Monthly Archives: September 2014

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: When the final day may not be the final day

The final day of the MLB regular season is always tinged with sadness.

It’s caused by the realisation that the daily delight of baseball that has been a constant for the last six months is about to reduce to a trickle of playoff games and then a long baseball-free winter.

The one thing you hope for on this day is that there is one last hurrah, a gripping pennant race to be decided that will have you flicking between games and getting caught up in the drama.

The high-water mark of recent times to judge any final day against came in 2011. Here’s how I summed it up at the time:

“Itâ€™s just gone seven a.m. and while Iâ€™m tired I know there is little chance that I will be able to fall asleep again any time soon.

My head is still spinning from the most incredible end to an MLB regular season you could imagine.Â The lack of sleep isnâ€™t helping with my futile attempt to take it all in, but even if I was wide awake, I would still be shaking my head with disbelief and wondering if this has really happened.

In the early hours of Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays somehow snatched the American League Wild Card from the Boston Red Sox

…

It was 5.07 a.m. in the UK.Â Thatâ€™s not a very sociable hour to be cheering or screaming in frustration, but anyone following the action would have found it impossible not to let their emotions get the better of them.

The Rays were one strike away from losing in the ninth inning of their game.Â The Red Sox were one strike away from winning their game.Â Somehow it is the Rays that have ended up winning the AL Wild Card.

I canâ€™t summon the energy or concentration required to think much about the postseason right now. Â All I know is that it has got a lot to live up to”.

I can’t imagine anything could top that final day – or very long night as it turned out to be for us in the U.K. – however the 2014 final day is set up to potentially come some way close to it.

After the games on Saturday there are still three key postseason matters to be decided:

Who out of the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates will win the NL Central, with the ‘loser’ heading to the NL Wild Card game to face the San Francisco Giants
Who out of the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals will win the AL Central, with the ‘loser’ heading to the AL Wild Card game
Who out of the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners will win the second AL Wild Card spot, with the winner facing the loser of the Tigers-Royals race, whilst the loser of the A’s-Mariners race seeing their playoff hopes dashed at the last.

If the results go the right way – or the wrong way depending on who you support – any or all of the three races could be tied after the teams have completed their 162 schedule meaning that a single 163 game decider will be needed.

In all three cases both results need to go the way of the chaser: them to win and their opponent to lose. And just to add to the drama, the key games today are all starting at different times.

In the National League Central race, the Pittsburgh Pirates begin their game against the Cincinnati Reds at 18.10. BST needing to win to keep their division title hopes alive. If they lose then the St. Louis Cardinals will be able to play their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, starting at 21.10., with the freedom that they’ve avoided the Wild Card ‘play-in’ game. If the Pirates have won their game, all the pressure suddenly sits on St. Louis’s shoulders needing to win their game to clinch the division and knowing a loss will lead to a nervy game 163.

It’s a similar scenario in the American League Central, only in this case it’s the current division leaders, the Tigers, who get underway first. They start their game against the Minnesota Twins at 18.08, one hour ahead of the first pitch between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.

As with the Cardinals’ scenario, if the Tigers win their game then the Royals’ result will be irrelevant and we would probably be in a situation (subject to the Tigers-Twins games going into extra innings) where the Tigers clinch the division while the Royals are still in mid-game. However if the Tigers miss their chance then it will be an anxious wait for them to see if the White Sox can do them a favour.

The same story could play out in the AL Wild Card race and that is the most tense of them all. At least in the other two races the ‘loser’ will have a Wild Card playoff place to soften the blow. There will be no such consolation prize for whoever misses out between the A’s and Mariners.

Oakland are in the ‘all we have to do is win’ spot and begin their game against the Texas Rangers at 20.05, with the Mariners starting their game against the LA Angels at 21.10. in the ‘we need the A’s to lose and for us to win’ spot.

The different start times mean that it’s possible all three cases will come to a calm conclusion as the evening progresses, with the first result in each deciding everything, yet you wouldn’t bet against the drama continuing right down to the wire.

