Thursday, October 30, 2014

SF 3, KC 2; congrats, Giants and Warren!

San Francisco continues its dynastic tradition of winning it all in even years; the BPP continues its dynastic something-or-other by crowning a new winner almost every year. Congratulations to the Giants, their fans, and at long last Warren Tormey. He's endured a number of basement-y outings but has finally prevailed. Well done, sir.

Your final points:

Gordon 4
Sandoval 6

Bumgarner 9

And your final standings:

TORMEY: 192 ($140)
Reid: 163.34 ($40)
Brady: 156.67 ($20)

Richardson: 110.67
Bingham: 94
Bunting: ...snerk


Our MVP, of course, is Mr. Madison Bumgarner; our LVP in '14 is the collective Nationals lineup; and the Shane Victorino Memorial Unpicked Hero Award is given, in gloriously loving slo-mo, to Hunter Pence, along with a year's supply of razors and Pantene Pro-V.

Thanks again for playing the BPP, everyone, and I hope to see you all next year, knives sharpened and pointed at the professor. ;-) Moneys will go out today; if you see any expensive arithmetic errors, please let me know ASAP.

'Til spring training...

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

KC 10, SF 0

Well, that's one way to take it to a Game 7 -- and after all the romantical shots of Hunter Pence hitting things and catching things and sheltering things in his pubey beard, it was kind of nice to see KC crap all over that with a blowout.

Points!

Gordon 2
Hosmer 4
Sandoval 1

Tormey widens his lead; otherwise no change worth mentioning.

Tormey 177
Reid 154.34
Brady 147.67

Richardson 106.67
Bingham 94
Bunting 87.33

Last licks of 2014, y'all. See you here tomorrow for winners, payouts, and a slo-mo video of Hunter Pence spooning with the Shane Victorino Memorial Why Didn't We Pick That Guy trophy.

Monday, October 27, 2014

SF 5, KC 0

Let's hope THIS one posts in a timely fashion...

Now it's do or die for the Royals. The FOX booth made much of how they're up against the wall, but...it's the FOX booth. They have a day off, and two games at home. I don't actually expect them to win, but it's not as dire as Reynolds et al. made it out to be either.

With that said, SF picks are the clear winners/MVPs of the pool this year, as Bumgarner picked up not just his regulation 17 but another 3 for the complete game. Your points:

Hosmer 1
Posey 1
Sandoval 4

Bumgarner 20
Shields 9

Tormey widens his lead considerably thanks to Big Game Panda:

Tormey: 172
Reid 154.34
Brady 147.67

Richardson 104.67
Bingham 94
Bunting 83.33

Unless Posey hits like 16 home runs in the next game, this is probably the order of finish, but it's a strange game, baseball, and that's why you play the games. See you back here on Tuesday!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

KC 3, SF 2

So sorry not to post an update until the second inning of the next game!** I was traveling and today was a wash. Glad to see the Royals take a series lead, though.

Points:
Gordon 3
Hosmer 1

Reid clings to a spiderweb of a lead, Richardson breaks the three-digit barrier, AND I'M ABOUT TO BREAK OUT OF THE EIGHTIES, WOO-HOOOOOO!

...Okay, no huge changes.

Reid 131.34
Tormey 131
Brady 124.67

Richardson 101.67

Bingham 91

Bunting 77.33

** And this didn't even publish until this afternoon...sorry about that, not sure what Blogger's issue was last night. Apologies!

SF 11, KC 4

You'd think, in a double-digit blitzkrieg, Posey could muster more than a single total base. Nope!

The Classic's all even and the aces head back to the mound tonight. This is probably Frisco's game to lose if they can hit even a tiny bit.

Points:

Gordon 3
Hosmer 5
Posey 2
Sandoval 2

And we have a new leader! Tormey jumps to the front at last with the help of Big Panda and Hoz:

Tormey 138
Reid 133.34
Brady 126.67

Richardson 104.67

Bingham 93

Bunting 82.33

And that lead looks to get even wider with both Bumgarner and Shields taking the mound tonight. Plot twiiiiiiists!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

KC 7, SF 2

Well, that's a relief -- I never enjoy a Series sweep, because it means baseball is over for the year more quickly. We'll at least get a Game 5, yay!

Points, yay!

Hosmer 1
Posey 1
Sandoval 3

Big Panda continues to look like a decisive pick (and Gordon too, in his own disappointing way) as Tormey inches closer to Reid.

Reid 131.34
Tormey 130
Brady 124.67

Richardson 98.67
Bingham 91

Bunting 76.33

Today's a travel day, so we'll convene again on Friday night with Guthrie facing Hudson at AT&T Park.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

SF 7, KC 1

Hello again! We're back, and it's the World Series. I didn't do much reading prior to last night's game, but the browsing I did do indicated, to my surprise, that the Giants are favored here. Certainly last night's businesslike thumping of Mr. Shields bore that out; as Brady put it, San Francisco has "been there," and I don't give a ton of credence to that sort of thing...but in this case it might make the difference.

