Final SOMBILLA Standings 2015-2016

                          W   L     Pct    GB
Oceanus                 33  23    .589    -
"What Eric Said?"       31  25    .554    2
Future Wax              31  25    .554    2
Smoking Loons           29  27    .518    4
Constantinople          28  28    .500    5
North Dakota            25  31    .446    8
Bay City                24  32    .429    9
New Orleans             23  33    .411    10

MVP - Andrew McCutchen, Future Wax
Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
Manager of the Year - Jeff

Stat Leaders
All-Stats

World Series - March 20, 2016
"What Eric Said?" d. Oceanus 4 games to 2

Playoffs
"What Eric Said?" d. Future Wax 4 games to 1
Oceanus d. Smoking Loons  4 games to 2

World Series notes:

After a 13-year drought the faithful fans (all one or two of them) of “What Eric Said?” are celebrating a second World Series win.  In post game interviews the manager stated “it was a great win for the team, after coming up short in the first round the year prior, the team pulled it all together to make what most of the league prognosticators thought was impossible”.  The manager attributes the catalyst that sparked the unlikely run was the inclusion of the “?” in the teams name.  The series summaries follow below:

 
Game 1 - Oceanus leads “WES?” 1 to 0

What loomed as an early game predictor “WES?” came up short with some untimely high splits in Oceanus hitter friendly park missing what seem to be very likely home runs, unfortunately for the visiting underdogs, the home team took full advantage of their home field and went on to knock the snot out of starting pitcher ace Jeff Samardzija.  Samardzija was given an early hook so he could restart fresh two games later.  Oceanus Jose Bautista rocketed 2 homeruns and had 4 RBIs where Oceanus “Klubered”  “What Eric Said?” 14 to 6.

Bautista was a one-man wrecking crew.  He clubbed a solo home run in the 2nd inning, doubled plating a run in the 3rd inning and lifted one out of the park for a two run home run in the 6th inning.  Both teams finished the game with 12 hits.  The win went to Corey Kluber (1-0) who allowed 5 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings. 

Game 2 - Series tied 1 to 1

Matt Holliday hit one over the fence and had 2 RBIs as “What Eric Said?” defeated the Oceanus by the score of 6 to 1 on the road.

“What Eric Said?” scored 3 runs in the decisive 2nd inning when they came up with 3 base hits.  The big moment was provided by Danny Santana who silenced the home crowd as he slapped a base-hit scoring two base runners.  “What Eric Said?” finished with 13 hits in the victory. 

The win went to Ryan Cook (1-0) who went 2 innings, allowing no runs, stealing away home field advantage.  Hiroki Kuroda (0-1) was the losing pitcher.  He surrendered 6 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings. 

Game 3 – “WES?” leads Oceanus 2 to 1

Danny Santana left the yard and had 3 RBIs as the “What Eric Said?” beat Oceanus in a 10 innings thriller by a score of 5 to 4.

Down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth Santana’s bomb brought the home crowd fans to their feet launching the game-tying blow.  In the 10th inning, after an out was recorded, Justin Turner drew a walk.  Freddie Freeman stepped up next and he ripped a base-knock.  With both the infield and outfield in, Yasiel Puig then hit a deep fly making “What Eric Said?” victorious to the delight of the hometown crowd.  “What Eric Said?” finished with 10 hits in the victory.

Aroldis Chapman (1-0) was the winner allowing no runs in 1/3 of an inning. The loss was charged to Cody Allen(0-1) in relief.  He pitched 1/3 of an inning allowing 1 hit and 1 walk.

Game 4 – “WES?” leads Oceanus 3 to 1

Hisashi Iwakuma didn't allow a hit until the 6th inning as the “What Eric Said?” defeated the Oceanus club 7 to 0.

Iwakuma (1-0) put on a good performance.  He didn't give up much, just 1 hit and 1 walk in 6 and 1/3 innings.  The right-handed Iwakuma had his no-hit bid broken up by Michael Brantley who doubled with two outs in the 6th inning. “What Eric Said?” had 13 hits for the night while Oceanus had 2.

Corey Kluber (1-1) was the losing pitcher.  He surrendered 11 hits and 1 walk in 6 and 2/3 innings.

Game 5 – “WES?” leads Oceanus 3 to 2

Masahiro Tanaka retired 12 batters on strikeouts and Michael Brantley slammed a homerun and had 2 RBI as the Oceanus club beat the “What Eric Said?” by a score of 8 to 4.

Tanaka (1-0) gave a fine effort for Oceanus.  He surrendered 8 hits and 1 walk in 7 innings and served up 2 'big flies'.  Oceanus finished with 11 hits in the victory.  

A pivotal change in karma came in the top of the 5th with Brantley up.  He launches a shot to right center that appears to he held up a bit by the wind…..  [BALL PARK EFFECT] chance to rob Brantley of the digger by Adam Jones, a 1 in CF (1-3 HR, 4-20 out).  I asked Jed if he would like me to have Robin role the thing, which he said yes.  After some quick rubbing of the dice Robin preceded to role a 1!  Robin robbed my chance of robbing a home run from her favorite LF Brantley!  That 2 run shot set the tone for the rest of the game.  Forcing the “WES?” squad to have to put the World Series away on the road.

Jon Lester (0-1) was hit with the loss.  Tanaka was pleased with his performance.  He noted, 'I had good command of all my pitches.  Just as important, my location was right on. 

 
Game 6 – “WES?” Wins series 4 to 2

What started out as having the makings of a great game turned into a laugher in the top frame of the 7th inning as the “WES?” bats erupted putting up 5 runs.   First baseman Freddie Freeman hit a homerun and had 3 RBI as “What Eric Said? Finished off Oceanus team 8 to 0.

Santiago Casilla (1-0) came on to close the door tight in relief.  He allowed no hits and 1 walk in 3 innings.  Overall What Eric Said? out-hit Oceanus 11 to 4.  Adam Warren (0-1) ended up with the loss in relief.  He surrendered 1 run and 3 hits in 1/3 of an inning.

 
Batting wise I’d have to give the MVP to Freddy Freeman who started the series slow but ended up raking (.440, 2 HR and 9 RBIs), that said the unsung hero has to be Danny Santana.  His HR in the bottom of the 9th in game 3 forcing extra inning and tilting the karma was huge.  The entire  “WES?” bullpen was stellar pitching 12.67 IP and yielding 0 runs!

 Twits Notes:  Oceanus vs. Smoking Loons, March 7:

Executive Summary

Oceanus takes the series 4-2.  The Loons fight valiantly after falling behind 2 games to none, with an epic comeback in game 5.  And after jumping to a 5-0 lead in game 6, it seemed a game 7 was inevitable.  But at that point Oceanus, keying on its manager's pessimism, hammered out 15 runs in 4 innings to put the game and the series away.

Below are the slightly edited game summaries.  Game 5 was an all time great, with the Smoking Loons prevailing 10-9 after 14 innings after having trailed 8-1 in the bottom of the 4th.  Eric also came back from being down 5-0 in game 3.  Overall, we experienced the full Strat-O panoply - death rolls, homerun robbing, several runners nailed at home plate, errors by gold glove fielders etc.  Luck certainly went in waves although Eric had pretty much none in games 1 and 2. 

Abreu, Beltre, Brantley and Mesoraco all hit 3 HR for Oceanus.  Arenado had 3 HR for the Loons.  There was a lot of hitting so many players hit well over .300 for the series.  Beltre was the star for Oceanus going 13 for 27.  Span went 7 for 18 for the Loons.  Kluber got two victories, with a 3.38 ERA overall, but was touched up a bit in game 4.

Game 1

Designated hitter Jose Abreu knocked 2 homeruns and Corey Kluber went 9 solid innings as the Oceanus ballclub beat the Smoking Loons team by a score of 6 to 2.

Kluber pitched one of his finer games as he simply was too much for the Smoking Loons batters.  He didn't allow much, just 4 hits and no walks in 9 innings.  Oceanus had a total of 14 hits for the game. 

Jered Weaver ended up with the loss.  He got hit hard, allowing 10 hits and 4 walks in 6 and 2/3 innings.

Game 2

Felix Hernandez tossed a complete game as the Smoking Loons ballclub were badly beaten by the Oceanus club, 12 to 1.

Oceanus started with a bang, jumping out to an early lead in their half of the first scoring a single run.  After an out was recorded, Carlos Gomez hit a bases-empty home run.  One out later, Lucas Duda stepped up to the plate and he drew a walk.  Oceanus finished with 13 hits in the victory.

Hernandez, allowing 1 run for the game, picked up the victory. Garrett Richards ended up with the loss.  He was touched for 5 homeruns in his 5 innings of work.

Game 3

Catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit a homerun and had 2 RBI as the Smoking Loons club beat the Oceanus team 6 to 5.

Smoking Loons had the game winning rally in the 8th inning with 3 runs on 2 hits.  After an out was recorded, Adrian Gonzalez initiated the scoring when he blasted a solo shot.  Neil Walker stepped up next and he was hit by a pitch.  Nolan Arenado then bombed a two-run dinger.  Joe Smith came through with a perfect ninth inning to earn the save. 

Jonathan Papelbon went 1 inning allowing no runs for the victory. Pat Neshek was tagged with the loss in relief.  He surrendered 1 run and 1 hit in 2/3 of an inning.

