Dickerson blasts off, leads Reds to win

Chris Dickerson blasted 2 homers, lifting the Reds to a 5-4 win over Oakland. | Box

Lead Story - 5/16/2025

Season 25 Major Award Winners

Here are the final results of the voting for our 4 major Awards for Season 25:
AL MVP:
Aaron Judge - 5 votes (B.Ruth-3, C.Knoblauch-1, T.Hafner-1)

AL Cy Young:
Corey Kluber - 6 votes (Tiant-4)

NL MVP:
Lou Gehrig - 4 votes (Mantle-3, M.Carpenter-3)

NL Cy Young:
A.J. Burnett - 5 votes (S.Gray-4, S.Lyle-1)

Thanks to those who voted!

3/31/2025

ALL-STAR TEAMS for Season 25

A.L. ALL-STAR TEAM

C Ivan Rodriguez (Rangers)
C Gary Sanchez (Twins)
1B Jason Giambi (A's)
1B Mark Teixeira (Rangers)
2B Chuck Knoblauch (Twins)
2B Willie Randolph (Brewers)
3B Charlie Hayes (Brewers)
3B Robin Ventura (White Sox)
SS Alex Rodriguez (Mariners)
SS Brian Roberts (Orioles)
OF Steven Pearce (Orioles)
OF Babe Ruth (Brewers)
OF Gary Roenicke (Orioles)
OF Carlos Beltran (Royals)
OF Kenny Lofton (Indians)
OF Aaron Judge (Yankees)
DH Travis Hafner (Indians)
DH Bernie Williams (Yankees)
SP Frank Tanana (Angels)
SP Corey Kluber (Indians)
SP Red Ruffing (A's)
SP Luis Tiant (Red Sox)
SP Ron Guidry (Yankees)
RP Rich Gossage (Rangers)
RP Andrew Bailey (A's)
RP Octavio Dotel (Royals)
RP Mariano Rivera (Yankees)
RP John Habyan (Orioles)

N.L. ALL-STAR TEAM

C Yogi Berra (Mets)
C Brian McCann (Braves)
1B Lou Gehrig (Padres)
1B Anthony Rizzo (Cubs)
1B Luke Voit (Padres)
2B DJ LeMahieu (Clippers)
2B Len Randle (Mets)
3B Frank Baker (Cubs)
3B Red Rolfe (Bombers)
SS Derek Jeter (Bombers)
SS Troy Tulowitzki (Clippers)
OF Lance Berkman (Astros)
OF Dave Winfield (Padres)
OF Mickey Mantle (Bombers)
OF Andrew McCutchen (Pirates)
OF Juan Soto (Expos)
DH Matt Carpenter (Cardinals)
SP Bob Tewksbury (Padres)
SP AJ Burnett (Clippers)
SP Sonny Gray (Reds)
SP Al Downing (Dodgers)
SP Gerrit Cole (Pirates)
RP Kirby Yates (Padres)
RP Armando Benitez (Mets)
RP Mark Melancon (Pirates
RP Raul Valdes (Cardinals)
RP Sparky Lyle (Phillies)

1/19/2025

Pre-Season Schedule

Here is the tentative order of off-season events.

1. Rule 13 Draft Participants are named (8 Playoff Teams & Bottom 8 plus ties) - done
2. Playoff Teams will name their 5 protected players for the Rule 13 Draft - deadline Monday, Jan. 27, 9pm Central - done

Eight Playoff Teams (with their protected lists)
San Diego Padres - Luke Voit, Kirby Yates, Dave Winfield, Buddy Carlyle, Dennis Rasmussen
Cincinnati Reds - Chris Dickerson, Mike Ford, Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Drury and D'Angelo Jimenez
Philadelphia Phillies - Bobby Abreu, Chan Ho Park, Stan Bahnsen, Russ Springer, Luis Avilan
Los Angeles Dodgers - Raul Mondesi, Russell Martin, Rich Hill, Al Downing, Jay Howell
Oakland A’s - Rickey Henderson, Andrew Bailey, Reggie Jackson, Hideki Matsui, Frankie Montas
Texas Rangers - Mark Teixeira, Lee Mazzilli, Mickey Rivers, Rich Gossage, Rick Honeycutt
Baltimore Orioles - Nestor Cortes, Gary Roenicke, Steven Pearce, Rex Hudler and Mark Reynolds
New York Yankees (exempt from the Rule 13 Draft due to special rules for Yankees/Bombers - see Rules for more info)

