The first four games were slugfests, with the Dodgers scoring 11 to win game 1 and the Rays scoring 9 to win game two. Then the pitching took over, with the Rays taking a 2-1 series lead with a slim 3-2 win in game 3. Making it even closer, the Dodgers evened it up 2-2 with a 1-0 shutout. Tampa returned the shutout favor 4-0 to take the lead 3-2, and in game six the Tampa bullpen turned in 4 scoreless innings while the offense scraped out 4 runs….Mookie Betts went 3-3 and JD Martinez homered for the Dodgers, but Rene Pinto — a bit player with some pop — hit a 3-run homer as Earl Weaver smiled somewhere up in the ether…Ben Leckie has a lifetime win percentage of 53% and more than 900 wins and is a relative newcomer with 10 ASFBL seasons under his belt…this is his first year managing Tampa Bay and previous stops include Miami, Detroit, Arizona, and Colorado…he’s never had a sub-.500 WOR season and was the WOR champ in 2021 with Arizona at +19, and was +18 with Colorado in 2022…congrats on your first World Series appearance and your first league championship, and congrats on extending the family dynasty!
Rick Wynne is as central to the ASFBL as anyone…if there’s a league record, he probably holds it…sure, he leads the ASFBL all-time in wins with more than 3,000, but that’s 500 more than second place…his lifetime win percentage is 63% — sixty-three percent — and the next closest is Mike Gortenberg at 59%…the all-time MLB record is 61.5%, held by Joe McCarthy, and the closest modern-day record holder is Earl Weaver at 58.3%…like Ben, he’s never had a sub-..500 WOR season, but unlike Ben he’s had 30 seasons under his belt, joining the league in 1993 with his beloved Pirates…he’s been an east-coaster as long as I’ve known him, but he’s toured the NL West having managed Colorado, Arizona, San Francisco, and now the Dodgers…Rick has been in the league since I was mailing dot-matrix printer outputs from a grad student apartment in 1993 and excelled in every incantation of the code base…he’s had more than 100 wins eighteen times…I could keep culling his record for more amazing accomplishments and be here well into the evening before I ran out of something new to amaze me…and as always, the best thing about Rick is his even temper, good humor, brilliant mind, and effusive collegiality that makes every interaction with him something that makes you feel better about yourself. One of the best things about this three-decade endeavor has been getting to know you, Rick, and here’s hoping we find ourselves together at a spring training game again before it’s all over. Another great season, my friend!
That’s a wrap on 2023, Leo will be in touch during the offseason, and thanks to everyone for my favorite diversion in a world that increasingly needs them. See you next spring!
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