Final
SOMBILLA
Standings 2007-2008
W L Pct GB
Constantinople
39 17 .696 --
Future
Wax 37 19
.661 2
Area
51
28 28 .509 11
Bay
City
26 30 .464 13
New Orleans 24
32
.429 15
Bismarck 24 32
.429
15
Knuckle Sandwiches 23 33 .411 16
Hibernia
23 33 .411 16
MVP - Ryan Howard, Constantinople
Cy Young - Joe Nathan, Future Wax
Manager of the Year - Robin
World Series March 15, 2008
Future Wax 8 Bay City 1
Bay City 2 Future Wax 0
Future Wax 4 Bay City 2
Future Wax 8 Bay City 5
Bay City 10 Future Wax 9
Future Wax 8 Bay City 7
Future Wax wins series 4 games to 2
Playoffs March 9, 2008:
Bay City 9 Constantinople 1
Bay City 12 Constantinople 7 (Frank Thomas 4 home runs)
Bay City 7 Constantinople 1
Constantinople 11 Bay City 6
Constantinople 8 Bay City 4
Constantinople 9 Bay City 4
Bay City 12 Constantinople 3
Bay City
wins series 4 games to 3
(Arguably the greatest post-season upset in league history)
Future Wax 10 Area 51 0 (Santana 2-hit shutout)
Area 51 2 Future Wax 1
Area 51 3 Future Wax 2 (walkoff homer C. Jones)
Area 51 2 Future Wax 0
Future Wax 3 Area 51 1
Future Wax 9 Area 51 1
Future Wax 1 Area 51 0
Future Wax
wins series 4 games to 3
Stat
Leaders
All Stats
Schedule
Ballparks
Twits Notes: (4/29)
New SOMBILLA records set this season:
- Worst record, playoff team (modern
era) - Bay City 26-30 (old record, Manila Folders 26-29 ’90-91).
In the first year of the league, with just six teams, the 4th place
Dukes finished 22-28.
- Worst ERA, league leader:
Roy Oswalt, BC 4.44 (old record 3.97 Wolf, CN ‘02-03)
- Most injuries, team 14 for CN (old
record North Dakota '98-99 10)
- Most triples, team Future Wax 26 (old
record Area 51 ‘05-06 23)
- Biggest gap between 2nd and 3rd place:
9 games (old record 7 in ’99-00)
SOMBILLA Records tied:
- Fewest teams above .500 - 2
(ties ‘96-97 season)
- Most players used, season 33 CN (ties
Area 51 ‘00-01)
HOME
W-L ROAD W-L
Tom 19-9
Tom 20-8
Randy 18-10 Randy 19-9
Jeff 17-11 Robin 12-16
Harold 14-14 Arnie 12-16
Robin 14-14 Jeff 11-17
Jed 12-16
Eric 11-17
Arnie 12-16 Jed
11-17
Eric 12-16 Harold 10-18
TOTAL: 118-106 (.527) 106-118 (.473)
(3/17) Eric and I finished off
the season. In front of sparse crowds at Hibernia Park, the two worst
teams in the league fought each other tooth and nail in 4 excruciating
games. The final scores were 1-0 Hibernia, 5-1 Knuckle, 2-0 Hibernia
and 2-1 Knuckle. Needless to say, offense was not featured, although
Knuckle did have 14 hits in game 2. In game 1, Lowe, Proctor, Otsuka
and Betancourt combined on a 4 hit shutout. Bonderman, Otsuka and
Betancourt fashioned a 3 hit shutout in game 3. Hall hit 2 HR for the
Sandwiches, qualifying him as the hitting star.
The most noteworthy thing is that this marks the third year in a row
that Eric has played a meaningless regular season makeup series after
all the other teams have gone home for the summer.
(3/2) The game was the
proverbial "microcosm of the season" for the Sandwiches. Immediately
fell behind in the first inning 1-0. The Drippings (does Future Wax
have a nickname?) increased the lead to 2-0 after three innings. The
Sandwiches came back to lead 3-2 after four innings. Future Wax tied it
at 3-3 in the sixth. Then Knuckle "broke it wide open" by scoring 3 in
the bottom of the seventh. So it's 6-3 heading into the 8th. Joel "The
Human Pinata" Zumaya enters along with light-hitting defensive
replacements such as Jamey Carroll and Ichiro. Future Wax promptly ties
the score at 6-6 in the top of the eighth on a Barry Bonds three-run
shot (his second homer of the game, after an otherwise quiet series).
As Bonds trotted slowly around the bases, his giant head seemed to
block out the sun as a gloom descended on Knuckle Yard. Though the game
did go into extra innings, the result seemed a foregone (sp?)
conclusion and ultimately Future Wax did indeed prevail 8-6 as Reyes,
Cameron and Thome went double, triple, double in the top of the 11th.
Knuckle could not muster any offense against a tired Joe Nathan. And
injury was added to insult as Ichiro was hit by a pitch and forced from
the game, leaving Josh Willingham to patrol unfamiliar territory in
right field. One could say it was a great game. But I could say it
sucked. And so I will. But hey, if I win my last 4 games, I can finish
just 1 game out of the playoffs. Somehow, that would be a fitting
ending.
