Just like the summer heat, Daly City baseball has only heated up as we hit the midpoint of the season.  After a solid April start, the Montis have shifted into full gear with a 21-4 June record (.840).  The offense has been humming along at a slightly slower pace (just 6.51 runs per game in May/June, vs. 7.18 in April), but the rotation in particular has really come into its own, and their dominance has kept the team at the top of the standings.

The standings after 81 games:

Universe League (UL)						Shinto-World League (SWL)
Galactica Division						Photomaker Division
Team	W	L	%	Games back		Team	W	L	%	Games back
Daly City Montis	64	17	.790	-		Pentax Shake Reducers	48	33	.593	-
Microsoft Longhorns	46	35	.568	18		Nikon Vibration Reducers	44	37	.543	4
Mozilla Firefoxes	43	38	.531	21		Canon Image Stabilizers	41	40	.506	7
Apple Septic Tanks	35	46	.432	29		Sony Super Steadyshots	35	46	.432	13
Terran Division						World Cities Division
Europe Cricketeers	38	43	.469	-		Las Vegas Valleys	44	37	.543	-
Caribbean Pirates	35	46	.432	3		Tokyo Samurai	43	38	.531	1
Asia Giants	33	48	.407	5		Paris Forfeiters	36	45	.444	8
United States Patriots	30	51	.370	8		Venice Carnivale	33	48	.407	11

Team Summary

Galactica Division

Microsoft Longhorns

The deep-pocketed Longhorns (their $137.5M payroll is tops in the league) are once again in solid contention, and while they don’t have a chance of catching the dominant Montis, they have a firm hold on the wildcard slot, with the third place team, the arch-rival Apple Septic Tanks, a distant 11 games back.

The Longhorns have got the power hitting – the extraordinary Jango Fett is having an MVP-caliber season, batting .390-.464-.673, setting the table nicely for Jabba Desiljic Ture, who leads the league in homeruns and RBI with 30 and 75, respectively.  While the pitching staff has been horrid, it’s anchored by Kernel Tyranus, who is once again having a solid season (10-1 so far, with a 2.47 ERA and 1.01 WHIP).  What they lack in overall excellence, the Longhorns are making up with star power, and they seem poised to be a playoffs threat.

Runs scored: 440(7th)
Runs allowed: 426 (7th)

Mozilla Firefoxes

The low-budget Firefoxes are showing how to get things done, non-profit style, putting up a solid .531 record with the smallest budget ($45M) in the league.  Mozilla is 3rd in the league in runs allowed, where ace Rober Krogert (3.89 ERA) and breakout star Ferdinand Castro (2.95 ERA) are keeping games to a low-scoring affair, but the offense is hurting.  They’re sorely feeling the loss of superstar  Mathew Glenn, who signed an outrageous contract (4 years, $21.7M per) to be Gates Skywalker’s replacement at Canon.

Runs scored: 425 (10th)
Runs allowed: 393 (3rd)

Apple Septic Tanks

What’s happened to Apple?  A year removed from a 92-win, .568 season, production has all but dried up for the Septic Tanks, who rank dead last in the Galactica Division (although they’d remain first if they played in the lowly Terran Division).  They’re neither hitting (13th in runs scored) nor pitching (13th in runs allowed), and about the only thing they’re doing is stealing bases (Ben Kenobi is third in the league with 35).

While the rotation saw the loss of dominant ace Kyle Katarn, the offense  just doesn’t seem to be clicking, despite retaining the core of their 4th-ranked 2006 lineup.  There’s still plenty of baseball left from July through September however, and the 3-4-5 trio of Ben Kenobi, Hans Blik, and Chewie Gonzales could very well turn the fortunes of the Septic Tanks around in the second half.

Runs scored: 425 (10th)
Runs allowed: 393 (3rd)

Terran Division

Europe Cricketeers

The Terran Division hasn’t been dominant since the inception of the league, having failed to produce a .500 club in any of the two and a half seasons thus far.  This time, the 2005 Division Champion Cricketeers are back in the driver’s seat, but with an 8-game seperation from 1st to 4th, it’s still anyone’s division.

For their part, the Cricketeers have been thriving based on pitching, with a decent performance across the board.  The offense has been anemic, however, without star catcher Rolland Hochstetler, who’s been out nearly two months after tearing his abdominal muscle in mid-May.

