THE SOMBILLA’S FIRST SUMMER NEWSLETTER IN THE POST RED SOX CHAMPIONSHIP ERA

Summer Of Mundane But Interesting Laughably Low-brow Articles

(SOMBILLA)

VOL. XXXIII No. 3

July 22, 2023

Home/Away records
Playoffs: Bay City vs Neverwinter
Playoffs: North Dakota vs Constantinople

World Series (March 12, 2023 at Holliston)

Minutes of Annual Meeting

Summer study #1 - Salaries in the SOMBILLA

Summer study #2 - Waiver draft study

Summer study #3 - Who (does the computer think) are the best players this year?

Summer study #4 - 2019 draft: a retrospective

Summer study #5 - Old Twits Notes

All-star count

New SOMBILLA records set this year:

Most saves: Gallegos, Neverwinter 22. Previous record, Beck, ND '96-97, Treinan, NO '19-20 19

The Road Advantage:

HOME                     AWAY

Arnie       19-9    .679    Robin     18-10    .643
Robin     16-12   .571     Sam       18-10    .643
Sam       14-14   .500     Arnie     16-12    .571
Tom       13-15   .464 Tom       15-13    .536
Harold    13-15   .464   Harold    13-15    .464
Eric        13-15   .464    Randy     13-15    .464
Jed         11-17   .393    Eric        11-17    .393
Randy     10-18   .357   Jed     11-17    .393

Totals   109-115 .487           115-109    .513

-----------------

Playoffs

Playoffs:

Bay City vs. Neverwinter (March 4, 2023 Internet)

Background: Both teams get off to excellent starts with 8-4 Novembers, including Sam’s sweep of Eric and Robin’s sweep of Randy. They continue their parallel tracks with 13-3 Decembers (and they both sweep Jed) and are tied at 21-7 at the halfway point, holding a 5-game lead over 3^rd place ND. But they both stumble a bit in January (Sam 3-5, Robin 4-8). They are tied for 2^nd place heading into the last day of the season, when Robin wins 3 of 4 from Sam to clinch 2^nd place and home field advantage for their playoff series.

Bay City won 5 of 8 games from Neverwinter during the regular season.

Neverwinter 2 Bay City 1
Neverwinter 5 Bay City 3
Bay City 3 Neverwinter 1
Bay City 9 Neverwinter 0
Bay City 18 Neverwinter 1
Neverwinter 7 Bay City 5
Bay City 7 Neverwinter 4

Bay City wins series 4 games to 3

This series featured a road advantage for all but Game 7; annotated computer write-ups follow:

In Game 1, the Neverwinter Alpacas topped the Bay City Rollers by the slimmest of margins, 2 to 1; Corbin Burnes got the hard-luck no-decision. Charlie Morton (1-0) pitched a fine game. He went 6 innings allowing 4 hits and 4 walks. Morton racked up 7 strikeouts. Bay City had a chance to come back in the 9^th, but they came up short, going 0 for 9 with RISP and stranding 10. Giovanny Gallegos preserved the game for Morton, recording his 1st save. Jose Alvarez (0-1) was the loser in relief. He gave up 1 run and 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning.

In a two-run game, the Neverwinter Alpacas beat the Bay City Rollers by the score of 5 to 3. Max Fried (1-0) had a steady outing. He was reached for 8 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings. Bay City out-hit Neverwinter 10 to 6, but again left 10 on base. Giovanny Gallegos gained credit for his 2nd save. Gerrit Cole (0-1) was the losing pitcher, whiffing 9 batters in 6 innings but allowing 2 homers. “I was a little good, a little bad and a little ugly,” said Fried, “I was just giving us a chance to win.” [Editor’s note: Fried was not a little ugly—he was the cutest pitcher in the series.]

In a game for the baseball purist, Lance McCullers (1-0 and the second-cutest pitcher in the series) and Lucas Giolito (0-1) squared off in a tense pitching duel, in which the Bay City Rollers emerged victorious over Neverwinter, 3 to 1. BC had only 3 hits (one more than NW had) but made them count—with Vlad’s third homer in three games and Correa’s first. Ryan Tepera relieved and was untouched by Neverwinter as he recorded his first save.

The Neverwinter Alpacas pitching coach might be looking for a new job soon (Foreshadowing: This seems especially prophetic in light of Game 5). His team allowed 9 runs while Blake Snell (1-0), with relief help from Frankie Montas, shut out Neverwinter in a laugher. Jesse Winker had a big evening at the plate. He delivered a solo blast in the 2nd inning, doubled with all three baserunners touching home in the 5^th, and doubled resulting in a run in the 9th inning. Bay City out-hit Neverwinter 16 to 5. Anthony Desclafani (0-1) suffered the loss. He gave up 16 hits and 1 walk in 9 innings (but saved the bullpen). NW had 3 stolen bases against the +9 (and exceedingly unattractive) Snell, but Sal Perez also threw out 3 runners attempting to steal.

Second baseman Ryan McMahon rocketed 2 grand slams (in consecutive innings) and Corbin Burnes delivered 5 solid innings as the Bay City Rollers crushed the Neverwinter Alpacas 18 to 1. Bay City out-hit Neverwinter, 17 to 3. The win went to Burnes (1-0), who allowed 1 run in 5 innings. Frankie Montas was credited with his 1st save (only because he pitched 4 innings—the game was never in doubt). Charlie Morton (1-1) took the loss. He was touched for 3 homeruns in his 6 and 1/3 innings of work (but only 14 of the 17 runs he allowed were earned, as Sam’s defense continued to let him down).

In a close game, it was the Neverwinter Alpacas 7, the Bay City Rollers 5 as the series returned to Bay City, which, despite having the Detroit park’s dimensions, appeared on screen as Fenway. (This diversion worked for the Alpacas, as Game 6 was the third road victory for NW.) Bay City never recovered after Neverwinter took the lead in the top of the 7^th inning. Giovanny Gallegos was perfect in the ninth, giving him his 3rd save. Andrew Kittredge (1-0) went 1 inning, allowing no runs for the win. Gerrit Cole (0-2) was charged with the loss. He allowed a few too many baserunners (but, shockingly, no homers), giving up 11 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings.

In Game 7, Salvador Perez smacked 2 homeruns as the Bay City Rollers topped the Neverwinter Alpacas by a score of 7 to 4. Perez belted a three-run homer in the 3^rd and a grand slam in the 4^th, accounting for all the BC RBIs. Lance McCullers (2-0) picked up the victory, allowing 3 runs in 5 and 2/3 innings, after which his arm fell off [No truth to the rumor that it was severed by an errant champagne bottle thrown from the dugout by an early-celebrating teammate.] McCullers got relief help from Ryan Tepera, who gained credit for his 2nd save. Lucas Giolito (0-2) took the loss. He allowed Bay City 7 runs in 4 innings of work.

The surprise star of the series for Bay City was Ryan McMahon, who batted .444, had 2 doubles, 3 homers (2 grand slams), 4 walks, and 10 RBIs (and no errors at 2B/3B). Honorable mention to reigning MVP Sal Perez (2 HR, 9 RBIs) and Vlad Guerrero (4 HR, but only 6 RBIs). Sam’s bullpen (except for Iglesias) did not allow an earned run, but his pitching staff still racked up a 6.10 ERA (compared to BC’s tidy 2.71). BC outhomered the Alpacas 14-5 and out hit them .279 to .183.

Playoffs

North Dakota vs. Constantinople (Holliston March 4, 2023)

Background: Pre-season favorites North Dakota (picked 2^nd) start off hot at 11-5 (including a sweep of Eric) and are a game behind Sam as of December 1. They stumble a bit in December (5-7) but at 16-12 are still in third place. But after a 9-3 January (including a sweep of Bay City!), they’re tied with BC just a game behind Sam in a clear three-way race. A solid 12-8 finish snags North Dakota the President’s Trophy, now proudly displayed in the freezer.

Constantinople (chosen 3^rd in the pre-season poll) begins their campaign with a 6-6 November, followed by a disastrous 5-11 December and at the break are 11-17, 3 games behind Harold for 4^th place. After a 2-6 January, CN finds themselves at 13-23 looking up at the rest of the league and thinking about the draft. But then Tom and his family get Covid, and when he recovers, he has gained Strat-O superpowers.

He beats Harold 3 of 4, and then on 2/18, goes 7-1 in makeup games against BC and ND at Eric’s house to storm back into 4^th place. He beats Sam 3 of 4 to close out his season with a 15-5 February and enters the post-season as the hottest team in the league.

Tom pre-Covid 13-23 .361

Tom post-Covid 23-10 .697 (includes post-season)

CN wins 5 of 8 in the regular season against ND.

---

So, Butters (Tom’s new cat) decided 5 AM was a good time to bang on the bedroom door and meow. Then Diana needed to get to her classroom at the 9 AM hour and back home again and then through slush, snow and grayness CN headed to Holliston.

Sirius XM ND fantasy radio was playing for the drive up 495. One blowhard half whispered about a conspiracy of the 3 leading SOMBILLA teams choosing the 4^th playoff team in the hope of getting a first round cupcake. {Arnie dismissed this saying that Tom is a lunatic and his team is the hottest in the SOMBILLA over the last couple of weeks.} Another caller talked about how the Florida-based Manatees could not adjust to the orange baseballs and snow common in the ND playoff environment. The mechanical sweepers were ready.

Coffee in hand, CN arrived a little early and set to play...

CN 4 ND 1
CN 5 ND 0
CN 5 ND 4
ND 4 CN 1
ND 7 CN 4
CN 5 ND 4

CN wins series 4 game to 2 game

Game 1: The battle of the lefties, the dominant starred Ray versus Urias, a 20 game winner in MLB but a SOMBILLA punching bag. Seager and Ohtani had first inning doubles to put CN up 1-0 over Ray as he struck out the side.
Urias was pulled after 3 having stranded 3 when the heart of the order coming up. Rasmussen struck out the side. Sulser gave up homer split to Harrison who is weak versus righties, so he is left stranded at 1^st. Staumont put them down 1-2-3 in the 6^th, but he then walked 2 to start the 7^th and Sadler relieved him and got a quick double play. The pinch-hitting Walsh singled in the tying run. Top of the 8th and CN needs to get something going after a pretty uneventful 2^nd – 7^th. Ruf struck out and then the defense let ND down as Soler (4 in RF) gave up a 2-base error and Smith hit a shot off of Polanco’s glove [Ed note: both former Bay City-ites] and it is 1^st and 3^rd one out and Harper is coming to bat.

deGrom comes out to stop the bleeding and Harper hit a long single and then Seager follows with a 2 run double and when Ohtani works the walk, Arnie pulls him with disgust. Sewald came in and struck out 2 batters to bring the game to a 4-1 deficit with ND having 6 outs to come back.

A quick BPHR out (righty 1-3 Goldy) and then the next 3 batters get on versus Bummer to load the bases and chase him without getting an out. (Controversy occurred when Arnie having had Tucker single decided to go for the lead and failed and then tried to pinch hit for Lowe and Tom as a stickler pointed out he could not pinch hit after going for the lead and Lowe hit a Double 1-4/out chance to set up 2^nd and 3^rd while Soler would have struck out on the pitch. The walk to Soler who now pinch hit is what loaded the bases.)
Knebel comes in and a quick strikeout and failed BPS (1-11) for Crawford and 3 men are stranded in the 8^th.

The 9^th saw Knebel and Manoah hold down ND for a 4-1 CN start of the series. Sadler wins the game and Manoah records the save.

Game 2: Alex Wood (another lefty) versus Gibson. CN went up 2-0 early and in the 4^th chased Wood as the first four men reached base on 2 walks, a single, and then a 2-RBI double for Smith (over-matched but still has a 1 column).

The bullpen quiets CN, but the 5 runs is all they need as 6 pitchers combine in a shutout.

Final Score: 5-0 with Gibson going 5 innings for the win.

Game 3: CN goes home and Ohtani pitches against Lynn in what would prove to be the pivotal game. Smith hit a 2^nd inning homer to get CN up 1-0, but Polanco answers him with a leadoff homer in the 3^rd to tie the game. Trout doubles and Tatis homers to get CN up 3-1 in the 4^th. The same 2 CN hitters K in the 6^th to end that inning, but in the 8^th Trout works a walk and Tatis hits his 2^nd 2-run shot to give CN a 5-2 lead after a Harrison sac fly in the 8th.

