FOOL 2064 Regular Season

[Alan T]

Jofre Super -- No-Hits Apex
Friday, September 19th, 2064: "Juan Jofre was just plain nasty on the mound today," according to his batterymate and quite a few of the Apex Assassins after the St. Petersburg hurler fired a 6-0 no-hitter.

The Assassins were powerless against him. "It is what we call in baseball 'filthy'... his stuff was just too much for us today," the losing manager told reporters after the game."

In an overpowering performance Jofre faced 29 batters in all and finish the game with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk.

"After the first couple of innings, I knew I had some good stuff going," Jofre said. "In the bullpen, it really wasn't that good, to be honest. But when I got out on the mound and flipped the switch, I had some pretty good stuff. I had a good fastball with control and I was able to throw my breaking ball and changeup for strikes."

In season stats Jofre shows a 18-8 record in 35 games, 209.1 innings, 134 strikeouts and a 2.79 ERA.

[Alan T]

September 22nd, 2064:

Continental League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 St. Petersburg Pelicans 82 61 .573 - 84-59 -2 40-30 42-31 2-6 14-13 16 W1 7-3 Napa Valley Winemakers 75 65 .536 5.5 78-62 -3 31-38 44-27 3-1 10-19 W2 4-6 Baltimore Charm 75 67 .528 6.5 73-69 2 36-35 39-32 6-4 15-12 L1 6-4 Apex Assassins 74 68 .521 7.5 71-71 3 34-38 40-30 11-5 23-12 W1 4-6 Boston Settlers 74 68 .521 7.5 73-69 1 42-30 32-38 10-5 20-11 L1 4-6 Halifax Winter Wolves 72 69 .511 9.0 82-59 -10 43-28 29-41 2-4 12-21 L3 4-6 Tokyo Cyclones 45 99 .313 37.5 41-103 4 21-51 24-48 0-9 10-16 W1 5-5

Republic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hyannis Patriots 82 64 .562 - 70-76 12 45-28 37-36 4-5 22-15 13 W2 7-3 Hammersmith Hooligans 77 68 .531 4.5 70-75 7 39-35 38-33 4-6 19-18 L3 4-6 Chico Rebels 74 69 .517 6.5 80-63 -6 35-35 39-34 8-6 14-20 L1 7-3 Toronto Marlboros 75 70 .517 6.5 74-71 1 28-44 47-26 9-5 23-14 W4 5-5 Hartford Harpooners 74 70 .514 7.0 77-67 -3 40-32 34-38 7-4 20-20 L1 3-7 Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines 64 79 .448 16.5 72-71 -8 30-41 34-38 3-6 11-16 L5 2-8 Colorado Rancheros 60 86 .411 22.0 63-83 -3 29-45 31-41 5-8 14-20 W1 5-5

[Alan T]

September 29th, 2064:

Continental League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 St. Petersburg Pelicans 84 65 .564 - 86-63 -2 42-33 42-32 2-7 15-14 12 L2 4-6 Napa Valley Winemakers 80 67 .544 3.0 84-63 -4 32-39 48-28 4-2 11-20 W1 7-3 Baltimore Charm 78 70 .527 5.5 75-73 3 39-38 39-32 7-5 16-13 W1 6-4 Boston Settlers 77 69 .527 5.5 76-70 1 42-30 35-39 10-5 20-11 W1 6-4 Apex Assassins 77 71 .520 6.5 74-74 3 35-39 42-32 13-5 25-12 L1 5-5 Halifax Winter Wolves 75 72 .510 8.0 86-61 -11 44-29 31-43 2-4 13-22 L1 4-6 Tokyo Cyclones 46 103 .309 38.0 43-106 3 21-54 25-49 0-10 10-18 W1 3-7

