Newsletter for games through 8-13-17

MISSING MR. BALLINGALL — Here is a quick excerpt from Damien High School, where he worked for over 30 years.  It’s not complete, but it captures an awful lot about the guy.

While he is justly proud of his many accomplishments, he notes that “I am most proud of the graduates I’ve had who have returned to the coaching community.”  As the announcer for many Damien High School sporting events, during 2007, “The Voice of Damien” earned the exciting opportunity to do some stadium P.A. work announcing games for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Clippers where he met legends Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully.

For those interested in knowing more about Chuck, Damien’s full memorium effort can be found here.  There is also a more complete biography, letters from school officials, and a page to see and share remembrances.

FINAL TIDBIT: The nerdiest among you might enjoy this, which is an invitation to the 1983 Glenbrook High School round robin debate tournament.  It is relevant to us for 3 reasons.  First, it shows yours truly from Brighton High School as a contestant (as a sign of how powerful we were, they mis-spelled both my name and that of my partner).  Second, it shows Chuck Ballingall coaching for Damien (no surprise).  Third, it was found by Josh Clark, longtime ASFBLer and owner of the Royals, who is now the coach at the prestigious Montgomery Bell Academy and found this last week in a storage closet in Tennessee, which is a long way from Utah, California, and Chicago.  Josh worked for Chuck for a couple of years; special thoughts going out to Josh this week.

FREAKISH WEDNESDAY.  Last week I ran the games and exchanged an email with Chuck Ballingall about the survey at 12:43.  John Weerts — who’s hand I have not yet had the pleasure of shaking but who I am digitially connected to — dropped by my office for an unexpected visit around 4pm because he was in town.  We just missed each other by 20 minutes.  By 5pm Chuck had passed away.

FANTASY VS. REALITY

AL EAST Reality: Boston has surged and taken control, but the Yankees aren’t out of it yet.  Fantasy: Baltimore has shoved themselves into first place with a +11 WOR and the Yankees are better than the actual team; this has bumped the Bosox back a notch.  The Rays, who have been scuffling, were 6-0 last week.

AL CENTRAL Reality: After some back-and-forth, Cleveland is acting like the defending champs and is 6 up on the Royals and Twins.  Fantasy: Detroit is +9.5 on the real club and nudged into first by a half game; the Chisox are roadkill in reality but +6.5 in the ASFBL.  The Tribe are hanging tough and still look like a team to beat.

AL WEST Reality: The Astros are running away with it but have been awful since the All-Star break.  Fantasy: The Astros are solidly in control and only Oakland (John Weerts) is in positive WOR territory.

AL WILDCARD  Reality: There are 6 teams within 5.5 games of each other and there’s a see-saw battle for the last playoff spot.  The Yankees are in the best spot but nobody feels comfortable with a 3-game lead.  Fantasy: The Yankees are also in the top spot, and whoever finishes second in the AL Central will have to battle with Boston for the second spot.  Seattle and Anaheim — and maybe the A’s — are within striking distance and one good run could make them contenders.

NL EAST Reality: Nobody is going to catch Washington and nobody else is going to make the playoffs.  Fantasy: Somehow, Andy Somers’ has the team more than 10 games better than the actual version despite the rest of the division being +15.5 WOR.  Was perfect this week and now leads the league in wins.  The Las Vegas Mets managed 2 wins this week but Philly (Johnny Mac) and Atlanta (Danny Wildes) are coming on strong and making WOR headway.

NL CENTRAL Reality: 3-dog race between the Cubs, Brewers, and Cards.  Fantasy: Cubs and Brewers and battling it out with the Brewers in front and the Cubs gaining a few inches this week.  The Reds (Raphael Malveaux) have vaulted into the top WOR spot in the league.

NL WEST Reality: The Dodgers are having a historic season and while Arizona and Colordao look tough they are a distant second.  Fantasy: Arizona and Colorado are +bigtime WOR and that’s pushed the Dodgers back a few spots.  Leo’s Rockies are within 5 games of first.

