VOL. XXI No. 2
July 18, 2005

Playoffs: Constantinople vs. Area 51
Playoffs:  Future Wax vs. North Dakota
World Series:  Constantinople vs. Future Wax
Minutes of annual meeting and draft April 3, 2005
Summer Study #1 - 2001 Draft analysis
Summer Study #2 - All-time home run leaders (updated)
Summer Study #3 - All-time wins leaders
Summer Study #4 - The making of Constantinople
Summer Study #5 - Mr. Irrelevant
All-star count
Ballparks

Background: Tom stews all summer long, coming off his second consecutive heartbreaking 7-game first round loss. He begins the season with an impressive sweep against an unimpressive New Orleans team and takes off from there. On 11/21 we said "It's true - only one team is over .500 as the Year of Tom's Twits Notes continues." By November’s end he’s 13-3 with a 4 game lead. After beating Jeff 3 of 4, to go to 16-4, we were talking about all-time records. Sure enough, a pre-Christmas sweep of Robin puts Tom at 23-5 to break the all-time record for best first half. But at the end of a .500 January (8-8), Tom is swept by Randy, forcing Tom to focus on 1 ^st place, not records. The lead dwindles as Tom stumbles (5-7 in Feb) until the last game of the final night of the season, when FW beats ND in extra innings to finish with the same record as CN and take 1 ^st place on a tiebreaker.

A snowy dark night saw the tired, hungry Manatee manager arrive last at the Manse, agitated by the insane drivers in Hopkinton. But Strat-o-Matic awaited …

Hudson vs. Mussina in Building 19 Park (Constantinople, FL): The first five innings saw Hudson allow 11 men to reach base, while struggling in and out of trouble in each inning giving up 3 runs (1 unearned on an A-Rod boot of a routine 3^rd out grounder). CN chipped away getting two solo shots to bring the game to 3-2, but he spent a lot of time in the 5 column. CN had 12 X-rolls, 3 to Boone (2B-1), 3 to Renteria (SS-2) and 3 1B-x (2 –Delgado 1B-4, 1-Sexson 1B-2) all resulting in outs. Hudson went nine innings down 3-2, till in the ninth Stairs hit a 1-out BP homer off of Mussina’s card to tie the game. Jones followed with a double and K-Rod came in to shut down the Manatees. The Aliens came up in the 10 ^th and the sinkerballer got the first batter to ground out, but then Boone homered and three straight singles off three different pitchers later saw the bases loaded and A51 up 5-3. Two Ks and the home team would try and hit their way out of disaster. 1Bx, SSx, CFx, all outs and all done.

WP: K. Rod (W 1)
LP: Hudson (L 1)
SV: Marte (SV 1)
A51 Homers: B. Boone GW (1)
CN Homers: A. Rod (1), Mora (1), Stairs (1)

Schmidt started game 2 looking for revenge. He faced the minimum over five with 6 Ks giving up one single and amassing a 4-0 lead. Biting down, the relief corp came in. After exchanging solo shots for the next two innings, CN held on for a 6-2 victory.

WP: Schmidt (W 1)
LP: Vazquez (L 1)
SV: None
A51 Homers: B. Boone HR (2), Delgado HR (1)
CN Homers: Mora HR (2), Guillen HR (1)

A quick saucer flight to the desert and the making of Macaroni and Cheese with extra water.

Kip Wells vs Nomo: The Aliens went up early on a 2 run shot from newcomer Jason Kendall. A clutch single on a 1Bx (the sixth one, the 5^th one versus the 1B 4 Delgado) scored one to bring it to 2-1. A51 went up 3-1 on a sac fly from Renteria. After 5 innings, CN was losing it after missing two BP HR and seeing Schilling take the mound in the 6^th to stamp out the CN chances. (AP – Note. Jeff must have had a premonition about using Schilling as a reliever.) However, ignoring their manager the CN hitters said "We own Schilling" and two walks, 2 Ks, 2 doubles, and a single later saw Varitek thrown out at home to end the inning but not before 3 runs score and the Manatees are up 4-3. Next inning, they continue to keep Schilling off balance and 1 run later he is tired and out of the game. Into the 9^th up 6-3, the Manatees load the bases with one out. K Rod comes in and the roll - wait what is the infield? Jeff, the honest man that he is, says it would have been in so the SSGBA+ is a long single. Tek comes up, Jeff puts the infield back and a 2BGBA+ ends the inning. The relief continues to pitch well, ending the game 8-3 with only the minimum batters after the 4^th inning.

WP: Kip Wells (W 1)
LP: Schilling (L 1)
SV: None
A51 Homers: Kendall (1)
CN Homers: None

This game 4 had the aces back: Mussina vs Hudson

The road team went up on a 1^st inning homer for Guillen, but the home team came back with a lead off homer from Delgado in the 2^nd. They were tied at 1 through 10 innings with Hudson still on the mound. Delgado starting the 11 ^th with another 1Bx out, but walks to A-Rod, Nevin (IBB) and Ensberg loaded the bases with 2 outs for Varitek. K Rod versus the Captain, and Varitek who in real life sucks with the bases loaded hit a bases clearing double and K Rod punched out Jones one hitter too late. Hudson came out in the 11^th to strike out Larry Jones, but could not get Vlad to swing at anything and walked him. In came Urbina to strike out Delgado. A Sexson pinch-hit double brought the tying run to the plate in Kendall. The unclutch Kendall was pulled for the clutch Molina who hit a short single to bring in Vlad. Boone, the defensive star of the series was up and hit a 3Bx and Ensberg the 3 picked it up and Giambi squeezed the throw to put CN up 3-1.