It should be a great final day to the 2014 regular season, because there’s every chance that it will not be the final day of the regular season after all.

BGB Fantasy League 2014: Week 24

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Just two teams remain standing in the fight for the BaseballGB Fantasy League championship title. Read on to find out who made it through.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	22	4	19	1	.258	.699	1	3	51	1	2.76	1.14	3
London Bananas	20	7	22	2	.293	.817	2	3	35	1	3.15	1.03	7

The Bananas defeated the #2 seeds, getting the better of Norwich 7-3. The offense did most of the heavy lifting, winning five categories thanks to Alcides Escobar, Marte and Werth, while Lackey joined Hamels in picking up a win, also combining with Lohse take take WHIP with a very impressive 1.03 overall.

Rosario had a monster week for Norwich, hitting .700 for the week, scoring eight times, belting two homers and knocking in nine. Quintana and Fiers helped take ERA while Santana struck out 10, but Norwich will have to make do with a place in the third place playoff.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	34	7	28	3	.341	.946	6	3	37	0	4.05	1.31	5
Enfield Butchers	19	7	28	2	.250	.704	4	4	52	4	3.34	1.10	5

The top seeds have also fallen, as my Isotopes squeezed into the final by the narrowest of margins. The contest finished level at 5-5, but the Butchers fell victim to the tiebreaker of my 6-5 win against them in the regular season. My team had the better of the offense thanks to a monster week from Puig, who came to life with 12 runs, two homers, two steals and six RBIs, while Pearce homered three times and joined Puig and Hanley in batting over .400 for the week. On the mound, six different pitchers picked up wins.

The Butchers had three homers and nine RBIs from Trumbo, Avisial Garcia went deep twice and Encarnacion drove in six. Worley, Greene and Odorizzi helped take ERA and WHIP while Stroman struck out 10, Clippard had three holds and Melancon collected two saves. I tip my hat to Dru for a fantastic season with the Butchers.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	16	7	17	0	.212	.614	2	1	30	0	2.82	1.15	1
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	31	4	24	6	.363	.956	5	1	52	1	2.06	0.98	10

Beck ‘Nams are trying to finish the season ion a high, defeating the Chasers 10-1 in the consolation playoff semi-finals. Kemp homered three times and knocked in 10, while Reyes and Aoki also had big weeks with the bat and on the bases as they took five offensive categories. Kluber was the pick of the pitchers with a win and 14 strikeouts and ERA and WHIP stats of 1.29. Warren had a save and a hold.

Ortiz hit three homers and McCann went deep twice as the Chasers salvaged homers, while Nolasco, Lester and Scherzer posted great ERA and WHIP stats which would have beaten most other teams most other weeks.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	17	4	12	1	.255	.712	2	4	31	2	3.38	1.53	3
Jesmond Dennings	21	6	26	2	.287	.835	3	0	49	1	3.76	1.25	9

Beck ‘Nams will face Jesmond in the consolation final after their 9-3 win against Batteries Essential. Dickerson, Pujols and martin led an offensive sweep, while Tillman and Fister each had a win and combined with Feldman and Volquez to take WHIP.

Batteries essential paid the price for not replacing the suspended Davis or the injured Castro, but Storen had four saves and Alex Wood helped take ERA.

So the final matchups for the 2014 season are:

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Isotopes (5th) v Banans (6th)

THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF

Butchers (1st) v Norwich (2nd)

CONSOLATION FINAL

Beck ‘Nams (7th) v Jesmond (8th)

SEVENTH PLACE PLAYOFF

Chasers (3rd) v Batteries Essential (4th)

MLB this Week: Final Week

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It’s the final week of the 2014 regular season and there are some important games still to be played as teams try to book a playoff place.

Some of them are due to start before midnight, UK time, making them great evening viewing for us.

The working week starts with an early game of sorts. The Kansas City Royals trailed the Cleveland Indians 4-2 in the bottom of the tenth inning of their game on 31 August before rain caused the contest to be suspended.

