Strasburg Delivers Mohawk Valley's Second-Ever No-Hitter

UTICA, N.Y.--Mohawk Valley starter Stephen Strasburg saved the best for first in 2014. Making his season debut on the road at Spokane, the righthander held the Hooded Crows hitless in a 6-0 Lions win. He walked four and struck out four, throwing 124 pitches.

Strasburg's gem is the second no-hitter in Mohawk Valley franchise history. Lefthander Paul Maholm threw the club's first no-no against the Rochester Pilots on Sept. 22, 2008.

[1]BOXSCORE: 2014 Mohawk Valley Lions At 2014 Spokane Hooded Crows      4/7/2014

[1]  Lions              AB  R  H RBI AVG     Hooded Crows       AB  R  H RBI AVG
  J.Kipnis 2B         5  0  0  0 .000     N.Aoki LF           3  0  0  0 .300  
  A.McCutchen CF      4  1  0  0 .000     A.Ethier RF         4  0  0  0 .333  
  R.Raburn LF         3  0  1  0 .333     A.Dunn DH           3  0  0  0 .333  
  W.Venable RF        5  1  3  1 .600     J.Loney 1B          3  0  0  0 .200  
  K.Blanks 1B         3  1  0  0 .000     J.Uribe 3B          2  0  0  0 .182  
C-Y.Alonso PH,1B      1  0  1  01.000     J.Jaso C            1  0  0  0 .400  
  C.Headley 3B        4  0  0  0 .000   A-P.Polanco PH        1  0  0  0 .000  
  E.Aybar SS          4  3  3  1 .750   B-C.Corporan C        0  0  0  0 .500  
  R.Weeks DH          2  0  1  2 .500     M.Ellis 2B          2  0  0  0 .091  
  R.Hanigan C         4  0  3  2 .750     A.Eaton CF          3  0  0  0 .167  
                                          Z.Cozart SS         3  0  0  0 .083  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
[1]         Totals      35  6 12  6                 Totals      25  0  0  0

A-Pinch Hit For Jaso In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Polanco In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Blanks In 8th Inning

Lions........... 0 0 1  0 0 4  0 1 0  -  6 12  0
Hooded Crows.... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  0  1

[1]Lions (1-0)              IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
S.Strasburg WIN(1-0)      9       0   0   0   4   4   0 124   0.00  A1
[1]Totals                    9       0   0   0   4   4   0

MMDA Champions Expressed As Olympic Medal Winners

The Winter Olympics are going on now, and some people are into that. While I don't particularly care about the outcomes of the various events, the medal-count scoring system seemed like it could have application in the world of the MMDA.

Our World Series champion would obviously be the gold-medal winner for that year, and the runner-up would take silver. As to the bronze, I decided to award that to the round two loser with the higher playoff seeding.

So, for example, the No. 3 Lions lost in the second round last year, falling one win short of the Series. The No. 4 Gators lost in the other LCS bracket, so by virtue of the Lions' higher seeding, they get the bronze for 2013.

Here are the medal counts for the past 10 years of MMDA playoff play. An easy way to think of the columns: Gold signifies a World Series win, silver is a Series loss and bronze is an LCS loss by a high-seeded team that went down in flames when it mattered most.

No	Manager	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
1	Burns, Kevin	4	1	1	6
2	Tresca, John	2	1	2	5
3	Tresca, Steven	1	1	2	4
4	Beard, Steve	—	2	1	3
5	Ross, Ray	1	1	—	2
6	Eddy, Matt	—	1	1	2
7	Lamanna, John	1	—	—	1
	Leickel, Adam	1	—	—	1
9	Alterman, Steve	—	1	—	1
	Frediani, Steve	—	1	—	1
	Yingst, Mike	—	1	—	1
12	Callis, Jim	—	—	1	1
	Capriotti, Mike	—	—	1	1
	Green, Jeff	—	—	1	1

So among active managers, we might consider John Tresca to be the gold medalist for the past decade, with Steven Tresca taking the silver and Ray Ross the bronze.

See also: MMDA Playoff History

2014 MMDA Draft Report Card

Preface: This concept is a complete rip-off of the Baseball America draft report cards series, which you can read here. The goal here is to identify the most talented players in individual facets of the game, such as best power hitter or best fastball. Objectivity is the goal, though there's plenty of gray area in prospect evaluation.

Only 2013 rookies/prospects were considered for this exercise. The numbers in parentheses refer to draft round and overall selection, so Gators RF Oswaldo Arcia (1.17) was the 17th overall pick in the first round. All references to Strat card units are in left/right format and taken from the SOM Ratings Disk, so that when Arcia is credited with having 3/7 BP it means that he has 3 ballpark home runs on the left side and 7 on the right.

OFFENSE

Best Hitter For Average >> Other players in the MMDA draft hit for a higher average in the minors, but the best long-term bets to hit .300 in the majors probably are Pilots LF/CF Christian Yelich (1.8) and Lions 3B/LF Nick Castellanos (1.18), a pair of 6-foot-4 high school hitters from the 2010 major league draft. Both will be 22 in 2014, and both have impressive minor league track records as they climbed from Low-A in 2011 to the majors three years later.

