VOL. XXXIV No. 3
July 22, 2024
MVP – Mike Trout, Constantinople
Cy Young – Justin Verlander, Hecatoncheires
Manager of the Year- Robin
·
Most
SOMBILLA Cy Young awards: Verlander,
Eric 4 (Old record Clemens, 3)
·
Most
relief appearances by a position player: Rhys Hoskins, North Dakota 5 (previous
record, 1 set by several players)
SOMBILLA Records
tied this year:
Most SOMBILLA MVP awards:
Trout, Constantinople 4. (Ties, Future Wax’s Barry Bonds)
SOMBILLA
Home/Away Records:
HOME AWAY
Harold 18-10 .643 Harold
18-10 .643
Robin 17-11
.608 Eric 17-11
.608
Eric 17-11
.608 Tom 14-14
.500
Tom 15-13
.536 Robin 13-15
.464
Arnie 14-14
.500 Arnie 13-15
.464
Randy 14-14
.500 Jed 11-17
.392
Sam 14-14
.500 Randy 9-19
.321
Jed 13-15 .464
Sam 7-21 .250
TOTALS 122-102 .545 102-122 .455
In case you’re wondering, the league record for best home record was set
just 4 years ago (’19-20) at 129-95 (.566)
THOUGHTS
WHILE WATCHING THE WAVES IN THE RAIN
1. Franchise News – Eric’s new team name is Koop Island Blues
2. Dues - No official blasting! Everyone is paid up, thank you.
3. 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. Trout wins his third MVP, Verlander wins his 4th Cy Young. Robins wins her 4th Manager of the Year award (1992, 2008, 2012 were the others).
MVP 1 2 3 Tot
Trout, CN 3 3
1 25
Judge, NO 2 3
2 21
Arenado, HC 2
2 12
J. Rodriguez, OC
1 1 2
10
McNeil, BC 1
1 4
Cy Young 1 2 3 Tot
Verlander, HC
3 3 1
25
Nola, OC 2 1
1 14
Wheeler, NO
3 2 11
Gonsolin, NO 1 1
8
Clase, NO 1 2
7
Rodon, CN 1 5
McClanahan, NO 1
1
Fried, NV 1
1
Manager of the Year 1 2 3 Tot
Robin
7 35
Harold 1 3 3 17
Eric 3 2 11
Tom 2
2 8
Jed
1 1
4.
Presentation
of the Richman Cup by last year's champion, Tom, to this year’s champion, Robin. To memorialize
hell freezing over, pictures were taken and posted on social media.
5.
Rule change
proposals
a.
Post-season starter’s innings. Eric brought
up a disparity in how starred starters are treated in the
post-season (unlimited) vs unstarred starters with a lot of innings (14
innings), using Verlander and Burnes as examples from his playoff series loss
to Robin.
After some discussion, there was no change to unstarred starters in the post-season (1/15 of innings on card, rounded down), but starred starters will no longer be unlimited.
An innings cap for starred starters
of 18 innings was voted down 5-3. Then a cap of 20 innings for starred
starters was proposed. This
passed by a vote of 6-2 (only Tom and Arnie opposed).
b.
Post-season tired factor for pitchers. Another issue that came up in the Robin vs. Eric
playoff series is the tired factor rule for starters. The bylaws stated
“All
pitchers may relieve, regardless of what it says on their card. Starters who
relieve have a tired factor of 2, except that starters who come in during an
inning have a tired factor of 1.”
Nobody
who was present at the time (Tom, Harold, Robin, Eric, Arnie) could remember
the origin of this distinction. It
seemed wrong that a starter who relieved in the middle of an inning could
become tired so easily. At the draft, Tom was able to remember the reason and
elaborated on the justification (the actual Strat-O Rule was a tired factor of 1
for all situations where a starter relieves without a relief tired factor on
his card, so we were being more generous by allowing a tired factor of 2 for
such pitchers who begin an inning).
But the
proposal was to make the tired factor for starters who relieve in the
post-season (and do not already have a relief tired factor on their card) 2 for
all purposes.
Before
the vote, Tom proposed that such starters be announced as warming up to trigger
the tired factor 2 rule, but this was dismissed by the league out of hand and
the proposal was voted on.
This
proposal (starters only who relieve in the post-season have a tired factor of 2
for all purposes) passed 5-3.
(Randy, Tom, and Sam were against it).
c.
Tired relief clarification. Tom
brought up the longtime rule (that is actually in the rules reminder I always
send out at the beginning of the season) that relievers who pitch 2 innings
beyond their tired factor are tired for the next game, and if they pitch 3
innings beyond tired factor, they’re tired for the next two games. We also
clarified that if they pitch two games in a row and are tired that way, this
rule does not add extra tired games beyond that.
So this was not a new
rule at all, just a reminder and a clarification.
d.
Ban 4-man rotations in the regular season. Eric brought up that MLB has changed and that
it’s unrealistic for any team to be able to use 4 starred starters in a 4-man
rotation. He didn’t truly want to ban 4-man rotations, but rather was
interested in a general discussion of the advantages we give to starred
starters (limited 50% of innings, vs 42% for everyone else) and whether it is
still realistic. After much discussion, it
became apparent that there was more concern for post-season advantages (despite
the 20-inning cap we had just voted in).
Thus, we agreed to no
change to current regular season rules; the rationale was that fewer and fewer
pitchers will be starred in the future and the concern will go away. However,
the discussion then morphed into
e.
Post-season starters.
1.
Tom proposed that unstarred starters who pitch 175+
innings be allowed two unlimited post-season starts per series. This passed 6-1, with one abstention. Only Arnie was opposed. Tom then proposed
moving that limit for two unlimited post-season starts to unstarred starters
with 150+ innings. This passed 5-2,
and thus supersedes the 175 innings rule.
Only Arnie and Robin were against it.
This is the first time the two of us were the only ‘no’ votes on a rule
change proposal.
2.
Tom then proposed that unstarred starters with 75-149
innings be allowed 1 unlimited post-season start. This passed 6-2. Again, only Arnie
and Robin were against it.
3.
In both cases, we clarified that if such starters also relieve,
the normal post-season innings limits apply, and they are no longer unlimited.
f.
Openers. Harold
proposed (again) that any pitcher be allowed to be an opener. This was voted
down 7-1 and there were comparisons to Matt’s annual elimination of the DH
proposals.
g. OF positions. A proposal that any outfielder be allowed to play any other OF position
was voted down. (There is already a Strat-O
provision allowing that only for injuries, with range factor corrections for
CF.) This was rejected by acclamation, Randy pointing out that we have a large
enough pool of players to draft from that there’s no excuse for a manager to be
caught short.
After the card-burning (we burned Wander Franco and Aroldis Chapman), we proceeded with the rolloff among Sam, Randy, Jed and Arnie. Randy won the rolloff for the first pick, with Sam going 2nd. Jed and Arnie tied, with Arnie beating Jed in a rolloff. (Arnie would have preferred to lose, since the 1st round was not all that clear cut and whoever got the 4th pick in the 1st round, would end up with the 1st pick in the 2nd round. Arnie’s first roll of the rolloff was a ‘20’ but he was ordered to reroll because it was on the rug and arguably cocked [I personally felt it was not cocked but knew I would have been shouted down, so said nothing and rerolled.] Then I rolled a ‘3’ to win the rolloff).
Jed ended up taking Eury Perez with the first pick of the 2nd round, whom Arnie wanted, and the two ancient rivals later joked about how the fate of that one guy rested on a cocked die in the rolloff. A few weeks later, Perez underwent Tommy John surgery.
