BACKYARDBRACKET2020: BCS REVIEW & WHAT COMES NEXT FOR BACKYARDVIEWS

September 29, 2020September 30, 2020 AnActualBearLeave a comment

FIRSTLY LET ME BE FAIR…

and congratulate the Lacey Township Backdoor Sliderz for winning an IMPRESSIVE and NEARLY UNPRECEDENTED 2.5 BCS Titles in a row. 0.5 BCS Titles from tying the all-time in-a-row record with a chance to overtake that in a theoretical 2021 season that we will theoretically be having in the Backyard. It is absolutely impressive what the Lacey contingent has accomplished in their first 2.5 seasons. Even though it came via a tie (thanks to a SIX inning 5 ER CG, no less) to an “8th seed” team that shouldn’t have been allowed in the Bracket. Even though that was how it all went down. The Backdoor Sliderz are clearly the best roster in the Backyard and somehow that’s allowed them to win 2.5 titles in a row, which is I dunno good I guess. It’s like having pocket aces and not getting fucked on the river or something, I guess? 2.5 hands in a row. And there’s nothing I can say here that can change that. And to attempt to say more would be to have to write more words and I’ve already planned a BUNCHA words for the finale down there so let’s just MOVE ON, BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THE BCS MATCHUP, BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THIS BLOG’S UNCERTAIN FUTURE, WORK IN SOME MORE CAPS LOCK AND PARENTHESES AND BE DONE WITH THE 2020 FANTASY BASEBALL SEASON. Sounds like an excellent plan. (ONWARD…..)

#8 Astoria Isotopes

DEFEATED VIA TIEBREAKBER BY THE PIECES OF SHIT BELOW THIS SENTENCE…

#6 Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz

7-7

[BRACKET MVP — Freddie Freeman] (he did alotta good stuff the whole Backyard Bracket go look it up if you don’t believe me)

BCS MVP — Juan Soto (6 Rs, 2 2Bs, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 3 SBs, .571 OBP

BCS LVP — Paul DeJong (2 Rs, 1 2B, 1 RBI, .200 OBP

WHAT WENT RIGHT — Backdoor Sliderz:

Aaron Nola grabbed a hideous 6 inning “CG”…..the Braves kept on fucking hitting…..5 gents with 5 RBIs (Freeman, Soto, Albies, Bregman, Will Smith for some reason) and 4 gents with 4 RBIs (Brandon Lowe, Tatis Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Maikel Franco) and boom you’ve out-RBI’d the ‘Topes bats with only 9 gents…..24 Ks outta deGrom…..

WHAT WENT WRONG — Isotopes

Aaron Nola grabbed a hideous 6 inning “CG”…..sub-40 Rs & RBIs isn’t a GREAT sign of your team offense clicking, I guess, I dunno…..6 SBs is enough to win a lot of weeks but NOT THIS WEEK, cuz yanno the LTBS had 10 and all…..pretty bleh K numbers if you ask me…..

This one was ULTIMATELY a valiant-ish effort from the ‘Topes, but with Arenado out the offense could not keep pace with the……Braves basically. A 3 Save Sunday scored them the tie and makes that disgusting CG a hard pill to swallow, but hey these things happen. Next time find a disgusting CG of your own.

WHAT’S NEXT

What’s next for the league or whatfuckingever? I imagine it will continue and I imagine I will continue to be in it. Which is okay I guess. Either way on that one, tbh, but what I’m really interested in opining about is what’s next for this horrifically named blog.

When I started this blog in 2015 I wante….jkjkjk I didn’t start this fucking thing, Mike did. Hence the ridiculous name. I think there was another wordpress named “Backyard Views” or “Views From The Backyard” or some shit and it was just filled with bad poetry, and honestly I prefer that one. ANYWHO, BEHOLD Mike’s first post:

“Oh hey guys.

This site is here to continue with the overwhelming information stream that we already have for our fantasy baseball page, and life in general. I’ve been thinking about making this for a while, mostly to track some of the happenings on the site, and really to give everyone a forum to post, well, anything they want really. Mainly we will focus this thing on the fantasy baseball page, but hey, go nuts with whatever you’d like.

Please note: This will be a good storage site for all of our favorite stories, rankings, T’d Up episodes, Trade Block discussions, etc.

There’s also an app, so maybe it’ll be good. I’ll check it out and let you know.

Feel free to make an account and post something. Ya know.

Lobman”

Wow wouldjya look at that Mike was even sort of ENCOURAGING poetry to be posted on here, is how I read that. Can’t believe Brian continues to let that opportunity go to waste.

ANYWHO when I look at that post now there’s a picture of an enlarged prostate just below it (“Urologist: Enlarged Prostate? Do This Immediately (Try Tonight), and that feels pretty fucking fitting here. This thing has gotten a bit longgggg in the tooth, as have I, and we’ve grown together…..me and this thing. Both for the worse. I’m FAR TOO indispensable a County employee to continue to hastily bang out reviews whilst @ work, and also FAR TOO busy being fucking cool (or napping or drinking or something) when not @ work so it’s tough to say…..what the future holds…..for this blog. Also, if I’m being perfectly honest WordPress’ new format fucking sucks a spiky one. I am DISGUSTED by the spacing on these latter posts of mine and I have no plans to learn how to properly format these things, and the blog deserves better. Deserves better spacing. Deserves better effort all around.

There’s a temptation to Viking Funeral this thing but also that sorta defeats the purpose of whatever it was I was attempting to do this year, by putting out shitty reviews of the Backyard Bracket and such. So it stands as some sort of historical record. And PERHAPS there’s some sort of collaborative effort to reclaim its glory as something capable of making an owner quit the league, but the key word there is “collaborative” and you’re all lazy fucks so uhhhh….yea. BASICALLY I’m just saying this thing might get pretty dusty in the 2021 fantasy season (I guess we are gonna have one of those?) and this is me making peace with that. If this is my last post my only regret is not saying meaner things about Dochney in it. Cuz

FUCK

THAT

GUY

#BlogForever #BearForever

2018 TROLL SERIES VOLUME 2: FINALLY IT CAN BE DONE, THE DEFINITIVE TOP 10 BACKYARD CHAMPIONS OF ALL TIME

February 25, 2018August 16, 2019 AnActualBearLeave a comment

Where will last year’s X*Rayz rank (asterisk and all)? I WILL DECIDE AND ONLY ME

Consider this a bit of a Troll For Champions, as I’m sure everyone feels like their team was the best championship team OF ALL TIME and mostly everyone there is wrong. It is also a bit of a troll because I am doing VERY LITTLE research here. So finally, as a labor of love, and since we finally have 10 league champions, I will rank them all. The last troll article had some rules let’s get some more rules in here.

The Rules:

FIRST RULE, is more of a statement and that statement is I don’t have access to any league pages before like 2013. So really I am the worst possible person to compile a top ten. HERE IT IS ANYWAYS.
Previous season result MATTERS, in the obvious ways you will expect it to matter. aka teams that win multiple years in a row should obviously be PRAISED BY ALL.
Regular season stats matter A BIT, particularly since I only have that to go off of for a couple of seasons.
But playoff run also matters, particularly since I only happen to know the playoff runs for a couple of seasons. Alright let’s get to it, I don’t even think I needed to list rules but I copy and pasted the top from last time for some reason ANYWAYS HERE WE GO…

NUMBER 10

**2017 – POINT LOMA X*RAYZ: 10-6-2**

Notable Performers: Jose Ramirez, Dee Gordon, Billy Hamilton, Elvis Andrus, Daniel Murphy, Chris Archer, Robbie Ray, Jeff Samardzija, Edwin Diaz, Dellin Betances

Why They’re Number Ten: BECAUSE THEIR BCS #NimmoGate CONTROVERSY NEARLY RUINED US ALL. I love this particular roster and was a big fan of their playoff run, but lets face it the BCS uhhh “incident” was a bit o’ a shitshow. And since that shitshow was mostly due to a terrible rule established by this team’s OWN OWNER that kinda seals their fate as the number ten here. Which doesn’t at all take away from the fact that Odom has taken home the chip (or co-taken co-home) in 4 of 7 seasons in the league which is plenty fucking impressive. And I thank him for Rhys Hoskins in a roundabout way (assuming Rhys works out).

NUMBER 9

2011 – JIMBO’S VULCAN DEATH GRIP: 9-11

Notable Performers: Mike Napoli, Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, Carlos Gonzalez (half the season), Hanley Ramirez (the other half), Joe Mauer (the other half but also always hurt), CC Sabathia (half the season), Cole Hamels (the other half), an erratic Ubaldo Jimenez, David Robertson

(special thanks to Odom for helping me remember some guys)

Why They’re Number Nine: REGULAR SEASON RECORD is what does this team no favors. Despite a fan favorite name and an impressive championship in their eventual inaugural season as owners, the facts are the facts and the facts are this is the only team to ever win a championship with a sub-.500 regular season record. I am also going to claim this team INVENTED THE BLOCKBUSTER, because this thing is full of wild claims without sources. A midseason deal sent That record CC and CarGo to the WVU Bombers or whatfuckingever for Mauer, Hanley Ramirez, and Cole Hamels and those three would be staples on the team for YEARS TO COME. Mauer would go on to homer in a first round matchup against WVU which was amusing because he hit all of 3 HRs that season. But YEA THE RECORD, the record gave the doubters plenty of fuel with which to doubt. DOUBT THAT WOULD PROVE FOOLISH. clearly it was a star, t from humble beginnings for the Odom/Sean dynasty to be.

NUMBER 8

Image result for brian wilson 2009

2009 – SCARLET KNIGHTS: 15-7

Notable Performers: JASON BAY, Brian Wilson ALLEGEDLY for the latter half, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Travis Hafner maybe?, Vernon Wells maybe?, Miguel Tejada maybe?, Dustin Pedroia for part of the season? Some other closers? I dunno how the fuck should I know…

Why They’re Number Eight: PRE-COMPETITIVE ERA. Because while a 15-7 record is nothing to sneeze at, they played in the pre-competitive era free of minor league systems and excessive numbers of keepers and so on and so forth. Also their BCS victory came at the hands of a notable idiot with a 12-10 record, unlike the next 15-7 team on the list that defeated a fellow 15-7er to capture a crown. FUN FACT: I won the fantasy football championship this season thanks to a one CJ2K. So that is a fun fact.

NUMBER 7

Image result for kershaw takeover

2010 – TOMS RIVER TAKEOVER: 15-7

Notable Performers: CLAYTON KERSHAW I AM SURE, Roy Halladay and his NINE CGs I am sure, Justin Upton, Jon Lester, Juan Pierre?, injury-hampered Justin Morneau? injury-hampered J-ROLLLLLLLL, Dan Uggla?, Tim Hudson?, hopefully kept Kelly Johnson through the tough times cuz 2010 was his masterpiece?

Why They’re Number Seven: SUPERIOR BCS MATCHUP. AGAIN this comes in the era of a bunch of shitty owners shitting around, BUT this particular 15-7 squad edges the previous due to a seemingly more challenging BCS matchup. No idea who really made up this roster (heavy speculation based on ’08 draft above), but I DO see they dropped a ridiculous 81 RBIs (still the all-time record) and 70 Runs on their poor Week 16 opponent. So I suspect they had some strong offensive players. Feel pretty confident in this guess.

NUMBER 6

Image result for mike trout symbol

2016 – OCEANGATE TROUT FISHING CLUB: 11-7-2

Notable Performers: Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Mookie Betts, Todd Frazier, Trea Turner, Ian Desmond, Corey Seager, Jose Fernandez, Francisco Rodriguez

Why They’re Number SIX: GENERAL ROSTER TALENT. This team had done such an excellent job of SQUANDERING their elite talent for years that I campaigned a few times for them to change their name to the LessWithMores, but in 2016 they finally got it done. They entered the playoffs as the #4 seed and advanced out of the first round via a tie with the #5 seed but BY GOD, they still got it done. Mostly unimpressive playoff performance aside. They got it done. Good for them. I rank them this highly simply because they got it done in THE COMPETITIVE ERA and also because their roster was good enough to likely beat pretty much any other team on this list (provided they weren’t MISMANAGED INTO THE GROUND).

NUMBER 5

2015 – RIVER CITY CUBAN MISSILES: 12-6-2

Notable Performers: Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Chris Davis, Jose Bautista, Jon Lester, Garrett Richards, Jacob DeGrom, Zach Britton

Why They’re Number Five: POSTSEASON DOMINANCE. The interesting thing to ME here is I’ve been able to look at a few “roster summaries” here and this one appears to be one of the more unimpressive ones stats-wise (pitching especially) AND YET can’t deny this postseason performance. Not only did the Cuban Missiles grab the #1 seed, but they won their two playoff matchups by a combined score of 23-3-2. I dunno that feels like it may be some kind of record. The Missiles defeated team rmac 11-1-2 in the second round and the fresh on the scene Barnegat Banana Slugs 12-2 in the BCS, effectively steamrolling the competition in a way that needs to be acknowledged here. And it has been acknowledged. So now lets move on.

NUMBER 4

2008 – RIVER CITY MASHERS: 19-3

Notable Performers: I mean NO IDEA one might think, because I am blocked from accessing these old rosters. BUT, I can piece together the probable notable performers from a recap of the league’s first draft and so here they are – Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright ‘scuseeee me, Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn, Jhonny Peralta, Raul Ibanez, Roy Oswalt, Brad Lidge

Why They’re Number Four: HELLUVA RECORD. Truthfully this team may have earned the right to be higher (NOT MUCH HIGHER) but I just wasn’t involved back then and I just do not know what to tell you. But yea, 19-3 is a nice fucking record and a little league history blurb from the blog tells me they whomped Cliff in the BCS (11-2-1) after narrowly edging out Ryan’s “Tar Heels” in the second round (7-6-1 on a .3812 to .3810 OBP advantage) and good on them. Looks like a damn fine year. Way to go Mashers.

NUMBER 3

Image result for edwin encarnacion dinner

2012 – TAMPA BAY TWO-TIME TWO-TIME (strange name): 11-9

Notable Performers: FUCKING AARON HILL (everybody look up Aaron Hill’s 2012 please, he had two cycles that year, thank you), Edwin Encarnacion, Hanley Ramirez, Joe Mauer, Nick Swisher, Cole Hamels, an erratic Tim Lincecum, Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen,David Robertson

Why They’re Number Three: BECAUSE WE WENT BACK TO FUCKING BACK. Has yet to be repeated, is a very tough thing to do I believe time has told. Our second championship team merely flipped the record from our first championship team (from 9-11 to 11-9) but put together a solid postseason run and grabbed their second in a row AND THAT IS IMPRESSIVE. Allllll the years previous and alllll the years since that hasn’t been done (not counting our third in a row), so that needs to be rewarded with this particular ranking.

