SBL Notebook, Week 4

That most egalitarian of divisions, the National, welcomed yet another new face at the top of its leaderboard, making it four different NL No. 1s in four weeks. Week 1 was the Whiteskins’ moment in the sun, to be followed by DamianUnited (Week 2 numero uno), the Derelicts (Week 3 head honchos) and, this week, the Inmates, sharing the catbird seat with the Double-Ds, but listed first because they had a better week (5-1 to Derek’s 4-2). This actually is the Mental Defectives’ second appearance in first place; they shared it with DamU in Week 2, with Damian listed first because of his superior 6-1 performance that week. The ’Mates’ owner has lamented the slow starts by a couple of key early draft picks, Carlos Gonzalez and Shin-Soo Choo, but the team has hummed along anyway, yet to put up a losing week -- thanks in part to a spectacular start by Matt Kemp, solid work by a semi-anonymous rotation (Michael Pineda? Tim Stauffer?) and a productive bullpen, always an Inmates staple. The only NL teams that haven’t sniffed the heady air of first place are the Godfathers and the Cherry Valley Bombers -- and the G-Daddies have been close, within one game of the top a week ago and three back now. If their injury luck ever turns around, they just might earn their own turn at the top. This week, though, they lost another key player, 2B Aaron Hill, who joined first- and second-round picks Evan Longoria and Josh Hamilton on the DL. . . . Meanwhile, what happened to the Whiteskins? After a scorching 6-0 start, they’ve gone 1-18 to plummet into a last-place tie with the Bombers. . . . The top of the American division treaded water, with the Bammers (now 21-3) and the Badgers (18-7) each going 4-2 to remain the top two teams in ball. There was a rumbling among the AL also-rans, though, as Paulo’s Zero’s rose up to go 6-0 and get their noses above .500 (at 13-12) for the first time this season. Their end-of-first-round double picks, Jose Bautista and Ryan Braun, propelled the Z’s to league highs in runs (40), HRs (13) and OBP (.377), in what was otherwise another tepid hitting weak. Meanwhile, the bottom three in the stratified division have dropped almost out of sight, already 12, 16 and 17 games, respectively, behind the Bammers. Is it possible to be out of a baseball divisional race after only four weeks? Maybe not, technically, but hope is hard to come by just now for the AL’s poor and huddled masses.

Week 4 standings

AMERICAN DIVISION
Team, LW..............W....L....PCT....GB
Bammers (4-2).........22...3....880....--
Badgers (4-2)...........18...7....720.....4
Zero's (6-0).............13..12....520.....9
Moaners (2-4)..........10..15....400....12
Barristers (0-6)..........6..19....240....16
Pontiffs (2-4)............5..20....200....17
NATIONAL DIVISION
Team, LW..............W....L....PCT....GB
Inmates (5-1)..........17...8....680....--
Derelicts (4-2).........17...8....680....--
DamianUnited (3-3)...14..11....560.....3
Godfathers (2-4)......14..11....560.....3
Bombers (4-2)..........7..18....280....10
Whiteskins (0-6).......7..18....280....10

Free agent draft No. 2

Pre-draft moves:
Zero's: SP Hughes to DL
Inmates: 2B Utley to DL
Derelicts: activate SP Jimenez, drop Vargas
Badgers: RP Feliz to DL

1. Madmen take RP Boggs, drop Bard
2. Bombers take OF Berkman, drop M.Ramirez;
........Taxi: Matsuzaka up, C.Lewis down
3. Barristers take OF Damon, drop R.Davis
4. Whiteskins take SS Lowrie, drop Furcal
........Taxi: Billingsley up, Carmona down
5. Zero's take SP Beachy
........Taxi: ASanchez up, Bedard down
6. Moaners take OF Fuld, drop Bay
........Taxi: Zambrano up, Liriano down
7. DamianUnited take OF Boesch, drop Scott
8. Inmates take 2B J.Herrera
........Taxi: Morrow up, ESantana down
9. Godfathers take OF Francoeur, drop Gutierrez
10. Derelicts take 3B Roberts, drop Aviles
........Taxi: Marcum up, Romero down
11. Badgers take RP Rhodes
12. Bammers take SP Masterson, drop J.Vazquez
........Taxi: Masterson up, J.Zimmerman down

Sun-sational Six (Week 3)

Can't remember if it was Carl Sagan or Ray Kroc, but one of those guys had some kind of saying about billions and billions. That would seemed to be the odds of some owner -- say like a guy living in the Northwest who follows the Mariners and Seahawks -- of ever cracking the SS list. Hard to believe, but it's finally happened in this week's Sun-sational list. Here they are -- late, but not absent.

