Chasing the Treble Week 15 - Star-Crossed Lovers

I'm a day late and a dollar short but here's my entry for this week. It
slipped my mind last week that Yahoo would perform systems maintenance
and I probably should have announced back then that I was pushing the
week's recap a day back, as I didn't plan a Monday entry.

Today I'm going to talk about the fairly obvious: The All-Star Break,
which for any H2H fantasy player can be a maddening thought given that
the week's result is slated to be based off of weekend's worth of
games. From a pure baseball fan's perspective, the All-Star Game is a
time-honored tradition that elicits curiosity and fantasies of
witnessing the most perfect roster from top to bottom that could ever
be possibly conjured up for each league, only to see them both clash in
some good old-fashioned clean fun. Furthermore, this season's All-Star
festivities are more significant, barring the possibility of the
Yankees making a World Series appearance, the last time that Yankee
Stadium, a cathedral of baseball in its own right, hosts a significant
baseball event, which adds an extra bit of pageantry to the mix. Well,
call this baseball fan an infidel as I can never quite understand the
hoopla of the All-Star Game and in fact, I'd chastise it as the most
pointless exercise ever conjured up. I suppose I have no fascination at
all that a good deal of baseball fans hold of wanting to see the most
perfect team ever assembled that could be possibly posted together as
voted by the fans. Quite frankly, the curiosity wears off after the
ceremonial first pitch and it's off to flipping the channel as usual.
The fact that the All-Star Game winner decides which league hosts home
field advantage in the World Series is just quite preposterous,
considering that the overall quality of the American League is dwarfing
that of the National League. The All-Star Game is so bland that the
sporting media would take any quote and interpret it as an arrogant,
inflammatory remark (case in point: Jonathan Papelbon claiming his
intention to want the ball to close out the All-Star Game). What I
don't understand isn't so much the media's circus act, but the fact
that Papelbon fancies the All-Star Game to be this important as to
personally close the game in a rather drab affair, dripping with
nothing but pomp and circumstance and all but substance, makes me
chuckle. Now, just to clarify things, this is just my personal
perception of the All-Star Game as silly fanboy fodder, but as it were,
it's a midsummer tradition, a midsummer classic that a good portion of
baseball fans would drool over, and I'll respect those stances. That
said, the All-Star Break is quite possibly the most creative way for
all players to get some kind of break while rewarding the most
deserving players for a fantastic season thus far and most importantly,
giving the fans a show.

Speaking of a show, I hope you were all treated to Josh Hamilton's
record-setting first round homerun display at last night's homerun
derby, which for my money, is yet another pointless exercise but is at
least entertaining not only for curiosity's sake given that it's not
just chicks that dig the long ball. The slugger with a mythical
nickname of "The Natural" and a not-so-glorious past to boot, smacked
28 homeruns in the first round, which made the odds-on favorite and
sentimental favorite of the competition, the derby's winner in many a
fan's minds and hearts. For Hamilton's incredible display which almost
seemed Ruthian, it seemed like an injustice that Hamilton would wind up
being second-best for the night despite slugging 13 more dingers than
the outright derby champion, Justin Morneau. My take for improving the
homerun derby is to base the winner off of the aggregate of homeruns he
hits for the overall competition while preserving the playoff system as
well as the 10 out stipulation.

For what it's worth, Hamilton admitted to feeling a bit tired by the
time of the finals, which set the stage for Morneau to pip The Natural
by 2 HR's, 5-3. For fantasy baseballers, the prospect of seeing their
top sluggers participate in the homerun derby is a sobering thought for
the possibility of a home run derby jinx. The jinx in recent seasons
has claimed Miguel Tejada, Alex Rios, David Wright, and most notably,
Bobby Abreu who set an aggregate record of 41 homeruns for the
competition three seasons ago. The unfortunate side effects of the
homerun derby jinx are fatigue, a mechanical flaw in the hitter's swing
(however slight or major), or both, which makes the jinx a tangible and
realistic cause for concern. However, it's worth pointing out that
neither Tejada, Rios, Wright, nor Abreu are regarded as 35+ homerun
hitters that aren't quite developed in the way as a pure masher like a
Ryan Howard or a David Ortiz. Based off of that, I don't see a
warranted widespread panic to trade Josh Hamilton as he possesses a
solid power frame and has a relatively smooth swing that can translate
into flyballs lofting out of the yard especially in the muggy air of
Arlington.

