10/10/05 – After 7 games, the divisional playoff round comes to a close, abound with some absolutely shocking results.

U.S. takes Daly City down to the wire in 3-3 showdown!
Perhaps the most heavily one-sided matchup in the playoffs, the Daly City team, bolstered by both the best offense and pitching in the league, got clobbered by the Patriots in game 1.  With ace Nathan Yan resting from pitching the last game of the regular season, #2 Josiah Leong took the mound against the Patriot’s John Coyer, a 10-14 starter with a 5.08 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over the regular season.

The results were disastrous – Leong took a heavy beating, giving up 4 runs in the 1^st inning.  Meanwhile, the offense was unable to muster much of anything, going scoreless for the first 6 innings.  Leong appeared to take smooth control thereafter, but hit trouble again in the 6^th inning – he gave up 2 runs of his own and 2 more on errors, allowing the U.S. an 8-0 lead. Daly City clawed its way back up to 6 runs, mostly on the strength of back-to-back homers by Joey Wong and Derek Lew, but ultimately fell short, suffering a shocking 12-6 defeat at the hands of the Patriots.

The next three games saw strong pitching performances from Terrence Zhao, Nathan Yan, and Sean Wade, who went on to lead the team to 9-3, 14-1, and 19-1 victories, putting them just a game shy of advancing to the next round.  Around this time, the offense also exploded, with huge games by Derek Lew, Rudy Puzon, Cristian Ortiz, and most surprisingly, Francis Chen.

With Josiah Leong up for another turn, the Daly City Montis suffered another lost, although this team Leong pitched a decent game, throwing 7 1/3 innings while giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks.  However, it was the hitting that did the team in – the Patriot’s Camilo Belmonte shut out the team, allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks, and emerging with an 0-4 win.

The next game, with Terrence Zhao pitching against the lowly Craig Oberle, seemed to be a lock.  Daly City jumped out to a lead early, scoring 5 runs in the first four innings.  The U.S. answered back with 2 runs, but scored FIVE more in the 6^th, where Terrence Zhao got shelled by an Andrew Amey 2-RBI double and a couple of triples.  With Daly City down 5-7, they put in 2 runs in the 8^th from an Aubrey Cubilo double and Joey Wong HR to tie the game up at 7-7, and bring the game into extra innings. Samantha Chin, who had come in after Zhao’s disastrous 6^th, gave up a homerun in the 10^th to Juan Truex, and as all seemed lost, Kelvin Chang is replaced with Sam Lau, who successfully draws a walk to first, and gets replaced by Cristian Ortiz.  Cubilo advances him to 2^nd on a single, and they both double-steal to get on 3^rd and 2^nd.  With the game on the line, Francis Chen of all players knocks in a sacrifice fly to bring Ortiz home, and tie the game up.  Daly City is unable to score another run, however, and in the 13^th the United States scores a run off of a William Brown double, giving the United States a 9-8 win in 13 innings, and just like that, tying the series up at 3-3.  With the team’s entire playoff hopes on the line, Daly City’s Nathan Yan steps up to the mound for game 7, delivering a beautiful 1-hit, 2-walk shutout for a 3-0 win, and moving Daly City (just barely) onto the league series round.

Over in the other Universe League series, Europe delivered not only a surprising upset over the Apple Septic Tanks, but swept Apple with a 4-0 series win.  Europe delivered on the pitching, with an excellent win by #1 Wilfredo Raposa, but also two solid starts by #2 Justin Pucci, who won both of his games and pitched 15 1/3 innings, with a 2.35 ERA and 0.78 WHIP.  Closer David Avila also pitched extremely well, closing out all four games while not giving up a single run.

Things were a bit more predictable in the Shinto-World league – with an absolutely abysmal performance by Richard Eager (.105-.227-.158, 2 RBI, 1 Run), Nikon could hardly muster any offense, and the Vibration Reducers lost the seriese 1-4.  The Tokyo-Paris game, as expected, was a tight one, which drew out into a full 7 game series, which included three 1-run games and an extra inning game that was won 12-3 on 9 Tokyo runs in the 10^th inning.

The next series sees a Europe vs. Daly City matchup, and Paris vs. Canon matchup as we progress to the Final Four league series round.

With the end of September comes an end to the hopes and dreams of many a team.  16 teams in the league, but the playoffs hold only room for an elite eight.

There weren’t many huge surprises in the last month of the season.  The Daly City Montis, who dominated the league, emerged with a 125-37 (.772) record and 29 games ahead of runner-up Apple Septic Tanks, who finished with a 96-66 (.593) record.  The Microsoft Longhorns, who went 19-7 (.731) in the last month, came up just a bit short, two games behind Apple, although a whopping 17 games of the Terran Division winner, the Europe Cricketeers, and 24 games over the Terran wildcard, the United States Patriots.

Over in the Shinto-World League, Canon ran away with the Photomaker Division crowd and finished with a 96-66 record, 14 games over wildcard and archrival Nikon.  In the World Cities Division, Tokyo emerged victorious from the season-long Tokyo-Paris struggle – the two teams were tied for much of the season, all the way until the final two games – Tokyo won both games and Paris lost its two games, making Tokyo the division winner by two games, although both teams will be in the playoffs.

A season recap will come later, but it’s time for the postseason – an exciting postseason preview comes your way!

Here’s how the things look on the Universe League side:

Daly City Montis, 125-27, .772, Team ERA: 2.94, Team OPS: .853
vs.
United States Patriots, 70-92, .432, Team ERA: 4.85, Team OPS: .708

This matchup looks a bit lopsided – Daly City possesses a 55-game lead over the United States in regular season play.  In the regular season, Daly City faced the United States 23 times, winning 18 of the contests.  Looks to be a cakewalk for Daly City, but let’s look at the projected lineups and staff:

US Hitting: The United States is led by sluggers Juan Truex (.297-.361-.574) and Andrew Amey (.280-.391-.537), but aside from those two solid hitters lack much of any supporting cast – the only other decently high OBP on the team is .354, and no one else slugs over .500.  It’s part of the reason why no player on the Patriots has amassed more than 85 RBIs or Runs this season.

DC Pitching: Daly City looks to go to a four-man rotation, or possibly even three – the masterful Nathan Yan, followed up by the mercurial Josiah Leong and the dominating Terrence Zhao, and finally the consistent rookie, Sean Wade.  With luck, it could be a 1-2-3-4 shutout series, with strong starting performances.  If not, Alvina Chu is well-rested and ready to pitch from the bullpen, although the shakiness of Zubeda Khan (5 blown saves out of 34 opportunities) means that a few of the close, late games might slip away.

US Pitching: The US pitching staff doesn’t look much better, either – no one on the pitching staff is under a 4.00 ERA, or even remotely close.  Closer John Galey has a 5.57 ERA and setup man Isaias Rodrigues has a 6.90 ERA, and based on those gaps in the bullpen alone, the US doesn’t seem like they’ll ever be able to close out a win over Daly City.

DC Hitting: The Daly City lineup ended the season on a declining note – after an explosive start to September, many of the veterans slowed down, in particular stalwarts Joey Wong and especially Derek Lew, who tanked with a .176-.211-.308 September, easily one of his worst.  Several other players have stepped up, however – Rudy Puzon, Henry Nghe, and Jonathan Chee all had solid performances in September.  Overall, the team looks to be in good shape, with explosiveness coming from one player or another, and the is after all still the #1 offense in the league, by a wide margin.  It should have no problem handling the weak US Pitching staff.

Apple Septic Tanks, 96-66, .593, Team ERA: 4.00, Team OPS: .747
vs.
Europe Cricketeers, 77-85, .475, Team ERA: 4.33, Team OPS: .724

EUR Hitting: Europe, unsurprisingly, lacks much punch in the offensive department.  They have one true star, catcher Rolland Hochstetler, who was one of the top hitters at .327-.430-.559 this season, and another decent slugger in Renato Trujillo (.281-.312-.534).  The #.276-.367-.456 Frank Cristobal is also a decent on-baseman.  All-in-all, the batting isn’t horrible – certainly not as bad as many other Terran Division teams, but their ability to score runs consistently will be severely tested when they face Apple’s strong pitching staff.

MAC Pitching: The Septic Tanks had one of the strongest pitching staffs in the league this year.  They were led strongly by Kyle Katarn, who at 22-8, 2.45 ERA (1.01 WHIP), would have been Cy Young any other year.  He’s followed by two fairly capable starters in #2 Wedge Antilles, and #3 Jeffrey Reese.  The bullpen is also one of the stronger ones in the league, with long reliever Ambrose Ackbar, as well as Mohammad King and quite possibly the best closer in the league, the 2.26 ERA Padme Amidala.

EUR Pitching: The Cricketeers are led by staff-ace Wilfredo Raposa, who ranked among the top pitchers this year with a 3.49 ERA and 8.7 K’s per 9 innings.  After him are mediocre pitchers Justin Pucci and Joshua Hack, who have on occasion pitched extremely well.  Europe has also got one of the better bullpens in the league, with Napoleon Chien (3.67 ERA) and Dwight Fenton (2.84 ERA), and 3.40 ERA, 28 save David Avila as the closer.

MAC Hitting: Unlike many other teams, the Septic Tanks have composed an extremely well-rounded hitting lineup.  They have a few star players, notably RF Chewie Gonzales (.327-.362-.547), 3B Hans Blik (.290-.345-.528).  Raposa aside, the Europe pitching staff might have a tough time taming the Septic Beast.

