The Northern States League

Newsletter #540- August 27^th, 2024

STILL JUST ONE DIVISION RACE AT THIS POINT WITH COASTAL UP BY 3 OVER MARIETTA. BUT CHECK OUT THE WILD CARD RACES- WHERE A GOST OF FRANCHISES HAVE A SHOT. ALL-STAR VOTING UPON US THANKS TO MARK! NEW HUDSON TO HOST THE ANNUAL GALA AFFAIR. 2 NO-HITTERS AND ONE NEW BACKUP MANAGER TO TALK ABOUT

Dear Members,

The divisional races stayed mainly the same- that is, there is just one. But it’s anyone’s guess in the wild cards and “just win baby” has been heard across the entire NSL gang. We’re through 90 games now, have the All-Star voting at hand, and watching the summer melt into football season. Lots going on, I’d say.

Series #12:

GM 1 at NE 3, NE 1 at GM 3 Alb 3 at Sou 1, Sou 2 at Alb 2

VT 2 at Coa 2, Coa 2 at VT 2 Cro 1 at IN 3, IN 2 at Cro 2

Dun 2 at GP 2, GP 1 at Dun 3 Mar 2 at Lon 2, Lon 2 at Mar 2

Gle 1 at Cle 3, Cle 2 at Gle 2 NH 1 at GB 3, GB 0 at NH 4

Cac 2 at Yk 2, Yk 4 at Cac 0 Key 2 at Kal 2, Kal 2 at Key 2

EY 3 at Fra 1, Fra 1 at EY 3 Cre 1 at SL 3, SL 1 at Cre 3

Series #13:

IN 3 at GM 1, GM 3 at IN 1 VT 1 at Mar 3, Mar 1 at VT 3

Sou 2 at Dun 2, Dun 1 at Sou 3 GP 2 at Lon 2, Lon 2 at GP 2

Coa 3 at NE 1, NE 2 at Coa 2 Alb 4 at Cro 0, Cro 0 at Alb 4

Yk 1 at Cle 3, Cle 2 at Yk 2 Gle 0 at GB 4, GB 0 at Gle 4

Cre 2 at Kal 2, Kal 1 at Cre 3 SL 4 at NH 0, NH 2 at SL 2

Key 2 at Fra 2, Fra 3 at Key 1 EY 2 at Cac 2, Cac 1 at EY 3

It’s panic time in Longstown as the P’s lead dwindled by 2 this month. But it’s not the July 2^nd place team putting on the pressure (IN), rather it’s Albany, as the Wildcats took all 8 from Crosstown and 5 from Southport to stay relative. Longstown finished the month 8-8, and although you think he may be slipping, well- maybe we’ll find that out next month. But for the month, Albany made up 5 games on the leaders, which shows you 2 things- 1) Albany was way behind, and 2) are the Prospectors just coasting? Indiana went 9-7, but dropped a slot in the division standings, now out by 13 and 1 down to Albany. Of course, Albany holds the 2^nd wild card currently, obviously Indiana down by 1. Vermont went .500 with Coastal and Marietta splits to hang in 4^th place, yet still 4 games over .500 and a factor in at least the wild card. New England is at .500 even in a 7-9 month which included a split with Green Mt and a 3-5 with Coastal. So if you’re scoring at home, the Yount features 5 of the 6 teams with .500 marks or better. Duneland rounds it out but played good ball this month with an 8-8 mark which included a solid 5-3 over Marietta. So, despite the gap from 1 to 2, the 4 others are solid in the wild card chase.

The Cleveland lead in the Winfield stayed at 10 games this month with the teams in 3^rd-5^th all dropping 3 games in the standings. It appears that only Sparrow Lake might be a troublemaker for the Hit Men, but even so, down 10 with almost half the season left, well, maybe? Maybe not. Cleveland took from Glenville and 5 from York as well as marrying off a son this month. Not sure which is the most important, but it was a good month for the elder Rapp. Sparrow Lake stayed status quo, down by 10 with a split against Creekside and 6 big wins against New Hudson. Then there is the fading three. Kalamazoo is now down by 15 with a 7-9 record this month despite a nice split with Keystone. Gulf Breeze was 0 for 8 on the road this month and have slipped to 16 back, and Frankfort won a set 5-3 with Keystone, after a tough 2-6 with East York. Cackalacky rounds it out at 5-11 for the month, but a solid 3-5 with East York after a 2-2 with Keystone- the top 2 teams in the Brett.

