Economics also warns about bubbles. Bubbles occur when prices rise irrationally, and then keep on rising in a mindless frenzy until reality finally intrudes and vast fortunes are lost overnight. Think tulips. Think Black Friday. Think dot.coms. Think Rich Hill and the Wolverine ERA.
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EFL Standings for 2017
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 88 | 42 | .677 | — | 732.1 | 502.7 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 86 | 46 | .652 | 3 | 683.3 | 498.3 |
| Haviland Dragons | 85 | 46 | .648 | 3.7 | 779.7 | 573.8 |
| Cottage Cheese | 84 | 47 | .640 | 4.8 | 707.5 | 526.3 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 78 | 52 | .599 | 10.2 | 752.4 | 605.4 |
| Kaline Drive | 74 | 57 | .564 | 14.6 | 656.4 | 575.1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 73 | 57 | .559 | 15.4 | 638.9 | 574.8 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 70 | 62 | .529 | 19.2 | 659.4 | 608.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 64 | 67 | .489 | 24.5 | 634.2 | 648.9 |
| D.C. Balk | 52 | 79 | .400 | 36.2 | 649.5 | 802.9 |
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Pittsburgh: DNP, (-1) – 0. (.261, .320, .348; 7.7 ip, 3 er). Alleghenys aren’t very bubbly. They are solid, not flashy. They are permanent, not trendy. They didn’t have anyone pitching a gem, nor anyone OPSing over 1.000. They just get the job done, day after day, season after season. Since there’s no bubbling there, there’s not going to be any bursting any time soon, either. If you want to beat the Alleghenys you have to climb over them. Somehow.
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Flint Hill: L, 3 – 4. (.268, .333, .512; 2 ip, 1 er). Did Byron Buxton’s bubble burst already? He went 4 or 5 with three homers on Sunday, then took Monday off (possibly because the Twins were idle). Bad idea. He was back to being Byron yesterday: 1 for 4. Oh, well, it was glorious while it lasted. Now that his career arc has run, maybe you should trade him to me.
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Haviland: W, 7 – 4. (.314, .385, .486; 6.7 ip, 3 er). See how the Dragons emulate the A’s? No drama to speak of. Just a pitcher doing his job, and a bunch of hitters doing theirs. Anthony Rizzo had the best day of any Dragons: 3 for 4 with two doubles.
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Cottage: W, 7 – 3. (.258, .324, .710; 6 ip, 3 er). Jorge Polanco belted 2 homers and walked. If you’re like me this seems to come out of nowhere. Gregory is supposed to be the powerful Polanco. But look at this: Jorge is OPSing 1.145 in August! I suppose this MIGHT not be a bubble. Maybe Jorge is turning into a superstar. Or maybe he has stolen Gregory’s mojo — Gregory is on the DL, has had only 32 AB’s in August, and is OPSing .472 for the month. It’s not so much that Gregory’s bubble is bursting. It’s being sucked out of him like the frog’s innards being sucked out by the giant water beetle in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
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Portland: W 2, L (-1); 10 – 1. (.326, .383, .698; 13.3 ip, 3 er.) Shouldn’t Chris Sale’s bubble be bursting about now? How long does he get to keep throwing 7 shoutout innings at people? Manny Machado’s formerly punctured bubble is reinflating right now, in his last days as a Rosebud, with another 2 homer day in the books yesterday.
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Kaline: L, 2 – 4. (.133, .257, .133; 8.3 ip, 5 er). An awfully thin offensive performance, making it very hard to gain ground in the pennant race. Some players never experience the bursting of their bubbles, because they can’t get them to stay inflated in the first place. Mike Zunino would be a perfect example, so far. He isn’t 27 yet, so there’s still hope. It took Justin Smoak until he was 30 to get his bubble to hold any air.
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Peshastin; “W”, 3 – 3. (.176, .222, .353; 3 ip, 1 er). Journeyman Brandon Drury (currently playing for his third team in the last 12 months) went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple. He’s been a sort of under-the-radar minor star for a year or two now, and is a year and a half younger than Mike Zunino (and 5 years younger than Justin Smoak). Can you have an official bubble if no one notices? I suspect Drury’s not fully inflated yet, so there’s still time.
