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What we're all playing for...

2011-08-04T22:26:00.003-04:00

Non-Audio Podcast Draft Recap

2011-03-11T14:14:00.002-05:00

CZ Notes Special

Post-draft thoughts with special commentary by Brendan Hart (started this article whilst on the train and hungover )

The first ever live draft was a rousing success as long as you exclude the part where Andy, Brendan (30 minutes of a wandering Jeff Lester) and yours truly waited until 4:30 a.m. for a cab to take us one mile to the hotel. WHOMP WHOMP. Also ignore Brendan booting on the side of I-95 on the way home. That’s another story…

Big ups to Tom Tom for putting his life/marriage on the line coming to the event. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit. To borrow a line from Chris Rock, kids aren’t a big deal anyway, “I mean, even roaches have kids.”

The following is the first ever non audio podcast.

Recap and thoughts:

Round 1
1 Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork - Bailey, Andrew RP OAK
2 RIC Anchormen - Suzuki, Ichiro RF SEA
3 Attack Pigeons of Connecticut - Raburn, Ryan LF DET
4 Binghamton Hell Benders - Marcum, Shaun SP MIL
5 The Brew Crew - Gonzalez, Gio SP OAK
6 The Smoke Monsters - Fowler, Dexter CF COL
7 Attack Pigeons of Connecticut - Street, Huston RP COL
8 The Smoke Monsters - Ramirez, Manny LF TB
9 Cuban Rampage - Putz, J.J. RP ARI
10 The Carbombs - Cordero, Francisco RP CIN
11 The Smoke Monsters - Thornton, Matt RP CHW
12 Polska Pandas - Furcal, Rafael SS LA

Best Value Pick:
Brendan: JJ Putz was easily the best value in this entire draft.
John: I agree, kind of. Putz was my top closer going into this. I like him to have a Billy Wagner type resurgence and as Heath Bell has shown, playing for a bad team might actually help because the games you do win, are close.

Also liked:
Brendan: I also like Shaun Marcum. For Tom Tom to land him at 4, was huge for his team.
John: Marcum is good, but I really like Gio Gonzalez too. His strikeout totals are high. He’s looked good in spring, even though that means nothing, and if he can reduce his walk rate, he’ll be real good. To me he was the highest upside pitcher and maybe player available. Former panda pitching prospect too.

Most Surprising Pick
Brendan: Ryan Raburn. I think it goes against what the Pigeons are doing now. They’re trying to get younger. Also the risk of Ryan Raburn at the first round, doesn’t match the reward that you could have gotten with some others. Definitely someone he could have targeted around the third round.
John: Agree on all that. But I would say Dexter Fowler might be a slight reach. I had him targeted around the third round. He had a strong final two months, but I don’t think there’s enough to go off of there. Who knows? Maybe he puts it all together.

Other thoughts:
Brendan: If I’m Billy at the second spot, to me it makes a lot more sense to have taken a riskier, but higher upside guy, maybe like Fowler or something. I mean yeah I get that Ichiro is good, but the only reason I would take him there is so I could trade him for more than that at the deadline.
John: I wonder if in the future closers might be a player you take a greater consideration holding onto. There are some absolute nubs out there. And speaking of closers, Francisco Cordero, tough to take him over Matt Thronton with Aroldis Chapman breathing down his neck and ready to make a potential Neftali Feliz-like contribution.

Round 2
1 Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork Maybin, Cameron CF SD
2 RIC Anchormen Lidge, Brad RP PHI
3 Attack Pigeons of Connecticut Desmond, Ian SS WAS
4 Binghamton Hell Benders Pagan, Angel CF NYM
5 The Brew Crew Ordonez, Magglio RF DET
6 Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork McLouth, Nate CF ATL
7 Polska Pandas Napoli, Mike 1B TEX
8 The Smoke Monsters Lee, Derrek 1B BAL
9 Rhode Island Quahogs Nunez, Leo RP FLA
10 The Brew Crew Hanrahan, Joel RP PIT
11 Wickford Walnuts Huff, Aubrey 1B SF
12 New England Bombers Abreu, Bobby RF ANA

Most Surprising
Brendan: I don’t want to harp on Eamer’s draft picks but I felt like he reached for several guys throughout the draft and Maybin was no different.
John: Agreed. Maybin was definitely a shock to me here. Maybe he was looking for Dexter Fowler to be there and when he got picked he thought he had to get the other toolsy CF.
Brendan: As much as I liked the Marcum pick in the first, I’m a little puzzled by the Angel Pagan pick by Tom.
John: I liked Pagan but I wonder if he can approach the numbers he had last season. His first full season will be a test. I was shocked to see he was already in his late 20’s.
Brendan: I also can’t believe Derrek Lee went off the board before Aubrey Huff. I think everyone regarded Huff as a first round talent in this year’s draft.

Best Value:
Brendan: I never thought Huff would drop to us in the 2nd round so for us to get him there, I was pumped. I also like [the Pandas] Mike Napoli pick.
John: Yeah. For me it was pretty important to get Napoli and Furcal to fill those gaps. There weren’t any closers available that I liked at this point or I would have taken one and hoped Napoli fell.

Other Thoughts
John: This list of second round guys is pretty uninspiring.
Brendan: to say the least. I felt like the 2nd round is where you looked to fill some holes and more upside guys would be available in the 3rd-6th. But yeah. Very nubbish list.

ROUND 3

Round 3
1 Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork Carmona, Fausto SP CLE
2 RIC Anchormen Johnson, Chris 3B HOU
3 Attack Pigeons of Connecticut Suzuki, Kurt C OAK
4 The Brew Crew Lilly, Ted SP LA
5 The Brew Crew Lowrie, Jed 2B BOS
6 Polska Pandas Franklin, Ryan RP STL
7 Cuban Rampage Figgins, Chone 2B SEA
8 New England Bombers Vazquez, Javier SP FLA
9 Polska Pandas Kennedy, Ian SP ARI
10 The Carbombs Kuroda, Hiroki SP LA
11 RIC Anchormen Zambrano, Carlos SP CHC
12 RIC Anchormen Uribe, Juan SS LA

Most Surprising:
BH: Fausto Carmona was awful. He’s great if you like that k/9 around 4. I hate that guy.
JR: (laughing) I didn’t know the Nuts consortium was so dead set against Fausto.
BH: Definitely not high on that guy. In fact very much the opposite.

Best Value:
BH: Chris Johnson was a great pick by Bill. He could have a strong year and I can see him being kept. Plus Bill needs a 3B. I like this pick a lot. I had him high on my list.
JR: I like Chris Johnson. I think getting Ted Lilly, in this round defines value. I’m surprised he lasted until the third.
BH: I know. He was a top-25 pitcher last season. I think Andy nearly killed me when I vetoed taking Lilly with our first pick in the second round. I was convinced though that Aubrey Huff was more vital to the Nuts than Ted Lilly. Had I known how things would unfold, I may have taken Lilly over Huff and grabbed Lance Berkman with our next pick

Other thoughts:
BH: As much as I’m down with The Brad picking the TED, I think Jed Lowrie was a reach here.
JR: Yeah. He was totally who I was going to take…around the 8th round. But I think, looking back at this, it will look like a smart move. He was really good last season.
BH: True. But the Sox love Scutaro.
JR: Yeah. By all accounts, there is not debate and they’ll find a few at bats every week for Jed. Unfortunately for Brad, unless someone gets hurt, Lowrie is pretty much just a super utility guy for the Sox.
BH: If Fausto Carmona isn’t picked in this round, Chone Figgins gets the award for most questionable. Once again, this is the “master plan” showing it’s true colors, which are, there isn’t really a master plan.
JR: Harsh criticism hombre. On the more positive side, I liked the pick of Javier Vazquez.
BH: I agree.
JR: I mean, when he got traded back to the NL, there was talk he would be a first round pick again, so obviously getting him in the 4th was a good value. I also don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think grabbing Ian Kennedy here a pick later was huge.
BH: Yeah I was a big fan of him.
JR: one of the few guys that has legitimate upside but a decent enough sample size. Plus he really turned it on at the end of the season. As a 5th or 6th starter, I’m more than confident throwing him out there, especially against the crummy NL West offences.
BH: Carlos Zambrano a few picks later. Thoughts?
JR: I hate that guy.
BH: (laughs) Was Knapp even at the draft?
JR: yeah I think he had like 2 picks all day.
BH: haha yeah. He didn’t even need his laptop. He could have just had a notecard with a few names.
JR: Speaking of materials, how about Eamer.
BH: oh you mean the 90 pages of notes he had sprawled across the table?
JR: yeah
BH: I love that he had all that paper and you gotta think some rankings were included on there somewhere and yet he takes Fausto.
JR: must have been all prospect materials, because his prospect draft was 180 degrees better.
BH: Yeah, okay let’s finally wrap up round 3.
JR: Okay… um, juan uribe, last pick. “yawn”
BH: (actual Yawn)

Rounds 4-6

Surprises:
BH: I’m not a big fan of the Mark Buehrle pick. I mean he was a guy that was on the waiver wire most of last season. What did he do in the offseason that warranted being picked up, no less in the 4th round?
JR: Duuuddeee. The ball comes out of his hand like no other.
BH: Haha. It’s not that Buehrle is a bad pitcher.
JR: yeah, he’s serviceable.
BH: Right, but for Bill, it just doesn’t make sense.
JR: yeah, he’s hoarding all those prospect picks for next season. Seems he’s shooting for a run at the title in 2017.
BH: In the next round, Eamer taking Yunel Escobar. I have issues with this.
JR: He’s a dog shit taco.
BH: mostly
JR: Maybe Eamer liked the 4 homeruns he hit last season. I think Cliff Pennington, Scutaro and I’m sure I’m leaving out others are more able bodies.
BH: I have a few issues with the Frank Francisco pick by KOB. Has there been any report that he has the job?
JR: not that I’ve seen.
BH: or even the inside track?
JR: I haven’t seen it. I don’t have as big a problem with this pick.
BH: yeah. I suppose not, but I think there were better options for Kevin at this point.
JR: How about Chris Ianetta at the next pick? I forgot about that guy completely.
BH: I liked that pick. But I hate the team that drafted him haha. He’s already got a top 5 catcher.
JR: hahaha. Yeah somehow, brian McCann is so forgettable.

Nice Picks:
JR: who were some guys you liked?
BH: I liked all those guys in the early part of the 4th round. De La Rosa, Peavy and Scott.
JR: yeah, De La Rosa was on that draft screen for a long time. CBS had him ranked very highly.
BH: And peavy could prove to be a strong pick.
JR: Yeah, shoulder injuries are scary though.
BH: But it’s a low risk and potentially high upside pick.
JR: true. All reports are that he looked very impressive in his spring debut.
BH: Yeah. And Luke Scott… Did you know he hit .290 last year? His numbers across the board are really really good, especially for where he was picked.
JR: That’s potentially a dangerous lineup in Baltimore he’s a part of too. Plenty of RBi opportunities. Also I want to like the Homer Bailey pick, but I feel like he’s going to be average his whole career. Last chance hotel With the Quahogs.

Rounds 7-10
JR: I don’t think there were any surprises at this point in the draft.
BH: yeah. Even though the draft is longer, by the time you got to this point, it was really the trash heap.
JR: Some pretty below average talent at this point.
BH: I think that the talent pool was very much diluted this year.
JR: hmm. Why do you say that? There were at least 36 players that might have been kept last season available.
BH: yeah, but if you think about it, the new 1st year keeper rule, dilutes young talent.
JR: I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean sure people abused that, but is anyone really drafting Eric Young Jr and Jon Jay?
BH: I see your argument, but think about it. Last year, Erik would have had to keep Jason Heyward, Posey, et al over other players. I feel like if the one year keeper rule was not in place, he would have had to drop someone like Howie Kendrick.
JR: Yeah I see your point. But I think Erik’s team might be the exception to the rule. He had good established veterans and young talent. I feel like rebuilding teams won’t have a lot of veterans really. I don’t know.
BH: I see your point too, but, eh, I don’t know. I felt like the talent got really thin really fast.

Observations:
JR: moving on. Were there any names that stuck out to you?
BH: Umm…
JR: Look at AJ Burnett all the way down there in the 8th round. Could that guy have fallen any further? You were laughed at for not taking Burnett 1st overall last season.
BH: Don’t remind me.
JR: Daisuke Matsuzaka. Ugh. I hate that guy.
BH: I love eamer drafting his second catcher hahaha.
JR: Doumit. Hilarious. Though I liked the Duensing pick. He’s not a big K guy, but I think he’s the type of pitcher that end the year with a sub 3.75 ERA sub 1.25 WHIP. That’ll play.
BH: I don’t know if I’m as bullish on him.
(silence)
BH: Darren O’Day!?
JR: Thoughts?
BH: I mean…
JR: (laughs)
BH: Worst pick of the draft even if he’s immediately dropped. Darren O’Day wouldn’t even own Darren O’Day if he was in a fantasy league.
JR: Own percentage: 1. His mom.

Prospect Draft:
JR: I think the prospect draft was as good as it’s ever been. It’s clear that everyone has looked at the rankings and came in prepared for this one.
BH: Undoubtedly. I mean I think it’s harsh to judge draft picks these days.
JR: Yeah. We can just base the picks off of rankings that were predetermined by other people haha.
BH: As you look at the draft board, what are your initial thoughts?
JR: For as bad as Eamonn’s MLB draft was in my humble opinion, his prospect draft was as good on the other end. It’s easy to pick Bryce Harper obviously, but I think each one of the guys he took was strong. Here’s the lIst:
Bryce Harper
Josh Sale
Anthony Rizzo
Zach Cox
Joe Benson
Tyler Skaggs
Andrew Oliver

JR: That’s quite the group
BH: Did you see the rousing debate that Josh Sale and Nick Castellanos caused at the intermission?
JR: Yeah, heated. Piazza and prospects by the way, a nice combination by the way.
BH: KOB got pretty into the discussion, and on the opposite end of the spectrum was Pat.
JR: I like Castellanos. His writeup screams Evan Longoria comparisons.
BH: Yeah I was seriously thinking of taking him, but when I learned that I’d get Singleton I was pretty pumped.
JR: Yeah I remember you debating which one you liked better. Singleton is one of those guys like Jason Heyward where you just feel like he’s going to be good. He’s black. That gives him like way more credibility than others.
BH: I hope so.
JR: Going back to Eamer’s draft, I think time will show that perhaps the best pick outside the obvious Harper pick was Joe Benson. I wanted him in the worst way.
BH: Really?
JR: yeah. I love that guy. His power rates really high and everything else rates as a 60 or higher. Hard not to like that.
BH: K/BB ratio was a little poor on him.
JR: I feel like he’s the kind of guy that makes enough contact to offset that.
BH: I don’t know. Maybe.
JR: Be skeptical, but when that guy is the next Jayson Werth, don’t say I didn’t tell you. What other picks caught your attention.
BH: I liked Zach Lee. And the guy you took, Kyle Parker. Was kinda pissed when you got him.
JR: yeah I liked those guys. But the lisp on Zach Lee? It’s tough enough having to draft a guy with two first names. But throw that in there, and that’s a real mixed bag.
BH: I thought Billy took every guy that I thought he’d take. Chris Archer. That guy screamed Billy pick. Jordan Lyles. Bill Pick. Brent Morel. Christ, did I not tell you like 2 weeks ago that guy was getting picked by Bill?
JR: hahaha you called all those guys. It’s not like those players are bad. But I don’t know what makes someone a prototypical Billy guy but you really can sniff it a mile away. It’s like how guys have type of girls they like you know?
JR: how did you not come away with Trey McNutt?
BH: Worst pick of the draft right there. I hate that guy. You don’t even need to see him pitch and he looks like a fucking 3rd starter and Brad got him in the 2nd round.
JR: Drinking the haterade there.
BH: Definitely drinking the opposite on Josh Sale. I really like that guy. He was a lightening rod though. KOB, aka Mr Baseball prospectus was like EHHHHAAAAHHHHHHH prospectus thinks he sucks.
JR: LAUGHS. Well I don’t know what prospectus had to say. All I know is Sale’s writeup was pretty bonerific. You also weren’t a big fan of another BrewCrew pick
BH: Who’s that
JR: Travis D’Arnard
BH: Oh, yeah. He’s awful.
JR: oooff, harsh criticism. The nuts sure find people they either really like or hate in a hurry haha.
BH: That’s how we roll.

John’s Favorite Prospect picks:
Round 1
Michael Pineda, Rampage
Jonathan Singleton, Nuts
Wilin Rosario, Benders

Round 2
I liked everyone in Round 2 haha

Round 3
Eibner, Nuts

Round 4
Segura and Yelich, Benders
Raunado, Monsters

Round 5
Cecchini, Ballers
Arcia, Quahogs

Brendan’s Favorite Prospects:
Round 1:
Pineda
Josh sale

Round 2:
Michael Choice
Craig Kimbrel

Round 3
Kyle Parker
Matt Szcur
Cesar Puello

Round 4
Raunaudo
Heredia
Ovando

Round 5
Aaron Sanchez
Levon Washington
Xander Bogerts

2011 Draft Results

2011-03-07T10:56:00.001-05:00

And with the Second pick....

2011-03-02T20:52:00.003-05:00

Rampage owner Dave Pearce announced to Manny Machado himself that he'll be the #2 pick in this Saturday's prospect draft

Quahog's 2011 Intro Video

2011-03-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

Bombers 2010 Highlight Video

2011-02-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

Nuts 2011 Video

2011-02-23T15:15:00.003-05:00

The Wickford Walnuts look to crack into the top echelon of the NKFBL to prove that 2010 was no fluke. The team hired Pandas Marketing LLC., to help generate a video to excite the fans.

High-end talent, at low end rankings.

2011-02-22T19:59:00.002-05:00

On the eve of the Baseball America top 100 prospect rankings let's take a look at some of the great finds of the past 10 years. Here's a pretty awesome team made up of players ranked between 80-100 in that time.

C - 97. Victor Martinez, c, Indians 2002
1b - 89. Adrian Gonzalez, 1b, Marlins 2001
2b - 81. Chase Utley, 3b/2b, Phillies 2003
3b - 91. Miguel Cabrera, ss, Marlins 2001
SS - 95. Jimmy Rollins, ss, Phillies 2000
OF - 89. Andre Ethier, of, Dodgers 2006
OF - 96. Matt Kemp, of, Dodgers 2006
OF - 90. Nick Markakis of, Orioles 2004
Util - 94. Jayson Werth, of/c, Blue Jays 2002
Util - 91. Corey Hart, 3b/1b, Brewers 2003
Util - 98. Aubrey Huff, 3b, Devil Rays 2000
BN - 81. Ryan Ludwick, of, Athletics 2001
BN - 96. Aaron Hill ss, Blue Jays 2002
BN - 100. Drew Stubbs of, Reds 2008
BN - 89. Russell Martin, c, Dodgers 2004

SP - 84. Ubaldo Jimenez, rhp, Rockies 2007
SP - 80. Josh Johnson, rhp, Marlins 2006
SP - 97. Adam Wainwright, rhp, Braves 2001
SP - 91. Matt Cain rhp, Giants 2004
SP - 83. Francisco Liriano, lhp, Giants 2003
RP - 93. Neftali Feliz rhp, Rangers 2008
RP - 91. Jon Papelbon, rhp, Red Sox 2005
RP - 97. Huston Street, rhp, Athletics 2005
BN - 87. Ricky Romero, lhp, Blue Jays 2007
BN - 99. Edwin Jackson, rhp, Dodgers 2003
BN - 80. Carlos Zambrano, rhp, Cubs 2002
BN - 82. Colby Lewis, rhp, Rangers 2002

Minors:
80. Desmond Jennings, of, Rays 2009
81. Brett Lawrie, c/3b, Brewers 2009
86. Martin Perez, lhp, Rangers 2009
87. Freddie Freeman, 1b, Braves 2009
93. Miguel Sano, ss, twins 2010
85. Mike Trout, of, Angels 2010

Pandas Promo Video

2011-02-17T12:00:00.002-05:00

The 2011 Pandas are taking aim at returning to the Playoffs after a two year absence. With a new resolve and determination, the Pandas and their revamped pitching staff take aim at bringing back the Kurkjian Cup to Poland. The trailer below is running on local Poland stations during this week's special episode of CSI: Warsaw.

The NKFBL turns a Decade Old

2011-02-08T18:54:00.002-05:00

The historical 10th season of the NKFBL will be commemorated by a special edition logo created by Czar Henderson.

This will mark the first of many special events during the end of the NKFBL's first decade.

2010 by the Numbers

2011-02-04T10:12:00.012-05:00

It’s been 131 days since the Bombers demolished the Walnuts to take home the Kurkjian Cup and cap off another great year. With 2010 in the books and pitchers/catchers reporting in only 11 days I thought I’d come out of hiding and see what the final stats from last season can tell us.

Thanks to Uustal saving the final 2010 stats on his computer I was able to sort the yearly numbers that each team’s starters produced over the 23 week regular season. All the teams were ranked 1 through 12 for each category, with 12 being the highest. A quick tally of the hitting/pitching totals show the following:

What do these numbers tell us? Well it does confirm that it sucks to be a Ballers or Pigeons fan right now. Judging by the Baller’s management Charlie Sheen esque Vegas exploits you’d think it’s 2004 and the team is fresh off a championship win. Unfortunately as Ballers fans will tell you it’s 7 years later and fan support/morale is at an all time low. Eamers team had a truly horrific 2010 season with the sticks, where they finished no higher than 4th in any category and finished 2nd to last in hitting overall. Believe it or not the pitching staff was actually worse in 2010. Comparing them to the category leaders you can see they had 34 less save’s, 17 more losses, and were the only team ERA over 4. If this offseason shows what happens in Ballyhooly when the teams losses than I can’t imagine what will happen when (if?) the team starts winning.

Things weren’t much better in Connecticut in 2010. The Pigeons dream team tandem of Sully and Conor joined forces for the year and watched the team suffer through its fourth straight losing season. The duo stuck to their “we’ll make no moves and see how it goes” strategy and seemed content holding on to their surplus of pitching. While Jamie Garcia spent his breakout season riding the bus in the Pigeons minor leagues the team spiraled to new lows in the hitting categories, where they finished dead last and mustered no more than 2 points in any category. Conor “Always Dealin” Hartnett proved to be the fall guy for the Pigeons 2010 troubles and resigned late Wednesday night. It’s too early to tell if things will change much considering the announcement was only the 2nd time anyone had heard from Conor since he was brought back, the first being when he rejoined.

Things couldn’t have been different in Binghamton in 2010. Going into the season the trio of Jose Bautista, Chris Young and Corey Hart would have drawn a collective yawn from the NKFBL. One season and 112 HR’s later I think they have people’s attention. In addition, a preseason trade with the Rampage of Pacman, Morales and Lackey for Youkilis, Uggla and Rios proved to be a steal and provided a boost to a mediocre offense. Even with improved hitters the Benders real strength proved to be pitching. The combination of 20 wins from Wainwright, 40 saves from Feliz and a breakout year from Latos helped the squad finish 2nd overall in pitching. If nothing else the Benders showed that the doormat Blind Dogs franchise of the past is long gone and that the squad should make some noise in the AL this season. Not even taking care of Tom Tom Jr. should be able to prevent this team from competing for the playoffs.

Staying in the AL, the light hitting Rampage were unable to muster up enough SB’s (6th worst) and runs (2nd worst) to support the epic “Master Plan” created by Jeff “Milky” Lester. Unfortunately for Lester and his Cubans the pitching numbers don’t look much better and it looks like the plan might be scrapped going forward. A new staff without Strasberg and Price should cause some regression and leave the Rampage with a pitching staff that looks a lot less intimidating. Look for the Cubans and Pearce to orchestrate an Egyptian style uproar if things go South and Lester refuses to even consider dealing Rampage lifer Miggy.

Back in the NL, the 2010 numbers show us that the Bombers deserved alot of the success they had last season (Queue Dennis Green “But they are who we thought they were!!!”). All Erik’s keepers put up big numbers and there’s really no reason to think that things will be different going forward since 11 of his 15 keepers are 27 or under (shaking head). The Bombers should stay good (and hated) for many years to come.

Overall the numbers from last season are just that – last season – and don’t really mean a whole lot going forward. Who could have looked at the final 2009 numbers and predicted that The Brad and the Brew Crew would go from 17 win runner up to 8th place? Similarly no stats would have been enough to convince the NKFBL that KOB could lead the biggest turnaround in NKFBL history and win 10 more games than the previous season. No one knows what the 2011 season will bring except that it is guaranteed to include nightly late night chat room posts by Tom Tom, numerous trades proposals marinating in Billy’s outbox and the Pigeons leading the league in fewest moves made.

Breaking Down Breakdown: 2010 Season

2011-02-02T19:12:00.011-05:00

As shown time and time again over the 9 year history of the NKFBL, luck has a lot to do with the outcome of the NKFBL each season. Running into the right or wrong teams during any given week can cause a significant difference in record at the end of the season. In the last 6 seasons, luck has cost a team as much as 4.5 games in the standings and improved their record up to 3.5 games. Oddly enough, both occurrences were the former North Kingstown Friars and the current Ballyhooly Ballers.

To determine how luck factors into the NKFBL, we use breakdown to come up with each team's Projected Win total. The Projected Win total is simply each team's Breakdown Winning Percentage multiplied by the number of team games played in an NKFBL season (23).

Each team's actual Wins that season are then subtracted from the Projected Wins, coming up with the Win Difference stat. A positive Win Difference means that a team was unlucky during the NKFBL season and a negative Win Difference displays luck in a team's favor. The Win Difference number, positive or negative, is how many games in the standings that were swung either way by luck.

Here is a breakdown of how luck factored into the 2010 NKFBL Season.
(Ranked by Win Difference (lucky to unlucky) and Projected Wins)

Negative: These teams had a difference of 1 or more games in bad luck during the 2010 season.

Polska Pandas- The wheels came off the Pandas in the last 6 weeks of the 2010 season as they finished 1-5 down the stretch, ending their stretch of 2 consecutive winning seasons after failing to achieve one prior to 2008. The numbers show that the Pandas ran into some tough matchups over that stretch and finished with a Win Difference of 3.03 games (4th unluckiest all time).

Hell Benders- The Hell Benders (or Blind Dogs according to my Excel file) showed a lot of improvement in 2010, but unfortunately were only able to better their win total by 2 games. This was due mostly to poor luck. The stats show that the Benders were a 12+ win team that suffered over 2 games worth of poor luck in 2010. The Benders outperformed their win total dramatically last season, making them a popular sleeper pick and sub .500 team to watch in 2011.

Brew Crew- The Brew Crew regressed significantly in 2010, going from a 17-win juggernaut and league runner-up in 2009 to a 10-13 team in 2010. Their 7-game drop off was most in NKFBL history. The Brew Crew were a 12-win team according to their breakdown, so unfavorable scheduling played a bit of a role in their poor season.

New England Bombers- The Bombers impressive breakdown (6th best in NKFBL history) was no secret all season long in 2010. However, their lack of wins was and the Bombers let anyone know who would listen. A 6-game winning streak to close out the regular season salvaged their season and lowered their Win Difference to only 1.6475 games.

