Friday, August 29, 2014

STATS - Week XVI

Pre-INTRO 

Some folks have requested practice times next week.  As you know we don't have access to the diamonds and the league does not sanction their use for non-league games. 

However, anyone can walk by and hit a ball right?

Some people from the Gruesome Devils and Dodge City rounders might be doing just that on Wednesday night at 7pm at Keogh Park

Some members of the Grisslies and Draft Kings might do likewise at 7:00 at Thursday night.
 
INTRO 
As a general rule, what happens in the Legion stays in the Legion. 

There are exceptions. 

This is one. 

We were treated on Thursday night to a brilliant tale of a murder case at Canada's Wonderland by the Dodge City Rounders hurler and Crime Scene Investigator extraordinaire, Kevin Bryan.  The story was awesome.  Complete with murder weapon, details of where and how the victim expired, a side bar on how the killer tried to evade police by pretending to be a witness and his ultimate demise at the hands of a real witness.

It was great.  And honestly it beat the hell out the other story about a guy from Mexico with a nasal issue. 

So a few details to fill in (I told you I'd find this).
 
1. the year was 2003, not 2001.  I'm not calling out Kevin, he remembered tons of details, but this is part of why we couldn't find it that night. 
2.  Kevin thought the victim's name was french and Aresnault rang a bell for him.  Close again....it was definitely french, Marcel Lamonday. 
3.  And finally, and I have to say this I was disappointed that this one came up wrong.  The murderer who was tried and sentanced to life in prison was not Adrian Barry.  Dammit.  It was, in fact, Donald Justin Berry.  So close!

Adrian, you're off the hook.  For now. 

I can't wait for the next tales from the crypt from Uncle Kev!!!

My Email

I missed email while I was away.  I missed having full access to my phone.  I missed the BLOG.  I was fortunate that a view equally obsessed people sent me scores via txt.  Thank god. 

But I never realized just how much email I actually get and reply to in a given day.  Also how many separate streams of nonsensical conversations that are going on simultaneously.  This is an example from today between 11:45am and 12:15pm.  The different colours represent independent conversations, the only one who sees it all is me....

The Beechey:  Dude.
Me:  What's up?
The Beechey:  Tough game last night. 
Me:  Ya, sorry bro.  I had a rough outing. 

Scott Mason:  Uncle Dougie!!!
Me:  Hey Mason...how's the holiday?
Scott Mason:  It was good until I heard the score of last nights game!
Me:  Ya, Sorry about that...my bad. 

The Beechey:  Don't blame yourself everyone had a bad night.   
Me:   Ya, I guess.  Still feel bad though. 

Scott Mason:  Are you kidding?  Don't blame yourself. 
Me: Ya, I guess.  Still feel bad though.
Scott Peters:  Dougie!!!  You in one piece today?
Me:  Yep. 

Scott Peters:  Not your best game last night. 
Me:  At least one person is honest. 
Scott Mason:  Screw you Uncle Dougie, I don't blame you.  I blame Beechey. 
Me:  Beechey?

Larry Turner:  Hi Doug....Larry here.
Me:  I know...your name is on the email.
Larry Turner:  I Just wanted you to know that the Dog Catchers accept the make up game for next Tuesday. 
Me:  ????  I sent that 2 weeks ago!  Its been on the schedule for 10 days.
Carol-Ann:  I'm tracking down Dennis for that game sheet with the Rusty Rebels. 
Me:  Cool....thanks.  It might be with the Rebels too. 
Scott Mason:  Ya Beechey!  I can't got on one little camping trip with the family!  It all goes to hell in bicycle basket or whatever that stupid expression is.  I'm furious!  I could light a cigarette with my mind right now!
Me:  Easy there squirrel.  Beechey was fine.  The whole team was pretty loose...just couldn't hit.  Let it go.  Playoffs are around the corner. 
Carol-Ann:  I'm comfortable blaming Dennis.
Me: Its a good default position.

The Beechey:  Easy Does it Dwyer.  Hey .... how well do you know Scott Peters
Me: Pretty good I guess. 
Larry Turner:  Confirming....Dog Catchers are good to go!
Me:  Got it. 

Karen Junkin:  Hey, are you going to Grisslieland tonight?
Me:  Hope so, but I'm kind of bogged down right now.
Scott Mason:  Okay, I'm better.  But I think I made a raccoon blow up by thought control. 
Me:  Enjoy the rest of your vacation. 

Karen Junkin:  Bogged down doing what?
Me:  Mostly answering email...but also work and I have a stats blog to get out. 

Scott Peters:  So do you know Beechey at all?
Me:  Ya, why. 
Scott Peters:  I'm going to a dinner that he's going to be at.  Is he as "Jock" as he seems?
Me:  Jockier. 
The Beechey:  So I'm going to this dinner that Peters is going to be at.  Is he as angry in real life as he looks on the field? 
Me:  Angrier. 

