All-Star third baseman.

The other guys are nothing special, I expected more out of Davidson, I figured he had a great shot with White Sox' MLB roster, instead he played a horrible season in the minors after being acquired from Arizona. At one point, I was offered Cody Asche, no.. I wanted Davidson -- Asche would eventually be traded from Hollywood to Sacramento, and Asche looks like he's going to stick around in Philly for awhile. Davidson & Burch Smith never made it back up to the Majors in 2014. I always looked at Heath Bell as a throw-in to the deal, so it was not upsetting to see him blunder in Tampa Bay. Ramos is one of those slash pitchers, can start, work out of the pen 1.300+ WHIP, once again nothing special. Gomez was part of the deal, because I thought maybe his 2013 season might be an indication for things to come, a young vet finding his way with his 1.153 WHIP -- Nope, just a fluke, should have weighed more on his 1.500 WHIP's in other years, in which his 2014 dished out a 1.500 WHIP.

By the way, the Cabrera trade helped the Hollywood Werewolves win the Mid-West Baseball League's World Championship over the Tempe Tempers.

In another deal, I traded Matt Holliday to the Coconut Creek Crushers, I believe at one point they were one of the teams that tried to work a deal for Cabrera, I wanted Josh Donaldson in a possible swap, it wasn't meant to be (I do have Donaldson in the BoS League for my Panthers though). Holliday was traded with Jemille Weeks, while the Crusaders acquired Brian Dozier (fielding 9) at second base, has pop with 20+ HR's at his position -- plus I really needed a second baseman badly; the Crusaders in that deal acquired Craig Gentry & a draft choice that turned out to be relief prospect Jake Barrett of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I had better luck in other acquisitions, I picked up Kevin Kiermaier off the waiver wire just before the 2014 MWBL Season, to watch Kiermaier take advantage of his big break in Tampa Bay mid-season -- a pleasant surprise to say the least.

Early in the season, I had the Tijuana Bottle-Rockets and Detroit Crime contact me about veterans Eric Chavez and Carlos Pena, the players were no good for me (since I was not in contention, of course) -- Chavez's .810 OPS could help Tijuana's pursuit for playoff success. I acquired two 930 PR first basemen in Casey Kotchman & Brandon Laird, with a 6th Rd Draft Pick & 7th Rd Draft Pick for this upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft.

The Panthers then were asked about their closer Joaquin Benoit -- which resulted in a trade of Benoit with infielder Tony Abreu to Detroit in exchange for starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, reliever Michael Kohn & Detroit's 10th Rd Draft Pick.

The deals kept coming, Traverse City would trade catcher Brian McCann to the Elyria Indians, with SS-Adalberto (Raul) Mondesi (who had until the end of last season to make it up to the majors) & a 6th Rd Draft Pick -- in exchange for Elyria's 1st Round Draft Pick (at this point, I now have two 1st Round choices), 3B-Ryan McMahon '14 (a uncarded who was drafted in recent 2014 MWBL Draft), with SS-Munenori Kawasaki (a throw-in for position coverage). Mondesi never made it up, becoming a free agent, in which I landed a prospect in McMahon, who I am thrilled to have.

I would trade often-injured Angel Pagan to New York in a steal of a deal, that landed me OF/1B-Steve Pearce & New York's 5th Rd Draft Pick.

I would land my 3rd 1st Round Draft Pick in a trade with Clovis -- I traded SP-Mark Buehrle (who had a hot start for the Jays in 2014) with Marlon Byrd & T.C.'s 12th Rd Draft Pick. In the trade, I also acquired OF-Brett Gardner & RP-Jeremy Jeffress. Jeffress had a great second-half in 2014.

I only had two uncarded Draft Picks make their MLB debuts for me, in Danny Santana (MIN) & Robbie Ray (DET, now with D-Backs). I have four uncarded spots to fill, wished I had more open, but that's not the case.

