90s(mostly)geo 2 team-Week 8 update

Games played: 39

Eastern Division--The high rent district

Montreal Jays 25-14 (13-8 for the week): Led by Fench33, the Jays are tied for the best record in the league and hold a 4 game lead in the East.

Pitching leaders: Pedro is off to a very good start posting a 6-2 record with an ERA of 2.96/WHIP of 1.06. Pedro has 107 strikeouts in 82 innings. Jeff Fassero has started six game with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 2.72/WHIP of 1.08

Hitting leaders: Larry Walker is at .325/.370/.571 with 7 home runs. Carlos Delgado has driven in 34 runs and Moises Alou has knocked in 32. An interesting player to watch is John Olerud--John played sporadically until the last 4 games. In those 4 games, John is 7 for 15 with 3 doubles and 2 walks. It will be interesting to see if John gets more at bats in the coming games.

Players demoted: 5---Dave Stieb and Tim Wallach are among the players who were removed from the active roster.

Now you know fact: Five pitchers have at least 1 save----John Wetteland (4) Tom Henke, Ugeth Urbina and Tim Scott each have 3 while Duane Ward has 1.

120 millions$$$ New York: Cabrera24 is calling the shots for the club and is 21-18 (10-11 for the week)

Pitching leaders: Interestingly, Bret Saberhagen is 3-3, Jimmy Key is 4-4 and Frank Viola is 4-4. Mariano Rivera has 4 wins and 2 saves with an ERA of 1.93. Steve Howe has an ERA and WHIP of 1.02.

Hitting leaders: Edgardo Alfonzo has a slash line of .359/.449/.479 with 12 doubles. Paul O'Neill is at .331/.441/.500.

Players demoted: Jeff Kent .213/,290/.492 in 61 at bats. Steve Farr had an ERA of 7.45/WHIP of 2.07.

Now you know fact: Cabrera24 has 5 catchers on the roster--Mike Stanley, Jorge Posada, Todd Pratt, Matt Nokes and Joe Girardi.

Bay Area Giant Athletics: KaiserWill4 and his club are in third place with a 15-24 record after having a tough week going 6-15.

Pitching leaders: Bill Swift is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.06/WHIP of 1.46. Dennis Eckersley has 4 saves with an ERA of 3.76/WHIP of 1.25.

Hitting leaders: Mark McGwire has launched 17 home runs and has driven in 35 runs--he's at at .285/.419/.694. Jason Giambi is at .317/.466/.504. Rickey Henderson was added to the roster---he's off to a great start at .366/.480/.634.

Players demoted: Bud Black 7.12/1.96, Dave Stewart 25.20/3.20 (not a mistake--his actual numbers) and Rod Beck 17.49/1.94. Although he hasn't been demoted, Barry Bonds is at .229.341/.551.

Now you know fact: Barry Bonds has 135 plate appearances--he's hit 11 home runs but only drove in 15 runs. Removing himself, his hitting has only driven in 4 runs. Also, the Giant Athletics lead the league with 27 roster moves.


Milwaukee Braves: The Braves are 12-27, 13 games off the pace--the Braves went 8-13 for the week as Fatdaddy054 attempts to recover from a tough start.

Pitching leaders: Chris Bosio has the best ERA on the staff at 4.43. Given the other starters on the roster, I suspect you could have gotten good odds if you thought Chris would have a better ERA than Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Steve Avery.

Hitting leaders: Fred McGriff has been the offensive leader--he's at .285/.364/.526 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.

Demoted players: Mike Stanton had an ERA of 4.50/1.63 and Matt Mieske .152/.152.273 after 34 plate appearances.

Now you know fact: Javy Lopez is at .202/.266/.353; Eddie Perez .208/.256/.333, Darryl Hamilton (.212/.222/.272 and David Justice .202/.295/.357 are all underperforming even their worst year. If they return to average performance, the Braves will improve.

Central:

Texas Astrangers: The BC Manager is tied for the best record in the league at 25-14 and has the best run differential at +62. For the week, the Astrangers were 11-10.

Pitching leaders: Kevin Brown is 8-1 with impressive numbers of 1.45/.96 and Pete Harnisch is 4-13.38/1.45.

Hitting leaders Juan Gonzalez (.327/.375//646) with 13 home runs, Ivan Rodriguez (.329/.365/.576) with 10 home runs and Luis Gonzalez .333/.371/.719 are pacing the offense.

Demoted players: Doug Jones had 2 saves but was at 7.13/1.92-Dean Palmer was at .162/.220/.270 and Rusty Greer was at .167/.308/.357.

Now you know fact: The BC Manager has 3 all-star caliber first basemen, Jeff Bagwell (.287/.399/.487), Rafael Palmeiro .263/.409/.368) and Will Clark .292/.346/.500.

CincyCle Red Indians: LM Bombers has the club in second place with a 21-18 record, 4 games off the pace after going 13-8 for the week.

Pitching leaders: Pete Schourek leads the starting staff with a 4-0 record. Jeff Shaw has delivered 8 saves.

Hitting leaders: Kenny Lofton leads the team with 28 runs scored and an impressive slash line of .350/.433/.466 with 18 stolen bases. Albert Belle is at .303/.345/.552 while Hal Morris is at .348/.398/.571.

Demoted players: Albie Lopez was demoted after contributing 7.47/1.92. Paul Shuey was at 8.21/2.67 and Jose Mesa 7.70/2.14.

Now you know fact: With two top flight shortstops, LM Bombers has been juggling Omar Vizquel and Barry Larkin. Barry has converted 17 of 18 X chances into outs while Omar is at 22 for 26 X chances into outs.

SoCal Dodging Angels: Bigdinkent has the club at 20-19 going 12-9 for the week.

