League Updates

The Glories of the EFL

Our league is like no other.  Just ask the Cheese.
EFL Standings for 2017
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 63 33 .657 550.8 392.8
Haviland Dragons 64 34 .654 603.5 437.8
Cottage Cheese 63 34 .649 0.6 536.0 387.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes 62 38 .625 2.7 515.3 399.4
Portland Rosebuds 60 39 .604 4.8 588.8 466.9
Kaline Drive 58 40 .588 6.5 501.0 417.5
Peshastin Pears 56 43 .563 8.8 483.9 431.2
Old Detroit Wolverines 49 51 .487 16.4 474.4 476.4
Canberra Kangaroos 45 52 .463 18.7 446.8 484.7
D.C. Balk 36 61 .368 27.9 469.1 617.2
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Pittsburgh: W, 9 – 2. (.278, .381, .556; 10.3 ip, 4 er).  Jose Altuve went 4 for 5 with a double and a homer to lead the Alleghenys into first place for the first time in a very long time, by Allegheny reckoning.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is Stephen Strasburg was pulled from his start after only 2 innings “due to right forearm tightness.” Yikes.
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Haviland: W, 5 – 2. (.174, .387, .348; 5.7 ip, 0 er).  There’s a stat called “isolated power’ (slugging percentage minus batting average) which is supposed to measure raw power distinct from batting average — how far do they hit the ball when they manage to hit it.  The Dragons displayed impressive isolated on base average Sunday.  They only got 4 hits, but managed 5 runs because they walked six times and got hit by two pitches. Their isolated on base skills were .213. Their isolated power was a solid .174 as they also got 4 extra bases out of their 4 hits.
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Cottage: W (-3), L 0; (-20) – (-8). (.265, .345, .469;  12 ip, 9 er)  The Cheese discovered one of the unique Glories of the EFL yesterday. There they were, enjoying a good day at the plate (including a Trout home run), striving to overcome some crummy pitching, when suddenly a chasm opened beneath them. Three wins vanished. The Cheese plummeted 1.5 games in the standings.. They found themselves looking up at two-thirds of the Old Guard stacked like a nightmare  double thick atop the standings.
But the Cheese should not blanche. They are now spring-loaded.  If the Cubs fall  back out of first place, the Cheese will get a powerful boost toward the top of the standings, probably powerful enough to smash the Old Guard fortifications blocking  Cottage from first place. If the Cubs stay in first the rest of the way, the Cheese will gradually regain the lost three games.  It will be like acid eating away at the Old Guard walls. Either way, the sudden collapse sets up Cheese-favoring drama down the road.
Flint Hill: L, 5 – 5. (.260, .315, .520; 8.3 ip, 4 er).  Mark Reynolds blasted two homers and James McCann went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk to essentially cancel the effects of Robbie Ray’s 4 earned runs allowed in 5 ip.  The Tornados got back to within three games of first place but are vulnerable to further disappointments if the spring-loaded Cheese benefit from Cub misfortune.
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Portland: L, 0 – 6. (.094, .256, .094; 11 ip, 8 er) The Rosebuds scratched out only three hits and wasted seven walks, while their hurlers hurled generously. Another of the Glories of the EFL is you sometimes nail down trades weeks before they happen. So the Rosebuds already know Manny Machado is coming August 1. But days like Sunday make it harder for Manny to lead them into the post-season.  How poignant it would be to see the benefit of a good deal seep away before it can come into effect.
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Kaline: “W”, 1 – 3. (.171, .227, .220; 9 ip,  3 er). Here’s a Glory of the EFL we see a lot: no good deed goes unrewarded. The Drive earned a win even though they were outscored. Our glorious game takes into account all the little things a team does well.  There are no wasted runs in a 15 – 2 blowout.  The runs not needed to win that game are stored up so they can come back as blessings later. So the Drive benefited yesterday from runs they scored earlier.
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Peshastin: W, 7 – 7. (.267, .313, .533; 12.3 ip, 8 er).  Tyson Ross stank (3.7 ip, 4 er) and James Pazos nonuple chulked (0.3 ip,  3 er) to compound Pear suffering.  Pennant race rental Corey Kluber pitched brilliantly (14 ks and 1 er in 7.7 ip), to pull Peshastin back under 9 games out, but they are still further behind now than they were when Kluber joined the team.
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Old Detroit: L, 2 – 9. (.216, .268, .486; 3.7 ip, 5 er).  Wade LeBlanc turns out to not be one of the Glories of the EFL. He sails along with pretty good numbers and then one day BAM! he drops a septuple chulk on you (0.7 ip, 5 er).  He’ll do that twice a season (so far) being careful to not do it until he’s active.   So if you bench him after one flare-up, he’ll pitch fine until you are lulled into reactivating him.  Then he’ll blow up even worse. And there’s still time to repeat the cycle again this season. How exciting.
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Canberra: W, 9 – 2. (.357, .424, .607;  9 ip, 3 er.) The ‘Roos’ Sunday was a mirror image of the Wolverines’.  Rick Porcello went 8 strong innings despite giving up  three homers. And the Kangaroo offense had a great day.  Is Canberra making a run to pass the Wolverines?  Here’s another Glory of the EFL:  Dad’s rule!  Until someday they won’t (at least in theory). 
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DC: L, 3 – 9. (.212, .278, .364; 11.3 ip 9 er).  One more Glory of the EFL:  new owners are carefully protected from the rough and tumble of pennant races.  We have a special nursery far from the madding crowd so new owners can watch and learn undisturbed by cratering Cheese or blustering Wolverines.
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes 62 38 .625
Boston Red Sox 55 45 .550 7.5
New York Yankees 51 46 .526 10
Tampa Bay Rays 51 48 .515 11
Old Detroit Wolverines 49 51 .487 13.8
Baltimore Orioles 47 51 .480 14.5
Toronto Blue Jays 44 54 .449 17.5
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Washington Nationals 59 38 .608
Atlanta Braves 47 50 .485 12
New York Mets 45 51 .469 13.5
Canberra Kangaroos 45 52 .463 14.1
Miami Marlins 44 52 .458 14.5
D.C. Balk 36 61 .368 23.3
Philadelphia Phillies 34 62 .354 24.5
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 63 33 .657
Cleveland Indians 51 45 .531 12.1
Kansas City Royals 50 47 .515 13.6
Minnesota Twins 49 48 .505 14.6
Detroit Tigers 45 52 .464 18.6
Chicago White Sox 38 57 .400 24.6
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Cottage Cheese 63 34 .649
Chicago Cubs 51 46 .526 12
Milwaukee Brewers 53 48 .525 12
Pittsburgh Pirates 49 50 .495 15
St. Louis Cardinals 47 51 .480 16.5
Cincinnati Reds 41 57 .418 22.5
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Houston Astros 65 33 .663
Haviland Dragons 64 34 .654 0.9
Kaline Drive 58 40 .588 7.4
Seattle Mariners 49 51 .490 17
Texas Rangers 48 50 .490 17
Los Angeles Angels 49 51 .490 17
Oakland A’s 44 54 .449 21
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 68 31 .687
Portland Rosebuds 60 39 .604 8.2
Colorado Rockies 58 42 .580 10.5
Arizona Diamondbacks 56 42 .571 11.5
Peshastin Pears 56 43 .563 12.2
San Diego Padres 43 55 .439 24.5
San Francisco Giants 38 62 .380 30.5