Newletter for games through 9/27/2105

THE GREAT MATCHUP THAT NEVER WAS: Becuase Kerry Wildes never traded him, it was possible for Jonathan Papelbon to face Bryce Harper in the ASFBL this week….sadly, that never happened….but as an announcement, I am trading for the TamPa Bay Shortstop and Philadelphia center fielder, so that at some point next year I will record an 8-6 outfield assist that is Odubel Herrerra to Asdrubal Cabrera…

COMMENTS: Washington went 5-1 to pick up 3 games and extend their lead over Miami to 5 games with one week left….Cincinnati added a crucial game to lead the NL central by 2…Milwaukee made the big noise in the division, going 6-1 and maybe doing more to settle the division than anyone, since they took 3 of 4 from the Cards…the Dodgers refused to die and went 5-2 to move within a half game of St. Louis for the last playoff spot…Colorado and the Giants each picked up 4 wins….Rick Wynne has now tied his lifetime record with 108 wins and has a week left to improve on it….the Yankees picked up a half game but still trail the Jays by 3….Detroit won’t go quietly, won 5 games, is still mathematically alive for the division, and is part of a 4-way dogfight for the 2 AL wildcard spots….they had the best week of any of the 4 wildcard contenders…Seattle won 5 more, extended their division lead, and are positioning themselves for the home field advantage throughout the playoffs….Adam will not be replaced by Jerry DiPoto…congrats to Boston, Tampa, and Cleveland who all put together winning weeks….as the season closes, Atlanta leads the league in average name length at 12.07 letters….the Reds have 12.06….Oakland has the shortest average at 11.08…longest name in the league is a tie between Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Christian Bethancourt…largest total roster was Texas with 129….Detroit only had 86….Nelson Cruz leads the ASFBL with 55 homers, but Bryce Harper has 54 in about 100 fewer at-bats…the Giant team batting average is .285….and they lead the league in runs scored…Toronto is tops in the AL….there were 50 runs scored in the last 2 games of the Cub-Pirate series, including the 23 the Cubs put up in the series finale….8 Cubs hit homers in that game, including Jason Hammel, who had a net of 4 after allowing 5 runs…but he did eat some innings…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

J.B. Shuck of DET robbed 3 hits against CWS on 9/21/2015
Carlos Gomez of MIL struck out 4 times against CHC on 9/21/2015
Drew Smyly of TBR had 13 strikeouts against BOS on 9/21/2015
Mark Canha of OAK struck out 4 times against TEX on 9/22/2015
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 9/22/2015
Eduardo Rodriguez of BOS had 11 strikeouts against TBR on 9/22/2015
J.P. Arencibia of TBR struck out 5 times against BOS on 9/22/2015
Charlie Blackmon of COL had 5 hits against PIT on 9/22/2015
Justin Morneau of COL had 5 hits against PIT on 9/22/2015
Carlos Carrasco of SEA had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 9/23/2015
Marcus Stroman of TOR had 11 strikeouts against NYY on 9/23/2015
Mike Morse of MIA had 7 RBI against PHI on 9/23/2015
Lorenzo Cain of LAA had 5 hits against HOU on 9/23/2015
Chris Sale of BOS had 12 strikeouts against TBR on 9/24/2015
Jacob deGrom of NYM had 13 strikeouts against CIN on 9/24/2015
Matt Kemp of SFG struck out 4 times against SDP on 9/24/2015
Chris Young of NYY struck out 4 times against CWS on 9/25/2015
Lucas Duda of NYM robbed 3 hits against CIN on 9/25/2015
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 11 strikeouts against PIT on 9/25/2015
Adam LaRoche of PIT struck out 4 times against CHC on 9/25/2015
Rich Hill of WAS had 15 strikeouts against PHI on 9/26/2015
Freddy Galvis of PHI struck out 4 times against WAS on 9/26/2015
Rajai Davis of DET had 5 hits against MIN on 9/26/2015
Mac Williamson of SFG struck out 4 times against OAK on 9/27/2015
Jorge Soler of CHC hit 3 home runs against PIT on 9/27/2015
Jorge Soler of CHC had 5 hits against PIT on 9/27/2015
Travis Shaw of BOS robbed 3 hits against BAL on 9/27/2015

