FINAL SOMBILLA Standings 2011-2012

                         W   L     Pct  GB 
North Dakota            32  24    .571  --
The Cheddarmen          31  25    .554   1

New Orleans             30  26    .536   2
Bay City                30  26    .536   2
Fugakyu                 26  30    .464   6
Constantinople          26  30    .464   6
The Raging Alcoholics   25  31    .446   7
Future Wax              24  32    .429   8

MVP – Joey Votto, Fugakyu
Cy Young – Jared Weaver, The Cheddarmen
Manager of the Year- Robin

World Series:
(3/11) at Plymouth:

The Cheddarmen 5 Bay City 3
The Cheddarmen 8 Bay City 3
The Cheddarmen 4 Bay City 0
Bay City 6  The Cheddarmen 5 (10 innings)
The Cheedarmen 6 Bay City 1

The Cheedarmen win series 4 games to 1


Playoffs:

(3/4) at Holliston

The Cheddarmen 4 New Orleans 0
The Cheddarmen 14 New Orleans 0
New Orleans 7 The Cheddarmen 3
New Orleans 6 The Cheddarmen 3
The Cheddarmen 11 New Orleans 2
The Cheddarmen 5 New Orleans 1

The Cheddarmen win series 4 games to 2

Bay City 20 North Dakota 2
Bay City 8  North Dakota 6
Bay City 4  North Dakota 1
Bay City 9  North Dakota 8

Bay City wins series 4 games to 0


League Leaders
All stats


Twits Notes (5/7):

New SOMBIILA Records set this year:

Longest game (12/11/11):
A long day in Holliston for Eric was made excruciatingly longer when he and Jed shattered the league record for longest game with a ridiculous 22-inning 9-8 game 4, won by Jed.  This comes one week after Eric tied the 24-year old league record with a 20-inning game against Harold, which Eric also lost.  Farnsworth pitched 9 innings for Eric while J. Lopez pitched the final 10 innings for Jed. 

Most games managed, one weekend:
(12/4)  Harold finished his weekend odysey going 11-5 to leap into first place.  It is shatters the league record for most games played in one weekend (by one whose name is not Jed flying in from out of town - when he played 20 games in 24 hours in a hotel room in Waltham on 12/9-10 2006).  This weekend represented almost a third of Harold's entire season. 

SOMBILLA records tied this year:
Longest game.  Broken by Eric himself one week later:  (12/4/11)  Eric writes "I have the energy to sum up only one series, really only one game, so it must be game 3 of my series with Harold, which went an epic 20 innings before Harold pulled out the home win, 3-2. (Ed note - this ties the 24 year old league record from 1987 when Bay City beat Future Wax 10 to 7, with Tom Henke having to pitch 12 innings in relief as Robin's last pitcher).  I had a chance to take a 3-2 lead in the 9th, but Dejesus threw out  Crawford at the plate on a safe chance 1-17. I rolled a 20. Naturally, we both used up our pens. I got a little punch-drunk around the 18th inning, at which point everything just seemed to crack me up. Especially Bartlett's one out double off Downs to win the game. I couldn't have been happier to lose a game.
Most homers nine-inning game: Joey Votto, Jed 1/22 Votto (vs Eric)  Ties D. Segui, North Dakota (1/2/99) Pujols, North Dakota 12/5/10  4

Fewest games separating top four teams: 2.  Ties a 26 year old record set back in the 84-85 season
    AWAY                      HOME   
Harold    19-9    .679    Eric    18-10    .643
Arnie    14-14    .500    Arnie   18-10    .643
Robin    14-14    .500    Jed     18-10    .643
Eric     13-15    .464    Robin   16-12    .571
Tom      13-15    .464    Tom     13-15    .464
Jeff     13-15    .464    Jeff    12-16    .429
Randy    12-16    .429    Randy   12-16    .429
Jed       8-20    .286    Harold  11-17    .393
TOTAL    106-118  .473    TOTAL  118-106   .527



(3/11)

Game 1           
Team    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9        R    H     E
BC      0    1    0    0    0    2    0    0    0        3    8     1
CM      0    0    0    0    1    0    0    2    2        5    12    0

W: Weaver  L: Oswalt  HR: BC Huff (1) Ethier (1); CM Utley (1)

Plymouth, Sunday, 12:30: Where do we begin our re-cap of Game 1?  By her own admission, it was a game Robin said she should have won, and Eric agrees. For starters, she missed two ballpark homers early, one by Posey (1-14) and one by Torres (1-7), which would have put Eric in a huge hole. She did score the Series first run, a solo shot by Huff in the 2nd, and held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th, but that’s when the crazy shit starting happening.  First, Oswalt nailed Werth in the ass leading off. Then he induced Crawford into an x-roll to Headley at 3rd, who juggled the ball for a hit and compounded his muff by firing the ball across the diamond about 10 feet over Aubrey Huff’s head, good for a two base error, scoring Werth and sending Crawford scampering around to 3rd base. After Oswalt struck out Konerko, Robin brought the corners in, but Zimmerman grounded to short, scoring Crawford and tying the game. In the top of the 9th Weaver got the first to batters, then retaliated Werth’s beaning by hitting Heisey off the numbers, which he followed by coughing up a double to Torres. Heisey zipped around 3rd with a 1-16 chance to score, but Bourn gunned him down at the plate on an 18 and Eric began to wonder if this might be his day. Sure enough, Walker hits a one-out double in the bottom of the 9th. Robin brings in O’Flaherty to face Bourn, and Eric sends up Utley to face the lefty, who makes his manager look brilliant by hitting the first pitch over the right field fence for the walk off win.

Game 2
Team    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9       R    H    E
BC      0    0    0    1    1    0    0    1    0       3    5    1
CM      0    1    4    0    0    2    1    0            8    12    0

W: Verlander  L: Halladay  HR: BC  M. Cabrera 2(2); CM  A. Gonzalez (1), Tulo (1), Soto (1)

Robin sent Halladay out to even up the series against Verlander, but the work horse just didn’t have it. He gave up a run in the 2nd and then allowed back-to-back dingers in the 3rd (Gonzalez, Tulo) for 4 more runs and it was pretty much a cake walk from there. Robin scored solo runs in the 4th and 5th to cut the lead to 3, but Eric countered with a two-run shot by Soto in the 6th. Verlander was masterful (except against Miguel Cabrera, who blasted two solo shots), going the distance, walking none and striking out 13.  Offensive star of the game went to Gonzalez, who was 4 for 4 with 4 ribbies.

Game 3
Team    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9        R    H    E
CM      0    0    0    2    0    0    2    0    0        4    11    0
BC      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0        0    7    0

W: Balfour  L: Hanson  HR: CM  Gonzalez (2), Walker (1)

Back against the wall but going home, Robin hoped to even up the series. She had reason to be hopeful, and Eric knew it: they had split the season series.  And for the first few innings it was anybody’s game. But Eric broke open for 2 in the 4th on another dinger by Gonzalez, and added 2 more in the 7th with Walker hitting a solo shot.  This was a seven cheese shut-out for the Cheddarmen. Chacin went the first four, then six relievers went the final 5. Robin had to be frustrated against Chacin, who allowed 8 base runners (4 hits, 4 walks) over his four innings but never gave up the clutch hit. For the game Robin stranded 13 runners.

Game 4
Team    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    R    H    E
CM      2    1    1    0    0    1    0    0    0    0     5    11    1
BC      0    0    0    1    0    0    4    0    0    1     6    12    0

W: Kuo  L: Downs  HR: BC Ethier (2), Al. Gonzalez (1)

Down three games to none Robin had to win this one, and she did. In rather spectacular fashion. Eric sent Weaver out the mound to finish off Bay City, and for 6.6 innings it sure looked like it would be four and done. Eric burst out of the gate to take a 4-0 lead after three. After six it was 5-1. Weaver was in cruise control. Champagne was being brought to The Cheddarmen locker room. But with 2 out in the 7th and one man on, Weaver started counting his chickens. Little Freddy Sanchez hit a huge 2-out double after Robin (surprisingly to Eric) held up Posey from scoring on a 1-11 chance. But Freddy came through, and Ethier followed with a bomb off Wilson to right to tie the game.  In the bottom of the 9th Cabrera missed a ball park homer (1-10) to win, but Kuo came in and shut down the The Cheddarmen for 2 innings. In the bottom of the 10th Valencia hit a pinch-hit 2-out double. Torres followed with a fly ball X to Rajai Davis in left, who dropped the ball for a 2-base error, giving Robin a 6-5 walk-off win and a glimmer of life.