Tucker greets Ramirez in the 9^th with a single and Bummer comes in and again has problems, giving up a single to Contreras and a walk to Soler, loading the bases. Then Bummer serves up a Px which he boots, and then a fielder’s choice to Crawford sees 2 runs in (5-4) and Soler and Alberto on 2^nd and 3^rd. Sadler comes in and intentionally walks Polanco to load the bases. He gets a fielder’s choice getting Soler at home and then Harrison pops out to end the game 5-4. [And again, the former BC players disappoint ND].

Ohtani wins game 3 and Sadler records his first save of the series.

Pizza was 1 minute away, and the teams decided to get 1 inning in, and the aroma of warming pizza woke up the slumbering ND bats….

Game 4: Lefty rematch between Ray and Urias. Urias gives up a long foul to Crawford on a x-9 (the x falling off the table) and the re-roll 2-4 clean grand slam and ND goes up 4-0 after 1 inning.

CN scratched out a run in the 2^nd, but Ray was too much for them as Crawford added a solo shot (8^th inning) and Urias took the 5-1 loss going 9 to save CN innings,

Ray wins the game going 8 strong innings and Hendricks closed out the game in the non-save situation.

Game 5: Manoah starts Game 5 versus Wood.

Things started fine as Donaldson hit a 2^nd inning 2 run shot to give CN an early 2-0 lead, but Manoah was knocked out in the 3^rd as ND scored 4 on homers from Lowe and Polanco. Stallings greeted Gibson with a homer and suddenly it is 6-2.

An inning later Tucker hit a sac fly to give ND a 7-2 advantage. CN hit two solo shots by Ruf and Smith to bring it to 7-4.

Nelson comes in with one out in the 8^th and gives up 3 base on balls to be tied and load the bases. deGrom comes in to strike out 2 and then strike out 2 in the 9^th to end the CN threat.

Wood won Game 5 with deGrom getting his first save of the series.

Game 6: Rodon versus Lynn.

Rodon gives up 4 in the second and Crawford (ND MVP) hits a double off of Tatis or Ruf (both 4s and I cannot read if it was a CFx or LFx) to lead off the inning. Alberto doubled and Goldy hit a 3-run homer.

CN left Rodon in as his best starter by the numbers versus ND and CN is able to claw out 4 runs over 4 innings with solo shots from Harper and Ohtani and 2 runs when they loaded the bases with 1 out and Romano walked Votto and Trout hit a sacrifice fly.

So both teams held serve through 9 and the game is knotted at 4-4.

Tatis is the ghost runner in CN’s top of the 10^th and Votto hits a leadoff double driving in Tatis versus Hendricks and then Trout and Smith hit ballpark home run chances (1-3) as outs and then Hendricks struck out Segura to end the CN part of the 10^th with CN up 5-4.

Harrsion is the ghost runner and Bummer starts the 10^th walking Betts. Tucker is struck out and Lowe makes an out getting runners to 2^nd and 3^rd with 2 outs. Stalling walks and it is bases loaded and Gallo “Mister True Outcomes” steps in. He strikes out and CN goes home winnings the series 4-2.

Ramirez wins Game 6 and Bummer gets the save.

Gallo struck out 14 times in the series including one game with 5 Ks in 5 ABs.

World Series (March 12, 2023 at Holliston)

Needless to say, the entire league is cheering for Robin, who has never won the championship on her own and shared the championship (with Tsuan) exactly 40 years ago.

CN beat BC 5 of 8 games in the regular season.

-----

It was an exhausting, exciting and exhilarating 7 game World Series. All the ex’s.

Game 1: (Gibson vs. Burnes)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	2	0	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	9	16	0
Bay City Rollers	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0

W: Graveman (1-0)

L: Burnes (0-1)

SV: None

HR (Bay City Rollers): Perez (1)

HR (CN Manatees): Tatis (1), Devers (1), Harper (1), Donaldson (1), Ruf (1)

The game was tied after 3 when Perez hit his solo shot to match the 2 run shots from Tatis and Devers. Tatis tripled and scored on a Votto fly out to put CN ahead. From that point on CN scored on 3 homers, and the bullpen was superb to hold BC from scoring after the 3^rd.

Game 2: (Manoah vs. McCullers)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	5	9	0
Bay City Rollers	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0

W: Rodon (1-0)

L: McCullers (0-1)

SV: Graveman (1)

HR (Bay City Rollers): None

HR (CN Manatees): Smith (1)

Smith hit a 2-run shot in the 2^nd and Segura, who started the series at lead off with 5 Ks, got an RBI double to give CN enough to hold off BC. Castellanos had a 2-run triple but was answered by a Seager triple followed by a Harper double to keep CN and their bullpen in position to get the win and save.

The North Dakota manager was banned by Bay City wife from watching the Series after Tom went up 3-0 in game 2, then ejected from the premises to walk the dog after she lost game 2.

Game 3: (Cole vs Ohtani)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Bay City Rollers	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
CN Manatees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1

W: Cole (1-0)

L: Ohtani (0-1)

SV: Tepera (1)

HR (Bay City Rollers): None

HR (CN Manatees): None

CN returned home to a buzz saw as they are 2 hit, BC bringing the series to 2-1.

Game 4: (Snell vs Gibson)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Bay City Rollers	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	0
CN Manatees	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0

W: Snell (1-0)

L: Gibson (0-1)

SV: Loup (1)

HR (Bay City Rollers): Perez (2)

HR (CN Manatees): Haniger (1)

Arnie advised that CN was vulnerable to lefty starters. CN bought up Haniger and Joe who have 7+ straight homer chances against lefties to go with Tatis, Ruf and Donaldson. BC gets a quick lead, but the first two CN batters are double and homer to get CN the early 2-1 lead. Sal Perez answered with a 2-run homer of his own and the bullpens took over and the death rolls reigned as that is the final score and BC has evened the series despite being out hit by CN by 1 in the game.

Game 5: (Burnes vs Manoah)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Bay City Rollers	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	8	0
CN Manatees	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	-	3	7	0

W: Rodon (2-0)

L: Burnes (0-2)

SV: Knebel (1)

HR (Bay City Rollers): None

HR (CN Manatees): None

BC ace had a hard luck series as CN scratched out 3 runs against him and then the CN bullpen took over again to hold BC down and CN is heading to BC up 3-2. A reversal as BC out hits CN 8-7.

Game 6: (Ohtani vs McCullers)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	1
Bay City Rollers	0	3	2	2	2	1	3	0	-	13	16	0

W: McCullers (1-1)

L: Ohtani (0-2)

SV: None

HR (Bay City Rollers): Baddoo (1), Teoscar Hernandez (1)

HR (CN Manatees): None

BC tried to break the Manatee spirits in game 6 by a 13-2 old-style drumming as McCullers laughed at Ohtani as he could not find the answer for the BC hitters.

Game 7: (Gibson vs Cole)

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
CN Manatees	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	11	11	0
Bay City Rollers	0	0	0	1	2	2	3	0	0	1	0	9	13	0

W: Sadler (1-0)

L: Snell (1-1)

SV: None

HR (Bay City Rollers): Perez 2 (3,4), Albies (1), Baddoo (2)

HR (CN Manatees): Tatis 2 (2,3), Smith 1 (2)

So, I went into the game with the following pitching:

K. Gibson	4.00
Graveman	2.00
Rodon	1.33
Sadler	1.33
Rasmussen	0.67
Sulser	0.67
Ramirez	0.33
Williams	0.33
Total	10.67

Cole imploded for 8 runs in the 1^st on homers for Tatis and Smith. Then CN misplaced their bats and BC started the slow methodical come back. At 8-3, CN decided to leave in Rodon to face Perez (1^st lefty for him in the series) and boom clean homerun to half the lead. The 7^th saw Baddoo come up and hit a 3-run shot to tie the game.

The teams tighten up and it is 8-8 after 9. Haniger goes to 2^nd as the ghost runner and JD hits a ballpark single and then Donaldson takes Joe Kelly for a sacrifice fly and then his arm falls off when he gives up a fielder’s choice to Bader. Snell is now her last pitcher with a 1/3 of an inning but coming in tired – he was the game 4 starter allowed to relieve by the World Series Game 7 special rule. He gives up a double and then ends the innings against Joe.

10^th inning for the home team, Yuli goes to second as the ghost runner and with the corners in Albies makes an out moving the runner. Marte hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Vlad makes the 3^rd out against the tired Sadler who is the last man standing for CN.

11^th inning, Joe goes to 2^nd as the ghost runner and Segura hits a 3Bx. Smith misses a Ballpark Homer chance and then Tatis hits a clean shot (2-4 the same roll is on both sides of the card and Haniger strikes out with CN now up 11-9.

The bottom of the 11^th, Vlad goes to 2^nd as the ghost runner and Perez hits BPHR chance to tie it but rolls a 20. An out and strike out later and CN becomes the most hated team in SOMBILLA history.

Tatis the knucklehead takes the MVP trophy home after winning Game 7 with a 2-run shot. 6 runs, 3 homers and 6 RBIs for the well-balanced CN attack with 7 batters with an OPS over .900.

From Robin: Sal Perez would have been the MVP for BC as he just kept hitting homers and Albies's glove kept CN down while his opposite number Segura (a 2 instead of 1) gave up at least 3 singles to the relentless BC offense. Obviously, Burnes (0-2) couldn't shake the bad karma attached from playing for the two franchises with the longest World Series droughts [Oceanus and BC]. And I didn't put Kopech on my roster [mainly because he didn't have enough innings] even though Jed's projection for him was great [he likely would have replaced Snell], but the bad karma could have attached to him, too, merely from Jed's recommendation. At least I finally got that huge trophy out of my house [and I plan on drafting the player you want with the pick ahead of you, Tom 😉]. [Post-draft note: Apparently I did do that multiple times].

Final Stats:

Player	Games	W	L	SV	IPS	ER	Hits	BB + HBB	K	ERA	K9	HBB9
Staumont,J	3	0	0	0	4.33	0	3	1	6	0.000	12.462	8.308
Rasmussen,D	3	0	0	0	5.00	0	1	2	4	0.000	7.200	5.400
Ramirez,N	3	0	0	0	2.33	0	2	0	1	0.000	3.857	7.714
Knebel,C	1	0	0	1	2.00	0	1	1	0	0.000	0.000	9.000
Sadler,C	2	1	0	0	4.67	1	2	0	5	1.929	9.643	3.857
Sulser,C	4	0	0	0	4.00	1	1	4	5	2.250	11.250	11.250
Manoah,A	2	0	0	0	7.33	2	6	2	6	2.455	7.364	9.818
Graveman,K	3	1	0	1	2.00	1	4	3	1	4.500	4.500	31.500
Rodon,C*	6	2	0	0	8.33	5	10	3	12	5.400	12.960	14.040
Gibson,K	3	0	1	0	12.00	8	11	5	7	6.000	5.250	12.000
Williams,D	5	0	0	0	3.33	4	6	2	2	10.800	5.400	21.600
Ohtani,S	2	0	2	0	8.67	11	18	7	11	11.423	11.423	25.962

Player	avg	OBP	SLUG	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	E	IBB	HBP
Ruf,D	0.412	0.500	0.588	17	3	7	0	0	1	2	3	4	0	0	0	0	0
Seager,C*	0.308	0.438	0.538	13	2	4	1	1	0	0	3	5	0	0	0	0	0
Joe,C	0.300	0.300	0.300	10	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Smith,W	0.296	0.321	0.593	27	3	8	2	0	2	6	1	5	0	0	0	0	0
Harper,B*	0.296	0.406	0.556	27	4	8	4	0	1	5	5	8	0	0	0	0	0
Devers,R*	0.286	0.375	0.571	14	2	4	1	0	1	4	2	7	0	0	1	0	0
Martinez,J	0.267	0.313	0.267	15	2	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0
Tatis Jr,F	0.250	0.323	0.643	28	6	7	0	1	3	6	3	9	0	1	0	0	0
Trout,M	0.222	0.222	0.222	9	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Donaldson,J	0.222	0.364	0.556	9	1	2	0	0	1	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	1
Segura,J	0.192	0.222	0.231	26	2	5	1	0	0	3	1	9	1	0	0	0	0
Ohtani,S*	0.167	0.167	0.333	12	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
Haniger,M	0.111	0.200	0.444	9	2	1	0	0	1	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
Votto,J*	0.056	0.292	0.111	18	3	1	1	0	0	1	6	4	0	0	0	0	0
Bader,H	0.000	0.000	0.000	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0

THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE WAVES IN THE RAIN

Minutes of Annual Meeting, April 1, 2023

1. Dues No official blasting! Everyone is paid up, thank you.

2. Awards Voting - 5 points for 1st place, 3 for 2nd place, 1 for 3rd place. Since managers cannot vote for their own players, 7 votes would be a unanimous vote.