Game 4

Michael Brantley slammed a homerun and had 4 RBI as the Oceanus club defeated the Smoking Loons ballclub by the score of 7 to 4.

Brantley led the offense for Oceanus.  He delivered a one-base hit in the 5th inning, lifted one out of the park for a two run home run in the 7th inning and lashed a single scoring two baserunners in the 8th inning.  Both teams totaled 10 hits on the night. 

Corey Kluber got credit for the victory, pitching 7 innings and allowing 4 runs. Kluber was helped out by Darren O'Day who recorded the save.  Tom Wilhelmsen absorbed the loss in relief. 

Game 5

Derek Norris jacked one out of the ballyard and had 2 RBI as the Smoking Loons ballclub defeated the Oceanus team in 14 innings 10 to 9.

Both teams were tied at 8 runs apiece after nine innings.  Finally, Smoking Loons pulled the game out in the 14th inning.  After an out was recorded, Marcell Ozuna cracked a solo homerun giving Smoking Loons the win as 46,117 happy fans joyfully celebrated.  For the game Smoking Loons out-hit Oceanus 19 to 13. 

Kyle Hendricks went 2 innings allowing no runs for the victory. The loss was charged to Hiroki Kuroda in relief.  He gave up 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 and 1/3 innings.

Game 6

For some reason, no computer-generated game summary?!  The Loons went up early taking advantage of hitting against surprise starter David Price.  It was 5-0 after 3.  Oceanus was gloom and doom at that point, raising the white flag and bringing in Hiroki Kuroda in as a long reliever.  But Kuroda managed to keep the Loons quiet.  And Oceanus made it 5-2 after 4 and 5-5 after 5.  It was at that point that the wheels fell off for the Smoking Loons.  Oceanus put together an 8-run 6th, one of those innings where nothing could go wrong.

Everyone on the Assholes collected at least one hit, with the exception of Brantley and Heyward (who only had 1 AB).  Arenado went 3 for 4 for the Loons, with a HR.

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

WES? vs Future Wax, March 6:

Game 1           “WES?” leads 1-0

Game 1 was a true pitchers dual with Samardzija (8 IP, 2 hits, 1 run and 11 Strike outs) and bullpen (Cook, Chapman and Giles – 1 IP, 1 BB and a save) out dueling the Future Wax club.  FW took a 1-0 lead on a solo shot by Upton in the 5th.  Things were looking bleak for the WES until the bottom of the 8th when Holliday was awarded a pinch-hit walk.  After Turner made an out, three consecutive single by Freeman, Puig and Jones provide all the support needed.    Final Score:  WES 2 FW 1

Game 2           Series Tied 1-1

In Game 2 to the Wax came out and pounded the snot out of WES, early and often.  The Wax offense combined on 11 runs and 15 hits led by Stanton going 4-5 (2S, 2B and 1 HR and 3 runs scored).  In this laugher Lester was chased before completing the first inning.  Final Score:   FW 11 WES 3

Game 3           “WES?” leads 2-1

In Game 3 JD Martinez want on an offensive tear (4-5, 3 runs, 2B, 3 HR and 5 RBIs).  His major damage occurred in the second inning when he hit a grand slam to bring the WES club up 5 to1.  WES went on to win 6 to 4, the score closer than it seemed due to an untimely error committed by Puig.  Final Score: WES 6 FW 4

Game 4           “WES?” leads 3-1

In Game 3 WES got out to an early lead off of a 2nd inning three run shot by Andrew Jones.  The combination of Sarmardzija, Casilla and Chapman were able to keep the wax bats at bay and WES went on to win.  Final Score: WES 6 FW 4

Game 5           “WES?” Wins 4 -1

What turned out to be the finally WES offense was led by yet another Grand Slam home run by JD Martinez.  The rolls and Karma just kept coming WESs way as they went on to avenge last years first round exit at the hands of FW.  Final Score WES 9 FW 1

I have to give the series MVP to JD Martinez:

11 for 21 0.524 average, 3 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBIs, 1.238 SLG

(2/28)  After Tom won the first two games against New Orleans, his post-season prospects were looking pretty good, needing to win just 1 of the final 2 games to force a one-game playoff with the Smoking Loons.  But last place New Orleans fought gamely to take the final 2 games and kncck Constantinole out of the playoffs.  Harold says that Eric owes him a beer.

Meanwhile, Randy's series win over Robin gave him an 11-5 February and a tie with Jeff for 2nd place.  Randy scored 8 runs in the top of the first inning of game 1 off Darvish, capped by an Upton grand slam. They split the next two games.  In the finale, Kershaw pitched 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball and he, Storen, McGee, Fiers, and Shoemaker combined for a 1-hitter to win 6-1. 

Because Randy and Jeff s[lit their season series, the home field advantage comes down to a coin flip.  Randy, not wanting to wait until he and Jeff actually played before determining this, wanted to flip right away.  We called Jeff, who was in his car, and he agreed to do the flip now, which we did, and Jeff wan the coin toss, calling 'heads'.

Harold, Robin and Arnie will be in a thing-off for the top pick, while Tom and Arnie will be in a thing-off for the 3rd pick.

Draft Day, Saturday April 2

(2/26) Future Wax scores 4 runs in the 3rd when Tillman loses it, giving up a 2-run homer to Laroche, and then walking the next 5 batters in a row. That's enough for a 4-1 FW win.

The next game is a laugher, with FW scoring in every inning but the first, for a 16-3 win. Stanton, Moss, Upton (2), and Gomes all homered.

With his back against the wall, Eric finally got the pitching he needed, with Weaver and 4 reliefs throwing a 5-hit shut out. Homers by Pollock and Calhoun were enough for a 2-0 win for Eric.

Eric took an early 2-0 lead in the final game, on a Gonzalez homer and Walker sac fly. Moss' pinch hit 2-run blast in the 7th tied it, and Seager single in the 8th (after McCutchen walked and stole second) put FW up 3-2. With one out in the 9th, Storen came in to face 3-righties, coughing up a single, walk, single to tie the game. Finally, in the 12th inning, Dickerson kept Eric's playoff hopes alive with a walk off 2-run bomb. Final score 5-3.

Series split 2-2.

(2/19) Jeff and Eric rescheduled their series that was originally scheduled for the last daty of the season (2/28) and played last night, due to a conflict.  From Eric: “Jeff and I played last night and split. He won games one and three, and I the others. How I managed to gain a split is beyond me. Jeff’s pitching held me to 5 hits in each of the first three games. And he outscored me 20-8, out-homered me 6-3. but then a lot of Jeff’s offense occurred in game 3 against Weaver, who ‘took one right up the wazoo for the team,’ going 8 innings, allowing 17 hits, 13 runs and 5 dingers. In that same game Samardzija hurled a complete game for the other guys, yielding just 5 aforementioned hits and a single run. And in what turned out to be a kind of weird series statistically, he neither walked nor struck out anyone. (to be confirmed by Jeff).

And here’s another weird thing: in game two (a 2-0 decision for me) four of my pitchers tossed a no-no. [the 5th no-hitter in SOMBILLA history, and the first one in 12 years].  Gio Gonzalez (my 26th man, ERA of 8.35) went 5, and Soriano, Papelbon and Smith finished off the final frames. I didn’t notice the possible no-no till the 7th but said nothing about it to Jeff. it wasn’t until Joe “nobody" Smith recorded the final out that I asked Jeff to check his scoresheet to confirm the feat. So I was feeling good about myself right about then. And then the next game started, the Weaver debacle. If I had to pick a star for Jeff, it would be Santana, who clonked 3 homers and drove in 5. Or maybe his bullpen, which did not allow a run in any of the games from the 6th inning on. If I had to pick a star for me, I’d give it to J. Smith, who got two saves."

Draft Day, Saturday, April 2.

(2/14) Game 1 was a wacky affair.  After giving up a 2-run homer to Cespedes in the 5th inning to give NO a 4-1 lead, ND's Adam Wainright was 'salsad', which made a stain right smack in the middle of the 4 column.  The ND manager was non-plussed, since Wainright's (and ND's) season is almost over.  Then after the 5th inning, ND and NO made a trade, with ND acquiring C Rene Rivera from NO for a 10th round pick in 2017 (solely to save Matt Wieters' 2 remaining plate appearances).  Rivera grabbed his catcher's mitt and sprinted from the NO dugout to home plate to catch for North Dakota. 3 innings and a Grandal 3-run homer for NO later, the two managers realize that the trade was made during North Dakota's 49th game, or 5 innings after the trading deadline.  The teams agree to make the trade retroactive to the beginning of the game (although Wieters one PA in the game still counts). Final score 13-1 New Orleans.

Game 2 featured another 3-run HR by Grandal, now playing fulltime after his platoon nemesis Rivera was traded.  Sale and M. Gonzalez combine on a 3-hitter as New Orleans wins 6-1, having now outscored ND 19-2 in the first 2 games of a showdown for last place.  R. Rivera's solo HR accounted for ND's only run.

North Dakota won game 3, 4-3, which was a 2-2 affair in the 5th, when Goldschmidt homered and Encarnacion hit an rbi double to give ND the lead for good.  Kimbrel notched his 9th save.

Game 4 was 1-1 when ND's Robinson Cano (team MVP and the 'only player who is still playing hard') smacked a 2-run shot in the 7th, as Clippard and Benoit shut the door for the 3-1 win and a series split.

