Illowa APBA League

No More Mr Nice Guy?

 Perennial underdog, State Street Sluggers and their lovable loser manager Nick Ventresca have found themselves in an unusual state, as a winner. Finishing last year with a 64-98 record and coming into the May weekend with an 18-21 record, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Mark Sweeney caught fire.  With pitching help from Esteban Loaiza, David Bush and rookie Joe Blanton the Sluggers  had an incredible 21-9 May against the West Division including a 6-0 sweep of the Thunderchickens. 

That puts the the Sluggers at 39-30 and tied for 3rd place. 

The Chicago Highlanders who last year, couldn't lose if they wanted to (winning 106 games) continue their torrid pace with a 42-27 record thanks in part to Roger Clemens who literally cannot lose.  He is 12-0 with a 1.35 ERA leading in both categories.

Two Hurlers Eye Big 300

Speaking of the Rocket, Clemens is involved in a very unique race with Champions' starter Greg Maddux.  At this point, both pitchers are tied for IAL career wins with 297.  No doubt, both will reach 300 wins this year but I'm sure both would like to be the first. 

Maddux entered 2006 with a 290-285 advantage.  However, with Clemens' 12-0 start, he has done more than close that gap.

There is a slight possibility that their paths may cross when the Champions and the Highlanders face each other in June.

 Three-way Tie for First Heats up Playoff Race

With almost half the season under our belt, the wheat is starting to separate from the chaff.  A three-way tie for first place is making things interesting.  Here's a quick overview of the teams:

Twin Cities Thunderchickens:  Manager Nelshoppen is the first to admit it isn't his hitting that's keeping him in the race.  "No, we're hitting something like .200." (ed. note: it's actually .228, 8th in the league).  "We just try to get runners on for Albert.  Our strength is our defense and pitching."  The Thunderchicken ERA is a tidy 3.98.   Tom Glavine has 10 wins and the bullpen is strong (Luis Ayala and Damaso Marte have sub 2.00 ERAs while closer Huston Street has 9 saves with a 2.54 ERA. 

Chicago Highlanders:  While the Thunderchickens have a solid pitching staff, the Highlanders have a downright dominant one.  The team ERA is 3.22.  That is best in the league by a wide .52 margin.  Manager Rob Moore can thank Roger Clemens for a lot of that.  It is June and the Rocket just lost his first game.  On his quest for win 300, Clemens is 13-1 with a stellar 1.50 ERA.  There aren't superstars on the offensive side but there aren't any slouches either. 

State Street Sluggers:  Nobody's patsy anymore.  The Sluggers don't do it with finesse pitching or fancy defense.  As the name implies, they do it with the bat with thirdbaseman David Wright leading the way.  They lead the IAL in hitting and are second in the league in homers.  That said, their pitching staff of has-beens (Esteban Loaiza) and youngsters (Joe Blanton) as well as off-season pickup Brandon Webb has done the job. 

Not far behind:  The Three Rivers Gamblers and Chicago Champions are knocking on the door.  They are both within 2 games of first place.  The Green Rock Bomber are six out.