Newsletter for games through 9/22/2013

25 lineups turned in….and a strong encouragement for the spoiler teams listed below to make one last, heroic stand….of the 25 lineups submitted, 5 indicated that they had new “adult friends”…..2 owners tried to put their new friends in the starting lineup….I take this to mean you all have been very good-humored about our site hackage….thanks to Steve Skrovan for getting that ball rolling.

The whole season comes down to this…this newsletter is all about looking ahead to next week:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ST LOUIS (93 wins):  Needs to hold off Pittsburgh, which looks reasonably safe, but is fighting Atlanta for the top record spot.  Will play a Washington team desperate for wins and a Cubs team looking to be spoilers this week.

ATLANTA (92 wins): Probably has the division in hand but is challenging the Cards for the league best record.  Draws the same Brewers who need to beat the Cards, and the Phils, who took 2 of 3 from them a week ago.  Rick Wynne has never had a negative WOR season, and right now he’s +0 WOR

PITTSBURGH (88 wins): In the top wildcard spot but need to hold serve against the Nationals…draw the Cubs and Reds this week…that sound you hear is Washington cheering for the Cubs…

WASHINGTON (86 wins): 3rd best record in the league but only second-best in the division…needs to hold their 2 game lead over the Brewers…draws Leo’s dangerous Marlins who went 5-2 last week and the D-Backs, who are fighting for playoff life of their own.

GIANTS (85 wins):  Need to hold a 5-game lead to win the division…get the Dodgers and Padres this week…

MILWUAKEE (84 wins): Only 2 games out of the last playoff spot, but draw the Cards and then the Mets this week…looking for help from the Marlins and Cubs…

REDS (80 wins):  Need a perfect week and some losses from the Nationals….play the Mets and can spoil Pittsburgh’s chances in the second series….the Nats are big Red fans this week.

DBACKS (80 wins): Also need to sweep their series and get some help…play the Padres and then Nationals….can decide the wild card outcome even if they can’t win it themselves.

DODGERS (79 wins):  Ned a lot of breaks, but can help their own cause against the Giants this week….second series is against Colordao, so if they do sweep the Giants they’ve got a shot

Mets, Marlins, Phils, Cubs, Padres and Rockies ALL play against contenders this week….that means that there are zero NL teams playing in meaningless games all week.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

TIGERS (99 wins):  Can clinch a 100-win season, best ASFBL record, and playoff homefield advantage if they can hold off the Twins and Marlins this week…those teams both have big spoiler chances…

BOSTON (95 wins): Up 6 in the division so they have to feel safe, but would really like to make up those 4 games against Detroit…play the Rockies and a Baltimore team that really needs the wins this week.

RANGERS (89 wins): Scott looks like he’s going to win the division in his first year in the AL, but plays the Angels and Astros who combined for a 9-4 record last week….and Oakland and Seattle can take advantage of openings…

BALTIMORE (88 wins): 2 up in the wildcard, but really need to do well this week…have the misfortune of drawing Boston in the second series…the MONSTER series of the week is the head-to-head against the Blue Jays…

TORONTO (86 wins): Also Boston, also Baltimore…top 3 AL East teams in a head-to-head showdown….winning both series will likely solidify the playoff spot…

OAKLAND (84 wins): Needs to make up 2 games to stay alive…play division rivals Angles and Mariners…

MARINERS (83 wins): Gotta make up 3 games, but the AL east might be beating each other up enough that it could happen…get the Royals and A’s this week….that Oakland/Seattle series is going to be clutch…

Yankees can spoil the Blue Jay chances in the second series this week…Kansas City can take out the Mariners…the Twins can spoil the Detroit best-record run…How Houston and Anaheim do this week will determine the AL west….the Chisox are currently +8.5 WOR, and can work their way into the top-5 WOR spots with a good showing…

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Newsletter for games through 9-8-13

27 more lineups….up 2 from last week…and still at unthinkable levels historically…

Buy one, get 2 free:  The Yankees and Chisox played 27 innings on 9/4…every reliever pitched at least 2 innings…the Chisox won after going 25 innings between scores…how would it be to pitch the equivalent of 2 shutouts and have an 0-1 record to show for it?