1. Bammers (Last week ranking: 1): OK, Good Goff. We believe. He suffered the indignity of his first loss last week, but 18 out of 19 ain't bad, chief. This team has a lethal combination of offense and pitching. The American race might be over by the All-Star Game, especially if the No. 2 guy keeps pace with the Bammers.

2. Badgers (Last week ranking: 2): Clearly the Bay City Rollers look like the only thing standing between BGoff and a divisional title. Yeah, you win a lot of these things in April, huh Badge. Anyway, the Badgers have been worthy of their No. 1 selection status since the draft, going a perfect 6-0 to close the gap -- gasp! -- on the Bammers. As Kobe Bryant would say, oh, never mind.

3. Derelicts (Last week ranking: none): At the sake of losing all credibility with this list, we bring you the Derelicts. Apparently, no one told the bottom-feeders they were supposed to stay in the cellar. Hey, DRich, it's better than coming out of the closet. The SS-list begrudgingly thinks this team just might do some damage. Just hope it's not self-inflicted.

4. Inmates (Last week ranking: 5): Representing the Old Guard, this criminally insane group brings a little normalcy to the proceedings. OK, so 3-3 last week is nothing special, but the Inmates know a thing or two about surviving the marathon season. Like a Kenyan flying home from Heartbreak Hill, Patton just may have a frontrunner here, folks.

5. Damian-U (Last week ranking: 3): D-dog is starting to go a little Tressel on us -- not sure we're believing what we're seeing, but we think it may involve some tats. Anyway, the gamers need to start producing, instead of these 2-4 weeks, but have a feeling that there just may be some jostling in the ol' National Div over the course of the season. Hang tough, DU.

6. Godfathers (Last week ranking: none): There's probably too much love here for the Nationals, but it's tough to ignore a guy's second-place team, even if it's coming from Belo in Dallas. Now, if it was Bevo ... whatever. Got to give some cred to the Michaelangelo of the SBL. We don't have a chapel worth painting on the SS-list, but a statue or two outside the ballpark would be real classy. Get to chisseling, WicVest.

SBL Notebook, Week 3

There’s something happening here (in the National division) . . . What it is ain’t exactly clear (because, while it’s way too early to draw any conclusions, the NL race is looking like a four-team free-for-all) . . . So, let’s throw it out there (for what it’s worth)—could this finally be the year when the SBL balance of power shifts toward the senior circuit? We posed essentially the same question around this time last season, and the answer turned out to be no – the NL would finish with only one winning team, and an AL team won the championship for the sixth straight year. So take this with however many grains of salt you choose, but at the moment the NL, although it may not have the best team, certainly appears to have more good ones. The division has already had four different leaders in three weeks, with the Derelicts taking their turn atop the heap this week thanks to a nice 6-0 run. The top four teams are separated by only two games (though again, it’s way early), with records of 13-6, 12-7, 12-7 and 11-8, and all have virtues any SBL team would covet, assets that should hold them in good stead for the long term. (For details, consult your rosters.) Contrast this with the American division, which appears to have quickly devolved into a two-team affair -- the Bammers, off to a blistering 18-1 start, and the Badgers, hanging tough at four games back on the strength of the most dominant week the league has seen so far this young season. The rest of the division is made up of four losing teams already staring at double-digit deficits. . . . The Badgers simply were not going to be beaten this week, posting league bests in six categories—runs (39), TB (42), HR (12), RBI (39) WL (4-0) and saves (6), plus the second-best ERA (2.32) and SB total (8). The closest game in their 6-0 onslaught was an 8-3 win over the Bammers. Speaking of the Bams, they were nothing special, at least by the standards they established the first two weeks, but still eased to a 5-1 mark mainly because no one among the Bottom Four in the division appears capable giving them a game right now. . . . The Derelicts’ 6-0 week was considerably more dicey than the Badgers, featuring two 6-5 wins and another by 6.5-4.5. But a league-leading ERA (2.27) and BR stat (1.07) combined with just enough offense (38 BI, 37 TB) carried them through. Also worthy of mention are the Godfathers, who have soldiered on impressively despite devastating injuries to their top two draft picks (Evan Longoria, Josh Hamilton, both on the DL). Deprived of their primary power sources, the G-Daddies managed only 4 HRs and 21 RBI this week. But, ever resourceful, they found other ways to win, going 5-1 by getting on base (league-best .386 OBP), taking the extra base (33 TB), stealing any bag not nailed down (15 SBs!) and, not coincidentally, scoring lots of runs (37). They also pitched pretty well—2.98 ERA, 1.13 BR, league-leading .99 K-rate. The ’Daddies are 12-7, tied with the Patton Inmates, one game behind the ’Licts, one ahead of DamianUnited -- and who knows what the NL standings will look like next week? With four good-looking teams, this could go on all season. Or not.(How’s that for hedging our bets?). . . . Tough-luck award of the week goes to DamU, losers of what had to be the closest tiebreaker in SBL history—155.4 to 155.3, against the Batfaced Barristers.