Runs scored: 371 (15th)
Runs allowed: 421 (5th)

Caribbean Pirates

Loaded with star power, many experts predicted this would be the year the Pirates broke out from the bottom of the division, but so far they haven’t lived up to the hype, with many of the franchise stars even regressing.  Though they’ve put up just 407 runs (12th in baseball), the Caribbean has seen the emergence of 2006 first-round pick Clifford Alfano, who has already hit his way into the cleanup slot with a .358-.442-.584 line in just his second season.  First baseman Luis Devitt and RF Simeon Sarvis have also improved, forming a fearsome trio of hitters in the 3-4-5 slots.

The rotation has been where the Pirates have disappointed – innings eater and ace Wilfredo Raposa, stolen away from the Cricketeers, hasn’t been able to find a groove in his new digs at the cavernous Hiram Bithorn stadium, where he’s allowing baseruns at a 1.52 WHIP rate.  Perhaps suffering from an ego hit, former ace David Barnett hasn’t seemed to be his old self, going 6-7 with a 6.12 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, and failing to make the all-star team for the first time in his career.

Runs scored: 407 (12th)
Runs allowed: 464 (12th)

Asia Giants

The 2007 Giants once again lean heavy on offense, and unlike their 2006 run to the top of the division, the bats just aren’t enough to overcome the horrid pitching this time around.  Not a single starter has an ERA lower than 5.50, and the fielding has been worse, committing 69 errors (2nd highest in baseball).

The Giants’ core of superstar hitters is keeping them in the hunt, and they are raking like perhaps no other middle of the lineup:

Benjamin Trepanier: .320-.443-.676
Alex Quiros: .304-.402-.640
Tom Clark: .277-.362-.559

The young Trepanier is quickly becoming a star – the 2006 first overall pick and rookie of the year,  has kept up career highs in batting average and on-base percentage, and has developed a newfound power stroke.  He ranks 3rd in slugging percentage (1st outside of Daly City), and has 25 homers – already surpassing the 18 he had all of last season!

Runs scored: 430 (9th)
Runs allowed: 524 (16th)

United States Patriots

The Patriots are dwelling in the cellar of the Terran Division, although with a -4 Pythagorean differential, their performance is right in the pack with the rest of the division.  Their offense has been led by the classic American Truex-Amey duo, but their supporting cast has been absolutely dreadful – just one other member of the starting lineup is slugging over .400, and just two others have an OBP over .300, leading to just the 14th-ranked offense in the game.

Pitching has been a relatively bright spot for the Patriots, however.  Though they’ve run a revolving door of starters (10 different pitchers have made starts), the group has performed surprisingly well, with three of five of the current rotation sporting ERAs below 4.

Runs scored: 378 (14th)
Runs allowed: 439 (8th)

Photomaker Division

Pentax Shake Reducers

When the Shake Reducers finished just one game back of the division champion Image Stabilizers last season, things were looking bright for the team – they had improved steadily on their 3rd-place finish in 2005, had a strong core of middle-of-the-order hitters, and one of the game’s true aces in Augusto Figeuroa.  Then things began to fall apart – the best two hitters, 1B Walter Vanish and RF Simeon Sarvis, both bolted in free agency, but in turn the payroll flexibility allowed the Shake Reducers to land the biggest fish of all – the disgruntled two-time MVP and record-breaking slugger Gates Skywalker.

Skywalker has almost single-handedly willed this team to the division lead – his monstrous .347-.441-.990 line is the stuff legend is made of, and he’s fully healthy so far, having played in all 81 games and setting himself on pace for 110 homeruns and 208 RBI’s, which would absolutely shatter the all-time record (88 HR’s by Kenton McClinton in his magical 1942 season).

Runs scored: 482 (3rd)
Runs allowed: 376 (2nd)

Nikon Vibration Reducers

Two middling seasons stuck far away from the division-leading Image Stabilizers, and any decent playoff hopes, combined to scare away the league’s second-most prolific hitter, Richard Eager.  From there it looked as though the team – 162-162 (.500) the past two seasons, would be dead in the water, but the Vibration Reducers have played splendid ball and find themselves in a prime position just 4 games back of the division lead, and leading the wildcard race.

The key has been solid on-base fundamentals – the team is getting on at a .353 clip, 2nd best in the game – and the signing of Microsoft shortstop Maul Foundation, who is doing his best Eager impersonation with a .374-.408-.694 line, not so far off from the .347-.433-.679 clip of the man himself.

Runs scored: 471 (4th)
Runs allowed: 425 (6th)

Canon Image Stabilizers

The Image Stabilizers made perhaps the worst front-office decision in baseball history by letting their franchise face Gates Skywalker, waltz over to a division rival, but the Stabilizers have hung in the thick of things with their signing of Mozilla hero Mathew Glenn, who is putting up a season for the ages (.385-.457-.702), and a solid but not spectacular supporting cast (Francis Cote and Francisco Amaral putting up OBP’s over .400).

