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

Background: Consensus pre-season favorites New Orleans jump out to a horrendous 5-11 start, losing series to Tom, Arnie, and Sam and find themselves in 7^th place for the Thanksgiving break. A 5-7 December has them in dead last at the midway point at 10-18, 7 games out. But The Ellis refuse to panic and begin their slow climb back to respectability. Harold goes 12-4 in February (including a sweep over hapless Future Wax) to even their record at 22-22 and a tie for 4^th with Jed. A mediocre February (6-6) is good enough to hold off moderately charging Bay City (7-5) and stumbling OC (3-9) to claim 4^th place.

Neverwinter, picked for 3^rd in the preseason poll, is a solid 9-7 in November good for 4^th place. A 4-4 December leaves Sam in 3^rd percentage points ahead of surprising ND. After a 7-5 January, the consistent Alpacas are now in 2^nd place, 4 games behind Tom. In February, back to back home sweeps of North Dakota and Constantinople at the frozen tundra of the Ice Wind Corral key a 14-6 close to claim first place (via the head to head tiebreaker against Tom) for last year’s cellar dwellers.

The two teams split both of their season series.

…..

Alpacas Walk Off Ellis in Game 6 to win Series

In a close six game series, the Alpacas win the series 4 games to 2.

Each game was decided by three runs or less, three going to extra innings.

Ronald Acuna was the offensive star for the Alpacas hitting .393. He drove in 6 and hit the game winning (and series walk-off) 2-run homer in the bottom of the 13^th in game six (his only homer of the series). Kyle Bradish earned two wins, posting a 1.84 ERA and 16 strikeouts over two starts. Felix Bautista recorded two saves in three appearances.

New Orleans out homered the Alpacas 13 to 9 in the series. Judge and Riley each had three. Judge hit .333, driving in six, while Riley hit .304 driving in seven, also hitting three triples.

In an oddity, the only stolen base went to Matt Olsen, rolling a three to get a lead. Harold did fail to convert on several sacrifice bunt attempts, missing on 72% and 86% chances.

Acuna did miss a ball park homer in Harold's park, rolling a 20.

Game 1: Neverwinter over New Orleans 6 to 3

Alex Bregman had 3 base hits and 2 RBIs and Kyle Bradish mowed down 11 New Orleans batters as the Neverwinter Alpacas beat the New Orleans Ellis by a score of 6 to 3. Bradish (1-0) gave a fine effort for Neverwinter. He went 8 innings surrendering 5 hits and 3 walks and surrendered 2 'long-bombs'. New Orleans was out-hit by Neverwinter, 11 hits to 6. Felix Bautista earned the save, his 1st. Sonny Gray (0-1) was given the loss. Bradish was jubilant in the hometown clubhouse, 'It was a lot of fun out there. The fans gave me a lot of support as did my teammates. We got the victory and I'll sure take 11 strikeouts anytime!'

Game 2: Neverwinter over New Orleans 5 to 2

The Neverwinter Alpacas bested the New Orleans Ellis by a 5 to 2 score at Icewind Dale Corral. Merrill Kelly (1-0) gave Neverwinter a solid outing. He went 6 and 1/3 innings, surrendering 6 hits and 4 walks and 2 home runs. Kelly got relief help from Emilio Pagan, who was excellent in relief and gained credit for his 1st save. The losing pitcher was Zack Wheeler (0-1). He was touched for 4 home runs in his 6 innings of work.

Game 3: New Orleans over Neverwinter 7 to 6 in 10 innings

The New Orleans Ellis plated 5 runs in the 7th inning and edged the Neverwinter Alpacas in 10 innings at Doc Ellis Field by the score of 7 to 6. The game was deadlocked at 6 after nine full innings. New Orleans came out the victor in the 10th inning. Marcus Semien drew a walk. Austin Riley stepped up to the plate and he smacked a single, giving New Orleans the victory as 29,877 happy fans celebrated wildly. New Orleans rapped out 10 hits for the night. Jeff Hoffman (1-0) got credit for the victory, pitching 1 and 2/3 innings and allowing no runs. Emilio Pagan (0-1) ended up with the loss in relief. He was the victim of a defensive lapse and did not allow an earned run in the game.

Game 4: New Orleans over Neverwinter 10 to 8 in 11 innings.

Aaron Judge blasted a home run and had 3 RBIs as the New Orleans Ellis defeated the Neverwinter Alpacas in 11 innings 10 to 8 at Doc Ellis Field. The game was deadlocked at 6 after nine full innings. New Orleans ended up winning it in the 11th inning. Nelson Velazquez initiated the scoring when he blasted a two-run home run making New Orleans the winners and sending the 39,884 fans home happy. This was the kind of game that many fans love, as the lead changed hands 5 times. Jeff Hoffman (2-0) went 1 inning allowing no runs for the win. Dauri Moreta (0-1) was hit with the loss in relief. He allowed 2 runs and 1 hit without retiring a batter.

Neverwinter did score two in the top of the 10th, only to see their closer give up a two-run bomb in the bottom of the 10^th to extend the game.

Game 5: Neverwinter over New Orleans 4 to 2.

In a close game the Neverwinter Alpacas got by the New Orleans Ellis by the score of 4 to 2. Neverwinter scored 2 runs in the 6th inning. Ronald Acuna opened up the inning nicely when he drew a walk. Freddie Freeman was next and he smashed a two-run homer. The teams had been locked in a scoreless duel until the 6th inning. The win was credited to Kyle Bradish (2-0) who went 6 and 2/3 innings allowing 2 runs. Felix Bautista preserved the game for Bradish, recording his 2nd save. Sonny Gray(0-2) was given the loss.

Game 6: Neverwinter over New Orleans 4 to 3 in 13 innings.

The Neverwinter Alpacas edged the New Orleans Ellis in 13 innings at Icewind Dale Corral by the score of 4 to 3. The game was deadlocked at 1 after nine full innings. Finally, Neverwinter prevailed in the 13th inning. Ronald Acuna started the attack as he cracked a two-run shot giving Neverwinter the win and sending the hometown fans into a frenzy. Neverwinter had 11 hits for the game and New Orleans had 4. Justin Topa (1-0) picked up the victory, allowing 2 runs in 2 innings. Clay Holmes (0-1) was the losing pitcher in relief. He pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up 1 hit and 1 walk.

New Orleans did score a run in the top of the 13th, Judge driving in Ghost Runner Taylor Ward with two outs.

Neverwinter thought they won it in the bottom of the 11th, on a 1-16 chance to score the ghost runner. Patrick Bailey kept Cedric Mullins from scoring on a JT Realmuto single to center.

Great series.

Playoffs

Koop Island Blues vs. Constantinople (3/1 at Mansfield):

Background:

Constantinople, picked 2^nd in the pre-season poll, jumps out to the early-season lead at 9-3, helped by a sweep in Eric’s park. With a 6-6 December, Tom is still in first place at 15-9 at the holiday break. Tom goes 11-5 in January (highlighted by a sweep at Bay City) and is in first place by 4 games. Although he goes a decent 8-8 in February, getting swept by Sam costs him first place on the tie breaker.

Eric was only chosen 6^th in the pre-season poll, and he stumbles badly out of the gate at 1-7 (not helped by Tom’s sweep). But he claws his way back to .500 with a 13-7 December, helped by a sweep over hapless Future Wax and is just a game out of 4^th place at 14-14 at the holiday break. An 8-4 January (featuring series wins over North Dakota and Bay City) and he’s tied with Sam, 4 games behind Tom with a month to go. A strong 10-6 February (featuring yet another sweep over still hapless Future Wax) leaves Eric at 32-24, in third place, two games behind Tom and Sam.

Tom owned Eric (in a non-slavish way) during the regular season, winning 7 of 8. But a look inside the numbers showed that most of the games were tight, so Eric had reason to believe he would not get swept away by Ohtani and company.

…..

In a grinding back-and-forth affair that saw the greater luck roll Eric’s way, Koop Island Blues upset the favored Constantinople Manatees, 4 games to 3.

Scores:

Game 1: CN 8-3

Game 2: KIB 7-5 (10 innings)

Game 3: KIB 5-3

Game 4: CN 6-0

Game 5: CN 6-3

Game 6: KIB 8-1

Game 7: KIB 5-4

Details:

Game 1 was not the romp the final score indicates. The score was just 4-3 CN thru the top of the 7th when CN dope-slapped Tanner Scott with consecutive bombs (Friedl and Jung), padding 4 runs on their one-run lead to take home the win in front of adoring, snorting, flipper-clapping fans. Eric was already gearing up for a quick departure.

Game 2 saw KIB go up 3-0 thru 4, but CN scored a single run in the 5th and then put up a 4-spot in the 7th to take a 5-3 lead. But in the top of the 8th lefty specialist Ryan Borucki gave up a single to Soto and a homer to Alvarez (off Borucki’s card, 1-4 chance) and just like that the game was tied. To the top of the 10th we went, and with two outs Mr. Clutch Luis Arraez stroked a two-run single to center. Vest shut down CN to nail the save.

Game 3 looked like an early romp, with KIB going up 5-0 after two on lefty Garrett, but then Garrett settled into a groove and shut down KIB for the next four innings before giving way to Neris. For KIB, Wacha and a parade of relievers kept the fort, even with Moll coughing up two in the 8th. Tough luck Tom missed 3 BP HRs by lefties, 1-12. Two by Friedl, one by Ohtani. Friedl’s second miss came with two on, and would have given CN the lead.

Game 4 was the only true romp as CN went up by 5 after three innings off Verlander. Miller sailed through the KIB lineup, stranding runners all across the diamond. For his part, Verlander pulled a Nate Eovaldi. Up 2 games to 1, KIB had expended a lot of reliever innings over the first 3 games, and Verlander was told going in that if he got behind early he’d be left on the hill with no support. Despite giving up those 5 early runs, he never got tired until he reached his 8-inning limit, and finished the 9th to great applause from teammates and fans.

KIB’s rested pen didn’t factor into Game 5, however. CN was up 5-1 after just 2 and hung on for a 6-3 win to take a 3 to 2 series lead heading home. CN’s Ragans bamboozled KIB while KIB’s Valdez was (for the 2nd time this series) utterly ineffective and supported by absolutely no offense. The game played out exactly how Tom had hoped: get up early, and hang on for dear life. Arraez helped Tom’s cause by hitting into two rally-killing double plays, including a game-ending twin-killer in the 9th.

Now with their backs to the wall in Game 6, heading to Building 19 Park “where homers go to die,” KIB needed Logan Gilbert to be the pitcher he’ll be next year now, and sure as Future Wax he was, going six scoreless and leaving with a slim 1-0 margin. With the game still one-nil in the top of the 8th, seldom used (and regular-season disappointment) Adolis Garcia stepped to the plate with one on against (close your eyes, Tom) Borucki, and skied a shot to left that somehow managed to Bucky 'Fucking' Dent itself over the fence (another 1-4 chance) to give KIB a 3-0 lead. CN muscled a run across in the bottom of the frame on a sac fly, but in the top of the 9th KIB batted around again to Garcia, this time with two out and bases juiced, and he crushed a Neris hanger for a granny and the KO. This is a guy who had 1 homer and 4 rbis all year.

Game 7 came down to the expiring pens. Both starters (Garrett and Wacha) were gone by the 2nd, but the defining moment of the game (and the series, probably) occurred on the very first batter, when Yandy Diaz hit a high diamond and rolled a “1,” a fucking one, which prompted Tom to slowly bow his head in order to allow his pain and rage to pass through him until he could return to the game on a higher plane. Though KIB was up 3-1 after only two, CN tied the game with single runs in the 4th and 5th. But in the top of the 6th Arenado hit a huge, 2-out double off (one last time) Borucki that plated two. Friedl brought CN to within one run with a solo blast in the bottom of the 8th, and CN had two runners on with two out and Raleigh at the plate, but Tarik Skubal put him away with high heat for the series win.