WP: Hudson (W 1)
LP: Donnelly (L 1)
SV: Urbina (SV 1)
A51 Homers: Delgado (2)
CN Homers: Guillen (2)

With Randy and Arnie only in inning 3 of Game 4, our protagonists decided to play the rest of the games whether 1 or 3.

Schmidt took the mound against Vazquez. Jeff, "I hate Schmidt," hit solo homers in the first two innings to go up 2-0. Matt Stairs answered with a 2 run shot in the third and Jones hit a solo shot in the 5^th to put CN up 3-2. But Jeff came back to tie it with a Renteria sac fly. CN kept taunting A51 with invitations to bring Schilling in. Instead Donnelly started the 9^th and gave up a single to Ensberg, but then got two quick outs. He then walked Abreu. The clutch brigade was sent in, starting with Everett, who managed a short single making a low split chance. Then Carlos Lee hit a 2 run long single before Durham grounded out. The frustrated aliens came up against Urbina to go K, BPHR 20 Caught, K for the series ending save, sending Tom to the World Series for the first time.

Constantinople wins series 4 games to 1

WP: Schmidt (W 2)
LP: Donnelly (L 2)
SV: Urbina (SV 2)
A51 Homers: L. Jones (1), B. Boone (3)
CN Homers: Stairs (2), A. Jones (1)

As one would expect, the defense x chances evened out to 32-29. However, Jeff recorded 30 outs and I recorded 19 outs. Showing my inferior defense. I also hit 11 of the 32 to the 2B 1 and he hit 4 to my 2B4 or 3, 3 of which were singles. I never got to his corner outfielders and Delgado looked like a gold glover fielding 7 out of 8 chances. Guillen, my impaired corner outfielder, gave up 3 hits and one error in 3 chances. He is a 3e18, though.

Playoffs: Future Wax vs. North Dakota (March 1 and 3, 2005)

Background: Randy stumbles out of the gate, losing 9 of 16 in November as the West Coast Steinbrenners stew. The schedule favors Randy in December as he sweeps Harold to finish the month at 8-5 and is in sole possession of 2 ^nd place (8 games behind) at 15-13 at the break . Randy opens the 2^nd half with a sweep of Eric, and then at Harold’s bash on January 30, sweeps Tom and wins 3 of 4 from Harold to close the gap from 8 to 3 games behind in one day. He continues the hard push, winning 3 of 4 over Robin, and on the final night of the season, wins the last game against ND on a bases-loaded walk (to Tom’s, Jeff’s and Matt’s disgust as they were hanging around) to clinch first.

North Dakota beats Harold 3 of 4 to finish November over .500 (7-5), but a lackluster December and they are part of the vast middle at .500 at the break. A sweep over Harold in January catapults them ahead, but by the end of January, they are at 23-21, holding a tenuous 2 game lead over 5^th place Swarzluna. ND goes into the final night with the same 2 game lead as Eric e-mails choking threats. But ND splits against FW, good enough to clinch 4^th place. The same two teams will meet 4 nights later in the playoffs.

Quiz: What team did each of the four playoff teams sweep?

ND beat FW 5 games to 3 in the regular season.

Game 1

                            R H E
ND 0 0 3   3 3 0   0 0 0    9 11 0
FW 2 0 2   1 5 2   0 2 X   14 16 0

WP: P. Martinez, FW (in relief)
LP: Loiaza, ND
HR: Bonds (2), Thome (3), FW; Pujols (2), ND

The first four Wax batters reach, but Loiaza escapes yielding only 2 runs. Pujols powers ND to a lead on a 3-run homer in the 3^rd; followed by 3-run haymaker in the 4^th , and a 2-run double in the 5th. Bonds counterpunches with homers in the 3 ^rd and 5^th. After a Thome solo shot cuts the lead to 2, Loiaza loads the bases in the 5^th with two outs. Berkman and Giles each single, driving in 3 runs, chasing Loiaza, and putting FW in the lead for good. The Wax pen allows only 1 hit over the last four innings. Thome provides insurance with two more homers, for 5 RBIs total.

Game 2

                             R  H E
ND 0 0 1   0 3 0   0 0 2     6 12 0
FW 2 0 2   0 0 5   2 0 X    11 11 1

WP: Santana, FW
LP: Mulder, ND
SV: Mantei, FW
HR: Garciaparra, Bonds, Thome, FW
L. Gonzalez, Ortiz, Sheffield, ND

After an Edmonds walk, Garciaparra homers to put Future Wax out in front. L. Gonzalez leads off the next half inning with a single, advances on a Pujols single, and scores on a Sheffield groundout. North Dakota hits Kevin Brown hard in the 5^th, seizing a 4-2 lead on solo homers by Gonzalez, Ortiz, and Sheffield (which just clears the fence and Edmonds’ glove). But Mulder comes unglued an inning later, as Bonds singles, Craig Wilson doubles, Thome singles, and Hidalgo singles. Nomar hits a one-out triple, and then scores when Giles beats out a squeeze bunt. In all, 5 runs score before Isringhausen induces a double-play. The Wax lead increases an inning later, as Bonds and Thome each go long off Shields. Meanwhile, Zambrano strikes out the side in the 8^th , following two perfect innings of relief by Santana.