As usual, many players were drafted who have played in the SOMBILLA previously. Here is the retread report:
· The first retread was Eric’s surprise pick of Michael Wacha in the 4th round. He was previously a 2nd round pick of Jed ten years ago, back in 2014.
· In the 5th round, Tom drafted former Ellis Ryan Brazier.
· In the 6th round, Tom drafted Wilmer Flores, who had been drafted by Jeff in 2017.
· Eric drafted former North Dakota lefty reliever Poche in the 6th.
· Another former North Dakota lefty, Matt Strahm, was drafted by Randy in the 7th round.
· Former Bay Cityite Michael Lorenzen was snagged by Arnie in the 10th round.
· Arnie redrafted Randal Grichuk in the 11th. He also played for New Orleans.
I’m sure I’m missing a few others.
SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 –Bad
Boys of the SOMBILLA (Updated)
This article was originally published in 2006! During my series down at Eric’s house last season, Eric asked for advice about how to handle Wander Franco, whose career is now in doubt due to some heinous deeds with an underage girl. I responded that there was no official league policy on this; it is up to each manager’s conscience.
I brought up Jeff’s treatment of Brett Myers. Myers was a Philly pitcher in Boston to pitch against the Red Sox, when he assaulted his wife on Newbury St., in front of witnesses (I believe he grabbed her hair and dragged her) and was arrested. Jeff not only refused to use Myers (who was usable), but kept him on his roster for 2 seasons as a usable starter without using him, just so that nobody else in the league could use him.
More common is for SOMBILLA managers to look the other way, as though these are just pieces of cardboard paper with “strikeout” and “HOMERUN” printed on them. Look no further than a few months ago, when Harold cut (and we burned) Aroldis Chapman, who has an excellent card. At the waiver draft Sam, Randy, Jed, and I passed on Chapman. In fact, I drafted a morally superior but inferior carded lefty reliever, Brooks Raley, just before Tom, who then drafted Chapman.
Does Tom’s wife know (or care) that her husband just picked up a domestic abuser on his Strat-O team? I know my spouse cares. I don’t have a separate study for this, but Robin is notorious for pounding domestic abuser pitchers. I expect a Chapman pounding next year if she gets the chance.
Eric’s question was the impetus, but Chapman’s treatment makes it clear that it is time for an update.
Which
league’s franchise doesn’t give a shit about societal mores? Who flaunts
boorish, illegal behavior in the rest of the league’s face? Which team is the
most moral, intolerant of criminal activity on its roster? This summer, the
SOMBILLA spotlight team studies the bad boys of the SOMBILLA - detailing a team
by team summary of arrest records and other bad behavior, including PEDs. Known PED users are listed, with the
understanding that we can never know all of them.
Somewhat
surprisingly, Jed (and Matt) head the shame roll. They clearly have an eye for
stockpiling thugs, hoodlums and criminals. The question is, do their wives know
about this predilection?
At
the other extreme, Constantinople has a very scant bad boy record, but perhaps
he has seen the light by snagging Chapman. Tom & Land win the goody
two shoes award.
Jed/Matt
(18)
(For
the record, most of these guys were on Matt’s team rather than Jed’s)
Future
Wax (16)
§ April 7, 1989 -- Named in a lawsuit in
Clayton, Mo., charging that he fathered a son with Lisa Clayton.
§ Jan. 26, 1990 -- Arrested for alleged
assault with a deadly weapon during an argument with his wife. He is alleged to
have hit her in the face with an open hand and also to have threatened her with
a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
§ Sept. 4, 1993 -- Arrested for
allegedly striking Charisse Simons, the 26-year-old woman he lived with.
§ March 3, 1994 -- Investigated by the
IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly failing to file tax returns for in
excess of $300,000 of income derived from autograph and memorabilia shows.
§ April 4, 1994 -- Dodgers announce
Strawberry has a substance abuse problem and place him on the disabled list.
§ Dec. 8, 1994 -- He and his agent Eric
Goldschmidt were indicted on federal tax evasion charges alleging that
Strawberry failed to report more than $500,000 in income earned from 1986
through 1990.
§ Feb. 6, 1995 -- Major league baseball
suspends Strawberry for 60 days after he tested positive for cocaine. The
Giants, citing a clause in his contract, terminate the deal and release him.
§ Dec. 11, 1995 -- Strawberry is charged
in California with failing to make child support payments and faces one count
of willful failure to provide child support, two counts of violating a court
order to provide child support and another order to provide spousal support.
§ Aug. 20, 1998 -- Sued by attorney
Robert Shapiro for $100,000 plus interest in fees for a contract settlement
Shapiro negotiated with the Dodgers in 1994.
§ April 14, 1999 -- Charged with
possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. According to police,
Strawberry allegedly solicited an undercover officer for sex for $50. Upon
being searched, 0.3 grams of powder cocaine was found inside of his wallet. He
was released on $6,000 bond.
§ Feb. 22, 2000 -- A Florida Department
of Corrections report says Strawberry tested positive for cocaine on Jan. 19.
§ March 2002 -- Kicked out of drug
treatment center for trading some of his memorabilia for cigarettes and having
sex with a female resident. Of course Darryl was married at the time...
Harold
(13)
North
Dakota (13)
Eric
(12)
Bay
City (12)
Sam/Jeff/Dave/Joel* (10)
·
Ervin
Santana – PEDs
·
Miguel
Tejada – suspended 105 games for PEDs
·
Robinson
Cano – suspended for 2017 season for PEDs
·
Willie
Wilson pleaded guilty to attempting to buy cocaine and was sentenced to 3
months prison.
*This
franchise dates all the way back to founding league member, Joel, whose team
was taken over by Dave, then Jeff, now Sam.
Constantinople (9)
·
John
Rocker – Never arrested, but we have to mention him. He told SI "Imagine
having to take the train to the ballpark, looking like you're riding through
Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right
next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to
some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing." During a
subsequent interview, he spat on a Georgia toll machine and mocked Asian women.
Additionally, he referred to then-teammate Randall Simon as being a "fat
monkey."
SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – The 2020 Draft
By Jed Corman, guest columnist
Executive Summary
•
COVID!
•
Best Overall: Robin and Harold
•
Worst Overall: Arnie
•
# Players Still Rostered on the Team that Drafted
Them*: 25
•
New Record for most players related to former
players ever drafted**
*Only 25 players are still with their original team. However, due to re-drafts, 31 are currently
in the SOMBILLA.
**Not verified.
Prologue
On March 5th, 2020, Arnie sent out the list of draftable
players. Draft Day was set for March 29th. I was coming to Holliston! It was unclear if Sam (the new guy) could
attend in person but eventually it was established that he could!
There was no indication of a sense of anything being different. By that time we'd read about COVID. But of course nobody knew what was really
about to hit us.
On March 12th (the day Tom Hanks announced that he and his
wife had COVID) I reluctantly decided not to come up for the draft. Already – after just a week – things had
started to shift.
Between March 12th and March 17th it still seemed
that the draft might happen in person.
Most league members didn't feel too uncomfortable yet. Major League Baseball had delayed the start
of the season so we debated whether we should delay the draft accordingly. Generally people still wanted to have the
draft on March 29th. As
Harold put it: “I was thinking of keeping it 29 March just to give us (or me) a
sense of normalcy in these crazy times.”
Then Tom reported that he was feeling sick and he may well have had
COVID. And he was under tremendous
pressure at work due to all the employees needing to be set up to work from
home. He requested a later draft date
and the league quickly assented. We were
coming to realize that this draft would have to be conducted through a video
chat anyway and since MLB itself wouldn't start until July a delay really
didn't matter.
And so the draft took place on April 18th, 2020. Via Zoom.