PItching leaders: Hideo Nomo is off to a 6-2 start with an ERA of 4.44/1.16. Bryan Harvey has 7 saves while Troy Percival has an ERA of 1.04/1.27.

Hitting leaders: Mike Piazza is at .293/.358/.541 with 9 home runs and 39 runs knocked in. Brett Butler has contributed a .309/.414/.434 slash line with 12 stolen bases.

Demoted players: Mark Langston (5.85/1.80) and Orel Hershiser (6.00/1.74) were both 2-4.

Now you know fact: With an abundance of quality outfielders, Jim Edmonds is the primary first baseman. Jim is at .261/.338/.457 with 5 home runs. This allowed playing time for Brett Butler, Raul Mondesi and Tim Salmon.

Boston-Pittsburg Bombers: Led by Burley Norseman, the Bombers are 18-21 after going 12-9 for the week.

Pitching leaders: Roger Clemens has a stellar line of 2.22/1.07 but is only 4-5. Estaban Loiza is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.66/1.25.

Hitting leaders: Jason Kendall is off to a great start at .337/.382/.485. Mo Vaughn has delivered .321/.389/.443 while driving in a team high 24 runs.

Demoted players: Burley has shown extreme patience--no moves have been made.

Now you know fact: The Bombers feature two players--Jeff King and Gary Redus. One has 91 plate appearances and is at .329/.374/.447. The other has 104 plate appearances and is at .130/.231/.337. Surprisingly, Jeff King is the owner of the .130 stat line.

Western Division

DWG has the San Diego Tigers in first place with a record of 21-18 after going 11-10 for the week.

Pitching leaders: Andy Benes is 4-0 with an ERA of 4.03/1.25 while Trevor Hoffman has a 2-0 record and 10 saves in 33 innings and has 48 strike outs.

Hitting leaders: Bobby Higginson leads the club with 12 home runs and a slash line of .276/.331/.675. Tony Gwynn is delivering a .331/.353/.534 slash line.

Demoted players: Joey Hamilton went 2-3 with a 6.75/1.50 while Mike Henneman pitched 7 innings with an ERA of 10.29 2.00.

Now you know fact: The Tigers have multiple players who can drive in runs. Three players have driven in 17 runs--Mickey Tettleton, Travis Fryman and Phil Nevin. Cecil Fielder has driven in 18 runs. Tony Gwynn leads the team with 37 RBI followed by Bobby Higginson with 33.

The More Philly Oriolephils are one game out of first place with a record of 20-19 after going 12-9 for the week under the guidance of JJB92.

Pitching leaders: Danny Jackson is 4-2 2.98/1.13. Curt Schilling is at 3-3--3.91/1.22.

Hitting leaders: Dave Hollins leads the team with 26 runs batted in but his slash line is only .236/.325/.415. Darren Daulton is at .283/.395.414.

Demoted players: Jeff Hammonds was at .162/.225/.243 before being released.

Now you know fact: It has not been a good start for Len Dykstra---he's at .147/.283.241 in 137 plate appearances.

Ron4Yanks has the Chicago CubSox at 19-20 going 10-11 for the week.

Pitching leaders: Jack McDowell is off to a great start--he's at 6-2 with a 2.76/.98

Hitting leaders: Sammy Sosa has launched 14 home runs and has a slash line of .271/.321/.604. Frank Thomas is at .294/.386/.579 with 13 doubles.

Demoted players: Ron4Yanks has not made any roster moves this season.

Now you know fact: The shortstop position has been a major success for the club--Ozzie Guillen is at .302.333/.387 and Shawon is at .405/.488/.622.

NewGuy1912 and his Seattle RockieMariners are 17-22 going 8-13 for the week.

Pitching leaders: Playing in Coors field will make it tough on any pitcher but Erik Hanson is 4-1. However, his numbers don't quite match the win/loss result--he's at 6.47/1.91. Bobby Ayala has an ERA of 2.45/1.52 in 25 innings.

Hitting leaders: Vinnie Castilla has hit 15 home runs and is at ..329/.371/.658 while Alex Rodriguez is at 307/.382/.636.

Demoted players: Ken Griffey Jr. was demoted but recently returned to the active roster. He's at .163/.276/.225 in 57 plate appearances.

Now you know fact: Randy Johnson is 0-5 and has walked 59 batters in 62 innings. He's at 4.94/1.71.

Games played: 60

A look at some interesting team stats after an update on the division races.

East Division

The Montreal Jays led by Fench33 continue their winning ways and now have a record of 40-20 after going 15-6 for the week. The Jays are on a 5 game winning streak and have a 7 game lead in the division.

Cabrera24 and his 120 Million$$$ New York club is in second place with a record of 33-27, going 12-9 for the week. The club is currently on a 4 game losing streak. Interestingly, the New York club has the best run differential in the division at +71 which could be good news for Cabrera24 in the coming days.

The Bay Area Giant Athletics with KaiserWill4 at the helm are 24-36 going 9-12 over the past 7 days.

The Milwaukee Braves led by Fatdaddy 054 are 22-38 after going 10-11 for the week.

Central Division

The Texas Astrangers continue to lead the division under the direction of The BC Manager. The Astrangers are 37-23 going 12-9 over the last week. The club has the best run differential in the league at +74.

LM Bombers has guided the CincyCle Red Indians into second place, just one game off the pace with a record of 36-24. The Indians went a league best 15-6 for the week.

Bigdinkent and his So Cal Dodging Angels are 31-29 going 11-10 for the week. The Angels are 6 games off the pace.

Burley Norseman and the Boston-Pittsburg Bombers are 27-33 after going 9-12 over the past 7 days. The Bombers, along with the 4 Western Division teams will be adding a player from the undrafted teams (St. Louis/Kansas City, Minnesota/Florida)--the new player will be eligible to play starting with game 82, one week from today.

West Division

More-Philly Oriolephils seized the division lead despite going 10-11 for the week and now having a record of 30-30.

DWG and his San Diego Tigers are one game behind with a record of 29-31 after going 8-13 for the week.

Ron4Yanks and the Chicago Cubsox are two games off the pace with a record of 28-32 going 9-12 for the week. The CubSox have the best run differential in the division at +8.

NewGuy1912 and the Seattle RockieMariners are at 23-37 after going a league worst 6-15 for the week.

Team stats of interest:

Team leading the league in runs scored:

CincyCle Red Indians: 374 runs scored or 6.23 runs per game.
120 Million$$$ New York: 360 runs scored or 6 runs per game
Texas Astrangers: 325 runs scored or 5.41 per game

Offensively challenged teams:

Boston-Pittsburg Bombers: 256 runs scored or 4.26 per game
Milwaukee Braves: 268 runs scored or 4.46 per game
Bay Area Giant Athletics: 283 runs scored or 4.71 per game---This is a surprising statistic considering the club features Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Rickey Henderson

Fewest runs allowed:

Texas Astrangers have allowed just 251 runs or 4.18 runs per game
Montreal Jays: 262 runs allowed or 4.36 runs per game
So Cal Dodging Angeles: 272 runs allowed or 4.53 runs per game

Most runs allowed:

Seattle RockieMariners (playing Coors field) have allowed 397 runs or 6.61 runs per game
Milwaukee Braves have allowed 357 or 5.95 runs per game
Bay Area Giant Athletics have allowed 347 or 5.78 runs per game.

One Run games:

Montreal Jays--14-6

Losing the close ones

Chicago CubSox 6-14

Bring on the left handed starter!

Montreal Jays are a stellar 21-9 (.700) versus left handed starters

Left handed starters are not welcome here

Milwaukee Braves are 7-20 (.259) and the Bay Area Giant Athletics are 5-14 (.263) versus left handed starters

Enjoying the homefront:

The Texas Astrangers are an impressive 22-8 (.733) at home while the Montreal Jays check in at 21-9 (.700)

Road Warriors:

The Montreal Jays lead the league with a 19-11 (.633) record.

Home field advantage is lacking

Seattle RockieMariners are 14-19 at home--.424

Team leader in home runs:

CincyCle Red Indians--110 home runs.

Fewest home runs:
Boston Pittsburg Bombers: 56 home runs

Best on base percentage:

120 Millions$$$ New York: .367

Lowest on base percentage:
More-Philly Oriolephills: .330

Most Stolen bases:

Chicago CubSox 57

Lowest: San Diego Tigers 11

Team Strikouts:

More-Philly Oriolephills: 514

Fewest--Bay Area Giant Athletics: 327

Most saves:

Montreal Jays 24

Most blown saves:
Seattle Rockie Mariners 13

Most complete games:

Chicago CubSox: 31. (Next closest club is 13-Texas and New York)

Fewest complete games:

Bay Area Giant Athletics: 2

Games played: 81

A look at each teams best performing player, its biggest surprise--either positive or negative, after the weekly standing update along with the supplemental player draft info.

East Division:

Fench33 has his Montreal Jays on a continuous roll. The Jays are now 57-24 after going 17-4 over the past week. The Jays are a league best 31-11 at home and are 22-9 in one run games. The Jays hold an impressive 15 game lead in the division race.

The 120 Million$$$ New York club led by Cabrera24 continue to hold onto second place. New York is 42-39 after going 9-12 in the past week.

Fatdaddy054 and his Milwaukee Braves took over 3rd place after going 15-6 in the past 7 days. The Braves are now 37-44. The Braves got off to a tough start but are playing much better.

KaiserWill4 and his Bay Area Athletic Giants are 36-45 going 12-9 over the past week.

Central Divsion

In the closest division race, the CincyCle Red Indians directed by LM Bombers and the Texas Astrangers guided by The BC Manager are tied for the division lead with identical records of 48-33. Impressively, the Indians have the league best run differential at +94. For the week, the Indians went 12-9 while the Astrangers went 11-10.

Bigdinkent is the leader of the So Cal Dodging Angels--the club is now 36-45 after going 5-16 for the week.

Burley Norsemans' Boston-Pittsburg Bombers went 8-13 for the week and now have a record of 35-46. The Bombers announced the acquisition of Gary Sheffield via the supplemental draft--Gary joins the team starting tonight.

West Division

DWG and the San Diego Tigers are now 42-39 after going 12-9 for the week surging to a 6 game lead. DWG added Jack Morris to his starting staff

Ron4Yanks and the Chicago CubSox are 36-45, six games off the pace after going 8-13 for the week. The CubSox have not yet added a player via the supplemental draft.

JJB92 and his More-Philly Oriolephils had a bad week going 6-15 and are on an 8 game losing streak. The club added Kirby Puckett for the second half of the season.

NewGuy1912 and his Seattle Rockie Mariners went 10-11 for the week bringing the season record to 33-48, 9 games off the pace. With the first pick in the draft, the Mariners added Kevin Appier to the club.

Midseason awards

Montreal Jays MVP Pedro Martinez is 13-4 with 228 strikeouts in 176 innings. Pedro has an ERA of 2.55 and a WHIP of .91.
Biggest surprise: Jeff Fassero is 8-2 with an ERA of 3.08/1.21 WHIP.

120 Million$$$ New York: MVP: Paul O'Neil leads the team in runs batted in with 56. Paul has lashed 23 doubles and has a slash line of .315/.413/.469.

