The
Chicago Scandal Season
36 1st Edition.
Author’s
Notes
Welcome back Pine Tar owners. Season 35 wrapped up with
Salem Volcanoes defeating Atlanta Rattlers 4-3 to capture the World Series.
Michael Chong from Milwaukee took home the AL MVP award with 63 HRs (4th
best in a single season) and 148 RBIs. Willie Tarasco brought in 51 HRs and 126
RBIs to take home the NL MVP award. CY Young winners were Yoshinori Zhou (21-8)
representing the AL and Ben Boyer (17-4) representing the NL. Congratulations
to our Season 36 Hall of Fame inductees, Fred Inge, Alex Martis, Dusty Lindsey,
and Sam Slotnick.
Salem
Volcanoes…. Pine Tar’s
Dynasty?
How do you
define a dynasty? Would winning three World Series titles in five appearances
during the last seven seasons make Salem a dynasty? How about we add seven 100 win
seasons and eight divisional titles. Now, would you say that the Salem
Volcanoes are a dynasty. I caught up Salem owner jkenned and we ask his opinion
on his team’s status among the greats.
Do you consider Salem a dynasty?
Jkenned: Last season's championship solidified my dynasty status in
my mind. This is a really competitive league and I have been fortunate to
maintain a solid level of success but without that third championship the claim
to a dynasty is tenuous kind of like the SF Giants claiming they are dynasty
when they miss the playoffs in odd years.
How have you managed to stay on
top this long?
Jkenned: This is the tougher question to answer but the best one I
can give is that my core of drafted and international prospects all came up
together and much like the Yankee's core four have stayed together for the past
eight seasons. I have added some good value signings and swung some trades from
my prospect depth (unfortunately virtually nonexistent at the moment) for top
notch talent when {they} came available. The key to my success has been to
scout well and keep the core together.
What team is your biggest threat
in the Al or NL?
Jkenned: There has been some stiff competition here in the AL
during my run of success. For the first couple seasons I was trying to catch
kjmulli in Boston and horvie in Milwaukee has consistently been a tough matchup
for me but the guy I loved to play the most was blapo21 in Nashville. He had
the better offensive team for the majority of my run and was unlucky in a lot
of ways to have me at my height because I think he would have won another a
title or two and you would be interviewing him if I had not been in my prime.
Right now holleybard in Kansas City is the biggest threat to my continued
success in the AL.
Who is your best player?
Jkenned: If we are talking real life I could give a list of about
five: Mickey Mantle, Yadier Molina, Stan Musial, Willie McGee and Bob Gibson. But
if we are in the realm of the Salem Volcanoes it is harder. My favorite signing
was Rubby
Prieto (2B) but he has been somewhat of an underperformer at the ML level
relative to his skills but Michel
Pena (LF) has been my favorite player as he is an ideal #2 hitter and been
the most consistent player over my run of success.
The Story so far…
The first 20+ games are in and so
is the cliché, it’s going to be a long season. In the AL North, Kansas City has
a 2-game lead over Dover and Milwaukee. This division is tight at this stage of
the season so we'll watch and see how this one plays out. Over in the AL East, Durham
Doormats lead the division with Syracuse and New York not that far behind.
Boston would do best if they avoided the 1-run games as they are 0-8 in such
contests. The AL South is top heavy with Tampa Bay (19-7) and Nashville (18-8),
who hold the two best records in the AL respectively. It’s going to be exciting
to see who takes control of this division or if we have a nail biter all the
way to the end. Lastly, the AL West is led by the defending champions Salem
Volcanoes.
Over in the NL North, new owner
HCall11, has his Pawtucket Patriots (15-11) leading the division. The defending NL champion Atlanta
Rattlers lead the NL East by 2 games and the OKC Prairie Dogs have a 1-game
lead over the Seattle Strikers. The division to watch in the NL right now is the
NL South. The Houston Heaters and the Texas Galveston Wave are currently tied
at 15-11 for 1st place. Texas shootout anyone...
Hot Bat
Phillip
Bruske - 2B (KC) has 16 HRs
Hot Pitching
Benito
Velez - P (WIC) 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA
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