Republic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hyannis Patriots 84 68 .553 - 71-81 13 47-31 37-37 4-5 24-15 8 W1 5-5 Hammersmith Hooligans 80 71 .530 3.5 74-77 6 40-37 40-34 4-6 19-19 L1 4-6 Chico Rebels 78 72 .520 5.0 84-66 -6 37-36 41-36 8-6 14-20 W1 6-4 Hartford Harpooners 77 71 .520 5.0 81-67 -4 40-32 37-39 7-4 20-20 L1 5-5 Toronto Marlboros 78 73 .517 5.5 77-74 1 31-46 47-27 9-5 23-14 W2 7-3 Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines 66 83 .443 16.5 74-75 -8 31-43 35-40 3-6 12-17 L2 2-8 Colorado Rancheros 63 88 .417 20.5 66-85 -3 30-45 33-43 5-8 14-21 L1 5-5

[Tasan]

Originally Posted by TeachEnEspanol

Hiya. I totally thought you were gonna be back on top when I looked at your team this year.

Yeah, they fooled me too. Get it...FOOLed me...

Ugh...its all I got folks. My team sucks.

[Alan T]

Venegas Shuts out Ann Arbor
Thursday, October 2nd, 2064: All went well for Júlio Venegas of the Hartford Harpooners as he pitched his team to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines, limiting them to 2 hits while ringing up 5 strikeouts and surrendering no walks.

In the postgame interview, both managers had glowing things to say about Venegas.

His manager described him this way: "He's got a good selection of pitches he can throw at a guy. He changes speed, gives different looks to different hitters. When he's on his game, he's quite a handful."

The Ann Arbor skipper said, "He doesn't give you anything twice. It's a guessing game with him and today my club was always guessing wrong."

So far this season Venegas has a record of 10-10 with 104 strikeouts and 51 walks in 168.1 innings and a 6.68 ERA.

[Alan T]

Serrano Reaches 2500
Sunday, October 5th, 2064: With one swing of the bat, Carlos Serrano put his name in the league record books yesterday at Patriots Place. It was his 2500th career hit, putting him in a select group of players.

In spite of Carlos Serrano's achievement, his Hyannis Patriots went down to defeat to the Toronto Marlboros, 9-6.

On his milestone day, the 33-year-old left fielder registered 5 hits in 5 at-bats.

During his career Serrano has compiled a .342 batting average and collected 2504 hits, 484 home runs and 1632 RBIs.

[Alan T]

October 6th, 2064:

Continental League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 St. Petersburg Pelicans 87 67 .565 - 89-65 -2 45-33 42-34 2-7 16-15 5 L2 5-5 Napa Valley Winemakers 83 71 .539 4.0 87-67 -4 35-41 48-30 4-3 13-22 L1 5-5 Boston Settlers 80 72 .526 6.0 79-73 1 43-32 37-40 10-6 22-12 L1 6-4 Apex Assassins 81 74 .523 6.5 77-78 4 39-42 42-32 14-6 27-12 W3 5-5 Baltimore Charm 80 75 .516 7.5 78-77 2 40-38 40-37 7-5 17-15 W1 4-6 Halifax Winter Wolves 79 74 .516 7.5 90-63 -11 45-30 34-44 4-4 13-24 W1 6-4 Tokyo Cyclones 48 105 .314 38.5 44-109 4 21-54 27-51 0-10 10-18 L1 4-6

Republic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hyannis Patriots 87 70 .554 - 74-83 13 47-32 40-38 4-5 24-16 4 L1 4-6 Hartford Harpooners 82 72 .532 3.5 84-70 -2 44-32 38-40 7-4 20-20 W5 8-2 Toronto Marlboros 82 74 .526 4.5 80-76 2 34-47 48-27 10-5 25-14 W1 7-3 Hammersmith Hooligans 82 76 .519 5.5 76-82 6 41-40 41-36 4-6 21-20 L3 4-6 Chico Rebels 80 76 .513 6.5 87-69 -7 39-39 41-37 8-6 14-22 L4 5-5 Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines 70 86 .449 16.5 78-78 -8 32-43 38-43 3-6 13-17 W3 5-5 Colorado Rancheros 63 92 .406 23.0 68-87 -5 30-46 33-46 5-9 14-22 L5 4-6

St.Petersburg has a magic number of 4
Napa Valley has a magic number of 8


Hyannis has a magic number of 2
Hartford has a magic number of 7

[Alan T]

I also appear to have put the whammy on Ed Harris. He hit .305 for the month of September, killing his chances for .400 most likely.

