The abbreviated four-day "week" resulted in some lopsided scores and significant movement in the standings. Baird Brain (pounded 11-1 by the Horse Field Hammers to drop from third all the way to ninth in the standings) and Billie's Bashers (stomped 12-0 by the Gashouse Gorillas to fall from seventh to eleventh spot) were hardest hit, as the minimum 25 IP rule added insult to injury. When the innings requirement isn't met, I understand the automatic loss in the rate stat categories, but how can Yahoo justify wiping out a counting stat like saves?

Two other contenders were trounced; an 11-1 loss to the Austin Senators knocked the Moscow Rats from fourth down to tenth. Second-place AGF lost 9-3 to the Red Mosquitos, while my Toronto Walrus squeaked out a 6-5 decision over the Chatsworth Halos, extending our lead to 7.5 games. Mebion Glyndwr, by virtue of a 7-5 decision over the Eastern Shore Birds, moves into third, with seven teams now bunched within six games from fourth to tenth.



Only seven weeks remain in the regular season, so it's crunch time.

  #  Team                      W-L-T       Pct     GB 
  1  Toronto Walrus          106-62-12    .622     -- 
  2  AGF                     100-71-9     .581     7.5 
  3  Mebion Glyndwr           97-77-6     .556    12 
  4  gashouse gorillas        94-77-9     .547    13.5 
  5  Red Mosquitos            95-78-7     .547    13.5 
  6  Horse Field Hammers      93-80-7     .536    15.5  
  7  Eastern Shore Birds      94-81-5     .536    15.5 
  8  hannibal's cannibals     90-78-12    .533    16  
  9  Baird Brain              92-81-7     .531    16.5 
 10  Moscow Rats              92-83-5     .525    17.5 
 11  Billie's Bashers         88-88-4     .500    22  
 12  Chatsworth Halos         86-88-6     .494    23 
 13  Austin Senators          82-85-13    .492    23.5 
 14  Reykjavik Fish Candy     83-91-6     .478    26 
 15  SABR Magicians           79-92-9     .464    28.5 
 16  Garces_not_on_roids      79-97-4     .450    31  
 17  K-Town Mashers           74-94-12    .444    32 
 18  Springfield Isotopes     73-95-12    .439    33 
 19  Thunderbirds             72-102-6    .417    37 
 20  Jick's Rays              50-119-11   .308    56.5 

I wish I could give some of my luck in this league to the Blue Jays. Incredibly, my team survived a 4-for-39 nightmare at the plate on Sunday to win OBP, while Curt Schilling, all by himself, clinched four pitching categories and blanked another. With the option of starting Jose Lima and Carlos Silva on the road in later Sunday games, I feared blowing the lead in WHIP and ERA in pursuit of a W, and benched them both. As it turns out, I would have won 7-5, but the risk of losing 7-4 wasn't worth it. I try not to second-guess managerial decisions, even my own, because I've learned that even in fantasy ball, and especially in a real dugout, there are no absolute rights and wrongs. After weighing all the possibilities and considering your personnel, you ultimately have to trust your experience and instincts.

I have tremendous respect for my next opponent, R Billie, but if there's ever been a good week to face the Bashers, this may be it — one of his aces (Mussina) is on the DL and the other (Prior) questionable. So I'm cautiously optimistic about our matchup, and confident of maintaining the lead for a 15th straight week. At this point, the Walrus is counting down and hoping to avoid blowouts. The regular season title would be nice, but I'll be quite content with a first-round bye, and a chance to see if my, uh, stuff works in the playoffs.