The Power Alley Super 7 - Week 4

Here come the Puffs!

• Dropping out of the Top 7 is Big Mac Special Sauce, now ranked 10th.
• Replacing them are the Lusitania Death Speakers.
  

Standings over Past Month

From 4/23 t0 5/22

Power Alley - Week 4

Changes at the Top

• The Oathbinders moves into first place and is "on pace" for 108 wins.
• Close on their heels and dropping to second are the DC Chips.
  
• The Sonoran Black Diamonds drop out of the Top 5
• Replacing them are the Downsouth Brews

Elsewhere

• Big Mac Special Sauce and the Otherton Fishbiscuits fall on hard times, dropping 3 slots in the Power Alley Standings.
• The Willets Point "Mechanics" turn in the opposite, rising 3 slots.
  

Great Feats - 4A

5/20 - Joe Torre (OFB) gets 5 hits.
5/20 - Well, this is uncommon. The Oathbinders win an 18 inning game by 9 runs.
5/21 - Harry Brecheen (DMO) pitches to an 86 game score, a 2 hit complete game shutout.
5/22 - Joe Jackson (BT) drives in 6.
5/22 - Joe DiMaggio (EPL) ties for the longest hit streak of the year, 16 games. The streak is still active. During the streak he is batting .485 / .507 / .779, 12 R, 17 RBI, 3 2B, 3B, 5 HR

Handbasket's Unveil Their New Logo

Despite protests from various advocacy groups irate that a "Devil" will be portayed to young children throughout the U.S., Joe T of the Helana Handbaskets unveiled their new team logo today. Joe unexpectly ended his press conference when asked if their recent 2-5 record had anything to do with the basket surging downwards instead upwards.

Sim 4A Complete

Sorry for delay, Memorial Day weekend festivities got in the way of ATB. We'll push everything back 1 day this week.

Standings Summary - Week 3

Riding a seven game winning streak to compliment a superb 10-4 Week 3 Simulation, the Eugene Psycho Llamas are now the leading Wild Card team in the Greenhorn Division. While their season total Run Differential is nothing out of the ordinary at +14, its worthy to note it was in the negative entering the start of play for Week 3.

Aside from a great sim from Batter of the Week Joe DiMaggio, several others excelled for the the Llamas. Lead-off hitter Billy Hamilton batted over .300 with a .403 OBP; Bret Saberhagen pitched 30 innings and gave up just 9 earned runs (2.70 ERA) and reliever Dean Chance pitched 10 innings without allowing any runners to cross the plate. The team ERA was 3.53 and they scored the third most runs during the week.

In the Mossback Division, the San Diego Puff rode took the hoopla surrounding their new logo in stride and got down to business to the tune of an inedible 12-2 record. As a team they batted .316 / .353 / .442 for the second best OPS on Sim, while their pitching was just as good - a team 2.72 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Cliff Melton was runner up in the POTW award going undefeated in 3 starts with a 1.50 ERA. George Sisler and Derrek Lee were the key batters for the Puff offense combining for 6 HR and 31 RBI.

Batter and Pitcher of the Week

Widely regarded as the best ATB pitcher in history, Pedro Martinez of John McDonald Fanclub is named the Sim 3 Player of the Week. Martinez pitched 22 innings of 12 hit ball, striking out 21 against just 3 walks. His ERA was a sporty 1.23 and had the 1.33 RCERA to back it up. His success didn't help his squad all that much though, Fanclub went 5-10 on the week and dropped from the Wild Card lead.


Joltin' Joe DiMaggio on the other hand, led his team to stellar 10-4 week, vaulting the Eugene Psycho Llamas into second place in the Greenhorn Division. The center fielder had the best offensive week of the year so far: .483 / .492 / .767, 1.258 OPS, 5 HR, 11 R, 15 RBI, 22.2 RC

Sim 3E Complete

Standing Charts - Week 3

Great Feats - Sim 3D

5/16 - Joe Wood (RKA) strikes out 12 in a complete game 2 hitter. His 93 game score is the second best of the year.

The Best Starting Rotation?

Can't imagine it gets much better than John McDonald Fanclub...

#1 - Pedro Martinez (4-3, .778 QS %)
2.28 ERA, 67 IP, 44 H, 12 BB, 82 K, 0.84 WHIP

#2 - Tex Hughson (5-1, .625 QS%)
2.77 ERA, 52 IP, 41 H, 8 BB, 27 K, 0.94 WHIP

#3 - Mort Cooper (3-2, .750 QS%)
1.72 ERA, 58 IP, 36 H, 10 BB, 32 K, 0.80 WHIP

#4 - George Bradley (5-1, .875 QS%)
2.18 ERA, 62 IP, 43 H, 22 BB, 38 K, 1.05 WHIP

#5 - George Earnshaw (1-5, 5.71 QS%)
4.15 ERA, 48 IP, 47 H, 17 BB, 24 K, 1.34 WHIP

Sim 3D Complete

Great Feats - 3C

None!

