AROUND THE DIAMOND IN THE ABL

OPENING WEEKEND EDITION

1/30/20

BIG STORY: Are you ready for some baseball? The day has finally arrived to break out the bats and gloves and play some ball. A few minor changes with game play with an updated cut-off rule and closers losing symbols before the 8th inning. There was also major change with the trade review board getting dissolved. There was also a change in the league’s makeup as one team re-joined the circuit and one team went inactive. The Oceanside Leprechauns managed by Casey Allen re-joined the National Division in his 5th season of play after one year inactive to back-fill for the departure of the Orlando Sharks. Chesapeake Bay made the most noise draft day as they owned several early round picks and wrapped up all their drafting in the 9th round. The class of the American Division early on is the 2019 Bambino Cup finalist Dexter Thunder Geese chased by Albany, Ocracoke, and Long Beach Island. In the National Division, Lenny's post draft rankings stacked the Chesapeake Bay Channel Cats as the earlier favorites. Garden State and the defending champion Titusville are a few steps back in the chase for the division crown. Sleeper pick to watch out for is the Miek Trout led Long Beach Island Starfish as a team that could surprise some folks as the 31st season of the American Baseball League “Bambino Cup” quest begins now!!!!!

2020 ABL STANDINGS

NATIONAL W L GB PCT RS RA AWAY HOME DIV VS AD

Crown Heights 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Titusville 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Chesapeake Bay 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Clayton 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Garden State 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Oceanside 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

AMERICAN W L GB PCT RS RA AWAY HOME DIV VS ND

Ocracoke 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Dexter 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Tallahassee 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Long Beach 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Albany 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

East Bay 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

La Jolla 0 0 -- .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

X-Playoff Spot Y-Division

Z- Tied for Playoff Spot

DEADLINES:

Play Week begins January 31st 6th

Recap and Score Sheets due February 10th 8 p.m. eastern

2020 ABL TEAMS AND MANAGERS:

National Division Chesapeake Bay Channel Cats (31st Season) Scott Allen Titusville Perfectos (13th Season) Lenny Saaf (Defending Champions) Oceanside Leprechauns (5th Season) Casey Allen Crown Heights Kings (3rd Season) Chris Marcello Clayton Steamships (2nd Season) Wayne Scott Garden State Warriors (2nd Season) Bruce Keilin American Division Tallahassee Terriers (30th Season) Don Allen Jr. Long Beach Island Starfish (18th Season) Skibby Bomysoad Dexter thunder Geese (16th Season) Jason Cupelo Ocracoke Blackbeards (13th Season) Duran Allen La Jolla Juggernaut (6th Season) Kevin Waters Albany Lo-Sox (4th Season) Michael Saaf East Bay Grease (3rd Season) Joe Parisi

ABL 2020 IP’S

Tallahassee 15 Titusville 15 Dexter 15 Long Beach Island 15 Ocracoke 15 Chesapeake Bay 15 La Jolla 15 Albany 15 Oceanside 15 East Bay 15 Crown Heights 15 Clayton 15 Garden State 15

ROLLING DICE?? (Q and A with Game Play Notes) (PLEASE TAKE NOTE)

(Italic are present in the current charts)

1. 6/Short rated pitcher starts and only pitches two innings. Can the pitcher pitch with only three days of rest and start with a “0” stamina?

ANSWER: No. You must have a minimum stamina of “8” to pitch on three days’ rest with a -10 adjustment. Basically, the pitcher must have at least an 18 stamina on their card to pitch on three days of short rest.

2. Closer rated pitcher comes in to retire the last out of the 7th inning (symbols lost), then returns to the mound in the 8th inning. Does the pitcher regain his symbols?

ANSWER: Yes. The pitcher regains their symbols from the 8th inning through extra innings.

3. 6/Closer rated pitcher starts the game as an opener. Does the pitcher retain his symbols even though it’s before the 8th inning?

ANSWER: Yes. 6/Closer rated pitchers maintain all symbols as a starter but lose them in innings 1 through 7 while pitching in relief.