The game 1 trade of Rivera is currently under review by the Vice Commissioner.  Interestingly, Jed has 2 series remaining - against both NO and ND, so he would have had to face Rivera one way or another.  But is the 'retroactive trade' agreement between NO and ND enough to pass muster in order to save Wieters' final 2 PA?

Draft Day, Saturday April 2.

(2/9) The most interesting thing about tonight's upset split was after ND's C Wilson Ramos went down with a 3-game injury in game 2, leaving the very limited Matt Wieters (8 PA) the only remaining catcher on ND's entire 45-man roster.  A D-bunter, Wieters still managed to nail 4 successful sac bunts and a sac fly to extend his season.  Still, when he finally is used up prematurely, the team will be forced to carry him on the 26-man roster for the remainder of the season anyway.  Wieters (+2 arm) threw out 3 of 4 baserunners as well. 

On the table, Adam Wainright twirled is 2nd consecutive gem, a 4-hitter to carry the team to a 2-1 win.  He seems to be able to pitch much better when team expectations are low.  Kyle Lohse was the hard luck loser, also yielding just 4 hits.

In game 2, WES bounced back, winnig 5-1.  D. Santana's 2-run single in the 5th was the difference, as Samardjia went the distance for the 6-hitter win.  WES won a close pitcher's duel, 3-1, in game 3.  Freddie Freeman's 2 run double in the 7th broke the tie as Cook, Chapman and Broxton closed the door on any ND comeback.

In the finale, Encarnacion (2-run HR) , Cano (3 hits) and Mookie Betts (2 runs, rbi double) were the hitting stars staking Scott Kazmir to his first win of the season, 6-0, and the unlikely split as ND is now 5-3 since trading off 7 players.

Draft Day, Saturday, April 2.

(2/8)  The reason Jeff is 1/2 game out of 1st (and Randy 2 1/2 out) is due to 'ballparkgate".  Jeff inadvertantly played in the wrong dimensions against Randy back in December (as well as against Robin last week) and it was determined this actually impacted a game in which Jeff won. The two teams have agreed to replay the game from the point of infraction (9th inning) when they meet again on 2/21.  Robin invoked the 'fuck it' clasue regarding her series sweep by Jeff, as none of the games were close.

Elsewhere...

Computer troubles galore plagued the Bay City-Oceanus series.  First there were Hamachi network connectivity issues.  After spending at least a half an hour ironing those out, Jed's computer game kept asking him for the 2013 game product code (which he didn't have) and then closing because of the incorrect code entry.  Jed emailed Strat-O tech support (why 2013???).  (Answer: It turns out that Arnie, preparing the latop for Robin because he was away for the weekend on a ski trip, had inadvertantly added the 2013 J. Tazawa to Jed's team instead of the 2014 version). Finally, playing via AnyMeeting, screen sharing froze multiple times on Robin's laptop.

As for the games, Oceanus took the series 3-1, though it should have been a split.  Robin got high splits at several crucial moments, none more so than the bottom of the 8th in game 4.  Trailing 4-2, Miguel Cabrera came to the plate with 2 runners on base.  He got a 1-19 BP HR chance...and rolled/picked a 20.  Robin also got thrown out at the plate at least twice.

.....

Meanwhile, Randy moved into third place with a 3-1 series win and two games over .500 for the first time this season.

Game 1 of the series featured a pitching duel between Scherzer (FW) and Gray (NO). Scherzer yielded only 3 hits over 9 innings, but back to back 2-base errors by Dozier in the 6th (a 3 roll, then an 18) led to an unearned run. Gray was just as sharp, allowing only 4 hits over 7 innings, including pitching out of a bases-load no-out (on an error, hit, and walk) in the 5th. But the NO bullpen faultered, and Stanton's two-run homer (17th of the year) in the bottom of the 8th secured a 2-1 victory.

Game 2 matched up lefties Ryu (FW) and Sale (NO). Sale gave up two run shots to McKenry and Upton early, but Ryu gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in the 3rd, keeping it close. A 2-base error by Wright in the 5th gave FW an insurance run, and then Stanton nailed down the win with another 8th inning blast (for 3 this time) : final score 8-2.

Game 3 (Kershaw vs Hughes) was a nail-biter, with early solo-shots by Rivera and Cespedes putting Harold in front, until a pinch-hit blast by McKenry evened the score at 4-4 in the 7th. This led to extra innings, with 13 pitchers eventually making an appearance. NO escaped a bases loaded jam in the 10th, and FW survived an 11th which began with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Newly acquired Yan Gomes put it away with a walk-off 2-run blast in the 12th.

Harold avoided the sweep with 5 hits (leading to 4 runs) in the 3rd against Teheren, with Strasburg and 4 relievers holding FW to 2 runs on 5 hits, for a 5-2 win.

Below are the slightly edited computer generated game stories from the OC-BC series.

Game 1

Pedro Strop delivered 3 solid innings at Oceanus Field as the Bay City Rollers beat the Oceanus Assholes 5 to 4. Bay City had 2 runs cross the plate in the top of the 5th inning.  A.J. Ramos (the winning pitcher) was helped out by Strop who pitched a perfect ninth and recorded the save.  The season-long-pounded Felix Hernandez absorbed the loss.  He served up 3 gopher balls in 5 innings.

Game 2

One run was the difference at Oceanus Field as the Oceanus Assholes defeated the Bay City Rollers 8 to 7. Oceanus jumped on top to stay in the bottom of the 7th inning plating one baserunner utilizing 2 base hits.  After an out was recorded, Lucas Duda lashed a single.  Duda then stole second base.  Jose Bautista then laced a one-base hit.  Troy Tulowitzki came up and he laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Devin Mesoraco followed, but he was set down on strikes.  Oceanus finished with 11 hits in the victory. 

Darren "Luck o' the Irish / Why can't I get players like that" O'Day was the winner allowing no runs in 2 innings. Pat Neshek preserved the game for O'Day, recording the save.  Wade Davis took the loss in relief.

Game 3

Corey Kluber came through with a solid 9 innings and Jose Abreu blasted a homerun and had 3 RBI as the Oceanus Assholes topped the Bay City Rollers by a score of 8 to 2 at Oceanus Field. Oceanus had 6 runs cross the plate in the bottom of the 6th inning when they came up with 4 base hits.  The crucial at-bat was provided by Abreu who brought the crowd to their feet when he lofted a three-run 'big-fly'.  Oceanus finished with 12 hits in the victory.  The winning pitcher was Kluber (now 2-0 for Oceanus with two complete games) who allowed 2 runs for the game. Alex Cobb was the loser.

Game 4

In a close game the Oceanus Assholes got by the Bay City Rollers by the score of 4 to 2. In the 4th inning Oceanus scored 3 runs when they came up with 3 base hits.  The critical plate appearance was by Michael Brantley who came through for the home fans when he slapped a one-base hit bringing in two baserunners.  Oceanus had a total of 9 hits for the game.  26th man Junichi Tazawa was the winner allowing no runs in 1 inning. Pat Neshek gained credit for his 2nd save of the series.  Yu Darvish took the loss. 

Draft Day, Saturday, April 2.

(2/3) "What Eric Said?" swept into first place last night at the expense of Bay City, which plummeted to 6th place (still only 1 game out of a playoff spot).  From Jeff:

Punxsutawney Phil has hinted to the “What Eric said?” fan base that there will be 6 more weeks of winter as the sun shined down on the home squad for a potentially pivotal home series with Bay City. 

Game 1-  Both teams were hoping for a cloudy rainy day for the start of the series in attempts to replenish tired pitching staffs as a result of both clubs having to deal with the pesky New Orleans franchise.    Each bullpen delivered with finesse pitching resulting in no surrendered runs until the 9th inning.  Bay City took a commanding 1-0 lead in the top of the 9th off Cabrera’s triple bring the fleet footed Victor Martinez in for the score.  In the bottom frame, Iannetta reached second based by a centerfield error bring up the hero of the game Kendrick.  Kendrick delivered a walk off homer to win the game 2-1.

Game 2- The second inning “bat around the order” set the tone for WES.  The team cruised a 9-2 victory.  The offensive player of the game was Adam Jones going  2 for 3, 3 runs, 2B, HR and RBI.  Lester pitched a complete 6 hit shut out.

Game 3- Although the final scoreboard implied a close battle won by WES 3-1.  The BC bats pretty much fell silent after the third inning.  Santana delivered what became the game winning at bat in the fifth singling in 2 runs.  Porecello, Sipp and Broxton effectively shut down the BC offense.

Game 4- The BC bats continued their sabbatical as the who WES tee off on the newly acquired  Cashner.  The team batted .417, 15 hits  (including 4 HRs) and Iwakuma pitch a complete game 5 hit shut out.

Draft Day, Saturday April 2

(1/31) Oceanus openened up a one game lead on the pack - the latest that they have been in first place in many years.  From Jed: 

Executive Summary

Oceanus takes 3 out of 4 from Constantinople in a series mostly lacking drama.  In retrospect, only the first game was particularly close, but didn't feel close since Oceanus led the whole way.  Similarly in Game 2 Constantinople led from wire to wire in a not close 3-0 victory.  Constantinople just didn't get production from their star players (e.g. Trout batted .188 for the series with no HR and no RBI) and Oceanus may have had their best overall team series performance of the year (batting .318 as a team with a 3.00 ERA).  Meanwhile, the mysterious drought of getting the good lead continues.  There were no good leads in the Pierogies versus Assholes series.  Today, Constantinople got the good lead twice (and was thrown out on a 1-17 chance...).