Now, moving on to Week 15. The World Series-leading Thrashers were
looking to head into the All-Star Break on a high note but standing in
their way were the Northampton Squirels aiming to end the Thrashers'
winning streak of 6 matchups in a row. Elsewhere, both the defending
California South and USA West champions were doing quite the opposite,
limping into the break, but both squads needed a vital series win to
end their respective skids. Neither ambition would come easy as last
season's California South runners-up, the SF Giants and the current
Nevada champion, 3rd place Sparks Red Sox Slayers beckoned. Let's have
it:

H2H World Series

L.A. Thrashers 9, Northampton Squirels 1

The World Series frontrunners did the business against Northampton,
clobbering the Squirels in the process while resolving a Week 2 6-6
draw to Northampton in emphatic fashion. The Californians were off to a
flying start right out of the gate, smashing 8 homeruns after
Wednesday's games. The Thrashers had a terrific all-around effort and
although 2 members of the Big 3, Ryan Braun and Hanley Ramirez were in
sparkling form, it was Chris Davis that provided the biggest spark
thanks to a fantastic homestand of 8 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .321 BA, 1.152
OPS. Despite a relatively slow weekend power-wise with only one HR
posted thanks to Grady Sizemore, the Thrashers dominated all six
offensive categories with a 39 R, 12 HR, 31 RBI, 7 SB, .303 BA, .897
OPS performance, which was more on pace for a 48 R, 17 HR, 42 RBI, .333
BA, .980 OPS series had it not been for the slow goings in the
Saturday/Sunday games. In stark contrast, the Northampton Squirels had
a very poor output from their hitters, merely posting 20 R, 2 HR, 21
RBI, 4 SB, .219 BA, and .635 OPS which made the offensive categories a
cakewalk for the Angelenos. Neither Derrek Lee nor Chipper Jones got
going for Northampton and they had gone homerless going into Saturday's
game and would've had a big fat donut in the homerun department had it
not been for homeruns from Jim Edmonds and Mark Reynolds.

On the pitching side of things, the Thrashers' starting pitching wasn't
quite on point again for yet another week as Chad Billingsley and Scott
Kazmir were off in the first of their two starts for the week, Ervin
Santana struggled for a win in his first time out, and the more
sobering news arrived that Dustin McGowan's shoulder could sideline him
for the remainder of the season. Northampton received solid outings
from Joe Saunders, Aaron Cook, and Mark Buehrle as anticipated, but the
decision to start John Lackey was costly as he posted a ghastly 9.53
ERA and 2.82 WHIP in Texas, which kept the ERA and WHIP figures
winnable for the Thrashers. With a comfortable enough lead in ERA and
WHIP, Northampton didn't quite have the oversight to start Edinson
Volquez and Ricky Nolasco on Saturday while the Thrashers were set for
Santana, Billingsley, Webb, and Kazmir to have another go on the
weekend. Northampton still hung onto the ERA lead in spite of Joe
Saunders' start being skipped (3.12 to 3.61), but thanks to Chad
Billingsley's stellar outing in the Sunday game, the Thrashers had
pipped the Squirels in WHIP (1.28 to 1.29). Combined with a 4-1 margin
in wins (making the starts of Volquez and Nolasco a moot point), a
dominant 77 K total for the week, and two draws in saves and holds, the
Thrashers comfortably breezed through Northampton to take a 16 game
lead over second place heading into the All-Star Break.

Out-of-Town Scoreboard: London/Barcelona thriller, Psychos back in the hunt

Two of the top three sides below the first place Thrashers were
stuck in relative stalemates, but nonetheless they were entertaining
fixtures to observe. One of them was the defending champion London
Knights, who had to withstand an all-out onslaught for the cellar
dwelling Barcelona Reds, in this, their cup final. The champions were
running level with Barcelona despite the mid-week deficit, engaged in a
total slugfest. Nonetheless, the Reds held a narrow 5-4 edge headed
into the late Sunday game but Carlos Beltran flipped the script with a
3 run homerun to give London the tie in HR's and a 1 RBI lead to take
home the series, 5-4. The other side of thing was the New Hampshire
Goats who fought tooth and nail with the struggling Edinburgh Dukes for
a 5-5 draw. Because of an 8-4 victory for the North York Blues over
Hamburger Blaufinken, the Blues leapfrog over New Hampshire for 3rd
place.

Elsewhere, the Psydney Psychos did their playoff hopes a massive favor
in routing the Lower Saxony Tigers, 9-2. The result drew them a lot
closer to the 6th seed, trailing by just 2.5 games to Lower Saxony who
dropped down from 5th to 6th as a result of the loss. Their German
compatriots, the Manzen Marlins climb into 5th with a 7-4 win over the
Brisbane Bikkies and now find themselves with a 2 game lead over Lower
Saxony. The Psychos will need to be in top form for the tricky weekend
series against North York this week and in the following week against
the league-leading Thrashers; both weeks will prove to be crucial for
Psydney's playoff aspirations.

