Transcript:
Howdy folks, it’s Divergent League Update for Friday January 22nd, 2021. Here in Divergent League Baseball however it is May 17th 1993. We’ve played about 45 games so far.
Hokey Smokes Bullwinkle, what a week this has been! Today on the show we’ll cover the the biggest trade in Divergent League history, and the longest game ever played in league history. Both of these, somehow, involved the clearly-cursed New York Mets.
But first- The Dingers!
The White Sox Frank Thomas and The Athletics Mark McGwire are both on a pace to sock over 60 homers this season, with The Big Hurt in the lead with 19. Mac follows 17, they lead the AL. On the NL side, Barry Bonds is unsurprisingly leading the pack with 14, and SF Giants teammate Matt Williams follows with 13. Also in the dinger chase are Andre Dawson and The Crime Dog Fred McGriff.
On the trade front, the Mets and Blue Jays participated in what is surely a trade for the ages: New York sent off Bobby Bonilla and Dwight Gooden in exchange for Devon White and Paul Molitor from Toronto. We’ll find out how this blockbuster deal affects the league power rankings in just a bit.
The Mets weren’t done making history this week, though- they also participated and WON the longest game in Divergent League history. Atlanta and New York battled in a 1-1 pitchers duel for TWENTY innings, finally ending with a drama Cal Ripken Jr RBI double that brought home the recently-acquired Molitor.
Flipping back to the stat sheet the Orioles David Segui leads the majors batting .385, with an absurd WAR of 2.6. He’s got to be high on the wish list come Hardship draft time. Braves rookie Mike Piazza continues his hot streak and still leads the NL at .373. Also in the .370 range are the New York Yankee’s Wade Boggs and Pittsburg’s Dave Clark.
Barry Bonds and Frank Thomas lead the NL and AL respectively in RBIs, with 45 for Barry and 46 for the White Sox Slugger. Big Mac also follows with 45. The Phillies Darren Daulton, Pete Incavilia, and Nails Dykstra all have 30+ ribbies so far.
Down in the minors, rookie Michael Jordan was on tear in April, batting .387 for the AA Baltimore Barons over the month. Rumors are swirling that White Sox owner Travis Timm is considering calling MJ up to the bigs.
Checking in on the hurlers, Houston’s Eric Bell leads everyone with 7 Ws against 1 loss, while Philadelphia’s Tommy Green, San Francisco’s Bill Swift, and Expos Butch Henry and Denny Martinez all follow with 6.
Baltimore’s Gregg Olson is the first closer to reach 20 saves this season, leading the bigs. Boston’s Jeff Russell and Philly’s David West come up next with 17.
It’s been a crazy year for ERAs, folks. There are NINE pitchers with Earned Run Averages under 2. Leading the pack is San Diego’s Andy Benes, who holds a 1.10 so far in the young season. Dennis Martinez and the Rangers Nolan Ryan are nipping at his heels with a the pair showing 1.21.
