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Good morning, everyone. Once again, I am sorry for the subpar layout and overall quality, but I am away from home and very low on time. Once again, doublecheck your pitchers today, as I did this prepwork on Friday and don't have time to confirm it very well right now. On the bright side, everything will be back to normal tomorrow.
YESTERDAY
Well my bats sure did suck enough. Kemp, Dye, and Thome (who I had by accident, meant to change to Papi) gave me 16 while the rest combined for a rediculous 4. Fortunately, Haren of the Desert came through with a strong 26 and my total of 46 overall was enough to bounce me into 738th on the half, only 19 off the Leaderboard pace. Also, I am now back upto 10th overall and I see that "murder" has regained the lead.
TODAY
There are an abundance of pitchers once again and I found it pretty difficult to choose one that made me comfortable. Lester, Halladay and Cain will all get some play for sure, but I went with Gallardo in the end. The summaries are not up at this time, but it certainly looks like an interesting day is ahead of us. Here's my final again.....
C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Zo
3B: Reynolds
SS: Jeter
LF: Manny
CF: Victorino
RF: Luddy
DH: Kubel
PS: Yoga
TOMORROW
Weather:
none to speak of
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Braves, Orioles, Mets, Rockies, Twins, DBacks
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Giants vs. Hanson(see “pitchers”)
Yankees vs. Hernandez (2-2 3.94 in 6 starts)
Royals vs. O’Sullivan (2-0 3,80 in 4 starts)
Rockies vs. Latos (MLB debut)
Bats to Avoid:
Huff (4-29 vs. starter)
Wiggy (2-18)
N Johnson (2-16)
Erstad (4-23)
Bourn (1-11)
Snyder (2-11)
Pitchers:
Hanson (4-0 2.85 in 7 starts, has only gone 7 IP once, vs. SF)
Millwood (8-7 3.46, 6-1 2.49 home, 0-2 8,83 July, 1-0 0.00 vs. Bos this season)
Davis (4-9 3.41, 1-1 4.15 in July, 0-1 7.20 vs. Col this season)
Blackburn (8-4 3.06, Low K’s, 2-0 2.81 in July, 0-0 3.38 vs. Oak)
I am really tempted to give Hanson the ball. He has done pretty well for a rook and deserves a chance, but I can't keep thinking that Blackburn is the safer pick. I have to. Blackburn for me.
First:
Youk (6-12 vs. good starter)
Pujols (9-15, 3HR)
Helton (5-9, HRvs. Good lefty)
Uncle Albert, of course.
Second:
K Johnson (4-7 vs. lefty)
Castillo (5-13, HR vs. Lefty)
Utley (1-1)
Schumaker (4-8)
Zo (1-3, HR)
I like Utley here, but I think I will satay with Zobrist for another day. By default, really. I don't care for anything here.
Third:
Chipper (1-2 vs. lefty)
Mora (10-32, HR vs. Lefty)
ARam (1-3)
Lowell (18-57, 2HRvs. Good starter)
Atkins (5-13 vs. good lefty)
I think I am going to take Figgins out in KC tomorrow. Reynolds looks pretty good at Coors, too, but Ponson is pitching for the Royals.
Short:
Escobar (2-4 vs. lefty)
Guzman (6-14)
Furcal (3-8)
Tejada (8-27)
Tulo (4-13 vs. good lefty)
I like Jeter vs. the rookie, but would feel better about it if he was a lefty. Let's go back to Hanley. Stauffer sucks.
Left:
Willingham (8-19, HR)
Sheff (1-3 vs. left)
Fonzie (12-35, 3HR)
Rivera (6-13, HR)
Lee (19-54, 4 HR)
It's Fonzie or C Lee for me and in that Philly park, I have to lean towards Soriano.
Center:
McLouth (2-4, HR vs. Lefty)
Jones (4-9 vs. lefty)
Morgan (5-6)
Ellsbury (3-10 vs. good starter)
Upton (1-1)
I haven't taken Jones in a while and he is in the homerun haven that is Coors East. Let's see what he can do.
Right:
Cake (8-24, HR vs. Lefty)
Kearns (12-29, 2HR)
Drew (9-27, HR vs. good starter)
Pence (8-20)
Abreu (7-13, 2HR)
I have to go back to Hawpe in this one. 1-4 vs. Davis does not worry me much. Abreu is tempting, but can't seem to hit 'em out anymore.
DH:
Ortiz (8-22, 3HR vs. good starter)
Stewart (2-4, HR vs. good lefty)
Cust (3-9 vs. good starter)
With all of these guys facing good starters tomorrow, I think I am going to go back to Thome. He has covered me pretty well this week and maybe getting hot.
Catcher:
McCann (3-4 vs. lefty)
Varitek (11-27 vs. good starter)
Pudge (11-32)
Napoli (3-8)
Martin (3-8)
Let me go with Napoli here. No real reason other than Fat Sid.
FINAL LINEUP
C: Napoli
1B: Pujols
2B: Zo
3B: Figgins
SS: Hanley
LF: Fonzie
CF: Jones
RF: Hawpe
DH: Thome
PS: Blackburn
STAT CORNER
The Top Road Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Beltran .366
Hanley .363
Braun .360
Ichiro .356
Bartlett .350
AJ .345
Wright .344
Kemp .343
Prince .340
Scutaro .339
The Worst Road Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Bruce .155
Ad LaRoche .159
Griff .176
C Pena .184
Giambi .185
Kinsler .200
Ortiz .201
Uggla .203
Atkins .209
Ethier .214
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word and……
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday, the 18th
Good morning, everyone. Today's edition will be somewhat abridged as I am hung the hell over and low on time. Sorry, but there aren't many other options.
YESTERDAY
I saw nothing last night, but see this morning that Lincy and the boys went 13 and gave me 37 points while McCann, Chase and Thome combined for 42. By the end of the night my 89 total points was enough to bump me up to #1163 overall and 21 points off the Leaderboard pace. Sounds pretty good to me.
TODAY
The summary is not up at this time, but I think the pitching will be pretty diverse today. I went with Haren myself, partly in hope that he is the majority pick. Fortunately, Pujols went deep twice last night and hopefully does not have much left for today - yeah right. Anyway, here's my final again...
C: Varitek
1B: Prince
2B: Pedroia
3B: Sandoval
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Dye
DH: Thome
PS: Haren of the Desert
TOMORROW
Weather:
None worth mentioning.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Indians, Mariners, Blue Jays, Marlins, Phillies, Giants, Angels, Rangers
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Twins vs. Hunter (1-1 2.35 in 4 starts)
Bats to Avoid:
Sizemore (0-12 vs. starter)
Hill (0-10)
Lind (1-10)
Pedroia (5-31)
Hardy (2-12)
Braun (2-11)
Rollins (1-15)
Howard (1-12)
Swisher (6-35, 3HR)
Tex (1-10)
Bartlett (2-11)
Sheff (10-54, 2HR)
Pitchers:
Bedard (5-2 2.63, 78 K in 75 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 2 R or less in last 8 starts,but 6.1 IP max, at Cle)
Lester (8-6 3.87, 131 K in 114 IP, 2 R or less in 7 of 8, 2-0 1.46 vs. Tor this season)
Halladay (10-3 2.85, 110 WHIP, 0-1 5.14 in July, 6-2 3.00 at home, vs. Bos)
Gallardo (8-7 3.22, 123 K in 114 IP, 0-3 5.29 in July, 1-1 6.97 in 2 starts vs. Cin)
Marquis (11-6 3.65, Low K’s, 1-1 1.93 July, 1-0 0.00 vs. SD)
Happ (6-0 2.90, 1.17 WHIP, 1-0 2.57 in July, 3-0 1.81 on road, vs. Fla)
Cain (10-2 2.38, 1-0 1.17 in July, 4-1 2.53 on road, at Pit)
Vazquez (6-7 2.95, 136 K in 119 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 1-0 2.19 in July, 2-5 2.98 home, 0-1 8.10 vs. NyM)
Verlander (10-4 3.38, 149 K in 122 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 2-1 3.32 in July, 4-4 4.98 on road, 1-0 0.00 vs. NYY)
Wells (4-4 2.72, 1.12 WHIP, 2-1 2.04 on road, at Was)
There are good arms everywhere tomorrow. I am going to go with Gallardo. I know his numbers vs. Cincy are not too good, but I think he is the safest pick.
First:
Youk (15-45, HR vs. good starter)
Huff (8-24, 2HR)
Giambi (13-34. 3HR)
Pujols (5-8, HR)
Pena (4-11, HR vs. good starter)
Pujols - none others considered
Second:
Scutaro (6-16 vs. good lefty)
Phillips (3-10, HR vs. good starter)
Utley (4-12, HR vs. lefty)
Sanchez (7-13 vs. good starter)
Roberts (11-34, 2HR)
Zobrist (1-2, HRvs. good starter)
For no real reason, I think I will take Zobrist against Hochevar. There is not too much of a reason for this, just a hunch.
Third:
Beltre (5-7 vs.lefty)
Longoria (3-5 vs. good starter)
Figgins (2-3 vs. lefty)
Chipper (2-4, HR)
Wright (3-6, HR vs. good starter)
Again, sorry to be brief, but I am going to take Reynolds, for no particular reason at all.
Short:
Jeter (4-11 vs. good starter)
Betancourt (5-8 vs. good starter)
Drew (3-9, HR vs. good starter)
Furcal (7-22)
I'm working on alot of hunches today - Jeter.
Left:
Manny (1-3)
Damon (4-13, HR vs. good starter)
DeJesus (6-16 vs. good starter)
Hermida (3-4 vs. good lefty)
Abreu (2-3 vs. lefty)
Bay (4-11, HRvs. good starter)
Ortiz sucks, let's go with Manny.
Center:
Ellsbury (6-17, 2 HR vs. good starter)
Victorino (8-15, 2HR vs. lefty)
Upton (4-10 vs. good starter)
Kemp (1-2)
The numbers are too good not to take Shane-O
Right:
Ichiro (4-9 vs. lefty)
Hawpe (1-3)
Ethier (2-5)
Rios (6-19)
Cake (6-18)
Luddy (2-5, 2HR)
Easy pick - Ludwick
DH:
Hafner (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Ortiz (24-88, 5 HR vs. good starter)
Scott (3-7)
Matsui (4-9 vs. good starter)
I'm in a hurry, so a rush decision says Kubel.
Catcher:
Kendall (4-9 vs. good starter)
Schneider (3-5 vs. good starter)
Napoli (3-3 vs. lefty)
Yadi (2-5, HR)
McCann (3-3)
I think I'll take Mauer, just because I can andhe is playing in Texas
FINAL LINEUP
C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Zobrist
3B: Reynolds
SS: Jeter
LF: Manny
CF: Victorino
RF: Ludwick
PS: Gallardo
STAT CORNER
The Top Home Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Miggy .393
Sandoval .390
Ichiro .364
Tejada .360
Pujols .358
Ad LaRoche .357
Lind .351
Castillo .349
M Young.341
Morneau .341
The Worst Home Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Wells .172
Davis .193
Swisher .200
J Lopez .205
Dunn .209
C Young .216
Kouz .220
Cust .221
Granderson.222
Sizemore .222
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word and……
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
YESTERDAY
I saw nothing last night, but see this morning that Lincy and the boys went 13 and gave me 37 points while McCann, Chase and Thome combined for 42. By the end of the night my 89 total points was enough to bump me up to #1163 overall and 21 points off the Leaderboard pace. Sounds pretty good to me.
TODAY
The summary is not up at this time, but I think the pitching will be pretty diverse today. I went with Haren myself, partly in hope that he is the majority pick. Fortunately, Pujols went deep twice last night and hopefully does not have much left for today - yeah right. Anyway, here's my final again...
C: Varitek
1B: Prince
2B: Pedroia
3B: Sandoval
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Dye
DH: Thome
PS: Haren of the Desert
TOMORROW
Weather:
None worth mentioning.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Indians, Mariners, Blue Jays, Marlins, Phillies, Giants, Angels, Rangers
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Twins vs. Hunter (1-1 2.35 in 4 starts)
Bats to Avoid:
Sizemore (0-12 vs. starter)
Hill (0-10)
Lind (1-10)
Pedroia (5-31)
Hardy (2-12)
Braun (2-11)
Rollins (1-15)
Howard (1-12)
Swisher (6-35, 3HR)
Tex (1-10)
Bartlett (2-11)
Sheff (10-54, 2HR)
Pitchers:
Bedard (5-2 2.63, 78 K in 75 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 2 R or less in last 8 starts,but 6.1 IP max, at Cle)
Lester (8-6 3.87, 131 K in 114 IP, 2 R or less in 7 of 8, 2-0 1.46 vs. Tor this season)
Halladay (10-3 2.85, 110 WHIP, 0-1 5.14 in July, 6-2 3.00 at home, vs. Bos)
Gallardo (8-7 3.22, 123 K in 114 IP, 0-3 5.29 in July, 1-1 6.97 in 2 starts vs. Cin)
Marquis (11-6 3.65, Low K’s, 1-1 1.93 July, 1-0 0.00 vs. SD)
Happ (6-0 2.90, 1.17 WHIP, 1-0 2.57 in July, 3-0 1.81 on road, vs. Fla)
Cain (10-2 2.38, 1-0 1.17 in July, 4-1 2.53 on road, at Pit)
Vazquez (6-7 2.95, 136 K in 119 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 1-0 2.19 in July, 2-5 2.98 home, 0-1 8.10 vs. NyM)
Verlander (10-4 3.38, 149 K in 122 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 2-1 3.32 in July, 4-4 4.98 on road, 1-0 0.00 vs. NYY)
Wells (4-4 2.72, 1.12 WHIP, 2-1 2.04 on road, at Was)
There are good arms everywhere tomorrow. I am going to go with Gallardo. I know his numbers vs. Cincy are not too good, but I think he is the safest pick.
First:
Youk (15-45, HR vs. good starter)
Huff (8-24, 2HR)
Giambi (13-34. 3HR)
Pujols (5-8, HR)
Pena (4-11, HR vs. good starter)
Pujols - none others considered
Second:
Scutaro (6-16 vs. good lefty)
Phillips (3-10, HR vs. good starter)
Utley (4-12, HR vs. lefty)
Sanchez (7-13 vs. good starter)
Roberts (11-34, 2HR)
Zobrist (1-2, HRvs. good starter)
For no real reason, I think I will take Zobrist against Hochevar. There is not too much of a reason for this, just a hunch.
Third:
Beltre (5-7 vs.lefty)
Longoria (3-5 vs. good starter)
Figgins (2-3 vs. lefty)
Chipper (2-4, HR)
Wright (3-6, HR vs. good starter)
Again, sorry to be brief, but I am going to take Reynolds, for no particular reason at all.
Short:
Jeter (4-11 vs. good starter)
Betancourt (5-8 vs. good starter)
Drew (3-9, HR vs. good starter)
Furcal (7-22)
I'm working on alot of hunches today - Jeter.
Left:
Manny (1-3)
Damon (4-13, HR vs. good starter)
DeJesus (6-16 vs. good starter)
Hermida (3-4 vs. good lefty)
Abreu (2-3 vs. lefty)
Bay (4-11, HRvs. good starter)
Ortiz sucks, let's go with Manny.
Center:
Ellsbury (6-17, 2 HR vs. good starter)
Victorino (8-15, 2HR vs. lefty)
Upton (4-10 vs. good starter)
Kemp (1-2)
The numbers are too good not to take Shane-O
Right:
Ichiro (4-9 vs. lefty)
Hawpe (1-3)
Ethier (2-5)
Rios (6-19)
Cake (6-18)
Luddy (2-5, 2HR)
Easy pick - Ludwick
DH:
Hafner (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Ortiz (24-88, 5 HR vs. good starter)
Scott (3-7)
Matsui (4-9 vs. good starter)
I'm in a hurry, so a rush decision says Kubel.
