The only target left now is a .500 or better season
Jul 28 @ Manama W 7-4
Jul 29 @ Beirut L 1-3
Jul 30 @ Beirut L 3-7
Jul 31 @ Beirut W 5-1
Aug 2 @ Cairo W 3-1
Aug 3 @ Cairo L 1-8
The week started off with our 10th win of the season against BURT leaders Manama, it was also our 55th of 2049 which equalled the tally we managed in the whole of 2048. Yet another series loss to Beirut, boy have they yanked our chain this season, kinda ruined the mood on the week, but we were hopeful of brightening up again as we moved on to Cairo. The first win over the lowly Pharaohs restored a bit of the team’s joie de vie, but an 8-1 loss the next day had them sent straight to bed without the normal three -hour sesh in the hotel bar. 57 wins on the board now leaves us needing 14 more wins to post Riyadh’s best ever season, the real target has to be though, at this stage, winning 25 out of our remaining 51 games to post our first ever winning season. We hope that can be done, but things are sinking fast. We’ve lost contact with Manama & Jerusalem and are more looking to fend off the growing threat of Beirut who at one point in the week actually overtook us. Financially we are about a million or less below our revenue for the whole of last year which will mean we’ll be able to use the whole of the cap again in 2050 and we are just keeping under the cap at the moment thanks to a few minimum salary deal guys languishing in the minors.
After Alex Corona gained his first win out of the bullpen last week he squared his record this week at 2-2 as he picked up the win in Manama, it was a rough start for him in Riyadh but now he has given up just two runs in his last seven outings. Kevin Morales has had a run of five games without a win since he picked up his 10th win but has now finally snapped that with a win in Cairo, he needs just two more wins this season to become the Red Crescents’ All-Time single season winningest pitcher overtaking Sean Gardner’s 12 wins in 2046.
Rule 5 pick Issac Emmott isn’t exactly hitting for average, just .225, but with two homers against Manama this week he moves on to six long balls in 35, or bits of, games. As a competent middle infielder, both sides of the base, he will definitely be looking to retain his main backup role there in 2050 after his Rule 5 status expires. Speaking of backups, backup catcher Peter Davenport has been in my ear all season about not playing him, unfortunately when you don’t hit above .177 and your team option in 2050 is for $6.5m you will very shortly find yourself looking for employment again. I can find a semi-competent catcher to sit on the bench for 400k thank you very much. Another probable backup departure is Michael Blankenship, signed on a three-year deal to be our 1B he has been unlucky that Roy MacGugan has squeezed him out while earning around a quarter of Blankenship’s deal. With Blankenship’s 2050 contract being a vesting option of 400 PA, it is unlikely that he will make that as he still needs another 180 PA’s
2049 Riyadh Results against the UMEBA (up to August 4th )
Vs BURT
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baghdad | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 130 | 110 | 16-8 |
| Beirut | 4 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 91 | 126 | 7-15 |
| Jerusalem | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 78 | 60 | 13-7 |
| Manama | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 99 | 104 | 10-13 |
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 33 | 3-3 |
| Bucharest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 0-3 |
| Cairo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 18 | 4-1 |
| Mumbai | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 2-1 |
| Tripoli | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 1-2 |
