Another fun and crazy sim.  Everyone please welcome Eric Simon as the new owner for Sylva.  Welcome, Eric, and may the winds of baseball always be at your back.

The big news this sim is that, while the PL standings remain Pittsburgh and then Stockholm in the wildcard, the PL is now featuring a tie for the last playoff spot between Marietta and Brooklyn.  Brooklyn’s 1-4 record this sim (including two losses to Marietta to start things off) sure worked against them as Marietta put up a 3-2 record to keep the playoff race alive.  It’s a spring to the finish for these two teams.  Marietta, having dealt off about $60,000,000 worth of salary just a month and a half ago was given up for dead but the kids are performing!

Players of the week this sim are the aforementioned kid, Kevin Grow, who won the award in his first major league week, and in the PL the award went to Benito Parra of Maryland!  Way to go, fellas!

Not all went right for Maryland, though, as on September 15 Pittsburgh, led by Zaragoza’s 5-5 performance led them to a 12-1 win over the mid-atlantic mashers!

There were, thankfully, no injuries this sim at all!  This sports writer can’t remember the last sim in which that happened!

The next sim takes us to September 20th and will be by Mack on Wednesday.  Be there as the sprint to the mint continues!  The files are uploading now.  Give them about 30 minutes to be complete.

Well, it doesn’t seem like much has changed in the OEL after another five days have passed. But there were some doozies of games. Oh yes, there were.

In the Platonic League, Pittsburgh extended its lead to 20 games, won 100 games, and clinched the division title. Stockholm’s lead over Cairo was trimmed by a game. The Sluggers now lead by three with 17 to play.

In the Socratic League, there was no change in the top of the standings as the three main playoff contenders all went 3-2 on the sim. New York still leads Brooklyn by three (having split their two-game series) and Brooklyn still leads Marietta by two.

Helena, thanks to being a truly astonishing 14 games under its Pythagorean record, “leads” Sylva by two games for the top pick in next June’s amateur draft.

In league news, some of the minor leagues have started handing out their hardware. John Stanley of the Marion Miners (CAI) won Pitcher of the Year in A-ball Midwest League while Fabio Verona of the Bloomington Troopers (JCY) took the honors in the Carolina League. Michael Spade made it a sweep for Marion as he won Batter of the Year in the Midwest League and Robert Titus of the Longmont Blue Wave (SYL) did the same in the Carolina League. Also, lots of leagues have awarded their gold glove awards, but you can find that yourself.

Some significant injuries this sim, including two season-enders. Miami’s Robert “Crackpot” Gaertner is out for 7-8 months with a fractured elbow. Might be time for him to hang it up. Brooklyn lost John Douglass for three months to a dislocated shoulder. In addition, Sylva’s Raymond Bullington and New York’s Benjamin Echeandia are both out for about two weeks. Marietta’s Dana “I’m a Guy” Rose is also out a week.

As we wind down to the end of the year, some hot battles for league leads in various stats are underway. Jersey City’s Paul Caldwell and Pittsburgh’s Gary Croce and Donald Parson are all within .006 for the batting title, with Croce having edged into the lead lately. John Douglass was leading the OEL in doubles and triples, but he’s likely to lose those places now that he’s hurt. Brendan Townsend of Jersey City leads Croce by three home runs. Parson leads Townsend by five RBI. Interestingly, we’re down to just four OEL players (Croce, Parson, Robert McCree, and Juan Favela) with OPSs over .900 for the season.

In the pitching leaders, Richard Ro has won 21 games, one more than Brooklyn’s Tyler Conn. Ro is also leading in ERA and strikeouts, giving him a chance at the pitching triple crown. Javier “Choke” Corchado has 43 saves, four more than William Carner of Miami.

As I said, there were some wild games.

On September 6, Sylva celebrated its change in ownership by going out and thumping playoff contender Cairo 10-2. Helena also topped division-leader New York 4-1, as the cellar dwellers rose up.

On September 7, oh what a day. New York nipped Helena 2-1 thanks to a two-run bomb by Courtney Mule in the eighth. Not the most interesting game.

Maryland blasted Miami 13-3, as James “Cool as the Other Side of the” Pilla continues to struggle. The Poedamnedmonium’s Benito Parra went 3-4 with two doubles, a home run, 3 runs and 3 RBI. Not the most interest game or one of the top three performances.