Catcher:
Kendall (4-9 vs. good starter)
Schneider (3-5 vs. good starter)
Napoli (3-3 vs. lefty)
Yadi (2-5, HR)
McCann (3-3)
I think I'll take Mauer, just because I can andhe is playing in Texas
FINAL LINEUP
C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Zobrist
3B: Reynolds
SS: Jeter
LF: Manny
CF: Victorino
RF: Ludwick
PS: Gallardo
STAT CORNER
The Top Home Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Miggy .393
Sandoval .390
Ichiro .364
Tejada .360
Pujols .358
Ad LaRoche .357
Lind .351
Castillo .349
M Young.341
Morneau .341
The Worst Home Batting Averages (150 AB Min)
Wells .172
Davis .193
Swisher .200
J Lopez .205
Dunn .209
C Young .216
Kouz .220
Cust .221
Granderson.222
Sizemore .222
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word and……
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday, the 17th
Good morning, everyone. Can I pick 'em or what? I told you guys yesterday that Moyer was going to pitch a shutout and put some clown at the top of the Leaderboard. Well, sure enough....Of course I meant it in jest, but nonetheless. Anyway, I hope your half is off to a good start and your current rank after the first day didn't give you a stroke. And please forgive the shitty formatting. Converting text is a real pain on this site.
YESTERDAY
Miggy (4-6, HR vs. good lefty)
Konerko (3-11, 2HR)
Howard (7-19, 2HR vs. good starter)
Prince (12-33, 3HR)
I think the matchup for Prince is as good as any. He is hitting well and Harang is a mound turd.
ARod (7-19, 2HR vs. good starter)
Chipper (5-11 vs. good lefty)
Wright (1-3)
Longoria (2-3, HR but banged up)
Hall (17-47, 3HR)
I don't care for any of these tomorrow. Give me a hot hitting Sandoval vs. weak-ass journeyman Charlie Morton.
Bay (2-6 vs. lefty)
Diaz (10-18, HR vs. good lefty)
Lee (4-5, HR vs. good starter)
Crawford (3-5)
Braun (5-19, 3HR)
Braun and Bay are the only ones inthis group not facing good pitchers and I like Braun better. Neither have been too hot lately, but Braun usually comes through for me while Bay tends to disappoint.
Rios (8-11)
Dye (4-8, HR)
Hawpe (2-5)
Ross (2-5)
Hawpe is tempting as usual, but I have a hunch on Dye tomorrow. He is 13-33 during his 9 game hitting streak and seems to always be good around this time of year.
YESTERDAY
I certainly can't complain. Any time the Magic Wandy pitches a shutout on the road, it's hard to piss and moan. He gave me 29, much to my surprise. Most of the top staffs did well as Lee went the distance, Harden was superb, and even Cook held his own. My bats were pretty much crap, unfortunately, pitching in only 23 and led by Ryho. My total of 52 lands me at #8540 overall, 23 points off the Leaderboard. I must say that It's a little weird. In the first half, I was the leader after day 1 and never vell out ofthe top 200. It's cool. Wild rank changes should be expected for the next few weeks.
TODAYI see that about 75% have Lince today, as expected. I also see, though, that another 20% or so took Carp today. That kind of surprises me, to be honest. No one else saw significant action. With the Bow Wonder facing thelowly Pirates, I feel pretty good about my chances tonight. The bats will play a big part in tomorrows ranks. Here's my final again...
C: McCann
1b: Prince
2B: Utley
3B: ARod
SS: Jeter
LF: Braun
CF: McLouth
RF: Luddy
DH: Thome
PS: Lince
TOMORROW
Weather:
none
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Tigers, Red Sox, Braves, Orioles, Indians, Mariners, Nats, Pirates, Royals, Reds, Dodgers, Astros
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Angels vs. Mazzaro (2-5 3.59 in 8 starts)
Rangers vs. Swarzak (2-3 4.50 in 6 starts)
Bats to Avoid:
Damon (3-22)
Inge (7-46)
Wells (1-12)
Lind (2-12, HR)
Huff (2-11)
Ellis (2-12)
Peralta (2-16)
Guzman (2-21)
Teahen (2-13)
Phillips (2-12)
Gerut (4-21)
Bonaficio (2-11)
S Drew (2-13)
C Young (2-11)
Ausmus (2-14)
Manny (2-11)
Pitchers:
Jackson (7-4 2.52, 1.06 WHIP, 3-3 2.33 on road, 0-0 0.00 vs. NYY in 1 start this season)
CC (8-6 3.86, 1.15 WHIP, rocked in 2 of last 3, 2-2 4.55 at home, 0-1 4.50 vs. Det)
Johan (10-7 3.09, 112 K in 116 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 3-5 4.81 on road, 0-1 0.00 vs. Atl)
Danks (7-6 3.91, 1-0 2.77 in July, 1-0 1.29 vs. Bal)
Weaver (10-3 3.22, 1.12 WHIP, 2-0 6.38 in July, 3-2 4.66 on road, at Oak)
Washburn (6-6 2.96, 1.09 WHIP, 2-1 1.96 in July, at Cle)
Lilly (9-6 3.18, 1.11 WHIP, 5 R in last 21 IP, 3-5 4.66 on road, at Was)
Johnson (8-2 2.74, 1.13 WHIP, 4-1 1.98 at home, 1-1 2.65 in July, 0-0 0.00 vs. Phi)
Wainwright (10-5 3.04, 2-0 1.07 in July, 3-4 2.35 at home, vs. Zona)
Kershaw (7-5 3.16, 99 K in 99 IP, 2-0 0.53 in July, 2-2 1.85 at home, 0-1 12.46 vs. Hou)
Haren (9-5 2.01, 0.81 WHIP, 129 K in 130 IP, 4-1 2.36 on road, 2-0 0.60 July, atStL)
I have to take Haren here. I was going to take Wainwright, as the research I did for today's work was done a few days ago. I just now saw Haren was going. If he can hold off Big Al and Luddy, he should be OK.
Miggy (4-6, HR vs. good lefty)
Konerko (3-11, 2HR)
Howard (7-19, 2HR vs. good starter)
Prince (12-33, 3HR)
I think the matchup for Prince is as good as any. He is hitting well and Harang is a mound turd.
Second:
Polanco (13-40, HR vs. good lefty)
Pedroia (2-6 vs. lefty)
Utley (5-16 vs. good starter)
Roberts (4-12 vs. good lefty)
Sanchez (3-3 vs. lefty)
I have half a mind to take either Phillips or Kinsler, but neither of them hit well vs. lefties and righties respectfully. I think Pedroia is the only favorable match here.
ARod (7-19, 2HR vs. good starter)
Chipper (5-11 vs. good lefty)
Wright (1-3)
Longoria (2-3, HR but banged up)
Hall (17-47, 3HR)
I don't care for any of these tomorrow. Give me a hot hitting Sandoval vs. weak-ass journeyman Charlie Morton.
Short:
Jeter (11-27, HR vs. good starter)
Escobar (5-12 vs. good lefty)
Hanley (2-4)
Tulo (4-15)
Tejada (3-6 vs. good starter)
Escobar is about as inconsistant as they get and as muchas I like Jeter, I don't like taking bats against good pitchers. Hanley looks like the best option to me.
Bay (2-6 vs. lefty)
Diaz (10-18, HR vs. good lefty)
Lee (4-5, HR vs. good starter)
Crawford (3-5)
Braun (5-19, 3HR)
Braun and Bay are the only ones inthis group not facing good pitchers and I like Braun better. Neither have been too hot lately, but Braun usually comes through for me while Bay tends to disappoint.
Center:
Melky (6-17 vs. good starter)
Sizemore (4-12, HR vs. good lefty)
Cameron (6-20, HR)
Since Kemp is hitting .380 vs. lefties and is also facing a washed up Hampton, he will be my man tomorrow. Nothing else looks good to me anyway.
Rios (8-11)
Dye (4-8, HR)
Hawpe (2-5)
Ross (2-5)
Hawpe is tempting as usual, but I have a hunch on Dye tomorrow. He is 13-33 during his 9 game hitting streak and seems to always be good around this time of year.
DH:
Matsui (7-22, Hr vs. good starter)
Thome (2-9, 2HR)
Scott (3-6, HR vs. good lefty)
Hafner (8-20, 3HR vs. good lefty)
Since none of this really does anything forme at all, I will take Papi vs. Tallett. He is 2-10 with a homer against him, but is hitting better than any of these others right now.
Catcher:
Mauer (3-5 vs. good starter)
McCann (5-16, HR vs. good lefty)
VMart (9-22 vs. good lefty)
Shoppach (4-8, HR vs. good lefty)
I think Varitek will be my pick here. His numbers vs. Tallet aren't bad and Iknow he will play, if nothing else.
FINAL LINEUP
C: Varitek
1B: Prince
2B: Pedroia
3B: Sandoval
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Dye
DH: Ortiz
PS: Haren of the Desert
STAT CORNER
The Best Batting Averages vs. Righties (150 AB min.)
Mauer .391
Ichiro .361
Hanley .356
Kubel .351
Pujols .348
Uribe .347
Figgins .342
Bartlett .339
Hawpe .337
Kennedy .333
The Worst Batting Averages vs. Righties (150 AB min.)
Shoppach .173
C Young .174
K Johnson .175
Giambi .183
Navarro .194
Al Gonzalez .197
Punto .200
Bradley .200
Ianetta .202
Atkins .203
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, feel free to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, pleae come again, pass the word and....
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, the 16th
Good morning, everyone, and welcome aboard the second half of Baseball Challenge. We hope you enjoy your trip with us over the next few months. Please be aware that, in case of emergency, there are exits on either side as well as in the front and the back. The seat in front of you is also equipped with sick bags. These are most comonly used for imploding staffs but can also be used if you come down with a bad case of the DNP's. The pilot has asked that you now stop your bitching and whining and move on with us to a fresh start. Please buckle your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.
Seriously, be sure to scroll to the bottom today to read an article just posted by JayJayCox. He finished third in the first half as you should already know and wanted to add his thoughts. Thank you JayJay for your contribution.
TODAY
From what I can tell, pitching was anything less than easy yesterday. Wolf, Braden, Harden, Wandy, Lee and Cook were all getting some interest. It is because of this that some 12 year old kid from Lancaster, PA will probably be in the lead after today because Moyer of all people is his favorite player and he pitches a shutout today. It looks like Lee (and Kerry FU Wood) got about 30% of the picks, Wood took about 20% and Cook, Harden, an Wandy gathered up over 10% each. Here's my final again.....
C: VMart
1B: Howard
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Wandy
TOMORROW
Weather:
Mets/Braves 60&
I see no reason to be concerned.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Yankees, Cubs, Giants, Red Sox, Marlins, Rangers, Orioles, A's
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Yankees vs. French (1-0 1.93 in 4 appearances)
White Sox vs. Berken (1-6 5.87 in 9 starts)
Bats to Avoid:
C Guillen (2-12)
Granderson (1-11)
Kearns (5-30, HR)
Zimmerman (2-11)
Uggla (3-23)
Victorino (3-16)
Mauer (2-12)
Crede (2-11)
Kubel (0-10)
DeJesus (2-16)
Crisp (2-14)
Teahen (2-14)
J Guillen (2-12)
C Pena (2-15)
Crawford (1-13)
Mora (4-24)
Cust (1-10)
Kouz (2-18)
Hawpe (2-11, HR)
Berkman (2-15)
Pitchers:
Felix (9-3 2.53, 121 K in 124 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 5-1 1.94 on road, 2 R or less in 8 of last 9, at Cle)
Burnett (8-4 3.77, 101 K in 107 IP, 5 R in last 5 starts, vs. Det)
Z (5-4 3.53, less than 7 IP in 3 of last 4, 3-2 3.20 on road, at Was)
Lince (10-2 2.33, 149 K in 127 127 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 5-1 2.22 on road, at Pitt)
Romero (7-3 3.00, 5-1 2.31 at home, 0-1 11.25 vs. Boston this season)
Jurrjens (7-7 2.91, 3-4 2.98 at home, 0-0 2.35 vs. NYM this season)
Shields (6-6 3.42, 3 R or more in 3 of last 4, 1-0 2.25 vs. KC)
Greinke (10-5 2.12, 129 K in 127 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 6-2 1.88 at home, vs. Tam)
Bills (9-4 3.38, 119 K in 125 IP, 3 R or more in 6 of last 7, 1-0 0.00 vs. Hou)
Carp (7-3 2.47, 0.87 WHIP, 3 R or more in 5 of last 7, 3-1 2.42 at home, 0-0 0.00 vs. Zona)
Seriously, do you have to ask?
First:
Branyan (3-11, HR vs. Ohka)
Youk (1-2, HR vs. good lefty)
Votto (6-15, 2HR)
Prince (9-29, 3HR)
Helton (3-5)
Cantu (3-13, 3HR vs. lefty)
Prince has been lighting it up pretty well lately and I can't pass on a bat like his against Arroyo in that park. Votto and Branyan are fine picks too, but I really like the comfort of knowing Prince is on my team.
Second:
Pedroia (1-3, HR vs. good lefty)
Barmes (4-6)
Utley (6-17)
Harris (4-10)
Ellis (6-19, 2HR vs. lefty)
Again, this one is pretty easy, as many picks will be until the valus go up some. Why would i not take Utley?
Third:
Wright (4-11, HR vs. good starter)
Inge (4-9 vs. good starter)
ARam (5-12, HR vs. lefty)
Chipper (4-13, 2HR)
I really like ARod over these four vs. the rookie at Coors East tomorrow. Is it too early to get burned by him yet? Nah....
Short:
Renteria (4-6 vs. lefty)
Hardy (7-23, 4HR)
Hanley (9-24 vs. lefty)
Lopez (5-16, 2HR vs. good starter)
Tulowitzki (3-9)
I'll pass on Hanley who has only 1 HR vs.lefties this season, and Hardy is a little banged up. I think I'll take Jeter simply out of pure attrition - and because of the rook he faces in the park he plays in.
Left:
Bay (1-1 vs. good lefty)
Manny (1-3, HR vs. good starter)
Pierre (12-34 vs. good starter)
Ooooh, this blows. I really think I will stick with Braun. 6-21 vs. Arroyo is better than any of these.
Center:
Sizemore (5-10 vs. good starter)
Ellsbury (1-1 vs. good lefty)
Cameron (7-21)
McLouth (1-3)
Well, I'm not taking Grady vs. Felix, that's for sure. Let's go with McLouth vs. Pelphrey at home.
Right:
Ethier (3-8, HR vs. good starter)
Mags (3-9, HR vs. good starter)
Bruce (4-7, 3HR)
Ludwick (1-2)
Cuddyer (4-15, HR)
Willingham (5-7, HR vs. good starter)
As weak as Garland is, I have to take someone against him. Ludwick is the lucky winner, and one of the hottest bats in the league right now.
DH:
Ortiz (1-2 vs. good lefty)
Scott (2-1 vs. good lefty)
Lind (1-2)
And they all face good starters...I guess I'll take Thome vs. Berken, should be good for a walk or two if nothing else. Matsui might be worth a shot as well.
Catcher:
Laird (4-5 vs. good starter)
Benji (2-6 vs. lefty)
McCann (8-20)
Ianetta (3-5, HR)
Yadi (2-2)
Let's go with McCann. I don't really see anything else that impresses me much.
