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WEEK 13 JUST HAPPENED AND IT WILL BE DISCUSSED BUT FIRST…….FIRST NOW FEELS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO ONCE AND FOR ALL CLARIFY THE PLAYOFF TIEBREAKER SITUATION. SINCE THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A BIT OF CONFUSION FROM THE TOP ONNNNNN DOWN. SO SEE BELOW FOR THE PLAYOFF TIEBREAKERS AS DECIDED BY THE COMMISSIONER AS RELAYED TO YOU BY ME…….
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1st Tiebreaker – Head To Head Record – Pretty self explanatory, if you won the season series against a team (PERHAPS BY SSS, SEASON SERIES SWEEP) then you obviously own the tiebreaker over a team. So since everyone plays everyone twice that refers to going 2-0 or 1-0-1 against an opponent.
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2nd Tiebreaker – Division Record – A FANCY NEW WRINKLE, pretty sure nobody is thinking about the divisions at alllll right now but once we get to week 18 all of you are going to all of a sudden remember there are divisions and scramble to check your division records. FORTUNATELY I have taken the liberty of tallying those up, as all division matchups are now over weirdly enough. WOMP WOMP. The Manchester MooniniteZ went 6-1-1 against their division in 2017, CHECK YOUR OWN RECORDS BELOW!
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3rd Tiebreaker – Wins – This one seems especially poignant considering the many many ties of the OceanGate Trout Fishing Club but YEA, if two teams have the same win percentage and one team has more actual WINS then that team will have the 3rd tiebreaker, assuming you have to get all the way down to the third tiebreaker. Dear god I hope we never have to get past the 3rd tiebreaker. FANCY NEW WRINKLE, pretty sure nobody is thinking about the divisions at alllll right now but once we get to week 18 all of you are going to all of a sudden remember there are divisions and scramble to check your division records. WOMP WOMP. The Manchester MooniniteZ went 6-1-1 against their division in 2017, CHECK YOUR OWN RECORDS NOW!
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4th Tiebreaker – Record Last 9 Games – BUT IF WE DO have to go to the rare air of the 4th tiebreaker, the team that put together a better second half will be the team that owns said tiebreaker. Championships aren’t won in April folks.
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NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, YOUR 2017 DIVISION RECORDS
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
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Barnegat Banana Slugs: 5-3
Point Loma X-Rayz: 5-3
Astoria Isotopes: 4-3-1
Rojo’s Renegade Force: 3-4-1
Toms River Titans: 2-6
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
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Manchester MooniniteZ: 6-1-1
River City Bad Dudes: 5-2-1
Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz: 3-4-1
OceanGate Trout Fishing Club: 1-3-4 (you jackass you)
Q-Tip City Morning Wood: 1-6-1
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Okayyyy that’s that, those looking for possible drama here can LOOK NOT FURTHER than…. Please direct all inquiries to the Commish, now let’s SOMEWHAT SUCCINCTLY review some shit…..
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Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz Use a Slumpbuster To Bust Slump, And That Slumpbuster’s Name Is Q-Tip City Morning Wood – 12-1-1
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MVP: Adam Duvall – HAVE YOURSELF A WEEK MR. DUVALL. I can barely tell Duvall and Scott Schebler apart aside from the fact that I own one of them and not the other. Last week I would have preferred to own Adam here. 9/24, 6 Rs, 5 2Bs, 3 HRs, 10 RBIs, 1 SB, .393 OBP ***MVP OF THE WEEK***
LVP: Mitch Haniger – Apparently Mitch recently (recently enough) made his triumphant return from injury, not sure how it is going OVERALL but last week it didn’t go well. 1/15, .067 OBP ***LVP OF THE WEEK***
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BDSliderz Hitter Of Note: Carlos Santana I believe has been publicly shopped in the chat once or twice but I think he’s a pretty solid player and DESERVES MORE, the HR pace is certainly well down from 2016 however (8/25, 5 Rs, 4 2Bs, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 1 SB, .414 OBP).