Brooklyn hammered Gainesville 15-2, raching up 18 hits and seven walks. Not the most runs, not the most hits, and not the most walks today.

Marietta led Jersey City 10-4 after seven innings. But, the Skeeters scored one in the eighth and five in the ninth to send the game into extra innings. But, Benicio Pineda’s bases loaded single in the bottom of the tenth pushed the Mammoths to a hard fought, 11-10 victory. Still not the most remarkable game.

Stockholm had lost the first game of the series with Pittsburgh, and faced Richard Ro in the second game. When the Sluggers scored two in the top of the first inning, things looked good. But the game got worse fast. Gary Croce tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first. Three more homers led to four in the third for a 6-2 Pisces lead. Pittsburgh plated six more in the fourth inning for a 12-2 lead. Stockholm didn’t give up though and fought back to a 16-9 deficit in the middle of the eighth. Then, the bottom fell out. Pittsburgh sent 17 men to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring 12 times (all earned runs) as a result of eight hits and six walks. In all, the Pisces accumulated 24 hits, including four doubles and five home runs, and 12 walks on their way to a 28-9 win.

On September 8, Stockholm held a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth, but the Pisces rallied for four in the ninth, culimating with a two-run single by Darren Schmeltzer, to win 8-7 and sweep the series. In other action, Jersey City smoked Marietta 15-8 with Paul Caldwell accumulating four hits (three of them doubles). Cairo scored two in the bottom of the eighth and one in the ninth to win 8-7.

On September 9, in the first game of their latest showdown, Brooklyn and New York went into extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Brooklyn scored when Nathan Scull walked in the go-ahead run. But, the Knights rallied and won the game on Alfonso Reyes’ bases-loaded infield single. Meanwhile, the other Socratic contender Marietta got hammered for the second straight day, losing 15-3 to Helena.

On September 10, Brooklyn topped New York 3-1, as Willie Carter and Steve Corner scatted 10 Knights hits.

The next sim will see a series between Marietta and New York and a critical three-game set between Stockholm and Cairo. The league file is loaded. Web pages will be en route soon. Nate’s got Monday’s sim. Good luck to everyone.

Eric Simon has agreed to take over the Sylva franchise. He’s a friend of Eric Lent, but we’re going to try not to hold that against him. (We do, however, reserve the right to continue to hold Eric’s friendship as a black mark against Jeremy.) He’s involved in some prominent Mets blogs, but I don’t know whether being a Mets fan means that he is more or less qualified to run a team. I guess he’ll do ok. As a Mariners fan, what right do I have to slag another team?

In exchange for rescuing the Black Bears from their doldrums, Nate and I put together a small stimulus package. (Hey, it’s all the rage. How could we not?) Here’s what we’ve done for Sylva, all as a one-time measure. He got $10M in cash, which basically wipes out the debt Sylva would otherwise have been carrying at the end of the season. We also gave him a small bump in both market size and fan loyalty. Finally, we created one really good prospect for him (Carlos Lara, assigned to A-ball). Every other struggling team has at least one future superstar to look forward to. Heck, Helena’s got several. Sylva had not much in the farm system, so this gives him something to work with.

You’ll see all of this this evening when I run the sim. Eric’s going to get the game loaded and running this weekend, so we’re all expecting a lot of activity by Monday’s sim. Well, running out a major league roster with more than 23 players would be a big step all by itself.

Otherwise, Eric can post over the weekend to introduce himself to our motley band of fools.

Bad News: Sid was never able to find the time to manage Sylva, so he’s bowed out of the league. We wish him well in his future simulated baseball endeavors.

Good News: It looks like we’ve got another owner lined up and ready to go, so hopefully, there will be an announcement of his assumption of control in the coming days. There will be some help extended to the Sylva franchise as part of the new owner coming in to offset a couple sim years of fairly severe inattention. Nothing stupendous, but something to get the franchise back on track.

When everything’s finalized, we’ll let people know.

Yes,  sports fans, another sim has come and gone.  It’s now September 6 and there’s still a lot of baseball left to play.

In the PL there’s still the dominant Pittsburgh squad up for a divisonal title and now up by 18 games over second place, and wildcard leader, Stockholm.  Stockholm is now in front of Cairo by four games for the secondary slot with Cairo having had a rough sim.

