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.