Season 11 Award Winners

The awards for season 11 were handed out.  Here's a recap of the winners!

Most Valuable Player
American League - Weldon Rando, Cincinnati - .301 AVG 26 HR 86 RBI 89 SB
It was a tight race for AL MVP, but Rando, the league leader in runs and stolen bases, took the crown.  Rando also posted a nice batting average and home run and RBI totals for a lead-off man.  Surprisingly enough, Rando didn't even make the all-star team, but he did win the Silver Slugger award, his first.  Rando just edged out slugger Roger Baker for the award.  Baker put up tremendous power numbers, but in the end, the all around star took home the award.

National League - Robb Ross, Boston - .348 AVG 31 HR 121 RBI
The NL race wasn't as tight, with Ross taking the trophy home after winning the batting title and leading the league in slugging and OPS.  Ross led Boston to a division title, was a starter in the All Star Game, and won a Silver Slugger award.  This is the 2nd MVP win for Ross, as he took the AL MVP crown is Season 9.  A tremendous season indeed! Joaquin Valverde of Oklahoma City finished 2nd, and also had great numbers all around, but couldn't quite get the vote over Ross.

Cy Young Award
American League - Clyde Hurst, Vancouver - 18-8 2.42 ERA 213 K
After leading the league in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts and quality starts, there was little doubt that Hurst would take home the AL Cy Young Award.  This is his 3rd win, which ties the record for the World, and 2nd in a row.  At just age 28, there's no telling how many more Cy Young Awards Hurst could win before he is done.  Hurst also made the All Star Team this year. 

National League - Matty Posada, Louisville - 24-3 2.55 ERA 218 K
Posada won the NL Cy Young in a close race with Oklahoma City's Richard Ma. Both put up extremely impressive numbers this season, but is with the wins leader Posada who came out on top.  This is Posada's 2nd Cy Young Award, as he also won the NL Cy Young in Season 9.  He also made the All Star team.  Again, Posada is only 27, so he has the potential to win more, but not if Ma has anything to say about it. 

Rookie of the Year
American League - Felipe Roque, Dover - 15-8 3.53 ERA
Roque was a runaway winner for AL Rookie of the Year.  The 26 year-old put up great numbers in his rookie campaign.  He also made the All Star team.  Roque looks like he'll be a solid SP for many seasons to come.

National League - Tony Tavarez, Oklahoma City - 12-4 2.25 ERA
Tavarez was also a runaway winner in taking home the NL Rookie of the Year.  Tavarez, an early season call-up, but up extremely impressive ERA and WHIP numbers in his rookie campaign, along with just about every other pitcher on Oklahoma City.  The 23 year-old has many great seasons ahead of him.

Fireman of the Year
American League - Alfredo Jose, Augusta - 3.05 ERA, 49 SV - 1st win
National League - Dan Ohlendorf, Salem - 2.54 ERA, 51 SV - 1st win

Silver Slugger Awards
American League

DH	Roger Baker	Dover	2nd
C	Trenidad Franco	Pawtucket	1st
1B	Wilton Gang	Little Rock	2nd
2B	Sherman Perez	Pawtucket	1st
3B	Jimmy Fox	Texas	1st
SS	Luis Vega	Pawtucket	3rd
LF	Butch Borland	Dover	2nd
CF	Weldon Rando	Cincinnati	1st
RF	Ivy Mench	Pawtucket	1st

National League 

P	Howie Kelly	Memphis	1st
C	Jeremy Randall	Buffalo	3rd
1B	Wandy Javier	Rochester	3rd
2B	Robb Ross	Boston	2nd
3B	Randy Gonzales	Chicago	1st
SS	Greg Benjamin	Helena	1st
LF	Bob Cambridge	Louisville	4th
CF	Jose Rincon	Oklahoma City	2nd
RF	Al Martin	Tacoma	1st

Gold Glove Awards
American League

P	Javier Bonilla	Los Angeles	1st
C	Albert Gabriel	Augusta	1st
1B	Alan McDill	Dover	2nd
2B	Phil Hardy	Vancouver	1st
3B	Chipper Nippert	Vancouver	2nd
SS	Tom Post	Dover	2nd
LF	Walker Woodson	Nashville	1st
CF	Pepe Mendoza	Little Rock	2nd
RF	Dustin Hanson	Nashville	1st

National League

P	Dennis Gibson	Tacoma	5th
C	Bruce Sterns	Helena	2nd
1B	Jim Tanner	Boston	1st
2B	Michel Garces	Durham	3rd
3B	Humberto Lee	Memphis	1st
SS	Damaso Ethier	Oklahoma City	1st
LF	Rob Hutton	Boston	1st
CF	Philip Brock	Boston	1st
RF	Donaldo Alvarez	Burlington	1st

Season 11 League Leaders

Now that the regular season is over, here's a look at Season 11's League Leaders.

