The list of franchise firsts just continues to grow with the 2059 Portland Lumberjacks. It was announced this week that Alaric Wullenweber was the 2059 Frick League's top pitcher, earning him the coveted Frick League Steve Nebraska Award.
After back to back subpar seasons by Wullenweber's standards, the 38 year old veteran bounced back in a huge way in his first season with the Lumberjacks. Alaric tied the franchise single season record for wins with 18, going 18-7 for the season. He also broke the single season innings pitched record and finished 2nd in ERA for a single season. Beating out and falling just short of former Lumberjacks great Ken Sparks.
For Wullenweber, it marks his 7th career Nebraska Award and his first since 2053 when he was a member of the Charlotte organization.
With another ring on his finger, Wullenweber will set his sights on more obtainable milestones in 2060. He's already moved into 2nd place all-time in career strikeouts with his 4,123. But he has more in sight.
"Being second on any pitching career list is a huge acheivement in this league" stated Wullenweber earlier this week when he was announced as the top pitcher on the team. "Anytime it's Steve Nebraska and then yourself, well, that's one hell of a feat."
Wullenweber will need 16 wins in 2060 to move into a tie with Robbie Sargent for the 2nd most wins in BBA history. He'll probably need two seasons to catch 2nd place in innings pitched as he's currently 292 innings shy of Sammy Bodeen on that list. Wullenweber is currently 6th and will move up next season if healthy. He's 22 stars shy of matching Aki Kondo for the most starts and if he hangs on for 2 more years could actually surpass Nebraska in career starts. It's safe to say Alaric has reasons to keep going.
As mentioned, he's the first Lumberjacks pitcher to win the Nebraska Award. Steve Warren was the next closest, he finished 3rd in Nebraska voting in 2053.
