SLPL RSS Feed

Sunday Morning WTF?! Fractal Hand

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-11-06T08:55:13-06:00

If I was one to ingest certain mind-altering substances that I shouldn’t ingest, I might find this incredibly fascinating. Instead, I’m creeped out to no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end. To no end.

Sunday Morning WTF?! What's The Story

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-30T09:11:35-05:00

Given that we will award the Hall-of-Fame Death Pool at the beginning of next season, the SLPL Blog will not shut down now that the 2011 postseason is over. Instead, we will post an update every now and then over the next five months. We will for sure update the blog if there are any quality HOF deaths. That’s a given. But we will also likely post up as things tickle our fancy, most likely for the fan favorite Sunday Morning Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?! Like, for instance, today.

We stumbled across the following on Imgur under the title “There has GOT to be an amazing story behind this.” No kidding. The more you study this photo, the more Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?! it becomes. The guy on the stretcher is interesting enough, but I especially like the Ooompa Loompa in the foreground and the hugging bunnies in the back. Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?! Halloween party organizer? I mean, serious, WTF?!

Brandon Olivarria Crowned 2011 SLPL Champ!!!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-29T10:20:49-05:00

The Santa Lechuga Power League crowned Brandon Olivarria, owner of the awesomely-named team Kirby Puckett's Good Eye, the 2011 Overall Champ Friday night. "Seriously?!? How the hell did this happen?" Brandon asked after the St. Louis Cardinals mercifully put the Texas Rangers out of their misery in the 7th game of the World Series. “Going into the post-season, I was in 12th-fricken place Overall and in 4th place in the Radicchio Division ... and today I'm the king of the hill. I still can't fathom it."

Brandon won $505 for being crowned champ, but the win is even sweeter because he took the trail his father Mark Olivarria blazed in 2008 by coming from behind to win it all, thereby making Mark and Brandon the first father-son combo to have won the Overall Championship. Sadly, Mark didn't participate in the SLPL this season, but we're hoping to get him back next year so the two champs can go head-to-head.

Brandon with father Mark: SLPL’s First Father-Son Champs
(Click to enlargenate)

Sweeter still, Brandon's good friend David Adrian, owner of Can I Lincecum in You, was crowned Playoff Champ and will scrape $150 out of The Pot. And because Overall and Regular Season champs can't win monies from any other championships they won, Brandon's Overall win puts another $150 into Dave's pockets for coming in 2nd place in the Power-Hitting Pitchers standings.

Here are all the official champs and payouts for the 2011 season:

2011 Champs

End-of-Season Champs
Brandon Olivarria, Kirby Puckett's Good Eye - Overall Champ
David Adrian, Can I Lincecum in You* - Playoff Champ

Regular Season Champs
Rick Coppock, Highlanders - Arugula Division Champ
Bill Cunning, Full Circuits - Crisphead Division Champ
Paul Martin, Cabbage Farmers - Endive Division Champ
Vince Livernois, The Blaming Flips - Frisee Division Champ
Dan Klinkhamer, This League Really Blows - Radicchio Division Champ
Jim Cummings, Washington Bullets - Romaine Division Champ
Scott Allen, ScootTucky Plow - Spinach Division Champ
Joe Kelly, Detroit Tiger Blood - Swiss Chard Division Champ
Bill Cunning, Full Circuits - Hitting Champ
Brandon Olivarria, Kirby Puckett's Good Eye - Pitching Champ
Brandon Olivarria, Kirby Puckett's Good Eye - Power-Hitting Pitchers Champ
Paul Martin, Cabbage Farmers - Regular Season Champ

All-Star Champ
Scott Allen, ScootTucky Plow - All-Star Champ

2011 Payouts

$505 - Brandon Olivarria, Kirby Puckett's Good Eye - Overall Champ
$505 - Paul Martin, Cabbage Farmers - Regular Season Champ

$300 - David Adrian, Can I Lincecum in You* - Playoff Champ + 2nd place Power-Hitting Pitchers standings

$275 - Bill Cunning, Full Circuits - Hitting Champ + Crisphead Division Champ
$275 - Joe Kelly, Detroit Tiger Blood - Swiss Chard Division Champ + 2nd place Pitching standings
$275 - Scott Allen, ScootTucky Plow - All-Star Champ + Spinach Division Champ

