September, 2020
Chapter
Five (Plus!) Recap
Things are a tad-bit
hectic in Glanderville lately. As if 2020 weren't chaotic enough, what
with the global pandemic, the shutdowns, the forced quarantine, the
economic collapse, the rioting and looting and arson and murder, the
raging forest fires, and the dreaded murder hornets, the Glander family
decided this was the perfect time to uproot the entire family and move
from New Hampshire to Florida.
So, throughout the entire
months of July and August, and for two weeks in September, we emptied
the house that we have occupied for twenty-two years, down to the last
picture hanger. We painted most of the house, including the ceiling. We
sold or gave away every piece of furniture in the house and everything
else we found in our attic. This vast undertaking can only be compared
to the greatest feats in human history: the pyramids of Giza, Hoover
Dam, the transcontinental railroad. Frankly, those feats pale in
comparison, as I'm sure they took much less effort.
Needless to say, I've had
to put the BDBL on hold for a while, so I missed writing the Chapter
Five recap by a couple of weeks. To make it up to you, I'll make this
recap as up-to-date as possible, including all games that have been
played as of this minute.
Players of the Chapter
Dylan Bundy is enjoying a fantastic MLB
season this year. He owns a career-low 3.29 ERA, and has held opposing
hitters to just 51 hits, 5 home runs, and 17 walks in 65+ innings, with
72 whiffs. With 2021 being the final year under contract, Bundy would be
a terrific asset for the Southern Cal Slyme next year. Unfortunately for
Bob, we're not using MLB stats next year. Bundy's mediocre projection
(4.56 ERA in 156 IP) will be used instead. Why do I bring this up?
Because two winters ago, Sylvester traded Starling Marte to the Akron
Ryche in exchange for Bundy and Monte Harrison. And Marte
(.323/.366/.720, 10 HR, 29 RBI) is our OL Hitter of the Chapter.
Just because baseball is such a fun
game with so much symmetry and poetry, it seems fitting that the EL
Hitter of the Chapter should be a member of Sylvester's SoCal Slyme --
and that his name should also be Marte. Ketel (no relation) hit
.402/.448/.713 for the Slyme in Chapter Five, with a league-leading 32
runs scored and 39.8 runs created.
Sticking with the Slyme, the EL Pitcher
of the Chapter could have been SoCal ace Lucas Giolito, who went a
perfect 6-0 in Chapter Five, with a 3.47 ERA and a league-leading .156
opponents batting average. Instead, I'll give it to his teammate, Trevor
Bauer, who posted a more impressive triple-slash line of .188/.256/.300,
while leading the league with a 2.03 ERA and 71 strikeouts.
The Salem Cowtippers paid a whopping
$15.5 million last winter to acquire Max Scherzer. It's well past time
for that investment to show some dividends. The OL Pitcher of the
Chapter went 5-0 in Chapter Five, with a league-leading 1.16 ERA, and a
.189/.235/.261 opponents batting line.
Top Stories of the
Chapter
Story #1: Three Contenders, Two Playoff Spots
Heading into this final chapter, there
were only two legitimate playoff races remaining in the Ozzie League:
the Benes Division title and the wildcard. Those two playoff spots are
intertwined, as the Ravenswood Infidels, Akron Ryche, and Bear Country
Jamboree all battle for those final two spots.
As always, Brian Potrafka wasted no
time playing the bulk of his games during the first two weeks of the
chapter. As I type, he has already played twenty games, and has gone
15-5 in those games. As a result, Ravenswood went from being one game
behind at the start of this chapter to two games ahead.
Akron has gone a more modest 6-2 so far
this chapter (including a 2-2 split with Ravenswood), while Bear Country
split their only series of the chapter (against Ravenswood, naturally.)
This currently puts Akron in a one-game lead over Bear Country in the
wildcard race.
In terms of strength of schedule, it
looks as though Bear Country is facing an uphill climb:
AKRON |
|
BEAR COUNTRY |
|
RAVENSWOOD |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DBW |
.326 |
|
SAL |
.652 |
|
KCB |
.417 |
ALN |
.417 |
|
SLF |
.493 |
|
DBW |
.326 |
BCJ |
.596 |
|
AKR |
.586 |
|
|
.372 |
LVF |
.479 |
|
KCB |
.417 |
|
|
|
SLF |
.493 |
|
LAU |
.662 |
|
|
|
|
.462 |
|
ALN |
.417 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.538 |
|
|
|
The Benes Division appears to be
Ravenswood's to lose. That leaves the wildcard, where four of the five
opponents left on Akron's schedule are sporting sub-.500 records. That
race could very well be decided by the head-to-head battle between Bear
Country and Akron, which takes place in Bear Country. Akron is 3-3
against the Jamboree at home this year, and lost both games they played
in Bear Country. This one could be a thriller!
