The Hall of Fame's Second Chance

[DatCloserKid]

Welcome! Come one, come all! This is the second-chance for your favorite hall of famers to have a go-again at the wonderful game of baseball! In this dynasty on OOTP, I shall be taking hall of famers and inserting them into the completely fictional world of the PBL, or Pioneer Baseball League. They will be rookies, imported from their rookie year, and thrust into the draft class. Yes, it is true! The greats of the game will be playing again! Only time will tell what will happen!

So, you may be asking, well, who are the players? Yes, I have the answer to that! (I’m not completely unprepared ) The players are…drumroll please…………………………..
Nap Lajoie, Jimmie Foxx, and John Smoltz!

Nap Lajoie
Nap Lajoie was mostly a second baseman who debuted in 1896 and played a whopping 21 years with the Philadeplhia Phillies, Cleaveland Naps, and Philadelphia Athletics. His career stats are .338/.380/.466 with 380 stolen bases and 1599 RBIs. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 1937.
Here’s what he looks like in our OOTP series:


Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx is another Philadelphian first baseman, but debuted much later than Lajoie, in 1926, and played 20 years with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. His career slashline is .325/.428/.609 with an incredible 534 home runs and 1922 RBIs. He was Cooperstown’s class of 1951.
This is what he looks like in the OOTP universe:


John Smoltz
The lone pitcher here is an absolute legend. Smoltz started pitching in 1988 and retired in 2009, for a total of 21 years. He played for the Braves, Red Sox, and Cardinals, all the while racking up 213 total wins and a 3.33 ERA. He struck out 3084 people in his career, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
In our OOTP world, this is what he looks like:

[DatCloserKid]

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
PBL-Welcome the New Milwaukee Lions!

The PBL draft was held today, and we could be seeing the new faces of the future Milwaukee Lions being drafted today! One of the most interesting picks was Jimmie Foxx, who was drafted as the third overall pick by our Lions. He is a 17 year old catcher who projects to have an elite career as a hitting catcher, if he develops right. It sure looks like he will, as he was tearing it up in high school in Suldersville, Maryland. As said earlier, if Foxx can develop right he could help boost Milwaukee out of the hole they are in at 13 ½ games behind the Dallas Pilots. As of now, he will report to the Lions’ single-A affiliate, the Ma’ili Men-of-war. We only hope he can be wearing the Milwaukee red and white soon!

Denver Post

Redbirds Get 1st Overall Pick in PBL Draft

Who did they select? Well, the answer might surprise you. With the first pick in the PBL draft, our Denver Redbirds selected Nap Lajoie. He may not be the highest rated player by many scouts, but he has the tools to be a very good big-leaguer someday. The speed that he possesses can change the game by way of the basepaths, and his projected hitting ability has the power to change the game using his bat. While his fielding may not be amazing, his ability in right field is decent enough to not have our manager running and screaming into the clubhouse. Even though he has room to grow, his current ability is still very good, and at 21, you’d think he’d be very far up in the farm system, he’s only at A ball in Anchorage, playing for the Golden Bears. However, his ability should send him rocketing up through the minors, all the way to Denver!

Star Tribune

Welcome all PBL draftees!

The PBL Draft was held today, and the Minneapolis Cannons added some valuable pieces to the puzzle that should help boost us towards a pennant! One of the more interesting picks in this draft was right-handed starter John Smoltz, who fills a gap in the Cannon’s team. If he produces and develops like we hope, he should be in the big leagues in a couple years or less. Smoltz has tremendous upside, and he should rocket up the farm system. As of now, the GM put him only in rookie ball in Ontario, which is surprising, but hopefully he’ll get promoted in no time.

[DatCloserKid]

The cameras are on, the lights are on, the stadium is filling up… welcome to the big leagues. Only 24 days after signing with the Denver Redbirds, Nap Lajoie is making his big league debut against the Portland Infantry. We only hope to see if he can perform up to what he did back in the 1800s and 1900s, but if he does we know that Nap Lajoie is the real hall of famer, the one whose performances weren’t a fluke. As we wait to see how Lajoie does in his first games as a big-leaguer, let’s check in on our other ‘subjects’, Smoltz and Foxx.

John Smoltz

Smoltz has advance to Double A and has accrued 12.1 innings and 2 games started in his minor league career. He has yet to allow a run, which is still a feet even with only 12.1 innings thrown. He is far from being promoted, but his first two starts look very promising.

