Sunday, October 18, 2009

SBL Champions List

ALL-TIME SBL CHAMPIONS
(5-Team League)
1983 - Gil Hulse
(6-team League)
1984 - Gil Hulse
1985 - Steve Dilbeck
(12-Team League, Division Play)
1986 - Mike Davis (defeated Gregg Patton)
1987 - Gregg Patton
1988 - Jeff Lane
1989 - Steve Dilbeck
1990 - Steve Dilbeck
1991 - Mike Davis (def. Steve Dilbeck, 14-12)
1992 - Vic West
1993 - Gregg Patton (def. Mike Davis, 18-8)
1994 - Dan Evans (def. Gregg Patton, 10-9; strike-shortened season)
1995 - Paul Oberjuerge (def. Steve Dilbeck, 14-9; strike-shortened season)
1996 - Mike Davis (def. Steve Dilbeck, 17-9)
1997 - Vic West (tied Dan Evans, 13-13; won tiebreaker, 8-3)
1998 - Gregg Patton (def. Mike Davis, 14-12)
1999 - Mike Davis (def. Damian Secore, 16-10)
2000 - Brian Goff (def. Gregg Patton, 14-12)
2001 - Mike Davis (def. Gregg Patton, 17-9)
2002 - Brian Goff (def. Vic West, 14-12)
2003 - Dan Evans (def. Brian Goff, 15-11)
2004 - Vic West (def. Mike Davis, 14-12)
2005 - Brian Goff (def. Dan Evans, 17-9)
2006 - Brian Goff (def. Paul Oberjuerge, 17-9); Playoffs: Brian Goff d. Steve Dilbeck, 18-8; Paul Oberjuerge d. Vic West, 13-13 (7-4 in tiebreaker)
2007 - Mike Davis (def. Brian Goff, 15-11); Playoffs: Mike Davis d. Steve Dilbeck , 16-10; Brian Goff d. Dan Evans, 14-12
2008 - Mike Davis (def. Brian Goff, 18-8); Playoffs: Mike Davis d. Damian Secore, 20-6; Brian Goff d. Gregg Patton, 14-12
2009 - Paul Oberjuerge (def. Andy Baggerly, 14-12); Playoffs: Paul Oberjuerge d. JP Hoornstra, 20-6; Andy Baggerly d. Dan Evans, 15-11.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

SBL Series 2009

ZERO's 14, BADGERS 12
Week 1: Paul 8, Andy 3; Week 2: Andy 7, Paul 4; Week 3: Paul 8.5, Andy 2.5; Week 4: Paul 9.5, Andy 1.5; Week 5: Paul 8, Andy 3; Week 6: Paul 6, Andy 5; Week 7: Andy 8, Paul 3; Week 8: Andy 7.5, Paul 3.5; Week 9: PAUL 5.5, Andy 5.5; Week 10: ANDY 5.5, Paul 5.5; Week 11: Paul 6.5, Andy 4.5; Week 12: Paul 7, Andy 4; Week 13: Paul 6.5, Andy 4.5; Week 14: Paul 8, Andy 3; Week 15: Andy 6, Paul 5; Week 16: ANDY 5.5, Paul 5.5; Week 17: Andy 9, Paul 2; Week 18: Paul 6, Andy 5; Week 19: Andy 7, Paul 4; Week 20: Paul 9, Andy 2; Week 21: Andy 8, Paul 3; Week 22: Paul 8.5, Andy 2.5; Week 23: Paul 6.5, Andy 4.5; Week 24: Andy 10, Paul 1; Week 25: Andy 6.5, Paul 4.5; Week 26: Andy 6.4, Paul 4.5.

Monday, October 12, 2009

SBL Playoffs

ZERO’S 10, WHITESKINS 6
Week 1: Paul 6, JP 5; Week 2: Paul 6.5, JP 4.5; Week 3: Paul 6.5, JP 4.5; Week 4: Paul 7.5, JP 3.5; Week 5: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 6: Paul 6.5, JP 4.5; Week 7: JP 9, Paul 2; Week 8: PAUL 5.5, JP 5.5; Week 9: JP 7, Paul 4; Week 10: JP 7, Paul 4; Week 11: Paul 10, JP 1; Week 12: Paul 11, JP 0; Week 13: PAUL 5.5, JP 5.5; Week 14: JP 7, Paul 4; Week 15: JP 5.5, Paul 5.5; Week 16: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 17: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 18: Paul 7.5, JP 3.5; Week 19: Paul 9, JP 2; Week 20: Paul 6.5, JP 4.5; Week 21: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 22: Paul 10, JP 1; Week 23: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 24: Paul 7, JP 4; Week 25: Paul 11, JP 0; Week 26: JP 6, Paul 5.

BADGERS 15, BOMBERS 11
Week 1: DAN 5.5, Andy 5.5; Week 2: Dan 8, Andy 3; Week 3: Andy 6, Dan 5; Week 4: Dan 9, Andy 2; Week 5: Andy 7, Dan 4; Week 6: Andy 6, Dan 5; Week 7: Andy 6, Dan 5; Week 8: Dan 6, Andy 5; Week 9: Dan 8, Andy 3; Week 10: Andy 6.5, Dan 4.5; Week 11: Andy 10, Dan 1; Week 12: Andy 10.5, Dan .5; Week 13: Dan 8, Andy 3; Week 14: Dan 8.5, Andy 2.5; Week 15: ANDY 5.5, Dan 5.5; Week 16: Andy 7, Dan 4; Week 17: Andy 7.5, Dan 3.5; Week 18: Andy 8, Dan 3; Week 19: Andy 9, Dan 2; Week 20: Dan 7, Andy 4; Week 21: Dan 6.5, Andy; 4.5; Week 22: Dan 6, Andy 5; Week 23: Dan 6, Andy 5; Week 24: Andy 8, Dan 3; Week 25: Andy 9.5, Dan 1.5; Week 26: Andy 6, Dan 5.

SPECIAL PLAYOFF
WHITESKINS 13, GODFATHERS 13
Mega tiebreaker, based on cumulative stats: JP 6, Vic 5

Monday, October 5, 2009

SBL Notebook, Final

The Zero's are Number 1’s! Numero Uno’s! The Grand Poobah’s! The Big Kahuna’s! El Grande Queso’s! Yes, Paulo’s Zero’s, probably the longest-suffering, hardest-luck “elite” franchise in league history, are your 2009 SBL champions, having posted the best record in ball while sweeping to the American division title, then pancaking National division runners-up JP’s Whiteskins in the wild-card playoffs, 20-6, and edging AL runners-up Andy’s Badgers, 14-12, in the SBL Series. The Z’s are one of our four surviving charter franchises, there at the creation way back in 1983. They have always taken our little competition as seriously as anyone, always drafted shrewdly, always played hard and passionately, and almost always done quite well for themselves in terms of wins and losses – since the turn of the millennium they’ve averaged 93 wins a season. Yet somehow the fates have conspired to deny them their just deserts, consigning them to perennial and ever-frustrating bridesmaid status -- and so it is that this is only their second SBL title in 27 seasons, and their first in a full season, their other crown having been acquired in 1995, a season truncated by three weeks because of a strike that delayed its start until late April. (The Z’s owner has occasionally suggested that his team’s triumph in that 23-week season might be somehow less "legitimate" than one accomplished over a full 26-week, 162-game schedule, but the commissioner's office does not see it that way at all -- the fact is they decisively won the ’95 SBL Series against Stevie’s Beasties by a score of 14-9, and 14 wins in the Series earns you a championship in ANY year.)

There certainly can be no question that they earned this one, either. They won 106 games, nine more than anyone else. They moved into first place in the AL in Week 11 and never gave it up. They took sole possession of the best record in ball the following week and never gave that up either. Playing in what was quite possibly the strongest division, top to bottom, in SBL history -- the AL produced four 90-win teams, another that won 85 and, up until the season’s very last week, did not have a single team with a losing record -- the Z’s didn't merely survive, they won without being seriously threatened, finishing nine games ahead of the Badgers and maintaining a lead of at least eight games for the last eight weeks.

The WAY they won it, however, was not entirely conventional. Oh sure, they had their share of big producers on offense, from their first pick on draft night -- one Albert Pujols, who had perhaps the best season of his Hall of Fame career -- to their very last selection, Adam Lind, who delivered an out-of-nowhere 35 HRs, 114 RBIs, 46 doubles, 93 runs and .370 OBP, a hit-the-lottery payoff from the No. 291 pick in the draft. And yes, there were even unexpected contributions from rival owners -- such as the three who suffered simultaneous brain lock at the start of the draft and passed on Pujols, allowing the game’s best hitter to fall to Paul at No. 4 . . . and one of those same owners (who shall remain nameless) who donated Hanley Ramirez, the No. 1 overall pick, in a May trade. But what REALLY won this deal for the Zero’s was pitching -- specifically the contributions of the league’s best bullpen, possibly the best bullpen the league has ever seen. The quartet of Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Heath Bell and Huston Street combined for 159 saves -- an average of about 40 per man -- and also contributed enough positive numbers in the other categories (most notably strikeouts) to keep the Z’s competitive on the pitching side most weeks, even those when their starters, as starters are wont to do, faltered. Fourteen times in 26 weeks, the Zero’s posted an ERA of 3.25 or better; 15 times they posted a K-ratio of at least .95, and nine of those were over 1.00. More often than not, it seemed, the Z’s could count on winning at least three or four pitching stats, which meant they didn’t have to depend on overwhelming offense -- the preferred modus operandi of most SBL championship teams -- to win consistently. Paul’s bullpen-first approach may have gone against the historical grain, but he believed in it, he committed to it from the get-go -- spending precious early picks on Papelbon (30th overall, the first reliever drafted) and Rivera (69th), and adding Street (122nd) and Bell (148th) before the draft was half over -- and it paid off handsomely.

Before we put the wraps on another SBL season, we would be remiss if we didn’t send out kudos to the never-say-die Badgers, whose 97-win campaign (their best ever) featured an 18-1 finish over the last three weeks that enabled them to surge from fourth place and seven games out of the AL wild-card spot after Week 23 to second place, a comfortable six games ahead of the third-place BGoff Bammers, at season's end. Thus safely into the postseason for the first time in franchise history, Andy took out the injury-ravaged NL champs, Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers, 15-11 in the wild-card round, before giving Paul all he could handle in the Series. The other wild-card berth was settled in a stunning final-week reversal, as the Whiteskins wiped out a five-game deficit to catch Vic’s Godfathers for second place in the NL. That necessitated a special playoff series to break the tie -- except that series also ended in a tie, 13-13. So we went to the next tiebreaker -- the cumulative-stats mega-game, one standard 11-category game based on the entire season's stats for the two teams (lllonnggg-time owners will recall that this was the method used to play the SBL Series up until 1991, when we switched to the 26-week head-to-head format). JP won the mega-game, 6-5, to qualify for the playoffs, where the Zero’s juggernaut awaited. In the end, this meant some extra midnight oil being burned at the commissioner's office, just to determine which NL sacrificial lamb would be sent out to be slaughtered by the Z’s in the wild-card round.

Which brings us, somewhat indirectly, to the final topic we wish to address before we stagger into the off-season -- imbalance between the divisions. The American division has been the stronger circuit throughout this decade, with only two NL teams, the CV Bombers in 2003 and the Godfathers in ’04, breaking through to win the SBL title in the last 11 seasons. Hey, these things run in cycles, and it happens in real ball too -- when was the last time the National League won an All-Star game? But of late the disparity in the SBL has grown more worrisome. Four years ago, all six National division teams finished with losing records, and this year wasn't much better, with only the CV Bombers finishing above .500 -- at 90-72, the same record as the AL's fourth-place team. None of the other five NL teams got close to the break-even point, with the Whiteskins and Godfathers finishing at 73-89, on down to the last-place Derek’s Derelicts at 59-103. A lot of this is attributable to the AL's dominance in interleague play –- a 181-107 advantage in the eight weeks of cross-divisional competition this year. But there's also this: In the four seasons since we adopted the expanded four-team playoff format, the NL has yet to win a single postseason series, going 0 for 8. Paul's 20-6 rout of JP this year was the most one-sided postseason series in SBL history. All of this has the commissioner’s office weighing possible realignment scenarios. We don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings, but perhaps a "trade" sending one of the AL's habitually stronger clubs to the NL in exchange for one of that division's less successful squads might be something to seriously consider. As always, input and/or suggestions from any or all SBL owners would be welcomed.

