1/4 Post Review:  

Well, I didn't exactly get the preseason team reviews up, really that was a lot more work than I anticipated, but I thought I'd at least get a first quarter review posted.  So, please enjoy!

AL North:

1.  Fargo - 19-17 .528%, expected .460
  A.   Playing much better than the expected
  B.   Fargo is pretty well built on SP.  All five SP's should be pretty good by season's end with a couple of them showing as early All-Star contenders.  Those are Benji Machado and Trenidad Diaz.  The closer is solid, but the rest of the pen is a mess.  The defense is strong at some spots, weak in others.  Hector Pena is the only position player that warrants All-Star consideration at this time. 
  C.  Overall, Fargo has the SP to keep them in most games, but the offense will struggle to keep up at times.  They may have a lot of 5-4 or 4-3 type games so the defense and pen can't let them down late.  If they do, look for the rest of the division of take advantage.

2.  Toronto - 18-18  .500%, expected .464
  A.  The Thunderbolts are outpacing their expected win % as well
  B.  Toronto is built on pitching.  The team WHIP is 1.23 and team ERA is 4.03, both very respectable #'s.  They currently have 3 SP's who could demand All-Star considerations as well as the big FA signing,  Alex Olivares,  at closer.  Defense is pretty solid as well, currently with a .983 FP and 8 + plays to just 2 - ones.  Like Fargo, they'll need to get some help from the offense to make a push.
  C.  Overall I really like their pitching and defense and I think it's good enough to keep them in the race all season. 

3.  Cincinnati - 17-19 .472, expected - .488
  A.  The Consuls are playing pretty close to expected. 
  B.  Their offense is currently the best of the division, averaging 5.53 runs/game.  They've scored 40 more runs than anyone else in the division.  They're paced by a couple of potential All-Stars in DH Dick Sadler and young SS Charley Litsch, playing in just his 3rd season.  So, what's the problem?  Well, it does seem to be pitching, as they've allowed 35 more runs than anyone else.  Team ERA is 5.42 & only 2 pitchers have ERA's < 4.5.   Their defense is fine.  Team FP is .988 & they've made 12 + plays thus far.  They've also kicked it around for 8 - plays, a team high.
  C.  Overall, the Consuls are playing a different game than their division mates, who appear to be more built on pitching.  Considering they play in a hitter's park, it's pretty good strategy to attempt to bash the rest of the division into submission.

4.  Philadelphia - 16-20, .444, expected - .477
  A.  The Cream Cheese are under performing  so far
  B.  Like most of the division, they appear to be reliant on the team pitching and do not have much offense, but they are 2cd in the division in runs scored.    Defense is a calling card, 17+ plays already against 5 - ones.  FP is .987, so the Cream Cheese won't give many games away.  Team ERA is > 4.5, but I'd expect that come down.  SP Patrick Field is a potential All-Star as is Clinton Lilly, if he can get some run support to offset that 1-4 record, despite a 3.21 ERA.  There's some good arms in the pen, but right now the closer's a bit of a mess.  He needs to get on track if the Cream Cheese hope to make a run.  There's a couple of potential All-Stars on the offense - most notably Kevin Gruber and Jimmie Mijares.
  C.  The Cream Cheese really needs their pitching to come around if they're going to make a run.

Overall - this is anyone's division.  Just three games separate top to bottom and any of the four could pull away with it.  You've got three teams that kind of mirror each other than you have Cincinnati who tries to out club everyone.  Last season saw just a six game difference between the top three teams.  I expect the division to play out this way, tight all the way.  We'll revisit them at the All-Star break!

Tomorrow, stay tuned for the NL North! 

Durocher Award S35 Winner...

For the second year in a row, we have a tie!  Everyone, please give a round of applause to the S35 Durocher Award winners, Sandberg10 and Thunderdonky!!!!

S35's ballot brought in 19 owner votes and it was very close throughout, but Sandberg10's 111 wins and three straight division titles coupled with Thunderdonky's remarkable 26 game improvement in wins was enough to propel these two franchise owners into the shared top spot.  Well done guys!!

Voting Breakdown:
1.  Sandberg10 & Thunderdonky with five votes
3.  Wylie715 picked up four votes
3.  Rbedwell also checked in with four votes
5.  Mdymond comes up with 1

San Juan takes 3rd in a row!

