Some days it is important to look on the bright side. I mean, there is plenty going on right now in our world to make us feel like everything is awful and no hope is to be found anywhere. From the coronavirus to California wildfires, Portland protests to political pedantry, and bakery closings (RIP Newberg Bakery) to Boston baseball.
The EFL is a wonderful place for hope and solace to be found. We get to sit alongside people we respect and care about, talking about a game we love, and doing our best to manage an MLB team competing against other MLB teams. What a fun and hopeful exercise in which to engage!
Except when it’s not. And the difficult thing about the EFL is that when you have a bad day, your friend or your family member has a good day. I believe a good test of friendship is how one handles the success of a friend, especially when said friend’s success comes at your expense.
For instance, Tom’s success has, so far, been met with no gloating from the Drive manager. In fact, he has thus far been more apologetic about his team’s performance, promising it will one day return to mediocrity. And I, for one, believe his words due to his sincerity which cannot be questioned. But then his team goes out and continues to win, at our expense. And now we learn that not only are the Drive able to maintain their winning ways for an extended amount of time, but that they in fact do intend to continue winning despite their owner’s public statements. How do we know this?
Our very own EFL Transaction page tells us all we need to know: “Kaline trades Nick Senzel, Spencer Turnbull and Tom Murphy to Old Detroit for Dallas Keuchel and Willson Contreras, effective at the end of the month.”
In case you need even more proof, half of the Kaline deal was made for a player (Keuchel) whose contract expires this year and 2/3 of the players he sent to the Wolverines are on the IL! If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know, then I am not sure what other evidence to provide. Such a good trade for the Drive, getting a Catcher to fill a gaping hole in their lineup and another SP to add to their already league-dominant staff, means there is less for other teams to acquire and that just doesn’t seem fair.
So are we happy for Tom, which is what I want to be, or are we brought to utter despair by Tom, which is how I currently feel? This is the paradox of the EFL. I do think it is more fun to compete against friends and family, and unlike other fantasy leagues in which I have played, I have no fear of teams colluding to create unfair advantages that would undermine the competitive balance of our league. Which makes it even more fun, I think.
Each one of our EFL owners is shrewd but also sincere, competitive but also caring. These things do seem to be paradoxical, and perhaps they truly are. But they are what makes the EFL simultaneously fun and disheartening. And there is no one else I’d rather see win (but mostly lose) than all of you.
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Kaline Drive | 17 | 9 | .667 | — | 135.2 | 94.2 |
| Haviland Dragons | 14 | 12 | .557 | 2.9 | 149.1 | 132.3 |
| D.C. Balk | 12 | 13 | .483 | 4.8 | 126.7 | 130.8 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 11 | 15 | .442 | 5.9 | 132.3 | 154.9 |
| Cottage Cheese | 10 | 14 | .434 | 5.9 | 107.8 | 123.4 |
| Peshastin Pears | 12 | 15 | .430 | 6.2 | 130.1 | 149.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 10 | 15 | .413 | 6.5 | 117.3 | 141.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 11 | 15 | .413 | 6.6 | 130.7 | 166.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 10 | 16 | .370 | 7.7 | 116.2 | 151.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 10 | 17 | .374 | 7.8 | 146.0 | 189.0 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 6 | 20 | .233 | 11.3 | 94.9 | 170.8 |
| AVG: 0.229 | OBP: 0.372 | SLG: 0.343 | OPS: 0.715 |
| ERA: 4.50 | WHIP: 1.214 |
The Drive did show some mercy yesterday, though only one team was really able to take advantage of it. Mediocre hitting coupled with mediocre pitching was not enough to tilt the scale towards a win, and for that we remain a little grateful (that sounds harsh – sorry, Tom!). Wilmer Flores did most of the offensive damage, getting 3 of the Drive’s 8 hits, and hitting its only HR on the day. Spencer Turnbull dropped a doozy in his probably last start for the Drive, giving up 3 runs on 2 hits and 4 BBs in 2 IP.
Haviland: L, 5-6 (41PA; 9.7IP)
| AVG: 0.206 | OBP: 0.341 | SLG: 0.235 | OPS: 0.577 |
| ERA: 6.49 | WHIP: 1.856 |
The Dragons failed to take advantage of the Drive’s mediocrity yesterday. Dragon hitters accrued as many hits and walks as they did Ks (14), but 6 of their 7 hits and ALL of their walks (if you can believe it) only got them to first base. Their pitching was not great, but better than some other team who will remain nameless at this point in time, giving up 7 runs in 9.7IP. The good news is they only lost .1 games off the lead, which I think they’ll take after such a ho-hum day.
DC: W1, L(-1) 7-(-1) (33PA; 1IP)
| AVG: 0.345 | OBP: 0.424 | SLG: 0.931 | OPS: 1.355 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.000 |
The Balk leaped over the Tornadoes into third place on the strength of a wonderful offensive day. They had 10 total hits, 1 of which was a 2B and 5 of which her HRs! Ryan McMahon and Matt Chapman each hit two HRs, and the indefatigable Time Anderson added another. Their SLG on the day was .931, which seems impossible until you look at their box score. A well-earned .8 game rise in the standings.
