2017 Fly-By-Night Team Article Archive

CHIEF CHAT- 1-27

REVISITING THE 1994 FBNBA DRAFT

I just learned that Jason Bere is the bullpen coach for the Indians. The Chiefs took Jason Bere with the 1st overall pick in 1994 and Aaron Sele with the 3rd overall pick. Manny Ramirez went 2nd. I wonder what ever happened to him?

Highlights of the 1994 draft:

1st Round:
2. DC, Manny Ramirez
9. BH, Pedro Martinez

2nd Round:
29. YA, Brad Ausmus (current DET Mgr.)
33. HP, Trevor Hoffman
43. KC(now AG), Jim Edmonds
46. BB, Vinny Castilla

3rd Round:
59. US, Dan Wilson

4th Round:
76. YA, Jamie Moyer
92. CC, Torey Lovullo (current AZ Mgr.)
95. JY, Al Leiter

6th Round:
132. HP, Jerry DiPoto (current SEA GM)

7th Round:
150. HT, Eddie "Everyday" Guardado
165. PC, Robb Nen
180. DC, Billy Bean (current OAK Pres.)

10th Round:
220. TX, Fernando Vina
221. WH, Woody Williams

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JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT- 2-11

Slim Pickins on the winter news front:

The 2016 National League Champion Jarheads have the reigning MLB AL MVP, Mike Trout and MLB AL Cy Young, Rick Porcello headlining this years team. Coincidently the American League Nashville Assassins, own the reigning National League MVP, Kris Bryant and NL Cy Young, Max Scherzer.

The 2016 FBN draft eligible sheet had 331 players and pitchers listed. With no intent involved, The Jarheads managed to snag the #1 alphabetically listed player Christian Adames and the last alphabetical pitcher #331 Steven Wright.

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BATON ROUGE SILVER BULLETS- 2-28

The perfect pitchers card…

Ryan Merritt has the first in my memory of a card completely devoid of on base outside the possibility of getting on via the X-chart. Having one side with 0 on base is quite rare but both sides is unheard-of. But is this a perfect pitchers card? There are lots of fly B’s and gb C’s and B’s on Merritt’s card – they are outs but can score runs. There are very few strikeouts. Of the 108 chances on the pitcher’s card, 30 are X’s. They are inviolate. They will always be there no matter what. A perfect card would be one that has no on base and no chance of moving a runner along. For me, a perfect card would be one that has the required 30 X’s and 78 strikeouts. (But then I have a penchant for the strikeout.) The Andrew Miller card vs RHB is the closest I have ever seen – to my failing memory – to my version of a perfect card. It has 30 X’s, 76 strikeouts, 1 hit, and 1 ball park homer. “Missed it my that much” in my best imitation of Maxwell Smart. Against lefties he has 12 rolls that are not X’s or strikeouts giving him 66 K’s on that side. Chapman comes close to matching Miller vs RHB with 30 X’s and 65 K’s the balance being on base, gb A’s, or fly B’s. Chapman has 20 walks vs LHB’s, so he isn’t close there.

Has there ever been a perfect pitcher’s card? Or even a perfect side of a pitcher’s card?

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JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT- 3-1

One half of Perfection:
Lefty Luis Avilan has a "Perfect" card vs RHB, with 30X chances and 78 Ks... and sadly only 22 FBN innings.

Cool Jarhead Home Run Trots on utube
Edwin carrying his parrot
Adam Rosales' 120 yard dash

The Jarheads didn't start picking until late in the 5th round but still managed to pick up a few usable innings. Matt Belisle and Jahn Marine(z) will be joined by Lefty Richard Bleier in the Jarhead Bullpen and Tyler Cravy will start the season as part of the Jarhead rotation.

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ALLYN STREET SPRING TRAINING REPORT- 3-10

I'm kind of sorry Ed didn't do his Inside the FBN Preseason Report this year. Last year Ed predicted that the 89ERS would finish dead last in the National League and we fought with the Jarheads all season for second place. We went back and forth with them only to lose out in our last series with the Jarheads. We ended up in third. I was hoping for another last place prediction by Ed. :-) Oh well.

Going into the draft Manager Stengel kept telling GM Rickey, "We need starting pitching! "Rickey made two moves to improve the starters. Rickey's number one pick in the draft, 17th overall was Junior Guerra. At age 32 he's no "spring chicken", but his 134 innings and his 2.81 ERA should be a big boost to the starting rotation. Rickey also draft in the 4th round, Jhoulys Chacin. He gives Stengel 158 innings. They're not great but it allows Casey to keep Andrew Cashner in the minors with his 5.25 ERA. Casey also has four veteran starters on the staff that we'll be counting on. Jerad Eickhoff with 217 innings and a 3.65 ERA to lead the staff. He's followed by Trevor Bauer with 209 innings and a 4.26 ERA. Matt Shoemaker will be back. He has 176 innings and a 3.88 ERA. Colin Rea will be a spot start with 113 innings. His 4.82 ERA is a big question mark.

The bullpen already had Mark Melancon, Alex Colome, Brad Brach and George Kontos. Rickey drafted lefties Taylor Rogers and Donnie Hart. He also drafted righty, Derek Law. That gives Casey seven reliable relievers.