That, and pitching in a short series. I'm not sure the Royals have enough starter-wise to prevail here. God knows the KC hitter picks around here aren't making up the difference.

Your points!

Posey 1
Sandoval 4

MadBum 11
Shields 3

Standings, hit the jump.


Thursday, October 16, 2014

SF 6, STL 4

The Cards seem a bit...confused out there. Clueless-Matheny memes notwithstanding, it's like they didn't expect the Giants to present a challenge, at least at bat; there's a sense of overmatch here. Maybe it's just me.

It's not Posey. Your points:

Posey 3
Sandoval 1

Second place changes hands again. The money:

Reid 1: 104.34
Brady: 97.67
Tormey 2: 97

Tormey 1: 88
Richardson: 86.67
Bingham: 86

Buntings still in the 70s and Reid 2 also playing.

With the Cards fighting to stay in the postseason, two of the three remaining pitching picks head to the hill tonight. Could get interesting!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

KC 2, BAL 1; Orioles eliminated

Seems there's no stopping the Royals, which as a baseball fan is wonderful for me to see but as a pool jefe is a bit of a drag today.

First, your points:

Hosmer 1
Jones 1
Markakis 1

Burnt picks:

Chen
Cruz
Jones
Markakis
Tillman

The money has shifted somewhat:

Reid 1: 101.34
Tormey 2: 96
Brady: 94.67

Tormey 1: 88
Richardson: 86.67
Bingham: 83
Shotwell: 81.34

Bunting 1: 77
Bunting 2: 75.33

Reid 2: 42.34

Names in italics have lost all picks and will no longer show up in updates. And frankly about half of those remaining have no reasonable shot, but let's let the NLCS play out and see where the chips end up falling.

I'm sorry this postseason has been so lopsided pool-wise; it's been a pretty fun ride as a fan, but a tough one for pool excitement. Stay tuned; you just never know with these things. (Welllll, I do. Sigh.)

KC 2, BAL 1

I love KC. The Royals are my second-favorite team. I'm happy for them. But if Baltimore doesn't make some kind of contest out of this, I don't know what. THINK OF THE POOL, BUCK SHOWALTER!

Your points:

Chen: 8.33
Hosmer: 2
Markakis: 1

So I guess I really mean "MY points," and I'm enjoying them while I can. Sigh.

No real change. I climbed over...myself but stayed in the 70s; the money is the same, though Tormey 2 inched closer to second place.

101.34 Reid 1
94.67 Brady
94 Tormey 2

high 80s: Tormey 1, Richardson
low 80s: Bingham, Shotwell

70s: the Buntings

40s: Reid 2

It's a 4 ET start for the ALCS as the Birds hope to fight off the ruling class (and the pool's sense of urgency hopes they succeed, at least for one day). NCLS goes at 8:15. No starter picks tonight, so it's up to the bats.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

SF 5, STL 4 (10)

That was not pretty, at all. Nor was it terribly pointy, but here's what we got:

Posey 2
Sandoval 2

No change to the money; still Reid 1, Brady, and Tormey 2 at the top (Reid has broken the 100-point barrier, however). Tonight's ALCS game stands to shake things up, though, so stay tuned!


Monday, October 13, 2014

STL 5, SF 4

I'm not rooting for the Cards in this series, for various reasons, but that was still a nice moment for Kolten Wong, who among other things has to struggle with his parents' having named him "Kolten." Come on, Wongs.

The picks, meanwhile, struggled to earn pool points. Come on, picks.

Sandoval 3

That means Tormey 2 replaces Tormey 1 in third; no other change.

The money:

Reid 1: 99.34
Brady: 92.67
Tormey 2: 90

high 80s: Tormey 1 and Richardson

low 80s: Bingham and Shotwell

Buntings bumping along in the 60s and 70s

Reid 2 is witty and polite

NL is off tonight, which means a merciful break from the verbal strainings of the Verdooch. Orioles (and Bunting 1) try to stop the bleeding at 8 ET, sending Chen to the bump vs. Guthrie.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

SF 3, STL 0

Hmm. I make a lot of Rasputin jokes about the Cards in the postseason, but Los Gigantes are just as unwilling to be denied in certain Octobers, and it looks like this is one of them. The St. Louis bats were deadened by Bumgarner -- which, since nobody picked any STL hitters this year, is a-okay for the pool.

Your points in the nightcap:

Posey 2
Sandoval 5

Bumgarner 13.67
Wainwright 3.67

Another disappointing outing for Waino, so those of us counting on him to drag us to the money might need to look elsewhere. Like, to prayer.