The Beechey:  I need a topic for him.  Something non-baseball. 
Me: Try 17th century Russian literature ... I think he's kind of into that.   
Karen Junkin:  Well stop answering emails and get to work.
Me:  Right. 
Rob Farah:  Are you coming to Grisslieland tonight?
Me:  Dude...its not looking good.  I'm WAY behind. 

Karen Junkin:  So, if I go over what's a good time?
Me:  8:30 is perfect.  I'll try to make it too. 
Scott Peters:  I need a topic for the Beechey, something non-baseball.  You know, so that he doesn't think I'm angry all the time. 
Me:  But you are angry all the time. 
Scott Peters:  I know...but I don't want HIM to know. 
Me:  Try something along the lines of how modern agriculture techniques have contributed to the destruction of the Canadian family. 

The Beechey:  Russian Literature?  Maybe we'll just discuss how the Grisslies suck.
Me:  Sounds like a safe topic. 
Steve DeLand:  Can you confirm when we booked that practice game for next week?
Me:  Wednesday.

Scott Peters:  Agriculture?  I think we'll just talk about how the Grisslies suck. 
Me:  You should get along well. 

Steve DeLand:  Can you confirm what time Wednesday?
Me:  7pm. 

Rob Farah:  You should really try and come to Grisslieland.  Its the penultimate one before the playoffs.  And I looked up "penultimate" and used it right.  Who's on fire?  Me.   
Me:  So it is.  But I'm busy.  Might not make it tonight. 
Rob Farah:  Come on !
Me:  I'll try.  Why is this so important?

Steve DeLand:   Can you confirm who we're playing Wednesday night at 7pm?
Me:  Dodge City Rounders. 
Rob Farah:  I need smokes...can you get them on the way. 
Me:  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Steve DeLand:  Okay.  Can you confirm where we're playing at 7pm Wednesday against the Dodge City Rounders?
Me:  Keogh.


And so ends a 1/2 hour excerpt of my day. 
   
Weird and Wacky

This weeks "weird and wacky" comes from Scott Peters.  Scott, despite being one of the worst predictors I've ever met, has a pocket protector and the encyclopedia of baseball on a memory stick that he carries with him at all times. 

He's super-geeking....now!

Scott did some research into runs scored.  For all the "known data" (2007 and beyond) that we have readily available, the best offensive team that our league has seen were the 2011 Dusty Cleats.  Allow me to refresh your memory on that team.  They ran rough shot over the league with a 22-2 record.  The finished a full 6 games in front of the 2nd place Grisslies. 

To give their dominance some perspective, 6 games back the 1st place Tap Masters right now are the 11th place Gruesome Devils.  Wow. 

This team featured Scotty Barton winning his first of 3 batting titles and getting 96 hits.  I think there were only 7 people with more at bats than he had hits that season.  Gord Robinson was in the #10 rookie pool, Rob McCarron, Pully, Dane, Brett Mabee, Jason Jennings, John Harrett, Mike Ghaney, Dave Fleming and Craig Beatty rounded out the roster. 

These guys combined to do something that no other team (that we know of) had done before or since.  They combined to score over 400 in a single season.  408 to be exact.  They also happened to have the league's 3rd best defense but that's another story. 

So finally we have a team to threaten the 400 run barrier.  The Dog Catchers, who by some strange mystical coincidence also own the 3rd best defense, are sitting at 384 runs with a single game remaining.  Considering that they score 18.3 runs a game, breaking the 400 run mark IS achievable.  It doesn't mean it will happen, but it wouldn't be a surprise. 

What's particularly interesting is that the legendary Cleats squad had 24 games to roll up 400 where as the Dog Catchers will have to do it in in 22.  Given 3 more games from now, I'd be willing to bet Pully's house that the 408 number would fall. 

Great work Scott!  Thanks for the digging.   

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Can be seen at the bottom banner of the BLOG.   Please read and make a call or send an email if you could benefit from Kim's services. 
 
Subs

Its almost playoff time. 


A note to all Captains.   Please be on top of your sub requests and get them into Rob / Al as early as possible.  Subs are much more difficult to get during the playoffs.  We have a lot of players who simply refuse to sub because they want to be at their best for their own teams.  There's nothing at all wrong with that but it makes the selection pool smaller. 

Also our process for approving subs is slightly more complex for the playoffs.  Al and Rob always do their level best to send appropriate subs and in the playoffs we have an extra layer of approval on playoff subs.  So....if you are a player and you have playoff dates that you can not make, PLEASE give your captains as much warning as you can.  Day of is really hard to pull off in September.