At catching Rickey traded long time fan favorite, AJ Pierzyski to the Dogfish for a 2018 #5 draft pick. Pierzynski was a key to our 2016 playoff bound team. His .300 average will be missed. Evan Gattis will now do the bulk of the catching. He hit .251 but he had 32 homeruns. That is a huge power boost over AJ's 9. Jame McCann will again be the backup catcher. He slipped from .264 to .221.

At first base CJ Cron will be the starter over Justin Smoak. Cron improve to .278 over .262 in 2016 and his defense improve slightly. Second baseman, Robinson Cano was a big improvement. He raised his average from .287 to .298 and he also improved his defense from a 3e6 to a 1e4. That's going to remove baserunners. Third baseman, Jose Ramirez. What can we say about Jose? From .216. 3e14 at third to .312 and 2e8. Nice job. Short stop, Corey Seager could not produce his .337 average or his .561 slugging going into this season. But he went from 98 at bats to 627. He did hit .308 and he had a .512 slugging percentage. Casey will take that any day of the week.

Last season we had Davis and Rosario in left, Pollock in center and JD Martinez in right. With Pollock going down in Spring Training and out for the season we needed outfield help. I must admit Rickey didn't think about that during the draft. He saw that Davis, Rosario and Martinez were all back. What he forgot was Pollocks 609 at bats were gone and so was his .315 average and 20 home runs. All Casey would have on the bench was Jorge Soler and 227 at bats and a .238 average. What was Rickey thinking? Rickey did draft Gorkys Hernandez but with only 59 at bats he could not replace Pollock. So Rickey went fishing. Two players that were waived after the draft and by passed by all of the other 23 FBN teams were claimed by Rickey. Coco Crisp and his 491 at bats and .231 average and Jeff Francoeur with 338 at bats and a .254 average went from fly-fishing to catching flyballs in the 89ERS outfield. Holy Cow!

"I think we have the potential to be a better team this season. We'll only know after we play the games. That's why you play the games", said Casey.

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KLEE'S KLUBBERS- 3-14

Ed,

I don't know what I look forward to more in your "Inside the FBN", your assessment of the Klub or your evaluation of my tactical genius. Here are some gems from past editions and Bob please feel free to post these on the website as well:

2004
The only problem is that their starters can't hold runners on and Roland is managing the team. Make sure that you account for the 10% Klee Managerial Discount.

2006
I will really be shocked if even the league's most inept field manager can't take this team to the playoffs.

2007
I still can't believe the Klubbers didn't make the playoffs last season. I can only blame it on bad karma due to the incessant whining of the Klubber manager.

2009
I'm going with the Klubbers for 5th place. Not because the team is not very good but because they manage to underachieve just about every year, so I'm counting on that again.

2010
Klubbers, Klubbers, Klubbers. An FBN institution. So close to projecting them as a playoff team this year. . . but just can't do it. I'm challenging Roland to prove this statement wrong; excellent GM, bad manager. . . and when I say bad, I'm being nice. . . it seems like the Klubbers always win about 10 less than I think they should. Is the explanation: 1) I'm clueless thinking the Klubbers should win more games, 2)Roland is somehow cursed (maybe he was a bad boy in a previous life) or 3) Roland is the Butch Hobson of the FBN? I'll start the vote. 1-0 for #3.

2012
The Klubbers are, well, the Klubbers. Wikipedia: A Klubber is one who strives to finish in the middle of the pack. A Klubber is loved by all and feared by none. . . This team is good enough to contend. Until further notice, pencil the sun coming up in the morning and the Klubbers for winning 80 to 85.

2013
I know I'm a nitwit giving the klubbers one last chance. . . if they let me down this year. . . I will never project them to make the playoffs again! Seriously, Roland, make the freaking playoffs already! Originally I had this team penciled in higher but dropped them to 9th based on the Klee Factor. . . we'll see, I'm a little skeptical.

2014
Another year of "I just missed."

2015
Klubbers. . . nope. . . have to prove to me they can make the playoffs.

2016
Can they make the playoffs two years running? Hey Donald Trump could be President. . . the world is going crazy. . . so why not? One of the best starting staffs in the league should be enough to offset mediocre pen and offense as well as knucklehead field management.

2017
??? Can't wait for this edition.

Roland

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BATON ROUGE NOTES- 3-27

It looks like this season the Bullets will again have very good pitching and defense but average at best offense. While we are off to a great start (15-5) we have played only Milford and 4 opponents projected to be in the lower half of the American League. The tough games will mostly be in the next round of games. Of the 20 games played so far, 9 of them were one-run or extra-inning games. In the 5 extra-inning games, we went a total of 17 innings extra – chewing up a lot of precious innings for our relievers. We will have to use them wisely as our lack of starter innings forced us to be very non-traditional in the management of the pen. You will see a lot of 5 inning starts and then a parade of relievers when you play the Bullets.

Early season highlights: Rizzo with 6 homers, 16 RBI, Sandy Leon hitting .441 (15 for 34), Miguel Gonzalez 3-1 with 0.87 ERA (the loss a 0-1 shutout).

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DEVIL DOODLES- 3-29

The Connecticut Blue Devils started play in their 31st season in the FBN. For the first time in their history, they are coming off back to back losing seasons (68 wins both years). Lou Piniella, the only manager in franchise history, is feeling the hot seat for the first time. No matter what, 2017 will most likely be Sweet Lou’s final season as he is expected to retire at the end of the season.