Surprise: Dion James is hitting a robust .357/.443/.429 in 97 plate appearances. This helped offset the struggles of Bobby Bonilla who was released after producing .218/.307/.465.

Milwaukee Braves: MVP: Greg Vaughn has helped pace the offense--Greg has launched 25 home runs and has a slash line of .299/.387/.642

Biggest surprise: On paper, the Braves had the most impressive starting staff. However, the starting four have a collective record of 31-31 and Chris Bosio has the best ERA at 4.04. Still, the Braves are playing significantly better of late and may be making their move in the race to the playoffs.

Bay Area Giant Athletes: Jason Giambi has had a good first half--he's at ..315/.435/.495 with 12 home runs.

Biggest surprise: With an offense lead by Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco and Matt Williams, the Athletes looked like they would terrorize pitchers. The club ranks 8th in runs scored and has scored 120 fewer runs than the Red Indians.

CincyCle Red Indians: MVP: Bret Boone leads the power laded team with 25 home runs and 56 runs batted in. Bret has an impressive slash line of .323/.369/.626

Biggest surprise: Hal Morris is hitting.381/.410/.647--his slugging percentage is the best in the league.

Texas Astrangers: MVP: Co MVP Ivan Rodriguez paces the high powered offense--he's at .344/.366/.575 with 19 home runs. Kevin Brown is 12-6 2.83/1.14 and is sharing MVP honors with Ivan.

Biggest surprise: Mike Hampton is 110-4 with an ERA of 3.75/WHIP of 1.39. Mike is second in innings pitched with 103.

So Cal Dodging Angels: MVP: Hideo Nomo is 13-5 with 192 strikeouts in just 153 innings. Hideo is at 3.41/1.09.

Biggest surprise: Raul Mondesi has struggled this season--he's at .234/.322/.429 in 262 plate appearances. Tim Salmon is at .237/.356/.441 in 272 plate appearances. Bigd needs a much better second half from both.

Boston Pittsburg Bombers: MVP: Roger Clemens has pitched 167 innings and has struck out 201 batters--he's at 2.91/1.10 but his record is at 9-10.

Biggest surprise: On the upside, Tony Womack leads the team with 17 stolen bases and has produced at .361/.387.430 in 91 plate appearances. Jeff King is on the downside of the surprise list--he's at .146/.242/.327 in 123 plate appearances.

San Diego Tigers: MVP: Tony Gwynn is hitting a robust .342/.369/.555 with 14 home runs and 72 RBI.

Biggest surprise: Tim Worrell is 6-2 and has the third most innings pitched of the starting staff with 74. Tim has an ERA of 4.12/1.28.

Chicago CubSox: MVP: Jack McDowell had a very good first half---he's 11-6 with an ERA of 3.78/1.27 pacing the starting staff.

Biggest surprise: Shawon Dunston is at .373/.418/.518 in 120 plate appearances. Shawon has driven in 22 runs, just one fewer than Ryne Sandberg. Ryne has had 278 plate appearances.

More -Philly Oriolephils: MVP: Brady Anderson has been solid, if not spectacular. He's at .272/.373/.491 and added 13 stolen bases.

Biggest surprise: Len Dykstra struggled all season--he produced .150/.302/.259 in 180 plate appearances.

Seattle Rockie Mariners: MVP: Vinnie Castilla has had a very good first half--he's hit 34 home runs and driven in 87 runs-both league best numbers. Vinnie is at .301/.350/.638.

Biggest surprise: Probably the biggest surprise of them all---Randy Johnson is 1-9 and has pitched 87 innings. Randy has more walks (91) than innings pitched in 15 starts.

Games played 102

A look at the division races

East:

The juggernaut that is Fench33 and his Montreal Jays continue their domination in the east. The Jays had another winning week going 12-9 and now have a 69-33 record, good for a 20 game lead in the division with the 4 teams with the highest available salary. The Jays are tied with the Red Indians for the best run differential at +103.

Cabrera24 and the 120 Million$$$ New York club hold onto second place despite a tough week where they went 7-14. New York is now 49-53.

Fatdaddy054 and the Milwaukee Braves continue to play well recovering after a very tough start. The Braves went 11-10 for the week and are now just 1 game out of second place at 48-54.

The Bay Area Athletic Giants led by KaiserWill4 went 9-12 for the week and are now at 45-57,24 games off the pace.

Central:

LM Bombers and his CincyCle Red Indians seized control of the division lead going 12-9 for the week and now have a division best record of 60-42. As noted earlier, the Red Indians are tied for the league best run differential.

The Texas Astrangers under the direction of The BC Manager went 9-12 for the week and are now at 57-45, 3 games off the pace but holding a 7 game lead in the wild card race.

Burley Norseman and his Boston-Pittsburg Bombers moved into third place going an impressive 15-6 for the week. The Bombers are now at 50-52 and are in second place in the wild card race.

Bigdinkent and the SoCal Dodgers went 10-11 for the week are now at 46-56 for the season.

West:

DWG and the San Diego Tigers continue to lead the division with a record of 52-50 after going 10-11 for the week. The club has the division best run differential of +22.

The More-Philly Oriolephils took over second place going 12-9 for the week and now have a record of 46-54.

The Seattle Rockie Mariners also went 12-9 for the week and now occupy third place with a record of 45-57. The Mariners have a league worst run differential of -100.

Ron4Yanks and his Chicago CubSox added Ray Lankford to the team during the week but had a tough week going 7-14 and now have a record of 43-59, 9 games off the pace.

A look at the best win streak and longest losing streak for each club.

