Victory League Ledger

[bulldog55]

COULD HONOLULU WIN THIS THING?

5/22/2006

HONOLULU - It's not often a sub-.500 team is a contender, and it's even more rare when that contender is an expansion team.

But the Honolulu Sharks, taking advantage of a weak division, are just one game back of the .500 Forked River Monsters.

"The new alignment makes everyone feel like they're in it," said pitcher Benjamin Delgado, who is 5-0 with a 1.92 ERA, part of a surprisingly strong pitching staff.

Credit team owner Reid McMarlins for bringing in pitchers like Delgado, but much credit also goes to players like pitchers Morris Stroupe and Derek Torres and hitters Eugene Privett and James Kennell, all playing well above their career numbers.

But with an expansion team trailing every division, the Sharks have to be proud of their early play. "It's still a very long season," said closer Sidney Mielke, "But we have to believe we have a shot at winning this."

[bulldog55]

North Stars Leading the Way

5/30/2006

MINNEAPOLIS - You won't hear much from North Stars owner Jeff Smith, who prefers to let his team's play do the talking. After the club won 79 games in his debut, he has them on top of their division to start his second year at the helm.

There has been one winning season in the short history of the franchise, flanked by two seasons of 70-something wins.

But two months into this year, the North Stars are pacing the Huff League East with a 30-23 record, a game ahead of the 2004 champion Omaha O-Rings.

Why the sudden success? For one, the team is second in the league in ERA, but they have always been strong on that side of the ball. Charles "Dizzy" Plank is once again one of the league's best pitchers and has a very strong supporting cast.

The difference is their offense. The team signed leftfielder Cesar Serrano this offseason and he has paid huge dividends, hitting .313 with 6 homeruns and a .905 OPS. New rightfielder Ronald Bloss has 7 homers and 31 RBI -- just ignore his .242 OBP.

You can also credit the emergence of Daniel Henriquez, the team's first-round choice a year ago. The third baseman hit 11 homeruns in 552 at bats last year, and has one fewer in 209 trips to the plate this season. His OPS has gone from .659 in 2005 to .819 this year.


With their beefed-up offense, this Minnesota team is no fluke. They have all the tools needed to go wire-to-wire. You just won't hear their owner say it.

[bulldog55]

Portland, Florida: As Close as Can Be

WEST PALM BEACH - Here in the southwest corner of Florida, we are about as far away from Portland as one could get without leaving the country.

But the two cities are also as close as can be, at least when it comes to the Super Happy Smile Challenge Victory League.

At 98-48, the Chads trail the 99-47 Bulldogs by a single game in the Jeffries League West Division.


Florida owner Henry Chadwick Outram III built this team from the ground up. Pitchers Ned Walker and Mark Steward were the first two members of the organisation and both remain staples of the team's staff. Steward, despite concerns over his endurance, has become perhaps the best pitcher in the short history of Victory League and after a lackluster first season, Walker has been a very reliable starter, earning an All-Star bid last season.

Drew Henson, who is now rewriting his league's record book every time he goes deep (50 times and counting), will break Larry Atwood's three-year-old Victory League record of 50 homeruns the next time he takes one out. After winning the Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, Triple Crown and MVP last season, Henson seems well on his way to repeating the latter two this season.

Anthony "Lobster" Cerny, the ninth overall pick in the original league draft, came to town along with Henson last season and has combined with the former Major Leaguer to form one of the deadliest duos in the league.


But Portland has won the old-fashioned way: pitching, defense and small ball. This year the team broke from that mold and brought in Larry Atwood, the first pick in the original draft, to add some power to a light-hitting offense. It was questioned how well he would fit in and so far the jury is out. He has struggled at home, where Corporation Co. Corporate Field has taken away his primary means of production, the homerun. Still, he's hitting .247 with 27 homeruns and, most importantly, 102 RBI. He has also stolen 18 of 19 bases this year and were it not for his speed, general manager Scott Jeffries likely would not have gone after the slugger.

It has been the small-ballers who have enjoyed the most success, namely rookie shortstop Ronald Haliburton who is hitting .304 with 75 stolen bases in 90 attempts and was named to the All-Star Team. The standard performers have shown up again like Adan Blanco (.275, 18 homers, 56 steals), Steven Loiselle (.313/22/92) and Joseph Guyer (.305, 14 homeruns, 22 swipes).