Meanwhile, New Orleans has a winning day, splitting with What Eric Said and taking 3 of 4 from Bay City.  New Orleans played in, and won all 3 extra inning games, including a 15 inning contest against Jeff where both his “2” second baseman and “1” center fielder made errors in the 15th to give New Orleans the win.  Jeff said he will never venture to Marblehead again.

Here are the slightly edited computer-generated game summaries from the OC-CN series

Game 1

41,947 fans were treated to a fine game at Oceanus Field as only one run separated the combatants at game's end.  The Oceanus Assholes won by the slimmest of margins, 7 to 6. Constantinople fell behind quickly as the Oceanus offense came through in the first inning scoring a single run.  Constantinople tried unsuccessfully to come back in the 9th.  Felix Hernandez went 6 and 1/3 innings allowing 5 runs for the victory. Pat Neshek gained credit for the save.  James Paxton suffered the loss.  He allowed Oceanus 7 runs in 6 innings of work.

Game 2

Jake Arrieta and Masahiro Tanaka treated the Oceanus fans to a fine pitching duel at Oceanus Field.  The Constantinople Manatees eventually emerged as victors over the Oceanus Assholes by the score of 3 to 0. Constantinople claimed the early lead in the first inning scoring one runner utilizing 2 base hits.  That early run support was enough for Arrieta and Constantinople.  Greg Holland came through with a perfect ninth inning (striking out the side) to earn the save. 

Game 3

Jose Abreu smacked 2 homeruns and the newly-acquired Corey Kluber mowed down 12 Constantinople batters as the Oceanus Assholes defeated the Constantinople Manatees 7 to 0 at Oceanus Field. Kluber escaped virtually unscathed against the Constantinople hitters. He allowed only 4 hits and 2 walks in 9 innings.  Oceanus dominated offensively as they scored in 6 different innings.  Jordan Zimmermann absorbed the loss.  He served up 3 gopher balls in 5 and 2/3 innings.  When asked about his strikeout total for the game, Kluber offered, 'The fan's really got into it.  It is fun to see them tally up the strikeout totals up there in the stands.  Fortunately, I kept them busy this afternoon - of course, it would be all for naught without the 'W'.'

Game 4

Carlos Gomez knocked 2 homeruns and had 4 RBI as the Oceanus Assholes outscored the Constantinople Manatees 11 to 4.Gomez provided much of the offense.  He delivered a solo blast in the 2nd inning and bombed a two-run dinger in the 4th inning.  Oceanus had 14 hits for the game and Constantinople had 5.  The win was credited to Hiroki Kuroda who went 5 and 2/3 innings allowing no runs. Collin McHugh was given the loss.  He served up 4 gopher balls in 4 innings. 

Draft Day, Saturday April 2. 

(1/28) After trading away 7 players off the 25-man roster and then enduring 4 injuries during the series (Cruz, Kiermaier, Betts, and Pedroia, himself an injury callup), North Dakota would naturally win its 2nd series of the year.  Before game 1, Eric made a strong pitch to acquire Adam Wainright, but ND's steep asking price proved to be a deal-breaker.  The disappointing ace (2-6, 5.30 ERA coming into the game) then turned around and pitched a CG gem, winning game 1, 3-2.  Kiermaier's 2-run shot in the 7th gave ND the 3-2 lead for good.

North Dakota had a laugher of a game in game 2, winning 13-4.  Kiermaier's grand slam just after Cruz had been beaned was the key blow.  Big Papi added 2 home runs for North Dakota, as the team played loose and could not miss any rolls.  Game 3 was the key game.  Newfound slugger JJ Hardy doubled in 2 runs in the 2nd to stake ND to a 3-1 lead.  But Eric's newly acquired E. Escobar had an easy home run against his old team taken away by a fantastic leaping grab by Fowler to rob him of a sure home run.  In contrast to the 'laughing all the way to the draft' attitude of the ND manager, the visibly frustrated SL manager seemed tense as the game wore on.  Ozuna smacked a solo shot for SL in the 7th to make it a 3-2 game, but they stranded two runners.  An insurance 2-run homer by AAA callup Ramos makes it a 5-2 game.  The Loons desperately try and come back (Aranado stranded at 3rd), but ND hangs on for the 5-4 victory.

After winning game four 3-2 (Ozuna 3-run homer) to avoid getting swept, a relieved Eric declared this to be a rare satisfying 1-3 series loss.

Across the table, Jeff won a 17-inning game 3 torturefest.  After the series he stated he was numb from the extra inning affair and couldn't remember any series highlights.  He did, however, add a "?" to his official team name.

Here is a summary of the trades made over the past two days:

1. North Dakota trades Kluber to Oceanus for Archer and a 6th round pick (the worse of Jed's two potential picks).  The pick becomes a 5th in 2017 if Jed ends up with no 6th rounder.
2. Smoking Loons acquired Papelbon and E. Escobar from North Dakota for a 2nd round pick.
3. "What Eric Said" (now "What Eric Said?") acquired Justin Turner and an 8th round pick from North Dakota in exchange for a 3rd rounder.
4. North Dakota trades Y. Gomes and Pearce to Future Wax for Tyson Ross.
5. Bay City acquired Andrew Cashner and its previously traded 9th rounder pick from North Dakota for a 5th round pick.

Draft Day Saturday, April 2.

(1/26)  I will cut to the chase.  The following players are available to trade:  S. Pearce (LF, RF, 1B, pounds both sides), J. Turner (3B, 2B, mutant, also had a great 2016), Y. Gomes (-2 C with power), Kiermaier, Cano, Hardy, E. Escobar (lefty killer, 2B, ss, 3B).  Wainright, Kluber, Papelbon, Cashner.  Make me an offer!  Let's trade! 

The games, you ask?  What happened in the series?  North Dakota was up 4-2 in the 8th inning of game 1 when Upton smacked a 3-run homer off Kimbrel  and FW wins 6-5.  Stanton and Moss also homered in the game for FW.  ND took a 3-1 lead early in game 2, but Stanton (the first of three "3-4" rolls in the series), McHenry and Kemp all homered for FW as they win going away 8-3.

North Dakota won game 3, 3-1 on Cruz's timely 2-run homer in the 6th.  Game 4 was the best game.  ND went up 3-0 on Wieters' 3-run shot, but FW scores 4 in the 3rd on Seager's 2-run triple and Stanton's 2-run HR.  ND takes the lead back in the 4th on Goldschmidt's rbi double, 5-4.  But Stanton rolls another 3-4 in the 5th for another 2-run homer to take the lead back for FW 6-5.  3 more in the 9th for FW, and ND's entire team is on the trading block.

Draft Day Saturday, April 2.

(1/19)  The classic unsatisfying/satisfying split as Oceanus looked fantastic in games 1 and 2, hitting 10 HR and then sputtered in games 3 and 4 allowing the deep Smoking Loons bullpen to take control.  Here are the slightly edited computer-generated game stories.

Game 1

Designated hitter Jose Abreu rocketed 2 homeruns as the Oceanus Assholes bested the Smoking Loons 8 to 6 at Oceanus Field. Felix Hernandez pitched well for Oceanus in their victory.  He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings.  Hernandez whiffed an impressive total of 9 Smoking batters.  Darren O'Day was perfect in relief and got the save.  Chris Tillman( ended up with the loss.  He served up 5 homeruns in his 7 innings.

Game 2

The Smoking Loons pitchers essentially took the day off at Oceanus Field as the Oceanus Assholes offense erupted for 12 runs while David Price, with relief help from Fernando Abad, surrendered 3 runs to Smoking. Evan Gattis provided much of the offense.  He singled in the 3rd inning, doubled bringing in a run in the 7th inning and belted a three-run homer in the 8th inning.  Oceanus out-hit the Loons for the game, 13 hits to 7.  Gio Gonzalez was given the loss.  He served up 5 homeruns in his 8 innings.

Game 3

Andrelton Simmons had 2 base hits as the Smoking Loons defeated the Oceanus Assholes by the score of 7 to 3 at Oceanus Field. The Loons took the lead for good in the top of the 5th inning scoring a single run.  They managed 8 hits in their victory.  Tom Wilhelmsen was the winner allowing no runs in 1 and 2/3 innings.  Lance Lynn ended up with the loss.  He surrendered 4 runs and 4 hits in 5 innings. 

Game 4

In a dramatic ending the Smoking Loons staged a comeback* and held on to win over the Oceanus Assholes by the count of 5 to 4. Garrett Richards gave a fine effort for Smoking.  He was reached for 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings.  The Loons ended up with 9 hits for the game while Oceanus had 6.  Joe Smith recorded the save.  Hiroki Kuroda was the loser.  He surrendered 5 hits and 1 walk in 5 innings.

*Not sure what the computer is talking about - unless you want to consider the series as a whole.  In this game, the Loons were either leading or tied the whole game.  What was marginally dramatic was Joe Smith giving up a 2-run HR to Anthony Rendon in the bottom of the 9th to cut the lead do/

Eric has removed the "The" from The Smoking Loons team name...Eric and Jed are now both at the trading deadline for playoff eligibility...Their split means Robin is now in sole possession of first place by percentage points...A rare lull in the schedule has the whole league getting an entire week off...Draft Day Saturday, April 2. 

