With our regular season over at the end of August, the race for playoff spots is heating up. Not at the top, where the first-place Gashouse Gorillas pulled away with a decisive 9-2 victory over the Springfield Isotopes. Falling to twelve games back in second spot is my own Toronto Walrus; more about my nightmare week later, but I was very fortunate to escape with a draw. Billies Bashers solidified their hold on third in the Head-to-Head standings with a 7-4 win over Baird Brain, one of four teams in a scramble for three remaining spots in the championship playoff round. Mebion Glyndwr advanced with an 8-4 victory against the Nation Builders, and Red Mosquitos edged AGF 6-5 to get one game closer to sixth place.

Teams can still make a sudden move in the standings. The Eastern Shore Birds began the week in 15th place, 3.5 games out of a berth in the consolation playoff round. A 10-2 romp over Geoffs Grumpy Group moved the Birds past two rivals and just a half-game away from being one of the twelve who will play in September.


Here are the Week 13 standings:

 #  Team                     W-L-T     Win %  GB
 1  gashouse gorillas      103-45-8   .686    -- 
 2  Toronto Walrus          92-58-6   .609    12 
 3  Billies Bashers         85-63-8   .571    18 
 4  Mebion Glyndwr          83-71-2   .538    23 
 5  Baird Brain             79-67-10  .538    23 
 6  AGF                     81-70-5   .535    23.5 
 7  Red Mosquitos           77-69-10  .526    25 
 8  Jicks Rays              74-73-9   .503    28.5 
 9  Sub-Urban Shockers      73-73-10  .500    29 
10  K-Town Mashers          75-76-5   .497    29.5 
11  Reykjavik Fish Candy    73-75-8   .494    30 
12  Nation Builders         74-76-6   .494    30 
13  Eastern Shore Birds     73-76-7   .490    30.5 
14  Chatsworth Halos        72-78-6   .481    32 
15  Springfield Isotopes    68-80-8   .462    35 
16  Moscow Rats             67-80-9   .458    35.5 
17  Hannibals Cannibals     64-80-12  .449    37 
18  Thunderbirds            59-91-6   .397    45 
19  Garces_not_on_roids     57-91-8   .391    46 
20  Geoffs Grumpy Group     57-94-5   .381    47.5

My team needs to regroup. I had two pitchers whose ERA and WHIP were "infinity" -- Carl Pavano and since-released Michael Tejera both failed to record even one out while the Red Sox were pounding them for eleven runs in their record-breaking first inning. Cliff Politte's been a disaster, as all Toronto fans know, and even Billy Wagner got hit last week. Needless to say, Jick's Rays won five pitching categories, and I was extremely lucky to get a point with two saves. Ace Matt Morris is being pushed back a few days because of a knot in his shoulder blade, and newest acquisition Jason Schmidt just had a start postponed due to a "stiff" arm. I'm hopeful that Carlos Delgado and Jason Giambi will keep the Walrus respectable while the pitching staff heals.