FINAL LINEUP
Jeter .449
Wright .446
Braun .403
Alexei .397
Kemp .395
C Lee .386
Konerko .386
Prado .382
Span .376
Callaspo .376
The Worst Batters vs. Lefties (75 AB min)
Giles .136
Davis .143
Hardy .156
Morgan .171
Ethier .181
Bruce .183
BJ .186
Howard .187
J Guillen .191
Granderson.194
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, feel free to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, pleae come again, pass the word and....
Seriously, be sure to scroll to the bottom today to read an article just posted by JayJayCox. He finished third in the first half as you should already know and wanted to add his thoughts. Thank you JayJay for your contribution.
TODAY
From what I can tell, pitching was anything less than easy yesterday. Wolf, Braden, Harden, Wandy, Lee and Cook were all getting some interest. It is because of this that some 12 year old kid from Lancaster, PA will probably be in the lead after today because Moyer of all people is his favorite player and he pitches a shutout today. It looks like Lee (and Kerry FU Wood) got about 30% of the picks, Wood took about 20% and Cook, Harden, an Wandy gathered up over 10% each. Here's my final again.....
C: VMart
1B: Howard
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Wandy
TOMORROW
Weather:
Mets/Braves 60&
I see no reason to be concerned.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Yankees, Cubs, Giants, Red Sox, Marlins, Rangers, Orioles, A's
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Yankees vs. French (1-0 1.93 in 4 appearances)
White Sox vs. Berken (1-6 5.87 in 9 starts)
Bats to Avoid:
C Guillen (2-12)
Granderson (1-11)
Kearns (5-30, HR)
Zimmerman (2-11)
Uggla (3-23)
Victorino (3-16)
Mauer (2-12)
Crede (2-11)
Kubel (0-10)
DeJesus (2-16)
Crisp (2-14)
Teahen (2-14)
J Guillen (2-12)
C Pena (2-15)
Crawford (1-13)
Mora (4-24)
Cust (1-10)
Kouz (2-18)
Hawpe (2-11, HR)
Berkman (2-15)
Pitchers:
Felix (9-3 2.53, 121 K in 124 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 5-1 1.94 on road, 2 R or less in 8 of last 9, at Cle)
Burnett (8-4 3.77, 101 K in 107 IP, 5 R in last 5 starts, vs. Det)
Z (5-4 3.53, less than 7 IP in 3 of last 4, 3-2 3.20 on road, at Was)
Lince (10-2 2.33, 149 K in 127 127 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 5-1 2.22 on road, at Pitt)
Romero (7-3 3.00, 5-1 2.31 at home, 0-1 11.25 vs. Boston this season)
Jurrjens (7-7 2.91, 3-4 2.98 at home, 0-0 2.35 vs. NYM this season)
Shields (6-6 3.42, 3 R or more in 3 of last 4, 1-0 2.25 vs. KC)
Greinke (10-5 2.12, 129 K in 127 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 6-2 1.88 at home, vs. Tam)
Bills (9-4 3.38, 119 K in 125 IP, 3 R or more in 6 of last 7, 1-0 0.00 vs. Hou)
Carp (7-3 2.47, 0.87 WHIP, 3 R or more in 5 of last 7, 3-1 2.42 at home, 0-0 0.00 vs. Zona)
Seriously, do you have to ask?
First:
Branyan (3-11, HR vs. Ohka)
Youk (1-2, HR vs. good lefty)
Votto (6-15, 2HR)
Prince (9-29, 3HR)
Helton (3-5)
Cantu (3-13, 3HR vs. lefty)
Prince has been lighting it up pretty well lately and I can't pass on a bat like his against Arroyo in that park. Votto and Branyan are fine picks too, but I really like the comfort of knowing Prince is on my team.
Second:
Pedroia (1-3, HR vs. good lefty)
Barmes (4-6)
Utley (6-17)
Harris (4-10)
Ellis (6-19, 2HR vs. lefty)
Again, this one is pretty easy, as many picks will be until the valus go up some. Why would i not take Utley?
Third:
Wright (4-11, HR vs. good starter)
Inge (4-9 vs. good starter)
ARam (5-12, HR vs. lefty)
Chipper (4-13, 2HR)
I really like ARod over these four vs. the rookie at Coors East tomorrow. Is it too early to get burned by him yet? Nah....
Short:
Renteria (4-6 vs. lefty)
Hardy (7-23, 4HR)
Hanley (9-24 vs. lefty)
Lopez (5-16, 2HR vs. good starter)
Tulowitzki (3-9)
I'll pass on Hanley who has only 1 HR vs.lefties this season, and Hardy is a little banged up. I think I'll take Jeter simply out of pure attrition - and because of the rook he faces in the park he plays in.
Left:
Bay (1-1 vs. good lefty)
Manny (1-3, HR vs. good starter)
Pierre (12-34 vs. good starter)
Ooooh, this blows. I really think I will stick with Braun. 6-21 vs. Arroyo is better than any of these.
Center:
Sizemore (5-10 vs. good starter)
Ellsbury (1-1 vs. good lefty)
Cameron (7-21)
McLouth (1-3)
Well, I'm not taking Grady vs. Felix, that's for sure. Let's go with McLouth vs. Pelphrey at home.
Right:
Ethier (3-8, HR vs. good starter)
Mags (3-9, HR vs. good starter)
Bruce (4-7, 3HR)
Ludwick (1-2)
Cuddyer (4-15, HR)
Willingham (5-7, HR vs. good starter)
As weak as Garland is, I have to take someone against him. Ludwick is the lucky winner, and one of the hottest bats in the league right now.
DH:
Ortiz (1-2 vs. good lefty)
Scott (2-1 vs. good lefty)
Lind (1-2)
And they all face good starters...I guess I'll take Thome vs. Berken, should be good for a walk or two if nothing else. Matsui might be worth a shot as well.
Catcher:
Laird (4-5 vs. good starter)
Benji (2-6 vs. lefty)
McCann (8-20)
Ianetta (3-5, HR)
Yadi (2-2)
Let's go with McCann. I don't really see anything else that impresses me much.
FINAL LINEUP
C: McCann
1B: Prince
2B: Utley
3B: ARod
SS: Jeter
LF: Braun
CF: McLouth
RF: Ludwick
DH: Thome
PS: Lince
STAT CORNER
Jeter .449
Wright .446
Braun .403
Alexei .397
Kemp .395
C Lee .386
Konerko .386
Prado .382
Span .376
Callaspo .376
The Worst Batters vs. Lefties (75 AB min)
Giles .136
Davis .143
Hardy .156
Morgan .171
Ethier .181
Bruce .183
BJ .186
Howard .187
J Guillen .191
Granderson.194
DISCLAIMER
My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, feel free to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, pleae come again, pass the word and....
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Shin Ticklin' Ferth basket by JayJayCox
First off I'd like to say thanks to everyone on the board. Ya'll have made this segment very fun and enjoyable to say the least. Want to also say thanks a bunch to Mo and JT for the time and effort they've put in to helping us all know the in's and out's of everyone's lineup and the weather in each city and also Gomer Pyle for posting his blogination each day. It was all very informitive and I'm 100% positive I wouldn't of finished where I did if it wasn't for you guys.
I'm almost certain this won't be near the level of most of the other blogs so I'm just going to post a few tid bits about what strategies I used and what seemed to work for me.
First of all and like many of you the way I liked to pick hitters throughout the weeks was by how hot they were and had been hitting in the past week or so. I didn't just look at that, I really got into a habit of looking at a hitters splits and how he faired vs a lefty/righty or how he batted if he was switch hitter from the left or right. I rarely let BvP or wind affect my decision on a hitter, though I'd be careful if I saw Jt had a warning about a game I had a batter in.
Some other things that really helped me pick hitters this year was a very simple strategy and an easy way out of making and thinking about a lineup when I didn't have a lot of time to research. Go with your fantasy squad... I know it's not a great idea for most teams, and it's not great advice, but when you're working with the likes of Pujols, Hanley, Ichiro, Lincecum, Lester, and Verlandage it really makes some decisions easy for you. It also makes rooting for your team a lot easier and enjoyable. This idea and advice was also my down fall some weeks and was a cause of some bad days where I went with verlander when I shouldn't have.
Lastly, about some pitching. Most of you are probably thinking I already know this, but I like to pick pitchers based off who their playing, their K potential and how well they've been pitching.. just like my hitters. One of my last tips of advice and I know ya'll really don't need to be reading this from me b/c I'm pretty sure just about everyone on here is as knowledgable as me and researchs near the same is that if you have a hunch bet a bunch! Don't second guess yourself and change your lineup back and forth near lock time. Your first answer is usually right. You've heard this in school I bet and it's true.
And at all costs and utmost importance Snarful the Garthog before making your lineups! Good luck second half everyone and thanks again! Would've liked to taken a little more time to write some other stuff up, but I've been landscaping the last week with the paps so I've been pretty busy. Sorry for posting this so late and sorry for not taking down Mr. Rotoworld aka Alley Gaytors.
- Jay
I'm almost certain this won't be near the level of most of the other blogs so I'm just going to post a few tid bits about what strategies I used and what seemed to work for me.
First of all and like many of you the way I liked to pick hitters throughout the weeks was by how hot they were and had been hitting in the past week or so. I didn't just look at that, I really got into a habit of looking at a hitters splits and how he faired vs a lefty/righty or how he batted if he was switch hitter from the left or right. I rarely let BvP or wind affect my decision on a hitter, though I'd be careful if I saw Jt had a warning about a game I had a batter in.
Some other things that really helped me pick hitters this year was a very simple strategy and an easy way out of making and thinking about a lineup when I didn't have a lot of time to research. Go with your fantasy squad... I know it's not a great idea for most teams, and it's not great advice, but when you're working with the likes of Pujols, Hanley, Ichiro, Lincecum, Lester, and Verlandage it really makes some decisions easy for you. It also makes rooting for your team a lot easier and enjoyable. This idea and advice was also my down fall some weeks and was a cause of some bad days where I went with verlander when I shouldn't have.
Lastly, about some pitching. Most of you are probably thinking I already know this, but I like to pick pitchers based off who their playing, their K potential and how well they've been pitching.. just like my hitters. One of my last tips of advice and I know ya'll really don't need to be reading this from me b/c I'm pretty sure just about everyone on here is as knowledgable as me and researchs near the same is that if you have a hunch bet a bunch! Don't second guess yourself and change your lineup back and forth near lock time. Your first answer is usually right. You've heard this in school I bet and it's true.
And at all costs and utmost importance Snarful the Garthog before making your lineups! Good luck second half everyone and thanks again! Would've liked to taken a little more time to write some other stuff up, but I've been landscaping the last week with the paps so I've been pretty busy. Sorry for posting this so late and sorry for not taking down Mr. Rotoworld aka Alley Gaytors.
- Jay
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wednesday, the 15th
ATTENTION!!!
Due to a busy schedule, JayJayCox (#3 overall in the first half and damn near the winner) was not able to get me an All-Star article as planned. However, he was kind enough to take some time to send me one today. Please look to see this early tomorrow morning. Thanks again, JayJay!!!!!!!!!!
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second half of the season. How good was your first half? Doesn't matter. How bad was it? Doesn't matter. It's a fresh start for everyone today and hope springs eternal as they say. I hope you all had the chance to read the All-Star entries yesterday, as the provided alot of valuable insight and value. If you didn't check them out by clicking on the links along the left side of the page. Thank's also to those that contributed. You all did a great job and I really am thankful for your help.
Back to business. Please be aware of a few things this week. Firstof all, I will be leaving for Nashville tomorrow afternoon. Computer time will be limited there so most of my statistical prep work for the weekends games will be done today. Please double check your starters during this time. Sorry, but will be tough enough just to get this up everyday. Secondly, I saw last night that there were a number of position changes when BBC was updated. You may see some names in here that are assigned to the wrong position. Just be aware of it. I will catch all of these in the coming days and change accordingly.
Finally, good luck with your second half. I wish you all luck, but honestly hope I can beat your asses again. I hate to say that but it's true. Get over it and, seriously, good luck. Now, on to business..
TOMORROW
Weather:
Mets/Braves 60%
We rarely rain out in Atlanta and as they are retiring Maddux's number, I am pretty confident that this game will be played. Double check it tonight, though.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Braves, Mariners, Cubs, Marlins, Angels, Dodgers, Astros
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
None
Teams That Have Never Faced Starter:
Cubs
Bats to Avoid:
Ross (2-23 vs. starter)
Diaz (3-19, 2HR)
Beltran (4-26)
Castillo (1-13)
Beltre (4-26)
Encarnacion (3-22, HR)
Bruce (2-17, HR)
Phillips (1-14)
Victorino (2-13)
Werth (1-11)
Crosby (2-20)
K Suzuki (1-17)
Giambi (1-14)
Berkman (2-23)
Pitchers:
Lee (4-9 3.47, 3 R or more in 4 of last 5 starts, Kerry FU Wood, vs. Sea)
Braden (7-7 3.12, 2 R or less in last 8 starts, 5-3 2.84 at home, 0-2 4.50 vs. LAA this season)
Cook (8-3 3.98, 2 R or less in 5 of last 7, 1-0 2.40 vs. SD in 2 starts)
Wandy (8-6 2.96, 106 K in 112 IP, 1 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 1.00 vs. LaD)
Wolf (4-3 3.45, 1.17 WHIP, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 4.04 at home, 0-0 5.14 vs. Hou)
It sure is a crappy way to start the second hlf, I'll say that much. I'm torn between Cook (very low strikeouts), Wandy ('Stros staff is always unreliable) and Wolf (vs. good bats and Houston). I really want to go with Wandy because ofhis K potential, but can't decide. He has been solid lately, but sohas Cook. Since Wolf has struggled at home and vs. Houston, I will give Wandy a go. Very reluctantly. At least he's in a pitchers park.
First:
Howard (4-12, 3HR)
Gonzalez (11-28, 2HR)
I like Prince in Cincy as well, but the numbers for Ryho are too much for me to pass on.
Second:
Lopez (6-18, HR vs. good lefty)
Hudson (4-9 vs. good lefty)
Matsui (7-22 vs. good lefty)
When the choices are this poor and values arer as low as they are going to be for a while, I have to go with Utley. He is 2-9 with a homer vs. Volstad.
Third:
Chipper (11-26, HR vs. lefty)
Wright (4-8)
Cantu (7-23 vs. lefty)
Helms (6-13, 2HR vs. lefty)
Feliz (2-6)
Figgins (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Atkins (2-6)
Blum (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Once again I am not happy about the options here. Chipper has very little power vs. lefties, so I will go with Wright. At least he has a quality average.
Short:
Escobar (4-8 vs. lefty)
Hanley (12-36, 4HR vs. lefty)
Rollins (5-13)
Aybar (4-11 vs. good lefty)
Tulo (1-2)
Furcal (3-7 vs. good lefty)
Tejada (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Hanley. Moyer. Done.
Left:
Morgan (3-4)
Holliday (1-3)
Manny (2-3 vs. good lefty)
Sheff (8-17, 2HR)
Halliday is done without Coors. Morgan has no power and Manny faces my starter. I have to have someone in Cincy. It will be Braun in left. I also don't trust Sheff vs. decent pitching.
Center:
McLouth (1-3 vs. lefty)
Sizemore (1-3)
Taveras (5-15, HR)
Cameron (2-5)
Fowler (2-6)
Kemp (2-6 vs. good lefty)
Due to the fact that I can, give me Grady. Nothing else impresses me at all.
Right:
Church (3-5 vs. lefty)
Hart (1-3)
Matthews (3-6 vs. good lefty)
Hawpe (2-3)
Why would I not take Hawpe vs. shit pitching?
DH:
Griffey (5-14, 3HR vs. good lefty)
There is no way I would take Junior. Cust is only 2-10 vs. Santana, but then again, the Santana he faced then is not the Santana he is facing now.
