The AAAA League (Circa 1950)

January 1, 1950
Starting in April 1950, small city fans will get a chance to start cheering for major league baseball, even if they don't live near a MLB city. The official AAAA League has been formed, consisting of teams with fan bases that aren't up to MLB levels, but yet the players are of better than AAA level. There will be four six-team divisions, in two leagues, and no team has a city population of more than 800,000 or a region population of more than 2,000,000. Also, no one has a stadium larger than 12,500. It's already going to be hard enough to balance making money with keeping salaries realistic when it comes to small cities like this, so I've got contracts set to -100% and revenue set to 0%. If it needs tweaked down the road, I will.

Code:

Eastern League City Size Region Size Stadium Size HEARTLAND Columbus Buckeyes 636,000 1,423,000 12,500 Evansville Grays 128,000 948,000 8,000 Fort Wayne Fury 205,727 500,000 6,500 Green Bay Gamblers 103,000 1,456,000 12,500 Indianapolis Harvesters 751,872 1,462,000 12,500 Troy (Mich.) Tornados 50,000 875,000 7,500 COLONIAL Buffalo Bombers 312,832 1,189,000 10,000 Greensboro Gators 195,840 1,107,000 10,000 Hartford Patriots 124,000 1,151,000 10,000 New Haven Colonials 50,000 1,151,000 10,000 Newark Rebels 259,000 1,934,000 12,500 Rhode Island Raiders 151,000 1,129,000 10,000 Western League MASON DIXON Birmingham Blades 264,960 872,000 7,500 Louisville Sluggers 270,000 981,000 8,000 Memphis Heat 614,000 1,056,000 11,000 Milwaukee Millers 616,960 1,456,000 12,500 Nashville Blues 505,000 1,007,000 11,000 New Orleans Creoles 484,000 1,309,000 11,000 FRONTIER Fresno Freedom 387,000 835,000 8,000 Honolulu Waves 386,000 874,000 8,000 Las Vegas Villains 327,936 1,076,000 11,000 Sacramento Earthquakes 374,000 1,491,000 12,500 Salt Lake City Saints 172,000 1,178,000 11,000 Vancouver Canadians 471,000 1,700,000 12,500

March 1, 1950
My name is Jonathan Sanders, and I've been named the first GM of the Troy (Mich.) Tornados! We're the smallest city to be granted a AAAA team, other than the New Haven Colonials, and they're in a bigger region. So it's going to be difficult to both produce a winning team and one that is profitable! We play at a small field outside the city limits, that seats 7,500 fans. But I don't think we'll be packing the house anytime soon. We've got $2 million in cash, $9.3 million in contracts, and we're looking at spending $1 million each on medical and scouting with nothing on farm. At this point, we look to make a profit of around $323,000, if everyhing goes as planned. But that's a pretty slim margin.

Here's our team as it stands right now:

Lineup
1. Josh Mariscal (CF) 25, Rookie (Overall: 78, Peak: 96)
2. Haruhisa Fujihara (RF) 22, Rookie (Overall: 73, Peak: 88)
3. Ron Panasik (1B) 23, Rookie (Overall: 74, Peak: 90)
4. Will Dawson (2B) 36, Rookie (Overall: 99, Peak: 99)
5. Wilson Gomez (3B) 26, Rookie (Overall: 78, Peak: 95)
6. Jose Chaves (CF) 22, Rookie (Overall: 72, Peak: 83)
7. Elmo Wernick (LF) 22, Rookie (Overall: 66, Peak: 87)
8. Adam Laird (SS) 24, Rookie (Overall: 72, Peak: 88)
9. Woody Mikulinsky (C) 23, Rookie (Overall: 66, Peak: 78)

B1. Frederick Scherbak (CF) 23, Rookie (Overall: 70, Peak: 95)
B2. Tony Cunningham (SS) 24, Rookie (Overall 60, Peak: 66)
B3. Chad Whipple (CF) 22, Rookie (Overall: 66, Peak: 81)
B4. Ted Rogers (3B) 22, Rookie (Overall: 63, Peak: 73)
B5. Jose Gomiz (C) 22, Rookie (Overall: 68, Peak: 83)

(AAA) Hector Loewenstein (RF) 22, Rookie (Overall: 68, Peak: 91)
(AAA) Michael Sampson (C) 22, Rookie (Overall: 68, Peak: 79)
(AAA) Jeff Ashburn (C) 22, Rookie (Overall: 68, Peak: 81)

Pitching
1. John Butterfield (21, Rookie) Overall: 78, Peak: 94
2. Pedro Chico (21, Rookie) Overall: 63, Peak: 80
3. Jonathon Bonham (21, Rookie) Overall: 67, Peak: 80
4. Orlando Masolta (22, Rookie) Overall: 51, Peak: 75
5. Rick Fuller (23, Rookie) Overall: 53, Peak: 63

