Newsletter for games through 6-26

COMMENTS: The non-bankrupt ASFBL Dodgers posted a 4-2 record and are within 2 games of .500….As an Orange County resident, I can confidently say that Chuck Ballingall is hated far less than Frank McCourt…The Brewers and Reds also had winning weeks from the middle of the pack…The NL Central is stocked with high-WOR teams (STL and HOU) at the top, and strong actual teams (CIN and MIL) pushing from the middle; looks to be an interesting run…The Yankees continue to lurk in the AL central, although Boston went 5-1 Toronto’s +7.5 WOR has put them in the race…Detroit crept a game ahead in the AL central, although it’s still a 3-team dead heat with the Indians and Chisox…The 3 5-1 teams this week (BOS, SF, PHI) are all division leaders..Special kudos to the Giants, who have the best record in the ASFBL; Jim has made a good team better…Posada hit 5 HR for the Yankees, tops in the ASFBL this week…Jason Bourgeois of ATL stole 5 bases this week…Jonny Gomes robbed 5 hits and hit .400

TECHNICAL NOTES: Thanks to the sharp eyes of Rick Wynne, a glitch in the catcher stolen bases allowed percentages was spotted and fixed…I’ll be reviewing the defensive ratings this week to make sure everything is still kosher…let me know if you see anything odd.

FEATS AND FAILURES: Jason Bourgeois of HOU had 5 hits against TEX on 6/20/2011…Nick Markakis of HOU had 6 RBI against TEX on 6/20/2011…Zack Greinke of MIL had 13 strikeouts against TBR on 6/21/2011…James Shields of TBR had 12 strikeouts against MIL on 6/21/2011…Yonder Alonso of MIL struck out 4 times against TBR on 6/21/2011…Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 13 strikeouts against DET on 6/22/2011…Andrew McCutchen of PIT struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/24/2011…Jonny Gomes of CIN hit 3 home runs against BAL on 6/24/2011…Jason Giambi of COL struck out 4 times against NYY on 6/25/2011…Luke Scott of BAL struck out 4 times against CIN on 6/25/2011…Jayson Werth of WAS struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/26/2011

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Newsletter for games through 6-19

COMMENTS:  Playing more name games, and having considered using Commissioner discretion to send Al Albequerque to the Dodgers so he could play for AAA Albequerque, I had to resist the urge to act in the best interests of ASFBL and send AAA prospect Jeremy Moore to the Padres so he could play for ASFBL owner Jeremy Moore…Chuck Ballingall’s ASFBL Dodgers do look to make the June payroll…The AL Central is officially a 3-way dogfight, and both KC and Minnesota are withing striking distance…after a horrible start, the Yankees posted the best record in their division this week, are only 6 back, and could be in the thick of it by the All-Star break…The top 3 teams in the NL central all posted losing records, and Pittsburgh gained significant ground…The Nationals posted the best record in the NL east, although Philly and Atlanta are in a 2-team race…Victor Martinez of Detroit hit .522 with 12 RBI this week…Craig Kimbrell of Atlanta inherited 6 runners last week and stranded them all, even though he gave up 2 hits in 3.67 innings…Only 4 ASFBL teams have real team ERAs over 4.o0; 11 actual teams do.

FEATS AND FAILURES:  Victor Martinez of DET had 6 RBI against CLE on 6/14/2011…Cliff Lee of PHI had 12 strikeouts against FLA on 6/14/2011…Laynce Nix of WAS had 5 hits against STL on 6/14/2011…Scott Hairston of SFG had 5 hits against ARI on 6/15/2011…Justin Smoak of SEA had 8 RBI against LAA on 6/15/2011…Justin Smoak of SEA had 5 hits against LAA on 6/15/2011…Tsuyoshi Nishioka of MIN struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/16/2011…Robinson Cano of NYY had 5 hits against CHC on 6/17/2011…Brett Gardner of HOU robbed 3 hits against LAD on 6/17/2011…David Ortiz of BOS hit 3 home runs against MIL on 6/18/2011…David Ortiz of BOS had 6 RBI against MIL on 6/18/2011…Jai Miller of OAK struck out 4 times against SFG on 6/18/2011..Scott Hairston of SFG struck out 4 times against OAK on 6/18/2011…Albert Pujols of STL had 6 RBI against KCR on 6/19/2011…Cliff Lee of PHI had 11 strikeouts against SEA on 6/19/2011

Newsletter for games through 6-12-11

BIG NEWS:  Tommy Hanson of ATL threw a no-hitter against FLA on 6/9/2011.  Florida was the victim.  As if to add suspense, he walked 6 and won 2-0, so the Marlins were never really out of the game.  Gonzalez and Hinske made it possible, each robbing a hit.

COMMENTS: The AL West tightened last week, with the Rangers clinging to a .5 game lead, and no team in the division is behind by more than 4….The Cardinals have the best record in the league and are +5 WOR…The Giants and Rockies are setting up for a race in the NL West; both had winning weeks, both have positive WOR, both are way over .500…every team in the NL East has a negative WOR…The Jays and Bosox moved into a dead tie in the AL East…With the actual Indians in a major funk, Skrovan is still holding a lead but may be hearing from the Chisox and Tigers, who posted 5 and 6 wins this week…The NL West might watch out for the Diamondbacks, 2nd in the league in real HR and in the middle of the pack in pitching…Victor Martinez hit .548 last week…David Ortiz hit 5 HR…Greg Holland of KC struck out 17 in 7 innings…The SD bullpen has allowed only 6 of 52 inherited runners to score…Washington pitchers have issued only 151 walks, fewest in the ASFBL…Pirate batters have walked 281 times, tops in the league…This week’s Cleveland-Yankee series may be decided by a Home Run derby; the Indians are first in the ASFBL in HR with 99, and the Yankees are second with 98.

