Final
SOMBILLA
Standings 2008-2009
W L Pct GB
Fugakyu
35 21
.625 --
New Orleans
34 22 .607 1
North
Dakota 34 22 .607
1
Constantinople 27 29
.482 8
Dem
Bums
26
30 .464 9
Future
Wax 26
30 .464 9
Bay
City
25 31 .446 10
Area
51
17 39
.304 18
All-stats
League
Leaders
Ballparks
MVP and
Cy Young Voting
World Series: (3/21)
This was a year of parity and splits and two teams that no one
thought would be there squared off for the World Series.
Two truisms came to light:
· CN would says “That anyone can win a 7 game series” and Harold
would say “Tom just has my number.”
· Carlos Pena is a cancer to any team that owns him.
All the World Series, I have ever played have been 7 games. But no
World Series was as difficult, thrilling and gut wrenching as this
seven game series (seemed to me) that had three extra inning games --
one of 13 innings (Game 5) and an 11 inning Game 7.
I was tired after getting a surprise Birthday Party the night before. I
was lured out to Shirley, where not only was there no out of town guest
in attendance their turned out to be a group of my friends with a cake
and a Stan Ridgeway concert broke out. (OK—or was it in a back room of
a Inn/Bar complete with a covered bridge behind it, there was a
scheduled Stan Ridgeway concert with tickets for everyone who was in
the car that I had been given a lift in waiting at the door. And the
next thing I know, my wife is there and a cake appears from the kitchen
…)
Harold played a superb series making full use of all his pitchers and
every limited AB. I almost never walk away from a series that there is
not a single opposing manager decision that I did not disagree with.
This was it. I am not talking about those moves were you make a
decision, and the dice would have given you the win or ….
Game 1: CN went up 3-0. New Orleans got back to 3-1 and in the 8th
after Escobar (SS-3) gives up a single on a SS-x 2 roll and after a
SS-x double play. CN’s 3 LF gives up a LFx-6 long singles and it is
3-3. Posada hit the lead off, walk off game winning homer versus lefty
killer Benoit in the 10th to win the first extra inning game.
Game 2: CN goes up 3-0 again and after 7 it is 3-3. Then with one man
on and 1 out Mariano Rivera comes in to hold CN down. Howard hit a ball
park homer (1-2) that is caught (and Harold breaths a sigh of relief
that we are in his park), but CN then puts together a bunch of 2 out
hits to go up 7-3. Harold does come back for 2 including a Posada
triple, but can’t get the final clutch hit and losses game 2 7-5 to CN.
Game 3: CN goes up 4-0 chasing Ted Lilly and puts on the lead off man
in
every inning. But it is 4-4 after 3 innings and 7-7 after 8 and a half
innings. A. Rod leads off the 9th with his version of the patented
Posada walk off homer. Final 8-7 CN.
Game 4: Harold goes up 3-0, but CN claws back to 3-3 after 2. Harold
goes up 4-3 after his half of the 3rd and then CN answers with 2 runs
of their own in the bottom of the third. Then Harold comes back in the
4th to go up 7-5 and never looked back as they knot the series at 2
with an 11-7 win.
Game 5: The pivotal game saw Lilly (1 inning Game 3 starter) and 3
relievers take a 3-0 shutout into the 9th against CN. Joba the
unstoppable came out to put this one in the books. But CN greeted him
with a single, walk and CF-x (Ross CN’s mutant) which goes for an rbi
double rare play where the hidden ball trick gets the 1st out as CN
pulls to 3-1 with Howard coming to bat. Howard hit the 1st homer of the
year off Jaba (ball park – 4 off his own card) and ties the game at
3-3. But the hidden ball out is the difference between a tie and a 4-3
win. The 10th saw A.Rod hit a LF-x to the 4 Adam Dunn and he gets a
single and a rare play, and Dunn throws behind him to get the 1st out.
A walk and long single later had Harold intentionally walk Ross to get
to Howard. Howard flies out. The rare play again keeps the game going
even longer as both teams use tired pitchers and face running out of
innings. In the bottom of the 13 after Wright (3B 2) boots the lead off
grounder from Johnson, a K , FC and long single gives us 1st and 3rd
with two outs. Loney and his big clutch rating hits a SSx and Harold
breaths a sigh of relief as no error is showing and Cabrera is a 1. But
wait, Loney is LH and Willits is the runner on 1st (*18 runner) so the
hold comes into play and the a single results as Cabrera is reduced to
a 2 and the ball dribbles into the out field and CN wins 4-3 after 13
grueling innings.
Game 6: Bedard starts for CN and he is toasted and between him and
Billingsley Harold gets 9 runs in the 3rd inning. Game 6 ends 9-2 and
it is down to the last game with all hands on deck.
Game 7: CN goes up 2-0 after 1 and in the 2nd gets 1st and 3rd with no
outs. Harold brings the infield in and with an A bunter CN decides to
hit away (does this have something with 3 suicide squeezes going bad in
the first round of the playoffs?) and 2 Ks and a SSx later it is still
2-0. A-Rod boots a lead off DeJesus grounder and before you can say “My
name is Chipper, don’t call me Larry” it is 3-2 Harold. A 2 out Loney
double in the 5th knots the game at 3 and it is extra innings before
you know it. Harold gets Escobar to kick a ball, but still cannot get a
run as he leaves a man on 2nd base in the 8th, 9th and 10th innings. CN
is no better leaving a man at 2nd in the 7th, 3rd in the 8th and 2nd in
the 10th.
