BackyardBracket2019: Your Better Late Than Never Round 2 Review / BCS Preview

August 28, 2019August 28, 2019 AnActualBearLeave a comment

Playoffs 2019

AT LONG LAST the 2019 season nears its conclusion, as we are actually on like DAY THREE of the BCS and it’s anyone’s chip to win. First I need to tell you how the two teams still standing got here. Let’s do that, using my own personal fave KEY CAT format (the cat key is so kewt)…

(ps if you think I’m covering the consolation bracket you have another thing coming bucko)

Ocean Gate Fishing Club Defeat What Were At The Time Known As The East Coast Kings – 7-5-2

MVP: Lucas Giolito – If Lucas Giolito is even a smidddddge less dominant in his lone start of the week perhaps it’s the Kings that move on to the BCS. But that isn’t what happened, Giolito dominated and the Kings lost. 9 IP, 0 ER, 12 Ks, 1 QS, 1 W, 1 CG, 0.00 ERA

LVP: Brendan McKay – On the flip side of the young stud pitcher coin you have Mr. McKay who was NOT dominant, and only lasted 2 innings in his lone start. First time in the Bracket jitters, one surmises. 2 IP, 3 ER, 1 Ks, 13.50 ERA

Quality Starts. It isn’t too often that you see a QS matchup end 9-7, not in TODAY’S BASEBALL no sir. But that is what happened, in a week where both teams got on base at a pretty good clip and pitched WELL with the Fishing Club pitching well-er. Giolito had that dagger CG shutout, Shane Bieber (2 QS) continued being a lot better than I thought he was gonna be, and some guy named Brock Burke also contributed 2 QS of his own. The Kings got 2 QS apiece out of Kershaw and Strasburg, and pitched quite well overall, but ultimately that slight edge in QS pointed to slightly better numbers across the board for the Fishing Club staff. And because of that, they move on.

Assorted Musings Should I Feel Like Musin’: The Fishing Club had the most QS, most Ws, best ERA in Round 2…Jose Abreu had the most RBIs in the round (11)…The Kings had the best OBP in R2 by a pretty good margin, they also owned one of the two players in the whole damned round with 3 or more HRs (Gleyber Torres, 3 HRs)… LOOK WHERE THAT GOT EM.…

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Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz Defeat Point Loma X-Rayz – 9-5-0

MVP: Justin Verlander – Nobody really JUMPS off the page for their performances here (though there was plenty of decent performances) and I just think that a CG in a playoff matchup is super clutch, particularly if you’re the higher seed, and so fuck it I’m giving it to the other pitcher that threw a CG. 9 IP, 2 ER, 11 Ks, 1 QS, 1 CG

LVP: Jon Lester – Gonna pin this one on Jon Lester because he’s still a Sawk to me. THANKS FOR NOTHIN’, JON LESTER. 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 2 Ks, 12.46 ERA

ERA. LIVE BY THE BULK DIE BY THE BULK. The X-Rayz are alway at the forefront of Backyard innovation and the bulk reliever strategy has served them well on many-a-week (it basically did its job of winning Ks and Ws in this week, tbh) BUT the dark side is sometimes your bulk relievers get lit up and sometimes your actual starters don’t pull their weight either and then boom you lose ERA 2.74 to 5.60. Truthfully the ERA is not entirely the fault of bulk relievers (the X-Rayz managed just 2 QS to the Sliderz’ 7) BUT guys like Jalen Beeks (9 ER in 10 IP), Austin Pruitt (6 ER in 5.2 IP), and Wade LeBlanc (4 ER in 4.1 IP) did the X-Rayz no favors. Conversely you have the BackdoorSliderz getting 2 QS out of Aaron Nola (oops) and a CG out of Justin Verlander and a gem out of deGrom (7 IP, 1 ER, 13 Ks) and so yea that team was the one that won. The X-Rayz needed near-perfect pitching to have a shot at the upset and they did not….get…..that. The ERA tells us so.