After the season ended, and won the lottery for the #1 overall pick! I only made one deal after the season, when Chicago Mobsters traded for OF/1B-Steve Pearce. I would acquire 1B-Yonder Alonso, who is about 5 years younger, a lefty reliever in Sam Freeman, and a Draft Pick, while trading two picks away in the deal. Pearce was a plus for me on a deal that sent Pagan away, so the way I look at it, I got Alonso & Freeman, plus two picks.

My Draft Selection order for the upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft

1st Round - #1 Overall

1st Round - #21

1st Round - #23

2nd Round - #30

3rd Round - #58

4th Round - #86

5th Round - no picks

6th Round - #143

6th Round - #166

7th Round - #170

7th Round - #184

8th Round - #198

9th Round - #226

10th Round - #254

10th Round - #268

11th Round - #282

12th Round - no picks

2014 Transaction League - Stats & Leaders (American League)

The question remains: Where will Max Scherzer pitch next season? Where in the Transaction League as well?

BOSTON RED SOX
Koji Uehara saved 30 games for the A.L. East Division Champs, with a microscopic 0.65 ERA! He was probably the backbone to everything success for their pitching staff (after trading off starting pitchers Jon Lester, John Lackey & Jake Peavy) The funny thing is, his season doesn't even compare to the success of N.L's Javier Lopez (of the Giants). Brandon Workman really stepped up for Boston, jumping from the pen (in which he had a 1.73 ERA) to the rotation, finishing the season at 4-4, with a 2.83 ERA -- definitely out-performing his real-life 2013 version, although the WHIP was in the same neighborhood. The big talk of their second-half would have to be acquiring Joe Kelly, who went a perfect 11-0, 1.81 ERA & .929 WHIP in 89.1 innings -- Hello, can you say Doyle Alexander, anyone?! Alexander went 9-0, 1.53 ERA & 1.008 WHIP in 88.1 innings for 1987 Tigers, after being acquired from Atlanta for, yes... John Smoltz. Felix Doubront had to take a bigger role, and won 19 games, despite a 4.07 ERA. Craig Breslow happened to save 20 games, along with Uehara's 30, posting a 1.44 ERA. Daniel Nava finished 3rd in hitting (.340), with Shane Victorino ranking 6th at .319.

TAMPA BAY RAYS
Alex Torres led the A.L. with 43 Saves, posting a 1.56 ERA & 70 K's in 57.2 innings. Alex Cobb carried the staff, after the team traded Price to Detroit -- becoming a 20-game winner for Tampa, while posting a 2.76 ERA & 209 K's (208.1 IP). David Price had a 14-3 record at the time of the trade, with a 2.29 ERA -- while Matt Moore (13-13) & Chris Archer (16-10) had respectable ERA's moving up a spot in the rotation. Jeremy Hellickson, was all wrong, losing 21 games (9 wins) with an awful 6.57 ERA in 196 innings. Evan Longoria led the Rays with 42 HR's, while Wil Myers batted .320, 19 HR & 53 RBI in 88 games (359 AB's). James Loney (.298 BA) & Ben Zobrist (.279) had productive seasons in Tampa's lineup as well.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
The Orioles did not accomplish their goals this season, as they miss out on the post-season despite having a pretty-good rotation that held up, with two of the league's biggest HR hitters. Chris "Crush" Davis led the American League with 43 HR's, while Adam Jones had 37 HR's by leading the team with a .290 batting average & 190 hits. Nelson Cruz hit 26 HR's, despite having to serve his PED suspension -- in a limited 397 at-bats (109 games). Manny Machado (.285, 14, 77) broke out for the O's, while J.J. Hardy added 23 bombs, playing short. Wei-Yin Chen (3.61 ERA) led the team with 16 wins, while Darren O'Day picked up 36 Saves, going 1-5 with a 3.76 ERA.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Always the backbreaker for the Jays in recent years: The pitching staff -- Their starting pitchers that posted over 20 starts (J.A. Happ, Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey & Todd Redmond), had ERA's of 4.73 or higher! They did have two starters that did good for them in limited starts, Chad Jenkins (6-4, 2.48 ERA in 80 IP & 12 starts) & Aaron Loup (9-8, 3.07 ERA, 129 K's in 152.2 innings / pitched 64 game & had 13 starts). Sergio Santos was the one bright spot as a closer (on a bad team) with 33 SV's & 1.52 ERA. The Jays never had a problem with offense (for the most part) with Adam Lind being their best overall hitter, batting .279 with 33 HR's & tied for the team-lead with 98 RBI's -- with Jose Bautista, who led the team with 40 HR's. Jose Reyes, once again couldn't stay healthy, but did bat .291 when he did play (97 games, 375 AB's). Dioner Navarro was a beast behind the plate, in limited action -- .329, 16 HR & 49 RBI (.949 OPS) in only 240 at-bats!