Overall, the series seems heavily slanted in Apple’s favor – even Europe’s star Raposa seems as if he’ll be neutralized by starting against Apple’s Kyle Katarn, who pitched at a full one run lower per game than Raposa.  Over the course of the season, Apple leads the series 13-10.

Canon Image Stabilizers, 96-66, .593, Team ERA: 4.04, Team OPS: .798
vs.
Nikon Vibration Reducers, 82-80, .506, Team ERA: 4.32, Team OPS: .768

As the 1^st and 4^th seeds in the Shinto-World league, the two archrivals waste no time in duking it out in the divisional playoff round.  The two have butted heads all season, and while Canon seems to have a dominating regular season lead, Nikon actually leads the regular season series between the teams 13-12.

NIK Hitting: The Vibration Reducers are led by Nikonian CF Richard Eager, who was a dominant force in the league with a .355-.437-.705 line, not to mention 21 steals and a low 44 K’s.  He’s backed up by fellow superstar and youngster Brandon Wroten, who started the year off slowly but caught fire at the end of the season.  The two players more or less carry the team, however – three other players set the table with OBP’s in the .340 range, but no other players has a higher OBP than .350 or a SLG higher than .500.  The Vibration Reducers will rely heavily on the back of Richard Eager to provide the offensive production needed to overcome Canon’s heavy-hitting lineup.

CAN Pitching: Canon is led by star pitcher Justin Ramage, who posted a 2.48 ERA and 273 K’s in 272 2/3 innings this season.  Beyond him, however, Canon is sorely lacking – the rest of the rotation seems extremely awful, save perhaps for Max Allen, who seems to have enormous potential with a 1.95 September ERA.  Canon also has the best closer bar-none in Lee Thornton, who saved 27 games with a 1.62 ERA.  Justin Ramage certainly has the right stuff, but it’s an open question as to whether any of the pitchers will be able to contain Nikon’s Richard Eager.

NIK Pitching: The pitching staff is about average – they’re led by Tim Barnes, who put up a good 20-win season and 3.59 ERA, but most of his success came early on – he’s posted consecutive 4+ ERA months in August and September, and at this point looks like a very vulnerable starter.  The rest of the staff doesn’t exactly bleed confidence – they have a strong closer in William Brunetti, who saved 30 games with a 2.81 ERA, but there doesn’t seem to be any other dominant force on the staff, which looks like it’ll bode well for the Image Stabilizers.

CAN Hitting: The Canon lineup is led by none other than the infamous Gates Skywalker, who dominated the league with a .328-.452-.737 line this season.  Skywalker alone would be enough of a force to level many other teams in a 7-game series, but in this he’s matched up against no other than Richard Eager, who more or less equalizes Skywalker’s production.  Skywalker, however, is surrounded by a couple of star hitters in catcher Francis Cote (.316-.393-.516) and RF Wilfredo Martinez (.314-.358-.550) – Nikon has a tough task if it hopes to limit Canon’s core lineup enough so that their one-man offense Eager can score enough to win the game.

Tokyo Samurai, 90-72, .556, Team ERA: 3.98, Team OPS: .743
vs.
Paris Forfeiters, 88-74, .543, Team ERA: 4.41 ERA, Team OPS .751

PAR Hitting: Paris is led by SS Lamont Sanchez (.322-.450.-.565) and is a high-OBP offense – their .331 OBP was 2^nd in the SW league behind Canon, and third overall behind Canon and Daly City.  The Forfeiters also have 2B Cristian Lee, and two >.360 OBP men, although they’re missing a big table setter in their CF James Talmage, who went out in early September with a broken wrist, and will be out of the playoffs.

TOK Pitching: Tokyo has a strong pitching staff, that’s led by Willard Weiler (3.29 ERA, 1.08 WHIP), but also includes a #2 in Michael Contreras that’s as good as many others #1.  It’s anybody’s guess who will win out in a battle between consistent OBP hitting and lights-out pitching domination.

PAR Pitching: Paris has a decent pitching staff, filled with starters who middle around the 4.00 ERA mark.  However, their #1 starter Rex White, a 21-year old rookie, has been steadily improving all season, and closed off with a 2.98 ERA in September.  Paris also has a dominant closer in the 39 save, 1.96 ERA Garfield Yocom.

TOK Hitting: Despite Ronald Peterson’s 51 HR season highlight, the Tokyo offense is about a lot more.  Kevin Harwell (.297-.397-.470) is a strong force alongside Peterson (.307-.393-.615).  Tokyo also boasts a rash of inexperienced half-season players, who have put up good numbers so far, although it’s anybody’s guess how well they’ll stick.

It’s an all-out battle between two very good teams that have duked it out all season.  For what it’s worth, Tokyo leads the season series 15-8, although Paris, relying on consistent OBP production rather than Tokyo’s individual flair and flash, could pull off a series win, especially if Tokyo’s season-long reliance on unproven half-season players backfires.

Update in about two weeks (game time!) with round two of the playoffs.

It’s September 1^st, 2005, and down to the home stretch towards the playoffs.  With five months down and just one left to go, things have taken a firm shape in three of the four divisions in the league, where the Daly City Montis (Galactica Division), the Europe Cricketeers (Terran Division), and the Canon Image Stabilizers (Photomaker Division) all lead by 11 games or more.  The game is much tighter in the World Cities Division, where the Tokyo Samurai, the division leader for much of the season, holds on to a slim but narrow lead over second place Paris Forfeiters.

The wildcard race is also structured fairly well.  The 2^nd-place finishers from each division make it into the playoffs – currently in the Galactica Division, the Apple Septic Tanks at 80-55, .593 are in the lead, although the Microsoft Longhorns, starting off slowly, have put together a decent season and are 6 games behind.  In the Terran Division, where all of the teams save Europe have been thoroughly dominated, it appears that either the United States Patriots (58-77, .430) or the Caribbean Pirates (56-79, .415) will be making what could only be a surefire loss to the league-dominating Daly City Montis.

Over in the Shinto-World league, things are much spicier.  Paris and Tokyo are in a dead heat for first place, and with current third place Venice Carnivale 11 games behind Paris, it looks like both will enter into the playoffs, either as division winner or wildcard runner-up.  In the Photomaker division, however, Nikon and Paris are both within a game of each other.  Nikon, so close to the division lead earlier on in the season, had  been hurt by an injury to star centerfielder Richard Eager, who is currently third place in OBP, second place in slugging, and first in batting average (he adds a healthy 21 steals and a low 36 K’s to boot). Pentax, meanwhile, has been humming along steadily.

With the playoff picture looking about set, barring any surprises in the last month:

Universe League Projections:
Galactica Division
Division Winner – Daly City Montis (dominating at first, 23 games in the lead at 103-32, .763)
Wildcard – Apple Septic Tanks (Microsoft Longhorns a moderate longshot, at 6 games back)
3^rd place – Microsoft Longhorns (possibly the Apple Septic Tanks)
4^th place – Mozilla Firefoxes (last place pretty much all season)

Terran Division
Division Winner – Europe Cricketeers (At 69-66, .511, a feeble playoff team).
Wildcard – Caribbean Pirates (An abysmal .415 team, but likely to make it)
3^rd place – United States Patriots (they lead the Caribbean by 2 games, but have been falling hard ever since star slugger Juan Truex went out for the rest of the season)
4^th place – Asia Giants (far and away the worst team in the league)

Shinto-World League Projections:
Photomaker Division
Division Winner – Canon Image Stabilizers (far and away in the lead)
Wildcard – Nikon Vibration Reducers/Pentax Shake Reducers (pretty much a dead heat)
3^rd place – Nikon Vibration Reducers/Pentax Shake Reducers (pretty much a dead heat)
4^th place – Sony Super SteadyShots (last place all season)

World Cities Division
Division Winner – Tokyo Samurai/Paris Forfeiters (toss-up between the star power of Tokyo and the steady consistency of Paris)
Wildcard – Tokyo Samurai/Paris Forfeiters (toss-up between the star power of Tokyo and the steady consistency of Paris)
3^rd place – The Venice Carnivale (Las Vegas looms only 4 games back)
4^th place – Las Vegas Valleys (could jump back to third if HR-hitter Luciano Ferrant, who missed most all of August, comes back into form)

With the standings aside, the more interesting stories are likely the stories of the individual players, and the league leaderboards.

Batting Title (Highest batting average – best contact hitter)
Universe League: Daly City 3B Joey Wong, a .369 career hitter, has led the league all along, and stands at a comfortable position with a .365 AVG.  The complete surprise candidate, however, has emerged as teammate SS Henry “Mr.” Nghe, who has been humming along steadily all season and hit .414 during August to bring his average up to .360.  Either Joey or Nghe will end up taking the title, and may even be within distance of breaking the Daly City team record, Norman Ho’s .375 mark in 2003.  Current third-place is RF Chewie Gonzales of the Apple Septic Tanks, at .335, so it looks like someone from Daly City will emerge with the batting crown.
Shinto-World League: Nikonian CF Richard Eager has dominated this category all year – his current mark stands at .359, far far ahead of his Canonite arch-rival LF Gates Skywalker (.328), and current third-place C Francis Cote (.327)

Hits
Universe League: As the league-leader in hitting, Joey Wong is in the lead with 189 hits, although Henry Nghe isn’t too far behind with 181 hits.  Both seem to be sure locks to reach 200 hits, although Wong doesn’t appear to be anywhere near the 248 hits he set as a record in 2004.  Boba and Jango Fett of the Microsoft Longhorns, at 171 and 167 hits respectively, are #3 and #4, and if they continue their season pace could just reach 200 hits as well.
Shinto-World League: With only Richard Eager anywhere near the league leaders in the Universe League, Las Vegas’ Hector Valdivieso (batting .322) has only 155 hits (9^th most overall) to lead the Shinto-World League.  Richard Eager, after missing two full weeks has only 154 hits, but now that he’s back healthy should be able to easily surpass Valdivieso, although 200 hits seems a very long shot.  A scattering of players are all in the 150-140 hit range, and could all conceivable wind up in 2^nd or 3^rd place

On-base Percentage
Universe League: Despite having some of the best hitters in batting average, the Universe League is not high on walks.  Catcher Richard Hochstetler, really the only decent hitter on the Europe Cricketeers, has a firm hold on the lead at .437, while Daly City players Joey Wong and Jonathan Chee are tied for 2^nd at .424 each.
Shinto-World League: The Image Stabilizers’ all-world leftfielder, Gates Skywalker, has dominated in this category all season, racking up a .457 OBP (with a .518 OBP in August).  Lamont Sanchez of Paris is second at .442, with Richard Eager not far behind at .438. 

