Some ATB Records Are Falling

We've already seen the home run record fall and faithful readers have combed the record books and discovered some others.

• The "Mechanics" George Hall has 31 triples, besting a mark of 30 which he set himself in ATB 13 with the Hathsin Survivors.
• With 7 games remaining, the Red Eagles Turkey Stearnes needs 10 RBI to tie the all time record set by Reggie Jackson (Pill Poppers) way back in ATB 8.
• Elsewhere on Manetheren, the doubles record may fall not once, not twice, but an incredible three times.  Ed Delahanty (Potato Pickers) holds the current record with 64 doubles, set in ATB 11.  This season Delahanty has 59 and an outside chance at 64.  His teammates Joey Votto and Turkey Stearns have already obliterated the record, slamming 71 and 69 doubles respectively.  
• As an aside, recall that in the offseason we changed the era to increase doubles dramatically.  Well, it's worked.  The previous team record was 290 set by the Michigan Lakers in ATB VIII.  Four teams have bested the mark this year, led by Manetheren at 341.
• Pedro Martinez of ATB VII holds the all time WHIP record at 0.90.  This season, the Fishbiscuits version of Pedro is currently hovering at 0.90 and Red Ryan of Carlisle is at 0.91
• Finally, the all time team record for fewest runs allowed was set by the Black Sox in ATB 9.  They had a team ERA of 3.19 and won 96 games.  This season, the Fishbiscuits gave it a run, but need to allow just 8 runs in their last 7 games to tie the record.  Luckily for us, we have the Sparta Hoplites.  With 7 games remaining as well, Sparta has given up just 519 runs and realistically should set the record.  They are on pace to yield 542 runs but a solid final few games and they could best it handily. 

Special thanks to Brian B and Matt B for sending these in over the past few days!

The Playoff Race

Isn't exactly edge of your seat stuff.  In what's shaping to be the most boring ATB XV regular season in recent memory, it also promises to be the most exciting post-seasons in recent memory.

With the close of Sim 10A only one division crown was (nominally) up for grabs - the AL West.  Across the remaining 5 divisions the average division lead  was almost 13 1/2 games, with 4 and possibly 5 teams accelerating towards 100 win seasons.

The Sparta Hoplites and Manetheren Red Eagles are on pace for 104 and 103 win seasons respectively.  Over in the senior circuit, the Birghton Shadows are on pace for 101 wins while the Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters and Shamokin Miners are on pace for 97 and 93 wins, respectively.  Since the All-Star break the two best teams in ATB are the Beaters and Miners, so it stands to reason they have legitimate shots and 100 wins.  The Miners have won 30 of 43, a historic type of run.

Here are the # of 100 win seasons since records started being kept in ATB 6:

0 - ATB 6
1 - ATB 7
0 - ATB 8
1 - ATB 9
1 - ATB 10
3 - ATB 11*
2 - ATB 12
1 - ATB 13
1 - ATB 14

*What a great year this was.  Bellevue Freakin' Franchise won 106 games with a +238 run differential and took home the title.  John McDonald Fanclub won 109 games, but were swept in the opening round.  And the Windy City Potato Pickers won 111 games but they two were swept in the first round.

Anything can happen in the playoffs and the Wild Card Contenders (The Wall, Rusty Kuntz, Carlisle, Otherton, and North Valley) will certainly take umbrage with it, but the thought of four 100-win teams facing off in League Championship Series would be memorable to say the least.

If the regular season ended today we'd have:

American League
#3 John McDonald Fanclub @ #1 Sparta Hoplites
#4 Wildlings of the Wall @ #2 Manetheren Red Eagles
(Note, TWW cannot play SH because they are in the same division)

National League
#4 Otherton Fishbiscuits @ #1 Brighton Shadows
#3 Shamokin Miners @ #2 Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters

The Harry Caray league is all set. Despite losing three in a row Planet 10 clinches a Wild Card playoff birth, narrowly edging out Edinburgh. With an 85-76 record, Edinburgh at best could finish with 86 wins and are officially eliminated.

This leaves the playoff series as follows:

Planet 10 (#4) vs. Windy City (#1)
La Chapelle (#3) vs. Bellevue (#2)

The last Wild Card slot in Vin Scully remains up for grabs, coming down to perhaps the last game of the season:

0.0 - Helena (88-72)
1.0 - Rochester (87-73)
1.5 - DC (87-74)

The top two teams make the playoffs, leaving DC currently on the outside looking in by the thinnest of margins.

