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.