Slugging Percentage (most power)
Universe League: One category that has been dominated by all the hitters from the worst teams, last-place Asia’s Alex Quiros has absolutely dominated in the UL, slugging at a .668 clip (including a month slugging .932!), and looks to walk away with the slugging crown.  USA’s Juan Truex, out for a month, hangs in at .586, while Matthew Glenn of Mozilla (.570) and Maul Foundation of Microsoft (.569) are closely in third place.
Shinto-World League: Locked in a season-long battle, Canon’s Gates Skywalker currently leads Nikon’s Richard Eager by a score of .717 to .688.  Homerun leader and Tokyo’s sole offense,Richard Peterson, is 3^rd at .643.

Homeruns
Universe League: The Universe League’s bash brigade is led by Asia’s Alex Quiros, who has mashed 42 homers this year, and has a shot at making the 50 HR mark.  Mozilla slugger Matthew Glenn is second at 40 homeruns, with Microsoft’s catcher Jabba Desilijic Ture and USA’s Juan Truex, both of whom have been sidelined by injuries, tied for 3^rd place with 36 HR each.
Shinto-World League: Tokyo rightfielder Ronald Peterson has been mashing his team to the playoffs, and they’ll need all the help they can get.  The .313-.403-.643 slugger has hit 46 homers so far, and based on his monthly totals, seems sure to make a 50 HR season and lead the league.  Canon’s Gates Skywalker is close behind with 42 HR’s, and Richard Eager, although tied withLuciano Ferrant at 35 HR’s, is probable to get third-place after missing so much time from injury.

Runs Batted In
Universe League: Microsoft’s SS Maul Foundation has been pounding in the runs, with 118 RBIs, no doubt due to the fantastic lineup of hitters batting ahead of him in the Microsoft batting order. Alex Quiros, by far leading the league in HR and slugging, is 2^nd with 112 RBI’s, and would no doubt have a lot more if he had a halfway decent lineup in Asia.  Mozilla’s Matthew Glenn is 3^rd with 103 RBI.
Shinto-World League: The top 3 in the SW league is a crowded field consisting of Paris’ Lamont Sanchez, Canon’s Gates Skywalker, and Tokyo’s Ronald Peterson, who have 102, 102, and 100 RBI’s respectively.

Runs
Universe League: Microsoft’s #3 hitter (in front of Maul Foundation), Jango Fett leads the league with 108 runs, while Daly City’s Joey Wong is in 2^nd place with 101, with teammate Henry Nghe3^rd at 96.
Shinto-World League: Gates Skywalker leads here with 106 runs, followed by Lamont Sanchez of Paris at 98.  Richard Eager is at 90 runs.

Stolen Bases
Universe League: Though she’s been out for two weeks with a hamstring injury, Daly City CF Aubrey Cubilo still leads the league over Apple’s Ben Kenobi, with 60 steals to his 56.  Daly City 2B Cristian Ortiz has been a distant but steadily gaining basepath threat all season, and is solid at 51 steals.
Shinto-World League: Venice’s Alberto Munoz has been speeding along to a dominant 50 steal season, far ahead of 2^nd place Gabriel Cardillo (34) and 3^rd place Joseph Harmon (32).  The most amazing thing is that all three players have extremely sup-bar OBP, with Munoz at .277, Cardillo at .264, and Harmon at .307.

Hit-by-pitch
Universe League: This category has been so dominated by Daly City LF Jonathan Chee that it almost isn’t even worth discussing – he leads the league with almost double the HBP’s, a league-leading 37 HBP (which has been a large contributor to his OBP).
Shinto-World League: Paris’ Anthony Reyes leads the league with a measly 13 HBP’s, although Francisco Amaral, Francis Cote, and Joseph Burkett aren’t far behind at 12-11 HBP’s each.

Earned Run Average (overall pitcher effectiveness)
Universe League: It should be no surprise that Daly City ace Nathan Yan once again dominates the league, with a 1.14 ERA – a continued development from his 1.46 ERA 2003 and his 1.20 ERA 2004, and setting the ERA record for the third consecutive year.  Teammate Terrence Zhao, however, is no slouch either – after a substandard May (3.97 ERA), Zhao has turned up the heat, throwing 5 shutouts in the last two months (including 4 in August alone) to bring his ERA down to a miniscule 1.69 – the best mark outside of Yan that Daly City has ever seen.  Kyle Katarn of the Apple Septic Tanks is far behind at 2.31.
Shinto-World League: The dominating starter of the SWL, Canon’s Justin Ramage has dominated his league with a 2.27 ERA, far ahead of #2 Augusto Figueroa (2.96 ERA) and #3 Michael Contreras (3.28 ERA).

Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP)
Universe League: It shouldn’t be any surprise that Nathan Yan once again dominates this category with an other-worldly 0.51 WHIP.  What may surprise everyone else, however, is rookie pitcher and teammate Sean Wade at #2 on the list, with an impressive 0.95 WHIP.  Terrence Zhao finishes out the all-Daly City sweep with a 0.97 WHIP, although Microsoft’s Kernel Tyranus at 0.99 and Apple’s Kyle Katarn at 0.99 are within biting distance.
Shinto-World League: Canon’s Justin Ramage holds a commanding lead in this category, with a 0.98 WHIP, perhaps the only dominating number in the SWL, where Tokyo’s duo #2 Michael Contreras has a 1.10 WHIP and #3 Willard Weiler has a 1.13 WHIP.

Wins
Universe League: Despite all the ERA and WHIP numbers, perhaps nothing defines the league’s best pitcher as much as wins.  That said, Nathan Yan currently dominates with a league-high 24 wins, while the aces of the Galactica Division – Apple’s Kyle Katarn, Microsoft’s Kernel Tyranus, and Daly City’s Terrence Zhao – are all tied with 18 wins apiece, although it should be noted that with DC’s 6-man rotation, both Zhao and Yan have starts less than the other starters.  Europe ace Wilfredo Raposa and Daly City rookie Sean Wade, at 16 wins each, shouldn’t be discounted either.
Shinto-World League: Like Yan in the UL, Justin Ramage of Canon dominates with 22 wins, leaving 2^nd place Trent Barnes of Nikon 2^nd place at 18 wins.  Tokyo’s Michael Contreras and Pentax’s Augusto Figueroa are tied for 3^rd with 17 wins apiece.

Strikeouts
Universe League: It should be no surprise that Nathan Yan absolutely dominates here – with 368 K’s he’s more than 100 strikeouts ahead of 2^nd place Robert Kroger, Mozilla’s ace pitcher, who has 231.  Yan also looks to break the strikeout record – he’s on pace for 458, which would break his old record of 444, set in 2003.  Apple’s Kyle Katarn and Europe’s Wilfredo Raposa have 222 and 221 K’s, respectively.
Shinto-World League: Justin Ramage once again dominates here, with 234 K’s, well ahead of Venice starter Gerald Freeman at 221.  Las Vegas’ Joseph Moser, who also leads the league in walks, is tied with Augusto Figueroa in 3^rd place with 198 K’s each.

Strikeouts per 9 Innings
Universe League: Nathan Yan dominates with a career high 14.9 K’s per 9, well ahead of teammate Josiah Leong at 11.5 K’s per 9 and Robert Kroger at 10.6.
Shinto-World League: Las Vegas’ Joseph Moser barely edges out Justin Rammage, with 9.3 K’s per 9 to Ramage’s 8.9.  Gerald Freeman is at #3 with 8.7.

Quality Starts
Universe League: Perhaps the model stat for consistency, Nathan Yan leads this category with 25 out of 26 starts being quality starts.  Terrence Zhao is not far behind, with 23 of 25 starts behind quality starts.  Kyle Katarn is 3^rd with 22 of 28 quality starts, although percentage-wise it’s rookie Sean Wade, with 20 quality starts out of 24 starts.
Shinto-World League: In the SWL, Justin Ramage leads with 24 of 30 quality starts.  Augusto Figueroa, Michael Conteras, and Willard Weiler are all in a pack behid him, with 21-20 quality starts and 69-72% quality start percentage.

Complete Games
Universe League: Moving into the measures of pitcher domination, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Nathan Yan currently leads with 19 complete games.  Europe ace Wilfredo Raposa and Microsoft’s Kernel Tyranus are 2^nd at 12 complete games each.
Shinto-World League: Surprisingly, this is one category where Canon’s Justin Ramage and Nikon’s Trent Barnes are neck-and-neck, with 11 complete games each.  Pentax’s Augusto Figueroa, as well as teammate Reinaldo Valdejuli and Tokyo starter Willard Weiler are tied for 3^rd with 10 complete games each.