DC has just one game remaining and realistically require a win to have a shot. If victorious against Addie Joss (10-9, 3.05) and the Black Sox they will have to watch from home as Helena and Rochester close out the season. Here are the remaining pitching match-ups


Two notes on these.

1) Ed Walsh is gets the start for Rochester because their #1 starter Sandy Koufax is out for the season with an arm injury.

2) Helena's remaining two games are against John McDonald, a team they have just a 3-6 record against this season.

Finally, the Vin Scully divisional leaders have assured themselves a playoff birth. John McDonald clinched the #1 seed and will play the Wild Card team with the worst record.

Best Start of the Year

September 8 - Randy Johnson defeats La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthals 3-0.

His line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K, 121 Pitches, 95 GS.

The game score is the best mark on the season.

Powe Alley - Week 10

Top 5

• No change in teams and their order remains intact
• However, slowly but sure Windy City has fallen off their mid season pace of 118 wins and no longer have the best run differential in the game.

Gains and Losses

• No team had a significant climb up the charts, but White Meadow Lake, Rusty Kuntz, Duke Street, and Warning Track each climbed 2 slots.
• With a 4-11 week, Bucky Dent loses three slots and is likely out of the wild card race.

Speaking of which, with a month to play, the level of excitement with regard to the wildcard races has diminished. At the beginning of Week 10, nine teams had chances at reaching the playoffs, and the end of the week just six are remaining.

Bucky Dent, Rod Beck, and Warning Track went a combined 11-16 during the sim, while the teams they were chasing recorded 18 wins in 28 attempts.

Relooking at the ATB IX Draft

A few weeks ago, I ran a "draft analysis" piece. No time for commentary, but here is an updated file.

Well, some bullets anyway:

• Worst 1st round pick continues to be Randy Johnson, though, he does have a 2.16 ERA with his new team.
• The latest an elite player was taken? Rd 5, Doc Gooden from Rod Beck
• Worst pick of the draft might be Ron Guidry - a 3rd rounder taken by Edinburgh who still has a 5.63 ERA.
  
• Maybe it is Whitey Ford though - he's a second rounder with a 5.23 ERA but has done less damage because he's pitched a few less innings.

Great late finds:

• Rd 26, Charlie Ferguson (WMB) - 3.27 ERA, 104 IP
  
• Rd 22, Kevin Millwood (WMB) - 3.18 ERA, 123 IP
  
• Rd 20, Derek Lilliquist (WPP) - 1.21 ERA, 75 IP
• Rd 19, Mike Jackson (OPR) - 1.87 ERA, 63 IP
• Rd 18, Frank Killen (OFB) - 2.00 ERA, 121 IP
• Rd 11, Steve Evans (WPP) - .973 OPS, 404 AB
  

A Shout Out To Rob Murphy

Each Week, Rob Murphy (BFF) narrowly misses the cut from showing up on the Great, The Good, and The Ugly reporting. Rightly or wrongly, each week, I pick out 4 starters, 2 closers, and the next best pitcher unlisted.

As a result, Murphy is routinely compared to Derek Lilliquist (WPP) and comes up a bit short in my mind. Lilliquist is on my team of course, so in fairness I feel it my responsibility (multiple emails from Brad have NO bearing on this post of course) to list the two side by side in case I am the fool, and Murphy is indeed being slighted. Here are their stats:


Looking at them, I think it always came down to the fact Murphy has the same number of walks and K's, though, Lilliquist's K/BB ration is not exactly stellar.

Lucky Devils

Pythagorean Records vs Real Life:

• Fairly calm in Harry Caray - Only Planet 10 has been so unlucky as to have it impact the Playoff Picture. They are playing 10 games worse than thier Pythagorean record, enough to bump them into 5th place.
• Elsewhere in the HC League: Windy City and HEYHOWARYA are both playing 4 games better than expected.
• Vin Scully is a different story. Helena is a 2nd place team whose run differential is more like a 6th place team, and Warning Track Power is 6th place team that is playing more like an 11th place team.
• Meanwhile, Chi-Town has been terribly unlucky, floundering in 10th place despite an RD more like a 5th place team.
  

Predicting the Future Based Upon Strength of Schedule

Late in each ATB Season I try and break out the calculator and make some educated predictions about the balance of the season in hopes of finding the favorites for the Divisional and Wild Card Races. This year, the closest divisional race comes courtesy of the It Gets Thru Buckner division, but here the White Meadow Lake Black Stones trail the Helena Handbasket's by 6.5 games. The race is certainly not over, but by no means seriously in doubt.

