The SOMBILLA Summer Newsletter: Pandemic issue

 VOL. XXX No. 2

August 6, 2020


Home/Away, new records
Playoffs: New Orleans vs. Oceanus
Playoffs: Future Wax vs. North Dakota
World Series: Future Wax vs. Oceanus
Minutes of annual meeting
Summer Study Number 1: The greatest SOMBILLA Teams of All-time
Summer Study Number 2: Ballparks
Summer Study Number 3: The Cute Ratings
Summer Study Number 4: Draft Analysis 2016
Opening Day thoughts







A record year for Home Advantage:

 

AWAY                       HOME

Arnie  16-12   .571        Harold 20-8   .714
Harold 15-13   .531        Randy  19-9   .679
Jeff*  13-15   .464        Arnie  18-10  .643  
Randy  13-15   .464        Jed    18-10  .643
Jed    13-15   .464        Eric   16-12  .571

Eric    9-19   .321        Jeff*  15-13  .536
Tom     9-19   .321        Tom    14-14  .500

Robin   7-21   .250        Robin   9-19  .321
TOTALS 95-129  .444              129-95  .566

 

*Jeff’s team managed by Tom (44), Sam (8), and Arnie (4)

 

New SOMBILLA Records set this year:

The league shattered the previous record home winning percentage (124-100 back in ’08-09) by 5 games!  Every team in the league had a better record at home than away. World-champion Randy had the largest home field spread, winning 6 more games at home than on the road.  Harold’s 20-8 was still 2 games short of the best home team record, 22-6 by Yoknapatawpha in ’89-90.

 

New Orleans 15-1 record through the first 16 games, was the best 16 game start in league history.

Playoffs

 

Playoffs:

New Orleans vs. Oceanus (Internet March 7, 2020)

 

Background:  New Orleans jumps to a ridiculous 15-1 record to begin the season and is sitting pretty at 18-8 halfway through. Playing over .500 for the rest of the season, New Orleans is never really challenged for first place and finishes in first place with a comfortable 3-game cushion at 35-21.

 

Oceanus starts off OK (9-7) in November and a 6-6 December has OC in a three-way tie for 3rd place with North Dakota and “WES?”.  A consistent 7-5 January puts OC in sole possession of 3rd place.  Jed clinches the playoffs on Feb. 20, beating ND 3 games to 1, then has to watch as he is bumped to 4th place on the last night of the regular season.

 

New Orleans won the season series 5-3 over Oceanus.

 

 

 

-----------

Oceanus managed to sweep the series against New Orleans by winning 4 1-run games, including an extra inning game.  The Assholes were able to jump to an early lead in each of the first 3 games, mentally wearing down the Ellis.  Of course there were multiple "Strat-O" moments, some of which are included in the summaries below.

 

Game 1: Oceanus 1, New Orleans 0

 

Aaron Nola (Oceanus) vs. Trevor Bauer (New Orleans).  The Assholes immediately jumped on Bauer in the top of the 1st, with a Jose Altuve single (after some trash can banging was heard) and an Anthony Rendon RBI double.  Then Joey Votto walked, and it looked like it could be one of those Strat-O innings.  But then Bauer got it together, inducing a David Peralta double play and New Orleans were only down 1-0.  Unfortunately for the Ellis, that was the score for the rest of the game.  Gleyber Torres missed a ballpark homer (1-12) for New Orleans.  Nola pitched 7 2/3 for the win and Sean Doolittle got the save.

 

Game 2: Oceanus 11, New Orleans 10

 

Walker Buehler (Oceanus) vs. Zack Wheeler (New Orleans).  As you might guess from the score, this was a wild one.  Oceanus was up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd.  Jesus Aguilar had a 2-run homer, Trevor Story had a solo shot and Joey Votto and Brandon Nimmo had doubles.  Then in the bottom of the 3rd, former Asshole Shin Soo Choo hit a 3-run shot on a 1-3 ballpark chance.  Maybe the Ellis' luck was changing?  However, in the top of the 5th, the Assholes put up 4 runs, with pinch hitter Willians Astudillo hitting a 3-run dinger.  The deflated Ellis manager threw up his hands as his strategy to use Chris Sale in long relief backfired.  Facing an 8-3 deficit, New Orleans kept chipping away.  A run in the bottom of the 6th on a Gleyber Torres sac fly, 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th that featured...a lot of stuff...including 2 walks, a HBP, an error and a double (JD Martinez).  Suddenly it's 8-6 and the periodically maligned Oceanus bullpen was looking suspect.  But it was still a 2-run lead...until the bottom of the 8th when the Ellis scored 4 to go up 10-8!  Didi Gregorious and JD Martinez hit homers.  Harold brings in the redoubtable Blake Treinen in the top of the 9th to secure the save...and he allows a walk to Jose Ramirez, a single to Joey Votto and a three-run homer to Jesus Aguilar.  In a counter-intuitive move, Oceanus brings in Mike Clevinger to nail down the save in the bottom of the 9th.  Clevinger immediately loads the bases with no outs.  Enter Sean Doolittle, who ekes out of the jam for his second save.  David Hernandez was credited with the win, even though he allowed 4 runs in 1 1/3 innings.

 

Game 3: Oceanus 5, New Orleans 4 (11 innings)

 

Trevor Williams (New Orleans) vs. Corey Kluber (Oceanus).  Once again, Oceanus struck in the first and second innings to build a 4-0 lead.  Joey Votto had an RBI single and Robinson Chirinos and Jose Altuve had doubles as part of the barrage.  In the "abomination" that is the Rehoboth Parking Lot...a 4-0 lead should have stood up.  But three 4-9 rolls on Kluber's card led to 3 homers (Yasmani Grandal, Justin Smoak, Shin Soo Choo).  And so, by the 7th-inning stretch, it was tied.  The Assholes had pondered removing Kluber right before the 3rd homer, because there was a gut feeling that another 4-9 was coming...but the analytics guys prevailed and Kluber was kept in.  Neither team could do anything in the 8th and 9th as the bullpens battled it out.  Finally, in the bottom of the 11th, with Jared Hughes on the mound for New Orleans, Willians Astudillo singled, Jason Heyward singled, Adam Eaton singled, and Brandon Nimmo walked in the game winner.  David Hernandez picked up his 2nd win in relief.

 

Game 4: Oceanus 4, New Orleans 3

 

Kyle Freeland (New Orleans) vs. Aaron Nola (Oceanus).  This time, New Orleans drew first blood, with a Yasmani Grandal solo homer in the top of the 4th.  Oceanus tied it up in the bottom of the 5th on a Robinson Chirinos double, a Brandon Nimmo sacrifice bunt and an Ender Inciarte sac fly.  Oceanus took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 6th on an Anthony Rendon triple and a Trevor Story sac fly.  New Orleans tied it in the top of the 7th as Dee Gordon reached first on a Rendon error, stole second and was doubled home by Justin Turner.  In the bottom of the 7th, however, Robinson Chirinos singled, Ender Inciarte walked and pinch hitter Willians Astudillo tripled to make it 4-2 Assholes.  In the top of the 9th, Didi Gregorious homered off of Pedro Strop and it was 4-3.  Justin Turner then singled.  With 1/3 of an inning left before his arm fell off, Sean Doolittle retired Aaron Judge to get his 3rd save of the series.

 

For the series as a whole, for the Assholes, Nola went 2-0, pitching 15 2/3 inning and allowing only 1 earned run.  The limited Astudillo went 3-4 with a triple, homer and 5 RBIs.  Aguilar had 2 homers (his only 2 hits) and 5 RBIs.  For the Ellis, Grandal, Gregorious and Choo each had 2 homers and Martinez had a homer and 5 RBIs.

 

 

Playoffs

 

North Dakota vs. Future Wax  (at Holliston March 7, 2020)

 

Background: Two years ago, Future Wax faced North Dakota in the World Series, winning in extra innings of game 7. Last year, in a rematch of the two teams, it was North Dakota winning in extra innings of game 7.

 

Season favorite ND begins 6-6 after deploying a questionable strategy of resting his better relievers in the first 20 games to preserve innings. They go 5-7 in December until the better pitchers finally trickle in from their extended vacation and with that, they shockingly sweep New Orleans to end the first half.  On a roll now, they go 11-5 in January to take hold of 2nd place, where they remain and finish tied with FW.

 

Future Wax starts 8-8, but a sweep of Harold keys an 8-4 December and they are in 2nd at the halfway mark. The Wax stumbles (5-7) in January and is tied with WES? for 4th.  But FW wins 6 of 8 over Eric and Robin at Eric’s February bash and finish in a tie for 2nd place with North Dakota.

 

Not only do both teams finished the regular season tied for second place, they split the season series. Therefore, home field advantage was determined by a coin flip (with Arnie on the phone, away skiing), which Future Wax won.