Shutouts
Universe League: Separating dominance even further, we enter into the realm of shutouts, where it’s no surprise that Nathan Yan leads with 10 of them.  Terrence Zhao, hot off of his 5 consecutive shutout stretch, a streak of unimaginable dominance, is in 2^nd with 7 shutouts.  The who’s who of UL pitching follows next with Kernel Tyranus, Kyle Katarn, and Wilfredo Raposa, who each have 4 shutouts.
Shinto-World League: One tier below Zhao and another tier below Yan, Justin Ramage is in his own category at 5 shutouts, just ahead of teammate Robert Bone who has 4, although Bone has put himself out with an injury for the next 5 weeks (essentially until the playoffs).  Tokyo’s Pete Fajardo and Nikon’s Josue Huerta have 3 each.

Saves
Universe League: Apple’s Padme Amidala and Microsoft’s Richard Pendergast are neck-and-neck at the top of the league, with 35 and 34 saves each, although Amidala has been a far far better pitcher (2.08 ERA vs. 3.20 for Pendergast).  The two of them appear to be the only starters close to the 40-save mark.  A slew of closers, including United States’ John Galey, Europe’s Davor Avila, and Daly City’s Zubeda Khan have between 26-27 saves.
Shinto-World League: Paris’ Garfield Yocum leads with 31 saves, followed by Pentax’s Gonzalo Bolanos with 28, and Nikon’s William Brunetti with 27.

That’s it for the league summary.  Stay tuned for the Daly City team log next, chronicling the headlines of the past two months, including:

Rookie Wade’s second-half meltdown!
Zhao’s 5-shutout domination!
Pardo’s magic finally runs out!
Yamamoto’s July – worst month ever?!
Injury plague – Lew, Liu, Cubilo, and now Leong?!
Cubilo’s (possibly Ortiz’s?) march to the steals record
Yan setting the strikeout record – again!?
Wong, Puzon, Liu, Lew, Lau? – who will win the HR crown?

We’ve reached the all-star break at the end of June, and with that the mid-point of the season.  81 of 162 games have been played, and if anything the league is packed even closer together.  At the end of May, three teams were playing in the .200s, far away from contention.  Now, all teams are at least above .300, and only two teams, the .765 Daly City Montis and the .630 Canon Image-Stabilizers have commanding, >.600 records. 

After an incredible 24-4, .857 start, the still-dominant Daly City Montis have cooled down a bit, with a current record of 62-19, .765 that still leads the division by 15 games.  They had a nearly disastrous May however, losing a series of games and going 19-8, .700, with 6 of those losses being crushing 1-run defeats.   The rest of the division is falling further and further behind – all seems hopeless for the slugging Microsoft Longhorns and the small-market Mozilla Firefoxes.  The Apple Septic Tanks are hanging on to what looks like a sure wildcard slot – at 47-34, .580, they’re the second-best team in the Universe League and 6 games in the wildcard lead, despite being pummeled by Daly City (2-9) and arch-rival Microsoft (4-8). 

Elsewhere in the Universe League, the Terran Division has become a two-team race between the Caribbean Pirates and the surprisingly competitive Europe Cricketeers.  The Cricketeers, not expected to be competitive this year in baseball-starved Europe, have played at a fairly ordinary level, going 42-39, .519, which is good enough for a division that’s otherwise entirely below average.  The Caribbean Pirates, barely functioning as a team, have willed their way to a game behind Europe with their few superstars, 1B Luis Devitt (.282-.341-.541, with 61 RBIs and 47 Runs) and 2B Mike Friedel (.281-.409-.577 with 54 RBIs and 55 Runs) and David Barnett, who at 11-3 is tied for 2^nd in the league for Wins. 

The biggest waste of talent might just go to Asia’s duo of hitters, Alex Quiros (.306-.380-.625, including a league-leading 24 HR and 67 RBI) and Tony Clark (.307-.391-.588), arguably the two best hitters in the Universe League.  Despite this huge production, the rest of the team has been abysmal, 13^th (of 16) in runs scored, and 15^th in the number of runs allowed, resulting in a .333 record, the worst of any team in the majors.  Both players are just entering their primes, Quiros at 27 and Clark at 28, and with the 3^rd ranked minor-league system in the baseball world, Asia could be coming on strong in future years.

In the other league, the Shinto-World league, Canon and Tokyo have begun to pull away as powerhouses in their respective divisions.  In the World Cities division, the Tokyo Samurai have a commanding 8-game lead with a 48-33, .593 record.  Despite leading the league in homeruns, they’ve got one of the worst offenses in the league, but they’ve been put ahead by a dominating pitching staff that is second only to Canon in the Shinto-World league.  In terms of hitting, star hitter (and homerun leader) Richard Peterson has provided all of it, going .332-.417-.671 which puts him at #2 in terms of OPS.  Tokyo’s dominant pitching has been their trump card, however.  They’ve got four starters with sub-4.00 ERAs, and solid although not dominant aces in Willard Weiler (3.31 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 8.15 K/9), and Michael Contreras (3.32 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 5.27 K/9). 

Good as Tokyo has been, they haven’t been nearly as dominating as the Canon Image Stabilizers, who are tops in both hitting and pitching.  They’ve got two 50-run men in catcher Francis Cote and 3B Celes Lazar, and they’ve got superstar Gates Skywalker (.332-.453-.714) to drive them in, with 64 RBI and 61 Runs of his own.  Their pitching is perhaps even more dominant than Tokyo’s, with leading Triple Crown candidate Justin Ramage (13-1, tops in the league, with a 2.15 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 9.11 K/9) and sub-4.00 ERA on their entire rotation. 

Outside of the two dominating division leaders, the rest of the field has been average, with only the Sony SuperSteady Shots, at 28-53, .346 qualifying as clear losers.  The strong Nikon Vibration Reducers, who were neck-and-neck with Canon at the start of the season, have fallen dramatically to a 41-40 record, due mostly to an utter June collapse, where they went 6-19.  Up to that point, they had been at 35-21, .625, right up with Canon.  What happened to Nikon?  The team’s superstar hitter, CF Richard Eager, played as well as ever, going .400-.495-.656.  Other key hitters completely collapsed however.  Fellow RBI-man catcher Magglio Colunga went from being a .335-.368-.528 type of hitter to hitting .196-.250-.250, driving in a measly 3 runs.  Similarly 2B oseph Harmon plummeted from an OBP of .396 in May to .283 in June, more than having his Runs from 26 to 10.  The pitching staff also imploded – ace Trent Barnes, 9-3 with a 2.69 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, went 0-5 with a horrendous 5.89 ERA and 1.49 WHIP.  A 6-game winner in May, Josue Huerta went 1-4 in June with an 8.49 ERA and 2.01 WHIP. 

As an individual team, Daly City has been up-and-down, and has suffered some devastating losses.  The key culprits have been a suspect bullpen, where closer Zubeda Khan and setup woman Alvina Chu lead the league with 5 blown saves each (Alvina somehow managing a 2.00 ERA and 1.03 WHIP out of all of this, while sniping 7 wins).  It’s been a cause of ire for Josiah Leong, Terrence Zhao, and Miguel Pardo, all of whom have had multiple wins lost because of the bullpen.  The biggest loss of all has been star first baseman Derek Lew however.  On May 22^nd Derek was injured with a fractured knee while running the basepaths, putting him out of commission for 7 weeks – he missed the rest of May and all of June, and still has a week on the disabled list to go before making his return.  At the time he was leading the league in RBIs, and Daly City was thought to be at a severe disadvantage without their top slugger.  Surprisingly however, key hitters have stepped in to buoy the team in his absence, including a continued strong season by rookie Rudy Puzon and second-year rightfielder Jason Liu, who has now taken a firm hold on the leftfield position (with Jonathan Chee moving to DH, and Puzon moving to 1^st base for the injured Lew). 

Sam Lau, catcher: After starting off decently, but without much power or the high OBP we’ve come to expect, Lau has continually bettered himself each month.  He’s now hitting at a .277-.382-.438 level, well in line with his career numbers, and good enough to get him onto the Universe League all-star team as the backup catcher. 

Tina Quach, backup catcher: After a horrible start in April, Quach didn’t fare any better in May – she managed a feeble .172-.351-.207 line for the month.  She started to come around in June, playing 11 games and achieving a .311-.319-.356 record, good enough to make for a decent singles hitter, but not much else.  She’s been quite a disappointment thus far this season, not achieving any of the good OBP numbers her first part-time season promised, and her defense at catcher has been suspect at well. 

Derek Lew, 1^st baseman: After winning player of the month in April, Lew bottomed out before eventually getting injured in late May – over the 20 games he played, he went .226-.247-.417, although still somehow managed to drive in 16 RBIs.  The injury also snapped Derek’s continuous streak of 372 consecutive starts.  With a return next week, Lew hopes to jump back into form. 

Rudy Puzon, 1^st baseman: Taking over the reins of 1^st base and power slugger in the wake of Derek’s injury, the rookie sensation hasn’t failed to disappoint – he hammered in 24 RBI in May, and hasn’t let up with his numbers.  He went .244-.361-.500 in May and then .318-.414-.576 in June, and right now he’s leading the team in both RBI (61) and Runs (58), as well as homeruns (with 20).  He’ll likely go back to being the team’s regular DH once Lew comes back. 

