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The 200 club --
SportingNews on Sunday, March 14 2010
In a league dominated by hitters for over a decade, pitchers are starting to reclaim some of the headlines. Some say it was the steriod era, some say it was lack of quality pitching, but either way, we are now starting to winess some quality arms making a name for themselves in the record books of the North American Retro Baseball League.
We have 5 pitchers all on the cusp of hitting the 200 win mark and all are still relatively young. Only two pitchers have reached the 300 win pinnicle, will one of the big five ever reach it?
J. Lester 33 PHI 190 Wins
F. Liriano 33 KCR 186 Wins
T. Lincecum 32 TOR 186 Wins
Z. Greinke 33 CAR 184 Wins
J. Peavy 35 ATL 184 Wins
Rivera Breaks Hayban's Record --
SportingNews on Saturday, February 6 2010
Carolina (AP) - 33292 fans cheered as Mike Jarvis summoned his frail right handed closer Luis Rivera from the bullpen in the top of the 9th inning at Motorola Park Thursday night. His job was to shut down the Pirates after MR Darren O'Day failed to get the job done already allowing a run to score leaving two runners on with no outs.
It was a miserable night in Carolina with a light rain most of the evening and fans already enduring a 48 minute rain delay in 2nd inning, but spirits were high as their beloved Dragons had an 8-5 lead.
Thirty-eight year old Rivera had seen this scene all too many times, making his 980th appearance over his storied career.
Just a shell of the player he once was, took the ball from the manager and went about his business. The first batter he faced was 2B Gordon Beckham and it took all of two pitches to get him to pop up to short left-center.
Mychal Givens, the Bucs shortstop who was only nine years old when Rivera began his career stepped up to the plate. Rivera looked in, nodded and fired a fastball up high and tight, sending the youngster on his rear. Rivera may be older, but the crafty vet can still send the message.
He followed that up with an 1-0 pitch with a perfectly executed changeup, getting Givens to pop it up to third base, where Miguel Cabrera hauled it in.
Two quick outs and Pittsburgh’s catcher Matt Weiters was the Bucs last hope to extend this contest. Crowd standing now, Rivera set, he fires a fastball down low for ball one. After two more pitches he runs the count in his favor getting Weiters to look at two very good looking strikes. Fans are cheering knowing their closer was one strike away from breaking the all-time saves record held by John Hayban. Rivera kicked back and threw another fastball, but Weiters got a piece of it.
A broken bat grounder towards third. Cabrera gobbled it up stepping on third to get Pujols out on a fielders choice, ending the game and putting Rivera into the record books!
A "Brave" New World --
SportingNews on Wednesday, January 13 2010
The 2016 begins anew in Atlanta.
The organization named a new GM this past offseason and hopes to revive a great tradition of playoff glory.
There have been a number of early moves, headlined by the acquistion of the dynamic trade for SS Hanley Ramirez and 1b Justin Smoak.
The pitching rotation was bolstered a bit by the signing of SP Mark Prior in the offseason.
A number of holes remain on this team, but slow steady progress is expected by many in NARBL.
Opening Day 2016! --
SportingNews on Friday, January 8 2010
Crack open the peanuts, popcorn and crackerjacks, it is opening day in the North American Retro Baseball League! The St. Louis Cardinals are hoping to be the first team in league history to ever three-peat as champions, but 27 other teams will have something to say about that. We have just finished up another busy winter with a whopping 24 trades and many players moving to new homes.
Texas landed last year's NL Cy Young champ and a young stud CF in Dexter Fowler, the Red Sox have added 3B all-star Chase Headley and a few solid bullpen pieces
in Pat Neshek and Mark Howe, New Orleans made several moves bringing in ace Zach Duke from Minnesota and dealing all-star Ryan Howard to the Yankees. 2016 should be chills, thrills and spills to a ballpark near you!
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