But the 11th starts with Garland pitching as the last non tired New
Orleans pitcher (a tired Lilly is warming up as the only other pitcher
available and he is available only because of the World Series starters
can relieve in game 7 rule and there are no players left on either
bench to pinch hit); when Church hits a lead off single and then
Escobar doubles and Church is thrown out for the first out at home with
Escobar taking 3rd on the throw. Pence doubles in Escobar and Ellis
follows with a double to give CN a 5-3 lead. Romero comes out with 1/3
of an inning left (Papelbon and Jenks are used up and Hudson and Bedard
are tired and only Correia and Benoit are left with innings and rest)
and walks Kearns and then gets DeJesus to hit into a double play.
Benoit comes in and retires Cabrera to save game 7 and give CN the
series.
Consantinople wins series 4 games to 3
Playoffs (3/8)
North Dakota 6 New Orleans 1
North Dakota 2 New Orleans 1
New Orleans 8 North Dakota 2
New Orleans 16 North Dakota 7
New Orleans 5 North Dakota 3 (11 innings)
New Orleans 4 North Dakota 1
New Orleans d. North Dakota 4 games to 2
New Orleans was the better team. North Dakota was ripped into
small pieces, crumpled into a small ball, stuffed into a water and
salsa filled glass, then dumped outside into a pile of dog poop in
anticipation of tonight's snow and ice.
Game 1: Fugakyu 4 Constantinople 1
Game 2: Constantinople 6 Fugakyu 5 (12 innings)
Game 3: Constantinople 11 Fugakyu 8
Game 4: Fugakyu 5 Constantinople 4
Game 5: Constantinople 9 Fugakyu 3
Game 6: Constantinople 7 Fugakyu 0
Constantinople wins series 4 games to 2
A back and forth series.
Game 2: Jed 4, CN 4 after 9
Jed 5, CN 5 after 10
CN 6, Jed 5, after 12
Game 4: CN 4, Jed 3 after 2
CN 4, Jed 4 after 8
Jed 5, CN 4 after 9
All tied at 2 games apiece, Game 5 starts tied at 1 until the computers
crash while processing a Holliday HR split 1 to 11. Controversy ensues
and Jed rolls the thing and is credited with the homer.
CN's offence takes offense and goes on to score 4 in the bottom of the
inning and 3 in the next inning and the game finishes 9 to 3 and CN
heads to puffer dome up 3 games to 2.
A reboot of the computers later saw CN take the series with a 7-0
victory behind Hudson and 2 relievers.
Twits Notes:
(5/19) NEW SOMBILLA RECORDS SET THIS YEAR
Worst regular season winning percentage, league champion: Constantinople (27-29 .482). Old
record Finn's People '96-97 (.500)
Best home winning percentage, leage .554 (old record .553 (140-113)
'94-95)
Most appearances: Capps, NO 33 (old record Nen, NO
'03-04 31)
Most series played
simultaneously: Tom, 2
(1/11/09)
Fastest 4-game series: Jed vs. Tom - 2
hours 15 minutes, 2/16/09
Largest gap between 3rd and 4th place: 7
(previous record 4 1/2 '90-91)
Records tied:
Fewest walks, walk leader: Helton, NO 41 (ties
E. Martinez, NO '99-00)
HOME and AWAY Records
HOME
RECORDS
AWAY RECORDS
Harold 19-9 .679
Jed 17-11 .607
Jed 18-10
.643 Arnie 17-11 .607
Arnie 17-11 .607
Harold 15-13 .536
Tom 17-11
.607 Robin 12-16 .429
Eric 15-13
.536 Eric 11-17 .393
Randy 15-13 .536
Randy 11-17 .393
Robin 13-15 .464
Tom 10-18 .357
Jeff 10-18
.357 Jeff 7-21
.250
TOTAL 124-100 .554 TOTAL
100-124 .446
(3/3) After Tom had won 2 of the first three games against Randy,
it all game down to game 56. In essence it became a one-game
playoff, winner to clinch 4th place and set up a first round playoff
against Jed. Per Tom, "Game 56 saw Hudson facing Hamels. It was
1-1 after 3 innings, but then the Manatees came out with 3 in the
fourth. Wax came back and halved the lead to 4-2. Greinke came in to
pitch the 5th and recorded no outs as Nathan took over, but there was
no stopping the Manatees as they put a 4 spot on the board. It was 8-2
and Wax came back for a run in the bottom of the 5th, but they would
not score any more as Hudson righted the ship and then Papelbon pitches
2 and 2/3 to end it at 9-3 for a Manatee split and playoff berth.".
Also last night, North Dakota and New Orleans had a coin flip to
determine home field advantage for their playoff on Sunday. North
Dakota won the toss.
Draft Day (April 5) update: Jeff's daughter has a gymnastics meet
that day, so Jeff may not be able to attend the draft in person.
He has arranged for a proxy/friend to attend (you may recall he did
this a few years ago), and may also be able to phone in his pick.
He also notes that the time for his daughter's events has not been
decided (he'll know in a couple of weeks) and it is still possible he'd
be able to attend Draft Day in person.
Please send your final stats to Tom.
(2/28) Jed just needed to win 2 games to clinch first place, which he
did in the first two games against Randy on Saturday. That meant
that New Orleans and North Dakota finish in a tie for 2nd, with a coin
flip to decide home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs
(the teams split their season series).
Future Wax came back to win game 3, which officially ended Eric's
season. Randy won the finale to gain the split and set up
tomorrow's 4th place showdown with Tom. Randy needs to either win
3 or 4 games to get 4th place. Two or more wins by Ton gives
Contsantiniople a playoff berth. and a date with Jed in the first round.
Here are the series details:
In their series opener, the Fugakyu Puffer Fish nipped the Future Wax
Candles 6 to 5 at Puffer Fish Field in a hard fought contest. The
Candles had a 5 to 3 lead going into the bottom of the 8th but couldn't
hold on.Brian Fuentes won his 4th game with a masterful relief
performance. No one got on base in his perfect 2/3 of an inning. Future
Wax was out-hit by Fugakyu, 11 hits to 7. Joakim Soria gained credit
for his 9th save. J.J. Putz took the loss in relief. He allowed 1 run
and 2 hits in 1 inning.Berkman and Reyes homered for the Candles. Pena
hit his 8th homer since joining the Puffer Fish.