Week 3 standings

AMERICAN DIVISION
Team, LW...............W....L....PCT....GB
Bammers (5-1)..........18....1....947....--
Badgers (6-0)............14....5....737.....4
Moaners (3-3).............8...11....421....10
Zero's (1-5)................7...12....368....11
Barristers (3-3)...........6...13....316....12
Puny Pontiffs (0-6).......3...16....158....15
NATIONAL DIVISION
Team, LW...............W....L....PCT....GB
Derelicts (6-0)..........13....6....684....--
Godfathers (5-1).......12....7....632.....1
Inmates (3-3)...........12....7....632.....1
DamianUnited (2-4)....11....8....579.....2
Whiteskins (0-6).........7...12....368.....6
Bombers (2-4)............3...16....158....10

Sun-sational Six (Week 2 Edition)

Starting to shape up as another season of the haves and the have-nots, as the traditional powers in the Big Boy Division are starting to assert themselves. The Have-nots Division is starting to look like a D-dog, Inmate and Godfather kind of season. Here's how SS stack up so far:

1. Bammers (Last week: 3): You go undefeated, the SS-list gives you love. Kind of hard not to notice a 13-0 start with incredible pitching and hitting. We're still not sold that Stubbs and Walker are the next coming of Ruth and Gehrig, but they sure look kick-ass for April. SS loves the Bammer's rotation and bullpen -- and he even has a White Sox reliever!

2. Badgers (Last week: 2): We're still waiting to Pujols to show up and then we'll see if the Badges can rise to the pinnacle of the SS. There were news story out of the Bay Area that Badge had a book signing this past week. The list isn't happy that it didn't get an invitation. Might be why Badge hasn't shown up on the NY Times Bestselller List. Shame, shame.

3. D-United (Last week: 4): The Gamers are looking solid on offense and the mound. Definitely the team to beat in the Lesser Division. D-dog probably will have to assert his alpha-ness against the Inmates and Godfathers, but the SS is pretty confident this is going to be a playoff team that will challenge for its first Sun title. Whoopee.

4. Moaners (Last week: 1): Still not panicking because the Yankees-light had a bad outing last week, but this team may have to draft a Bautista or two this year to get really serious with the Big Boy Division. We're pretty confident that will happen over the next couple supplemental drafts. Please school us, Commish. We're watching.

5. Inmates (Last week: not ranked): Yes, old dogs can learn new tricks. The SS was distressed to find out at the draft that Gregg was being taken off the market by Shelly. Still waiting for our invitation to the nuptials, but we digress. Pattons traditionally are a power in the SBL, and this looks like one of his typical power teams. Probably in the SS for the duration.

6. Zeroes (Last week: 6): Kind of threatened this club last week, and it didn't disappoint. This definitely looks like a team that will contend for the playoffs, but there's going to be competition. We like the Zeroes' chances.