Whoa Nelly! It wouldn't be Hardball Heaven if there wasn't to be some dramatics ahead for the final week. For all intensive purposes, it looks as though 3 teams are fighting for that last playoff spot (Ageless One, Plasmatics, and Hardballers). My thoughts on these three in my matchup reviews! The #4 and #5 seeds look like they should stay the same with a matchup consisting of Uticans vs. Hitters. What an offensive explosing that should be! Hate to pick a winner there. BASEMAN and Squirrels are fighting for the coveted #2 position. While Stars just can sit and wait a few more weeks before he really has anything to play for. Oh, that would be nice right about now. Champs, REDS, Zonk and Woodie keep playing hard and demonstrate how truly great this league is. Now for some more details!
Squirrels 6 to Stars 5: This was a possible preview of the championship game with Squirrels tieing the series for the regular season. Squirrels has been on fire lately with a 7-1-1 record in his last 9. The pitching was done this week, but the offense picked it up. Sign of a good team. Although Stars didn't fire on all cylinders offensively. If there is sign of cracking, it is Juan's pitching has not been so stellar of late. This surpises me, but it is something to watch. It really doesn't matter so far though as he keeps winning. Stars, on the other hand, is getting very solid pitching. So when the offense falters, he still keeps it close. If Adrian Gonzalez isn't healthy, then Billy Butler is there to fill the gap. Butler has been hitting of late and was a nice acquisition. Nobody beats Stars in the playoffs this year. NOBODY! I do predict a Stars-Squirrels finals by the way.
BASEMAN 6 to Utica 6: Kerm can beat any team on a given week! His team on offense can blow you out of the water. The problem when I look at his season history is that the biggest win streak is 2. That is why I emphasize again that it will take a miracle for Kerm to win it all. Although Kerm did tie me this week, he still would have lost in the playoffs due to ERA. The offense scares me really as I thought it was wonderful to split with him. But, Kerm should also feel fortunate to split on defense like he did. Kerm, this has been your finest season yet. I like that you have stayed pat a little more with your players. But, when it came down to fine tuning your team and maybe giving up some offense for defense, you chose to do nothing. I think that will be your downfall in the end.
I know not everyone agrees with my philosophy or Plaz's for that matter about pitching, but look at the top three teams. Granted there are better offenses out there like Utica and Tennesse for example, but all three top teams are balanced. All former champions in this league have proven that. Can't win by offense alone.
Hitters 5 to Flaccid 5: Sorry, but will still refer to Timmy's team as Woodie in my posts at least for this year. Although flaccid is quite amusing though! Um, not to repeat myself too much, but like Utica, Tennessee is very similar as a team. Highest win streak? You guessed it.....only 2 this whole year. Tommy has a quality club, but will need to buck the trend to win in the playoffs. Conversely, Squirrels has a win streak of 5 this year. Stars has a win streak of 4 +3 with only losses back to back once, and B-Man has win streaks of 4 +3+3. Hitters had a down week offensively and was fortunate to tie at 5-5. Woodie had lots of power for the number of hits he had. Oh, did I see that Lidge had 2 saves! Yes, 1 loss, but still 2 saves! I think someone has been taking their Viagra lately.
Ageless 6 to Plaz 5: This contest didn't disappoint. Both teams had solid numbers in general. Mike needed a big win, especially after the 10-1 pasting Plaz put on him earlier in the season. One can tell the series was very important as Mike made his 15th move on the waiver wire! Plaz has been plugging away pretty hard lately on the WW that is. For Plaz to pull off a playoff berth with the injuries he has faced this year would be some gratification to a degree. It is hard to stay on top! I look at patterns and lo and behold Ageless is getting hot again! This manager's season has been a tale of two season's. Amassed a 6-0-1 record to start the year and then the losses came in bunches to a tune of 1-7. Now Mike has a 5-0-1 record catapulting him as the frontrunner in the last playoff spot. It would be truly an amazing story for Mike to keep it up. To win it all, he would have to go 9-0-1 most likely. He needs a win next week as well. He faces a tough Squirrels squad and to tell you the truth, I like Juan to win that one. Plaz on the other hand faces Zonk. Now Zonk has been playing tough, but the records speak for themselves. It's a bold prediction, but I like Plaz to sneak in over Ageless for the final playoff spot. Mike's probably thinking why I continue to give him no love, but I have been better than in the past. I'm actually going against my preseason prediction here, where I did pick you in the top 6.
Champions 9 to Hardballers 3: Ok, which way should I go with this matchup. Give much credit to Champs or give Randy, our beloved commish, some crap. Well, I tell you what. I will do a little of both. Champs did play the spoiler role and played it well, but how in the world does a team pull off winning 0 games on defense while losing 8 and then split 3-3 on defense???? Plus how the heck can you win 9-3 with those numbers? I've never seen such a thing! I'll tell you how!! You play a team that is absolutely falling apart!! Randy has got to be beside himself. This is perhaps the most precipitous fall ever in Hardball Heaven. This is a team that started out 7-2-1 and all signs pointed to another first place finish. After week 10, the wheels have just come off, and I mean that literally! The record you ask? It ain't pretty at 1-7-3. Here's a team that had it all! The offense was clicking on all cylinders and most of us thought, here we go again looking up at Randy. Granted, there have been injuries, but this ain't the same team folks! At 2.5 games behind the sixth spot and facing the offensive giant, Uticans, next week, things don't look to turn around. The pitching is in disarray, and the offense isn't pulling its weight. Must be tired of trying to lug the wagon with no wheels! Our commish is awesome, but the team is stuck in manure! Playoffs are a long shot at best!
REDS 6 to Zonk 5: Weird stat. Zonk had 12 HR's, but only 22 runs and 29 RBI's. Something just seems wrong with that. Must have been the .227 average. REDS on the other hand busted out 66 hits and had good overall numbers. Ryan Howard had 5 HR's for Stephen's squad, while Chone Figgins had a nice week for Rick's REDS. REDS gets back on the winning track after 4 losses and Zonk has had a nice 2nd half of the season. The slow start was hard to come back from.
Hope you all enjoyed!
BASEMAN
8.23.2009
Week 20 in Review: Tick Tock
Can you feel the racing of your pulse a little more on Sundays this time of year? Can you envision the minute grains of sand just sifting through an hourglass? Can you endure every last at bat that looms at the end of a long, draining week? If you can say "yes" to these questions then you are in the midst of a pennant race. Let's look at who clings to high hopes.....shall we!
Plaz 7 to Stars 5: I watched this matchup close on Sunday and talk about nip and tuck. Plaz is hanging on for dear life and just went through a meat grinder of a schedule facing Squirrels, B-Man and ending with Stars. He still has life being only 2 games out of the playoff chase. Our defending champ is hanging in there and has a major battle on his hands in the upcoming week with Ageless. This is must see fantasy tv! The win boiled down to the Sox-Yanks game. Stars is getting excellent pitching and David Wright and Jake Peavy will be back soon. That spells trouble for teams and I see Stars walking into the finals. I don't see any of the 4 or 5 seeded teams beating him. Plaz pulled out a major victory here. Brian McCann went off on Sunday and Zobrist for the Rays has been phenomanol this season. I think Plaz has the goods to sneak in at #6.
Squirrels 7 to BASEMAN 4: This season Squirrels has B-Man's number. This was another matchup like Plaz/Stars that went back and forth on the last day. It could have went either way and boiled down to the Sox-Yanks game also. Godzilla....aka Hideki Matsui was just a killer. Juan picked him up and threw him into the lineup on Sunday. He only hit 2 HR's and helped Juan win batting average by 1 point. Matsui has only hit 4 HR's in 3 games now. That timely pickup made the difference. Plus, Juan gets a win from his one starting pitcher Romero for the Jays with B-Man throwing 5 starters and getting 1 W and 4 L's, so another point down the drain. Like I said, when a team has your number! The way I see it, Squirrels, Stars, and B-Man all have the goods to win it all. Not that other teams don't, but it will be a monumental feat to go through these three.
Champs 6 to Utica 5: This was kind of to be expected in terms of who won what points. Utica almost cleared on offense, while Champs kicked Kerm's ass on defense. Derek Jeter could easily be MVP this year! What a season! Joe Mauer could easily earn MVP honors as well! Uticans lineup on offense is just loaded!! Kind of had a down week hitting only .288 with 67 hits. Just fairly average stats from him. Again, the pitching stinks! Buehrle and Burnett have got to turn things around. If they do, then Utica may do some damage. The problem is that Utica is staring down a #4 or #5 seed, unless he kills B-Man this week (it could happen). I give Utica virtually no shot against a Stars team in the 2nd round. Better hope for the #3 seed in my book. Champs had a nice number of 9 steals this week. Has some nice young players, but I would want them in my lineup for the future, not much now. Great victory though to beat a good Uticans squad.
Hitters 9 to Hardballers 2: We in HH may be witnessing one of the biggest collapses of all-time in this league. Randy, our beloved commish, is fighting for his playoff life after cruising for about half the season. Granted the team has had some tough matchups lately, but the losses are piling up and Randy clings to a 1/2 game lead over Ageless. Champs is up next, and Ed's team is good enough to spoil the party. Morneau being out really hurts right now. The pitching wasn't all that bad, but Tommy had some good numbers. How about 8 saves! Randy lost with 6. Now that is a tough break. Sandoval by the way is the real deal. Even though he plays for the Giants, a foe of the Rockies, I like watching Kung-Fu Panda play. Tommy's team reminds me a lot like Uticans. The offense puts up gawdy numbers pretty much weekly. When the pitching comes around like this week, then a kill is in store. A .367 avg. and 79 hits is kicking ass. Jayson Werth went off this week. Jason Marquis is a steal so far and Huston Street keeps piling on the saves. A little plug for my Rockies there. But it is true! If the pitching can catch lightning in a bottle for several weeks during the playoffs, then Tommy like Utica has a shot, albeit slim.
Ageless 7 to REDS 5: Here's a strange stat for you. REDS wins the batting average by 13 points, but no other categories on offense. I can't say I've ever seen that before. The offense was close though with Ageless just sneaking out points. Good thing as Mike's season is on the line. Much needed victory here. It wasn't pretty by any means, but good enough. Just squeaked by on K's too by winning by 1 K. Lee and Martinez are Phillies pitchers leading the way for Rick. Pedro has been getting great run support so far. Big Papi is back. Too bad for Rick he hasn't been swinging a sweet stick all season. Rick so glad to hear the good news! Mike, looking forward to your big showdown with Plaz.
Zonk 10 to Woodie 2: This was the royal beatdown of the week. Woodie had some bad luck on the pitching side of things though. A 2.78 ERA and 52 K's, coupled with only 2 W's and 6 L's. Poor breaks there. But, on the offensive side, there wasn't much to really should about as it was just one of those miserable weeks. I won't be going into great detail as there aren't many details. Zonk really had a pedestrian week on offense, but pedestrian was great this week. Brian Roberts lit it up with power and speed. How about Garrett Jones for the Buccos? Is this guy for real? So far he is! Ride him while he's hot I say. Scott Feldman has been great for the Rangers too. Shoutout the Rays today in the Trop. Not an easy feat!
Here's to our final two weeks of regular season!
BASEMAN
Plaz 7 to Stars 5: I watched this matchup close on Sunday and talk about nip and tuck. Plaz is hanging on for dear life and just went through a meat grinder of a schedule facing Squirrels, B-Man and ending with Stars. He still has life being only 2 games out of the playoff chase. Our defending champ is hanging in there and has a major battle on his hands in the upcoming week with Ageless. This is must see fantasy tv! The win boiled down to the Sox-Yanks game. Stars is getting excellent pitching and David Wright and Jake Peavy will be back soon. That spells trouble for teams and I see Stars walking into the finals. I don't see any of the 4 or 5 seeded teams beating him. Plaz pulled out a major victory here. Brian McCann went off on Sunday and Zobrist for the Rays has been phenomanol this season. I think Plaz has the goods to sneak in at #6.
Squirrels 7 to BASEMAN 4: This season Squirrels has B-Man's number. This was another matchup like Plaz/Stars that went back and forth on the last day. It could have went either way and boiled down to the Sox-Yanks game also. Godzilla....aka Hideki Matsui was just a killer. Juan picked him up and threw him into the lineup on Sunday. He only hit 2 HR's and helped Juan win batting average by 1 point. Matsui has only hit 4 HR's in 3 games now. That timely pickup made the difference. Plus, Juan gets a win from his one starting pitcher Romero for the Jays with B-Man throwing 5 starters and getting 1 W and 4 L's, so another point down the drain. Like I said, when a team has your number! The way I see it, Squirrels, Stars, and B-Man all have the goods to win it all. Not that other teams don't, but it will be a monumental feat to go through these three.
Champs 6 to Utica 5: This was kind of to be expected in terms of who won what points. Utica almost cleared on offense, while Champs kicked Kerm's ass on defense. Derek Jeter could easily be MVP this year! What a season! Joe Mauer could easily earn MVP honors as well! Uticans lineup on offense is just loaded!! Kind of had a down week hitting only .288 with 67 hits. Just fairly average stats from him. Again, the pitching stinks! Buehrle and Burnett have got to turn things around. If they do, then Utica may do some damage. The problem is that Utica is staring down a #4 or #5 seed, unless he kills B-Man this week (it could happen). I give Utica virtually no shot against a Stars team in the 2nd round. Better hope for the #3 seed in my book. Champs had a nice number of 9 steals this week. Has some nice young players, but I would want them in my lineup for the future, not much now. Great victory though to beat a good Uticans squad.
Hitters 9 to Hardballers 2: We in HH may be witnessing one of the biggest collapses of all-time in this league. Randy, our beloved commish, is fighting for his playoff life after cruising for about half the season. Granted the team has had some tough matchups lately, but the losses are piling up and Randy clings to a 1/2 game lead over Ageless. Champs is up next, and Ed's team is good enough to spoil the party. Morneau being out really hurts right now. The pitching wasn't all that bad, but Tommy had some good numbers. How about 8 saves! Randy lost with 6. Now that is a tough break. Sandoval by the way is the real deal. Even though he plays for the Giants, a foe of the Rockies, I like watching Kung-Fu Panda play. Tommy's team reminds me a lot like Uticans. The offense puts up gawdy numbers pretty much weekly. When the pitching comes around like this week, then a kill is in store. A .367 avg. and 79 hits is kicking ass. Jayson Werth went off this week. Jason Marquis is a steal so far and Huston Street keeps piling on the saves. A little plug for my Rockies there. But it is true! If the pitching can catch lightning in a bottle for several weeks during the playoffs, then Tommy like Utica has a shot, albeit slim.
Ageless 7 to REDS 5: Here's a strange stat for you. REDS wins the batting average by 13 points, but no other categories on offense. I can't say I've ever seen that before. The offense was close though with Ageless just sneaking out points. Good thing as Mike's season is on the line. Much needed victory here. It wasn't pretty by any means, but good enough. Just squeaked by on K's too by winning by 1 K. Lee and Martinez are Phillies pitchers leading the way for Rick. Pedro has been getting great run support so far. Big Papi is back. Too bad for Rick he hasn't been swinging a sweet stick all season. Rick so glad to hear the good news! Mike, looking forward to your big showdown with Plaz.
Zonk 10 to Woodie 2: This was the royal beatdown of the week. Woodie had some bad luck on the pitching side of things though. A 2.78 ERA and 52 K's, coupled with only 2 W's and 6 L's. Poor breaks there. But, on the offensive side, there wasn't much to really should about as it was just one of those miserable weeks. I won't be going into great detail as there aren't many details. Zonk really had a pedestrian week on offense, but pedestrian was great this week. Brian Roberts lit it up with power and speed. How about Garrett Jones for the Buccos? Is this guy for real? So far he is! Ride him while he's hot I say. Scott Feldman has been great for the Rangers too. Shoutout the Rays today in the Trop. Not an easy feat!
Here's to our final two weeks of regular season!
BASEMAN
8.09.2009
Week 18 in Review: No Real Surprises
This week had in store lots of close matchups and a few blowouts, but really no big upsets. The one team who needed to come up big was Champs in a 9-2 victory over Zonk. Ed's team needs to continue rolling over opponents though being 8.5 games back with only 4 weeks left. Meanwhile, REDS and Zonk are hanging by a thread at this point. Stars is all but claiming the #1 seed by annihilating Woodie by the score of 11-1. Being 9 games up with 4 weeks left is a nice position to be in. The rest of the matchups were very close and not much movement really happened.
Stars 11 to Woodie 1: Woodie's team started out hot, but wilted down the stretch. Not even Mark Reynolds with a 6 homer week could save the day. Stars on the other hand just had an all around solid outing on offense and defense. Traded away relief, but really that is about the only hole on the team. Plaz hit it on the head by calling it tough for Woodie to have to continue and produce very high numbers. Team just ran out of gas it seemed.
Squirrels 6 to Plaz 6: Quality matchup here with both teams producing for the week. Squirrels has been a hitting machine of late with Adam Dunn belting 4 HR's. The defense was a bit off this week with 7 losses and that allowed Plaz to dominate with pitching. Probably one of Plaz's best pitching peformances of the year, but had to settle for a tie. Ryan Zimmerman has been on fire of late and led the charge. Plaz may take a 6-6 tie with a tough schedule taking place. Needs not to get crushed to stay in the hunt. The team is balanced enough that it shouldn't happen though. Great matchup here between these two quality clubs.
BASEMAN 6 to REDS 5: This contest was nothing to write home about. It was close all week, but nothing really stood out. B-Man reverted back to his old form and had to win with pitching as the offense just seemed to sputter. REDS was aided by Kurt Suzuki this week. Suzuki has had a nice season for the A's, and I wanted to hit him in the shins with a bat this week. Nice job Kansas City for letting this guy terrorize you! Asdrubel Cabrera was another. Who are these guys and what are they doing wreaking havoc? REDS tried the streaming approach on defense, and salvaged a point. B-Man can thank the lousy relief of the Giants and Dodgers for letting 2 easy wins go by the wayside. Outside of Halladay and Lee, the pitching on this squad isn't very good. Anyway, these two teams would have been outmatched by most others this week.