Catcher:
VMart (2-2)
Hernandez (5-8, HR)
Kendall (3-5)
Paulino (5-11 vs. lefty)
Baker (3-7 vs. lefty)
Torrealba (2-5)
VMart has been cold lately, but I rill risk it anyway. None of the others do anything for me at all.
FINAL LINEUP
C: VMart
1B: Ryho
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Magic Wandy (hopefully)
STAT CORNER
Let's get the 2nd half off to a good start. Below are the league leaders in Average, Home Runs, and RBI over the last 30 days:
Batting Average:
Hanley .405
Willingham .397
Prince .379
Gutierrez .378
Dye .373
Victorino .368
Ichiro .366
Alexei .356
4 with .352
Home Runs:
Werth 11
D. Lee 10
Pujols 10
Sandoval 9
Konerko 8
Ortiz 8
Rivera 8
ARod 8
Tulo 8
10 with 7
RBI:
D. Lee 30
Pujols 30
Abreu 27
Hanley 27
Sandoval 26
Ludwick 25
Werth 25
ARod 24
Prince 22
Ortiz 22
Rivera 21
DISCLAIMER
My Picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word and.......
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Due to a busy schedule, JayJayCox (#3 overall in the first half and damn near the winner) was not able to get me an All-Star article as planned. However, he was kind enough to take some time to send me one today. Please look to see this early tomorrow morning. Thanks again, JayJay!!!!!!!!!!
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second half of the season. How good was your first half? Doesn't matter. How bad was it? Doesn't matter. It's a fresh start for everyone today and hope springs eternal as they say. I hope you all had the chance to read the All-Star entries yesterday, as the provided alot of valuable insight and value. If you didn't check them out by clicking on the links along the left side of the page. Thank's also to those that contributed. You all did a great job and I really am thankful for your help.
Back to business. Please be aware of a few things this week. Firstof all, I will be leaving for Nashville tomorrow afternoon. Computer time will be limited there so most of my statistical prep work for the weekends games will be done today. Please double check your starters during this time. Sorry, but will be tough enough just to get this up everyday. Secondly, I saw last night that there were a number of position changes when BBC was updated. You may see some names in here that are assigned to the wrong position. Just be aware of it. I will catch all of these in the coming days and change accordingly.
Finally, good luck with your second half. I wish you all luck, but honestly hope I can beat your asses again. I hate to say that but it's true. Get over it and, seriously, good luck. Now, on to business..
TOMORROW
Weather:
Mets/Braves 60%
We rarely rain out in Atlanta and as they are retiring Maddux's number, I am pretty confident that this game will be played. Double check it tonight, though.
Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Braves, Mariners, Cubs, Marlins, Angels, Dodgers, Astros
Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
None
Teams That Have Never Faced Starter:
Cubs
Bats to Avoid:
Ross (2-23 vs. starter)
Diaz (3-19, 2HR)
Beltran (4-26)
Castillo (1-13)
Beltre (4-26)
Encarnacion (3-22, HR)
Bruce (2-17, HR)
Phillips (1-14)
Victorino (2-13)
Werth (1-11)
Crosby (2-20)
K Suzuki (1-17)
Giambi (1-14)
Berkman (2-23)
Pitchers:
Lee (4-9 3.47, 3 R or more in 4 of last 5 starts, Kerry FU Wood, vs. Sea)
Braden (7-7 3.12, 2 R or less in last 8 starts, 5-3 2.84 at home, 0-2 4.50 vs. LAA this season)
Cook (8-3 3.98, 2 R or less in 5 of last 7, 1-0 2.40 vs. SD in 2 starts)
Wandy (8-6 2.96, 106 K in 112 IP, 1 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 1.00 vs. LaD)
Wolf (4-3 3.45, 1.17 WHIP, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 4.04 at home, 0-0 5.14 vs. Hou)
It sure is a crappy way to start the second hlf, I'll say that much. I'm torn between Cook (very low strikeouts), Wandy ('Stros staff is always unreliable) and Wolf (vs. good bats and Houston). I really want to go with Wandy because ofhis K potential, but can't decide. He has been solid lately, but sohas Cook. Since Wolf has struggled at home and vs. Houston, I will give Wandy a go. Very reluctantly. At least he's in a pitchers park.
First:
Howard (4-12, 3HR)
Gonzalez (11-28, 2HR)
I like Prince in Cincy as well, but the numbers for Ryho are too much for me to pass on.
Second:
Lopez (6-18, HR vs. good lefty)
Hudson (4-9 vs. good lefty)
Matsui (7-22 vs. good lefty)
When the choices are this poor and values arer as low as they are going to be for a while, I have to go with Utley. He is 2-9 with a homer vs. Volstad.
Third:
Chipper (11-26, HR vs. lefty)
Wright (4-8)
Cantu (7-23 vs. lefty)
Helms (6-13, 2HR vs. lefty)
Feliz (2-6)
Figgins (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Atkins (2-6)
Blum (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Once again I am not happy about the options here. Chipper has very little power vs. lefties, so I will go with Wright. At least he has a quality average.
Short:
Escobar (4-8 vs. lefty)
Hanley (12-36, 4HR vs. lefty)
Rollins (5-13)
Aybar (4-11 vs. good lefty)
Tulo (1-2)
Furcal (3-7 vs. good lefty)
Tejada (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Hanley. Moyer. Done.
Left:
Morgan (3-4)
Holliday (1-3)
Manny (2-3 vs. good lefty)
Sheff (8-17, 2HR)
Halliday is done without Coors. Morgan has no power and Manny faces my starter. I have to have someone in Cincy. It will be Braun in left. I also don't trust Sheff vs. decent pitching.
Center:
McLouth (1-3 vs. lefty)
Sizemore (1-3)
Taveras (5-15, HR)
Cameron (2-5)
Fowler (2-6)
Kemp (2-6 vs. good lefty)
Due to the fact that I can, give me Grady. Nothing else impresses me at all.
Right:
Church (3-5 vs. lefty)
Hart (1-3)
Matthews (3-6 vs. good lefty)
Hawpe (2-3)
Why would I not take Hawpe vs. shit pitching?
DH:
Griffey (5-14, 3HR vs. good lefty)
There is no way I would take Junior. Cust is only 2-10 vs. Santana, but then again, the Santana he faced then is not the Santana he is facing now.
Catcher:
VMart (2-2)
Hernandez (5-8, HR)
Kendall (3-5)
Paulino (5-11 vs. lefty)
Baker (3-7 vs. lefty)
Torrealba (2-5)
VMart has been cold lately, but I rill risk it anyway. None of the others do anything for me at all.
FINAL LINEUP
C: VMart
1B: Ryho
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Magic Wandy (hopefully)
STAT CORNER
Let's get the 2nd half off to a good start. Below are the league leaders in Average, Home Runs, and RBI over the last 30 days:
Batting Average:
Hanley .405
Willingham .397
Prince .379
Gutierrez .378
Dye .373
Victorino .368
Ichiro .366
Alexei .356
4 with .352
Home Runs:
Werth 11
D. Lee 10
Pujols 10
Sandoval 9
Konerko 8
Ortiz 8
Rivera 8
ARod 8
Tulo 8
10 with 7
RBI:
D. Lee 30
Pujols 30
Abreu 27
Hanley 27
Sandoval 26
Ludwick 25
Werth 25
ARod 24
Prince 22
Ortiz 22
Rivera 21
DISCLAIMER
My Picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word and.......
FU For Life Kerry Wood!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
ALL STAR TUESDAY
Good morning, everyone. As promised, the blog does not rest during the break. Below you will see about a dozen posts from some friends of ours. There are former winners, current LB members, BBC vets, and other stars of the game that have been gracious enough to take their time and words and put them together for us. I asked them to write whatever they wanted. From strategies and non-strategies, to wins and losses, to successes and frustrations. This is what they came up with. I would like to thank them all for the support with this thing as well as for lending us their time and opinions. Thanks as all for reading andbear with it, as there is a lot of it.......
1st Half Horror Show by Krig (courtesy of Grimmy)
Over 90% were #1 or #2 most popular staff.
73 games when PS didn’t have 1-2-3 9th (75%)
47 bullpen tragedies, 8th inning or later (48 %).
23 9th-inning implosions (24%).
18 bullpen losses, but strangely…. only 11 blown saves.
5/18 thru 6/18, pitching was exceptionally brutal. (12 negs, 12 blowpen losses)
6/19 thru 6/25 – let others pick my lineup for 7 games Look & you’ll see why.
Total of 97 games (out of 104 possible…. counting doubleheader games individually)
Date PS VS W/L PTS
4/05 Myers/Phi Atl L 16
4/06 Nolasco/Fla Wash W 18 bullpen 1-run 9th
4/07 Johnson/Fla Wash W 21 bullpen 2-run 8th, 1-run 9th
4/08 Slowey/Minn Sea W 14
4/09 Danks/ChW KC L 19 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 9th
4/10 Hamels/Phi Col L -18 bullpen 3-run 8th
4/11 Felix/Sea Oak W 14
4/12 Johan/NYM Fla L 34
4/13 Gallardo/Mil Cin L 3
4/14 Vaz/Atl Fla L 17 bullpen 2-run 8th
4/15 Lowe/Atl Fla L -9 bullpen 5-run 9th
4/16 Danks/ChW TB W 28 bullpen 1-run 9th
4/17 Haren/Ari SF L 19 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 8th
4/18 Johan/NYM Mil W 37
4/19 Volstad/Fla Wash W 9 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/20 Hampton/Hou Cin L 10 blown save
4/21 Harden/ChC Cin W 29
4/22 Haren/Ari Col W 31
4/23 Bills/LAD Hou W 33
4/24 Johan/NYM Wash W 27 bullpen 2-run 9th
4/25 Garza/TB Oak L 5 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/26 Peavy/SD Pitt L -2 bullpen 2-run 8th, 1-run 9th
4/27 Lilly/ChC Ari L 0 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/28 Danks/ChW Sea L -18 bullpen 2-run 8th
4/28 Colon/ChW Sea W 34
4/29 Johan/NYM Fla L 10 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
4/30 McDnld/LAD SD W 9
5/01 Halladay/Tor Balt W 18
5/02 Haren/Ari Mil W 34
5/03 Bills/LAD SD W 22
5/04 Greinke/KC ChW W 36
5/05 Garza/TB Balt W 23
5/06 Johan/MYM Phil W 37
5/07 Wolf/LAD Wash L -19 blown save, bullpen LOSS, allowed 10 runs
5/08 Bills/LAD SF L 11
5/09 Greinke/KC LAA L 22
5/10 Timmy/SF LAD W 31 blown save, bullpen 1-run 12th
5/11 Johan/MYM Atl L 6 bullpen LOSS, allowed 7 runs
5/12 Harden/ChC SD W 26
5/13 Cueto/Cin Ari W 22
5/14 C.C./NYY Tor W 23
5/15 Vaz/Atl Ari W 26 blown save, bullpen 1-run 9th
5/16 Johan/NYM SF W 18
5/17 Halladay/Tor ChW W 26
5/18 Lowe/Atl Col L 14 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
5/19 Bills/LAD NYM W 20
5/20 Volstad/Fla Ari W 14
5/20 Penn/Fla Ari L -3 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 4 runs in xtras
5/21 Greinke/KC Clev L -3 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 4-run 8th
5/22 Halladay/Tor Atl L 20 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 8th
5/23 Haren/Ari Oak W 12 bullpen 2-run 9th
5/24 Bills/LAD LAA L -11 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
5/25 Vaz/Atl SF L -10
5/26 Timmy/SF Atl W 33
5/27 Johan/NYM Wash W 26 bullpen 1-run 9th
5/28 Haren/Ari Atl W 28
5/29 Bills/LAD ChC L 16
5/30 Carp/StL SF W 25
5/31 Greinke/KC ChW L 5 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
6/01 Kuroda/LAD Ari L 19 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 9th
6/02 Timmy/SF Wash L -10 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 6-run 8th
6/03 Bills/LAD Ari W 33
6/04 RJ/SF Wash W 32
6/04 Cain/SF Wash W 17
6/05 Greinke/KC Tor L -4 bullpen 2-run 8th
6/06 C.C./NYY TB L -2 bullpen LOSS, 4-run 9th
6/07 Halladay/Tor KC W 31
6/08 Richard/ChW Det L 9 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 9th
6/08 Cnteras/ChW Det W 29 bullpen 1-run 9th
6/09 Bills/LAD SD W 15 bullpen 1-run 9th
6/10 Kershaw/LAD SD L 14
6/11 Gallardo/Mil Col L 3 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
6/12 Halladay/Tor Fla L -4 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 5-run 8th
6/13 RJ/SF Oak W 25
6/14 Cain/SF Oak W 34
6/15 Zito/SF LAA L -10
6/16 V/Det StL L -20 Nate Robertson -16 in 15 pitches
6/17 Greinke/KC Ari L -7 bullpen 8 runs in 8th & 9th
6/18 Hochevar/KC Ari L -17 FORGOT TO CHANGE LINEUP
6/19 thru 6/25 others did my lineuP
6/26 V/Det Hou L -2 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
6/27 Slowey/Minn StL L 3 purpose pick, for cards to win, lol
6/28 Greinke/KC Pitt W 23
6/29 Timmy/SF StL W 38
6/30 Carp/StL SF L 4
7/01 Gallardo/Mil NYM L 29
7/02 C.C./NYY Sea L 0 bullpen 2-run 9th
7/03 Kuroda/LAD SD W 22
7/04 Timmy/SF Hou W 37
7/05 Bills/LAD SD W 22 bullpen 5-run 9th, win in xtras
7/06 Cain/SF Fla W 17 bullpen 2-run 9th
7/07 V/Det KC W 25
7/08 Kuroda/LAD NYM L 3
7/09 Timmy/SF SD W 25
7/10 Oz/Hou Wash W 13 blown save
7/11 Cain/SF SD W 30
7/12 Zambo/ChC StL W 24
7/12 Wells/ChC StL L 12 bullpen eeks out of bases-loaded jam
Won’t even mention bats.
Bring on the 2nd segment !!
73 games when PS didn’t have 1-2-3 9th (75%)
47 bullpen tragedies, 8th inning or later (48 %).
23 9th-inning implosions (24%).
18 bullpen losses, but strangely…. only 11 blown saves.
5/18 thru 6/18, pitching was exceptionally brutal. (12 negs, 12 blowpen losses)
6/19 thru 6/25 – let others pick my lineup for 7 games Look & you’ll see why.