Offense
In the American League, good things came in two, Wilton Gang led the league in batting average (.364) and OBP (.429), Butch Borland led the league in Home Runs (50) and RBI (140), while Dover teammate Roger Baker led the league in slugging percentage (.644) and OPS (1.051).  Another player who doubled up was Weldon Rando who led the league in runs (139) and Stolen Bases (89).  His 89 stolen bases were 2nd most in World history, and he also happens to own the records for 1st and 3rd most!  In the NL, Robb Ross was the only one to lead multiple categories, as he was the leader in batting average (.348), slugging percentage (.646) and OBP (1.073).  Here's the complete listing of offensive leaders:

American League
Batting Average	Wilton Gang	Little Rock	0.364
Home Runs	Butch Borland	Dover	50
RBI	Butch Borland	Dover	140
Stolen Bases	Weldon Rando	Cincinnati	89
Hits	Luis Vega	Pawtucket	200
Runs	Weldon Rando	Cincinnati	139
OBP	Wilton Gang	Little Rock	0.429
SLG	Roger Baker	Dover	0.644
OPS	Roger Baker	Dover	1.051
National League
Batting Average	Robb Ross	Boston	0.348
Home Runs	Eugene Quirarte	Helena	44
RBI	Joaquin Valverde	Oklahoma City	137
Stolen Bases	Tony Moyer	Salem	63
Hits	Bob Cambridge	Louisville	193
Runs	Billy Beualac	Tampa Bay	117
OBP	David Ontiveros	Louisville	0.440
SLG	Robb Ross	Boston	0.646
OPS	Robb Ross	Boston	1.073

Pitching
In the AL, it was all about Clyde Hurst. In a tremendous year, he lead the league in ERA (2.42), Strikeouts (213), WHIP (1.06) and Quality Starts (28).  Seems to me like he should be picking up a record tying 3rd Cy Young award this season. Steve Lampkin led the league in wins (21) and tied for the lead in Complete Games. Al Hollandsworth tied for the lead in Complete Games (6) and Shutouts (2).  In the NL, Che-Bang Kata led the league in innings pitched (254), strikeouts (253) and tied for the lead in quality starts (28).  Kata's 253 strikeouts came just short of breaking the top 5 best in World History, but Kata can be consoled by the fact that he, himself has all 5 of the top 5 best seasons in strikeouts, wow! Matty Posada recorded the 3rd most wins in World history with 24 and also tied Kata for most quality starts with 28. Dan Ohlendorf recorded 51 saves, 4th most in World history. Richard Ma recorded a 0.97 WHIP, which only 3 people have topped, but I didn't calculate it down to the decimal point to see if it's a true top 5.  Here's the complete listing of pitching leaders:

American League
ERA	Clyde Hurst	Vancouver	2.42
Wins	Steve Lampkin	Little Rock	21
Strikeouts	Clyde Hurst	Vancouver	213
Saves	Alfredo Jose	Augusta	49
WHIP	Clyde Hurst	Vancouver	1.06
Innings Pitched	Nicholas Johnstone	Los Angeles	252
Quality Starts	Clyde Hurst	Vancouver	28
Complete Games	Steve Lampkin	Little Rock	6
	Al Hollandsworth	Seattle	6
Shutouts	Al Hollandsworth	Seattle	2
	R.J. Vidal	Seattle	2
	Elvis Singleton	New Britain	2
National League
ERA	Brad Miles	Tampa Bay	1.90
Wins	Matty Posada	Louisville	24
Strikeouts	Che-Bang Kata	Tacoma	253
Saves	Dan Ohlendorf	Salem	51
WHIP	Richard Ma	Oklahoma City	0.97
Innings Pitched	Che-Bang Kata	Tacoma	254
Quality Starts	Matty Posada	Louisville	28
	Che-Bang Kata	Tacoma	28
Complete Games	Ramiro Vazquez	Rochester	7
Shutouts	Ramiro Vazquez	Rochester	3