Hardballers 6 to Ageless 6: Just when it looked like Ageless was falling back in the pack, he comes up with a tie. Again a matchup that one team dominated the other on offense, while the other did on defense. Other than 7 saves for Ageless on defense, I won't even discuss the pitching as both team don't have good pitching to begin with and the numbers stunk really. So onward ho! Randy was led by Longoria, Sandoval, and Braun on offense. His studs played like they needed to this week. If Rios goes the the White Sox, will that change anything? The guy loves the SkyDome. If anyone noticed Marco Scutaro hit .600 for the Jays this week for Mike's squad. The claim of Russell Martin off waivers has been quite helpful as well. Who, who in their right mind would let Martin go on the waiver wire? I know he was slumping, but this guy is better than WW material. Let him sit the bench for awhile, but dump the guy?
Uticans 6 to Hitters 5: This match was all over the place for the week and ended up close. Hitters, for his team, had a down week on offense scoring only 1 point and a tie, but then again he went up against the mighty Uticans bats. Hitters did win the battle on defense 4-2 as Uticans struggled again. But, Kerm is still hanging despite my predictions. There are still 4 weeks left to hang on Kerm. Joe Mauer is absolutely ridiculous hitting .480. Now if Josh Hamilton keeps hitting like he did this week, then Kerm's offense will be tough. Miguel Cabrera was a force for Tennessee's team. Both teams have to be in playoff mode right now as they need to keep winning or keeping the scores close. Not much breathing room!
Champs 9 to Zonk 2: Champs keeps his season alive and is in critical condition, while Zonk is on life support. Have to give Ed some credit for getting 2 closers, but why the heck so late in the season? If Bell and Johnson can get you into the playoffs, then you've made the trade of the century. It's a good trade for you, but making it with 4.5 weeks left? This should have been done in the first half of the season in my estimation. Again, this is a playoff worthy team that may have run out of time. Zonk has been aided by Jimmy Rollins, who is on a roll right now! The pitching has been an extreme letdown for the club though.
Calling em' as I see em'
BASEMAN
Stars 11 to Woodie 1: Woodie's team started out hot, but wilted down the stretch. Not even Mark Reynolds with a 6 homer week could save the day. Stars on the other hand just had an all around solid outing on offense and defense. Traded away relief, but really that is about the only hole on the team. Plaz hit it on the head by calling it tough for Woodie to have to continue and produce very high numbers. Team just ran out of gas it seemed.
Squirrels 6 to Plaz 6: Quality matchup here with both teams producing for the week. Squirrels has been a hitting machine of late with Adam Dunn belting 4 HR's. The defense was a bit off this week with 7 losses and that allowed Plaz to dominate with pitching. Probably one of Plaz's best pitching peformances of the year, but had to settle for a tie. Ryan Zimmerman has been on fire of late and led the charge. Plaz may take a 6-6 tie with a tough schedule taking place. Needs not to get crushed to stay in the hunt. The team is balanced enough that it shouldn't happen though. Great matchup here between these two quality clubs.
BASEMAN 6 to REDS 5: This contest was nothing to write home about. It was close all week, but nothing really stood out. B-Man reverted back to his old form and had to win with pitching as the offense just seemed to sputter. REDS was aided by Kurt Suzuki this week. Suzuki has had a nice season for the A's, and I wanted to hit him in the shins with a bat this week. Nice job Kansas City for letting this guy terrorize you! Asdrubel Cabrera was another. Who are these guys and what are they doing wreaking havoc? REDS tried the streaming approach on defense, and salvaged a point. B-Man can thank the lousy relief of the Giants and Dodgers for letting 2 easy wins go by the wayside. Outside of Halladay and Lee, the pitching on this squad isn't very good. Anyway, these two teams would have been outmatched by most others this week.
Hardballers 6 to Ageless 6: Just when it looked like Ageless was falling back in the pack, he comes up with a tie. Again a matchup that one team dominated the other on offense, while the other did on defense. Other than 7 saves for Ageless on defense, I won't even discuss the pitching as both team don't have good pitching to begin with and the numbers stunk really. So onward ho! Randy was led by Longoria, Sandoval, and Braun on offense. His studs played like they needed to this week. If Rios goes the the White Sox, will that change anything? The guy loves the SkyDome. If anyone noticed Marco Scutaro hit .600 for the Jays this week for Mike's squad. The claim of Russell Martin off waivers has been quite helpful as well. Who, who in their right mind would let Martin go on the waiver wire? I know he was slumping, but this guy is better than WW material. Let him sit the bench for awhile, but dump the guy?
Uticans 6 to Hitters 5: This match was all over the place for the week and ended up close. Hitters, for his team, had a down week on offense scoring only 1 point and a tie, but then again he went up against the mighty Uticans bats. Hitters did win the battle on defense 4-2 as Uticans struggled again. But, Kerm is still hanging despite my predictions. There are still 4 weeks left to hang on Kerm. Joe Mauer is absolutely ridiculous hitting .480. Now if Josh Hamilton keeps hitting like he did this week, then Kerm's offense will be tough. Miguel Cabrera was a force for Tennessee's team. Both teams have to be in playoff mode right now as they need to keep winning or keeping the scores close. Not much breathing room!
Champs 9 to Zonk 2: Champs keeps his season alive and is in critical condition, while Zonk is on life support. Have to give Ed some credit for getting 2 closers, but why the heck so late in the season? If Bell and Johnson can get you into the playoffs, then you've made the trade of the century. It's a good trade for you, but making it with 4.5 weeks left? This should have been done in the first half of the season in my estimation. Again, this is a playoff worthy team that may have run out of time. Zonk has been aided by Jimmy Rollins, who is on a roll right now! The pitching has been an extreme letdown for the club though.
Calling em' as I see em'
BASEMAN
8.03.2009
Week 17 in Review: Any Clarity?
Well, after a few weeks hiatus, the week in review is back. After a season of murkiness, we can start to see some clear waters as some of the algae has been cleared away. There are only 5 weeks to go and it looks like 2 teams are most likely eliminated. Now, I could be wrong here, but the fact that on average, it takes about 120 Wins to make it into the playoffs, is ample reason to believe that Morning Wood and Champs have run out of time. Woodie needs 42 Wins in the last 5 weeks to reach the average number of 120. This means a Winning Percentage of .700 going 42-18. Champs needs to go 37-23, which definitely can be done, but look at all the horses in front. Plaz only needs 24 Wins to get to the elusive mark, which means going 24-36. There are currently 5 teams in front of Champs, which means all 5 must lose more than they win and Ed's team gets "really" hot! Mathmatically, everyone is alive, but reality is setting in on the teams mentioned. REDS and Zonk are right on the cusp, but still have a shot in my opinion.
What does all this mean? It means that this late in the season is really the first time reality is hitting some teams square in the face and next year awaits for vengeance. Never have the season gone on this long before teams fall out of contention. There are only 5 WEEKS left!!! Again, I can't say this enough, but certainly this is a testimony on how great the managers are in HH! Woodie's team may be in last place right now, but COME ON! His squad put up some impressive stats last week on offense. He's got a good club. This has been the most competitive year ever in Hardball Heaven and that is really saying something!
BASEMAN 8 to Woodie 3: Let's just look at Woodie's numbers from last week and you tell me if this is really a last place team? 36 runs, 65 hits, 13 HR's, 43 RBI's, and a .298 batting average. Woodie only got 2 points on offense, which is just plain bad luck. Most weeks, he wins on offense with these numbers. B-Man's offense has just been on a tear lately is all. What looked awful the first half of the season has been coming to life in the 2nd half. The offense doesn't look like much at first glance, but now is playing up to potential and hence the solid numbers. What has been Woodie's achilles heal this season is mostly the pitching. Yes, there are lots of K's and W's, but those are only 2 categories. Streaming pitchers constantly is not a recipe for success. Believe me as I had to do it last year, and it sucked. Too much pressure each week to be depending on the waiver wire. The majority of time, one just has to hope for a split. That puts too much stress on the offense to produce every week. Therefore, the streaming strategy the majority of time doesn't work in head to head. Balance, Balance, Balance is the key. This matchup could have easily gone the other way just as well.
Hardballers 5 to Stars 5: What a tight battle this was with Randy coming back on Sunday. Solid numbers from both teams on offense and defense. Other than RBI's and HR's, each category was tight. Randy had a whopping 44 RBI's with Aaron Hill leading the way. That guy is a gem! Stars had 14 HR's with Adrian Gonzalez and Granderson hitting 3 apiece. Too bad for Stephen that Gonzalez never got traded to the Red Sox. He's a nice player, but would rather have him not in San Diego for fantasy purposes. Two of the best playing each other and it was what should be expected. This could easily be a finals matchup!
Squirrels 8 to REDS 2: Juan won big last week, but really had some good fortune playing a REDS team that did not show much resistance. But don't get me wrong, Juan's team is good and is worthy of 2nd place in the standings right now. The ERA was stellar at 1.60. Other than the relief pitching, Juan's team rivals B-Man's and is pretty good. Again, the hitting seems a little light, but if Beltran can come back healthy, then Squirrels will have gathered a "golden acorn!" Why the hell drop Beltran so freaking early onto the waiver wire is beyond me! We'll wait and see what happens here. For Rick, there is not really much to say about his week, except it was the poorest showing overall by any team. Unfortunately, he may take it out on me this week and beat my own team up. Quite possible!
Plaz 8 to Uticans 3: Just when Plaz needs a big win, he gets it. J. Rivera, Crawford, and Zimmerman came through last week and helped get a split on offense. This team can hit with the best of them and even showed some pop! I think Plaz with be right there in the end because it's a team that can do some major team for a few weeks, but it is also a team that can not sustain long winning streaks due to some holes in the arsenal like relief and the power. The team seems to be up and then down. But, not a team to overlook at all! Utica is still depending solely on offense. I keep waiting for this team to falter and it very well could. The pitching is downright terrible! An 8.40 ERA! OK, so he has Buehrle, but he isn't going to always throw perfect games and sure didn't last week as he got raked for 2 losses and an ERA over 10. Even if Utica makes the playoffs, I give the team no shot to win it all due to the poor pitching. In one to maybe two weeks, the defense could surprise, but no way for 4 straight weeks, which is what is necessary to run the table in the playoffs. It would take nothing short of a miracle, even with the offensive laden talent on the club. Just my opinion.
Ageless 7 to Champs 4: Finally for Mike, his team broke out of it's woes. The team has been coming on a bit and had a killer week on offense. I mean 44 runs, 73 hits, 14 HR's, 39RBI's and a .324 avg. The sticks came out this week against ED. Kendry Morales has been a nice pickup. What did I say about getting Aramis Ramirez back too. Pitching was nothing spectacular as the K:BB ratio was absolutely abysmal, but with a hot offense, you can get away with so-so defense. Ageless is lurking and don't be surprised if this team pulls off what happened last year and surprised the hell out of people. Could very well do it again. For Champs, Andrew McCutcheon has been "money" and he is one to watch for next season in fantasy drafting. Ed has tried desparately to fill the holes in his squad and has had mixed success. This is the case of a very intimidating looking team, but when put to paper just a few too many holes in certain categories.
Zonk 6 to Hitters 6: Like Stars vs. Hardballers, this was another great matchup all the way around. Both offensive and defensive numbers were solid. Too bad they played each other. Both teams are still in the playoff hunt. Hitters went nuts with 73 hits as Nyjer Morgan and Miguel Cabrera led the way. Nyjer Morgan has been a great pickup and I wish I never let him go. He really reminds me of a young Juan Pierre. Morgan is another one to watch in next year's draft! Zonk had solid outings from Derreck Lee, Brian Roberts and Ichiro. Not to mention Jimmy Rollins who had 6 SB's. Zonk's speed has really improved. Will Zonk's strategy keep him in the running? It's unique to say the least. You already know my stance on streaming and putting so much pressure on the offense. Zonk needs his offense more than ever now to start reeling off victories to edge closer. Tennesse has the goods to do some damage. A long shot in my mind with the pitching, but nonetheless a dark horse.
Glad to be back with you all in another segment of Week in Review!
BASEMAN
What does all this mean? It means that this late in the season is really the first time reality is hitting some teams square in the face and next year awaits for vengeance. Never have the season gone on this long before teams fall out of contention. There are only 5 WEEKS left!!! Again, I can't say this enough, but certainly this is a testimony on how great the managers are in HH! Woodie's team may be in last place right now, but COME ON! His squad put up some impressive stats last week on offense. He's got a good club. This has been the most competitive year ever in Hardball Heaven and that is really saying something!
BASEMAN 8 to Woodie 3: Let's just look at Woodie's numbers from last week and you tell me if this is really a last place team? 36 runs, 65 hits, 13 HR's, 43 RBI's, and a .298 batting average. Woodie only got 2 points on offense, which is just plain bad luck. Most weeks, he wins on offense with these numbers. B-Man's offense has just been on a tear lately is all. What looked awful the first half of the season has been coming to life in the 2nd half. The offense doesn't look like much at first glance, but now is playing up to potential and hence the solid numbers. What has been Woodie's achilles heal this season is mostly the pitching. Yes, there are lots of K's and W's, but those are only 2 categories. Streaming pitchers constantly is not a recipe for success. Believe me as I had to do it last year, and it sucked. Too much pressure each week to be depending on the waiver wire. The majority of time, one just has to hope for a split. That puts too much stress on the offense to produce every week. Therefore, the streaming strategy the majority of time doesn't work in head to head. Balance, Balance, Balance is the key. This matchup could have easily gone the other way just as well.
Hardballers 5 to Stars 5: What a tight battle this was with Randy coming back on Sunday. Solid numbers from both teams on offense and defense. Other than RBI's and HR's, each category was tight. Randy had a whopping 44 RBI's with Aaron Hill leading the way. That guy is a gem! Stars had 14 HR's with Adrian Gonzalez and Granderson hitting 3 apiece. Too bad for Stephen that Gonzalez never got traded to the Red Sox. He's a nice player, but would rather have him not in San Diego for fantasy purposes. Two of the best playing each other and it was what should be expected. This could easily be a finals matchup!
Squirrels 8 to REDS 2: Juan won big last week, but really had some good fortune playing a REDS team that did not show much resistance. But don't get me wrong, Juan's team is good and is worthy of 2nd place in the standings right now. The ERA was stellar at 1.60. Other than the relief pitching, Juan's team rivals B-Man's and is pretty good. Again, the hitting seems a little light, but if Beltran can come back healthy, then Squirrels will have gathered a "golden acorn!" Why the hell drop Beltran so freaking early onto the waiver wire is beyond me! We'll wait and see what happens here. For Rick, there is not really much to say about his week, except it was the poorest showing overall by any team. Unfortunately, he may take it out on me this week and beat my own team up. Quite possible!
Plaz 8 to Uticans 3: Just when Plaz needs a big win, he gets it. J. Rivera, Crawford, and Zimmerman came through last week and helped get a split on offense. This team can hit with the best of them and even showed some pop! I think Plaz with be right there in the end because it's a team that can do some major team for a few weeks, but it is also a team that can not sustain long winning streaks due to some holes in the arsenal like relief and the power. The team seems to be up and then down. But, not a team to overlook at all! Utica is still depending solely on offense. I keep waiting for this team to falter and it very well could. The pitching is downright terrible! An 8.40 ERA! OK, so he has Buehrle, but he isn't going to always throw perfect games and sure didn't last week as he got raked for 2 losses and an ERA over 10. Even if Utica makes the playoffs, I give the team no shot to win it all due to the poor pitching. In one to maybe two weeks, the defense could surprise, but no way for 4 straight weeks, which is what is necessary to run the table in the playoffs. It would take nothing short of a miracle, even with the offensive laden talent on the club. Just my opinion.
Ageless 7 to Champs 4: Finally for Mike, his team broke out of it's woes. The team has been coming on a bit and had a killer week on offense. I mean 44 runs, 73 hits, 14 HR's, 39RBI's and a .324 avg. The sticks came out this week against ED. Kendry Morales has been a nice pickup. What did I say about getting Aramis Ramirez back too. Pitching was nothing spectacular as the K:BB ratio was absolutely abysmal, but with a hot offense, you can get away with so-so defense. Ageless is lurking and don't be surprised if this team pulls off what happened last year and surprised the hell out of people. Could very well do it again. For Champs, Andrew McCutcheon has been "money" and he is one to watch for next season in fantasy drafting. Ed has tried desparately to fill the holes in his squad and has had mixed success. This is the case of a very intimidating looking team, but when put to paper just a few too many holes in certain categories.
Zonk 6 to Hitters 6: Like Stars vs. Hardballers, this was another great matchup all the way around. Both offensive and defensive numbers were solid. Too bad they played each other. Both teams are still in the playoff hunt. Hitters went nuts with 73 hits as Nyjer Morgan and Miguel Cabrera led the way. Nyjer Morgan has been a great pickup and I wish I never let him go. He really reminds me of a young Juan Pierre. Morgan is another one to watch in next year's draft! Zonk had solid outings from Derreck Lee, Brian Roberts and Ichiro. Not to mention Jimmy Rollins who had 6 SB's. Zonk's speed has really improved. Will Zonk's strategy keep him in the running? It's unique to say the least. You already know my stance on streaming and putting so much pressure on the offense. Zonk needs his offense more than ever now to start reeling off victories to edge closer. Tennesse has the goods to do some damage. A long shot in my mind with the pitching, but nonetheless a dark horse.
Glad to be back with you all in another segment of Week in Review!
BASEMAN
7.12.2009
Week 14 in Review: All Shook Up
I would bet all of my baseball cards that at least 2 teams will switch in the standings next week! That may even be too low of a number! And how about the fact that no one is out of it after 14 weeks! By now, some team is always out of the running. That is a testament to all of the great managers in this hallowed league of ours. What was a glean in Randy's eye a mere 6.5 seasons ago is now a Hall of Fame League if there ever was one. There is honestly no shame in last place in this league by any team. There is only a difference of 10.5 games between 6th place and 12 place! From what we have seen with teams coming from behind, nothing would surprise me. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if any of the teams from #2 to #6 don't make it in. All managers know their stuff and are on top of the game. Yes, even with all that life throws at us, the managers still manage. By the way Rick, I am really praying for you man! That may be all we can do many miles away, but we support you! Now to show you what a strange week this really was!
