No player has hit more home runs in his DTBL career than Kings third baseman Alex Rodriguez. On Saturday afternoon, Rodriguez hit his 586th home run while on a DTBL roster, moving him one ahead of Barry Bonds. He needs just 14 more home runs to become the first player to reach 600.
Although it has been an injury-plagued and mostly disappointing season for ARod, it has been full of impressive DTBL accomplishments. If he can pick up another five RBIs in the final week, he will also become the league’s all-time leader in that category, passing Manny Ramirez. He already has the lead in runs scored too, but only 13 ahead of his Yankees teammate Derek Jeter. In addition to that, Rodriguez was the Most Valuable Player in the DTBL All-Star Game back in July.
Not surprisingly, Rodriguez is the Kings franchise leader in home runs, runs batted in, runs scored, and even stolen bases. He was drafted by the Kings with the first pick of the 1997 draft, a pick the Kings acquired by trading away Roger Clemens. Sadly, both players have since had their legacies tainted, but that is another story for another time. Rodriguez has spent all 15 years of his career with the Kings. He was a critical piece of their four consecutive titles from 2001-2004. In those four seasons, he hit 52, 57, 47 and 36 home runs. Probably his best season came in 2007 though when he hit 54 home runs, drove in an incredible 156 and scored 143 runs.
2011 figures to be the worst statistical season of his career, likely setting single season lows in home runs (16), RBIs (60), runs (65) and stolen bases (4). Once considered the clear cut #1 player to have on your fantasy baseball team, that is certainly no longer the case. In particular, a variety of injuries have slowed him down the last couple seasons.
Meanwhile, most of the Yankees record breaking attention this week has been on Mariano Rivera for setting the MLB career save record (602), passing Trevor Hoffman. Rivera set the DTBL career mark in that category earlier this year, passing Hoffman on that list as well.
With a week to go in the season, can the Naturals catch the Jackalope? It’s not looking likely, as the Jackalope lead has remained fairly constant in recent days.
With just over two weeks remaining in the 2011 season, the DTBL Championship race is fairly clear: either Jay’s Jackalope or Nick’s Naturals will be the 2011 champions (and thanks to last year, I have to add the caveat that they BOTH could win the title). The Jackalope have been at the top of the standings most of the season. About a month ago, the Naturals made things very interesting, getting as close as one half point behind. They currently sit four points back. The next five teams are closely bunched with each other, but are at least 14 points behind the Jackalope.
I don’t have a good mathematical formula to figure this out, but I would put the Jackalope odds of winning the championship at close to 85%. While four points can be made up in no time, the Jackalope are in an envious position because they have a fair amount of space between them and the nearest competitor in most categories. Barring a collapse, the only categories in which I could see them losing ground are wins and strike outs, with strike outs being very unlikely since the chasing Kings pitching staff has fallen apart in recent weeks. Wins is a little more likely, with just two points separating them from the Moonshiners. The interesting thing there though is that the Naturals really need to hold off the Moonshiners in strike outs and perhaps catch them in WHIP. So they somehow need that to happen and have the Moonshiners catch the Jackalope in wins at the same time.
I would be shocked if the Jackalope finished with fewer than 79 points. That leaves a tall order for the defending co-champion Naturals. It is doable though. There are 1 1/2 points to be gained in the batting categories if they can pass up the Demigods for the batting average lead and break their current tie with the Kings in stolen bases. But the best path to the title would be two spectacular weeks from their pitching staff. They have an outside shot at gaining points in ERA and WHIP, but that would depend on other teams faltering as well. Wins and saves are possibilities too. Keep an eye on all four of these categories over the final weeks.
If the Jackalope can stay right where they are, at 80 points, they can rest easy. Not only for the reasons I mentioned above, but history will be on their side. Only one team has ever reached that plateau and not won the title: the 1998 Kings. And that was an expansion season, so there were several really awful teams claiming very few of the available points. Interestingly enough, the Jackalope were one of the expansion teams that year, but they finished a very respectable 6th. 13 years later, they are on the verge of their first DTBL Championship.
