Newsletter for games through 9-21-2014

THANKS to all of you for getting your lineups in…the total number of lineups was down a bit, but EVERY single one of them was entered correctly, which significantly reduces the burden on me.  Thanks to all of you collectively for such an easy week on my end, and my apologies for the lateness of the resutls.

ONE regular season lineup left…all games are likely to count….if you’ve got one more lineup left in you, please submit it.

Rarity of the week: Buster Posey of BOS hit for the cycle against PIT on 9/17/2014

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PENNANT RACES:  In the NL East, Washington picked up a game on Miami and moved into a dead tie….the big event was a head-to-head series where the Nats took 3 of 4…Atlanta lurks 2.5 back, which is a bit of a longshot with one week left, but I’d never, ever count Rick Wynne out and he’s half a game ahead of the Dodgers for the last playoff spot…NL Central: Cincinnati has run away with the division, but Pittsburgh just won’t go away, they’re still mathematically alive, they picked up 2 games last week, and they’ve got a shot at a wildcard…you’ve gotta love the Cubbies, who are lurking at the bottom of the division, but swept the Reds in 3 this week…NL West: The Rockies gained a game on the Dodgers and are now up by 2…the Dodgers are a half out in the NL wildcard….the Dodgers actually took 2 of 3 head-to-head with the Rocks, but Leo can address his Thank You card to Jeanine Congalton, who took 3 of 4 from the Dodgers…AL East:  The Orioles, Jays, and Yankees all went 4-3 leaving Baltimore with it’s 3-game lead…Boston refused to be irrelevant and played major games against pennant-contending Baltimore and Pittsburgh en route to a 4-2 week…AL Central:  Detroit gained 2 games on the Chisox and now leads by 5, one of the largest leads in a race that has been one of the most competitive all year…the Chisox are still in a wildcard spot as of now…the 2 teams are a collective +30 WOR…AL West: Seattle picked up a game on Anaheim and now leads by 3.5, although Anaheim has the top wild card spot right now…the 2 teams split a 4-game series this week…Texas was 5-1 playing division-leaders Anaheim and Oakland and may determine the divisional outcome.

FEATS AND FAILURES

Jered Weaver of LAA had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 9/15/2014
Max Stassi of HOU struck out 4 times against CLE on 9/15/2014
Travis d’Arnaud of SFG robbed 3 hits against ARI on 9/15/2014
Carlos Carrasco of CLE had 11 strikeouts against HOU on 9/16/2014
Dee Gordon of LAD had 5 hits against COL on 9/16/2014
Dee Gordon of LAD stole 4 bases against COL on 9/16/2014
Jordy Mercer of COL robbed 3 hits against LAD on 9/16/2014
Wilin Rosario of COL had 5 hits against LAD on 9/16/2014
Jeff Samardzija of CHC had 11 strikeouts against CIN on 9/17/2014
Mike Morse of CWS struck out 4 times against KCR on 9/17/2014
Alex Gordon of CWS struck out 4 times against KCR on 9/17/2014
Salvador Perez of KCR robbed 3 hits against CWS on 9/17/2014
Hector Santiago of SEA had 11 strikeouts against LAA on 9/17/2014
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 11 strikeouts against LAD on 9/18/2014
Marcus Stroman of TOR had 11 strikeouts against NYY on 9/19/2014
Corey Kluber of CLE had 10 strikeouts against MIN on 9/20/2014
Corey Dickerson of SEA had 5 hits against HOU on 9/20/2014
Rafael Ynoa of MIA had 5 hits against WAS on 9/20/2014
Carlos Carrasco of CLE had 10 strikeouts against MIN on 9/21/2014
Lance Lynn of STL had 11 strikeouts against CIN on 9/21/2014
Max Stassi of HOU struck out 4 times against SEA on 9/21/2014
Derek Holland of TEX had 11 strikeouts against LAA on 9/21/2014

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Newsletter for games through 9-14-2014

Comments:  With apologies, since I am crunched beyond belief with a travel weekend coming up…go Texas and Boston, who combined to go 10-3….Seattle and Baltimore crawled forward, the Chisox picked up a game on the Tigers….the largest lead in the AL is 3…the top of NL East was 8-12, and the division could go to whoever can put together 2 winnings weeks….Colorado broke the tie in the NL west and moved into first by a game…Milwaukee went 5-2 to pull to within 6 of the Reds; they could just make the NL central a serious race…Adrian Gonzales had 11 RBI for the Dodgers…Brian McCann had 5 HR for Texas…Mark Fiers struck out 27 hitters last week for Milwaukee….Just a couple of lineups left!  24 lineups turned in last week!