NEW YORK YANKEES
The computer must have sensed that Mariano Rivera was going to retire, as it shifted the closing responsibilities over to David Robertson. Robertson led the team with 29 Saves (1.60 ERA), Rivera picked up 9 saves, along with 6 wins & a 2.04 ERA -- both pitchers blown 3 saves each. They were the only two that stood out in a pen full of players from Matt Thornton, Heath Bell, Shawn Kelley, Adam Warren, Andrew Bailey & Rich Hill. The rest of the team was no different, Hiroki Kuroda (17-13, 3.00 ERA & 219 K's) shined as a starter among all the rubbish, Ivan Nova faired pretty nicely (9-10, 3.20 ERA & 134 K's). Poor Andy Pettitte finished 14-16, with a 4.73 ERA & C.C. Sabathia did even worse (10-20, 5.99 ERA). Carlos Beltran (.320, 37, 117) & Alfonso Soriano (.281, 34, 111) were the studs on offense, while Derek Jeter (231 AB's) & Alex Rodriguez (140 AB's) both batted under the Mendoza Line (.200 BA) -- with Mark Teixeira not doing much better at .203.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS
The Royals in this "Replay with a Twist" wins the division a year early in 2013 with the 2014 Transactions that were laid out in front of them. The computer unfortunately at times goes with pitching grades or saves totals or both when determining a closer, in this replay, it decided to go with Louis Coleman (instead of Greg Holland) -- which pays off, as Coleman racks up 41 Saves & 72 K's in 49.1 innings, with a small ERA of only 0.73! Holland was no slouch, with 5 Saves & 1.79 ERA as the team's setup man. The bullpen contributed to a 22-11 record & 2.71 ERA (and this is 2013, K.C. can't wait until 2014). The Royals actually used James Shield in 33 innings of relief, in which he went 2-1, 0.82 ERA, with 30 K's -- the starting ace finished the season, 21-9 (tied for most victories), 2.54 ERA (4th), with 221 K's in 265.2 innings that spanned over 46 games, 32 starts, 3 complete games (all shutouts) & 21 quality starts. Other starters Jason Vargas, Bruce Chen, Jeremy Guthrie & Wade Davis all recorded 10+ wins, with ERA's ranging from 3.78 to 4.90. Danny Duffy started & pitched out of the pen, going 6-4, with a 2.80 ERA & 82 K's in 80 innings. Eric Hosmer led K.C. in hitting (.304), while free agent signee Omar Infante's .331 BA (474 AB's) didn't have enough PA's in that category. Hosmer also led team with 17 HR's & 102 RBI, winning the team's triple crown. Jarrod Dyson stole 38 bases in 40 attempts (95%).