In game 2 the Puffer Fish prevailed once again in a tight game. The
final score was 5 to 3.Russ Springer put in a pedestrian relief
performance just good enough for the victory. He went 1 and 2/3 innings
surrendering 1 hit and 3 walks. Fugakyu ended up with 9 hits for the
game while Future Wax had 5. Pat Neshek gained credit for his third
save since being acquired from
Area 51. The loss was charged to Jeremy Guthrie. He surrendered 5 runs
and 8 hits in 6 and 1/3 innings.While Future Wax was able to score
first in the top of the 2nd, the Puffer Fish responded immediately with
3 runs in the bottom of the 2nd on a rare Chone Figgins homerun. The
Candles were never able to recover from that unexpected blow. The
Puffer Fish were able to win despite allowing 10 walks (6 by Brandon
Webb, who must have one of the worst WHIPs in SOMBILLA history...). 3
double plays helped erase some of the base runners but the Candles did
leave 11 on base.
In game 3 Joe Nathan blanked the Fugakyu Puffer Fish at Pufferfish
Field in 10 innings. The Future Wax Candles scored scored twice for the
victory.Neither team scored in the first nine innings. Future Wax came
out the
victor in the 10th inning. Jim Thome got things going when he lined a
base-hit. After an out was recorded, Aramis Ramirez stepped up to the
plate and he drew a walk. Jose Reyes then laced a single which scored a
run. Reyes took second on the throw. Aaron Hill came up and he hit a
sacrifice fly scoring the final run of the inning. Future Wax won
despite being out-hit by Fugakyu 7 hits to 4. J.J. Putz got the save.
The loss was charged to Joakim Soria(1-1) in relief. He gave up 2 runs
and 2 hits in 2 and 1/3 innings.
In game 4, Cole Hamels with support from the bullpen contained Fugakyu
while the Future Wax Candles managed just one run in a day game at
Pufferfish Field.Hamels earned his pay with a solid performance for
Future Wax. He allowed 3 hits and no walks in 5 innings. Future Wax
took care of Fugakyu with no trouble in the bottom of the 9th. J.J.
Putz got the save. Brian Fuentes suffered the loss in relief. He was
unable to retire a batter allowing 3 hits and no walks.Overall, the
Puffer Fish did not score in 20 straight innings, surely their worst
drought of the season.
Fugakyu’s team ERA is 2.9x this year...maybe even into the 2.8x range
after those last two games... The record for best team ERA is:
Yoknapatawpha '89-90 2.74...Draft Day April 5.
(2/26) The story of the first game was ball park singles, walks and a
couple of 1s on infield x chances as CN came back from a 1-0 deficit to
go up 10-1 after a grand slam by Torii Hunter ended a 8 run 4th
innings. Final Score 10-2.
The series looked like a split as CN won the second game 6-2 again
punctuated by an attack made up almost completely of singles and walks.
Derek Lowe came out in game 3 (51/55) determined to stop the series
from getting out of hand. He delivered carrying a no hitter through 6
innings. Up 2-0, Varitek singled and then A-Rod hits a Ball Park Homer
…. Caught. In the 9th, Dem Bums are up 3-0 and A-Rod comes to the plate
again and hits a clean solo shot but that is all that can be done as
the Bums get one back 3-1. If A Roid had not cycled off before
midseason testing maybe the first one would have gone out, but ….
Dem Bum’s 56th game saw Lincecum with only 1 inning left starting. He
made it through that inning, but gave up back to back homers to Pence
and Loney in the 2nd and left after 4 down 2-1. (He never gave up any
tired singles.) Konerko tied the game 2-2 as he hit a one out triple
off of Hudson’s card (he had no triples that year so he had no chances
on his own card). But Hudson bore down and got an infield in ground out
and then a CFx chance to preserve the tie. CN came back with 3 straight
doubles with one out in their half of the 7th to go up 4-2. Loney’s 8th
inning solo shot ending the scoring and CN finished their final home
series with a 5-2 win and a 3-1 series victory.
A momentary claim of the final playoff spot? The CN-Wax series looks to
be the season decider on Monday…
Based on last night's results (Tom 3-1 over Eric; Randy and Jeff 2-2),
with two series remaining Randy vs Jed, Randy vs Tom, here are the
possibilities if each of these 8 games was decided by a coin flip:
Tom has a 74.2% chance, Eric has an 8.2% chance and Randy has a 41.4%
chance to make the playoffs
(2/24) Area 51 ended Bay City's season ignominiously
by winning its first season series of the year. The series
started well for Robin, after the league's first rainout, Bay City
winning 5-4 to close to 1/2 game of 4th place. But in game 2,
Nick Swisher's pinch-hit 9th inning 2-run homer off Takashi Saito was a
killer, putting Jeff up 5-4. Bay City got 2 on in the bottom of
the 9th against Percival, but couldn't tie it. H. Matsui (HR, 3
RBI) and Renteria (4 hits, 2 RBI) were the hitting stars for the Aliens
in game 3, as they hung on to win 7-5. In the finale, Maine,
Sherrill and Percival striuck out a combined 13 batters as Bay City
went down in flames 4-1. Frank Thomas struck out in his last
official SOMBILLA at bat.
If you are good with carrier pigeons, you should let them loose to try
and communicate with Randy this week...Draft Day April 5.
(2/23) Jed's home series win over Eric earlier tonight sets up a
wild final week. With one series left to play, Jed can clinch
first place with a split against Randy on Satuday. If he loses 3
of 4 to Randy, there will be a three-way tie for first. The head
to head tie-breaker would have both Jed and Harold at 9-7 necessitating
a coin flip for first place (with Arnie at 6-10 to take third).