 

Future Wax 3 North Dakota 2
Future Wax 6 North Dakota 5
North Dakota 5 Future Wax 0
Future Wax 5 North Dakota 2
Future Wax 6 North Dakota 5

Future Wax wins series 4 games to 1

 

There was controversy right off the bat. Arnie's card order did not match his submitted line up. He rolled on the wrong card, then rolled for the next batter, at which point the error was noticed. Arnie wanted to keep both rolls, applying them to the proper batters – Randy wanted to go back to the point of the infraction and reroll either both or the second roll. After some ornry sparring, Arnie got his way, but missed the split that could have changed an out to a hit.

In the 2nd, with runners on 2nd and 3rd Arnie attempted a suicide squeeze. Ramos whiffed and Kiké Hernandez was tagged out at home. (Arnie said he actually wanted a “safety” squeeze, but somehow sent the wrong signal.) Randy loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but deGrom struck out Machado to end the threat.

Those incidents aside, the game was a pitchers’ duel between Scherzer (FW) and deGrom (ND). Neither pitcher allowed a run for the first 8 innings. Scherzer was the first to falter in the 9th, when Betts took him deep following a Goldschmidt single. In the bottom of the 9th, Machado doubled and Chapman was hit by a pitch, putting the tying run on. DeGrom K'd the next two batters. But Baez sent the crowd into delirium with a walk-off blast. FW 3 ND 2, FW leads 1-0.

Instead of a duel, game 2 was a pitcher relay. By the time it was over, 13 pitchers had touched the rubber (9! from FW). Eovaldi started the game by hitting Goldschmidt, then gave up homers to Yelich and Hoskins. McCutchen led off the bottom of the inning with a triple, then scored when Belt poked a single through the drawn-in infield. Turner singled to lead off the second, stole second, was bunted to third by Baez (who beat out the throw). McCutchen singled Turner home, but Baez was thrown out at the plate. Marquez lost control in the 4th, hitting two batters, setting up Belt for another RBI single. Another run scored on a pitcher fielding error, and FW had a 4-3 lead.

But in the 6th, relievers Vazquez and Leclerc yielded a walk and 3 hits, culminating in a Betts 2-run single, and ND had the lead again. In the 8th McCutchen reached base for the 5th time, on a single, Belt doubled him to third, and Upton knocked him in to tie the game.

By the top of the 8th, Randy had already gone through his entire 7-man bullpen. That left only scheduled game 3 starter, Folty, who retired all 4 batters he faced. With the score knotted at 5 in the bottom of the 9th, Turner drew a 1-out walk and stole second. Baez then doubled him in, giving him back to back walk-off hits. FW 6 – ND 5, FW leads 2-0.

As the series location shifts, let's talk ballparks. The Wax Home heavily favors right handed batters (LHB SI 1-6, HR 1; RHB SI 1-15, HR 1-10). This favored the nearly all RHB FW line-up, but also helped pitchers like Marquez (and – in theory – Eovaldi) who have BP HR problems versus LHB. Gackle Park is harder to classify, with BP-SI of 1-3 for all batters, and BP-HR of 1-13 and 1-16 for L/R, respectively.

On to game 3. S/R Lugo, who failed to record an out in his Game 2 relief appearance, takes the mound for FW, facing off against the lefty Corbin. With his team desperately needing a stop, Corbin delivers with a complete game shutout, yielding only 2 hits and 1 walk. Lugo himself allows no baserunners until a 5th inning double by Hoskins and a follow up single by Kiké Hernandez plates the first run of the game. The next inning a two-on, two-out error by Chapman sets up a Khris Davis grand slam. Final score ND 5 FW 0, FW up 2 games to 1.

The Game 4 Scherzer/deGrom rematch was not a pitchers’ duel, at least at first. A walk and HP from deGrom set up a 3-run blast by Machado in the first. But in the bottom of the frame, Scherzer gave up a walk, a double and a single to bring ND within 1. After that, however, Scherzer allowed only 4 hits, no walks, no runs over the next 8 innings (12 K total). DeGrom's line was nearly identical (4 hits, 1 HBP, 11 K) but one hit was a Chapman solo blast and another a Machado double (his 4th RBI of the game). Final score, FW 5 ND 2, FW up 3 games to 1.

Game 5 featured the first playoff use of an “opener” under the revised bylaws. Castillo [SP (1)] went two innings before yielding to a tag team of McHugh (2), Watson (1), Eovaldi (1), Leclerc (2), and Ramos (1). (The underlined pitchers were all acquired from Eric in a trade for a 3rd round pick.) Castillo yielded 2 runs (a Yelich double and Solar HR). Yelich extended the lead to 4 with a 2-run blast in the 5th off Watson, and Hernandez pinch hit a solo shot off Eovaldi in the 6th to make it 5-0.

Honestly, at this point everyone was looking ahead to a Game 6 at the Wax Home, with the possibility of the third 7-game series in three years between the franchises. But in the top of the 7th with Kela on the mound, McCutchen led off with a single and stole second. Blackmon doubled to drive him in. Machado K'd, then Chapman walked. Arnie summons Moronta from the pen. He walks pinch hitter Voit, then hits Baez: 2-5. Springer hits a double play ball to Lindor (SS-1), who boots it! 3-5. Upton's RBI ground out makes it 4-5. Belt caps the rally with a 2-run double for the 6th run of the inning and the lead! Leclerc holds the lead with 3 Ks and no hits over 2 innings, and Ramos works around a Carpenter pinch-hit double in the bottom of the 9th. Betts makes the final out, on a BP SI chance that could have tied the game. (Remember that Gackle Park BP-SI were 1-3 both sides: in 3 games, FW went 0 for 11 on BP-SI chances, while ND went 0 for 1.)

FW MVP was Scherzer, with 2 wins, 18 IP, 0.72 WHIP, 20 Ks, 2.00 ERA. Lugo (5-2/3) was the only other pitcher to contribute more than 4 IP. All together FW pitching had a series WHIP of 0.93, averaging 10.8 K/9 IP with a K / W ratio of 7.6. This against arguably the best offense in the league.

FW batters as a whole were not nearly as impressive, with a team AVG of .l71. Four players carried the team, led by McCutchen (.467 AVG, .619 OBP, 1.286 OPS, 4 RBI) and Baez (.978 OPS, 5 RBI) -- they were the two runner ups for series MVP. Machado and Belt also had 4 RBIs. Together, those 4 players drove in 14 of 19 total FW runs. (FW was out-homered 6 to 3 for the series.)

 

 

 

 World Series

 

Future Wax  vs. Oceanus (Internet  March 15, 2020)

 

Background: Oceanus returns to the World Series for the first time in four years.  OC and FW split their season series.

 

--------------------------------------------

Future Wax 3 Oceanus 0
Oceanus 6 Future Wax 2
Oceanus 6 Future Wax 5 (13 inninga)
Future Wax 3 Oceanus 1
Future Wax 10 Oceanus 2
Future Wax 4 Oceanus 2

Future Wax wins World Series 4 games to 2

 

Games 1 and 4 were pitching duels between Nola and Scherzer. Game 1 was scoreless into the 7th, when Machado singled and Chapman doubled him in. Belt homered for 2 insurance runs in the 8th. Scherzer threw a complete game 1-hit shutout, with 14 K. (Nola had 12 Ks, giving up 5 hits and 1 ER in 6-2/3.)

 

In their Game 4 rematch, each pitcher gave up a solo home run in the first inning, then nothing. Nola went 8 innings, giving up 3 hits, no walks, and 1 ER. Scherzer went 8-2/3, giving up 2 hits and 3 walks (w/12 K) and 1 ER. The bullpen and defense let Nola down, giving up 2 singles, a 2-out error by Story (a 1e14), and then the walking in the go ahead run.

 

Backing up to game 2: following the shut out, Jed was only able to score in one inning in the next game. Fortunately for him, it was a 6-run 2nd, on 4 hits and 3 walks, all the runs scoring with 2 outs. FW chipped away at the lead but came up short. Oceanus won 6-2 to even the series.

 

Game 3 was epic. FW used 9 pitchers, the Aholes used 7. FW was up 5-2 with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. With two men on and Heyward at the plate, Jed commented that the computer rated him as having a 0.2% change of hitting a home run. And yet one click later the score was tied. Finally in the 13th Story led off with a triple, and Astudillo (down to one plate appearance left) singled him home for a 6-5 win. Jed was up 2 games to 1.

 

As noted above, FW took game 4, 3-1 to even the series. In game 5, Buehler had a very bad day: 11 H, 8 W, 10 ER, 3 HR and, strangely, 13 Ks. Jed actually led 2-0 in the 4th before the wheels fell off. Final score 10-2, putting FW up 3 games to 2.

 

Game 6 featured a rare start by Seth Lugo, who threw 5 scoreless innings. Robertson homered in the 2nd, Chapman added 2 more with a blast in the 5th (?), and Belt launched another solo bomb in the 8th. Future wax alternated lefty, righty, lefty, righty, lefty relievers and shut the Aholes out a second time, winning the game 4-0 and the series 4 games to 2.

 

Scherzer was named WS (and post-season) MVP. He won all 4 games he pitched in the two series, with an ERA of ~1.3, a WHIP ~.75, and averaging over 11 Ks a game. (I'll work out the details later.)