Week 26 standings (Final)

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (3-3).......106...56....654...--
Andy (5-1)........97...65....599....9
Brian (2-4)........91...71....562...15
Mike (6-0)........90...72....556...16
Dennis (3-3)......85...77....525...21
David (0-6).......78...84....481...28
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (2-4).........90...72....556...--
JP (5-1)...........73...89....451...17
Vic (0-6)..........73...89....451...17
Gregg (2-4).......65...97....401...25
Damian (4-2).....64...98....395...26
Derek (4-2).......59..103....364...31

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 25

Congratulations, first of all, to Paulo’s Zero’s, who clinched the American division pennant with a 5-2 Week 25 performance that catapulted them over the 100-victory plateau -- the first and, as it turns out, the only SBL team that will break through that magical threshold this year. It is the second division title for this perennially competitive but ultimately hard-luck charter franchise, and, though the team's ownership no doubt would insist otherwise, it was a steady and not particularly nerve-racking march to the championship. The Z's have been the best team in ball for most of the season; they acquired first place in Week 11 and never gave it up . . . and in fact were never seriously threatened. From Week 13 on they never led by fewer than six games (and it got that close for only one week), and from mid-August on their lead never shrank below nine games. Not a cakewalk, exactly, but not quite 1978 Red Sox-Yankees-Bucky-Effing-Dent, either. So, a respectful tip o' the SBL cap to the Zero's, and let's move on to more pressing matters -- namely, the wild-card races, which this week underwent upheaval on the order of a Samoan tsunami. Andy's Badgers, riding the crest of a 17-2 three-week surge, went 7-0, and this coincided with an 0-7 face-plant by the BGoff Bammers to produce . . . that's right, Einstein breath, a seven-game swing that deposited the Badgers in second place and dropped the Bammers to third, three games out of the AL's No. 2 playoff slot with six to play. A similarly breathtaking reversal occurred in the National division, where Vic's Godfathers, culminating a long, steady climb, jumped from third place to second and all but clinched the NL wild-card spot in the bargain, the 6-1 swath they cut through the division combining with an 0-7 plunge by JP's Whiteskins to leave the G-Daddies with a five-game bulge. The 'Skins had been ensconced in second place since Week 9 (can that be right?), but they'd also been ripe for a fall, having posted only one winning record since Week 16, and this week it finally happened. . . . The week itself saw a major (by 2009 standards) revival of offense, after the near-microscopic numbers of Week 24. Five teams reached double figures in homers (that'd be five more than last week); another five had at least eight. Five teams had at least 40 RBIs (last week the league HIGH was 32), five also attained that benchmark in runs, and OBPs kinda went through the roof, with half the league getting into at least the .380s and two teams topping .400. Apparently most of this damage was done at the expense of two SBL pitching staffs in particular, those of Mikee's Moaners and the Patton Inmates, who sported morbidly obese ERAs of 7.63 and 7.18, respectively. The Ms did pop out a league-high 52 RBIs, but it was a pyrrhic victory in an otherwise mundane 3-4 week. The other statistical theme of the week: Strikeouts. Apparently SBL hitters were swinging for the fences and either hitting the ball a long way or missing it entirely, with the latter scenario playing out often enough for seven teams to post K-ratios of 1.00 or better, led by the 1.17 recorded by Dennis' Power-Armed Pontiffs.

Week 25 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-2)........103...53....660...--
Andy (7-0)........92...64....583...11
Brian (0-7)........89...67....571...14
Mike (3-4)........84...72....538...19
Dennis (3-4)......82...74....526...21
David (3-4).......78...78....500...25
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (5-2).........88...68....564...--
Vic (6-1)..........73...83....468...15
JP (0-7)...........68...88....436...20
Gregg (2-5).......63...93....404...25
Damian (2-5).....60...96....385...28
Derek (6-1).......55..101....353...33

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 24

Congrats, of a somewhat muted variety, are due Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers, who wrapped up the National division pennant this week, albeit in unceremonious fashion. The CVBs did not exactly storm the gates in securing their second NL flag in the last three years (and third in the last five, and fourth in the last seven); in fact they turned in their puniest offensive performance of the year and lurched into the postseason on the vapors of a 1-5 week. But second-place JP’s Whiteskins could do no better than 2-4, leaving them 15 games behind with 13 to play, so that’s that, and the Bombers can start resting up for the playoffs. Who the NL’s other postseason representative will be remains very much up in the air, with the ’Skins now only one game ahead of third-place Vic’s Godfathers heading into the last two weeks. There was also a slight tightening sensation in the American division races, with the BGoff Bammers now within nine games of the pacesetting Paulo’s Zero’s – after the Z’s stumbled to a 1-5 week, their first losing ledger in nearly two months – but only four games ahead of the onrushing Andy’s Badgers, who put a serious whupping on everyone in their path in a 6-0 week that featured victories by scores of 11-0, 10-1, 10-1, 9-2, 9-2 and 8.5-2.5. The Badgers, who rolled up 42 runs, 42 TBs and a .415 OBP, were the glaring exception during a week in which offense, in general, made a giant sucking sound as it imploded and collapsed in on itself like a white dwarf (that’s a dying star, not a Caucasian little person). There were no double-figure home-run totals, and the league high in RBIs was . . . 32? True story. Two teams, the Bombers and Bristow’s Batfaced Barristers, couldn’t even make it to 20 ribbies. And other than the Badgers, no one had more than 33 runs or 34 TBs. The late-season blahs seem to have hit baseball and, by extension, the SBL.

Week 24 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (1-5).........98...51....658...--
Brian (5-1)........89...60....597....9
Andy (6-0)........85...64....570...13
Mike (1-5)........81...68....544...17
Dennis (2-4)......79...70....530...19
David (4-2).......75...74....503...23
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (1-5).........83...66....557...--
JP (2-4)...........68...81....456...15
Vic (3-3)..........67...82....450...16
Gregg (1-5).......61...88....409...22
Damian (6-0).....58...91....389...25
Derek (4-2).......49..100....329...34

Monday, September 21, 2009

Free agent draft No. 12

Pre-draft moves:
Damian: activates Matsuzaka, drops Volstad
Paul: drops Liriano and R.Johnson

1. Derek: C Moore, drop Johnson
2. Damian: passes
3. Gregg: 1B Overbay, drops Pena
4. Vic: RP F.Morales, drops Ryan
5. JP: 1B Murphy, drops Morneau
6. David: RP Madson, drops Sosa
7. Dennis: OF Stubbs, drops Cubbyer
8. Andy: 1B LaPorta, drops Thome
9. Mike: OF DeJesus, drops Soriano
10. Dan: 2B Kendrick, drop Teahen; activate Zito, zambrano down
11. Brian: SS A.Escobar, drop Lugo
12: Paul: OF Podsednik, drop Guillen

Badgers make deal with Whiteskins

Andy's Badgers and J.P.'s Whiteskins completed the following four-player trade on Monday, Sept. 21:

To Badgers: C Matt Wieters and 1B Jim Thome

To Whiteskins: C Jeff Baker and 1B Paul Konerko

Whiteskins seek 1B, any 1B

J.P. Hoornstra, owner of the Whiteskins, is in dire need of obtaining a first baseman. His e-mail:

"If the Jim Thome trade was the SBL equivalent of an ingrown toenail,
the season-ending injury to Justin Morneau was a veritable root canal. So yeah, I don't have a first baseman. Peruse my roster and propose a trade. No one's untouchable (though you might not want to touch Michael Young, he could miss the rest of the season)."

We'll see if the Whiteskins, currently holding on to 2nd place in the National Division, can bouy their playoff hopes by making a deal.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 23

Close action was the order of the day, or week, with several Week 23 games decided by the narrowest of statistical margins, others by the narrowest of scores. Five games went to tiebreakers, involving seven teams. There were nine 6-5 scores and six 6.5-4.5 results, and let’s see, that makes 20 games, out of 36, that we’d describe as coulda-gone-either-way close. What isn’t close – not even – is the competition in the two division races, which are basically done deals at this point. Paulo’s Zero’s went 6-0 to improve the best record in ball to 97-46 and their American division lead to 12 games over the BGoff Bammers, with 19 to play. Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers actually lost a game off their NL lead but are still up by 16, meaning their coronation probably will be delayed by only one more week. NL runners-up JP’s Whiteskins managed to stave off elimination with a 4-2 week, but with the division flag well out of reach, they need to be more concerned with the rearguard action being mounted by Vic’s Godfathers, whose 5-1 performance pulled them within two games of the NL wild-card spot. The No. 2 spot in the AL also remains in play, with Mikee’s Moaners, Andy’s Badgers and Dennis’ Periodically Productive Pontiffs bunched up five, seven and eight games behind the Bammers, respectively. . . . Amid all these close games, the week’s Skin Of The Teeth award would go to the Zero’s, who avoided a tiebreaker with the Badgers by dint of an ultra-slim .8399-to-.8391 edge in K-ratio. But the week’s Hard Luck award goes not to the Badgers, who still went 4-2, but to the CV Bombers, whose 3-3 ledger featured two tiebreaker losses and a 6-5 defeat.

Week 23 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (6-0).........97...46....678...--
Brian (5-1)........85...58....594...12
Mike (3-3)........80...63....559...17
Andy (4-2)........78...65....545...19
Dennis (0-6)......77...66....538...20
David (2-4).......71...72....497...26
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (3-3).........82...61....573...--
JP (4-2)...........66...77....462...16
Vic (5-1)..........64...79....448...18
Gregg (1-5).......60...83....420...22
Damian (2-4).....52...91....364...30
Derek (1-5).......45...98....315...37

Monday, September 14, 2009

Zero's, DamU execute trade

Paulo’s Zero’s and DamianUnited completed the following four-player trade, on Monday, Sept. 14:

To DamU: OF Nick Markakis and 3B Hank Blalock

To Zero's: OF Jose Guillen and 3B Casey McGehee

Thursday, September 10, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 22

Oh, it is so on in the American division. We’re talking not so much about the pennant race, where Paulo’s Zero’s enjoy a commanding 11-game lead with 25 to play, but in terms of day-to-day, week-to-week competition. If you snooze -- for a day, for a single outing by a starting pitcher, even for a few at-bats – you may well lose in this fiercely, intensely, insanely competitive division, which we are hereby nominating as the strongest, top-to-bottom, in SBL history. Here we are, four weeks from the end of the season, and every team in the AL has a winning record. Every. Single. Team. Because the skimpy SBL archives lack a record of every week’s standings in the league’s 27-year history, we have no way of knowing whether this is an unprecedented occurrence, but we’re strongly guessing that it is the first time all six teams in a division have been over .500 this late in the season. Anyway, this much we know for certain: Every team is good, in varying degrees – even the last-place Bristow’s Bat-Faced Barristers, who have been scorching hot for the last month-and-a-half, with the exception of one bad week. We understand, intellectually, that this can’t be true, but doesn’t it at least seem like about 90 percent of the best players in the majors, or at least those having the best years, belong to American division teams? Any AL team can beat any other in the league at any time, and when an AL team meets up with an NL opponent, it seems to win almost every time. That was never truer than in the most recent interleague period, when the Americans rolled up a 109-35 win-loss record, and it was certainly true again this week, when the AL won 11 of 12 interleague tilts, most by one-sided scores, the only exception being a 6-5 squeaker pulled out by Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers over Andy’s Badgers. That W, coupled with a sweep of their intra-division games, resulted in a 6-1 week that virtually wrapped up the NL pennant for the CVBs, whose lead ballooned to 17 games over JP’s Whiteskins. With both division leaders so far ahead, the real action continues to be found in the wild-card races – three teams (second place through fourth) separated by three games in each division. The Whiteskins’ prolonged struggles have allowed Vic’s Godfathers and the injury-ravaged Patton Inmates to creep to within three games of second place in the NL, despite their rather pungent 59-78 records. The Badgers’ 1-6 hiccup this week dropped them from third to fifth place, though they’re still in the wild-card hunt, six games behind the second-place BGoff Bammers. . . . And so we lurch into the season’s final stages, and into another week of nerve-wracking, cutthroat competition in the AL, where every team owner usually reaps something enjoyable from his daily inspection of box scores, but also wonders, quietly and apprehensively: Will it be enough?

