Last night I went with Melanie to see the Thorns play. The game started at 7:30, so we arrived at the park at about 7:15… and the sun had already set. So early.
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It gets late early these days. These days in September, these days in a season, these days when you’re 63. So early.
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The equinox is actually a bit late this year, not until 12:50 AM tonight, technically on Sept 23. I might still be up. If I am, I’ll let you know how fall feels when it arrives.
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Baseball should probably start its season on one equinox and end it on the other one. That would be nice and symmetrical. And the World Series could be over before Halloween. So let’s consider what it would be like if the season were over this morning, and whether we could get a motion to that effect to pass a vote of the owners.
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EFL Standings for 2019
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 100 | 55 | .644 | — | 977.6 | 726.1 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 100 | 56 | .640 | 0.5 | 967.5 | 721.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 90 | 66 | .579 | 10.1 | 901.1 | 764.9 |
| Peshastin Pears | 85 | 70 | .549 | 14.8 | 812.8 | 740.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 84 | 71 | .542 | 15.9 | 814.6 | 734.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 81 | 74 | .522 | 19 | 872.0 | 829.4 |
| Kaline Drive | 77 | 78 | .497 | 22.8 | 755.8 | 761.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 78 | 78 | .497 | 22.8 | 863.5 | 873.0 |
| Cottage Cheese | 72 | 83 | .462 | 28.3 | 866.8 | 930.4 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 65 | 90 | .420 | 34.8 | 702.0 | 835.6 |
| Brookland Outs | 63 | 92 | .405 | 37 | 728.0 | 878.2 |
| D.C. Balk | 62 | 94 | .395 | 38.8 | 676.6 | 841.4 |
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Portland: L, 4 – 13. (61 PA, .208, .295, .302; 9 ip, 13 er, 13.00 ERA)
If the season ended this morning, the Rosebuds would have had a nightmare collapse on the very last day of the season, its pitchers fully earning the 13 runs they surrendered, especially Royal Chulker Brock Burke (0.7 ip. 7 er). Then Rosbuds fans would be writhing in their seats, realizing their team had done the inconceivable: opened the door for the Tornados to pull off a miracle, record-shattering 2.1 games-from-behind comeback on the very last day of the season!
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Flint Hill: W, 9 – 0. (49 PA., .311, .367, .533; 11.7 ip, 1 er, 0.77 ERA)
And the Tornados did not waste the opportunity. They hit very well — 7 of the 12 Tornado batters OPSed 1.000 or better. They also pitched very well. Paxton started off with 6 scoreless innings, and Tanner Scott, Joe Jimenez and Matt Barnes followed with 2.7 more shutout innings. But still, with one out to go, the Tornados had not caught up. So somehow they bamboozled the umps into letting the game go into the twelfth inning, whenTaylor Clark served up a solo homer for the first run allowed by Tornado pitching. At that point the Tornados gave up and went home, facing the long cold winter knowing they came only 0.5 game — about 4 runs — short of winning their first EFL championship.
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The projected vote so far to stop the season this morning? Ayes: 1 (PR), Nays: 1 (FH). The Rosebuds can see their season slipping away. The Tornados probably think it’s about to fall into their grasp any day now.
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Old Detroit: L, 2 – 5. (52 PA, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts, .180. .212, .300; 9 ip, 5 er, 5.00 ERA).
Peshastin: “L”, 6 – 6 (55 PA, . 289, .385, .467; 6.3 ip. 4 er, 5.68 ERA)
Let’s see: if the season ended this morning, AND IF MLB FINALLY QUIT PRETENDING OUR TEAMS DON’T EXIST, here is how the playoffs would stack up:
American League: National League:
WC: OAK @ FH WC: WAS @ LAD
ALDS: WC @ HOU NLDS: WC @ PR
MIN @ NYY. STL @ ATL
That’s right — we’d only have two EFL teams in the playoffs. And the 99-win Dodgers would only be a wild card team since the Rosebuds have a better record. And what’s worse: the EFL’s third place team, the Wolverines, would be 4.2 games out of the AL Wild Card while the EFL’s fourth place team, the Pears, would only be 0.3 games out of the NL Wild Card.
Clearly the Pears would be voting to extend the season to a full 162 games. The Wolverines? Normally I’d say we’d go for it, trying to make up that steep 4.2 deficit in one week. But I have sworn off whipping my players until their morale improves. I’d let them decide the vote. And given the lackluster day they turned in on Saturday, I think they are done. Can I pass and think about this some more?
