The sunshine was out and so were the aces for the AABL's 2009 Opening Day.  Eric Zimmerman went the whole way for the Cubs, allowing just one unearned run as the champs drubbed the rival Hornets 10-1.  Elmendorf's Josh Simmons was likewise hard to handle at the plate. The side-winding fireballer who broke his catcher's thumb during the Dick Taylor Classic, broke down the BGES Fuze lineup while new Eagle John Deitz layed down covering fire, going 5-5, including the first home run of the young season.  The Eagles soared to a 12-2 victory in seven innings.  The greatest of all-time, Ty Rollins went the distance yet again for Steve's Sports Bar, striking out 11.  Fairview had to employ a trio of young guns to match Rollins' offensive oppression, and it took a late Pirate rally to slip by Steve's 8-4.

  
The Anchorage Bucs managed to get by our own Elmendorf Eagles 16-2 on Military Appreciation Night at Mulcahy, but it was the Eagles who brought the noise.  With fans in the Elmendorf bleachers reaching well beyond the home Bucs side, every Eagle moment was met with enthusiastic applause.  The Eagles had their share of moments and a couple rough innings aside, held their own with the impressive Bucs squad.  Josh Duran was 2-4 with a wallbanging RBI double and a run scored.  Wallace Cleveland knocked in the other Elmendorf run with a double of his own and also reached in 2 of his 4 appearances.  AABL strikeouts and wins leader Josh Simmons went 4 outstanding innings, producing groundball after groundball and holding the opposition to a single run.  And Mike Rumora had an outstanding appearance of his own, allowing no hits in his inning off the bump and throwing out a runner at third with a fantastic outfield assist that brought the crowd to it's feet.  That the Eagles and their following had impressed even the Bucs was evidenced by the Bucs immediate request for a rematch next season.  Most importantly, fun was certainly had by all - and if the door remains open to more AABL v ABL exhibitions we'll have our servicemen to thank, again. 

   The busiest non-tournament weekend in recent memory wrapped up Sunday evening with the Cubs come from behind victory over the Hornets, 16-12.  The decisive blow was an 8th inning three-run homer off the bat of the Cubs’ Tommy “Big Knocks” Knox.  Knox was outstanding on the hill for the Cubs as well, pitching them to a win in the early game of their double-header.  The southpaw held the Redline Expos to just a pair of hits while striking out 11 in six innings of work. 
   Redline flashed some fine pitching of their own this weekend, most notably from Luke Mese.  One of two rookies to make the 2009 All-AABL Team, Mese was brilliant in a 1-0 complete game loss to Ty Rollins and Steve’s Sports Bar.  After going the distance for Steve’s in a shutout victory, The Greatest took his running challenge over to Mulcahy and finished off the game for the All-Stars by blowing through the top of the Anchorage Bucs order in the bottom of the 8th. 
    The only other rookie to be selected All-AABL, MatSu’s Kyle Fossman, was again instrumental in his Marauders 6-2 win on Sunday.  But nobody banged as much chain link this weekend as Elemendorf’s Mike Rumora.  The Elmendorf slugger, who also leads the league in outfield assists, cracked five doubles in just over 24 hours including an 8th inning bases clearing job that proved decisive in the Eagles 11-8 win over the Hornets.  Josh Simmons went the distance again despite the strained ligament in his landing knee, striking out 11 Hornets and earning his fifth victory of the year. 
   The home team won every game this weekend, and Fairview needed most of the home advantage to escape with the late win against Elmendorf.  Down to their final out in (you guessed it) the 8th inning, Fairview plated four runs to scratch out the 7-6 victory.  Bronc Breager doubled in the tying runs, his second double in as many innings, and pitched the final four frames to steady the Pirate ship.  Fairview is 2-0 in contests decided by a single run, but 0-1 when the margin is 20 or more.

