SF 4, TEX 0

Texas blanked again, this time by Bumgarner. I wonder if, after the Series is over, the commentary is going to focus on Vlad's ineptitude in the field a few games back, and how that felt like a bellwether. I'm not saying it's the case; I'm just wondering if that will become a lightning rod. The Rangers have not seemed comfortable in this series, and that's the most glaring example.

Anyway...points.

SF - 3

Cruz, N - 1
Posey, B - 4

-----

Your current standings:

John - 243.67
Joe - 210
Samantha - 197.67
Aaron - 196
Jill - 147.67
Maria - 146.67
Sarah - 49.01

Sam climbs back into the money thanks to the SF victory, and Jill is now in fifth place after some heroics by Buster Posey. It really isn't possible for anyone to catch John, but we could see some interesting shuffling/scuffling for the second- and third-place money.

Lincecum and Lee back to the mound tomorrow night; first pitch at 7:57 PM ET (shut up, FOX).

TEX 4, SF 2

Sorry for the late posting here -- busy weekend, just catching up now.

Points for the Saturday game now; full standings in the entry for the just-completed Sunday-night game, mere moments away.

TEX - 3

Cruz, N - 2
Hamilton, J - 4
Posey, B - 1

-----

Aaron back in the money, for now, but we'll see how it looks after I total up tonight's points.

SF 9, TEX 0

Did I jinx the Rangers by mentioning their solid pitching? Something jinxed them, at any rate, as we get another ugly score but no hitting from Texas this time.

Points:

SF - 5

Hamilton, J - 1
Posey, B - 1
Uribe, J - 1

Cain, M - 9.67

-----

Not a ton of change, but Sam joins the money thanks to young Uribe.

John - 236.67
Joe - 207
Sam - 194.67
Aaron - 193
Maria - 146.67
Jill - 139.67
Sarah - within a hundred of the nearest competitor at last! 49.01

The fun resumes on Saturday at 6:30 PM ET in Texas -- see you back here then!

SF 11, TEX 7

Great pitching match-up! Except the "great" part. And mostly the "pitching" part.

Texas clawed back close enough to nix the blowout points for San Francisco, though, and while both the starters looked capital-R ragged, each managed to pull some points for their pickers, to wit:

SF - 3

Cruz, N - 2
Posey, B - 1
Uribe, J - 4

Lee, C - 11.67
Lincecum, T - 8.67

-----

No change in the standings, but Sam has inched closer to the money.

John - 235.67
The Sheriff - 202
Aaron - 193
Sam - 188.67
Maria - 146.67
Jill - 133.67
Sarah - ha.ha

As far as pool points go, it's pretty much up to the hitters now unless/until we see the aces again. It's CJ Wilson against my life-support pick, Matt Cain, tonight at 8 PM ET.

Final full standings pre-Classic

As we head into the World Series -- FYI, the Classic begins at 7:57 PM ET on Wednesday in San Francisco with Lee and Lincecum as your probables -- it's time to look at the BPP's full standings for the last time.

Going into the final fight:

John - 224
Joe - 190.33
Broomfield/Romine - 183.67
Aaron - 182.33
Maria II - 178
Tom - 174
Sam I - 173
Tim - 168
Angela - 159
Dave and Warren - 156
Lauren - 155
Ben II - 135.67
Maria I - 135
Jeremy - 134.67
Hilary and Keith - 129.67
Jill Love - 121
Ben I - 119.67
Jill Hate - 113.34
Sam II - 109.67
Matt - 96.67
Sarah II - 76
Sarah I - 39.34

There is one pooler in the current money who has no picks left, and I could leave Broomfield/Romine in the standings for a few days to see how it shakes out, but unless Tim Lincecum gets shot in the pitching arm, there isn't much point, so, to keep things simple, I'll work it like this. Everybody who no longer has picks is out. Everybody who still has a pick, no matter how long a shot, is still in. Just to try to keep things a bit more interesting (mostly by making jokes at my own expense some more).

Maria, Jill, and I have no realistic shot at catching the leaders, but as Jon Miller says, that's why you play the games.