The Power Alley Super 7 - Week 3

I love charts so created a new one I would like to try and feature each week. Here is the historical Power Alley Ranking of the Top 7 teams in the league - at least through the eyes of the Power Alley formula.

(Hopefully everyone knows clicking on a picture enlarges it)

The Good, The Great, and the Ugly - Week 3

Sim 3C Complete

Is Something Better Than Nothing?

Sure, if you are stranded in the desert, a thimble of water is better than no water.

Or, perhaps your customer refuses to pay a bill in full for services rendered. Partial payment is better than no payment.

Near and dear to my hear, trying to get the kids in bed by 8 to only find their first snores at 10 - hey at least they're asleep now right?

But perhaps this mantra doesn't work so well with Team Logos.

As seen to the left, the San Diego Puff unveiled their new logo today. It will be displayed on all player hats and around Sportsman's Park. Unsurprisingly, not one apparel distributor has announced plans to feature the logo on any of their clothing or sporting gear lines.

Asked for comment, team owner Brad P responded, "Lame but something."

All team logo's are featured here.

Standings over Past 3 Weeks

Power Alley - Week 3

• Top 3 Teams remain unchanged though their predicted win totals are now withing the realm of normal expectations.
• The San Diego Puff move up 3 slots and enter the Top 5. This comes at the expense of the Downsouth Brews who were apparently cursed by this post. Since then the Brews have lost 5 of 9 and have been outscored by 17 runs.
  

Great Feats - Sim 3B

5/8 - Special Sauce scores 17 runs on 17 hits, 5 home runs, and 8 walks.

5/9 - Double X (DB) hits 3 HR, records 12 Total Bases, and drives in 8.

5/10 - The Deathspeakers score 19 runs on 24 hits, 5 doubles, a home run, and 9 walks.

Sim 3B Complete

ATB Reliever Strategy Has Changed Forever

The last two seasons ATB has seen a stark change in the relief pitching patterns used by owners. Historically, ATB followed usage strategies much like those employed in MLB today - closers close, setup men are key in the 8th and maybe 7th innings, and the dregs of the bullpen are responsible for mop-up and long relief duties.

Recently however, many owners have put a premium on not just the quality of innings pitched of the pen, but now the quantity of quality innings is equal if not more important. Instead of great setup men and closers, many owners now draft all aspects of the pen early and search for high durability "lights out" relievers.

Some evidence:

• In ATB IX 22 relievers accumulated 90 or more innings.
• In ATB X, the number rose to 28
• In ATB XI again the number rose, this time to 36
• In the current season an astounding 50 pitchers are on pace to exceed 90 innings, despite four less teams than then last season.

This isn't enough to prove anything though. Sure it is obvious long relief is a key aspect of the game now, but it says nothing to the quality of these players. For time out of mind, owners in real life as well as ATB have sacrificed games that seemed out of reach by saving their pen for the next day, and allowed sub-par relievers to mop up the un-winnable games.

Here's the key - the average ERA of the Top 10 pitchers with at least 90 innings pitched has improved for four consecutive years:

The Men Behind The Trend
Here are the standout seasons over the past four years.

Items to note:

• Kent Tekulve and Jeff Zimmerman are the only two pitchers to appear twice
• I personally love the ATB XI Zimmerman role the best. 140 innings, 1.88 RCERA, and he was the full time closer for DC as well as the starting setup man vs both Lefties and Righties.
• How about Ellis Kinder's 17 (!) wins in relief in ATB XI?
• Analyzing their usage we have 11 setup roles, 9 long relievers, and 5 closers

ATB XII
This season there are several high quality long duration relievers. All listed below are on pace for at least 90 innings of work.

• Three qualifying relievers have yet to give up a run: Jeff Zimmerman (20.2 IP for LDS) John Wetteland (18 IP for BT), and Pat Jarvis (17.2 IP for SBD)
• The best RCERA (0.45) belongs to Special Sauce's Jack Quinn
• Several fairly unfamiliar players are having great starts: Fransico Liriano (1.91 ERA for PR), Phil Regan (1.14 ERA for PR), and Houston Street (1.64 ERA for LDS)

Perhaps The DC Chips epitomize this team strategy best, and their very own Frank Killen is the best example of an individuals success. On pace for over 225 innings in the the #1 Long Reliever, #1 Setup vs Lefty, #2 Setup vs Righty, and #1 Closer vs Lefty roles, the lefty has a 1.71 ERA and 0.71 WHIP in 42 innings. Killen proved himself last season for the Fishbiscuits amassing a 1.89 ERA in 148 Innings, and therefore with good reason do we expect he'll keep up a sub 2.00 ERA in an extreme amount of innings. This, coupled with high leverage situations as a setup man and closer, likely make Killen the most important reliever in the game today.

