Monthly Archives: September 2019

BGB Fantasy League 2019: Week 25

The regular season is over and that can mean only two things: the playoffs are about to start and we have crowned the BaseballGB Fantasy League champion for 2019.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Orpington Isotopes

19

6

16

4

.264

.834

4

2

55

3

3.40

0.97

4

Bunting for Britain

24

8

24

4

.283

.842

2

0

56

3

5.44

1.58

6

Congratulations to Bunting For Britain, who end the 2019 season as champions. It was a very close matchup throughout the week, with Bunting winning strikeouts by one and OPS by .008. Well played Peter.

MVP: Harper (Bunting) 5 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, SB, .323 AVG, .998 OPS

A real MVP?: Bregman (Bunting) 5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .368 AVG, 1.328 OPS

Full Nelson: Cruz (Bunting) .533 AVG; 1.429 OPS

By way of the K: Wheeler (Bunting) 10 K

Near non-no: Greinke (Isotopes) W, 0.00 ERA, 0.36 WHIP

Closing time: Osuna (Isotopes) 2 SV.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Newcastle Knights

30

11

26

4

.302

.972

2

2

63

4

4.61

1.23

8

Norwich No II

20

9

26

2

.217

.726

3

1

43

4

3.57

1.25

2

The Knights, who topped the regular season standings, finish the season in third place. Tip of the Cap to Chris for another very strong season.

Hitting it far: Alfaro (Knights) 3 HR, 8 RBI

All-round threat: Betts (Knights) 3 R, HR, SB, .429 AVG, 1.143 OPS

By George: Springer (Knights) 5 R, HR, .313 AVG, 1.063 OPS

Main man: Manaea (Norwich) W, 1.50 ERA, 0.67 OPS

Strike three: E Rodriguez and Clevinger (both Knights) 14 K each Jumping Jack flash: Flaherty (Knights) 11 K, 0.43 WHIP.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Richie’s RBI’s

15

6

19

1

.177

.592

4

1

62

0

2.42

1.06

6

The Cheddar Chasers

16

2

15

7

.209

.583

3

2

46

2

4.62

0.92

6

This matchup finished all square but the Chasers take 5th thanks to their regular-season success against the RBIs.

Villar of strength: Villar (Chasers) 5 R, 2 SB, .281 AVG

Soler power: Soler (RBIs) 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1.563 OPS

Gettin’ jiggy with it: W Smith (RBIs) HR, 5 RBI, 1.222 OPS

Unstoppable? Cole (RBIs) 2 W, 24 K, 0.75 ERA

Sweet smell of success: Odorizzi (RBIs) W, 7 K, 1.50 ERA

Hold this: May (Chasers) 2 HLD

Whip it: Kershaw (Chasers) 0.50 WHIP.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Beckenham A&E Dept

19

6

20

4

.226

.714

3

3

48

1

4.46

1.17

2

Mighty Slugs

35

8

28

7

.306

.956

4

2

52

3

5.23

1.14

10

The Slugs ended the season on a high by claiming seventh place against Beckenham. Both teams won at least 136 categories during the regular season, which is not to be sniffed at.

Tommy fun: Edman (Slugs) 7 R, HR, 4 RBI, SB, .407 AVG, 1.145 OPS

Smooth: Santana (Slugs) 7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 SB

The best JD since Scrubs: Martinez (Slugs) 3 R, HR, 6 RBI, SB, .360 AVG

No runs allowed: Ryu (A&E Dept) 0.00 ERA

Strong finish: Lynn (Slugs) W, 10 K, 0.41 WHIP

Save me: Bradley (A&E Dept) 2 SV

What we have, we hold: Anderson (Slugs) 2 HLD.

2019 in the books …

And that concludes the 2019 Baseball GB Fantasy League. Thanks to everyone for playing and especially to Peter on his championship success and Matt for posting these roundups on the site each week.

I will be in touch in the spring regarding plans for next season. It would be nice to add a few teams if we can, so if you think you know someone who would be an asset to the league, please let me know.

