Whines and Losses — Life lessons from the EFL

Today we learn one more thing “W” (as in the W’s) can stand for; how to turn someone else’s loss into a win for yourself;  the importance of perspective; never to take our eyes off the pitiless; how well Kangaroos can read when they really don’t want to; nevertheless, how important it is to read the schedule carefully; how to lose something worth a lot more than a game; and the enviable life of the poor.  Also, did we get a hint about what the Havvies have that we (except maybe the Pears) don’t? 

Haviland: W, 2 – 2.  (12 PA, .083, .083, .083; 1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  The Dragons held a brief batting practice, and ended up winning a game.  Three batters each took 4 turns at the plate, with Alex Reyes pitching. Joc Pederson was the only batter to get a hit.  To emphasize the point, Reyes allowed only one hit.  But somewhere some authority looked at this half-baked effort and decided the Dragons deserved a win.  They entered the day with a winning percentage of .903, and exited at a mere .888, and still got a win with a .163 daily OPS and 1 shutout inning.  The very wealthy don’t live like the rest of us.

Old Detroit: W, 16 – 5.  (26 PA, .364, .462, .955; 7.7 ip, 4 er, 4.68 ERA).  I realize the Wolverines look like they are about as privileged as the Dragons, with that shocking and shiny .866 winning percentage.  But the Wolverines OPSed almost 5 times as much, scored 8 times as many runs, had an infinitely better runs scored/runs allowed ratio, pitched a whole game’s worth of innings (at EFL rates) without disaster, improved their winning percentage by .026 points… and only gained 0.2 games on the Dragons.  So now I really want to know what the Havvies have that the rest of us don’t.  (Actually, I do know one thing:  the W’s are stuck at 9 pitchers because Oliver Perez is in the minors, Joey Wentz is even deeper in the minors, Nate Pearson is still on the DL, and Rick Porcello needs to get a job. The Havvies have had their 10 pitchers appear.)

Flint Hill: L, 3 – 4. (30 PA, .276, .300, .414;  no pitching).  Let’s call them the Flinty Vultures, at least until Tim Anderson gets better.  When Anderson’s hamstring injury sent him to the IL, the Flinty Vultures  pounced.  The Flinty Vultures took full advantage of the Cascades’ pain, sending Danny Mendick in to go 3 for 3 with a walk to elevate the Flinty Vultures’ batting line from .192, .192, .346. They still lost, but might have kept themselves from falling out of 3rd place. 

DC: DNP, (-3) – (-1). (23 PA, .100, .217, .100;  5.7 ip, 2 er, 3.16 ERA).  Jose Berrios was the only pitcher to appear, and did a good job, but oh, the hitters!  Yes, we can use the plural: Myles Straw and Ryan McMahon both got singles.  After McMahon’s towering offense lately, a 1 for 4 with a single may not seem like much.  But compared to the cumulative 0 for 13 of the 5 other non-Straw men who appeared, that single single still stands tall. 

Pittsburgh: W, 7 – 4.  (26 PA, .304, .308, .522; 5.3 ip, 2 er, 3.40 ERA). Christian Vazquez went 3 for 5 with two doubles — and a rare catcher’s stolen base! — and the other T. Anderson (Tyler) pitched a solid 5.3 innings, to give the Alleghenys the win.  Veteran EFLers know to keep a wary eye on the Pities Pitiless, who have demonstrated so many times their willingness and ability to dominate our league… 

Portland: W 1, L (-1); 2 – (-5).   (27 PA, .360, .407, .440;  8 ip, 2 er, 2.25 ERA). … and the same goes for the Rosebuds, who haven’t won as many times, but still have two of the last three EFL championships.  So when Travis Shaw goes 3 for 4,  and Jon Gray stifles the opposition for 6.7 ip and 1 earned run, bad feelings should be epidemic in the rest of us.  

Canberra: DNP, 7 – 0. (30 PA, .370, .433, .926; no pitching)  The schedule said “no game today” but someone forgot kangaroos can’t read. And even if they could, they wouldn’t pay any attention, especially not when  Mike Trout is rampaging (3 for 5 with a homer and a double) and bringing with him Mitch Garver  (2 for 4 with a homer and a double), Javier Baez (2 for 3 with a homer, a walk, and a stolen base), and Vladdy Jr. (2 for 4 with a homer and a walk). 

Bellingham: L, 3 – 4. (6 PA, .200, .333, .200; 2.7 ip, 1 er, 3.33 ERA).   As you math-savvy EFLers have already figured out from the stats I’ve given you, the Cascades got one hit (from Kevin Newman) and one walk (from Rowdy Tellez) in their 6 plate appearances.  Not enough for a day when there is a game.  Maybe the Cascades and the Kangaroos somehow got their schedules mixed up. Maybe that was a dirty trick by a desperate competitor.  I am not accusing the Flinty Vultures, but they did demonstrate their ruthlessness in the Danny  Mendick matter. 

Peshastin: DNP, 2 – (-1).  (18 PA, .188, .278, .563;  1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 era). The Pears have a certain Haviland-style magic about them, too: proferring only 18 plate appearances, and doing poorly on them, and still gaining ground in the standings.  Yoan Moncada’s homer helped, as did Yimi Garcia’s scoreless inning.     

Kaline: L,  3 – 7. (24 PA, .150, .292, .150;  2 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  The Drive added 5 replacement innings, and are still accumulating 1/3 of an inning of penalties every game (for having used only 9 pitchers).  Which wouldn’t be so bad if the hitters would please hit. To add to the Wizard of Whidbey’s mortification, Michael Conforto leaned just a little into a pitch yesterday to “earn” a walk-off hit-by-pitch for the Mets.  The smirch on his reputation would not have been worth a win to the Wizard. Perhaps these results reflect his insistence that the Drive take the penalty for Conforto’s shady move.  I’d love to sit in on the next conversation between Tom and his star outfielder.  

Cottage: W 1, L (-1); 4  – 5.  (33 PA, .355, .394, .710; 6 ip, 2 er, 3.00 ERA)  The under-recognized Cheese outfielders Nimmo and Verdugo combined to go 5 for 10 with 4 doubles, and Taijuan Walker did his job well (6 ip , 2 er). Thus the Cheese used their off day to lose a loss and win a win, despite being outscored.  The poor have it sooooooo easy!  With those skinny little winning percentages, they can actually GAIN ground on .500 while being outscored.