Ballard goes deep again

Ryan Ballard homered and drove in 4 for Utah. He now has 14 homers and 36 RBI in 21 games.

Sluggers beaten up, but still on top

The Louisville Sluggers have the league's best record at 13-8, but its hard to even call them the Sluggers anymore. LF Jason Foster will miss a month after injuring his knee. DH Rob Block is looking old, hitting .181 with 2 homers. Nicholas Dark is looking older with .154 and 0 homers. 2B and leadoff Quilvio Gato missed time with injuries. The bright spots have been Hal Glover (.333-3-18) and utilityman Antwan Lemongello (.375) who filled in for Gato. Jake Taylor will have to find more playing time for Lemongello. With Foster out and Block and Dark struggling, the Sluggers do not have a top longball threat.

The starting pitching hasn't saved this team. 7 footer Jojo Lewis has struggled (1-3, 6.31). Chad Anderson has been outstanding though, with 3 times as many saves as hits allowed (9-3).

300 Wins

4/23/2006

Sunsurf earned the 300th victory of his career today in Phoenix's 13-1 win over the Louisville Sluggers. Sunsurf was throwing a shutout through 5, and his team gave him a 10-0 lead. He allowed 1 run in the 6th, then let the bullpen take over. In 6 innings, he allowed 6 hits, striking out 5 and not allowing a walk. The 44 year old robot, who transforms into an 8-track tape player, began his career for the 1987 Los Angeles Shockers. He was 14-8 with a 2.63 ERA as a rookie, and his team won the world championship. He won his second ring with the 1989 Stars, posting a 2.68 ERA that season with 209 strikeouts. He won the Cy Young award for the 1998 Rabbits with a 21-7 record and 2.27 ERA. He left the Rabbits after the 2001 season, and joined the Autobots as a 40 year old. With 244 career wins and given his age, he seemed a long shot to get 300 wins. He has maintained his velocity into old age, and helped Phoenix to a world series title in 2003. The next year, he won 16 games, removing all doubt that he could get to 300 wins. He is also the alltime APBA/Microleague strikeout leader, with 4290.

Congratulations to Sunsurf on a great moment of APBA history.

Lots of games played all at once

Only one day's worth of games had been played coming into this week, but APBA's Superior League has caught up to April 22nd on the schedule. Here are some team records:

East
Miami 11-6
Louisville 10-7
Baltimore 10-7
NY Knights 10-7
Boston 9-8
Orlando 8-9

Central
Chicago 9-8
Cleveland 8-9
Springfield 7-10
Charlotte 6-11
Toledo 6-11

West
Utah 11-6
Mars 9-8
Texas 9-8
Phoenix 7-10
Las Vegas 6-11

Offense is up slightly, with the league ERA around 4.70 Three players have been head and shoulders above the rest of the league, and two of them are complete surprises.

Utah's Ryan Ballard has been the top hitter in the game. He's hitting .403 with a .519 OBA and 1.113 slugging. Ballard leads the league with 13 homers, 32 RBI, and 23 runs. He's taken 16 walks. Ballard homered in 6 consecutive games, which is possibly a league record.

Texas rookie Nick McConroy is hitting .388 with 7 homers, 20 RBI, and 18 runs scored. He's been hitting in the #8 spot of the order.

Miami second year shortstop Everett Jimenez is hitting .344 with 5 homers, 19 RBI, and a .719 slugging. Jimenez hit his 5th homer in the team's 8th game. Last year he had 425 at bats, and hit 2 homers all season. He's already halfway to his 2005 RBI total. He hit 2 homers with 6 RBI on April 8th.

Luis Carrasco of Las Vegas has a 1.45 ERA through 31 innings, and Miami's Bill Nolan is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA.