Months are precious, especially summer months, so I should mourn the ending of June, usually one of my favorite times of the year. But this morning my mourning is tempered by frustration: June befuddled me. It consterned me. It bugged me. It can just bug off.
EFL Standings for 2017
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Haviland Dragons | 53 | 28 | .650 | — | 497.4 | 364.2 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 51 | 29 | .635 | 1.4 | 402.6 | 304.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 52 | 30 | .632 | 1.4 | 438.1 | 330.6 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 50 | 32 | .608 | 3.3 | 476.7 | 372.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 49 | 32 | .607 | 3.5 | 424.9 | 340.9 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 47 | 31 | .609 | 3.7 | 433.4 | 347.3 |
| Peshastin Pears | 47 | 35 | .578 | 5.7 | 406.5 | 352.4 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 36 | 44 | .454 | 15.9 | 368.2 | 407.2 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 35 | 45 | .440 | 17 | 336.2 | 380.3 |
| D.C. Balk | 28 | 52 | .354 | 23.8 | 387.2 | 523.7 |
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(parenthetical stats are BP raw stats for the last two days in June)
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Haviland: W 1, L 1; 7 – 11. (.232, .271, .446; 9.3 ip, 6 er). Ervin Santana finished June with a bust: 5.3 ip, 5 earned runs. Eric Young was Eric Young for a change: 1 for 7. I suspect the Dragons have lost that voodoo mojo they were using in late April and May to charge into the lead. Hmmm… that means there must be some voodoo mojo lying around here somewhere…
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Flint Hill: W 1, L 3; 20 – 27. (.288, .354, .576; 8 ip, 5 er) Ouch. The Red Sox threw a nasty curve to one of their most ardent fans by passing the Yankees Thursday, adding 2 extra games to the Tornado June schedule. Imagine the emotional turmoil in the Tornado front office this morning! The Sox are in first place, but Flint Hill exits June burdened with 35 replacement plate appearances and 19.4 replacement innings. Still, the T’s have to be pleased with June overall, bringing them into second place clearly within range of the stumbling Dragons. This has been June’s way: lift you up on one hand and dash you to the ground with the other.
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Cottage: W 1, L 1; 4 – 7. (.211, .282, .355; 15.7 ip, 5 er). I mentioned the other day how the Head Cheese was feeling like he was on the edge of falling out of the pennant race and wasn’t sure whether he should be selling or buying talent this summer. At that moment he was either 1.1 or 1.7 games out of the race. Now he’s 1.4 games out.
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The Head Cheese was not alone with his irrational despondency. Another owner tightly entwined with the peloton just behind Haviland told me his team was not in serious contention. He was 3 point something games back at the time, and is so still at this very moment!
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Sheesh.
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The Wolverines are 17 games out. From that distance, the Cheese appear to be tied for first with the Dragons and the Tornados. The rest of the peloton is practically riding right up their backs. Of course you should be buyers! You may never be this close again! And the Dragons have turned into geckos lately.
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(Editor’s note: The author has a conflict of interest. He’s been feverishly trying to sell Corey Kluber and other Wolverine assets. He believes that a team on the brink of a championship should be willing to pay approximately two future Kluber seasons to get the rest of this Kluber season. Kluber can win the pennant this season. Those other two seasons are a) in the future, and thus discounted, and b) may not be seasons in which a Kluber can make the difference between a championship and something else. Perhaps the author’s brain is addled. But this explains his vehemence.
Please extend grace to the author. And if the author deals with you unfairly in the marketplace, please report his misdeeds to the Commissioner’s office so appropriate discipline can be administered.)
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Portland: W 1, L 1; 9 – 8. (.233, .325, .589; 18.3 ip, 7 er). You need to watch out for the Rosebuds. Jeimer Candelario came up and hit a homer and got hit by a pitch. He didn’t play yesterday because his knee was contused, but this team is on the rise.