On Monday night, Jim Thome became the eighth player in MLB history to reach the 600 career home run milestone. He hit home runs 599 and 600 in consecutive at bats, the first player to do so. The milestone home run came in the top of the seventh inning off Tigers lefty Daniel Schlereth. Both of his home runs were hit to the opposite field in Comerica Park, quite a feat in its own right. Thome helped lead the Twins to a 9-6 victory over the Tigers.
Thome is one of just five players in the 600 home run club who has never been implicated as a steroid user. He needs ten more home runs to pass Sammy Sosa to move into 7th place on the all-time list. Although possible, it seems unlikely he will move up any further than that. Not that there was ever much question about it anyway, but this achievement further cements Thome’s Hall of Fame credentials. In addition to being one of the game’s all-time great sluggers, he has to be among the most respected by his peers as well. He has a reputation as an all-around great person. Personally, I couldn’t be happier for him, even though he plays for the Twins.
Thome has played for five major league teams in 21 seasons. He came up in the Indians organization, the team for which he hit the most home runs in 12 great seasons. He then had two very good seasons in Philadelphia before losing his job to Ryan Howard. Following the 2005 season, he was traded to the White Sox where he had 3 1/2 very productive seasons. After a brief stay with the Dodgers, he has spent the last two years in Minnesota.
Since Thome has been something of a part-time player for the Twins, his DTBL career has been stifled a bit in recent years. He has 546 career home runs, placing him third on the league’s all-time list behind Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. He is also third in career RBIs (1,492) and fifth in runs scored (1,402). However, he has not appeared on a DTBL roster this season and is currently a free agent.
Jim Thome has only played for two DTBL teams. Originally drafted by the Kings in 1995, they released him after four very productive years. He was the victim of a position crunch for the Kings who also had Frank Thomas and Mark McGwire at first base in ’98 (that was the season McGwire hit 70 home runs). The Kings loss was the Choppers gain though. They drafted Thome in the second round in 1999 and he promptly helped his new team win the DTBL Championship that season. He stuck around with the Choppers for 11 years and 401 home runs. Only Sammy Sosa has hit more home runs in a Choppers uniform. The Choppers finally let him go following the 2009 season. The Kings then reacquired him as a free agent last year, where he quietly put up solid numbers in a short period of time. He was cut following the season and has been a free agent since.
Here is my review of the trades involving one or more DTBL players which were made in the weeks/days leading up to today’s MLB trade deadline. Since I’m not too knowledgeable about prospects, my take will focus mostly on the DTBL players and the impact these guys will have on their new teams as well as the DTBL implications.
July 12 – Brewers/Mets
Brewers get: RP Francisco Rodriguez (Moonshiners)
Mets get: 2 PTBNL
MLB impact: The Brewers made a significant improvement to their bullpen without giving up any players of note. When this deal was initially completed, it wasn’t clear what this would mean to their closer situation. However, John Axford has continued to save games for the Brewers, so Rodriguez appears to have been acquired strictly for set-up duties. Meanwhile, the Mets were able to unload a potentially enormous payroll drag had K-Rod finished enough games to kick in his guaranteed player option for 2012. This appears to have been a win-win deal for everyone but Rodriguez.
DTBL impact: This was a costly trade for the Moonshiners, leaving them with just two closers. Fortunately, another rumored trade of Drew Storen to the Twins never happened, or they could have been left with a single closer. They still rank third in saves, but that position could be in jeopardy.
July 26 – Nationals/Reds
Nationals get: OF Johnny Gomes (Cougars)
Reds get: LHP Chris Manno, OF Bill Rhinehart
MLB impact: Not much point in discussing this one too much. This was simply a dump trade by the Reds to make room for a rookie. I don’t really know why the Nats were interested in Gomes though, as they clearly aren’t going anywhere this season.
