The 2012 Strat-O-Master League Chat Room

Saturday, 11-15-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In the Central Division, two 1st place teams met. Only one is on top today. Small Ball is king of the hill - as they have been for most of the season - swatting the BEES 2 games to 1. The Wonders now have a 1 game lead over BOSTON.

In a contest between teams tied for 2nd place, Eastbound went south after losing 3 to misslonlyhearts. nate's west - perhaps the most underrated contender in the league - has moved into a 1st place tie in the East. The 3rd place Down now find themselves 4 games back.

NKP survived another do-or-die series by taking 2 of 3 from Havana. The 1st place Cigaros lead the West by 3 games over the 2nd place Zorros.

ARIZONA swept Pittsburg in a match up of West Division teams. The 3rd place DESERT are 9 games behind the leader, while the last place Cubs Nats A's 2 are 10 out.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

In game 3, light hitting and seldom used Nick Markakis homered with 2 outs in the top of the 10th inning to give BOSTON a 1-0 victory over Small Ball. It was his 6th homer of the season. The BEES were held to a total of 6 runs and 12 hits in the series, which they lost 2 games to 1.

When you're hot - you're hot. Newly acquired Tyler Flowers hammered a 2 out bomb in the bottom of the 12th inning to give misslonlyhearts a 3-2 walk-off win in game 1 of their series with Eastbound. In game 2, nate's west scored in 7 of 8 innings - banging out 21 hits in a 14-7 victory.

Pollard had two walk-off extra inning wins against 5th Avenue.

In game 3 of the Ballwin-District series, the teams combined for a total of 10 home runs - each hitting 5.

Havana's Edwin Encarnacion blasted 2 more round trippers giving him 52 for the season.

Reliever Junichi Tazawa of Havana improved his record to 12-4.

In game 2 of a series with Pollard, 5th Avenue's Jonathan Papelbon earned save number 40. In game 3, he was tagged with his 7th loss in 10 decisions.

INJURIES:

The beleagured Pollard pitching staff sustained an injury to reliever Tim Byrdak who has worked 51 innings in 34 appearances this season. He will be out through game 147.

BLOCKBUSTER TRADE:

On the day of the player exchange deadline, a blockbuster trade was executed between Eastbound and ARIZONA. The Down sent David Price (7.39M), Dustin Pedroia (7.88M), J.J. Hardy (4.8M) and Mark Teixeira (3.99M) to the DESERT in exchange for Aaron Hill (7.41M), Yu Darvish (4.13M), Ike Davis (3.5M) and Troy Tulowitzki (3.01M).

Remember, after tonight's games start, your roster becomes frozen as is.

POLLARD'S INJURY WOES:

Despite being inundated with injuries and having a pitching staff with more holes than a sieve, FALCON29 - like the master strategist that he is - has managed to keep the Kangaroos in 1st place for nearly the entire season.

However, I wonder if picking up band-aid pitchers like Jaime Garcia and Robbie Ross is going to stop the hemorrhaging of that open wound. We'll see.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

misslonlyhearts was the third team to sign up for the Strat-O-Master League. Seeing that name, I thought that this one should be a pushover. What I had considered to be a team with no chance is about to take on mighty Pollard for sole possession of 1st place in the tough East Division. I'm sorry Mitcho - you are a master strategist. In fact, you may soon be crowned "Strat-O-Master". I think the "Roos" may be sweating this one out, as they were surely the favorite to win the division. To occupy 1st place for the entire season only to lose it now to an unheralded nate's west team would be discouraging to say the least. So the pressure is on Pollard. Only one of them will be in 1st place tomorrrow. Play ball!

This one is being featured only because Ballwin is on the brink of elimination. After slowly but surly climbing the ladder to 1st place in the Central, they have lost 10 of their last 12 and now find themselves in 3rd place - 5 games out. They meet 2nd place Boston who are within 1 game of the leader.