MVP 1 2 3 Tot

Tatis Jr, CN 2 3 1 20

Crawford, ND 2 2 1 17

Perez, BC 3 1 16

Marte, BC 1 2 2 13

Olson, NO 1 1 4

Tucker, ND 1 1

Schwarber, NV 1 1

Cy Young 1 2 3 Tot

Cole, BC 4 2 1 27

Alcantara, NO 2 2 16

Gallegos, NV 1 2 1 12

Gibson, CN 1 3 6

Scherzer, FW 1 5

Wood, ND 1 3

deGrom, ND 3 3

Manager of the Year 1 2 3 Tot

Tom 6 1 33

Robin 2 5 25

Sam 1 4 7

Arnie 1 3 6

Harold 1 1

3. Presentation of the Richman Cup by last year's champion, Arnie, to this year’s champion, Tom. After calling out Eric at last year’s meeting for having delivered the trophy to the next champion without even having added his own name let alone the new champion’s name, Arnie was in turn called out by Tom for not having had Tom’s name added. As usual, Robin took pictures.

4. Rule change proposals

1. Forfeited draft choices due to trades. Jed acquired 3 draft choices via trades. Under the prevailing rules, that meant he forfeited his draft picks in rounds 10-12. It was his position that until we reached those selections during the draft, he still actually owned them and had the right to trade any of those round 10-12 draft choices. In essence, his argument was that he doesn’t forfeit those draft choices until we reach them in the draft. He further argued that he would still only receive 12 draft picks so it would not be that big a deal.

The Commissioner pointed out that this would violate the bylaws which state that “all teams receive 12 draft picks no matter what” because under Jed’s proposal, he would actually have 15 draft picks with which to trade, 3 more than everyone else.

Arnie did agree though that the bylaws should be clarified after the vote. After some discussion, Jed’s proposal was voted down, 5-3 (Arnie, Harold, Randy, Eric and Robin against, while Jed, Tom and Sam were in favor). In short, draft choices forfeited because of trades cannot still be traded.

2. The Ohtani rule. Not a rule change at all, just a clarification.

Tom: If Ohtani is the starting pitcher and also in the lineup as a hitter, once he stops pitching, can he remain in the game as the DH?

Answer: Yes. And if he is pinch-hit for, you don’t lose the DH.

Tom: If Ohtani has not been used in a game as a pitcher or DH, is he still allowed to be a pinch-hitter off the bench?

Answer: Of course. Like any other player

Tom: In the post-season, if he is the starting DH only but comes in to relieve does the team lose the DH?

Answer: No, even if he continues batting for himself as a reliever.

Tom: In the post-season, if the DH is not lost when Ohtani stops relieving, can he continue on as the DH?

Answer: If he stops pitching, whether as a starter or post-season reliever, he can stay in the game as a hitter, and you don't lose the DH.

3. Arm-off rule clarification. For both the regular season and post-season, if a pitcher’s arm falls off because he’s been used up, but he hasn’t yet satisfied the minimum 3-batter (or finished an inning) rule, he must stay in tired until he has satisfied that rule. Note that this agrees with the computer (which does not recognize arms falling off). This clarification passed by acclamation.

After the card-burning (we burned Marcel Ozuna, Trevor Bauer, and Mike Clevinger), we proceeded with the rolloff among Jed, Randy, Eric and Harold. Randy rolled a “1”, Jed and Eric each rolled a “2”, and Harold rolled a ‘17’ with his one die. Eric then beat Jed in the rolloff for the 2nd pick.

As usual, many players were drafted who have played in the SOMBILLA previously. Here is the retread report:

· The first retread was the resurrected Daniel Bard, who Robin drafted in the 3^rd round. He was originally drafted by Jeff back in 2010.

· In the 4^th round, erstwhile North Dakota infielder Matt Carpenter, now reborn as a mutant, was drafted by Jed.

· Harold drafted Danny Jansen in the 4^th round, originally drafted by Arnie in 2019.

· Arnie picked up Ryan Stripling in the 4^th round, three years after Tom drafted him.

· Jed drafted Brady Singer in the 5^th round, 2 years after Harold chose him in the 7^th round.

· Also in the 5^th round, Arnie redrafted his own lefty reliever Jose Alvarado.

· Robin redrafted Trace Thompson in the 7^th round.

· Longtime North Dakota superstar Albert Pujols was picked up by Tom with the last pick in the 7^th round.

· Sam picked up former North Dakota IF Luis Guillorme in the 8^th round.

· Randy redrafted Dan Vogelbach in the 10^th round

· Eric picked up Michael Taylor in the 11^th round; Jeff had originally drafted him in 2015.

· Former BC pitcher Alex Cobb was picked up by North Dakota in the 11^th round.

· Former Asshole David Peralta became a Nuclear Warhead when Arnie drafted him in the 12^th round.

SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 –Salaries in the SOMBILLA

It’s been a while since we looked into each owner’s payroll. Who are the SOMBILLA’s big market teams, for whom money is no object? Who is trying to buy the Championship? In other words, who are the Mets of the SOMBILLA (I wanted to say Yankees, but the Mets, with a ridiculous $344.1 million payroll, $64.8 million over the 2^nd place Yankees, have surpassed them for highest payroll now.) Given the performance of the Mets so far, you do not want to be the Mets of the SOMBILLA.

Conversely, who are the league’s small market cheapskate owners, operating on a shoestring budget? (The A’s of the SOMBILLA, with a minuscule $60.8 million payroll). You probably don’t want to be the A’s of the SOMBILLA either.

For this study, I let the computer choose each person’s 26-man roster as that was the most expedient. The computer always makes a few questionable choices, but it was good enough for this. I used the 2023 MLB data that is readily available on a few websites.

So, who is the SOMBILLA’s big market, Mets/Yankees trying to purchase the championship? I’ll give you one guess:

1. Future Wax – Payroll $295,302,000. Interestingly, even in an all-star league, Future Wax’s payroll is almost $50 million less than the Mets payroll. This says more about the Mets than Future Wax. They did win the championship 3 years ago, but they still refuse to cut payroll in hopes of a return to the glory days. Highest paid players:

Max Scherzer $43,333,333

Giancarlo Stanton $32,000,000

Trea Turner $27,273,000

Marcus Stroman $25,000,000

George Springer $22,500,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 4

2. North Dakota – Payroll $279,764,000. Future Wax wannabes? Horrors! Like Future Wax though, they did recently win the championship (2022), so money talks.

Paul Goldschmidt $46,000,000

Francisco Lindor $34,100,000

Jake deGrom $30,000,000

Mookie Betts $25,000,000

Chris Bassitt $19,000,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 5

3. Bay City – Payroll $261,982,000. Lost the World Series in extra innings of game 7. Could a few more $$ have been the difference? Will she buy some free agents to put her over the top?

Gerrit Cole $36,000,000

Carlos Correa $33,333,333

Yu Darvish $25,000,000

Starling Marte $20,750,000

Sal Perez $20,000,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 5

4. Neverwinter – Payroll $261,974,000. In a virtual tie with Bay City for 3^rd place. Although not in contention last year, he’s only two years removed from winning the championship. I’m seeing a pattern here. Sam is not afraid to spend, but note that his highest paid players were all signed by Jeff:

Alex Bregman $30,500,000

Freddie Freeman $27,000,000

J. T. Realmuto $23,875,000

Mike Mikolas $20,416,000

Charlie Morton $20,000,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 4

5. Constantinople – Payroll $252,091,000. Last year’s champion rounds out the top 5, easily correlating to the most recently successful franchises in the league. Coincidence? I think not. 59% of this team’s salary is tied up in these 5 players:

Mike Trout $37,116,000

Dansby Swanson $32,285,000

Shohei Ohtani $30,000,000

Bryce Harper $27,538,000

Carlos Rodon $22,833,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 9

6. New Orleans – Payroll $233,449,000. Note the huge drop-off in payroll from the top 5 to the bottom 3. Also note the huge drop-off in recent SOMBILLA success. This franchise hasn’t made the playoffs in three years and is now 12 years removed from his last championship. Money talks in this league.

Aaron Judge $40,000,000

Marcus Semien $26,000,000

Zach Wheeler $24,500,000

Matt Olson $21,000,000

Kenley Jansen $16,000,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 6

7. Dead Nettles – Payroll $231,389,000. Now 11 years removed from his last championship, this team has fallen on some hard times, cutting corners everywhere and it shows. Spends more on his dogs than his team.

Justin Verlander $43,333,333

Nolan Aronado $35,000,000

Xander Bogaerts $25,455,000

Edwin Diaz $19,650,000

Joc Pederson $19,650,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 7

8. Oceanus – Payroll $201,809,600. The Oakland Athletics of the SOMBILLA. This cheap bastard’s payroll is a distant last, actually lower than 7 MLB teams. The long-suffering fans of this moribund franchise deserve better. The owner won’t even spring for a new laptop. An embarrassment.

Jose Altuve $29,000,000

Joe Musgrove $20,000,000

Julio Rodriguez $17,442,000

Aaron Nola $16,000,000

Byron Buxton $15,286,000

Number of minimum salaried players: 7

SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – The Waiver Draft: An Analysis

By Jed Corman, guest columnist

Ah, the Waiver Draft! The culmination of a week's worth of coming down from the Actual Draft's high. You agonize over making those last few cuts. You sift through others' trash hoping to find treasure. Then as the MLB season unfolds you watch as players you cut enjoy career seasons and ultimately get re-drafted by someone else. Or worse yet, by you.

Just to refresh your memory, the Waiver Draft was Tom's brainchild back in 2009. Some league members have traditionally eschewed the Waiver Draft while others have embraced it. The question is, how has it affected Eric? Well, that's one question. (Spoiler alert: not a lot).

This study will answer a number of burning questions you have about the Waiver Draft. Of course, the burning part might just be something you ate.

Note that the historical record for the Waiver Draft is sadly incomplete. We seem to be missing a few years. Thus, this study has an asterisk next to it.

Who has picked up the most players in the Waiver Draft?

I'll bet you're thinking, well, obviously, it's Jed who's chosen the most players in the Waiver Draft. However, you might be surprised. But you won't be. I have indeed chosen the most players, although more recently Harold has become the most active Waiver Draft participant. Here are the tallies:

Jed: 31

Harold: 21

Tom: 19

Arnie: 11

Randy: 6

Robin: 3

Jeff/Sam: 3

Eric: 2

Notably, Eric has not picked up a player in the Waiver Draft since the very first one back in 2010. Which went 9 rounds, by the way – the longest Waiver Draft in history. It was noted that by round 8 Jeff was shouting “Spooneybarger” (via email, see below) in a desperate attempt to bring the proceedings to a close.

What is the Most Number of Players Chosen during a Specific Waiver Draft?

The most players picked up in any individual Waiver Draft was 8 by yours truly in 2010. I suspect that's a record unlikely to be broken. Though judging by the way things are going for my team this year, who knows.

Who are the Greatest Waiver Draft Pickups of All Time?

I'm thinking my selection of Jose Altuve – cut by North Dakota in 2014 – probably represents the best Waiver Draft pickup of all time. In 2013 Altuve hit .283 but had an OPS of .679 and was a 3e10 in the field. So Arnie couldn't be blamed for thinking that the diminutive second baseman wasn't going to amount to much. (But MPS^TM can be blamed). In 2014, Altuve hit .341 with an OPS of .830. Including 2014, Altuve went on to produce 8 seasons with an OPS of > .800. 4 of which were > .900. And he may still have something left in the tank given he's only 33. And knowing what pitch is coming will certainly help.

Arnie's selection of Liam Hendriks in 2018 has paid significant dividends. Of course, Hendriks didn't have a great 2017 card (hence his getting cut) but interestingly Hendriks didn't do well in 2018 either yet Arnie kept the faith. And then in 2019, Hendriks started a run of 4 excellent seasons (with WHIPs of .96, .67, .73 and 1.04). During the 2021/22 SOMBILLA season, Hendriks led the league in saves with 15. Have to think Hendriks is the #2 all-time Waiver Wire pickup.