[Alan T]

Ángel Hittin' on All Cylinders
Monday, October 6th, 2064: Today at Ballpark of Napa Valley Héctor Ángel tore up Pelicans pitching, but the Winemakers still came up empty. St. Petersburg whipped them 12-7, despite his best efforts. The Napa Valley third baseman hit for the cycle with a 4-5 day and collected 2 RBI and scored 2 runs -- but to no avail -- his team lost the game anyway.

H. Ángel grounded out in the 1st, hit a solo-shot off K. LeGrange in the 3rd, hit an RBI triple in the 5th, singled in the 7th and doubled in the 9th.

So far this year Ángel has 14 home runs and a .278 batting average.

[Alan T]

October 13th, 2064:

Continental League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 St. Petersburg Pelicans 89 70 .560 - 91-68 -2 46-35 43-35 2-7 17-16 Clinched L1 5-5 Boston Settlers 84 74 .532 4.5 82-76 2 46-34 38-40 10-6 22-12 L1 6-4 Halifax Winter Wolves 84 75 .528 5.0 95-64 -11 48-30 36-45 5-5 16-25 W5 7-3 Napa Valley Winemakers 84 75 .528 5.0 89-70 -5 36-42 48-33 4-4 13-24 L3 3-7 Apex Assassins 83 75 .525 5.5 80-78 3 39-42 44-33 14-6 27-12 W1 6-4 Baltimore Charm 84 78 .519 6.5 81-81 3 41-40 43-38 9-5 20-17 W3 5-5 Tokyo Cyclones 49 110 .308 40.0 46-113 3 21-57 28-53 0-11 10-19 L3 3-7

Republic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hyannis Patriots 90 72 .556 - 77-85 13 47-34 43-38 4-5 24-16 Clinched W3 6-4 Hartford Harpooners 85 76 .528 4.5 87-74 -2 46-35 39-41 7-4 21-21 W1 6-4 Toronto Marlboros 84 77 .522 5.5 83-78 1 34-47 50-30 10-5 25-16 L3 6-4 Hammersmith Hooligans 84 78 .519 6.0 78-84 6 41-40 43-38 4-6 21-20 L2 4-6 Chico Rebels 83 78 .516 6.5 90-71 -7 40-40 43-38 9-6 15-23 L1 4-6 Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines 73 88 .453 16.5 80-81 -7 35-45 38-43 3-7 15-18 W3 6-4 Colorado Rancheros 66 96 .407 24.0 71-91 -5 32-49 34-47 5-9 15-22 L3 3-7

St.Petersburg and Hyannis have both clinched playoff spots and homefield advantage in the Championship Series.

Boston has a magic number of 4 with 5 different teams all within 2 games and 4 games left to play! (Halifax, Napa Valley, Apex and Baltimore)


Hartford has a magic number of 1 with 1 game remaining. Toronto needs a win and a Hartford loss to force a tie.

[Alan T]

No-Hit Masterpiece by Burrows
Monday, October 13th, 2064: "This is one of the best moments of my life," Damian Burrows said. "You never think that's going to happen -- a no-hitter."

He made those comments after he held the Marlboros hitless in the Ann Arbor 1-0 victory at Ann Arbor Grounds.

"We simply couldn't get any wood on the ball," said the Toronto manager, when asked about his epic performance. "Burrows was brilliant out there. He certainly had our number."

Burrows was more humble about his historic feat and told BNN reporters that he was "just happy to get the win for the club."

He faced only 28 batters in the no-hit gem, struck out 5 and walked 1.

On the year Burrows has worked 231.2 innings with 142 strikeouts en route to a 13-13 record and 4.97 ERA.

[TeachEnEspanol]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Yeah, they fooled me too. Get it...FOOLed me...

Ugh...its all I got folks. My team sucks.

I'm sorry friend. I appreciate FOOL humor in the face of defeat.

[Alan T]

That no-hitter eliminates Toronto from the postseason. Ironically enough, Hartford lost as well, but the Toronto fans will have to wait another year to get back to the playoffs for the first time in a very long time.

