Power Alley

The Good, The Great, and the Ugly

(Week 3)

Power Alley - Week 2

Introducing the Seattle Pilots

Tony P owner and operator....

20 Resims - #16, Seattle Pilots

Overall Rankings
24 - .331, Chatanooga Lookouts (Al H)
23 - .394, Downsouth Brews (Allen C)
22 - .396, Denver RoidBoyz (Gary G)
21 - .444, Planet 10 Red Lectroids (Ivar A)
20 - .474, Brooklyn Cyclones (John J)
19 - .475, Hoboken Zephyrs (Stepehn L)
18 - .479, Helena Handbasket (Joe T)
17 - .482, Jeff City Blausers (Thomas R)
16 - .489, Seattle Pilots (Tony P)

Couple O' Trades From the Zeros

The Lakeview Zeros trade Pete Rose (0-1) to the Denver RoidBoyz in exchange for Mules Suttles (3-13).

The Zeros also trade Bernie Williams (39 AB, .306 / .386 / .333) to the Seattle Pilots in exchange for Dave Smith (9 IP, 3.86 ERA).

Best Performances of the Season

Pitchers (by measure of Game Score)
97 - Jun 14 - Johnny Cueto (BRO)
93 - Apr 12 - Pedro Martinez (SPA)
91 - Jul 01 - Christy Mathewson (HOB)
91 - Jun 28 - Randy Johnson (OAS)
90 - Apr 30 - Deacon Phillippe (SPA)
90 - Jun 25 - Deacon Phillippe (SPA)

Batters (By Measure of Total Bases)
14 - Jul 17 - Bill Joyce (HOB) - Hit for Cycle
12 - May 16 - Jimmy Foxx (SEA)
12 - Jun 20 - Hack Wilson (CHA)
12 - May 13 - Johnny Bench (GRU)
12 - May 02 - Reggie Jackson (SEA)
12 - Apr 13 - Mike Napoloi (DHA)
12 - Jun 11 - Willie McCovey (DOW)
12 - May 28 - Rogers Hornsby (BRO)
12 - Apr 24 - Luis Gonzalez (HUD)

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly

Week 5

Players of the Week

Ted Williams (LAK): .417 / .485 / .783, 1.269 OPS, 4 2B, 6 HR, 14 R, 14 RBI

Roger Clemens (SEA): 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 23 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 14 K, 3 GS, 0.75 RCERA

The Great, The Good, and the Ugly

Underperforming Draft Picks

Just a few I spotted.  Bonds is probably the most grievous.

PITCHERS
Rd 4 - 1-2, 10.6 ERA, 15.1 IP, 7.84 RCERA - Bob Gibson (BRO)
Rd 3 - 1-4, 5.77 ERA, 34.1 IP, 5.11 RCERA - Sandy Koufax (HOB)
Rd 1 - 0-6, 5.84 ERA, 44.2 IP, 6.08 RCERA - Lefty Grove (SEA)

BATTERS
Rd 1 - .834 OPS, .230 / .323 / .511 - Oscar Charleston (SHA)
Rd 1 - .653 OPS, .245 / .287 / .367 - Honus Wagner (JFC)
RD 1 - .687 OPS, .209 / .234 / .453 - Turkey Stearnes (GAL)
RD 1 - .693 OPS, .248 / .331 / .362 - Barry Bonds (NOR)
RD 1 - .727 OPS, .165 / .341 / .386 - Norm Cash (DHA)

Power Alley

Week 3

+5 Jeff City
+3 Willets Point
+3 Seattle

-3 Hoboken
-6 Galaxy
-7 Helena

Week 3 Standings Summary

AL East

Willets Point took advantage of a down week from Spanish Harlem, and claimed first place in the AL East. Center fielder Pete Hill led the charge with a .347 / .431 / .612 slash line and adding 3 triples and 2 home runs.  Willie Wells added 4 home runs while Frank Baker and Chris Hoiles each batted over .400 in limited duty.  The staff was led by Brett Saberhagen who has every right to be upset and losing Pitcher of the Week honors.  The righty won all three of his starts with a 1.17 ERA and 13K in 23 innings.