And he's not the only DC reliever used in this unique way. Steve Howe, Joe Neale, and Mike Jackson are all on pace for close to 100 innings of work and have combined for a 1.97 ERA thus far.

Great Feats - Sim 3A

5/5 - In the longest game of the year, the Oathbinders defeat the Brews 4-3 in 16 innings.

5/5 - Lady Baldwin (SDB) strikes out 13 in 6.2 IP

5/5 - Howard Johnson (WPM) is the first on the season to hit 3 HR and accumulate 12 Total Bases in a single game. He also now holds the in season record for RBI with an incredible 9. The 9 runners scored on two 2-run HR, a Grand Slam, and a run scoring fielders choice.

5/5 - In the game above, the "Mechanics" score 19 runs on 20 hits.

5/6 - Pete Alexander (BMS) strikes out 13 of his own.

5/7 - Gaylord Perry (SOP) tosses a complete game 2 hitter for a game score of 85.

Sim 3A Complete

And Some More Week 3 Transactions

The San Diego Puff part ways with Billy Rhines (4.1 IP, 8.31 ERA) and sign 1890 Red Ehret. Ehret has not received playing time in the past few years, though is not new to ATB.

The DC Chips release Ed Reulbach (2-1. 5.00) and Jim Merrit (3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER); to complete their roster they sign 1937 Dolf Camilli (.620 OPS and 17 HR in ATB XI) and 1889 Jack Stivetts (11 IP, 12 ER in ATB XI).

More Week 3 Transactions

The Potomac Rage drop Joe Berry (1.1 IP, 3 H) and pick up Mark Prior, 2003. In ATB XI Prior struggled with a 6.68 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP in 98 IP.

Week 3 Transactions

Bostons Terrier Drops Don Newcombe (0-2, 6.63) and sign Eppa Rixey, 1924. Terrier also demoted closer Jonathan Papelbon (1-3, 5.56) to a setup role; he's replaced by John Wetteland (0.00 ERA in 18 IP) who assumes full closer responsibilities.

Great Feats - Sim 2E

5/3 - Greg Maddux (WPM) tosses 5 hit complete game shutout for a Game Score of 85.

Standings Summary - Week 2

Winning 10 of 12 in Week 2, the Downsouth Brews elevated themselves to the division lead. The Brews have been outstanding recently and show little sign of slowing down. Also making a move in Week 2 was John McDonald Fanclub. With a 9-6 week they're in a three way tie for second place with the Lusitania Death Speakers and Dumai's Wells Oathbinders. The strength of Fanclub is in its pitching staff. They lead the league by a large margin in ERA (2.58), WHIP (1.03), and RCERA (2.45).

Over in the Greenhorn, the DC Chips and Sonoran Black Diamonds are battling for division supremacy. In a virtual tie for first place, the two teams own the top two records in ATB. No need to rehash Bonds great start so we'll move on to DC. In week 2 the Chips were led by the great Tip O'Neill (.389 / .411 / .537) and Frank Killen (18 IP, 1.47 ERA). Big Mac Special Sauce closed to within 3 games behind a combined 11 home runs off the bats Mark McGwire and Willie Stargell.

Players of the Month - April

Week 1 Player of the Week, Barry Bonds of the Black Diamonds had a great second half of the month as well batting a robust .310 / .419 / .724, 1.143 OPS, 11 HR, 22 R, 27 RBI, and 26.6 Runs Created. Bonds led the league for the month of April in Slugging, OPS, RC, HR, R, RBI, Runs Created.





Similarly, the Fanclub's Tex Hughson was named Week 1 Player of the Week and brings home the hardware for Player of the Month as well. Undefeated in 5 starts, Hughson's line was outstanding: 0.70 ERA, 38 IP, 20 H, 5 BB, 21 K for a 0.65 WHIP and 0.99 RCERA.

Batter and Pitcher of the Week

The Brews hot start can be traced to several players off to great starts, but the biggest surprise of them all is reliever Fred Beene. We talked a bit about the 25th rounder earlier this week and his capabilities earned him Pitcher of the Week Honors. Beene tossed 17 innings of no run ball this week, going 2-0 yielding just 6 hits and 3 walks. His RCERA was 0.43.





The leagues best On Base Man, Pete Browning, earns the Batter of the Week Award for the Lusitania Death Speakers. Browning batted .413 / .500 / .556 with 12 R, 7 RBI, and 16.2 Runs Created.

Sim 2E Complete!

Sorry, attended a real baseball game last night (minor leagues) with the owner of the Gargle Blasters. Perfect night for a game!