Note that the Waiver Draft took place on July 26th.
And one final thing: the 2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign was played
exclusively via computer and so is the only season where we truly have complete
stats for all teams. Kind of cool even
though Eric hated it.
Round 1
1.
Yordan
Alvarez – Eric. Still only 26. A true masher. In his career thus far his OPS has never been
lower than .877. He is a DH and he can't
run. And still he is arguably the best
choice of the round.
2.
Fernando
Tatis Jr. – Tom. He's only 25! In his first 3 seasons his OPS was never
lower than .937. But his past 2 seasons
he's fallen off significantly and he was suspended. His ceiling is higher than Alvarez because
Tatis is a 5 tool player (and a SS).
Will he ever get back to his earlier level?
3.
Vladimir
Guerrero Jr. – Robin. The slugging first
baseman is also still just 25! He's had
a fine career. A worthy first round
choice.
4.
Bo
Bichette – Sam. Continuing the trend of
selecting sons of former players, the new guy makes his first pick. And Bichette too has had a good career and
has justified his being taken in round 1.
Not the slickest fielding SS though.
5.
Pete
Alonso – Arnie. The beefy first
baseman hit 53 homers in 2019. And he's
hit 40 or more 2 other times. Again,
can't argue against this pick.
6.
Eloy
Jimenez – Harold. The not rangy
outfielder is still youngish (27) but it may be that his first season (2019)
was his career year. He hit 31
homers. The next year his OPS was
higher. He didn't produce an unlimited
card again until 2023, which was a meh year.
Certainly can't declare him a bust though.
7.
Mark
Canha – Jed. 2019 was far and away a
career season for the (mainly) outfielder.
He had an OPS of .913. He hit 26
homers (in 410 AB). I think Lamanna
(pause for scoff from Arnie – I wonder if I could insert a sound effect
somehow?) pegged him as having one of the best cards in the set. Canha would be the worst choice of the round
but a) he's turned in multiple usable cards due to his penchant for walking and
b) see Randy's choice.
8.
Chris
Paddack – Randy. The still just
28-year-old Paddack had his career season in 2019. He had a .98 WHIP. More strikeouts than innings pitched. Randy couldn't be blamed for thinking he
might've found an ace. But he's never
come close to reproducing that season and seems to be getting worse over time. Only player selected in this round not still
on a roster.
Best: Eric, Tom.
Worst: Randy
Rostered: 7
Round 2
9.
Giovanny
Gallegos – Sam. 2019 was the reliever's
best season and I seem to remember he had one of the best, if not the best,
reliever cards in the set. He has turned
in a couple of additional usable cards.
10.
Jesus
Luzardo – Robin. The lefthander is
still just 26 years old. Robin had to
stay patient but was rewarded with a fine (if limited) 2022 season and another
excellent 2023 season. The future looks
bright. But he is a pitcher. On Bay
City. And currently on the 60-day IL.
11.
Cavan
Biggio – Tom. Yet another son of a
major leaguer. Unfortunately, Biggio the
younger has had probably only one limited usable card. The second baseman has good patience but not
much else.
12.
Brandon
Workman – Eric. In 2019, Workman went
10-1 with a 1.88 ERA. Ironically, he was
1-10 in 2014. Anyhoo, 2019 was Workman's
only good year. But it was quite a good
year.
13.
Gavin
Lux
– Arnie. Still just 26, the
highly-touted second baseman has never had a good season, yet he's still
playing. On the Dodgers no less.
14.
Hyun-jin
Ryu
– Harold. Interestingly, Ryu had a
fabulous 2018 season but wasn't drafted then. Maybe because he only pitched 82
innings? Anyway, of course 2019 was a
career year for the hefty lefty. Harold
did get some use out of Ryu in at least one subsequent season.
15.
Mitch
Garver – Jed. In 2019 the slugging
catcher hit 31 homers in 311 at bats.
His OPS was .995. I was in
win-now mode. And I did finish first in
the regular season. Garver has turned in
some additional usable cards though not looking good for the 2025/26 SOMBILLA
season....
16.
Brandon
Woodruff – Randy. I guess Future Wax
needed pitching. Wow, Woodruff has been
really good. His career WHIP is 1.05. Sad to say, he is out for the 2024 season.
Best: Randy
Worst: Arnie
Rostered: 4
Round 3
17.
Yuli
Gurriel – Robin. Gurriel hit 31 homers
in 2019 and was a 1e5 at first base. He
never hit more than 15 homers in a season after that. His 2021 season was excellent though. 2 very usable cards.
18.
Marcus
Semien – Harold. His career numbers
aren't that impressive but he has produced 3 outstanding cards. 2019, of course. But also 2021 (45 homers!) and 2023. Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern. He's also been an excellent fielder (2B and
SS) and a bit of a threat on the basepaths.
19.
Pedro
Baez
– Eric. This was the righty reliever's
second cup of coffee in the SOMBILLA. I
drafted him previously. He pitched a
total of 360 MLB innings with a 1.11 WHIP.
His 2020 season was usable so Eric got 2 years out of him.
20.
John
Means – Sam. Means has excellent SOMBILLA
career statistics! However, presumably
due to injuries, the lefthander has only pitched more than 43 innings
twice. But both times his card was
usable. And he's still rostered and only
31 and doing well in 2024....
21.
Lance
Lynn
– Arnie. The former Asshole Lynn
rebounded from a crappy 2018 to start a string of 4 usable cards in a row with
an excellent 2019 campaign. A starred
starter who struck out 243 batters in 208 innings. I remember he was particularly tough on
righties.
22.
Hansel
Robles – Harold. 2019 was Robles'
career year. It was a fine year for the
reliever – 72 innings with a 1.02 WHIP.
One and done though.
23.
Will
Smith – Tom. Wow, the highly-touted
catcher was not taken until late in the 3rd round? He did only have 170 AB but he was very
usable (.908 OPS).
24.
Aaron
Bummer – Eric. Totally the best name
in the round and probably in the whole draft. And the righty reliever's 2019
was his best. His 2020 was excellent too
but he only pitched 9 innings. Which isn't a lot even during a 60-game season.
Best: Tom
Worst: Harold, Eric
Rostered: 3
Round 4
25.
Frankie
Montas – Robin. In 2019 Montas went
9-2 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 16 starts. I imagine Robin hoped that this was a sign of
an impending breakout for the 26-year-old (at the time). He did produce a fine 2021 season so Robin
has so far gotten 2 good cards out of him.
26.
Dustin
May
– Tom. The tall, skinny,
still-only-26-years-old righthander has a career ERA of 3.10 and a 1.05
WHIP. Outstanding! Except...he's never pitched more than 56
innings in a season and he's out for the 2024 season. The 56 innings did come during the shortened
2020 campaign so Tom did get some usage out of May.
27.
Carson
Kelly – Eric. 2019 was Kelly's career
year. The defensive whiz had an OPS of
.826. His 2021 card may also have been usable (he did crush lefties that year).
28.
Mike
Yastrzemski – Sam. Another relative of a
former player! An older rookie in 2019,
Yastrzemski had a fine season (.852 OPS) followed by a career year in the
limited 2020 season (.968 OPS). An
excellent (out)fielder (and cute – Robin) to boot. But...his OPS hasn't been above .775 since.
29.
Ryan
Yarbrough – Jed. The lefty
starter/reliever has a career WHIP of 1.19 at the time I am writing this. Not bad.
In 2019 he had a WHIP of 1.00 in 141.2 innings pitched. I got some use out of his 2020 card as
well. If he keeps up his excellent 2024
I can see him getting re-drafted.
30.
