Recap

                       In 2012 Mafia missed the playoffs but with the young players having a year under there belt made a big deference in 2013. LF  Dave Olson who missed 10 weeks in 2012 cut that in half this year to 5 weeks and really looked healthy and comfortable by have a star type season posting a (OBP .429) and (OPS .911) in a 128 games.

                       CF Joe Herman was projected to be one of the best CF in the game and he proved that this year by putting up some nice numbers.

                       We saw RF Jorge Mora step on the scene in 2013 batting 3rd in front of Herman, Mora really got some good pitches to hit this year because of Herman and delivered. Mora who dont like extra innings has 11AB 4HR 10RBI.

                        These 3 outfielders are young, good and hungery for the W (All or High or very high desire to win).

                         SS Earl Cook   has played just 125 games in 2 season and cant seem to stay healthy for a full season Cook seems to be injury prone and his contract is up this year, but along came SS/2B Bob Fry from out of nowhere to bat leadoff and has fit in nicely. Fry playing SS seems like a tough task as Fry dosent exactly have a cannon for a arm.

                        1B Dave Hutchinson  Had a off year with his power numbers, in 2012 he had 43 2B and 31 HR but in 2013 he had 18 2B and 26 HR. Hutchinson is going into his last year of Arby in 2014.

                         NY's pitching has been the same as last year, good. In RCL Mafia is 2nd in runs allowed, 1st in home runs allowed and 2nd in walks. The talk now is about SP Bob Lee and how will NY handle his contract in the offseason.

                         Mafia is currently ranked 3rd in BA Top Systems having a hand full of nice players.

                         Mafia won there 1st division title and are now playing in the 1st round of the playoffs vs Seattle Sasquatch who has finished with the same record as NY (92-70). The playoff series is tied at 1-1 and going to the Big Apple to play 3 games. Lets if the Mafia can put the cement shoes on the Sasquatch.

                        

Big Home Stand

                             NY 20 games over .500 (86-66) have a 5 game lead over Dallas Texans and 6 over Nottinghamshire Outlaws both teams will face Mafia this week in Don Corleone Park where NY is (46-28) There is 10 games left to play and with these 2 important series coming up NY could clinch this week and nowhere better to do that then right at home.

                             Two big pitchers in the TLD will meet in the 3rd game of series on 9/22  Texans Rich Bussell (11-7)  3.40 ERA 1.21 whip, last years CY award winner is (3-1) 1.81 ERA in his last 4 games. Javier Flores (12-9) 3.93 ERA has been just the opposite (0-1) 9.00 ERA in last 3.

                              Mafia has been healthy all year with there starting 5 rotation and even with the ups and downs over the season, this starting 5 has shown alot of heart and really deserves alot of the credit for having a 5 game lead. All 5 starters have 11 or more wins and a .500 or better winning %

                           

Division Play

                               That time of the schedule where 13 games will be all played within the division. NY started it off with 3 games at home vs Dallas Texans (54-54) NY took 2 out of  3 and the game on 7/31/13 was one to remember. When Dalles scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th to tie the game at 3 this would be enough to send the game to extra innings. In the last half of the 10th Campbell singled to left, Finley singled to left center and a ground ball to short turn out to have everyone safe base loaded for up and coming star Jorge Mora, Mora on a 1-2 count sent Alex Martin curveball into the left field seats a GRAD SLAM to win it. Mora went 2-5 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI's.

                              Mafia look to start a 3 game set vs Nottinghamshire Outlaws who have shown a lot of heart and fight this year to have a (56-52) record that is 5 games back from NY, Outlaws have a lot of young talented players that NY will have to contend with for some time to come.

                              Stat of the day: NY doesn't hit many homeruns (97) the least in the RCL but only gave up (77) homeruns witch is the best in the RCL.