BGB Fantasy League 2019: Week 24

Only two teams remain in the hunt for the BaseballGB Fantasy League championship. Find out which teams made it over the semi-final hurdle.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Orpington Isotopes

29

10

36

3

.337

.993

4

6

48

1

2.28

0.91

9

Newcastle Knights

24

9

25

1

.228

.670

2

5

59

2

2.25

0.96

3

The top seeds are out as the Isotopes picked a good time to click in what was an extremely well-pitched matchup. Congrats on a very strong season to the Knights, who move into the consolation bracket.

Trey, Trey good: Mancini (Isotopes) 4 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI, .462 AVG, 1.330 OPS

Canha get a bat flip: Canha (Isotopes) 7 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .409 AVG, 1.337 OPS

Puig your friend: Puig (Isotopes) 7 RBI, SB, .500 AVG

Three-homer week: McNeil (Isotopes); Springer (Knights) 3 HR each

Folt-less: Foltynewicz (Isotopes) W, 0.50 WHIP

Closing time: Osuna and Iglesias (both Isotopes) 3 SV each

K-Rod: Rodriguez (Knights) 10 K, 0.00 ERA

What we have, we hold: Miller (Knights) 2 HLD.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Bunting for Britain

37

14

33

2

.263

.860

4

4

69

1

3.73

1.36

7

Norwich No II

34

12

40

0

.286

.907

2

1

55

2

4.10

1.16

5

The number three seeds are through to the final in this very close matchup. Tip of the cap to Norwich for putting up a good fight, but Bunting advance.

Cruz control: Cruz (Bunting) 9 R, 3 HR

Core-y strength: C Seager (Norwich) 7 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.524 OPS

Need for speed: Harper (Bunting) SB

Mighty Merrill: Kelly (Bunting) W, 9 K, 0.00 ERA

Save me: Neris (Bunting) 2 SV

Hold this: Romo (Norwich) 2 HLD.

Consolation playoffs

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Mighty Slugs

34

10

25

4

.267

.852

3

2

66

3

4.50

1.17

1

Richie’s RBI’s

38

10

33

6

.301

.940

3

3

71

2

2.48

1.01

9

The RBIs advance to the consolation final with this victory. 

Safe at home: Soler (RBIs) 7 R, SB; Santana (RBIs) 7 R, .476 AVG

Butter and egg man: LeMahieu (RBIs) 2 HR, 6 RBI, .368 AVG

Three-homer week: Judge (RBIs) 6 R, 3 HR, 1.304 OPS

By way of the K: Bailey (RBIs) 11 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.57 WHIP

Closing it out: Colome (RBIs) 2 SV

Protecting the lead: Duffey (Slugs) 2 HLD.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Beckenham A&E Dept

25

9

21

1

.229

.774

2

2

36

0

6.49

1.50

5

The Cheddar Chasers

23

4

25

7

.219

.638

2

0

47

5

4.53

1.31

6

The Chasers will play the RBIs after edging past the A&E Dept. 

Run machine: Acuna Jr (A&E Dept) 6 R, 2 HR, .375 AVG, 1.399 OPS

Speed demon: Villar (Chasers) 3 SB

Ribeye steaks: Robles (Chasers) 5 RBI

Lockdown closer: Bradley (A&E Dept) 2 SV

Punching them out: Scherzer (Chasers) 11 K

Nice on Sonny: Gray (Chasers) 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP

Setting it up: May and Harris (both Chasers) 2 HLD each.

Week 25 match-ups

Isotopes v Bunting

Beckenham v Slugs

Knights v No II

RBI’s v Chasers

BGB Fantasy League 2019: Week 23

It’s Quarter-Final time in the BGB League. Here’s how the match-ups unfolded.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Newcastle Knights

37

13

33

3

.298

.911

1

6

86

3

2.89

0.96

10

Richie’s RBI’s

32

10

26

7

.249

.757

2

5

49

1

4.67

1.47

2

The top seeds showed no signs of slowing down as they booked their place in the semi-finals. The RBIs put up some decent numbers but will have to settle for a run at the consolation title.