Week 22 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-2).........91...46....664...--
Brian (3-4)........80...57....584...11
Dennis (7-0)......77...60....562...14
Mike (4-3)........77...60....562...14
Andy (1-6)........74...63....540...17
David (6-1).......69...68....504...22
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (6-1).........79...58....577...--
JP (1-6)...........62...75....453...17
Vic (4-3)..........59...78....431...20
Gregg (3-4).......59...78....431...20
Damian (2-5).....50...87....365...29
Derek (0-7).......44...03....321...35

Free agent draft No. 11

Pre-draft DL move:
Dennis: Activates OF JUpton, OF NMorgan to DL

1. Derek: takes SP Pedro Martinez, JSantana to DL
2. Damian: takes 3B McGehee, drops Glaus
3. Vic: takes OF Pagan, drops Duncan
4. Gregg: takes OF S.Smith, drops Sizemore; taxi: Feldman up, Richmond down
5. JP: No pick; activates Cueto from DL, drops Holland
6. David: Passes
7. Derek (from Dennis): takes OF Diaz, drops Rasmus
8. Mike: takes 1B Cantu, Branyan to DL
9. Dan: takes SP Zito, drops Norris
10. Andy: takes RP Gutierrez, Qualls to DL
11. BGoff: takes RP NFeliz, drops Zumaya
12. Paul: takes OF Coghlan, drops Sheffield

SBL Notebook, Week 21

The return to intra-divisional play did not yield quite the cutthroat competition that was expected, particularly in the red-hot American division. Instead, everyone seemed to take a moment to catch their breath after four weeks of frenzied interleague play – hitting numbers shriveled, ERAs rose, and numbers that were merely decent translated to great success in the W-L column. Andy’s Badgers were good in only two of six offensive stats (HRs and RBIs), but went 6-0 on the strength of quality pitching. The Patton Inmates were almost perfectly middle-of-the-road in most o-stats (36 runs, 33 RBIs, 34 TB, 8 HR) and posted an unsightly 4.78 ERA, but that didn’t keep them from going 6-0 too. Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers also overcame some pretty execrable pitching (4.67 ERA, 1.52 BR) to go 5-1 (14 HRs and 49 ribbies didn’t hurt); the BGoff Bammers posted the same record despite not doing all that much on offense (13 HRs and 39 runs, yes, but also 31 RBIs, 22 TB and a .310 OBP). What this all meant in the standings was . . . not a whole lot in the AL, where the Bammers gained one game on Paulo’s Zero’s but still trail by nine. It’s another four games back to the Badgers and the fading Mikee’s Moaners. But the Bombers busted things open a bit in the NL, where they remain the only winning team and now are 12 games ahead of the slip-sliding JP’s Whiteskins. In fact, don’t look now, but the defending division champion Inmates, scuffling along at 18 games under .500, are only five games out of the wild-card playoff spot. The five worst records in ball belong to NL teams.

Week 21 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (4-2).........86...44....662...--
Brian (5-1)........77...53....592....9
Andy (6-0)........73...57....562...13
Mike (1-5)........73...57....562...13
Dennis (2-4)......70...60....538...16
David (1-5).......63...67....485...23
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (5-1).........73...57....562...--
JP (1-5)...........61...69....469...12
Gregg (6-0).......56...74....431...17
Vic (0-6)..........55...75....423...18
Damian (2-4).....48...82....369...25
Derek (3-3).......44...86....338...29

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

2009 SBL Rosters (Updated)

Here's an updated version of the rosters for each SBL team, thanks (once again) to commissioner Mike Davis and his roster monkey, Derek Rich.

MIKE
C: Napoli (118), YMolina (261)
1B: Ortiz (27), Branyan (S)
2B: Schumaker (287), Ellis (S)
SS: Zobrist (S), Andrus (T)
3B: Reynolds (183), An.LaRoche (S)
OF: ASoriano (14), Ludwick (40), Span (196), R.Davis (S), Granderson, (T), Wells (T)
SP: Harden (79), Lester (144), UJimenez (T), JShields (T), Happ (S)
Taxi: Lohse (24), Buehrle (S)
RP: Soria (66), FCordero (92), Rodney (222), MacDougal (S)

DAMIAN
C: VMartinez (106), Barajas (288)
1B: Berkman (15), Huff (133)
2B: KJohnson (171), Kennedy (S)
SS: Furcal (54), OCabrera (210)
3B: DWright (2), Glaus (197)
OF: Quentin (41), Hunter (119), Hawpe (158), Ethier (T), G.Jones (S), JGuillen (249)
SP: Lincecum (28), ClLee (93), Saunders (236), Nolasco (S), Marquis (S)
Taxi: Kazmir (146), Volstad (T)
RP: FRodriguez (67), Fuentes (80), Wheeler (T), Johnson (S)
DL: SP Matsuzaka (146)

GREGG
C: BMolina (159), Montero (S)
1B: CPena (94), Helton (237)
2B: Uggla (29), Callaspo (S)
SS: AlRamirez (68), YBetancourt (276)
3B: Figgins (120), DeRosa (185)
OF: Sizemore (3), Hamilton (16), BUpton (42), Choo (224), Fukudome (290), Reimold (S)
SP: Price (107), Cain (121), Kershaw (172), Scherzer (211), Richmond (S)
Taxi: Kawakami (3), Feldman (S)
RP: Lidge (55), Jenks (81), Capps (134), Marmol (147)

PAUL
C: Ianetta (109), KSuzuki (264)
1B: Pujols (4), Loney (S)
2B: Hudson (225), Castillo (S)
SS: Renteria (212), HaRamirez (T)
3B: Kouzmanoff (199), Blalock (251)
OF: Markakis (17), Ordonez (56), Cameron (278), Lind (291), Byrd (S), Sheffield (S)
SP: FHernandez (95), Gallardo (135), Kuroda (265), JerWeaver (4 taxi), Pettitte (S)
Taxi: Gaudin (S), Hughes (S)
RP: Papelbon (30) MRivera (69), Street (122), Bell (148)
DL: SP RJohnson (186), SP Liriano (82)

DEREK
C: McCann (57), R.Johnson (S)
1B: Howard (5), Votto (70)
2B: Pedroia (18), Barmes (213)
SS: Hardy (96), Guzman (S)
3B: Lowell (187), Stewart (S)
OF: Rios (44), Burrell (110), Werth (161), Griffey (239), Willingham (S), Rasmus (S)
SP: JSantana (31), Chamberlain (83), Danks (149), Jurrjens (174), Washburn (S)
Taxi: Meche (5), Blackburn (S)
RP: Downs (200), Kuo (266), Hawkins (S), Sherrill (T)
DL: OF Bruce (136)

DENNIS
C: Doumit (111), Pierzynski (T)
1B: Fielder (32), Butler (S)
2B: Cano (84), FSanchez (227)
SS: JReyes (6), Theriot (188)
3B: RZimmerman (124), Crede (240)
OF: Holliday (19), Ellsbury (58), Cuddyer (S), Morgan (S), HMatsui (S), CGuillen (S)
SP: Halladay (45), Haren (71), Wainwright (137), DeLaRosa (S), Floyd (6 taxi)
Taxi: Glavine (19), RHill (T)
RP: Saito (280), CWilson (S), Valverde (T), Frasor (T)
DL: 1B Delgado (98),OF JUpton (162)

BRIAN
C: IRodriguez (242), Bard (S)
1B: CDavis (46; S), LaRoche (S)
2B: JLopez (86), FLopez (229)
SS: Scutaro (T), Lugo (S)
3B: Longoria (20), Rolen (294)
OF: Braun (7), Bay (33), Dye (112), Damon (151), Francoeur (215), Spilborghs (268)
SP: Hamels (72), Beckett (72), Carpenter (138) JJohnson (163), WRodriguez (228)
Taxi: Millwood (S), CYoung (T)
RP: Broxton (99), MGonzalez (125), Putz (202), Zumaya (S)

DAVID
C: Mauer (100), Jaramillo (S)
1B: MiCabrera (8), NJohnson (S)
2B: BRoberts (47), Getz (295)
SS: Jeter (87), Bartlett (256)
3B: Mora (190), Beckham (S)
OF: CaLee (21), Guerrero (60), Pence (126), Winn (217), CRoss (S), Gutierrez (S)
SP: Sabathia (34), SBaker (139), Wolf (17 taxi), Verlander (T), Nippert (S)
Taxi: Lowe (164), Hochevar (S)
RP: FFrancisco (152), Franklin (S), Bailey (S), Sosa (T)

ANDY
C: Soto (62), Baker (S)
1B: Teixeira (9), Konerko (205)
2B: Polanco (178), AHill (S)
SS: SDrew (49), Tulowitzki (S)
3B: CJones (48), Sandoval (88)
OF: Beltran (22), ISuzuki (35), Ibanez (101), AdJones (218), Cust (T), McCutchen (S)
SP: Greinke (114), Burnett (165), Hanson (T), Smoltz (S), Anderson (9 taxi)
Taxi: Romero (S), Porcello (191)
RP: BWilson (75), Qualls (140), Aardsma (T), Meredith (S)
DL: C Flores (270)

JP
C: Martin (37), Wieters (193)
1B: Morneau (23), Thome (166)
2B: Utley (10), AsCabrera (S)
SS: YEscobar (128), Aybar (S)
3B: MYoung (63), Blake (284)
OF: Abreu (50), Victorino (76), Kubel (245), JDrew (271), Bourn (S), Scott (S)
SP: ESantana (192), Garza (219), EJackson (S), Maholm (15 taxi), RWells (S)
Taxi: Latos (S), Holland (S)
RP: Nathan (36), Gregg (89), Ziegler (141), Lindstrom (154)
DL: SP Cueto (10 taxi), SP Bergesen (S)

VIC
C: Navarro (272), Ruiz (S)
1B: AdGonzalez (77), DLee (129)
2B: BPhillips (51) KMatsui (233)
SS: Rollins (11), Greene (259)
3B: ARodriguez (24), Inge (S)
OF: Kemp (25), Crawford (38), Hart (90), Ankiel (207), JRivera (285), Duncan (S)
SP: Oswalt (103), Lackey (116), JVazquez (155), Duke (S), JSanchez (14 taxi)
Taxi: Niemann (S), Bush (S)
RP: Ryan (142), Balfour (246), Villanueva (298), RSoriano (S)
DL: SP Peavy (64), C Hernandez (194)

DAN
C: Posada (234), Laird (286)
1B: Youkilis (39), KMorales (299)
2B: Kinsler (13), Teahen (221)
SS: Peralta (65), Tejada (208)
3B: ARamirez (26), Feliz (S)
OF: MRamirez (12), McLouth (52), Dunn (78), NCruz (156), Swisher (S), Fowler (S)
SP: Dempster (104), Billingsley (117), Zambrano (156), Lilly (168), Blanton (S)
Taxi: Lannan (13), Norris (S)
RP: Wood (91), Hoffman (182), Howell (S), Nunez (S)
DL: SP Volquez (143)