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Kaline: W 1, L 1; 7 – 3. (.203, .304, .348; 17.7 ip, 2 er). Dinelson Lamet went 7 scoreless innings, and Michael Fulmer made it through 8.7 innings with only 2 earned runs. Chris Owings cannot seem to understand he’s a middle infielder and shouldn’t be blasting two homers in two days, Scooter Gennett notwithstanding.
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Pittsburgh: W, 6 – (-1). (.250, .343, .417; 21.0 ip, 8 er). The best two days anyone in the EFL had, thanks to solid performance and kindly schedule.
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Peshastin: W 1, L 1; 13 – 6. (.284, .417, .448; 7.3 ip, 1 er). James Taillon: 7.3 ip, 0 er!
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Canberra: W 0, L 2: 10 – 14. (.222, .276, .444, 1 ip, 0 er). Jonathan Villar had an unusual .222, .222, .889 line over the last two days. Thats 2 for 9 with 2 homers.
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Old Detroit: W 1, L 3; 11 – 19. (.182, .258, .255; 18.3 ip, 9 er.) There were moments in June when I thought my old Wolverines were back! Alas. Here’s the wonderful end to the month of June: No hitting. Clayton Richard going 4.3 , 7 earned runs. The Red Sox imposing two extra games on a team that cannot afford them. Kluber did ok: 8 ip, 1 er, to lower his June ERA to 1.26.
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DC: W 0, L 2; 3 – 14. (.203, .293, .266; 5 ip, 1 er). The Balk ended June on an 0 – 5 run. I doubt too many Balk fans are sorry to see the end of the month.
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 51 | 29 | .635 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 45 | 35 | .563 | 5.8 |
| New York Yankees | 43 | 35 | .551 | 6.8 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 42 | 40 | .512 | 9.8 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 39 | 40 | .494 | 11.3 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 42 | .468 | 13.3 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 35 | 45 | .440 | 15.6 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 47 | 33 | .588 | — |
| Atlanta Braves | 38 | 41 | .481 | 8.5 |
| New York Mets | 37 | 42 | .468 | 9.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 36 | 44 | .454 | 10.7 |
| Miami Marlins | 35 | 43 | .449 | 11 |
| D.C. Balk | 28 | 52 | .354 | 18.7 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 26 | 52 | .333 | 20 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 47 | 31 | .609 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 42 | 36 | .538 | 5.5 |
| Minnesota Twins | 40 | 38 | .513 | 7.5 |
| Kansas City Royals | 39 | 39 | .500 | 8.5 |
| Detroit Tigers | 35 | 43 | .449 | 12.5 |
| Chicago White Sox | 35 | 44 | .443 | 13 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 52 | 30 | .632 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 43 | 39 | .524 | 8.8 |
| Chicago Cubs | 40 | 40 | .500 | 10.8 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 38 | 41 | .481 | 12.3 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 37 | 43 | .463 | 13.8 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 34 | 45 | .430 | 16.3 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 54 | 27 | .667 | — |
| Haviland Dragons | 53 | 28 | .650 | 1.3 |
| Kaline Drive | 49 | 32 | .607 | 4.8 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 42 | 42 | .500 | 13.5 |
| Seattle Mariners | 40 | 41 | .494 | 14 |
| Texas Rangers | 39 | 41 | .488 | 14.5 |
| Oakland A’s | 35 | 45 | .438 | 18.5 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 54 | 28 | .659 | — |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 50 | 31 | .617 | 3.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 50 | 32 | .608 | 4.1 |
| Colorado Rockies | 48 | 34 | .585 | 6 |
| Peshastin Pears | 47 | 35 | .578 | 6.6 |
| San Diego Padres | 33 | 47 | .413 | 20 |
| San Francisco Giants | 31 | 51 | .378 | 23 |
>And if the author deals with you unfairly in the marketplace, please report his misdeeds to the Commissioner’s office
I tried that once. Not only was the perpetrator NOT punished, I believe I detected a smirk on the commissioner’s face. We may have a serious conflict of interest in the EFL headquarters. Beware! Look what happened to Travis Kalanick.