The season is up to July 23. Just two more sims left before the trading deadline. Make your deals now!!!

No earth-shattering changes in the standings. Pittsburgh’s lead over Seattle was trimmed by a half-game even though Pittsburgh now claims the best record in the OEL. However, Seattle has a 7.5 game lead on third-place Stockholm and 12 games on fourth-place Maryland, making a Seattle-Pittsburgh playoff showdown, the third in four years, appear highly likely.

In the Socratic League, New York took a half-game off its deficit and now stands just one full game behind Brooklyn. Winnipeg is still on the fringes of the playoff race, 5.5 games behind Brooklyn and 4.5 behind New York.

New York’s Richard Berkeley and Helena’s Bricio Loera each suffered minor injuries and are out about a week.

Jersey City’s third baseman Basil Gomez piled up 7 RBI against Maryland on July 21.

Pittsburgh took two of first three games from Brooklyn in a four-game set between division leaders. The game July 21 featured a tenth-inning, three-run, walk-off home run by the Pisces’ Bryan Caraway.

Marietta topped Cairo 5-3 in 10 innings on July 19.

New York won two of three from Seattle (going back to the last sim) in a match-up of the current wild card holders.

League file is posted. Web pages en route. Next sim Wednesday by Nate.

Sorry for the delay. Two Senators delayed me.

In this sim we see Pittsburgh move itself into a six game lead going into the trading deadline with Seattle still in the wild card slot. Brooklyn remains in the lead in the Socratic lead with New York 2.5 back. There’s still two months to go so things could change but these races are beginning to define themselves.

While there were no standout performances this week there were a number of injuries including two major ones. Seattle relief pitcher Robert Turner is lost for 3 to 4 weeks to a ruptured tendon and Winnipeg lost catcher Fabian Mendonca for the season with a broken wrist!

The next sim is Monday by Mack. Be there!

The Pittsburgh Pisces today announced the acquisition of two key players to bolster their unexpected playoff run today. The Pisces acquired infielder Juan Favela and outfielder Joseph Watson from the Helena Handbaskets. Favela is expected to become an immediate full-time starter while the left-handed Watson is likely to platoon and play primarily against right-handed pitchers.

In exchange, Pittsburgh sent west starting pitching prospect Chris Saez as well as two major league reserves without minor league options–shortstop Jason Largo and outfielder James Rhodes.

“We’re thrilled to add two impact players to our team,” said Manager Moses Guthrie. “Both are wily veterans who will help show our youngsters the right way to play the game.” Guthrie then enthusiastically dunked a rolled up piece of paper into the trash can, over the outstretched arms of bench coach Lucian Tucker.

Surprisingly, two young players who are expected to see their playing time diminish were also in favor of the move. Both current shortstop Alan Williams and centerfielder Tracy Snider said, independently, “We believe that what’s best for the team will be what’s best for us. We’re excited for our new teammates to join us in our attempt to claim the division title.” The flat monotone in which both players delivered the identically-phrased sentiments made one wonder whether Official Team Astrologer Mona Mondieu may have added hypnotism to her cupboard of tricks.

Saez, however, expressed some regret about the trade. “First I go from New York to Pittsburgh. That’s ok, Pittsburgh is at least still a city. But then to go to Helena? You’re kidding, right. I’m not even sure I want to make it to the majors now.”

Since we had the All-Star break, I went ahead and simmed six days to get through the end of the three day off period. So, we’re up to July 13 instead of July 12. Sorry for disrupting the five-day rhythm.

Unfortunately, while we had an All-Star break, and All-Star teams announced, we still had no All-Star game. Sorry. Nate and I need to do a better job of fixing that next year if we’re still with OOTP 6.5. Heck, even if we’re on version 9, we need to make sure there’s an All-Star game.

So, there were only three games played this sim. Miscellaneous notes:

Pittsburgh took two of three from Brooklyn to win a series between the current division leaders. The Pisces still have a 5.5 game lead on Seattle while Brooklyn tops the Socratic League by only 1.5 games over New York.

Cairo’s Oscar Leon shut out Helena on two hits in a 4-0 victory on July 9.

Leon and New York’s newly acquired Chad Gomez took home Player of the Week honors.

Seattle’s Darren Schmelzer has 8 RBI against Marietta on July 7.

No significant injuries.