$125 - Rick Coppock, Highlanders - Arugula Division Champ
$125 - Joe Livernois, Moammar Camacho's - 2nd place Endive Division standings
$125 - Vince Livernois, The Blaming Flips - Frisee Division Champ
$125 - Dan Klinkhamer, This League Really Blows - Radicchio Division Champ
$125 - Jim Cummings, Washington Bullets - Romaine Division Champ

*Against our better judgement -- and, really, the better judgement of the vast majority of mankind -- we have revealed David Adrian’s team in this article. David forced our hands by asking his lawyers to contact us regarding potential legal actions should we fail to officially and publicly name his team as per Paragraph 27.7 in the league ownership bylaws which say that "league champs must be given full recognition upon their win." With our league attorney Manny Samarosa nursing a post-championship hangover of epic proportions -- word is, the doctors in the ER pumped Manny stomach three times and are now considering a blood transfusion to bring his blood alcohol level under .5 -- we have not been able to get a legal opinion on the matter. As a result, we have complied here … but we hope to never have to see or type the name ever again.

Don't forget, there's still one payout to be made for the 2011 season. If you'll scratch your synapses, the league decided at the beginning of the season to extend our Hall-of-Fame Death Pool for each season until the beginning of the next season. This means that we will start next season by handing out a check to our final 2011 winner. Dan Klinkhamer's This League Really Blows currently leads the Death Pool, but we're hoping to catch a few more quality HOF deaths between now and the beginning of next season.

Congrats again to Brandon Olivarria and his Kirby Puckett's Good Eye and to all our 2011 champs and money winners. And thanks to all of you for joining us for a most-excellent season! We look forward to seeing you all next year.

Pedregoso

P.S. If you haven't paid your ownership and trade fees, get on it already! We need to cut some championship checks! (Check Who Owes What to see what you owe. And if you've already paid and we haven't noted it, please let us know.) Send your check to:

Joe Livernois
459 Echo Valley Road
Salinas, CA 93907

If it's more convenient, you can pay your derelict debt using PayPal.

P.P.S. IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL WINNERS: Please respond with your preferred snail mail address so Rube can send your check.

Wow. Just Wow. Times 3.

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-28T10:25:38-05:00

Wow. Just wow.

Speaking of wow, WOW! Brandon Olivarria, owner of Kirby Puckett's Good Eye -- easily the best team name of the 2011 season -- may soon be crowned the best team of the 2011 season. Scoring points off of three of four SLPL home runs hit in last night’s previously mentioned wow-worthy 6th game of the World Series, Brandon leapfrogged over Frank Sumrall’s Speaking Frankly and Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers to take over 1st place in the Overall standings.

Further wow over the fact that Dave Adrian’s [Team That Cannot Be Named] jumped over Frank’s Speaking and Aaron Pankoke’s The Storkes to take over 1st place in the Playoff standings with his three home runs.

Could last night have been any more crazy, either in the World Series or the SLPL? Can tonight’s Game 7 -- and I love Game 7’s! -- be anywhere near as cool as last night’s game? I’m not counting on it, but nothing about this playoff year would surprise me at this point.

On to Game 7!!!

Fox Sports As Punchline

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-27T08:13:29-05:00

Well, that was sure anticlimactic. So we’re going to use our extra time wisely by getting one last shot in on the mortifyingly bad game announcing provided by Fox Sports. Read “Baseball On Fox.” Just to give you an idea of where he goes with this piece:

To me, crediting Hamilton and Young for that inning is a bit like crediting the guys who drove in the golden spike at Promontory Summit with building the railroad.

He gets a little too complimentary of McCarver’s past, but otherwise good analysis. Unlike, say … well, damn, sometimes the punchlines are just to damn obvious.

Thanks, Guys!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-26T09:51:03-05:00

It might all be over tonight. So we thought we would take this chance -- before all the hubbub of closing down the season, announcing the champs, figuring out the payouts, etc. -- to thank our 2011 ownership group.

As officiants of a fantasy league with 48 owners, we begin each season with a certain amount of butt-clenching, wondering if this will be the season that we end up with an ownership group filled with whiners, complainers, general malcontents, and nincompoops. And besides Dan Klinkhamer, who has become the SLPL’s lovable official whiner, complainer, general malcontent, and nincompoop, we’re happy to report that the 2001 season completes our 117th season without a bad ownership group. Being certifiable Grade A knuckleheads ourselves, we really not sure how we luck into a group of great owners ever year. Yet somehow we do.