NUMBER 2

Image result for griffey swingman logo

2014 – PINE LAKE SWINGMEN: 16-3-1

Notable Performers: Carlos Gomez, Paul Goldschmidt, Justin Upton, Adrian Gonzalez, Anthony Rendon, Dee Gordon, Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Sonny Gray, Greg Holland (team was fucking stacked though I should more or less list the whole offense)

Why They’re Number Two: This team impressed the shit outta me because of their SUB 100 MOVE SEASON. Also the team was stacked and set multiple season records including Runs, HRs, and Strikeouts (Ks being an all time record to this very day). But back to the moves, maybe this wasn’t always the case but in the modern era here movement is life; all serious competitors routinely hit triple digits with their moves in-season. The Pine Lake Swingmen of 2014 only needed 98 moves to grab the #2 seed in the regular season (13-6 record, 3Peat Offendaz #1 at 14-7) and then march through the playoffs on the way to Ryan’s 2nd championship in five seasons. OF COURSE one will never know what might have happened if this team ran into the 3Peat Offendaz in the championship, as the 3PO lost to a 4 seed of questionable character in a strangely lazy 2nd round performance. The 3PO would have beat the #3 seed though, I think we all know that. ANYWAYS REALLY IMPRESSIVE YEAR BY THE 2014 PINE LAKE SWINGMEN, very nearly the most impressive of all time.

AND NUMBER 1, WHICH SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN IN DOUBT….

Image result for three peat

2013 – TOMS RIVER 3PEAT OFFENDAZ (clearly named post-parade): 16-3-1

Notable Performers: Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, Hanley Ramirez, Brett Gardner, Matt Carpenter, Cole Hamels, Anibal Sanchez, Mariano Rivera, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman

Why They’re Number One: SEEMS PRETTY CLEAR TO ME. This is the first and probably the last 3peat team this league ever saw, it started off 2-3 before winning a remarkable 14 in a row, it defeated a 16-4 #2 seed Angels in the TROUTfield via a TIE in the BCS (also defeated the TROUTfield in both regular season meetings). In case there is strangely still any doubts about this as your top team o all time, they defeated the River City Mashers in the 2nd round THIRTEEN-ZERO-ONE. I could write a thousand words about this particular season but trying this new brevity thing.

So there you have it folks, no real surprise about the particular TEAM in the top spot but….

HAHA TOOK THAT STRAIGHT FROM THE LAST TROLL SERIES POST. But yea, shouldn’t be a surprise. Feel free to try and educate me about the teams from the years of softer competition because I am sure that would be a fun and educational GroupMe conversation for the league but yea. Really this whole thing was written just to point out how impressive that 3peat season was/how impressive that 98 move season of Ryan’s was. Mission. Accomplished.

News GIF

The History of the League – 2011-2013 SPECIAL DYNASTY EDITION

August 31, 2016August 16, 2019 AnActualBear1 Comment

loumarsoncollisionoriginal — Poor Lou Marson was unfairly portrayed during year 3 of our reign so at least now I will show that he actually held onto the ball during this collision. GOOD ON HIM.

Playoff time is a special time in the Backyard League, and surely nobody can look at the two teams currently relaxing on first round byes without feeling a SLIGHT hint of nostalgia for dynasties of yesteryear. YEA, IT FUCKING HAPPENED YOU FUCKING LOSERS. Ahem….prior to the 2011 season, Mike Odom and Sean McLaughlin joined forces with an original Backyard League owner (and unfortunately loosely shared a living space) and helped re-tool his roster because he was a tool. That tool’s fall from grace perfectly coincided with Odom/McLaughlin’s rise to power, and for three straight years the league could only look on in exasperation as the little ESPN trophy icon thingie kept ending up in Odom/Sean’s fantasy quiver (yea we never got the league to adopt a real trophy until after we were split up not bitter or anything). No team had ever won back to back championships in the Backyard League in the years prior ( or since, best of luck to the River City Cuban Missiles as they attempt that feat this year 🙂 ) and yet the Sean/Odom dynasty won THREE YEARS IN A MOTHERFUCKING ROW. Given current league standings and given my boredom while on my well-earned bye, I felt this 3 year run deserved a fond look back and I have rebooted Lobman’s now defunct “The History of the League” TO DO JUST THAT. Let’s take a trip down memory lane shall we?

Year 1 — Rise of Jimbo’s Vulcan Death Grip

cat-vulcan-death-grip-1 — Dramatic Re-enactment.

Year 1 of the Odom/Sean/Other Guy partnership was not without it’s growing pains, as Odom and Sean attempted to navigate the inherent challenges with reshaping a roster formed by an idiot. It became very apparent very quickly that the roster management decisions would now be shared solely between new ownership, with the third owner instead focusing his time on petty theft and pettier “borrowing” and thinking of ways to justify his erectile dysfunction in casual conversations. The Sean/Odom partnership slowly found its footing and learned there was value in making as many moves as required/possible, in a league where other owners often times chose to stand pat.

FAST FORWARD to the end of the season: The team name has changed from “Team Dy Young” and whatever the fuck else it became at various times to “Jimbo’s Vulcan Death Grip,” an homage to our brave hero Jimbo choking out our impotent former third owner at a Netzer pool party of sorts (I could write a whole entire article about how funny it was watching said third owner slowly walk around alternately looking for his keys and apologizing to a not-having-it Jimbo but I think its best we put the references to earlier ownership to bed at this point). The Odom/Sean Ownership Partnership has dragged its way into the playoffs as the #5 seed, with a much-derided 9-11 record that no doubt annoyed the PURISTS who prefer all of their playoff teams to be over .500 (which is kinda understandable). Sean/Odom made 326 moves this season, 57 moves more than the previous league record set by Lobman in its inaugural season and 153 moves more than the next highest owner in 2011. And some of those moves paid immediate dividends in the playoffs, such as a trade with the WVU Bombers that brought Joe Mauer and Hanley Ramirez to the JDVG; in Round 1, the #4 seed WVU Bombers were handily defeated by JDVG with a RARE Joe Mauer HR (these were exceedingly rare in 2011) adding insult to injury in the matchup. Round 2 saw Sean/Odom match up with what would become a familiar playoff foe in the years to come, and thus the start of a familiar trend of playoff victories over Lobman was born. To be honest I don’t remember much about this matchup but to be honest I don’t remember much of anything these days (SAY NO TO DRUGS). With Lobman dispatched, all that stood in the way of a dynasty’s humble beginnings was MY VERY OWN BROTHER. My very own brother lost to us and lost handily, and JDVG secured a rather unexpected championship in its first year in the league. Mikey T’s postseason recap post didn’t know what the fuck to do with itself, and it would increasingly give up hope in the years to come. To make matters worse (for everyone else), Sean/Odom did it all as one of the lowest seeds to ever do so (probably) and also did it all as the only Backyard team to ever win a championship with a sub .500 regular season record (maybe).

