Tuesday, the 21st

Good morning, everyone. I hope you all caught that there ws a rainout in KC last night and the Angels are playing a double dip against the Royals tonight. Once again, this game humbles all of us at one point or another. Seeing myself drop 26,000 spots in the last two days was not exactly how I had pictured things going down, to be perfectly honest. Am I discouraged though? Hell no. Will I quit? Fuck that! I'm coming back like a champ, beserker style. Buckle up, boys. It's a new day.

YESTERDAY

Nick Blackburn and 3 DNP's including 2 washouts. What else is there to say? Not taking Hanson cost me 70 points that will take weeks to get back. Zobrist and Hanley held their own, both going deep and my -19 total dropped me to #27,964 in the second half and 33rd overall. Like I said before, though, I'll be back. No sweat.

TODAY

In looking at the pick summary, I see that I have all of the most popular picks, aside from Jeter. I would expect very little movement in the overall standings, but with things as jumbled as they are this early, the second half rankings will bounce a good bit today. Here is the final again...

C: Napoli x2
1B: Kendry x2
2B: Callaspo x2
3B: Figgins x2
SS: Jeter
LF: DeJesus x2
CF: Matthews x2
RF: Abreu x2
DH: Jacobs x2
PS: Angels x2

TOMORROW

Late Update!!! Wakefield goes to the DL and Bucholtz replaces him in the rotation tomorrow. Please adjust accordingly.

Weather:
Mariners/Tigers 50%

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Brewers, Cubs, A's, Indians, Royals, Rays

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Marlins vs. Geer (2-1 2.67 in 5 starts)

Possible Load-ups:
Yankees vs. Berken (1-7 6.44 and at Coors East)

Bats You May Want To Avoid:
Prince (3-27 vs. starter)
Kendall (2-17)
Huff (7-48)
Ad Jones (2-14, HR)
Rollins (3-17)
Feliz (1-14)
ARam (0-10)
K Johnson (1-14)
Kinsler (2-13, HR)
Lowell (8-41)
C Lee (3-23, HR)
Duncan (4-22)
Greene (2-17)
Yadi (2-13)
Crawford (2-12)

Pitchers:
Burnett (8-4 3.81, 102 K in 113 IP, 2-0 3.26 July, 1-0 3.38 vs. Bal)
Z (6-4 3.36, 4-2 2.91 road, 2-1 2.25 July, at Phi)
Lince (10-2 2.27, 159 K in 134 IP, 1.04 WHIP, 5-1 2.13 road, 2-0 1.74 July, 1-0 0.00 vs. Atl)
Jurrjens (8-7 2.77, 4-4 2.69 home, 3-1 2.16 July, vs. SF)
Felix (10-3 2.51, 1.12 WHIP, 129 K in 132 IP, 6-1 1.97 road, 2-0 2.35 July, 1-0 4.50 vs Det)
Romero (7-4 3.25, 5-2 2.91 home, 2-1 3.38 July, vs. Cle)
Carp (8-3 2.26, 0.88 WHIP, 4-2 2.50 road, 3-0 1.71 July, at Hou)
Oz (6-4 3.65, 1.18 WHIP, 2-2 3.99 home, 2-0 1.96 July, 0-1 9.00 vs. StL)
Shields (6-6 3.75, 2-4 4.60 road, 0-1 5.19 July, 1-0 6.14 vs. CWS)
Bills (9-5 3.76, 119 K in 127 IP, 6-4 4.18 home, 0-1 8.59 July, vs. Cin)
Were you aware that the Braves lead the league in runs scored this month? I wasn't until this afternoon. Still, I will not be the one passing on Lince tomorrow.

First:
LaRoche (8-24, 2HR)
Lee (4-8 vs. lefty)
AGon (3-10)
Youk (5-12)
Pujols (23-73, 5HR vs. good starter)
Youk is my favorite from this group, but I feel pretty good about the Yankee bats tomorrow and will go to Tex for the first time in a long while.

Second:
Roberts (9-20, 2HR vs. good starter)
Polanco (4-12 vs. good starter)
DeRosa (10-23 vs. good starter)
None of these matchups work for me. Kinsler is tempting for no particular reason, but I think I will go back to Zobrist against Danks.

Third:
Hall (16-29, 3HR vs. lefty)
Crede (1-3, HR)
Kouz (4-6)
Wright (2-5)
Stewart (1-3, HR)
Again, I really like the Yank bats tomorrow, so ARod will do at third.

Short:
Hardy (8-26, HR vs. lefty)
Cabrera (3-6 vs. lefty)
It's kind of funny how the batter/pitcher matchups aren't very useful to me this week. I think I will take Hanley vs. Geer.

Left:
Braun (5-16 vs. lefty)
Sheff (1-2)
Lind (1-3)
Did you know that Braun hits .403 vs. lefties? That enough convinces me.

Center:
Cameron (11-24, 3HR vs. lefty)
Granderson (8-18, HR vs. good starter)
Wells (4-13, 2HR)
Hamilton (2-6)
Kemp (4-6)
While I really am thinking hard about Cameron, I have to take someone against Arroyo and Kemp is the one. Maybe he will get me six the hard way.

Right:
Hart (11-32, HR vs. lefty)
Rios (3-10)
Drew (7-19, HR)
Dye (5-10, HR vs. good starter)
Ethier (5-14)
Between Rios (vs. Pavano), Ethier (vs. Arroyo) and Hawpe (at Coors vs. Garland), Hawpe is the one that has two things in his favor. Also, his team is really playing well right now, so he should have some good RBI opportunities.

DH:
Scott (4-8, HR vs. good starter)
Kubel (1-2)
Ortiz (5-15, 2HR)
Thome (4-12, HR vs. good starter)
Papi time.

Catcher:
McCann (5-13 vs. good starter)
Benji (2-3 vs. good starter)
Pudge (9-26 vs. good starter)
Olivo (1-3)
AJ (4-13 vs. good starter)
I don't feel good about any of these guys so I think I will stay with Napoli. When he hits 'em, he hits 'em hard. Damn, no cap room. Oh well, Salty will do. I like taking at least one bat against Wake.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Salty
1B: Tex
2B: Zo
3B: ARod
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Hawpe
DH: Ortiz
PS: Lince

STAT CORNER

The Longest Current Hitting Streaks (and Averages):
Morales 18 games - .375 Average
M Cabrera 15 - .295
Kotchman 12 - .375
Lind 11 - .265
Zobrist 10 - .436
Flores 8 - .400
S Smith 8 - .400
Utley 8 - .364
Hafner 8 - .393
McCann 8 - .312

FU HALL OF FAME

Kerry MF'n Wood (Founder)
Nick MF'n Blackburn (Record Holder at -43)