2015 NLDS Recap - North Georgia vs. Metropolis

There's no way around it - Metropolis dominated North Georgia during its NLDS sweep. The stats show the Avengers were better in just about every aspect of the game, which can happen to even the best of teams in a short series. Here are some of the more interesting stats:

• Metropolis outscored North Georgia 23-6 in their four games. They out-homered the Yellow Jackets 6-3.
• Andrew McCutchen was the clear star of the series. He was 9-17 with a walk, four homers, and seven RBIs. He was even hit by two pitches to pad his on base percentage. That all totaled to a .529/.579/1.294 line and a ridiculous 1.873 OPS.
• Robinson Cano follows McCutchen in the lineup and on the field. He hit .429/.461/.632 in the series, for a 1.053 OPS.
• North Georgia’s best hitter was former Avenger prospect Lucas Duda, who hit .286/.375/.786 with two homers during the series. 
• Metropolis has become known for its strong bullpens and this series was no different. Avenger relievers combined for 8 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits and a walk, while striking out seven hitters. They did allow a single run (on a solo homer), which led to their 1.04 bullpen ERA. 
• North Georgia could have helped itself with some clutch hitting. They were a perfect 0-10 in clutch moments with zero RBIs and two strikeouts.
• The Avengers, on the other hand, were hot in the clutch. They had 16 clutch at bats and hit .500/.579/.750 for 18 RBIs and a 1.329 OPS.
• North Georgia did have the advantage in two areas. They didn’t make an error all series. Metropolis made two. The Yellow Jackets were also 1-0 in stolen base attempts, while the Avengers were 0-1.
• McCutchen and Cano combined for 34 total bases. The Yellow Jackets as a team combined for 35.
• Metropolis’s .507 slugging percentage was nearly as good as North Georgia’s .510 team OPS.
• Metropolis paid a hefty price in an off-season trade for lefty reliever Fernando Abad, who didn't even make an appearance in the series. 
• Yellow Jacket relievers put together a respectable 3.93 ERA in their 18.1 innings, but their starters compiled an 8.62 ERA while averaging fewer than four innings per start.
• North Georgia could easily have won Game Two. They lost 3-2 but out hit Metropolis 6-4 and hit two homers. The Avengers were lucky enough to string their base runners together, while the Yellow Jackets did the opposite. A North Georgia win in Game Two would have evened the series 1-1 and may have changed the entire look of the series. Unfortunately for the NG fans, it wasn't to be.

2015 NLDS Game Four - Metropolis at North Georgia

Andrew McCutchen hit another lead-off homer.

The North Georgia Yellow Jackets found themselves deep in a 3-0 hole in their NLDS matchup against the Metropolis Avengers. The hometown Yellow Jackets sent one-time Avenger Dan Haren to the mound for Game Four, hoping to extend the series. The visitors countered with Anibal Sanchez, a mid-season acquisition from the Brew City Warriors.

The Avenger hitters picked up right where they left off. The white-hot Andrew McCutchen launched a lead-off homer, just as he did the night before in Game Three. Robinson Cano has been nearly as good as McCutchen and followed with a double down the right field line. Pablo Sandoval drove home Cano with a single and then scored on a Bryce Harper ground out. 

Jayson Werth's homer
padded the Avenger lead.

The quick start gave Metropolis a 3-0 lead in the game and seemed to take any fight out of the Yellow Jackets. Sanchez did his best to keep the North Georgia fans from getting back in the game. He wasn't dominant, but got key outs when he needed them and a well-timed double play to keep North Georgia scoreless through six innings.

The Yellow Jackets did break through for a run in the top of the seventh. Torii Hunter led off the seventh with a triple and scored on an Even Gattis sacrifice fly.

Metropolis scored insurance runs in the seventh, on a Sandoval double, and eighth, on a Jayson Werth homer. Craig Kimbrel took the ball from Sanchez in the bottom of the eighth inning and closed out the 5-1 win, sending Metropolis to the National League Championship Series for the fourth consecutive season. 

Craig Kimbrel closed out another
Metropolis playoff series.

North Georgia had its best season in memory, but was simply no match for the deeper and more experienced Metropolis team. The Yellow Jackets appear to have a bright future, as rookies Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka could form the core of a solid contender for years to come. Metropolis doesn't need to dream on the future, as they instead turn their attention to an NLCS matchup with either the Fleetwood Walkers or Portsmouth Brewers.

BOXSCORE: 2015 Metropolis Avengers At 2015 North Georgia Yellow Jackets 10/12/2015

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yellow Jackets     AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.McCutchen CF      4  2  3  1 .529     E.Aybar SS          4  0  0  0 .244 

  R.Cano 2B           5  1  2  0 .421     L.Martin LF         4  0  1  0 .206 

  J.Bautista 1B       4  0  0  0 .071     J.Abreu DH          4  0  1  0 .333 

  P.Sandoval 3B       4  1  2  2 .231     A.Jones CF          3  0  0  0 .206 

  S.Pearce DH         4  0  1  0 .200     T.Hunter RF         4  1  1  0 .250 

  B.Harper LF         4  0  1  1 .357     L.Duda 1B           4  0  0  0 .212 

  J.Werth RF          3  1  1  1 .417     E.Gattis C          2  0  2  1 .241 

  J.Reyes SS          4  0  0  0 .357   B-W.Bloomquist 3B     0  0  0  0 .400 

  C.Iannetta C        3  0  0  0 .077     C.Davis 3B          0  0  0  0 .200 

                                        A-C.Ruiz PH,C         1  0  0  0 .000 

                                          B.Zobrist 2B        3  0  0  0 .231 

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     

         Totals      35  5 10  5                 Totals      29  1  5  1

A-Pinch Hit For Davis In 7th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Gattis In 8th Inning