7 Teams picking in the Rule 13 Draft, in order of picking (remember no playoff team can lose more than 2 players in the Draft). There is a 24 hour time limit on Rule 13 picks, which does not mean that a team loses their chance to pick, it just means the next team in line is also free to make their pick. Only 7 teams this year since the Bronx Bombers finished in the bottom 8 but have different rules and can't participate in the Rule 13 Draft.
1. Chicago White Sox - Danny Tartabull (Phillies)
2. Pittsburgh Pirates - Rick Rhoden (Dodgers)
3. Seattle Mariners - Freddy Garcia (Orioles)
4. Milwaukee Brewers - Darren Holmes (Dodgers) (Dodgers have had maximum 2 players taken so are now off limits)
5. Kansas City Royals - Rondell White (Padres)
6. California Angels - Raul Ibanez (Phillies)
7. Atlanta Braves - Jim Hardin (Orioles) (Orioles have had 2 taken and are off limits)

3. Rule 13 Draft (team with worst regular season Win % chooses first, then 2nd worst team, etc.) Begins following the naming of the protected players. - done
4. Player Additions/Relocations (players who are moving to new franchises due to AB/IP totals will move, and new players will be added to their respective teams) - none this season
5. Lucky Loser teams will remove no-drop tags on a player (if applicable) - done
6. Special Draft (Yankees and Bombers draft new RL Yankee-only rookies - worst Win% gets first pick in each round)(this draft only happens if a real-life MLB season has just finished) not this season
7. Historic Imports may be dropped / signed from the unused Historic Imports list (only 5 players on that list)
8. Rosters to 28. ALL TEAMS must trim their rosters to 28 players - in progress (deadline is Thursday, Feb. 13th-9pm central)
9. Slow Draft - 2 Round Draft for all 28 Teams in order of worst to first (regular-season winning pct.). Worst team picks 1st in both rounds - 6 hr time limit for each pick in Round 1 (3 hrs in Round 2). Pre-rank some players!!)
If you haven't got any players pre-ranked when your time-limit is up, you'll lose your turn. Make sure you only pre-rank players who actually played for your team in real life (except for the Yankees and Bombers who can pick anyone)
DRAFT START DATE - Saturday, February 15th at 9am central (6 hr limit for 1st round picks/3 hr limit for 2nd round picks will be interrupted by night-time hours - overnight grace period will be 10pm to 8am Central time - so whoever is on the clock through the overnight period will have their full amount of time in 'waking' hours - RANK SOME "ELIGIBLE" PLAYERS or you may miss out!

Draft Order:
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Bronx Bombers
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Milwaukee Brewers
6. Kansas City Royals
7. California Angels
8. Atlanta Braves
9. Montreal Expos
10. St. Louis Cardinals
11. Chicago Cubs
12. San Francisco Giants
13. Toronto Blue Jays
14. Cleveland Indians
15. Columbus Clippers
16. Houston Astros
17. New York Mets
18. Los Angeles Dodgers
19. Minnesota Twins
20. Boston Red Sox
21. Philadelphia Phillies
22. Detroit Tigers
23. Texas Rangers
24. San Diego Padres
25. New York Yankees
26. Cincinnati Reds
27. Oakland A's
28. Baltimore Orioles

10. Free Agency Opens - Sunday, Feb.23-9pm central - All teams may drop and sign players (no-drop rule and franchise rule still in effect)
11. Ability to change a players' season will be turned off
12. Opening Day - Tuesday, Feb. 25 - 9am central (make sure you have your lineups and rotation set)

12/16/2024

Highlights from ASG24 in Cincinnati

** SPOILER ALERT ** If you'd like to watch the replay of the game first - DO NOT READ THIS YET **
(You can see the box score and watch the game in its entirety by clicking on the links in the "Message Center" on the League Home Page)

ASG24 (in Cincinnati)
Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was the site of the 24th All Yankee League All Star Game. The N.L. has been pretty dominant in the history of this league’s All Star games, leading the A.L. in the series 15 to 8, but the A.L. won last year’s contest, so the N.L. was hoping to strike back on home turf in Cincy.

The host committee, led by Red’s owner Theo Smith, wanted this to be the best All-Star Game in AYL history, so they tried to pull out all the stops (that’s a musical phrase for those who don’t know - a pipe organ has little buttons or knobs called stops, and if you pull them all out you get the loudest possible sound - there, you’re smarter now. Try to work that into a conversation and see if anyone is impressed!) As I was saying, they tried to pull out all the stops, but they failed.

