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