The true weakness of the team lies in their pitching, where ace Justin Ramage seems far removed from his Pitcher-of-the-Year-winning glory days of 2005 (he’s got a 4.07 ERA and just 6.3 K’s per 9), and none of the other rotation members seem particularly inspiring for a postseason run or even a strong September push.

Runs scored: 492 (2nd)
Runs allowed: 487 (14th)

Sony Super Steadyshots

After looking strong in 2005 (an even .500 finish), the Super Steadyshots once again find themselves back in the cellar.  While all of their division rivals picked up new MVP-caliber sluggers, the SSS stayed pat and have found themselves unable to score any runs.  Despite their league-worst scoring ability, Sony has been doing fairly well for itself on the pitching front, led by free agent signing Johnny Bussell (3.38 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) and bolstered by last season’s trade acquisition Justin Pucci (4.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) and longtime starter Lee Cassidy (4.20 ERA, 1.23 WHIP).

Runs scored: 344 (16th)
Runs allowed: 409 (4th)

World Cities Division

Las Vegas Valleys

The Valleys reloaded big time in the offseason in their bid for a repeat division championship, sparing no expense to acquire Nikon’s superstar Richard Eager for an unheard-of $38.3M per year, 5-year contract.  Eager hasn’t disappointed, and he joins the aging Las Vegas great Hector Valdivieso (.345-.427-.647) to form perhaps the most fearsome batting duo in baseball.

Runs scored: 459 (6th)
Runs allowed: 462 (11th)

Tokyo Samurai

With the key acquisition of Pentax slugger Walter Vanish, the Samurai seemed off to a hot start, compiling a hot 33-24 record (.579) by the end of May.  Tokyo nosedived in June however, posting an 11-14 record (.444) on a string of bad luck, despite strong months by Ronald Peterson (.287-.386-.609) and a monstrous month by Vanish (.411-.486-.642).

The Samurai did take a huge blow, however, when centerfielder Kevin Harwell, having a breakout (.398-.479-.605) season at age 38, broke his foot in mid-June, putting him out for the entire season.

Runs scored: 464 (5th)
Runs allowed: 440 (9th)

Paris Forfeiters

It’s been a tough break for the Forfeiters, who played admirably in 2005 to finish 2 games behind Tokyo, and played to a bitter tie (losing the tiebreaker) against the Las Vegas Valleys in 2006.  The Forfeiters may find themselves out of even that kind of luck in 2007, where the wheels seem to be finally falling off of OBP machine Lamont Sanchez (.245-.366-.447).

Paris paid big dollars to lure away ace Kyle Kataran to the SWL, and his mediocre performance so far (3.44 ERA, compared to 2.43 heading into the season) is what’s barely keeping the Forfeiters in contention

Runs scored: 411 (11th)
Runs allowed: 446 (10th)

Venice Carnivale

There’s been little to root for in the small baseball town of Venice, and the Carnivale have been quietly clogging along to another last-place finish.  The lone bright spots are Wilbur Phillips, who has developed into a star this season (.282-.367-.601), and the ever reliable #1 starter Gerald Freeman, who is quietly putting up yet another solid season (3.88 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.1 K’s per 9).

Runs scored: 433 (8th)
Runs allowed: 511 (15th)

Another year, another victory for the Daly City Montis. After breezing through the first and second playoff rounds, the shaky Pentax Shake Reducers proved to be no match at all, being swept 4-0 after two miraculous 4-3 series wins.

And now, onto the post-season report!

The Pitcher of the Year, UL: Nathan Yan, Daly City SP
For the fourth year in the row, Yan not only has another championship under his belt, but has also garnered his fourth straight Pitcher of the Year award. While he blew away the league last year with some astonishing numbers, Yan blew away even himself with his spectacular 2006 campaign. He pitched an astounding 284 innings in only 32 starts – only 4 inning short of the maximum 288 innings for 32 starts. Yan’s ERA at 0.79 and WHIP at 0.47 were in line with last year’s (needless to say, both led the league by a fair margin). But his biggest achievement of all this year may have been his complete evolution into the perfect strikeout machine. Like Zerg on Tarsonis, Yan simply devoured opposing hitters, not only reaching but shattering the 500-K mark he joked about at the beginning of the year. Yan finished the year with 568K’s, for an even 18 K’s per 9 innings. Over the course of the year, Yan reached the 20-K mark in a game 9 times, including perhaps the best game of his career: an 11 inning complete game shutout, allowing just ONE hit, and striking out 25 batters (21 batters by the 9^th inning). For that game he earned a staggering game score of 119.