Their pitching has thrived thanks to two new faces and the eruption of Freddy Granado.

Granado, in just his second full season, leads the league with 21 wins and three shutouts and is second in ERA (2.41), strikeouts (241), innings pitched (264.2), complete games (5) and quality starts (28).

The newest Portland pitcher, Luke Prokopec, has thrived in his first Victory League season, going 12-5 with a 3.84 ERA. Reunited with Jeffries from their days with the Dodger organisation, Prokopec calls Corporation Field a "pitchers paradise that makes Dodger Stadium look like Coors Field."

Miguel Ramirez and Granado briefly shared a locker room in AAA Wacahoota before sharing the rotation when Ramirez was inserted late last season. The two are described now as best friends -- of course that's easy when you combine for 37 wins. Ramirez, in his first full season, is 16-10 with a 4.61 ERA and was an All-Star like Granado.

The four-man rotation is rounded out by staff workhorse Dominick Sandford. The first ever Bulldog has surpassed 250 innings for the fourth time in four years and at 18-10 could be primed for the first 20-win season of his career.


Two teams built on two very different philosophies in opposite corners of the country, now separated by just one game.


Pennant races are not just limited to this division, though; no team leads their division by more than six games. Just one game separate Minnesota and Omaha, Seibu leads Atlanta by five and Boston finds themselves six back of Forked River.

[thesportshero]

Hell is Better For Some Teams
A Look At the Worst Teams in the VL

VL Headquarters, Guam
Dukie Adironback

AP - Ah, the joys of sucking. Last place has become the resting place of four teams in the VL. Anaheim, Port Royal, Oslo, and Stanwix all are the worst teams in their divisions and the four worst teams in the league.

Does anyone even care about what these teams do? Well, think about. Anaheim and Stanwix are recent expansion teams, with Stanwix making that big name signee of Josh Hamilton with a $32 million dollars a year contract, but they have yet to catch any fire in winning ballgames. Anaheim, despite their name, has no power to win jack sh*t and has a bunch of underachieving ball players. Oslo used to be good, but now they play like their in a fog.

So what conclusion can you draw? Well, the obvious one. They suck. Nobody cares about them, as demonstrated by their crappy fan support.

The best of the worst is Stanwix, who somehow managed to go from one of the best offenses and worst pitching, to average offense and somewhat better pitching. The only thing this team does have is speed. In 2nd with the most stolen bases, the speed threat is led by Joel McGee, the former number 1 pick, who has stolen 104 bases, the most ever in VL history. Josh Hamilton is no slouch either as he has stolen 37 bases. About the only other good thing that Stanwix has, is its bullpen, which happens to be very solid. Josh Groban and Michael Northup are both young studs, while Julian Hubler has emerged to be one of the better middle relievers. Jeffery Murphy and Satoru Kanemura are both solid starters, with Murphy a great pitcher now. Estimated time of reverse suckitude: Sometime in the next year and half. If this team can add a few more players, we could see a .500 record.

The second best of the worst is the Oslo Blue Fog. The Blue Fog, who won 92 games last year and has been one of the best teams, is the only one with fan support. In fact, they lead the league in fan support despite the overall crapiness. The Blue Fog's overall struggle is a result of sub par pitching. They have one good pitcher and the rest all suck. The hitting has a bunch of underachievers and overall the team is just average. Estimated time of reverse suckitude: If they cut some payroll, then sign some big time FA or draft a few ML ready guys, then they could be a .500 team in a year. If not, I'm looking 2 years.

Because they suck so much, Anaheim and Port Royal are grouped together. Obviously, Anaheim has an excuse for sucking. They are an expansion team. I'm not even sure what Port Royal used to be called, but that's irrelevant. What's their problem? The same as almost everyone else's. Pitching. The three hogs of pitching happen to be the three teams owned by the officers in the commish's office. Hmm. Interesting. Anyways, both teams have no pitching and therefore suck. End of story.

Obivously, none of these teams are very good. But one thing that we must commend them for is their work ethic. These terrible ballplayers (with the exception of McGee and Hamilton) go out each and everyday and play hard to win. But, they don't win. Which is unfortunate. That's okay though.

Please sit back, relax and appreciate the world that is suckitude.