Avengers........ 3 0 0  0 0 0  1 1 0  -  5 10  0

Yellow Jackets.. 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  1  5  0

Avengers (4-0)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

A.Sanchez WIN(1-0)        7       4   1   1   2   5   0   1.29  A1 C8

C.Kimbrel                 2       1   0   0   1   2   0   0.00  C9

Totals                    9       5   1   1   3   7   0

Yellow Jackets (4-5)     IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

D.Haren LOSS(1-1)         3 2/3   5   3   3   3   2   1   3.72  A1 B9

D.Smyly                   0 1/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   3.38  C1 C2

J.Hoover                  1       0   0   0   0   3   0   0.00  C3 C5

C.Torres                  2       3   1   1   0   2   0   1.64  C6 D4

J.Hughes                  2       2   1   1   0   1   1   3.60  D5

Totals                    9      10   5   5   4   8   2

ATTENDANCE- 46,408 DATE- Monday, October 12th 2015 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good

UMPIRES- Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, Bruce Dreckman, Sam Holbrook

T- 2:38

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 7  Yellow Jackets: 5

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 2  Yellow Jackets: 1

DOUBLES- R.Cano(1st), P.Sandoval(1st), S.Pearce(2nd), J.Abreu(3rd)

TRIPLES- T.Hunter(1st)

HOME RUNS- A.McCutchen(4th), J.Werth(1st)

RBIs- A.McCutchen(4th), P.Sandoval-2(2nd), B.Harper(3rd), J.Werth(6th),

      E.Gattis(3rd)

SACRIFICE FLIES- E.Gattis

WALKS- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista, J.Werth, C.Iannetta, A.Jones, C.Davis-2

STRIKE OUTS- R.Cano, J.Bautista-2, P.Sandoval, S.Pearce-2, C.Iannetta-2,

             E.Aybar-2, J.Abreu, T.Hunter, L.Duda, C.Ruiz, B.Zobrist

GIDP- P.Sandoval, T.Hunter, B.Zobrist

WILD PITCHES- D.Smyly

2-out RBI- P.Sandoval, J.Werth

RLISP 2-out- J.Reyes, B.Zobrist, R.Cano-2, E.Aybar, L.Duda

TEAM RISP- Avengers: 2 for 7  Yellow Jackets: 0 for 6

WEB GEMS- Bot 1st: Jayson Werth robbed Jose Abreu of an extra base hit.

          Top 4th: Dan Haren robbed Jose Reyes of a base hit.

2015 NLDS Game Three - Metropolis at North Georgia

Rookie Masahiro Tanaka
made the start for North Georgia.

The North Georgia Yellow Jackets find themselves in a 2-0 hole in their NLDS matchup with the Metropolis Avengers. However, the Yellow Jackets are hoping the hometown fans and their rookie righty Masahiro Tanaka (8-6, 3.78 ERA) can combine to give them the advantage in Game Three. Metropolis sends their own young righty to the mound, Collin McHugh (13-5, 2.69).

Metropolis CF Andrew McCutchen didn’t let Tanaka get too comfortable, as he launched the game’s fourth pitch over the left field wall for a leadoff homer and a quick 1-0 Avenger lead. Robinson Cano followed with a single, but Tanaka settled down and kept the deficit to one.

North Georgia’s leadoff hitter Erick Aybar didn’t hit a homer, but he did single to start a rally. Leonys Martin moved him to third with a single of his own and the Yellow Jackets were in business. Slugger Jose Abreu hit a rocket to center field, but McCutchen tracked it down for the first out as Aybar trotted home with the tying run. McHugh struck out Adam Jones and Torii Hunter to finish the inning, with the game tied 1-1.

Jayson Werth had two doubles and four RBIs.

The game stayed tied into the fourth, when Cano singled to start the inning. After two strikeouts, Steve Pearce walked and brought Bryce Harper to the plate, who singled home Cano to break the tie. Jayson Werth then lined a double into the gap, scoring Pearce and Harper for a 4-1 Metropolis lead.

Metropolis used the same formula in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring runs on a McCutchen solo homer and Werth double, which gave the visitors a 6-1 lead. McHugh had settled down after his shaky first inning. He refused to let North Georgia start a rally and allowed single baserunners in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

Avenger flamethrower Aroldis Chapman took the ball for the bottom of the eighth with the top of the order coming up. He struck out Aybar and Martin with nothing but fastballs and then gave the ball to Zach Putnam who retired Abreu on a sharp ground ball to end the inning.

Robinson Cano collected a homer and four hits on the night.

Metropolis padded their lead in the top of the ninth when McCutchen singled and Cano launched a high fly ball to right which carried over the wall for a two-run homer. Those two stars have been the offensive stars for Metropolis teams from their arrival in 2012 and this game proved they haven’t lost a step. McCutchen and Cano combined to go 7-10 with three homers and four RBIs.

Putnam stayed on for the bottom of the ninth and finished off the Yellow Jackets, putting them in a deep, 3-0 hole. North Georgia will send Dan Haren (11-5, 3.42 ERA) to the mound, hoping to extend the series one more game. Metropolis counters with mid-season acquisition Anibal Sanchez, who was just 3-3, but had a 1.65 ERA in his seven starts for the Avengers.