Cristian Ortiz, 2^nd baseman: Ortiz started to fall in May, going .237-.330-.392, and continually thwarting the team’s rallies from the bottom of the order.  He picked up the pace in June though, where he went .309-.330-.489.  He’s also been piling up the steals, and is currently #3 in the league with 24. 

Joey Wong, 3^rd baseman: Wong seemed to lose his way a little bit in May, when he went “only” .310-.383-.487.  He jumped right back into form, however, in June, going .360-.417-.570, and climbing right back to the top of the leaderboard for AVG.  Despite being the team’s top hitter he still lags behind in run production, with only 53 RBIs to his credit. 

Joanna Maung, backup 3^rd basewoman: After a relatively small role in April, Maung picked up the at bats in May and June, after injuries and a minor slump by 3^rd baseman Joey Wong.  At the moment she’s batting a solid .318-.393-.430, and for a slow, part-time hitter has picked up a good 19 RBI and 23 Runs in only 107 At Bats.  Maung has also made big strides defensively – she’s now a very competent 61 (of 100) at 3B, and has improved to 46 in rightfield. 

Henry Nghe, Shortstop: Despite his average ratings, the shortstop has continued to impress, and only gets better every month.  Nghe went .340-.387-.505 in May, and turned in an even more impressive .376-.427-.554 June – he’s clipping Joey Wong’s heels in both AVG and OBP, and his slugging numbers are good too.  He leads the team (and league) with 27 doubles, and his 57 RBIs and 55 runs are great as well. 

Jonathan Chee, Designated Hitter: After a horrible April start, Jonathan Chee is really coming along as a hitter.  He batted .324 and .297 in May and June, respectively, but even more impressively has brought his OBP up to .430, the best on the team.  Hitting in the #2 spot, he’s scored his share of runs, and has found his niche on the team by getting on base and keeping rallies going, even if by getting hit by pitches (with 24 hit-by-pitches, he far and away leads the league).  Chee has also piggy-backed 11 steals off of Aubrey Cubilo double-steals, good for 3^rd on the team, despite having a 10 running speed and 5 stealing ability rating (out of 100). 

Jason Liu, Leftfielder: After an ambiguous April start, Jason Liu has blossomed as a hitter – he’s continued to hammer in the hits and get on base, bringing him up to .309-.353-.566.  Perhaps most important, he’s been consistently good, without any significant lulls in any aspect of his game.  For April, May, and June respectively, Liu has gone .286-.319-.583, .314-.372-.510, -326-.363-.616. 

Aubrey Cubilo, Centerfielder: Cubilo has continued her strong play throughout the season – she’s currently at .302-.332-.399 as the team’s leadoff hitter.  While her OBP isn’t the strongest on the team, nor her slugging percentage the best, she’s made up by stealing 48 bases, putting her on pace for a record 96 on the season.  Adding in steals to her total bases would give Cubilo 201, which would be tops in the league. 

Francis Chen, Rightfielder: Francis has continued to fail throughout the season.  Despite having numerous chances, he’s failed completely to show any glimmers of his OBP and SLG powers.  His current line is .176-.301-.399, and he’s continued to play abysmally.  It’s a troubling sign, as Chen seems to have stagnated in his development at the young age of 16 – perhaps he’s in need of a trip down to AAA. 

Tiffany Ho, backup Outfielder: Playing in a limited role, Ho hasn’t had much of a notable season – her current line is .248-.280-.327, without any notable improvement.  She had a somewhat promising .290-.324-.387 May, but dipped right back down to a .212-.257-.303 June right after that.  She seems to have road troubles, as her home/road splits are impressive: .304-.339-.411 at home, and .178-.208-.222 on the road. 

Nathan Yan, #1 Starting Pitcher: After a stellar 5-0 April, Yan had somewhat of a shaky and very mortal May.  He went 3-2 over 5 starts, and despite a 0.63 WHIP had a 2.41 ERA and failed to ever shut out a team.  He rebounded right back with an amazing June however – over 5 starts he went 5-0, completing all 5 games and shutting out 3 of them, all while striking out 79 batters (15.8 K/9) and achieving a 0.36 WHIP and a 0.40 ERA.  He’s far-and-away the league’s triple crown leader, with a 1.34 ERA, 13 wins, and 214 strikeouts, while also leading with 15.0 K/9 and a 0.50 WHIP. 

Josiah Leong, #2 Starting Pitcher: It’s been a rough stretch for #2 pitcher Josiah Leong.  After a shaky April, Leong appeared to be dominating May.  Even with a few managerial slip-ups, he went 3-1 in 5 starts, putting up a 2.52 ERA and impressive 0.86 WHIP, the kind of lights-out Josiah Leong pitching that the team’s been waiting for.  Hit by a whole bunch of blown relief appearances by the bullpen, however, and a strained back injury, Josiah’s June numbers suffered, as he went 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA and 1.58 WHIP.  He starts out July injury-free however, and can hopefully regaini his dominating May form.  For the season Josiah is at a 3.86 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, and is also dominating the league with 11.1 K/9, good for 2^nd in the league. 

Terrence Zhao, #3 Starting Pitcher: Terrence Zhao has perhaps been the most hard-lucked of the Daly City pitchers.  Throughout May he had a number of botched wins, with his 7 Runners Left that Scored attest to (that’s 7 runners that subsequent relievers allowed to score).  He also lost a complete game 0-1 to start out June.  Somehow, Zhao has still survived with a 10-2 record and a 2.19 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, and is on the cusp of breaking into the leaderboard with his 125 K’s in 111 innings (that’s 10.1 K/9). 

Samantha Chin, #4 Starting Pitcher: After a shaky shaky 7.33 ERA start to her career, Chin has settled down effectively.  She was dominant in May with a 3-1 record and a 2.57 ERA, and despite an unlucky June with a 4.44 ERA, she managed only a 0.90 WHIP, a sign of good things to come.  For the season she’s 5-1, with a 4.59 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP, not bad at all for a rookie. 

Sean Wade, #5 Starting Pitcher: His dominant 5-0 April was a good indicator of just how good the rookie could be.  Although he doesn’t have the lights-out power dominance of his fellow starters, Wade has quietly worked himself up to a 11-3 record, tied for 2^nd in the league, and an 0.81 WHIP and 2.12 ERA which are unmatched outside of Daly City. 

Miguel Pardo, #6 Starting Pitcher: Critics thought the magic had to run out sooner or later for the dominating Pardo.  After an outstanding 1.08 ERA start, Pardo has cooled a bit.  His 4.43 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in May were along the lines of his career numbers, but he still could have won all 3 of his starts if it wasn’t for the bullpen.  He surprised everyone however by coming right back with a 2.93 ERA, 1.04 WHIP June, and for the season his line stands at an impressive 5-0, 2.67 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. 

Alfred Vong, Long Reliever: The talented rookie has continued to perform well.  Over 31 1/3 innings he’s pitched with a 2.30 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, including substituting in and pitching for 7 1/3 innings (giving up only 1 run) in a long appearance that he won.  He’s done outstanding as a reliever, although with the strong play of everyone else it doesn’t look like he’ll have a chance to move into the rotation anytime soon.  Nevertheless, he’ll continue to be a strong presence that’s somewhat sorely needed in the shaky bullpen, having never blown a save and not allowing any of his 8 inherited runners to score (quite a feat). 

Helen Yamamoto, Mopup Reliever: The rookie mopup reliever has had a tumultuous rookie season.  After an abysmal start, where she had a 12.27 ERA and 2.45 WHIP in April, she went on to an even more horrendous 18.00 ERA and 4.00 WHIP in May.  After a stint on the DL though, she came back and has pitched 6 1/3 solid shutout innings so far, with a 0.95 WHIP. 

Katie Clayton, Mopup Reliever: Katie Clayton has been average, without any exceptional moments of brilliance.  She racked up a 6.35 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 5 2/3 innings in May, and then put up a 4.77 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in June. 

Angel Poon, Middle Reliever: A prime culprit in Daly City’s shady bullpen, Angel Poon has so far allowed 3 of her 9 inherited runners to score and blown 2 saves.  Her ERAs of 3.24 and 1.29 in May and June have been fine, as has her 1.00 WHIP in June.  Her shaky 1.56 WHIP played a big role in several relief meltdowns, something which doesn’t show on her ERA but has hurt the confidence in her as a surefire go-to reliever. 

Alvina Chu, Setup Reliever: Alvina, Alvina.  Despite a glamorous 2.00 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, and an impressive 7-1 record, Chu’s success has come at the cost of 3 of 7 inherited runners scoring, and a league-leading 5 blown saves.  Despite her good numbers, the rotation has been clamoring for a more effective bullpen solution, something which only rookie long reliever Alfred Vong has satisfied. 

Zubeda Khan, Closer: So dominant in April, the once-promising Zubeda Khan has fallen far and hard since then.  Her 6.52 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in May only continued into June, where she had a 7.72 ERA and 1.71 WHIP, and along the way allowed 3 of 9 inherited runners to score and tied the league lead with 5 blown saves.  She’ll finish out the rest of the season as closer, but it appears as if once again Daly City will be in search of a new solution in the off season. 

In minor league news, the AAA Brisbane Warriors are dominating the league with a 75-6, .926 record.  It’s led by dominating sluggers Norman Ho, Desiree Tienturier, and Jean Paredes, all with slugging percentages over 1.000.  Lester Tam is trying to play the AA Panorama Pirates all by himself, hitting .341-.388-.451 and driving the one-man team to a .383 record, tied for last in the league with Mozilla’s AA.  The only likely callups this season seem to be forgotten backup 2B Kelvin Chang and Lester Tam, but promising starting pitcher W. Esguerra, ranked as the #1 prospect in baseball, looks to be only a year away from joining the major league team in 2006…

It’s May the 1st, 2005, and the end of the first month of the season.  The league is off to an exhilarating start in its inaugural season.  Only a month in, it’s anybody’s game, but the significant players and trends have begun to establish themselves.