Oh, sure, yeah, you bet, there are some real laggards who seem to go out of their way to not pay for the ownership fees and trades they agreed to pay at the beginning of the season. What those people don’t know is that we have simple but very effective ways of resolving that issue. (Speaking of which, I lost Rocky’s cell phone number … and his girls at Kneecaps ‘R Us won’t give it to me over the phone. Can someone forward me his number? There are a couple owners we need Rocky to, uh, talk to.) Once resolved, it’s never an issue again. But by and large, we have the best damn owners in all of fantasy baseball. And for that we thank you!

Finally

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-25T08:08:23-05:00

Finally, a hitter that a lot of SLPL teams have -- who is not named Nelson Cruz or Albert Pujols -- hit a home run during the World Series, which is what had to happen to make things pretty interesting in the SLPL. While Frank Sumrall’s Speaking Frankly are still atop the heap, Frank doesn’t have the big lead he had going into last night’s game. So now it comes down to this: Can Frank hold on for one or two more games to pull down the big bucks? Or, will another team get a key dong to overtake Frank and win all the marbles? Stay tuned!

The Rangers lead the World series 3-2, which means there may be just one more game this season. C’mon, Carindals, take it to seven. On to Game 6!

A Real Dark Horse

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-24T09:07:32-05:00

Only one SLPL team had the foresight to pick up Mike Napoli, the hard-hitting catcher for the Texas Rangers. With 30 home runs and 85 strikeouts this season, Napoli piled up 215 SLPL points, which ain’t bad, ain’t that bad at all. Even so, perennial league favorite Peggy Bocox, owner of Sox In Your Jox, couldn’t coax that kind of production from the rest of her roster and she ended the Regular Season in 43rd place.

During these playoffs, Napoli has hit three dongs and is one of only three hitters with positive points left in the World Series, which has moved Peggy from 43rd place to 38th place in the Overall standings. Assuming no other HRs from any of the other hitters and no positive points from the remaining two active pitchers, Peggy’s Jox could jump to the top of the heap if Napoli hits a mere eight home runs in these final World Series games.

Okay, so, yeah, it ain’t gonna happen, but we wanted to give a shout out to our perennial fave Peggy and give her props for being the only team with Napoli during these playoffs.

The World Series is tied 2-2, which means we’re going to wring a minimum of six games out of this series. We like longer serieses. On to Game 5!

Kitten Kaboodle: Down Goes Martin! Down Goes Martin!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-23T09:07:00-05:00

Hey Texas, I can throw batting practice as well as your pitching staff, and I would do it for just a third of the cost. Think about it and get back to me before the beginning of next season, okay?

Anyway, the big news last night -- outside of Albert Pujols going all Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson on the Rangers -- is that Paul Martin, owner of Cabbage Farmers, has finally been knocked off the top of the Overall heap. Since taking over the top spot on September 15 and winning the Regular Season championship, the big question was whether Paul could maintain his lead and win the Overall championship. With a 14-man playoff roster, Paul appeared to have the artillery to hold on, but he didn't have the one nuclear weapon he really needed, Nelson Cruz.

Interestingly, the one scenario I was too blind to see in yesterday's speculamating blog entry “Where We Stand” was the scenario that actually took place: Cruz hit a home run, which propelled Frank Sumrall's Frankly Speaking into first place. Frank, who played possum at 13th place at the end of the Regular season, has amassed enough points to finally unseat the Paul's Farmers. At 181 points off the lead and just nine players going into the playoffs (see graphic below), Frank's Speaking just fell through the cracks of our crack team of prognosticators. Our bad. Given the number of teams with more playoff players and more difference makers, it still seems unlikely that Frank can win it all. Having said that, there are as few as two games left in the season ... given that those difference makers haven't made a difference for any of those teams yet, Frank may actually win this damn thing. And that -- coming all the way from 13th place with only nine players to win the whole kitten kaboodle -- would be a hell of a story. Sometimes I love this league. (And Dan Klinkhamer, shut the hell up about it.)