BOXSCORE: 2015 Metropolis Avengers At 2015 North Georgia Yellow Jackets 10/11/2015

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yellow Jackets     AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.McCutchen CF      5  3  3  2 .462     E.Aybar SS          4  1  2  0 .270 

  R.Cano 2B           5  2  4  2 .429     L.Martin LF         4  0  1  0 .200 

  J.Bautista 1B       4  0  0  0 .100     J.Abreu DH          3  0  1  1 .344 

  P.Sandoval 3B       5  1  1  0 .111     A.Jones CF          3  0  0  0 .226 

  S.Pearce DH         4  1  0  0 .182   C-J.Schafer PH        1  0  0  0 .000 

  B.Harper LF         4  1  2  1 .400     T.Hunter RF         4  0  0  0 .250 

  J.Werth RF          4  0  2  3 .444     L.Duda 1B           2  0  0  0 .241 

  J.Reyes SS          3  0  2  0 .500     E.Gattis C          4  0  1  0 .185 

  C.Iannetta C        4  0  0  0 .100     C.Davis 3B          2  0  0  0 .200 

                                          B.Zobrist 2B        2  0  0  0 .261 

                                        A-C.Coghlan PH        1  0  0  0 .200 

                                        B-W.Bloomquist 2B     0  0  0  0 .400 

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     

         Totals      38  8 14  8                 Totals      30  1  5  1

A-Pinch Hit For Zobrist In 7th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Coghlan In 8th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Jones In 9th Inning

Avengers........ 1 0 0  3 1 1  0 0 2  -  8 14  0

Yellow Jackets.. 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  5  0

Avengers (3-0)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.McHugh WIN(1-0)         7       5   1   1   2   7   0   1.29  A1 C9

A.Chapman                 0 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  D1 D2

Z.Putnam                  1 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D3

Totals                    9       5   1   1   2   9   0

Yellow Jackets (4-4)     IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

M.Tanaka LOSS(1-1)        5 2/3   8   6   6   1   4   2   5.11  A1 C6

S.Carroll                 2 1/3   4   0   0   1   2   0   2.81  C7 D8

C.Young                   1       2   2   2   1   1   1   9.00  D9

Totals                    9      14   8   8   3   7   3

ATTENDANCE- 46,191 DATE- Sunday, October 11th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad

UMPIRES- Marty Foster, Derryl Cousins, Angel Hernandez, Eric Cooper

T- 3:00

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 6  Yellow Jackets: 6

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 1  Yellow Jackets: 2

DOUBLES- J.Werth-2(2nd), J.Reyes(2nd)

HOME RUNS- A.McCutchen-2(3rd), R.Cano(1st)

RBIs- A.McCutchen-2(3rd), R.Cano-2(2nd), B.Harper(2nd), J.Werth-3(5th),

      J.Abreu(6th)

STOLEN BASES- L.Martin(2nd)

SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Abreu

WALKS- J.Bautista, S.Pearce, J.Reyes, L.Duda, C.Davis

HIT BY PITCH- L.Duda

STRIKE OUTS- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista-2, P.Sandoval-2, S.Pearce, B.Harper,

             E.Aybar, L.Martin-3, A.Jones-2, T.Hunter, E.Gattis, C.Davis

GIDP- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista, A.Jones

2-out RBI- B.Harper, J.Werth-3

RLISP 2-out- T.Hunter, J.Reyes, C.Iannetta, C.Coghlan

TEAM RISP- Avengers: 3 for 6  Yellow Jackets: 0 for 2

2015 NLDS Game Two - North Georgia at Metropolis

North Georgia didn’t put up much of a fight in Game One of its NLDS matchup with Metropolis, but hoped to even the series in Game Two. They sent AJ Burnett (13-9, 5.03 ERA in 29 starts) to the mound. Metropolis countered with righty Corey Kluber and his 21-7 regular season record in 37 starts with a 2.56 ERA.

Jose Abreu's homer put North Georiga on the board.

Yellow Jacket slugger Jose Abreu gave the visitors a quick 1-0 lead with a two-out homer in the top of the first. Abreu continued his brilliant rookie season, during which he hit .299 with 37 homers and 96 RBIs. North Georgia tried to add to their lead the next inning, when they put two runners on with one out. Kluber induced weak grounders from Chris Davis and Ben Zobrist to end the inning and keep the game 1-0 North Georgia.

Metropolis veteran Jose Reyes tied the game in the bottom of the second when he hit a two-out single to score Bryce Harper ahead of Adam Jones’s throw from shallow center field. It was aggressive base running by the Avengers and Harper’s sprint home and dive into the plate brought the home-town crowd to its feet.

Andrew McCutchen's homer broke the tie.

Avenger leadoff hitter and MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen broke the tie when he took a Burnett fastball to deep left-center for a solo homer in the fourth inning.

Burnett found his groove after that shot, setting down ten Avengers in a row before walking Jose Bautista with two outs in the sixth. The Yellow Jackets brought in reliever Carlos Torres, who retired Pablo Sandoval to end the inning. Kluber had matched Burnett during the middle innings and the game stayed 2-1 Metropolis heading to the top of the seventh.

Lucas Duda led off the seventh with a double, chasing Kluber to the showers. Joaquin Benoit came on and retired Evan Gattis and pinch hitters Carlos Ruiz and Torii Hunter to end the inning.

Metropolis extended its lead in the bottom of the seventh when Reyes came through with another clutch two-out single. This time it was the lumbering Steve Pearce who got a good jump and beat a weak throw from Chris Coghlan to push the Avengers' lead to 3-1.

