Week #3 Review

STATS Ma'am JUST THE STATS

Oh sure....I know at least 3 or 4 of you are reading this, so we'll go with this for another week.  I'll tell you up front that these stats DO NOT include the Lucky Stiffs vs. Dislocated Joints game from this past week  They are included in the won / loss standings but that's it.  Unfortunately I didn't get the game sheet in time to update all the player stats but don't worry, they'll be included with next weeks.   

These are traditional baseball standings.  Remember, because we have ties we go to the 1/4 game rather than the 1/2 game.  

So, not a lot of differences again this week.  However, the Rebels drop out of the tie they are in for 4th place in our league standings and are slotted in at 10th place in this view.  The Gruesome Devils move from 10th to 9th.  The Brew Jays and the Woody's swap spots and there is separation at the bottom based on the number of games played.  

Incidentally, we have made up our rain outs now and are back on schedule! 

Next up are individual rankings.  Our top 25 are already on the league website along with all other player averages so there's no need to repeat that.  However I'd like to pay special mention to the people who have started the season perfect. 

Really Scott?  Are you trying to have the trophy renamed?  Nice start buddy, just an FYI that Eric "The Red" Hipkin is right on your heels going 14 for his first 15 (.933). 

Next we have the leaders in At Bats. To get on this list you need to show up, be on a good hitting club and be fairly high in the order.  Normally anyway, but there are exceptions.  Here are the top 9:

Oh, maybe you don't have to be a decent hitter, I see Neil on the list.  Kidding, I owed Neil for the take out comment at second base (after he watched my spectacular somersault). Again, this is strongly weighted to teams that have played more games.

Now for total hits:

Well, this shows some guys off to hot starts!  As we get near the mid way point we'll see some different names as the league average hitters miss a game or two.  Nice to see two rookies on the list!  Good start lads.  

Lets take a look at a total view of runs scored.  This one was cut off 8 which gives us a top 15.  Some guys are a magnet for home plate:

There is a lot of this that has to do with good hitters batting behind you and of course getting on base a lot; but there is something to be said for good lead off hitters.  Jerry (Popeye) Muirhead and Eric (The Red) Hipkin have both been leading off and doing great.  

Next we have the Rookie Of the Year (ROY) award watch.  What's neat about this is that there is no ROY award, so its all in fun.  For now, I've cut it off at rookies who are hitting .750 or better, but that's sure to change. Here is how it looks so far:

What a great crop of Rookies!  I've met most of them at this point and they seem like a pretty pleasant group of ball players.  9 rookies at .750 or better.  Geez!

This is quickly becoming my favourite stat.  The most improved players by averages.  There will always be pockets of people that think this doesn't matter, but I think its great for trending.  Besides, if other people weren't wrong I wouldn't be right so often!

5 former Grisslies on this list.  I guess that's good, but I sure would have rather seen those averages with us!!!  I'm just kidding.  Well, I'm not kidding about Stephane.  That's ridiculous!  Congrats to all of you on your quick starts, and keep it up.  At least we found list that Scott Barton will never get on.  

And here is the last one for the week.  I've been working on this one and I think I've got it where I want it.  This measures the number of runs scored per time at the plate.  

Lets put this in perspective.  When Cal Steeves is in the batters box, before he sees a pitch, there is an 84.6% chance that he's going to score a run.  Most of us don't have an 84.6% chance of making contact!  Crap.  The Stiffs need to start getting him up every 4th hitter.  

Okay, that's it for the stats, on to the week in review.  

Week 3 Review

The week got off to a great start when the Rusty Rebels and Gruesome Devils played to a 14 run draw.  This tie saw the Devils battle back from two large deficits in a game effort.  23 of the games 28 runs were scored in the first 3 innings and then it became a defensive affair.  Don Booth was 5/5 and Steve Grenkie was 4/4 for the Rebels.  Jens Lepa also had a 5/5 night for the Devils.  Up next for the 1-1-1 Gruesome Devils is a two game week where they host the 1-2 Banshees before making the long road trip to meet the 1-2 Brew Jays.  For the 1-1-2 Rusty Rebels, they travel to face the 0-2-1 Hurtin' Units.  There are a lot of under .500 teams meeting up next week and there's danger of someone getting in a hole early.   You can read more about this game in the GAME OF THE WEEK feature. 
   

Game 2 on Monday night saw the Hot Tub Woody's facing the Lucky Stiffs.  The Stiffs were dealt the news of losing Jim Hunter due to work changes and he would be playing in this, his second last game of the season.  The Stiffs batted first game in this game and scored 5, then 2, then 3, then 6.  Then they got serious.  The final score of this one was 28-10 for the inordinately Luck Stiffs.  Cal Steeves was 6/6 with 6 runs scored in this one, easily the game of the year thus far.  John Barlow was also 6/6 but was pretty lazy scoring only 5 runs.  Andy Gee was 6/6 but only scored an embarrassing 2 runs on this night.  The Hot Tub Woody's who were fabulous hosts on this night didn't have a lot to write home about; although Brad Moye (my prediction for a break out year I might add) was 3/4 with 3 runs scored.  The Woody's fall to 0-2-1 and get set to face the 2-2 Beer Bros. next week.  Meanwhile the Lucky Stiffs see their record climb to 2-1 and prepare to meet the 2-2 Red Dogs in week 4.

After being picked as the preseason favourite and starting the season 2-0, it would appear that the Dodge City Rounders have received their come-uppance at the hands of the Brew Jays.  The Brew Jays, now 1-1, had a balanced attack with every player scoring at least a run and no one having less than 4 hits as they scored 23 runs over six innings.  Strangely, only one player was 5/5 on the night and that was none other than our old friend Piero Del Greco!  Way to go.  Dodge City (2-1), clearly stunned by Del Greco's offensive onslaught countered with 16 runs of their own.  Al Fry 4/4 (3 runs), Scott Peters 4/4 (4 runs), Henry Lukassen 4/4 (1 run) and Luc Schryer 4/4 were all perfect at the plate.   The Rounders will try rebound in week 4 against the 2-2 Dusty Cleats; while the Brew Jays will host the expansion Gruesome Devils who are 1-1-1. 

The Beer Bros. and Dog Catchers entered this game with both clubs looking for their first win of the young season.  It was a battle to the end but the Beer Bros. would prevail with a 16-15 win.  There was nothing easy in this game and the last inning is representative of that.  Tied at 15, the Beer Bros. pushed across a single run on the strength of Paul Piellusch's 5th hit of the night.  The bottom of the inning saw the Dog Catchers send 6 men to the plate and leave the bases loaded as the Beer Bros. finally slammed the door.  Jim MacDonald, Phil Glecoff and Paul Hargreaves all had perfect nights at the plate going 4/4.  Jim also had another 4 runs scored.  Paul Piellusch was joined by team mate Peter Holmann in being perfect at the plate.  Peter was 4/4 with 3 runs scored.  With another game remaining this week, the Beer Bros will be playing the 1-2-1 Hot Tub Woody's in week 4.  The Dog Catchers will be playing the 2-2 Grisslies. 

Another close game had the Dusty Cleats beating the Banshees 20-18.  The Cleats were led by strong performances from Scott Barton (5/5), Mark Doyle (5/5) and Pistol Pete Shmagola (4/4).  The game was tight throughout and was tied at 15 as late as the 5th inning.  Jerry Muirhead was the big hitter for the Banshees.  He had a 6/6 night with 5 runs scored.  Craig Beatty is also off to a great start as he went 5/5.  The Cleats have a date with the 3 and 1 Dodge City Rounders in week 4.  The Banshees meanwhile will visit the 1-1-1 Gruesome Devils. 

Do you know why the Mona Lisa is a pretty picture?  Because most other ones suck.  This game wasn't too pretty if you were a Grisslie.  It was Mona Freakin' Lisa if you're a Tap Master.  Believe it or not the Grisslies led this one 3-1 after 2 innings, but it went sideways quickly eventually falling 16-10.  You can read more about the game and Randy Rose's majestic Coventry home run HERE. The Tap Masters will have the long weekend to think about their lofty 3-1 record and then get ready for a late game against the 2-2 Red Dogs.  The Grisslies have two chances to make up for this debacle, first against the 0-3-1 Dog Catchers and then facing the perfect 4-0 Joints on Fan Appreciation Night.
 

The Hot Tub Woody's got spanked by the Lucky Stiffs earlier in the week.  The poor Hurtin' Units bore the brunt of that beat down.  By the time the dust had cleared the Woody's had cleaned up with a 22-9 win.  The Hot Tubber's had 4/4 nights from Steve Black (Stike), Cliff Tucker and Chris Larkin.  The game was never really in doubt but was blown wide open with the Woody's 7 run 4th inning.  The Hurtin Units had some offensive stars as well.  Jamie Allan was 4/4 while Clayton Avery and Gord Robinson were both 3/3.  The Hot Tub Woody's will be trying to keep the streak going when they play the suddenly hot 2-2 Beer Bros. next week.  The Units will be looking for their first win next week when they face the 1-1-2 Rusty Rebels.