Draft Day March 30
(2/29) With a playoff spot on
the line, Game 1 was essentially a playoff game. The teams used
11 pitchers and 26 hitters. NO jumped to a 4-0 lead, but Watford
City clawed back and had one final chance in the bottom of the 9th down
6-4 with 2 on and 2 out with Pujols up. Meredith struck him out
to end it. That was all the fight Watford CIty had left. They
then rolled over on their back in game 2, 11-4 to be eliminated and
hand Bay City a playoff berth. Chased out of Watford City, the
team ended up in Bismarck.
The last game was an experimental game
for the fans. The teams used the:
- circular dice in the first inning
('very annoying'),
- the pewter dice in the 2nd inning
('heavy'),
- the 'die inside the die' in the 3rd
inning. One roll was a ridiculous cocked die inside the larger
die.
- the lobster die in the 4th inning
(Bismarck's Alou tied it on a rbi single 'lobster one')
- the original Strat-O medium sized dice
in the 5th inning.
- normal dice for the 6th-8th innings.
- the tiny dice were supposed to be used
just for the 9th inning, but they lasted until the 11th when NO's MVP
Justin Morneau hit the game-winner to give New Orleans the 8-6 win and
5th place (by virtue of winning the season series vs. Bismarck 6-2).
(2/28) After a late
start, Jed and Randy were able to play 3 Internet games last night. Jed
took the first two, crushing Randy's dreams of forcing a roll-off for
first place (he and Tom split the season series, so a coin flip would
have decided first in the event of a tie). Jed's wins also
enabled
Jeff and Randy to invoke Bylaw Provision I(C)1 (the 'fuck it' clause)
for the Rich Harden makeup game since they have now clinched 3rd and
2nd place respectively.
Randy then took the third game, ending Jed's playoff hopes. Game four
will be played Saturday morning.
Dramatic move from 8th to 6th for the Interim Manager. The key
was a return to bad sportsmanship. After some judicious whining,
I got back-to-back homers. In retrospect, I let up and started
behaving better in the third game and that's the one I lost. An
objective observer would have enjoyed the games - 3 to 2, 6 to 3 (but 3
to 3 going into the 8th) and 4 to 2. Kind of like real baseball.
Tomorrow night's series will determine
whether it will be Bay City or
Watford City (erstwhile North Dakota) that gets swept by Tom in the
first round of the playoffs.
Draft Day March 30.
(2/23) Jeff swept into
the playoffs (and clinching 3rd place) earlier tonight, led by great
pitching (Schmidt and Ryan combined 2-0 shutout) and timely hitting
(Delgado 3-run HR in the 9th and Lowell GW HR in the 10th to win game
4, 12-11).
Knuckle, with 2 series left, still has a very slim chance to sneak into
the playoffs. A more possible scenario would be a husband &
wife one-game playoff if Watford City can win 3 of 4 from New Orleans
on Friday night.
Meanwhile, although Randy at one point indicated his availability to
play this Tuesday and Wednesday, he refuses to respond to e-mails and
phone calls, so who knows if the regular season will drag into March.
Draft
Day March 30.
(2/20) Robin graciously
came out to jp for a late night start, with next years cards in hand,
and graciously lost 3 or 4, which kinda sorta gives Arnie and Jed a
chance to slip into that fourth spot, or Tom's kill zone. Of note
for robin was Huston Street's 4 innings of work spanning 3
appearances, in which he allowed 9 runs. Of note for Eric were injuries
to Utley and then his call-up, Loretta,
the organization's only back-up 2nd basemen. Loretta was beaned in his
first two plate appearances, the second one knocking him out for the
season. Escobar came in to play second, both when Utley went down, as
well as for Loretta. As a 5e71, he made several outstanding errors, and
showed statue-esque range. Luckily for jed, he'll get to face that 5e71
at second for the first game of eric's final series. Winning scores for
Eric: 11-4, 12-10, 15-6.Rrobin: 7-5
(2/10) Never a dull
moment in the SOMBILLA. In the 12th inning of game 2 of the Bay
City/Future Wax series, Robin noticed that Future Wax relief pitcher,
Rich Harden, in fact, was not a relief pitcher. His card is a
starter only. Shocked and dismayed, Randy had to play the game
over from the 10th inning, whereupon Robin scored 3 runs off Valverde
to win the game. Furthermore, Randy will have to replay one of
his wins over Jeff from Thursday (Jeff never noticed the illegality
either).
After the game, Randy ripped Harden, his 26th man, in half as his
relief pitching is in a shambles; he was counting on Harden to help out
his very limited bullpen.
Lots of games to makeup. Communication, people!
Draft Day March 30.
(2/8) A seemingly
innocuous split between Randy and Jeff last night shuffled the top 4
teams, with Randy dropping into 2nd place behind Tom, while Jeff took
over 3rd place.
Prior to the series, the A51 manager inspired his team by pinning up
bulletin board material from the Wax manager. The fodder basically
dissed not just A51 but all the other potential 3rd and 4th seeds vying
for the playoffs by callously stating what Wax needed to do to defeat
Cantstandthepoohole in the championship.
Game 1: A51 cruised to an 8-3 victory featuring roster expanded Nick
Swisher going 2-4 with a triple and home run. Smoltz, Castro, Neshek
and Ryan combined on a 4 hit 2 earned run performance.
Game 2 featured the Wax roaring back plastering “A51 steroid poster
child” Andy Pettitte 11-1.