Among the runner-ups, Apple pitcher Kyle Katarn stayed strong, almost directly replicating his 2005 stats, garnering him the #2 pitcher award. The big surprises were Microsoft’s Kernel Tyranus and Daly City’s Zhao, who had reversals of fortune – Tyranus, a solid pitcher in 2005, exploded this season, lowering his ERA form 3.29 to 2.08, while throwing 27 quality starts (90%). Unfortunately Tyranus’ season took a premature end with a September injury, or he may have easily broken the 30 QS mark or the 25-win mark. Zhao meanwhile, the #2 from 2005, nearly dropped off the map, with a slow start that left him at 8-7, 3.56 ERA at the end of July. Zhao turned it on in the final two months, however, and ended up a respectable 14-7 with a 3.03 ERA, although far off the mark of 2005’s amazing 23-4, 1.74 ERA run. Samantha Chin, in her breakout sophomore season, rounded out the top 5.

The other runner-ups:

Name	Team	Record	Starts	QS/CG/SHO	Innings	K	ERA	CERA	WHIP	K/9
Nathan Yan	Daly City	30-1	32	31/26/12	284	568	0.78	0.06	0.47	18.0
Kyle Katarn	Apple	21-11	36	29/14/3	299	298	2.41	2.02	0.98	9.0
Kernel Tyranus	Microsoft	22-5	30	27/3/0	226	193	2.03	2.08	1.03	7.7
Terrence Zhao	Daly City	14-7	30	21/9/2	205	236	3.03	2.40	1.16	10.4
Samantha Chin	Daly City	19-4	29	24/2/2	202 2/3	199	3.20	2.61	1.07	8.8

The Batter of the Year, UL: Derek Lew, Daly City 1B
Another HUGE surprise for the UL Batter of the Year award, as another Daly City hitter unexpectedly takes home the trophy. While Wong stunned everyone by winning the award over Asia’s Alex Quiros in 2005, Lew’s win comes out of nearly nowhere. Lew rebounded greatly from his disastrous 2005 season, and put up a solid season, with a .304-.338-.593 line, and a career high in SLG. Lew also set career highs in the RBI department, with 164, as well, which led the league. Perhaps that was enough to win it for Lew, who faced stiff competition elsewhere in the league – 9 players, including teammate Rudy Puzon, had higher OPS and higher total Runs Created, and Lew wasn’t even in the top 15 for Runs Created per 27 outs. Perhaps no one had a more heartbreaking season than Apple’s Ben Kenobi, who put up amazing numbers – he in fact bested Lew in .AVG-.OBP-.SLG, and dominated the league in RC/27 – and lost for lack of RBI’s, and endured a season pursuing and holding the SB lead that was eventually lost to Cristian Ortiz in the final two months, and ultimately failed to make the playoffs, despite having arguably the better end-of-year team than the Microsoft Longhorns.

Name	Team	AB	2B	HR	RBI	Runs	Walks	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	RC	RC/27
Derek Lew	Daly City	688	77	30	164	116	34	13	.304	.338	.593	130	6.72
Ben Kenobi	Apple	633	58	18	88	143	69	72	.370	.434	.607	179.5	11.01
Jango Fett	Microsoft	616	53	21	96	125	88	30	.347	.429	.565	160.7	9.77
Mathew Glenn	Mozilla	614	35	38	124	130	85	13	.319	.401	.575	147.2	8.89
Alex Quiros	Asia	550	46	41	110	108	67	3	.293	.377	.611	129.5	8.68

The Rookie of the Year, UL: Benjamin Trepanier, Asia RF
There would be no trifecta again this year, as Asia’s rookie RF, the #1 pick in the 2006 draft, stormed to an amazing season, hitting .310-.437-.492, leading the league in OBP and walks, and placing 3^rd in RC/27. Punctuating an almost-there year for Daly City’s star rookie Whitney Esguerra, she ended in 2^nd place despite a dazzling rookie season in which she ranked 5^th in the league in ERA, 5^th in opponent’s OBP, 7^th in WHIP, 8^th in CERA, 4^th in K’s, and 2^nd in K’s per 9 innings, yet emerged with a 13-11 record due to poor run support (9^th worst) from the highest-scoring offense in the league.

