RYLES, ESPITIA, RAMIREZ & HARANOBU VOTED IN AS FIRST BALLOT SIMBL HALL OF FAMERS

SIMBL Shrine Takes In Four For First Half Of Inaugural Class Recognizing SIMBL's All-Time Best

The 2021 Offseason Ballot 'A' SIMBL Hall Of Fame inductees have been officially announced.

Former San Diego Warewolves stalwarts Daryl Ryles and Lucas Espitia, longtime Oregon Pioneers ace Pedro Ramirez and former Oregon Pioneers/Toronto Rush and Calgary Clippers force Taitarou Harnaobu have made the cut as voted on by the SIMBL's 24 GMs.  All four are first ballot inductees and will enter the SIMBL Hall Of Fame wth an official induction ceremony in the near future.  A special SIMBL Hall Of Fame page will be setup with prominence on the SIMBL website to honor the players that were the best of the best in the SIMBL's now seventeen-season history.

Daryl Ryles, a former eight-time SL MVP, eleven-time All-SIMBL selection and eleven-time All-Star, received 22 votes followed by his former longtime teammate Lucas Espitia, the current all-time SIMBL hits (2557), runs (1773) and stolen base (833) leader, who garnered 17 votes.  Former five-time All-SIMBL ace Pedro Ramirez, who is fourth all-time with 197 wins and second all-time for pitchers who have pitched over 2000 innings with a 2.91 career ERA, received 16 votes.  Longtime 30 HR/30 SB threat Taitarou Haranobu, who was drafted eighth overall in the 2005 SIMBL Inaugural Draft by Oregon then was traded to Toronto in 2007 and played the most years of his illustrious career with Calgary, received the minimum 15 votes to earn entry into the SIMBL shrine.

Nominees that received more than five votes will automatically return on the 'A' ballot next rotation: former Marin slugger Glenn Knapp (11 votes), ex-longtime Texas stud Osvaldo Quijada (11 votes), former Jacksonville/Chicago star Eddie Meas (9 votes), former Toronto and Brooklyn slugging shortstop Luis Franco (8 votes), former Carolina/Dalton/Texas outfielder Jaime Gonzalez (6 votes) and former longtime Oregon shortstop Richard Cummings (6 votes).

The SIMBL League Office has also announced the next round of nominees that will appear on the Inseason Ballot 'B':

SP James Sousa Los Angeles/Lowell 2005-2018
SP Richard Dicks Marin/Las Vegas 2005-2018
OF Dominick Lund Boston 2005-2016
CL Bill Hyer San Diego 2008-2018
2B Ramon Serrano Tacoma-Carolina/Texas 2005-2014
SP Michael Arnett Atlantic City-Newark/New York/Los Angeles/Toronto 2005-2015
1B Michael Giroux Brooklyn-Moscow-Mexico City-New Orleans 2007-2018
C Adam Wells Calgary 2005-2018
SP Felix Murff San Diego 2006-2018
SP Marcus Dinges Brooklyn-Moscow-Mexico City/Oregon/New Orleans 2006-2018

The new ballots will be compiled and released sometime soon and SIMBL GMS will do their inseason voting for this new group of hopefuls who will attempt to be recognized as the best to ever play thus far in SIMBL history.

A review of the 2021 Offseason Ballot 'A' SIMBL Hall Of Fame inductees:

Daryl Ryles 3B  
San Diego 2005-2017

Career Statistics:  
.323 BA (2nd)  
2100 Hits (9th)  
561 HR (1st)  
1581 RBI (1st)  
8-Time SL Slugger Of The Year  
11-time All-SIMBL Team  
11-Time SIMBL All-Star  
2-Time SIMBL Gold Glove  
2-time SIMBL CS MVP  
1-time SLCS MVP  
2-time SLDS MVP  
7-time SIMBL Championships in 13 SIMBL seasons  

Ryles was nicknamed "The One" and was the first overall pick of the 2005 SIMBL Inaugural Draft.  Easily the most dominating player in SIMBL history, Ryles started his tumultuous career off by bringing an entourage of seemingly drunken and rowdy friends to the podium with him upon being announced as the #1 overall pick by San Diego GM Paul Ware.  Ryles infamously announced at that moment that he would "break, no shatter, every power-hitting record for the SIMBL for the history of the league."  It was long suspected that the 25 year-old Ryles was drunk at the time and it started a career-long rift between him and SIMBL Commissioner Christian DeMarco and the SIMBL League Office.  Ryles was fined more than any other player in SIMBL history for his actions on and off the field culminating to millions of dollars in fines by the SIMBL, money he laughed off as "beer money."  

The lowest point of the numerous rifts came when Ryles mooned the SIMBL Commish on the field prompting a record fine levied at the time.  Ryles also engaged in a careers-long rivalry through the SIMBL press with former Jacksonville and Chicago superstar Eddie Meas which got pretty nasty at some points.  

In between setting all SIMBL offensive records and winning eight SL MVP awards, Ryles led the Warewolves to seven SIMBL championships in his 13-season career and played his whole career in San Diego. One of only four players to achieve 2000 hits, 300 HR and 1000 RBI in his SIMBL career.  

As much as Ryles wasn't desired off the field, he backed everything up on the field.  No other player came close to matching his numbers and many SIMBL pundits don't think any other player ever will.  He remains the only player in SIMBL history to achieve 400 and 500 home runs and also 1500 RBI.