Stat Roundup

• Starter and Reliever ERA's

• Terrier leads the league in reliever used per game at 2.7. The fewest used per game belongs the Fanclub at 1.1
• The Traveling All Stars and Fishbiscuits each have homered in 8 consecutive games, the current in season record.
• Check out this box score. On April 23, losing 9-3 the the Sons of Pitches scored 7 runs in the 8th to cap the biggest comeback of the year. Here is how the inning went.
  

Single by Piazza, Single by Klein, Single by Helton to load the bases. Ortiz walks with the bases loaded for the first run. Beltre singles home the 2nd run. Gehringer walks and another run comes home. Ichiro pinch hits and raps a single, scoring the 4th run. Rose pinch hits and walks, another run walked in! Simmons and then Piazza score the last two runs on Sac Flies. So, there you have it - 7 runs on 4 hits.

• Bad news for Willets Point. They have to two worst loses of the season, a 15-0 drubbing at the hands of the Fanclub, and a 14-0 debacle against the Brews.
  

Great Feats - Sim 2D

4/30 - Rich Aurilia (Puff) goes 5-6
4/30 - Willie Stargell (Special Sauce) drives in 6 on 2 home runs.

Standings Charts - Week 2

They are more than a little bunched together this early in the season, but here's our first dose of the Standings Charts.

Sim 2D Complete!

The Good, The Great, and the Ugly - Week 2

Injuries Taking a Toll

Only a month into the season, injuries are already critically impacting several teams. Eyes tend to focus on the standings more in September than April, but every game counts and it's difficult to win in an extremely competitive league when you can't put your "A" lineup or rotation on the field each day.

To the right is a table depicting the total number of days lost, either already accumulated or projected out into the future based upon the predicted days lost calculated by the Diamond Mind game engine.

Incredibly, the Black Diamonds are easily "leading" the league in Days Lost with 60. With a record of 16-7 they lost lefty setup man Al Grabowski for 39 days in Sim 2C, and the pressure for the pen to perform has already increased.

Two other critical injuries immediately jump off the report. The 1st place Downsouth Brews lost Steve Carlton (2-0, 1.01 ERA) for over three weeks. Replacing him in the rotation is Whitey Ford who, in one start at least, picked up where his predecessor left off. In his first replacement start Ford gave up just 2 runs, 1 earned, and pitched into the 8th.

The league leading batter and on base man, Hughie Jennings, was sidelined for 24 days thanks to a bench clearing brawl on April 23rd. Jennings is infamous for his ability to take a pitch in his back or shoulder - in ATB XI he led the league in HBP, an astounding 76 times, three times more than the second most hit batter. In real life, it was much of the same, in 1896 the year the All Stars selected for the shortstop, Jennings was hit 51 times, more than twice as great as the second most hit batter.

It finally caught up with him though. In the top of the 1st in a 0-0 game, Jennings was plunked in the wrist. Despite his proclivity to get in they way of 90 mph pitches, Jennings took exception to Lefty Grove's toss and charged the mound. Benches cleared, a brawl ensued, and Jennings emerged with a 24 game injury.

The All Stars lose their best player. Jennings was an "Ex" defender who was in the midst of a career best start - .441 / .548 / .475 and 7 SB in 17 games. The injury particularly hurts the All Stars since their #1 pick, Babe Ruth, continues to start slowly (.156 / .305 / .377).

Great Feats

Going to try and make it a point to post the Great Feats in the blog, not too many people apparently look at the special events log.

4/26 - Pedro Martinez (Fanclub) strikes out 13
4/26 - Willie Keelers 16 game hitting streak comes to an end
4/28 - Bill Terry (Death Speakers) goes 5-5

Year to Date great feats log

Introducing Jimmy Wynn

Courtesy of Brett Kiser once again:

His finest year came in 1969 when he showed baseball, much like Eddie Yost before him, that a man can reach the .400 on-base plateau without hitting .270. The Toy Cannon paced the NL with 148 walks which boosted his on-base percentage to the stellar regions of .436. But unlike Eddie “The Walking Man” Yost, Wynn had power to spare. Jim led Major League center fielders with 33 homeruns and finished third in the NL with 113 runs scored. Wynn was the only NL center fielder to slug over .500.

Full post here.

AOPSAP Update

Full list here. Top 5 Leader boards below

Average OPS By Postion
.789 - Left Field
.768 - Third base
.755 - First Base
.754 - Right Field
.753 - Center Field
.705 - Second Base
.684 - Shortstop
.647 - Catcher

Catcher
33.1 - Roy Campanella, DB
25.8 - Joe Mauer*, DWO
19.3 - Bill Dickey*, BT
9.9 - Chris Hoiles, BMS
9.9 - Carlton Fisk, RBB

First Base
32.3 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
30.0 - Buck Leonard*, HH
29.9 - Jason Giambi*, P10
24.3 - Jim Thome*, SBD
22.5 - Jimmie Foxx, DB