Team    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9        R    H    E
CM      0    0    0    0    0    2    0    4    0        6    9    0
BC      0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0        1    5    0

W: Verlander  L: Halladay  HR: BC Sanchez (1); CM  Werth (1)

Glimmer of life? For five innings in any case. Halladay was brilliant, giving up just one hit through five. Little Freddy Sanchez even gave Bay City a brief with a solo shot in the 5th. But The Cheddarmen came right back. Bourn led off the 6th with a single, and Werth followed with a majestic shot to left, and Verlander brought the cheese over the final four innings, giving up just one hit. The Cheddarmen salted it away in the 8th with four runs on 3 singles and 2 doubles. Verlander went the distance for his 2nd complete game of the series, walking 6 and striking out 10—sharing the MVP award with Adrian Gonzalez, who batted .450 with 2 homers and 7 ribbies.

Final observations on a strange season and Robin’s tough luck. Eric was 8-0 vs. Tom in the regular season, and 23-25 against the rest of league. It was a season of splits. He owes Tom. As for Robin, Eric rolled at least 6 2’s on groundball X’s to Robin’s shortstop and second baseman, both of whom are 2s.  After a while it got to be a bit of joke. She also had no karma with the thingy, missing split after split. 20 came up time and time again.  Eric counted his blessings. As far as he was concerned, next Sunday Robin could have won 4 of 5. He also realizes that no one gives a crap that he won. Even his fiancé was rooting for Robin. 


(3/4)  It's been a busy week in ths SOMBILLA.  First, an obscure rule question brought up by the league generated a minor controversy in the SOMBILLA community, with even the game company itself weighing in.  Then, a Boston Globe sports section runs an article on Strat-O-Matic featuring the SOMBILLA.

Last but by no means least, New Orleans' Justin Morneau plunged the league into one of its biggest scandals ever, with lots of culpability to go around.  A few days before today's playoffs, Eric questioned whether Justin Morneau of NO was limited.  Harold responded no, based on a confirming e-mail from Arnie back in October.  Turns out neither Harold nor Arnie bothered to actually look at the bylaws, which clearly show that IBB are not added in separately to the BB on the card for purposes of the 350 plate appearance limit.  He had only 348 PA, but Harold had used him as unlimited for the season, finishing in 3rd place.  What to do?  Arnie and Robin (the other playoff teams) as well as Tom (league VP) were brought in.  Arnie's feeling was it was a 'league error' with Harold relying in good faith on the Commissioner's response.  Of course, Harold shares culpability.  There was really no easy answer, although all other playoff teams endorsed Harold having the ability to make a roster move to call up another first baseman (which he would have done originally had he known Morneau was limited).  In the end, after a flurry of e-mails, Harold decided not to take that option and basically had to play the post-season with a limited Morneau but no extra roster moves to account for the need of a backup 1B (he still had Swisher).  We could have dragged the rest of the league in, we could have done a lot of things, but in the end, it was noted that the league has a long history of honest fuckups (Eric's ineligible Barrett WS game 6 (1990) squeeze, Arnie's 1989 Raines-gate just to name 2), and we just played ahead.  (A more formal system of answering rule questions from league members will be discussed at the draft.)

So, on the table, Harold's strategy was to sit out Morneau in game 1 and save him for the series.  This helped result in a 3-hit 4-0 shutout for Verlander in game 1.  Weaver pitched a 4-hit shutout for Eric in game 2 as he cruised 14-0.

In game 3 at NO, the game was close til Harold broke it open in the 8th and nickel and dimed his way to a 7-3 win.  Eric says Harold "played like Harold."

Harold tied up the series in game 4, a rematch of Carpenter vs Verlander in game 1.  Harold basically won with 3 unearned runs on Werth's error in the 4th to win 6-3.

Game 5 was another blowout for Eric, similar to game 2.  The highlight was Konerko's grand slam on a bp hr (1 for Harold's park).  Final score 11-2.

Eric cruised in the finale, 5-1 to make it to the World Series for the 3rd consecutive year.

.....

Across the table, Bay Cirty could do no wrong and ND could do no right.   Game 1 was the league's biggest post-season wipeout ever. Lil' Freddy Sanchez had  5 hits and 6 rbi.  M Cabrera had 4 hits and 5 rbi.  It was 19-0 after 5 innings. 

North Dakota had a good shot to win game 2; when Big Papi hit a 2-run homer in the 5th, they took a 6-5 lead after falling behind 4-0 in the first again.  But in the 8th, Aubrey Huff cracked a 2-run homer off ND's best reliever, Mike Adams (Huff's 2nd HR of the geme), to give BC back the lead.  ND loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th but could't score against Carlos 'The Marmot' Marmol, who picked up the save.

In any sweep, game 3 is the pivotal game and this was no exception.  Again, it was BC jumping in front, 3-0, again on Huff's 2-run homer.  Posey threw out 2 ND runners trying to steal (lured by the +9 hold of Hansen), and ND left many on base as well.  An rbi single by Pujols made it 3-1 in the 6th with nobody out and 2-on, but Ogando came in and got the next 3 batters.  Posey's homer in the 7th made it 4-1.  In the bottom of the 8th, ND loaded the bases with none out.  But O'Day struck out Rolen and C. Young and the excellent BC bullpen usage backed ND into a bad matchup (Ramos against a righty) and inning over.  ND still had 2 on with 2 out in the 9th, but again, a 'bench being empty' bad matchup means O'Day pitches to Rosales to end the game.

One odd footnote to game  3 was that BC batted first despite being home.  Neither manager noticed the error till the game was over.  ND's feeble protests went unheeded.

Proud North Dakota fought valiantly in game 4, scoring 4 runs in the top of the 1st (finally actually getting a chance to bat first).  But Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first (Robin was 7 for 8 on bp homers in the series) and ended up tiring out Latos by scoring 5.  BC scored 4 more in the 3rd to make it 9-5.  In the 6th inning, Thole's rbi double made it 9-6, but Ethier nails Rolen at the plate (18 rolled on a 1-16).  H. Ramirez then hits a 2-run homer and it's 9-8.  But Oswalt, still not tired, stays in and shuts the door until the 9th, when Saito and Kuo finish off the sweep. 

So, Robin is in the World Series against Eric.   She has never won the championship on her own (having shared the championship with Tsuan her first year in the league 29 long years ago).  She has played Eric in the post-season only once, and that was the league's first ever one-game playoff in 1995, when she had to play without injured Frank Thomas and lost the game 9-2.   I am not just saying this because we are married, but I think it is safe to say that the entire league is rooting for her against big, bad, evil Eric in the World Series.

(2/26) The BC/FU showdown almost didn't occur as Hamachi/connectivity issues took up the first hour.  Finally, Jed saved the day by hosting a 'Webex' session and playing all of the games on his computer, while Robin dictated her managing over the phone and watched the action on a 30-second delay.  After getting swept, perhaps Jed is having second thoughts, although nobody could doubt his integrity.  The first three games were all nail-biter one-run games.  Bay City actually tied New Orleans with 30 wins, but Harold's opening night sweep over her gives him the tie-breaker.

Game 1:  The Bay City Rollers edged the Fugakyu ballclub at Bay by the score of 2 to 1. Bay City tallied 2 runs in the 5th inning.  The critical plate appearance was by Chris Heisey who made the home-town crowd a happy bunch when he lifted one out of the park for a two run home run.  Fugakyu proved to be no trouble in the 9th.  The winning pitcher was Alexi Ogando who allowed 1 run in 1 inning. Ogando got help from Takashi Saito who earned his 3rd save.  Felix Hernandez was given the loss.  He pitched 7 and 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits and no walks.