Saturday, August 29, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 20

It's time for us to go back to playing amongst ourselves, and not a moment too soon for the NL, whose long National nightmare mercifully ended this week after yet another thumping at the hands of the American division. The AL won the season's final week of interleague play, 26-10. That gave the Americans an outrageous and unfortunate 109-35 edge for the four-week interleague period, and created a sight rarely if ever seen this far into an SBL season -- an entire division without a single losing record. That includes even the last-place Bristow's Bat-Faced Barristers, whose reign as hottest team in ball extended to a third week. The BFBs began the interleague period with a 41-59 record but ended it at 62-62 after posting their third consecutive 6-0 performance, thanks mainly to yet more massive production from their offense (44 runs, 15 HRs, 7 SBs, .406 OBP) and bullpen (eight saves). Their 21-3 record was the best in this interleague period, though truth be told, the entire AL got fat at the NL's expense, including Mikee's Moaners (20-4) and the BGoff Bammers (19-5). The front-running Paulo's Zero's went "only" 18-6 but lost just one game off their lead in the four weeks, leaving them with a cushy 10-game bulge over the Bammers and Moaners with 38 games to play as we head into the home stretch. Dennis' Prolific Pontiffs suffered a rare off week (1-5) and dropped from second place to fourth, 14 games back. As for the NL, probably the less said, the better. The Nationals had held their own in the first interleague period (Weeks 7-10), which ended in a dead-even split -- 2-2 in weeks, 72-72 in games. But the Americans' huge advantage in the second period left the final interleague tally AL 181, NL 107. At least the Week 20 damage was fairly democratic, with no NL team suffering an 0-6 fate, though none won more than two games. First-place Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers and runners-up JP's Whiteskins each went 2-4, and the CVBs' lead remained at eight games for the fourth consecutive week

Week 20 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (6-0).........82...42....644...--
Brian (6-0)........72...52....581...10
Mike (6-0)........72...52....581...10
Dennis (1-5)......68...56....548...14
Andy (1-5)........67...57....540...15
David (6-0).......62...62....500...20
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (2-4).........68...56....548...--
JP (2-4)...........60...64....484....8
Vic (1-5)..........55...69....444...13
Gregg (1-5)......50...74....403...18
Damian (2-4).....42...78....371...22
Derek (2-4).......41...83....331...27

Free agent draft No. 10

Pre-draft moves:
David: Nippert up, Lowe down
Dennis: De La Rosa up, RHill down (mandatory)
Dan: Lilly up, Norris down

1. Dennis (from Derek): takes OF Matsui, Upton to DL
2. Damian: takes SP Marquis, drops Sadowski; taxi: Marquis up, Kazmir down
3. Gregg: takes SP Feldman, drops VandenHurk
4. Vic: No response
5. David: takes SP Nippert, drops Webb
6. JP: takes SP Holland, Cueto to DL; taxi: E.Santana up, Latos down
7. Dan: takes OF Fowler, drops C.Young
8. Andy: takes SP Smoltz, drops Strasburg; taxi: Smoltz up, Romero down
9. Mike: takes OF R.Davis, drops Thames.
10. Brian: takes 1B C.Davis, drops Prado
11. Derek (from Dennis): takes C R.Johnson, drops Saltalamaccia
12. Paulo: takes SP Pettitte, Liriano to DL; taxi: Pettitte up, Gaudin down

Pontiffs pull off two trades

During a week in which Dennis' Pontiffs reached its high-water mark in 7 years as a Sun Baseball League franchise, the team made a drastic attempt remain in second place in the American Division by making two trades.

Trade No. 1:

To Derek's Derelicts: C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, RP George Sherrill, two free agent picks (No. 11 on Aug. 23, TBA on Sept 7).

To Dennis' Pontiffs: C A.J. Pierzynski, RP Jason Frasor, one free agent draft pick (No. 1 on Aug. 23).

Trade No. 2:

To David's Bat-Faced Girls: SP Justin Verlander, RP Jorge Sosa.

To Dennis Pontiffs: SP Rich Hill, RP Jose Valverde.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 19

Being American isn't always such a good thing -- like, say, if you're in Afghanistan, Iran or North Korea. But lately it's been a very good thing if you happen to reside in the Sun Baseball League, where, from a National perspective, the American division has evolved into some kind of Axis of Evil. Following up on its 33-3 bludgeoning of the NL in Week 18, the AL hung a 27-9 kick-me sign on the backs of its rival division in Week 19, the next-to-last week of interleague play. Leading the onslaught again were Bristow's Batfaced Girls, who, despite their last-place standing, have been simply the best team in ball these last two weeks. Another week of scorched-earth offense (44 runs, 41 RBIs, 41 TB, .416 OBP, 7 SBs) combined with another week of unassailable pitching (2.29 ERA, .90 BR, 6-1 WL, 7 saves) to produce another week of one-sided victories for the BFGs, who won three games by 10-1 counts and three others by 9-2, 8.5-2.5 and 8-3. The only downside for Girls is that their 12-0 surge the last two weeks has gotten them virtually nowhere in the standings, where they trail the pace-setting Paulo's Zero's by 20 games, only two games closer than they were after Week 17. That's because they entire AL has been getting rich off the backs of their NL brethren, resulting in precious little pennant-race movement. The NL leaders, Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers, endured a second consecutive 0-6 week, thanks largely to another injury wave that at various times in recent weeks has sidelined every pitcher in their starting rotation (only Chad Billingsley has avoided the DL, though even he missed a start) as well has hitting stalwarts Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Aramis Ramirez and Nate McLouth. Yet the CVBs have lost no ground to runners-up JP's Whiteskins, who also went 0-6 for a second straight week and still trail by eight games. The only significant northward movement in the NL was achieved by Vic's Godfathers, who overcame some shoddy pitching to post a second consecutive 3-3 ledger and have moved solidly into wild-card contention, just four games behind the Whiteskins in a division where, sadly, everyone but the Bombers is now below .500. The Zero's added another game to their AL lead, now nine games over Dennis' Pitching-Rich Pontiffs, with three other teams bunched up behind them like planes on approach at LAX -- the BGoff Bammers, Mikee's Moaners and Andy's Badgers are now tied for third, 10 games behind the Z's, meaning that only one game separates the second through fifth positions in the AL wild-card race. Five AL teams are at least 14 games over .500, and the sixth, the Batfaces, has climbed to within six games of the break-even mark.

Week 19 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (4-2).........76...42....644...--
Dennis (3-3)......67...51....568....9
Brian (5-1)........66...52....559...10
Mike (5-1)........66...52....559...10
Andy (4-2)........66...52....559...10
David (6-0).......56...62....475...20
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (0-6).........66...52....559...--
JP (0-6)...........58...60....547....8
Vic (3-3)..........54...64....458...12
Gregg (5-1).......49...69....415...17
Damian (0-6).....44...74....373...22
Derek (1-5).......39...79....331...27

Friday, August 14, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 18

The second week of the August interleague interlude was ugly and American. The AL mashed the NL, 33-3, a result that stirred uncomfortable memories of 2005, the year every National division team finished under .500, in no small measure because of the AL's huge advantage in interleague play. No such hideous disparity exists this year, and the NL at least sports two winning teams . . . but this week was an exception to season-long trends. Only one NL team managed to win any games at all -- Vic's Godfathers, who eked out three 6-5 victories. Everyone else in the division went 0-6, while three AL team enjoyed 6-0 weeks and the other three went 5-1. The best of that lot were the last-place Bristow's Bat-Faced Girls, who rose up to post their best offensive week of this and perhaps any other season (49 runs, 46 RBIs, 17 HR, 42 TB, .381 OBP) and even tossed in some quality pitching (2.81 ERA, 1.15 BR, 7 saves) -- a combination that made them untouchable. The closest game they had was 9-2. . . . The massive tilt in the AL's direction made it a no-harm, no-foul week in the division races, which for obvious reasons remained virtually unchanged. Paulo's Zero's did add a game to their AL lead (now eight games), while Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers remained eight up on JP's Whiteskins. The AL wild-card chase grew even tighter, if that's possible, with only three games separating Dennis' Prodigious Pontiffs in second place from Mikee's Moaners in fifth.

Week 18 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (6-0).........72...40....643...--
Dennis (5-1)......64...48....571....8
Andy (5-1)........62...50....554...10
Brian (6-0)........61...51....545...11
Mike (5-1)........61...51....545...11
David (6-0).......50...62....445...22
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (0-6).........66...46....623...--
JP (0-6)...........58...54....547....8
Vic (3-3)..........51...61....455...15
Damian (0-6).....44...68....393...22
Gregg (0-6).......44...68....393...22
Derek (0-6).......38...74....339...28

Free agent draft No. 9

Pre-draft moves:
Dan: activates SP Dempster, drops Contreras
JP: activates RP Lindstrom, drops Meyer
David: drops 3B Beltre

1. Derek: takes RP Frasor, drops Morrow
2. Gregg: takes SP VandenHurk, drops Davies
3. David: takes SP Hochevar, drops Harang
4. Damian: takes RP Johnson, drops Hanrahan
5. Vic: takes SP Niemann, drops Maine; taxi order: Niemann, Bush
6. Brian: takes 1B LaRoche, drops Cantu
7. Mike: takes 2B Ellis, drops Kendrick
8. Andy: takes SP Strausburg, drops Buchholz
9. JP: takes SP Latos, Bergesen to DL; taxi: Latos up, Cueto down
10. Dennis: takes RP Sosa, drops Arredondo
11. Paul: takes OF Byrd, drops Pierre
12. Dan: takes SP Norris, drops Smoltz, Lilly to taxi

Monday, August 3, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 17

We have no idea whether there's a chimney affixed to the Pope residence, but this we can say with complete assurance: Dennis' Anything-But-Puny Pontiffs are smokin' just now. Yes, the Vatican City Madmen are rolling like the Popemobile down one of the Seven Hills of Rome, flattening all in their path with what we're guessing must have been the best single week in the franchise's spotty history. Massive offense combined with Their Holinesses' usual impregnable pitching produced a Holy S--- 6-0 week in which the Flamin' Benedicts won by scores of 11-0, 10-1, 9-2, 8.5-2.5, 8.5-2.5 and 8-3. And no wonder, after the Mashin' Catholics blasted 15 HRs, drove in 52 runs, scored 50 and posted a .405 OBP -- quite possibly the most one-sided show of force by the Papacy since the Inquisition. Helping lead the charge was (of course) a Cardinal -- Matt Holliday, reinserted in the Pontiffs' lineup after his trade to St. Louis and contributor of three HRs, seven RBIs and six runs to the Week 17 cause. Another Cardinal, Adam Wainwright, has been a season-long asset to an exceptional rotation that consistently has been (much like the aforementioned Popemobile) bulletproof, most weeks anyway. AW did his part again, allowing only two runs in 15 IP to help the Papal staff fashion a league-best 1.95 ERA. All this has the Popesters dreaming of a ring, and not the kind one kisses. The 6-0 week took them to 59-47 -- quite possibly a high-water mark for the franchise, at least this late in the season -- and to within seven games of the American division leaders, Paulo's Zero's, who stumbled to a 2-4 week. The Holy See is now alone in second place -- the wild-card playoff spot -- but can't get too comfortable with Andy's Badgers only two games behind after fashioning their own 6-0 ledger. And it's only another game back to Mikee's Moaners, and one more still to the BGoff Bammers -- just four games separating second from fifth place in what is shaping up as a most exciting AL wild-card race. . . . The National division race remained more orderly -- Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers still comfortably in first, JP's Whiteskins entrenched in second (but now eight games back, two more than a week ago), and everyone else at least 10 games under .500. . . . Thanks largely to the Pontiffs and Badgers, who accounted for more than half the wins, the AL won the first of four weeks of interleague play, 23-13. . . . There is a change to report in supplemental draft No. 8, the one conducted last Monday. The Bammers had made a late switch in their selection Monday evening -- too late, in the judgment of the commissioner's office, which ultimately disallowed the pick because the change occurred after the draft had been completed. Thus the Bammers' selection of 1B Ryan Garko (and jettisoning of Jorge Cantu) is negated, and their original pick -- SS Julio Lugo, dropping Jerry Hairston Jr. -- is restored. So, for those playing along at home and wishing to update your rosters: Lugo is now the Bammers' backup shortstop. Cantu remains their backup first baseman. Garko and Hairston are available for selection in the next draft.

