August, 2024

Chapter Four Recap

Players of the Chapter

In the winter of 2017, the Ravenswood Infidels acquired Justin Verlander in a trade with the Akron Ryche. Verlander was a workhorse that year, tallying 250 innings for the Infidels, posting an 18-6 record and a 2.78 CERA. He finished fourth in the OL Cy Young race, and carried Ravenswood into the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to New Milford. In that winter trade with Akron, the Infidels sacrificed a shortstop prospect by the name of Dansby Swanson. They also tossed in another prospect: Ronald Acuna. Acuna (.379/.459/.642, with a league-leading 28.5 RC) is our OL Hitter of the Chapter.

Way back in 2014, the Chicago Black Sox and Atlanta Fire Ants made a huge blockbuster winter trade involving eight players. The key player acquired by Charlotte was Justin Upton, who was just entering his prime at age 26. The key player on Chicago's side was a 21-year-old rookie by the name of Bryce Harper. Harper played ten seasons as one of Chicago's franchise players. He was then re-signed as a free agent this past winter at a salary of $15 million. His Chapter Four performance (.447/.500/.812, 35.2 RC) helped carry the Black Sox to a 16-8 record on the chapter. He is our EL Hitter of the Chapter.

Let's continue this stroll down memory lane. In 2017, my son, Ryan, owned the Granite State Lightning. I tried repeatedly to get him to trade me Sonny Gray, but he refused to budge. In the middle of the 2018 season, Ryan decided to step down, and Mike Ries temporarily took over. It was during that time that I was finally able to acquire Gray. All it cost me was some over-hyped Cuban prospect named Yordan F'ing Alvarez. Gray did a great job for me. He should have won the OL Cy Young in 2020, but voters expressed their anti-Cowtippers hatred and he finished second.

Lee Scholtz took over the Granite State franchise later in 2018. Not only did he inherit Alvarez, but he traded for Gray this past winter. Gray posted a perfect 4-0 record and a 2.27 ERA in Chapter Four, holding opponents to a .177/.256/.248 batting line. He carried the Darien Blue Wave to a league-best 16-8 record, which propelled them into a tie...with me...for first place. The Baseball Gods have a sick sense of humor.

Something very strange is happening with the Chicago Black Sox's pitching staff this year. Pitching coach Orel Hershiser not only deserves a raise, but the Black Sox should erect a statue of him outside of the Ballpark at Aurora. Touki Toussaint played so far over his head in Chapter One, he made the all-star team. He posted a 4.97 ERA in MLB '23, but somehow went 8-2 with a 3.00 ERA in the first half. To start Chapter Four, Domingo German (4.56 ERA in MLB '23) held opponents to a .196/.260/.380 batting line, and posted a 3.51 ERA. Somehow, against all odds, he is our EL Pitcher of the Chapter.

Top Stories of the Chapter

Story #1: BDBL Weekend!

The 25th (mostly) annual BDBL Weekend was held in Arlington, Texas, on July 19th and 20th. A grand total of five BDBL members attended the event along with one brother. We took in a pair of games at the surprisingly beautiful Globe Life Field, where Wyatt Langford's Texas Rangers faced Adley Rutschman's Baltimore Orioles. Rutschman's 17th home run of the season led to a 9-1 drubbing of the hometown Rangers in Game One. Langford's RBI double in Game Two wasn't enough to overcome an 8-4 loss. I don't remember how any other players performed. It doesn't really matter.

What matters is that we all had a blast. Greg and I kicked off the weekend with some delicious margaritas at the Papasitos conveniently located next to our hotel. We were soon joined by Matt Clemm, and then later, after various airport snafus, we were joined by Tony Badger, Mike Ranney, and his brother, John.

After the game, we made the mistake of checking out the "Texas Live" monstrosity next to the ballpark, where we quickly learned that we are far too old for Texas Live. The following morning we headed over to Top Golf so that I could embarrass myself. Greg and Badger wiped the floor with us in the first two games. We then concluded with a game that doesn't involve hitting any specific target. That is where I shined.

Prior to the second game, all five of us met at a local sports bar to air our gripes with Diamond Mind and the Baseball Gods, reminisce about the past, and consider infinite farm expansion. After the game, Greg, Matt, and I searched for a place that serves margaritas after 10:00pm. We found such a place, which also happened to have scantily-clad waitresses and some decent bar food. Upon entering the establishment, we were treated to an ID check and a frisk, which was a first for most of us.

I didn't realize how much I needed that time away from home, hanging out with the guys, until it happened. Now I cannot wait until the next BDBL Weekend. Many thanks to all who attended. And for those that didn't: get on it for next year!

Story #2: Paulson Out!

