Newsletter for games through 6-10-22

FEAT OF THE WEEK

Clayton Kershaw is back, at least in the ASFBL, throwing a no-hitter against Anaheim on 6-14 while striking out 12…the Angels traded Trout but it probably wouldn’t have mattered since he struck out 10 times on that same day while playing for the Brewers…2 walks short of a perfect game….and Syndergaard matched his zeros for 7 innings before Will Smith hit a bottom-of-the-ninth homer to win the game and preserve the no-hitter…

COMMENTARY

The Brewer sweep of the Mets had ripple effects in two divisions…it opened space for the Phils and Braves who both took advantage with 5-win weeks and were a collective 10-3 to march closer to the top of the division…and it helped the Brewers keep pace with the Cardinals, who matched their 4-2 record on the week…the Dodgers ran the table in the NL west to expand to a double-digit lead and move into solid command of the best record in the league…but they were only the second-best team in the division on the week since Ben Leckie’s Rockies went 6-0….Reds were a solid 4-2 and the Giants and DBacks broke even…Miami and Washington are both even with or better than their actual clubs…top the of AL East went bananas with the Bosox — a strong contender for best ASFBL team given their first-place status and +8 WOR — and Jays going 11-2 between them…Baltimore played spoiler this week at 4-3…they did their damage against the Rays, really helping the Jays and Yankees try to jockey for the dark horse status…the top of the AL Central took on water with the Twins and Guardians both stumbling, letting the Chisox, Tigers, and Royals inch closer, although nobody had a winning week…best race in the league right now is the dogfight between the Angels and the Astros, who are within a half game of each other…whole division is +14 WOR…Houston has the better record over the last 10, 20, and 30 games but the Angels are 20-9 in 1-run games, best in the league…so you can tell Phil Nevin isn’t coaching them…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Andrew Vaughn (Chicago (CWS))  had 5 hits (on 6/13/2022 against Detroit) 
Jorge Mateo (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 6/14/2022 against Toronto) 
Mike Trout (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 6/14/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Jarred Kelenic (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 6/14/2022 against Minnesota) 
Michael A.Taylor (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 6/15/2022 against San Francisco) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 6/15/2022 against Minnesota) 
Francisco Lindor (New York (NYY)) hit 6 RBI (on 6/15/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Mike Trout (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 6/15/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 6/15/2022 against Cleveland) 
Alek Manoah (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 6/16/2022 against Baltimore) 
Brendan Rodgers (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 6/16/2022 against Cleveland) 
Jazz Chisholm (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 6/18/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Logan Gilbert (Seattle) struck out 12 batters (on 6/18/2022 against Anaheim) 
Matt Chapman (Toronto) hit 6 RBI (on 6/19/2022 against New York (NYY)

Newsletter for games through 6-12-22

RULES THOUGHTS

We are considering revising the fielding transformation grid…for example, shortstops lose points if they play second, but if the thought is that second is easier than short that might need tweaking. As a second example, the “setup” situation is defined as the 7th inning or later, which it definitely was when the rule was written, but with starters going shorter distances maybe that needs tweaking and/or the roles can be set more specifically, like an “earliest inning” field for each reliever. Anyway, take a look at the rules page (link on top of this page) and let us know what you think. If you have other rules suggestions forward them to Leo who can compile them…and then we’ll decide what to change (if anything) and when to change it.

