Anchorage Adult Baseball League est. 1976
2009 Top Performers
Ty Rollins
It was just
another week for The Greatest, but more than enough to merit the first
ever online Top Performer award. Ty Rollins started his week by going
the distance against the defending champion Cubs. Without #40 on the
bump, Steve’s Sports Bar had fallen to the Cubs 17-1 in their first
meeting. With their longtime ace on the hill, Steve’s is a different
animal altogether as the Cubs were reminded. Rollins dealt the hardest
hitting team in the game just a pair of runs over nine innings and
emerged with the 3-2 victory. Three days of rest later Hondo Big Sky
Train was back on the mound for Steve’s - this time going the distance
in a 1-0 instant classic. Having prevailed by completing consecutive
1-run contests on three days rest, a mere mortal might have called it a
day. But the Train kept rolling right over to Mulcahy for the All-Star
game versus the Bucs on that same evening. Rollins was the cohesive
element in the dugout, bringing his club together while ceaselessly
refining his environment. When the combined youthful arms of the
All-Star team had done all they could do - they turned to The Greatest
to finish it off, and that he did. After throwing a 30 second bullpen,
now hours after throwing a complete game, Rollins brought all the joy
and character of local baseball into the game with him. Employing his
trademark grunts, gesticulations, warning hitters “that’s a ball!” and
having as much fun as anybody, the master had both dugouts and the
entire crowd fixated on his every action. Add to the fact that he was
the biggest star in a game of stars that his stuff was per usual,
nasty. Before leaving the field to thunderous cheers, Ty mowed down the
top of the Anchorage Bucs lineup in their final at-bat. All in a days
work for our first Top Performer of ’09, Ty Rollins.
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Grant
Breager
Fairview Pirates
Fairview Pirates
The horse with no number, Bronc Breager, is putting together another stellar season in the middle of the Fairview lineup. The 08 Batting Champion (.491) has lead the Pirates in hitting for all but a few moments of the franchise history, and is again more than 50 points above the next highest average in Fairview at .426. Better known as the Fairview backstop, Breager has also been called on to close games this season (often catching 8 innings, then closing) and leads the league with 3 saves while compiling a 2-0 record with a 2.92 ERA. But it’s Bronc’s leadership on the diamond and his proficiency with the lumber that stands out more than anything to the opposition. Breager leads the team in AB, H, OBP, RBI, and SLG, is second in XBH, R, SAC, and is third in BB, ROE, and SB. At 12-5 (T-2nd) in their second season, the Fairview Pirates have more than a handful of guys that can buck you, but none so consistently as Bronc.
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Josh Simmons
Elmendorf Eagles
Elmendorf ace Joshua Simmons has taken the all-time lead for wins in a season with eight. He has beaten each of the top clubs excluding his own, and has gone the distance in all but two of his wins which account for 67% of Elmendorf’s total. The side-arming righty who blows mid to high 80’s tailing smoke with a demonic slider, occasional change-up, and a splitter he brings from over the top for good measure is 8-1 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 history’s most dramatic turnarounds, and have gone from a squad that finished next to last, to a team that has beaten every other club in the league. Sergeant Strikeout has also racked up an astonishing 93K’s in another record 71IP, has issued just 13BB, and is on the cusp of eclipsing the record (97 by Andrew Ward) for strikeouts in a single season.
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Charlton Ferreira
SouthCentral Titans
Charlton Ferreira, the man known as The Weapon, Cha Cha, C4, has exploded into the strata of inarguably the greatest players ever to grace the local game. Most would have already granted the cornerstone of the Phitin’ Phillies juggernaut such a distinction; but he has outlasted the club with whom he was synonymous, and proven even more devastating as a SouthCentral Titan, an expansion team that recently clinched the regular season title. The league’s premier 5-tool player has stolen more bases and played a better outfield than anybody this century, but hitting in the three-hole this season for the speedy Titans has opened everybody’s eyes to the true prowess of one of the game’s greatest hitters. C4 has stroked the ball at a .542 clip with an astounding 42% of his hits going for extra bases. In a season shortened by another stint with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, he leads the league in HR (3) and RBI’s (19) and has an outside shot at Alaska’s first triple crown in over a decade. At a glance his percentages seem mixed up; his .542 BA alone would put him among the league leaders in OBP, and his .621 OBP would be among the league leaders in SLG, while his obscene .958 SLG has no numerical parallel or means of comprehension although one could project that in 100 AB’s Ferreira would get 96 total bases. And he hasn’t struck out this season, not once. Off the bump The Weapon has been no less devastating, running up a 4-0 record with a 1.18 ERA and 0.89 WHIP while punching out an unreal 61 batters in 38 innings of work. He has hit (5) nearly as many batters as have gotten a hit (8) off him, and added a big save for good measure. All told, the numbers create a picture, but there is perhaps no way to really fathom the masterpiece being completed. Already one of the local game’s all-timers, the 27 year old AABL veteran Charlton Ferreira is just entering his statistical prime.