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Twelve teams remain in action this week, but the battle for the league championship T-shirt has reached the semi-finals. Thanks to David Wells, I'm still in it.

Shaking off a month-long slump, my Toronto Walrus defeated Baird Brain 7-4. Jurgen is a worthy adversary, and it could have gone either way -- we began Sunday's action in a virtual tie. Had Boomer not spun seven shutout innings, I might have lost WHIP, ERA (the #1 tiebreaking category) and the match. The Yankees would be squirming, too. Todd Zeile, my emergency pickup when Mike Lowell went on the DL, came through with 6 RBI and 375/444/938 to lead the Walrus hitters, with Marlon Byrd scoring 11 runs in a 345/457/621 week.

Nation Builders, owned and managed by Scott Lucas, defeated Gwyn Price's Mebion Glyndwr 7-5 in another close contest. You could say that the difference between Josh Phelps (8 RBI, .824 SLG) and Jay Gibbons (1 RBI, .211 SLG) decided it. Scott faces the regular-season powerhouse Gashouse Gorillas in a sudden-death showdown; the Walrus takes on second-place Billie's Bashers. The winners will meet in a two-week final, beginning next Monday.


The consolation bracket was also hard-fought. Red Mosquitos (Spicol) defeated K-Town Mashers (Jonny German) 7-5 by winning RBI and sweeping the pitching categories. The Eastern Shore Birds (Greg) had a big Sunday to prevail 8-3 over the Chatsworth Halos (Brad). Up next for the Birds are Jick's Rays; the Mosquitos take on the Thunderbirds.

I don't know what to expect against the Bashers; anything can happen in a short series. R Billie must be counting his blessings that the Giambino's 048/200/190 week (and Piazza's 150/227/200) coincided with his first-round bye. Our big July deal (he got Giambi and Morris; I got Lowell and Schilling) might come back to haunt me, but I have no regrets. At the time, it appeared doubtful that Morris would return to effectiveness this season, and Lowell's injury was just bad luck. I suspect this match will go down to the wire next Sunday night.

The other semi-final should be just as tight. Snellville Jones also enjoyed a bye while a few of his hitters had off weeks, but his pitching is extremely strong if Roy Oswalt, scheduled for two starts this week, is anywhere near 100%. It can be a big advantage if you have an ace who goes Monday or Tuesday then returns on the weekend. For example, Justin B. had last week off and didn't need 19 IP, 2 wins, 0.47 ERA, 0.47 WHIP and 7.50 K/BB from Roy Halladay -- one of the great pitching lines of the season. This week, Doc starts only once.

Best of luck to everyone. Even R Billie.

BBFL: Final Four | 14 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_R Billie - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 12:00 PM EDT (#92493) #
Not to worry Coach. Schilling is still the best player in that IMO and he's shown to be healthy. Meanwhile, Giambi is 1 for his last 40 and isn't looking very pretty at the plate.

I think offence will be close but pitching will decide it. Injuries have removed a couple of my starters whom I had to replace with short relievers and outside of Morris, my remaining starters aren't sure things. Facing the Sch Brothers (Schilling and Schmidt) is not good news for my staff.

Let us hope for a clean and orderly match which will avoid the need for a violent blood bath.
_Spicol - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#92494) #
Jonny, I want to be honest here. I overstated the extent to which you suck (in fact, I thought I sucked worse than you sucked). I was trying to overcompensate for my fear of losing to you and for that I'm truly sorry.

Besides, everyone knew all along that it's really the Thunderbirds that suck.
_Justin B. - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 02:02 PM EDT (#92495) #
Those same Thunderbirds who trounced, thrashed, routed, and outright humiliated the Red Mosquitoes 12-0 a few weeks back? ;)
_Justin B. - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#92496) #
Sorry Spicol, in retrospect the Mosquitoes deserve a little bit of credit; they did manage 1 more RBI than the T-Birds and only lost 11-1, my mistake.

It'll be interesting to see how Martinez, Durazo, and Lackey perform vs. Giles, Myers, and Buchanan.
_Spicol - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 02:32 PM EDT (#92497) #
It was 11-1.

Spicol (soliloquy):
Tis true! The scheme, so deliciously employed,
That does lull my adversary onto heels,
Blooms and advances like an impish army,
Fooling the gall without consulting the head.
What mind, that does falter in spring torrents,
Does not pitch yet right itself in the autumn?
_Jonny German - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 02:40 PM EDT (#92498) #
Sorry Spicol, in retrospect the Mosquitoes deserve a little bit of credit

Personally, I have trouble giving a guy credit who spells his team's name incorrectly... Okay okay, I'll admit it, he deserved to win, or at least he deserved to win more than I did. Congratulations Spicol. Better step it up a notch this week, Justin's pitching staff isn't a pushover like mine and your hitting was woeful last week.