COMMENTARY

Top of the NL Central got it done this week, with the Cardinals going 6-0, the Brewers going 5-1, and the Cubs checking in at 4-1….that’s a collective 15-2…Dodgers set the pace in the west with a 5-1 mark but the Padres put together a winning week and hold on to the 3rd wildcard spot…Rockies and Marlins are both positive-WOR teams…Jays made a move in the AL East with 5 wins in 6 games but the Bosox have kept their +7 WOR and are in a three-way tie with the Twins and Angels for the most wins in the Senior Circuit…Cleveland crept inches closer in the Central and sits at +2 WOR…the Astros moved to within a game of the Angels in the west this week, and the question is whether Greg Achten can keep his club at the +10 WOR pace that’s put him a game in front of Jim Casey’s collection…Oakland and Texas are a combined +9 WOR….that division is tough…Miami has the best collection of gloves with a net fielding impact of giving up 8 hits…Baltimore fielders have robbed the most hits with 34…Atlanta has the second best net fielding production, putting the top two clubs in the NL East…Cubs and Brewers are 3 and 4, putting the next 2 best clubs in the NL central…the NL East is where fly balls go to die…Atlanta leads the ASFBL in homers with 90…only 3 teams (Brewers and Dodgers) have more than 80…but the Dodgers have scored the most runs…Yankees lead the league in ERA….Rays pitchers have allowed the fewest runs…Jays bullpen has allowed 13% of inherited runners to score, best in the league…average is about 25%….my Mets allow 30%…that’s on-brand…Dodgers have stolen 45 bases, most in the league, and only been thrown out 4 times…Leo does a better job than I of keeping track of trades, but I will say that seven different owners were involved in deals this week…next big event on the horizon is the all-star break…hope your summers is treating you well!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Konnor Pilkington (Cleveland) struck out 13 batters (on 5/30/2022 against Kansas City) 
Alejandro Kirk (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 5/31/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
J.D. Davis (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 5/31/2022 against Washington) 
Matt Chapman (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 6/1/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Randal Grichuk (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 6/2/2022 against Atlanta) 
Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota) struck out 5 times (on 6/3/2022 against Toronto) 
Luis Garcia (Washington) hit 6 RBI (on 6/4/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Yordan Álvarez (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 6/4/2022 against Kansas City) 
Luke Voit (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Nick Gordon (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 6/5/2022 against Toronto) 
Jace Peterson (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 6/5/2022 against San Diego) 
Jorge Alfaro (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 6/7/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
George Springer (Toronto) hit 6 RBI (on 6/8/2022 against Kansas City) 
George Springer (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 6/8/2022 against Kansas City) 
Bo Bichette (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 6/8/2022 against Kansas City) 
Emmanuel Rivera (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 6/8/2022 against Toronto) 
Jordan Luplow (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 6/8/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Austin Riley (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 6/8/2022 against Oakland) 
Pavin Smith (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 6/8/2022 against Atlanta) 
Victor Caratini (Milwaukee) hit 6 RBI (on 6/8/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Trea Turner (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 6/9/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Seth Brown (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 6/9/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Jazz Chisholm (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 6/10/2022 against Houston) 
Josh Sale (Texas) hit 7 RBI (on 6/11/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Geraldo Perdomo (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 6/11/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Rougned Odor (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 6/11/2022 against Kansas City) 
Tyler Anderson (Los Angeles) struck out 14 batters (on 6/11/2022 against San Francisco) 
Tomas Nido (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 6/11/2022 against Anaheim) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 6/11/2022 against Boston) 
George Springer (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 6/12/2022 against Detroit) 

Newsletter for games through 6-5

COMMENTARY

Sorry for the lateness and this will be short…got out of the house earlier than intended and never made it back….the Dodgers Rick Wynne has made 10 trades with 10 different owners this year…impressive and very collegial…briefly bragging on the Mets, no middle reliever has a better name for his role than Holderman….way better than Homer Bailey…congrats to the Braves and their 6-1 mark and the Pirates who went 5-1…Dodgers took 3 of 4 from the Mets, and claimed the most wins and best record in the NL…Bosox are hot in real life and had the only perfect week at 6-0…kudos to the Rangers who went 5-2…Greg Achten’s Angels are 6-4 over the last 10, which is something since the actual Angles are zero for their last 14….Skrovan’s Guardians would be within 2 games of first thanks to his +3 WOR had not Tim Walsh’s Twins set the pace at +4 WOR….