In the unlikely event Jed gets swept by Randy, Harold and Arnie (who
split their season series 4-4) would have a coin flip for first place.
Meanwhile, Robin, Randy and (reluctantly) Tom all gained new life as
one game now separates all four teams for 4th place.
Please let me know when those last three makeup series
have been rescheduled...Draft Day April 5.
(2/22) Robin and I played the first SOMBILLA series
ever on foreign soil. We originally were going to try and play at
a beach bar but decided the hotel room balcony, overlooking the ocean,
palm trees and beach was just fine. The only concern was the
6-inch gap at the bottom of the railing, and it's potential for foul
ball disaster. (We were only on the third floor, but still.
So we lined the bottom with bath towels, a blanket and an ironing
board, brought some beer back to the room and were good to go.
On the table, North Dakota moved into a tie for 2nd place and helped
Eric open up a two game lead for the finial playoff spot. Peavy
pitched another shutout (4 hits) to win his 9th game, 3-0 in game
1. C. Young, Bell, Heilman, Accardo, and R. Perez combined for a
2-hitter to win game 2 (overcoming Mark Reynolds being victimized by
the hidden ball trick after a double). In game 3, Reynolds again
fell asleep, this time missing first base on his way to a double.
But he went from goat to hero with a huge 3-run blast off Escobar (now
1-8), to lead ND to a 7-2 win. Bay City avoided the sweep with a
6-2 win in the finale. No dice went under the railing.
Please do not rely on e-mail to schedule those last three makeup games
with Randy. E-mail is not reliable. Please call him at
508-315-3533 to schedule...Draft Day April 5.
(2/16) Tom played in spite of feeling miserable. Things were
looking good for the Manatees after taking a relatively easy 5-2 first
game and leading after 4 innings in the second game. But the Puffer
Fish came alive and scored 8 runs in two innings. In the third game the
Manatees could muster no offense. In the 4th game the Manatees were up
3-1 going into the bottom of the 5th. The Puffer Fish had runners on
first and third when the Papelbon was brought in to quell the comeback.
Unfortunately, former Manatee Carlos Pena picked this moment to get his
only hit of the series - a 3-run HR. We probably did set a record for
speed - I'd say the whole series took about 2 hours and 15 minutes...
Please do not rely on e-mail to schedule those last three makeup games
with Randy. E-mail is not reliable. Please call him at
508-315-3533 to schedule...Draft Day April 5.
(2/12) It was an annoying split for ND and FW in 4 well-played
hard-fought close games...We may yet be able to get all regular season
games played in February. Note that Jed's schedule prevents him
from playing during the week, while Randy is now officially booked
solid through 2/22, but will be 'free at last' of all theatrical
obligations beginning Monday 2/23...Draft Day April 5
(2/11) New Orleans, the league’s pre season pick to finish in
last place (garneringd such comments in the pre season newsletter as
“team will be irrelevant this year…starting pitching is near the
bottom…relief is average at best) finished its season in stunning
fashion, taking 3 of 4 from defending league champion Future
Wax...Draft Day April 5.
(2/9) North Dakota jumped back into 2nd by percentage points earlier
tonight at The bASE. Peavy won his 7th game in game 1,
4-1, pitching a complete game 5-hitter. The key blow in
game 2 was Hamilton's 3-run shot off Vazquez in the 6th, which gave ND
a 4-2 lead they never relinquished. Game 3 was tied in
the 9th inning 3-3. North Dakota had the bases loaded with two
out and Big Papi up. Jeff brought in lefty George Sherrill.
Strat-O's unrealistic nature came into play next as the ND manager
brought Josh Bard in to pinch-hit for Big Papi in this crucial
situation (can you imagine this actually happening???) Bard hit a
bases-clearing double, ND wins 6-3. Spurred on by concerns about
having the worst record in league history, Jeff won game 4 to lose any
statistical chance at breaking Matt's impressive 10-43 (.189) record...
The Jed/Eric series has been rescheduled for 2/26....Randy's starring
role in Utopia
http://www.sudburysavoyards.org/shows/2009_utopia/index.html means that
there's a good chance the regular season could spill into March...Draft
Day still April 5.
(2/8) Fugakyu took over first place, taking 3 of 4 at home in a
showdown with North Dakota. Chone Figgin's 3-run blast broke open
a scoreless duel in game 1 as Beckett and T. Pena combined for a 2-hit
shutout. In game 2, Carlos Pena's 9th inning off R. Perez tied it
up and Ankiel's 11th inning blast off lefty B. Seay won it for the
Pufferfiush. as the ND manager second guessed himself over that
one. ND managed to win game 3 in 10 innings, 5-3, but in game 4
another Ankiel homer off beleaguered Bobby Seay sealed the series for
Jed...An ill-timed illness forced Randy to cancel 2 series just as he
heads into a very busy time in his life as a thespian...Draft Day April
5.
(2/1) Surprising New Orleans, picked for last place in the league's
pre-season poll, maintained its perch atop the SOMBILLA with a split
against 4th place Dem Bums earlier today. Eric writes: "The old
unsatisfying/satisfying split, and I must say I'm getting sick of them,
even if this one was satisfying to me. Harold won game one 7-3 with
FIVE unearned runs, all scored in the 6th. (Dem Bums made 5 errors in
the series, giving dem 31 errors in 44 games.) Eric came back to win
game 2, 4-1, Harold took game 3 7-0, with Wang, Lidge and Beimel
combining on a 4-hit shutout. Eric finished with a satisfying 5-3 win,
scoring two in the top of 9th to break a tie. Betancourt had two saves
for Eric, Chipper Jones socked 3 dingers for Harold"...Draft Day April
5.