(1/13)  An unsatisfying split leaves North Dakota with no idea whether to keep plodding along or raise the white flag and start trading off players.  ND knew it'd be a tough matchup in Tom's ridiculously large (HRs and singles "1") park, but won game 1 easily 7-1.  Kiermaier's 3-run shot was the big blow, while Goldschmidt had 3 hits, HR and 3 rbi.

Game 2 was the best game.  Valbuena staked CN to a 1-0 lead, but the much maligned Hanley Ramirez cracked a 3-run shot off the great Arrieta in the top of the 3rd to give ND the lead 3-1. ND then pulls Ramirez for defense, and CN makes them pay in the bottom of the third when Trout, Rizzo, and Martin went back to back to back to give CN the 4-3 lead.  It stayed that way until the 9th.  That's when Big Papi, pinch-hitting for Hardy, homered to tie the game and send it to extra innigs.  In the 10th, with 2 out and M. Betts on 2nd, ND sent the limited Wieters up to bat for the 5th time (after debating whether to pull him and save at bats).  Wieters hits the go ahead rbi single, and ND hangs on for the 4-3 win.

Zimmerman, Doolittle, and Otero combine on a 5-hit 3-0 shutout in game 3, as ND laments wasting 7 runs in game 1.  In the finale, it was all CN, winning 6-1 (Rizzo and Rosario HR's), as both teams miss numerous ballpark HR's, one of which would have been a Kiermaier grand slam instead of the third out of the inning.  In the 8th inning Kimbrel and Clippard start head hunting and knock Lorenzo Cain and Carl Crawford out of the first two games of CN's next series against Jeff, causing both benches to empty.  Fines and suspensions likely.

Draft Day Saturday, April 2. 

(1/10) The results of the this weekend's action have Jed, Robin, and Eric tied atop the league, with Tom and Jeff just one game behind.

The question Smoking Loon Nation is afraid to ask--8 games into the second half of the season--is: Where would we be if not for New Orleans? In last place, is probably the answer they don't want to hear. Lucky for them, for the second time this year the Loons smoked the Ellis's, taking all four on Saturday. The sweep was highlighted by Weaver's complete game shutout (3 hits, 4 walks, 8 Ks) and an almost 8-run per game average, which included 24 extra-base hits. That makes Eric 7-1 against Harold, and 13-15 against everyone else. Harold, I owe you....

As for the Loons series against Bay City, Eric was just grateful for a split, even if it was an unsatisfying one. Weaver shut down Bay City in Bay City's bandbox, to go 2-0 for the day, pitching like it was throwback week, surrendering zero runs over 16 innings.

Meanwhile, on the Interweb...In the first game, Future Wax's Scherzer dominated, striking out 10 in a 9-0 victory, his 4th complete game shut out this season. Brian Dozier knocked 2 homeruns and had 3 RBI, to lead a 14 hit attack against a flat Felix Hernandez. Down 2-1 in game 2, Future Wax put up 5 runs in the 7th, including a 3-run Stanton homer, giving Kershaw the win. Oceanus rallied for 2 runs the next inning, but Sanchez and Duke (first save) closed the door, for a 6-4 victory.

In the third game, Bautista broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run homer in the 7th. Upton got a run back in the 8th on a double, but a potential second run was thrown out at the plate. Neshek was perfect in the ninth for the save, securing a 6-4 Oceanus win. The final game was tied 4-4 in the 9th. After Mesoraco reached on a Fiers error, the much maligned (by Jed) Tulowitzki cracked a two-run shot. That proved to be the game winner after Neshek nailed down another save.

P.S. This was perhaps the most uneventful internet series ever. Instant connection, no crashes, no bugs, stats functioned properly. One cell phone died during game 4, but a reliever was brought in and play resumed.

Draft Day Saturday, April 2.

(1/6)  Randy took the first two games, then Tom took the last two. The most notable moment was the 4 unearned runs Randy gave up to break open Game 3, kicked off by a Catcher-X rare play that had Rizzo reaching base on a Strike Out/Passed Ball, followed immediately by the first of 3 errors (over two games) by his 1-rated second baseman, Dozier. That was the moment Karma switched sides.

Draft Day Saturday, April 2.           

(1/3) In the second half of a home and home series, Bay City continued its second quarter dominance, again taking three of four from lowly North Dakota--this time on the road to gain a share of 1st place. In Game 1, Ventura pitched seven strong innings and didn't bean anyone or start any brawls. He took the win in a 5-3 BC victory against Wainwright, Papelbon, and Clippard. Josh Harrison, who was rumored to be an ND target on Draft Day, hit two doubles to lead the BC offense. In Game 2, BC scored 18 runs without benefit of a homer in the cramped Gackle Park space left free from grazing cows. BC got 8 hits in the third to go along wth a couple of walks and an ND error to score 8. Ani Sanchez pitched 4 scoreless, and Johnny Cueto saw his ERA leader chances plummet as he pitched the whole game. Two solo homers off Kenley Jansen were all ND could muster in a crushing 18-2 defeat. BC scored 4 in the first for the second consecutive game in Game 3, getting homers from V. Martinez and Pablo Sandoval. ND made it interesting with 3 in the bottom of the 8th, but Wade Davis was able to shut down the Dakotans in the ninth for a 6-5 win. In Game 4, Alex Cobb was the hard-luck loser in a 2-1 pitchers' duel against ND's DeGrom. M. Cabrera's HR was the only scoring for BC, as Cano homered and Goldschmidt scored on a Posey passed ball for the go-ahead ND run.

Meanwhile, WES took over 3rd place, winning 3 of 4 including a 4 for 5, 4 HR 8 rbi performance in one game for Adam Jones...Draft Day Saturday, April 2.

(12/22) Despite ND pitchers beaning and injuring the heart of the BC lineup, Bay City took the first of a home and home series against ND, to, shockingly, end the first half in a tie for second place. Ani Sanchez pitched 4 strong innings in Game 1, giving up only a HR to Yan Gomes, and Strop, Jansen, and W. Davis kept the Dakotans off the scoreboard for a 4-1 win despite an injury to V. Martinez. In Game 2, Cueto beaned Miguel Cabrera in his first at-bat, injuring the slugger for the remainder of the series. A dispirited BC team fell to the goons 8-6, as ND got homers from Kiermaier, Ortiz, and Cano (2), while fellow former New Orleanser Werth homered for BC, as did Marte. BC had a 6-4 lead heading to the ninth but Ramos gave up 4 (in part due to a Harrison error at third). BC took Game 3, 5-2, on the strength of a fine outing by Cobb, with Wade Davis in relief. Down 2-1 in the seventh, BC scored 3 runs on three separate 'single + error' combos on ND's typically poor fielding. Frustrated, Tyler Clippard beaned Posey in the 8th. Game 4 was a nailbiter. First-round pick Jorge Soler made his SOMBILLA debut for BC, which was desperate for offense with both Cabrera and Posey on the DL and Martinez just returning from injury. BC again took advantage of the shoddy ND defense as Martinez reached on a Cano error to lead off the fourth, leading to 3 runs and giving Darvish another victory, 3-2.

Meanwhile...In the final series before the all star break “What Eric Said” hosted the presumptuous Wax club.  In Game 1 Loshe, Holland and Casillia were able to shut down the Wax bats by combining in a four hit gem.  Frazier who went 3 for 4 with a double and a home run led the offense.  WES went on to win 5-1.

In Game 2 the Wax rolled out their lefty Ace Kershaw who effectively shut down the WES offense as the Wax cruised to a 4-0 shut out.   At the end of the game lingering reporters over heard the WAX coach saying that he was surprised with WES in that his analysis was that his club was far better then WES despite his computer simulations proving otherwise.

In Game 3, WES used Wax management statements from post game two as bulletin board material and hunker down to hold off the Wax dynamo in a 4-3 victory led by the performances of Puig 3-3 (2B, HR and 3 RBIs) and a shut down save by Giles holding the tying runner at 3rd with only one out in hand. In Game 4 WES completed their 3-1 series win by a score of 7-3 featuring a great offensive performance by Adam Jones going 3-3 (2runs, 2B and 2 RBIs). 

Remember that all teams receive a day off at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve.  Send your stats to Tom,

Draft day 4/2/2016!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

(12/20)  In the showdown for first place to end the first half, Oceanus took 3 out of 4 against Constantinople.  Very close hard fought games including 2 extra innings affairs (one of 19 innings).  3 1-run games and a 2-run game.  Both teams hit under .200 for the series.  Here are the slightly edited game stories.

Game 1

Sean Doolittle had an impressive outing as the Constantinople Manatees bested the Oceanus Assholes in 19 innings 3 to 2 at Bank One Ballpark.

The score was knotted at 2 after nine innings.  Finally, Constantinople pulled the game out in the 19th inning.  Matt Adams cracked a solo homerun resulting in a mighty exciting win for Constantinople and the 19,172 home town fans in attendance.  Constantinople totaled 7 hits on the afternoon.

Doolittle went 4 innings allowing no runs for the victory. Adam Warren was the loser in relief.  He surrendered 1 run and 2 hits in 3 and 1/3 innings.