FEATS AND FAILURES

Konnor Pilkington (Cleveland) struck out 13 batters (on 5/30/2022 against Kansas City) 
Alejandro Kirk (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 5/31/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
J.D. Davis (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 5/31/2022 against Washington) 
Matt Chapman (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 6/1/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Randal Grichuk (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 6/2/2022 against Atlanta) 
Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota) struck out 5 times (on 6/3/2022 against Toronto) 
Luis Garcia (Washington) hit 6 RBI (on 6/4/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Yordan Álvarez (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 6/4/2022 against Kansas City) 
Luke Voit (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Nick Gordon (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 6/5/2022 against Toronto) 
Jace Peterson (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 6/5/2022 against San Diego)

Newsletter for games through 5-29-22

COMMISH

Leo and I have played over-the-line together, and let’s just say that nobody was going to mistake us for major leaguers…but we’ve finally found a baseball-related activity that Leo and I might be better at than Mike Trout…apparently he’s a lousy fantasy sports commissioner…the ASFBL has had zero suspensions for slapping incidents sparked by waiver disputes…

COMMENTARY

Vince Velasquez of the Rangers threw a no-hitter against Oakland!!!!….took 126 pitches and it involved 3 walks…Oakland still went on to have a winning week…Texas was 5-1…Greg Achten of the Angels has the best AL record with 33 wins…Rick Wynne of the Dodgers leads the NL with 32, but has a better overall winning percentage…Tim Walsh also has 32 victories, putting him in second in the AL and tied with Rick overall…the Mets and Yankees have the best real-life records in their leagues…Mark Yee and I each have our teams in first but neither of us has kept pace with the actual clubs…Danny Wildes got a 6-1 record out of the Braves this week, tying him with Rick and the Dodgers for the best NL record this week…Josh Clark and the Cardinals held to first in the NL central but Chris Zewiske’s Brewers picked up 2-and-a-half games to move to within a half-game of first…Cards have the better WOR mark, and Gordon Leckie’s Cubs have the best NL WOR overall…Giants and Rockies both have strong WOR showings in a very competitive NL West…Anaheim is sitting atop everything, but the Astros and Rangers were each 5-1 and gained ground on the Angels…John Weers’ has surely gotten past the worst part of the schedule with a fantasy baseball Purple Heart, had a winning week, and has his team back in positive WOR territory…Hugh Brown’s Bosox are a great story in the AL, sitting 5.5 games above reality, 20-10 over their last 30, and challenging the Yankees in the East…they’d be the second wild-card team right now…Josh Mitchell‘s Seattle bunch is 3-17 over the last 20 but he’s only 1 game below the actual Mariners…three of the top four WOR finishers are all in the AL, and they are all in different divisions…Cleveland pounded out 17 hits against the Astros on the 23rd, and Richie Palacios had 5 of them…William Contreras of the Braves had eight homers and two doubles last week…in the style of our times he also struck out 12 times…Mookie Betts of the Dodgers had six homers and one more RBI than Contreras…Kyle Farmer of the Reds hit .538 in 26 at-bats last week…also walked three times…Yonathan Daza of the Rockies leads the ASFBL with a .392 average…he’s got 97 at-bats and by way of comparison Ty France of Seattle has 204…27 lineups submitted this week to go with 7 trades…love this league!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Owen Miller (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 5/23/2022 against Houston) 
Richie Palacios (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2022 against Houston) 
Starling Marte (New York (NYM)) hit 6 RBI (on 5/23/2022 against San Francisco) 
Ke'Bryan Hayes (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 5/24/2022 against Colorado) 
Jorge Mateo (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 5/24/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Hoy Park (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2022 against Colorado) 
Jarred Kelenic (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2022 against Oakland) 
Stone Garrett (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Randal Grichuk (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 5/26/2022 against Washington) 
Tyler Nevin (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 5/27/2022 against Boston) 
Jesus Aguilar (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 5/27/2022 against Atlanta) 
Kyle Tucker (Houston) stole 3 bases (on 5/28/2022 against Seattle) 
Aaron Hicks (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 5/29/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Matt Chapman (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/29/2022 against Anaheim) 