BDSliderz Pitcher Of Note: Two excellent 7 IP starts outta Rich Hill and nary a blister to be found WHAT SORT OF WORLD IS THIS (14 IP, 3 ER, 18 Ks, 2 QS, 1 W, 1.93 ERA).
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Morning Wood Hitter Of Note: Jedd Gyorko valiantly joining Q-Tip City and vowing to go down with the ship (7/22, 3 Rs, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 1 SB, .448 OBP).
Morning Wood Pitcher Of Note: While Zack Greinke softly sings Dido’s “White Flag” in the background (12 IP, 3 ER, 13 Ks, 1 QS, 2 Ws, 2.25 ERA).
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Another week passes, another week where I have to review a Morning Wood loss. WHAT CAN BE SAID at this point? What I can say here is that Lacey Township came in having lost 5 straight matchups and so a date with the Erectionz was just what the doctor ordered here, as was a league-best 57 RBI performance from the squad. And yea this oneeee wasn’t particularly close overall, CLEARLY. JD Martinez and Brandon Belt each hit a Triple and nobody on the BDSliderz hit a triple and that is how you get your 1 category for the Morning Wood. Also there were no complete games, and that is how you get your tie. Also HRs was decently close (15-12) as was Wins (5-4) as was Holds (1-0). So REALLY a couple things break another way here and the Morning Wood are looking at sayyyyyy an 8-5-1 loss instead of this one, or something. For Lacey Twp this victory gets them back in fine position to challenge for the final 2 or 3 playoff spots, as they are now tied in record with both the 5th and 6th seeds and at least temporarily have the tiebreaker edge over the 5th (but not the 6th, SEE HOW CONFUSING THIS SHIT GETS?). The BackdoorSliderz will take on the Toms River Titans in Week 14, seeking a win because at this point everyone should just be seeking wins. And at all other points I guess, but NOW MORE THAN EVER. The Q-Tip City Morning Wood will play the Astoria Isotopes as they continue to play out their briefly up and then very much down inaugural season. Maybe they can pull off a surprise victory somewhere and play spoiler, but Vegas does NOT currently have them winning another game.
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Next Week aka This Week: BDSliderz v. Isotopes (7 v. 9), Morning Wood v. Isotopes (10 v. 6)
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MVP: Khris Davis – Khris Davis is officially the best Khris or Chris Davis in baseball currently FACT CHECK IT IF YOU MUST. I personally have always been a fan. So congrats on this presitigous award, Khris. And I am referring to “Best KChris Davis” not this MVP bullshit. 6/19, 7 Rs, 1 2B, 4 HRs, 8 RBIs, 1 SB, .500 OBP
LVP: Brandon Crawford – Brandon Crawford YOU SIR, were dropped this morning for a reason. 1/14, 1 RBI, .071 OBP
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Isotopes Hitter Of Note: Robinson Canoooo dontcha knowwww, frankly I am just excited to not have to write about Judge or Bellinger for one goddamned week (7/20, 4 Rs, 4 HRs, 9 RBIs, .381 OBP).
Isotopes Pitcher Of Note: And while we are at it, Jose Berrios REGRESSED slightly so lets make a note of that here as well (11.1 IP, 9 ER, 12 Ks, 7.15 ERA).
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RRF Hitter Of Note: George Springer continues to be prolific and just a nice little pickup for RRF (9/24, 7 Rs, 5 2Bs, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, .444 OBP).
RRF Pitcher Of Note: And also Corey Kluber continues to be rather good (8 IP, 1 ER, 12 Ks, 1 QS, 1 W, 1.13 ERA).