MVP: Bryant (Knights) 8 R, 5 HR, 13 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.720 OPS

Spring in his step: Springer (Knights) 5 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI

Need for speed: M Smith (RBIs) 3 SB

E Rod or K Rod?: E Rodriguez (Knights) 21 K, 1.42 ERA, 0.87 WHIP

Busy week: Hader (Knights) 4 SV

Hold on: Miller (Knights) 2 HLD.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Norwich No II

36

15

36

0

.220

.771

4

2

42

2

1.90

0.82

9

The Cheddar Chasers

28

8

31

6

.253

.767

3

2

40

0

3.67

1.34

2

In the battle of Norfolk it is Norwich who advance to the next round. Only two pitchers allowed any earned runs, which was going to be hard to beat. The Chasers have had a great season, finishing second in the standings, and will be strong contenders for the consolation title.

Matt’s the way to do it: Olson (Norwich) 8 R, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 1.156 OPS

Core player: C Seager (Norwich) 2 HR, 6 RBI

.400 club: Heyward (Chasers) 10 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .429 AVG

Look who’s back: Cueto (Norwich) W, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.70 WHIP; Manaea (Norwich) W, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

By way of the K: Gallen (Norwich) 14 K

What we have, we hold: Romo and Baez (both Norwich) HLD each.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Bunting for Britain

25

10

20

3

.259

.880

3

2

63

4

4.25

1.40

7

Beckenham A&E Dept

23

6

22

3

.215

.651

1

2

43

1

3.97

1.10

3

Bunting are in the final four as their mix of young power hitters and high-strikeout arms got the job done against the A&E Dept.

Air Yordan: Y Alvarez (Bunting) 5 R, 3 HR, .333 AVG, 1.310 OPS

Multi-homer weeks: Bregman and Cruz (both Bunting); Acuna Jr (A&E Dept) 2 HR each

RBI man: Chapman (A&E Dept) 2 HR, 5 RBI

By way of the K: Wheeler (Bunting) W, 16 K; Bieber (Bunting) W, 12 K

Strong arm of the law: Law (Bunting) 2 HLD

Feeling stingy: Ryu (A&E Dept) 0.00 ERA, 0.29 WHIP.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Orpington Isotopes

33

14

33

4

.277

.944

6

3

50

1

5.63

1.39

6

Mighty Slugs

42

14

39

3

.264

.888

2

1

45

3

5.24

1.28

5

I’ll be honest, I’ve no idea how I managed to defeat the Slugs, particularly with Yelich done for the year, Hill getting hurt again and Miley, Fried and Lucchesi choosing a really flipping bad time for a meltdown. Tip of the cap to the Slugs in what was a very well-fought matchup.

Slugging shortstop: Semien (Slugs) 10 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI

Home run machine: Suarez (Isotopes) 3 HR, 1.340 OPS

Catcher with wheels: Vazquez (Isotopes) SB, .353 AVG, 1.154 OPS

Zack’s the way I like it: Greinke (Isotopes) 2 W, 12 K

Closing time: Iglesias (Isotopes) 2 SV

Avoiding damage: Lynn (Slugs) 1.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP.

Week 24 match-ups

Championship bracket:

Knights (1st) v Isotopes (4th)

Bunting (3rd) v Norwich (2nd)

Consolation bracket:

Chasers (2nd) v A&E Dept (6th)

Slugs (5th) v RBIs (8th)

Great Britain win but miss out on Euro Quarter-Finals

Great Britain lining-up against Germany. Photo courtesy of Paul Stodart, https://hotshot.photo
Great Britain lining-up against Germany. Photo courtesy of Paul Stodart, https://hotshot.photo

Great Britain did all they could in Germany on Wednesday, but sadly it wasn’t quite enough to earn a European Championship quarter-final place.

The Lions beat Sweden 13-7 to finish their First Round on a 2-3 win-loss record. The result left the team and their supporters waiting nervously as Germany played the Czech Republic, knowing that a win for Germany would be enough to put GB through to the quarter-finals.

