Game Central The gaming world of K. Fields
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
May 2006

NALB - April 2022

The Brooklyn Knights were without star right fielder Blas Ramos for the first half of April. In his absence, however, Maurílio Godim did a fine job. Ramos recovered from his torn abdominal muscle and returned to the lineup for the rest of the month. The Knights got off to a slow start losing four out of their first five games and six out of their first nine. Brooklyn's pitching was mostly excellent, particularly its starting pitching. Once the Knights started to hit, they ran off a pretty good winning streak and ended April in first place with a 15-9 record. Most of the division races are very tight at this point, as is to be expected only one month into the season.

April 2022 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Li-ben Chai (Dayton Grizzlies)
Pitcher of the Month: Tony Tamayo (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Toshiro Kakuta (Brooklyn Knights)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Romeo Usquiano (Key West Corals)
Pitcher of the Month: Whitney Todd (Richmond Slam)
Rookie of the Month: Gin-fin Min (Vancouver Wild)

NALB2022_April_Standings

NALB - 2022 Spring Training

The Brooklyn Knights finished spring training with a 16-14 record, which put them in a three-way tie for second place. The back-to-back defending champion Dayton Grizzlies led the division at 17-13. The Luisville Beasts looked solid and posted a 17-13 record. In League 2 Division 1, the Quebeck Sky Chiefs and Washington Allies were on top with 16-14 records. The winningest spring training teams, however, were the Phoenix Rattlers and Vancouver Wild. Both teams went 19-11 in League 2 Division 2.

The Knights survived spring training injury free with one exception. Frequently injured outfielder Blas Ramos tore an abdominal muscle on March 14. Brooklyn's starting right fielder is one of the league's best hitters and will be missed in the Knights' lineup. They hope to have him back mid to late April.

Other key injuries in spring training:
  • Cornfield Axemen: SP Lariel Balibrera tore his UCL. He will miss the entire 2022 season.
  • Key West Corals: C Matthew Loy fractured his thumb on March 13. He is expected to miss most of April.
  • Nashville Firecats: RP Wilson Controras suffered a serious ankle sprain on March 16. He is expected to return in early May.

NALB - 2022 Offseason/Preseason

Here were some notable roster moves prior to the 2022 NALB season.

The Brooklyn Knights had the following offseason/preseason activity:
  • The Knights extended the contracts of 7 players through salary arbitration: Sardar Dzhafarov, Ramone Alconer, Norman Forbes, John Ruben, Armando Alfaro, Chase Combs, and Syman Lowery.
  • C Andrew Strain, 2B Roberto Hernandez, RP Cristofór De Jesús, RP Bernard Gastelu, CF Cleveland Garfield, and 1B Joe Barnstaple filed for free agency.
  • Three players were lost in the Rule 5 Draft: 3B Ulf Durán, LF Loch Westlake, and 1B Howard Keats.
  • Traded 26-year old minor league 2B Brenton Gabriel to the Quebeck Sky Chiefs in exchange for C Nick Koche, CL Emílio Hornélas, SP Daniel Gutérrez, 2B B.J. McClellan, and SP Chris Dickson.
  • Signed free agent RP Xavier Widdison to a 4 year contract worth a total of $3,760,000. The 30 year old Aussie has played his entire 6 year NALB career with the Dayton Grizzlies.
  • Japanese star 1B Toshiro Kakuta announced his attention to play in the U.S. Several teams vied for his services. The Knights won the bidding war and signed him to a 5 year, $30.3 million contract.

Notable offseason free agent signings:
  • 3B Adelmo Porcayo decided to stay in St. James. He signed a $19.2 million contract for 3 years.
  • SP Whitney Sanders was retained by the Beasts for another 4 years. His new contract is worth $40.8 million.
  • Vancouver's C Morris Brown was one of the top players available in free agency. The Wild made sure he isn't going anywhere by signing him to a 5 year deal worth a total of $68 million.
  • SP Charles Revels found himself a new team. After six seasons with the Beasts, he is headed to Key West thanks to a 3 year, $11,040,000 contract.
  • LF Fernando Canales left the Maples and signed with the Slam. He was pleased with Richmond's offer of $35 million over 5 years.
  • Sancho Alguirre was the other coveted catcher on the free agent market. Alguirre agreed to a 6 year, $75 million contract and will stay in Phoenix.
  • The Sky Chiefs couldn't come to terms with SS Marque Parita. He tested free agency and was rewarded by the Allies with a $29.3 million, 4 year contract.
  • Starting pitchers usually draw a lot of interest and command a market premium. That was the case with SP Rey Alvarado. After helping the Grizzlies win back to back championships, Alvarado declared free agency as the best pitcher available. He landed a major deal with the Vancouver Wild—$88.9 million over 7 years.
  • SS Joshua Ridings has made a name for himself with his glove. The Las Vegas Luck were looking to upgrade their defense so they signed him for 2 years at a total of $8 million.
  • Big name catchers were in supply in this year's free agent market. Andrew Strain won the Platinum Stick Award his last two seasons in Brooklyn. His new home, however, is St. Rock. The Mudcats inked a 5 year, $36,500,000 deal with him.
  • The Key West Corals take pride in having the league's best bullpen. They added yet another superstar power-pitching reliever in Júlio Guillén. He agreed to a 2 year contract worth $8,280,000/
  • The Stade Maples may have lost Júlio Guillén but they added Miguel Catarino. Catarino is expected to be the Maples' new closer. His defal was for 3 years and a total of $6,840,000.
  • There were several highly coveted free agents but perhaps none as much as SS Bubba Webb. The long time Grizzly spent last season in Nashville and had another productive year. He begins a new chapter with the Luisville Beasts thanks to a 5 year deal worth a total of $78.1 million.
  • LF Ángel Santago found himself a new home with the Firecats. Santago inked a new contract worth $5,920,000 over 2 years.
  • After roaming the outfield of Quebeck for 9 seasons, CF Bruno Payton decided to become a free agent. He opted to join the Richmond Slam thanks to an offer of $9,280,000 over 3 years.

Notable offseason trades:
  • Key West sent 32-year old 1B Toshiharu Fuji and 20-year old minor league 2B Wes Frier to the Maples for 31-year old 1B Jason Raynor and 22-year old minor league RHP Tom Bentz.
  • Washington traded 32-year old RHP Sosuke Nakamura and 24-year old minor league RHP Aricin MacKerracher to the Maples in exchange for 26-year old C George Medforth and 20-year old minor league RHP António Villanveua.
  • Nashville shipped 28-year old HP Renato Balcazar to Stade for 22-year old minor league CF Graviel Estado and 21 -year old minor league RHP Yi-ke Guang.
  • Cornfield worked out terms of a deal to send 29-year old LF Luis Vergel to Stade for 33-year old RF Roy Bennett, 20-year old minor league LHP Everette Burleigh, and 23-year old minor league LF Mack McQuisten.

SpaceChem

Before starting the 2022 NALB (North American Baseball League) season, I decided to play a little SpaceChem. It is a puzzle game with an interesting concept. You are tasked with creating various chemical molecules. You do this by adding various components to make an automated assembly process. Within the reactor, you specify commands to pick up, drop, and rotate inputs and to trigger chemical bonding. If this sounds quite different, it is. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty fun. I completed a number of puzzles but there are many more available. With the call of computer baseball calling, however, I don't think I will be finishing SpaceChem any time soon.