The Glories of the EFL

Our league is like no other.  Just ask the Cheese.

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	63	33	.657	—	550.8	392.8
Haviland Dragons	64	34	.654	—	603.5	437.8
Cottage Cheese	63	34	.649	0.6	536.0	387.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes	62	38	.625	2.7	515.3	399.4
Portland Rosebuds	60	39	.604	4.8	588.8	466.9
Kaline Drive	58	40	.588	6.5	501.0	417.5
Peshastin Pears	56	43	.563	8.8	483.9	431.2
Old Detroit Wolverines	49	51	.487	16.4	474.4	476.4
Canberra Kangaroos	45	52	.463	18.7	446.8	484.7
D.C. Balk	36	61	.368	27.9	469.1	617.2

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Pittsburgh: W, 9 – 2. (.278, .381, .556; 10.3 ip, 4 er).  Jose Altuve went 4 for 5 with a double and a homer to lead the Alleghenys into first place for the first time in a very long time, by Allegheny reckoning.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is Stephen Strasburg was pulled from his start after only 2 innings “due to right forearm tightness.” Yikes.

Haviland: W, 5 – 2. (.174, .387, .348; 5.7 ip, 0 er).  There’s a stat called “isolated power’ (slugging percentage minus batting average) which is supposed to measure raw power distinct from batting average — how far do they hit the ball when they manage to hit it.  The Dragons displayed impressive isolated on base average Sunday.  They only got 4 hits, but managed 5 runs because they walked six times and got hit by two pitches. Their isolated on base skills were .213. Their isolated power was a solid .174 as they also got 4 extra bases out of their 4 hits.

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Cottage: W (-3), L 0; (-20) – (-8). (.265, .345, .469;  12 ip, 9 er)  The Cheese discovered one of the unique Glories of the EFL yesterday. There they were, enjoying a good day at the plate (including a Trout home run), striving to overcome some crummy pitching, when suddenly a chasm opened beneath them. Three wins vanished. The Cheese plummeted 1.5 games in the standings.. They found themselves looking up at two-thirds of the Old Guard stacked like a nightmare  double thick atop the standings.

But the Cheese should not blanche. They are now spring-loaded.  If the Cubs fall  back out of first place, the Cheese will get a powerful boost toward the top of the standings, probably powerful enough to smash the Old Guard fortifications blocking  Cottage from first place. If the Cubs stay in first the rest of the way, the Cheese will gradually regain the lost three games.  It will be like acid eating away at the Old Guard walls. Either way, the sudden collapse sets up Cheese-favoring drama down the road.

Flint Hill: L, 5 – 5. (.260, .315, .520; 8.3 ip, 4 er).  Mark Reynolds blasted two homers and James McCann went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk to essentially cancel the effects of Robbie Ray’s 4 earned runs allowed in 5 ip.  The Tornados got back to within three games of first place but are vulnerable to further disappointments if the spring-loaded Cheese benefit from Cub misfortune.

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Portland: L, 0 – 6. (.094, .256, .094; 11 ip, 8 er) The Rosebuds scratched out only three hits and wasted seven walks, while their hurlers hurled generously. Another of the Glories of the EFL is you sometimes nail down trades weeks before they happen. So the Rosebuds already know Manny Machado is coming August 1. But days like Sunday make it harder for Manny to lead them into the post-season.  How poignant it would be to see the benefit of a good deal seep away before it can come into effect.

Kaline: “W”, 1 – 3. (.171, .227, .220; 9 ip,  3 er). Here’s a Glory of the EFL we see a lot: no good deed goes unrewarded. The Drive earned a win even though they were outscored. Our glorious game takes into account all the little things a team does well.  There are no wasted runs in a 15 – 2 blowout.  The runs not needed to win that game are stored up so they can come back as blessings later. So the Drive benefited yesterday from runs they scored earlier.

Peshastin: W, 7 – 7. (.267, .313, .533; 12.3 ip, 8 er).  Tyson Ross stank (3.7 ip, 4 er) and James Pazos nonuple chulked (0.3 ip,  3 er) to compound Pear suffering.  Pennant race rental Corey Kluber pitched brilliantly (14 ks and 1 er in 7.7 ip), to pull Peshastin back under 9 games out, but they are still further behind now than they were when Kluber joined the team.

Old Detroit: L, 2 – 9. (.216, .268, .486; 3.7 ip, 5 er).  Wade LeBlanc turns out to not be one of the Glories of the EFL. He sails along with pretty good numbers and then one day BAM! he drops a septuple chulk on you (0.7 ip, 5 er).  He’ll do that twice a season (so far) being careful to not do it until he’s active.   So if you bench him after one flare-up, he’ll pitch fine until you are lulled into reactivating him.  Then he’ll blow up even worse. And there’s still time to repeat the cycle again this season. How exciting.

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DC: L, 3 – 9. (.212, .278, .364; 11.3 ip 9 er).  One more Glory of the EFL:  new owners are carefully protected from the rough and tumble of pennant races.  We have a special nursery far from the madding crowd so new owners can watch and learn undisturbed by cratering Cheese or blustering Wolverines.

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AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes	62	38	.625	—
Boston Red Sox	55	45	.550	7.5
New York Yankees	51	46	.526	10
Tampa Bay Rays	51	48	.515	11
Old Detroit Wolverines	49	51	.487	13.8
Baltimore Orioles	47	51	.480	14.5
Toronto Blue Jays	44	54	.449	17.5

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Washington Nationals	59	38	.608	—
Atlanta Braves	47	50	.485	12
New York Mets	45	51	.469	13.5
Canberra Kangaroos	45	52	.463	14.1
Miami Marlins	44	52	.458	14.5
D.C. Balk	36	61	.368	23.3
Philadelphia Phillies	34	62	.354	24.5

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	63	33	.657	—
Cleveland Indians	51	45	.531	12.1
Kansas City Royals	50	47	.515	13.6
Minnesota Twins	49	48	.505	14.6
Detroit Tigers	45	52	.464	18.6
Chicago White Sox	38	57	.400	24.6

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Cottage Cheese	63	34	.649	—
Chicago Cubs	51	46	.526	12
Milwaukee Brewers	53	48	.525	12
Pittsburgh Pirates	49	50	.495	15
St. Louis Cardinals	47	51	.480	16.5
Cincinnati Reds	41	57	.418	22.5

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Houston Astros	65	33	.663	—
Haviland Dragons	64	34	.654	0.9
Kaline Drive	58	40	.588	7.4
Seattle Mariners	49	51	.490	17
Texas Rangers	48	50	.490	17
Los Angeles Angels	49	51	.490	17
Oakland A’s	44	54	.449	21

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	68	31	.687	—
Portland Rosebuds	60	39	.604	8.2
Colorado Rockies	58	42	.580	10.5
Arizona Diamondbacks	56	42	.571	11.5
Peshastin Pears	56	43	.563	12.2
San Diego Padres	43	55	.439	24.5
San Francisco Giants	38	62	.380	30.5