After a brief meeting with T.B. Diggity, Hilali called a players-only meeting. Details of that meeting are unclear, but the results have been impressive. Since that loss, the ‘Hawks have won 23 of 33 games, climbing from 9 1/2 games behind Nashville to only two games back. They have become a player in the Wild Card chase, too, sitting three games out of that race. On the field, the change is obvious. Hitters are running out apparent groundouts. Foul balls are being chased all over the field. Fans are even treated to footraces between Hilali, Ted Ray, and Eduardo Gil from the dugout to second base between innings.

The obvious reasons for the surge are many. Ray and Roberto Zamora have become a solid one-two punch in the middle of the lineup. Loren Turner has found his place and become a table setter at the top of the lineup, allowing Hilali to drop to second in the order. Rookie Bill Bland has been solid at third base. Geoff Martin and Woods have been strong, and newcomer Rafael Gomez has bolstered a dangerous trio of starting pitching.  Tim Kline and Dwayne Gibson have turned almost all late leads into wins. When you see this kind of production out of what seems like the entire team, there is little mystery in the cause of the recent success.

According to Diggity, it is much more than that. After this weekend’s sweep of Nashville, an elated Diggity credited Hilali, saying, “Mesfin pulled this team together. He has been a huge part of this team for a long time, but he has become a leader over the last month. He is the pulse of this team.” Diggity had nothing but praise for Hilali, but details of the meeting were hard to come by.

Not all of the team is quiet, however. Gil, often the loudest player at the press conference, gave a little bit of information on what was discussed. Walking out of the clubhouse last Sunday, he patted Hilali on the back and said, “This dude is our captain. When he stepped up and called us out, we quit thinking about the guys who were traded or run off. We quit thinking about Brother Nick [Thompson's] scandal. We focused on what we could control… our play.” Hilali, never one for bragging, simply chuckled and ducked into his car.

In a season of sex scandals, controversial trades, and injuries and slumps, Galveston is learning that it may have what it takes to be a contender. The team has positioned itself to make waves, and fans in Galveston tend to like waves.

Underdogs!

July 18, 2022 – The Sioux Falls Underdogs continue to attempt to put a winning product together despite being 4 games under .500 and 2.5 games back after the All-Star Break. The Underdogs returned after the break after sending just one (Closer Yo Man) to the annual summer classic. In their return the team has two new pitchers at the top of their rotation.

Pablo Leon

From Charlotte, right-hander Pablo León comes along with a prospect in exchange for 2nd baseman Dave White. Leon features a monster curveball that he uses as his out pitch, while mixing in change ups, cutters, and forkballs. Leon has struggled finishing seasons, but has shown flashes of greatness in his limited experience. In four years, he has started and pitched in just 78 games.

Dominic Winters

More recently Dominic Winters was acquired for a pair of prospects from the Brooklyn Blue Sox. Winters throws a high 90′s fastball, and touches 100 from time to time. He also mixes in a curveball and a change up to strike hitters out. Winters is in his 7th season and has started 150 games in his career. Unlike Leon, Winters has been remarkably healthy and consistent throughout his career. Winters threatened free agency forcing the flailing Blue Sox to make some maneuver.

The Underdogs pitching staff has been inconsistent at best. The starters has been pushed in and out of the rotation with mixed success. Walks have been a bit of a problem, the fans in Sioux Falls hope that Winters and Leon can make the difference.

Despite winning ten games and posting a 2.44 ERA, Martin was all but ignored by the voters for this year’s midseason showcase, yet he has taken the cavalier approach to the snub. “I am just going to go out and do everything I can to help this team win,” he stated after his latest outing, a 5-2 loss despite him pitching his fifteenth quality start of the season. “I can’t control the voters, but I can control my performance. This doesn’t bother me at all.”

Some of his teammates were a bit more vocal. Perennial all-star Mesfin Hilali was visibly angered because of the snub, stating “The selection process is a farce. I made it this season based on my reputation. Geoff should be playing in the game with me and Loren (Turner). He is having a monster season for us.” Turner was not available for comment.

Galveston’s owner Nick Thompson could not be reached. He has virtually disappeared from the headlines during his current scandal, but general manager TB Diggity had a few comments. “This league has grown up a lot over the years, but we have to do a better job marketing the talent to the nation. Leaving off a talent like Geoff is not helping us place our product. Geoff is virtually unknown to the world, yet he is one of the most promising players in the game. He needs to be marketed,” Diggity said outside his most successful club, The Eager Beaver.

Despite Martin’s calm demeanor in public, teammates claim he is a fierce competitor. Expect this young hurler to use this snub to punish hitters in this league for a very long time.