Closer: Orlando Lariano (20, Rookie) Overall: 75, Peak: 86
Setup: Walter Nason (23, Rookie) Overall: 74, Peak: 84
Short: Josh Wesp (23, Rookie) Overall: 72, Peak: 80
Middle: Nick Olin (22, Rookie) Overall: 70, Peak: 80
Long: Carlos Castanada (20, Rookie) Overall: 69, Peak: 80
Alt: Chris Cafferty (23, Rookie) Overall: 67, Peak: 77

(AAA) Luis Murata (24, Rookie) Overall: 61, Peak: 72
(AAA) Jonathon Smith (22, Rookie) Overall: 56, Peak: 77
(AAA) Jose Arrutti (19, Rookie) Overall: 54, Peak: 73

April 1950

Code:

1 - @ Colonials L 5-9 0-1 2 - @ Colonials W 7-5 1-1 3 - @ Colonials L 3-8 1-2 4 - Gators W 9-8 2-2 5,836 5 - Gators W 11-1 3-2 5,875 6 - Gators W 8-2 4-2 5,897 10 - @ Raiders W 9-5 5-2 11 - @ Raiders L 3-6 5-3 12 - @ Raiders L 5-6 5-4 13 - @ Gators W 6-2 6-4 14 - @ Gators W 7-4 7-4 15 - @ Gators W 11-4 8-4 16 - @ Patriots W 12-4 9-4 17 - @ Patriots L 3-5 9-5 18 - @ Patriots W 8-3 10-5 19 - Raiders L 8-10 10-6 5,941 20 - Raiders W 7-6 11-6 5,906 21 - Raiders L 7-9 11-7 5,938 22 - @ Patriots L 4-6 11-8 23 - @ Patriots L 6-7 11-9 25 - Gators L 3-12 11-10 5,747 26 - Gators W 6-0 12-10 5,726 27 - Patriots W 9-4 13-10 5,917 28 - Patriots L 8-12 13-11 5,935 29 - Patriots W 9-5 14-11 5,886 30 - Bombers L 2-5 14-12 5,911

We finished our first month in fourth place in the Heartland division, but we're only four games back of Green Bay (18-8) and Columbus (18-8). We're hitting .336 as a team, which is second best in the EASTERN LEAGUE, behind only Columbus (.342). Meanwhile, our team ERA (4.80) is in fourth place in the Heartland, but well above the Eastern League average of 5.42.

To this point, our hitting leader has been 36-year-old second baseman Will Dawson, who showed up for tryouts in March hoping to be able to get out of the Detroit auto-manufacturing plant he'd worked for the past fifteen years. Turns out all that hard metalworking gave him the perfect strength to be a power hitter, and he's gone at this young league with gusto, hitting .441 in 118 at bats, with 14 doubles and 10 homers! That's an .864 slugging percentage, folks! He's currently tied in the home run race with Alex Fleming, a 20-year-old rookie first baseman playing for the Newark Rebels … Fleming, however, has less contact and more impact, with a .287 average and 10 homers. If Dawson can keep it up, he'll put the young guy to shame!

Our leadoff hitter, Josh Mariscal, has hit .408, impressive for the guy first up to bat every time. He's also got nine doubles, five homers and has scored 26 runs! I'm most impressed with his speed, though, as he had five stolen bases, which really makes him a major threat.

As for pitching, our starters are struggling … John Butterfield is off to a 1-4 start, with a 9.55 ERA, Jonathon Bonham is 2-2 with a 7.81 ERA, and Orlando Masolta is 0-4 with a 9.55 ERA. But we do have two bright spots: Rick Fuller, fifth in the rotation, is 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA in 26 innings, while Pedro Chico is 1-0 from the second spot, with a 1.29 ERA! Our relief pitching has been impressive as for the players' control, they're all under 4.26 ERAs, but our closer, Orlando Lariano, has played in 13 games only to go 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA and two saves. I'm hoping he'll grow more confident and make himself into an impact player. Because until our starters even themselves out, it is up to the bullpen to win close games.

The league is proving to be popular among fans … Newark's selling out their stadium, they've made $1.6 million in the first month. Right now, we're drawing in an average of 5,876 fans, a few less than Fort Wayne (5,902), as we're at the bottom of the league. But we do have the second smallest stadium, so there isn't much to work with there. Evansville is also selling out games, packing their 8,000 seat field, but they've lost $811,000, so they may have to raise ticket prices now that they have fans in the seats. In the Western League, Birmingham's got the lowest attendance (7,476 per game) while Fresno, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans and Sacramento are all selling ou their seats, but of those, four are losing money. We, on the other hand, have made a profit of $71,000, and that's with only eighty percent of our tickets selling.