DETROIT TIGERS
Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer appear to be the front-runners for A.L. MVP & Cy Young. Cabrera was in the triple crown mix, but the lineup around him, could not help in the RBI department; Cabrera finished the season, winning the A.L. Batting Title (.377 -- 30 points over 2nd place Mike Trout of Angels), 42 HR's (2nd) & 108 RBI's (9th); Miguel also led league with a 1.112 OPS! Scherzer was as equally impressive, 17-11, 2.23 ERA (2nd) & 315 K's -- to go along with 24 quality starts (tied for league best). The Tigers happened to have the league's top 3 pitchers in ERA, Anibal Sanchez led the league at 1.99, while David Price who split time in Tampa & Detroit -- placed 3rd at 2.47. The Tigers also posted the top 3 strikeout artists in Scherzer, Sanchez (294 K's -- his 10.8 K's per 9 Innings - led league) & Justin Verlander (247 K's). This is the year that Verlander starts to appear to be human, he went 15-20, 3.96 ERA, 3 CG (all shutouts), 18 QS. Rick Porcello (13-10, 4.11 ERA) had his K numbers up a bit, with 163 K's in 175.1 innings. The Tigers' bullpen, usually their weakness, actually outperformed their real-life counterparts, Joba Chamberlain, Al Alburquerque & Bruce Rondon were the only blemishes in a bullpen that was led by Joe Nathan's 34 Saves & 1.48 ERA. Luke Putkonen was posted a surprise 1.56 ERA, with 3 wins & 35 K's in 34.2 innings, while Drew Smyly had a 2.09 ERA, 5 wins & 4 Saves, before getting traded to Tampa.
Torii Hunter hit .301, 16 HR & 86 RBI for the Tigers.

MINNESOTA TWINS
To see the Twins placing 3rd place at season's end is a bit of a surprise, their team doesn't match well with either Chicago or Cleveland -- yet, here they are 74-88, 3rd Place. The team had only one 10-game winner in Ricky Nolasco (10-14), posting a 3.29 ERA & 195 K's (227 IP) -- while Samuel Deduno (9-7, 3.46) & Kevin Correia (8-9, 3.81) did decent for the Twinkies. Glen Perkins served as the team's setup man (instead of closer) with a solid 0.84 ERA & 7 Saves & an outstanding 104 K's in 74.2 innings -- while their closer Caleb Thielbar saved 30, with 4 wins & 1.36 ERA, plus 58 K's in 53 innings of work. Anthony Swarzak was better out of the pen, then as a starter (2.47 ERA, 5 wins in 83.2 relief innings). The Twins had a lot of part-time players playing in their lineups, in fact it's difficult to figure out how many different lineups there was, with so many pieces moving from place to place. Oswaldo Arcia led the team with 20 HR's (400 AB's), Joe Mauer batted .327 with 13 HR's & 63 RBI in 443 at-bats, while Pedro Florimon played stellar defense with 12 HR's, 60 RBI & 26 steals in 434 at-bats.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Corey Kluber went 15-12, with a 3.72 ERA & 231 K's in a breakout year on a last place team. Danny Salazar (8-7) also made a statement, with his 3.40 ERA & remarkable 178 K's in 138.2 innings. Brian Shaw (8-8) pitched mostly out of the pen (6 Saves), but would start 10 games (out of his 70 appearances) -- Shaw posted a 4.10 season ERA (3.32 bullpen ERA). Cody Allen shined as the team's closer (4-0, 21 Saves & 1.33 ERA) -- with 75 K's in 61 IP. Carlos Santana was the team's best overall hitter - .286, 27 HR's & 99 RBI (leading the team in all three categories) -- while Yan Gomes batted .313, 17 HR's & 37 RBI in only 208 at-bats (78 games, half-a-season). The Indians had four players with 20+ steals -- Elliot Johnson was the surprising member of that group, stealing 21 of 23 bases; Jason Kipnis led the team with 31 steals.