In the Shinto-World League, the race is hot in both of its four-team divisions, the Photomaker and World Cities divisions.  The Canon Image Stabilizers, led by both batter of the month Gates Skywalker and pitcher of the month Justin Ramage, have a tenacious 1-game hold on the division lead with a 16 wins and 12 losses, and a .571 record.  They’ve dropped 7 of their last 11, however, which has allowed the surging Nikon Vibration Reducers, who have won 8 of their last 11, to close in.  The Pentax Shake Reducers, meanwhile, have played steadily and are tied with Nikon for second place.  The biggest loser has been the Sony SuperSteady Shots, who despite a massive budget are at 8-20, .286 have by far the worst record of any team in the league (the next are the Paris Forfeiters at 13-15, .464.

The World Cities division is a tight race, with Tokyo leading by only a game, and Las Vegas, Venice, and Paris all within 3 games of the lead.

Meanwhile in the Universe League, the winners and losers so far have been more easily defined.

The Terran Division, consisting of the Caribbean Pirates, Europe Cricketeers, United States Patriots, and Asia Giants, has settled into place with the Caribbean and Europe at the top, the Pirates at 16-12 leading by 1 game.  As expected, Asia sits at the bottom of the league (along with the Mozilla Firefoxes) at 7-21, 2.50.  A disappointing surprise, however, has been the United States, who despite having some huge playmakers (catcher Andrew Amey and third baseman Juan Truex both being five-star hitters) have not delivered on the pitching end, with a 6.04 team ERA that is last in the league.

Things are most interesting on the Galactica Division.  Daly City has once again dominated, with a 24-4, .857 record.  The deep-pocketed Microsoft Longhorns are at 14-14, an even .500, while the Mozilla Firefoxes have plunged to 7-21.  The real story so far has been the Apple Septic Tanks, a team expected to be at the bottom of the standings, but which has somehow managed to achieve an 18-10, .643 record, putting them second-place in the division, and the second-best team in the entire league, all this while in the same division as the Daly City Montis and having lost all four games against them.  They’ve been buoyed by a consistent pitching staff, with a rotation led by Kyle Katarn (4-1, 3.04 ERA, 1.03 WHIP) and Wedge Antilles (5-0, 3.53 ERA, 1.22 WHIP), two solid, though not dominating, aces.

The Daly City team has been cruising along, despite some agonizingly close losses.  Of its four losses on the year, three were by a single run, and the other was by two runs.  In addition, three of those losses were starts by Josiah Leong, in which he left the game in the lead, only to have it blown and then lost by the reliever.

Despite the somewhat shaky bullpen, the team has otherwise been solid, leading the league in both pitching and hitting, and had both pitcher and hitter of the month, Nathan Yan and Derek Lew, respectively.

Sam Lau, Catcher: Lau has been steady at the catcher position, playing 26 of the team’s 28 games so far.  He leads the league in runners thrown out percentage, throwing out 7 of 13 runners, and has been solid on defense.  Where he’s lacking, though, has been of defense – with a .287-.339-.386 line, he’s far below his career numbers for on-base percentage and slugging.  Part of this may have to do with his staggering home and road game splits: At home, he’s hitting .348-.412-.543, while away he’s been an extremely disappointing .236-.274-.255.  Still, he’s doing well, and with backup Tina Quach floundering, looks to be secure at his position.

Tina Quach, Backup Catcher: Despite showing a lot of promise the year before, Quach has been disappointing so far, going .167-.286-.333 in only 5 games, although she’s been coming around recently (all her 3 hits in the past two games).  The rest of the backups have been slightly disappointing however, especially in the outfield, so she’ll find continue to find playing time.

Derek Lew, First Baseman: Derek had an astounding April, and in the wake of the team’s 2004 offseason turnover, has emerged as a dominant power hitter to fill in the voids left by the departures of Ho and Tienturier.  Lew batted .361-.370-.648 in April, setting himself up for a career year.  Most notably, however, Lew has scored 30 runs and driven in 30 RBIs batting in the #5 slot, leading the league in both categories, which was perhaps the largest contributing factor in winning the Batter of the Month award.

Rudy Puzon, Designated Hitter: An extremely pleasant surprise from the rookie designated hitter.  Puzon has played in 27 of the team’s 28 games, and in that span has managed to rack up a .325-.391-.588 line, leading the team with 8 HRs while usually batting in the #3 slot.  He is also second on the team in both runs and RBIs, and has been exceptional in pressure situations – in close/late situations, Puzon has batted .462-.529-1.154, and in scoring situations he’s hit .400-.406-..800.  With an extremely impressive April, Puzon seems to have cemented a hold as the team’s regular designated hitter.

Cristian Ortiz, Second Baseman: Cristian Ortiz, brought in as a Cesar Izturis-type defensive middle infielder, Ortiz has surprised with decent offensive.  His line of .289-.315-.488 is decent, and he is surprisingly tied for second on the team with 7 HRs.  Defensively, Ortiz has been stellar, converting all 111 of his total chances, and might very well win the defensive second baseman of the year.  Ortiz has also been fairly speedy on the basepaths, stealing 10 bases (caught once), which places him at #3 in the league.

Henry Nghe, Shortstop: Although he’s been fading for the past several weeks, Henry Nghe has been one of the better hitters on the team, with a .324-.389-.520 April line, and at one time hitting well over .500 AVG.  Lately however, Nghe hasn’t been doing so well – over the past two weeks he’s been hitting at an anemic .226-.324-.387, but without any other player who as a backup shortstop, Nghe has to weather through his slump and hope he returns to form.  On defense, which was his primary intent, Nghe has been iffy, committing 4 errors.

Joey Wong, Third Baseman: The other remaining member of Daly City’s previous big four hitters, Wong has been hitting at a good clip so far, hitting .382-.440-.600, continuing a steady improvement from year to year.  Along with Lew, he anchors the team at the core of the Daly City lineup.  Where Wong has been disappointing, however, is in his largest role as run producer and scorer.  His overall numbers are nice, but for the entire month Wong has a pedestrian 21 runs and 15 RBIs to show for it.  Hitting behind the unexpected power hitter Rudy Puzon, and surprise RBI numbers from leadoff hitters like Ortiz, Cubilo, and Lau (all of whom have hit more RBIs than Wong), Wong has had his RBI numbers sniped, although the case isn’t so different from when he was hitting in the #5 slot behind huge run-drivers Aubrey Cubilo, Derek Lew, Desireé Tienturier, and Norman Ho in 2003 and 2004, seasons in which he still scored a gaudy 157 and 134 RBIs, respectively.  The problem has been in the clutch, where Wong has slugged only .438 with runners in scoring position, and has hit an atrocious .143-.333-.214 in close/late situations.  While surprise performances from other hitters have maintained the Daly City machine so far, the offense will ultimately come to rely on him as one of its centerpieces, and Wong must pick up the pace in run scoring positions.

Joanna Maung, Backup Saung-gah-baseman: The career pinch hit extraordinaire has stepped up into a part-time starting role, starting 6 games (she’s yet to pinch hit), taking on starts at third base, right field, and designated hitter.  So far she’s hit .364-.400-.364, and most notably has hit .571-.556-.571 in scoring positions, driving in 5 runs in only 7 at bats.  Defensively, she’s been a liability, so a full-time starting gig at any other position but designated hitter is unlikely barring an injury, but filling in so far she’s been fairly good at getting on base – perhaps with a little more work on defense she could grow into a starting position somewhere.

Jonathan Chee, Leftfielder: Many anxiously awaited to see what form The Cheet of 2005 would take – the starting leftfielder of 2003 with a .278-.363-.366 line, or the part time hitter who only managed .219-.344-.303 in 2004.  The answer so far has been the latter – Chee has managed only 8 games, and in that span has hit .226-.314-.387 (although amusingly his OBP numbers come from not his 1 walk but his 3 hit-by-pitches).  He’s been in-and-out of the starting leftfield position, swapping places with Joanna Maung, Tiffany Ho, Jason Liu, and Francis Chen between left and right field.  Chee looked as if he had really turned a corner in spring training, showing glimpses of the capabilities of a .300+ contact hitter and on-base machine, but at the moment he stands at significant risk of losing the starting job entirely if the other players continue stronger play.

Aubrey Cubilo, Centerfielder: Cubilo has picked up right where she left off in 2004 – she’s hitting for a high average (.311, with a minimal OBP (.336) and SLG (.429), but stealing bases (14 steals and 0 caught stealing) and inexplicably driving in runs (19 runs, many of them from the #9 slot) like crazy.  Defensively she’s been a constant highlight reel, and her 3 assists are second in the league.  She’s been trading places with Ortiz between the #1 and #9 slots, but with more consistency in her hitting, she might more or less solidify herself at #1.

Francis Chen, Rightfielder: An enigma of wanton flailing, unfulfilled on-base potential, and raw power, Francis Chen has somewhat failed expectations.  At .210-.333-.419, he hasn’t been hitting well at all and has failed to even produce the gaudy power numbers that made him so enticing.  His problems mostly seem to be at home – in away games, he’s hit .227-.346-.523, which are exactly the kind of numbers expected.  Chee may be the first outfielder to go, but Chen needs stronger play and consistency, especially on the power end, to achieve his full potential.