NL WILDCARD Reality: The Cards and Brewers aren’t out of it, but these spots seem to belong to the DBacks and Rockies.  Second place in the NL Central gets you an early vacation.  Fantasy: Colorado looks to have the top wildcard spot in hand, and the Dodgers have 68 wins; Cubs and Reds each have 62.  The loss column puts the Cubs a game closer than the Reds, and while making up 5 games in the last 6 weeks is daunting, it’s possible, and the Central runner-up has a better chance of catching a wildcard spot than the actual clubs.

QUICK REMINDER: If you haven’t taken the survey yet, please do so.  The link is in last week’s newsletter.  We have 12 responses so far, and we’d like to get more than 20.  If you have taken the survey, please don’t do so again.  The form is supposed to prevent it, but I’m sure that’s not perfect.  Best quip of the week came from Adam Symonds: “I assume you want me to vote up to 25 times a day on this one?”

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Corey Kluber of COL had 11 strikeouts against CLE on 8/8/2017
Yoenis Cespedes of NYM robbed 3 hits against TEX on 8/8/2017
Carlos Rodon of CWS had 10 strikeouts against HOU on 8/8/2017
Justin Verlander of DET had 10 strikeouts against PIT on 8/8/2017
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against MIL on 8/8/2017
Tyler Skaggs of LAA had 15 strikeouts against BAL on 8/8/2017
Daniel Descalso of LAA struck out 4 times against BAL on 8/8/2017
Chris Archer of TBR had 11 strikeouts against BOS on 8/8/2017
Chris Sale of BOS had 17 strikeouts against TBR on 8/9/2017
Max Scherzer of WAS had 10 strikeouts against MIA on 8/9/2017
Delino DeShields of TEX had 5 hits against NYM on 8/9/2017
Ryan Zimmerman of WAS had 6 RBI against MIA on 8/10/2017
Corey Seager of LAD robbed 3 hits against ARI on 8/10/2017
Chris Taylor of LAD struck out 4 times against ARI on 8/10/2017
Mike Zunino of SEA struck out 5 times against LAA on 8/10/2017
LAA and SEA played 13.5 innings on 8/10/2017
Tanner Roark of BAL had 10 strikeouts against OAK on 8/11/2017
Kyle Finnegan of OAK had 11 strikeouts against BAL on 8/12/2017
Drew Pomeranz of BOS had 10 strikeouts against NYY on 8/12/2017
Rogelio Armenteros of HOU had 11 strikeouts against TEX on 8/13/2017

Newsletter for games through 8-6-2017

MORE RARE THAN A NO-HITTER!  Michael Brantley of CLE hit for the cycle against BOS on 7/31/2017.  Really not that rare at all: Amed Rosario of NYM struck out 4 times against LAD on 8/4/2017

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE:

My hope is to do a major site overhaul.  Not that we aren’t all nostalgic for what websites looked like in 2003 and all, but there are new things modern sites do that would make ours better.  My hope is that this will happen by next year; the actual deploy date may be a little longer than that depending on how thoroughly I can avoid other and more professional responsibilities.

That makes this an ideal time to review some possible rule changes; please let us know your opinions by taking this 5-question, yes/no survey.  Send comments to Leo or I directly, and if you have other suggestions email is also the way to go.  We’ll run all the possible changes past everyone one more time before we do anything drastic next year.

Here are the issues:

#1: Include free waivers in trades?  This is for situations like: “I’ll trade you Hansel Robles and 2 free waivers for a AAA outfielder hitting better than .150.”  Can’t trade free waivers now, the rule change would allow you to include them.  (Obvious response, by the way, is “I’ll trade you for the 2 free waivers but you have to keep Robles.”)

#2: Can you keep one AAA player you acquire in trade?  Right now there are no keepers in the league…the rule change would allow a team to keep ONE (1) AAA player they acquired in trade for the subsequent year.  This would allow teams that are out of it to pick up an asset they could use in the future without doing too much damage to the starting rosters of the subsequent year.  Downside is that if an owner leaves the league the new owner would inherit a roster that might not include a key player.