FEATS AND FAILURES:  Drew Stubbs of CIN struck out 5 times against CHC on 6/6/2011…Brennan Boesch of DET had 7 RBI against TEX on 6/6/2011…Chase Utley of SEA had 6 RBI against CWS on 6/6/2011..Carlos Gonzalez of COL robbed 3 hits against SDP on 6/8/2011..Ubaldo Jimenez of COL had 11 strikeouts against LAD on 6/9/2011…Clay Buchholz of BOS had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 6/11/2011…Brett Wallace of TOR struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/11/2011…Brendan Ryan of PHI had 5 hits against CHC on 6/11/2011…Alex Avila of DET had 7 RBI against SEA on 6/11/2011…Aaron Rowand of NYM struck out 4 times against PIT on 6/11/2011..Carlos Quentin of LAA hit 3 home runs against KCR on 6/11/2011…Carlos Quentin of LAA had 7 RBI against KCR on 6/11/2011

Newsletter for games through 6-5-11

COMMENTS:  Cleveland went 2-5, to open the door for other AL Central contenders, but nobody in the division went better than 3-3…The big mover of the week was Texas, who went 6-1, picked up 1.5 games, and moved into first place…Atlanta crept a game closer in the NL East and is now only 2 games out…Houston posted another winning week, and is now +11 WOR and in first place in those ranking, truly an excellent showing…Similar kudos go to Toronto…The death of the Yankees appears to have been greatly exaggerated, and they posted a 5-1 record…Boston is doing it with defense, having prevented a league-leading 100 hits and failing to convert only 35 difficult plays (second only to the CWS with 33)…Jose Bautista leads the ASFBL in HR with 24, 7 more than the actual MLB leader with 17, but his percentage of fantasy hits that are HR (33%) is virtually identical to his real-life number (32%); the difference is he has 25 more fantasy AB…Adrian Gonzales hit 5 HR last week…Vogelsong allowed only 1 run in 16 innings…The real Braves’ ERA is 2.88.

STAYING BUSY: 28 teams submitted lineups last week, even though it was the first week in recent memory that didn’t have a trade.

FEATS AND FAILURES: Mitch Moreland of TEX had 6 RBI against TBR on 5/31/2011…Ryan Howard of CWS struck out 4 times against BOS on 5/31/2011…Jarrod Saltalamacchia of BOS struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/1/2011…Jay Bruce of CIN struck out 4 times against MIL on 6/1/2011…Greg Holland of KCR had 10 strikeouts against MIN on 6/2/2011…Jose Arredondo of CIN had 11 strikeouts against LAD on 6/3/2011…Joshua Collmenter of ARI had 11 strikeouts against WAS on 6/3/2011…Laynce Nix of WAS struck out 4 times against ARI on 6/3/2011…Brett Gardner of HOU struck out 4 times against SDP on 6/5/2011.

Newsletter for games thorough 5-29

COMMENTS: Big movement in the AL West, where the Rangers, A’s, and Mariners all posted winning weeks…Boston made a big move in the AL East and is challenging Toronto…The AL Central was a logjam, with the White Sox creeping closer to the Tribe…Every first-place team in the NL gained ground this week…Every NL East team has  a negative WOR figure; every NL West team but one has a positive number…5 of the top 6 ASFBL HR hitters are in the NL…Jaime Garcia of St. Louis is 10-1, leading the ASFBL in wins…Joe Paterson of Arizona has inherited 19 runners and not allowed a single one to score…Cleveland leads the ASFBL with 86 HR; Tampa Bay has only 32…Minnesota fielders have robbed 90 hits for their pitchers, tops in the league.

FEATS AND FAILURES: Tim Lincecum of BOS had 15 strikeouts against CLE on 5/23/2011…Cameron Maybin of SEA struck out 4 times against MIN on 5/23/2011…Daniel Descalso of STL had 6 RBI against SDP on 5/23/2011…Brett Lawrie of TOR had 5 hits against NYY on 5/24/2011..Mike Napoli of TEX robbed 3 hits against CWS on 5/24/2011…Randy Wolf of MIL had 12 strikeouts against WAS on 5/25/2011…Nolan Reimold of BAL hit 3 home runs against KCR on 5/25/2011…Nolan Reimold of BAL had 6 RBI against KCR on 5/25/2011…Hunter Pence of TOR struck out 4 times against CWS on 5/27/2011…Wily Mo Pena of ARI struck out 4 times against HOU on 5/27/2011…Mike Napoli of TEX had 6 RBI against KCR on 5/27/2011…Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 14 strikeouts against FLA on 5/27/2011…Robinson Cano of NYY had 7 RBI against SEA on 5/28/2011…Joshua Collmenter of ARI had 17 strikeouts against HOU on 5/29/2011