 

 


 

THOUGHTS WHILE QUARANTINING AT HOME

 

Minutes of Annual Meeting, March 29, 2020

 

The draft was pushed back to April 18 to accommodate Tom’s hectic work schedule.  The annual meeting went ahead as scheduled on March 29th and also functioned as a test run for using Zoom for the upcoming draft.

 

1.  Dues.   Official blasting! Eric still owes $6.50

 

2. Awards Voting - 5 points for 1st place, 3 for 2nd place, 1 for 3rd place.  Since managers cannot vote for their own players, 7 votes would be a unanimous vote. 

 

MVP               1    2    3   Tot

Betts, ND         6    1        33

Goldschmidt, ND        2    3    9

Gregorius, NO     1         1    6

Rendon, OC        1         1    6

Baez, FW               2         6

JD Martinez, NO        1    1    4

Turner, NO             1    1    4

Choo, NO               1    1    4

                                  

Cy Young          1    2    3   Tot

Corbin, ND        2    3    1   20

Nola, OC          3         1   16

Treinen, NO       1    1    4   12

Eovaldi, FW       1    1    1    9

Wheeler, NO       1              5

Bauer, NO              1         3

deGrom, ND             1         3

Kluber, OC             1         3

D. Hernandez, OC            1    1

 

 

Manager of the Year  1    2    3    Tot

Randy                3    3         24

Jed                  1    2    3    14

Harold               1    2    1    12

Jeff                 1               5

Sam                  1               5

Arnie                          3     3

 

3.  Presentation of the Richman Cup by last year's champion, Arnie, to this year’s champion, Randy.  The presentation was done virtually.  A couple of days later, Arnie dropped off the trophy and plaque to Randy’s back porch.  Hopefully it is not still marooned out there, crying out for a home.

      

4.       Rule change proposals

 

a.    Agreement on cutting players and waiver draft.   Arnie and Robin proposed holding off on the cut list deadline and waiver draft until the actual delayed beginning of the MLB season.  The league agreed that the waiver list deadline will be the Sunday night before the regular season begins, with the waiver draft on the Sunday night after the season has begun.

 

b.    Two changes to waiver list provision. Harold had proposed doing away with the current provision allowing each manager up to two changes to their cut list before the draft. The league decided that they liked the provision but that there needed to be a reasonable cutoff time before the draft.

 

After a brief discussion, the league decided to allow up to two changes to the draft list as of the Friday before the draft. This passed by acclamation.

 

Harold then proposed an exception to allow additional cuts for day of the draft injuries or deaths.  This also passed by acclamation. (Presumably this also would apply to day before the draft injuries or deaths as well.)

 

c.        Beanball ejection rule.  Arnie proposed that in any regular season game, after each team has reached via a HBP, both teams are warned. For each HBP for the remainder of the game, the pitcher is ejected. Of course, it’s totally random and also would be pretty rare.  Would not apply in the post-season.

The league wanted more information regarding how often this rule would come into play.  Arnie looked at all of his and Robin’s games, as well as a few others and determined that, in this limited sample size, the rule would come into play about once per team per season.

This proposal passed by a vote of 5-3.

d.       Post-season starters who relieve. The bylaws currently state

“All pitchers may relieve, regardless of what it says on their card. Starters who relieve have a tired factor of 2.”

       Randy proposes to amend this to:

“All pitchers may relieve, regardless of what it says on their card. Starters who relieve have a tired factor of 2, except that starters who come in during an inning have a tired factor of 1.”

This proposal passed by a vote of 7-1

e.        26-man roster.

MLB (before the pandemic) was set to implement an increased roster size of 26 men for the 2020 season.  Arnie proposed that because the new rule is for 2020, that we stick to the current 25-man roster for the upcoming SOMBILLA season based on 2019 MLB season.  But some decided they liked the flexibility of this and proposed implementing it for the upcoming 2020-2021 SOMBILLA season.  If passed, the 26th man call up at the 45th game would become a 27th man call up.

After discussion and a couple of vote switches, the proposal to go with a 26-man roster (and 27th man call up) for the upcoming SOMBILLA season passed by a vote of 5-3.

 

f.        Card burning.  For the first time ever, we had a sextuplet burning.  A computer version of Julio Urias, Felipe Vazquez, Roberto Osuna, Addison Russell, as well as actual cards of Odubel Herrera and Domingo German and were burned.  Despite opening the windows, the house smelled like burnt cards for hours.

 

g.       Rolloff – We concluded the meeting with the rolloff. With only a 14.3% chance of winning the rolloff, Eric beat the odds, by rolling a “1” with one of his 4 things, tying Tom who rolled a “1” with one of his 7 things.  In the rolloff of the rolloff, Eric rolled a 9 while Tom rolled a 20, to secure Eric the first pick.  Despite rolling sixteen things, the best Robin could roll was a “3”, good enough only for the 3rd pick.

 

On April 19, the league reconvened for the draft.  Here is the retread report:

 


SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 –WHAT WAS THE GREATEST SOMBILLA TEAM OF ALL-TIME?

 

OK, Eric, you got your wish. I sprang for the 1987 computer cards to put together that famous ’88-89 Yoknapatawpha team of yours that went 44-12, still the SOMBILLA record.  I already had 13 of the last 14 computer seasons, and chose the SOMBILLA champion for each year.  That gave 14 teams in the tournament. 

 

To round out THE GREATEST SOMBILLA LEAGUE OF ALL TIME, I added the 43-13 ’91-92 Future Wax champions, who won the last such tournament of great SOMBILLA teams back in 2009. To finish this impressive bunch of teams, I purchased the 1981 season so we could use the old Bay City Nazgul.  They went 34-16 in the 6-team SOMBILLA, Robin’s first season in the SOMBILLA as she shared the team with Tsuan. For many years this team was considered “The Greatest SOMBILLA Team of All-Time”, at least until Yoknapatawpha came along.  Considering they came from a 6-team league, as opposed to 8 from all the other teams in this study, should there be an asterisk if they win it all?

 

I used each team’s actual ballparks except for these three oldest SOMBILLA teams; I could not find any records to indicate what park they played in.  So I gave them average ballparks.  Likely this hurt Yoknapatawpha, holder of the best home record (22-6) of all-time.

 

Here is the final roster of teams:

 

’81-82 Bay City Nazgul
’88-89 Yoknapatawpha
’91-92 Future Wax
’06-07 Constantinople
’07-08 Future Wax
’09-10 Dem Bums
’10-11 New Orleans
’11-12 The Cheddarmen
’12-13 North Dakota
’13-14 North Dakota
’14-15 Future Wax
’15-16 “What Eric Said?”
’16-17 Constantinople
’17-18 Future Wax
’18-19 North Dakota
’19-20 Future Wax

 

For a first pass, each team will play each other 12 times, for a 180 game schedule:

 

And, without further ado, here are the results:

 

                          W    L   PCT  GB

'12-13 North Dakota     116  64  .644 ----

'11-12 The Cheddarmen   104  76  .578  12.0

'09-10 Dem Bums          98  82  .544  18.0       

'19-20 Future Wax        98  82  .544  18.0       

'16-17 Constantinople    96  84  .533  20.0       

'91-92 Future Wax        95  85  .528  21.0       

'17-18 Future Wax        93  87  .517  23.0       

'18-19 North Dakota      91  89  .506  25.0       

'14-15 Future Wax        90  90  .500  26.0       

'06-07 Constantinople    87  93  .483  29.0       

'10-11 New Orleans       85  95  .472  31.0       

'07-08 Future Wax        83  97  .461  33.0       

'82-83 Bay City Nazgul   80 100  .444  36.0       

'88-89 Yoknapatawpha     78 102  .433  38.0       

'13-14 North Dakota      74 106  .411  42.0       

'15-16 WES?              72 108  .400  44.0       

 

I swear I did not rig this; that’s an impressive showing for that ’12-13 team against a strong field.  But sorry there Eric and Robin.  Is Strat-O discriminating against these older teams?  And I can feel Jeff’s wrath from the ether.  D. Murphy of the Wax led the league with a .353 average, followed by Harper (.330) and Ichiro (.323). Adrian Gonzalez hit 65 homers, ARod hit 63.  D Lowe went 25-13, Kershaw was 18-3 with a 2.49 ERA to lead the league.  The computer awarded the MVP to ARod (gag) .293, 63, 149  

 

16 teams is too unwieldy.  For the next round, the 9 teams that were .500 or better are invited.  And to justify my expenses, the Yoks and Bay City Nazgul were extended invitational entries to give it another shot.  11 teams, playing each other 16 times for a 160 game schedule.