Total of 97 games (out of 104 possible…. counting doubleheader games individually)
Date PS VS W/L PTS
4/05 Myers/Phi Atl L 16
4/06 Nolasco/Fla Wash W 18 bullpen 1-run 9th
4/07 Johnson/Fla Wash W 21 bullpen 2-run 8th, 1-run 9th
4/08 Slowey/Minn Sea W 14
4/09 Danks/ChW KC L 19 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 9th
4/10 Hamels/Phi Col L -18 bullpen 3-run 8th
4/11 Felix/Sea Oak W 14
4/12 Johan/NYM Fla L 34
4/13 Gallardo/Mil Cin L 3
4/14 Vaz/Atl Fla L 17 bullpen 2-run 8th
4/15 Lowe/Atl Fla L -9 bullpen 5-run 9th
4/16 Danks/ChW TB W 28 bullpen 1-run 9th
4/17 Haren/Ari SF L 19 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 8th
4/18 Johan/NYM Mil W 37
4/19 Volstad/Fla Wash W 9 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/20 Hampton/Hou Cin L 10 blown save
4/21 Harden/ChC Cin W 29
4/22 Haren/Ari Col W 31
4/23 Bills/LAD Hou W 33
4/24 Johan/NYM Wash W 27 bullpen 2-run 9th
4/25 Garza/TB Oak L 5 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/26 Peavy/SD Pitt L -2 bullpen 2-run 8th, 1-run 9th
4/27 Lilly/ChC Ari L 0 bullpen 1-run 8th
4/28 Danks/ChW Sea L -18 bullpen 2-run 8th
4/28 Colon/ChW Sea W 34
4/29 Johan/NYM Fla L 10 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
4/30 McDnld/LAD SD W 9
5/01 Halladay/Tor Balt W 18
5/02 Haren/Ari Mil W 34
5/03 Bills/LAD SD W 22
5/04 Greinke/KC ChW W 36
5/05 Garza/TB Balt W 23
5/06 Johan/MYM Phil W 37
5/07 Wolf/LAD Wash L -19 blown save, bullpen LOSS, allowed 10 runs
5/08 Bills/LAD SF L 11
5/09 Greinke/KC LAA L 22
5/10 Timmy/SF LAD W 31 blown save, bullpen 1-run 12th
5/11 Johan/MYM Atl L 6 bullpen LOSS, allowed 7 runs
5/12 Harden/ChC SD W 26
5/13 Cueto/Cin Ari W 22
5/14 C.C./NYY Tor W 23
5/15 Vaz/Atl Ari W 26 blown save, bullpen 1-run 9th
5/16 Johan/NYM SF W 18
5/17 Halladay/Tor ChW W 26
5/18 Lowe/Atl Col L 14 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
5/19 Bills/LAD NYM W 20
5/20 Volstad/Fla Ari W 14
5/20 Penn/Fla Ari L -3 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 4 runs in xtras
5/21 Greinke/KC Clev L -3 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 4-run 8th
5/22 Halladay/Tor Atl L 20 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 8th
5/23 Haren/Ari Oak W 12 bullpen 2-run 9th
5/24 Bills/LAD LAA L -11 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
5/25 Vaz/Atl SF L -10
5/26 Timmy/SF Atl W 33
5/27 Johan/NYM Wash W 26 bullpen 1-run 9th
5/28 Haren/Ari Atl W 28
5/29 Bills/LAD ChC L 16
5/30 Carp/StL SF W 25
5/31 Greinke/KC ChW L 5 bullpen LOSS, 3-run 9th
6/01 Kuroda/LAD Ari L 19 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 9th
6/02 Timmy/SF Wash L -10 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 6-run 8th
6/03 Bills/LAD Ari W 33
6/04 RJ/SF Wash W 32
6/04 Cain/SF Wash W 17
6/05 Greinke/KC Tor L -4 bullpen 2-run 8th
6/06 C.C./NYY TB L -2 bullpen LOSS, 4-run 9th
6/07 Halladay/Tor KC W 31
6/08 Richard/ChW Det L 9 bullpen LOSS, 1-run 9th
6/08 Cnteras/ChW Det W 29 bullpen 1-run 9th
6/09 Bills/LAD SD W 15 bullpen 1-run 9th
6/10 Kershaw/LAD SD L 14
6/11 Gallardo/Mil Col L 3 bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
6/12 Halladay/Tor Fla L -4 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 5-run 8th
6/13 RJ/SF Oak W 25
6/14 Cain/SF Oak W 34
6/15 Zito/SF LAA L -10
6/16 V/Det StL L -20 Nate Robertson -16 in 15 pitches
6/17 Greinke/KC Ari L -7 bullpen 8 runs in 8th & 9th
6/18 Hochevar/KC Ari L -17 FORGOT TO CHANGE LINEUP
6/19 thru 6/25 others did my lineuP
6/26 V/Det Hou L -2 blown save, bullpen LOSS, 2-run 8th
6/27 Slowey/Minn StL L 3 purpose pick, for cards to win, lol
6/28 Greinke/KC Pitt W 23
6/29 Timmy/SF StL W 38
6/30 Carp/StL SF L 4
7/01 Gallardo/Mil NYM L 29
7/02 C.C./NYY Sea L 0 bullpen 2-run 9th
7/03 Kuroda/LAD SD W 22
7/04 Timmy/SF Hou W 37
7/05 Bills/LAD SD W 22 bullpen 5-run 9th, win in xtras
7/06 Cain/SF Fla W 17 bullpen 2-run 9th
7/07 V/Det KC W 25
7/08 Kuroda/LAD NYM L 3
7/09 Timmy/SF SD W 25
7/10 Oz/Hou Wash W 13 blown save
7/11 Cain/SF SD W 30
7/12 Zambo/ChC StL W 24
7/12 Wells/ChC StL L 12 bullpen eeks out of bases-loaded jam
Won’t even mention bats.
Bring on the 2nd segment !!
What I've Learned by Zeus
What I've learned this half
Since it's only my 2nd year playing BBC, this half taught me a lot of things I should have applied to my game last year. I'm not sure how well it will hold up in the 2nd half or in future years, but so far it isn't doing too bad, as I finished 8th overall in the rankings. These lessons may very well contradict your past experiences as most of you have probably played for a longer time than I, so think of it more as fairy BBC tales rather than hard and fast laws.
-Don't change your initial lineup other than for injuries, potential DNP, and/or weather.
I'm not saying you can't go back 10 minutes later and swap someone out because of a gut feeling, but if you set your lineup at 6 pm and change it at 1 pm just for the sake of it, I would advise against that. It will burn you more often than it helps.
-Don't pick soft hitters too often.
I like to pick guys that can potentially jack it out of the park twice or three times a game. I'm pretty sure at some point in his career, Carl Crawford will hit three out in one game. But I can't expect a monster game out of him unless he gets 5 good at bats. Luke Scott or Mike Napoli that can make your day in just 1 or 2 ABs.
-When in doubt, go with the majority pick.All things being equal, the majority pick is more favorable because it hurts you less by everyone else having him. This came into play for me more than you would think.
-Don't ignore your Perennial All-Stars.
Well it was hard to ignore too many of them this half because the prices allowed you to have 5 or 6 of them every night. But I have once or twice this half had a lineup like this and ended up with 18 or so hitting:
Napoli
Albert
F. Lopez
Reynolds
Zobrist
Bay
Mclouth
Upton
Scott
Not a bad lineup but there's only one perennial all-star in there. These are the guys that can really rip up pitching. Don't ignore them, and definitely have more than one of them every night.
-Home/Away pitching splits rarely lie
In my opinion, one of the most reliable stats in baseball.
and finally...
-THE BUM RULE DOES EXIST!...
you just have to know how and when to use it, and I'm not quite ready to share my theory on it (partly because it doesn't work all the time )
Since it's only my 2nd year playing BBC, this half taught me a lot of things I should have applied to my game last year. I'm not sure how well it will hold up in the 2nd half or in future years, but so far it isn't doing too bad, as I finished 8th overall in the rankings. These lessons may very well contradict your past experiences as most of you have probably played for a longer time than I, so think of it more as fairy BBC tales rather than hard and fast laws.
-Don't change your initial lineup other than for injuries, potential DNP, and/or weather.
I'm not saying you can't go back 10 minutes later and swap someone out because of a gut feeling, but if you set your lineup at 6 pm and change it at 1 pm just for the sake of it, I would advise against that. It will burn you more often than it helps.
-Don't pick soft hitters too often.
I like to pick guys that can potentially jack it out of the park twice or three times a game. I'm pretty sure at some point in his career, Carl Crawford will hit three out in one game. But I can't expect a monster game out of him unless he gets 5 good at bats. Luke Scott or Mike Napoli that can make your day in just 1 or 2 ABs.
-When in doubt, go with the majority pick.All things being equal, the majority pick is more favorable because it hurts you less by everyone else having him. This came into play for me more than you would think.
-Don't ignore your Perennial All-Stars.
Well it was hard to ignore too many of them this half because the prices allowed you to have 5 or 6 of them every night. But I have once or twice this half had a lineup like this and ended up with 18 or so hitting:
Napoli
Albert
F. Lopez
Reynolds
Zobrist
Bay
Mclouth
Upton
Scott
Not a bad lineup but there's only one perennial all-star in there. These are the guys that can really rip up pitching. Don't ignore them, and definitely have more than one of them every night.
-Home/Away pitching splits rarely lie
In my opinion, one of the most reliable stats in baseball.
and finally...
-THE BUM RULE DOES EXIST!...
you just have to know how and when to use it, and I'm not quite ready to share my theory on it (partly because it doesn't work all the time )
It's Routine More Than Strategy by Jewell
I don't have a strategy about playing BBC as much as a routine or actually two routines. I work 3pm to 11 pm so I'm usually up at lock. I'm either doing my lineup at 2 am-3am or at 2:50 am too many times. I take a sheet of paper and start out looking for info and lineups at the CC. Always liked Mike C's cryptic lineups especially when he would say how many from each team. Made me study stats more to think like him. I'll check out JT's weather thread and google"Philadelphia weather" and it will have like a mini-forecast at top of google. Also like wunderground because I'm used to it although most don't like it.
After checking out the CC, I usually go to http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbnotes090708 and check out ESPN's starting pitching and hitters. I usually just change the date in the browser instead of going to the site since I have it bookmarked. Sometimes their sleeper hitters are pretty good. Cockcroft is better than some of the other guest columnists. I miss the Insider Fantasy Power Picks since they stopped that.
My next stop is covers.com to check out the odds and the expert consensus. When Verlander faced off against Beckett, the consensus was 63%-37% Verlander and Beckett was 66%-34% and the expert picks. Verlander was 1-5-3-2 and Beckett 2-1-0-3 at the time. For Beckett 2 "experts" picked Oakland, 1 picked the Red Sox, zero picked the over and 3 picked the under. If I had saw Verlander home stats I would have taken him, but went with Beckett. It turned out to be a wash.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp is a great site when you are trying to decide between two pitchers.
And of course I always visit Gomer's blog and when I have time, I write down his list of players at each position. This has been a great help.
It comes down to which position to get me under 50.0. Usually the guy I drop hits a home run. Lately been looking at last 5 game totals for my hitters. Also after lock, I study the great players teams looking for hints for next day. Certain players have tendencies. Pouliot used to pick Red Sox a lot, Babin the Dodgers, Anya the Angels & Dodgers.
This year I got a good backup system in case my internet is down. I can use a friend's dial up if my cable is down.
A new outlet I am using is twitter. Some good info on there such as following Matthew Leach, a Cards beat writer for mlb.com. http://twitter.com/MatthewHLeach Also the Red Sox Extra Bases blog at twitter and boston.com is very good as is http://twitter.com/Boston_Alerts for weather, when the game is in Boston.
Certain players that I won't pick anymore such as Gary Sheffield. Another I am growing to avoid is Ian Kinsler.
Ultimately I am a player that doesn't take chances. I don't pick hitters that well, so I end up with a bunch of 49s and sometimes thats good enough. And like I said earlier, I wind up doing a lot of 2:50 am lineups.
Jewel
After checking out the CC, I usually go to http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbnotes090708 and check out ESPN's starting pitching and hitters. I usually just change the date in the browser instead of going to the site since I have it bookmarked. Sometimes their sleeper hitters are pretty good. Cockcroft is better than some of the other guest columnists. I miss the Insider Fantasy Power Picks since they stopped that.
My next stop is covers.com to check out the odds and the expert consensus. When Verlander faced off against Beckett, the consensus was 63%-37% Verlander and Beckett was 66%-34% and the expert picks. Verlander was 1-5-3-2 and Beckett 2-1-0-3 at the time. For Beckett 2 "experts" picked Oakland, 1 picked the Red Sox, zero picked the over and 3 picked the under. If I had saw Verlander home stats I would have taken him, but went with Beckett. It turned out to be a wash.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp is a great site when you are trying to decide between two pitchers.
And of course I always visit Gomer's blog and when I have time, I write down his list of players at each position. This has been a great help.
It comes down to which position to get me under 50.0. Usually the guy I drop hits a home run. Lately been looking at last 5 game totals for my hitters. Also after lock, I study the great players teams looking for hints for next day. Certain players have tendencies. Pouliot used to pick Red Sox a lot, Babin the Dodgers, Anya the Angels & Dodgers.
This year I got a good backup system in case my internet is down. I can use a friend's dial up if my cable is down.
A new outlet I am using is twitter. Some good info on there such as following Matthew Leach, a Cards beat writer for mlb.com. http://twitter.com/MatthewHLeach Also the Red Sox Extra Bases blog at twitter and boston.com is very good as is http://twitter.com/Boston_Alerts for weather, when the game is in Boston.
Certain players that I won't pick anymore such as Gary Sheffield. Another I am growing to avoid is Ian Kinsler.
Ultimately I am a player that doesn't take chances. I don't pick hitters that well, so I end up with a bunch of 49s and sometimes thats good enough. And like I said earlier, I wind up doing a lot of 2:50 am lineups.
Jewel
How I Do It by Steve Bbbrunooo
Another segment of BBC is in the books and I was fortunate enough to finish on the Leaderboard (tied for 47th). The 2nd time on the Overall LB for me since I started playing in 2001. The other time was the 2nd segment in 2003. I was the Overall Leader for about 2 weeks before I went against the Yankees in a doubleheader in September and slowly fell to the mid 20's. Anyway, luck was on my side again this year and Gomer asked if I would post a blog entry with my personal strategy, key stats that I use, and advice for all of his loyal readers. So here we go....
The first thing I do is check out the pitching matchups at mlb.com - http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp
Record and ERA are the first stats that most people look at, but I always look at the WHIP. You always want to pick a starter who does not give up a lot of walks and hits. I usually like the WHIP to be below 1.3 or so.
Two more good stats to look at are Strikeouts per 9 innings (K/9) and Strikeouts per Walk (K/BB). Obviously you want a pitcher who throws a lot of strikeouts and NOT a lot of walks.
Picking a good starter is only half the battle because unless he throws a complete game you will have to deal with his Bullpen as well. I go here to check out the Bullpen Rankings - http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoa....gular.html&t =0It is sorted by Team ERA but it also lists saves and blown saves etc. I find this very helpful because some really good pitchers are on teams with really bad bullpens.
Finally and maybe most importantly, I go here to look at the opponent to see if they score a lot of runs or not. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggr....=0&season=2009. A team that does not have much offense can make an average pitcher look like a superstar and it is usually never a good idea to go against a team that puts up a lot of runs.
Once I decide on a pitching staff, it is time to pick my batters. I usually wait until all of the games are over for the day so I can see if anyone gets hurt. I also like to see who does well on a particular day and who doesn't. I always look for trends. Some guys are very streaky and will put up several good games in a row and other guys have tendency to go, good game/bad game/good game/bad game. Finding a hitter who is "Due" for a big game is huge in BBC.
AJ made his mark last year and taught us that "Loading up" against bad pitchers can win this game. It is a good strategy and can lead to very big scores. However, if you choose wrong and your batters get shut down it can backfire on you. I usually like taking 2 or maybe 3 batters from the better hitting teams that have good matchups. When I check out the pitchers for the day I always take note of the pitchers with really high ERA's to pick on. Usually a couple of the guys will come through for me, and one or two big scores are all you really need for a good day.
I start with my 1st baseman and work my way down the line. I sort by points per game. It is also good to sort by PP7 to see who is swinging a hot bat and who isn't. I make it a point to click on at least the top 5 guys at every position and check out their stats. Scroll down to the bottom of their page and it shows the players stats vs the pitcher he will face the following day. It also shows splits for hitting vs righties and lefties etc. For some guys the difference is HUGE. Kinsler, Braun, etc., all hit lefties really well, so I like to exploit matchups like that whenever I can. Other guys can't hit lefties to save their butt (Papi, Granderson, etc), so it is a good idea to stay away from those matchups. Bottom line is I click on a LOT of guys and check out their stats to see how well they have been hitting.