First, Theo and the rest of the committee hired Cincinnati native Steven Spielberg to write a full-length script for the pre-game show. Spielberg came through with a blockbuster thriller of a show which somehow combined the lives and careers of three other Cincinnati natives - Pete Rose, Roy Rogers, and Charles Manson. Theo loved the idea but the rest of the committee outvoted him, saying that the pre-game show should probably have less blood and gore than the Spielberg script called for, and just be less murdery in general.

Next, the committee tried to get the greatest living players from the Big Red Machine of the 70s to show up, but none of them were interested. In a move that Theo would later regret, he decided that he would invite some of the lesser-known Reds from those Big Red Machine days, and just dress them up in the bigger stars’ uniforms, hoping nobody would notice. The three players who did show up were Bill Plummer, Ed Armbrister, and Pat Darcy. The fraudster committee members tried to convince them to wear the uniforms of Johnny Bench, George Foster, and Don Gullett, respectively, but they refused. Instead, the committee went to Plan B, conscripting three members of Riverfronts’ Janitorial Services Department to perpetrate the sham.

When the three fakes trotted out onto the field donning the fake uniforms, the crowd went wild. For about five seconds. Then the cheers slowly turned to boos as the fans realized they were being duped, and the fans started throwing everything you can imagine onto the field. Riverfront doesn’t hire chumps to work in the Janitorial Services Department, so the three fakes immediately jumped into action, doing an A-plus job of cleaning the field in record time. The boos turned back into cheers as the fans showed some respect and appreciation for the quick clean up.

After that fiasco, Plummer, Armbrister, and Darcy were introduced, in their real uniforms, and the fans showed them some love, too. Good for them!

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Sarah Jessica Parker, who had an impressive windup but only managed to lob the ball about 30 feet toward home plate. The anthems were sung by Cincy funk legend Bootsy Collins who really funked them up almost beyond recognition, but the fans cheered appreciatively anyway.

The All Star game was a close one from start to finish. Hometown hero Greg Harris of the Reds started for the home team, but gave up a run on two singles, a walk and a Sac Fly by Reggie Jackson which scored Charlie Keller for the game’s opening run.

AL Starter Red Ruffing also gave up a couple of base-hits but got out of the inning unscathed.

In the top of the 2nd, the visitors increased their lead when leadoff hitter Alex Rodriguez cranked a Buddy Carlyle fastball into the seats for a 2-0 A.L. lead.

In the bottom of the second, the N.L. bats came to life. Three ground ball outs were interspersed with four singles by Bill Dickey, Derek Jeter, Floyd Baker, and John Vander Wal. Dickey and Jeter both came in to score and the game was tied 2-2 after two.

The A.L. grabbed the lead back, scoring their third run in as many innings as a leadoff walk to Keller came back to haunt N.L. hurler Al Orth. After a single by Steven Pearce and a double play ball, Reggie Jackson singled in Keller from third to give the visitors a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 3rd.

The score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the 6th when Dickey led off with a triple and scored on a Sacrifice Fly by pinch-hitter Phil Rizzuto.

In the bottom of the 7th, Luke Voit parked one into the seats to give the home side a 4-3 lead, which is where it stayed. Other Reds played significant roles in the victory as well. Sonny Gray retired three and gave up just a walk in his inning of work in the top of the 5th, while Aroldis Chapman struck out the two batters he faced in the top of the 7th.

The National League stars increased their series lead to 16-8. The Reds’ Bill Dickey was named the ASG MVP, much to the delight of the home-town fans. Dickey went 2 for 3 with a single and a triple and scored twice to help the N.L. to victory.

Next year’s All Stars will gather in Arlington, Texas as the Rangers play host to ASG25.

For more info on the game, please check out the box score or watch the full game replay in the links on the home page.

Good luck in the 2nd half, everyone!
Gus

9/26/2024

Season 24 Player Changes/New Players

Here's the list of new players who will be joining the AYL for Season 24. Remember players need at least 1 season of a minimum of 70 ABs or 30 IPs to be eligible for the AYL.
Estevan Florial - Indians
Phil Bickford - Dodgers
Ben Rice - either Yankees or Bombers
Jazz Chisholm Jr. - Clippers
J.D. Davis - Mets
Kevin Smith - A's
Luis Gil - Yankees or Bombers
Greg Weissert - Red Sox
Mark Leiter Jr. - Cubs
Tim Mayza - Blue Jays
Enyel de los Santos - Indians