Alas, we must now say goodbye to most of the pool, including our defending champ and one past champ as well. Broomfield/Romine, Maria II, Tom, Tim, Angela, Dave, Warren, Lauren, the Bens, Jeremy, Hilary, Keith, Jill Goofus, Sam II, Matt, and my own craptastic II slate: thank you so much for playing, and I hope we'll see you all in 2011. (And here during the Series for some commentary, if you'd like.)

Any points mistakes you find, please bring them to my attention, and again, I'm sorry it worked out this way...but some years, it's like that. (Some years, it's worse. See: any year the Cubs get bounced out of the NLDS in 3 games and take two thirds of the pool with them.)

SF 3, PHI 2

I had to follow the game via refreshed Blackberry updates at a rock show. Just as the Nightmare River Band went into their last song, I hit refresh one last time and came upon "SF 3 PHI 2 FINAL." Make of that whatever poesy (or Posey) you will, as the Phillies exit the stage and take the bulk of the pool with them. Congrats to the Giants, but in here, it's a bit sad; my condolences to the Phillie pickers (which is basically everyone). It was a solid play, but it didn't work out.

Pool Silver Slugger for the NLCS is Jayson Werth, somewhat by default, and our Cy Young is The Freak, who managed to pick up some pointage last night in relief to edge out Oswalt. LVPs include Ibanez and Utley (the latter is apparently injured, but not admitting the extent). Howard was a popular punching bag on sports radio, but according to our metrics, he was not that unproductive, just struck out a lot. Which...Howard does that.

And the Memorial Shane Victorino Lost Opportunity Award is presented to...well, Shane Victorino is a tempting candidate, but I'm giving it to Cody Ross.

The points!

SF - 13

Howard, R - 3
Ibanez, R - 3
Uribe, J - 5
Utley, C - 2

Lincecum, T - 1.33
Oswalt, R - 11
-----

The departed, and quick standings, after the jump.

TEX 6, NYY 1

It's not a good day for Yankee fans -- or for a handful of now-pickless poolies -- but this is about what we might have expected. If more than a handful of Yankees had hit, they might have pulled it out, but they were having a downish year and couldn't lean on their starters very hard, and Texas is a very good team. It's a nice moment for that franchise, too; congrats to its fans.

Pool ALCS MVPs include Cano for the Silver Slugger, and BPP Cy Young the Notorious L.E.E., who racked up more points in one start than the next guy, Sabathia, did in two.

The pool's LVP technically is Tex, who put nothing up before getting hurt; if we don't count him, it's a tie between Rodriguez and Swisher, but they actually did okay and were showing signs of heating up in the last couple of games (of course, Rodriguez 1) will get blamed for everything, including AJ Burnett somehow, and 2) at least did Rangers fans the favor of making the last out to bring everything full circle).

Last but not least, the pool's Memorial Shane Victorino Lost Opportunity Award goes to, I believe, Granderson.

The points:

TEX - 15 (win 3 + blowout 2 + championship-series victory 10)

Cruz, N - 4
Hamilton, J - 1
Rodriguez, A - 2

Hughes, P - 7.67

The departed:

Cano, R
Jeter, D
Rodriguez, A
Swisher, N
Teixeira, M

Hughes, P
Sabathia, CC

Standings after the jump, but the leader isn't going to shock anyone...

PHI 4, SF 2

Interesting game. Neither starter had his A-plus stuff, but more breaks went Halladay's way and SF stopped hitting (again). The Phillies and their pickers stay alive.

Points:

PHI - 3

Ibanez, R - 2
Utley, C - 1
Werth, J - 4

Halladay, R - 11
Lincecum, T - 14

-----

John's still holding a healthy lead, but the other rankings change after almost every game...will the difference come down to Werth getting off the schneid?

John - 205
Maria II - 178
Aaron - 177
170s - Joe, Tom, Broomfield/Romine
160s-150s - Tim, Angela, Dave, Warren, Lauren
130s - Samantha I, Jeremy, Maria I, Ben II
120s-110s - Hilary, Keith, Ben I
100s - Samantha II, the Jills
vale of tears - Matt, the Sarahs

-----

The AL is back tomorrow night at 8 PM ET, Hughes vs. Lewis. See you then!

SF 6, PHI 5

I didn't watch this game, and based on the weirdness I see in the box score, I'm kind of pissed about that now. And how does Uribe keep getting RBI without picking up any total bases? Bee-zarre.