The Blue Devils have struggled to start the year losing 3 series to Illinois, Jarheads and Wall Street and splitting with the 89ers. At 5-11, Connecticut faced the powerful Navigators to end the block. Inexplicably, the Blue Devils got just enough hitting and strong pitching to stun Norwich and take 3 out of 4 games to finish the block at 8-12. Not great but still within shooting distance of .500.

During the draft in February, management was shocked when Trevor Story fell to the 16th pick and CT couldn’t pass him up at that point. Although the team is pleased with defensive whiz Freddy Galvis at SS, he must find a way to get on base more often to hold his starting position. For now, Story will be the primary DH providing power and hopefully RBI’s in the middle of the lineup. With Story, Rougned Odor and Stephen Piscotty, management feels they are starting to create a core of good, younger players to head into the future with . . .

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JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT- 4-1

Mike Trout .433 5hr 11rbi is named Jarhead of the Month. Trout also has 7d, 14bb and has scored 20 runs through 16 games.

Rookie Tyler Cravy 3-0, 2.00 earns a promotion to PFC. In 18 innings work he's allowed 9 hits and 7bb.

Luis Avilan, of the "perfect" card vs RHB (78k+30X) has logged 2.1ip and allowed 3 hits. Two of them off his 6-8 GB2bX.

The Big EE is leading the team in RBIs with 14.

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DOUG CAMPBELL. It is with great sadness that we post the obiturary for one of our valuable league members, Doug Campbell. The unexpected death was a shock to everyone in the league. Doug was an enthusiastic teacher and Strat player. He even started a Strat-O-Matic club at Brentwood Academy for his students. Doug was one of the newest league members but we will all miss Doug. I believe everyone in our league are friends and at times like this friendship is more important than competition. Our condolences to Doug's family and our prayers go out to them in this time of mourning.

 

Douglas Paul Campbell of Brentwood, Tennessee, age 54, passed away unexpectedly Monday, April 10th, 2017.

Born March 18th, 1963, in Flint, Michigan, to Lew and Karen Campbell.

He is survived by wife, Joy Campbell; daughters, Mackenzie Campbell and Mallory (Cameron) Rancudo; step-children, Sarah and Ben Libby; parents, Lew and Karen Campbell; siblings, Michael (Kelley) Campbell and Judy (Allen) Telgenhof; grandchildren, Knox and Adaleigh Bergholtz; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Doug grew up in Clio and Fenton, Michigan, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989. He is alumni of Michigan State University and Trevecca Nazarene University. Doug was a beloved husband, son, father, grandfather, teacher and coach that touched many lives over the years. He had an extraordinary impact on the Lipscomb Elementary, Edmondson Elementary, Woodland Middle, and Brentwood Academy communities.

Visitation will be held at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ on Thursday, April 13th, from three to seven o'clock in the evening, and Friday, April 14th, from nine to ten o'clock in the morning, with the funeral service following at ten o'clock.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the memorial fund in honor of Doug Campbell at Brentwood Academy's Development Office located at 219 Granny White Pike, Brentwood, TN, 37027.

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DEVIL DOODLES- 4-29

After starting the season 5-11, the Blue Devils started playing well against good teams such as Hazardville, New England, Norwich and Klees going 15-9 to get up to .500 ball at 20-20. But in their last series of the block vs. Burlington, the bats fell asleep scoring just 9 runs in the 4 disappointing games dropping 3 out of 4 to end the block at 21-23. However, management was encouraged with the improvement from last year when the team was 16-28 after Block 2. Although the team may not be a legitimate playoff contender, it does seem that playing .500 ball could be possible which would be welcomed after the 68-94 season last year.

The offense has been inconsistent but has shown some pop with 49 HR’s and 86 doubles in the first 44 games. Rookie 1st rd pick Trevor Story has been productive leading the team with 7 HR’s and 22 RBI despite just a .237 BA. He also leads the team with 49K’s – ouch! Jacoby Ellsbury has had a nice start in his 1st season with the team batting .313 and leading the team with 24 runs scored. He also has 5 doubles, 5 HR’s and 14 RBI.

The pitching staff has also been inconsistent getting some nicely pitched games like Robbie Ray’s complete game 7-1 win vs. the Angels. Ray is 3-4 3.95 with 69 K’s in 57 innings. However, many starting pitchers have struggled with 5 starters having ERA’s over 5.00. Connecticut was expected to utilize many starting pitchers this year and 8 different pitchers have started games already. Colby Lewis got off strong with a 2.33 ERA in his first 4 starts. But he has gone on the DL missing Block 2 games and will miss Block 3 as well. The bullpen has been solid so far with 6 of the 7 relievers used having ERA’s under 3.60. It’s been “closer by committee” as 6 different relievers have saves already with David Phelps’ 4 saves being the most.

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DEVIL DOODLES- 5-28

The Blue Devils recently completed a very successful block vs. the AL finishing 11-4. After starting off the block getting swept 3 games by Baton Rouge and dropping to 5 games under .500 at 21-26, Connecticut then won 11 of the next 12 games including 9 wins in a row to close out the block and move up to 32-27 – the high water mark of the season . . actually for the last 2 years. Then the Blue Devils furthered their winning streak hosting the Chiefs winning the first 3 games for a 12 game winning streak before dropping the finale to currently stand at 35-28.