ORDER OF FINISH:

Ya, I buggered it up.  Here is the correct order of finish as of this moment:



So there was a scenario that I didn't foresee.  And that was a 3 way tie with the Grisslies, Draft Kings and Dog Catchers. If the Dog Catchers lose to the Woody's next week, that's exactly what will happen.  Now, I knew this could happen but I wasn't worried, because the Grisslies have the head to head against the Draft Kings and so do the Dog Catchers.  The Dog Catchers and Grisslies tied their only game so Dogs beat Grisslies and Draft Kings; and Grisslies beat Draft Kings.  So its an obvious 3, 4, 5 positioning, right?  Right?

Nope.  Jumped the gun.  The first tie breaker is head to head.  Between the three teams no single team is the head to head winner against the other two.  There is a definitive loser (not said in a mean way) but no definitive winner.  So we go the the second tie breaker which is NOT runs scored.....its who got there with most wins.  The Grisslies and Dog Catchers both got to 28 points with 2 ties.  The Draft Kings got there with zero ties.  So if the Woody's beat the Dog Catchers, that gives the Draft Kings 3rd; the Dog Catchers would get 4th because of runs scored and the Grisslies would fall to 5th. 

Now should the Dog Catchers win, they would kill the 3 way tie and lay claim to 3rd.  That would leave the Grisslies and Draft Kings tied and the Grisslies would get 4th on head to head. 

Of no interest to anyone but me ((and a handful of geeks) not said in a mean way) is that the Draft Kings can finish 3rd or 5th but not 4th.   

Sorry. 

Now we have 3 games left. 

Blues Brothers Vs. Beer Brothers.
Hot Tub Woody's Vs. Dog Catchers
Sliders Vs. Brew Jays. 

Want to know the standings for all of the combinations????  

Okay.   

I can tell you this.  Every game will have implications.  Whoever wins the Beer Bros. Vs. Blues Brothers game will very temporarily tie the Hot Tub Woodys for 8th place.  If the Beer Bros. win they would win the tie breaker with the Woody's on head to head but the Woody's would still need to play their game against the Dog Catchers.  If the Blues Brothers win, they too would move into a tie in points with the Woody's pending the completion of the Woody's game.  They split their head to head and they have the same number of wins, so it would come down to runs scored, a stat that seems them separated by only 2 runs.  This could be interesting. 

Then for game two we move to the Hot Tub Woody's and Dog Catchers.  If the Woody's win, they will move into a tie for 7th with the Son's of Pitches.  They tied their head to head and have the same number of wins so it would come down to runs scored which the Woody's win.  So they would get 7th, the Sons of pitches fall to 8th, the winner of the Blues Brothers Vs. Beer Bros. game moving to 9th and the loser of that game still being undecided.  A Woody's win would also move the Draft Kings to 3rd; Dog Catchers to 4th and Grisslies to 5th.  If the Dog Catchers win, The Woody's would be in 8th with the tie breakers identified in the paragraph above with either the Blues Brothers or Beer Bros.  The Dog Catchers would get 3rd, the Grisslies 4th and Draft Kings 5th. 

And we still have stuff to do in the last game.  The Sliders vs Brew Jays will round it out.  If the Sliders win they will move into a tie with the loser of the Beer Bros. vs. Blues Brothers game.  The Sliders own the tie breaker with the Beer Bros and push them down a spot in that event.  With the Blues Brothers, they split the regular season, have the same number of wins so it would once again come down to runs scored.  The Blues Brothers currently lose this tie breaker but for them to turn it around they would have to score 9 more runs while losing than the Sliders do winning. 

Having fun yet?
 
SEASON LONG STREAKS

Cograts to Jason, Ryan, Sandy, Steve, Adrian, Stike, Robin, Porter and Paul who have all successfully run the table getting a hit in every game of the year.  Six more fellas with a chance!
     
Scoring a run in every game seems nearly impossible to me.  But Steve Brooks has done it and Neil Pendlebury will try to join him on Tuesday....well done!

TEAMS

Who's hot, who's okay, who's not so much (this is the quick version)  


Rusty Rebels 2-0
Wins over the Hurtin' Units and Sliders.
Sons Of Pitches 1-0
Win over the Sliders.
Draft Kings 1-0
Win over the Hot Tub Woody's. 
Grisslies 1-0
Win over the Dusty Cleats.
Dog Catchers 1-0
Win over the Blues Brothers.
Beer Bros. 1-0
Win over the Brew Jays.
Tap Masters 1-0
Win over the Dodge City Rounders.
Gruesome Devils 1-0
Win over the Hot Tub Woody's
        
     
No teams were 1-1 or had ties this week.   
 

Hurtin' Units 0-1
Loss to the Rebels.
Dusty Cleats 0-1
Loss to the Grisslies.
Blues Brothers 0-1
Loss to the Dog Catchers.
Brew Jays 0-1
Loss to the Beer Bros.
Dodge City Rounders 0-1
Loss to the Tap Masters
Sliders 0-2
Losses to Sons Of Pitches and Rusty Rebels.  
Hot Tub Woody's 0-2
Losses to the Rebels and Gruesome Devils.
 