Unfortunately for us, the Czech Republic had other ideas. Their 10-6 victory meant the Czechs finished 3rd in Pool A. Germany’s previous 1-0 win over GB on Sunday broke the tie between the two 2-3 teams, putting them in fourth place and Great Britain into the classification round.

I did a live-stream on Periscope/Twitter after the game and have uploaded it onto the new British Baseball Beat YouTube channel, adding in some excellent photos by Paul Stodart, who is out in Germany with the team.

https://youtu.be/caYwGXJ0_pQ

As discussed in the video, here’s how the Classification Round section is structured (all times in BST).

The tournament continues for Great Britain with a game against Austria on Thursday (10.00am BST first pitch). Follow the game live at baseballsoftball.tv.

Quarter-Finals still possible for Great Britain

Great Britain head into their final game of the First Round of the 2019 European Baseball Championships on Wednesday still in with a shout of making it to the Quarter Finals.

Tuesday’s 7-4 loss to Israel showed once again how small margins can make such a big difference in short-series tournaments.

Great Britain got off to the perfect start in Solingen, Germany, when third baseman Ben Andrews hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, but Israel had drawn level at 3-3 when he stepped up to the plate to lead-off the bottom of the sixth.

Andrews hit a double into left-field for his third hit of the game, the second being a single in the third inning, and, after Rich Brereton struck out, he advanced to third on a wild pitch. Nate Thomas then walked and stole second base to put runners on second and third, only for Maikel Azcuy (strike-out) and Rich Klijn (pop-up to second base) to leave them stranded.

It felt like a momentum-changing situation and, unfortunately for us, that’s how it proved. Blake Gaillen hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to give Israel a 5-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Although Jordan Serena quickly got one of those runs back by singling home Will Savage in the bottom of the frame, Israel scored a run in the top of the eighth before Gaillen struck again in the ninth for his second long-ball of the game and his third of the tournament so far.

A game that Great Britain might have gone on to win, against a very good Israel team, slipped away to a 7-4 defeat, just as a brilliant showing against Germany on Sunday only amounted to a 1-0 loss. Liam Carroll’s team have been close to putting together a hugely impressive First Round and whilst being so close, but so far, is frustrating, it also shows the talent and fight the team has that they put themselves into that position.

They’ll need to draw on those reserves on Wednesday to give themselves a chance of making it to the Quarter-Finals.

How things stand

Let’s deal with the second part of the day first.

Great Britain’s suspended game against the Netherlands will be completed with a ‘first’ pitch set for 17.30 UK time. The Dutch were leading 10-2 after eight innings when bad light meant the final regulation inning could not be played, so whilst we can all cross our fingers for a comeback to end all comebacks, more realistically we should pencil in a loss to GB’s record (and a W for the Dutch).

If we do that, then Pool A will look like this ahead of the three scheduled games to be played in full:

PTeamWL
1Israel40
2Netherlands31
3Czech Republic22
4Germany22
5Great Britain13
6Sweden04

Wednesday’s Pool A fixtures, all being played in Bonn, are as follows:

  • Sweden v Great Britain (12:30 BST).
  • Israel v Netherlands (14:00)
  • Germany v Czech Republic (18:00).

What do we need to happen?

Great Britain’s game is the first one up and, pending a shocking comeback against the Netherlands later on, quite simply is a game they must win to have a chance of finishing the top four.

From there, attention will turn to the game at 18:00 BST between Germany and the Czech Republic. That will determine which of those two teams finishes 3-2 and which finishes 2-3, and that will be hugely important for Great Britain.

CEB tournament rules dictate that the first tie-breaker when two teams finish on the same win-loss record is the head-to-head result between the two teams.

If Germany beat the Czech Republic then Great Britain will finish fourth, qualifying for the quarter-finals, due to our 4-3 win over them on Monday.

If the Czech Republic beat Germany then we will be placed in fifth, with Germany’s 1-0 win on Sunday putting them ahead of us.

A nervous day ahead!

