Although we had an eight game lead on first place, with 18 games to play, anything can happen, so we were wary as Rob Moore brought his Highlanders to town. Luck was on our side as the Champs jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, then dropped the next two, before taking the last five games for a 7-2 series win. The series win upped our season record to 91-62, with nine games to go versus Kentucky, so it looks like another season in which we come up just short on reaching 100 wins. Last year’s ball club finished with 98 wins, the Champions have never won 100 games in a season. If we hold onto our lead, this will be the first time we’ve finished in first place in back to back seasons. 1996/97 was the last time we struck playoff gold in the form of a championship, got my fingers crossed, which makes it difficult to type.
Mike Bunch has once again put on his Santa Claus and delivered early Christmas presents to all the managers in the IAL, whether we were naughty or nice. APBA has just gotten the disk out for the computer game, and Papa Bunch has assembled that info into each of our teams, plus the rookies, way to go Bunchie! Believe it or not, I’m already toying with possible lineups for the upcoming season, I’m such a geek. A happy surprise was seeing Josh Beckett’s grade of B-XZ. Also Felipe Lopez & Ian Stewart received 2B-7 (Stewart also received a 3B-4), and Miguel Olivo was rated as an 8 behind the plate. On a sad note, Carlos Lee lost his 2 in the outfield.