There are a handful of hitters that are capable of multi-homerun games. Pujols, Kinsler, Tex, Utley, Longoria, Manny, ARoid, etc. etc. I try to get a few of these guys on my team every day too. Last thing I want is for one of them to put up 15+ pts and NOT be on my team.
I NEVER worry about "Locking guys in" at a low salary. I have never and will never take a zero on purpose.
I check out JT's weather forecast every day too. He does a fantastic job and saves us all a lot of time and effort. If he flags a game as being risky, I usually stay away from it. There are almost always other options out there. Thanks JT!
Anyway that is pretty much it. Luck always play a big role in BBC. At the beginning of the segment I had very little and then I got hot midway thru the segment and put up three 400 pt weeks in a row. I am a stat guy, so my game always improves a few weeks into the season when they start to level out.
Hope this helps you guys out. A BIG Thank You to Gomer for starting and updating this Blog every day. You have helped many people out including myself. Great Job!
Good Luck in Segment 2 Everybody!
Steve Bruno - Team Bruno (Perukes)Proud Member of the Skydiving for Meatloaf Community - Home of The Best Freebie Players in The World!Come check us out at www.skydivingformeatloaf.com
The first thing I do is check out the pitching matchups at mlb.com - http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp
Record and ERA are the first stats that most people look at, but I always look at the WHIP. You always want to pick a starter who does not give up a lot of walks and hits. I usually like the WHIP to be below 1.3 or so.
Two more good stats to look at are Strikeouts per 9 innings (K/9) and Strikeouts per Walk (K/BB). Obviously you want a pitcher who throws a lot of strikeouts and NOT a lot of walks.
Picking a good starter is only half the battle because unless he throws a complete game you will have to deal with his Bullpen as well. I go here to check out the Bullpen Rankings - http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoa....gular.html&t =0It is sorted by Team ERA but it also lists saves and blown saves etc. I find this very helpful because some really good pitchers are on teams with really bad bullpens.
Finally and maybe most importantly, I go here to look at the opponent to see if they score a lot of runs or not. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggr....=0&season=2009. A team that does not have much offense can make an average pitcher look like a superstar and it is usually never a good idea to go against a team that puts up a lot of runs.
Once I decide on a pitching staff, it is time to pick my batters. I usually wait until all of the games are over for the day so I can see if anyone gets hurt. I also like to see who does well on a particular day and who doesn't. I always look for trends. Some guys are very streaky and will put up several good games in a row and other guys have tendency to go, good game/bad game/good game/bad game. Finding a hitter who is "Due" for a big game is huge in BBC.
AJ made his mark last year and taught us that "Loading up" against bad pitchers can win this game. It is a good strategy and can lead to very big scores. However, if you choose wrong and your batters get shut down it can backfire on you. I usually like taking 2 or maybe 3 batters from the better hitting teams that have good matchups. When I check out the pitchers for the day I always take note of the pitchers with really high ERA's to pick on. Usually a couple of the guys will come through for me, and one or two big scores are all you really need for a good day.
I start with my 1st baseman and work my way down the line. I sort by points per game. It is also good to sort by PP7 to see who is swinging a hot bat and who isn't. I make it a point to click on at least the top 5 guys at every position and check out their stats. Scroll down to the bottom of their page and it shows the players stats vs the pitcher he will face the following day. It also shows splits for hitting vs righties and lefties etc. For some guys the difference is HUGE. Kinsler, Braun, etc., all hit lefties really well, so I like to exploit matchups like that whenever I can. Other guys can't hit lefties to save their butt (Papi, Granderson, etc), so it is a good idea to stay away from those matchups. Bottom line is I click on a LOT of guys and check out their stats to see how well they have been hitting.
There are a handful of hitters that are capable of multi-homerun games. Pujols, Kinsler, Tex, Utley, Longoria, Manny, ARoid, etc. etc. I try to get a few of these guys on my team every day too. Last thing I want is for one of them to put up 15+ pts and NOT be on my team.
I NEVER worry about "Locking guys in" at a low salary. I have never and will never take a zero on purpose.
I check out JT's weather forecast every day too. He does a fantastic job and saves us all a lot of time and effort. If he flags a game as being risky, I usually stay away from it. There are almost always other options out there. Thanks JT!
Anyway that is pretty much it. Luck always play a big role in BBC. At the beginning of the segment I had very little and then I got hot midway thru the segment and put up three 400 pt weeks in a row. I am a stat guy, so my game always improves a few weeks into the season when they start to level out.
Hope this helps you guys out. A BIG Thank You to Gomer for starting and updating this Blog every day. You have helped many people out including myself. Great Job!
Good Luck in Segment 2 Everybody!
Steve Bruno - Team Bruno (Perukes)Proud Member of the Skydiving for Meatloaf Community - Home of The Best Freebie Players in The World!Come check us out at www.skydivingformeatloaf.com
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics by Mo
Lies, damned lies and statistics – who knew Disraeli was a BBC player? The best thing that worked for me was a more holistic approach – to look at the game of baseball as it’s played and to forget the mathematics of probability. Most stats that are fine grained enough to apply to individual batters and pitchers – BVSP and the like - are merely perfect predictors of the past. I believe they are of little help in predicting what will happen next.
Rather than indulge in the micro-trends, the only stat I look at now are the macro-trends. How does a hitter do against LHP\RHP? Baseball managers set their own lineups using this – how can I ignore it? How much does this team K? Beyond these, I look at baseball as a game – good hitters are good hitters. Bad pitchers are bad pitchers. Just match ’em up and go.
So without stats, how do you choose? I like to pick against journeyman pitchers, they are a known quantity – both to me and to the hitters who face them. It took me a long, long time to stop picking against rookies facing teams like the Yankees and Boston. They never seem to get lit up like I expect. I like to take midweek getaway day pitchers. I like to take 3,4, or 5 hitters – for obvious reasons.
Ballpark is a huge determinant – I bet I haven’t taken a guy in Petco or Metco all year, no matter how favorable the matchup. Rarely take anyone in Dodger Stadium or San Francisco either.
So what didn’t work? My main enemy is carelessness, especially on the weekend when I often set lineups quickly. I took Ortiz in an NL park, for example. Pure carelessness.
All too often I don’t trust my instincts on pitching and follow the herd. That has cost me to no end. It’s only when I get on a losing streak and I say to heck with it that I go with my instincts and take the PS regardless of the herd. And almost always it’s a good move.
I tend to take guys from the same teams and venues – need to expand out of my comfort zone. May be the reason I’m still too streaky, as those teams go, so do my BBC fortunes.
So that’s the first half in a nutshell – I should end up on the LB this half, somewhere in the upper 40s.
Thanks for indulging me by reading this and thanks to Gomer for providing this opportunity. Good luck second half.
- Mo -
Rather than indulge in the micro-trends, the only stat I look at now are the macro-trends. How does a hitter do against LHP\RHP? Baseball managers set their own lineups using this – how can I ignore it? How much does this team K? Beyond these, I look at baseball as a game – good hitters are good hitters. Bad pitchers are bad pitchers. Just match ’em up and go.
So without stats, how do you choose? I like to pick against journeyman pitchers, they are a known quantity – both to me and to the hitters who face them. It took me a long, long time to stop picking against rookies facing teams like the Yankees and Boston. They never seem to get lit up like I expect. I like to take midweek getaway day pitchers. I like to take 3,4, or 5 hitters – for obvious reasons.
Ballpark is a huge determinant – I bet I haven’t taken a guy in Petco or Metco all year, no matter how favorable the matchup. Rarely take anyone in Dodger Stadium or San Francisco either.
So what didn’t work? My main enemy is carelessness, especially on the weekend when I often set lineups quickly. I took Ortiz in an NL park, for example. Pure carelessness.
All too often I don’t trust my instincts on pitching and follow the herd. That has cost me to no end. It’s only when I get on a losing streak and I say to heck with it that I go with my instincts and take the PS regardless of the herd. And almost always it’s a good move.
I tend to take guys from the same teams and venues – need to expand out of my comfort zone. May be the reason I’m still too streaky, as those teams go, so do my BBC fortunes.
So that’s the first half in a nutshell – I should end up on the LB this half, somewhere in the upper 40s.
Thanks for indulging me by reading this and thanks to Gomer for providing this opportunity. Good luck second half.
- Mo -
10 Ways by Gene Doucette
Gene Doucette’s Top Ten Ways to Make the Leaderboard:
1: get lucky.
2-10: see #1.
Okay, so it’s a bit disingenuous for someone who has been in the top 10 for four weeks (or so) to claim it’s all luck, but that is a lot closer to the truth than anything else I could have said.
Here’s the thing: if you spend a lot of time in the top 50 it’s easy to come to the conclusion that you’re doing something genius-like, but the reality is you’re doing a lot of the same things everybody else is doing, it’s just that it’s worked out better for you. This is my fourth year playing this game, and historically I’ve been fortunate to finish within the top 1000 up until now. If anything has changed it’s been that I’ve watched less baseball this year than I did in any of the other three years.
But that’s not particularly entertaining. Herewith, then, is:
Gene Doucette’s Amazing System
1: pick a pitching staff based on MLB.com’s "probable pitchers" breakdown and hope the writers there have some clue. Favor staffs at home and starting pitchers with high strikeout totals, pitchers whose last game was a good one, staffs facing a crappy team.
2: ignore weather reports unless you happen to have nothing better to do.
2a: curse yourself repeatedly for neglecting to check the weather.
3: pick bats more or less at random, relying almost entirely on:
a: the likelihood they will play
b: their BBC average over the past seven days
c: their batting average
d: the ERA and recent history of the pitcher they’re facing.
3a: be sure to ignore lefty-righty matchups (unless it’s a factor on whether they play); history against a pitcher; avoid the legendary "bum rule" (see below).
3b: accept that there are going to be DNP’s and move on with your life.
3c: likewise, accept that there will be certain positions you should not expect much from, for whatever reason, and go low at those positions when you can. Mine this year: Catcher and DH.
3d: understand that picking players that do well on average will benefit you in the long run more than trying to guess which players are going to have atypically extraordinary games. The slugger that hits a home run once every two games and strikes out every other time is great to have on the day he hits that home run, but I’d rather have the guy who gets on base a lot, can steal bases and so on. Nine of those guys will get you your 25-30 points a night (see below.)
4: never make picks based on whom everyone else is going to pick—either picking with or picking against. You will get yourself in a hell of a lot of trouble if you’re picking a pitching staff only because everyone else will be picking a more obvious one. Take the staff most likely, in your opinion, to get the best score. Besides which, you might be wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I picked a staff I thought would probably end up being the most popular, only to find myself in the minority.
5: don’t be afraid. If you’re wrong, there’s always tomorrow.
Gene Doucette’s Utterly Uncalled-For Rant Against the ‘Bum Rule’
Players that have a good game on Monday are no less likely to have a good game on Tuesday than they were if they had a bad game on Monday. The ‘Bum Rule’ is the sort of analysis that only makes sense after the fact, and is completely useless as a predictor of future events. If the only reason you’re not picking a "hot" player is because he had an unusually good game, you’re making a mistake. That said, it is probably a good idea not to assume that a player averaging 7 BBC points in the past seven days is going to be keeping up that pace. Or to get angry when they don’t.
Taoism and the BBC
I am a terrible leaderboard participant, I have to say. The last ballgame I actually watched was an April game I had tickets for, and I only had the tickets because my mother couldn’t use them. I take maybe 15 minutes a night to do a lineup. I am generally happy when my hitters get at least 30, because 20 from a pitching staff is fairly easy, and a 50 point night is a good enough night, on average, to move me up in the rankings. I don’t really care if my most expensive player doesn’t do much for me on a given evening, because what I was paying for was the likelihood of a good score, not a guarantee of one, so as long as the rest of the team does okay, hey, whatever. My approach to a bad game one DH score is: hey, I’ve got X-number of points already and nine guys plus a pitching staff that hasn’t even started yet. I have perfected the art of underreacting.
Gene’s Utterly Uncalled-For Rant Against a ‘System’
The only real system you need is this:
1: pick the right pitching staff.
Any system you might be employing that goes beyond that is probably self-delusional, the same way ball players equate victories with the way they put on their socks on game day or whatever. This is why systems break down: they are created when something you did got you a good score, and so you did it again, thinking that was the reason. But if you pick any nine every-day professional hitters you’re going to get a decent score more often than not, no matter what system you employed to make those picks. I have tried picking the same players on multiple days, picking all players from the same team for a (non-DH) day, picking no two players from the same team, and so on. All of these approaches worked until they didn’t any more.
So relax. Or not. Whatever works best for you.
1: get lucky.
2-10: see #1.
Okay, so it’s a bit disingenuous for someone who has been in the top 10 for four weeks (or so) to claim it’s all luck, but that is a lot closer to the truth than anything else I could have said.
Here’s the thing: if you spend a lot of time in the top 50 it’s easy to come to the conclusion that you’re doing something genius-like, but the reality is you’re doing a lot of the same things everybody else is doing, it’s just that it’s worked out better for you. This is my fourth year playing this game, and historically I’ve been fortunate to finish within the top 1000 up until now. If anything has changed it’s been that I’ve watched less baseball this year than I did in any of the other three years.
But that’s not particularly entertaining. Herewith, then, is:
Gene Doucette’s Amazing System
1: pick a pitching staff based on MLB.com’s "probable pitchers" breakdown and hope the writers there have some clue. Favor staffs at home and starting pitchers with high strikeout totals, pitchers whose last game was a good one, staffs facing a crappy team.
2: ignore weather reports unless you happen to have nothing better to do.
2a: curse yourself repeatedly for neglecting to check the weather.
3: pick bats more or less at random, relying almost entirely on:
a: the likelihood they will play
b: their BBC average over the past seven days
c: their batting average
d: the ERA and recent history of the pitcher they’re facing.
3a: be sure to ignore lefty-righty matchups (unless it’s a factor on whether they play); history against a pitcher; avoid the legendary "bum rule" (see below).
3b: accept that there are going to be DNP’s and move on with your life.
3c: likewise, accept that there will be certain positions you should not expect much from, for whatever reason, and go low at those positions when you can. Mine this year: Catcher and DH.
3d: understand that picking players that do well on average will benefit you in the long run more than trying to guess which players are going to have atypically extraordinary games. The slugger that hits a home run once every two games and strikes out every other time is great to have on the day he hits that home run, but I’d rather have the guy who gets on base a lot, can steal bases and so on. Nine of those guys will get you your 25-30 points a night (see below.)
4: never make picks based on whom everyone else is going to pick—either picking with or picking against. You will get yourself in a hell of a lot of trouble if you’re picking a pitching staff only because everyone else will be picking a more obvious one. Take the staff most likely, in your opinion, to get the best score. Besides which, you might be wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I picked a staff I thought would probably end up being the most popular, only to find myself in the minority.
5: don’t be afraid. If you’re wrong, there’s always tomorrow.
Gene Doucette’s Utterly Uncalled-For Rant Against the ‘Bum Rule’
Players that have a good game on Monday are no less likely to have a good game on Tuesday than they were if they had a bad game on Monday. The ‘Bum Rule’ is the sort of analysis that only makes sense after the fact, and is completely useless as a predictor of future events. If the only reason you’re not picking a "hot" player is because he had an unusually good game, you’re making a mistake. That said, it is probably a good idea not to assume that a player averaging 7 BBC points in the past seven days is going to be keeping up that pace. Or to get angry when they don’t.