Here's the lay of the land: The L.A. Thrashers now have a 16 game lead
over the 2nd place London Knights, who in turn only have a full game
lead over both the North York Blues and the New Hampshire Goats. Manzen
are 4.5 games back of the 4th place Goats, sitting in 5th place.
Psydney are on the outside looking in, at 7th place, but the view is a
lot closer as opposed to where it was several weeks ago. Edinburgh
continue their woeful march as they find themselves a game back of
Psydney in 8th and Northampton fall to 9th, also a full game back of
Sydney. Peitudas' campaign is slipping a bit as well, falling 7-5 to
Felixstowe Fury, and they're now in 10th, but 2 full games back of
Psydney and 4.5 games off of the 6th playoff seed. Hamburger, Brisbane,
and Felixstowe are closer to being mathematically eliminated from the
playoff chase with each week barring a dramatic comeback and are bound
to join Barcelona as consolation bracket clinchers.

H2HWS California South

SF Giants 9, L.A. Thrashers 2

Seven straight matchup wins in the World Series have been almost
offset by six straight matchup losses in California. This time, the
defending champions fell 9-2 to last season's runners-up the SF Giants
and are now 4 games adrift of the 6th and final playoff spot, an
unprecedented position at this juncture of the season. This time, the
champs posted a relatively well-balanced effort this time around, save
for AVG and OPS, but ran into the beastly side of the Dr. Jekyll/Mr.
Hyde beast named Ryan Howard and a pitching side that was a bit better
off in quality than the Thrashers'.

The Thrashers had to pull off another weekend comeback after trailing
by a similar deficit headed into the weekend. A 2 HR day out of both
Adam Dunn and Jason Bay and a homerun from Corey Hart in Saturday's
games slashed the Giants leads in HR, RBI, OPS to be within very good
striking distance while claiming the lead in runs and SB. 15 shutout
innings from Roy Halladay and Matt Cain had atoned for Aaron Harang and
Dustin McGowan's poor outings marred by DL designations. With Scott
Kazmir slated for an outing and the Giants opting to sit Cole Hamels
and Justin Verlander's second turn and safeguard both the ERA and WHIP
leads, a shutout win from Kazmir could translate into the Thrashers
pipping the ERA lead, tying the wins at 3 apiece, and assuredly winning
the week in K's. Neither plan computed as Kazmir was suspect in his
second turn and the offense couldn't get going which gave the go-ahead
for the Giants to take back runs and tie in SB for the 9-2 win.

Out-of-Town Scoreboard: Mets don't miss the mark, climb to 5th

The remainder of Week 15 results were fairly close, but Missin the
Mets disposed of the San Marcos Sox, 9-2 to climb into 5th place and a
playoff berth for the time being. At the top, Lake Arrowheads did
enough to beat the last place Boondock Saints, 7-5 to creep up to the
century mark in wins. Their lead over the 2nd place San Fran Pacificans
is extended to 4.5 games as the Pacificans fell short to 6th place
Saddlebackers, 6-5. The 4th place Monterey Park Donuts pipped the
surging California Blaze for a moment, 6-5 while the Davis Destroyers
posted a 7-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As it stands, Lake Arrowheads has a far from impregnable pole position
lead as they've struggled to impress and hold a 5 game lead over the
3rd place SF Giants while the 4th place Donuts are 4 games back. The
gap between 4th and 5th is a little more pronounced as it's a 5 game
gap separating the Donuts from the Mets. Given that there are only 7
games separating 5th place Mets from the 10th place Blaze, the 5th and
6th playoff seeds are anyone's ballgame.

H2HWS USA West

L.A. Thrashers 10, Sparks Red Sox Slayers

As one title defense is floundering, one had turned the tide for
one week at least as the defending USA West champions posted a vital
rout of the Sparks Red Sox Slayers, 10-2 to propel the champions back
to 3rd place and because of a 9-3 loss for the frontrunning Panolas
Coyotes, the Thrashers are oddly enough, 8.5 games off of the pace.

It wasn't a pretty affair as neither the Thrashers nor the Red Sox
Slayers were dynamite on the offensive end with the likes of Alex
Rodriguez and David Wright failing to make an indelible impact.
However, the Thrashers took advantage of their strength in numbers in
pitching. Despite the DL setbacks of Harang and McGowan that also
dented the champions' ERA and WHIP figures, the Thrashers' staff had to
be brilliant and for the most part, they were. Tim Lincecum has been
the Angelenos' invaluable stronghold on the mound but he had help from
Daisuke Matsuzaka, Oliver Perez, Zack Greinke, and even Pedro Martinez.
Sparks relied on winning the ERA/WHIP figures with Erik Bedard placed
on the DL and John Lackey's start skipped because of an unfavorable
matchup at Texas. Despite Cliff Lee and Greg Maddux being on point, it
was Gavin Floyd's blowup that inflated the Sparks' ERA. Altogether, the
Thrashers had won wins, saves, and K's handily, but more impressive of
all is they posted a 3.21 ERA, the best it has been in quite a long
while, to take home 4 of the 6 pitching categories.

