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.

April 1951

Code:

1 - @ Bombers W 3-1 1-0 2 - @ Bombers L 2-4 1-1 3 - @ Bombers W 6-1 2-1 5 - @ Blues L 0-3 2-2 7 - @ Patriots L 7-10 2-3 8 - @ Patriots W 4-3 3-3 9 - @ Patriots W 14-9 4-3

Traded Carlos Castanada to New Hampshire for $3 million and sent Luis Murata to Colorado for $1 million.

Code:

10 - @ Colonials L 4-13 4-4 11 - @ Colonials L 6-7 4-5 12 - @ Colonials W 5-2 5-5 13 - Bombers L 3-10 5-6 5,914 14 - Bombers L 8-9 5-7 5,878 15 - Bombers L 6-8 5-8 5,855 16 - Gators W 4-1 6-8 5,838 17 - Gators W 14-5 7-8 5,902 18 - Gators W 7-6 8-8 5,923 19 - Patriots W 7-6 9-8 5,980 20 - Patriots W 9-6 10-8 5,999 21 - Patriots L 10-19 10-9 6,095 22 - @ Gators L 5-9 10-10 23 - @ Gators L 7-9 10-11 24 - @ Gators W 6-4 11-11 25 - @ Blades W 3-1 12-11 26 - @ Raiders W 11-6 13-11 27 - @ Raiders W 7-4 14-11 28 - @ Raiders W 3-2 15-11 30 - Rebels W 9-3 16-11 6,034

Not a bad start at all! We recovered from some tough losses against tough opponents, and finished the month on a six win streak, putting us at 16-11, in second place in the Heartland, and only four games back of Columbus (20-7).We're not hitting as well (.287) and our ERA is at 5.38, a terrible place to be. But I think we're coming into our own, and this is a young team like every other. And in a league where each team has a roster chock full of rookies, we're going to see a lot of parity. In fact, though a 5.38 ERA looks bad on paper, the league AVERAGE is 6.46, and the league batting average is .296. So we're above average with our pitching rotation and only slightly below average on our hitting.

At age 37, Will Dawson has come down to earth … sort of. He's only hitting .312 this year in 93 at-bats, but he has seven doubles, two triples and eight homers (for a .688 slugging average). Wilson Gomez also has eight homers, to go with his .345 average, while Haruhisa Fujihara is hitting .347 with six homers and three stolen bases. As for pitching, John Butterfield's off to a 2-1 start with a 3.34 ERA, while Pedro Chico has a 3-1 record and a 4.71 ERA. Orlando Masolta's off to a slow start, 1-3 with a 5.84 ERA, but I'm really gaining respect for Rick Fuller. He takes his spot at fifth in the rotation, listens to all the talk about how he doesn't have the skills, and then goes out there and plays perfectly. He's got a 3-0 record so far, with a 3.67 ERA. Perhaps I should fire our scouts, the ones who say, and I quote: "Rick Fuller doesn't belong in the major leagues." Our bullpen isn't bad either! Orlando Lariano's off to a quick start, he's 2-0 with a 5.74 ERA and seven saves! And Walter Nason is currently 1-0 with a 1.53 ERA, not too shabby!

Meanwhile, attendance is down, but not much, considering the higher ticket prices. And those are necessary: we're now making $160,000 plus per game in ticket revenue, which is going to help expand the stadium and give us the ability to have a payroll higher than $9 million. The price will stay, and I'll just hope that by the end of the year we'll be packing the joint. I mean, look at the finances … right now we've made $226,000 in profits, and that was in a month with more road games than anything! Meanwhile, SIX TEAMS in our league are running in the red this year, along with seven others in the WL. None of them are close to bankruptcy, but it's a sign that in a league with this much parity, it's important to stockpile cash and plan for profits while you can. This place is gonna go nuts at the end of the 1955 season, when all these young guys demand more money. It'll be interesting to see which teams overload with payroll, and then drown in debt, compared to others who live within their means. Should be interesting indeed.

May 1951

Code:

1 - Rebels L 3-6 16-12 6,127 2 - Rebels W 7-6 17-12 5,927 4 - Raiders W 5-1 18-12 5,965 5 - Raiders L 0-11 18-13 5,981 6 - Raiders W 2-0 19-13 5,932 8 - @ Raiders L 2-3 19-14 9 - @ Raiders L 4-6 19-15 10 - @ Colonials L 4-5 19-16 11 - @ Colonials L 1-4 19-17 12 - Raiders L 3-7 19-18 5,843 13 - Raiders W 3-2 20-18 5,819 14 - Rebels L 1-5 20-19 5,927 15 - Rebels W 6-2 21-19 5,891 16 - Bombers L 7-9 21-20 5,953 17 - Bombers W 4-2 22-20 5,918 18 - @ Gators W 9-1 23-20 19 - @ Gators L 5-10 23-21 21 - Colonials L 0-8 23-22 5,984 22 - Colonials W 7-3 24-22 5,964 23 - Colonials L 1-2 24-23 6,052 24 - @ Bombers L 2-4 24-24 25 - @ Bombers L 1-2 24-25 26 - Gators W 5-1 25-25 5,849 27 - Gators W 1-0 26-25 5,910 28 - Creoles L 1-6 26-26 5,920 30 - @ Sluggers W 2-1 27-26 31 - Sluggers L 4-8 27-27 6,070

Well, this month brought us tumbling down … we're now struggling to stay at .500, we're fourth in the division (down 10.5 games to Columbus, they're 37-18!) and it's clearly because we're not hitting as well (our batting average is .280, our ERA has improved to 4.65). Will Dawson's hitting .284, with just 12 doubles and nine homers, his slugging average is down to .530, which is brutal. He's still got the skills to be a contending slugger, but he's not showing it. The question is, do I try to make some risky trades to build this team up? Or do I let them last out the hitting slump? Your bet's as good as mine, but I'm inclined to ride it out. They're all young (except Dawson) and inexperienced, I'd rather have a player develop into a great one here, than with some rival team.