May 1950

Code:

1 - Bombers L 3-9 14-13 5,875 2 - Bombers L 2-4 14-14 5,852 3 - Colonials L 1-2 14-15 5,832 4 - Colonials W 3-2 15-15 5,810 5 - Colonials W 4-2 16-15 5,890 6 - @ Bombers W 8-2 17-15 7 - @ Bombers L 4-8 17-16 8 - @ Bombers L 2-9 17-17 10 - @ Millers L 0-2 17-18 11 - Bombers L 6-9 17-19 5,808 12 - Bombers W 6-3 18-19 5,783 13 - @ Gators W 4-2 19-19 14 - @ Gators W 9-1 20-19 15 - @ Colonials W 4-0 21-19 16 - @ Colonials L 2-7 21-20

In a test run, we're lowering ticket prices from $16.75, also known as the "proverbial" sweet spot, to $10.00, in hopes that we can lure a few new fans out of the woodwork, families perhaps, who couldn’t afford the previous cost. If it works, and we're not losing money on the deal in huge spurts, we may keep the price the rest of the season.

Code:

17 - Rebels W 4-3 22-20 7,500 18 - Rebels L 1-3 22-21 7,500 19 - Rebels W 7-4 23-21 7,500 20 - Colonials W 10-7 24-21 7,500 21 - Colonials W 3-2 25-21 7,500 23 - Millers W 9-5 26-21 7,500

Talk about success! The lower ticket prices worked, we had SIX STRAIGHT SELLOUTS, and made a good chunk of cash while doing it! I can't say it will all average out with the road games and all, but I do suspect we'll still be turning a profit! The price stays.

Code:

24 - @ Bombers W 11-3 27-21 25 - @ Bombers W 5-3 28-21 26 - @ Blues W 6-3 29-21 27 - Patriots W 16-6 30-21 7,500 28 - Patriots W 10-3 31-21 7,500 30 - @ Harvesters W 13-3 32-21 31 - @ Harvesters L 4-6 32-22

A ten game win streak was snapped on the last day of the month on the road in Indianapolis, but what had started as a decidedly poor month finished out with a May record of 18-10, which puts us at 32-22, just three games back of Green Bay (35-19) and 2.5 behind Indianapolis (35-20). In ticket news, we sold out EIGHT GAMES this month, after lowering ticket prices by nearly 30% to test fan approval. The guys in the financial office suggested raising the price to $12.50, and if sales drop a little, we'll soon be selling out again. That, they say, is a more happy medium level, a price that could sustain a profitable season. I'll trust them on it, and hope the fans go for it.

As for the team, we're hitting .323 still, which is the best of all 24 teams! Our 4.09 ERA is the best in the Eastern League, and is #2 overall, behind only Fresno (34-19, 3.70 ERA). Not too shabby! Will Dawson continues to shine, hitting .420, with 29 doubles and 20 homers! I can't imagine he'll be able to keep this up for many years, but as long as he does, we'll have a star on our hands (the fans LOVE HIM!) He's currently slugging .828, and leads the homerun "race" by seven runs. No one else on the team is even close to being in that race, though we have a few other solid contact hitters: Josh Mariscal has hit .394 this season with seven homers, while Haruhisa Fujihara (.317), Tony Cunningham (.314), Wilson Gomez (.313) and Elmo Wernick (.312) are helping to make sure runs are scored at any occasion.

As for pitching, Rick Fuller's off to a 6-1 start with a 1.64 ERA from the fifth spot, and Pedro Chico is 3-0 with a 3.35 ERA … as for relievers, though no one really stands out (they're all such team players) Carlos Castanada and Nick Olin are each 3-1, while spot starter Chris Cafferty is 0-1 with a 1.98 ERA. Our closer, Orlando Lariano, has played in 27 games, but has only had seven save opportunities (he got five). But he is 1-0, and has a 2.13 ERA in 25 innings.

According to the accountants for the team, we've made $143,000 this year! But some of the bigger markets are having an easy time building cash. In our division, New Haven and Newark have made $5 million each in two months, while only Fort Wayne continues to lose money (they're down only $208,000 though. As for the other division, only Fresno's losing funds (down $466,000) … while Sacramento remains their biggest draw ($5 million income).

My goal is to keep this team profitable, and manage to build my teams out of low-cost players until we can draw enough cash AND fans to (in five or six years) build an expansion to our current outdoor park's seating. We will be able to do that with a cash reserve of $30 million or so, as long as the city stays happy with us. Troy's a mainly working-class community, and the fans love the chance to spend their off time with the kids and a six pack watching a game of baseball. If we can keep things moving nicely, without letting finances get out of control, we could build a perennial contender here. That's without nearly the draw of a team like Newark, with 260,000 people living in the city, and nearly 2 million within driving distance. We've got maybe 50,000 people, and less than 900,000 in the region. And with so many teams in the region contending with us (Indianapolis, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Green Bay, Evansville and Louisville are all within 350 miles) it's going to be hard for any one team to become a powerhouse. Which I think is the best thing about the way this league was built.