Tyler
Duffey – Harold. The Doof (his real
nickname!) has had a largely undistinguished career as a starter turned
reliever. However, his 2019 season was
excellent (a 1.01 WHIP) and 2020 was even better. So two usable cards.
31.
Anibal
Sanchez – Jed. The mediocre starter had
at least a couple of tours of duty in the SOMBILLA. He was drafted #3 overall by Robin in 2007
after a very promising 2006 season (when he was 22 years old or so). After some off years, he started doing better
and finally, in 2020, I selected him after what statistically appears to have
been a pretty meh 2019 season. He was
better in 2018 but apparently not drafted in 2019 (?). Anyhoo, one and done for me.
32.
Robert
Stephenson – Randy. Stephenson has had one
very good season – 2019. The righty
reliever had a 1.04 WHIP and 81 Ks in 64.2 IP.
His 2023 was actually even better but he was not drafted.
Best: Sam
Worst: Harold (based on The Doof's performance in the SOMBILLA – 8.61
ERA)
Rostered: 3
Round 5
33.
Zac
Gallen – Robin. Gallen has had a good
career so far and is still only 28 years old.
Career WHIP of 1.11 at the time I am writing this. I'd say every season of his has been usable
except 2021, which wasn't far off usable.
34.
Ross
Stripling – Tom. His 2019 card had 90
innings of starter/relief with a WHIP of 1.15 (not incredible but ok). It was one and done for Stripling in
Constantinople. Stripling would get
re-drafted by Arnie in 2023. And
famously dangled as trade bait before the 2023/24 SOMBILLA season started.
35.
Jordan
Luplow – Eric. 2019 was far and away
the outfielder's best season. He was a
premier lefty killer (a 1.181 OPS vs. L).
One and done.
36.
Tyler
Clippard – Sam. The bespectacled righty
reliever had a fine career WHIP of 1.11 and produced two truly outstanding
cards in 2019 and 2020.
37.
Colin
Poche – Arnie. At the time I'm
writing this the lefty reliever has a career WHIP of 1.11 as well.... His two best seasons thus far have been 2019
and 2023 (redrafted by Eric). One and
done for Arnie. I wonder if a batter
gets a hit off of him, can he say he screwed the Poche?
38.
Sandy
Alcantara – Harold. Still only 28 years
old, Alcantara's 2019 card was borderline usable (he had a 7.04 ERA in the
SOMBILLA in 2020/21). He kept getting
better though and in 2022 produced the 3rd best starred starter
card. Like pretty much every pitcher in
MLB, he's out for the 2024 season.
39.
Brett
Gardner – Jed. Brett Gardner offered
defense, on-base, speed and a touch of power.
A lefty batter who was much better vs. righties. Certainly this was a re-draft (I drafted him
in 2009) and maybe a re-re-draft. In
2019 Gardner hit a career high 28 homers.
With a career high OPS of .828.
His last SOMBILLA season though.
40.
Brian
Reynolds – Randy. At the time I write
the switch-hitting Reynolds has a career OPS of .821! Who knew?
2019 was an outstanding debut – he made the all-rookie team. He had a bad sophomore slump but rebounded
with his best season in 2021. 2022 and
2023 not as good but still usable. A fine
pick.
Best: Robin
Worst: Tom (worst performance of the one and dones)
Rostered: 4
Round 6
41.
Gio
Urshela – Robin. 2019 was a career year
for the third baseman but 2020 was excellent as well. And in 2022 he was marginally usable.
42.
Marcus
Walden – Tom. Waldo (actual nickname)
produced the one usable card of his career in 2019. He was a reversed righty with 78
innings. He had an 8.71 ERA during the
2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign.
43.
Anthony
Bass
– Eric. 4th reliever chosen
thus far by Eric. Bass has turned in 3
usable cards with his performances in 2019, 2020 and 2022 (he was re-drafted by
Sam in 2023). Pretty good for a 6th
round choice.
44.
Mike
Minor – Sam. The new guy eschews the
league's distaste for lefty starters and snags the journeyman hurler, who had
his second best season in 2019 (and was never usable again). Minor led
Neverwinter in innings pitched but went 2-9 with a 7.06 ERA.
45.
Tommy
Edman – Arnie. The utility man
debuted in 2019 with an impressive .850 OPS.
He played solid defense and could steal a base. Of course he never came close to that level
again. Edman did bat .382 (and a
sizzling .432 vs. righties) in 76 at bats for North Dakota in 2020/21.
46.
Asdrubal
Cabrera – Jed. On our website this
draft choice was attributed to Harold but it was in fact mine. The former Bay City-ite was picked up by the
Nationals later in 2019 and went nuts as Washington enjoyed a dream
season. Cabrera had an OPS of .969 in
124 at bats. One and done.
47.
Michael
Lorenzen – Robin. The outfielder turned
reliever turned starter had a career year in 2019. Lorenzen acquitted himself well in the
SOMBILLA with a 3-1 record, a 3.16 ERA and 45 k's in 31 ip. Redrafted by Arnie this year with a good
limited card and he is having a good 2024....
48.
Emilio
Pagan – Randy. Naturally, the righty
reliever had his best season in 2019, with a .83 WHIP. But he also turned in a stellar 2023
(re-drafted by Sam in the 4th round). Pagan wasn't used by Future Wax in
2020/21? Randy must've had one hell of a
relief staff....
Best: Robin
Worst: Randy
Rostered: 4
Please take a 5 minute break before continuing to read.
Round 7
49.
Trevor
Gott
– Robin. The marginal righty reliever
did have a 1.10 WHIP in 2019 (and a 1.03 WHIP in 2022). I assume Robin cut him and he was not
redrafted. But Gott did his job – a 2.82
ERA for Bay City in 2020/21.
50.
Keston
Hiura – Arnie. How I remember this
moment. In 2019 the lefty batting Hiura
had a .938 OPS in 314 at bats (1.021 vs. righties). He was 23 years old and on the all-rookie
team. I had assumed he'd be drafted in
the 2nd round, which meant I wouldn't have a shot at him, and I put
him out of my mind. I remember my shock
that he was still available and I was pissed at Arnie. [I credit the newly
initiated 5-minute break after the 6th round (which I voted against)
for determining he was still there – AP]. But when all is said and done, 2019
was far and away Hiura's career year. I
did grab him later in a waiver draft and he was barely usable and now he's out
of MLB and the SOMBILLA.
51.
Nick
Ahmed – Eric. This long ago Bay
City-ite was a SS 1e14. He had a career
year hitting (.753 OPS). He was
excellent vs. lefties. He got only 8 at
bats for Eric and only appeared in 11 games overall but he did hit .375 during
the 2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign. Eric did
get another season out of him.
52.
Hanser
Alberto – Sam. 2019 was totally a
career year for Alberto (whose nickname should have been V05, I mean
c'mon). He hit .305 and was a bit of a
lefty killer. Offered some positional
flexibility. One and done for the
Alpacas as far as I can tell, although Arnie picked him up in the next year’s
waiver draft.
53.
Brian
Anderson – Arnie. Was a 2 at 3B and a 3
(with a -3 arm!) in RF. A meh hitter for
his career, he was at his peak circa 2018-2020.
Arnie got 2 years out of him. He
did not fare well in the SOMBILLA (e.g. hitting .230 during the 2020/21
campaign).
54.
Brandon
Kintzler – Harold. The reliever had a
very average career. For example, a
career record of 24-24. Previously
drafted (by Eric) in 2014. And before
that Kintzler had a stint on Constantinople.
He had a 1.02 WHIP in 2019 (his career best). He was also reversed. He went 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA during the
2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign. One and done
for the Ellis.