Game 3 tilted back in the A51 direction where the Wax defense (which
must rank second worse only to A51) coughed up 2 unearned go ahead runs
in the bottom of the seventh resulting in a 5-4 A51 win. Ryan nailed
down the save.
Game 4 The A51 bullpen faltered (K-Rod pitcher card roll 3 ball park
HR) in the 8th inning giving up a 2 run homer to “King of the Steroids”
Barry (*) and the Wax went on to win the game 5-3.
As a result A51 and Future Wax played to, by A51 standards, an
unsatisfying split. The bright spot was that there were only a few
Ran-(dy)-delays even thought it was quite cloudy and dark.
Draft Day March 30
(2/6) Area 51 took a big
step toward a playoff berth by winning 3 of 4 over 3rd place Bay City
earlier tonight. The most remarkable thing about the series was
Robin hitting 10 straight ballpark singles (1-4!) in Jeff's park before
missing one. Jeff asked her to roll for him, but she
refused. It didn't help with the results, though. Grady
Sizemore and Delmon Young were the stars for Jeff...Draft Day March 30.
(2/4) Eric called it the
weirdest series he’s ever played. An example was Game 1 was 15-15
after 4 innings, which Eric finally one 19-18...On the Internet, CN
clinched a playoff berth by splitting with Jed; Ray Durham’s walk-off
HR in the finale clinched it...Draft Day March 30.
(2/1) Watford City kept its slim playoff hopes alive
with a series win over
hapless Hibernia last night. The first three games were bizarre
affairs; very close games until one team broke it open at the
end. Game 1 was 3-3 in the 7th inning. Final score, 11-3
Watford City (grand slam by Scott, 2 late homers for Rolen). Game
2 was 2-1 in the 8th inning. Final score, 7-1 Watford City
(Rivera 3-run homer). Game 3 was 2-2 in the 6th
inning. Final score 10-4 Hibernia (Escobar and Tejada late
homers). Watford City put game 4 away early with 6 runs in the
4th to win 7-2.
Eric blames erstwhile North Dakota for its season going down in
flames. It seems earlier in the year, Eric was very close to
acquiring Jermaine Dye from Knuckle. But then Knuckle went and
swept North Dakota causing Jed to call off the trade. Now, it
appears as if all 3 teams will be on the outside come
March...Technically, Future Wax is still in first place even though
they are a game behind due to having played 8 fewer games...Draft Day
March 30.
(1/31)CN Seesaws Back Into 1st
Taking 3 From The Aliens
<>
Game 1: Aliens score 3 in the first, but CN comes back to tie it in his
half of the 3rd. Aliens score one in the bottom of the 3rd to go
up 4-3. Top of the 6th, CN ties it up 4-4. CN's Howard
smacked a 2 run shot in the 7th to put CN up 6-4, but Vlad comes back
in the bottom of the inning with a 2 run shot of his own to tie the
game at 6. In the 8th the Aliens jumped all over Benoit to put
them up 8-6. In the top of the 9th Ensberg smacked a 3 run homer
off of BJ Ryan to put CN up 9-8. Papelbon comes in for the 9th
and faces defensive specialist Mike Lowell and was greeted with an
immediate homer tying the game and giving him yet another blown
save. At the top of the 12th, Howard hit a homer to give CN a
10-9 lead. However, the Aliens came out and two rolls on their
cards latter saw Lind drive a 2 run walk off homer over the right field
fences.
<>
Game 2: Aliens go up 4-0 after 1, but CN comes back with 5
in the top of the second to tire Pettite. But Chipper Jones hit a
double to tie it up at 5-5 after 2. But CN's Howard hit a big 3
run shot in the top of the 3rd to put CN back up 8-5. The Aliens
clawed their way back to an 8-8 tie after 6. CN goes up 9-8 in
the top of the 7th, but the Aliens get an unearned run to tie it up in
the bottom of the 7th. Abreu hit a pinch hit 2 run shot to put CN
back on top 11-9 in the 8th. Chipper Jones brought the Aliens
back as he hit his own 2 run homer to tie it up in the bottom of the
9th. The Alien Neshek (righter killer) chased Bay for Giambi (the
first time he has been pinch hit for that did not involve an injury)
and he finds the N-HR on Neshek's card and CN wins 12-11 in 10 innings.
Game 3: Sabathia comes out and gives up 3
early runs, but CN comes back to tie it up in the 7th 3-3. A
bases loaded walk to Durham
put CN up 4-3 in the 8th, but the Aliens came back with a Delmon Young
homer to tie the game at 4 after 8. Giambi the game 2 hero comes
up with Abreu on first and no outs and he hit a 2 run shot that held up
for a CN 6-4 win.
<>
Game 4: CN ran off with this game 7-0 through 8 innings.
After a single and two walks, Guillen kicked a ball and then Mike Young
walked to set up a bases loaded 2 out 7-2 situation. But big Tex hit a
clutch out to end the series. (The second clutch out since the
end of the 7th. There were 6 clutch outs in the series and 3 in the
last game.)
The series could have seen more runs scored
as 19 potential ball park homers were rolled resulting in 8
homers. (CN was 5 for 13 and A51 3 for 6)
<>The
Nod goes to Giambi with 3 homers and clutch performances across the
board.