 

Round 2 Final Standings:

 

                         WON LOST PCT   GB 

'16-17 Constantinople        98  62  .613 ----  

'12-13 North Dakota          93  67  .581  5.0       

'11-12 The Cheddarmen        86  74  .538 12.0       

'17-18 Future Wax            80  80  .500 18.0       

'91-92 Future Wax            80  80  .500 18.0       

'18-19 North Dakota          78  82  .488 20.0       

'14-15 Future Wax            74  86  .463 24.0       

'82-83 Bay City Nazgul       74  86  .463 24.0       

'19-20 Future Wax            74  86  .463 24.0       

'88-89 Yoknapatawpha         73  87  .456 25.0       

'09-10 Dem Bums              70  90  .438 28.0  

 

Some changes at the top with CN, 5th place 20 games out in the first run, vaulting to the top in this run.  But no dice (to coin a phrase) for BCN and YOK. Bryce Harper (.319, 62, 146) won the MVP and Betances (7-3, 2.73, 33 saves) won the Cy Young.

 

Let’s move on.  The top six teams move on to round 3 – two North Dakotas, 2 Future Waxes, one Constantinople, and The Cheddarmen.

 

Round 3

                        WON LOST  PCT   GB 

'12-13 North Dakota      88  72  .550 ----  

'11-12 The Cheddarmen    87  73  .544  1.0       

'91-92 Future Wax        81  79  .506  7.0       

'18-19 North Dakota      79  81  .494  9.0       

'17-18 Future Wax        73  87  .456 15.0       

'16-17 Constantinople    72  88  .450 16.0 

 

MVP was Donaldson(.297, 56, 140) for last place CN, while the Cy Young went to Rob Dibble (12-8, 2.48, 36 sv) for the defending ’91-92 champs, hanging tough and making it to the final four.

 

Round 4

                          WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
'11-12 The Cheddarmen      96  72  .571 ----  
'12-13 North Dakota        87  81  .518  9.0        
'18-19 North Dakota        81  87  .482 15.0        
'91-92 Future Wax          72  96  .429 24.0        

 

This time it’s The Cheddarmen winning convincingly, Tulowitzki (.261, 37, 114) winning MVP, and R. Soriano (9-6, 3.39 30 sv) winning the Cy Young.

 

It’s time for a showdown.  Who knew 7-8 years ago that these two champions in back to back years from the ancient rivals would be considered the top two SOMBILLA teams of all time? Best of 7?  Nah, time for a 162-game showdown.

 

 

 

 

 

Round 5

                           WON LOST  PCT   GB 

'11-12 The Cheddarmen       86  76  .531 ----  *WON*

'12-13 North Dakota         76  86  .469 10.0

 

Tulo (.288, 36, 92) repeats as MVP and Weaver (20-8, 3.01) wins the Cy Young. So there you go.  The 2011-2012 Cheddarmen were the greatest SOMBILLA team of all time.

 

 

 

Or were they?  They certainly proved to be the best team over the long haul.  But what about in a short series?  16 teams affords us the opportunity to conduct a tournament of best of 7 series. 

 

Using the Strat-O computer’s “Tournament Mode” I put these 16 teams into a 16-team best of 7 series bracket.  I seeded the teams based on how they finished above.

 

 

Round 1 (seeding shown in parenthesis):

 
(1)   '11-12 The Cheddarmen   Defeats (16)  '15-16 WES? 4 games to 0
(15)  '13-14 North Dakota     Defeats (2)   '12-13 North Dakota 4 games to 1
(3)   '18-19 North Dakota     Defeats (14)  '07-08 Future Wax 4 games to 3
(13)  '10-11 New Orleans      Defeats (4)   '91-92 Future Wax 4 games to 1
(5)   '17-18 Future Wax       Defeats (12)  ’06-07 Constantinople 4 games to 1
(6)   '16-17 Constantinople   Defeats (11)  '09-10 Dem Bums 4 games to 2
(10)  '19-20 Future Wax       Defeats (7)   '14-15 Future Wax 4 games to 1
(8)   '82-83 Bay City Nazgul  Defeats (9)   '88-89 Yoknapatawpha 4 games to 1

 

A shocker for #15 seed ND, which knocks out the ’12-13 ND team that made it all the way to the finals of the first all-time league above.  #13 New Orleans also pulled off an upset, knocking out Future Wax in 5 games. An intriguing #8 vs #9 matchup of the two old-timer teams, with BCN winning in 5 games to move on to the next round.

 

MVP for this round was Josh Donaldson (.611, 3, 10) for CN in 6 games.

 

Round 2

(1)  '11-12 The Cheddarmen  Defeats (15) '13-14 North Dakota  4 games to 1
(13) '10-11 New Orleans    Defeats (3)   '18-19 North Dakota NDA 4 games to 1
(10) '19-20 Future Wax     Defeats (5)   '17-18 Future Wax 4 games to 2
(8)  '82-83 Bay City Nazgul Defeats (6)   '16-17 Constantinople 4 games to 2
 
New Orleans pulls off its 2nd upset, knocking out ND in 5 games and will face the heavy favorite in the semi-finals.  And the Robin-Tsuan entry rolls into the semi-finals as the 2nd seed remaining!   

 

After two rounds, Dave Winfield of the Yoks was hitting .471 to lead the tournament. Tulowitzki of The Cheddarmen led with 5 homers and 14 rbis.  Greinke of FW, Carpenter of New Orleans and Liriano of CN were all 3-0.

 

And we’re down to an intriguing final 4.  On to the semi-finals!

 

Semi-finals

 

(1) '11-12 The Cheddarmen  Defeats(13) '10-11 New Orleans 4 games to 0
(10)'19-20 Future Wax     Defeats (8)  '82-83 Bay City Nazgul 4 games to 0
 

It’s the end of the road for Cinderella New Orleans and retro darlings BCN as both get swept.  Can unheralded 10th seeded last year’s champs Future Wax knock off The Cheddarmen juggernaut?

 

Finals

The Cheddarmen 3 Future Wax 2  (Verlander outduels Kershaw; Utley HR)

The Cheddarmen 3 Future Wax 1  (J. Weaver win, Soriano save; Scherzer loss, Konerko and Werth HR

 

Future Wax 4  The Cheddarmen 3 (11 innings) (Upton walk off HR off Balfour)

Future Wax 3  The Cheddarmen 2  (Foltynewicz win, McHugh save, G. Gonzalez L HRs: Tulowitzki, Baez, Voit

 
The Cheddarmen 10  Future Wax 9 (B. Wilson win, Soriano SV, Castillo L, HR - T.Tulowitzki, C.Crawford, J.Werth, R.Zimmerman, P.Fielder,
           M.Machado-2

Future Wax 5 The Cheddarmen 1 (Scherzer win, Vazquez SV, Weaver L, HR: M.Machado, J.Upton, G.Springer

 

Series tied 3-3.  Game 7!

 

Future Wax 5  The Cheddarmen 2

W – Watson, SV – McHugh, L – Balfour, HR: .Upton, M.Chapman-2, T.Tulowitzki

 

’19-20 Future Wax wins series 4 games to 3

 

Tulo and Machado each had 10 home runs in the tournament, with MVP Tulo adding 26 rbis.  Soriano had 10 saves.


 


SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – Ballparks

 

Study 2 A - The Ballpark Effect by Jed Corman

 

We all know that ballparks can have a significant effect on SOMBILLA games but just how great is that effect?  Using my best guess at everyone’s 26-man roster (although the computer may have dropped it to 25.  But I think that’s ok for my purposes.) I did a quick study and here are the results:

 

HR 1 SI 1

HR 10 SI 10

HR 19 SI 19

AVG

0.199

0.238

0.271

ERA

2.87

4.21

5.45

RUNS

493.25

696.88

896.38

HITS

1012.75

1244.75

1475.75

DBLS

243.25

250

254

TPLS

28.63

26

28.75

HRS

153.13

257.13

359.25

SB

65.88

52.75

42.75

BB

519.25

543.88

545.63

 

The above is based on a 154-game season (2019 cards) and shows averages per team in our league.  There is plenty more room to expand upon this study both in breadth and depth.  For example, testing HR 2 SI 2 etc.  Also, isolating for the effects of SI vs. HR.  And doing different years....

 

Going from a minimal park to an average park there is an average 41% increase in runs scored.  Going from an average park to a maximum park there is a 29% increase in runs scored.  It would be interesting to do more testing to see whether there is a steady decline in the percentage increase as you add SI and HR.

 

There is a 20% increase in BA going from min to avg.  And then a 14% increase in BA from avg to max.

 

There is a 23% increase in Hits from min to avg and a 19% increase from avg to max.

 

There seems to be a slight increase in the number of Doubles.  Triples however fluctuated.  I would have expected doubles and triples both to go up to some degree because even though ballparks shouldn't affect doubles and triples, the more at bats there are...the more you'd expect.  Triples though are pretty rare and maybe will just fluctuate.

 

Homers show a 68% increase per team on average going from a min park to an avg park  Wow.  Then it's a 40% increase from avg to max.

 

Interestingly, SB went down and then down again.  The obvious inference to draw is that SB are much more valuable in a min park than in a max park.  I didn't fiddle with SB settings so I don't know whether I was being "aggressive" or conservative.  Regardless, it does seem that SB definitely have a downward trajectory.

 

Walks seem to go up especially from min to avg (5% or so).  The jump going from avg to max is negligible.  Again, I would expect walks to go up because of more PA due to overall more offense but that's a guess on my part.