For the series, CN hit five home runs, three of which came in the first game, and the last of which came in the 8th inning of game 7. The only other dinger came in the game 3 loss. Don’t get him started. He missed (by my count) 8 BP HRs, 5 in KIB’s more hitter-friendly park, and also had two clutch outs. KIB managed 9 homers. Skubal had two saves for KIB.

World Series Neverwinter vs. Koop Island Blues (March 8, 2025 Internet)

Background: It’s the first post-season meeting between these two managers. They split their season series, each team winning 3 of 4 at home.

Game 1: Neverwinter over Koop Island 5 - 4 in 10 innings

Game 2: Koop Island over Neverwinter 2 - 1

Game 3: Koop Island over Neverwinter 3 - 1

Game 4: Neverwinter over Koop Island 8 - 1

Game 5: Neverwinter over Koop Island 14 - 5

Game 6: Neverwinter over Koop Island 8 - 2

Neverwinter Alpacas win the series 4 games to 2.

What started as a close series coming down to the final out in the first three games, with nail-biting suspense, shifted to three blowouts as the dice/splits flipped in a big way those last three games. Neverwinter runners were thrown out on several occasions - missing on everything from 1-14 to 1-17. Playing on the computer, I hosted and shared my screen via Google Chat.

The Neverwinter offensive star was Ronald Acuna; he hit .360, 5HRs, and 9RBIs along with 4 for 5 in SBs. A close second was Freddie Freeman: he hit .407, 2HRs, 5RBIs and a triple. Merrill Kelly pitched two strong games, getting a win and a loss, 16 innings, 1.69ERA and 19 Ks.

On a down note for the Alpacas, 2nd baseman Matt McLain committed four errors, each one coming on a roll of six.

Koop Island Blues were paced by Nolan Arenado, hitting .316 with two RBIs. Luis Arraez hit .304, driving in three.

The Alpacas hit .327 for the series, while KIB hit .206.

Game 1: Alpacas 5 - 4 in 10 innings

Neverwinter jumped out to an early lead, a common event, only to see the Blues get three off of Bradish in the top of 3^rd, most off the damage from a Juan Soto 2-run blast. Alpacas scored one in the 6th and two in the 7th to retake the lead only to see the Blues tie it up in the top of the 8th.

19,149 fans watched an exciting game at Icewind Dale Corral. The Neverwinter Alpacas topped the Koop Island Blues by the slimmest of margins, 5 to 4. Both teams had scored 4 runs after nine full innings. Neverwinter won it in the 10th inning. Mike Yastrzemski was hit by a pitch. J.T. Realmuto stepped up next and doubled, making Neverwinter the victor and beginning a joyous hometown celebration. Neverwinter ended up with 12 hits for the game while Koop Island had 9. Justin Topa (1-0) got credit for the victory, pitching 1 inning and allowing no runs. Ryan Pressly (0-1) took the loss in relief.

Game 2: Blues 2 - 1

The Blues bullpen did their thing, limiting the Alpcas to 5 hits and two walks over the final 5 innings. One of the Blues runs was unearned, thanks to a McLain error. He managed two in this game.

One run was the difference at Icewind Dale Corral as the Koop Island Blues defeated the Neverwinter Alpacas 2 to 1. In the 2nd inning Koop Island scored 2 runs. The key offensive moment was provided by Luis Arraez, who helped quiet the crowd when he banged out a single, scoring two baserunners. Both teams' bats went to sleep after the 2nd inning with no runs scored after that point. The win went to Tanner Scott(1-0) who allowed no runs in 1 inning. Scott got help from Scott Barlow, who was credited with his 1st save. Merrill Kelly (0-1) was hit with the loss.

Game 3: Blues 3 - 1

Verlander and the Blues bullpen, save to Ryan Pressly, did their thing shutting down the Alpacas. Verlander went 5 1/3 for the win. Wander Franco was the offensive star, with an RBI double and a solo blast off Alpaca starter Jordan Montgomery.

In a game for the baseball purist, Justin Verlander (1-0) and Jordan Montgomery (0-1) squared off in a tense pitching duel, and the Koop Island Blues emerged victorious over the Neverwinter Alpacas, 3 to 1. Koop Island had 2 runs cross the plate in the 2nd inning. Aaron Hicks led off and started the rally when he doubled. Montgomery then threw a high and inside pitch that got by the catcher; it was ruled a passed ball. Yordan Alvarez was next to the plate, but was promptly struck out. Wander Franco doubled, knocking in a run. Adley Rutschman stepped into the box and reached on an error. Luis Arraez grounded out, scoring the final run of the inning. That early scoring held up. Tarik Skubal was perfect in relief and got the save, his 1st.

Game 4: Alpacas 8 - 1

The Alpacas scored early and often as Valdez took one for the team in game 4 to tie up the series. Lefty killer Luis Campusano had a night, going 4-4 with a pair of HRs, driving in four. Kutter Crawford pitched exceptionally well, giving up a solo shot to Juan Soto in the bottom of the 1^st, but that was the only Blues hit against him. Chas McCormick went 4 for 5, including a homer, driving in three.

Catcher Luis Campusano ripped 2 home runs and had 4 RBIs and Kutter Crawford came through with a solid 7 innings as the Neverwinter Alpacas outscored the Koop Island Blues 8 to 1. Campusano had a big day at the plate. He smashed a two-run homer in the 1st inning, delivered a single in the 3rd inning, banged out a one-base hit in the 5th inning and blasted a two-run home run in the 7th inning. Overall Neverwinter out-hit Koop Island 13 to 3. The winning pitcher was Crawford (1-0), who allowed 1 run in 7 innings. Framber Valdez (0-1) was hit with the loss. He served up 4 home runs in his 9 innings. Campusano was in a good mood after the game, 'I'm just seeing and hitting the ball real well now. I made some adjustments last week and they are paying off. That's what this game is about, making adjustments as the season goes along.'

Game 5: Alpacas 14 - 5

The stats are a little bit bloated, as Eric brought in Adolis Garcia to pitch the final three innings to save his staff. Neverwinter jumped on Logan Gilbert often and early, tiring him in the 2nd. A pair in the 1st followed by a five spot in the 2nd spelled the end of night for Gilbert. Acuna went 4 for 4, with two homers, driving in five. Freeman went three for six driving in two.

Right fielder Ronald Acuna smacked 2 home runs and had 5 RBIs and Kyle Bradish tossed a complete game as the Neverwinter Alpacas outscored the Koop Island Blues 14 to 5. Acuna had a great day at the plate. He lifted one out of the park for a two-run home run in the 6th inning and lost the ball over the fence for three runs in the 9th inning. Neverwinter dominated offensively as they scored in 6 different innings. Bradish (1-0) was the winner, allowing 5 runs for the game. Logan Gilbert (0-1) was the loser. He was unable to control the Neverwinter offense and allowed 6 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings.

Game 6: Alpacas 8 - 2

Once again the Alpacas jumped out to a big lead early, two in the first and another five spot in the 2nd tiring Michael Wacha. The offense was again provided by Acuna (2 for 5 with 3RBIs [2HRs]) and another pair of HRs by Freeman, who went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Kelly went eight strong, giving up two solo HRs to Brandon Nimo and Yandy Diaz, but only three other hits. Felix Bautista pitched the 9th to close out the series.

Ronald Acuna blasted 2 home runs and had 3 RBIs and Merrill Kelly whiffed 10 batters as the Neverwinter Alpacas defeated the Koop Island Blues 8 to 2 at Icewind Dale Corral. The Neverwinter fans enjoyed the offense provided by Acuna. He smashed a solo shot out of the park in the 1st inning and bombed a two-run dinger in the 2nd inning. Overall Neverwinter out-hit Koop Island 12 to 6. Kelly (1-1) went 8 innings allowing 2 runs for the victory. The losing pitcher was Michael Wacha (0-1). He allowed 4 hits and no walks in 1 and 1/3 innings. 'Everything felt great' Kelly said. 'I had a good fastball, I felt I could throw it by everybody today.'

THOUGHTS WHILE TRYING TO THINK OF THOUGHTS FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Minutes of Annual Meeting, March 29, 2025

1. Franchise News – Eric’s new team name is Madaket

2. Dues – Arnie spaced out and had forgotten that last year, he waived all future dues for the league as a gesture of goodwill, and thus requested dues ($6.75) for last year, which everyone paid.

· Tom suggested that future dues of $10 per manager be donated to the charity of the SOMBILLA champion’s choice. It was unclear to me if this is now a new official league policy or not (I was against it). There was no formal vote but it did appear to have a consensus.

· A request for a summary of all historical dues was made, and is shown in the summer studies as study #5.

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. Sam wins his 2^nd Manager of the Year award.

MVP 1 2 3 Tot

Acuna, NV 5 1 28

Ohtani, CN 2 4 22

J. Lowe, KIB 2 1 7

Alvarez, KIB 1 5

Freeman, NV 1 1 4

Olson, NO 3 3

Arraez, KIB 2 2

Judge, NO 1 1

Cy Young 1 2 3 Tot

Bradish, NV 5 1 28

Bautista, NV 1 3 2 16

Montgomery, NV 1 2 1 12

Nola, OC 1 1 8

Keller, NO 1 1 4

S. Gray, NO 3 3

Gausman, FW 1 1

Manager of the Year 1 2 3 Tot

Sam 5 2 31

Eric 3 4 27

Tom 2 4 10

Harold 4 4

4. Presentation of the Richman Cup by last year's champion, Robin, to this year’s champion, Sam.

5. Rule change proposals

a. One or two game playoff clarifications. We clarified that for a one-(or two-) game playoff 27-man rosters continue to be used, but revert back to 26-man rosters for the post-season. Also, only one (or two) starting pitchers need to be on the roster. We also clarified that the trading deadline for regular season games (i.e., trades for players not eligible for the postseaon is game 56. Thus, you cannot make a trade just for the 1-or 2-game playoff. Summary of trade deadlines:

1. Post-season eligibility (not including 1-or 2-game playoff) is before game 41

2. Regular season eligibility only is before game 56.

b. Injury change! Jed proposed that all injuries are now 2 games maximum. His rationale was that long injuries have an inordinate impact on the player’s team and that we already limit limited players anyway. This passed by a vote of 5-3 (Tom, Randy and Arnie were against it.)

We did then add an addendum to the one injury per season rule, which is that players with < 450 plate appearances can be injured up to two times per season (each injury up to two games). This was unanimous. Summary:

Old rule New rule

One injury per season Max games per injury

Max games per injury 450+ PA 2 One injury per season

450+ PA 2 < 450 PA 2 Two injuries per season

400-449 4

350-399 6

300-349 8

250-299 15

< 250 20

Note that there is no change to bylaws provision I.B.2 “Injuries incurred in the regular season also carry over into the one-game playoff.”

c. Additional days off. In addition to the current days off (after games 20, 28, and 40), Eric proposed to add a day off after game 52, arguing that we are ‘fighting for the playoffs’. This passed by a vote of 6-2 (Randy and Arnie were against it). He withdrew another proposal to add a 2^nd day off after game 28 because of the injury rule changes.

Tom then proposed a day off after game 56 (in case of a one- or two-game playoff. This passed by a vote of 5-3. (Jed, Randy and Arnie against it)

d. Designing ballparks not allowed! After Jed withdrew a proposal to limit draftable players, Sam proposed that we limit available ballparks to the actual MLB ballpark numbers published by Strat-O-Matic. This passed by a vote of 5-3 (Tom, Harold, and Eric against it). Robin proposed that this be delayed a year – for the ’26-27 season as it could impact scouting and drafting. This passed by acclamation.

Tom then proposed that the available ballparks include the actual ballparks plus their reversed ballparks. This passed by acclamation.