Sunday, 11-16-14:

LAST NIGHT:

Pollard does what it always does. They win. They stay in 1st place. In a match up of two teams tied for first in the East, the Kangaroos did what they had to do winning 2 of 3 from misslonlyhearts to once again reign alone on top of their division. I should have known better than to think Pollard was under any pressure. They thrive on it. Good luck to 2nd place misslonlyhearts and 3rd place Eastbound. You got a tough row to hoe.

In the other featured contest, Ballwin went 2-1 against BOSTON, as the BEES have found it difficult to win on the road lately. 2nd place BOSTON is 2 out in the Central. 3rd place Ballwin is 5 back.

Pittsburg stunned Havana with a 3 game sweep. The Cigaros - who have been coasting to a West Division title - suddenly find themselves tied for first. The 3rd place Cubs Nats A's 2 are 7 games behind.

NKP "Z'd" ARIZONA 3 games to none. The sweep launched the Zorros into an unforeseen 1st place tie in the West. The DESERT are in last place - 9 out.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

In game 3, with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Andrew McCutchen launched a 2 run homer to lead misslonlyhearts to a 5-3 walk off victory over Pollard - thereby averting a sweep by the Kangaroos.

NKP held ARIZONA to a total of 7 runs in their series with the DESERT.

Havana's Edwin Encarnacion hit league leading home run number 53.

Kris Medlin of Ballwin was a winner. His record is now 16-11.

Eastbound's Clayton Kershaw won game number 16. He has lost 12.

TRANSACTIONS:

BOSTON picked up 4.11 million dollar free agent catcher A.J. Ellis just before the player exchange deadline went into effect last night.

Eastbound Panic?

In the two days preceding the end of the player exchange period, Eastbound revamped its roster by adding 8 new players. That's a 29% turnover! Did edub1969 panic at the thought of trying to catch Pollard? Or was this just the execution of a well thought out plan by a master strategist? The Down went 2-1 yesterday - including two shutouts - but were only able to keep pace with the Kangaroos who also won 2 games.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

It's not very often when the West Division provides the headliner series, but it happens this evening. Havana travels to NKP in a contest of two teams tied for 1st place. The Cigaros are in a foul mood after being "butted" (swept) by its trading partner Pittsburg. Although the Zorros have now been taken off life support, they notified the local hospital to be on standby in case of a relapse.

misslonlyhearts is on the road at Eastbound in this crucial battle between East Division teams. 2nd place nate's west is 1 back. The 3rd place Down are 4 out.

Tonight (and Friday) are the only reasons why I kept Drew Smyly on the Havana Cigaros' final roster. His performance will determine whether or not I'm a decent strategist, especially when Ricky Nolasco deserved that final spot. Even though I won the championship by default due to the reverse trade, I still seek a winning season based on the principle. LET'S WIN!!

The Havana Cigaros are 1-6 since Game 100 when #1 pitcher Hiroki Kuroda is the starter. This has got to stop. I seriously considered waiving HIM in favor of Ricky Nolasco during the final roster selection as well.

The main question I have is whether The NKP Zorros can continue to maintain their COMPLETE DOMINANCE over division rivals ARIZONA DESERT and Pittsburg Cubs Nats A's. NKP has the best chance of winning their division if they do. The Havana Cigaros are a solid, yet unspectacular, 30-27 against the same division rivals while the NKP Zorros are an impressive 33-24, and a staggering 23-13 against Pittsburg and ARIZONA collectively.

I would like to know how in the world Freddy Galvis of the Pollard Kangaroos has 7 homeruns in only 148 at-bats? This isn't master strategy working here, but it's fair to think that the Pollard manager is working for Strat-O-Matic Inc. If his luck is that good, then he is wasting it playing online games when he should be riding his money to fortune in Vegas or at the racetrack. That's "real talk".

Monday, 11-17-14:

It's the final week of the inaugural season of the Strat-O-Master League using the 2012 player cards. 8 of the 12 teams are either in 1st place or less than 4 games out. 10 of the 12 teams are either in 1st place or less than 10 games out. And all of the master strategists are competing to the end.

15 games left. Lots can happen with an unpredictable computer rolling the dice. Let's see how this plays out.