In the SL New York is now on top by 3 over Brooklyn which remains two games ahead of the tanking Marietta for the wild card.  This could go either way, gentlemen, and there’s no telling how!

Standout performance honors go to Helena’s John Plyler who had a three home run game against Jersey City on the third of the month!  Great game, John!

Only one injury this time but it was a dilly!  Good thing rosters have expanded because Stockholm lost Stephen Guthrie for as much as four months to bone chips!  Ouch!  Good luck next season, Stephen!

Next sim is Friday by Mack!  Don’t be late!

With today’s bonus seven-day sim, we’ve reached September 1. Rosters have expanded, so feel free to call up the people you’ve had stashed in the minors.

In the Platonic League, the Pittsburgh Pisces are peaking too early. The Fish went 6-0 in the sim and have won 21 of their last 23 games. Pace yourselves, guys!

In the wild card chase, Stockholm has dropped four in a row and the Sluggers’ edge over Cairo is now just two games. With six games remaining between the two squads, it will be a dogfight.

In the Socratic League, nobody wants to go to the playoffs, as the top three squads all dropped their last two games of the sim. New York has a two-game lead on Brooklyn. Marietta is six games out of first in third and Jersey City is another game back.

In the race for the first pick in the draft, Helena has foolishly won four straight games, and now has just a two game “lead” on Sylva. Gainesville and Maryland are separated by only one game in the race for #3.

Lots of injuries this sim. Miami lost John Fine for five weeks to a strained tricep muscle. Cairo and Stockholm both were hurt in the outfield, as “Tornado” Chavez and “Ogre” McCree both were hurt for 1-2 weeks. Maryland’s Donald Mansfield was lost for the season, as his elbow bone chips mean he can’t throw for three months. Finally, Sylva’s Ignacio Coloma is out three weeks with a torn thigh muscle.

Stockholm’s Ogre McCree got a reward for his pain, taking home Player of the Week honors. Gainesville’s Shane Spies won the award in the Socratic League.

Monthly awards were also handed out. In the Platonic League, Gregory Goudreau, “Buck” Ro, and “Missing” Parson won Rookie, Pitcher, and Batter of the Month. The Socratic awards went to Joel Rivas, Chuck Hults, and Shane Spies.

Lots of compelling games this sim.

On August 25, Abe Nix of the New York Knights shut out 4-0 Maryland on just three hits. His one-walk, eight-strikeout performance was the fifth best pitching performance of the year. Meanwhile, Happy Diederich and the rest of the Miami Masters took a 14-0 shellacking at the hands of Jersey City. In addition, Stockholm scored a remarkable eight runs in the top of the tenth inning to beat Gainesville 14-6.

On August 26, the Pisces’ Moises Dominguez threw eight shutout innings for the second straight outing in a 5-0 win over Jersey City. In the first game of the highly anticipated Stockholm-Brooklyn series, Stockholm won 7-2 behind Tom Holte’s eight strong innings.

On August 27, Helena pounded the living you-know-what out of Cairo in a 16-0 victory. Brooklyn held on by the skin of its teeth to a 8-7 win over Brooklyn, overcoming Hung Like a Horse Odell’s two big ones. (Home runs, you perverts.) New York nipped Miami 8-7 in 11 innings.

On August 28, Marietta shut out Maryland 10-0, scoring five runs in both the first and second innings. Apparently, everyone both on and off the field went to sleep in the third inning. Brooklyn smoked Stockholm 10-2 to claim bragging rights. New York shut out Miami 3-0. Gainesville and Sylva went 12 innings before Gainesville scored four runs and then held on for a 7-6 win.

On August 29, in the only game of the day, Miami beat Marietta 4-2. No one cared.

On August 30, the recently-traded and maligned-by-some Brian Staudt came through with the seventh best hitting performance of the year. He went 5-5 with a double, home run, and 6 RBI in Cairo’s 13-3 crushing of Brooklyn. Gainesville embarrassed Stockholm 14-3 and, in a matchup of division leaders, Pittsburgh smoked New York 13-1. Somehow, the Pisces scored 13 runs but only left one man on base. Great efficiency by the Fish.