The Dislocated Joints were the first team to 4 wins and remain perfect as they defeated the Lucky Stiffs by the score of 15-12.  Lost in the euphoria of the Joints latest conquest was a spectacular performance by Steve Lahey, the Lucky Stiffs rookie short stop.  Lahey came up with 2 runners on in the first inning and hit a mammoth home run to right center field.  In his next at bat he came up with the bases empty and hit another home run to the same spot.  Truth be told, it probably went further than the first one, but the Joints would only let them count it as one run.  In his third at bat Steve had one runner on and changed things up a bit.  This one he pulled to straight away right.  It was still climbing when it cleared the fence.  3 homers and all six Stiff's runs to that point were on Lahey blasts.  Then came the coup de gras....Lahey stepped up with the bases loaded.  Pitcher Derryl Gaudet must have gotten some advice from a team mate, because he turned around and had the line of the night, "It's game #4, I ain't walking him".  I don't know if Lahey let him off because he actually pitched to him, but he hit a measly 2 run single to right.  It was a hell of a night though.  And it was with this game that bid a fond adieu to Jim Hunter for the time being as work will remove him from the balance of the season.  Fortunately for Jim its before the All Star break so his official temporary retirement is as a Grisslie Champion!  The Joints will try and keep this sweet start to the season going next week against the 0-3-1 Dog Catchers and the Lucky Stiffs will try to rebound against the 1-1-2 Rusty Rebels. 

The Dodge City Rounders didn't like losing earlier in the week.  Thankfully they didn't have to let that feeling linger long.  The Red Dogs and Rounders slugged it out in the 1st inning with the inning ending 5-4 in favour of the Rounders.  It was back and forth from there with Dodge ultimately prevailing 18-13.  The Red Dogs had another excellent night from Eric Hipken who was 4/4 with three runs scored.  Mike Candy, Blaine Richards and Jon Hardy were all 3/3.  However it wasn't enough with the top 4 Dodge City Rounders being perfect.  Scott Mason went 5/5 (3 runs), Al Fry was 4/4 as was Scott Peter and both scored all 4 times they were on.  Keith Beechy and Tom Enright were also perfect at the plate.  Next up for the Red Dogs are the 2-2 Lucky Stiffs and the 3-1 Tap Masters; both in week 4.  The Dodge City Rounders will try and stay in within a game of first place when they play the 2-2 Dusty Cleats.  

 The Dusty Cleats played their second game of the week and used it to square their record at 2-2. It was a typically close game as the Cleats held off the Brew Jays 14 - 11.  The Dusty Cleats were led by another boring perfect night by Scott Barton who was 3/3 as was Mark Doyle, Stephane Simard and Peter Smagola.  The Brew Jays had perfect nights from Roger Gaudet (3/3) and Rod Duggan (3/3).  The Brew Jays finish the week 1-2 and will try to square their record when they face the Gruesome Devils next week.  The Dusty Cleats will try rebound from their 0-2 start to work their was over .500 for the 1st time this year when they meet the 3-1 Dodge City Rounders. 

Despite some stellar sub play at short stop and left field, the Banshees feel short to the tune of 15-8 to the Beer Bros. This game was close to the vest early.  The Beer Bros. only counted 4 runs through 3 innings, but the Banshees could only count one of their own.  The Beer Bros. would dominate the middle innings and put the Banshees away.  The middle of the Beer Bros lineup was deadly with Neil Pendlebury, Paul Piellusch and Peter Holmann all went 4/4.  The Banshees bats were a little cool on this night with only Craig Beatty delivering a perfect night at 4/4.  The Beer Bros are now .500 for the first time in franchise history (I think) and get a chance to move over that mark against the 1-2-1 Hot Tub Woody's next week.  The Banshees are looking to square their record  for the season next week when they face the 1-1-1 Gruesome Devils

Things to check out:

Check out the Donini Three Stars of the game here ==> STARS
Check out the Dislocated Joints game notes from DTBB ==> JOINTS
Check out the Tap Master's game notes from Jason Bowers ==> Tapped Out
Check out the Brew Jays game notes from Rod and Bo ==> Jays Squawk
Check out the Hurtin' Units BLOG ==> Hannibal Lecter
The League's Official Website ==> League