Players Changing Teams for Season 23 due to either AB/IP totals in real life or Bomber/Yankee players joining new teams:
Miguel Andujar - goes from Pirates to A's
Domingo German - goes from Yankees to Pirates
Anthony Banda - goes from Blue Jays to Dodgers
Chris Martin - goes from Rangers to the Red Sox

Future Changes (If these guys reach the required ABs/IPs with their current club they'll move after the AYL Season we're in)
Jordan Montgomery will go from the Cards to the D-Backs if he reaches 185 IPs with Arizona
Luke Voit will go from the Padres to the Brewers if he reaches 299 ABs with Milwaukee
Gary Sanchez will go from the Twins to the Brewers if he reaches 420 ABs with Milwaukee
Tyler Wade will go from the Angels to the Padres if he reaches 148 ABs with San Diego
Lucas Luetge will go from the Mariners to the Red Sox if he reaches 90 IPs with Boston
Gio Urshela will go from the Twins to the Tigers if he reaches 502 ABs with Detroit
Chasen Shreve will go from the Mets to the Rangers if he reaches 57 IP with Texas

These additions will also mean that some teams will need to drop another player into Free Agency in the offseason, so that should increase the talent level a bit in next season's draft. Change is good in the AYL. Stay tuned for more as the real-life Yankees continue to make moves. They always do.

Others who haven't yet reached the needed ABs/IPs in a season to qualify:
Miguel Yajure
Chris Gittens
Jasson Dominguez
Jahmai Jones
Clayton Beeter
Nick Burdi

If they reach the 70 AB/30 IP plateau in a future season, they'll be added to the league, but not until that real life season has ended and we have access to their stats for that year.

6/20/2024

*** Special Bombers/Yankees Draft ***

This season, because the real-life Yankees recently traded away a number of players who had been on the AYL rosters of the Bombers and Yankees, those two teams will need to have a special draft to add players from Free Agency who ONLY played for the Yanks in real life. These players had been dropped by one of those two clubs in previous season as they were no longer needed to get the Bombers and Yankees to 28 roster players, but now they're needed again, at least until the 2024 real life season is finished and players like Luis Gil and perhaps a few others are added.

For this draft, there will be 5 picks (3 for the Bombers and 2 for the Yankees) to bring both rosters back up to 28 so they're ready for the 2-round draft. The Bombers will pick first.

Here are the eligible candidates (I know, nothing special here. Just hold your nose and message me with your choices). I'll update the progress of the draft here in this story. For more stats, find them in Free Agency, or enter their name in the search bar on the home page:
Clay Christiansen (RP) 1.63 WHIP, 11.8 H/9, 6.4 SO/9, 31 Stamina (Bombers’ 2nd pick)
Gil Patterson (SP) 1.76 WHIP, 10.4 H/9, 7.9 SO/9, 60 Stamina (Yankees’ 2nd pick)
Wade Taylor (SP) 1.70 WHIP, 11.2 H/9, 5.6 SO/9, 90 Stamina (Yankees’ 1st pick)
Zoilo Almonte (OF) .236 AVG, .579 OPS, 1 HR, 1.000 Fld%, -.01 Dwar, 4 Speed
Jack Reed (OF) .205 AVG, .567 OPS, 0 HR, 1.000 Fld%, .08 Dwar, 8 Speed - (Bombers’ 1st pick)
Celerino Sanchez (3B/IF) .248 AVG, .597 OPS, 0 HR, .939 Fld%, .14 Dwar, 4 Speed

and that's it. Bombers have first pick. Message me with your choice and we'll go from there.
1. Bombers - Jack Reed
2. Yankees - Wade Taylor
3. Bombers - Clay Christiansen
4. Yankees - Gil Patterson
5. Bombers -Zoilo Almonte

7/21/2018

Welcome to the AYL (All Yankees League)

- This is a unique league with some unusual rules, including limited Trades and Free Agency, players must play for franchises they played for in Real Life, a Rule 13 Draft which allows weak teams to steal players from good teams each offseason, and a Lucky Losers Rule for the worst team in each league.
- 28 Teams in the league, including 2 Original Yankee teams called the New York Yankees and the Bronx Bombers. Plus a combination expansion team made up of Arizona, Colorado, Miami, and Tampa Bay players called the Columbus Clippers (named after the Yanks' long-time farm team).
- The Washington Nationals play as the Montreal Expos (Commish is from Canada - Go Figure!!)
- The transactions of the real life MLB New York Yankees are the cornerstone of this league and what makes it unique and fun. Whenever the Yankees make a move in real life, it has a chance to impact teams in our AYL (All Yankees League). Your roster can change significantly based on what the real Yanks do from day to day and season to season.