Assorted Musings Should I Feel Like Musin’: The X-Rayz tossed ONE HUNDRED NINETEEN innings utilizing 31 pitchers in this matchup (92 IP from 21 pitchers for Lacey Twp)….The X-Rayz also racked up 7 triples which feels excessive…Freddie Freeman had the most HRs in R2 (4), Juan Soto had the most Rs (13)in Week 16…

BACKYARD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW

AND SO IT IS FINALLY UPON US……once again……cuz this happens every year we have a league obviously….

#1 LACEY TWP BACKDOORSLIDERZ VS. #3 OCEAN GATE FISHING CLUB

I mean in a way WHAT IS TO REALLY PREVIEW HERE, it’s Cody Bellinger & Ronald Acuna Jr. vs. Mike Trout & Mookie Betts. But in another way, that’s not entirely accurate as these two teams sneakily finished 1-2 in overall ERA. So let’s try and touch on that as well. In the past I’ve done this corner by corner so let’s start with the CHALLENGERS to the throne, the Ocean Gate (sometimes Trout) Fishing Club. The OGFC finished with this season with the #3 seed, which certainly came in handy when they tied the #6 seed in the first round. They did so riding the bats of the guys I mentioned above but ALSO Josh Bell has 33 HRs and 104 RBIs right now and ALSO Jose Abreu was a smart deadline addition and ALSO Trea Turner and that trio of Cubs sluggers are still here and ALSO Yordan Alvarez (21 HRs in 219 ABs, .420 OBP) has been on fucking fire. If there’s a team in the league that can challenge Lacey Twp in the Bats Dept., this is the team. And FORTUNATELY, for those rooting against back-to-back championships just on general principle (not sure who would do such a thing), this team isn’t built on bats alone. Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber, Luis Castillo, & Lucas Giolito are all very good starting pitcher mens and Felipe Vazquez, Josh Hader, & Seth Lugo are good reliever mens. And the Fishing Club will need just about everyone I name-dropped and/or alluded to in this paragraph to be on their fucking game because uhhh, they’re challenging a team that’s lost once in 19 matchups (TO THE BEARS MIGHT I ADD).

And that team, is of course and unfortunately the top-seeded defending champeen Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz. The Sliderz have breezed through the entire season by pairing a feared group of youthful hitters with an equally impressive pitching staff, truly there’s been no real holes on this team all season (hence only losing once, to the Bears). Acuna Jr., Soto, Bellinger, Albies, Bregman those are all good players and that’s from the paragraph I wrote last season and OH they also have Keston Hiura now and Freddie Freeman is still here and still good and at this point it’s just a small blessing that Fernando Tatis Jr. is donezo for the seasono. Every time I write out these names I feel like apologizing to the rest of the league, so lets switch to pitching so I can just quickly apologize for Aaron Nola (overrated) and move on to the other guys. Verlander, deGrom, Greinke are all older or old-ish but very good, they also have Walker Buehler whom is very young but very good. Their bullpen is solid enough to where I don’t feel like mentioning them but ALSO I probably should because they had 7 Saves in Round 2 (I assume Roberto Osuna is to blame but fuck him). ANYWHO, this team lead the league in Runs and HRs and OBP I do believe and they also were basically top 5 across the board and that’s why they are at where they are at, which is one win away from back-to-back championships for the first time since 2013 (I think we all know whom that was but A REFRESHER IF NEEDED: https://backyardviewsblog.com/2016/08/31/the-history-of-the-league-2011-2013-special-dynasty-edition/).

Overall, it’s hard to argue that these two teams don’t deserve to be in the BCS because ON PAPER they have perhaps the two most impressive rosters and IN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE yanno……one team only lost once all year, the other grabbed the 3 seed (and they’re notorious underachievers). Fortunately this preview is being released while everything’s pretty much a toss-up, everyone feel free to take your sides now because EITHER WAY the league is saddled with another unfortunate champeen. Pick the lesser of two evils I guess? If you give a shit at all?

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Playoff Review – Opening Week

August 20, 2019 mikelobmanLeave a comment

Playoffs 2019

Well, this is a weird feeling. For the first time in the history of the league, yours truly the TWO time champeeen River City Bad Dude–Margs are not chasing another title run. I know the rest of the league is as broken up as I was about this fact, but in respect of the remaining playoff chasers, we will press on and give a QUICK review of this first round of the playoffs in the year of our lord 2019. Without further ado:

BYE Weeks: Lacey Twp backdoor Sliderzzzzzzzz(z), East Coast Kings

They both did a nice job managing (not managing) their rosters and setting themselves up for their respective weeks in Round 2. Good for them.