Season 11 Final Power Rankings

The final power rankings for this season are out, and it's interesting that #1 and #2 were from the same division and are on course for a clash in the 2nd round of the playoffs.  Doesn't seem fair!  See where your team finished in the final rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Oklahoma City	120	42	1	Not enough superlatives to describe this season
2	Louisville	105	57	2	# 2 in the rankings, # 2 in their division, rough.
3	Little Rock	99	63	4	# 1 in AL, numbers up all around the last 54
4	New Britain	98	64	3	# 2 AL team really had great pitching the last 54
5	Vancouver	90	72	10	# 4 AL seed is a very balanced squad
6	Pawtucket	96	66	11	# 3 AL seed, #1 offense, but shaky pitching
7	Cincinnati	94	68	9	# 5 AL Seed had improved pitching in the last 54
8	Seattle	86	76	17	Great last 54, but not enough to get in the playoffs
9	Dover	91	71	5	Great offense, but mediocre last 54, no playoffs
10	Buffalo	88	74	12	# 2 NL seed, will the bats produce in the playoffs?
11	Augusta	93	69	6	# 6 AL seed, numbers down the last 54
12	Monterrey	85	77	15	Nice finish, with improved pitching
13	Boston	83	79	18	# 3 NL seed played well down the stretch
14	Texas	78	84	20	Great offense and improved pitching the last 54
15	Cleveland	82	80	7	Bad luck the last 54, numbers say they're better
16	Memphis	81	81	19	Rank # 2 in pitching, but needs to improve offense
17	Tampa Bay	84	78	13	# 6 NL seed was mediocre the last 54
18	Tacoma	84	78	8	Tough last 54, pitching and offense were down
19	Rochester	83	79	14	Numbers were down on offense the last 54
20	Salem	82	80	22	Nice finish, due to pitching, got them # 4 NL seed
21	Burlington	82	80	21	Over .500 the last 54 with a nice bump in pitching
22	Helena	76	86	23	Pitching came around a bit the last 54
23	Durham	73	89	26	Better pitching here too over the final 54.
24	Chicago	68	94	24	New owner did a good job here and they improved
25	Philadelphia	71	91	16	Really bad down the stretch, rough all around
26	San Jose	64	98	27	Improved down the stretch, offense was better
27	San Diego	56	106	30	Also improved the last 54, pitching was up
28	Pittsburgh	72	90	25	Rough stretch run, pitching was an issue all season
29	Montreal	59	103	31	Numbers improved the last 54, but rough overall
30	Nashville	58	104	29	Terrible pitching hurt them all season
31	Portland	61	101	28	Lack of offense was a problem all season
32	Los Angeles	50	112	32	Showed signs of life the last 54 with a new owner

New Minimum Win Rules Effective Season 12

Here are the new minimum win rules I have crafted that will be effective in Season 12.

Minimum Win Threshold - 55 wins (1 season), 185 wins (3 seasons)
Minimum Win Threshold for first year owners in the world - 50 wins

Owners who do not meet the threshold can be put on probation (aka given a "strike") up to 2 times if it is determined they are putting forth a reasonable effort and abiding by other world rules.  If determined not to be putting forth a reasonable effort and abiding by other world rules, they may be ejected from the world immediately. 

Probation will not be granted a third time.  Three strikes and you're out. 

Three consecutive seasons of meeting the threshold will result in all previous "strikes" being erased from your record.

Replacement Owners - the season they take over the team does not count as a  "strike" against them.

This policy will not be retroactive, it will be applied going forward starting with Season 12.  No owners will incur a "strike" for their Season 11 record, and all Season 11 owners are welcome back for Season 12. 