Despite winning 10 fewer games and showing some possible cracks, Rbedwell's San Juan Crabbers really turned it on when they had to, winning their 3rd straight World Series title and fourth in five years.  They've proved to be a true dynasty in Wrigleyville.  S35 also saw the Crabbers win their 8th consecutive division title as well, something only the Braves could boast of doing.  Of course they only won one WS title during their run, so the Crabbers can lay claim as the best.  Congrats to them!!

Great!

That seemed to work.  I'm planning on getting the blog going again.  Special thanks to Madmuldoon who did a fantastic job with the blog.  I've got big shoes to fill so hopefully I can keep it going half as well as he did.  

If anyone has ideas or would like to contribute, send me a TC or sitemail and we'll get going on it!  Some of the past postings included season previews, team rankings,  playoff predictions, and more.  So, let's get some ideas out there. 

Season 34 Durocher Winner!!!

For the first time in the history of the Durocher we have co-winners as rbedwell and mdymond are this years Durocher Award winners!!! Congrats gentlemen, it is well deserved!

As for the voting, 21 of 32 owners voted, which is better than previous years and going in the right direction! I'll continue to hope for 90% next year, although I really hope we can get to 32 for 32 some year. If there are any suggestions, to improve voting or the award, please let me know!

Here is how the voting broke down:

1. rbedwell (6)- wishlist, carsneau, madmuldoon, jahu, pat, rugby

1. mdymond (6)- kujayhawk, sandberg, pbsilver, bkevin, sonofodin, donmossi

3. hawkeye (4)- hoopcoach, hacker, redsfan, detsports

4. svick (3)- ressda, aaronwayne, wylie

5. sonofodin (1)- jmuhtoff

As you can see there are 20 votes above, but I said 21. That is because rebwell abstained form the vote because he wanted to vote for himself, but chose not vote instead of doing so.

Congrats to everyone who was nominated, you are all great owners.

MWR Penalty Voting Results

Voting has closed for the MWR penalty issue. We had a good turn out but not everyone chose to vote. 27 of 32 owners voted, and in the end the league decided to NOT add a penalty to an owner who missed the MWR for two seasons and is voted to stay. The final tally was 16 NO votes and 11 YES votes. Here's the breakdown:

NO (16)- Hoopcoach, carseneau, ajaxx, detsports, reds, zmoty, nosirrommij, jmuhtoff, pat, wylie, rbedwell, madmuldoon, hawkeye, rlb, kujhawker, hacker

YES (11)- Hatton, ressda, aaronwayne, wishlist, fence, jahu, bkevin, donmossi, sandberg, rugby, leotrex

Thank you to all the owners who took the time to vote. Also, thanks to those who debated each side of the issue and did so in a civil way. It was very much appreciated.

Now that the issue have been decided upon, I will say that voting on whether an owner should stay or go should be looked at more closely. As someone said in the chat or TC (sorry your name eludes me at the moment) we should look very closely at the owner in question. As hard as it may be, we need to put all personal feelings aside for an owner when we cast a vote. We need to vote soley on how the owner ran their team, not whether he's been a long time owner, is an awesome guy, or that it's hard to fill open positions.

This I will say though, I don't think tanking is really worth it anymore nor do owners in any league really try to tank as much as they used to because of the fact that the draft and international prospects are such a crap shoot these days with the changes made by WIS.

Lastly, while I know some will be disappointed by this result, I hope everyone will accept it and we can move forward as a league. Again. thank you to everyone who voted.

SEASON33 DUROCHER WINNER IS......

DONMOSSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Don ran away with the award this year taking the majority of the vote! Well deserved as his team won 30 more games this year than last, and they are still alive for a World Series title!! Congratulations Don!!!!

The voting broke down this way:

1. Donmossi- 11 votes (Sandberg, pbsilver, bkevin, pat, nosirrommij, ressda, kujhawker, fencer, aaronwayne, redsfan, jmuhtoff)

2. rbedwell- 3 votes (carseneau, madmuldoon, wylie)

t3. bkevin- 1 vote (donmossi)

t3. wishlist- 1 vote (detsports)

t3. dodger- 1 vote (hoopcoach)



Congrats to all nominees as it was well deserved. For those wondering why I nominated dodger, it was for his years od dedication to the league and being part of what makes this league great. Season 33 is his last.

On a down note, only 17 owners decided to vote (1 owner abstained from voting) which is down over the last few years. That is disappointing to me as I think it's a great award and is one of the special things about our league. I'll continue to push for over 90% participation with the dream of having all 32 owners vote someday.

That said, congrats to DONMOSSI! And best of luck to those who are lucky enough to still be alive for the World Series title!