Consolation Bracket:

Fiers

Lakehurst Leviathans defeat THE NEW LOOK River City Fightin’ Margs – 9-3-2

NOTES: Shane keeping Mike Fiers has paid immediate dividends, as his centerpiece for 2020 throw a 6 inning 5 earned GEM. This start further entrenches him in the Leviathans 2020 rotation (I assume). Anyways, nobody really gives a fuck about the consolation bracket, but its really fucking swell to see Bryce Harper hit dingerZ when they don’t actually matter. Both teams had solid OBP’s (Shout out to the 2019 OBP record for Shane this week BUT THE MEDIA ISN’T REPORTING THAT) and didn’t start the requisite 12 which is just fine for this situation.

Next Up: Honestly who cares.

Jap

Rojo’s Renegade Force defeats Barnegat Banana Slugs – 7-3-4

NOTES: I dunno. Aristides Aquino had a very nice week. The Renegades got some strong Japanese power with an Ohtani JROLL, as well as a lovely outing from Yu Darvish. One must think that this momentum will really push The Renegades into good form for next seas…………. Nevermind. Uh, moving on!

Next Up: Again, Nobody Cares

Actual Bracket:

Ramirez — J-Ram heating up at the right time for the X-Rayz

Pacific Beach X-Rayz Start lots of guys, defeat Island Beach Bears – 9-3-2

NOTES:

You just know you’re in for a long playoff week when you look at your opponent’s starting roster on a Monday and find 8(!) random pickups on for a doubleheader in Yankee Stadium. That’s not what you want, and for Sean’s Bears, the random beat-down continued throughout the entirety of the week. There’s no way to know if Sean actually paid attention this week, but if he did, he would have seen that the X-Rayz started 40 FORTY different batters! If I were Mikey T, I’d make some claim that this was DEFINITELY a record. I’m not sure if it was, but it was a record. Anyways, Jose Ramirez is good again, so he gets my MVP of the week award for this matchup. Also, it can’t feel good to see FORMER Bear, Domingo German tossing a 7-inning gem against his former team. Again, I’m not sure Sean noticed.

FOR THE BEARS, Max Munchy had a nice week, and the team sure got a lot of holds. Marcus Semien rung up a JROLL moral victory, and the Bears did not start 40 batters this week. That’s like all I got here. The real winner here are the Bears, as now their owner can paddle out to sea on his boogie board without having to worry about checking his roster. I think at the end of the day, both teams got what they wanted, and that’s really what this league is all about.

Ocean-Paddle-Boarding-300x200 — Sean, the ocean waits for theeeeeeeee

Next Up: Pacific Beach X-Rayz travel to the back woods of Lacey Township to face our defending champion. I expect too many wrestling comments.

Matchup of the Playoff Week, SPONSORED BY DICK’S SPORTING GOODS:

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The Ocean Gate Trout Fishing Club TIE and DEMORALIZE and END the SEASON of the Astoria Isotopes – 6-6-2

NOTES:

Wooooo boy. I mean, where to begin here. This matchup had EVERYTHING, and by everything, I mean that I really started following what was going on around 5:30 on Sunday night. But the drama was palpable heading into that 7pm Little League whatever the fuck that is that they do every year now. It honestly looked like the Fishing Club had this thing all done and dusted at the end of the day on Saturday, but low and behold the #Dopes decided to go out and have a fairly RIDICULOUS 6 homer 14 RBI Sunday afternoon (along with 2 holds and 2 saves) to take a 7-5 lead into this now historic 7pm game. Now, I didn’t watch the game, mainly because A-Rod is so terrible to listen to and he wears uncomfortably tight dress shirts, but the situation had the Topes getting into the semifinals if the score held. The OGFC needed a homer and a double from one of the Bell/Bryant/Rizzo trio, which in hindsight was entirely plausible.