AL Central

All teams hovered around the .500 mark in a status quo week.  Player of the Week George Brett was the best in the business.

AL West

Denver continues their torrid start, winning 8 of 13 and opening up a 7 game lead on Dharma.  Jeff Bagwell was the offensive star batting .393 / .433 / .696 with 4 HR and 14 RBI.  Al Simmons hit 4 out of the park as well while Paul Molitor hit .412 and scored 14 times.  Three stars in the pen - Don Sutton, Kent Tekulve, and Ted Abernathy - combined for 29 innings of 3 run ball.

NL East
With a 9-4 week, the Grumman Hellcats took advantage of poor play from the rest of the division and secured possession of first place.  The Hellcats now have a +45 run differential, best in the National League.

NL Central
After a slow start, the Sparta Hoplites, winners of 18 of 29, have tied the Flin Flon Foxes for frst place in the division.  Their pitching staff combined for a 2.66 team ERA while their offense took the week off (.212 / .287 / .324).  JJ  Putz was great out of the pen, entering 8 games and not giving up a run.

NL West
Newcomer Thomas R continues to impress, putting up fine numbers again and extending his Jeff City lead to 3 games over Lakeview.  The Blausers used all 13 of their pitchers and had a team ERA of 3.10.  At the plate, Earl Combs ripped the ball (1.058 OPS) and John McGraw did his thing (.459 OBP and 8 SB.)

Other Tidbits

• Roger Connor (ROC) went 5-5 with 3 R and 5 RBI on Cinco de Mayo
• Reggie Jackson (SEA) and Johnny Bench (GRU) each had 3-hr games
• Pete Alexander (DOW) had the best start of the week on May 14.  Tossed a 5-hit shutout, striking out 12 and walking none.

Finally, below are the year to date Starting and Relief pitcher ERA's by team.

Early Season Oddities

1. The top 3 teams by way of Run Differential are not leading their divisions.  Incredibly, the team with the best RD, the Oasis Gunters at +57, are sitting in last place as play began today.  Granted, last place in AL East is still pretty good - 2 games out of first place with a winning record.
2. I am somewhat regretting my preference for a DH league.  Stat of the day: In the AL, only three teams have an ERA below 4.00.  In the NL, only two teams have an ERA above 4.00.
3. The Gunters have lost a grand total of 0 days due to injury, while Flin Flon has lost 38.
4. On pace fun. 74 HR - Reggie Jackson (DEN), 162 R - Mel Ott (OAS), 216 RBI - Jeff Bagwell (DEN), 117 SB - Pete Hill (WPO), and finally, Eddie Mathews (SEA) is on pace for 39 errors

And finally, here are the batting averages by park so far

0.297 -114 BPF,  Fenway Park (1977), Denver RoidBoyz

0.292 -104 BPF,  Forbes Field (1956), Oasis Gunters

0.282 -104 BPF,  Crosley Field (1963), Guardians of the Galaxy

0.273 -101 BPF,  Exhibition Stadium (1981), Flin Flon  Foxes

0.267 - 97 BPF,  Ebbets Fields (1915), Brooklyn Cyclones

0.264 -106 BPF,  Busch Stadium (1972), Lakeview Zeros

0.264 -106 BPF,  Bennett Park (1906), Helena Handbasket

0.261 - 95 BPF,  Kingdome (1985), Ankhana Adventurers

0.257 -103 BPF,  Dunn Field (1918), Jeff City Blausers

0.256 - 97 BPF,  PNC Park (2011), Hudson MadBum

0.256 -102 BPF,  Navin Field (1916), Dharma Islanders

0.255 - 92 BPF,  RFK Stadium ( 1969 ), Downsouth Brews

0.253 - 99 BPF,  Oriole Park (2012), Chatanooga Lookouts

0.252 - 96 BPF,  Roosevelt Stadium (1956), Rochester Red Wings

0.247 - 89 BPF,  Yankee Stadium (1952), New Orleans Punchers

0.245 - 93 BPF,  Olympic Stadium (1993), Shamokin Miners

0.242 - 94 BPF,  Shea Stadium (1968), Willets Point "Mechanics"