    A tournament format is often too hurried and imbalanced to accentuate the romance of baseball and the beauty of the games being played. Nevertheless, on Championship Sunday what are inarguably the four best teams of free ballplayers in the State of Alaska had emerged. The Fairbanks Phillies had survived a triple-header Saturday, having been sent immediately to the extra-baseball bracket with an 8-4 loss to the SouthCentral Titans that morning. After besting the Fairbanks Cubs and the Fairbanks White Sox in elimination games, it was right back into the fire for the Phillies who had the unenviable task of facing the mighty Titans for the second time in 24 hours. While the Phillies did not come away with the win, the final score of 3-2 more than vindicated Fairbanks baseball. Alaska’s other city has only one victory against Anchorage teams in each of the past two State Tournaments; but Anchorage teams would be the first to concede that if you can hang in there against the Titans, you can probably play with anybody. 
    The Alaska Cubs leveled three teams to get to Championship Sunday, the most impressive of which was a shellacking of SouthCentral Saturday evening. Unfortunately for the Cubs and their contingent, Sunday would see the Titans return the favor, with interest. The Cubs, having dropped a heartbreaker to the rival Hornets to start the day, were escorted to the other side of the chain link by a Titans team that was hungry and knocking at the door. The twice-defending State Tournament Champion Hornets answered, and what followed was a classic.
    The Titans started Mike Smith (pictured below) off the bump in the title game.  Smith, who only appears for his turn in the rotation, and whose picture below is as much as most in the league have seen of him, was on the main stage for the large gathering to evaluate - and the diagnosis was filthy. Smith was consistently in the 90mph neighborhood with excellent command of the bending stuff while displaying an intensity on the hill that accentuated the gravity of the game. 
    The Hornets countered with one of the most recognizable arms in the game, that of Hornet workhorse Jason Hart. Starting on no days rest having beaten the Fairbanks Cubs on Saturday; Hart matched the long-rested Smith frame for frame in the early innings, and holding the lead at 2-1 through the middle innings. The Titans plated three after an obstruction call was correctly reversed with two outs in the 6th, and in a game where the hits were very hard to come by, the Hornets could easily have let the catastrophic swing in momentum be their undoing. Instead, the Hornets swung back with a two out rally of their own, including in the biggest hit in a tourney full of big hits for right fielder Chris Ragis - a two run single that tied the score at 4-4 with two outs in the bottom of the 8th. 
    The K4 bleachers were abuzz with how great the contest being witnessed was when Jesse McCarty stepped in to provide the game of the year with its signature moment. McCarty flatsided a fastball up and in, an electrifying home run that provided the Hornets with a commanding two run lead and a chance to complete the first State Tournament three-peat in more than two decades. Fittingly, it was McCarty who closed the door in the 9th, concluding a day of some of the best baseball the local game has yet produced. It was a spectacularly high level of ball throughout the State Tournament, a thing to behold. Baseball is so pretty when things go well, and in the 2009 State Tournament every team had their moments of beauty, but nobody was prettier than the Hornets.

     As the other games began to end, the action naturally congealed around K4 when it was realized that the Sarge was on the bump. There were more than a few raised eyebrows when the score, 8-6 in favor of BGES Fuze filtered through the bleachers. But the Elmendorf lineup answered the audience immediately and plated three in the top of the 8th to put themselves just six outs from history. Sergeant Strikeout, who’s momma named him Joshua Simmons, had entered the game in the bottom of the 4th, on a single day of rest, with his team trailing 7-3.
   
     Having gone the distance just 36 hours previous, if Simmons was throwing on fumes they were clearly fumes of the highest octane. The Elmendorf ace punched out 10 in his six innings of work, allowing just a single run while his Eagles fought their way back into the lead.  After striking out the side in the 9th, Sergeant Strikeout and his 09 Eagles stood alone in the record book, the most wins in a season behind one arm in the history of the local game. Win number eight. 
  
     The other games provided their noteworthy action early on, before drifting into the realm of predictability. The Fairview Pirates took a 3-0 lead, batting around in the first on Charlton Ferreira, but C4’s three run missile in the bottom of the second gave his SouthCentral Titans the lead they would not surrender. The league’s home run leader (one away from the wood bat record) cruised the rest of the way, allowing just one more hit and striking out seven in six innings of work.  Doug Olson and Ben Hand each reached in three of four trips to the plate as the Titans rolled the Pirates 14-4.
   
     Ty Rollins got verbal with his catcher in the first, but it was the red-hot Hornet bats providing most of the noise in a 14-1 win.  Hard-throwing southpaw rookie Zack Zeimer was outstanding for the Hornets, striking out nine in seven innings and securing the Hornets 11th consecutive victory including the State Tournament.  Coupled with the Fairview loss, the Hornets moved into sole possession of second place (13-5) after a 6-5 start.

       August in Alaska caught up with the summer game’s string of good fortune this past week.  After almost an entire season of never yielding play to the elements, there have been seven games rained out over the last seven days.  Tuesday night’s trio of matchups were called off despite the heroic efforts of players, umpires, and even a few hearty fans to get some baseball in.  Consummate pros, the SouthCentral Titans warmed up Mike Smith with precision timing despite the heavy rain, finished their in-and-out, and even got in some heavy hacks knowing the game would almost certainly not go off.  Within minutes of the cancellation, the #1 seeds had exited, wasting no time or movement, per the usual.  The seasoned veteran Hornets were more reserved in their warm up program, and when the rainout went official they cleared their dugout just as quickly; but the club that set the team-time standard simply moved to another dugout for a cookout. 
    The Fairview Pirates and Elmendorf Eagles flailed at the earth with rakes and shovels.  Spread tarp and turface as if they possessed the powers of sunshine or a dome.  Pulled their hair and gnashed their teeth with the realization that no amount of man’s intercession could undo the mucked field the elements hath wrought.  Ultimately, the umpires could not let the combatants desperate for combat to engage one another in good conscience, and were forced to postpone the lone game with influence on the final standings.  A game with impact so widespread, that while it was mutually agreed by the managers that the other games would be cancelled, the Eagles and Pirates must wait through the unplayable weather. Watching out the windows at work, and potentially watching their Championship Tournament hopes slowly suffocated by the proximity and importance of their final regular season game. 
    The winner of that matchup clinches third place, with the Pirates owning a would-be tiebreak by virtue of head to head record, and the second place Hornets possessing the tiebreak over the Eagles by virtue of head to head run differential.  However, a Fairview loss would drop them behind the Alaska Cubs who own the tiebreak with Fairview based on head to head competition, forcing the Pirates into fifth place.  In either case, the loser of the postponed matchup will face the defending champion Cubs in the first round.  In the very worst (rain till [or even beyond] Friday) scenario, the game might have to be played on the same night the Tournament opens, leaving only hours of rest and burned big arms before either club’s first postseason game. 
    The sage wisdom of Ty Rollins imparted the traditional gauge that if the mountains were visible by 6:00, then there was baseball to be played.  While others scrambled fiendishly to make out the silhouette of mountains or counterfeit a playable field for the umpires, Steve’s Sports Bar and the MatSu Marauders prepared to play ball no matter what.  While the absence of umpires and ramifications stopped all of the standings leaders from getting a game on, Steve’s and MatSu decided that since they were already dressed up, they were gonna dance. 
    The Greatest even used the sloppy conditions to further his artistic deceptions of the batter.  While toeing the rubber before the inning, Rollins found “a ball of mud” to be forming at the end of his spikes.  On his first offering, Hondo Big Sky Train exaggerated his leg kick - flipping the ball of mud skyward - a baseball interpretation of boxing's okey-doke.  The trick proved too effective as the distracted hitter apparently had trouble seeing the thrown baseball coming right at him, and was thus drilled with the pitch.  The final score may have been 6-1, but in a pickup game played just for the joy, there is no more a point to designating a loser than there is to ranking art.  Overall, fun was had regardless of the conditions.  And each in their own way, every team made clear how deep the love of the game runs in Alaska.  Even in August.