Whats to Come

                                    What once was a 8 game lead TLD is now down to 3 lead over the             Dallas Texans who have really good starting pitching that looks ready to make a push in the 2nd half of season. Rich Bussell was the Cy Young winner last season and he may not have the numbers he had last season but he is still one of the best pitchers in the game that could turn it on at anytime.

                                    Last week we saw NY cross the bridge and play rival Jersey Jesters (47-49) for a 3 game series that resulted in a 3 game sweep for Jersey who now lead the season series 4-1 and the right to talk smack. Check out the game on 7/12 were Jersey scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and got 1 run in 10th to win it.

                                   NY will host  Kansas City Tornadoes (50-46) who are now in a tie for the division lead in SAD,  KC leads the TML in stolen bases this year big thanks to Lawrence Fox who is leading the league in stolen bases with (44) but catcher Ashton Finley threw out 32 of 66 witch is 48.5% of base runners, we will keep a eye on that match up.

                                   Kansas City's area of weakness is there bullpen 10th in TML (4.71) but addressed that with a trade for Chip Sawyer who could be a big addition to the pen.

                                   Shout out: If anyone has a Starting Pitcher to offer have a look at my top minor league players, please reach out to me thanks....

                                
                                     

All-Star Break

                              Mafia looks to send at least SP Javier Flores to the All-Star game, Flores is having a solid year in 2013 and at 37 years old with one more year left on his contract NY will have to decide if offing what will be a multi year deal to finish out Flores carrer.

                              NY sliped a little at the end of the break and now just a 4 game lead over Dallas Texans in the TLD. Manager Jaime Cantú feel's NY needs more scoring to help carry the starting pitching that has been awful this year aside from Flores. With 2B Herman Campbell coming off the DL at the break Campbell will play 2B and Bob Fry will slide to SS, Fry is not know to have much XP at SS and his arm is weak but Cantu feels the offence is more important as of right now, Campbell is a speedy contact hitter that finds the gap offten and in the 2 hole this should add the punch Cantu is looking for.

                               This years winner is RCL for sure

16 Games Over .500

                              While on a 4 game winning streak Mafia find themselves 16 games over .500 and 8 games ahead of Nottinghamshire Outlaws  the largest lead of the season. We asked Jaime Cantú if he thought NY would be were they are at this point of the season, "Well not 8 games in front but we knew coming into this season we had a really good team and it could be something special."

                               Recent call up 2B Bob Fry is 27 years old and really looks to have found himself.  Fry has a really good eye for the ball, in his 1st 18 games he scored 17 times and has OBP of .495. Scouts think Fry has the skills to one day hit over .300 and have well over .400 OBP.

                               Look for some fun baseball for the next 3 days as NY will face Seattle Sasquatch. They have the most feared hitter in the game in Steve Frend and the top scoring team no surprise they have the best record in ABL at (49-27) NY will have there hands full.

Mafia Shows Muscle

                              With the emergence of Jorge Mora NY has been rolling in May and have taken a 4 game lead in TLD. With the last 20 games playing all division teams NY went 14-6 and has made a clear statement.

                              In upcoming 5 games Mafia will have tomorrow off then 2 games with San Francisco Earthquakes then another day off and then 3 games vs Maple Marauders. 4 out of 5 games are vs left handed pitching, Mafia are 9-5 this year vs left handed pitching.

                               SP  José Serrano has been diagnosed with torn rotator cuff and will not return until April/May 2014. This is a big blow for NY and will set Serrano back even more then what has been expected.

NY in April

                             ABL now in its 3rd week into April Mafia stand at 9-10 and unless they turn somethings around it would be the 2nd April in a row that NY will have a losing record.

                             NY will stay home for a 2 game set vs Jacksonville Jacks (7-12) in game 2 of series SP Santiago Núñez (1-1) 3.38REA  of Jacks vs Mafia's ace SP Javier Flores  (2-1) 2.36ERA. Nunez 24yro in his rookie year is skipping AAA and coming of from AA and is off to a good start, in 1st 3 games he went no less then 8ip and no less the 114 pitches.