Harold then proposed that we also allow mixing and matching singles and homers from different parks, which received no support.

e. Rolloff amendment Randy proposed that if someone rolls multiple ones (or whatever is the lowest roll) in the first rolloff, and is tied with another person in the lottery necessitating a second round of rolloff, they get to roll that number of 20-sided die again in the second round, instead of just one as is the current rule. This counts for any 2^nd round of rolloff (not just for the 1^st pick). This passed unanimously but for next year (2026).

Tom’s proposal for a Vegas style rolloff whereby if there’s a tie for the lowest roll, they cancel out and the 2^nd lowest roll then counts, was dismissed and not voted on.

After the card-burning (we burned Marcel Ozuna and Aroldis Chapman), we proceeded with the rolloff among Robin, Randy, Jed and Arnie. With just one die (out of a total of 22 by the 4 participants), Robin (4.5% chance) defied the odds and was the only person to roll a “1”. Arnie rolled a “2” and got the 2^nd pick. A demoralized, disgusted, and pissed off Randy (who had a 50% chance of winning the rolloff) got the 3^rd pick.

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

· The first retread was Harold’s surprise pick of former Future Wax prospect Jurickson Profar 4^th overall. Two days after the surprise pick, Profar was suspended by MLB for 80 games for PED use.

· Robin redrafted infielder Jose Iglesias in the 2^nd round, marking his third time on the BC roster.

· Eric picked up former Neverwinter IF Kiner-Falefa in the 5^th round.

· Nate Eovaldi finds himself on his third SOMBILLA team (Randy, Eric) after Sam picked him up with the last pick of the 5^th round.

· Robin redrafted OF Ramon Laureano in the 6^th.

· Also in the 6^th round, Eric drafted Carlos Santana. He formerly played for Randy and Tom.

· Former North Dakota prospect Joe Jiminez was snagged by Eric in the 7^th round.

· One pick later, former North Dakota farmhand Luke Weaver was chosen by Harold.

· Randy drafted Eric’s former OF (and first round pick) Joc Pederson in the 8^th round.

· To the disgust of many onlookers, Eric drafted Marcel Ozuna in the 9^th round. And then tried to defend this action.

· Harold picked up former North Dakota catcher Jacob Stallings in the 11^th round.

· Kenley Jansen (Robin and Harold) was drafted by North Dakota in the 12th round.

· The Spooneybarger pick by Jed was former New Orleans reliever Blake Treinan.

SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 – Last to First

This past season, Sam pulled off a remarkable feat. After finishing dead last in ’23-24 at 21-35, 15 games out of first place and 8 games out of the playoffs, he stormed back in ’24-25 to finish in first place and won the SOMBILLA Championship! Has this ever been done before?

The answer is NO! Four previous teams have come from last place to make it into the World Series, but all of them lost.

· ’87-88 Manilla Folders (everyone wave to Matt!) finished tied for last with Joel at 19-37, 11 games out of the post-season. With the first pick in 1988 draft, Matt drafted Mark McGwire who proceeded to win the SOMBILLA triple crown. Matt also astutely traded his next year’s first round pick to Durga & Harold for Nolan Ryan. These acquisitions led the Folders to 3^rd place. He then beat Jed (then known as Madagascar) in the playoffs only to get swept by Eric in the World Series.

· In ’91-92, the Hatchbacks, managed by the esteemed David Pinto and ‘Is he still in the league’ Land finished 21-35, 22 games out of first, and 6 games out of the playoffs. In October, just before the season, Dave traded Sam Horn to Jed for Bobby Witt (the original) helping Dave, managing by his lonesome (Land had been awarded his own expansion team), to finish in 2^nd place. He beat Harold’s Ross’s Raiders in the playoffs and took Eric (Franz Josef Land) all the way to 7 games before losing in the World Series.

· Eight years later, (’10-11) Bay City finished in last place for the 2^nd year in a row at 14-42, 22 games behind first place, 18 games out of the playoffs and a full 10 games behind 7^th place! With the first pick in the draft, she drafted the cute Buster Posey. And just before the very next season, Fukakyu traded cute CJ Wilson and Huff to Bay City for V. Wells and a 7th round pick from Bay City if CJ Wilson is a "1" in Lamanna's (became Fernando Salas). That year, ’11-12, she finished in 4^th place at 30-26, and then swept North Dakota (winning game 1, 20-2) in the playoffs. She faced perennial league kingpin Eric in the World Series (The Cheddarmen that year) and lost in 5 games.

· In ’13-14, Harold finished in last place for the second consecutive season at 22-34, 11 GB and 7 out of the playoffs. In the draft he picked up the ill-fated Jose Fernandez and Sonny Gray with his first two picks. The following season, he went 31-25; good for second place. (In December during the season, he acquired Joe Mauer from Oceanus for Travis D'Arnaud and a player to be named later, rumored to be Ian Desmond). After beating Tom in 5 games in the playoffs, he lost to Future Wax in 7 games on a walk-off hit by Jose Reyes.

Looking at Sam’s championship team, it should not be lost on us that like these other last to World Series teams, he was helped by the draft. His first pick in the draft last year, 2^nd overall, Kyle Bradish, won the SOMBILLA Cy Young award.

SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – The 2021 Draft

By Jed Corman, guest columnist

Context

The 2021 SOMBILLA draft was conducted via Zoom. Not sure when everyone else received their first COVID vaccination but I got mine on March 28^th, 2021. So we just weren't quite ready to resume in-person gatherings. We did convene on November 7^th, 2021 for Opening Day. I remember Eric's COVID hair....

A few things to keep in mind:

• We were drafting players after a COVID-shortened season.

• After the only season played entirely on computers, Oceanus had the best regular season record in 2020/21 but lost to Neverwinter in the World Series.

• Following the draft, pre-season predictions indicated the league believed that Robin was the team to beat but while Bay City did make the playoffs, it was North Dakota (predicted to finish 2nd) that took home the Richman Cup in 2022.

Regarding that first bullet point, this led to some special one-season-only rules/bylaws changes, such as a 28-man roster, 14 draft rounds, no roster freeze, no trade deadline, no 29^th man call up and new formulas for calculating player limits.

From my journal: “I feel I did pretty well, balancing improving the team for the upcoming season and getting players who can help in the future. My first round choice was 2B Nick Madrigal. Hopefully, he will turn into a perpetual .300 hitter who steals bases and plays great defense.” I think this offers some insight into why I haven't won a championship in the last 86 years.

I realized that I have a PDF of the Lamanna draft guide (with all the card ratings) so I'll add some Strat-O details that may further illuminate why players were selected. And it tickles me to think how annoyed Arnie will be whenever I write Lamanna. Lamanna, Lamanna, Lamanna. Arnie? Arnie??? Are you okay????? (Ed note: Jed needs to switch the first sentence of this paragraph with the last sentence of the prior paragraph).

Food for thought: because there were fewer prospects due to COVID and/or the shortened season, was this the shittiest draft ever? Or at least in recent memory? What do you think? Only 27 of the 112 players chosen (remember, 14 rounds) are currently rostered, which includes trades and re-drafts.

Finally, who had the best draft? Well, both Eric and Randy still have 4 players they drafted in 2020 on their rosters (and Eric has 2 other 2020 draftees). Meanwhile, I only have 1 player drafted in 2020 still on my roster.

The Draft, Round by Round

Round 1

1	Harold	Robert,L	CHA	CF
2	Robin	Hayes,K	PIN	3B
3	Tom	Sanchez,S	MMN	RSP
4	Randy	Arozarena,R	TBA	LF
5	Eric	Anderson,I	ATN	RSP
6	Arnie	Bohm,A	PHN	3B
7	Jed	Madrigal,N	CHA	2B
8	Sam	Fried,M*	ATN	LSP

While Madrigal is one of the worst choices I've ever made in the first round of a draft, was he THE worst in the first round of the 2021 draft?

Before we get to that, who was the best choice? Max Fried. A career record (as of this writing) of 80-37 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. While he is a lefty, which to some (e.g., me) lowers his value in the SOMBILLA, he's had 5 usable years in a row and appears headed for a 6^th.

While Robert hasn't yet lived up to his potential he's still only 27. He has hit 38 homers in a season. He was the clear-cut top choice.

Arozarena's career stats are a little subpar by SOMBILLA standards but he has offered some consistency – a string of 4 years hitting 20 or more homers at one point.

In re the worst choice, the contenders are the aforementioned Madrigal, Sixto Sanchez and Ian Anderson. Of these – all of whom were limited – Anderson offered the most usability. We don't know how Anderson performed in the SOMBILLA (ed note: thanks Eric) but Madrigal hit .338 in 68 AB with 4 SB. Sanchez had a 6.13 ERA in 39 2/3 IP. So I'll say Sanchez was the worst choice. Unlike Madrigal and Sanchez, Ian Anderson seems to be back in the MLB (with an 11.57 ERA as I write this).

Hayes and Bohm haven't panned out as one would hope for a first rounder but especially Bohm has turned into a better than average MLBer (and Hayes is a gold-glover) and they are both still rostered.

By the way...and I'm sure Arnie will get a special kick out of this...7 of these players were in Lamanna's top 8 rookies of the 2020 SOM set (Lamanna had Bohm as his #2 after Robert). The 8^th was Andres Gimenez – see the 11^th round!

Round 2

1	Randy	Cronenworth,J*	SDN	2B
2	Tom	Williams,D	MLN	RRP
3	Robin	Karinchak,J	CLA	RRP
4	Harold	Martin,C	ATN	RRP
5	Eric	Keuchel,D*	CHA	LSP
6	Arnie	Grisham,T*	SDN	CF
7	Jed	Lewis,K	SEA	CF
8	Sam	Antone,T	CIN	RRP

Without doing any research I think I can safely say Devin Williams was the best choice. In spite of his struggles with the Yankees so far this year. Actually looking at the numbers confirms that Williams has produced 5 usable seasons in a row (amazing for a reliever) with an ERA under 2 in 4 of them and his worst season WHIP has been 1.19 (way over any other season before 2025). He has always struck out considerably more batters than IP.

Going through the other picks, Cronenworth has been pretty mediocre overall but did produce usable seasons in 2020 and 2021. And he's still rostered!

Karinchak never pitched much but his overall career stats are actually pretty good. And he played very well (in small sample sizes) over 3 SOMBILLA seasons.

The ancient Chris “My Favorite” Martin has played many SOMBILLA seasons and is currently rostered by Oceanus. He was rated as the top reliever in the set after his 2020 season (a .61 WHIP).

2015 Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel (first drafted by Oceanus in 2016) produced a few very good seasons, 2020 among them. He had a very similar card to Fried (but Fried was 27 at the time and Keuchel 33).

Trent Grisham and Kyle Lewis were the next best CF prospects after Robert. Lewis won the AL rookie of the year in 2020. I preferred Grisham though. Unfortunately, neither one of these guys panned out, though Grisham is having a resurgence as a (hated) Yankee. Arnie cleverly hung on to him.

And finally Antone? He has a 1.00 career WHIP! But has only pitched 76 innings over 4 seasons.

I'm going to split the worst pick between Lewis and Antone.

Round 3

1	Harold	Heuer,C	CHA	RRP
2	Robin	Mayers,M	LAA	RRP
3	Tom	McKenzie,T	CLA	RSP
4	Randy	Gonzalez,V*	LAN	LRP
5	Harold	McCann,J	CHA	C
6	Arnie	Rodriguez,R	PIN	RRP
7	Jed	D'Arnaud,T	ATN	C
8	Sam	Hernandez,J	TEA	RRP

And the run on relievers (and catchers) begins! Naturally all of the relievers chosen had excellent 2020 seasons. But did any of them have staying power?