Where We Stand

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-22T08:46:21-05:00

No game last night, so not a lot to report about the standings that you haven’t already seen for yourself. The Cabbage Farmers, owned by Paul Martin, are still in first place in the Overall standings. We still have no clue whether or not Paul can maintain his lead, but it appears from the lineups (shown below) that Lance Berkman could propel Tres Caballeros, owned by Jim Klinkhamer, into 1st with a single HR and no Ks. Two long balls by either Nelson Cruz or Josh Hamilton could propel Kirby Puckett's Good Eye, owned by Brandon Olivarria, into first. The Blaming Flips, owned by Vince Livernois, could jump into the lead with a couple dingers from Hamilton and Berkman. And Full Circuits, owned by Bill Cunning, could take the lead of none of the above scenarios happen and Paul suffers a couple Ks without getting any home runs. Given the way these teams aren’t hitting HRs, this might be the scenario we see. Am I missing any other scenarios?

(Click to enlargenate)

Meanwhile, Speaking Frankly, owned by Frank Sumrall, is still in first place in the Playoff standings and can only maintain his lead if no HRs are hit by remaining Rangers or Cardinals players in the SLPL. The Strokes, owned by Aaron Pankoke, Reserva Coladeras, owned by Tom Kinchus, [Team We Cannot Mention], owned by David Adrian, and ScootTucky Plow , owned by Scott Allen, are all hoping to make up some ground and overtake Sumrall. There are probably some dark horses still out there, but I haven’t studied all rosters. Lemme know if you see any other scenarios that will turn the standings upside down.

Rant Exhaustion? Or Plain Apathy?

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-20T22:21:21-05:00

I wish I could say I’m suffering from Rant Exhaustion, but really I’m just feeling apathetic. I mean, I thought I might have a good head of steam going into tonight’s game after last night’s hail of rant bullets, but when I turned on the TV tonight I just felt kinda blah. Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Ken Rosenthal, and the whole Fox Sports team just had that affect on me tonight. So I’m just gonna let others speak for me.

Be sure to check out Shut Up Tim McCarver at shutuptimmcarver.com (I kid you not).

Or how about the I Hate Tim McCarver Home Page, which features the Tim McCarver Drinking Game (I’m partial to #2 and #5)?

Better yet, check out the article “Tim McCarver: My Reason to Envy the Deaf,” whose title alone deserves a special place in the baseball Hall-of-Fame.

And you can’t miss the blog entry “Turn It off!: The 50 Worst Announcers In Sports Today,” which has this to say about Timmy Boy:

This is an entry on a list about the worst announcers in sports. See, when you're making a list, you break it down into different categories and put spaces between the entries, so people can tell it's a list. Like this entry about Tim McCarver, Fox baseball analyst. McCarver analyzes baseball for Fox. And while he's analyzing baseball for the Fox network, he offers stunning behind-the-scenes insight, just like you're getting in this entry here. Which is part of a larger list.

Or, as Eric Stangel said on Twitter just tonight:

Joe Buck is also listed in that article, of course, with the following:

Alternating between dull and sanctimonious, Buck is a crotchety curmudgeon trapped in a younger man's body. When he's not draining the life out of the greatest moments in modern sports, he's lecturing us on the sad state of the NFL.

Speaking of Joe Buck, you will absolutely love what Google fills in when you begin to ask “is Joe Buck the Cardinal’s announcer?”:

It’s like Google knows exactly what I’m really thinking at a meta level. Interestingly enough, to answer the question Google asks (the previous 50-worst article got the rankings wrong, IMHO), lots of people do think his is the worst announcer ever, like Yahoo! Answers. Meh… gets it right here (with special bonus points for putting Bill Walton on the list):

That was fun. But I promise if I’m not feeling the hate after Game 3, I’ll just make some observations about the SLPL standings. That’s what I’m here for, I suppose.

On to Game 3!

This Hit From The Request Line...

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-19T23:21:10-05:00

Got a request just before leaving last week from Not As Lazy As Ian owner Jim Hicks, who asked: "Can you please do a Tim McCarver rant on the next SLPL blog? He's punching the same meaningless stats twice in a row. This is nearly unwatchable." To which I responded: "Nearly unwatchable?" Not really. I mercifully found a way to avoid having to watch the Fox Sports broadcasts during the League Championship Series. I promised Jim I would do something for the World Series, though, and ... well, that's one promise I wish I hadn't had to keep. Or, as Moammar Camacho's owner Joe Livernois said via Facebook just before Game 1: "Two teams I care nothing about, a blathering McCarver, with intervals filled with Brian Wilson commercials? No thanks."

