Programming note: The weekly stats for last week went back 8 days.  I think I have the glitch fixed, and weekly stats should now show the games of 6/21 through 6/27.

Week activity update: 28 lineups submitted, 9 trades.

Comments: Houston was the most active team last week, but finished with a 3-3 record that seemed to logjam the NL Central, although the Cards crept a game in front of the Cubs with the division’s only winning record…Houston is now a +3 WOR, and could really make a WOR move if there’s a fire sale on the real Astro team…Philly held their lead in the NL East, and the Dodgers made a much-needed push from the middle of the NL West…In the AL, Oakland and Detroit had big weeks, and the Rays made a small gain to try to get a toehold in the AL East…Detroit had the only undefeated week…Every NL race is 2.5 games or closer, every AL race is 4 games or more…Boesch, Cabrera, and Jackson all had monster weeks for Detroit…Adrian Gonzales hit 5 HR…Chipper Jones scored 9 runs…Aaron Harang struck out 14 in 12.33 innings; Luke Gregorson stuck out 13 in 5.67…Atlanta and San Francisco are tied for the best offenses in the NL, each having scored 327 runs…Milwuakee and Cleveland pitchers have each enjoyed 130 robbed hits from their fielders…The Cubs have allowed the fewest number of difficult plays to turn into hits.

Feats and failures:  The best game of the week easily went to Strasburg, who struck out 17 against Baltimore on 6/25…Cliff Pennington had one of the more interesting weeks imagineable; on 6/26 against Pittsburgh he had 5 hits, 3 HR, and6 RBI, and this to follow his performance against Cincinatti on 6/21 where he robbed 4 hits but struck out 4 times…Miguel Tejada of BAL had 5 hits against FLA on 6/23/2010…Ted Lilly of CHC had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 6/24/2010…Brandon Morrow of TOR had 13 strikeouts against PHI on 6/25/2010…Casey McGehee of ATL struck out 4 times against DET on 6/25/2010…Mark Reynolds of TOR struck out 4 times against PHI on 6/27/2010

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Newsletter for games through 6/20/2010

NEW FEATURE: The players of the week now appear on the stats page.  The “players of the week” button will show good performances league-wide (although, technically, no single player is selected as the best of the week).  If you select a team and then check the batter or pitcher weekly stats you can see how your team (or any other team) did in the past week.  On the players of the week page, the pitcher stats show in the bottom table where the inactive players normally appear.  This week, Josh Hamilton’s .611 average stands out, as do Aubrey Huff’s 5 HR and Victor Martinez’ 12 RBI…Josh Johnson struck out 18 batters in 17 IP…Strasburg struck out 19 in 12 and 1/3rd.

STANDINGS AND STUFF: Every team in the NL East is within 2.5 games of first, including the surprising Nationals who are +6 WOR…The Cubs still refuse to be knocked out of first, but the Cardinals tied them this week…Tampa Bay finally stumbled, but had enough space to absorb the 0-6 week and stay in first in the brutally competitive AL East…Detroit and Minnesota combined for an 11-1 record atop the AL central…Everyone behind the Mariners in the AL West put together a winning week, including the Angels with a 5-1 mark…The Angles are mirroring the real-life team’s turnaround and are now -1 WOR…You gotta pull for Baltimore in the WOR standings; their +5 puts them in the top 4, and nobody has less to work with.

FEATS AND FAILURES: Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 12 strikeouts against CIN on 6/16/2010, the highest K total for any pitcher in any game this week…Mat Latos (SD), Darnell McDonald (ARI), Rusty Ryal (ARI), Ryan Howard (TOR), and Troy Glaus (ATL) all had games where they struck out 4 times last week…Victor Martinez of BOS had 7 RBI against ARI on 6/17/2010…Matt Treanor of TEX had 5 hits against FLA on 6/17/2010…Casey McGehee of ATL robbed 3 hits against KCR on 6/19/2010…Josh Hamilton of TEX had 5 hits against HOU on 6/20/2010…Angel Pagan of LAA stole 4 bases against CHC on 6/20/2010

28 lineups submitted this week…11 trades involving 12 teams…Thanks to all for making this such an active league!