DTBL impact: Gomes has been on the Cougars bench since May. Since he figures to remain a platoon player in DC, it is unlikely he’ll give the Cougars much of a boost from here on out.
July 27 – Cardinals/Blue Jays/White Sox
Cardinals get: SP Edwin Jackson (free agent), RP Octavio Dotel (free agent), RP Marc Rzepczynski, OF Corey Patterson, 3 PTBNL
Blue Jays get: OF Colby Rasmus (Naturals), 3B Mark Teahen, RP Brian Tallet, RP Trevor Miller, RHP P.J. Walters
White Sox get: RP Jason Frasor, RHP Zach Stewart
MLB impact: This was one of the strangest trades of the week in that it featured two teams in tight division races selling off pieces while a non-contender acquired the biggest impact player. Rasmus had lost favor in St. Louis and had been relegated to the bench. So the Cardinals getting rid of him wasn’t terribly surprising, but they certainly sold low on a talented player. They did acquire some much needed help for their rotation with Jackson though. The 27 year old Jackson has already been traded 7 times in his career! He’s a free agent after this season too, so it is likely he’ll be in yet another uniform next year. The White Sox got a nice reliever in Frasor, but this trade was mostly done to shed some payroll. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are probably the big winners in this trade, getting Rasmus for hardly anything.
DTBL impact: Jackson and Dotel are free agents. The Kings dumped Jackson about a month ago. It is possible some other team will give him a shot now that he is pitching for a NL team that can score some runs. This was a great trade for the Naturals since Rasmus will return to being an everyday player. Also, he could see a big spike in his numbers playing in a good hitters park and as part of a strong lineup.
July 28 – Giants/Mets
Giants get: OF Carlos Beltran (Demigods)
Mets get: RHP Zach Wheeler
MLB impact: Beltran was considered the premier offensive player on the market, and the Giants definitely needed some offensive help. Beltran should give the Giants a significant boost as they attempt to defend their World Series title. He will be a free agent following this season, so it made sense for the Mets to trade him. Apparently, Wheeler is a very highly regarded pitching prospect, so this should be a good trade for both teams.
DTBL impact: Even though this was one of the biggest trades of the week, it will probably have a minimal effect on the Demigods. Beltran is moving from one pitchers park to another and probably a weaker supporting cast. Beltran is also not the fantasy player he used to be since his power numbers are down and he doesn’t steal a lot of bases any more.
MLB impact: This is a huge trade for the Phillies who have had a bit of a black hole in right field this season. It makes their already impressive lineup just a bit stronger, further strengthening their resume as the best team in the National League. The Giants are still a threat due to their pitching, but the Phillies are the team to beat in October. Meanwhile, this was phase one in the Astros fire sale. They acquired some very good prospects, but the near term future is not bright.
DTBL impact: I would call this deal a big win for the Jackalope, who have had almost nothing but positive developments all season. Pence figures to get a lot more RBI opportunities in Philly and is going to a great hitters park. The Jacaklope lead has shrunk a bit in recent days, but this trade should give their offense a boost.
July 30 – Red Sox/Royals
Red Sox get: 2B Mike Aviles (free agent)
Royals get: INF Yamaico Navarro, RHP Kendal Volz
MLB impact: Not much to this deal. Aviles was simply a utility player in Kansas City and that will continue to be the case in Boston.
DTBL impact: It is unlikely the DTBL free agent Aviles will attract much attention following this deal. His playing time will be severely limited.
July 30 – Rangers/Orioles
Rangers get: RP Koji Uehera (Gators)
Orioles get: P Tommy Hunter, 1B/3B Chris Davis
MLB impact: The Rangers picked up a setup man who has some of the best numbers in the league this season. Uehera has incredible 64/8 strike out/walk numbers in 48 IP. They gave up a pair of players who they didn’t have much use for either, so this has to be viewed as a good deal for them. On the Orioles side, not receiving any legitimate prospects was surprising, but they did get two MLB ready players. They didn’t appear to have anywhere to put Davis when the trade was made, but the Lee trade a few hours later opened up 1B for him.
DTBL impact: Minimal. The Gators have used Uehera almost all year, but unless he’s going to start getting save opportunities (very unlikely), this trade doesn’t change his value at all.
July 30 – Indians/Rockies
Indians get: SP Ubaldo Jimenez (Gators)
Rockies get: RHP Alex White, RHP Joseph Gardner, IF/OF Matt McBride, LHP Drew Pomeranz
MLB impact: I don’t like to criticize teams for trying to go for it all when the opportunity presents itself, but I think this may be a bit of a short-sighted trade by the Indians. Yes, they are only a couple games out of first right now, but I believe they have overachieved to this point and are unlikely to win the division even with Jimenez. Meanwhile, they traded away two of their best pitching prospects. Jimenez should benefit by no longer pitching in Coors Field. Also, the NL to AL switch is less significant in this case since he is going to pitch in a very mediocre AL Central. He is not a free agent to-be, so this trade could be an important building block for the Indians, but call me skeptical. Great deal for the Rockies, IMO.
DTBL impact: It will be very interesting to see how Jimenez pitches in Cleveland. He hasn’t been a truly elite pitcher in well over a year now. The Gators need him to return to his early 2010 form in order to help revive their middle-of-the-road pitching staff. It’s all about how well he pitches. This trade probably won’t affect his numbers that much one way or the other.
July 30 – Giants/Indians
Giants get: SS Orlando Cabrera (Moonshiners)
Indians get: OF Thomas Neal
MLB impact: I was a little surprised by this trade on the Indians side. On the heals of their Jimenez deal, they sold off a valuable veteran in Cabrera. Apparently, they are very comfortable with Jason Kipnis as their everyday 2B, even though he just made his MLB debut earlier this week. I think it came down to Cabrera requesting to go somewhere he was wanted. The Giants are a perfect fit. He has a wealth of playoff experience and can help fill a number of roles for the Giants.
DTBL impact: The Moonshiners have been shuffling Cabrera in and out of their lineup. That doesn’t figure to change much, but this is still a good trade for them because Cabrera was seeing his role diminish in Cleveland. He could still provide some value for the Moonshiners before this season ends.
July 30 – Pirates/Orioles
Pirates get: 1B Derrek Lee (Choppers)
Orioles get: 1B Aaron Baker
MLB impact: The Lyle Overbay era as the Pirates starting 1B is mercifully over. The Pirates got so little production from that position, it is a miracle they are still in contention. Lee provides a significant upgrade at that position. I doubt it will be enough for them to hang with the Cardinals and Brewers, but it was the right move to make. Obviously, getting rid of the veteran Lee made sense for the Orioles who are going nowhere fast.
DTBL impact: The Choppers haven’t used Lee since May. I don’t see this trade changing his role too much since he is probably in a worse hitting situation in Pittsburgh. He is a capable replacement though, should they need to call on him.
July 31 – Cardinals/Dodgers
Cardinals get: SS Rafael Furcal (Moonshiners)
Dodgers get: OF Alex Castellanos
MLB impact: Furcal is clearly a big upgrade over Ryan Theriot at shortstop for the Cardinals. This all comes down to him staying healthy. If he is able to stick in the lineup, he will be a nice addition to the highest scoring team in the NL. This is pretty much just a dump for the Dodgers.
DTBL impact: Pretty much the same as the impact for the Cardinals. If Furcal can actually stay healthy, he will be a valuable contributor for the Moonshiners. This trade doesn’t change his value too much, though he will probably have a chance to score more runs with the likes of Pujols, Holliday and Berkman hitting behind him.