[TeachEnEspanol]

Well shit. That was unexpected.

[Alan T]

10/13:


Boston 8, Apex 5


St.Petersburg 90-70 (clinched)
Boston 85-74 (m# 3)
Halifax 84-75 (1 GB)
Napa Valley (84-75 (1 GB)
Apex 83-76 (2 GB)


Baltimore is eliminated from the postseason.

[Alan T]

10/14:

Napa Valley 6, Boston 2
Apex 4, Halifax 1


St. Petersburg 90-71 (clinched)
Boston 85-75
Napa Valley 85-75
Apex 84-76 (1 GB)
Halifax 84-76 (1 GB)

[Alan T]

10/15:


Halifax 5, Apex 4 (10 innings)
Boston 6, Napa Valley 4


St.Petersburg 91-71 (clinched)
Boston 86-75 (m# 1)
Halifax 85-76 (1 GB)
Napa Valley 85-76 (1 GB)

Apex has been eliminated from the postseason.


Final game of the season coming up! Boston plays at Napa Valley, Halifax plays at home vs Apex.

A Boston win clinches the playoff spot for them.
A Boston loss and Halifax loss creates a best of three playoff vs Boston and Napa Valley to determine who makes the playoffs.
A Boston loss and Halifax win creates a three way tie for the final playoff spot and a series of games between the three teams to determine the playoff team (only happened one other time that I recall in FOOL history)

[TeachEnEspanol]

This does not make me happy.

[Alan T]

10/16:

Halifax 9, Apex 7 (11 innings)

A Napa Valley victory over Boston will create a three way tie! A Boston win clinches the playoff spot for the Settlers....


Boston vs Napa Valley...

Spoiler

Boston 4, Napa Valley 1

Boston clinches a playoff spot as Napa Valley and Halifax are eliminated on the final day of the season!

[Alan T]

Final 2064 Standings:

Continental League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 St. Petersburg Pelicans 91 71 .562 - 94-68 -3 46-35 45-36 2-7 17-17 Clinched W1 4-6 Boston Settlers 87 75 .537 4.0 84-78 3 47-34 40-41 10-6 22-12 W2 7-3 Halifax Winter Wolves 86 76 .531 5.0 96-66 -10 50-31 36-45 7-5 17-25 W2 8-2 Napa Valley Winemakers 85 77 .525 6.0 90-72 -5 37-44 48-33 4-4 13-24 L2 3-7 Apex Assassins 84 78 .519 7.0 81-81 3 39-42 45-36 14-8 27-13 L2 6-4 Baltimore Charm 84 78 .519 7.0 81-81 3 41-40 43-38 9-5 20-17 W3 5-5 Tokyo Cyclones 50 112 .309 41.0 47-115 3 22-59 28-53 0-11 11-19 L1 2-8

Republic League Standings

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hyannis Patriots 90 72 .556 - 77-85 13 47-34 43-38 4-5 24-16 Clinched W3 6-4 Hartford Harpooners 85 77 .525 5.0 87-75 -2 46-35 39-42 7-4 21-21 L1 5-5 Chico Rebels 84 78 .519 6.0 91-71 -7 41-40 43-38 9-6 15-23 W1 4-6 Hammersmith Hooligans 84 78 .519 6.0 78-84 6 41-40 43-38 4-6 21-20 L2 4-6 Toronto Marlboros 84 78 .519 6.0 83-79 1 34-47 50-31 10-5 25-17 L4 5-5 Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines 74 88 .457 16.0 81-81 -7 36-45 38-43 3-7 16-18 W4 7-3 Colorado Rancheros 66 96 .407 24.0 71-91 -5 32-49 34-47 5-9 15-22 L3 3-7

[Alan T]

11 teams over .500. That might be the most in FOOL history for a single season. Amazing parity league wide for the most part.