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx is the player with the least current ability, but the most projected ability, which is why he is only in A ball still. His performance almost warrants a demotion, not a promotion, as he is batting a meager .184 with a .436 OPS in 38 at bats. Foxx might seem like he won’t be anything close to what he was in real life, but he still has a lot of room to grow at only 17 years old.

So, these are the players thus far. Lajoie has greatly exceeded the expectations, Smoltz is playing well in Double A, but Foxx is struggling at the level of single A. More interesting stuff to come! Stay posted!

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by DatCloserKid

So, these are the players thus far. Lajoie has greatly exceeded the expectations, Smoltz is playing well in Double A, but Foxx is struggling at the level of single A. More interesting stuff to come! Stay posted!

Give Foxx some time, he's been a beast in leagues where I've had him.

[DatCloserKid]

Originally Posted by pauwoo

Give Foxx some time, he's been a beast in leagues where I've had him.

He is only 17, after all
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everybody, today is roster expansion day in the PBL, while nobody new has been called up, there have been some interesting turns in the statistics and ratings of some players. Let’s see, shall we?

Jimmie Foxx

After a dismal start to his year in A ball, Foxx has had a nice rebound, increasing his batting average over 90 points to .278. He has also posted a .738 OPS and .9 WAR. But, these numbers are nothing close to spectacular and he doesn’t really have a shot at getting promoted at the moment. Despite this, if he continues his upward trend we should be seeing him playing for the Amarillo Cheetahs in Double-A next year. But, if his numbers level out after this season I don’t really see a shot at him getting promoted.
On another note, Foxx has picked up playing first base, even though his primary position is still catcher with some ability at right field. In real life, Foxx played primarily catcher in his first two years until he switched to first base and right field. First base became his primary position in 1929, so OOTP doesn’t seem too off on this. I just don’t know if he’ll develop his skill enough to be starting at first instead of catcher and right field.


Nap Lajoie

Lajoie’s performance at the Major League level has been far from spectacular. In 42 games played (40 started), he has compiled a .234 average and a .633 OPS. He is only 21 though, and with his skillset I can see him becoming a start in the bigs. Not now, though. Even with this bad performance, he has held down the fifth spot in the lineup for the Denver Redbirds (59-71, .454). This may not continue for long, as Lajoie has been slumping with his average dropping 12 points in five games. These numbers would probably result in demotion on a lot of teams, but he is safe for now in roster expansion season.


John Smoltz

Smoltzy has been stuck in Double A for a little while now, but his numbers definitely (IMHO) warrant a promotion. In 79 innings, Smoltz has allowed 20 earned runs total for a 2.28 ERA. Plus he’s only allowed .6 HR/9 and 2.2 BB/9 while racking up 6.9 K/9. These stats along with a 1 WHIP and a 5-2 record earn him a 2.2 WAR. One thing that may be holding him back is his 3.24 FIP, which is almost a run higher than his actual ERA. This may be why he hasn’t moved up the ladder even more, but another possibility is that the Cannons are just making sure he develops. Whatever the case, Smoltz looks like the dominant pitcher that most PBL clubs want, although it might be too early to tell at this stage.

[DatCloserKid]

The sun is shining, the weather is warm, the sky is clear: welcome to spring training in the PBL! The weather probably feels even better that that for our three hall of famers, who have all been brought up to the majors for spring training! New OSA scouting ratings also came in as well, so we’ll take a look at those. We’ll check in individually on each person now. First up is…

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx has been called up to the majors for the Milwaukee Lions as a non-roster invite for spring training. His ratings are still lackluster and he’ll probably be heading down to A or AA ball after spring training, but he has a good chance to make an impression on Milwaukee’s scouts. He is also still only 18, so he has lots of years still to grow and develop.
Foxx’s ratings show that he’ll end up being a perennial all-star if he develops correctly, and that is a big if. Injuries could derail his career or he could just be overhyped, but based on his real life stats that won’t happen. He also has not been injured yet in his minor league career *knock on wood*, so hopefully that keeps on track. As for the new ratings, Foxx’s gap power has been fully developed, but his home run power still sits at one despite the potential being upped. Contact potential has also been upped and his avoid K’s current rating has improved. According to the OSA, this also boosts him from 4 star to 4 ½ star potential.
Before and After:



Nap Lajoie

Nap Lajoie will also be hoping to make a good impression on the Denver front office here in spring training to solidify his starting job at first after a decent performance last year. He will have competition this year though with the Redbirds calling up MLB ready prospect Scott Gibson for spring training and Dave Makeveer, who should give Lajoie a good challenge. All 3 are in their young 20s (Lajoie-22, Makeever & Gibson-23) which also gives the impression that the Redbirds are building for the future. This added competition means that any one of these first basemen could get traded, so keep your eyes peeled for that.