Week 17 standings

AMERICAN.
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (2-4).........66...40....623...--
Dennis (6-0)......59...47....557....7
Andy (6-0)........57...49....538....9
Mike (4-2)........56...50....528...10
Brian (2-4)........55...51....519...11
David (3-3).......44...62....415...22
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (3-3).........66...40....623...--
JP (1-5)...........58...48....547....8
Vic (4-2)..........48...58....453...18
Damian (4-2).....44...62....415...22
Gregg (0-6).......44...62....415...22
Derek (1-5).......38...68....358...28

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 16

The SBL can be a cruel mistress when she wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and she certainly spiked the BGoff Bammers’ scrambled eggs with something foul this week. Consider these Week 16 numbers for the BBs: 8 HR, 38 RBIs, 34 runs, 28 TB, .371 OBP, 2.76 ERA, 4-2 WL, and an outrageous league-leading .85 BR stat. Now, take a good look at those stats and have a guess at what they might yield on the score sheet for a seven-game week in this season of diminished expectations on the offensive side of things. Hmm, solid offense pretty much across the board . . . excellent pitching . . . so you’re thinking, 6-1, maybe 5-2 at worst, right? Uh-uh. Think again. All those lovely numbers got the Bams was a big fat goose egg – quite possibly the most undeserved 0-7 week on record. We looked at the numbers again and again (thinking, “I’d take those numbers into battle any ol’ week”), even replayed the games a second time. It still came out to 0-7. It’s almost inexplicable -– the Bammers were weak in only three stats (2 SBs, 1 save, .73 Ks), good everywhere else -– just not good enough. Certainly one factor was a sharp spike in offense league-wide, with four teams getting into the 40s in RBIs, three getting there in runs, five double-digit homer totals (plus three more at a near-miss 9), and six OBPs of .369 and higher. Also, it was the Bams’ misfortune to play the two best teams in the National division –- the only two with winning records, in fact –- Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers and JP’s Whiteskins. The ’Skins, in particular, were rakin’ to the max, benefiting from the prescient insertion of Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel in their lineup to pile up 16 HRs, 48 RBIs, 44 runs and a preposterous .429 OBP, a league record in that first-year stat. But the Bombers are an interesting case, when you compare their numbers to the Bammers’. The CVBs certainly had a nice hitting week, particularly their 10 SBs and 43 RBIs. But by and large their stats -– including 9 HRs, 37 runs, 31 TB, .353 OBP –- were in the same range as BGoff’s. And their pitching was, in the main, pretty awful, with Dan’s starters doing enough damage to drop a 6.59 ERA (the league-worst), 1.56 BR ratio and 3-4 WL in his punch bowl. The Bammers pitched much better, in terms of the fundamental objectives of getting outs, keeping people from crossing home plate (or getting on base at all) and, you know, winning games. Yet the Bombers –- employing the time-honored Patton Inmates approach of utilizing steals (the aforementioned league-high 10), saves (league-high 7) and strikeouts (killer 1.12 ratio) to stay competitive in an otherwise rocky week -– went 6-1. That would be six more wins than the Bammers logged, despite their having had a week that in many ways could be objectively judged as statistically superior, overall, to the Bombers’. Sometimes life just isn’t fair, eh? . . . The Bammers paid a stiff price their hard-luck week, giving back all five games they’d gained the previous week on American division pacesetters Paulo’s Zero’s, whose lead has been restored to a cushy 11 games. In fact the Bammers have fallen into a second-place tie with surging, pitching-rich Dennis’ Puny Pontiffs, in an AL wild-card race that has grown almost impossibly tight. A mere two games now separate second place from fifth in the division, which currently sports five teams with winning records. Take a snapshot of that; it doesn’t happen often. . . . The NL race remained the same, only more so -– the Bombers and Whiteskins both going 6-1, the rest of the division going a combined 6-22, the gulf between the top two haves and bottom four have-nots continuing to grow. There’s Dan (63-37), JP (57-43, six games back) -- and no one else within 11 games of .500.

Week 16 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-2).........64...36....640...--
Dennis (4-3)......53...47....530...11
Brian (0-7)........53...47....530...11
Mike (6-1)........52...48....520...12
Andy (6-1)........51...49....510...13
David (3-4).......41...59....410...23
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (6-1).........63...37....630...--
JP (6-1)...........57...43....570....6
Vic (2-5)..........44...56....440...19
Gregg (1-6).......44...56....440...19
Damian (1-6).....40...60....400...23
Derek (2-5).......37...63....370...26

Free agent draft No. 8

Pre-draft DL moves:
Derek: activates 3B Lowell, drops AGordon
Gregg: activates 3B DeRosa, drops Bonifacio
JP: drops SP Slowey to open a DL slot
Paul: drops OF Nady to open a DL slot

1. Derek: takes SP Washburn, drops Carmona; taxi: Washburn up, Blackburn down
2. David: takes OF FGutierrez, drops Crisp
3. Damian: takes OF GJones, drops Dukes
4. Vic: takes C Ruiz, Hernandez to DL
5. Gregg: takes C Montero, drops Varitek; taxi (provisional): Kawakami up, Richmond down
6. Andy: takes RP Meredith, drops Motte; taxi: Anderson up, Porcello down
7. Mike: takes SP Buehrle, drops OPerez
8. Dennis: takes OF CGuillen, drops Bradley
9. JP: takes SP RWells, Bedard to DL
10. Brian: takes SS Lugo, drops SS JHairston Jr.
11. Dan: takes SP Blanton, Volquez to DL; taxi: Blanton up, Contreras down
12. Paul: takes SP Gaudin, RJohnson to DL

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Derelicts in market for closer

The Derelicts think they're one reliever away from getting back in the National Division race.

Derek's e-mail:

Greetings (again) fellow owners ...

First, I'd like to offer my appreciation to all who made offers last week, despite the fact that no triggers were pulled. The resurgence of Mr. Pedroia -- who now only trails Barmes in HR numbers -- has made it difficult to trade him, and my OF depth situation seems to have been settled for the moment, with the supplemental acquisition of Colby Rasmus.

However ...

The Derelicts remain in the market for a steady closer. My two injured third basemen, Mike Lowell and Alex Gordon, were both activated this week, so I am looking at either being forced to drop one of them or swing a deal.

That said, I'm offering the services of Clint Barmes, Gordon or Lowell (but would be willing to possibly discuss Ian Stewart), LaTroy Hawkins, and my supplemental pick for a package that would include a lesser backup 2B, a weaker 3B (who I would likely drop) and a consistent ninth-inning guy.

Just gauging the interest."

The Double D's (35-58) had their best week recently (5-1) but are 22 games back of the National Division-leading Cherry Valley Bombers.

SBL Notebook, Week 15

This was All-Star week, the "short" week, and in its honor we will attempt (though, knowing us, most likely fail) to keep this (relatively) short. Frankly we've never liked this week, and the less said about it the better. The statistical sample is pint-sized, about half the numbers you'd see in a normal week, a situation exacerbated by the recent phenomenon of MLB's conducting a severely abbreviated schedule on the Thursday after the Midsummer Classic. Used to be we'd at least get four full days of stats out of this week; now it's not even 3½ . Yet we treat the week as we would any other, the small price we pay for our lovely, symmetrical, 26-week, 162-game schedule -- a half-week statistically, but a full, six-game week in the standings. Thus that shrunken sample can yield some outsized swings on the leaderboard -- which is exactly what happened in the American division, where Paulo's Zero's got a couple of bad pitching outings, the BGoff Bammers got a couple of good ones, and just like that the Zero's lost almost half of what had been an 11-game lead, their 1-5 fade coupling with the Bams' 6-0 surge to lift Brian within six games of the top. For the Bammers this represented a sudden reawakening after an uncharacteristically long and pronounced slide -- six weeks in, they were 32-6 and in first place; over the next eight weeks they went 15-34 and from six games ahead of the Zero's to 11 games back, a 17-game whiplash. . . . That the Bammers accomplished their revival on the strength of their pitching was not unusual within the context of this one week. Common SBL wisdom has long held that the fewer innings you get from your pitchers, the better off you are likely to be, and this week lent considerable support to that belief. Coming out of the break, most MLB teams led with their aces, and since the majority of teams played only three games, most never got to the troublesome back end of their rotations. Thus, an SBL double whammy this week -- fewer innings, and most of those innings logged by higher-quality pitchers. The numbers that combo produced were for the most part outrageous -- two-thirds of the SBL's ERAs were 3.05 or better, seven of those were under 2.8 and five were under 1.75. The Patton Inmates logged a 1.74 ERA, only to see it trumped by two teams in their own division; the Mental Defectives went 2-4 but deserved much better. There were also three BR stats under 1.00, a rarely-seen feat; in fact all three were under .90, including the Inmates' .87 -- which again was beaten by a division rival, in this case Vic's Godfathers' .75. Oddly, however, the team with the shoddiest pitching -- Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers, crafters of a bloated 5.21 ERA and 1.74 BR stat, both league worsts -- actually had one of the better weeks, going 4-2 and adding two games to their National division lead, now six games over JP's Whiteskins.

Week 15 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (1-5)........59....34....634...--
Brian (6-0).......53....40....570....6
Dennis (5-1).....49....44....527...10
Mike (2-4).......46....47....495...13
Andy (3-3).......45....48....484...14
David (0-6)......38....55....409...21
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (4-2).........57....36....613...--
JP (2-4)...........51....42....538....6
Gregg (2-4)......43....50....462...14
Vic (5-1)..........42....51....452...15
Damian (1-5).....39....54....419...18
Derek (5-1).......35....58....376...22

Friday, July 17, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 14

One hallmark of a good SBL team is an attribute known on the pro tennis tour as Survive And Advance. That is, the ability to endure a bad patch and still maintain, or even improve, one’s station, in much the same way that, say, Roger Federer or Serena Williams manages to win on a day when he/she is far below his/her top level, and gets through to the next round at a Grand Slam. Week 14 was such a week for Paulo’s Zero’s. The American division leaders struggled all week, achieving major suckage with their second-worst ERA of the season (5.09) and offense that, right up until the figurative fantasy-league bottom of the ninth, had “0-6 collapse” written all over it. But, as good teams do, they found a way to win – in this case, three games, a .500 week that enabled them to not merely tread water and tear another week off the calendar, but to actually increase their lead over the faltering BGoff Bammers, whose second straight 0-6 misstep left them 11 games back at the All-Star break. The Zero’s rescued themselves with a big Sunday (four HRs, 14 RBIs) that dragged their offensive numbers northward to respectability, and with solid performance in some of the “fringe” categories that don’t necessarily draw the eye on a casual inspection of a box score – such as their seven saves, 1.00 K-ratio, .366 OBP and 34 TB. It didn’t add up to a monster week, just an OK one – which isn’t bad at all for a team in their lofty position. Much like a golfer with a comfortable lead in a major who’s just looking to make pars on the back nine on Sunday, walk to the tent, sign the scorecard and kiss the trophy (and the trophy wife), the Zero’s have more than a little wiggle room. Basic math suggests they probably won’t have to be great the rest of the way, just decent – they’re playing .667 ball now, and playing at a mere .560 clip over the last 12 weeks would get them to 100 wins. No one else in the AL is even halfway to 100, and only the Bammers, at 47-40, are even within one good week of the half-century plateau. It’s not over, of course – it’s baseball, anything can happen! – but the Zero’s are in an enviably comfortable position just now. . . . In other SBL news, offense is back! Whether this is a true reawakening after nearly two months of doldrums, or a one-off aberration fueled by an usually busy schedule, we shall see. But there was a perceptible uptick in the numbers this week. The most noticeable increase was in plate appearances – it was a week without any light-schedule days, with many real-ball teams playing seven games (even working on both Monday and Thursday!). And when PAs go up, other numbers can tend to follow. Witness Mikee’s Moaners, who dragged their sorry butts to the dish a league-high 271 times and, perhaps not coincidentally, came away with league highs in runs (43) and home runs (13) and second-best totals in RBIs (46) and OBP (.380). Also notably benefiting from the increased batter’s-box activity were Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers (261 PA, 43 runs, 44 RBIs, 40 TB, 11 HR) and JP's Whiteskins (255 PA, 43 runs, 47 RBIs, 38 TB, .384 OBP). Those three teams combined to go 17-1; the Bombers' 6-0 performance added a smidgen of breathing space to their NL lead, now four games over the Whiteskins.