              All fun and games on K1 for the Fairview Pirates and MatSu Marauders who wrapped their 09 campaigns with the game to determine 7th place in the Tournament.  Smiles were the order of the day for both sides, and as one might expect, relaxed bats swing well.  MatSu’s Kyle Fossman laced four hits, as did Fairview’s Andrew Ward and Phil Stephens in the 11-9 Pirates win.  Meanwhile, the exuberance of the overflowing bleachers on K4 indicated both the significance and tension of the contest unfolding between the SouthCentral Titans and the Hornets.  Kyle Madden cracked four hits for the Titans, scoring three times and riding the fantastic pitching of Mike Smith and Doug Olson to SouthCentral’s 9-5 win over the Hornets.  For the yellow and black, it was their first setback since June and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for the Titans who are now just one victory removed from the Title. 

            The game of the evening played out on K3, between the defending champion Cubs and the upstart Elmendorf Eagles.  Pitching in his fourth game in four days, Sergeant Strikeout continued to amaze even the most veteran observers, holding the Cubs to just three runs (none of them earned) heading into the final frames.  But with the tank finally emptied, Simmons was forced to yield to the bullpen for just the third time this season, and the baby bears made it hurt.

      A Brady Lonergan homerun in the top of the 8th drew the champs to within a run, and in the 9th the Brothers Zimm went to work again.  Colin and Eric Zimmerman both singled and eventually scored on a bases-loaded double (following an intentional pass of Tommy Knox) by Tom Twombly that gave the Cubs the lead they would not surrender.  The 8-5 loss ended a magical run for the Elmendorf Eagles who were as deep in the Championship Tournament as they had been in over five years, leaving even the Cubs fans eager to applaud the Elmendorf players as “a credit to their uniforms; and not just the baseball ones.”
        It was the final game in an Eagles uniform for one of the league’s most recognized and beloved players, Wallace Cleveland, who’s outstanding six year AABL career came to it’s end.  Cleveland is being reassigned this offseason and will leave an indelible hole in the local game that has come to revere his all-out hustling style of play, his uncannily clutch hitting, and his friendly manner of leadership.  While Sergeant Strikeout’s remarkable season could not help but grab most of the headlines, Cleveland kept the Eagles franchise afloat for some lean years and he was at the very heart of their amazing resurgence this season.
       The Cubs victory sets up this evening’s matchup with the archenemy Hornets, teams that have met in each of the last two Championship finals.  The Cubs-Hornets rivalry is the most storied in the modern league, and one that runs deep amongst the players.  This year they will play to make it to the round of two on Friday, where the winner will meet Charlton Ferreira on full rest, just for the chance to play the ‘if game’ on Saturday.  The die has been cast and the path is now clear - the 09 AABL Championship will run through SouthCentral.

What A Game           The Hornets celebrate their first AABL Championship

          If you weren’t there, this ain’t gonna do it. Those who were witness to the local game of the year, if not of all-time, will understand there is perhaps no way to summarize it. Like any of the contests that make an indelible imprint on memory, the ‘09 AABL Championship game was a work of art that embodied the Aristotelian concept of Organic Unity - nothing could be added to it or taken from it without altering the whole work. Keeping that need to preserve the entire masterpiece in mind, here it is, the final game of the 2009 season, presented at great length because it deserves to be.

            A leadoff walk to Anton McCloud consumed the first moments of what would be a 220-minute engagement. The SouthCentral Titans started Doug Olsen off the bump, opting along with the Hornets, not to reveal or correct the probable starters posted online. The surprise starter then induced a ground ball that swapped out McCloud for Trevor Harrison on a fielder’s choice. Taylor Reed followed with a sinking liner to right that was speared by Kyler Dunford with a brilliant tumbling catch. Dunford quickly regained his feet and fired a strike to first, doubling off the runner to end the inning. Hornet starter Jordan Farkas needed just eight pitches, including five to leadoff man David Doerr; to retire the Titans in order in the home half of the 1st.

