Delphi sends Geovany Soto to Stonehenge for STO #7 and relief pitcher Anthony Varvaro.
Delphi sends Ivan Nova to Sterling for STE #7.
Delphi is now poised to dominate the seventh round of next year’s draft.
George
Monday, August 25, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
NVABL Trade Announcement - Pirates Beef Up Bullpen
Sterling Pirates' Press Release:
The Sterling Pirates trade our #6 draft pick to the Oakton Aviators for left handed relievers Robbie Ross 12YZG and Kevin Chapman 18WG for the stretch drive.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Newsletter: August 3, 2014 (Special Guest Edition)
CLUBHOUSE
REPORT
NORTHERN
VIRGINIA VOLUME
NO
APBA
BASEBALL LEAGUE August
3, 2014
Commissioner’s
Corner
Our fearless leader has asked Choupette, STO owner Karl
Lagerfeld’s cat, to say a few words:
“What’s the deal with stadium food? Why no spicy tuna?”
Thank you, Choupette.
Standings
Coastal Division
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
35
|
21
|
.625
|
--
|
|
32
|
20
|
.615
|
1
|
|
43
|
29
|
.597
|
--
|
|
25
|
23
|
.521
|
6
|
|
19
|
21
|
.450
|
8
|
|
23
|
29
|
.442
|
10
|
Piedmont Division
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
37
|
23
|
.617
|
--
|
|
7
|
5
|
.583
|
6
|
|
15
|
17
|
.469
|
8
|
|
30
|
38
|
.441
|
11
|
|
26
|
42
|
.382
|
15
|
|
12
|
36
|
.250
|
19
|
Results
July Results
|
||||
ROS 0
|
at
|
SPR 4
|
||
ROS 2
|
at
|
OCC 2
|
||
.
|
ROS 4
|
at
|
STO 0
|
|
.
|
CV 2
|
at
|
WAS 2
|
|
STO 3
|
at
|
WAS 1
|
||
.
|
DEL 2
|
at
|
SPR 2
|
|
.
|
SPR 3
|
at
|
CPC 1
|
|
.
|
OAK 3
|
at
|
OCC 1
|
|
.
|
DEL 1
|
at
|
ARL 3
|
|
.
|
ROS 2
|
at
|
ARL 2
|
|
.
|
SEA 0
|
at
|
STE 4
|
|
.
|
SPR 2
|
at
|
ARL 2
|
|
.
|
ARL 3
|
at
|
STO 1
|
|
Transactions
|
SPR sends Wily Peralta, SPR #8 to CPC for Jesse Crain and Jose
Veras
WAS sends Daniel Nava, Luke Hochever to STO for STO #5, STO #6,
STO #8
OCC sends Juan Uribe, OCC #8 to SPR for Wilin Rosario, SPR #4
CHV sends CHV #4 to OCC for Rex Brothers
CHV sends Jose Molina to OCC for Dave Ross
Discussion
STO slips behind SPR for the # 1 seed after a disastrous start
to their second half. STO was 4-8 for July, with such loveliness as:
- Paul
Goldschmidt: 4/30, no XBH
- Edwin
Encarnacion: 6/62 1 double
It’s all about the offense, or lack thereof, for STO at this
point. Hopefully this gets worked out before the playoffs. STO’s trade for Nava
and Hochever address two needs, coverage for overused OF J-3’s and another 19Z
for the playoff bullpen.
SPR went 6-2 to maintain a good games played pace as well as
improve to the # 1 seed. SPR won the big grade 27 Jess Crain auction for a
pitcher who has been promising, but not delivering, for several years now.
Sometimes big-armed starters need a few years to deliver. Sometimes they become
relievers, sometimes they go on the DL. Good move for SPR, as was the pickup of
Uribe to bolster the infield.
OAK maintained their pace with a 3-1 yawner over moribund OCC. OCC
probably has no chance to catch SEA for the Hamner trophy, and are thus
weighing the Tanaka or Abreu question. Abreu is currently at .996 OPS, which
makes him the likely choice of SEA, because you just can’t have enough
outfield.