Week 14 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW.........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (3-3).........58....29....667...--
Brian (0-6)........47....40....540...11
Mike (6-0)........44....43....506...14
Dennis (5-1)......44....43....506...14
Andy (1-5)........42....45....483...16
David (2-4).......38....49....437...20
NATIONAL
Team, LW.........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (6-0).........53....34....609...--
JP (5-1)...........49....38....563....4
Gregg (4-2).......41....46....471...12
Damian (0-6).....38....49....437...15
Vic (2-4)..........37....50....425...16
Derek (2-4).......30....57....345...23

Free agent draft No. 7

Pre-draft DL moves:
Derek: activates RP Kuo, drops SShields; activates 3B Gordon, Lowell to DL
Dan: activates 3B ARamirez, drops Fields
Dennis: activates C Doumit, drops Buck
JP: drops OF CGuillen from DL
Vic: drops 3B Encarnacion from DL

1. Derek: takes OF Rasmus, Bruce to DL
2. Vic: no response; taxi: Sanchez up, Bush down
3. David: takes 3B Beckham, Beltre to DL; taxi: Wolf, Lowe up, Baker, Harang down
4. Gregg: takes 3B Bonafacio, DeRosa to DL
5. Damian: takes SP Sadowski, drops Penny
6. Mike: takes SP Happ, drops Escobar; taxi: Happ up, Lohse down
7. Dennis: takes SP DeLaRosa, drops Wang
8. Andy: takes C Baker, Flores to DL
9. JP: takes SP Bergeson, Slowey to DL; taxi: Maholm up, ESantana down
10. Brian: takes 1B Prado, drops AdLaRoche; taxi: WRodriguez up, Millwood down
11. Dan: takes SP Contreras, moves Dempster to DL
12. Paul: takes 1B Loney, drops Giambi

Monday, July 13, 2009

Derelicts looking at overhaul

Derek Rich, owner of Derelicts (or the Double D's), is on the prowl and looking for a trading partner.

His e-mail:

"Greetings, fellow owners ... With this conveniently-timed lull in our season, I'm taking this opportunity to put some of my beloved Derelicts on the trading block, in hopes of turning things around (a la 2008). What started as a promising draft and solid April (2nd place in Week 3) has been railroaded by a parade of injuries. DD starters McCann, Votto, Gordon, Lowell, Burrell, Bruce, Willingham and the lackluster Brandon Morrow have all spent time on the DL/inactive list; relievers Shields and Kuo have been absent most of the year. Very disappointing, to say the least. That being said, I am seeking a power upgrade in the OF, a solid closer, and -- possibly -- other bullpen help. I will entertain offers for the following minions (and combinations thereof):

C AJ Pierzynski
2B Clint Barmes
2B Dustin Pedroia
3B Ian Stewart
3B Mike Lowell
3B Alex Gordon
(**I will be forced to trade on my third basemen, once Gordon and
Lowell come off the DL, so a lesser 3B would be accepted)
OF Pat Burrell
OF Josh Willingham
SP Joba Cahmberlain
RP LaTroy Hawkins

However, I will consider other Derelicts as part of potential swap, if
the deal is deemed fair. Any trade would include future draft pick(s), depending on the package."

The Double D's (28-53) are currently 6th in National Division, 19 games back of the National Division-leading Cherry Valley Bombers.

2009 SBL Rosters (Updated)

Here's an updated version of the rosters for each SBL team, thanks to commissioner Mike Davis and his roster monkey, Derek Rich.

MIKE
C: Napoli (118), YMolina (261)
1B: Ortiz (27), Branyan (S)
2B: Kendrick (131), Schumaker (287)
SS: Zobrist (S), Andrus (T)
3B: Reynolds (183), An.LaRoche (S)
OF: ASoriano (14), Ludwick (40), Span (196), Thames (274), Granderson, (T), Wells (T)
SP: Harden (79), Lester (144), Lohse (24 taxi), UJimenez (T), JShields (T)
Taxi: OPerez (1), Escobar (209)
RP: Soria (66), FCordero (92), Rodney (222), MacDougal (S)

DAMIAN
C: VMartinez (106), Barajas (288)
1B: Berkman (15), Huff (133)
2B: KJohnson (171), Kennedy (S)
SS: Furcal (54), OCabrera (210)
3B: DWright (2), Glaus (197)
OF: Quentin (41), Hunter (119), Hawpe (158), Dukes (223), JGuillen (249), Ethier (T)
SP: Lincecum (28), ClLee (93), Kazmir (146), Saunders (236), Nolasco (S)
Taxi: Penny (23), Volstad (T)
RP: FRodriguez (67), Fuentes (80), Hanrahan (184), Wheeler (T)
DL: SP Matsuzaka (146)

GREGG
C: BMolina (159), Varitek (S)
1B: CPena (94), Helton (237)
2B: Uggla (29), Callaspo (S)
SS: AlRamirez (68), YBetancourt (276)
3B: Figgins (120), DeRosa (185)
OF: Sizemore (3), Hamilton (16), BUpton (42), Choo (224), Fukudome (290), Reimold (S)
SP: Price (107), Cain (121), Kershaw (172), Scherzer (211), Davies (S)
Taxi: Kawakami (3), Richmond (S)
RP: Lidge (55), Jenks (81), Capps (134), Marmol (147)

PAUL
C: Ianetta (109), KSuzuki (264)
1B: Pujols (4), Giambi (173)
2B: Hudson (225), Castillo (S)
SS: Renteria (212), HaRamirez (T)
3B: Kouzmanoff (199), Blalock (251)
OF: Markakis (17), Ordonez (56), Cameron (278), Lind (291), Pierre (S), Sheffield (S)
SP: FHernandez (95), Gallardo (135), RJohnson (186), Kuroda (265), JerWeaver (4 taxi)
Taxi: Liriano (82), Hughes (S)
RP: Papelbon (30) MRivera (69), Street (122), Bell (148)
DL: 2B Weeks (108), OF Nady (T)

DEREK
C: McCann (57), Pierzynski (226)
1B: Howard (5), Votto (70)
2B: Pedroia (18), Barmes (213)
SS: Hardy (96), Guzman (S)
3B: Lowell (187), Stewart (S)
OF: Rios (44), Burrell (110), Bruce (136), Werth (161), Griffey (239), Willingham (S)
SP: JSantana (31), Chamberlain (83), Danks (149), Jurrjens (174), Blackburn (S)
Taxi: Meche (5), Carmona (253)
RP: Morrow (97), Downs (200), SShields (252), Hawkins (S)
DL: 3B Gordon (123), RP Kuo (266)

DENNIS
C: Saltalamacchia (254), Buck (S)
1B: Fielder (32), Butler (S)
2B: Cano (84), FSanchez (227)
SS: JReyes (6), Theriot (188)
3B: RZimmerman (124), Crede (240)
OF: Holliday (19), Ellsbury (58), Bradley (85), JUpton (162), Cuddyer (S), Morgan (S)
SP: Halladay (45), Haren (71), Wainwright (137), Verlander (175), Floyd (6 taxi)
Taxi: Wang (241), Glavine (19)
RP: Sherrill (150), Arredondo (214), Saito (280), CWilson (S)
DL: C Doumit (111), 1B Delgado (98)

BRIAN
C: IRodriguez (242), Bard (S)
1B: Cantu (176), Ad.LaRoche (S)
2B: JLopez (86), FLopez (229)
SS: Hairston (S), Scutaro (T)
3B: Longoria (20), Rolen (294)
OF: Braun (7), Bay (33), Dye (112), Damon (151), Francoeur (215),
Spilborghs (268)
SP: Hamels (72), Beckett (72), Carpenter (138) JJohnson (163),
Millwood (S)
Taxi: CYoung (T), WRodriguez (228)
RP: Broxton (99), MGonzalez (125), Putz (202), Zumaya (S)

DAVID
C: Mauer (100), Jaramillo (S)
1B: MiCabrera (8), NJohnson (S)
2B: BRoberts (47), Getz (295)
SS: Jeter (87), Bartlett (256)
3B: Beltre (113), Mora (190)
OF: CaLee (21), Guerrero (60), Pence (126), Crisp (203), Winn (217), CRoss (S)
SP: Sabathia (34), Webb (61), SBaker (139), Harang (216), RHill (S)
Taxi: Lowe (164), Wolf (17)
RP: Valverde (74), FFrancisco (152), Franklin (S), Bailey (S)

ANDY
C: Soto (62), Flores (270)
1B: Teixeira (9), Konerko (205)
2B: Polanco (178), AHill (S)
SS: SDrew (49), Tulowitzki (S)
3B: CJones (48), Sandoval (88)
OF: Beltran (22), ISuzuki (35), Ibanez (101), AdJones (218), Cust (T), McCutchen (S)
SP: Greinke (114), Burnett (165), Porcello (191), Hanson (T), Romero (S)
Taxi: Anderson (9), Buchholz (244)
RP: BWilson (75), Motte (127), Qualls (140), Aardsma (T)

JP
C: Martin (37), Wieters (193)
1B: Morneau (23), Thome (166)
2B: Utley (10), Cabrera (S)
SS: YEscobar (128), Aybar (S)
3B: MYoung (63), Blake (284)
OF: Abreu (50), Victorino (76), Kubel (245), JDrew (271), Bourn (S), Scott (S)
SP: Slowey (179), Garza (219), Bedard (258), EJackson (S), Cueto (10 taxi)
Taxi: ESantana (192), Maholm (15)
RP: Nathan (36), Gregg (89), Ziegler (141), Meyer (S)
DL: OF CGuillen (102), RP Lindstrom (154)

VIC
C: RHernandez (194), Navarro (272)
1B: AdGonzalez (77), DLee (129)
2B: BPhillips (51) KMatsui (233)
SS: Rollins (11), Greene (259)
3B: ARodriguez (24), Inge (S)
OF: Kemp (25), Crawford (38), Hart (90), Ankiel (207), JRivera (285), Duncan (S)
SP: Oswalt (103), Lackey (116), JVazquez (155), Duke (S), Bush (S)
Taxi: Maine (11), JSanchez (14)
RP: Ryan (142), Balfour (246), Villanueva (298), Soriano (S)
DL: SP Peavy (64), 3B Encarnacion (181)

DAN
C: Posada (234), Laird (286)
1B: Youkilis (39), KMorales (299)
2B: Kinsler (13), Teahen (221)
SS: Peralta (65), Tejada (208)
3B: Fields (247), Feliz (S)
OF: MRamirez (12), McLouth (52), Dunn (78), CYoung (130), NCruz (156), Swisher (S)
SP: Dempster (104), Billingsley (117), Zambrano (156), Lilly (168), Lannan (13 taxi)
Taxi: Smoltz (12), Volquez (143)
RP: Wood (91), Hoffman (182), Howell (S), Nunez (S)
DL: 3B ArRamirez (26)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Badgers need a catcher

The Badgers, befallen by backstop woes, are looking for a warm body to occupy the tools of ignorance.

Andy's e-mail:

"Geovany Soto got hurt today and Jesus Flores is out for the season, so I need to acquire a catcher with my draft pick. Perhaps you have a lightly used backup and you could make use of a second draft pick? Let me know, thanks."

The Badgers have had something of a revolving-door roster policy this season though it hasn't seemed to hurt them too badly thus far. The Badgers (41-40) currently sit in 3rd place in the American Division, 14 games behind the first place Zero's.

