Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys who ran away with the EFL championship this year. They led the league in scoring runs and preventing them. They won an EFL-record 115 games (actually 114.7) to take their 7th championship in 13 years in the league. The Alleghenys now own exactly half of the 14 EFL championships ever awarded.
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No team has a better record of improving during the season. The A’s were never in last place in 2017, but they did spend two days in early April in 9th place, bottoming out with a winning percentage of .166 on April 8.. From there they steadily climbed until they first took over the lead on July 18 with .654 winning percentage. At that point the fourth place team (the Tornados) were winning at a .640 pace, with the Dragons (.652) and the Cheese (.647) tucked in between. The Cheese fell back at that point– just a little — but the Dragons, Tornados, and Alleghenys tangled fiercely for a week until the Alleghenys took over for good on July 24. That lead never disappeared, although it took some time before the Cheese, then the Dragon, and finally the Tornadoes dropped out of reach.
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There was nothing wrong with any of those other teams. They all finished above .600, all with at least 99 wins, enough in most seasons to take the title. But the Alleghenys weren’t done. They kept getting better until they were off-the-charts good. Literally.
They went off the chart on September 9 when their winning percentage passed .700. They peaked at .716 on September 25 before taking their foot off the gas for the last week of the season.
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We are in awe. Also grateful. The Alleghenys never publicly crow about their successes or gloat about how much better they are than everyone else. The worst I’ve ever heard was a “whoop!” when Mark saw a great box score line for one of his players. Or maybe a “looks nice, doesn’t it” in reference to the league trophy on display in his office. Whenever we think how bad it would be if a certain EFL commissioner had half our championships, we thank God for the mercy of giving us so benevolent an overlord. (Don’t expect me to remember saying this next season when I am bemoaning another dominant Allegheny season. So here it is on record so you can remind me when — not if — I need reminding.)
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EFL FINAL Standings for 2017
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 115 | 47 | .708 | — | 946.8 | 600.6 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 104 | 58 | .642 | 10.7 | 821.6 | 611.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 103 | 59 | .633 | 12.2 | 925.7 | 700.6 |
| Cottage Cheese | 99 | 63 | .609 | 16.1 | 857.8 | 681.6 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 96 | 66 | .595 | 18.4 | 924.6 | 752.6 |
| Kaline Drive | 94 | 68 | .580 | 20.8 | 831.5 | 704.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 90 | 72 | .553 | 25.2 | 803.7 | 730.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 84 | 78 | .518 | 30.8 | 798.1 | 756.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 79 | 83 | .491 | 35.2 | 779.9 | 796.0 |
| D.C. Balk | 62 | 100 | .386 | 52.2 | 769.5 | 972.5 |
NOTE: Stats are for the last two days of the season.
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Pittsburgh: W 1, L 1; 8 – 14. (.237, .301, .368; 15.3 ip, 13 er). In his barely successful effort to avoid passing the 2001 Mariners, Branch got Corey Kluber off the mound after he only allowed 1 earned run in 5 innings (bringing his September pitching line to 43 innings and 4 earned runs for a 0.84 ERA) . Then Branch managed to get Fernando Abad and Daniel Gossett to chulk in relief. Just to be sure, he elicited .152, .263, .303 hitting from his closing day lineup. In the process he single-handedly downgraded Hurricane Commissioner from Category 4 to a rather wet offseason depression. Kluber finished the season with 203.7 ip to a 2.25 ERA and an 18 – 4 record. I wonder which of his three caps – Wolverines, Pears, or Alleghenys — he will wear to his Cy Young awards ceremony? He was with the W’s the longest…
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Flint Hill: W 0, L 2; 7- 12. (.206, .242, .317; 13.7 ip, 10 er). The Tornados got a scare Saturday when the Dragons surged within 0.6 games of second place. 0.6 games is well within the scope of a single day’s swing… as Sunday proved When the Tornados’ offense couldn’t blow out a birthday candle Sunday (.194, .242, .226) panic over a last-minute loss to the Dragons flattened Flint Hill. Manny Machado was a disappointment for the Tornados, only managing an OPS of .587 in September to bring his season line down to .259, .310, .471.
