SBL Notebook, Week 8

It’s still a little early to be worrying about this, but it really is getting kind of serious for the pursuers in the American division, where the Bammers and their untouchable pitching staff reeled off another 6-0 week to improve to 41-9 and increase their division lead to nine games over Andy’s Badgers and 11 over the defending champion Zero’s. It’s getting so it’s a surprise when the Bammers DON’T post an ERA under 2.50 and a BR stat under 1.00, and try as they might, the Badgers -- whose own pitching ain’t too shabby either -- haven’t been able to quite keep up. Things are much more competitive in the National division, where the Inmates’ lead was reduced to one game over the Derelicts, with the Godfathers five back. Seems like both division races have been reduced to three-team affairs, with the other six clubs at or below .500. . . . It was another week of itty-bitty offense -- the itty-bittiest yet, we’re thinking. And that’s not a complaint, just an observation. The average HR figure this week was a mere 5.4; the 65 total homers were only seven more than we had in Week 1, which was only three days-and-change long. In fact, the league high in stolen bases (9, by the Zero’s and G-Daddies) was greater than the league high in homers (8 by the Z’s), and the total SBs (53) weren’t too far off the HR total. The Badgers managed only 14 RBIs, and still went 4-2. The Godfathers had three homers, 11 RBI and a .297 OBP, and still went 3-3. The Bombers had four HRs, and went 5-1. Amazing. But this is the world we’re living in, people. Six SBL teams posted ERAs under 3.00 this week, and those teams went a combined 26-10. It’s the new world order -- pitching is (almost) everything. . . . BTW, the interleague skirmish this week ended in an 18-18 tie. Which is good, right? Nothing approaching the old blowout days when the AL dominated; after two weeks the tally reads AL 38, NL 34. It’s anybody’s ballgame!