55.
Cam
Bedrosian – Jed. Son of Cy Young award
winner Steve Bedrosian! Originally
drafted by Arnie in 2017. Bedrosian
produced usable cards with his 2019 and 2020 efforts. He had a 7.88 ERA during the 2020/21 SOMBILLA
campaign and a 7.04 during 2021/22.
56.
Dinelson
Lamet – Randy. El Flaco (“The Skinny”
in English) didn't look all that flaco (but did look cute – Robin). The righthanded starter has been in the
majors since 2017 and is still only 31 so I assume his low career total of 367
innings (at the time of this writing) is due to multiple injuries*. The only usable card Lamet has produced was
during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
He pitched 88 innings for Future Wax in the SOMBILLA in 2021/22 with 108
Ks and an ERA of 4.40.
* (no doubt stemming from his early tenure
with Bay City)
Best: Nobody*
Worst: Everybody*
Rostered: 0
If you're a positive person feel free to switch Best to Everybody and
Worst to Nobody.
Round 8
57.
Jason
Castro – Robin. The catcher's career
year was 2013 but it doesn't seem he was drafted in 2014. Anyway, the lefthanded hitting Castro had a
.854 OPS vs. righties and he was a 2(-1)e1 behind the plate (237 AB). Robin maximized his usage but he hit only
.228 in the SOMBILLA.
58.
Roberto
Perez – Tom. The superb defensive
catcher – a 1(-4)e1 – had a career year in 2019 with a .773 OPS (.656 was his
career average). He was excellent
against lefties. Tom got a lot of use
out of him in the SOMBILLA – Perez had 11 homers in 152 AB in 2020/21. And Perez played a little (and, offensively,
very badly) during the 2021/22 campaign.
59.
Omar
Narvaez – Eric. 3rd catcher
taken in a row. Narvaez was lefthanded
and a good hitter who was a liability behind the plate with his +2 arm. In the SOMBILLA he performed almost exactly
the same as Perez – Narvaez had 12 homers in 153 at bats. 2019 was his career year.
60.
Adam
Kolarek – Sam. The lefty reliever had a
solid 2019 followed by his best season in 2020. He was extremely tough on
lefthanded batters but pretty awful against righties (in 2019). He performed adequately in the SOMBILLA in
2020/21 (4.05 ERA in 13 innings). He had
a 1.93 ERA in 2021/22.
61.
Joakim
Soria – Arnie. The former Asshole
reliever produced several usable cards during his career. In 2019 he had a WHIP of 1.03. He had a 4.15 ERA in the 2020/21 SOMBILLA
campaign. And a 4.35 ERA during the
2021/22 season.
62.
Tony
Gonsolin – Harold. The Dodger starter
has a career WHIP of 1.05. He's been
usable almost every season (though alas he like so many others is out for
2024). In 2022 he went 16-1 with a WHIP
of .87.
63.
Daniel
Hudson – Jed. I believe there were two
D Hudsons but I'm 99% sure I drafted the relief pitcher who played for Toronto
and Washington in 2019. Not Dakota
Hudson, who pitched for St. Louis.
Hudson compiled a 2.42 ERA during the 2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign (in 26
innings). Originally drafted in the
second round of the 2011 draft by Randy.
64.
Brendan
McKay – Randy. In real life, the
lefty starter was taken with the 4th pick overall by Tampa Bay in
2017. He only pitched (in the majors) in
2019. Never actually got to see any
SOMBILLA action.
Best: Harold
Worst: Randy
Rostered: 1
Round 9
65.
Nick
Anderson – Robin. The righty reliever
has never had a season with a WHIP over 1.10 But he has rarely pitched enough
innings to be usable. Robin did get 2
excellent cards out of him. Anderson was
terrific during the 2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign – a 2.30 ERA with 46 Ks in 27.1
IP. In 2021/22 he had a 2.51 ERA.
66.
Trevor
May
– Harold. The big righty reliever had
his overall best season in 2019. A 1.07
WHIP. More K's than IP. But he didn't fare so well in the SOMBILLA –
a 5.61 ERA during the 2020/21 campaign.
He was a one and done.
67.
Luis
Arraez – Eric. Arraez debuted in 2019
hitting .334. He's never hit below
.294. He can barely field, he can't run,
he has minimal power. But boy can he hit
for average.
68.
Mike
Tauchman – Sam. A pretty average to
maybe below average major leaguer, Tauchman of course had a career year in 2019
(.865 OPS). The lefthanded hitting
outfielder was better against lefthanded pitching. He hit .159 in the SOMBILLA in 44 AB.
69.
Griffin
Canning – Arnie. The lanky (still just
28-years-old) righthander made his debut in 2019 with some promise (a 1.22
WHIP, more Ks than IP). I don't think he
ever appeared in a SOMBILLA game.
70.
Christian
Walker – Harold. The first baseman had
been around for a while but never got more than 49 at bats until his breakout
2019. He would later in his career earn
a 1 defensive rating but was a 3e14 in 2019.
Walker did ok for Harold during the 2020/21 SOMBILLA season – hitting
.252 with 9 homers. While he was
redrafted in 2023 by Randy (11th round), Walker was one and done for
Harold.
71.
J.B.
Wendelken – Jed. A limited righty
reliever with a .92 WHIP in 2019.
Wendelken had 15 saves (in just 13.1 IP) and a 1.35 ERA for Oceanus
during 2020/21. And by gosh he was
usable the next year as well – he compiled a 2.63 ERA in 24 IP in 2021/22.
72.
Luis
Urias – Randy. I'd say this was a
pure prospect play by Randy. Urias was
23 and unusable. The infielder did have
a breakout in 2021 with 23 homers. Did
Randy hold onto him that long?
Nope. And he wasn't redrafted.
Best: Eric
Worst: Randy
Rostered: 2
Round 10
73.
Tyler
Skaggs – Robin. In a bold move to avoid
injuries and curses, Robin drafted the already deceased lefthander. At least his last season was his best
statistically. Skaggs had a 2.19 ERA for
Robin in 4 starts during the 2020/21 SOMBILLA campaign.
74.
Jose
Urquidy – Tom. The forever promising
righthander has pretty decent career stats (he is, you guessed it, out for
2024). A 1.14 WHIP, for example. Urquidy has made some SOMBILLA
appearances. I know I had him at one
point (waiver draft?). But in
Constantinople, Urquidy compiled a 10.34 ERA in 15.2 IP in 2020/21.
75.
Kevin
Pillar – Eric. A gold glove caliber
yet light-hitting (having a great 2024 at the time I'm writing this though)
outfielder. This was a redraft by Eric,
who drafted Pillar in 2017. 2020 season
was his best ever, so Eric enjoyed two usable cards this time around. Oh – Pillar hit .316 in 57 AB for Eric (Haiku
Aggression) in 2020/21.
76.
Tommy
Kahnle – Sam. Drafted by Tom in 2018,
the righty reliever has pitched better than average statistically in his career
but only twice achieved 60 or more IP.
2019 was one of those seasons.
Kahnle had a 1.06 WHIP and 88 K in 61.1 IP. In the SOMBILLA, Kahnle produced a 4.15 ERA
in 21.2 IP.
77.
Nico
Goodrum – Arnie. Presumably he was
drafted for his utility – he had 7 positions listed on his card. In 2019 Goodrum was something of a lefty
killer too. One and done. Lifetime SOMBILLA batting average: .189.
78.
Brandon
Brennan – Harold. Brennan pitched 57
innings in his entire career. 47.1 of
which were in 2019. Maybe his card
belied his statistics? He was tough on
righties (but horrible against lefties).
4.86 lifetime SOMBILLA ERA.
