Final SOMBILLA
Standings 2012-2013
W L
Pct GB
North
Dakota
37 19 .661 --
The
Cheddarmen
32
24 .571 5
Future
Wax 31 25 .554 6
Oceanus
29 27 .518 8
Bay City
25
31 .446 12
"What
Eric
Said"
25 31
.446 12
Constantinople
24
32 .429 13
New
Orleans
21 35
.375
16
MVP – Matt Kemp, Future Wax
Cy Young – Justin
Verlander, Cheddarmen
Manager of the Year- Arnie
Pollinger
World Series: 3/16
North Dakota 12 The Cheddarmen 6
The Cheddarmen 8 North Dakota 6
North Dakota 5 The Cheddarmen 2 (12 innings)
North Dakota 4 The Cheddarmen 0
North Dakota 5 The Cheddarmen 1
North Dakota wins series 4 games to 1
Playoffs: 3/9
The Cheddarmen 7 Future Wax 6
The
Cheddarmen 11 Future Wax 8
The
Cheddarmen 5 Future Wax 2
The
Cheddarmen 8 Future Wax 6
The
Cheddarmen win series 4 games to 0
Playoffs: 2/27
North Dakota 8 Oceanus 1
North Dakota 5 Oceanus 4
Oceanus 4 North Dakota 3
Oceanus 1 North Dakota 0
North Dakota 5 Oceanus 1
Oceanus 6 North Dakota 5 (12 innings)
North Dakota 8 Oceanus 4
North Dakota wins series 4 games to 3
League Leaders
All-Stats
Schedule
Twits
Notes:
HOME
AWAY
Arnie 18-10
.643 Arnie 19-9
.679
Jed
18-10 .643
Randy 16-12 .571
Eric 17-11
.607
Eric 15-13 .536
Randy 15-13
.536 Robin 13-15 .464
Jeff
13-15 .464
Tom 13-15 .464
Robin 12-16 .429 Harold 12-16 .429
Tom 11-17
.393 Jeff 12-16 .429
Harold
9-19 .321
Jed 11-17 .393
Totals: 113-111 .504 111-113 .496
(3/17) North Dakota wins its first championship in 13 long years.
Coming into the series, Eric had won 6 straight post-season appearances
vs. ND, going back to 1985, and had won 20 of the last 25 post-season
games played between the two teams since 1990. During the week
leading up to the match, the usual trash talking ND manager had gone
silent. So Eric emailed Arnie. Arnie responded with
the missive: "Fuck you. Don't talk to me." He spent the
days leading up to the World Series building up a rage against his
opponent, the "SOMBILLA bully." He imagined hitting a huge 3-run
homer and then getting in Eric's face, "and THAT one is for Robin in
last year's World Series!!"
Of course, there was no real animosity on game day, just two focused,
friendly rivals. Indeed, Arnie did a long Yoga session in the
morning to help focus and clear his mind.
Game 1: North Dakota came out hitting, building a 4-0 lead by the
4th inning against surprise starter Masterson (a decision that Eric
hoped would fluster ND). After Eric closed the gap to 4-2 in the
6th, Pedroia and D. Ortiz each hit 3-run homers to make it 10-2.
Eric scored 4 more in the 7th on 5 hits to make it 10-6, but got no
closer.
Game 2: Arnie had assumed that CH would simply roll on his
hitters' cards all series, piling up runs, as he usually does in the
post-season. His over/under for Cheddarmen runs in the top of the
first inning of game 1 was 2. Arnie was off by a game, but should
have taken the over. Tulowitzki's 3-run blast made it a 4-0 CH
lead after one inning, which grew to 6-0 after three. ND closed
to 6-3 (Morse and Pujols homers) and 8-6 (Downs and Pedroia homers) but
could never close the gap and the series is tied heading to Sandover
Field, Eric's pitcher's park.
Game 3: The wildest game and key game of the series. Both
managers had terrific luck and excruciatingly bad luck. Cliff Lee
and Weaver match goose eggs through 5 innings. In the top of the
6th, with 2 out, Zimmerman (a "1") and M. Young (2-base error) make
back to back errors for Eric (whose normally solid D let him down in
this series). M. Morse followed with a huge 2-run double and ND
has a 2-0 lead. (Interestingly, Robin had sadly remembered her
team falling apart defensively against Eric in last year's World
Series. Hah! Sweet revenge). Kimbrel, Bell, Marshall
and Adams keep Eric scoreless until the bottom of the 9th, still down
2-0. Romo comes in for the save, Tulo singles and Hunter Pence
cracks a 2-run blast to tie the game. Little did Eric know, he
would score only one more run the rest of the series. In the
11th, ND loaded the bases with nobody out! But Aceves induces
Pujols to hit a home-first DP and Motte gets Downs out. In the
top of the 12th, Tulo boots a grounder with one out and Ellsbury
singles. Wieters, a lefty-killer, is up against lefty S.
Downs. Eric deliberates and decides to pitch to Wieters, who hits
the 3-run homer. The only one left in ND's pen is Dan Haren, who
pitches a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th for the save.
Game 4: World Series MVP Ian Kennedy (2-0, 1.69), Kimbrel, J.
Johnson, and Adams turn the tables on The Cheddarmen, using Eric's
pitcher's park to pitch a combined 4-hit shutout. Eric missed a
few BP homers.