The chat was FILLED with T comments saying, “I WANT THE CHAMP” and talking about his impending matchup with The BDSliderz. I remember thinking to myself “Just how much will I laugh if Bryant doubles, then Rizzo homers right behind him?” very early on in the game (while tracking on my phone, again A-Rod isn’t good). WELL GUYS you’ll never guess what happens in the 5^th inning! Mitch Keller gives up a quick double to Kris Bryant, to prompt Mikey T to say something along the lines of “Uh Oh”. Now, we all knew what was coming next, which was inevitably the end of the Dopes I mean Topes season. Trying to rile up my good friend T, I said “Hey wouldn’t it be funny if Rizzo homered here?”. The chat BLEW UP. Rizzo had done it, something ALL TOO MANY have done off of Mitch Keller this season, but this one mattered. The Bryzzo combo had officially sent the hopes of Topes 2^nd title crashing down in the Williamsport night. Many little leaguers were cheering. I assume T was not. Heroy was hungover and somewhat down about his victory. Nobody wins sometimes.

Let’s just give a big ole MVP to Bryzzo here for disemboweling the Topes on a late Sunday night.

Next Up: The OGFC head to the East Coast (?) to face the Kings, where there’s no doubt where Heroy will concede victory to R-mac about 15 times and proclaim that he doesn’t really care about this league anyways and wants it all to end.

TO SUM UP THIS WEEK:

Welcome

To the Club, Guys

2019 Week 18 Quick Hitters

August 16, 2019 AnActualBearLeave a comment

Image result for tony kemp gif

BECAUSE everyone else is SELFISH (and because I want to properly memorialize the death of the Bad Dudes, and because look how adorable lil Tony Kemp is) I am here to crank out a Quick Hitters despite currently BATTLING for my BRACKET LIVELIHOOD with an X-Rayz team that just blew the doors off us in the Thursday games portion of the matchup. Fortunately these things tend to be decided Friday-Sunday and fortunately, even if I lose it’s just to Odom <3, but STILL. This weight shouldn’t fall on my shoulders, and yet here I am, carrying this pitiful operation to the finish line. I’ll go back and post Quick Hitters for some random weeks we missed in Like November.

But yea Doch you’re selfish, Bad Dudes you’re dead, let’s cover Week 18 so its spirits can finally rest….

QUICK BOX:

Bears (8-9-1) over Kings (10-8) — 10-3-1

MVP: Jonathan Villar (1 JROLL, .519 OBP)

lvp: Gleyber Torres (0-12)

Banana Slugs (7-10-1) over Isotopes (8-10) — 9-3-2

MVP: Aristedes Aquino (?!) (8 Rs, 6 HRs, 11 RBIs, .542 OBP)

lvp: Adam Duvall (why was he rostered?!) (2-28, 2 Rs, 1 RBI, .103 OBP)

BackdoorSliderz (SEVENTEEN AND ONE[Bears did it]) over Renegades (7-10-1) — 10-2-2

MVP: Ronald Acuna (MVPOTW)

lvp: Rojo (LVPOTW)

X-Rayz (7-8-3) over Leviathans (6-12) — 11-1-2

MVP: Hunter Dozier (1 JROLL, .406 OBP)

lvp: Oscar Mercado (3-22, 3 Rs, .174 OBP)

BBOTW: Fishing Club (9-8-1) over Bad Dudes(RIP) (6-9-3) — 10-1-3

MVP: Yordan Alvarez (7 Rs, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, .500 OBP)

lvp: Nomar Mazara (2-14, 1 RBI, .188 OBP)

QUICK HITZ:

Lets get this out of the way first, shall we? The BackdoorSliderz put the finishing touches on the best REGULAR season in Backyard history, by winning percentage, and did so in LOUD fashion by setting the Runs record and shattering the HRs record and sending the Renegade Force straight to hell. A fitting end for both, now lets all root against Lacey and root for 2007 Patriots memes.

Lets also get this out of the way, The Bears are BACK IN THE DANCE (at least for now) for the first time since they became the Bears in fact. Last season the squad infamously lost 5 in a row to miss the playoffs, this season they won 3 in a row to make the playoffs (#4 seed) after publicly declaring they wouldn’t be able to win said 3 in a row based upon the quality of their opponents. Well turns those opponents all SUCKED, and can suck IT….nerds. But yea lets all root for this team but not too hard, we can kinda take it or leave it at this point in terms of “winning a playoff matchup”. Seems like a chore.