Season 11 - 108 Game Power Rankings

Here are the power rankings through game 108.   Oklahoma City was a dominant #1 in the previous rankings, will anyone be able to catch them? Here are the rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Oklahoma City	80	28	1	Playing just great instead of out of this world lately
2	Louisville	67	41	9	Best record in the world the last 54 games
3	New Britain	66	42	7	Team is solid across the board
4	Little Rock	66	42	3	Numbers have slipped a little, but still good
5	Dover	64	44	6	Offense is great, pitching is average
6	Augusta	64	44	5	Getting it done with great pitching
7	Cleveland	60	48	8	Injury to Dale hurts, but still hanging in there
8	Tacoma	62	46	10	Outstanding pitching, offense mediocre
9	Cincinnati	61	47	15	Pitching has improved, offense still solid
10	Vancouver	59	49	11	Improved pitching, but offense has stalled a bit
11	Pawtucket	61	47	2	.500 over the last 54, numbers are down
12	Buffalo	60	48	4	Another team with a big jump in ERA
13	Tampa Bay	57	51	19	Playing above .500 ball, after an average start
14	Rochester	57	51	14	Better over the last 54 due to improved pitching
15	Monterrey	56	52	18	ERA is still bad, but down, and offense is great
16	Philadelphia	53	55	25	Playing well after a bad start, up 9 spots
17	Seattle	53	55	17	Pitching is solid, offense is up, but still not great
18	Boston	54	54	12	ERA has been up, and offense down
19	Memphis	52	56	20	Great ptiching, but offense ranks 2nd worst
20	Texas	50	58	13	Pitching got worse, and offense cooled down a bit
21	Burlington	54	54	24	ERA has come down a bit, offense is up too
22	Salem	53	55	23	Decent pitching, but getting no offense whatsoever
23	Helena	52	56	22	Pitching hasn't been able to get them to next level
24	Chicago	46	62	27	Over .500 the last 54, playing better
25	Pittsburgh	53	55	16	Pitching has been roughed up the last 54
26	Durham	47	61	26	Offense not what you would expect in hitter's park
27	San Jose	39	69	21	The wheels have fallen off, 16-38 in last 54
28	Portland	41	67	30	Improved over last 54, pitching is coming around
29	Nashville	38	70	28	Improving a bit, as pitching is getting better
30	San Diego	34	74	31	Numbers are improving across the board
31	Montreal	39	69	29	Terrible pitching, and not much on offense
32	Los Angeles	30	78	32	New management is getting this team in order

Season 11 All-Star Coverage

The All-Star break is upon us in Season 11, and the all-star teams are official.  Two NL players are far ahead of the field in terms of appearances.

Starting RF Pablo Montanez is making his 9th all-star appearance, which is pretty darn impressive since there's only been 11 seasons.  The former MVP is enjoying another great season, batting a stellar .345 with 13 HR and 47 RBI.

NL hurler Che-Bang Kata is making an 8th appearance in the all-star game this season.  The three-time Cy Young winner may be on his way to collecting a 4th, with a 2.21 ERA to go with a 12-5 record thus far this season.

Augusta had the most players on the roster in the AL with 6, and Oklahoma City had 6 in the NL.  Not surprisingly, both are first place teams.

Here's the complete rosters, and number of players by team for both the AL and NL

AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STARS

STARTERS

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Livan Espinoza	Little Rock	2nd
1B	Alan McDill	Dover	4th
2B	Sherman Perez	Pawtucket	5th
3B	Alex Matos	Nashville	1st
SS	Lonnie Suppan	Vancouver	1st
LF	Butch Borland	Dover	2nd
CF	Marshall Wood	Augusta	3rd
RF	Ivy Mench	Pawtucket	3rd
DH	Roger Baker	Dover	1st

PITCHERS AND RESERVES

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
P	Alfredo Jose	Augusta	1st
P	Steve Lampkin	Little Rock	3rd
P	P.J. Glynn	Vancouver	1st
P	Julio Almanza	Dover	6th
P	Justin Jordan	Augusta	2nd
P	Blaine Hatfield	Augusta	4th
P	Clyde Hurst	Vancouver	3rd
P	Shawn Higginson	New Britain	1st
P	Felipe Roque	Dover	1st
P	Tito Fox	Pawtucket	2nd
P	Michael Betemit	Monterrey	3rd
P	Antonio Kwon	New Britain	4th
P	Bruce Prince	New Britain	2nd
C	Trenidad Franco	Pawtucket	2nd
1B	Kenny Clarke	Augusta	3rd
2B	Lon Sappelt	Cincinnati	1st
3B	Chipper Nippert	Vancouver	4th
SS	Marc Towers	Texas	1st
LF	P.T. Henriquez	Augusta	1st
CF	Ivan Cruz	New Britain	3rd
RF	Ralph Erving	Vancouver	3rd

AL All-Stars by Team 

Augusta	6
Dover	5
Vancouver	5
New Britain	4
Pawtucket	4
Little Rock	2
Cincinnati	1
Monterrey	1
Nashville	1
Texas	1

NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STARS

STARTERS

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Jeremy Randall	Buffalo	2nd
1B	Wandy Javier	Rochester	3rd
2B	Robb Ross	Boston	2nd
3B	Humberto Lee	Memphis	1st
SS	Jose Alonso	Oklahoma City	5th
LF	Bob Cambridge	Louisville	2nd
CF	Sidney Forbes	Cleveland	1st
RF	Pablo Montanez	Louisville	9th

PITCHERS AND RESERVES

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
P	Dan Ohlendorf	Salem	1st
P	Matty Posada	Louisville	4th
P	Richard Ma	Oklahoma City	4th
P	Dusty Cook	Helena	2nd
P	David Silva	Buffalo	1st
P	Jamie Mancuso	Memphis	5th
P	Che-Bang Kata	Tacoma	8th
P	Jason Holmes	Oklahoma City	4th
P	Alberto Campos	Tacoma	3rd
P	Jay Borbon	Burlington	6th
P	Ramiro Vazquez	Rochester	3rd
P	Brad Miles	Tampa Bay	2nd
P	Farmer Sadler	Oklahoma City	1st
P	Ignacio Flores	Memphis	1st
C	Curt Fletcher	Tacoma	4th
1B	Randall Holt	Helena	3rd
2B	Joaquin Valverde	Oklahoma City	4th
3B	Ernie Hines	Buffalo	2nd
SS	Victor Lopez	Tampa Bay	1st
LF	Jack McMichael	Tacoma	5th
CF	Felix Cochrane	Memphis	1st
RF	Cesar Redondo	Oklahoma City	2nd

NL All-Stars by Team

Oklahoma City	6
Memphis	4
Tacoma	4
Buffalo	3
Louisville	3
Helena	2
Rochester	2
Tampa Bay	2
Boston	1
Burlington	1
Cleveland	1
Salem	1

Season 11 - 54 Game Power Rankings

Here are the power rankings through game 54.  Oklahoma City has dominated with tremendous pitching, will anyone step up to challenge them?
  

	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Oklahoma City	46	8	Amazing. ERA is out of this world.
2	Pawtucket	34	20	Offense is rolling and pitching is good
3	Little Rock	35	19	Overperforming a bit, but still solid
4	Buffalo	32	22	#2 in EXP Win Pct
5	Augusta	32	22	ERA is a bit high, but still solid
6	Dover	32	22	One of the best offensively
7	New Britain	33	21	Overperforming a little, but pitching is solid
8	Cleveland	30	24	2nd best ERA, but offense is mediocre
9	Louisville	32	22	Offense is hot, but pitching not so much
10	Tacoma	32	22	In this park, great ERA is not a surprise
11	Vancouver	29	25	Great offense so far, pitching is just ok.
12	Boston	28	26	Middle of the pack team so far
13	Texas	28	26	#1 offense, but pitching stats horrible
14	Rochester	27	27	Pitching not great, but fairly good offense
15	Cincinnati	29	25	Overperforming, pitching has not done well
16	Pittsburgh	28	26	Middle of the pack across the board
17	Seattle	27	27	Good pitching, but bats have gone AWOL
18	Monterrey	27	27	Pitching is struggling so far
19	Tampa Bay	26	28	Nice pitching, but offense is struggling
20	Memphis	26	28	Same as TB, Nice pitching, horrid offense
21	San Jose	23	31	Underperforming a bit, could be tough sched
22	Helena	26	28	Overperforming right now, pitching not great
23	Salem	27	27	Getting by with pitching, offense is anemic
24	Burlington	28	26	Surprisingly high ERA in pitcher's park
25	Philadelphia	22	32	Performing about what the numbers indicate
26	Durham	22	32	Pitching is atrocious, hitting middle of the pack
27	Chicago	18	36	Underperforming, but not by much
28	Nashville	16	38	Worst ERA in the league, offense is decent
29	Montreal	20	34	Struggling both pitching wise and offensively
30	Portland	18	36	Rough start for them.
31	San Diego	14	40	Worst offense in the league right now, rough.
32	Los Angeles	17	37	ML Roster needs tweaking, will they step up?