LAST NIGHT:

NKP is no longer in 1st place. Their share of the top spot in the West with Havana lasted one whole day as they were swept with little trouble by the Cigaros. Havana is now 3 games up on the Zorros.

A significant match up in the East saw the Down take 2 of 3 from misslonlyhearts. 2nd place nate's west slipped to 2 games behind the mighty Pollard team. Eastbound remains in 3rd place still 4 games back.

I was prepared to write a eulogy for 3rd place Ballwin as they had fallen 5 games behind Small Ball in the Central and were on the road to meet the division leader. However, the Wonders didn't know what "bit" them as the Gators rose out of the swamp and swept the series. Small Ball is now tied for the top spot with BOSTON. Ballwin has put themselves within striking distance just 2 games out.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

Carlos Gonzalez blasted a home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning giving Eastbound a walk off 8-7 victory in the rubber match of their series with misslonlyhearts.

NKP scored a total of 5 runs and were shutout twice in losing 3 games to Havana. The Z's lofted only 1 bomb while playing in their home run friendly park at Progressive Field.

In Ballwin's sweep over Small Ball, pitching was the name of the game. The Gators scored a total of 7 runs on 18 hits in the series. The Wonders had 2 runs on 16 hits.

5th Avenue's Jonathan Papelbon has 41 saves for the year.

THE CHAMPION?

Although Golden Tongue has already declared himself winner of the Strat-O-Master League by default, he sure does seem to be trying hard to win the title legitimately on the field of play. Maybe in his heart the Havana owner knows that's the only way he can be recognized by his peers as "Strat-O-Master.

BLOWN SAVES:

Alexi Ogando - 11 - misslonlyhearts
J.J. Putz - 11 - BOSTON
Jim Johnson - 9 - Pollard
Joe Nathan - 9 - Small Ball

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

Since turning over 29% of their roster 6 games ago, Eastbound has gone 4-2. Unfortunately for them, so has Pollard (of course). As such, the Down remain 4 games out in the East. Things can change tonight. The Kangaroos travel to Eastbound giving the Down an excellent opportunity to slice into Pollard's lead.

BOSTON is at Small Ball. This same scenario occurred three nights ago. The BEES were playing in the Wonders home park. The two teams were tied for 1st place in the Central. Small Ball took 2 of 3 games and sole possession of the top spot. BOSTON has since played its way back into a tie for 1st with the Wonders. The BEES have the edge in series play winning 10 of 18.

In response to "The Champion?":

"Yes, Havana's owner originally WAS seeking more respect from opposing owners of this 2012 league by winning a championship, and that's why he made the trade. When the other owners whined about the trade and begged for a reversal, Golden Tongue was deemed "Strat-O-Master" immediately after those wishes were granted, while the Havana Cigaros win the championship by default. Golden Tongue does seek to improve his overall personal account record and compare it to other owners in the Strat-O-Matic league system who have reached the upper echelon of general manager duties regarding their respective teams as Golden Tongue has in this ADVANCED 2012 League, albeit by a forced default."~Coach Fidel Castro

When I entered this league, I was unaware that the term "advanced" meant that many of the other owners joining were advanced WHINERS and advanced SORE LOSERS. Golden Tongue will ALWAYS be two steps above those other team owners in THIS 2012 league on the social competitive ladder. By making a reverse trade, I handicapped my own chances of winning in order to make the whining owners "feel better", like they were a bunch of spoiled 10-year old kids. I hardly consider those guys "my peers", and akw8391 has directly insulted me once again by doing so.

Tuesday, 11-18-14:

LAST NIGHT:

There were no sweeps. I think it's been awhile since that has happened.

Only one series was identified as a featured match up and it was a big one. 3rd place Eastbound won 2 out of 3 from 1st place Pollard narrowing the Kangaroos lead in the East Division to 1 game over misslonlyhearts. The Down closed to within 3 of the top spot.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

Jay Bruce belted a 2 out home run in the bottom of the 12th inning giving Eastbound a 5-4 walk off victory over Pollard in game 1 of their series.