79.
Jarlin
Garcia – Jed. The imposing lefty
reliever had a decent brief MLB career.
Garcia provided 3 years worth of cards.
80.
Sean
Murphy – Randy. Randy took a flier on
the young catcher who only had 53 AB in 2019. Obviously Murphy has more than
justified the investment, being considered one of the best catchers in MLB.
Best: Randy
Worst: Tom, Arnie
Rostered: 1
Round 11
81.
Brock
Holt
– Robin. The utility man had a few
usable seasons but never an OPS > .773.
I'm somewhat surprised he wasn't drafted in 2015 after hitting .281 for
the Red Sox. And being really cute. 2019 was his highest batting average (.297)
and the lefty batter did better against righties. Holt hit .256 in the SOMBILLA in 82 AB. One and done.
82.
Josh
Taylor – Tom. The big lefty reliever (who
does a plie before every pitch) had his only usable season in 2019. Tough on lefthanded hitters. He compiled a 4.40 ERA in 14 IP for the
Manatees. Second best ERA on the staff
(keep in mind Tom's typical ballpark dimensions). One and done.
83.
Darwinzon
Hernandez – Eric. The big lefty reliever
was 23 at the time of the draft and playing for the Red Sox so presumably a
homer/prospecting pick. He did have 57
Ks in 30.1 IP. I don't think he ever
got to the mound in a SOMBILLA contest.
He had a serious control issue.
84.
Ty
Buttrey – Sam. The big righty reliever
had his one usable season in 2019. Maybe
his card was better than his stats (slightly reversed, 1.27 WHIP) but I'd say
he was an innings-soaker-upper at best in the SOMBILLA. He had an almost respectable 4.24 ERA in 17
IP for Neverwinter.
85.
Brent
Suter – Arnie. The
Harvard-educated lanky lefthander has
had a decent if injury-riddled career thus far (he's still in the
majors...). In 2019 he had a .49 ERA (in
18 IP). He gave North Dakota 7 IP in
2020/21 with a 2.45 ERA. His stats
suggest Arnie should have gotten another year or two out of him but I guess his
cards weren't good enough.
86.
Austin
Riley – Harold. The slugging third
baseman didn't have an auspicious 2019 (hence his being available in round
11). Nor did he fare well in 2020. But the Ellis were patient with his
development and in 2021 he arrived, hitting .303 with 33 HR. He then hit 38 HR in 2022 and 37 HR in
2023. Arguably the best choice in the
whole draft, considering the round.
87.
John
Brebbia – Jed. The hirsute righty
reliever has compiled solid stats in his career. He had some better years than 2019 but he was
tough on righties and struck out more than his IP. Treated roughly in the SOMBILLA to the tune
of a 7.90 ERA in 27.1 IP. One and done
(he missed the 2020 MLB season).
88.
Austin
Nola
– Randy. Aaron's brother seems to be out
of the majors at least after a fairly brief career. The catcher (who also played 1B, 2B, 3B and
RF) had two good years in a row in 2019 and 2020. Just started tailing off after that
though. Nola hit .259 in 2020/21 and
then .268 in 2021/22 in the SOMBILLA (68 total AB).
Best: Harold
Worst: Eric
Rostered: 1
Rounds 12-14
89.
Dakota
Hudson – Tom. See Daniel Hudson
above. Dakota Hudson was and still is
NOT Daniel Hudson. The lanky righty sure
looked promising in 2020, coming off a 2019 season where he went 16-7 with a
3.35 ERA. But...with a WHIP of
1.35. In the SOMBILLA in 2020/21 he got
hit hard resulting in a 7.51 ERA (but a 4-4 record). Seems to have been a one and done.
90.
CJ
Cron
– Sam. Another son of a former major
leaguer (who knew)? “Crony” hit 187 HR
in his career and often flirted with usability.
The beefy first baseman's 2018 season (30 HR) was actually better than
his 2019 (25 HR). Neverwinter got some
limited use from Cron for 3 years.
91.
Joe
Jimenez – Arnie. The rotund righty
reliever has pitched quite well the last 3 years but has not been called up to
the SOMBILLA. In 2019 he was a
prospecting pick for Arnie, who saw 82 Ks in 59.2 IP as promising. But Arnie couldn't keep a reliever on his
roster for 3 seasons without any contributions.
If Jimenez keeps up his fine 2024 season, he might get re-drafted.
92.
Kevin
Newman – Jed. The at-the-time
26-year-old shortstop/utility man was pegged as one of those possible breakout
candidates, I seem to recall. He hit .308
in 2019! But he went in the opposite
direction. Newman never played in the
SOMBILLA (I had Trevor Story pre-Boston at the time).
93.
Zach
Plesac – Randy. Crikey, a nephew of
Dan Plesac! “Sac” (!) produced 3
potentially usable cards but was only in the SOMBILLA during the 2021/22
campaign (where he fared well – a 3.34 ERA).
In 2022 he broke his hand punching the pitcher's mound.
94.
Jordan
Yamamoto – Tom. A prospecting pick
(still 23 at the time of the draft), the undersized righty starter was also
marginally usable. And use him the
Manatees did – Yamamoto went 3-2 with a 6.55 ERA in the SOMBILLA. Out of MLB after 2021.
95.
Nick
Senzel – Tom. Still only 28 years old
the perennial “5-tool” prospect has tantalized SOMBILLA GMs with his potential
since his debut in 2019. The 3B (and
sometimes OF) has been derailed by injuries.
He was picked up at some point by Oceanus and then redrafted in 2024 by
Eric. The Eric karma effect has led to
Senzel having arguably his best season ever thus far.
96.
Stefan
Crichton – Tom. Fittingly, the
Spooneybarger pick is a righty reliever.
Crichton had a 1.02 WHIP in 2019 and was reversed. Tom benefited from two usable seasons, darned
good for a final pick of a draft.
Best: Tom, Sam
Worst: Jed, Tom, Arnie
Rostered: 1
Epilogue
I decided to award the “Best Draft” to the team(s) that had the most
players still rostered from this draft.
If any of these players had been traded, I would have tried to factor
that in. But that wasn't an issue. Any players from this draft who were cut and
later redrafted were not considered.
Both Robin (Guerrero, Luzardo, Montas, Gallen and Urshela) and Harold
(Jimenez, Semien, Alcantara, Gonsolin and Riley) still have 5 players on their
rosters from this draft. The rest of the
league averaged 2.5 players still rostered.
By the same token, Arnie has only 1 player remaining on his team from
the 2020 draft – his first round choice, Pete Alonso. So he had the “Worst Draft.”
I used quotation marks to indicate that it's a very crude way to
measure the impact of a draft on a team.
If we look at team records in the 4 seasons since this draft, Arnie has
the most overall wins. Robin has
probably had the best trajectory since the 2020 draft. She's improved every year except last year –
when she won the title!
Having now done several draft retrospectives I would posit that if you
have 3 players (or more) remaining on your team from a draft 4 years ago, you
acquitted yourself respectably in that draft.
SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 3 – Champions League*
The SOMBILLA has had five different champions over the past 5 seasons – Robin, Tom, Arnie, Sam, and Randy. So, I threw them all into one Recent Champions League. But then I decided it’d be more fun to let others play. Just a scant 8 years ago, Jeff won the SOMBILLA Championship, so I added his ’15-16 team to the mix from beyond the grave.
Shockingly, Eric with 9 SOMBILLA Championships (second only to RAT’s 12) now has a 12-year drought. He last won the league with The Cheddarmen in 2011-2012. Harold’s last championship was the year before that in ’10-11. So I threw them into the Champions League.