Second Base
31.0 - Joe Morgan*, OFB
30.5 - Nap Lajoie, PGB
26.2 - Fred Dunlap, SBD
15.2 - Nellie Fox*, LDS
13.0 - Hardy Richardson, RKA

Third Base
34.5 - Alex Rodriguez, PGB
26.2 - Chipper Jones#, SBD
17.2 - Wade Boggs*, CS
14.0 - Howard Johnson#, WPM
9.4 - Darrell Evans*, CS

Shortstop
34.3 - Hughie Jennings, RKA
19.9 - Hanley Ramirez, DB
14.2 - Joe Sewell*, SBD
9.5 - Dave Concepcion, P10
9.4 - Lou Boudreau, JMF

Left Field
32.2 - Barry Bonds*, SBD
28.2 - Albert Belle, OFB
23.8 - Ted Williams*, LDS
20.9 - Willie Stargell*, BMS
19.7 - Carl Yastrzemski*, OFB

Center Field
22.5 - Pete Browning, LDS
21.5 - Duke Snider*, DCC
20.8 - Ty Cobb*, SDP
20.7 - Bobby Murcer*, PR
18.0 - Larry Doby*, BT

Right Field
33.3 - Stan Musial*, DWO
28.2 - Mike Tiernan*, BMS
24.9 - Roberto Clemente, DCC
21.2 - Roger Maris*, RKA
19.3 - Steve Evans*, PR

RSAA Update

Full leader boards here, Top 10 below.

Average ERA
4.26 - Starters
3.93 - Releivers

Starters
13.8 - Tex Hughson, JMF
13.0 - Babe Adams, DWO
11.2 - Mort Cooper, JMF
11.1 - Garland Braxton*, DCC
8.7 - George Bradley, JMF
8.5 - Pedro Martinez, JMF
8.2 - Ed Siever*, SBD
7.6 - Greg Maddux, WPM
7.4 - Al Orth, SBD
6.7 - Steve Carlton*, DB

Relievers
8.0- Fred Beene, DB
6.3 - John Wetteland, BT
5.7 - Jack Quinn, BMS
5.5 - Pat Jarvis, SBD
4.8 - Deacon Phillippe, PR
3.1 - Brad Lidge, RBB
3.0 - Perry Werden, OFB
2.9 - Doug Jones, DB
2.7 - Bruce Sutter, DWO
2.5 - Tom Niedenfuer, BMS

Closers
9.0 - Frank Killen*, DCC
3.1 - John Wetteland, BT
4.5 - Dan Quisenberry, JMF
3.6 - Jeff Zimmerman, LDS
3.4 - Rollie Fingers, CS
2.8 - Dennis Eckersley, SDP
2.4 - B.J. Ryan*, RBB
2.4 - Mariano Rivera, DWO
2.2 - Buddy Groom*, BMS
2.1 - Bryan Harvey, OFB

Break up the Brews Crew!

At the risk of injuring anyone's pride, lets take a look at the teams with a .550 winning percentage and see which of them aren't like the others (great Sesame Street skit! Or was that Electric Company?)

• .762 - DC Chips: Owner Steve C has a title and one of the best all time career winning percentages in ATB history ("just two seasons though)
  
• .696 - Sonoran Black Diamonds: Owner Justin P has most career victories ever
• .650 - Downsouth Brews: Owner Allen has one season under his belt, and managed his ATB XI Brews to the worst record in the history of ATB
• .591 - San Diego Puff: Owner Brad P recently piloted his LIMA team to a title and ranks 5th all time in ATB Power Points
• .591 - John McDonald Fanclub: Owner Jason B holds the best all time best winning percentage ever. ("just two seasons")
  
• .583 - Dumai's Wells Oathbinders: Owner Lou P holds most World Series Titles ever.

So forgive me for scratching my head at seeing the 13-7 Brews on this list. It's no fluke though.

The Brews Run Differential is +40, the third best mark in the league. Their offense leads the league in RC/27, Runs Per Game, and Home Runs while securing second in Slugging Percentage and OPS. Their pitching is well above average: 2.98 Team ERA with a team 3.37 RCERA to back it up.

How have they done it?

• First basemen Jimmie Foxx is having an outstanding year, tied for second in league Home Runs and batting .262 / .379 / .575.
  
• Hanley Ramirez has emerged as a possible star shortstop batting .343 / .391 / .455
• Willie Mays is tied with Foxx for the second best home run mark in the league
• Catcher Roy Campanella has started the season on fire, batting .364 / .391 / .652

While the Brews staff as a whole has been excellent, two in particular standout. Starter Steve Carlton has put up the best numbers in his ATB career - 27 IP, 21 H, 16 K, 1.01 ERA but was recently sidelined with an injury, and is expected to miss 3+ weeks.

The real story is reliever Fred Beene. Brand new to ATB, Beene is a 25th round selection turned goldmine. In 24 innings the reliever has given up 10 hits and 1 run for an ERA of just 0.38.