                                                                        José Serrano                        

                             NY sent SP José Serrano down to AAA to start the season, Jose didn't seem to develop enough this off season and needs more time. This is a big set back for NY as they Had hope for this young 1st round pick to have bloomed by now but they dont feel worried that Serrano wont come around very soon.

                             We talked about keeping a close eye on Palm Beach Bums (A) this year, but the start they are off to we are keeping a eye from a distance. Maybe we will have more news at a later date.

Some Roster Moves

              NY closed on deal with Juan Velázquez 39yro MR who will turn 40 this season but he shows no sign of quit in him. Juan a lefty put up some nice numbers last season and should fit in nicely as a 7th inning guy.

             We took a good look at Mafia's single A Palm Beach Bums (A) and we see alot of solid players there, starters from 1 threw 6 all have a chance to eventually make it to the show one day. NY 1st 3 picks this year were hitters and all 3 are highly talked about around NY.

              We will keep a close eye on NY's single A team this year and see how the players and team fair.

Year 2 Preps

                  Lets start off by saying congratz to Montreal for winning the 1st piece of hardware in the ABL. We are now going into the 4th round of the 1st year player draft and NY had what they call a "gift from God" to get  S. Maruyama at #12. "Shoeless" is 17 but has the makings of a star.

                   In the 2nd round NY selected J. Jaramillo 22yro that can play anywhere in the OF well and 1st and 3rd base. He batted .381 with 13HR went to the all-star game and won Gold Glove at 1B. R3 NY went with lefthanded hitting LF W. Bowman he also went to the all-star game.

                   In a trade with Minnesota sent 2 minor league players off and NY got Will Johnson Gold glove winner in RF, vs left handed pitching Johnson had  .312AVE .535SLG .927OPS he will look to start vs leftes.

                    If any more talks or moves happen we will keep u informed.

The Mafia is always looking for deals, if U have any interest PM or email GM Anthony Zappulla/ Cecchino

Mafia Out

                          When the season started expiation's were high for New York, 96 wins is what was predicted and they failed to even come close to that number. We can talk alot about why things turned out the way they did but lets hear from manager Jaime Cantú about his main reason's." Well we knew coming in are team was young and there was a chance these players would need time, we had expected big things from guys and that never happened. Thats not to say that next year will be be the same, we expect more and with a year under there belt that should make things go smoother. When u start the season off going 17-28 thats makes it tough but u got to like the fight to still make things interesting at the end. 23yro Joe Herman was hitting .340 and made the allstar team but finished batting .288 we know he can hit so next year we dont foresee the same 2nd half. 27yro Dave Olson in his 2nd year of pro play been on the DL 3 times this year and only played in 110 games batted .275 we know he can hit well over .300. 23yro José Serrano are #1 pick learned alot this year and will take that with him into next year and with the injury Javier Flores  well I for one am looking forward to a big 2013. On a good note we loved the play from Marvin Bowman and with what will be his 1st full season next year Jorge Mora who shown he can play in the ABL.

                         Keep tuned in for all updates in the off season and trade rumors that may occur.



               

Mafia Targets Division

                        With red hot Montreal Bandits pulling away in the wildcard race, that puts Mafia 7 1/2 games out. So NY will set sights on division lead where they have clawed back to 4 1/2 games from Dallas Texans who are 5-5 in there last 10 and 13-15 in August. Mafia will see Dalles 6 times in September, great time to be a baseball fan.

                        After the 4-7 start in August New York finished 14-13 another winning month but NY will have to play allout in September if they want to win the division and it wont be easy as they will have to play 20 consecutive games but 14 of them are home.

                        Mafia is now tied for 2nd with Ann Arbor Barn Owls for the 1st time this year, NY will see them 7 times this month. The Owls went 13-16 in August and 4-6 in last 10. September will make for some real exciting ball and New York is right in the middle of it.