Zonk 9 vs. Stars 3: Last place vs. 1st place was what looked to be a huge upset. Well in Hardball Heaven, I don't care what place a team is in, anybody is dangerous. In the matchup of Stephen vs. Stephen, I must go with team names, so if Zonk had any kind of pitching this week, Stars would have been in even worse shape. Zonk did exactly what his strategy has set out to do most of the season, which is pitch as many pitchers as possible and try to at least split the points and dominate on offense. It worked this week as the offense was in fine tune. The Mike Napoli pickup was huge, especially since he will be DHing some now due to the Vlad Guerrero injury. Plus, Jimmy Rollins is coming out of his season long slump and had 5 SB's, plus hit .370 with 8 runs. Not a bad week! The trade between B-Man and Zonk has actually worked well for both teams. No losers in that one. Yet, I don't want to discount a huge win by Zonk, which keeps him in the running for now, but the strategy of no bench on offense and plenty of streaming on defense makes me wonder? Is this good for the long haul? Time will tell, but still needs to ride the coattails of a huge victory this week to keep the season alive.
As for Stars, yeah he got crushed, but there is definitely no need to panic. Teams can't win every week and Stars really had a down week, but the team is still in good position 9 games up. I like the fact that Ethier is hitting in front of Manny. His numbers just skyrocket. I really think some of the players on his offense just need a break as in the ASB. I know Brad Hawpe has been tired of late as I keep track of the Rockies, but trust me, at Coors field in July and August, he will hit big. Same with Barmes. If Adrian Gonzalez played for anyone other than the Padres, then his numbers would be even more outstanding. He is getting some of the Albert Pujols treatment as the Pads are lightweights on offense. There is no need to panic for Stars, but this team has shown lately it is beatable and there are some chinks in the armor.
Hitters 5 to B-Man 4: Short story here. It is about 4 o'clock or so and I just get done watching the Rockies come from behind victory over the Braves. So, I walk upstairs to my computer to make my last change for week. Everything is just hunky-dory as I have a 6-5 lead and felt fortunate to come out on top of Hitters for the week. I just needed to drop the 2nd game starting pitcher, Randy Wells of the Cubs to the bench. Well, lo and behold I forgot about the stinking doubleheader between the Cards-Cubs and once the first game starts there are no changes for the 2nd game! AH, I felt just sick as I knew victory was probably gone. The BB's were too close of a call in the matchup and K's would be hard to get. I was behind 7 K's. Plus, Wells couldn't lose or there goes another point. On top of that, I felt compelled to now watch the game on ESPN, which I really didn't want to do. Of course, Wells walks 3 batters, so the lead goes away. The Cubbies offense has killed me several times this season and they do it again, only scoring 2 runs and Wells takes the loss. My only hope is K's to save some face. Ryan Franklin comes in to save the game and I'm behind by 3 K's. I never had so much satifaction losing in a week after watching Franklin whiff the side in order to tie me in K's. I lost by a point, but felt fortunate after the blunder of not pulling Wells early in the day. It just goes to show you how tight the matchup was between Hitters and myself all week. Decisions were tough to make in this one. There is no doubt Hitters can play offense. He only scored 41 runs! But it was his pitching that was a major surprise! Jarrod Washburn has been unbelievable for the Mariners so far. Who in their right mind would think that was going to happen this season? He one-hit the Orioles and then won again by beating the Rangers of all teams. Plus with Happ and Blanton of the Phils getting starts and wins against the hapless Pirates, Hitters defense was cruising to 6 victories this week. Congratulations on a big win! Only one other time have I gotten manhandled in pitching this year and you definitely got the best of me. Tommy and I really did role reversals this week as I beat him at his strength and he beat me at mine. Very strange matchup, but a fun one. If Hitters can pitch like this more often, then the team has a viable shot at doing damage in the playoffs. The real question is .....Can It? For B-Man, if the offense can keep it going like this, then more often than not the team wins the matchup. The real question is....Can It?
Plaz 9 to Hardballers 2: It seemed that before this matchup that Plaz was reeling. Had to face a tough foe in Randy and didn't need to lose ground in the playoff race. Well, a lopsided victory was just what the doctor order for Peter to catapult him to #6. On the other hand, Randy's team is continuing its reeling ways. It is nice to have a cushion as he did, but now that cushion is gone and the team needs to get back on track soon. Looking at Plaz, he has had some great pickups on the WW like Zobrist and now Juan Rivera. Peter always does this. Gets unsung heroes to put his team right in the thick of it practically every year. Plus with Cano and Konerko having what you could call comeback seasons, Plaz has been a pain for teams. All this with his 1st rounder Reyes on the DL too. Has some outstanding pitchers in Santana, Wainwright, and Beckett, but kind of thin after that elsewhere in pitching. Carl Crawford has had one of his best seasons too. Can't forget him. Talk about striking gold. Plaz can definitely move up as far as #2 in my mind. But then again, he may have to fight to make the playoffs. The league wreaks of toughness when I can say that about his team. As for Randy, the offense just doesn't seem to be gelling at once. Getting production, but just not consistently from the whole offense. Are Aaron Hill and Russell Branyan coming back to earth? They had to somewhat. Is the loss of Bruce going to hurt? With Rios, Braun, Morneau, Sandoval, and Longoria, the team is still just too good to keep slumping for too long. The big question to me is the pitching? I know Randy probably disagrees, but there isn't that dominant starter to take control. Verlander is debatable in that regard, but when the offense isn't clicking, the pitching doesn't dominate enough categories the majority of time to pick up the offense. This is really the achilles heal of the team in my opinion. Matchup of the upcoming week has to be Hardballers vs. Squirrels. Must see fantasy tv!
Squirrels 8 to Champs 2: Ed just ran into a buzz saw this week in Juan's Squirrels team! What did Champs do to deserve this fate? Champs had 35 runs, 60 hits, 39 RBI's, 6 SB's, and a .276 avg. and only got one point by swatting 14 HR's. That is just rotten luck there! Squirrels was just phenomenal this week on several fronts! Check this line: 44 runs, 66 hits, 42 RBI's, and a .301 avg. OH MY! Oh yeah, I haven't even touched on the pitching! Do you want to see the line? Well, here it is anyway. 7 W's and 0 L's with a 1.70 ERA. "What's that you say?" "Pretty good!" "Well Yeah! " The only pitcher that is having a rough go of it of late is Chamberlain, so why should I type out all the great pitchers he has. Just take a look yourself and no words need to be spoken. I know, I know, the league can thank me for handing over Jon Lester! I can't stand to see the name of Xavier Nady to this day! This is one of the few teams in the league where I like the pitching more than the hitting. But, when the offense clicks together, then forget about it! As for Champs, this team isn't out of it at all. A-Rod is catching fire. Ryan Ludwick is healthy and now hitting like last year and hits behind Pujols. Ibanez is back for the Phils. Utley is one of the best in the league. Nelson Cruz is the real deal. The offense is killer right now. Even with the pitching injuries, I still like the pitching. Look for this team to stay in the hunt down the stretch. Had some bad luck this week, but this team, like Squirrels, is scary despite the record.
Uticans 7 to Ageless 4: Two teams with injury woes matching up with for the most part below average numbers. Because of the injuries, these two teams, despite being in the thick of the playoff race, don't scare me as much as some of the lower teams really. Ageless did score 34 runs, which is a testament to the team's speed. Also had 9 saves, but whoopee! Couple that with 23 BB's and a 4.65 ERA and who cares how many saves you get. The 9 saves with those other numbers tell me that starting staff is really not that great. Derek Lowe did have a nice start, but look at the rest of the starters (mincemeat!) Aramis Ramirez is back, but when watching him tonight on tv, he still has some lingering effects with the shoulder it seemed. Now with Derosa hurt, OUCH! Mike's team is reeling and it is going to reel itself out of the playoff picture soon in my estimation. It's not too late to make some moves via trade for instance, but this team needs shaken up and fast. The reason I say this is not to poke fun, but the numbers haven't been great for some time now. Look at the beginning of the year start compared to the last several weeks. This is a team going in the wrong direction. Utica on the other hand still has a nice offense, which is going to keep the team in the hunt, but why not get some pithing man? The K's have been dismal all season! 19 BB's to 25 K's? That is putrid. Plus a 5.93 ERA! Oh man, do something! You can't win by offense alone. I have to apologize here as it is getting late and I think I am getting more critical, like when I grade school papers later in the evening, but honestly how do your teams expect to be bonafide contenders with the pitching you have? I know most teams put more emphasis on the offense, but you gotta put up a fight on defense as well. Enough said here!
REDS 6 to Woodie 4: Ok, these are two teams down at the bottom, but I have to give both managers credit. Neither one stops working their team to find the right combination of players. Therefore, both teams are still in contention when it would have been easy to give up and just make sure positions are filled daily with whoever. Rick's team just tore it up on offense this week. How's 38 runs, 74 hits, and a .325 average sound? Took a chance on Mark Teahen and Kurt Suzuki this week and was rewarded nicely. The mainstays of Berkman and Lee also went off. If Sizemore and Ortiz can continue their turnarounds, then REDS can make a run. Same thing with Woodie. This team is powerful on offense. Hopefully Manny and Tejada can make up for some of the power outages that may take place though. Somewhat reminds me of Champs offense, which is loaded with power, but the average and hits can sometimes suffer. Justin Upton has been hot and players like this will have to step up to make a run. The pitching has some unsung heroes, which need to continue and step it up as well like all-star Ted Lilly, Jose' Contreras and Brett Anderson. King Felix has been awesome. It just goes to show that if you continue working your teams, there is still hope.
By the way Plaz, you have your work cut out for you week to week picking in this topsy-turvy league!
BASEMAN
Zonk 9 vs. Stars 3: Last place vs. 1st place was what looked to be a huge upset. Well in Hardball Heaven, I don't care what place a team is in, anybody is dangerous. In the matchup of Stephen vs. Stephen, I must go with team names, so if Zonk had any kind of pitching this week, Stars would have been in even worse shape. Zonk did exactly what his strategy has set out to do most of the season, which is pitch as many pitchers as possible and try to at least split the points and dominate on offense. It worked this week as the offense was in fine tune. The Mike Napoli pickup was huge, especially since he will be DHing some now due to the Vlad Guerrero injury. Plus, Jimmy Rollins is coming out of his season long slump and had 5 SB's, plus hit .370 with 8 runs. Not a bad week! The trade between B-Man and Zonk has actually worked well for both teams. No losers in that one. Yet, I don't want to discount a huge win by Zonk, which keeps him in the running for now, but the strategy of no bench on offense and plenty of streaming on defense makes me wonder? Is this good for the long haul? Time will tell, but still needs to ride the coattails of a huge victory this week to keep the season alive.
As for Stars, yeah he got crushed, but there is definitely no need to panic. Teams can't win every week and Stars really had a down week, but the team is still in good position 9 games up. I like the fact that Ethier is hitting in front of Manny. His numbers just skyrocket. I really think some of the players on his offense just need a break as in the ASB. I know Brad Hawpe has been tired of late as I keep track of the Rockies, but trust me, at Coors field in July and August, he will hit big. Same with Barmes. If Adrian Gonzalez played for anyone other than the Padres, then his numbers would be even more outstanding. He is getting some of the Albert Pujols treatment as the Pads are lightweights on offense. There is no need to panic for Stars, but this team has shown lately it is beatable and there are some chinks in the armor.
Hitters 5 to B-Man 4: Short story here. It is about 4 o'clock or so and I just get done watching the Rockies come from behind victory over the Braves. So, I walk upstairs to my computer to make my last change for week. Everything is just hunky-dory as I have a 6-5 lead and felt fortunate to come out on top of Hitters for the week. I just needed to drop the 2nd game starting pitcher, Randy Wells of the Cubs to the bench. Well, lo and behold I forgot about the stinking doubleheader between the Cards-Cubs and once the first game starts there are no changes for the 2nd game! AH, I felt just sick as I knew victory was probably gone. The BB's were too close of a call in the matchup and K's would be hard to get. I was behind 7 K's. Plus, Wells couldn't lose or there goes another point. On top of that, I felt compelled to now watch the game on ESPN, which I really didn't want to do. Of course, Wells walks 3 batters, so the lead goes away. The Cubbies offense has killed me several times this season and they do it again, only scoring 2 runs and Wells takes the loss. My only hope is K's to save some face. Ryan Franklin comes in to save the game and I'm behind by 3 K's. I never had so much satifaction losing in a week after watching Franklin whiff the side in order to tie me in K's. I lost by a point, but felt fortunate after the blunder of not pulling Wells early in the day. It just goes to show you how tight the matchup was between Hitters and myself all week. Decisions were tough to make in this one. There is no doubt Hitters can play offense. He only scored 41 runs! But it was his pitching that was a major surprise! Jarrod Washburn has been unbelievable for the Mariners so far. Who in their right mind would think that was going to happen this season? He one-hit the Orioles and then won again by beating the Rangers of all teams. Plus with Happ and Blanton of the Phils getting starts and wins against the hapless Pirates, Hitters defense was cruising to 6 victories this week. Congratulations on a big win! Only one other time have I gotten manhandled in pitching this year and you definitely got the best of me. Tommy and I really did role reversals this week as I beat him at his strength and he beat me at mine. Very strange matchup, but a fun one. If Hitters can pitch like this more often, then the team has a viable shot at doing damage in the playoffs. The real question is .....Can It? For B-Man, if the offense can keep it going like this, then more often than not the team wins the matchup. The real question is....Can It?
Plaz 9 to Hardballers 2: It seemed that before this matchup that Plaz was reeling. Had to face a tough foe in Randy and didn't need to lose ground in the playoff race. Well, a lopsided victory was just what the doctor order for Peter to catapult him to #6. On the other hand, Randy's team is continuing its reeling ways. It is nice to have a cushion as he did, but now that cushion is gone and the team needs to get back on track soon. Looking at Plaz, he has had some great pickups on the WW like Zobrist and now Juan Rivera. Peter always does this. Gets unsung heroes to put his team right in the thick of it practically every year. Plus with Cano and Konerko having what you could call comeback seasons, Plaz has been a pain for teams. All this with his 1st rounder Reyes on the DL too. Has some outstanding pitchers in Santana, Wainwright, and Beckett, but kind of thin after that elsewhere in pitching. Carl Crawford has had one of his best seasons too. Can't forget him. Talk about striking gold. Plaz can definitely move up as far as #2 in my mind. But then again, he may have to fight to make the playoffs. The league wreaks of toughness when I can say that about his team. As for Randy, the offense just doesn't seem to be gelling at once. Getting production, but just not consistently from the whole offense. Are Aaron Hill and Russell Branyan coming back to earth? They had to somewhat. Is the loss of Bruce going to hurt? With Rios, Braun, Morneau, Sandoval, and Longoria, the team is still just too good to keep slumping for too long. The big question to me is the pitching? I know Randy probably disagrees, but there isn't that dominant starter to take control. Verlander is debatable in that regard, but when the offense isn't clicking, the pitching doesn't dominate enough categories the majority of time to pick up the offense. This is really the achilles heal of the team in my opinion. Matchup of the upcoming week has to be Hardballers vs. Squirrels. Must see fantasy tv!
Squirrels 8 to Champs 2: Ed just ran into a buzz saw this week in Juan's Squirrels team! What did Champs do to deserve this fate? Champs had 35 runs, 60 hits, 39 RBI's, 6 SB's, and a .276 avg. and only got one point by swatting 14 HR's. That is just rotten luck there! Squirrels was just phenomenal this week on several fronts! Check this line: 44 runs, 66 hits, 42 RBI's, and a .301 avg. OH MY! Oh yeah, I haven't even touched on the pitching! Do you want to see the line? Well, here it is anyway. 7 W's and 0 L's with a 1.70 ERA. "What's that you say?" "Pretty good!" "Well Yeah! " The only pitcher that is having a rough go of it of late is Chamberlain, so why should I type out all the great pitchers he has. Just take a look yourself and no words need to be spoken. I know, I know, the league can thank me for handing over Jon Lester! I can't stand to see the name of Xavier Nady to this day! This is one of the few teams in the league where I like the pitching more than the hitting. But, when the offense clicks together, then forget about it! As for Champs, this team isn't out of it at all. A-Rod is catching fire. Ryan Ludwick is healthy and now hitting like last year and hits behind Pujols. Ibanez is back for the Phils. Utley is one of the best in the league. Nelson Cruz is the real deal. The offense is killer right now. Even with the pitching injuries, I still like the pitching. Look for this team to stay in the hunt down the stretch. Had some bad luck this week, but this team, like Squirrels, is scary despite the record.
Uticans 7 to Ageless 4: Two teams with injury woes matching up with for the most part below average numbers. Because of the injuries, these two teams, despite being in the thick of the playoff race, don't scare me as much as some of the lower teams really. Ageless did score 34 runs, which is a testament to the team's speed. Also had 9 saves, but whoopee! Couple that with 23 BB's and a 4.65 ERA and who cares how many saves you get. The 9 saves with those other numbers tell me that starting staff is really not that great. Derek Lowe did have a nice start, but look at the rest of the starters (mincemeat!) Aramis Ramirez is back, but when watching him tonight on tv, he still has some lingering effects with the shoulder it seemed. Now with Derosa hurt, OUCH! Mike's team is reeling and it is going to reel itself out of the playoff picture soon in my estimation. It's not too late to make some moves via trade for instance, but this team needs shaken up and fast. The reason I say this is not to poke fun, but the numbers haven't been great for some time now. Look at the beginning of the year start compared to the last several weeks. This is a team going in the wrong direction. Utica on the other hand still has a nice offense, which is going to keep the team in the hunt, but why not get some pithing man? The K's have been dismal all season! 19 BB's to 25 K's? That is putrid. Plus a 5.93 ERA! Oh man, do something! You can't win by offense alone. I have to apologize here as it is getting late and I think I am getting more critical, like when I grade school papers later in the evening, but honestly how do your teams expect to be bonafide contenders with the pitching you have? I know most teams put more emphasis on the offense, but you gotta put up a fight on defense as well. Enough said here!
REDS 6 to Woodie 4: Ok, these are two teams down at the bottom, but I have to give both managers credit. Neither one stops working their team to find the right combination of players. Therefore, both teams are still in contention when it would have been easy to give up and just make sure positions are filled daily with whoever. Rick's team just tore it up on offense this week. How's 38 runs, 74 hits, and a .325 average sound? Took a chance on Mark Teahen and Kurt Suzuki this week and was rewarded nicely. The mainstays of Berkman and Lee also went off. If Sizemore and Ortiz can continue their turnarounds, then REDS can make a run. Same thing with Woodie. This team is powerful on offense. Hopefully Manny and Tejada can make up for some of the power outages that may take place though. Somewhat reminds me of Champs offense, which is loaded with power, but the average and hits can sometimes suffer. Justin Upton has been hot and players like this will have to step up to make a run. The pitching has some unsung heroes, which need to continue and step it up as well like all-star Ted Lilly, Jose' Contreras and Brett Anderson. King Felix has been awesome. It just goes to show that if you continue working your teams, there is still hope.
