The Dragons are doing something miraculous. The Balk have taken over first place. Those are the two top stories today that should have gotten coverage in a full update, but won’t. (I still have to mail my taxes although they’re all set for Melanie’s signature and then to the post office!)
Newest standings:
As you can see, the Balk are now in first place, both thanks to their good play and to the Wolverine collapse in all phases of the game, including picking easy opponents.
You can also see the Dragons have caught the W’s.
How did these things happen? Here’s some evidence:
First, look at the Dragons. They are playing the SF Giants this week, who keep racking up big wins, and would be expected to have a .941 winning percentage against league-average opponents. But also note the Dragons’ RA for the week so far: 0.8. They have pitched 34 innings this week. They have allowed 1 earned run, by Joe Ryan, back on Saturday. THat makes the Deagons’ raw projected winning percentage .990.
Think about it: if Ryan hadn’t allowed any earned runs, the Dragons’ project winning percentage would be 1.000. At that rate, the Giants could outscore their opponents 50 – 1, and they’d still be projected to lose every game to Haviland!!
So that’s the secret, gentlemen. Allow no earned runs! You can’t lose if you don’t allow any earned runs!!
There’s more here to see — check out the runs scored for EFL teams (very dismal, some of them) but the wide range of outcomes we see from teams who have yet to score double-digit runs this week…
I did manage to slip in a standings update today after I assembled all my tax forms and while I await Melanie’s availability to sign them. It took 45 minutes; could have been 10 minutes quicker.