Game 5: The karma has clearly shifted. Ellsbury, the first
batter of the game, hits a HR 1-5, out otherwise, on Verlander's
card. The roll is a "1". Ellsbury, who woke up in games 4
and 5 after being quiet in the first 3 games, cracks an rbi double in
the 3rd to make it 2-0. But it stays 2-0 until the 7th as
Verlander is very tough in Eric's park. With one out and two on in the top
of the 7th, Big Papi is up against Joe Smith, the best reliever with
the most anonymous name in the SOMBILLA. Papi hits a ballpark
homer (1-5) and rolls a "1", for a 3-run homer, making it 5-1. Arnie jumps up and screams (without
breaking anything), then apologizes to Eric, who is very
gracious. Eric scores a run in the 7th, but it's too little too
late.
North Dakota's team ERA over the last three games in Eric's park was 0.90
Adams, J. Johnson, Marshall, Bell, Melancon and C. Lee combined to
pitch 14 2/3 innings in relief over the whole series, giving up just
one earned run (0.69),
On offense, ND had a balanced attack, led by Red Sox stars Ellsbury
(.348, 4 runs, 6 rbi, 1 HR), Ortiz (2 HR, 8 rbi) and Pedroia (.313, 2
HR, 7 rbi).
Eric definitely did not have the better rolling, especially as the series wore on.
(3/9) Playoffs: CH vs. FW
So much for pitching. But what do you
expect facing he Wax? All the games were close, to a point. Here’s an odd stat
#1: the Wax held a lead for 3 innings the whole series, in game three, 1-0.
Here’ss odd stat #2: Triple Crowner Matt Kemp went 2 for 17, with one homer (in
game 4, pulling the Wax within two in the seventh), 2 ribbies (on said homer)
and two missed ballparks, in game 1, in Cheddarland.
Game 1: Kershaw vs. Verlander. Pence
hits a 2-out 2-run shot in the first, and CM is off fast. After 4 it’s 3-0. In the
5th, Ackley hits a dinger for FW, cutting it to 3-1, but CM answers with one of
their own in the bottom of the frame: Stubbs hits a solo blast. Bang! And that
pretty much sums up the series. CM would get out to the early lead, or early
big leads, and FW would claw back, only to see CM answer lickety-split.
Example: so it’s 4-1 into the 7th, and FW does something very un-FW, scoring 3
runs on 2 singles, 1 hit batter, a walk, and a sac fly. But it’s a tie ball
game. 7th inning stretch. Before you can get back to your seats, CM gets a
single, single, double, sac fly from: Gonzalez, Young, Fielder and Tulo,
and get the 3 right back. Top of the 8th and Berkman and Braun go back-to-back
off Masterson, and it’s a 1 run game again. But that would be that, fans. This
is the game Kemp missed those two ball parks. Papelbon and Downs
go 1-2-3 in the 9th, and CM holds on to win 7-6.
Game 2: Collmenter vs. Weaver. This was
wild. 11 pitchers, 19 runs, and the difference was a 3-run shot by Yadier
Molina, even though it happened in the 3rd. That’s when he rolled a ballpark
homer (1-2) to left (with a low fence), 1-2, and rolls a 3. So out it soars to
left-center, with Kemp (a 1) in pursuit. Chances of dropping one over Kemp?
1-3, and Molina gets rolls his 3. And in the end it’s an 11-8 win. But wait.
Those 11 runs are scored through 5 innings, before FW scores any of their own.
Weaver is masterful. Until the 6th, when FW puts an 8-spot on the board----and
again, it’s a game. Right? Wrong. Smith, Motte and Betancourt pitchtch the
remaining 3.3 innings, to go up 2-0.
Game 3: Lincecum vs. McCarthy. So
youĂƒÂ˘€™d think those two run-filled games in pitcher-friendly Cheddarland
would just be prologue. Back in the Wax Dome, where Randy can stock his line-up
with all those drooling righties. Except it didn’t turn out that way. For either
team. Lincecum and McCarthy threw in/out/up/down for 7 innings (well, McCarthy
for 6.3) and it was tied 1-1. But you gotta play D, too. That one run in the
4th by CM? It was un-earned, courtesy of 2-base error in right by Upton. The two that CM
scored in the 8th to go up 3-1 were legit, with Fielder smacking a 2-out 2-run
shot off Hamels. But the 2 nails-in-the-coffin runs that CM scored in the 9th?
They came courtesy of a huge 2-out error by A. Ramirez and a hit off an x-roll
to a lunging (but range-less) 1st basemen Ike Davis (if memory serves). FW puts
up one run in the 9th off Aceves, but it’s too little too late.
Game 4: Verlander vs. Kershaw. At this
point Randy is just fed up, and who can blame him. It’s 1-1 through 4 when CM
throws up a quick 3, the killer blow coming on a 2-run triple by Michael Young.
FW gets one back in the bottom of the frame, but CM puts up another in the 6th
and two in the 7th, and it’s a snoozer game 4, right?, with CM up 7-2 in the
bottom of the 7th. But FW answers with 4 runs on a one-run triple by Upton, a 2-run shot by
Kemp, and a solo blast from Berkman, and it’s 7-6 and still a game. But CM
answers FW yet again, getting one of those runs back and giving the relievers
the insurance they need. Motte and Smith close out the 8th and 9th, and it’s on
to series for CM.
(3/9) Jeff's
series win over Harold unfortunately sets up "Draftmaggedon" as there
will need to be two rolloffs - the Bryce Harper rolloff between just
Tom and Harold, and then another rolloff among Tom, Robin and Jeff for
the second pick. Arnie and Tom had previously traded a few emails
discussing just this scenario wherein Arnie's simplified version (Jeff
gets either the first or second pick each round, while the other three
fill in around him 1-4, with only Tom allowed no. 1) was dismissed out
of hand in favor of Tom's usual extreme version. Both versions
will be presented in the pre-draft newsletter.
Jeff and Harold also made a trade - New Orleans trading Adam Jones
straight up for Alex Gordon. Draft Day, Saturday March 30, 2013.
