New Season Gets Underway

It was a tough first month for the National League during interleague play versus the American League. Only one team, Ocala, was clearly above .500 for the month. Two teams, Stanley and Fleetwood came in with 14 wins. The NL was 139-197 against the AL. Is the American League that much better than the Nation this year? I don’t think so. I look for things to get evened out in May.

NL EAST

LONG ISLAND TIGERS 13-15

The Tigers get out to a 7-7 home record and win only six games on the road and yet find themselves in first place. Thomas had a very good April hitting .314 with 10 homers and 21 RBI’s. Thomas also has 20 walks. Lightenberg and Remlinger lead the pitching staff with a combined record of 2-0 with 8 saves.

GLEN ALLEN METS 12-16

The Mets stumble out of the gate. Predicted early to finish first, they are only one game out but struggled with a 5-9 road record. Lawton leads the team with a .330 average with 11 doubles, 3 homers and 19 RBI’s. Bob Wickman is saving everything in sight with 7 saves and a 1.04 ERA.

WAUWATOSA WIZARDS 9-19

The Wizards were one of the few teams that played better on the road than at home. Still only 5 wins on the road is nothing to brag about. Koskie is leading the Wizards attack with a .301 average, 3 homers and 15 RBI’s. Karsay is carrying the load for the pitching staff with a 3.04 ERA and 2 wins. He has already pitched 23.2 innings the first month. Karsay’s arm may fall off before the end of the year.

RACINE HEAT 7-21

The Heat find themselves in last place with 21 losses and 6 games out after the first month. A team batting average of .255 and a team ERA of 7.38 don’t make for a good formula. The news is not all bad for Racine as Joe Randa is 4^th in the league in hitting at .330 and Jose Jimenez leads the league in ERA.

NL CENTRAL

STANLEY SIOUX 14-14

Stanley was predicted to easily win the Central division but after one month they find themselves in a dog fight with Fleetwood. The offense has underachieved so far with a team batting average of .263. When they do take off, look out. The pitching has held them in many games as the team has posted a 3.85 ERA. Randy Johnson is 3^rd in ERA at 3.30.

FLEETWOOD WALKERS 14-14

After April, the Walkers are tied for the lead in the Central division. They have gotten there by batting .283 as a team and slugging 33 homers. Abreu has lead the offense with a .333 average (4^th in the league) with 4 homers and 19 RBI’s. If the Walkers are to stay in first their pitching will have to improve as they registered a 5.28 team ERA.

COLUMBUS BUCKEYES 13-15

The Buckeyes tallied a sub .500 record for April but only find themselves 1 game out of first. Darryl Ward has been the offensive leader. Ward has been tearing the cover off the ball as he hit .383 (1^st) with 10 homers (2^nd) and 23 RBI’s (5^th). Randy Wolf is 2^nd in ERA at 2.74.

BLOOMINGTON BEES 13-15

The Bees were another team that played better on the road than at home. 7 wins on the road and 6 at home. This isn’t the Bees team that we have come to know but are only 1 game back after the fist month. The pitching will need to improve to keep pace with the rest of the division as they posted a 6.64 team ERA.

NL WEST

OCALA OCELOTS 16-12

Ocala is the only NL team to be clearly over .500 after a tough month of play against the AL. The Ocelots had identical 8-6 records home and away. Kendall and Alphonso are both batting .330 Helton leads the league in RBI’s with 35 and Percival is leading in saves with 8.

GEM CITY WOLFPACK 13-15

The Wolfpack are just 3 games behind after April’s play. If they are to stay in the division race they must improve in the area of pitching. Gem City posted a 6.53 team ERA. No hurler had and ERA under 4.00. That kind of pitching won’t win many games. Ivan Rodriquez has been awesome in limited play batting .429 with 6 homers in 56 AB’s.

NORTH GEORGIA YELLOW JACKETS 11-17

Had the Yellow Jackets had a good month at home, they may have been closer to the top of the division. They won 8 games on the road but only 3 at home. The home cooking wasn’t very tasty this month. Brad Fullmer is batting .360 (2^nd) with 7 homers and 18 RBI’s. Donnie Wall has posted 3 wins in relief and has a 1.29 ERA.

METROPOLIS AVENGERS 4-24

Not much left here in the gas tank. Last in hitting (.217)) and second last in pitching (6.73). Not much to say except, that is the strategy employed here is to be bad now and better in couple of years. Even Superman couldn’t save this team from last place this year. The only excitement here is who will be their first pick next year. It will be a long season in Metropolis.