By the way Plaz, you have your work cut out for you week to week picking in this topsy-turvy league!
BASEMAN
6.29.2009
Week 12 in Review: What Rollercoaster Ride Is It This Week!
Wow, what a rollercoaster ride the league has been this year! This late in the season and only 9.5 games separates the 12th place team from the 6th place team just after the halfway point. That may sound like a lot, but if a team gets hot (look at Morning Wood), then all teams are still virtually alive. In year's past, this would be about the time to write one or two teams off, but not this year. Plus, look at all the shifting in the standings each and every week. Hitters jumped all the way from 8th to 4th in one week!!!! Unfortunately for Plaz, he went from 5th to 8th. This is how tight the standings are and just one week of a blowout can have a team dreaming of HH glory or can have the other team restless in their bed at nights. Ok, that is some hyperbole thrown in there, but you get my drift. Except for Stars and maybe Hardballers, no one is safe. There is pressure on some of the bottom teams though to keep winning or keep the losing close because one week of a blowout can doom the chances at this point. Matchups are really getting crucial for some teams teetering on the edge. Now for a look at last week's contests.
Hitters 10 to Plaz 2: What looked like to be a Plaz runaway turned 180 degrees. Tommy's pitching has been coming on the past couple of weeks and combine that with an outstanding offense, then this team is extremely tough. The key to me though is the pitching. Can this squad be consistent enough for what it takes to get on a roll? Washburn and Hammel are really unsung heroes right now. Plus, the Rocks keep winning to get Street plenty of save opportunities. I just don't see this staff holding up, but with this offense Hitters is dangerous.
Plaz's team has good strengths like starting pitching and speed. Weaknesses have to be power and relief pitching. Having a first round pick like Reyes injured for so long really hurts matters. Konerko and Hardy really need to bolster this lineup and snap out of funks. Plaz will hang around, but really needs to address holes in this lineup to be a force like last year.
BASEMAN 9 to Ageless 3: Mike has a very dangerous team. The one problem is that there is too much inconsistency from week to week. He could easily beat a team 9-3 or lose by the same as he did this week. But, Quentin and Ramirez will drastically help when they come back. Then I feel Ageless can sustain momentum from week to week and be a bonafide contender. I am glad to be done with his team for the time being! B-man's offense is showing some good signs. The average still isn't great, but for 57 hits there was good production with 39 runs and 32 RBI's. The offense definitely is not flashy with not a lot of star power, and if I was an opponent I wouldn't be too intimidated by looking at the surface, just as Plaz says. But, look a little deeper and balance can be found. Offense won't blow teams away, but B-Man relies on pitching to keep the contests close or happen to win big once in awhile.
Stars 7 to Utica 3: Poor Kerm! The guy has put together one of his best teams and the injury bug has hit hard. Two offensive studs now out, plus a closer. But, don't count this team out. Hamilton is coming back soon. Even with Beltran's injury status uncertain, this offense is too good to go away. I do agree with Stars, that Utica did need to exhibit more patience with the pitching. There needs to be more depth here. One rarely can go far in the playoffs without balance and the team seems too overloaded on offense. See Tennessee Hitters. Stars got back on the winning track this week with good #'s in runs, HR's and RBI's. The Wright trade helped i the speed dept. The last trade with Woodie should help both teams. Overall balance of the club is solid. Count on the # 1 seed for Stars.
Zonk 7 to Squirrels 5: Stephen is trying to turn things around. Has a good number of hits at 60 this week and a .291 avg. and without anything from Rollins or Orlando Cabrera. I would be surprised if Rollins doesn't turn it around, but not happening yet as he was benched for some mental downtime. So stay tuned. Zonk needs this guy doing his usual thing to get closer in contention. Zonk again goes wild on the WW with pitchers and seems to pluck everyone as is the case with Tommy Hunter. Who is he again? But, Zonk does have Kazmir who he basically got for nothing. Question: What happens to those who slump in the offense? Where is the depth? Very unique strategy displayed by Stephen. Will work sometime, but does it work consistently enough? As for Squirrels, this is a scary team, but hard to figure out. I like the pitching. Lester has been on a roll, Haren is just GOOD, and Edwin Jackson has reached his potential. Downside is Dice K getting hurt and Harang being inconsistent, and only 2 closers. On offense, teams are starting to pitch around Pujols. Could that hurt long term? That guy is amazing and I would love to have him, but he is getting Barry Bonds treatment. Youkilis needs to get hot and is quite capable. Lots of power on this team, but it could come in bunches. Some weeks are going to be down. Only 45 hits and a .238 average this week. Look for Squirrels to destroy someone and soon.
Morning Wood 6 to Harballers 5: If I am not mistaken, Woodie has 5 wins in a row under his belt and this was a tough test. Only 6.5 games back of the #6 spot, I have to commend Timmy on his guts to make some speculative trades to get his team back into contention. Now with the addition of Manny and Reynolds, Timmy's team is more dangerous than ever. What a feat this would be for him to make the playoffs when it looked bleak to put it nicely at one point in the season. He hit .317 with 39 runs and 7 steals. Nice numbers. Pitching only took 2 points and it is coming down to earth, but Paulino could be a find? Randy's team may be in the midst of a mini-slump right now. Longoria a little banged up, Hart and Rios having off weeks along with Morneau. Happens to every team as we know. I think Randy's team will snap out of it as again, I like the balance. His pitchers don't strike out too many batters except Verlander and sometimes Zimmerman, but the BB's are down. Randy's plan is to keep it close in pitching and bury you on offense. The offense needs to get it cranking again, and then all will be fine with Hardballers.
REDS 6 to Champs 4: Rick has now gotten Halladay, Sizemore, and A. Cabrera (SS) back, so there is hope. Berkman had a fine week as did Kubel. I think a player that could really help Rick's fortunes is Stephen Drew. He also had a good week. If he can come alive and Sizemore start producing to his capability, then REDS has a chance. It is slim, but there is hope if those questions are answered. Some good pitching, but also has to hope the 4th, 5th, and 6th starters can produce. Champs is just going the other way lately and needs to get the ship righted in a hurry. This team produces RBI's like the federal government is printing U.S. money! The one problem is the values haven't really increased. Champs only had 39 hits and a .223 avg. Ouch! A-Rod seems to be bothered by the hip injury. At least Utley has gotten production despite the hip surgery. Tommy Hanson has been awesome with 3 shutouts in a row for his innings pitched. Great pickup! This staff has great potential and Ed did win pitching this week. I am just waiting for the offense to explode, but it ain't happening and it better have soon!
BASEMAN
Hitters 10 to Plaz 2: What looked like to be a Plaz runaway turned 180 degrees. Tommy's pitching has been coming on the past couple of weeks and combine that with an outstanding offense, then this team is extremely tough. The key to me though is the pitching. Can this squad be consistent enough for what it takes to get on a roll? Washburn and Hammel are really unsung heroes right now. Plus, the Rocks keep winning to get Street plenty of save opportunities. I just don't see this staff holding up, but with this offense Hitters is dangerous.
Plaz's team has good strengths like starting pitching and speed. Weaknesses have to be power and relief pitching. Having a first round pick like Reyes injured for so long really hurts matters. Konerko and Hardy really need to bolster this lineup and snap out of funks. Plaz will hang around, but really needs to address holes in this lineup to be a force like last year.
BASEMAN 9 to Ageless 3: Mike has a very dangerous team. The one problem is that there is too much inconsistency from week to week. He could easily beat a team 9-3 or lose by the same as he did this week. But, Quentin and Ramirez will drastically help when they come back. Then I feel Ageless can sustain momentum from week to week and be a bonafide contender. I am glad to be done with his team for the time being! B-man's offense is showing some good signs. The average still isn't great, but for 57 hits there was good production with 39 runs and 32 RBI's. The offense definitely is not flashy with not a lot of star power, and if I was an opponent I wouldn't be too intimidated by looking at the surface, just as Plaz says. But, look a little deeper and balance can be found. Offense won't blow teams away, but B-Man relies on pitching to keep the contests close or happen to win big once in awhile.
Stars 7 to Utica 3: Poor Kerm! The guy has put together one of his best teams and the injury bug has hit hard. Two offensive studs now out, plus a closer. But, don't count this team out. Hamilton is coming back soon. Even with Beltran's injury status uncertain, this offense is too good to go away. I do agree with Stars, that Utica did need to exhibit more patience with the pitching. There needs to be more depth here. One rarely can go far in the playoffs without balance and the team seems too overloaded on offense. See Tennessee Hitters. Stars got back on the winning track this week with good #'s in runs, HR's and RBI's. The Wright trade helped i the speed dept. The last trade with Woodie should help both teams. Overall balance of the club is solid. Count on the # 1 seed for Stars.
Zonk 7 to Squirrels 5: Stephen is trying to turn things around. Has a good number of hits at 60 this week and a .291 avg. and without anything from Rollins or Orlando Cabrera. I would be surprised if Rollins doesn't turn it around, but not happening yet as he was benched for some mental downtime. So stay tuned. Zonk needs this guy doing his usual thing to get closer in contention. Zonk again goes wild on the WW with pitchers and seems to pluck everyone as is the case with Tommy Hunter. Who is he again? But, Zonk does have Kazmir who he basically got for nothing. Question: What happens to those who slump in the offense? Where is the depth? Very unique strategy displayed by Stephen. Will work sometime, but does it work consistently enough? As for Squirrels, this is a scary team, but hard to figure out. I like the pitching. Lester has been on a roll, Haren is just GOOD, and Edwin Jackson has reached his potential. Downside is Dice K getting hurt and Harang being inconsistent, and only 2 closers. On offense, teams are starting to pitch around Pujols. Could that hurt long term? That guy is amazing and I would love to have him, but he is getting Barry Bonds treatment. Youkilis needs to get hot and is quite capable. Lots of power on this team, but it could come in bunches. Some weeks are going to be down. Only 45 hits and a .238 average this week. Look for Squirrels to destroy someone and soon.
Morning Wood 6 to Harballers 5: If I am not mistaken, Woodie has 5 wins in a row under his belt and this was a tough test. Only 6.5 games back of the #6 spot, I have to commend Timmy on his guts to make some speculative trades to get his team back into contention. Now with the addition of Manny and Reynolds, Timmy's team is more dangerous than ever. What a feat this would be for him to make the playoffs when it looked bleak to put it nicely at one point in the season. He hit .317 with 39 runs and 7 steals. Nice numbers. Pitching only took 2 points and it is coming down to earth, but Paulino could be a find? Randy's team may be in the midst of a mini-slump right now. Longoria a little banged up, Hart and Rios having off weeks along with Morneau. Happens to every team as we know. I think Randy's team will snap out of it as again, I like the balance. His pitchers don't strike out too many batters except Verlander and sometimes Zimmerman, but the BB's are down. Randy's plan is to keep it close in pitching and bury you on offense. The offense needs to get it cranking again, and then all will be fine with Hardballers.
REDS 6 to Champs 4: Rick has now gotten Halladay, Sizemore, and A. Cabrera (SS) back, so there is hope. Berkman had a fine week as did Kubel. I think a player that could really help Rick's fortunes is Stephen Drew. He also had a good week. If he can come alive and Sizemore start producing to his capability, then REDS has a chance. It is slim, but there is hope if those questions are answered. Some good pitching, but also has to hope the 4th, 5th, and 6th starters can produce. Champs is just going the other way lately and needs to get the ship righted in a hurry. This team produces RBI's like the federal government is printing U.S. money! The one problem is the values haven't really increased. Champs only had 39 hits and a .223 avg. Ouch! A-Rod seems to be bothered by the hip injury. At least Utley has gotten production despite the hip surgery. Tommy Hanson has been awesome with 3 shutouts in a row for his innings pitched. Great pickup! This staff has great potential and Ed did win pitching this week. I am just waiting for the offense to explode, but it ain't happening and it better have soon!
BASEMAN
6.24.2009
Roto Standings thru Halfway Point
If you are wondering whether or not your team is riding a wave or getting drenched by the wave, the look at these stats at the midway point of the season. Is your team possibly heading for a fall or ready to make a run in the 2nd half? Take a look and check it out.
The numbers consist of a roto style format with totals on both offense and defense. Then there is a little summary of how each team's outlook. If a team is on the plus side of the numbers, then they are playing a little over their heads. If your team has a negative number, then look for better results in 2nd half assuming your team's output continues. Some teams are even in the Head to Head and Roto formats.
Offense:
Stars 59
Hardballers 54
Plaz 51
Utica 49
Hitters, Ageless, and Squirrels 44
Champs 37
Zonk 30
BASEMAN 26
Woodie 18
REDS 15
Defense:
BASEMAN 57
Woodie 54
Squirrels 46
Hardballers and Ageless 41
Zonk 39
Stars and Champs 38
REDS 36
Plaz 33
Utica 29
Hitters 27
Totals:
Stars 97
Hardballers 95
Squirrels 90
Ageless 85
Plaz 84
BASEMAN 83
Utica 78
Champs 75
Woodie 72
Hitters 71
Zonk 69
REDS 51
Summary:
Stars (Even) Right where he needs to be. Killer offense and mediocre pitching. If pitching improves with last trade, then that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. He's not going anywhere except with a #1 or #2 seed.
Hardballers (Even) Same as Stephen and right where he should be. Not to say he can't capture first. #2 on offense and #4 of defense means "Hard to Beat."
Squirrels (-4) Talk about some misfortune. Juan has good roto numbers, but sits 7th in the standings. How is that for bad luck if the season ended today? Well, both the offensive and defensive #'s speak for themselves. Third on defense and tied for 5th on offense. Look for Squirrels to start gathering acorns from the teams above him!
Ageless (-1) Pretty darn close to where he sits in standings. Like Squirrels, Mike's team is solid on offense and defense, #5 and #4 respectively. The team is good as the numbers don't lie.
Plaz (Even) Tied for 5th in the league and sits in 5th in the roto standings. Obviously the offense is steady. If gets more power then watch out. Pitching needs to pick it up a bit, so the team doesn't slip.
BASEMAN (+2) This number means I am overachieving in the standings a bit. Plaz is right on about some things. Offense has to climb from #10 and the pitching has to continue to be one of the best down the stretch. Don't count B-Man out though as the offense is picking it up.
Utica (+2) Another team that is currently in the playoffs tied for fifth, but is overachieving. Let's just say the offense must continue as Utica is 4th in that dept. Now with some injuries hitting, the pitching needs to start stepping it up as it has been piss poor. Look for the possibility of B-Man or either Utica to tumble based on the numbers!
Champs (-2) Ed's team shows to be better than his current 10th place in the standings. 5.5 games back of where he should be, so Ed has had some tough matchups. 8th on offense and tied for 7th on defense, so some of the knock on your pitching is deserved. Again, the problem with this team is that the roto numbers are all over the place. Proof that this team has some holes that need to be fixed soon or it will be all over, and the team that had so much promise will have underachieved.
Woodie (Even) Pitching is #2, while the offense is #11. Even though the pitching has been solid, the offense has been not very good to put it kindly. Looks like the last trade with Stars was the right thing to do. Something has to change.
Hitters (+2) Tommy is overachieving a bit and when a team is in the lower tier of the standings, then that is not necessarily a good thing. It is hard to overachieve for a full season. The offense is good,tied for 5th, but the pitching is downright awful being dead last. I don't think Tommy can keep it up with the staff he has. The numbers ain't good!
Zonk (-1) Stephen's team is underachieving a bit, but not by much. Being 12.5 games out means there needs to be some good matchups come his way in the 2nd half. Doesn't look real good. But, it is hard to believe that Zonk's pitching is 5th and the offense 8th. That does look good, but the numbers, especially in pitching are real close to teams below him. Tells me the team needs the offense to get real hot.
REDS (+1) According to the numbers, Rick should easily be dead last. The offense has been putrid and is way down the bottom of the totem pole. The pitching is 9th, so REDS has been relying on some defense to overachieve. It is really hard to say overachieve, when only a 1/2 game out of last, but that is what REDS is doing. If the offense doesn't pick it up, the the basement will be Rick's home by the end of the year if not sooner.
It is intriguing to look at the numbers. There is some luck involved for sure, but things tend to balance themselves out somewhat to. We'll see what happens the rest of the way.
BASEMAN
The numbers consist of a roto style format with totals on both offense and defense. Then there is a little summary of how each team's outlook. If a team is on the plus side of the numbers, then they are playing a little over their heads. If your team has a negative number, then look for better results in 2nd half assuming your team's output continues. Some teams are even in the Head to Head and Roto formats.
Offense:
Stars 59
Hardballers 54
Plaz 51
Utica 49
Hitters, Ageless, and Squirrels 44
Champs 37
Zonk 30
BASEMAN 26
Woodie 18
REDS 15
Defense:
BASEMAN 57
Woodie 54
Squirrels 46
Hardballers and Ageless 41
Zonk 39
Stars and Champs 38
REDS 36
Plaz 33
Utica 29
Hitters 27
Totals:
Stars 97
Hardballers 95
Squirrels 90
Ageless 85
Plaz 84
BASEMAN 83
Utica 78
Champs 75
Woodie 72
Hitters 71
Zonk 69
REDS 51
Summary:
Stars (Even) Right where he needs to be. Killer offense and mediocre pitching. If pitching improves with last trade, then that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. He's not going anywhere except with a #1 or #2 seed.
Hardballers (Even) Same as Stephen and right where he should be. Not to say he can't capture first. #2 on offense and #4 of defense means "Hard to Beat."
Squirrels (-4) Talk about some misfortune. Juan has good roto numbers, but sits 7th in the standings. How is that for bad luck if the season ended today? Well, both the offensive and defensive #'s speak for themselves. Third on defense and tied for 5th on offense. Look for Squirrels to start gathering acorns from the teams above him!
Ageless (-1) Pretty darn close to where he sits in standings. Like Squirrels, Mike's team is solid on offense and defense, #5 and #4 respectively. The team is good as the numbers don't lie.
Plaz (Even) Tied for 5th in the league and sits in 5th in the roto standings. Obviously the offense is steady. If gets more power then watch out. Pitching needs to pick it up a bit, so the team doesn't slip.
BASEMAN (+2) This number means I am overachieving in the standings a bit. Plaz is right on about some things. Offense has to climb from #10 and the pitching has to continue to be one of the best down the stretch. Don't count B-Man out though as the offense is picking it up.
