JOPLIN MINER MAGAZINE

634 PA/ LH 359/581 RH 367/573                                                                             # 9 National Prospect                                        #31 National Prospect  After a 2018 World Series appearance and a 2019 trip to the Ozzie League Championship, it is time for the Miners to begin a rebuilding process which is necessary for the long term health of the organization.  Given the upcoming reduction in bonus money and some major salary problems, Joplin lost little time in addressing some of these problems.  In the first major trade of the off season, the Miners sent Charlie Morton and Freddie Freeman to the Chicago Black Sox for Charlie Blackmon, Royce Lewis and Ian Anderson.  Moving Freeman and Morton was a tough decision but Freeman was going to be paid 11.5M through 2022 and Joplin management could not justify such a long term expenditure given the projected loss of bonus money.  Morton was one of the best pitchers in baseball in MLB

                       Mookie Betts MVP:  (329/427/616)  30 HRs/20 SBs                                        Pitcher of the Year ( 175/259/292) The 2019 Joplin Miners finished 95-65 and made the playoffs as one of two wildcard teams.  Manager Billy Martin decided to start Hyjun-Jin Ryu against Ravenwood's Walker Buehler.  Joplin took a 1-0 lead into the 8th inning then Chris Sale threw 2 shutout innings for a 1-0 lead and a ticket to the playoffs against the Los Altos Undertakers.  Charlie Morton came up with 2 key wins and Masa Tanaka won game 7 by a 5-1 margin to propel the Miners to the Ozzie League championship against the Salem Cowtippers.   Although the first 5 games were all decided by 1 run, Salem blew up the Miner bullpen in game 6 as the Cowtippers won the Ozzie League championship 4 games to 2.  Mookie Betts won the team MVP award and should have a legitimate claim to a OL MVP award.  After all, Mookie had a superior slash line ( 329/427/616) , combined 30

                                Los Altos King of the Hill  1. Los Altos 286 2. Salem  259 3. Kansas 234 4. Akron 219 5. Joplin 199 6. Chicago 157 7. Charlotte 119 8. Ravenwood 102 9. South Carolina 43 10. Southern Cal 41 11. St Louis 16 12. Great Lakes 10 13. Buckingham 4 14. Cleveland ( 55) 15. Flagstaff ( 59) 16. Las Vegas (89) 17. South Loop ( 103) 18. Saskatoon ( 109 ) 19. North Carolina (135) 20. Niagara (153) 21. Kansas City (160) 22. Bear Country (168) 23. Darien (296) 24. Myrtle Beach (362)

WHO BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME  As I stated in a previous post, my formula for entering the Hall of Fame is a two tiered process.  The first tier is just to look at bWAR.  Relief pitchers need 50, Starter/Reliever need 62.5 while Starting Pitchers and all Hitters must post a 75 bWAR.  If you fail to qualify under the WAR test, then you must accumulate 10 points based on the following point scale: 2 points for each MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year 1 point for each All Star selection and each World Series appearance.    Here is how the numbers add up for the new nominees:                                               LOU WHITAKER : 75.1 bWAR                              HALL OF FAME SELECTION :  75.1 bWAR Lou Whitaker is the only nominee who makes it with a 75.1 bWAR. Whitaker posted a ( 363/ 426/ 789) slash to go along with a ROY award 5 All Star selections and a World Series appearance. The 1984 Detroit Tigers started around 35-5 and never looked back.  Wh