North Dakota pinch-hitter Michaels draws a lead off walk to start the 9^th, and is driven in on a 2-out Pujols single. Ortiz raps a base hit past a diving Giles, and Sheffield draws a walk off Nathan, loading the bases. Chavez boots a Podsednik grounder, keeping ND hopes alive, but Mantei Ks Rolen for the save.

Game 3

                                R H E
FW 0 0 0   0 1 0   1 4 0       6 11 1
ND 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 3 0       3  5 2

WP: P. Martinez, FW
LP: L. Hernandez, ND
SV: Santana, FW
HR: Garciaparra, C. Wilson, FW

With the battle shifted to the pitcher-friendly expanse of Gackle Park, the contest unfolds more slowly. Berkman guns down L. Gonzalez at the plate in the 4^th. Chavez scores the first run in the 5^th after he leads off with a double, advances on a Garciaparra single, and scores on a Berkman sac fly. A Rolen error in the 6^th creates an opportunity for FW, but Gagne comes in early to strike out pinch-hitter Ryan with the bases loaded. An Orlando Cabrera error in the 7th leads to a second Wax run. Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez holds North Dakota scoreless, giving up only 3 hits (but 6 walks) in 7 innings.

Used in a non-save situation, the normally overpowering Gagne loses it in the 8^th, surrendering singles to the first two batters and a home run to Garciaparra. He’s pulled for Shuey, who promptly gives up a dinger to pinch-hitter Wilson. With a 6 run lead, Heredia takes over and gives up three runs via an Ortiz double, a Juan Rivera triple, and a Hidalgo error. But 4 other relievers secure the final 5 outs, putting FW in a commanding 3-0 series lead.

                            R H E
FW 0 0 0   2 0 0   0 0 2    4 4 1
ND 0 0 3   0 0 2   1 0 X    6 9 0

WP: Loiaza, ND
LP: Wood, FW
SV: Isringhausen
HR: Pujols, Ortiz, Sheffield, ND; Bonds, FW

With their backs to the wall, Pujols, Ortiz and Sheffield go back to back to back in the 3^rd. Bonds responds with a 2-run shot, one of the 2 hits Loiaza allows over 6-2/3 innings. The hapless Heredia gives up 3 more runs. This proves just enough to stave off a 9^th inning FW rally. Isringhausen saves the victory, and Arnie saves face by avoiding the sweep.

                            R  H E
FW 1 0 2   0 0 0   0 0 0    3  4 1
ND 0 3 0   3 0 0   1 0 X    7 11 2

WP: Mulder, ND
LP: Brown, FW
HR: Ortiz, ND

Piazza doubles in Phillips in the 1 ^st. Then things get sloppy, as a Chavez error (his 3^rd of the series) leads to 3 unearned runs in the 2^nd for ND. Cabrera returns the favor by booting one a half inning later, setting the table for another Piazza double (driving in two). After that, ND pitching allowed only 1 hit over the remaining 6-2/3 innings. Cabrera atoned in the 4 ^th with a base hit, a stolen base, and then scoring on an Alomar single. Ortiz added insurance with a 2-run blast a few batters later. After adding one more run in the 7^th on doubles by Michaels and Rolen, ND cruised to victory, forcing a game 6 in the Wax Home.

                                R H E

ND 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 4 0        4 9  0
FW 1 0 2   0 0 4   0 0 X        7 11 0

WP: Zambrano, FW
LP: Ponson, ND
SV: Nathan, FW
HR: Bonds, Thome, FW

Back in the friendly confines of the Wax Home, the now slightly less confident Wax got down to business. Berkman leads off with a single, and eventually scores on a Bonds sac fly. The Wax add 2 more in the 3^rd, when Piazza doubles in Edmonds, and is himself knocked in by the pinch-hitting mutant Ryan. FW attempts to pad the lead with some small ball in the 4^th: Berkman is bunted to 3^rd after a lead off double, but Arnie pulls the infield in to get the second out, and Bonds misses a ballpark single (1-15 chance). The dynamic duo of Bonds and Thome break things open in the 6^th with back to back homers, making it 7-0.

But ND has one last rally in them. After mustering only 3 hits over the first 7 innings, Arnie’s squad bats around in the 8^th, scoring 4 runs on 6 hits (pinch-hitters go 3 for 4). (AP Note: Randy was visibly sweating). But it’s too little too late, and Nathan strikes out pinch hitter Klesko to end the game. Future Wax takes the series 4-2.

Future Wax vs. Constantinople (March 12, 2005)

Background: Tom, having dispatched of Jeff is just happy to be in the World Series for the first time after losing in the first round the past four seasons in a row. Randy, battling his own demons, comes into his 7^th World Series with a record of only 2-4 in Series play. Tom beat Randy 3 of 4 just before Thanksgiving, but Randy swept Tom in that Marblehead showdown to take the season series 5 games to 3.

In white-out conditions the Manatee Bus headed North to the Wax home of Natick, a trip necessitated because they had lost home field advantage in a devastating sweeping at the hands of the dread Waxites. The coach harangued the team for weeks about their lack of timely hitting and left-handed power in the Wax Dome as well as posting the statements from the first round of the playoffs. Randy assuring Arnie that it was unlikely that he would blow them out since they only blow out the Manatees.