July 31 – Braves/Astros
Braves get: OF Michael Bourn (Jackalope)
Astros get: OF Jordan Schafer, RHP Juan Abreu, RHP Paul Clemens, LHP Brett Oberholtzer
MLB impact: Big addition for the Braves. They are trying to piece things together with all their recent injuries. Two obvious needs were center field and leadoff hitter. Bourn fills both holes. I think the Braves could have used another power hitter too, but Bourn will certainly improve the offense. This was part two of the Astros fire sale. Of course it makes sense for them to get as many decent prospects as they can, but boy are they going to struggle to win games the rest of this year and probably next season too.
DTBL impact: Once again, the Jackalope benefit from the Astros upheaval. Bourn was putting up great numbers for a pathetic team. I doubt he will be able to improve upon his current stats too much, but getting out of Houston is definitely a net positive for him and the Jackalope.
July 31 – Rangers/Padres
Rangers get: Mike Adams (Cougars)
Padres get: LHP Robbie Erlin, RHP Joe Wieland
MLB impact: You can pretty much read everything I wrote about the Uehera trade and repeat it here. In fact, Adams’ stats are almost identical to Uehera’s too. They have been two of the best setup men in baseball this year. So Adams is a very nice addition to the Rangers bullpen. Unlike the Uehera deal though, the Rangers actually gave up prospects to get Adams. Therefore, I would say this is a good trade for the Padres too. The Rangers are going to have an awfully strong bullpen.
DTBL impact: Again, a non-closing reliever changing teams doesn’t really change his value much. Neftali Feliz has struggled at times this season, so Adams could be next in line to get saves if that continues. But for now, Adams fantasy value is unchanged by this deal. Perhaps a slight downgrade based on going from a great pitchers park to a hitters paradise. The Cougars will no doubt continue to use him though.
July 31 – Pirates/Padres
Pirates get: OF Ryan Ludwick (Moonshiners)
Padres get: PTBNL
MLB impact: The Pirates need all the help they can get to improve their offense. Although I doubt he will make a major splash, Ludwick should help. Remember, he is only a couple years removed from being a big time power hitter for the Cardinals. Getting out of PETCO could be just what the doctor ordered. On the flip side, the dreadful Padres offense will only get worse without Ludwick. Hard to judge this trade for the Padres though since all they got was a player to be named later.
DTBL impact: This wasn’t one of the big deadline trades, but it has the potential to be one of the biggest in terms of fantasy implications. The Moonshiners haven’t gotten much out of Ludwick since signing him in early June, but he could be a major contributor the rest of the way. This deal is a big win for them.
Just a reminder that the DTBL trade deadline is still a couple weeks away. Trades must be completed by August 15. We haven’t had a trade since the draft, but this could certainly change in the upcoming weeks. I think the reason for the lack of trades is two-fold: a lot of teams have had their hands tied due to a rash of injuries, leaving few healthy bodies to deal. Also, it seems a lot of teams have needs at the same positions (3B and OF in particular). But now that the race is starting to heat up, perhaps some teams will get creative to make a deal.
It has been a while since Charlie’s Thunder Choppers have been a DTBL title contender. They haven’t finished a season in the top half of the standings since 2006 and haven’t had a top three finish since 2001. That ’01 team was the last Choppers squad that remained in the title hunt until the final weeks of the season. But that could be about to change. Thanks to the league’s most powerful offense, the Choppers find themselves in second place here in late July. As long as the Jackalope remain around the 80 point mark, they will be virtually impossible to catch. But should they stumble, the Choppers lead a pack of five teams waiting to make a run.
It’s all about offense for the Choppers, particularly the power categories. They lead the league in both home runs and RBIs. Their lead in the home run category is relatively safe at the moment. This is quite impressive and surprising considering they finished in the bottom half of the league in that category a year ago, 92 home runs behind the Naturals. The reason from the resurgence? Three veteran players: Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson and Lance Berkman.
