First(s)

The other day I was watching the debut of White Sox/Cheese Pitcher Dylan Cease – his first game pitched in the MLB. I wasn’t interested in his stats, though I knew some in our league would be – namely, his current team Cottage and his former team Old Detroit. The announcers were talking about how he toiled in the minor leagues for 5 years (doesn’t seem too long) and how the crowd at Comiskey, US Cellular, Guaranteed Rate Field roared as he walked out to the mound to Kanye’s “Homecoming” (I am not sure why he chose a song about homecoming since he is from Georgia). He threw one pitch to Jacoby Jones who hit a fly ball to the center fielder for the first out of the game and Cease’s first out as an MLB pitcher. The announcers were amazed, stating that this might be the most incredible debut of any pitcher. The ball was thrown back in to Cease, who called time out and promptly threw the ball into his dugout to keep as a souvenir – his first out, and on only one pitch. What a neat first! He then proceeded to get a second out (on a few more pitches) before things began to unravel.

Here is what happened: walk, walk, HBP, single (and 2 RBI), walk, mound visit by his pitching coach, fly out. Not once did he call time out to save the ball from his first walk, his first HBP, his first single, or first mound visit. I guess he wasn’t particularly fond of remembering those firsts.

He later had another first for which he saved the ball – his first strike out, which happened to be another Cheese, Yoan Moncada (Dave, this might explain some things about your record) – and finished the day with a line of 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, and 1 Win. Not too bad for a first.

Perhaps you have heard, or noticed as you’ve read this riveting opening, but today also happens to be a first for me – Jamie Johnson – as I have taken over the daily updates from Ron for most of July. Ron and I spent a lovely hour this morning at Newberg Bakery where he gently mentored me on how to correctly process a daily update in the EFL and I gently mentored him on how to correctly get his hot cocoa for which he had paid but not yet received (hint, at the Newberg Bakery all drinks are self-serve).

I should provide a couple of caveats: first, Ron did all the uploading of the stats, which means the error in Bellingham’s W/L line is due to his error (I’ll fix it tomorrow, Andre), but from now on all stat loading errors will be mine; second, while Ron did a fabulous job teaching me (he is a teacher, after all, so I shouldn’t be surprised), it is a process which is prone to human error (lots of copy and paste commands) so be patient with me. For today’s update I don’t have time to make individual comments on each team’s performance, but I look forward to doing so as the month progresses. You will, however, see your record and total score for the month below the updated standings.

Without further ado, the FIRST standings update for the month of July. Enjoy!

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Portland Rosebuds	58	31	.648	—	528.3	389.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes	53	32	.625	2.5	531.1	406.9
Old Detroit Wolverines	47	38	.554	8.5	497.9	441.9
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	45	41	.520	11.4	421.9	403.1
Peshastin Pears	45	44	.503	12.9	468.2	470.7
Haviland Dragons	42	45	.487	14.2	451.7	457.3
Kaline Drive	42	45	.484	14.6	386.7	401.5
Cottage Cheese	42	46	.477	15.2	523.8	537.1
Canberra Kangaroos	42	46	.475	15.3	468.9	499.2
Bellingham Cascades	37	46	.450	17.3	411.4	458.0
Brookland Outs	35	53	.399	22	428.1	531.7
D.C. Balk	31	57	.356	25.8	375.7	506.8

Portland: W 2, L 1; 20-15

Flint Hill: W 3, L 0; 22-7

Old Detroit: W 2, L1; 25-19

Pittsburgh: W 3, L 0; 18-8

Peshastin: W1, L 2; 18-29

Haviland: W 2, L 0; 17-9

Kaline: W 1, L 1; 10-12

Cottage: W 1, L 3; 18-30

Canberra: W 1, L 2; 14-24

Bellingham: W 0, L 0; Something fishy…

Brookland: W 1, L 3; 17-37

DC: W 1, L 2; 15-14

AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
New York Yankees	56	29	.659	—
Flint Hill Tornadoes	53	32	.625	2.8
Tampa Bay Rays	50	38	.568	7.5
Old Detroit Wolverines	47	38	.554	8.9
Boston Red Sox	46	41	.529	11
Toronto Blue Jays	33	55	.375	24.5
Baltimore Orioles	25	61	.291	31.5

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Atlanta Braves	52	36	.591	—
Washington Nationals	45	41	.523	6
Philadelphia Phillies	45	42	.517	6.5
Canberra Kangaroos	42	46	.475	10.2
New York Mets	39	48	.448	12.5
Miami Marlins	32	53	.376	18.5
D.C. Balk	31	57	.356	20.6

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Minnesota Twins	54	32	.628	—
Cleveland Indians	48	38	.558	6
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	45	41	.520	9.3
Chicago White Sox	41	43	.488	12
Bellingham Cascades	37	46	.450	15.1
Detroit Tigers	28	54	.341	24
Kansas City Royals	29	59	.330	26

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	46	42	.523	—
Chicago Cubs	46	42	.523	—
St. Louis Cardinals	43	42	.506	1.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	42	44	.488	3
Cincinnati Reds	41	44	.482	3.5
Cottage Cheese	42	46	.477	4
Brookland Outs	35	53	.399	10.9

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Houston Astros	55	32	.632	—
Oakland A’s	48	40	.545	7.5
Texas Rangers	47	40	.540	8
Los Angeles Angels	44	44	.500	11.5
Haviland Dragons	42	45	.487	12.6
Kaline Drive	42	45	.484	12.9
Seattle Mariners	38	53	.418	19

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	60	29	.674	—
Portland Rosebuds	58	31	.648	2.3
Colorado Rockies	44	42	.512	14.5
Peshastin Pears	45	44	.503	15.2
Arizona Diamondbacks	43	45	.489	16.5
San Diego Padres	42	45	.483	17
San Francisco Giants	39	47	.453	19.5