(1/31) It was a satisfying split for Robin as Bay City won the
final two games after dropping the first two to Randy. In game 1,
Bay City pulled ahead 4-3 in the 8th thanks to a lead-off triple by
injury replacement Astrubel Cabrera and an RBI double by Miguel (no
relation) Cabrera. However, Thome hit a 2-run homer off Marmol in the
bottom of the ninth to win it, 5-4.
The teams were tied, 3-3, heading into the bottom of the 8th of game 2,
when Griffey put things away with a 3-run homer off the justly unknown
Eric O’Flaherty to seal a 6-3 FW win.
The heavily sideburned Dustin McGowan had no trouble getting the ball
over the plate, allowing 11 hits in 5+ innings (including HRs to Bonds
and Thome along with 3 doubles), but Wilson, Saito, and the previously
maligned O’Flaherty shut down the Wax hitters over the last four
innings and Bay City took the lead in the 8th thanks to a walk followed
by a single and three-base error by Bonds (same play). A Kotchman solo
homer gave them an insurance run in the 9th, for an 8-6 win.
Halladay pitched superbly for 7 innings but was taken out for a
pinch-hitter (after the DH was put into the field), and BC almost let
the game slip away, as Marmol (who hit for himself in the 9th and
struck out) immediately tired himself, forcing Robin to take the
drastic step of bringing in Huston Street with a lead, as her 2 lefty
relievers were tired. Saito then came in for the final out as BC staved
off a late FW rally to get the split, 7-3, thanks to homers by Kotchman
(2) Granderson, and Beltran.
Draft Day April 5.
(1/28) Tom thought his season was lost, saying he "traded the
whole team and was looking forward to the 2nd pick overall".
After sweeping Robin ("he injured all my players"), Tom may need to
rethink his season plan in addition to his draft plan as Constantinople
is now only a game out of 4th place. Despite Bay City's laying
down for the night, they are still in the race, as only 2 games now
separate Eric, Tom, Robin and Randy for the 'wildcard' spot...In other
action, Josh Hamilton had 5 homers and 10 rbi's to lead North Dakota
over Dem Bums and back into 2nd place...Draft Day April 5.
(1/22) Harold alertly noted that, because he has now played 44 games,
he can call up his 26th man, the first team to be able to do so...After
Jed swept Jeff last night, my e-mail crashed, but Jed had sent me the
first-ever computer generated Twits Notes!!
Is there a little man inside Computer Strat-O writing this?:
"Josh Beckett delivered 7 solid innings as the Fugakyu Puffer Fish
topped the Area 51 UFOs by a score of 4 to 2 at Pufferfish Field.
Fugakyu jumped on top of Area 51 in the 3rd inning scoring a single run
using 2 hits. Area 51 had a chance to come back in the 9th but
they came up short. The win was credited to Beckett(1-0) who went 7
innings allowing 1 run. Beckett was helped out by Joakim Soria who
recorded his 1st save. Gil Meche(0-1) was the losing
pitcher.
John Smoltz came through with a solid 5 innings as the Fugakyu Puffer
Fish defeated the Area 51 UFOs in 12 innings by the score of 2 to 1 at
Pufferfish Field. The score was knotted at 1 after nine innings.
Fugakyu won the hard fought contest in the 12th inning. Jack Cust
smashed a solo-shot out of the park (his 1st of the season) making
Fugakyu the winners and sending the 49,750 fans home happy.
Fugakyu managed only 6 on the afternoon. The victory went
to Manny Corpas(1-0) who went 1 inning, allowing no runs. Damaso
Marte(0-1) was the loser in relief. He gave up 1 run and 1 hit in
1 inning.
In a two run game the Fugakyu Puffer Fish got by the Area 51 UFOs in 12
innings by the score of 4 to 2. The score was tied at 2 after
nine. Fugakyu won it in the 12th inning. Jack Wilson
started the inning off right when he lined a one-base hit. Shane
Victorino stepped up to the plate and he laid down a sacrifice
bunt. Placido Polanco then popped a two-run clout over the fence
(his 1st of the season) resulting in an exciting win for Fugakyu and a
raucous post-game celebration by the home town fans. Fugakyu won
despite being out-hit by Area 51 12 hits to 9. The victory was
credited to Russ Springer(1-0) who went 2 innings, allowing no runs.
Andy Pettitte(0-1) absorbed the loss in relief.
First baseman Carlos Pena slammed 2 homeruns and had 4 RBI and John
Lackey tossed a complete game as the Fugakyu Puffer Fish outscored the
Area 51 UFOs 7 to 1. The home town fans were very appreciative of the
fine hitting performance provided by Pena. He smashed a two-run
homer in the 1st inning and blasted a two-run home run (his 2nd of the
season) in the 3rd inning. Fugakyu totaled 13 on the
afternoon. Lackey(1-0) lasted until the end allowing 1 run for
the win. John Maine(0-1) was charged with the loss. He was hit
hard and gave up 13 hits and 3 walks in 8 innings."
Draft Day April 5.
(1/21) Fugakyu's sweep over the sad sack Aliens earlier tonight
suddenly has changed the look of the standings into a three team
race. Trade update: Fugakyu
trades Youkilis + a 3rd round pick and a 7th round pick to
Constantinople for Pena + Beltre...Draft Day April 5.
(1/19) An unsatisfying split for Randy, a satisfying one for Eric.
There were two kinda blowouts, and two nail biters. Randy won game two
by coming back from a late 2-0 deficit with timely hitting and
fantastic relief to win 3-2 in nine, and Eric won game 4 in 12 innings,
which featured a two-out 9th inning homer by Randy to tie it 1 apiece,
and then Randy blowing a first and third situation with no outs in the
11th, which ended in pitcher to home to first double play, with the
infield, of course, drawn in. final: 2-1.