Two of those three players were the Choppers last two first round draft picks (Granderson in ’09 and Bautista this year. The Choppers didn’t have a first round pick in ’10). Granderson was a surprising choice as the first overall pick in the 2009 draft. They chose him over Evan Longoria, a pick that didn’t look too wise the last two years. But now Granderson has started hitting home runs at a career high pace. He has 26 long balls already this year, trailing only Bautista. This hasn’t slowed him down any on the base paths though. He has stolen 19 bases and is on pace for a career high in that category as well. He is playing a huge role in helping the Choppers try to chase down the team that released him following the 2008 season: the Jackalope. Granderson kept his remarkable season going with a two run home run in the DTBL All-Star Game last week. It was the only home run hit in the game.
I think everybody knows Bautista’s story by now. He has suddenly become the premier power hitter in all of baseball, once again leading the league in home runs with 31. While last year was quite an impressive surge season, this year has been even better because he also has one of the best batting averages around. He is currently hitting .330, good for third in the league. Bautista was a fairly obvious choice for the Choppers with the fourth pick in this year’s draft, but nobody knew for sure if he would be able to reproduce the numbers he put up last year. So far, he has improved upon them. An interesting sidenote: even though he is a veteran player, he is actually eligible for the DTBL Rookie of the Year Award this year since he had never appeared on an active DTBL roster prior to this season. He seems like a pretty safe bet to win that award at this point.
Perhaps the best story among the Choppers players is Berkman. Along with Granderson, he is also trying to help the Choppers catch the team that released him. The Jackalope cut Berkman following last season after 10 great years with the team. It was understandable why they did so though. He appeared to be done. In 2010, Berkman hit just .236 with 12 home runs in an injury riddled season for the Jackalope. The Choppers decided to take a flyer on him in the 12th round of this year’s draft. It would be safe to say that pick has worked out pretty well. He has a .287 average with 22 home runs. He is fifth in the league in home runs.
The Choppers lead a pack of five teams that hold down second through sixth place. Those five teams are within 3 1/2 points of each other, so it is anybody’s guess which team(s) will make a serious run at the Jackalope. But the Choppers have to be pleased to be in the discussion after years of disappointment.
On Friday night, the National Division defeated the American Division 3-2 at Jackalope Stadium in the 18th Annual DTBL All-Star Game. In a game full of missed chances, the National All-Stars pulled out a little small ball to scratch out the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. It was the second straight year the National Division picked up a win despite a seemingly over-matched roster.
Justin Verlander was the starting pitcher for the National All-Stars and was opposed by Roy Halladay. Both aces pitched two scoreless innings. Verlander retired all six batters he faced. Halladay allowed the leadoff man to reach base both innings, but prevented those runners from scoring, which became a theme of the game for both teams. The game was scoreless through four innings.
Dan Haren took the mound for the American Division in the fifth and got knocked around, but was also betrayed by his defense. Carlos Gonzalez led off the inning with a single to right and advanced to second when Jose Bautista had trouble fielding the ball. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored the first run of the game on a double by Alex Rodriguez. Two batters later, Jose Reyes lined a hit into center to score Rodriguez. He also moved up to second on a booted ball by center fielder Curtis Granderson. Jacoby Ellsbury then singled to left, but Reyes was inexplicably unable to score from second on a single with two outs. So the National All-Stars settled for a 2-0 lead. If you take a look at the box score, it says both runs were unearned, however I believe this is incorrect. Based on the sequence of events, both runs would have scored anyway if the errors had not been made, so they should have been earned runs. Chalk that up as a bug in OOTP.
The National lead didn’t last long. Kings pitcher Tommy Hanson quickly gave back the two runs his Kings teammates knocked in in the top half of the fifth. Brian McCann starting the frame with a double and scored on a two run home run to right center by Granderson. So after trading pairs of runs in the 5th, the game was tied at 2.
The next three innings were filled with missed opportunities, especially for the American All-Stars. In both the 6th and 7th innings, they had runners on first and second with nobody out and failed to score. Again in the 8th, they had two men on with one out, but the inning ended when Brian McCann hit into a double play. He had done the same thing in his previous at bat in the 6th. Prior to those at bats, he had been an early contender for the game’s MVP award with a pair of hits and his throw outs of Reyes and Ellsbury on stolen base attempts early in the game.