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Newsletter for games through 9/23/2015

COMMENTARY: Holy Baltimore Orioles!  Sure, it looked like scapegoating when they fired their digitial hitting coach…you can’t fire all 13 hitters, can you?  But the new digital swingmaster is doing the job, and the Orioles ran the table for the only 7-0 week in the league….they are now only 4 back with 2 weeks left…the Cubs didn’t repeat their 7-0 performance but still had the best record in the NL central…11-2 still isn’t a shabby 2-week pace…speaking of which, St. Louis gained a game on the Reds and the teams are separated by a single contest in the closest race in the ASFBL…the Nats and Marlins matched each others’ 4-3 records….Nats still up by 3…San Francisco and Seattle are each running away with the western divisions…but as an hommage to Yogi Berra, let’s remember that it ain’t over…until it’s over…Oakland and San Diego each put together solid weeks…Toronto went 4-2 to hold its lead atop the AL East…Rick Wynne is about to have his best season, and that’s saying something…he’s never finished in negative WOR territory (first year in the league was 1993), his best-season win total is 109, and he’s sitting on 104 with 2 weeks left….this is his 12th 100-win season…Adam Symonds’ best is 99 wins, which he had last year….sitting on 89 now and leading the AL with it…the Twins had a winning week and helped out Josh Clark and the fantasy Royals by taking 2 of 3 from the Tigers….Here’s something that can only happen in a fantasy league: The best ERA in the league belongs to Colorado….the Miami bullpen has stranded 101 of 116 inherited runners this year…incredible….Cleveland mantains its lead in team strikeouts with 1,239…ten teams don’t even have 1,000…I’m 15 games under the actual Mets…is it a sign of idiocy or genius that you can create a game you don’t know how to play? … the Pirates lead the league with 260 hits robbed….that’s better than 2 per game…The Yankees have received 543 walks, one ahead of the Dodgers…. Colorado has the fewest… the NL pennant race runs through St. Louis…they are 1 behind the Reds in the central and 3 in front of the Dodgers for the last wildcard spot…the AL has 5 teams within 5 games of each other for the 2 wildcard spots….

Newsletter for games through 9-13-15

COMMENTARY: Holy Mackrel!  The Cubs went 7-0….still 10 back with about 25 to go….but a lot closer to a playoff spot than they were last week…in the “huge series” category, the Reds took 3 of 4 from St. Louis and are now in first by 2 games….and Cincinnati can also thank Jeanine Congalton, since three of those Cub wins were against the Cardinals…in other big series, the Yankees split 2 each with Toronto….Baltimore took 2 of 3 from the Yanks…when the dust had settled Toronto added a game to its lead and Baltimore crept up by a half game…the Orioles scored 8 runs or more in 3 of their games this week…Washington and Miami stood lockstep at 4-2 apiece in the NL East…the Nats lead by 3…the Dodgers picked up a game on the Rockies in the NL West and are now 3 behind St. Louis for the last playoff spot…Detroit gained 2 games in the AL central…and kudos to the Twins, who swept a tough series against the Royals…and Josh Clark can thank Tom O’Toole, who’s DRays inserted themselves into the AL central race by taking 2 of 3 from the Tigers…Seattle went 6-1 and is picking up steam in the AL west…although both Houston and Oakland had winning weeks…Rick Wynne’s all-time best win total is 111…he has 99 this season with 19 to go…Cleveland gave up 18 runs to the Chisox in their second game of the week, and only 17 over the next 5 games combined…Mike Conforto scored 5 times in 4 official at-bats in the 18-run affair…Dee Gordon is 5 points behind Bryce Harper in the batting average race…Nelson Cruz and Mark Teixeira are 1-2 in the homer race; Cruz has already missed time this season and Tex is, of course, done for the year…Ardolis Chapman has 41 saves…Francisco Rodriguez has 35….Chris Davis of the Orioles had 5 HR, 5 walks, and hit .500…