With the AL Central being such a close battle, and the Indians themselves still being in the Wild Card running, the potential Cleveland win has been hanging over proceedings ever since. The remaining part of the game could be over in a matter of minutes, or a KC comeback could make it an exciting and important clash.

Wednesday provides four early games including two with playoff implications. The Detroit Tigers are at home against the White Sox, whilst the Oakland A’s host an LA Angels team that has already booked its postseason place.

On Thursday, the Brewers can’t really afford to lose as they take on the Reds, whilst the same arguably applies to the Mariners in their clash against the Blue Jays.

The weekend begins with Stephen Strasburg looking to head into the playoffs on a positive note with a strong showing at home against the Marlins.

All times are in BST.

Monday 22 September

No early games, except for …

(23.05. Cleveland at Kansas City, 4-2 b10th)

Tuesday 23 September

No early games

Wednesday 24 September

18.05. Baltimore at NY Yankees (Gausman – Greene)

18.08. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers (Quintana – Verlander)

18.10. Arizona at Minnesota (Nuno – Hughes) *MLB.com Free Game

20.35. LA Angels at Oakland (Santiago – Lester) *ESPN

Thursday 25 September

17.35. Milwaukee at Cincinnati (Gallardo – Holmberg) *ESPN, *MLB.com Free Game

21.07. Seattle at Toronto (Young – Stroman) *ESPN

21.10. Philadelphia at Miami (Buchanan – Koehler)

Friday 26 September

18.05. Miami at Washington (Cosart – Strasburg) *ESPN

All of these games are available to watch live via theÂ MLB.TV subscriptionÂ atÂ MLB.com. The early games being shown on BT Sport or ESPN are highlighted above. The complete schedule for this weekâ€™s MLB games can be found onÂ MLB.com

BGB Fantasy League 2014: Week 23

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The top eight teams did battle in the first round of the BaseballGB fantasy league championship playoffs. Which four teams still have a shot at glory?

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	19	3	10	1	.230	.642	3	3	32	0	5.12	1.74	1
London Bananas	28	5	22	6	.265	.740	2	3	46	1	3.33	1.28	10

The Bananas picked a good time for a big win, defeating the Chasers 10-1 to advance to the next round. An offensive sweep was keyed by Lucroy and Marte for average, Plouffe for power and Escobar and Span for steals. Gregerson led the staff with eight strikeouts and picked up a win and a hold while Hamels and Lynn helped take ERA and WHIP. Lester had a two-win week for the Chasers and McCann hit two homers but Matt will have to make do with a shot at the consolation playoffs in the next gameweek.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	27	9	27	3	.284	.817	2	5	58	4	3.04	1.14	8
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	24	4	23	1	.227	.631	5	0	56	4	2.39	0.98	3

Another matchup, another offensive sweep. This time it was Norwich who benefitted, defeating Beck ‘Nams 8-3. Marcel Ozuna hit four homers, scoring and driving in six, while Rendon hit two homers and crossed home plate seven times. The pitchers took saves thanks to three from Chapman, while Quintana’s 13 strikeouts made the difference in that category. Shelby Miller, Kluber and Liriano helped Beck ‘Nams salvage wins, ERA and WHIP, while Kemp had another good week with Â the bat and Hosmer went deep twice.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Enfield Butchers	25	6	26	2	.239	.673	4	3	60	3	3.78	1.04	6
Jesmond Dennings	34	6	30	1	.298	.848	5	1	45	1	3.83	1.26	5

Top seeds Enfield made it through, but only just, defeating Jesmond 6-5. In a very tight matchup, the Butcher pitchers took five categories. Stroman’s scoreless start, combined with Price and Paxton’s efforts helped take ERA and WHIP, while Vargas struck out 14. Melancon and Clippard took care of saves and holds while Yelich swiped two bases. Jesmond had the better of the offense as Trout scored 10 runs, homered twice and knocked in five, while Martin drove in nine and Pujiols had six RBIs and seven runs. Five different pitchers collected wins.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	20	1	16	3	.282	.725	7	3	79	2	2.41	1.12	6
Batteries Essential	20	3	18	5	.260	.720	4	6	45	0	2.25	1.17	5