And then there was Joey Votto. After holding onto Votto for 3 pretty much unusable seasons, I figured he was washed up at age 91 in 2021. Tom then claimed him. And then he produced a vintage year with an OPS of .938 (above his career average). He was the #7 card in the set according to Lamanna. During the 2022/23 SOMBILLA campaign – where Tom won the World Series – Votto had an OPS of .899.

Corey Hart – another pickup by Tom – had three outstanding seasons from 2010-2012 after Eric cut him. He hit 87 homers over that span and his OPS was never lower than .841. Might be worthy of #3 as an all-time Waiver Draft pickup! He had 19 homers for Constantinople over two SOMBILLA seasons.

The Waiver Draft has in a number of instances provided some immediate if not long-term value. Some recent examples include

· Arnie's drafting of Chad Green (cut by Eric) in 2022. Green was (according to Arnie's go-to source, John Lamanna one of the top relievers. [Ed note: It’s laughable that Lamanna liked him so much considering he had 5 ballparks against both sides and he was only drafted for future potential (MPS^TM) and to replace the worst previous worst reliever in my bullpen, R. Rodriguez. He played in fewer than half my series, strictly to absorb innings. Eric had no use for him either. But Lamanna says he was one of the best. Sad!). Unfortunately for Arnie, Green got injured while associating with some Bay City players or he (Green, not Arnie) might've provided more than one usable year. (Ed note again: he’s supposedly coming back in August. But again, he was barely usable last year and drafted for the future).

· Isaiah Kiner-Falefa (cut by Sam) in 2022 gave me a serviceable stop-gap measure at short.

· Also: Harold's acquisition of Eddie Rosario (cut by Jed) in 2022 gave him a pinch hitter who, albeit in only 26 AB, had an OPS of 1.092 in the SOMBILLA this past season.

I don't feel like looking up stats for all the players but here are a few additional examples of waiver draft value, in no particular order:

• Adam Warren, picked up by Harold in 2017, probably because Warren got traded to the Yankees in real baseball, produced his career season that year (a .87 WHIP). He provided Harold with 21 IP and a 1.71 ERA during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign.

• Patrick Corbin, picked up by Arnie in 2017, went on to have his two best seasons in 2018 and 2019. He went 8-2 for Arnie during the 2019/20 SOMBILLA season, with a 3.08 ERA. Although 0-2, with a 9.00 ERA in 2020/21. Still, 2 usable seasons for a waiver pickup. Corbin may qualify as the 5^th or 6^th best waiver draftee of all time (see Darren O'Day below).

• Randy picking up Hyun-jin Ryu in 2015 would've been brilliant if he'd kept Ryu on his roster until 2018 (and 2019). However, at some point Ryu got cut and Harold used a 2nd-round draft pick to obtain him in 2020.

• Harold's selection of Mike Moustakas in 2015 was a darned good one. The Moose had a down year in 2014, leading to his getting cut. But in 2015 he had an OPS of .818 and overall produced 3 more years of > .800 OPS. In 2016, Harold traded Moustakas to Robin for Kenley Jansen (!). Later in 2016, Robin traded Moustakas to Jed for Matt Duffy, a 9^th round draft pick (who turned into BJ Upton?) and a player to be named later (Cody Allen). Moustakas provided some value, maybe as much or more than Corbin. And Harold parlaying him into Jansen – that was a coup only made possible by the Waiver Draft! Arguably Moustakas generated the most activity of any waiver draftee.

• Harold's picking up of Sabathia in 2014 (again, probably because he was a Yankee) might have worked out well for him. But from 2013-2015, Sabathia was unusable, leading to his getting cut again. Starting in 2016, however, he produced three years in a row of sub 4.00 ERA seasons. However, I guess if Sabathia had been that good he would've gotten re-drafted. I don't see that he was in the league at all during those years....

• And how could I not mention Darren “Luck O' the Irish” O'Day? You might ask “Why can't I get players like that?” Well, a good start would be not cutting him.... He was actually cut twice! Originally drafted by Robin in 2010, she eventually cut him. And RAT drafted him in 2013, cutting him a year later. I picked O'Day in the final round of the 2014 Waiver Draft. I don't really understand why he was cut because he had a 2.18 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP in MLB 2013. During the 2014/15 SOMBILLA campaign he pitched 22 1/3 innings for me with a 2.01 ERA. And O'Day would go on to have fine seasons in 2014 and 2015 (and later, in 2017-2020 – but he had been cut and re-drafted). O'Day arguably is the 4^th or 5^th best Waiver Draft pickup of all time.

• Reliever Tyler Clippard – grabbed by Harold (of course) in the 2013 Waiver Draft after a somewhat down season and traded to North Dakota in 2015 – provided multiple usable cards. He's up there with O'Day and maybe ahead of Corbin and Moustakas as a waiver draftee..

Has Any Player been Drafted More Than Once in the Waiver Draft?

Yes! Tommy “I am the” Edman was waiver drafted by Harold in 2021 (after being cut by Arnie). Interestingly, to obtain Edman, Harold cut Christian Walker, who was re-drafted in 2023 by Randy. Edman was cut by Harold in 2023 and picked up by Jed this year.

What was the Best Waiver Draft Trade? (i.e, trades after the regular draft but before the waiver draft)

There have been 3 (pre-) Waiver Draft Trades:

1. In 2012, Tom traded Coco Crisp to Eric for Chipper Jones.

2. Also in 2012, Tom traded Kelly Johnson to Jed for Rafael Furcal.

3. In 2021, Eric traded Pressly to Jed for Eovaldi.

One would think that getting a future Hall of Famer for a box of cereal would be the steal of the century. However, Crisp would go on to produce at least 2 above career average seasons in 2012 and 2013. He was a base stealer and I believe a good defender in CF. Meanwhile, Chipper Jones would play only one more season with stats far below his career averages, though he probably was usable. So really, the trade was something of a wash and maybe actually to Eric's advantage.

Without checking, I'd say Kelly Johnson got cut in 2013 and never made it back to the SOMBILLA. He was usable in a limited way with his 2011 card but checking the stats he didn't play. Furcal had a fine career (despite lying about his age) but only played one more full season (2012). He didn't play for Tom. So this trade was the definition of a wash.

And as previously touched on, Pressly for Eovaldi is still TBD. Pressly has been arguably more productive in the SOMBILLA thus far, with his 15 saves in 2022. But Eovaldi has gotten some usage, and at the time I am writing this is having a fine 2023 season and made the All-Star team! Too bad Eric cut him this year.

I'd conclude that the Pressly for Eovaldi trade has been the most impactful Waiver Draft trade.

Who Performed Better: Waiver Draft Pickups or their Cut Counterparts?

Hoo boy, this would take more hours than I want to put into it. But it's a great question, isn't it? So, I decided to focus just on the original 9-round Waiver Draft. I don't know if that's sufficient to draw statistically significant conclusions from. But here's what I found (I removed all the passes). (Ed note: Because it was so new and we weren’t sure about the best way to implement it, this first waiver draft was actually held via e-mail. Each manager had 24 hours to make their pick. The entire draft lasted over a month. Remember that? I remember making one pick from a Delaware hotel room. – Arnie)

Waiver Draft 2010

1st round

3. Harold - claims Edgar Renteria from A51, and cuts Orlando Cabrera. Renteria played two more years and one was possibly usable. Orlando Cabrera played two more years and one was possibly usable. Extremely marginal advantage in the pickup.

4. Tom - claims Milton Bradley from Jed, cuts Mark Ellis. Bradley played two more unusable years. Ellis played 4 more years and hit .291 in 2010. Should've kept.

6. Jed - claims FW's Jeremy Guthrie and cuts Chris Sampson. Guthrie had a good 2010 (starred starter with a 1.16 WHIP). Nothing after that. Sampson never played again. Advantage: pickup.

7. RAT - reclaims F. Cordero and cuts Saltalamacchia.

Francisco (“don't call me Franchy”) Cordero had 40 saves in 2010 and yet was likely unusable due to a 1.43 WHIP. But...Cordero had a 1.02 WHIP in 2011. But...he doesn't seem to have been used during the 2012/13 SOMBILLA season. Jarrod (“Salty”) Saltalamacchia played for quite a while after 2009, with 25 homers in 2012 and a .804 OPS in 2013. So this was either a wash or maybe even they shoulda kept Salty.

2nd round

2. Arnie - claims C. Delgado from A51 and cuts Luke Scott. Delgado never played in MLB after 2009. But...Arnie did get some use out of his limited 2009 card. Luke Scott had 25 homers and a .828 OPS in 2009 and then 27 homers and a .902 OPS in 2010. Why was he cut? Well, fact is, Scott never got re-drafted so I guess he wasn't usable enough. Advantage pickup!

3. Harold - claims Jarrod Saltalamacchia and cuts newly drafted Ryan Roberts. Harold re-cut Saltalamacchia so never enjoyed his good seasons. I don't think Roberts was ever usable, so this was a complete wash.

4. Tom - claims Tim Wakefield from BC and waives Taylor Bucholz. Wakefield played 2 more unusable years. Buchholz was never usable. Wash.

6. Jed - reclaims Manny Corpas and cuts Rick Ankiel*. Corpas went on to suck. Ankiel went on to suck. Wash.

8. Eric - claim Chris Snyder and cuts Dioner Navarro. Snyder might've been marginally usable in a limited way in 2011. Or not. Navarro's career year was 2013 and he was limited but good. Should've kept but nobody would've kept him that long. I'll say it was a wash.

* At that time, an outfielder. Originally drafted by Robin as a pitcher but presumably cut due to Daniel Bard syndrome.

3rd round

4. Tom - claims Theriot and cuts X. Nady, Theriot was godawful. Nady was godawful. Wash.

6. Jed - claims Capps and cuts JJ Hardy. Capps certainly didn't do much and likely didn't get any SOMBILLA usage. (Ed note: I remember he got off to a hot start in MLB (remember we were drafting in May and into June), and Harold commented on Jed’s drafting of the hot player). Hardy was around for a while and produced some decent years after getting cut. (Hardy hit 30 homers in 2011. Should've kept Hardy, but I made up for this in the next round.

4th round

2. Arnie - claims Jerry Blevins, cuts Scot (only one 't') Shields. Blevins produced a couple of usable seasons in 2012 and 2013. Did Arnie keep him that long? Nope – he was re-cut and later drafted by Harold (Blevins was a reliever, of course). Shields pitched in 2010 but he shouldn't have. This was a wash even though Blevins was the better player (because Arnie didn't get any benefit from this pickup).

4. Tom - reclaims Smoltz, cuts Wakefield. Smoltz never pitched after 2009. Wakefield, as mentioned, sucked. Wash.

6. Jed - reclaims JJ Hardy, cuts Tony Pena. Hardy as mentioned had at least one excellent season upcoming. I believe this was Tony Pena the pitcher, who sucked. Good pickup. (Ed note: In January 2012, Oceanus traded Hardy to North Dakota along with a 7th round pick [became Coco Crisp] for Jimmy Rollins and David Murphy. The trade was ostensibly to help Oceanus immediately, ND just needed a SS placeholder for the rest of the presumably lost season. But Hardy helped North Dakota win the championship [and Matt Joyce, called up by ND from the taxi squad to replace Murphy on the 25-man roster, became the World Series MVP]).

8. Eric - reclaims Rowand, cuts Dickerson. Aaron Rowand was awful. Chris (“the dick”) Dickerson was worthless. Wash.

5th round

2. Arnie - cuts Albert Pujols and immediately redrafts him Huh? Well, I guess we can say this was a wash. But I don't think this is allowed. Must've been a joke. (Ed note: Yes, Pujols was still very good. Easier to pull this joke off via e-mail).

4. Tom - cuts Bradley, claims Tejada. Mentioned Bradley was useless. Doesn't look like Miguel Tejada got any SOMBILLA playing time. Wash.

6. Jed - cuts Dice K, claims A. Soriano. Dice K amounted to nothing. But Soriano was something. His stats make it seem like he should've been usable, but I don't find him in the historical SOMBILLA record. Eventually Harold got a hold of him, and he played for him. But since I didn't get any benefit, this was a wash.