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Haviland: W 0, L 2; 3 – 12. (.194, .286, .313; 16.7 ip, 11 er). Fortunately for Flinty Hillbillies (Hillians?) the world over, the Dragons couldn’t muster enough fire to light a birthday candle Sunday (.143, .244, .171) and starter Johnny Cueto pitched poorly enough (5 ip, 4 er) he needed help from bullpen firemen to put out the conflagaration he started — although Jeff Hoffman added more fire than he put out. The Dragons fell 0.9 games further behind the Tornados on Sunday even though they both lost. Jesse Winker led the Dragon offense in September with his .901 OPS. Anthony Rizzo was the Dragons’ best offensive weapon for the season with his 32 homers and .899 OPS — one of 8 Dragons OPSing in the .800’s. However shortstop Zack Cozart led the team in OPS for the season at .933
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Cottage: W 1, L 1; 3 – 5. (.188, .265, .287; 19 ip, 0 er). Parker Bridwell, Daniel Mengden and Chris Archer did all that shutout pitching to more than make up for another pathetic hitting performance by our EFL “elites.” Travis d’Arnaud led the team with a .999 September OPS. Bryce Harper, on the other hand, only OPSed .417 in his 18 September at bats: even more disappointing than Manny Machado. On the other hand, Harper OPSed 1.008 for the season. Guess who beat him for the team lead with a 1.071 OPS?
Harper: .319, .413, .595
Trout: .306, .442, .629
Trout even edged Harper out for plate appearances, 496 to 488 — although neither one qualifies for a batting title.
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Let’s see: Harper will be 25 years old next season. He is signed by the Nationals for 2018 at $21,625,000. The Cheese have matching rights. Assuming there are no further MLB extensions before our free agent draft, the Cheese could start the bidding at 4 years for $6,250,000 a year to keep the dynamic duo together through 2021. I suspect someone will be willing to bid 5 years on the mercurial superstar… and then things will get very interesting. I can hardly wait. When is our Winter Meeting?
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Portland: W 1, L 1; 15 – 8. (.315, .367, .494; 16.3 ip, 8 er). Mookie Betts OPSed 2.417 (2 for 3 with a hr and a walk) to lead a contingent of 9 Rosebuds OPSing at least 1.000 on the final weekend. Kevin Gausman sealed a win with 7 ip, 1 er, although the rest of the Rosebud weekend mound warriors did decidedly worse. Eric Thames recovered a little of his early season magic in September to lead the ‘Buds with a 1.004 OPS, and Teoscar Hernandez — who almost became a Wolverine this summer — made some noise in September with a team-leading 8 homers. Paul Goldschmidt led the team for the season with his .966 OPS bolstered by his 36 homers — although the stunning Logan Morrison led the team in homers with 38!
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Kaline: W 2, L 0; 10 – 0. (.283, 318, .467; 30.7 ip, 11 er) The Drive finished strong on the last weekend of the season, led by James Paxton and Nick Pavetta’s combined 11 shutout innings. Aaron Judge led the Drive hitters with a final weekend OPS of 1.833 including his 15th homer of the month and 52nd of the season. Judge led the team’s offense all season with a 1.049 mark. He did strike out an eye-popping 208 times but largely made up for that with 127 walks. (Hey! Those were supposed to be Kyle Schwarbers’ numbers! So he is a Wizard after all, and I don’t mean Gandalf.)
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Peshastin: W 1, L 1; 12 – 14. (.295, .371, .513; 12 ip, 9 er). Match near Edgar-quality hitting with near replacement level pitching and this is what you get. James Taillon pitched to his once-vaunted expectations (7 ip, 1 er) but Cam Bedrosian infinitely chulked to the lowly Mariners (5 er, 0 ip) to ruin the effect. On the other hand Joey Gallo hit 2 homers and walked twice in his 4 weekend plate appearances. That’s a maximum possible 5.000 OPS. Mitch Haniger recovered his early-season form to be the P’s most valuable hitter in September with 7 homers and a .987 OPS. Carlos Carrasco was probably even more valuable in September, going 42.7 ip with a 1.48 ERA. Rhys Hoskins had the highest seasonal OPS at 1.014 although Haniger, Gallo and Khris Davis provided more value with more AB’s OPSing in the mid-.800’s. I’d say something about the P’s best pitcher but they only had him for one month.
