Power Rankings

1. Durham Bulls - Over the 1st 43 games they have managed to score almost 100 more runs than anyone else in the league. Impressive.

2. Cincinnati Reds - Can we get some sort of fake fantasy plane accident that takes out the Reds?

3. Houston Astros - Impressive start, but you have to wonder how the loss of ace Omar Elcano is going to effect the team.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates - Finally living up to the hype. Damn good team that I expect will eventually over take the mighty Reds in the NL north.

5. Monterrey Corn Dogs - Unfortunate for the Corn Dogs that they play in the same division in the Bulls. Very good team though that has a nice combination of great pitching and hitting.

HOF Voting

Hall Inductees:

• Roosevelt Stevenson - 15 votes - 79%
• Britt Swindell - 7 votes - 37%

Maybe Next Season:

• Ramon Dong - 5 votes - 26%
• Mitchell Ray - 4 votes - 21%
• Bryan McDowell - 2 votes - 11%
• Dwight Johnson - 2 votes - 11%
• Kinney (sorry never could find a link) - 2 votes - 11%
  

It Is That Time of The Seson Again

The Draft Pool cometh!!! Has everyone looked over their minors to see what the needs are to complement your Major League team? I have and with the 20th pick it is highly doubtful the player I need will be there. If this draft pool is like the last four I have had, it will be a rude awakening to everyone.

I have been through three drafts and four draft pools (think the last pool was undrafted players from the previous three) so far since the big change. Everyone has gotten a good first pick, but after that there just isn't much. Since they changed the OVR for pitchers, they didn't fix the draft pool to compensate is the biggest problem. Have you ever seen a draft with just one pitcher taken in the first 10 picks? I have seen it twice now. Middle relievers have had better ratings than starters for the most part. The Starters haven't really been all that good even for the old middle first round picks. The good Setup/Closers have been relegated to the third and fourth rounds as opposed to late first round, supplemental, and early second round if you can even find a decent one.

Most don't like the Formula Builder either as the old way is more preferred. It takes some tinkering to find the right mix with the formula.

Happy Draft Pool everyone!

HOF Nominees - Position Players

Position Players:

Ramon Dong
Career:
BA - .332
Hits - 2132
HR - 242
RBI - 1123
Runs - 1393
SB - 128

Accomplishments/Awards:
1 WS Ring
6 Time All Star
2 Time Silver Slugger
1 Gold Glove
3rd All Time Hits
3rd All Time Runs

Roosevelt Stevenson
Career:
BA - .302
Hits - 1972
HR -530
RBI - 1479
Runs - 1325
SB - 27

Accomplishments/Awards:
3 Time All Star
2 Time Silver Slugger
2 All Time HR
1st All Time RBI

Andrew Spencer
Career:
BA - .319
Hits - 1534
HR - 418
RBI - 1188
Runs - 1045
SB - 0

Accomplishments/Awards:
1 All Star

Posiedon Warden
Career:
BA - .324
Hits - 1945
HR - 237
RBI - 1006
Runs - 1396
SB - 212

Accomplishments/Awards:
2 WS Rings
4 Time All Star
1 Silver Slugger
2nd All Time Runs

Javier Santayana
Career:
BA - .313
Hits - 1889
HR - 253
RBI - 1039
Runs - 1249
SB - 457

Accomplishments/Awards:
4 Time All Star
1 Gold Glove
1 Silver Slugger
3rd All time SB

HOF Nominees - Pitchers

Pitchers:

Britt Swindell
Career:
Starts - 294
W - 158
L - 54
ERA - 3.53
K - 1767

Accomplishments/Awards:
4 - WS Rings
3 Time CY Young
6 Time All Star
4th All Time in Strikeouts
2nd All Time in Winning Percentage

Dwight Johnson
Career:
Starts - 353
W - 166
L - 79
ERA - 3.73
K - 1685

Accomplishments/Awards:
2 WS Rings
1 CY Young
1 ROY
5 Time All Star
3rd All Time Wins
5th All Time Strikeouts

Bryan McDowell
Career:
Saves - 352
Save % - 89%
W - 24
L - 28
ERA - 2.94
K - 510

Accomplishments/Awards:
1 WS Ring
6 Time Fireman of the Year
7 Time All Star
2nd All Time Saves

Bruce Shelley
Career:
Saves - 232
Save % - 84%
W - 48
L - 47
ERA - 4.09
K - 557

Accomplishments/Awards:
1 Fireman of the Year
4 Time All Star

Mitchell Ray
Career:
Saves - 359
Save % - 89%
W - 25
L - 30
ERA - 3.29
K - 537

Accomplishments/Awards:
3 WS Rings
4 Time Fireman of the Year
7 Time All Star
1st All Time Saves

The Fire Preseason Rankings

NL
North
1. Cincinnati Reds
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Milwaukee Brewers

Will be very tight race and 2 wild cards again?