Joey Brown

Joey Brown is the home run king of the Classic Baseball Union. His career 712 home runs will lead the CBU for some time. It is very likely that the next guy to challenge his record is not even playing in the Union right now. While he dominated the regular season, leading his league an impressive 10 times in his career in home runs, he is almost no where to be seen on the career playoff homerun leader board.

Wilbert Welford

Brown won a CBU Championship in 2002, but only appeared in the playoffs six times in his 19 year career. Trough 2021, Brown is tied for 35th on the leader board with just 11 playoff homers. The current leader is Vermont Green legend Wilbert Welford. Welford has 369 career regular season homers, but his 31 post-season dingers lead the Union by a large margin. Welford’s homer total is boosted by a heroic 2015 season where he smashed 11 homers in 20 post-season games. However despite all his might, Welford has yet to win a CBU Championship.

Welford will have to look to pad his lead in the last few season of his career because Si-dao Hsia of Tacoma currently sits in third with 21 homers. At just 32 years old, he has plenty of time to track down the gap between him and Welford.

Joey Brown will have the regular season homerun throne for the forseeable future, but he will have to wonder what could have been if he had more opportunities in the playoffs. Welford, another future Hall of Famer, gets some piece of the homerun crown, or at the very least, gets to enjoy the throne in October, when everybody is looking.

Gordon Gordon - Dijon

June 19th, 2022: Dijon pitcher Gordon Gordon gave the Rapid City Outlaws fits today as he blanked them 9-0 on 2 hits. He registered 7 strikeouts and 2 walks in the shutout.

His manager said, “When he’s locating his pitches, he becomes unpredictable. He had Rapid City guessing the entire game.”

This marks Gordon’s 2nd shutout of the season, and 4th of his young career. The 23-year-old lefty from Lubbock Texas has set the league ablaze since his call up in 2020 at just the age of 21.

In his first two full seasons, Gordon posted 28 wins, a 3.54 combined ERA, and averaged over 200 strikeouts in a season. He also showed his true athletic skills in picking up the Brooks Robinson Award at Pitcher in 2021.

The former 2nd overall draft pick (2018) states that he looked up to the likes of Robert Coté and Alex Moss. Despite saying he grew up watching the Houston Astros and Galveston Bayhawks, he said he preferred watching the best pitchers pitch and taking what he could from them.

“My dad and I grew up following the CBU for the longest time. He got me enrolled with the CBU training acedemies every season. I remember the first CBU Championship that we watched together, it was in 2006 and our home team Galveston lost to Dijon. Let’s say I feel fonder for Dijon now than I did as a toddler.”

Gordon Gordon also has the question of the very odd name. His father was not available for comment, but Gordon himself remembered a story:

“My parents always said that they just loved the name so much. My dad always had a passion for making goofy bets. I’m not so sure that he didn’t lose a bet on the name of his first born son. I kind of like it, it more special than if my name was Bill. Perhaps when I start having my own children, I’ll go with Gordon Gordon Jr.”

He left off with the last comment with a few snickers and thanked us for our time. This season Gordon has a 5-4 mark in 16 starts with a 2.53 ERA. He has given up 70 hits in 113.2 innings, struck out 101 and issued 59 walks. Opposing clubs have compiled a .174 batting average against him.

Dirk Nichols - Denver

The Denver Pines were on the clock first and they quickly secured what they felt was the best available player in RF Dirk Nichols. Nichols from the CBU Northwest Academy comes into the league at 20 years old and will start in rookie ball. The OSA ranks him as a five tool talented player, who is about a year maybe two away from cracking the Union. The righty crushed 15 homers while hitting .335 in 57 games this year with his academy team. Nichols led an outfield heavy class that saw five of the first six players chosen play in the grass.

J.R. Morse - Charlotte

The Charlotte Webs had the number two pick and followed the Pines by taking LF J.R. Morse. The two-way player was taken from his high school in Clarksville, Indiana. Morse according to the OSA doesn’t have the same ceiling as Nichols, but projects to be well rounded hitter. The Webs may also convert Morse into a pitching proejct as well which if it sticks will increase his ceiling even higher. Morse is a top notch athlete, bats right handed, throws lefty, and hit .535 with 5 homers in 20 high school games in 2022.

Gab Zamora - Indy

Sitting with the 3rd pick was Indianapolis who had the luxury of 3 first round picks after free agent compensation. The 500s choose international prospect, 2B Gabriel Zamora from Villa Jaragua, Dominican. Zamora was found by the CBU scouts and assigned to an academy at 16 years old. The now 18-year-old, has the glove to slide into short, but projects to be a 2b in the future. The kid’s incredible worth ethic makes him easy to like, and while his small frame doesn’t project to many home runs, he already possess the speed and gap power to set himself up into scoring position. Zamora in 26 academy games hit for .487 and had 29 stolen bases.