Not that it mattered in the first round, but what up with the Yahoo tiebreak system? Wouldn't it be a lot more fair to have regular season record as the first tiebreaker? This would also be more true to the real world, mimicking the home-field advantage of the team with the better record.

Thanks to everybody for a fun rookie season!
_Spicol - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#92499) #
Personally, I have trouble giving a guy credit who spells his team's name incorrectly...

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary...

Main Entry: mos·qui·to
Pronunciation: m&-'skE-(")tO
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -toes also -tos

Besides, it's not a reference to the insect. It's a PJ reference. My mascot is Eddie Vedder, not buzz buzz.
_Jonny German - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 03:34 PM EDT (#92500) #
Alrighty, but if I give you the spelling do I have to give you credit for the Eddie Vedder thing? That could be tough...
_Jurgen - Monday, September 08 2003 @ 09:24 PM EDT (#92501) #
My hitters didn't hit. That simple.

Maybe if I had started Alvarez on Sunday, I could have made it closer in the pitching categories, but I didn't lose because of my pitching.

My hitters went .234/.316/.347 for the week. (Imagine what that line would have looked like if not for Huff's one man army attack of .318/.385/.682.)

I stated before the week that I needed Helton, Boone, Berkman, and Matsui to shake off their slumps in order to win.

They didn't, and I didn't.

Overall, I'm still pleased with my trades, and especially happy with how I handled my staff. But Coach won because he had better role players. His stars (Delgado, Lowell, Bradley) didn't perform well either (or didn't perform at all), but he had talented second string players to pick up the slack. I stuck with second-half duds like Chavez and Chavez Ravine Burnitz much too long.

I just didn't have the depth... man, waaaayyy too much like the 2003 Mariners.

Now it's just a matter of figuring out my keepers.
_snellville jone - Tuesday, September 09 2003 @ 12:38 PM EDT (#92502) #
Now it's just a matter of figuring out my keepers.

This is going to kill me. I have a couple of must-keeps and seven other players worthy of the remaining three spots. I've had to keep Floyd and Klesko on my roster simply because they are valuable enough to warrant a fourth or fifth keeper-pick next year. We need to determine the best time for our winter meetings and make sure we save everyone's roster info.
Pepper Moffatt - Tuesday, September 09 2003 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#92503) #
http://economics.about.com
Reykjavik Fish Candy Keepers:

SS D. Jeter
OF B. Abreu
OF V. Wells
OF L. Walker
RP B.H. Kim

I guess I need to get some starting pitching and an infield. I'll put that outfield up against any other team in the league, tho.

Mike

Fish Candy Motto:

"I thought I could organize freedom
How Scandinavian of me" - Bjork
_Spicol - Tuesday, September 09 2003 @ 01:03 PM EDT (#92504) #
make sure we save everyone's roster info.

I'm in the process of taking care of that as we speak.
Coach - Wednesday, September 10 2003 @ 08:13 AM EDT (#92505) #
You would think that an ERA of 0.77, an identical WHIP and a 3.50 K/BB would earn a guy at least one or two points. Not against R Billie -- he's at 0.00/0.50/5.00 after two days, and his team is hitting, too. I'm trailing 8-3 so far, and there are rumours that Curt Schilling won't pitch this week; he had an MRI on his ailing right groin yesterday. I know it's early, and I'm not giving up, but I need Carlos Delgado to show up soon -- how about tonight? -- or it could be all over for the Walrus.

Scott's hitters have been quiet and his bullpen has dug him quite a hole, so he's down 11-1 to Snellville. At the moment, it looks like the top two teams from the regular season will meet in the finals.
_Scott Lucas - Wednesday, September 10 2003 @ 12:27 PM EDT (#92506) #
Scott's hitters have been quiet and his bullpen has dug him quite a hole, so he's down 11-1 to Snellville.

And he also has the flu. And everything tastes like dirt.

At the moment, it looks like the top two teams from the regular season will meet in the finals.

Yeah, I'm in big trouble, but youneverknow. Last Friday night, I proclaimed my team dead after my troika of Pettitte, Redman and Seo allowed a combined 12 runs in 15 innings. "The only way I can win is if my entire team bats .500 over the weekend and sweeps the offensive categories." Well, here I am. Here to become yet another snack for the indomitable Gashouse Gorillas, but here, nonetheless.

I guess I have to ask the question: Will the consolation playoffs last two weeks (like the final #1 vs #2 matchup) or just one?
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