Fantasy baseball can be a cruel game sometimes. You can dominate a whole week, leading from start to finish, only for your opponent's team to come to life on the final day, transforming a comfortable victory into an unlikely defeat. One team in England South suffered such a fate this week, and with only 2 of the top 6 teams winning, mid-table teams had a chance to creep closer to the playoff zone.
Week 14 Results
- London Knights 7-4 Dunstable Phillies
- Guildford Angels 3-7 Sussex Royal Engineers
- Enfield Lips 7-4 Oxford Oilers
- Orpington Dodgers 8-2 London Bananas
- Havant Hackers 5-6 Solent Vipers
- St. Leonard's Marlins 5-6 Essex Eagles
- Felixstowe Fury 6-6 Woking White Sox
- Bromley KC Royals 9-3 Bognor Yankees
Standings
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Pct | GB | Last Week | Pos Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Havant Hackers | 91-58-19 | .598 | - | 5-6-1 | - | ||
| 2. | SussexRoyalEngineers | 82-65-21 | .551 | 8 | 7-3-2 | +2 | ||
| 3. | Solent Vipers | 86-70-12 | .548 | 8.5 | 6-5-1 | -1 | ||
| 4. | Woking White Sox | 85-72-11 | .539 | 10 | 6-6-0 | -1 | ||
| 5. | London Bananas | 81-75-12 | .518 | 13.5 | 2-8-2 | - | ||
| 6. | Enfield Lips | 81-77-10 | .512 | 14.5 | 7-4-1 | +2 | ||
| 7. | Dunstable Phillies | 74-70-24 | .512 | 14.5 | 4-7-1 | -1 | ||
| 8. | Orpington Dodgers | 76-73-19 | .509 | 15 | 8-2-2 | +3 | ||
| 9. | London Knights | 79-77-12 | .506 | 15.5 | 7-4-1 | - | ||
| 10. | Oxford Oilers | 77-76-15 | .503 | 16 | 4-7-1 | -3 | ||
| 11. | Essex Eagles | 76-80-12 | .488 | 18.5 | 6-5-1 | +1 | ||
| 12. | Guildford Angels | 72-78-18 | .482 | 19.5 | 3-7-2 | -2 | ||
| 13. | Felixstowe Fury | 72-82-14 | .470 | 21.5 | 6-6-0 | +1 | ||
| 14. | St Leonards Marlins | 70-80-18 | .470 | 21.5 | 5-6-1 | -1 | ||
| 15. | Bromley KC Royals | 65-83-20 | .446 | 25.5 | 9-3-0 | - | ||
| 16. | Bognor Yankees | 50-101-17 | .348 | 42 | 3-9-0 | - |
Significant Moves
The London Knights suffered a similar fate in the World Series, having picked up Elijah Dukes only to lose him to that injury. The Knights also finally lost patience with Edgar Renteria - even in a 16-teamer, there were better-performing SS on the wire, and the 0-7 on Sunday night suggests that the decision to let him go will not be regretted! Havant Hackers are the unlucky team to have suffered the mediocrity that is Jeff Francoeur - he too is headed back to the wire.
Dunstable Phillies dropped Rickie Weeks a few days ago; he didn't clear waivers before being snapped up by Woking White Sox. The Sox also picked up Mark Teahen, whilst another Mark - Buehrle - found his way onto a team managed by a Mark - the Orpington Dodgers! Mark my words - Buehrle has been pitching well lately, and could be a catalyst in getting the Dodgers back into the top 6!
Waffle
Let's begin with the top of the table clash - the local derby that was Havant versus Solent. It was as toughly a fought contest as we might expect, decided finally by the narrowest of margins, 6-5 in favour of Solent. And so the Vipers achieve their 5th straight win, but incredibly drop a position after Sussex comfortably defeated Guildford 7-3.
The team who probably feel most aggrieved this week are Dunstable Phillies, who led the London Knights all week, heading into Sunday's games with a seemingly unassailable 9-3 lead. But then the Knights went crazy! The batters put up an astonishing line of 5-2-13-2-.429-1.143, which enabled them to tie runs and move ahead in RBI, AVG & OPS! And they only lost the HR & SB categories by 1 each! Meanwhile, with no starters going for either team, it was the 3 extra-inning Ks from Joel Zumaya which enabled the Knights to pinch that category by 44-43. The 9-3 lead for Dunstable became a 7-4 win for London - almost certainly one of the biggest last-day turn-arounds in the history of the H2HWS!
Biggest climbers this week (11th to 8th) were Orpington after a comfortable 8-2 victory over London Bananas. Moving back into the top 6 were Enfield Lips, 7-4 winners over Oxford, whilst at the bottom, the Royals beat the Yankees 9-3. But this division is so tightly packed, you can easily see any team beating any other at any time! 2.5 games separate 5th from 10th, and 2nd to 14th are separated by a mere 13.5 games! Bognor are way out of contention, and Bromley are holding on by their fingertips, but any other team can easily make it into the top 6 from here on out.
Another big game for Havant in Week 15, as they take on 2006 champion London Bananas, currently holding onto a playoff spot in 5th place. This is the final week for teams to take on a new opponent before we return to the Week 1 match-ups in Week 16, and the Knights finally get to take on the division whipping boys, Bognor Yankees. After all the luck we rode against Dunstable, chances are it'll be our turn for a whipping this time out! Elsewhere, there is a potential blockbuster in the meeting between Sussex (2nd) and Enfield (6th - my pre-season tip and still a big contender IMO). So who will force their way into the top 6 next week? Find out in 7 days!