So, here goes. The rant isn't McCarver-centric, as you'll see, but my World Series rants have never been McCarver only. Everyone involved, including the advertisers, deserve the ridicule they receive.

Hey, Tim McCarver: What the hell is a "thinking apparatus." And did you really just say that in reference to Mark McGwire, the single biggest box of rocks -- sans you, of course -- in MLB history?
Hey, Joe Buck: Could you try just a teeny tiny bit to sound as though you're not actively rooting for the Cardinals?
Hey, Tim McCarver: Did you really just say "deep Freese, indeed"? Wouldn't that lame-ass phrase be better used for the guy when he's in a slump rather than when he's in the middle of ten-game playoff hitting streak?
Hey, Fox Sports: An infrared camera? You can’t be serious.
Hey, Tim McCarver: The infrared camera reminds you of the remake of “The Thing”? What does that even mean?
Hey, Audi: The song you used while showing your cool new race car had the chorus "...it's so easy when you know what you're doing" ... was that your company's brutal commentary on the catch fence the nitwits at the Las Vegas Speedway used at last weekend's race?
Hey, Joe Buck: Was asking Ron Washington about his sunflowers seeds truly one of the top three questions you could have possibly asked him during the in-game interview? Seriously?
Hey, Tim McCarver: For the record, Holliday's double was not the "first extra base hit" of the game. You know how I know? Because you made a big deal out of Beltre's double being the "first extra base hit" of the game when he did it a couple innings earlier. (Note to self: Check to see if he makes a big deal out of the "first extra base hit" in all remaining games.)
Hey, Fox Sports: On a called strike to Berkman, wouldn't the Pitch Tracker -- you know, the gadget you overuse most other times but that actually shows the strike zone -- be more useful then that stupefyingly-ridiculous infrared camera?
Via Sue Klinkhamer on Facebook: Hey, Tim McCarver: "Thanks...for teaching the audience the definition of 'pitching around a hitter.' Trust me, no one who is watching this World Series needs to be schooled in baseball basics. We are all experts in the 'field.'"
Hey, Ken Rosenthal: Jason Motte was 60-something feet away ... he didn't see the ball hit Beltre's shoe. However, the 26 camera angles, 57 replays, and that idiotic infrared camera all showed the ball hitting the shoe. Why the hell ask Jason Motte?
Hey, Major League Baseball: When you have 26 camera angles, 57 replays, and that idiotic infrared camera at your disposal to show that the ball did indeed and without question hit Beltre's shoe, why the hell not refer to the 26 camera angles, 57 replays, and that idiotic infrared camera to help your umpires get a call right?

Before I close, here’s a fun Tweet I found tonight:

On to Game 2!

This Is The Near-End

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-19T08:45:48-05:00

Today is both a happy and sad day. Happy because the World Series begins. Sad because the beginning of the World Series signals the near-end of what has been a very fun 2011 SLPL season. I mean, the season could be over as early as this Sunday. The best case scenario, if the series goes the full seven games, is that the season will end next Thursday. Man, what will I do with my early mornings when the season is over?

Speaking of which, even when the season’s over we’ll still be checking in regularly just to see how things are looking for the ’11 Hall-of-Fame Death Pool. Remember, the Death Pool will continue even after the World Series is over and will end with the first pitch of the 2012 season.

Good luck one and all during the World Series!

Fantasy Football vs. D&D

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-18T07:37:10-05:00

Found this on the Interwebs. Thought it was funny. And too true.

We're Back! Now Let The World Series Begin

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-17T09:16:39-05:00

The SLPL Blog is now back, up and running after the long weekend spent celebrating Sons of Pitches owners Kathy Livernois’ 50th birthday in Vegas. At least, I think that’s what we were doing. Two long days partying poolside at the Golden Nugget cabanas were responsible for the untimely deaths of hundreds of millions of brain cells, many of them mine.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers have bowed out of the postseason, leaving the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals to play in the World Series. That gives SLPL owners a total of eight hitters and two pitchers during the last round of the playoffs, which ain’t that bad at all. Major props to Frankly Speaking owner Frank Sumrall, who was on nobody’s radar going into the League Championship series but who has since overtaken the Playoffs top spot and moved into 2nd place Overall, just ten points back of Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers. Given that he lost Cabrerra and Braun for the World Series, we don’t know that Frank’s Speaking can move much higher, but he’s likely hoping to somehow make up ground through the attrition of strikeouts by hitters on Paul’s roster.

