2016 Season           Edition No. 28       September 22, 2016

TIME FLIES . . . . .

It seems like only yesterday that I was walking out of the “War Room” thinking I had drafted a solid version of the 2016 Bronx Bombers and felt good about all the time I had put in preparing for the draft.  My hopes were raised even higher when Skipper deemed my team with the “Runner Up” title in his annual evaluation/prediction/draft review just a few days later.  Yet that was six months ago on April 2, 2016, or 1133 league trade transactions ago!   And today here I sit, fighting with the Blues for 7th and 8th place, with two weeks remaining in the season, wondering what happened to my team and can I hold on for two more weeks.  Where did the time go?

Created by Greta Morris

My Mom recently sent me a picture of one of my early baseball teams, the “Chiggers” in Kirksville, MO, circa 1967, and again it made me ask, where did the time go?  (I am the short guy in the front row on the right.)  So with the 2016 season coming to a fast close, I think we should all adopt Big Johnny’s mantra . . . .  And just have fun for once in our lives!   While we still have time!

As we are rounding third and heading for home for the 2016 season, it looks like the Wahoos are going to shed their bridesmaid role and come out on top with no more reversions to the mean or DL expansion concerns to keep him out of first.  But there are still a few battles to be watched over the last two weeks to determine the draft order for 2017.  The Tigers are trying to run down the Cubs as they battle for second and third.  The Chiefs are sending up smoke signals as they try to distract the Skipjacks in their battle for fourth and fifth.  The Bums sit in sixth place watching the race above him and the aforementioned race between the Blues and Bombers below him, just biding his time.  The Tribe and Bears have moved in tandem past the  free floating Monarchs  as they fight for ninth, tenth, and eleventh place, while the Senators and the NDSUredbirds fight to stay out of the cellar.  I know “it ain’t over till the Fat Woman sings,” but I want to be the first to congratulate Ted on his 2016 HSL Championship!  And I still wear a size Large if you are asking.

An interesting observation as we enter the home stretch, the projected innings for each club as shown below.  If the league is all about hitting, then how does the innings pitched limitation impact the races mentioned above?   The Senators and Blues have the largest number of available innings while the Bums and Tribe  are projected to be in excess of the 2000 innings pitched and will have to manage their pitchers closely.  And then you look at all the transactions this week, and most of them involve adding and dropping pitchers.  Add to that the season ending injuries to several pitchers recently and inning limitations on some of the young pitchers; it will make for some interesting managerial moves in the next two weeks.  And maybe pitching does matter!

Mouse’s Minute:

Thanks for another great year!   It is a great joy to spend it with all of you!

Mouse