[Gunslinger1974]

"WE SUCK AND WE KNOW IT !!!"
Port Royal-

Having been granted a recent interview with the Port Royal owner I found that asking the tough questions is not worth the money this reporter makes. Currently I am in room 206 of the PR Hospital in traction and without an insurance plan through this crappy paper I find myself in need of donations.
Below is the interview in its entirety.

So Mr. Gunslinger what would you like those few fans that have shown up and actually paid for the tickets to know about this team.

"We suck and we know it !!" shouted the Port Royal owner.

It was at this time that he jumped up from his chair and beat me like a red headed step child. (To all the red headed step children out there I apologize.)

A follow-up phone call to the PR offices left us with the comment of "Wait till next year ya ba$tard, we'll see who sucks!!!!

Time will tell if this is true and whether or not this reporter has a job after this so until next year........................

[bulldog55]

There's a whole lot sucking going on in this thread.

[bulldog55]

Playoff Preview: Who Will Unseat the Champs?

10/6/2006

PORTLAND - The championship banners hang high here at Corporation Co. Corporate Field, located just north of the Ross Island Bridge.

"I used to take this bridge to and from work every day," comments general manager Scott Jeffries. "That was back when there was a lot of talk about the Expos moving to town. I would look down off the bridge at this empty lot and envision a baseball stadium."

When it became clear that no baseball stadium would be built for the Expos, he decided to take matters in his own hands and bring his own team to town.

"I decided that if Major League Baseball wouldn't bring the greatest game on earth to Portland, then I would."

And he did. Along with longtime friend and co-founder Chris Jozwiak, the Super Happy Smile Challenge Victory League was formed in 2003 and since then Portland has shown MLB just how much it can love a baseball team.

Attendance has increased steadily each year, to over 3.6 million fans this season, as the team's performance has likewise improved. An 87 win season was good for third place in the league's inaugural season, which the B'dogs quickly followed with 90 wins and a league title, only to fall to the Omaha O-Rings in the championship series.

Last season it finally came together, with 99 wins and a thrilling victory over the Seibu Demons.


This year the Bulldogs were stronger than ever. Eclipsing 100 wins for the first time in franchise history, they went 110-52 despite sharing a division with the second-winningest team in the league, the Florida Chads. Their pitching staff placed third in ERA, led by the amazing Freddy Granado.

The 25-year-old made 43 starts and pitched 293 innings. He was the league's only 20-game winner, going 24-6. His 2.39 ERA, 8.89 runners per nine innings, six complete games and four shutouts were tops in the league.

Going with a four-man rotation, every Bulldog starter won at least 15 games and only one, sophomore Miguel Ramirez, allowed more than four runs per nine. Crossover Luke Prokopec rescued their rotation with a 15-6, 3.52 showing and Dominick Sandford was his typical workhorse self.

Their offense was typically devoid of any sluggers, including signee Larry Atwood, who struggled in his first year as a Bulldog, hitting .248 with 27 homeruns. Rookie sensation Ronald Haliburton hit .304 and stole 86 bases in 102 attempts. John Bolick hit .305 with 11 homers and 48 steals, Adan Blanco hit .278 with 19 homers and 65 swipes and Steven Loiselle batted .305 with 24 homers and 107 RBI. The Bulldogs were second in batting average and for the fourth time in four seasons, lead the league in stolen bases. Their love for smallball and strong bullpen led them to a 30-14 record in one-run games, far away the best in the league.


The Demons, originally Tom Willis's Louisville Redbirds, were relocated to Seibu a year after Willis sold the club to comic book magnate Mak Dolnick and went to the title series in their first season across the globe. They have never finished below second place and have won three division titles in their four years of existence.

As usual they won on pitching, finishing second in the league in ERA. Four of their pitchers won at least 14 games with Joseph Brister's 15-7, 2.52 campaign leading the way. Only John McClintock allowed over four runs per game. Larry "Blind" Driscoll, in his first full season, went 14-11 with a 3.05 ERA.

Their offense was average with no real standout players, placing eighth in runs scored and 12th in batting average. Robert Gonzalez led the team with 21 homeruns but hit just .245. Nobody else topped 20 homers and no full-time starters hit over .300. Douglas Pierce was the team's most well-rounded hitter, checking in at .297/14/70.

The biggest surprise was 26-year-old Stevie Newman, who hit .331 with 10 homers and 34 RBI in just 178 at bats. The first baseman launched 29 homers in AAA last year and 23 in AA the year before that.