Our defending champion is not used to having much competition in his division. In 26 seasons, he has won his division sixteen times. (That's nearly two-thirds of his entire BDBL career!) He won those sixteen division titles by an average of 29 games. The last time the Undertakers faced any competition whatsoever in their division was in 2013, when they won by only two games over the Flagstaff Outlaws.

In preseason polling, the Cleveland Rocks (8 votes) barely topped the Undertakers (7) as the favorites to win the division. The South Loop Furies received only one vote (from Bart Chinn's mom, presumably.) After four chapters of play, the Rocks are sitting in dead-last place, 14 games behind the leaders. Los Altos and South Loop are tied atop the division with records of 58-46.

Yet...Jeff Paulson, our defending champ, has officially waved the white flag. He has packed his bags. He has cried "uncle." He has taken his ball and he has gone home.

Part of the reason for this decision, I can only assume, is the sweetheart deal Bart Chinn made with Mike Ranney last week. In that deal, the Furies received not only an ace starting pitcher (Blake Snell), but an all-star shortstop (Wander F'ing Franco.) The cost was dirt-cheap: Kevin Alcantara and Ralphy Velazquez. Alcantara ranks as the 84th-best prospect in baseball on Baseball America's recently-updated top-100. Velazquez ranks 65th.

Combined, Snell and Franco clock in at a whopping 8.5 WAR. If we do the math, that means South Loop has added around three wins over the remainder of the season. Three wins in a race this tight makes a huge difference. Of course, it also will make a big difference that Paulson has traded several impactful players in his white flag deals, including J.D. Martinez, Mitch Garver, Patrick Wisdom, and Jordan Romano.

For all intents and purposes, the Griffin Division race is now over. All that remains to be seen is how brutally Wander F'ing Franco and Blake Snell will beat the crap out of me in the postseason if I should make it that far.

Story #3: McGowan Madness

It took much longer than expected, but the Darien Blue Wave finally finished a chapter in first place this season. With only two chapters remaining, the Blue Wave are tied with the Florida Mulligans atop the McGowan Division, with the Flagstaff Peaks trailing by three games despite a .625 winning percentage that would lead four other divisions.

Darien went nuts in Chapter Four, winning a league-best 18 games (tied with the Lake Norman Monsters.) Florida went "just" 15-9, while Flagstaff slumped to 12-12. Both Flagstaff and Florida lost three of four to the Furies. Darien took full advantage of their weak schedule by sweeping both Virginia and Ravenswood.

Chapters Five and Six will include the return of intradivisional play. So far this season, Darien is 2-6 against Florida and 4-4 against Flagstaff. Flagstaff is 5-3 against Florida. Lee Scholtz made his big splash last chapter, adding Jose Altuve (.310/.385/.548 last chapter) to the mix. I've done what I can to add a few puzzle pieces this past chapter, adding Craig Kimbrel, Stone Garrett, Jorge Mateo, and Garrett Cooper in trade.

The shame of it all is that one of these three teams will be left out of the playoffs picture. The last time a .600 team missed the playoffs was in 2020, when the Bear Country Jamboree and Ravenswood Infidels finished tied for the wildcard with identical .600 records. (Bear Country won the tie-breaker to advance.) The 2016 Cleveland Rocks also missed the playoffs with a .600 record, as did the 2012 Akron Ryche and 2008 Kansas Law Dogs.

We have to go all the way back to 2000 to find a team with a record above .600 that missed the playoffs. The Madison Mimes won 98 games that year and finished one game out of the division race and three games behind in the wildcard. One of these McGowan Division teams could make history this year -- and not in a good way.

Story #4: The Wild Wilkie

The Highland Freedom went 17-7 in Chapter Four, and outscored their opponents by more runs than any other team in the BDBL aside from Darien...and yet they still couldn't catch the Lake Norman Monsters in the Wilkie Division. The Monsters went 18-6, tying Darien for the best record in the league. By doing so, they increased their lead in the division to two games.

Both teams scored a ton of runs last chapter. They were the only two teams in the BDBL that scored more than 150 runs. Lake Norman scored 159 to Highland's 151. Six different full-time Lake Norman batters posted a 900+ OPS last chapter. Six different Highland batters did the same.

The Freedom have loaded up for the stretch run by adding J.D. Martinez and Mitch Garver from the flag-waving Undertakers. They also added Shawn Armstrong (1.38 MLB ERA, 5.32 BDBL ERA) to their bullpen. Lake Norman added Shelby Miller (1.23 ERA in 29+ IP for Bear Country) to their already-loaded bullpen.

Unlike the McGowan race, there is comparatively little drama to this division race since the loser will undoubtedly make the playoffs as the wildcard winner. As far as the division goes, the winner will likely be determined by the eight remaining head-to-head matchups between these two teams. In the eight head-to-head games so far this season, Highland owns a 5-3 advantage. Take that for what it's worth.