BRUCE SPOTLIGHT: Bruce performed a quick evaluation of the SP ranking matchups. In terms of ease of schedule (by ranking pitcher only), C-Bay, Garden State, and La Jolla have their work cut out. Tally, T-Ville, and Clayton have the lightest. This assumes teams throw their pitchers in the best order. Take with a grain of salt since other factors were ignored.

FUTURE ABL MANAGERS: Reminder to all managers that if you find someone interested in baseball let’s get them started in the ABL Developmental Plan playing practice games. Contact the Commish for a sample set of cards/charts and start teaching the ABL’s next Billy Martin the excitement of tabletop baseball. ABL Developmental Plan Guidelines: At a minimum new perspective managers, must complete the following:

1. Two practice games with an ABL Manager with score sheets. 2. One practice game with an ABL Manager on the dice roller. 3. Submit one recap of one of the practice games to be included in Around the Diamond. 4. Total of three practice games must be completed with ABL Managers.

5. Then the new perspective manager should request an ABL Expansion Application if an opening is available or request to put added to the expansion team waiting list.

6. Finally, the new perspective manager should pay the $60 operational fee once their ABL Expansion Application is approved.

TRANSACTION REPORT:

11/24 PLAYER POOL: Houston Astros were added to the 2020 Player Pool. The Philadelphia Phillies were removed from the 2020 Player Pool

PLAYER POOL TEAMS FOR 2020: Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Texas.

ABL 2020 EXPANSION PLAYER POOL: Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington. 11/25 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Dexter signed Andrew McCutchen, Christian Yelich, Jose

Altuve, Anthony Rendon, Corey Seager, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Joey Gallo, Zack Greinke, Taylor Rogers, Craig Stammen, Jorge Alfaro, Paul Goldschmidt, Michael Conforto, and Chris Taylor.

FREE AGENT: Dexter dropped Reynaldo Lopez, Tyler Anderson, Daniel Hudson, Keone Kela, Caleb Ferguson, Seunghwan Oh, Bryan Holaday, Jeimer Candelario, Steve Pearce, Francisco Cervelli, Greg Garcia, Jean Segura, Jamie Barria, Tommy Hunter, and Harrison Musgrave. 11/26 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Long Beach Island signed Yadier Molina, Mookie Betts, Kris

Bryant, Wilmer Flores, Javier Baez, Mike Trout, Nick Markakis, Sonny Gray, Kyle Freeland, Jose Leclerc, Ji-Man Choi, Ehire Adrianza, Johan Camargo, Willy Adames, and Niko Goodrum. FREE AGENT: Long Beach Island dropped Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Gibson, Masahiro Tanaka, David Price, Wade Davis, Miguel Castro, Corey Knebel, Jose Castillo, David Robertson, Antonio Senzatela, Joe Mauer, Ben Zobrist, A.J. Ellis, Greg Allen, and Jose Quintana. 11/27 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Titusville signed Edwin Encarnacion, Bryce Harper, Manny

Machado, Yasmani Grandal, Will Harris, Kyle Hendricks, Chris Sale, Enrique Hernandez, Anibal Sanchez, Brandon Workman, Seth Lugo, Kirby Yates, Kolten Wong, and Zack Britton.

FREE AGENT: Titusville dropped Clay Buchholz, J.A. Happ, Taylor Cole, Matt Strahm, Alen Hanson, Matt Adams, Lucas Duda, Maikel Franco, Nick Hundley, Hernan Perez, Scooter Gennett, Robbie Grossman, Eric Thames, Matt Kemp, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jordan Lyles.

11/28 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Crown Heights signed Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Luis Severino,

Aaron Nola, Freddie Freeman, Brad Keller, Adam Ottavino, Scott Oberg, Jeff McNeil, Omar Narvaez, Matt Chapman, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Nimmo, Jason Heyward, and Amed Rosario.