The ninth inning featured something you don’t see very often in an All-Star game: a sacrifice bunt. Drew Storen was pitching for the American Division and surrendered hits to David Ortiz and Matt Holliday to start the inning. Then Brandon Phillips came up and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. Alex Rodriguez took advantage of the opportunity and hit a sacrifice fly to score Ortiz and gave the National Division a 3-2 lead. It was Rodriguez’s second RBI of the game. Brian Wilson and his beard then came into the game in the bottom of the 9th to pick up the save. He allowed a one out walk, but retired the next two hitters to secure the win for the National team.
Although OOTP disagreed, Rodriguez was a pretty easy choice as the game’s MVP. He was involved in all three National runs, knocking in two and scoring the third. Not bad for a guy with a bum knee who probably won’t play in a real game for at least another month or so. Cole Hamels picked up the win thanks to his scoreless 8th inning. Drew Storen took the loss and Brian Wilson earned the save.
Some interesting stats from the game. 11 leadoff batters reached base safely, but only three of them wound up scoring. The National squad put the first man on in six innings, while the American team did it five times. With numbers like those, you would have expected this to be a very high scoring game. But both teams hit into a pair of double plays to kill some of those rallies. Also, there were a lot of strike outs with men on base. National batters whiffed 11 times; 7 for the American All-Stars. Three different American players left at least four men on base with their at bats: McCann (4), Troy Tulowitzki (4) and Rickie Weeks (5). As a team, they stranded 11 men on base to end innings.
I think the live video streaming of the game went very well. I know from my standpoint, it was a lot easier being able to describe the action through speech rather than having to type it all. In addition to the three active participants, I know we had at least one other onlooker. Hopefully you all enjoyed it as well. I am quite certain we will try something similar again next year. Feel free to check out the archived video which is available on the LiveStream channel. Thanks to everyone for showing up on Friday night!
National Division starting pitcher Justin Verlander
The 18th Annual DTBL All-Star Game is going on right now at Jackalope Stadium, home of Jay’s Jackalope. For the first time ever, you can watch the American Division take on the National Division live by viewing the DTBL LiveStream channel.
Jose Bautista highlights a loaded American roster.
Sorry I’m a few days late with this, but I’m finally ready to announce the 2011 DTBL All-Stars. The 18th annual DTBL All-Star Game is tentatively scheduled for next Friday, July 15 at 10 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m. PDT. As mentioned a few days ago, the game will be live video-streamed here.
For the second straight year, the American Division will be managed by Nick while Dave will call the shots for the National Division. Perhaps there will be a little extra drama involved in this matchup as Nick and Dave try to claim final bragging rights from their championship tie a year ago. They broke all ties in voting and chose the 23rd player for their rosters. For the first time in league history, there was a team without any representation on the initial All-Star roster. Therefore, Nick was forced to use his 23rd player slot to make sure the Gators received a bid. He chose third baseman Johnny Peralta, who wasn’t even on the All-Star ballot (also a first). Peralta had fewer at bats than Danny Valencia at the time I created the list, which kept him off the ballot. Dave was able to use his 23rd slot with a more conventional pick, David Ortiz.
The American Division appears to have the stronger roster, which is not surprising considering they hold four of the top five spots in the standings. Their rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jered Weaver, Felix Hernandez and Dan Haren is about as good as you can get (all but Haren were Jackalope a year ago). Meanwhile, the National team is loaded with Kings. 10 of the 23 players are from the Kings roster, which isn’t terribly surprising since they are the division’s lone contender so far this year.
