The 2012 Strat-O-Master League Chat Room

Tuesday, 10-21-14:

WHERE WE ARE AT:

We're in week 4 - day 2 - of the Strat-O-Master League's inaugural season. The league went all out to recruit "master strategists" who would be passionately competitive during an exciting and fun filled 162 game season. As indicative of the standings, the recruiting effort was highly successful. We have players in this league.

With a little over 40 percent of the season completed, the Pollard Kangaroos, the Small Ball Wonders and the Havana Cigaros lead their respective divisions.

7 other teams are within 5 games of taking over their division's top spot.

The Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's 2 are 8 games behind but have just recently swept back to back series. The District Arsenal - who started the season at 4-17 (losing 14 in a row) - have rebounded somewhat going 18-25 in their last 43 games.

The 5th Avenue Green Team is an example of how things can turn quickly. 5 nights ago, they were struggling at 23-28. Since then, they have won 12 of 15 and are now 4 games above .500 and only 3 games out of 1st place in the tough East Division. Meanwhile, 4 nights ago, the BOSTON BEES were cruising at 31-24. They have since gone 2-9 and have fallen to 3rd place in the Central with a .500 record.

TEAM LEADERS:

Havana is the league leading run producer with 419 followed by Pollard at a distant second with 359.

Small Ball has allowed the least amount of runs at 271. Right behind is Ballwin at 276.

Havana has the top team batting average at .291 followed by Eastbound at .283.

Pollard tops the league in home runs by a huge margin with 150. ARIZONA is next at 129.

Small Ball leads the league in team ERA at 3.79 followed by Ballwin at 3.95.

Small Ball and Ballwin are tied with the lowest team WHIP at 1.26. NKP is next at 1.29.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:

Melky Cabrera (Havana) leads the league in hitting at .362 followed by Mike Trout (5th Avenue) at .344.

Edwin Encarnacion (Havana) is tops in home runs with 27. He is on pace to club 66 for the year. Adrian Beltre (ARIZONA) is next with 25.

Encarnacion also is #1 in RBIs with 69 followed by Miguel Cabrera (District) who has 56.

Starter Jake Peavy (misslonlyhearts) is tops in wins with 11. He has lost 4 times. 4 other pitchers have won 9.

The ERA leaders are Ryan Dempster (Pollard) at 2.61 and Eric Stults (ARIZONA) at 2.83.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

Two 1st place teams with the best records in the league square off. The Pollard Kangaroos (East) with 38 wins host the Small Ball Wonders (Central) who have won 37 times. The "Roos" are 1-2 against the Wonders thus far. Pollard has been treading water since being hit recently with some big time injuries. They are to get David Ortiz back for the last game of this series. Let's see if David can elude a "2-9" injury roll for another 238 plate appearances. If he does, perhaps we should consider sending his name to Rome for possible canonization as a saint.

Another good match up pits 3rd place 5th Avenue against 2nd place Ballwin. The Green Team is only 3 games back in the East, while the Gators are 1 out in the Central.

Don't forget that the Boston Bees and Pittsburgh Cubs Nats A's hitters have more strikeouts than they have hits. Edwin Encarnacion leads the league in homeruns, RBIs, and RUNS SCORED, as well. He is the early #1 candidate for league MVP.

Also, all of my top-of-the-line, ace relievers in every league I'm in lead the entire online Strat-O-Matic organization in getting ripped off by the computer dice rolls. It's effin' bull shit.

A severe lineup error by Kangaroos Manager Lou Brown caused David Ortiz's 15-game injury to be stretched to 16 games. Old Lou must have had, "a guy on the other line asking about some white walls", or something, and missed the 10PM lineup deadline. Big Papi ended up on the bench for all 3 games, and he missed a 9-6 loss to the Wonders when healthy. Pollard might consider firing Brown as manager, but nobody else wants the job.

FALCON29 should give Pollard's manager Lou Brown a 10 year - 150 million dollar - contract extension for getting 10 wins out of the bum Mike Fiers and 238 consecutive plate appearances from the injury prone "old" Papi.

Wednesday, 10-22-14:

LAST NIGHT:

Small Ball bested Pollard 2 games to 1 in a featured match up involving 1st place powerhouses from the Central and East. Both teams retain the top position in their respective divisions.

Ballwin swept 5th Avenue in the other big match up. The wins lifted the Gators into a 1st place tie with Small Ball in the Central. The Green Team remains in 3rd place in the East and are now 4 games behind Pollard.

The sputtering BOSTON team - losers of their last 6 games - took 3 from Eastbound. The BEES (Central) held the Down (East) to just 6 runs in the series. Both teams are 3 games behind their division leaders.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

In game 1 of their 3 game series, ARIZONA bashed 8 home runs in a 15-5 win over NKP.