Lajoie’s ratings have shown small improvements infielding and baserunning, but the main spot of improvement is contact. His contact has improved from a 9 to 13, with potential being bumped from 15 to 16. Since Lajoie is a contact hitter, these ratings are important to keep high, which is where he is going. The sad part is that his home run power has gone down by 1. This isn’t much but it means Nap will have even less pop in his bat than he did before.



John Smoltz

Smoltz has been assigned a pen role in spring training for the Minneapolis Cannons. This is his opportunity to show that he can compete at higher levels after only making playing at AA ball at the highest last year. To actually earn a role in the bigs, Smoltz will have to surprise, but not be outstanding. The Cannon’s bullpen is weakened, so Smoltzy may have shot at it if he performs well enough. If he does make it, he will probably spend a couple years in the bullpen before moving to the starting rotation because of his 17 stamina. If everything goes correctly, this is what should happen.
Smoltz’s OSA ratings have improved pretty well, and he looks to be on track for a good career. His control is only worrisome point, though, as it is only 9. Hopefully he could boost that up and become a truly dominant pitcher with his movement and projected stuff. Speaking of which, both of those ratings have gone up-stuff by 1 and movement by 2. The bad thing is that none of his potentials have changed, so he may be capped at what we see now. If that happens, Smoltz may not live up to what he was in real life. But, at age 21 he has room to grow, so we should just be patient and hope for the best.



Stay tuned for more!

[DatCloserKid]

“Play ball!” The ump yells. The crowd cheers, the cameras flash, the reporters are ready to pester any living organism with questions-it’s opening day, and our three young studs are in the middle of it all. That is correct, all three players that we are following made it onto the 25 man roster for opening day. Let’s see how they did it.

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx was on the spring training roster as a non-roster invitee. He is now on the 25 man roster as a backup catcher, being paid the league minimum of $500,000. He was also ranked by pundits as the 15th best prospect in all of the PBL. Jimmie is now a member of the Milwaukee Lions, who are projected to win their division by 4 games, going 88-74. This means that Foxx could reach the playoffs with the Lions, if he makes it that far. There are two obvious ways that that couldn’t happen. The first is that he gets injured. While he hasn’t been injured yet, Foxx is listed as fragile by the OSA. A single injury could prove devastating for this season. The fact that Milwaukee’s trainer is atrocious doesn’t help. The second way is that he could get demoted. Even though he batted .338 with a .903 OPS in spring training, his WAR was -0.1 and he had a .386 BABIP. These stats could mean that Foxx isn’t as good as his stats said. His current ratings are also bad, so we might be seeing Foxx back in the minors soon.

Nap Lajoie

Lajoie has quickly become one of the premier first basemen in the PBL. Experts have predicted him to bat .345 with an OPS over .800. The only way that this could go wrong is if Dave Makeever booted him out of the first baseman’s job. Spring training stats are inconclusive about this, because Lajoie batted .400 but with a .426 BABIP, and Makeever batted .143 but with a .148 BABIP. If he does lose the starting job, Lajoie might play right field, but he also might end up being a backup, which could lead to a disappointment this season. There is not chance that he could be demoted to the minors, though, so he should be staying in the majors from now until his retirement.

John Smoltz

Smoltz has been ranked as the 69th best PBL prospect by the OSA. Currently he is the third starter for the Minneapolis Cannons. This may sound surprising, but the Cannons have one of the weakest pitching staffs in the league, so Smoltz has been thrust into the rotation, despite posting a 4.48 ERA in the spring. If that trend continues into the regular season Smoltz could see himself back in the minors as the Cannons have a plethora of pitching options in AAA. However, if Smoltz posts good numbers, he could be the cornerstone of a Cannons rotation that could lead them to a pennant one day!