June 1950

Code:

1 - @ Harvesters L 3-5 32-23 2 - @ Creoles L 4-5 32-24 4 - Fury W 9-7 33-24 6,643 5 - Fury W 3-2 34-24 6,895 6 - Fury L 6-7 34-25 6,960 7 - Rebels L 4-5 34-26 7,201 8 - Rebels W 8-1 35-26 7,120 9 - @ Rebels W 12-2 36-26 10 - @ Rebels W 3-1 37-26 11 - @ Rebels W 7-5 38-26 12 - @ Blades W 10-5 39-26 14 - Blades W 6-3 40-26 7,451 15 - @ Rebels L 2-5 40-27 16 - @ Rebels W 9-4 41-27 17 - @ Harvesters L 3-9 41-28 18 - @ Harvesters L 1-2 41-29 19 - @ Harvesters L 6-7 41-30 20 - Blues W 8-6 42-30 6,535 21 - Heat L 3-5 42-31 7,500 22 - Fury W 6-5 43-31 6,696 23 - Fury W 5-2 44-31 6,827 24 - Fury W 10-1 45-31 6,899 26 - @ Raiders L 2-5 45-32 27 - @ Raiders W 7-4 46-32 28 - @ Heat L 7-10 46-33 30 - @ Gamblers L 6-8 46-34

We finished the month of June on a low note, but were 14-12 on the month, giving us a 46-34 cumulative record. We're in distant third in the standings though, behind Green Bay (50-31) and Indianapolis (57-24). And with no wild card nonsense, you've got to win the division outright in order to get a shot at the pennant series. We're hitting .324, and our ERA is 4.22, both solid averages.

Will Dawson's still hitting .408, and has 42 doubles and 27 homers, for a slugging average of .779 … he leads the homerun race by six runs, and the doubles race by seven. Mariscal is hitting .379, and Wilson Gomez is batting .322, but everyone else is continuing to play great games, going for contact over power for the most part. As for pitching, Rick Fuller is 8-2 with a 2.66 ERA, the best ERA for a pitcher with as many innings as he has. Jonathon Bonham is 8-5 with a 5.10 ERA, and Pedro Chico is 5-1 with a 3.36 ERA. In the relief corps, Carlos Castanada is 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA, Josh Wesp is 3-0 with two saves and a 2.21 ERA, and our closer, Orlando Lariano, has a 1-2 record, a 3.72 ERA and nine saves.

Fort Wayne continues to burn money, down $901,000 and looking like they'll be the first team to officially go into debt (I'm told they've got around $240,000 left in their coffers, not good). But to this point, every other team is out of the hole, income-wise. Including us, up still by $123,000. The big winners though come from our league, as Newark has posted a profit of $8 million! They offered us $3 million of that, straight up, for two of our AAA catchers, and I took them up on it. We have three backups at that position, and don't need but one. So heading into July, we've still shown our official "profit" of $123,000, but we've also got $4.3 million in cash. The trade went completely under the radar, however, no one even noticed. Which suggests Newark just paid us a good third of their profits for two scrubs.

My thoughts, anyway.

July 1950

Code:

1 - @ Gamblers L 3-4 46-35 2 - @ Gamblers W 10-0 47-35 4 - @ Gamblers W 8-6 48-35 5 - @ Gamblers L 2-8 48-36 6 - @ Gamblers W 6-4 49-36

ALL STAR WEEKEND: The inagural "All Star" game took place in front of 12,500 fans! Our EL All Stars took a 2-0 lead in the first, which became a 3-0 after two … but then the WL got going, and we entered the fifth down 3-4. Two more runs gave us a 5-4 lead in the fifth, but by the end of the seventh they had tied it 8-8. Where it stayed until, in the bottom of the tenth, Ieyasu Ko (Fresno's star left fielder, who has hit .363 with 23 doubles and 19 homers) doubled down the right field line for two RBIs. Thus the game ended,and our EL All Stars returned home disappointed.

Code:

12 - Raiders W 6-4 50-36 7,180 13 - Raiders W 2-1 51-36 7,228 14 - Buckeyes W 6-2 52-36 7,500 15 - Buckeyes W 6-1 53-36 7,500 16 - Buckeyes W 3-0 54-36 7,500 18 - @ Buckeyes W 4-2 55-36 19 - @ Buckeyes L 4-5 55-37 20 - @ Buckeyes W 9-5 56-37 21 - Sluggers L 2-7 56-38 7,500 22 - Buckeyes W 9-2 57-38 7,272 23 - Buckeyes L 5-8 57-39 7,390 24 - Buckeyes L 0-8 57-40 7,258 25 - @ Buckeyes W 4-3 58-40 26 - @ Buckeyes W 5-3 59-40 27 - @ Buckeyes W 6-1 60-40 28 - Creoles W 4-3 61-40 7,397 29 - Buckeyes W 11-2 62-40 7,500 30 - Buckeyes W 3-2 63-40 7,500 31 - Buckeyes W 8-4 64-40 7,500

Wow! Talk about absurdities in scheduling! We played the Columbus Buckeys FIFTEEN TIMES this month, going 12-3 against them, 18-6 overall, which brings us to 64-40 with a little over two months to play! We're still ten games back of Indianapolis though (they're 75-31) but we're only half a game back on Green Bay (65-40). We're hitting .318, but our ERA has dipped to 3.96, impressive!

