Baseball Digest Daily

Aaron Harang pitched a complete game, and Rich Aurilia had 3 hits, a homer, and 3 RBI as the Reds kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win over the Pirates

Chuck James outpitched Roger Clemens, and Chipper Jones delivered a knockout blow with a 2-run homer as the Braves defeated the Astros, 4-1

Curtis Granderson hit 2 home runs and Carlos Guillen had 3 hits and 3 RBI, but the Royals shelled Jamie Walker and the Tigers bullpen with 3 -11th inning home runs to beat Detroit, 9-7

John Maine pitched 6 solid innings, and the Mets bullpen did their normal reliable job as New York topped Washington, 4-3

Shane Victorino went 5-for-6 with 3 runs and 3 RBI, and Pat Burrell hit 2 home runs, reached base 5 times, scored 4 runs and drove in 4 runs to give Jamie Moyer and the Phillies all the offense they needed to crush the Marlins, 14-2

Four consecutive walks by the Indians in the 9th inning lead to a literal walk-off win as Cleveland edged Tampa Bay, 2-1

Gary Sheffield hit a 3-run homer, and Jorge Posada added a 2-run shot, and the Yankees cruised to 7-2 win over the Blue Jays behind the arm of Mike Mussina

Jermaine Dye hit his 44th home run, and Freddy Garcia allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings as the White Sox held off the Twins, 4-3

Albert Pujols hit a 3-run homer, and Juan Encarnacion and Scott Rolen combined to go 7-for-10 with 5 runs scored as the Cardinals doubled up the Brewers, 10-5

Livan Hernandez allowed just one run on 4 hits over 7 innings of work, and Eric Byrnes hit a 2-run homer to lead Arizona past San Diego, 3-1

Ervin Santana pitched 7 scoreless innings, and Chone Figgins doubled, homered, and drove in 4 runs as the Angels shutout the A's, 6-0

J.D. Drew hit a 2-run homer in the 7th inning, and the Dodgers scored twice more in the 9th inning to stage a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Giants, 4-3

Nelson Cruz and Michael Young each drove in 2 runs as the Rangers rallied to beat the Mariners, 6-5

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Friday, September 29

Quote of the Day...

by Joe Hamrahi on Fri 29 Sep 2006 11:45 PM EDT

I created the blog section of the site so I could have a little fun. It's also a place where I get to post some funny, off-beat things from time to time. Tonight I received this email from my brother, Steve Hamrahi...

"I swear, if Pujols hits another homerun and stands there at home plate watching it and flips his bat, I am flying to whatever city (the Cardinals) play in and will bean him from the stands!!!

Put that on your website :)

I used to like him, now he is just an ass like the rest of them."

Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. I just thought the comments were hysterical! If you know my brother, you'd REALLY know what I mean!

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Thursday, September 28

"Short Stops" Around the League - September 27, 2006

by Joe Hamrahi on Thu 28 Sep 2006 01:18 AM EDT

Eric Byrnes homered and drove in 3 runs to lead the Diamondbacks to a 6-3 win over the Giants

Wes Helms doubled, tripled, had 4 hits, and drove in 2 runs, and Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez (2 homers) tacked on 3 hits apiece as the Marlins beat the Reds, 7-2

Brandon McCarthy made an impressive spot start, allowing just one run on 2 hits in 5 1/3 innings to help the White Sox defeat the Indians, 2-1, in an 8 inning rain-shortened game

Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada drove in 4 runs, and Robinson Cano added 3 RBI as the Yankees demolished the Orioles, 16-5

Rocco Baldelli, Greg Norton, and Ty Wigginton each drove in 3 runs, and three Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a 5-hitter as the Devil Rays shutout the Red Sox, 11-0

Aaron Hill and Gregg Zaun each had 4 hits, and the Blue Jays bashed 4 home runs en route to a 7-4 win over the Tigers

Jeff Francoeur homered twice, and Chipper Jones and Brian McCann added 3 RBI apiece as the Braves shelled Pedro Martinez and the Mets, 13-1

Wilson Betemit homered, and Nomar Garciaparra had 3 hits as the Dodgers won their 3rd straight, a 6-4 win over the Rockies

Albert Pujols hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning to bring the Cardinals back from the dead to defeat the Padres, 4-2. Anthony Reyes and Chris Young had impressive outings for their respective teams

Dave Bush allowed just 3 hits over 8 innings, but the Cubs rallied to score two runs off Francisco Cordero in the 9th inning to walk off with a 3-2 win over the Brewers

David DeJesus and Mike Sweeney homered to lead the Royals to a 6-4 win over the Twins