The X-Rayz ended their season in a fitting manner, establishing a new Strikeouts record with their signature (for this season at least, and lets face it probably forever this is Odom we are talking about) bulk-relief strategy. Somehow this team is once again in the playoffs, despite having the ugliest Opening Day roster for like the second or third season in a row, slotting in as the #5 seed….. again despite a truly hideous roster at times, times that extended beyond Opening Day. The roster is less hideous now, Jose Ramirez in particular is less hideous now, and they’re using the Age of the Opener to their full advantage as only they can. Everyone should know better than to sleep on this franchise in the Backyard Bracket.

UNFORTUNATELY the Astoria Isotopes clung to a playoff spot when it was all said and done, but at least the Barnegat Banana Slugs didn’t?

And LAST BUT NOT LEAST, RIP to the last active “never missed the playoffs mehhhh” streak that The Old Heads liked to lord over the newer generation (we are not counting 2 in a row shut up Doch)…. and with it RIP to the River City Bad Dudes. The Dudes had a shot at a spot had a few things broke their way but first they needed to win and THEY DIDN’T, and those things didn’t break I don’t think, and I’m sure there’s a bunch of excuses they’ll give you about all of this but don’t listen to them they are just some loser non-playoff team why would you ever listen to them. The blender half-full view on all this is now they can’t quit the league or whatever and also now they have this delightful new team name: River City Fightin’ Margs LOOK HOW KEWWWWT…….

Oh yea also the Ocean Gate Fishing Club still exists and they’re in the #BYB as the 3 seed. Also the Lakehurst Leviathans still exist and they are not in the #BYB but TRENDING UP. There now I’ve named everyone I think. Oh The East Coast Kings….. they have the 2nd bye, well-deserved, we here in Island Beach appreciate the tenacity with which they approached our Week 18 battle (jkjk look at the #s BRIAN, extra starters wouldn’t have mattered)

QUICK HONORZ

MVP OF THE WEEK:

RONALD ACUNA JR.

13/31, 12 Rs, 6 HRs, 10 RBIs, 3 SBs, .471 OBP

LVP OF THE WEEK:

ROJO

1 Spineless Quitter

JROLLS:

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Jonathan Villar (IBB, 2) [11/24, 6 Rs, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 2 SBs, .519 OBP]

Fernando Tatis Jr. (LTBS, 3) [7/25, 5 Rs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 2 SBs, .379 OBP]

Ozzie Albies (LTBS, 1) [16/32, 10 Rs, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 1 SB, .529 OBP]

Hunter Dozier (PBX, 1) [16/32, 10 Rs, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 1 SB, .529 OBP]

2019 FINAL JROLLs REPORT

1.) Adalberto Mondesi (LL) – 4

2.) Trevor Story (BBS) – 3

3.) Whit Merrifield (BBS) – 3

4.) Fernando Tatis, Jr. (LTBS) – 3

5.) Christian Yelich (ECK) – 2

6.) Elvis Andrus (ECK/RRF) – 2

7.) Ahmed Rosario (OGFC) – 2

8.) Francisco Lindor (ECK) – 2

9.) Trea Turner (OGFC) – 2

10.) Jonathan Villar (IBB) – 2

11.) Cody Bellinger (LTBS) – 1

12.) Ender Inciarte (BBS) – 1

13.) Ronald Acuna, Jr. (LTBS) – 1

14.) Byron Buxton (RCBD) – 1

15.) Kelvin Gutierrez (PBX) – 1

16.) Ronny Rodriguez (RRF) – 1

17.) Javier Baez (ECK) – 1

18.) Mookie Betts (OGFC) – 1

19.) Kolten Wong (PBX) – 1

20.) David Dahl (RCBD) – 1

21.) Trey Mancini (LL) – 1

22.) Yasiel Puig (BBS) – 1

23.) Juan Soto (LTBS) – 1

24.) Jose Ramirez (PBX) – 1

25.) Oscar Mercado (RRF) – 1

26.) Freddy Galvis (AI) – 1

27.) Starling Marte (LL) – 1

28.) Marcus Semien (IBB) – 1

29.) Keston Hiura (LTBS) – 1

30.) Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. (PBX) – 1

31.) Austin Meadows (OGFC @ z time) – 1

32.) Adam Eaton (LL) – 1

33.) Ozzie Albies (LTBS) – 1

34.) Hunter Dozier (PBX) – 1

MOST JROLLs BY TEAM: Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz & Barnegat Banana Slugs – EIGHT (tie)

FEWEST JROLLs BY TEAM: Astoria Isotopes – ONE, and it was Freddy Galvis, so gross.