Taoism and the BBC
I am a terrible leaderboard participant, I have to say. The last ballgame I actually watched was an April game I had tickets for, and I only had the tickets because my mother couldn’t use them. I take maybe 15 minutes a night to do a lineup. I am generally happy when my hitters get at least 30, because 20 from a pitching staff is fairly easy, and a 50 point night is a good enough night, on average, to move me up in the rankings. I don’t really care if my most expensive player doesn’t do much for me on a given evening, because what I was paying for was the likelihood of a good score, not a guarantee of one, so as long as the rest of the team does okay, hey, whatever. My approach to a bad game one DH score is: hey, I’ve got X-number of points already and nine guys plus a pitching staff that hasn’t even started yet. I have perfected the art of underreacting.
Gene’s Utterly Uncalled-For Rant Against a ‘System’
The only real system you need is this:
1: pick the right pitching staff.
Any system you might be employing that goes beyond that is probably self-delusional, the same way ball players equate victories with the way they put on their socks on game day or whatever. This is why systems break down: they are created when something you did got you a good score, and so you did it again, thinking that was the reason. But if you pick any nine every-day professional hitters you’re going to get a decent score more often than not, no matter what system you employed to make those picks. I have tried picking the same players on multiple days, picking all players from the same team for a (non-DH) day, picking no two players from the same team, and so on. All of these approaches worked until they didn’t any more.
So relax. Or not. Whatever works best for you.
The Wind and Ross Gload by Hansob
A quick look at things that I think are overused or underused:
Overused: Wind outside of Wrigley Field. I sat in Busch stadium a couple weeks ago and watched the flags in the outfield blowing the exact opposite direction as the flags on top of a building 4 blocks away. Just sayin'.
Underused: Wind at Wrigley Field. The run lines give you a good idea of how wind affects Wrigley. Two marginal pitchers + 15 MPH IN from CF = about 7.5-8. Two marginal pitchers + 15MPH OUT to CF = 12. Always know the wind forecast at Wrigley.
Overused: pitcher vs batter. Sorry, but it takes at least 80 ABs for it to matter, but when the hitter and pitcher get to 80 ABs, they're usually in their middle to late 30's and different players than they were 10 years ago. Not saying it's completely useless, but I don't care if Luke Scott is hitting 0.500 with 3HRs in 12 ABs against Roy Halladay. I'm still not taking him.
Underused: Opponent's K's when choosing PS. K's are a HUGE part of your overall PS score. Some teams strike out about 8 times per game. Some only K about 5.5 times per game. That extra K or two from strikeout-prone teams can add up.
Other notes:Know your switch hitters. Shane Victorino hits lefties better than he hits righties. Berkman hits righties better and is borderline CRAP against lefties. Just two examples.
And never, ever, under any circumstances take Ross Gload.
Overused: Wind outside of Wrigley Field. I sat in Busch stadium a couple weeks ago and watched the flags in the outfield blowing the exact opposite direction as the flags on top of a building 4 blocks away. Just sayin'.
Underused: Wind at Wrigley Field. The run lines give you a good idea of how wind affects Wrigley. Two marginal pitchers + 15 MPH IN from CF = about 7.5-8. Two marginal pitchers + 15MPH OUT to CF = 12. Always know the wind forecast at Wrigley.
Overused: pitcher vs batter. Sorry, but it takes at least 80 ABs for it to matter, but when the hitter and pitcher get to 80 ABs, they're usually in their middle to late 30's and different players than they were 10 years ago. Not saying it's completely useless, but I don't care if Luke Scott is hitting 0.500 with 3HRs in 12 ABs against Roy Halladay. I'm still not taking him.
Underused: Opponent's K's when choosing PS. K's are a HUGE part of your overall PS score. Some teams strike out about 8 times per game. Some only K about 5.5 times per game. That extra K or two from strikeout-prone teams can add up.
Other notes:Know your switch hitters. Shane Victorino hits lefties better than he hits righties. Berkman hits righties better and is borderline CRAP against lefties. Just two examples.
And never, ever, under any circumstances take Ross Gload.
Gonna Just Babble by Mike Cincotta
Gonna just babble and see where I go with this.
1st and foremost I treat BBC like a game even though it frustrates me and has ruined many a nite, much to the chagrin of Alice. When u r competitive I guess that is just the way it is, Alice, bless her, puts uP with it and no longer threatens to "shut me down." I stumbled onto BBC about 6 years ago after someone introduced me to a money Pigskin Pickem league. Since then I was hooked by the utter simplicity of the game and by the everyday grind, probably why I like it so much better than any football fantasy game.
I don't really have any overall strategies, I don't keep statistics as to how I have done in the past, just know that I have been on LB most times that I was able to concentrate on the game from start to finish. I was lucky to connect with Kevin aka foregolfing, years ago, and he has helped me when I was unable and I believe that a good west coast contact is a benefit for those late game injuries, a la Vlad last week. My major weakness in playing BBC is that I get frustrated too easily and forget that baseball is a long haul, and every so often after a particularly brutal nite I phone in my l/u the next day or 2, still reeling from the previous implosion. And of course I have to mention my penchant for last second changes, usually I do so for no reason other than making a change. This half I have vowed to take 1st instinct staff every nite and will keep to that promise.
As far as how I put a team together I always start with the PS and it really won't be news to anybody but Home team, Ks, Ballpark, opponent's strength and recent performance as well as previous matchuPs vs team are what I look at. I never look at any of the new age stats that I can't even remember the names of, involving balls in play etc, maybe that is why I am a Top 25 player and not Top 5, but like I said I keep the game simple and go mainly by instinct. I rarely if ever take a staff vs Boston/Yanks/Philly/Tampa due to their lineuPs offensive potential and don't like taking a staff when another stud is throwing against them. I usually look at the SP only, not trusting the pens of any teams. I forgot this and made a mistake that led me to drop Haren last week after the 10 run pen implosion the nite before. I also prefer NL staffs that need not face a DH. Like I said, none of this is news to anyone here.
As far as hitting goes I usually pick out 3 or 4 of the worst SPs going and try to get a few guys vs them, preferably guys that are hitting well with power and who bat near the top of the lineuP. I always look at the BvP #s and follow them only when the #s are overwhelming, often times leading to disappointment however. Ballparks come into play, Coors East now is a great option and I almost never take a bat vs a dominant SP, for instance if Hanley is 10/10 over his last 2 games and is facing Timmy I will look elsewhere. With the current value system being as dumb as it gets I have been literally doing a l/u in 5 minutes for the entire half, part of why I have become bored with BBC. I enjoy having to work on a l/u and love when I have to search for someone that nobody else will have. Unfortunately, we now are playing a game that allows us to pick an all-star at every position and that just isn't much of a challenge. I love looking at Mo's morning breakdown and just wish that the top 2 guys at every position weren't the same every day. I mean how are u supposed to take Crede over Arod when there really is no cap to worry about.
I want to thank Gomer for putting this together and for all the work that he has put into this Blog, as well as the efforts of Mo and all of the regular and/or semi regular MB posters.
2 more things that I just thought of. Because of my "always being online" and able to help out, I have been entrusted with the passwords of many of the heavy hitters (fore, gandrus, rreap, krig, bbking, emheffner, santafecard)
And last but not least, WIND.
Cya for the 2nd half. Hope they fix the values but have no confidence in that happening. Will play no matter and try for 3rd or 4th Top 20 overall.
Thanks Gomer.Peace,MikeC
1st and foremost I treat BBC like a game even though it frustrates me and has ruined many a nite, much to the chagrin of Alice. When u r competitive I guess that is just the way it is, Alice, bless her, puts uP with it and no longer threatens to "shut me down." I stumbled onto BBC about 6 years ago after someone introduced me to a money Pigskin Pickem league. Since then I was hooked by the utter simplicity of the game and by the everyday grind, probably why I like it so much better than any football fantasy game.
I don't really have any overall strategies, I don't keep statistics as to how I have done in the past, just know that I have been on LB most times that I was able to concentrate on the game from start to finish. I was lucky to connect with Kevin aka foregolfing, years ago, and he has helped me when I was unable and I believe that a good west coast contact is a benefit for those late game injuries, a la Vlad last week. My major weakness in playing BBC is that I get frustrated too easily and forget that baseball is a long haul, and every so often after a particularly brutal nite I phone in my l/u the next day or 2, still reeling from the previous implosion. And of course I have to mention my penchant for last second changes, usually I do so for no reason other than making a change. This half I have vowed to take 1st instinct staff every nite and will keep to that promise.
As far as how I put a team together I always start with the PS and it really won't be news to anybody but Home team, Ks, Ballpark, opponent's strength and recent performance as well as previous matchuPs vs team are what I look at. I never look at any of the new age stats that I can't even remember the names of, involving balls in play etc, maybe that is why I am a Top 25 player and not Top 5, but like I said I keep the game simple and go mainly by instinct. I rarely if ever take a staff vs Boston/Yanks/Philly/Tampa due to their lineuPs offensive potential and don't like taking a staff when another stud is throwing against them. I usually look at the SP only, not trusting the pens of any teams. I forgot this and made a mistake that led me to drop Haren last week after the 10 run pen implosion the nite before. I also prefer NL staffs that need not face a DH. Like I said, none of this is news to anyone here.
As far as hitting goes I usually pick out 3 or 4 of the worst SPs going and try to get a few guys vs them, preferably guys that are hitting well with power and who bat near the top of the lineuP. I always look at the BvP #s and follow them only when the #s are overwhelming, often times leading to disappointment however. Ballparks come into play, Coors East now is a great option and I almost never take a bat vs a dominant SP, for instance if Hanley is 10/10 over his last 2 games and is facing Timmy I will look elsewhere. With the current value system being as dumb as it gets I have been literally doing a l/u in 5 minutes for the entire half, part of why I have become bored with BBC. I enjoy having to work on a l/u and love when I have to search for someone that nobody else will have. Unfortunately, we now are playing a game that allows us to pick an all-star at every position and that just isn't much of a challenge. I love looking at Mo's morning breakdown and just wish that the top 2 guys at every position weren't the same every day. I mean how are u supposed to take Crede over Arod when there really is no cap to worry about.
I want to thank Gomer for putting this together and for all the work that he has put into this Blog, as well as the efforts of Mo and all of the regular and/or semi regular MB posters.
2 more things that I just thought of. Because of my "always being online" and able to help out, I have been entrusted with the passwords of many of the heavy hitters (fore, gandrus, rreap, krig, bbking, emheffner, santafecard)
And last but not least, WIND.
Cya for the 2nd half. Hope they fix the values but have no confidence in that happening. Will play no matter and try for 3rd or 4th Top 20 overall.
Thanks Gomer.Peace,MikeC
Tips and Tricks by ReturntogloryND
So, now that you heard from all the elites giving useful advice, here is some you can ignore. I’m a proud member of the country club, but am one who is having an off season. Luckily, this is not the Premiership, otherwise I’d be kicked to the "other board". I am ranked 5456 and ready to get a fresh start in the second half. I ended the half with a bang with my first 400+ week of the season and a 92 (highest score of the day in the CC)... hopefully the momentum carries over!
A little background on me, I’ve been playing the game for 8 years now. Some years, I’ve been fully dedicated to the game, and some years I’d play for a few weeks off and on. Now, I am a full-timer. Back in the day, I’d post as the $$$ lineup, when I was riding on the leaderboard for a while, but in an attempt to get to 1st at the very end with crazy picks, I had unfortunately fell off
.....and now on to the good stuff
In accordance with gomer’s blog, these are my tips & tricks, and I’m sure it won’t fit everyone’s style.
1. Know when to take the minority PS – exceptions Lincecum/Beckett/King Felix right now, but it changes throughout the season
Example 1 – JA Happ of Phillies gets me 28 pts @ Petco only time I have taken Phillies staff this year
Example 2 – Trevor Cahill & Josh Outman avg 28 pts only two times I have taken A’s staff this year
Will this strategy always work? Absolutely not, but when it does, it is automatically a good day no matter how bad your bats suck.2.
Stay consistent. Pick it the same way each time. If you don’t like your team after it is picked, consider changing part of your strategy, but continue to stay consistent.
3. Know your Hitters parks (Phillies, Reds, Coors East, Coors, etc) to avoid obvious PS implosions
4. Know your Pitchers parks (Mets, Padres, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor for both 3 &4)
5. Back to one... how do you identify such gems as the examples above – recent quality starts, pitcher’s parks, weak hitters
10. Have Fun! Enjoy, post, compete, and enjoy the country club
Did I miss a few numbers? Well, I can’t let you in on all of my strategy. After all, you don’t want to be down in the 5000s with me.
Random Stats
Most often picked batter
Pujols – 173 pts, 35 games, 4.9 avg, more points than all but my top 3 pitching staffs
Highest Avg batter
Prince Fielder – twice with 12.0 avg
Wes Helms – once with 12.0 avg (just proves you don’t need to pick the big bats)
Highest Avg batter (min 5 games)
Ryan Ludwick – 6.2 avg (6 games)
Ryan Zimmerman – 5.9 avg (7 games)
Apparently, you need to be named Ryan.... others named Ryan
Ryan Doumit – 9.5 avg (2 games)
Ryan Braun – 4.5 avg (10 games)
Ryan Howard – 4.0 avg (4 games)
Ryan Theriot – 3.5 avg (4 games)
Ryan Church – 1.0 avg (1 game) – well, maybe he’ll be better as a Brave, but as a Mets fan, I wasn’t thrilled to see him traded
In honor of this Ryan revelation, all of them will be in a lineup of mine for the second half, I just don’t know when that will be yet.
Am I still blogging ... or has the hook already taken me off?
Good luck to everyone in the Second Half!-(not Ryan) James (return2glorynd)
A little background on me, I’ve been playing the game for 8 years now. Some years, I’ve been fully dedicated to the game, and some years I’d play for a few weeks off and on. Now, I am a full-timer. Back in the day, I’d post as the $$$ lineup, when I was riding on the leaderboard for a while, but in an attempt to get to 1st at the very end with crazy picks, I had unfortunately fell off
.....and now on to the good stuff
In accordance with gomer’s blog, these are my tips & tricks, and I’m sure it won’t fit everyone’s style.
1. Know when to take the minority PS – exceptions Lincecum/Beckett/King Felix right now, but it changes throughout the season
Example 1 – JA Happ of Phillies gets me 28 pts @ Petco only time I have taken Phillies staff this year
Example 2 – Trevor Cahill & Josh Outman avg 28 pts only two times I have taken A’s staff this year
Will this strategy always work? Absolutely not, but when it does, it is automatically a good day no matter how bad your bats suck.2.
Stay consistent. Pick it the same way each time. If you don’t like your team after it is picked, consider changing part of your strategy, but continue to stay consistent.
3. Know your Hitters parks (Phillies, Reds, Coors East, Coors, etc) to avoid obvious PS implosions
4. Know your Pitchers parks (Mets, Padres, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor for both 3 &4)
5. Back to one... how do you identify such gems as the examples above – recent quality starts, pitcher’s parks, weak hitters
10. Have Fun! Enjoy, post, compete, and enjoy the country club
Did I miss a few numbers? Well, I can’t let you in on all of my strategy. After all, you don’t want to be down in the 5000s with me.
Random Stats
Most often picked batter
Pujols – 173 pts, 35 games, 4.9 avg, more points than all but my top 3 pitching staffs
Highest Avg batter
Prince Fielder – twice with 12.0 avg
Wes Helms – once with 12.0 avg (just proves you don’t need to pick the big bats)
Highest Avg batter (min 5 games)
Ryan Ludwick – 6.2 avg (6 games)
Ryan Zimmerman – 5.9 avg (7 games)
Apparently, you need to be named Ryan.... others named Ryan
Ryan Doumit – 9.5 avg (2 games)
Ryan Braun – 4.5 avg (10 games)
Ryan Howard – 4.0 avg (4 games)
Ryan Theriot – 3.5 avg (4 games)
Ryan Church – 1.0 avg (1 game) – well, maybe he’ll be better as a Brave, but as a Mets fan, I wasn’t thrilled to see him traded
In honor of this Ryan revelation, all of them will be in a lineup of mine for the second half, I just don’t know when that will be yet.