Yelich hit .313 over 1,190 PAs on his way up the full-season minor league ladder (excluding rehab assignments) with solid marks for contact (20 percent strikeouts) and power (.190 ISO). Castellanos hit .302 over 1,741 PAs with 20 percent strikeouts and a .143 ISO in some tough parks for hitters. Attesting to their ability to regularly hit line drives, Yelich hit .377 on balls in play, while Castellanos hit .365 despite being a no-better-than-average runner.

Special mention: Roadrunners SS/2B Brad Miller (2.22). The lefty-hitting infielder sports a career .334 average in the minors with consistently above-the-league-average rates for BABIP, strikeout rate and isolated power.

Best Power Hitter >> Look no further for the reason why Roadrunners RF Yasiel Puig (1.1) and Manatees RF Wil Myers (1.3) went at the top of the draft. Both have the plus power required to hold down a corner position on a contending major league team.

In Their Own Words: Draft Classes Reviewed By MMDA Managers

With the 2014 draft fresh in mind, some of the participating managers discuss the thought process behind their selections. Teams presented in alphabetical order.

For reference purposes, here are links to rounds one through seven, and here are all the supplemental picks after round seven.


Brooklyn Dodgers

As with most others, I was very happy with my draft and was able to get card value and get some prospects in the fold.

Round 1. With the early picks going as expected, I was hoping one of Christian Yelich, Anthony Rendon or Michael Wacha would fall to me. Rendon was my #8 player on my board so getting him at #12 was huge. He can platoon at 2b vs LHP this year and hopefully be a regular at 2b/3b in the future years. I'm betting on him to show solid plate discipline with good contact skills and hopefully the power develops. Hoping he is over his ankle injuries that plagued him at Rice and in the minors.

Round 2. Going into the draft I figured one of the young SPs would make it to this pick due to the depth of this year's pool. With Didi Gregorius unexpectedly falling, the decision at #32 came down to Gregorius and Kevin Gausman. While it would have been nice to take an upside guy to add some youth to my older rotation, it ultimately was too hard to pass up a 1 at SS with a nice card versus RHP. He's young and he fills a hole. He will probably never hit lefties but the combo of him and a half season of Hanley Ramirez should be more than solid at SS.

2014 MMDA Draft Supplemental Rounds

Results for the eighth through 15th rounds of the 2014 MMDA draft. For the first seven rounds—the "regulation" phase—visit the 2014 Draft Results.

EIGHTH ROUND

Blackhawks eighth-rounder Taylor Jordan

141 Roadrunners Jason Frasor, rhp
142 Dutchmen Nick Hundley, c
143 Breakers Tom Koehler, rhp
144 Clippers Carlos Torres, rhp
145 Blackhawks Taylor Jordan, rhp
146 Hornets Cesar Hernandez, 2b/of
147 Dodgers Al Alburquerque, rhp
148 Bluejays Wil Nieves, c
149 Crows Shane Robinson, cf
150 Maulers Josh Phegley, c
151 Razorbacks Danny Valencia, 3b
152 Gators Wilmer Flores, 3b
153 Lions Brandon Workman, rhp
154 Huskies Andres Torres, cf

NINTH ROUND
155 Dutchmen Dale Thayer, rhp
156 Clippers Zoilo Almonte, of
157 Dodgers Erasmo Ramirez, rhp
158 Bluejays Tim Stauffer, rhp
159 Crows Carlos Corporan, c
160 Razorbacks Francisco Cervelli, c
161 Gators Leury Garcia, util
162 Lions Cliff Pennington, util
163 Huskies Brandon Maurer, rhp

10TH ROUND
164 Dutchmen L.J. Hoes, of
165 Clippers Tommy Medica, 1b
166 Bluejays Matt Tuiasosopo, 3b/of
167 Crows Scott Van Slyke, 1b/of
168 Gators Tyler Flowers, c
169 Lions Brandon Cumpton, rhp
170 Huskies Juan Perez, lhp

11TH ROUND
171 Dutchmen Burch Smith, rhp
172 Clippers Nate Freiman, 1b
173 Bluejays Manny Parra, lhp
174 Crows Nick Tepesch, rhp
175 Gators Louis Coleman, rhp
176 Huskies Anthony Varvaro, rhp

12TH ROUND
177 Dutchmen Josh Fields, rhp
178 Clippers Brian Bogusevic, of
179 Bluejays Moises Sierra, of
180 Gators Jake Diekman, lhp
181 Huskies Jayson Nix, util

13TH ROUND
182 Gators Caleb Gindl, of

14TH ROUND
183 Gators Ryan Goins, 2b/ss

15TH ROUND
184 Gators Ramiro Pena, util

Huskies Capture MMDA Championship

Congratulations to the Northeast Huskies, who capped a six-year run of regular-season domination with a championship, topping the Northwest Stars in seven games to capture the MMDA World Series.