(1/30) Future Wax swept
into first place on Wednesday, taking 4 games from hapless Hibernia.
Bonds brought his team back from a 3-run deficit in game 1 with a
bases-loaded, two-out double in the 7th. Manny Ramirez threw out
Berkman at the plate in the 8th to keep the score tied 5-5. A string of
goose eggs followed until Randy plated the winning run on a passed ball
in the 13th, giving Nathan his 4th win. In game 2, Eric managed 4
ballpark homers (3 by 1-9 chance righties), but Randy countered with
four home runs in the 4th inning, and an insurance dinger by Thome in
the 7th for a 10-5 win. Game 3 featured a 12 K, 8 hit, 2 run complete
game by Johan Santana and a 6-run 2nd by FW (including 3 consecutive
doubles off Bonderman’s card) for a 7-2 win. Eric took an 3-run lead in
the 1st of game 4 on a blast by “Yo” Adrian Gonzalez, but a pinch-hit
grand slam by Edmonds in the 5th put FW up 5-4. Later, Reyes drove in
an insurance run with his second squeeze bunt single of the series, and
Nathan slammed the door for his 9th save...Draft Day March 30.
(1/28) Future Wax took 3
of 4 from New Orleans on Sunday to creep to within 2 games offirst
place, out-homering the home team 15-6. FW took game one 8-3, on
four ballpark homers and a complete game 6-hitter by Zambrano. Harold
bounce back in game two with a 7-run 1st off Santana. Three more
ballpark homers later and Future Wax had closed to within 8-7 by the
middle of the 4th, only to have Harold reopen the lead on the strength
of 5 consecutive singles leading to 4 runs in the bottom of the frame:
final score 15-11 New Orleans. In game 3, Cole Hamels scattered 4 hits
over 6-2/3 innings, while the FW offense torn up Arroyo for a 12-1 win.
The final game was close at the half way point before FW pulled away
for a 11-5 win.
(1/23) Robin moved back
to .500 tonight as she continues to lead the wild-card standings.
In fact, check out the standings now - the bottom 6 teams are now all
separated by one game. It looked like an unsatisfying split until
Cuddyer and Larid hit back to back homers in the bottom of the 9th of
game 4 to win, 4-3. Oswalt had a CG win in game 2 to go to 6-3 on
the year...Draft Day March 30.
(1/22) Randy became the
first team to win a series from Tom this year, as Future Wax moved to
within 3 games of arch-nemesis Constantinople. It was billed "The
Battle of Over .500's" and it lived up to the hype.
In game 1, the Manatees scored 13 runs on homers by Abreu, Giambi, and
Howard (2), but Future Wax countered with blasts by Uggla, Berkman (2),
McCann, Thames, Bonds and Reyes -- adding up to a winning total of 17.
In contrast, game 2 was a pitching duel between Sabathia (CM) and Johan
Santana (FW). A 3-3 tie was broken in the 8th by Howard's 3rd bomb of
the series, with Papelbon shutting the door for a 5-3 win for Tom.
The Wax took an early lead in game 3, on a 2nd inning grand slam by
Bonds. Each team homered 3 more times, but when the dust settled,
Future Wax remained on top, 12-7. The final game went down to a wire.
Howard's 4th home run put Tom up early, Berkman's third shot put FW up
2-1 in the 6th, only to have Tom take the lead back with 2 runs in the
bottom of the inning. Thome tied it at 3-3 by going yard in the 8th,
and it was on to extra frames. In the 10th, Edmonds led off with
a triple, then an out later was driven in by Berkman. Thames added
insurance with a 3-run blast, and Nathan nailed down the win (his 3rd,
to go with 7 saves).
Jeff has blown up this Sunday's bash -
please reschedule your series...Draft Day March 30.
(1/21) Eric and Jed played
afrustrating Internet series as Strato kept crashing. Luckily, Strat-O
anticipated that and saves each game after every play
Jed won the first two 6-4 and 5-4. Eric won the last two 6-5 and 9-5.
All were pretty hard fought as the scores would indicate. In the third
game Eric was up 6-0 and Knuckle almost came all the way back. In the
last game it was 6-5 until Eric scored 3 in the top of the 9th to put
it away.
3 homers for Manny. 3 homers for Dye. Overall each team hit 6 homers in
the series. In classic Eric fashion the Hibernians used 6 pitchers in
the first and third games and 8 pitchers in the last game. Brandon
Inge, called up to replace the injured Ryan Zimmerman, booted his first
chance and allowed a run to score. But Inge did hit a homer to
contribute to the game 4 victory.
Jeff has blown up this Sunday's bash - please note all of the series to
reschedule and just do it!...Draft Day March 30.
(1/20) On Saturday,
Watford City kept its tiny playoff hopes alive, while tightening up the
playoff race by winning its final 3 games against 3rd place Bay
City. But the series started off great for BC when Roy Halladay
showed why BC has far and away the league's best pitching staff this
year, pitching an impressive 3-hit complete game shutout, 3-0.
Watford City came back with 3 homers (Rolen, Pujols and Valentin) to
win game 2, 9-6 - this despite league-loss leader Steve Shields trying
to pad his stats and blow another one. Pujols's 2-run
single in the bottom of the 8th inning of game 3 capped a Watford City
comeback to win 5-4. Contreras, J. Johnson, Thornton and Hoffman
combined for a 3-1 win in the finale.
