Monthly Archives: September 2009

Time for fantasy baseball final

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BgbFantasy
We are down to the final two teams in the race for the BaseballGB fantasy league title. Which two made it through for a shot at glory?
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Orpington Isotopes 26 9 29 4 .202 .689 4 6 68 4 3.89 1.34 5
SWAT 28 5 17 7 .258 .730 4 2 51 2 3.45 1.04 6
 
A closely-fought semi-final saw SWAT emerge victorious at the expense of my Isotopes. My team had more power and RBIs but struggled to hit for average. SWAT also had the advantage in taking the ERA, which would have been used as the deciding category in the event of a tie. Hamels and De La Rosa were SWAT’s top pitchers, while Werth was the pick of the hitters. My bats were led by Cuddyer and Howard, while Hanson, Nathan and Bell were my top pitchers.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
The Wright Stuff 28 5 24 7 .258 .709 2 7 50 1 4.08 1.34 8
stevenston angels 22 4 19 0 .240 .689 3 1 37 2 2.79 1.29 4
 
The Stuff reached the final with an 8-4 win over the Angels, taking all six hitting categories. Matt Weiters and Felipe Lopez were the key hitters, while midweek pickup Luke Gregerson picked up a win and a hold. The Angels had some nice hitting from Derrek Lee and good pitching from Kazmir and Josh Johnson, but did not hit enough to make it to the final.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
The Cheddar Chasers 15 2 18 3 .311 .785 4 2 30 1 2.45 0.97 6
Syracuse Nationals 29 5 20 3 .273 .756 5 1 33 0 4.61 1.51 5
 
The Chasers dealt the ‘Cuse their second straight playoff defeat with a 6-5 win. The ‘Cuse hit well thanks to Ellsbury and Pujols, but the Chasers’ pitching staff put up excellent ERA and WHIP numbers thanks to Grienke, Vazquez and Wolf.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Josh & Jonny Whos 19 3 23 7 .271 .723 2 6 38 1 4.18 1.21 6
RussDev Giants 26 6 25 4 .304 .859 1 1 30 0 3.71 1.39 6
 
There was some late drama in this consolation playoff as the Whos were knocked out on an ERA tiebreaker by the Giants. The Whos took all but one pitching category – the deciding ERA – while the Giants took five of the hitting categories. Zito, Blanton and Cordero pitched well for the Whos, but they were hurt by Jiminez’s rough outing earlier in the week. Verlander and Garza pitched well for the Giants while Mauer, Kendrick and Crawford were the hitting stars.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Borders Bats 41 8 37 9 .356 1.015 1 2 22 3 2.54 1.31 9
Braughing’s Bangers 32 11 32 3 .301 .927 0 1 46 0 4.29 1.21 3
 
The Bats made it through to the consolation final with a convincing 9-3 win over the Bangers. Teixeira and Kurt Suzuki were the Bats’ top hitters, while Theriot and Furcal had three steals each. The Bats managed just one win all week, but it was enough to take the category. Tulowitzki, Bay and Kemp were in great form for the Bangers, but despite impressive strikeout numbers from Wainwright and Zambrano they failed to make it through.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Bonestalkers 12 1 11 1 .264 .620 2 0 35 0 3.45 1.24 2
Rio Crande Typos 26 8 29 2 .308 .913 3 0 28 1 3.38 1.61 9
 
The Typos ended their season with a convincing 9-2 win over Bonestalkers, taking all six hitting categories thanks to McCann, Zobrist and Votto. Bonestalkers suffered a power outage, hitting just one homer all week and saw Lincecum and Scherzer struggle.
 
We now move on to the two-week grand final between SWAT and the Stuff. Who will be crowned the first BaseballGB champion? There will be an update next week to see what the scores are at the halfway point.
 
Here are the week’s fixtures, all lasting two weeks:
Final: SWAT v Wright Stuff
Third place: Isotopes v Angels
Consolation final: Giants v Bats
Ninth place: Whos v Bangers

Early MLB games this week: Only four

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The season is drawing to a close and there aren’t many more chances for most teams to get the crowds into their ballparks.  Perhaps that’s why all but four games are taking place at nighttime this working week?  Whatever the reason, it makes for a light schedule of early games for us to enjoy live during the British evening.  All times are in BST.  Continue reading →

Great Britain’s World Cup adventure comes to an end

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Great Britain’s 2009 Baseball World Cup ended in slightly disappointing circumstances yesterday.  The team was unable to get a win in the second round, finishing bottom of Pool F with an 0-7 record.  There was no shame in their performances.  Success for Team GB heading into the tournament was to qualify for the second round and they achieved that aim. 

The sense of disappointment is present because the team genuinely had chances to earn at least one victory in the second stage and they just came up short each time.  All British fans will feel the disappointment, not for themselves but for the players and coaches who deserved at least one win to celebrate for the way they performed.  Continue reading →

Sunday’s early MLB games: a great evening of action

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As is normally the case on a Sunday, all but the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game (Cubs-Cardinals at 01.05) are being played during the daytime today.  The full list is provided below with start times in BST and a quick glimpse should reveal that they don’t need much of an introduction.