Will Dawson's still hitting .403, with 31 homers and 47 doubles, though he missed some time due to a sprained finger (we've played 104 games, he's played in a total of 89). That’s given his competitors some time to play catch-up in both the home run race (he now has a three run lead) and the doubles race (he now has a five double lead). Josh Mariscal has hit .346 and has eight homers, but beyond that, the only hitting stud we've got is Wilson Gomez, who is hitting .330 and not doing much else.

As for pitching, Rick Fuller's 11-2 with a 2.45 ERA, Pedro Chico is 8-2 with a 3.16 ERA, Jonathon Bonham is 9-5 with a 4.74 ERA, and John Butterfield (our top man) is 9-9 in 123 innings, with an ERA of 4.82. On the reserves list, Carlos Castanata is 6-2 and has a 3.54 ERA … Josh Wesp is 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA, Walter Nason is 6-3 with a 2.58 ERA, and Orlando Lariano, our closer, is picking up steam, he's now 1-2, has a 3.33 ERA, and 17 saves. Not bad for a 20-year-old who jumped straight to 4A baseball!

To date, we've now made $414,000, which brings our cash supply up to $4.65 million! In other news, at the start of the year we were anticipating ticket sales in the range of 400,000 for the season. But as sales continue to rise (our average is at 6,751!) we're on track for 550,000! The most we could possibly see in a season is 607,500.

August 1950

Code:

1 - @ Buckeyes L 5-13 64-41 2 - @ Buckeyes W 8-7 65-41 3 - @ Buckeyes W 2-0 66-41 4 - @ Sluggers L 3-9 66-42 6 - @ Grays W 9-5 67-42 7 - @ Grays L 9-11 67-43 8 - @ Grays W 8-4 68-43 9 - Gamblers L 1-7 68-44 7,500 10 - Gamblers W 6-5 69-44 7,500 11 - Gamblers L 5-8 69-45 7,500 12 - @ Grays L 4-5 69-46 13 - @ Grays W 8-5 70-46 14 - @ Grays W 4-3 71-46 15 - Harvesters W 7-3 72-46 7,500 16 - Harvesters W 9-3 73-46 7,500 17 - Harvesters L 4-7 73-47 7,500 18 - Grays W 7-3 74-47 7,216 19 - Grays W 9-0 75-47 7,339 20 - Grays W 6-5 76-47 7,402 22 - Grays W 9-5 77-47 7,472 23 - Grays W 6-3 78-47 7,500 24 - Grays W 7-4 79-47 7,500 26 - Grays W 5-2 80-47 7,500 27 - Grays L 2-3 80-48 7,500 28 - Grays W 7-4 81-48 7,268 30 - @ Grays W 7-5 82-48 31 - @ Grays W 8-1 83-48

We went 19-8 in August, improving to 83-48, so now we're in second place in the EL Heartland division, only 4.5 games back of Indianapolis, who are 89-45. We're hitting .316, our ERA is 4.00, and essentially everything's firing on all cyllinders!

Will Dawson, back in the lineup after that finger injury, is hitting .402, with 53 doubles and 40 homers! He's got a tight race in the doubles race, as Scott Gorokhovsky (Rhode Island) has 52. But he still leads the homerun race by five runs. But an interesting note … all our team's starters, except for ninth man Elmo Wernick, have 10 or more homers! Wilson Gomez has hit .324 with 15 homers, leadoff man Josh Mariscal has hit .339 with 11 homers, and third hitting Ron Panasik is batting .325 with 10 homers.

As for pitching, John Butterfield leads the way at 15-9 with a 4.36 ERA, while Rick Fuller is 11-5 with a 3.65 ERA and Pedro Chico is 11-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Jonathon Bonham, third in the rotation, is 11-6 with a 4.78 ERA. In the bullpen, Orlando Lariano is rising quickly, he has gone 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA and 24 saves! Josh Wesp (Short) is 7-2 with a 3.13 ERA and two saves, Walter Nason (Setup) is 6-3 with a 2.74 ERA and a save, and Carlos Castanada (Long) is 6-2 with a 3.69 ERA and a save.

It's official, every team now has made a profit on this first season. Of course we all have low payrolls due to the fact that everyone's a rookie … I doubt six years from now we'll all be profitable. As for us, so far this year we've made a profit of $727,000, which gives us $4.96 million in cash. The team at this point with the most profit is New Haven ($12.0 MILLION), while Newark made $10.9 MILLION. They were the only two teams in the majors with more than $10M in profits, and they're both in our league! The three teams with the most cash are New Haven ($14.1 million), Sacramento ($11.1 million) and Newark ($4.9 million). We're hoping to make the playoffs, so that perhaps we can do well enough to make some major ticket revenue.