The other Division races are even less exciting with John McDonald leading Behind the Bag by 9, the Windy City Potato Pocketers winning by 10.5, and the Belleveu Freakin Franchise by an almost unbelievable 19 games.

Our focus today will be on the Wild Card races. But first, a few notes on how I went about the calculation - ATB regulars can skip the next two paragraphs as nothing written hasn't been said at least twice already throughout our previous campaigns.

Bill James once derived a formula to predict the outcome of a game between two teams, based solely on their winning percentage. I took this a bit further, incorrectly in all honesty, and applied it to winning percentages of a team versus the collective winning percentages of all opponents left on the schedule. Even further, I use Pythagorean Winning Percentage instead of straight winning percentage.

Step through the charts below in a left to right fashion:

• Teams Actual Record
• Pythagorean Winning Percentage of that Team to Date
• Remaining Opponents Pythagorean Winning Percentage
• Expected Outcome of those games expressed in winning percentage terms. For instance, JMF is playing .640 ball, has to face teams with a collective .485 Wpct the rest of the way, and we should therefore expect them to win .654 % of their contests.
• Quick and Dirty Home/Away modifier, meant to adjust the Wpct up or down based upon the number of Home/Away games.
  
• Games Left
• Projected W-L record of those remaining Games
• Projected Win Total
• Projected Games Back
  

Vin Scully League

Today, 10 of the 12 teams in this league have a legitimate shot at contending for a playoff spot. In terms of the Wild Card, the 10th team is just 5.5 games out of the last slot and 6 teams are within 3 games.

Strength of schedule shows this isn't going to last:

• The top teams remain where they stand with John McDonald and Helena winning their divisions by 7 and 5 games respectively.
  
• The Rochester Beau Brummels project to finish as the second best team in the league, a full 9 games up in the Wild Card
• If play ended today, the Black Stones would narrowly edge the DC Chips for the last playoff spot thanks to a .522 vs .521 winning percentage. However, the Home/Away schedule for DC gives them the edge closing out the year. Both teams have nearly identical expected winning percentages but DC has 27 home and 18 road games remaining, while White Meadow Lake has 23 home and 26 road. This difference results in a predicted 2 game advantage for the reigning champs. These two teams still have 4 head to head games remaining with the Black Stones winning 5 of 8 so far this year.
• Bucky Dent's Middle Name, currently a half game back of White Meadow Lake, looks to be in the thick of the race as well, projecting to fall short by just two games. With an expected winning percentage of .510 but more road games than home games, they look to finish the season with a run of .500 ball.
• The rest of the teams all fall of the pace quickly. The Chi Town Black Sox have lost 8 in a row and project to play about .500 rest of the way, and with their current record 6 games under .500 they'll likely fall short of contention.
  
• Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars have played well of late, but face teams with a collective .511 winning percentage.
• I Miss Rod Beck will have a tough go of it as well. They are currently being outscored by 17 runs and are expected to win 21 of their last 45 games, coming up 6 games short.
  

Harry Caray League


I won't spend much time on the less exciting Vin Scully League. Three teams project to easily outpace the pack, with the only playoff spot in doubt coming down to the last Wild Card team. The Edinburgh Caber Tossers have a much easier strength of schedule when compared with Planet 10: .486 vs .536. And while Planet 10 has a better run differential, they still project to lose one game on Edignburgh, finishing 2 out. Both teams have 26 home and 19 road games left.

If interested, here is the team by team look at the remaining schedule.

Players of the Week - Sim 7

Catching up from last week...

The computer run Old Pete's Rabble finally gets some praise. Their right fielder, Frank Robinson, batted .417 with 5 HR, 11 R, and 12 RBI to be honored with the Week 7 Player of the Week Award





Harry Brecheen of the the first place Windy City Potato Pocketers is our Week 8 Pitcher of the Week. Brecheen went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 1.79 RCERA in 26 innings pitched. He struck out 19 and walked just 2.

Power Alley - Week 7

Top 5
Plenty of churn within the Top-5, but only Planet 10 dropped out. With a 6-8 week Planet loses 1 slot in the standings to 6th overall, leaving the door open for the Rochester Beau Brummels to make their first appearance. Rochester had a great week, winning 8 of 12, thanks in large part to Weeler Keeler and his 13 RBI.