            Ty Clapper led off the 2nd with a base hit, and with one out Jesse McCarty doubled to put two runners in scoring position with one out for Scott Campbell who plated the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly. Olsen pitched around further damage, but in the bottom of the second Farkas was able to escape an even more perilous situation unscathed: Taylor Nerland singled with one out, and then Royce Woodruff and Ben Hand followed with two out singles of their own. With the bases juiced and two dead, Reed - the Gold Glove shortstop, made an excellent play to his left on a ball well struck by Willie Paul to end the Titans threat.

            Jeremy Wylie wore one to give the Hornets a leadoff runner in the 3rd, and McCloud indicated just how seriously the game was being played by sac bunting Wylie to second with his team leading in the early innings. Harrison drew a base on balls before Reed was clipped by a 0-1 offering from Olsen to load the bases with just one out. Olsen retired Clapper, the RBI leader with 26, but found a pair of 20 RBI men behind him. Chris Ragis went oppo with a single to plate Wylie easily; however Dunford’s throw from right field to the plate was on line and Paul got the better of this collision with Harrison, his second in as many days, for the second out. No stranger to the big AB, McCarty stroked a single to left, scoring Reed and staking the Hornets to an imposing 3-0 lead.  David Breck drew a walk with one out, but Farkas punched out two and popped out a third to hold serve in the 3rd. 

            The Hornets had seized the early momentum, so when Angel Gonzalez singled to lead off the 4th and Wylie sacrificed him to second, it looked as if they were poised to take total control. Gonzalez stole third base, and following a walk McCloud stole second to give the Hornets two men in scoring position with one out. Ben Hand had taken over pitching duties to start the frame and was dousing the zone with what looked to be his hottest heat of the season. With the Hornets on the verge of blowing it open, Hand dealt a pair of pop-outs to keep it within reach.  After Nerland worked a walk to lead of the Titans 4th, Dunford sacrificed him over, then Ben delivered again - an RBI single to put the Titans on the board, 3-1.

            Hand retired the side in order in the 5th, but Farkas returned the favor in the bottom of the inning for the evening’s only frame without a runner. Campbell started off the 6th with a double down the line, but was stranded when Hand fanned the next two batters and got a fly to left for the third out. Madden, Nerland, and Dunford fired it up for the Titans in their turn at the dish, banging out three consecutive singles for the green and white to load the bases with nobody out. Woodruff pushed Madden in on a fielder’s choice to draw the Titans to within a run, but again Farkas was able to minimize the damage by inducing an inning-ending double play.

            The tension was thick throughout the game, and there was never any shortage of guffawing at the close calls, but with a razor-thin margin separating two potential champions even the fans started to get a little chippy by the 7th. The players got right to work providing spectators something besides the opposing bleachers to holler at; Harrison and Reed both reached to start the inning and were driven in by Clapper and Ragis respectively to push the lead back to three with just three ups left for SouthCentral. Paul led off the home 7th with a base hit and was moved to second on a sac by Doerr. Breck drove in Paul with a hit of his own, another would-be double cut off in the gap by McCloud who was taking away and shortening hits all night. Breck stole second and moved to third on a Charlton Ferreira single, then Ferreira swiped second during a Madden strikeout to put the tying run on second with two down. Nerland, already 3-3, worked the count full for the third time and then electrified the audience by ripping a two run double that tied the game at 5-5. The Hornets brought in Jason Hart to extinguish the flames, and with just six outs left for both sides, we had a brand new ballgame. 

            On in relief, rookie Zach Beltz retired the first two Hornets he faced in the 8th but similar to his predecessors ran into trouble at the top of the lineup. McCloud doubled to reach for the fourth time in five trips and then the one-man wrecking crew Trevor Harrison, who was at the center of nearly every big moment in the Tournament, knocked in McCloud with a single that gave the Hornets the lead once again. Another hit by Hand threatened the lead in the bottom of the 8th, but even on short rest after short rest, Hart was dealing and able to navigate the frame without harm. With zero hour upon them the Titans went to the MVP Ferreira (who had started less than 24 hours before) in the 9th. After C4 punched out a pair and retired the side, the stage was set for the most memorable finish in the history of the league. 

            Clapper made a solid unassisted play on a seed off the bat of Breck to secure the first out, and with the Hornets just two outs from the Promised Land, the buzz was beginning to build. Madden followed a base hit from Ferreira with a long fly that was tracked down by McCloud near the wall, and with the Titans down to their final out Nerland took a walk to put the winning run on the base paths for the biggest at-bat of the season. It was SouthCentral field general Kyler Dunford who would carry the weight of a season on his shoulders to the plate. While both contingents of fans buried their heads in their hands or paced nervously, Dunford calmly strolled to the dish and took Hart’s first offering up the first base line for a double. Cha Cha scored easily to tie the game, but as the speedy Nerland rounded third fate intervened for the Hornets.

            To get the best possible angle on the play, the Titans third base coach had moved well down the line and slipped on the still damp playing surface. With excited fans and Titans players jumping enthusiastically in his backdrop, Nerland could not see his base coach waving him home and pulled up at third on a play that at very least would have been very close at the plate. Nevertheless, having held the winning run just 90 feet away the Hornets went to Jesse McCarty (who went the distance less than 24 hours previous) with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to keep their dream alive. Royce Woodruff stood in for the Titans, and hit McCarty’s 2-1 pitch into right field - a flare that had ‘hit’ written all over it. Luckily for the Hornets, Trevor Harrison was moving too fast to read. At the last possible moment the right fielder dove hard and somehow managed to slide his glove between the ground and the ball. Alaska baseball’s incarnation of ‘The Catch’ had resuscitated the Hornets championship hopes, and as the ultimate gamer trotted back to the dugout fans and teammates alike applauded him wildly.