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Old Detroit: W (-1), L 2; 1 – 13. (.161, .315, .194; 8.7 ip, 11 er). In his previous start, Rich Hill was perfect through 8 and pitching a shutout no-hitter through 9. Then he served up a homer to the first batter he saw in the 1oth. He started the game yesterday like this: single, strikeout, homer, single, double, double, single. So, after his historic 9 innings of utter dominance, he immediately produces six earned runs in his next 1/3 of an inning. That’s a Royal Chulk. It’s almost an Imperial Chulk, except it’s only 18 earned runs per inning pitched. Hill struck out the next two batters and staggered into the 4th inning before he coughed up another run on a single and a triple. Hill’s 3.7 ip, 6 er day was supplemented by Matt Moore’s 5 ip. 5 er performance to deliver a staggering blow to Wolverine ambitions (ie, catching the Pears).
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Canberra: W, 13 – 2. (.463, .488, .634; 8 ip, 2 er) So here we have what might be considered a one-day bubble (assuming it doesn’t last). Awesome hitting and excellent pitching on the same day. Seven of 11 hitters OPSing over 1.000. I admit when the W’s do something like this I tell myself “Finally. This is more like it.” And I settle in to watch them do it everyday from then on. But they don’t. Days like this pop up and disappear almost before you see them. I wonder if we should be thinking of bubble bursting differently, like a mug of A&W, happening on a micro scale, in which case we might not get so worked up about the bubbles bursting around us.
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DC: W, 9 – 3. (.381, .458, .762; 14.7 ip, 1 er) . Dylan Bundy is beginning to look like Dylan Bundy. He pitched a complete game against the deflating Mariners yesterday, allowing only 1 bunt single and two walks. Brett Anderson proved his arms are still attached by backing up Bundy with 5.7 ip, 1 er. And four of the six Balkan hitters OPSed 1.000 or better. What inspirational performances, like huge bubbles suddenly arising from the bottom of a lake!
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 86 | 46 | .652 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 57 | .568 | 11.1 |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 60 | .538 | 15.1 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 70 | 62 | .529 | 16.2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 67 | 65 | .508 | 19.1 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 66 | 68 | .493 | 21.1 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 61 | 71 | .462 | 25.1 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 80 | 51 | .611 | — |
| Miami Marlins | 66 | 65 | .504 | 14 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 64 | 67 | .489 | 15.9 |
| Atlanta Braves | 57 | 72 | .442 | 22 |
| New York Mets | 57 | 74 | .435 | 23 |
| D.C. Balk | 52 | 79 | .400 | 27.6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 49 | 81 | .377 | 30.5 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 88 | 42 | .677 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 74 | 56 | .569 | 14.1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 68 | 63 | .519 | 20.6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 65 | 66 | .496 | 23.6 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 74 | .435 | 31.6 |
| Chicago White Sox | 52 | 78 | .400 | 36.1 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 84 | 47 | .640 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 71 | 60 | .542 | 12.8 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 64 | .515 | 16.3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 66 | 65 | .504 | 17.8 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 63 | 70 | .474 | 21.8 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 76 | .424 | 28.3 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 85 | 46 | .648 | — |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 52 | .603 | 5.9 |
| Kaline Drive | 74 | 57 | .564 | 11 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 68 | 65 | .511 | 17.9 |
| Seattle Mariners | 66 | 67 | .496 | 19.9 |
| Texas Rangers | 65 | 66 | .496 | 19.9 |
| Oakland A’s | 58 | 74 | .439 | 27.4 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 91 | 39 | .700 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 78 | 52 | .599 | 13.1 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 74 | 58 | .561 | 18 |
| Peshastin Pears | 73 | 57 | .559 | 18.3 |
| Colorado Rockies | 72 | 60 | .545 | 20 |
| San Diego Padres | 58 | 74 | .439 | 34 |
| San Francisco Giants | 53 | 81 | .396 | 40 |