 

In conclusion, it seems that the biggest jumps occur when moving from a minimum to an average park.  After that, while there is considerable impact still, it seems to lessen.  The effect of ballparks on HRs is especially pronounced.  This of course makes sense given that there are a lot more BP HR than BP SI chances on the cards, but now it's quantified.

 

 

 

Study 2 B – Managerial Ballpark Tendencies

 

Jed’s study gave me an idea to look at what ballparks SOMBILLA managers have chosen over the years to see if there are any tendencies among induvial managers or league-wide trends.

For the study, I examined the ballparks chosen by league managers for the 14 seasons from 2006-2007 through 2018-2019.  Why these 14?  Prior to 2006-2007, Matt’s Manila Folders were managing his shared team with Jed.  And last year, the league collaborated to determine Jeff’s team’s ballpark.  Choosing these 14 seasons allows us to look at the tendencies of 8 managers, including Jeff and Jed.

 

Here is the raw data for your perusal, showing the ballparks chosen by each manager:  Note that the most recent 10 seasons list singles first and the earliest 4 seasons list HRs first.  I copied these directly from the website and that’s how they were listed (and I’m too lazy to re-order them).

 

 

 

If you add up all 14 ballpark numbers and divide by 14, what is the average park chosen by each manager?

 

Arnie

Robin

Jed

Eric

Jeff

Harold

Randy

Tom

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

R

S

7

10

5

7

8

7

7

8

6

6

13

13

12

12

14

14

HR

9

11

9

10

6

6

9

10

7

8

7

9

10

9

11

12

 

Over the past 14 seasons, Tom’s parks on average are the most hitter friendly, highest in all four categories!  Jed’s parks, on average are the most pitcher friendly for home runs, with Jeff and Robin having the lowest average for ballpark singles.

 

Arnie is most likely to favor righty hitters.  Randy is the only manager whose parks on average favor lefties for homers, while Jed was the only manager whose parks on average favor lefties for singles.

 

Looking back at that first chart, Tom is most likely to be an extremist – he’s chosen 19’s across the board 4 times, and “1”s across the board once, including an odd sequence of three seasons from 2014-2017 when he went from all 19’s to all 1’s to all 19’s again.

 

Randy is most likely to be the most unbalanced; 5 times in 14 years, he has chosen the max differential in homers (R vs L), most of any team. (And if you count last season, it’s 6 times in the past 15 years).  Robin and Jeff never chose a park that used the most unbalanced homers allowed.

 

What about the league as a whole?  Are there any trends we can detect?

 

 

For this, I did add in last year’s ballparks chosen, which show that last year the league had the lowest BP HR numbers in the past 15 seasons!  The overall trend is down a little bit, as the league attempts to tamp down on the home run explosion in real baseball.

 

Doing the same thing for Ballpark singles for the league:

 

 

 

 

Not much to see here; looks pretty random.

 

Anyway, thanks for playing along, hope you enjoyed it.

 


 


SUMMER STUDY NO. 3 – SOMBILLA 2020 Cute Ratings

 

By Robin Perlow

 

Teams are listed in order of most cute to least cute. 1 point was given for each cute player, 2 points for exceptionally cute players and -1 for particularly unattractive players/domestic abusers. All ratings are entirely subjective. My personal preference is generally for clean shaven players, and some players I labeled cute come with the “clean shaven only” (CSO) caveat. Exceptionally egregious facial hair gets a -1, and Kiké Hernandez in particular went from exceptionally cute to merely cute because of his mustache. It is entirely possible that some player I did not identify as cute would be cute clean shaven (the classic example being former Giants reliever [can’t remember whose Strato team he was on] Brian Wilson, who has great eyes but had [has?] a horrendous beard that couldn’t be overlooked); I did not take the time to search for pictures of all players bearded and unbearded. Point totals listed below are not total number of cute players but reflect a combination of cute and super-cute points and deductions taken as noted above.

 

Before the team rankings comes the eagerly anticipated new Cutest Man in the Sombilla (replacing the cut Chris Archer) announcement—as Jed guessed during the waiver draft, it is indeed Manatee Dansby Swanson (only because his older look-alike Charlie Culberson is not in the league and because Andrew Miller insists on a heavy beard—if he would commit to wearing a face mask at all times, he could take the crown away from Dansby).

 

1.      Bay City (20). To absolutely no one’s surprise, my team is the cutest overall. Bay City boasts three super-cute players (Benintendi, Holt, and Reddick [all current or former Red Sox]) and benefited from last season’s trade with Oceanus, obtaining cute Burnes & Chirinos for average-looking Strop. The deduction for unattractive Blake Snell was negated by drafting cute Jesus Luzardo this season. Newly drafted Yuli Gurriel is not cute but has great hair.

2.      Future Wax (18). Drafting former Bay City-ites Dinelson Lamet and Buster Posey and having more super-cute players than any other team (Greinke, Lamet, Paddack, Plesac, and Springer) makes up for behavioral deductions for Vazquez and Addison Russell (why is he still in the league?) and beard deduction for Blackmon.

3.      New Orleans (17). Only one super-cute player (Kris Bryant) but an overall cute pitching staff, led by Glasnow, Sonny Gray, and Matz (nice waiver pickup), and no deductions boost Harold into the #3 spot.

4.      Constantinople (15). Boasts the new Cutest Man in the Sombilla and an all-cute outfield of super-cute Bader and regular cute Haniger, Harper, Martinez, Trout, and CSO waiver-pickup Senzel. Tatis not cute but good hair. Deductions taken for Dustin May (the Justin Turner of pitchers) and Archie Bradley’s beard.

5.      North Dakota (11). Has three super-cute players (Andrew Miller, B. Anderson, and Lindor) but loses points for unattractive Kimbrel and domestic abuser Osuna. And cut super-cute (now regular cute) Kiké and erstwhile Cutest Man in the Sombilla Archer.

6.      Oceanus (10). Drafting Kiké keeps Jed from falling into the cellar, and if Kiké shaves his mustache, the Assholes move into a tie for fifth (rather than a tie for sixth). Loses a point for Doolittle’s facial hair (but I like his politics) and gains a point for drafting former Bay City-ite Anibal Sanchez. Rendon also gets the CSO label.

7.      “What Eric Said?” (10). Really tied for sixth. Mikolas another cute player with a regrettable mustache. Drafting the super-cute Yaz (much cuter than his grandfather) keeps him a step ahead of Haiku Aggression.

8.      Haiku Aggression (9). Only super-cute player is Xander. Cutting Matz was the kiss of death for this team. No deductions, just not enough good-looking players.

 


Draft Analysis – 2016 by Tom Kinney (8/24/2020)

 

(edited by Arnie & Robin)

 

It is time for the 4-year draft retrospective analysis of the 2016 (Cards 2015) draft. 

We have 4 SOMBILLA Seasons, but note that we have partial or no data for the following seasons:

 

As a result, some of these teams’ players may lose out in the counting statistics (Wins, Saves, HRs, RBIs, and SBs) and be more maligned than they deserve.  Maybe we should compile Eric’s stats from his opponents’ scoresheets. (Or maybe maligning Eric’s players is fitting punishment for his stat neglect – Arnie)

In 2016, Jeff was coming off of his last World Series victory and CN was about to embark on its last World Series victory (both of these were against Jed). 

Interestingly, everyone has kept exactly 3 or 4 of the 2016 draft class going into our COVID battle this upcoming season.  There are also a number of players who have been re-drafted after being cut, including Canha (Jed 1st rounder 2020), Pham (Harold 1st rounder 2018), Ketel Marte, etc.  To see this in context, here are the totals of players still owned four years after being drafted (i.e., the time period for our annual draft analysis) over the last 11 years of drafts:

Draft Class

Kept till Analysis Year

2006c2005

20

2007c2006

34

2008c2007

31

2009c2008

23

2010c2009

24

2011c2010

21

2012c2011

25

2013c2012

30

2014c2013

35

2015c2014

35

2016c2015

27

 

The 2016 waiver wire brought Alcides Escobar to CN. Two trades for Cain and Gordon on top of that may have just given them enough defense to win the campaign following this draft (2016 [2015 cards]).  The waiver wire also bought Jason Werth as a lefty killer that CN needed.  But CN sacrificed Carlos Santana and his guitar, but cutting him –he was picked up by the Wax—enabled RAT to make the last couple of Series.