Montreal Jays:

Win streak: An impressive 15 games--also, the club has 3 7 game and 1 6 game winning steak.
Losing streak: The Jays have 2 3 game losing streaks.

New York:
Win: 7 games
Losing: 12 games

Interestingly, after a season best 7 game winning streak, the team immediately went on a 12 game losing streak much to the chagrin of Cabrera24.

Milwaukee:
Win: 9
Losing: 10---the Braves started the season on a 10 game losing streak.

Bay Area:
Win: 5
Losing: 5

Central:
Cincy:
Win: 9
Losing: 5

Texas:
Win: 13 (also a 10 game winning streak)
Losing: 5 (twice)

Boston
Win: 9
Losing: 5

So Cal:
Win: 4 (3 times)
Losing: 6

West:
San Diego
Win: 6
Losing: 7

More-Philly
Win: 5
Losing: 9

Seattle:
Win: 6
Losing: 9

Chicago:
Win:8
Losing: 6

A look at league leaders in a variety of categories:

Batting average:

Hal Morris (CincyCle): .362
Tony Gwynn: (San Diego) .347
Jason Kendall (Boston-Pitt) .337

Runs Scored:
Bret Boone (CincyCle) 77
Carlos Delgado (Montreal) 71
Larry Walker (Montreal) 71

Doubles:
Ton Gwynn 35
Hal Morris 29
Frank Thomas (Chicago) 29
Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 29

Home Runs:
Vinny Castilla (Seattle) 40
Carlos Delgado: 32
Bret Boone: 31

RBI
Vinny Casilla: 109
Carlos Delgado: 97
Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 86

Walks:
Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 67
Jason Giambi (Bay Area) 66
Mark McGwire (Bay Area) 66

Stolen Bases:

Lance Johnson (Chicago) 47
Kenny Lofton (CincyCle) 42
Marquis Grissom (Montreal) 32

Errors:
Jim Thome (CincyCle) 17
Nomar Garciapaara (Boston) 17
Rich Aurillia (Bay Area) 15

Pitching:
Wins
Hideo Nomo (So Cal) 16
Pedro Martinez (Montreal) 14
Kevin Brown (Texas) 14

ERA:
Roger Clemens (Boston) 2.77
Pedro Martinez 2.77
Dennis Martinez (Montreal) 3.01

Complete Games:
Charlie Hough (Chicago) 18
Pedro Martinez 12
Roger Clemens: 12
Mike Morgan (Chicago) 12

Saves:
Jay Howell (Seattle) 24
Trevor Hoffman: (San Diego) 23
Bryan Harvey (So Cal) 22

Home Runs allowed:
Tom Browning (CincyCle) 35
Curt Schilling (More Philly) 31
Charlie Hough 29

Walks:
Randy Johnson (Seattle) 105
Jose Rijo (CincyCle) 90
Roger Clemens 83

Strikeouts:

Pedro Martinez 271 (211 innings)
Roger Clemens 257 (205 innings)
Hideo Nomo 248. (194 innings)

Games played: 123

East:

Fench33 and his Montreal Jays continue their dominate season. The Jays went 13-8 for the week and now have a record of 82-41, good for a 19 game division lead. The Jays have the league best run differential of +135 and are an impressive 32-13 in one run games.

The 120 Million$$$ New York club is led by Cabrera24 and had an excellent week going 14-7. New York moved into 2nd place in the wild card race and now have a record of 63-60.

The BayArea Giant Athletics under the direction of KaiserWill4 went 12-9 for the week and are now tied for third place with a record of 57-66.

The Milwaukee Braves with Fatdaddy054 calling the shots went 9-12 over the past week and are now tied for third place with a record of 57-66.

Central:

LM Bombers and the CincyCle Red Indians went 11-10 for the week and remain atop of the Central with a record of 71-52, good for a 3 game lead.

The BC Manager and his Texas Astrangers also went 11-10 for the week, 68-55 for the season. The Astrangers are 3 games off the division lead and lead the wild card race by 5 games over New York and 6 games over Boston-Pittsburg

Burley Norseman and the Boston-Pittsburg Bombers had another good week going 12-9 which brought the season record to 62-61.

The SoCal Dodgers had an excellent week going 14-7 which brought the season record to 60-63.

As the teams head towards division play, the Central will likely be the most competitive division with 4 high quality teams.

West:

The More-Philly Oriolephils ascended into first place after going 11-10 for the week bringing the season record to 59-64.

The San Diego Tigers under the direction of DWG had a very tough week going 5-16 and are now two games off the pace with a record of 57-66.

The Chicago CubSox with Ron4yanks making the decisions went 8-13 for the week and are now at 51-72 for the season.

The Seattle Rockie Mariners had a really bad week going 6-15 and are 51-72 for the season. The Mariners have the league worst run differential of -164.

A look at fielding data for each club via the "X" team performance and a tip of the hat to the player with a salary of $3 million or less who is helping the team the most.

Montreal:

X chances: 638
X outs: 507 (79.46%) Best in the league
Errors: 83

Darren Fletcher has a slash line of .304/.336/.406 with a salary of $870,000

New York:

X chances: 675
X outs: 517 (76.59%)
Errors: 66 (fewest in the league)

Dion James is hitting a stellar .384/.444/.509 for a salary of $1,000,000

Bay Area:

X chances: 653
X outs: 460 (70.44%)
Errors: 79

Billy Taylor has thrown 38 innings and has an ERA of 1.41/WHIP of .91 for a salary of $1,810,000

Milwaukee Braves
X chances: 698 (most in the league)
X outs: 465 (66.61%) (lowest in the league)
Errors: 80

Otis Nixon is at .276/.340/.326 with 29 stolen bases with a salary of $1,480,000

CincyCle
X chances: 646
X outs: 498 (77.08%)
Errors: 89

Chad Ogea is 7-4 with an ERA of 4.97 in 79 innings with a salary of $1,050,000.