The offense, while certainly not prolific, has been very balanced getting contributions from virtually every player. Jefry Marte leads the team with only 10HR’s but six players have between 6-10 HR’s and all 16 players that have appeared this season have at least one HR. Mitch Moreland leads the team with 32 RBI but seven players have over 21 RBI. The defense has been sensational so far this year which has been a big factor helping the pitching. The team has only 29 errors (7 by pitchers) and is on a pace for just 74 errors for the season which would be their 2nd lowest total in franchise history (only 55 errors by the 1992 team than won 106 games).

The pitching staff has slowly been improving as the season has progressed sporting a team ERA of 4.02 – their lowest ERA in over 2 years. There are no stars on the staff and 16 different pitchers have pitched at least 10 innings this year but everyone has contributed at some point. The bullpen is clearly “by committee” as 7 relievers have at least one save. David Phelps is 3-3 with 8 saves to lead the team and a 2.40 ERA. Rookie Edubray Ramos is 5-1 2.88 with 2 saves in 25 innings and Kevin Quackenbush is 3-0 1.91 with 2 saves as well. As planned, the team has used 8 different starting pitchers with varying results. Veteran Colby Lewis has been solid at 2.55 and Robbie Ray is 5-5 3.70 ERA. On the opposite side is Nathan Eovaldi who has been hammered giving up 16 HR’s in 60 innings with a 7.42 ERA. But he has found a way to win a few games gong 3-5 which isn’t too bad considering his stats.

The Blue Devils will face some tough tests in the next few series playing rivals Klee’s, Powderkegs and Angels – we’ll find out if the team is truly a contender or pretender.

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FROM THE SCHOOL YARD- 5-28

With the team 4 games behind the Jarheads and Powderkegs, GM Branch Rickey got the Green Light from owner Bruno to go out and boost the roster.

Manager Casey Stengel told Rickey "We need a starting pitcher and a bat. I don't mean that the pitcher should also bat."

Rickey tried to put together a number of deals contacting three teams. Yorktown GM Merklin replied that he was in need of an outfielder and an infielder. The two GM's settled on deal number one. Rickey sent Jeff Francoeur and Edwardo Escobar to Yorktown for veteran starting pitcher, CC Sabathia.

Next Rickey started to look for a clean up hitter. Evan Gattis had started as the clean up hitter but his .195 average against right handed pitching set up a platoon situation with JD Martinez batting clean up versus righties.

In deal number two with Yorktown, Rickey had to give up AS#1, AS#2 and Justin Smoak put he hopes he got a gem in Daniel Murphy. Murphy was batting .322 with a .544 slugging percentage with Yorktown. "If Murphy can do that for us the price we paid will be worth it", said Rickey.

Included in the trade was YA#4 and left handed reliever Will Smith who will slide into the pen for Casey.

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SCHOOL YARD CHATTER- 6-15

School Yart Shatter: Cano has 1999 hits going into the series with the Jarheads and 198 Homeruns. Daniel Murphy has hit in 11 of the 12 games he's played since coming over in the trade with Yorktown. Murphy is hitting .347 with 8 runs, 4 doubles, a triple, 4 homeruns and 14 RBI. Murphy has allow Casey to extent the lineup moving Gattis from the cleanup spot to 8th. Gattis has responded by hitting .381 with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 5 homeruns and 15 RBI. Gattis has raised his batting aveage from .220 to .250.

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US JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT- 6-15

Rick Porcello is named US Jarhead of the Month.
In 5 starts this block Porcello is 5-0, 2.00 36ip, 21h, 4hr, 0bb, 33k. He is 14-1, 3.57 on the season.

Oh, Those bases on balls!
In 83 games Jarhead pitchers have allowed 213 BBs. While the Jarhead offense grinds out each AB to the tune of 353 BBs, a 140 walk advantage.

Edwin 'The Big E' Encarnacion is cashing in a ton of those walks with his .309, 32hr, 81rbi production.

Jarhead's front office shows signs of life.
In a bid to fortify the bullpen, 2017 Waiver Wire acquisitions Inf. Ronald Torreyes and Reliever Jose Ramirez have been dealt to Norwich and Hotlanta. Righty setup man Joe Blanton from the Gators and lefty closer Zack Britton from the Possums will see immediate action in Block 5.

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BATON ROUGE NOTES- 6-21

While the Bullets are having a stellar season, it looks like another down year in 2018 for much the same reason 2016 was a down year – starting pitching.  June has been a horrible month for our starters as you can see…

 One month doesn’t make a season but this level of BAD performance is hard to overcome.  Only Darvish’s month was even tolerable.  We are certainly hoping for better months later this summer.

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SCHOOL YARD CHATTER- 6-23

Cano got his 2000 hit, a double against Taxachusetts. He was 0 for 6 before he finally reached the milestone. His 200th homerun was hit in game three against Taxachusetts. It was a two run shot. Cano had cooled off seeing his batting average drop from a season high of .304 to .290. In his recent streak he has his average up to .298.