The players from this class who are still in the league with the team that drafted them:

Round

Drafted

Draft List

STATS

1

2

Arnie -- Lindor, Francisco

.236 / .303 / .344 / .647 (831 PA), 22 HR, 90 RBI, 15 SB

2

13

Arnie -- Osuna, Roberto

4-4, 7 SV, 2.84 ERA, 98 K (85.67 IPS)

6

44

 Arnie -- Gallo, Joey

.172 / .289 / .341 / .63 (135 PA), 7 HR, 17 RBI, 0 SB

9

66

 Arnie -- Kela, Keone

2-0, 1 SV, 3.44 ERA, 33 K (34 IPS)

1

5

Eric -- Syndergaard, Noah

6-1, 0 SV, 2.19 ERA, 35 K (41 IPS)

3

21

Eric -- Severino, Luis

4-2, 0 SV, 2.47 ERA, 51 K (40 IPS)

8

61

Eric -- Dyson, Sam

1-1, 1 SV, 4.85 ERA, 10 K (13 IPS)

1

3

Harold -- Bryant, Kris

.229 / .339 / .357 / .696 (841 PA), 33 HR, 99 RBI, 3 SB

2

9

Harold -- Familia, Jeurys

3-4, 4 SV, 4.67 ERA, 41 K (54 IPS)

4

32

Harold -- Realmuto, J.T.

.277 / .313 / .452 / .765 (595 PA), 24 HR, 68 RBI, 7 SB

7

50

Harold -- Hicks, Aaron

.199 / .308 / .351 / .659 (302 PA), 15 HR, 36 RBI, 4 SB

1

8

Jeff -- Schwarber, Kyle

.154 / .336 / .284 / .62 (116 PA), 6 HR, 12 RBI, 2 SB

3

20

Jeff -- Conforto, Michael

.222 / .316 / .368 / .684 (272 PA), 11 HR, 25 RBI, 0 SB

5

40

Jeff -- Iglesias, Raisel

4-8, 7 SV, 2.61 ERA, 121 K (117 IPS)

2

15

 Jed -- Buxton, Byron

No Stats

4

31

Jed -- Inciarte, Ender

.257 / .284 / .350 / .634 (468 PA), 8 HR, 43 RBI, 19 SB

7

55

Jed -- Nola, Aaron

5-6, 0 SV, 3.07 ERA, 195 K (175.67 IPS)

1

1

Robin -- Correa, Carlos

.247 / .317 / .389 / .706 (653 PA), 26 HR, 76 RBI, 3 SB

2

10

Robin -- McCullers, Lance

6-12, 0 SV, 5.32 ERA, 134 K (13.33 IPS)

12

89

Robin -- Davies, Zach

0-1, 0 SV, 6.35 ERA, 12 K (11.33 IPS)

1

4

Tom -- Seager, Corey

.280 / .351 / .392 / .743 (502 PA), 15 HR, 57 RBI, 1 SB

2

11

Tom -- Sano, Miguel

.257 / .333 / .526 / .859 (156 PA), 13 HR, 30 RBI, 0 SB

5

36

Tom -- Harris, Will

2-2, 3 SV, 3.83 ERA, 85 K (82.33 IPS)

6

43

Tom -- Rodon, Carlos

No Stats

1

6

Future Wax -- Russell, Addison

.237 / .302 / .335 / .637 (388 PA), 9 HR, 34 RBI, 6 SB

2

14

Future Wax -- Schoop, Jonathan

.216 / .247 / .299 / .546 (77 PA), 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB

5

38

Future Wax -- Turner, Trea

.236 / .278 / .391 / .669 (371 PA), 15 HR, 38 RBI, 18 SB

 


Let’s start the round by round analysis:

Round 1:

1. Robin -- Correa, Carlos

.247 / .317 / .389 / .706 (653 PA), 26 HR, 76 RBI, 3 SB

Still Owned

2. Arnie -- Lindor, Francisco

.236 / .303 / .344 / .647 (831 PA), 22 HR, 90 RBI, 15 SB

Still Owned

3. Harold -- Bryant, Kris

.229 / .339 / .357 / .696 (841 PA), 33 HR, 99 RBI, 3 SB

Still Owned

4. Tom -- Seager, Corey

.280 / .351 / .392 / .743 (502 PA), 15 HR, 57 RBI, 1 SB

Still Owned

5. Eric -- Syndergaard, Noah

6-1, 0 SV, 2.19 ERA, 35 K (41 IPS)

Still Owned

6. Future Wax -- Russell, Addison

.237 / .302 / .335 / .637 (388 PA), 9 HR, 34 RBI, 6 SB

Still Owned

7. Jed -- Keuchel, Dallas

8-6, 0 SV, 2.64 ERA, 106 K (140 IPS)

Cut 2019

8. Jeff -- Schwarber, Kyle

.154 / .336 / .284 / .62 (116 PA), 6 HR, 12 RBI, 2 SB

Still Owned

 

Best Pick:  This was a great first round of value in the year of the short stop as 4 go in the first round.  Syndegaard loses out somewhat since his team does not report his statistics and Corey Seager’s Tommy John surgery cost him in the early running.   So the battle goes down to Lindor versus Correa and you could go either way but Lindor wins on health and a better SS glove. (Arnie:  A year after this draft after Lindor had had a much better 2016 than Correa, I offered Robin to trade Lindor straight up for Correa, but she said no). (Robin: Again, why is domestic abuser Addison Russell still in the league?)

Worst Picks:  All the players were worth picking when they were picked, but I have to go with Schwarber, who has just never lived up to first round value in MLB or the SOMBILLA. 

Round 2:

9. Harold -- Familia, Jeurys

3-4, 4 SV, 4.67 ERA, 41 K (54 IPS)

Still Owned

10. Robin -- McCullers, Lance

6-12, 0 SV, 5.327 ERA, 134 K (13.33 IPS)

Still Owned

11. Tom -- Sano, Miguel

.257 / .333 / .526 / .859 (156 PA), 13 HR, 30 RBI

Still Owned

12. Harold -- Lackey, John

4-9, 0 SV, 6.04 ERA, 124 K (149 IPS)

Cut 2018 waiver process

13. Arnie -- Osuna, Roberto

4-4, 7 SV, 2.84 ERA, 98 K (85.67 IPS)

Still Owned

14. Future Wax -- Schoop, Jonathan

.216 / .247 / .299 / .546 (77 PA), 1 HR, 3 RBI

Still Owned

15. Jed -- Buxton, Byron

 No Statistics

Still Owned

16. Harold -- Ziegler, Brad

2-2, 4 SV, 3.20 ERA, 13 K (25.33 IPS)

Cut 2018 waiver process

 

Best Pick:  You have one talented starter who has had some success in the SOMBILLA who could look better 5 years from now, and 3 relievers who did close for their teams trying to get the nod, but Miguel Sano (despite his Tommy John surgery) has produced in the SOMBILLA and looks to have a starting DH card for the coming season.  Sano and Gallo had some great home run derbies in the minors and both look like they could be premier power hitters in the majors.  Sano’s big arm that gave him a chance to stick at 3B and be a medium level defense looks to be decreased by Tommy John so he will probably end up a DH or 1B player who still looks to hold the best pick for this round.

Worst Pick:   Byron Buxton is still on Jed’s team but still has not gotten into a game.  So you have to nominate him as the worst pick as a 2nd rounder; he should have played by now.  Is this the Moneyball player who would be described as young and talented but never good enough to make an impact in the majors?

Round 3:

17. Robin -- Watson, Tony

1-1, 0 SV, 0.83 ERA, 14 K (21.67 IPS)

Cut 2020 waiver process

18. Arnie -- Vogt, Stephen

.253 / .317 / .415 / .732 (164 PA), 9 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017 waiver process

19. Harold -- Cecil, Brett

1-1, 0 SV, 2.51 ERA, 18 K (14.33 IPS)

Cut 2017 waiver process

2. Jeff -- Conforto, Michael

.222 / .316 / .368 / .684 (272 PA), 11 HR, 25 RBI, 0 SB

Still Owned

21. Eric -- Severino, Luis

4-2, 0 SV, 2.47 ERA, 51 K (40 IPS)

Still Owned

22. Future Wax -- Smith, Carson

2-2, 2 SV, 2.894 ERA, 45 K (28 IPS)

Cut 2019 waiver process

23. Jed -- Cervelli, Francisco

.275 / .383 / .308 / .691 (201 PA), 2 HR, 16 RBI

Cut 2018 waiver process

24. Arnie -- Chafin, Andrew

0-1, 0 SV, 3.00 ERA, 24 K (27 IPS)

Cut 2017 waiver process

 

Best Pick:  Even though we do not know all the statistics for Luis Severino, we do know he is both still owned and one of the best pitchers in MLB.  He is coming off of injury and now faces a COVID season of uncertainty, but he is still the brightest point of light in this round.

Worst Pick:  Two catchers were taken with some hope to become their teams’ starters.  Both were cut pretty soon as disappointments, and they are the worst picks over short term relievers who are the usual expected round three fodder.

Other:  Conforto is the other keeper that came out of this round and when healthy has looked good in MLB, but has not had as much SOMBILLA success as one might expect, but I am sure that Sam has some hope for him.