Game 2: The Bay City Rollers and the Fugakyu ballclub locked up in an exciting one-run game at Bay.  The final score was 3-2. Roy Halladay(1-0) gave a fine effort for Bay City.  He allowed 4 hits and 1 walk in 7 and 1/3 innings.  Bay City had only 6 hits for the afternoon. Halladay was helped out by Carlos Marmol who recorded his 3rd save.  Evan Meek(0-1) was charged with the loss in relief.
The game ended when former Bay City player Vernen Wells hit into a double play.

Game 3:  Alexi Ogando earned his 2nd victory of the series with a fine relief performance.  He didn't give up much, just 1 hit and 1 walk in 3 innings.  Fugakyu tried unsuccessfully to come back in the 9th. Ogando got relief help from Hong-Chih Kuo who gained credit for his 5th save. Andrew Bailey(0-1) was the loser in relief. 

Game 4 (a 9-3 win) didn't really count, as both managers played out the string.  There will be a 4-way rolloff for the first pick.

Draft Day April 1.


(2/24)

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.  Overall, Tom displayed better managing, but North Dakota had the better rolls. As if that weren't enough, by cancelling and rescheduling the series from a month ago, lefty-killing Tom missed ND's only lefty starter, Cliff Lee.  The stars were aligned.
 
The teams hadnâ€'t met since opening night waaaaaaay back in early November, when Tom won 3 of 4 at home.  And after the Manatees erased an early 4-1 ND lead to win game 1 handily, 9-4, he had won 4 of 5 against the Gacklonians.

 

Game 2 was a classic pitchers duel, won by ND's Wainright with a save for Hensley, 3-1, to even the series.  The league’s most obscure DH, Adam Rosales, hit a 2-run HR for ND.

 

Game 3 was a close see-saw battle, as CN erased another early ND 3-0 lead to take a 4-3 lead on Hart's HR in the 5th.  Lucky rolling for Ramirez and Pedroia (2-run homer) gave ND the 5-4 lead right back.  Rolen's 3-run ballpark HR (1-11) off Gregerson in the 7th made it 8-4, and ND gambled successfully with Aardsma (Tom was licking his chops at the BP homers on his card) in the 8th.  ND wins 8-5.

 

The Manatees should have won game 4.  It was 4-4 after 5.  ND's lefty Marshall came in with some innings to burn and as expected, CN emptied its bench.  As feared, the Manatees teed off on Marhsall (Lowrie 2-run HR), but it could have been worse as they left the bases loaded with a 6-4 lead in the 7th. Hart was also thrown out at the plate on a 1-18! H. Ramirez's solo homer in the 7th made it 6-5.  Out of the blue, CN fireballer Frieri then beaned Matt Joyce, knocking him out for the rest of the season.

 

Bottom of the 9th, after ND’s manager botched a hit and run, H. Ramirez bailed out the manager by tying it up anyway with an rbi double.  ND loads the bases with one out against Gregerson.  The Manatees bring the outfield and corners in.  Josh Thole comes up as a pinch-hitter and hits a walk-off grand slam, mathematically eliminating the Manatees.

 

Draft Day April 1.


(2/23) Harold solidified his hold on 3rd place last night, beating Randy 3 games to 1, further increasing the liklihood of the Bay City/Fugakyu winner take all best of 5 on Sunday night for the final playoff spot.  No further details of last night's series are available at this time.

Draft Day April 1.

(2/22) The Manatees were resigned and hopeful for the Death Fish to sweep the hapless sea mammals and set them up for the #1 overall pick….
But the story was the infield in calls….

Game 1, Felix Hernandez vs. Matt Cain is a pitchers’ duel. Both hurlers looking superb as the Puffer Fish looked at the oversized walls and just shook their heads. With Youk at third and Hunter at first, the Fish bought the infield in and then put them back and held Hunter at first. Butler grounded out (gbB out at home if the infield is in) and Youk scored the only run as the Manatees win 1-0.

Game 2, The worm turned as the offenses woke up and the Manatees went up 6-3 after putting a 5 spot up in the third highlighted by a Cory Hart 3-run homer. A tired Myers held on for two more innings and then Meek came in and shutdown the Manatees. The wheels fell of the Manatee pitching staff as the death fish scored 5 runs versus 4 pitchers in the 8th for the comeback victory 8-6.

Game 3, The Fish went up 2-1 early but rookie backstop Carlos Santana hit a 2 run homer to put the Manatees up 3-2. Top of the 8th, the fish battled back and tied the game at 3. Matt Capps came out and hit Youkilis, struck out Morales and then lost track of Youk as he stole second. Hunter hit an open single and the throw came home and Youk scores. Manatees hold on for the 4-3 win.

Game 4, this one was a slow consistent beating against the young David Price as the Manatees scored 3, 1, 2, 2, 2 over the first 5 innings. Bautista got the meaningless solo shot but the Manatees never relinquished the lead winning 11-3 in an exchange of complete games as Hudson and Price never tired. The infield came in early in this game and a GBA+ resulted in two runs for the Manatees, prompted Jed to declare that the whole infield positioning has just failed him this year.

The Fish could have come out 3-1 or 0-4, but ended up 1-3. Fugakyu is now 26-26 and tied for 4th with Bay City. Setting up a dramatic final night series for the last playoff spot between these franchises.
Manatees end up 22-26 and jump over Jeff to a tie with Future Wax. These teams will play in a futile final series Sunday after Harold and Arnie beat up on them respectively before then.

Draft Day, Sunday April 1.

From Jed: A few observations, not necessarily in any order:

1. Tom freakin' kills lefties. Holy cow.
2. Tom's fielders have really good arms. A number of guys pegged out at the plate and otherwise. Brett Gardner thrown out stealing for the first time all season.
3. Orlando Hudson's error led to the only run in game 1. Hudson has blow a couple of games for me, and he sure ain't making up for it with the bat.
4. I got one (solo) homer in the whole series. Tom had 4...and if it had been in my park, it might've been worse, since he had a lot more chances.
5. I did hit .280 for the series!
6. Matt Capps sucks.
7. I didn't use up much of my bullpen, though in retrospect maybe I should have.


(2/17) In addition to Tom's Twits Notes below (re-subject lined in this e-mail), Eric had previously sent me his Twits Notes while I  was away skiing:

So one of the oddest years ever continues. Eric drove up to Tom's for the 2nd week in a row, and Tom, ever the gracious host, handed Eric a broom and said, "please, sweep my ass." Which Eric did, making him a perfect 8-0 against Tom this year, and a pedestrian 21-23 against everyone else.

Not that it was blowout by any means. Eric had walk-off wins in games 1, 3 and 4, in the 11th, 10th and 9th innings, respectively. Game 2 was a gem by Verlander, going the distance in a 6-0 snoozer, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk.

Game 1 was the game of the series. It began with eric realizing he didn't have his scoresheets from the prior week, which meant he had no idea which of his relief pitchers were available. So it was Jared Weaver's task to suck it up for team, which he did. Going into the bottom of the 9th, Tom held a 7-2 lead, having bashed 4 homers off weaver, who allowed 8 hits and 6 walks, and somehow managed to pitch 11 innings without getting tired. In the 9th, down 5, Eric parlayed 3 sleazy walks and 4 dinky singles into 5 gorgeous runs to tie, and then won it in the 11th on a 2-out single by Zimmerman to score a pussle-gutted Prince Fielder, the only Cheddarman on the bench who could replace an injured Rajai Davis. And there you have it.

As Tom noted, draft day is Sunday April 1.

Eric’s Cheddarmen welcomed the Manatees to Cheeseland and Tom offered Eric a good dark brown micro brewed ale

CN goes up 7-2 but misses some ball park homers and cannot tire out Jared Weaver.  Meanwhile, Eric cannot find his score sheets from his last series so he won’t bring in a reliever (there was a roll but no rainout before or during the series) and with two outs in the eighth Cain has retired 20 in a row when he walks the top of the Cheddar lineup and then retires Crawford.  (Cain gave up 3 doubles (2 off his card) in the first for 2 runs on some unlikely rolls.)  The ninth starts and Cain walks the first two batters and he is tired and with a 5 run lead CN brings in the relief corps and three pitchers give up 4 singles and a walk and two strikeouts and the lead.  Never really had a bad match up, but the dice just do not care sometimes.  The game is tied 7-7.  The 10th comes along and the Manatees get two men on and then Willingham gets a double 1-17 and  he is out.  Stauffer, who is a reverse right hander,, is cruising when he hits Rajai Davis knocking him out for 2 games and the fleet one Prince Fielder pinch runs.  Sweeney, a lefty, hits a short double and Zimmerman hits a smash to Kinsler at second and he boots it for a 2 base error and the game. 

