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On top of the standings by eight games, after a 10-2 chest-thumping of Red Mosquitos. To maintain hope, the rest of us should compare Snellville's Gashouse Gorillas to the New York Yankees -- you know, the former 18-3 "greatest team ever" that has since come back to the AL pack at a 9-13 clip. For now, the Jones boys are cruising along at 34 games over .500 and a .702 win percentage, and they play the 19th-place team this week.

Billie's Bashers, in second place after a 10-1 victory over the slumping Garces_not_on_roids, could play the Red Sox role. Springfield Isotopes and Baird Brain, currently third and fourth, can be Oakland or Seattle. My Toronto Walrus team, back to fifth after getting clobbered 9-3 by the Chatsworth Halos last week, is starting to look a little like the K.C. Royals.


Unlike the majors, just passing the 1/4 mark of their campaign, Yahoo head-to-head leagues are nearly 1/3 finished the regular season. Remember, our tournament starts after August. The big league games in September will decide our champion, and anyone who finishes in the top six after 22 weeks could win the coveted T-shirt. Here's where we stand after seven HtH matchups:

 #  Team                    W-L-T    Win %  GB 
1 gashouse gorillas 58-24-2 .702 -
2 Billies Bashers 48-30-6 .607 8
3 Springfield Isotopes 47-32-5 .589 9.5
4 Baird Brain 46-32-6 .583 10
5 Toronto Walrus 44-35-5 .554 12.5
6 AGF 44-36-4 .548 13
7 Hannibals Cannibals 42-37-5 .530 14.5
8 Sub-Urban Shockers 41-37-6 .524 15
9 Mebion Glyndwr 43-40-1 .518 15.5
10 Nation Builders 41-40-3 .506 16.5
11 Reykjavik Fish Candy 39-42-3 .482 18.5
12 Moscow Rats 37-41-6 .476 19
13 Chatsworth Halos 38-43-3 .470 19.5
14 Eastern Shore Birds 39-44-1 .470 19.5
15 Red Mosquitos 36-43-5 .458 20.5
16 Jicks Rays 35-44-5 .446 21.5
17 K-Town Mashers 37-47-0 .440 22
18 Geoffs Grumpy Group 34-47-3 .423 23.5
19 Garces_not_on_roids 27-54-3 .339 30.5
20 Thunderbirds 26-54-4 .333 31
I'm accepting that the loss of Tony Armas, who was off to a great start, will be hard to overcome. Not that I'm desperate, but I took a chance with Dontrelle Willis, a very exciting prospect rushed to the Show about two years too soon by an organization known for ruining young pitchers. I will also trade Cliff Politte (who really needs a nickname) for a good starter, or Billy Wagner for a very good one.

Last week, I sent Jay Gibbons to Mebion Glyndwr for an upgrade at SS (Cabrera over the Marlins' Gonzalez) and a setup man (Stewart) with a good K rate. I tried to get a starter for Gibbons, but Gwyn held out for Aubrey Huff, one of my few productive hitters. In the other recent deal, Chatsworth moved Richard Hidalgo and Gil Meche to Jordan's Sub-Urban Shockers for Bartolo Colon and Carlos Pena. A Beane-like move, Gideon -- Pena was a Shocker for less time than he was with Oakland.

I'm grateful that Mussina will make just one start for the Isotopes this week, and still waiting for the aliens to replace this impostor with the real Jason Giambi.
BBFL: Where Do 600-Pound Gorillas Sit? | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_LMK - Monday, May 19 2003 @ 12:06 PM EDT (#13436) #
After AGF's pitchers had a tremendous week, it is time to start selling some of them off, since I except Randy Johnson to return fairly soon. If you have good bats, primarily infielders, Graves, Bonderman, Appier, and for the right price even Lidle and Zambrano are available.
_King Rat - Monday, May 19 2003 @ 11:23 PM EDT (#13439) #
The Rats...first in hitting, last in pitching, twelfth in the Batter's Box league. I think that about sums the week up. Nomar was great, winning the team's MVP award. T.J. Tucker won the LVP this time around. I'm willing to deal hitting for pitching.
_Jurgen - Tuesday, May 20 2003 @ 01:34 AM EDT (#13440) #
Springfield Isotopes and Baird Brain, currently third and fourth, can be Oakland or Seattle.

Seattle, eh? We'll take that. It's a great town, and we've even got our own version of Freddy Garcia--although around here we call him Mark Buerhle.
_Mike H. - Tuesday, May 20 2003 @ 12:04 PM EDT (#13441) #
Springfield Isotopes and Baird Brain, currently third and fourth, can be Oakland or Seattle.

Which makes us Oakland... I think now that I've managed .500 or better against each team I've played so far, we'll see if I can stay afloat when I play the "Yankees", "Red Sox" and "Royals" over the next 6 weeks. Dan Wright's "performance" doesn't look like a good omen for the 'Topes for this week.

Personally, I think I'm the Dodgers. With a 17th place hitting team, and 13th in pitching, methinks the only way I'm in 3rd place a third of the way through the season is because I have some Jim Tracy magic working in the clubhouse. Sammy, please come back!
_Spicol - Tuesday, May 20 2003 @ 12:12 PM EDT (#13442) #
I'm just too upset to post on this topic. I'm the White Sox of the BBFL!
_R Billie - Tuesday, May 20 2003 @ 04:21 PM EDT (#13443) #
Well I set out to build a balanced offence behind a rag-tag pitching staff led by one ace (Schilling). What's surprising is that my bats are so mediocore in onbase %. Although trading away Durazo, Cameron, and Marcus Giles will do that. I'm hoping this doesn't mean my hitting is a mirage.

As much as I'd like to make a move to solidify my pitching (and I've gotten some offers along those lines), I'm just not sure there is a sure thing out there which would justify the potential offensive hit. If Chacon can keep up his early season heroics more often than not, and if Zach Day doesn't go to jail for gluing over his blister, I think I might be OK to hold on for a playoff spot.

If there's one thing I might want to do is get a little bit younger for next year. Right now all of my key players are decidedly veteran. But I wouldn't make such moves until we're a lot closer to the trading deadline.
BBFL: Where Do 600-Pound Gorillas Sit? | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.