Then there are the Forked River Monsters and the Minnesota North Stars. Before this season neither team had finished higher than fourth with just one winning season each in three years.

With a payroll of over $100 million last season, Forked River lost 60% of their games and $30 million. Minnesota, meanwhile, was abandoned by their original owner Jake Rivard and left to the unknown and hardly visible Jeff Smith.


What Smith lacked in media savvy he made up in fielding the best pitching team in Victory League. Not even the Bulldogs, in the pitchers' paradise that is Corporate Field, could match the North Stars' dynamite rotation. Charles "Dizzy" Plank, the second overall pick in the league's initial draft, continued his dominating ways this season, winning 15 games with a 2.82 ERA, the second-lowest total of his career. This year he had some help from Mauricio Reyes, who allowed fewer than three runs per outing for the first time in his career while leading the team with 16 victories. William Swiger also posted a career-best ERA of 3.56 while winning a dozen games and surprise rookie Danny Quintana was 13-9 with a 3.04 ERA.

Their league-average offense, led by breakout sophomore Daniel Henriquez, was more than enough to support their great staff.


Forked River won with the little things. Though they were just 12th in runs scored, they were sixth in batting average and fourth in stolen bases. This sort of pressure they put on opposing defenses helped them to a 12-4 record in extra-inning games. Leadoff dynamo Miguel Ucelay hit .280 and stole 47 bases while Armando Caballero slugged 38 homeruns and drove in 108 runs.

Playing in a hitters' park, their pitchers were bound to give up homeruns and did, placing 11th in that category, but minimized damage by allowing the fifth-best opponent average and the fourth-fewest walks. Career reliever Marvin Mathers jumped into the starting rotation this season and went a brilliant 14-3 while allowing just a 2.64 ERA, allowing just 141 hits and 39 walks while striking out 227 in 187 innings of work. Claudio Bustamante and Robert Cormack each won a baker's dozen while posting ERA's of 3.85 and 3.89, respectively.


So how do the teams match up?

Portland went 16-7 against the Monsters this season. Forked River benefitted from playing in a division with two expansion teams and an over-the-hill champion. They do have the makeup to win in Portland, utilising contact and speed offensively while keeping opposing bats off the basepaths. The homeruns that haunted the Monsters during the regular season won't be a factor at the Corporation and guys like Ucelay and Douglas McIntosh could give the Bulldogs headaches. They have a strong front three in their rotation that could potentially spell trouble for Portland.

But it is the defending champions who are the clear favourites in this series. The Monsters will need to catch some breaks and beat the Bulldogs at their own game if they are to stay alive here.


The Huff League matchup seems surprisingly close. Seibu took the season series, 14-9, but the two teams are extremely similar. They finished one-two in ERA and eight-nine in runs scored. Seibu has a deeper lineup but Minnesota can run the bases.

Don't be surprised to see Smith's Stars give Dolnick's Demons a run for their money, possibly taking them the distance in this series. Seibu is naturally the frontrunner, having won 13 more games than their opponent this season and coming off a Huff League title, but the Stars are ready to spoil.

[Tavarin]

Comic book magnate? When did I tell you that?

Nice writeup

[Kane182]

That is a very nice review Scott.

[bulldog55]

BISHOPS MOLESTING LEAGUE
Needham Entering Elite

4/16/2007

BOSTON - If they keep this up, they'll win about 121 games.

They amassed 141 wins in their first two seasons of existence.

So what has the Boston Bishops suddenly pacing the Jeffries League East? The league's fourth-best offense has something to do with it. The high priests are putting up over six runs per game, simply outdueling their opponents who score a run every other inning.

At the center of this offensive assault is Christopher Needham, the first amateur draft choice in team history and second overall pick in 2005. Necessity thrust him into the lineup that season and he struggled, hitting .258 with 13 homers.

But experience paid off last season when he exploded to the tune of .311/39/107 while making the All-Star team.

This year he looks to put that to shame. Through 12 games the 25-year-old is hitting .426 (20-47) and is getting on base over half the time he steps to the plate (.509). He has gone deep three times and driven in 11 runs so far. He leads the Jeffries league in batting average, hits, OBP, OPS and runs created.

This week he went 11-24 with a pair of homers and was named the Jeffries League Player of the Week.