September 1950

Code:

1 - @ Grays W 8-2 84-48 2 Gamblers L 6-9 84-49 7,500 3 - Gamblers W 4-2 85-49 7,500 4 - Gamblers W 5-3 86-49 7,500 5 - Harvesters W 4-3 87-49 7,500 6 - Harvesters L 9-12 87-50 7,500 7 - Harvesters L 2-5 87-51 7,500 8 - Fury W 6-2 88-51 6,816 9 - Fury W 6-4 89-51 7,009 10 - Fury W 4-2 90-51 7,076 12 - Gamblers W 4-2 91-51 7,500 13 - Gamblers L 2-4 91-52 7,500 14 - Gamblers W 5-2 92-52 7,500 15 - @ Gamblers W 6-5 93-52 16 - @ Gamblers W 6-1 94-52 17 - @ Gamblers W 4-2 95-52 20 - Harvesters W 10-4 96-52 7,500 21 - Harvesters W 10-6 97-52 7,500 22 - Harvesters W 12-2 98-52 7,500 26 - @ Fury W 7-6 99-52 27 - @ Fury W 9-3 100-52 28 - @ Fury W 15-11 101-52 29 - @ Harvesters L 0-7 101-53 30 - @ Harvesters W 5-3 102-53

Whooosh! We went 19-5 in September, and we're now 102-53, two games up on Indianapolis (103-58)! We've got seven games left in October, one at Indianapolis, the other six at Fort Wayne. If we get the next Indianapolis win, the odds are in our favor, as Fort Wayne is currently 51-105, the worst team in the majors! We're still hitting .315 as a team, and our ERA is at 3.97.

Will Dawson continues to shine, he's at .389 with 60 doubles and 51 homers (.767 slugging) while Wilson Gomez is at .314 with 19 homers! Josh Mariscal is hitting .345, and Ron Panasik has batted .317 all year, keeping us in some tough games we should have lost!

As for pitching, All five of our starters have solid records! John Butterfield is 18-9 (4.01 ERA), Pedro Chico is 15-3 (2.93 ERA), Jonathon Bonham is 12-8 (5.22 ERA), Orlando Masolta is 11-11 (5.82 ERA) and Rick Fuller is 16-5 (3.98 ERA). In the relief corps, Orlando Lariano has a 2-3 record, 2.99 ERA and 33 saves, while Josh Wesp is 9-3 (3.18 ERA), Walter Nason is 7-4 (2.53 ERA) and Carlos Castanada is 7-2 (3.90 ERA).

We finished the season averaging 6,998 in attendance per game, quite solid indeed! That's averaging a 93 percent sellout rate. We also saw 566,915 fans come through the gates this year, an impressive number indeed! The league average was 9,508. Anyway, we made $8,293,000 this year from gate receipts, which has contributed to our $1.1 million profit this season! We now have $5.3 million in cash reserves, a very solid cushion consideing our expenses shouldn't rise too much next year.

October 1950

Code:

1 - @ Harvesters W 3-2 103-53 2 - @ Fury W 9-4 104-53 3 - @ Fury W 7-2 105-53 4 - @ Fury L 2-3 105-54 5 - @ Fury L 2-4 105-55 6 - @ Fury L 8-9 105-56 7 - @ Fury W 8-3 106-56

So we're in the playoffs, folks! We finished 106-56, ahead of Indianapolis (103-59) and Green Bay (94-68) who both put up a **** of a fight to keep this the most fought-for division in the league! We'll face Hartford (84-78) in the EL Championship Series, they're no pushovers though, especially since they had to play in the "parity division" (last place Rhode Island was only 11 games back, and New Haven, Buffalo and Newark were in it until the very end). Meanwhile, the WL Championship Series will be played between Louisville (91-71) and Las Vegas (93-69), a series that could go either way, and could be a solid seven gamer!

Will Dawson finished with a .391 average, 64 doubles (1st) and 52 homers (1st). John Butterfield (19-9) finished with the most wins in either league, and is certainly a candidate for the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year. He had a 3.95 ERA and was the only pitcher on our team to go for more than 200 innings. Pedro Chico finished 16-3 (3.04 ERA) and could steal the Cy Young, while Rick Fuller was 16-6 and had a 4.15 ERA. Orlando Lariano finished at 3-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 34 saves (4th). He started slow, but had half of his saves in the last TWO MONTHS! Impressive. I'd call him one of the main keys to our first place finish! Josh Wesp finished at 9-4 with a 3.30 ERA, Carlos Castanado had a 7-2 record and 3.73 ERA and Walter Nason was 7-5 with a 2.63 ERA.