                        

Bats Go Cold in August

                              Somehow NY moves up a game on Dalles as Mafia is now 6 back after a slow start in August 4-7. As the season continues to roll on and draw closer to the end, NY will have to pick up there play to have a chance at the Div. This week NY will be home for 6 games, 3 vs Eureka Hornets who are last in the Sparky Anderson Division and the 1st time these two have meet this year.
Next 3 vs Arbor where Mafia lead the series 6-5.

                              Lets see how recent callup SP Norman Brown will fair this week and SP Roberto Campos who been pitching well when starting this year. One more thing to watch for is DH Jorge Mora who has killed AAA pitching but has struggled to hit at the next level thus far, but has said hes been working real hard on his swing with hitting coach Masaaki Kurihara and is trying somthing new this week.

                                                      Jorge Mora says "this is my time"
                                                                   

Dallas Pulls Away

                                    Less then 2 weeks ago Dallas Texans and Ann Arbor Barn Owls were tied for the Div lead with Mafia being 5 games out. In the last 10 games Dalles went 8-2 and has ran off with the lead by 5 games over Arbor who went 3-7 and was swept by Dalles in there 3 games this past week. Mafia has been playing .500 ball going 5-5 in there 10 games which puts them 7 games back of Dalles and 5 out of the wildcard. With exactly 50 games to go for NY alot can happen.

                                    Mafia looks for Dave Olson's bat to improve, recent callup Jorge Mora who has some potential to be a big league hitter needs to start to show that now. As for the pen both Bill Wells and Arnie West have been hearing it from the fans, the boo's come as they are just walking to the mound even before there 1st pitch. With combine contracts worth 9.4 millon for next 2 years Maifa seem tied up.

                                    NY is now playing Sparky Anderson Division teams, NY lost 2 out of 3 vs 65-46 Las Vegas Jokers 1st in there DIV so alteast they are out of the way.....

                                    In the month of July CL Lyle Arnold won the RCL pitcher of the month award, going 3-0 with 7 saves 20K's and ERA of 0.60. NY finished 17-7 in July.

Big Week in TLD

                      This week in Tommy Lasorda Division we will see all Div play, Mafia starts with Ann Arbor Barn Owls series tied 4-4 then Mafia then will play Nottinghamshire Outlaws. The Owls will face Dallas Texans next, where both teams are tied for the Div lead. NY are 4.5 games back from the leaders, so this week Mafia can really make up some ground with the division play.

                     

Streak Ends at 14

                     One way to get back into the division race is to win and New York did just that winning 14 in a row. " This was the kind of run that makes you get noticed and shown some respect when we travel around the league." Says Captain Ashton Finley who made the AllStar team this year. The streak ended at 14 with a 1-2 loss vs division rivals Dallas Texans who are in 2nd place. After the
17-28 start to the season Mafia has gone 34-18 a really big turn around. Manager Jaime Cantú said" this is how I knew this team can play, like I said in the past there is a lot of personality here and to get that to work in your favor is by winning some games and then winning becomes easier."

                     Mafia had 3 players make the AllStar team, Bob Lee who pitched 1 inning and it went one, two, three. Joe Herman started in CF went 0-2 and  Ashton Finley who went 2-2 with a RBI.

                     Dave Olson returns to the lineup this week and lead off man H. Campbell next week.

9 In a Row

                    Mafia goes over .500 for the 1st time this year and will look to keep it that way for the 2nd half of the season. Some really exciting games in the past 9 in a row but none like the last 3, check out http://abldugout.blogspot.com/2012/06/ballad-of-bill-cahill.html where there is a great story about Bill Cahill and how he helped lift the Mafia over the Montreal Bandits 3 times in a row, WoW. Report by Martín Abresch member and press of the ABL.

                   
                     
                    As NY heads into the AllStar game they are hit by some injuries again, 7 total now. The most recent being Herman Campbell Mafia's leadoff man who leads the RCL in SB and 3B.