Huskies DH David Oritz blasted the World Series-winning
home run in the 17th inning of Game Seven

John Tresca's club led the league with 115 wins during the regular season, landing in a familiar place: atop the Northeast Division (named for its geographic location, though it could just as well be in honor of its dominant team). That marked six consecutive seasons in which the Huskies have either won the division outright or tied for first.

Since bringing up the rear with a 54-108 record in 2007, the Huskies have gone 659-313, good for a .678 winning percentage. During that span they posted the best record in the league three times (2009, 2012, 2013). For all that dominance, however, there is one thing that eluded them: a title.

In five years the Huskies have advanced to the final series only once, falling to the Bulldogs in seven games in 2009. But this year they rolled through, topping the West Side Bluejays in five games in the first round of the playoffs, then withstanding the defending champion Goldenrod Gators in six games in the semi-finals.

The Stars, however, took the Huskies to the brink with a seven-game challenge. The final game was an epic affair in which the home club won in the 17th inning on a two-run shot by DH David Ortiz.

2013 Season: League Leaders & Award Winners

LEAGUE LEADERS FOR 2013 MMDA                                          

 ----BATTING AVERAGE----   --------AT BATS--------   ------RUNS SCORED------  
 B.Posey       HOR  .335   A.Jones       NWS   675   M.Trout       BRK   133   
 T.Hunter      GOL  .322   A.Gordon      NWS   667   M.Cabrera     BRK   112   
 M.Cabrera     LCN  .317   E.Andrus      NWS   666   R.Braun       GOL   111   
 D.Freese      STL  .314   M.Scutaro     DVD   661   A.McCutchen   MVL   110   
 M.Trout       BRK  .313   A.Pagan       SPO   658   M.Bourn       LCN   106   
 J.Altuve      LCN  .313   M.Prado       HOR   650   D.Wright      RAZ   105   
 D.Jeter       BRK  .308   M.Cabrera     BRK   649   A.Jackson     RAZ   104   
 A.Ethier      SPO  .307   J.Rollins     WSB   648   E.Andrus      NWS   104   
 D.Wright      RAZ  .306   R.Braun       GOL   648   C.Headley     MVL    99   
 J.Mauer       HOR  .306   A.McCutchen   MVL   645   J.Reyes       HUS    98   
 R.Braun       GOL  .306   A.Hill        CAL   645   D.Jeter       BRK    98   
 B.Phillips    GOL  .305   A.Beltre      ROC   643   A.Pujols      DVD    97   

 ----------HITS---------   --------DOUBLES--------   --------TRIPLES--------  
 R.Braun       GOL   198   N.Cruz        CLP    56   T.Colvin      LCN    14   
 D.Jeter       BRK   195   R.Cano        HUS    53   M.Bourn       LCN    13   
 A.McCutchen   MVL   191   N.Swisher     CCB    50   A.Jackson     RAZ    13   
 M.Prado       HOR   190   A.Jones       NWS    48   M.Trout       BRK    12   
 D.Wright      RAZ   189   B.Posey       HOR    47   E.Andrus      NWS    12   
 M.Cabrera     BRK   187   C.Headley     MVL    46   A.Rios        HOR    11   
 A.Beltre      ROC   185   D.Pedroia     CCB    45   A.Hill        CAL    11   
 A.Gordon      NWS   183   J.Bruce       ROC    45   J.Reyes       HUS    10   
 R.Cano        HUS   181   M.Prado       HOR    43   M.Prado       HOR    10   
 J.Altuve      LCN   180   C.Gonzalez    RAZ    43   W.Venable     MVL    10   
 A.Jones       NWS   178   A.Gordon      NWS    43   A.Pagan       SPO    10   
 OTHERS TIED WITH    177   OTHERS TIED WITH     42   OTHERS TIED WITH      9   

 --------HOMERUNS-------   -----RUNS BATTED IN----   ---------WALKS---------  
 R.Braun       GOL    47   R.Braun       GOL   140   A.Dunn        SPO   103   
 A.Pujols      DVD    46   M.Cabrera     BRK   134   J.Votto       LCN    96   
 M.Cabrera     BRK    45   A.Dunn        SPO   127   C.Santana     NWS    94   
 A.McCutchen   MVL    45   A.Pujols      DVD   119   D.Uggla       NWS    93   
 A.Dunn        SPO    42   A.McCutchen   MVL   118   E.Encarnacion WSB    86   
 E.Encarnacion WSB    40   A.Jones       NWS   117   C.Pena        SPO    85   
 M.Trout       BRK    38   C.Headley     MVL   111   P.Fielder     WSB    80   
 G.Stanton     FIR    37   D.Wright      RAZ   109   C.Headley     MVL    80   
 J.Reddick     WSB    36   E.Encarnacion WSB   108   M.Bourn       LCN    78   
 C.Granderson  STL    36   H.Pence       EFD   107   J.Mauer       HOR    78   
 J.Bautista    WSB    35   Y.Molina      RAZ   106   E.Andrus      NWS    77   
 A.Beltre      ROC    34   R.Cano        HUS   105   B.Zobrist     WSB    76