Sluggers Vie for Homer Throne

The eleventh season of 23Mattingly23 will feature two aging sluggers chasing a power benchmark reached by only one other in league history. Cleveland’s Mac Hogan and Rochester’s Ken Sullivan look to join Bombers’ masher Albert O’Neill as the only players with 500 career homeruns, and each man should gain entrance into the prestigious club by the end of the season’s first month.

Hogan, 34, has amassed 491 homers in nine major league seasons for the Dobys; including 56 homers during his Rookie of the Year campaign in season one, and a career-best 60 homers enroute to winning his first MVP award in season four. Even though the venerable Hogan has seen a decline in his power output over the past three seasons, surpassing 40 homeruns only once, yet he could vie for the all-time homerun crown by the end of his illustrious career.

At 33-years-old, Sullivan looks like the heir-apparent to O’Neill’s homerun king crown and holds a slight advantage over Hogan with 495 career homers. In his first season in Rochester Sullivan saw a sharp decline in his homerun total, posting a career-low 35 homeruns and failing to drive in 100 runs since his rookie year. Entering his 11th pro season and coming off of a season in which he played in only 130 games, Sullivan needs to stay on the field if he has any hope of retiring as long ball king.

News and Notes

23Mattingly23 has rolled to season 11 with only three openings, our lowest total in several seasons. I have also taken some time to update the career leaders on the blog and hope to post a couple of player profiles and a recap of season 10 award winners this week.

Get out there and recruit so we can get going on season 11.

Durham Captures First Crown

The Durham Bombers, long the model of success in 23Mattingly23, entered the hall of champions after nine seasons of playoff futility. The Bombers easily dispatched defending champion Atlanta with a four-game sweep.

Player Spotlight: Albert O'Neill

Durham's Albert O'Neill has been the most feared run producer in the league's history, averaging 60 homeruns and 159 RBIs over eight seasons for the Bombers. O'Neill carries a lifetime .308 batting average and has failed to score 100 runs only once. He is a seven-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger, and was the MVP of season five; in which he batted .340, hit 75 homeruns and drove in 212 runs. In season eight he should become the first hitter in league history to eclipse the 500 homerun barrier.

Season Eight Awards

NL MVP
Johan Chouinard continued his dominance of 23Mattingly23 by earning the third MVP award of his career. Chouinard posted a .343 batting average, slugged 54 Homeruns and drove in 146 in 156 games. Chouinard was 40/59 in stolen base opportunities and scored 159 runs while leading Dover to another World Series appearance.

AL MVP
San Antonio's Ed Martin set new career highs by slugging 61 homers and 173 RBI enroute to his second MVP award. Martin drew 95 walks while batting .285 and scored 105 runs, leading the Six Shooters to the AL Championship Series.

NL Cy Young, Rookie of the Year
25-year old Edgardo Montero not only proved himself to be the National League's best rookie, but its best pitcher as well. Montero won 16 games in 196.2 innings for Atlanta while holding opponents to a .212 OAV. He surrendered just 44 walks while striking out 151 and posting a 2.29 ERA.

AL Cy Young
18-game winner Fransisco Guerrero and Charlotte closer Aramis Sosa will have to settle for joint custody of the Cy Young this offseason.

Guerrero posted a 3.49 ERA in 31 starts for Durham last season while striking out 185 batters and holding opponents to a .234 average against. Sosa, meanwhile, saved 42 games for the Fake Empire while only blowing five chances. He posted a 2.14 ERA and held batters to a .190 average. He struck out 53 batters in 63 innings while only walking 10.

AL Rookie of the Year
Boston left fielder Glenn Stark batted .304 and hit 26 homeruns while patrolling in front of the Green Monster. Stark scored 87 runs and drove in 105 runs, posting a .377 OBP for the Red Sox.

Six Guns Crowned Again

Sioux Falls -- The Sioux Falls Six Guns have defeated the Dover Destroyers in six games to claim the Season Eight World Title. Sioux Falls joins Tacoma and Dover as the third team in 23Matingly23 history to claim two World Series titles.

The meeting marked the third time the clubs have met in the World Series and this was the fourth consecutive trip to the Fall Classic for the Destroyers.

A full recap of the series is forthcoming.