Those small margins will loom large on Wednesday. If Great Britain lose to Sweden not only will that put us into the ‘Classification’ section, rather than the quarter-finals, it would also mean a sixth-placed pool finish (Sweden winning the tie-breaker with us both on 1-4 records). That would be a real shame and not at all representative of how well the team has played.

But let’s not allow such negative thoughts into our heads. Instead, let’s focus on cheering Great Britain to victory over the Swedes and then spending the rest of the afternoon learning the German national anthem!

After the games are complete

I’ve been live-streaming ahead of Great Britain’s games on Periscope/Twitter over the last few days and if you haven’t seen them then you can check them out on the new British Baseball Beat YouTube channel. As noted there, the YouTube channel is going to be developed over the off-season but it seemed a good idea to collate these videos in one place so we’ll call it a soft launch!

Here’s the video recorded prior to Tuesday’s games, as an example:

https://youtu.be/VsBnllet_8A

I’m planning to do a live-stream on Periscope/Twitter after the Germany-Czech Republic game (so, probably about 21:00 BST) to reflect on the day’s events, so keep an eye out for that on my Twitter account: @mattbaseballgb.

BGB Fantasy League 2019: Week 22

Week 22 saw three teams — Norwich, RBIs and Maltsters – fighting for the two remaining playoff places in the final week of the regular season. And as luck would have it, the RBIs and Maltsters went head-to-head. Who would keep their dreams of being BaseballGB Fantasy League champion 2019 alive?

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Orpington Isotopes

31

12

41

7

.277

.838

5

2

49

1

4.35

1.19

12

Swindon Devil Rays

16

7

21

0

.195

.741

1

1

22

0

4.86

1.14

0

He’s got the power: Suarez (Isotopes) 4 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.667 OPS

MVP?: Yelich (Isotopes) 4 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 SB, .381 AVG, 1.298 OPS

Miracle Met: McNeil Isotopes)  5 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .360 AVG, 1.067 OPS

Wins still matter: Lucchesi (Isotopes) W, 8 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP

Double duty: Osuna and Iglesias (both Isotopes) W, SV each

Devil Rays forfeited all pitching categories for failing to reach the 20 inning minimum limit.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Durham Riverkings

38

12

37

6

.322

1.023

2

3

36

1

4.30

1.13

9

Norwich No II

28

8

25

0

.263

.815

3

5

55

0

4.53

1.47

3

Austin powers: Meadows (Riverkings) 9 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, SB, .522 AVG, 1.723 OPS

Butter and egg man: Abreu (Riverkings) 3 HR, 9 RBI

.400 club: Moncada (Riverkings) .440 AVG; Pillar (Riverkings) .438 AVG; T Turner (Riverkings) .400 AVG

Main man: Manaea (Norwich) W, 10 K

Closing time: Pagan (Norwich) 3 SV

Feeling stingy: Paddack (Riverkings) 0.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Beckenham A&E Dept

21

6

24

4

.258

.815

4

3

57

0

2.52

1.09

8

The Bath Bombers

30

11

23

0

.239

.764

1

0

26

4

3.43

0.90

4

Star man: Castro (Bombers) 10 R, 2 HR

Need for speed: D Gordon (A&E Dept) .421 AVG, 3 SB

He’s the Juan: Soto (A&E Dept) 6 RBI

Wins still matter: Minor (A&E Dept) 2 W, 1.17 ERA, 0.85 WHIP

Save me: Bradley (A&E Dept) 3 SV

Hold on: May (Bombers) 2 HLD.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Mighty Slugs

30

13

30

3

.237

.838

0

6

65

2

4.53

1.37

4

Newcastle Knights

40

9

26

1

.347

1.028

8

4

67

2

2.80

0.99

7

Packing a punch: Grandal (Slugs) 4 HR; Betts (Knights) 4 HR

Come on, Tim: Anderson (Knights) 9 R, .414 AVG, 1.172 OPS

.500 club: Dozier (Knights) .500 AVG, 1.269 OPS

Just Jack (Knights): 2 W, 18 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP

By way of the K: Clevinger (Knights) W, 16 K, 2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP Saving the day: Rogers (Slugs) 4 SV.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Bunting for Britain

24

12

39

6

.281

.890

5

1

56

1

3.42

1.25

5

The Cheddar Chasers

31

6

21

6

.291

.820

1

3

40

4

2.78

1.02

6

Magic Mitch: Garver (Bunting) 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1.613 OPS

Super slugger: Bregman (Bunting) 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1.352 OPS

Real deal: Realmuto (Chasers) 6 R, .455 AVG

By way of the K: Lopez (Bunting) W, 11 K

Feeling stingy: Hendricks (Chasers) 1.50 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

Double duty: Harris (Chasers) SV, 2 HLD

And, finally, the matchup they’d all been waiting for:

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Cheshunt Maltsters

36

13

44

5

.296

.973

2

4

63

3

3.21

1.17

5

Richie’s RBI’s

26

13

36

6

.224

.739

3

3

84

5

2.92

0.93

6

Bringer of rain: Donaldson (Maltsters) 7 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .333 AVG, 1..565 OPS

All smiles: Lindor (Maltsters) 6 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .323 AVG, 1.041 OPS

Marte party: K Marte (RBIs) 6 R, 4 HR, 14 (yes, that’s fourteen) RBI

Speed demon: Mondesi (RBIs) 3 SB

Cole train: Cole (RBIs) W, 29 K, 1.29 ERA, 0.43 WHIP

What we have,m we hold: Greene (RBIs) 3 HLD

Marti party: Martinez (Maltsters) 3 SV.

Final Regular Season Standings

Rank

Team

W-L-T

Pct

GB

Last Week

Waiver

Moves

*1

 Newcastle Knights

161-91-12

.633

7-4-1

9

33

*2

 The Cheddar Chasers

140-103-21

.570

16.5

6-5-1

4

11

*3

 Bunting for Britain

139-106-19

.563

18.5

5-6-1

11

40

*4

 Orpington Isotopes

139-107-18

.561

19

12-0-0

5

23

*5

 Mighty Slugs

139-108-17

.559

19.5

4-7-1

6

42

*6

 Beckenham A&E Dept

136-107-21

.555

20.5

8-4-0

2

15

*7

 Norwich No II

127-120-17

.513

31.5

3-9-0

10

31

*8

 Richie’s RBI’s

121-125-18

.492

37

6-5-1

7

28

9

 Cheshunt Maltsters

119-131-14

.477

41

5-6-1

12

41

10

 Durham Riverkings

110-140-14

.443

50

9-3-0

1

30

11

 The Bath Bombers

84-167-13

.343

76.5

4-8-0

3

16

12

 Swindon Devil Rays

70-180-14

.292

90

0-12-0

8

4

Congratulations to Norwich and the RBIs for making it through. The season ends for the Maltsters, Riverkings, Bombers and Devil Rays. They are now free to watch a game without worrying about their ERAs. And there’s always next year.

Week 23 match-ups

Isotopes v Slugs
Bunting v Beckenham
Knights v RBI’s
No II v Chasers.

One of these eight will be crowned BaseballGB Fantasy League champion 2019. We’ll break down the quarter-finals in next week’s roundup.

Euros Day One: GB game to be completed

The first day of the 2019 European Baseball Championships is almost in the books.

The ‘almost’ is there because Great Britain’s game against the Netherlands was suspended after eight innings due to bad late stopping play. The Netherlands lead 10-2, so it will be an almighty ninth-inning effort by Liam Carroll’s Lions to avoid a defeat, but technically we can say the game is still alive!

There’s no official word yet as to when the final inning will be played, although today (Sunday) and Wednesday are the only two days in the First Round on which the two teams are playing in the same place, so we should know fairly soon.

I rounded up all the action from Day One, and then looked ahead to Day Two, on a Sunday morning Periscope live stream. I’ve uploaded it to our new British Baseball Beat YouTube channel which is very much a work in progress, but will be developed over the course of the off-season.

https://youtu.be/LHAAGFzNGJM

Great Britain’s game on Sunday is scheduled to start at 18.00 BST. We take on the hosts Germany in Bonn, with live coverage available at baseballsoftball.tv.