On the hitting side, not a ton of power was generated for either side,
but the champions had a considerably superior average and OPS line
whereas Jim Thome and Carlos Beltran provided the lumber while Lance
Berkman found his basestealing shoes again with 3 SB. The efforts were
good enough to see the Thrashers would sweep the offensive numbers and
collectively bag a much needed rout victory.

Out-of-Town Scoreboard: Texas Two-Step give Coyotes the boot, Jacks slug Hobbits

The West's maddening parity reared its ugly head as the Two-Step
did away with the frontrunning Panolas Coyotes, 9-3. An 8-1 beating in
favor of the Missouri River Jacks over Bilbos Bunch coupled with the
Thrashers' win meant that first place wouldn't be a formality for
Panolas, as the Jacks sliced the deficit to 7.5 games.

Half of the league was chock full of big winners this week in fact. The
Bellingham Rauks stamped their way back to playoff contention, beating
next-to-last Seattle Scorpions by a handsome 8-2 margin. The Rauks are
just a full game back of Bilbos Bunch for the 6th spot. The defending
NorCal champion Bonds 762* also benefited from a favorable matchup,
taking down the cellar dwellers, Houston Headhunters with relative
ease, 9-2. Finally, in the Michigan derby, it was Cafe Michigan
prevailing over the Michigan Panthers, 7-3.

In the wild, wild West, Panolas is still stiff-arming the field, but
only have a 7.5 and 8.5 game lead over the River Jacks and Thrashers
respectively. The gap between 3rd and 4th has widened again, as the
champions' ascent to third place means a 5.5 game lead over Bonds 762*
who themselves climb up a good bit, into 4th. The Norcal champions only
have a 5.5 game gap over 10th place Michigan Panthers and it seems like
the playoff chase could unravel like a train wreck heading into the
final day.

Who's on deck?

All-Star weeks are a serious bummer. They're like penalty
shootouts; anything can happen as the better team could find themselves
at the wrong end of the result. So why preview them? Well, why not? In
the World Series, the Thrashers will have to do the business in a
quickie over bottom 4 side, Hamburger Blaufinken, who
were downed 8-2 in Week 3 to the Thrashers. Hamburger has always
fancied playing the hot bat with A-Rod being an offensive force that's
really worth quaking about, but Hamburger actually has some very decent
sock. Ichiro has been a buzzkill and Granderson's either on and off,
but Carlos Quentin has been a revelation for Hamburger. Fact of the
matter is if Hamburger can get the feast side of the equation from Mike
Jacobs and Ryan Ludwick, Blaufinken could be a feisty bunch. Hamburger
have the same excellent bullpen of Rivera, K-Rod, and Nathan, but saves
can be fickle week to week especially if it's confined to just three
days. With the Thrashers sporting 4 closers now (2 of them interim,
Broxton and Linebrink), the Angelenos should be better suited to
counter. It should be interesting to see if any of Halladay, Mussina,
Bannister, or Burnett are given a go some time this weekend as well as
for any of the Thrashers' 5 starters.

A short week might be a good one or a seriously crippling one for the
California South champions as they've tended to be slow off the blocks,
but they'll have to be up for it against the San Fran Pacificans.
There should be a revenge factor in play for the champions after all as
the champions were dealt their first loss of the season in Week 5 to
the same Pacificans, 7-5. Both offenses have been relatively
hit-or-miss lately and given the strength of the two pitching staffs,
whoever gets the most starts will mean more ammunition to take the
series.

Out west, this week's fixture against the second-to-last Seattle Scorpions,
who despite having Jose Reyes, Manny Ramirez, Ichiro, B.J. Upton and
Russell Martin, have failed to make another sustained effort at the top
as they haven't quite filled in the hole of Ryan Zimmerman, Vernon
Wells, and Todd Helton diving to the DL. Seattle are dangerous and
anything can happen in All Star shortened weeks, but with the Coyotes
and River Jacks, the league's top two teams butting heads in an
important matchup better played for a full week, a golden chance
presents itself to close the gap on either side.

Check back to see what happens next week in the pursuit of the "T"
word, on its regularly scheduled day, Monday. Enjoy tonight's All-Star
Game (or at least try, I probably won't care too much) and as always,
keep your clothes on.

-Ray