Neutral- These teams had a difference of less than 1 game of luck, positive or negative, during the 2010 season.

Ballers- The Ballers were truly awful in 2010 and their breakdown confirmed just how weak of a team this was. The Ballers did suffer from nearly a game's worth of bad luck, but their breakdown was 2nd worst in NKFBL history, topped only by the 2009 Smoke Monsters.

RIC Anchormen- The Anchormen have been the most "Even Steven" team in the NKFBL since the stat has been tracked the last 6 seasons. In 5 of these 6 seasons, the Anchormen have fallen in the neutral category. Bad luck has not kept this team from reaching .500, but good luck has also not been a factory in the history of the Anchormen.

Wickford Walnuts- The Walnuts slowed down in the 2nd half of the 2010 season after an overachieving, red hot start. Their breakdown was a story during their 8-1 start to the season, but a 5-9 end to the season put this team right where it deserved to be.

Positive: These teams had a difference of 1 or more games in good luck during the 2010 season.

RI Quahogs- The Quahogs were the luckiest team in the NKFBL last season with nearly 3 game's worth of good luck (4th best all time). This luck helped them accomplish their 2nd straight 16-win season, but once again, their luck swung dramatically in the playoffs as they have run into monster opponents again and again.

The Carbombs- The Carbombs shockingly won an NKFBL best 17 games in 2010 despite an 0-2 start. The veteran team was aided by 2.6 (5th best all time) games worth of positive luck and may be a candidate for a big drop off in 2011 if their luck turns.

Cuban Rampage- The Rampage somehow willed their way to 11 wins last season despite what was a barren roster. Not that the Cuban ownership believes in stats (or reason) besides wins and losses, but this was more of a 9-win team according to the numbers.

Attack Pigeons- The Pigeons were another historically bad team in 2010, but their impotence was hidden a by a game and a half worth of good luck. Their breakdown was 3rd worst in NKFBL history and a franchise turnaround could be years away.

Smoke Monsters- The Smoke Monsters' amazing 10-win turnaround was the story of the 2010 NKFBL season and won Kevin O'Brien the Owner of the Year award. Shockingly, the Monsters were only beneficiaries of 1.4 games worth of good luck. Their turnaround was legit and the Monsters seem like a major factor in the NKFBL for many years to come.

Pandas Dawn New Logo

2011-01-26T10:35:00.007-05:00

In keeping up with precedence of the prior 4 years the Pandas Marketing team has once again developed a new logo for the upcoming season, a sign that pitchers and catchers must be reporting soon.

According to the team's press release, this year's logo was designed for simplicity and a more streamlined appearence.

K.O. (B)! O'Brien Knocks Out The Competition!

2011-01-13T14:32:00.005-05:00

Like Russian Mark Cuban - KOB and his traveling band of floozies!

In a vote that was mired by a boycott of some in Cuba, Smoke Monsters Owner, Kevin O'Brien takes home the coveted award for the NKFBL's owner of the year. In 2010 O'Brien completed just his 2nd year in the NKFBL - an unprecedented franchise turnaround. In 2009 the Monsters finished with an all-time NKFBL low 3 wins, and had nowhere to go but up. Up they went - way up, finishing with 13 wins in 2010 and only one game behind the Bombers for the division crown.

Heading into the season everyone was complimenting the talented young roster that KOB had assembled, though most were quick to write off any realistic playoff chances for the Monsters. "They're still a year or two away," were the sentiments of most other owners around the league. KOB remained optimistic about the 2010 season though, and it turns out he had good reason to have high hopes. That young roster, complimented well by veterans turned it up in 2010 and gave O'Brien a team worth watching as they went from being a virtual bye-week to being a legitimate contender in the NKFBL.

In typical humble fashion for the successful owner, O'Brien said he was honored just to be nominated. As if a 10 win difference from 2009 to 2010 wasn't going to warrant a nomination! "To win is awesome," remarked O'Brien. "In a league of this caliber, to be considered one of the better owners is unbelievable, especially in only my second year."

To get the Monsters to where they are now, O'Brien knew right from the moment he took over the franchise that it was going to require a monstrous (no pun intended...ok maybe a little) overhaul. "Things were going to have to get really bad before my team had any shot of competing," O'Brien stated during a recent interview. As he gutted what remained of the Names franchise, he set his sights on young talent hoping that some would prosper on his roster and that others would become valuable trade pieces. "All of the prospect research and hard work I've put in has really paid off." Glancing at his roster it isn't hard to notice that young talent peppered throughout the lineup. From the much ballyhooed Mike Stanton to underwhelming yet solid Elvis Andrus, just about every position on the Monsters is filled by an up-and-coming burgeoning young star. Of his current starters on the roster, Adam LaRoche at age 31 is the oldest, while Brett Myers and CJ Wilson are the elder statesmen of the rotation at 30 years old each. Clearly, time is on the side of the Monsters.

When asked if he had any kind of three or five year plan O'Brien responded by saying that he never had a "set amount of years in mind", though he did set out to get as young as possible in 2009. He also sought after, and continues to seek players who he deems "undervalued" while looking to move those who he sees "overvalued." Seems simple in nature, but for KOB his approach has clearly paid off, albeit with a little luck in prospects panning out.

As for moving forward in 2011 and years to come, O'Brien hopes that some of the luck will continue, but has faith in his system and that his young talent will continue to develop. The playoffs are in sight in 2011, and don't be surprised to see the Monsters competing for that spot again next season. Along with the playoff hopes for 2011 the Monsters may be sporting a new logo as they hope to boost merchandise sales and "get out of the cellar in NKFBL logos."

VOTTO POWERS HIS WAY TO MVP!

2010-12-31T15:50:00.005-05:00

Joey Votto of the Bombers wins the ND MVP award.

Among the surprise stories of the 2010 season was the emergence of slugging first baseman, Joey Votto. Scouts have been high on Votto's abilities for a few years, and he had shown flashes of the brilliance that was to come, but had yet to put together a complete season - both health wise, and production wise. In 2009 he was mired in a funk that stemmed from anxiety issues related to the death of his father, and some questioned whether or not he would ever be the same. The Reds (and Bombers?) gave him some time off to get his head straight, and since then he has been on a tear that can only be described as beastly.

It is almost inappropriate to call it a tear, when it lasts the whole season, but Votto managed to be incredibly consistent in 2010. He hit over .300 in each month except April - and he managed a nice .275 in that month. Though he played at the launching pad known as Great American Ballpark, Votto was even better on the road, hitting .349 and slugging .641 away from Cincinnati. When asked to describe Votto, Bombers' owner, Erik Uustal, remarked that, "He's not a guy that goes through extreme hot and cold streaks. He fouls off tough pitches and takes whatever you give him." A deeper look into the NKFBL statistical archives reveals that Joey Votto did not hit an infield pop-up the entire season! (Rumor has it that Chris Young of the Benders is consulting with Votto about this skill.)

Looking like he may weep when discussing his star first baseman, Uustal made note of how Votto carried the offense each week, and no more so than in the championship in which he book ended a four game absence with terrific performances, hitting two bombs over the weekend - including the clincher on Sunday afternoon.

He also likened Votto to another left-handed hitting first baseman, Todd Helton. Like Helton in his prime, Votto has tremendous opposite field power, coupled with the ability to hit for average while getting on base at a good clip. Perhaps their quiet dominance is their greatest similarity.

Votto couldn't be reached in his home near the Arctic Circle, though we did have correspondence via the Sled Dog Express.

Sled Dogs were used to traverse the tundra in order to communicate with Votto at his home in Canada.

Votto was predictably pleased, and humble, to receive the honor and is looking forward to the 2011 season as the Bombers take aim at a repeat performance. In the offseason he stays strong by chopping logs and snow-shoeing to build endurance. He also keeps busy with the production of his custom home-made maple syrup. Apparently, it is a huge hit in the Bombers locker room. The Upton Brothers are rumored to carry around bottles of it on road trips and love nothing more than dousing their chicken and waffles with the sweet syrup, compliments of Votto Maple Farm.

For the sake of the Bombers future, they'd better hope the Uptons take it easy on the sugar this winter.

Votto joins fellow Canucks, Larry Walker (1997) and Justin Morneau (2006), as the only baseball players from the Great White North to claim the award.

Cano Can Do!

2010-12-21T21:00:00.003-05:00

Robinson Cano takes home the Most Valuable Player hardware in the American Division.

Wickford Walnuts second baseman and offensive juggernaut, won MVP in a tight contest in the American Division. Coming off a disappointing 2008, Cano rebounded with a tremendous season in 2009, supplanting himself as one of the best 2nd basemen in the game. In 2010, he topped those numbers and carried the Walnuts offense on his back for most of the 2nd half. Cano finished with a stat line that many would guess belonged to a corner IF or OF, despite playing at the usually offensively-challenged 4 spot. He hammered 29 long balls and drove in 109 RBI, put up an OPS of .914 and struck out a measly 77 times. In short, he was a one-man wrecking crew for the Nuts in 2010, and for that he was given the award.

Some members of the league have questioned the award, citing that Carlos Gonzalez - who emerged as arguably the top OF in the game - had better numbers and deserved the award more. However, when asked about Cano's MVP caliber season, Nuts owner, Brendan Hart remarked that, "When the Nuts made the finals I think it was clear he deserved the award." He added, "(You might say) Cargo deserved it based on the numbers - Its hard to dispute the beastly season he had - but Pats team also has numerous other top 50 hitters that the Walnuts lack."

Perhaps what surprised many around the NKFBL, even more than Cano's great season, was the fact that he is actually Hispanic...and not African American! Who knew? (I mean he's named after Jackie Robinson. Why not Roberto Clemente?)

Even Hart himself wasn't sure until this season. "I thought he was hispanic, but I really wasn't sure," he said. Cano dispelled any doubts when he spoke with the media in a Sammy Sosa-esque accent at the All Star game this past season.

Lack of publicity for the star 2nd baseman, could be one reason that some people weren't sure. As Hart points out, it is hard to get much attention when you're sharing the infield with Jeter, Rodriguez and Texeira. Though he is hopeful that 2010 will change that.

Cano likes to spend his off-season in the Dominican Republic where he is from, and wasn't available for comment at the award presentation. However, he did pass along some quotes through Nuts ownership. He was very pleased with the award, and hopes to continue the offensive tear in 2011. He also expressed a great deal of excitement about new double-play mate, Jose Reyes, who was recently acquired by the Walnuts. "He is the most heavily pursued player by the Nuts since me, and I think it's gonna be great," he said (though it took many minutes to decipher the audio recording). "We should be great for the next 5 or 6 years here." (Did he say years? This couldn't be clarified at the time of publication.)

Cano also offered up some commentary on the "rivalry" between the Nuts and the Rampage. "It's hard to get worried about a team who has only seen the playoffs one time in nine seasons. This year the only week highlighted on the schedule is week 8."

The Wickford Walnuts will face the New England Bombers week 8, in a rematch of the 2010 championship game.

NKFBL Podcast!

2010-12-18T22:54:00.001-05:00

Erik and Pat are back for their first NKFBL podcast in over 2 years...

CZ Notes - Project Prospect Team Rankings by the Numbers

2010-12-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

NKFBL friend and contributor Adam Foster released his Overall Top 25 Prospects a week ago. You can find it here

Here is how each team did; Foster's rankings in ( )

3 Prospects in top 25

RI Quahogs

Yonder Alonso, 1B (12)
Mike Moustakas, 3B (17)
Julio Teheran, P (25)

Smoke Monsters

Jesus Montero, C (3)
Eric Hosmer, 1B (5)
Dominic Brown, OF (7)

2 Prospects in top 25

New England Bombers

Mike Trout, OF (2)
Shelby Miller, P (13)

Attack Pigeons

Dustin Ackley, 2B (4)
Randall Delgado P (24)

Wickford Walnuts

Wil Myers, C (8)
Matt Moore, P (14)

Cuban Rampage

Aroldis Chapman (15t)
Desmond Jennings (15t)

Polska Pandas

Jarrod Parker, P (11)
Jaff Decker, OF (22)

1 Prospect in top 25

RIC Anchormen

Jeremy Hellickson (21)

Binghamton HellBenders

Freddie Freeman (9)

Remaining

Carbombs

Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork

Brew Crew

Unowned/Undrafted

Bryce Harper (1)
Brandon Belt (6)
Jameson Taillon (10)
Devin Mesoraco (16)
Mike Minor (18)
Michael Pineda (23)

What can we take away from this? Nothing really. But here's something interesting. While the Rampage only deal in "1st Rd. Prospects" as a rule of thumb, the average round these players were taken: 2.1

Year | Name | Team Drafted | rd

2010 Mike Trout, NEB | 3rd

2010 Jaff Decker, PP | 1st

2010 Randall Delgado, APC | 4th

2010 Dustin Ackley, APC | 1st

2010 Zach Britton, SM | 5th

2010 Shelby Miller, NEB | 1st

2010 Matt Moore, WW | 2nd

2010 Aroldis Chapman, CR | 1st

2009 Eric Hosmer, SM | 1st

2009 Freddie Freeman, SM | 3rd

2009 Jeremy Hellickson, RA | 3rd

2009 Yonder Alonso, BHB | 1st

2008 Desmond Jennings, CB | 2nd

2008 Mike Moustakas, RIQ | 1st

2008 Jarrod Parker, NEB | 2nd

2008 Dominic Brown, BHB | 3rd

2008 Jesus Montero, PP | 3rd

2008 Julio Teheran, RIQ | 4th

Picks by Round:

Rd. 1: 7

Rd. 2: 3

Rd. 3: 5

Rd. 4: 2

Rd. 5: 1

This gives you, if only a snapshot, an idea of what draft picks are worth. Here's a little list of the best draft values in NKFBL History:

2007:

Rd. 11 - Names: Nolan Reimold

Rd. 11 - Carbombs: Kyle Drabek

Rd. 12 - Names: Josh Hamilton

Rd. 13 - Brew Crew: Edinson Volquez

Rd. 14 - Attack Pigeons: Ricky Romero

Rd. 14 - Polska Pandas: Mark Reynolds

2008

Rd. 4 - RIQ: Neftali Feliz

Rd. 4 - RIQ: Julio Teheran

2009

Rd. 4 - RIQ Pablo Sandoval

Rd. 4 - WW Martin Perez

Rd. 5 - RA: Ike Davis

FELIX CROWNED KING

2010-12-16T21:27:00.004-05:00

Felix Hernandez claims his throne in the National Division.

There are many adjectives to describe Felix Hernandez of the New England Bombers - dominant, magnificent, exceptional, superior. The list goes on and on. Perhaps the most appropriate word would be...titillating, which means to excite (another) pleasurably, superficially or erotically. That was certainly the case for Bombers manager Erik Uustal who was the beneficiary of King Felix's award-winning performances.

However, Hernandez's award doesn't come without a fair share of controversy. While playing for the abominable Mariners Hernandez was only able to win a meager 13 games while losing 12. Not exactly a W-L record you'd expect from the best pitcher in the league. But that speaks more to how historically bad his Mariners team was, not to his pitching capabilities.

As Uustal points out, Hernandez's consistency this season stood out from years past. In his last 21 starts, he went 8+ innings in an amazing 13 of them. Not only that but, in the Bombers playoff run Hernandez slammed the door on the pitching categories with two 8 IP, 1 ER performances.

When speaking about Hernandez, Uustal sounds like the proud parent of an illegitimate Venezuelan boy, born of a Peace Corp romance deep in the jungle. "Felix has been with the Bomber organization since his first start in the Majors at age 19. His growth into the best pitcher in the league has been a pleasure to watch."

He might indeed be the best pitcher in the league, but he does have his shortcomings. Most noticeably his lack of proficiency with the media.

Hernandez, like many of his Latino brethren prefer life out of the limelight, and as Uustal puts it "The King prefers to speak in grunts and fist pumps, especially after a big punch-out to get out of a jam." He also adds that, "Felix, along with another public-speaking-challenged Bomber, Buster Posey, have been working on their media skills following their big NKFBL Award wins this season."

We will all be looking forward to that!

CZ Notes: Hot Stove Report

2010-12-16T12:36:00.001-05:00

After a relatively quiet off season, the NKFBL is back in full force. As is the case every year--whether it's the Winter Meetings in baseball or just so happens that people are bored of fantasy football and go back to their true passion--it seems once that first trade of the off season goes down, it triggers a domino effect of others wanting to get in on the action. Such has been the case in the past few weeks.

QUAHOGS GET:
1st round MLB Pick
1st round Prospect pick

RAMPAGE GET:
Jason Bay

The trade that got everything going was between the RI Quahogs and Cuban Rampage. Evidently Cuba does trade with America.

Though the Master plan seems more like a fluid plan than anything, the Rampage received much needed help in the hitting department, and with an abundance of picks, they swiped the once beloved Jason Bay from the Quahogs. Evidently GM Pat Henderson had seen enough of CitiField's vast lands sap one of his best players power. As likely though would be the fact that Bay was nursing injuries missing nearly 67 games. In the 2/3 of the season he did play, Jason was held at bay as he popped only 6 homers and stole 10 bases.

Thoughts: both teams are hedging their bets on this one. Pat clearly thinks Bays best days are behind him and that hitting in Petco II will keep the outfielder's stats down long term. Thus to receive two first round selections may be as much value as he'll have going forward. The Rampage obviously hope that Bay returns to his Pittsburgh days in which case they'd definitely be buying low. A Boston-like season would be a steal.

VERDICT: Push

Until we see what those draft picks turn into, it's kind of unfair to say one way or another who got the best of this one. My feelings are that Bay is not as good as he was in Boston, but most definitely better than he was last season and should provide better OF/Util option than say, Jason Bartlett and platooning OF, JD Drew.

Trade 2:

PANDAS GET:
David Price

RAMPAGE GET:
Adam Dunn
1st MLB pick
2nd Prospect Pick

A trade that was rumored to go down in another form days earlier was scrapped, and what came from that, was this deal. As was covered before, this is the second time in Pandas history that Adam Dunn was dealt for an ace pitcher. The year the Pandas traded for Peavy, 2007, he won the Cy Young Award, finishing 19-6 with the Padres. In David Price, the Pandas get one of the premiere left-handed pitchers in the game, still only 25, and coming off a Cy Young-like performance. If you go by CBS' rankings, the Pandas now own 3 pitchers in the top 20 (Haren, Price, Josh Johnson) and 5 in the top 35 (Colby Lewis and Phil Hughes). The Pandas have always been a pitching-rich organization and pride themselves on having tall (mostly white, but c'mon, his name is david) pitchers. The pandas felt they needed to bolster the rotation after finishing last season a disappointing 7th in ERA and 5th in WHIP, and were consistently let down by poor one-week performances by the likes of Carlos Zambrano, and a poor 1st half from Dan Haren.

The Rampage receive one of the prolific HR hitters of this era. Adam Dunn is as consistent as anyone. You can pencil him in for 40 HR, .260 avg, 90-100 RBI, and a high OBP. 40-HR guys are hard to find these days so the Rampage paid a hefty price, no pun, but pun also intended. But as consistant as Dunn is, the Rampage may be hoping for more from the slugger. Dunn moves to a better hitters park and a much better lineup with Alex rios, Konerko, Quentin, etc hitting around him. The Master Plan may have had some coffee spilled on it, as now the pitching, which was so strong 6 months ago, is not looking as much with Ace Stephen Strasburg out. But the Cubans will have some definite firepower and if their pitching is good enough, they should easily compete week-to-week. Additionally, though it was like pulling teeth, the Rampage also bolstered their picks, grabbing a 1st rd MLB and 2nd round prospect pick to help replace the two firsts that were lost in the Jason Bay trade.

Trade 3:

PANDAS GET:
Justun Morneau
Grant Green

WALNUTS GET:
Adrian Beltre
Jose Reyes

The Walnuts and Pandas reportedly searched far and wide for a 3rd team to get involved with a lot of moving pieces. That was crinkled up and thrown out, but just as all was lost, the Pandas ownership had a face-to-face meeting on a cold blustery Monday night and discussed this deal with Brendan Hart. A deal was basically shook upon during dinner that evening.

If healthy, the Pandas effectively upgraded themselves over Dunn. Morneau is a high average OBP, RBI monster, but coming off a year where he was concussed, we don't really know how he'll react to start the season. The Pandas are taking on a bit of risk. Before he got hurt, Morneau was on pace for an MVP season, with 24 HR and 95 RBI, on July 7. Pandas aren't expecting that, but a .280, 30, 100 campaign seems like reasonable expectations. Also Morneau's consistency at 1B will be a welcome addition after years of inconsistent play from the likes of Carlos Pena and Dunn who can literally single handedly win or lose a week for you.

The Walnuts receive an upgrade at two thin positions, and make Rollins trade fodder, perhaps a replacement at 1B can be found. After being acquired last season, Rollins has outworn his welcome in a miserable 2010. A team could certainly look at him for a possible bounce back season. Hart, always a Jose Reyes fan, got his man. Additionally, with Mark Reynolds hitting only .198 last season, an upgrade at 3B is probably not a bad idea. This, after he had 44HR and 24SB the year before while hitting .260. Would the real Mark Reynolds please stand up? And speaking of real, who is the real Adrian Beltre? The walnuts hope it's the one that was a monster last season hitting .330 and was a middle-of-the-order force. It was his best season since another contract year in 2005 when Beltre belted 48 homeruns. Obviously the talent is there, but the consistency isn't. Expecting such a high average would be foolish, but even if Beltre descended to .275 and 25HR, that's still .80 points higher than Reynolds hit last year. Reyes is also a bit of a gamble. The Walnuts hope that he can remain healthy for an entire season. Last year he struggled with health and was put all over the Mets lineup. His best suited role is leadoff and if he remains healthy, it's not crazy to think he could steal 40 bases again.

Trade 4

ANCHORMEN get:
6th Overall Prospect Pick
7th Overall Prospect Pick

RAMPAGE gat:
2nd Overall Prospect Pick

The Rampage move up to the second overall spot and get the first selection of "everyone after Bryce Harper." There's talent to be had certainly. We'll see which Cuban shortstop the Rampage take this season.

With the hot stove burning, expect more trades to come in the coming days.

WAINWRIGHT CAPTURES RANDY JOHNSON AWARD

2010-12-14T07:48:00.003-05:00

Hell Benders ace, Adam Wainwright, wins prestigious pitching honors.

When Adam Wainwright joined the Hell Benders franchise back in 2007 as part of a trade with the Bombers for Roger Clemens, he was just beginning to find a defined role in the Major Leagues. He had emerged as a closer with the Cardinals in the midst of their championship run in 2006, thanks to an injury to Jason Isringhausen. Wainwright dominated in the playoffs from the pen, but was given the chance to be in the rotation in 2007. This was just what the Benders (then Blind Dogs) were hoping for. He finished his first season with a respectable 14-12 and has never looked back, getting better every year.

Wainwright emerged in 2009 as the ace of the Hell Benders pitching staff. He and Cardinals teammate, Chris Carpenter, finished 2nd and 3rd in the Cy Young voting. It is rumored that Mark Buehrle and Greg Maddux both had tremendous influence on the young pitcher's development. In 2010 Wainwright did not disappoint, as he led the Hell Benders staff in every important category.

He finished the year with 20 wins, and could have had more if the Cards' bullpen would have held some leads down the stretch. He also led the team in complete games with 5, strikeouts with 213, ERA at 2.43 and WHIP at 1.05. Needless to say, Adam Wainwright had a stellar season, and is deserving of the Randy Johnson Award.

NKFBL Simulated Interview

2010-12-09T02:40:00.000-05:00

The National Division Got BUSTED!

2010-12-08T19:04:00.003-05:00

Buster Posey bursts on the scene to win the 2010 ND Rookie of The Year award. Probably needs some hotter groupies, though.

Once upon a time - not too long ago - Buster Posey was a bit of an enigma. The Golden Spikes winner from Florida State was a hot commodity in the real baseball world. Fantasy GMs, though, were a little more skeptical. In the NKFBL prospect draft of 2009 Posey "fell" to number 6 and the New England Bombers. While none of the selections above him would be considered bad picks, it is safe to say that he may have gone a few picks higher if that draft was redone today. To date, only Hosmer hasn't seen the big leagues of those selected ahead of Posey. Truth be told, yours truly was seriously considering him at #1 overall, but was scared off by some of the skeptics.

No one questioned Posey's ability to put the bat on the ball. In college he was a hitting machine. The questions were about his power production and his ability to stick at C in the big leagues. (He was a SS at FSU until his final season). At #6 he wasn't much risk for the Bombers, though and was deserving of that selection.

Posey responded to those critics in 2010 with a monster rookie season, and was a driving force behind the Bombers turn-around down the home stretch in their championship run. In his first season in San Fran, Posey hit a shade over .300 in 406 AB. The surprising part though, was the 18 bombs he amassed and the .505 SLG %. I think most figured that he would get on base and hit for a decent clip, which in itself would have been valuable at the C position. His power was seen as developing. And while many scouts believed his swing mechanics and bat speed would lead to power down the road, I'm not sure many thought he would hit 18 bombs in his first look at the bigs.

Uustal, though, was not one of the many skeptics. When asked how surprised he was that Posey had the breakout he did, Uustal gave a snarky, Hal Steinbrenner-like quip, "Buster Posey knows how to hit. Plain and simple." He ackowledges that coming out of college Posey didn't possess the "gaudy tools" and "high ceiling" that some other prospects had, but he was confident that the young catcher would square up the ball at the MLB level.

Square it up he did in 2010, and the Bombers will be looking forward to many more productive MVP caliber seasons from Buster Posey for years to come.

His Hart is in Wickford

2010-12-07T19:59:00.004-05:00

In GM Hart's first public appearance or statement in over two months, Brendan announced his return to the Wickford Walnuts. Speculation of a possible move to the Pandas, acquisition of the Pigeons or retirement ran wild in NKFBL circles the past few days, but Hart elected to return to the Walnuts. Co-owner Andy Salomone should take on more of an active role in the future after being more of a prop in the Walnut organization in the past.

Hart also expressed his new found disdain for the Bomber franchise in the interview, "The Decision." The Bombers have been adamant publicly calling out Brendan after his disappearance following the Nuts' loss to the Bombers in the NKFBL Championship Game. Hart declared, "he did not care about winning" in the waning moments of the title game in what was his last NKFBL sighting before tonight's interview. Bomber owner, Erik Uustal, was rumored to be unhappy with Hart's lack of "respect for the NKFBL" which included this attempt to downplay the significance of the Kurkjian Cup, a failure to congratulate the Champions and stiffing the Bombers once again at the year ending trophy ceremony.

The Bombers could not be reached for comment immediately following "The Decision." However, TMZ did obtain this copy of the their personalized Christmas card to the Walnuts organization.

Dear Brandon,

Thanks for the hate.... and the title. Maybe Andy will lead the Walnuts to one someday.

It's on.

Love,

Your 2010 Champion New England Bombers

The Decision

2010-12-07T18:06:00.003-05:00

JG: Thank you very much. Everybody is on pins and needles across the country, particularly those teams who are in the running for Brendan Hart. Are you ready to go Brendan? Where is the lube?

BH: Left it at home.

JG: So brendan Hart, what have you decided... actually let's draw this out for all it's worth, What's new? What's been going on with you this Winter?