Your points:

SF - 3

Howard, R - 2
Posey, B - 6
Ruiz, C - 1
Utley, C - 1
Werth, J - 2

Oswalt, R - 0.67 (...?)
-----

Mini-shuffle among the leaders; full standings after the jump.

NYY 7, TEX 2

Not a surprise -- with their backs up against the wall and the adrenaline from the loss of Teixeira, the Yanks brought their bats out. A strong outing by CC reshuffles the leaderboard somewhat as well.

The pointage:

NYY - 5

Cano, R - 4
Cruz, N - 2
Hamilton, J - 1
Jeter, D - 1
Rodriguez, A - 2
Swisher, N - 4

Sabathia, CC - 13

-----

For that brief moment before I enter the NL points, it's still John in the lead with 189, but now Tom's making his play at 159, and Maria II elbows her way into the discussion with 158; Broom/Rom and Aaron lurk nearby.

Full update/standings in a few minutes.

TEX 10, NYY 3

Well, it wasn't entirely AJ's fault, but whomever you want to blame, that was an ass-whupping. Again. It's pretty cool to watch Texas killing it, and San Fran is keeping things interesting enough pool-wise that John may not actually stroll off with our loot before November.

And John didn't hog ALL the points tonight...

TEX - 5

Cano, R - 5
Cruz, N - 4
Hamilton, J - 8
Jeter, D - 5

Okay, he hogged most of them. But The Sheriff boots Tim out of the money thanks to Robbie; more standings after the jump.

SF 3, PHI 0

Hamels takes the loss, but picks up more points than winner Cain; not much movement on the hitter side.

Not a ton of movement on the standings side, either, but Maria I is doing that thing she does every year where she climbs up the standings with a knife in her teeth -- and Tim is back in the money.

Points:

SF - 3

Howard, R - 1
Ruiz, C - 1

Cain, M - 12
Hamels, C - 14

-----

John still in the lead, followed by Broomfield/Romine; Sheriff Joe and Tim tied for third. Full standings after TEX/NYY finishes up.

TEX 8, NYY 0

And the solution to this is...AJ? Yeesh.

(CUT TO: John, doing the Snoopy dance.)

Points!

TEX - 5

Cruz, N - 1
Hamilton, J - 6

Lee, C - 21

-----
The top three stay the same, but with the addition of a formidable gap between first and second places. To paraphrase one of my dad's favorite expressions, if you ain't John, the view never changes. But Maria I is lurking...

PHI 6, SF 1

Philly pickers get the blowout points, but Philly hitter pickers didn't gain much ground -- just the 3 for Howard. Oswalt hurled a fresh face into the top three, though...

Your points:

PHI - 5

Howard, R - 3

Oswalt, R - 17

-----

142 - John
140 - Broomfield/Romine
136 - Sheriff Joe
120s/130s - Tom, Maria II, Aaron, and Tim
110s - Dave, Warren, Angela, Ben II, Lauren, Jeremy, Sam I, Hilary, and Keith
80s/90s - Jill Hate, Maria I, Sam II, Ben I, Matt, Jill Love
present -- Sarahs I and II

Cliff Lee heads to the mound tomorrow night for Texas, so these standings will likely see a small shuffle; full listing after tomorrow night's game, which starts at 8:07 ET (shut up, FOX).

SF 4, PHI 3

The Sheriff is back!

An anticlimactic night on the hill for the two starters, but the aces hung in there and picked up good pointage for their pickers -- not least Joe, who had a team win, a good day for Cano, and both starters on the hill to take a narrow lead.

The points:

SF - 3

Howard, R - 2
Posey, B - 2
Ruiz, C - 4
Uribe, J - 1
Utley, C - 1
Werth, J - 5

Halladay, R - 14
Lincecum, T - 15

Full standings post-jump.

TEX 7, NYY 2

Yeah, I saw the 5-0 score and had a flashback too. Didn't happen; Texas holds on for the win, and the ALCS heads back to New York.

Points:

TEX - 5

Cano, R - 6
Cruz, N - 4
Jeter, D - 1
Rodriguez, A - 1
Swisher, N - 2

Hughes, P - 7 (accessorized with a gaudy 15.75 ERA on the day..."thanks," Hughesy)

No change in the leaders, but Angela is suddenly sniffing around the money thanks to Messrs. Jeter and Cano. Full standings after SF/PHI.

