The 2012 Strat-O-Master League Chat Room

FALCON29 is right. We do have some big banging teams in this league - all of whom are doing well. The top 5 home run hitting teams are all above .500 with 3 of them leading their divisions.

But let's give misslonlyhearts nate's west some credit. They have hit 47 homers, which is worst in the league and 49 less than the 96 hit by the Pollard Kangaroos. Yet they are 21-18 and only 1 game behind the 1st place "Roos".

[b]Sunday, 10-12-14:

LAST NIGHT:

There were 3 blowouts in last night's featured match up. Pollard took 2 out of 3 from ARIZONA. None of the games appeared to be close. In game 2 of the series, the DESERT's Yu Darvish failed in a bid to win his 7th game as the Kangaroos won 8-2. He took the loss and his record now stands at 6-2. Both teams remain at the top of their divisions.

5th Avenue's Jonathan Papelbon rang up his league leading 14th save in game 2 of of the Green Team's series with BOSTON. However, in game 3, Papelbon gave up a walk off home run to the BEES' Jay Bruce as BOSTON beat 5th Avenue 2-1. The BEES won 2 out of 3 and remain tied for 1st with Small Ball in the Central.

In game 1 of his series, the Arsenal's Miguel Cabrera launched 3 home runs in a losing cause against Havana. Cabrera now leads the league in the 3 main hitting categories - .361 BA - 18 HR - 49 RBI. In this game, newly acquired Clay Buchholz of the Cigaros pitched a 10 inning complete game giving up 12 hits and 8 runs. Since being swept by Small Ball, Havana has won 7 of their last 9 moving into sole possession of 2nd place in the West - only 2 games behind the front running DESERT. They have the best home record at 16-8.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

The Pollard Kangaroos (East) host the BOSTON BEES (Central). Both teams are division leaders and are tied with Small Ball and ARIZONA for the most wins in the league at 22. In game 1 of this series, the "Roos" Mike Fiers goes for his 8th win without a loss. The BEES Brandon Beachy puts his 5-0 record on the line in game 2.

For the 3rd straight night, the ARIZONA DESERT (West) match up with a division leader. They are 3-3 in those last 2 battles, winning a series against nate's west then losing a series against Pollard. This time they host the Small Ball Wonders (Central). Small Ball sends Neftali Feliz at 4-1 to pitch in game 2. In game 3, the DESERT's Aaron Harang goes for his 4th win without a loss.[b]

Monday, 10-13-14:

Tonight begins week 3 of the Strat-O-Master League's inaugural season. The Pollard Kangaroos, the Small Ball Wonders and the ARIZONA DESERT each lead their respective divisions by 1 game. 6 of the other 9 teams are within 3 games or less of the division leaders.

LAST NIGHT:

Kudos to the DESERT's Felipe Paulino who tossed the season's first no hitter defeating Small Ball 3-0 in game 2 of their 3 game series. Paulino struck out 9 and walked 4 en route to his complete game masterpiece. The Wonders took the other 2 games of this featured match up, winning the 1st game 7-1 in 17 innings. Both teams continue to hold the top spot in their divisions.

In the other featured match up, Pollard won 2 out 3 from BOSTON. In that series, the Kangaroos' Mike Fiers suffered his first loss and is now 7-1. Brandon Beachy of the BEES also lost for the first time after 5 victories out of the gate. BOSTON fell into 2nd place in the Central.

NEVER SAY DIE:

Battered and beaten all season, the District Arsenal swept the Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's 2 last night as they bettered their record to 15-27. They held Pittsburg to just 4 runs and 14 hits in the 3 game series. If my recollection is correct, the Arsenal were 4-17 at one time. It's good to see them playing well. Hats off to master strategist tsylvester22 for hanging in there.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UP:

Poor ARIZONA. For the fourth night in a row, they face a division leader. This time it's the mighty Pollard team who at 24-18 have the best record in the league. The DESERT - 4 and 5 during this tough stretch - have managed to maintain their lead in the West. However, that lead is now tenuous as the surging Havana team is only 1 game behind.

