Some of you may not have appreciated the Brexit references I made in some posts a few weeks ago. You should be ashamed of yourselves. It turns out that baseball copies British politics this year.
This week the Conservative Party members of Parliament in the UK has been having a series of secret ballot votes to select two finalists for Prime Minister. Those two finalists were named yesterday: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. Hunt and Johnson will now compete in the final phase, decided by dues-paying members of the Conservative Party around the country. This is their process to replace Theresa May, who resigned at the end of May, officially effective June 7, since which she has been serving as Acting Prime Minister until the final election results are in on July 22.
This is almost exactly how MLB is deciding the All-Star Game starting lineups this year. Fans have voted to narrow the ballot to three finalists at each position (except pitcher). Between 9 AM Wednesday and 1 PM Thursday (PDT), fans can vote again to pick a winner from the three finalists.
So how has the EFL done at getting players into the finals? Well, there 51 names on the finalist list. Our 12 teams represent 40% of the MLB teams, so we should have 20.4 names on the list.
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We have 26.
With Four:
Bellingham: Brian McCann, Tommy La Stella, Ronald Acuna, Hunter Pence
Flint Hill: Yasmani Grandal, Javier Baez, Austin Meadows, Mike Trout
Pittsburgh: James McCann, Jose Altuve, Dansby Swanson, JD Martinez
.
With Three:
Old Detroit: Willson Contreras, Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber
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With Two:
Brookland: CJ Cron, Cody Bellinger
Haviland: Gary Sanchez, Carlos Santana
Kaline: Kris Bryant, Aaron Judge
Peshastin: Ozzie Albies, Joey Gallo
Portland: Carlos Correa, Mookie Betts
.
With One:
Canberra: Alex Bregman
Cottage: Jorge Polanco
DC: Nick Markakis
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Wouldn’t it be fun to have the McCann brothers starting at catcher in the All-Star Game?
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EFL Standings for 2019
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
RS |
RA |
| Portland Rosebuds |
52 |
24 |
.686 |
— |
463.3 |
314.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
47 |
27 |
.641 |
3.6 |
481.1 |
359.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
42 |
32 |
.572 |
8.8 |
436.8 |
373.2 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
37 |
37 |
.506 |
13.7 |
358.5 |
352.3 |
| Peshastin Pears |
38 |
38 |
.505 |
13.7 |
387.9 |
384.9 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
38 |
37 |
.505 |
13.8 |
408.4 |
407.9 |
| Kaline Drive |
36 |
40 |
.479 |
15.7 |
328.2 |
345.7 |
| Haviland Dragons |
36 |
40 |
.469 |
16.5 |
387.0 |
408.3 |
| Cottage Cheese |
33 |
41 |
.450 |
17.8 |
406.0 |
446.2 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
32 |
42 |
.439 |
18.6 |
359.3 |
410.4 |
| Brookland Outs |
30 |
44 |
.406 |
21.1 |
370.9 |
451.4 |
| D.C. Balk |
26 |
49 |
.350 |
25.3 |
322.6 |
441.4 |
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Portland: W, 13 – 2. (33 PA, .375, .515, 1.000; 7 ip, 1 er, 1.29 ERA).
A stellar day by the leaders didn’t help matters. Billy McKinney achieved a 5.000 OPS with his pinch hit homer. The mighty Eric Sogard reached safely 5 times in 5 PA’s, tossing in a homer and a double to go with a single and two walks (3.333 OPS). The recently-pilfered Charlie Morton gave 7 innings with only 1 earned run.
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Flint Hill: W, 6 – (-1). (35 PA, .300, .400, .733; 8.3 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
The Tornados lost only 0.1 games to the Rosebuds on their stellar day by having a stellar day of their own. The T’s couldn’t match the Buds’ offense — Portland’s 1.515 OPS might be the highest team OPS of the year on a day with an adequate number of PA’s. But the T’s still had a great day at the plate, led by Austin Barnes’ 3 for 4 with a homer and a double, and Javier Baez’ 2 for 4 with a homer and a triple. The T’s also got a stunning 4 HBP’s to round out that .400 OBP. And Wade LeBlanc’s 6.3 ip headlined 8.3 shutout innings. THAT’s how you keep up with the Johnsons… that and being one yourself.
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Old Detroit: W (-1), L 2; 5 – 13. (31 PA, .259, .355, .296; 10.7 ip, 11 er, 9.28 ERA).
The Wolverines worked so hard for over a week to shed some pounds off their big (games) behind. They got it down from the high 8’s to the low 7’s. And then, after just one bout of poor discipline, they gained it all back. How discouraging. The Wolverine pitchers just can’t keep their act together. Madison Bumgarner, facing the Dodgers again, got torched by the entire roster instead of just Max Muncy, and nearly chulked (3.7 ip, 6 er). Josh James DID chulk (1 ip, 2 er), and Robbie Ray (6 ip, 3 er) couldn’t clean up the mess.
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Pittsburgh: W, 7 – (-1). (32 PA, .207, .281, .517; 10.7 ip, 2 er, 1.69 ERA)
How did the Alleghenys score 7 full runs with that crummy line? Well, remember, the numbers I give you are the raw totals of everyone not on the VIL. However, Tyler Austin is 0% allocated this month. He went 0 for 5. Take that out of the raw total and the A’s improve to .25o, .321, .600. That’s a healthy 7 runs-ish per game. Meanwhile Frankie Montas led a robust and excellent Allegheny pitching effort with his 8 ip, 1 er. Oh, if only a Wolverine could do that! Thus the A’s got back above .500.