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The Isotopes continue to display superior power numbers compared to every other team in the league, however in Week 13 alllll that power amounted to a tie with RRF. Astoria set a 2017 record for HRs (24, 2 shy of tying the all-time record) and went 5-2 in the offensive categories, however on the pitching side they weren’t able to get it done and ended up only winning the (usually inevitable against RRF) Saves category. Rojo’s Renegade Force came prepared to do a bit of pitching in Week 13 (92 Ks and a 3.513 ERA, both 3rd best in the league last week) which combined with an underwhelming performance from the Isotopes staff to give them enough categories to deadlock everything at 6-6-2, so maybe FOR ONE WEEK it looked like a sensible strategy to punt Saves and win Holds. But no it still doesn’t look sensible when I am looking at it here. Never. Mind. This one had a decent chance for drama with the Isotopes rostering Michael Taylor in the late game and needing only a Double to tie that category and take back the victory. However Taylor did not get it done, and probably should be dropped for his failures, and Rojo’s Renegade Force won Doubles 13-12 and the tie was preserved. Going forward the Astoria Isotopes remain in the playoffs while Rojo’s Renegade Force remain just outside of them; the ‘Topes will take on the Morning Wood in a Week 14 matchup that I am sure they welcome, while the Renegade Force will take on the Bad Dudes in a Week 14 matchup they probably don’t necessarily welcome but NEVERTHELESS this is the league now everyone plays everyone twice do work son (RIP Big Black ;( ).
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Next Week aka This Week: Isotopes v. Morning Wood (6 v. 10), RRF v. Bad Dudes (8 v. I guess 2 currently?)
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MVP: Jose Abreu – JOSE ABREU SIGHTING. For perhaps like the first time since that time he was called out on the Twitters by the Boners. 10/30, 3 Rs, 5 2Bs, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs, .355 OBP
LVP: Addison Russell – Addy got on base a lot in Week 13 but it was just an EMPTY getting on base, which this blog never respects. 4/15, 1 R, .353 OBP
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Bad Dudes Hitter Of Note: Bryce Harper is still very good but at least I have been finding ways to stop putting his dumb pictures up on here (9/26, 6 Rs, 3 2Bs, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, .469 OBP).
Bad Dudes Pitcher Of Note: Carlos Carrasco STRUGGLED in his Bad Dudes debut but then rebounded with a nice game on Saturday, at least we will always have the first game (10.1 IP, 9 ER, 14 Ks, 1 QS, 1 W, 7.84 ERA).
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OGTFC Hitter Of Note: Mookie Betts good LAWD did he have himself a week, but mostly he just had himself a Sunday (14/29, 10 Rs, 2 2Bs, 3 HRs, 11 RBIs, 3 SBs, .556 OBP).
OGTFC Pitcher Of Note: In a matchup where ERA was fairly important Gerritt Cole came in and screwed everything up and also I am still mad at him for his 2-start performance against the MooniniteZ so fuck him (5.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 Ks, 11.81 ERA).
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The Bad Dudes are heating up at the right time, this time knocking off the defending champs in Week 13 on their way to a 3rd straight victory. This victory was accomplished with solid power and solid pitching, as River City seemingly sacrificed some contact (league worst .2940 OBP) in exchange for socking some dongs (19, second most in the league) and socking justttt enough Doubles to steal the cat (18-17). Going into the Sunday night game OceanGate still had their sights set on a win, as a clean inning from Seung Hwan Oh could have flipped the ERA cat and given the OGTFC the WIN. However Oh did not see the field last night (and I mean clean innings aren’t guaranteed with him this season) anddd also Bryce Harper added a double, and with that a 6-5-3 victory grew to 7-5-2 and that is where it stayed. The Fishing Club didn’t pitch poorly so much as the Bad Dudes simply pitched better, with narrow losses coming in every category but Saves (5-4) for the OGTFC. I mean at least they didn’t fucking tie again. The River City Bad Dudes will take this win and move right along, taking on Rojo’s Renegade Force in Week 14 and seeking a 4th straight victory. The OceanGate Trout Fishing Club will take this loss and fucking like it. And also they take on the Banana Slugs in Week 14.