(2/27) Playoffs.
I am still sweating.
Game 1: ND came out blasting. Ellsbury homered on the first pitch,
and ND jumped to a 7-0 lead after three, shockingly tiring Fister, the
best starter for either team. Ellsbury ended up with 2 home runs and
Ortiz added another.
Game 2: The game was not as close as the score indicates. ND had a 5-0
lead heading into the 9th (Napoli and Pujols 2 rbi each). In a
misguided attempt to save innings, the ND manager pulled Adams out of
the game, and Melancon and Marshall proceeded to give up 4 runs in the
9th to make it close. Cueto picthed a 1 hitter in 5 1/3 innings.
Game 3: Switching to Rehobeth Parking lot, and backs against the wall,
it was 3-2 Jed after 2 innings (Hardy 2-run HR) and 4-3 after 5.
Santos and Salas shut down ND with 3 innings of scoreless relief.
Game 4: Rebounding from game 1, Doug Fister pitched a 4-hit shutout, as
frustrated ND hitters groused about the HR:1 ballpark. After this
game, Jed had won 5 of 6 games against ND at home.
Game 5: Johnny Cueto again pitched a masterful 5 innings of one hit
shutout ball, while Johnson, Kimbrel, Adams and Romo combined to yield
just 4 hits. Ellsbury and Pujols both homered.
Game 6: ND went up early 5-2 on homers by Pedroia, Ramirez and Ortiz.
Hardy homered to make it 5-3 and then Jennings hit a huge 2-run homer
off Kimbrel in the 7th to tie it. Salas pitched the final 3 2/3
innings for OC giving up no hits tpo get the win. The Assholes won the
game when ND's Heath Bell walked in the go-ahead run in the top of the
12th.
Game 7: In a stunning improvement over game 1, ND tired out Fister in
the very first inning, scoring 6 runs, including a 3-run blast by
Pujols (after Jed had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first). OC
gamely kept the score close, but ND's game 2 gambit paid off a little
bit as Adams pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to nail it down.
Ellsbury was 10-30 (.333), with 4 homers and 8 rbi
(2/26)
In the first game, Kemp rediscovered his power swing, walloping 3 home
runs to lead Future Wax to an 11-5 victory. Kemp struck again in
the second game, with his early 2-run shot propelling FW to a 3-2 win,
with Cozart's bid for a walk-off win in the other direction falling
just short.
Jeff struck back in game 3, pounding Hamels for 5
runs in the 2nd inning, with 2-run blasts from Lawrie and Gordon.
Vazquez threw a 5-hit shut out for a 9-0 win. In the final game,
trailing 3-1, FW loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th. Bard came in
and retired Upton and Freeze (+6 in clutch) and all three batters in
the 9th, for a series split.
Send your final stats to Tom...Draft Day, Saturday, March 30.
(2/24)
In a series that determined only whether Robin might end up in
the Bryce Harper lottery, Bay City lost 3 of 4 to at least temporarily
qualify, subject to the Jeff v. Harold makeup series. To a skeptical
league, Robin really did try, but her anemic offense was shut down by a
North Dakota bullpen that had quite a few innings left, as she scored
just 4 runs total in 3 of the games. Star of the series was
Ellsbury (7 for 18) .389, 5 runs, 4 rbis, 2 homers, 2 triples, 2 sb,
2BB.
Because of Arnie & Robin's planned 12-day
vacation beginning Friday (Spring Training scouting + ski trip), Arnie
and Jed scheduled their likely first round series for Wednesday night.
However, if Randy gets swept on Monday, he will finish 4th (due
to losing 6 of 8 vs Jed) and the Wednesday night series is cancelled.
If Randy wins one or two games Monday night, he finishes
in 3rd place. If he wins 3 of 4 from Jeff, then he and Eric will
have a coin flip for 2nd place (they spilt their season series).
Randy can take 2nd place outright if he sweeps Jeff.
Draft Day, Saturday, March 30.
(2/17)
North Dakota clinched its second consecutive 1st place finish while
knocking "What Eric Said" out of playoff contention on a
cold winter's night in Holliston. ND hit 3 consecutive homers
(Napoli, Ortiz, Pujols) to lead off the 3rd inning of the first game,
and Haren, Melancon and Kimbrel held WES down to win 4-1. Game 2
was the best game and the only game Jeff won. It was 2-2 after 9
innings. Parmalee's 11th inning pinch-hit bases loaded double off
ND's only non-tired pitcher, Heath Bell, gave WES a 4-2 lead. But in
the bottom of the 11th, ND pinch-hit three hitters of its own, and tied
it on Ellsbury's 2-out hit. Jeff's CarGo hit a 12 inning HR off a
tired Melancon to win the game 5-4.
Game 3 was a 15-3
rout as Norh Dakota lit up Garza, who took it for the team. Jeff
was winning game 4, 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 8th, looking for
the satisfying split. But Betemit singled, then Fox (ph for
Pedroia) doubled and Wieters (ph for Ellsbury agianst Chapmnan) doubled
in two runs. With a 4e88 at 2b and a 4e3 in CF in the 9th, Adams
picked up his 6th save for the 2-1 win.
Meanwhile, with just a
week to go in the season, the playoff teams are all set, as Bay City's
split against Randy officially eliminated her from playoff contention
(despite S. Perez and Granderson both tripling in one inning).
The only things remaining for the final week to decide are 2nd
place and who will be in the Bryce Harper sweepstakes.
Draft Day Saturday, March 30.