Elsewhere, the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthals, despite an 8-5 week, drop two slots to 4th, while the Bellevue Frekin Franchise (7-3) and John McDonald Fanclub (8-3) took possession of 2nd and 3rd. The Windy City Potato Pickers (9-4) maintained their 1st overall status for the 7th week standing.

Most Improved
+3: Edinburgh Caber Tossers - Despite playing .500 for the Sim, Edinburgh jumps 3 slots because of their solid +16 Run Differential. They scored more runs than any team during Sim 7, compiling a team slash line of .317 / .369 / .465. They led both leagues with 19 home runs.

Most Declined
-3: DC Chips - A disheartening week to say the least. The Chips, 2-10 during the Sim, not only dropped 3 slots in the Power Alley standings, they are also now on the outside looking in for the last Wild Card playoff spot. They hit just 4 home runs in 12 games while starter Bucky Walters came back down to earth with an 0-2 record and 10.57 ERA. His ERA jumped from 3.31 to 3.80

Otherton At It Again

The Otherton Fish Biscuits, continuing their mid season overhaul, has traded the most conspicuous underperformer of the year to the Windy City Potato Pocketers. In the second challenge trade of the day, the two teams swap starters Randy Johnson and Jason Schmidt.

Johnson, a first round draft pick, has struggled in the Otherton's 3-man rotation compiling a historically bad 2-17 win-loss record with an objectionable 5.70 ERA.

Schmidt has been resplendent. Undefeated in 15 starts (8-0), he has a 2.79 ERA and an 8.3 H/R ratio.

Fun At Bat for Bagwell

Order of events in a Jeff Bagwell (WPP) at bat on June 16.

1) Pick Off Attempt
2) Pick Off Attempt
3) Pick Off Attempt
4) Foul off
5) Ball and Catcher Throw to First
6) Ball
7) Foul Off
8) Foul Off
9) Foul Off
10) Ball
11) Home Run

There have been 4 other plate appearances of 9 pitches or more:

Sam Thomson, BFF
Travis Hafner, JuP
Eddie Murray, CR

The MVP Races

Coming out of the All Star break several players appear to have an edge in the ATB XI Most Valuable Players Race. A few years ago we altered the post-season award selection process to an voting system, so ultimately the decision rests upon the 24 faithful ATB owners. This is merely a snapshot of the two most likely candidates to be considered in each league come October.

Vin Scully League

Babe Ruth, Rochester Beau Brummels
.312 / .480 / .678, 1.158 OPS, 95 RC, 30 HR, 71 R, 70 RBI, 17 2B, 5 SB
PROS: Leads the league in Slugging, OPS, Runs Created, Home Runs, RBI, and RC/27. Also in the Top 3 in both Runs and OBP
CONS: He's a part time DH and Rochester is not assured of a playoff slot. If they miss, they could have missed without Ruth on the roster as well. Ruth has to be considered the front runner though.

Rogers Hornsby, Bucky Dents Middle Name
.335 / .383 / .582, .965 OPS, 58 RC, 14 HR, 42 R, 55 RBI, 14 2B, 5 SB
PROS: The best hitting middle infielder in either league, he leads VS in all rate categories among second basemen and shortstops. Despite missing much time, he also leads middle infielders in Home Runs
CONS: He isn't Babe Ruth.

Some other options are Barry Bonds (RKA) and Albert Pujols (HH).

Harry Caray League

Ted Williams, La Chapelle Neanderthals
.351 / .454 / .613, 1.066 OPS, 61 RC, 17 HR, 42 R, 49 RBI, 7 2B, 0 SB
PROS: Likely the best hitter in Harry Caray, leading the lead in Slugging, OPS, and RC/27.
CONS: He missed over 20 games with an injury and his counting stats are not on par with other contenders. Worse, his Neanderthals went 14-6 while he was out.

Mickey Mantle, Duke Street Kings
.325 / .410 / .592, 1.002 OPS, 82 RC, 25 HR, 63 R, 83 RBI, 7 2B, 7 SB
PROS: While rate stats aren't in the same league as Williams, Mantle does lead the league in home runs and RBI, and is Top-2 in Runs Created and Runs. He also plays "Very Good" defense in Center Field.
CONS: The Kings are on track to miss the playoffs and few think he is as good of a hitter as Williams.

Steve Evans (WPP) and Tip O'Neil (ECT) are also contenders for the award. The latter is a high average doubles hitter with speed, the former his a plodding high average doubles hitter.