Finally, my Isotopes advance to the next round by a narrow margin, defeating Batteries Essential 6-5. Zimmermann won both his starts and joined archer, Norris and Verlander in recording double-digit strikeouts. Mejia had two saves and a hold. Hanley Ramirez picked a great time to heat up, teaming up with Pearce and Cruz to take average and OPS. Batteries Essential’s offense was hit by the injury to Stanton, and the lack of a replacement for the suspended Chris Davis may have proved costly. The offense still took homers, RBIs and steals, mainly thanks to Brantley and Walker. Wood, Chen, Garza and Peralta helped take ERA and Storen had three saves.

Week 24 matchups:

Championship playoffs:

Butchers (1st) v Isotopes (5th)

Norwich (2nd) v Bananas (6th)

Consolation playoffs:

Chasers (3rd) v Beck ‘Nams (7th)

Batteries Essential (4th) v Jesmond (8th)

MLB this Week: Four to enjoy

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As we head into the final couple of weeks of the regular season, the number of day-games can tend to reduce as teams maximise revenue from the home games they’ve got left by playing them in the evening.

That’s good news for fans Stateside that want to watch their team, but does limit the number of games we can watch live at a convenient time during the working week from the UK.

However, what we lack in numbers this week – with only four games scheduled to start before midnight UK time – we make up for in their importance.

The LA Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are battling for the NL West crown, and to avoid the Wild Card play-in game, and both teams are in action on Wednesday taking on the Rockies and D-Backs respectively.

Fans of the Dodgers can also catch their team live during the British evening on Friday as LA travel to Wrigley Field to take on the Cubs. Clayton Kershaw would be the starting pitcher for the Dodgers if he stays on his normal rotation schedule.

In between it’s the turn of the AL West to take centre stage on Thursday as the Oakland A’s host the Texas Rangers. The last month or so has been painful for A’s fans as what looked-like being a run towards their third consecutive division title has turned into an almighty scrap just to keep hold of a Wild Card place.

All times are in BST.

Monday 15 September

No early games

Tuesday 16 September

No early games

Wednesday 17 September

20.10. LA Dodgers at Colorado (TBA- De La Rosa) *MLB.com Free Game
20.40. San Francisco at Arizona (Bumgarner – Delgado) *ESPN

Thursday 18 September

20.35. Texas at Oakland (Holland – Hammel) *ESPN

Friday 19 September

19.20. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Kershaw – Doubront)

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Nationals nicely placed

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The Washington Nationals have the best record in the National League going into Sunday with 84 wins against 63 losses and it’s possible that some onlookers may not have quite noticed.

It’s a product in part on the differing expectations placed on the team this year compared to the previous two.

The 2012 campaign saw the Nationals playing playoff baseball for the first time since the Expos were shamefully taken away from Monteral and rebranded in Washington in 2005.

Their 98 regular season wins were a giant leap ahead of previous paltry totals, although the back-to-back seasons of 100+ losses in 2008 and 2009 were precisely what allowed them to acquireÂ Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper asÂ number one selections in the subsequent amateur drafts. This notÂ only added two exciting young talents but also changed the whole atmosphere around the club, with the Nationals being picked up by the national media as a team on the rise.

Unfortunately for Washington, the achievement of gaining 98 regular season victories was quickly blown away by a a crushing 3-2 Division Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Going out of the postseason early is always a blow, yet the manner of their defeat made it seem disastrous. They led 6-0 after three innings in the decider and, despite St. Louis’s efforts to chip away at the deficit, everyone in Nationals Park was on their feet heading into the ninth inning with a 7-5 lead waiting to celebrate.

Instead of jumping for joy, Nationals fans ended up drowning in despair as closer Drew Storen – another first round draft pick – went into meltdown and conceded four runs as the Cardinals prevailed 9-7.