Verlander pitches game 2 and CN misses there ball park homer shot with a man on and hits death roll after death roll (both teams hit a lot of these over 4 games) and the next thing you know he has a complete game 6-0 shut out.

The Microbrew Chocolate stout was a good second beer, but CN was now thinking shots of Jack might have been the better idea.

Gio starts and the Manatees hit lefties hard and get 5 runs early but the cheesemen hit 3 homers and pulls Gio in the third in a 5-5 game.  We go to the bottom of the 10th and Stauffer is pitching again and Crawford hits a lead-off double.  Then Werth hits a game winnings long single and CN records no 10th inning outs and watches their season slip away.

Lincecum versus Hudson is the final matchup.  Both teams seem unlucky as the game is again tied late at 2-2.  The bottom of the ninth with one out and Adrian Gonzalez rolled into his column for a clean home run and the series sweep.


Draft day, April 1st.


(2/15)
  A rare Valentine's Day SOMBILLA matchup was almost derailed when Randy was an hour late to Jeff's house.  Adding further angst to The Raging Alcoholics lost season on the night before Jeff had a big executive presentation were two extra inning games, one 10 inning and the other either 17 or 18 innings.   (An agitated Jeff 'lost track').

Draft Day Sunday April 1.

(2/12) Jed leapt from 6th place into a three-way tie for 2nd place by sweeping Harold this morning.  And in fact, Jed also easily holds the tie-breaker among Harold, Eric, and himself, having swept both Harold and Eric this season!  Jed writes:

Even though it ended in a sweep, every game of the New Orleans at Fugakyu series was close. Due to Harold's epic lack of karma, however, the result was apparently pre-ordained.

Felix Hernandez had his second complete game outing in a row, allowing no earned runs in a 4-1 Pufferfish victory. Hernandez is now 6-3 on the season, with an ERA of under 5. Joey Votto hit a HR for Fugakyu.

In game 2 there was computer controversy, as somehow Ryan Hanigan was left off the roster for Fugakyu and Zack Braddock was left off the roster for New Orleans. The game went into extra innings tied 4-4. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Putz came in as a proxy for Braddock. We manually read results off of Braddock's card instead of Putz's, and off the left side of the Fugakyu batters' cards. With a man on base, a 1-2 was rolled on Adrian Beltre's card. This is a single against righties...but a ballpark homer against lefties...and Braddock is a lefty. Fugakyu hit 5 home runs in the game.

Game 3 was another nail biter, as New Orleans scrapped back from a 6-2 deficit but ultimately fell short 7-5. New Orleans matched Fugakyu in home runs 3 to 3, with Nick Swisher hitting 2 and Bautista hitting 2. Carpenter pitched a complete game and kept New Orleans in the game while preserving the bullpen.

In the first inning of game 4, Harold had a ball park home run for David Wright with two runners on base. A 1-19 chance to take a 3-0 lead. Harold rolled a 20. The Pufferfish hit two ballpark homers in the bottom of the first and never trailed en route to another 7-5 win. Once again, New Orleans kept scrapping and a tired Jonathan Sanchez kept them in the game until the end. Ryan "luck o' the Irish" Hanigan hit two home runs and Fugakyu hit 6 total in the game. David Price allowed only 1 run in 5 innings for the win, and Mark Belisle picked up the save.

The missing of the 1-19 home run marked the apex (or nadir) of Harold's karma but there were many, many other examples of hitting into double plays at inopportune times etc. The only karmic turnabout was when Jed brilliantly inserted Orlando Hudson and induced a 2B-X roll only to have a double play turn into an error. Harold was able to grab the lead in game 2 and it looked like maybe the luck had shifted but then the bottom of the 11th happened.

Draft Day, Sunday April 1.


(2/11)  A forgettable series really, with no tense moments or close games.  Bay City won 7-0 (Halladay, 4-hit CG, Huff 3-run HR) and 7-2 (CJ Wilson now 5-4, V-Mart 3-run HR), while ND won both its games by a score of 5-2 (Hensley 2 saves, Cruz 2 HR, 5 rbi)...All teams are within 3 games of the playoffs. Send your stats to Tom; if you are in the playoffs, your stats will be audited...Draft Day, Sunday, April 1.

(2/9) Eric writes "
three extra inning games, of which randy won 2. all three were decided by solo shots: konerko for me, hamilton and thome for randy"...Draft Day, Sunday April 1.

(2/5) Game 1:  Jose Bautista lofted one into the 'cheap seats' and had 4 RBI and Felix Hernandez tossed a fine 3 hitter at Pufferfish Pond as the Fugakyu club beat the North Dakota team by the count of 6 to 1.

Game 2: Adam Wainwright allowed North Dakota's manager to rest his bullpen, tossing a complete game and Nelson Cruz left the yard and had 5 RBI as the North Dakota team man-handled the Fugakyu ballclub - the final score was 18 to 3. North Dakota lit up the scoreboard in the 5th inning when they had 7 runs on 6 hits and the 9th inning which saw them score 6 runs on 6 hits.  North Dakota totaled 20 hits on the afternoon (off a tired wife-betaer Brett Myers, who took one for the team). 

Game 3: Third baseman Scott Rolen cracked a homer and had 3 RBI as the North Dakota ballclub beat the Fugakyu team by a score of 15 to 12.

Rolen had a big day with his bat.  He banged out a single bringing in two baserunners in the 5th inning, clubbed a solo home run in the 7th inning and doubled in the 8th inning.  North Dakota kept the scorekeepers busy in the 5th inning when they had 4 runs on 4 hits and the 7th inning scoring 4 runs. It was roller coaster of a game as the lead change hands 5 times. 

Game 4:  In an exciting finish the Fugakyu ballclub pulled out a win over the North Dakota club by a score of 4 to 3 at Pufferfish Pond.

The game was won by Fugakyu when they scored a run in the bottom of the 9th inning.  Ryan Hanigan cracked a solo homerun giving Fugakyu the win as 48,227 happy fans joyfully celebrated.  The victory went to Joakim Soria(1-0) who went 1 and 2/3 innings, allowing no runs.

The ND/CN series has been rescheduled for 2/21...Draft Day April 1.

(2/1) Satisfying split for A51, who despite holding down 8th place, is still only three games out of a playoff berth.  Jed was frustrated over his team's inability to get back to .500.  A very close series, here are pared down computer notes:

Game 1: Jose Bautista hit 2 doubles and had 3 RBI as the Fugakyu club staged a dramatic comeback over the Area 51 team by a score of 11 to 10 at the ballpark.
Game 2: Brett Myers went 9 strong innings as the Fugakyu ballclub beat the Area 51 team by a score of 6 to 0.

Game 3: Area 51 club broke the deadlock in their last at bats, pulling out a 3 to 2 win over the Fugakyu ballclub and sending their hometown fans home smiling. Area 51 won the game with a run in the bottom of the 9th inning. After an out was recorded, Elvis Andrus lined a base-hit.  Andrus took his lead and swiped second.  Jose Tabata then hit a single giving Area 51 the win much to the delight of the home town crowd.  Area 51 finished with 11 hits while Fugakyu ended up with 7. 

Game 4: Neftali Feliz had an impressive outing at the ballpark where the Area 51 ballclub beat the Fugakyu club in 18 innings 2 to 1. Both teams were tied at 1 runs apiece after nine innings.  Finally, Area 51 pulled the game out in the 18th inning.  Carlos Gonzalez delivered a solo blast giving Area 51 the win and sending the home town fans into a frenzy. Area 51 won despite being out-hit by Fugakyu 9 hits to 6. 