SIMBL career leader in HR, RBI, walks and runs scored, OPS, slugging percentage, on base percentage, and SIMBL career leader in postseason runs scored, home runs, RBI and several other categories.

Lucas Espitia 2B
San Diego 2005-2016
Birmingham 2016-2017
New Orleans 2018

Career Statistics:   
.297 BA   
2557 Hits (1st)  
1773 R (1st)  
1305 BB (3rd)  
236 HR (20th)  
64 3B (8th)  
1028 RBI (12th)  
833 SB (1st)  
.827 OPS  
2-time All-SIMBL  
4-time SIMBL All-Star  
7-time SIMBL Championships  
1-time SLCS MVP  
1-time SLDS MVP in 14 SIMBL seasons  

Espitia was a stalwart as San Diego's second baseman for eleven and a half seasons and the hero of the 2014 SIMBL CS when he hit a game-winning walkoff HR to win the series.  Espitia was the 25th player selected in the 2005 SIMBL Inaugural Draft.  He played in 2178 games, the most games in SIMBL history and holds the SIMBL at bats record with 8622 plate appearances. He is also the SIMBL career leader in several categories with 2557 hits, 1773 runs scored and 833 stolen bases.  His 1305 career walks are third in SIMBL history behind Daryl Ryles and Glenn Knapp.  Espitia is one of only eleven players with 1000 RBI.  Add in Espitia's top-rated fielding abilities and he was one of the most complete players in SIMBL history.

Pedro Ramirez SP  
Oregon 2006-2015
Birmingham 2015-2016
Chicago 2016-2018

Career Statistics:   
197-100 (4th)   
2.91 ERA (4th)   
1.07 WHIP (6th)   
2370 K (8th)   
455 GS (2nd)   
2748 IP (4th)   
SL Hurler of the Year (2010)   
5-Time All-SIMBL   
5-Time All-Star  
1-time SIMBL Championship
1-time SLCS MVP
1-time SLDS MVP  
5-Time Top 5 in ERA   
Record for Lowest Season ERA (1.84)  
Record for Season GS (43)   
Record for Season WHIP (0.80)

Pedro Ramirez exemplified the all-or-nothing approach some players (and indeed some SIMBL GMs) have for the game.  He started 40 or more times 9 seasons including 43 during 2014, a SIMBL record that still stands.  He entered the league as a 25 year-old in 2006, which may be a bit old compared to most potential Hall of Famers but he wasted little time establishing himself.  Before injury slowed him down late in his career, he was arguably the most efficient pitcher in the league and even rivaled Bobby Grimes in terms of dominance.  Over his first nine seasons he posted WHIPs of 1.20, 1.09, 1.08, .93, 1.08, 0.96, 0.87, .096, and 0.80 where he tore through the SIMBL going a combined 163-62 and winning 20 or more games four times.  Unfortunately, an injury in his ninth season meant that his last three seasons would see him go a combined 34-38 after his fastball last its bite and the First File being damaged from the conversion from OOTP 6.5 to OOTP 10 that demolished most pitchers from 2016-2018.  Most SIMBL fans would argue that he was over-pitched to be burned out at 33 years-old, but it is impossible to deny the string of amazing seasons he put together before his injury.  It's also a testament to his immense talent that he was still able to contribute after coming back from injury.  Ramirez was a five-time All-SIMBL First Team selection, a five-time SIMBL All-Star and placed in the top five in ERA in five seasons.  Ramirez's 2.91 career ERA is second-lowest in SIMBL history among pitchers who have pitched at least 2000 innings and fourth all-time among pitchers who have pitched at least 1000 and 1500 innings. His 1.84 ERA during the 2015 is still the lowest in a season in SIMBL history.

Taitarou Harnaobu 1B
Oregon 2005-2007
Toronto 2007-2011
Calgary 2011-2017

Career Statistics:  
.307 BA (6th)  
2191 Hits (7th)  
301 HR (9th)  
1169 RBI (8th)  
1233 R (4th)  
72 3B (3rd)  
595 SB (3rd)  
.876 OPS  
2-time UL Slugger Of The Year (2006, 2013)  
2-time All-SIMBL Team (2006, 2013)  
7-time SIMBL All-Star in 13 SIMBL seasons  

Maybe the best mix of speed and power in the SIMBL First File Era.  Fans nicknamed him "Automatic" and it even caught on in his native country of Japan.  Amassed 595 stolen bases against only 180 failed attempts while also slamming 302 home runs.  The best Japanese player in SIMBL history and showed consistent longevity by accomplishing the rare feat of winning two UL Slugger Of The Year awards seven seasons apart, one in 2006 with Toronto and the other in 2013 with Calgary.

The seventh overall pick of the 2005 SIMBL Inaugural Draft.  Shares a SIMBL-record with four 30 HR/30 SB seasons.  Had 90+ RBI in his first ten SIMBL seasons and five 100+ RBI seasons in his career.  Haranobu had three 30+ HR seasons but was more consistent with nine 20+ HR seasons.  Stole 30+ bases in 11 seasons and had 40+ SB in 10 seasons.  Flourished in Calgary's First File Era potent offense as a catalyst with his speed and high career .380 OBP.  Hit .300+ in eight seasons with one of the highest batting averages in the SIMBL First File Era when he hit .350 en route to his second MVP award.  After going to Calgary and spending the longest period of six and a half seasons with one team to try to win a SIMBL championship, Haranobu fell one season short when he retired after the 2017 season and the Clippers won their first title in 2018.