(2/13) Randy crept back to within one game of 2nd place Tuesday night, winning 3 of 4 from cellar dwelling New Orleans. In
the first game, Harold took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th on a strong
pitching performance by Carpenter. But the bullpen faltered, surrendering
two run homers to Upton and Braun, resulting in a 6-4 FW victory. Future
Wax took the second game 11-8, with the turning point being a 3rd inning error
by SS Carroll leading to 4 unearned runs for FW. FW took the 3rd game
5-3, with Braun and J.D. Martinez trading HR, but four FW doubles proving the
difference. But Harold avoid a sweep with 4 pitchers combining for a
5-hit shut out and a 2-0 victory....Draft Day, Saturday March 30.
(2/10) Oceanus
became the first team to finish up its regular season today (thanks to
a quirk of cancellations and reschedulings). Jed took the first
three games of the series against Future Wax and it took a
walk-off Berkman 3-run homer in the bottom of the 11th in the finale
for Future
Wax to salvage a victory.
And yet...there were 3 extra inning games and the other was only 4-1...so every
game was close. It could've been a sweep for Future Wax. There was
a lot of extreme luck on both sides but ultimately it was Future Wax on the
wrong end of the karma when it really counted. For example, there were 3
instances of home run robbing, all of which went against Future Wax.
Oceanus robbed Future Wax of two homers and got a homer over the outstretched
glove of Kemp, a 1 in CF.
It doesn't seem like there were incredible standout offensive
performances. For Oceanus, Beltre went 7-18 with 3 doubles and a home
run. Bautista went 7 for 20 with a home run. Hanrahan and Mujica
were outstanding in relief, pitching 10 2/3 scoreless innings. For Future Wax, Stanton
was 5-16 with a double and a home run. Reyes went 7 for 17.
Draft Day, Saturday, March 30.
(2/6) Lots of preliminary computer problems but ultimately we finished in about an
hour an
a half (?).
In the first game, Oceanus jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth
inning partly
thanks to a Carlos Pena home run. The Assholes tacked on a
run in the
7th. The Manatees were able to spoil Doug Fister's shutout in
the bottom
of the 9th but Fister still got the complete game victory
5-1. Jordan
Zimmerman took the loss.
In Game 2, it was Constantinople
breaking open
a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth with 4 runs. A-Rod hit
two in the
game and Russell Martin hit another. Oceanus scored single
runs in the
5th and 6th but that was it and the Manatees came away with a 5-3
victory. CC Sabathia got the win and Ryan Vogelsong (8
innings of solid relief
in the first two games) earned a save. James Shields took the
loss,
allowing all 5 runs.
Given the rhythm of the series, it was Oceanus' turn for a win in Game
3.
However, Constantinople
jumped out to a 2-0
lead that held through 3 innings. Oceanus scored 3 runs in
the fourth
though and 4 more runs in the next three innings. The
Manatees could
muster only 2 additional runs after the first inning, hence the final
score of
7-4. Holliday had a homer for Oceanus. Corey Hart
had 2 homers for Constantinople
and Youkilis had another. Salas got
the win and Cain the loss.
It was somewhat surprising that there had been no major offensive
outbursts by
either team. Given that the left field fence stood only 150
feet from
home plate, one would have thought that some higher scores would have
resulted. And heading into game 4, with Josh Beckett on the
mound for
Oceanus, fireworks were expected. Instead, Beckett pitched 4
innings of
scoreless ball. In fact, Oceanus shockingly took a 1-0 lead
into the bottom
of the 9th. However, Josh Willingham in dramatic fashion
turned it around
for Constantinople
with a walk-off 2-run homer
to earn the series split. Hudson
got the complete game victory and Salas the loss.
(2/3) In the battle for 4th place, Jed took 3 of 4 games from
Robin outscoring Bay City 32 to 16.The
official
summaries don't really capture the several 1's and 2's rolled at key
times (as
well as the 19's and 20's):
Doug Fister racked up an
impressive total of 11 strikeouts and center fielder
Desmond Jennings smacked 2 home runs and had 5 RBI as the Oceanus
Assholes
defeated the Bay City Rollers by a score of 14 to 5 at Rehoboth Parking
Lot. In game 2, Pablo Sandoval connected with a 'big fly' and
had 2 RBI as Bay
City outscored the Oceanus Assholes 5 to 2.Roy Halladay got
the win
allowing 2 runs in 8 and 2/3 innings, as he moved to 8-2, while Eric
O'Flaherty
picked up his league leading 6th save.
One run
was the difference at Rehoboth Parking Lot as the Oceanus Assholes
defeated Bay City in game 3, 5 to 4. Sergio
Santos came on to
close the door tight in relief. No one got on base in his
perfect 2 and
2/3 innings and whiffed an impressive total of 6 Bay City
batters. In the
finale, Josh Beckett came through with a solid 5 innings and Carlos
Pena
cracked a homer and had 2 RBI at Rehoboth Parking Lot as the Oceanus
Assholes pounded
Bay
City 11 to
2. Oceanus set the tone of the game in the first inning when
they scored
6 runs on 4 hits.
Down in Plymouth, Eric took
over sole possession of 2nd place, winning 3 of 4 from pesky New Orleans,
all close shaves. The Cheese men won games one (4-3 in 10), three (2-1)
and
four (3-2) and Nawlins took game two, 3-1. The Cheddarmen hit no
homeruns, and has hit just 1 in the last 8 games; New Orleans
hit 3 for the
series. Star of the series goes to Verlander,
who went the full 10 innings in game one,
surrendering 5 hits, 3 walks, whiffing 6, and upping his record to
9-2.