            With a hard nine in the books resulting in a 5-5 deadlock it was clear to everyone involved that both of these clubs had what it took to be the champs. But there was only one Championship Trophy and even less love between the teams so they played on. By this advanced stage any animosity between the fans had been replaced by a respect and even awe of the show both teams were putting on. And while it was nervously agreed that neither team deserved to lose, there was an unspoken dread that baseball has no provision to avoid such heartbreak. While somebody was just moments away from being crowned, that coronation would come at the cost of a team that had come too close to be forgotten.

            The first extra-inning ‘if’ game in league history started it’s first extra frame with a walk to Gonzalez and, per the pattern established early, a sacrifice bunt by Wylie to move him into scoring position. After McCloud was retired for just the second time in six trips, Harrison reached for the fourth time in six trips to bring up Reed with two out in the 10th. The Hornets manager batted in every run for his club in the previous game, and having taken his team so close to the title so many times, he would not turned away at this point. Reed laced one into center field; a run-scoring single that put the Hornets again just three outs from glory. This time, they would have the last word.

            McCarty blew through the Titans in order in the last of the 10th, threw his arms skyward and converged at the middle infield with Reed and Wylie, the architects of what could now be called the Hornets dynasty.  They had won the regular season in ‘08, and the last three State Tournaments, but had twice come within a single win of the AABL Championship only to be stopped by the Cubs. Having blown out their ursine rivals Wednesday to get the title shot, the Hornets now stood alone at the top of the heap. “Having lost it twice before makes this taste even better!” exclaimed Ty Clapper while drinking champagne from the AABL Championship Trophy. While jubilant Hornets players and fans moved the celebration into the parking lot, Championship Tournament MVP Taylor Reed found a quiet moment in the vacated dugout, reflecting on the journey. Clearly impressed by the fight of the opposing team and the resilience of his own, Reed simply nodded his head in satisfaction and reiterated what had become the mantra among those lucky enough to witness it: “What a game.” 

   
   Steve Fibranz of Steve's Sports Bar became the first player over the age of 45 to hit a home run and steal a base in the same game while leading his team to a sweep of the Redline Expos on Saturday.  The SouthCentral Titans didn't make it any easier on Sunday as Chris Breck, Charlton Ferreira, and Doug Olson all went yard during the Titans wins.  Mike Smith fanned 13 in just 6 innings of no-hit work, although the Titans hardly seemed to need it - they've scored 65 runs in their first four games.  Mercy rules are the only way to stop the Cubs onslaught as well; the champs have plated 62 in their first four.  Tom Twombly was the big bear on Sunday, going 4-5 with a pair of doubles, 3R, 4RBI.  Greg Hazen went the whole way on the bump for the rampaging Cubs, who haven't played the full 9 in two weeks.  The Fairview Pirates had their hands full with the MatSu Marauders making a late-inning surge in the weekend's best contest.  MatSu's Gunner Bahn reached base in 3 of 5 trips to the plate, scoring once, while Fairview rode Andrew Ward's high quality start (7IP, 0ER, 1H, 11K's) to the 6-4 victory. 

  The explosive Charlton Ferreira also owns a piece of the league lead in big flies

    Now it can be said plainly, although it had doubtless crossed everyone’s mind long before, the SouthCentral Titans are the best team in the league. With respect to the champion Cubs (who the Titans devoured 10-0 on Tuesday night), and the dynastic Hornets (who also ate well Tuesday night), nobody has done what SouthCentral has managed to do in the last two weeks; let alone the season. The Titans are 6-0 over that time span having never played a sub-.500 team. Add to which they’ve tuned up opponents in that span at a cool 61-8, and the headline seems well overdue. 
    Charlton Ferreira continued to make what is at this point the only compelling case against Sergeant Strikeout for MVP, holding an offense that plated 49 in it’s last three showings, to nothing over 7IP with 11K’s. Ferreira is almost certainly the only player ever to be leading the league in earned run average (0.00) and batting average (.576) this late in the season.  
    Without Jeremy Wylie, who led the league in walks, runs, and stolen bases last season, the aforementioned Hornets have had their offensive issues. The reigning State Tournament Champions hadn’t pushed across double digits in seven straight contests, three of which they lost by three runs or less. Jason Hart only needed three runs, holding Fairview to just a pair of tallies over eight solid innings, and facing more than four batters in a frame only twice. The Hornet lineup has found that next gear, plating a dozen for the second game in a row. Playing in Anchorage, Fairview is 7-0 in games decided by five runs or fewer, and 0-4 in matchups decided by a wider margin. In their four losses the Pirates have been plundered 64-13.

