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:


SOMBILLA Records tied:
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: (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