#3: Merge AAA stats with MLB stats for callups with low appearance totals.  Say I guy has 350 at-bats in AAA and is hitting .327, gets called up and goes 0-4, and gets sent down.  Under our current rules you have a .000 hitter with 4 at-bats.  An alternative is a formula that continues to count AAA stats up to, say, 30 MLB AB or 10 MLB IP.  It would make the quick call-up less of a kiss of death, and we would still count the player against the 3-AAA player limit.

#4: MLB expands the rosters to 40 players; we could do the same thing.  It would help you reduce over-use by having larger bullpens and more players to platoon with, but would more or less render free waivers irrelevant after a while and mean nobody would get waived.

#5: Mostly a pipe dream, but update the stats daily and run the games daily.  Would obviously mean that you need to stay more involved, but would also mean that the DL would be more accurate, you’d only need to name the starter for the day, etc.  We’d probably need to automate roster moves and pitching rotations a little more so that inactive owners wouldn’t skew the results or let injured players build up on the roster.  The viability of this will depend on how well I can automate the stat updating and game running stuff.  I’m sure good programmers can do it; the question is whether I can.

The survey is here.  Please take a moment and share your thoughts!

QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS WEEK:

The top of the NL West is just frightening…and that’s not just because my tussles with the Dodgers and Rockies left me 0-6…Rob Perkins is capitalizing on the complete collapse of the actual White Sox and vaulting up the WOR standings….gotta be impressed with what Danny Wildes is doing with Atlanta…ditto Malveaux and Zewiske with very average actual clubs…don’t know about you, but I start each ASFBL results week by looking at the standings in the central divisions…Skrovan’s Indians inched forward by a game…Twins were the only team to run the table this week…Texas and San Diego had the misfortune of hitting them while they were hot…AL East is a dead tie between the Yankees and the Orioles, and Boston is a long way from out of it…they went 5-2 last week…Houston continues to pull away in the AL West and had another great week…Somers’ Nationals stayed tied with Wynne’s DBacks for most wins in the league this week…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

D.J. Baxendale of MIN had 10 strikeouts against SDP on 8/1/2017
Edwin Encarnacion of CLE had 6 RBI against BOS on 8/1/2017
Madison Bumgarner of COL had 11 strikeouts against NYM on 8/1/2017
Jimmy Nelson of MIL had 10 strikeouts against STL on 8/1/2017
Sonny Gray of OAK had 10 strikeouts against SFG on 8/1/2017
Drew Pomeranz of BOS had 10 strikeouts against CLE on 8/2/2017
Eduardo Nunez of COL had 5 hits against NYM on 8/2/2017
Willson Contreras of CHC had 5 hits against ARI on 8/2/2017
DET and NYY played 15.5 innings on 8/2/2017
Heiker Meneses of BOS struck out 4 times against CWS on 8/3/2017
CWS and BOS played 16.5 innings on 8/3/2017
ARI and CHC played 13.5 innings on 8/3/2017
Corey Kluber of COL had 15 strikeouts against NYM on 8/3/2017
Ervin Santana of MIN had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 8/3/2017
Michael Wacha of STL had 11 strikeouts against CIN on 8/4/2017
Ryan Goins of TOR struck out 4 times against HOU on 8/4/2017
Chris Sale of BOS had 10 strikeouts against CWS on 8/4/2017
Jacob Faria of TBR had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 8/4/2017
Jalen Beeks of BOS had 13 strikeouts against CWS on 8/5/2017
Todd Frazier of CWS struck out 4 times against BOS on 8/5/2017
Zack Godley of ARI had 10 strikeouts against SFG on 8/5/2017
Jimmy Nelson of MIL had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 8/6/2017
Wilmer Font of LAD had 13 strikeouts against NYM on 8/6/2017

Newsletter for games through 7-30-17

TRADE CHAOS: 20 trades Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the last entered at 11:41PM.  It would have been 21 with the last trade coming in at 11:59 but Andy and I each literally fell asleep at our computers.  Especially noteworthy was the work of Josh Clark, who made 4 trades involving 14 players.  Rick Wynne avoided the unlucky 13th trade curse by making a 14th trade before the deadline.  I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t at least offer Asdrubal Cabrera for Odubel Herrera just so I could keep repeating the offer out loud.