One of OAK’s past stalwarts went on the DL this week. Matt Cain
will have season-ending surgery to remove “loose bodies” from his elbow. How
Lindsay Lohan got into Cain’s elbow is unknown.
Without Cain OAK will have to build on their rotation of The
King, Price, some Kershaw guy, and Anibal Sanchez. So Cain won’t be missed any
more than Danny Haren, apparently.
SEA was humiliated by STE, 0-4, in July. Chad claims he was
distracted by the opening of Fantasy Football. But that sport is not an
officially recognized sport by the NVABL,
therefore it does not exist and can’t be claimed as an excuse.
STE used that 4-0 to crawl within sight of the 6th
playoff spot, currently held by DEL. STE
has to get in 5 series this month to avoid another games played penalty.
DEL treaded water at 3-5, holding #1 SPR to a split but losing
to surprising ARL 1-3 on arctic dice (dice which they gifted to STO for their
1-3 loss to ARL.)
DEL has a long way to go before the playoffs are a reality, and
they will evidently stand pat at the trade deadline.
ARL can be a tough team, with a little luck. With two 15Z
starters and a Carlos Gomez/Chris Davis/Nelson Cruz middle of the order, they
will surprise a few teams, like they did DEL and STO this past month.
New guy Dave took Chino Valley to a split with WAS. CHV at 7-5
is like ARL, surprisingly tough, and with the trade for Rex Brothers and the
hated David Ross, they are just a bit better. Good luck Dave, especially
against OAK and SPR!
WAS decided after a 3-5 month to play for next year and
concluded a series of trades for draft picks. While not becoming a draft pick
bank like OCC, WAS will be well positioned for a strong 2015.
The month’s busiest team was ROS, at 8-8. Sounds mundane, but
their 0-4 vs SPR followed by 4-0 vs STO was the fulcrum for SPR’s leap into the
top spot. ROS is +14, which would be tied for first in the Piedmont but is only
good enough for 3rd in the Coastal. Still, ROS is the likely 5th
seed for the playoffs.
This leaves CPC, last in the Coastal but currently 4th
in the Hamner Trophy race. That means he’ll get the guy out of the Springer,
Abreu, Polanco, Tanaka list that nobody else wants. That doesn’t sound too bad,
though. CPC rolled over like a good dog to SPR in July, losing 1-3.
All in all a typical July in that too few series were played.
Only a couple of teams are at risk for the 60 games deadline at the end of the
month.
Choupette
News
STO owner Karl Lagerfeld announced this week that he has hired
Laetitia Casta as Choupette’s minder:
Choupette seems happy with the choice.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Newsletter - July 2, 2014
The
Clubhouse Report
Northern Virginia APBA Baseball
League
July 2014
Welcome to a New Manager
Everyone is thrilled to have the Vermont franchise taken
over by new manager David Neely and becoming the Chino Valley Hot Shots. David has APBA experience and should be able
to ramp up and be comfortable with game play fairly quickly. Welcome David!
The Standings
|
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
|
35
|
21
|
.625
|
--
|
|
|
29
|
19
|
.604
|
2
|
|
|
24
|
16
|
.600
|
3
|
|
|
22
|
18
|
.550
|
5
|
|
|
22
|
26
|
.458
|
9
|
|
|
15
|
21
|
.417
|
10
|
|
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
|
33
|
15
|
.688
|
--
|
|
|
5
|
3
|
.625
|
8
|
|
|
27
|
33
|
.450
|
12
|
|
|
23
|
37
|
.383
|
16
|
|
|
5
|
11
|
.313
|
12
|
|
|
12
|
32
|
.273
|
19
|
Results
June Results
|
DEL 4
|
at
|
OCC 0
|
|
SPR 2
|
at
|
OCC 2
|
|
OAK 1
|
at
|
WAS 3
|
|
OAK 1
|
at
|
SPR 3
|
|
OAK 4
|
at
|
CPC 0
|
|
ROS 3
|
at
|
SEA 1
|
|
DEL 2
|
at
|
OAK 2
|
|
OCC 2
|
at
|
CPC 2
|
|
SEA 1
|
at
|
DEL 3
|
|
SPR 3
|
at
|
STO 1
|
|
STE 0
|
at
|
OAK 4
|
|
DEL 2
|
at
|
ROS 2
|
|
STO 4
|
at
|
SEA 0
|
|
SPR 1
|
at
|
WAS 3
|
|
STO 1
|
at
|
OAK 3
|
|
DEL 2
|
at
|
WAS 2
|
|
STE 3
|
at
|
CPC 1
|
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not
The records for the teams during May are:
Washington 8-4, (27-33)
Finally the bad luck ended for Washington and it’s about time. The Senators impressively beat playoff teams
Oakton and Springfield, then split with Delphi, who is with them and Chino
Valley in the thick of the race for the final playoff spot. At least we see that Washington will be able
to hang with the big boys if they do make the playoffs. They would be an unfavorable 1st
round opponent also, considering 6 of the 7 games you would be facing a 18xyg
righty, 16xy righty, and 13x righty.
