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.