Game 1

It was Wood vs. Hudson and after three scoreless, the Manatees opened up a lead on a leadoff walk to Captain Varitek and a 2 run shot by Matt Stairs. Two outs later, trade acquisition Hidalgo misplayed a Ensberg liner and it was off to the races as a walk and a 2Bx single and a HBP later saw Wood leave the game for Schoenweiss. Giambi was yanked for Nevin, and the roll had the Manatee manager cursing as Giambi would have kept the inning alive. Randy pointed out that it was a Nevin grand slam 7-0. Barry Bonds reached base in every at bat including a solo shot, which with Chavez’s similar result led to a 7-2 Manatee surprise victory.

Manatees 7, Wax 2
Hudson (CG W), Wood (L)
HR: CN Nevin (1), Stairs (1); FW Bonds (1), Chavez (1)

Schmidt versus exciting trade acquisition Brown. It looked like defense would decide the game early as Mora kicked a ball and threw it into the dugout to allow Edmonds on two outs to end up on 2B. After an intentional walk to Bonds, Thome cracked a 3- run homer (it would have been a Bonds out for his first out of the series). Giambi would have 2 errors before the game was over, but it was decided in inning 4 when Stairs led off with a homer, and then 4 batters later with 2 walks, K and a single saw Brown leave the game early for Santana. Abreu hit a grand slam to chase Brown and put CN up to stay 5-3. An FW triple would bring the Wax to 6-4 (after an A. Rod solo shot) in the bottom of the fifth, but Schmidt would leave the game and 5 relievers would hold the Wax to no runs. Abreu and Stairs had two homers each and 8 RBIs to pace the attack. Bonds reaches base all but once out of 9 tries.

Manatees 9, Wax 4
Schmidt (W), Brown (L)
HR: CN Abreu 2 (1,2), Stairs 2 (2,3), A. Rod 1 (1); FW Thome (1)

Pedro took the mound and the Wax bats erupt scoring 14 runs with Bonds reaching base all six PA’s with 4 walks a, 3 run shot and a single. Helms and Berkman also added 3 run homers. Varitek took ex- battery mate Pedro for a solo shot and Nomar kicked a ball for an unearned run.

Wax 14, Manatees 2
Pedro (W), Redman (L)
HR: CN Varitek 1 (1); FW Helms (1), Berkman (1), Bonds (2)

Controversy erupts as CN continues to believe that Piazza is limited to 17 PA’s. The Commissioner was unavailable, but it was the opinion of CN that when it said 1/15 of AB + BB it meant AB + BB from the front of the card and not AB + BB + HBP, even though the league allows managers to report BB as BB + HBP in stats. The player limits for the regular season now is .42 x AB + BB + HBP, but the postseason has not changed. It was hoped that one PA would not be the difference. (Commissioner note: at the time this game was played, Tom was correct. The rule has since been changed to what FW thought it was. See Minutes of Annual Meeting for details.)

Hudson and Wood match up again. This time in the third after a 2 base error by Andruw Jones led to 4 unearned runs, the Wax bats just found their strides and next thing CN knew it was 11-0 with Hudson taking one for the team as everything fell right for Wax. Bonds reached on only 3 out of 6 PA’s, but homers by Hidalgo, Thome, and Berkman (2) paced Wax by CN 14-1. Wax celebrated Wood’s CG 2 hitter (1B and A. Rod solo shot) and 15 Ks.

Wax 14, Manatees 1
Wood (W), Hudson (L)
HR: CN A. Rod 1 (2); FW Thome (2), Berkman (2,3), Hidalgo (1)

Looking at a home shutout, Schmidt took the mound against Brown. Early it was the Varitek show as he hit two ballpark homers with Abreu on first to give CN a 4-0 lead. Bonds scoring a run after a double and then an RBI single to bring Wax to 4-2 as he was 2 out of 5 PA’s. But CN came back to score 6 to put it out of reach. Schmidt was shaky in the 8^th as Wax scored 4, but it was not enough as CN wins 11-6.

Manatees 11, Wax 6
Schmidt (W), Brown (L)
HR: CN Varitek 2 (2,3), Guillen 1 (1); FW DaVanon (1)

Back in Wax Dome, Redman versus Pedro. CN went up 2-0 as Abreu led off the game with a Ballpark homer and Varitek hit a triple off Pedro’s card and Stairs a double (same source) before A. Rod hit a clutch out to end the first. Wax came back to score 2 in the first without the benefit of a hit. (BB, BB, HBP, 2Bx GO, FO SAC no PA for Piazza, and a LO.) Wax got Pedro his lead 5-2 knocking Redman out in the 2 ^nd inning. Giambi got CN back to within one with a 2-run shot 5-4 in the top of the 3^rd. Wells held Wax scoreless for 2 innings and handed the game to Dotel in the 5^th. The top of the 7 ^th saw three straight singles load the bases and drive a tired Pedro from the game. Mora hit a ground ball RBI to tie the game 5-5 and Dotel continued scoreless relief through 7. Top of the 8^th , saw a pinch hit 2 run shot by Jose Guillen with 2 outs putting CN up 7-5. Capuano came in to start the 8^th to get Chavez and Bonds. Urbina came in to induce Berkman to ground out. CN pushed an insurance run through in the top of the 9 ^th and Urbina in his first outing came out to get the save and the series victory for CN. Ryan the Mutant came in to PO on a C-X, but then Thome doubled, Nomar walked and Edmonds flew out to bring up Giles. Urbina threw a fastball and Giles drilled an open double to center. Nomar held up at third as Andruw Jones came up firing. The tired Urbina is pulled for trade acquisition Aquilino Lopez. Lopez versus Phillips .... Strikeout ... Season over. CN wins its first World Series.

