“So passes a worthy opponent.”

Today the world notes a sad passing in the EFL.

Haviland:  “L”, 6 – 1.  .243,  .317,  .486;   24.7 ip, 3 er.   I wrote yesterday that if Saturday went like Friday “the W’s will trade places with the D’s” like two square dancers doing a do-si-do. Which is what happened.  The Dragons went to a lot of effort to take a formal “loss” just to be gracious and not look like they were boasting about being better than everyone else.  But the fact is they ARE better than everyone else. No amount of Dragon modesty can hide the fact: they just devoured the Wolverines.

Old Detroit:  L, 4 – 9.  .250, .320, .350;  5 ip, 6 er.  Even though we saw it coming, this is still hard to take, especially since it involved a Madison Bumgarner collapse on the mound (6 er, 5 ip).  We thank the rest of the league for respecting our privacy in this time of loss.

Cottage: W 2, L (-1);  7 – (-6).   .361,  .368, .611;  17 ip,  1 er.  Did you notice that every EFL team — even our new leaders, the Sensitive Dragons — took a loss (or at least a “loss”) yesterday?  Every one except the Cheese, that is.  How insensitive of the Fromage to hit like crazy — all except Pablo Sandoval’s 0 for 5, of course — and pitch like even crazier (including Graveman’s 7 scoreless innings against the hapless Mariners) when the rest of the league was suffering so badly.  I can’t wait until Cottage gets its comeuppance.  As long as that doesn’t involve any actual cominguppance in the standings.

Peshastin:  L, 4 – 5. .286,  .327,   .408;  9.3 ip, 5 er.  I suppose the Pears might feel badly that their Cheese dancing partners have abandoned them to make a rush at the league leaders.  But be consoled, O Pears — the league has noticed how you marked the passing of the Wolverine regime respectfully, with head bowed and your flags at half staff, eschewing unseemly rushes to take personal advantage of Wolverine weakness like those other foodstuffs. Young Michael Taylor did hit a home run, but made clear he didn’t mean to do it by going 0 for 4 the rest of the day.

Flint Hill: L, 4- 6.  .267, .333, .378;  8 ip, 6 er.   One wouldn’t generally associate Tornados with thoughtfulness and restraint, but even they — the newest members of our league — toned it down out of respect for the dead Wolverines. No Tornado did anything too showy — no homers, no pitchers tossing blithe shutouts.   Even the Liberatore didn’t overthrow anyone yesterday (0 ip, 2 hits, 1 er).

Pittsburgh:  L, 4 – 7.  .167, .310, .250;  5 ip, 2 er.  The Alleghenys have overthrown far more often than they have been overthrown, so it is mildly surprising to see how thoughtfully they’ve responded to the Wolverine demise.  Dellin Betances even donated two earned runs to the poor as his way of marking the day, and Stephen Strasburg injured himself again in solidarity with his old Wolverine rivals.

Kaline:  L, 3 – 10.  .265,  .342,  .294;  3 ip,  8 er.  So many EFL teams showed restraint at the passing of the Wolverines, but only Kaline went so far as to have an even worse day than Old Detroit’s.  Jarred Cosart even tossed a nice quadruple chulk  (1.7 ip, 7 er) to mark the occasion.

Canberra:  L  7 -7.  .259,  .355,  .519;  2 ip, 1 er.   Bryce Harper went a wildly inappropriate 3 for 4 with a double, a homer and a walk, but then he just can’t help himself.  Most of the rest of the team was appropriately subdued.

Portland:  L, 3 – 7.  .200,  .318,  .343;   15.7 ip, 12 er.  The Rosebuds have been playing most of the season as if they were in mourning for some tragedy.  And now, finally, comes a tragedy worthy of their grief.  Mookie Betts and Kole Calhoun weren’t paying attention and went a combined 4 for 7 with two doubles, a homer and two walks. But the rest of the team acted properly for the occasion:  3 for 28 with no showing off and taking extra bases. If the Wolverine’s passing can free even one small team from whatever oppression has been holding them back…