SBL Notebook: Week 21

The National division race is tight enough to fry an egg on the sidewa . . . no wait, that should be "hot" enough. . . . Let's try, the National division race is tighter than a witch's . . . no, that should be "colder" . . . OK, the National division race is tighter than a piano wire. . . . sorry, it's best hackneyed, overused, unoriginal metaphor we could come up with on short notice. Suffice to say, the NL race couldn't be much closer if the four principals were quadruplets sharing the same womb -- the top three teams are separated by only one game, and the fourth-place entry is only four back. While the pacesetting Godfathers were dogpaddling to a 3-3 week, the surging Derelicts put together a second successive 6-0 to pull into a second-place tie with the Inmates (also 3-3), and the fourth-place Cherry Valley Bombers went 5-1 to pull within four games of the top. The Double-Ds have been an offensive force most of the season -- with big-ticket hitters like Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder coming through as hoped, and less-heralded names like Jay Bruce, Hunter Pence, Mike Stanton and Jhonny Peralta exceeding expectations -- and of late their troublesome starting pitching has finally come around, led by the lefty likes of Ricky Romero and David Price. The 'Licts also have developed one of the SBL's strongest bullpens, anchored by the surprising Drew Storen and Brandon League and trade acquisition Jonathan Papelbon. Add it all up and you have a well-rounded team that appears to be in this for the long haul. The Derelicts' 2.13 ERA was the league's second-best this week (as was last week's 1.95), and they rang up the week's second-best HR (12) and RBI (43) totals, not to mention the No. 1 OBP (.385). The latter stat was fueled by what we believe to be a single-week league record of 40 walks . . . and THAT total was fueled by an outrageous 14 walks on Tuesday, which we're thinking has to be a one-day record as well. . . . The CVBs, meanwhile, continue to roll up big hitting numbers (43 runs, 12 HRs, 7 SBs, .381) behind the slugging likes of Miguel Cabrera, Dan Uggla, Jacoby Ellsbury, Lance Berkman, J.J. Hardy and Alex Gordon, complemented by a serviceable rotation anchored by Clayton Kershaw, Colby Lewis and Jeremy Hellickson. . . . There was also a detectable pulse in the American division race, for the first time in a while, as the Zero's -- still the Best Team In Ball by a comfortable margin at 86-44 -- remained stuck in neutral, posting a third consecutive 3-3 week -- and this time the runners-up Moaners were able to take a three-game bite out of the Z's formidable lead by churning out enough offense (13 HRs, 48 TB, 36 runs, 36 BI) to overcome their typically execrable pitching (4.54 ERA, 1.58 BR, .77 Ks). Still, the M's and the third-place Bammers (4-2) have a ways to go to make things truly exciting, trailing the Zero's by eight and 12 games, respectively, as we head into the home stretch, with 32 games left to play.