Not Heuer, though he is back in the MLB after 3 lost years. Not Mayers. Gonzalez has had 2 statistically good but limited years in 2023 and 2024 but I presume Randy cut him after his not usable 2021 season. Rodriguez produced another excellent card in 2021 but then disappeared. Still, he was the best of this bunch of relievers. Oh, and Hernandez was one and done.

Triston “Spuds” McKenzie was a promising prospect who produced a fine 2020 season and a fantastic 2022 season. He's still only 27 and still in the MLB but he's not performing well. No longer in the SOMBILLA.

2020 was an outlier for McCann. He had an OPS of .896 whereas his career OPS was .673. He was also limited (even by 2020 standards). He did hit .298 for Harold during the 2021/22 campaign in 47 AB but with just 1 HR.

Finally, Travis d'Arnaud. He had a .919 OPS in 2020 – way better than any other season. He did well for me during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign, with a .884 OPS in 107 AB. One and done though. He was originally drafted by Harold in 2014 (10^th round) and subsequently traded to me. Over the course of his career he generated 3 usable seasons.

Geez, hard to pick best and worst. I'll go with McKenzie and Rodriguez as the best (2 usable seasons). Kind of splitting hairs to say who was worst so I won't even bother. None of these guys is still rostered.

Round 4

1	Harold	Crawford,J*	SEA	SS
2	Robin	Garcia,A	MLN	CF
3	Tom	Adell,J	LAA	RF
4	Randy	Mountcastle,R	BAA	LF
5	Eric	Bart,J	SFN	C
6	Robin	Scott,T*	BAA	LRP
7	Jed	Fletcher,D	LAA	SS
8	Sam	Wendle,J*	TBA	3B

JP Crawford has a career OPS of .712 but has earned a 1 rating at SS on multiple occasions, I believe. His career season was 2023 (.818 OPS) but it didn't translate in the SOMBILLA (he hit only .204 during the 2024/25 campaign). He remains rostered and is thus far enjoying a fine 2025.

Avisail (not Adolis) Garcia had a long MLB career that included one season where he hit 29 homers and another with an OPS of .886. Totally forgot but he was an Asshole! And did very well for me during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign. Not sure why Robin drafted him in 2021 though as his 2020 numbers are well below his career averages. But she was rewarded with his 2^nd best season (the 29 homers) in 2021.

Jo Adell was a highly touted prospect. He is still only 26. On the one hand, he's hung on in the MLB. On the other hand, he has not produced a good season yet, though he did hit 20 homers in 2024 (while batting .207). A pattern is emerging with Tom – he's clearly going after the best available prospects thus far.

Ryan Mountcastle, the lefty-killer who totally sucked for me after I traded for him and Brandon Belt (giving up Vinnie Pasquantino and an 8^th rounder who turned into Joc Pederson, who has a great card for this upcoming season), has had an ok MLB career. But the limited 2020 season was an outlier, with Mountcastle compiling a .878 OPS (versus his .754 career mark). His 2021 season was very good as well (he hit 33 homers). But his trajectory has been mostly downwards. Randy picked him back up during the 2025 waiver draft after I cut him.

Joey Bart (which should always be pronounced with a Massachusetts accent) was supposed to be a catcher of the future. And he's still only 28. But he has a career OPS of .681. Nevertheless, he did just produce his best season ever in 2024, with a .799 OPS. Hard to believe but Eric held onto him after 4 unusable seasons. Finally paying off.

Tanner Scott of course had an excellent 2020 season (1.31 ERA, 1.06 WHIP). Perhaps he didn't have facial hair at the time Robin drafted him or maybe needs trumped (sorry!) aesthetics. At any rate, Scott also produced fine 2023 and 2024 seasons (unfortunately Robin had cut him and Eric re-drafted him in 2024). (Robin note: I have no recollection of ever having him [although I did have Tanner Roark ] and thus no idea of his facial hair situation in 2021).n

David Fletcher hit .290 in 2019 but went undrafted. He then hit .319 in 2020 and I bit. He sucked thereafter. He did hit .304 for me in 79 AB during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign.

Joey Wendle had a pretty mediocre career but did hit .300 for a full season in 2018. And he was rewarded by getting drafted in the 8^th round in 2019. After a down 2019 season, Wendle rebounded by hitting .286 with a .777 OPS in 2020. Didn't produce another usable year though as far as I can tell.

So where does that leave us? Mountcastle, Scott, Bart and Crawford are still rostered. Scott is the best of this group but...he was re-drafted by Eric. So I'm going to say that Mountcastle and Crawford were the best choices. Though Bart still has a chance to prove himself.

Adell appears to have turned out to be the worst selection, though he was a worthy flier to take. (Ed note: After the draft Arnie emailed that he thought Adell was the worst pick in the draft, which Tom appreciated because it gave him incentive. He’s never been usable.)

Round 5

1	Harold	Candelario,J+	DEA	1B
2	Robin	Slegers,A	TBA	RRP
3	Tom	Gurriel,L	TOA	LF
4	Randy	Gausman,K	SFN	RSP
5	Eric	Wainwright,A	SLN	RSP
6	Arnie	Slater,A	SFN	RF
7	Jed	Lopez,P	MMN	RSP
8	Sam	Senzatela,A	CON	RSP

Jeimer Candelario was (and still is) a switch-hitting 3B who produced a good limited card in 2020. He was a lefty killer, a good defender (2e12), not horrible vs. righties and even slightly clutch! His career OPS is .726. No longer rostered.

Aaron Slegers (a clean-shaven, 6'10” 260 pounder) pitched a total of 89 innings in his career (which is over). 2020 was his only usable season. The #23 rated reliever card according to Lamanna, especially tough on righties, no BP homers (a priority for Robin).

Lourdes Gurriel was a 27-year old rising star with 8 BP homers and a -3 arm. He is still in MLB and has a career OPS of .781. Not sure why he wasn't drafted in 2020 after a fine 2019 season but 2020 was his best. Still a Manatee!

Kevin Gausman has had a pretty decent career and he's still going (and still rostered). Gausman's 2020 card was rated as the 20^th best starter and he offered flexibility as a starter/reliever. Over the years he's produced multiple usable cards.

At 6'7” Adam Wainwright was probably the second tallest player chosen in the round. He won 200 games in his career, which finished after the 2023 season. I'd have to think he'll receive HOF consideration. Of course he had (a) previous stint(s) in the SOMBILLA with Arnie. After a down 2019, Wainwright produced fine seasons in 2020 and 2021. Nevertheless, this was an odd choice by Eric as Wainwright's card did not qualify him as a top tier starter. 8 BP homers vs. lefties! But Eric's park that year was HR 1 vs. lefties!!

2020 was a complete outlier for Austin Slater. With a career OPS of .731, he produced a .914 OPS in 2020. He was a holy terror vs. LHP. (Ed note: He repeated his lefty killing the next year so he was pretty much a two-year wonder in the SOMBILLA.)

Pablo Lopez (freshly injured as I write this) was just outside the top tier of starters with his 2020 card. No BP homers (so Robin should have drafted him) and tough on righties. He has produced multiple usable cards. He was doing well in 2025 too....

Anthony Senzatela (“without canvas” in Italian) has a 1-10 record in 2025 so far. Granted, he pitches for Colorado but only 62 games have been played as I write this. Anyhoo, 2020 was his only SOMBILLA worthy season and that year he was pretty close to Pablo Lopez in terms of his card value.

I'd say Gausman, Gurriel and Lopez were all fine choices for a 5^th round. Wainwright and Candelario did get used during 2 seasons so they can't be the worst choices. That leaves Slater, Slegers and Senzatela bringing up the rear. (Ed note: Jed added Slater thinking he was a one-year wonder.)

Round 6

1	Harold	Heyward,J*	CHN	RF
2	Robin	Brosseau,M	TBA	3B
3	Tom	Gonzales,M*	SEA	LSP
4	Randy	Peterson,D*	NYN	LSP
5	Eric	Cisnero,J	DEA	RRP
6	Arnie	Hernandez,E	MMN	RSP
7	Jed	Calhoun,K*	ARN	RF
8	Sam	Kiner-Falefa,I	TEA	3B

Ah, good ole Justin Heyward. Still in MLB! In 2010 he was second (to Buster Posey) in the rookie of the year voting. Originally drafted in the SOMBILLA by Jeff as the #2 pick in the 2011 draft (after Posey). 2^nd cutest in that draft (after Posey). He's won a gold glove in RF 5 times. He's 6'5” and 240 lbs. He hit 27 homers when he was 23. So he should've been a perennial all star and maybe HOF material. Instead, he has a career OPS of .744 so all things considered he's turned out to be better than average, but not great. Anyhoo, the 2020 iteration of Heyward earned him the 2^nd best RF card (according to Lamanna). His next 2 seasons were terrible, so one and done for Harold.

Mike Brosseau turned in a full MLB season spread out over 4 MLB seasons in his career. 2020 was a complete outlier as he compiled a .936 OPS when for his career his OPS was .741. He was limited but offered positional flexibility and lefty killing (and good OBP vs. R). Was awesome for Robin: an OPS of 1.278 in 44 AB with 5 HR in the SOMBILLA. One and done.

Marco Gonzalez was an extremely average pitcher over 10 MLB seasons (1.30 career WHIP). So you might already guess what I'm going to say next – 2020 was his best year (.95 WHIP). He was a reversed lefty – really good against RHB. He went 5-0 for Tom during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign with a 2.20 ERA. One and done.

The run on lefty starters continued with David Peterson. His 2020 card ranked him (according to Lamanna) just at the end of the tier 1 starting pitchers. He was a starter/reliever. His 2021 season sucked so I imagine he was cut. He's still in MLB and did well in 2024 but not well enough to be re-drafted. So, again, one and done.

Jose Cisnero had an interesting career in that he pitched in 2013 and 2014 and then not again until 2019. He pitched through last year but appears to be out of MLB now. Anyway, worse than average career stats (1.45 WHIP) but turned in a SOMBILLA usable card with his 2020 efforts (1.11 WHIP). Ranked 47^th on Lamanna's list of relievers, he was tough on righties, had no BP homers on either side and provided a lot of innings. One and done.

Elieser Hernandez produced one SOMBILLA-worthy season in 2020. He went 0-3 for Arnie with a 5.28 ERA during his SOMBILLA cup of coffee.

Kole Calhoun played 12 seasons in MLB and was originally drafted into the SOMBILLA by Eric in the second round of the 2014 draft. Eric held onto him for a while. In 2020 Calhoun offered an OPS of .864, was unlimited, had 8 BP homers on each side, was a lefty bat that hit better against righties and defensively he rated 2(-3)e3 in RF. The 5^th best RF card (and arguably as valuable or more so than the limited Arozarena or Heyward). And he hit .137 for me with 5 homers. One and done.

Isiah (!) Kiner-Falefa, still in MLB, has a career OPS of .668. But he's always provided plus defense (he won a Gold Glove) and some positional flexibility. IKF's 2020 card rated him 1e19 at 3B (and 3e8 at SS) and he was a lefty killer (with no power). I know he was an Asshole at one point and he was re-drafted by Eric in the 5^th round of the 2025 SOMBILLA draft! Was he the first player with a hyphenated last name to be drafted? He was one and done for Sam.

Based on how they performed in the SOMBILLA during the 2021/22 campaign, Brosseau and Gonzales were the best choices. But as all of these guys were one and done vis-a-vis the teams who drafted them...no big winners here.

Round 7

1	Harold	Singer,B	KCA	RSP
2	Robin	Kim,K*	SLN	LSP
3	Tom	Patino,L	SDN	RRP
4	Randy	Belt,B*	SFN	1B
5	Eric	Hernandez,C+	CLA	2B
6	Arnie	Walsh,J*	LAA	1B
7	Jed	Smith,D*	NYN	1B
8	Sam	Pearson,N	TOA	RSP

Huh, I thought I'd “discovered” Brady Singer but Harold was ahead of me. He was a 23 year old prospect who'd turned in a better-than-average 2020 season. He was a second tier starter, according to Lamanna, and did pitch 18 innings in the SOMBILLA with a 3.44 ERA. He then sucked in 2021 leading Harold to cut him. And I drafted him in the 6^th round in 2023 (as a “potential breakout candidate”). Sam picked him up in the latest waiver draft. Still only 28, still with a chance to turn in some good cards (but 2025 doesn't look promising as I write this...).