FEATS AND FAILURES;

Franklin Gutierrez of SEA hit 3 home runs against TEX on 9/8/2015
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 11 strikeouts against LAA on 9/8/2015
Joc Pederson of LAD hit 3 home runs against LAA on 9/8/2015
Drew Smyly of TBR had 11 strikeouts against BOS on 9/11/2015
J.P. Arencibia of TBR struck out 4 times against BOS on 9/11/2015
Erik Johnson of CWS had 10 strikeouts against MIN on 9/11/2015
David Price of DET had 10 strikeouts against CLE on 9/11/2015
Adam Duvall of OAK hit 3 home runs against TEX on 9/11/2015
Jose Fernandez of MIA had 11 strikeouts against WAS on 9/12/2015
Madison Bumgarner of SFG had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 9/12/2015
Mark Reynolds of STL struck out 4 times against CIN on 9/12/2015
Josh Rutledge of LAA struck out 4 times against HOU on 9/12/2015
Chris Coghlan of CHC had 6 RBI against PHI on 9/12/2015
Scooter Gennett of NYM struck out 4 times against ATL on 9/12/2015
Matt Shoemaker of CLE had 10 strikeouts against DET on 9/12/2015
Robinson Cano of SEA robbed 3 hits against COL on 9/13/2015
Chris Dominguez of CIN struck out 4 times against STL on 9/13/2015
Grant Green of LAA struck out 4 times against HOU on 9/13/2015
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 11 strikeouts against ARI on 9/13/2015
Seth Simmons of ARI had 12 strikeouts against LAD on 9/13/2015

Newsletter for games through 9-6-2015

FREE WAIVER ANNOUNCEMENT: Any player waived on or after the September 22 deadline will not be lost…the remaining schedule does not give time for them to be awarded to and appear for a new team…

COMMENTARY: Mark Chen has given permission to announce that, after 3 losing weeks in a row and having scored only 9 runs in 6 games, he has fired his digital hitting coach…you can’t fire all 25 players, so what else can you do? … Matt Harvey has thrown over 200 ASFBL innings and Scott Boras is furious…I’ve assured him that I’ve eliminated the chance of having to pitch him the playoffs…Meanwhile, Boston and Tampa Bay had the only winning records in the AL East, and played 9 of their combined 12 games against divisional rivals…when the dust settled, Toronto was clutching a half game lead over the Yankees…the Nationals continue to hold the top NL East spot, but Miami crept a half-game closer…Minnesota had the only winning week the AL central; Texas the best record in the AL West…Texas, Minnesota, and Tampa are all at the bottom of their divisions but were a collective 13-4 last week….Seattle extended its lead in the west…Oakland is now piling on WOR gains…St. Louis added a crucial 2 games to its lead in the NL Central…and can thank the Cubs and Brewers, who each took 2 of 3 from the Reds….the Dodgers won 4 games and are 3 back in the last NL wildcard spot…Juan Segura and Ryan Braun each scored 8 runs for the Brewers….Segura only hit .286….Jake Arrietta pitched 18 innings and only gave up 1 run…had 23 strikeouts…Tampa got 8 strikeouts in 8 inning from Bartolo Colon…a pitcher who truly belongs in the American League…Ryan Dull of Oakland allowed no runs in 5 innings….but it probably wasn’t very exciting….too bad he’s not on the same staff as Richard Boring (Royals, 1997)…the manager could take the game from Dull to Boring….Nate Bland (Angels, 2003) could be the lefty specialist for the team…Alex Gordon hit .500 for the Chisox…he also had 8 walks….

