Welcome to our weekly round-up of the BaseballGB Fantasy League competition. This is a mixed Head-2-Head league involving BGB writers and readers.
There are fourteen teams who pair up in different combinations each week, making for seven match-ups in any given week. The teams battle over twelve statistical categories, gaining one point for each category they win. All the points are carried over into the season league table at the end of the weekly match-ups. The top six teams with the most points at the end of the fantasy season will go on to the playoffs during the last three weeks of September.
SWAT were the victors in the inaugural BGB Fantasy League last year. Will they retain their title in 2010, or will a new champion emerge?
The All Star break meant a shortened game-week in the BaseballGB fantasy league, so which teams could avoid the ERA-wrecking pitching meltdowns and hit enough to win this week?Â
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
Bonestalkers | 14 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.28 | 0.742 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 4.05 | 1.5 | 0 |
Beck ‘Nams (GB) | 17 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 0.295 | 0.799 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 3 | 1.99 | 1.23 | 12 |
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Beck ‘Nams reached perfection with a 12-0 win over Bonestalkers giving JJ some breathing room at the top. Bonestalkers had a pretty good week, scoring 14 runs thanks to Longoria and Victorino, but Beck ‘Nams took every category thanks to the hitting of Weeks and Cruz and strong pitching from Josh Johnson, Morrow and Arroyo.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
Iron Men | 24 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 0.317 | 0.918 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 3.21 | 1.36 | 11 |
SWAT* | 15 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 0.245 | 0.724 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 4.41 | 1.44 | 0 |
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Iron Men are another team loving the short week, stopping SWAT’s run of good form with an 11-0 win. Scoring 24 runs and picking up four wins in a short week is very impressive, with Iron Men grateful for good weeks from Pena, Byrd, Liriano, Wainwright and Romero. Posey was SWAT’s star hitter, but the pitching staff struggled for wins.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
The Wright Stuff | 12 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 0.204 | 0.603 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 1.69 | 1.21 | 3 |
Grip it n Rip It | 11 | 7 | 26 | 4 | 0.333 | 1.022 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.11 | 9 |
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Rip It picked up a 9-3 win over the Stuff thanks to plenty of power and RBIs from Howard and McCann. The lack of a minimum inning limit helped Rip It, who only had three relievers pitching. Ervin, Santana, Travis Wood and Hamels helped the Stuff take strikeouts.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
Weston-Super-Sox | 11 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 0.248 | 0.638 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 3.48 | 1.61 | 2 |
stevenston angels | 27 | 3 | 19 | 2 | 0.348 | 0.868 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 4.63 | 1.37 | 8 |
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The Angels picked up an 8-2 win against the Sox thanks to a sweep of offensive categories. Yadier Molina and Gordon Beckham slugged their way out of slumps for the Angels, with Fuentes picking up a pair of saves. The Sox had nice weeks from the Cubbie pair of Soriano and Dempster.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
The Cheddar Chasers | 21 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 0.297 | 0.943 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2.03 | 0.68 | 8 |
Pretzel Vendors | 10 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 0.215 | 0.618 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 0 | 3.46 | 1.21 | 3 |
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In the battle of the BaseballGB writers, Matt came out on top, beating Steve’s Vendors 8-3. The Chasers took five out of six offensive categories thanks to Napoli, Adrian Gonzalez, Fielder and Justin Upton. The teams shared the pitching stats, with the Vendors’ Ted Lilly the star pitcher with a 10 strikeout game.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
New Spaniards | 14 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 0.247 | 0.747 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 9.82 | 2.18 | 5 |
Orpington Isotopes | 17 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0.214 | 0.703 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 6.87 | 1.63 | 7 |
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My Isotopes did just enough to get past the Spaniards. Oscar’s hitters took four categories thanks to Posada, Swisher, Cano and Ibanez, but my pitching staff took five categories – despite horrendous ERA and WHIP numbers – with Cain the best of a bad bunch.
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 | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
Borders Bats | 15 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 0.34 | 0.963 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 6.75 | 1.85 | 6 |
Boston Rogue Waves | 9 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0.212 | 0.583 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 2.48 | 1.13 | 5 |
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Last, but not least, the Bats edged past the Waves 6-5, taking five out of six offensive categories thanks to Headley, Sandoval, Cuddyer and the new Blue Jay Escobar. The Waves had some nice pitching from Niese, Jurrjens and the bullpen combo of Bell and Perez.
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Rounding things up
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The perfect week for Beck ‘Nams leaves JJ’s team six games clear at the top, with Iron Men the closest contenders. The Chasers overtake the Stuff into third while my Isotopes are closing in on the Sox. The Waves, Rip It and Vendors are still very much in with a shot of qualifying for the championship playoffs in the top six, but will SWAT’s heavy defeat end any chance of a repeat title? The Angels needed a big week to stay just about in the hunt for the playoffs, but the Spaniards, Bats and Bonestalkers need a miracle.
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This week’s fixtures are as follows:
Beck ‘Nams v Isotopes
Iron Men v Sox
Chasers v SWAT
Stuff v Vendors
Waves v Spaniards
Rip It v Bats
Angels v Bonestalkers