It has come to my attention that baseball has a bullying problem. I first noticed it in how some rude people treated my pitchers. But I discovered a few others may have been victimized even worse.
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EFL Standings for 2019
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 36 | 20 | .645 | — | 341.9 | 253.4 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 35 | 20 | .640 | 0.4 | 353.9 | 265.4 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 32 | 23 | .580 | 3.8 | 316.7 | 269.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 31 | 24 | .572 | 4.2 | 317.7 | 269.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 30 | 26 | .535 | 6.2 | 288.3 | 268.8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 28 | 26 | .516 | 7.3 | 256.2 | 247.7 |
| Kaline Drive | 29 | 28 | .509 | 7.6 | 237.0 | 231.3 |
| Haviland Dragons | 26 | 31 | .451 | 10.9 | 270.1 | 297.9 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 23 | 31 | .430 | 11.9 | 265.7 | 308.3 |
| Cottage Cheese | 23 | 31 | .424 | 12.2 | 265.6 | 309.5 |
| Brookland Outs | 22 | 32 | .409 | 13.1 | 261.3 | 315.2 |
| D.C. Balk | 20 | 35 | .362 | 15.7 | 230.2 | 305.7 |
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Portland: W, 7 – 5. (47 PA, .326, .383, .465; 6 ip, 3 er, 4.50 ERA).
Flint Hill: W, 6 – 3. (28 PA, .333, .429, .458; 10.7 ip, 4 er, 3.37 ERA). James Paxton came back from the IL with 4 shutout innings — with no hits and 7 k’s, allowing only two walks.
Canberra: W, 10 – 3. (37 PA, .382, .432, .706; 9 ip, 3 er, 3.00 ERA). Jorge Alfaro went 4 for 4 to lead the Kangaroo attack. (That’s actually a scary image: a Kangaroo attack!) Blake Snell and Touki Toussaint, between them, completed 9 innings with only 3 earned runs, so as not to waste all the good work of the offense…
Old Detroit: L, 11 – 13. (59 PA, .352, .407, .667; 21.7 ip, 15 er, 6.23 ERA)…whereas the Wolverines’ four best starters all pitched yesterday. Bumgarner did fine (6 ip, 2 er) but the other three (Buehler, Paddack, and Ray) compiled 15.7 ip with 13 earned runs. Seven batters OPSing better than 1.000? Not good enough for a win. I used to call it “marineritis” when the offense was puny. But the way the M’s have been going, it might be better to use “marineritis” to refer to helpless pitching.
Peshastin: W, 10 – 9. (55 PA, .375, .455, .604; 2 ip, 3 er, 13.50 ERA). On paper Pears pitching appears worse than Wolverine woes. Look at the ERAs! But 13.50 ERA over 2 ip doesn’t have the same impact as 21.7 ip, at 6.23 ERA. It’s like taking a hit to the chest from a 95 MPH tennis ball rather than a hit to the legs from a 75 mph bowling ball. I’ll take the tennis ball, please.
Pittsburgh: W (-1), L 1; (-1) – 7. (57 PA, .259, .298, .537; 2.3 ip, 7 er, 27.00 ERA). My complaints about traitorous pitching might need muting, considering what happened to the Alleghenys. Adam Warren chulked (1.3 ip, 3 er)… and then Lou Trivino did worse (1 ip, 4 er). But even then, the A’s only surrendered 7 runs — not 13. So I should be empathetic, and I would be, except I don’t like Pete Alonso much. He blasted two — not one, it had to be two — homers against Walker Buehler.
Kaline: L, 2 – 4. (38 PA, .189, .211, .324; 1.7 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA). Shane Greene put together another scoreless inning, lowering his season ERA to 1.13. He never did that well for the W’s. I may be just being bitter, today, after my big pitching day blew up in my face.
Haviland: W 2, L (-1); 10 – 0. (32 PA, .333, .438, .741; 8.3 ip, 1 er, 1.08 ERA). See? Here’s a team with its act together. Pitchers pitching on the same day hitters hit!
Bellingham: DNP, 2 – 0. (36 PA, .324, .361, .529; 8 ip, 2 er, 2.25 ERA). Bryce Harper did something really good, for once: 3 for 4 with a double and a homer. I suspect Phillies fans might be wondering about the wisdom of “stupid spending” on Mr. Harper. Maybe even Cascades fans, too. So this had to feel pretty good.
Cottage: L, 9 – 12. (30 PA, .304, .433, .739; 6.7 ip, 8 er, 10.80 ERA).
Brookland: “L”, 7 – 7. (32 PA, .276, .344, .586; 12 ip, 7 er, 5.25 ERA).
DC Balk: W (-1), L 2; 4 – 16. (46 PA, .162, .326, .324; 6.7 ip, 9 er, 12.15 ERA.) I’ve already complained about that bully Peter Alonso beating up on Walker Buehler. But a Balk got bullied even worse: Kevin Gausman gave up 4 runs in the first inning, and got no one out in the second before allowing 4 baserunners. They all scored. That’s a heart-wrenching octuple chulk. My only consolation is this: Trea Turner was the only Wolverine to face Gausman. He grounded out and singled — hardly abuse. Juan Soto, Adam Eaton, and Anthony Rendon combined for a triple, three singles and two walks in 6 plate appearances against poor Mr. Gausman. I trust these players’ EFL owners will discipline them appropriately.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2019
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 36 | 19 | .655 | — |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 35 | 20 | .640 | 0.8 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 34 | 19 | .642 | 1 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 31 | 24 | .572 | 4.5 |
| Boston Red Sox | 29 | 27 | .518 | 7.5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 35 | .375 | 15.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 17 | 39 | .304 | 19.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 33 | 22 | .600 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 32 | 23 | .580 | 1.1 |
| Atlanta Braves | 30 | 26 | .536 | 3.5 |
| New York Mets | 27 | 28 | .491 | 6 |
| Washington Nationals | 24 | 32 | .429 | 9.5 |
| Miami Marlins | 19 | 34 | .358 | 13 |
| D.C. Balk | 20 | 35 | .362 | 13.1 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Minnesota Twins | 37 | 17 | .685 | — |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 28 | 26 | .516 | 9.1 |
| Cleveland Indians | 28 | 27 | .509 | 9.5 |
| Chicago White Sox | 26 | 29 | .473 | 11.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 23 | 31 | .430 | 13.8 |
| Detroit Tigers | 21 | 32 | .396 | 15.5 |
| Kansas City Royals | 18 | 37 | .327 | 19.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 31 | 23 | .574 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 27 | 27 | .500 | 4 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 26 | 28 | .481 | 5 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 26 | 30 | .464 | 6 |
| Cottage Cheese | 23 | 31 | .424 | 8.1 |
| Brookland Outs | 22 | 32 | .409 | 8.9 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 37 | 20 | .649 | — |
| Oakland A’s | 29 | 27 | .518 | 7.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 29 | 28 | .509 | 8 |
| Texas Rangers | 26 | 26 | .500 | 8.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 26 | 29 | .473 | 10 |
| Haviland Dragons | 26 | 31 | .451 | 11.3 |
| Seattle Mariners | 24 | 34 | .414 | 13.5 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 37 | 19 | .661 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 36 | 20 | .645 | 0.9 |
| Peshastin Pears | 30 | 26 | .535 | 7.1 |
| San Diego Padres | 29 | 27 | .518 | 8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 28 | 28 | .500 | 9 |
| Colorado Rockies | 27 | 27 | .500 | 9 |
| San Francisco Giants | 21 | 33 | .389 | 15 |