Game 2

Masahiro Tanaka had a strong outing as the Oceanus Assholes defeated the Constantinople Manatees in 12 innings by the score of 1 to 0 at Bank One Ballpark.

The run-column was full of goose eggs at the end of nine full innings.  Oceanus was victorious in the 12th inning.  Lucas Duda drew a walk.  Jose Bautista came to the plate and drew a walk.  Michael Brantley then laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Adrian Beltre stepped in and he hit a deep fly.  Oceanus had only 2 hits for the afternoon. 

The winning pitcher was Cody Allen who allowed no runs in 2 and 1/3 innings. Darren O'Day preserved the game for Allen, recording his his 1st save.  Hector Rondon absorbed the loss in relief.  He allowed 1 run and no hits in 2/3 of an inning. 

Game 3

David Price had an impressive outing as the Oceanus Assholes outscored the Constantinople Manatees 5 to 3.

Oceanus took the lead for good in the 5th inning scoring a single run.  Adrian Beltre delivered a single.  Devin Mesoraco was next and he laid down a sacrifice bunt.  One out later, Ian Desmond then would ground out.  Pat Neshek relieved and was untouched by Constantinople as he recorded the save his 4th. 

Price went 7 innings allowing 3 runs for the victory. Jordan Zimmermann absorbed the loss.  He gave up 6 hits and no walks in 5 and 2/3 innings.

Game 4

19,410 fans were treated to a fine game at Bank One Ballpark as only one run separated the combatants at game's end.  The Oceanus Assholes tallied 4 runs in the 5th inning and won by the slimmest of margins, 7 to 6.

Oceanus won the game with a run in the 9th inning.  Jason Heyward doubled.  Troy Tulowitzki followed and he lined a base-hit.  Carlos Gomez then laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Oceanus rapped out 10 hits for the afternoon. 

The win went to Fernando Abad who allowed 2 runs in 2 innings. Abad got relief help from Darren O'Day who gained credit for his 2nd save of the series.  Dan Otero was given the loss in relief.

(12/19) The accordian affect continues to grip the league, with New Orleand winning 3 of 4 from Future Wax.  There is now 1 game separating 3rd from 7th, and 2 games separating 3rd place from last.  Specifics of the series:

(12/16)  Randy's series win over CN combined with ND's series win over OC on Sunday creates an accordion effect on the league, with 7 teams separated by just 3 games...All teams are now at the roster freeze...Having heard no comments on the 2nd half schedule, it is now final...Please send your stats to Tom.

(12/13)Robin had an uncharacteristically good day at Jeff's place (where she possibly went 2-10 last year), but what was truly shocking was that she made a trade! Harold offered Jayson Werth for a 7th-round pick, and BC picked up the hirsute RF and immediately ordered him to shave. In game action, Alex Cobb bested Sonny Gray in Game 1, 6-2, as Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 4 with a walk. Dee Gordon homered against his Dad's former team. In Game 2, NO got out to a lead thanks to a Morneau triple and an RBI single by soon-to-be Bay Cityite Werth, but it was all downhill for Harold from there, as Bay City batted around in both the 3rd and the 7th en route to a 13-3 victory. Chris Owings, knowing that he was in danger of being sent down at the roster freeze went 3 for 4 with a HR and 2 RBIs (but was sent down after the series anyways). New Orleans' Huston Street taunted his former team in Game 3, saving Hughes's 3-1 win. Rivera hit a 2-run HR in the 9th to break a 1-1 tie. Game 4 was another 3-1 pitchers' duel with Bay City's Sanchez besting Stasburg. Notable was Wright being thrown out at the plate by some BC infielder after a lead-off triple in the 5th.

Game 1 of the Bay City/Loons matchup looked like another pitchers' duel, as the Loons' Dickerson homered off Roark in the first and then both teams went scoreless until the 7th, when BC scored 6, in large part due to an error by normally sure-handed Denard Span. The final score was 6-2. BC won a squeaker in Game 2, 5-4, thanks to HRs by Cabrera and newly acquired Werth. Span continued to be the goat for the Loons, getting thrown out stealing twice. In Game 3 BC's Darvish bested Weaver, as the Loons managed only 3 hits against the future Tommy John surgery victim and Ramos and Britton. In Game 4, Eric avoided the sweep, thanks to HRs by Dickerson and Lucroy; Bay City managed only 4 hits against Richards and Smith. For the series as a whole, Robin had most of the rolling luck, although her only ballpark homer chances for lefties were both for wimpy Adam Eaton (he did single on both).

Meanwhile...North Dakota won its first series of the season this morning to become relevant again.  In game 1, ND broke a scoreless tie in the 5th inning with 3 runs, helped by Mookie Betts's 2-run homer. Oceanus fought back with homers by Mesoraco and Desmond and the score was 4-3 ND after 6. Benoit, Miller, Clippard, and Kimbrel pitched the final three hitless innings for ND to nail down the 4-3 win.

Down 2-1 in the 5th inning of game 2, Paul Goldschmidt blasted a 3 run homer to give ND a 4-2 lead.  Johnny Cueto hung on to pitch a complete game for his 4th win (4-2), with an ERA of 1.85.  In game 3, the score was tied 3-3 after 8. Justin Turner (back after an 8-game injury) doubled and was singled home by Steve Pearce off Neshek.  Kimbrel notched his 4th save.  OC avoided the sweep, pounding out a 9-4 win in the finale.

(12/9) After losing 2 of the first 3 games to lowly New Orleans, North Dakota's season was passing before it's eyes, and game 4 became a must game for the season.  Newly acquired Robinson Cano went down with an injury (naturally) thn the finale, but ND managed to win 4-1 anyway to salvage the season.  The two teams traded 9-1 blowouts in games 1 and 2. New Orleans won game 3 5-2, but it was never in doubt (5-0 heading to the 9th), thanks to Zobrist's 3-run homer off Kluber.  ND missed 7 ballpark homers (HR: 1) in theseries...

Meanwhile, in the CN-WES series: The bottom of the 2nd tied at 1-1 and Adam Lind came to bat against James Paxton.  Tom said it was strange that Jeff would start Lind against a lefty, “you have been looking on the correct side of the card right?”  Jeff “Lefty, oh …”   Being a magnanimous host, Tom suggested we restart with Jeff having his lineup (substantially different) against lefty starters.

Please send back your schedule surveys by tomorr if possible....Send your stats to Tom.

(12/6) Tom took over foirst place by percentage points on Sunday.  "We traded shutouts I think and then I pulled out a 2-1 squeaker. Then his leftie had a bad 1st inning to allow me to take 3 out of 4".  Full report from Tom coming tomorrow....At Oceanus, the classic satisfying/unsatisfying split - satisfying/unsatisfying WITHIN satisfying/unsatisfying even.  All the games were close - even game 1 (which Oceanus won 10-3) was 4-3 going into the 7th.  Arguably the key to the whole series was the 7th inning of game 3.  Oceanus had a 5-0 lead.  Tanaka was cruising.  Then New Orleans put together one of those "Strat-O innings" where there was nothing Oceanus could do and it was 6-5 New Orleans.  And that was it.  The star for New Orleans was Cespedes who went 8 for 17 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.  For Oceanus, Abreu went 7 for 16 with 3 HR and 7 RBI.

Another pivotal moment was New Orleans scoring 4 in the top of the 10th in game 2, on a Cespedes grand slam.

There was only one minor controversy, easily managed.  I had put Miguel Gonzalez on Harold's roster, not Marco Gonzales.  We realized the problem right away and were prepared to read the result off of Gonzales' card and manually correct it if necessary.  It wasn't necessary and Gonzales pitched to only one batter in the game.  The box score even looks almost correct!  Gonzales joined the team in the next game....  

Both Jed and Eric are now at the roster freeze.  

(12/5) In one the earliest game time starts for a series in SOMBILLA history (9:30 am), Future Wax took 3 of 4 from Bay City to get back to .500 (4-4) on the season. Fuuture Wax won the first game as Scherzer pitched his second complete game shut out in a row. Dozier, LaRoche, and Seager homers contributed to a 5-0 Wax victory.

In Game 2, the Wax pounced on Y. Ventura, building a 6-0 lead in the first inning (on 4 singles, a double, 2 walks, and one error). Posey (BC) and LaRoche (FW) each homered, accounting for a final score of 9-2. In Game 3, Future Wax put the lead runner on in each of the first 6 innings, scoring 8 runs on 12 hits, including homers by McCutcheon and Kemp. Bay City plated 3 runs, 2 on a Eaton blast.

In the final game, Bay City avoided the sweep by scoring 6 runs in the first off Greinke, who lasted only a third of an inning. Four runs were directly related to a Hamilton error, including a 2-run blast from Harrison to cap the scoring. Roark silenced the Wax bats, allowing only one unearned run (on a Cabrera error). V. Martinez homered in the 7th towards a final score of 8-1.

Send your stats to Tom!

(12/1) Future Wax climbed out of the cellar with its first series win of the season, taking 3 games from deflated North Dakota.

The Dakotans got off to a slow start with 19 scoreless innings. The Wax took game one on a 5-hit complete game shut out from Scherzer. Stanton and Seagar homered on the way to a 5-0 victory. (To add injury to insult, ND’s Justin Turner was hit by a pitch and looks to miss 8 games as a result.) 