Kwang Hyun Kim was 10-7 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in his career. Only 145 IP total over 2 years and then out of MLB. He had a terrific (though limited) 2020 with a 1.03 WHIP. Lamanna rated his card as the 15^th best for starters (though, again, he was limited). A coveted reversed lefty. Unfortunately, he did not adapt well to the SOMBILLA (or the US, as he returned to Korea rather than risk spending another year on the BC roster), going 1-1 with a 6.60 ERA for Robin. One and done.

Luis Patino compiled a 5.02 ERA over his brief MLB career. He had a 1.85 WHIP in 2020, so why did Tom draft him? He didn't pitch in the SOMBILLA. So he must've been considered a prospect. Yes! He was 21 years old and projected to be a starting pitcher....

Brandon Belt played 13 MLB seasons and produced a .817 OPS. In 2020 Belt compiled a 1.016 OPS (followed by a .975 OPS in 2021). So Randy nabbed him at his peak. Traded to Oceanus during the 2024/25 SOMBILLA season, he failed to catapult the Assholes into the playoffs and was cut. (Ed note: He had a good career playing for Jeff before this. I remember because he always crushed ND when we played.)

Cesar Hernandez played 10 MLB seasons and was kind of average overall. 2020 was not his best season but I'm not sure if he appeared in the SOMBILLA previously. Anyway, he was a 2B 1e11 who hit very well against righties (no power though) and was very clutch. He went downhill from there so I'm guessing he was one and done for Eric.

Joe Walsh is best known for his work as a guitarist in the Eagles. Jared Walsh, however, played briefly for the Angels (and Rangers) over the course of 6 MLB seasons. Seems to be out of baseball. In 2020, playing about ½ of the shortened season, he generated an OPS of .970. Followed up by a 29 homer full season in 2021. And then...he fell off a cliff (but not literally, because he didn’t play for BC).

Dominic Smith has developed into a pretty average MLBer but in 2020 he hit .316 with an OPS of .993 (following a season where he'd batted .282 with an OPS of .880)! I already had Jose Abreu (who had an even better year) but Abreu was 34 years old so maybe Smith could be my 1B heir apparent. Smith got only 36 AB for me during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign, which seems like a waste. His OPS hasn't reached .700 since.

Nate Pearson, a big (6'6” 255 lbs), hard-throwing reliever (> 100MPH), was touted as a “high risk, high reward” prospect. Never panned out, never pitched in the SOMBILLA. Still only 28 and still in MLB, perhaps someday one of us will re-draft him. His 10.38 ERA thus far in 2025 suggests not in 2026....

I'd say Belt represents the best of this bunch with Pearson the worst.

Round 8

1	Harold	Valdez,C	BAA	RRP
2	Robin	Stephenson,T	CIN	C
3	Tom	Hatch,T	TOA	RRP
4	Randy	Hahn,J	KCA	RRP
5	Eric	Matzek,T*	ATN	LRP
6	Arnie	Pomeranz,D*	SDN	LRP
7	Jed	Dunning,D	CHA	RSP
8	Sam	Minter,A*	ATN	LRP

Cesar Valdez pitched 112 total MLB innings compiling a WHIP of 1.60. But in 2020 he had a .70 WHIP (14.1 IP). Resulting in a fantastic card (e.g. 5 total OB on his card vs. R). He pitched okay in the SOMBILLA – 3.86 ERA, 2 saves.

In 2020 Tyler Stephenson made his MLB debut with 17 AB. He wasn't considered much of a prospect (though he was a 1^st round choice in MLB). But he was a mutant. 10.5 straight HR vs. L and 13.1 straight HR vs. R. He had 2 hits for Robin during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA season, both homers. Subsequently, Stephenson produced additional usable cards and remains on the Bay City roster.

Thomas Hatch pitched 69 total MLB innings with a WHIP of 1.55. 2020 yielded his only usable card. A reversed righty with decent innings and 0 BP homers (critical for pitching in a 1-19 all around park – yes, I checked).

Jesse Hahn, who sat in front of Thomas Hatch in home room, has pitched 8 MLB seasons, with two gaps presumably because of reattaching his arm. In 2020 his ERA was .52 with a WHIP of .69. Particularly tough on righties. Didn't play again in the SOMBILLA but he had previous experience – Eric had drafted him in the 9^th round in 2015.

In 2020 Tyler Matzek returned to MLB after not having pitched since 2015! I looked it up and people with better memories than I have might recall that he developed a case of the yips. When he did come back, he was better than before. He produced 3 good seasons. 2020 might've been the best (1.14 WHIP). He was very tough on lefties and had no BP homers on his card.

Drew Pomeranz (still in MLB!) I'm pretty sure was an Asshole at some point. The big lefty pitched 18.2 IP in 2020 with a 1.45 ERA. Solid reliever card, no BP homers. He did well for 25.2 IP in 2021 until (I assume) his arm betrayed him.

Dane Dunning's 2020 card made him a 2^nd tier starter. I chose him as a “potential breakout candidate” entering his prime. Both 2021 and 2022 sucked so I cut him, allowing him to perform pretty well in 2023 (though not well enough to be drafted).

AJ Minter has quietly made a nice career for himself as a lefty reliever now in his 9^th MLB campaign. In 2020 he had a .83 ERA. Pretty balanced card, no BP homers. Sam did get at least one more SOMBILLA season out of him.

I'd say Stephenson represents the best selection of the round. Everyone one else was more or less the worst.

Round 9

1	Harold	Garcia,Y	MMN	RRP
2	Robin	Carlson,D+	SLN	CF
3	Tom	Foster,M	CHA	RRP
4	Randy	Ramirez,E	NYN	RRP
5	Eric	Gomber,A*	SLN	LRP
6	Arnie	Dolis,R	TOA	RRP
7	Jed	Rosenthal,T	SDN	RRP
8	Sam	Thielbar,C*	MNA	LRP

Yimi Garcia is a SOMBILLA journeyman. Waived by New Orleans, picked up by Oceanus, waived by Oceanus and picked up by North Dakota. He has a career WHIP of 1.05. I feel like he was worthy of being drafted in 2020 but obviously he wasn't. At any rate, in 2020 he offered the 19^th best reliever card (according to Lamanna) and was especially tough on righties. No BP homers. Harold also got another SOMBILLA season from Garcia before jettisoning him.

Dylan Carlson was a 22 year old prospect in 2020. He wasn't usable. He had his best year in 2021 when he hit 31 doubles and 18 homers with an OPS of .780. This earned him 16 AB in the SOMBILLA.

Matt Foster pitched in parts of 4 MLB seasons. He missed all of 2023 and pitched on;y 6.2 innings in 2024 so he's been hit hard by the injury bug. Only his 2020 campaign was SOMBILLA-worthy (.87 WHIP). He was a reversed righty – very tough on lefties.

Erasmo Ramirez played for 13 seasons in the majors. Robin originally drafted him in the 9^th round in 2013! The 2020 edition offered a WHIP of .84. Lamanna rated Ramirez as the 7^th best reliever card (not chosen until here due to somewhat limited innings). (Robin note: he is pretty useful in Immaculate Grid, as well).

Austin Gomber sucked...except in 2020. And looking at his 2020 card (the #133 reliever card per Lamanna), I'm not sure why Eric picked him. He did offer reverse-ness and was a starter reliever. And no BP homers.

Rafael Dolis pitched in the majors (though not much, but very slowly) from 2011 to 2013 and then not again until 2020! His stats, relatively speaking, were not on par with some of the aforementioned relievers (e.g. a 1.25 WHIP) but he was a solid second tier reliever with no BP homers (and few hits).

Trevor Rosenthal was a flame thrower. 490 K's in 364 career innings. He was originally drafted in the SOMBILLA in 2014 in the second round by Future Wax, speaking to the prevailing view that he might become a generational closer. 45 saves in 2014 and 48 saves in 2015. In 2020 he was a reliever mutant. No hits or walks on either side of his card but only 10 IP. Rosenthal earned 8 saves for me during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign. After his experience as an Asshole, Rosenthal was out of MLB.

Caleb Thielbar is another guy who disappeared for a long time in the middle of his career (2016-2019). But at 38 he's still continuing his second act. And aside from 2024 he's pitched well. Lamanna rated Thielbar as having the 26^th best reliever card. A traditional lefty with no BP homers.

Since Harold got 2 seasons out of Yimi Garcia he was the best choice in the round. Everyone else was 1 and done. Carlson may have been the worst choice given his limited usage.

Round 10

1	Eric	Graterol,B	LAN	RRP
2	Robin	Dalbec,B	BOA	1B
3	Tom	Plawecki,K	BOA	C
4	Randy	Stevenson,A*	WAN	LF
5	Eric	Mahle,T	CIN	RSP
6	Arnie	Howard,S	PHN	RSP
7	Jed	Huff,S	TEA	C
8	Sam	Engel,A	CHA	RF

Brusdar Graterol is the only MLBer ever to have the name Brusdar. Or Graterol. As far as I know. He won't turn 27 until August. In 2020 he compiled a WHIP of .90. His card was subpar vs. L but extremely tough vs. R. No BP homers on either side. He was considered one of the best up-and-coming relievers along with Nate Pearson, Luis Patino, Devin Williams and James Karinchak, all drafted in earlier rounds. Still rostered by Eric, who has gotten some additional usability out of the big (265 lbs) guy.

Bobby Dalbec sure had a promising start to his career. In 2020 he produced an OPS of .959 in 80 AB. In 2021 he hit 25 homers. And then...nada. I believe Robin held on to him longer than she should have (I mean, he's really cute) but eventually had to cut him.

Kevin Plawecki was a marginal player with a .654 career OPS with never more than 238 AB in a season. A backup catcher. But in 82 AB in 2020 he batted .341 with a .856 OPS. His card offered terrific OBP on both sides (and he was +4 in the clutch).

Tyler Mahle (having a fine 2025 as I write this) has a 1.28 career WHIP so he represents a pretty average MLB pitcher. 2020 and 2021 appear to be when he peaked (though, again, maybe he's having a resurgence). He was listed in the Lamanna draft guide at the tail end of the top tier starters (and offered flexibility as a starter/reliever).

Spencer Howard was chosen as a pure prospecting play – a 24 year old with great minor league numbers in 2019. He never put together a SOMBILLA-worthy season. (Ed note: but he did earn two desperation starts in ’21-22 when they were short on available starters. 2 GS, 3 IP, 7 hits, 18.00 ERA). Looking at his picture...I'd say he's cuter than Dalbec....

Sam Huff (known for his “prodigious power”) was a mutant with 22.7 straight homers vs. L and 10 straight homers vs. R. He hit 5 homers in 19 AB during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign (OPS of 2.065). Arguably the second best prospect at C (after Joey Bart). Never panned out though he's still (marginally) in MLB.

Adam Engel appears done with MLB after an uninspiring career. However, in limited PA, he put together usable seasons in 2020 and 2021. In 2020 he rated as an OF1(-1)e7, which I'd have to think is pretty rare and probably why Sam drafted him.

I think Graterol qualifies as the best choice in the round with Howard being the worst.