Draft
Day Saturday, March 30
(1/30) Eric continued his hot ways Tuseday night,
winning 3
of 4 from Randy. He has now won 10 of his last 12 and 15 of 20 games in
2013. "Another tight series. First three games were won by Cheddarmen
1-0, 2-1
and 4-2. Randy avoided the sweep, taking game 4 10-2, thus outscoring
Eric in
the series 13-9. Randy missed 6 bp homers. In a hitters park, he
probably would
have swept. Eric didn't mind giving up the 10 in the last game because
4 were
unearned, courtesy of errors by Yadier Molina and Ryan
Zimmerman...Draft Day Saturday, March 30, two months from today.
(1/28) Eric won 7 of 8 games Sunday to leap into 3rd place.
Eric writes "Day was
dominated by
pitching. The Cheddarmen gave up 11 runs in 4 games. Have to give
Weaver the
star nod. Went 2-0, going 18 innings, surrendering 9 hits, 1 run,
walking none,
and whiffing 21. Verlander also won 2. It was a tough series for Bay City;
their defense
let them down repeatedly, though Eric was throwing the dice brilliantly
on
x-rolls. and Robin's hitting was non-existent. Tom dashed Eric's hope
of a bash
sweep by taking the 4th game of their series 3-2. Three of the games
vs. Tom
were decided by one run, the other by two. Very tight."
Don't
look now, but only 3 games separate 4th place through 8th place.
Which means all 5 teams are simultaneously in both
the race
for the final playoff spot and the Bryce Harper sweepstakes....Draft
Day Saturday March 30.
(1/24) Future Wax stopped ND's record winning streak at 13 games,
smashing 3 homers off Dan Haren in the first inning of game 1 (Kemp,
Berkman, Stanton), and they cruised home to win 8-3. ND
returned
the favor in game 2, with Mike Morse (2 HR, 5 RBI) leading the way to
the 9-4 win. ND's Cliff Lee carried a no-hitter into the 7th
inning of game 3, and mutant injury callup Jake Fox hit 2 HR's as ND
won easily 6-1. The finale was the only close game.
Upton
robbed Jimmy Rollins of a 3-run homer in the 2nd and Ellsbury followed
with his own miss of a 1-14 3-run ballpark homer. Pineda,
Venters, and Axford scattered 5-hits as FW earned the split, 3-2.
Future Wax's Matt Kemp hit 4 more homers to give him 20 through 36
games as he chases Barry Bonds's record of 32....Draft Day, Saturday
March 30.
(1/21) North Dakota's 3rd sweep in a row extended its winning
streak to 13, and 15 of its last 16. Haren (6-2) pitched a 5-hit
shutout in game 1 (6-0). ND outslugged FU 12-7 in the 2nd
game,
hitting 7 home runs in the game, 3 by limited Allen Craig, who was
pinch-hit for before his 4th at bat. Oceanus's best chance to
win
was in game 3 when they scored in the top of the 9th to lead 8-7. But
in the bottom in the 9th with one out Rollins singled, stole second,
then PH Betemit tripled to tie the game off Salas. Pujols
singled
in Betemit for the win. ND's Ian Kennedy (5-3) pitched 8
innings,
yielding only 2 hits in the finale, 4-1. ND outhomered FU
13-4 in
Gackle Park.
The
second half schedule has changed for all teams but Future Wax and North
Dakota. This was necessitated by Tom's swapping in for Harold
at
this Sunday's bash. All affected managers were sent the
revised
schedule, which will be up on the website later.
"E-mail gate"
appears to be over for now; Jeff apparently had the Commissioner's
e-mails set to 'spam', and has since 'unspammed' him. The
league
is investigating.
Draft Day Saturday, March 30.
(1/13) North Dakota leap-frogged back into first place,
sweeping
an accommodating New Orleans Sunday afternoon. David Ortiz
was on
fire during the series (not literally), going 10 for 20, with one HR
and 10 RBI. North Dakots outhomered NO 9-5 at NO's home run
park
(1-18), scoring 33 runs in the series...In odd SOMBILLA news, Jeff has
apparently not received a single league e-mail from Arnie since
Christmas. In fact, he is likely not receiving this
missive. Someone please forward this to him. Always
thinking the worst, the Commissioner assumed Jeff was just ignoring him
to be annoying. Both parties are investigating...Draft Day
Saturday, March 30.
(1/6) Eric and Jed knocked out all 8 games of theirs on the computer
today - the 4 originally scheduled for 12/21, and the 4 scheduled for
today anyway. Eric won 5 of the 8 games, knocking Jed back
into
4th place. Eric texts "a low-scoring yet surprisingly slow-paced
series. Several crashes. Arnie and Robin were the perfect
hosts". Another first for the SOMBILLA as these are the first
texted Twits Notes...In one of Robin's games against Tom, she had a
clutch hit followed by a clutch out...Don't forget that all teams
received a day off at midnight, New Year's Eve...Next week's games have
been moved back to 7:30 to accommodate the Pats 4:30 playoff game...Due
to Easter Sunday's falling on March 31, SOMBILLA Draft Day will be
Saturday, March 30.
(12/19) Led by the red hot Matt Kemp, Future Wax swamped the Manatees
for their second consecutive series sweep to leap-frog back into first
place. Five of Kemp's 10 hits were home runs, as he drove in 10 of the
Wax's 24 runs. The game scores were 8-3, 8-6, 4-2,, and 4-0. While the
games were all close, Future Wax scored first in every game and stayed
ahead of the Manatees the entire series. Tom's best chance was in the
second game when Corey Hart hit 3 home runs, but all of them, and two
others hit by Hunter and Kinsler were solo shots. At the midpoint of
the season, Kemp has 15 home runs (Bonds' record is 32).