* That leaves poor Jed. His last championship was with Shithead in 1984-1985. Even if wanted to purchase the 1983 card set ($30!), I would have to travel back to Holliston and try to find the stats in the attic to recreate his team. Probably doable but way too much effort. But it seemed unfair to not let Jed play, so I went back to the ’19-20 season when Oceanus lost the World Series to Randy in 6 games, and let Jed use that team. Hence the asterisk.
So, here’s the lineup:
2023-2024 Bay City
2022-2023 Constantinople
2021-2022 North Dakota
2020-2021 Neverwinter
2019-2020 Future Wax
2019-2020 Oceanus
2015-2016 “What Eric Said?”
2011-2012 The Cheddarmen
2010-2011 New Orleans
The oldest three teams played in leagues that used a 25-man roster, but I gave each team a 26-man roster based on the final stats of the 26 most used players. Actual ballparks played in of course (another reason to not include the 85 Shithead team – we didn’t even use ballparks back then! ). I also used the pre-2020 rules (no ghost runner or three batter reliever rule, since the majority of these teams didn’t use them.
I set up a 160 game schedule. Here are the standings through April 30:
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
19-20 Oceanus OCE
18 10 .643 ----
133
11-12 The Cheddarmen CHE
15 10 .600
1.5
10-11 New Orleans NEW
13 12 .520
3.5
20-21 Neverwinter NEV
13 12 .520
3.5
21-22 North Dakota NDK
14 13 .519
3.5
22-23 Bay City BAY
12 13 .480
4.5
15-16 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
13 16 .448
5.5
19-20 Future Wax FUT
7 12 .368
6.5
21-22 Constantinople CON
9 16 .360
7.5
Oceanus! The only non-championship team is off to a hot start. Can they keep it up? And keep in mind that that CN team from two years ago finished 4th at 28-28 in the regular season.
Here are the standings as of May 31:
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
21-22 North Dakota NDK
33 22 .600 ----
107
19-20 Oceanus OCE
31 24 .564
2.0
11-12 The Cheddarmen CHE
26 21 .553
3.0
20-21 Neverwinter NEV
30 26 .536
3.5
10-11 New Orleans NEW
24 26 .480
6.5
19-20 Future Wax FUT
23 27 .460
7.5
15-16 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
26 31 .456
8.0
22-23 Bay City BAY
24 29 .453
8.0
21-22 Constantinople CON
21 32 .396 11.0
Now that’s more like it! Note that teams have played close to the SOMBILLA 56 game schedule. I’m sure Tom is reveling in his team’s basement dwelling. Current leaders:
LEAGUE LEADERS FOR 2024 Champions League through May 31.
LEAGUE LEADERS FOR 2024 Champions League ----BATTING AVERAGE---- --------HOMERUNS------- -----RUNS BATTED IN---- ---------
A.Benintendi
BAY .347 R.Devers CON 16
R.Acuna NEV 36
J.Baez FUT .303
M.Machado FUT 13
J.Bell NEV 36
A.Jones
NEW .297 A.Dunn NEW 13
A.Bregman NEV 36
Not much change through June 30, although Jeff has pulled into 3rd place:
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
2122 North Dakota NDK
47 30 .610 ----
78
1920 Oceanus OCE
45 36 .556
4.0
1516 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
40 40 .500
8.5
1011 New Orleans NEW
38 39 .494
9.0
2021 Neverwinter NEV
42 44 .488
9.5
1112 The Cheddarmen CHE
37 39 .487
9.5
1920 Future Wax FUT
36 40 .474 10.5
2223 Bay City BAY
36 44 .450 12.5
2122 Constantinople CON
37 46 .446 13.0
----------WINS--------- ----------ERA----------
M.Clevinger OCE 11 S. Bieber
NDK 2.41
J.Degrom
NDK 9 S. Ohtani
CON 2.48
C.Carpenter
NEW 9 Z. Gallen
BAY 2.59
T.Lincecum
CHE 9 W. Buehler OCE
2.67
Through July 31, New Orleans (18-9 during July) and Constantinople (18-7
during July) charge to the front:
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
1920 Oceanus OCE
63 46 .578 ----
52
2122 North Dakota NDK
58 46 .558
2.5
1011 New Orleans NEW
56 48 .538
4.5
2122 Constantinople CON
55 53 .509
7.5
1516 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
52 55 .486 10.0
1112 The Cheddarmen CHE
51 56 .477 11.0
1920 Future Wax FUT
50 57 .467 12.0
2021 Neverwinter NEV
50 61 .450 14.0
2223 Bay City BAY
47 60 .439 15.0
AWARDS VOTING FOR 2024 Champions League through
July 31
MVP AWARD
CY YOUNG AWARD
A.Bregman(NEV) 377
S.Doolittle(OCE) 112
T.Tulowitzki(CHE) 366 S.Bieber(NDK) 99
J.Ramirez(OCE) 213
M.Scherzer(FUT) 49
T.Story(OCE) 139
K.Giles(WES)
19
R.Devers(CON) 102
F.Ni*(NEW) 9
* That’s Harold’s 2009 mutant Fu-Te Ni in the Cy Young voting.
Standings at the end of August:
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
1920 Oceanus OCE
79 55 .590 ----
22
2122 North Dakota NDK
75 60 .556
4.5
1011 New Orleans NEW
74 61 .548
5.5
2122 Constantinople CON
66 69 .489 13.5
1516 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
65 69 .485 14.0
1112 The Cheddarmen CHE
66 71 .482 14.5
1920 Future Wax FUT
63 72 .467 16.5
2021 Neverwinter NEV
61 71 .462 17.0
2223 Bay City BAY
57 78 .422 22.5
Only 3 ½ games separating 5 teams for the final playoff berth.