0.236 - 96 BPF,  Polo Grounds (1911), Planet 10

0.230 -100 BPF,  Palace of the Fans (1905), Spanish Harlem 

0.228 - 93 BPF,  Dodger Stadium (1987), Albequerque Heisenbergs

0.228 - 86 BPF,  South Side Park (1908), Hoboken Zephyrs

0.224 - 99 BPF,  KC Municipal (1965), Sparta Hoplites

0.211 - 94 BPF,  Sicks Stadium (1969), Seattle Pilots

0.195 - 97 BPF,  Wrigley Field (1944), Grumman Hellcats

Opening Day Marquee Matchups

"There are Opening Day Pitchers, and pitchers who start on Opening Day"
--- Roger Craig

With the new schedule everyone plays on opening day and we've got some matchups you won't want to miss.  I decided to rank them in terms of quality using our RSAA (Runs Saved Against Average) stat.  A refresher, this stat tries to determine how many runs a pitcher saves his team compared to league average.  League average is zero, so the negative numbers are better than average, and positive numbers are lower than average.

Using this statistic we have two superior matchups to look forward to:

First, Sean S' Sparta Hoplites travel to Shamokin to face Mike M's Miners.  There, we are treated to a Pedro Martinz vs Johnny Podres matchup.  Pedro is easily the best pitcher in the game and averages 44 runs saved per year.  In normal terms, he's averaged a 2.66 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP.  

Podres is no slouch himself, averaging a -23.3 RSAA over the past three years with a 39-31 record and a 2.94 ERA.

Our second matchup is just as good, and Division rivalry to boot.  While neither pitcher surpasses Martinez, both are better than Podres.  Carl Hubbell stormed into the league three  years ago when Gold Country created him anew and drafted him 5th; he helped them to a division title with a 17-6 record.  In all, he's averaged a 3.00 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his three years, never falling above the -20 RSAA mark.  Joe V has high hopes for the left hander.

Stephen L counters with Walter Johnson.  The Big Train was drafted 'early' this season and the topic was bantered around the draft room for the first few days of the draft.  For all the negative talk we need to remember it was around draft position, no one argued that Johnson is not an ace starting pitcher.  Case in point?  ATB 16 when Johnson made an incredible 45 starts and held down a 2.56 ERA.

Three other matchups bear watching for quality starting pitching.   The two time returning World Series Champions, Spanish Harlem, who are currently 19-4 in the preason by the way, are hoping for a monster year from Tex Hughson.  The righty has had big seasons in ATB (18-8 with a 2.67 in ATB 12) but has struggled the last two years in hitters parks.  Hughson and the Beaters travel (west?) to Denver to face the RoidBoys and their leader, Cy Blanton.  The 26 year old is coming off a down year (again in a batters park) but don't let that fool you, the righty has posted double digit negative RSAA seasons 5 times in his career.

The Adventurers send Addie Joss (3.58 career ERA) to the mound to battle Jesse Tannehill (3.85 ERA) of the New orleans Clown Punchers.

Elsewhere, Hudson Madbum opens ATB 17 with Al Orth (3.77 ERA) and the Rochester Red Wings counter with Russ Ford (3.84 ERA)*.

*These ERA's look gawd awful, but remember, we are coming fresh off a no DH league last year, where the league average ERA was a miniscule 3.65 and no team, an entire team (!) had an ERA worse than 4.25.  Two years ago, in ATB 15, the league average ERA was 40 points higher and 10 teams had ERA's over 4.25 and the worst was over 5.00.  

The AL is in for a rude awakening this season.  Quick trivia, what do Al Orth, Babe Adams, Walter Johnson, John Tudor, Addie Joss, and Tex Hughson have in common?  They are all opening day starters this year that had ERA's north of 4.00 the last time we played in a DH league.

 

Finally, two additional matchups will interest everyone due to the involvement of two newly created aces - Clayton Kershaw from 2014 and Dwight Gooden of 1984.  Neither have any ATB history, and both are being counted upon as #1 starters.

The rest of the games still feature some incredible pitchers, but their opponents leave a little to be desired.  Good luck to all, and have a great opening day on Sunday!