EL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
TROY (MICH.) TORNADOS (106-56) VS. HARTFORD PATRIOTS (84-78)

Code:

10 - Patriots W 3-0 1-0 7,500 11 - Patriots W 5-4 2-0 7,500 13 - @ Patriots W 3-2 3-0 14 - @ Patriots L 5-7 3-1 15 - @ Patriots L 1-6 3-2 17 - Patriots W 4-2 4-2 7,500

I'll admit, we were getting a little nervous when we dropped those two "easy" losses in Hartford, but we came back home and finished it off in front of a packed house of fans who paid dearly to be there. We got the 4-2 win, and will advance to the World Series! Our opponent? The Louisville Sluggers, who dominated the hapless Las Vegas Villians, winning in five games. Can we handle being the heavy favorite? Can we win it all and bring glory to Michigan fans everywhere? Wait and see … ;)

glad to see your alive chipper. we miss you in the leagues. i like this one. keep it up

4A WORLD SERIES
TROY (MICH.) TORNADOS (106-56) VS. LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS (91-71)

Code:

21 - Sluggers W 8-1 1-0 7,500 22 - Sluggers W 14-5 2-0 7,500 24 - @ Sluggers L 1-3 2-1 25 - @ Sluggers W 9-6 3-1 26 - @ Sluggers L 0-9 3-2 28 - Sluggers L 1-2 3-3 7,500 29 - Sluggers L 3-5 3-4 7,500

So bloody close! We had two home wins, then got our third in game four on the road. Who would have thought Louisville would win three straight to upset us and take home the title? I sure didn't. Even after the loss at home on the 28th, I figured we'd still pull it out in game seven. But it wasn't to be that way. Instead, we went home and started thinking about next year.

November 7, 1950
LEAGUE FINANCIAL REPORT

Code:

EASTERN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE REVENUE LOYALTY PROFIT CASH Buffalo 9,843 $23.0M D $4.7M $6.9M Columbus 11,837 $25.7M D $5.6M $7.7M Evansville 7,805 $20.2M D- $2.0M $3.7M Fort Wayne 5,266 $15.5M D- $289,000 $1.4M Green Bay 10,133 $24.2M D $5.1M $6.7M Greensboro 9,479 $22.3M D- $4.2M $5.6M Hartford 9,687 $30.2M D+ $9.1M $10.8M Indianapolis 11,462 $24.5M D+ $4.6M $6.1M New Haven 9,846 $34.7M D $12.0M $14.1M Newark 12,448 $34.8M D $11.7M $11.6M Rhode Island 7,461 $16.6M D- $303,000 $1.2M Troy (Mich.) 7,038 $13.1M C- $2.2M $6.5M

Code:

WESTERN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE REVENUE LOYALTY PROFIT CASH Birmingham 6,991 $18.1M D $1.2M $2.5M Fresno 8,000 $18.4M D $865,000 $2.4M Honolulu 8,000 $21.0M D $2.5M $4.0M Las Vegas 10,919 $27.5M D+ $7.1M $8.7M Louisville 7,996 $20.2M C- $3.2M $4.3M Memphis 9,919 $23.9M D $4.9M $6.2M Milwaukee 10,467 $24.6M D- $4.9M $6.6M Nashville 8,225 $19.5M D $2.1M $3.3M New Orleans 10,538 $20.9M D- $2.6M $4.1M Sacramento 12,367 $30.7M D $10.2M $12.1M Salt Lake City 10,972 $22.0M D $3.9M $5.1M Vancouver 11,512 $22.7M D $3.9M $5.9M

FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS (1950)

Code:

EASTERN LEAGUE HEARTLAND DIVISION Troy (Mich.) 106-56 -- Indianapolis 103-59 3.0 GB Green Bay 94-68 12.0 GB Columbus 84-78 22.0 GB Evansville 64-98 42.0 GB Fort Wayne 54-108 52.0 GB COLONIAL DIVISION Hartford 84-78 -- New Haven 82-80 2.0 GB Buffalo 76-86 8.0 GB Newark 76-86 8.0 GB Greensboro 74-88 10.0 GB Rhode Island 73-89 11.0 GB WESTERN LEAGUE MASON DIXON DIVISION Louisville 91-71 -- Memphis 88-74 3.0 GB Birmingham 85-77 6.0 GB Nashville 73-89 18.0 GB New Orleans 73-89 18.0 GB Milwaukee 56-106 35.0 GB FRONTIER DIVISION Las Vegas 93-69 -- Salt Lake City 90-72 3.0 GB Honolulu 85-77 8.0 GB Fresno 83-79 10.0 GB Sacramento 80-82 13.0 GB Vancouver 77-85 16.0 GB

1951 Minor League Draft

ROUND 1 (PICK 24)
P - Eric Haas (22) Overall: 76, Peak: 85
Eric went 9-1 last year in AA relief with a 3.01 ERA, making 21 appearances and 12 starts. He doesn't have the endurance to be starting at all, I don't know why they had him do it in the first place. But what he does have is decent power and excellent control. He'll make a serious candidate for our relief corps right away, and could make an impact this season.

ROUND 2 (PICK 48)
P - Corey Svidler (20) Overall: 73, Peak: 87
I can't believe Corey survived to the end of the second round! He's a brilliant reliever, went 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 26 relief appearances. He's a power pitcher by nature, but is also a strong defender, one of the best defensive power pitchers, I'd say, in the league today.

ROUND 3 (PICK 72)
RF - Nathaniel Crowell (23) Overall: 63, Peak: 87
Nathaniel's not ready to start yet. But he went .246 last year in AA with 16 doubles and 10 homers. He's got solid power hitting skills, but I want him for his good arm, solid range and decent fielding skills more than anything else. He'll be a solid player in the league, if we give him time in AAA to improve.

