I was reading with the Reds/Pirates game on in the background Tuesday evening when the Pirates TV announcers perked up and told us about media reports that the Reds had agreed to trade Yasiel Puig to Cleveland for Trevor Bauer. They were surprised Puig was still in the game, and were puzzling about whether the trade was official yet, and when Puig would be pulled from the action.
As I recall it, they were still winding that discussion down when suddenly Amir Garrett raced from the mound toward the Pirates’ dugout. A squad of Pirates came out front to meet him. Garrett charged into them like he was Pickett at Gettysburg. He threw a punch, apparently at Trevor Williams, and a brawl ensued.
You will be astonished to learn that it wasn’t Garrett who took the longest to calm down. No, that would be his teammate Yasiel Puig, whose official MLB nickname is “Wild Horse.” He ranted on and on, constantly being restrained by his teammates. He stayed on the field until the brawl settled down and the umpires conferred. He was one of 5 Reds and 4 Pirates kicked out of the game.
Or maybe it was 4 Reds, 4 Pirates and an Indian.
. That was Puig’s final moment as a Red: leaving the field after being ejected for over-doing his defense of his (already former) Reds teammates. He’s still a Dragon, though. For the moment.
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EFL Standings for 2019
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 70 | 39 | .641 | — | 657.6 | 492.8 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 66 | 40 | .623 | 2.3 | 662.6 | 512.3 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 61 | 45 | .572 | 7.8 | 605.9 | 522.1 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 56 | 50 | .528 | 12.5 | 515.5 | 486.9 |
| Haviland Dragons | 55 | 53 | .510 | 14.3 | 585.8 | 567.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 54 | 54 | .504 | 15 | 598.5 | 597.6 |
| Peshastin Pears | 54 | 55 | .498 | 15.6 | 559.3 | 562.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 52 | 56 | .482 | 17.4 | 502.5 | 524.1 |
| Cottage Cheese | 47 | 59 | .447 | 21 | 598.6 | 649.9 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 47 | 59 | .447 | 21 | 504.9 | 564.4 |
| Brookland Outs | 45 | 61 | .424 | 23.5 | 536.3 | 626.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 42 | 66 | .387 | 27.6 | 481.2 | 607.6 |
I think I’ll pretend there are four coherent groups of three teams in our league right now:
The Contenders
These are the powerhouse teams this year — the EFL’s Astros, Dodgers, Yankees…
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Portland: L, 6 – 11. (46 PA, .275, .370, .405; 5.7 ip, 4 er, 6.35 ERA).
Flint Hill: L, 4 – 6. (48 PA, .156, .208, .200; 7 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).
Old Detroit: W, 5 – 4. (54 PA, .280, .333, .432; no pitching)
- No, I don’t know how Portland’s 6.35 ERA translates to 11 runs scored. There may have been a glitch in someone’s stats that got corrected this time?
- Yes, I do know why Flint Hill surrendered 6 runs on a day their pitchers gave up 0. It’s because 5.3 of those 7 innings were by Taylor Clarke, 0% active this month.
- Yes, I know, the Wolverines have been stuck 6 to 8+ games out for three months. But that means the W’s, after a poor start to the season, have been keeping up with the other two. Still, I admit, the Rosebuds and the Tornados are the two legitimate EFL powerhouse teams. They draft well and trade like demons. The W’s are probably imposters in this group.
- On the other hand, of these three contenders, only two have won EFL championships, and only one has won more than one.
The Distinguished Pillars of the League
These teams have been around since the early years of the league, consistently assemble feared rosters, and figure at some point in most pennant chases. They are all within 2 games of each other in the standings.
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Pittsburgh: W, 8 – 6. (44 PA, .350, .409, .525; no pitching)
Haviland: L, 4 – 4. (4o PA, .297, .366, .351; 6 ip, 2 er, 3.00 ERA)
Canberra: L, 4 – 8. (47 PA, .209, .255, .419; 1 ip, 0 er, 0 ERA)
- For the second day in a row, the Allegheney’s speedy trio of outfielders (Buxton, Goodwin, and Inciarte) led the way with OPSes of 1.667, 1.000, and 1.600 respectively. And, also for the second day in a row, Jose Altuve joined them (1.750 OPS).
- Yasiel Puig (aka the Wild Horse) went 0 for 4 with a strike out and a toss out for the Dragons. The Dragons’ other animal, Jake Lamb, went one for one before he was eaten by his hungry teammates. Just another routine evening in Haviland.
- That other Garrett — Garrett Hampson — has had a rough season. The Captain Kangaroo crowed when he snagged Hampson in the draft. But during our weekend at the Hall of Fame, Hampson’s name crossed the Captain’s lips only accompanied by sighs of exasperation, or sneers of disdain. Yet Hampson led the team in OPS on the 3oth: 3.000! That was a double in a pinch hit appearance. Not a hefty contribution, maybe, but Rhys Hoskins went 0 for 4 and you never hear the Captain complaining about him.
- Note that this group has the most EFL championships – a total of 11 out of the 16 we’ve awarded. That’s an average of almost 4 each. Warning: it’s not spread very evenly among them.
The Heart of the League
These teams are the steadiest, usually right in the middle of everything, with players we all env. The competition among them is hot again this year.
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Peshastin: W, 5 – 2. (45 PA, .263, .378, .421; 7.7 ip, 3 er, 3.52 ERA)
Kaline: L, 1 – 4. (52 PA, .224, .269, .347; 11.3 ip, 6 er, 4.76 ERA)
Cottage: L, 0 – 6. (45 PA, .220, .289, .390; 8 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA)
- The Pears have the Braves’ two top phenoms. Ozzie Albies went 3 for 5 with two doubles and a walk (.600, .667, 1.000) and Juan Soto homered and walked in his 5 tripes to the plate (.250, .400, 1.000).
- Danny Santana homered in his second straight game, and this time AJ Pollock joined him. The other 9 Drive hits were all singles.
- How did the Cheese surrender 6 run when Drew Smyly pitched 8 superb shutout innings? Easy: allocate Smyly at 0%.
The Prospects
These are our newest teams. Two of them have experienced surges of evanescent glory as they lingered for a while near the top of the EFL pennant race. Their days are coming, it is clear. .
Bellingham: L, 4 – 5. (24 PA, .167, .375, .500; 1.3 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA)
Brookland: W 3, L (-2); 16 – (-7).
DC: W, 4 – 3. (38 PA, .182, .289, .303; 9.7 ip, 4 er, 3.72 ERA)
- Andre said he was going to skip the meeting to save money for the Aug/Sep meeting. That’s what he said. But look at the standings. A hair’s breadth at most stands between the Cascades and the Cheese. Dave always seems so cheerful even when his team is losing. But maybe those times are harder when Dave’s back with his family. Why did the Cascades only get 24 plate appearances when everyone else is getting about twice as many? I think it’s because Andre is a kind man and he is being very careful not to actually pass the Cheese and embarrass the Head Cheese. Also, I appreciate Andre’s efforts to protect my “four groups of three” theme.
- Nine Outs came to the plate Tuesday evening. Brian Anderson went 0 for 3, although he did walk. Lourdes Gurriel went 1 for 3 with a walk and a hit by pitch, for a painful .933 OPS. Every other Out OPSed 1.000 or more (Bellinger, Dozier, Guerrero, Jones, Machado, Martinez, d’Arnaud). Travi d’A topped this posse with a 1.850 OPS (2 for 4 with a homer and a walk). On the pitching side, Shane Bieber surrendered 2 earned runs in seven strong innings. The other three Out pitchers Gdid 12 innings more with NO earned runs. Those three were Griffin Canning, Richard Lovelady, and Sean Reid-Foley.
- Andrew Benintendi may have had the best day of any EFLer Tuesday: 3 for 4 with a homer and a walk.
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2014
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 67 | 39 | .632 | — |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 66 | 40 | .623 | 1 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 61 | 45 | .572 | 6.4 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 61 | 48 | .560 | 7.5 |
| Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | .546 | 9 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 42 | 67 | .385 | 26.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 36 | 71 | .336 | 31.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 63 | 45 | .583 | — |
| Washington Nationals | 57 | 50 | .533 | 5.5 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 56 | 50 | .528 | 6 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 54 | 54 | .504 | 8.6 |
| New York Mets | 51 | 55 | .481 | 11 |
| Miami Marlins | 41 | 64 | .390 | 20.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 42 | 66 | .387 | 21.2 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Minnesota Twins | 65 | 41 | .613 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 44 | .585 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 56 | 50 | .528 | 9.1 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 47 | 59 | .447 | 17.6 |
| Chicago White Sox | 46 | 58 | .442 | 18 |
| Kansas City Royals | 40 | 69 | .367 | 26.5 |
| Detroit Tigers | 31 | 72 | .301 | 32.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 57 | 49 | .538 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 56 | 50 | .528 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 56 | 52 | .519 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 49 | 56 | .467 | 7.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 47 | 59 | .447 | 9.6 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 47 | 60 | .439 | 10.5 |
| Brookland Outs | 45 | 61 | .424 | 12.1 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 69 | 39 | .639 | — |
| Oakland A’s | 61 | 47 | .565 | 8 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 56 | 53 | .514 | 13.5 |
| Haviland Dragons | 55 | 53 | .510 | 13.9 |
| Texas Rangers | 53 | 54 | .495 | 15.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 52 | 56 | .482 | 17 |
| Seattle Mariners | 47 | 63 | .427 | 23 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 70 | 39 | .642 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 70 | 39 | .641 | 0.1 |
| San Francisco Giants | 54 | 53 | .505 | 15 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 54 | 54 | .500 | 15.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 54 | 55 | .498 | 15.7 |
| San Diego Padres | 50 | 57 | .467 | 19 |
| Colorado Rockies | 50 | 58 | .463 | 19.5 |