CHAPTER 5: JOPLIN MINERS TOP POWER RANKINGS IN BDBL

POWER RANKINGS 

1. Joplin Miners 232
2. Flagstaff Outlaws 225
3. Charlotte Mustangs 172
4. Buckingham Sovereigns 147
5. Kansas City Boulevards 118
6. St Louis Apostles 96
7. Salem Cowtippers 95
8. Saskatoon  66
9. Akron 65
10. Bear Country 39
11. Las Vegas 38
12. Los Altos 9
13. Kansas 7
14. Great Lakes 4
__________________

15. South Loop -14
16. Chicago -27
17. South Carolina -32
18. Niagara -74
19. Ravenswood -94
20. Myrtle Beach -140
21. Southern Cal -207
22. Western Kansas -209
23. Granite State -217
24. Cleveland -299

JOPLIN MINERS TOP BDBL POWER RANKINGS AFTER CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4 POWER RANKINGS 

1. Joplin 171
2. Flagstaff 157
3. Buckingham 140
4. St. Louis 106
5. Kansas City 103
6. Salem 94
7. Charlotte 93
8. Saskatoon 48
9. Bear Country 37
10. Los Altos 23
11. Great Lakes 21
12. Kansas 12
13. Akron 8
14. Chicago -3
15. South Loop -34
16. Las Vegas -35
17. South Carolina -39
18. Ravenswood -63
19. Niagara -94
20. Myrtle -103
21. Granite State -123
22. W. Kansas -140
23. So. Cal  -145
24. Cleveland -229

MIINERS TIED FOR FIRST AT THE ALL STAR BREAK

    Matt Carpenter ( 295.409.594) backbone to Miners Success

The Joplin Miners (44-36) are tied for first place in the Ed McGowan Division of the Ozzie League at the All Star break.  Joplin ranks 4th in the BDBL in OBP, 6th in SLG , 4th in pitching and 3rd in defense.   

Hitting

Key hitters through the first half:

Charlie Blackmon  305. 365. 515
Buster Posey  317. 361. 463
Matt Carpenter 295.409. 594

Carpenter has been the glue to the team throughout the first half.  In addition to playing all infield positions effectively, Carpenter has mauled opposing pitching and sparked some amazing comeback wins. 

Pitching

There is a great difference between starting and relief pitching.  Despite having Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw in the rotation, the starting rotation has an ERA of 4.66 while an army of bullpen specialists have an 1.47 ERA.   Kershaw and Verlander will have to improve their performance if the Miners are going to win the division. 

Defense 

There are a number of defensive metrics but the most logical one in my book is to subtract earned runs from total runs for defensive runs allowed.  The  Miners rank 3rd in the BDBL under this metric.  

Trade Manuevers

Jake Arrieta was picked up to provide some rotation depth.  Arrieta has been a disaster in the first half of the season but the Miners expect to pitch more in line with his career records and take the Miners into the playoffs.

BDBL POWER RANKINGS AT THE ALL STAR BREAK

The following power rankings are based on run differential after 80 games:

 1. Flagstaff  123
2. Joplin 108
3. Buckingham  107
4. St Louis  75
5. Salem  68
6. Charlotte 50
7. Saskatoon 47
8. Kansas City 22
9. Bear Country 17
10. Great Lakes 16
11. Los Altos 15
12. Chicago 8
13. Akron 8
14. Las Vegas  4-
15. South Carolina 11-
16. Kansas 16-
17. South Loop 42-
18. Ravenswood 50-
19. Mrytle Beach 56-
20. Western Kansas 58-
21. Niagara 58-
22. Granite State 65-
23. Southern California 101-
24. Cleveland 196- 

BDBL ASSIGNS NEW MILFORD FRANCHISE TO THE JOPLIN MINERS

     FREDDIE FREEMAN RELEASE LEADS TO FORMER OWNER RANTING 


Anthony Peburn turned over his New Milford Blazer franchise to the BDBL front office.  Commissioner Mike Glander accepted Jim Doyle's request to join the league rather than assigning the NMB franchise to an existing BDBL owner. Mr. Peburn acted out in his typical fit of rage.

Doyle took a look at the market value of the players on the NMB roster and cut five players.  Mr. Peburn agreed with 3 of the cuts but was outraged Doyle cut Freddie Freeman and his 12.5 million salary.  Peburn's hyberbolic rants included claims the move made "zero sense" and Doyle already "ran the franchise into the ground." 

Other owners accurately pointed out these rants resembled Hillary Clinton's recent pronouncements while Doyle stayed silent.  Until now.

Mr. Peburn resigned from the BDBL because he failed to win a world series.  Perhaps the baseball gods were angry Peburn made up bizarre dimensions to his ballpark and stacked his team with lefties. Perhaps he knew Kershaw was in the last year of his contract and he wanted to avoid the task of rebuilding a franchise without him.  Whatever the reason, it is pretty sad when you leave the ring and criticize the fighter in the ring who has to finish the fight.

Perhaps Mr. Peburn overlooked the fact the Miners had an automatic 7 million dollar cut in revenue under BDBL rules. Or the fact Peburn never won a world series because he relied on bizarre park ratings which did not exist on the road.  Better yet, perhaps Freddie Freeman's contract was above fair market value, something a reasonable person would believe given he signed for less on the open market. In any event, Peburn's rants were rather premature coming only a few days after the change in ownership.

Doyle made some valuable additions in the off season. First, the Miners sent Michael Kopech and Dinelson Lamet to the Infidels in exchange for Justin Verlander.  Second, Joplin sent Cole Hamels and Adam Warren to the to Chicago for Buster Posey.  Finally, the Miners picked up players like Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Santana in the free agent draft.   These transactions clearly sent a message to the rest of the league Joplin was all in for the 2018 season.

Joplin built a stadium which resembles the SFG park.  The fans love everything about it, especially the various types of food available at the ballpark.  The Mine is sold out for all home games this season.  At the time this blog entry is being written, the Miners hold a 3 game lead in the division.

Mr. Peburn, you can have a pair of free tickets right behind home plate when the first world series game is held at at the Mine.  Hope you keep your calendar free in 2018.