Tuesday, 10-14-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In last night's featured match up of 1st place teams from the East and West, Pollard battered ARIZONA. Sweeping the 3 game series, the Kangaroos scored a total of 42 runs, banging out 52 hits, including 12 bombs. In game 3, Mike Fiers improved his record to 8-1. The "Roos" own the best record in the league at 27-18. The DESERT continue to hold 1st place in their division by a slim 1 game margin.

Eastbound and Down took 3 from the District Arsenal. The Down's pitching dominated holding the hapless Arsenal to just 1 run in the series.

BOSTON put out the Cigaros with a 3 game sweep. The BEES have retaken the lead in the Central.

Also of note, Jake Peavy of nate's west improved his record to 8-3 with a win over Pittsburg in game 3 of their series.

UH OH:

Being sacrificed tonight on the baseball altar will be the struggling NKP Zorros who must face the mighty Pollard Kangaroos. In their 3 game series last night, the Kangaroos averaged 14 runs, 17.3 hits and 4 home runs. Meanwhile, the Zorros averaged 4 runs, 8.7 hits and .67 home runs in their 3 game set. Have mercy on us. It could be bloody.

INJURY INFO:

Below are the number of player game days lost to injuries by team:

NKP 94
Eastbound 69
Pittsburg 51
5th Avenue 50
Ballwin 50
Pollard 50
Havana 44
ARIZONA 41
Small Ball 34
misslonlyhearts 17
District 9
BOSTON 2

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCHUP:

Eastbound is on the road to meet ARIZONA. The 2nd place Down are 9-3 in their last 12 games. During that same period, the 1st place DESERT have gone 4-8.

Wednesday, 10-15-14:

LAST NIGHT:

Eastbound took the sunshine out of ARIZONA as they swept the DESERT in a featured match up. The Down's Steve Cishek picked up a save in each of the 3 games giving him 9 for the season. ARIZONA - who has lost 10 of their last 11 - fell into 2nd place in the West after a long hold on the top spot. The Down moved into 2nd place in the East just 2 games out of 1st.

Pollard took 3 from slumping NKP. The Zorros faced the re-incarnation of the 1971 Baltimore Orioles pitching staff as the Kangaroos held them to 4 runs on 10 hits in the series. In game 3, the "Roos" David Ortiz went deep 3 times and now has 20 home runs for the season. Pollard leads the East and improved their league best record to 30-18.

After sweeping 2 nights ago, BOSTON - while at home - lost 3 to Ballwin last night scoring only 5 runs in the series. The BEES hold on 1st place in the Central was short lived. The losses pushed them down into 2nd place just 1 game ahead of the Gators. The Small Ball Wonders - who went 2-1 against the District Arsenal - now lead the Central at 27-21.

Havana took 2 out 3 from misslonlyhearts moving the Cigaros out of the ashtray and into 1st place in the West. It's been a long climb to the top for Havana but they have finally persevered.

OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST FROM LAST NIGHT:

Small Ball's Jonathon Niese improved his record to 6-1.

Felix Hernandez of Eastbound won and is also at 6-1.

5th Avenue's Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 16th save of the season.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

1st place Small Ball hosts 2nd place BOSTON in a Central Division matchup. The Wonders are 1 game up on the BEES. Both teams have been bouncing between 1st and 2nd place. Small Ball has won 4 out 6 against BOSTON this season.

Eastbound travels to Havana. The 2nd place Down are 2 games back in the tough East Division at 28-20. The Cigaros lead the West with a 24-24 record.

Thursday, 10-16-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In a featured match up, BOSTON took 2 of 3 from Small Ball to secure a tie for 1st place between these two Central Division teams. The stingy BEES held the Wonders to 6 runs in the series. BOSTON's Brandon Beachy picked up victory number 6 against 1 loss.

In the other featured match up, the 1st place Cigaros burned 2nd place Eastbound with a 3 game sweep in a West versus East encounter. Havana's bullpen had 2 wins and 2 saves in the series. The Cigaros have a best in the league 19-11 home record.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

Last place Pittsburg (West) held the mighty 1st place Kangaroos (East) to just 7 runs. The Cubs Nats A's 2 took the series 2 games to 1.