Newsletter for games through 5-22-2022

COMMENTARY

Just a little more about the Oakland A’s last week…they played NINE games in SEVEN days…John Weerts managed to use three #5 starters, finish the week with nobody over 130% usage, and win four games…DBacks and White Sox each played 8 games this week…Arizona went 5-3 and the Chisox split the games…sort of a side note, but I support all the rules changes of the Savannah Bananas, but most especially the one where a batter is out if a fan catches a foul ball… Toronto beat Seattle 29-0 on the 16th…it was bad but reasonably normal until a badly over-used Justus Sheffield gave up 11 runs in 2/3rds of an inning…gotta watch those over-use figures…every Blue Jay had 3 or more hits…Manoah went the distance for the shutout…the blowout didn’t burn up the Blue Jay bats too much, and they won 3 of the next 4 games…speaking of blowouts, the actual Cardinals beat the Pirates 18-4 on May 22…the fantasy Cardinals beat them 15-4 on May 21…Pirates had the upper hand 10-1 the day before, though…Brewers had the best record in the NL this week…Giants crawled into a dead tie in the NL west against the Dodgers…Dodgers are tied with the Mets for the best NL record over the last 20 games…the AL East went nuts this week; Boston and New York were both 6-1, and Tampa went 5-1…the entire division was 22-11…Twins were the only team to run the table and vaulted themselves 3.5 up in the AL central…Cleveland is an impressive +3.5 WOR, just behind Boston and Anaheim…I’m voiding Greg Achten’s ASFBL land deal around ASFBL Anaheim stadium due to probably financial impropriety…the Angels are 16-4 over their last 20 games, best in the ASFBL, and are undefeated in inter-league play…as an annual tradition, Greg and I meet for an Angels game in July, where we typically trade our best players to each other than the immediately get season-ending injuries…which should give hope to the rest of the AL…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Raimel Tapia (Toronto)  had 6 hits (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Alek Manoah (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Nathan Lukes (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Justin Steele (Chicago (CC)) struck out 12 batters (on 5/16/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta) stole 3 bases (on 5/16/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Trey Mancini (Arizona) hit 6 RBI (on 5/16/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Wil Myers (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/17/2022 against Philadelphia) 
William Contreras (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Ozzie Albies (Atlanta) struck out 5 times (on 5/18/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Eric Lauer (Milwaukee) struck out 11 batters (on 5/18/2022 against Atlanta) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 12 batters (on 5/18/2022 against Detroit) 
Kevin Smith (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Minnesota) 
Trevor Story (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Houston) 
Eric Hosmer (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Boston) 
Leody Taveras (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Houston) 
Michael Chavis (Pittsburgh) hit 6 RBI (on 5/20/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) hit 3 homers (on 5/21/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Eli White (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/21/2022 against Houston) 

Newsletter for games through 5-15-2022

COMMENTARY

There were NINETEEN trades in the ASFBL last week…Jim Casey and the Astros were involved in six of them…Josh Clark and the Cardinals made 4…that’s gotta be our most active week ever, and it probably means something that both teams had winning weeks…The first-ever ASFBL Purple Heart goes to the John Weerts’ Oakland club this week…MLB gifted them with two double-headers 4 days apart, so he couldn’t even use the same starters in both games…they played 9 games this week, which will surely stand as an all-time record…finishing 4-5 in that stretch counts as a win…and that’s in the fiercely competitive AL West, where you can be fighting for 4th place with Ben Brockreide’s +3 Rangers….by the way, at our annual department awards assembly on Sunday we gave out the “Brockreide” scholarship…named after Wayne…or be the Astros, go 4-2, and lose ground to the Angels who are scorching at 5-2…Check out the ASFBL AL East, where four teams are within a half-game of first place…big week for Mark Yee’s Yankees, who are heating up, and moved into first by a half game…Baltimore is in last but all of 2 games back, and closer to first than the Astros, Braves, or Cubs, who are all in second place…and the best WOR team in the division is Boston…kudos to the Royals who had the best record in the AL Central this week…the Tigers also had a full schedule and a double-header and played 8 games…the 4-4 finish got them a full game on the division-leading Twins, and moved them into the top WOR spot in their division…Steve Skrovan is poised in second place with a talented team and +2 WOR…Did I jinx Rick Wynne or give him karma by prognosticating about him last week? He went 5-2, moved into first place in the NL West and into positive-WOR territory against a hot actual Dodger club…Colorado is only 2.5 back and has the best WOR in the west…Cardinals and Cubs marched lockstep at 4-2 in the NL central…Cardinals hold first and the Cubs have the better WOR…best in the ASFBL, in fact…Miami had the best record in the NL this week and the Phillies were 5-2…feats and failures is shorter this week…and I kinda like that…thanks to all for handling our first-ever mid-season roster cut so well! You all managed to make the week more fun!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Austin Hays (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against Baltimore) 
Amed Rosario (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 5/11/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Yuli Gurriel (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 5/11/2022 against Minnesota) 
Aristides Aquino (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/12/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 5/13/2022 against Toronto) 
Shohei Ohtani (Anaheim) struck out 12 batters (on 5/14/2022 against Oakland)