I am excited to announce a new twist to the DTBL All-Star Game. For the first time since the days when we used to all gather at someone’s house for the All-Star Game, you will be able to follow the action live with your own eyes and ears. There will be a live video stream of the game available on a LiveStream channel I created a few days ago. I downloaded software from LiveStream which allows me to stream my PC desktop to this channel. So you will be able to see what is going on within my Out of the Park baseball sim game as I play it out on my computer.
I did some preliminary testing of this and I was pretty happy with it. If you are expecting a professional, HD broadcast, you are in for a a disappointment though. The video feed is a little blurry, and the only way I was able to read the game’s play-by-play was by putting the video into full screen mode. But you should be able to get the gist of what is going on even in standard mode, particularly since I will be providing my own play-by-play which will accompany the video. At the very least, you should get to enjoy me making a fool out of myself. I’ve set a pretty high bar for myself in the past, but this has strong potential to be the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done.
The actual date and time of the 18th annual DTBL All-Star Game is still TBD. Dave and Nick will be managing their respective divisions, so I will have to check with them to find out their availability. They will be able to communicate their in-game managerial decisions to me using the chatroom that is part of the LiveStream channel. I invite the rest of you to join in on the conversation as well. It should be interesting and mildly entertaining. Even if you aren’t able to join us live, the video will be available on-demand on the LS channel following the game.
There will be a lot more to come soon about the All-Star Game, including the rosters, lineups and a link to the actual video channel. The All-Star rosters may be announced as early as Monday. In the meantime, have a great Independence Day weekend!
One of the big stories of the 2011 season has been the rash of injuries to corner infielders, particular for the top contending teams. Perhaps the biggest blow came last week when the Jackalope lost their All-World first baseman Albert Pujols to a fractured forearm. This injury will probably put him on the shelf until sometime in August. In the mean time, the Jackalope’s strong hold on first place will be put to the test.
The Jackalope currently lead the league by a comfortable 13 points. They have perfectly positioned themselves to be able to survive injuries, even this one to their most valuable player. In years past, the Jackalope almost solely relied on Pujols to carry their offense. But that has not been the case this season. They have accumulated a very solid 37 batting points despite Pujols not quite putting up his usual MVP-worthy numbers. Of course, losing him for a couple months weakens their offense, but I believe they are still in great shape.
The off-season focus on rebuilding the offense may really pay off now. With Ryan Howard and Mike Stanton on board, the Jackalope do have some other guys to turn to for some power. Those two players were the direct result of a couple bold trades which sent elite starting pitchers elsewhere. The Jackalope pitching hasn’t missed a beat though as they are currently first or second in every pitching category.
The other thing the Jackalope have going for them is that they aren’t the only contending team fighting significant injury issues. The second place Kings learned yesterday that first baseman Justin Morneau needs neck surgery, and he too will likely be out until August. They also lost a pair of starting pitchers (Tommy Hanson and Clay Buchholz) to the DL last week, although neither are expected to miss much time. The Kings have been the hottest team in the league over the past month, despite a complete lack of production from the usual power position of first base. Morneau and Adam LaRoche were supposed to anchor that position, but both were ineffective and now injured. LaRoche is out for the year and has been released. On the other side of the infield, the Kings have had a pair of third basemen spend significant time on the disabled list. Ryan Zimmerman is back, but David Freese remains out.
Third base has been an especially troubling position for the third place team, the Moonshiners. Almost every week, the Moonshiners have had to call on someone new to fill the hot corner position. Losing David Wright to an injury has been very costly as his replacements have been completely ineffective. Next in line are the Naturals, who are also missing their top third baseman, first round pick Pedro Alvarez. Like the Moonshiners, the Naturals have had a hard time trying to find a worthy player to fill that spot. With all these injuries to corner infielders, there is basically nothing left to choose from in the free agent market.
So while the Pujols injury is very significant, the Jackalope have a great chance of holding their lead since their closest competitors have equal or greater injury problems of their own. I didn’t even get to the teams lower in the standings who have been absolutely decimated by injuries. It has been a war of attrition so far this year, and the Jackalope are winning that battle.
