Note: I finished this post Monday morning, but failed to give it a category that would make it visible to the common man. Dave saw it, commented on it, and failed to notice (apparently) it was uncategorized. I just now noticed it.
I realize a snack left out on the counter four three or four days isn’t as delectable as it used to be, but hey, kid, I worked hard to make this and I am NOT letting it go to waste. So you’re going to read it… Don’t give me that sass. Think of the millions of kids in India who never get any baseball tidbits.
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All Star Vibes
We are 36.67% of the league. We have 27 out of 72 All Stars for 37.5%. We have 11 starters out of 17, or 64.7%. A list of our players on the All-Star rosters (starters in bold):
Brookland: Jose Ramirez, Manny Machado, Charlie Morton,
Canberra: Jose Abreu Alex Bregman, Corey Kluber, Blake Snell
Cottage: Luis Severino,
Flint Hill: Mike Trout, Miles Mikolas,
Haviland: Bryce Harper,
Kaline: Aaron Judge
Old Detroit: Willson Contreras, Max Scherzer
Peshastin: Javier Baez, Mitch Haniger, Ozzie Albies
Pittsburgh: Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez Michael Brantley, Joe Jimenez
Portland: Mookie Betts, Gleyber Torres, Jose Berrios, Chris Sale, JT Realmuto, Paul Goldschmidt,
2. Also congratulations to those with players in the Home Run Derby: 6 out of 8 (75%)
Canberra: Hoskins, Bregman.
Haviland: Harper
Old Detroit: Schwarber, Muncy
Peshastin: Baez
Note: The Commissioner picks Aguilar, Harper, Schwarber and Muncy in the Home Run Derby semi finals — sorry, Kangaroos. In the final Schwarber will edge Harper.
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EFL Standings for 2018
EFL TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA Portland Rosebuds 60 36 .620 — 513.4 394.6 Old Detroit Wolverines 58 40 .587 3 446.1 373.8 Canberra Kangaroos 55 40 .580 4 427.5 364.3 Brookland Outs 53 40 .569 5.1 493.9 431.3 Cottage Cheese 51 42 .550 6.9 473.8 425.8 Pittsburgh Alleghenys 50 45 .524 9.3 504.4 485.4 Flint Hill Tornadoes 50 48 .509 10.6 424.0 415.1 Kaline Drive 50 49 .503 11.3 450.0 440.8 Peshastin Pears 44 52 .460 15.3 406.9 442.6 Haviland Dragons 44 55 .444 17.1 419.1 475.3 D.C. Balk 39 56 .407 20.4 396.6 481.6 -
Portland: W 1, L (-1). (34 PA, .310, .382, .690; 1 ip, 0 er). Of the dozens of Rosebuds in the All-Star game, three (Betts, Goldschmidt, Realmut0) played Sunday. They went a combined 2 for 10 with a walk and a hbp: .200, .333, .200. On the other hand, 4 unheralded rookies (essentially) (Cooper, Goodrum, Teoscar Hernandez, and Adalberto Raul Mondesi) combined to go 5 for 12 with two doubles, 3 homers, and 1 walk: .412, .462, 1.333. That’s a .533 OPS for the All-Stars compared to 1.795 for the upstarts. This is not good news for the rest of the league.
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Old Detroit: L, (-1) – 5. (48 PA, .200, .244, .300; 5.3 ip, 7 er). Fortunately,Anthony DeSclafani did his near chulk (3.3 ip, 6 er) in Toledo. At least the W’s All-Star (Willson Contreras) went into the All-Star break on a high note (2 for 3 with a HBP).
- Canberra: L, 0 – 7. (47 PA, .125, .234, .175; 5 ip, 4 er). Alas for the Kangaroos: Andrew Suarez’s 5 ip, 4 er were delivered 100% on Canberra’s big league mound. Jose Abreu didn’t look like an All-Star Sunday (0 for 3 with a walk), but Alex Bregman did (1 for 3 with a double and a walk).
- Brookland: W, 9 – 4. (38 PA, .412, .474, .735; 7 ip, 2 er). Of three Outs in the All-Star game, Charlie Morton didn’t play Sunday. Jose Martinez only got one plate appearance (he made an out but drove in a run). So it was up to Manny Machado to demonstrate All-Star bona fides: 1 for 1 with a homer and a walk, for a spiffy 5.000 daily OPS. That’ll do.
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Cottage: W, 11 – 4. (39 PA, .345, .513, .724; 8 ip) The Cheese were nearly snubbed for the All-Star Game, with Luis Severino their lone representative. So the rest of the roster, branded non-Stars by MLB, made a statement with this great hitting and pitching, led by Yasmani Grandal (3 for 3 with a homer and a walk) and Yoan Moncada (3 for 4 with a double, a homer, and a walk). (No, really, Jamie. I didn’t pick these guys out to embarrass you. They really were the two best Cheese hitters Sunday. I’ll make it up to you someday.)
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Pittsburgh: W, 5 – 5. (33 PA, .250, .364, .500; 8 ip, 4 er, 4.50 ERA). All four of the Alleghenys’ hard-working All-Stars appeared Sunday. Joe Jimenez locked down another scoreless inning. Altuve, Brantley and Martinez, on the other hand, only managed 1 hit in 9 AB. The hit (by Brantley) was a homer to go with a walk, and Martinez did manage two walks. but even so their batting line only amounted to .111, .333, .444. They made the rest of the team look like almost like All-Stars: .316, .350, .453. Maybe that’s their All-Star achievement: making the rest of the team look better.