ALL-STAR SELECTIONS BY POSITION through August
31
C J.Realmuto(NEV) 1,508,632 Y.Gomes(FUT) 1,429,130
1B P.Konerko(CHE) 2,828,805
A.Dunn(NEW) 2,290,945
2B J.Baez(FUT) 2,993,961 B.Zobrist(NEW) 2,294,825
3B J.Ramirez(OCE) 2,618,228
E.Suarez(BAY) 2,609,630
SS T.Tulowitzki(CHE) 4,199,471
A.Bregman(NEV) 3,941,466
LF S.Ohtani(CON) 2,273,859
C.Crawford(CHE) 2,195,045
CF R.Acuna(NEV) 2,668,890
T.Grisham(NDK) 1,992,453
RF B.Harper(CON) 3,153,191
J.Werth(CHE) 2,024,181
Pi S.Doolittle(OCE) 4,031,492
S.Bieber(NDK) 3,486,695
K.Giles(WES) 3,187,528
F.Ni(NEW) 2,539,522
A.Nola(OCE) 2,444,339 M.Scherzer(FUT) 2,147,078
A.Manoah(CON) 1,905,326
W.Buehler(OCE) 1,901,106
T.Lincecum(CHE) 1,874,515
G.Gallegos(NEV) 1,857,843
L.Lynn(NDK) 1,654,532 M.Clevinger(OCE) 1,635,227
FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2024 Champions
League
WON LOST PCT
GB MAGIC#
1920 Oceanus OCE
89 71 .556 ----
1
2122 North Dakota NDK
89 71 .556 ----
1011 New Orleans NEW
86 74 .538
3.0
1516 "WhatEricSaid?" WES
81 79 .506
8.0
1112 The Cheddarmen CHE
80 80 .500
9.0
2021 Neverwinter NEV
79 81 .494 10.0
1920 Future Wax FUT
73 87 .456 16.0
2122 Constantinople CON
73 87 .456 16.0
2223 Bay City BAY
70 90 .438 19.0
Pretty
close final standings. Oceanus takes
first place by virtue of an 11-9 head to head advantage over North Dakota. Jeff beats out Eric by 1 game and Sam by two
games for the final playoff berth. Sam’s
Bregman wins MVP and Bieber wins the Cy Young
AWARDS VOTING FOR 2024 Champions League
MVP AWARD
CY YOUNG AWARD
A.Bregman(NEV) 384 S.Bieber(NDK) 121
T.Tulowitzki(CHE) 366 S.Doolittle(OCE) 91
S.Bieber(NDK) 213
A.Nola(OCE) 49
T.Story(OCE) 138
K.Giles(WES)
19
J.Ramirez(OCE) 97
F.Ni(NEW) 8
ALL-STAR SELECTIONS BY POSITION
C J.Realmuto(NEV) 1,810,491 Y.Gomes(FUT) 1,635,135
1B P.Konerko(CHE) 2,931,530
J.Bell(NEV) 2,708,852
2B J.Baez(FUT) 3,419,584 B.Zobrist(NEW) 2,322,666
3B E.Suarez(BAY) 3,005,760
J.Ramirez(OCE) 2,871,495
SS A.Bregman(NEV) 4,989,471
T.Tulowitzki(CHE) 4,287,771
LF C.Crawford(CHE) 2,440,222
S.Ohtani(CON) 2,212,426
CF R.Acuna(NEV) 3,185,328
A.Jones(WES) 2,316,288
RF B.Harper(CON) 3,340,445
J.Werth(CHE) 2,309,734
Pi S.Bieber(NDK) 4,789,892
K.Giles(WES) 4,151,239
S.Doolittle(OCE) 4,081,147
A.Nola(OCE) 3,284,038
F.Ni(NEW) 2,914,700 G.Gallegos(NEV) 2,781,002
M.Scherzer(FUT) 2,236,026
T.Lincecum(CHE) 1,960,962
L.Lynn(NDK) 1,883,824 J.Degrom(NDK) 1,848,345
W.Buehler(OCE) 1,791,639
A.Manoah(CON) 1,730,018
LEAGUE LEADERS FOR 2024 Champions League
----BATTING AVERAGE---- --------HOMERUNS------- -----RUNS BATTED IN----
I.Suzuki
NEW .301 R.Devers CON 39
J.Baez FUT 97
L.Guillorme
NDK .284 E.Suarez BAY 36
J.Bell NEV 96
A.Bohm
NDK .269 A.Bregman NEV 34
P.Konerko CHE 96
J.McNeil
BAY .267 S.Ohtani CON 33
A.Bregman NEV 95
C.Figgins
NEW .266 A.Dunn NEW 33
M.Machado FUT 89
A.Dickerson
NDK .264 B.Harper CON 32
A.Dunn NEW 89
J.Martinez
WES .263 F.Tatis Jr CON 32
S.Ohtani CON 84
R.Cano
NEW .263 J.Votto CON 32
R.Acuna NEV 82
A.Bregman
NEV .262 J.Bell NEV 32
R.Cano NEW 82
J.Altuve
OCE .261 T.Tulowitzki CHE 32
B.Harper CON 80
J.Baez
FUT .259 R.Acuna NEV 31
T.Mancini NEV 80
C. Crawford CHE .257 E.Suarez
FUT
31
B.Zobrist NEW 80
(obviously plays better for me –
Robin)
----------WINS--------- ----------ERA---------- ---------SAVES---------
S.Bieber
NDK 19 S.Bieber NDK 2.28 S.Doolittle OCE 55
L.Lynn
NDK 18 W.Buehler OCE 2.49 F.Ni NEW 41
A.Nola
OCE 18 A.Nola OCE 2.81 K.Giles WES 36
G.Gonzalez
CHE 16 C.Carpenter NEW 3.08 J.Leclerc FUT 33
M.Scherzer
FUT 15 J.Happ NEW 3.09 J.Thatcher
CHE 33
C.Kluber
OCE 15 T.Lincecum CHE 3.19 G.Gallegos NEV 32
M.Clevinger
OCE 15 T.Lilly NEW 3.20 K.Graveman CON 29
T.Lincecum
CHE 15 C.Rodon CON 3.22 R.Marinaccio BAY 27
M.Scherzer FUT 3.27 D.Pomeranz NDK 25
M.Clevinger OCE 3.39 L.Hendriks NDK 11
Z.Gallen BAY 3.44 D.Bard BAY 8
J.Lester
WES 3.50
Playoffs!
Jed vs. Jeff
Arnie vs. Harold
Oceanus 1 “What Eric Said?” 0
Oceanus 6 “What Eric Said?” 1
Oceanus 4 “What Eric Said?” 2
“What Eric Said?” 1 Oceanus 0
Oceanus 3 “What Eric Said?” 0
Oceanus wins series 4 games to 1
MVP – Corey Kluber 2-0, 1.29 ERA
New Orleans 5 North Dakota 2
North Dakota 8 New Orleans 3
North Dakota 8 New Orleans 6
North Dakota 1 New Orleans 0
North Dakota 6 New Orleans 1
North Dakota wins series 4 games to 1
MVP - Francisco Lindor .409, 1HR, 4 RBI
World Series: Oceanus vs. North Dakota. North Dakota attempts to defend the honor of
the Champions against a pretender.
Oceanus 5 North Dakota 3
Oceanus 3 North Dakota 2
North Dakota 4 Oceanus 3
Oceanus 12 North Dakota 1
North Dakota 9 Oceanus 1
Oceanus 2 North Dakota 1
Oceanus wins series 4 games to 2
MVP – Kluber 2-0, 2.63
A profound embarrassment for the 8
champions. I’d also argue that Jed
should be embarrassed that this great team could not even win the World Series
back in 2019. Next time, we’ll use the
1983 cards for Jed.
SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 4 – Superlatives
Least likely to make a midseason trade – Bay City
Most likely to change team name midseason or offseason – Koop Island
Blues
Most likely to use Lamana in drafting and to structure trades – Oceanus
Most likely to lampoon teams for using Lamana – North Dakota
Most likely to have multiple layers of reasons for having to reschedule
– Constantinople
Least likely to see your email within 24 hours (and most likely to
respond to it several months later) – Future Wax
Most likely to draft a Yankee – New Orleans
Most difficult for creating a superlative – Neverwinter
HOW IS
YOUR TEAM DOING?
Here is our
first unscientific look ahead to the 2024 cards (due out in February).
THE 2024 SOMBILLA/FOX ALL-STAR
COUNT
Eric (10) – Y. Alvarez, Arraez, Crochet, Gilbert, R. Lopez, Rutschman, T.
Scott, Skubel, Soto, R. Suarez
Arnie (10) –Alonso, Betts, Bohm, W. Contreras, Kwan, M. Miller, A. Munoz, Paredes,
Tucker, Yelich
Tom (9) – Devers, Duran, Harper, Ohtani, Ragans, Santander, Seager, W.
Smith, Tatis
Robin (9) – Burnes, Correa, R. Greene, Guerrero, T. Hernandez, McMahon, J.
Naylor, S. Perez, Witt Jr.
Harold (8) –Clase, Glasnow, J. Hoffman, Holmes, Judge, Sale, Semien,
Wheeler
Jed (6) – Abrams, Altuve, H. Greene, K. Marte, J. Ramirez, Webb
RAT (5) – De La Cruz, Houck, B. Reynolds, Strahm, T. Turner
Sam (5) – Ty. Anderson, Freeman, Fried, Helsley, Henderson
Tentative SOMBILLA Opening Day: Sunday, November 10!