FREE AGENT: Crown Heights dropped CC Sabathia, Nathan Eovaldi, Jace Fry, Blake Treinen, Pedro Strop, Dellin Betances, Jed Lowrie, Jose Bautista, Tucker Barnhart, Daniel Robertson, Jose Martinez, Didi Gregorius, Jeremy Hellickson, Kyle Barraclough, and Jonathan Lucroy.

FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Ocracoke signed Madison Bumgarner, Eduardo Rodriguez,

Josh Hader, Ketel Marte, Nicholas Castellanos, Rafael Devers, Ryan Yarbrough, Brandon Woodruff, Eugenio Suarez, Jorge Polanco, Gary Sanchez, Ronald Acuna Jr., Jesse Winker, Tyler Glasnow, and Joey Lucchesi.

FREE AGENT: Ocracoke dropped Bartolo Colon, Sean Newcomb, Zach Eflin, Kyle Crick, A.J. Minter, Diego Castillo, Tony Watson, Freddy Peralta, Joe Jimenez, Jake Bauers, Victor Caratini, Alex Gordon, Jurickson Profar, Nomar Mazara, and Ryan McMahon.

11/29 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Chesapeake Bay signed Justin Turner, Carlos Correa, Stephen

Strasburg, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, Matt Olson, David Fletcher, Ozzie Albies, Joc Pederson, Gerrit Cole, Jack Flaherty, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Mike Minor, Pedro Baez, and Ken Giles.

FREE AGENT: Chesapeake Bay dropped Brock Holt, Robinson Cano, Kevin Plawecki, Austin Hedges, Ian Happ, Matt Duffy, Joe Kelly, T.J. McFarland, Stephen Piscotty, Leury Garcia, Jesse Biddle, Card Edwards Jr., Josh Fields, Trevor Cahill, and John Gant.

FRANCHISE PLAYERS: La Jolla signed Dee Gordon, Yasiel Puig, Kenley Jansen,

Clayton Kershaw, Jose Abreu, Xander Bogaerts, Jared Hughes, Robinson Chirinos, Blaine Hardy, Will Smith, Jesse Chavez, Jose Iglesias, Shohei Ohtani, Ryan Braun, and DJ LeMahieu.

FREE AGENT: La Jolla dropped Kevin Gausman, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Leake, Edubray Ramos, Corbin Burnes, Rich Hill, Manny Pina, Danny Valencia, Erik Kratz, Travis Shaw, Denard Span, Albert Almora, Aaron Altherr, Jon Jay, and Kevin McCarthy.

11/30 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Garden State signed Trevor Bauer, Shane Bieber, Mike

Clevinger, Yandy Diaz, Josh Donaldson, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, German Marquez, Kenta Maeda, Brad Hand, Austin Meadows, Domingo Santana, Gleyber Torres, Marcell Ozuna, and C.J. Cron.

FREE AGENT: Garden State dropped Michael Wacha, Jordan Hicks, Scott Alexander, Archie Bradley, Jeurys Familia, Rougned Odor, Devin Mesoraco, David Freese, Melky Cabrera, Leonys Martin, Yonder Alonso, Brandon Guyer, Cody Allen, Yan Gomes, and Rosell Herrera. FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Albany signed Noah Syndergaard, Nolan Arenado, Charlie

Blackmon, Trevor Story, Carlos Martinez, Willson Contreras, Luis Castillo, Eduardo Escobar, Hunter Renfroe, Miles Mikolas, Chris Bassitt, Mitch Garver, Shin-Soo Choo, Mark Canha, and Franmil Reyes.

FREE AGENT: Albany dropped Wade Miley, Edwin Jackson, Dereck Rodriguez, Jose Alvarado, Matt Barnes, Raisel Iglesias, Robert Stock, Paul Fry, Erik Goeddel, Joey Votto, Brad Miller, Eddie Rosario, Matt Carpenter, Jon Gray, and Jose Urena. FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Clayton signed Josh Bell, Starling Marte, Joe Musgrove, Felipe

Vazquez, Matthew Boyd, Miguel Sano, Max Kepler, David Bote, Rhys Hoskins, Brian Anderson, Jonathan Villar, Yoan Moncada, A.J. Pollock, and Phil Ervin.