Utica (+2) Another team that is currently in the playoffs tied for fifth, but is overachieving. Let's just say the offense must continue as Utica is 4th in that dept. Now with some injuries hitting, the pitching needs to start stepping it up as it has been piss poor. Look for the possibility of B-Man or either Utica to tumble based on the numbers!
Champs (-2) Ed's team shows to be better than his current 10th place in the standings. 5.5 games back of where he should be, so Ed has had some tough matchups. 8th on offense and tied for 7th on defense, so some of the knock on your pitching is deserved. Again, the problem with this team is that the roto numbers are all over the place. Proof that this team has some holes that need to be fixed soon or it will be all over, and the team that had so much promise will have underachieved.
Woodie (Even) Pitching is #2, while the offense is #11. Even though the pitching has been solid, the offense has been not very good to put it kindly. Looks like the last trade with Stars was the right thing to do. Something has to change.
Hitters (+2) Tommy is overachieving a bit and when a team is in the lower tier of the standings, then that is not necessarily a good thing. It is hard to overachieve for a full season. The offense is good,tied for 5th, but the pitching is downright awful being dead last. I don't think Tommy can keep it up with the staff he has. The numbers ain't good!
Zonk (-1) Stephen's team is underachieving a bit, but not by much. Being 12.5 games out means there needs to be some good matchups come his way in the 2nd half. Doesn't look real good. But, it is hard to believe that Zonk's pitching is 5th and the offense 8th. That does look good, but the numbers, especially in pitching are real close to teams below him. Tells me the team needs the offense to get real hot.
REDS (+1) According to the numbers, Rick should easily be dead last. The offense has been putrid and is way down the bottom of the totem pole. The pitching is 9th, so REDS has been relying on some defense to overachieve. It is really hard to say overachieve, when only a 1/2 game out of last, but that is what REDS is doing. If the offense doesn't pick it up, the the basement will be Rick's home by the end of the year if not sooner.
It is intriguing to look at the numbers. There is some luck involved for sure, but things tend to balance themselves out somewhat to. We'll see what happens the rest of the way.
BASEMAN
6.21.2009
Week 11 in Review: Battle of the Heavyweights
Alright now that we are at the halfway point in the season it is a great time to evaluate the league and where teams are at. So as a prelude to the past week's contests, I will make a quick observation of the standings. Let's just say most heavyweights from years' past are currently in the top half of the standings. Here is my case in point. Stars is currently in first and has won a league title and regular season title. Hardballers, in second, has won 2 regular season titles. Ageless, in 3rd, was in the finals last year. Baseman, in 4th, has won 3 league titles and one regular season title. Plaz, tied for 5th, has one league championship under his belt. Utica, tied for 5th, crashes the party so to speak with a high of a 4th place finish. So, who is missing, would primarily be REDS, who has one league title. Not to say other teams haven't had high finishes as Champs and Perjured have 2nd place finishes among them as well. But, the top half of the league right now is making a strong case to the league that we don't want to relinguish the status quo. Hardball Heaven, into its 7th season now, has developed a history. It is a long enough history to start looking at teams' performance over time. Where do each of you want to be in your own personal Hardball Heaven legacy? Do you want to be like the Yankees, who compete on a regulary basis for a title? Or do you want to be like the Cubbies who haven't won for over a hundred years now? Look at your team. Take note of what you have to do. Give it hell to carve your niche out in this great league of ours. Let's continue to make this the best fantasy league around! This year trophies will be awarded and I would even like to start working on a plaque! Now for a great 2nd Half of the Season Boys!!!! How's about a little review time!
BASEMAN 8 vs. Stars 2: To be honest, I was just hoping for a victory this week and not get buried. All expectations were exceeded as Stephen's Stars team really had a down week both offensively and defensively. All teams go through some slumps and right now is Star's time. But trust me everyone, his offense is just way too good for a slump to continue for very long. For instance, his team only had 49 hits and a .253 avg. This won't continue. Pitching-wise, his team had a 7.79 ERA with 5 losses, 0 saves, and a K:BB ratio of 25:15. Are you kidding me? I would hate to be the team facing him next week. But, this had to happen at some point in time and I was the benefactor. A rarity for B-Man was 5 losses in pitching. This hasn't happened all season, and I got the 5 losses in one day! Having 5 pitchers go in one day really sucks! There is no time for evaluation, except to go for numbers and hope. The ERA was an awful 4.39, which was another rarity. Believe it or not, the offense had life this week as the .306 average was the highest of the year. Thank you Troy Tulowitzki among others. No more Jimmy Rollins or Chris Davis, so there may be hope. With Joey Votto coming back, there is more hope. Anyway, I thank my lucky Stars for a victory this week. Watch out Uticans as you have Stars up next! Also, thanks goes to Plaz for picking me to lose again. That was a blessing.
Uticans 7 vs. Hardballers 4: Another upset happened this week with Utica beating Randy. I only mean upset by way of the standings as Kerm has a good team this season. We have been witnessing a new Kerm. Not the Kerm who always jerks his team around looking for a golden nugget on the WW. Or the Kerm who is always in a trading frenzy. The new Kerm has the goods this year and maybe hoping to change his legacy. Kerm only had 15 SB's this week. Of course, Ellsbury led the way with 4, but so did Holliday with 4 as well, Beltran with 3.
Kerm's pitching even picked it up this week. Porcello and Niemann have come on nicely for him. Stars and Uticans next week will be a matchup to watch! Randy's numbers weren't all that bad either. Braun, Hart, and Sandoval had excellent weeks. Bailey has been a good pickup for a closer. Randy is still trying to find the right combo with his starters, but has some good potential in guys like Zimmerman and Braden. The pitching really scares no one, except maybe Verlander, but with Randy's offense, he usually gets by unless running into someone like the Uticans!
Ageless 10 vs. Squirrels 2: I hope I didn't jinx Juan last week as I said he wasn't safe in the standings, but I told you so. All it takes is to get a whooping one week, and a team with not much cushion can take a big tumble like out of a playoff spot. Now Squirrels can and should recover as his team is quality, but he is now looking up. Ageless, who's team needed a jolt, got a big one this week as the whole team gelled. Squirrels gets the Hard Luck Team of the Week as he really was snakebitten. His offense produced big-time, but only won 2 offensive categories. And to think he barely won his two points with an avg. of .333 and 38 RBI's. Squirrels would have beaten every other team this week, except Uticans and Hardballers. Ageless was just the wrong team to be playing this week! How's that for crappy luck? All the way from the #3 seed to #7 in one fell swoop! Millwood, Lackey, and Danks did the job for Mike this week.
Plaz 6 vs. Zonk 6: Zonk should count this as a moral victory with a 6-6 tie against Plaz's team. Looking at Steven's team, in year's past they would destroy you on offense, but there are too many underachievers this year on the team and the pitching constantly is just battling for splits. Who are the underachievers? A big one has to be Magglio Ordonez. Another is Jimmy Rollins.....no secret here. There was Tulowitzki, who was underachieving at the time. Also, who can forget Soriano and Soto for the Cubbies. This team looks loaded and things can turn around as it is still only June, but things better turn around quick for this underachieving squad or Zonk is in serious trouble. Plus, with Dye and Chipper as big injury risks, a lot has to happen right! On Peter's end of things, he has to be thankful that Pence and Cano have reached their true potential this season as they posted big weeks. Last year these two players were ok, but not great. Look at what Plaz has found this year.....2 bonafide all-star quality players! The numbers for Plaz really didn't stand out this week, except for the 6 wins, but were enough for the 6-6 tie.
Hitters 9 to REDS 1: Tommy played up to his name this week and brought out the ass-whoopin sticks with a whopping 15 HR's, 38 runs and RBI's. This team can hit folks! If Alexei Ramirez gets hot, which he was this week, then it only gets worse for the rest of us. Plus, with Tood Helton having a healthy season, then just an added bonus for hitters. The pitching still sucks, except for maybe the pen, but the offense is bringing this team back in the playoff race! As for Rick, well glad to hear all is ok with you, but your team has issues in consistency. The offense sputtered and is just up and down. Without Halladay and Volquez, there was disaster written all over your past week. Until the offense can get consistent and that is the question, then can you string enough wins together to get back in the race? Like Zonk, this team is underachieving with some big names. In years' past a great team, but not so far this year.
Woodie 7 to Champs 3: Don't look now, but Timmy is quietly amassing wins and making a little run after a horrific start. I count 4 in a row. So far the trades are working out. Tejada had a down week, but Sheffield and J. Upton really produced. In fact, the Upton brothers are the real deal right now. Pavano and Moyer have come back down to earth, but Josh Johnson, King Felix, and Lilly compensated nicely. Oh yeah, so did Arroyo. Now Woodie hasn't played top tier teams, except for Ageless, but wins are wins! Woodie will truly be on a roll if he can knock off Randy next week. Don't count him out. Champs has taken a hit with Ibanez out with injury. Plus, who would have thought A-Rod would have the struggles he is having? Without the big names on this team producing, then Champs is doomed with little depth. Also, the Brandon Webb injury has really hurt Ed as well. What once looked like a promising season for Ed is slowly starting to slip away. There is time, but this is a team hurting right now and in need of an overhaul. I'm just not sure there are enough valuable pieces there to fix what is broken? Is Smoltz the answer? Not sure about that? One positive to note is that Champs did tie in the saves category thanks to Mike MacDougal for the Nats! Claiming him was a great find as he is looking good! Can the Nats win enough though for him to make much of a difference? These are the Nats we are talking about.
One side note and it is about my Colorado Rockies! 16 wins out of 17 games brings back memories of 2007 all over again. Went to Saturday night's game and took in Helton's walk-off HR in the 9th to beat the Pirates. That was just awesome as Coors Field is buzzing again! Sorry to the Mets and Phillies fans here in the league (Utica and Champs), but the Rocks are the talk of the league again right now.
BASEMAN
BASEMAN 8 vs. Stars 2: To be honest, I was just hoping for a victory this week and not get buried. All expectations were exceeded as Stephen's Stars team really had a down week both offensively and defensively. All teams go through some slumps and right now is Star's time. But trust me everyone, his offense is just way too good for a slump to continue for very long. For instance, his team only had 49 hits and a .253 avg. This won't continue. Pitching-wise, his team had a 7.79 ERA with 5 losses, 0 saves, and a K:BB ratio of 25:15. Are you kidding me? I would hate to be the team facing him next week. But, this had to happen at some point in time and I was the benefactor. A rarity for B-Man was 5 losses in pitching. This hasn't happened all season, and I got the 5 losses in one day! Having 5 pitchers go in one day really sucks! There is no time for evaluation, except to go for numbers and hope. The ERA was an awful 4.39, which was another rarity. Believe it or not, the offense had life this week as the .306 average was the highest of the year. Thank you Troy Tulowitzki among others. No more Jimmy Rollins or Chris Davis, so there may be hope. With Joey Votto coming back, there is more hope. Anyway, I thank my lucky Stars for a victory this week. Watch out Uticans as you have Stars up next! Also, thanks goes to Plaz for picking me to lose again. That was a blessing.
Uticans 7 vs. Hardballers 4: Another upset happened this week with Utica beating Randy. I only mean upset by way of the standings as Kerm has a good team this season. We have been witnessing a new Kerm. Not the Kerm who always jerks his team around looking for a golden nugget on the WW. Or the Kerm who is always in a trading frenzy. The new Kerm has the goods this year and maybe hoping to change his legacy. Kerm only had 15 SB's this week. Of course, Ellsbury led the way with 4, but so did Holliday with 4 as well, Beltran with 3.
Kerm's pitching even picked it up this week. Porcello and Niemann have come on nicely for him. Stars and Uticans next week will be a matchup to watch! Randy's numbers weren't all that bad either. Braun, Hart, and Sandoval had excellent weeks. Bailey has been a good pickup for a closer. Randy is still trying to find the right combo with his starters, but has some good potential in guys like Zimmerman and Braden. The pitching really scares no one, except maybe Verlander, but with Randy's offense, he usually gets by unless running into someone like the Uticans!
Ageless 10 vs. Squirrels 2: I hope I didn't jinx Juan last week as I said he wasn't safe in the standings, but I told you so. All it takes is to get a whooping one week, and a team with not much cushion can take a big tumble like out of a playoff spot. Now Squirrels can and should recover as his team is quality, but he is now looking up. Ageless, who's team needed a jolt, got a big one this week as the whole team gelled. Squirrels gets the Hard Luck Team of the Week as he really was snakebitten. His offense produced big-time, but only won 2 offensive categories. And to think he barely won his two points with an avg. of .333 and 38 RBI's. Squirrels would have beaten every other team this week, except Uticans and Hardballers. Ageless was just the wrong team to be playing this week! How's that for crappy luck? All the way from the #3 seed to #7 in one fell swoop! Millwood, Lackey, and Danks did the job for Mike this week.
Plaz 6 vs. Zonk 6: Zonk should count this as a moral victory with a 6-6 tie against Plaz's team. Looking at Steven's team, in year's past they would destroy you on offense, but there are too many underachievers this year on the team and the pitching constantly is just battling for splits. Who are the underachievers? A big one has to be Magglio Ordonez. Another is Jimmy Rollins.....no secret here. There was Tulowitzki, who was underachieving at the time. Also, who can forget Soriano and Soto for the Cubbies. This team looks loaded and things can turn around as it is still only June, but things better turn around quick for this underachieving squad or Zonk is in serious trouble. Plus, with Dye and Chipper as big injury risks, a lot has to happen right! On Peter's end of things, he has to be thankful that Pence and Cano have reached their true potential this season as they posted big weeks. Last year these two players were ok, but not great. Look at what Plaz has found this year.....2 bonafide all-star quality players! The numbers for Plaz really didn't stand out this week, except for the 6 wins, but were enough for the 6-6 tie.
Hitters 9 to REDS 1: Tommy played up to his name this week and brought out the ass-whoopin sticks with a whopping 15 HR's, 38 runs and RBI's. This team can hit folks! If Alexei Ramirez gets hot, which he was this week, then it only gets worse for the rest of us. Plus, with Tood Helton having a healthy season, then just an added bonus for hitters. The pitching still sucks, except for maybe the pen, but the offense is bringing this team back in the playoff race! As for Rick, well glad to hear all is ok with you, but your team has issues in consistency. The offense sputtered and is just up and down. Without Halladay and Volquez, there was disaster written all over your past week. Until the offense can get consistent and that is the question, then can you string enough wins together to get back in the race? Like Zonk, this team is underachieving with some big names. In years' past a great team, but not so far this year.
Woodie 7 to Champs 3: Don't look now, but Timmy is quietly amassing wins and making a little run after a horrific start. I count 4 in a row. So far the trades are working out. Tejada had a down week, but Sheffield and J. Upton really produced. In fact, the Upton brothers are the real deal right now. Pavano and Moyer have come back down to earth, but Josh Johnson, King Felix, and Lilly compensated nicely. Oh yeah, so did Arroyo. Now Woodie hasn't played top tier teams, except for Ageless, but wins are wins! Woodie will truly be on a roll if he can knock off Randy next week. Don't count him out. Champs has taken a hit with Ibanez out with injury. Plus, who would have thought A-Rod would have the struggles he is having? Without the big names on this team producing, then Champs is doomed with little depth. Also, the Brandon Webb injury has really hurt Ed as well. What once looked like a promising season for Ed is slowly starting to slip away. There is time, but this is a team hurting right now and in need of an overhaul. I'm just not sure there are enough valuable pieces there to fix what is broken? Is Smoltz the answer? Not sure about that? One positive to note is that Champs did tie in the saves category thanks to Mike MacDougal for the Nats! Claiming him was a great find as he is looking good! Can the Nats win enough though for him to make much of a difference? These are the Nats we are talking about.
One side note and it is about my Colorado Rockies! 16 wins out of 17 games brings back memories of 2007 all over again. Went to Saturday night's game and took in Helton's walk-off HR in the 9th to beat the Pirates. That was just awesome as Coors Field is buzzing again! Sorry to the Mets and Phillies fans here in the league (Utica and Champs), but the Rocks are the talk of the league again right now.
BASEMAN
6.14.2009
Week 10 in Review: Playoff-Like Atmosphere!
Almost at the halfway point of the season and like the summer, the HEAT is rising! If I'm not mistaken only a game and a half separates teams 4-7. The #3 positioned team, Squirrels is only 4 games up on those behind him, so even he is not safe. The upper tier, Stars and Halfway keep on their winning ways and I like their chances, but there is still plenty of season left and anything can happen. The bottom tier consists of teams 8-12, but don't count any of those teams out. Zonk is only 11 games out of playoff position in the last spot. The problem for the bottom tiered teams right now is all the congestion above them. A few teams above will have to fall apart and a bottom tiered team is going to have to get on a roll for a consistent amount of time. Case in point is that my own team, B-Man, came from the #9 position to #6 last year, but had to have a top league record during the 2nd half of the season to do so. Not out of the question for a comeback, but it is extremely tough to leap frog too many teams.
For those of you looking for a quick fix, well let's look at an example of to do so, shall we!
Plaz 10 to Ageless 1: This is the prime example of how to jump up in the standings quickly. Plaz went all the way from #7 to #4 in one week. Granted, he wasn't far out of the hunt to begin with, but big wins are hard to come by in HH, and if a couple of those weeks are strung together in a row????? There is hope for those of you needing a big windfall. Now on the other end of this wild spectrum is Ageless. This team has freefalled after such a quick start. The trio of Rangers, Kinsler, Young and Saltamacchia have come down to earth. Also, Aubrey Huff is slumping. Can Ageless hang in there until Quentin and Ramirez get back? I think Ageless will be in the hunt for the season, but right now this team is in the need some tinkering. The pitching has potential, but Lackey and Lowe got shelled this week. Shields has been inconsistent. The team needs a JOLT!
Now for Plaz, his team performed adequately this week and the numbers were ok, but he had the added benefit of playing Ageless this week. He had the 2nd worst ERA and 4 losses, but won those categories. The batting average and hits were below average in the league this week too. So, Plaz gets credit for a huge victory, but I also have to offer him the most fortunate SOB of the Week Award!
