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
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