Newsletter for games through 5-8-22

ROSTER UPDATE

The league has moved from rosters of 28 to rosters of 26…and we’ll do that next week. If you don’t want to waive anyone, you might consider trading some of your mutual problems or burning the free waivers.

NEWSLETTER UPDATE

As I briefly announced on email, I posted the fantasy baseball newsletter of last week on the CSU Fullerton Academic Senate website. Five of our 30 players noticed that and let me know…not one member of the 80-person Senate body seemed to notice…or they just kept quiet to so they could get more posts like that one…in my heart I want to believe that they read the thing and were impressed with Josh Mitchell and Josh Clark…

COMMENTARY

Shout out to the Diamondbacks and Reds, two teams struggling with real teams that are on the rough side this year…they both went 5-1 (best in the NL) and postured to make WOR moves….you know the NL west is a bloodbath when Rick Wynne is in 4th place…and has a .653 winning percentage…here’s betting he doesn’t finish the year 2 games under the actual club…and kudos to the Giants and Rockies who are first and second in the division and both in plus-WOR territory…Padres round out that division with a quality team…Braves are in second and Nationals are at the bottom of the NL east, but they’re the only teams in the division that aren’t tugging around negative-WOR marks…Cardinals lead the central and are +1.5 WOR, but the Cubs are dangerous in 3rd place with the best WOR in the NL (5.5)….Brewers lurk at second place with a stacked club…A 6-1 week vaulted the Rays into first place in the AL East…Boston is +4 WOR…the Yankees are the most fun ASFBL team to watch…they are competing against a really good actual club in the WOR race and have almost complete roster turnover…this was a tough week but don’t count them out…the Twins are the class of the actual AL central and lead the ASFBL, but the Guardians are +1.5 WOR and are only 2 games back…saving the best for last, the Angels went a perfect 7-0, have the best overall ASFBL record, and are 2 games up on a red-hot actual Anaheim club…and that division is nuts, as the only ASFBL division where every team is even-or-positive in the wins over reality, and hot as the Angels are they have lost ground to the Mariners who are +3 WOR to improve on the Angels +2….Houston lurks at second…Texas had winning week, is in plus WOR territory, and only 2 games out of a wildcard spot…just to gush a bit, the league has stabilized so that we only have 2 or so new owners a year, just about everyone submits a lineup every week, and trade activity stays constant…8 more trades this week…Cubs moving Suzuki was a big move (his OPS is +143 and there’s a ton of buzz around him) and that was the second trade of the week…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Zac Gallen (Arizona) struck out 14 batters (on 5/2/2022 against Miami) 
Jeimer Candelario (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/3/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Derek Hill (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/3/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Zach Logue (Oakland) struck out 11 batters (on 5/3/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Corey Kluber (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 5/4/2022 against Oakland) 
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee) struck out 11 batters (on 5/4/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Teoscar Hernandez (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2022 against Cleveland) 
Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia) hit 3 homers (on 5/5/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Ha-Seong Kim (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2022 against Miami) 
Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) struck out 11 batters (on 5/6/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Sean Murphy (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2022 against Minnesota) 
Omar Narvaez (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2022 against Atlanta) 
Kyle Wright (Atlanta) struck out 11 batters (on 5/7/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Eric Lauer (Milwaukee) struck out 14 batters (on 5/7/2022 against Atlanta) 
Taylor Ward (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 5/8/2022 against Washington)