Game 2 was won in similar fashion, with Kershaw and 4 relievers blanking the Dakotans, so that solo shots by Seager and Peralta were enough to secure a 2-0 win.

Game 3 at first looked like more of the same as the Wax jumped out to a 3-run lead in the first, but Arnie's bats finally woke up, with 4 consecutive singles and a sac fly tying the score. Randy added 2 runs on Stanton and LaRoche blasts, but a Y. Gomes homer with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th gave Arnie the margin he needed for a 7-5 victory. Kimbrel recorded his first save.

The final game had Future Wax again posting a 3-0 first inning lead, but this time the upper Dakotans had no answer, scoring only two runs (off 3 hits in the 4th and a Hanley Ramirez long ball in the 9th) -- which was countered by a McKenry (starting for the injured Ruiz) homer. Final score: 4-2.

(11/30) The Assholes traveled to the spacious confines of What Eric Said field, where signs still said Bay City, confusing the home fans.  In spite of the computer mis-labeling, the dimensions were correct.

WES took the first game 4-2, a game meticulously managed by Jeff that never felt close.  OCE proceeded to take games 2-4.  There was a minor controversy that turned out to be really idiocy on my part.  There was a HR by Abreu in game 2 where I got an 11 split.  I had forgotten what the roll was (it doesn't stay on the screen) and somehow got it in my head that robbing of the HR should have been in effect.  We spent quite some time trying to sort this out when I realized that it couldn't have been a BP HR since it was 1-6 for righties.  So this was just a straight HR.  It was clear that it could only have been one roll on Abreu's card (a 1-5) but I would like to have had proof.

Bluntly, no monster performances in this one.  Danny Santana had a nice debut, going 4-4 in game 1 and hitting .438 for the series.  Iannetta hit .400 overall.  For Oceanus, Altuve hit .438 and Tulo hit .400.  Only 3 HR for Oceanus, 2 for What Eric Said.  Kuroda pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings.

Here are the slightly edited computer generated summaries.

Game 1: Danny Santana had 4 hits as What Eric Said bested the Oceanus Assholes 4 to 2 at Bay City Stadium (not). Oceanus was unable to claim the lead after What Eric Said went ahead in the bottom of the 3rd inning plating an isolated run on 2 hits.  What Eric Said rapped out 10 hits for the afternoon. 

The win was credited to Hisashi Iwakuma who went 6 and 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs. Iwakuma got help from Ken Giles who was credited with the save.  Felix Hernandez was the losing pitcher.

Game 2: Right fielder Jose Bautista went yard and had 3 RBI as the Oceanus Assholes topped What Eric Said by a score of 9 to 6. Bautista had a good day at the plate.  He doubled in the 3rd inning, smashed a two-run homer in the 5th inning and lashed a single which plated a run in the 9th inning.  Oceanus had 16 hits for the game and What Eric Said had 9.

Masahiro Tanaka picked up the victory, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. Pat Neshek was credited with the save.  Kyle Lohse was the losing pitcher.  He was hit hard and gave up 16 hits and 3 walks in 9 innings.

Game 3: In a game for the baseball purist, Hiroki Kuroda and Jeff Samardzija squared off in a tense pitching duel, with the Oceanus Assholes finally emerging victorious over What Eric Said, 4 to 0. Kuroda gave a fine effort for Oceanus.  He allowed 6 hits and 1 walk in 7 and 1/3 innings.  The pitchers took over after the 3rd inning as neither team was able to score again.

Game 4: (Not) at Bay City Stadium, the Oceanus Assholes outscored What Eric Said 5 to 2. What Eric Said was unable to recover after Oceanus went ahead in the 5th inning plating one baserunner.  Oceanus had just 6 hits for the afternoon.

The victory was credited to Lance Lynn who went 5 innings, allowing 1 run. The loss was charged to Jon Lester.  He surrendered 3 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings.

(11/22)  Two teams with differing perceptions of their performances so far this year played to split on a rainy fall Sunday in Plymouth today. ND jumped to a 2-0 lead in game 1, but the Loons got 4 runs on 5 extra base hits against Wainright in the 5th and that;s all they would need for the 4-2 win, Joe Smith win the save.  The game featured the first of two controversies in the series.  In the 7th, Eric's Pollock, pinch-hitting for LF Ozuna, was injured for 7 games.  The only other available LF on the 25-man roster was the DH, Corey Dickerson.  Instead of forcing Eric to lose the DH, Arnie reluctantly allowed Eric to bring in Hunter Pence, a rightfielder with no LF on his card, to play LF for the remainder of the game. Strat-O rule 23.0 is not clear that you need to lose the DH if he is the only fielder left on your team (Eric agreed that if he'd had someone on the bench to play LF he'd have to be brought in).  Strat-O does provide that outfielders can play other outfield positions "if you have no remaining players to play a position".  Arnie did not feel strongly enough about it to play under protest (it had no impact on the outcome, btw), but will propose the Dickerson rule at the draft that says, "you have to lose the DH if he is the only one on your team who can play a position after an injury".

North Dakota smashed 4 homers in game 2 (Ramirez, Turner, Ortiz and Pujols) to power to an 8-2 win.  Game 3 went 12 innings and featured the 2nd controversy. The Loons went ahead 2-0, but ND took the lead back, 3-2 in the 4th on Cruz's solo shot.  At one point after getting some hits off Weaver's card, the ND manager said "Weaver is paying the price..." then paused trying to figure out how to complete the sentence, whereupon Eric did so: "for being shitty".  Despite his shittiness, Weaver only trailed 3-2 after 6.  In the 8th, N. Walker singled in an unearned run to tie it 3-3.  Bottom of the 10th ND loads the bases with 1 out.  Eric has the infield and outfield in and JJ Hardy up against a tired Joe Smith.  He hits a fb B?, which becomes a -7 (instead of the normal +2) with the OF in.  That made S. Pearce, on 3rd, a 1-5 to score.  Tough decision - take a 25% chance on the roll or allow N. Cruz to hit in the clutch against a tired Smith.  After hemming and hawing ("wish I had a computer"), Arnie decides to go for it, rolls a "5" - blocking the plate, but LeCroy is a "1", so its roll again for a 1-2, and LeCroy blocks the runner to end the inning. But wait!  Eric realizes that Ozuna has a -3 arm and both managers forgot to include that!  That would have made the safe chance 1-2 instead of 1-5 and of course, in that case, ND never would have attempted to tag up from 3rd but would have let Cruz hit away.  Eric feels bad, but Arnie agrees that it was also his own fault for also doing luggage and not factoring in the arm, so both managers feel shitty and we go to the 11th.  In the bottom of the 12th, Yan Gomes leads off with a HR to end the game - and it's poetic justice for ND.

In the finale, The Smoking Loons jumped to a 2-0 lead in the finale off Kazmir, then scored 3 unearned runs in the 5th (defense anyone?) on the way to a 6-2 win and a series split.

Before you enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey, please send your stats to Tom!  Happy Thanksgiving!

(11/18)  Oceanus played to a disappointing split in its first series after pulling off two early season trades.  They jumped out to a 7-1 lead in game 1, helped by Bautista's 3-run homer and they won easily 8-4.  OC jumped out to a 3-0 lead again in game 2, but BC clawed back and went ahead 4-3 after five.  W. Davis, Strop and Loup pitched the final four innings for BC, shutting the door on OC for the 4-3 win.  Bay City won the third game 5-3, with Tanner Roark (1-2) picking up hist first win and Zach Britton with the save.

Game 4 was the wackiest, torturing both managers. OC jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the 2nd, tiring Cobb, who stuck around to take it for the team.  But after BC tied it in the 3rd 7-7 (knocking out Price), it was time for both bullpens to be depleted. "Oceanus took the lead for good in the 5th inning when they tallied 4 runs on 4 hits. The biggest moment was provided by Adrian Beltre who deflated the mood of the partisan fans when he slapped a single bringing home two baserunners. Oceanus had 15 hits for the night while Bay City had 11.The winning pitcher was Cody Allen(1-0) who allowed no runs in 1 and 2/3 innings. Alex Cobb(0-1) was the loser. He allowed a few too many baserunners giving up 9 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings".

(11/17) [I] certainly didn't expect to win 3 of 4 against Randy after trading my best player. The best game of the series was game 3, which the Smoking Loons took in 12, 7-5. In brief: the Loons scored 5 in the 1st and 2 in the 12th, and nothing in between. The Wax nibbled away and scored 3 times in the 6th and 7th off the Loon pen. Then the Loon pen held the Wax for the next five innings, Soriano doing the honors with the save. The Wax won game 2, 6-0, Kershaw (5 innings) and Fiers (4) combining on a 5-hitter, supported by a monster game by Stanton, who whacked 3 home runs and drove in 5...Send your stats to Tom.  

(11/15) Reluctant pre-season favorite won it's second series in a row out of the gate earlier today.

Game 1:  CN came out strong scoring 5 runs in the first 4 innings against Sonny Gray who went the distance in the loss.  New Orleans got 2 runs in the 8th to force Greg Hollands and his torn MCL to stop the bleeding for a save in a 5-2 game.

Game 2:  Arrieta shut out New Orleans with the help of his friends to give the Manatees a 6-0 win. 