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS: It’s kinda awesome when the rookie shortstop you are now counting on a lot (Rosario) makes his MLB debut, and you really need him to hit, and it’s a road game in Colorado.  It’s less awesome when your starting pitcher that same night is also a rookie with only 3 IP under his belt (Flexen) and he also gets to play in Colorado.  Oh well, I guess it ought to be a wash…

COMMENTARY:  The Dodgers stood pat — why not? — and had the best record in the NL West, amidst the player tornado created by the Rockie and Diamondback trade activity…all 3 teams had winning records…the highly active Cubs had the best NL record at 6-1 and pushed to within 2 games of Milwaukee, and had the only winning week in the division…Reds and Phillies continue to hold their spots at the top of the WOR standings…the Met strategy of irrational player acquisition unrelated to team need or player quality unexepectedly paid off with a winning week, although it was the Nats who moved into a tie with Rick’s DBax for most wins in the league…Yankees, Cleveland, and Seattle were all 5-1…those records gave the Yanks a crucial game on the Orioles and pushed the Indians a game ahead of the Tigers…Detroit and Baltimore were each 4-2…Seattle has the misfortune of playing in Houston’s division, but the week kept them relevant in the wildcard race…San Diego scored, in order, 4, 3, 2, and 1 run against the Mets..I love the symmetry…Baltimore took 2 of 3 games from a hot Texas team that had just finished a sweep of the Marlins…3 of the top 7 run scorers in the league play for Washington…that’s not really the on-base and speed category it once was, although Altuve is 3rd…if you saw Justin Turner and Jose Altuve walking next to each other on the street, would you think “there go 2 of the best athletes in the game?”…neither one is 6 feet tall…Antonio Senzatela of the Indians ranks 14th in the league in best control (allowing .2 walks per 9 innings), and I can honestly say I’d never even heard of him before finding that stat…which is a little weird because every other pitcher in the top 20 is very recognizable…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

James Paxton of SEA had 10 strikeouts against BOS on 7/24/2017
Hyun-Jin Ryu of BAL had 12 strikeouts against TBR on 7/24/2017
Brad Miller of TBR struck out 4 times against BAL on 7/24/2017
Danny Duffy of TOR had 11 strikeouts against OAK on 7/24/2017
Dallas Keuchel of HOU had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 7/24/2017
Matt Davidson of CWS struck out 4 times against CHC on 7/24/2017
Jedd Gyorko of STL robbed 3 hits against COL on 7/24/2017
Chris Sale of BOS had 11 strikeouts against SEA on 7/25/2017
Jacob deGrom of SEA had 11 strikeouts against BOS on 7/25/2017
Jacob Faria of TBR had 10 strikeouts against BAL on 7/25/2017
Max Scherzer of WAS had 13 strikeouts against MIL on 7/25/2017
Bryce Harper of WAS had 6 RBI against MIL on 7/25/2017
Luis Severino of NYY had 12 strikeouts against CIN on 7/25/2017
Jose Peraza of CIN struck out 4 times against NYY on 7/25/2017
Justin Smoak of TOR had 7 RBI against OAK on 7/26/2017
Carlos Martinez of WAS had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 7/26/2017
Masahiro Tanaka of SEA had 10 strikeouts against NYM on 7/28/2017
Jose Martinez of STL had 6 RBI against ARI on 7/28/2017
Caleb Joseph of BAL struck out 5 times against TEX on 7/28/2017
Shin-Soo Choo of TEX had 6 RBI against BAL on 7/28/2017
BAL and TEX played 14.5 innings on 7/28/2017
Jon Lester of CHC had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 7/28/2017
Jon Jay of CHC struck out 4 times against MIL on 7/28/2017
CHC and MIL played 15.5 innings on 7/28/2017
Tommy Pham of STL struck out 4 times against ARI on 7/29/2017
Corey Kluber of COL had 14 strikeouts against WAS on 7/29/2017
Rafael Lopez of TOR had 6 RBI against LAA on 7/29/2017
Francisco Lindor of CLE had 6 RBI against CWS on 7/30/2017
Chris Sale of BOS had 12 strikeouts against KCR on 7/30/2017
Manny Machado of BAL hit 3 home runs against TEX on 7/30/2017
Manny Machado of BAL had 7 RBI against TEX on 7/30/2017