NYY 6, TEX 5

As a game, that was painful to watch on both sides last night, Ron Washington's spinning-plates style of bullpen management most of all. As a pool opp, it was kind of fun; a lot of hitters picked up points.

NYY - 3

Cano, R - 6
Cruz, N - 1
Hamilton, J - 4
Jeter, D - 4
Rodriguez, A - 1

Sabathia, CC - 7

-----

As expected, the standings see a reshuffle now that TB is out of contention -- but John's still our leader despite last night's TEX loss. New lineup after the jump.

TEX 5, TB 1

As I IM'd John during the top of the 9th, "Ohhhhhh SHIT."

To the surprise of most, Tampa is out, and the pool loses a fair number of picks. To the surprise of few, Lee pickers are riding high.

Your points:

TEX - 9

Cruz, N - 4

Lee, C - 23
Price, D - 12

-----

Now departing from Pickville:
TB
Crawford, C
Longoria, E
Price, D
Shields, J

Full standings/holiday-shopping advice for John after the jump.

SF 3, ATL 2

Sorry to see it end that way for Bobby Cox, who did the best he could with a lot of injuries. I'm glad he got thrown out one last time, at least.

Atlanta's elimination affects nobody except me -- and me not much, as my lone ATL pick only tonight got on the board with a couple of points -- but we'll see a little movement from the handful of SF pickers.

Tonight's points:

SF - 9

Heyward, J - 2
Posey, B - 1

-----

The new standings, provided I haven't Barbied them again:

92 - Joe and Tim
90 - Aaron
88 - Broomfield/Romine
mid-80s - T. Rogs, D. Peps, W. Torms, Maria Dos
mid-70s - Hilary, Keith, Ben II, Jeremy, John, Lauren, Angela, Sam I
60s - Sam II, Maria I, Matt, Jill Love
50s - Jill Hate, Sarah II, Ben I
[sigh] - Sarah I

TEX @ TB tomorrow at 8 PM ET.

Updated Standings

...Okay, updated standings below. I'd like to tell you that this is the definitive corrected version, but I've said that like five times today...and another game starts in an hour anyway, so: fingers crossed!

And hey, at least you know I'm not benefiting from these duh-rithmetic errors in any way. 

92 - Tim
90 - Aaron
88 - Broom/Rom
86 - Dave, Warren, Tom
85 - Maria II
83 - Joe
79.67 - Hilary, Keith, Ben II
78.67 - Jeremy
77 - John
76 - Lauren
74 - Angela
65.67 - Sam II
64 - Sam I, Maria I
63.67 - Matt
59.67 - Jill Grrr
52.33 - Sarah II
52 - Ben I
51.67 - Jill Yay
27.34 - Mrs. Mathypants

SF/ATL at 7:30.

Please hold...

I'm having some spreadsheet issues -- I apologize for the ever-changing, never-quite-correct standings in the last day or so. I'll get that sorted out before tonight's game. In the meantime, I always welcome questions about my arithmetic, and as far as I know (sigh...sorry again), these are the current point totals:

92 - Tim
90 - Aaron
88 - Broomfield/Romine
mid-80s - Dave, Warren, Maria Dos, Joe, Tom
70s - Hilary, Keith, Ben Deux, Jeremy, John, Lauren, Angela
60s - Sams I and II, Matt, Maria Uno
50s - the Jills, Sarah II, Ben Une
also playing - Sarah I

SF 3, ATL 2; PHI 2, CIN 0

Not that many people picked Cincinnati, but man, what a bust for Votto pickers. Only Jim Thome and Jason Heyward have performed as poorly on the hitting side. And you'll never guess who picked all those dudes. ...Hey, I just work here. Heh.

Another series ends, Philadelphia proceeds to the NLCS, and the two Hamels pickers leap forward in the standings. To the points!

SF - 3

Posey, B - 2

-----

PHI - 11 (3 for the win, 6 for the series, 2 for the sweep)

Howard, R - 2
Ruiz, C - 3
Utley, C - 4

Hamels, C - 21 (9 each for innings and Ks plus 3 for the complete game)

And these picks have gone bye-bye:

CIN
Votto, J

The new and (for some) improved standings after the jump.