ROUND 4 (PICK 96)
LF - Kirk Bork (22) Overall: 65, Peak: 75
Kirk's a solid contact hitter, and has power skills … he hit .276 last year in AA, and slugged .515. But he's not ready to start. He'll need a couple years in AAA before I'd even consider starting him, if I ever would. He may make good trade bait.

ROUND 5 (PICK 120)
C - Oscar Abarca (22) Overall: 63, Peak: 71
Great athleticism, but no plate skills … that's how you'd sum up poor Oscar. He can field well, but his .229 hitting in AA won't cut it. He's obvious trade bait, and you can tell the draft pool gets pretty weak from here.

ROUND 6 (PICK 144)
1B - Dan Sandoval (19) Overall: 52, Peak: 61
Maybe someone'll buy this kid off our hands … the fact that there was no one better makes me wish we didn't have to have a six round draft. He hit .195 in AA, and had a .265 OBA. He's not even single-A material in my book.

On February 10, we finally talked Buffalo into paying us $1 million for Kirk Bork, who left immediately for his new home. On February 22, we were able to bundle Dan Sandoval and Oscar Abarca off to Hartford for another $1 million. So we now have $8,532,678 in the bank.

Awards
Will Dawson was awarded:
- EL Most Valuable Player
- EL Rookie of the Year
- EL Second Baseman Gold Glove!
Haruhisa Fujihara was awarded the EL Right Fielder Gold Glove!

Fans are aware that we're hoping to expand our stadium within the next four years, and with tickets already at a premium this season, we feel they'll be willing to pay $26.50 per seat, which is just $5 above the league average. Considering we're the team that came within a game of winning the world championship, I believe we're qualified to charge the price. We'll sell out the stadium that way, and we're prime to make a profit of $4.1 million this year!

1951 BUDGET
FARM: $0 (24th)
SCOUTING: $4,000,000 (7th)
MEDICAL: $1,000,000 (1st)
TEAM SALARY: $9,600,768
TOTAL EXPENSE: $14,600,768
1951 REVENUE (PROJECTED): $18,778,156
ANTICIPATED PROFIT: $4,177,388

THE TEAM (1951)

Lineup
1. Josh Mariscal (CF) 26, 2nd Season (93/93)
2. Haruhisa Fujihara (RF) 23, 2nd Season (81/90)
3. Ron Panasik (1B) 24, 2nd Season (80/81)
4. Will Dawson (2B) 37, 2nd Season (92/92)
5. Wilson Gomez (3B) 27, 2nd Season (85/90)
6. Jose Chaves (DH) 23, 2nd Season (79/79)
7. Adam Laird (SS) 25, 2nd Season (75/75)
8. Elmo Wernick (LF) 23, 2nd Season (73/74)
9. Woody Mukulinsky (C) 24, 2nd Season (72/74)

B1. Frederick Scherbak (CF) 24, 2nd Season (75/87)
B2. Chad Whipple (CF) 23, Rookie (65/74)
B3. Hector Loewenstein (RF) 23, Rookie (65/79)
B4. Tony Cunningham (SS) 25, Rookie (62/63)
B5. Jose Gomiz (C) 23, 2nd Season (75/77)

Cunningham's tradeable, I don't see him developing into anything more than a benchwarmer.

(AAA) Ted Rogers (3B) 23, 2nd Season (69/69)
(AAA) Nathaniel Crowell (RF) 23, Rookie (63/77)

I may consider moving Rogers if I can find the right offer.

Pitching
1. John Butterfield (22) 2nd Season (75/87)
2. Pedro Chico (22) 2nd Season (65/78)
3. Jonathon Bonham (22) 2nd Season (71/78)
4. Orlando Masolta (23) 2nd Season (53/62)
5. Rick Fuller (24) 2nd Season (53/61)

Fuller and Masolta are very lucky to have had good first seasons. We may look to trade the two for less risky prospects down the road, because they could collapse under the pressure of keeping this team on the top, and we don't want to be caught unaware.

Closer: Orlando Lariano (21) 2nd Season (77/77)
Setup: Walter Nason (24) 2nd Season (78/78)
Short: Josh Wesp (24) 2nd Season (74/77)
Middle: Eric Haas (22) Rookie (78/85)
Long: Nick Olin (23) 2nd Season (78/78)
Alt: Corey Svidler (20) Rookie (73/79)

(AAA) Luis Murata (25) Rookie (62/65)
(AAA) Jonathon Smith (23) Rookie (61/66)
(AAA) Carlos Castanada (21) 2nd Season (73/68)
(AAA) Jose Arrutti (20) Rookie (53/59)
(AAA) Chris Cafferty (24) Rookie (65/74)

Castanada is a guy I'd love to see playing, but he's not going to fit into our roster as it stands, so he may be tradeable. I also am interested in moving Arrutti and Murata who don't belong in the majors.