Year 2 — “World F’in Champions” to Back to Back Backyard Champs

hqdefault1 — We were inspired by Chase Utley’s declaration and in subsequent years I have been inspired by his hat

Year 2 of the Odom/McLaughlin reign started with YET ANOTHER name change, this time in tribute to that time Chase Utley used a swear word during the Phillies World Series celebration (apologies to the Rays). I also recall a brief period where we changed our name to the FaceEaters to honor that zombie guy in Miami, but the picture Odom attached upset me and discouraged roster moves because I didn’t want to look at it anymore. So that had to go. ANYWHOM with the entire league mostly viewing title #1 as a fluke, the “World F’in Champions” didn’t do much to dispel that rumor by battling their way through an up and down season. FANTASY IS A CRUEL MISTRESS. In the end, your fearless defending champions were able to improve their playoff seeding by one (#5 seed in 2011, #4 seed in 2012) and flip-flop their record from the year previous (9-11 in 2011, 11-9 in 2012) as they made their way to the postseason once again. Once again, Odom/Sean relied on outpacing the rest of the league in moves (346, next highest was Lobman at 221) to scrap their way to as many wins as possible. Well like, 11 regular season wins.

FAST FORWARD to the aforementioned playoffs: Once there, they quickly dispatched of Greg Heroy’s Youth Movement (remember that name) in Round 1 before once again running into the #1 seed River City Mashers. In perhaps a SIGNATURE win for this franchise, the importance of teamwork was on full display as Odom and Sean worked together to eke out a tight victory over the Mashers. The defining moment of this battle would be a decision to sit key personnel during the Sunday night game (DANNY ESPINOSA) to preserve an OBP advantage, a decision that was deliberated between the two owners via cell phone while Sean was in a Folly Beach tequila bar hitting on a pink-haired waitress (sadly this is a bit of a recurring theme). Ultimate Espinosa sat (“bush league” was the term Lobman used to describe the brilliant strategy) and JUST LIKE THAT the top-seeded Mashers once again were sent home at the hands of Sean and Odom, and just like that Odom and Sean were once again on their way to the Championship Round. This time, it was the shocking #6 seed Somerville Sluggers that opposed them. As I recall the commissioner was making a lot of ballyhoo about how the Somerville Sluggers would be the first team to win the championship with a sub .500 record even though we had just done that very thing THE PREVIOUS FUCKING YEAR. DISRESPECTFUL! Long story short SeanOdom beat Pete Mitchell’s ass, and while I can’t recall the specifics and can’t look back on the league history from that year I am fairly certain it was a comfortable victory. I don’t recall being stressed.

AND JUST LIKE THAT, Odom/Sean became the first team to win back-to-back championships in the Backyard’s pathetic history and the Tampa Bay TwoTimeTwoTime! were (briefly) born.

Year 3 — Back to Back to BACK?!?!?! 3PO Rises

Year 3 of the McLaughlin/Odom reign of terror began much as year 2 did, with other league members pointing to mediocre regular season records and clinging YES CLINGING to the belief that somehow this team had just gotten lucky for two consecutive postseasons in a row. OH how that would change in year 3, when the dynasty took its final form. The TwoTime TwoTime opened up the 2013 season by going 0-2 (losing to Ryan and Rojo), surely to the delight of the other league owners that had grown accustomed to relatively quiet regular seasons from the back-to-back champeens and hoped that this time perhaps they would sit out the postseason. They quickly rebounded by evening up their record at 2-2 before dropping another game (to a one Brian Smith) and ending up at 2-3. AND THEN…..and then they didn’t lose another motherfucking game all motherfucking season ladies (and mothers). The juggernaut that was the 2013 Sean and Odom Connection won 14 straight games from May 6th to August 18th, in the process renaming themselves as the F’in Freight Trains and immortalizing Lou Marson forever. Only a Week 20 matchup with their old foe the River City Mashers even so much as attempted to slow them down, as they battled Lobman and his gang of baseball men to a 6-6-2 tie. It was the equivalent of putting a (green)penny on the train tracks and expecting it to derail an entire freight train. The Freight Trains as they were known showed a bit of restraint in the moves department in 2013, failing to amass 300 moves for the only time in their history (295 moves, Lobman lead the league with 344). In the end they ended up as the #1 seed with a 16-3-1 record, narrowly edginge out the Angels in the TROUTfield (eye roll emoji) for the top seed in the playoffs WHICH WOULD PROVE RATHER IMPORTANT (The AitT went 16-4 in 2013, 0-2 against SeanOdom).

CUE THE PLAYOFFS ONCE AGAIN: For the first time in their history, Odom and Sean got to sit back and relax during Round 1 (kinda like this year) and awaited their Round 2 opponent as the number 1 seed. Naturally Round 2 brought the River City Mashers as usual, and THIS ONE practically deserves its own article folks but I wouldn’t want to take away from the greater narrative….. 13-0-1. The only reason the F’in Freight Trains didn’t record a CLEAN SWEEP of the categories against those sorry Mashers of River City is because they failed to record a complete game, which probably haunts me in some small way (many things do). But AT LEAST, in their third playoff tango, Sean/Odom were able to hand Lobman the worst playoff loss this league has ever seen or will ever see (probably). The F’in Freight Trains found themselves in the championship game for the third straight season, this time against their most dominant opponent yet in the Angels in the TROUTfield.

As mentioned, the AitT went 16-4 in 2013 and they have for years boasted one of the more impressive on paper rosters in all of the Backyard League. This was the year they put all of that on paper talent together, and if not for their second loss to the Freight Trains in the regular season they may have entered this championship matchup in position of the higher seed and thus the tiebreaker. BUT THAT 2ND LOSS HAPPENED. And it would end up costing the AitT dearly. Heroy’s squad was relentless early and dominated the HRs, RBIs, and OBP categories. However the Freight Trains were able to keep pace by staying out in front in ERA, strikeouts, and wins. Employing Mets closer Latroy Hawkins in a weekend with a Saturday Mets doubleheader helped the Freight Trains snag a lead in saves that they would not relinquish, and this matchup ultimately ended up tied heading into a Red Sox v. Yankees Sunday night matchup. Willing to betray all of his loyalties for just one sweet sweet matchup, Heroy employed rando Red Sawks relievers like Craig Breslow in hopes of grabbing a hold that would tie the holds category and give Heroy the gold. This did not happen, and once Ichiro Suzuki’s FINAL INNING (I think) steal was ruled fielder’s indifference (Heroy had Ichiro, steals were tied 7-7) it became clear that there would not be a new champion this year. Odom/Sean and their Freight Trainers had gone BACK TO BACK TO FUCKING BACK, something they to this day feel confident will never be repeated in such a cutthroat league environment (just ask us about it!). The 3peat OffendaZ were born.

Year 4 — “All That Shimmers In This World Is Sure To Fade Away Again”

395441ec48a36564b2eedfec5c11f37c — the only reason I am even COVERING year 4 is so that I could look for the most emo written out “Shimmer” lyrics (from super-band Fuel)

Super-band Fuel once said that all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again. Which you should know since I just quoted it above. And they…. were right. Riding the high of their 3peat, the 3PO casually rolled their way to another #1 seed and first round bye in 2014. I say “casually” and I mean it, as they ended up with a MERE 244 moves in 2014 (Lobman once again leads the league with 344 that year). After their Round 1 bye the 3PO met the newly-formed Whitesville McGibblets, who were only in the league because the Somerville Sluggers never recovered from their crushing championship loss to Sean/Odom and abruptly retired shortly thereafter. OH SWEET IRONY. The McGibblets shocked the world by defeating the 3PO 8-5-1 in Round 2, in a matchup where the 3PO’s performance was so incredibly bland that I can’t even think of an excuse to blame as to why it happened. The 3PO probably should have stolen more bases or something. ANYWAYS, at least the McGibblets lost in the championship to Ryan McLaughlin’s “Swingmen” but that is not what you are here to read about. Nobody watches the Nirvana “Behind The Music” to hear about how Pearl Jam was doing at that time.