Draft Day, Sunday  April 1

(1/30) 
After losing 7 of 8 in last week's bash (and on a 6-game losing streak), The Cheddarmen bounced back, taking 6 of 8 from Jeff and Robin to split from the pacl and takeover 3rd place. Eric won his first 6 games--a 4 game sweep of Jeff, and the first 2 games vs. Bay City. But the Bay City Queen rallied for the satisfying split. Having been trashed last weekend by Arnie and Jed, Eric took no joy in trashing Jeff (tho he'll take the wins). Eric outscored Jeff 34-7. Robin appeared equally over-matched to start her series against The Cheddarmen, but then she wisely changed dice, putting the hex on Eric.

Here are additional assorted TWITS Notes from the bash from Robin
Kuo gave up his first earned run of the season in game 39 for me (BB, sac, BB, single) to win it for Harold, 1-0 in the ninth. Starters Carpenter and Hanson gave up a combined 6 hits in going 7 innings each--Carpenter having a no-hitter through 5. Huff got the "2" roll on a 2-20 in the Game 1 blow-out and stole successfully (on a 19).  My third and fourth starters excelled on the day, Hanson going 12 1/3 and allowing just 2 runs, and the exceptionally attractive C.J. Wilson going 16 1/3 and giving up 1 run (despite walking 7 in 7 1/3 innings vs. Eric).

Draft Day, Sunday, April 1

(1/22)  After starting the season 0-8, Jed swept back into contention on Sunday at the expense of The Cheddarmen (1-7 on the day).  Only 2 teams are over .500 and only 2 games now separate 3rd place from 8th place.  Per Jed’s computer:

Game 1

Joey Votto rocketed 4 homeruns (tying a league record) and had 6 RBI at Pufferfish Pond where Fugakyu beat the Cheddarmen by the score of 11 to 7. It seemed that the Cheddarmen pitching was serving up softballs for Votto to hit. He popped a two-run clout over the fence in the 1st inning, ripped a solo home run in the 2nd inning, hit a bases-empty home run in the 4th inning and smashed a two-run homer in the 6th inning. Fugakyu had many opportunities throughout the game and scored in 6 separate innings. The victory went to Felix Hernandez who went 7 innings, allowing 7 runs. Jered Weaver was the loser. He served up 8 homeruns in his 7 innings. The two teams combined for 11 dingers total.

Game 2

Jose Bautista blasted a homerun and had 3 RBI and Brett Myers pitched a complete game at Pufferfish Pond where Fugakyu beat the Cheddarmen club 11 to 3. Fugakyu drew first blood jumping out to an early lead in the first inning as they creamed the Cheddarmen blasting them with 8 runs on 5 hits. That early scoring was all that Myers needed. Fugakyu rapped out 13 hits for the afternoon. Justin Verlander was given the loss. He was unable to control the Fugakyu offense and allowed 13 hits and 10 walks in 8 innings.

Game 3

Colby Lewis dominated striking out 11 Cheddarmen batters as Fugakyu eked out a 3 to 1 victory at Pufferfish Pond. Lewis had a solid outing for Fugakyu. He went 6 and 2/3 innings and surrendered just 3 hits and 2 walks. The Cheddarmen could do no damage in the 9th. Joakim Soria gained credit for the save. Jhoulys Chacin was charged with the loss in relief. He surrendered 2 hits and no walks in 1 and 1/3 innings.

Game 4

Joey Votto left the yard at Pufferfish Pond as the Fugakyu club beat the Cheddarmen team 6 to 5. Fugakyu tallied 3 runs in the 7th inning. The biggest moment was provided by Jose Bautista who made the crowd happy when he lost the ball over the fence for three runs. Fugakyu and the Cheddarmen each finished the afternoon with 7 hits. Evan Meek was the winner allowing no runs in 1 inning. Joakim Soria earned his second save of the series. Scott Downs was the loser in relief.

Draft Day, Sunday, April 1.

(1/21)  Robin got back to .500 and climbed into 4th place by *sweeping Randy (asterisked because Randy played the last 2 ½ games with a bad head/neckache).  In game 1, Oswalt picked up the 7-6 victory despite allowing 4 solo homeruns. Luke Scott hit into a clutch out in the ninth for Randy, who consistently rolled 20s on the “thing.” B.J. Upton hit a pinch-hit 3-run HR in the sixth to clinch it for BC.  In Game 2 , BC broke open a 3-3 tie with 7 runs in the seventh, with M. Cabrera hitting a 3-run HR (to go along with 2 doubles). Game 3 featured a fifth inning clutch out by Stanton and another ninth inning clutch out for Randy (with Josh Hamilton being victimized this time). BC won it in the tenth, 3-2 on a Posey single. FW’s Ellis had 3 singles and was conceded a stolen base on each of them by the +9 Hanson. Game 4 was a blow-out, with BC winning 13-3 in a battle of lefties (Kershaw and C.J. Wilson) each pitching complete games. Bay City’s Victor Martinez missed hitting for the cycle by a triple, but he did homer twice and have 9 rbis for the game, with Lil’ Freddy Sanchez scoring in front of him 4 times.

The beat goes on:  Draft Day, Sunday April 1.

(1/17) On the whole, the karma was not with Tom, except for a nice extra innings comeback in game 3. So, Fugakyu 3 games, Constantinople 1.

Game 1

Matt Holliday smacked 2 homeruns as the Fugakyu ballclub defeated the Constantinople team by the score of 5 to 4 at Pufferfish Pond. Joakim Soria was called upon to do the job and he was the winning pitcher. He went 1 and 1/3 innings surrendering 1 hit and 1 walk. Both teams totaled 9 hits on the afternoon. Santiago Casilla was the losing pitcher in relief. He gave up 1 run and 1 hit in 1 inning.

Game 2

Shin-Soo Choo connected with a 'big fly' and had 2 RBI as the Fugakyu ballclub beat the Constantinople club by a score of 9 to 4. Fugakyu claimed the early lead in the first inning as they scored 5 runs on 4 base hits. That early scoring held up. Both teams totaled 11 hits on the afternoon. The victory was credited to Brett Myers who went 7 innings, allowing 4 runs. Matt Cain took the loss. He pitched 1/3 of an inning allowing 4 hits and 1 walk.

Game 3

In a tight game it was Constantinople 6, Fugakyu 4 in 10 innings at Pufferfish Pond. Both teams had scored 4 runs after nine full innings. Finally, Constantinople pulled the game out in the 10th inning. After an out was recorded, Corey Hart kicked off the action when he laced a one-base hit. Hart was safe on a stolen base. Alex Rodriguez then drew a walk. Torii Hunter struck out, unable to help the rally. Josh Willingham came to the plate and drew a walk to load the bases. Yunel Escobar did his part to keep things going and delivered a base-hit. Fugakyu could do no damage in the bottom of the 10th. The win was credited to Luke Gregerson who went 2 and 1/3 innings allowing no runs. Evan Meek suffered the loss in relief. He gave up 1 hit and 3 walks in 1 and 1/3 innings.

Game 4

Joe Mauer had 4 hits and 3 RBI at Pufferfish Pond as Fugakyu beat Constantinople 11 to 4. Mauer helped send the fans home happy. He doubled in the 4th inning, laced a one-base hit plating a run in the 5th inning, doubled in the 6th inning and smashed a two-run homer in the 8th inning. Fugakyu had 15 hits overall, while Constantinople had 7. David Price picked up the victory, allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. The loss was charged to Matt Cain. He surrended 3 homeruns in his 8 innings.
The drumbeat continues: Draft Day, Sunday April 1


(1/16) Twits Notes: It was an unsatisfying split for Bay City: After determining that Wandy Rodriguez was a lefty and switching her line-up at the last minute, Robin took Game 1, 7-3, with both Wandy (who never officially got tired) and Oswalt pitching complete games. For BC, BJ Upton fell a homer shy of the cycle and Posey homered, while the Alcoholics' Gold Glove 3B Evan Longoria made two (non-costly) errors. Game 2 was a nail-biter for both, with normally sure-handed BC SS Alex Gonzalez making the second of his 2 2-base errors of the series (leading to an un-earned run), Andres Torres hitting 3 doubles (out of the 7 BC got in the game), and Kuo holding on to save O'Day's 6-5 win in relief of Halladay. Jeff put Game 3 away in the 8th (after tying it in the 7th) with HR by Longoria (his second of the game) and Texiera, with Bard getting the win in relief of Garza. BC had clutch outs by Headley and former Alcoholic Ethier in consecutive innings. Jeff tied up Game 4 in the 8th as Kuo walked in a run (but Jeff could have had more had +6 Ogando not picked off Infante before walking the following two batters) and won it in the tenth (5-4) on two walks and a Carlos Gonzalez double off O'Flaherty. Jeff hit two "1 HRs" in his park.
The drumbeat continues: Draft Day, Sunday April 1

(1/8) Red hot North Dakota, winners of 11 of their last 13 games knocked off front-running New Orleans Sunday afternoon, only the second series loss all season for New Orleans.  The series couldn't have started any better for New Orleans, who scored 6 runs in the first inning against beleaguered starter Josh Johnson (DeJesus 3-run blast) and they went on to win 10-4.  North Dakota came back to win game 2, 7-1, with Wainright, Adams and Aardsma holding NO to just 2 hits.