     The stretch run is upon us – those final games that make all the difference, and with injuries mounting many clubs were not quite themselves.  With arms on the mend, there was no relief for MatSu’s Gunner Bahn who threw 141 pitches in a 12-6 loss to the Cubs.  The Cubs are not quite themselves without Chris Cole.  #61 fittingly banged the fence on K4 for a double and subsequently scored the Cubs final run in his last at bat of the season.  Among the league’s most revered players, Cole will be spending the rest of the season in Iraq - where his architecture skills are most needed.  Brady Lonergan helped send the Cub captain off on a high note, knocking in five runs and reaching in each of his six trips to the dish.      Elmendorf’s Eagles have proven they can play ball with anyone, but decimated by injury the Eagles had little to counter the sizzling Hornets lineup, a lineup that has clearly found itself.  Nor could the Elmendorf bats solve Jesse McCarty, who didn’t allow a run while his lineup put up 15.  MatSu’s Eric Kaiser had 6K’s and didn’t allow an earned run over 8IP; he also went 3-5 with a pair of runs scored and another pair knocked in.  It took every bit of Kaiser’s phenomenal effort to hold off Steve’s Sports Bar, who scored four in the ninth to draw within a run, coming up just short in their second consecutive loss by a single run.
 

     It would be easy to overlook the results of last night’s games, all of them fairly one-sided. SouthCentral starter Mike Smith was dominant again, finishing a 15-0 win over MatSu in about 90 minutes. Despite falling to Fairview 12-2, noteworthy Steve’s started perhaps the most experienced infield in league history with Ty Rollins at third, Adrian Van Patten at short, Steve Fibranz at first; even a baby at second would put the average age of the infield into the record book. But it was one of the game’s most important records, and indeed the very nature of what constitutes ‘the record’ that Elmendorf’s 13-2 victory over Fuze brought to new light. Elmendorf ace Joshua Simmons tied the all-time mark for wins in a season with seven.  He has beaten each of the top clubs excluding his own, and has gone the distance in all but one of his wins which account for 70% of Elmendorf’s total.

    There have been several incarnations of the AABL, from the pick-up ball and early days of the ABL, to the player-run era of the last 17 seasons, the great players and their statistics have been to varying degrees recorded in different places. One of the founding principles of the best site in sport, alaskabaseball.org, was to gather what records remained from all eras into one place. Nevertheless, it is clear to all who have perused the Archive that while some more recent seasons and leaders are being reassembled, many of the great numbers will only live in folklore. Which begs the question: how do we know the records?

    Defined as a thing constituting a piece of evidence about the past, particularly in writing or permanent form - the records are those items which left a historical trail that can be reasonably followed. By every account, Ty Rollins has won as many as a dozen games in a season, and while the Greatest himself is reticent to talk about his numbers, it is reasonable to assume he has won double digits before, multiple times even. Still, like numbers from the Negro Leagues or even 19th century Big League stats, the lack of complete records makes even the speculative numbers hard to put into proper perspective.

    What we do know about the current wins record is what was mined from the Video City Studs website (for contents, see Studs page on this site, that site is now a computer virus wasteland) that amazingly still exists. During their incomparable season of ’97, the Studs had three different pitchers win seven games. But beyond pitching for a clearly, even unreasonably stacked club, the Studs made no distinction between tournament and regular season in their statistical tabulations. So while the Studs numbers remain a testament to the value of writing things down, and are the untouchable standard in many categories (see Dolan’s 19HR, wood bat era record - 4), and were in all likelihood representative of every record that mattered including wins, Simmons season stands on its own. 

    The side-arming righty who brings a mid 80’s tailing fastball with a demonic slider, occasional change-up, and a splitter he brings from over the top for good measure is 7-1 in the 2009 season.  His emergence has been emblematic of the flourishing of an Elmendorf franchise that is posting one of its best seasons ever.  The Eagles have enjoyed one of the most dramatic turnarounds ever, and have gone from a squad that finished next to last, to a team that has beaten every other club in the league. 
   
    So as one of the great records prepares to fall, perhaps for the first time in league history with proper fanfare, it is worth a look at from whence they came as well as those that remain.  Sergeant Strikeout has also racked up 82K’s in 64IP against just 12BB, and is well within range of both the Innings Pitched (68.3) and Strikeout (97) records.  So regardless of the value we place on the numbers, records, or even memory, we can agree that we are witnessing some of the greatest singular and team performances ever. 

   Charlton Ferreira, the game’s most explosive weapon, was unhittable again on Wednesday night. The SouthCentral ace had completed a referee-stoppage fight already this season without allowing a hit. With the Titans offense managing to keep it under 10 runs this time, Ferreira was able to record all 27 outs in the first true no-hitter since Andrew Ward’s in 2008. Ferreira shut down the hottest team in the league, the Elmendorf Eagles, fanning a season-high 16 and exhibiting some of the filthiest stuff known to man. The southpaw’s fastball was around 90mph on an otherwise frigid night and he commanded both sides of the plate with a trifecta of unholy pitches. Ferreira, who spent much of the early season starring for the Glacier Pilots, propelled the Titans into their first outright league-lead in team history with his masterpiece.  Nevertheless, the devastating injury to Elmendorf manager and ace Joshua Simmons could end up being the most influential result of the game. While running to third base with two outs, Simmons, who was the DH on this evening, moved quickly to avoid a line drive and “heard a loud pop” in his knee. The Elmendorf star was helped off the field by his teammates and the early indications are that it was his ACL; if so, it would be a catastrophic turn of events for the Eagles and the league entire. The powerful side-arming righty, who has come to be known as Sergeant Strikeout throughout the league, leads everyone in both wins and strikeouts and has his Elmendorf Eagles (5-2) off to their best start in a decade. The Hornets’ Jordan Farkas stymied the freefalling champs, throwing a complete game in the 7-3 win over the Cubs.  Farkas fanned eight and allowed just a solitary earned run as the Hornets (6-2) broke through with some timely hitting and vaulted themselves into third place in the standings. The game marches on with a full docket of games tonight including the long-awaited matchup between the upstart Fairview Pirates (7-1) and the first place SouthCentral Titans (8-1).