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Old Detroit: W 1, L 1; 12 – 14. (.278, .389, .418; 3.7 ip, 1 er). The W’s wandered away from their worst season ever. Dan Vogelbach squeezed in his only good day at the plate ever so far for the Wolverines (2 for 2 with a double). Rich Hill had a fine month on the mound (29 ip, 1.86 ERA). The W’s most valuable September hitter was foundling Michael Taylor (7 homers and .898 OPS over 103 PA’s) although the team leader in September OPS (with 38 fewer PA) was… Kyle Schwarber (.283, .338, .600). Wait ’til next year!
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Canberra: W 1, L 1; 6 – (-1). (.190, .250, .302; 23 ip, 6 er). Obviously the Kangaroos do not belong down here with us EFL dregs. That batting line — no one south of the Cheese has anything like it. That pitching line, productive of negative runs over two days — no one in these parts could have done that. That 6 – (-1) score not producing two wins? That’s insane. The good Blake Snell pitched 7 earned-runs-less innings this weekend to lead the way. For the month Jose Abreu led with a .982 OPS including 7 homers. Injured Michael Conforto (.939 OPS) hopefully will be well next season. Portly Matt Albers (61 ip, 1.62 ERA) hopefully will be portly next season. There is hope in Suitland!
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DC: W 1 L 1; 9 – 7. (.278, .322, .481; 26 ip, 9 er). The Balk staggered to the end of the season, but things look worse than they are. DC finished the season with something like a .3856 winning percentage, leading to 62.47 wins and only 99.53 losses — so it’s a rather severe rounding error that makes them look like 100-game losers. Still, they have earned the coveted first pick in the rookie draft. Mike Clevinger pitched like a first rounder in September (27.3 ip at a 0.99 era) and Carson Fulmer (1.64), Robert Stephenson (2.77) and Robert Gsellman (3.86) weren’t far behind with similar innings. Jorge Alfaro finished strong at the plate (.892 OPS).
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| ORIGINAL ORDER | CURRENT ORDER 1st RD | Draft Pos |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | Peshastin Pears | 30 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | Flint Hill | 29 |
| Haviland Dragons | Portland Rosebuds | 28 |
| Cottage Cheese | Old Detroit Wolverines | 26 |
| Portland Rosebuds | Old Detroit Wolverines | 24 |
| Kaline Drive | Kaline Drive | 23 (+1) |
| Peshastin Pears | Peshastin Pears | 20 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | Peshastin Pears | 17 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | Canberra Kangaroos | 13 |
| D.C. Balk | DC Balk | 1 |
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Combined MLB + FINAL Standings for 2017
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 104 | 58 | .642 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 93 | 69 | .574 | 11 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 84 | 78 | .518 | 20.1 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 80 | 82 | .494 | 24 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 76 | 86 | .469 | 28 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 97 | 65 | .599 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 79 | 83 | .491 | 17.5 |
| Miami Marlins | 77 | 85 | .475 | 20 |
| Atlanta Braves | 72 | 90 | .444 | 25 |
| New York Mets | 70 | 92 | .432 | 27 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 96 | .407 | 31 |
| D.C. Balk | 62 | 100 | .386 | 34.5 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 115 | 47 | .708 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 102 | 60 | .630 | 12.7 |
| Minnesota Twins | 85 | 77 | .525 | 29.7 |
| Kansas City Royals | 80 | 82 | .494 | 34.7 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 47.7 |
| Detroit Tigers | 64 | 98 | .395 | 50.7 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 99 | 63 | .609 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 92 | 70 | .568 | 6.7 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12.7 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15.7 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 87 | .463 | 23.7 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 68 | 94 | .420 | 30.7 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 103 | 59 | .633 | — |
| Houston Astros | 101 | 61 | .623 | 1.6 |
| Kaline Drive | 94 | 68 | .580 | 8.6 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 22.6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 78 | 84 | .481 | 24.6 |
| Texas Rangers | 78 | 84 | .481 | 24.6 |
| Oakland A’s | 75 | 87 | .463 | 27.6 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 104 | 58 | .642 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 96 | 66 | .595 | 7.7 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 93 | 69 | .574 | 11 |
| Peshastin Pears | 90 | 72 | .553 | 14.5 |
| Colorado Rockies | 87 | 75 | .537 | 17 |
| San Diego Padres | 71 | 91 | .438 | 33 |
| San Francisco Giants | 64 | 98 | .395 | 40 |
Nice job, Mark. You are the real Wizard.
Tom