6th round

2. Arnie - claims Dice-K, cuts Chris Young (pitcher). As mentioned Dice K never lived up to the hype. Chris Young had one usable limited year in 2015 but it doesn't look like he was in the SOMBILLA during the 2016/17 campaign. So...another wash.

4. Tom - claims Aviles - waives Jenks. Mike Aviles had his best year in 2010. But didn't get used! Bobby Jenks was never usable. Wash.

6. Jed - cut Jeff Francouer and claimed James Loney. James (“Only the”) Loney never played in the SOMBILLA after getting picked up. Francouer had his career year in 2011 and would have been worth keeping for that. And yet...he didn't play in the SOMBILLA in 2012/13 so this turned out to be a wash.

7th round

2. Arnie - reclaims Chris Young, cuts J. Blevins. Shoulda kept Blevins.

4. Tom - claims C. Hart - waives Tejada. As mentioned above, Corey Hart was one of the best Waiver Draft pickups of all time. Tejada was useless at this point in his career.

6. Jed - cuts Fuentes, reclaims Sampson. As mentioned above, Sampson provided no value. But neither did Fuentes. Wash.

8th round

2. Arnie - claims Beimel, cuts R. Ramirez. Beimel went on to suck. Ramon Ramirez had a usable 2011. But he didn't play in the SOMBILLA. Wash.

5. Tom - claims Max Ramirez - waives E. Santana. Max Ramirez never had more than a cup of MLB coffee. Santana definitely had some usable years. Should have kept. But...I don't see Santana appearing in the SOMBILLA stats over the next several years, so I guess even this was a wash.

9th round

5. Tom - reclaims E. Santana, waives Morrow. Tom makes up for the mistake of cutting Santana. But...again...he didn't use Santana. Morrow did have a usable 2012 and was picked up by Jeff and pitched ok for him in the SOMBILLA. Mostly a wash because it is unlikely anyone would have kept Morrow around long enough to enjoy his one good year.

6. Jed - cut Sampson, claims Ohman. Again, Sampson was useless, so cutting him was a good move. Ohman always sucked, not sure why he was ever drafted. Wash.

So it looks like the most likely Waiver Draft transaction outcome is a wash. Mainly because both the player you cut and the player you pick up are likely to suck.

Subjective Assessment of the Impact of the Waiver Draft

Based on the fact that there have been few players selected in the waiver drafts who've gone on to illustrious careers and produced multiple usable years, the impact of the Waiver Draft has been pretty minor. The golden nuggets are rare indeed (Altuve, Hendriks, Votto, Hart, maybe O'Day, maybe Clippard). The most probable outcome of a Waiver Draft transaction is that it will be a wash. I still say it was an awesome idea on Tom's part and I think represents a nice light dessert after the main course of the Actual Draft.

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 3 – Who (does the computer think) are the best players for this upcoming Strat-O season?

I took all the major leaguers with 2022 cards and let the computer draft a 26-man roster. Who are the best 26 players in the league, at least according to the computer? Below is the roster, along with the round that the computer drafted the player in. Do you agree? And more important, if you are Jed, does Lamanna agree? The first pick overall? New Orleans’ Aaron Judge.

Hard to argue too much with this All-SOMBILLA first team, except for the fact that the third drafted pitcher, JP Feyereisen is not even in the league this year (although he was an available serious righty reliever mutant). Still, it may not be exactly the team that you (or Lamanna) would draft, but it would kick some serious butt in the SOMBILLA.

Player	Computer Draft Position	SOMBILLA Team
Aaron Judge	1	New Orleans
Paul Goldschmidt	2	North Dakota
Yordan Alvarez	3	Dead Nettles
Austin Riley	4	New Orleans
Mookie Betts	5	North Dakota
Jose Altuve	7	Oceanus
Willy Adames	11	Future Wax
J.T. Realmuto	13	Neverwinter
Kyle Schwarber	18	Neverwinter
Mike Trout	20	Constantinople
Sal Perez	21	Bay City
Shohei Ohtani*	24	Constantinople
Brendan Donovan	26	Constantinople
Daulton Varsho	27	Oceanus

Justin Verlander	6	Dead Nettles
Emmanuel Clase	8	New Orleans
J.P. Feyereisen	9	-----------
Zac Gallen	10	Bay City
Ryan Helsley	12	Neverwinter
Evan Phillips	14	Constantinople
Sandy Alcantara	15	New Orleans
Edwin Diaz	16	Dead Nettles
Devin Williams	17	Constantinople
Tony Gonsolin	19	New Orleans
Spencer Strider	22	Future Wax
Shohei Ohtani*	23	Constantinople
Jason Adam	25	New Orleans

* Interestingly, although the computer drafted pitcher Ohtani and hitter Ohtani consecutively, it knew that he was one guy because it actually drafted 27 rounds of players, even though I told it to draft 26.

I then had the computer draft a 2^nd team – the all SOMBILLA 2^nd team. Or the Washington Generals of the SOMBILLA.As with the first team, the computer found a guy – Dylan Moore – who is not in the league (marginally usable against lefties but plays all OF and IF positions). A few eyebrow raising choices. This team would be a likely SOMBILLA playoff team, but not a shoo-in for the championship.

Player	Computer Draft Position	SOMBILLA Team
Freddie Freeman	1	Neverwinter
Manny Machado	2	Future Wax
Michael Harris	3	New Orleans
Kyle Tucker	4	North Dakota
Dansby Swanson	5	Constantinople
Marcus Semien	7	New Orleans
Willson Contreras	10	North Dakota
Joc Pederson	12	Dead Nettles
Julio Rodriguez	18	Oceanus
Trayce Thompson	20	Bay City
Adley Rutschman	21	Dead Nettles
Dylan Moore	22	-----------
Nolan Aranado	26	Dead Nettles

Alek Manoah	6	Constantinople
Daniel Bard	8	Bay City
Corbin Burnes	9	Bay City
Alexis Diaz	11	Constantinople
John Schreiber	13	Constantinople
Clayton Kershaw	14	Future Wax
Erik Swanson	15	Future Wax
Nestor Cortes	16	New Orleans
Jordan Romano	17	North Dakota
Tyler Anderson	19	Neverwinter
Max Fried	23	Neverwinter
Feliz Bautista	24	Neverwinter
Carlos Rodon	25	Constantinople

Combining these two teams, here are the totals of players in the computer’s top 50:

Constantinople – 10

New Orleans - 9

Neverwinter– 7

Dead Nettles – 6

North Dakota – 5

Future Wax – 5

Bay City – 5

Oceanus – 3

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 4 – The 2019 SOMBILLA Draft: A Retrospective

By Jed Corman. (Ed note, after reading this, I conclude that Jed has a lot of time on his hands).

I remember the 2019 SOMBILLA draft like it was yesterday. Which means, I don't remember it at all. My memory is pretty bad.

I'm sure we all had our reasons for making the choices that we did. And it's easy to judge with 20-20 hindsight. But if nothing else, these retrospectives remind us of how difficult it is to find players who consistently produce usable cards. Only 38 from this draft are still rostered (some of whom are re-drafts or cut list pickups).

Executive Summary

In terms of awarding points, the winner of the 2019 draft is Arnie (with Jed in second). And Jeff received the least amount of points (with Randy 2^nd to last).

Expanding the context, Future Wax won the 2019/2020 season World Series. In the 4 seasons completed since the 2019 draft, North Dakota has the most overall wins (128 – an average of 32 per year!), has made the playoffs every year and won a World Series title. Oceanus has 123 wins and 2 World Series appearances (yes, Yankees fans, I know those don't count).

The 2019 Draft

Round 1
1	Shohei Ohtani	P, DH	Tom
2	Ronald Acuna Jr.	OF*	Jeff
3	Juan Soto	LF	Eric
4	Gleyber Torres	2B	Harold
5	Walker Buehler	SP	Jed
6	Blake Snell	SP	Robin
7	Luke Voit	1B, DH	RAT
8	Kyle Tucker	LF, RF	Arnie

It was mildly surprising (to me, at least) that Tom took Ohtani first. I would have taken Acuna (because that's who Lamanna said to take, of course). Not sure about the rest of the league. Clearly the first 3 players are excellent, and we can't really say yet who the best choice of the round was. At the time I am writing this, Ohtani, Acuna and Soto all have an outstanding career OPS, but Soto's is the highest. However, Ohtani has pitched excellently too. I'm going to award 1/3 points to Tom, Jeff and Eric. Both at the time and in retrospect, these are the top 3 choices in the draft in some order.

Meanwhile, Tucker has been quietly damned good (career OPS of .832). Buehler has produced some terrific cards but won't be back in the SOMBILLA until 2024 or maybe even 2025. Snell had one transcendent year but has been kind of meh since. The same goes for Gleyber Torres.

Which leaves Luke Voit. He does have a career OPS of .807 (at the time I am writing this). But he's only had two unlimited cards. He was a mutant a couple of times. In this group, you have to consider him the worst choice of the round. Even though he hasn't been a bust. He is the only one of this group no longer rostered.

Round 2
9	Blake Treinen	RP	Harold
10	Jack Flaherty	SP	Eric
11	Miles Mikolas	SP	Jeff
12	Seranthony Dominguez	RP	Tom
13	Mike Clevenger	SP	Jed
14	Will Smith	RP	Robin
15	Mike Foltynewicz	SP	RAT
16	Adam Ottavino	RP	Arnie

Impressive how the talent level falls so quickly. Not surprising that Harold took the best available reliever in Treinen. Treinen had a .78 ERA and a .83 WHIP in 2018 for Oakland. This after multiple unusable seasons with our Washington Nationals. He also produced a fine season in 2021. Treinen set the league record for saves during the 2019/2020 season (since eclipsed by Giovanny Gallegos).

Jack Flaherty (still only 27) has fine overall career statistics but presumably due to injuries (always reasonable to assume for a pitcher) he hasn't pitched more than 78 IP over the last 4 seasons. He was chosen here as a potential ace after a very good 2018 and produced his best season in 2019. His statistics in the SOMBILLA were recorded only for the pandemic computer only ’20-21 season (6-4, 6.07) . He appears once in the 2019/2020 TWITS Notes (as a “tough luck loser”). He appears 6 times in the 2020/2021 TWITS Notes (3 negative and 3 positive mentions).

Miles Mikolas was selected because of his career year in 2018. A starred starter and presumably the best or one of the best available starting pitcher cards. He also turned in a fine 2022 season. In the SOMBILLA, his stats for the 2019/2020 season were not recorded, but Mikolas receives 4 TWITS Notes mentions suggesting he pitched well. I guess his 2022 card wasn't usable in spite of his good stats.

Dominguez (still only 28) was considered a closer of the future. And he had a fine 2018 season (a .93 WHIP e.g.). He pitched 12.1 IP for Tom, with an ERA of 5.11. He did pick up a save. Cut in 2020 or 2021, he produced a usable 2022 season and was re-drafted by Sam in the 6^th round of the 2023 draft.

Mike Clevinger followed up a promising 2017 season with his best overall year in 2018. He was a starred starter with a 1.16 WHIP. His stats were better in 2019, except he only pitched 126 IP. He was a mutant for Arnie in ’20-21 (see below) but he's been unusable/injured since (though he seems healthy now). Clevinger had a solid 2019/2020 season for Oceanus, with a 3.59 ERA in 92 IP. He was traded to North Dakota on April 14^th, 2020:

“Attempting to acquire as many players ending in "inger" as they can, North Dakota announces the acquisition of Mike Clevinger from Oceanus. In exchange, North Dakota sends Nelson Cruz, German Marquez, a 4th round draft pick, an 8th round pick (the one previously acquired from Oceanus), 2 bags of baseballs, three dozen bats, and a batting cage to Oceanus.” Note: I still have the equipment!

Without doing any research, I'd say Oceanus got the better of that trade. Clevinger had a meh 2020/2021 season for North Dakota, going 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 47 1/3 IP. Unusable and accused of domestic violence, Arnie cut (and burned) Clevinger this past April.

Will Smith (the lefty reliever, not the catcher) had a fine 2018 season and followed up with a fine 2019 season. And he was picked up in the 2023 Waiver Draft. So he's had staying power in the SOMBILLA. But a 2^nd round pick for a lefty reliever? Well, he did top 30 saves twice in his career. He pitched well for Robin in 2019/2020, with a 1.29 ERA in 21 IP. He followed that up with a 10.32 ERA in 11 1/3 IP in 2020/2021. He pitched 1 2/3 IP in the 2022/2023 season. (Other Ed note: due to many ballparks vs. righties – he pitched only in CN.)