While these numbers may not stay in this lofty stratosphere, the core of the Brews is solid and there is no reason this team can't compete for the division title all season long.

Sim 2C Complete!

Hard Luck Greinke Gets First ATB Win

Prior to each ATB season, owners pour through the stats of the last MLB season to find the next great surprise, almost always a relative unknown when looking at the greats of baseball over the past 130 years.

After the 2009 MLB season many owners had targeted Zach Greinke. His stats with the KC Royals were impressive - 229 IP, 195 H, 55 BB, 242 K.

His ERA+ score was the jewel of the bunch though. At 205, it was the best mark since Roger Clemens 226 in 2005 and the only mark over 200 since 1996 from a pitcher not name Roger or Pedro. In fact, taking Pedro and Roger out of the mix, Greinke is just the 4th starting pitcher since 1968 to score over 200!

The Potomac Rage selected Greinke in the 6th round and the buzz started after a few exhibitions in which he pitched well. To start the season however, Greinke struggled in his first two games. On opening day vs the Eugene Psycho Llamas Greinke lasted just 4 innings giving up 7 hits and 4 runs (2 earned). Five days later vs the Helena Handbaskets he fared even worse - 3.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R. In these two starts the 25 year old struck out just 4 batters.

Two starts ago against Planet 10 Greinke turned it around - 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 6 K's but again he was tagged with a loss, his third in three starts. On April 21st against Bostons Terrier, everything truly game together. A 5 hit, 11 K, complete game, that was oh so close to being a shutout. His one run was unearned.

It is much to early to tell what kind of ATB career Greinke might turn it. But as of the end of April in year 1 Greinke now has a 2.55 ERA and in 25 innings, has recorded 21 strikeouts against 9 walks. Nice start Zack, and congrats on your first ATB career win.

Power Alley - Week 2

Lots of change early in each season, this one is no exception:

+ 7: Black Diamonds
+10: Death Speakers
+13: Fishbiscuits

- 7: Steamers
- 7: Gargle Blasters
-12: Terrier

Leonard Drives in 7

Buck Leonard is enjoying a stellar April for Helena Handbasket. He's batting over .400, slugging over .600, and has 12 RBI in his 14 starts. On April 22 he recorded 7 RBI and added a "Great Feat" to his 2010 resume. In a 12-1 victory against the Beau Brummels, Leonard smacked two 3-run home runs and drove in another with a line drive single.

Great night for Buck, he owns the current in season record for most RBI in a game.

Sim 2B Complete!

Sim 2A Complete!

Week 2 Transactions

The DC Chips drop Bobby Mathews and sign Jim Merritt, 1967. Mathews appeared in 3 games, making 1 start. His ERA was a gaudy 10.61 and deservedly so - in just 9 1/3 innings Mathews yielded 12 hits and 10 walks.

Merritt's real life stats: 13-7, 228 IP, 196 H, 30 BB, 161 K.

Single Game Stolen Base Record Set?

Brad P, Owner and Operator of the San Diego Puffs, noticed a remarkable box score earlier this week. In a 9-1 victory of the Sons of Pitches, the Puffs stole 9 bases as Frank Baker and Derrek Lee led the squad with 3 each. Ty Cobb, George Sisler, and Jimmy Williams each added a swipe to give the Puffs an unofficial single game record.

Its unofficial only because we don't have the data to check each previous season. I went through the box scores since ATB IX and six teams have stole 7 in a game, but none more. Asked for comment, Brad responded, "Nice! I am going to up all of my baserunners to stealing = 1...might was well set some records while I play out this 81-81 season."

Modesty will win you little love Brad. His team is now 8-6, owning the third best record in Mossback.

Batter and Pitcher of the Week

Just a short few weeks ago, some questioned the choice of Barry Bonds as the #1
draft pick for The Sonoran Black Diamonds. Today, Bonds is named player of the week while Ruth is batting .149 with a sub-.300 on base percentage. Bonds busted out of the gate and is the league leader in RC/27 and OPS. On the week he batted .327 / .450 / .673 with 5 HR, 12 R, and 13 RBI.





Relatively unheard of, John McDonald's #2 starter Tex Hughson turned in one of the all time best weeks for a pitcher. Undefeated in 3 starts, Hughson has given up just 11 hits and 3 walks in over 22 innings of work. His WHIP stands at a minuscule 0.63 while his ERA is an incredible 0.40.