The Boston pitching staff owes a debt of gratitude not only to their bats but to Tyler Green. Their 4.50 team ERA is 10th in the league and if you took away Green's 3-0 record and 0.84 ERA, you would have a disaster on your hands.

But Green, who excelled in his first Victory League season only to slip last season, has come back stonger than ever. In 21 innings he has allowed 11 hits and has walked two batters. He has yet to allow more than one earned run in a start this season. The next-lowest ERA in the JL belongs to Mark Steward, who sports an enormous 1.45 mark. Green is also tied with Dominick Sandford for the league lead in wins.


So how long can Boston keep this up? Playing in a division where the reigning champion won all of 82 games helps. But at some point Needham and Green are going to reenter the atmosphere and that's when we'll see this team's true mettle.

[thebishop]

Yay!! the Bishops are waxing the rest of the league!!

I'm a bit shocked, actually

[Heymaker22]

I told you our trade was going to pull you out of the gutter!

[bulldog55]

OUTKASTS KLINCH
Other Divisions Just Formalities

9/10/2007

ATLANTA - While most will tell you the playoffs were set a month ago, the Outkasts became the first team to officially win their division, putting 20.5 games between themselves and the two-time defending division champion Seibu Demons.

While their wind-tunnel-assisted offense is prolific as usual, their pitching has shocked everyone by putting up the third-best ERA in the league. All five starting pitchers have an ERA in the threes and their bullpen (namely All-Star snub closer Cordell Williams) has been solid.

Currently with a 40-homer man, five more 30-homer men and everyone in their lineup in double digits, it is no surprise they lead Victory League with an astonishing 289 homeruns, easily besting their league record of 261 last year. And there are still three weeks to go.

After finishing 22 games back of Seibu in 2005, the Outkasts installed a wind tunnel above home plate that blows at 30 mph to dead centerfield.


The go-for-broke Florida Chads will likely clinch the Jeffries League West this week with a magic number of just two. The Portland Bulldogs have won their division in every year except the inaugural 2003 season when they finished in third place, 10 games back of the defunct Brentwood Private Investigators and three back of rival Oslo.


The surprising Boston Bishops may also wrap up their pennant this week, needing their wins and the Blue Fog's losses to total five. They meet for a pair of three-game series in the final two weeks of the season.

The Minnesota North Stars, who under new GM Jeff Smith won their first division title last season, lead the O-Rings-turned-Eagles by 8 games. After a recent fade, Hudson Valley is back in the hunt. The two teams will not play each other again this year.

[Tavarin]

The fix was on!

[bulldog55]

The fix was on!

I wish he'd have let ME in on it.

[Tavarin]

I wish he'd have let ME in on it.

Well, we had won too much, so he was jealous of us

[bulldog55]

At Any Cost
Boundless spending fuels JL champs, but will they need to pawn their rings?

9/17/2007

The Jeffries League has been decided. It's all over. Veterans, hit the pine and make way for those rookies who need at bats. Your team is out of it and it's going to be a long Winter.

But hold off on dismantling your team. Because the two division champions will look a lot different next year.

The Florida Chads just tied the second-place Portland Bulldogs for the all-time Victory League record with 110 wins. The Boston Bishops have already bested their franchise mark by 10 wins. And there are still two weeks to go.

Neither team has won a division title but both have steadily increased their win totals every year since coming into the league. And the recipe for success has been simple: spend a lot, and then spend more.


But that is finally catching up to both teams in a big way. They picked the right year to finally win a title. Because they're going to have a hard time doing it again.


The Chads reported a profit of $75 million last year. Their payroll sits at $105 million.

Boston hauled in $60 mil in 2006. In 2007 they owe nearly $90 million in contracts.


And so it could be that the two highest-paid players in Victory League history could both find themselves in different uniforms next season.

Josh Hamilton makes more money annually than the next four highest-paid Bishops and earns over 50% more than the next-wealthiest Victory Leaguer, Drew Henson.

Henson salary is not quite so inordinate compared to his teammates, but the trio of Henson, Mark Steward and Anthony Cerny make more money than the entire Port Royal Grizzlies, Austin Lone Stars, Honolulu Sharks, Stanwix Fire Ants or Anaheim Power.

Five of the ten highest-paid players in the league are on a Jeffries League championship roster.