Duda hit his second homer of the series with two outs in the ninth, but it was too little, too late, as Benoit closed out the game. Metropolis won Game Two 3-2 and took a 2-0 lead in the series. It was a pitchers’ game all the way, with the teams combining for just 10 hits between them. Metropolis just did a better job of bunching theirs together, while North Georgia’s only runs came on their solo homers in the first and last innings.

The series moves to North Georgia for Games Three, Four, and (if necessary) Five. The Yellow Jackets will send rookie import Masahiro Tanaka to the hill and the Avengers have Collin McHugh scheduled to take the ball.

BOXSCORE: 2015 North Georgia Yellow Jackets At 2015 Metropolis Aven 10/9/2015

  Yellow Jackets     AB  R  H RBI AVG     Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG

  E.Aybar SS          4  0  0  0 .242     A.McCutchen CF      4  1  1  1 .375 

  L.Martin RF         4  0  1  0 .192     R.Cano 2B           4  0  1  0 .222 

  J.Abreu DH          4  1  1  1 .345     J.Bautista 1B       2  0  0  0 .167 

  A.Jones CF          4  0  0  0 .250     P.Sandoval 3B       3  0  0  0 .000 

  C.Coghlan LF        4  0  1  0 .250     S.Pearce DH         3  1  1  0 .286 

  L.Duda 1B           4  1  3  1 .259     B.Harper LF         2  1  0  0 .333 

  E.Gattis C          2  0  0  0 .174     J.Werth RF          2  0  0  0 .400 

C-W.Bloomquist 2B     1  0  0  0 .400     J.Reyes SS          3  0  1  2 .429 

  C.Davis 3B          2  0  0  0 .222     C.Iannetta C        3  0  0  0 .167 

A-C.Ruiz PH,C         1  0  0  0 .000                                         

  B.Zobrist 2B        2  0  0  0 .286                                          

B-T.Hunter PH         1  0  0  0 .292                                         

D-J.Arias 3B          0  0  0  0 .000                                         

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      

         Totals      33  2  6  2                 Totals      26  3  4  3

A-Pinch Hit For Davis In 7th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Zobrist In 7th Inning

C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Gattis In 7th Inning

D-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Hunter In 7th Inning

Yellow Jackets.. 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 1  -  2  6  0

Avengers........ 0 1 1  0 0 0  1 0    -  3  4  1

Yellow Jackets (4-3)     IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

A.Burnett LOSS(1-1)       5 2/3   2   2   2   3   9   1   4.09  A1 C3

C.Torres                  1 1/3   1   1   1   1   1   0   1.00  C4 C9

D.Smyly                   1       1   0   0   0   1   0   3.86  D1

Totals                    8       4   3   3   4  11   1

Avengers (2-0)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Kluber WIN(1-0)         6       5   1   1   0   8   1   1.50  A1 C6

J.Benoit SAVE(1st)        3       1   1   1   0   1   1   1.93  C7

Totals                    9       6   2   2   0   9   2

ATTENDANCE- 45,408 DATE- Friday, October 9th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Chuck Meriwether, Bill Welke, Laz Diaz, Tim Welke

T- 2:40

LEFT ON BASE- Yellow Jackets: 5  Avengers: 3

DOUBLE PLAYS- Yellow Jackets: 1  Avengers: 1

ERRORS- P.Sandoval

DOUBLES- L.Duda(1st), S.Pearce(1st)

HOME RUNS- J.Abreu(3rd), L.Duda(4th), A.McCutchen(1st)

RBIs- J.Abreu(5th), L.Duda(8th), A.McCutchen(1st), J.Reyes-2(4th)

CAUGHT STEALING- J.Reyes

WALKS- J.Bautista-2, B.Harper, J.Werth

HIT BY PITCH- E.Gattis

STRIKE OUTS- E.Aybar, J.Abreu, A.Jones-2, C.Coghlan-3, E.Gattis, C.Davis,

             A.McCutchen-2, R.Cano-3, S.Pearce-2, J.Reyes, C.Iannetta-3

GIDP- J.Abreu, J.Bautista

2-out RBI- J.Abreu, J.Reyes, L.Duda

RLISP 2-out- B.Zobrist-2, T.Hunter, C.Iannetta

TEAM RISP- Yellow Jackets: 0 for 5  Avengers: 1 for 4

2015 NLDS Preview - North Georgia vs. Metropolis

The North Georgia Yellow Jackets and Metropolis Avengers will match up in one of the two National League Division Series. North Georgia earned their spot by defeating the Portland Blue Sox four games to one in the National League Wild Card round. They'll make the trip to the Hall of Justice for Games One and Two before the series moves to North Georgia for the middle games. To preview the series, here is glance at some of the Avengers' and Yellow Jackets' regular season stats.