FREE AGENT: Clayton dropped Andrew Heaney, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams, Robbie Erlin, Sam Dyson, Richard Rodriguez, Alex Wilson, Lou Trivino, Elias Diaz, Colin Moran, Jose Peraza, Austin Barnes, Gregory Polanco, Jesus Aguilar, and Adam Frazier.

FRANCHISE PLAYERS: East Bay signed Whit Merrifield, Jose Berrios, Lance Lynn,

Blake Snell, Wilson Ramos, Andrew Benintendi, Corey Dickerson, Marcus Semien, Zack Wheeler, Yusmeiro Petit, Carlos Santana, Max Muncy, Adalberto Mondesi, David Dahl, and Miguel Andujar.

FREE AGENT: East Bay dropped Cole Hamels, Jhoulys Chacin, Justin Wilson, Shane Carle, Jose Alvarez, Steve Cishek, Joakim Soria, Charlie Culberson, Eris Hosmer, Austin Romine, Wil Myers, Adam Jones, Jonathan Schoop, Nick Williams, and Daniel Palka. 12/1 FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Orlando signed J.D. Martinez, Robbie Ray, Andrelton Simmons,

Billy Hamilton, Patrick Corbin, Mallex Smith, Cody Bellinger, Rick Porcello, Jakob Junis, Jacob deGrom, Ross Stripling, Lorenzo Cain, Austin Slater, and Brandon Belt.

FREE AGENT: Orlando dropped Jeremy Jeffress, Derek Holland, Adam Conley, Jonathan Holder, Craig Kimbrel, Scott Schebler, Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Blake Swihart, Cesar Hernandez, Kurt Suzuki, Justin Upton, Yolmer Sanchez, Daniel Mengden, Chad Bettis, and Brent Suter.

FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Tallahassee signed Anthony Rizzo, Alex Colome, Julio Teheran, Mychal Givens, Aroldis Chapman, J.T. Realmuto, Paul DeJong, Michael Brantley, Sean Manaea, Walker Buehler, Mike Foltynewicz, Yonny Chirinos, Harrison Bader, David Peralta, and Domingo German. FREE AGENT: Tallahassee dropped Yoshihisa Hirano, Seranthony Dominguez, Reyes Moronta, David Hernandez, Joe Panik, Chad Pinder, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Christian Villanueva, Matt Davidson, Joey Wendle, Khris Davis, Jedd Gyorko, Ender Inciarte, Yario Munoz, and Ryne Stanek. FRANCHISE PLAYERS: Oceanside signed Derek Dietrich, George Springer, Corey

Kluber, Chase Anderson, Chad Green, Richard Bleier, Greg Holland, Mike Moustakas, Tommy

Pham, Miguel Rojas, Josh Reddick, Alex Avila, Eric Sogard, Trey Mancini, and Salvador Perez.

FREE AGENT: Oceanside dropped Justin Bour, Zack Godley, Alex Wood, Brian Duensing, Adam Warren, Anthony Swarzak, Blake Parker, Matt Belisle, Jimmy Nelson, Parker Bridwell, Kelby Tomlinson, Welington Castillo, Jose Pirela, and Daniel Murphy,

12/13 ABL ROSTERS ARRIVE

1/1 TRADE: To Dexter: Mike Minor. To Chesapeake Bay: Michael Conforto.

TRADE: To East Bay: Matt Chapman, Brad Keller, 9th Round Draft Pick (118th). To Crown Heights: Jose Berrios, 4th Round Draft Pick(47th).

TRADE: To Ocracoke: 1st Round Draft Pick (6th). To Chesapeake Bay: Ketel Marte, 9th Round Draft Pick(117th).

TRADE: To Clayton: Scott Oberg, 11th Round Draft Pick (144th). To Crown Heights: Yoan Moncada.

TRADE: To Ocracoke: 8th Round Draft Pick (104th). To Crown Heights: Eduardo Rodriguez.

TRADE: To Garden State: Mookie Betts.