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Projected vote so far on “Should we end the season as of this morning?”: Ayes: 1 (PR); Nos: 2 (FH, PP); Pass: 1 (OD)
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Pittsburgh: W , 3 – (-7). (52 PA, .289, .385, .467; 6.3 ip. 4 er, 5.68 ERA)
Our A’s are 10 games out of the AL Wild Card, but only 0.9 games behind the upstart Pears. We should never underestimate the deep wellsprings of Allegheny pride. Slipping to fifth place is not going to sit well with the Alleghenys. And there’s the Peter Alonso drama, too. Alonso will never last deep enough into the Rookie Draft for the A’s to snag him. I suspect they’d like to savor another week, see if Alonso can break the MLB record for rookie homers as an Allegheny.
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Projected vote to end the season early so far: Ayes: 1 (PR), Nos: 3 (FH, PP, PA); ; Pass: 1 (OD)
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Haviland: W, 4 – 1. (47 PA, .225, .340, .350; 6.3 ip. 0 er, 0.00 ERA)
Only 3.1 games behind the Alleghenys… the Dragons would love to beat the A’s. But them, only 3.9 games ahead of both the Drive and the Kangaroos. The Dragons would hate to lost to either of them. Sure, 3.1 games is closer than 3.9 — but there are TWO teams who can hurt the Dragons and only one team who can make them feel a little better. And what if BOTH Kaline and Canberra had a surge (unlikely), or the Dragons swooned? I think the Dragons would just as soon avoid the risk of falling all the way into the lower half of the league. Eighth place is deathly low for a Dragon.
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Projected vote to end the season early so far: Ayes: 2 (PR, HD); Nos: 2 (FH, PP, PA); Pass: 1 (OD)
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Kaline: L, 5 – 6. (51 PA, .217, .308, .500; 7.7 ip, 3 er, 3.52 ERA)
Canberra: “W”, 3 – 5. (45 PA, .179, .289, .385; 8.3 ip, 4 er, 4.32 ERA)
The Drive and the Kangaroos are performing an intricate dance for our entertainment. UYesterday, when the Wizard was crowing about achieving the perfect 77 – 77 .500 record, his team was actually only winning at a .498 rate. In fact, the Drive was 0.1 games behind the ‘Roos, who were 77 – 78. But this morning, after the Drive lost and the ‘Roos “won”, Canberra is the one with the even-looking record (78 – 78), but behind the 77-78 Drive by less than 0.1 games. Can both of these teams manage to wind up at (as Kaline’s hopes) or above (as Canberra hopes) .500? Can they both record a perfect 81-81 record? There is nothing harder in EFL baseball than ending up at exactly .500, or even close enough for rounding fuzziness to hide the miss. I don’t know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I don’t even know how many EFL teams can dance on the knife-edge of .500. But it could be fun to watch these two teams try.
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Projected vote to end the season early so far: Ayes: 2 (PR, HD); ; Nos: 5 (FH, PP, PA, KD, CK). Pass: 1 (OD, but leaning toward no to get to watch the KD/CK dance for a few more days.)
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Cottage: W, 7 – 5. (43 PA, .282, .349, .513; 6.7 ip, 3 er, 4.05 ERA)
Other than making me envious with his team’s stats, what do the Cheese have left to play for? The risk of a nightmare finish below the Cascades has faded now that Bellingham has slipped 6.5 game back, but the Kangaroos and Drive are 5.5 games away, too, and so is the coveted .500 mark. So what good are more wins? Given the Head Cheese’s history, I’m pretty sure his heart has turned toward spring draft picks by now. There are 14 EFL/MLB teams (out of 42) with worse records than the Cheese. 30% of them will disappear as we pare the population of drafting teams down to 30, cutting the “line cutters” in front of the Cheese down to about 10. Can the Cheese fall behind the Angels, who are only 1.6 games away in the standings? But what if instead the Cheese somehow float upward past the Reds, only 1.4 games away? I’m guessing the Cheese would like to nail down their current position in the draft, so can’t wait for the season to end.
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Projected votes for an early end to the season so far: Ayes: 3 (PR, HD, CC); Nos: 5 (FH, PP, PA, KD, CK); Pass: 1 (OD, but leaning toward no to get to watch the KD/CK dance for a few more days.)
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Bellingham: L, 1 – 13. (26 PA, .136, .231, .273; 4.7 ip, 7 er, 13.50 ERA).