East York padded their divisional lead by 4 games, now up by 10 over Keystone. Mick went 11-5 this month including a 6-2 over Frankfort, but Keystone contributed to their own slip, going 7-9 with a 3-5 against Frankfort hurting their chances. The lead is like the Winfield, 10 games, and everyone else not named East York is slipping. York had a nice month in the conference as they posted a 6-2 over Cackalacky to overtake Glenville and occupy 3^rd place, 11 games out. Glenville was 7-9 with a tough 3-5 against Cleveland, and Coach watched York overtake them in the Brett table. But still, like York, they are right in the wail card hunt. Creekside had a .500 month with splits against Sparrow Lake and Kalamazoo, yet still dropped 2 more games behind East York. New Hudson is in the cellar but was a decent 7-9 as Mike Trout has gotten off the bench and into games. But the top 5 teams in the division are all within 4 games of a playoff slot.

Coastal added a game to their lead over Marietta this month, despite going just 9-7 against Vermont and New England. The club is tied with East York for 3^rd best record in the league, and only one other team in the division is playing better than .500. That would be Marietta, which went .500 with 2 tough teams, Longstown & Vermont. So the lead is presently 3 games with Marietta owning the top wild card slot. Stay tuned to this battle. Southport is at 45-45 and 10 games out after going 8-8 this month. The Pirates dropped 5 to Albany before winning 5 against Duneland to stay right where they were. Now down by 10, though, and time for some wins to happen! Grant Park slipped a bit and are now out by 11 games, playing Longstown tough (4-4), while not so much Duneland (3-5). The deficit is now 11 with a couple of teams ahead of them in the standings. Green Mt played .500 in July, splitting with both Indiana and New England. You can’t count ‘em out yet, but it’s time to make a move. Crosstown rounds it out after a tough 0-8 with Albany and a 3-5 with Indiana. Down now by 20, and 15 in the wild card.

We had 2 no-hitters this month, both of which are posted on the web page. On series #12, Sparrow Lake was no hit by Irvin of Creekside. Jake walked 5 on the day and had runners in scoring position twice, but the Stallions couldn’t grab a bloop in this one and stranded all 5. In series #13, The Canucks travelled to Indiana and Freid with a quartet of relievers got the deal done once again allowing 5 BB. Max whiffed 8 on the day and the relievers chipped in 7 more in what looked to be a dominant outing. Congrats to all- the league all-time -hitter list has also been updated on the web page.

It is time for the All-Star voting and Mark has already sent you what you need to do. He has an exact calendar for us to follow and I’d ask you to please get things done even before he has deadlines. It would help us all if you could do that and not make Mark chase you around for your eligible list and later for your vote. The game has been awarded to New Hudson this year- Michael is excited to get the invitation and will play the game once we have the teams in place- likely at the end of September. Michael will have a brief write up on the web page as soon as the game has been played.

It seems to me that last year the meetings worked out well, so I’ll try the same type of thing. Oh- I’m unsure of the exact format, and we already have the beach house rented, but chances are that I’ll do some type of “dinner” soon after the rookie draft which allows you guys flying to do so on Saturday if you wish. Of course, we have the beach house starting the Sunday before the meetings and anyone/everyone is welcome well before meetings weekend should you like to come down early.

Great news from Marietta shows us that a new backup has been added to the NSL family. Bo and Sarah Betbeze have welcomed Brayden James Betbeze into the family, and we are all delighted to hear the same! Bo mentioned that Sarah had to have emergency surgery, but all is well now, and they are home with little Brayden. Fantastic news and as Bo says- get him on the backup list!

That’s it for this month. I hope everyone is well as summer fades away and that cooler weather starts to assert itself! Please stay up to date on your league responsibilities- especially your All-Star voting!

Best Wishes,

Rich