League Updates

Econ 101: Bubble bursted

Economics also warns about bubbles.  Bubbles occur when prices rise irrationally, and then keep on rising in a mindless frenzy until reality finally intrudes and vast fortunes are lost overnight.  Think tulips. Think Black Friday. Think dot.coms.  Think Rich Hill and the Wolverine ERA.

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EFL Standings for 2017
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 88 42 .677 732.1 502.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes 86 46 .652 3 683.3 498.3
Haviland Dragons 85 46 .648 3.7 779.7 573.8
Cottage Cheese 84 47 .640 4.8 707.5 526.3
Portland Rosebuds 78 52 .599 10.2 752.4 605.4
Kaline Drive 74 57 .564 14.6 656.4 575.1
Peshastin Pears 73 57 .559 15.4 638.9 574.8
Old Detroit Wolverines 70 62 .529 19.2 659.4 608.8
Canberra Kangaroos 64 67 .489 24.5 634.2 648.9
D.C. Balk 52 79 .400 36.2 649.5 802.9
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Pittsburgh: DNP, (-1) – 0. (.261, .320, .348; 7.7 ip, 3 er). Alleghenys aren’t very bubbly.  They are solid, not flashy. They are permanent, not trendy.  They didn’t have anyone pitching a gem, nor anyone OPSing over 1.000.  They just get the job done, day after day, season after season.  Since there’s no bubbling there, there’s not going to be any bursting any time soon, either.  If you want to beat the Alleghenys you have to climb over them. Somehow.
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Flint Hill: L, 3 – 4.  (.268, .333, .512; 2 ip, 1 er).  Did Byron Buxton’s bubble burst already? He went 4 or 5 with three homers on Sunday, then took Monday off (possibly because the Twins were idle). Bad idea. He was back to being Byron yesterday: 1 for 4.  Oh, well, it was glorious while it lasted. Now that his career arc has run, maybe you should trade him to me.
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Haviland: W, 7 – 4. (.314, .385, .486; 6.7 ip, 3 er).  See how the Dragons emulate the A’s?  No drama to speak of. Just a pitcher doing his job, and a bunch of hitters doing theirs. Anthony Rizzo had the best day of any Dragons: 3 for 4 with two doubles.
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Cottage:  W, 7 – 3.   (.258, .324, .710; 6 ip, 3 er). Jorge Polanco belted 2 homers and walked. If you’re like me this seems to come out of nowhere.  Gregory is supposed to be the powerful Polanco. But look at this: Jorge is OPSing 1.145 in August! I suppose this MIGHT not be a bubble.  Maybe Jorge is turning into a superstar. Or maybe he has stolen Gregory’s mojo — Gregory is on the DL, has had only 32 AB’s in August, and is OPSing .472 for the month.  It’s not so much that Gregory’s bubble is bursting.  It’s being sucked out of him like the frog’s innards being sucked out by the giant water beetle in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
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Portland: W 2, L (-1); 10 – 1. (.326, .383, .698; 13.3 ip, 3 er.)  Shouldn’t Chris Sale’s bubble be bursting about now? How long does he get to keep throwing 7 shoutout innings at people? Manny Machado’s formerly punctured bubble is reinflating right now, in his last days as a Rosebud, with another 2 homer day in the books yesterday.
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Kaline: L, 2 – 4. (.133, .257, .133; 8.3 ip, 5 er).  An awfully thin offensive performance, making it very hard to gain ground in the pennant race. Some players never experience the bursting of their bubbles, because they can’t get them to stay inflated in the first place.  Mike Zunino would be a perfect example, so far. He isn’t 27 yet, so there’s still hope. It took Justin Smoak until he was 30 to get his bubble to hold any air.