TB 5, TEX 2

Texas avoids a blowout with a couple runs, but doesn't appear to have anticipated that Tampa would get off the mat in so decisive a fashion.

Many of our pickers did, though, so a bunch of folks pick up points, and we have another lead change thanks to a big day at the plate for Longo The Mulleted Boy.

TB - 3

Cruz, N - 4
Longoria, E - 8

Full standings later, but the current money looks like this:

Joe - 80
Aaron - 79
Maria Dos - 74

NYY 6, MIN 1

Did anyone else have any clue that the Yankees would flatten the Twins like that? I mean, it's not a huge shock that they won, but that the Twins just could not get anything going against them was a surprise -- that the second and third Yankee starters held up so well.

Then again, not a ton of people picked the Yankees, either; they don't have the support they had last year. But those who did pick them made out like bandits tonight. And we have a completely different leaderboard!

Your points:

NYY - 13 (3 for the win, 2 for the blowout, 6 for the division, 2 for the series sweep)

Cano, R - 4
Jeter, D - 2
Mauer, J - 1
Rodriguez, A - 1
Swisher, N - 6
Teixeira, M - 1

Hughes, P - 13

Standings and eliminated picks after the jump.

TB 6, TEX 3

Tampa gets back in it just in time; TB and Crawford pickers gain some ground, and the lead changes hands again.

Your points, while we wait for the Yankees to end a Minnesota series that, frankly, has become a little uncomfortable to watch, not least Denard Span's "defense." Not that we pick for that, but fuck's sake, guy -- pick ONE route that works.

TB - 3

Crawford, C - 5
Cruz, N - 4

-----

Sheriff Reid back on top with 65, but trailed by John by only a point at 64, Aaron still in the money at 62, and Hilary and Keith microns behind at 61.67.

Nobody I just mentioned is holding NYY except Aaron.

See you back here after MIN @ NYY with more points and the full standings.

PHI 7, CIN 4; ATL 5, SF 4 (11)

Oo-fah. You leave the house, you think everything's under control. You come home, one NL pick has biffed it again, and another NL team has picked up five points nobody is eligible for because nobody picked them, thanks in part to...Kyle FARNSWORTH?!

Nice little moment for Rick Ankiel, though. Redemption.

And now, your points:

PHI - 3

Howard, R - 1
Ibanez, R - 2
Utley, C - 2
Votto, J - 1
Werth, J - 2

Oswalt, R - 10

-----

Posey, B - 1
Uribe, J - 1

Cain, M - 12.67

Standings after the jump; in the money is in bold. Short form: John shot the Sheriff.

SF 1, ATL 0

There's a new sheriff in town: Mr. Joe Reid. Not by much (and probably not for long), but he's top dog for now thanks to The Freak shuffling up our standings a bit. And I must say, although my picks are -- what's the term? Ah, yes: "quite bad," and not destined to improve much, this has been an amazingly entertaining postseason so far.

First, the points:

SF - 3

Posey, B - 3

Lincecum, T - 26

So, that happened. Standings after the jump.

NYY 5, MIN 2

The Twinkies looked lackluster/psyched out enough out there that I'm actually a little bit surprised the score isn't more lopsided. That said, few things in baseball are more satisfying to me than a defeat of that hypochondriac fuckknuckle Pavano and his mus-douche. Haaaaa-AAAAAATE.

Ahem. So, points!

NYY - 3

Cano, R; Jeter, D; Mauer, J; Rodriguez, A; Teixeira, M; Thome, J - 1
Swisher, N - 2

See you back here when the dust settles on Lowe v. Lincecum out west.

TEX 6, TB 0

Narratively, I like how well Texas is doing; it's nice to see. Pool-wise, if Tampa doesn't start hitting like right now, at the airport, it's going to get ugly.

Your points:

TEX - 5 (3 for the win, 2 for the margin)

Cruz, N - 3
Hamilton, J - 1

James "Panty" Shields - 6.33

Aside from John opening out his lead to over 10 points, not much movement in the standings, as Aaron and I were the only other poolies to pick up points.

First pitch of NYY @ MIN is in a few minutes, which may not give us much movement either, as nobody is holding either of the starters. It's tonight's ALDS that should really shake things up. Stay tuned.