TEXAS RANGERS
The Rangers had a great mix of everything -- Good starting pitching, bullpen, lineup, power & speed. The speed may be the highlight of their season, they had three players with 40+ steals, including two teammates with 50+ in Leonys Martin (55-for-60, who led A.L.) & Alex Rios (51); Elvis Andrus had 42 steals -- The team stole 177 bases, with a 85.1% success steal rate. Adrian Beltre put up a solid season, batting .295, 30 HR's, while leading the A.L. with 129 RBI. Rangers get a chance here, to see what a healthy Prince Fielder could have done for them in the Majors, leading the team with a .313 batting average, plus 26 HR's & 99 RBI. Shin-Soo Choo tied for the team lead in runs scored (101) with teammates Rios & Fielder, while hitting .265, 20 HR, 71 RBI & collecting 24 steals of his own. Yu Darvish led the rotation (17-8, 2.82 ERA) with 244 K's in 207.1 innings, while three other starters Derek Holland (3.21 ERA), Alexi Ogando (3.23 ERA) & Martin Perez (4.71) all collected 15 victories each. The team's bullpen had a combined 63 Saves -- led by Neal Cotts' 42 Saves & teeny-weenie 0.78 ERA over 57.1 innings (70 K's). Tanner Scheppers led the A.L. with 108.2 innings out of the pen, to go along with his 98 K's, 7-4 record, 9 SV & 2.40 ERA -- while Robbie Ross went 4-2, with a 2.02 ERA (3 SV) in 58 innings.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Despite all the changes to their roster for the better -- It did not quite work out like that for Oakland as art imitated life in the Transaction League. Trade acquisition Jon Lester did finish in a tie for the league-lead in victories (21), with K.C.'s Shields -- he went 7-2 with a 2.62 ERA, 4 CG's (1 SHO) in 11 starts for Oakland; Lester finished with a 2.61 ERA (6th) for the entire season. A.J. Griffin did excellent for Oakland, going 14-5, 2.96 ERA with 165 K's -- while Scott Kazmir in his comeback, went 11-18, 3.57 ERA & 213 K's in 217 innings. Dan Otero's 22 Saves led Oakland, while Ryan Cook's 7 Saves came along nicely with his 2.31 ERA -- not to mention other solid bullpen guys such as Sean Doolittle (2.77 ERA) & Luke Gregerson (2.84 ERA). Josh Donaldson put up a monster year, batting .296, 38 HR's (5th) & 126 RBI (2nd) -- Donaldson only trailed Detroit's Cabrera & the Angels' Trout in both Runs Created & Runs Contributed, to help give you an idea of the season he had. Jed Lowrie had a solid under-the-radar season, batting .283, 17 HR, 82 RBI, 99 runs, with 174 hits. Craig Gentry stole 47 bases in 53 attempts (98 games).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Mike Trout stood on top of the Angels' mountain when it came to their offense, there was a few guys near the bottom of the slope in Albert Pujols, David Freese, Howie Kendrick & Erick Aybar -- but overall, he was certainly on his own. Trout will most likely end up the runner-up to Cabrera in the A.L. MVP for the 2014 Transaction League; Trout finished 2nd in hitting (.347), with 25 HR's, 83 RBI & 207 hits -- adding 124 runs & 36 stolen bases. Pujols outperformed his Majors' version of 2013 stats, with a much-higher batting average of .290 (compared to .258), as his HR (14) and RBI (60) numbers reflected similarities to real-life, in 382 at-bats. Freese also did better than real-life, batting .289, with 7 HR & 60 RBI. J.B Shuck was batting .301 (382 AB's) before being shipped off to Cleveland.  The team's top three starting pitchers did a solid job in C.J. Wilson (18-14, 2.97 ERA & 210 K's), Jered Weaver (10-10, 3.07 ERA & 191 K's) & Hector Santiago (16-10, 3.50 ERA & 176 K's) -- It was just a different story for the 4th & 5th slots of the rotation. Dane De La Rosa was the best overall reliever (6 wins, 10 SV, 17 holds) with a 2.14 ERA, while Joe Smith (3.67 ERA) led the team with 26 Saves.