As for pitching, Pedro Chico's got a 6-2 record and 3.36 ERA, and Rick Fuller's got a 5-2 record and 3.10 ERA. Orlando Lariano has a 3-1 record, a 6.26 ERA (ouch!) and 10 saves (I can live with that). No other standouts in the relief corps though … and that worries me, as they're the most talented group on our team. We NEED our relievers to perform when our starters can't take the heat.

We've made $1.4 million in profits so far this season, which gives us $13,972,999 in cash reserves. I am proud to say we're managing our finances well, we have 19.2 percent liquidity, which will come in handy down the road. No one else is even CLOSE. I'm also surprised to see our payroll is FAR below the rest of the league, as they're all filling their AAA rosters and prepping farm development, while I see it being a wiser move to keep a lean mean team going with players who are talented NOW. If I need someone new, I can trade for someone in their farm system and still keep my payroll low. Apparently the other GMs haven't figured that out yet.

June 1951

Code:

1 - @ Rebels L 2-5 27-28 2 - @ Rebels W 13-11 28-28 3 - @ Rebels W 10-7 29-28 4 - Millers W 9-7 30-28 5,887 5 - @ Creoles L 1-4 30-29 6 - Blues L 4-6 30-30 5,852 8 - @ Fury W 3-2 31-30 9 - @ Fury W 5-0 32-30 10 - @ Fury W 6-5 33-30 12 - Colonials L 4-6 33-31 6,371 13 - Colonials L 4-8 33-32 6,090 14 - @ Fury W 7-6 34-32 15 - @ Fury L 6-10 34-33 16 - @ Fury L 4-8 34-34 17 - @ Rebels W 11-10 35-34 18 - @ Rebels W 5-4 36-34 19 - @ Patriots W 4-1 37-34 20 - @ Patriots L 9-15 37-35 22 - @ Millers W 3-0 38-35 23 - @ Grays L 12-18 38-36 24- @ Grays L 8-10 38-37 25 - @ Grays W 8-5 39-37 26 - Blades W 5-2 40-37 5,916 27 - @ Fury W 8-7 41-37 28 - @ Fury L 3-5 41-38 29 - @ Fury W 6-1 42-38 30 - Harvesters W 6-0 43-38 6,504

After a 16-11 month, we're 43-38 overall, still in fourth place in the Heartland division, we're nine games back of Columbus (52-29). We're hitting .290, which is an improvement, but our ERA took a nosedive to 4.96. Will Dawson's slump continues, as he's moved to the third spot instead of the fourth (he's hitting .272, though his power numbers have picked up, 19 doubles and 17 homers). Josh Mariscal is hitting .335 in the leadoff position, and Haruhisa Fujihari, who has been moved to fifth, is our top power hitter this year, with a .314 average, 19 doubles and 18 homers.

As for pitching, Pedro Chico is 11-2 with a 3.58 ERA, Jonathon Bonham is 7-3 with a 3.28 ERA, and Rick Fuller is 6-4 with a 4.30 ERA. Closer Orlando Lariano is 5-3 with a 5.03 ERA and 16 saves, while the rest of the young bullpen are underperforming. I've had enough with a couple of them, and have made some calls. Like Josh Wesp. He's pitched in 40 games this year, 47 innings, and has a 2-4 record, and an abysmal 10.34 ERA. I'm sending him to Greensboro for their young reliever Cy Pearson, a 25-year-old rookie who, in five appearances for the Gators, is 0-0 and has a 2.00 ERA. He'll take over in the setup role. I'm also benching Corey Svidler, as the 20-year-old is 0-1 in 17 appearances and 42 innings, with an ERA of 8.23. We sent Jonathon Smith, Hector Loewenstein, Tony Cunningham, Nick Olin and Walter Nason to Columbus along with $1 million, in exchange for Jose Quentin, who has played 34 games this year and compiled a 4-1 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a .225 OBA!

But the trade leaves us a little short on offense. So I've signed a couple free agents:

- Rob Reese (25, RF) has hit .324 this year in AAA, but is considered to be an average prospect. That makes him perfect for this role, sitting on the pine. He may come in to hit once in a while, but other than that, he can just exercise his mind reading a book or two on technique, while collecting $320,000 for this season only.
- Sam Gubkin (24, CF) has hit .216 in AAA, but he looks like he might actually turn into a decent "midlevel" prospect if he keeps working hard. He'll likely bounce from AAA to the bench a few times this year, I've offered him $430,000 a year for three years, this one and the next two, to see if we can mold him into something.
- Nelson Miller (22, 1B) has something good. He can hit (.278 so far in AAA, with nine doubles and six homers) and he has a TON of potential! I've signed him to a contract for this and next year at $300,000, and we'll see how it goes from there, but I like what I see!
- Same goes for Grant Makasdjan (21, LF) who is hitting .282 right now with 10 doubles, he's got potential and speed. I signed him at $620,000 for this and the next two years.