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Peshastin; “W”, 3 – 3. (.176, .222, .353; 3 ip, 1 er). Journeyman Brandon Drury (currently playing for his third team in the last 12 months) went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple.  He’s been a sort of under-the-radar minor star for a year or two now, and is a year and a half younger than Mike Zunino (and 5 years younger than Justin Smoak).  Can you have an official bubble if no one notices? I suspect Drury’s not fully inflated yet, so there’s still time.
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Old Detroit:   W (-1), L 2; 1 – 13. (.161, .315, .194; 8.7 ip, 11 er).  In his previous start, Rich Hill was perfect through 8 and pitching a shutout no-hitter through 9.  Then he served up a homer to the first batter he saw in the 1oth.  He started the game yesterday like this: single, strikeout, homer, single, double, double, single. So, after his historic 9 innings of utter dominance, he immediately produces six earned runs in his next 1/3 of an inning. That’s a Royal Chulk.  It’s almost an Imperial Chulk, except it’s only 18 earned runs per inning pitched. Hill struck out the next two batters and staggered into the 4th inning before he coughed up another run on a single and a triple. Hill’s 3.7 ip, 6 er day was supplemented by Matt Moore’s 5 ip. 5 er performance to deliver a staggering blow to Wolverine ambitions (ie, catching the Pears).
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Canberra: W, 13 – 2. (.463, .488, .634; 8 ip, 2 er) So here we have what might be considered a one-day bubble (assuming it doesn’t last).  Awesome hitting and excellent pitching on the same day. Seven of 11 hitters OPSing over 1.000. I admit when the W’s do something like this I tell myself “Finally. This is more like it.”  And I settle in to watch them do it everyday from then on. But they don’t. Days like this pop up and disappear almost before you see them. I wonder if we should be thinking of bubble bursting differently, like a mug of A&W, happening on a micro scale, in which case we might not get so worked up about the bubbles bursting around us.
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DC: W, 9 – 3. (.381, .458, .762; 14.7 ip, 1 er) . Dylan Bundy is beginning to look like Dylan Bundy.  He pitched a complete game against the deflating Mariners yesterday, allowing only 1 bunt single and two walks. Brett Anderson proved his arms are still attached by backing up Bundy with 5.7 ip, 1 er. And four of the six Balkan hitters OPSed 1.000 or better.  What inspirational performances, like huge bubbles suddenly arising from the bottom of  a lake!
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes 86 46 .652
Boston Red Sox 75 57 .568 11.1
New York Yankees 70 60 .538 15.1
Old Detroit Wolverines 70 62 .529 16.2
Baltimore Orioles 67 65 .508 19.1
Tampa Bay Rays 66 68 .493 21.1
Toronto Blue Jays 61 71 .462 25.1
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Washington Nationals 80 51 .611
Miami Marlins 66 65 .504 14
Canberra Kangaroos 64 67 .489 15.9
Atlanta Braves 57 72 .442 22
New York Mets 57 74 .435 23
D.C. Balk 52 79 .400 27.6
Philadelphia Phillies 49 81 .377 30.5
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 88 42 .677
Cleveland Indians 74 56 .569 14.1
Minnesota Twins 68 63 .519 20.6
Kansas City Royals 65 66 .496 23.6
Detroit Tigers 57 74 .435 31.6
Chicago White Sox 52 78 .400 36.1
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Cottage Cheese 84 47 .640
Chicago Cubs 71 60 .542 12.8
Milwaukee Brewers 68 64 .515 16.3
St. Louis Cardinals 66 65 .504 17.8
Pittsburgh Pirates 63 70 .474 21.8
Cincinnati Reds 56 76 .424 28.3
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Haviland Dragons 85 46 .648
Houston Astros 79 52 .603 5.9
Kaline Drive 74 57 .564 11
Los Angeles Angels 68 65 .511 17.9
Seattle Mariners 66 67 .496 19.9
Texas Rangers 65 66 .496 19.9
Oakland A’s 58 74 .439 27.4
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 91 39 .700
Portland Rosebuds 78 52 .599 13.1
Arizona Diamondbacks 74 58 .561 18
Peshastin Pears 73 57 .559 18.3
Colorado Rockies 72 60 .545 20
San Diego Padres 58 74 .439 34
San Francisco Giants 53 81 .396 40