On August 31, Gainesville really laid it on Stockholm, winning 17-1. The Purple Porpoises had to settle for second place in offense for the day though, as Helena scored 18 in a blowout win over Sylva. Cairo topped Brooklyn 6-5 when Steve Corner blew the save.

League file is created and uploaded. Nate’s got the next sim, to September 6, on Wednesday. I may not get web pages updated until Friday because of a business trip, so apologies in advance.

I don’t know how many people are paying attention, but the minor leagues are either in the middle of their playoffs or in the final stages of their regular seasons. All of the leagues feature a five-game championship series without wild cards. A quick update.

AAA
There are six games to go, meaning the regular season will end with the upcoming sim. In the Pacific Coast League, the Imperial Guards (PIT) lead the Butte Butteheads (HEL) by a single game. The International League is a brawl, as the Danville Dans (CAI), Rome Wasnt Built in a Day (NY), and Sylva Eagles (SYL) are tied for the division lead with the Anaheim Leprechauns (MPD) only two games back.

AA
The playoffs are underway as the Peerskill Highlanders (JCY) of the Eastern League and the Charlottesville Hoos (BRK) of the Southern League are tied at a game a piece. Charlottesville won a one-game playoff against the Churchill Icebreakers (GAI) to claim the Southern League title.

A
The Midwest League’s Aurora Vampires (MPD) lead the Great Falls O’Fire 2-0 in the championship series. Great Falls nipped the Longmont Blue Wave (SYL) by a single game to win the Carolina League title division. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly compelling story, as Great Falls won only because its regular-season-ending three-game losing streak was topped by Longmont’s four-game swoon.

Short-Season A
The playoffs in this level are about to start. The Birmingham Geysers (CAI) and the Wichita Malice (SYL) won the division titles in the New York-Penn League and the Northwest League going away. The two teams posted amazing .759 and .786 winning percentages, respectively.

Rookie
There eight regular season games remaining in this league. In the Appalachian League, the Humboldt Hill Web (JCY) and the Madison Continentals (GAI) are tied for the lead but all six teams are still somewhat alive, technically, as the last-place Saint Petersburg Blue Bombers (BRK) are just eight games back. In the Gulf Coast League, the Weare Flotilla (MPD) and the Ostermalm Lyxare (STO) are tied for the division lead and have a seven game lead over third-place Santa Ana Jazz (SYL).

Good luck to everyone in the playoff push or the championship series.

In another sign of the topsy-tursy, flipsy-flopsy season this has been in the Socratic League this sim now has the New York Knights up by 1 game on the Brooklyn Bombers!  This despite the fact that Middle Reliever Gregory Robertson was suspended by the league for ten games on August 25th for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.  Robertson, who has appeared in 45 games in relief this year has seen his popularity plunge since the suspension was announced. In other news Marietta remains four games out of the wild card in the SL.

In the Platonic League Pittsburgh continues their dominant season.  Now fourteen games up on their closest competition, Stockholm, nothing appears to be able to slow the Steel City Smashers from cruising to glory.  In the wildcard the aforementioned Stockholm is in the driver’s seat with Cairo four games behind them.

In injury news this week Stockholm’s Watson suffered a concussion in a  collision with another player and is out for 1-2 weeks.

The next sim is Monday by Mack.  It’s an extended sim to take us to September first and roster expansion.  Be there!

Nate’s simming up to August 25 tomorrow (March 20).

Then, on Monday, I’m going to run a seven-day sim that will take us to September 1 when major league rosters expand.

Just FYI.

About a week ago the Gainesville Purple Porpoises made a difficult decision and fired their manager Steve Combs. “It was a enough already. We thought we could contend for a WC spot this year, or at least stay competative. That did not happen so we had no choice but let Steve go. Bottom line, he had no idea what he was doing. He had Desalvo pitching back-to-back games for Christ sake!”

Speaking of which, The Porpoises decided to hire Jesus Sanchez as their new manager. The price was steep, a 5 year deal worth nearly $3 million. It was a price Katz thought was worth it. “He is a savior. He came in for the interview and instantly walked over the 150 gallon fish tank we have sitting in the lobby. I have been to magic shows in Vegas and this topped it. I knew he was my guy. He knows how to handle people and preaches what he needs in a logical way.”

Since letting go Combs who finished his Porpoise career at 41-75, the Sea Elephants have gone 7-0. It could be the momentum this underperforming franchise was looking for.