Newsletter for games through 7-23-2017

SCORE THAT AN ERROR: Paulino was listed on the waiver wire but should not have been; he landed himself on the PED suspension list, so he’s simply unavailable to all…Dennis Madsen noted that my attempt to say that we had a “full week” was actually typed as a “feel week,” and he was kind enough not to point out that it was no doubt a Freudian way of describing my bullpen…

I KNOW I’M A LITTLE DEFENSIVE ABOUT THIS, BUT: Look, defense matters.  A lot.  And of all the areas of baseball stats, it’s measured the worst.  Errors are NOT the most important thing, are poorly defined anyway (what’s “ordinary effort”?), and while they don’t really measure range (or they might, in a reverse way — more errors might actually mean better range), more range is not, by itself, really a measure of good defense either.  How much range do you need from your catcher?  Or pitcher?  Or first baseman?  Or even third baseman?  And we just covered 4 of 9 spots on the field.  Thus, I will share with you my observations on defense, based on data from the first half of this season.

Observation #1: You know what doesn’t really matter?  Errors.  They explain 0.2% (that’s 1/5th of 1 percent) of runs, and 0 (that’s zero) percent of wins.  Fielding percentage, which derives from errors, explains all of 0.4% of each.

Observation #2: You know what does matter?  Batting average on balls in play.  That explains 13.2% of runs and a more modest 0.8% of wins, but both numbers are way better than errors.

Observation #3: Catchers matter.  Passed balls and wild pitches explain 1-2% of runs, but caught stealing percent explains 4.4%.  Add all that up and it’s about 10% of the runs your team allows that can be attributed to the catcher.   And that doesn’t really include calling the game, framing the pitches, handling the pitcher freak outs, directing infield traffic, fielding bunts, blocking the plate, etc.  That 10% figure is no doubt lower than the collective pitching effort, but unlike pitchers the catcher is out there every day.  Your best pitcher takes runs off the board every 5th day; a good catcher does it every single night.  Only MLB team ever to win a World Series with a rookie catcher?  The Giants, and that rookie was Buster Posey.

What does this have to do with the ASFBL?  Very little.  I’m mostly ranting.  But I do put some time into figuring out the defensive side of things…although as with all things quantitative, there’s more guesswork than anyone would like with low sample sizes.