UPDATE: THIS JUST IN! Akron has
won three of four from the Vegas Flamingos! This cuts Ravenswood's
division lead to one game, and puts Akron and Bear Country in a virtual
tie for the wildcard. It also reduces Akron's strength of schedule from
.462 to .458.
Story #2: The Return of Kyle Robinson
The Saskatoon franchise has been a
revolving door of sorts ever since Tony Chamra left us in 2012 (before
returning two years later.) After three changes in ownership in the two
years that followed, Kyle Robinson brought some much-needed stability
when he took over in April of 2014.
Earlier this year, Robinson decided to
take some time off from the BDBL. That opened the door for Jason Gargac,
who took over on March 1st. Unfortunately, Gargac's hands were tied, as
his trading VORP cap was mostly maxed out by the time he took over.
Predictably, after several months of merely going through the motions
and handling usage issues, he lost interest and disappeared.
That was the bad news. The good news
was that Robinson reappeared at that time and expressed an interest in
reclaiming his franchise.
Story #3: Bobby Resigns
On the list of things that have
happened in 2020 that I never could have possibly imagined happening,
Bobby Sylvester resigning ranks ahead of a global pandemic, shutdowns,
and all of the other craziness that we've come to accept as our "new
normal" in 2020.
Given his lengthy history in this
league, and everything that he brings to the BDBL, we decided to hit the
pause button on the St. Louis franchise instead of hunting for a
replacement owner. If Bobby decides to turn his sabbatical from the BDBL
into a permanent retirement, then we'll move on from there, and I will
give him the proper farewell. Until then, here's hoping that he gets his
affairs in order and returns to the BDBL sooner rather than later.
Story #4: Salem First to Clinch
After two nightmarish chapters in a
row, the defending champions returned to form in Chapter Five, went
21-7, and managed to clinch their second McGowan Division title in a
row. The Cowtippers are the first team to do so in 2020, in large part
thanks to a dearth of competition in that division. Salem is the only
team in the division with a record above .500, and that will be true
regardless of how many games the rest of the division wins the rest of
the way.
Salem's division title in 2019 was
their first title in over ten years. The second came much easier than
the first. Two other teams in the BDBL have moved into single digits in
the Magic Number column: Southern Cal (6) and Chicago (9). This will be
division title number ten for Bob Sylvester, and his second in a row.
For John Gill, it will be title number nine, and also his second in a
row.
Story #5: EL Wildcard
The Kansas Law Dogs, Slyme, and Black
Sox have all but clinched their divisions, but the final spot in the EL
postseason is still very much up for grabs. As I type, the Great Lakes
Sphinx currently cling to a one-game lead over the Cleveland Rocks,
which the Charlotte Mustangs (4 GB) and Buckingham Sovereigns (5 GB)
still within range.
Let's take a look at the strength of
schedule for those four contenders:
GREAT LAKES |
|
CLEVELAND |
|
CHARLOTTE |
|
BUCKINGHAM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CLT |
.522 |
|
KAN |
.621 |
|
GLS |
.551 |
|
NIA |
.455 |
SCA |
.659 |
|
NIA |
.455 |
|
SCS |
.485 |
|
MBH |
.227 |
MBH |
.227 |
|
SCA |
.659 |
|
SCA |
.659 |
|
STL |
.450 |
CHI |
.621 |
|
MBH |
.227 |
|
NIA |
.455 |
|
SCS |
.485 |
KAN |
.621 |
|
|
.491 |
|
CHI |
.621 |
|
SKS |
.371 |
SKS |
.371 |
|
|
|
|
MBH |
.227 |
|
KAN |
.621 |
|
.504 |
|
|
|
|
|
.500 |
|
|
.435 |
Buckingham is furthest away from a
playoffs spot, but has the easiest schedule the rest of the way. They
face only one .500+ team from here on out. All four teams get the
benefit of facing the Myrtle Beach Hitmen. (More on that below.)
The current wildcard leader has the
toughest schedule of them all, by far. Great Lakes not only has to face
all three division leaders, but will also play head-to-head against
Charlotte.
Story #6: Hitmen are Whacked
The Myrtle Beach Hitmen could set a few
records this season -- none of them good. They are on pace to finish
with 124 losses, which would obliterate the league record of 120, set in
2012. They have currently scored 497 runs, which is already one more
than the 496 runs scored by the 2015 Mississippi Meatballs, so that
record is safe.
They have already allowed 894 runs,
which is a long way from the league record of 1,046, set by the
Wapakoneta Hippos in 2004. But Myrtle Beach also has 28 games left to
play. At their current pace of 6.8 runs allowed per game, they could
easily allow another 190 runs to score, which would put them at 1,084
for the season.
The Hitmen's ERA of 6.36 would top the
2012 Lightning's 6.20 league record. It would be only the third time in
league history that a team posted an ERA over 6.00.
For the sake of the mental well-being
of every person associated with this franchise, let's hope that all of
those youngsters named at the top of the Farm Report develop more
rapidly than usual.
|