Texas:

X chances: 663
X outs: 485. (73.15%)
Errors: 91

James Mouton has delivered .295/.364/.463 in 163 plate appearances---all for $1,220,000

Boston-Pittsburg
X chances: 609 (fewest in the league)
X outs: 410. (67.32%)
Errors: 86

Tony Womack is at .305/.317/.348 with 33 stolen bases for just $750,000

SoCal
X chances: 681
X outs: 482. (70.77%)
Errors: 100 (Most in the league) (Mike Piazza is having a tough year with 16 errors and an e rating of 2. He does have 11 throwing errors and has given up 116 stolen bases)

Garrett Anderson has contributed a team best 23 doubles and a slash line of .283/.323/.432 for $1,480,000

More-Philly:
X chances: 674
X outs: 503 (74.62%)
Errors: 70

Mariano Duncan is at .342/.396/.477 in 256 plate appearances while Tim Hullett is at .333/.381/.391 in 113 plate appearances. Both are at $750,000

San Diego
X chances: 655
X outs: 456 (69.62%)
Errors:79

Bill Gullickson is 9-6--tied for the team lead in victories---with a WHIP of 1.33 for just $750,000

Chicago:
X chances: 657
X outs: 512 (77.92%)
Errors: 74

Shawon Dunston is at an impressive .365/.416/.539 in 170 plate appearances. His salary is $2,340,000

Seattle:
X chances: 693
X outs: 486 (70.12%
Errors:94

Bobby Ayala is 7-6 with 7 saves--he's tossed 103 innings and struck out 120. A good deal at a salary of $750,000

Games played: 144

East:

There is seemingly no stopping the mighty Montreal Jays led by Fench33. The Jays are 96-48 after going 14-7 for the week. The Jays have clinched the division and hold a 20 game lead over 120 Million$$$ New York and an impressive 32 game lead over both the Milwaukee Braves and Bay Area Giant Athletics. The Jays have a league best run differential of +166.

Cabrera24 and his 120Million$$$ New York club had another great week going 13-8 and pulling to within 1 game of the wild card slot.

The Bay Area Athletic Giants under the direction of KaiserWill4 went 7-14 as did Fatdaddy054 and his Milwaukee Braves. Both clubs have a record of 64-80.

Central:

The CincyCle Red Indians under the steady direction of LM Bombers went 12-9 for the week and are now at 83-61, good for a 6 game lead with 18 games to play.

The BC Manager and his Texas Astrangers continue to lead the wild card race with a record of 77-67 after going 9-12 for the week.

Making the division the best in the league, the surging So Cal Dodging Angels went 12-9 and now have a record of 72-72.

The Boston-Pittsburg Bombers led by the affable Burley Norseman went 10-11 and is also at 72-72.

West:

The More-Philly Oriiolephils went 9-12 for the week and now have a record of 68-76 which is 7th best in the league but first in the divsion. The Oriolephils hold a 2 game lead over the San Diego Tigers.

DWG leads the second place San Diego Tigers also went 9-12 for the week and are now at 66-78.

NewGuy1912 and his Seattle Rockie Mariners had a great week going 14-7 and moved into third place, just 3 games out of the division lead.

Ron4yanks and the Chicago CubSox went 10-11 for the week and are now at 61-83 for the season but trail by only 7 games. With 6 games left against each team, it's still conceivable the CubSox could make a run at the division lead.

Often times, a teams highest paid players need to perform as hoped or better than hoped in order for a team to succeed. Here's a look at the three top paid players for each team.

Montreal Jays:

Pedro Martinez: 21-6; 294 IP 372 strike outs 2.69 ERA/.95 WHIP.
Larry Walker: .307/.343/.521 30 home runs, 89 RBI
Roberto Alomar: .240/.297/.338 26 stolen bases

120 Million$$$ New York:

Derek Jeter: .280/.379/.508 22 doubles, 11 triples, 24 home runs, 92 runs scored and 78 RBI
Bret Saberhagen: 14-6 199 IP 138 Ks 3.52/1.25
Bernie Williams: .297/.372.475 16 doubles, 17 home runs 76 RBI

Milwaukee Braves:

Greg Maddux: 14-14 259 IP, 290 hits, 4.55/1.47
Chipper Jones: .256/.367/.465 28 HR, 77 RBI 16 SB
Fred McGriff: .268/.358/.486 28 HR 87 RBI 21 doubles

Bay Area Giant Athletics:

Barry Bonds: .269/.378.565 24 home runs, 51 RBI, 29 doubles, 10 triples
Mark McGwrie: .261/.392/.638 43 home runs, 102 RBI
Rickey Henderson: .254/.406/.452 249 plate appearances 20 stolen bases 8 home runs, 37 runs scored

CincyCle Red Indians:

Barry Larkin .257/.360/.372 384 plate appearances (splitting time with Omar Vizquel) 18 doubles, 6 home runs and 6 errors.
Manny Ramirez .291/.359/.535 26 HR, 84 RBI, 23 doubles
Jim Thome: .237/.359/.461 25 home runs 73 RBI 73 walks 24 errors

Texas Astrangers:

Jeff Bagwell: 289 plate appearances (splitting time with Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro) .328/.424/.609 28 doubles and 13 home runs-60 RBI--The three headed first base monster have 44 home runs and 185 RBI.
Kevin Brown: 21-10 260 IP and 161 Ks; 3.15/1.15
Rafael Palmeiro: .298/.422/.525 19 home runs, 62 RBI 18 doubles
Bonus: Will Clark: .316/.393/.512 35 doubles and 12 home runs in 430 plate appearances