Delphi 13-7, (22-18) What a great month for the Oracles. They took care of business vs. the two
weakest teams in the league, then held their own by splitting against 3 of the
toughest teams in the league in Oakton, Roswell, and Washington.
Oakton 15-9, (29-19) A great
month where Larry was able to rebound and get 10 games above .500. The month started out really badly going 2-6
vs. Washington and Springfield. Then
they headed in the right direction with sweeps vs. Columbia Pike and Sterling,
a split vs. Delphi and impressive final’s preview win vs. Stonehenge. It wouldn’t be the first time those two teams
met in the finals.
Roswell 5-3, (35-21) A solid
month for Bob, maintaining a two game lead in the Coastal Division. The Greys beat Seacoast and split with
Delphi.
Springfield 9-7, (24-16)
True to last month’s planning, Chris was able to complete 16 games this month
and add two games to his count above .500.
The four series included impressive wins vs. Oakton and Stonehenge, an
unimpressive split vs. Occoquan, and a loss to Washington which at this time
was more important for Washington than it was for Springfield.
Stonehenge 6-6, (33-15) The
Stonehenge Druids have come back down to earth after a terrific start. This month they lost to playoff contenders
Springfield and Oakton, and destroyed Seacoast.
They have an 8 game lead over Chino Valley in the Piedmont
division. In case you are wondering
their pace is on target for a 60 win season unless they flounder some
more.
Sterling 3-5, (15-21) It was
a tough month for the Pirates courtesy of a sweep at the hands of Oakton, then
failing to get the final 2 games in by the deadline to avoid losing next year’s
8th round draft pick. Let
this be a lesson to those who prefer to wait as long as possible before
playing: if you wait too long it’s quite
possible that unforeseen circumstances will make it impossible to get the games
in that you think are going to be finished.
On the positive side, at the end of the month the Pirate ship righted
itself with a 3-1 series win vs. Columbia Pike.
Occoquan 4-8, (23-37) While
Seacoast is 20 games under .500, Occoquan is now 14 below. The next closest teams are 6 games
under. In this league it is pretty
normal to split a series and we can expect the rest of the bad teams to
continue playing ball above .400. The
month of June for Occoquan included being swept by their nemesis Delphi, then
splitting with Springfield and Columbia Pike.
An advantage to being a non-contending team is that teams often rest
their best starting pitching and offensive players against you. That is a lot of the reason I split with the
Cardinals and Cubs.
Columbia Pike 3-9, (22-26) The
June results are more like what we expected from the Cubbies on paper. They went from being 2 games above .500 to 4
games below thanks to being swept by Oakton, beaten by Sterling, and splitting
with Occoquan in the ongoing battle to eventually see who will get the 2nd
overall pick in the draft.
Seacoast 2-10,(12-32) There
is no longer any doubt about the Hamner trophy after this atrocious month. The Wayfarers were beaten by Roswell and
Delphi, then swept by Stonehenge. At the
halfway point in their season they are on pace to win only 24 games. Occoquan would have to close the season 1-27
to match that. It’s going to be an
interesting watch to see how early in the year Seacoast will clinch the number
1 pick in the draft.
