The Wisconsin Lumberjack has been updated, courtesy of Jesse Berry.  After years of being locked indoors, the Lumberjack had become decidedly pale, and years without bathing had caused his beard to darken in sharp contrast to his ghostly skin.

The newley rendered Lumberjack, seen to the right of the old logo in the picture, will be used on all official Wisconsin team documents and merchandise effective immediately.

Virginia Grays right fielder Ron Guinan has been hitting home runs at a record pace this season, and he crossed the 50-HR plateau on Thursday as the Grays fell to the North Carolina Clippers 2-1. 

Guinan would go on to hit HR #51 the following day in a winning effort at Kentucky, and HR #52 came the very next day, also in a win at Kentucky.  But Guinan wasn’t done; 2 days later he hit HR #53 at Massachusetts in a 12-5 win.  Guinan is on pace for 69 home runs this year, a mark that would obliterate the current record of 60 home runs in a season, held by Mississippi icon Dennis Boshears.  That record was set way back in 2001.  It’s been 15 seasons since anyone in the FFL has hit 50 homers in a season (Mad Dog Petrillo hit 53 in 2013). 

Fans have been slow to make a big deal out of Guinan’s home run chase.  After all, the slugger has an injury-plagued history.  He’s only appeared in 150 or more games 3 times in 9 full seasons, and 2 of those were his first 2 seasons.  Guinan-haters claim that his frailty is proof of performance enhancing drugs.  But all the speculation in the world won’t slow down the Grays slugger, who is 2 homers shy of 300 in his career and 7 shy of the single-season record. 

When Reilly Mollenhauer stepped onto the mound in the bottom of the ninth, the Freedom were 3 outs away from going home with a 9-8 win.  But a two-out, bases loaded walk to Bill Burrell scored Marcos Briceno, and after Mike King grounded out, the Freedom and the Pats were headed to extra frames.

Many of the Patriots fans groaned; they had already been at Glory Field for over 4 hours.  After all, a game with 18 runs scored - not to mention a half-hour rain delay in the 3rd inning - is hardly a quick affair.  So, many of the 11,350 fans had already left by the time the Freedom scored 2 runs on a Greg Holt home run in the top of the 11th.  But the remaining fans groaned once again, as the Pats were able to tie the Freedom but not get the win in the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the 12th, Jade Sanchez doubled and Marcos Briceno laid down a nice bunt to put the winning run on 3rd with 1 out.  But - cue the groaning - the Freedom escaped.

Fast forward to the top of the 16th.  Javier Valdez scored on a wild pitch to put the Freedom back on top, 12-11.  In the bottom half of the inning, Massachusetts tied the game, but left Jade Sanchez standing on 2nd.  More groaning.

Rico Torreiro would drive in 2 runs on a single in the top of the 17th, and - although the Pats got 2 runners on - the game ended in the bottom of the 17th when Mike King grounded into a double play.  Truth be told, it was a welcome ending for the 400 fans left in attendance.  PA won 14-12 after 7 hours and 19 minutes.

When Reilly Mollenhauer stepped onto the mound in the bottom of the ninth, the Freedom were 3 outs away from going home with a 9-8 win.  But a two-out, bases loaded walk to Bill Burrell scored Marcos Briceno, and after Mike King grounded out, the Freedom and the Pats were headed to extra frames.

Many of the Patriots fans groaned; they had already been at Glory Field for over 4 hours.  After all, a game with 18 runs scored - not to mention a half-hour rain delay in the 3rd inning - is hardly a quick affair.  So, many of the 11,350 fans had already left by the time the Freedom scored 2 runs on a Greg Holt home run in the top of the 11th.  But the remaining fans groaned once again, as the Pats were able to tie the Freedom but not get the win in the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the 12th, Jade Sanchez doubled and Marcos Briceno laid down a nice bunt to put the winning run on 3rd with 1 out.  But - cue the groaning - the Freedom escaped.

Fast forward to the top of the 16th.  Javier Valdez scored on a wild pitch to put the Freedom back on top, 12-11.  In the bottom half of the inning, Massachusetts tied the game, but left Jade Sanchez standing on 2nd.  More groaning.

Rico Torreiro would drive in 2 runs on a single in the top of the 17th, and - although the Pats got 2 runners on - the game ended in the bottom of the 17th when Mike King grounded into a double play.  Truth be told, it was a welcome ending for the 400 fans left in attendance.  PA won 14-12 after 7 hours and 19 minuted.

A 2-run home-run by Maryland’s Donald “Bloody” Bremer secured a win for the Founding Fathers League in this season’s matchup of each league’s best players.  The FFL didn’t necessarily need those two runs, but they helped to seal the deal.

The FFL jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off of Kevin Smith, with Ron Guinan scoring on a 2-out double from Tosh Kosh.  T.J. Freeland responded with a 2-run 2-out double in the bottom half of the first frame off of Todd Nearly to give the GEL a brief 2-1 lead.  But the FFL would score 2 more runs off of Smith in the top of the 2nd to regain the lead.  Andrew Wilson’s solo HR off of Freddy Wynn in the bottom of the 4th tied the game at 3, but the FFL jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the top of the 5th as Ron Guinan hit a 2-run homer off of Herc Columbie.

Cliff Butter had an RBI-double in the bottom of the 7th off of Amor Aguaijo to make it a 1-run ballgame, but the only other runs would come on Bremer’s blast in the top of the 9th.