So Cal Dodging Angels:

Mike Piazza: .278/.336/.466 26 home runs and 98 RBI
Raul Mondesi: .245/.352/.452 13 home runs and 45 RBI in 361 PAs
Tim Salmon: .239/.343.479 27 home runs, 64 RBI in 465 PAs

Boston Pittsburg Bombers:

Roger Clemens: 18-14 286 IP 349 Ks 2.73/1.18
Nomar Garciaparra: .288/.340/.528 17 doubles, 34 home runs but 24 errors
Jason Kendall: .325/.369/.456 30 doubles 10 triples, 18 stolen bases

More-Philly Oriolephils:

Curt Schilling: 14-14 249 IP 303 K's; 4.63/1.32 and 46 home runs allowed
Kirby Puckett: (mid season acquisition); .326/.364/.530 14 home runs/42 RBI in just 278 PAs
Mike Mussina: 6-11; 174 IP, 149 Ks 5.32/1.50 29 Home runs allowed

San Diego Tigers:

Tony Gwynn: .353/.388.573 55 doubles; 24 HR, 107 RBI and 92 runs scored
Mickey Tettleton: .227/.352/.455 25 home runs 70 RBI; 80 walks
Steve Finley: .270/.340/.376; 15 doubles, 12 triples 11 stolen bases

Seattle Rockie Mariners:

Ken Griffey Jr. .226/.344/.479 313 plate appearances 18 home runs 36 RBI
Randy Johnson: 4-12; 141 IP, 129 walks 141 K's; 6.13/1.82
Edgar Martinez: .300/.411/.494; 30 doubles; 20 HR 82 RBI

Chicago CubSox:

Frank Thomas: .269/.367/.488 33 doubles 19 home runs 60 RBI
Sammy Sosa: .268/.311/.553; 40 home runs; 93 RBI 15 errors
Ryne Sandberg: .251/.294.360; 9 home runs 23 doubles 488 plate appearances

Top performing award:

The Texas Astrangers have gotten great production from all 3 of their top paid players. The Astrangers lead the wild card race by one game.

Uggh---the cards are not with them award:

The Seattle Rockie Mariners had to overcome the worst year from both Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson. NewGuy1912 is still within striking distance of the divison lead, an impressive feat considering his two top players have had very disappointing seasons.

Really interesting insights for the league so far and thanks to JJB92 for the updates and commissionership.

Every season I try to evaluate the best value players under 3 million with qualifying playing time and in my opinion, these currently are –

Smith, Lonnie MIL .314 .392 .483 .875 2L 2.81M
Johnson, Lance CHI .287 .326 .378 .704 1R 2.59M
Anderson, Garret SOC .286 .322 .431 .753 1R 1.48M
Nixon, Otis MIL .278 .343 .328 .671 E 1.48M
Frye, Jeff BOS .290 .375 .397 .772 1L 1.27M

Pitching –
Wins Losses Saves Innings ERA Whip

Andersen, Larry MOR 3 2 5 78.1 2.87 1.37 2.94M
Browning, Tom CIN 11 11 179.2 5.31 1.45 2.23M
Wall, Donne TEX 1 3 13 44.1 3.86 1.15 2.62M
Embree, Alan CIN 5 1 1 50.0 3.06 1.36 2.58M
Belinda, Stan BOS 9 2 24 66.0 2.32 1.21 2.48M
Olson, Gregg MOR 5 0 19 58.1 2.16 1.34 2.02M
Schourek, Pete CIN 8 2 1 97.2 4.33 1.60 1.90M
Taylor, Billy BAY 4 2 3 47.0 1.53 1.04 1.81M
Osuna, Antonio SOC 3 3 1 50.2 2.31 1.36 1.77M
Mathews, T.J. BAY 1 2 2 36.1 2.23 1.10 1.01M
Patterson, Bob BOS 0 0 5 41.1 2.40 1.16 .75M
Ayala, Bobby SEA 10 7 7 116.2 3.86 1.68 .75M

Great stats but I think these 2 players of mine should be in the conversation...

Williams, G. R LF 2(-1)e6 143 22 49 12 1 3 17 4 17 5 8 4 0 B 1-15 .343 .382 .504 1.2 4L 1.25M
James, D. L LF 4(+2)e10 236 37 88 13 0 5 27 24 35 0 0 0 0 D 1-12 .373 .431 .492 1.0 5R 1.00M

Games played: 162

East:

The Montreal Jays took over the division lead after game 14 and kept the lead for the rest of the season. The mighty Jays led by Fench33 ended the season with an impressive record of 104-58 and a run differential of +173. The Jays only allowed 649 runs, a full 100 runs fewer than the next best result.

Cabrera24 and his 120 Million$ New York club put on a late season push for the playoffs and finished at an impressive 85-77, just one game out of the playoffs.

FatDaddy054 and the Milwaukee Braves finished 75-87 for the season.

The Bay Area Giant Athletics, directed by KaiserWill4, never got untracked and finished the season at 72-90.

Central:

The CincyCle Red Indians led by LM Bombers finished the season with an impressive 94-68 record. The Indians finished the season on a 8 game winning streak and won the division by 8 games. The club had a run differential of +136. The Red Indians will face the west division champion, the More-Philly Orioles in the playoffs. The Indians scored the most runs in the league with 966.

The BC Manager and his Texas Astrangers won the wild card finishing at 86-76. The Astrangers won the final two games of the season after losing the previous 4 games. The Astrangers will face the mighty Montreal Jays in the playoffs.

BigDinkent and his So Cal Dodging Angels finished the season at 81-81 and had an impressive run differential of +46.