Lance Berkman homered and reached base 5 times to lead the Astros to a 15 inning, come from behind win over the Pirates, 7-6

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had 3 hits and drove in 4 and 2 runs respectively as the Phillies pulled out an 8-7 win over the Nationals

Mark Teixeira hit 2 home runs and drove in 5, but that wasn't enough for Texas as the Angels went on to nip the Rangers, 6-5. Tim Salmon homered and drove in 3 for Anaheim

Oakland rallied for 2 runs in the 9th inning to tie the game and then scored again in the 10th to sneak by the Mariners 7-6

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Tuesday, September 26

BDD's Newest Writers!

by Joe Hamrahi on Tue 26 Sep 2006 11:20 PM EDT

It is with great pleasure that I introduce three of our new writers here at Baseball Digest Daily. After reviewing the credentials and writing samples of various individuals, these gentlemen demonstrated the knowledge and passion we were really looking for. We believe you will enjoy reading their work as much as they will enjoy writing for BDD. We hope to add two more writers during the post-season, but for right now, please join me in welcoming Craig Brown, Jim Correll, and John Flakes!

Craig Brown

Craig Brown hasn't missed a Kansas City Royals post season game since 1980. Unfortunately, that's not quite as impressive as it sounds.

Craig began blogging about the Royals prior to the 2005 season, which was just in time to chronicle their franchise record 106 loss season. Since he began jotting down words on the cyber pages, he's contributed to Creative Sports, HEATER Magazine and The Hardball Times. Currently, Craig's Royal musings appear on the Most Valuable Network at Royals Authority.

A lefthander, Craig is disappointed he didn't understand the value of being a LOOGY until it was too late.

When not thinking about the Royals, Craig works as a post production video editor in Kansas City where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

Jim Correll

Jim Correll is a systems engineer with a background in GIS and software development. Recently married, Jim now resides in Northern Virginia, a transplant from San Diego, CA via Machias, Maine.

Jim grew up a huge fan of the San Diego Padres and follows them religiously to this day. He attends about 20-25 games a year, dividing his time between the local Washington Nationals and several minor league franchises in the area, including the Bowie BaySox, Potomac Nationals, and Frederick Keys. As a result, Jim has developed a strong interest in minor league and amateur baseball.

Jim will be providing extensive high school, college, and minor league coverage, but will, of course, be dabbling in the majors as well.

John Flakes

John Flakes has been involved with baseball from the little league level up through the collegiate ranks. He is an avid Strat-O-Matic player and has lead teams to multiple championships in both the USBA and WASP leagues. He has a true love for the game and its history.

John is the proud father of three daughters and the grandfather of five. He worked as a pastoral administrator and minister for seventeen years. Currently, John is self-employed as a computer consultant.

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Monday, September 25

Sim League Openings for the Week of September 25, 2006

by Joe Hamrahi on Mon 25 Sep 2006 10:52 PM EDT

Here is the list of league openings for this week.. Please contact the league directly and NOT BDD. This list will also be posted to the blog section of the web site by Monday evening.

Remember, for guidelines on submitting league openings, please read through the post here Ads for Sim League Openings

Strat-O-Matic Leagues

The RFBA is a 24 team draft league with a salary cap and active participation. The league makes great use of its professionally designed web site. We’re currently looking for 2 managers to take over existing teams. If interested please email David at sadiecody@aol.com.

The PSBL (www.psbl.us) has 3 openings for our 2006 season. The season runs May through October. All games are played on the commissioner's computer on a daily basis (1 game per day). The league website is updated daily to reflect the previous night's action. League members may update their computer manager's as frequently as they wish. All transactions occur in real-time. The PSBL is currently playing it's 6th World Series. Our constitution may be viewed on our website. The available teams are: the Atlanta Crackers, Havana Cuban Stars, and Mt. Sinai Mad Dogs. It is imperative that new owners join soon as we have some critical off-season business to conduct in March. If interested, please contact Greg at greg.brooking@cox.net.

The Dugout Baseball League is in it's 7th year has opening for a new manager (and maybe 2). There are 20 teams - American and National conferences - so 1/2 the teams play with DH, other half doesn't. 4 divisions - division winners plus wild cards (next 2 best records) make playoffs.
-No salary cap. Roster size is 36. Keepers. For annual draft, we use Draft Web Site (see: http://www.promonmc.com/_iba/draft/login.asp)
Contact themurfs@yahoo.com for more information and serious inquiries.