Leaders and followers, after the jump.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

KC 6, BAL 4

I'm a little surprised to see that Baltimore lost the first two at home, but a little not, because KC just seems to have mo right now. Rather quiet on the point front, at least until the night game is done; for now, the points:

Cruz 2
Hosmer 2
Jones 6

No change to the money, but Shotwell 1 climbs up a few spots.

KC 8, BAL 6 (10)

It's nice of the ALCS to get off to a niiiiiice pointy start for the few, the proud, the WTF who remain in the 2014 pool. A fun game to watch, not least because we'd been expecting the rain that was hitting Bawlmor all day in Philly, and it never showed up (it's here with a permanent-seeming vengeance now), so we wondered if they'd fit the game in.

And they did, even at XL size.

Your points, should you choose to accept them:

Cruz 4
Gordon 8
Hosmer 1
Jones 2
Markakis 5

Shields 7
Tillman 5.33

Money holds steady:

Cameron 1: 85
Tormey 1: 84.33
Reid 1: 83.67

But it's the rest of the field that's interesting, after the jump.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

SF 3, WSH 2; Nats eliminated

You know, maybe if Werthless and LaRoche had done a damn thing? But they basically didn't. Contenders for LVP in a simply brutal set of LDSes poolwise, for sure.

Your points:
Harper 7
Posey 2

Aaaaand the burnt picks:
Fister
Harper
LaRoche
Rendon
Strasburg
Werth
Zimmermann

I mean...wow.

Full standings after the jump.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

STL 3, LAD 2; Dodgers eliminated

I'm-a tell a little story now, because the pool is a smoking crater so why not. Drink-before-the-war time. So, Brady and I are enjoying some thin crust at Toby's Ale House and Matt Adams takes a big-boy cut at a high fastball, and I said, out loud, "Don, come get your boy. Adams isn't making that mistake twice." Another pitch; me again: "Come get him, D. Matts, come on."

And then, big fly.

And then the Dodgers are trying to rally with Puig sent in AS A PINCH-RUNNER. WHAT THE HIZZ. The only bro to get us any points last night and he's having a seat tonight in an elimination game. I don't know how y'all Dodgers fans deal with this shit all year, I really do not.

AND NOW THE YEAR'S OVER. Goddamn Rasputin Cardinals, I swear to God.

FINE. Points.

Gonzalez 1
Kemp 1

Kersh 14 (that's counting his hit)

Burnt picks and other despair, after the jump.

STL 3, LAD 1

A quiet night on the points front, as nobody in the Dodger lineup did much but Puig and none of the starters went:

Puig 4

The money (still no change):

Cameron 1: 71
Bunting 2: 68.33
Stephen "I Blame" Yuhan: 67.34

Reid 1: 66.67
Shotwell 1: 66.34
Cameron 2: 65

Low 60s: Bingham 1, Tormey 1, Shotwell 2, Brady, Richardson

High 50s: Bean, Bingham 2, Dunn

Low 50s: Tormey 2, Bunting 1, Ramos

40s: Green, Rogers

30s: Reid 2

Tonight's starters, sked, and spec after the jump.

Monday, October 6, 2014

WSH 4, SF 1

At least the senior circuit is avoiding the sweep-ola virus; Washington looked primed to make it a hat trick as they headed into hostile territory after playing the equivalent of two games the other night (and losing), but Doug Fister (...hee) held the line.

Points:
Harper 6
Posey 1
Rendon 2
Panda 3

Bumgarner 12
Fister 7

No change to the money since the last entry, but Reid 1 is now just a few inches off the pace.

Depending on whether the Dodger offense can pull it together, we might see some changes in the lead by the AM. Until then, I'll be going to sleep to the dulcet tones of America's Baseball Grandpa, Vin Scully, and trying not to think about what a bad call it is to start Kersh on short rest tomorrow.

Full standings and sked tomorrow morning!

KC 8, LAA 3; Anaheim eliminated

This is the outcome we'd hoped to avoid, of course, but here we are. The ouster of Detroit AND the Halos on the same day knocks the hitter picks to the ground and commences to kicking, I'm afraid.

Nice of the Angels to pick us up some pointage on the way out the door, though.

Gordon 2
Hosmer 5
Kendrick 3
Pujols 5
Trout 5

Shields 10

Burnt picks:

Kendrick

Pujols
Trout 
Weaver

Nobody's totally knocked out, but we only have two complete slates left, Shotwell 1 and Tormey 2. Full standings after the jump.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

BAL 2, DET 1; Detroit eliminated

Oh, dear.

That's...that's not good! That's not good at all.

Well, let's start with the positives, to wit: the points.

Cruz 6
Jones 2
V. Mart 3

Price 12

The money at the moment and what it all means, after the jump.


