This is the first "State of the PVBL" since former P.R. Official Dan Shapiro resigned and took his post as founder and official of the Ace Virtual Baseball League. All accounts indicate that the AVBL is going full steam ahead. The PVBL meanwhile has been equally accelerating at a lightning speed pace and there's no shortage of news to report on...
[1] NEW PUBLIC RELATIONS HOME PAGE
[2] DOUBLE HEADERS TO BE PLAYED EVERY DAY
[3] TRADING DEADLINE
[4] SALARY CAP REJECTED BY OWNERS
[5] NEW PVBA MESSAGE BOARD
[6] AUSTIN TORNADOES OWNER RESIGNS
[7] AROUND THE LEAGUE
[8] PVBL MAILING LIST
====================================================================== [1] NEW PUBLIC RELATIONS HOME PAGE
For those who haven't heard the news, I set up a new P.R. Home Page with a "Communications Page" and a "Press Release Centre". The web site is http://www.GeoCities.com/RainForest/9547/. There is a link to the site at the PVBL home page. Note the recent changes to the Press Releases Centre:
(a) Team logos are displayed at the Press Releases Centre.
(b) Transactions conducted throughout the PVBL are being posted under "Transactions" near the top of the page. This initiative was started on the 29th of July, and transactions are being kept in separate files, one for each day. Files are indexed under the following names: "neDATE.htm", where DATE is the month and day in that order. For example, the transations file for July 29 corresponds to "ne0729.htm". The prefix "ne" precedes every file. This information may be useful if you want to access the file directly without having to load the Press Releases page, which is quite large and may take a long time to load if you have a bad connection. Thus, if you wanted to access the July 29 file, simply type http://www.GeoCities.com/RainForest/9547/ne0729.htm.
Transaction files will be added to the web page almost every day. You should expect it to be updated at least after three days, but usually it will be updated more regularily than that.
This "State of the PVBL" will be posted on the web site.
====================================================================== [2] DOUBLE HEADERS TO BE PLAYED EVERY DAY
As of July 31st, double headers will be played every day. This will decrease the taken to finish the rest of the season, which will be shortened to about 6 weeks. Previously, double headers were only played every Mondays and Fridays, totaling 7 games a week. In the new plan, 10 games will be played a week.
Commissioner Peck has finally announced the official trading deadline date: August 31. After this date, players from the EL can no longer be traded to DL teams. Considering that this is later in the season than expected, a lot of panicked trading has slowed down. Some GMs have taken their players off the trading block, most notably Gary Sheffield of the Deadwood Outlaws.
====================================================================== [4] SALARY CAP REJECTED BY OWNERS
The issue of the salary cap was probably the biggest debate faced by the owners in the past month, and there are little signs that it will resurface in the near future. PVBL Commissioner Matthew Peck originally proposed the idea, but after a few weeks of heated debate, there were far more negative reactions that positive ones. As the exasperated commish said: "Don't worry! They're WON'T be ANY system
implemented in PVBL." Owners who lead the opposition (especially former Whalers owner Chrabascz) will heave a sigh of relief.
Still, ambitious commish Peck will not take the issue completely off the table. There are still some propositions on the agenda:
(a) Peck has suggested a THIRD PVBA league for the future (either near or far). This new league (it has yet to be named anything) would encorporate salaries and free agency. He quickly cautions that this is only a surfacing idea and he has no concrete plans for it.
(b) There is still a possibility of encorporating free agency into the PVBL without involving any sort of financing. This would only be encorporated into the PVBL by the end of the 1998 season, if it infact is approved by the owners.
====================================================================== [5] NEW PVBA MESSAGE BOARD
A message board has been set up for the Pepper Virtual Baseball Association. This is accessible from the PVBA Home Page. It is ideal for posting trade offers.
Wayne, the former Austin PVBL Franchise owner has resigned and Ryan George, P.R. Official of the PVBA, is currently looking for a new owner to replace him. The resigned owner was quoted saying he just didn't have the time to invest in the team, but there are rumors that a significant loss in other subsidiaries forced him to sell off the team. In general, fans have been shocked of the resignation, considering that the team was on all accounts doing very well and the fan support was not lacking. The Tornadoes are currently 23 games behind first place with a .404 winning percentage. The season was largely disappointing considering that many of their stars, such as Jose Canseco, Orel Hersheiser and Mickey Morandini did not perform up to expectations.
====================================================================== [7] AROUND THE LEAGUE
The Punxatawney Groundhogs are the winningest team in the PVBL, despite having only won 4 games in their last 11. The Groundhogs don't show many weaknesses: they are the best team at home AND on the road. Meanwhile, the North Spokane Titans could improve in both cases... The Hartford Whalers turn can it on late in the game: they have won 9 games so far in extra innings, 4 more than they've lost, and the most extra innings wins... Speaking of close games, the Montreal Royals have managed to win 21 of 45 by 1 run, most in the peppers. In other words, they win almost half their games by 1 run. What's the brand of antacid they use?... Mark McGwire is leading the home run race with 45 for the year. He is on pace to end up with 72 for the season. Runner-ups are Ryan Klesko (39), Raul Mondesi (37) and Dante Bichette (37). All are on pace to slug at least 60 for the year... This may be another year with the Triple Crown being dismissed in the DL, with only two within realistic reach--Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds, each 47 points behind. Meanwhile, in the EL Sheffield is leading all players in RBIs and home runs, although he is 28 points behind Reggie Jefferson in batting average. When asked whether Sheffield had thought about the Triple Crown: "All I want to do is get through this season doing as well as I am now. Really, I don't have much left in me."... One success story you don't hear about very much is Mel Rojas. He is second in the league in ERA and leading in--surprise--walks per 9 innings pitched. Control was his major enemy in the offseason, but thanks to the pitching staff who worked on his control constantly, he hasn't had to worry about it all season. "It's always in the front of my mind, but I've learned the best way to master my control is to concentrate on what I do right, mainly throwing as fast as I can."... For some unknown reasons, the FBI called off their investigation of the "ESPN affair". Shapiro issued a formal apology, but there are still suspicions that a coverup may be involved, as reported by the Baltimore Sun and the St. Petersburg Times... Leftfielder Marc Newfield celebrated his birthday on the 27th of July, and by some incredible chance he had 27 RBIs on that date. "Well, in baseball, numbers are more than just numbers," said Newfield in response to this revelation. "They are really apart of you." Little did he know that when he remarked on this, he happened to be hitting .289, which is his current address in Bellingham. Talk about baseball being apart of your life!... The other day, Paul Molitor was fined 10,000$ and taken out from the game for keeping drugs in his pocket--Aspirin, to be specific. Molitor and the players' association plan to defend his case. "I had a splitting headache that day, but I didn't want to take myself out of the game," said Molitor. The umpires refused his pleas, contesting that the rules were very clear: no drugs are allowed near or on the field.