Round 4:

25. Harold -- Rodriguez, Francisco

1-1, 1 SV, 5.64 ERA, 25 K (22.33 IPS)

Cut 2018

26. Arnie -- Grichuk, Randal

.225 / .301 / .376 / .677 (133 PA), 3 HR, 13 RBI, 2 SB

Cut 2018

27. Robin -- Piscotty, Stephen

.242 / .304 / .398 / .702 (171 PA), 6 HR, 18 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2018/Redrafted

28. Tom -- Garcia, Jaime

2-5, 0 SV, 3.15 ERA, 34 K (54.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

29. Eric -- Matz, Steven

No Statistics

Cut 2020

3. Future Wax -- Gutierrez, Franklin

.214 / .286 / .403 / .689 (77 PA), 4 HR, 15 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

31. Jed -- Inciarte, Ender

.257 / .284 / .350 / .634 (468 PA), 8 HR, 43 RBI, 19 SB

Still Owned

32. Harold -- Realmuto, J.T.

.277 / .313 / .452 / .765 (595 PA), 24 HR, 68 RBI, 7 SB

Traded Still Owned

 

Best Pick:  JT Realmuto was the catcher of the draft.  Harold later traded him for JD Martinez and ???  He is a solid 1 on defense and is well above average as a hitter especially as a catcher.

Worst Pick:  You have to go with the player with no statistics just beating out the short-term Franklin Gutierrez who had few PAs for Wax.


Round 5:

33. Arnie -- Eickhoff, Jerad

No Statistics

Cut 2018

34. Arnie -- Marte, Ketel

.389 / .389 / .611 / 1 (18 PA), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2017

35. Jed -- Duffy, Matt

.222 / .250 / .268 / .518 (168 PA), 0 HR, 11 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2018 Traded

36. Tom -- Harris, Will

2-2, 3 SV, 3.83ERA, 85 K (82.33 IPS)

Still Owned

37. Eric -- Parra, Gerardo

.248 / .267 / .398 / .665 (161 PA), 6 HR, 22 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2020

38. Future Wax -- Turner, T

.236 / .278 / .391 / .669 (371 PA), 15 HR, 38 RBI, 18 SB

Still Owned

39. Jed -- Teixeira, Mark

.241 / .341 / .407 / .748 (182 PA), 7 HR, 21 RBI, 2 SB

Cut 2017

4. Jeff -- Iglesias, Raisel

4-8, 7 SV, 2.61 ERA, 121 K (117 IPS)

Still Owned

 

Best Pick:  This round has three keepers all of whom have been very good for their teams.  Iglesias and Harris have been mainstays in relief for CN and Jeff.  But Trea Turner in a draft full of shortstop talent proves to be just one step below the first-rounders but a great value in the 5th round.

Worst Pick:  So Arnie came into this round with the first two picks and he is usually the master of finding the best starting pitcher in a draft.  But this year Eickhoff let him down, but he then picked Marte, who turned out be a pretty good player after he cut him too soon. 

Round 6:

41. Arnie -- Shaw, Travis

.263 / .284 / .627 / .911 (102 PA), 11 HR, 16 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017/Redrafted/Cut again

42. Robin -- Gibson, Kyle

4-4, 0 SV, 4.21 ERA, 53 K (68.33 IPS)

Cut 2017/Redrafted/Cut again

43. Tom -- Rodon, Carlos

No Statistics

Still Owned

44. Arnie -- Gallo, Joey

.172 / .289 / .341 / .63 (135 PA), 7 HR, 17 RBI, 0 SB

Still Owned

45. Eric -- Blazek, Michael

1-2, 2 SV, 4.22 ERA, 8 K (1.67 IPS)

Cut 2017

46. Future Wax -- Morales, Kendrys

.212 / .289 / .336 / .625 (277 PA), 9 HR, 35 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2017 claimed and cut later

47. Harold -- Blanco, Andres

.262 / .338 / .382 / .72 (68 PA), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

48. Harold -- Lopez, Javier

1-0, 0 SV, 1.26 ERA, 12 K (14.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

 

Best Pick:  Another double round for Arnie and this time he picked up Shaw, who he cut after he contributed to his team, and he maintains the power prospect Joey Gallo who has looked great versus CN but not as good against the rest of the league.

Worst Pick:  We have to put up the big lefty starter Rodon who had Tommy John and never pitched for CN and may never pitch more than a couple of starts for CN, yet took up a roster slot year after year.


Round 7:

49. Harold -- Parker, Jarrett

.471 / .571 / .762 / 1.333 (21 PA), 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2017

5. Harold -- Hicks, Aaron

.199 / .308 / .351 / .659 (302 PA), 15 HR, 36 RBI, 4 SB

Still Owned

51. Harold -- Canha, Mark

 No Statistics

 ???

52. Jeff -- Ross, Joe

1-6, 0 SV, 5.26 ERA, 23 K (25.67 IPS)

Cut 2018

53. Eric -- Lagares, Juan

 No Statistics

Cut 2017

54. Future Wax -- Madson, Ryan

0-0, 2 SV, 2.28 ERA, 26 K (23.67 IPS)

Cut 2017

55. Jed -- Nola, Aaron

5-6, 0 SV, 3.07 ERA, 195 K (175.67 IPS)

Still Owned

56. Jeff -- McCann, James

.202 / .257 / .307 / .564 (303 PA), 7 HR, 31 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2019

 

Best Pick:  After the break, Jed took one of the best starters in this draft – Aaron Nola.  His name sounds like he should have been chosen by Harold, given the pun potential.  He is both a solid MLB ace and looks to continue to contribute going forward.

Worst Pick:  I am not sure how or when Canha was dropped by Harold, but he was and became a 1st rounder this year for Jed.  But the change of fortune and lack of statistics makes him the saddest pick of the round.

Round 8:

57. Jeff -- Burns, Billy

No Statistics

Cut 2017

58. Jeff -- Haren, Dan

5-4, 0 SV, 4.83 ERA, 56 K (72.67 IPS)

Cut 2017

59. Robin -- Travis, Devon

.280 / .311 / .403 / .714 (273 PA), 5 HR, 26 RBI, 4 SB

Cut 2019

6. Tom -- Forsythe, Logan

.169 / .229 / .396 / .625 (96 PA), 7 HR, 17 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2019

61. Eric -- Dyson, Sam

1-1, 1 SV, 4.85 ERA, 10 K (13 IPS)

Still Owned

62. Future Wax -- Alvarez, Jose

2-3, 0 SV, 6.75 ERA, 11 K (13.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

63. Jed -- Gregerson, Luke

2-1, 4 SV, 0.92 ERA, 53 K (49 IPS)

Cut 2019

64. Arnie -- Hernandez, Enrique

.273 / .289 / .400 / .689 (45 PA), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2018/Redrafted/Cut/Claimed in waiver draft

 

Best Pick:  Always a hard round to pick someone. We could go with Dyson, but who knows what he has contributed despite still holding a roster slot.  But let’s give the nod to Luke Gregerson who was a very effective late inning reliever for Jed.

Worst Pick:  Billy Burns never played a game in the SOMBILLA and was cut early.


Round 9:

65. Robin -- Givens, Mychal

6-4, 1 SV, 4.35 ERA, 62 K (68.33 IPS)

Cut 2020

66. Arnie -- Kela, Keone

2-0, 1 SV, 3.44 ERA, 33 K (34 IPS)

Still Owned

67. Tom -- Capps, Carter

1-0, 5 SV, 3.00 ERA, 22 K (12 IPS)

Cut 2018

68. Eric -- Hendriks, Liam

0-1, 0 SV, 3.09 ERA, 41 K (32 IPS)

Cut 2018/Claimed on Waivers

69. Future Wax -- Goins, Ryan

.207 / .277 / .264 / .541 (148 PA), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

70. Jed -- Mahtook, Mikie

.289 / .333 / .979 / 1.312 (48 PA), 11 HR, 24 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

71. Jeff -- DeShields Jr., Delino

.224 / .384 / .274 / .658 (73 PA), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB

Cut 2017

 

 

 

 

Best Pick:  A boring pick, but we have to go with the not very nice person but a player still owned by Arnie – Keone Kela.  He was on my list as a late inning future reliever – unusable for 2016 - and Arnie grabbed him one pick before I was ready to pick him. Honorable mention to Mahtook, who did his job as a lefty killer mutant for Jed.

Worst Pick:  Everyone was used by their teams, but I guess we have to go with Goins and DeShields who just could not stick with their SOMBILLA teams.