4 teams are now within one game of 3rd place. Draft Day March 30.
(1/18) Area 51 kept their slim
playoff hopes alive by defeating Hibernia 3 games to 1, knocking Eric
back into 6th place. Two games featured the home A51ians winning in the
bottom frame of the 9th by a walk off home run from Larry "Chipper"
Jones and a game winning two RBI single by Adam Either. The finale
featured a combined shut out from the Moose, Cuban dictator Castro and
Big Dan Wheeler. Aside from a poor pitching performance by Andy
"steroid" Pettitte and dare I say the led leading team in total errors
(4 during the series for a YTD total of 17) the stingy pitching staff
only allowed 7 earned runs over 27 inning s with 22 strike-outs.
The scores were: 6-5, 3-8, 5-4 and 8-0
(1/14) Future Wax, which has practially clinched 2nd place despite
having half its schedule eft, put a damper on Knuckle's hopes. In
game 1, David Ross, anti-mutant lefty, gave Wax starter Kazmir a
KnuckleSandwich in game 1 with two 2-run homers. Down 4-3 in the
9th, FW led off with a pinch-hit single from Piazza, followed by
a 1-out double from Chavez. Piazza scored the tying run on a wild
pitch, but Chavez was stranded at 3rd. Extra innings! Jed
small-balled his way to victory in the 11th, following a Ichiro single
with a sac bunt, then scoring the eventual winning run on a Overbay
single.
In Game 2, FW ace Santana threw a 4-hitter, while the FW offense
hammered Webb, resulting in an easy 9-2 victory for the home team. The
Wax's third lefty starter, Hamels, seemed to be coasting to a similar
victory on the strength of a McCann grand slam. A 7-run FW lead
was trimmed to 10-7 after a 4-run 8th for Jed, but it was too little,
too late. The final game was a classic battle, with 6 lead changes. Jed
took a 10-9 lead with 4 run in the top of the 8th, scoring 4 runs off
FW closer Nathan. But Edmonds tied it in the bottom of the inning with
a pinch-hit homer, and <>then Chavez put it away with a
dramatic, two-out walk off blast in the bottom of the 9th - giving FW a
3-1 series victory.
Draft Day March 30
(1/10) Bay City continued its excellent 3rd place season, officially
climbing back to mediocrity with a series win over struggling New
Orleans earlier tonight. Bay City pitching and defense held New
Orleans to a mere 8 runs over the 4 games, and even Huston Street
didn't blow any leads. The series featured a combined 17 double
plays...Draft Day March 30.
(1/7) CN quote "In this league, when you play the elite teams you try
to stay healthy, manage your innings and play for the split (assuming
you are a competitive team). You look for an opportunity to seize the
third game and if you have extreme good fortune you achieve a sweep."
Of course, the sweep might have something to do with the HD TVs we
installed in the visiting dugouts which showed Clemens on 60 minutes in
a continuously distracting loop ... Or maybe the fact that every New
Orleans’s infielder (except for the SS who gave up a single** on a 1)
had at least one error... A-Rod was 4 for 10, 4 R, 3 HR, 9 RBIs, .500
OBP and 1.400 Slugging and played two flawless innings at 2B to win
player of the series. C. Guillen was 7 for 16, 4 R, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, .526
OBP and .813 slugging to gain an honorable mention.
The Knuckle Sandwiches swept back into contention over hapless Watford
City, lef by Jermaine Dye (5 HR, 10 RBI) and Hafner (walk off HR,
grandslam, 7 RBI). The series ended with Watford City’s tying run
blocked at the plate.
Draft Day, March 30.
(1/3) The hard-fought battle for 3rd place ended in a satisfying
split. Bay City won game 1 on a 5-run, 9th inning comeback 8-7,
capped by Blalock's pinch-hit 2-run double. He was immediately
sent back down to the minors, replaced by the rehabilitated Gerald
Laird. A pissed-off Hibernia pounded BC 8-2 in the 2nd game, led
by Zimmerman's rbi double and 2-run homer.
Eric came back with an impressive 6-man combined 4-hit shutout in game
3 (Burnett, Soriano, Betancourt, Sanchez, Rincon and Otsuka) to mimic
the just-completed Bruins' 2-0 win on TV. Game 4 was a
nail-biter. After BC jumped out to a 4-0 lead (Verlander walking
in 2 runs), Hibernia's Baldelli hit a 2-run homer in the 6th off H.
Street and Eric was down 4-2. But with men on 2nd and 3rd in the
bottom of the 9th with one out, Saito struck out Zimmerman and Escobar
for his 3rd save.
Draft Day Sunday, March 30.
(12/27) CN Cruised to a Controversial 3-1 series win over BC last
night to open up an impressive 5-game lead. Immediately there were
questions when Robin announced her park as 1-7 for Lefties and 1-14
Righties. The confused CN manager apologized for screwing up all his
preparation for a park with 1-11 for everything except 1-14 for RH
homers.
Arnie then checked the website and his first series against Robin while
CN starts the game. 3rd Batter is Howard and he hits a Ball Park Homer,
8 … a homer from CN’s point of view and an out from BC’s viewpoint.
Arnie yells downstairs, the web site agrees with CN's assumptions. This
led to a quick argument amongst the Pollingers, as Robin insisted she
had been playing this way all season.