Mike Foltynewicz came out of nowhere to post a truly outstanding 2018. He was a starred starter with a 1.08 WHIP. He never did nearly as well before or after. He delivered for Future Wax – he had a 2.92 ERA in 76 IP. All mentions I find in TWITS Notes are about Folty pitching well. And remember, Future Wax did win the World Series in 2020....

Adam Ottavino is shockingly still in MLB! And pitching ok this year so far. He's had a few decent years. (Ed note: Arnie traded him to Robin, and he was 4-0, 2.93 for her in ’20-21.) Ottavino had 6 saves (according to TWITS Notes, though the final stats say he had 5...) for Arnie and a 4.99 ERA. He pitched 30.2 IP, so Arnie did use him a lot.

OK, a lot of guys here don't have fabulous track records. I'm going to say Dominguez was the worst (though maybe he'll redeem himself in his second tour of the SOMBILLA) and I'll split the best selection between Clevinger and Treinen (in acknowledgement of his setting a record). (Ed note: Jed didn’t realize Ottavino pitched for Robin after I traded him to her so perhaps he would also get a tie as having played the most in the SOMBILLA).

4 of these guys are still rostered but one was a re-draft (Dominguez) and one reclaimed in the Waiver Draft (Smith – because Tom needed a monopoly on all Will Smiths).

Round 3
17	Brandon Nimmo	OF	Jed
18	Kirby Yates	RP	Tom
19	Max Muncy	1B, 2B, 3B, LF	Eric
20	Charlie Morton	SP	Jeff
21	Whit Merrifield	2B, OF	Jed
22	Dereck Rodriguez	SP, RP	Robin
23	Jose Leclerc	RP	RAT
24	German Marquez	SP	Arnie

Nimmo has proven a valuable Strat-O player due to his high OBP. His defense has improved to at least average (relative to the rest of the league). Just traded from Oceanus to whatever Eric's team will be called.

Kirby Yates, eh? I smell a one-year wonder. By the way, his nickname is “Chubbs Senior!” OK, I was wrong, he was a two-year wonder. And those two years were truly outstanding. In the 2019/2020 SOMBILLA season Yates pitched 13 1/3 IP and had an ERA of 3.38. Oh, just noticed this was for only half a season. Anyway, he went 5-3 with a 4.88 ERA for Tom in 2020/2021 as well (which is impressive given that the Manatees were probably playing in a park where the fences were 150 from home plate).

Muncy has stuck around and has a career OPS of .830 at the time I am writing this.

Morton too has held onto a SOMBILLA roster spot. I suspect he was a re-draft but maybe not as he had a high WHIP in his career up until 2017 (why wasn't he drafted in 2018?). His golden years were 2018, 2019 and 2021. He has been worth his salt. Sorry, had to say it.

Whit Merrifield, late bloomer and fantasy darling, offered a nice combination of positional flexibility, speed and overall usefulness. His career OPS of .755 isn't all that exciting. But he has a career BA of .285. And he hit over .300 in 2018 (with 45 SB!) and in 2019. He was traded in 2020 to Future Wax (along with Adam “why can't I get players like that?” Eaton) for Max Kepler (fittingly, also cut in 2023).

Dereck Rodgriquez had an undistinguished career with one shining year – 2018, of course. He had a 1.13 WHIP in 118 IP. He had a 7.53 ERA for Robin in 2019/2020. (Other Ed note: Legacy draft - he’s Pudge’s som.)

Jose Leclerc had a superb 2018 (.83 WHIP). He was cut at some point and since then had a semi-usable 2022 but wasn't re-drafted. Still only 29, I wouldn't be surprised if he re-appears in the SOMBILLA. He led Future Wax in saves with 9 during the 2019/2020 season.

Marquez was drafted by Arnie? I always think of him as an Asshole. Oh, right, see above-mentioned trade of Clevinger. Due to pitching in Colorado, Marquez's bad stats translated to good cards. 2018 was his best season. 230 Ks in 196 IP and a WHIP of 1.20 (again, in Colorado). Cut in the 2023 waiver draft. I don't think he ever pitched particularly well in the SOMBILLA, but he did pitch. Still only 28!

Pretty clearly Rodriguez was the worst choice of the round. I'd say Nimmo was the best choice.

3 of these guys are still rostered.

Round 4
25	Jace Fry	RP	Jeff
26	Francisco Mejia	C	Tom
27	Taylor Rogers	RP	Harold
28	Collin McHugh	RP	Eric
29	Jesus Aguilar	1B	Jed
30	Jeff McNeil	2B, 3B	Robin
31	Francisco Cervelli	C	RAT
32	Kike Hernandez	UT	Arnie

Jace Effin' Fry? Can I just declare him the worst of the round without even looking him up? Ok, fine, I'll do my due diligence. His nickname is Frenchy – pretty awesome. His 2018 stats don't jump off the page, but I'll presume he was a usable lefty reliever. Yes, he was very tough on lefties. No SOMBILLA stats available.

Mejia was lauded as a future all-star catcher. Still only 27. So far he's only produced 2 possibly usable limited cards. Was he ever used? Yes! He went 3 for 8 in the 2022/2023 season. And then was cut.

Mr. Rogers is a lefty reliever with better than average (in MLB) stats. 2018 and 2019 were his golden years. He had a 1.21 ERA for Harold during the 2019/2020 campaign in 22 1/3 IP. And a 2.96 ERA in 27 1/3 IP the following SOMBILLA season. Nice.

McHugh has produced 3 or 4 usable cards and was a re-draft in 2019. 2018 was his best year statistically. He got traded by Eric to Future Wax (Eric jettisoned half his relief staff in what was clearly an effort to tank), which was a key move for Randy given that he did win the WS in 2020. He pitched well for Future Wax.

Aguilar was the prototypical overweight power-hitting first baseman. He hit 35 HR in 2018. He never came close to reproducing that magical year. He did have an OPS of .860 in 121 AB in the 2019/2020 season. He may have had some subsequent usage but I'm not seeing it.

McNeil has averaged over .300 in his career, with an OPS of over .820. This includes leading MLB with a .326 BA in 2022. From 2018 through 2020 McNeil produced some excellent numbers. He had a down year in 2021 (injuries I presume or anxiety about being on Bay City) but avoided getting cut and bounced back big time.

Cervelli (which means “brains” in Italian) produced some highly usable cards. While his overall stats are kind of pedestrian, in 2018 he had an OPS of .809 and I seem to remember he was one of the best catchers in the set (he was also strong defensively). Wasn't he an Asshole at one point? Yes, I drafted him in 2016 (in the 3^rd round no less). THAT was the year he had one of the best catching cards for sure. And Harold had Cervelli before that. Anyway, he did well for Future Wax in 2019/2020, posting an OPS of .820 in 131 AB.

Hernandez I feel has bounced around the SOMBILLA. He got a lot of usage for Arnie during the 2019/2020 season but hit just .163. His two best years were 2015 and 2018, where he had an OPS of over .800. Always tantalizing because of his exceptional positional flexibility (and cuteness).

OK, so Fry WAS the worst choice of the round and McNeil the best.

3 of these guys are still rostered.

Round 5
33	Jeremy Jeffress	RP	Jeff
34	Richard Rodriguez	RP	Tom
35	Elias Diaz	C	Eric
36	Kyle Freeland	SP	Harold
37	Miguel Andujar	3B	Jed
38	Brad Keller	SP, RP	Robin
39	Ryan O'Hearn	1B	Jeff
40	Jorge Soler	RF	Arnie

Of this group, Andujar had the most promise, finishing 2^nd in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Ohtani. Andujar had 27 HR and 47 doubles. And then he got injured and never produced a usable card again. And I guess he wasn't usable enough in 2019/2020 because I don't see any SOMBILLA stats for him.

Soler was kind of meh in 2018 but he was a 26-year-old who'd produced an OBP of .820 in half a season. So a good guy to take a risk on in the 5^th round (and a bad guy for Robin to cut). And he then hit 48 homers in 2019! He's always been a lefty killer and he hit .297 last year in 74 at bats for ND. At the time I am writing this, Soler is second in homers in MLB (and an all-star).

The other guys? Jeffress had a couple of excellent years. Rodriguez as well. Diaz had his best year in 2018 and presumably got some usage in the SOMBILLA (no stats though). In spite of being a lefty, Freeland did well for Harold in 2019/2020 – he had a 3.02 ERA in 62 2/3 IP. Keller got a lot of use for Robin (5.18 ERA in 167 IP). O'Hearn was a mutant in 2018. He has done nothing since (though he is having a better than career average 2023 so far...).

So, I'm going to say Andujar turned out to be the worst choice given that he didn't contribute in any way in the SOMBILLA. And I'll say Soler was the best choice since he produced the most impactful season. (Ed note: He was a redraft. Robin originally drafted him 4^th overall in 2015, then cut him the year before this 2019 draft. Robin adds “just consider him the right-handed Michael Brantley – also cut 1 year prior to greatness.)

Only Soler is still rostered.

Round 6
41	Tyler Flowers	C	Jeff
42	Harrison Bader	OF	Tom
43	Jared Hughes	RP	Harold
44	Ryan Pressly	RP	Eric
45	Reyes Moronta	RP	Arnie
46	Jorge Polanco	SS	Robin
47	Diego Castillo	RP	RAT
48	Shane Bieber	SP	Arnie

Gotta give Arnie kudos for drafting Bieber, a top-notch starter, in the 6^th round. This after a not particularly impressive 2018 where Bieber had a WHIP of 1.33. But Bieber was only 23 and had a phenomenal 2019, followed by a truly spectacular limited 2020. He must've been injured during 2021 but his stats weren't that bad, and he pitched 200 IP in 2022. Bieber is clearly the best choice of this round.

“Elvis” Pressly gets an honorable mention (he did have 15 saves for last-place Oceanus during the 2022/23 campaign).

Bader remains on Tom's roster today in spite of underwhelming career statistics. He is still only 28, plays good defense (was cute as a Cardinal but not a Yankee) and has experienced some SOMBILLA usage.

Hughes is one goofy looking mofo (nickname: “Ostrich”). He had a fine 2014 season but doesn't appear to have been drafted then. His career stats are better than average. 2018 was his best season, of course. He performed well for Harold in 2019/2020, with a 1.69 ERA in 21 1/3 IP.

Moronta had one usable year in his brief MLB career. And that year was 2018. He did very well for Arnie, though – 3 wins (no losses) and 4 saves with a 2.33 ERA in 27 IP.

Polanco I feel has bounced in and out of the SOMBILLA. He's currently on North Dakota. He was good in 2018, better in 2019 and had his career year in 2021 (33 homers!). He hit .190 for Robin in 2019/2020. He fared better playing for North Dakota in the 2022/2023 season (.260...but only 3 homers).

Can I be reading this correctly? Castillo pitched 21 IP for Future Wax in the 2019/2020 season and had an ERA of 0.00? And 7 saves. Wow. He had his lowest WHIP in 2018 but produced some additional usable seasons. Still just 29 years old but currently unrostered.

Oh, I forgot about Tyler Flowers. His best season was 2017 but he wasn't drafted then. Not sure why he was picked after his pretty meh half season in 2018. Maybe he was strong defensively? No stats for him for the 2019/2020 season. But I'll still call him the worst choice of the round.

4 guys still rostered.

Round 7
49	Josh Fields	RP	Jeff
50	Kyle Crick	RP	Tom
51	Scott Schebler	OF	Eric
52	Oliver Perez	RP	Harold
53	Corbin Burnes	RP	Jed
54	Scott Oberg	RP	Robin
55	Freddy Peralta	RP	RAT
56	Danny Jansen	C	Arnie

The name that jumps off the screen is Corbin Burnes, who has become an elite starting pitcher. Kudos to me for choosing him. However, I traded him to Robin before he decided to become an ace. I got Pedro Strop in the deal in exchange for Burnes, Robinson Chirinos and a 6^th round draft choice. Overpay much? Strop did pitch well in 2019/2020....

For Josh Fields, 2018 was the best and last year of his career. Though 2017 was a fine year, for some reason he wasn't drafted. No stats on how he performed in the SOMBILLA (but he only pitched 41 IP in real baseball and Jeff didn't make the postseason in 2019/2020 so Fields couldn't have been an MVP contender).

