The Battle for the SL Royal Raker
by Harold Camping Jr., American Baseball Perspective
October 5, 2015

NEW YORK, NY – The voters for the Sovereign League Royal Raker Award this year face a solemn task. It is not enough simply to sift through mountains of numbers from the season and declare the owner of the most impressive stat line the league’s best hitter. No, these would-be kingmakers must recognize the enormity of their charge. In bestowing the crown upon their winning candidate, they will not be simply affirming the wisdom of the baseball nation. The wide-open field this year has fueled a raging debate that threatens to engulf the country and permanently tear apart the fabric of the league. A nationwide feud has torn fans from fans, brothers from brothers, and fathers from sons. Separate factions, each championing a different player-warrior, have declared war against all rival fandom. The voters must put an end to the chaos and rule one player “king”. When the new Raker is revealed, nothing will be the same. Gods will fall. Lives will change. Incentive clauses will trigger.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your warriors.

THE LEGEND (Pat Lilly) – .276/.405/.536, 155 OPS+, 58.5 VORP (120 G)

The oldest player to lay claim to the royal crown, Lilly fought through a variety of injuries and returned to All-Star form after a troubled 2014. No other contender can hope to match his accomplishments. As owner of three previous Rakers, Lilly has the veteran savvy that has taught him just what the voters want. Though age and health have laid their inevitable claim upon the certain Hall of Famer, they have not stopped Lilly from leading Bakersfield to October baseball eight times in nine seasons. While certain fans inevitably claim Lilly has nothing but his past on which to stake his campaign, the steely-eyed Texan knows that when he leaves everything on the field, he has no rival in PEBA history.

THE CHOSEN ONE (Bob Keller) – .312/.367/.588, 156 OPS+, 60.8 VORP (119 G)

Aurora farmhands must prove their worth in Thornton – sometimes for years – to earn their blue and white. The recent Steve McDonaldextension shows that sometimes, that task proves Sisyphean. Keller forced the trading of his predecessor out of the league. In return for placing their faith in him, Keller rewarded Aurora with a home run title in his second season. Keller may not have the eye of the famous Jeff Cline, but he has already surpassed him in power. By winning the fight for the Raker, Keller will prove himself not simply the Sovereign League’s answer to Jeff Cline but his successor. Yet already a rival looms on the horizon, one who threatens to challenge Keller’s rule before it begins. Should Keller take home the crown, Scott Vinson’s determination to destroy the Chosen One will only grow stronger.

THE PRODIGAL SON (Carlos Guerera) – .347/.400/.524, 151 OPS+, 73.0 VORP (129 G)

Carlos Guerera was given a mission four years ago in the desert wasteland of Yuma. Bearing the burden of the Wunderkind Award, Guerera was sent to Bakersfield to complete a task that has claimed the career of so many others. His supporters know his campaign exemplifies the nation’s belief in hard work and determination. If Guerera ends November upon the royal throne, he will become the first player to fulfill the promise of the Wunderkind. After losing out on the batting title by one hit, Guerera knows that he can no longer afford to come up just short. His all-or-nothing campaign was the best ever witnessed in Bakersfield by a player not named Lilly or Pew. All this came in a year where he was not invited to make the trip to Wembley Stadium for the All-Star Game.

THE SHADOW (Eduardo Molina) – .336/.374/.548, 149 OPS+, 73.2 VORP (152 G)

Molina is everywhere at once, and yet never noticed. He was more present than ever in 2015, making the most plate appearances of his career. The veteran led the SL in AB, H, TB, singles, and RBI, yet this season marked only his second All-Star appearance despite representing the continuation of a level of play he has achieved since 2011. Perhaps Molina embodies the curse of the Sandgnats – ever present, never champions. Believers point to his second consecutive September injury that will hold him out of post-season action. Yet his quest has an air of inevitability as he marches closer and closer to the crown, making incremental improvements each year until the rest of the league can no longer deny him his rightful place as king.

THE HERO (Ricardo Longoria) – .298/.391/.556, 156 OPS+, 76.2 VORP (157 G)

He did not take the league by storm. He did not take the league by surprise. He did not take the league by force. Instead, Longoria simply assumed his role as a starter on the Crystal Lake roster and showed that it was his right. As the rest of the field dirties itself on the battlefield, Longoria stands apart. With four teammates vying for the same crown, not once has Longoria made any public claim for the throne. His campaign is a grassroots one, led by those who pin the October dreams of Crystal Lake on the shoulders of the only contender who has spent his entire career with the organization, loyal to his team in every game. As they rally supporters from beyond the shores of Lake Michigan to their side, drawing them in with promise of league-leading VORP and RC totals, they dream of the moment when Longoria himself emerges to claim what is rightfully his.