I also signed a couple pitching prospects:

- Tony Bihan (23, RP) is 2-2 with a 5.81 ERA in AAA, but he has potential if he can get some experience. Offered him $300,000 for this year.
- Vern Rehfeld (23, SP) is 5-4 this year with a 5.24 ERA in AAA, after a 10-3 season last year, and he has potential (he's weak now, but hey, so are a lot of our starters). Offered him $540,000 a year for this and next year.

This all boosts our player salaries to $10,310,490, still less than others in the league by far, and we now have a couple DECENT players in AAA who might turn into something. And we won't risk leaving our batters out to dry if they were injured (we were WAY short).

Oh, and did I mention, Wilson Gomez is out for the season? He was hitting .291, with 11 homers, when he tore his PCL and will remain out at least another 286 days. Ted Rogers is filling in for him at third base, and in 17 games, he's hitting .182. Ouch! Anyone got a line on a brilliant 3B? Anyone? F---.

July 1951

Code:

1 - Harvesters W 13-4 44-38 6,551 2 - Harvesters L 3-6 44-39 6,628 3 - @ Heat L 5-6 44-40 4 - Heat W 6-1 45-40 6,169

ALL STAR WEEKEND: In the All Star game this year, the WL got out to a 3-0 start, but we led 4-3 by the end of the second, and we never looked back. At the end of the fifth we were tied 6-6, but by the end of the sixth, a three run spurt had put us up for good. The EL All Stars were victorious, 9-7!

Code:

12 - Patriots W 4-3 46-40 5,960 13 - Patriots W 14-8 47-40 5,980 14 - Harvesters W 4-1 48-40 6,739 15 - Harvesters W 5-4 49-40 6,816 16 - Harvesters W 10-7 50-40 6,901 18 - @ Grays W 7-4 51-40 19 - @ Grays L 8-9 51-41 20 - @ Grays L 3-4 51-42 22 - @ Grays L 7-10 51-43 23 - @ Grays W 12-10 52-43 24 - @ Grays W 8-4 53-43 25 - Grays L 8-13 53-44 5,887 26 - Grays W 6-3 54-44 5,838 27 - Grays W 5-4 55-44 5,872 28 - Grays W 17-10 56-44 5,891 29 - Grays W 14-6 57-44 5,908 30 - Grays W 10-2 58-44 5,924 31 - Buckeyes W 5-3 59-44 6,974

Great news! This month's 16-6 record puts us back in contention! We're still in fourth place in the Heartland division, but we're only 1.5 games back of Columbus, half a game back of Indianapolis, and we're tied with Green Bay! Oh, and did I mention we're hitting .305, with a team ERA of 4.99? I'll tell you, I want to know where Will Dawson gets his Wheaties, because he's perked up like nothing I've seen before! I had hoped it was just a slump, and I was right … he's now hitting .315, and had 15 doubles and seven homers this month, bringing his totals to 34 and 24 respectively (slugging: .634!) He came out of nowhere to now stand in second place in the doubles race, and he's about four homers away from being in the top ten in that race! Elsewhere, Josh Mariscal is hitting .359 with 11 homers, Haruhisa Fujihara is batting .323 with 19 homers, Jose Gomiz is hitting .311, and Ted Rogers has woken up (he's now hitting .308, having given up getting power hits, and instead focusing on just GETTING hits).

Pitching-wise, Pedro Chico is 14-2 now with a 3.72 ERA (which brings his career record to 30-5, with a 3.32 ERA), while Jonathon Bonham is 9-3 with a 4.05 ERA. As for our (former) closer Orlando Lariano, he's now playing setup, and has a 5-3 record with a 4.37 ERA and 18 saves. Jose Quentano, our NEW closer (pardon the fact that I misspelled his name earlier), he's now 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA and three saves! I'm glad we got him away from Columbus … he should help us stay in this race!

In other news, Vern Rehfield, the starter we signed on the 1st, has taken over the fifth spot from Rick Fuller … Rehfield is 1-1 with a 6.45 ERA in four starts. Fuller is now in AAA, where he's 2-3 with a 5.30 ERA … I'm starting to think the scouts may have been right about him, he's melting down, losing control … his OBA has crashed to .280, which is a terrible sign. I started calling folks as the trade deadline approached, hoping I could get him off our hands, but to someone who might play him … I finally convinced Salt Lake City to take him, they paid us $1 million and the deal was done. It officially went through on August 1, moments after the deadline took affect. Goodbye Rick … twelve months ago you were an all star, but I fear twelve months from now you'll be facing early retirement.