(12/16) North Dakota took over first place, coming from behind in all
four games to sweep Eric on Sunday afternoon in Plymouth. In
game
1, Verlander carried a 2-0 no-hitter into the 6th inning, but Napoli's
2-run shot tied it. ND hit two more homers in the 7th
(Rollins
and Ellsbury) to take a 5-3 lead. It was 7-4 going into the
9th,
when Konerko's 2-run pinch-hit homer off Adams made it an interesting
7-6 game, but Admas struck out injury replacement Izturis to end the
game with the tying run on.
In game 2, ND's five runs in the 3rd inning tired out Weaver and it was
11-2 after 5 innings, final score 11-6 as Pujols, Morse, Napoli, and
Rollins all homered for ND. In game 3, a 7-run 4th
inning for ND
overcame a 3-0 Cheddarmen lead as ND had unbelievable karma in
game 3,
rolling 1's and 2's seemingly at will. It appeared Eric would
avoid the sweep in the finale, as he carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom
of the 8th. But Rollins doubled and Pedroia drove him in to
tie
it. 2 outs later, Big Papi smacked a 2-run homer of Downs to
make
it 4-2 ND. Kimbrel closed it down for his first save and ND
had
the sweep. Despite the frustrating series, Eric was a very
gracious host.
The draft second half schedule will be out by Tuesday.
(12/14) Future Wax took full advantage of New Orleans' hitter-friendly
ballpark, outscoring Harold 49-22 (11-3 in HR) to sweep into first
place. In game one, Kershaw threw a complete game shut out for a 5-0
victory. In the second game, Randy took a 6-2 lead into a 7th, only to
have Harold score 11 runs in the last three innings -- but Future Wax
countered with 9 runs of their own, capped with an Ike Davis pinch-hit
grand slam, for a wild 15-13 win. Hamels threw a 5-hit shut out in the
third game, a 19-0 blow out. In the final game, Harold overcame a 6-1
deficit, to take a 9-6 lead on homers by Wright and Helton. But again,
Future Wax countered with a 4-run 8th capped by Berkman's 3rd home run
of the series. Axford then pitched two scoreless innings to save a 10-9
victory, and secure a series sweep. FW has now won 7 of its
last
8.
The 2nd half schedule will be done over the weekend; schedule surveys
from Robin, Jeff, Harold and Randy have not been received, so their
responses from the first half will be used.
(12/11) North Dakota moved into a 3-way tie for 2nd with Robin and Jed
by beating "What Eric Said" 3 games to 1 tonight. ND won the
first two games 5-4 and 5-2, while "What Eric Said" took game three
8-3. North Dakota won the finale convincingly 20-0, Ian
Kennedy
with the 6-hitter. This may be the single biggest shutout
wipeout
in league history, although determining if it is could be tedious (but
what the heck, I'm an empty nester). For the series, ND was
led
by Ellsbury (9 for 20, .450), 2 HR, 8 RBI; Napoli (7 for 19) .368, 1
HR, 5 RBI; Pujols 2 HR, 7 RBI; and Jimmy Rollins who went 11 for 16
(.588), 2 HR, 5 RBI.
All teams are at the roster freeze, except the Manatees.
Please
complete your schedule surveys and send your stats to Tom if you have
not done so.
(12/9) Harold jumped into first place by percentage points based on
Sunday
night's action, as 1 game now separates the top 6 teams...The first two
games both went into extra innings. In game 1, Jed tied it in
the
top of the 9th, 7-7, and won it in the 10th on Nick Hundley's
bases-loaded single. Jeff came back to win game two in 11
innings
on Andrus's error. David Price scattered 7 hits over 8 2/3 innings to
help Jed win game 3, 5-2. Ocaenus won the finale 10-2, led by
Red
Sox Shane Victorino's 2 HR and 5 RBI...A couple of towns over, Lance
Berkman hit for the cycle in game 1 to help Randy knock Robin out of
first place...All teams except Tom are now at the trading
deadline...Send your stats to Tom.
(12/5) The classic unsatisfying split. Here are the slightly edited
computer generated summaries. Both teams came away with mediocre
statistics. Tom did hit the first ballpark homer in my park. We
finished in about 1 hour 45 minutes, in spite of several freezes
necessitating restarts. Thank goodness for the Save Game feature.
In game 1, the Oceanus Assholes got by the Constantinople Manatees at
Rehoboth Parking Lot. The final score was 6 to 4. Doug Fister pitched
well enough to earn the win. He went 6 and 2/3 innings and surrendered
up 9 hits and 2 walks. Oceanus managed 11 hits in their victory. Joel
Hanrahan earned the save. Jordan Zimmermann was tagged with the loss.
He got hit pretty hard, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings.
In game 2, Matt Cain allowed just 3 hits and Ryan Howard touched them
all as the Manatees defeated the Assholes by a score of 5 to 1.
Constantinople brought 2 runs across the plate in the top of the 4th
inning. The highlight belonged to Corey Hart who helped quiet the crowd
when he popped a two-run clout over the fence. Constantinople managed 7
hits in their victory. The victory went to Cain who went the distance
allowing 1 run. James Shields ended up with the loss. He served up 3
gopher balls in 9 innings.
In game 3, the Assholes readily handled the Manatees by a score of 8 to
4. Constantinople never recovered after Oceanus took the lead in the
2nd inning with 2 runs on 3 hits. After an out was recorded, Joe Mauer
got things rolling when he slapped a one-base hit. Emilio Bonifacio
stepped into the batter's box and he laced a base-knock. Bonifacio took
second on a stolen base. Howie Kendrick was a strikeout victim, unable
to help out. J.J. Hardy came up to bat and laced a single. Alejandro De
Aza extended the rally and reached on an error. For the game Oceanus
out-hit Constantinople 12 to 9. The victory went to Edward Mujica who
went 2 innings, allowing no runs. The loss was charged to Tim Hudson.