Stars 8 to Squirrels 4: Remember what I said last week about Squirrel's squad. Sometimes Squirrels is going to need Pujols and Youkilis to carry the offense or this team may starve to death. Well, Pujols and Youkilis put up the best numbers for the team this week, yet this team offensively not only starved, but to DEATH! There are just too many other complimentary players that shall we say play very inconsistently. Luke Scott played okay, but he came down to earth this week. Fielder finally quit seeing the baseball the size of a watermelon this week. Hardy has been awful. Cameron has been hitting above his head. And we all know the power of Adam Dunn, but also the big slumps. This all led to a whopping 20 runs, 39 hits, 18 RBI's, and a .201 avg. Pujols and Youkilis accounted for all but 1 of the teams HR's. What saved Squirrels ass from a rousing crushing defeat was the pitching. It is hard to really blow Squirrels out due to the defense, but Stars came close. I wish Stars had a much better week as I 0ppose him next week, but his team really didn't have to produce much. Reynolds for AZ is hot, and when is that going to end? Will it? Overall, just an average performance by Stars, but when it is going well, it is going well. Carpenter suffers first loss. Will the loss of Peavy hurt this team a bit? There are some question marks in the pitching dept.
Hardballers 8 to Champs 4: Randy's team was quite productive this week and got results pretty much across the board on offense and defense. Longoria didn't hit for average, but even produced. Not a good sign for opponents. Corey Hart got on track too. Yikes! The offense is solid and when the pitching happens to produce like this week, then good luck! Champs had that misfortune this week. Um, I detest a pattern happening week to week with Ed's club. Plenty of power and the speed is coming, but where are the hits and the average? I mean 49 hits with 30 RBI's. This team produces, but just think if Emmanuel Burriss, Reimold, and Ludwick weren't in the lineup. Lots of star power, but some of the complimentary players are suspect??? I mean a team lineup of Utley, A-Rod, Teixeira, and Ibanez should be a boon to fielding a winning team. There are just missing pieces to this squad, and this is just my opinion, but I would see what pieces need filled and start making trade offers. In a playoff race, a team needs to be able to put together a string of wins, and this team, despite the stars, isn't capable of doing so with the current lineup.
BASEMAN 7 to Utica's 4: The way to beat Utica is on defense and grab a few offensive categories. Easier said than done though! Fortunately for B-Man, I had one of my best offensive outputs of the year to take 3 offensive categories. That's right everyone, I didn't stutter. I only took 3 offensive categories and had my best offensive output of the season! That is how tough it is to deal with Utica's offense! He has hitting machines in Mauer, Ellsbury, and Jeter. Oh, I forgot to mention Beltran and Victor Martinez, who are both tearing the cover off the ball this year. Not a fun matchup. But for 65 hits, I was lucky that Kerm's team only scored 23 runs and had 29 RBI's. One weakness may be his power, but I am reaching there. Now on defense, Kerm actually had a decent week, but still no match for B-Man's pitching. If my team doesn't get an ERA below 3.00 for the week, then I am disappointed with them. This week was a 2.32, so no phone calls to players this week....LOL. When the offense produces like this week (can anyone believe it was my first week all season with 60+ hits?) and 44 RBI's, then B-Man is a potent matchup. The big question is if it can continue? I need to call the REDS and tell them to quit stressing Joey Votto out, so I can have his services back again!
Woodie 7 to Hitter 5: Runs Upton brothers, Run! Wow, B.J. had 7 steals this week and Justin had 1. Throw in 3 by David Wright and tally that up and smoke it! Timmy's team is on a mini-roll right now. So far the trades have worked out well for him. Sheff has been rejuvanated in NY, Tejada is part of a nasty Astros offense, and the Uptons are wreaking havoc. Can this continue? We'll see? But, Woodie didn't stand still and watch his team continue to climb deeper into the abyss. Stellar numbers of 38 runs, 62 hits, 11 SB's and a .284 average. Wright and Pena produced, Olivo chipped in at catcher, Milton Bradley did some hitting despite not knowing all the outs! Everything seems fine and dandy! Like I said, "We'll See?" I'm not a believer yet. The pitching has been doing quite well even if Pavano had an off week. Another solid week in the ERA dept. with a 3.06. 6 total wins, also. Props to the pitching staff!
For Tommy's Hitters, props go to Huston Street with 5 saves! Go Rockies!!! Takes me back two years ago to 2007 and their dynamic run. All the winning and still one game under .500. Won't catch the Dodgers but hopefully the wild card. Man, am I getting off topic or what! Tori Hunter must get props too with his 3 HR game. 12 HR's for Hitters! The offense can sting you bad from week to week, but Tommy went the route of streaming pitchers this week. This staff excites me about as much as watching Roseanne reruns late at night on Nick at Nite! Blugh! Streaming is always a risk. But, maybe President Obama and our Congress would welcome it? They like to risk our future. Uh oh, am I crossing the line here?
REDS 6 to Zonk's 5: I know these two teams are scraping bottom, but they really are not that bad everyone. REDS is starting to catch a little wind, and Zonk's offense can be explosive. This was a very good matchup with quality statistics. Both can make some noise! For Rick, the offense is gelling at once. Just look at what Ortiz, Lee, Berkman, Kubel, and Figgins are doing! The steal may be Jason Kubel! Hitting behind Mauer and Morneau is a good place to be. .325 average, 14 HR's, 62 hits, 36 runs, and 38 RBI's. Not too shabby at all. With Volquez and Halladay healthy, then the pitching can rock any team's world too. And no I am not giving Rick his props due to his illness or the fact that he does great charitable work in the world! His team is good and they are coming on strong. Same with Steve's team as I like the variety on offense. If Derrick Lee and Alfonso Soriano can get it going, then the offense can hurt you. Steve's team had 66 hits this week with Ichiro and Brian Roberts doing a lot of damage. The pitcing staff really weighs heavily on CC and the bullpen. Also, much burden falls on the offense to produce. Looking at two team that have streamed quite a bit this year, Tennessee and Zonk, the outcomes have not been good. Can't always rely on the offense to maintain continuity.
Well, we are almost halfway there in the regular season. Has it ever gone fast!
BASEMAN
For those of you looking for a quick fix, well let's look at an example of to do so, shall we!
Plaz 10 to Ageless 1: This is the prime example of how to jump up in the standings quickly. Plaz went all the way from #7 to #4 in one week. Granted, he wasn't far out of the hunt to begin with, but big wins are hard to come by in HH, and if a couple of those weeks are strung together in a row????? There is hope for those of you needing a big windfall. Now on the other end of this wild spectrum is Ageless. This team has freefalled after such a quick start. The trio of Rangers, Kinsler, Young and Saltamacchia have come down to earth. Also, Aubrey Huff is slumping. Can Ageless hang in there until Quentin and Ramirez get back? I think Ageless will be in the hunt for the season, but right now this team is in the need some tinkering. The pitching has potential, but Lackey and Lowe got shelled this week. Shields has been inconsistent. The team needs a JOLT!
Now for Plaz, his team performed adequately this week and the numbers were ok, but he had the added benefit of playing Ageless this week. He had the 2nd worst ERA and 4 losses, but won those categories. The batting average and hits were below average in the league this week too. So, Plaz gets credit for a huge victory, but I also have to offer him the most fortunate SOB of the Week Award!
Stars 8 to Squirrels 4: Remember what I said last week about Squirrel's squad. Sometimes Squirrels is going to need Pujols and Youkilis to carry the offense or this team may starve to death. Well, Pujols and Youkilis put up the best numbers for the team this week, yet this team offensively not only starved, but to DEATH! There are just too many other complimentary players that shall we say play very inconsistently. Luke Scott played okay, but he came down to earth this week. Fielder finally quit seeing the baseball the size of a watermelon this week. Hardy has been awful. Cameron has been hitting above his head. And we all know the power of Adam Dunn, but also the big slumps. This all led to a whopping 20 runs, 39 hits, 18 RBI's, and a .201 avg. Pujols and Youkilis accounted for all but 1 of the teams HR's. What saved Squirrels ass from a rousing crushing defeat was the pitching. It is hard to really blow Squirrels out due to the defense, but Stars came close. I wish Stars had a much better week as I 0ppose him next week, but his team really didn't have to produce much. Reynolds for AZ is hot, and when is that going to end? Will it? Overall, just an average performance by Stars, but when it is going well, it is going well. Carpenter suffers first loss. Will the loss of Peavy hurt this team a bit? There are some question marks in the pitching dept.
Hardballers 8 to Champs 4: Randy's team was quite productive this week and got results pretty much across the board on offense and defense. Longoria didn't hit for average, but even produced. Not a good sign for opponents. Corey Hart got on track too. Yikes! The offense is solid and when the pitching happens to produce like this week, then good luck! Champs had that misfortune this week. Um, I detest a pattern happening week to week with Ed's club. Plenty of power and the speed is coming, but where are the hits and the average? I mean 49 hits with 30 RBI's. This team produces, but just think if Emmanuel Burriss, Reimold, and Ludwick weren't in the lineup. Lots of star power, but some of the complimentary players are suspect??? I mean a team lineup of Utley, A-Rod, Teixeira, and Ibanez should be a boon to fielding a winning team. There are just missing pieces to this squad, and this is just my opinion, but I would see what pieces need filled and start making trade offers. In a playoff race, a team needs to be able to put together a string of wins, and this team, despite the stars, isn't capable of doing so with the current lineup.
BASEMAN 7 to Utica's 4: The way to beat Utica is on defense and grab a few offensive categories. Easier said than done though! Fortunately for B-Man, I had one of my best offensive outputs of the year to take 3 offensive categories. That's right everyone, I didn't stutter. I only took 3 offensive categories and had my best offensive output of the season! That is how tough it is to deal with Utica's offense! He has hitting machines in Mauer, Ellsbury, and Jeter. Oh, I forgot to mention Beltran and Victor Martinez, who are both tearing the cover off the ball this year. Not a fun matchup. But for 65 hits, I was lucky that Kerm's team only scored 23 runs and had 29 RBI's. One weakness may be his power, but I am reaching there. Now on defense, Kerm actually had a decent week, but still no match for B-Man's pitching. If my team doesn't get an ERA below 3.00 for the week, then I am disappointed with them. This week was a 2.32, so no phone calls to players this week....LOL. When the offense produces like this week (can anyone believe it was my first week all season with 60+ hits?) and 44 RBI's, then B-Man is a potent matchup. The big question is if it can continue? I need to call the REDS and tell them to quit stressing Joey Votto out, so I can have his services back again!
Woodie 7 to Hitter 5: Runs Upton brothers, Run! Wow, B.J. had 7 steals this week and Justin had 1. Throw in 3 by David Wright and tally that up and smoke it! Timmy's team is on a mini-roll right now. So far the trades have worked out well for him. Sheff has been rejuvanated in NY, Tejada is part of a nasty Astros offense, and the Uptons are wreaking havoc. Can this continue? We'll see? But, Woodie didn't stand still and watch his team continue to climb deeper into the abyss. Stellar numbers of 38 runs, 62 hits, 11 SB's and a .284 average. Wright and Pena produced, Olivo chipped in at catcher, Milton Bradley did some hitting despite not knowing all the outs! Everything seems fine and dandy! Like I said, "We'll See?" I'm not a believer yet. The pitching has been doing quite well even if Pavano had an off week. Another solid week in the ERA dept. with a 3.06. 6 total wins, also. Props to the pitching staff!
For Tommy's Hitters, props go to Huston Street with 5 saves! Go Rockies!!! Takes me back two years ago to 2007 and their dynamic run. All the winning and still one game under .500. Won't catch the Dodgers but hopefully the wild card. Man, am I getting off topic or what! Tori Hunter must get props too with his 3 HR game. 12 HR's for Hitters! The offense can sting you bad from week to week, but Tommy went the route of streaming pitchers this week. This staff excites me about as much as watching Roseanne reruns late at night on Nick at Nite! Blugh! Streaming is always a risk. But, maybe President Obama and our Congress would welcome it? They like to risk our future. Uh oh, am I crossing the line here?
REDS 6 to Zonk's 5: I know these two teams are scraping bottom, but they really are not that bad everyone. REDS is starting to catch a little wind, and Zonk's offense can be explosive. This was a very good matchup with quality statistics. Both can make some noise! For Rick, the offense is gelling at once. Just look at what Ortiz, Lee, Berkman, Kubel, and Figgins are doing! The steal may be Jason Kubel! Hitting behind Mauer and Morneau is a good place to be. .325 average, 14 HR's, 62 hits, 36 runs, and 38 RBI's. Not too shabby at all. With Volquez and Halladay healthy, then the pitching can rock any team's world too. And no I am not giving Rick his props due to his illness or the fact that he does great charitable work in the world! His team is good and they are coming on strong. Same with Steve's team as I like the variety on offense. If Derrick Lee and Alfonso Soriano can get it going, then the offense can hurt you. Steve's team had 66 hits this week with Ichiro and Brian Roberts doing a lot of damage. The pitcing staff really weighs heavily on CC and the bullpen. Also, much burden falls on the offense to produce. Looking at two team that have streamed quite a bit this year, Tennessee and Zonk, the outcomes have not been good. Can't always rely on the offense to maintain continuity.
Well, we are almost halfway there in the regular season. Has it ever gone fast!
BASEMAN
6.07.2009
Week 9 in Review: Some Things Never Change
This week I entitled the Week in Review "Some Things Never Change" because our two current top of the standings leaders seem to always find a way to come out on top despite what looked like long odds for most of the week. You guessed it. Stars and Hardballers are always tough to take down!
Stars 6 & Plaz 5: It took 18 innings in the D-Backs vs. Padres game on Sunday evening for Stephen to pull out in front, but thanks to a Mark Reynolds blast, he took this one out from underneath Peter's nose. Plaz had good production for only 49 hits as Zobrist and Pence had a great week, but despite winning RBI's and steals, while tying for HR's, it just wasn't enough. Stars had 67 hits and 38 runs from his all-around solid squad. Neither team really rocked in pitching, except in ERA. Otherwise the numbers were just ordinary as both team split. This was a closely contested matchup, but doesn't it just seem that Stephen finds a way to win in the end this year? Tough one for Plaz, but his team is right in the thick of it, and they can obviously play with anyone.
Hardballers 7 & Hitters 5: Oh Man! Timmy is living a nightmare so far this season. Talk about one great opportunity to beat a top notch team and it falls by the wayside on Sunday! Oh Man! On the other hand, last week's tough luck loser was this week's fortunate winner! I wouldn't say lucky, but fortunate as the pitching had to carry Randy to victory as the offense stumbled big time. The only way the numbers even look semi-respectable is due to a large offensive push on Sunday. Took the lead on SB's after being down and pushed ahead in HR's. What is most amazing is that Tommy had a 2.02 ERA and lost all other pitching categories! How is that for crappy luck? Randy didn't even have to throw his starters on Sunday, which is even more amazing than the previously amazing stat!! Talk about screwing the pooch for Hitters. How can a team like Hardballers hit .190 for the entire week and walk away with a 7-5 victory!!!
I feel for Timmy right now as this was his chance to make some positive headlines. But, there is always next week and Hitters is still in the hunt. It just hurts to let a great opportunity get away. We all know that somewhere along the line.
Squirrels 7 & B-Man 3: Let's just say I knew I was doomed when Swami picked me to beat Squirrels. Hardly been picked all year to win a matchup, but have lost now each time. This contest was close, but Squirrels always seemed to still have the upper hand. Easily, this could have been a major blowout for Squirrels. But, a few breaks here and there and B-Man could have very well been on top. Squirrels pitching was just phenomenal this week. K:BB was 62 to 16 with a 2.58 ERA. No one has taken both BB's and K's this year and B-Man, but Squirrels did! ERA was just decided by .06 with B-Man at 2.64. The 2 runs given up by Lincecum in the 8th inning being the difference maker. Offensively, it was pretty tight in some categories. Squirrels won RBI's 31-30. Dang you Victorino!! B-man did win hits 51 to 50 and avg. .246 to .242. Let's just say I am fortunate not to get blown out and getting only 1 point. Pitching was fun to watch in this matchup, but the offense was paltry. What else would someone expect in a matchup against B-Man? B-Man needs a break from all the drama on Sundays, especially Sunday nights. I wish ESPN would cut all of those games as it seems every week points come down to the last game. Nice victory Juan! Your team is definitely top tier calibur!
Utica 6 & Champs 6: Only if your team is getting your ass kicked throughout the week and then you come back to tie, is about the only way to look at it as a victory of sorts. This contest was close throughout and about what one would expect with these two quality clubs. Utica beat Champs on offense for the most part, while Champs beat Utica on defense. No surprise here. Champs had the power stats RBI's and HR's, while Utica showed a bit more speed. Although I will say that Champs is making a move to improve his speed with the Gardner and McCutchen pickups. Why not? Utica has a hot Matt Holliday on his hands and that is needed now that Hamilton is on the DL. Now Kerm needs Vlad to get going. He has some left, but his best years are definitely behind him. Did I mention how I loved him when he played for the beloved Montreal Expos! I think I have! These two teams basically played to their strengths this week and came out with a tie. Both teams will be battling for playoff position all season long and have the ability to beat even the heavyweights.
REDS 7 & Ageless One 3: Well, Rick's team took my advice last week and decided to pick it up a little bit. Watch out for Berkman, Carlos Lee, and last but not least, David Ortiz (picked off of waivers!) These guys are getting hot and that means more power from the Big Red Machine. Oh yeah, and Stephen Drew had a good week. Rick is nowhere near out of this thing. Overall, the numbers still weren't ecstatic, but they are going to come. Ageless had great SB numbers, which were bound to come, but not much else to shout about really. Did take HR's with 5. Again, Mike's pitching is letting him down. A nice ERA of 3.49, but nothing else really stands out. Lackey, Lowe, and Shields are decent pitchers, but not a dominant staff. Not a ton of K's on this staff. I do like Shoo on offense as he fits in well with this squad. This team really does remind me of last year's team. They are going to scrap and hustle and the like on offense as there aren't too many players where your jaw just drops, but they are just good enough to beat you too on a lot of weeks. When Quentin and Ramirez come back, I really like this club's chances. Except for this week of course as Rick's team may be on the rise!
Morning Wood 8 & Zonk 3: Two teams that are desparately trying to salvage their seasons made a big trade this past week. If Justin Upton can continue on his tear and B.J. Upton starts hitting to his potential, then Timmy can do some damage and salvage his season. It's not too late for either team. Zonk really had some strange offensive numbers to comment on. Had a wonderful 12 HR's as his team is powerful, but only 22 runs, only 42 hits, and a .219 avg., and this is with Ichiro on the team and all his hits. Plus, Chipper had a huge Sunday. Besides HR's, not much else happening for his team this week.