Manatees 8, Wax 6
Dotel (W), Santana (L), A. Lopez (SV)
HR: Abreu 1 (3), Giambi 1 (1), Guillen 1 (2)

Constantinople wins series 4 games to 2

THOUGHTS WHILE FLOATING IN THE NEW POOL

1. Randy. The meeting agenda, sent out two weeks before the draft, called for the meeting to begin at 11:30, same as usual. At 11:30, representatives from seven teams sat around the living room and made small talk. And waited. And waited. Finally, just as the Commissioner was about to start the meeting without Future Wax representation, Randy strolled in at approximately 12:05. The league was incredulous when Randy seemed oblivious about keeping everyone waiting; he replied that the agenda basically gave no specific time for the meeting.

2. Dues. OFFICIAL BLASTING!!! OFFICIAL BLASTING!!! OFFICIAL BLASTING!!! OFFICIAL BLASTING!!! OFFICIAL BLASTING!!! à Land and Andrew ß are DELINQUENT. $3.50 $3.50 $3.50 $3.50 $3.50. (Note: Land has not paid any dues since the Clinton administration and is now "super-duper suspended".)

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 normally be a unanimous vote. However, due to Randy’s (remorseless) late arrival, he did not submit a vote. (But because that actually gave FW an unfair advantage in the voting [FW players had more potential votes], we forced him to vote for the Cy Young, thus torturing ourselves with a further delay.)

MVP                  1 2 3 Tot

Edmonds, FW          3 3 1 25
A. Rodriguez, CN     1 1 1 9
J. Giambi, CN        1 1   8*
Pujols, ND           1 1   8
Bonds, FW            1     5*
Lowell, A51            1   3
J. Lopez, MF             2 2
Sanders, SW              1 1
Stairs, CN               1 1
Thome, FW                1 1

*steroid enhanced

J. Schmidt, CN       3 1 1 19
P. Martinez, FW      3     15
Gagne, ND            1 2   11
Urbina, CN             2 2  8
Zambrano, FW         1   1  6
Prior, BC              1 3  6
Vazquez, A51           1 1  4
Wood, FW               1    3

Tom                  6      30
Arnie                1 3 1  15
Randy                  3 3  12
Jeff                   1 3   6

             5. Rule change proposals

1. Repeal of the rainout rule. I proposed a repeal of Eric’s rainout rule. Not because it’s a bad rule or anything. It’s fairly harmless. The main reason was that it is not fairly applied. More often than not, we forgot to roll for it. While it is their own damn fault, I still proposed repealing it (keeping the automatic day off at the midway point). The vote to repeal the rule was 4-4, meaning keep the rule (status quo). Eric was warned that his rule was on thin ice.
2. Limited batters.
We then discussed clarifying the "42% of plate appearances" definition for limited batters. The proposal on the table was to keep the current rule for simplicity and make it 42% of the AB + BB on the player’s card. Randy’s alternative proposal was to define the 42% to include AB + BB + HBP+ IBB+ SF. Of course, that info is not readily available from the player’s card, but the argument is that it is more fair. (It is also the same definition used to determine if a batter is limited in the first place – although I pointed out being on the cusp like that is rare).

Initially the vote was 4-4 to change the rule, meaning keep the current simple rule to read the limit off the player’s card. But wait! Clint, who appears to be a 50% owner of Swarzluna despite not having played a game of Strat-O, or participated in the league, in over 3 years, changed his vote. Thus, by a vote of 4 ½ to 3 ½ the 42% rule, now includes AB + BB + IBB+ HBP + SF. Each team will be on their own to determine this. Essentially Clint’s only contribution to the SOMBILLA since 2001(other than bringing hard liquor to the draft) was to decide to change this league rule.

3. Post-season limited batters.
Randy also proposed that the same change apply to limited post-season batters (i.e., they get 1/15^th of AB + BB + HBP + IBB + SF). This passed 7-0,with one notable abstention.
4. Multi-carded players in the post-season.
We then briefly discussed Tom’s clarifications surrounding multi-carded pitchers in the post season. The current rule is that the post-season card for a player with two cards is the card used at the end of the regular season. Tom proposed that while you would still have to start a post-season series with that card (for 1/15 of innings or AB+ BB+ IBB + HBP + SF rounded down) if you use it up, you could finish the series with the card from the other league (but not the combined card for guys with 3 cards) (for 1/15 of innings or AB+ BB +IBB +HBP + SF rounded down). Always thinking ahead, Tom added that if the pitcher ended his first card with a double or triple play and that play used up outs beyond his first card’s limits, those outs are counted against the limited outs of the second card. Got it? This passed by acclamation, with no vote taken.
5. Multi-carded starred starters in the post-season.
If a starred starter has multiple cards, the unlimited (starred) card for post-season purposes is only the card with the most innings pitched (e.g., one card has 75 innings, one has 130 innings and one 205 innings, you can use only the 205 inninged card as a starred starter in the post-season). Also, if you used the two lesser-inninged cards during the regular season, you cannot then switch to using the starred max-inninged card in the post-season. This also passed by acclamation, with no vote taken.
6. DH.
Matt then proposed to eliminate the DH beginning with the ‘06-07 season, which was voted down 6-2.
7. DH variation.
Jed then proposed that home teams can decide whether or not to use the DH in their parks, beginning with the ‘06-07 season, which was voted down 6-2.
8. DH variation 2.
Harold then proposed that no DH’s be used in games involving Matt’s team, which was voted down 8-0, a sign that the meeting was over.