He was hit hard and gave up 11 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings.
The series finale turned out to be the most exciting game of the
series, a seesaw battle where the Manatees edged the Assholes in 10
innings by the score of 4 to 3. The game was deadlocked at 3 after nine
full innings. Finally, Constantinople prevailed in the 10th inning.
After two were out Corey Hart hit a bases-empty home run. Yunel Escobar
came next and he doubled. Constantinople had 10 hits for the afternoon
while Oceanus had 7. The win was credited to Matt Thornton who went 2/3
of an inning allowing no runs. Greg Holland recorded the save. Jeremy
Affeldt suffered the loss in relief. He pitched 1 and 2/3 innings and
surrendered 2 hits and no walks.
Oceanus is now at the trade deadline. Send your stats to Tom.
(12/2) Jed (3-1) and Harold (5-3) were Sunday's winners in this parity
year; the standings show only two teams over .500 now. Stat
of
the day: In the 8 games played at Jed's extreme ballpark,
Rebohoth Parking Lot, there have been 7 one-run games and 1 two-run
gams. I love how the computer summarizes game 1: "The Oceanus
Assholes won by the slimmest of margins, 5 to 4." Actually,
ND
had a 4-0 lead, but Jed came from behind (Beltre big 2-rbi hit). Jed
came from behind again in game two, tying it in the bottom of the 9th.
"Both teams were tied at 4 runs apiece after nine innings.
Oceanus ended up winning it in the 10th inning. Alejandro De
Aza
drew a walk. Joey Votto stepped into the batter's box and he
drew
a walk. Two outs later Howie Kendrick came up and he was hit
by a
pitch. Joe Mauer was up next and he stroked a base-hit making
Oceanus the victors to the delight of the home town faithful.
This was a game of many highs and lows for the home town fans, as the
lead kept changing - 5 times in all."
Jed won game 3, 3-2,
Salas
getting his second save of the series. ND won the finale 4-2 to avoid
the sweep.
Robin, Harold, Eric,
Jeff, and
Arnie are now all at the roster freeze. Send your stats to
Tom.
(11/28) "What Eric Said"'s Javier Vazquez pitched the fourth no-hitter
in league history, and first no-hitter in almost 9 years earlier
tonight. He fell one hit batsman short of a perfect game;
Carlos
Gonzales made a spectaculr play to rob a HR on Constantinople's 2nd
batter of the game.
North Dakota took over 3rd place in a slugfest series featuring 23 home
runs (FW 12, ND 11). The pivotal game was game 2.
Berkman's
solo shot in the 7th off Kimbrel broke a 3-3 tie and FW took a 4-3 lead
into the 9th. Ortiz singled to lead off the 9th for ND, but
pinch-runner H. Ramirez was thrown out stealing. With 2-out
and
none on, Pedroia doubled, then Craig singled him to 3rd.
Cishek
came in for Axford from the FW pen and ND's Betemit, pinch-hitting for
Rollins, smacked a 2-run double to give ND the 5-4 lead. In
the
bottom of the 9th, Braun led off for FW, singled and stole
2nd,
He moved to third on a flyout, and ND brought the infield in.
Berkman hit a gb P(x) that ended up with Bruan getting a 1-14 chance to
score to tie the game (on a "decide"). Randy rolled a 14. so
it
became a blocking of the plate play. Wieters, in for Napoli
as a
defensieve replacement, is a "1", so the 1-14 is now a 1-2.
Randy
rolls a 6, game over. For the series, ND's Big Papi hit 4
home
runs.
(11/28) Bay City swept into first place in convincing fashion
earlier tonight over the computer, outscoring Oceanus 23-9 over the 4
games. Robin won the first game 6-1, Ogando pitching a 3-hitter over 7
innings, backed by homers by the Cabrera brothers. BC jumped
out
to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game 2 thanks to M. Cab's
bases-clearing double. Jed clawed back to get to 4-3, but
League
and "O'Flaherty?!" closed the door. Lillibridge's grand slam
backed Halladay (who had a nohitter into the 6th) for Robin in game
3. Late in the game, it was discovered that Robin was
actually
playing in the wrong park (for righties), conjuring up memories of a
few years ago when Robin actually played in Jed's park's dimensions for
a number of home games. After it was determined that
Lillibridge's grand slam was an unaffected straight home run, the
managers invoked the 'fuck-it' rule, and BC held on to win 5-3, Jansen
with the save. Finally playing in the correct park for game
4, BC
won easily 8-2, CJ Wilson with the CG 5-hitter. Hitting star
of
the series for Bay City was Astrubel Cabrera, .364 (4 for 11), 2
homers, 7 rbi.
(11/19) Game
1 was over
early, as a first inning grand slam by Justin Upton was all Randy
needed. Kershaw gave up just 6 hits and 1 run for a complete game win,
9-1 final. In the second game, Randy jumped to an early 1-0 lead, but
Jeff manufactured a run in the 5th on an Andrus single, stolen base,
moved over, Phillips single, to tie. Jeff pulled ahead in the
9th
with 2 two-out singles, with Bard (7th pitcher) earning a
save. A
rainout roll saved Jeff's bullpen. The game 3 starters (Hamels, Garza)
were lousy, and it was 5-4 Jeff after 4 innings. Jeff's pen held up
again, as 6 relievers navigated through four
runners-in-scoring-position situations in the last five innings.
Gordon's 3 RBI held up for the 5-4 win. The final game was
all
Matt Kemp, who hit three homers, driving in all Wax runs for a 7-3
win. SPLIT.