Do I dare say anything about Pavano and Moyer again? I better not as these two birds showed my I'm cuckoo after my comments last week. These two, plus Jered Weaver, Josh Johnson, Lilly, F. Hernandez and Arroyo have been legit. They only posted a 2.10 ERA! Not too shabby! Therefore, I will shut my mouth this week about his staff as they even posted a nice 50:17 K:BB ratio in dominating Zonk. Zonk's staff does not impress at all though after another bad week. The one constant is saves as his staff held a league leading 9. Saves obviously are not the answer to a quality club as Zonk leads everyone in that category for the year. By the way Zonk, I do want to include your first name in these posts, but don't know it. I would like to personalize my comments more for you.
Have a blessed week everyone!
Mark Porcher (a.k.a. BASEMAN)
Stars 6 & Plaz 5: It took 18 innings in the D-Backs vs. Padres game on Sunday evening for Stephen to pull out in front, but thanks to a Mark Reynolds blast, he took this one out from underneath Peter's nose. Plaz had good production for only 49 hits as Zobrist and Pence had a great week, but despite winning RBI's and steals, while tying for HR's, it just wasn't enough. Stars had 67 hits and 38 runs from his all-around solid squad. Neither team really rocked in pitching, except in ERA. Otherwise the numbers were just ordinary as both team split. This was a closely contested matchup, but doesn't it just seem that Stephen finds a way to win in the end this year? Tough one for Plaz, but his team is right in the thick of it, and they can obviously play with anyone.
Hardballers 7 & Hitters 5: Oh Man! Timmy is living a nightmare so far this season. Talk about one great opportunity to beat a top notch team and it falls by the wayside on Sunday! Oh Man! On the other hand, last week's tough luck loser was this week's fortunate winner! I wouldn't say lucky, but fortunate as the pitching had to carry Randy to victory as the offense stumbled big time. The only way the numbers even look semi-respectable is due to a large offensive push on Sunday. Took the lead on SB's after being down and pushed ahead in HR's. What is most amazing is that Tommy had a 2.02 ERA and lost all other pitching categories! How is that for crappy luck? Randy didn't even have to throw his starters on Sunday, which is even more amazing than the previously amazing stat!! Talk about screwing the pooch for Hitters. How can a team like Hardballers hit .190 for the entire week and walk away with a 7-5 victory!!!
I feel for Timmy right now as this was his chance to make some positive headlines. But, there is always next week and Hitters is still in the hunt. It just hurts to let a great opportunity get away. We all know that somewhere along the line.
Squirrels 7 & B-Man 3: Let's just say I knew I was doomed when Swami picked me to beat Squirrels. Hardly been picked all year to win a matchup, but have lost now each time. This contest was close, but Squirrels always seemed to still have the upper hand. Easily, this could have been a major blowout for Squirrels. But, a few breaks here and there and B-Man could have very well been on top. Squirrels pitching was just phenomenal this week. K:BB was 62 to 16 with a 2.58 ERA. No one has taken both BB's and K's this year and B-Man, but Squirrels did! ERA was just decided by .06 with B-Man at 2.64. The 2 runs given up by Lincecum in the 8th inning being the difference maker. Offensively, it was pretty tight in some categories. Squirrels won RBI's 31-30. Dang you Victorino!! B-man did win hits 51 to 50 and avg. .246 to .242. Let's just say I am fortunate not to get blown out and getting only 1 point. Pitching was fun to watch in this matchup, but the offense was paltry. What else would someone expect in a matchup against B-Man? B-Man needs a break from all the drama on Sundays, especially Sunday nights. I wish ESPN would cut all of those games as it seems every week points come down to the last game. Nice victory Juan! Your team is definitely top tier calibur!
Utica 6 & Champs 6: Only if your team is getting your ass kicked throughout the week and then you come back to tie, is about the only way to look at it as a victory of sorts. This contest was close throughout and about what one would expect with these two quality clubs. Utica beat Champs on offense for the most part, while Champs beat Utica on defense. No surprise here. Champs had the power stats RBI's and HR's, while Utica showed a bit more speed. Although I will say that Champs is making a move to improve his speed with the Gardner and McCutchen pickups. Why not? Utica has a hot Matt Holliday on his hands and that is needed now that Hamilton is on the DL. Now Kerm needs Vlad to get going. He has some left, but his best years are definitely behind him. Did I mention how I loved him when he played for the beloved Montreal Expos! I think I have! These two teams basically played to their strengths this week and came out with a tie. Both teams will be battling for playoff position all season long and have the ability to beat even the heavyweights.
REDS 7 & Ageless One 3: Well, Rick's team took my advice last week and decided to pick it up a little bit. Watch out for Berkman, Carlos Lee, and last but not least, David Ortiz (picked off of waivers!) These guys are getting hot and that means more power from the Big Red Machine. Oh yeah, and Stephen Drew had a good week. Rick is nowhere near out of this thing. Overall, the numbers still weren't ecstatic, but they are going to come. Ageless had great SB numbers, which were bound to come, but not much else to shout about really. Did take HR's with 5. Again, Mike's pitching is letting him down. A nice ERA of 3.49, but nothing else really stands out. Lackey, Lowe, and Shields are decent pitchers, but not a dominant staff. Not a ton of K's on this staff. I do like Shoo on offense as he fits in well with this squad. This team really does remind me of last year's team. They are going to scrap and hustle and the like on offense as there aren't too many players where your jaw just drops, but they are just good enough to beat you too on a lot of weeks. When Quentin and Ramirez come back, I really like this club's chances. Except for this week of course as Rick's team may be on the rise!
Morning Wood 8 & Zonk 3: Two teams that are desparately trying to salvage their seasons made a big trade this past week. If Justin Upton can continue on his tear and B.J. Upton starts hitting to his potential, then Timmy can do some damage and salvage his season. It's not too late for either team. Zonk really had some strange offensive numbers to comment on. Had a wonderful 12 HR's as his team is powerful, but only 22 runs, only 42 hits, and a .219 avg., and this is with Ichiro on the team and all his hits. Plus, Chipper had a huge Sunday. Besides HR's, not much else happening for his team this week.
Do I dare say anything about Pavano and Moyer again? I better not as these two birds showed my I'm cuckoo after my comments last week. These two, plus Jered Weaver, Josh Johnson, Lilly, F. Hernandez and Arroyo have been legit. They only posted a 2.10 ERA! Not too shabby! Therefore, I will shut my mouth this week about his staff as they even posted a nice 50:17 K:BB ratio in dominating Zonk. Zonk's staff does not impress at all though after another bad week. The one constant is saves as his staff held a league leading 9. Saves obviously are not the answer to a quality club as Zonk leads everyone in that category for the year. By the way Zonk, I do want to include your first name in these posts, but don't know it. I would like to personalize my comments more for you.
Have a blessed week everyone!
Mark Porcher (a.k.a. BASEMAN)
6.02.2009
My Top Lists of Misc. Player Categories
Ten non-studs who have been on fire over their past 10 games.
1. Gary Sheffield: .379, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 9 Runs, 1 SB
2. Miguel Tejada: .452, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 Runs, 1 SB
3. Reed Johnson: .413. 3 HR, 10 RBI, 7 Runs, 1 SB
4. Casey Blake: .388, 1 HR, 10 RBI,6 Runs, 0 SB
5. Aaron Rowand:.340, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 8 Runs, 2 SB
6. Cody Ross: .312, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 7 Runs, 1 SB
7. Nolan Reimold: .322, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 6 Runs, 0 SB
8. Adam Kennedy: .394, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 Runs, 4 SB
9. Andy LaRoche: .428, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 3 Runs, 1 SB
10. Carlos Ruiz: .375, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 Runs and even 2 SB
Note: Miguel Tejada is in an 14 game hitting streak and Aaron Rowan is on an 11 game hitting streak.
Ten guys who are owned in over 50% of standard leagues that you should have no problem cutting.
1. David Ortiz (84 percent)
2. Derrek Lee (88 percent)
3. Rafael Furcal (86 Percent)
4. Howie Kendrick (71 percent)
5. Chris Iannetta (70 percent)
6. Adrián Béltre (56 percent)
7. Scott Baker (65 percent)
8. Scott Kazmir (90 percent)
9. Brandon Morrow (59 percent)
10. Francisco Liriano (87 percent)
Ten pitchers I think are sell high and won't sustain the level of success they are having. They will still be good or solid, but I feel they have reached the peak of their value, whatever that may be.
1. Jered Weaver
2. Kevin Millwood (get whatever you can)
3. Brian Bannister
4. Doug Davis
5. Matt Cain
6. Tim Wakefield
7. Randy Wolf
8. Jair Jurrjens
9. Johnny Cueto
10 Zach Duke
Ten pitchers with one really bad start. Here's 10 pitchers' ERAs if you take out their one worst start of the year.
1. John Maine (39 percent) 3.70
2. Bronson Arroyo (22 percent) 3.94
3. Trevor Cahill (3 percent) 3.45
4. Livan Hernandez (3 percent) 3.43
5. Carl Pavano (4 percent) 4.15 (3.58 ERA past six starts)
6. Chris Young (69 percent) 3.72
7. Micah Owings (2 percent) 4.10
8. Clayton Kershaw (93 percent) 3.17
9. Brian Tallet (2 percent) 2.87
10. Ubaldo Jimenez (37 percent) 3.59
13 Name studs to think about trading for the best deal you can get. With 1/3 of the season over, the big question is - will they fully recover from their slumping. Trade em for a producing ball player.
Emailed this Report
Difficult formatting is the reason
Difficult formatting is the reason
Lady Patriots Leave No Doubt
This game was especially rewarding as this is the team that eliminated us in the opening round of the Regional Tournament last season. Up until this game each contest with them had been decided by 1 run!Click here to read the story
Lady Patriots end Greenwood’s reign in extra innings
That is my Raissa safely sliding into 2nd!This is against the back-to-back defending State Champions (although they did graduate 9 players last year). Read the article and you will get a sense of what my emotions were like Tue AND Wed.
Click here to read the story
6.01.2009
Week 8 in Review: Separation Anxiety
Okay league, sorry about last week as I had a busy week ahead of me, but things have finally settled down with school getting out as I teach, and now the weekly reviews should be consistent for some time now.
I titled this week "Separation Anxiety" because one team is clearly distinguishing itself from the rest. This team is performing very reminiscent of two years ago. You guessed it! This team is Stephen's Stars Super Squad! Stephen just pounded Rick's REDS this past week and REDS was performing quite adequately to start the week, but faded. Rick by no means am I picking on your team, but 9 out of 10 matchups with Stars and you don't have a chance. I will say that about my team too! Not many teams can match up here! Stephen even knows what he needs to improve his team and then it is all but over for who wins the league regular season title. Some team would just have to hope for the miraculous victory you pulled off merely two seasons ago in the championship to beat him. This past week Stars won on offense in a sweep. The most telling stat was 40 RBI's to 15. Plus a 12:51 BB:K ratio is extremely tough. Now with Carpenter healthy and back to his old self, well.....! With Harden coming back, well......! Stars even knows how to manage his pitching staff. Rick would have lost even worse, but Frank Francisco , a closer, lost on Sunday to give Rick the point in losses. I very well could put my own name here for getting stomped as I would have gotten pasted by Stars this week myself.
The big questions for REDS? Can Ortiz make a difference? With Sizemore down and out on the DL, where is the team speed going to come from? This is a team in turmoil right now, and things need to turn around quickly. I know this REDS team was right there in the hunt for the #6 spot, but this route really hurt. The time is now Rick!
BASEMAN vs. Plaz: This was a close one throughout the week with both teams taking turns leading. B-Man won a close one 6-5 in this rivalry between two old roommates. What did it boil down to? Well, Plaz's offense hasn't been as hot and pitching again saved B-Man. Plaz totally outhit me 65-47 and had a nice .293 avg. to my .240. I was clearly outmatched, but Plaz didn't make all those hits count. A difference of 18 hits and I was fortunate to tie in RBI's at 28 and lose only by 1 in runs. Plus, my team hit the HR and stole bases. Plaz's first lose in SB's for the year. Peter really misses J. Reyes! This guy is a catalyst for his team. Let's just say I was fortunate to come out on top this week. Having Greinke, Lincecum and Billingsley has been a blessing this year and keeps my team going. Also, Dempster steps up from time to time and now with Price and Kuroda, the pitching gets even tougher. But, unless B-Man's offense comes around, then there will plenty of close matchups each week. If it does come around, which I anticipate soon, then watch out for some ladder climbing. Same with Plaz. He has a very quality team that will be in the hunt. Very respectable and at times imposing offense and defense!
Zonk vs Halfway: Randy lost a close one this week (6-4) and to a good, but so far underachieving team in Zonk. Zonk lived up to his team's potential this week, and I totally agree with Plaz that his team can sneak up fast as I love the offense. Plenty of power, hitting for avg. and good speed. A balanced attack on offense. I am not in love with Zonk's defense at all, but teams will have to get in a shootout with his defense as he throws even the kitchen sink at you. A shootout there was in defense too. Both Randy and Zonk delivered 6 W's and 3 L's. Zonk even had 7 saves. He did have the worst BB/K ratio of the week at 28:41. This helped Randy. On offense Randy was the hard luck loser. He had a .344 avg. to Zonk's .350. That has to hurt! Zonk had 79 hits to Randy's 65. Ouch again! Plus, need I say more, but Zonk had 40 RBI's. For all of Randy's meeting some teams at the right time, this wasn't one of them. All things eventually even out. So, I pick Randy as the Hardball Heaven Hard Luck Loser of the Week. Not the best consolation prize, but you make some headlines with my post anyway!
Morning Wood vs. Ageless One: Timmy Wins! Timmy wins! 7-5 was the outcome as Timmy dominated with great pitching numbers this week. Took all 6 categories which is no small feat on defense. The problem was on offense as Ageless won all but one category to keep the contest close. Here are Timmy's pitching numbers, so take a good gander! 4 w's, 0 l's, 8 saves, 13:44 BB/K ratio, and a 2.01 ERA. Wow! Now look at who helped with these numbers. Can you say Carl Pavano!! Can you say Jamie Moyer!! Holy Shit (pardon me), but I thought they were recycled garbage. No my friends, they were vintage garbage this week! Can Pavano and Moyer keep improving? If so, then Timmy needs to hope Tommy Glavine comes back soon. Maybe, just maybe, Jesse Orosco will come out of retirement to close out games? If Pavano and Moyer can continue this mastery, then anything is possible. Players can be used as retreaded tired and used again, and again, and again. You get my drift. These numbers can't continue. Ageless on the other hand has a good, scrappy offense that can hurt you. A testimony to that was his 43 runs scored and a .300 average. The offense will have to carry his team as the pitching numbers aren't overly impressive.
Squirrels vs. Utica: This looked closer than it really was at 7-4 Squirrels, but Utica was one lucky SOB this week to get any points. His team won by 1 in hits with a scant 51, only 3 SB's to win by 1, 3 losses to 4 in pitching, and 3 to 2 in saves. Talk about cutting it close. This could have easily been a route! Utica, you really think your pitching is fine? Your team posted a 6.55 ERA for worst this week. The pitching is mediocre at best. Like Ageless, Utica is going to need the offense to carry his club. Hamilton and Beltran better stay healthy or trouble could loom ahead.
As for Squirrels, talk about squirrely numbers on offense! 12 HR's, but only30 runs and 29 RBI's total! Very little production for the power. Looking at the offense and there can be feasting aplenty from week to week. Plus, with Pujols and Youkilis, this team can feast and dine like kings! But, for some weeks, Pujols and Youkilis needs to make sure this team doesn't starve as there are plenty of hitters than can slump. Not the prettiest of matchups this past week, but Squirrels comes out ahead.
Hitters vs. Champs: 6-6 tie. This was a very close matchup of the week as determined by the score. The numbers really didn't stand out though. Here's how close it was. Tommy won RBI's, SB's, and BB's by 1 point per category. ERA was close at 3.99 to 4.10. Champs on the otherhand, won hits by 1, HR's by 1, and runs by 3. Whew! Talk about close all the way around. Both teams did nothing to impress the judges this week if this were a judged competition, so therefore a tie was probably best. Tommy's pitching isn't very deep at all. Champs lacks the intangibles Plaz spoke about like SB's and Saves (although Randy Choate now may be a Savior.....!) Both teams lack speed. Champs has the best chance of making a run, but Tommy's team is going to have a hard time consistently winning from week to week. I have to agree with Plaz on that one. Sorry!
The best way to throw tomatoes my way is to write your own posts or comments. Keep up the good work everybody! I love all the great posts this year!
BASEMAN
I titled this week "Separation Anxiety" because one team is clearly distinguishing itself from the rest. This team is performing very reminiscent of two years ago. You guessed it! This team is Stephen's Stars Super Squad! Stephen just pounded Rick's REDS this past week and REDS was performing quite adequately to start the week, but faded. Rick by no means am I picking on your team, but 9 out of 10 matchups with Stars and you don't have a chance. I will say that about my team too! Not many teams can match up here! Stephen even knows what he needs to improve his team and then it is all but over for who wins the league regular season title. Some team would just have to hope for the miraculous victory you pulled off merely two seasons ago in the championship to beat him. This past week Stars won on offense in a sweep. The most telling stat was 40 RBI's to 15. Plus a 12:51 BB:K ratio is extremely tough. Now with Carpenter healthy and back to his old self, well.....! With Harden coming back, well......! Stars even knows how to manage his pitching staff. Rick would have lost even worse, but Frank Francisco , a closer, lost on Sunday to give Rick the point in losses. I very well could put my own name here for getting stomped as I would have gotten pasted by Stars this week myself.
The big questions for REDS? Can Ortiz make a difference? With Sizemore down and out on the DL, where is the team speed going to come from? This is a team in turmoil right now, and things need to turn around quickly. I know this REDS team was right there in the hunt for the #6 spot, but this route really hurt. The time is now Rick!