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Fire snap Lajoie’s Streak

Lajoie’s hit streak is the 2nd longest in PBL history, just behind Marco Estrada’s 28 game hit streak in August of 2014 while playing for Baltimore.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL times
Smoltz down for the count

This news is devastating for Smoltz’s development. This injury is crippling, seeing that he will be out for a year. His development could also be hindered by this, meaning that Smoltz might never develop into the player he was supposed to be. Even worse (yes, it can get worse) is that a setback could end Smoltz’s career. All we can do is wait, hope, and play out the rest of the year with Foxx and Lajoie.

Smoltz wasn’t performing well anyway, with a 6 ERA in 2 starts and 9 innings. He was 0-1 and had a BABIP of .111, which means that he would’ve regressed anyway.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Foxx the Cyclist

Foxx has taken over as the starting catcher in Milwaukee, and has been a hot hitter since. Along with his .281 average, he has a mediocre .684 slugging percentage helped out by a .341 BABIP. The cycle is just icing on the cake.

As a second layer of icing, Foxx won the Lewis League's player of the week award for the week of 5/18/15.

Add a thick layer of strawberries to that cake and ice cream to the side, because Foxx won the Lewis League's Rookie of the Month award for May.

[DatCloserKid]

The 2015 PBL draft is here, so why don’t we check on our players and see how they’re doing?

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx has taken over Milwaukee’s starting catcher job from the utterly horrendous Jim Hardy (.128/.212/.213, 28 G). Since he has done that (as previously mentioned) he has had a hot streak with everything falling in for him with a .354 BABIP. This has led him to hit .312 with a .420 slugging percentage and 1.6 WAR. He has also hit 2 home runs and only has 19 RBIs on 64 hits. Once his BABIP goes down, chances are that his stats will too. The 18 year old has been streaky this year, starting the year with a batting average south of .200. If he hits a cold streak his stats will probably neutralize back into what they would normally be (~.200/.220/.340).
Foxx’s Milwaukee Lions have posted a 30-25 record with a .545 win percentage. They are one game behind the Detroit Giants in the LL Central. They are also a half game behind the Boston Heroes for the second wild card spot.



Nap Lajoie
Nap Lajoie has been absolutely outstanding so far. That’s the simple way to say it. He has batted .353 with an .843 OPS. He has also totaled 78 hits on the season. But, the really impressive thing is that he is leading the LL in both batting average and hits, and is 3rd in BA and t-2nd in hits for combined leagues. If Lajoie continues on this path of destruction, he could be an MVP candidate. The Triple Crown is still a ways yet as Lajoie only has 4 HRs and 27 RBIs despite batting cleanup. He is helped out by the Redbirds finding ways to play him around their other talented players. Despite both players being righties, Nap has been platooned with Dave Makeever at first. Nap hits vs RHP and Dave vs LHP. When the Redbirds have faced LHP, they have stuck Lajoie in right field.
Led by Nap Lajoie’s exceptional hitting, the Denver Redbirds have compiled a 35-20 record and are 4 ½ games up over the Seattle Riflemen in the LL West. If they continued on this track, they will surely have a playoff berth.



John Smoltz

Not much to say here. Even though he only has a week left on the DL, Smoltz is still out 11 months. He will miss this year and part of next year.
Without his help/hindrance, the Minneapolis Cannons have struggled through the season with a 25-30 record. They are 10 games behind Denver in the division lead and are 5 ½ games back of the Boston Heroes in the second wild card spot.



But wait, there’s more! To even out the number of pitchers (able-bodied or not) and hitters, we will be adding a new hitter to the draft pool to be drafted by any PBL team! The new pitcher is…

Rube Waddell

Yes, that’s right, it’s Rube Waddell. Even though he was suspected to have autism/mental retardation/development issues/ADD, Waddell was still a darn good pitcher, elected into the Hall of Fame in 1947. Waddell pitched 13 years with the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Orphans, Philadelphia Athletics, and St. Louis Browns. He pitched in 1897 and then from 1899-1910. He had a career ERA of 2.16 with a 2.03 FIP and 2316 career strikeouts. He had 349 strikeouts one season, a record that still stands for AL lefties 100 years later. But can he match it in OOTP. We’ll find out.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Red Hot Lajoie Smacks 5 Hits

What can I say? Lajoie is absolutely dominant, and here he continues his path of destruction.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Rube Waddell Goes Unsigned
The Miami Storm thought they had picked a gem when they drafted starter Rube Waddell with the first overall pick of the 2015 draft. But, shockingly, they never signed him. We don’t know if it was due to difficulty with Waddell, him straight out refusing, or Miami never offering him anything. For whatever reason, Waddell will be part of next year’s draft class, and Miami gets a supplemental first round pick. We shall see where he lands next season, if he actually gets signed.