ATB XI All Star Backups

Harry Caray Bench
C) Javy Lopez, PR
MI) Roberto Alomar#, CR
CI) Lou Gehrig*, CR
OF) Ted Williams*, JuP
OF) Bobby Murcer*, CR
Bench) Jeff Bagwell, WPP


Vin Scully Bench
C) Mickey Cochrane*, JMF
MI) Fred Dunlap, WMB
CI) John Olerud*, RBB
OF) Willie Keeler*, RBB
OF) Tris Speaker*, DCC
Bench) Willie Mays, BDM

Starting Rotations and Bullpen for ATB XI All Star Game Announced

Harry Caray Rotation and Bullpen
SP1) Greg Maddux, P10
SP2) Jesse Tannehill*, JuP
SP3) Babe Adams, WPP
SP4) Fergie Jenkins, WPP
SP5) Charley Radbourn, P10

LR1) Derek Lilliquist*, WPP
LR2) Tom Niedenfuer, P10
SE1) Gabe White*, WPP
SE2) Billy Wagner*, ECT
CL) Dennis Eckersley, WPM


Vin Scully Rotation and Bullpen
SP1) Pedro Martinez, WTP
SP2) Jack Chesbro, IMR
SP3) Sandy Koufax*, RBB
SP4) Juan Marichal, CBS
SP5) Robin Roberts, WT

LR1) Jeff Zimmerman, DCC
LR2) Frank Killen*, OFB
SE1) Kent Tekulve, JMF
SE2) Robb Nen, HH
CL) Francisco Rodriguez, BDM

Starting Lineup for ATB XI All Star Game Announced

With the All Star Game approaching in Sim 7 it's time to announce the ATB XI All Star Lineups for the Harry Caray and Vin Scully Leagues. Pitching Rotations and Bench to be announced in the coming days.

Harry Caray Lineup and Stats
1 - DH) Ty Cobb*, WPP
2 - 1B) George Sisler*, DSK
3 - LF) Tip O'Neill, ECT
4 - CF) Mickey Mantle#, DSK
5 - C) Josh Gibson, JuP
6 - RF) Steve Evans*, WPP
7 - 3B) Al Rosen, CR
8 - 2B) Nap Lajoie, BFF
9 - SS) Hughie Jennings, BFF


Vin Scully Lineup and Stats
1 - 3B) John McGraw*, RBB
2 - CF) Sam Jethroe#, RBB
3 - DH) Babe Ruth*, RBB
4 - LF) Barry Bonds*, RKA
5 - 1B) Albert Pujols, HH
6 - RF) Al Kaline, JMF
7 - 2B) Rogers Hornsby, BDM
8 - SS) Honus Wagner, JMF
9 - C) King Kelly, CBS

Power Alley - Week 4

Top 5
Two changes to the Top-5 this week. I Miss Rod Beck drops 3 slots to #6 and Helena Handbasket drops 5 slots to #10. This made room for two new teams - John McDonald Fanclub and La Chappelle-aux-Saints Neanderthals.

Movers and Shakers

• +6 - Edinburgh Caber Tossers. At 10-3 in Week 4, the Caber Tossers cracked the magical .500 Wpct barrier for the first time all season. They have been victorious 9 of their last 10 games and outscored their opponents 84-64. Their best batter, Tip O'Neill, was named Sim 4 player of the Week while their pitching staff was led by Whitey Ford who made two starts, winning both with a 2.93 ERA.
  
• +6 - White Meadow Lake Black Stones. Another 10-3 team, the Black Stones broke out on offense, batting .310 / .375 / .455 and were third in scoring during the Sim. First Basemen Jason Giambi drove in 18 on 5 HR and compiled a .407 on-base percentage.
  

Losers and Fakers

• -6 - Willets Point "Mechanics". Tough week for Willets Point. Heading into Sim 4, the "Mechanics were 24-22 and potentially on the cusp of contention. A sim later, they are 8 games out with a -52 run differential, though still in second place. Who's to blame? While their pitching wasn't too bad(4.00 ERA) their batting was awful. With team slash line of .243 / .307 / .356 they scored 3.7 runs per game, a far cry from the league leading Caber Tossers at 6.5.
  
• -6 - Wedge Tornado. With an awful 2-12 sim record, and an even worse -44 run differential, Tornado has a .356 winning percentage and is on pace to lose 102 games. In Week 4, five regulars batted under .200 (Hack Wilson, Don Baylor, Mike Schmidt, Ryne Sandberg, and Ivan Rodriguez.
  