BASEMAN vs. Plaz: This was a close one throughout the week with both teams taking turns leading. B-Man won a close one 6-5 in this rivalry between two old roommates. What did it boil down to? Well, Plaz's offense hasn't been as hot and pitching again saved B-Man. Plaz totally outhit me 65-47 and had a nice .293 avg. to my .240. I was clearly outmatched, but Plaz didn't make all those hits count. A difference of 18 hits and I was fortunate to tie in RBI's at 28 and lose only by 1 in runs. Plus, my team hit the HR and stole bases. Plaz's first lose in SB's for the year. Peter really misses J. Reyes! This guy is a catalyst for his team. Let's just say I was fortunate to come out on top this week. Having Greinke, Lincecum and Billingsley has been a blessing this year and keeps my team going. Also, Dempster steps up from time to time and now with Price and Kuroda, the pitching gets even tougher. But, unless B-Man's offense comes around, then there will plenty of close matchups each week. If it does come around, which I anticipate soon, then watch out for some ladder climbing. Same with Plaz. He has a very quality team that will be in the hunt. Very respectable and at times imposing offense and defense!
Zonk vs Halfway: Randy lost a close one this week (6-4) and to a good, but so far underachieving team in Zonk. Zonk lived up to his team's potential this week, and I totally agree with Plaz that his team can sneak up fast as I love the offense. Plenty of power, hitting for avg. and good speed. A balanced attack on offense. I am not in love with Zonk's defense at all, but teams will have to get in a shootout with his defense as he throws even the kitchen sink at you. A shootout there was in defense too. Both Randy and Zonk delivered 6 W's and 3 L's. Zonk even had 7 saves. He did have the worst BB/K ratio of the week at 28:41. This helped Randy. On offense Randy was the hard luck loser. He had a .344 avg. to Zonk's .350. That has to hurt! Zonk had 79 hits to Randy's 65. Ouch again! Plus, need I say more, but Zonk had 40 RBI's. For all of Randy's meeting some teams at the right time, this wasn't one of them. All things eventually even out. So, I pick Randy as the Hardball Heaven Hard Luck Loser of the Week. Not the best consolation prize, but you make some headlines with my post anyway!
Morning Wood vs. Ageless One: Timmy Wins! Timmy wins! 7-5 was the outcome as Timmy dominated with great pitching numbers this week. Took all 6 categories which is no small feat on defense. The problem was on offense as Ageless won all but one category to keep the contest close. Here are Timmy's pitching numbers, so take a good gander! 4 w's, 0 l's, 8 saves, 13:44 BB/K ratio, and a 2.01 ERA. Wow! Now look at who helped with these numbers. Can you say Carl Pavano!! Can you say Jamie Moyer!! Holy Shit (pardon me), but I thought they were recycled garbage. No my friends, they were vintage garbage this week! Can Pavano and Moyer keep improving? If so, then Timmy needs to hope Tommy Glavine comes back soon. Maybe, just maybe, Jesse Orosco will come out of retirement to close out games? If Pavano and Moyer can continue this mastery, then anything is possible. Players can be used as retreaded tired and used again, and again, and again. You get my drift. These numbers can't continue. Ageless on the other hand has a good, scrappy offense that can hurt you. A testimony to that was his 43 runs scored and a .300 average. The offense will have to carry his team as the pitching numbers aren't overly impressive.
Squirrels vs. Utica: This looked closer than it really was at 7-4 Squirrels, but Utica was one lucky SOB this week to get any points. His team won by 1 in hits with a scant 51, only 3 SB's to win by 1, 3 losses to 4 in pitching, and 3 to 2 in saves. Talk about cutting it close. This could have easily been a route! Utica, you really think your pitching is fine? Your team posted a 6.55 ERA for worst this week. The pitching is mediocre at best. Like Ageless, Utica is going to need the offense to carry his club. Hamilton and Beltran better stay healthy or trouble could loom ahead.
As for Squirrels, talk about squirrely numbers on offense! 12 HR's, but only30 runs and 29 RBI's total! Very little production for the power. Looking at the offense and there can be feasting aplenty from week to week. Plus, with Pujols and Youkilis, this team can feast and dine like kings! But, for some weeks, Pujols and Youkilis needs to make sure this team doesn't starve as there are plenty of hitters than can slump. Not the prettiest of matchups this past week, but Squirrels comes out ahead.
Hitters vs. Champs: 6-6 tie. This was a very close matchup of the week as determined by the score. The numbers really didn't stand out though. Here's how close it was. Tommy won RBI's, SB's, and BB's by 1 point per category. ERA was close at 3.99 to 4.10. Champs on the otherhand, won hits by 1, HR's by 1, and runs by 3. Whew! Talk about close all the way around. Both teams did nothing to impress the judges this week if this were a judged competition, so therefore a tie was probably best. Tommy's pitching isn't very deep at all. Champs lacks the intangibles Plaz spoke about like SB's and Saves (although Randy Choate now may be a Savior.....!) Both teams lack speed. Champs has the best chance of making a run, but Tommy's team is going to have a hard time consistently winning from week to week. I have to agree with Plaz on that one. Sorry!
The best way to throw tomatoes my way is to write your own posts or comments. Keep up the good work everybody! I love all the great posts this year!
BASEMAN
5.29.2009
Mid-Week 7 Report
Excellent Performing Teams
Stars is firing on all cylinders through mid-week. His class team is showing why, all 6 stat categories in hitting and pitching rank in the upper 1/3 of the league’s teams. Stars is winning 10-0-2 over Reds at this point in the week.
Zonk appears to be waking up after under-performing for the most part through the first 7 weeks of the season. Zonk is in the top 1/3 of the league in 8 stat categories, 5 hitting and 3 pitching. It’s a numbers game and the teams 129 at bats has produced in comparison to his opponents 91. Zonk is upsetting highly regarded Halfway Hardballers 7-3-2 through Thursday.
Very Good Performance Teams
REDS is playing on a very good level. However, they are up against the powerful Stars team who has him clobbered at this point 0-10-2. Ouch, I am sure Rick is feeling the pain as his team handily captures the not wanted prize of “Tough Luck Team” of the week.. Reds has a total of 6 stat categories in the upper 1/3 of the league’s teams with 2 in hitting and 4 in pitching.
Morning Wood is another team performing very good, but like REDS, is on the short end of his match thus far, currently losing 5-6-1 against the Ageless One. The team ranks in 6 stat categories within the top 1/3 of the league, 2 in hitting and 4 in pitching.
Good Performing Teams
Halfway Hardballers has run into upset minded Zonk and is presently losing 3-7-2. Lack of at bats has hurt them this week. However, they are ranked among the upper 1/3 of all teams in 5 stat categories, 3 in hitting and 2 in pitching.
Plasmatics appears to have an edge over arch rival BASEMAN, although the match is currently even score wise, 5-5-2. Plaz ranks in the upper 1/3 of all teams in 5 categories, 1 in hitting and 4 in pitching as his hurlers continue to show their strengths. Plaz has the highest rated staff in Hardball Heaven.
Average Performance Teams
BASEMAN is keeping their head just above water and is holding up in the match-up against Plasmatics. The match is close with the overall score being 5-5-2 thus far.
Note that the all prior mentioned teams are performing average or above average. That’s the good news. The bad news is that only 2 of the 7 teams are winning their matches.
Below Average Performance Teams
Ageless One is again showing loss of prior power performances, but has till managed to hold a slim lead over Morning Wood who appears to be using their #1 wood in the mornings. Ageless is up 6-5-1. The team has a total of 3 stat categories ranked in the top 1/3 of the league, 2 in hitting and 1 in pitching.
Terrible Performance Teams
New York Uticans reflects a strong drop off in performance over the past few weeks. However they are leading the team with plenty of walking sticks who still have not learned that those wooden walking sticks need to be baseball bats. Their match is extremely tight and could breakout in large point sways in the next few days. Right now, the Uticans are up 6-5-1, but the score is due to change with just a single at bat. Utica has 2 stats that rank in the upper 1/3 of the league, astonishing – both are in pitching.
Blind Squirrels is in a muscle-tussel contest versus Utica. I haven’t figured out what team is waiting for the other to give away the match. It’s a you can have it, no says the opponent, you can have it – well you get the idea. Squirrels is down 6-5-1 and has 2 stats ranked in the upper 1/3 of the leaqgue and like their opponent, both are in pitching.
Champions is coming off a couple fair weeks performance and may be falling back to reality as they are performing very bad this week. However, they are leqading in their match-up against Tenn Hitters 6-4-2. They rank in just 1 stat category among the upper 1/3 of all teams, that being in pitching.
Tenn Hitters is tied with a ranking that is last in performance in the league thus far this week. Lucky for them, it’s their opponent Champions. Both are playing extremely poor and their score reflects just that, down 4-6-2 – but is much tighter. The Hitters have just 1 stat category in the upper 1/3 of the league – in hitting.
Balance of the Week Outlook
Forget the current scores, Toss up matches (just very minor changes in several stat categories) will alter the outcome in the match-ups between Uticans/Blind Squirrels, Ageless One/Morning Wood, Tenn Hitters/Champions and Plasmatics/BASEMAN are very close and Fri-Sat-Sun is an important performance period for all these teams.
It is better to be bruised rather than broken. REDS can narrow the score from 0-10-2 versus Stars and Halfway Hardballers can do the same against Zonk. Right now, it looks like the variance between the toptwo teams in the league will grow in variance – with the top team increasing and strengthening their standings position.
Stars is firing on all cylinders through mid-week. His class team is showing why, all 6 stat categories in hitting and pitching rank in the upper 1/3 of the league’s teams. Stars is winning 10-0-2 over Reds at this point in the week.
Zonk appears to be waking up after under-performing for the most part through the first 7 weeks of the season. Zonk is in the top 1/3 of the league in 8 stat categories, 5 hitting and 3 pitching. It’s a numbers game and the teams 129 at bats has produced in comparison to his opponents 91. Zonk is upsetting highly regarded Halfway Hardballers 7-3-2 through Thursday.
Very Good Performance Teams
REDS is playing on a very good level. However, they are up against the powerful Stars team who has him clobbered at this point 0-10-2. Ouch, I am sure Rick is feeling the pain as his team handily captures the not wanted prize of “Tough Luck Team” of the week.. Reds has a total of 6 stat categories in the upper 1/3 of the league’s teams with 2 in hitting and 4 in pitching.
Morning Wood is another team performing very good, but like REDS, is on the short end of his match thus far, currently losing 5-6-1 against the Ageless One. The team ranks in 6 stat categories within the top 1/3 of the league, 2 in hitting and 4 in pitching.
Good Performing Teams
Halfway Hardballers has run into upset minded Zonk and is presently losing 3-7-2. Lack of at bats has hurt them this week. However, they are ranked among the upper 1/3 of all teams in 5 stat categories, 3 in hitting and 2 in pitching.
Plasmatics appears to have an edge over arch rival BASEMAN, although the match is currently even score wise, 5-5-2. Plaz ranks in the upper 1/3 of all teams in 5 categories, 1 in hitting and 4 in pitching as his hurlers continue to show their strengths. Plaz has the highest rated staff in Hardball Heaven.
Average Performance Teams
BASEMAN is keeping their head just above water and is holding up in the match-up against Plasmatics. The match is close with the overall score being 5-5-2 thus far.
Note that the all prior mentioned teams are performing average or above average. That’s the good news. The bad news is that only 2 of the 7 teams are winning their matches.
Below Average Performance Teams
Ageless One is again showing loss of prior power performances, but has till managed to hold a slim lead over Morning Wood who appears to be using their #1 wood in the mornings. Ageless is up 6-5-1. The team has a total of 3 stat categories ranked in the top 1/3 of the league, 2 in hitting and 1 in pitching.
Terrible Performance Teams
New York Uticans reflects a strong drop off in performance over the past few weeks. However they are leading the team with plenty of walking sticks who still have not learned that those wooden walking sticks need to be baseball bats. Their match is extremely tight and could breakout in large point sways in the next few days. Right now, the Uticans are up 6-5-1, but the score is due to change with just a single at bat. Utica has 2 stats that rank in the upper 1/3 of the league, astonishing – both are in pitching.
Blind Squirrels is in a muscle-tussel contest versus Utica. I haven’t figured out what team is waiting for the other to give away the match. It’s a you can have it, no says the opponent, you can have it – well you get the idea. Squirrels is down 6-5-1 and has 2 stats ranked in the upper 1/3 of the leaqgue and like their opponent, both are in pitching.
Champions is coming off a couple fair weeks performance and may be falling back to reality as they are performing very bad this week. However, they are leqading in their match-up against Tenn Hitters 6-4-2. They rank in just 1 stat category among the upper 1/3 of all teams, that being in pitching.
Tenn Hitters is tied with a ranking that is last in performance in the league thus far this week. Lucky for them, it’s their opponent Champions. Both are playing extremely poor and their score reflects just that, down 4-6-2 – but is much tighter. The Hitters have just 1 stat category in the upper 1/3 of the league – in hitting.
Balance of the Week Outlook
Forget the current scores, Toss up matches (just very minor changes in several stat categories) will alter the outcome in the match-ups between Uticans/Blind Squirrels, Ageless One/Morning Wood, Tenn Hitters/Champions and Plasmatics/BASEMAN are very close and Fri-Sat-Sun is an important performance period for all these teams.
It is better to be bruised rather than broken. REDS can narrow the score from 0-10-2 versus Stars and Halfway Hardballers can do the same against Zonk. Right now, it looks like the variance between the toptwo teams in the league will grow in variance – with the top team increasing and strengthening their standings position.
5.27.2009
League Activity Season to Date
Standings
The following is a review of league team summaries through seven (7) weeks (season to date). I have also included standings of the last three (3) weeks to reflect who are the short term teams on the rise, as well as those losing ground.
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Percentage | GB | Last 3 Weeks | 3Wk Rank |
| 1. | 49-26-09 | .637 | - | 18-13-05 | 3. | |
| 2. | 49-30-05 | .613 | 2 | 16-16-04 | 7. | |
| 3. | 45-29-10 | .595 | 3.5 | 17-13-06 | 6. | |
| 4. | 43-36-05 | .542 | 8 | 22-13-01 | 1. | |
| 5. | 42-36-06 | .536 | 8.5 | 16-16-04 | 7. | |
| 6. | 40-39-05 | .506 | 11 | 16-18-02 | 9. | |
| 7. | 38-41-05 | .482 | 13 | 21-14-01 | 2. | |
| 8. | 35-43-06 | .452 | 15.5 | 18-15-03 | 4. | |
| 9. | 37-45-02 | .452 | 15.5 | 18-16-02 | 5. | |
| 10. | 33-42-09 | .446 | 16 | | 11. | |
| 11. | 30-47-07 | .399 | 20 | 14-19-03 | 10. | |
| 12. | 25-52-07 | .339 | 25 | | 12. |
Hitting
The following reflects the hitting stats and reflects who the better hitting teams are. Total is a summary of each teams stat categories. Top 6 reflects the stats of each team that rank in the upper half of the league. This stat also serves as a tie breaker of teams with the identical points.
| Rank | Team | Runs | Hits | HRs | RBIs | SBs | Ave. | Total | Top6 |
| 1. | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 5 | |
| 1. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 5 | |
| 3. | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 6 | |
| 4. | 5 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 4 | |
| 5. | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 33 | 5 | |
| 6. | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 35 | 4 | |
| 7. | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 35 | 3 | |
| 8. | 7 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 39 | 2 | |
| 9. | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 49 | 1 | |
| 10. | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 55 | 0 | |
| 11. | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 59 | 1 | |
| 12. | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 63 | 1 |
Pitching
The following reflects the pitching stats and reflects who the better pitching teams are. Total is a summary of each teams stat categories. Top 6 reflects the stats of each team that rank in the upper half of the league. This stat also serves as a tie breaker of teams with the identical points.
| Rank | Team | W | L | SV | BB | K | ERA | | Total | Top6 |
| 1. | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | | 16 | 5 | |
| 2. | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3 | | 25 | 5 | |
| 3. | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | | 33 | 4 | |
| 4. | 5 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 11 | | 38 | 4 | |
| 5. | 2 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 8 | | 38 | 3 | |
| 6. | 12 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2 | | 39 | 3 | |
| 7. | 3 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 6 | | 40 | 4 | |
| 8. | 9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 7 | | 40 | 3 | |
| 9. | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 | | 42 | 3 | |
| 10. | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | | 47 | 0 | |
| 11. | 8 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 10 | | 48 | 1 | |
| 12. | 5 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | | 54 | 2 |
Overall
The following refects the overall power of the teams in our league which includes both
| Standings | Power Rankings | ||||
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Rank | Points | Top 6 |
| 1. | 49-26-09 | 2. | 59 | 8 | |
| 2. | 49-30-05 | 1. | 58 | 9 | |
| 3. | 45-29-10 | 4. | 66 | 9 | |
| 4. | 43-36-05 | 10. | 89 | 6 | |
| 5. | 42-36-06 | 6. | 77 | 6 | |
| 6. | 40-39-05 | 3. | 65 | 6 | |
| 7. | 38-41-05 | 5. | 75 | 5 | |
| 8. | 35-43-06 | 7. | 79 | 6 | |
| 9. | 37-45-02 | 11. | 92 | 5 | |
| 10. | 33-42-09 | 8. | 80 | 5 | |
| 11. | 30-47-07 | 12. | 93 | 3 | |
| 12. | 25-52-07 | 9. | 88 | 6 | |
Summary
I believe the age old question regarding hitting and pitching – which is the most valuable of the two categories has been answered in our league. Look at the better pitching teams and then relate that review to where those teams are in the standings. Then repeat the review for the hitting. Which category closely resembles the league standings. The conclusion is night and day.
There has been a little shifting over the shorter term past three (3) weeks.
Teams On The Move
New York Uticans due to increased hitting strength. Plasmatics due to pitching strength. Stars based upon average matchups. REDS based upon overall good results coming off a slumping period. Champions has improved and apparently has woke up.
Struggling to be Competitive Teams
Halfway Hardballers may be falling to a lower level Ageless One has head just above water – hanging in. Blind Squirrels has improved stats but still playing only.500 ball. BASEMAN is playing just below .500 and needs to improve.
Teams Needing Changes Tenn Hiters has fallen on hard times and looks likely to continue.
Zonk has under-performed, needs to do something. Morning Wood needs to take out the #1 driver and start hitting the ball in the morning,
Teams with Roster Problems
Stars will have weeks to wait for M. Ramirez to return to being active. Currently his roster allows for that. However, his torrid hitting will be leveled to a normal state and his pitching staff will be forced to outperform his opposition. On the other hand, his staff is capable of doing just that. The team would not want to be in the position that
Future Short Term Outlook
This is a minor review needed by a contributer to our postings. Using the above stats, one should review the strength of schedule over the next four (4) weeks and estimate who will improve position and who won’t.
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