Player	Injury	Out for...	Disabled List Status
P Javier Flores	shoulder inflammation	3-4 months	47 day(s) left (60-day DL)
LF Dave Olson	fractured foot	1-2 weeks	On DL, eligible for return
SS Earl Cook	broken hand	3 months	52 day(s) left (60-day DL)
2B Herman Campbell	torn thumb ligament	1-2 weeks	Not on DL
P Ronald Burnett	strained forearm	4 weeks	29 day(s) left (60-day DL)
SS Brennan Akers	fractured ankle	8 weeks	On DL, eligible for return (60-day DL)
2B Kevin Herbert	patellar tendinitis	1-2 weeks	Not on DL

Quick Update

                             Mafia is 43-44 so close to .500 we can taste it. Goodluck to all the AllStars and GO RCL baby.

Mafia's Ace Out For Season

                        Mafia's started the season 17-28 and has fought there way back to 40-44, the month of june was there 1st winning month of the year going 15-12. Now New York will have to do it without ace Javier Flores who not only leads on the mound but also is one of the leaders on this team, he will be missed. Also SS Earl Cook will be added to the DL he will miss 3 to 4 months of play. NY will have to really show some heart in the 2nd half of the season to reach the playoffs. Manager Jaime Cantú said " We were delivered a big blow this week but the show must go on and I feel like are best play is yet to come."
                      
                        With 6 games left before the AllStar game CF Joe Herman looks to represent the Mafia. At 22yro NY is pleased to have a player so young to lead the team by example for many years to come.

Missed Opportunity

             Mafia played 2 divsion teams this week Ann Arbor Barn Owls in a 2 game series they lost both, Arbor is playing well and 1 game behind Dallas Texans who Mafia played in a 4 game series that they split 2-2 this week.

             NY will go to Seattle where Sasquatch have won 5 out of there last 10
games. Last time these teams met Seattle swept NY in 3 games, look for Mafia to bounce back this week. CL Allen Robbins is 38yro but shows no sign of aging as he has 18 saves and ERA of 1.86 lets hope he dosent get opportunity's to come into the game.

              LF Dave Olson is back on the DL for the 3rd time this year, Olson has missed 28 games this year and looks to miss another 3 weeks with a fractured foot.

              Will Dook was suspended 5 games by the league for charging the mound against Dalles this week after being hit by a pitch, Dook was the 2nd play to be beamed in that game.
   
             
           

The weather is getting warm and so is NY

                        In June Mafia has went 10-6 a step in the right direction, we see a major hitting display that has been long anticipated. The starting pitching has always been there and if the pen can show some life, watch out. Mafia went to Canada to play a banged up Maple Marauders team and took 2 out of 3. In that series SP José Serrano who has just been add back to the the active roster, pitched a gem. He pitched all 9 giving up 1 run on 8 hits his 1st CG, if "Doorbell" Serrano can give u these kind of games NY will have a scary 1-4 pitching staff.

                       Jose was asked how he got the name "Doorbell", "Back in collage A few guys on the team started calling me this because they sayed that my cutter is nasty and I go right after the hitter, so the name doorbell is like me standing at your front door ready to play".

                       NY will face Dalles in Don Corleone Park for a 4 games set, NY leads the series 5-3 and loves being home, should be a great series and one that could make NY that much closer to the top of the Div.

            

The brooms were out in New York

                      Mafia in there 6 game home stand swept South Carolina Bombers then got swept by San Francisco Earthquakes. "San fran's bats are just live, they are a very tough team that can score at will." That was said after the sweep took place  by manager Cantu.

                      NY will face Maple Marauders this week a team that has the best pitching staff so far in 2012 so things wont get any easyer for mafia. Aside from the pitching Marauders RF Frank Powers has hit 4 HR in his last 6 games.