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Peshastin: L, 4 – 5. (25 PA, .25o, .280, .500; 7 ip, 3 er, 3.86 ERA).
Peshastin is another team teetering uncomfortably close to the .500 mark. This narrow loss could have been worse if Victor Robles hadn’t gone 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk.
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Canberra: DNP, 0 – 0. (30 PA, .233, .324, .467; no pitching).
The Kangaroos are the third team tiptoeing on the edge of the .500 precipice. Alex Bregman (1 for 3, hr, 2 walks) and Nick Senzel (2 for 4, hr, walk) kept the team from crossing that fateful line.
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Kaline: “L”, 8 – 7. (38 PA, .333, .421, .697; 7.3 ip, 5 er, 6.14 ERA).
The W’s vanity about their slightly enlarged (games) behind probably earns little sympathy from teams trying to get back to .500. The Drive disguised some progress toward .500 as a “loss.” The offense was not at all loss-like, especially Omar Narvaez’s 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk (2.417 OPS). The pitching was where the disguise came into play.
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Haviland: W, 9 – 6. (40 PA, .294, .400, .529; 2 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
Carlos Santana is a finalist for the starting 1b on the NL All-Star squad. I confess I didn’t see that coming. He was a first round EFL Rookie pick for the Wolverines in 2011. He was fine, but never outstanding, kind of washed up, I thought, when his tenure as a Wolverine was over. He wasn’t Thursday: 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk. He hasn’t been in June (1.031 OPS). He hasn’t been on the season (.943 OPS). Good for him… and for the Dragons.
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Cottage: DNP, 0 – 0. (22 PA, .238, .273, .381; no pitchers.)
Not much to talk about here – no pitchers and just six hitters not doing much… except for Jorge Polanco, who burnished his ASG credentials with a homer in four AB.
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Bellingham: L, 6 – 7. (29 PA, .320, .414, .440; 1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
I am listening to the M’s game Friday evening while I finish this update from Thursday’s games. Cascade shortstop JP Crawford just got his third hit in three plate appearances! This brings his season OPS up to .795. He OPSed 1.167 Thursday. I think he’s a keeper.
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Brookland: W 1, L (-1), 4 – 3. (31 PA, .444, .516, .778; 6.3 ip, 3 er, 4.26 ERA).
A great batting line in which the only one of 7 Outs to bat who didn’t help was Cody Bellinger, who only got a pinch hit appearance — and struck out. Vlad Guerrero only walked once in 5 plate appearance, which wasn’t much help, frankly. But everyone else OPSed 1.000 or better.
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DC: DNP, 2 – (-3). (30 PA, .308, .400, .577; 10 ip, 5 er, 4.50 ERA)
You know, if teams in the middle of the standings aren’t going to do much about the league’s sub – .500 winning percentage, then the bottom two teams will have to take care of it. Of the 7 Balks who came to bat, all got at least one hit… except Kole Calhoun, who walked twice.
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2019
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
47 |
27 |
.641 |
— |
| New York Yankees |
47 |
27 |
.635 |
0.5 |
| Tampa Bay Rays |
43 |
32 |
.573 |
5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
42 |
32 |
.572 |
5.1 |
| Boston Red Sox |
41 |
35 |
.539 |
7.5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays |
27 |
48 |
.360 |
21 |
| Baltimore Orioles |
21 |
54 |
.280 |
27 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Atlanta Braves |
44 |
31 |
.587 |
— |
| Philadelphia Phillies |
39 |
35 |
.527 |
4.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
38 |
37 |
.505 |
6.2 |
| Washington Nationals |
36 |
38 |
.486 |
7.5 |
| New York Mets |
35 |
40 |
.467 |
9 |
| Miami Marlins |
27 |
46 |
.370 |
16 |
| D.C. Balk |
26 |
49 |
.350 |
17.7 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Minnesota Twins |
48 |
26 |
.649 |
— |
| Cleveland Indians |
39 |
35 |
.527 |
9 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
37 |
37 |
.506 |
10.5 |
| Chicago White Sox |
35 |
37 |
.486 |
12 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
32 |
42 |
.439 |
15.5 |
| Detroit Tigers |
26 |
44 |
.371 |
20 |
| Kansas City Royals |
26 |
49 |
.347 |
22.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Chicago Cubs |
41 |
33 |
.554 |
— |
| Milwaukee Brewers |
40 |
35 |
.533 |
1.5 |
| St. Louis Cardinals |
38 |
36 |
.514 |
3 |
| Cincinnati Reds |
35 |
38 |
.479 |
5.5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates |
33 |
40 |
.452 |
7.5 |
| Cottage Cheese |
33 |
41 |
.450 |
7.7 |
| Brookland Outs |
30 |
44 |
.406 |
11 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Houston Astros |
48 |
28 |
.632 |
— |
| Texas Rangers |
40 |
35 |
.533 |
7.5 |
| Oakland A’s |
40 |
36 |
.526 |
8 |
| Los Angeles Angels |
38 |
38 |
.500 |
10 |
| Kaline Drive |
36 |
40 |
.479 |
11.6 |
| Haviland Dragons |
36 |
40 |
.469 |
12.4 |
| Seattle Mariners |
33 |
46 |
.418 |
16.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Portland Rosebuds |
52 |
24 |
.686 |
— |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
51 |
25 |
.671 |
1.1 |
| Colorado Rockies |
40 |
34 |
.541 |
11.1 |
| San Diego Padres |
38 |
37 |
.507 |
13.6 |
| Peshastin Pears |
38 |
38 |
.505 |
13.7 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
38 |
38 |
.500 |
14.1 |
| San Francisco Giants |
31 |
42 |
.425 |
19.6 |