• -5 - Helena Handbasket. All looked great for Helena coming into Sim 4. At 27-16, on a 6 game winnings streak, and having closed the gap with I Miss Rod Beck to just 1 1/2 games, Helena had a great opportunity to take the division lead. Instead, with a 4-9 record they lost a game in the standings to Rod Beck and the third place team, Bucky Dents Middle Name, gained 4 1/2 games. The culprits? Out of the pen Robb Nen, Earl Hamilton, Joel Hoerner, and Todd Frohwirth combined for a 8.18 ERA. On offense, Jackie Robinson, Lefty O'Doul, and Cal Ripken had OPS scores of .550 or worse.
  

Rod Beck vs the Potato Pickers

At the end of Sim 2, two teams have sustained a good enough winning percentage to avoid being tagged with a10th loss on the season. At 21-7, the Harry Caray league's Windy City Potato Pickers have the best record in ATB. Across the way in Vin Scully, I Miss Rod beck is just two games off the pace at 19-9. While early season predictions are often recipes for embarrassment and backpedaling, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if the two teams met in October.

Is one better than the other? Both are within 4 Runs Scored and 8 Runs Against of each other but have marked differences on paper. Their offenses have relied on different aspects of the game to score their runs:

WPP - .278 / .337 / .417, 21 HR, +10 SB
IMR - .310 / .355 / .381, .9 HR, +32 SB

The Potato Pocketers also lead in doubles 53 to 32 and triples 15 to 7. The large advantage for Rod Beck in on-base percentage virtually eliminates the edge Windy City has in the power department, as evidenced by their RC/27 values - both exactly 5.0.

The key to their offenses lie in a few outfielders. Rod Beck is led by right fielder Tony Gwynn and his left field counterpart, Jesse Burkett. Both are high average hitters with little power, but have a combined line of .370 / .410 / .446.

Windy City has one standout, the immortal Ty Cobb. Roaming center field with very good defense, Cobb is also getting it done with the stick, batting .341 / .388 / .540 with 17 R and 18 RBI.

If the two offenses are similar, we must make allowances for differences with their pitching staffs. At this point in time anyway, there is no better pitching staff in baseball than Windy City's:

#1 SP: 1.59 ERA, B Adams
#2 SP: 2.75 ERA, H Brecheen
#3 SP: 2.45 ERA, J Schmidt
#4 SP: 3.52 ERA, F Jenkins
#5 SP: 4.02 ERA, N Hahn

Their pen is downright nasty:

0.47 ERA, D Lilliquist
1.08 ERA, J Neale
1.77 ERA, E Kinder
3.20 ERA, G White

Their team RCERA stands at 2.55.

This is no knock on the Rod Beck - one can make a case their combined staff is likely one of the Top 3 in the game. Their team RCERA in fact is third best at 3.30. However, they falter by one or two pitchers in a direct comparison to Windy City:

#1 SP: 4.12 ERA, C Mathewson
#2 SP: 1.88 ERA, D Gooden
#3 SP: 2.90 ERA, J Chesbro
#4 SP: 4.15 ERA, S Chandler

And their bullpen:

1.96 ERA, J Franco
4.00 ERA, J Shaw
4.88 ERA, R Beck

As of today at least, it does appear Windy City has the best team in the land. (Jinx!!!!)

Note - The top-10 team Pythagorean Winning percentages are below, and I list them to only to mention there are other teams waiting in the wings to be included in the next "Best of ATB" discussion:

.664 - Windy City
.647 - Bellevue
.626 - La Chapelle-aux-Saints
.613 - I Miss
.579 - Bucky Dent

Power Alley - Sim 2

The top two teams remain unchanged at the end of Sim 2, with the Windy City Potato Pickers and I Miss Rod Beck continuing their pace of 100 plus win seasons. At 21-7 The Potato Pickers have been particularly good so far, though the run differential suggests not quite as good as their .750 winning percentage indicates.

Rounding out the Top 5 are Bellevue Freakin' Franchise (up 1 slot), La Chappelle-aux-Saints Neanderthals (up 6), and Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars (down 2).

The biggest movers of the week are the Rochester Beau Brummels, led by the aforementioned Batting Player of the Week, Babe Ruth.

On the other hand, the fortunes of the Potomac Rage and White Meadow Lake Black Stones have plummeted, with both teams losing 13 slots in the power rankings. The Rage went 3-12 thanks in large part to a team .662 OPS in Sim 2 and the Black Stones must put much of the blame on their horrendous .224 team batting average with runners in scoring position.