COMMENTARY:  Leo had the Marlins go 5-1 this week…in real-life, the Cubs-Marlins series was a real snoozer, but it had significant ASFBL WOR implications…The Marlins took 2 of 3…the Cubs are now even WOR…In “the problem isn’t hitting department,” the Marlins scored 7 or more runs in every game against the Cubs, but still lost one…in “the problem isn’t pitching department” the Braves won both games this week where they managed to score more than 2 runs…the Big News in the Big Race was Boston, who went 5-2 and has emerged as the front-runner in the AL East…and this after losing Matt Harvey to the DL…the Chisox quietly put up a winning week and are now +7.5 WOR…the Brewers continue to impress and put up another 5-win week…they are 1 game out of the last wildcard spot, nipping at the heels of the Nationals…4 of 5 AL West teams had winning records…the race to watch is in the NL west, where 4 teams are within 4.5 games of first…Arizona made a push this week and moved to within half a game of the Giants…the Dodgers lurk 1.5 back…San Diego had the best record in the division at 5-1, and moved to within striking distance…and the real drama is created by the other divisions, which look to take the 2 wildcard spots, so its winner-take-all…what a race…the current AL wildcard has 3 teams within 1 game of each other…

FEATS AND FAILURES;

Ian Desmond of WAS hit 3 home runs against PHI on 9/2/2013
Ian Desmond of WAS had 6 RBI against PHI on 9/2/2013
Chris Davis of BAL struck out 4 times against CLE on 9/3/2013
Tony Cingrani of CIN had 10 strikeouts against STL on 9/3/2013
Carlos Beltran of STL struck out 4 times against CIN on 9/3/2013
Stephen Fife of LAD had 10 strikeouts against COL on 9/3/2013
Michael Wacha of TEX had 12 strikeouts against OAK on 9/3/2013
Raul Ibanez of OAK struck out 4 times against TEX on 9/3/2013
Michael Bourn of CWS struck out 8 times against NYY on 9/4/2013
Alejandro De Aza of NYY struck out 4 times against CWS on 9/4/2013
B.J. Upton of NYY struck out 5 times against CWS on 9/4/2013
Gordon Beckham of NYY struck out 4 times against CWS on 9/4/2013
Yusmeiro Petit of SFG had 13 strikeouts against ARI on 9/5/2013
Danny Salazar of CLE had 10 strikeouts against NYM on 9/6/2013
Tony Cingrani of CIN had 10 strikeouts against LAD on 9/8/2013
Elliot Johnson of KCR struck out 4 times against DET on 9/8/2013
Jonathan Villar of HOU struck out 4 times against OAK on 9/8/2013

Newsletter for games through 9-1-2013

LINEUPS:  25 lineups submitted this week, which is above average by historical standard but a little low for the group this year, but incredibly not a SINGLE lineup needed any form of correction.  That happens about as often as a no-hitter.  Thanks, everyone, for making my Wednesday a little easier!

COMMENTARY: Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati all took advantage of an uncharacteric losing week by the Cardianls to pick up ground…the Reds were the big movers at 5-1….the Nats and Braves held steady in the East, each going 3-3…LA and Arizona each gained a game in the NL West, and both are within 3.5 games of the Giants…Boston backed into first in the AL east, taking advantage of the Jays’ winless week to go up by 2 games…Baltimore is only 2.5 back, and Yankees were 5-1….wouldn’t want to play them during a crucial series in September…The Chisox and Royals each had big weeks in the AL central, although the Tigers are cruising…Texas picked up a game and a half on the Mariners and the race is a dead heat with the M’s up by 1 game…Oakland also had a winning week…Tornoto held their WOR lead at 16.5…the ASFBL Dodgers are generally following the pattern of the actual club, and winning tons of games…Houston is a very impressive +9 WOR…Proving they can work the flip side of the shutout, Arizona beat the Giants 1-0 this week….the Twins overall record was ugly, but 3 of the losses were by 1 run…the Cubs out-scored the Dodgers 8-7 over 3 games but lost 2 of 3…Leo’s Marlins took 2 of 3 from the Braves this week…Patrick Corbin of Arizona leads all ASFBL pitchers with 19 wins…Beltre and Beltran lead the ASFBL in RBI…if only Brandon Belt were better…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Daniel Murphy of NYM had 5 hits against PHI on 8/26/2013
Derek Holland of TEX had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 8/26/2013
Pablo Sandoval of TEX struck out 4 times against SEA on 8/28/2013
Austin Jackson of DET struck out 4 times against OAK on 8/28/2013
Jonathon Niese of NYM had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 8/29/2013
Ivan Nova of CWS had 11 strikeouts against BOS on 8/30/2013
Matt Holliday of BOS struck out 4 times against CWS on 8/30/2013
Daniel Descalso of BOS struck out 4 times against CWS on 8/30/2013
Dan Uggla of CWS struck out 5 times against BOS on 8/30/2013
Brett Oberholtzer of HOU had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 8/30/2013
Brandon Phillips of CIN struck out 4 times against COL on 8/31/2013
Tyler Chatwood of COL robbed 3 hits against CIN on 9/1/2013
Stolmy Pimentel of SFG had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 9/1/2013
Alfonso Soriano of SFG struck out 4 times against ARI on 9/1/2013