Name		Team		AB	2B		HR		RBI	Runs		Walks		SB	AVG		OBP		SLG		RC	RC/27
Benjamin Trepanier		Asia		555	27		10		90	85		115		18	.310		.437		.492		141.6	9.32
Clifford Alfano		Caribbean		536	27		18		68	80		65		13	.282		.363		.455		95.6	6.14
Name	Team		Record			Starts		QS/CG/SHO			Innings		K			ERA		CERA		WHIP			K/9
Whitney Esguerra	Daly City		13-11			30		23/6/2			214		256			3.15		3.01		1.12			10.8

The Pitcher of the Year, SWL: Willard Weiler, Tokyo SP
Willard Weiler, last year’s #2, vaults into the spotlight as he claims this year’s Pitcher of the Year award, in a tight race of subpar performances. Weiler pitched worse than he did last year, but his star didn’t fade nearly as much as the lights-out Ramage.Weiler was #2 in the league in CERA, and led in wins, but otherwise was right in the middle of the pack with many other star pitchers. The year has been especially tough for Canon pitcher Justin Ramage, who dropped off heavily from last year’s performance but came back roaring in the playoffs, yet fell short of another World Series trip.

Name	Team	Record	Starts	QS/CG/SHO	Innings	K	ERA	CERA	WHIP	K/9
Willard Weiler	Tokyo	20-11	36	23/8/2	259 2/3	224	3.43	3.38	1.15	7.8
Gerald Freeman	Venice	17-13	36	23/10/3	278 2/3	290	3.68	2.71	1.08	9.4
Justin Ramage	Canon	18-10	35	24/1/0	231 1/3	240	3.46	3.59	1.27	7.7
Augusto Figueroa	Pentax	17-13	34	17/12/2	256 2/3	173	4.10	3.69	1.26	6.1
Pedro Basaldua	Sony	12-7	30	20/2/0	198	86	3.59	3.85	1.33	3.9

The Batter of the Year, SWL: Gates Skywalker, Canon LF
Talk about a year for hitting. Once again, Skywalker of Canon and Richard Eager of the Nikon resumed their rivalry. It’s readily apparent by now that Skywalker simply outclasses any other hitter in the league – his OPS+ is a staggering 173, and perhaps the only better player in baseball is Daly City’s Nathan Yan, whose 596 ERA+ blows even that away. It’s readily apparent, however, that Nikon is fast becoming an offensive force in the baseball world – Eager and last year’s rookie of the year, Brandon Wroten, were 2-3 in Runs Created, SLG, Isolated Power, Total Bases, HR, among a host of other hitting categories. Late-season injuries cost a few players, most notably Canon’s Francis Cote and Las Vegas’ Hector Valdivieso, who both missed the last month of the season with injuries.

Name	Team	AB	2B	HR	RBI	Runs	Walks	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	RC	RC/27
Gates Skywalker	Canon	532	47	79	182	146	90	0	.350	.441	.891	202.7	14.71
Richard Eager	Nikon	613	35	45	125	143	94	25	.357	.448	.667	195.6	11.89
Brandon Wroten	Nikon	625	57	50	155	117	73	1	.307	.377	.638	152.2	8.99
Hector Valdivieso	Las Vegas	497	54	29	96	92	76	10	.338	.425	.626	139.5	10.70
Francis Cote	Canon	502	25	35	105	105	78	0	.313	.413	.584	126.3	9.42

The Rookie of the Year, UL: Michael Hooser, Las Vegas SP
It was a shallow field this year for rookies in the SWL. Only 8 rookies in all even qualified in terms of innings or plate appearances, and five of them were relievers. Las Vegas’ Michael Hooser ended up taking the crown, by being the least abominable with a 4.91 ERA in 199 2/3 innings, with 1.44 WHIP, although Paris pitchers Juan Perez and Andrew Wilcox were probably closer to “above average” than Hooser was, or will ever be, although all pitchers had a shaky WHIP in the 1.4 range. Nikon’s Brian Batchelder and Paris’ Robert Rodriguz put up a decent half-seasons, but after this there was really no one else even above average.

Name		Team		AB	2B		HR		RBI	Runs		Walks		SB	AVG		OBP		SLG		RC	RC/27
Brian Batchelder		Nikon		344	25		5		50	53		20		13	.299		.346		.422		54.8	5.78
Robert Rodriguz		Paris		222	13		10		35	29		18		3	.279		.331		.500		36	5.79
Name	Team		Record			Starts		QS/CG/SHO			Innings		K			ERA		CERA		WHIP			K/9
Michael Hooser	Las Vegas		11-13			33		16/1/0			199 2/3		96			4.91		5.02		1.44			4.3
Juan Perez	Paris		12-6			27		16/0/0			152 1/3		111			3.66		4.20		1.46			6.6
Andrew Wilcox	Paris		4-3			0		0/0/0			84		42			3.64		4.08		1.49			4.5