BH: Man, this whole experience. It's been crazy.

JG: What have you been thinkin about?

BH: Clouds. Jobs. Religion. Why toothpaste is so bad before or after orange juice.

JG: Couple years ago, you were highly recruited because you worked with Pat Henderson in pawtucket. Have you enjoyed the last few days. Does all this attention remind you of that time?

BH: I have enjoyed it. And I want to thank the teams that I had an opportunity to sit down with and hear what they had to say. Also want to thank my girfriend for understanding why i haven't been at home with the kids, I love all you, Takwon, Keyshawn, Terrell, Jasmine, D'Stephanie, D'Julie, D'Ashley, Ray Ray, and Carl.

JG: What did you expect? Because we've seen 30 foot billboards. We've seen teams in financial trouble clear their budgets in hopes you'd join. We've seen cartoons made about you and for you in part of their pitch. President Obama, for crying out loud, seven times has commented that he'd like to see you go to Poland, and regretted passing the bailout bill, but that's another matter. What did you expect from this process?

BH: I expected to be able to go through this process and sit across from other teams and hear how they feel with me being a part of their team. Or maybe it's better to just retire, and commit my life to being Amish.

JG: Is it possible for you not to answer in a complete sentance? This isn't a 4th grade test.

BH: No it is not possible for me to answer in a complete sentance.

JG: How many people know your decision right now?

BH: Not many.

JG: When did you decide?

BH: Although I've had countless time to consider my answer, i'll just say that I decided this morning. I would wake up one morning, and think one team. I wake up another morning, it's this team. Another morning, retirement.
But this morning I woke up, had a great conversation with my mom, Agnes. (Agnes Hart). Once I had that conversation with her, I think I was set.

JG: So the last time you changed your mind was yesterday?

BH: The last time I changed my mind was probably in my dreams. In my dreams, I'm a ninja by the way. I'm also an ice cream truck guy, a stockbroker, a realtor, a hot-air balloon pilot, a zookeeper, a clerk in Missouri, and oddly enough, the president...of the Sun City Arizona 65 & Older bridge club at the Sun City Municipal Retirment Community.

JG: I see...So does the team that you're going to--that you'll announce in a few minutes--do they know your decision?

BH: They just found out.

JG: They just found out?

BH: Yeah.

JG: Like right now?

BH: Yeah

JG: Like just now?

BH: Yeah

JG: Like, seriously, right now?

BH: Yes!

JG: So the others, the don't know?

BH: Right.

JG: Like they have no knowledge?

BH: Right

JG: They've not heard this?

BH: Correct

JG: They had no idea?

BH: That's the case.

JG: Who in this process, Brendan, have you taken advice from, and who has had the biggest influence?

BH: I've taken a lot of advice from my friends and family. My agent, Leon Rose, has been great. A lot of people that I look towards in a time of need or for advice, Jesus. Allah. Zeus. Santa Clause. Brett Favre. And ultimately, i had them all sit in a room with me and we each took turns using the 'talking stick.' They looked at me and said you have to live with your decision that you're going to make, and you have to do what's best for you, and for your family.

JG: What was the major factor, the major reason in your decision?

BH: I think the major factor and the major reason in my decision was the best opportunity for me to win and to win now and to win into the future also. And winning is a huge thing for me. Certain teams, Anchormen, are fine with losing. But, Jim you know ever since I was a 1st year owner or even in high school, that was the number one thing for me. I had a taste of the playoffs this year, and i just want to make sure I keep getting that taste in my mouth.

JG: That's what she said.

BH: Huh?

JG: Want to keep getting the taste in your mouth.

BH: ...

JG: ...

JG: Do you have any doubts about your decision?

BH: No. I don't have any doubts at all.

JG: Would you like to sleep on it a little longer, or are you ready to make this decision?

BH: I've slept enough. I took some nyquil and shit.

JG: Are you still a nail biter? And could i ask more lame questions to draw this thing out?

BH: No nail biting. And no.

JG: You've had everybody else biting their nails. So I guess it's time for them to stop chewing. The answer to the question everybody wants to know: Brendan, what's your decision?

BH: This Spring... this is very tough. This spring I'm going to keep my talents in Wickford with the Wickford Walnuts

JG: The Nuts? That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning? You're not moving anywhere after all this!?

BH: That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning, Jim.

JG: Why?

BH: Because I'll miss Andy. We're like peas and carrots. Plus I've already purchased so much Nuts merchandise.

JG: Was it always in your plan to stay with Andy? Including through sickness and in health?

BH: Well, I mean, to say it was always in my plans, I can't say it was always in my plans because I never thought it was possible that i wouldn't be #1. But if i have to share the Nuts with anyone, it would be with Andy.

JG: That's what she said.

BH: ...

JG: The role has changed now with all this. And in many ways you're going to Andy Salamone's team. He's been in Wickford, you left for a bit. How do you think you'll be able to fit again, and possibly not be the headliner all the time?

BH: For me it's not about sharing the Nuts...

JG: (to camera) Tell me you got that on film... contine...

BH: You know, it's about everybody having their own spotlight and then just doing what's best for the team. Right now, it's Andy's turn to run the show and i'll help in making decisions, but week to week, it'll be his Nuts, and i'll just help take care of them.

JG: How do you explain this to the people in Poland? There was the TMZ photo and everything.

BH: Well the whole wiki-leaks thing was kind of a farce. They never called me, or even J-Rad really. The story leaked out of nowhere and got a life of its own. That picture was taken after we agreed we were going to split the bill at lunch. I'm sorry if it was misleading.

JG: And what about the whole retiring thing? Were you actually thinking of retirment from the NKFBL? And were you aware that Big Brother Chancellor and Czar Henderson could refund you for "thought crimes"

BH: Retirement was debated but never fully considered.

JG: Wait, that's like saying you thought about it, but you never really pondered it.

BH: Exactly, And no I never thought you could be refunded for "thought crimes". I didnt know 2 months off was a crime considering conors been absent since the all star break of the 2010 season. Ernie Uustals Bombers are now far and away the most hated team in Wickford. Rather see the Cubans celebrating in the streets with Lester. VIVA

JG: Was there truth to the rumor that you looked into buying another franchise?

BH: There is truth about that rumor. I looked into the first ever NKFBL buyout. I was looking to purchase the rights to the Attack Pigeons, the perennial powerhouse that they are, but when i asked the Pigeons ownership how much it would cost to buy them out, they responded: You wouldn't be able to afford it.

JG: Well there you have it folks. The Decision. Thanks for the time Brendan, and we want to thank the Boys & Girls Club of Western Idaho for being the useless backdrop to this monumental interview.

Wiki-Leaks Strike NKFBL

2010-12-03T17:45:00.002-05:00

In a shocking development, TMZ photographed recently demoted co-owner of the Wickford Walnuts, Brendan Hart, at an apparent "Meeting of the Minds" on Friday with rival owner of the Polska Pandas John Radzinski. The two were seen shaking hands outside Pandas Headquarters in Warsaw.

ESPN's Buster Olney immediately tweeted that the two may have put a monumental deal in place that will send ripples throughout the league. Keith Law noted that because of Hart's new role with the Walnuts, it couldn't possibly be the announcement of a trade. New Nuts GM of Player Operations, Andy Salamone issued a memo to NKFBL members earlier this week that he is now in charge of all trades and would no longer like to be known as number 14.

At 2:15 p.m. EST it was reported by RotoWire that indeed there was a meeting between the two, and it may have involved Hart leaving the Nuts organization and becoming part owner and financier of the fiscally-strapped Pandas owner consortium with Radzinski and Danny Bautista.

3:10 p.m. EST: Fox News' Ken Rosenthal, not being a good Jew, took away time from his hanukah to report that sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed that the two did speak about partial ownership opportunities.

3:30 p.m. EST: ESPN reported that on Monday December 6, 2010, they will host a special, entitled "The Decision." It will be a one-on-one interview with Hart to officially declare where the defunct owner will provide financial and moral support next season.

4:35 Wiki-Leaks is condemned by the Polska Pandas LLC for leaking information about a potential addition of Brendan Hart to make the duo of Bautista and Radzinski a triumvirate.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

2010-11-29T21:12:00.005-05:00

Neffy Feliz slams the door on the American Division Rookie of the Year.

In the first of what is hopefully many post-season accolades for the upstart Hell Benders, Neftali Feliz brings home the ROY for the American Division. After being fleeced from the Quahogs in a 2009 deadline deal, Feliz made a big splash as a premium closer in just his first full season in the bigs.

Once a starting pitcher prospect with a high ceiling, the Rangers decided to put the flame-thrower in the pen where he could max out his easy velocity - often averaging 98 mph on his fastball - to shut the door on opponents in the late innings. Early in the year he was a set-up man behind Frank Francisco, but when Francisco yielded the job to Feliz he took the reigns and never looked back.

With a stat line of 40 saves, 2.73 ERA, .88 WHIP and a 9.2 K/9 the 22 yr old clearly has a bright future. The only question remains, will he be remain a closer or do the Rangers see enough potential in his pitch repertoire to necessitate a move to the rotation?

My guess - he goes the way of Papelbon and remains a closer. Good ones don't grow on trees.

HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!

2010-11-26T16:39:00.004-05:00

Adrian Beltre bombs his way to the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Fans storm the streets in Warsaw! I'm not sure what they're saying but I'm pretty sure they're hpoing Beltre comes back in 2011

Coming off a pretty horrid 2009 in which he was barely serviceable in fantasy, Beltre was chosen 3rd by the Anchormen in the 2010 NKFBL draft. (If you're counting at home, that is one comeback player of the year and one breakout player of the year who were formerly Anchormen. They should change their name to Indians.) He was later moved in a deadline deal to the Pandas. Many thought he had some upside heading into last season in the move to hitter-friendly Fenway, but few thought he would rebound the way he did. 28 HR and 102 RBI are nearly triple his results in those categories from '09 - 8 HR and 44 RBI. In fact, the only stat he did not improve upon was stolen bases, only swiping 2 for Boston last season.

Beltre has long been accused of playing for contracts, and then coasting until the next contract year. Regardless, his 2010 was impressive and if he can approach those numbers again in 2011 he'll have some great value in the NKFBL. It is yet to be determined where he'll end up in 2011, thought rumor has it he has his heart set on the west coast.

BUSTIN' OUT!

2010-11-24T23:30:00.003-05:00

In a fairly lopsided poll, Carlos Gonzalez is 2010's Breakout Player of The Year. He received the most votes, edging out Hell Bender, Jose Bautista (runner-up) and Andrew McCutchen (Anchormen), David Price (Rampage) and Delmon Young (Pandas).

The Quahogs scooped CarGo from the Anchormen after a disappointing debut season in Oakland in '08 and a decent year in '09 with the Rockies.

There was nothing disappointing about his 2010 campaign, though, as he busted out with a .335 BA, 34 HR, 117 RBI, 26 SB, a .376 OBP and a .598 SLG. Wow. All-star numbers there, and he was arguably the MVP of a very good Quahogs team who made another appearance in the playoffs.

The highlight of the season - certainly for Rockies fans - was the walk-off bomb that he hit to complete his cycle on July 31. By far, one of the coolest baseball moments I've ever seen...and right up there with Heyward's debut AB for "boner-popping moment of the year." Check it out!

Congrats to Carlos Gonzalez, and the Quahogs franchise for a tremendous break-out season.

its the nkfbl II

2010-11-18T22:59:00.003-05:00

The highly anticipated sequel to the chart topping "In da NKFBL" has been released. Performed by Johnny Radz feat. J-Pain

Lyrics:

You thought you knew a lot about baseball,

but could you tell me who play 3rd base for

the AA affiliate of the rays dawg?

no you couldn't, so man, i needn't i say more.

12 teams, owned by 14 men,

heard your league, was only somewhere 'round 10

in the words of ozzie gullien ah, psht please

i don't mean to dis,

but 10? that's our waiting list

i know you sittin' thinkin, you still the fuckin best,

but i saw the grades man, you fuckin failed at that test.

we movin up bro, we're rajon rondo,

you live in apartments, we livin in a condo

Roof deck! up in the sky yo,

your place falls apart, like the sky dome.

we'll last forever, like a classic chevy,

and your league, is built like the New Orleans levies!!

CHORUS

It's the NKFBL

it's the NKFBL

North Kingstown fantasy baseball league

greatest league that i've ever seen

we're number 1, number 2, you're number 3

that makes us fantasy's MVP

North Kingstown fantasy baseball league

greatest league that i've ever seen

we're number 1, number 2, you're number 3

that makes us fantasy's MVP

we not in the stands, bitch we on the field,

your league just not big enough a deal,

that's why you sittin, and your fuckin nose is bleedin

and when it comes to the seeding, yeah we know we leading

and your league thinks it can hang with us?

please, you just a rookie, so get back on the bus.

our league sees more action, on christmas day

then your league sees during the month of may.

y'all may disagree, you can have you views

but you can't view us, you need some faster shoes

race hasn't started, and you already lose,

back of the pack bitch, behind the fat dudes.

CHORUS

It's the NKFBL x 4

North Kingstown fantasy baseball league

greatest league that i've ever seen

we're number 1, number 2, you're number 3

that makes us fantasy's MVP

[repeat]

you got that one owner, who thinks he's great,

cuz he won a public league, in 2008,

Your league, it aint so high and mighty

We de-pants you, you're wearing whitie tighties

we classic man, shawshank redemption

you're michael bay films, armageddon

critics agree, we are the best ever

and your league is deader, than fuckin heath ledger.

It's the NKFBL x 4

New Single Leak!

2010-11-16T23:43:00.003-05:00

NKFBL rapper, johnny radz, has confirmed to reporters that a sequel to the famed "in da NKFBL" rap song is in the works.

"The lyrics are done, we're still tweakin' the chorus, but all we gotta do is lay down the track," Radz told TMZ outside his lower Manhattan apartment.

"The first NKFBL song and my Pandas single will always hold a special place in my heart, but lyrically, this one is going to blow those out of the park," Radz continued.

Radz did not indicate a release date, but hinted it could be as soon as Thursday, if not, hopefully before Thanksgiving.

BOMBERS: 2010 Champions

2010-11-12T12:41:00.010-05:00

The 2010 NKFBL champion New England Bombers are the prime example of a team having a plan, and executing that plan, not wavering or deviating. Owner Erik Uustal had seen two consecutive losing seasons, and year three of the rebuild project was put up or shut up time for New England fans. They had grown tired of having lofty expectations, only to watch the rival Pandas dominate them in 2008 en route to a championship, and former division rival Carbombs win once again in 2009, and effectively stripping them of the title “Team of the Decade.”

Many blamed bad luck, to which there is statistical evidence to support, but other Bomber fans, who were spoiled with the team’s prior success, grew tired of the excuses. Critics sited, “Bad luck, sure, but the one thing that’s constant is the management.” The Bombers could have changed course, but they ignored the criticism of fans, and put them all back in their collective seats in 2010, hoisting the Kurkjian Cup in Boston, and saying “fuck you” to the nay sayers.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

For years, the standard for the New England/Badass Bombers was championship or bust. After winning in 2005, expectations were dubiously high. But the team mysteriously finished 2006 in 3rd place of the hotly contested NKFBL Central Division. The Bombers responded in the ‘07 season posting a 15-8 record with a team that much resembled the 2010 Bombers. The team was built for one thing: Taking on the Carbombs. Experienced vets David Ortiz, Roger Clemons, and Pedro Martinez, led a squad of up and coming players that would become cornerstone pieces for the current roster. Names like Tulo, Markakis, Votto, and King Felix all played significant roles for this team, but eventually lost out to the Carbombs, 9-4 in the championship. The team rolled into the next season with high expectations once again, but in 2008 the team finished with their first losing record in their history, completing the season 9-14. In a weird way though, this was the best thing that could have happened as it caused a change in the way the team was structured.

RE-BRANDING A CHAMPION

The 2008 team was wrought with underachievers and inexperience. Kendrick, Atkins, a struggling Billy Butler, the withering of Travis Hafner, “I don’t give a shit” Erik Bedard, and softball player extraordinaire, Eric Byrnes, littered the roster and frustrated Uustal. But in this frustration a new team and approach began to rise. Gone was the less marketable “bad ass” from the team name, and replaced by a more unifying “New England.”

The hope was to send a message, that these were not your slightly older brother’s bombers. The management stayed the same, but the style drastically changed. The team began to exclusively build around their young players and only make transactions in which they were getting young players only in exchange. The team collected young players such as Justin upton and Dustin Pedroia, and graduated talent from their minors.

Ultimately the 2009 team proved to be too inexperienced once again. Votto simply freaked out and left the team, 3B Alex Gordon shat the bed for a 3rd straight season, Tulowitzki was constantly injured and struggled when in the lineup, Markakis took a dip in his power projections, BJ Upton proved to be futile for much of the season, Butler was up and down with the minors, Kendrick once again was disappointing, and Travis Snider was equally annoying. On the pitching side, consistency was also hard to find. Kershaw, Kazmir were up and down on the pitching side, while Ubaldo Jimenez also had his moments of struggle. These struggles though made the next season that much sweeter.

PIECES COME TOGETHER

Coming into 2010, the cancers of the clubhouse were removed to make room for yet more young up-and-comers, such as Buster Posey (goodbye long-time catcher Jorge Posada). It was clear that things were different this season. Led by new farm directors Carl Everett and Mike Sweeney, confidence was instilled in the team’s youngsters. Votto kept his cool and had an MVP-caliber season. Tulowitzki matched Votto stride for stride, ending the season on one of the greatest tears we've ever seen. Mid-season acquisition and league bicycle, Alex Rodriguez provided stability at 3B, where there hadn’t been since, well, Alex Rodriguez manned the spot earlier in the decade. But it’s fair to say that all this might not have happened if not for the confidence inspiring start for BIM Jason Hayward. What’s BIM? Boner-inducing Machine.

In his first swing in the major leagues Hayward, who couldn’t have been more hyped, hit a homerun. Even the biggest bomber haters had to appreciate this moment. And, after all the semen was cleaned up, the rest of the season could go on.

THE TURNING POINT

What made this team different than past squads, was when the wheels looked like they were going to fall off, the team rose to the occasion and stayed the course. About 3/4 way through the season there was cause for concern for the Bombers. Entering the 18th week of the season, the Bombers were mired in a funk. The team’s breakdown was best in the league. Statistically speaking, the team was terrific. But it had not figured out how to “win.” And after a week 17 demoralizing 10-3 loss to the Hell Benders, the team was 8-9. Gut check time.

The team limped to two consecutive wins in the following weeks over the doormat Ballers and overconfident Rampage. Standing at 10-9, and trailing the upstart Monsters by a game in the division, every game was big. Time to show what these youngsters were made of.

Facing off against former division powerhouse, and seemingly sleeping giant The BrewCrew, it had all the makings of a trap game. And in fact, the BrewCrew were clinging to small playoff hopes themselves. The Bombers survived yet again winning 7.5-5.5. This set up the biggest game of the season, and the biggest game in franchise history for the Smoke Monsters. You knew they would be up for it.

Both teams entered 11-9. The winner would have the inside track to the division title. The game was hard-fought, as was to be expected. Both teams gave everything they had. Ultimately, the Bombers came out on top with a nail-biting 7-6 win, led by the pitching staff which grabbed 5.5 points for the Bombers, while the hitters did just enough. It was certainly a watershed moment for the Bombers 2010 season. It lifted the pressure off the hitters who were clearly pressing at the this point in the season. Then with the division title in sight, the Bombers hitters straight crushed the competition.

A POWERFUL RUN

Over the final three weeks of the season (including the two playoff weeks), the Bombers blasted 44 HR. Playoff MVP Troy Tulowitzki was responsible for 13 of them. Neither playoff game was really that close as the Bombers cracked the shells of both the Quahogs and Walnuts with ease. Uustal’s team held under pressure and got hot at the right time. All told, the team did not lose for the last two months of the season. Clearly the team had come full circle and learned how to win. For having experienced two and a half frustrating years of bad luck, the thrill of victory for Bombers fans, management, and players had to be that much more fulfilling, for it wasn’t lucky that they had won, it was earned.

Top 25 Prospects Currently Owned

2010-08-18T14:36:00.000-04:00

Ranked on current stats and future potential impact in fantasy with both age and level heavily considered.

1. Domonic Brown, OF, Monsters (Preseason Rank: 13) With 10 players graduating from the preseason top 25 its safe to say that the minors are at the weakest point they’ve been all season. Brown easily ascended to the rankings top spot with a huge 2010 where he hit 327 with 20 HR’s and 17 steals in only 93 games. The soon to be 23 yr old has shown that he has all the tools to develop into a big time player for both the Monster’s and the Phillies as soon as next season.

2. Jesus Montero, C, Monsters, (Preseason Rank: 2) Montero was a major player in one of the biggest trades in the NKFBL this season before almost getting traded in real life to the Mariners for Cliff Lee. After a slow start to the 2010 season Montero has really turned it on and hit 366 with 7 HR’s in AAA since the all star break.The added value of staying in Yankee stadium and being a power hitting catcher at just 20 yrs old makes him a no doubt top 3 prospect to own.

3. Desmond Jennings, OF, Rampage, (Preseason Rank: 8) With Carl Crawford hitting free agency it looks inevitable that Jennings will take his place in the TB outfield. While his power is up for debate (3 HR’s in 97 games in a homer friendly Durham), he should hit for a high average and provide plenty runs and steals atop the TB lineup. The Rampage will surely take any help they can get on offense and Jennings should fit fine into “The Master Plan”. VIVA.

4. Mike Trout, OF, Bombers, (Preseason Rank: NR) Trout is easily the highest riser of any prospect in the minors for 2010. Despite being only 18 yrs old for most of the season he has a chance to be the minor league playor of the year. At two stops hes hit 340 with 8 HR’s and 52 steals and earned Brian Urlacher and Grady Sizemore comps along the way. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Trout hit the majors by the end of the 2011 with should leave both Mike Scoscia and the Bombers owner in need of new pants.

5. Jeremy Hellickson, SP, Anchormen, (Preseason Rank: 17) In the midst of his 5th consecutive season posting a sub 3 ERA in the minors, Hellickson was finally recalled by the pitching stacked Rays. To no ones surprise he’s been dominant in his first three starts and holds an ERA of 1.35 after 20 innings. Hellickson should combine with Cliff Lee and Mad Max Scherzer to form a pretty solid future rotation for the Anchormen, will all three helping to provide a good ERA and plenty of K’s on a weekly basis.

6. Mike Moustakas, 3B, Quahogs, (Preseason Rank: NR)- Moose has had an up and down minor league career since he entered the draft after high school, last year being the lowest of his lows (.250 16 HR 86 RBI .297 OBP) and this year being the highest of his highs (.320 26 HR 94 RBI .370 OBP) With the improved batting eye and resurgence of his plus power he looks like a good bet to be a very productive 3B for the Royals as early as next year.

7. Julio Teheran, SP, Quahogs, (Preseason Rank: NR) Drafted by the Quahogs as a 16 year old Teheran has really come into his own this year as a 19 year old, Teheran has gone 8-7 with a 2.36 era and 144 K’s in 126 innings, this young power arm has front of the rotation potential and should make a splash when he reaches the bigs late next year or in 2012.

8. Eric Hosmer, 1B, Monsters, (Preseason Rank: NR) Hosmer had a bad rookie campaign while suffering from vision issues last season (.241 6 HR 59 RBI), he threw some lasic on that in the offseason and the results came through crystal clear, Hosmer has been tearin up Single/Double A this year throwing up a stat line of .339 16 HR 73 RBI and .410 OBP. He’s similar to Joey Votto with his gap power and high BA and the Monsters will hope he turns into the player that Votto has become.

9. Mike Montgomery, SP, Quahogs, (Preseason Rank: NR) The Hogs got some flack for taking Monty in the 2nd rd of the 2009 prospect draft and he’s done his best to dispel those critics. After a breakout year last year posting a 2.21 ERA and 98 K’s in 110 innings, Monty has followed it up with a very strong 2010, 6-3 2.38 ERA and 76 K in 75 IP. Monty should join Teheran as a nice 1-2 punch in the future Hogs rotation.

10. Brett Wallace, 1B, Rampage, (Preseason: 15) Wallace has been bounced around a ton, both in the MLB and NKFBL but he’s found a home (for now at least) with the Astros and the Cuban Rampage. Wallace is a straight up hitter and although he may be lacking the power necessary to be a stud at 1B he should end up hitting plenty enough to be a very productive fantasy player.

11. J.P. Arencibia, C, Rampage (Preseason Rank: NR) A 2007 first round pick, Arencibia finally put on display many of the skills scouts have been raving about. His plate discipline leaves a little to be desired, as evidenced by his 34 BB in 95 AAA games this year. The power, though, is irrefutable with 31 bombs and a .639 SLG and .998 OPS at AAA. Despite his tendency to hack away, he did manage to hit .303. He looks like the answer for the Blue Jays as Catcher long-term, and should be a main stay at a thin position in the NKFBL.

12. Will Myers, C, Walnuts (Preseason Rank: NR) Another power hitting Catcher, William Myers has been putting up boner-popping numbers at High Class A as a 19 year old. Combining his two levels this season he’s hitting a robust .323 with 11 dingers and 69 RBI. He boasts a K/BB ratio of more than 1/1, and an OBP of .484 at High A ball.! Bonerific! Any time those OPS figures start with a 1 you know you’ve got a stud on your hands.

13. Randall Delgado, SP, Pigeons, (Preseason Rank: NR) Along with Teheran, Delgado gives the Braves a couple of young flame throwers at the AA level. He’s struggled a bit since being promoted, but at 20 years old he’s got plenty of time to right the ship. His numbers were eye-popping at A ball, and combined he has a K for every inning between two levels this season. He led the Carolina league in K’s with a K/BB ratio of 3.75/1. Noice.

14. Chris Carter, 1B, Ballers, (Preseason Rank: 11) At 6’5” 230 LB this guy looks as much NFL tight end as he does MLB 1B. He’ll probably never hit more that .260 at the bigs but he’ll slug the shit out of the ball. He’ll be interesting to watch next year, as I would expect he’ll win the starting job out of camp. He’s a little aged, but the Ballers will be hoping he is like a fine wine. Look for a whole heap of taters, and plenty of K’s on the side.

15. Matt Moore, SP, Walnuts, (Preseason Rank: NR) One word. Filthy. The 21 year old, Moore, has 182 K’s through 127 IP. What?! On top of that he has only walked 59. Guys at A ball just can not seem to square this dude up. Next year, and the next level should be very telling for Matt Moore, as we’ve all seen guys put up huge K numbers at A ball only to not sustain it at the higher levels. All indications on this kid though, are that he is the real deal. Looks like the Nuts could have a very nice young commodity on their hands.

16. Brett Jackson, OF, Brew Crew, (Preseason Rank: NR) Unlike his failed teammate Josh Vitters (RIP Walnuts former 1st rd pick), Brett Jackson has shown a good all around game and put together a productive 2010 season in AA. He continues to show the ability to hit for good avg (over 300 both years) to go along with Shane Victorino like pop (10 hrs 12 triples 28 doubles). Jackson will need to put up those numbers or better if he hopes to ever crack the Brew Crew lineup that will welcome back Morales, Blanks, Ellsbury and ManRam in 2011.