Crick makes me want to rub my neck for some reason. 2018 was his only usable season. He pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings for Tom in 2019/2020!

Schebler sounds like a Yiddish insult. He hit 30 homers in 2017 and wasn't drafted! He didn't perform as well in 2018. No stats recorded for him for the 2019/2020 season. He hit better against lefties but wasn't a true lefty killer. I'm thinking he didn't set the league on fire.

Oliver Perez was in and out of the SOMBILLA. His career statistics were not impressive, but he produced some real gems. He was a starter during the 2000s and had a fabulous 2004 season and I believe was chosen in the first round in the 2005 draft. In 2018 he had a miniscule 1.39 ERA (and .74 WHIP) in 39 IP. He pitched 11 1/3 IP for Harold during the 2019/2020 campaign with a 1.59 ERA.

Scott Oberg was Robin's effort to find a player like Darren O'Day. Oberg, O'Day, what's the difference? Obie (imaginative nickname!) had two good years in 2018 and 2019 and then was out of MLB. He gave Robin 24 IP worth of meh (4.50 ERA, 1 win, 3 losses, 2 saves) during the 2019/2020 season. He pitched 8 1/3 IP in 2020/2021 with a 5.40 ERA for Robin, then was traded to Arnie for Ottavino (continuing the “O” theme) and had a 3.00 ERA for North Dakota in 10 games. He developed a rare bloodor heart ailment due to his tenure with BC.

Freddy (don't call me Wily or Wandy or David) Peralta is still only 26 years old! And he's still rostered. He was drafted mainly as a prospect though he was usable in 2019/2020 and pitched 12 ok innings for Future Wax. 2021 was far and away his best year so far (though it didn't translate to SOMBILLA success). Honorable mention.

Danny Jansen is still only 28 years old. Why do I feel he was on Future Wax? Anyway, this was a stab on Arnie's part at drafting the elusive “catcher of the future.” Well, it's elusive to me at any rate. Jansen only had 81 AB in 2018 and got only 8 AB in the SOMBILLA (hitting .125). But he was re-drafted by Harold in 2023.

I'm going to award -1/4 for Fields, Jansen, Oberg and Schebler.

3 guys still rostered.

Round 8
57	John Gant	SP, RP	Jeff
58	Caleb Ferguson	RP	RAT
59	Jesse Chavez	RP	Harold
60	Joey Wendle	2B, SS, 3B, LF	Eric
61	David Hernandez	RP	Jed
62	Ramon Laureano	CF	Robin
63	Daniel Robertson	2B, SS, 3B, LF	RAT
64	Kyle Gibson	SP	Arnie

As Ayn Rand asked in Atlas Shrugged, who is John Gant? The answer is a pretty mediocre pitcher. His 2018 season wasn't particularly usable by SOMBILLA standards (e.g., a 1.30 WHIP) but he was a starter/reliever with 114 IP. He had a slightly better 2019 and an even better (limited) 2020. So maybe he got some additional usage in the SOMBILLA (stats not recorded).

Caleb Ferguson is still only 26 years old. And still pitching (though not rostered). And he has better than average career stats. He provided Randy with 8 1/3 IP of ok relief during the 2019/2020 campaign (judiciously spreading out 10 walks).

Jesse Chavez sure had an undistinguished career prior to 2018. But then he produced a 2.55 ERA / 1.06 WHIP season. BUT...39 IP were after a trade to the Cubs where he had a 1.15 ERA and a .79 WHIP. He pitched very well for Harold during 2019/2020 – a 2.25 ERA in 16 IP. He had one more usable year, but I don't think he was re-drafted.

Wendle remains in the league, now on Neverwinter. 2018 was his best season and even then his OPS didn't crack .800. Certainly not a SOMBILLA difference maker.

I think David Hernandez was a one-year wonder. No, actually a two-year wonder. He was picked in the 5^th round of the 2013 draft by Future Wax. He had a fine SOMBILLA season during 2019/2020, with 7 saves and a 1.35 ERA in 26 2/3 IP.

Ramon Laureano (still only 28) showed promise in 2018 and truly blossomed in 2019 (24 homers and a .861 OPS). And then...he started to suck and kept on sucking. Injuries? Well, of course, he played for Bay City. Then he tried to compensate for his injuries by doing PEDs and was suspended for 80 games. He was quite good defensively (strong arm [-4]). In all, he provided about one and a half useful SOMBILLA seasons.

Daniel Robertson had a career average of .227 and a career OPS of .683. He did have a promising 2018 where he hit .262 with an OPS of .797. In the SOMBILLA he hit .174 for Randy in 69 AB.

Kyle Gibson has been drafted, cut, drafted and cut again in his SOMBILLA career. In 2018 he was a starred starter with unimpressive statistics. Arnie did use him to the tune of 64 1/3 IP and a 2-8 record with a 4.90 ERA. He did much better for Tom in 2022/2023.

I'd like to give Wendle credit for longevity, but I don't think he's been a contributor. So, I'll say Laureano was the best choice. And Robertson was the worst choice.

Only Wendle remains rostered.

Round 9
65	Jose Peraza	SS	Jeff
66	Touki Toussaint	SP	Tom
67	Mike Soroka	SP	Eric
68	Ryan Brasier	RP	Harold
69	Alex Verdugo	OF	Jed
70	Travis Shaw	3B	Robin
71	Nathan Eovaldi	SP	RAT
72	Tyler White	1B	Arnie

At first glance Alex Verdugo jumps off the page as the best choice. But his career trajectory has been downward. Still, he's produced some usable SOMBILLA seasons. He hit a solid .270 during the 2022/2023 campaign, for example.

Jose Peraza is still young (28) but seems to be out of MLB. Mediocre career stats. Naturally, 2018 was his career year and for a 9^th round pick at the time this seemed quite reasonable. He'd hit .288 with 31 doubles, 14 homers and 23 stolen bases. I'm assuming he got injured the following season and never achieved his potential.

Touki Toussaint makes the all-time all-name team. He's still only 26! Drafted as a prospect. Never really produced a usable season. Though Tom DID use him in 2019/2020 (and Toussaint had a 6.75 ERA in 12 IP).

Mike Soroka makes me think of My Sharona. Now that'll be running through your head for a few hours. Anyway, he clings like grim death to the team formerly known as Dead Nettles' roster. He is still only 25. He had a very nice 2019 season and was 6-7 for Eric in ’20-21. But he did not pitch in MLB in ’21 or ‘22. I heard a rumor that Bay City has made a trade offer for him. (No truth to this rumor – he is still alive).

Ryan Brasier (he must have taken some shit for that name growing up) had an absurd 2018 – a .77 WHIP in 33 2/3 IP. He hasn't been usable since. He compiled a 1.93 ERA during the 2019/2020 campaign in 14 IP for Harold.

Travis Shaw hit over 30 homers in both 2017 (undrafted though) and 2018. Why wasn't he drafted in 2018? Well, for sure, he totally sucked after 2018. In the SOMBILLA he hit .168 but led Bay City with 11 homers.

Nathan Eovaldi has had some traction in the SOMBILLA. He had an ok 2018 season but pitched great for Future Wax (5-0 with a 1.74 ERA in 46 2/3 IP) during the 2019/2020 season. He's having a terrific 2023 at the time I'm writing this.

Tyler White? Well, he did have an OPS of .887 in 210 AB in 2018. And he was a lefty killer. He performed well in the SOMBILLA in 2019/2020 – an OPS of .940 in 56 AB.

I'll say Toussaint was the worst choice and Verdugo is the best choice of this round.

3 still rostered.

Round 10
73	Clay Buchholz	SP	Jeff
74	Eduardo Escobar	3B, SS	Tom
75	Jonathan Holder	RP	Harold
76	Tyler O'Neill	OF	Eric
77	Craig Stammen	RP	Jed
78	Franmil Reyes	RF	Robin
79	Albert Almora Jr	CF, LF	RAT
80	Brandon Lowe	2B, LF, RF	Arnie

Buchholz had several fine seasons and certainly was in and out of the SOMBILLA prior to the 2019 draft. 2018 was an excellent but limited season for Buchholz (only 98 1/3 IP). We don't have stats on how Buchholz did for Jeff in the SOMBILLA in 2019/2020. He had a terrible 2019, his last in MLB.

Escobar has maintained a roster spot on Constantinople. So he must be doing something right. 2018 and 2019 have been his best seasons (with OPS of over .800 each year). He hasn't lit up the SOMBILLA but, again, he has had staying power.

Holder is a fine name for a reliever. I assume Harold drafted him because he was on the Yankees. 2018 was his only usable year. In the SOMBILLA he compiled a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 IP.

Tyler O'Neill might be the buffest major leaguer. He is still only 27 years old. So Eric picked him based on power potential (O'Neill slugged .500 in 130 AB in 2018). Then Eric stuck with him through down years in 2019 and 2020. And O'Neill exploded in 2021 with 34 homers and a .912 OPS. And he was a 1 in RF, if I recall. He regressed in 2022 and thus far in 2023. But his 2021 season in itself justified a 10^th round pick.

Good old Craig Stammen. He produced a string of almost usable years from 2012 through 2017. But I don't think he was ever previously drafted. Certainly, 2018 was his career year. He had a 4.91 ERA in 22 IP in the SOMBILLA.

Franmil Reyes remains rostered in the SOMBILLA. He is still only 27. And he is still huge (listed at 265 lbs which means he may weigh 300 lbs). He has hit 30 or more homers twice in his MLB career. He hit .215 for Robin during the 2019/2020 campaign. And .267 (in 30 AB) during 2022/2023.

Almora had his best season in 2017 but wasn't drafted. After a decent 2018, maybe Future Wax figured the youngster was legit. He was not. He hung around MLB for 4 totally unproductive seasons. He hit .206 for Randy during 2019/2020 (albeit with a .470 OPS).

Brandon Lowe in the 10^th round! The steal of the draft? He's still only 28 and has a career OPS of .837. In 2018 he only hit .233 in 130 AB. But Arnie must've seen something in him. (Ed note: MPS^TM). The OPS went up to .850 in 2019 and then .916 in the limited 2020 season. Lowe hit 39 homers in 2021. He must've been injured in 2022. But he seems back on track in 2023.

Lowe is the best choice of the round. Some other solid picks though (Reyes, O'Neill, Escobar). Almora was the worst choice.

4 are still rostered.

Round 11
81	Joshua James	RP, SP	Jeff
82	Jose Castillo	RP	Tom
83	Trevor Richards	SP	Eric
84	Austin Meadows	OF	Harold
85	Victor Arano	RP	Jed
86	Ryan McMahon	IF	Robin
87	Jordon Hicks	RF	RAT
88	Matt Barnes	RP	Arnie

Josh James had a brief MLB career. 2018 was his only usable year (and only 23 IP at that). No SOMBILLA stats recorded.

Jose Castillo is only 27 but seems to be out of MLB. He must've gotten injured after 2018. He had a nice limited year. He pitched 5 1/3 IP and allowed 0 earned runs in the SOMBILLA. Meaning that together, Diego and Jose Castillo pitched 26 1/3 scoreless innings. Got to be a record number of scoreless innings for two guys with the same last name in the same season.

Trevor Richards must've been chosen as a starting pitcher prospect. He did have more K's than IP in 2018. But his only usable year was a limited 2021. And it's unclear if he was rostered for the 2022/2023 SOMBILLA season.

Meadows is still only 27. He produced one transcendent year – 2019, where he had 33 homers and a .912 OPS. He went hitless in 5 AB during the 2019/2020 SOMBILLA season for Harold. Had a pretty disappointing 2020/2021 SOMBILLA campaign, hitting .247 with only 8 homers. I suspect Harold was playing in a possibly extreme pitchers' park (he had the worst team batting average that year...).

Victor Arano was a one and done. He did what he was chosen to do, though: a 1.35 ERA in 20 IP with 2 saves.

Ryan McMahon has hit 20 or more homers 3 times in his career. He does play in Colorado though. He's never had an OPS greater than .780. But he's kept a roster spot since being drafted, and he’s a 1 at 3B.

Jordan Hicks (who is a pitcher and not a RF) I'm assuming has dealt with injuries throughout his career (but he's still only 26). Not sure he's ever gotten any SOMBILLA usage. Yet he's still rostered. Oh, wait, he did pitch 1 IP in 2019/2020.