The Beer Cup
 

 
Congrats to the Sons Of Pitches!!!  After a long and arduous campaign they are the proud retainers of the beer cup!  Final stats below, enjoy your banquet beer fellas.
   
Teams that have held the Beer Cup (8)
          • Dodge City Rounders
          • Sons Of Pitches (2) 
          • Rusty Rebels
          • Tap Masters
          • Beer Bros.
          • Blues Brothers
          • Draft Kings
          • Grisslies
Teams that have defended the Beer Cup (6)
          • Dodge City Rounders (2)
          • Beer Bros. (1)
          • Blues Brothers (2)
          • Draft Kings (1)
          • Grisslies (3)
          • Sons Of Pitches (3)

                                             Teams that have Played a Beer Cup Game (12)
          • Dodge City Rounders (3)
          • Blues Brothers (4)
          • Brew Jays (1)
          • Sons Of Pitches (3)
          • Rusty Rebels (2)
          • Tap Masters (4)
          • Beer Bros. (2)
          • Hot Tub Woody's (2)
          • Dog Catchers
          • Draft Kings (3)
          • Sliders (3)
          • Grisslies (5)
Teams that have yet to play for the Cup(3)
          • Gruesome Devils.
          • Dusty Cleats
          • Hurtin' Units

STATS
TEAM

CLOSED:  Each teams record over the first 11 games of the season.  Congrats to the Woody's and Tap Masters for having the best 1st half and collecting 16 out of 22 possible points.   1st through 11th were separated by only 3 games.


And congrats to the Grisslies and Draft Kings who both had blistering 2nd halfs garnering 18 out of a possible 22 points.  A little bit more separation in the 2nd half from top to middle but overall top to bottom is closer.  Interesting that the Grisslies and Draft Kings were tied with identical 5-6 records at the mid way point. 


And here are the full standings and again, Congrats to the Tap Masters who have successfully locked down 1st overall.  Excellent job boys!  There's not a heck of a lot of separation in these standings. 


Your regular league standings with the max points a team can get in the last column. 


So this hasn't been published in a couple of weeks, so there's some more changes than normal...but there are some surprises for me.  1.  The Grisslies, despite going 2-0-1 in this stretch dropped a spot.  2.  The Hot Tub Woody's despite going 0-3 in this stretch didn't lose any ground. 



INDIVIDUAL

CLOSED;  Congrats Skip!


CLOSED;  Congrats Rick!


CLOSED;  Congrats Kieth Dell???  Ya baby, that just happened!


 Still wide open with some usual suspects and some 'nice to see' contenders!  Ride the wave boys. 


I can't call it over, but Lahey can't be caught.  I'll congratulate him next week.  Fantastic seasons up and down the line. 


And lookie here!  Jeff Behan has taken over the Rookie lead!  He still has a game left so this isn't closed yet, but holy cow, what a finish!


With a game left to play it looks like Nyers is home and cooled out.  Again, great showing by all. 


 CLOSED;  Congrats to Skip!


CLOSED;  Congrats to Laurier and Steve.


CLOSED;  Congrats to Steve (again)


 Still open, but its going to take a monumental last game to catch Porter. 


What did I tell you Adrian!  Not officially closed, but it looks like you'll lead the league. 


Again, not closed, but I don't see Lahey going 0 for 12 in his last game. 


Not closed, but I think we all know how this is going to end. 


Well, Lahey went 4/4 in his last game but only got driven home once.  Poor kid.  So he's still in reach of tying Terry but it'll take his best game of the year in the last game of the year.  Good luck!

 
Doug DeLand still has a game left.  But if he doesn't pull this off and pass his little brother; then Steve DeLand will be known as "the Good DeLand" for the entire 2015 season.  There's a lot riding on this stuff!
 
Oh, why are there (**) on Jamie Allan's name?  Good question.  1st of all these stats (all of them) aren't real and there's no awards.  Its just stuff that I've made up and bothered to track.  So the only rules that apply are mine and they're arbitrary.  For this category my minimum at bat rule is 2 per game which this season means 44 ABs.  Jamie has 42 and his season is done, so he doesn't qualify.  There are other people who would be in this list and others if they had more at bats but they aren't because I delete them out.  So why is he there with asterisks?  I'm getting there.  Jamie Allan was 2/2 in his first game of the year when he stepped on a ball crossing first and completely messed up his ankle.  He wasn't able to come back until game 10.  But during the intervening time he was at all the games wearing a walking cast and supporting his team.  Since he's come back he's hit fantastic!  So while he doesn't qualify to win this, I wanted to highlight his commitment to his team and a great bounce back from a bad injury. 
 

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