BBFL Week 7: Stumbling At The Top

Monday, May 24 2004 @ 11:22 AM EDT

Contributed by: Coach

The front-running Walrus endured our worst week of the season by far, yet somehow managed to escape with a 6-6 draw and maintained a nine-game lead in the standings. It helped that none of the closest contenders had great weeks, either. Mebion Glyndwr held on to second by rallying from an 8-3 deficit on Sunday for a 5-5 tie with the rebuilt SABR Magicians. AGF was defeated 7-4 by the improving defending champion Austin Senators, missing a chance to gain some ground. Baird Brain closed the gap on Billie’s Bashers with an 8-4 decision; they're now tied for fifth. The big move of the week was made by the Eastern Shore Birds, who trounced cellar-dwelling Jick’s Rays 10-2 to vault from seventh all the way to third. The Moscow Rats beat the Horse Field Hammers 9-3, moving to the fringes of playoff contention. Thirteen teams are now bunched within a dozen games of second place, so anything can happen. I'm fortunate to have a little cushion, as my team is awful right now.

The standings, with almost a third of the regular season complete: 

  #  Team                     W-L-T     Pct   GB 
  1  Toronto Walrus          59-21-4   .726   -- 
  2  Mebion Glyndwr          50-30-4   .619   9  
  3  Eastern Shore Birds     49-33-2   .595   11 
  4  AGF                     47-32-5   .589   11.5  
  5  Baird Brain             46-34-4   .571   13 
  6  Billie's Bashers        47-35-2   .571   13   
  7  Moscow Rats             46-35-3   .565   13.5  
  8  Chatsworth Halos        46-36-2   .560   14 
  9  Red Mosquitos           43-38-3   .530   16.5 
 10  Horse Field Hammers     43-39-2   .524   17 
 11  hannibal's cannibals    40-38-6   .512   18   
 12  Springfield Isotopes    40-40-4   .500   19  
 13  SABR Magicians          39-41-4   .488   20 
 14  gashouse gorillas       38-41-5   .482   20.5 
 15  Austin Senators         32-44-8   .429   25  
 16  K-Town Mashers          32-46-6   .417   26 
 17  Reykjavik Fish Candy    33-48-3   .411   26.5 
 18  Thunderbirds            31-49-4   .393   28  
 19  Garces_not_on_roids     27-55-2   .333   33  
 20  Jick's Rays             15-68-1   .185   45.5
I was very lucky not to be trounced by the Fish Candy. Carlos Delgado, as anyone who visits this site knows only too well, had another terrible week; a decent Sunday pulled him up to .190/.308/.238, while Jim Thome has a sore thumb and sat out several games, getting just 8 AB. My other "slugger" Raffy Palmeiro disappeared to .182/.217/.227 — I have no idea how I won four hitting categories. Now Matt Lawton and Kenny Lofton are hurt, both leaving in the middle of yesterday's games. In fantasy baseball, just like the real thing, no matter how good your roster is, you still need some luck — even if it’s only avoiding the bad variety.

My pitching, which had been the strength of the team, was horrible. Billy Wagner’s on the DL, and the Terry Adams experiment was short-lived. (What was I thinking? That it cost me “only” Tom Gordon. D'oh!) I’m sure I took a big hit in the unofficial Roto standings, but in Head-to-Head play, an ERA of 6.33 and a WHIP of 1.75 are no worse than losing those categories by a whisker, so it’s probably a good thing that almost all my starters blew up in the same week. IP and W were my only chances to earn any pitching points, and thankfully, Freddy Garcia came through late Sunday afternoon to salvage the tie.

In other words, the Walrus really dodged a bullet to remain unbeaten in seven matchups this year. It may be that some of my early-season overachievers on the mound (Marquis, Alvarez, Silva, Madson, Arroyo) were simply flukes, and I’ll soon come back to the pack with a resounding thud. I fear that Bobby Abreu (.435/.581/.696 and a couple of SB) will soon grow tired of carrying this team, so my "best" hitters better wake up. I'm trying, without much confidence, to rally the troops for the impending battle with K-Town.

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