SBL Notebook, Week 17

It's tempting to declare this a no-harm no-foul week, but the truth of the matter is, there was a LOT of harm inflicted in Week 17 -- almost all of it administered by the National division and absorbed by the American division, whose constituents were left in a mood most foul. The Nationals, who decisively won the first interleague interlude (Weeks 7-10), began the second four-week IL period with their most dominant performance yet, walloping the Americans by a 28-8 count. Leading the NL onslaught were the ever-mercurial Whiteskins, the division cellar dwellers who, oddly enough, posted the only 6-0 record for the week, riding some outsized offense (49 TB, 44 RBI, 7 SBs) and lights-out pitching (2.35 ERA, 1.27 K-ratio). The no-harm no-foul part of the equation applies to the NL race -- because no team in the division went worse than 4-2, there was very little change in the standings, with the Godfathers maintaining their one-game lead over the Inmates, and the Derelicts, DamianUnited and the Cherry Valley Bombers bunched in third through fifth places, separated by only three games. The other division race, however, grew only more one-sided, because the Zero's, Best Team In Ball for nearly a month now, were the lone AL entry to survive the week with their dignity fully intact, losing only to JP in a 5-1 run that inflated their lead to 11 games over the Bammers -- whose 2-4 mark represented the best the rest of the division could muster. Elsewhere it was total mass humiliation -- the other four AL teams getting their collective clocks cleaned to the tune of a combined 1-23. Sheesh. . . . The NL was just too good everywhere you looked, mashing 55 HRs (a robust 9.2 per team) to the AL's puny 35; averaging an impressive 37 RBIs (to the AL's 28) and 33 TBs (to 28) per team; and posting four ERAs of 3.35 or better, no BR stat higher than 1.25 and no K-rate lower than .85. No NL team was less than good, and if they had been playing amongst themselves, it might've been downright cannibalistic. But facing the overmatched AL, it was simply a bloodbath. Better luck next week, Junior Circuit.