Game 3 was a nailbighter.  ND went up 4-0 off Cy Young candidate Carpeenter (5-1 coming into the game).  But NO scored 3 in the 5th off Latos to make it a close game.  After a leadoff double for NO's Morneau in the 6th, North Dakota’s Romo, Adams and Marhsall shut down NO over the final 4 innings, with Marhsall becoming the 5th different ND reliever to record a save.  The finale was also close, the crazy game knotted 6-6 after 5 innings.  But ND's obscure one-year wonder utility man, Adam Rosales, homers off J. Sanchez in the 6th to make it 7-6. Again, ND pitches scoreless relief (Henesley, Marshall, C. Perez) although it wasn't pretty.  Pedroia's homer off Mariano Roivera in the 9th seals the win and the series for ND 8-6.

Meanwhile on the Internet...

In Game 1, Future Wax was up 1-0 after 5. Two innings later, it was 7-7. Thome's second home run put the Wax up 8-7 in the 10th, and Burnett shut Jed down for the win. In game 2, Jimenez defeated Meyers for a 9-6 win, which included Thome's third homerun. Fugakyu teed off on Hamels with a 4-run first powered by a Beltre 3-run blast, and coasted to an easy 8-2 win. Game 4 was another slugfest, with a combined 43 hits. The Wax were up 11-5, after 5-1/2, but Jed roared back on a Victorio grand slam and a Bautista 2-run shot, tying the score at 11 apiece after 7. But all was for naught, as Luke Scott's solo shot in the 9th gave the Wax a 3-1 series win as FW climbs back into 4th.

The drumbeat continues:  Draft Day, Sunday April 1.

(1/4)  North Dakota took over sole possession of 3rd place, winning a road series at FW last night.  They key game was game 4.  Randy looked like he was on his way to get the split, up 3-1 in the 7th.  ND had 2 out and none on.  A harmless single by Pujols brings up Cruz.  On a HR 1-10, out otherwise, he rolls a "3" to tie the game of the heretofore unhittable Kershaw.  In comes Madson.  A single by injury callup Beltran, and then Ortiz pinch-hits for Rosales.  Valverde comes in for FW.  Ortiz hits a HR 1-10, out otherwise, rolls a "9" and ND is up 5-2.  Randy looked stunned (or maybe just very tired, it was late).  ND goes on to win the game 7-3, Cliff Lee pitching a CG.  ND outscored FW 26-16 in the series.

The drumbeat begins:  Draft Day, Sunday April 1.

(12/21)  Bay City and Future Wax split, in a satisfying split for BC, who lost the first two games. Oswalt was the tough luck loser in Game 1, allowing only a walk through four, and then pitching for a pure cycle (single, double, triple, HR in that order in innings 5-7. Jimenez stuck out 14 in 7 2/3, as FW won 4-2. In Game 2, Halladay pitched almost as badly as he did against Jeff, giving up a grand slam in the first to Thome (who Randy rewarded by removing him in the second, costing himself a couple more homers) and walking six and hitting a batter before finally being removed in the 8th after being tired since the 2nd.  For BC, Andres Torres fell a single shy of the cycle, as FW enraged the few Bay City fans at the Waxdome by walking Torres (not intentionally) in the 9th. Final score 11-7.

Game 3 saw Tommy Hanson, O’Day, and Kuo combine for a 5-1 win, with FW fortunately failing to get the good lead against the +9 Hanson. M. Cabrera was the offensive star, with a BB, double, HR, and 4 RBIs—but offensive star with an asterisk goes to Kuo, who had to bat and led off the bottom of the 7th with a single. Game 4 was a nail-biter, as FW scored in the bottom of the first on a walk, single, and GDP. Bay City tied it in the 4th on a bases-loaded sac fly, and took the 2-1 lead on a homer by Huff in the 6th. Kuo (*Game 3 hitting star) saved it for CJ Wilson, who picked up his first win in a Bay City uniform (at least his first win of this, his second tenure with BC).

Remember, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, all teams get a day off (regardless of how many games they have played). I want everyone to be thinking about this at midnight. 

(12/19)  North Dakota's weird season continues with their third sweep (two for, one against) of the season.  The story of the series was in game 3.  North Dakota was clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 8th.  H. Ramirez had gotten injured so Rosales (4e88) was playing shortstop.  With one on and one out, Heyward hits a gb(SS)X!  Rosales is holding Andrus so he became a 5e88!  Jeff rolls a 20 for a 6-4-3 double play (no error of course), ND hangs on for the win (Adams leaving the bases loaded in the 9th for the save).

 

Jeff had a chance to avoid the sweep in game 4, tying the game in the 9th inning 4-4, then going ahead in the 10th 5-4 on Heyward's rbi.  But with 2-out and 2-on in the bottom of the 10th, Pujols hits a ballpark homer (1-11) and rolls a “3â€� for the walk-off sweep.

 

ND outhomered RA 10-1 in the series.  Pujols was 7 for 14 with 3 homers, 8 rbis and 4 walks.


(12/18)  Jed won his first series of the year at Robin’s expense, closing to within 3 games of a playoff spot.  Here are the slightly edited computer-generated game recaps:

Game 1

Felix Hernandez whiffed 11 batters at Pufferfish Pond where the Fugakyu team beat the Bay City Rollers 3 to 1. Hernandez was in control of the game from the outset. He was stingy on the mound, allowing just 10 hits and no walks in 9 innings. Bay City out-hit Fugakyu 10 to 4, but Fugakyu ended up with more runs. Roy Oswalt was the loser. 'Everything felt great' Hernandez said. 'I had a good fastball, I felt I could throw it by everybody today.'

Game 2

The Bay City Rollers bested Fugakyu by a 7 to 4 score at Pufferfish Pond. Bay City jumped on top to stay in the top of the 2nd inning scoring 3 runs on 3 base hits. Miguel Cabrera started the inning off right when he singled. After an out was recorded, Alex Gonzalez stepped in and he delivered a single. Chase Headley then drew a walk to load the bases. Buster Posey followed next and he would ground out. Chris Heisey came up to bat and doubled. Bay City had a total of 10 hits for the game. The win went to Roy Halladay who allowed 4 runs in 8 and 2/3 innings. The loss was charged to Brett Myers. (Ed note  Karma-wise, the wife batterer didn’t stand a chance going up against a female manager). He allowed 7 runs and 9 hits in 8 innings.

[Note: odd that the computer doesn't mention Aubrey Huff's grand slam, which actually turned out to be the difference in the game....]

Game 3

Second baseman Bill Hall lofted one into the 'cheap seats' and had 4 RBI as the Fugakyu club defeated the Bay City Rollers 13 to 8 at Pufferfish Pond. Hall had a big day at the plate. He banged out a single knocking in a run in the 1st inning, doubled bringing home two baserunners in the 2nd inning and lofted a solo-blast 'downtown' in the 4th inning. Fugakyu had 16 hits for
the game and Bay City had 13. The win was credited to Colby Lewis who went 5 innings allowing 8 runs. Tommy Hanson(0-1) was charged with the loss. He got hit pretty hard, allowing 10 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings.