Evan Gattis has stayed hot since being dropped in the lineup to 6th and 8th. He's increased his homerun total from 9 to 17. Daniel Murphy has been extremely good. In his first block with the team he played in 23 of the 24 games. He's hitting .358 with 9 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homeruns and 24 RBI.

CC Sabathia pitched in 5 games. He had two excellent games allowing only 1 run in each game. In his other three starts he allowed 17 runs, 16 earned. Warren Spann will need to take CC aside and work with him. "We'll need CC to straighten things out for us to complete against the playoff bound teams in the NL", said Casey.

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DEVIL DOODLES- 6-24

The Blue Devils continue to play well over the last month and a half moving up the NL standings into the middle of playoff contention. Since getting swept 3 games by Baton Rouge to start Block 3 and falling 5 games under .500, CT has gone 27-9 to move to a season high 13 games over .500 at 48-35. This is the best record they’ve had since the middle of the 2014 season. Although there is no one area of strength on the team or one player having an all-star year, the key to success so far has been winning the close games. The Blue Devils are 16-7 in one run games finding a way to get the clutch hit or the bullpen nailing down the late innings. But obviously, some good luck certainly helps along with a 1 e8 at SS that makes all the plays on defense.

Nori Aoki, although about 20 plate appearances short of qualifying for the league leaders, leads the team with a .355 BA with 34 runs scored and 34 RBI. Rougned Odor has been productive batting .271 with 13 HR’s, 34 runs and 35 RBI. Jacoby Ellsbury has been solid in the leadoff spot batting .289 with 49 runs scored and 18 stolen bases. Pitching success mainly centers on the bullpen which has a 20-5 record with 29 saves spread over 7 relievers. Rookie Edubray Ramos has pitched well going 7-1 3.09 while Cam Bedrosian leads the team with 12 saves 1.13 ERA.

Management recently made one trade to shore up a key hole on defense at 2B acquiring Logan Forsythe from Taxachusetts. Forsythe replacing Odor alongside SS Freddie Galvis and Jacoby Ellsbury in CF will form very solid up the middle defense. Galvis & Ellsbury have each committed just 1 error in 83 games. Forsythe should also provide some on base ability on offense. Rougned Odor will shift to the DH position sharing time with rookie Trevor Story as both will provide good power there.

Can the Blue Devils solid play (and good luck!) continue in the 2nd half of the season to keep the team in playoff contention? Will the questionable starting pitching be too much to overcome and will the bullpen tire out? Can they continue to find ways to win the close games? Should be a fun summer the rest of the way in the DevilDome . . . .

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BATON ROUGE NOTES- 7-11

With the season at its near midpoint, I thought it might be interesting to do some projections of what some of the cards might look like should everyone have the same second half as they had in the first half – always a bad assumption but bear with me. My projections are usually pretty close – maybe off by 1 or 2 on base. Strat will massage the data sometimes to make some teams better or worse for a replay. I can’t predict that. Also, the actual ballpark ratings will also change the numbers a little bit, usually on the home run numbers. Given those provisos and ignoring a few negative numbers, here goes…

 

The numbers vs lefties are based on typically only about 80 at bats, so those are the most likely to change with even a small change in performance. Still it’s kind of fun to get a feel for your 2018 stars.

Mike

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DEVIL DOODLES- 7-15

The Blue Devils began Block 5 play on a 27-9 hot streak but that was quickly put to rest at the hands of the 89ers who swept all 4 games to start the block. CT could manage just 6 runs and 25 hits total for the 4 games batting a robust .177 – it was beyond pathetic. However amazingly, the Blue Devils had a chance to win a couple games. In the 10th inning of game 3, CT had the winning run coming home 1-18 chance but was thrown out. In the next game, CT had the tying run coming home 1-18 chance – again thrown out. After this disastrous series, the Blue Devils faced the powerful Jarheads and lost the first 2 games before finally getting a win and ending the 6 game losing streak. The team turned it around after that finishing the block 9-5 to stay in the middle of playoff contention at 57-46.

Jacoby Ellsbury, acquired from Illinois in the offseason, continues to have a very productive season at the top of the order for the Blue Devils. Batting .290, Ellsbury leads the team with 63 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. He’s also hit 17 doubles, 3 triples, 12 HR’s and 38 RBI. Logan Forsythe, acquired from the Chiefs last block, had a great start for CT. In his first 20 games, he batted .329 scoring 15 runs with 4 doubles and 3 HR’s.

From a team perspective, CT is on pace to hit over 190 HR’s – something they haven’t done since 2007. They are also on a pace for 333 doubles – a level they haven’t achieved since 2010 and are on pace for 750 runs – not done since 2012.

The starting pitching continues to be inconsistent other than veteran Colby Lewis (4-2 3.55 in 13 starts) who has been limited with nagging injuries. Robbie Ray, who had maintained an ERA under 4.00 all season, was the unfortunate recipient of some Jarhead shrapnel giving up 10 runs in 2 innings increasing his ERA to 4.22.

Next up is back to interleague play with some tough battles against Milford, Alpharetta, New Hampshire and Lake Wobegon . . .