East
1. Atlanta Pork-N-Beans
2. Trenton Ball Hogs
3. Cleveland Indians
4. New York Mets

With the early season injury in Trenton the Injuns could take 2nd agian.

South
1. Houston Astros
2. El Paso Czars
3. Florida Marlins
4. Texas Rangers

The merengue could out duel the two steppers before it is over!

West
1. Kansas City Royals
2. Vancouver Canadians
3. Oklahoma City Kevin Durants
4. Los Angeles Duffers

The crown could actually head north of the border this year.

AL
North
1. St. Louis Barracudas
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Detroit Detroit
4. Salt Lake City Multiple Spouses

A real fight is brewing between the top 3 teams in my estimation.

East
1. Dover Dung Beetles
2. Philadelphia Athletics
3. Washington D.C. Senators
4. New York Yankees

A Yank-less playoff for the first time last year, it looks bleaker for them this year as the rest are getting better.

South
1. Monterrey Corn Dogs
2. Durham Bulls
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Austin Fightin' Armadillos

The meek shall inherit the crown, yet again.

West
1. Omaha Lancers
2. Las Vegas 51s
3. Helena Hot Pockets
4. Anaheim Angels

Have a boil? Omaha is ready!

Best Playoff Guess with surprises!
NL
1. Atlanta Pork-N-Beans
2. Houston Astros
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Vancouver Canadians
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Trenton Ball Hogs

AL
1. St. Louis Barracudas
2. Monterrey Corn Dogs
3. Dover Dung Beetles
4. Omaha Lancers
5. Toronto Blue Jays
6. Durham Bulls

NL Power Rankings

NL:
1. Cincinnati Reds - Can they win 4 in a row? The loss of Paulie Sanders hurts their chances, but the Reds should be near the top of the NL.

2. Houston Astros - Quite possibly the best overall team in the NL. Everett Hill is quite possibly the best hitter in league history. Heinie Watkins, Sid Bryant, and Russell Relaford are pretty good too.

3. Milwaukee Brewers - Already one the best rotations in the league.....before the addition of Mike Leius. Good chance they win title #2 this season.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates - Finally turned the corner last season, but still finished 4th in their division.

5. Atlanta Pork N Beans - Blah.

6. Chicago Cubs - Dwight Johnson and his prostitute sister are still hanging in there. Cubs are still a very good team.

7. Cleveland Indians - Last season was the franchises first season over .500 ever. Wouldn't be surprised if they overtook the PnBs for the NL East title this season.

8. Kansas City Royals - Yoker is going for his 3rd straight division title this season. The real question is will Yoker go for 4 straight team name and city changes next season? I am going to go ahead and engrave Jesse Brennaman name on the ROY trophy.

9. Trenton Ball Hogs - Trenton has improved their winning percentage in each of the last four seasons. Impressive. Its only a matter of time before Pedro DeSoto wins a CY Young.

10. Florida Marlins - Finally have a good owner of this franchise. This team is absolutely stacked with talented prospects. Not quite there yet, but I have a feeling they will be extremely good in a few seasons.

11. El Paso Czars - Harnaldo takes over were Xubrad left off. Team is actually pretty decent shape. I could see them finishing better than .500.

12. Vancouver Canadians - Paulie Sanders should be a nice addition.

13. Los Angels Duffers - Cmfrtblynumb takes over for Weo. Team really needs pitching help. Not sure the addition of Victor Guzman is enough.

14. New York Mets - The team has some solid young players, but the pitching isn't very impressive.

15. Texas Rangers - Still a project. Good young players, but not much in the way of pitching.

16. Oklahoma City Kevin Durants - Definitely stocked up their farm system. Time to start winning (or least winning more than 30% of their games).