Game 4

28,345 fans watched an exciting game at Pufferfish Pond. The Fugakyu ballclub topped the Bay City Rollers by the slimmest of margins, 5 to 4. David Price pitched well for Fugakyu in their victory. He was reached for 7 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings. Fugakyu totaled 9 hits on the afternoon. Joakim Soria got the save, his 1st. C.J. Wilson was the loser. He gave up 5 runs and 8 hits in 6 and 1/3 innings.

...

Also on Sunday, Jeff and Eric decided to start early, at 11, and all things considered it was a satisfying split for both teams. Of note for Eric was game 1, where he decided to take out his DH in the latter stages of the game to maximize his defense. In the 9th, Jared Weaver batted and remarkably hit a single off the pitcher's hitting card. and eventually scored a run. Of note for Jeff was a walk off home run by Cargo in game 3, off Downs.

(12/17) New Orleans increased it's lead over the pack to 3 games last night, knocking Tom back into 5th place. 
Their bats actually woke up, and they had two 6 run games. And Tom missed at least 6 (maybe more) ball park hr's...Randy wrote about his series earlier this week "Jeff kicked my butt for the first three games. I scored 2 runs over the first 3 innings of game 1 and did not score again until game 4, while Jeff was racking up 9 runs here, 6 runs there, 12 runs the other place.  My offense reappeared for Game 4, and we avoided the sweep by teeing off on Garza and getting another solid start from our ace Kershaw."

(12/11)  A long day in Holliston for Eric was made excruciatingly longer when he and Jed shattered the league record for longest game with a
ridiculous 22-inning 9-8 game 4, won by Jed.  This comes one week after Eric tied the 24-year old league record with a 20-inning game against Harold, which Eric also lost.  Farnsworth pitched 9 innings for Eric while J. Lopez pitched the final 10 innings for Jed. 

Unlike veteran Future Wax GM, Tsuan Li, the league is hardly shocked at the latest revelation of PED's in the FW clubhouse, expected accusations of long-time anti-Future Wax bias notwithstanding.

(12/6)  Dustin Pedroia celebrated his newfound unlimitedness....by getting injured. Meanwhile Future Wax's Jim Thome became the anti-Pedroia when Randy discovered to his surprise that his regular cleanup hitter was limited...Both Future Wax and North Dakota are at the roster freeze..Send your stats to Tom.

(12/5)  Apprently CN and FW actually did play Saturday at an unknown location and split...The North Dakota manager is pleased and embarrased to report that he petitioned the league's Vice Commissioner on behalf of Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia had 349 (AB + BB + HBP + SF) in 2010 and so ND had been assuming that he was limited.  Turns out he also had 2 "SH" which the manager stupidly thought were sacrifice hits, but were actually sacrifice bunts and count toward the 350 unlimited rule.  Thanks to Tom for pointing that out.  The bylaws have been amended to add SH to the following: 
"Player limits are calculated based on plate appearances.  For this purpose, plate appearances equal AB+BB+HBP+SF (sac flies) + SH (sacrfice bunts).   Players with 350 or more plate appearances are unlimited."...Bay City, Constantinople and New Orleans are all at the roster freeze.


(12/4)  Harold finished his weekend odysey going 11-5 to leap into first place.  It is shatters the league record for most games played in one weekend (by one whose name is not Jed flying in from out of town - when he played 20 games in 24 hours in a hotel room in Waltham on 12/9-10 2006).  This weekend represented almost a third of Harold's entire season. 

Eric writes "I have the energy to sum up only one series, really only one game, so it must be game 3 of my series with Harold, which went an epic 20 innings before Harold pulled out the home win, 3-2. (Ed note - this ties the 24 year old league record from 1987 when Bay City beat Future Wax 10 to 7, with Tom Henke having to pitch 12 innings in relief as Robin's last pitcher).  I had a chance to take a 3-2 lead in the 9th, but Dejesus threw out  Crawford at the plate on a safe chance 1-17. I rolled a 20. Naturally, we both used up our pens. I got a little punch-drunk around the 18th inning, at which point everything just seemed to crack me up. Especially Bartlett's one out double off Downs to win the game. I couldn't have been happier to lose a game. Including last year's World Series, Harold and I have played 5 extra inning games out 11. Harold leads this mini-series 6-5.


(12/3) Best 0-4 sweep I have ever been a part of.  After losing the team's leading hitter, N. Cruz, for the series against the league's best pitching staff in the first inning of game 1,  I knew it would be an uphill struggle. After losing game 1, 2-1 (3-hitter by Strasburg, Benoit, Wagner, Peralta, Rivera), North Dakota faced another insurmountable 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the 9th in game 2.  Dustin Pedroia (who in going 1 for 10 in the series, improved his average to .093 (4 for 43), hit a ballpark homer with 2 on and 1 out.  Walkoff homer 1-11, out otherwise.  He rolled a 13 and Rivera had another save.

Game 3 was one of the most interesting SOMBILLA regular season games of all time.  The teams (Haren/Adams) and J. Sanchez had dual no-hitters through 6 innings (with Sanchez having a perfect game through 5).  ND scored in the 6th without a hit on 2 walks, a sac and a groundout, so it was 1-0 going to the 7th with two no hitters.   Beltran homered for ND in the 7th while Adams continued the no-hitter for ND. ND led 3-1 going into the 9th with Clay Hensley looking for the save.  NO tied it, eventually winning, 4-3 in the 11th.   Yeah, NO won the finale 4-2, NO holding 7th place North Dakota to 7 runs for the series.


(11/17) Robin hit two BP HR "1" rolls at Constantinople - one by injury callup Montero, the other by V. Mart, starting due to injury.  That's really the best summation of her series win against Tom...All four games in the NO/FW series were decided by 2 runs or fewer...
Two games separate the top 7 teams! The league is now off for two weeks.  Happy Thanksgiving from the SOMBILLA turkey himself.  Use this time to do your stats and send them to Tom!

(11/16)  The classic unsatisfying split, although I guess winning any games should be satisfying for me.
Game 1 was a 5-4 complete game victory for Felix Hernandez, who did NOT get tired!!! He did "scatter" 10 hits and 5 walks. Gardner hit a rare homer, and McCann hit one for the Wax. 10 doubles in the game! It was close all the way through, with a lead change and a tie through 4 innings.

In game 2 Future Wax jumped to a first inning 2-0 lead on a Thome HR. Those would be the only runs they would score. Fugakyu had a veritable offensive outburst, scoring 9 runs on 13 hits. Votto and the newly-pumped Gardner both had homers and 4 RBIs each. Brett Myers pitched 7 and 2/3 strong innings. A tired Ubaldo Jimenez took one for the team.
Visions of improving to 3-8 were dashed for Fugakyu in game 3. This time it was Fugakyu taking the 2-0 first inning lead and Future Wax taking the lead back in the second inning. Barton had a HR for Fugakyu, Scott had one for Future Wax. McCann had 2 RBI. No one was a huge hitting start in what ended up a 4-2 win for the Wax. Kershaw pitched 7 innings for the win, allowing only 5 hits. The bullpen (4 pitchers) added 2 scoreless innings. Colby "Cheese" Lewis took the loss, in spite of 10 strikeouts in just 6 and 1/3 innnings.

Game 4 was quite a pitcher's duel. Mutant Daniel Hudson and David Price both had no hitters going through 3 innings. Future Wax scored 2 in the fourth inning, with McCutchen and Bruce getting back-to-back RBI doubles. Mauer ended Hudson's no-hit bit emphatically with a solo HR in the 6th but that was it for Fugakyu. In all Hudson pitched 8 innings for the win, allowing only 2 hits and 3 walks. Venters got the save in the 2-1 Wax victory.

Bautista watch: no homers in this series gives him 1 in 39 AB. He went 2-12 in the series and is now batting .179. At least Mauer is now over the Mendoza line....

Overall, we lost about an hour to getting networking and the computer game set up properly. But it was still less than 3.5 hours total.

.........
The Manatees entered the night with low expectations after a crushing sweep at the hands of the Cheddar.