SEATTLE MARINERS
Hisashi Iwakuma was used literally everywhere for the M's pitching staff in the Transaction League, he not only won 13 games (going 13-14), with a 2.59 ERA & 220 K's (278 Innings) -- some of those innings (49.2) were used in the pen, where he tied for the team lead in Saves (11); Iwakuma pitched in 52 games, with 31 starts, 8 complete games & 4 shutouts! Felix Hernandez went 14-15, 2.82 ERA, while leading the team with 244 K's & 9 complete games -- he collected 5 saves. James Paxton was brilliant in 12 starts for Seattle, going 8-1, with a 1.47 ERA & 81 K's in 79.1 innings. After that the starting pitching was in shambles, the bullpen was not great as well, as Yoervis Medina was the other Seattle pitcher to log 11 Saves for them (sporting a 3.02 season ERA, 2.91 bullpen ERA). Robinson Cano (no surprise here) was the team's best hitter, batting .276, 32 HR & 106 RBI, with 101 runs. Kyle Seager (21 HR & 84 RBI) & Justin Smoak (22 HR & 73 RBI) contributed to the lineup as well. Austin Jackson batted only .184 in 183 at-bats for Seattle, after being acquired from Detroit -- he batted .283 in Detroit at time of trade.

HOUSTON ASTROS
It's kind of difficult to win when your team has no stability to its starting rotation. Scott Feldman led the team in wins (12-18 record), but sported a 5.88 ERA in 217.1 innings (1.528 WHIP -- ouch!). In fact, for Houston pitchers with 20+ starts, Brad Peacock posted the lowest of that bunch in ERA, with a 5.31 mark (Peacock led team with 188 K's). Under 20 starts, their best starting pitcher was Brett Oberholtzer -- in which he went 6-6, with a 2.86 ERA & 76 K's, including a shutout in 100.2 innings. Veteran relievers Jesse Crain (31 SV & 1.33 ERA) & Chad Qualls (3 SV, 22 holds & 2.18 ERA) stood out for Houston. Jason Castro, the team's starting catcher, had probably the best overall season, batting .274, 18 HR & 67 RBI (492 at-bats), while Chris Carter led the team in HR's (29) & RBI (99). Jose Altuve's batting average was lower than usual at .241 (still leading the team with 151 hits), while hitting 31 doubles & stealing 32 bases. Castro, by the way, led the team with 42 doubles, not bad for a catcher.

2014 Transaction League - End of Regular Season.

In the 2014 Transaction League mix: The 2013 Athletics.

FINALLY!

There was a four-month hiatus from the project, when I brought up all the prospects for September action, it messed with the lineups & players being achy, tired & etc -- so I had to constantly update the lineups.

Here is where we left off...

In the American League, we had Boston and Texas running away from their divisions -- Boston was 97-47 at a .674 clip. Just a reminder, this is a "2013 replay with a twist", playing the 2013 MLB Season with whatever transactions ACTUALLY happened in 2014. In 2013, the Boston Red Sox won the whole thing, but in 2014 they were selling off some pieces... yet here they are. The 2013 Texas Rangers suffered that one-game wildcard playoff loss to Cleveland & were completely crippled by injuries in actual 2014 -- but for this 2014 Transaction League (2013 APBA Baseball), they have been injury-free. Oakland's recent trade acquisitions of Jon Lester & Jeff Smardzija have yet to go into fruition -- we'll see later in this blog piece, if they wake up in time.

Probably the best team in this recent run for Detroit, was the 2013 Detroit Tigers, as you all know David Ortiz ripped the hearts out of us Tigers fans & left Torii Hunter looking forward to a comfortable bed that evening (after flying over the wall). Hunter, by the way is my mom's favorite player, she's a bit bummed that he's now with his original franchise Minnesota -- she and my dad plan seeing the Tigers host the Twins this upcoming season (By the way, he has the most beautiful eye-lashes according to my mom, LOL!). 