                      Dave Olson returns to the linup this week so Mafia are hoping he can swing the bat like they know he can. After Maple, NY will play the 3 other teams in there Div. The next 2 weeks or so will show if this team will be in the hunt for the playoffs or a big disappointment.

                      Mafia calls José Serrano back up from AAA in 3 starts he was 3-0 with a ERA of 2.38.
NY needs to make a run and are hoping for Serrano's return to the bigs will help with that.

Mafia playing well but could be better

                Mafia has won 9 out of there last 14 games, we seen some inprovment hitting the ball but the bullpen remains to be ugly. This year's pen has a ERA of 4.77 whitch is 11th in RCL far from the projected numbers. NY goes back home for a 6 game set 3 of those games will be vs San Francisco Earthquakes , 39-18 the best record in the league. San Fran's catcher Artie Sanders has been red hot and having a great offence of year.

              

Mafia Whack Ann Arbor

                Mafia showed alittle hope this week winning 5 out of there last 7 at home, 3 of the wins were delt to Ann Arbor Barn Owls to complete the sweep. Ann Arbor is currently in 2nd place in TLD whitch NY is still 6.5 games back from them and 8 from Div leader Dallas Texans who NY goes up against in Dalles for a 4 game set. Mafia is leading the series vs Dalles 3-1 but those games were in Don Corleone Park, Mafia has struggled on the road this year. Dalles is #1 in ERA in the RCL

                Roberto Campos was injured while playing Carolina Crush , he pitched 1.2/3ip and left with a stiff neck so the Mafia looked to the bullpen to finish out the game, having to playing Ann Arbor the next day with a Exhausted pen Travis James pitched a gem going all 9ip giving up 3h 1 unearned run and 7k. To follow that up the next day Javier Flores went 9ip for the win.

                NY knows they have alot more work to do before they can be happy with a week of play like this but they will try and carry there winning ways at home to the road.

                José Serrano 1st game in minors was a breeze as he went 8 1/3ip 8k and 0r.

6 game losing streak

         One word to sum up New York's play would be 'awful'. On the road this year 7-19 at home 10-9. NY kicks off a 7 game home stand witch they desperately need some wins, if they fall any further in the Div things could get ugly around here. SS Earl Cook should be back from his torn meniscus in 5 days, a position Mafia been hurting at.
       
          Mafia sent SP José Serrano and SS Dawson Simms down to AAA and brought up MR Bartolo Nava and placed SS  Earl Cook back on the active roster. Rookie José Serrano has not shown the command and consistenty to play at the pro level, NY fans had high hope's on Serrano, big disappointment. Lets see if things work out for him in AAA.

Last 12

                 The last 12 games have been a improvement from what we have been seeing but far from the expactations of how this team can playball. We asked as always for some thoughts from manager Cantu on this teams play.

                 "Right now I think this team is trying to find itself, we have alot of personality here witch in my opinion is key to a successful franchize. We are still looking to find are bats, I know it will come but this week with the injury to Dave Olson we are making some shifts in the linup, lets see what sticks. We are getting some real good starts from 1-3 and lately  Serrano, José (#4 starter) has showin he belong's in the big's and thats something we been waiting to see".

Moving into may

      Now in May New York looks to forget about the 11-16 April and move forward. To start May off with a 3-3 record is step in the right direction. With a 3 games set vs Nottinghamshire (8-25) Mafia look to try and catch up in the standings in Tommy Lasorda Div. One area that needs to get going is the bats of  NY, AVG (11th), SLG (11th) and runs scored (9th) in the RCL thats not going to get it done. On a good note when CF Joe Herman has been in the linup NY has a winning record and Joe looks healthy and ready to help spark this team.

26 games deep

                   When the season started there were high expectation's on New York's chance's on being a contending ballclub in season 1 of the ABL. We are 26 games into the season and with a record of 10-16 fans are starting to show there frustration. The media has been already pointing the finger at manager Cantu on the disappointing start to the season. The season is still young and plenty of time for things to turn around for the Mafia, time will tell.