Angels-Rangers, Phillies-Braves, Tigers-Twins and Giants-Dodgers stand out for their playoff importance and pitching match-ups, while the lack of a playoff place to play for doesn’t diminish the appeal of the Blue Jays-Rays contest.

18.05. Angels @ Rangers – Lackey (10-8), Holland (7-11)
18.10. Marlins @ Reds – West (7-5), Wells (1-4)
18.10. Nationals @ Mets – Mock (3-8), Maine (5-5)
18.30. Phillies @ Braves – Lee (14-11), Hanson (10-3)
18.35. Red Sox @ Orioles – Matsuzaka (2-5), Berken (5-11)
18.35. Padres @ Pirates – Correia (10-10), Maholm (8-8)
18.38. Blue Jays @ Rays – Halladay (15-9), Price (8-7)
19.05. Astros @ Brewers – Paulino (2-9), Gallardo (12-12)
19.05. Royals @ White Sox – Tejeda (3-1), Garcia (2-2)
19.10. Tigers @ Twins – Robertson (1-2), Baker (13-8)
21.05. Indians @ A’s – Carmona (3-11), Eveland (1-3)
21.10. Rockies @ D-Backs – Jimenez (13-11), Haren (14-8)
21.10. Yankees @ Mariners – Chamberlain (8-5), Snell (6-10)
21.10. Giants @ Dodgers – Lincecum (14-5), Wolf (10-6).

All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, Gameday Audio and MLB.tv).  ESPN America will be showing Angels-Rangers, Rockies-D-Backs and Cubs-Cardinals.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: ‘Cheats’ and schedules

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It seems like ages since we’ve had a week without apocalyptic stories of ‘cheating’ filling the sports pages of British newspapers.  From ‘bloodgate’ (rugby union), to ‘divegate’ (football) and now ‘crashgate’ (Formula One), all it takes is one or two incidents for a whole sport to be dragged through the mud. 

When someone gets caught, their first instinct is normally to deny any wrongdoing, then claim that what they did wasn’t all that bad because everyone else does it anyway, before dealing with the often ridiculous moral outrage by engaging in rounds of the old playground argument: ‘your sport’s worse than my sport when it comes to cheating’, ‘no, your sport’s much worse than mine’ etc. 

In baseball, we’ve seen all this played out with regard to the so-called ‘steroid era’.  Continue reading →

Saturday’s early MLB games: Tigers-Twins, Giants-Dodgers and more

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The MLB regular season is winding down, but there is still plenty of action left to enjoy.  While the first three early games today involve teams looking towards 2010, the three beginning at 21.10 should all be worth watching.  All times are in BST.

17.35. Padres @ Pirates – Richard (8-5), Ohlendorf (11-10)
18.10. Nationals @ Mets – Lannan (9-11), Redding (2-6)
21.05. Indians @ A’s – Sowers (6-9), Gonzalez (5-6)
21.10. Cubs @ Cardinals – Dempster (10-8), Carpenter (16-4)
21.10. Tigers @ Twins – Verlander (16-8), Pavano (12-11)
21.10. Giants @ Dodgers – Penny (10-8), Garland (10-11)  Continue reading →

Great Britain shut out by the Netherlands

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Great Britain are still searching for their first victory in the second round of the Baseball World Cup after they were shutout by the Netherlands in a 6-0 loss yesterday.  Team GB now have two more attempts to get that elusive win, beginning with a game today against Spain at midday British time.  Continue reading →

You Are the Scorer: Number 46

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YouAreScorer

Scenario: In a 6-inning regulation game called because of rain, the starter leaves after 4 innings with an 8–0 lead. In the fifth, a reliever strikes out the first three batters, and in the sixth a second reliever does the same thing.

The rulebook says that the starter would have needed to pitch 5 innings to be eligible for the win in this game, and so the win should go to the more effective reliever. However, they turned in an identical performance. So, as the official scorer, to whom do you award the win?

A – The starter.
B – Reliever one.
C – Reliever two.

Highlight the text below to reveal the answer:

Answer: B – Reliever one.

Rule 10.17(b) Comment states:
If two or more relief pitchers were similarly effective, the official scorer should give the presumption to the earlier pitcher as the winning pitcher.

Another loss, but another worthy effort by Great Britain

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So near and yet so far: Great Britain lost their fourth straight game in the Baseball World Cup today, taking a 5-4 loss against Puerto Rico in Haarlem.  However, they once again performed with distinction against a leading baseball nation.  British fans dared to dream of a memorable victory when their team hit four runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead. 

Those hopes were immediately dented when Puerto Rico levelled the score in the bottom half of the frame and Britain were unable to stage a second comeback after their opponents regained the lead in the following inning.  Continue reading →