[DatCloserKid]

It’s all-star time in the PBL, and one of our players has made it into the All-Star Game. Can you guess who it is?
No, it’s not Nap Lajoie. It’s Jimmie Foxx. Nap Lajoie has been absolutely, completely snubbed out of the all-star game. Because hitting .347 is definitely not enough to get in, but Jimmie Foxx’s .300 is. Now, don’t get me wrong, Foxx is deserving of this honor as well, but Nap Lajoie is the standout, obvious choice. It’s utterly ridiculous.

Foxx ended up having 1 AB and grounding out to the shortstop in a 9-2 rout by the Clark League.

[DatCloserKid]

It’s roster expansion day in the PBL again. Nothing has happened with our two players because they are already in the majors, but with their teams they are fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot.



As you can see, both the Lions and the Redbirds have solid handles on their divisions, by 6 and 5 games respectively. The LL Central actually houses the two best teams in the entire league, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. As for Denver, they have been fighting against the Riflemen to keep hold of their division, and so far they’ve done well. If they end up slumping and losing the race, they’ll be out of contention because the Giants have a big grasp on the wild card. Now let’s check in on our players:

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx’s stats held out for the rest of the year thanks to his vaunted BABIP (.346) staying put. He got a little streaky towards the all-star break but managed to pull it together for the rest of the season. His .305 average stayed relatively put, so he is still Milwaukee’s 2-hole hitter. He struggled to hit for power with only 5 home runs, but that can be expected when your power rating is 1 and you are 18 years old. Foxx has hit a decent amount of RBIs with 45 and has struck out 69 times this year. He hopes to help Milwaukee earn the division title over the Detroit Giants.



Nap Lajoie

Lajoie kept his torrid pace alive currently with a .350 batting average and .829 OPS. He leads the PBL and LL with 186 hits and is fighting for the LL batting title. He is in 2nd behind .355 hitting Filipe Trujillo, and he is in 3rd in the PBL behind Trujillo and .370 hitting Howard Haney. Lajoie has little chance for the PBL title, but if he heats up here in September he could claim the LL title. If he gets hot, he could also lead the Redbirds into securing a division title and playing in the playoffs. Lajoie has collected 79 RBIs, 7 home runs and 8 triples.



John Smoltz

He is still injured, what else did you expect?

Rube Waddell

Waddell is sitting in the draft pool for next year, working on his game (hopefully) and preparing himself for major league play.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Foxx Rallies for Five

Foxx is pushing Milwaukee into the playoffs as the undisputed best team in the PBL. If the Foxx can keep hitting like this, the Lions will have a shot at the pennant.

[DatCloserKid]

PBL Times
Lajoie Steps into the Record Books

Lajoie was asked about the spectacle afterwards. “Wow,” he begins. “I-I-uh… wow. I’m at a loss for words. This is incredible for someone my age. I never imagined this happening.” Veteran Clark Williamson, whose record was surpassed, had no comment on the matter. Marius Canonica commanted “Well, it wasn’t great that I allowed a home run, but I have utmost respect for Lajoie and his accomplishments.”
Lajoie’s 221st hit this season is a big one (obviously), propelling him into the record books after 2 years of the PBL’s short history. This could be one of the many records that he breaks, but for now I’m sure he is just concerned about pushing Denver over the Riflemen and into the playoffs, where his consistent bat could push them through. Nap is in the home stretch now.
Lajoie was also honored by the Lewis League with the player of the week award. He went 14/24 with 8 RBIs.

[DatCloserKid]

The season has been completed. Playoff teams are preparing for their next opponent, while the rest are getting ready for the offseason. Since the regular season is under wraps, let’s check in on our hall of famers.