The fans said goodbye to the Manatee Bus with Jeers of “Suck for Luck” and well things that cannot be included here. (And yes the Manatee fans are so ignorant as to thing that Luck is the perspective #1 Sombilla pick …)
The Alien saucers picked up the bus and whipped them away to the hidden ballpark deep in the Nevada desert.
The gracious hosts had Garza as their first starter and he went 9 innings for a 10-2 to loss as Tori Hunter hit his second grand slam of the year. Garza did lose his temper in the ninth when Youkilis argued with the Umpire that he was hit by strike 2. So Garza threw the next one in his ear hole knocking him out for 2 additional games. He would miss batting against Lester and Bucholz and decided just to meet them in the club house during those two games for chicken and beer like old times…

Controversy occurred in Game 2 as Lester faced Garcia in a battle of the Lefties. The game was tied at 2 in the sixth when McGehee hit a Ball Park Homer and a 2 was rolled. Well, the CF was a 2 so it was a 1-7 chance and the CarGo went up and on a 9 he pulls it in. Kelly Johnson hit a homer in the next at bat and Manatees go up 3-2. In the bottom of the 6th, CarGo comes up with 2 outs and gets the clutch hit to tie the game. 8th inning, McGehee comes up and hits the N Homerun off of Neftali Feliz’s card. Score: 4-3. Aliens come up to bat and hit a Ball Park single, and Jeff says 1-4 … Tom says “Wait isn’t it on a 1?” Jeff pointed agreed, “Right, 1-4 is Ballpark Homers for righties.” Manatees say “So McGehee should have had a sixth inning solo shot…” Jeff did not want to go back to that point and replay, so the game continues. He even refused to “owe me a missed Ball Park Homer”. 9th innings Howard hits a patented Manatee Solo shot and that is where it ends with a 5-3 win for the Manatees.

Game 3 saw Bucholz versus Billingsley and the return of Elis Andrus. The game went to the 9th with the Manatees up 5-2. Thornton on the mound and the pinch hitter gets a single and then Longo strikes out. Now CarGo, who has had an impressive series, is up and Jeff rolls a 4-5. He declares a strike out and looks disparagingly at Infante shaking his head. Manatees say, “Wait, back that up – 4-5 is a Homer 1-8, Double otherwise chance, 5-5 and 6-5 is the strikeout” Well, it is gone and the game is 5-4 with 1 out. Weeks is announced and the Manatees bring in Gregerson and a strike out and 2Bx later and the Manatees are up 3 games to 0.

Well, the dice just decided it was over. Jeff spent the next game all over his card, but if it was the column it was always the death roll or a < 10 split chance that they would miss. Manatees eek out 4 runs and Cain gets the shutout to end the sweep.

The Manatees hit 6 OF-x chances all to 2’s. Of those six chances 4 of them were doubles (one per game) that lead to 2 runs scored. The only egregious Manatee defense was an inning where the Aliens hit a triple followed by CFX, RFX, CX, PX, 2BX (2,3,3,2,2) and got a shallow fly ball, double, passed ball, error, error but only got 2 runs in that inning. There were no ball park homers (in one reality) with the Manatees missing 6 and the Aliens missing 1.
Some days, some teams just enjoy all the luck (Luck?)…

(11/12)  Upset! BC defeats ND, 3-1!
Jed will be able to pursue the Sombilla record for consecutive defeats uncontested, as my streak stopped at 5. ND took Game 1, 5-3, in part on the strength of 3 solo HRs (Pujols, Rolen, Pedroia), but lost catcher Ramon Hernandez for the rest of the series to injury (not kidnapping). In Game 2, BC took an early 3-0 lead on a homer by Lil' Freddy Sanchez, but ND took a 4-3 lead on HR by Oritiz and Cruz, amongst other hits. BC tied it in the 8th and then won 5-4 in the ninth on a lead-off HR by Alex (the non-cute) Gonzalez off Mike Adams; Kuo picked up the win in relief of Halladay. In Game 3, BC gave away another early lead as ND ran wild on +9 hold Tommy Hansen, with Pujols falling a double shy of the cycle, but BC came back for good in the 5th on a 3-run Miguel Cabrera homer. Game 4 looked like a blow-out with Cutest Man in the Sombilla CJ Wilson giving up 8 unanswered runs through 6, but after attempting to chart his relievers' innings, Arnie noticed (in the bottom of the 8th), that I had made only 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, so we replayed from that point (fortunately for me), and Alex Gonzalez immediately hit a 2-run homer, which put the score at 8-6, ND. Papi homered in the replayed top of the 8th, but the ND bullpen imploded in the bottom of the 8th and BC scored 6 (thanks in part to a Hanley Ramirez error), and held on to win 12-9.

(11/8)  The Cheddarmen swept the Manatees in a series that saw very few runs. The Cheddarmen plated 16 for the series, while the Manatees managed just 6. Weaver gets the gold star, pitching a complete game shutout, yielding 4 hits, 2 walks while striking out 9 in a 3-0 decision. It was a frustrating series for Tom, who couldn't get any rallies going because he couldn't get anyone on base. and when he did, he hit into double plays, 8 total for the series.


(11/6) North Dakota swept into contention at the expense of winless Fugakyu earlier today.  In fairness to Jed, his team wa the victim of bad luck as much as it was its own poor defense.  The defenisve tone was set in the third inning of game 1 when a 2-0 lead turned into a 5-2 deficit after 3 FU errors (Holliday, Hudson and Beltre).  ND went on to win 10-8 (4 late runs by FU made it closer than it really was).  Wainright, Hensley, C. Perez, and Romo shut FU down 5-1 in game 2.  The series can be summed up game game 3.  FU took a 3-1 lead into the 6th.  Whereupon, North Dakota proceeded to roll three consecutive gb(P)X rolles on starter Colby Lewis (5e36), scoring 3 runs to take a 4-3 lead, hanging oin to win the game despite managing only 6 hits.  In the finale, David Ortiz smashed a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the 9th to tie it 2-2.  Ramon Hernandez's 14th inning HR gave the hometown fans a happy victory and the sweep....The star of the series was the entire North Dakota bullpen, with 12 1/3 innings of shutout ball, yielding just 6 hits.


(11/3) Trade update so far:  On 10/12, Eric traded Alexei Ramirez to Fugaku for Rajai Davis and a 6th round pick next year.  On 10/30 Fukakyu traded CJ Wilson and Huff to Bay City for V. Wells and a 7th round pick from Bay City if CJ Wilson is a "1" in Lamana's.

(10/30)After changing his team's name from Area 51 to the Raging Alcoholics (and changing his ballpark to Chicken and Beer Park) in honor of Lester and Buchholz, Jeff went out and swept Jed over the Internet.  A frustrating beginning trying to get connected had Jeff almost ready to bag it and head home, but he's certainly glad he stuck with it.  Jed might not feel the same way...Across the table, Harold and his '55 relief pitchers' shut down Robin, with Rivera getting 2 saves.  Robin claims Posey's getting injured (SOMBILLA follows life) was the turning point.  From Jed:

few random remarks:
 
1. Robin, glad we made that trade, huh?  Really improved both teams!
2. What's with the cavernous Constantinople dimensions?  What happened to HR 1-25 on both sides???  At least the slick astroturf appears to speed up balls going through the infield....
3. How is it that sometimes you just KNOW it's all going to go wrong?  I had two leads in the 4 games...both were immediately erased in the top half of the next inning.  It totally felt like an old fashioned butt kicking.  But in fact...3 of the games were decided by 1 or 2 runs.
4. Cheddarmen?  Do you play in Gough's Cave?
5. When Jeff and I finally got around to playing...it took only 2 hours

Ballparks:
                 L        R       Fences
Constantinople  S 1-17   S 1-17     High
                HR 1     HR 1

North Dakota    S 1-6     S 1-13     Low
                HR 1-3   HR 1-11

Bay City        S 1-14    S 1-14     High
               HR 1-10   HR 1-10

The Cheddarmen   S 1-6    S 1-6      Low
                HR 1-7   HR 1-14

New Orleans      S 1-13   S 1-7      High
                HR 1     HR 1

Future Wax      S 1-13    S 1-8      Low
               HR 1-10   HR 1-5

The Raging Alcoholics
                S  1      S  1       Low
               HR  1     HR  1-4

Fugakyu         S 1-10    S 1-10     High 
               HR 1-14   HR 1-19