News and Notes from Around the League

Rather than an overview, this week we’ll take a look at two teams, one doing better than expected, the second worse. The surprise challenger is Little Chi Chi, sitting on the rail and ready to surge past the BCL into 2^nd place. The surprise arises in that – let’s face it – half the league members have underwear older than Matty. He’s a child. He’s still proud of having pubic hair. He needs at least another decade of experience before he should even think about cashing a check. Yet here he is, strong in third, ready to make a move on second.

Why? How??? Let’s look at his team.

Lineup Free Agents Team Stats Trades Contract Info

Year To Date Last 7 Days Last 14 Days Last 28 Days Choose Dates A Cancer on the League Giant Steps Little Chi Chi Marfa Dogs T. S. Intellectual The Depositions The FunGhouls The Money Shot The Stinking Badgers Fantasy - Active Fantasy - Non-Active MLB Year to Date

Stats for Players While Active

Name	Pos	AB	H	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	R	AVG
Betancourt, Yuniesky (SEA)	SS	118	30	.254	1	12	2	7	.254
Chavez, Endy (SEA)	OF	106	29	.274	1	8	6	11	.274
Damon, Johnny (NYY)	OF	134	42	.313	9	26	3	27	.313
Dye, Jermaine (CHA)	OF	117	33	.282	8	19	0	19	.282
Figgins, Chone (LAA)	3B	128	33	.258	0	7	15	23	.258
Jacobs, Mike (KAN)	1B	115	31	.270	8	22	0	14	.270
Kendrick, Howie (LAA)	2B	120	28	.233	3	17	5	18	.233
Napoli, Mike (LAA)	C	94	30	.319	6	17	2	15	.319
Pena, Carlos (TAM)	1B	133	34	.256	13	33	0	25	.256
Totals		1065	290	.272	49	161	33	159	.272

Name	Pos	W	L	IP	S	W	K	ERA	W PCT
Braden, Dallas (OAK)	P	3	4	42.0	0	3	27	2.79	0.429
Carmona, Fausto (CLE)	P	2	4	47.3	0	2	27	5.70	0.333
Cruz, Juan (KAN)	P	2	0	16.7	1	2	12	1.62	1.000
Fuentes, Brian (LAA)	P	0	2	12.7	9	0	16	4.97	0.000
Greinke, Zack (KAN)	P	7	1	60.0	0	7	65	0.60	0.875
Guthrie, Jeremy (BAL)	P	3	3	46.7	0	3	29	5.21	0.500
Nathan, Joe (MIN)	P	1	1	14.7	6	1	15	3.07	0.500
Sabathia, C.C. (NYY)	P	3	3	56.0	0	3	37	3.70	0.500
Totals		21	18	296.0	16	21	228	3.41	0.538

Damon is tracking ahead of even the most optimistic projections. Pena apparently isn’t a fluke when it comes to long ball. Napoli is also going deep – and batting over .300. Kendrick and Figgins have BA’s that won’t linger low forever. On the hitting side, The Kid has some surprises but also more upside than makes me comfortable. Same on pitching. Greinke is finally the pitcher people back in the day thought he would be. Kudos to his shrink, who is probably also his chemist. I thought Braden was a blunder: apparently not. Fuentes is definitely going to be a disappointment – with 40 saves. And *Sabbathia has not yet begun to pitch.* I came to point out that Baby Cheech is swaying on a tightrope, and the only way to go is down. But it turns out he on a ladder that could lead to the stars. My prediction: 2-1 this year when the leaves turn to gold, there will be gold in Matt’s pocket.

Now, let’s look at Marfa, who I thought would be in the 40’s with the season a quarter gone, perfectly situated as A-Rod begins to pound.