              7. Draft Notes

There was one trade made on draft day and a couple during the week before the draft:

As usual, some players were drafted who previously had flings in the SOMBILLA and have now been recycled as free agents. The earliest such retread was the 12th pick overall in the 2 ^nd round, Jaret Wright by Robin. Wright was a former first round pick of Eric’s.

The others:

• Brad Radke by Tom in the 2^nd, his cut in ’04 and also a former pitcher for Matt.
• Chris Carpenter by Harold in the 3^rd, whom he cut in ‘03.
• "Fucking" Juan Uribe by Arnie in the 3^rd, nickname coined by Robin, who cut him after he failed to hit in Colorado.
• Carlos Guillen by Tom in the 3^rd, (I think he was in the league, but not sure of the team).
• Sean Casey by Tom in the 4^th, cut by him back in ’03.
• Mike Adams, Robin’s 5^th round pick, previously toiled for Tom & Land.
• Harold picked up former A51 bench jockey Eli Marrero in the 5th round.
• One-time FW closer R. Bottalico was chosen by Robin in the 7th.
• Moises Alou, whose number hangs in New Orleans rafters, was signed by North Dakota in the 8^th round.
• Tom Glavine, who toiled for Jeff and then helped Eric win the ’04 World Series, was redrafted by Jeff in the 9^th.
• Former A51 1B Darin Erstad was picked up by Eric in the 10 ^th round.
• Harold gave up on Leiter in ’04 and FW drafted him in the 10 ^th round.
• Former FW bench-warmer Mirabelli was picked up by Tom in the 10 ^th.
• David Eckstein (A51, ND) is now with his third team after Eric drafted him in the 11^th.
• Royce Clayton, an 11^th rounder is back for another go-around with FW; he also played for Eric.

We all shouted "Spooneybarger," and the ’05 draft was history. Except it wasn’t. A minor controversy erupted with the last pick in the draft. After Tom announced "Carrera" and we all Spooneybargered, he then asked if he could change his draft pick to Damian Easley. The fact that it was the final pick in the draft made it much less of a controversy. Some managers had scattered for a smoke or bathroom break; those who remained voted 4-0, with 2 abstentions, to allow the change.

This summer we will do our 4-year draft retrospective analysis of the 2001 draft. As usual, the first 2 rounds will be listed in order, for heightened scrutiny. After that, all picks are lumped together by round.

We've conducted 4 SOMBILLA seasons since that '01 draft (using the 00, 01, 02 and 03 seasons), and we will begin playing another season, the 2004 cards, in a few months. Finally, in real life, we are currently in the midst of a 6th Strat-O season, 2005, and we can project who might be usable. Thus, each player from this draft will have the potential to play in all six SOMBILLA seasons. In '00-01, Matt finished in last place convincingly and had the first pick. How'd we do?

The player’s SOMBILLA stats are shown.

Round 1

1. Furcal, Matt (.276, 2 hr, 33 rbi) 3 seasons (+1 season as a callup)
2. Weaver, Jeff (7-6, 1 sv, 5.83) 2 seasons
3. Vidro, Jeff (.292, 9, 43) 5 seasons
4. D’Amico, Matt (4-5, 7.84) 1season
5. Jamey Wright, Robin (3-6, 7.94) 1 season
6. Burrell, Tom (.292, 14, 54) 3 seasons (includes ’05)
7. Zito, Matt (11-15, 6.82) 3 seasons
8. J. Jiminez, RAT (1-4, 10 sv, 6.66) 1 season
9. Dempster, Jed & Clint (2-9, 8.21) 1 season

Best pick: Not even close. Jose Vidro, Jeff (Jeff actually acquired this pick from Eric in the L. Walker trade)

Worst pick: What a shitty first round! 4 players who were one year wonders. Since D’Amico was the first of the lot, 4^th overall, he gets the nod (although I do recall he had a good card).

Round 2

10. F. Castillo, Matt – never played!
11. B. Molina, Jeff (.230, 14, 52) 4 seasons (including 2005)
12. Rollins, Arnie (.323, 0 4) 4seasons (including 04 and 05)
13. M. Lowell, J&C (.276, 24, 86) 4 seasons
14. P. Wilson, Eric (0-3, 13 sv, 3.86) 1 season
15. G. White, Tom (4-1, 5 sv 1.41) 1 season
16. C. Smith, Arnie (2-2, 6.65) 1 season
17. Sasaki, RAT(3-6, 6 sv, 6.25) 2 seasons
18. Wunsch, Harold (4-1, 1 sv, 4.50) 1 season

Best picks– Rollins, Arnie; Lowell, Jed & Clint; B. Molina, Jeff– tough call to name just one.

Worst picks – Frank Castillo, Matt. The worst draft pick of 2001.

Best pick – Lance Berkman, Arnie (regardless of your opinion of the trade to RAT) 5 seasons (all 6 if he becomes usable for 2005).

Worst picks – Patterson, Jeff; Blanco, Matt; Hawkins, J&C; Leskanic, Robin; K. Walker, RAT; Burkhart, Harold. One year wonders all.

Also picked – Wolf, Tom (3); W. Williams, Arnie (2)

Best picks– Eaton, Jeff (1 for Jeff and 1 redrafted by Arnie); Armas, Eric (2); Higginson, Matt (2)

Worst picks – Okha, Matt. Never played.

