AL SOUTH CHAMPS!

The Shoeless Joe Blog would like to congratulate...



THE MONTERREY PING THE ROOKIES (owned by jwelsh1023)

...on winning the AL South! (4th season in a row!)

AL EAST CHAMPS!

The Shoeless Joe Blog would like to congratulate...



THE NEW YORK NIPPERS (owned by austinfan1)

...on winning the AL East!

NL EAST CHAMPS!

The Shoeless Joe Blog would like to congratulate...



THE PHILADELPHIA CHEESE STEAKS (owned by Brisque)

...on winning the NL East! (2nd season in a row!)

AL WEST CHAMPS!

The Shoeless Joe Blog would like to congratulate...



THE SALEM LIGHTS (owned by rootgargle)

...on winning the AL West! (5th season in a row!)

NL SOUTH CHAMPS!

The Shoeless Joe Blog would like to congratulate...



THE SANTA FE SANTA CLAUSES (owned by tisi29)

...on winning the NL South!

SJ HIGHLIGHT: LITTLE ROCK BEATS ST. LOUIS IN MARATHON GAME

St. Louis, MO

Here are the stats: 22 innings played, 19 total pitchers used, and one exhausted crowd at Busch Stadium. The majority of the fans had already left by the time the end of the Little Rock/St. Louis game arrived, but it was still a game for the ages. The St. Louis Soul goes on to defeat the Little Rock Lightning 5-4, in what is sure to be a game Shoeless Joe fans won't forget for a while.

The hero of the night for the Soul was Alfredo Garza, who crushed a solo HR in the bottom of the 22nd inning, finally ending the contest. Garza went 3 for 9 in the game with 2 RBI, winning Player Of The Game honors. Winning pitcher was Yoo-Nah Tabaka, one of the Soul's SPs who had to come in when everybody in the bullpen was already used. Tabaka pitched 3 IP of 2 hit ball, with 0 ER given up. Milton Jenkins, another SP, got the loss for the Lightning.

SOURCES: SJW MAKES DECISION ON CHICAGO PUNISHMENT

Baltimore, MD

There is word out of Shoeless Joe Headquarters, which are based out of Baltimore, MD, that they have finally reached on a proper punishment for Chicago owner Alogman1. As you may remember, Alogman went over the 30M Prospect Cash Cap by 2M, violating one of the league rules.

SJW (Shoeless Joe World) got a league wide vote on punishment for the Chicago owner, and they voted on a 4M penalty for Chicago's S9 Prospect Cash. To go along with that punishment, SJ Commissioner rootgargle also imposed a 10M limit on any IFA bid for next season as well. So not only will Alogman only have 26M in his Prospect Cash for next season, but he can not bid more than 10M on any IFA at one time.

MAJOR ELBOW INJURIES HIT 2 NL TEAMS

Two teams that you would normally expect to contend for the National League Crown, are the St. Louis Soul and the Philadelphia Cheese Steaks. Both franchise are solid teams which are run by talented owners. Both teams have huge amounts of talent on the ML level, and they are major reasons of their success. However, as we all know, sometimes luck plays a part as well. Good luck, or in this case, bad luck. And boy, did bad luck hit the Soul and Cheese Steaks today. Two big-time SPs saw their S8 possibly come to a close today, as St. Louis' Vicente Trevino and Philadelphia's Paul LeCroy suffered major elbow injuries.

In the 7/26 PM cycle game against Montgomery, LeCroy suffered severe elbow tendinitis which will possibly sideline him for the rest of the season. Philadelphia has not made a decision yet, as they are still waiting on MRI results on LeCroy's elbow. Trevino suffered an elbow strain in St. Louis' 7/26 PM game against Seattle. St. Louis wasted no time moving Trevino to the 60-day DL, making his return this season highly doubtful. St. Louis thought they had an inside track to one of the Wild Card spots when they obtained all-star SP Hi Priest, but the loss of Trevino puts the Soul right back where they started.

S8 SEASON WIN PREDICTION - UPDATE!

(NOTE: Click on image for bigger view.)

The teams listed in red italics have already been eliminated. Cincinnati has done better than they have expected. Atlanta, Austin, Little Rock, and Monterrey have no shot at making their predictions, even if they win every game from here on out. With 22 games to go, the teams with the best shot to hit their win targets are those who can go .500 (11-11) the rest of the way. With that being said, if the SJW Blog had to list two teams who we feel have the best shot at making their goals, it would be the two teams listed in bold: Milwaukee and Arizona.

SJ HIGHLIGHT: PORTUGAL GOES YARD THRICE

Pawtucket, RI

The signs of a great team is getting production from not just your superstars, but your role players as well. For the Pawtucket Bombers, it's easy to see how good a team they really are. It's easy to expect big time stats from stars such as Pedro Rodriguez and Rudy Dingman, but getting that type of support from your bench is what separates the top from the middle of the pack. On 7/24 PM cycle, Oklahoma City faced Pawtucket up in McCoy Stadium.

The Bombers were not led by one of their superstars, but a role player. Ozzie Portugal has always been a HR hitter, but that's all he mainly brought to the table. However, for tonight, that's all Pawtucket needed. Portugal went 3 for 3 with 3 HR's and 5 RBIs, catapaulting the Bombers to a 5-2 victory over Oklahoma City. If the Bombers keep getting games like this from Portugal and the rest of their role players, expect a deep playoff run for Pawtucket.