(1/18) Jed grabbed hold of 3rd place in a showdown with Bay City
Sunday night, beating Robin 4-3, 3-1, and 6-4 after losing the opening
game in extra innings. No starter for Jed went longer than 5
innings as he used his bullpen matchups masterfully to shutdown the Bay
City offense...Eric and Randy are rumored to have played on
Monday...Draft Day April 5.
(1/14) It was an unsatisfying split for Eric, and a satisfying
split for Jed. Jed, Eric and Robin now all have identical records
in a 3-way tie for third place...During the course of the series, the
computer would not allow a runner being held at the same time as the
infield was in - we checked the actual Strat-0 rules and sure enough,
it says this is not allowed in multiple places. Effective
immediately, you can not hold a runner with the infield in (although
you can do it with the corners in). Jed insists the last 5
seasons now have to replayed because of this...Trade update - Jed
acquires Neshek and Smoltz from Area 51 in exchange for Maine and a 4th
round pick, which becomes a 3rd round pick if Jed makes the
playoffs...Draft Day April 5.
(1/11) The most remarkable thing about today's bash wasn't that Harold
stormed into first place, winning 7 of 8 games, or that Tom and Jeff
'braved life and limb' to drive 75 minutes to Marblehead after last
night's snowstorm, but it was Tom's historic feat of playing both the
series (against Jeff AND the series against Harold) AT THE SAME TIME!
TWO series
at the same time!!! Harold says "He had two score
sheets, two sets of cards, Tom batted/rolled vs. me and Jeff
batted/rolled vs. Tom to complete the half inning, then I batted/rolled
vs. Tom and Tom batted/rolled vs. Jeff to complete the bottom half of
the inning. An amazing sight, but it actually went pretty smoothly".
That feat certainly goes into the recordbooks under it's own
categpory. And I dare say, only Tom could pull this off
voluntarily (although I would do it for money). Amazing.
(1/7) Harold won the battle for 2nd place at the House of Ellis
earlier tonight, closing to within a game of first place. He
started with two 2-1 games with 6-hitters in both games (Carmona,
Beimel, Capps, Rivera, and Chamberlain in game 1 and Lilly, Capps,
Lidge, Rivera, and Chamberlain in game 2). Even over the
Internet, it was a 'playoff atmosphere'. After winning game 3,
7-4, and jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the finale, Jed was hoping for a
split. But Harold had other ideas. The computer
now writes up game summaries in the box scores, and it summarized it
nicely, "Fugakyu lost
it in the 2nd inning when New Orleans did all their damage showing no
mercy on Fugakyu as they plated 7 runs on 6 hits...'It wasn't my best
outing, but I'll take the win' winning pitcher Jon Garland said.
(1/4) Albert Pujols (8 for 16, 4 rbi) led a balanced attack as
North Dakota finished its season series against CN winning 7 of 8
games. 12 different players had rbi for North Dakota, which
jumped out to a 15-0 lead against CC Sabathia after the first two
innings of the series. Peavy won his 5th game and even the
much-maligned James Shields (7 innings, 4 hits, one run) pitched
well. Tom was unabashedly talking about Evan Longoria by the end
of the series...Eric and Robin engaged in a "phenomenal" series,
featuring 2 extra-inning games. "One of the best series
I've had in a long time", said Eric, who was down to his last pitcher
in two of the four close games. In game 3, Kelvin Escobar pitched
6 2/3 perfect innings for Robin, but lost the game...Bash next
weekend!...Draft
Day Sunday, April 5.
(12/30) Tom sent around his series summary in an e-mail he cleverly
disguised as ND/BC stats: "It was a demoralizing split last night
as Jeff showed up around 5 PM and looked at his watch the whole time
because he had to pick up his son from some sort of practice. (Guitar)
The first game was a nail biter that went 11 innings and ended in a 6-5
CN victory. Game 2 was microcosm of the CN season, no clutch hitting an
error by A-Rod led to 2 unearned runs and Meche looked like Cy Young
--- Aliens win 4-2.
Game 3 saw Bedard take a 5-1 lead into the 9th. Boom; bases loaded no
outs and Jenks on the mound facing the not so great Molina. Long
single, Rent a Wreck pops out and Brandon Phillips hits a 3 run homer
to win the game 6-5. So far CN has been all over the Aliens card
hitting a N-Homer split 5 times for 2 homers and 3 doubles and
now Schilling would take the mound looking for an Alien 3-1 series
victory. CN does not start Ross (who had used up his limited at bats
earlier in the series) and re-does his lineup almost completely. CN has
traditional hit Schilling well even when he had dominant cards, but
that was when CN won games. CN scores 11 runs in the first 4 innings
and cruise to a 2-2 split 11-1.
(12/27) It was a pretty boring split, managerially speaking, as
the teams traded 4 blowouts. Three of the scores were 7-1, 9-1
and 12-5. The only interesting moment was in game 2, when Robin
carried a 10-1 lead into the 9th. Halladay had a 5-hhiter.
ND proceded to score 7 runs forcing Robin to use her bullpen to quell
the uprising with 2-on and the go-ahead run at the plate, hanging on to
win 10-8. Granderson, M. Cabrera, and Big Papi each had 2 home
runs in the series.
Remember, on New Year's Eve (or New Year's Day if you prefer), the
entire league gets a day off. This affects bullpens and starters,
as well as any players who are injured (one day off of the
injury). Robin alertly called attention to it after two of her
players went down.
(12/22) Fugakyu won an exciting, low scoring series earlier
tonight to move into 2nd place and tighten up the standings, as only 2
games now separate the top 5 teams. The final three games were
all one-run games.
Jed pounded Peavy in game one, going up 6-0 before cruising to a 6-3
win. Game 2 was the crucial game. ND held a 5-4 lead going
into the 9th, but Isringhausen blew his first save of the year when,
with 2 outs, Kelly Shoppach hit a 3-run homer by rolling a "1" on a HR
1-3, out otherwise.
ND came back to win an exciting game 3. Izzy blew another 9th
inning save via a Holliday single, Youkilis sac and single by D. Lee to
tie it 3-3. But in the bottom of the 9th, ND loaded the bases
with none out and Spilborghs came through with the game winning hit,
4-3. An interesting sidelight to the game was that Jed didn't
realize ND starter Rich Hill was lefty until the 6th inning.
Brandon Webb and James Shields hooked up in a spectacular 1-0 nailbiter
in this Internet Strat-O finale. Cust's 2nd homer of the series
in the 2nd held up as the difference.
(12/21) Fugakyu leapfrogged into 3rd place on Sunday, thanks to
the free-falling Area 51's. Jed pounded out 14 hits in an 11-1
game one Internet romp. Polanco had 4 hits and a homer while Webb
held down the anemic Area 51 offense. Jeff tied up the series,
thanks to Smoltz's 4-hit gem in game 2 (a 4-2 win). But Jed
cruised 10-3 and 11-1 in the final two games with 37 hits. Youk
had 5 rbi in the final 2 games while Wilson had 4.
Five teams are now over .500 as we near the halfway mark.
(12/18) North Dakota widened it's lead to 2 games over the pack
with a 3-1 series win over the spirited, yet hapless aliens earlier
tonight. Peavy's 2-hit complete game shutout in game 1 was
overshadowed by ND's 17-hit, 12-run attack, which actually
increased North Dakota's team batting average of .357 coming into the
series. The keg was tapped in the middle of the first
inning.
Jeff started taunting Big Papi with 'click, click' in game 2, and it
carried over to the rest of the ND hitters as Area 51 held North Dakota
to just one run on six hits for the entire game. Unfortinately
for Jeff, his team failed to score again as ND won 1-0. C. Young,
Bell, Heilman, and Isringhausen combined for the 4-hit shutout.
Jeff finally scored in game 3. The game was 2-2 in the bottom of
the 9th when Jacoby Ellsbury hit his second pinch-hit walkoff single of
the season. The sweep was not to be as the aliens pulled out an
ugly 8-5 win in the finale, featuring 3 errors, trumped up
controversies, smelling of thoughts (don't ask) and Jeff injuring 2 ND
players (Ordonez and Bard) for good measure.
(12/14) CN has its first winning series taking 3 out of 4 from a
tired Future Wax team. Overcoming 3 injured starters, CN
played just well enough to win 3 games. The teams both felt unlucky and
a bit tired. Randy remarked that "he felt that the games played him,
and that there was no effect of [FW] strategy on the outcomes."
I will try and have the 2nd half schedule out tomorrow.
(12/11) Harold says "Good series. Either team could have
swept".
(12/7) TWITS notes is ordinarily supposed to be written by the winning
team. However, should there be no TWITS Notes submitted by the
winning team (Randy was the only winner this weekend), it is fair game
for anyone to submit TWITS Notes, as Jed did today:
The Ellis and Puffer Fish played to an unsatisfying (for Harold) draw.
The Ellis won the first game 2-1 as Felix Carmona outdueled Josh
Beckett. Chamberlain got the save. Chipper Jones went 2-4 in his Ellis
debut. In game 2 New Orleans jumped to a quick 8-0 lead after 2
innings, tiring Aaron Harang. A Kelly Shoppach grand slam made it 8-4
at the end of 5. But the Puffer Fish never got closer and the Ellis won
9-5. Lilly got the win, allowing only 4 hits (but 2 HRs). Dunn, Wright,
Markakis, Helton and Cabrera hit HRs for New Orleans in spite of the
fact that the fences are a minimum of 600 feet from home plate. Chipper
Jones went 3-5. In games 3 and 4, Fugakyu won 4-0 and 4-1. Lackey won
game 3 and Fuentes game 4 (where Brandon "Daisuke" Webb truly
"tightroped" his way through 4 innings, to use Harold's expression - 4
hits and 4 walks allowed but no runs). The improved Ellis offense was
held to 10 hits total in the last 2 games and Chipper Jones only went
2-9. This may have been the fastest computer series ever as we probably
started playing around 9:15AM and finished before 12:00PM.
Randy, Robin, Harold and Eric are all at the roster freeze.
(12/4) Jeff says: "I rolled eight, I kid you not EIGHT! 2 column snake
eyes on all my players who had max action (except 2) in their 2
column!!!!! This of course led to a:
1) FW sweep
2) F-it trade with NO and
3) Much sour grapes!
I must say Randy was a gracious winner and host."
Meanwhile:
This Bud’s for you Mr. Internet Strat-O Doofus: Eric and Jed sat
down to play their series over the Internet Thursday night and. . .
Eric realized that he didn’t have Computer Strat-O (v.13) yet! So
crack open a cold one and drink up, Mr. Internet Strat-O Doofus, this
Bud’s for you!
(12/3) In Bay City's long-awaited home-opener, the team raised the
"World Series Loser" flag, and Kelvim Escobar made his
less-than-triumphant return to the team that drafted him. CN won, 5-4
on the strength of a 3-run Burrell homer and solo shots by Loney and
Escobar. Game 2 featured a 3-run homer by Miguel Cabrea (who also
tripled) as BC staved off a late rally by Tom to win 5-4; the big news
for BC was the scoreless 2 innings pitched by Huston Street. In Game 3,
Frank Thomas continued his dominance of CN with a homer then was
inexplicably pinch-hit for in the ninth by Brad Hawpe, who failed to
deliver, sending the game into extra innings and forcing BC to use a
tired CJ Wilson in relief of a tired Saito (yes, I felt like Harold).