To Long Beach Island: German Marquez. 1/3 TRADE: To Dexter: Noah Syndergaard, 7th Round Draft Pick (86th).

To Albany: Jose Altuve, 4th Round Draft Pick(53rd). 1/8 TRADE: To Albany: Joey Lucchesi.

To Ocracoke: Shin-Soo Choo. 1/10 TRADE: To Ocracoke: Chad Green, 6th Round Draft Pick (68th).

To Oceanside: Jesse Winker, 8th Round Draft Pick(103th). 1/26 FREE AGENT DRAFT

TAXI TEAM: Long Beach Island sent down Jose Leclerc, Johan Camargo, Willy Adames, Wil Myers, and Carlos Carrasco. 1/27 FREE AGENT: Garden State picked up Josh Phegly(C) and dropped Kevan Smith(C). TAXI TEAM: Dexter sent down Willie Calhoun, Jose Quintana, Raisel Iglesias, Willians Astudillo, and Miguel Cabrera. FREE AGENT: Crown Heights picked up Chi Chi Gonzalez(RP), Kyle Ryan(RP) and dropped Luis Cessa(RP), Aaron Hicks(CF). FREE AGENT: Clayton picked up Patrick Sandoval(RP) and dropped Blake Treinen(RP). TAXI TEAM: Clayton sent down Gabriel Ynoa, Matthew Boyd, Patrick Sandoval, Tim Locastro, and Brian Anderson. TAXI TEAM: Ocracoke sent down Brett Martin, Anthony DeSclafani, Tyler Glasnow, Freddy Peralta, and Albert Pujols.

TAXI TEAM: Chesapeake Bay sent down Devin Smeltzer, Buster Posey, Giancarlo Stanton, David Fletcher, and Josh James. 1/28 TAXI TEAM: Crown Heights sent down Addison Russell, Brandon Nimmo, Luis Severino, James Paxton, and Chi Chi Gonzalez. TAXI TEAM: Titusville sent down Anthony Santander, Kyle Hendricks, Spencer Turnbull, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Junior Guerra.

TAXI TEAM: East Bay sent down Yu Darvish, Sandy Alcantara, Miguel Andujar, Blake Snell, and Tyler Mahle.

TAXI TEAM: Tallahassee sent down Domingo German, Edwin Diaz, Sean Manaea, Austin Riley, and Clint Frazier.

TAXI TEAM: Garden State sent down Tim Hill, Brendan McKay, Domingo Santana, Jeff Samardzija, and Diego Castillo. TAXI TEAM: Oceanside sent down Salvador Perez, Greg Holland, Nick Senzel, Dakota Hudson, and Corey Kluber. 1/29 TAXI TEAM: La Jolla sent down Byron Buxton, Jesse Chavez, Mitch Moreland, Dee Gordon, and Cal Quantrill. TAXI TEAM: Albany sent down Marcus Stroman, Miles Mikolas, Jake Diekman, Joey Lucchesi, and Chris Bassitt.

FREE AGENT: Tallahassee picked up Khris Davis(DH) and dropped David Peralta(LF). 1/30 FREE AGENT: Garden State picked up Miguel Castro(RP) and dropped Brendan McKay(RP).

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER TEAM GAMES ACTIVE WEEK? OFF/IR

None

RECAPS OF ABL BASEBALL:

None

ABL PITCHING STATUS:

See Chris Marcello’s spreadsheet

A LOOK BACK AT SPRING TRAINING: 2020 ABL SPRING TRAINING STANDINGS

1/30

BABE RUTH W L T PCT

Garden State 2 0 0 1.000

Crown Heights 2 0 0 1.000

Clayton 1 0 0 1.000

Albany 3 1 0 .750

Oceanside 3 2 0 .600

Chesapeake Bay 1 1 0 .500

Tallahassee 2 3 0 .400

Binghamton 1 2 0 .333

Ocracoke 1 2 0 .333

East Bay 1 3 0 .250

Lo-Sox 0 1 0 .000

Grease 0 1 0 .000

Manahawkin 0 1 0 .000

Orlando 0 0 0 .000

Titusville 0 0 0 .000

Dexter 0 0 0 .000

Long Beach Island 0 0 0 .000

La Jolla 0 0 0 .000

Note: Binghamton is a collection of Free Agents

SCORES:

GS 4 ALB 2

CLAY 10 BI 3

ALB 9 EB 6

ALB 6 MAN 1

ALB 4 Lo-SOX 1

BI 8 OC 4

CH 9 BI 3

CB 7 OC 7

OC 3 CB 1

TA 11 OS 1

GS 6 EB 3

CH 2 EB 1

OS 3 TA 2

TA 5 OS 0

OS 3 TA 2

EB 7 GREASE 3

OS 4 TA 1

A LOOK AHEAD IN THE ABL:

By Michael Saaf

Week 1 Previews – Everybody’s Tied for First!

Most managers woke up on Monday after the draft and thought, “Hell, this team might actually

make some noise.” Well, probably not Commish. I’m sure he woke up thinking, “I wonder how

Rolz will keep me from playing .800 ball?” Just kidding -- with bad rolls, he should go 30-6. Buck

probably woke up thinking, “Would I trade Busty Rusty straight up for Holy Elle?” I miss the

Buckster already.

The draft was exciting, surprising, and long. Some picks I’m sure brought smiles to other

managers’ faces. Mistakes were made. Limited players were picked unknowingly. Some

WEEK 1 JAN 31 - FEB 9 RESULTS D.M./V. MGR SITE MGR NL/AL D/N

1 CLAYTON CHESAPEAKE BAY WAYNE COMMISH NL D

2 CLAYTON CHESAPEAKE BAY D

3 CHESAPEAKE BAY CLAYTON COMMISH WAYNE NL D

4 CHESAPEAKE BAY CLAYTON D

5 OCEANSIDE GARDEN STATE CASEY BRUCE NL D

6 OCEANSIDE GARDEN STATE D

7 GARDEN STATE OCEANSIDE BRUCE CASEY NL D

8 GARDEN STATE OCEANSIDE D

9 TITUSVILLE CROWN HEIGHTS LENNY CHRIS NL D

10 TITUSVILLE CROWN HEIGHTS D

11 OCRACOKE ALBANY DURAN MICHAEL AL D

12 OCRACOKE ALBANY D

13 DEXTER EAST BAY COOP JOE AL D

14 DEXTER EAST BAY D

15 LA JOLLA TALLAHASSEE KEVIN DON JR. AL D

16 LA JOLLA TALLAHASSEE D

BYE LONG BEACH

managers waited and still got their man. As someone who has a hard time prepping round-to-

round, hats off to Commish, Chris and Skibby for running the damn thing and drafting at the

same time. Thanks to Bruce for the tracker (love it!) And, I’m sure there were folks behind the

scenes who helped make the day successful. Claps all around.

The National Division hosts two, 4-game sets to start things off. The American is all 2-gamey

with the Starfish chuckling from the sidelines. I’m noting Lenny’s Post-Draft Power Rankings in

lieu of W/L records (0-0 anybody?). And don’t forget, “Power rankings are an estimate of team

strength for entertainment purposes only and do not account for manager skill, trading savvy, or

luck.“

Series One – (4 games) Clayton Steamships (PR#12) vs. Chesapeake Bay Cats (PR#1)

Although on paper, this looks a little miss-matchy with CBay hosting, the Ships will likely debut

Lucas Giolito and I would not bet against that card. Gimme a couple runs and bring in the pedo!

The Cats added some serious bullpen power with Hendriks and Gallegos. Add in Soler and the

2-headed monster behind the dish and it’s easy to see how Scott topped out the Power

Rankings. Can Max Fried bring the magic? Can Ynoa’s 16 Stamina stand up? Four games,

baby!