Matt Barnes was never that good. 2021 was his best year. Arnie didn't use Barnes in 2019/2020 but got 7 2/3 solid innings out of him during 2022/2023. And then cut him.

I'm going to say James was the worst choice of the round and Meadows the best.

3 are still rostered.

Round 12
89	Taylor Cole	RP	Tom
90	Martin Maldonado	C	Harold
91	Ketel Marte	2B, SS	Eric
92	Williams Astudillo	C, 2B	Jed
93	Stephen Piscotty	RF	Robin
94	Willy Adames	SS, 2B	RAT
Round 14
95	J.A. Happ	SP	Tom
96	Nick Martini	LF, CF	Harold

Did we skip round 13 out of superstition?

Willy Adames and Ketel Marte are the two best choices in these rounds. Adames has a .763 career OPS and is a stellar defender at shortstop. Marte has a .791 career OPS but isn't much of a defender. So I'll give the nod to Adames. Helluva pickup in round 12.

Marte was cut by Eric in 2023 but picked up by Oceanus (hoping that his pattern of doing well every OTHER year continues).

Cole had an excellent limited 2018 and that was that. He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless IP for Tom during the 2019/2020 SOMBILLA season.

Martin Maldonado was a defense first catcher (well, still is as he's still in MLB). His highest OPS was .728 in 2020. He hit .233 for Harold in 2019/2020 in 30 AB. Presumably he was brought in for defense in the later innings.

Astudillo was supposed to be a hitting machine and he was a mutant in 2018 (with a .355 BA in 93 AB). He did not turn into “the catcher of the future.” He hit .243 in 37 AB during the 2019/2020 campaign. Looks like he's out of MLB.

Piscotty hit 27 homers in 2018. And yet lasted until the final round? He was originally drafted in 2016. After 2018 he totally sucked. Robin used him full time and he hit .240 for her in 179 AB with 24 RBI (leading the team).

J.A. Happ is a lefty starter with slightly better than average career numbers. And yet...he had 4 years where he compiled a 58-28 record mainly for Toronto. 2015 was his best statistical year but he was limited (63 1/3 IP). During the 2019/2020 SOMBILLA season, Happ pitched 23 2/3 IP and had a stellar 1.90 ERA.

Nick Martini was the bartender in It's A Wonderful Life. He served hard drinks for men who want to get drunk fast. He did have an OPS of .811 in 152 AB in 2018. Doesn't look like he ever got a cup of coffee in the SOMBILLA. So, I guess that makes him the worst choice of the round.

2 are still rostered.

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 5 – Rediscovered Twits Notes

Sometime around 2000, I spent a long while typing up all the old standings and articles from the SOMBILLA’s pre-Internet days to upload to the league’s new website. You can find many famous articles, such as “Eric Lost the Scoresheets,” “The SOMBILLA Trading and Loan Scandal,” “Tsuan Guruism,” and “How League Members React to Receiving Shit” in the Archives.

But some poignant and interesting Twits Notes tidbits were never included. Mostly because it would’ve been too time-consuming to go through the voluminous piles of newsletters accumulated in our Holliston attic to find everything. Well, as promised two summers ago, when I published, “The Summer Newsletter” as a study: “This is Part 1 of going through old newsletters in the attic. Next summer, I'll dig up old newsletter headlines (such as “Who is this Dan Pasqua,” “Another bad start for Jed,” “Tsuan pays up!”) and good lost Twits Notes not already posted to the website.”

OK, I’m one year late. But here you go, these Twits Notes will now be memorialized forever. Interestingly, I found tons of good stuff, but to my pleasant surprise, a lot of it is already on the website! Check out the Archives some day when you are bored. Anyway, we start off with something, not Twits Notes at all, but the first published Draft Day Agenda – the first 10-round draft after the creation of the permanent league:

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Long lost Twits Notes and Newsletter Headlines:

12/31/86 What’s wrong with the Folders? (I.e., why aren’t they losing?). The shocking Manila Folders continue their rampage, with every week bringing dozens of new franchise records. The consensus around the league among those who have actually faced Matt is that he has been incredibly lucky. Though much of Strat-O is luck and karma, can a truly bad team go on a 56-game luck streak? Will Vince Coleman and Ozzie Smith continue to be 1-2 in batting at .367 and .345? Will Dwight Evans finish in the home run leaders? Will Leibrandt and Guidry continue to baffle lefty killers? Will Bill Campbell and the Quiz continue to not to choke? We say no. Perhaps 1000-1 was a bit harsh, and they might not even finish last. But playoffs????!!!!

Injuries are up over 250% over last year. The dice are not any more dangerous, nor are the cards flimsier or the players in worse condition. Rather, the increase is due solely to Tsuan’s new injury rule. Every team has felt the impact, and the players are dropping like flies. In one game, both Matt’s 2^nd basemen were injured (not bad luck, because he still won), and other horrible stories abound. Though confusion reigns about maximum injury length (it’s all in the rules shown in Vol 1, which should be posted in your bathroom, by now), stupidity abounds where managers have forgotten to call up replacements. The moral is to be prepared for injuries, keep track of who has been injured, and yell at Tsuan when your best player gets hurt, causing you to miss the playoffs.

12/21/86: Play of the week: Ken Oberkfell of the Manila Folders lined into a triple play and was injured for 4 games.

1/24/88: Joel Jacobs, one of the SOMBILLA’s founding fathers, has decided to resign from the league. Seven-year member, stalwart, pillar of stability Jacobs, claims he is doing this out of fairness to the league. Now if this rock solid (admittedly losing) franchise owner decided he was bored, hated Strat-O, didn’t have the time, hated other league members, or would rather crawl over hot coals on his stomach than play in the SOMBILLA, we (the league) could buy his argument. But nooooooooo! Joel claims that his lack of energy input into operating his team is unfair to the league, and therefore he will withdraw. Let’s address this issue.

Does Joel really think he is doing us a disservice by being in the league? Do we abhor his presence? What does Joel add to the league? We play Strat-O because we enjoy each other’s presence, the laughs over strange plays, friendship, getting off on the stats, etc. Joel does not detract from any of this. In fact, Robin says she likes playing Joel more than anyone else, not for obvious reasons (actually she claims she does poorly against him) but because he’s the most easy-going opponent. Does Joel really want eight gung-ho dynasty types? Do we really want 8 Tsuan & Andy’s? One Tsuan & Andy is enough. They add something to the league, just as Eric or Matt or Joel add something to the league. Now, I admit nobody likes losing. But there’s nothing about Sardukar that 1 hour of draft preparation couldn’t take care of. I’m not asking you to change your managing or become a newly diligent owner. We know that’s not feasible. I do think if you study the draft preparation list for 1 hour, and take the draft seriously, you can help your team immensely at little cost or effort to you. Therefore, instead of taking the easy, gutless, sleazy, spineless step of quitting the league, I ask that you prepare for the draft for 1 hour. That’s all you have to do – managing is easier, and your team wins more when you draft better.

Therefore, for reasons specified above, the league refuses to accept Joel’s resignation.

(By the way, if Joel goes 4-12, he will break the all-time record for worst winning percentage.)

1/30/88: Joel promises to consider reconsidering withdrawal.

2/15/88: Joel still thinking

2/28/88: Will Joel desert his friends? Joel Jacobs, stalwart, pillar of stability, lovable, admirable, role-model, The Great One, will be making an announcement regarding his future friendship with all of us. Please, Joel, don’t leave!!!!

(Ed note: as noted on the website, Joel decides to move on with his life).

11/20/88: Future Wax hits a farcical 20 homers – Commissioner outraged! Is this ‘twisted’ team ‘ruining the league’? (or are we all jealous?)

2/15/89: Down to the wire: slim North Dakota hopes rest upon wife

1/7/90: ‘Mellor Magic’ – surprising LH’s take hold of 4^th place, can they really do it?

1/28/90: Frustration setting in: Tsuan refuses to play North Dakota, refuses to return phone calls to league or co-manager. Commissioner outraged: “We will take action”

From the pre-season newsletter 10/28/90:

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11/27/90: Commissioner takes Boston job. League to remain Boston-based for at least two years.

(Ed note: after graduating law school in 1990, I was certain I’d get a Maine lawyer job, and Robin and I were ready to move. It was not to be).

1/9/91: Who is this Dan Pasqua? That Dan Pasqua of Future Wax leading the league with 33 rbis and third with 11 homers has done it in only 66 at bats. He is also hitting .379. His stats projected to 594 at bats are 99 homers and 297 rbis

1/23/91: Mellor Magic again! Harold wins 13 of 16, guns for 2^nd

2/16/91: SOMBILLA to invade Worcester County. Residents flee!

12/3/91: Eric has changed his team’s name again, adding an ‘e’ to Fredonia, one month after dropping the ‘e’ and one year after Matt dropped an “l” from Manilla.

12/10/91 The league would like to publicly apologize for falsely accusing Clint of leaving Sam Horn in against a lefty, causing him embarrassment among his peers, and a scolding from Jed. While no court case has yet decided whether it is libelous to falsely accuse someone of ‘Horn-leaving’, the league is voluntarily making a contribution to the Joel Jacobs School for Strat-O Managing Strategy in Clint’s name.

10/25/92 (pre-season issue): Arnie (revised from Arni, as in Andy to Andrew)…Good news and bad news on the stadium front: While the team has been able to lease a parking lot in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, for the first 18 games, work on the state of the art (400 capacity) stadium in Gackle has neem stopped by a group of picketers calling themselves “Gacklonians for an end to mediocrity”)

11/22/92 – In the wake of Jed’s winning 3 of 4 from the Hatchbacks, Dave has filed an official protest because he “didn’t get to play against Clint”. The League is investigating…Moose Jaw’s 17-game lease for the parking lot has expired and the owner of the lot has decided not to renew the lease. Desperate for a field, the team has accepted an offer to promote marijuana paraphernalia in Holland and will be known as ‘Amsterdam’ indefinitely.

12/6/92 – Andrew has arbitrarily changed his team’s name to Bismarck. While it cannot be proven, there is suspicion that this change was made solely to confuse league members into thinking that the North Dakota franchise (currently operating as Amsterdam while its stadium is under construction) is floundering, rather than ‘Future Wax’. Given that the change was made in the middle of the North Dakota/Moose Jaw/Amsterdam’s sweep of Future Wax, the vindictive name change theory is quite probable.

12/31/92 – North Dakota/Moose Jaw/Amsterdam is mobilizing its army to surround the Bismarck franchise and forcibly remove them from the state.

1/10/93 Name change – Bismarck has resumed playing as Future Wax; Nomadic North Dakota after a league record 13 years in one place, has been unceremoniously booted out of Amsterdam in a drug scandal and was forced to find its 3^rd home this season on short notice. The only available field was in Greenland, hence the new name.

HOW IS YOUR TEAM DOING?

Here is our first unscientific look ahead to the 2023 cards (due out in February).

THE 2023 SOMBILLA/FOX ALL-STAR COUNT

Tom (11)* – L. Castillo, A. Diaz, Jung, L. Gurriel, JD Martinez, Ohtani, Seager, W. Smith (C), Swanson, Trout, D. Williams

Harold (10) –Bednar, Clase, S. Gray, K. Jansen, Judge, McClanahan, Olson, Riley, Robert, Semien

Robin (10)** –Albies, Burnes, Carroll, Castellanos, Cole, Gallen, Guerrero, Hays, Heim, S. Perez

Eric (9) – Y. Alvarez, Arenado, Arraez, Y. Diaz, W. Franco, Hader, Rutschman, Soto, F. Valdez

Arnie (8) –Alonso, Betts, Cobb, Kimbrel. Kirby, Romano, Soler, Tucker

RAT (7) –Arozarena, Gausman, J. Gray, Kershaw, S. Murphy, Strider, Stroman

Sam (4) – Acuna, Bautista, Bichette, Freeman

Jed (3)*** – Doval, J. Ramirez, J. Rodriguez

* Not only does reigning champion Tom have the most top 50 players this year according to the computer (see Study 3) and most all-stars this year, but he also had the most last year with 11. Just look the other way as he self-deprecates.

** If her former players (Jansen, Cobb, Soler) were included, Robin would top this list.

*** Jed also had the fewest last year (with 6)

Tentative SOMBILLA Opening Day: Sunday, November 5!