In the end, the league seized upon the 3PO’s shocking Round 2 loss and a need for another owner to break apart the dynastic partnership mere months after they suffered their only playoff loss in 4 seasons. Today Odom and Sean act as friendly opponents, rooting from afar for the success of their other former co-owner but also focused on their individual teams. With this year’s byes ending up in their familiar hands, one can only think back on A THREE YEAR NIGHTMARE FOR EVERY OTHER LEAGUE OWNER and wonder if Odom and Sean might find themselves in the championship game again this year…..this time………………………………………………….as opponents……………………………………….

dun-dun-dun-o

History of the League: Part 2 – 2009

April 20, 2016February 18, 2017 mikelobmanLeave a comment

Sometimes its fun to go back into the history books to check out the past scores and records after such a long time in the league, and sometimes its, well, not as fun. 2009 was not as fun of a sophomore season for the defending champ Mashers, but did crown a new champ in the Scarlet Knights (Now Springfield Isotopes).

2009 Also introduce our first expansion franchise in league history: Zee Captain. Now, I have no worldy idea who this joker was, but MANNNNNNN did he love his Washington Nationals. Also, I heard that he was Lenny’s friend or something, so that’s how it went. Our new friend Zee Captain came through with some of the more … interesting trades you could think of in his quest to acquire every National player of relevance he could think of. A special shoutout goes to Mr. Greg Heroy and his Youth Movement (previously named Rebuilding Stage) for basically being the most Bipolar team in our leagues history, going worst to tied for first in 1 season.

While there were some interesting trades happening in the offseason before this season started which can’t be verified (due to lack of record keeping at the time), 2009 brought forward the next step of the trading era. Remember how R-Mac has every ace you could think of? Well, the first (and strongest) of the stable was acquired in 2009 by the name of Clayton something Kershaw. How about this: Eventual champ Mikey T dealt eventual MVP Dustin Pedroia to the Mashers for a couple of closers, which would probably go down as on of the weirder trades in this league’s history. I mean, it worked out for him decently well, as Brian Wilson (acquired in said trade) posted incredibly good numbers after the trade. This included saving 3 in the championship week to beat the Jonny Bevs (what?).

The playoffs that year did not yield any real discernible favorite like 2008, but it did provide some really interesting semi-final results that I didn’t notice until now. Defending champion Lobman and The Mashers limped into the playoffs as the #6 seed, yet took down strong #3 seed in the WVU Bombers to get into the Semi’s against the Knights (bye). The other mild surprise was Jonny Bev’s “Numba 2 Pick” upsetting Pete Mitch (RIP), which set up a battle with the upstart Youth Movement. Both semi-final match-ups ended up incredibly close 6-5-3 battles, and produced a very unsavory Scarlet Knights vs Numba 2 Pick Championship Game. Ugh.

The Championship Game was not close again for the 2nd straight year, as the Knights just crushed Bev like every math test he ever took, which gave Mikey T his first (only) Backyard League Championship.

REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS

2009
AMERICAN						NATIONAL
TEAM	W	L	T	PCT	GB	TEAM	W	L	T	PCT	GB
Scarlet Knights	15	7	0	0.682	—	Youth Movement	16	6	0	0.727	—
WVU Bombers	14	8	0	0.636	1	Numba 2 Pick	12	10	0	0.545	4
Somerville Sluggers	13	9	0	0.591	2	River City Mashers	11	11	0	0.5	5
Toms River Takeover	9	13	0	0.409	6	Whitestone Bulldogs	6	16	0	0.273	10
Orlando Stunnaz	9	13	0	0.409	6	Zee Captain	5	17	0	0.227	11

PLAYOFF BRACKET

#1 Youth Movement	–
BYE	–

#5 Numba 2 Pick	7-5-2	#5 Numba 2 Pick	6-5-3
#4 Somerville Sluggers	5-7-2	#1 Youth Movement	5-6-3
				#5 Numba 2 Pick	3-10-1
#6 River City Mashers	7-6-1	#6 River City Mashers	5-6-3	#2 Scarlet Knights	10-3-1
#3 WVU Bombers	6-7-1	#2 Scarlet Knights	6-5-3

#2 Scarlet Knights	–
BYE	–

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RESULT:

TEAM	BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	K	QS	CG	W	SV	HD	ERA	SCORE
#5 Numba 2 Pick (12-10)	47	15	0	13	48	3	0.3927	66	6	0	8	3	2	4.24	3-10-1
#2 Scarlet Knights (15-7)	49	14	2	13	52	5	0.3299	78	7	1	5	8	4	3.842	10-3-1

Coming Soon: Season #3 (2010)

The Records.

April 18, 2016April 20, 2016 mikelobman1 Comment

All-Time Records

Runs: 70 R Mac (Week 16, 2009)
Doubles: 31 Lobman (17, ’12)
Triples: 7 Lobman (5, ’11), Brian (5, ’13), Sean/Odom (19, ’13), Greg (15, ’14)
Home Runs: 26 Lobman (18, ’15)
RBI’s: 81 R Mac (16, ’09)*
Stolen Bases: 20 Mitch (4, ’09)
OBP: .456 Lenny (6, ’11)

Strikeouts: 110 Ryan (10, ’14)
Quality Starts: 12 Lobman (2, ’16)
Complete Games: 4 Ryan (8, ’08), Lenny (11, ’11) Lobman (19, ’10)****
Wins: 11 MikeyT (13, ’11)
Saves: 11 MikeyT (14, ’09), Rojo (1, ’10)*** , Cliff (9, 15)*
Holds: 8 Greg (14, ’11, 18, ’15)
ERA: 1.29 Odom/Sean (20, ’11)

*Cliff had an illegal roster for one day in Week 9

*2nd most is 70 RBIs
***Rojo had 11 Saves on an 8 day week. No pitchers played Day 1.
****Includes 1 5IP Rain-Out CG

2016 Record Book

*COMING SOON*

2015 Record Book

Runs: 64 Lobman (16)
Doubles: 26 Lobman (19)
Triples: 6 Greg (14), Brian (22)
Home Runs: 26 Lobman (18) *ALL-TIME RECORD*
RBI’s: 68 Lobman (18)
Stolen Bases: 18 Odom (10)
OBP: .404 Cliff (20)

Strikeouts: 109 Lobman (23)
Quality Starts: 11 Rojo (13)
Complete Games: 2 Connor (8), Brian (11, 13, 16, 20), Rojo (17, 18), Cliff (18), Ryan (21)
Wins: 9 MikeyT (5), Cliff (18)
Saves: 11 Cliff (9)*
Holds: 8 Greg (18) TIES ALL-TIME RECORD
ERA: 1.45 Ryan (3)

2014 Season

Runs: 56 Toms River 3Peat OffendaZ (Week 9)
Doubles: 30 Whitesville McGibblets (8)
Triples: 7 Angle in the Troutfield (15)
Home Runs: 21 Toms River 3Peat OffendaZ (9)
RBI’s: 61 River City Cuban Missiles (4)
Stolen Bases: 16 Whitesville McGibblets (13,22)
OBP: .412 Angels in the Troutfield (5)

Strikeouts: 110 Pine Lake Swingmen (10) *ALL TIME*
Quality Starts: 11 Toms River 3peat OffendaZ (4, 19), River City Cuban Missiles (17)
Complete Games: 3 Whitesville McGibblets (20)
Wins: 9 Angels in the Troutfield (4), OffendaZ (7), Stunnaz (7)
Saves: 9 Toms River 3peat OffendaZ (4)
Holds: 7 WVU Bombers (19)
ERA: 1.33 Whitesville McGibblets (20)