Clay Drew - Durham

CF Clay Drew was selected 4th overall by the Durham Dragons out of a high school in Chicago. Drew (18) hit .496 with 4 homers and 32 stolen bases in just 25 high school games this year. OSA scouts Drew to be potentially a frequent flyer on the Union’s future leader boards for batting average and steals. 24 of his 57 hits were extra base hits in high school and the scouts believe that the power will continue to grow for Drew.

Mario Hernandez -Nashville

The Nashville Legends rounded off the top 5 by taking yet another outfielder. RF Mario Hernández was another product in the CBU collegiate academy teams. The 20-year-old bats and throws left handed and much like the rest of his class, he is a tremendous athlete. The three sport athlete played in 52 games in 2022 hitting 16 homers with a .332 batting average and stole 34 bags. OSA scouts were a bit surprised by this pick, but sometimes the stats don’t lie and Hernandez has chosen baseball over basketball and soccer and will join the Rogers City Lancers (RL) in a few weeks.

Felipe Velez - Redbank

The Redbank Bandits won’t get points for originality, but continue the trend of picking up an outfielder in the 2022 draft. LF Felipe Vélez from Stanford University is a lefty slugger. Velez hit 15 homers, 52 RBI and a .305 batting average in college, and projects to be a solid defender with above average base running ability. OSA projected Velez further down the board, but the Bandits liked what they saw and took the talented youngerster.

Lee Castle - Underdogs

SP Lee Castle became the first official starting pitcher off the board at number seven. The Sioux Falls Underdogs decided on the 22-year-old New York native fairly quickly. Castle throws a fastball that sits at 93-95 mph and mixes in a slider, changeup and forkball combo. Castle pitched in 17 games in college for Long Island-Brooklyn, including 12 starts. His 99 strikouts and just 31 walks in 90 innings pitched impressed the Underdogs front office the most.

Andranik Mikhaylova

With the 8th selection the Portland Parasites selected C Andranik Mikhaylova from Penn State University. The Pennsylvania native will head West after a solid Senior season as a Nittany Lion. Mikhaylova has the necessary skills to stick at the catching position, but won’t win any gold gloves anytime soon. His ability at the plate is what the Parasites fell in love with, as the switch hitter crushed 12 homers in 49 games for the Lions.

Erik Brown - Augusta

Picking 9th the Augusta Murderer’s Row followed up Portland by taking the second catcher off the board. C Erik Brown from Sacremento State bats lefty and was rated most likely to stick behind the plate and make it to the Union by the OSA scouts. Brown fires a good ball to catch stealing runners and does above average behind the dish and calling a game. Brown should also adjust well to Union pitching, by being good at everything. His home run totals will never threaten anyone, but all-around Brown is likely a future all-star.

Juan Duran

Finishing out the protected stage of the draft, our French-Canadien team,  Dijon Moutarde, selected the second infielder taken in 3B Juan Durán. The Venezuelan is the second international off the board and will go North even further to Canada after a great season in the academy. In 52 games Duran swatted 8 homers, a .327 batting average and stole 38 bags. The athlete is a vacuum at the hot corner, shows above average speed, and projects to be about a league average hitter at the Union level.

That finishes out the protected top ten picks of the 2022 amateur draft and the talented pool has merely only been dented thus far. The 2022 class will push the talent level even higher in the CBU, which is on pace to out pace the MLB in actual talent levels between the two leagues.

Yes, it turns out that Goldstein’s last claim is 100% true.  In the most recent Legends media guide, Legend’s owner Anastasio Ramos Jr. is wearing the green, black and white of the Durham Dragons with a big ugly Dragon’s logo across his scrawny, malnourished chest.

Goldstein, whose father and grandfather once owned the team was adamant that Ramos be forced to sell by the commissioner of the CBU.  “This putz is raking in the hard earned dollars of Nashville fans and cheering for another team!” exclaimed Goldstein.  Ramos had a different view on the matter. “Hey!  I got to America legally!  I’m no illegal immigrant!” he yelled to the press before going off on an unrelated rant, “There are a group of people who arrive here every year and just take and take and take!

They don’t want to work, they don’t have a job, they don’t speak the language!  You know who I’m talking about!….Babies!  They have no papers, don’t speak the language and just soak off of the rest of us!  I say we put the NIS at the foot of your uterus and when the baby comes out you ask them for their papers and when they don’t have them you kick them back in to the mother’s pie hole!  “Sorry!  You’re not on the list!  Now back behind the velvet rope!”  Ramos was then dragged off in a strait jacket by his publicist, Doug Stanhope.

The CBU commissioner’s office said they would take the matter under advisement as soon as they figure out what the hell Ramos was talking about and pour more funny down their throat.