The crisis is much more pronounced up north, where the Bishops sit on no cash reserves and stare down a $30 million loss. The Chads, facing the same financial hit, have a nest-egg of some $23 million.

And so the question is, what lies in store for these bloated kings of the Jeffries League?


Boston has no choice but to let Bill Pulsipher, Robert Parry and Joe Ragan go. Under league rules designed to prevent teams from running themselves into the ground, they are forbidden from offering any contract extensions.

The departure of those three players amounts to an annual savings of $22 million, nowhere near what the team needs to dig themselves out of this hole. They need to reduce payroll by a good $30 million just to break even next season, doing nothing to address their additional $30 million in debt they will be facing.

All this amounts to Josh Hamilton finding his third home in two years. And then the Bishops will need to cut even more payroll.


Florida will see a great deal of payroll lifted from their shoulders in the offseason but still have some difficult decisions to make. Depending how deep they get into the postseason, they may not actually fall into debt, but in any case they will be out of money, possibly owing. For the sake of argument we'll say that they will break even.

The departure of four major players -- Cerny, Ned Walker, Richard Balas and Alberto Gonzales -- will shed over $30 million from the books, enough to make up the huge payroll gap. But that leaves the team without a starting rightfielder, starting second baseman, number three starting pitcher and closer.

And then there's the slight matter of arbitration. 24-year-old catcher Carl Brogan and preseason acquisition Asbel Jimenez could find themselves combining to make an additional $10 million next year with the most conservative of estimates.

The only player on the team who can make up for that discrepancy is none other than perennial MVP third baseman Drew Henson. And so it's either trade Henson, adding third base to your list of holes, or deal some combination of other players that will make an even longer list.


This task might be easier if the teams involved had the young talent behind them to step in. But both teams mortgaged their future for a title and their farm systems rank 11th and 12th by Baseball America. Boston surely will not be able to afford any sort of signing bonus this offseason, greatly limiting their ability to restock the lower levels, and Florida may find themselves in the same situation.


So the Florida Chads and Boston Bishops should both be enjoying their first division titles in the histories of their franchises.

It may be their last for a while.

[thesportshero]

Henson salary is not quite so inordinate compared to his teammates, but the trio of Henson, Mark Steward and Anthony Cerny make more money than the entire Port Royal Grizzlies, Austin Lone Stars, Honolulu Sharks, Stanwix Fire Ants or Anaheim Power.

Ironic, considering I had one of the highest pay rolls earlier in the season.

I'm rooting for Chris' Bishops to win the championship. Go Hamilton!!

[thebishop]

Ironic, considering I had one of the highest pay rolls earlier in the season.

I'm rooting for Chris' Bishops to win the championship. Go Hamilton!!

So am I, my friend

[Chad]

This task might be easier if the teams involved had the young talent behind them to step in. But both teams mortgaged their future for a title and their farm systems rank 11th and 12th by Baseball America. Boston surely will not be able to afford any sort of signing bonus this offseason, greatly limiting their ability to restock the lower levels, and Florida may find themselves in the same situation.

I'd take Antonio Navarro over most of those "top-rated" systems.

I'm calling it right now: If I actually devote substantial amounts of time to my team, the Chads will win 100 games again in 2008.

At the very least we'll win 90.

[Heymaker22]

Who are you?

[bulldog55]

CHADS WILL RELEASE HENSON

10/21/2007

WEST PALM BEACH - One day after winning their first championship in franchise history, the Florida Chads announced they would release Drew Henson to get out from under his $21 million annual salary.

He instantly becomes far and away the biggest free agent of the 2008 season and a scramble for his services is sure to ensue.

Henson, 27, came to Victory League in 2005 after a failed attempt at the Major Leagues. He hit .369 with 43 homeruns that year, winning the Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove and Most Valuable Player. He followed that with a .345 average in 2006 and a Jeffries League record 54 homeruns that was eclipsed by fellow crossover Josh Hamilton by one this season. Again he won the MVP and was widely regarded as the league's top player.

But his average slipped 79 points to .266 this year, his homerun total tumbling to 36. He finished the season batting eighth in the brutal Florida lineup.

And now, strapped for cash, the Chads will simply cut him loose rather than pay him arbitration, which he had received this season under a now-closed financial loophole.