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BATON ROUGE NOTES– Hard Times in Cajun Country- 8-31

Okay. I know. “Hard times” for the first-place team? Pretty Griffin-esque of me. But here goes… At the end of round 5 the Bullet record was a tremendous (and definitely lucky) 73-30. After completing rounds 6 and 7 we are still in first-place (amazingly) with a record of 92-50 – giving us a 19-20 record over the past two rounds. We played some really good teams in that stretch but we also played some Basement Bertha teams as well. Overall, in the 12 series we played in the last 2 rounds, we are 2-7-3 win-split-lose. Certainly, your luck can change for a while but for 12 series, 39 games? Our 2 series wins were against very good teams in Allyn St and Nashville. (We always seem to do well against Rob’s teams.) We also played 4 of the lowest ranked teams splitting with 3 and losing to Wall Street. Our team batting average and ERA are still very good – down some for sure. But if our opponents need a big hit, they get the roll. We don’t – or haven’t lately. If our opponents need a split, they get it. We don’t. For the games played on my computer (83 games including some away games before the new netplay system), the ball park home runs are 18 of 86 (21%) for us and 24 of 76 (32%) for our opponents. BP singles are about even. I keep expecting the luck to change but our latest split (with Louisville) where we scored 6, 2 ,1 and 0 runs makes me wonder…

This year’s American League has more really good teams than I can ever remember. Any of the top 5 teams could win the league championship and not be considered an underdog to the National League champion. Winning 2 (3 for the wild card team) series against these teams will take a lot of luck and good rolls at the right time. Maybe we are saving our luck and good rolls for the post-season.

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DEVIL DOODLES- 9-15

Battling for a Wild Card berth, the Blue Devils treaded water during Block 7 splitting five series and going 1-3 vs. the Kegs while the Angels stormed through their schedule solidifying their 4^th place status and the Klubbers edged past CT for the 5^th and final playoff spot. The Blue Devils then went on the road to Illinois and somehow swept the Prairie Dogs with Stephen Piscotty leading the way batting .444 with 2 HR’s and 7 RBI for the series lifting CT into a tie with the Klub. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils continued their road trip and played an awful series vs. Norwich salvaging the finale to avoid a disastrous sweep. CT sits at 78-72 right now . . 2 games behind the Klubbers who are at 80-70. Both teams have very even remaining 12 games. Both teams play the Barons and Jarheads while CT meets the 89ers and the Klub face the Kegs – both tough playoff bound teams. Will be a very interesting finish to the season . . . can the Blue Devils find a way to gain at least 2 games on the Klub to force a one game playoff?? . . . .

With his recent hot streak, Stephen Piscotty has posted a real solid season now batting .293 with 27 doubles 18 HR’s 76 RBI and 72 runs scored. Jacoby Ellsbury is right behind him at .285 with 24 doubles, 14 HR’s 82 runs scored, 59 RBI and 28 stolen bases. Rougned Odor leads the team with 23 HR’s as the Blue Devils have hit 177 HR’s so far this year – a vast improvement over last year’s 139 total HR’s and the most HR’s since the 2009 season (188). 10 different players have 10 or more HR’s.

Rookie Tyler Anderson surprisingly leads the pitching staff with an 11-8 4.46 record. Colby Lewis has the best ERA for a starter at 3.71 but is only 6-4 in his final season before retirement. On the negative side, Nathan Eovaldi has had a brutal year with a 6.43 ERA allowing 32 HR’s in only 112 IP. But somehow has managed a decent 6-8 record.

CT plays a 12 game face to face marathon Strat Day next week to finish the season and then watch their playoff fate as the Klub finishes out their season.

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BATON ROUGE NOTES– NO HITTER- 9-14

The Silver Bullets finished out the regular season against Urpaign.  Both teams were hamstrung by dwindling at bats and innings.  Game 1 saw the Bullets jump out quickly with 4 runs in the first two innings.  Late in the game the Dragons came to life and scored 3 but the BR relief held on with Miller getting a save.  Game 2 was a replay.  The Bullets jumped out to a 5-0 lead early and Urpaign again came back with 1 in the 6^th and 4 in the 7^th to tie the game.  Urpaign scored 2 in the 8^th as well to win the game as the Bullet bats went to the showers.  Game 3 was all Baton Rouge – scoring 2 in the 2^nd, 4 in the 3^rd, 6 more in the 5^th and another 4 in the 8^th.  Game 4 saw Yu Darvish fresh off a drubbing by Yorktown where he gave up 6 runs getting only 2 outs.  The Yorktown game was to be his final game but having pitched only 2/3 of an inning gave him enough innings for one more start.  Darvish faced Rich Whalen.  The Bullets scored 4 in the 3^rd on 6 consecutive two out singles and walks.  Darvish was masterful this game dispatching 12 consecutive Dragons but then ran out of innings.  AJ Ramos pitched the next 3 innings, also dispatching all nine batters he faced.  A perfect game through 7 innings!!  Hudson comes in as Ramos tires.  3 up and 3 down.  A perfect game through 8 innings!!!  Baez comes in to face Gregorious.  Didi walks to break up the perfect game.  Suarez pinch hits for Williamson and lines a hard shot to third that Solarte gobbles up for a 5-4-3 double play.  Miller comes in to get the last out – wiff.  NO HITTER!!!!!!   We are ready for the post-season.