In game 2, Pollard's Mike Fiers (16-7) bested Eastbound's Felix Hernandez (18-10). The clutch pitching performance by Fiers - who worked 6.2 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts and no walks - prevented a sweep by the Down.

Josh Willingham's 2 out - 2 run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Havana a 9-7 win over ARIZONA in game 1 of their series.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Will Middlebrooks and Ian Desmond hit back-to-back long balls to propel Small Ball past BOSTON 3-2 in game 2 of their series. The BEES held the Wonders to a total of 6 runs in winning the series 2 games to 1.

Ballwin's Kris Medlin was a winner improving his record to 17-11.

Jonathan Papelbon of 5th Avenue recorded his 42nd save of the season.

DYSLEXIC?

Besides his other problems, I think the Havana owner may suffer from dyslexia, as he repeatedly refers to me as akw8913. It's akw8319 Tongue Golden.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

misslonlyhearts gets their chance to knock Pollard from its perch atop the East Division. The Kangaroos have a tenuous 1 game lead over 2nd place nate's west. The "Roos" lead the series thus far winning 10 and losing 8.

In the Central Division, 2nd place Small Ball travels to meet 3rd place Ballwin. The Wonders are 1 game behind BOSTON. The Gators are 2 back and hold an edge in the series 12 games to 9.

Wednesday, 11-19-14:

LAST NIGHT:

In the main event, misslonlyhearts took the "hop" out of the Kangaroos by winning 2 out of 3 from Pollard. Both teams are now tied for 1st place in the East - 2 games ahead of Eastbound.

In the other headliner series, the Gators continued to "roll" with a sweep of Small Ball. Both teams are heading in different directions, as Ballwin has won 11 of 13 and the Wonders have lost 8 straight. The Gators are now tied with BOSTON for 1st place in the Central - 2 games ahead of 3rd place Small Ball.

In the West, NKP swept ARIZONA. The Zorros are 2 games behind Havana, while the DESERT are in last place - 13 out.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

In game 2 of their series, Garrett Jones hit 3 home runs and had 5 RBIs in Havana's 7-1 win over Pittsburg. Garrett now has 46 bombs for the year.

ARIZONA hit no home runs in their series with NKP.

Pollard managed to get only 15 hits in their 3 game series with misslonlyhearts.

Pollard's Adam LaRoche homered for the 51st time putting him 2 behind the leader in that category.

Eastbound's Felix Hernandez picked up victory number 19 in 29 decisions.

Jake Peavy of misslonlyhearts won his 18th game. He has lost 11 times.

Ballwin's Kris Medlin won and is also 18-11.

Reliever Casey Fien of Ballwin is now 10-2.

Ballwin's Arnolis Chapman saved his 40th game. He trails the save leader by 2.

MASTER STRATEGIST INDEED:

Just before the player exchange deadline, edub1969 revamped 29% of his roster. A huge risk at a time when no more changes could be made. However, Eastbound is 8-4 since then and has yet to lose a series. Yes edub1969 - you are a master strategist worthy of being named "Strat-O-Master".

HOW BAD CAN IT GET?

Small Ball owner mastermosser46 sent us a message this afternoon lamenting the recent play of his team - who has lost 8 straight games falling to 2nd place in the Central Division - 2 games out.

After looking at last night's results, I can feel his pain.

In game 1 of Small Ball's series with Ballwin, Gordon Beckham hit 2 home runs for the Gators in a 4-3 win. Beckham has batted 33 times this season and now has 3 homers. Ouch!

In game 2, Kelly Shoppach homered with 1 out in the bottom of the 14th inning giving the Gators a 2-1 win. Shoppach has 34 at bats this year with 3 home runs. Ouch again!

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UPS:

We have another big one. Two teams that have fought hard all year to be in 1st place and have finally made it will play each other. Tied for the top spot in the Central with only 9 games left, Ballwin will host BOSTON. Thus far, the BEES have won 11 of 18 in this series.