The Boston-Pittsburg Bombers finished the season at 79-83. The Bombers had the 3rd best home record at 50-31 but struggled on the road at 29-52.

West

The More-Philly Oriolephils captured the division crown despite having the 6th best record in the league. The Oriolephils finished at 80-82 and scored one more run than they allowed.

Ron4Yanks and his Chicago CubSox finished 6 games off the pace with a record of 74-88.

The Seattle Rockie Mariners struggled all season and finished at 73-89 and had a league worst run differential of -170. Not too surprisingly, the Mariners allowed 1,001 runs playing half their games in Coors Field.

DWG and his San Diego Tigers finished at 69-93. The Tigers led the division for a good part of the season but could not overcome pitching woes.

A look at each teams MVP, best surprise and biggest disappointment:

Montreal Jays:

MVP: Pedro Martinez---23-7, 2.55 ERA, .94 WHIP
Surprise: Jeff Fassero finished at 15-6 with an ERA of 3.10/WHIP of 1.21
Disappointment: Hard to find a disappointment on this juggernaut but Roberto Alomar finished at .240/.297.342

120 Million$ New York:
MVP: Derek Jeter---23 doubles, 11 triples, 26 home runs .283/.383/.498
Surprise: Dion James finished at .356/.410.491 in 307 plate appearances. Dion had 14 doubles and 8 home runs.
Disappointment: Jorge Posada had a tough year--.225/.326/.348 in 212 plate appearances. Jorge hit 3 home runs/23 RBI

Milwaukee Braves:
MVP: Greg Vaughn--Greg finished at .272/.360/.584---Greg hit 48 home runs and drove in 130 runs.
Surprise: Chris Bosio led the team in ERA at 4.12 and finished at 17-12 for the season.
Disappointment: Greg Maddux finished 17-15 but allowed 346 hits in 300 innings. Greg finished at 4.85/1.51.

Bay Area Giant Athletics:
MVP: Jason Giambi finished at .307/.418/505-- with 33 doubles, 28 home runs and 98 walks
Surprise: Glenallen Hill delivered .338/.369/.580 with 17 doubles and 16 home runs in 311 plate appearances
Disappointment: Dave Stewart finished at 1-4 with an ERA of 9.32 WHIP of 1.86 in just 28 innings.

CincyCle Red Indians:
MVP: Bret Boone had a sensational year--just 8 errors and a slash line of .329/.386/.607. Bret hit 44 home runs and 104 RBI
Surprise: Hal Morris also had a great year---.347/.387.569 with 19 home runs and 43 doubles
Disappointment: Barry Larkin ended the season at .256/.361/.361 with just 6 home runs in 419 plate appearances

Texas Astrangers:
MVP: Ivan Rodriguez produced .323/.350/.539 with 32 doubles, 34 home runs and 18 stolen bases
Surprise: Sean Berry contributed 32 doubles, 17 home runs and 84 RBI--he finished at .285/.346/.499
Disappointment: Kenny Rogers was the second highest paid pitcher but finished at 4-5 with an ERA of 5.14/1.49.

So Cal Dodging Angels:
MVP: Hideo Nomo finished at 26-8 with 392 strikeouts in 318 innings pitched. His ERA/WHIP was 3.39/1.16
Surprise: While not a traditional surprise, Brett Butler delivered an impressive .315/.404/.432 with 46 stolen bases
Disappointment: Darryl Strawberry had a slash line of .217/300/.486 in 309 plate appearances

Boston-Pittsburg Bombers:
MVP: Roger Clemens finished at 20-15 with 394 strikeouts in 326 innings. His ERA was 2.73 and WHIP at 1.15
Surprise: Tony Womack provided 39 stolen bases and a slash line of .304/.326/.367 in 362 plate appearances
Disappointment: Jeff King only provided a slash line of .186/.289.356 in 202 plate appearances

More Phily Oriolesphils:
MVP:John Kruk delivered .286/.418/.439. John walked 104 times and hit 25 doubles
Surprise: Tim Hullett joined the club after game 45 and had a slash line of .321/.384/.373 in 241 plate appearances
Disappointment: Mike Mussina had a tough year going 7-12 with 221 hits allowed in 184 innings. His ERA was 5.31/1.49

Chicago CubSox:
MVP: Sammy Sosa led the team with 43 home runs and 104 RBI. His slash line was .267/.312/.543
Surprise: Charlie Hough pitched 323 innings and only allowed 269 hits. He finished the season at 16-16.
Disappointment: Wilson Alvarez finished 5-7 with an ERA of 6.84/WHIP of 1.78 in 102 innings.

Seattle Rockie Mariners:
MVP: Vinny Castilla had a great year--he finished at .304/.358/.583 with 53 home runs and 152 RBI
Surprise: Jeff Reed was the primary catcher--Jeff hit .279/.330/.364 in 331 plate appearances
Disappointment: Randy Johnson finished at 5-14 with 135 walks in 154 innings pitched. His ERA was 6.12/WHIP 1.82

San Diego Tigers:
MVP: Tony Gwynn had a great year---60 doubles, 25 home runs and a slash line of .350/.383/.560
Surprise: Bobby Higginson also had a great year--33 home runs, 99 RBI and .289/.357/.612
Disappointment: Bruce Hurst was the highest paid starting pitcher on the team--5-8 record with an ERA of 5.45/WHIP of 1.68

Back next week with an update on the playoffs. The first 4 games were all decided by 1 run.

Montreal Jays vs Texas Astrangers: Jays won the first two games winning 3-2 and 14-13.

CincyCle Red Indians and More Philly Oriolephils: Oriolesphils won game 1 6-5 while Red Indians won game 2 4-3.