European Baseball Championship 2019 begins today

The day is finally here. The 2019 European Baseball Championship begins in Germany with not only the European crown on the line, but a path towards qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The top 12 teams in Europe will battle it out over the next nine days, playing 47 games in total across two venues: Bonn and Solingen.

Whilst every team will be aiming to emerge victorious in Game 47, they will also be mindful that the top five teams earn the right to compete in the Europe-Africa Olympic qualifier in Italy, starting on 18 September, alongside South Africa.

The two pools

The twelve teams are split into two pools for the first round of the tournament. Great Britain are in Pool A.

Pool A

Netherlands (8th)
Czech Republic (18th)
Israel (19th)
Germany (22nd)
Sweden (34th)
Great Britain (38th)

Pool B

Italy (16th)
France (25th)
Spain (26th)
Austria (27th)
Belgium (30th)
Croatia (32nd).

The numbers in parenthesis are the current WBSC World Rankings. As with FIFA’s football world rankings, the exact placements can be questioned but they do tell a tale of the challenge ahead for Liam Carroll’s team.

Great Britain are ranked as the lowest team of the 12 and GB’s pool contains four of the top five ranked European teams, albeit that the differences in the Czech Republic (18th) to Belgium (30th) group of teams are not wide.

Don’t be so quick to count GB out, though.

The favourites

The same five teams have finished in the top five in the past three Euros: Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic.

It will be difficult for any team to break into that group, but that’s not going to stop the rest from trying and Great Britain will be right there among them.

GB’s roster

GB’s Schedule

Here’s GB’s full first round schedule, with start times in BST.

Saturday 7th – Netherlands (15.00 BST)

Sunday 8th – Germany (18.00)

Monday 9th – Czech Republic (11.30)

Tuesday 10th – Israel (11.30)

Wednesday 11th – Sweden (12.00)

Game One: Netherlands

Great Britain’s tournament starts today against the Netherlands.

The Honkballers have won the tournament a record 22 times, including the last two in 2014 and 2016. They go into this year’s competition favourites not only to win the Euros, but also to prevail in the Olympic qualifier.

That means GB have the toughest test to start.

It also means GB have the perfect opportunity to really set down a marker for the days ahead, hopefully in the form of a shock win but, if not, at least by putting in a strong performance that they can take a lot of confidence from.

All of the games in the tournament are going to be streamed live on www.baseballsoftball.tv. Be sure to follow along from 15.00 BST as our Lions get their 2019 Euros started.

BGB Fantasy League 2019: Week 21

Six teams have now booked their play-off place in the BGB Fantasy League.

That leaves two places remaining to be claimed ahead of the final week of the regular season competition. Here’s how the match-ups played out last week.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Durham Riverkings

32

9

24

1

.232

.759

1

4

42

1

3.41

1.00

1

Newcastle Knights

29

10

28

4

.280

.877

5

5

74

4

2.43

0.97

11

Homer Time: Gary Sanchez (Riverkings) put three over the fence last week

Springer loaded: George Springer (Knights) added 9 RBI to the cause.

Great Giolito: Lucas Giolito (Knights) continues to mow down hitters, striking out 16 in his two appearances although no pitching wins were forthcoming thanks to his White Sox team ‘mates’.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Bunting for Britain

46

14

44

3

.341

.998

3

0

45

4

5.02

1.72

10

The Bath Bombers

24

8

32

2

.284

.779

0

1

35

2

5.40

1.52

2

Three-sy does it: Mitch Garver and Justin Turner both went deep three times for Bunting, whilst Starlin Castro and Nick Castellanos both did so too for the Bombers.

The only way to Save: Andres Munoz (Bombers) got the only save for either team.