17. Brett Lawrie, 2B/RF, Monsters, (Preseason: NR) As a second basemen Lawrie could develop into top 5 player at the position in the future. Despite being only 20 yrs old his 2010 AA numbers have been excellent and he has far outproduced fellow 2B prospect Dustin Ackley. The problem is whether Lawrie can stick at second or if he will be moved to third or the outfield starting in 2011. Either move wouldnt ruin Lawrie as a prospect but would certainly diminish his value in the NKFBL.

18. Yonder Alonso, 1B, Quahogs (Preseason Rank: 22) The talk of Alonso forcing Votto into the outfield has certainly ended and it now seems to be a question of where there is room for Alonso in Cincy. A slow start to 2010 made it a moot point until recently when he put up a line of 364/449/568 with 3 hr’s since the all star break. While he still only has 12 HR’s on the season, a strong finish by could have him destined to the majors and the homerun friendly Great American Ballpark sometime in 2011.

19. Shelby Miller, SP, Bombers, (Preseason Rank: NR) Shelby Miller, the recent subject of a “who’d you rather”, is yet another high upside Bombers first rd pick that looks destined for the majors. Following in the footsteps of Heyward and Posey he has put up eyeopening numbers as a 19 yr old. In A ball this season he has 120 K’s and just 28 walks allowed in 91 IP to date and only sports as ERA over 3 due to a few poor opening months when he was on a strict pitch count. Miller may take longer to make the majors than other pitchers on this list but he certainly looks like he will join Felix, Ubaldo and Kershaw in the Bombers rotation.

20. Tyler Matzek, SP, Ballers, (Preseason Rank: NR) The sixth pick in last years prospect draft spent the year in A ball just like Miller. In his first 15 starts he.holds an ERA under 3 and a 1/1 K/BB ratio. However like most young pitchers he’s struggled to find consistency and has given out 51 free passes in just 78 innings. The Rockies and Ballers will almost certainly need to give him 1 or 2 more seasons in the minors to work on that control. When he does make the majors he’ll join Garza and anyone else the rebuilding Ballers decide to keep around.

21. Aroldis Chapman, SP, Rampage, (Preseason Rank: NR) The Cuban lefty arguably has more potential than anyone on this list but he’s still adjusting to the strike zone. He’s put up some impressive numbers in his first year in America, going 8-6 with a 3.74 era and 116 K’s in 91 IP, although he also has 52 walks in that time. If he can harness that control without losing too much off of his stuff he’ll be a top of the rotation starter on a Rampage roster full of them.

22. Martin Perez, SP, Walnuts, (Preseason Rank: 14) After a 2009 that saw Perez post a 2.90 ERA and 119 K’s in 114 IP Perez flew his way up the prospect rankings and drew Johan Santana comparisons, in 2010 he’s taking a huge leap backward. Perez has posted a 5.87 ERA and opponents are hitting .285 against him. If Perez can rediscover his 2009 self he can be a top of the rotation starter, if not he’s looking more like a power lefty from the pen.

23. Miguel Sano, 3B, Monsters, (Preseason Rank: NR) Sano’s writeup in the handbook had most of the NKFBL drooling. KOB scooped him up at the end of the 1st round and at the age of 17 he’s more than holding his own in Rookie ball. Sano has hit .316 with 6 homers and a .392 OBP. Sano has oodles of potential and although he’s a long ways away he looks like he could cash in on that potential.

24. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Benders (Preseason Rank: NR) Freeman has consistently been one of the Braves best minor league bats and nothing has changed this year, he’s hitting .311 with 16 HR and 75 RBI. He’s a poor man’s Brett Wallace and just like Wally it’ll be his power that will make or break him as an impact fantasy bat, will he be Lyle Overbay or Mark Tiexiera?

25. Matt Davidson, 3B, Pandas (Preseason Rank: NR) He may look like a Chauncey but the guy mashes. This season as a 19 year old in Class A he’s putting up this statline .292 BA 16 HR 79 RBI and a .374 OBP. The guy can hit, and although he’s still 2 or 3 years away from making an impact in the NKFBL, it looks like it may be a dynamic one.

Next Fifteen - Fifteen more names strongly considered:

1. Aaron Hicks, OF, Pandas Hicks has that power/speed potential that everyone in the NKFBL craves. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but they are solid. The .394 AVG is particularly nice, but temper those expectations at the MLB level b/c this is only A ball. His last 10 (as of 8/16/10) though, are quite nice with a .352 AVG and a .982 OPS. He has drawn comparisons to a young Torii Hunter, another former Twins prospect. He’s got 30/30 potential, but will need to start showing more signs of it to keep those hopes alive. At the time he was drafted he also boasted a fastball off the mound that was clocked as high as 97 mph. Just sayin’. Closer of the futurrrrrre? Haha

2. Dustin Ackley, OF, Pigeons Count me in as one of the haterade drinkers on this guy. The move to 2B is nice because it is perennially a thin position, but I’ve never much liked this guy. Coming out of college he was highly touted as a hit machine, but didn’t look like he’d ever develop power. If you don’t have it with an aluminum bat will you ever? He is already at AAA and shouldn’t have much blocking his way in Seattle. His .778 MiLB OPS isn’t giving the Pigeons any signs of a bright future for the next Chase Utley.

3. Jacob Turner, SP, Anchormen Loved this guy coming out of the draft. Boasts a couple plus pitches and a nice projectable frame - to use some scout terminology. Detroit has done well recently in turning out pitchers, mainly Verlander and Porcello and Turner was rumored to be more advanced than both. His K numbers have dropped dramatically (from 51 in 54 IP to 30 in 41 IP) since moving to advanced Class A. He’ll need to regain that form if he hopes to be an ace in the making. Only 19 years old.

4. Zach Wheeler SP Ballers Zack Attack is only 20 years old, but looks poised to be another great arm in the foggy bay area. The Ballers hope he can make their future a little less cloudy. His 3.89 ERA and 52 K in 41 IP are a good sign. Perhaps most impressive...he’s allowed 0 HR so far in his minor league career.

5. Simon Castro SP Anchormen This guy looks intimidating. Like maybe he’d hang out with Ben Roethlisberger in some seedy Pittsburgh night clubs. Anyway...his stuff is intimidating as well. And in AA he is holding his own. With a sub-3 ERA and a BAA of .221 he looks well on his way to big league success. He might want to up the K numbers to get into that Ace or at least solid #2 stratosphere, but he could be a nice addition to the Anchormen staff in a couple years...especially if he sticks in San Diego.

6. Arodys Vizcaino, SP, Brew Crew Despite being only 19 yrs old Vizcaino reached high A ball in 2010 and joined a stacked Myrtle Beach rotation that included top 10 prospect Julio Teheran. While he struggled initially before getting hurt he has dominated the lower minors to this point showing good K/BB ratios and limited his HR’s allowed (3 allowed in the past 2 yrs). More experience seems to be the only thing Vizcaino is missing and he certainly seems to have the ability to develop into a top of the rotation start for the Braves and the Crew.

7. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, Anchormen It’d be hard to argue that Chisenhall has lived up to the expectations the Anchormen had when they drafted him 5th overall in last years prospect draft. As a 21 yr old in AA he has put up a pedestrian stat line of 270/339/444 with 15 HR’s. Even with a good K/BB ratio it’s hard to see Chisenhall developing into more than a Brandon Inge type player in majors and it’s more than likely that he’ll end up in the first round prospect bust pile with Josh Vitters.

8. Logan Morrison, 1B, Ballers Thoughout the minors Morrison has shown the ability to hit for average but has failed to prove that he will develop the ability to put up legit 1B type power. Since his 24 HR output in 2007 he has only been able to muster 27 more HR’s in over 280 games. That type of power will get you Casey Kotchman comps all day long in the NKFBL and could give Morrison a better chance at landing on the wavier wire than on the Ballers keeper list.
9. Ryan Kalish OF Walnuts Kalish is mostly known in the NKFBL for the season ending hit he laid on Monsters Catcher Carlos Santana in one of the first games after his recall. Despite how great that was he’s actually done a pretty solid job for Sox in a part time role where he’s hit over 300 with 2 big HR’s vs the Yankees an Angels. His big season in AAA (294 with 13 HR’s and 25 steals in two stops) give reason to think that his hot start might not be a Brennan Boesch like fluke. .

10. Gary Sanchez C Carbombs-The Carbombs system might be light on prospects right now but it certainly looks like 17 yr old Gary Sanchez could develop into a stud. As one of the youngest players in Rookie Ball he ranks 1st or 2nd in the league in all triple crown categories after just 30 games (most players have played 40-45). Sanchez should push to make the top 25 sometime next year despite being years away.

11. Wilmer Flores, SS, Benders- Flores is only 19 but he’s already a seasoned vet of the minor leagues. In his 3 years of minor league ball he’s put up good batting averages and shown a solid eye at the plate, his projectable power is still just that, projectable. He’s still got a ton of time to develop that power and from the looks of his scouting report he will.

12. Casey Kelly, SP, Pigeons- Kelly was a two way player until last year when the Sox decided to groom him as a pitcher. For someone who just started focusing on pitching he is rather advanced, able to control 3 pitches. His 2010 campaign hasn’t been nearly as good as his 2009 campaign but at 21 he’s still got the time and the upside to become a valuable member of the Sox, and Pigeons’ already deep rotations.

13. Kyle Gibson, SP, Brew Crew- His injury past scared off some teams in the NKFBL draft but the Brad used his golden touch and nabbed Gibson at the end of the second round. He has the upside of a Wheeler/ Turner who went a little earlier and is showing off some of his good stuff already, he’s posted a 11-6 record with a 3.04 ERA and 118 K’s vs 36 BB in 142 innings.

14. Dellin Betances SP Carbombs The player that was mysteriously forgotten by the Ballers when the Oswalt trade was consummated has finally broken through in 2010. Knapp drafted him way back in the 1st prospect draft as a 17 year old and he’s battled through inconsistency and injury to post a 1.61 ERA this season with 82 K and 18 BB in 67 Innings as a Starter in Class A. He’s still a few years off and at 22 he’s a little old for his level but look for him to shoot through the minors quickly if he keeps this up.

15. Dee Gordon, SS, Walnuts Devarias slipped big time in the NKFBL draft and was nabbed by the Walnuts and he hasn’t disappointed so far. The known speedster has put together a real nice 2010 campaign, hitting .285 with 47 steals. Gordon is coming off a 2009 where he hit 301 and nabbed 73 bases so the speed and average is there. He could develop into a Juan Pierre at short stop, which definitely has some value in the NKFBL

Dropped Out of the Top 25:
Kyle Drabek, SP, Ballers, (Preseason Rank: 16)
Jarrod Parker, SP, Pandas, (Preseason Rank: 18)
Fernando Martinez, OF, Bombers, (Preseason Rank: 18)
Todd Frazier, 3B, Walnuts, (Preseason Rank: 21)
Ryan Westmoreland, OF, Bombers, (Preseason Rank: 22)
Logan Morrison, 1B, Ballers, (Preseason Rank: 24)

Graduated From the Top 25:
Jason Heyward, OF, Bombers, (Preseason Rank: 1)
Carlos Santana, C, Monsters, (Preseason Rank: 3)
Brian Matusz, SP, Ballers, (Preseason Rank: 4)
Neftali Feliz, CL, Benders, (Preseason Rank: 5)
Michael Stanton, OF, Monsters, (Preseason Rank: 6)
Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Benders, (Preseason: 7)
Justin Smoak, 1B, Quahogs, (Preseason: 9)
Buster Posey, C, Bombers, (Preseason: 10)
Madison Bumgarner, SP, Rampage, (Preseason: 12)
Alcedis Escobar, SS, Anchormen, (Preseason: 25)

Breakdown of Players by Team for the Top 25:
Monsters 5
Quahogs 4
Rampage 4
Walnuts 3
Bombers 2
Ballers 2
Pigeons 1
Anchormen 1
Pandas 1
Brew Crew 1
Benders 1
Carbombs 0

Who'd you rather?

2010-08-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

Who’d you rather?

In this new weekly segment on the NKFBL Prospect blog, one of our writers compares two similar prospects and breaks down which one they’d rather have, you join in on the discussion in the comments section, here we go…

Shelby Miller vs Jacob Turner

Here we have 2 1st rd picks from this past year’s prospect draft. They are both are big strong right handers who are projectable as top of the rotation starters. Turner stands in at 6’4 210 lb and was the #9 overall pick of high school by the Tigers, he’ll look to following the footsteps of the last high school pitcher the Tigers took in the first round, Rick Porcello (minus the sophomore slump). Turner’s stuff is very good with a fastball that ranges from 90-94 and peaks at 98, he also mixes in a big curveball and a solid changeup to keep hitters off balance. He’s done very well in his first year of minor league ball tossing 100 innings thus far with a 3.77 ERA and 83 K against 20 walks. He’s holding hitters to a .247 average.

Shelby was the #19 pick overall in 2009 out of high school. The Cardinals have high hopes from the young Texan. Miller is 6’3 195 pounds and mixes in 3 pitches nicely. He has a strong tailing fastball that sits in the 91-93 range, a good changeup that sticks around 82-83 and a curveball that he uses sparingly. Miller has used his stuff to overpower hitters this year as he has put up some impressive numbers as well. He’s posted a 3.74 ERA in 91 IP with 121 K’s and 28 Walks while holding hitters to a .245 batting average. Although he was drafted in 2009 he only pitched 3 innings so for all intensive purposes this is his first look at professional ball.

The verdict: They are both very similar and have similar numbers and stuff. If I could have one of the two I’d take Shelby Miller. Miller has the more dominating stuff, and while they both have shown they can get hitters out consistently, Miller has shown much more of a feel for the K. In baseball and in fantasy baseball being able to strike people out is a huge advantage. Although 81 K’s in 100 Innings are nothing to sneeze at Turner will have to watch out that he doesn’t turn into Porcello who’s lack of K’s really came back to hurt in amongst other things in his sophomore season. So give me Shelby Miller, who’d you rather?

Epic Deadline Podcast

2010-07-25T14:14:00.002-04:00

Here it is. Whay you've all been waiting for. It's an epic 3 part podcast.

Podcast

2010-07-22T12:48:00.002-04:00

Sorry I fucked up the homepage everyone. Here is the podcast. We talk about the upcoming deadline and playoff predictions.

Los Osos

2010-07-10T20:08:00.003-04:00

The Polska Pandas have long been known as strictly Polish, however majority owner John Radzinski, always looking to make a quick buck, has given the traditionally Polish Pandas a temporary makeover.

Here come Los Osos de Polska.

Radzinski is half Spanish [that's where the greasy hair comes from] and with La Furia Roja, Spain's national team making the World Cup Finals, Pandas Marketing LLC. is looking to cash in. In honor of the owner's heritage and the large Spanish fan base, the Pandas will temporarily become "Los Osos," [translated: the bears] in their honor. Saturday, the Pandas unveiled their new logo featuring the spanish flag in the background with a roaring grizzly bear. Changing from Pandas to Bears will allow for the organization to capitalize on merchandise sales of yet another cute and cuddly animal.

Trade Winds

2010-06-28T12:30:00.005-04:00

Breaking out of my article slump I take a look at some trades that could/should and might happen between now and the deadline:

Bombers Get Tim Hudson

Pigeons Get 3^rd Round MLB and Fernando Martinez

The Bombers in need of that 4^th starter go after former Bomber Tim Hudson. Hudson has been stellar this season but has little value on the sinking ship known as the Attack Pigeons. Other than the fact that the Pigeons aren’t going anywhere this year they are fully loaded in the pitching department having 11 above average pitchers on their roster. They pick up a valuable 3^rd rd MLB pick and take a chance on F-Mart hoping that he can come through and help bolster the long time bewildered Pigeons offence.

Carbombs Get James Shields

AAnchormen Get Kyle Drabek and 1^st and 4^th Rd Prospect

The Carbombs were all set to rebuild after a slow start to the season, but a mid season surge from their older players put them right in the thick of things. Instead of selling at the deadline they look to add an arm to their hurting pitching staff. Shields is having a very strong season and is still only 29 years old so he fits right in with what the Carbombs are looking for. The Anchormen could hold onto Shields but opt to deal him away and take the rebuilding seriously this time picking up a very good pitching prospect along with the 1^st round pick. After some serious negotiating Billy also squeezes the 4^th rounder out of Knapp and the deal is done.

Walnuts Get Cliff Lee, Gavin Floyd and Vlad Guerrero

AAAnchormen Get Brennan Boesch, Martin Perez, Todd Fraiser, Josh Vitters, 1^st rd prospect and 2^nd rd MLB

The Walnuts who historically haven’t made the big move, see the Championship in site and mortgage a bit of the future for a real shot at the title in 2010. The beef up the pitching staff and O with Lee, Floyd and Vladdy. Billy keeps the rebuilding train flowing picking a high pick in the prospect and MLB drafts, former top 5 pick Vitters, solid hitting prospect Fraiser and a free keeper in Boesch after Billy proclaims that “THE BALL BOUNCES OFF HIS BAT LIKE NO OTHERRRRRRRRR”. The deal hinges on Martin Perez who the Nut’s really don’t want to give up but end up pulling the trigger minutes before the deadline.

Walnuts Get Neftali Feliz

Benders Get Jered Weaver, 2^nd Rd Prospect

Adding Lee and Floyd to the staff frees up Jered Weaver who the Walnuts move along with a prospect pick for the coveted Neftali Feliz. The Benders aquire a front line starter that they’ve been searching for to pair with Wainwright atop their rotation and the Walnuts get the intriguing Neftali who pairs with Marmol and Mo to create the scarry good MnM Bullpen

Quahogs Get Michael Young

Brew Crew Get 1^st Rd Prospect

The Quahogs looking to sure up their utility/3B if the Sand Man keeps under producing add a solid veteran in Michael Young in hopes that he’ll do for them what he did for the Brew Crew post deadline last year. The Crew pick up a valuable prospect pick and clear up an even more valuable keeper spot.

Pandas Get Ichero, ManRam

Brew Crew Get Carlos Quentin

The Pandas are a team full of streaky players so they look to add some consistency. ManRam hasn’t been the most consistant player this year but has turned it on as of late and looks to have a huge 2^nd half in a contract year. Ichero is probably the most consistant player in baseball and his high average and steals are a welcome site to the Pandas OF. The Brew Crew pull a classic condensation move and end up freeing up a keeper spot getting the powerful Quentin in return.

Carbombs Get- John Lackey

Rampage Get- 2^nd Rd MLB

The summer months prove better for Lackey as he gets it going and the Carbombs go after him in a low risk/high reward move. They add him along with Shields to greatly improve their roation while the loss of Lackey isn’t much for the Rampage’s deep staff and they add another pick in next year’s draft.

Quahogs Get- Jose Valverde

Benders Get- Dyan Vicendo and 3^rd rd mlb pick

The Quahogs beef up their bullpen with a true 3^rd closer after the distaster that is Trevor Hoffman. The Benders pick up the powerful Viciendo and a good MLB pick as their sights switch to next season.

Monsters Get- Kendry Morales

Rampage Get- Eric Hosmer, Domonic Brown and a 3^rd rd MLB

The Monsters dream season slips to mediocrity and Kevin turns his sights to next year and snags the powerful Morales. Much like the Agone/Peavy deal of last deadline KOB grabs a young productive hitter for some good prospects. The Rampage realize their offence needs some major help and snag Dom Brown who should get the starting gig in Phily next year, Hosmer who is having a good season in the minors and a MLB pick for good measure.

Carbombs Get Ryan Franklin

Ballers Get 3^rd rd MLB and 4^th rd Prospect

The Ballers have already set their site to next season and ship Franklin over to the Carbombs in another move made to improve the pitching staff. Franklin replaces Qualls as the 3^rd closer and solidifies the Carbombs bullpen for the rest of the year. The Ballers do well for the non keeper and pick up 2 solid picks.

CZ notes Week 11

2010-06-14T22:44:00.003-04:00

Week in Review

Week 10 breakdown standings:

1. Pandas 11-0-0

2. Rampage 10-1

3. Bombers 7-3-1

4. Carbombs 7-3-1

5. Walnutes 6-3-2

6. Anchormen 4-5-2

7. Monsters 4-5-2

8. Ballers 4-6-1

9. Brew Crew 4-6-1

10. Quahogs 1-7-3

11. Benders 1-9-1

12. Pigeons 0-11-0

Week 10 All Stars

1. Carlos Pena, 1B BBC

8-24, 0.333 BA, 6 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R, 2 BB, 0.385 OBP, 1.083 SLG

2. Brandon Phillips, 2B PP

4-26, 0.538 BA, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, BB, CS, 0.556 OBP, 0.808 SLG

3. Josh Hamilton, OF SM

10-27, 0.370 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 0.433 OBP, 0.889 SLG

4. Adam Dunn, 1B/OF PP

10-22, 0.455 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 0.500 OBP, 1.091 SLG

5. Jose Reyes SS PP

12-25, 0.480 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2 SB, BB, 0.500 OBP, 0.760 SLG

Honorable Mention: Marlon Byrd OF RIQ, Chris B. Young OF BH, Adrian Gonzalez 1B SM

Thoughts: The Pandas had one of the best weeks in recent memory, comprising 60% of the top-5 (that's based on weekly points rankings, not being biased). Johnstradamus was right on when he said the offense would be running on all cylinders. Even former Pandas Carlos Pena took the top spot. He can be frustrating to own, but then he wins you a week by himself and how quickly you forget about the 1-30 weeks. In a losing effort, Josh Hamilton had a strong week. Hamilton has a very quiet 14 HR on the season.

Week 10 Cy Young

1. Ted Lilly SP MN

16 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 11 K, ER, 0.563 ERA, 0.375 WHIP, W, 6.188 Kd9

2. Stephen Strasburg

12.1 INN, 6 HA, 5 BBI, 22 K, 3 ER, 2.189 ERA, 0.892 WHIP, 2 W, 16.054 Kd9

3. Matt Cain SP RIQ

16 INN, 15 HA, 3 BBI, 9 K, ER, 0.563 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 2 W, 5.063 Kd9

Honorable Mention: Cole Hamels, Josh Johnson, Francisco Liriano, Gavin Floyd

Thoughts: Strasburg may have been the story of the week, but the stats say that Ted Lilly had the best week in baseball. His k/9 is nearly 10 less at 6.18, but his 1 ER and 5 Hits in only 16 innings are pretty filthy. Don't see the WHIP drop below 0.500 too often. Too bad that effort was wasted on the Nuts' bench haha. Strasburg of course defied the odds and gave everyone a night they won't forget. Even I'll remember that for a long time to come. Cole Hamels continues to very solid week to week and has become a reliable arm once again.

the J-Stew award: "Keep trying weaklings"

1. Lance Berkman - 1B/OF RIQ

1-23, 0.043 BA, RBI, 2 R, SB, 2 BB, 0.120 OBP, 0.043 SLG

2. Alberto Callaspo SS APC

3-21, 0.143 BA, 2B, RBI, 2 R, 0.136 OBP, 0.190 SLG

3. Albert Pujols 1B BC

3-22, 0.136 BA, 2B, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB, 0.208 OBP, 0.182 SL

CY Bum Award

1. James Shields RIC

3.1 INN, 9 HA, 3 BBI, 4 K, 10 ER, 27.000 ERA, 3.600 WHIP, L, 10.800 Kd9

2. Ricky Nolasco SP CB

2.1 INN, 9 HA, BBI, 2 K, 5 ER, 19.286 ERA, 4.286 WHIP, L, 7.714 Kd9

3. Chad Billingsly SP BBC

5.2 INN, 9 HA, 3 BBI, 3 K, 7 ER, 11.118 ERA, 2.118 WHIP, L, 4.765 Kd9

Johnstradamus

Last week's record: 4-2

Season Record: 19-11

Pandas 6 - Brew Crew 7

The Pandas have never faired well against the Brew Crew. One major problem is and will be Albert Pujols. The Panda killer is much feared and after being featured on the JStew list, it's likely he'll show up on the better list when all is said and done. Thankully for the Pandas, Yovanni Gallardo shits the bed against Colorado and leaves the door open for just a moment for the Pandas to take the prize, but they fall just short on a valiant effort.

Ballers 7.5 - Bombers - 5.5

Once again, Erik is brought down by an unworthy opponent. This time it's the Ballers who are crashing on the Bombers impeccable breakdown. The Ballers put together a strong week thanks much in part to Hunter Pence. On the Bombers, Billy Butler continues his scorching hitting.

Monsters 8 - Anchormen 5

The Anchormen exhausted everything against their division rival last week and come out a little flat on Tuesday. The Monsters take advantage, especially Rickie Weeks who has one of his better weeks of his career.

Benders 9 - Pigeons 4

The Pigeons are struggling to stay afloat in the ND, but another poor week leaves them on life support. A surprisingly effective start for Edwin Jackson against his former squad, Detroit, provides some much needed emotion for the Diamondbacks.

Walnuts 7.5 - Carbombs 5.5

The Walnuts continue to post strong numbers. After being dormant for a couple weeks, Matt Kemp finally wakes up and smells the production. He strokes 2 bombs this week and swipes a bag too, an amazing feat for someone who gets caught stealing seemingly 80% of the time.

Quahogs 7 - Rampage 6

The storied rivalry heats back up this week. the Quahogs avoid the dreaded Strasburg two-pitch week, and a loss, albeit closely. Carlos Zambrano is below average in his return to the Quahogs lineup, but Quahogs cannot be counting on pitching as they'll get beat in the majority of the categories. The offense will carry the 'Hogs to a slim, hard-fought win.

Finally...

Looking through Smoke Monsters Weekly, i stumbled upon a picture of Mike Stanton and an artist conceptual drawing for the Monsters Logo featuring tentatively named mascot "Smokey McSmokerson." Currently, Monsters fans have been asked to vote for their favorite name, including: Smokey Robinson, Smokey the Smoke Monster, and "Camel Cigarettes presents Smokey the Kid Appealing Mascot"

2011 NKFBL Mock Prospect Draft (9 Months Early)

2010-06-08T15:35:00.000-04:00

By Brendan Hart

With the 2010 MLB draft underway I thought it would be interesting to see where some of the top prospects might land in next year’s NKFBL draft. Using the current standings and some projection for the rest of the way I made a very loose guess as to what may happen. Being a short 9 months away from the draft it’s hard to know what current minor leaguers will breakout and what Cubans the Rampage will find through Google. Nevertheless enjoy some light reading.

1) Anchormen - Bryce Harper OF, Nationals

If Stephen Strasberg is the most hyped prospect in the history of baseball, then Bryce Harper needs to be considered a close 2nd. The consensus number 1 pick in the MLB draft will also be the number 1 pick in the next NKFBL draft. The Anchormen, Rampage and Ballers will all be in the running for Harper and it should be interesting to see which teams lands him. The Rampage once traded for the Monsters pick in the hopes that it was a lock to be the number 1 pick….whomp.

2) Rampage – Manny Machado, SS, Orioles

The second pick in the draft will most likely be Machado or Taillon. Both the Rampage and Ballers could be selecting in this spot and could use a high upside offensive player. Arod comparisons have been tossed around in the weeks leading up to the draft but it seems more likely that he’ll be more of a threat for 20 to 25 hr’s. While he could take a long time to develop he certainly would be going to a team in position to wait.