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Flint Hill: L, 0 – 10. (45 PA, .163, .200, .186; 6.3 ip, 7 er). A rough get-away day for the All-Star break. Both of the Tornado All-Stars played Sunday. Miles Mikolas was underwhelming: 3 er in 4 innings. Mike Trout: 0 for 2 with 2 walks. The other day I made a big deal about how a team of players who walked 3 our of every 4 plate appearances would score 40 or 50 runs a game. I team of players who walked half the time could be shut out, unless they clustered their walks somewhat. If they walked 27 straight times and then struck out 27 straight times, they’d score 24 runs. I don’t have time to do all the maths, but I’d eyeball a team of half-time walkers as worth about 5 runs per game. So, as near as I can tell, Trout’s last pre-All-Star game was also a bit underwhelming.
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Kaline: W, 6 – 2. ( 47 PA, .275, .362, .500; 12.7 ip, 5 earned runs, 3.55 ERA). The entire Drive team played like borderline All-Stars — like a team of All-Star game reserves. The Drive’s only actual All-Star, Aroon Judge, went a meek 1 for 4 with three strikeouts. I bear no animus whatsoever toward the Drive, but I have to say it is always a pleasure to see a hyped Yankee wear a golden sombrero.
- Peshastin: DNP, (-1) – 0. (36 PA, .235, .278, .235; 2 ip, 1 er.) The supposedly re-building Pears have three All-Stars — more than, say, the second-place Wolverines. All three (Albies, Baez, and Haniger) played Sunday. Each got at least one hit on the way to w 4 for 11 day. But since none walked or took extra bases ( except Haniger’s stolen base) they ended up with a .364, .364, .364 batting line. I suppose batting .364 might get you into the All-Star game even if it was completely “empty”.
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Haviland: L, 2 – 8. (28 PA, .125, .250, .167; 5 ip 5 er, 9 ERA). Bryce Harper is the lone Haviland all-star. He sat out Sunday’s game, exposing the rest of the Dragons a little bit more than was comfortable for them. (Author’s note: I just read [on Wednesday evening] this article by David Fleming about why the Nationals should trade Bryce Harper. I wonder what the Dragons’ management thinks about that.)
- DC: W, 1 – (-2). (47 PA, .196, .213 .283; 12.7 ip, 6 er, 4.26 ERA). The Balk have been on the edge of the 20 games behind precipice without going over for several days in a row: 19.7, 19.9, .20.2, 19.8, 19.8 and now 20.4. That 20.4 looks ominous. We’ll have to wait until the end of the week to find out if the Balk can pull themselves back from the brink one more time. The Balk are not anchored by any All-Star weight. Does this presumably nearly-unbearable lightness of being give the Balk any hope of avoiding tumbling over the 20 GB cliff?
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
AL East TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Boston Red Sox 68 30 .694 — New York Yankees 62 33 .653 4.5 Old Detroit Wolverines 58 40 .587 10.4 Tampa Bay Rays 49 47 .510 18 Flint Hill Tornadoes 50 48 .509 18.1 Toronto Blue Jays 43 52 .453 23.5 Baltimore Orioles 28 69 .289 39.5 NL East TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Canberra Kangaroos 55 40 .580 — Philadelphia Phillies 53 42 .558 2.1 Atlanta Braves 52 42 .553 2.6 Washington Nationals 48 48 .500 7.6 Miami Marlins 41 57 .418 15.6 New York Mets 39 55 .415 15.6 D.C. Balk 39 56 .407 16.4 AL Central TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Cleveland Indians 52 43 .547 — Pittsburgh Alleghenys 50 45 .524 2.3 Minnesota Twins 44 50 .468 7.5 Detroit Tigers 41 57 .418 12.5 Chicago White Sox 33 62 .347 19 Kansas City Royals 27 68 .284 25 NL Central TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Chicago Cubs 55 38 .591 — Brookland Outs 53 40 .569 2.1 Milwaukee Brewers 55 43 .561 2.5 Cottage Cheese 51 42 .550 3.8 St. Louis Cardinals 48 46 .511 7.5 Pittsburgh Pirates 48 49 .495 9 Cincinnati Reds 43 53 .448 13.5 AL West TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Houston Astros 64 35 .646 — Seattle Mariners 58 39 .598 5 Oakland A’s 55 42 .567 8 Los Angeles Angels 49 48 .505 14 Kaline Drive 50 49 .503 14.2 Haviland Dragons 44 55 .444 20.1 Texas Rangers 41 56 .423 22 NL West TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB Portland Rosebuds 60 36 .620 — Los Angeles Dodgers 53 43 .552 6.5 Arizona Diamondbacks 53 44 .546 7 Colorado Rockies 51 45 .531 8.5 San Francisco Giants 50 48 .510 10.5 Peshastin Pears 44 52 .460 15.3 San Diego Padres 40 59 .404 21
Wilson Ramos, catcher for the Cheese, was elected as a starter for the American League all-star team. He didn’t play because of an injury.