Round 11

1	Harold	Castro,W+	DEA	SS
2	Robin	Kinley,T	CON	RRP
3	Tom	Barria,J	LAA	RSP
4	Randy	Gimenez,A*	NYN	SS
5	Eric	Maldonado,M	HOA	C
6	Arnie	Casali,C	CIN	C
7	Jed	Garcia,D	NYA	RSP
8	Sam	Rojas,M	MMN	SS

Willi Castro was only 24 and hit .349 in 2020 with a .931 OPS. He was not unlimited and a 4 defensively. But Harold got a lot of use out of him during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign where Castro hit .317 in 120 AB. After that Castro was dismal for 2 years before turning in a couple of MLB average years. So far 2025 represents an improvement so perhaps Castro will warrant a redraft some day.

Tyler (not Tom) Kinley (not Kinney) has compiled a worse than average career but is still currently in MLB (with a 1.72 WHIP thus far in 2025 [but he does pitch in Colorado]). In 2020, in spite of a 5.32 ERA, Kinley had a 1.06 WHIP. He was #100 on Lamanna's list of reliever cards but a reversed righty who was very tough on lefties. And no BP homers.

Jaime Barria, a career average pitcher, produced 2 usable seasons. #103 on Lamanna's list of 2020 reliever cards. Very tough on righties. Only 1 BP homer (vs. L). He was only 24 when drafted and given Tom's previous choices I assume Barria had some prospect potential. Did Tom keep him after a down 2021 to take advantage of Barria's best season in 2022? It appears not (Barria did not pitch in the SOMBILLA after 2021/22).

If Lamanna was to be believed (Lamanna, Lamanna, Lamanna) Randy picked up a first round value in the 11^th round by selecting Andres Gimenez. And in 2022 when Gimenez hit .297 with an OPS of .837 to go with 20 SB and stellar defense he shot to the top of the Best 2B lists. But he hasn't been able to sustain that level. His career OPS is .708 and while he has offered some usability (especially because of his defense) I suspect Randy's a little disappointed. Still, Gimenez is only 26 and he's certainly the best selection of this round.

The venerable Martin Maldonado (still in MLB at age 38) has always provided excellent defense and very little offense. His .728 OPS in 2020 represented a career high. A 2(-3)e1, good against lefties and +6 in the clutch. He hasn't hit above the Mendoza line since. And even Mendoza hit above the Mendoza line.

Eric triggered a mini run on catchers as Arnie then nabbed Curt Casali. Casali was more limited than Maldonado but with a better offensive card. Casali was not just good against lefties but a bonafide lefty killer. And he had a -1 arm. Casali did have a previous usable season but wasn't drafted. He was downright awful after 2020 and yet he played through 2024.

Deivi Garcia was a 22 year old Yankees pitching prospect who didn't pan out. Never appeared in the SOMBILLA. Injuries and control problems, according to The Internet.

The slick-fielding Miguel Rojas had an outstanding 2020, batting .304 with an .888 OPS. He was quite the lefty killer – with 50 hits vs. L! He was a 2e14 at SS. Redrafted in 2025 in the 4^th round by Harold.

Gimenez was the best choice, Garcia the worst.

Round 12

1	Harold	Armstrong,S	BAA	RRP
2	Tom	Lakins,T	BAA	RRP
3	Randy	Sims,L	CIN	RRP
4	Eric	Crochet,G*	CHA	LRP
5	Arnie	Givens,M	BAA	RRP
6	Jed	Santander,A+	BAA	RF
7	Sam	Brault,S*	PIN	LSP
8	Arnie	Guillorme,L*	NYN	2B

Shawn Armstrong (perfect name for a pitcher – and it does seem he's avoided arm problems) has put up average career numbers. He was awesome in 2020 (1.80 ERA, .80 WHIP). He had the 16^th best reliever card (according to you know who) and was extremely tough on righties. Quite good against lefties too and no BP homers. Perhaps he wasn't selected earlier because he didn't offer a lot of innings and his hold was +9. Terrible in 2021 and 2022 (and therefore cut), he was redrafted by Harold (!) in the 3^rd round in 2024. But he sucked again in 2024 and was cut again. He's so far having a decent 2025 so perhaps Harold can redraft him in 2026.

Travis Lakins had a very brief MLB career and only one decent season – 2020. By SOMBILLA standards he wasn't particularly usable. But Tom did use him (he went 1-1 in 7 IP with a 7.71 ERA during the 2021/22 campaign). He was a reversed righty and good against lefties.

Lucas Sims, an average MLBer over the course of his career, had his best season in 2020. He was in the top tier of relievers available and a reversed righty. One and done (thus far) in the SOMBILLA.

Garrett Crochet was quite the deep prospecting selection by Eric in 2020. Or maybe Eric picked him as an extremely limited mutant (Crochet allowed 3 H and 0 BB in 6 IP) who could make 1 start? Regardless, Eric stuck with Crochet and was rewarded with an outstanding 2024. Crochet is considered a top 10 SP.

Mychal Givens compiled very good stats in his too short, injury-marred career. He was originally drafted by Robin in 2016. His best years coincided with his time in Bay City, in spite of the constant threat of death. In 2020 he had 2 cards and one of them was really good, though limited.

Anthony Santander is a low average, low OBP slugger who had (like so many others) an outlier season in 2020, with a .890 OPS. He had 8 BP HR vs R and was a 2(-1)e13 in LF and RF. Traded to Constantinople (along with Josh Jung) for a 2024 2^nd rounder, who turned into Tanner Bibee. Santander hit 44 HR in 2024, his best full season.

Steven Brault spent 7 years in the majors with worse than average stats to show for it. 2020 represents far and away his best results – a 3.38 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP. He was pretty high up there in the second tier of available starters. A reversed lefty with a good hold (-3) and no BP HR.

Luis Guillorme does not appear to be playing in 2025 even though he's only 30. He's never played a full season. In 2020 he generated an OPS of .865 (cf. career OPS of .658). While limited, Guillorme played good defense (2e10 at 2B) and was a righty killer sans power. (Ed note: redrafted by Sam in 2023 as a one-year wonder.)

Crochet is the clear winner of this round. Santander deserves some mention though he is not on his original team. Everyone else was 1 and done.

Round 13

1	Harold	Akiyama,S*	CIN	LF
2	Robin	Zeuch,T	TOA	RSP
3	Tom	Tellez,R*	TOA	1B
4	Randy	Moreland,M*	BOA	1B
5	Eric	Tate,D	BAA	RRP
6	Arnie	Phillips,B*	TBA	RF
7	Jed	O'Day,D	ATN	RRP
8	Sam	France,T	SEA	2B

Shogo Akiyama was a star in Japan, once hitting .359 for a season. That didn't translate to MLB, where he only played in 2020 and 2021, batting .224 with a .594 OPS. He was a 1 in LF and he had very good OB (vs. R). He hit .318 for Harold in 110 AB with a .395 OBP in the SOMBILLA in 2021/22. Not bad for a 13^th rounder!

TJ Zeuch was drafted in the first round in real baseball (from the University of Pittsburgh – my older son's alma mater). He had a brief, ugly career with one shining moment – 2020. He was a starter/reliever who was tough on righties and horrible against lefties. His SOMBILLA career line: 4 IP, 13.50 ERA.

Rowdy Tellez was terrific in 2020 with an .886 OPS. He had 11.6 straight homers vs. righties. He hit 11 homers in 94 AB for Tom during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign.

Mitch Moreland played in MLB for 12 seasons. He was first drafted into the SOMBILLA in 2011 in the 8^th round by Tom. In 2020 he was quite the mutant with his Boston card (he was traded to San Diego at some point). Against righties he had 55.1 OB, 115.3 TB and 17.8 straight homers on his card. For Randy he hit .324 with 9 homers in 68 AB.

Dillon Tate hasn't done particularly well over the course of his career and at one point he did have to get his arm reattached. But he's still in MLB. Like many others he happened to do well over the small sample size that was the 2020 season. He was the 4^th overall choice in the 2015 MLB draft so clearly the scouts thought he had great potential. Tate was among the top tier of relievers and was extremely (I mean extremely) tough on righties. And no BP homers.

Brett Phillips, a career .187 hitter, who was best known for his pitching as a hitter, was drafted (I presume) because he was an OF-2(-4)e3. He was almost acceptable offensively vs. righties.

Darren (“Why can't I get players like that?”) O'Day enjoyed a 15-year career mainly as a setup guy. His career WHIP was 1.03. He was drafted in the SOMBILLA in 2010 (4^th round, Robin – so she COULD get players like that), 2013 (7^th round, Randy) and 2018 (8^th round by me). I'll bet there are very few players who were drafted 4 times! O'Day's card was very similar to Tate's (but Tate was much younger and had a much better hold rating).

Ty France – the only player selected in this round still rostered – has turned out to be a somewhat above average MLBer. In 2020 he hit .305 with a .836 OPS. France did well in 2021 and 2022 also but after a couple of down seasons he's going to have to step it up for Sam not to cut him in 2026.

By virtue of his longevity, France represents the best choice in this round. Zeuch (pronounced ‘Zoich’ - sounds like something they'd say on Scooby Doo) not only was one and done but provided negative value in the SOMBILLA.

Round 14

1	Harold	Evans,P	PIN	3B
2	Robin	La Stella,T*	OAA	2B
3	Tom	Cody,K	TEA	RSP
4	Randy	Locastro,T	ARN	CF
5	Eric	Javier,C	HOA	RSP
6	Arnie	Dickerson,A*	SFN	LF
7	Jed	Montero,R	TEA	RRP
8	Sam	Moore,D	SEA	RF

If you've made it this far, I'm impressed! Almost done!

Phillip Evans had 307 total AB during his MLB career (4 seasons). He had 39 AB in 2020 and hit .359 with a .931 OPS. He was a mutant but in an interesting way. Against righties he had 65.4 OB and 68.2 TB on his card...but was weak. While against lefties he had 52.4 OB and 83.7 TB with 8 BP HR. He hit .313 in 32 AB during his one SOMBILLA campaign (no homers).

Tommy La Stella managed to play 10 years as a utility guy. Never had more than 319 AB in a season (and that was in his first year). He had some (of course limited) usable years previously but hadn't been drafted. He had an excellent 2020 card versus righties and was +7 in the clutch. He performed pretty well for Robin, with a .418 OBP in 77 AB during the 2021/22 SOMBILLA campaign.

Kyle Cody must've gotten injured as he was out of MLB after pitching only 11.1 innings in 2021. In 2020 he offered a reversed righty starter/reliever card and was quite tough on lefties. He performed well for Tom in the SOMBILLA, compiling a 2.45 ERA in 22 IP.

Tim Locastro was a marginal MLBer who played sparingly in parts of 7 seasons. Naturally, 2020 was an outlier for him (.859 OPS vs. .664 for his career). He produced a fairly balanced card with excellent on base and some power (6 BP HR) vs. righties. He was a 2 in LF and RF though with a +2 arm. For Randy, Locastro achieved an OBP of .417 in 58 AB.

Christian Javier (still only 28, still rostered and with a newly reattached arm) has shown promise (a 1.14 career WHIP, more K's than IP). Eric would need to confirm but evidence suggests Javier has 3 SOMBILLA campaigns under his belt. His 2020 card put him in the 3^rd tier of starters due to 5 BP HR vs. R and 8 BP HR vs. L. However, remember that Eric's ballpark that year had 1BP HR vs. L (and only 1-6 vs. R).

Alex “The Dick” Dickerson (definitely not cute, though clean-shaven) is another player with a significant gap in his career. He only played parts of 2016 and 2019 and missed 2017 and 2018 altogether. The Internet confirms he had a “history of injuries, including a bulging disk and a torn UCL.” In 2020, fully healthy, he produced an OPS of .947. He hit well against righties, with 8 BP HR. But he was a 4(+1)e5 in LF and RF. Not usable again and out of MLB since 2022.

Rafael Montero's career numbers are subpar. But he had his moments. Specifically, 2020 and 2022. Montero's 2020 card was reversed and he was quite tough on lefties. Overall he was considered to have around the 50^th best relief card. Traded to Eric in 2024 as part of his playoff push (and he did finish 2^nd) for Josh Hader and some spare parts.