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Next Week aka This Week: Bad Dudes v. RRF (Presumed #2 v. #8), OGTFC v. Banana Slugs(#5 v. #3 I think? GOD THESE ARE HARD)
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MVP: Jorge De La Rosa – And Jorge saves the day. And ended up dropped for his troubles anyways. But yea without De La Rosa’s 0.1 IP hold on Sunday afternoon coupled with a blown hold from the guy below, without those two events this would have been a loss for the MooniniteZ. Instead it was another dumb tie REJOICE. 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 Hold, 2.70 ERA
LVP: Jose Leclerc – And Jose blows it. Leclerc came in on Sunday with the chance to acquire a hold that would put this one out of reach, but instead he gave up a 2 out 2 run HR to Yolmer Sanchez of all people and that left the door open jussstttt enough to pull into an eventual tie. 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Ks, 1 Hold, 5.40 ERA
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MooniniteZ Hitter Of Note: Votto had himself a .630 OBP last week and 3 HRs but I am going to INSTEAD note Chris Owings for having 2 more doubles than Joey it turned out we needed every single double we got is really good (9/26, 6 Rs, 5 2Bs, 3 HRs, 6 RBIs, 1 SB, .440 OBP).
MooniniteZ Pitcher Of Note: Andddd fortunately James Paxton finally looked a bit better and a bit closer to the form he was working with prior to hitting the DL for most of May (13.1 IP, 4 ER, 12 Ks, 2 QS, 1 W, 2.70 ERA).
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Titans Hitter Of Note: Carlos Correa remains the brightest bulb on offense for them Titans, NICE LITTLE SHORTSTOP they have here (12/24, 4 Rs, 2 2Bs, 3 HRs, 10 RBIs, .556 OBP).
Titans Pitcher Of Note: And also Chris Sale is very good (13.1 IP, 1 ER, 20 Ks, 2 QS, 2 Ws, 0.68 ERA).
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JORGE DE LA ROSA MY LORD AND FORMERLY OWNED BUT NOT CURRENTLY OWNED SAVIOR. De La Rosa bails out the MooniniteZ to salvage a tie in a week where the power just fuckinggg disappeared for Manchester: 8 HRs 33 RBIs, both second worst in the week from a team that is second best overall in those categories. Helping mitigate the damage was a .400+ OBP (2nd week in a row the MooniniteZ lead the league in OBP) and jusssttt enough Doubles to escape with a tie against a tough-pitching Titans squad. And to that end this matchup went in a not entirely unexpected direction, with Saves as the only pitching cat the MooniniteZ could win (mostly due to David Robertson almost never receiving save opportunities) against the best pitching staff (but 2nd worst uhhh Saving staff) in the league. The Titans were able to capitalize on the MooniniteZ power outage by winning HRs and RBIs, but in the end this one came down to the Holds situation detailed above and the MooniniteZ simply SURVIVING Anthony Rendon‘s presence in the Sunday night game. The TR Titans hit an impressive 8 Doubles on Sunday to leave them just two from tying Manchester with Matt Carpenter (MooniniteZ) and Rendon (Titans) still in play, however Rendon was only able to muster MERELY one double and with that the MooniniteZ would win the category 22-21. Manchester remains the only team that hasn’t lost SINCE LIKE MID-MAY, however they are coming off two straight ties as they head into a battle with the Point Loma X-Rayz in Week 14 (a battle that will feature an extreme amount of starting pitchers used on both sides, can’t warn everyone enough about this). The Toms River Titans face Lacey Township as pretty much all of their weeks are borderline must-wins if they want to sneak into the back end of the playoffs, the door remains open but maybe only just by a sliver here.
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Next Week aka This Week: MooniniteZ v. X-Rayz (#1 v. #4 I GUESS), Titans v. BDSliderz (#9 v. #7)
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2017 WEEK 13 MATCHUP OF THE WEEK, SPONSORED BY PLAYOFF SEEDING CONFUSION
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MVP: Max Scherzer – I don’t watch Max Scherzer starts too often cuz why would I but I tuned in on Sunday night and good god when he is on there’s nobody better than him. Clayton Kershaw is still the best pitcher in baseball and maybe the best ever but Scherzer is right behind him for best in baseball if you ask this guy, which nobody has done, but here I am stating opinions anyways. But yea my point is Max Scherzer is fucking filthy. 13 IP, 1 ER, 18 Ks, 2 QS, 2 Ws, 0.69 ERA
LVP: Jose Peraza – Peraza contributed pretty much nothing here and the X-Rayz could have realllllly used just like one steal outta this fucker. 5/24, 1 RBI, .208 OBP
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Banana Slugs Hitter Of Note: Gardyyyy put together a nice little week and we here at the blog love Brett Gardner so this will be properly acknowledged (8/28, 7 Rs, 1 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, .344 OBP).