AND SO, AS CLEARLY ILLUSTRATED ABOVE, YOUR 2019 JROLL AWARD WINNER…….

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ADALBERTO MONDESI. Adalberto was the early season favorite once it became clear that trading him for Carlos Martinez was actually a bad idea, and he takes the JROLL crown despite only appearing in 82 games. WHICH IS IMPRESSIVE. Congrats to Adalberto and to the Lakehurst Leviathans for rostering Adalberto.

Thank you for tuning in to Week 18 QUICK HITTERS. ENJOY THE BACKYARD BRACKET EVERYONE (particularly all you losers that are watching from home)(whom I will eventually join)

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MAKE THE BACKYARD FUN AGAIN

August 14, 2019 mikelobmanLeave a comment

puig — Puig and Heroy agree: Let’s make the league fun again

-OK, so the league is still fun. Its the first thing I check during the season, and I get great joy in spending an hour or two just perusing the FA list for the next gem or SP eligible reliever. I do, however, feel that there are all very valid concerns (at times) about how sometimes people get frustrated about the setup or the monotony of the league day to day. This has led many of us to openly complain or even threaten to leave the league at the end of the year. Maybe we’re all getting older, or busier, or whatever. The thing is: This league is still great and could be even better if a couple of tweaks are made. Below are the beginnings of some referendum I intend on bringing to the table in the off-season, most of which have come from conversations I’ve had with some other owners throughout the past year and change:

Fantrax – Maybe the biggest and most important decision we have this year will be the potential move from ESPN over to the Wild Wild West of Fantrax. Fantrax is uncharted territory for us, fantasy baseball wise. The football experience we had was downright awful, but from all accounts Fantrax has improved leaps and bounds. Despite what Fantrax lacks in a workable app (They’re supposedly making one for next year), they make up for in having all the customization data and options that our league DESPERATELY needs. Sure, ESPN has the interface that’s easy to use, but what good is it if pitchers are given PP stats for 2 consecutive days? We have to manually monitor our dynasty situation because ESPN doesn’t care about that portion of fantasy baseball. With a potential move to Fantrax (WHICH WILL BE FREE THANKS SHANE), we would have all this managed for us. Players who are currently FUCKING high schoolers are in their system, which negates the need for a rights system. Its easy for all of you who don’t attempt to manage this whole process to scoff at moving just for a few high schoolers, but it’s going to safeguard you from making really dumb roster decisions in an effort to get that last 2 AB’s from a rookie infielder. Honestly, I think its all worth risking a year and taking a chance at making our league everything it could be in the end.

League Expansion – This might be a big ask nowadays, but I think expanding the league to 12 teams would be a major positive to the league. Adding 2 additional teams will dilute the FA Pool to a point where people will have LESS options to stream with during the season, which will allow for more trades and careful thought regarding your roster construction. With the impending departure of The Renegades (is he really going?), MAYYYYBE this is a tough ask, but I feel like this would be a major enhancement to the league. I have thoughts about how an expansion draft would work, but that could be discussed if this idea makes it past conception. Even IF Rojo leaves, I heard rumblings that Brian/Shane/Doch ALL have potential owners to replace him, so to me it’s a thought to let them all the fuck in… Let’s get weird!

Roster Expansion – OK, so if adding more teams isn’t as palatable to you as is it is to me, maybe think about expanding our rosters to add 3-5 additional bench spots. These spots would be free for anyone on the FA list, which helps diluting the pool (like I discussed in bullet 2). Taking 30-50 halfway decent players off the FA list will again enhance the potential for trade discussions and allow for people hold onto certain borderline players and not stream as much. Just how many roster spots we’d add is certainly up for debate, but I think this is a logic solution to a problem we have.