NYY 6, MIN 4

Not much to say about the last game, except that, while I personally benefited from that Teixeira HR, it seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the Minnesota crowd, which then seemed to suck all the life out of the hitters. Buck up, little campers: it's two runs.

Also, Golson totally caught that, not that it mattered, really.

Points!

NYY - 3

Cano, R - 1
Jeter, D - 1
Mauer, J - 1
Rodriguez, A - 1
Swisher, N - 1
Teixeira, M - 6

Liriano, F - 12.67
Sabathia, CC - 11

Standings after the jump, but if you're in a hurry: John's winning. For now.

PHI 4, CIN 0

And then that other thing happened. Couldn't have happened for a better guy (I sense Jill will disagree).

Your points:

PHI - 3

Ibanez, R - 2

Halladay, R - 30 (9 innings + 3 for CG + 10 for no-no + 8 Ks)

No change in the lead as we wait for the NYY/MIN results; John's in the lead with Ben Deux, Hilary, Keith, and Jeremy not far behind. Most of the rest of you are in a cluster in the 30s. Ben Une, Jill Love, and both my slates still haven't scored.

Full points update after the late game.

TEX 5, TB 1

Huh. Okay. Your points:

TEX - 3

Crawford, C - 1
Cruz, N - 4
Hamilton, J - 1
Longoria, E - 1

Lee, C - 17
Price, D - 14.67

Price pickers snag a bunch of points despite a meh performance from their man; Aaron looks like a genius for picking Nelson Cruz. Something of a surprise, but it's early yet.

John sets the pace with 21, Maria I trailing at 17, a hugger-mugger of 15.67s (Sam II, Hilary, Keith, Ben II, Jeremy, and Jill's Hate Slate), Aaron with that spicy 4, and Joe with 1.

Nobody else on the board. CIN at PHI in 8 minutes.

Reminder: How The Points Work

TEAM POINTS

each game won = 3 pts.
games won by blow-out (5 runs or more) = 2 pt.
games won in extra innings = 2 pt.

division series = 6 pts.
championship series = 10 pts.
World Series = 15 pts.

sweep/division = 2 pts.
sweep/championship = 5 pts.
sweep/World Series = 8 pts.


PLAYER POINTS/TOTAL BASES

single, walk, HBP/other = 1 pt.
double = 2 pts.
triple = 3 pts.
home run = 4 pts.


(NB: I'm using MLB.com for TB; they do not appear to count BB/HBP/PB as bases, and therefore neither will I.)


PITCHER POINTS

each K = 1 pt.
each inning = 1 pt. (yes, thirds of innings will be counted)
throws a complete game = 3 pts.
throws a no-no/perfect game = 10 pts.

Aaaaaaand go

In just a few minutes, we begin. The BPP celebrates its 100th post with a review of today's sked:

TEX at TB, 1:37 PM ET
CIN at PHI, 5 PM ET
NYY at MIN, 8:30 PM ET

All on TBS -- now with 100% less Chip Caray! Sweet!

Look for our first scoring update at around happy hour.

Good luck, everyone.

The Picks

Below, the picks. For the first time, we have duplicate slates, so if those slates win, their pickers will have to divide the money evenly between them.

Philadelphia is by far the most popular pick, team- and player-wise, with Doc Halladay leading the way and Chase Utley not far behind. Atlanta, meanwhile, got exactly one pick, and I don't feel very good about it, either.

Full list of picks after the jump. If you see any mistakes, please email or comment ASAP so I can update my sheets before the games start.

Last-Minute No Help At All

Deadspin's "Hater's Guide to the MLB Playoffs," which I laughed at for 20 minutes, especially the Nick Punto bit. You'll know what I mean. Enjoy.

Last-Minute Odds Help

If you put any stock in what Vegas thinks, here's a breakdown of the line for the DSes. Of course, in this pool, you also want to have picks other people don't.

Pick deadline is in about 5 hours; money madness begins at 1:37 PM ET tomorrow.

Postseason schedule finally set

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Amj.bS725df44FrPJhhjTCcRvLYF?slug=ys-playoffschedule

The short version:

AL is Rangers v. Rays and Twins v. Yankees
NL is Giants v. Braves and Phillies v. Reds

More on who has home-field and when each game is set for at the link above. I'll look for your picks by Tuesday at 8 PM ET.