Turns out she had been using a printout prepared for playing in Jed's
park and thus had been playing in Jed's park (vs. Jeff and Randy) ever
since, instead of her actual park. Area 51 and Future Wax
managers (with whom she split) have been notified. Not quite in
the same league as using Pedro Feliz, but up there.
Back to the table, and Robin sheepishly agrees to return to her actual
park and Howard's out is now a home run. It is CN 2-0 after 1. CN
runs out to a 12-0 lead and then gives up 3 in the 9th to hold on to a
12-3 win. Game 2 - Oswalt versus Sheets. It is a real pitching duel
that is tied at 1-1 after 4 innings. It is an error in Right Field that
leads to a run for BC that leads to a 2-1 nail biter.
Game 3: Guillen, who was the hero of the ND series, is injured in a 3-3
game, and CN does not have a back up. Giambi goes out to try his hand
at SS. Howard hits a triple and the next thing you know it is
6-3. Giambi commits only one error at short.
Game 4: Robin, who had split all her previous series, hopes to maintain
form starting young super stud Anibel Sanchez. BB, BB, 1B* and then Bay
hits a N-HR split of Sanchez card (1-5 or 7 and the thing is a 2) Grand
Slam. It is 6-3 after 5 as Anibel leaves. CN holds on for a 7-4 win.
(12/26) North Dakota (now called Watford City) has lost 13 of its
last 17 games. The team has more blown saves than actual
saves. Every move the incompetent manager makes blows up - from
botched squeeze plays to hit and runs that miss out on extra base hits
to giving up long hits on a drawn in infields. The distinterested and
dysfunctional players are now in the freezer.
The team has moved to Watford City, in the NW part of the state.
"Every player is now available for trade" says the GM.
(12/23) Reeling North Dakota took another blow to the chin today
as New Orleans tries to climb back into the race. NO won game one 7-6
on the back of two homers by Nick Johnson. Luke Scott missed a
1-19 homer in the 9th that would have tied game 2, as NO held on 6-4,
Meredith with the save. Gary Matthews walk-off grand slam (off
Heilman) won game 3 for New Orleans, 10-7. ND avoided the sweep,
winning the finale 8-2.
Reminder that all teams get one day off after 7 series (28
games)...Randy is no longer using e-mail, so you will need to call or
snail mail him (as we had to with the 2nd half schedule) for
contact. Indeed, we can all insult Randy with impunity via e-mail
now and he'll never know, the asshole.
(12/18) Tom's romp through the league is no fluke. League
pretender North Dakota got it's first look at the three-time defending
World Champs earlier tonight and came away demoralized and
impressed. The teams traded blowouts - CN winning game 2 by
almost two touchdowns, 21-8 (Varitek and Giambi each had two home
runs), and ND winning game 3, 12-5 (Rolen 3 doubles).
But it was games 1 and 4, both won by CN by one run, that show why
Constantinople is king of the league. His team is first
rate (Tom's self-flagellation notwithstanding) and he manages to
perfection. In game 1, CN went up 3-0, but ND clawed back and it
was 3-3 in the 7th. Giambi's rbi single in the bottom of the 7th
made it 4-3. ND then LOADS THE BASES WITH NONE OUT in the 8th and
BIG PAPI UP. CN brings Benoit in and brings the infield in.
Big Papi HITS INTO A HOME-FIRST DP, then Alou grounds out. No
runs. Final score 4-3.
In game 4, ND was up 6-0 and 7-1. League ERA leader Josh Johnson
comes in in the 6th. Tom scores 6 runs off him to tie it.
An A.Jones sac fly in the 8th gives CN an 8-7 lead, but ND's Jose
Valentin triples off Papelbon's card in the 9th (if you can find the
triple on Pap's card you win a prize) to tie it, 8-8. CN loades
the bases with two out in the bottom of the 9th and M. Gonzalez on the
mound. Jimmy Rollins boots the grounder, ending the game.
(12/17) Hibernia got a complete game gem from Lowe in a 9-3
laugher to open up the series...Just to prove that the complete game
was not a isolated event, Hibernia’s Bonderman went 8 in game 2 for a
complete game loss 7-3.
Hibernia Head Hunters then went to work in game 3 taking Abreu out for
2 games. Hibernia went up 2-0 but CN came back to tie the game in the
bottom of the 6th. Hibernia pinch hit Payton for J.D. Drew and a double
later went up 3-2 in the 7th. But CN’s Carlos Guillen hit a hot shot to
his opposite number (Tejada) and he booted it to allow CN to tie it up
at 3 after 7. The 8th saw Hibernia get walked four times and then
Zimmerman hit a long single to put them up 5-3 and then they 3 straight
K’s to hold off CN in the 8th. The Irish Closer came out and got the
first batter, but Carlos Lee singled and then Ryan Howard hit a massive
shot for a 5-5 tie and to tire Otsuka. Next thing you know Guillen
singles and steals second and Soriano faces Jason Bay and then boom
game winning homer CN wins 7-5.