Finally, here are the All-Star rosters:

These players were selected for the PL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Thomas Holte from Seattle
P Robert Gaertner from Pittsburgh
P Bobby Stoops from Sylva
P Lewis McGurk from Maryland
P Richard Ro from Pittsburgh
P Gaby Duran from Sylva
P Fabio Puñal from Maryland
P Vincent Furness from Pittsburgh
P Ariel Santos from Pittsburgh
P Wesley Savage from Seattle
C Charles Hicklin from Stockholm
C James Dominy from Pittsburgh
1B Ronald Hernandez from Maryland
2B Brian Staudt from Pittsburgh
3B Darren Schmeltzer from Seattle
SS Donald Parson from Pittsburgh
LF Silvio Ruiz from Maryland
CF Carlos Araoz from Seattle
RF George Pullum from Seattle
1B Amador Zaragoza from Seattle
CF Benito Parra from Maryland
LF Perry Hodgin from Pittsburgh
LF Paul Caldwell from Cairo
2B Samuel Corrado from Sylva
3B Steffen Nell from Stockholm

These players were selected for the SL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Tyler Conn from Brooklyn
P Abe Nix from New York
P Hernando Desalvo from Winnipeg
P Charles Hults from New York
P Lenard Ramirez from Winnipeg
P John Karpinski from Jersey City
P Mark Fossum from Brooklyn
P Lyman Grimm from Brooklyn
P Ramon Medina from Brooklyn
P Alfred Wickline from Jersey City
C Pio Pastrana from Brooklyn
C Fabian Mendonca from Winnipeg
1B Albert Ramer from Marietta
2B Miyatarou Takenao from Brooklyn
3B Salomon Tavarez from New York
SS Randy McGinn from Brooklyn
LF Tory Chavez from Helena
CF Reinaldo Salerno from Winnipeg
RF Benito Figueredo from Brooklyn
1B Antonio Alicea from Brooklyn
CF Courtney Mule from New York
CF Oscar Woodworth from Brooklyn
LF Brendon Townsend from Jersey City
SS Alfonso Reyes from New York
3B Basil Gomez from Jersey City

Next sim will be Friday by Nate. League file posted. Web pages on the way.

Seattle and Helena have agreed to terms on a trade that will send perennially pleasant ace SP Joseph “Happy” Diederich across the Cascade Mountains to Seattle. In return, Seattle will send two Maximos to Helena: utility INF Maximo Corona and SP prospect Maximo Navarro. Helena will also send a small amount of cash to Seattle in the deal.

In yet another trade, Stockholm GM and wheeler-dealer Michael Weintraub shuttled the league’s largest salary, that of ace SP Chad Gomez, in the process acquiring pitching prospect George Martinez and the aptly-named infield prospect Steven Smotherman from New York, along with New York’s fourth-round draft pick next year. New York also sent SP Stanley Sirmans and C Lauren Ice to the Sluggers to help off-set some of Gomez’s bloated salary.

Once-proud and perhaps still-convalescing from last season’s torn rotator cuff, Gomez arrives in the Knights clubhouse hoping to be the difference maker in the team’s push to knock off perenniel Socratic League power and local rival Brooklyn. GM Eric Lent said, “We hope this sets us up with a dynamite rotation, even if we can’t hit as well as the Bombers. We need lots of fannies in the seats the rest of the year to pay for this guy, but just couldn’t pass up adding another potential #1 to join Hultz and Nix. We are asking fans do their part, however, by eating 14 hot dogs per person each game to raise the necessary revenue. So guys, if you bring a date to the game, come hungry if she’s not going to eat all of her 14.”

According to Weintraub, “the money saved on Gomez’s contract will be used to buy new bikinis for the Swedish Bikini Team Smasher Girls.” (Reports from the league office indicate officials are working tirelessly to find photographs confirming this expenditure.) “We’re finally facing our Waterloo [this season],” Weintraub added, “we were defeated, you [Pittsburgh/Seattle] won the war. We couldn’t escape if we wanted to.”

Sim is done, my friends, and with it another five days of glorious baseball. Why, just the other day I saw a unicorn taking batting practice with the tooth fairy pitching. Glorious summer!

This sim we saw the improbable Pittsburgh franchise extend its lead to 5.5 games over faltering Seattle. Could this be the year Seattle doesn’t get the job done?

In the Socratic League Brooklyn takes a 3 game winning streak to a 3.5 game lead over New York which remains 2 games up in the wild card over Hal 9000’s Winnipeg franchise.

In top performances this sim Stockholm’s Chad Gomez threw eight innings of two hit ball on July 3rd to post the 8th best pitching performance of the year so far! Well done, Chad!

The was one major injury this sim, sad to say. Cairo lost starting pitcher Baltasar Acevedo for seven weeks to a pulled tricep! Ouch!