• North Georgia went 86-76 and won the second NL Wild Card spot.
• Metropolis went 106-56 and won the NL West by 13 games over Portsmouth.
• Metropolis is attempting to win its third World Series in four years and fourth overall, having won in 2006, 2012, and 2014. North Georgia is making its first playoff appearance since 1999.
• North Georgia was 4-8 in extra-inning games and 27-20 in one-run games.
• Metropolis was 12-4 in extra-inning games and 31-24 in one-run games. The Avengers’ 55 one-run games was the second most in all of Brassball (California went 22-34 in its 56 one-run games on the way to a 60-102 record).
• North Georgia scored 718 runs and allowed 658, for a +60 run differential.
• Metropolis scored 794 and allowed 510 runs, for a +284 differential (second to Fleetwood’s +299).
• North Georgia has one of the best closers in the game. Jared Hughes collected 46 saves with a 0.99 ERA. Metropolis, on the other hand, goes with a bullpen by committee. Eleven different Avengers recorded a save, led by Craig Kimbrel's 19.
• The Avengers won five of the seven games against North Georgia games in the regular season, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 36-18.
• North Georgia stole 112 bases and was thrown out 28 times.  Metropolis was much more conservative, stealing just 28 bases in 37 chances.
• The Avengers made 87 errors and allowed 37 unearned runs. The Yellow Jackets 99 errors and surrendered 67 unearned runs.
• Both teams hit more homers on the road than at home. North Georgia hit 82 road bombs and 69 at home. Metropolis had 86 on the road and just 60 at home.
• Metropolis had the league’s second-highest OPS at .762. North Georgia’s .715 OPS was 11^th.
• North Georgia’s catchers allowed just three passed balls all season.
• Both teams are vulnerable to the stolen base. Metropolis allowed 114 steals at a 74.5% rate while North Georgia allowed 119 with an 82.6% success rate.
• Only three Yellow Jackets collected double digit wins - Jose Quintana (14), AJ Burnett (13), and Dan Haren (11). 
• Metropolis had five pitchers in double digits - Corey Kluber (21), Stephen Strasburg (17), Carlos Carrasco (15), Collin McHugh (13), and Yusmeiro Petit (10).
• The Avengers trust their hitters to hit and pitchers to pitch. They didn’t bunt once all year and attempted just one hit-and-run. Their pitchers issued only a single intentional walk (by September call-up Cam Bedrosian). North Georgia was in the middle of the pack with 48 sacrifice attempts, 49 hit-and-runs and 18 intentional walks.
• North Georgia starters completed 20 games on the season, led by Quintana's 7 and Masahiro Tanaka's 6. Metropolis only completed nine, with Kluber and Strasburg each doing so three times.
• Metropolis pitchers allowed a .604 OPS with 7.1 hits, 2.3 walks, 9.1 strikeouts, and .7 home runs per nine innings.
• North Georgia pitchers surrendered a .712 OPS, 8.7 hits, 2.8 walks, 7.3 strikeouts, and .9 homers per nine innings.
• Yellow Jacket rookie Jose Abreu had the league’s only game with five walks (vs Leesburg) and one of two games with three homers (vs Brew City).
• North Georgia out homered Metropolis 151 to 146. They were led by Abreu's 37 and Adam Jones's 31. Jose Bautista paced the Avengers with 27. 
• However, Metropolis pitchers allowed just 120 home runs while North Georgia allowed 150.
• The top of the order could be the difference in the series. Metropolis's 1-2 hitters had OPS of .836 and .839 on the season. North Georgia's table setters were just .650 and .638.
• Avenger hitters were at their best with the bases loaded. They hit six homers and had a .951 OPS in 127 at bats. North Georgia hit three grand slams and had a .768 OPS in their 108 at bats with the bases loaded.
• Metropolis added two players at the trade deadline - 1B/DH Steve Pearce and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Pearce hit .249/.329/.437 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 222 plate appearances. Sanchez was just 3-3 in his seven starts, but had a 1.65 ERA and allowed just 30 hits and 12 walks in 49 innings.

2015 NLDS Game One - North Georgia at Metropolis

The National League Division Series kicked off on the evening of October 8 with the North Georgia Yellow Jackets taking on the Metropolis Avengers in the Hall of Justice. The Avengers were well-rested, having watched North Georgia defeat Portland in the NL Wild Card round.

The defending Brassball champion Avengers sent new ace Carlos Carrasco to the mound in Game One. Carrasco came to Metroplolis in an off-season trade and went 15-4 with a sparkling 1.86 ERA on the season. The Yellow Jackets countered with lefty Jose Quintana, who was 14-10, 3.50 on the season.

Jose Reyes's double gave Metropolis a 4-0 lead.

The hometown Avengers jumped on Quintana in the bottom of the first. Singles by Andrew McCutchen and Jose Bautista put runners on the corners with one out. Surprise cleanup hitter Gregorio Petit drove home McCutchen with another single, putting the Avengers up 1-0. Quintana struck out Steve Pearce and hoped to get out of the inning,but then surrendered singles to Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth and was down 3-0. Quintana gave up a line drive double to Jose Reyes while Scott Carroll warmed in the pen and the visitors found themselves behind 4-0 before many of the fans had even found their seats.

North Georgia tried to rally in the top of the third, as Willie Bloomquist and Ben Zobrist singled with one out. Carrasco shut them down by striking out Erick Aybar and Leonys Martin to keep the score 4-0 Avengers.

Carroll was still on the mound in the bottom of the third, but he was clearly tiring. After getting the first out, Carroll allowed five consecutive singles to Pearce, Harper, Werth, Reyes and Chris Iannetta. That pushed the Avenger lead to 7-0, but Carroll got a groundball double play from McCutchen to avoid even more damage.

Lucas Duda's homer put North Georgia on the board.

In the fourth inning, former Avenger 1B Lucas Duda put the Yellow Jackets on the board when he squared up a Carrasco change up for a two-run homer. Carrasco had hit Adam Jones earlier in the inning and the Metropolis bullpen got active, just in case the two mistakes were early warnings of an impending meltdown.

Joaquin Benoit pitched 1 2/3 IP to close out Game One.