Extend the Waiver Period – Sounds controversial, but really there’s sense behind this idea. Currently, we’re at a 2 day waiver period. This allows you to stream through a litany of pitchers, and still catching them for a 2^nd start later in the week. The way this league has evolved, teams (such as myself) only have to roster 2-3 starters at a time while streaming the rest of their starts. Sometimes that works, other times it doesn’t, but you shouldn’t be able to construct a roster that just filters thought players like it’s a DFS pick em league. Extending the waiver period won’t cure this entirely, which is OK, but it’ll curb some of the quick drops and adds. In turn, maybe we see some more trade negotiations? Its hard to say, but it feels to me like a 5 day waiver period will place more emphasis on who you drop and not the frequency in which you drop them over the course of the year.

Summing this up: Not all of these changes NEED to be made in order to make this league as good as it could be, but any one of them could surely improve some of the intricacies that we have currently. Maybe it wont cure all the complaining and fatigue, but I think these changes could bring some fun to the league again in 2020.

2019 WEEK 17 QUICK HITTERS

August 5, 2019August 16, 2019 AnActualBearLeave a comment

Ohtano_size_restricted — Rumor is this guy’s pretty fleet of foot (QUICK), he wears #17, so uhhh yep….

OH YEAAAA FEELIN goooood here at the blog. Not so good that I actually want to write out a Week Review but good enough to write out a QUICK HITTAZ. Which honestly will likely offend the people that tried to HIJACK this blog even more. I suspect SOME PEOPLE find Quick Hitters offensive because of its brevity and to those people I say:

“Brevity is the brother of brilliance” — George Steinbrenner, allegedly, like at least once…

I also say fuck you, write a review yourself then you illiterate bastards. ON TO Week 17 Quick Hitters…

BUT FIRST, an important note on the tie-breaking procedures that will undoubtedly affect that whole Backyard Bracket thing that’s gonna start in another week….

Head to Head playoff tiebreakers:

Head to Head
Wins
Division Record
Total Season Stats
Record Last 9 Games
Longest Win Streak
Most 10+ category win weeks
Coin flip

More than 2 team tiebreakers:

Head to Head (requires a complete sweep by one team)
Wins
Division Record
Record Last 9 Games
Longest Win Streak
Most 10+ Category Win Weeks
Coin Flip

What does all of that mean for The Backyard Bracket this year?! FUCK IF I KNOW, I thought about writing up detailed scenarios but that already seems really hard. Please refer to Mike’s crudely written charts as a starter course:

WEEK 17 QUICK RESULTS:

Kings (10-7) over Leviations (6-11) — 10-1-3

MVP: Noah Syndergaard (14 Ks, 2 QS, 1 W, 0.63 ERA)

lvp: Justin Upton (0-10)

Banana Slugs (6-10-1) over X-Rayz (6-8-3) — 8-4-2

MVP: Vlad Guererro Jr. (3 HRs, 11 RBIs, .536 OBP)

lvp: Mallex Smith (2-22, 3 SBs, .167 OBP)

Isotopes (8-9) over Renegades (7-9-1) — 8-4-2

MVP: Nolan Arenado (6 Rs, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, .385 OBP)

lvp: Victor Robles (1-16, 2 Rs, .286 OBP)

Bears (7-9-1) over Fishing Club (8-8-1) — 8-6-0

MVP: Austin Meadows (1 3B, 3 HRs, 6 RBIs, .350 OBP)

lvp: Kris Bryant (LVPOTW)

BBOTW: BackdoorSliderz (16 and ONE) over Bad Dudes (6-8-3) — 11-2-1

MVP: Walker Buehler (MVPOTW)

lvp: Wilson Contreras (3-16, 1 R, 1 RBI, .188 OBP)

WEEK 17 QUICK NOTES:

The Kings wrapped up the #2 seed in Week 17, and those fux in Lacey have had the #1 seed wrapped up since like early June, so we have our top two all set for the #BackyardBracket. #s 3 through 6 will be an ABSOLUTE MESS, but that mess will have sorted itself out by this time next week (hopefully).