Thanks to the initial flood of money into the league by outside investors, many teams are reported to be sitting on huge cash reserves, but the number of clubs who could fit him into their payroll are much fewer. After watching teams like the Chads and the Boston Bishops squander those reserves this season, other franchises may be reluctant to pour some $20 million into a free agent. But one thing this league has taught us is that there will always be one team willing to go for broke in the name of a title.

Henson's fate is as unpredictable as Boston winning their division. But there is one guarantee: the offseason just got a lot more interesting.

[bulldog55]

League Lands Expanded Broadcasting Contract

2/4/2008

After five seasons of play, the Super Happy Smile Challenge Victory League is more successful than ever. Victory League teams rival their Major League counterparts in Boston, Florida, Chicago, Anaheim, Atlanta and Minnesota. They give long-desired franchises to the cities of Portland, Honolulu and Austin. And they bring the thrill of big league baseball to Stanwix, Altoona, Hudson Valley, Port Royal and Forked River. There even exist teams in both Europe (Oslo) and Asia (Seibu). Their new brand of ball full of previously unknown superstars and well-traveled professional veterans has captivated crowds all over the world, from the biggest cities to the smallest towns.

And to meet the worldwide demand for Victory League baseball, television networks have announced they will greatly expand global coverage of games.

While this means more exposure for teams and the league, it also means more broadcasting revenue for owners. As a result of the contracts, each team will make an additional $10 million annually on their existing contracts, starting this season.

"We hope this will allow some of those clubs who are falling behind to catch back up with the pack," commented commissioner and Bulldogs owner Scott Jeffries, "While also giving a boost to those expansion teams who have been a bit slow out of the gate."

"The Victory League small market teams will thrive off it," said assistant commissioner Ryan Huff of the Atlanta Outkasts. "Whatever we could do to get them a chance to gain some quality players I think would help. There's quite a few teams pulling in $40-50 million a year and you can't build a franchise off that."

Owner representative and Seibu Demons owner Mak Dolnick felt that "the new broadcasting contracts will adjust for the inflated salaries that this league seems to have," possibly in reference to Alberto Martinez.

[bulldog55]

Fans to Donaldson: These Seats Aren't Worth $1!

2/4/2008

ANAHEIM - Power owner Josh Donaldson's $1 ticket stunt in the league's inaugural season turned out to be a brilliant business move. 3.25 million fans turned out to watch Anaheim lose a record 117 games in 2006

Then they raised prices. And lowered payroll. Tickets went up to $10 dollars while salary dropped from $35 million to $30 million.

This year? It is $16 million and change. And on the free agent market, Anaheim is nowhere to be found. That's probably because Donaldson spends most of his time at the bank. According to league financial records, the Power are the league's richest team, with some $71 million in cash. Coming off of $40 million in revenues and with an extra $10 million from the league's new broadcasting contract, Donaldson's pockets will be bursting by season's end.

We keep hearing about "Easy" Oropeza and "Stinky" Flournoy, but two prospects with amusing nicknames can only keep the fans interested for so long. Attendance dropped off by 1.75 million in the team's second season and with half the payroll from that year returning, Anaheim seems to have their sights on 118.


Fans are making it clear that they do want to turn out for another record-setting season. Only 31% of fans polled said they planned to purchase tickets this year and as the season drags on, that will surely plummet further. They will undoubtedly draw even less than the 18,000 fans that showed up to an average game last season.

And when Easy and Stinky get to Anaheim next year, there may be no one there to greet them.

[Heymaker22]

The Altanta Outasts to begin construction project at seasons end.
10,000 new seats to be added.

AP - Atlanta

Word coming from Atlanta is that the most popular team in the Victory League is about to get a cushy upgrade. 10,000 seats designed by Jeffries Industries will be added this off season. These new seats have built in butt warmers and back massagers. As the Oukasts continue to see their fan base grow greatly a move like this comes as no surprise. Over approximately the last 50 games this season almost everyone of them was sold out. "The fans want to come see the tunnel and we'll do what needs to be done to make that happen. Plus this is an investment for the future and will only make our team, the fans, and the Victory League stronger," said owner Ryan Huff.

The seating will change from 50,000 to 60,000.

Final build costs can be broken down like this:
Initial upgrade costs: $1,000,000
Seating changes: 10,000 more seats @ $1,000,000 per every 500 for a final cost of $20,000,000

Grand Total: $21,000,000