I am listening to the Red Sox play the Yankees in London, where the game is almost 3 hours old and they’re only in the 5th inning. Not a good intro to baseball, I would say, for any potential British fans. We probably should have taken the EFL across the pond first, for a better first impression.
EFL Standings for 2019
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 54 | 30 | .640 | — | 492.8 | 368.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 49 | 31 | .615 | 2.6 | 496.1 | 389.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 46 | 34 | .571 | 6.1 | 471.5 | 404.3 |
| Peshastin Pears | 43 | 41 | .511 | 10.9 | 443.1 | 435.3 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 41 | 40 | .508 | 11.2 | 389.1 | 381.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 40 | 43 | .487 | 12.8 | 364.4 | 375.2 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 40 | 43 | .476 | 13.8 | 445.6 | 476.3 |
| Cottage Cheese | 39 | 43 | .475 | 13.8 | 475.2 | 491.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 39 | 44 | .472 | 14.1 | 426.0 | 447.1 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 36 | 45 | .446 | 16.2 | 394.3 | 443.6 |
| Brookland Outs | 32 | 50 | .395 | 20.4 | 397.2 | 494.4 |
| D.C. Balk | 29 | 54 | .350 | 24.2 | 351.5 | 479.5 |
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Portland: L, 2 – 5. (40 PA, .237, .275, .447; 12.7 ip, 6 er, 4.26 ERA).
I don’t think even the Rosebuds thought their leading hitters in a pennant race would JD Davis (2.000 OPS daily OPS Friday), Myles Straw (2.000), Eric Sogard (1.750), Eduardo Escobar (1.250), Jeimer Candelario (1.250) and Kevin Newman (1.000). I was not afraid of any of those names last winter. I didn’t even know Myles Straw existed. Candelario was an underperforming Wolverine. The Rosebuds may be stalled, but their management knows how to turn pebbles into gems.
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Flint Hill: W (-1), L 1; (-6) – 0. (29 PA, .111, .172. .111; 0.3 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
The Tornados could use some of those Rosebud n0-name hitting stars. Surely Mark will share.
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Old Detroit: DNP, 3 – 2. (53 PA, .208, .283, .417; 5 ip, 1 er, 1.80 ERA).
BP lists our batters alphabetically. So Nick Ahmed led off for the Wolverines Friday, and Daniel Vogelback batted 13th. The heart of the order — E. Jimenez, M Muncy, B Reynolds, and A Riley) combined for 9 hits in 15 AB, with a double, three homers and two walks. That’s a .600, .647, 1.133 batting line. The rest of the order? 1 for 33 with a walk: 0.030, .059, .030.
. Peshastin: W, 6 – 7. (36 PA, .273, .333, .515; 7.3 ip, 5 er, 6.14 ERA).
Mike Soroka has had a great season so far, running an ERA of 2.13 for the year. At 6.3 ip, 2 er, his era Friday was slightly up to 2.84 ERA. The Pears would have secured a nice win… except Robert Gsellman’s relief was all experienced by the opposing batters, who could finally let loose for 3 runs in a single inning.
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Pittsburgh: W, 0 – (-2). (41 PA, .135, .135, .324; 15 ip, 4 er, 2.40 ERA).
Pete Alonso, Maikel Franco, an James McCann combined to got 4 for 12 with a double and two homers (.333, .333, .917), while the other 7 Alleghenys managed one hit in 25 AB for a .040, .040, .040 line. So the Alleghenys, for once, are naught but a pale imitation of the Wolverines.
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Kaline: L, 6 – 6. (21 PA, .316, .381, .579; 1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
A couple of weeks ago Tom asked me a question about reallocating pitchers, wanting to be clear how the rules worked. At that point, to do what he wanted to do, the Drive’s only option was increasing AJ Minter’s playing time. He had been unreliable, so Tom decided not to do that. However…. since then, AJ has put together six innings with one earned run. His ERA for June is down to 2.16. This is so exasperating. If AJ were a decent person, wouldn’t he have let Tom know he was about to get his act together in a dramatic, unprecedented way?
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Canberra: L, 3 – 7. (46 PA, .250, .283, .341; 1.3 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
June has seen the Kangaroos slide from a place on the fringes of the pennant race to a place in the middle of a boiling cauldron of teams competing for sixth place. It’s a lower position, but the race is hotter, so a reasonable case can be made that it was a good move. But when your team suddenly has the weakest record in the league for the month of June, consolation is a valuable commodity.
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Cottage: W, 7 – 2. (30 PA, .321, .367, .607; 12.7 ip, 6 er, 4.26 ERA).
More polarized results, bell-curves nowhere in sight: Castellanos, Thames, Verdugo and Ohtani combined for 8 hits in 14 AB, with two doubles, two homers, and two walks: .571, .625, 1.143.
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Haviland: L, 10 – 10. (41 PA, .294, .415, .588; 4.3 ip, 4 er, 8.31 ERA).
Miguel Sano belted 2 homers and walked in his 4 plate appearances Friday, for a daily OPS of 3.417, lifting his middling June OPS to .757, and his Dragons into a virtual tie on the day. The lift was necessary because Vince Velasquez , the only Dragon to record any innings, allowed 4 runs in 4.3 ip.
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Bellingham: W 2, L (-1); 7 – (-6). (38 PA, .343, .395, .400; 14.3 ip, 2 er, 1.26 ERA)
Mike Fiers and Wade Miley combined for 12. 7 ip and only 2 earned runs.
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Brookland: L, 2 – (-2). (38 PA, .211, .211, .500; 7.7 ip, 2 er, 2.35 ERA).
Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., blasted 2 home runs in four plate appearances. His brother?/cousin?/non-relative?a Yuli sank the Mariners with a walk-off homer.
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DC: L, 4 – 14. (31 PA, .214, .290 .429; 3.3 ip, 7 er, 18.90 ERA)
Mike Clevinger, just off the IL, lasted only 1.7 ip, surrendering 7 earned runs for a daily ERA of 37.80 ERA.
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2019
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 52 | 28 | .650 | — |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 49 | 31 | .615 | 2.8 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 46 | 34 | .571 | 6.3 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 46 | 36 | .561 | 7 |
| Boston Red Sox | 44 | 38 | .537 | 9 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 30 | 52 | .366 | 23 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 23 | 58 | .284 | 29.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 49 | 34 | .590 | — |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 43 | 39 | .524 | 5.5 |
| Washington Nationals | 41 | 40 | .506 | 7 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 40 | 43 | .476 | 9.5 |
| New York Mets | 37 | 46 | .446 | 12 |
| Miami Marlins | 31 | 49 | .388 | 16.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 29 | 54 | .350 | 19.9 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Minnesota Twins | 52 | 29 | .642 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 44 | 37 | .543 | 8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 41 | 40 | .508 | 10.9 |
| Chicago White Sox | 38 | 41 | .481 | 13 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 36 | 45 | .446 | 15.9 |
| Detroit Tigers | 26 | 51 | .338 | 24 |
| Kansas City Royals | 28 | 54 | .341 | 24.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 44 | 38 | .537 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 43 | 39 | .524 | 1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 40 | 40 | .500 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 39 | 41 | .488 | 4 |
| Cottage Cheese | 39 | 43 | .475 | 5 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 37 | 42 | .468 | 5.5 |
| Brookland Outs | 32 | 50 | .395 | 11.6 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 51 | 32 | .614 | — |
| Texas Rangers | 46 | 36 | .561 | 4.5 |
| Oakland A’s | 44 | 39 | .530 | 7 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 42 | 41 | .506 | 9 |
| Kaline Drive | 40 | 43 | .487 | 10.5 |
| Haviland Dragons | 39 | 44 | .472 | 11.8 |
| Seattle Mariners | 37 | 49 | .430 | 15.5 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 56 | 28 | .667 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 54 | 30 | .640 | 2.2 |
| Colorado Rockies | 43 | 39 | .524 | 12 |
| Peshastin Pears | 43 | 41 | .511 | 13.1 |
| San Diego Padres | 41 | 40 | .506 | 13.5 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 42 | 42 | .500 | 14 |
| San Francisco Giants | 35 | 46 | .432 | 19.5 |