Bringing the Stinging

7/17/09

The buzz is back for the Hornets who are unbeaten in July

    Charlton Ferreira’s remarkable scoreless inning streak came to an end on Thursday night. The explosive Titans southpaw who wears a number four on his chiseled back, went almost 30 innings into the season without allowing a run to the opposition.  C4 put in another high quality start, striking out 13 Hornets through eight innings. But having come from behind for five of their last six wins, it also takes a high quality finish to take down the Hornets. Angel Gonzalez knocked in high-speed Trevor Harrison with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to knot the score at 3-3. Hornet starter Jordan Farkas threw an otherworldly ten innings against the Titans and set the stage for another Jesse McCarty moment, a walk-off hit driving in Taylor Reed in the bottom of the 10th. Harrison notched a pair of outfield assists, a pivotal hosing at the dish in addition to his fourth of the year at first base. Along with Elmendorf’s Mike Rumora, Trevor Harrison is averaging an over an assist every two games and the pair has combined for about a quarter of the outfield assists in the league this season.

    The elder statesman Bob Braunstein, who was already setting the tone in the game while Harrison and Rumora were being born, went five solid innings for BGES Fuze against the rival MatSu Marauders. The youngish Fuze defense is gathering experience the hard way though, and gave the MatSu lineup enough chances to push across 14 runs. That was nine more than MatSu needed, with Carson Lee getting the win from the quality start, and Paxton Chatfield striking out the side in both of his innings of relief. Chatfield was a monster at the plate as well, going 3-4 with a triple. He along with Eric Kaiser (4-4) and Charles Bahn (3-6, 2SB, stole home) provided the significant punch for a quickly developing Marauders assault.

    The Alaska Cubs got back on the wining side of things by besting the Fairview Pirates 10-6 in a game that took three-hours on a cold night. As twighlight draped itself over Kosinski Fields the Cubbies might have thought they were dreaming, having never played the Pirates more than seven innings. Fairview’s Matt Chicklo was sharp (5IP, 3H, 0ER) but the incredibly patient Cubs lineup made him throw 113 pitches to get through five innings. Chicklo was opposed by Chris Wagg (8IP, 8H, 2ER), who was outstanding; the Cubs new skipper fanned six and induced three of the game’s seven total double plays. The Brothers Zimm each scored a pair of runs, with leadoff man Colin Zimmerman walking four times and two-hole Eric Zimmerman knocking in a couple to ensure the Cubs would emerge victorious despite the most resistance Fairview has yet shown them.

        Field conditions postponed the BGES Fuze matchup with the Alaska Cubs on Sunday; the first rained-out game of the season has been moved to next Sunday, August 2nd, at 6:00. The two games that did go off provided ample noteworthy action - one epic battle and the return of a legendary warrior.
    The Elmendorf Eagles and MatSu Marauders provided another classic ending in the early game. MatSu’s Eric Kaiser and Elmendorf’s Mike Rumora were both exceptional in their starts off the hill, with the cannon-armed Rumora providing his Eagles a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. The unflappable Marauders stormed back to take the lead with four hits, including Kaiser’s third of the afternoon, in a four run frame. But the Elmendorf Eagles are not strangers to weathering the storms and in the top of the 9th they had yet another answer. Christopher Langley ripped a game-tying solo home run and the amazing Eagles lineup plated another to secure a crucial victory. 
    Zack Beltz made the start on the mound for the SouthCentral Titans, looking to clinch their first regular season title in the first year of their franchise. Only one of the local game’s most enduring franchises, Steve’s Sports Bar, stood between the Titans and the inevitable. Beltz was solid, giving up only four hits in four innings pitched after getting touched for three hits in the first frame. But it was the return of Hall of Fame hurler Ken Wooster to the hill in the 5th inning that was what Willie Paul, manager of the league’s top team, referred to as “a highlight and an honor for us.”
    Wooster, widely regarded as one of the two finest pitchers (pictured above) in the history of the local game, and the ace of one of the AABL’s most storied teams, the Crossroads Brew Crew, played left field for the Titans before coming in to the bump to work his first inning in quite some time. The all-time great met with a bit of the familiar and a bit of the new guard of the AABL, but navigated both with the ease of a HoFer.  The new: Gunner Bahn, a very high-end rental (stole four bases for his Marauders in the early game) got his second hit of the evening and scored the only run for Steve's. The familiar: Bahn was driven in on a hit by Wooster’s former Crossroads teammate Adrian VanPatten.
    Wooster is one of the seminal names in the local game, having managed for many years at the high school level around the city; there are few players not familiar with Wooster as a coach. In Sunday’s 16-1 clinching victory for the SouthCentral Titans, players were given another chance to become familiar with one of the legends, as a player. What a game.