[Alan T]

League Leaders AVG E. Harris - CHI .391 2 C. Serrano HYN .384 3 J. Valéncia ANN .372 4 S. Padilla STP .366 5 L. Winter STP .352	League Leaders HR C. Serrano - HYN 60 2 J. Valéncia ANN 56 3 S. Miller HAM 51 4 E. Harris CHI 50 5 T. Saldaña TOR 46	League Leaders RBI C. Serrano - HYN 195 2 J. Valéncia ANN 178 3 J. Serrano ANN 156 4 L. Melanson CHI 155 5 S. Padilla STP 154
League Leaders W C. Crowder - HAM 20 2 J. Jofre STP 18 2 E. Ortega BOS 18 4 M. Fontanez CHI 17 4 2 more tied with 17	League Leaders ERA J. Jofre - STP 3.18 2 K. LeGrange STP 3.24 3 A. Martínez NVY 3.31 4 R. Hudson APX 3.38 5 E. Ortega BOS 3.42	League Leaders K A. Flores - HAL 215 2 Z. Li HAM 200 3 G. Mota CHI 196 4 A. Jones NVY 190 5 J. Cho ANN 182

[Alan T]

Ann Arbor's Jose Valencia breaks the 3 year old Leroy Winter record for single season OBP this season. Ed Harris however not only also breaks it, he also shatters it. Winter's former record, set in 2061 was .514. Harris had an OBP of .556 this season for a new Single season record!


Harris and Valencia also broke Winter's 3 year old record for OPS in a single season, Harris now has the record OPS with a 1.318 (.12 higher than Pichette's amazing season back 20 years ago)


No Surprise that Harris also set the new single season record for VORP with 160.49!

Harris beat Serrano's single season record for runs from last year by one with 168 this year

He also set a new record for walks in a single season with 164, breaking Ghislain Sicco's 25 year old record of 161!

[Alan T]

Hyannis's Carlos Serrano did not have a season to sneeze at either, he missed out on the triple crown just barely as he finished second in batting average to Harris this season.

Serrano did however set new records for the following:

Slugging Pct: .763 ( Serrano beat Ed Harris this season by just .0006!!) , breaking Felipe Aguilera's former record of .733 set in 1997

Total Bases: 502, breaking Frank Dawson's former record of 499, set in 2035

Home Runs: 60, making Serrano the first player in fool history with 60+ home runs in a single season! He broke Guoncalo Castel's 45 year old record of 59!

RBI: 195, breaking Felipe Aguilera's 1997 record by just one RBI!

[Alan T]

So with two amazing seasons by Harris and Serrano... which of the two will win the Tanaka Award this season?

[Tasan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

11 teams over .500. That might be the most in FOOL history for a single season. Amazing parity league wide for the most part.

Shut yer pie hole. We don't see any stinkin' parity here in Colorado ;- )

I guess with the once mighty Rancheros on the downswing, the rest of the league gets a much needed chance to win things though. Have fun will it lasts guys, because I guarantee this is just temporary!!!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Super Swinger -- Valéncia Slams 6 Hits
Thursday, August 14th, 2064: The Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines swept past the Hammersmith Hooligans 46-6!! today at Ballpark of Hammersmith and were paced by first baseman José Valéncia. The 30-year-old Valéncia got 6 hits in 8 at-bats, helping to send Hammersmith down to defeat.

J. Valéncia hit an RBI single in the 1st, hit a two-run home run off J. Mouwen in the 1st, singled in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, walked in the 6th, walked in the 7th, flied out in the 8th, grounded out in the 8th, hit an RBI double in the 9th and hit a two-run single in the 9th.

In 112 games this season Valéncia has batted at a .374 pace with 155 hits and 43 home runs.

Ummm...what?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

That is right.. 46-6... Looking at that box score, I don't even know what happened. Multiple, and I mean multiple Hammersmith pitchers just got absolutely rocked.

Oh, I see that score did not escape notice. I am going to have to subtract that game to get a real idea of how my staff performed this season. Wow...

[Alan T]

The new file is up! Playoffs run tomorrow night

[Chief Rum]

Lovely. Five teams tied with an 84-78 record. Six teams have a better record. That means that one of those 84-78 teams--on the whims of the unknown, possibly random OOTP draft order engine--will draft as high as 4th, while one of the other teams will draft 8th--and not protected from Free Agent Type A compensation. And none of us 84-78 squadders will know which is which until after the main free agency period runs through. Ugh...