SBL Notebook, Week 13

Our arrival at the season’s midpoint is as good a time as any to disperse into the atmosphere our seemingly annual rumination/screed on the sadly diminished state of offense in the SBL. Two or three years ago, back when ’roids were still the rage, the kind of hitting numbers we’re seeing these days, and have been for some weeks, would’ve gotten you laughed out of the league by some of our less charitable owners -- not to mention a virtually guaranteed losing week. No more. Today, you can post minuscule (by traditional standards) numbers across the board and still cobble together a winning or even damn-near-unbeaten week. This week’s Exhibit A of this phenomenon -- and we deploy this example only because it involves the commissioner’s favorite (and, paradoxically, often most-hated) team -- would be Mikee’s Moaners, who got small to the tune of 5 HRs, 28 RBIs, 24 TB, 30 runs and 3 SBs . . . and still went 5-1. Seven saves, a 1.05 K-rat and .360 OBP certainly didn’t hurt their cause, but overall their pitching was nothing special (3.48 ERA, 1.29 BR, 3-3 WL) -– meaning that to a significant degree their diminutive offense carried them to those five wins. In other words, they may have been bad, but others were worse. But that’s nothing new this year -– no matter how bad your team’s stats might look on paper/computer screen, you can often count on somebody else being even tinier. Used to be, double-digit home-run counts and run, RBI and TB totals in the high 30s to low-mid 40s were pretty much the baseline you needed to get to if you wanted to be competitive. Now, low 30s and, increasingly, even the mid-20s are enough to get the job done. With apologies to Jimmy Carter, welcome to the SBL’s Era of Limits. Even as recently as last season, it seemed the league’s fallow periods of offense were always ephemeral, lasting no more than a couple-three weeks. This season is different. We crunched a few numbers and found that over the last seven weeks -– a little more than half the season to date –- the league’s 12 teams have averaged a puny 29.6 RBIs and 30.2 runs. Seven weeks -- that’s not a temporary blip on the screen, that’s a full-blown trend. What’s particularly odd is that teams have been averaging more runs than RBIs (consider that a player can accumulate as many as four RBIs with a single swing, while runs can be accrued only one at a time and usually require help from teammates), and that the average number of home runs during our sample period has actually been a fairly respectable 8.3 per team. So what does this mean –- that 80% to 90% of SBL players’ home runs are solo shots? Who knows? This ain’t the Elias Bureau we’re running over here. All we know is that homers and RBIs usually go together like ballpark franks and beer, but this year there’s a disconnect –- witness Dennis’ Puny Pontiffs’ incongruous totals of 10 HRs and 21 RBIs this week, or the Moaners’ 10 and 24 last week. What we also know: offense, in general, has fallen off a cliff. The steroid era may have been a stain on baseball that won’t wash out, but we in the fantasy world sure do miss it. . . . Meanwhile, in the SBL pennant chases (oh yeah, those), there was significant movement in the American division, where Paulo’s Zeros blew the race open a little bit, executing on 5-and-1-to-0-and-6 pirouette on the second-place BGoff Bammers’ heads and nearly tripling their lead, which leapt from three games to eight. The NL race was static, with Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers and runners-up JP’s Whiteskins still separated by three games after both went 5-1.

Week 13 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-1).........55...26....679....--
Brian (0-6)........47...34....580....8
Andy (5-1)........41...40....506...14
Dennis (3-3)......39...42....481...16
Mike (5-1)........38...43....469...17
David (1-5).......36...45....444...19
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (5-1).........47...34....580....--
JP (5-1)...........44...37....543....3
Damian (1-5).....38...43....469....9
Gregg (3-3).......37...44....457...10
Vic (3-3)..........35...46....432...12
Derek (0-6).......28...53....346...19

Thursday, July 2, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 12

The races in both divisions grow curiouser and curiouser, with Paulo’s Zero’s assuming a controlling interest in the AL corporate hierarchy, and aspirants to the NL throne bunching up like rush-hour traffic behind the faltering but still standing division leaders, Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers. The Zero’s, a good team throughout most of their SBL residency that for whatever reason has rarely been able to reach the top of the mountain, may be standing on the doorstep of something approaching greatness, now that they employ perhaps the two most productive hitters in ball, Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez, the latter generously donated by the defending champion Moaners. Those two superstars, plus a lights-out rotation and the league’s best bullpen, have made the Z’s the BTIB and fueled a 7-0 Week 12 that lifted them three games ahead of the runner-up BGoff Bammers. Zero’s pitchers definitely lived up to the name on the front of their jerseys this week, putting up goose egg after goose egg while allowing a mere seven earned runs in 43 IP for a glossy 1.47 ERA. Then there were the 4-0 WL, the .93 BR stat, the 1.05 K-rat and the 10 (!) saves . . . who’s gonna beat that? Nobody, this week, though Andy’s Badgers gave it a run, posting a 1.96 ERA and 5-2 WL to complement the week’s biggest offense (14 HR, 45 runs, 35 TB, 8 SBs, .372 OBP) in a 6-1 performance marred only by their 7-4, swept-in-pitching loss to the Zero’s. . . . Over in the National division, the Bombers’ 1-6 slip compounded a slide that has reached 3-16 over the last three weeks, a clear indication that they are missing the offensive punch provided early in the season by the Ramirez boys, the suspended Manny and the still-injured Aramis. Perhaps Manny’s return this week will re-energize the CVBs, who nonetheless continue to cling to a three-game lead in a division with only one other winning team (that would be JP’s Whiteskins, who missed another opportunity to make up serious ground, going 2-5). But look out for the Patton Inmates, whose 6-1 ledger made them 17-2 over that same three-week stretch. The WTIB with a 17-39 record after Week 9, the ’Mates have taken a meat cleaver to what was then a 22-game deficit – they now trail the CVBs by eight, and are only five out of the No. 2 playoff spot occupied by the ’Skins. . . . Special citation of the week goes to Vic’s Godfathers, whose pitchers allowed only four earned runs – one week after they gave up 34. The 0.83 ERA helped the Daddies go 4-3.

Week 12 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (7-0).........50....25....667....--
Brian (4-3)........47....28....627.....3
Andy (6-1)........36....39....480....14
Dennis (2-5)......36....39....480....14
David (0-7).......35....40....467....15
Mike (3-4)........33....42....440....17
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT.....GB
Dan (1-6).........42....33....560....--
JP (2-5)...........39....36....520.....3
Damian (5-2).....37....38....493.....5
Gregg (6-1).......34....41....453.....8
Vic (4-3)..........32....43....427....10
Derek (2-5).......28....47....373....14

Free agent draft No. 6

Pre-draft DL moves:
Damian: activates Kazmir, Matsuzaka to DL
Gregg: activates Sizemore and Lidge, drops Hermida, Madson, Ellis

1. Derek: takes 3B Stewart, drops Barden; taxi: Danks up, Meche down
2. Vic: no response
3. Gregg: takes C Varitek, drops Snyder
4. Mike: takes RP MacDougal, drops Percival
5. Andy: takes SP Romero, drops Cecil; taxi: Romero up, Anderson down
6. Damian: takes SP Nolasco, drops Galarraga; taxi: Nolasco up, Volstad down, Penny No. 1 taxi
7. Dennis: takes OF Morgan, drops Jackson
8. David: takes SP R. Hill, drops Sonnanstine; taxi: Hill up, Lowe down
9. JP: takes RP Meyer, Lindstrom to DL
10. Dan: takes RP Nunez, drops Baez; taxi: Lannan up, Volquez down
11. Brian: takes C Bard, drops Baker; taxi: Millwood up, CYoung down
12. Paul: takes OF Sheffield, drops Nix; taxi: Kuroda up, Hughes down

Thursday, June 25, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 11

The National division experienced upheaval of Biblical proportions this week, in a last-shall-be-first, first-shall-be-last sense. The Patton Inmates, held against their will in an SBL basement apartment most of the season, went 6-0, building on last week’s 5-1 performance and catapulting out of the cellar, all the way to fourth place. And the season-long division leaders, Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers, executed an 0-6 swan dive and saw their lead dwindle to four games over JP’s Whiteskins. . . . Meanwhile, the already simmering American Division race was brought to a boil, with Paulo’s Zero’s going 5-1 and pulling into a flat-footed tie with the BGoff Bammers for the AL lead. Bristow’s Batfaced Barristers also made a move, going 6-0 to edge to within eight games of the co-leaders. In other BBB news, we are informed that congratulations are in order –- Hizzoner has been appointed to the federal bench just this week. Which of course means a) he gets one those really cool curly white wigs, right?; b) maybe we’ll finally find out what he’s got goin’ on under those ropes; and c) all you SBL owners who’ve been transporting drugs, guns and minors across state lines are hereby warned to cease and desist immediately, or face the cold, hard justice of the Judge’s gavel. For now his wrath is confined to the stat sheet, where this week he effectively told his AL rivals, “Adjudicate this!” His unbeaten week wasn’t what you’d call overwhelming – several of his games were pretty close, actually – but 11 HRs, 35 runs, 33 TB, a 2.59 ERA and eight saves got the job done. The Inmates’ 6-0 run was more of the scorched-earth variety; his closest game was an 8-3 verdict over Mikee’s Moaners. The Incarcerated Recidivists can’t be thrilled with their 28-40 record, but in a division where no one has been able to maintain traction (even the first-place Bombers are 2-10 the last two weeks), the ’Mates are only 13 games behind the CVBs, and nine games removed from a playoff spot – they ain’t out of it, in other words. Speaking of the Moaners, they win this season’s Idiot Award for violating the SBL’s arcane rule of all arcane rules – the four-start minimum – which almost never happens and is really, really, really hard to do. The M’s got only three starts from their injury-depleted rotation and taxi squad, and thus were obliged to forfeit four pitching stats – everything but saves. Yes, they went 0-6. . . . And while we’re sort of on the subject, a reminder for all those playing at home that it’s time to update your rosters – the trade last week between the Moaners and Bammers (SP Chris Young and SS Marco Scutaro for James Shields and Elvis Andrus) is now in effect. Unfortunately for the M’s, the deal was consummated too late to get Shields into their rotation during Week 11, when they really needed him to avoid four-start jail, but, you know, whatever.

Week 11 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-1).........43...25...632....--
Brian (3-3)........43...25...632....--
David (6-0).......35...33...515....8
Dennis (3-3)......34...34...500....9
Andy (3-3)........30...38...441...13
Mike (0-6)........30...38...441...13
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (0-6).........41...27...603....--
JP (3-3)...........37...31...544.....4
Damian (3-3).....32...36...471.....9
Gregg (6-0).......28...40...412....13
Vic (3-3)...........28...40...412....13
Derek (1-5).......26...42...382....15

Monday, June 22, 2009

Holliday on the block

Dennis Pope, owner of the Vatican City Madmen, is looking to part ways with OF Matt Holliday. The Madmen are seeking an active outfielder and a supplemental draft pick in return.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Moaners make minor deal with Bammers

Mikee's Moaners and Brian's Bammers made a post-draft trade as both teams look to solidify positions where depth was lacking.

To the Moaners: SP James Shields and SS Elvis Andrus.

To the Bammers: SP Chris Young and SS Marco Scutaro.

FYI, SS Marco Scutaro becomes the first player to be traded twice this season. Orginally taken by PaulO's Zeroes in the first free-agent draft, Scutaro was traded from the Zeroes to the Moaners earlier this season in a deal involving SS Hanley Ramirez.

SBL Notebook, Week 10

Offense remained as cool as our overcast SoCal June, but on the other hand the races are heating up, and that's not a bad thing, right? . . . If anything, the cloud cover thickened on the hitting side of the ledger this week. Except for the odd spasm of productivity sticking out like a sore thumb here and there (the Patton Inmates' 43 runs, Andy's Badgers' 14 HRs and 40 RBIs), the numbers were stunning in their smallness. Take away Gregg's total and no one had more than 34 runs, with half the league failing to get out of the 20s (one even failing to get INTO the 20s). Remove Andy from the equation and nobody exceeded 32 RBIs, with a whopping eight teams stranded in the 20s. It was the same in TB (league high was 33, only one other team topped 30 and three didn't even get to 20) and OBP (seven teams at .311 or lower, three not even reaching .300). Of course the corollary to feeble hitting is strong pitching, and there was plenty of that, with no fewer than four sub-2.00 ERAs and three more under 3.00 turning up on the stat sheet. . . . The National division won the last week of interleague play, 21-15, to earn a 2-2 split in this four-week period. JP's Whiteskins and DamianUnited led the NL rush by each going 6-0, a result that moved the second-place 'Skins four games closer to the BTIB, Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers, who went 2-4 and now lead by seven. Things got more interesting in the AL, where the BGoff Bammers continued flat for a fourth straight week (1-5 this week, 8-16 in interleague play) and saw their lead shaved from five games to two over Paulo's Zero's.