Newsletter for games through 5-1

COMMENTARY

Josh Clark’s Cardinals continue their hot streak and hold first in the Central and hold the best record in the NL…Gordon Leckie’s Cubs are nipping at their heels with 4.5 wins over the actual team and lurk 2 games back…the NL west is a battle royale, with the Padres, Giants, Rockies, and Dodgers are all within 1 game of first place, and all have winning records…Josh Mitchell holds the best record in the NL and is a game and a half ahead of the Angels….Ben Brockreide’s Rangers have the beset WOR in the division…Hugh Brown’s Bosox have the best WOR in the American League and are all of a half game in front of the Yankees…Rays and Jays re within 2 games of first…Kevin Gausman of Toronto walked 14 batters in 13 and a third innings…Aaron Judge hit 5 homers last week…for the Cardinals…Mike Trout walked 8 times…for the Brewers…Kyle Schwarber scored 8 times and knocked in 7 last week…while striking out 10 times…but had zero fantasy ejections for freaking out over third strikes…Dermis Garcia of Oakland hit .333 with 5 runs…in only 18 at-bats…top hitter of the week was Eric Hosmer of the Padres who hit .520…just in front of Xander Bogaerts of the Bosox who hit .516….Nine trades pulled off this week, with the AL West with the Astros and Oakland leading the way…when the Fullerton Flyers of the now-defunct Golden League needed a gimmick, they bought the rights to an internet personality and then traded him for a case of beer…in the ASFBL this week, Baltimore traded Trey Mancini for beer…Seth of Arizona…28 lineups this week…on a day I needed everything to go smoothly you all really came through…thanks a ton!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Jose Azocar (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 4/26/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Nick Castellanos (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Colorado) 
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Colorado) 
Alfonso Rivas (Chicago (CC)) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Atlanta) 
Joe Ryan (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 4/26/2022 against Detroit) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 14 batters (on 4/26/2022 against Oakland) 
Tomas Nido (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 4/27/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 4/27/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Byron Buxton (Minnesota) struck out 5 times (on 4/27/2022 against Detroit) 
Aristides Aquino (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2022 against San Diego) 
Chris Bassitt (New York (NYY)) struck out 11 batters (on 4/28/2022 against Baltimore) 
Austin Meadows (Detroit)  had 5 hits (on 4/28/2022 against Minnesota) 
Bobby Dalbec (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2022 against Toronto) 
Jazz Chisholm (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 4/29/2022 against Seattle) 
Logan Gilbert (Seattle) struck out 11 batters (on 4/29/2022 against Miami) 
Justin Steele (Chicago (CC)) struck out 11 batters (on 4/29/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Trent Grisham (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 4/30/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Seiya Suzuki (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 4/30/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Kevin Kiermaier (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Minnesota) 
Joe Ryan (Minnesota) struck out 15 batters (on 5/1/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Detroit) 
Spencer Torkelson (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Travis Jankowski (New York (NYM))  had 5 hits (on 5/1/2022 against Philadelphia)

Newsletter for games through 4-24-22

RULES REMINDERS:

Waivers have been reset and everyone should have 2 free waivers. We’ll keep the 28-player roster as long as MLB does.

FIRST WEEK PHENOM

Jose Ramirez (Houston) hit for the cycle! (on 4/23/2022 against Toronto)….great acquisition by Jim Casey in the first set of transactions of the year…