A Cancer on the League Giant Steps Little Chi Chi Marfa Dogs T. S. Intellectual The Depositions The FunGhouls The Money Shot The Stinking Badgers Fantasy - Active Fantasy - Non-Active MLB Year to Date

Stats for Players While Active

Name	Pos	AB	H	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	R	AVG
Aviles, Mike (KAN)	SS	108	21	.194	1	8	1	9	.194
Barajas, Rod (TOR)	C	108	33	.306	3	22	0	13	.306
Davis, Chris (TEX)	1B	121	29	.240	10	21	0	21	.240
Gomez, Carlos (MIN)	OF	58	12	.207	0	2	3	10	.207
Lopez, Jose (SEA)	2B	137	33	.241	3	19	0	17	.241
Ordonez, Magglio (DET)	OF	124	32	.258	2	16	0	16	.258
Quentin, Carlos (CHA)	OF	118	27	.229	8	18	1	19	.229
Rodriguez, Alex (NYY)	3B	22	3	.136	1	4	0	1	.136
Thome, Jim (CHA)	DH	91	21	.231	6	18	0	18	.231
Totals		887	211	.238	34	128	5	124	.238

Name	Pos	W	L	IP	S	W	K	ERA	W PCT
Blackburn, Nick (MIN)	P	2	2	41.7	0	2	19	4.32	0.500
Floyd, Gavin (CHA)	P	2	3	39.3	0	2	31	7.32	0.400
Harrison, Matt (TEX)	P	4	2	44.7	0	4	24	4.23	0.667
Lester, Jon (BOS)	P	2	4	47.0	0	2	54	6.51	0.333
Lyon, Brandon (DET)	P	1	3	15.7	0	1	5	6.89	0.250
Papelbon, Jonathan (BOS)	P	0	0	16.0	9	0	19	1.13	0.000
Sonnanstine, Andy (TAM)	P	1	4	34.7	0	1	21	7.27	0.200
Wilson, C.J. (TEX)	P	2	2	15.3	1	2	10	4.11	0.500
Totals		14	20	254.3	10	14	183	5.52	0.412

Well, damn. What you notice first is that at .238, his team BA won’t stay there forever, and with those hits will come runs, ribs and homers. But again: *damn*. That’s a deep hole. Quentin disappoints, Gomez disappoints, Maggs DISAPPOINTS. On the pitching side, Brad’s mysterious Harrison pick (and what website shared that secret) looks prescient, but Lester puzzles more than Harrison amazes. I read some articles saying Lester was the ace of the Bosox staff and a Cy Young darkhorse. Even Papelbon has blown a couple saves. Brad says he’s not even going to pay attention till August 1. Let’s hope we won’t have to sneak into his house and burn all his calendars. This is a huge deficit.

And here are the standings for the last 11 days.

Standings from 5/4/2009 thru 5/5/2009

Name	Avg	HR	R	RBI	SB	ERA	K	S	W	W PCT	Total
Little Chi Chi	8.0	8.0	4.0	9.0	6.0	9.0	7.5	9.0	8.0	7.0	75.5
T. S. Intellectual	7.0	1.5	9.0	3.0	9.0	6.0	4.0	3.0	9.0	8.5	60.0
The Stinking Badgers	2.0	6.0	1.5	7.0	8.0	8.0	3.0	3.0	5.5	8.5	52.5
Giant Steps	9.0	3.5	5.0	7.0	2.0	4.0	5.5	3.0	5.5	5.0	49.5
The FunGhouls	5.0	6.0	6.0	4.5	2.0	5.0	9.0	7.0	2.0	2.0	48.5
The Depositions	4.0	3.5	7.0	1.0	6.0	7.0	2.0	3.0	5.5	5.0	44.0
The Money Shot	6.0	6.0	3.0	4.5	2.0	3.0	7.5	7.0	2.0	2.0	43.0
A Cancer on the League	3.0	9.0	8.0	7.0	6.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	42.0
Marfa Dogs	1.0	1.5	1.5	2.0	4.0	2.0	5.5	7.0	5.5	5.0	35.0