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POWDERKEG RUMBLINGS- DONALDSON MAKES HISTORY- 9-14

Hazardville played Taxachusetts at Taxachusetts last night. In game 2 Josh Donaldson fell in love with the Blue Dwarf. Facing lefty Cody Reed, first inning, 2 run home run. Second inning, 2 run home run. Third inning, 2 run home run. Up again in the 4th as the Kegs are destroying the Chiefs, 2 run home run. Four home runs in 4 at bats in 4 innings. Up again in the 6th, solo home run. 5 homers unbelievable. But wait, he’s up again in the 7th against Jonathan Niese, 2 run home run. SIX dingers in six at bats, EPIC. All the homers were automatic homers without splits (half courtesy of the Dwarf). I think about pulling him to keep the perfect night but couldn’t do it. He faces Jeff Locke in the 9th and flies out. Still an unbelievable game, 6 for 7 with 6 homers and 11 rbi.

His feat provided the only excitement in a 22-5 game but it sure was fun to play. I believe this is an FBN record for homers in a game. Of course we lost the next game 4-3 in10 innings when we couldn’t string together any hits but we did end up taking 3 from the Chiefs and have the memory of an awesome game to cherish.

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DEVIL DOODLES- 9-30

The Blue Devils completed their 31^st season in the FBN missing the playoffs for the 4^th consecutive year – the longest stretch in team history. CT had never gone more than two years in a row missing the playoffs before. However, management was pleased with the season as the team competed for a playoff spot up until the final series of the year when the Klubbers eliminated them from contention. At 84-78, the season was a big improvement over the 68 wins posted in each of the previous two seasons. It also was a good way for Manager Lou Piniella to retire – the only manager in team history. In his 31 year tenure, Piniella compiled a record of 2,791–2,231 a .556 winning percentage. The team experienced only 5 losing seasons in his 31 years and never lost more than 94 games in a season while winning over 100 games six times including a 116-46 season in 1995. Piniella led the Blue Devils to the postseason 17 times going to the World Series twice and winning the FBN Championship in 1998. Congratulations Lou – you will be missed!

Don Mattingly has been hired as the new manager. Mattingly played 2 seasons with the Blue Devils at the end of his career in 1994 & 1995 batting .278 with 50 doubles, 22 HR’s and 112 RBI in 269 games.

Looking at the 2017 season, statistically, there were no individual outstanding seasons to highlight but quite a bit of balance. 11 players hit double digit HR’s, 13 of 17 players hit better than .250, 10 players scored at least 40 runs and had more than 40 RBI. The team voted co-MVP’s as Jacoby Ellsbury and Stephen Piscotty both had solid seasons.
Ellsbury - .286, 91 runs, 63 RBI, 24 doubles, 14 HR’s and 31 stolen bases
Piscotty - .282, 76 runs, 80 RBI, 28 doubles and 19 HR’s

Rookie 1^st rd pick Trevor Story also had a solid rookie campaign batting only .240 in 362 AB’s but productive with 65 runs, 60 RBI’s, 22 doubles and 18 HR’s

From the pitching side – everyone got involved this season with 8 pitchers making at least 12 starts this season and another 10 pitching at least 30 innings in relief. Rookie Tyler Anderson was a pleasant surprise going 11-8 with a 4.46 ERA in 21 starts. Robbie Ray made the most starts(33) going 11-13 4.68 but flashed his future potential striking out 204 batters in 186 IP. Veteran Colby Lewis who is most likely headed to retirement pitched well going 7-5 4.08 in 20 starts.   Youngster Cam Bedrosian was the main closer getting 21 saves in 45 innings with a 1.20 ERA. On the negative side, Nathan Eovaldi must face TJ surgery and miss the 2018 season. He struggled to a 7-9 record and 6.06 ERA allowing a mammoth 34 HR’s in 128 innings this year. However, the Blue Devils still have hope for Eovaldi as he is only 27 years old and could make a comeback.

Good Luck to all the playoff teams – most importantly – Have Fun! We look forward to being competitive again next season and of course can’t wait for Draft Day!

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US JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT- 10-2

2017 First Place US Jarheads

It took until the last series of the season, but The US Jarheads got it done and clinched First Place in game #160, fittingly with Cy Young Candidate, Rick Porcello 23-7, 3.31 getting the win. The Schoolyard Bullies were hot on our heels, and thankfully they finally ran out of games.

The Jarhead offense cooled off markedly in the 2nd half, but was still able to set all kinds of team records. 300 HRs looked like a possibility half way through the season, but the 289 HRs eclipsed the old record of 237 by 52. Edwin "The Big E" Encarnacion led the HR Barrage, setting a new record of 55 dingers, surpassing Jeromy Burnitz's 53 HR in 2000. The Jarheads scored 982 runs and averaged 6.1 RPG, 926 runs in 2000 was the only other time with 900+ runs. Five players scored over 100 runs led by Mike Trout's 136. Encarnacion 125, Goldschmidt 125, Justin Turner 105 and Curtis Granderson 102. Three Batters had over 100 RBIs with "The Big E" again leading the way with 140 RBI. Mike Trout 110 and Justin Turner 109. The Jarheads also set the team record for Walks with 745 BB blowing away last years team record of 647 by 98! Trout led the way with 130 BB. Paul Goldschmidt had 109 and the Big E fell just short of triple digits with 97 free passes.

