League Updates

A Hot Start to the Hottest Month

Guess who had the best first week of August. Obviously NOT the Alleghenys, of course, we’ve heard plenty about their woes…

EFL Standings for 2017
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 73 36 .672 619.5 430.9
Cottage Cheese 72 38 .654 1.8 604.2 434.5
Haviland Dragons 72 39 .649 2.2 661.0 486.3
Flint Hill Tornadoes 71 41 .637 3.4 575.6 432.3
Portland Rosebuds 66 45 .594 8.3 645.8 523.7
Kaline Drive 64 47 .577 10.1 550.6 467.0
Peshastin Pears 61 50 .550 13.2 547.9 502.5
Old Detroit Wolverines 57 55 .510 17.6 548.7 524.1
Canberra Kangaroos 50 60 .450 24.2 512.4 572.2
D.C. Balk 42 68 .381 31.8 541.0 690.8
Record since the end of July:
Pittsburgh: W 4, L 1.  (.219, .292, .384; 61.3 ip, 28 er). What was all the moaning about? All the A’s had to do was allocate well.  They did so. They eliminated 8.3 innings and 17 earned runs from that mediocre pitching line, leaving themselves with a team ERA of 2.53.  They eliminated 43.5 of the worst ABs,  improving their team slash line to .291, .356, .509.  Some of you may have forgotten, during our recent years of Dragon dominance, that the Alleghenys are run by the greatest mastermind in the EFL. Those of you inclined to supply the A’s with pitching aces should never forget this.
.
Cottage: W 4, L 2. (.266, .346, .462; 53.7 ip, 24 er, 4.02 ERA.) Mike Trout is in full form: .462 .563, 1.000 for August so far. As the effect of the Alleghenys’ August 7th-tailored allocations wears off, perhaps the Cheese can make a move later this month. But don’t let Pittsburgh get any further ahead.
.
Haviland: W 5, L 1. (.245 .329, .469; 77 ip, 16 er) Poor Haviland! Their pitching was so good all across the board in the first week of August they could only meaningfully allocate out the 0.7 ip, 2 er turned in by Enny Romero. On the hitting side, they took out the combined 0 for 6 by Raimel Tapia and Andrew Susac.  So that 5 win, 1 loss record was an entire team effort.  Without more scapegoats, how will the Dragons propitiate the baseball demons?
.
Flint Hill: W 4, L 4.  (.214, .282, .346; 64 ip, 20 er ).  Those darn Red Sox climbed back into first among MLB teams in the AL East, forcing the Tornados to try to cover 8 games while the Alleghenys only had to cover 4.  But worry not — the effect will gradually diminish as August unfolds.
.
Portland:  W 3, L 3. (.234, .323, .445; 56.3 ip, 28 er, 4.47 ERA) Manny Machado blasted a grand slam home run last night. His post-Wolverine OPS: 1.154.  His Wolverine OPS in 2017: .756.  Sigh.
.
Kaline: W 3,  L 3. (.244, .287, .391;  60.7 ip, 31 er, 4.60 ERA).  The Drive line looks a lit like the Rosebud line, and the Drive don’t even have a suddenly resplendent Manny Machado to help them. Did you notice how the Wizard conjured Yonder Alonso onto the Mariners to platoon with his Danny Valencia?  Let’s see if their symbiosis conjures the Drive back into the pennant race.
.
Peshastin:  W 3, L 3.  (.249, .323, .517;  57 ip, 28 er, 4.42 ERA)  This  W3, L3 stuff is getting boring.  Can someone spice this up? No, Carlos Carrasco, I don’t mean “spice it up by allowing 10 earned runs in 7.3 ip.” Trevor Williams’ 7 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball last night — that’s more like it, you old former Wolverine, you.
.
Old Detroit: W 6, L 2.  (.286, .367, .515;  52.3 ip, 20 er, 3.44 ERA). Now that’s more like it!  Notice how the W’s DIDN’T crumble under the weight of 8 games (after allocating 12 ip, and 11 er out of the pitching line).  More evidence that the EFL teams in the AL East should swap places in the standings, if the world were just.
.
Canberra:  W 3, L 3. (.283, .331, .494;  41.7 ip, 32 er, 6.91 ERA). Sigh. Faulty pitching undermined the Kangaroos. Only Dellin Betances (3 ip, 0 er) and Wandy Peralta (2.3 ip, 1 er) managed ERA’s under 4.50.
.
DC: W 6, L 0.  (172 PA, .335, .374, .578.  40.7 ip, 11 er, 2.43 ERA)   Woah!  What’s this? Suddenly the Balk have mastered this game. Andrew Benintendi is OPSing 1.457 so far this month. Dylan Bundy has twirled 15 innings with only 2 earned runs.  When the prospects turn the corner, a team can be transformed! Here’s the hottest start in August. Look out, Canberra!
.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes 71 41 .637
Boston Red Sox 63 49 .563 8.4
New York Yankees 59 51 .536 11.4
Tampa Bay Rays 58 55 .513 13.9
Old Detroit Wolverines 57 55 .510 14.2
Baltimore Orioles 56 56 .500 15.4
Toronto Blue Jays 52 59 .468 18.9
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Washington Nationals 66 44 .600
Miami Marlins 52 58 .473 14
Atlanta Braves 51 59 .464 15
New York Mets 49 60 .450 16.5
Canberra Kangaroos 50 60 .450 16.5
D.C. Balk 42 68 .381 24.1
Philadelphia Phillies 40 69 .367 25.5
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 73 36 .672
Cleveland Indians 59 50 .541 14.2
Kansas City Royals 57 54 .514 17.2
Minnesota Twins 54 56 .491 19.7
Detroit Tigers 51 60 .459 23.2
Chicago White Sox 41 68 .376 32.2
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Cottage Cheese 72 38 .654
Chicago Cubs 58 52 .527 13.9
Milwaukee Brewers 59 55 .518 14.9
St. Louis Cardinals 56 56 .500 16.9
Pittsburgh Pirates 56 57 .496 17.4
Cincinnati Reds 46 66 .411 26.9
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Haviland Dragons 72 39 .649
Houston Astros 71 40 .640 1.1
Kaline Drive 64 47 .577 8
Seattle Mariners 57 56 .504 16.1
Los Angeles Angels 55 56 .495 17.1
Texas Rangers 53 58 .477 19.1
Oakland A’s 50 62 .446 22.6
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 79 32 .712
Portland Rosebuds 66 45 .594 13.1
Colorado Rockies 64 48 .571 15.5
Arizona Diamondbacks 63 48 .568 16
Peshastin Pears 61 50 .550 17.9
San Diego Padres 49 62 .441 30
San Francisco Giants 44 70 .386 36.5