THE FOREIGNER (Chris Allen) – .309/.385/.542, 151 OPS+, 54.1 VORP (134 G)

He has played only one year in the Sovereign League. He is the only warrior-player whose team will not be playing late into October. His campaign for the throne is the least likely, as he had to first overcome the season of megastar teammate Yoshino Miyata to carry the torch for Fargo. But Allen remains, bruised and beaten, with an All-Star jersey draped over his shoulders and a small but passionate band of supporters who argue that the Royal Raker must be taken at all costs from Aurora and Bakersfield. With no history in the league and no stardom to distract, Allen, they argue, is the only man up for the task.

THE PRODIGY (Jason Corbett) – .329/.405/.529, 153 OPS+, 63.2 VORP (143 G)

It was simply a matter of time for Corbett, a former top-10 prospect according to Baseball America. The faithful remained calm as Corbett suffered through a pedestrian rookie campaign last season, reassuring themselves that his time would come. No one expected just how soon or how brilliantly that time would arrive. If the Chosen One had not appeared, Corbett’s season would instead be the standard for all Sovereign League catchers. What separates Corbett from the field is his health. He did not miss a single game due to injury, a gritty determination that marks him as a fierce competitor on the field of battle. No player-warrior except the Dark Horse should dare try to match his endurance. Any player wishing to pass him must be swift and brutal, using Corbett’s lack of flashy league-leading numbers to end the fight before it begins.

THE DARK HORSE (Miguel Salinas) – .315/.358/.474, 126 OPS+, 57.0 VORP (162 G)

The Dark Horse contender is an iron horse, appearing in every game of the season. That stubborn determination must be the basis for Salinas’s entire claim to the throne, as he lacks any other legitimate claim. His season was good but not enduring, his play solid but not spectacular. Voters who think the leading contenders were able to post their gaudy numbers by sitting out games to remain fully rested may cast protest votes for Salinas, but those alone will not be enough for the giant from Iowa to begin the most unlikely reign in Raker history.

THE COMEBACK KID (Sok-man Yi) – .296/.401/.536, 154 OPS+, 66.1 VORP (155 G)

Yi is seeking redemption on a battlefield where he has fallen many times before. Once charged with the same mission as the Prodigal Son, Yi came closest to success in 2012 but fell just short, beginning a slide arrested this year. Yi appears blocked from every angle, as the rest of the field has surpassed him, but the now-veteran and former Wunderkind is older, wiser, and healthier than in his previous attempts. He will be smeared for his work as a designated hitter – the inevitable burden of lacking a position – but his rise from the 81^st round of the inaugural draft provides perhaps the sweetest story of determination, courage, and perseverance.

THE NEWCOMER (Ron Baldwin) – .347/.401/.527, 152 OPS+, 59.5 VORP (125 G)

Were it not for his half-season of 2014, Baldwin would be vying to become the first ever dual Wunderkind/Royal Raker champion. Despite his previous campaign, Baldwin remains the youngest contender. He also wields a mighty weapon he can use to clear the competition from the field – the batting title, wrested from the hands of the Prodigal Son in the final week of the season. Baldwin’s presence promised to cool the scorching wreckage of the hot corner in Crystal Lake, which has seen more starters in the team’s history than any other. How he will fare out in the wilds of the Sovereign League remains to be seen. His advocates have grounded his campaign on the promise of projection. Voters will have to decide if his full potential still lies ahead of him or if he has already proven himself worthy.

THE ENIGMA (Ralph Gunther) – .279/.357/.515, 136 OPS+, 44.7 VORP (156 G)

Lost amid the carnage of the battlefield stands Gunther. The third baseman has perfected the art of surviving. He had a better season last year. His only previous award is made of leather. He struck out the second most of any player in the Sovereign League. No one notices him as they pass by, yet there he remains. That he is even perceived as a contender represents a mystery for the ages. He will inevitably fall, and the dynamics of the race will remain unchanged, but for now, he can claim that he stands intact. Until someone notices him.