Standings Summary - Week 1

Sim 1E Complete1

Introducing Bob O'Farrel

I found Brett Kiser's blog researching the defensive prowess of my light hitting shortstop, Candy Nelson. Kiser wrote a book I haven't read, Ghosts of Baseball’s Past, which "details the careers of Hall of Fame eligible players who are not enshrined. "

His blog dives into the careers of many players we draft in ATB. Recently, he posted on the Black Diamonds backstop, Bob O'Farell:

His best season for power came in 1923 when he paced Major League catchers in homeruns and RBI. Showing exceptional durability, Bob was one of two Major League catchers–Muddy Ruel being the other–to notch at least 140 hits. Bob caught 131 games for the Cubs that year, tossed out 48% of base stealers and hit a nifty .319 but the Cubs had some kid named Gabby Hartnett showing the stuff and the presence of the future Hall of Famer made O’Farrell expendable.

Cubs skipper, Reindeer Bill Killefer, chose to keep both Bob and Gabby on the roster in 1924 but he asked the young prodigy to don the mask more...

Tough break! Read the whole post, here.

Special Events

In Sim 1D, Cannonbal Titcomb turned in what likely could be the best pitching performance of the whole season. New to ATB, Titcomb was drafted in the middle of the 16th round and chances are the Potomac Rage won't be forgetting him anytime soon. Tossing 2 hit ball over 9 innings, Titcomb struck out 13 batters en route to his first win - a complete game shutout. His Bill James Game Score clocks in at 94, a Top 3 mark over the past three ATB seasons.

He rung up the top of the Rage lineup nine times, including the great Lou Gehrig twice. Planet 10 won the game 2-0.

His 85+ Game Score is considered one of the "Great Feats" of ATB XII. During each sim I update the log of Great Feats and compile them here or linked to the right. Below is a high level summary of the feats to date - more detail can be found in the report itself.

5+ Hits
5 - Sam Jethroe, Mechanics
5 - Joe Mauer, Oathbinders
5 - Roger Conner, Beau Brummels

6+ RBI
6 - Barry Bonds, Black Diamonds

3+ Doubles
3 - Sam Jethroe, Mechancis
3 - Stan Musial, Oathbinders
3 - Lou Gehrig, Rage
3 - Nap Lajoie, Gargle Blasters

85+ Game Score
94 - Cannonball Titcomb, Planet 10
86 - Joe Wood, All Stars

12+ Strikeouts
14 - Pedro Martinez, Fanclub
13 - Walter Johnson, Beau Brummels
12 - Rube Waddell, Oathbinders

Longest Hit Streak
12 - Ed Delahanty, Handbasket
12 - Tris Speaker, Steamers

Sim 1D Complete!

Stat Roundup

• The Black Diamonds lead the league in catcher caught stealing, nailing 5 of 9 runners attempting to steal. Johnny Bassler (Vg Arm) has caught 2 of 5, while Bob O'Farrell (Vg Arm) has gunned down 3 of 4.
• At the opposite end of the spectrum are The Sons of Pitches. The opposition is most definitely taking advantage their Fair armed backstop, Mike Piazza. Incredibly, bag swipers have been successful 20 of 22 times in just 7 games.
• Jim Thome (SBD) and Dick Allen (OFB) each homered three consecutive games. Dick Allen's streak is still alive.
• Frank Thomas (RKA) has scored in 6 consecutive games.
• On April 11, the Fishbiscuits hit 5 home runs.
• Not a great stat for the Mechanics - they've let up 11 runs in the first and 8 runs in the 9th this year - both league worsts.
  

AOPSAP - Week 1

Like RSAA, AOPSAP is a statistic that is derived from a rate stat and a counting stat. Here, we measure Player OPS, Plate Appearances, and the league average OPS at each position. I also weighted each players OPS in a different manner than is standard, instead of OBP and SLG being equal, OBP gets a boost by 40% in the calculation

Here is a link to the full leader boards at each position, and below is the Top 5 at each.

Catcher
23.7 - Joe Mauer*, DWO
20.3 - Rudy York, DWO
12.4 - Victor Martinez#, EPL
7.1 - Chris Hoiles, BMS
6.9 - Darren Daulton*, BMS

First Base
20.3 - David Ortiz*, SOP
19.4 - Dick Allen, OFB
17.7 - John Reilly, RKA
17.2 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
14.5 - Jim Thome*, SBD

Second Base
20.3 - Fred Dunlap, SBD
14.1 - Nap Lajoie, PGB
8.1 - Eddie Collins*, HH
7.0 - Red Schoendienst#, PR
4.9 - Nellie Fox*, LDS

Third Base
30.9 - Alex Rodriguez, PGB
12.0 - Oyster Burns, BT
7.9 - Joe Torre, OFB
7.2 - Mel Ott*, BT
5.6 - Al Rosen, PR

Shortstop
15.4 - Hanley Ramirez, DB
10.7 - Hughie Jennings, RKA
8.5 - Honus Wagner, OFB
6.5 - Joe Sewell*, SBD
5.6 - Derek Jeter, SOP