The Global Baseball Association is a computer simulation baseball league that uses the SOM CD version. We just completed our 15th year in 2006 and are looking forward to an exciting year next spring. We draft non-carded players (future big leaguers). Many of the members have been in the league for over 14 years. We have had only one repeat champion and only two teams have won the championship more than once. We have career stats for all the players and teams. Our teams are linked with their Major League organization in order to protect future players from that organization. We are looking for candidates that enjoy competition and the history of the game but also like to track future players. Each team plays it away games to even out the home field advantage and let the gamer view the opponents field instead of always seeing the same ballpark. It also allows your team to use strategy based on the opponent's park. Home winning percentages have usually been around 52%. Website: http://rdeaner9.tripod.com/sportsweb/id1.html. Contact rdean@spike.dor.state.co.us if interested.

League Name: WRLB
Simulation Game: Strat-o-Matic
Web Site: None
Contact Name: Dennis Marsh
Contact Email: dennismarsh@comcast.net
Description: WRLB is the winter version of our highly successful “REALISTIC” brand Strat-o-Matic baseball. Its an all internet league with unique usage rules that eliminates the bizarre cards and limits the platoon system lineups. 80 percent usage required to keep players so full time players are just that, FULL TIME PLAYERS. We need 2 owners for a couple of teams that were poorly drafted but if you love to trade you can take one of these teams and go crazy. Apply now since October 1 is opening day.

League Name: MLSW
Simulation Game: SOM Net Play
Web Site: N/A
Contact Name: Gino Mello
Contact Email: gmellout@msn.com
Description All Net play league has 2 teams available. 2nd year league, great teams available. Season is scheduled to start Sept 29th. Games are played in order on a weekly basis. You just need to play 2 series a week. All unplayed series are autoplayed on Sunday and move on to the next week. You can also use sub mgr's on weekends if opponents are unavailable.

League Name: Cooperstown Baseball League
Simulation Game: Strat-o-Matic
Web Site:http://members.cox.net/dshillen
Contact Name: Tony ManninoContact Email: tmannino@cisco.com
Description: The CBL is looking for serious and dedicated managers for its 2007 season. We have an active off-season starting in October 2006.We are a thirty team summer league that plays from April to October. The league is split with an AL and an NL. Some of the features our league offers are: free agency, salary cap, Rule 5 draft, amateur draft , web site, and message board. We use the latest computer version. Net Play is optional. If you're bored of the usual 18-24 team leagues and want something totally different with the goal towards realism, join our unique league. If you have questions, please contact Tony at or visit our web site.

League Name: CTCBL (Coast To Coast Baseball League)
Simulation Game: Strat-o-Matic
Web Site: www.ctcbl.org
Contact Name: Bob Lind
Contact Email: LindInMoskva@gmail.com
Description: The Coast To Coast Baseball League is currently full, with a cadre of experienced dedicated managers, but we are accepting applications for our wait list. You will have to be patient, as established, mature leagues do not suffer from frequent turnover. But we may have an opening in the future. The CTCBL offers the following unique features that you rarely find in other leagues:- A yearly convention where we discuss rule changes, draft new players, dine together (and drink together) and generally celebrate strat-o-matic. A historical online archive of past statistics and standings. If you are an experienced Strat manager, looking to forge long term relationships in an established league, willing to take the time to attend our functions, play games according to a strict schedule, and respond to a constant flow of strat and baseball chatter, then you may find our league rewarding. Wait list members will be expected to help out with league operations, participate in our mailing list, attend league events, and our convention in the spring of 2007. Contact Bob Lind at LindInMoskva@gmail.com for more details.

League Name: NOMBL
Simulation Game: STRAT O MATIC
Web Site: www.geocities.com/nombl2006/NOMBL/index.html, Contact Name: ROBERT WHITE
Contact Email: VASQUIRES@JUNO.COM, Description: NOMBL is a summer computer baseball league with 20 teams. NOMBL has 1 maybe a 2nd team available for the 2007 season which started in April. Join now so you can be a member in time for our 2007 season. Team available is Tidewater with Tori Hunter, Jacque Jones, Bedard, Harang, Brian Roberts and Baltimore O's loaded (was his favorite team). We use super advanced rules. We are a keeper league which drafts rookies, minor leaguers with net play allowed. We use a 40 man roster, 162 game schedule using both AL and NL players.Contact me at vasquires@juno.comor 757-235-4494.

