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Commish

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September, 2013

Chapter Five Recap

Players of the Chapter

Robinson Cano continues to pile on ridiculous, Nintendo-like numbers week after week, month after month, despite MLB numbers against lefties that are absolutely pathetic.  He was supposed to be a glorified, $15 million platoon player.  Instead, after hitting .371/.394/.758 (yes, .758) in Chapter Five, he is the OL's Hitter of the Chapter, and will most likely repeat as the league's MVP.  Nice job, Diamond Mind.

Over in the Eck League, the Hitter of the Chapter award goes to Kansas first baseman Adam LaRoche, who hit .349/.412/.811 with a league-leading 15 homers and 39 ribbies.  It is hard to believe that LaRoche was a 31st round draft pick just two years ago.  Oddly enough, at $100,000 in salary, LaRoche is tied for the lowest paid player in the league, while his OL counterpart is the highest paid.

Speaking of highly-paid players, the New York Giants dipped deep into their wallets this winter and shelled out $8 million ($25 million over three years, minimum) for a little more than half a season of Brandon Morrow.  Despite the fact that his team lost 21 games last chapter, Morrow (1.98 ERA, .173/.241/.301 against) is the OL Pitcher of the Chapter.

Another expensive signing this winter took place in Allentown, when Tom DiStefano signed Jake Peavy to a $10 million salary ($30 million over three years.)  That signing has paid huge dividends for the Ridgebacks, as Peavy is now just one win away from becoming the first Ridgebacks starter since Tim Lincecum (2010) to win 20 games.  In Chapter Five, he won 6 games, posted a 1.47 ERA, and held opponents to a miniscule .181/.212/.280 triple-slash line, easily winning the EL Pitcher of the Chapter honor.

Top Stories of the Chapter

Story #1: Cowtippers On Fire

The first half of the season was an inexplicably long and frustrating venture for the Salem Cowtippers, as they limped into the all-star break with a record (41-39) barely above .500.  Thankfully (for 'Tippers fans) they picked up the pace thereafter, and have won 34 games since the break -- second in the OL to only the Blazers.  They closed out Chapter Five with a remarkable 22 wins, tying the Allentown Ridgebacks for the best record in the league.  Most importantly, those 22 wins included sweeps of two playoff teams, New Milford and the Ravenswood Infidels.

Salem has managed to open up a three-game lead in the OL wild card race heading into the final chapter thanks to this hot streak.  And yet, incredibly, this streak has happened despite the fact that Salem's pitching remains among the weakest in the league.  In the first half of the season, the Cowtippers posted a 4.66 team ERA, which ranked 10th out of the 12 Ozzie League teams.  Since the break, their ERA is even worse, at a mind-numbing 4.93.

Obviously, it is the offense that has carried the Cowtippers into contention.  In the first half of the season, the Salem offense hit a combined .278/.329/.455 with an average of 5.0 runs per game.  Since then, they have hit .282/.331/.487 with an average of 5.7 runs per game.  At long last, Ryan Zimmerman has finally busted out of his season-long slump, and hit .317/.355/.574 in Chapter Five.  Starlin Castro (.310/.342/.518 as a Cowtipper) has been a big improvement at shortstop over Jose Reyes (.254/.315/.390 for Salem.)  Melky Cabrera (.339/.387/.493), Yadier Molina (.327/.364/.545) and Dustin Pedroia (.317/.361/.539) continue to crush the ball as well.

If the Cowtippers can ever get any pitching whatsoever, and if they can hold on to their lead in the wild card battle, they could be dangerous in the Tournament of Randomness.

Story #2: Granite State Murderer's Row

Earlier this month, it was announced that the Granite State Lightning had achieved a significant milestone: every position player on the diamond had reached double digits in home runs.  When this was announced, I immediately wondered whether this amazing feat had ever been achieved before in league history, so I did some research.

Believe it or not, there have been 50 teams in BDBL history that have had nine different players with double-digits in home runs, and many of those teams had at least one player at each defensive position with double-digit homers.  The most recent team to accomplish this feat was the 2012 San Antonio Broncs, who featured JP Arencibia (10 HR) behind the plate, Paul Goldschmidt (14) at first, Omar Infante (12) at second, Danny Valencia (11) at third, Clint Barmes (16) at short, Brennan Boesch (13) in left, Adam Jones (24) in center, and Edwin Encarnacion (23) in right.

Not surprisingly, the team with the most players with double-digit homers on their roster was the 2001 Kansas Law Dogs, who had no fewer than 14 players reach that criteria.  So, basically, almost every hitter on their active roster had at least 10 home runs that season.  Incredible.

Story #3: Allentown Separates From the Pack

In pre-season league polling, the Ridgebacks were the overwhelming favorites to win their division, as well as the Eck League title and (by one vote) the BDBL championship.  So it is no surprise to see Allentown riding high with 88 wins (best in the EL, and second only to the Blazers in the BDBL) with one chapter remaining.  The only surprise is that it took so long for this team to break away from the pack.

Allentown began this season with a record of just 15-13 in Chapter One.  They were outscored by their opponents that chapter, and trailed the first-place Kansas Law Dogs by four games in their division.  They righted the ship in Chapter Two, going 18-10, and taking the division lead from Kansas.  By the all-star break, they had expanded that lead to three games.  But they then struggled a bit in Chapter Four, and allowed Kansas to briefly grab a share of the division lead.

Heading into Chapter Five, Allentown held on to a tenuous one-game lead.  But they then swept the Cuenca Strangegloves, Great Lakes Sphinx and Niagara Locks, and took three out of four from the Akron Ryche and Cleveland Rocks.  By the time all of their MP simulating was done, the Ridgebacks had won 22 games, and their lead in the division had grown to seven games.

Tom DiStefano's MP: EL Manager of the Year?

Story #4: Wild Card Race Goes Down to the Wire

Five of the league's six division leaders now own a lead of at least six games, with just 28 games left in the season.  The current EL wild card leader, Kansas, owns a comfortable 15-game lead in that race.  That leaves only two genuine pennant races left at this point: the OL wild card and the Griffin Division.

The Salem Cowtippers and Los Altos Undertakers are tied with 75 wins, the Flagstaff Outlaws are sitting at 72 wins, and with a hot chapter, the 69-win Granite State Lightning would have an outside shot at a playoffs spot as well.  This coming chapter, Granite State will face Salem, and Flagstaff, Los Altos and Salem will each face each other.  These two races will undoubtedly go right down to the wire, and a winner (or winners) may not be decided until the final week of the season.

It's a good thing the Ozzie League is around to keep things exciting, eh?

Story #5: Different Name, Same Suckiness

The New York Giants lost a league-worst 21 games in Chapter Five, which means they will need to win 25 of their last 28 games to avoid a losing season for the 14th year in a row.

If the Giants maintain their current pace, they'll finish this season with 67 wins, which would be the EIGHTH time in the past 14 seasons they won fewer than 70 games.  In a league where consistency is the rarest of rarities, Jim Doyle's Giants are an island of consistency.