The final game, Hibernia looking for the satisfying split starts his
lefty Olsen against the round mound of leftiness CN’s Sabathia. The
Irish go up 5-1 but suddenly CN finds their cards in the 4th and Bay
hits a homer and then Jones chases Olsen to the showers with a grand
slam to bring CN up 6-5. The Irish’s Adrian Gonazalez tied up the game
at 6-6 in the fifth, but solo shots by Bay and Durham put CN back up
8-6. Bay’s in his next at bat was greeted with the high hard one,
knocking him out for 2 games and bringing in the LF5 Carlos Lee. The
8th inning saw Giambi double and Lee hit a 2 run shot to put CN up
10-6. The Irish put up 2 straight hits and then a walk to load the
bases in the 9th. Konerko drove a deep fly ball (B) to RF to score
Tejada and Utley cruised into third on a good throw from Blake. Drew
singled off of Papelbon bringing the score to 10-8 and Paps to a base
runner of being tired. Adrian and Baldelli struck out back to back to
end the series.
Bay was the player of the series with 4 homers and 6 RBIs before he was
injured.
(12/10) It was an internet Sunday morning; Clemens was traded and this
took the wind out of the Sandwiches in game one as Schmidt came out and
pitched a complete game 9-4 victory.
Game 2 was the deciding game as the Sandwiches came roaring back in the
8th to tie the game at 4-4. Then everyone stopped scoring.
After the 16th, it was still 4-4. I stopped scoring at this point and
will have to wait until Jed emails me the box score, but CN scored and
Papelbon held on to win the game after 17.
Game 3 was a good old fashioned ass-whipping as the Sandwiches won 15-2
with Santana taking the complete game beating with CN's innings hurting.
Game 4: Durham hit a grand slam and then CN squandered multiple
baserunners, but Cain was brilliant. Final Score: 5-2 CN
wins the series 3-1.
All teams are now at the trading deadline except Eric.
(12/8) Defensive lapses proved costly to North Dakota, who
dropped 3 of 4 at home to Future Wax in a rare Saturday tilt. In the
first game, a 3-1 ND lead vanished after a Kent error was followed by a
Chavez homer. Ortiz put ND back on top with his second homerun of the
game, but FW scored 3 run in the last two innings for a 6-4 win. In
game two, an early error by Rolen led to 3 unearned runs, and a late
error by Hanley Ramirez cost an insurance run in the 9th, as FW again
came from behind for an 8-6 win. FW again struck late in game three,
scoring 10 runs in the 9th (4 unearned) for a 16-3 win. Arnie avoided
the sweep, however, when Contreras and the bullpen gave up only 4 hits
on the way to a 4-1 win in the final game.
(12/6) ND and KS split the final two Internet games. This
time, I've decided to blame both Microsoft (for its crappy Vista) and
Verizon (for messing with my router) as once again Jed had to host the
games as North Dakota under my direction (and vice versa). On the
'table' two extra-inning affairs kept us away from our families.
Scott Rolen hit two solo homers and a walk-off game-winning 12th-inning
hit in game 1, while Josh Willingham's 2-run pinch-hit single in the
10th won the final game for Jed...Knuckle, Area 51 and New Orleans are
all at the roster freeze.
(12/5)Game 3 last night between Robin and Jeff went 17 innings...Harold
is now at the roster freeze, while Randy has only played 8
games...Arnie & Robin accepted Tom's offer of moving up some games
and will be playing him 12-27 - 12/27.
(11/28) Eric says "Jeff and i split, satsifying for me, not for
him..."...Robin's Freddy Sanchez made a game-losing error in game 2,
but karma came back in game 4 with two 9th inning 2-run homers (one by
Hawpe) to win game 4.
(11/26) I blame Verizon for replacing our router, causing me to
be unable to set up the port forwarding for me to be the home team
despite the best efforts of both Jed and I over 2 consecutive
nights. So, Jed's computer hosted the series, with him acting as
North Dakota (under my direction) and me acting as Knuckle (under his
direction). Slightly annoying, but it worked.....at least for me.
Escobar, J. Johnson, M. Gonzalez, and Heilman shut down Knuckle in game
1, 5-2. Jermaine Dye looked to be the hero in game 2 with 2 big
homers to put Jed up 5-3 after 7. ND scored in the bottom of the 8th to
make it 5-4, and then in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 out, Alou
singled. Jed then intentionally walked Pujols and Ortiz, putting
the winning run on 3rd. Furcal then booted Valentin's grounder to
lose the game. Pujols hit 2 more homers in the 2 games; he now
has 8 through 14 games.
It was late; Jed had an early flight, so we will reschedule the last 2
games.
(11/19)Yet another unsatisfying split...for Bay City. The Knuckle
Sandwiches are a bottom-of-the-ninth Josh Willingham off of Huston
Street three-run homer away from being 6-10. It was really more
like football than baseball, especially in games three and four.
The Sandwiches could only muster a safety against two Bay City
touchdowns in game 3. In game 4, Bay City's
late touchdown and two-point conversion made it 16-14 but they missed
the last second field goal that would've won it. Quick glance at
the score sheets (yes, yes, I'll send them to you, Arnie) indicates
that Jeter went 8 for 17, Cabrera 8 for 18 with 2 HR and 6 RBI and
Beltran and Thomas had 2 HR each. Jason Jennings also pitched,
relatively speaking, a gem - allowing only 2 runs in 9 innings while
scattering 10 hits. In that same game, Cy Young award winner
Brandon Webb allowed 14 runs (only 13 earned, though) on 16 hits.