COMMENTARY

The big stories are Josh Clark’s Cardinals and Josh Mitchell’s Mariners (must be something about being named Josh) who are each 12-4 and tied for the best record in the ASFBL…Gordon Leckie’s Cubs and Steve Skrovan’s Guardians (I typed that right the first time) are holding the top 2 spots in the WOR categories…the AL East and AL Central each have ties atop the division, with the Rays and Jays each at 9-7 in the East and the Twins and Guardians each 10-6 in the middle of the country….14 trades happened before the first slate of games, and as usual Jim Casey shook everything up…there’s nobody left from the club for opposing digital fans to boo….Mark Yee’s Yankees traded 8 players off the actual roster in 2 of the first 3 trades of the season…Pavin Smith was part of two 1-for-1 trades on the same day…Skrovan matches the Astros pace with 3 trades, swapping out 8 actual Guardians…Two ASFBL pitchers have 4 wins already, McFarland of the Cardinals and Gilbert of the Mariners…which might account for the hot start of both teams…McFarland did it with an ERA of 4.12, and Logan has an ERA at .84….which is double his actual ERA of .4…Buston and Zac Collins each have 9 ASFBL homers…RIzzo leads MLB with 8 (3 of them last night)….Mike Trout is hitting .329…for Milwaukee…that sounds weird…Ji-Man Choi is hitting .375 for Alan Minsky’s Rays, and is a clear front-runner in the “major league player with a name that most sounds like a Power Ranger” sweepstakes…Hummel Cooper of the Diamondbacks has 7 homers, which would put him one behind Rizzo in the actual MLB standings and ties him for second with Aaron Judge (now of the Cardinals) in the ASFBL…he’s hitting .143 for Mark Druyos…he has 9 hits, and there are 7 homers and a double…he’s the Rob Deer of the ASFBL…I’ve been working all week to come up with a pun that involves Seth Beer (Arizona), but so far I’ve come up dry…the Leckie family gets better in late innings; the Cub (Gordie) bullpen has the best actual ERA at 1.37, and the Chisox (Leo) are 1.49…Houston is 1.45 (Jim really improved the bullpen) and Colorado (Ben Leckie) is 1.59…not one member of the Leckie family has a bullpen with an actual ERA above 2.00…and it seems strange to talk about the awesome Colorado bullpen…Awesome first week! Waiting to see how the covid DLs and travel restrictions play out with the compressed schedule…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Kyle Wright (Atlanta) struck out 12 batters (on 4/7/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Hunter Renfroe (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 4/8/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Jeremy Pena (Houston) struck out 4 times (on 4/8/2022 against Anaheim) 
Yu Darvish (San Diego) struck out 11 batters (on 4/8/2022 against Arizona) 
Maikel Franco (Washington) hit 6 RBI (on 4/9/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 4/11/2022 against Colorado) 
Robinson Cano (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 4/12/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 4/12/2022 against Minnesota) 
Jake McCarthy (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 4/12/2022 against Houston) 
Justin Verlander (Cleveland) struck out 14 batters (on 4/13/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Santiago Espinal (Toronto) stole 3 bases (on 4/13/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 4/14/2022 against Kansas City) 
Pablo Lopez (Miami) struck out 13 batters (on 4/15/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Nestor Cortes (New York (NYY)) struck out 13 batters (on 4/15/2022 against Baltimore) 
Thairo Estrada (San Francisco) hit 6 RBI (on 4/15/2022 against Cleveland) 
Jose Azocar (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 4/15/2022 against Atlanta) 
Adalberto Mondesi (Kansas City) stole 3 bases (on 4/16/2022 against Detroit) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 14 batters (on 4/16/2022 against Cleveland) 
J.D. Martinez (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 4/17/2022 against Minnesota) 
Thairo Estrada (San Francisco) stole 3 bases (on 4/17/2022 against Cleveland) 
Kyle Wright (Atlanta) struck out 13 batters (on 4/17/2022 against San Diego) 
Jacob Stallings (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 4/19/2022 against St. Louis) 
Jared Walsh (Anaheim) hit 6 RBI (on 4/19/2022 against Houston) 
Byron Buxton (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 4/19/2022 against Kansas City) 
Max Fried (Atlanta) struck out 11 batters (on 4/19/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Nestor Cortes (New York (NYY)) struck out 11 batters (on 4/21/2022 against Detroit) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 17 batters (on 4/21/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Jake Marisnick (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 4/21/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Patrick Sandoval (Milwaukee) struck out 15 batters (on 4/22/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Mike Zunino (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 4/22/2022 against Boston) 
Garrett Cooper (Miami) struck out 5 times (on 4/22/2022 against Atlanta) 
Kyle Wright (Atlanta) struck out 13 batters (on 4/22/2022 against Miami) 
Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 4/22/2022 against San Diego) 
Andrew Knizner (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 4/23/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Jake McCarthy (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 4/23/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Eddy Alvarez (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 4/23/2022 against San Diego) 
Nick Solak (Texas) hit 6 RBI (on 4/24/2022 against Oakland) 
Jeff McNeil (New York (NYM)) hit 6 RBI (on 4/24/2022 against Arizona) 
Tyler Anderson (Los Angeles) struck out 11 batters (on 4/24/2022 against San Diego) 
Kyle Gibson (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 4/24/2022 against Milwaukee) 