The next sim is on Wednesday by Mack! Be there!

The Pittsburgh Pisces today announced the acquisition of infielder John Avelar today from Stockholm. Avelar is expected to be the primary infield backup at third and second. In return, Pittsburgh sent a fifth round pick in next year’s draft and minor league “prospect” Duncan Gillis overseas.

“We felt we needed some depth in case of an injury, and John gives us that,” said Owner/GM Mack Shultz. “Plus, he’ll be an upgraded bat for us as a pinch hitter. All in all, we’re pleased to welcome him to the team.”

Stockholm general manager Michael Weintraub announced today that the proud blågult Swedish flag flying outside of the team’s offices at the old Olympic Stadium in Stockholm has been replaced with a white flag, commonly associated with surrender.

“We had high expectations this year, but once Ben Towell got hurt, it all unraveled.”

Classified ads in the back pages of Svenska Dagbladet and the Sportbladet section of the popular tabloid Aftonbladet mentioned the following players available for trade:

• SP Chad Gomez – once an ace, and possibly the best pitcher in the league at the time, he has struggled this year after recovering from a season-ending injury last year. In his last start, he showed signs of returning to ace status with seven and two-thirds shutout innings in a win over Jersey City.
• SP Chad Kinlaw – during the chaos of the 2003 Stockholm season, he was the anchor that stabilized the team as they finished just shy of the playoffs. A free agent after this year, he’s an affordable pickup for any team needing another starter for the playoff push.
• SP Theron Mire – a waiver-wire pickup in the 2003 season, he helped Kinlaw stabilize the rotation. Struggling a bit this season, perhaps he needs another change of location to get better again?
• MR Cedric Iverson – a 1.88 ERA out of the bullpen. What more needs to be said?
• MR James Artman – okay, a 2.86 ERA out of the bullpen isn’t as amazing as 1.88, but his salary is only $660k for the season!
• IF John Avelar – former Rookie of the Year, John has performed capably as a pinch hitter and utility infielder this year. He’s able to play 2B or 3B, and has high gap hitting ratings.
• SS John Covas – acquired to take over for Towell at short stop when he was hurt earlier this season, Covas has suffered along with the team. A proven playoff bat (OPS over 1000 the past two seasons!), he knows how to win.
• CF Mark Peters – after a torrid start of the season, Peters has settled into a dependable spark plug for the line-up. Capable of playing in center or left, his .396 OBP is made for the top of the lineup, especially with his high ratings in stealing bases and baserunning instinct.

Surely one (or more) of these players will help make the difference in being in the playoffs and watching them on TV. Contact GM Weintraub at mweintr@gmail.com to discuss trades. Offers involving a 3B prospect will move to the top of the list!

***** UPDATE *****

Problem solved. League file is posted. Web pages en route. Next sim will be Monday by Nate.

*********************

I completed the sim to July 2 tonight, but then lost my ability to access Nate’s server. The computer comes up as being disconnected from the network. So, I can’t upload the web pages nor the league file right now.

I’ll work with Nate to get it fixed.

Anyway, here’s the standings, as something to tide you over:

Platonic League

Pittsburgh 48 31 .608 – 44-35 4 20-18 28-13 4-5 19-9 71 L2 7-3
Seattle 44 36 .550 4.5 45-35 -1 23-16 21-20 4-5 11-13 – L2 4-6
Stockholm 35 43 .449 12.5 32-46 3 17-17 18-26 6-3 14-8 – L2 4-6
Maryland 34 46 .425 14.5 36-44 -2 16-25 18-21 1-3 6-15 – W2 8-2
Sylva 31 49 .388 17.5 34-46 -3 17-25 14-24 2-6 9-16 – L2 1-9
Cairo 29 51 .362 19.5 28-52 1 15-27 14-24 6-4 14-18 – L2 4-6

Socratic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Brooklyn 50 30 .625 – 50-30 0 28-11 22-19 6-3 14-11 73 L2 5-5
New York 49 32 .605 1.5 55-26 -6 25-17 24-15 1-5 7-7 – W2 6-4
Winnipeg 47 32 .595 2.5 41-38 6 23-14 24-18 5-3 17-9 – W2 8-2
Jersey City 41 39 .512 9.0 40-40 1 21-20 20-19 3-1 12-12 – W2 6-4
Marietta 36 45 .444 14.5 38-43 -2 23-20 13-25 7-6 10-13 – W2 4-6
Helena 35 45 .438 15.0 33-47 2 21-20 14-25 4-5 12-14 – W2 3-7

More when we get it sorted out.