Chino Valley 0-0 , (5-3) Did
not play a full series. The new owner
David has two games in against Sterling, which have not been reported yet. Best of luck David!
Arlington 0-0, (5-11)
Nothing happening this month with Arlington.
Games are on hold with the possibility of 1 or 2 managers still sniffing
around the idea of taking a team. One of
these guys is a friend I started playing basketball with in a group to try and
slow the seemingly rapid trend of my body towards not being able to get out of
a chair and walk around. Just too many
sweets, too many nights a week. This is
why Dwight still jogs and why Chad should never stop running.
Transactions
Sterling sends Drew Storen to Occoquan for Joe
Nathan and OCC #9.
This was giving Sterling a 23* grade righty closer this
year in exchange for a relief pitcher who has an ERA of 1.03 in 2014. I had 5 good offers for Nathan and it ended
up with me going for who I perceived at the time to be the best 2015 card on
the table as Storen is headed towards a solid Z letter. Now I’m not quite so sure as Storen hardly
gets any playing time and is headed towards only 30 innings of eligibility. Unfortunately he is one of 4 relievers the
Nationals have with ERAs 2.00 and below and a pretty good starting rotation so
he is often the odd man out in games that matter. It must be tough to come back from injury,
have an ERA around 1, and be on Matt William’s undesirable list.
The trade deadline is not until August 24th,
so not much else to report on trades or trade talks.
2015 Kilg Korner
Hitting
|
Pitching
|
Overall
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Team OPS Rank Top Player
SEA 0.807 1 Trout
OAK 0.803 2 Tulowitzki
ARL 0.764 3.5 N.
Cruz
STE 0.764 3.5 V.
Martinez
STO 0.756 5 Encarnacion
DEL 0.740 6 Bautista
CPK 0.738 7 Puig
CHV 0.735 8 Freeman
WAS 0.714 9 Pence
SPR 0.712 10 Mesoraco
OCC 0.707 11 A.
Ramirez
ROS 0.696 12 Gattis
|
Team ERA Rank Top
Player
STO 3.20 1 Wainwright
OAK 3.22 2 Kershaw
ROS 3.23 3 Cueto
STE 3.34 4 Bumgarner
WAS 3.55 5 Simon
SPR 3.59 6 Peralta
CPK 3.74 7 Hudson
SEA 3.76 8 Hamels
CHV 3.78 9 Teheran
ARL 3.82 10 Samardzija
DEL 3.87 11 Darvish
OCC 3.97 12 Storen
|
|
OAK – Hitting 2st and Pitching 2th, Oakton’s
pitching really jumped up as King Felix continued an excellent season and
Clayton Kershaw returned from injury and went crazy, including a no-hitter.
STO – Somehow the Stonehenge pitching jumped up into first
place, which is not an easy feat vs. Hernandez and Kershaw. But Stonehenge has Adam Wainwright who has
single handedly won more plaques, and also Lester and Zimmermann, who are
looking good.
STE – The Pirates are fourth in hitting and fourth in
pitching. Will 2015 be the year Walt
finally breaks out of his slump.
SEA – Seacoast hitting jumps to #1 as Trout heats up.
ARL – Nelson Cruz is still going and helping out this team
quite a bit.
WAS and CPK – Now tied, as two middle of the pack teams.
ROS – The Greys pitching fell from 1st to 3rd,
but they are still very good. The
hitting is the only team below .700 OPS.
SPR – Mesoraco is coming alive. The pitching is starting to look more ho-hum,
and Springfield drops to 9th.
CHV – The pitching that looked promising last month fell
into the tank, dropping the Hot Shots from third to 10th place.
DEL – Hitting is looking fine, pitching is looking weak.
OCC – This team is ugly.
Aramis Ramirez came off the DL and did pretty well. Maybe he’ll be a keeper after all. Josh Hamilton is not having a bad year,
except for missing most of it.
Happy Rolling!
Good job this past month getting 17 series in. We now have 2 months to get up to 60 games,
which 2 teams have already done. Let’s
help Chino Valley get their games in if David comes a knockin’.
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