Carrasco did allow his share of baserunners, but managed to strand them when necessary. The visitors left two runners on in the third and fifth innings and another in the seventh. Despite that, Metropolis stuck with its starter into the eighth inning. Carrasco walked Martin to start the top of the eighth and allowed a one-out single to Jones. With a 7-2 lead, Carrasco gave the ball to reliever Joaquin Benoit, who retired Torii Hunter on an easy fly ball and struck out Duda to end the threat. Benoit stayed on for the ninth and closed out the Avengers’ Game One win.

The early Avengers runs seemed to stun the Yellow Jackets, who didn’t put up much of a fight the rest of theway. They also used five relief pitchers after Quintana’s early exit, which adds pressure to Game Two starter AJ Burnett. Metropolis sends its 21-game winner Corey Kluber to the mound tomorrow night, hoping to sweep the first two games at home before going to North Georgia for the middle part of the series.

BOXSCORE: 2015 North Georgia Yellow Jackets At 2015 Metropolis Aven 10/8/2015

  Yellow Jackets     AB  R  H RBI AVG     Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG

  E.Aybar SS          5  0  0  0 .276     A.McCutchen CF      4  1  2  0 .500 

  L.Martin LF         3  0  1  0 .182     R.Cano 2B           5  0  1  0 .200 

  J.Abreu DH          4  0  0  0 .360     J.Bautista 1B       4  1  1  0 .250 

  A.Jones CF          3  1  1  0 .292     G.Petit 3B          3  1  1  1 .333 

  T.Hunter RF         4  0  0  0 .304   A-P.Sandoval PH,3B    1  0  0  0 .000 

  L.Duda 1B           4  1  1  2 .174     S.Pearce DH         4  1  1  0 .250 

  E.Gattis C          4  0  0  0 .190     B.Harper LF         4  2  2  1 .500 

  W.Bloomquist 3B     4  0  2  0 .500     J.Werth RF          3  1  2  2 .667 

  B.Zobrist 2B        3  0  1  0 .316     J.Reyes SS          4  0  2  2 .500 

                                          C.Iannetta C        3  0  1  1 .333 

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     

         Totals      34  2  6  2                 Totals      35  7 13  7

A-Pinch Hit For Petit In 7th Inning

Yellow Jackets.. 0 0 0  2 0 0  0 0 0  -  2  6  0

Avengers........ 4 0 3  0 0 0  0 0    -  7 13  1

Yellow Jackets (4-2)     IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

J.Quintana LOSS(1-2)      0 2/3   6   4   4   0   1   0   7.56  A1 A8

S.Carroll                 2 1/3   5   3   3   0   1   0   3.29  A9 C1

C.Torres                  2 2/3   2   0   0   1   2   0   0.00  C2 D2

C.Young                   1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D3 D5

J.Hughes                  1       0   0   0   1   1   0   3.00  D6 E1

D.Smyly                   0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   6.75  E2

Totals                    8      13   7   7   2   5   0

Avengers (1-0)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Carrasco WIN(1-0)       7 1/3   5   2   2   2   6   1   2.45  A1 D4

J.Benoit                  1 2/3   1   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  D5

Totals                    9       6   2   2   2   8   1

ATTENDANCE- 48,197 DATE- Thursday, October 8th 2015 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Gary Darling, Jerry Meals, Bill Miller, Paul Emmel

T- 3:00

LEFT ON BASE- Yellow Jackets: 8  Avengers: 7

DOUBLE PLAYS- Yellow Jackets: 2  Avengers: 0

ERRORS- J.Reyes

DOUBLES- A.McCutchen(1st), J.Reyes(1st)

HOME RUNS- L.Duda(3rd)

RBIs- L.Duda-2(7th), G.Petit(1st), B.Harper(1st), J.Werth-2(2nd),

      J.Reyes-2(2nd), C.Iannetta(1st)

WALKS- L.Martin, B.Zobrist, J.Werth, C.Iannetta

HIT BY PITCH- A.Jones, A.McCutchen

STRIKE OUTS- E.Aybar-2, L.Martin, J.Abreu, T.Hunter, L.Duda-2, E.Gattis,

             S.Pearce-2, J.Werth, C.Iannetta-2

GIDP- A.McCutchen, G.Petit

2-out RBI- B.Harper, J.Werth, J.Reyes, L.Duda-2

RLISP 2-out- C.Iannetta-2, L.Martin, J.Abreu, J.Bautista, L.Duda, R.Cano

TEAM RISP- Yellow Jackets: 0 for 5  Avengers: 7 for 13

May 2013 - Stats, Stories and Surprises

Brassball month two is in the books.  With that, some interesting stats and stories may be hidden by multiple months of results.  Thanks to Doug, I took a look at the stats for just the month of May to see which players and teams had the most interesting stretch of 28 games.  