P.S. Of course, the
mistake/reroll thing we've been talking about all week happened TWICE
over the course of the series, once in a minor way and once in a way
that required replaying an inning and a half. Both managers dealt with
it practically and it was quickly resolved.
Happy Thanksgiving from the SOMBILLA turkey himself!...Use this break
in the action to send your stats to Tom.
(11/13) Ben Zobrist (6 for 16, 3 HR, 6 RBI) led scrappy New
Orleans to a series win at North Dakota Tuesday night. The
Napoli-less New Orleans Ellis outhomered the Napoli-enlarged
Gacklonians 8 to 6. The series was summarized by Hosmer's
ballpark homer in the finale, when Harold rolled a "1" on a 1-3
Ellsbury potential HR-robbing catch...Send your stats to Tom.
(11/11)
Eric took 3 of 4 from Harold. 12-8, 17-2, 7-6 for CM in games 1, 3 and
4. 7-3 for Harold in game 2. Some oddities: there were 7 triples hit in
the series. Harold hit 4, Eric 3. of the 7, one each was hit by Konerko
and Fielder for Eric, and Helton and Napoli for Harold, four of the
slowest runners in the league. Incredibly, Harold hit just one homer
for the series. On an x roll against Harold's Adam Jones with 2 on and
no out, Eric rolled a 1 on the thing and an 18 for the error, resulting
in a double for Nyjer Morgan and 3 base error on Jones, clearing the
bases. Harold took a picture of the roll with his phone.
Oceanus
defeated Future
Wax three games to one in a series in which all of the games were
decided by one run. In the last game, pinch hitter Derrek Lee
hit
a walk off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
As
I'd exhausted my bench, there was some concern about whether or not the
move was legal, i.e. could I field a team. In fact, I did
have
players who could fill all the positions (albeit with the DH having to
take the field).
The first game went
into extra
innings after the Assholes could not hold onto a 1-0 lead in the top of
the 9th. But in the bottom of the 10th, tough luck losing
pitcher
Clayton Kershaw (9 2/3 innings pitched) gave up a double to Joey Votto
that scored Brett Gardner. Doug Fister pitched 7 2/3 innings
of
shutout ball but it was Fernando Salas who was in at the end for the
victory. Matt Holliday had 2 hits, including a home run.
In the second game
the Assholes
scored in the first inning but fell behind 3-1 by the fourth.
In
the 5th, the Assholes made it 3-2 but in the 8th Future Wax got the
insurance run. Oceanus did score in the bottom of the 9th but
Jonny Venters came in for the last out and a save. Brendan
McCarthy got the win with 5 solid innings. James Shields was
tagged with the loss, giving up all 4 runs in 7 2/3 innings.
Ryan
Braun had the game's only home run.
Future Wax drew
first blood in
game 3, scoring a run in the top of the 2nd. But Oceanus made
it
3-1 by the end of the 3rd. And while Future Wax did score a
run
in the top of the 9th, the final was 3-2 for the Assholes.
Cole
Hamels allowed all 3 runs and got the loss. David Price
pitched 7
innings of 1-run ball for the victory. Adrian Beltre was the
hitting star with 3 hits, including 2 doubles.
In the pivotal game
4, it seemed
that Future Wax was primed for a victory. It was 1 to 1
through 5
innings but in the 6th Future Wax grabbed a 2-1 lead. As
stated
above, in the bottom of the 9th, Oceanus was down to it's last out and
last pinch hitter. Derrek Lee came through in dramatic
fashion,
giving the Assholes the series win. Salas was again the
winner,
Steve Cishek took the loss.
In the cavernous
Rehoboth Parking
Lot field, where the fences are 800 feet from home plate, and the tall
grass and infield sand can slow down the hardest hit grounders, there
were no ballpark homers and only one ballpark single, which was of no
consequence anyway. The Future Wax team ERA was 2.55 and for
Oceanus it was 2.19. The hitting star overall for Future Wax
was
Ryan Braun at .357 with 2 doubles and a homer. For Oceanus it
was
Adrian Beltre at .364 with 3 doubles.
(11/4) The new season began with two new team names - Oceanus (Jed) and
"What
Eric Said" (Jeff). But the story of the night was a major
controversy when the newly xeroxed, taped, stapled fielding charts
delivered to each team, received with great gratitude, were discovered
to be <gasp> different from other sets of charts produced
by a
few people. Start-o obviously changed the fielding charts, but
when? And which version were the new ones? These
questions
and more will be determined during the week, as an embarrassed league
tries to deflect attention. "Hey how abotu that election?",
the
league responded when asked about the fielding chart discrepancy.
On the table, Sergio Romo (2 saves), Haren (8 1/3 inns, 0 runs, 5 hits)
and Jacoby Ellsbury (. 421, 2 HR, 4 RBI) led ND to a series win a share
of first place with Future Wax (which was apparently the beneficiary of
a multitude of split rolls).
Ballparks:
L
R Fences
Constantinople
S 1-13
S 1-19
High
HR 1-10 HR 1-19
North
Dakota S
1-5 S
1-8 Low
HR 1-14 HR 1-18
Bay
City
S
1-5 S 1-7
High
HR 1-14 HR 1-11
The
Cheddarmen S 1-9
S
1-5 Low in L, High in R
HR 1-5 HR 1-2
New
Orleans S 1-19
S
1-19 High
HR 1-18 HR 1-18
Future
Wax S 1-14
S
1-17 Low
HR 1-11 HR 1-17
"What Eric Said" S
1-9
S
1-9 Low
HR 1-10 HR 1-10
Oceanus
S
1 S 1
High
HR 1 HR 1
Schedule