League Name: Way Retro League: 1951-Infinity
Simulation Game: Strat-o-matic
Web Site: www.geocities.com/wrl1901, Contact Name: Rene Bernard, Contact Email: edog9@maine.rr.com, Description: The WRL is a draft league that has the goal of replaying the entire history of Major League Baseball in a "alternative universe" sort of way. We split the history up and began with 1901 and also 1951. We started with 10 teams and expanded to 12 recently in the 1951-infinity league. We use minimum AB and IP requirements to determine who is eligible for the league. This league is a lot of fun and allows us to answer some great questions. What would Mickey Mantle accomplish playing somewhere besides Yankee Stadium in New York? (599 homers playing for the Giants mostly) How would Sandy Koufax do in St Louis?(126-80 3.05) so far with the rest of 1966 to go. Those questions are already mostly answered. Check the website to see the results in detail. Future questions: How will Nolan Ryan fare on a great team? How many homers will Hank Aaron end up with? (He has 421 now through 30 games in 1966) Check out our constitution and email me with any questions. We also have an opening in our early league for the 1917 season.

League Name: USBL
Simulation Game: Strat o Matic baseball
Web Site: www.usbl.net, Contact Name:Carmine
Contact Email: carmbosco@rogers.com, Description: This is a 23 yer old face to face league using super advanced rules based in toronto canada. We are currently at 7 members and would like to add 3 new managers next season. This league has it all rookie draft, free agents, waiver, salary cap..please view site for more league details.

APBA Leagues

The Canadian Baseball League is looking for managers to be on our waiting list in anticipation of openings over the winter for next season.
* We are a 24-team league and have been around since 1974, when the 1972 season was our first season. We are currently finishing our 2006 CBL season (2005 APBA disk).
* We use real franchise names, and are divided into two Associations, each with two six-team Divisions.
* Owners are all over North America, and are clustered somewhat geographically into the divisions so as to maintain some opportunity for face-to-face play when possible. Otherwise it's by good old-fashioned (e)mail instructions or over Netmeeting or some similar computer-linking software. We do not use c-files, f-files, or AIM. A few owners request the use of a micromanager to play their road games.
* Owners may use any version of APBA to play... we are totally flexible. Annual league dues are $15 US, for trophies, some mailouts and to pay for the league's CBS Sportsline stat service.
* Many of us trade a lot... the CBL has had upwards of 450 transactions in a year not counting the players who moved in the annual draft. Some people, however, make very few trades.
* When a franchise comes open, first crack is given to members internally to switch (one change only, per member). So if you come in with the Padres and your favorite team, the Rockies, opens up, you have a chance to switch.

Our league website below has the League Constitution, teams and managers, and lots of other information and links. Check it out, and e-mail me if you are interested in applying to become a member. Web site: http://jimreid5.tripod.com/. Contact: Jim Reid, Commissioner jrreid@shaw.ca

SABLUSA is looking for 2 active managers to fill open teams. SABLUSA is a current day continuous ownership league that has been around for about 15 years. We use BBW 5.5 and are looking for owners who are willing to be active in building and managing a team. Our website is www.sablusa.com. Anyone interested in more information should contact the league commissioner, Chuck McKay at cmckayboi@msn.com.

I have 2 salary leagues with contracts with modern day players and this is an APBA league.
RMSL is a free league http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/salary/Home.html
NOSL is 15.00 per season, http://www.apba-jerry-whitson.org/
Any questions, contact jerrywhitson@comcast.net

Southern APBA Baseball Association - Starting our 34th season. Advanced mail league with enhancements. Retro league. No website at this time, but one in the near future. Bob Grant: League Commissioner: RGRANT1@neb.rr.com

We are current playing the 1986 season. We are a winter league running from October to May and we are just about to start playing and sending out our instructions as we speak. We are looking for 2 GMs to take over 2 established teams. We use a Master Game Pitching Grades Conversion to start the game. 2 to 3 series a month. Please contact Bob Grant for any details.

League Name: Iowa Baseball Confederacy (IBC)
Simulation Game: APBA Baseball for Windows
Web Site: www.a22d.com/ibcleague/
Contact Name: Bob Scharnberger
Contact Email: ibcleague@yahoo.com
Description: The IBC is a 24-team league that is just finishing its 19th season. We feature 42-man rosters, including drafting minor leaguers, and we emphasize playing live over the internet using PCAnywhere. Games take about 20-25 minutes each to play and we play 5-6 per week.We currently have one opening and may have others this fall. The currently available team is South Dakota. If you are interested in the IBC please get in touch with me at the above email address. Thanks

The Mid-West Winter League has ONE OPEN TEAM. We have one team open for the current 1978 Season and beyond.http://www.straybaseball.com/mwwl. Do the following statements describe you?. Passionate about the game of baseball / APBA / BBW?. Interested in both on-field strategy and front-office maneuvering?. Knowledgeable about baseball during the late 1970's, & early1980's.. Capable of giving at least a five-year commitment to a fantasybaseball league.. Willing to put in pre and post-season work, such as preparing forthe draft, making off-season trades and voting on post-season awardsand rule changes.. Possesses the time to play weekly series from Friday afternoonthrough Tuesday morning, as well as the time for short summary write-ups.. Owns Baseball for Windows v5.5 or higher.. Plays well with others.. Has E-Mail access for sending and receiving league files.. Has AOL Instant Messenger program and uses it on a regular basis.(if you don't have it, it's a free download).If this describes you, then you're just the type of owner we're looking for. You could be one of us. You belong in one of the best leagues around, and that's what we have in the MWWL. Contact John at stray@straybaseball.com.