2021 — World Series results

The series

This was a reply of last year’s series, and both owners asked me if that was an ASFBL first…the answer is that I’d have to comb over some old paper records, but it almost surely is…and a rematch isn’t a bad follow-up to a 60-game season…After scoring only a single run to lose game 1, the Braves won game two 6-5 to earn a split coming back to Atlanta. The road cooking didn’t bother the Chisox at all, who unleashed their bats to score 9 runs in game three and take a 2-1 advantage, which is larger than it feels like in a 7-game series. Inspired by the result, they went on to score 15 runs to take command, and after all that offense the final game was a 2-1 defensive duel…Rondon pitched 7 and 1/3rd scoreless innings before giving way to Liam Hendriks, and Jose Abreu provided all the offense with a 2-run homer in the second…after knocking in Ozzie Albies and advancing Jorge Soler to third the Braves had runners on second and third with one out…and Henriks struck out Contreras and Adrianza to seal the series…Chisox took the series in five, but three games were 2 runs or closer for a more competitive series than appeared in the final count.

The guys

Danny Wildes was our returning champion and has been in the league since 2006 and after three campaigns in San Diego, Four in Philadelphia, and two in Pittsburgh, he’s been the Atlanta showrunner since 2015. In that time he’s finished in the top-10 WOR spots or the playoffs in 6 of 7 seasons and in the playoffs for 4 straight years with the last two inthe world series…he’s won playoff spots with all four teams he’s managed and got to the LCS in only his second season with a middling San Diego club that he improved by 4 games….he had back-to-back 99 win seasons in 2018 and 2019 and then, of course, back-to-back World Series appearances the next two years…I’d say he has this game figured out…he shook the roster up with 10 trades this year with seven different teams, and it was his last trade on August 3rd that got him Jorge Soler from the Phillies, and it was Soler who managed to get to 3rd base in the 9th inning of the last game…great to have you around for these last 15 years, Danny, and here’s hoping you’re in a different division next year 🙂

Leo’s lifetime win percentage is a staggering 57%….out time knowing each other dates back to 1992 when we were both living in apartments in Salt Lake City…strange that we’ve both gravitated to the west coast…in 1994 he took over a sub-.500 Toronto club and was just learning about detailed baseball stats…but 1995 he was the league WOR champion and won his division in 1996 with the Padres…in 2003 he had a winning record but didn’t make the playoffs, and that was the last time he didn’t finish in the top-10 WOR or the make the playoffs…that’s a 22-year streak of finishing in the top of something…this is his second league championship with his firt coming in 2008 with the Blue Jays…he also finished with the best record in the league that year…his 103 wins this year are actually his second-best after the 106 he managed with Arizona in 2001…mostly, though, he’s the heart and soul of the ASFBL and does all the things I’m bad at, running drafts, recruiting owners, and keeping everything on track…for those of you who don’t know, Leo is also deeply committed to the wolf population in Yellowstone and has truly dedicated himself to preserving that part of our natural world…you’re a great guy to be around, Leo, and I can’t wait till we can find a way to catch our next game together.

That’s a season wrap, the 29th consecutive ASFBL season, which is older than both my kids if you add their ages together. Thanks to all of you for joining in my brain games and making this league happen. Enjoy the actual playoffs, and we’ll see you in spring training!