LAD 3, STL 2

The only series managing to keep things even so far is Dodgers/Redbirds, but it mimicked the double game in that the starter got pulled and things promptly went to shit for the home squad. In this case, though, the Dodgers managed to prevail, with points as follows:

A-Gon 1
Kemp 6

Greinke 15 (7 IP - 2BB + 7K + 2TB + 1R)

I'll go back to make sure I didn't miss any other pitcher hitting points, but they are eligible for those.

Full standings after the jump!


SF 2, WSH 1 (18)

Hee, so I thought the big story would be Zimmermann getting pulled when he's thisclose to putting up a CG for his pickers. And it...was, I guess, but not in the way I thought. *I* even had a rally hat on, that game went on so long. And, when that didn't work, a rally cat. And then I ate a Hershey bar and tried the #rallyfat. Three innings later Washington's pitching finally stumbled.

Your points:

Posey 3
Rendon 4
Sandoval 2
Werth 1

Zimmermann 13.67

The money for the moment is

Yuhan
Dunn
Tormey 1

but here come the Greinke pickers, so don't get used to that. Back in a sec!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

KC 4, LAA 1 (11)

Some points on offer in last night's free-baseball nightcap, but with both DET *and* LAA down 0-2, it's looking shaky for a lot of pickers...and Mike Trout, unassailably solid pick, has put up exactly zero points to date. 

Here's who did get on the board last night:

Gordon 2
Hosmer 8
Kendrick 1
Pujols 1

And that's it for the day. The money at the end of Day 2:

Tormey 1: 48.33
Cameron 1: 48
Richardson: 45

It's pretty close near the top, as you'll see after the jump:

Friday, October 3, 2014

STL 10, LAD 9

Oo-fah, not pretty. What is it with St. Louis in the postseason? It's like they level up the minute October starts.

Kershaw wasn't pretty either, but point-wise he got the job done, as he tends to do. It didn't make a huge difference to the standings since so many pickers have him, but let's have a look:

A-Gon 5
Kemp 3
Puig 5

Kersh 16.67
Wainwright 8.33

The money:

Tormey 1: 48.33
Cameron 1: 48
Yuhan: 44.67

close by: Cameron 2, Richardson
rest of the 40s: Bingham 2, Green, Brady, Bunting 1
30s: Dunn, Reid 1, Bean, Ramos
20s: the Shotwells, Reid 2, Bunting 2, Bingham 1
10s: Tormey 2, Rogers

It's not exactly a scoring fiesta over on KC/LAA as of this writing, and we're still waiting for everyone to get all their starters on the board. Not time for anyone to panic yet.


SF 3, WSH 2

Dribs and drabs on the points front in the afternoon game. The Nats looked a little out of phase to me, like they couldn't quite get it going.

Your points:

Harper 6
LaRoche 1
Posey 1
Rendon 1
Sandoval 1

Strasburg 6

New leader and the rest of the field after the jump.

BAL 7, DET 6

I'm of two minds about Baltimore's comeback this PM -- I'm happy about it for my own slate, and I'm happy for Baltimore, but if Detroit can't put up a better fight than this, it's going to be that year we all picked the Cubs like dumbasses all over again.

Lots of points here, though!

Cabrera 5
Cruz 3
Jones 3
Markakis 5
V. Mart 4

Chen 6.67
Verlander 8

Right now it's Bunting 1 in the lead at 31.67, Cameron 1 and Dunn just off the pace at 31.33, a bunch of people around 22, and the rest of the field. Next update this evening.

KC 3, LAA 2 (11)

Not a ton of pointage in the free-baseball nightcap; a ton of picks, and a ton of goose eggs for those picks (Iannetta is an early Victorino Memorial Platinum Slugger candidate, along with "Mr." Freese...again...).

Gordon 3
Weaver 11

And that's it!

Your first full standings after the jump. Spoiler: everybody's in play. Yay!

BAL 12, DET 3

Literally the minute I turned my back on the game, the shit exploded -- and not in a productive way for most of the pool, but the few, the proud, the BAL pickers had a good night.

Lots of points here:

Cabrera 5
Cruz 7
Jones 1
Kinsler 1
Markakis 4
Martinez 5

Scherzer 12.33
Tillman 10

Early leaders after the jump.


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Ze picks

Hope you can see this without a jeweler's loupe:


Once more into the breach, my friends!

Tonight's festivities begin at 5:30 PM ET on TBS, DET at BAL (full sked and starters here). A small crew of players this year, but a good mix of picks.

Can San Fran win it all again in this even-numbered year? Who's this year's Little Pick That Couldn't, and who wins the Shane Victorino Memorial Why Didn't Anyone Pick That Guy Award? Will Pujols's feet fall off? Will we miss McCarver in the booth?

Okay, that last one's a gimme, but right now, when we don't know what'll happen and we're all tied at zero, is the second-best part of BPP.

"Is the best part winning?" In theo...ry? The last time I won, God was in short pants, so for me, the best part is fulminating.

Good luck, everyone!