Diamond Mind Leagues

The DeepFly Baseball League currently has 4 openings. The league is a 24 team Diamond Mind Baseball League (2 Leagues with 3 Divisions). We have a 35 man Major league Roster and a 20 man Minor league roster with a $95 Million Salary Cap for the Major League Roster. The DFBL Season begins October and ends in March. We are currently finishing up with our Draft. We report Weekly results currently, but are looking to change to Bi-weekly or Monthly.We are looking for 4 dedicated individuals who have VG knowledge of the game (Both Major and Minor League). This league needs a relaxed owner with a desire to interact with the other members of the league on a regular basis to help contribute to the success of the league.We are working on developing a website (www.geocities.com/dfblleague) to help improve the future of the league. I can be reached by email at colby.whetstone@knology.net

“Other” Leagues

League Name: The Chuck Taylor All-Star Basketball League (CTASBL)
Simulation Game: PC Action Basketball (Dave Koch Sports)
Website: www.geocities.com/ctasbl
Contact Name: Steve Feldheim
Contact Email: Tinmansteve@nyc.rr.com
Description: The CTASBL is a draft retro league that began with the 65-66 season. We are currently in the 70-71 playoffs and have three openings. Detroit (a current playoff team), Buffalo and Portland (1st year draft teams).

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Buddy Bell Released from Mayo Clinic

by Joe Hamrahi on Mon 25 Sep 2006 10:41 PM EDT

KANSAS CITY, MO (Sept. 25, 2006) – Royals Manager Buddy Bell was released from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., this afternoon after undergoing successful surgery on Friday to remove his tonsils and a growth behind his left tonsil. Results of the biopsy on the growth are pending.

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Sunday, September 24

Guidelines for Submitting Sim League Openings

by Joe Hamrahi on Sun 24 Sep 2006 02:24 PM EDT

I hope everyone is getting results from the sim league ads posted this week. Since this appears to be a popular little "extra" associated with BDD, I will continue to provide this advertising service on a weekly basis. I'm receiving more and more openings each day so I decided to lay out some ground rules.

Each Monday evening I will email the list of openings I've received from the previous week. I will also post the openings to the blog section of the web site. In order to be included in that week's list, I need to receive your opening by noon on Saturday. Otherwise, the ad won't run until the following week. I also want to standardize the ads a little so please copy and paste this template and fill in the relevant information. All ads must be in this format to limit the time it takes for me to post the list:

League Name:

Simulation Game:

Web Site:

Contact Name:

Contact Email:

Description (whatever you want can go here):

Notes

I'm going to make a few requests of everyone. In order for me to accept league ads, the person submitting the ad and the contact person must be registered members of BDD. I don't think that's a lot to ask. I want to grow the community and by adding members to our mailing list, I will be doing just that. I have received a number of advertising requests from people who just happened to hear about our service through other people. They have no ties to BDD at all. Since there is no cost to be a member, all anyone has to do is sign up at the bottom of a page.
Please encourage your league members to register for BDD and use our Player Tracker. It's a great tool specifically designed to assist simulation league players. JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, THIS IS COMPLETELY FREE.
Finally, if at all possible, please try to link to BDD on your league sites and other web pages. Like I said the other day, the more traffic we get, the more financing opportunities arise. The more financing we get, the better the site will be.

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Nick Johnson Undergoes Successful Surgery

by Joe Hamrahi on Sun 24 Sep 2006 12:57 PM EDT

The Nationals just issued this statement on Nick Johnson:

Johnson suffered a fractured right femur in the bottom of the eighth inning of Saturday’s game against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. He underwent surgery to repair the femur last night at New York Hospital Queens. Dr. Peter Dzenis performed the surgery with assistance from Dr. Shaffer.

“In a two-hour procedure, a titanium rod was inserted into Nick’s fractured right femur. The surgery went well. He is expected to make a full recovery, and be ready for 2007 Spring Training. Nick will remain in the hospital for one or two days, and begin his rehabilitation today.”

There was some concern as to how quickly Johnson would be able to resume activity given the nature of the injury and the severity of the break. Thankfully, the prognosis is good.

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