Cole Hamels beat Cliff Lee 2-1 in a duel of pitchers with poor records. Hamels of the Arsenal is now 4-9 while misslonlyhearts' Lee fell to 4-10.

Pollard's Mike Fiers picked up victory number 10 against only 2 losses.

Jake Peavy of misslonlyhearts is now 12-4.

Havana's Edwin Encarnacion hit home run number 28, while ARIZONA'S Adrian Beltre smacked his 27th.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

In the West Division, 1st place Havana is on the road to meet 2nd place NKP. The Cigaros lead the division by 4. The Zorros have taken 4 out of 6 from Havana thus far.

BOSTON hosts Pollard as behemoths from the Central and East clash. The 3rd place BEES are 3 games back. The Kangaroos are 3 games up. BOSTON holds the series edge at 2 games to 1.

Thursday, 10-23-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In a featured match up involving West Division teams, 2nd place NKP stayed hot as they smoked the 1st place Cigaros 2 games to 1. The Zorros are now 3 games from the top spot.

In the other notable contest, BOSTON prevailed 2 games to 1 over Pollard. It was a hard fought series as 2 games were decided in extra innings. The 3rd place BEES now trail in the Central by 2 games. The 1st place Kangaroos have a 3 game lead in the East.

Ballwin's hold on 1st place was short lived as they were swept by misslonlyhearts. The Gators - who scored only 6 runs in the series - fell to 2nd place and are 1 game out in the Central. 2nd place nate's west is 3 games back in the East.

In a shocker, the Arsenal broke out all of its weapons and bombarded the Down with a 3 game sweep. The District won 2 of the games in their last at bat. Eastbound is in a free fall losing 9 of their last 10 games and now find themselves in a very unfamiliar position - last place in the East Division.

TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

Below is a multiple choice question. Do any of our master strategists know the answer?

Of the 4 teams listed below, 3 are tied with the longest winning streak in the inaugural season of the Strat-O-Master League. Which team does not belong?

BOSTON BEES
Eastbound and Down
NKP Zorros
Pollard Kangaroos

The answer can be found at the end of this posting.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

Havana's Edwin Encarnacion belted 2 home runs giving him a league leading 30 for the season.

David Ortiz of Pollard returned after sitting out 15 games with an injury to smash his 24th homer.

Pollard's Mike Fiers is now 10-3 after his win.

Jonathan Papelbon picked up his league leading 24th save for 5th Avenue.

LOW LIGHT FROM LAST NIGHT:

5th Avenue sent starting pitcher Roy Halladay packing after his loss. Halladay was 0-4 with an 11.17 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP. He allowed 48 hits in 29 innings of work. The Green Team picked up starter Chad Billingsley. I looked at his card. Good luck with that move HD48 - you're going to need it.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

In a meeting of 1st place teams from the Central and West, Small Ball plays at Havana. Both teams have teeter-tottered in their last 10 games going 5-5. However, the Wonders are 5-1 against the Cigaros thus far.

Ballwin travels to Pollard. The Gators are in 2nd place - 1 game out - in the Central. The Kangaroos have a comfortable 3 game lead in the East. Pollard holds the series lead 2 games to 1.

THE ANSWER TO TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

Eastbound, NKP and Pollard have all had league high 8 game win streaks this season. BOSTON's longest winning streak stands at 5.

I really needed to vvin the$e la$t tvvo $erie$ again$t the vveaker team$ becau$e I have a tough $chedule ahead of me next vveek. I can't panic and need to let my pitching vvoe$ vvork it$elf out....

I think Golden Tongue - the owner of the Havana Cigaros - should use some of his left over payroll pesos to hire an interpreter to write his posts .

Friday, 10-24-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In a featured series, 1st place teams Small Ball and Havana locked horns with the Wonders taking 2 of 3 from the Cigaros. Both teams remain in the top spot - Small Ball up by 1 in the Central and Havana up by 2 in the West.

In the other featured match up, Ballwin went 2-1 against Pollard. The 2nd place Gators are 1 out in the Central, while the 1st place Kangaroos hold a 2 game lead in the East.

Eastbound must not have liked being in last place. It lasted only one day as the Down swept Pittsburg surging into 2nd place in the East. They are now only 2 games behind the "Roos". The Cubs Nats A's 2 were held to just 8 runs in the series.

TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

We all know that the District Arsenal went without a win for 16 straight games shortly after we got started. That is tops in the league. But which team below has the second longest losing streak this season?

ARIZONA DESERT
BOSTON BEES
Eastbound and Down
NKP Zorros
Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's 2

You can find the answer at the end of this post.