Congrats to the playoff teams, BTW. One heck of a tight season.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Hidalgo Gets #300
Sunday, August 31st, 2064: It was a great day for Felipe Hidalgo, but not a good one for his Halifax Winter Wolves. The 38-year-old center fielder reached a personal milestone with his 300th career homer, but it wasn't enough to beat the Boston Settlers, who came away with a 10-5 victory. Hidalgo finished the day with 2 hits, 3 runs batted in and 1 run scored.

"Well, I've conceded the fact that you can't will yourself to hit a home run," he said. "I tried hard for the last few days. It was getting to be embarrassing with the crowd standing up every time I came to the plate."

Hidalgo has a career .311 batting average with a .415 OBP. He has hit 300 homers, driven in 1372 runs and scored 1302 runs since he came into the league.

Awesome awesome awesome Felipe!
Congrats big guy!

Maybe this year you will actually sign my flippin extension instead of making me sweat it out trying to acquire you back during the offseason :P

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Alan T

10/16:

Halifax 9, Apex 7 (11 innings)

A Napa Valley victory over Boston will create a three way tie! A Boston win clinches the playoff spot for the Settlers....


Boston vs Napa Valley...

Spoiler

Boston 4, Napa Valley 1

Boston clinches a playoff spot as Napa Valley and Halifax are eliminated on the final day of the season!

This is the most unlikely season ending I've ever seen.
And to think in the end of september I was relishing the thought that I would have the 4th draft pick . Now I have like the 13th or some stupid jazz.

[TeachEnEspanol]

Sorry guys, I had to close out and get away from the computer last night because I was so disappointed. I just realized, though, that I forgot to say CONGRATS to the playoff teams! Good luck tonight!

[Montreal_GM]

Congrats to the playoff teams.

[Tasan]

Hey Kevin, lets say we rise up next season and put an end to all this parity???

Oh congrats you silly, stinkin playoff teams. I kid, I kid. I can't really tell if you're silly or not.

;- )

[Chief Rum]

Oh, in answer to Alan's posed question, I would give the Tanaka to Davis.

[Montreal_GM]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Hey Kevin, lets say we rise up next season and put an end to all this parity???

Oh congrats you silly, stinkin playoff teams. I kid, I kid. I can't really tell if you're silly or not.

;- )

With the state of my big league pitching and lack of solid pitching prospects in the high minors I'm probably a couple seasons away.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Montreal_GM

With the state of my big league pitching and lack of solid pitching prospects in the high minors I'm probably a couple seasons away.

You should switch to the RL, where pitching doesn't matter.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

You should switch to the RL, where pitching doesn't matter.

LOL!! We seem to compete each year with 3 competent pitchers. Pitching doesn't seem to matter at all in the RL.

Thanks to Alan for running the season and good luck to the playoff teams.

46-6. Damn.....

[Chief Rum]

Heh...it's actually a legit concern. It's like a steroid era in FOOL. Even the CL is affected--the league ERA has been above 4.50 for several seasons now and has approached 5.00, which is what the RL used to be like.

Meanwhile, the RL is in the midst of the most offensive era for any individual league in FOOL history. 1,000 runs used to be the standard for a great offense. My Hooligans scored 1037 times last year, and we finished 3rd or 4th in the league in scoring. The RL ERA--which has been hovering around 5.50--not only went higher than a 6.00 this past season, it obliterated it (like 6.21 or so).

Most owners probably think they're 5.50 ERA SP was a piece of crap. Actually, he was well above average. Great pitching in this league has to be considered a truly worthy accomplishment (one of the reasons I think Jason Holmes was better than he was given credit fior was because he pitched in the previous "top offensive era" in FOOL), while great hitting is slightly suspect.

Not to take anything away from Davis or Valencia or some of the other RL hitters who had great seasons (Winters, Serrano, Miller, etc.), but, really, achieving offensive records this year has to be taken at least somewhat with a sizable rock of salt.

[Tasan]

Yeah, offense has gotten out of hand in the RL. I don't think I had a pitcher under 5 era. I know I have some stinkers, but I also have a couple of guys who should be able to hold their own and they just don't.