Also picked – R. White, Arnie; C. Lee, J&C; Alfonseca, J&C; Penny, RAT; Soriano, Harold. One season each

Best pick – Placido Polanco, Matt. All 6 seasons! (Some of those no doubt legit good cards. Others perhaps because he drafts guys like Frank Castillo and Okha, so somebody has to play).

Worst pick – Piatt, RAT. Early prospecting gone sour. Did go 2 for 3 in an injury callup.

Also picked – Randa, Jeff (2, including 1 for Robin); M. Suzuki, J&C (1); Rekar, J&C (1); A. Brown, Robin (1); Strickland, Tom (1); D. Fletcher, Arnie (1); Lugo, J&C (1)

Best pick – Derek Lee, RAT. 1 season for RAT, then he was traded to Matt & Jed at the 2003 draft along with Brian Giles, Jason Kendall, & a 1st round pick (became Eric Hinske) for Edmonds (SOMBILLA MVP this past season) and Eric Chavez. 3 seasons overall.

Worst pick – Huff, Jeff. DNP

Also picked – Speier, Matt (1); F. Rodriguez, Robin (3, but no triple crown like D. Lee); Fordyce, J&C (1); Hollandsworth, Eric (1); Stynes, Tom (1); Chen, Matt (2, just redrafted); Hairston, Harold (1)

Round 7

Best pick – Jay Payton, Eric. 3 seasons in the league. Eric drafted him knowing he’d be on the Red Sox 4 years later (however briefly).

Worst pick – Lombard, Jeff; Kohlmeyer, J&C. Who?

Also picked – Richard, Matt (1); Herges, Tom (2); Sparks, Robin (2); L. Rivas, Arnie (1); Truby, RAT (1)

Best pick – Corey Koskie, Eric. 4 seasons.

Worst pick – R. Bell, Matt. Hard to believe, but he’s the only 8^th rounder to not play in the SOMBILLA

Also picked – McLemore, Jeff (2); D. Buford, Robin (1); Pierre, Eric (1); R. Ortiz (Ana), Tom (1); Tollberg, Arnie (1); Wells, RAT (1); Barcelo, Harold (1)

Best pick – Mark Buehrle, Robin. 4 seasons and still going strong.

Worst picks – Zuletta, Jeff; Rusch, RAT; Kinney, Harold – never played in the SOMBILLA

Also picked – Garland, Harold (believe it or not, but 05 will be his debut); Reames, Robin (1); Veres, Tom (1)

Best pick – AJ Burnett,. Eric. A 12 ^th round pick, the 89^th player chosen, has played 4 seasons.

Worst picks – Bernero, Eric; J. Silva, Arnie – never played

Also picked – A. Gonzalez, Robin (1) (aka ‘the cute one’); C. Guillen, Tom (2); Estellela, Arnie (1); Hocking, RAT (1); D. Lewis, Harold (1); Matheney, Eric (2); Vander Wal, Tom (1); Sheldon, Arnie(1); Grace, Harold (1)

Three trades were consummated on draft day 2001

1. Cirillo, ND to Robin for a 2^nd round pick (became Rollins). Advantage: Arnie
2. Matt traded his 8^th round pick to Eric (became Koskie) for an 8^th rounder in 2002 (became Grimsley). Advantage: Eric.
3. Kevin Brown to Harold from Jed & Clint for a 1 ^st, 5^th & 7^th in both the 2001 and 2002 drafts. This was a huge trade at the time. But the 2001 picks became Dempster & Lugo (they could not use the 7^th round pick, having exhausted their 10 picks beforehand). And because Jed & Clint’s team, BiG DiG was contracted out of existence, they never got to use their 2002 picks either (Harold did forfeit his 2^nd, 6 ^th and 8 ^th round picks in the 2002 contraction draft). Advantage: Harold

Best draft, 2001: Eric!. All the more impressive is that he didn’t have a 1^st , 3^rd or 5 ^th rounder and his 2^nd round pick was P. Wilson. Three years later he won the championship. (P. Wilson, Armas Jr., Hollandsworth, Payton, Koskie, Pierre, Bernero, Matheney, Burnett)

Worst draft, 2001: Matt, despite 3 first round picks. (Furcal, D’Amico, Zito, F. Castillo, Okha, Higginson, Polanco, Speier, Chen, C. Richard, R. Bell).

Last summer, we presented the top 71 all-time SOMBILLA home run leaders (all those with more than 50).

Here is an updated list of the top 20:

As promised last summer, here is the following list of SOMBILLA wins leaders, dating back from ‘83-84, the first year we kept stats for all the teams, through last year. A couple of years in there, (for example, last year) not all the teams did their stats, but this is the best we can do.

Hopefully, I got everyone. If you think of someone who should be on the list, let me know -and I’ll look into it. This list includes all those with 30 or more recorded wins:

Constantinople, thanks to the astute managing and GMing of Tom (and to a lesser extent, Land) won its first SOMBILLA championship 4 months ago – 13 years after being awarded an expansion franchise (Note: this 13 years is shorter than the 19 years it took the Yitz/Durga/Harold franchise to win its first championship, while Manila is on 20 and counting).

In the spring of 1992, the SOMBILLA voted 6-2 to award Land his own expansion team and become the 9^th team in the league. (Arnie and Robin, who were and are good friends with Land, cast the only opposing votes. Arnie because he didn’t want to do the extra scheduling and stats, and Robin, on principle. Land did not hold it against us, inviting us to his wedding a few years later.)