Jason Liu, Leftfielder: The power hitter with the enormous potential has found a vacancy in leftfield left by Jonathan Chee’s weak play, and has seized upon it.  Though he’s played in only 20 games this season, Liu has amassed a .286-.319-.583 line, hitting 6 HR and 18 RBIs with 20 Runs in only 84 at bats.  While he hasn’t sealed himself as a starter yet, Liu is increasingly lookingly like the most consistent of all the potential corner outfielders, and may play out the entire or majority of the season as a starting player, as he did in 2004 when he went .323-.409-.702 and hit 39 HR in only 433 at bats.

Tiffany Ho, Backup Rightfielder: The rookie Tiffany, playing sparingly (9 games and 38 plate appearances) over the month, has amassed a meek .243-.263-.297 line, although one not too far away from where the Daly City outfielders have been playing.  She’s been doing well on the road, going .300-.333-.400 – with the continued weak play of Chee and Chen, and spot starts at 2B and SS where she’s the only other available fielder, she could still see significant playing time and get the experience she needs.

Nathan Yan, #1 Starting Pitcher: The dominating ace Yan has still been dominating in this first month, although he’s seemed a bit more mortal as of late.  He started out the season with an other-worldly 10-inning, 1-hit shutout, going the distance for a 2-0 extra inning complete game.  He’s also had two other shutouts, a complete game 1-hitter and another 2-hiiter.  In between however, Yan has been hit for 3 runs in 7 innings twice, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks in the first and giving up a huge 8 hits and 1 walk in the second.  He’s still 5-0 in 5 starts, and with a league-leading 1.29 ERA, 0.52 WHIP, and 14.4 K’s per 9 Innings won the pitcher of the year award, but with two multi-run games against him, he’s looking a bit more shaky than usual.

Josiah Leong, #2 Starting Pitcher: The forever inconsistent Josiah Leong suffered an agonizing April.  With a 1.26 WHIP, and a 5.12 ERA, Leong managed to escape with a 1-1 record, but has played brilliantly in several games only to lose the lead late with blown leads by relief pitchers, something which happened in all four of his non-wins.  With a little bit more luck, Leong could easily be 5-0 with a 3ish ERA, and as the bullpen settles down he may just achieve that in the following months.

Terrence Zhao, #3 Starting Pitcher: Zhao continues his rapid improvement – he’s been a deceivingly dominant 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA in April, good for 2^nd in the league.  His WHIP, however, is a shaky 1.20, and looking at his game logs show cause for concern – low runs, but with a lot of luck given the large number of hits and walks given up.

Samantha Chin, #4 Starting Pitcher: The rookie starter has disappointed immensely in her first month – she’s somehow escaped with a 1-0 record, but her 1.37 WHIP is scary, and her 7.33 ERA is downright frightening.  The number of K’s per inning – a good 29 K’s in only 27 innings show some promise – she might fall back to #6 for now, but has the potential to become very good.

Sean Wade, #5 Starting Pitcher: The other 5-0 pitcher on the team surprisingly doesn’t come from the lights-out stuff of Josiah Leong, Terrence Zhao, or even the promising rookie Chin, but from her fellow rookie starter Wade, he’s been nothing but consistent.  He’s racked up a 2.04 ERA, and an even more surprising 0.63 WHIP, by far the second-best in the league.  With his pinpoint accuracy, Wade as the reserved and deceptively subdued starter could become the second-most dominant pitcher in the league, in exactly the opposite fashion as #1 pitcher Nathan Yan.

Miguel Pardo, #6 Starting Pitcher: With only 3 starts on the season, Miguel Pardo has been surprisingly lights-out – he has the lowest ERA and nearly the lowest WHIP of any pitcher in the league, if only he had enough innings – an ERA of 1.08 and a WHIP of 0.76.  The #6 spot starter has found himself to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the league, something that none of his pitching ratings indicate.  Whether his dominance, or even competent pitching, continues will be seen, but for right now Pardo is showing huge promise to break out and achieve the consistency that his fleetingly brilliant career has lacked so far.

Alving Vong, Long Reliever: Vong has pitched three games and 8 1/3 innings so far, amassing a decent 3.24 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.  He’s showing good promise, and with a 70 endurance rating is the team’s best solution at long relief.  With Pardo’s surprising performances, Vong looks to stay in the bullpen, at least for this season.

Katie Clayton, Mopup Reliever: Used sparingly, Clayton has done decently in her 5 2/3 innings, pitching with a better-than-average 4.77 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, and as always managing to not lose a game.

Helen Yamamoto, Mopup Reliever: The rookie Yamamoto has been horrible so far, pitching only 3 2/3 innings with a 12.27 ERA and 2.45 WHIP.  In her 4^th appearance she went out with an injury, a strained rotator cuff muscle that will sideline her for 2-3 weeks.

Angel Poon, Middle Reliever: In 4 games so far, Poon has pitched 9 1/3 innings with a 4.82 ERA and an impressive 0.86 WHIP.  She’s still one of the more reliable relievers in the bullpen, and is splitting the time fairly evenly with setup reliever Alvina Chu.

Alvina Chu, Setup Reliever: The workhorse of the Daly City bullpen, Chu has pitched 13 innings in 6 appearances.  She’s also been at the center of the biggest Daly City drama – she’s blown two saves and has been behind a large number of the starters’, particularly Josiah Leong’s, no-decisions.  While her ERA, at 2.77, is decent, her 1.38 WHIP and general inconsistency, has been cause for worry.

Zubeda Khan, Closer: The rookie closer has been consistently good in her first month – through 9 appearances she’s recorded 5 saves and 1 win, blowing a save.  Her numbers have been stellar however – 0.87 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP, with her only blown save going to the only run she’s given up, in a game in which she went on to later win.  She’s the most consistent closer Daly City has had in awhile, and might finally be the regular closer that the team’s been looking for.

The great return of Monti Bizzaro Baseball.

It’s April 1st, 2005, the start of a brand new season, the third in proffesional baseball by the home-grown team of the Daly City Montis. A sense of deja vu pervades the warming spring air.

No it’s not really deja vu – I inadvertently corrupted the original league file, but thankfully had a backup in hand from the start of the season. Unfortunately, all the stats and games were lost, but starting from scratch gives us a whole new ballgame with regards to the players involved.

As my apathy and lack of time has caused this league to now fall 2 years behind, the 2005 season will be sped through, followed by a slightly accelerated 2006 season. By 2007, we should be back on track, and running games in real-time.

So what’s in store this season for the venerable Daly City Montis?

Gone are some of the older stalwarts – aces like Fong and the heavy hitters like Tienturier and Ho have been retired to AAA, making room for a whole slew of new rookies.

Catcher: Sam Lau The old stalwart at the catcher position, Sam Lau will be the primary catcher coming into this season. He played almost full-time in the inaugural 2003 season, starting 155 of 162 games at catcher, while he was spelled by backup catcher Tina Quach for a significant amount of time last season, playing in only 110 games. He’s put up fairly typical batting averages (.264 career average) and slugging percentages (.444 career), but provides a very decent on-base percentage (.372), especially at his position. His real assett, however, has always been his defense – he’s the top-rated catcher in both fielding and throwing arm, and is significantly more capable defensively than any other player on the team.

Backup Catcher: Tina Quach Serving as the primary backup catcher, Quach joined the team in 2004, filling in a utility role at catcher and various other positions, mostly in the outfield. Although lacking in power (just 3 homeruns in 281 at bats), she hit for a .299-.373-.409 AVG-OBP-SLG in 78 games last year. Playing a wide range of positions at catcher, 1st base, and all three outfield positions, she looks to get even more playing time this year.

1st Baseman: Derek Lew After the departures of Ho and Tienturier, 2005 may be Lew’s chance to shine as the #1 power hitter on the Daly City team. His 204 combined Gap+Power rating is far and away the highest on the team (Jason Liu, a backup outfielder, is second at 159), and with Ho and Tienturier retired, he is the career leader in homeruns with 65 over the last two seasons. Lew has become the epitomy of a pure Vladimir Guerrero-type hitter, although he doesn’t exactly have the same build – his walks are absolutely minimal – a total of 19 bases on balls in 2004 on 754! at-bats. At the same time, he whiffed in only 24 trips to the plate, by far the lowest in the league. His gargantuan RBI (160 and 133 in 2003 and 2004, respectively) and run (141 and 138) totals look to decline a bit with a weaker supporting cast, and while no one doubts his amazing gap power, the ability to maintain his .310 average and 33 HR’s per 162 games might not continue with his middle-of-the-road contact (63 overall on a 100-point scale) and pure power (70) ratings.

Backup 1st Baseman/Designated Hitter: Rudy Puzon A rookie to the team, Puzon is a bit underdeveloped overall as a hitter, but has the potential to become a solid all around hitter. He’s defensively below average, and given primary 1B Derek Lew’s amazing durability (playing all 162 games each of the past two seasons), Puzon may find himself in the role of the primary designated hitter, a position which he may contest with several of the other backup players until a consistent hitter emerges.

2nd Baseman: Cristian Ortiz A defense-minded second-baseman, Ortiz was a part of the original team in 2003, splitting time between the 2B and shortstop positions. Never a fantastic hitter, Ortiz’s .251-.318-.415 AVG-OBP-SLG rate near the lowest for anyone to play significant time. With Tienturier retired to AAA however, Ortiz finally gets his chance to start full-time at second base, and will likely serve a role as a second leadoff hitter in the #9 slot to utilize his speed.