Fortunately, Victor Martinez saved the embattled BC bullpen with a
two-out 2-run pinch-hit homer in the 10th for a 5-3 BC victory. Game 4
was marked by a 6-run second inning by BC. Cabrera went 4 for 5 (all
singles) and Halladay, although tired in the 7th, pitched a complete
game for the 9-5 win. BC pitchers threw at will against the pesky
Manatees, hitting and injuring 4 of them(including A-Rod); the BC staff
will happily accept cash from Tom's next opponent.
(11/23) North Dakota recovered from a game one pounding (12-4) to win
the final three close games and remain atop the standings.
Already missing H. Ramirez and Ellsbury due to injury, ND lost Alou and
Pujols with pulled hamstrings in game 2. Nevertheless they won
8-5 with a balanced arrack, led by Hamilton and Pedroia. Injury
replacement mutant Daric Barton's 3-run blast in the third-inning of
game 3 held up for S. Shields, R. Perez, Accardo and Seay, who combined
to pitch 5 innings of shutout relief to win 5-3. They won despite
Eric's intentionally injuring yet another ND player, mutant
injury-replacement JD Towles. In the finale, another 3-run homer
by Daric 'Albert who?' Barton staked ND to a 5-3 lead. This time
it was Heilman, Bell and Isringhausen closing the door for ND as they
won the nailbiter, 6-5.
An extremely rare play occurred in the other series involving Tom (who
else?) and Harold. Tom had a guy on 2nd with 2 out. The
batter hits a rare play single in which runners adavnced 2-bases but
the batter gets caught running toward second, the throw is behind him
and he is called out. It's unclear whether the run scores before
the pick-off or not. We tried thinking about the play as a real
play - would the run have really scored? Eric and Harold thought
yes, Tom thought no, I felt it probably would have, but it wasn't clear
cut. We also looked at the plain language of the rare play
rule - it said the runners advance two bases before it said that the
batter got picked off. We went with the run counting, but decided
to ask Strat-O directly and see if they had a ruling for it.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you SOMBILLA turkeys!
(11/21) Randy won the third game by throwing at Jed's team. There
were at least 3 HBP within a couple of innings and Victorino and Wilson
were injured. Jed surmises this was in retaliation for his
injuring Bonds in the previous game. Actually, Bonds was injured
once but shook it off only to get injured later for 2 games. At
any rate, the intimidation strategy worked as he won 10-4. But
Fugakyu won the last game 8-2.
(11/19) Randy and I spent about an hour and a half trying to get our
computers connected. He couldn't connect to me, which has never
failed before. So we decided to try Hamachi per Arnie's
suggestion and it was magical! (It appears to be better than
opening port 508: see
http://www.stratfanforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54874, Apparently,
using this "hamachi"
https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/list.asp
anyone can host Strat-O on the computer). I would definitely
recommend using Hamachi going forward - it should save us a lot of
time.
We did get in two games, which I won, so I'm now 5-5. We're
planning to finish up Thursday evening. Will send a full report
after that.
(11/16) Robin reports that it was a 'satisfying split' as she won
2 extra-inning games. The odds of all 4 bash series ending in
splits are 2% (3/8 ^ 4)...Please send your stats to Tom.
(11/9) It was a grueling series, like slow water torture. It's
late, I have a headache and it's going to be a ball-buster week.
You want the fucking details? Fine. The computer fucking
screwed me by making me choose the wrong park. I missed FOUR
ballpark homers in game 1 (Randy had none). As an aside, I still
managed to win it 6-5 in 10 innings on a walk-off Jacoby Ellsbury
single.
His pitching (Zambrano, Feliciano, Nathan and Putz) shut me down in
game two 7-1.
Both starters (Kazmir and Hill were knocked out early in game 3.
It was 8-6 ND after 4. ND missed two more ballpark homers.
Randy had 3 runners /thrown out at the plate. ND set a team
record with 8 pitchers used. It's late, I'm disjointed. He
scored three in the 8th to tie it 9-9. He beaned Jacoby Ellsbury
knocking him out for 4 games. He used Nathan for 4 innings in
extra innings and scired 5 in the top of the 12th inning to win
14-9. I wanted to vomit all over his furniture, but kept my
composure.
He beans my first batter of game 4, Hanley Ramirez and knocks him out
for 2 games. With 5 tired pitchers I was happy to jump to an 8-3
lead lead. There were hits and walks and stuff. It was 11-5
going into the 9th; I was happy to keep Shields in for a CG. He
scores 5 in the 9th and has the tying run on 2nd. ND won 11-10 to
escape his dreaded home park with the split. Pujols had a good
series.
Remember to send your stats to Tom.
(11/2) New Orleans started its season off with two walk-off
wins...North Dakota was led by H. Ramirez (7 for 14, 3 HR 6 rbi),
Pedroia (9 for 15, 4 BI) and M. Ordonez (8 for 20, 1 hr, 7 rbi) in its
sweep...The odds that all three series would end in a sweep are 1 in
512.
Ballparks:
L
R OF Fences
Constantinople
HR 1-19 HR
1-12 high
Building 19 Ball Park S
1-19 S 1-12
New
Orleans
HR 1-2 HR
1-5
The House of
Ellis
S 1-15 S 1-15
North
Dakota
HR 1-7 HR
1-5
high
Gackle
Park
S 1-12 S
1-18
Bay
City
HR 1-15 HR
1-15 high
Jake McKinnon Memorial Field S 1-5
S 1-5
Dem
Bums
HR 1-16 HR
1-13 LF
high, RF low
Sandover
Field
S 1-7 S
1-7
Fugakyu
HR 1-4 HR
1-2
Fukudome
S 1-2 S 1-4
Future
Wax
HR 1-12 HR
1-5
high
Parks
Park
S 1-12 S
1-5
Area
51
HR 1-8 HR
1-14
high
The bASE (AKA Groom Lake) S
1-6 S 1-9
Schedule