Dylan Moore has also had an underwhelming career. But he's still in MLB and currently having an above average year (for him). Naturally 2020 was his best year (.854 OPS vs. lifetime mark of .704). Solid vs. R, with 8 BP HR. Provided some positional flexibility (he played LF, RF and 2B). Had some wheels too.

Ed note: Jed did not award a best or worst draft, so I will do it based on his selections. Randy had the best draft with four ‘best of round’ selections (Mountcastle, Gausman, Belt, Giminez. He also drafted Arozarena, Cronenworth, V. Gonzalez, D. Peterson, Hahn, E. Ramirez, A. Stevenson, Sims, Moreland, Locastro)

Worst? It’s a three-way tie among Sam & Robin (2 bests, 3 worsts each), and Jed (1 best, 2 worsts).

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 3 – The SOMBILLA Hall of Fame

Part 1

Nine years ago, the SOMBILLA inducted 18 players into the SOMBILLA Hall of Fame. Wait, what? You don’t remember? I’m not surprised. Although published in the 2016 summer newsletter, it attracted little public notice at the time. We inducted 18 players – 9 hitters and 9 pitchers:

	Name		Team
Barry Bonds		Future Wax
Roger Clemens		Eric – ND - Jed
Eric. Davis		Future Wax
Jim Edmonds		FW-MF
Ken Griffey Jr.		Future Wax
Randy Johnson		North Dakota
Greg Maddux		Future Wax
Pedro Martinez		Future Wax
Mark McGwire		Manila Folders
Mike Piazza		Future Wax
Albert Pujols		North Dakota
Manny Ramirez		New Orleans
Mariano Rivera		New Orleans
Nolan Ryan		Manila Folders
Curt Schilling		Area 51
John Smoltz		Jed
Mike Trout		Constantinople
Justin Verlander		Eric

I know what you’re thinking. How was this decided? I’ll copy from the 2016 study:

“Hall of Fame? Seriously, Arnie? How the heck are you gonna decide this? And why do you get all that power?

Good questions, and thanks for asking. The answer is that I am not going to decide – you all – the SOMBILLA managers -- have already decided. Every year (except for 1981-1984 when there were no awards), we SOMBILLA managers vote for MVP and Cy Young looking back over the season just ended. What better way to determine the best players over a period of time than to use the collective wisdom of SOMBILLA managers who voted each year?

The controversial Barry Bonds won a record four SOMBILLA MVP awards. His high number of votes is even more impressive when you realize that as steroid/giant head allegations dogged him at the end of his career, some SOMBILLA managers began leaving him off their ballots completely. Unlike the real baseball HOF, though, that blackballing is not enough to keep him out of the SOMBILLA HOF.”

I did arbitrarily cutoff the inductees at 9 because…A-Rod would have been the 10^th. Again from 2016: “I made the executive decision to keep A. Rod out of this initial class. Indeed, after A. Rod won the ’06-07 SOMBILLA MVP, the 2007 SUMMER newsletter had the following asterisk next to A. Rod’s vote total: * asshole”.

So, using the same methodology nine years later, who are the current inductees?

There are three new inductees into the SOMBILLA Hall of Fame:

· Max Scherzer, Future Wax

· Aaron Nola, Jed

· Joey Votto, Jed

Perhaps my cutoff is too strict? I’ll throw it open to the league (if you care). Here are the guys closest to the cutoff methodology currently:

A Rod	CN	50
Belle	MF	48
Kershaw	FW	44
S. Perez	BC	44
Drabek	BC	42.5
Foulke	Eric	41.5
Baines	Eric	41
Donaldson	CN	40
A. Gonzalez	Eric	39
Judge	NO	38

Only a matter of time for Judge. What about the others? (We’ll see if anyone actually reads the summer newsletter). IMO, A-Rod should still be the ‘NO’ cutoff; he can be the permanent ‘NO’ cutoff.

Part 2

As suggested by Tsuan (!), actual MLB Hall of Famers! He writes: “I thought of something that could be of league interest, with the 40 year anniversary on the horizon (technically already passed, counting the non-permanent years):

Hall of Fame players

You (or someone not me) could compile a SOMBILLA hall of fame list of all players who have appeared on a league roster and been inducted into the HOF, maybe grouped by the team for whom they played most.

It would probably have some interesting nostalgia value for everyone, for certain eras or certain favorite teams.

You could even add a PED* wing of Barry, Roger, Sammy, McGwire. Etc.”

So, which franchise has the most actual baseball HOFs? The fewest? Many players played for more than one SOMBILLA franchise, so which ‘hat’ they wear on their HOF plaque was based on the SOMBILLA team with which they had the most success. Here are all actual MLB Hall of Famers by SOMBILLA franchise:

Arnie (10)

Roberto Alomar

Rickey Henderson (also played for Jed and Robin)

Trevor Hoffman

Randy Johnson

Barry Larkin (also played for Dave)

Fred McGriff (also played for FW)

David Ortiz

Tim Raines

Scott Rolen

Lee Smith

Future Wax/Nazgul (9)

Wade Boggs (also played for Joel and Jed)

Ken Griffey Jr

Reggie Jackson

Greg Maddux

Pedro Martinez

Mike Piazza

Mike Schmidt

Jim Thome

Billy Wagner

Jed (9)

Harold Baines (also played for FW. He led the SOMBILLA in rbis for each team, but won an MVP with Jed [then known as ‘Bubba’])

Adrian Beltre (also played for Robin and Tom)

Tony Gwynn (also played for Joel and Dave)

Joe Mauer

Jack Morris

Kirby Puckett (also played for Robin)

John Smoltz (also played for Matt)

Ichiro

Alan Trammel (also played for Eric)

Robin (8)

Rod Carew (also played for Jed)

Roy Halladay

Derek Jeter

Eddie Murray

Jim Rice

Cal Ripken Jr.

Ivan Rodriguez

Frank Thomas

Joel (7)

George Brett

Steve Carlton

Gary Carter

Goose Gossage (also played for Jed, Eric and Dave. Listed under Joel because he performed best for him, leading the SOMBILLA in saves in ’83-84)

Tony Gwynn

Tom Seaver

Don Sutton

Eric (6)

Bert Blyleven (also played for Jed)

Andre Dawson (also played for Arnie and Harold)

Eck

Todd Helton (also played for Harold and Jed)

Dave Winfield

Robin Yount

Matt (6)

Carlton Fisk

Paul Molitor

Nolan Ryan

Ted Simmons

Ozzie Smith

Bruce Sutter

Harold (5)

Jeff Bagwell

Craig Biggio (also played for FW and Jed)

Edgar Martinez

Mariano Rivera

Ryne Sandberg (also played for Eric)

Jeff (5)

Tom Glavine (also played for Harold and Eric)

Vlad Guerrero (also played for Jed, but his team was contracted out of existence [BigDig] and became a free agent)

Chipper Jones (also played for Tom, Eric, Harold and Dave)

Mike Mussina (also played for Arnie)

Larry Walker

Tom

CC Sabathia (also played for Harold)

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 4 – Rule Change Proposals

Someone, I think it was Eric, asked for a study of rule change proposals. I actually did do such a study 8 years ago.

Part 1 (2001-2017): Reprinting what was done for the 2017 newsletter:

Who proposes the most rule changes? What are the most significant proposals people have come up with? For this study, I went back to 2000 and summarized everyone’s proposals as well as the results. No “Strat-O initiated changes” included.

GM	# Proposals passed	#Proposals voted down	Total Proposals	Most significant proposal
Tom	23	7	30	Eliminate cutting players at the draft, followed by a waiver draft (2009)
Arnie	14	10	24	Begin the season at the end of October after the World Series instead of at the beginning of October (2002)
Randy	10	8	18	Post-season pitchers innings are 1/15 (same as limited batters) (2002)
Eric	7	10	17	Roll for rainout (2004)
Jed	2	7	9	Each team can design their own ballpark (2000)
Matt		6	6	All six were proposals to eliminate the DH
Harold	2	3	5	Call up a 26^th man (2001)
Tsuan	2	1	3	12 round draft instead of 10 (2001)
Robin	1		1	Compensation for dead players (2017)
Jeff		1	1	Eliminate the DH in honor of Matt (2010)

It should not come as a shock that Tom is the most prolific. Most of my proposals are various clarifications of the bylaws, although I tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the rainout rule 6 times and designing ballparks 4 times. Rediscovered this from 2006: A proposal by Randy to rename the "thing-off" to the "Phelps-off" passed 6-2.

Part 2: I have redone the study but only from the past 10 annual meetings – 2016 through 2025. While there will be two years of overlap (2016 and 2017), it is obviously more current and also allows Sam to play. Sam has now attended six annual meetings, beginning with the Covid Zoom meeting in 2020.

Part 2: 2016-2025

GM	# Proposals passed	#Proposals voted down	Total Proposals	Most significant proposal
Arnie	20*	3	23	Adopt the 3-batter minimum rule for relivers (2022)
Tom	11	3	14	New (and currently used) draft lottery format (2016), modified (2022)
Eric	6	5	11	Two new off days (2017) and one more (2025)
Jed	1	8	9	New injury rules for next year (2025)
Randy	3	2	5	Ohtani allowed to bat even if not pitching (2018)
Harold	2	3	5	No more roster freeze (2021)
Tsuan	1	3	4	Amend starter yanking rule to account for openers (2019)
Robin	1	1	2	Compensation for dead players (2017)
Sam	1		1	Designing parks not allwed (2025)

*Most of these are just bylaw clarifications and half were from 2021 dealing with limits and such from the short season and from 2022 to revert back to the old rules. Also includes the worst proposal that ever passed: the ejection rule based on both team’s HBP. And the subsequent successful repeal (and apology) from Arnie.

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 5 – Dues and Don’ts, a history of SOMBILLA Dues

Year	Dues
1986	$1.56	From a 1986 newsletter “I am requesting reimbursement for general league expenses. We will call this reimbursement ‘dues’.” The low amount was to cushion the blow and (I think) based on only expenses I incurred from Jan. ’86 to draft day.
1987	$14.85	Xeroxing $61.69, Postage $18.47, New cards $23.00, Things (5 of ‘em) $15.65 divided by 8. Nobody complained.
1988	$13.80
1989	$17.37	Xeroxing $65.86, Teams & supplies (dice, rules, pitcher hitting cards) $33.59, Postage $27.95, Manilla ‘mailers’ $11.54
1990	$13.20	“Down from $17.37 last year. How many other things are 25% cheaper? It helps to be able to Xerox stuff at work.”
1991	$16.83	Eric suspended for failure to pay*
1992	$9.27	Although total expenses were similar to ’91, I divided by 12, instead of 8 franchises (‘for fairness as those with our own teams subsidize the mailing costs of those who share teams’).
1993	$11.50	Durga becomes ‘super duper suspended’ for failure to pay dues over three years. Unlike Eric (see below), he didn’t give a shit.
1994	$15.50	My being unemployed for half the season with no access to a free corporate Xerox machine affected the league.
1995	$9.50	The SOMBILLA enters the internet age and begins emailing some newsletters.
1996	$5.00	Continued migration to email for everything reduces postage dramatically.
1997	$6.50	Harold, mortified by his “OFFICIAL BLASTING” in the summer newsletter, mails me a check in August.
1998	$6.25
1999	$7.00
2000	$4.50	“The primary reason for the reduction from last year was due to a reduction in postage as I have attempted to e-mail newsletters as much as possible.” (Ed note: I vaguely recall that I still snail mailed the summer newsletter until then.)
2001	$4.00
2002	$4.00
2003	$3.50	Surprisingly, nobody is suspended for non-payment (thanks to high school reunion, where I hit Tsuan up for drinks instead of dues).
2004	$3.25
2005	$3.50
2006	$4.00
2007	$9.00	The price of the cards went up and I think I charged for the computer game one year.
2008	$5.00	“Among actual league managers, Eric and Jed still owe me $5.00. And I don't even know why I bother to mention Tsuan, Andrew, and Land who owe me $14, $18 and $200, respectively.”
2009	$6.00	For the first time ever, I can actually report that nobody owes any money (having decided to finally write off Land, Tsuan and Andrew as ‘bad debt’).
2010	$6.80	Total league expenses now divided by the number of franchises, instead of GM’s.
2011	$7.00	“Happy to report that everyone is paid up, except that Tsuan still owes me for that cab ride in 1982.” (Ed note: he still does.)
2012	$7.00
2013	$10.00	$2 of the extra is from a price increase for the bonus players
2014	$9.00	PayPal is accepted for dues for the first time
2015	$9.00	From summer newsletter ‘Jed and Eric still owe me $9.00.’
2016	$9.00
2017	$9.00
2018	$9.75
2019	$9.20	For the third year in a row, everyone is paid up!
2020	$6.50
2021	$7.00	The last official blasting! ‘Eric, Tom, and Harold still owe $7.00. Eric also still owes $6.50 from last year.’ Venmo accepted for the first time.
2022	$6.00
2023	$7.50
2024	$7.00
2025	$6.75	The last dues ever (but see meeting minutes).