A few weeks before the April draft, the other 7 teams were allowed to protect 30 players (then as now, rosters were 45 players). Since we (the established teams) were going to cut 10 of these people anyway, we basically screwed Land by giving him crap (or perhaps a slight upgrade from crap) expansion players to choose from. He was limited to 2 players per team. I recall that after he got the list he called me to ask if he was forced to actually take two players from every team. I said no.

He got 10 draft picks – last pick in every round, then we gave him the stack of leftovers, from which he chose 20 or so players to fill out his roster. We magnanimously gave him two weeks to do that.

1. Were any of the expansion pickups any good? Or even helpful? Well, in the ’92 Summer Newsletter, I posted the following analysis:

Land immediately traded Stanton and A. Rhodes to Jed for Zeile. He also traded Thompson to Eric for a 7 ^th rounder in the following year’s draft. When Land made the playoffs 4 years later, Zeile, Hansen, O. Nixon and Taubensee all took part in the celebration. Nixon still holds the league’s all-time single season steal record (53 in ‘92-93)

Check out that last guy! Literally, the 45^th man on his roster, not even drafted, the last guy in the league and he’s having an all-star year in ’05. He was an ill-advised cut of Tom’s in 2002, the last remaining player on the original Constantinople.

Land hasn’t participated in a few years now. How many were Land guys and how many Tom’s? Researching the 25 players on Tom’s championship roster, here are a few facts:

• 24 of the 25 players were drafted by Constantinople (including 2 who were drafted twice by CN). Only one player was acquired in a trade. (Aquilino Lopez from Robin during the ‘04-05 campaign).

• 10 of the 25 players (40%) were from Tom’s 2004 draft. We’ve never studied that particular statistic, but I’m guessing it’s a pretty high percentage historically, for a championship team or otherwise.

• 22 of the 25 players were acquired after Tom became involved in the team. The other 3 were pretty important, though:

• Alex Rodriguez was drafted 1^st overall by Land in the 1995 draft.
• Jason Giambi was a 12^th round pick by Land in ’96!*
• Uegeth Urbina was a 9^th round pick by Brian and Land in the ’97 draft.

1999: Tom’s first draft – he and Land worked together. Abreau – 2^nd round, Varitek – 6 ^th , C. Everett- 8^th

2000: Land and Tom still working together. Hudson – 1^st, K. Wells – 4^th, Dotel – 7 ^th

2001: Land still active in Gming. It’s hard from the outside to know who was responsible for drafting whom. But at least until ’02, Land had a strong interest in participating as a GM. Herges – 7^th round (cut in ’03 and redrafted in ’04).

2002: The "contraction draft". Perhaps the low point of the Land/Tom marriage as there was some brief discussion of Tom getting Clint’s old team and finding a new manager for Land. In the end, they reached an amiable understanding. A. Jones – 1^st , Nevin – 2^nd (both former BiG DiG players), Mora – 13 ^th round (cut in ’03 and redrafted in ’04).

2003: Tom may have been flying solo for this one. Borowski – 8^th, C. Lee – 9^th, J. Schmidt – 10^th

2004: Land definitely AWOL. Ensberg – 1^st, Mora – 2^nd, J. Guillen – 3^rd , Redman – 4^th, Herges – 4^th, Bay – 7^th , Stairs – 9^th, Wunsch – 10^th, Durham – 11^th , Capuano – 12^th

There is actually one Hall of Famer on this list. The problem is, when Joel drafted Don Sutton with the last pick of the 1987 draft, the guy was 42, and Joel was about to end his affiliation with the SOMBILLA. To me, that’s the worst Mr. Irrelevant pick. At least everyone else was trying. A pretty negligible list, with a couple of notable exceptions (as I write this, Ortiz just singled in A-Rod in the All-Star game). Giambi is the best Mr. Irrelevant, but after performance enhancing drugs are factored in, you have to go with Ortiz. Chuck Nagy is an honorable mention.

Some of these guys did play in the league, although for most of those, their best Strat-O years were with other managers before they were redrafted as Mr. Irrelevant. For the record, this study was not my idea.

Here is our first unscientific look ahead to the 2005 cards (due out in January).

Arnie (12) – Alou, L. Gonzalez, L. Hernandez, Isringhausen, Kent, D. Ortiz, Peavy, Podsednik, Pujols, Rolen, Rollins, Sheffield

Harold (11) – Carpenter, Colon, C. Cordero, Garland, Izturis, Lidge, F. Lopez, M. Rivera, Soriano, B. Wagner, Willis

Robin (9) – Anderson, Beltran, Buehrle, M. Cabrera, L. Castillo, Halladay, Oswalt, I. Rodriguez, M. Sweeney

Tom (9) – Abreau, Baez, Bay, Ensberg, A. Jones, C. Lee, Mora, A. Rodriguez, Varitek

Jeff (6) – Damon, V. Guerrero, LoDuca, BJ Ryan, Teixeira, M. Young

RAT (6) – Edmonds, P. Martinez, Nathan, Piazza, Ar. Ramirez, Santana

Matt & Jed (5) – Clemens, D. Lee, B. Roberts, Smoltz, Suzuki

Eric (5) – Clement, Eckstein, Konerko, M. Ramirez, Tejada

I believe Twits Notes to be the World’s first blog. We were blogging back when Twits Notes debuted in ’84. (Technically, since it was on paper it wasn’t a "weblog"). But once we went to the Internet in ’96, we were blogging before the term had been invented. Therefore, you’ll notice the website now says "including Twits Notes, the world’s first blog". Sounds good, even if I can’t actually prove it.

Tentative Opening Day: Sunday, October 30