Flint Hill: W(-1), L3 12-32 (49PA; 11.3IP)
| AVG: 0.267 | OBP: 0.327 | SLG: 0.444 | OPS: 0.771 |
| ERA: 15.93 | WHIP: 2.478 |
Are you the kind of person who just has to look at a car accident when driving by? If not, you should divert your eyes ASAP. This is what you call a disaster. 4 pitchers went to the hill yesterday, and together they combined to give up 20 earned runs in 11 innings. Yes, you read that right. My keyboard is wet with tears. It didn’t help that the Rays took over first place in the AL East, meaning the Tornadoes had to make up and extra game while already being short on pitching. For those doing the math at home, let me make it easy on you – yesterday might have been the worst day in Tornado history. So bad you can’t even compute the toll is has taken on its owner and the players. Is this the end of the 2020 Twisters?
Cottage: DNP, 1-(-3) (20PA; 5.3IP)
| AVG: 0.188 | OBP: 0.350 | SLG: 0.438 | OPS: 0.788 |
| ERA: 1.70 | WHIP: 0.943 |
The Cheese took the day off and in doing so gained .4 games on the leading Drive. Not bad for a day off! Not a lot of hitting – really only getting anything good from Yandy Diaz who went 2 for 5 with a 2B and a HR – and really good pitching from Sean Manaea who was the only Cheese pitcher to pitch was all they needed to move in the right direction. Who knows, maybe tomorrow they will have also leapt over the Tornadoes as we twist and turn downward into dust.
Peshastin: L, 1-8 (34PA; 2IP)
| AVG: 0.188 | OBP: 0.235 | SLG: 0.344 | OPS: 0.579 |
| ERA: 9.00 | WHIP: 1.500 |
The Pears also had a bad day, but take heart! It was way better than the Tornado’s day. Pear hitters were paltry except for Gio Urshela, who went 2 for 4 with a 2B and a HR. The Pears may not feel too bad because, per their own admissions, they have already given up on 2020 and are wanting to move closer to the bottom of the standings. But how should the Tornadoes feel, now just .3 games above the Pears in the standings? Should we also give up? Please let us know, Phil, how we should proceed.
Canberra: DNP, 2-2 (39PA; 2.6IP)
| AVG: 0.333 | OBP: 0.436 | SLG: 0.485 | OPS: 0.921 |
| ERA: 10.38 | WHIP: 1.923 |
Look at that hitting! Roo hitters were ready to contribute today to a win, but little did they know that no game was being played. Vladito went 3 for 6 with 2 BBs, and Eduardo Escobar went 2 for 4 with a HR. 4 different Roo pitchers took to the mound, but only amassed 2.6IP – so the bad ERA didn’t hurt them much.
Bellingham: “W,” 7-7 (31PA; 1.3IP)
| AVG: 0.292 | OBP: 0.452 | SLG: 0.417 | OPS: 0.868 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.769 |
Cascade hitters continued their solid August, led by a man named Rowdy (in case you were wondering, as I was, Ryan is his given name, Rowdy just a nickname) who raised a raucous going 3 for 5 with a HR.
Pittsburgh: W, 2-(-2) (31PA; 13.3IP)
| AVG: 0.207 | OBP: 0.226 | SLG: 0.276 | OPS: 0.502 |
| ERA: 3.38 | WHIP: 1.278 |
Very good pitching earned the Alleghenys a win yesterday, led by Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi who boldly proclaimed after the game that their season wasn’t over and they’d fight to the end. I am not sure if he was talking about the Red Sox or the Alleghenys, though I suppose he could have been talking about both teams. If so, we might need to be on the lookout for a resurgent river. Jose Altuve has seemed to find some of his prior hitting skills (post-trash can era), going 2 for 5 with a 2B.
Portland: W, 9-4 (43PA; 12.7IP)
| AVG: 0.306 | OBP: 0.419 | SLG: 0.500 | OPS: 0.919 |
| ERA: 4.96 | WHIP: 1.575 |
That’s the kind of Rosebud day we are accustomed to seeing in years past. The Buds were led by Jose Berrios (6IP, 0 ER) and Anthony Rendon (3 for 5) and Nick Solak and Bryce Harper each chipped in a HR.
Old Detroit: W1, L1 12-17 (30PA; 1IP)
| AVG: 0.370 | OBP: 0.433 | SLG: 0.704 | OPS: 1.137 |
| ERA: 9.00 | WHIP: 3.000 |
If the pitching line would have matched the excellence of the hitting line, the Wolverines may have added another win or two. But beleaguered by the 2 game swing due to the AL East division leader changing, they didn’t have enough innings pitched to cover the extra game. Wolverine hitters were led by ELoy Jimenez and Rafael Devers (something I had anticipated saying a LOT this year) who combined to go 5 for 9 with a HR.