Knuckle stars included Matt Holliday who had 6 RBI, Willingham who in
limited play had 2 HR and, um, not really anyone else....
(11/14) It being Randy’s first series meant that he only had half his
team. He had to search through his crate of baseball stuff to
find the “new” players drafted last year.
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. The Wax's Johan Cy
Santana faced the big fat newly crowned Cy Young CC Sabathia. The
Manatees came out and scored 7 over the first 4 innings to go up
7-0. But Santana settled in and in the 7th down 8-1, Barry Bonds
hit a big three run homer to half the score at 8-4 and send Sabathia to
the showers. 3 hits, a man thrown out at home, a walk and a K
later it was 8-5 and it looked like one of those days. The still
strong Santana came out and gave up two singles and Howard then took
him deep to tire him and put the game on ice. Manatees
12-7. New Wax Records: Two stolen bases in the first inning
was the most every by a Wax team and the 4 for the game was also a
record. The new go-go Future Wax was on display early.
Game 2: Wax go up 2-0 early and then A. Rod hit 2 ballpark homers
and Guillen steals third and takes home on an overthrow to bring the
Manatees a 3-2 lead after 5 and half innings. Jenks started the
7th and could not get anyone out giving up a homer and then loading the
bases. Papelbon came in and got three straight outs on Wax cards
but one was a sac fly to give Wax a 4-3 lead. Putz and Nathan
came on. Game over. Wax 4-3.
Game 3: Both teams were anemic on offense, but Manatees pull
ahead at the end to win 6-3. Randy comes up with a new strategy,
hit Howard and take him out for rest of the series.
Game 4: Ensberg's 3-run homer put the Manatees up 6-4. In
the bottom of the 8th, Wax gets two men on with one out and Papelbon
comes out and gets two outs to hold onto the 6-4 lead. CN's
Teahen comes out and hits a clean home run and then Valverde strikes
out Durham and Papelbon comes out to hit. The Manatee manager
however does not send a bat out with him and he strikes out on three
straight pitches. Valverde is laughing so hard that he grooves
one for CN's Andruw Jones. Paps and Sampson holds down Wax for
the 8-4 win.
<>Jason Giambi was the player of the series with 4 homers and 8
RBIs while hitting .667, .769 OBP, and 1.750 slugging. Scoring 5
runs, hitting a double, with one walk, one intentional walk and 4
Ks. <>
Side Note: Tom made it home at 1 AM. Some of the Manatees
were so disheartened by the Commissioner's accidentally showing CN at
.500 (predicting a Wax sweep) that they did not make the team
plane. Manatees had to take two practice squad players without
uniforms to fill out the roster. The rest of the team rallied to
the disrespect and came out to take the series.
(11/11) Relief pitching, defense, and timely smoking--er,
hitting--was the key to this "rousing" home-opener for the team
formerly known as The Human Stains. The three Hibernian victories were
decided by a total of four runs, whilst Harold hit into more dp's (and
one exquisitely timed triple-play) than the Red Sox did against
Cleveland. New Orleans ended up outscoring Hibernia in the series, but
that was of little consolation to Harold, who still managed to look
snappy in his vintage Seattle Pilot's cap. ...Please send your stats to
Tom.
(11/4) The first place Aliens came into Constantanople a little hung
over after their big series win versus one of the league favorites the
ex-Folders. A51 was down 10-5 in game 1 as Matt Cain left the
ball game. The CN bullpen imploded, allowing four runs in the 8th
on three straight extra base hits from Sizemore (2B), M. Young (2B) and
Chipper (homer). Papelbon then came in to close out the game and
gave up a triple to LoDuca and then Mike Lowell hit the double to tie
the game up at 10-10. Martin (3 for 4 at that time) lead off the
9th versus dominant righty-killer Neshek and hit the N-HR 1-6 (the only
action outside of the ball park homer chance) … 4 …. walk off homer.
CN started fast, going up 2-0 in game 2, but next thing you know it is
3-3 after 7. Benoit comes in to relieve against Sizemore in the
8th and bang …. Ballpark homer, Aliens up 4-3. Bottom of the 9th,
Martin leads off again … K. Guillen walks and Durham flies out
for the 2nd out. Teahen doubles off the dominant BJ Ryan and then
Carlos Lee hits a two run single to win the game for CN 5-4.
Game 3: Sheets leaves the game down 3-2, but CN rallied to go up
4-3 and then added insurance in the 8th to go up 5-3. Papelbon
came in to hold down the aliens down after a Chipper Jones double, but
Vlad hits him for an rbi single and Paps gets Matsui. With 2 outs
Delgado pinch hits and Sampson comes in and gets the last out for the
save 5-4 CN goes up 3-0 in the series.
Game 4: After all the drama, the final game was no contest as CN
glided to 8-2 victory while strangely striking out 12 times and hitting
back to back to back homers.
Howard led CN with 3 homers and 7 rbis while hitting .545 (.615 OB) and
slugging 1.455 to win player of the series.
(10/29)
Game 1: A51 wins 2-1. 19 inning pitching nail biter. Vlad
hits walk off HR to win game.
Game 2: A51 wins 8-0. Complete game 3 hit profromance by Pettitte
Game 3: KS wins 7-0. Complete game by Webb
Game 4: A51 wins 8-2.
First half schedule