* This led to the following exchange (reprinted for your amusement):

Freedonia - October 27, 1991

Last week I received a phone call from the Gaping Orifice of the Commissioner. he wanted to remind me that Opening Day was upcoming, and my enthusiasm became gushy and ebullient as the words "next Sunday" reached my ears. Next Sunday! How could it be so soon? Though I knew the season would begin at the end of the World Series, wasn't that sometime next month? No. My sense of time was playing tricks on me. It was sooner than I thought. No matter. I was psyched: I love this game.

"Hey Arni", I crooned. "When are the newsletters coming out?"

"Oh, they've already gone out", the Omissioner replied; “however, you will not be receiving one since you've been banned from the mailing list for failing to pay your dues." Wow.

This was what twenty-odd years of friendship boiled down to. Sixteen dollars and seventy-three cents. I was stunned.

"You asshole!" I screamed into the phone, turning the heads of those around me. "You little shit! You mean to tell me I don't get a newsletter because I didn't pay you a measly thirteen dollars?"

"Sixteen dollars."

"Jesus! I don't believe this."

"I'm sorry Eric, but those are the rules."

The rules? How could I have neglected the rules? What a sleaze-bag I am. How could I have failed to realize that the money would bring Arni as much pleasure as I receive from being a part of the league?

"I sent you notices in the mail,” he said. "You were warned this would happen." He's right. He did send me a notice. A bill. It had all the visceral charm of a shut-off notice from a utility company. He said "This is the only way I can get you to pay."

"Well shit! Do you have one now? How 'bout I crawl over to your office for a whipping, and then I can give you a check with a bloodied hand? Wait! Do you accept checks?

"Checks, cash, or credit cards. But...I don't have yours with me. I left it at home." Oh, great.

"Fuck it, Arni. Bring it tomorrow and I'll come by."

"Well, if you want, you could come to the [new] house tonight and get it." Oh yeah. I could do that couldn't I? I mean, it really wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience, to change my plans for the night, and squeeze in an hour, and go to Ground Zero for the SOMBILLA. And hey! While I'm there, I could give him my car, and walk the seven miles back to my rented apartment. O rapture! O Forth Coming Season! My wretched soul anticipates!

"Fuck it, Arni. Bring it tomorrow."

Well, I did get the newsletter the following day. I handed him a check, with tremendous malice, and he...tore it up! (Just kidding). He handed me the newsletter and said "Look Eric, as a friend, I'm sorry I had to do this, and I feel incredibly guilty. But, as the Commissioner, I felt I had no other choice." Yeah, yeah. Just give me the fucking thing. "Remember, I did it to Tsuan a couple of years ago."

Oh, that's right. I forgot. A gaseous pain bore through my intestines at the thought that Tsuan and I had this in common, and I felt, somehow, unfulfilled. I relieved myself and left. That night, at home, I read the newsletter. Arni has picked me seventh. Not that I blame him for that. The team is clearly not as good as it has been in recent years. But did he have to malign me like he did? "--this once proud franchise..." and "--years of wasteful neglect..." and "--[a team] littered with the like of ..."

I ask myself: would I put myself through this again? Arni said I was "banned.” Banned! What a horrible word. But I'd have to say yes. Why? Because I love making Arni feel guilty. He's so easy on that one. And he knows his power is tenuous, and that an assassin's bullet could come from anywhere. Freedonia lives.

And the beauty of all this is that Arni and I play each other tonight. Heh-heh.

Rebuttal 4/4/92

Some people (no names) think that the time and effort I put into newsletters is not enough. They expect me to front the league over a hundred dollars, and to not bat an eyelash over dues delinquency. Then, when I have the audacity to not mail something I write and I pay postage for, they distribute memos about 'the gaping orifice of the Commissioner, and fart in my office. If this sort of insurgency continues, I will have no choice but to blow you up. You have been warned.

SUMMER STUDY NUMBER 6 – Ballpark extremism

First of all, this 6^th study shatters the summer newsletter’s record for most studies contained in one summer newsletter. Why so many? Well, for one thing other than Jed’s 2021 draft analyses they are all pretty short. Second, I finished the rest of the newsletter (other than editing and the all-star count) at the end of June. So, while waiting for the official all-star count in early July, I figured why not?

This study will be in two parts – the second will be more elaborate next year. For this summer, I’m just tallying the last 21 champion teams and whether they had an extreme ballpark of some sort. To truly determine if there’s an advantage, I’ll need to come up with a system to analyze a team’s ballpark for extremism, and then correlate that with the number of wins that team had at home. Then, tease out other factors like how good the team actually is (road record?) A fun math project.

Anway, for part 1, I went back to the past 21 seasons (that’s as far as ballparks are available on the SOMBILLA website). Of these 21 champions, 9 had what I would label extreme or near extreme, almost half.

· 13 of the 21 used the maximum allowed numbers (whether L vs R or HR) or almost 2/3 (this includes the extreme parks).

· Only 2 could be considered average parks.

· Of the other 6 (not maximum or average), 3 favored righties, 2 favored lefties, and one was neutral.

Interestingly, while the oldest 5 champions (Tom and Randy) all played in extreme parks, only 1 of the last 5 champions played in an extreme park, and only 1 of the last 4 champions played in a maximum park.

Have extreme/max parks become less successful? Well, two franchises with extremist histories (Tom and Jed) can give you very different answers.

It’s no surprise that champions have chosen parks that favor their team in some way. I mean, every manager tries to do that. The question is whether doing so correctly will lead a team to the championship. It’s probably a factor but not the only one. At the last minute, I decided to include each champion’s home record and how it compared to the rest of the league. I have home/road data available for the past 9 seasons (these are from the summer newsletter. Prior to 2017, I sent these out in an email to the league in May and I do not have emails available).

Anyway, only two of the past 9 champions have had the league’s best home record. What to conclude from that? Champions aren’t great at choosing their parks? No, because 4 others had the 2^nd best home record, meaning that 6 of the past 9 champions had the best or second best home record. I’d argue that the reason is that most of us are reasonably confident in our ballpark choices and therefore the champs are simply the best teams, regardless of parks. What about extreme parks? 3 of the past 9 champions had extreme parks. Two finished with the best or 2^nd best home record, but one champion, Tom’s ’22-23 champion team, playing in all “1”s had a sub .500 home record!

More research is needed. Talk to you next year about this.

Year	Champion	BP LH	BP RH	Home Record	Notes
2024-2025	Neverwinter	S 1-10 HR 1-10	S 1-10 HR 1-15	19-9, 1st	Hitters’ park, favoring righties
2023-2024	Bay City	S 1-14 HR 1-9	S 1-5 HR 1-9	17-11, 2^nd tied	Average park, slightly favoring lefties
2022-2023	Constantinople	S 1 HR 1	S 1 HR 1	13-15, 4^th	Maximum Extreme Pitchers’ park
2021-2022	North Dakota	S 1-14 HR 1-8	S 1-14 HR 1-4	14-13-1, 5th	Park favors lefties
2020-2021	Neverwinter	S 1-17 HR 1-15	S 1- 10 HR 1-9	14-14, 3^rd tie	Maximum HR park to favor lefties
2019-2020	Future Wax	S 1-6 HR 1	S 1-15 HR 1-10	19-9, 2nd	Maximum park to favor righties
2018-2019	North Dakota	S 1-14 HR 1-10	S 1-19 HR 1-18	16-12, 2nd	Near maximum extreme favoring righties
2017-2018	Future Wax	S 1-19 HR 1-15	S 1-16 HR 1-13	18-10. 2nd	Hitters’ park favoring lefties
2016-2017	Constantinople	S 1-19 HR 1-19	S 1-19 HR 1-19	18-10, 1^st tie	Maximum extreme hitters’ park
2015-2016	“What Eric Said?”	S 1-3 HR 1-3	S 1-9 HR 1-6		Pitchers’ park favoring righties
2014-2015	Future Wax	S 1-18 HR 1-18	S 1-16 HR 1-6		Near maximum extreme favoring lefties
2013-2014	North Dakota	S 1-5 HR 1-11	S 1-5 HR 1-11		Average park
2012-2013	North Dakota	S 1-5 HR 1-14	S 1-8 HR 1-18		Hitters’ park favoring righties
2011-2012	The Cheddarmen	S 1-6 HR 1-7	S 1-6 HR 1-14		Near max favoring righty HR (8 was the max)
2010-2011	New Orleans	S 1-15 HR 1	S 1-9 HR 1		Maximum extreme pitchers’ park HR
2009-2010	Dem Bums	S 1-7 HR 1-17	S 1-7 HR 1-17		Hitters’ park
2008-2009	Constantinople	S 1-19 HR 1-19	S 1-12 HR 1-12		Maximum extreme favoring lefties
2007-2008	Future Wax	S 1-19 HR 1-19	S 1-9 HR 1-9		Maximum extreme favoring lefties
2006-2007	Constantinople	S 1-19 HR 1-5	S 1-19 HR 1-18		Maximum extreme HR favoring righties
2005-2006	Constantinople	S 1-10 HR 1	S 1-19 HR 1-10		Maximum extreme favoring righties
2004-2005	Future Wax	S 1-15 HR 1-19	S 1-11 HR 1-7		Maximum extreme HR favoring lefties

HOW IS YOUR TEAM DOING?

Here is our first unscientific look ahead to the 2025 cards (due out in February). I believe this is the first time Jed has had the most all-stars, making him the early favorite to win the championship in ’26-27.

THE 2025 SOMBILLA/FOX ALL-STAR COUNT

Jed (13) – Buxton, Caminero, Chisholm, Crow-Armstrong, Hader, Kirk, K. Marte, Olson, J. Pena, J. Ramirez, Webb, Wood

Arnie (11) –Alonso, H. Brown, deGrom, Kwan, Lindor, B. Lowe, A. Munoz, Paredes, Ray, Tucker, Woo

Tom (9) – Chapman, Donovan, Ohtani, Raleigh, Rasmussen, Rodon, W. Smith, Rob. Suarez, Tatis

Harold (8) – Adam, Estevez, Judge, Rooker, Sale, Schwarber, Torres, Wheeler

Robin (7) – Carroll, R. Greene, Guerrero, Ryan, Skenes, E. Suarez, Witt Jr.

RAT (5) – Arozerana, De La Cruz, Machado, Peralta, Yamamoto

Sam (4) – Acuna, Bregman, Freeman, Fried

Eric (3) –Crochet, E. Diaz, Skubel

Tentative SOMBILLA Opening Day: Sunday, November 2!