FEATS AND FAILURES;

Drew Smyly of TBR had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 8/31/2015
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 8/31/2015
Drew Smyly of TBR had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 8/31/2015
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 8/31/2015
Wilmer Flores of BOS robbed 3 hits against NYY on 8/31/2015
Gregory Bird of NYY struck out 4 times against BOS on 8/31/2015
Steven Matz of COL had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 8/31/2015
Jimmy Rollins of LAD had 7 RBI against SFG on 9/1/2015
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against CWS on 9/2/2015
Dallas Keuchel of HOU had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 9/2/2015
Chris Sale of BOS had 11 strikeouts against NYY on 9/2/2015
Brandon Phillips of CIN robbed 3 hits against CHC on 9/2/2015
Tucker Barnhart of CIN struck out 4 times against CHC on 9/2/2015
Logan Forsythe of TBR had 5 hits against BAL on 9/2/2015
Kole Calhoun of NYM had 6 RBI against PHI on 9/2/2015
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 14 strikeouts against SDP on 9/3/2015
Brett Wallace of SDP struck out 4 times against LAD on 9/3/2015
Stephen Piscotty of STL had 6 RBI against PIT on 9/4/2015
Jeremy Hazelbaker of STL hit 3 home runs against PIT on 9/4/2015
Jhoulys Chacin of CIN had 16 strikeouts against MIL on 9/4/2015
Manny Machado of BAL robbed 3 hits against TOR on 9/4/2015
Jake Arrieta of CHC had 13 strikeouts against ARI on 9/5/2015
Jhoulys Chacin of CIN had 12 strikeouts against MIL on 9/6/2015
Khris Davis of MIL struck out 4 times against CIN on 9/6/2015

Newsletter for games through 8-30-2015

APOLOGIA:  Sorry for the lateness of the newsletter; have you ever had one of those days where an old friend is having a mental breakdown and you are on the phone interpreting their behavior for a lawyer three states away when the city police come by your door and issue you a citation for your tree branch dipping 6 inches below the required height over a sidewalk?  I guess anything can happen at the ballpark…or your front yard…

COMMENTARY: Miami picked up another half game in the East and is only 3.5 back…that’s a pennant race…St. Louis picked up a game and a half to move in front of the Reds in the one of the most compelling ASFBL races…the Cardinal thank you card is postmarked Milwaukee, who swept the Reds on route to a 4-1 week…sometimes the spoiler games are the most fun…speaking of which, San Diego and Texas each went 4-2 this week…Toronto picked up a game on the Yankees and is now only a half-game back in a truly see-saw race…the Royals went 6-1 and roared back out to an 8-game lead in the central…the assist goes to Anaheim, who took 2 of 3 from Detroit…the Tribe had the only other winning week in the central…Nobody in the AL west had a losing record…Seattle turned a big 6-1 week into a 3-game lead…San Francisco is 12 up on Colorado in the west, but the Rockies are 4 games ahead in WOR…Mark Teixeira leads the ASFBL in runs with 105…Eight ASFBL pitchers have inherited at least 10 runners and stranded them all…two of them are Nationals (Gregerson and Putnam)…Mark Lowe of Seattle leads ’em all with 16 inherited, none scored….also turned in 58 innings now with zero inherited runners allowed in…fewest walks per inning in the ASFBL is not Grieke but Scherzer…Bartolo Colon is third…somehow, “fewest walks” seems appropriate for him…or “least amount of walking”…

FEATS AND FAILURES;

Chris Dominguez of CIN struck out 4 times against LAD on 8/25/2015
Gregory Bird of NYY struck out 4 times against HOU on 8/25/2015
Hank Conger of HOU struck out 4 times against NYY on 8/25/2015
Carlos Correa of HOU struck out 4 times against NYY on 8/25/2015
Joey Butler of TBR had 5 hits against MIN on 8/25/2015
Josh Rutledge of LAA hit 3 home runs against DET on 8/25/2015
Michael Taylor of PIT struck out 4 times against MIA on 8/25/2015
Chris Davis of BAL struck out 4 times against KCR on 8/26/2015
Eduardo Escobar of MIN had 6 RBI against TBR on 8/27/2015
Eddie Rosario of MIN struck out 4 times against TBR on 8/27/2015
Derek Holland of TEX had 12 strikeouts against TOR on 8/27/2015
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 14 strikeouts against CHC on 8/28/2015
Rougned Odor of TEX struck out 4 times against BAL on 8/29/2015
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 14 strikeouts against CHC on 8/29/2015
Ian Kinsler of DET robbed 3 hits against TOR on 8/29/2015