2B Gabriel Zamora

May 23, 2022 Indianapolis, IN – Over the 28 year history of the CBU, the Indianapolis 500s have, without question, been the worst team in league history. With their .468 winning percentage over those years and their miniscule 5 playoff appearances, the 500s are without a doubt the bottom of the CBU food chain. With 3 picks in the first round of this year’s First Year Players Draft, the 500s’ management hopes this year is the start of something new. This group of players, already dubbed the Pit Crew by local media and the fans, will hopefully be the cornerstone of future 500s’ success.

Drafted with the #3 pick, 2B Gabriel Zamora looks to be a future leadoff hitter with his high OBP and ability to hit it into the gap. Zamora, from the Dominican Republic, also brings something to the table that hasn’t been seen around this team. Speed.

CF Bennett Farris

CF/SP Tom Gee

With the 13th and 14th picks, more speed was drafted with CF Bennett Farris and CF Tom Gee. Farris excelled in HS, compiling a 1.591 OPS his senior season. He looks to be a prototypical #3 hitter who can also steal some bases.

The Canadian, Tom Gee had his own stellar season last year in HS. Joining the 500s from Spruce Grove HS in Alberta, Gee put up good numbers, hitting 10 HR. Gee has also shown great pitching potential. It is unclear whether the 500s plan to develop Gee as a starting pitcher or as an outfielder.

SP Suk-joo Kim

CF Raúl Martínez

Other 500s news – The Indianapolis 500s struck a deal with the Galveston Bayhawks, sending CF Raúl Martínez to Galveston and bringing over SP Suk-joo Kim. Kim was immediately inserted into the starting rotation and pitching 8 shutout innings against the Greene Monsters.

John Leonard

Portland, AP – Spectators at last night’s contest between the hometown SeaDogs and the visiting Latrobe Brewers were witness to a gruesome site.  The incident occurred in the bottom of the 6th inning with the SeaDogs clinging to a 6-4 lead.  With one out recorded and runners at first and third, SeaDogs catcher Jason Pierce drilled the 1-1 offering toward the gap in right field.  However, what appeared to be a sure extra-base hit was taken away on an amazing acrobatic play by Brewers second baseman John Leonard.  Unfortunately for Leonard, and the fans in attendance, he would land awkwardly and remain down on the field for several minutes.

One fan had this to say after the game, “That was the sickest thing I have ever seen!  You could tell from the moment he hit the ground that he was hurt.  Your arm should bend and move like that.”

After leaving the field, Leonard was immediately sent to a local hospital for evaluation.  Team officials have announced that doctors determined Leonard suffered a torn labrum in his glove shoulder.  When asked earlier today about the injury, Brewers team doctor J.J. Kevorkian replied, “A second baseman without a glove arm is like a race horse without a leg… and sometimes it is best just to put it out of its misery.”

Several other local doctors, who did not want to go on record, were in agreement that the injury would probably end the young second baseman’s career.

While considered by Baseball America to be a borderline prospect, Leonard was the #11 ranked prospect in the Redbank Bandits system – a system ranked 6th in the Classic Baseball Union prior to the 2022 season.

The Wonder-kid

In 2020, the Sioux Falls Underdogs were the league’s worst. Their reward for their futility was getting the first overall amateur draft pick in 2021. With that reward, they choose three-sport super athlete Sammy O’Brien from Florida International. To get O’Brien to come to Sioux Falls, where winter occurs 5 months out of the year, and to play baseball over football or basketball, the Underdogs promised O’Brien a spot on their CBU active roster. O’Brien accepted the deal, and headed North.

It’s been almost a year since I have been in South Dakota. When I moved here after being drafted, it was not all the different to me. It was extremely hot, breezy much like Florida, but the smell was different. Now I’m used to the smell. Last year was a bit of a struggle, I can field anything, but hitting at this level was not as easy as I thought.

Last year I hit .237 with 3 home runs and just 7 stolen bases. It was the worst batting line of my entire career. I even got caught stealing twice. In college I stole 32 bases and got caught once in my senior year. It was an adjustment. But I played in the winter league to help myself catch up and refocused myself during spring training. I came back to Sioux Falls in early April and was surprised to still find a half foot of snow packed on the ground in various areas.

The ballpark was clean however and if felt good to take my spot at short in our first drills. Now we’re a month into the regular season and my hard work is paying off. my batting average is up to .267 and I’ve already hit 2 homeruns. Its not quite where I want to be, but its an improvement. I have been perfect in the field so far, 0 errors in 128 total chances.

The Underdogs general manager Jimmy Carr told me that he is building the roster around me, and he plans to be winning very soon. Currently we’re 15-18, but I do think we’re better than that. I hope Jimmy is right. I do not enjoy losing.

Apparently we just traded for some abused players from the Galveston franchise. One of the players tweeted that he was molested by their owner or something. I’m not sure if it’s a real threat or a he-said-she-said situation, but the guys in the locker room are hesitant. Time will tell, go Dogs!