3) Ballers – Jameson Taillon, SP, Pirates

Most white 6’7” pitchers are in the Pandas organization but it seems unlikely that Taillon will be around for when they pick. Coming off a very disappointing 2010 season, the Ballers will most likely jump at the chance to take a pitcher described as the complete package with three plus pitches and good makeup. Even with the need for offense it should be hard to pass him up. With Taillon, Matzek, Matusz and Wheeler the Ballers would seem primed to have a very good pitching staff in the future.

4) Pigeons – Christian Colon, SS, Royals

After a 4-2 start to the season the Pigeons have dropped three straight and look like they could be poised for a finish south of 500. For nine weeks the team has struggled to get production from a SS and can clearly use a long term solution at the position. Colon’s upside doesn’t match Machado’s but he is also likely to reach the majors sooner and is regarded as more of a safe bet. Outfielders Josh Sale and Michael Choice would also fit here.

5) Rampage (Monsters), Nick Castallanos 3B, Tigers

The Monsters currently lead the NL at 6-3 despite having the 5th worst breakdown. It’s hard to see that luck continuing despite the new addition of Stanton to the lineup. A regression to the mean should likely have the Monsters finishing towards the bottom of the NKFBL and leave the Rampage with a decent pick. While its likely Lester and Pearce will opt for a Cuban signed weeks before the draft they could certainly take a look at Castallanos. The new Tigers 3B is likely to hit for both power and average and seemingly has a clear path to the majors.

6) Brew Crew - Josh Sale, OF, Rays

Who would predict that The B could be drafting in the middle of round 1 in 2011? Despite being only 9 weeks into the 2010 season it is hard to see the Crew rebounding and making this year’s playoffs. If Brad chooses to trade some of his good (but older) stars at the deadline his team could finish in this spot. The Brew Crew have made it no secret that they favor high ceiling toolsy outfielders in the draft and Josh Sale would be yet another high upside one to join the farm system. Sale’s doesn’t have the tools of a Desmond Jennings or a Brett Jackson but he could show the power of Mike Stanton. Like Stanton there are a few concerns about whether he’ll make enough contact to show all the power he has. If he has a strong showing in 2010 look for him to rise up the 2011 draft board and possibly go in the top 3 or 4 picks.

7) Walnuts (Benders) – Michael Choice, OF, Athletics

The Benders are having exactly the type of season that the Walnuts hoped they wouldn’t have in 2010. Almost overnight the Benders have turned into a scary team to play week to week and a team that should only get better. Despite the good start the Benders probably finish with the 6th best record leaving the Walnuts with the 7th pick. Michael Choice seems like one of the biggest high risk high reward picks in next year’s draft due to his big power and questionable mechanics. If he figures things out Choice could turn into a 30 hr threat, while having the downside of turning into a career AAA player if he doesn’t.

8) Carbombs – Karsten Whitson, SP, Padres

It’s hard to predict how the Carbombs will finish the 2010 season. After 9 games they are still in the hunt and still have a lot of dangerous hitters that can get hot at any moment. Despite Tex having a huge second half the Carbombs just miss out on the playoffs and find themselves drafting 8th in the first round. Carrying one of the weaker pitching staffs into the 2011 season the Carbombs may opt to draft a pitcher. This year’s MLB draft seems to have a strong group of high school pitchers and Karten is regarded as one of the best in that group. A projectionable pitcher with good mechanics and plus pitches could move fast and have a great future pitching in Petco.

9) Walnuts – Jake Scole, OF, Rangers

The Walnuts fade faster than the 2007 & 2008 Mets in the second half of the 2010 NKFBL season but sneak into the playoffs due to a hot start. The playoffs turn into a repeat of last year and the Walnuts finish 4th for a second straight year. With the second pick of the first round the Nuts again go with an outfielder and get roped in by the “five tool” potential. The Grady Sizemore comparison probably would have sounded a little better a year ago huh?

10) Bombers - Zach Cox, 3B, Cardinals

The Bombers finish strong in 2010 and make a return appearance to the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Bombers they get unlucky and lose which leads to a massive Uustal rant and broken things throughout his apartment. Nevertheless the stacked Bombers draft 10th in 2011 and look for a long term solution at 3B to succeed Arod. While it seems unlikely that Cox will sign with the Cardinals it seems likely that he will be a first or second round selection if he does choose to turn pro.

11) Rampage (Pandas) - Yasmani Grandal, C, Reds

Jayson Werth and his Jesus beard lead the Pandas deeper than expected in the playoffs and just short of a second championship. The strong showing by the Pandas leaves the Rampage with a late first round selection. For their third first round pick in 2011 the Rampage could net choose to net a highly touted Cuban such as Yasmani Grandal. While the Rampage seem obsessed with mediocre catchers they could look for the long term solution and grab a player that should hit for both average and power.

12) Quahogs – AJ Cole, SP, Nationals

The Quahogs put things together in 2010 and get extremely hot to end the season. The addition of Lester and some deadline deals help the Hogs get into the playoffs and take home their first championship. Stocked with young hitters in the majors and minors, the team opts to grab a high upside pitcher like AJ Cole to round out the first round of the prospect draft. While Cole fell in the MLB draft he still has a ton of talent and ability. In a few years he could slot behind Strasberg in the Nationals rotation to form a dangerous 1-2 combination.

A Few Other names that could go in the Top 3 Rounds:
-Dylan Covey, SP, Brewers
-Matt Harvey, SP, Mets
-Christian Yelich, 1B, Marlins
-Tyrell Jenkins, SP Cardinals
-Kolbrin Vitek, 2B, Red Sox

CZ Notes Wk 10

2010-06-07T00:09:00.007-04:00

Quick Note: As we all know, this week marks the debut of uber prospects Mike Stanton and Stephen Strasburg. Should be interesting and a lot of fun to watch, especially in Strasburg's case as he has single handedly made everyone care about for the first time about the Nationals.

Johnstradamus

Last Week 3-3

Season Record 15-9 (3 perfect)
Week in Review

Final: Carbombs 10 - Pandas 3

Prediction: Carbombs 8 - Pandas 5

- Carbomb MVP - David Wright

11-22, 0.500 BA, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, 4 BB, 0.577 OBP, 0.773 SLG

- Carbomb CY- Javier Vazquez

14 INN, 5 HA, 5 BBI, 16 K, 3 ER, 1.929 ERA, 0.714 WHIP, 2 W, 10.286 Kd9

- Carbomb DST - Ty Wiggington

3-20, 0.150 BA, RBI, R, 3 BB, 0.320 OBP, 0.150 SLG

-Panda MVP - Shin Soo Choo

8-26, 0.308 BA, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 R, SB, 2 BB, 0.357 OBP, 0.538 SLG

-Panda CY - Dan Haren

8 INN, 7 HA, 7 K, 0.875 WHIP, 7.875 Kd9

-Panda DST - Jose Reyes

2-22, 0.091 BA, 3B, 2 RBI, R, 2 SB, 4 BB, CS, 0.231 OBP, 0.182 SL

Final: Hell Benders 3 - Monsters 10
Prediction: HB 9 - Monsters 4

- Monsters MVP -
11-22, 0.500 BA, 2 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, SB, 4 BB, 0.577 OBP, 1.000 SLG

- Monsters CY- Clay Buchholz
9 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 2 K, 0.667 WHIP, W, 2.000 Kd9
- Monsters DST - Matt Capps
3 INN, 9 HA, BBI, 2 K, 3 ER, 9.000 ERA, 3.333 WHIP, 2 L, S, 6.000 Kd9
Benders MVP - Kevin Youklis
12-26, 0.462 BA, 4 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 0.517 OBP, 0.846 SLG
- Benders CY - Adam Wainwright
9 INN, 2 HA, BBI, 8 K, 0.333 WHIP, W, 8.000 Kd9
- Benders DST - Johnny Cueto

5 INN, 10 HA, BBI, 8 ER, 14.400 ERA, 2.200 WHIP

Final: Brew Crew 9.5 - Pigeons 3.5
Prediction: Brew Crew 4.5 - Pigeons 8.5

Brew Crew MVP - Troy Glaus

8-26, 0.308 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB, 0.379 OBP, 0.846 SLG

Brew Crew CY- Chris Carpenter

8 INN, 4 HA, 4 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.500 WHIP, W, 4.500 Kd9

Brew Crew DST - Adam Lind

2-23, 0.087 BA, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB, 0.222 OBP, 0.304 SLG (Ugly average but he made his 2 hits count)

Pigeons MVP - Jhonny Peralta

10-30, 0.333 BA, 2 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 4 R, 0.333 OBP, 0.500 SLG

Pigeons CY - Ricky Romero

8 INN, 5 HA, 4 BBI, 7 K, 2 ER, 2.250 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 7.875 Kd9

Pigeons DST - Matt Weiters

1-14, 0.071 BA, 2B, R, BB, 0.133 OBP, 0.143 SLG

Final: Walnuts 8 - Bombers 5
Predicted: Walnuts 7 - Bombers 6

Walnuts MVP - Torii Hunter

11-29, 0.379 BA, 5 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 0.424 OBP, 0.759 SLG

Walnuts CY- Jared Weaver

7 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 9 K, 0.714 WHIP, W, 11.571 Kd9

Walnuts DST - Mark Reynolds

1-13, 0.077 BA, 2 RBI, BB, 0.222 OBP, 0.077 SLG

Bombers MVP - Alex Rodriguez

11-31, 0.355 BA, 3 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 R, 0.375 OBP, 0.645 SLG

Bombers CY - Ubaldo Jimmenez

16 INN, 10 HA, 5 BBI, 17 K, 2 ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.938 WHIP, 2 W, 9.563 Kd9

Bombers DST - Jason Heyward

3-28, 0.107 BA, RBI, 2 R, SB, 6 BB, CS, 0.286 OBP, 0.107 SLG

Final: Rampage 9.5 - Anchormen 3.5
Predicted: Rampage 5 - Anchormen 8

Rampage MVP - Miguel Cabrera

9-26, 0.346 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 0.379 OBP, 0.731 SLG

Rampage CY- David Price

8 INN, 9 HA, 3 K, 1.125 WHIP, W, 3.375 Kd9

Rampage DST - Starlin Castro
2-17, 0.118 BA, RBI, R, BB, 0.158 OBP, 0.118 SLG

Anchormen MVP - Adrian Beltre

7-23, 0.304 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 R, BB, 0.333 OBP, 0.609 SLG

Anchormen CY - Cliff Lee

8 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 8 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, 9.000 Kd9

Anchormen DST - Denard Span
2-30, 0.067 BA, 3B, R, BB, 0.097 OBP, 0.133 SLG

Final: Quahogs 11 - Ballers 2
Predicted: Quahogs 7.5 - Ballers 5.5

Quahogs MVP - Lance Berkman

12-30, 0.400 BA, 2 2B, HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, SB, 2 BB, 0.438 OBP, 0.567 SLG

Quahogs CY- Matt Cain

8 INN, 4 HA, 3 BBI, 5 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.875 WHIP, W, 5.625 Kd9

Quahogs DST - Carlos Zambrano

4.1 INN, 6 HA, 3 BBI, 3 K, 3 ER, 6.231 ERA, 2.077 WHIP, L, 6.231 Kd9

Ballers MVP - Michael Cuddyer *with only 12 AB's

5-12, 0.417 BA, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 0.417 OBP, 0.917 SLG

Ballers CY - Mike Leake

7 INN, 7 HA, 5 K, 1.000 WHIP, W, 6.429 Kd9

Ballers DST - Roy Oswalt

9.1 INN, 13 HA, 4 BBI, 4 K, 10 ER, 9.643 ERA, 1.821 WHIP, 2 L, 3.857 Kd9

Week 10 Predictions

Pandas 10 - Monsters 3

Johnstradamus believes this is going to be one of those weeks where the Pandas hit on all cylinders. After having fairly pedestrian weeks for the past few games, and a complete offensive letdown last week, the Pandas will have a huge week offensively. The Monsters are coming off one of their best weeks in franchise history and hope that the arrival of the Messiah, Mike Stanton can keep the offense inspired. Despite a big start from Stanton, he ends the week hitting .250 with 2 bombs. All the fanfare will be on watching what Stanton does, but forgotten prospect Carlos Quentin gets going in a big way knocking in 10 RBI during the week, and helps the Pandas get revenge on their week 1 defeat. Also having a big week, Adam Dunn.

Bombers 5.5 - Anchormen 7.5

Who cares if 1/3 of Bill's Majors squad is in AAA? When it comes to the Anchormen and Bombers, the Anchormen seem to have their number. Just like how certain batters can't hit certain pitchers. Picture this, Barry Bonds, by all accounts the best hitter of our era, was 0-14 against reliever Chris Peters (Career 4.81 ERA). This week the AAAnchormen continue their lucky dominance over the rival Bombers thanks in part to a big week from last week's DST, Denard span, who goes 12-27 with 1 HR and 2 SB.

Ballers 7 - BrewCrew 6

Another big upset from the unpredictable National Division. The Ballers beat a surging BrewCrew thanks in part to some patience with Carlos Pena who has 3 big HRs this week. And don't look now, but Daisuke Matsuzaka shows looks good once again in his second start to help seal the deal over the Crew.

Benders 8 - Quahogs 5

Really strange week in the NKFBL, as there's another upset. The bottom line is there's just too man hot hitters in the Benders lineup for even the Quahogs lineup to overcome. The Benders have hit 27 Homeruns in the previous 2 matchups, and only the Mashin' Monsters could have beat them last week.

Carbombs 10 - Pigeons 3

The Carbombs show another promising week and come up with another decisive win. Javier Vazquez has refound his form and with Yankee fans on his side, he becomes the pitcher he was last season. Meanwhile the bat of David Wright continues to stay hot. Look for Ryan Zimmerman to also have a positive week feeding off the sellout croud Tuesday Night and over the weekend for Strasburg's two starts.

Walnuts 9 - Rampage 4

There's going to be a lot of attention paid to Stephen Strasburg, but the Walnuts will not be phased as they take control early despite whatever Juan Uribe has to say about it. Look for Mark Reynolds to suddenly wake up with a bang as the weekend aproaches. He will end the week 6-12 Fri Sat and Sun with 3 bombs. Strasburg's week goes as almost expected. First start a little jittery, but still strong. Final week line: 12 IP 12K 2ER 1W 9H, 2BB.

The Thirdsies

2010-05-31T15:38:00.004-04:00

It’s been a while, well a month precisely, but this wonderful Monday off has given a chance for all of us to recharge a bit.

As has become tradition, following the 8^th week of the year we put out the Subway Sandwich Shops Thirdsies Awards for "Merit in Recognition of Superior Excellence" and showcase the teams and players that we otherwise selfishly overlook while obsessively looking at our own teams.

Offensive MVP's

Alex Rios, OF BH - .312 AVE, .368 OBP, .589 SLG, 11 HR, 27 RBI, 16 SB
Evan Longoria, 3B BBC - .324, .390, 577, 10 HR, 42 RBI, 10 SB
Miguel Cabrera, 1B CR - .351, .427, .670, 14 HR, 48 RBI, 2 SB
Vladamir Guererro, DH RA - .331, .360, .559, 12 HR, 44 RBI, 4 SB
Justin Morneau, 1B WW - .368, .488, .667, 11 HR, 36 RBI

Also receiving votes: Ryan Braun, Robinson Cano, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford.

Thoughts: Alex Rios and Valdamir Guererro have both returned to their former great player statures. Rios especially who is on pace to have one of the greatest fantasy seasons ever. He's on pace for 35 HR and 51 SB. Longoria continues to prove to be one of the steadiest players in baseball along with Miguel Cabrera. Justin Morneau beat out worthy candidates: Braun, Cano, and Crawford based almost solely on his unreal .488 OBP and .667 slg. He would be bumped out by Ethier however who, before getting hurt, was off to some start. Through 125 AB's, Ethier is batting .392 with a .744 Slugging %. His 1.201 OPS is boner inducing.

Cy Youngs

Ubaldo Jimenez SP NEB - 9-1, 7.7 k/9, 0.88 ERA, 0.925 WHIP
Roy Halladay SP BC - 7-3, 7.33 k/9, 1.98 ERA, 0.988 WHIP
Adam Wainwright SP BH - 7-3, 8.77 k/9, 2.27 ERA, 1.012 WHIP
Josh Johnson SP PP - 5-2, 8.87 k/9, 2.186 ERA, 1.042 WHIP
Shaun Marcum SP RQ - 5-2, 7.4 k/9, 2.589 ERA, 1.02 WHIP

Also receiving votes: Jon Lester, Matt Cain, Roy Oswalt, Phil Hughes, Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter

There's no denying that the best two pitchers in baseball right now are Jimenez and Halladay. Jimenez has a no-hitter and Halladay one-upped him with a perfect game two nights ago, beating the 4th man on the list, Josh Johnson. These two have been simply brilliant this year and it will be close at the end to see who wins out on the Cy Young race. Marcum has to be the surprise on the list, but he's really bounced back well from injury. Looking on the outside, Phil Hughes could have cracked the top 5, but two bad starts in a row knocked him out. Cain, Lester, Carpenter, Lincecum are all names we expect to be in the top 10, while Roy Oswalt, despite only being 3-6, is having a re-surging season. You have to figure the Ballers and the Astros are going to look to move him sooner than later.

5 Best Relievers

Jonathan Broxton RP RIC - 13 S, 1.20 ERA, 13.30 K/9
Carlos Marmol RP WW - 11 S, 1.46 ERA, 17.88 k/9
Matt Capps RP SM - 17 S, 2.95 ERA, 8.51 k/9
Heath Bell RP APC - 14 S, 1.17 ERA 11.74 k/9
Jose Valverde BH - 11 S, 0.435 ERA, 6.97 k/9

Also receiving votes: Leo Nunez, Neftali Feliz, Rafael Soriano

In terms of dominance, not sure there's much argument with the top 2. Marmol's 17 + k/9 is unheard of. From there the numbers are pretty similar. Jose Valverde edges out Rafael Soriano because of his microscopic 0.43 ERA. Oh and for the record, Tyler Clippard has 7 wins.

10 Most Surprising Players:

Casey McGehee 3B PP - .301, .369, 513, 9 HR, 41 RBI
Vernon Wells OF APC - .301, .353, 602, 13 HR, 36 RBI
Elvis Andrus SS SM - .311, .398, .350, 18 SB
Jose Bautista 3B BH - .250, .368, .596, 16 HR, 41 RBI
Kelly Johnson 2B WW - .270, .372, .563, 12 HR, 25 RBI
Martin Pardo 2B RIQ - .325, .370, .458, 4 HR, 26 RBI
Adrian Beltre 3B BOS - .335, .367, .497, 5 HR, 34 RBI
Miguel Olivo C RR - .315, .377, .574, 8 HR, 22 RBI
Chris Young OF BH - .274, .339, .450, 7 HR, 38 RBI
Cory Hart OF RIC - .260, .325, .556, 12 HR, 31 RBI

Thoughts: Casey McGehee continues to be an extremely steady rock in the Pandas lineup. He is currently 1st or 2nd in every major hitting category among all 3B. Vernon Wells is hitting out of his shoes. I didn't know it was a contract year. Meanwhile, Elvis Andrus continues to rewrite the book written on him, by adding hitting to his repetoire earlier than expected. It's not for power, but 18 SBs puts him on pace for 50, and that's a top 5 SS if he can maintain the average. We've been waiting for Kelly Johnson to return to the mean, but so far, he's been fairly reliable. Certainly more so than uber-nub Nate McClouth. Pardo has risen from late-round MLB draft pick to possible All-Star. It seems he gets a hit every night. Adrian Beltre has proved doubters wrong as he's having his best season in years. Olivo has provided the Rampage with top quality stats for a catcher. Turns out the Rampage picked the right team, just the wrong catcher. Chris Young continues to hit for a good average. His OBP has fallen along with he batting average, but if it can stay around even .250-.260 with good SB and HR numbers, then he'll be a worth while start. Finally, Cory Hart, who now has 13 HR, is leading the NL in that stat right now amazingly enough. He's always been a streaky player. We'll see what happens in a month.

5 Most Surprising Starting Pitchers

Shaun Marcum SP RQ - 5-2, 2.589 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 7.4 k/9
Jeff Niemann SP PP - 5-0, 2.36 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 5.7 k/9
Jamie Garcia SP APC - 4-2, 1.13 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 7.32 k/9
Ricky Romero SP APC - 5-2, 3.12 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9.19
Livan Hernandez Free Agent - 4-0, 2.14 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 3.6 K/9

Marcum isn't as much a surprise, but it is a surprise how well he's pitched. The only thing not to like about the guy is the division he pitches in. Dick-in-the-Face Niemann remains undefeated, and while he doesn't do it with strikeouts, he's been plenty effective for the AL's best team. Garcia, at least for me, has risen out of nowhere. Virtually no fanfare whatsoever, and now he's still rocking a 1.13 ERA. Romero, the 3rd AL East guy on the list, continues to be a strong pitcher. He's had a couple poor starts, but he's had two CG's now and continues to make strides.

Top 5 Rookies

Jason Heyward OF NEB - .301, .421, .596, 10 HR, 38 RBI, 3 SB
Mike Leake SP BBC - 4-0, 2.45 ERA
David Freese 3B WW - .316, .385, .456, 4 HR, 31 RBI
Austin Jackson OF APC - .328, .379, .444, 1 HR, 13 RRBI, 7 SB
Jamie Garcia SP APC - 4-2, 1.13 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 7.32 k/9

Most Surprising Team

Binghamton Hell Benders
The Hell Benders name change has apparently changed the losing culture that was shrouded over the Blind Dogs. This team appears to be very much for real. Doubters continue to look past the Hell Benders, but numbers show this team is for real, unlike the other cinderella Smoke Monsters. The Monsters rank 11th in breakdown, suggesting that their winning ways have been more smoke and mirrors than monstrous output. Meanwhile the Benders currently rank 3rd in breakdown and have given each opponent a run for its money this season. Led by resurgent seasons from Chris Young, Alex Rios, and a lucky string of weeks from Jose Bautista, along with stout pitching from ace pitcher Adam Wainwright burgeoning ace Mat Latos, and two of the best closers in baseball thus far, the Benders appear to be right in the thick of it. Duggan's hit or miss approach with trades and slew of valuable prospects will make Duggan an undoubtedly busy man come trade deadline if the Benders continue their winning ways.

Most Disappointing Team

The Brew Crew
Not much surprise here, well in regards to who would be rated, "most disappointing." The Crew rank 8th in Breakdown, and a bit of bad luck has pushed them to the 2nd worst record in the league at 2-6. Even the most optimistic of owners would not like their chances of making a playoff run 4 games under .500 at Memorial Day. It would not be unprecedented, but it would be some impressive run. Still in the back of everyone's mind, we're all sort of waiting for the team to come around. If the Crew don't, it will be interesting to see what direction the Brad goes at the break.

Team Stats Leaders:
Runs - Walnuts (320)
HR - Bombers (77)
RBI - Pandas (294)
SB - Monsters (59)
SLG - Bombers (.477),
BA - Anchormen (.284)
OBP - Bombers (.370)

ERA - Benders (3.257)
WHIP - Walnuts (1.15)
W - Benders (29)
L - Pigeons (12)
S - Walnuts/Monsters (28)
Kd9 - Bombers (8.99)

Johnstradamus

It's been a while since we've seen Johnstradamus, but he's back this week with a brief appearance.

Predictions:

Carbombs 8 - Pandas 5

A rematch of the 2008 championship and this time Choo and Werth are entering the series with cold stickies. The key will be good starting pitching from the Pandas. They will have to have 5 quality starts if they are to have any chance, but in the end, it may not be enough.

Big Weeks From: Jose Reyes, Shin Soo Choo, and Panda Killer, Alfonso Soriano

Hell Benders 9 - Monsters 4

The Monsters respond to criticism, but only until Thursday. A slow weekend letdown allows the Benders to take the game for good.

Big Weeks from: Garrett Jones and Jay Bruce

Pigeons 8.5 Brew Crew 4.5

The Pigeons ended last week hot, and that continues throughout the week. Once again The Brad is bit by bad luck as he again goes up against an opponent with a strong week. The Pigeons will have to survive 4HR from Prince Albert.

Big Weeks From: Albert Pujols, Curtis Granderson

Bombers 6 - Walnuts 7 - GAME OF THE WEEK

Every time J-Damus picks against the Walnuts, they end up winning, so this time the Walnuts get the nod. It's already off to a hot start and both teams are playing well. Both teams' big guns got off to a strong start with A-Rod and J-Up going deep and Kemp, Morneau and Cano chimed in with 8 hits. Look for the stars to shine bright in the early-season championship.

Big Weeks from: Justin Upton and Torii Hunter

Anchormen 8 - Rampage 5

Sparked by the return of Andre Ethier to the lineup, the Anchormen continue their hot hitting in May. Again they're short on power, but against the Rampage that's no worry as long as the Anchormen can keep the average high, they should be fine offensively. The Rampage don't even know what's happening right now anyway as they await the arrival of the chosen one next Tuesday.

Big Weeks from: Andrew McCutchen and Starlin Castro

Ballers 5.5 - Quahogs 7.5

The Quahogs have yet to really put together a strong week of hitting and pitching. That will need to change as the Ballers are off to a hot start offensively, but the retooled starting pitching could be the deciding factor for the Ballers. Carlos Zambrano looks to leave a poor start to the season behind as he makes his 'Hogs debut against former Panda great, Zach Duke. Prediction, Duke comes away with a 8-3 victory. Things go along okay (2 ER through 4 innings) until the 5th inning when Garret Jones knocks a 3-run Homerun off Big Z.

Big Weeks From: Jason Kubel and Pablo Sandoval

NKFBL Tonight: WED 5/19/10

2010-05-20T00:50:00.002-04:00

MVP- Adrian Gonzalez (SM)- 2-3, 0.667 BA, HR, 5 RBI, R, BB, 0.750 OBP, 1.667 SLG

honorable mention...

Dan Uggla (HB)-2-3, 0.667 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 0.800 OBP, 2.000 SLG

Jason Heyward (NEB)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.400 SLG

Robinson Cano (WW)- 4-5, 0.800 BA, 2B, RBI, R, 0.800 OBP, 1.000 SLG

CY- Justin Verlander (WW)- 116 PC, 9 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 5 K, ER, 1.000 ERA, 0.556 WHIP, W, 5.000 Kd9

DST-Kerry Wood (NEB)- 30 PC, 0.1 INN, 4 HA, 2 BBI, K, 5 ER, 135.000 ERA, 18.000 WHIP, L, 27.000 Kd9

dishonorable mention...

Jay Bruce (HB)- 0-5

AJ Burnett (HB)- 116 PC, 6.2 INN, 9 HA, 4 BBI, 4 K, 6 ER, 8.100 ERA, 1.950 WHIP, L, 5.400 Kd9

Randy Wolf (SM)- 118 PC, 6.1 INN, 10 HA, 5 BBI, 3 K, 6 ER, 8.526 ERA, 2.368 WHIP, L, 4.263 Kd9

TEAM MVP- NE Bombers- 16-40, 0.400 BA, 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 10 R, 2 SB, 7 BB, 0.489 OBP, 0.700 SLG

honorable mention...