Newsletter for games through 6/13/2010

The Cubs are hearing footsteps in the central, with Milwaukee and St. Louis posting  big weeks….but kudos to Jeanine Congalton for keeping the team in first longer than Pinella could, and don’t count them out yet…The Mets and Braves are 1st and 2nd in the real NL East, but last and second-to-last in the ASFBL, but both posted strong winning weeks; the division is wide open…Tampa Bay is on an unholy tear, but probably can’t finish the season playing .746 ball, and the Yanks and Bosox each crept up this week…Detroit posted the only perfect week…The Nats won both of Strasburg’s starts; just like reality, his first game was a CG and he left earlier in the second…Jon Lester of BOS had 13 strikeouts against CLE on 6/8/2010, the highest K total of the week…Colby Rasmus of STL stole 4 bases against ARI on 6/12/2010…Jeremy Reed of TOR robbed 3 hits against COL on 6/13/2010…Johnny Damon of DET had 6 RBI against PIT on 6/12/2010…The Yankees team ASFBL average on the year is .297…The Cubs have the best real team batting average in the ASFBL.

Newsletter for games through 6-6-2010

What an active week!  27 lineups were submitted and 12 trades were completed involving over 14 teams…Detroit, the most active trader of the week, went 7-0…Just behind were Tampa Bay and San Francisco at 6-0…Boston, the Angels, and San Diego all had big weeks, seeking to move up from the middle…Three of our divisional races are 3 games or closer…As the actual Orioles fade, the ASFBL team continues to post strong WOR numbers…The best hitter for the Mets last week was R. A. Dickey…I think I’ve said this before, but the two 2 teams in fantasy ERA are SF and SD, slugging it out in the NL west…Philly has allowed the fewest ASFBL walks, with 116 in 504 innings…They also have the fewest misplays and errors…The Rays, however, have the most robbed hits with 99…The scary thing about Minnesota isn’t that they lead the ASFBL with a .276 team average, it’s that they also lead the ASFBL with 297 walks…The NL leader is Cincinnati with 255…Pittsburgh and Colorado are the teams with pitching most due to adjust up.

FEATS AND FAILURES:  Adam Wainwright of BOS had 13 strikeouts against OAK on 6/1/2010, and 11 in his next start against Baltimore…Mark Reynolds of ATL struck out 4 times against PHI on 6/1/2010…Pablo Sandoval of NYM robbed 3 hits against FLA on 6/5/2010…Dan Johnson of TBR had 6 RBI against TEX on 6/5/2010…Miguel Olivo of COL hit 3 home runs against ARI on 6/6/2010

Newsletter for games through 5-30-2010

Don’t look now, but the actual Washington Nationals are a .500 team, Al Benedek has them +3 WOR, and they’re only 2 games out in the East…The Astros posted a 5-1 record, are 4th in WOR, and are within striking distance in the NL central…Best AL record went to Seattle, who is in 1st in the AL west and 1st in WOR overall…Day to remember: Dave Ortiz had 5 hits and 3 HR against the Royals on the 28th…Days to forget: Andrew Kown of WAS struck out 5 times against SDP on 5/29/2010…Drew Stubbs of CIN struck out 4 times against HOU on 5/30/2010…Tim Lincecum, a fantasy Bosox pitcher, struck out 11 on 5/30; that wasn’t as good as the 13 that teammate John Lester struck out on 5/24…The ASFBL Rockies have a team ERA of 3.17, a half run better than the real club AND they have 9 pitchers due to adjust down, including Jiminez…Boston is in the middle of the AL East pack, but has the best actual power, and pitching in the top 10…Tampa Bay is doing it with pitching (2nd best team ERA overall) and defense, where the lead the league in hit-saving plays…Even though the ASFBL Mets are 3 games behind the real-life team, KRod has 2 more saves…27 owners submitted lineups this week.

2 months down, and a whole summer to go!  Thanks for another great week!