Shorstop: Henry Nghe At 27 years old, a past-his-prime grandfather in the organization, Nghe is primed to begin his season as the starting shorstop. He played in only three games during the 2004 season, amassing 3 hits out of 11 at bats. Nghe has, or had, good potential with regards to contact and gap power (75 and 80 potential talent ratings, respectively) – time will tell whether he’s too old to develop anymore as a hitter.

3rd Baseman: Joey Wong Another member of the original cast, Wong has been one of the premeire hitters of the game, with good power numbers and some of the best contact ability anywhere. His career line of .370-.430-.588 shouldn’t need anymore explanation, and with a 129 contact rating (with 145 as a potential talent), Wong looks to be the main run-driver in the cleanup position at #4, as well as a threat to hit .400 on the season.

Backup 3rd Baseman: Joanna Maung Playing backup to possibly the best third baseman in the game doesn’t afford many opportunities – Maung has played in 89 games over the past two seasons, in a variety of odd-job positions, mostly at designated hitter becuase of her defensive liabilities but occasionally in the outfield or even catcher when there has been a very desperate need. More often that not, though, she’s called in as a pinch-hit specialist, and she’s exceedingly excelled in that role. Despite ratings that would indicate an abysmal hitter (Contact: 57, Gap Power: 37, Pure Power: 31, Batting Eye: 70, Avoiding K’s: 60), her career line is a very respectable .275-.372-.356, with top numbers where it counts the most for a PH: OBP. Until her batting abilities develop, she’ll likely take a backup/utility role for most of this season and serve mostly as a pinch hit specialist when the most dire games are on the line.

Leftfielder: Jonathan Chee An all-around utility player, Jonathan “The Cheet” Chee looks to settle this year in his position in leftfield, possibly with the occasional stint as emergency backup catcher. Chee’s numbers haven’t been spectacular – for the msot part he’s a decent hitter with a knack for getting on base, a fact helped by the fact that Chee has led the league in hit-by-pitch ratio for both of the past two seasons. Almost single-handedly, The Cheet has turned this obscure phenomenon into something worthy of stat-tracking, and 2005 will be the first year that hit-by-pitches are actually counted.

Centerfielder: Aubrey Cubilo The all-star centerfielder, Cubilo can do it all, from being one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game, to swiping bases at an amazing rate as the speediest woman on the basepaths. Her rookie year was cut short by a season-ending injury, but she came back with a vengeance in 2004, racking up 123 runs (and 83 RBIs on her own) at the top of a powerful lineup, while leading the league with 67 steals. Although she hits for average extremely well, her .299 career average is followed by a disappointing .319 OBP for a leadoff hitter. Nevertheless, her speed alone makes her the ideal candidate, and her defense makes her indispensable in centerfield, so she’ll start the season as the leadoff hitter for Daly City.

Rightfielder: Francis Chen Coming in strong at the end of the 2004 season, Francis Chen put out tantalizing totals for the third of a season: 42 games, 162 at-bats, with 13 HR’s – a .241-.268-.537 final line. With the potential to become perhaps the best power hitter on the team, Chen has to overcome his struggles with making contact with the ball. Chen is perhaps the starter with the most precarius hold on his job – although tougher than left field, several backup outfielders are on the roster and waiting in his wings to take the job, and Chen will need to make a strong, or even explosive start, if he’s to avoid getting benched early on.

Backup Outfielder: Tiffany Ho Little is known about the young 15-year-old rookie, except that she has no relation to the massive power slugger Norman. Early reports have evaluated a good conact potential, but with no experience at any level (not even in the minor leagues), it looks as if her role will be limited until she establishes herself on the field.

Backup Outfielder: Jason Liu Liu played a strong season in 2004, playing 118 games and putting up very good numbers, especially in the power categories – 39 doubles and 39 homeruns in 433 at bats, for a .323-.409-.702 final line. Despite his performance, he’s been relegated back to a backup role, with Francis Chen getting the nod in rightfield in hopes that he’s able to achieve his enormous power potential and develop his other abilities.

While not nearly as strong as the old Lew-Tienturier-Ho-Wong combo that dominated the league over the past two years, the new lineup looks extremely competitive, with power hitters Derek Lew and Joey Wong anchoring the lineup, and front end support coming from a very speedy Aubrey Cubilo, and potentially very good on-base numbers coming from Sam Lau, Tina Quach, and Jonathan Chee. Rather than being able to hammer away at opponents though, this season Daly City looks to manufacture what runs it can, and rely on perhaps the strongest pitching staff ever assembled to keep the scores low.

#1 Starting Pitcher: Nathan Yan The ace that’s anchored the team, Yan looks to improve even further on his gaudy pitching numbers. He’s led the league in nearly every meaningful category each of the past two seasons, with astounding numbers like a career 1.33 ERA and 0.72 WHIP, and an out-of-this-era 43 complete games (and 21 shutouts) in 54 starts. He’s won 30 games each of the past two seasons, and has amassed huge strikeout numbers – the 2005 season against a fresh league of hitters looks to be a record-setting year.

#2 Starting Pitcher: Josiah Leong Having pulled an Eric Gagne starter-to-closer transitioin the past two years, the inconsistent Josiah Leong returns to the rotation and pulls a return-to-starter John Smoltz. Josiah has been plagued by a lack of control the past two seasons – he has 112 walks in 167 1/3 innings, and because of that he’s been a bit of a loose cannon – in 2003 he had a 4.21 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP and pitched only 109 innings, getting the quick hook in a lot of games. He did slightly better in his second year as the team’s closer, racking up a precarious 40 saves, but actually underutilized at the end of the season as he was moved to a setup role, with the more dependable and former closer Absalon filling in at season’s end. His return to the rotation should be one to watch – Leong certainly has the stuff to become an ace, if his control problems ever get solved.

#3 Starting Pitcher: Terrence Zhao After a decent campaign in the first 2003 season – 4.14 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, but with a consistency that won 14 games (losing 7) in only 24 starts, Zhao had a breakout year in 2004, attaining a 2.94 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in becoming one of the top starters in the game. A solid starter at the #3 position, his continued development would give Daly City two bona-fide aces, and potentially a third if Leong gets a handle on his control problems.

#4 Starting Pitcher: Samantha Chin The first of the rookie starter duo in the rotation, Chin is a decently-developed starter with quite a high ceiling – she can throw high 99mph heat, and with time could potentially become an ace pitcher.

#5 Starting Pitcher: Sean Wade The second of the rookie starters, Wade is a bit more of a conservative pitcher – he throws in the low 90’s, doesn’t have too much dazzle, but prides himself in control and consistency. WIth a 79 control rating (and 100 potential talent), he’s already got the second-best control on the team behind ace Nathan Yan, and should provide quality starts at the back end of the rotation.

#6 Starting Pitcher: Miguel Pardo Pardo the enigma has been up and down over the last two seasons. In his first season, over 19 starts he amassed a horrendous 4.79 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP, yet somehow eeked out a 10-3 win-loss record. His 2004 season, with 9 starts, took a nosedive, further deepening to a horrendous 6.65 ERA and 1.98 WHIP, although he somehow managed to survive with a 3-4 record. While consistently horrible, Pardo seems to magically pull out blazing performances out of nowhere, only to revert back to his softball-tossing form the very next start. He’s on the very back end of the rotation, and might end up sharing the spot with long reliever Alfred Vong.

Mopup Reliever: Helen Yamamoto A rookie to the team, Yamamoto comes in with barely above minor league statistics. She takes on the role of mopup, a safety role for large leads or heavy deficits, which might give her time to gain experience and develop.

Middle Reliever: Angel Poon The biggest workhorse of the bullpen, Poon has racked up 130 2/3 innings over the past two years, which shows approxamitely the maximum extent of use of the bullpen with a rotation as strong as Daly City’s. Poon had a decent year in her rookie 2003 season, with a 4.15 ERA, but played very well in the setup role the next year, achieving a 2.88 ERA in 2004 and notching 4 long saves of her own. The numbers might be a bit deceiving however – in the 2004 season her WHIP remained at the same relatively high 1.14 level as her 2003 season, indicating there may have been more than a little bit of luck involved. She finds herself as the primary middle reliever this season, although with a possibly even more talented rotation and more crowded bullpen, appearances may be hard to come by.

Middle Reliever: Katie Clayton One of the most underdeveloped pitchers, and possibly the worst pitcher in Daly City’s short history, Clayton is still with the club in hopes of her enormous (although unfulfilled) potential. She’s amassed ERA’s of 9.00 both of the past two seasons (pitching 43 and 12 innings), with a career ERA of 1.96, although has amazing not recorded a loss in her 40 appearances. She plays a secondary middle relief role, but may come in for mopup more often.

Long Reliever: Alred Vong A newcomer to the team, Alfred Vong has the makings of a very solid starter, but with the 6th rotation spot filled by Miguel Pardo, will likely take his appearances in long relief of an ailing starting pitcher to establish himself.

Setup reliever: Alvina Chu Coming in late in the 2004 season, Alvina Chu dazzled with a 2.58 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, along with 41 K’s in her 38 1/3 innings. She ascends to the setup role this year, possibly rated as the best reliever that Daly City has.

Closer: Zubeda Khan The Young Khan, a rookie, takes on the tumultuous Daly City closer role, which has shifted hands constantly over the past two seasons – she’ll be the team’s 3rd closer in as many years. The knuckleball-throwing rookie brings with her good control and decent stuff, but time will tell if she has the poise to become a true closer.