Smoke Monsters- 12-38, 0.316 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, 4 BB, 0.381 OBP, 0.632 SLG

TEAM CY- Wickford Walnuts - 10 INN, 4 HA, 2 BBI, 7 K, ER, 0.900 ERA, 0.600 WHIP, W, S, 6.300 Kd9

TEAM DST- Attack Pigeons- 6-30, 0.200 BA, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 0.273 OBP, 0.333 SLG

2011 Picks Update- 5/19

2010-05-19T21:58:00.003-04:00

NKFBL Tonight: THU 5/13/10

2010-05-14T00:11:00.003-04:00

MVP- Ryan Zimmerman (AP)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.800 SLG

honorable mention...

Miguel Cabrera (CR)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.500 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Ichiro Suzuki (BC)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB, 0.800 OBP, 1.500 SLG

CY- Matt Latos (HB)- 106 PC, 9 INN, HA, 6 K, 0.111 WHIP, W, 6.000 Kd9

DST-Andrew Bailey (BC)- 13 PC, 0.1 INN, 3 HA, BBI, ER, 27.000 ERA, 12.000 WHIP, L

TEAM MVP- Attack Pigeons- 7-23, 0.304 BA, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 4 R, CS, 0.304 OBP, 0.696 SLG

TEAM CY- Smoke Monsters- 16 INN, 7 HA, 5 BBI, 11 K, 2 ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, L, S, 6.188 Kd9

honorable mention...

Polska Pandas- 14 INN, 12 HA, 2 BBI, 16 K, 4 ER, 2.571 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 2 W, 10.286 Kd9

TEAM DST- Hell Benders- 0-8

NKFBL Tonight: WED 5/12/10

2010-05-12T22:46:00.005-04:00

MVP- Miguel Olivo (CR)- 5-5, 1.000 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, R, CS, 1.000 OBP, 1.800 SLG

Olivo was huge for the Rampage as he helped them open up a lead over the Brew Crew. Olivo finished 4-4 after 9 innings and then added a walk off HR in extras for good measure. The Rampage are out hot in their upset attempt.

honorable mention...

Lance Berkman (RIQ)- 1-1, 1.000 BA, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 4 BB, 1.000 OBP, 4.000 SLG

Travis Snider (NEB)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R, 0.500 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Josh Hamilton (SM)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.200 SLG

Like Olivo, Berkman also reached base a perfect 5 for 5 times, but with the benefit of 4 walks. The Quahogs lead early over the Anchormen. Snider is having a nice send off for the Bombers with a HR in a surprise spot start over Paul Konerko. His showing has put the Bombers on top of the Carbombs in a tight contest. Hamilton did the Smoke Monsters' only damage on the day. Neither them or the Walnuts have gotten it going at the dish.

CY- Phil Hughes (PP)- 101 PC, 7 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 8 K, 0.857 WHIP, W, 10.286 Kd9

Hughes has been amazing for the Pandas and well worth Jimmy Rollins so far in 2010. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to getting hit around a little bit, but for now, he's showing why he was a 1st RD pick in the NKFBL's inaugural prospect draft.

honorable mention...

Jered Weaver (WW)- 120 PC, 7 INN, 6 HA, 2 BBI, 12 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, L, 15.429 Kd9

Shaun Marcum (RIQ)- 103 PC, 7 INN, 2 HA, BBI, 6 K, 0.429 WHIP, W, 7.714 Kd9

DST- Fransisco Rodriguez (CR)- 14 PC, INN, 2 HA, K, 2 ER, 18.000 ERA, 2.000 WHIP, L, 9.000 Kd9

K-Rod suffered his first shaky outing of the season, landing the dreadful DST award. It was bad timing for him in a day free of any major DST efforts.

dishonorable mention...

Derek Jeter (CB)- 0-8, 2 R, SB, BB, 0.111 OBP

Ryan Zimmerman (AP)- 0-5

TEAM MVP- Cuban Rampage- 19-47, 0.404 BA, 5 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 8 R, 3 SB, 3 BB, CS, 0.440 OBP, 0.574 SLG

Olivo paced the way as the Rampage threatened to become the first team in the NKFBL this season to reach 20 hits in a day.

honorable mention...

The Brew Crew- 15-35, 0.429 BA, 8 2B, HR, 12 RBI, 5 R, SB, 3 BB, 0.462 OBP, 0.743 SLG

The Brew Crew needed to keep pace with the Rampage to avoid a major hole and did just that. The Brad's team showed a little fight for the first time this season and weathered the Rampage's monster day.

TEAM CY- Polska Pandas- 101 PC, 7 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 8 K, 0.857 WHIP, W, 10.286 Kd9

see: Phil Hughes

TEAM DST- Attack Pigeons- 9-48, 0.188 BA, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB, 0.204 OBP, 0.229 SLG

Conor's presence has cooled down the Pigeons and they lost their lead against the Ballers with an anemic day at the plate. Perhaps the spirit of the awful 2008 Names' offense haunted the Pigeon squad on Wednesday.

dishonorable mention...

The Carbombs- 9-43, 0.209 BA, 2B, 6 RBI, 6 R, SB, 6 BB, 0.314 OBP, 0.233 SLG

Both the Carbombs and Bombers have been slow to get going this week. The Carbombs will look to get on track tomorrow with only 3 Bombers suiting up for action.

NKFBL Tonight: TUE 5/11/10

2010-05-11T23:35:00.004-04:00

MVP- Evan Longoria (BBC)- 2-5, 0.400 BA, HR, 4 RBI, R, 0.400 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Longoria helped the Ballers bounce back from an awful Week 5 and a rough start to Week 6 with a HR and 4 RBI. Their 3 HR through 2 days are only 1 less than they had all of last week.

honorable mention...

Jay Bruce (HB)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 3B, 3 RBI, R, SB, 0.600 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Jason Bay (RIQ)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, RBI, 2 R, SB, BB, 0.800 OBP, 0.750 SLG

Russell Martin (PP)- 2-5, 0.400 BA, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.500 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Bruce paced a frantic comeback from the Hell Benders on a day where the failed to homer, but still managed to make it a game against the Pandas. Bay was productive in a day that featured limited action for the Quahogs. They should roll this week against the Anchormen. Russell Martin homered for the 2nd time in 3 days and the Pandas are out of the gate well in Week 6 after finishing Week 5 strong.

CY- Johnny Cueto (HB)- 103 PC, 9 INN, HA, 8 K, 0.111 WHIP, W, 8.000 Kd9

Cueto was awesome, nearly erasing the DST from Brandon Morrow 24 hours earlier. His 1-hitter with no walks lowered the Benders' WHIP from 5.4 to 1.05 and erased the possibility of an early Panda blowout.

honorable mention...

Ricky Nolasco (CB)- 95 PC, 7 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 3 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 0.857 WHIP, W, 3.857 Kd9

Cliff Lee (RIC)- 112 PC, 7.1 INN, 8 HA, 2 K, ER, 1.227 ERA, 1.091 WHIP, W, 2.455 Kd9

Nolasco did his best to make up for Fuentes with his 2nd good start in 3 chances with the Carbombs. They hold a slim lead over the Bombers, who are yet to make an appearance on the mound. Cliff Lee got his first win of the season in a big start for the Anchormen. Their bats are due to cool off, so they will need a strong pitching effort in search of their 3rd straight win.

DST- Vlad Guerrero (RIC)- 1-6, 0.167 BA, 0.167 OBP, 0.167 SLG

Shortly after being named the Week 5 MVP, Vlad couldn't keep the magic up and the Anchormen offense went from red hot to cold as the schedule changed over.

dishonorable mention...

Cliff Pennington (BBC)- 1-7, 0.143 BA, RBI, 0.143 OBP, 0.143 SLG

TEAM MVP- Hell Benders- 15-38, 0.395 BA, 3B, 8 RBI, 7 R, 5 SB, 8 BB, 0.500 OBP, 0.447 SLG

It was a barrage of singles from the Hell Benders on Tuesday, but it was effective and the Benders had the green light on the base paths as well; stealing 5 bases. It's looking like an early slug fest against the Pandas.

honorable mention...

Ballers of Cork- 11-38, 0.289 BA, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, 3 BB, 0.341 OBP, 0.500 SLG

It's not a good week to play the Ballers coming off of their sub .200 AVE last week. Even Grady Sizemore contributed with 2 SB.

TEAM CY- Hell Benders- 9.2 INN, 4 HA, 8 K, ER, 0.931 ERA, 0.414 WHIP, W, 7.448 Kd9

Even Neftali Feliz' blown save couldn't spoil Cueto's masterpiece on the hill.

TEAM DST- RIC Anchormen- 9-49, 0.184 BA, 4 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, SB, BB, 0.200 OBP, 0.265 SLG

In a day where most teams were burdened by rain outs and days off, the Anchormen managed to scrape together nearly 50 AB. They weren't able to take advantage however, managing only 4 RBI and 3 R in a full day's action.

NKFBL Tonight: Week 5 Awards

2010-05-11T17:57:00.002-04:00

Week 5 MVP

Vlad Guerrero (RIC)- 9-25, 0.360 BA, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 5 R, SB, BB, 0.345 OBP, 0.840 SLG

2. Alex Rios (HB)- 13-28, 0.464 BA, 6 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, BB, CS, 0.467 OBP, 1.000 SLG

3. Jason Werth (PP)- 9-25, 0.360 BA, 4 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, SB, BB, 0.407 OBP, 1.000 SLG

4. Nick Swisher (CR)- 9-23, 0.391 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, 0.440 OBP, 0.826 SLG

5. Joey Votto (NEB)- 10-24, 0.417 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, CS, 0.481 OBP, 0.833 SLG

Honorable Mention...

Prince Fielder (BC)- 8-25, 0.320 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, SB, 3 BB, 0.393 OBP, 0.600 SLG

Yadier Molina (RIC)- 11-22, 0.500 BA, 3 2B, 7 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB, 3 BB, 0.560 OBP, 0.636 SLG

Adrian Beltre (RIC)- 10-29, 0.345 BA, 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, BB, 0.367 OBP, 0.655 SLG

Ryan Braun (RIQ)- 11-27, 0.407 BA, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 8 RBI, 12 R, 2 SB, 3 BB, 0.467 OBP, 0.704 SLG

Miguel Cabrera (CR)- 9-16, 0.563 BA, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, 0.650 OBP, 0.938 SLG

Kevin Youkilis (HB)- 9-20, 0.450 BA, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 7 R, 9 BB, 0.645 OBP, 0.800 SLG

Week 5 CY

Jon Lester (NEB)- 15 INN, 9 HA, 4 BBI, 12 K, 3 ER, 1.800 ERA, 0.867 WHIP, 2 W, 7.200 Kd9

2. Neftali Feliz (HB)- 4 INN, HA, 4 K, 0.250 WHIP, 4 S, 9.000 Kd9

3. Matt Latos (HB)- 8 INN, 2 HA, 9 K, 0.250 WHIP, W, 10.125 Kd9

4. Mike Leake (BBC)- 13 INN, 8 HA, 2 BBI, 10 K, 4 ER, 2.769 ERA, 0.769 WHIP, W, 6.923 Kd9

5. Dan Haren (PP)- 9 INN, 7 HA, BBI, 9 K, 2 ER, 2.000 ERA, 0.889 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

Honorable Mention...

CJ Wilson (SM)- 9 INN, 5 HA, 2 BBI, 4 K, ER, 1.000 ERA, 0.778 WHIP, W, 4.000 Kd9

David Price (CR)- 7.2 INN, 3 HA, 4 BBI, 6 K, 0.913 WHIP, W, 7.043 Kd9

Week 5 DST

Carlos Pena (BBC)- 1-24, 0.042 BA, 2B, R, 2 BB, 0.115 OBP, 0.083 SLG

2. Max Scherzer (RIC)- 9.1 INN, 17 HA, 7 BBI, 5 K, 15 ER, 14.464 ERA, 2.571 WHIP, 2 L, 4.821 Kd9

3. Pablo Sandoval (RIQ)- 3-29, 0.103 BA, 2B, RBI, 4 R, 0.100 OBP, 0.138 SLG

4. Randy Wells (CB)- 2 INN, 5 HA, 3 BBI, K, 6 ER, 27.000 ERA, 4.000 WHIP, L, 4.500 Kd9

5. Chone Figgins (HB)- 2-22, 0.091 BA, SB, 3 BB, CS, 0.200 OBP, 0.091 SLG

Dishonorable Mention...

Felix Hernandez (NEB)- 3.1 INN, 5 HA, 4 BBI, 3 K, 7 ER, 18.900 ERA, 2.700 WHIP, L, 8.100 Kd9

Joakim Soria (BC)- 0.1 INN, 3 HA, K, 2 ER, 54.000 ERA, 9.000 WHIP, L, 27.000 Kd9

Josh Beckett (RIQ)- 5.1 INN, 9 HA, 3 BBI, 8 K, 9 ER, 15.188 ERA, 2.250 WHIP, L, 13.500 Kd9

Asdrubal Cabrera (CR)- 0-8

Ryan Dempster (WW)- 14 INN, 14 HA, 4 BBI, 14 K, 8 ER, 5.143 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 2 L, 9.000 Kd9

NKFBL Tonight: MON 5/10/10

2010-05-11T00:39:00.004-04:00

MVP- Martin Prado (RIQ)- 2-5, 0.400 BA, HR, 5 RBI, R, 0.400 OBP, 1.000 SLG

The undrafted free agent has played his way past Gordon Beckham on the depth chart and into the Quahogs' lineup all season long. His grand slam and 5 RBI paced the Quahogs' 9 RBI effort on they day.

CY- Tommy Hanson (AP)- 109 PC, 8 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 8 K, 0.625 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

Sully welcomed Conor "Always Dealin" Hartnett aboard the Pigeons just in time for their big game against rival Eamonn Hartnett. Tommy Hanson was lights out and the Pigeons got off to a good start in their attempt to keep the Ballers' losing streak alive.

DST- Brandon Morrow (HB)- 67 PC, 1.2 INN, 3 HA, 6 BBI, 4 K, 6 ER, 32.400 ERA, 5.400 WHIP, L, 21.600 Kd9

Not the start the Hell Benders wanted in their game against the Pandas this week. A start like this may shut them out of the ERA and WHIP categories all together against one of the best starting rotations in the NKFBL. What a difference a new week makes as the Hell Benders pitched their way to a win last week. They'll need to get the bats going to make it two in a row.

dishonorable mention...

Manny Corpas (WW)- 31 PC, INN, 2 HA, BBI, K, 4 ER, 36.000 ERA, 3.000 WHIP, L, 9.000 Kd9

Brian Fuentes (CB)- INN, 3 HA, BBI, K, 3 ER, 27.000 ERA, 4.000 WHIP, 9.000 Kd9

The Manny Corpas era didn't get off to a hot start in Wickford and abruptly ended shortly after. Corpas didn't start the Walnuts pitching off on the right foot against the hot Smoke Monsters squad in their interesting matchup this week.

Mr. DST, Brian Fuentes gave the Bombers a nice early edge in pitching with a blown save. Fuentes was pitching well entering the week, but his latest ill-timed blowup was good enough for another DST mention.

TEAM MVP- The Carbombs- 7-22, 0.318 BA, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, R, 0.318 OBP, 0.500 SLG

It was a very slow day on offense in the NKFBL, with the Carbombs being the only team to hit above .300 on the day. Tex went deep again in his quest to hit 15 HR this month.

TEAM CY- Attack Pigeons- 8 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 8 K, 0.625 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

see: Tommy Hanson

TEAM DST- The Brew Crew- 6-30, 0.200 BA, RBI, 4 R, 6 BB, 0.351 OBP, 0.200 SLG

The Brad really doesn't want to have to play catchup this week against the lowly Rampage after losing 4 straight in division play. The Brew Crew just can't get the bats going with even the mighty Albert Pujols falling victim to the blue sticky.

NKFBL Tonight: SUN 5/9/10

2010-05-09T21:08:00.003-04:00

MVP- Alex Rios (HB)- 4-4, 1.000 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB, 1.000 OBP, 2.000 SLG

Rios got the ultimate revenge, leading his new team to victory over the Rampage with a perfect day at the dish on Sunday. The Hell Benders finish up the first round of division play at 2-3 thanks to a mostly pitching driven Week 5 victory.

also receiving votes...

Vernon Wells (AP)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.400 SLG

Ryan Bruan (RIQ)-2-5, 0.400 BA, R, SB, 0.400 OBP, 0.400 SLG

Vernon Wells and the Pigeons have been one of the major stories in the NKFBL through 5 weeks. Vernon made sure that the Pigeons completed a sweep of the Walnuts, Quahogs and Carbombs with his 9th HR on the season. The Walnuts finally ran out of steam this week and it made for an anticlimactic Sunday.

Speaking of anticlimactic, the Quahogs clinched a win with a SB by Braun and snapped their 2 game losing streak. They didn't play that well in Week 5, but will take their 3-2 record with their best baseball surely to come.

CY- Clayton Kershaw (PP)- 117 PC, 8 INN, 2 HA, 3 BBI, 9 K, 0.625 WHIP, W, 10.125 Kd9

Kershaw accomplished winning the DST and CY in the same week, but ultimately could not make up for the former. The Pandas' staff didn't give the Bombers any room for bad starts. The Bombers haven't faced a team with an ERA over 3.5 all season long.

honorable mention...

Matt Capps (SM)- 9 PC, INN, S

Mike Leake (BBC)- 91 PC, 7 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 6 K, 3 ER, 3.857 ERA, 0.714 WHIP, W, 7.714 Kd9

Capps' perfect inning was huge for the Smoke Monsters. He gave them the WHIP category and also tied up Saves and the Monsters rolled to their 4th victory of the season. This team keeps finding ways to win, while the Brew Crew's 1-4 start is worse than anyone could have imagined going into the season.

DST- Rajai Davis (CB)- 0-4

Being the Carbombs main source of SB, Davis couldn't get on base and give the Carbombs a chance on Sunday.

TEAM MVP- Polska Pandas- 15-41, 0.366 BA, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, 2 SB, 4 BB, 0.426 OBP, 0.683 SLG

The Pandas did some pretty good mashing on Sunday in a big win over the Bombers. They got off to a hot start on the day and it was never that close with the Bombers lacking the AB to catch up in RBI and R. They've put together 4 straight wins and are currently the hottest team in the NKFBL.

almost...

RIC Anchormen- 10-32, 0.313 BA, 3 2B, 3B, 11 RBI, 7 R, 2 SB, 5 BB, CS, 0.410 OBP, 0.469 SLG

Hell Benders- 11-32, 0.344 BA, 4 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 R, 6 BB, 0.447 OBP, 0.563 SLG

TEAM CY- Smoke Monsters- 3 INN, 2 HA, 0.667 WHIP, S

They didn't pitch much, but the effectiveness of Matt Capps and Matt Lindstrom was enough the give the Monsters a big point and a win.

honorable mention...

NE Bombers- 24 INN, 9 HA, 9 BBI, 22 K, 3 ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, 2 W, L, S, 8.250 Kd9

TEAM DST- New England Bombers- 4-31, 0.129 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 0.206 OBP, 0.258 SLG

It wasn't to be this week as the Bombers suffered nagging injuries, DST starts and an awful Sunday on their way to their 1st loss of the season. They missed an opportunity to grab a big lead in the NL.

dishonorable mention...

Carbombs- 5-29, 0.172 BA, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 0.219 OBP, 0.345 SLG

Wickford Walnuts- 6-37, 0.162 BA, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB, BB, 2 CS, 0.184 OBP, 0.243 SLG

Week 5 Power Rankings

1- Wickford Walnuts
2- Polska Pandas (+1)
3- New England Bombers (-1)
4- Rhode Island Quahogs
5- Smoke Monsters (+2)
6- The Carbombs (-1)
7- Attack Pigeons (+1)
8- The Brew Crew (-2)
9- Hell Benders
10-RIC Anchormen (+1)
11-Cuban Rampage (+1)
12-Ballers of Cork (-2)

Movers & Shakers

Despite their loss, the Walnuts retain the top spot thanks to their dominance over the first 4 weeks of the season. They have a showdown with the 4-1 Smoke Mosnters next week as the top surprises of the season square off. The Pandas flip spots with the Bombers. They'll face the Hell Benders next week in search of their 5th straight win.

The Smoke Monsters' start can no longer be ignored as they move up 2 spots to number 5. A number of their players have made a big leap this season and their move from an automatic win to a tough matchup in just one season is astonishing.

The Brew Crew continued their plunge in the rankings, dropping from number 1 to number 8 in 4 weeks. This team clearly isn't as good as Brew Crew teams of past with a number of players failing to live up to expectations. They are still a playoff contender, but will have to pass 3 teams in their own division to get there.

Despite another loss from the Rampage, the Ballers drop to the last spot in the rankings with their awful effort in Week 5 to fall to 0-5. This still shouldn't be the worst team in the NKFBL, but they're surely playing like it now and the record don't lie.

NKFBL Tonight: SAT 5/8/10

2010-05-09T00:34:00.006-04:00

MVP- Mark Texeira (CB)- 4-6, 0.667 BA, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 0.667 OBP, 2.167 SLG

A day like this was well overdue for Texy and his 3 HR day was the first in the NKFBL this season. Unfortunately for the Carbombs, he really didn't do anything to help their chances on Sunday despite his monster output. They were already well ahead in HR and SLG. Their game is coming down to SB and SB only with the Carbombs needing to win the category to take the week.

honorable mention...

Mark Reynolds (WW)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, HR, 2 RBI, R, 0.500 OBP, 1.250 SLG

Ryan Braun (RIQ)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 0.667 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Ian Stewart (SM)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB, 0.800 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Reynolds erased a Pigeons' lead with a late HR on Saturday. The Nuts have not hit well this week, but the Pigeons have matched them. OBP, SLG, HR and RBI are in virtual ties heading into Sunday and the team with the better offensive output on the last day should take this one.

Bruan helped make sure that Sunday will only come down to SB for the Quahogs and Carbombs. His 4 RBI, 4 R preformance kept the Quahogs well ahead in those categories. The Quahogs should seem to have the minor edge in speed on Sunday needing only a tie in the category and therefore are the favorites.

Runs is the major stat to watch in the back and forth game that is the Monsters and Brew Crew this week. Stewart did his part to tie up the category heading into Sunday. The Brew Crew will need to win that category outright to take the week. Also watch the closers in this one. WHIP is very close and could swing if both team's closers see action on Sunday.

CY- Aaron Harang (CB)- 121 PC, 6.2 INN, 7 HA, BBI, 9 K, 2 ER, 2.700 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, W, 12.150 Kd9

It wasn't a pretty day on the hill in the NKFBL, so Harang takes the CY with a good outing. His 9 K's helped lock up that category for the Carbombs in their only solid start of the week.

DST- Miguel Tejada (BC)- 0-8

Tejada used a double header to put up the first 0-8 this season in the NKFBL. The Brew Crew are in some serious trouble this season if they don't find a way to win on Sunday and would drop their 4th straight in division play.

dishonorable mention...

Clay Buchholz (SM)- 93 PC, 5 INN, 9 HA, 5 BBI, K, 5 ER, 9.000 ERA, 2.800 WHIP, L, 1.800 Kd9

Denard Span (RIC)- 0-8, BB, 0.111 OBP

Buchholz did his worst to give away the WHIP category and a point to the Brew Crew. The previously spectacular pitching of the Smoke Monsters was shaky on Saturday and turned a wide lead into a 7-6 edge.

TEAM MVP- New England Bombers- 13-35, 0.371 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 12 R, 2 SB, 10 BB, 0.522 OBP, 0.571 SLG

The Bombers came back and tied the Pandas heading into the final day with a well rounded effort at the dish (impressive .522 OBP). They came back to take the R lead by 1 and cut the Pandas' RBI, SB and HR lead to just 1. Winning just 1 of the categories outright may be enough for the Bombers who own bench, but the Pandas could have the edge playing 2 men up on Sunday. This one could very well come down to Pedroia and Posada tonight.

TEAM CY- The Carbombs- 7.2 INN, 7 HA, BBI, 11 K, 2 ER, 2.348 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, W, S, 12.913 Kd9

The Carbombs picked up a clinching save to go with Harang's start in the NKFBL's top day on the bump.

TEAM DST- Ballers of Cork- 6-37, 0.162 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 5 R, 5 BB, CS, 0.279 OBP, 0.270 SLG

The Ballers pathetic week 5 continued with yet another day hitting well under .200. They are currently on pace to put up the lowest AVE and SLG in the NKFBL over the past 2 seasons. The numbers to beat are the Anchormen's .174 clip from Week 7 last season and the Pandas .2809 SLG from Week 3 last season as well. The Ballers stand at .168 and .2602 heading into Sunday. They'll look to try and top those marks, but will fall to 0-5 regardless.

NKFBL Tonight: FRI 5/7/10

2010-05-07T23:52:00.004-04:00

I didn't save the stats last night, so there will be no team awards today. Instead, I did a mini-write up on the games I didn't mention in the individual awards. Also, no honorable mentions due to a lack of stats.

MVP- Ike Davis (RIC)- 2-3, 0.667 BA, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB, 0.750 OBP, 2.667 SLG

The Anchormen like Ike, and the MVP Award this week. The previously punch-less Anchormen are having an incredible week with a .375 AVE, 10 HR and 43 RBI after Friday. They are giving the Ballers the biggest hitting whooping of the season. Just their luck this season, the Ballers lost Sizemore's 1st HR of the season due to a rain out. They'll try and get their AVE over .200 this weekend.

CY- Matt Latos (HB)- 107 PC, 8 INN, 2 HA, 9 K, 0.250 WHIP, W, 10.125 Kd9

The Hell Benders put a little distance between themselves and the Rampage on Friday. Matt Latos kept up the pitching duel and picked a great time for his first great start of season. Despite the 9.5-3.5 lead, this one is very close and should come right down to the wire this weekend.

DST- Felix Hernandez (NEB)- 83 PC, 3.1 INN, 5 HA, 4 BBI, 3 K, 7 ER, 18.900 ERA, 2.700 WHIP, 8.100 Kd9

The Bombers' hot start on the mound has gone to hell thanks to 2 straight DST starts. The Pandas are in good position to win this weekend thanks to some good pitching and an abundance of Bomber mid-week injuries. Konerko, Posada and Heyward missing significant time this week is a huge advantage for the Pandas. This game may come down to R and RBI and the Pandas should have the edge with all of their extra AB this week.

Quahogs vs. Carbombs

The Carbombs took back the lead on Friday thanks to a poor day from the Quahogs at the plate and taking over the K/9 category. AVE, SB, OBP, K/9, L and S could swing in favor of either team and the Carbombs' 7-6 lead is a slim as it looks.

Monsters vs. Brew Crew

CJ Wilson gave the Monsters a huge start and they got right back into the pitching categories against the Brew Crew. They hold signifcant leads in AVE, OBP and SLG and have the upper hand heading into the final 2 days.

Walnuts vs. Pigeons

The Walnuts slumped at the plate once again on Friday and the Pigeons took a 9-4 advantage at one point in the day. However, Jered Weaver pitched the Nuts right back into it. OBP, SLG, ERA and K/9 are very close and the Nuts may need to win all 4 categories to get their 5th consecutive victory this week.