UH OH:

Yesterday I commented on 5th Avenue's pickup of Chad Billingsley - saying essentially that owner HD48 will need a lot of luck with that poor pitching card. Tonight I get to face Chad in his first start. The last time I commented negatively on a pitcher's card - Mike Fiers beat me in his next start. Now I had 3 key starters out with injuries, but Fiers did win with his mediocre card and I had to suck it in. Tonight the Zorros are healthy so there are no excuses. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. We'll see.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

Saves leader Jonathan Papelbon of 5th Avenue got burned with a 1 out walk off home run by Aaron Hill as ARIZONA won game 1 of their series 3-2. In game 2, the Green Team scored 4 times in the 9th inning to win 8-7. Papelbon closed out that game with a scoreless 9th to pick up save number 25.

The BOSTON BEES were busy just before game time as they picked up two right handed starters to pitch against nate's west. In game 1, pickup Dillon Gee bested Jake Peavy who leads the league in wins with 12. In game 2, Brandon McCarthy - the other pickup - pitched a complete game 4 hitter but lost. Yes GARYCOOK - you are a master strategist.

Eastbound's Felix Hernandez won and is now 10-3.

Kyle Lohse of Ballwin picked up victory number 9 against 2 losses.

NKP's R.A. Dickey improved his record to 9-3 with a win.

REMEMBER:

Tomorrow is the last day to drop players and pickup free agents with only a 10 percent penalty. Once the games start on the 25th, the cost of doing business increases to 20 percent.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

Havana is at Eastbound. The 1st place Cigaros are 2 games up in the West, while the 2nd place Down are 2 back in the East.

misslonlyhearts travels to Ballwin in an East vs. Central match up between 2nd place teams. nate's west is 2 behind the leader. The Gators are only 1 out.

ANSWER TO TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

Which team has the second longest losing streak this season?

The team behind the District with the second longest losing streak in the league is ARIZONA with 8. BOSTON, Eastbound, NKP and Pittsburg have all had 6 game losing streaks.

Enjoy game 3 of the world series.

Saturday, 10-25-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In what was touted as a featured match up, the Havana Cigaros were lit up by a hot Eastbound and Down team who swept their second straight series. The Down - who remain in 2nd place - 1 game out in the East - have given up only 18 runs in their last 6 games. The burnt out Cigaros fell to 2nd place in the West - also 1 game back.

In the other highlighted series, Ballwin won 2 out of 3 against misslonlyhearts. The Gators moved into a 1st place tie in the Central, while nate's west fell to 3rd place in the East - 3 games out.

NKP swept 5th Avenue in a hard fought series that was decided by a total of 4 runs. With the wins, the Z's have taken over the top spot in the West by 1 game.

Pittsburg went 2-1 against Small Ball. The Wonders scored only 7 runs in the series and are now tied for 1st with Ballwin in the Central.

TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

What 3 teams below are tied with the worst record in inter-division play?

5th Avenue Green Team
ARIZONA DESERT
District Arsenal
NKP Zorros
Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's 2

The answer can be found at the end of this post.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

In game 1 of the NKP/5th Avenue series, the Zorros' Andre Ethier hit a line drive to second baseman Brandon Phillips who turned the triple play. It happened in the 7th inning with NKP ahead 3-2. The Z's hung on to win by that same score.

In game 3 of the above mentioned series, Jimmy Rollins hit for the cycle. Batting for the last time in the 10th inning, he hit a 2 run homer as NKP won 9-7.

Pollard's Mike Fiers won for the 11th time with only 3 losses.

Felix Hernandez of Eastbound improved his record to 11-3.

Arnoldis Chapman picked up 2 saves tying him with Jonathan Papelbon for the league high at 25.

UH OH UPDATE:

Chad Billingsley made his debut with 5th Avenue. He pitched 2 1/3 innings against NKP allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits. He struck out 4 and walked 2. His ERA is 15.43. Like I said two nights ago, good luck with that move HD48 - you're going to need it.

REMEMBER:

Last chance to drop players with only a 10 percent penalty. Once tonight's games start, the drop penalty increases to 20 percent.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

The 1st place Wonders play the 2nd place Down. Can Small Ball stop this "Eastbound" train that has rolled to 6 straight wins - giving up only 18 runs in the process? The Wonders are tied for 1st in the Central. The Down are 1 game out in the East.

Could this be the bloody Saturday before Halloween. Who will get their revenge - Havana (the student) or Pollard (the teacher)? Do the Kangaroos have any roster advice for the Cigaros before the 20 percent drop penalty takes effect? Pollard can sink 2nd place Havana's "ashes" into a deeper hole in the West. Or the Cigaros could kick the Kangaroos out of 1st place in the East. Pollard is 1 up. Havana is 1 out. It should be a good one.

ANSWER TO TONIGHT'S QUIZ:

What 3 teams are tied with the worst record in inter-division play?

5th Avenue (East), ARIZONA (West) and District Arsenal (Central) have all won 22 and lost 29. The NKP Zorros and Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's 2 are right behind at 23-28.