Round 10-13:

73. Robin -- Santana, Domingo

.258 / .330 / .437 / .767 (327 PA), 16 HR, 38 RBI, 2 SB

Cut 2020

74. Tom -- Kelley, Shawn

3-0, 4 SV, 3.37 ERA, 26 K (21.33 IPS)

Cut 2018

75. Arnie -- Pham, Tommy

.362 / .486 / .556 / 1.042 (72 PA), 4 HR, 12 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017/Redrafted

76. Eric -- Perez, Carlos

 No Statistics

Cut 2017

77. Future Wax -- Rupp, Cameron

.193 / .233 / .283 / .516 (60 PA), 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2018

78. Jed -- Vizcaino, Arodys

3-0, 1 SV, 1.32 ERA, 14 K (13.67 IPS)

Cut 2017

79. Jeff -- Volquez, Edinson

0-7, 0 SV, 6.67 ERA, 56 K (82.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

81. Robin -- Herrera, Odubel

.264 / .307 / .386 / .693 (342 PA), 7 HR, 29 RBI, 6 SB

Cut 2020

82. Tom -- Swihart, Blake

 No Statistics

Cut 2017

83. Eric -- Hinojosa, Dalier

No Statistics

Cut 2016

84. Future Wax -- Ramirez, Erasmo

4-0, 0 SV, 3.60 ERA, 25 K (35 IPS)

Cut 2017

85. Jed -- Hechavarria, Adeiny

 No Statistics

Cut 2017

86. Jeff -- Altherr, Aaron

.161 / .316 / .316 / .632 (38 PA), 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2017

89. Robin -- Davies, Zach

0-1, 0 SV, 6.35 ERA, 12 K (11.33 IPS)

Still Owned

9. Tom -- Liriano, Francisco

4-3, 0 SV, 5.14 ERA, 64 K (61.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

91. Eric -- Bastardo, Antonio

0-0, 1 SV, 2.19 ERA, 14 K (12.33 IPS)

Cut 2017

92. Future Wax -- Ethier, Andre

.313 / .362 / .482 / .844 (141 PA), 6 HR, 19 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

93. Jed -- Uehara, Koji

1-0, 0 SV, 9.00 ERA, 4 K (4 IPS)

Cut 2017

94. Jeff -- Burnett, A.J.

No Statistics

Cut 2016

97. Robin -- Thompson, Trayce

.212 / .268 / .375 / .643 (56 PA), 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB

Cut 2017

98. Tom -- Raburn, Ryan

.310 / .474 / .500 / .974 (38 PA), 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB

Cut 2017

99. Eric -- Duffey, Tyler

No Statistics

Cut 2017

10. Jeff -- Venditte, Pat

No Statistics

Cut 2017

101. Robin -- Anderson, Cody

No Statistics

Cut 2017

 

Best Pick/Worst Pick:  These rounds were very lackluster, usually you get a player who surprises but not in this draft.  Two potential catchers were drafted and fizzled.  Tommy Pham would have been a strong pick but Arnie gave up on him.  (He was cut a year later and he became the third pick overall two years later for Harold.)  Domingo Santana has been a solid low level contributor, so if you had to make a pick….  Zach Davies is still on Robin’s roster but has yet to show much in the SOMBILLA.  So bottom line here really is that the late rounds were forgettable.

Other:  CN picked Raburn for the 3rd time; he was doing the every other year where he is useful as a late round lefty killer but then had a year when he was not worth keeping.


2015 Card Set Results:

Team

Stats

Eric

.275 / .306 / .361 / .667 (72 PA), 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB

Arnie

.273 / .334 / .451 / .785 (731 PA), 33 HR, 84 RBI, 10 SB

Jed

.262 / .325 / .428 / .753 (600 PA), 24 HR, 83 RBI, 7 SB

Harold

.245 / .339 / .339 / .678 (322 PA), 8 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB

Tom

.237 / .325 / .451 / .776 (286 PA), 17 HR, 46 RBI, 1 SB

Wax

.227 / .287 / .345 / .632 (883 PA), 24 HR, 84 RBI, 6 SB

Robin

.208 / .265 / .341 / .606 (498 PA), 15 HR, 46 RBI, 4 SB

Jeff

.193 / .288 / .286 / .574 (489 PA), 10 HR, 33 RBI, 6 SB

 

Team

Stats

Jed

9-7, 4 SV, 2.01 ERA, 118 K (143.67 IPS)

Eric

7-4, 4 SV, 2.73 ERA, 72 K (76 IPS)

Wax

8-5, 4 SV, 3.51 ERA, 107 K (100 IPS)

Robin

9-7, 0 SV, 3.90 ERA, 121 K (136 IPS)

Tom

11-8, 12 SV, 4.18 ERA, 176 K (185 IPS)

Harold

7-12, 8 SV, 4.37 ERA, 168 K (193.67 IPS)

Arnie

3-3, 1 SV, 4.53 ERA, 50 K (53.67 IPS)

Jeff

6-18, 0 SV, 5.38 ERA, 177 K (215.67 IPS)

 


Total Reported SOMBILLA Statistics:

Team

Stats

Tom

.263 / .338 / .424 / .762 (792 PA), 36 HR, 107 RBI, 1 SB

Robin

.256 / .314 / .400 / .714 (1822 PA), 62 HR, 196 RBI, 17 SB

Jed

.253 / .309 / .367 / .676 (1067 PA), 28 HR, 115 RBI, 21 SB

Eric

.248 / .267 / .398 / .665 (161 PA), 6 HR, 22 RBI, 0 SB

Harold

.245 / .328 / .392 / .72 (1827 PA), 76 HR, 222 RBI, 15 SB

Arnie

.242 / .311 / .389 / .7 (1500 PA), 56 HR, 172 RBI, 18 SB

Wax

.233 / .290 / .355 / .645 (1539 PA), 46 HR, 156 RBI, 25 SB

Jeff

.203 / .303 / .322 / .625 (802 PA), 25 HR, 72 RBI, 6 SB

 

Team

Stats

Arnie

6-5, 8 SV, 3.01 ERA, 155 K (146.67 IPS)

Eric

12-7, 4 SV, 2.84 ERA, 159 K (149 IPS)

Harold

12-17, 9 SV, 5.06 ERA, 233 K (279.33 IPS)

Jeff

10-25, 7 SV, 4.50 ERA, 256 K (297.67 IPS)

Jed

19-13, 5 SV, 2.64 ERA, 372 K (382.33 IPS)

Robin

17-22, 1 SV, 4.56 ERA, 275 K (300 IPS)

Tom

13-10, 13 SV, 3.97 ERA, 242 K (244.67 IPS)

Wax

8-5, 4 SV, 3.51 ERA, 107 K (100 IPS)

 

Draft Summary:

Round

Best

Team

Worst

Team

1

Lindor

Arnie

Schwarber

Jeff

2

Sano

CN

Buxton

Jed

3

Severino

Eric

Vogt/Cervelli

Arnie/Jed

4

Realmuto

Harold

Matz

Eric

5

Turner

Wax

Eickhoff/Marte

Arnie

6

Shaw/Gallo

Arnie

Rodon

CN

7

Nola

Jed

Canha

Harold

8

Gregerson

Jed

Burns

Jeff

9

Kela

Arnie

Goins/Deshields

Wax/Jeff

 

Best Draft:  Arnie would have had the best draft going away if he had kept Ketel Mate and Tommy Pham after grabbing Lindor as the best player in the draft.  Jed, who picked late in every round, came away winning two rounds and is worth an honorable mention.  Darkhorse – If Seager, Sano, Rodon and Harris have a future then maybe 5 years from now CN and their Tommy Johns will be the winner of the draft.  But the bottom line is that Arnie won two rounds with 3 players and if you ignore his cuts would be the obvious winner so he gets to be the best draft.

Worst Draft:  It is hard to tell in this very even draft who had the worst one.  It is tempting to go to the black box of Eric’s stats, but he did get two aces whom he still owns in Syndergaard and Severino. This could prove to make his draft look better in 5 years.  Robin never won a round but picked up Correa, who is a premier player bit by the injury bug in the analysis period.  Reluctantly, I have to go with Robin.

 


SOMBILLA Tentative Opening Day: Sunday, November 1

 

So, if the 2020 MLB season is not cancelled at some point, game 7 of the World Series would be played Saturday October 31, a fitting Halloween ending to this most bizarre season.

 

There has been a proposal to postpone our starting date until January or February and simply bagging the 2020 MLB season altogether.  The optimism is that we will all be vaccinated for Covid-19 by then and can play face to face. I am opposed to this (not to being vaccinated, but to delaying the season). I will certainly abide by any league consensus, but I think it highly unlikely we will all be vaccinated by then, let alone that there will even be a vaccine available by then.

 

As Harold puts it, let’s have a sense of normalcy.  Let’s play a real season starting in November, and yes, it’ll have to be all on computer (except for Robin and me).

 

For next year’s SOMBILLA season (that is, ’21-22), it seems to me we do not have enough information to make an informed decision about whether we utilize this 2020 MLB season and  how the SOMBILLA should handle it:

 

·         If the 2020 MLB season is played all the way to the World Series, we have a 60-game season (for most teams, some, like Miami with fewer games).  Will Strat-O produce a card set based on this abbreviated season?  Personally I hope so.  Not because my team is so great (actually, except for 1 or 2 guys they are off to a shitty start) but because I think the draft will be phenomenally enticing.  I think there will be many spectacular cards available based on a short-season’s worth of stats.  Many one-year wonders and prospects all jumbled up.  Everyone will be able to pick up some good cards and the ensuing SOMBILLA season in ’21-22 could be crazy fun.

 

·         If the 2020 MLB season is cancelled because of too many MLB knuckleheads catching Covid-19, then we have a decision to make. Do we play one season with a past year (I would be in favor).  If so, what year and how to draft? 

 

These are decisions we don’t have to make now.  Let’s play our regular season starting on November 1 and as more information becomes available, make an informed decision at that point for how to handle any draft in March 2021.