First GOOD Award Winner Announced!

And it IS fixed!  So fixed, in fact, that the BP Team Tracker I use is now set so the default view is “yesterday.”  So I have to click on “Year to Date” and “View stats” to see the YTD stats. It is, in other words, MORE than fixed.  This kind of 200% efficiency sets a high bar for future GOOD Award aspirants, and gives us an early favorite for the GOOY Award.

Which, hopefully, will be the only kind of award going to the plains — and, of course, the mighty hills — of Kansas this year. To wit:

TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Old Detroit Wolverines	4	0	.886	—	18.7	6.7
Canberra Kangaroos	3	0	.851	0.5	22.7	9.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	2	0	.868	0.8	15.5	6.0
Portland Rosebuds	2	1	.606	1.2	11.8	9.5
Brookland Outs	2	1	.567	1.3	16.4	14.3
Kaline Drive	2	2	.498	1.6	17.7	17.8
Cottage Cheese	1	2	.480	1.6	11.5	11.9
Flint Hill Tornadoes	2	2	.425	1.8	23.0	26.7
D.C. Balk	1	2	.398	1.8	14.5	17.8
Peshastin Pears	1	2	.267	2.2	8.8	14.6
Haviland Dragons	1	3	.314	2.3	19.8	29.3

I have been warning all spring about the looming catastrophe of a Johnson family sweep this year. Maybe even including uncle Tom Johnson. No one has ever worried about a Mock family sweep, for some reason.  We Mocks did finish 1 – 2 last season… in the race for 8th place. So look quick!  We cannot guarantee you will ever again see such a pretty sight as is on display atop today’s standings.

Old Detroit:  W, 3 – 1. (.200, .294, .289; 8 ip, 1 er). Rich Hill completed the W’s first rotation through the rotation with 6 ip, 1 er.  All 5 starters went at least 5 innings in their first starts and allowed no more than 1 earned run — as did long reliever Clayton Richard (7 innings, 1 earned run).  The two specialist relievers, however, offered only 2.7 ip with 4 earned runs.  Raisel Iglesias has an excuse (just back from paternity leave). Shane Greene doesn’t — but he DID shave his ERA by by over 24 points with a scoreless inning on Sunday.

Canberra: W, 5 – 3. (.222, .243, .444; 10 ip, 3 er). Dillon Peters went 6 scoreless innings, and Adam Eaton went 2 for 5 to follow up on a 5 for 5 day Sunday, and is now batting .615, .643, 1.231 for the season.  The Kangaroos will build on this Peters/Eaton foundation as they hop toward their first EFL championship!

Pittsburgh:  DNP, 1 – (-1). (.379, .455, .621;  6 ip, 1 er).  Last year Pittsburgh was projected to finish 7th or 8th.  The Alleghenys politely started the year in that vicinity, then cut a wide swath of mayhem and destruction as they implacably marched all summer toward a blowout league win. Yesterday I gave you solid information predicting a 10th place Allegheny win.  Provoked, the A’s have already taken over 4th place on what is probably another irresistible march to the pennant.  Four Alleghenys (Altuve, Castellanos, Piscotty and Drew Robinson, whoever he is)  OPSed over 1.400 yesterday to lead the charge.

Portland:  DNP, 2 – 0. (.286, .324, .457;  14.3 ip, 6 er).  The Rosebuds were tabbed to win the league rather comfortably yesterday.  Today they won their game rather comfortably behind Jose Berrios’ complete game shutout. I bet there won’t me a dozen of those all season, and the Rosebuds already have one.

Brookland: W 1, L 1; 8 – 12. (.182, .270, .333; 3.3 ip. 4 er)  Cody Bellinger’s first homer of the season salvaged a win from a badly-timed double header in which the Outs only got 3.3 innings of pitching, including a triple chulk from David Robertson (1.3 ip, 4 er).  (A chulk, Out fans, is when your pitcher allows at least twice as many earned runs as innings pitched.  Robertson triple chulked by allowing 4 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.)

Kaline: W, 4 – (-2). (.174; .345, .174;  19 ip, 5 er).  Marcus Stroman stumbled Sunday, surrendering four scores in 5 frames.  But Michael Fulmer and Trevor Williams redeemed the day with 14 innings, 1 earned run, in the process erasing some replacement innings.

Cottage:  W 0, L 2; 7 – 9. (.172, .226, .207;  1 ip, 1 er).  The Cheese pitchers took Easter off, assuredly to attend services, leaving Jose Alvarado to cover a single inning with a sole earned run. Not ideal on a double-header day.

Flint Hill:  W, 6  – 5. (.304, .385, .391;  5 ip 2 er). Sonny Gray got through 4 innings with only 1 earned run, and the bullpen surrendered another run in another inning.  A skeleton crew of six batters performed reasonably well, especially Evan Gattis with his single, 2 doubles, and a walk in four plate appearances.

DC:  L, 4 – 6.  (.222, .300, .500; 1 ip, 0 er).  Another team with a skeletal crew on Easter Sunday: only 20 plate appearances and one inning pitched.  First round pick Matt Chapman blasted his first Balk homer to bring his season average to an impressive .286, .412, .571.

Peshastin:  DNP,  0 – (-1).  (.176, .282, .441;  1 ip, 0 er).  Where is all the pitching down in this neck of the woods? I can tell you where all the hitting is: EWIE (Ex Wolverine Infielder Extraordinaire) Brandon Drury ( 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk);  Joey Gallo (2 for 4 with a homer to left, despite being defended with 3 infielders and 4 outfielders); and Mitch Haniger (1 for 2 with a homer, a walk, and a hbp, to lead the group with a daily OPS of 2.75o).  That was indeed all the hitting the Pears did, the rest of the team going 1 for 25.

Haviland:  W, 9 – 3.  (.367, .406, .733;  5 ip, 0 er). That’s how you win.  It would have been  even better had any of those innings been by a starter.  But Bryan Harper hit two homers to lead the way, and the Dragons pulled themselves out of the cellar…well, actually, no, they didn’t.  Maybe they’ll get comfortable down there and sleep for a century or two, as I hear dragons sometimes do.