5th Avenue (East) was only able to muster up 5 runs in going 1-2 against NKP (West).

nate's west (East) was the victim of two walk off home runs by the DESERT (West). In game 2, Adrian Gonzalez launched a 2 out bomb in the bottom of the 9th as ARIZONA won a slug fest 13-12. In game 3, a 9th inning - 1 out - 3 run smash by Erik Kratz gave the DESERT a 4-3 win. ARIZONA took the series 2-1.

LEAGUE LEADERS:

misslonlyhearts' Jake Peavy improved his league best win total to 9. He has lost 3 times.

Jonathan Papelbon of 5th Avenue picked up his league best 17th save.

Pollard's David Ortiz homered once in each game of his series and continues to lead the league in that category with 23.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

The Havana Cigaros are on the road to meet the Pollard Kangaroos. Havana holds 1st place in the West at 27-24. Pollard rules the East with the best record in the league at 31-20. Ever since FALCON29 gave Golden Tongue some advice on how to improve the composition of his roster, the Cigaros have been on fire. It seems like Havana owes a "muchas gracias" to the "Roos" .

In a Central Division match up, 1st place Small Ball hosts 2nd place Ballwin. The Gators are only 1 game back.

Friday, 10-17-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In a West vs. East featured match up of 1st place teams, Havana traveled to Pollard and jumped all over the Kangaroos taking 2 out of 3 in impressive fashion. The Cigaros outscored the Kangaroos 29 to 10, winning the first game by 8 runs and the third game by 12 runs. In game 2, Pollard scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to eek out a 5-4 win. In the series, Havana's Edwin Encarnacion slammed 5 home runs, had 11 RBI and scored 8 times. He is now tied for second place in the league with 21 bombs.

In another featured match up involving Central Division teams, Ballwin went 2-1 against Small Ball knocking the Wonders into a 2nd place tie with the Gators. Both teams are 1 game behind front runner BOSTON.

Eastbound (East) swept Pittsburg (West) and is now just 1 game behind 1st place Pollard. In game 3, the Down's Felix Hernandez posted his 7th win against 1 loss.

OTHER NOTES:

Jonathan Papelbon of 5th Avenue picked up save number 19.

REMARKABLE:

Pollard's David Ortiz - who leads the league in home runs with 23 - has a "2-9" injury on his card. It only took the computer 238 rolls to hit that number and sit him down for awhile. In contrast, Joey Votto of NKP is also injured on a "2-9" roll. In 140 plate appearances, he has been hurt 4 different times. That's pretty remarkable.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

We have an East Division battle as two powerhouses meet. 1st place Pollard hosts 2nd place Eastbound. The Down are 1 game back.

Small Ball is at Havana. The Cigaros have opened up a 3 game lead in the West. The Wonders are 1 game out of first in the Central.

Josh Willingham has a 3-2 injury, and is not injury prone, but has been injured 3 or 4 times already. I also hit Miguel Cabrera's 1-6 HR three times in a row one game. Despite all the bad breaks my team receives, we still prove that we can compete against the guys who have played and paid into these leagues multiple times. I'm basically new to this Strat-O-Matic type play, overall... Let's Get To Work

Four games into Big Papi's 15-game injury, the Kangaroos are 1-3 and have scored just 9 runs without the league's leading HR hitter. It could get pretty ugly over the next few nights.

Saturday, 10-18-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In a match up featuring East Division giants, Eastbound went 2-1 against Pollard. The series win put the Down in a 1st place tie with the Kangaroos.

In another featured match up, Small Ball took the series 2 games to 1 against Havana. The Wonders are tied for 2nd in the Central 1 game back. The Cigaros' lead in the West was narrowed to 2.

Ballwin swept Pittsburg. The Cubs Nats A's 2 scored just 4 runs in the series and were victims of back to back shutouts. The hungry Gators - winners of 12 of 14 - are now in sole possession of 1st place in the Central.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

misslonlyhearts' Jake Peavy is now 10-3.

Fifth Avenue's Jonathan Papelbon picked up 2 saves and now has 22.

District's Miguel Cabrera lofted 2 home runs giving him 23.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UP:

Front runners from the West and Central meet as streaking Ballwin hosts Havana.