Given how close the standings are, it will be fun to see what shakes out during the World Series. Here’s how points are awarded during the Fall Classic:
. Hitters earn 100 points for every home run hit
. Hitters lose 10 points for every K
. Pitchers earn 10 points for every K
. Pitchers lose 50 points for every homer surrendered

Good luck to all out contenders during the World Series.

Blog's Going Dark; Standings Aren't, We Think

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-13T23:40:12-05:00

Just as things are getting really interesting in the Overall standings, the SLPL Blog is going dark until Monday. We’re taking our butts to Vegas to celebrate Sons of Pitches owner Kathy Livernois’ 50th birthday. Don’t fret, though. As long as we have an Internet connection, we’ll update the playoff standings and stats. So, while we won’t have blog entries, we will update the standings. We think.

In the meantime, Happy 50th Birthday, Kathy!

Hats Off

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-13T08:12:23-05:00

Momma Kitty is clearly not a Dr. Seuss fan.

Nice Catch

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-12T08:30:11-05:00

Smooth as silk. But how does the guy seated to the right of popcorn guy escape comment? That’s right there is some bad seriously bad hair.

We Meant To Say Six Teams

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-11T08:37:02-05:00

Can’t believe we said four teams. While Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers maintain an Overall lead, it is now Brandon Olivarria’s Kirby Puckett’s Good Eye, on the power of Nelson Cruz’s two homers last night, that is in second place. Brandon has also overtaken the top-spot in the Playoff standings. Meanwhile, Scott Allen’s ScootTucky Plow have moved into second place in the Playoffs and jumped from 15th place to 7th place in the Overall standings. Can Paul hold onto his Overall lead? Will another difference-making player propel yet another team into the race? What the hell is happening this season? Schmoly, I can’t keep tack.

Water Fun

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-10T08:32:03-05:00

Splash go the bodies.

Sunday Morning WTF?! Taking Over First

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-09T08:07:59-05:00

With just one game of the League Championship Series in the books, Tres Caballeros owner Jim Klinkhamer has taken over first place in the Playoff standings and is now only 55 points behind Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers in the Overall standings. Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?!, Jim … if you keep this up, you’re going to take all the drama out of the playoffs.

Did We Say Three Teams?

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-08T11:01:13-05:00

Wait, did we say three teams? With the Phillies and D-Backs now eliminated, there’s yet another horse in this 2011 SLPL race, The Blaming Flips, owned by past Overall Champ Vince Livernois. Okay, so he’s 225 points back of the Overall lead and 70 points off the Playoff lead, but Vince’s Flips have a full eight hitters going into the League Championship Serieseses. And the value of points are going up. During these League Championship games:

. Hitters earn 50 points for every home run hit
. Hitters lose 5 points for every K
. Pitchers earn 5 points for every K
. Pitchers lose 25 points for every homer surrendered (New in 2011: Was 20 points in previous seasons.)

Stay tuned. With four teams in the hunt, this might just be a good race.

Did We Say Two Teams?

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-07T06:03:04-05:00

Did we say two teams? With the Yankees thankfully disposed of from the playoffs -- loved watching A-Rod return to playoff form, BTW! -- we need to amend what we said yesterday. What we meant to say was that appears the 2011 season will come town to three teams. Sure, [Team That Shall Not Be Named], owned by David Adrian, is a full 511 points out of first place in the Overall standings and 116 points behind in the Playoffs, but the dude still has some difference makers left … and points go up a lot in each of the remaining rounds of the playoffs. Lots of questions about whether or not he can really pull it off, but we’re just giddy as hell over here with the thought that we might actually have to give the 2011 crown to a team whose name we can’t even bring ourselves to write publicly on this blog!

Down To Two Teams

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-06T07:20:02-05:00

It appears the 2011 season will come town to two teams:

Cabbage Farmers owner Paul Martin has the lead Overall and in the Playoff standings, but he started with one fewer pitcher and has since lost Evan Longoria. Tres Caballeros owner Jim Klinkhamer, meanwhile, has two difference makers and is hot on the trail of the lead in the Playoff standings, sitting just six points for games played through last night.

Is It Just Me...