I think there’s a song whose refrain is “the first time is the hardest.” Dave would know. John would know. Mark W would know. Ryan would know. Everybody but me would probably know. Anyway, it’s sure true in the EFL. Our rules are so arcane, unique, complex. The Cascades drafted themselves into a hole in the expansion draft largely because of the Commissioner’s neglect to warn them not to go over the salary cap. It’s been a hard year. Now that the goal of beating the Cheese is slipping away, I suspect the Cascades are more than ready for another try. The only question would be, would they rather build with some of the great players they have? Or would they rather restart and get out from under some of the heavy contracts they are carrying? But they can’t do either until this season is good and done.
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Projected votes for an early end to the season so far: Ayes: 4 (PR, HD, CC, BC); Nos: 5 (FH, PP, PA, KD, CK); Pass: 1 (OD, but leaning toward no to get to watch the KD/CK dance for a few more days.)
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Brookland: L. 1 – 9. (19 PA, .167, .211, .222; 3 ip, 3 er, 9.00 ERA)
The beauty in an even 9 ERA might elude Outs fans. After such a great debut season last year, I imagine Outs fans can’t wait to see the rear end of this season. A 9.00 ERA probably doesn’t make them love it any more.
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Projected votes for an early end to the season so far: Ayes: 5 (PR, HD, CC, BC, BO); Nos: 5 (FH, PP, PA, KD, CK); Pass: 1 (OD, but leaning toward no to get to watch the KD/CK dance for a few more days. Although empathy for suffering fans near the bottom of the league does give one pause…)
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DC: “W”, 3 – 3. (41 PA., .237, .293, .526; 4.7 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA
I think most pundits would say the Balk, being in last place for most of the season, are surely going to have had their fill of 2019. They’ve been plotting, the pundits will say, how the team should use its super-early draft pick, etc., etc. But I think the pundits are wrong. The Balk are in their fourth season. They finished last the first two seasons. They can take it. They were last again in 2018 — except then, in the last week, they surged and caught the Pears totally by surprise, relegating Peshastin to last on the next to last day of the season. And (sorry to cost you the element of surprise, Top Balk) the Balk have quietly maneuvered themselves into position to pull off the same trick this year. Why quit when you have a chance to match your franchise’s pinnacle achievement?
Projected votes for an early end to the season so far: Ayes: 5 (PR, HD, CC, BC, BO); Nos: 6 (FH, PP, PA, KD, CK, DC); Pass: 1 (OD, but leaning toward no to get to watch the KD/CK dance for a few more days — and maybe see the Balk pass the Outs.)
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2014
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 55 | .647 | — |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 100 | 56 | .640 | 1.2 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 92 | 63 | .594 | 8.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 90 | 66 | .579 | 10.7 |
| Boston Red Sox | 80 | 74 | .519 | 20 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 63 | 92 | .406 | 37.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 50 | 105 | .323 | 50.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 96 | 60 | .615 | — |
| Washington Nationals | 85 | 68 | .556 | 9.5 |
| New York Mets | 80 | 74 | .519 | 15 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 79 | 74 | .516 | 15.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 78 | 78 | .497 | 18.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 62 | 94 | .395 | 34.5 |
| Miami Marlins | 53 | 101 | .344 | 42 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Minnesota Twins | 95 | 60 | .613 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 91 | 64 | .587 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 84 | 71 | .542 | 11 |
| Chicago White Sox | 68 | 86 | .442 | 26.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 65 | 90 | .420 | 29.9 |
| Kansas City Royals | 57 | 99 | .365 | 38.5 |
| Detroit Tigers | 45 | 109 | .292 | 49.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 88 | 67 | .568 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 85 | 70 | .548 | 3 |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 73 | .529 | 6 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 73 | 82 | .471 | 15 |
| Cottage Cheese | 72 | 83 | .462 | 16.4 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 65 | 90 | .419 | 23 |
| Brookland Outs | 63 | 92 | .405 | 25.2 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 101 | 54 | .652 | — |
| Oakland A’s | 94 | 61 | .606 | 7 |
| Haviland Dragons | 81 | 74 | .522 | 20.1 |
| Kaline Drive | 77 | 78 | .497 | 24 |
| Texas Rangers | 74 | 81 | .477 | 27 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 85 | .452 | 31 |
| Seattle Mariners | 66 | 89 | .426 | 35 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Portland Rosebuds | 100 | 55 | .644 | — |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 99 | 56 | .639 | 0.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 85 | 70 | .549 | 14.8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 80 | 75 | .516 | 19.8 |
| San Francisco Giants | 74 | 81 | .477 | 25.8 |
| San Diego Padres | 69 | 86 | .445 | 30.8 |
| Colorado Rockies | 67 | 88 | .432 | 32.8 |