• Fleetwood rookie Mike Trout led all of Brassball in hitting (.426), on base percentage (.522) and slugging (.734) and still couldn't win Strat-O-Matic's MVP voting.  He lost a close race to Metropolis's Andrew McCutchen (.333/.389/.642).  McCutchen did have more RBIs, which probably explains the vote.  He had 27 to Trout's 26.
• The Portland Steelheads were not quite ready for May, as they were one-hit by Simi Valley aces Clayton Kershaw and David Price in the first two games of the month.
• Parkland's Casey McGehee had himself quite a month - going .368/.467/.842 and also coming through in the clutch with two pinch hit home runs.
• Brooklyn won a 19 inning marathon game vs West Hills, but that couldn't match the 1-0 pitchers' duel (or batters' failure) that Simi Valley won in 20 innings at Metropolis.  
• Plaza was a scorching 25-3 in May and two of its losses were by a single run.
• Lancaster's Austin Jackson legged out seven triples in May.
• Outlaw Elvis Andrus got his bunting practice in, laying down 13 sacrifices in 14 attempts.  The only other team with more was Cook County, with 16 successful bunts in May.
• Metropolis pitchers and catchers shut down opposing base runners, allowing just one stolen base on three attempts.
• Butte County infielder Joaquin Arias was a threat off the bench, collecting five hits in eight pinch hit at bats.  
• On the other side of the coin, Plaza and California each had only three pinch hit attempts all month.
• Plaza hitters compiled an amazing .307/.373/.522 line on the month in nearly 1100 plate appearances.  
• With a batting line like that, Plaza should probably give up the bunt - they were successful in just half of their 10 attempts.
• Santa Barbara was by far the most reliable team in the field, making only five errors all month.  The next best was the Outlaws' long-time AL rival Cook County, with twice as many.
• The Outlaw bullpen was another key to their 19-9 month, as they allowed just six of 47 inherited runners to score (12.8%).
• Sacramento's Ross Detwiler had a fantastic month, going 4-1 in six starts with a 0.53 in 33 innings.  
• Detwiler didn't even get a vote SOM's Cy Young vote, however.  Plaza closer Wilton Lopez took home the hardware after recording 13 saves in 14 appearances.  
• Several pitchers had four wild pitchers (including staff anchors Felix Hernandez and Tim Lincecum), but Hophead Jason Marquis uncorked five.  
• On the other hand, no Avenger pitcher threw a wild pitch and the team had only one passed ball.
• SoCal's Ramon Santiago booted the most balls last month, totaling eight errors.
• Not surprisingly, Plaza had the most players on SOM's all-star rosters.Joe Mauer, Alex Rios, Wilton Lopez and CJ Wilson made the first team while Aaron Hill and Jarrod Parker on the second.
• Three batters went 5-5 in a game: Brandon Belt, Craig Gentry and Alejandro De Aza.
• Superior might be in the market for a new baserunning coach after getting thrown out 10 times in just 21 steal attempts.
• Amazingly, Portland was thrown out just once while stealing 24 bases this month.
• Here's a baserunning tip - don't run on Dwayne Wise or Josh Hamilton.  They both gunned down six runners.
• Only once did Metropolis allow more than five runs.  Glen Allen gave up 10 or more runs five times.
• North Georgia's Chris Davis struck out 43 times in just 117 at bats.  If he doesn't turn that around, he might be out of the league by this time next year.
• Latrobe rode their new ace, Justin Verlander, like a horse.  He went 4-2 in seven starts and tossed 60 1/3 innings.  No one else threw even 50 innings.
• Springfield "batters" compiled a .192 average in May, nearly 30 points behind Hessville's .227.

September Stats Roundup

The regular season is over and the playoffs are underway, but it's not too late to dig through the September stats to see what gems we can pull out.

If momentum means anything, Santa Barbara (20-2) and Metropolis (19-3) look like they're headed to a World Series matchup.  Cook County will be a hurdle for the Outlaws, as they also finished September 19-3.  On the other end of the spectrum, playoff teams Fleetwood, California and Superior all muddled through September at 11-11.




Why was Lancaster's Chris Valaika intentionally walked two times?  Probably because he hit .750 as a pinch hitter in September.

Fleetwood's Miguel Cabrera was easily the best hitter this month, going .420/.505/.765 and leading the league in hitting by 52 points over Springfield's Hunter Pence.  He also collected nine RBIs on September 18th vs. Schaumburg.

Santa Barbara's playoff rotation ended the regular season on fire - Jeremy Hellickson: 3-0, 0.73; Jered Weaver: 5-0, 1.23; Justin Verlander: 5-0, 1.33.

Hessville's Carl Pavano had a tough month, as he lead the league in hits allowed, steals allowed and was seventh in walks allowed.

Why were Santa Barbara, Metropolis and Cook County so great this month?  Home runs.  They hit a bunch and allowed very few.  Home runs hit and allowed: Santa Barbara 29-8, Metropolis 31-7, Cook County 31-6.


North Georgia Yellow Jacket Livan Hernandez deserves a restful off-season after giving up 23 hits and 21 runs in a complete game loss to Metropolis on September 22.



Simi Valley ace Clayton Kershaw deserved a win on September 15, but got a no decision, despite throwing 10 innings and allowing just one hit while striking out 13.




Elvis Andrus continued his bunting clinic, laying down nine sacrifices this month.

Tinley's Nick Punto should ask for a new glove this Christmas - he booted nine balls in September.  Amazingly, a first baseman was right behind him with eight errors - North Georgia's Adam LaRoche.

Schaumburg center fielder Skip Schumacher led all outfielders with four outfield assists.


David Robertson locked down the ninth inning for Latrobe.  He pitched 9 innings and gave up just a single hit and three walks on the way to ten strikeouts and seven saves.

Parkland had a disappointing year, but stars Dustin Pedroia and Joey Votto had very good and nearly identical Septembers: Votto - 86 AB, 26 H, 4 2B, 4 HR, 14 RBI.  Pedroia - 85 AB, 26 H, 5 2B, 4 HR, 12 RBI.

SoCal's Jonathan Sanchez struck out 36 guys in 25 2/3 IP, but also surrendered 10 walks and four homers on his way to a 5.26 ERA.