Things that make you say ‘ouch’!: Reynaldo Lopez’s ‘contribution’ to Bunting’s week was an 81.00 ERA and a 10.50 WHIP.  For the uninitiated, that’s what’s known in fantasy baseball as ‘not very good’.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Mighty Slugs

30

12

30

0

.218

.781

3

1

61

1

5.90

1.19

4

Swindon Devil Rays

28

14

34

0

.314

1.029

2

4

39

0

2.63

0.91

7

Good/Bad Luck: the key stat of the week was 27.1 innings pitched, as the missing-in-action Devil Rays made a rare foray over the 20 innings minimum. Good luck for them, bad for the Slugs not to benefit from a forfeited pitching category sweep!

Perfect 10: J.D. Martinez (Slugs) batted in 10 runs on the week.

Lovely Luis: Luis Castillo (Slugs) struck out 19 and gained two pitching wins.

Saves: Ken Giles and Brandon Workman both notched two saves for the Devil Rays.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

The Cheddar Chasers

37

10

32

7

.288

.865

3

1

39

0

5.53

1.39

6

Orpington Isotopes

26

10

23

2

.228

.719

3

2

65

0

5.08

1.48

3

Pinch-blogging rules!: The week I pinch-blog for Mark, my Chasers beat his Isotopes. Maybe I should do this more often?!

5 Alive: Eugenio Suarez launched 5 homers for the Isotopes.

Three is a magic number: Freeman, Rendon and Escobar all hit three homers on the week for my Chasers.

Speed kills: Jonathan Villar (Chasers) swiped 5 bags in one week.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Beckenham A&E Dept

28

5

31

5

.235

.749

7

4

70

0

4.16

1.10

5

Richie’s RBI’s

39

14

29

4

.318

.949

4

1

59

3

2.52

0.91

7

Spread out the homers: no less than nine players went deep for the RBI’s last week.

Run and run: Mallex Smith (RBI’s) scored seven runs and stole three bases

Say ‘yes’ to a no-no: A&E benefitted from Justin Verlander’s no-hitter on Sunday. He picked up 2 wins and 18K’s on the week, whilst Michael Pineda also added two wins to Beckenham’s bunch alongside 17K’s.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

OPS

W

SV

K

HLD

ERA

WHIP

Score

Cheshunt Maltsters

37

9

29

4

.305

.891*

5

4

43

1

3.80

1.27

7

Norwich No II

33

10

26

2

.280

.891*

2

6

48

2

3.83

1.12

5

Joy of Six: Lindor, Reynolds and Dickerson all batted in six runs for the Maltsters.

Starling effort: Starling Marte contributed 8 runs to Maltsters’ cause.

The other J.D.: Davis went deep three times for No II.

Standings

Rank

Team

W-L-T

Pct

GB

Last Week

Waiver

Moves

*1

Newcastle Knights

154-87-11

.633

11-1-0

9

32

*2

The Cheddar Chasers

134-98-20

.571

15.5

6-3-3

4

11

*3

Bunting for Britain

134-100-18

.567

16.5

10-2-0

11

39

*4

Mighty Slugs

135-101-16

.567

16.5

4-7-1

6

39

*5

Beckenham A&E Dept

128-103-21

.550

21

5-7-0

2

15

*6

Orpington Isotopes

127-107-18

.540

23.5

3-6-3

5

23

7

Norwich No II

124-111-17

.526

27

5-7-0

10

28

8

Richie’s RBI’s

115-120-17

.490

36

7-5-0

7

24

9

Cheshunt Maltsters

114-125-13

.478

39

7-5-0

12

39

10

Durham Riverkings

101-137-14

.429

51.5

1-11-0

1

29

11

The Bath Bombers

80-159-13

.343

73

2-10-0

3

16

12

Swindon Devil Rays

70-168-14

.306

82.5

7-4-1

8

4

Week 22 match-ups

Bunting (3rd) v Chasers (2nd)
Isotopes (6th) v Devil Rays (12th)
Beckenham (5th) v Bombers (11th)
Maltsters (9th) v RBI’s (8th)
Riverkings (10th) v No II (7th)
Slugs (4th) v Knights (1st)