SO ABOUT THIS WEEK: Rockies ran the table with the only perfect record in the NL…Braves had the best record in the East…Cubs had only wining record in the central…Yankees went 6-1 to move back into first, but both the Bosox and Orioles also had winning records… Detroit picked up a half game to move into a dead tie with Cleveland, and the Royals also gained ground…Oakland went 4-2 for the best record in the AL West, and they also have the only positive WOR in the division….Philly and Cincinnati are dueling it out atop the WOR standings…where you will also find the DBacks, , who lead their division by 7…Houston has the biggest divisional lead, although the Nationals could claim that title soon…Nats also have the best record in the league, with the DBacks breathing down their necks…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Addison Russell of CHC hit 3 home runs against ATL on 7/17/2017
Addison Russell of CHC had 6 RBI against ATL on 7/17/2017
Gerardo Parra of COL had 5 hits against SDP on 7/17/2017
Mark Reynolds of COL had 6 RBI against SDP on 7/17/2017
Mark Reynolds of COL had 5 hits against SDP on 7/17/2017
Matt Adams of SFG had 6 RBI against CLE on 7/17/2017
Matthew Joyce of OAK had 6 RBI against TBR on 7/18/2017
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 10 strikeouts against CWS on 7/18/2017
Max Scherzer of WAS had 10 strikeouts against LAA on 7/19/2017
Mallex Smith of TBR struck out 4 times against OAK on 7/19/2017
Nate Karns of KCR had 10 strikeouts against DET on 7/19/2017
PHI and MIA played 14.5 innings on 7/19/2017
Corey Kluber of COL had 13 strikeouts against SDP on 7/19/2017
Robbie Ray of ARI had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 7/20/2017
Brandon Drury of ARI struck out 4 times against CIN on 7/20/2017
Mike Moustakas of KCR hit 3 home runs against DET on 7/20/2017
Matt Holliday of NYY struck out 4 times against SEA on 7/21/2017
Pat Valaika of COL had 7 RBI against PIT on 7/21/2017
Melky Cabrera of CWS had 5 hits against KCR on 7/22/2017
Drew Pomeranz of BOS had 11 strikeouts against LAA on 7/22/2017

Newsletter for games through 7-19-2017

RANDOM: This sentence appeared in the Los Angeles Times on July 15: “Miami — Sent third baseman Miguel Rojas to Jupiter for a rehab assignment” … will he even be alive when he gets back?

COMMENTARY: Five teams had 3-0 records…including both the Dodgers and the Padres…Washington and Houston were the only division leaders to do it…DRays were the 5th, and they’re looking to right the ship after a tough first half…Cleveland is in first and +1 WOR, and could be feeling more comfortable were not the Tigers and Chisox both +6.5 WOR…you are about to read the most startling sentence ever written in this newsletter, a comment so eye-catching and improbable that it needs no exclamation mark to highlight it’s significance…the ASFBL fantasy team ERA leader is Colorado…hats off to you, Mr. Leckie…Washington is .01 behind them…Houston and Boston are separated by .16 in the American League, and curiously Boston has the fewest saves of any team in the top 10…Anaheim (that’s the club definitively south-west of Los Angeles for the geographically confused) has the bullpen that has allowed the fewest percentage of inherited runners to score at 13%…Arizona has allowed only 11 inherited runners to score all year…that’s about 1 in every 8 games…but they’ve inherited roughly 40 fewer runners than the Angel bullpen…the top-3 fantasy ERA teams all have between 233-241 walks allowed, and then it jumps to 320 (Dodgers)…Boston still has struck out the most opponents…Houston is a tick below the actual club, but leads the ASFBL in runs scored…Washington and Milwaukee both have more than 100 net hit saving plays (hits saved minus errors and difficult plays not made) , and both are in first place…Cardinals have 99…real Dodger ERA is 2.90…that’s scary…they’ve also hit 146 homers, which is second only to Houston…Cleveland is in first place but their actual team ERA ranks 28th…defense ranks 1st…plenty of chance for those fielders to rob hits…second half should start to shape up next week with the first full week of play…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Jake Arrieta of CHC had 10 strikeouts against BAL on 7/14/2017
Jacob deGrom of NYM had 11 strikeouts against COL on 7/14/2017
Luis Severino of NYY had 12 strikeouts against BOS on 7/14/2017
Jimmy Nelson of MIL had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 7/15/2017
Chris Sale of BOS had 14 strikeouts against NYY on 7/15/2017
Nomar Mazara of TEX hit for the cycle against KCR on 7/15/2017
Trevor Cahill of SDP had 12 strikeouts against SFG on 7/15/2017
Marcell Ozuna of MIA struck out 4 times against LAD on 7/15/2017
Luis Castillo of CIN had 13 strikeouts against WAS on 7/15/2017
Jose Quintana of CWS had 11 strikeouts against SEA on 7/15/2017
Salvador Perez of KCR had 6 RBI against TEX on 7/16/2017
Eric Thames of MIL hit 3 home runs against PHI on 7/16/2017
Alex Wood of LAD had 10 strikeouts against MIA on 7/16/2017
Mike Clevinger of CLE had 12 strikeouts against OAK on 7/16/2017