Alternative

2010-05-07T11:44:00.003-04:00

The Quahogs announced a new alternative logo and unveil their new player t's Friday afternoon, the logo features the Quahogs script font which will is also used on their uniforms new player t's

NKFBL Tonight: THU 5/6/10

2010-05-07T00:16:00.005-04:00

MVP- Vlad Guerrero (RIC)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 0.400 OBP, 2.000 SLG

That makes 2 MVP's in 3 days for Vladdy. He led the Anchormen's red hot offense once again on Thursday and they're easily piling up their best hitting week of the season. It's going to be tough for the Anchomen to lose this week. They're way up in the hitting categories over the Ballers and an offensive 7-point sweep is all but in the bag.

honorable mention...

Josh Hamilton (SM)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.400 SLG

Jason Werth (PP)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.750 OBP, 2.000 SLG

Andre Ethier (RIC)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB, 0.600 OBP, 1.250 SLG

Week 5 is a big revenge week in the NKFBL and Hamilton was the latest slugger to bite his old team. The Monsters had quietly hit their way to a .340+ AVE on the week, but lacked power until Thursday. They have a good lead over the Brew Crew in the percentage categories, but this one is nowhere close to being decided.

Werth slugged the Pandas within striking distance against the Bombers with his 2nd HR of the week. The two teams enjoyed nice days at the plate on Thursday and the score is tight heading into the weekend.

CY- Dan Haren (CR)- 111 PC, 9 INN, 7 HA, BBI, 9 K, 2 ER, 2.000 ERA, 0.889 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

Haren nailed down the Pandas 1st start of the week by owning the Astros. He started off real hot, striking out 7 of the first 10 batters of the game. Winning ERA and WHIP would go a long way in a Pandas victory this week and Haren did his best to make sure that happens.

DST- Randy Wells (CB)- 47 PC, 2 INN, 5 HA, 3 BBI, K, 6 ER, 27.000 ERA, 4.000 WHIP, L, 4.500 Kd9

Randy Wells went into his start with solid numbers, but has proved very hittable in his career and a blow up like this was just a matter of time. The Carbombs already didn't stand much of a shot at catching the Quahogs in ERA or WHIP and now have no shot.

dishonorable mention...

Joakim Soria (BC)- 13 PC, 0.1 INN, 3 HA, K, 2 ER, 54.000 ERA, 9.000 WHIP, L, 27.000 Kd9

Wandy Rodriguez (CB)- 73 PC, 3.2 INN, 9 HA, BBI, 4 K, 5 ER, 12.273 ERA, 2.727 WHIP, L, 9.818 Kd9

TEAM MVP- RIC Anchormen- 13-33, 0.394 BA, 2 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 7 R, SB, 2 BB, 0.417 OBP, 0.727 SLG

A winning streak for the Anchormen? The Anchormen have their 2nd win of the season in the bag after pounding out another 3 HR and 11 RBI on Thursday. A 2-3 start looked impossible after the first 3 weeks of the season, but the Anchormen have hit their way to 2 straight wins. The Ballers on the other hand are putting up a pathetic .173/.250/.268 line on the week.

TEAM CY- Polska Pandas- 16 INN, 11 HA, 3 BBI, 15 K, 2 ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.875 WHIP, 2 W, 8.438 Kd9

The Pandas had awesome matchups on Thrusday (HOU and SEA) and did not disappoint. The aforementioned Haren threw a complete game while Jeff "Dick in Face" Neimann kept haunting the Bombers GM Uustal's dreams with 7 shutout innings. That's what I call a cock-slap.

TEAM DST- The Carbombs- 18.2 INN, 27 HA, 6 BBI, 15 K, 16 ER, 7.714 ERA, 1.768 WHIP, 4 L, 7.232 Kd9

It was evident entering Week 5 that the Carbombs needed some starting pitching help and Thursday's 4 loss day was about as bad as it gets for a pitching staff. Wandy Rodriguez has predictably had a sizable falloff from this 2009 numbers, Javy Vazquez has gone mental in NY and Randy Wells and Aaron Harang are no where good enough to be trusted in a starting lineup. You're looking at the worst pitching staff in the NKFBL even with Danks and Nolasco putting together good seasons. The Carbombs will need to bring the bats this weekend to pick up a win.

dishonorable mention...

Ballers of Cork- 4-28, 0.143 BA, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 0.226 OBP, 0.250 SLG

Cuban Rampage- 3-27, 0.111 BA, 2B, R, 0.111 OBP, 0.148 SLG

NKFBL Tonight: WED 5/5/10

2010-05-05T23:18:00.004-04:00

MVP- Miguel Cabrera (CR)- 3-3, 1.000 BA, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, 1.000 OBP, 3.000 SLG
Giving up the sauce has done wonders for Miggy this season. He's off to a red hot start in what is looking like a career year. The Rampage need his power to carry the team if they plan on winning 10 games this season and his presence has lifted them to a narrow lead over the Hell Benders.

honorable mention...

Nick Johnson (CB)- 3-3, 1.000 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 1.000 OBP, 2.333 SLG

Alex Rios (HB)- 2-3, 0.667 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.500 OBP, 2.000 SLG

The Carbombs 1st RD MLB pick is off to a sluggish start to the season if I'm being generous. But, he finally came up big on Wednesday afternoon with 3 hits and a HR (he had 9 total hits entering the game). I like the idea of Nick Johnson more than I actually like Nick Johnson, but the Carbombs will take his best game of the season in their biggest game of the season.

Rios got back at his former squad and had seemingly broken out of his 2 year slump with a productive first month of the season. With Adam Jones slumping mightily, it looks like the Hell Benders have gotten the best of their off-season mega-deal with the Rampage.

CY- John Lackey (CR)- 102 PC, 7 INN, 2 HA, 2 BBI, 4 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 0.571 WHIP, W, 5.143 Kd9

Hate to make this installment of NKFBL Tonight all about the least intriguing game of the week, but the awards go to the best of the day and the best on the mound was the Rampage's John Lackey. Like Rios, Lackey stuck it to his former team and added another stellar performance to the Rampage's big pitching week. Their WHIP now stands at 0.75 after 24 IP.

honorable mention...

Barry Zito (BBC)- 101 PC, 7 INN, 7 HA, BBI, 4 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, W, 5.143 Kd9

Matt Garza (BBC)- 109 PC, 8 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 5 K, 2 ER, 2.250 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, W, 5.625 Kd9

DST- Kelly Johnson (WW)- 0-5

Johnson's 0-5 helped finally slow down the Walnuts, who struggled to a .150 AVE on the day. They're having early difficulties against the Pigeons, who are looking to miraculously sweep through the top 3 teams in the AL. The Pigeons have the early edge, but the Nuts are 1 big day away from gaining control. We'll see if they can rebound and keep the early magic going.

dishonorable mention...

Pablo Sandoval (RIQ)- 0-5, R

Ted Lilly (WW)- 73 PC, 6 INN, 9 HA, 2 K, 4 ER, 6.000 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, L, 3.000 Kd9

Jose Reyes (PP)- 0-5, RBI

TEAM MVP- The Carbombs- 13-40, 0.325 BA, 2 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 9 R, SB, 4 BB, CS, 0.386 OBP, 0.750 SLG

The Carbombs came out swinging on Wednesday and landed the first major punches against the Quahogs with 5 bombs. These didn't come from the usual suspects which makes it all the better for the Carbombs as Wigginton, Ortiz, Johnson and Carlos Lee went yard. Their game is still very close, but the Carbombs certainly have the big edge in power after Wednesday's display.

honorable mention...

RIC Anchormen- 16-40, 0.400 BA, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, SB, 2 BB, CS, 0.455 OBP, 0.600 SLG

Cuban Rampage- 13-35, 0.371 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 9 R, SB, 5 BB, CS, 0.450 OBP, 0.743 SLG

3 of the NKFBL's worst early season offenses came to play on Wednesday. The Anchormen and Rampage joined the Carbombs in starting to snap out of their early season funks. It's clearly not the Ballers' year when the Anchormen are spanking them on offense, taking the early sweep in the hitting categories. Their ERA and WHIP are disastrous this week, but they won't need those points if they keep up the offensive pressure on the Ballers. It's looking like 0-5 for the hapless Ballers.

TEAM CY- Ballers of Cork- 15 INN, 12 HA, 2 BBI, 9 K, 3 ER, 1.800 ERA, 0.933 WHIP, 2 W, 5.400 Kd9

The pitching isn't the problem this week as Garza and Zito put up two of the nights' top starts. Zito's amazing run continued, beating the Marlins and moving to 5-0 on the season. The Ballers suffered a couple of tough luck losses earlier in the week and are really going to need to do some major damage in the pitching points against the Anchormen for a shot at a win.

TEAM DST- Ballers of Cork- 5-42, 0.119 BA, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 3 R, BB, 0.159 OBP, 0.167 SLG

5 hits in 42 trips is a rather regrettable day and the Ballers fell 170+ points behind the Anchormen in AVE and OBP. Consider those categories lost.

dishonorable mention...

Polska Pandas- 8-42, 0.190 BA, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 6 BB, 0.292 OBP, 0.286 SLG

RI Quahogs- 9-46, 0.196 BA, 2B, 3 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, CS, 0.245 OBP, 0.217 SLG

The Pandas got an early HR from Bomber killer Brandon Phillips (what seems like his 10th career 1st row oppo-HR against the Bombers), but couldn't get anything going in the night caps and lost some ground in the percentage categories.

The Quahogs are now on a serious slide. That makes 6 straight DST worthy days on offense after losing their lead against the Pigeons last Friday. They have plenty of time to make a run at the Carbombs this week, but either way, this is not the start the Quahogs had in mind before the season.

NKFBL Tonight: TUE 5/4/10

2010-05-05T12:17:00.000-04:00

MVP- Vlad Guerrero (RIC)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, HR, 5 RBI, R, 0.500 OBP, 1.250 SLG

Vladdy won the Anchormen's 2nd straight MVP award with a 5 RBI night against the Ballers. He's enjoying a bit of a career resurgence in Texas and giving the Anchormen a solid Utility bat and a much needed source of RBI. With that said, they should probably explore dealing the past his prime slugger while healthy and useful for a playoff contender. For this week at least, he's leading the Anchormen past the Ballers in the early going.

honorable mention...

Hanley Ramirez (RIQ)- 3-6, 0.500 BA, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.500 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Jason Heyward (NEB)- 2-2, 1.000 BA, HR, RBI, R, 2 BB, 1.000 OBP, 2.500 SLG

CY- AJ Burnett (HB)- 107 PC, 7.1 INN, 5 HA, 2 BBI, 8 K, 0.955 WHIP, W, 9.818 Kd9

It was a really nice day for a handful of starters in the NKFBL, but Burnett fared the best in the Benders' Week 5 pitching duel against the Rampage. Burnett moves to 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA. His strikeout numbers are down, but it seems like a good trade off for him improved command.

honorable mention...

Jon Lester (NEB)- 120 PC, 8 INN, 5 HA, 2 BBI, 5 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.875 WHIP, W, 5.625 Kd9

Adam Wainwright (HB)- 109 PC, 8 INN, 4 HA, 2 BBI, 6 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, 6.750 Kd9

Cole Hamels (RIQ)- 116 PC, 8 INN, 8 HA, 2 BBI, 8 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, 9.000 Kd9

Tim Lincecum (CR)- 110 PC, 7 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 13 K, 3 ER, 3.857 ERA, 0.857 WHIP, 16.714 Kd9

DST- Clayton Kershaw (NEB)- 57 PC, 1.1 INN, 5 HA, 2 BBI, 3 K, 7 ER, 47.250 ERA, 5.250 WHIP, L, 20.250 Kd9

Kershaw's lack of command is both a blessing and a curse as it leads to a lot of strikeouts and a very low BAA. However, the youngster is going to have nights like this when he can't locate at all and the Bombers' worst start of the season came at a pretty inopportune time against the strong Pandas staff. The battle for 1st place already looks like it's shaping up to come down to Sunday in another chapter of this great rivalry.

TEAM MVP- New England Bombers- 11-32, 0.344 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 5 R, 6 BB, 0.447 OBP, 0.719 SLG

Heyward, Votto and Upton all hit solo HR as the Bombers powered up on Tuesday, but only had 4 RBI to show for it. The Pandas also knocked a couple out of the park with the two teams going back and forth offensively.

TEAM CY- Hell Benders- 15.1 INN, 9 HA, 4 BBI, 14 K, ER, 0.587 ERA, 0.848 WHIP, W, 8.217 Kd9

When the Benders' number 1 and 2 starters are on the mound, they have nights like this one. Wainwright and Burnett were tops in the NKFBL on Tuesday. The Benders have found difficulty getting production from their 3-5 starters and are only ranked in the middle of the pack in WHIP and ERA because of it. They'll need Cueto, Morrow and Latos to avoid disaster in Week 5 against the Rampage.

TEAM DST- Cuban Rampage- 4-33, 0.121 BA, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB, BB, 0.147 OBP, 0.121 SLG

It was a very bland day on offense in the NKFBL with most teams batting in the .220 to .280 range on the day. The Rampage picked up the slack with no extra base hits on the day and the clear cut DST Award. That'll happen when 4 of your Week 5 starters have 1 or 0 HR on the season.

NKFBL Monthly

2010-05-05T00:50:00.004-04:00

They say you don’t really know anything after the first month of the season. Well for some of us, we hope that’s true. Others hope it’s wrong. Come Memorial Day, we’ll have a real understanding on how everything’s going. But for now, enjoy this NKFBL Tonight-esque review of the month of April, in a direct ripoff I’ll call “NKFBL Monthly.”

FYI: All stats were taken from a collection of Monday and Tonight so they may not be accurate.

Attack Pigeons

MVP: Vernon Wells 8HR, 16RBI, 20R, .337 avg
 
CY: Johan Santana 3-1, 28K, 2.077 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

Best Draft Pick: Vernon Wells 

Biggest Surprise: Magglio Ordoñez 18R, 4HR,18RBI, 0.3034 avg.
 
Biggest DST: Jhonny Peralta 1HR, 6RBI, 4R, .224 avg

Vernon Wells was left for dead and scoffed at by those in the chatroom when he was picked early in the second round. However, thus far he has silenced the critics. Currently, his stats are top 15 in the league and he is looking every bit like his 2006 self that netted him his ridiculous contract. I mean honestly, a 1.113 OPS is not going to last, but wow. So far, a draft that was widely criticized for not "looking into the future," is pretty much the only thing keeping this team afloat. Magg-pipes seems to have found the same turn back the clock juice that Wells is drinking because he has been nothing short of terrific so far. On the pitching end, Johan Santana has answered doubts on whether he would be 100% healthy or not.

Ballyhooly Ballers of Cork

MVP: Evan Longoria .337Avg, .400 OBP, 5HR, 18RBI, 22R, 4SB

CY: Matt Garza 4-1, 2.057 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 34K

Best Draft Pick: David Aardsma 8 S, 2.79 ERA, 0.72 WHIP

Biggest Surprise: Barry Zito 4-0, 24K, 1.53 ERA, 0.877 WHIP

Biggest DST: Grady Sizemore .217 Avg, 0 HR, 10 RBI, .325 SLG

The Ballers have not enjoyed April thus far in 2010. Although the team has had some bright spots, Evan Longoria, Michael Cuddyer, etc, the season, overall has not gone their way. It seems as thought it’s been a decade since Grady Sizemore was rated as a top 15 fantasy player. This season he’s been barely “startable.” Every year there seems to be a couple pitchers that find their former selves or live up to previously lofty expectations. Two years ago it was Mike Mussina. Last year it was Joel Pineiro, and this season it may be Barry Zito who has cemented himself in the Ballers rotation with two solid weeks of production off the waiver wire. The team will need previously injured Aaron Hill to turn things around and get better production from their utility (Kubel, Sizemore, Pence combined BA: .219) if they hope to get back in contention this season.

Binghamton Hell Benders

MVP: Chris B. Young .286Avg, .340 OBP, 4HR, 21RBI, 11R, 2SB

CY: Adam Wainwright 4-1, 2.132 ERA, 0.894 WHIP, 30K

Best Draft Pick: Hideki Matsui .271, 4HR, 13 RBI

Biggest Surprise: Chris Young

Biggest DST: Chone Figgins .204, 0HR, 7RBI, 5SB

The pesky Benders are off to a decent start this season thanks in part to consistency up and down the lineup. 9 players have at least 4 homeruns and everyone except Figgins is batting at least .265, which is exactly what coach Duggan preached this off season to his guys. On the pitching side, it’s not quite the case as 4 hurlers are sporting ERA’s above 5. The anchor of the staff though is Adam Wainwright who has been an absolute horse. The Benders may not be in contention this season (though, it’s too early to write them off), one thing can be sure, come August and September, I get the feeling no one’s going to be relieved to play them like years past.

Cuban Rampage

MVP: Miguel Cabrera .343 Avg, .429 OBP, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 16 R, 1 SB

CY: Tim Lincecum 4-0, 1.274 ERA, 0.820 WHIP, 43K

Best Draft Pick: Hiroki Kuroda 2-1, 2.36 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 22K

Biggest Surprise: Jose Guillen .297, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 330 OBP

Biggest DST: Juan Pierre .186, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 9 SB

The Rampage completely changed around their roster from its form two years ago. They’re in complete rebuilding mode and are beginning to see some of those highly touted prospects they paid a heavy price for come up to the majors. Justin Smoak cracked the Rangers’ lineup and has done little to impress thus far, then again it’s only 27 AB and he did hit is first career HR. Stasburg has been absolutely eating up minor league hitting (last two starts: 12 IP, 1H) and has to figure to come up in June. Even if those two fulfill any of their deserved hype, it is unlikely they will be anywhere near competitive this season. This week, they will start four guys with one or fewer HR, and worst of them is Juan Pierre who has been brutal this season. In 91 AB’s in the month of April, he has exactly 1 RBI. That puts him on pace for six for the season. Hope is on the horizon though. When Strasburg comes up, they will boast a three-headed monster of Stras, Price, and Lincecum, all of whom are 25 and under.

New England Bombers

MVP: Dustin Pedroia .287 Avg, .327 OBP, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 15 R, 6 SB

CY: Ubaldo Jimenez 5-0, 0.786 ERA, 1.048 WHIP, 31K

Best Draft Pick: Paul Konerko .295, 11 HR, 21 RBI, 412 OBP, 14 R

Biggest Surprise: Jason Heyward .256, 7 HR, 20 RBI, .383, 564 Slug

Biggest DST: Alex Gordon Sent to AAA

The Nuts have to be considered the top team in the NKFBL just by sheer dominance, but rated as 1A have to be the Bombers. Seemingly containing no weaknesses (3B?), the Bombers are scary good, and more talent continues to knock in the door in the form of Buster Posey. The have been the model of how to rebuild correctly, and this year, finally, they bear the fruits of their labor. The team has put up such solid numbers that it’s hard to pick a MVP, but Dustin Pedroia gets the nod for me because he’s proven that he’s back. Some might be surprised by the biggest surprise pick, Jason Heyward, but c’mon, who thought he would be this good, this consistent, and show this much patience already. Few prospects have as much hype as he did and even fewer deliver on it: see Alex Gordon, the next George Brett. Heyward’s start is historic, and we’re seeing something that we’ll tell our kids about, the same way the generation before us tells us about Dwight Gooden or Fernando Valenzuela. On the mound, the Bombers have been equally terrific, with Ublado Jimenez, not Felix Hernandez leading the way. Not to say the King hasn’t been good, but Ubaldo’s start is unreal. He’s this year’s Zack Greinke. In 09, Greinkie gave up 2 Earned runs, in April. Ubaldo similarily has given up just 3 and may have done a one-up on Stinky by pitching the first no hitters of the season.

Polska Pandas

MVP: Shin-Soo Choo .317, 4HR, 16 RBI, 12 R, 4 SB, .436 OBP

CY: Phil Hughes 3-0, 1.44 ERA, 24K in 25 innings

Best Draft Pick: Jorge Cantu .308 Avg, .383 OBP, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 16 R

Biggest Surprise: Casey McGehee .306, 5HR, 19RBI, 565 SLG.

Biggest DST: Carlos Zambrano 0-1, 6.55 ERA, 1.800 WHIP, Moved to Bullpen

The Pandas first four weeks of the 2010 season have served as a microcosm for the last two years. It’s a lineup full of streaky guys who, when they all get hot, can match up with any team in the league. Trouble is, predicting when the team will be hot is like predicting the next big earthquake. It’s coming, but you don’t know when. That’s why Shin-Soo Choo gets picked as the MVP, with Jayson Werth (.338 avg, 587 Slug, 3 HR) as special guest. Choo has been the one rock in the lineup that seems to never get too cold or too hot for too long, but can be counted on for speed, power, and OBP.

Coming into the season, the Pandas had two weaknesses, 3B and SS. Suddenly 3B has been a strength in the first four months as Cantu has found his 2007 form, or maybe he’s just duplicating his hot start last season before fading away to mediocrity. Casey McGehee has been a revelation thus far for the Pandas and have given justification to doubters for keeping him. He hasn’t slowed down from his surprising 2009 season, and has been a quality run producer. It’s a good thing the hitting has been decent because the pitching has not been exactly lights out. Dan Haren has struggled unusually early, and Zack Greinke is 0-3 because he can’t get run support or a decent inning from his bullpen. Speaking of bullpen, that brings us to Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs opening day starter and Pandas 4^th starter entering the season was unbelievably moved to the bullpen after a rough start and also extreme need for a setup man for Carlos Marmol. The Dexter Fowler and Brett Wallace deal for Z and Yunel (not with the club anymore) was certainly a far sweeter deal for Lester thus far.

RI Quahogs:

MVP: Ryan Braun .361 Avg, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 6 SB

CY: Matt Cain 1-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 24k

Best Draft Pick: Shaun Marcum 0-1, 3.44 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 28 K

Biggest Surprise: Carlos Gonzalez .345, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 4 SB

Biggest DST: Chris Coghlan .188, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 241 OBP

The same lack of consistency that plagues the Pandas hitters has plagued the pitching staff. Matt Cain has been the teams strongest starter, but thus far it has seen awful outings from Beckett, Trever Hoffman, Cole Hamels, and Ricky Nolasco before he was shipped out. Luckily, the Quahogs offensive firepower is for the most part unrivaled. Easily, the team’s MVP has been the quiet but uber-productive Ryan Braun. The “Braun-y” man has owned this season, and a fairly recent development, tons of steals. He’s on pace right now for a 35-40 campaign. In the surprise department, Carlos Gonzalez gets the nod. I throw him there because I’m surprised when he doesn’t get a hit. Every time I check the scores, this jerk is like 2-4. I was shocked is avg was only .345. And finally, the biggest DST goes to the rookie of the year, Chris Coghlan, or as Pat affectionately calls him, “The Cog-Hog.” Right now the only thing Cog or Hog about this guy is that he’s hogging a deserving roster spot. It’s a phenomenon I’ll never understand, but it seems he’s in the midst of a sophomore slump.

RIC Anchormen:

MVP: Andre Ethier .350, 7 HR, 22 RBI, .422 OBP

CY: James Shields 3-0, 3.374 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 33K

Best Draft Pick: Adrian Beltre .345, 0 HR, 10 RBI, .378 OBP

Biggest Surprise: Vladamir Guererro .325, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 3 SB

Biggest DST: Rick Porcello 2-2, 8.027 ERA, 1.90 WHIP

The Anchormen have stumbled out of the start, but there have been a couple bright spots, namely Andre Ethier and Vlad. Thus far Ethier is absolutely owning as him and Kemp make up a devastating 1-2 punch in the Dodgers lineup. But Ethier could hit 50 HR, and it still wouldn’t be enough for this sinking ship. Injuries, lack of production, and just overall bad luck have put the Anchormen behind the 8-ball. In the bad luck category is the suddenly ineffective Rick Porcello. Porcello burst out last season as a rookie, but this season finally looks like one. To quote my dad, “it looks like he’s a deer in the headlights. No confidence.” One guy that is still confident and productive is the ageless Vlad-the-impellor. Guererro has been loving life with the Rangers and their stacked lineup and even better ballpark. Still though, there’s just not enough production from the infield (though Ike Davis has brought some much needed excitement), and there’s only so long they can honestly expect Alex Gonzalez to keep hitting at his current torrid pace. 7 HR?

The Brew Crew

MVP: Albert Pujols .344 Avg, .439 OBP, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 16 R, 1 SB

CY: Roy Halladay 5-1, 1.47 ERA, 0.877 WHIP, 39K

Best Draft Pick: Miguel Tejada .291, 4 HR, 13 RBI

Biggest Surprise: Wade Davis 2-1, 3.68 ERA, 1.41 WHIP

Biggest DST: Jake Peavy 0-2, 7.87 ERA, 1.81 WHIP

Brad’s team is so chockfull of all-stars that it’s hard to pick people you don’t already expect me to pick. But unlike a lot of teams, the best players on The Brad’s team have been actually the best players. Albert Pujols is unstoppable and Halladay is unhittable, especially according to the NL nub lineups he gets to pwn on every 5^th day. Not nearly as consistent has been Jake Peavy who appears to be feeling the effects of arm surgery. He did start off May on a good note however and maybe with another good start could be considered for the starting role again. All-in-all a disappointing first month for the Brew Crew but c’mon, does anyone really think this is going to last?

The Carbombs

MVP: Nelson Cruz .322, 7HR, 17 RBI, .758 Slg

CY: John Danks

3-0, 1.85 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 27K

Best Draft Pick: No one

Biggest Surprise: Alfonso Soriano .325, 6HR, 17 RBI, 675 SLG

Biggest DST: Javier Vazquez 1-3, 20K, 9.83 ERA, 2.045 WHIP

The Carbombs have looked like a shell of their former selves to start the season. Carlos Lee has yet to homer, Alex Rodriguez and Josh Beckett were shipped out of town, Mark Teixeira continues his early slump, Javy Vazquez has reverted back to the inconsistent bum the Pandas thought they were dropping going into least season, and their MLB draft consisting of Nick Johnson (.134 BA), Aaron Harang (6.86 ERA), Rajai Davis (.239 Avg), Frank Francisco (5 blown saves and 7.15 ERA), and Jason Frasor (8.37 ERA) have done little to help get them through early struggles. In fact considering the Carbombs currently hold the 3^rd worst breakdown in the NKFBL, it’s kind of lucky they’re only at an even 2-2. Keeping the team together have been John Danks and a surprising season from Alfonso Soriano who was left for dead. Nelson Cruz hold the MVP title for now however, even though he’s only played 2/3 of the year. His hot start kept the ship afloat to start the year, and his presence is sorely needed.