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-05T08:36:54-05:00

…or does it appear that a lot more points are being awarded and lost during this season’s division serieses compared to previous years?

Now Pay Already!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-04T08:30:40-05:00

Longtime SLPL owner Steve McNelly, owner of Guzzlyn Suds, checked in yesterday with the following:

Hey- I looked but couldn't find where I can pay my fees online--can you send me the link? Or, if not--I can send a check to Rube. Thanks!

No, thank you, Steve, for reminding us that we need to remind everyone that now is a great time to pay what they owe. We need to pay the champs, dontchya know, and sending your monies STAT will help us do just that. You can pay using PayPal or send a check to:

Joe Livernois
459 Echo Valley Road
Salinas, CA 93907

Of course, Steve being Steve, he ended his e-mail with this:

PS- I hate this league.

Of course you do! Now pay already. And we’ll see you next season!

Cabbage Farmers Not Giving Ground

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-03T07:41:13-05:00

If you haven’t already found the playoff standings and stats, check out the menu bar above. Everything can be found under “Playoffs >”. Or, you can use these links:

The At-A-Glance is here.
Overall standings are here.
Playoff standings are here.
Hitter stats are here.
Pitcher stats are here.
Hall-of-Fame Death Pool standings here.
Past leaders here.

After the first weekend of playoff games, Regular Season champ Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers still lead the Overall standings … because he also leads the Playoff standings. Dude is not giving any ground, is he?

Sunday Morning WTF?! No WTF?!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-02T10:06:52-05:00

I got no Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?! today. Whiskey?! Tango?! Foxtrot?!, me!

Well, That Was Anticlimactic

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-10-01T12:01:50-05:00

After Wednesday night’s insanity, yesterday’s playoff games(ish) sure were anticlimactic. One game and an inning-and-a-half of another. Zero plus-SLPL points. The only fireworks were the three bombs given up by C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers. Besides that, well, blah.

On the fun side -- and what was that I said yesterday about point bleeders? -- without scoring a single point, Joe Livernois’ Moammar Camacho's gained six points on Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers in the Overall Standings.

Here’s hoping today’s games are more fun and more productive than yesterdays.

Let The Playoffs Begin!

pedregoso@santa-lechuga.com — 2011-09-30T09:19:21-05:00

Besides beefing up The Pot, -- which is a massive benefit given that no champ will win less than $125 this season -- one of the little-anticipated advantages of offering free trades this season is that lots of teams made lots of trades to beef up their rosters for the playoffs. In the last week of the season alone, SLPL teams made 32 trades -- eight paid and 24 free -- which means that this season’s playoffs should be pretty darned interesting and exciting. Get this: 23 teams have at least eight players in the playoffs; ten of those have at least eight players; two teams have 14 players; one team -- Jim Klinkhamer’s Tres Caballeros -- has a complete 15-player playoff roster. This is doubly cool because many of the teams with beefy playoff rosters are within 100 points of Regular Season Champ Paul Martin’s Cabbage Farmers (who has one of the 14-man playoff rosters).

If you asked me who I think’s going to win, I would have to say I have no clue. The playoffs are always interesting, but this year’s are just too damn unpredictable. Why? I mean, shouldn’t Paul be a favorite with 14 players? Or Jim, who is just 77 points off the lead and a full playoff roster? Not necessarily. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that having certain players can actually hurt you. For example, if you had Ryan Howard last year, you would have netted -65 points (that is, minus 65 points). Robinson Cano in 2009 would have lost you 87 points. So while it’s great to have certain producers, you may end up paying for it by having too many bleeders. So, I’m at a loss.

Here’s reminder of how points are awarded for each round of the playoffs:

During the Divisional Playoffs...
. Hitters earn 20 points for every home run hit
. Hitters lose 2 points for every K
. Pitchers earn 2 points for every K
. Pitchers lose 10 points for every homer surrendered

During the League Championship Series...
. Hitters earn 50 points for every home run hit
. Hitters lose 5 points for every K
. Pitchers earn 5 points for every K
. Pitchers lose 25 points for every homer surrendered (New in 2011: Was 20 points in previous seasons.)

During the World Series...
. Hitters earn 100 points for every home run hit
. Hitters lose 10 points for every K
. Pitchers earn 10 points for every K
. Pitchers lose 50 points for every homer surrendered

Good luck!