 

Newsletter for games through 7-12-17

RANDOM: I’ll give 2 extra free waivers to any owner who has a selfie taken of themselves and Joe West while on the All-Star field…If the 3 days without actual games is resulting in physical discomfort, you might visit http://baseballholics.libsyn.com/ … it will add to the addiction, not cure it, but it might get you through Wednesday…

COMMENTARY: Colorado charged forward with the only 7-0 week…Miami matched the National’s 6-1 record in the East as the Mets collapsed…Philly put up a winning week and moved into first place in the WOR…Pittsburgh was tops in the NL central at 5-2 but the Brewers held to first with a 3-3 record as the Reds cooled off…Dodgers were also 4-2, but the DBacks don’t look too nervous with their 9-game lead…Baltimore moved back into first place by picking up 2.5 games on the Yanks, and Boston is holding stead with another winning week…Detroit moved into first place in the AL central by picking up 1.5 games on Cleveland and benefitting from some tough luck experienced by the Sox…Seattle had the only winning record in the West…Scherzer is the only 14-game winner in the ASFBL going into the break…Gio Gonzalez also has 11, and they are the only 2 teammates who have double-digit wins…Raisel Iglesias is killing the ASFBL in saves with 32, and nobody else has more than 20…he’s got 16 in real-life but his ERA is only 1.69…just goes to show that “save” is a team stat…can’t save any games if you’re team doesn’t have a lead going into the last inning…which brings to mind Anthony Young, who passed away last week…I remember watching him set the all-time MLB consecutive loss record…can’t set that record without the help of your teammates…and you gotta be pretty good to keep getting the ball..Kershaw and Smardzja are tied for the fewest walks per inning…Jose Ramirez and Nick Wittgren are tied with CSUF alum Mike Lorenzen by stranding 15 baserunners without allowing one to score…top 3 save leaders are all in the NL central, by the way…Aaron Judge has 98 RBI….holy crap….Nolan Arenado has 40 doubles….Baltimore scored exactly 8 runs in all 3 games against Milwaukee this week…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Brent Suter of BOS had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 7/3/2017
Jameson Taillon of PIT had 11 strikeouts against PHI on 7/4/2017
Bruce Maxwell of OAK had 5 hits against CWS on 7/4/2017
Ryon Healy of OAK had 6 RBI against CWS on 7/4/2017
Alex Wood of LAD had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 7/5/2017
George Springer of CLE hit 3 home runs against SDP on 7/5/2017
George Springer of CLE had 6 RBI against SDP on 7/5/2017
Nicholas Castellanos of WAS had 5 hits against NYM on 7/5/2017
Luis Castillo of CIN had 13 strikeouts against COL on 7/6/2017
Martin Maldonado of LAA struck out 4 times against TEX on 7/7/2017
Aaron Nola of PHI had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 7/7/2017
Hunter Renfroe of SDP struck out 4 times against PHI on 7/7/2017
Cory Spangenberg of SDP struck out 4 times against PHI on 7/7/2017
Willson Contreras of CHC had 8 RBI against PIT on 7/8/2017
Eric Hosmer of KCR had 5 hits against LAD on 7/8/2017
Austin Barnes of LAD had 6 hits against KCR on 7/8/2017
Chris Taylor of LAD struck out 4 times against KCR on 7/8/2017
Cody Bellinger of LAD struck out 4 times against KCR on 7/8/2017
KCR and LAD played 16.5 innings on 7/8/2017
Felix Hernandez of SEA had 13 strikeouts against OAK on 7/8/2017
Madison Younginer of BAL had 11 strikeouts against MIN on 7/8/2017
George Springer of CLE struck out 4 times against DET on 7/8/2017
Keon Broxton of MIL robbed 3 hits against NYY on 7/8/2017
Andrew Knapp of PHI struck out 4 times against SDP on 7/9/2017
Brian Dozier of MIN struck out 5 times against BAL on 7/9/2017
HOU and TOR played 13.5 innings on 7/9/2017