The Smoke Monsters

MVP: Colby Rasmus .315, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 3 SB, 658 SLG

CY: Francisco Liriano 4-0, 1.500 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 36K

Best Draft Pick: Matt Capps 10 Saves, 0.68 ERA, 1.31 WHIP

Biggest Surprise: Austin Jackson .377Avg, 1HR, 9RBI, 5SB

Biggest DST: Milton Bradley .224 Avg, 2HR, 12 RBI

The Smoke Monsters have been by far the biggest surprise of the first month of the season. So much has been said already about them, but it’s worth mentioning again that this is one scrappy bunch. Led by a pitching staff led by the resurgent Francisco Liriano, and lucky emergences of CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis, the Monsters have pitched their way to a 3-1 record. With only 2 picks in the first 4 rounds of the MLB draft, the Monsters made ‘em count by selecting Matt Capps and Jonathan Sanchez in the 4^th and 2^nd rounds respectively. Capps makes it interesting (1.31 WHIP), but he’s been a little lucky but effective where it counts: Saves. Meanwhile the rise of Austin Jackson has been a pleasant surprise. But the emergence of the next great Monster, Colby Rasmus has been the been a big reason the team is where it is. Slugging .658? that won’t last, but so far so good. The only real disappointment thus far has been Milton Bradley and whoever is playing catcher. Maybe that’s a sign the team is maturing or perhaps peaking, or maybe, a bit of both. We’ll see where the team is by Memorial Day.

The Wickford Walnuts

MVP: Robinson Cano .371, 9HR, 21 RBI, .732 SLG

CY: Ryan Dempster 2-1 2.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 32 K

Best Draft Pick: Whoever they pick up

Biggest Surprise: Kelly Johnson. 303, 9HR, 18RBI

Biggest DST: Nate McLouth .171 2HR, 4 RBI

The Walnuts have been flat out dominant. A 40-2-2 breakdown? What? So far everything has worked for them. Jimmy Rollins goes down? No biggie, let’s plug in The Riot and watch him hit .354. Trade Miguel Montero, not Geovanny Soto? Soto is batting .322 with a crazy .482 OBP, while Montero is on the DL. Get ridiculed for passing up AJ Burnett and taking Franklin Gutierrez? Gutierrez is batting .320 and Burnett’s “replacement,” has been arguably their best pitcher. Previously needing a pitcher, the Nuts lucked out on Brad Penny who could have arguably been the team’s CY for April with a 3-1 record, 1.55 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Only 18 K’s shows he’s been crafty more than anything. And what about the closers? Carlos Marmol is the best closer in baseball. How about 25 K in 12.2 Innings pitched? And number two on that list still might as well be geriatric Mo Rivera sporting a 0.00 ERA and 0.55 WHIP. That’s right gentlemen, everything’s coming up Nuts! Eventually this bubble HAS to burst right? But who cares? By then it might eventually be too late for the rest of us to catch up. And I haven’t even mentioned Robinson Cano yet, who up until recently was hitting .400. And what about Nate McLouth and Brandon Wood? Never mind.

All I can say is what a Month.

JOHNSTRADAMUS

Promise, I still haven’t looked at the scores and it’s killing me. I’ve not been watching anything but Suns basketball and sleep. I do know Ubaldo Jimenez struck out 13 last night. Other than that I’ve got no knowledge of what’s happened tonight or last night.

Quick Review of Week 4

Predicted: Pandas 9 – Ballers 4, Actual: Pandas 7 – Ballers 6

Predicted: Bombers 7 – Monsters 6, Actual: Bombers 10 – Monsters 3

Predicted: Brew Crew 10 – Anchormen 3; Actual: BCrew 5.5 – Anchormen 7.5

Predicted: Walnuts 8 – Benders 5; Actual: Walnuts 8 – Benders 5

Predicted: Quahogs 7 – Pigeons 6; Actual: Quahogs 3.5 – Pigeons 9.5

Predicted: Rampage 7.5 – Carbombs 5.5; Actual: Rampage 4 – Carbombs 9

Four things he got right:

1. Phil Hughes continues to quietly assert himself as the Yankees new ace. [12.2 INN, 6 HA, 5 BBI, 8 K, ER, 0.711 ERA, 0.868 WHIP, W, 5.684 Kd9]

2. Francisco Liriano has a strong week, 4ER over two starts 14.1 innings ad 12 K’s [15 INN, 12 HA, 4 BBI, 19 K, 3 ER, 1.800 ERA, 1.067 WHIP, 2 W, 11.400 Kd9]

3. …Good week from Dexter Fowler who puts in 4SB and a .290 Avg. [8-23, 0.348 BA, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 3 SB, 4 BB, 2 CS, 0.444 OBP, 0.522 SLG]

4. [although he got the score wrong] Hanley Ramirez comes up with a monster week. (3HR, 2SB, .412 avg) ACTUAL: 9-22, 0.409 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, CS, 0.458 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Week 4 Record: 3-3

Season Record: 12-6

WK 5 Predictions

And since I haven’t got the energy to find what I said wrong, let’s move to this week’s, once again, quick picks.

Bombers 9 – Pandas 4

Pandas close gap, but the Bombers stay too hot and unbeaten. Carlos Quentin does his best to keep the team in with a big weekend (2HR Saturday/Sunday), not enough though. Jason Heyward beasts all week long and proves to be the new Panda Killer. What a bastard.

Smoke Monsters 7 – Brew Crew 6

Another stunning Monsters win gives them 4 on the year and puts the BrewCrew in a tough 1-4 spot. Watch out though, a big weekend from the Crew’s offense almost spells defeat for the upset minded Monsters. I sense Adam Lind hits 3 HR this week in a losing effort while Josh Hamilton puts together a big revenge week.

Ballers 6 - Anchormen 7

The Anchormen come up with another win and the Ballers fall to an unlikely 0-5. The big key will be Cliff Lee out-pitching Matt Garza.

Quahogs 7 – Carbombs 6

Quahogs manager Pat Henderson is relieved to get a victory over the Carbombs. A loss for either team could have large implications for either squad come the end of the season. Amidst further trade rumors, Alex Rodriguez responds with 3 HR this week and ups his average to .280 by end of Sunday

Hell Benders 8.5 – Rampage 4.5

It’s not that the Rampage have a bad week, it’s just that they cannot catch up to the Benders who have a pretty good hold on the win going into the weekend. Stephen Drew has been basically the only DBack not having an excellent start. Look for that to change.

Attack Pigeons 7 – Nuts 6

They’re Giant slayers! After ousting the Quahogs last week, the Pigeons do it again. The Nuts hit plenty well, but this is going to be one of those weeks where the Pigeons are way off in the 6 stats the lose, but very closely edge the Nuts on the 7 categories they carry.

NKFBL Tonight: Week 4 Awards

2010-05-04T18:05:00.002-04:00

Week 4 MVP

Robinson Cano (WW)- 11-25, 0.440 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, CS, 0.481 OBP, 1.000 SLG

2. Andre Ethier (RIC)- 10-26, 0.385 BA, 3 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 0.448 OBP, 0.962 SLG

3. Alfonso Soriano (CB)- 8-20, 0.400 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 7 R, 4 BB, 0.500 OBP, 1.100 SLG

4. Hanley Ramirez (RIQ)- 9-22, 0.409 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, CS, 0.458 OBP, 1.000 SLG

5. Paul Konerko (NEB)- 6-19, 0.316 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R, 5 BB, 0.462 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Honorable Mention...

Austin Jackson (SM)- 15-30, 0.500 BA, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 8 R, 2 SB, 3 BB, 0.545 OBP, 0.567 SLG

Jason Heyward (NEB)- 7-20, 0.350 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 0.440 OBP, 0.850 SLG

Nick Markakis (NEB)- 10-25, 0.400 BA, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 0.464 OBP, 0.720 SLG

Ryan Doumit (BBC)- 10-25, 0.400 BA, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, SB, 0.400 OBP, 0.800 SLG

Evan Longoria (BBC)- 10-24, 0.417 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 7 R, 2 SB, BB, CS, 0.423 OBP, 0.917 SLG

Tori Hunter (WW)- 9-20, 0.450 BA, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 0.500 OBP, 0.900 SLG

Carlos Gonzalez (RIQ)- 9-23, 0.391 BA, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R, 3 SB, 3 BB, 0.444 OBP, 0.783 SLG

David Wright (CB)- 9-21, 0.429 BA, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, SB, 2 BB, 0.478 OBP, 0.905 SLG

Nick Swisher (CR)- 11-27, 0.407 BA, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, BB, 0.429 OBP, 0.704 SLG

Week 4 CY

Josh Johnson (PP)- 15 INN, 6 HA, 5 BBI, 20 K, 3 ER, 1.800 ERA, 0.733 WHIP, 2 W, 12.000 Kd9

2. Fransisco Liriano (SM)- 15 INN, 12 HA, 4 BBI, 19 K, 3 ER, 1.800 ERA, 1.067 WHIP, 2 W, 11.400 Kd9

3. Yovani Gallardo (BC)- 13 INN, 11 HA, 5 BBI, 15 K, ER, 0.692 ERA, 1.231 WHIP, 2 W, 10.385 Kd9

4. Jon Lester (NEB)- 7 INN, HA, 2 BBI, 11 K, 0.429 WHIP, W, 14.143 Kd9

5. Phil Hughes (PP)- 12.2 INN, 6 HA, 5 BBI, 8 K, ER, 0.711 ERA, 0.868 WHIP, W, 5.684 Kd9

Honorable Mention...

Cliff Lee (RIC)- 7 INN, 3 HA, 8 K, 0.429 WHIP, 10.286 Kd9

AJ Burnett (HB)- 8 INN, 3 HA, BBI, 4 K, 0.500 WHIP, W, 4.500 Kd9

Matt Cain (RIQ)- 8 INN, HA, 3 BBI, 8 K, 0.500 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

Week 4 DST

Ben Sheets (HB)- 7.1 INN, 19 HA, 3 BBI, 4 K, 17 ER, 20.864 ERA, 3.000 WHIP, 2 L, 4.909 Kd9

2. Trevor Hoffman (RIQ)- 3 INN, 5 HA, 2 BBI, 3 K, 6 ER, 18.000 ERA, 2.333 WHIP, L, S, 9.000 Kd9

3. Chipper Jones (NEB)- 1-20, 0.050 BA, RBI, R, 6 BB, 0.269 OBP, 0.050 SLG

4. Casey Kotchman (BC)- 2-23, 0.087 BA, 2B, 2 BB, 0.192 OBP, 0.130 SLG

5. Jose Guillen (CR)- 3-25, 0.120 BA, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 0.241 OBP, 0.160 SLG

Dishonorable Mention...

Felix Hernandez (NEB)- 11.1 INN, 15 HA, 7 BBI, 12 K, 7 ER, 5.559 ERA, 1.941 WHIP, 2 L, 9.529 Kd9

Franklin Guiterrez (WW)- 4-25, 0.160 BA, 2 RBI, R, 4 BB, 0.276 OBP, 0.160 SLG

Ted Lilly (WW)- 5 INN, 7 HA, 2 BBI, 6 K, 6 ER, 10.800 ERA, 1.800 WHIP, L, 10.800 Kd9

Hideki Matsui (HB)- 3-21, 0.143 BA, 2 RBI, R, 3 BB, 0.240 OBP, 0.143 SLG

Victor Martinez (RIQ)- 2-17, 0.118 BA, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB, 0.211 OBP, 0.118 SLG

Octavio Dotel (AP)- 2.1 INN, 5 HA, 3 BBI, 3 K, 5 ER, 19.286 ERA, 3.429 WHIP, 11.571 Kd9

Javy Vazquez (CB)- 3 INN, 7 HA, 4 BBI, 2 K, 5 ER, 15.000 ERA, 3.667 WHIP, 6.000 Kd9

NKFBL Tonight: MON 5/3/10

2010-05-04T00:41:00.002-04:00

MVP- Adrian Beltre (RIC)- 2-5, 0.400 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 0.400 OBP, 1.200 SLG

Beltre finally powered up for the first time in 2010 and the Anchormen carried some of their Week 4 momentum over with a productive day at the dish. They'll look to stay hot this week against the Ballers.

honorable mention...

Jason Werth (PP)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, 0.500 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Kevin Youkilis (HB)- 2-3, 0.667 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 0.833 OBP, 2.000 SLG

CY- Ubaldo Jiminez (NEB)- 120 PC, 7 INN, 4 HA, 2 BBI, 13 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 0.857 WHIP, 16.714 Kd9

Ubaldo kept on rolling with this 6th straight win in another dominant outing. He racked up 13 K's to give the Bombers the early edge in a category that should be highly contested this week.

almost...

CC Sabathia (AP)- 106 PC, 8 INN, 6 HA, 2 BBI, 2 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, W, 2.250 Kd9

DST-Max Scherzer (RIC)- 87 PC, 4.1 INN, 8 HA, 4 BBI, K, 10 ER, 20.769 ERA, 2.769 WHIP, L, 2.077 Kd9

While the Anchormen offense stayed hot, the pitching wound right back up in the DST category and Scherzer was awful on Monday. He's definitely put the Anchormen at a big disadvantage in the pitching categories after only 1 start

TEAM MVP- Binghamton Hell Benders- 11-25, 0.440 BA, 3 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, CS, 0.517 OBP, 0.680 SLG

The Benders win the Monday Team MVP for the 2nd time in 3 weeks with another great start to their week. Kevin Youkilis led the pace and got some revenge against his former team along the way.

not quite...

RIC Anchormen- 11-28, 0.393 BA, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 0.452 OBP, 0.679 SLG

Smoke Monsters- 11-26, 0.423 BA, 3 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, R, BB, CS, 0.429 OBP, 0.615 SLG

Not the start the Brew Crew wanted to see from the Smoke Monsters in a must win game for the Brew Crew. They've lacked power on the season, but the Monsters have been able to bang out hits with the best of them at times in 2010.

TEAM CY- New England Bombers- 8 INN, 5 HA, 3 BBI, 14 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, W, 15.750 Kd9

A good start for NE in a matchup of 2 of the top pitching staffs in the NKFBL. The Pandas have the more favorable matchups this week, so it was very important for the Bombers to get off to a good start in their battle for 1st place.

TEAM DST- The Carbombs- 6-31, 0.194 BA, 4 2B, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 0.242 OBP, 0.323 SLG

The Carbombs didn't get off on the right foot against the Quahogs, returning to the DST category after 3 red hot days at the plate. They'll look to get hot tomorrow in a full slate of games.

dishonorable mention...

RI Quahogs- 5-25, 0.200 BA, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, CS, 0.259 OBP, 0.280 SLG

The Quahogs weren't much better and saw surprise start, Eric Young, on the bench for the Rockies. Advantage no one in a huge game early game for both playoff hopefuls.

NKFBL Tonight: SUN 5/2/10

2010-05-02T21:20:00.004-04:00

MVP- Andre Ethier (RIC)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.800 SLG

With the Brew Crew closing in on the Anchormen thanks to one of the best weekends on the mound that the NKFBL has ever witnessed, Andrew Ethier came up with 3 huge hits, including 2 HR to lock up the AVE category and their first win of the season. His 2 HR give him 9 on the year and he has been one of the Anchormen's only reliable options this season. It was a huge upset win for the Anchormen (only their 2nd in 11 chances vs. the Brew Crew) and a devastating loss for the slipping Brew Crew.

also receiving votes...

Alfonso Soriano (CB)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 0.750 OBP, 2.500 SLG

Hanley Ramirez (RIQ)-3-5, 0.600 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.800 SLG

Robinson Cano (WW)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, 0.600 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Aaron Hill (BBC)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, 0.800 OBP, 1.750 SLG

Robinson Cano is a man on a mission and his big day and the lack of production from the Blind Dogs puts the Walnuts at 4-0 after another big week at the plate. They started off Sunday hot and this one was really never in jeopardy despite the close score at some points this week. The Ballers nearly did enough on offense on Sunday to win this one thanks to Aaron Hill and, but they couldn't get a victory once again and drop to 0-4.

The Carbombs came out swinging this weekend after a very slow start to Week 4. Soriano is on an absolute tear and hit 4 HR his last 3 games to lead the charge. The Carbombs are all of a sudden in pretty decent shape after evening up their record at 2-2 and a showdown against the Quahogs on the horizon.

The two teams will enter next week's game coming from opposite ends of the spectrum. The Quahogs have now lost 2 straight games despite Hanley Ramirez' big weekend. Before the night game, the rest of the Quahog starters besides Ramirez were a combined 0-22 on the day. They dropped far enough behind the Pigeons in AVE and OBP to lose this one going away. Their small holes in offense are also shining through as Gordon Beckham hasn't come close to replacing what they traded away in Carl Crawford. They also still have revolving door in that last Utility spot. Chris Coghlan is utterly worthless there (no XBH on this season), so they'll turn to Drew Stubbs next week in an attempt to get going.

CY- Phil Hughes (PP)- 99 PC, 7 INN, 4 HA, BBI, 6 K, 0.714 WHIP, W, 7.714 Kd9

The Pandas came into Sunday looking likely to give up the ERA category, and essentially the game, to the Ballers. However, their staff came up aces in their 3 starts on Sunday and they were able to hold onto the ERA point and the game. Hughes has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Pandas and a big reason why they have won their last 3.

honorable mention...

Zack Greinke (PP)- 87 PC, 8 INN, 4 HA, 6 K, ER, 1.125 ERA, 0.500 WHIP, L, 6.750 Kd9

Chris Carpenter (BC)- 100 PC, 7 INN, 2 HA, 3 BBI, 8 K, 0.714 WHIP, W, 10.286 Kd9

Wade Davis (BC)- 102 PC, 7 INN, 3 HA, 3 BBI, 5 K, 0.857 WHIP, W, 6.429 Kd9

Greinke has again handed a very tough loss, but the Pandas didn't really care on Sunday as he kept their ERA and WHIP rolling over 8 innings. Carpenter and Davis gave the Anchormen fits and kept the Brew Crew's amazing weekend on the mound and chances at a win alive... at least for a few hours.

DST- Ichiro Suzuki (BC)- 0-5

The Brew Crew offense came up unbelievably small on Sunday, giving away AVE and the game to the Anchormen. The two teams were neck and neck in AVE for the majority of the day, but the Brew Crew's 4pm hitters laid a giant egg and the Anchormen wound up with a 20+ point victory in the category. The rare 0-5 from Ichiro was a big reason why.

dishonorable mention...

Ben Sheets (HB)- 75 PC, 3.1 INN, 10 HA, 2 BBI, 2 K, 9 ER, 24.300 ERA, 3.600 WHIP, L, 5.400 Kd9

Johan Santana (AP)- 71 PC, 3.2 INN, 8 HA, 2 BBI, K, 10 ER, 24.545 ERA, 2.727 WHIP, L, 2.455 Kd9

Michael Cuddyer (BBC)- 0-6

Sheets capped off his 2 start week with another DST effort. His outing on Sunday didn't effect the final score against the Walnuts, but he's a major contender for the Week 4 DST Award. Santana was equally as bad. The Pigeons had built up a big ERA and WHIP lead and needed it after Santana gave up 10ER on Sunday night. Cuddyer had a rare 0-6 in a 9 inning game for the Ballers who could have used a few more knocks and runs on the day.

TEAM MVP- The Carbombs- 15-31, 0.484 BA, 4 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 0.543 OBP, 0.903 SLG

That's 3 straight big days for the Carbombs who easily disposed of the Rampage thanks to their offensive outburst. A near .500 AVE, 3 HR and 14 RBI on the day gives them very good numbers in those categories this week. Their .330 AVE this week was the best by far in the NKFBL this season. The Carbombs hope they can carry over their recent hot streak into next week against the Quahogs.

almost...

Cuban Rampage- 17-41, 0.415 BA, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 5 R, SB, 2 BB, 2 CS, 0.442 OBP, 0.585 SLG

Wickford Walnuts- 15-43, 0.349 BA, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, 6 BB, CS, 0.429 OBP, 0.605 SLG

TEAM CY- Polska Pandas- 22 INN, 12 HA, 5 BBI, 20 K, 3 ER, 1.227 ERA, 0.773 WHIP, 2 W, L, 8.182 Kd9

The Pandas actually lowered their 2.12 ERA entering the day and needed to as the Ballers were out of starts and had an impressive ERA locked in themselves. Hughes and Johnson won, giving the Pandas another half point and a 7-6 win. They needed every bit of their pitching success as they couldn't get anything going at the plate on Sunday.

honorable mention...

Brew Crew- 14 INN, 5 HA, 6 BBI, 13 K, 0.786 WHIP, 2 W, 8.357 Kd9

14 more scoreless innings on Sunday wrapped up their pitching weekend with an 0.27 ERA in 33.1 IP, giving up only 1 ER over 4 starts while picking up 4 wins and 2 saves over 2 days.

TEAM DST-Brew Crew- 6-41, 0.146 BA, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 0.222 OBP, 0.244 SLG

The Brew Crew wasted their starts this weekend with only 6 hits on Sunday and their 3rd straight loss.

Week 4 Power Rankings

1- Wickford Walnuts
2- New England Bombers
3- Polska Pandas (+2)
4- Rhode Island Quahogs (-1)
5- The Carbombs (+1)
6- The Brew Crew (-2)
7- Smoke Monsters
8- Attack Pigeons (+1)
9- Hell Benders (-1)
10-Ballers of Cork
11-RIC Anchormen (+1)
12-Cuban Rampage (-1)

Movers & Shakers

The NKFBL's 2 remaining undefeated teams stay atop the rankings with their 4th straight wins. The Walnuts slumped a bit on the mound, but put up another big offensive week and enter a relatively easy stretch of their schedule at 4-0. The Bombers disposed of the Smoke Monsters pretty easily and put up an undefeated breakdown on the week.

The Pandas leaped up to the 3 spot as they pitched their way to a 3rd straight win. They'll face off against the Bombers next week with 1st place on the line in the biggest game ever played between the two historic rivals.

The Quahogs slumped down to the 4 spot as they were once again let down by the pitching staff and fall to 2-2. On the other hand, the Carbombs enter their Week 5 showdown with the Quahogs on a hot streak. A big win would make all of his rebuilding talk after Week 2 seem pretty foolish.

The Brew Crew suffered the biggest fall, dropping 2 spots. They just can't seem to get the bats going this season, but should get hot sooner than later. They'll have to play their way out an early hole if they want to win their 3rd straight NL crown. The Smoke Monsters stayed steady at 7 despite their 1st loss. The pitching was excellent again in Week 4, but the offense was due for a slump. They have a tough matchup next week against the Brew Crew who will be looking to beat someone up.

The giant-slaying Attack Pigeons bumped up to the 8 spot with a win over the Quahogs. They've been very up and down this season, but have certainly picked the right weeks to show up. The Ballers have 1 more week to show up before they drop to the bottom spot in the Power Rankings. They have more talent than the teams ranked around them, have lost some very close games and hope that they can avoid being swept in the first round of division play against the Anchormen next week. Those Anchormen swapped spots with the Rampage after their first victory while the Rampage drop back to the cellar of the Power Rankings.

NKFBL Tonight: SAT 5/1/10

2010-05-02T01:27:00.004-04:00

MVP- Ty Wigginton (CB)- 2-3, 0.667 BA, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, CS, 0.750 OBP, 2.667 SLG

Wiggy has replaced Brian Roberts in the Carbomb lineup and then some. His 2 HR on Saturday gave the Carbombs the 6-5 edge in that category and the 7.5-5.5 lead overall. HR, RBI, R, SB, L and S are the categories that will decide this one and the Carbombs are in better shape to win this one than the Rampage.

honorable mention...

Nick Markakis (NEB)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 0.750 OBP, 1.500 SLG

Hanley Ramirez (RIQ)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R, CS, 0.750 OBP, 1.750 SLG

Mark Reynolds (WW)- 2-4, 0.500 BA, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, 0.600 OBP, 2.000 SLG

Andre Ethier (RIC)- 3-4, 0.750 BA, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0.750 OBP, 2.000 SLG

Johnny Damon (BBC)- 3-5, 0.600 BA, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, 0.600 OBP, 1.400 SLG

Markakis has enjoyed a very nice week and Saturday was his best effort of the season, leading the NKFBL with 5 RBI on the day. The Bombers have wrapped up a nice win over the Smoke Monsters barring disaster on Sunday. HanRam had a big HR for the Quahogs who need a huge Sunday. They'll have to take AVE, HR, RBI and OBP from the Pigeons on Sunday for a win. Bench is close with the Pigeons holding the slight edge.

Mark Reynolds provided the Nuts with 2 HR on Saturday, but a few singles would have had the same result on the game. This one is tied going into Saturday with OBP and R being the categories that will decide the outcome. It's hard to see the Nuts losing this one however. Ethier did his best to keep the Anchormen ahead of the Brew Crew, leading the Anchormen's offense to their best week of the season. Finally, Damon continues his hot week with the Ballers holding a slim edge entering Sunday. HR, RBI, R, OBP, ERA, WHIP and S are all very close in a game to watch on Sunday.

CY- Roy Halladay (BC)- 118 PC, 9 INN, 3 HA, BBI, 6 K, 0.444 WHIP, W, 6.000 Kd9

Yesterday I said that the Anchormen had wrapped up ERA and WHIP with Cliff Lee's CY performance. Wrong. Roy Halladay kept the Brew Crew's shot at a victory alive with another awesome outing. The Brew Crew now own leads in both ERA and WHIP and will need to hang onto them with 2 more starts on Sunday.

almost...

Yovanni Gallardo (BC)- 121 PC, 7 INN, 6 HA, 2 BBI, 11 K, ER, 1.286 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, W, 14.143 Kd9

Ryan Franklin (BBC)- 16 PC, 1.1 INN, 2 K, W, 13.500 Kd9

Matt Cain (RIQ)- 123 PC, 8 INN, HA, 3 BBI, 8 K, 0.500 WHIP, W, 9.000 Kd9

DST- Felix Hernandez (NEB)- 96 PC, 4.1 INN, 8 HA, 4 BBI, 5 K, 5 ER, 10.385 ERA, 2.769 WHIP, L, 10.385 Kd9

King Felix put a little scare into the Bombers with his 2nd Loss of the week and gave the Monsters a shot to take WHIP on Sunday as well. They'll need 4 good starts to do so and will also need to pick it up with the bats for a narrow win however.

sigh of relief...

Javier Vazquez (CB)- 83 PC, 3 INN, 7 HA, 4 BBI, 2 K, 5 ER, 15.000 ERA, 3.667 WHIP, 6.000 Kd9

TEAM MVP- Wickford Walnuts- 13-40, 0.325 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 2 SB, 6 BB, CS, 0.413 OBP, 0.650 SLG

Another day, another 4 HR for the Walnuts. That's another 13 so far on the week to give them a league leading 46 on the season.

not quite...

Carbombs- 11-31, 0.355 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, SB, 5 BB, 2 CS, 0.444 OBP, 0.677 SLG

TEAM CY- Brew Crew- 19.1 INN, 11 HA, 3 BBI, 22 K, ER, 0.466 ERA, 0.724 WHIP, 2 W, 2 S, 10.241 Kd9

The Brew Crew picked a perfect time to put up one of the more impressive pitching days of the season. We'll see if they can complete the comeback on Sunday and give the Anchormen another tough defeat.

TEAM DST- Hell Benders- 8-36, 0.222 BA, 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 9 R, SB, 9 BB, 3 CS, 0.378 OBP, 0.444 SLG

The Hell Benders really have no business being in this game, but can take a BS win with a nice day on Sunday. Their pitching has been bad this week, yet they own 4 of the 6 categories and taking R, SB and OBP would give them a shocking upset victory.