The Walk differential for the Jarheads was enormous. Jarhead Pitchers allowed only 424 BB, 2nd best ever to last years 407 BB.  The Jarheads walked 321 times more than our opponents in 2017.

The Jarhead Defense has been stellar as well, 56 errors is 2nd to only the 2014 Championship Team that had 43 errors. Jordy Mercer ss3e10 was noteworthy for only 3 errors in 140 games at SS, and Justin Turner 3b2e11 had only 7 miscues in 159 games.

The Jarhead Pitching Staff utilized 22 guys including 10 Starting Pitchers.. Some numbers make sense and some ???
Rick Porcello   23-7, 3.31
Steven Wright 14-5, 3.36
H. Iwakuma        9-2, 4.71
Tyler Wilson     11-4, 5.21
Matt Harvey       8-2, 5.67
The Bullpen was a committee all the way with Kelvin Herrera 23, and Steve Cishek 15 getting most of the saves. But setup men Matt Belisle 1.29, Luis Avilan 2.05 and many others made important contributions, including lefty Tommy Layne, who somehow, was almost unhittable allowing only 17 hits in 33 Innings!!!

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HEARD ON THE STREET- 10-13

Wall Street had a long season, but did achieve pre-season goal of avoiding 100 losses (64-98). Mgr. Earl Weaver, “When you’re outscored by 204 runs, when your opponents have 181 more BB/hbp, when your SS is a 3e28, when opponents slash line is 281/351/444 & yours is 254/309/328- the real question is ‘how did Wall Street win 64!’.  

Season stars - Great year for Evan Longoria. (32hr 103 rbi) - Trea Turner used his 338 Abs to produce 18 hrs 36 SBs & a 370/395/604 slash. HR freak Hunter Renfroe used his 39 ABs to drive in 26 runs, hit 5 HRs (3 GS HRs, & 1 which broke up a no-hitter with 2 out in 9^th) & produce a slash of 385/489/872. Pitching - Jon Gray was 11-9 with 202Ks in 185ip (despite weak “D” behind him) & 29 saves for Fernando Rodney (are you kidding!!!).

Futures are up - but only slightly – Barons had 22 pitchers on roster – only 1 (Rodney) spent entire season on active MLB roster!! Of 16 position players only 3 made it through the MLB season unscathed. On bright side, Barons have #5 overall DP, 3 of 1^st 30, plus 2 3^rd RD DPs in what looks like a solid rookie crop.

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TAXACHUSETTS CHIEFS- 10-29

Best FBN Draft Bargains Since 1990

Was Aaron Judge at pick #51 the best FBN draft bargain ever?

Nope. Not even close. He's not even the best 3rd round pick. Other players taken in the 3rd round: David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Juan Gonzalez, Albert Belle, Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Chase Utley, Torii Hunter, Joe Nathan, Adrian Gonzalez, Jon Lester, Adam Jones, James Shields, Jake Arrieta, Matt Kemp, Dustin Pedroia, Jose Altuve, Jonathon Schoop. And a few notable 4th rounders: David Justice, Billy Wagner, Michael Young, Jose Bautista.

Here's a list of players taken in the 5th round or later (pick 97+) based on career WAR (Baseball Reference version):
1. Santana, Johan 51.4 WAR '01 #108 LV
2. Cameron, Mike 46.5 WAR '96 #155 BR
3. Zobrist, Ben 42.9 WAR '07 #97 SP
4. Donaldson, Josh 37.3 WAR '11 188 HS (and again '13 #88 HZ)
5. Gardner, Brett; 35.2 WAR '09 #108 HT
6. Prado, Martin 29.0 WAR '07 #165 HZ
7. Corey Kluber; 27.0 WAR '13 #154 NE
8. Brian Dozier 22.9 WAR '13 #104 JC
9. Neil Walker 20.4 WAR '10 #167 TX

(Note:I believe LW took HOFer John Smoltz 69.5 WAR in the 5th round of the 1989 draft.)

Other current MLB stars taken in the 5th round or later:
- Charlie Blackmon '12 #136 SP
- Dallas Kuechel '13 #144 LW
- D.J. LeMahieu '12 #188 BR
- Tommy Pham '16 #99 LW
- Adam Duvall '15 #159 JC

Enjoy your off-season draft prep and good luck grabbing that late round bargain.

Bud

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BATON ROUGE NOTES- 12-28

What I did on my Christmas vacation…

We have a lot of information on the website on player seasonal and career statistics, now complete back to 2003. I asked myself what team had the best offense or the stingiest pitching over that time period. Not available on the website, at least in a collected form. To answer the question, I entered every team’s totaled statistics for every season back to 2003. The league only requires accurate information on at bats and innings pitched, so there were some instances of totals that were incomplete or very far from the norm and were therefore considered in error. However, this applied to only 8 team’s statistics of the 360 entered. To find the best offense I considered runs scored, hits, home runs, batting average, on base, and slugging. To find the best pitching performance I considered hits allowed, runs allowed, home runs given up, walks allowed, shutouts, WHIP, and ERA. I ranked every team’s totals giving 10 points to the best, 8 points second, 6, 4, 2.

And the teams with the best offense and the best pitching over the past 15 seasons are…

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BATON ROUGE NOTES- 12-30

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