Banana Slugs Pitcher Of Note: And Jim Johnson took one for the team by SMARTLY blowing a save Sunday evening in order to get an opportunity to grab the W in order to set the Banana Slugs up to grab the W, surely that is what happened there (4 IP, 1 ER, 10 Ks, 1 W, 3 Saves, 2.25 ERA).
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X-Rayz Hitter Of Note: Elvis Andrus is out here hitting all kinds of dongs and I have no idea what to make of it (12/30, 7 Rs, 1 2B, 4 HRs, 9 RBIs, 2 SBs, .438 OBP).
X-Rayz Pitcher Of Note: A LOT of members of the bullpen fucked up and allowed all sorts of runs and sadly Dellin Betances was the worst offender (1.2 IP, 6 ER, 2 Ks, 1 Hold, 32.40 ERA).
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TOUGH WEEK if you’re an X-Rayz fan or owner, as the team watched their bullpen slowly murder their ERA which in fact dropped them from 1st to 2nd in the league in ERA if memory serves me correct. I believe the final tally here wasss 18 ER in 6.2 IP, which one can learn if one reads the chat transcripts and notes Odom VOICING DISPLEASURE about the whole situation. To add insult to bullpen injury here, it was a blown save for the Banana Slugs that opened the door for them to steal a W out of the jaws of a tie here (see above). Once Jim Johnson did his thing and once Mad Max was spotted 2-0 lead (then 5-0 after 3) this thing was allllll but decided, sadly, if you’re an X-Rayz fan or whatevs. Also sadly for the X-Rayz was a bit of a speed outage, 7 SBs might be good for most squads but for the X-Rayz that is a DOWN WEEK and that down week allowed the Slugs to grab a crucial tie in that cat. Barnegat was able to use that tie and superior pitching #s, particularly in the bullpen and with Strikeouts to eke this one out. Also the battle of the bottom two for HRs and RBis played out the way you would think it would by the numbers, with the X-Rayz taking HRs and the Slugs taking RBIs. Props to thoseeee very Slugs for once again finding their way to victory despite single digit HRs (7, fewest in Week 13) and a sub-.300 OBP (2nd worst in week 14), I DUNNO HOW THEY’VE DRAGGED THEIR WAY TO 7 Ws BUT THEY HAVE. And now they are pretty entrenched in the playoff field and have a legit shot at a possible bye as well, all while enduring injuries and power outages and suspensions and everything else. IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE thus far. Barnegat will travel to OceanGate seeking a 3rd straight win and firmer footing in the standings, while the X-Rayz head to Manchester to take on the top-ranked MooniniteZ and attempt to avenge the loss of their 5 week win streak. FIRST PLACE ON THE LINE there kinda maybe? Should be a realllll mess of a week folks.
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Next Week aka This Week: Banana Slugs v. OGTFC (#3 v. #5), X-Rayz v. MooniniteZ (#4 v. #1)
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ON TO WEEK 14. USUALLY I HAVE A LOT TO SAY DOWN HERE BUT AT THIS POINT I KINDA DON’T, IT’S PRACTICALLY A HOLIDAY! CONTINUE TO EXPECT A TRADE DEADLINE PREVIEW IN THE NEAR FUTURE, PARTICULARLY ONCE I CHECK AND SEE EXACTLY WHEN THAT THING IS SUPPOSED TO BE. AND CONTINUE TO LOOK UP AND SEE THE MOONINITEZ IN FIRST PLACE. THANK YOU………….
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Backyard Views 