2013 Records

Runs: 61 TR Trains (9)
Doubles: 28 Barnegat Banana Slugs (12)
Triples: 7 Barnegat Banana Slugs (5), TR Trains (19)*Tied All-Time Record
Home Runs: 19 Pine Lake Mambas (3)
RBI’s: 67 Barnegat Banana Slugs (7)
Stolen Bases: 13 Barnegat Banana Slugs (4, 10)
OBP: .417 Youth Movement (5)

Strikeouts: 103 River City Mashers* All-time Record
Quality Starts: 11 Barnegat Banana Slugs
Complete Games: 2 Knights, Youth Movement (2), TR Trains(8), WVU Bombers (11, 15), Mambas (14)
Wins: 9 Scarlet Knights (9), Barnegat Banana Slugs (12), TR Trains (19)
Saves: 10 Pine Lake Black Mambas (10), WVU Bombers (15), TR Trains (19, 20)
Holds: 6 TR Trains(10)
ERA: 1.78 Whitestone Bulldogs (16 – 14 Starts), 1.77 Youth Movement (20 – 9 Starts)

2012 Records

Runs: 67 WVU Bombers (7), WFC (12)
Doubles: 31 River City Mashers (17) *All-Time Record
Triples: 5 TR Takeover (2), Sluggers (4), Stunnaz (13)
Home Runs: 20 Orlando Stunnaz (9)
RBI’s: 70 WVU Bombers (7)
Stolen Bases: 15 WFC (21)
OBP: .418 WVU Bombers (7)

Strikeouts: 99 River City Mashers (10) *All-time Record
Quality Starts: 10 WVU Bombers (2)^ , Stunnaz (3), Sluggers (4, 10), Mashers (4, 11, 15), Movement (10)^ , Bulldogs (16)
Complete Games: 3 T’s Knights (11)
Wins: 10 Orlando Stunnaz (9)
Saves: 10 T’s Knights (15)
Holds: 4 WFC (4), WVU Bombers (5), Bulldogs (7, 16), Movement (9), Sluggers (11, 19, 20, 21), Knights (15), Bulldogs (21)
ERA: 1.66 WVU Bombers (18)

2011 Records

Runs: 64 WVU Bombers (Week 20)
Doubles: 26 Toms River Takeover (11)
Triples: 7 River City Mashers (5)*All-Time Record
Home Runs: 22 Youth Movement (13)
RBI’s: 64 River City Mashers (10)
Stolen Bases: 16 Whitestone Bulldogs (8)
OBP: .456 Orlando Stunnaz (4)

Strikeouts: 94^ TR Takeover (5)
Quality Starts: 10 River City Mashers (7), Zee Captain (14), Takeover (P1), JVDG (P2)
Complete Games: 4 Orlando Stunnaz (11)*Ties All-Time Record
Wins: 11 T’s Knights (13)*All-time record
Saves: 9 River City Mashers (8, 13), Jets (9), Knights (14)
Holds: 8 Youth Movement (14)*All-Time Record
ERA: 1.29 Odom/Sean (20)*All-Time Record

The History of the League – 2008

April 12, 2016 mikelobmanLeave a comment

Lets chronicle the league’s history, starting with 2008:

So, to begin this review, we start at the beginning. Nobody knew exactly how this intense this league was going to get, but the action started fast and furious. The regular season was basically a 3 team race for the top spot, with The Mashers, Knights, and whatever the fuck Figs’ team name was. Well, legend has it that in Match-up 18, a CERTAIN COMMISSIONER used more than the allotted 12 SP in a hotly contested battle between the Knights and the Figs’s’s’s. Its hard to look this up with the little data provided, but I do believe that a win was achieved on that Sunday, which gave the Knights a narrow 7-6-1 victory. This sent the angry little bastard Figs into a tailspin, which basically ended up with him quitting the league. The team was then agreed to by all to just be abandoned and kept with roster in tact (when in the off-season birthed the Zee Captain era).

Well, the league pushed on into the playoffs, with the Mashers (Lobman) and Knights (Tutora) as the overwhelming favorites to meet in the 1st ever Championship Game. However; as we all know, nothing is certain in this crazy league as The Knights were downed handily by the unheralded and underrated Bulldogs (Cliff) 7-4-3. The other Semifinal battle had the Mashers taking down the TR Tar Heels (Rmac) in one of the closer battles in playoff history (7-6-1). An OBP advantage of .3812 to .3810 was the difference in the battle, and sent the Mashers to the title game to host the Bulldogs.

Unfortunately for the Dogs, the Championship Game was a complete walkover, and Lobman was awarded the inaugural Backyard Championship Trophy, 11-2-1.

REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS

2008
American						NATIONAL
Team	W	L	T	PCT	GB	TEAM	W	L	T	PCT	GB
Scarlet Knights	17	5	0	0.773	—	River City Mashers	19	3	0	0.864	—
Toms River Tar Heels	13	9	0	0.591	4	Southside FIGS	14	8	0	0.636	5
WVU Bombers	11	11	0	0.5	6	Whitestone Bulldogs	10	12	0	0.455	9
Somerville Sluggers	9	13	0	0.409	8	THE PIMPS	7	15	0	0.318	12
Orlando Stunnaz	6	16	0	0.273	11	Rebuilding Stage	4	18	0	0.182	15

PLAYOFF BRACKET

QTR FINALS		SEMI FINALS		CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 River City Mashers	BYE
BYE	–	#4 Toms River Tar Heels	7-6-1
		#1 River City Mashers	6-7-1
#5 WVU Bombers	9-4-1			#6 Whitestone Bulldogs	2-11-1
#4 Toms River Tar Heels	4-9-1			#1 River City Mashers	11-2-1
		#6 Whitestone Bulldogs	7-4-3
#6 Whitestone Bulldogs	7-5-2	#2 Scarlet Knights	4-7-3
#3 Southside FIGS	5-7-2

#2 Scarlet Knights	BYE
BYE	–

Championship Game Result:

TEAM	BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	K	QS	CG	W	SV	HD	ERA	SCORE
#6 Whitestone Bulldogs (10-12)	50	14	1	16	53	5	0.2982	70	8	0	4	3	1	3.276	2-11-1
#1 River City Mashers (19-3)	54	16	3	18	56	4	0.3493	75	8	1	7	4	3	4.4	11-2-1

Coming Soon, Season #2 (2009)…..