Jimmie Foxx

Foxx added two 5-hit games to his track record as September came to a close. He heated up towards the end of the season and bumped his batting average up 10 points in the final two weeks of the season. The Milwaukee catcher played all but 18 games this season, squashing any doubts about his longevity throughout a season. This year, Foxx has definitely proved that he can compete at the big league level at the ripe age of 18.
Jimmie Foxx and the Milwaukee Lions easily qualified for the playoffs, winning their division by 14 games over the Detroit Giants. The Lions posted a record of 102-60, and the Giants played to a tune of 88-74 this season, missing out on the wild card. There really was no playoff ‘race’, as Detroit slumped and went a pathetic 9-22 in the last 5 weeks of the season. Milwaukee will face the Seattle Riflemen (90-72) in the first round of the PBL playoffs, while the Giants will sit on the couch and watch.

Nap Lajoie



As you can see, Lajoie was a dominant force in the Lewis League this year, ending up on top of the leaderboard by 16 points. He also finished the season with 236 hits, which is officially the PBL hits record. Nap’s bat was also hot towards the end of the season, bumping his average up 5 points in just the last week alone. Overall, Lajoie finished with a .360/.378/.460 slashline and 98 RBIs, which led the Redbirds. This was a very successful year for PBL sophmore Nap Lajoie.
The Denver Redbirds finished the season 93-69 a whopping 22 game turnaround from last year’s 71-91 disaster. Seattle finished 3 games behind Denver and ended up claiming the wild card spot. Denver will be faceing LL North victory New York Thunder. Against New York, the Redbirds went 8-7 and Nap Lajoie hit .309.

John Smoltz & Rube Waddell

Nothing to see here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[DatCloserKid]

The first round of the PBL Playoffs have been completed. Let’s check in on how the Redbirds and the Lions did.

Nap Lajoie and the Denver Redbirds



In a sad way to go out, the Redbirds were swept in three games by the lowly New York Thunder. Their pitching allowed seven runs per game, and the Denver offense just couldn’t keep up, scoring a meager 3.3 runs per game. The Thunder just had everything going for them, hitting and pitching, and Denver didn’t. It’s as simple as that. Denver will be heading home in disappointment, while the Thunder will be moving on.
Nap Lajoie didn’t follow the rest of Denver’s poor hitting. He went 5 for 12 (.417) knocking in 2 runs and hitting 2 doubles. His best game was by far his last, going 3 for 4 and gaining both of his RBIs. He also scored one of Denver’s 3 runs.

Jimmie Foxx and the Milwaukee Lions



The Lions fared a bit better than the Redbirds did, beating the Seattle Riflemen 3-1 in the series. They perfromed well as the favorites to probably win the tournament. Hitting is were their strength lay in this series. They hit 5 home runs in 4 games and scored 6.5 runs per game, while allowing Seattle only 2.5 per game. The Lions will go on to face the Thunder in round 2.
Foxx was a beast in this series, bashing a home run and slugging .583. He knocked in 2 runners and scored 3 of his own. Foxx has paired up with Trujillo as the premier batting duo on the Lions. If they can both keep hitting well, Milwaukee has a very good chance to be lifting a trophy at the end of this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the CL playoffs, reigning champs Charlotte Cavalry defeated the Dallas Pilots 3-2, and the Los Angeles Smoke were victorious in the series against the Kansas City Archers. Charlotte and LA will go head to head in round 2.

[DatCloserKid]

Milwaukee fans must be shocked, because nobody saw that happening. Well, nobody except optimistic thunder fans. But really, the team from the worst division defeated the dominant CL team this year. In fact Milwaukee was the dominant PBL team. But, no matter the stats, the Thunder won fair and square and will go on to face the Cavalry in the PBL pennant. They will be hoping to finish their Cinderella story by sweeping the Cavalry. If they do this, they would not have lost a game in the playoffs.
The Cavalry silenced the Lions’ bats, just as they did the Redbirds’. Felipe Trujillo and Jimmie Foxx both had hot bats coming into the series. But, they hit .286 and .200 respectively. New York’s pitchers allowed 1 home run this series, with ERAs of 1.88, 3.38, and 1.18. The Cavalry will hope to silence Charlotte’s bats just like they did Milwaukee’s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlotte went on to win the PBL pennant for the second year in a row. They defeated New York well. The Cavalry went 91-71 this season. Their pitching was their strength and compensated for their average hitting. This is how they defeated the Thunder in the games that they won. Congratulations to the Charlotte Cavalry.