Feats and failures:

Cole Hamels of PHI had 14 strikeouts against PIT on 9/8/2014
Denard Span of STL robbed 3 hits against CIN on 9/8/2014
Kennys Vargas of MIN struck out 4 times against CLE on 9/9/2014
Armando Rivero of CHC had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 9/9/2014
Logan Watkins of CHC struck out 4 times against TOR on 9/9/2014
Chris Iannetta of WAS struck out 4 times against ATL on 9/9/2014
Mike Fiers of MIL had 13 strikeouts against MIA on 9/9/2014
Avisail Garcia of SFG struck out 4 times against ARI on 9/9/2014
Adeiny Hechavarria of MIA robbed 3 hits against MIL on 9/10/2014
Derek Holland of TEX had 11 strikeouts against LAA on 9/11/2014
Pablo Sandoval of KCR robbed 3 hits against BOS on 9/12/2014
Dayan Viciedo of TEX struck out 4 times against ATL on 9/13/2014
Brian McCann of TEX hit 3 home runs against ATL on 9/13/2014
Brian McCann of TEX had 6 RBI against ATL on 9/13/2014
David Price of TBR had 12 strikeouts against TOR on 9/13/2014
Nolan Reimold of TOR struck out 4 times against TBR on 9/13/2014
Torii Hunter of DET had 6 RBI against CLE on 9/14/2014
Mike Fiers of MIL had 14 strikeouts against CIN on 9/14/2014
Madison Bumgarner of BOS had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 9/14/2014
Cole Hamels of PHI had 14 strikeouts against PIT on 9/8/2014
Denard Span of STL robbed 3 hits against CIN on 9/8/2014
Kennys Vargas of MIN struck out 4 times against CLE on 9/9/2014
Armando Rivero of CHC had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 9/9/2014
Logan Watkins of CHC struck out 4 times against TOR on 9/9/2014
Chris Iannetta of WAS struck out 4 times against ATL on 9/9/2014
Mike Fiers of MIL had 13 strikeouts against MIA on 9/9/2014
Avisail Garcia of SFG struck out 4 times against ARI on 9/9/2014
Adeiny Hechavarria of MIA robbed 3 hits against MIL on 9/10/2014
Robinson Chirinos of TEX had 5 hits against LAA on 9/11/2014
Pablo Sandoval of KCR robbed 3 hits against BOS on 9/12/2014
Dayan Viciedo of TEX struck out 4 times against ATL on 9/13/2014
Brian McCann of TEX hit 3 home runs against ATL on 9/13/2014
Brian McCann of TEX had 6 RBI against ATL on 9/13/2014
David Price of TBR had 12 strikeouts against TOR on 9/13/2014
Nolan Reimold of TOR struck out 4 times against TBR on 9/13/2014
Torii Hunter of DET had 6 RBI against CLE on 9/14/2014
Mike Fiers of MIL had 14 strikeouts against CIN on 9/14/2014
Madison Bumgarner of BOS had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 9/14/2014

Newsletter for games through 9-7-2014

PENNANT RACES:  The Dodgers and Rockies finished last week tied….and they each went 3-3 this week.  They still picked up a little ground on the Giants, and this is the time of year where every game counts…Miami also went 3-3 but picked up a game on Washington to take sole possession of first in the NL East…they can thank Johnny Mac’s Phils, who swept the Nats in 3…The Braves also hit the Philly buzzsaw, but are lurking just 2.5 back…The Orioles went 5-2 but couldn’t shake the Yankees, who went 5-1 to pick up a half game and inch even closer in a race that was only separated by 1 game…Toronto was 4-2, and even though they lost a game they are still easily within striking distance….big move this week was Detroit, who went 5-1 and now lead the Chisox by 3.5…the Twins were perfect spoilers, going 4-3 against the Orioles, Chisox, and Angels, all of whom are in dogfight pennant chases….Seattle scooted a half game up on Oakland, and the Mariners, A’s, and Angels are all still within 3 games of each other…the Angels are in 3rd but would lead 4 of the other 5 divisions…

OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Congrats to the Cards and Padres, who each had winning weeks, and are keeping up the fight despite their distance from the divisional leads…There are 18 actual major leaguers who are hitting .300 or better, but only 16 in the ASFBL…Ryan Braun and Mike Trout are tied with 13 triples….Felix Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw are the only 2 pitchers with ERAs under 2.00, but Hernanez has thrown 70 more innings…David Price has 294 strikeouts and will surely get to 300 unless something major happens…Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver are both 20 game winners already…Huston Street never left San Diego in the ASFBL and leads the league with 36 saves…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Avisail Garcia of SFG struck out 4 times against COL on 9/1/2014
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 11 strikeouts against MIL on 9/2/2014
Marlon Byrd of SFG had 7 RBI against COL on 9/2/2014
Ian Kennedy of SDP had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 9/3/2014
David Price of TBR had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 9/3/2014
Albert Pujols of NYY had 5 hits against BOS on 9/3/2014
Alex Cobb of TBR had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 9/4/2014
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 17 strikeouts against ARI on 9/5/2014
Matt Shoemaker of NYM had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 9/5/2014
Tyler Flowers of CWS struck out 5 times against CLE on 9/5/2014
Jake Odorizzi of TBR had 10 strikeouts against BAL on 9/6/2014
Zack Greinke of LAD had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 9/6/2014
Derek Holland of TEX had 15 strikeouts against SEA on 9/6/2014
Mike Zunino of SEA struck out 4 times against TEX on 9/6/2014
Nolan Reimold of TOR hit 3 home runs against BOS on 9/6/2014
Jon Singleton of HOU struck out 4 times against OAK on 9/7/2014
Ryan Tatusko of COL struck out 4 times against SDP on 9/7/2014
Mookie Betts of COL had 6 RBI against SDP on 9/7/2014

 

Newsletter for games through 8-31-2014

COMMENTS: So we are played up through August 31, giving us almost exactly a month of the regular season left…fourteen teams are within 2 games of first…three divisions have a dead tie at the top of the standings…the WOR race has 2 teams separated by half a game…now that’s a pennant race…in the NL East, Washington moved into a first place tie but the Braves were the movers with a 5-1 record…The Reds have a hold on the central but the Cubs went 5-1 for the best record in the division…the Dodgers muscled their way into a first-place tie with the Dodgers, but at 6 games back the Giants still have time for a run…the Yankees hit a rough patch and Baltimore took advantage to move into first, but Toronto went 5-1 and made the biggest move…the Tigers picked up a game on the Chisox in their season-long see-saw war…KC went 4-2 and Cleveland was .500 to gain a game over the Mets…Man, the AL west…the Angels and A’s picked up half a game on Seattle, but they are all within a half game of each other, and the team in first is the only team without a positive WOR…Arizona and Philly are both hanging tough in the WOR standings…Pirates and the Cubs both had strong showings against the Reds,…Cincy still has the best NL record…Oakland is 3rd in the AL west but would lead the East by more than 10 games…Abreu has 51 HR, 12 ahead of the 2nd place WOR total…I’m considering re-activating Moose Haas (Oakland, 1987) and trading for Dexter Fowler and Rougned Odor, and making them my starting outfield….putting the trio of Haas Fowler Odor next to my bullpen would be a bump for truth-in-advertising…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Drew Smyly of DET had 12 strikeouts against NYY on 8/26/2014
John Ely of BOS had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 8/26/2014
Evan Gattis of ATL struck out 4 times against NYM on 8/26/2014
Roenis Elias of BAL had 11 strikeouts against TBR on 8/26/2014
Justin Turner of BAL had 5 hits against TBR on 8/26/2014
Adam Jones of BAL struck out 4 times against TBR on 8/27/2014
Delmon Young of BAL struck out 4 times against TBR on 8/27/2014
Jose Altuve of HOU had 5 hits against TEX on 8/28/2014
Dylan Axelrod of CWS had 15 strikeouts against DET on 8/29/2014
Felix Hernandez of SEA had 10 strikeouts against WAS on 8/29/2014
Jayson Werth of WAS struck out 4 times against SEA on 8/29/2014
Ian Desmond of WAS struck out 4 times against SEA on 8/29/2014
Andrew Cashner of SDP had 10 strikeouts against LAD on 8/30/2014
Mike Fiers of MIL had 12 strikeouts against SFG on 8/30/2014
Jorge Soler of CHC had 5 hits against STL on 8/30/2014
Victor Martinez of DET had 5 hits against CWS on 8/30/2014
Matt Shoemaker of NYM had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 8/31/2014
Ryan Howard of PHI struck out 4 times against NYM on 8/31/2014