And on that note, I leave you for now … I have church in the a.m., and need my sleep so I don't snore during services ;) Will the Tornados continue their recent success, and make the playoffs for a second straight year? You'll learn … TOMORROW. buh buh DUMMMMMMMM …

August 1951

Code:

1 - Buckeyes W 7-3 60-44 7,051 2 - Buckeyes W 10-0 61-44 7,118 3 - Gamblers L 4-5 61-45 7,264 4 - Gamblers W 8-4 62-45 6,748 5 - Gamblers L 1-3 62-46 6,871 6 - Harvesters L 8-9 62-47 6,760 7 - Harvesters W 9-5 63-47 6,688 8 - Harvesters W 10-4 64-47 6,866 9 - Gamblers W 11-2 65-47 6,962 10 - Gamblers L 0-5 65-48 7,025 11 - Gamblers W 7-4 66-48 6,781 13 - Grays L 7-11 66-49 5,903 14 - Grays L 7-13 66-50 5,870 15 - Grays W 14-2 67-50 5,851 18 - Buckeyes L 2-5 67-51 6,818 19 - Buckeyes W 13-6 68-51 6,679 20 - Buckeyes L 10-11 68-52 6,812 21 - @ Harvesters L 1-21 68-53 22 - @ Harvesters L 9-10 68-54 23 - @ Harvesters W 7-5 69-54 25 - Buckeyes W 13-11 70-54 6,794 26 - Buckeyes W 8-4 71-54 6,858 27 - Buckeyes W 6-2 72-54 6,932 28 - Fury W 5-4 73-54 5,944 29 - Fury L 5-9 73-55 5,960 30 - Fury W 4-2 74-55 5,874 31 - @ Harvesters W 6-5 75-55

We're keeping this race close … we're now 75-55, in third place in the Heartland league, just 1.5 games back of Columbus (77-54) and one game behind Indianapolis (77-56). We're hitting .305 now, but our ERA has crashed to 5.16, which is, oddly, the best in our division.

Will Dawson's back in stride! He's hit .354 so far this year after that three month slump, with 52 doubles and 44 homers! You've got that right, folks, he got 18 doubles and 20 homers THIS MONTH! He's now slugging .766, .003 higher than last year. He now leads the doubles race by five two baggers, and is in second place in the homerun race behind Jason Waqued of Buffalo … who has 47! As for other hitters doing well for us, Jose Mariscal's got a .355 average and 13 homers, Jose Chaves is .302 with 20 homers, Ron Panasik is .299 with 18 homers and Haruhisa Fujihara is .311 with 24 homers. I can live with that!

In the pitching world, Pedro Chico is 15-4 with a 4.41 ERA, while Jonathon Bonham is right on his heels, 13-4 with a 3.76 ERA! John Butterfield is 9-8 with a 4.59 ERA to round out our key starting contributors. Jose Quentano is now 5-4 with a 2.66 ERA and nine saves, while Orlando Lariano, our former closer, is 6-3 with a 5.20 ERA and his 18 saves from early in the year.

After our biggest month of home games, we now have made a profit of $4.1 million, which leaves us $16,687,910 in our cash reserves! To give the fans a treat, and a reason to come out in droves for our nine remaining home games, prices have been slashed to $22.50 for those remaining games! Hope to see you there!

September 1951

Code:

1 - @ Harvesters L 6-9 75-56 2 - @ Harvesters L 8-13 75-57 4 - @ Buckeyes W 7-3 76-57 5 - @ Buckeyes L 7-8 76-58 6 - @ Buckeyes W 11-7 77-58 7 - @ Buckeyes W 9-6 78-58 8 - @ Buckeyes W 3-1 79-58 9 - @ Buckeyes W 3-1 80-58 10 - Fury W 6-4 81-58 6,626 11 - Fury L 3-4 81-59 6,701 12 - Fury W 3-1 82-59 6,320 13 - @ Buckeyes W 6-3 83-59 14 - @ Buckeyes W 8-4 84-59 15 - @ Buckeyes L 1-13 84-60 16 - Gamblers W 8-4 85-60 7,500 17 - Gamblers W 3-1 86-60 7,500 18 - Gamblers W 7-4 87-60 7,500 22 - Fury W 3-0 88-60 6,600 23 - Fury W 5-1 89-60 6,662 24 - Fury W 8-2 90-60 6,728 26 - @ Gamblers L 2-5 90-61 27 - @ Gamblers L 1-5 90-62 28 - @ Gamblers L 4-8 90-63 29 - @ Gamblers L 2-10 90-64 30 - @ Gamblers W 18-15 91-64

We have seven games left, and a 91-64 record, which puts us in second place in the Heartland division, just one game behind Indianapolis (94-65). We're hitting .303, our ERA is 5.15, and we NEED to win these games if we want to be in the playoffs. Will Dawson's hitting .358 so far, with 65 doubles (breaking his 64 from last year) and 54 homers (beating his 52 from last year) … he's now slugging .779, and leads the doubles race by nine and the homerun race by two, with Jason Waqued and Columbus's Juan Martinez both chasing him with 52 homers. Josh Mariscal has hit .339 with 16 homers, Jose Chaves has a .314 average and 26 homers and Haruhisa Fujihara is at .300 with 25 homers.

As for pitching, Pedro Chico is 17-5 with a 4.21 ERA, Jonathon Bonham is 14-6 with a 4.12 ERA and John Butterfield is 11-9 with a 4.59 ERA. Butterfield and Chico may get two shots to add wins to their tally, while Bonham will probably only get one shot at that 15th win.

We finished the regular season averaging 6,316 fans in attendance, for a total of 511,674, down significantly from last year's total. But we did make $13.58 million in ticket revenue, a $4 million increase over last year, which suggests that even though we didn't sell out, it was wise to raise prices enough to actually MAKE MONEY. Which we'll need to succeed down the road.

October 1951

Code:

1 - @ Gamblers W 12-3 92-64 2 - @ Harvesters W 14-6 93-64 3 - @ Harvesters L 5-10 93-65 4 - @ Harvesters W 6-1 94-65 5 - @ Gamblers L 2-7 94-66 6 - @ Gamblers W 4-2 95-66 7 - @ Gamblers L 2-3 95-67

This is insane! We've TIED Indianapolis for the title, and will have to play a runoff game!