Anyways, the Tigers are hanging on to that 5th Wild Card spot, trailing the Kansas City Royals in the Central, while the Baltimore Orioles (a game back) nip at their heels, with Oakland in striking distance. The Tampa Bay Rays hold the 4th Wild Card spot, at 82-59. The Cleveland Indians, by the way are one of the worst teams in American League at 57-84, things just have not gone their way, while they trade off a few pieces (most notably Asdrubal Cabrera to Washington) in real-life 2014.

The National League looks like this, with about 20+ games left...

We have a couple more closer races in the N.L., for example the Atlanta Braves only trail the Washington Nationals by a game -- the problem is, whoever does not win the division flirts with missing the post-season all together considering the strong top-half of the N.L. Central. The Colorado Rockies, who have been a huge surprise, have not made it easy for Atlanta & the 3rd place Central team (Cincinnati Reds) -- Cincinnati had dipped off, as Pittsburgh streaked past them a week or so ago.

Crashing the Party: Somebody forgot to tell the Rockies that they were not invited.

The New York Mets early on were actually doing well (They are technically, just 7 games from the division lead), while the San Francisco Giants just have not been able to find their footing. The Los Angeles Dodgers have pretty much led the N.L. West from wire-to-wire, Colorado at one point was within a few games from time-to-time.

NOW...

This is how it all ended, the results of the American League...

The Boston Red Sox held on to the A.L. East Division Title, despite trading off John Lackey & Jon Lester, two key pieces to their rotation of their 2013 World Championship team. They won the division by an impressive 15 1/2 games! The Detroit Tigers got within a few games of Kansas City for the A.L. Central, but K.C. held on. The Tigers went 7-3 down the stretch, while Baltimore went 4-6, a three-game swing that would put Detroit in the post-season. Billy Beane's moves were not good enough for the Oakland Athletics, they were on the outside of the Detroit/Baltimore/Oakland log-jam for the Wild Card spot, they went 5-5 down in the last ten games -- that seems to be the story with this replay, Oakland was always within striking distance, but would never put their foot on the peddle (deciding to stick with cruise control), which would cause them.

The Detroit Tigers will travel to Tampa Bay for the A.L. Playoff Game, as the Boston Red Sox await the winner (for a best-of-five) -- while the Kansas City Royals play a best-of-five, starting on the road in Arlington to play the Texas Rangers.

The Los Angeles Angels were under .500 almost all year, sticking in third -- while the New York Yankees end up in the A.L. East basement. I accidentally played a 163rd game between the Indians and the Rangers, using APBA's schedule of the 2013 MLB Season, it still had the tie-breaker game on the schedule, and didn't notice it for the last 20-game simulation until it was too late. So the real record should be Tampa Bay at 94-68, with the Rangers at 99-63. The Houston Astros (56-106) by the way, ended up with the league's worst record

Now, the National League results...

The Washington Nationals win the N.L. East, putting the Atlanta Braves at risk (mentioned earlier, above) -- which would be the case & their fate, Atlanta could only keep pace with Washington, while the Cincinnati Reds (92-70) not only came back to life at a 9-1 fever pitch to pass the Pittsburgh Pirates -- who lost four straight, to watch Cincy win five straight! The Braves & Pirates are out! The Colorado Rockies could not catch the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it's all good as Colorado will be hosting the N.L. Wild Card Playoff Game against the Reds. The winner of the game will face the Dodgers, as the St. Louis Cardinals (15-6 down the stretch, and possibly all of baseball's hottest team right now), will host the Nats. The Cards won their last 5 games of the season as well as the Reds, while St. Louis still won their division by 8 games, winning a 100 games for the season.

Another note, the Rockies happened to make the playoffs, on the franchise's 20th Anniversary -- so Happy Anniversary, Colorado!

The Dodgers had the N.L's best record at 104-58, while the Chicago Cubs had the league's worst record at 52-110. The San Diego Padres didn't do much better at 53-108.