How We Started: The Original Draft, 2008

April 11, 2016February 25, 2018 mikelobmanLeave a comment

Without any fancy buildup, this is how our league started. Take a gander and laugh at some of the more hilarious picks made and how stupid and naive we all were. Ahhhhh Memories:

ROUND 1
1 Jose Reyes, NYM SS River City Mashers
2 Alex Rodriguez, NYY 3B Orlando Stunnaz
3 Miguel Cabrera, Det 3B Scarlet Knights
4 Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS WVU Bombers
5 David Wright, NYM 3B THE PIMPS
6 Johan Santana, NYM SP Rebuilding Stage
7 Chase Utley, Phi 2B Whitestone Bulldogs
8 Jimmy Rollins, Phi SS Toms River Tar Heels
9 Matt Holliday, Oak LF Southside QUITTERS
10 Carl Crawford, TB LF Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 2
11 Albert Pujols, StL 1B Somerville Sluggers
12 Ryan Braun, Mil 3B Southside QUITTERS
13 Jake Peavy, SD SP Toms River Tar Heels
14 Grady Sizemore, Cle CF Whitestone Bulldogs
15 Ryan Howard, Phi 1B Rebuilding Stage
16 Alfonso Soriano, ChC LF THE PIMPS
17 Ichiro Suzuki, Sea CF WVU Bombers
18 Prince Fielder, Mil 1B Scarlet Knights
19 CC Sabathia, NYY SP Orlando Stunnaz
20 Carlos Beltran, NYM CF River City Mashers

ROUND 3
21 B.J. Upton, TB 2B River City Mashers
22 J.J. Putz, NYM RP Orlando Stunnaz
23 Brandon Webb, Ari SP Scarlet Knights
24 Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B WVU Bombers
25 Aramis Ramirez, ChC 3B THE PIMPS
26 Derek Jeter, NYY SS Rebuilding Stage
27 David Ortiz, Bos DH Whitestone Bulldogs
28 Justin Morneau, Min 1B Toms River Tar Heels
29 Carlos Lee, Hou LF Southside QUITTERS
30 Erik Bedard, Sea SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 4
31 Jonathan Papelbon, Bos RP Somerville Sluggers
32 Dan Haren, Ari SP Southside QUITTERS
33 Roy Halladay, Tor SP Toms River Tar Heels
34 Josh Beckett, Bos SP Whitestone Bulldogs
35 Victor Martinez, Cle C Rebuilding Stage
36 Justin Verlander, Det SP THE PIMPS
37 Vladimir Guerrero, LAA RF WVU Bombers
38 Robinson Cano, NYY 2B Scarlet Knights
39 Magglio Ordonez, Det RF Orlando Stunnaz
40 Mark Teixeira, NYY 1B River City Mashers

ROUND 5
41 Roy Oswalt, Hou SP River City Mashers
42 Eric Byrnes, Ari LF Orlando Stunnaz
43 Travis Hafner, Cle DH Scarlet Knights
44 Lance Berkman, Hou 1B WVU Bombers
45 Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS THE PIMPS
46 Cole Hamels, Phi SP Rebuilding Stage
47 Garrett Atkins, Col 3B Whitestone Bulldogs
48 Manny Ramirez, LAD LF Toms River Tar Heels
49 Carlos Pena, TB 1B Southside QUITTERS
50 Nick Markakis, Bal RF Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 6
51 Brian Roberts, Bal 2B Somerville Sluggers
52 Carlos Guillen, Det SS Southside QUITTERS
53 Russell Martin, LAD C Toms River Tar Heels
54 Curtis Granderson, Det CF Whitestone Bulldogs
55 Torii Hunter, LAA CF Rebuilding Stage
56 Bobby Abreu, NYY RF THE PIMPS
57 Chipper Jones, Atl 3B WVU Bombers
58 Jorge Posada, NYY C Scarlet Knights
59 Hunter Pence, Hou CF Orlando Stunnaz
60 Adam Dunn, Ari LF River City Mashers

ROUND 7
61 Carlos Zambrano, ChC SP River City Mashers
62 Derrek Lee, ChC 1B Orlando Stunnaz
63 Fausto Carmona, Cle SP Scarlet Knights
64 Alex Rios, Tor RF WVU Bombers
65 Joe Mauer, Min C THE PIMPS
66 Francisco Rodriguez, NYM RP Rebuilding Stage
67 Aaron Harang, Cin SP Whitestone Bulldogs
68 Takashi Saito, Bos RP Toms River Tar Heels
69 Ian Kinsler, Tex 2B Southside QUITTERS
70 Chris Young, SD SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 8
71 Daisuke Matsuzaka, Bos SP Somerville Sluggers
72 Javier Vazquez, Atl SP Southside QUITTERS
73 Dan Uggla, Fla 2B Toms River Tar Heels
74 Billy Wagner, NYM RP Whitestone Bulldogs
75 Ryan Zimmerman, Was 3B Rebuilding Stage
76 Tim Lincecum, SF SP THE PIMPS
77 Joe Nathan, Min RP WVU Bombers
78 Vernon Wells, Tor CF Scarlet Knights
79 Joba Chamberlain, NYY RP Orlando Stunnaz
80 Chone Figgins, LAA 3B River City Mashers

ROUND 9
81 Felix Hernandez, Sea SP River City Mashers
82 Brad Penny, Bos SP Orlando Stunnaz
83 Miguel Tejada, Hou SS Scarlet Knights
84 Jermaine Dye, CWS RF WVU Bombers
85 Mariano Rivera, NYY RP THE PIMPS
86 Chris Young, Ari CF Rebuilding Stage
87 Brian McCann, Atl C Whitestone Bulldogs
88 Tim Hudson, Atl SP Toms River Tar Heels
89 Howie Kendrick, LAA 2B Southside QUITTERS
90 Mike Lowell, Bos 3B Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 10
91 Rafael Furcal, LAD SS Somerville Sluggers
92 Chien-Ming Wang, NYY SP Southside QUITTERS
93 Adrian Beltre, Sea 3B Toms River Tar Heels
94 Michael Young, Tex SS Whitestone Bulldogs
95 Hideki Matsui, NYY LF Rebuilding Stage
96 Delmon Young, Min RF THE PIMPS
97 Paul Konerko, CWS 1B WVU Bombers
98 Jose Valverde, Hou RP Scarlet Knights
99 Edgar Renteria, SF SS Orlando Stunnaz
100 Scott Kazmir, TB SP River City Mashers

ROUND 11
101 Jeff Francoeur, Atl RF River City Mashers
102 Orlando Cabrera, CWS SS Orlando Stunnaz
103 Jason Bay, Bos LF Scarlet Knights
104 James Shields, TB SP WVU Bombers
105 Yovani Gallardo, Mil SP THE PIMPS
106 Bobby Jenks, CWS RP Rebuilding Stage
107 Pedro Martinez, NYM SP Whitestone Bulldogs
108 Juan Pierre, LAD CF Toms River Tar Heels
109 Brad Hawpe, Col RF Southside QUITTERS
110 A.J. Burnett, NYY SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 12
111 Kenji Johjima, Sea C Somerville Sluggers
112 Francisco Cordero, Cin RP Southside QUITTERS
113 Ken Griffey Jr., CWS RF Toms River Tar Heels
114 James Loney, LAD 1B Whitestone Bulldogs
115 Adrian Gonzalez, SD 1B Rebuilding Stage
116 Nick Swisher, NYY 1B THE PIMPS
117 Jim Thome, CWS DH WVU Bombers
118 Manuel Corpas, Col RP Scarlet Knights
119 Phil Hughes, NYY SP Orlando Stunnaz
120 Huston Street, Col RP River City Mashers

ROUND 13
121 Ryan Garko, Cle 1B River City Mashers
122 Rickie Weeks, Mil 2B Orlando Stunnaz
123 John Lackey, LAA SP Scarlet Knights
124 Matt Cain, SF SP WVU Bombers
125 Dontrelle Willis, Det SP THE PIMPS
126 Ben Sheets, Mil SP Rebuilding Stage
127 Francisco Liriano, Min SP Whitestone Bulldogs
128 Kelly Johnson, Atl 2B Toms River Tar Heels
129 Corey Hart, Mil RF Southside QUITTERS
130 Jason Isringhausen, StL RP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 14
131 Andruw Jones, LAD CF Somerville Sluggers
132 Gary Sheffield, Det DH Southside QUITTERS
133 Derek Lowe, Atl SP Toms River Tar Heels
134 Kosuke Fukudome, ChC RF Whitestone Bulldogs
135 Matt Kemp, LAD RF Rebuilding Stage
136 Josh Hamilton, Tex CF THE PIMPS
137 Pat Burrell, TB LF WVU Bombers
138 Shane Victorino, Phi RF Scarlet Knights
139 Brett Myers, Phi SP Orlando Stunnaz
140 Jhonny Peralta, Cle SS River City Mashers