Game 3:  After the slow start to the series, Harold got to Zimmmerman and went up 3-0 after two as Mourneau homered.  Matt Adams hit a 3 run homer to tie in the top of the 5th and Harold was already saying “here we go again” just before Zimmerman coughed up 3 in the bottom of the fifth.   CN kept saying to his offense, score a run and I will pull Zimm, but their bats had gone to sleep, and New Orleans won the game 8-3 and looked to even the series. 

Game 4:  Harold hoped to pull out the satisfying split, but the CN luck rose up when Trout walked and Matt Adams hit a ballpark homer (1-1 chance) and got the 1 to go up 2-0.  The New Orleans offence came out slugging against soft tosser McHugh, starting single, double, walk to load the bases.  Nutt Harold then missed a ballpark single and struck out twice to go quietly.  In frustration, David Wright hit Russel Martin in the back of the head to knock him out of the game and for a while it looked like the game might end  2-0, but New Orleans got a run against Carrasco in the 6th.   Jimmy Rollins immediately hit a home run to keep the lead at 2 and Donaldson added a home run to keep CN cruising for a 4-1 victory giving Carrasco a 4-0 start and Melancon notching a save.

Meanwhile...Executive summary is that Oceanus took 3 out of 4 from the Smoking Loons.  The Loons hit .148 for the series and had a team ERA of 5.00.  The lone (loon?) bright spot was Troy Tulowitzki, who had 2 homers and 7 RBIs.  His grand slam won game 3 and his 3-run HR almost won game 2.  For the Assholes, excellent pitching from Hernandez, Price and Quintana and Duda and Mesoraco hit a combined .444 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

Here are the slightly edited computer-generated game summaries:

Game 1

Felix Hernandez went 9 strong innings at Sandover Field where the Oceanus Assholes beat the Smoking Loons 4 to 2. Hernandez contributed a very nicely pitched game.  He allowed just 5 hits and no walks in 9 innings.  Both teams' bats went to sleep after the 4th inning with no runs scored after that point.  Chris Tillman was hit with the loss.  He pitched 9 innings allowing 6 hits and 2 walks.

Game 2

At Sandover Field the Oceanus Assholes outdistanced the Smoking Loons by a final score of 7 to 3. Oceanus tallied 3 runs in the 7th inning with the help of 5 hits.  Jose Bautista led off and keyed the rally when he lined a single.  Devin Mesoraco stepped up next and he lined a base-hit.  Martin Prado then grounded into a double play.  Adrian Beltre was up next and he lined a one-base hit.  Ian Desmond came to the plate and blasted a two-run home run.  Carlos Gomez added to the uprising and ripped a single.  Gomez stole second with some aggressive base running.  Oceanus had 14 hits for the afternoon while Smoking Loons had 4. 

Adam Warren went 1 inning allowing 1 run for the victory. Tom Wilhelmsen absorbed the loss in relief.  He surrendered 3 hits and no walks in 1/3 of an inning.

Game 3

In a close game it was the Smoking Loons 6, the Oceanus Assholes 4 at Sandover Field. The Loons came up with 4 runs in the 7th inning.  The big moment was provided by Troy Tulowitzki who elicited a roar from the hometown fans when he launched a Grand Slam homerun.  Oceanus went down quietly in the 9th. Jered Weaver allowed 4 runs in 7 innings, and picked up the victory. Joe Smith recorded the save.  The loss was charged to Adam Warren in relief. 

'I just wanted to give my team a chance to win.' said Weaver, 'I got burned on a couple of pitches. But we won the game, and that's all that matters.'

Game 4

Catcher Devin Mesoraco touched them all and had 3 RBI as the Oceanus Assholes defeated the Smoking Loons by a score of 6 to 1 at Sandover Field. David Price was in control of the game from the outset.  He didn't give up much, just 4 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings.  Oceanus had 9 hits for the afternoon while the Smoking Loons had 4.  Gio Gonzalez was the losing pitcher.  He surrendered 5 runs and 5 hits in 6 innings.

(11/8): Constaninople slugged 9 homers and Carlos Carrasco had 2 wins to lead reluctant pre-season favorite CN over Bay City. Tom hit all those homers despite playing in the most extreme pitcher's park possible.  He even smacked a ballpark homer by rolling 2 consecutive '1's, a 1 BP homer roll, then a 1 on JJ Reddick, who appeared poised to rob Rizzo of a home run.  Both teams used the same lineup in all 4 games, in Joel-like fashion.  BC's only win was Yu Darvish's first in over a year...Neil (not Todd) Walker led The Smoking Loons (Eric's new team name) with 2 homers and 7 rbis...John Lester (CG 2-hit shutout), Iwakuma (7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits) helped WES shut down North Dakota.  The key game was game 1, when Frazier (HR) and Kendrick (rbi single) staged a 9th inning comeback for WES against Kimbrel.

Ballparks:

 Ballparks:
                 L          R      Fences
Constantinople  S 1-1   S  1-1        Low
               HR 1-1   HR 1-1     

North Dakota    S 1-1      S 1-6      High
               HR 1-19    HR 1-19

Bay City        S 1-3    S 1-9        High
               HR 1-14   HR 1-14

The Smoking Loons   S 1-9     S 1-9   Low  
                   HR 1-18   HR 1-10

New Orleans      S 1-10   S 1-14     
                HR 1-1   HR 1- 1

Future Wax      S 1-7   S 1-15       Low
               HR 1-7  HR 1-15

"What Eric Said" S 1-3   S  1-9     High - LCF
                HR 1-3   HR 1-6             Low - - RCF

Oceanus        S 1-11    S 1-19       High
              HR 1-11   HR 1-19


(11/5):  The SOMBILLA season kicked off with the usual computer glitches, exacerbated by a firewall that kept turning itself back on and thereby freezing the game.  But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the 1,173 fans who turned out in Rehoboth Beach to watch a battle between top contenders in a remodeled ballpark where the fences have been moved way in.

The Oceanus Assholes took the first three games by scores of 8-5, 6-4 and 7-2.  Future Wax won the finale 6-4.  Each team hit 10 HR.  Andrew McCutchen went 8-16 with 3 HR for the Wax.  Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Upton each had 2 HR.  For Oceanus, Michael Brantley went 7 for 14, Jose Abreu 7 for 17 with 2 HR and Adrian Beltre 6 for 15 with 2 HR.  The team hit .309 for the series.  Pat Neshek had 2 saves.

A couple of other fun tidbits included Devin Mesoraco getting injured in his first at bat of the season.  Also, Michael McKenry hit a HR in his first ever SOMBILLA plate appearance.  Finally, in game 2 Oceanus had 6 runs, 6 hits and 6 RBI so that the box score shows 666....

 

Here are the slightly edited computer generated game stories, for those who just can't get enough of this stuff.

Game 1

Designated hitter Jose Abreu left the yard and had 3 RBI at Oceanus Field where the Oceanus Assholes beat the Future Wax Candles 8 to 5.

Abreu had a big day at the plate.  He doubled in the 1st inning, doubled plating two runs in the 4th inning and clubbed a solo home run in the 8th inning.  For the game Oceanus out-hit Future Wax 14 to 8. 

Felix Hernandez (1-0) went 7 and 1/3 innings allowing 5 runs for the victory.  Pat Neshek recorded his 1st save.  Max Scherzer (0-1) was tagged with the loss.  He gave up 7 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings of work.

Game 2

Masahiro Tanaka struck out 12 batters and center fielder Carlos Gomez homered and scored 3 times as the Oceanus Assholes beat the Future Wax Candles by a score of 6 to 4. Tanaka (1-0) earned his pay with a solid performance for Oceanus.  He went 6 innings allowing 5 hits and 4 walks and served up 2 'big flies'.  Oceanus won despite being out-hit by Future Wax 9 hits to 6. 

Tanaka got help from Pat Neshek who earned his 2nd save.  Clayton Kershaw (0-1) was hit with the loss.  Despite the loss, he struck out 8 Oceanus batters in 5 innings.  The Oceanus fans were thrilled by the performance put forth by Tanaka, but it was clearly his strikeouts that they enjoyed most. 'When he reached 10 strikeouts the fans showed him their appreciation with a loud cheer.' the Oceanus manager said after the game.

Game 3

Jose Bautista slammed 2 home runs and had 4 RBI as the Oceanus Assholes topped the Future Wax Candles by a score of 7 to 2 at Oceanus Field. Bautista had a good day at the plate.  He lofted a solo-blast 'downtown' in the 4th inning and smacked a three-run homer in the 5th inning.  Oceanus finished with 11 hits while Future Wax ended up with 6. 

Lance Lynn (1-0) got credit for the victory, pitching 6 and 1/3 innings and allowing 2 runs. Julio Teheran (0-1) was given the loss.  He was touched for 11 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings.

Game 4
In a two run game the Future Wax Candles got by the Oceanus Assholes by the score of 6 to 4. Zack Greinke (1-0) pitched well for Future Wax in their victory.  He went 7 and 2/3 innings surrendering 9 hits and no walks.  Oceanus made it exciting in the 9th, but they were unable to push the needed runs across.  David Price (0-1) was given the loss.  He served up 3 home runs in his 9 innings.  The Oceanus manager was reflective after the loss, 'We should have won this one, we just made one too many mistakes.  Son-of-a-gun, that added a couple more white hairs on this noggin of mine.'