 

Newsletter for games through 7-2-17

COMMENTARY:  Ralph Malveaux’s Reds and their +11.5 WOR moved to with .5 games of the Brewers in the NL central…the gains seems largely to be made on the strength of two trades made on April 17….I think Ralph has low-level psychic powers….27 lineups turned in last week!  Thanks! Makes my life easier, and shows the league is healthy….Rick Wynne’s DBacks ran the table for the only perfect week in the ASFBL last week..my playlist for his karaoke next week: “We are the Champions,” and “It’s hard to be humble” … I’m going to lobby for a raising of the retirement age in North Carolina…The Dodgers are starting to flex their muscle, and as the actual team keeps improving there’s no reason Chuck Ballingall’s crew won’t…10 AL teams were stuck between 3 and 4 wins last week…New York and Boston were the big gainers with 5…Rob Perkins’ Chisox picked up a game on Steve Skrovan and the Indians to move into first by half a game…Texas had the best week in the AL West, and Houston remains the class of the AL…by the way, Jim Casey’s Astros were one the Reds’ early-season trading partners…according to Leo’s list, Jim is the 5th most active trader in the league…the Leckie family (Leo and Ben) account for 35 trades, more than Texas, St. Louis, San Francisco, Minnesota, Miami, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Boston, New York Mets, Cincinnati, Anaheim, and Cleveland combined…that first Cincinnati/Houston trade involved CSUF product Michael Lorenzen…who is one of 71 former Titans who made it in MLB, including the player who will never, ever be bumped from his #1 standing in the alphabetical rankings, Don Aase…both Pill’s (Tyler and Brent) are CSUF products who have both played for the ASFBL Mets, both by accident…Lorenzen graduated from Fullerton Union High School, which is the alma mater of Walter Johnson….who graduated just a century earlier…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Martin Maldonado of LAA struck out 4 times against LAD on 6/27/2017
Jose Bautista of HOU struck out 4 times against OAK on 6/27/2017
Carlos Martinez of STL had 11 strikeouts against ARI on 6/27/2017
Stephen Vogt of OAK struck out 4 times against HOU on 6/28/2017
Ryan Rua of TEX struck out 4 times against CLE on 6/28/2017
Max Scherzer of WAS had 11 strikeouts against CHC on 6/28/2017
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/28/2017
Zack Greinke of ARI had 11 strikeouts against STL on 6/28/2017
Jacob deGrom of NYM had 10 strikeouts against MIA on 6/29/2017
Jordan Montgomery of NYY had 10 strikeouts against CWS on 6/29/2017
Jose Peraza of CIN robbed 3 hits against MIL on 6/29/2017
Lucas Duda of NYM struck out 4 times against PHI on 6/30/2017
Dinelson Lamet of SDP had 11 strikeouts against LAD on 6/30/2017
Corey Kluber of COL had 14 strikeouts against ARI on 6/30/2017
David Peralta of ARI struck out 5 times against COL on 6/30/2017
COL and ARI played 15.5 innings on 6/30/2017
Sean Newcomb of ATL had 15 strikeouts against OAK on 6/30/2017
Trevor Bauer of CLE had 12 strikeouts against DET on 6/30/2017
Michael Taylor of DET struck out 4 times against CLE on 6/30/2017
SFG and PIT played 14.5 innings on 7/1/2017
Anthony Rendon of DET had 6 RBI against CLE on 7/1/2017
Aaron Altherr of PHI struck out 4 times against NYM on 7/1/2017
Yu Darvish of TEX had 10 strikeouts against CWS on 7/1/2017
Ivan Nova of COL had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 7/2/2017
COL and ARI played 17.5 innings on 7/2/2017
Rhiner Cruz of ATL had 10 strikeouts against OAK on 7/2/2017