THE RUNOFF GAME

Code:

Indianapolis Harvesters at Troy (Mich.) Tornados October 14, 1951 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Harvesters (IND) 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 11 0 Tornados (TT) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 8 0 INDIANAPOLIS ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg D. Berend (DH) 4 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 .334 C. Vives (2B) 4 2 1 2 1 1 0 0 .284 N. Clough (SS) 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .323 Y. Sanabria (LF) 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .324 L. Torrillas (1B) 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 .311 R. Monteiro (C) 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .285 W. Helander (RF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .316 J. Bravo (RF) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .354 P. Heitner (3B) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .282 J. Mica (CF) 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .261 TOTALS 36 11 4 4 1 4 4 0 2B: J. Mica (32), D. Berend (32) HR: C. Vives (30) INDIANAPOLIS ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA A. Krug 7.0 6 4 2 2 2 4 114 4.49 D. Shain 1.0 0 1 0 0 0 2 18 8.35 E. Freyr 0.1 2 1 2 3 3 0 17 10.66 TOTALS 8.1 8 6 4 5 5 6 149 TROY (MICH.) ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg J. Mariscal (SS) 5 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 .335 F. Scherbak (CF) 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .281 R. Panasik (1B) 5 3 0 2 2 2 0 0 .292 W. Dawson (2B) 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .367 H. Fujihara (RF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .295 J. Gomiz (C) 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 .295 N. Miller (DH) 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 .263 E. Wernick (LF) 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .297 T. Rogers (3B) 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 .251 TOTALS 32 8 6 5 4 5 6 0 2B: N. Miller (5) HR: J. Gomiz (13), R. Panasik 2 (25), J. Mariscal (19) TROY (MICH.) ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA J. Butterfield 3.2 9 3 0 3 3 1 74 4.40 C. Pierson 2.0 2 0 1 1 1 0 28 4.22 E. Haas 3.1 0 1 0 0 0 3 42 4.85 TOTALS 9.0 11 4 1 4 4 4 144 WP: E. Haas (4-4) LP: E. Freyr (3-10) Attendance: 7,500 Time: 3:07

TOP OF THE FIRST
John Butterfield takes the mound for the Tornados.
Dennis Berend was hit by a pitch. <--1>
Cy Vives walked. <-21>
Nate Clough grounded to second. <-21>
York Sanabria walked. <321>
Luis Torrillas walked, scoring a run. <321>
Rob Monteiro grounded to short. <321>
Wyatt Helander popped up to second. <321>
1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 3 left on base.
In the middle of the first, Indianapolis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST
Andrew Krug takes the mound for the Harvesters.
Josh Mariscal popped up to third. <--->
Frederick Scherbak struck out. <--->
Ron Panasik singled to left. <--1>
Will Dawson singled to center. <-21>
Haruhisa Fujihara struck out. <-21>
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the first, Troy (Mich.) trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE SECOND
Paul Heitner singled down the left field line. <--1>
Paul Heitner went for an extra base and was thrown out at second. <--->
Juan Mica doubled down the third base line. <-2->
Dennis Berend doubled down the left field line, scoring a run. <-2->
Cy Vives grounded to third. <-2->
Nate Clough hit an infield single to short. <3-1>
York Sanabria lined out to left. <3-1>
1 run, 4 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the second, Indianapolis leads 2 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
Jose Gomiz homered over the left field fence. <--->
Nelson Miller grounded to short. <--->
Elmo Wernick singled to right. <--1>
Elmo Wernick was caught stealing second. <--->
Ted Rogers walked. <--1>
Josh Mariscal struck out. <--1>
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the second, Troy (Mich.) trails 2 to 1.

TOP OF THE THIRD
Luis Torrillas grounded to the pitcher. <--->
Rob Monteiro hit an infield single to third. <--1>
Wyatt Helander popped up to the catcher. <--1>
Paul Heitner singled to left. <-21>
Juan Mica flied out to center. <-21>
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the third, Indianapolis leads 2 to 1.

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD
Frederick Scherbak walked. <--1>
Ron Panasik popped up to third. <--1>
Will Dawson grounded to second. <-2->
Haruhisa Fujihara popped up to the pitcher. <-2->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the third, Troy (Mich.) trails 2 to 1.

TOP OF THE FOURTH
Dennis Berend struck out. <--->
Cy Vives singled down the first base line. <--1>
Nate Clough popped up to third. <--1>
York Sanabria singled in the left field gap, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Luis Torrillas singled up the middle, scoring a run. <-21>
Cy Pierson came in to pitch for the Tornados. <-21>
Rob Monteiro grounded to first. <-21>
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the fourth, Indianapolis leads 3 to 1.

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Jose Gomiz grounded to second. <--->
Nelson Miller walked. <--1>
Elmo Wernick flied out to left. <--1>
Ted Rogers grounded to third. <--1>
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, Troy (Mich.) trails 3 to 1.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Wyatt Helander popped up to first. <--->
Paul Heitner flied out to right. <--->
Juan Mica grounded to first. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, Indianapolis leads 3 to 1.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
Josh Mariscal flied out to center. <--->
Frederick Scherbak grounded to first. <--->
Ron Panasik flied out to center. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the fifth, Troy (Mich.) trails 3 to 1.

