What’s left of our eviscerated season? Not much. The only races left are:
- Peshastin and Kaline for 6th place (0.5 games apart).
- Flint Hill and Haviland for 2d place (1.5 games apart).
- MAYBE Kaline and Old Detroit for 7th place (3.7 games apart)
- Cottage, Cleveland, Houston and Washington for the 25th pick in the draft (the four teams are within 2.5 games of each other.)
- Canberra, currently slated for the 13th pick, could move up if it can slip in behind the Rangers, Orioles, and Rays, all of whom are within 1/2 game.
- DC has the 3rd pick, but could snag the second by letting the Phillies (.002 percentage points back) past them. The first pick is not out of reach, since the Giants trail by only 2 games.
There’s also a scrum involving the Drive, Pears, Yankees, Cubs and Rockies for maybe the 19th rookie draft pick.
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All that may not be enough to hold our attention in the last two weeks of the season. If your mind is anything like mine, I’m sorry. But it’s probably wandering toward 2018, digging in the box scores for signs and portents.
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EFL Standings for 2017
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 106 | 43 | .712 | — | 870.2 | 537.6 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 97 | 51 | .656 | 8.6 | 757.0 | 548.6 |
| Haviland Dragons | 96 | 52 | .646 | 10.1 | 871.5 | 644.4 |
| Cottage Cheese | 90 | 58 | .611 | 15.3 | 780.1 | 615.2 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 87 | 61 | .591 | 18.2 | 832.6 | 679.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 82 | 66 | .556 | 23.4 | 749.1 | 678.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 82 | 66 | .552 | 23.9 | 747.3 | 675.8 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 78 | 70 | .528 | 27.6 | 741.1 | 688.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 72 | 76 | .486 | 33.7 | 711.5 | 733.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 58 | 90 | .394 | 47.4 | 720.1 | 897.1 |
Pittsburgh: W, 3 – 2. (.237, .310, .368; 13 ip, 9 er). The good news is Cody Bellinger will not be an Allegheny next year — his 2 for 3 with his 38th homer and a walk — his .971 season OPS… he won’t make it past pick #3 or 4.
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Flint Hill: “W”, 1 – 1. (.175, .233, .325; 8.3 ip, 0 er) . erNice 6 ip, 0 er outing from Jordan Montgomery postpones the moment when the Tornados cross the horizon (10 games back) to were they cannot be seen from Pittsburgh.
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Haviland: W, 5 – 1. (.333, .385, .528; 5.0 ip, 0 er.) Debutant Raimel Tapia has the best September OPS in Haviland (1.091) after his 2 for 2 with a double day Saturday. But he’s only appeared at the plate 11 times this month. So I suppose he could slip next spring to where the Dragons could draft him.
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Cottage: W, 3- (-5). (.174, .278, .261; 20.7 ip, 7 er). The Cheese, lauded yesterday for their excellent customer service, let their inner Squidward come out. The W’s chances of getting the 24th and 25th picks together took a hit, especially thanks to Parker Bridwell’s 6 scoreless innnings.
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Portland: “L”, 5 – 3.(.233, .250, .488; 5.7 ip, 3 er). Anthony Rendon went 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk — just like Cody Bellinger. His .942 season OPS is second on the Rosebuds to Paul Goldschmidt’s 1.002. They’ll both be back next year.
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Peshastin: “L”, 4 – 3. (.250, .302, .400; 8.7 ip, 4 er). Solid but unspectacular numbers yesterday in Peshastin. Mitch Haniger is going out this season like he came in: 2 for 4 with a homer and a walk yesterday, OPSing 1.081 for the month, comparable to his 1.054 April OPS. He’ll be back next year.
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Kaline: “W”, 3 – 7 (.257, .333, .371; 0.7 ip, 0 er). Mike Zunino has the best September OPS (1.264) in Kaline. He’ll be back for one more year as an EFL Rookie. .
Old Detroit: W, 1 – 0. (.189, .302, .216; 13 ip, 3 er). Rich Hill (5 ip, 1 er) and Madison Bumgarner (7 ip, 2 er) joined Friday’s Alex Wood (6 ip, 0 er) to give Wolverine fans a glimmer of hope for 2018 about the fragile Old Detroit pitching staff. .
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Canberra: W, 6 – (-3). (.417, .531, .500; 12.3 ip, 2 er). Canberra had the best day of any EFL team Saturday. All four of Saturday’s stars will be back next year: Rick Porcello (7 ip, 0 er), Alen Hanson (2 for 3 with a double, 2 walks, 2 sb), Tim Anderson (4 for 5 with a double) and Jonathan Lucroy (3 for 4). All three hitters are OPSing under .700 for the year, and Porcello’s stellar outing brought his 2017 down to 4.46… but a nice finish to 2017 would boost Kangaroo morale during the hot, sunny, dry Australian offseason.
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DC: L, 6 – 8. (.250, .289, .556; 11.3 ip, 8 er). Addison Russell came off the DL for the first time as a Balk and blasted a pinch hit solo homer. Patrick Valaika matched the feat. Valaika’s Balk career will be over in two weeks. Addison Russell will be around for three more years. That might be the most uplifting portent of all from Saturday’s games.
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| ORIGINAL ORDER | CURRENT ORDER 1st RD | Draft Pos |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | Peshastin Pears | 30 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | Flint Hill | 29 |
| Haviland Dragons | Portland Rosebuds | 28 |
| Cottage Cheese | Old Detritus Woeverines | 26 |
| Portland Rosebuds | Old Detritus Woeverines | 24 |
| Peshastin Pears | Peshastin Pears | 22 |
| Kaline Drive | Kaline Drive | 20 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | Peshastin Pears | 18 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | Canberra Kangaroos | 13 |
| D.C. Balk | DC Balk | 3 |
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 97 | 51 | .656 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 85 | 63 | .574 | 12 |
| New York Yankees | 82 | 66 | .554 | 15 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 78 | 70 | .528 | 18.9 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 72 | 77 | .483 | 25.5 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 72 | 77 | .483 | 25.5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 70 | 79 | .470 | 27.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 89 | 59 | .601 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 72 | 76 | .486 | 17.1 |
| Miami Marlins | 69 | 79 | .466 | 20 |
| Atlanta Braves | 67 | 80 | .456 | 21.5 |
| New York Mets | 64 | 84 | .432 | 25 |
| D.C. Balk | 58 | 90 | .394 | 30.7 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 58 | 90 | .392 | 31 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 106 | 43 | .712 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 92 | 57 | .617 | 14.1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 71 | .520 | 28.6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 73 | 75 | .493 | 32.6 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 87 | .412 | 44.6 |
| Chicago White Sox | 60 | 88 | .405 | 45.6 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 90 | 58 | .611 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 66 | .554 | 8.4 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 78 | 70 | .527 | 12.4 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 77 | 71 | .520 | 13.4 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 81 | .456 | 22.9 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | 84 | .436 | 25.9 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 96 | 52 | .646 | — |
| Houston Astros | 90 | 58 | .608 | 5.6 |
| Kaline Drive | 82 | 66 | .552 | 13.9 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 76 | 72 | .514 | 19.6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 74 | 75 | .497 | 22.1 |
| Texas Rangers | 72 | 76 | .486 | 23.6 |
| Oakland A’s | 65 | 83 | .439 | 30.6 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 96 | 52 | .649 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 87 | 61 | .591 | 8.6 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 87 | 62 | .584 | 9.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 82 | 66 | .556 | 13.7 |
| Colorado Rockies | 82 | 67 | .550 | 14.5 |
| San Diego Padres | 65 | 83 | .439 | 31 |
| San Francisco Giants | 57 | 93 | .380 | 40 |