          In 2008 Andrew Ward ran away with the MVP vote before his stats were even made available to the managers that comprise the electorate.  In addition to what was observably one of the most dominant seasons in history, the voters were eager to reward a player who changed the complexion of his entire team and thus the league.  Intertwined with the clearly deserving statistical nature of Ward’s season was the fact that he could have dominated on any club, but he chose a less established (currently defunct) squad that he helped turn into a contender. 
    Basically, the 08 MVP helped bring a sense of parity to the league that managers were eager to reward, even more than his gaudy numbers.  The lesson being: when determining what can be considered ‘most valuable’ there are almost always implicit sociopolitical judgments being made.  Sometimes, the process of making the judgment can be as interesting as the result. 
    Charlton Ferreira and Josh Simmons have both had outlandish seasons this year, statistically and with the success of their respective clubs.  Ferreira’s season though, is almost unimaginable numerically, at the plate and off the hill.  In just over two thirds of a season he won two thirds of the Triple Crown, and leads or is near the top of the heap in every other category.  Describing his season demands poetry, and could scarcely be done at even that.  C4 posted better numbers than maybe anybody ever, and was inarguably the best player on the best team in the league; the definition of MVP. 
    Simmons was the pitcher of record in a record-shattering 9 of his team’s 14 wins.  He blew away the strikeouts and innings pitched records.  Sergeant Strikeout was the reluctant star of a resurgent Elmendorf team that finished with their highest win total ever.  He handed three different clubs their first loss of the season, he’s beaten the good teams and the great ones alike.  Simmons also had a huge year at the dish while assuming the untold burdens of being the manager of his club.  Clearly, no individual meant more to his team’s success, the definition of MVP.
    So while the process was interesting, the result should come as no surprise: there are two players who should be referred to as ‘most valuable’.  Charlton Ferreira and Josh Simmons are the AABL’s 09 MVPs.  By next season, the hope is to have all players and even fans able to participate in voting online - but for the time being it is the managers who decide the destination of all the hardware. 
    His fellow managers determined it was Willie Paul of the SouthCentral Titans who was the best among his peers at management.  The Manager of the Year for 09 took his expansion team straight to the top - winning the regular season in convincing fashion while imparting a signature style and character to his ballclub.  The youngest in the local game’s new wave of talented young skippers got in everything but rest this summer.  Paul assembled and orchestrated the powerhouse Titans while working full time and managing the Service High JV squad, a pace unfathomable for all but the top baseball mind of 2009.
    BGES Fuze catcher Tony Onesty won Rookie of the Year honors, finishing at the top of a bumper crop of rookies regarded as the finest in years.  The cannon-armed Onesty [pronounced 'äniste] was a terror behind the plate, regularly employing the back pick at second base and throwing out would-be base thieves with run-stifling regularity.  One of just a pair of rookies to make the 09 All-Star team, the BGES slugger was more of his lineup’s offensive punch than any other player, rookie or veteran.  Onesty lead Fuze in nearly every offensive category, accounting for 26% of his team’s RBI total and an incomparable 41% of his club’s extra base hits. 
    Despite being the most widely contested of the league honors, the Gold Gloves were generally the least contentious of the votes, featuring the only two unanimous decisions of the balloting.  Ty Rollins of Steve’s Sports Bar won at pitcher, even for those who might begrudge the top of the hill as a defensive position, there can be little argument that Rollins does whatever happens up there as well as anyone. 
    The other unanimous decision, SouthCentral’s Danny Mascelli at second base was an easy one for anyone that has witnessed the all-out ferocity of his game.  The butcher from Scranton was joined on the top flight of fielders by fellow Titan David Doerr, who won his second consecutive Gold Glove for his acrobatic play in the outfield.  Another repeat defender was Fairview first baseman Dean Walker who anchors the occasionally choppy waters of the Pirates infield.  Doerr and Walker joined Hornets outfielder Trevor Harrison and shortstop Taylor Reed in repeating as Gold Glove recipients.  The yellow and black garnered the most gold for the second year in a row with backstop Angel Gonzalez pulling in perhaps the most prestigious of the defensive superlatives, the Gold Glove Catcher. 
    Elmendorf outfielder Mike Rumora cut down more base runners than anybody ever, and was rewarded with his first Gold Glove after developing his position into effectively that of a very deep infielder. The only rookie to be honored as a top defender was MatSu Marauder third baseman Eric Kaiser.  The cornerstone of a solid defense, Kaiser gets the Marauders on the award board; the eighth team this season to earn a player one of the few honors the league bestows. 

Chris Ragis knocks in Anton McCloud in the bottom of the first.
Lonergan rips a ball into the would-be gap with two out in the top of the second - men on first and second - Scott Campbell lays out, full extention, to make the catch of the year, saving at least a pair of runs.



Following a sac bunt by Louie Nance that moved Trevor Harrison and Scott Campbell into scoring position, Jeremy Wylie singles to right, scoring both.  Zimmerman relieves Wagg.  7-1 Hornets, two outs in the bottom of the 5th.



The #2 seeded Hornets took down the defending champs 11-1 behind the offensive performance of Jeremy Wylie and a stellar complete game effort by Jason Hart. Hornets@Titans: 6:30 Fri.