Am I still blogging ... or has the hook already taken me off?
Good luck to everyone in the Second Half!-(not Ryan) James (return2glorynd)
How Salaries Effect the Game by RReap
Well the 1st half's results were disappointing from the overall finish standpoint...56th and I think my 2nd finish off the leaderboard in the last 22 halves. I got off to a bad start for a variety of reasons and was in the thousands in late May and already 400 points back from the overall lead. A few good weeks made up 100 points on the lead and over a thousand spots overall. Then a bad week dropped me another 100 points behind Pouliot and I knew the overall was done. Bad PS picks in the beginning, middle and end sealed my fate. Before last week another strong week allowed me to crack the top 50 at 38th and moved within 250 of Matt, before 3 bad staffs in a row dropped me back off the leaderboard and couldn't make up the ground the last 3 days...I did pick up 100 points on Pouliot in the past 2 months, but simply to far back to matter.
To me the game has changed a lot from the 2 halves that I won. While PS is always the most important selection, the salaries have changed a lot about the way I play this game. Several yrs ago, there were always 4-5 very reliable starters that everyone picked so hitters were actually very important. When the higher salaries kicked in, you immediately saw certain familiar faces moving up the leaderboard. Lineups then took more thought when deciding on which 2-3 cheap guys would play and which positions were best to sacrifice in order to get 6-7 studs with great matchups. Coors Field used to also cause a lot of similar lineups and has taken me too many years to stay away from...now that it is much more of average hitters park.
When salaries were high and PS picks were very similar it took more time to figure out the best cheap guys that would play and over time definitely separated the casual players from the contenders. Now that I don't have nearly the amount time that I once did, it doesn't really matter as much since you can pretty much take every player you want at every position. With starters becoming less predictable and bullpens being less reliable, there is a lot more chance that any of the logical best 2-3 PS picks could blow up in your face.
The competition is much stronger now with the salaries leveling the playing field. Whichever of the top players avoids the most PS blowups stands a great chance of being at the top at the end. Spending more time on the lineup may help avoid some DNP's and maybe add 100 points to your total but the bottom line is the PS means more now then ever. If there are 3 good choices, I generally prefer a home National League starter, a solid favorite, o/u 8 or less vs a road favorite or an American League starter (esp in a hitters park). That cost me a lot of good starts by Greinke early in the year and Verlander all half. Probably sticking with Santana too often is a good example of living in the past. Should have taken more Dodger staffs because of the home pitcher's park and the great pen. Didn't really have any faith in the SF staff this half either beside Lincecum (who has become the only starter that will chosen unanimously this half). Should have taken Cain more than once...
Picking again weak lineups and 2 to 1 favorites is usually what I lean towards when there are no real good PS matchups. Currently the Nationals, Padres and Royals come to mind...
Considering that my finishes have declined since I won the halves, maybe I need to come up with some better strategies of picking staffs...
Well those are my random, disjointed thoughts about ESPN's current BBC game...
I'll always enjoy it even if I don't do as well. Higher salaries or at least logical increases/decreases would certainly increase the enjoyment, but I don't see anyone at ESPN paying any attention to those matters. Well good luck in the 2nd half everyone!
To me the game has changed a lot from the 2 halves that I won. While PS is always the most important selection, the salaries have changed a lot about the way I play this game. Several yrs ago, there were always 4-5 very reliable starters that everyone picked so hitters were actually very important. When the higher salaries kicked in, you immediately saw certain familiar faces moving up the leaderboard. Lineups then took more thought when deciding on which 2-3 cheap guys would play and which positions were best to sacrifice in order to get 6-7 studs with great matchups. Coors Field used to also cause a lot of similar lineups and has taken me too many years to stay away from...now that it is much more of average hitters park.
When salaries were high and PS picks were very similar it took more time to figure out the best cheap guys that would play and over time definitely separated the casual players from the contenders. Now that I don't have nearly the amount time that I once did, it doesn't really matter as much since you can pretty much take every player you want at every position. With starters becoming less predictable and bullpens being less reliable, there is a lot more chance that any of the logical best 2-3 PS picks could blow up in your face.
The competition is much stronger now with the salaries leveling the playing field. Whichever of the top players avoids the most PS blowups stands a great chance of being at the top at the end. Spending more time on the lineup may help avoid some DNP's and maybe add 100 points to your total but the bottom line is the PS means more now then ever. If there are 3 good choices, I generally prefer a home National League starter, a solid favorite, o/u 8 or less vs a road favorite or an American League starter (esp in a hitters park). That cost me a lot of good starts by Greinke early in the year and Verlander all half. Probably sticking with Santana too often is a good example of living in the past. Should have taken more Dodger staffs because of the home pitcher's park and the great pen. Didn't really have any faith in the SF staff this half either beside Lincecum (who has become the only starter that will chosen unanimously this half). Should have taken Cain more than once...
Picking again weak lineups and 2 to 1 favorites is usually what I lean towards when there are no real good PS matchups. Currently the Nationals, Padres and Royals come to mind...
Considering that my finishes have declined since I won the halves, maybe I need to come up with some better strategies of picking staffs...
Well those are my random, disjointed thoughts about ESPN's current BBC game...
I'll always enjoy it even if I don't do as well. Higher salaries or at least logical increases/decreases would certainly increase the enjoyment, but I don't see anyone at ESPN paying any attention to those matters. Well good luck in the 2nd half everyone!
Strategies and Frustrations by George Michaelides
Strategies: Selecting who you believe will be the top pitching staff should always be first priority and build your lineup around this pick. Building your lineup around Pujols isn't a bad idea either.
In general I select the best combination of hitters that are on hot streaks and others that have the best batter vs pitcher stats. I look for guys playing in the hitter's parks as well to plug into the lineup to reap the benefits of the high scoring games. I keep my eye out for the cheap undervalued players at certain positions to plug in that allows me to load up on more higher priced/higher producing players at other positions.
Frustrations: It always seems like the players I had in my lineup the day before go off the next day after I drop them and put a different player into my lineup. Also whenever I work on my next day's lineup early before the games start for the day it always seems like the players I have in my lineup for tomorrow go off that night.Overall I try to keep it fun but of course as with any fantasy diehard end up taking it way too seriously!
Good luck to everyone in the second half!George Michaelides a.k.a Big Poppa Pump
In general I select the best combination of hitters that are on hot streaks and others that have the best batter vs pitcher stats. I look for guys playing in the hitter's parks as well to plug into the lineup to reap the benefits of the high scoring games. I keep my eye out for the cheap undervalued players at certain positions to plug in that allows me to load up on more higher priced/higher producing players at other positions.
Frustrations: It always seems like the players I had in my lineup the day before go off the next day after I drop them and put a different player into my lineup. Also whenever I work on my next day's lineup early before the games start for the day it always seems like the players I have in my lineup for tomorrow go off that night.Overall I try to keep it fun but of course as with any fantasy diehard end up taking it way too seriously!
Good luck to everyone in the second half!George Michaelides a.k.a Big Poppa Pump
It's All About the Poo-Hole! by Mindy Jo
I learned one important thing this half: Albert really is GOD. You have to take him every day no matter what. I got tired of low scores when he was pitched around and dropped him a couple of times. June 21 I dropped Albert and took Branyan for 0. Albert went for 19. June 27 I took Justin Morneau for 1 point while Albert had two homers and 15 points. So NEVER give up on Albert.
mindyjo
mindyjo
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, the 13th
Good morning, everyone. I will take this time to thank you all again for the support on this thing. Your comments and the fact that many of you get value out of it is why I will continue to provide it on a daily basis into the second half. The latter end of this week will be a bit tough, as I will be out of town for a wedding, but I should be able to keep it running at the standard that has been set thus far. Just bear with me.
ALL STAR TUESDAY
Please don't forget to check back in tomorrow, as I have recieved a number of articles from a number of the "BBC Greats" regarding their thoughts, feelings and ramblings about this game. More are expected to come in as the day goes by as well. I will post all of these tomorrow morning and, from what I have read so far, there will be some really good advice that you may find helpful as we go into the second half of the season and welcome the fresh start. Thanks again to all of you that are helpin g me with this. Your work and time are greatly appreciated.
YESTERDAY
It turned out to be a pretty decent double header, expecially if you had Ludwick. I did, and he led my bats with 19 points. My non-DH bats blew chunks as Wells, Utley and Mauer combined for only 5. The Cubbies outscored the Cards from a pitching standpoint and had it not been for the Beckett, would have been the top staff of the day. My final score for the day of 80 bumped me up to 15th overall in the final standings. While I really had hoped for a top 10 finish after being there for the majority of the half, I can't and won't complain about my first LB finish in 7 years. Now I have the daunting task of trying to repeat the effort.
HOW TO PLAY A DOUBLE-HEADER
This topic comes up every year, in fact every time there is a DH it is one of the most discussed arguments. Do you take a bat, or multiple bats, against your starter? To put it simply, Yes, I do. Personally, I don't know why it is even argued. The bottom line is this. Whatever you feel will get you the most points at a given position is the way to go. Who they play for is irrelevant. Here is why I feel the way I do.
For starters, there have been 8 double dips so far this season. I have taken a DH staff in 6 of these, have averaged 86 ppg on DH days, and have taken 10 bats against my starter in these games. Let's use yesterdays action as a template for the conversation.
I went into yesterday believing that the Cubs staff of Z and Wells was better than what the Cards were putting up. The Cubbies were also at home, so if I was going to take a DH staff, the Cubs were going to be the one. Both Z and Wells have had pretty good seasons and are more likely to give me 20 points than they are to give me zero. I asked myself if they could get a minimum of 15 each and the answer was yes. Being that there was also a chance, albeit a slight one, that they could get me 50-60 points, I elected to take them over Verlander and Beckett.
Now that the staff is set, I go position by position, looking only at DH participants in order to find my lineup. I settled on ARam, Theriot and Soriano as my Cubs (passing on Lee due to him leaving Saturday's game with a neck issue). I also had Ludwick, Rasmus and Pujols for the Cards. This gave me six DH bats, three on each side. You see that I did take 3 bats against my staff in this case. If I had needed to go with 4, and truly believed that they were my best option for points, I would have had to rethink my PS selection. I use three opposing bats as my personal maximum in order to determine if I have the correct staff. Now, I will give you a list of two lineups - mine and an imaginary one of someone who did not want to have a bat opposing his starter. My team will be the first one:
C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Utley
3B: ARam
SS: Theriot
LF: Fonzie
CF: Wells
RF: Ludwick
DH: Rasmus
PS: Cubs
C: Mauer
1B: Lee
2B: Utley
3B: ARam
SS: Theriot
LF: Fonzie
CF: Wells
RF: Fukudome
DH: Stewart (randomly selected and was the next most popular)
PS: Cubs
Now, The differences in these teams are at first, right, and DH. At first, Pujols outscored Lee 5-2. In right, Ludwick outscored Fukudome 19-1. At DH, Rasmus outscored Stewart 7-3. With my team, you improved your score yesterday by 25 points by not being affraid to take bats against your starter.
Keep in mind that I only do this in DH situations. I think people get confused between "it affects my outcome" and "it makes it harder to watch the game". When Luddy went deep twice last night, I came out 2 points ahead. He got 7 for each HR and Rasmus, who scored on both of them got 1 point. My staff lost 7 points. 16-14=2. If you did not take Luddy only because you had the Cubs staff, you lost significant points. Do you see my point?
When choosing DH players, take the ones that make sense. ARod, Pujols, Braun, Prince, Ryho are just a few examples of when to go against what you do on a daily basis in this case.
I hope this helps, and thanks for reading.
ALL STAR TUESDAY
Please don't forget to check back in tomorrow, as I have recieved a number of articles from a number of the "BBC Greats" regarding their thoughts, feelings and ramblings about this game. More are expected to come in as the day goes by as well. I will post all of these tomorrow morning and, from what I have read so far, there will be some really good advice that you may find helpful as we go into the second half of the season and welcome the fresh start. Thanks again to all of you that are helpin g me with this. Your work and time are greatly appreciated.
YESTERDAY
It turned out to be a pretty decent double header, expecially if you had Ludwick. I did, and he led my bats with 19 points. My non-DH bats blew chunks as Wells, Utley and Mauer combined for only 5. The Cubbies outscored the Cards from a pitching standpoint and had it not been for the Beckett, would have been the top staff of the day. My final score for the day of 80 bumped me up to 15th overall in the final standings. While I really had hoped for a top 10 finish after being there for the majority of the half, I can't and won't complain about my first LB finish in 7 years. Now I have the daunting task of trying to repeat the effort.
HOW TO PLAY A DOUBLE-HEADER
This topic comes up every year, in fact every time there is a DH it is one of the most discussed arguments. Do you take a bat, or multiple bats, against your starter? To put it simply, Yes, I do. Personally, I don't know why it is even argued. The bottom line is this. Whatever you feel will get you the most points at a given position is the way to go. Who they play for is irrelevant. Here is why I feel the way I do.
For starters, there have been 8 double dips so far this season. I have taken a DH staff in 6 of these, have averaged 86 ppg on DH days, and have taken 10 bats against my starter in these games. Let's use yesterdays action as a template for the conversation.
I went into yesterday believing that the Cubs staff of Z and Wells was better than what the Cards were putting up. The Cubbies were also at home, so if I was going to take a DH staff, the Cubs were going to be the one. Both Z and Wells have had pretty good seasons and are more likely to give me 20 points than they are to give me zero. I asked myself if they could get a minimum of 15 each and the answer was yes. Being that there was also a chance, albeit a slight one, that they could get me 50-60 points, I elected to take them over Verlander and Beckett.
Now that the staff is set, I go position by position, looking only at DH participants in order to find my lineup. I settled on ARam, Theriot and Soriano as my Cubs (passing on Lee due to him leaving Saturday's game with a neck issue). I also had Ludwick, Rasmus and Pujols for the Cards. This gave me six DH bats, three on each side. You see that I did take 3 bats against my staff in this case. If I had needed to go with 4, and truly believed that they were my best option for points, I would have had to rethink my PS selection. I use three opposing bats as my personal maximum in order to determine if I have the correct staff. Now, I will give you a list of two lineups - mine and an imaginary one of someone who did not want to have a bat opposing his starter. My team will be the first one:
C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Utley
3B: ARam
SS: Theriot
LF: Fonzie
CF: Wells
RF: Ludwick
DH: Rasmus
PS: Cubs
C: Mauer
1B: Lee
2B: Utley
3B: ARam
SS: Theriot
LF: Fonzie
CF: Wells
RF: Fukudome
DH: Stewart (randomly selected and was the next most popular)
PS: Cubs
Now, The differences in these teams are at first, right, and DH. At first, Pujols outscored Lee 5-2. In right, Ludwick outscored Fukudome 19-1. At DH, Rasmus outscored Stewart 7-3. With my team, you improved your score yesterday by 25 points by not being affraid to take bats against your starter.
Keep in mind that I only do this in DH situations. I think people get confused between "it affects my outcome" and "it makes it harder to watch the game". When Luddy went deep twice last night, I came out 2 points ahead. He got 7 for each HR and Rasmus, who scored on both of them got 1 point. My staff lost 7 points. 16-14=2. If you did not take Luddy only because you had the Cubs staff, you lost significant points. Do you see my point?
When choosing DH players, take the ones that make sense. ARod, Pujols, Braun, Prince, Ryho are just a few examples of when to go against what you do on a daily basis in this case.
I hope this helps, and thanks for reading.
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