In the East, powerhouse Eastbound will travel to meet underdog misslonlyhearts. The surprising nate's west team is tied for 1st place with Pollard - 2 games up on the 3rd place Down. misslonlyhearts is 13-8 against Eastbound this season.

Thursday, 11-20-14:

Six more games to play and the season is over. It was a little less than two months ago when I wrote: "It is opening day for the inaugural season of the Strat-O-Master League using the 2012 Strat-O-Matic player cards."

There are eight teams still in contention for the playoffs. Good luck to all of them. Make it an exciting finish. A little later in this writing I'll give you some predictions concerning who I think will continue playing once the regular season ends.

LAST NIGHT:

In a featured game, Ballwin continues to play well in crunch time as they won 2 of 3 from BOSTON taking sole possession of 1st place in the Central. The BEES are now 1 out.

In the other featured game, Eastbound knocked misslonlyhearts out of a 1st place tie with Pollard by winning 2 of 3. nate's west tumbles to 2nd place in the East - 2 games out. The 3rd place Down have won five straight series and are 3 back.

The Pollard machine swept 5th Avenue. The Kangaroos hold the top spot in the East - 2 games up. The last place Green Team are 12 behind.

Small Ball came up "short" again as they lost 3 to the District. The 3rd place Wonders find themselves 4 back in the Central. The last place Arsenal trail by a distant 18 games.

In the West, 1st place Havana went 3-0 against 4th place ARIZONA. The Cigaros upped their lead to 3 games, while the Desert are 16 out.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST NIGHT:

The District allowed only 3 runs in their sweep of Small Ball.

Pollard held 5th Avenue to 7 runs in sweeping the Green Team.

ARIZONA tallied just 7 runs in their 3 losses to Havana.

Pollard's Adam Laroche hit 2 long balls and is now tied for the league lead in home runs with 53.

Josh Willingham homered 4 times in Havana's series with ARIZONA giving him 49 for the season.

Eastbound's Clayton Kershaw is now 17-13.

Reliever Casey Fien of Ballwin lost game 1 and won game 2 giving him a record of 11-3.

"WONDER" WHAT HAPPENED TO SMALL BALL?

Small Ball is mired in a horrendous slump reminiscent to the one experienced by the District when the season began. The Wonders have lost 12 of their last 13 - including 4 straight to the lowly Arsenal. In that span, they've scored a total of 21 runs - or 1.62 runs per game. This from a team that has held 1st place in the Central for nearly the entire season. In fact, Small Ball has played so well throught the year that - despite the slump - they are only 4 games from reclaiming the top spot in the division.

BOLD AND MEANINGLESS PREDICTIONS:

As promised, below are my ratings of the eight teams still in contention to win the Strat-O-Master League title. They are listed in the order of strongest to weakest. As such, the first four teams are those destined to be in the playoffs with the number one team winning it all.

1. Pollard Kangaroos
2. Eastbound and Down
3. Havana Cigaros
4. BOSTON BEES
5. Ballwin KAW's Gators
6. Small Ball Wonders
7. misslonlyhearts nate's west
8. NKP Zorros

Congratulations to FALCON29. He put together an awesome team and managed it well.

TONIGHT'S FEATURED MATCH UP:

In the East Division, 2nd place misslonlyhearts plays 1st place Pollard. nate's west is 2 games behind the Kangaroos with 6 games left in the season. Jake Peavy (18-11) will start for misslonlyhearts in game 1. He'll be opposed by Pollard's Rick Dempster (16-7). Mike Fiers (16-7) will toe the mound in game 3 for the "Roos".

Wow! Two 16-7 starters for Pollard. Someone check FALCON29's dice.

It seems to me like akw3981 is wishing that HAL would just end his suffering tonight and quit teasing him into believing that his NKP Zorros team still might have a chance, although Havana has not clinched yet.

Although akw8139 didn't list the Havana Cigaros as his #1 team, even though they are 12th out of 12 in roster value yet #1 in wins and every offensive category, it leads me to believe that he knows Golden Tongue is the #1 manager based on the facts I have stated.