NL Hitter of the Month: Fleetwood's Miguel Cabrera - .420/.505/.765, 81 AB, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 14 BB.



AL Hitter of the Month: Cook County's David Ortiz - .364/.417/.773, 88 AB, 9 HR, 22 RBI, 8 BB.



NL Pitcher of the Month: Metropolis's C.C. Sabathia - 5-0, 2.62 ERA, 33 1/3 IP, 26 H, 41 K, 10 BB.

AL Pitcher of the Month: Santa Barbara's Justin Verlander - 5-0, 1.33 ERA, 40 2/3 IP, 23 H, 45 K, 9 BB.

2012 Brassball All-Stars

Baseball fans love to debate.  It doesn’t really matter what it is – we can debate, or even flat-out argue, about it.  We’ll debate who should be in the Hall of Fame, who should be the MVP and, of course, who should be on the All-Star team.  This year is no different. 

Some of the All-Star selections seemed like no-brainers.  Of course Mike Stanton and his 32 homers and Brassball leading 98 RBIs will be starting, just like Jacoby Ellbsury and his 27 homers and 51 stolen bases.  But what about Justin Upton?  And how do we have an All-Star game without Albert Pujols?  Let’s take a look at who deserved to make the team and who didn’t.

First, we need to establish some ground rules.  How do you compare a player like Carlos Gonzalez, who has 383 plate appearances, and Matt Kemp, who has 485?  Rather than break out the heavy Sabermetric tools, we’ll settle for something quick and dirty.  Let’s use Gonzalez and Kemp as an example:

Gonzalez has 383 plate appearances and a .992 OPS while Kemp has 485 plate appearances and an .890 OPS.  Multiplying those two numbers will give Kemp credit for all his extra plate appearances and Gonzalez credit for his much higher OPS. 

Gonzalez: 383 x .992 = 387.0

Kemp: 485 x .890 = 435.0

For this article, I’ll call that Weighted OPS (wOPS) and use it as a simple measure to identify those surprising All-Star starters, subs and snubs. 

Miguel Cabrera leads all of Brassball in wOPS and by a wide margin.  He signed a huge contract in the offseason to stay with Fleetwood and has not disappointed.  So far, Cabrera has earned his $7,000,000 his starting spot at 1B for the National League. 

Across baseball, the four highest wOPS hitters are all starting the game:

1.     Miguel Cabrera – 512.6

2.     Jacoby Ellsbury – 464.1

3.     Melky Cabrera – 457.3

4.     Adrian Gonzalez – 449.0

Let’s look at the starters for each league and see how their wOPS ranks in all of Brassball:

National League

C – Miguel Montero – 370.5 wOPS – #34 overall

1B – Miguel Cabrera – 512.6 – 1

2B – Robinson Cano – 382.0 – 26

3B – Pablo Sandoval – 391.2 – 19

SS – Jose Reyes – 373.8 – 32

LF – Alex Gordon – 404.0 – 15

CF – Jacoby Ellsbury – 464.1 – 2

RF – Mike Stanton – 425.9 – 9

DH - Mike Napoli – 405.4 – 14

American League

C – Wilson Ramos – 244.2 – 130

1B – Adrian Gonzalez – 449.0 – 4

2B – Michael Young – 395.9 – 17

3B – Adrian Beltre – 372.2 – 33

SS – Troy Tulowitzki – 379.0 – 28

LF – Carlos Gonzalez – 387.0 – 21

CF – Matt Kemp – 435.0 – 7

RF – Melky Cabrera – 457.3 – 3

DH – Victor Martinez – 365.9 – 37

So, six of the top ten and 11 of the top 25 were voted to start the game.  Not too bad.  Among starters, the one name that sticks out is Cook County’s Wilson Ramos, who is ranked 130 in Brassball.  A big part of his ranking is Ramos’s relatively small number of plate appearances, as his .825 OPS is very strong.  As a catcher on a juggernaut offense, Ramos gets regular days off, which pushes his wOPS down quite a bit.  With that exception, every other All-Star starter is in the top 37 players in the league, based on wOPS.

Who are the big snubs?  The line starts behind Superior’s Justin Upton and Glen Allen’s Albert Pujols.  Those two are ranked #5 and 6 in all of baseball, but will get extra time with their family instead of an all-expense trip to Florence. 

Although Pujols clearly deserved a spot on the team, it would be hard to make him the NL first baseman ahead of Miguel Cabrera.  That’s not true for Justin Upton, who not only deserved to be on the AL’s squad but should also have been a starting outfielder.  Upton has been at least as good as Cook County’s Matt Kemp and much more valuable than Carlos Gonzalez due to CarGo’s missed time.  

Only two other hitters in the top 20 failed to make the game:  North Georgia’s Mark Teixeira (#13), Metropolis’s Andrew McCutchen (#18) and Hessville’s Gaby Sanchez (#20).

Among the All-Star reserves, Springfield’s Hunter Pence and Metropolis’s Jose Bautista have the best argument to be starters and not reserves.  Pence is ranked #8 and likely should have Alex Gordon’s spot in left field. 

Bautista is ranked #11 and comes in ahead of Glen Allen’s Pablo Sandoval.  That might be surprising, as Sandoval has hit a league-leading .358 so far, which is 90 points higher than Bautista.  However, Bautista has a higher on base percentage due to his 63 extra walks.  Bautista also played nearly every day and has nearly 70 more plate appearances. 

In the end, the reality may just be that while Joey Bats is a good nickname, Kung Fu Panda is a great nickname.  It is the All-Star game and sometimes that makes all the difference.