ROUND 15
141 Jeremy Bonderman, Det SP River City Mashers
142 Ivan Rodriguez, NYY C Orlando Stunnaz
143 John Maine, NYM SP Scarlet Knights
144 Aaron Hill, Tor 2B WVU Bombers
145 Placido Polanco, Det 2B THE PIMPS
146 Rick Ankiel, StL RF Rebuilding Stage
147 Rafael Soriano, Atl RP Whitestone Bulldogs
148 Todd Helton, Col 1B Toms River Tar Heels
149 Adam Wainwright, StL SP Southside QUITTERS
150 Alex Gordon, KC 3B Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 16
151 Jeff Kent, LAD 2B Somerville Sluggers
152 Kevin Youkilis, Bos 1B Southside QUITTERS
153 Chad Cordero, Was RP Toms River Tar Heels
154 Carlos Delgado, NYM 1B Whitestone Bulldogs
155 Jered Weaver, LAA SP Rebuilding Stage
156 Trevor Hoffman, Mil RP THE PIMPS
157 Kelvim Escobar, LAA SP WVU Bombers
158 Rich Hill, ChC SP Scarlet Knights
159 John Smoltz, Bos SP Orlando Stunnaz
160 Matt Capps, Pit RP River City Mashers

ROUND 17
161 Jonathan Broxton, LAD RP River City Mashers
162 Ian Snell, Pit SP Orlando Stunnaz
163 Troy Glaus, StL 3B Scarlet Knights
164 Bengie Molina, SF C WVU Bombers
165 Adam LaRoche, Pit 1B THE PIMPS
166 Luis Castillo, NYM 2B Rebuilding Stage
167 Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos LF Whitestone Bulldogs
168 Hideki Okajima, Bos RP Toms River Tar Heels
169 Joe Borowski, Cle RP Southside QUITTERS
170 Andy Pettitte, NYY SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 18
171 Johnny Damon, NYY CF Somerville Sluggers
172 Jason Varitek, Bos C Southside QUITTERS
173 Justin Upton, Ari RF Toms River Tar Heels
174 Oliver Perez, NYM SP Whitestone Bulldogs
175 J.J. Hardy, Mil SS Rebuilding Stage
176 Jon Garland, LAA SP THE PIMPS
177 Jeff Francis, Col SP WVU Bombers
178 Chad Billingsley, LAD SP Scarlet Knights
179 Dustin McGowan, Tor SP Orlando Stunnaz
180 Raul Ibanez, Phi LF River City Mashers

ROUND 19
181 Brad Lidge, Phi RP River City Mashers
182 Edwin Encarnacion, Cin 3B Orlando Stunnaz
183 Willy Taveras, Cin CF Scarlet Knights
184 Eric Gagne, Mil RP WVU Bombers
185 Khalil Greene, StL SS THE PIMPS
186 Rafael Betancourt, Cle RP Rebuilding Stage
187 Evan Longoria, TB 3B Whitestone Bulldogs
188 Orlando Hudson, Ari 2B Toms River Tar Heels
189 Mark Buehrle, CWS SP Southside QUITTERS
190 Bronson Arroyo, Cin SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 20
191 Jeremy Hermida, Fla RF Somerville Sluggers
192 Pat Neshek, Min RP Southside QUITTERS
193 Joe Blanton, Phi SP Toms River Tar Heels
194 Aaron Heilman, Sea RP Whitestone Bulldogs
195 Aaron Rowand, SF CF Rebuilding Stage
196 Barry Zito, SF SP THE PIMPS
197 Roger Clemens, FA SP WVU Bombers
198 Dustin Pedroia, Bos 2B Scarlet Knights
199 Kevin Kouzmanoff, SD 3B Orlando Stunnaz
200 Frank Thomas, Oak DH River City Mashers

ROUND 21
201 Yunel Escobar, Atl 2B River City Mashers
202 Jose Guillen, KC RF Orlando Stunnaz
203 Joakim Soria, KC RP Scarlet Knights
204 Todd Jones, Det RP WVU Bombers
205 Jason Giambi, Oak DH THE PIMPS
206 Clay Buchholz, Bos SP Rebuilding Stage
207 Jeremy Accardo, Tor RP Whitestone Bulldogs
208 Richie Sexson, NYY 1B Toms River Tar Heels
209 Michael Bourn, Hou LF Southside QUITTERS
210 Kenny Rogers, Det SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 22
211 Aubrey Huff, Bal 1B Somerville Sluggers
212 Troy Percival, TB RP Southside QUITTERS
213 Gil Meche, KC SP Toms River Tar Heels
214 Zack Greinke, KC SP Whitestone Bulldogs
215 Heath Bell, SD RP Rebuilding Stage
216 B.J. Ryan, Tor RP THE PIMPS
217 Casey Kotchman, Atl 1B WVU Bombers
218 Michael Cuddyer, Min RF Scarlet Knights
219 Ted Lilly, ChC SP Orlando Stunnaz
220 Mike Napoli, LAA C River City Mashers

ROUND 23
221 Carlos Marmol, ChC RP River City Mashers
222 Kazuo Matsui, Hou 2B Orlando Stunnaz
223 Scot Shields, LAA RP Scarlet Knights
224 Julio Lugo, Bos SS WVU Bombers
225 Ty Wigginton, Hou 2B THE PIMPS
226 Andrew Miller, Fla SP Rebuilding Stage
227 Lastings Milledge, Was RF Whitestone Bulldogs
228 Jonny Gomes, Cin RF Toms River Tar Heels
229 Micah Owings, Cin SP Southside QUITTERS
230 Tom Gorzelanny, Pit SP Somerville Sluggers

ROUND 24
231 Ramon Hernandez, Cin C Somerville Sluggers
232 Josh Fields, CWS 3B Southside QUITTERS
233 Jon Lester, Bos SP Toms River Tar Heels
234 Stephen Drew, Ari SS Whitestone Bulldogs
235 Joey Votto, Cin 1B Rebuilding Stage
236 Corey Patterson, Was CF THE PIMPS
237 Akinori Iwamura, TB 3B WVU Bombers
238 Milton Bradley, ChC LF Scarlet Knights
239 Kevin Gregg, ChC RP Orlando Stunnaz
240 Johnny Cueto, Cin SP River City Mashers

ROUND 25
241 Moises Alou, NYM LF River City Mashers
242 Geovany Soto, ChC C Orlando Stunnaz
243 Jonathan Albaladejo, NYY RP Scarlet Knights
244 Greg Maddux, LAD SP WVU Bombers
245 Matt Garza, TB SP THE PIMPS
246 David Wells, FA SP Rebuilding Stage
247 Brandon Lyon, Det RP Whitestone Bulldogs
248 Gary Matthews Jr., LAA CF Toms River Tar Heels
249 Jerry Owens, CWS CF Southside QUITTERS
250 Josh Willingham, Was LF Somerville Sluggers