TOP OF THE SIXTH
Dennis Berend popped up to short. <--->
Cy Vives homered over the left field fence. <--->
Nate Clough hit an infield single to third. <--1>
York Sanabria flied out to center. <--1>
Eric Haas came in to pitch for the Tornados. <--1>
Luis Torrillas grounded to short. <--1>
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the sixth, Indianapolis leads 4 to 1.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH
Will Dawson was hit by a pitch. <--1>
Haruhisa Fujihara grounded to third. <-2->
Jose Gomiz grounded to third. <--1>
Nelson Miller doubled to center. <32->
Elmo Wernick walked. <321>
Ted Rogers struck out. <321>
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 3 left on base.
At the end of the sixth, Troy (Mich.) trails 4 to 1.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH
Rob Monteiro walked. <--1>
Wyatt Helander struck out. <--1>
Paul Heitner grounded to second for a double play. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the seventh, Indianapolis leads 4 to 1.

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH
Josh Mariscal popped up to third. <--->
Frederick Scherbak popped up to second. <--->
Ron Panasik homered over the left field fence. <--->
Will Dawson grounded to short. <--->
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the seventh, Troy (Mich.) trails 4 to 2.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Juan Mica grounded to second. <--->
Dennis Berend struck out. <--->
Cy Vives grounded to second. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Indianapolis leads 4 to 2.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Dave Shain came in to pitch for the Harvesters. <--->
Juan Bravo came in to play Right Fielder. <--->
Haruhisa Fujihara struck out. <--->
Jose Gomiz flied out to right. <--->
Nelson Miller walked. <--1>
Elmo Wernick struck out. <--1>
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, Troy (Mich.) trails 4 to 2.

TOP OF THE NINTH
Nate Clough popped up to the catcher. <--->
York Sanabria lined out to center. <--->
Luis Torrillas struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the ninth, Indianapolis leads 4 to 2.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Elmo Freyr came in to pitch for the Harvesters. <--->
Ted Rogers walked. <--1>
Josh Mariscal homered over the left field fence for two RBIs. <--->
Frederick Scherbak popped up to first. <--->
Ron Panasik homered over the right field fence. <--->

TORNADOS WIN: 5-4

Code:

14 - Harvesters W 5-4 96-67 7,500

Whooot! We're in the playoffs! We're in the playoffs! With our 96-67 record assured, thanks to a three run two homer ninth inning against Indy that gave us the 5-4 win, we'll get to face New Haven (87-75), hoping for another pennant and a trip to the 4A World Series! In the Western League, Louisville (96-66), last year's champions, will face Sacramento (93-69) for THEIR shot at a return to the Series.

Will Dawson finished with a batting average of .367, 69 doubles and 59 homers, for a slugging percentage of .799! He easily won both races for the second year in a row! Josh Mariscal averaged .335 with 42 doubles and 19 homers, playing in EVERY GAME all year! He's now played in all but two games of the past two seasons! No one else finished above .300.

Jose Butterfield got his two wins, and finished at 13-9 with a 4.40 ERA. Pedro Chico finishes the season with an 18-6 record and a 4.36 ERA, and Jonathon Bonham will end the year with a 14-7 record and 4.27 ERA. Vern Rehfeld finished 8-4 with a 5.84 ERA, and Orlando Masolta was 9-9 with a 4.92 ERA.

Jose Quentano finished at 6-5 with a 2.74 ERA and 17 saves, while Orlando Lariano was 8-5 with a 5.73 ERA and 19 saves! No other relievers are worth the mention, which is a little disappointing.

EL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
TROY (MICH.) TORNADOS (96-67) VS. NEW HAVEN COLONIALS (87-75)

Code:

17 - Colonials W 3-2 1-0 7,500 18 - Colonials W 7-3 2-0 7,500 20 - @ Colonials W 8-3 3-0 21 - @ Colonials L 0-1 3-1 22 - @ Colonials W 4-0 4-1

We did it again! If it hadn't been for that slip-up on the 21st, we'd have had a clean sweep, but hey, I'll take what we can get. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Earthquakes upset the Louisville Sluggers in a 4-1 series rout! So we're now the heavy favorites to win a world title, despite the fact that Sacramento gets homefield advantage thanks to upsetting the reigning champs.

4A WORLD SERIES
TROY (MICH.) TORNADOS (96-67) VS. SACRAMENTO EARTHQUAKES (93-69)

Code:

28 - @ Earthquakes W 5-4 1-0 29 - @ Earthquakes W 8-5 2-0 31 - Earthquakes W 4-3 3-0 7,500 1 - Earthquakes L 1-6 3-1 7,500 2 - Earthquakes W 8-6 4-1 7,500

We swept them on the road, then came back, took game three, and collapsed in game four. But we recovered and beat them in a hitter's game on the 2nd of November, to take home the 1951 4A World Championship! How's that for the smallest market in the league making good?

November 14, 1951
LEAGUE FINANCIAL REPORT

Code:

EASTERN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE REVENUE LOYALTY PROFIT CASH Buffalo 10,000 $24.6M D+ $967,000 $6.9M Columbus 12,500 $26.0M D+ $176,000 $7.5M Evansville 7,923 $19.1M D $1.9M $1.7M Fort Wayne 5,668 $15.6M D- - $1.9M - $557,000 Green Bay 11,923 $24.6M D+ $699,000 $7.4M Greensboro 10,000 $21.0M D - $1.4M $4.2M Hartford 9,587 $31.8M D+ $1.5M $11.4M Indianapolis 12,309 $26.4M C- $3.1M $9.2M New Haven 10,000 $33.8M C- $2.0M $13.2M Newark 12,500 $35.9M D $3.8M $15.4M Rhode Island 5,759 $19.6M D $1.1M $2.3M Troy (Mich.) 6,398 $19.4M B- $5.0M $17.5M WESTERN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE REVENUE LOYALTY PROFIT CASH Birmingham 7,251 $18.3M D - $1.1M $1.3M Fresno 8,000 $20.5M D $162,000 $2.6M Honolulu 8,000 $21.6M D $329,000 $4.4M Las Vegas 10,978 $28.8M D+ $1.3M $10.0M Louisville 8,000 $19.5M C $755,000 $3.5M Memphis 11,000 $24.6M D+ $320,000 $6.6M Milwaukee 12,491 $25.9M D $1.8M $8.5M Nashville 10,898 $22.8M D+ $1.8M $5.2M New Orleans 10,809 $21.8M D $133,000 $4.2M Sacramento 12,500 $30.3M C $973,000 $13.1M Salt Lake City 11,000 $20.4M D+ - $1.3M $2.8M Vancouver 12,489 $23.8M D+ $939,000 $6.9M

1951 FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS

Code:

EASTERN LEAGUE HEARTLAND DIVISION Troy (Mich.) 96-67 -- Indianapolis 95-68 1.0 GB Columbus 92-70 3.5 GB Green Bay 89-73 6.5 GB Evansville 66-96 29.5 GB Fort Wayne 58-104 37.5 GB COLONIAL DIVISION New Haven 87-75 -- Rhode Island 83-79 4.0 GB Hartford 79-83 8.0 GB Greensboro 77-85 10.0 GB Buffalo 76-86 11.0 GB Newark 75-87 12.0 GB WESTERN LEAGUE MASON DIXON DIVISION Louisville 96-66 -- Memphis 94-68 2.0 GB Nashville 86-76 10.0 GB Birmingham 72-90 24.0 GB Milwaukee 71-91 25.0 GB New Orleans 60-102 36.0 GB FRONTIER DIVISION Sacramento 93-69 -- Las Vegas 84-78 9.0 GB Vancouver 83-79 10.0 GB Salt Lake City 83-79 10.0 GB Honolulu 76-86 17.0 GB Fresno 74-88 19.0 GB

Free Agency is not what it will be in the future I'm sure … right now teams have their future stuperstars and they're dirt cheap … when that changes, we'll hopefully be in prime condition to take on a few. I did make a few trades though:

- I knew I wanted to make Luis Montanes a Tornado. The 27-year-old center fielder has been playing in Honolulu for two seasons, and has averaged .345 over both seasons! Last year he also had 32 doubles and a whopping 72 stolen bases, and that's with being caught stealing THIRTY-FIVE TIMES. This guy loves to gun for it, and he's FAST. But could I lure him away from Hawaii's perfect shores, to play in gloomy Michigan? Honestly, I was surprised how easy it was! I offered up Josh Mariscal, our leadoff man (also a CF) and it was a done deal! Personally I think Mariscal is great, but to have someone as lightning fast as Montanes in the leadoff spot (he's no slugger, so he'll never be a fourth man or anything) is like having a fresh wild card minted for our team. I can dig that.

- I also wanted to nab Justin Waqued away from Buffalo … the slugging God is like a younger Will Dawson, he hit .337 last year with 33 doubles and 54 homers! They played real hardball, but we finally made a deal fly, sending $5 million in cash along with Ron Panasik (1B), John Butterfield (SP) and Wilson Gomez (3B) to the Blades for Waqued. But for such a stud prospect, I'll take it any way I can get it.

1952 Minor League Draft
I wanted our first pick to be a guy named Ed Muchow, who went 37-2 in his first two AA seasons. But the 20-year-old was taken by Fort Wayne with their #1 pick. I sent them Chad Whipple (CF), Cy Pearson (RP) and Adam Laird for him, but had to include $2 million because their ******* of a manager almost pulled the deal off the table at the last second. But we got him, which is excellent. He's currently rated at 90, with potential suggesting he could become a 97% player! He already has super endurance, control, power AND movement, defensive skills, hitting skill and is healthy. How much more can you ASK for?

ROUND 1 (PICK 23)
RP - Ernie Devereaux (19) Overall: 79, Peak: 93
With the top pitching prospect secured, we were able to go for a hitter (as every other team seemed to want pitching prospects, leaving the batters unscathed! Or maybe not. Seems this year's draft is pitcher-heavy, which could be a bad bad thing. I settled on Ernie because we need some improement in our relief corps. He's got the talent and it's seemingly a sure thing! In fact, our scouts rated him a 9.3 out of 10, calling him one of the best picks in the draft.

ROUND 2 (PICK 47)
SP - Carlos Cresaco (19) Overall: 74, Peak: 86
I picked Cresaco because he's young, and he pitches for power with moderate control. In his first AA season, he went 11-10 with a 5.47 ERA, and has an OBA of .224. I like this kid, he could be a starter, or could prove to be valuable as a long reliever. Either way, he's a Tornado for the time being.

ROUND 3 (PICK 71)
RP - Dan Turnbull (18) Overall: 71, Peak: 83
I'm leery to keep picking all these pitchers, but hey, if this has to be the year to fully revamp our pitching squad with youth, better do it before the other teams in our division do. And the hitters in this draft ARE subpar. Turnbull, however, is anything BUT subpar! This reliever God went 9-0 in his AA season at age SEVENTEEN, with a 5.62 ERA and .209 ERA … he's skilled in control, power AND movement, and I can see him becoming the perfect closer-style pitcher. In any other season he'd have been a first rounder.

ROUND 4 (PICK 95)
SP - Esteban Filho (22) Overall: 68, Peak: 77
He played 27 games last year in AA, and went 5-7 with a 6.26 ERA. He'll need time in the minors to hone his skills, but could become a solid player down the road.

I didn't see anyone else I wanted from this year's class. So I let my assistants pick the remaining two, who will likely be trade bait quickly (I don't think I'll even waste time learning their names). Apparently they were both second baseman prospects though. (For those of you who care, I did indeed trade one of these two schlubs away … along with solid center fielder prospect Frederick Scherbak, Rich Streich went to Salt Lake City for Jeff Zwillinger, who actually looks to be a solid shortstop, he's spent two years with the Saints, hitting .287 last year with 11 doubles. The other, Vinnie Gorokhovsky, was sent to Sacramento for Rick Busey, an average relief prospect who will likely never play).

I sent Jose Arruti, Vern Rehfeld and Sam Gubkin to New Orleans for Anthony Oukherman, a decent catcher prospect. I also sent Fort Wayne $2 million for Geronimo Aguero, a decent LF prospect I thought we could use. And to round out our lineup, I added a pair of free agents:

- Rick Sharei, a 24-year-old rookie 3B, hit .478 in limited relief for Birmingham in 1950, then spent last year hitting .262 in AAA in a fuller relief role. He may never play for us, but if he does, he's a decent bench hitter, and we need some backup hitters badly. He'll make $300,000 for two seasons.

- Juan Contreras, a 25-year-old rookie RF, hit .307 last year in his first AAA season. He's got a peak rating of 67 and is at 62 now, so he's mostly AAA material. But like I said, we need at least a few backup players. He'll also get $300,000 for two years.

AWARDS
- Will Dawson was named MVP for the second straight year! He also won the EL 2B Gold Glove.
- Mariscal, who isn't on our team anymore, won the CF Gold Glove.
- Haruhisa Fujihara won the RF Gold Glove for the second straight year.

I've talked to the leaders of the city of Troy, and they want us to hold off any plans for a stadium addition until at least 1960. They're leery of havinbg us spend all our cash on stadium additions when they want to see how we'll handle keeping our players in 1955. I'm fine with that, gives us time to shore up the funds anyway.

BUDGET
FARM: $1,000,000 (18th)
SCOUTING: $3,000,000 (13th)
MEDICAL: $1,000,000 (1st)
TEAM SALARY: $9,620,694
TOTAL EXPENSE: $14,620,694
1951 REVENUE (PROJECTED): $19,763,499
ANTICIPATED PROFIT: $5,142,805

The Team (1952)

LINEUP
1. Luis Montanes (CF) 27, 3rd Season (86/86)
2. Jose Chaves (DH) 24, 3rd Season (86/86)
3. Will Dawson (2B) 38, 3rd Season (95/95)
4. Jason Waqued (1B) 28, 3rd Season (100/100)
5. Haruhisa Fujihara (RF) 24, 3rd Season (91/91)
6. Jose Gomiz (C) 24, 3rd Season (81/81)
7. Elmo Wernick (LF) 24, 3rd Season (75/75)
8. Ted Rogers (3B) 24, 3rd Season (70/70)
9. Jeff Zwillinger (SS) 27, 3rd Season (83/83)

B1. Woody Mikulinsky (C) 25, 3rd Season (72/74)
B2. Rick Sharei (3B) 24, Rookie (64/67)
B3. Juan Contreras (RF) 25, Rookie (62/67)
B4. Geronimo Aguero (LF) 24, Rookie (67/71)
B5. Anthony Oukherman (C) 24, Rookie (61/74)

(AAA) Nathaniel Crowell (RF) 24, Rookie (64/78)
(AAA) Nelson Miller (1B) 23, Rookie (68/81)
(AAA) Grant Makasdjan (LF) 22, Rookie (64/74)

PITCHING
1. Ed Muchow (22) Rookie (90/97)
2. Pedro Chico (23) 3rd Season (74/76)
3. Jonathon Bonham (23) 3rd Season (74/74)
4. Esteban Filho (22) Rookie (68/76)
5. Carlos Cresaco (19) Rookie (74/82)

Closer: Jose Quentano (23) 3rd Season (88/91)
Setup: Orlando Lariano (22) 3rd Season (80/81)
Short: Eric Haas (23) 2nd Season (81/86)
Middle: Ernie Devereaux (19) Rookie (79/90)
Long: Corey Svidler (21) 2nd Season (75/79)
Alt: Chris Cafferty (25) 2nd Season (70/74)

(AAA) Orlando Masolta (24) 3rd Season (55/63)
(AAA) Don Turnbull (18) Rookie (71/81)
(AAA) Rick Busey (26) Rookie (61/61)

Is this a team that can make it to the playoffs for the third straight time and perhaps win another 4A World Series? Look them over now. The season starts on April 1!

What does everyone think of this diary? Is there anything you'd like to know that I haven't hit on? Let me know, and I'll try to oblige.

would you make that universe public?

it sounds like a fun game to play!