The Isotopes stopped the bleeding in Week 17 with a much-needed win (previously had lost 4 in a row, previous to this previously had won 7 in a row, previous to the previous to the previous previously had lost their first 5 to start 2019) over the Renegade Force. With the victory they now find themselves poised to grab the #3 seed or the 4 or the 5 or the 6 or the 7.

The Bears lead the league in runs scored for the second week in a row, perhaps coinciding with Jose Altuve having two working legs perhaps coinciding with the team trolling their owner for declaring they couldn’t win out. They still might not win out, but probably need a W combined with a Renegade Force L to make the playoffs. They’ve already won though, when you really think about it.

The Banana Slugs managed to stave off formal elimination in Week 17 with a victory over the X-Rayz, both teams would be out if the playoffs started today (I think? I know for da Slugs) but THEY DON’T, so that’s fortunate for them and for the league as a whole. Need to sort this mess out.

UNFORTUNATELY that means there is one team that has been eliminated from #BYB contention and that team is the Lakehurst Leviathans, a blog favorite. Regardless of coming up short of their goal in the 2019 season the Leviathans can hold their heads hight for TWO (2) reasons: 1- They have more wins this season than their first two seasons combined, in a particularly brutal year within the Backyard. and 2- They called out ESPN in a tweet which netted us a potential free trial on Fantrax, or maybe it inspires ESPN to get their shit together, or maybe some combo of the two. Hats off to the 2019 Lakehurst Leviathans, look forward to seeing what they can do in 2020 (should the league exist, @Brian ;)).

WEEK 17 QUICK AWARDS / JROLLS

MVP OF THE WEEK:

WALKER BUEHLER (partly cuz he was last time so it saves me from finding a new GIF)

9 IP, 1 ER, 15 Ks, 1 QS, 1 W, 1 CG, 1.00 ERA

LVP OF THE WEEK:

KRIS BRYANT (partly so I could use this GIF…)

13/20, 2 Rs, .150 OBP

WEEK 17 JROLLS:

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Javier Baez (ECK, 1) [8/24, 5 Rs, 3 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 SBs, .360 OBP]

Trevor Story (BBS, 3) [6/22, 6 Rs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HRs, 5 RBIs, 1 SB, .385 OBP]

UPDATED JROLLs REPORT (through Week 17):

1.) Adalberto Mondesi (LL) – 4

2.) Trevor Story (BBS) – 3

3.) Whit Merrifield (BBS) – 3

4.) Elvis Andrus (ECK/RRF) – 2

5.) Christian Yelich (ECK) – 2

6.) Fernando Tatis, Jr. (LTBS) – 2

7.) Ahmed Rosario (OGFC) – 2

8.) Francisco Lindor (ECK) – 2

9.) Trea Turner (OGFC) – 2

10.) Kolten Wong (PBX) – 1

11.) Cody Bellinger (LTBS) – 1

12.) Ender Inciarte (BBS) – 1

13.) Ronald Acuna, Jr. (LTBS) – 1

14.) Byron Buxton (RCBD) – 1

15.) Kelvin Gutierrez (PBX) – 1

16.) Ronny Rodriguez (RRF) – 1

17.) Javier Baez (ECK) – 1

18.) Mookie Betts (OGFC) – 1

19.) Jonathan Villar (IBB) – 1

20.) David Dahl (RCBD) – 1

21.) Trey Mancini (LL) – 1

22.) Yasiel Puig (BBS) – 1

23.) Juan Soto (LTBS) – 1

24.) Jose Ramirez (PBX) – 1

25.) Oscar Mercado (RRF) – 1

26.) Freddy Galvis (AI) – 1

27.) Starling Marte (LL) – 1

28.) Marcus Semien (IBB) – 1

29.) Keston Hiura (LTBS) – 1

30.) Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. (PBX) – 1

31.) Austin Meadows (OGFC @ z time) – 1

32.) Adam Eaton (LL) – 1

Thank you for tuning in to Week 17 QUICK HITTERS

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Month: August 2019

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2019 WEEK 17 QUICK HITTERS

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WEEK 17 QUICK AWARDS / JROLLS

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WEEK 17 JROLLS: