2015 Season

Edition No. 11

May 29, 2015

Gentlemen:

May It Please the Court:

Oops.  Wrong audience.  Amazing how often that happens these days.  Let me refocus.

Okay, this is the Hot Stove League I am addressing, and this is this week’s edition of From the Bullpen.  There we go.  So, for starters, let’s look at the standings through seven weeks of play:

The Wahoos hold down the top spot for the second week in a row, while the Chiefs jump two spots from 4th to take the 2nd rung of the ladder.  The Bums move from 6th to 3rd, the Skipjacks drop from 2nd to 4th, and the Bombers drop from 3rd place to the 6-spot.  The Cubs hold steady in 5th, as do the Senators in 7th, the Tigers in 8th, and the Blues in 9th.  The Redbirds move up from 12th to 10th, the Bears drop from 10th to 11th, the Monarchs move up one spot from 12th to 11th, and the Tribe holds steady in the cellar, seemingly trenched in for the long haul. 

WEEK 7 TOTALS

The surprising Redbirds led the circuit in points for the seventh week, cranking out an eye-popping total of 535.7 points, just ahead of the Chiefs who finished with 523.7 points.  The Bums were the third highest scoring team for the week with 505.8, while the Cubs, Bears, Wahoos, Skipjacks, Blues, Senators and Tigers all scored in the 400s.  The Bombers, Monarchs and Tribe all brought up the rear with tallies in the 300s, with the Tribe having the fewest points for the week with 345.7.  Here are the Week 7 points for all thirteen teams:

TOP HITTERS THROUGH 7 WEEKS

WHO’S HOT—HITTERS

WHO’S NOT—HITTERS

TOP TEN PITCHERS

WHO’S HOT—PITCHERS

WHO’S NOT—PITCHERS 

TEAM STATISTICS

Through seven weeks, the Wahoos lead all teams with 547 games played, while the Tribe brings up the rear in this department at 506.  Interestingly, however, the Cubs far and away lead the league in at-bats with 2067, providing further proof that Shamu spends every moment of every day between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. absolutely glued to his computer screen, watching for carats and Xs and promoting and demoting on a constant basis to maximize his player at-bats.  The Bombers are second on the list in at-bats with 2040, and good friend Underbelly already discouraged and disenchanted about the season, has the fewest team at-bats with 1810. 

The Bums lead the league in runs scored with 317, while the Skipjacks are in last with 221.  The Chiefs lead the circuit in hits with 549, while the Blues are last with 481.  The Bums have the most doubles with 122, while the Blues are last with 85.  The Bombers and Chiefs have the most triples with 14, while the Senators have the fewest with 6.  The Bums lead all comers in home runs with 85, while the Skipjacks have displayed the least power of all teams with 48.  Surprisingly, the second highest home run total lies with the Tribe with 81, laying waste to the notion that the key to winning in our league is home run power. 

The Bums lead the circuit in RBIs with 317, while the Tigers are more than 100 back with 214.  The speedy Bombers lead the league in stolen bases with 72, far ahead of the second place Bears with 52, and way out ahead of the slew-footed Monarchs with 19.  The Bombers have also been caught stealing the most with 24, while the timid Monarchs have only been picked off 7 times in their 24 attempts. 

The Wahoos, utilizing the Money Ball theory, have far and away the most bases on balls with 252, with the Cubs in second with 212.  The free-swinging Skipjacks have the fewest walks with 133, a team no doubt crafted in the image of their owner/manager.  The Monarchs have the most intentional bases on balls with 23, while the lightly-regarded Redbird hitters have only been intentionally walked 9 times.

The fearless Bears have been hit by pitchers 35 times to lead the circuit, while the fraidy-cat Skipjacks have only taken a beaning for the team on eight occasions. 

On the fielding side of things, the Chiefs lead all teams with 673 assists, well ahead of the second place Bombers with 620.  At the other end of the spectrum is the Blues, with a mere 369 assists.  The Chiefs also lead the way in fielding errors with 52, far ahead of the second place Bears with 39, while the sure-handed Senators have only recorded 18 boots on the season so far, best in the circuit.

While I did not print off all of the team pitching statistics, I did print off the leaders and innings pitched and wins, and the Skipjacks lead the way with 572.0 innings pitched and 40 wins.  The next-highest win total is held by three teams, the Bears, Redbirds and Senators with 33 wins apiece.  The Bombers and Tribe bring up the rear in pitching wins with 24, while the Tribe far lags the field in innings pitched with 409.2.  Obviously, Underbelly is stocking up innings for a big run at the end of the year. 

UPDATE:  THE TRIP

I got nothing.  Who is in charge of this thing, where is it that we are going, and when?  Information, please!  Itchie is starting to get itchy!

AAA ALL-STAR GAME, JULY 15

As indicated by a group email yesterday, the AAA All-Star game will be at Werner Park this summer, on Wednesday, July 15.  I suggest a Hot Stove League outing for this certain-to-be memorable event.  So far, I see that Possum and Big Guy are in, while Shamu is out.  Please let me hear from the rest of you so that I know how many tickets to secure.

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That’s it for this edition of From the Bullpen.  Next week, Brother Mouse sounds off with another edition of The Mousetrap.  Can’t wait to hear him squeak!

Skipper