AnÂ overall terrific season suddenly seemed like a disaster.

The then-manager Davey Johnson’s bullish ‘World Series or bust’ cry heading into 2013 came true in a sense when his team missed out on the playoffs completely last year and created question marks over just how good these players were coming into 2014. The appointment of a rookie manager, Matt Williams, as a replacement for the retired Johnson gave further cause for doubt.

Fans of the Atlanta Braves certainly felt confident about their chances of retaining their NL East crown. The division has produced some entertaining rivalries over the past decade and the latest battle for supremacy between the Braves and Nationals is as good as any before. Part of the needle between the two stems from the national attention on the likes of Strasburg and Harper and a feeling among many Braves fans that their team is unfairly overlooked, or more specifically that Washington get generous coverage that their actual performances don’t deserve.

So far this season only the most-biased Braves fan would deny that their team has been second best. The Nationals have a 9.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL EastÂ and have earned this cushion without the fanfare that has previously surrounded the team. None of their players have especially gaudy conventional statistics, but what they’ve got this year is a whole assortment of players making good contributions, not least on a pitching staff that is right up there as one of the best in the Majors.

The Nationals were a much-hyped team in 2012 and 2013 and didn’t quite live up to expectations. Maybe this year, with less attention on them, might be the one where they make it all the way to the Fall Classic.

‘Crush’ Davis crashes

Thankfully MLB hasn’t been the subject of many negative news stories of late, the NFL has cornered that particular market among U.S. sports recently, but a drug suspension for a key player on a playoff-bound team is always likely to create a few waves.

In the case of the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Davis, he has fallen foul of the drug-testers for a relatively minor contravention after testing positive for amphetamines. He even had a medical exemption for using the product, Adderall, prior to this season, so probably will avoid landing firmly in the ‘drug cheat’ class set by public opinion, even though his MLB-leading 53 home runs last season raised an eyebrow or two among the conspiracy theorists.

It’s the timing of the suspension that raises itsÂ prominence. A 25-game ban normally makes for a month out of action in MLB terms, but the Orioles only had 17 regular season games left when his ban came into effect on Friday. Baltimore have a comfortable lead in the AL East so his absence will not be felt too badly there; it’s the gap he’ll leave in the first eight playoff games, if they get through the best-of-five Division Series, that will be key.

How big a blow it will be remains to be seen. Davis has had a very disappointing season compared to 2013; however his ability to change a game with one swing of the bat is still there, as shown by his 26 home runs this season, and the Orioles only need him to get hot for a few days to turn a short playoff series around. The question will be whether Davis can contribute much in the second-part of a potential Championship Series after not facing competitive MLB pitching for a considerable length of time.

The Orioles’ all-but-certain AL East title will be a remarkable achievement considering the obstacles they have faced, particularly losing Manny Machado and Matt Wieters to injuries. If they reach the Championship Series, Davis may well find a place on the roster as Baltimore try to find what potential game-changers they’ve got left.

Playoff schedule

As we’re on the playoff theme, the postseason schedule was announced on Thursday.

The two Wild Cards will take place on Tuesday 30 September and Wednesday 1 October and although start times haven’t been announced for any of the games as yet, those two undoubtedlyÂ willÂ be played at night in the States and therefore be early morning contests on Wednesday and Thursday for us in the U.K.

As for the World Series, that will start on a Tuesday night this year (so early hours of Wednesday for us), a day earlier than the Wednesday start we’ve become familiar with in recent years. Arguably the main impact from a British perspective is that it means Games Three to Five will be played in the early hours ofÂ Saturday, Sunday and Monday for us, whichÂ may make it easy to arrange to watch them live than the previous Sunday-to-Tuesday morning sequence.

BGB Fantasy League 2014: Week 22

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After 22 weeks, we now know which eight teams will be playing for the BaseballGB fantasy league championship. It was a nail-biting race for the last four places.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Mighty Slugs	26	3	15	2	.262	.703	3	2	36	1	3.07	1.27	1
Enfield Butchers	28	6	20	5	.286	.774	4	6	34	4	2.83	1.14	11

The Butchers had already booked their playoff place, but they showed no sign of taking their foot off the gas with an 11-1 thumping of the Slugs. Asdrubal Cabrera, Yelich and Wong led an offensive sweep while Vargas was the pick of the starting pitchers. Two other Royals, Holland and Davis (two holds) joined Kimbrel in collecting two saves each. The Slugs actually performed pretty well across the board and will feel hard done buy to only take strikeouts thanks to McHugh. d’Arnaud had a big week with the bat.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	25	9	26	6	.285	.779	3	1	49	1	3.44	1.34	8
Richie’s RBI’s	21	4	37	4	.326	.852	1	0	22	1	6.14	1.77	3

The Chasers finish third after their 8-3 victory against the RBIs. Miggy scored eight times, homered five times and knocked in nine. Not bad for a guy with a bad ankle. The pitching staff fell a hold shy of a sweep thanks to Ross and a pair of wins out of the pen for Joe Smith. Posey, Lind and Brandon Crawford helped the RBIs salvage RBIs, average and OPS.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	28	9	34	2	.271	.798	3	6	29	1	3.79	1.39	8
Iron Men	24	7	25	0	.280	.777	2	4	53	0	2.96	0.95	4

Iron Men fell just short of the playoffs, ending the regular season in 9th after their 8-4 loss to Norwich. Seager had a three-homer week, McCutchen hit a pair and Ozuna knocked in seven as the hitters took five categories. Boxberger had a win and a hold while Jansen notched three saves. Iron Men had a monster Sunday from Adrian Gonzalez, while Mesoraco helped win average. Smyly and Salazar helped take strikeouts, ERA and WHIP.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	19	9	31	2	.261	.806	1	4	46	1	7.45	1.66	8
NE Riverkings	18	4	22	3	.230	.654	3	1	36	0	2.41	1.05	4

My Isotopes left it late but secured their playoff place with an 8-4 win against the Riverkings. Cruz’s monster Sunday saw him raise his homer total to four for the week, knocking in 12, while Frazier and Khris Davis went yard twice. Mejia, Howell and Norris took care of saves, holds and strikeouts in an otherwise ugly week for the pitching staff. Gio Gonzalez won both of his starts for the Riverkings, joining Buerhle and Sale in taking ERA and WHIP.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Bits & Bytes	19	2	23	1	.292	.774	3	2	29	0	1.78	0.74	3
Angels of Ash Vale	23	8	25	5	.283	.843	3	3	35	0	4.04	1.23	7

The Angels ended the season on a high note, defeating cellar dwellers Bits & Bytes 7-3. Carter (three homers), Morales and Heyward helped the offense take five categories while Papelbon had two saves and Dickey struck out 10. As usual, Kershaw and King Felix, with help from Hughes, took ERA and WHIP comfortably for Bits & Bytes while Bourjos, Kendrick and Bogaerts took average.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Weston-Super-Sox	24	7	26	5	.273	.813	4	2	17	0	4.94	1.72	6
Jesmond Dennings	29	11	32	2	.256	.786	1	1	18	0	5.14	1.33	5

It was a Â nervy finish for Jesmond, who lost 6-5 to the Sox but still managed to finish 8th, claiming a playoff place. Altuve helped the Sox take steals, average and OPS while all four healthy pitchers picked up a win. Jesmond had runs, homers and RBIs from Arenado and Dickerson, while Tillman edged strikeouts by one and joined with gee to take WHIP.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	25	7	21	4	.297	.839	1	5	37	3	2.18	1.21	5
Northfleet Knights	30	6	30	3	.330	.848	2	2	32	3	3.86	1.07	6

The Knights picked up a 6-5 win against Batteries Essential, but it wasn’t enough to make the championship playoffs. V-Mart and Joey Bats had big weeks offensively, while Shields and Haren posted great WHIP numbers. Batteries Essential had three homers from Stanton, Rosenthal had three saves and Koehler struck out 10.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	18	6	22	2	.259	.773	2	1	31	2	4.71	1.27	6
London Bananas	21	5	20	6	.236	.707	4	2	62	0	3.89	1.33	6

Finally, the Bananas and Beck ‘Nams finished 6-6, a result which sees both teams advance to the playoffs. The bananas benefited from the Phillies’ combined no-hitter, as Hamels joined Hammel in taking wins, ERA and racking up the strikeouts. Span helped take runs and steals. Beck ‘Nams had the better of the offense as Kemp (three homers) and Navarro (two) carried the offense. Shelby Miller and Kuroda helped take whip while Tazawa notched a hold.

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS:

Butchers (1st) v Jesmond (8th)

Norwich (2nd) v Beck ‘Nams (7th)

Chasers (3rd) v Banans (6th)

Batteries Essential (4th) v Isotopes (5th)

THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR:

Iron Men (9th)

Knights (10th)

Slugs (11th)

Sox (12th)

Angels (13th)

Riverkings (14th)

RBIs (15th)

Bits & Bytes (16th)

Only eight teams survive, and will we see any of the tops seeds knocked out in the opening round? Find out next week.

MLB this Week: Four days out of five

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With just a few weeks of the regular season to go, every day-game is an ever-more precious chance to catch some MLB action at a convenient hour.

There is at least one early game on four of the five working days this week, starting on Monday with two games from the heart of the American League playoff race.

There is an England European Championship qualifier that evening too, of course, although that’s not likely to offer much competition for your attention based on recent form.

After a baseball-free early evening on Tuesday, there are a couple of games on Wednesday including the latest installment in the Braves-National rivalry with Stephen Strasburg currently on schedule to make the start for Washington.

There are four further day-games on Thursday before a bonus game on Friday as the Yankees and Orioles play the opener of a day-night double-header.

All times are in BST.

Monday 8 September

18.05. LA Angels at Cleveland (Weaver – Salazar) *ESPN
21.08. Kansas City at Detroit (Guthrie – Verlander) *BT Sport2

Tuesday 9 September

No early games

Wednesday 10 September

18.35. Baltimore at Boston (Chen – Workman) *BT Sport2
21.05. Atlanta at Washington (Harang – Strasburg) *ESPN

Thursday 11 September

17.05. Minnesota at Cleveland (Nolasco – Kluber) *MLB.com Free Game
17.35. St. Louis at Cincinnati (Lynn – Cueto) *ESPN
19.10. Oakland at Chicago White Sox (Kazmir – Sale)
20.45. Arizona at San Francisco (Delgado – Peavy) *ESPN

Friday 12 September

18.05. NY Yankees at Baltimore (McCarthy – Gausman)

Alcantara and Azcuy become first players in British baseball history to win four straight national titles

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Last weekend, the Essex Arrows claimed their first ever National Baseball Championship.

Their pursuit of a title gained a boost earlier in the year thanks to the capture of sluggers Edwin Alcantara and Maikel Azcuy and, having completed their successful title challenge, they created a little piece of history, as revealed by Project COBB:

7 September 2014

Edwin Alcantara and Maikel Azcuy have become the first players in British baseballâ€™s 125 year competitive history to win four straight national titles

Both were key players on the Essex Arrows squad that swept the London Mets in a best of three national final over the final weekend of August.

The slugging pair have been playing together since both players joined the Southern Nationals in their founding year of 2011.

The Nationals became the first British baseball team to win three titles in their first three seasons of existence but this year they fell to the London Mets in the wildcard final.

Alcantara and Azcuy moved to the Arrows during the last offseason and, in winning the championship with their new club this year, added their names to a list now 17 strong of players with four or more national titles. The full list can be viewed at:

http://www.projectcobb.org.uk/national_finals/titles-players.png

Also adding his name to the list of four-time winners was Steve Simmons, playerâ€“manager of the 2014 national champions. His titles span a period of 25 years â€“ the longest among such players.

If the Arrows are to retain their title in 2015, you suspect keeping hold of Alcantara and Azcuy will be an important part of the process.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: The race is on

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After close to thirty years spent languishing between false hope and no hope, fans of the Kansas City Royals have entered this September in an unfamiliar competitive position.

The unfamiliar encourages a sense of excitement but also trepidation.

However much Royals are trying to outwardly enjoy this season, inwardly there is bound to be a sense of foreboding. Good things don’t happen to their team. This isn’t really happening. It’s all about to come crushing down.

Watching Danny Duffy leave the mound at Yankee Stadium on Saturday after throwing a solitary pitch was the moment when those fears were realised.

Look beyond the largely irrelevant 8-11 win-loss record and you’ll see that Duffy has been excellent for Kansas City this season. It’s not just been the way Duffy has pitched but also that he’s finally broken through after years of promise since he was drafted back in the 2007 amateur draft.

He was one of a crop of young players that were hailed as the answer to the Royals’ many years in the doldrums and, up until now, like most of the rest he had failed to live up to the billing. This season, in deed and in the sense of hope, Duffy has personified the way that things have finally turned around for Kansas City.

Seeing him grimace in discomfort and exit early with a sore shoulder was the last thing the Royals needed, again both in terms of actual impact (losing him for the game and potentially the foreseeable future) and the demoralising effect this blow could have on the team.

Kansas City went on to lose that game against the Yankees 6-2 to compound their misery and yet there was a chink of light from Detroit where the Tigers failed to capitalise. Despite having their recently-acquired ace David Price on the mound – an addition thought at the time to hammer another nail into the Royals’ coffin – Detroit lost 5-4 to the surging San Francisco Giants, keeping Kansas City two games ahead at the top of the AL Central.

Duffy’s condition will be assessed further over the next few days to determine whether it was a mere blip or something that could see him miss extended time, potentially the rest of the season. If he is out for the year then he’ll be a big loss, yet maybe it won’t be a sign of things inevitably going wrong for the Royals and instead will show that this is destined to be the year playoff baseball returns to Kansas City, regardless of the obstacles that come their way.

The Royals’ emergence in the AL Central, where many – including myself – predicted another season of Detroit domination, is one of many great stories building to a crescendo this month.

Baltimore look set to win the AL East division for the first time since 1997, whilst in the AL Wild Card race the Seattle Mariners may just turn their offseason splurge on Robinson Cano into a first playoff appearance since 2001.

The Mariners are even catching up the Oakland A’s who looked certainties for a third consecutive AL West title before a startling collapse over the last month that has seen a rampant LA Angels team fly past to gain not only a lead in the division but the best win-loss record in the Majors.

The A’s were able to snatch a walk-off win on Saturday against the Houston Astros, turning around a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, and that’s the sort of win that could spark an all-important change in fortune as we head into the last few weeks of the season. That’s what this A’s is clinging to, at least.

In the National League it’s been the Milwaukee Brewers playing the role of the A’s, plummeting from an unexpected stay at the top of the Central and seeing the St. Louis Cardinals resuming normal service at the summit. The Brew Crew have won only three of their past 16 games and now need to forget about what has gone. They are still firmly in the Wild Card race, a position they would have been delighted with if offered it before the season began, and need to somehow find a way to make that their mindset.

And as the regular season begins to wind down, the Philadelphia Phillies reminded us all on Monday that there’s something to play for every time you take the field. Their combined no-hitter was a rare enjoyable moment in what has been yet another poor season for a team that enjoyed so much success between 2007 and 2011.

The Texas Rangers are another team to quickly hit hard times after a recent run of excellent seasons. They were the first time to be eliminated from playoff contention this season and questions were already being asked about manager Ron Washington’s future before he stepped down for personal reasons on Friday. Wash had his game-management called into question at times, but there’s no doubt he was a manager that his players fought for and it’s one of the harsh realities of sport at the highest level that his time in charge will be remembered for the two World Series championships his time narrowly missed out on, rather than all of the other regular season success they had.