Left Field
21.3 - Carl Yastrzemski*, OFB
20.3 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
20.0 - Barry Bonds*, SBD
11.1 - Willie Stargell*, BMS
9.8 - George Foster, EPL

Center Field
22.5 - Sam Jethroe#, WPM
19.7 - Joe DiMaggio, EPL
14.4 - Bobby Murcer*, PR
12.1 - Fred Lynn*, SBD
8.3 - Billy Hamilton*, EPL

Right Field
17.2 - Sam Thompson*, BP
13.3 - Roberto Clemente, DCC
10.8 - Larry Walker*, P10
9.1 - Danny Tartabull, RBB
8.9 - Dave Winfield, SBD

RSAA - Week 1

Runs Saved Against Average, created by Lee Sinins, measures how effective a pitcher is taking into consideration Player ERA, innings pitched, and League ERA. For ATB purposes, I've replaced ERA with RCERA (runs created ERA). The unique aspect of this stat is its IP consideration. What is more valuable, a pitcher with a 2.50 ERA in 100 innings or a pitcher with a 2.75 ERA in 200 innings. RSAA says its the innings eater by almost 70%.

Here's a link to the full leader boards and below is the Top 10 by position.

Starters
6.1 - Garland Braxton*, Chips
5.5 - Tex Hughson, Fanclub
5.0 - Billy Pierce*, Steamers
5.0 - Bobby Shantz*, Mechanics
4.7 - Steve Carlton*, Brews
4.5 - Greg Maddux, Mechanics
4.4 - Carl Lundgren, Terriers
4.3 - Pedro Martinez, Fanclub
4.0 - Ed Siever*, Black Diamonds
4.0 - Robin Roberts, Physcho Llamas

Closers
3.1 - John Wetteland, Terriers
2.1 - Fred Beene, Brews
1.6 - Mariano Rivera , Oathbinders
1.6 - Cla Meredith, Black Diamonds
1.6 - Dan Quisenberry, Fanclub
1.2 - Billy Wagner*, Oathbinders
1.2 - Dennis Eckersley, Puffs
1.1 - Gabe White*, Blasters
1.0 - Robb Nen, Planet 10
0.9 - Buddy Groom*, Special Sauce

Relievers
2.2 - Steve Ontiveros, All Stars
2.0 - Willard Schmidt, Handbaskets
1.9 - Jack Quinn, Special Sauce
1.7 - Jesse Orosco*, Pitches
1.4 - Francisco Liriano*, Rage
1.4 - Ferdie Schupp*, Fishbiscuits
1.2 - Pat Jarvis, Black Diamonds
1.2 - Huston Street, Death Speakers
1.2 - Arthur Lee Rhodes*, Oathbinders
1.0 - Mike Jackson, Chips

The Good, the Great, and the Ugly - Week 1

A week of rarities. It is not often a catcher is listed in the #2 slot, and this is the first time ever the mighty Ruth is Ugly.

Sim 1C Complete!

Power Alley - Week 1

This season I am going to attempt to keep a regular schedule for posting the main reports we've grown accustomed to over the years:

Monday Night - Power Alley
Tuesday Night - The Good, the Great, and the Ugly
Wednesday Night - Standings Charts
Thursday Night/Friday - Players of the Week and Weekly Recap

Of course, they'll be numerous "happenings" posts in between that will allow us to keep tabs on various interesting team and individual player details.

Here is the first Power Alley of the season. As can only be expected 6 games in, the minimal games played are wreaking havoc on the Pythagorean formulas. Will we have a 147 win and 134 loss team?


A few words on the calculation and you'll here no more from me about the basic math behind it until next season.

• Power Alley is 100% objective. While you may not agree with the math, none of my feelings or biases go into the rankings.
• It's calculated for each team by weighting two different percentages - the real life winning percentage and Pythagorean winning percentage.
  
• The Pythagorean winning percentage is calculated by using the season totals of Runs Scored and Runs Against: RF^2 / (RF^2 + RA^2)
• In the final formula this Pyth Wpct gets one and half times the weight as the real life Wpct.
• The resulting Power Alley WPct becomes each teams predicted win total.

Example:

• Dumai's Wells in 5-1 for a Real Life Wpct of .833
• They've scored 45 times, and allowed 9 runs for Pyth Wpct of .962
• After applying the weighting the expected winning percentage of Dumai's Wells is .910 or 147 wins.

Obviously, this is absurd. The formula only predicts future results based upon past data from this season. It is only saying that given the current 5-1 record of Dumai's Wells, if they continue to outscore their opponents 45-9 they should end up with 147 wins. It is not "really" predicting the win totals you see. We know the Oathbinders will not continue to play this well, nor will the All Stars continue to play this poorly.

However, it does have good accuracy as the season progresses, and the basic purpose of the calculation - to rank teams in order of best to worst - is met from Game 1 through Game 162.

Sim 1B Complete!

Report Links to the right.