Series Two – (4 games) Oceanside Leprechauns (PR#11) vs. Garden State Warriors

(PR#4)

Casey returns! The ABL missed our best baseball player last season. He gets a cold welcome

back against Garden State. Clevinger, Bieber, and Morton - oh my! And then there’s the offense

– The Polar Bear will anchor a lineup already fueled by Betts, Lindor and GleyBAH. The

Leprechauns will debut many new players – Arraez at 2B, Verdugo and Tauchmann in the OF,

Gallen, Canning and Means on the hill. Oceanside will be playing loose. Who knows? Maybe

Casey’s been collecting 4-leaf clovers for 16 months?

Series Three - Titusville Perfectos (PR#3) vs. Crown Heights Kings (PR#8)

Week 1 brings a rematch of the 2019 National Division Championship. Both teams look different

in 2020. Gone are Eovaldi, Betances, and Treinen. Farewell to Cespedes, Happ, and Alan

Hansen (VG/20). Both teams look to push CBay and hang around looking for a playoff spot.

Nola and Berrios make up the new 1-2 punch for the Kings. They will likely face-off with some

combo of Hendricks/Sale/Sanchez. But who knows, maybe the Gray Wolf will emerge from the

frozen tundra, hungry for royal blood?

Series Four – Ocracoke Blackbeards (PR#6) vs. Albany Lo-Sox (PR#5)

Not sure how to read Ocracoke’s 300-point 2019 Power Ranking. Last year, they were dead

last, went on to win 21 games and the AD title. This year the Beards are over 600 points, third

best in the American. Duran snatched Montas, Hiura AND Nelson Cruz in the draft, not to

mention Voit (in the 6th round!). This championship team got even better! The Sox added

Yordan “The Man” Alvarez and middling pitching, but they anticipate career seasons from who-

dats Garver and Canha. Can “The Big O” keep Acuna, Cruz and Castellanos in the park? Will

Altuve be able to hear the trashcan over the foghorn? Expect lots of hitting either way.

Series Five – Dexter Thunder Geese (PR#2) vs. East Bay Grease (PR#9)

Dexter traded away a ton of picks and still lead the pack in the 2020 AD Power Rankings.

Returning core of Yelich, Rendon, Goldschmidt, and Seager pace the offense and the

formidable starting staff comes back with the addition of Noah Syndergaard. The Grease had a

high-octane attack before adding Tatis Jr., Pence, and Gurriel (insert Astros joke). If Joe can get

Verlander and Scherzer out early, he gets Taylor Rogers and Roberto “Thank God we got”

Osuna. Good luck with that, #MeToo.

Series Six – La Jolla Juggernauts (PR#13) vs. Tallahassee Terriers (PR#10)

La Jolla got the first pick of the draft and got the best player - Dave Bergman. Later pick, Mike

Fiers is a fan, I can tell you. Kevin’s LeMahieu pick last year just gets better and better and

Ohtani will become a 2-way guy in 2021. Tally is building one of the best young pitching staffs,

adding Paddack to Buehler, German, Manaea, and Folty. This should be a good match-up of

SOCAL hometown and SOCAL resident.

Bye - Long Beach Island Starfish

Skibby has the week off to ponder deep thoughts, like, “Why can’t I see my forehead?”

ABL TAXI TEAMS:

Chesapeake Bay Smeltzer Posey Stanton Fletcher James Titusville Santander Hendricks Turnbull Ponce de Leon Guerra

Crown Heights Russell Nimmo Severino Paxton Gonzalez Clayton Ynoa Boyd Sandoval Locastro Anderson Garden State Hill Santana Samardzija Castillo Oceanside Perez Holland Senzel Hudson Kluber Tallahassee German Diaz Manaea Riley Frazier Long Beach Island Leclerc

Camargo Adames Myers Carrasco Dexter Calhoun Quintana Iglesias Astudillo Cabrera. Orcacoke Martin DeSclafani Glasnow Peralta Pujols La Jolla Buxton Chavez Moreland Gordon Quantrill

Albany Stroman Mikolas Diekman Lucchesi Bassitt East Bay Darvish Alcantara Andujar Snell Mahle Enjoy Week 1 Contributors to Around the Diamond:

Scott Allen, Chris Marcello, Michael Saaf, and Don Allen Jr.