Florida’s Freddy Wynn wound up with the Win, while Utah’s Herc Columbie took the Loss.  Mayland Closer Ken Miguel earned a save while Virginia’s Ron Guinan was named MVP.

Denver Robinson, a 3-time All-Star for the Florida Bluefish, was given his walking papers last week.  Robinson was drafted by the Fish with the 1st overall pick of the 2013 draft, and 5 years later he was one of the best-known players in the Founding Fathers League.  Robinson, along with a slew of other high draft picks, helped turn the Bluefish around, eventually winning a National Cup in 2020.  After hitting a career-high 31 home runs in 2021, Robinson ruptured his achilles tendon early in 2022.  This injury kept him out of baseball for nearly a year.  Although he would rebound to hit .306 with 20 homers in 149 games in his comeback campaign, he was clearly never the same player.  Robinson hit just .189 last season and this year was hitting a mere .170 in AAA.

It would have been interesting to see what type of career path he could have taken had that achilles injury not happened.

Kenny Kunkle never found much playing time as a member of the Mississippi Ravens.  All that changed when the Kentucky Colonels selected him with the 3rd pick of the 2nd round of the FFL expansion draft.  K-Man leads the young franchise in HR and RBI, and this week took home KY’s first award…

AP - Kentucky’s rightfielder Kenny Kunkle had some reason to celebrate, as the league named him the Founding Fathers Player of the Week. In 23 at bats he hit .522 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. The Great Explorers Player of the Week award goes to T.J. Freeland, Wisconsin’s starting leftfielder. He hit .455 with 10 RBI and slugged .955 in 22 at bats.

The last pick of the draft. Someone has to be picked. They are usually good enough to warrant a look as the team gives a prayer of contributing at some point, most just waste away in the minors. Others get a cup of coffee from the big club, most likely only for the sake of the owner feeling bad that they never touched big league soil. But a few, a select few, triumph over the odds and make it where no one ever expected them to go.

This is the story of two such players.

Two players who not only were passed over 4 times by 23 teams, but are in positions where teams would never dream of placing a former “Mr. Irrelevant”: Starting third baseman while batting 3rd and collecting saves while closing out games.

These two are Scruffy Bosques and Chale Canini of the Florida Bluefish, the starting Third Baseman and Closer respectively for a team who is 5 games over .500.

Their Paths:
Bosques (.280 / 2 / 17) has never played an entire season in the big leagues, seeing at least 90 games of action in the minors every year since the year after he was the last one drafted in the 2021 Amateur Draft. He appears to have stuck now. After 3 minor league years of hitting over .319 and OPSing over .850 in each of those years, he has now found a home in the middle of the Bluefish lineup. He has already eclipsed his career high in runs and has almost reached his career high in doubles and RBIs. The very next year…

Canini saw a much quicker rise up the ranks. He spent time on each of the Florida minor league teams the year he was drafted (2022), and made his big league debut in that same year (going 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA). Since then, he’s been a fixture in the bullpen of the Bluefish. He’s appeared in 95 or more games in each of the last two years and has finally been given the chance to close. In 19 games this season, Canini is 2-2 with 2 saves and a 3.86 ERA.

Who would have thought that the last picks in the Amateur Draft for two consecutive years would be playing big roles in the success of the team (who happens to be winning) that drafted them?

Other Mr. Irrelevants making noise in the bigs:
Ralph “The Mouth” Pritchard – 25 years old – RP – Last Pick 2020 Draft
Texas Banditos

Moncayo Mounce – 25 years old – SP – Last Pick 2023 Draft
Tennessee Hounds

Ohio, Michigan and Hawai’i are getting their first taste of NPBL baseball.  Kentucky is ready for a second helping after a 21-year absence.  And while the new Kentucky Colonels will not be in the postseason in their first season (as the Kentucky Cloverleafs were in 2000), excitement is in the air in all 4 of these states.  After all, it’s April, and it’s time for some NPBL action.

2026 saw the dream matchup of Mississippi and Washington go 7 games before the Griffins proved they were the best team in baseball.  Can Washington win their 3rd straight NPBL National Cup Series?  It’s never been done before - Mississippi had a shot in 2016 and Washington in 2023 - but if anyone can do it, it’s Andy and the Griffins.  But they’ll have to avoid CEI’s to their top pitchers if they want to have a chance.

Which expansion club will net the most wins?  We’ll go with anyone BUT Hawai’i, who has arguably the toughest competition with 20 games each against Washington, Nevada and Idaho.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

With 108 wins, the Mississippi Ravens will be the number 1 seed in the Founding Fathers League this year.  South runner-up Virginia, with 103 wins, will be the number 2 seed.  Unfortunately for the 97-win Louisiana Blaze, all they can do it watch the playoffs on television.

The third seed in the FFL features the North champion Pennsylvania Freedom, making their first playoff appearance since 2018.  The Fouth seed?  That’s still up in the air.

New York will host Maryland in a play-in game, the 14th 163rd game in league history and the first since 2022.

The Great Explorers League is all settled, with 114-win Washington 1st, 104-win Nevada 2nd, 94-win Illinois 3rd and 90-win Wisconsin 4th.  Look for Washington-Wisconsin and Nevada-Illinois to be the Wild Card Round Matchups.