Week 10 standings

AMERICAN........W...L...PCT...GB
Brian..............40..22...645...--
Paul...............38..24...613....2
Dennis............31..31...500....9
Mike..............30..32...484...10
David.............29..33...468...12
Andy..............27..35...435...13
NATIONAL........W...L...PCT...GB
Dan................41..21...661...--
JP..................34..28...548....7
Damian............29..33...468...12
Vic.................25..37...403...16
Derek.............25..37...403...16
Gregg.............22..40...355...19

Free agent draft No. 5

Pre-draft DL moves:
Mike: Activates OF Thames; drops DeJesus, drops 1B Hafner.

1. Gregg: takes RP Madson, Lidge to DL
2. Vic: takes SP Bush, Peavy to DL; taxi: Duke up, Maine down
3. Andy (from Damian): takes OF McCutchen, drops Lewis
4. Andy: takes SS Tulowitzki, drops Guzman; taxi: Anderson up, Cecil down
5. Derek: takes SS Guzman, drops Aybar; taxi: Meche up, Danks down
6. Mike: takes 3B An.LaRoche, drops Atkins
7. David: takes C Jaramillo, drops Shoppach
8. Dennis: takes OF Cuddyer, drops Maybin
9. JP: takes SS Aybar, drops Aviles
10. Paul: takes OF Pierre, Nady to DL
11. Brian: takes 1B Ad.LaRoche, drops CDavis
12. Dan: takes RP JPHowell, drops Ray; elevates Smoltz to No. 1 on taxi squad

Badgers, DamU complete multi-player trade

Andy's Badgers found a willing partner in their attempt to rattle their roster, trading spare parts to DamianUnited for a pitching phenom and a free-agent draft pick.

To the Badgers: SP Tommy Hanson, OF Jack Cust, RP Daniel Aardsma and a pick, which he used to select OF Andrew McCutchen.

To DamU: OF Andre Ethier, SP Chris Volstad, RP Dan Wheeler.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Badgers looking for pitching

Andrew Baggarly, owner of the Badgers, is again looking to shake up his team. This time he's looking for a "BFF" to pair with staff ace Zach Greinke. The Badgers would like either a closer or another top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher and are offering up outfielders.

His e-mail:

"OK, the Badgers could use a closer and/or a frontline starting pitcher. Like, a difference maker to give Greinke a new BFF. I have outfielders. Discuss amongst yourselves and make me an offer."

Everyone has outfielders. The Badgers' best is Orioles' five-tool guy Adam Jones. A team would have either need OF production pretty badly or have some real pitching depth to make a deal here.

SBL Notebook, Week 9

While the bottom continues to fall out of the NL, there are rumblings at the top of the AL, where a closer-than-expected race is developing -– closer, actually, than one would have thought possible a week ago (more on that later). Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers put together a second consecutive 6-0 week to bust out to an 11-game lead in a National division that continues to resemble the 1973 NL East. JP’s Whiteskins went 5-1 to move into second place –- at 25-25. The rest of the division went a collective 4-20 in the third week of interleague play, leaving no team among that less-than-fearsome foursome within even five games of .500. ... Meanwhile in the AL, a statistical malfunction (Brian submitted incorrect numbers for Weeks 7 and 8) led to a review by the commissioner’s office that resulted in the replaying of the BGoff Bammers’ games for those weeks, and four games that had appeared to be Bammers victories wound up being losses. This explains why Brian’s AL lead, which was 10 games in the Week 8 report sent out seven days ago, is now five games after he went 3-3 to the runner-up Paulo’s Zero’s 4-2 in Week 9. Four NL teams picked up victories as a result of the replays – Derek's Derelicts and Gregg's Inmates in Week 7, Damian's DamU and Vic's Westerlies in Week 8. It also means that the CV Bombers have caught the Bammers for Best Record in Ball; both are now 39-17. Corrected versions of Weeks 7 and 8 will be distributed when we get the time to do it. ... Now, back to our regularly scheduled notebook. It was another week of mundane offense, a strange occurrence as we get into June and the weather warms. No team posted more than 35 runs or 38 RBIs; only three teams made it to double digits in homers; nine of the 12 teams failed to reach 30 in TBs, with only a freakish 53 by Andy’s Badgers breaking out of the downward curve. It’s a familiar litany by now. Ah, but the pitching this week was magnificent, with four sub-2.00 ERAs and two more under 3.00. The Zero’s allowed 6 earned runs in 38.2 IP for a sterling 1.40 and didn’t even come close to posting the week’s best ERA. That distinction went to the Bombers, who checked in at 0.58 –- 2 ER in 31 IP. Geez, how do you compete with that? ... The AL won the third week of interleague skirmishing, 21-15. But no, that doesn’t make it three straight winning weeks for the Americans; the replayed games turned last week’s apparent 19-17 AL verdict into an NL triumph, by the same count.

Week 9 standings

AMERICAN........W....L...PCT...GB
Brian..............39...17...696...--
Paul...............34...22...607....5
Dennis............28...28...500...11
David.............28...28...500...11
Mike..............27...29...482...12
Andy..............24...32...429...15
NATIONAL........W....L...PCT...GB
Dan................39...17...696...--
JP..................28...28...500...11
Derek..............25...31...446...14
Damian............23...33...411...16
Vic.................23...33...411...16
Gregg.............17...39...304...22

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 8

“Bored beyond belief” were the words Steve Martin (as Harris K. Telemacher) scrawled on a steamed-up window in a pivotal scene from “L.A. Story,” and while that doesn’t exactly speak to the current state of the SBL, well, let’s just say we’ve had more compelling weeks in our league’s 26-plus-year history. Hundreds of them, is the guess here. Everywhere you look, a maelstrom of mediocrity, an avalanche of average, a perfect storm of ordinariness. First, check the standings -– we’ve got two very good teams, division leaders the BGoff Bammers and Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers; one good team, Paulo’s 30-20 Zero’s; and this vast, quivering, Jell-O-like mass of mediocrity beneath them, featuring no fewer than eight teams slogging along with winning percentages between .400 and .500. The first three teams mentioned in the previous sentence? The only ones in ball with winning records. None of the rest can seem to get anything going, stuck in SBL purgatory, unable to sustain success for more than a week or two, neither good nor bad enough to truly stand out. And, as long as you’re checking those standings, glance ever-so-briefly at the races, which are essentially nonexistent as this particular moment -– the Bammers leading by 10 games in the American division, the Bombers by eight in the National. It could take a few weeks, and some semi-major momentum shifts, to tighten these puppies up. . . . Next, have a gander at the Week 8 stat sheet; you will find a festival of fecklessness, a cesspool of the so-so (that’ll be the last of the tortured alliteration, we promise). Nobody had more than 36 runs, 35 RBIs or 36 TB. The average home-run total was a magnificently mediocre (sorry) 7.2. The pitching wasn’t all that bad -– seven teams posted ERAs under 3.35 –- but there apparently were a lot baserunners stranded (seven BR stats of 1.4 or higher), no staff posted more than four Ws and the average save total was 3.7. It was parity writ large, and the kind of week in which a batch of what looked for all the world like 3-3-type numbers could lift the Bombers (31 runs, 35 RBIs, 31 TB, 3 SBs, .362 OBP, 3 saves, .79 K-rat, 1.24 BR) to a 6-0 record, and enable Mikee’s Moaners (34 runs, 34 TB, 5 HR, 22 RBI, .352 OBP, 3.34 ERA, 1.40 BR, 1-3 WL) and Derek’s Derelicts (31 runs, 34 RBIs, 32 TB, .366 OBP, 5.24 ERA, 1.77 BR, 3 saves) to go 5-1. Sorry to throw all those numbers at you, but they do drive the point home. . . . The second week of interleague play went to the American division, by an ever-so-slim 19-17 margin. The AL also had taken the Week 7 faceoff, 21-15.

Week 8 standings

AMERICAN........W....L...PCT...GB
Brian..............40...10...800...--
Paul...............30...20...600...10
David.............25...25...500...15
Dennis............24...26...480...16
Mike..............22...28...440...18
Andy..............22...28...440...18
NATIONAL........W....L...PCT...GB
Dan...............33...17...660...--
Derek.............25...25...500....8
JP.................23...27...460...10
Vic................22...28...440...11
Damian...........21...29...420...12
Gregg.............13...37...260...20

Free agent draft No. 4

Pre-draft DL moves:
Paul: Activates SP Kuroda, drops Nolasco
Damian: Activates SP Matsuzaka, puts Kazmir on DL

1. Gregg: takes OF Reimold, Sizemore to DL; taxi: Price up, Kawakami down
2. Mike: takes SS Zobrist, drops Lowrie
3. Andy: takes RP Wheeler, drops Corpas
4. Damian: takes 2B Kennedy, drops Iwamura; taxi: Matsuzaka and Penny up, Galarraga down
5. Derek: takes SP Blackburn, drop Moyer; taxi: Blackburn up, Meche down
6. Vic: takes SP Duke, drops Myers
7. Dennis: takes 1B Butler, Delgado to DL
8. JP: takes OF Scott, CGuillen to DL
9. David: takes RP Bailey, drops Devine
10: Dan: takes 3B Feliz, drops Hall
11: Paul: takes 2B Castillo, Weeks to DL; taxi: RJohnson and Hughes up, Liriano and Kuroda down
12: Brian: takes SS Hairston, drops Tulowitzki; taxi: Carpenter and Shields up, Millwood and WRodriguez down

Thursday, May 28, 2009

SBL Notebook, Week 7

We can't say there's a new sheriff in town -- in fact, two of our most usual suspects continue to lead the division races by comfortable margins -- but there is a new judge. That would be Hizzoner David T. (no, Treksters, it does not stand for Tiberius, as far as we know) Bristow, owner of the Bat-Faced Girls (that's from a Paul Simon song, for our younger viewers on whom the reference is lost), who at this moment just happen to be the hottest team in ball. Powered by Mauer (Joe, the Twins catcher who has been a one-man wrecking crew since he came off the DL at the start of this month), the BFGs have put together back-to-back 6-0 weeks to surge into third place and, at 25-19, are just two games out the No. 2 playoff spot in the American division, which qualifies as one of the infrequent high-water marks for this long-downtrodden franchise. Their latest unbeaten week wasn't exactly a masterpiece -- three 6-5 squeakers, one tiebreaker win and a 6.5-4.5 victory -- but winning the close ones is an attribute that has long eluded the Batfaces, so that's an encouraging sign, too. Another frequent second-division dweller, Dennis' Puny Pontiffs, continued their impressive recovery from a 1-18 start, riding their overpowering pitching (Justin Verlander? When did that guy relocate the strike zone?) to a 5-1 week. The Vatican City Madmen are 19-6 the last four weeks, the best record in ball over that stretch for any team not named the BGoff Bammers. Speaking of which, the Bams churned out another routine 5-1 week that, combined with a 1-5 toe-stub by AL runners-up Paulo's Zero's, caused their lead to balloon to a corpulent 10 games. Uh-oh. . . . The National division race tightened, just a little, as Dan's Cherry Valley Bombers, finally feeling the effects of their DL/suspended list issues on offense and suffering an unusually bad pitching week, went 0-6. Fortunately for the CVBs, they reside in the SBL equivalent of the NL West, with their division's other five entries all scuffling along below the .500 mark. Thus, the Bombers lost only two games off their lead, still a reasonably comfy six games.