Postmortem

Good (very early) morning! First, a minor correction: arithmetic errors -- the state bird of the BPP -- put our actual final totals at

Yuhan 183
Currie 175
Bauer 150

Cooley 145
Shotwell 2 142

It doesn't affect the money, but just so you know that I do actually check this stuff. Uh, eventually. Heh.

Congratulations again to our winners; money will go out today. (Bauer, my first instinct would be to donate to a Houston school here, but it's your money, so let me know what you'd like to do. Maybe buy some oaktag and a Sharpie for your "WE'RE NUMBER ONE; THE WILPONS ARE NUMBER TWO" sign for 2018?)

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A few wrap-up notes on the MVP -- Most Valuable Pick -- et al. before we fold this one in tissue paper. Among position players, Springer was the MVP of the World Series in the pool as well as on the field, but Altuve was the most consistent and pulled down the most points overall. "It's like if Patek could hit," my dad said dreamily on the phone yesterday, possibly while writing Mr. Dave Altuve on his Trapper Keeper. ("I love your mother but if she can't adjust to a major-league slider...") Cap tips to Jay Bruce and Aaron Judge, who would have been difference-makers had their teams gone further.

MVPitchers and more, after the jump.

HOU 5, LAD 1; Astros win first franchise World Championship

I'm sad for Kershaw; I'm really sad for Yu Darvish; I'm sending mazels to the future Mrs. Correa, and thoughts and prayers for the stress injury she's going to get from that boulder on her left hand; and I'm basically content with this outcome. I went into the postseason wanting the Dodgers to win this, but these Astros won me over, and congrats to them and their fans.

Now if one of said fans could send me a cold compress, because literally everyone got in the game last night and the pointage is going to get crazy, that would be great.

Tough day at the office for the Dodgers, who looked worn out and heavy at the plate, but a surprising number of points racked up on the L.A. side, to wit:

Correa 1
Springer 6

Morton 3

Seager 1
Turner 1

Darvish -1, sigh
Kershaw 2
Wood 3

And now, the final(-ish) standings!

182 Yuhan
175 Currie
157 Bauer

148 Shotwell 2
141 Cooley

130 Shotwell 1

125 Williams
120 Powell

113 Stempel
112 Ansell
106 MArbour
105 Drake 2
104 Winklepleck 
102 Reid
100 Bingham 2

99 Drake 1
94 Brady
93 Tormey

89 Bingham 1

60 [opening bars of Ennio Morricone]

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Scrambling with work stuff over here today, but I will cross-check the stats tomorrow, post a few thoughts on MVPs, LVPs, and Shane Victorinos -- and of course send out the winners' filthy lucre, which with 33 slates comes to $231 for first place, $66 for second, and $33 for third.

Until I get to the wrap-up, feel free to spend the time checking my arithmetic; gloating/fuming in the comments; and pouring one out for the end of another baseball season. Congrats to our winners and thanks to everyone for making another postseason agonizingly fun!

LAD 3, HOU 1

I should have known, after "Verlander is the missing piece for the Astros"/reverse curse of the SI cover blathering on the MLB Network pregame, that the trophy wasn't going anywhere for another night. One last game for the 2017 season.

Game 6 wasn't the nailbiting pointfest you might have come to expect in this series -- and from Game 6es past -- but if Verlander couldn't literally pile his teammates in a Radio Flyer and drag them to victory, he did all right by y'all:

Bregman 1
Springer 5

Verlander 9

Puig 1

Hill 4

Not sure when Justin Turner morphed into the Murph of 2017, but if we knew this kind of thing were going to happen, the BPP would be no fun.  ("THIS ISN'T FUN ANYWAYS" - Powell.)

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Guys guys guys. I BROKE THE 60-POINT BARRIER!!1 Okay well good luck tonight everyone.

...hee. Your final standings going into tonight's showdown:

180 Yuhan
166 Currie
155 Bauer 

147 Shotwell 2

138 Cooley

128 Shotwell 1
122 Williams

Everyone else after the jump.

HOU 13, LAD 12 (10)

Things were already within the city limits of Bonkaloo by the time I fell asleep...I think it was 8-7 Los Angeles at that point? And I kind of hate myself for not propping my eyelids open with toothpicks, because what we're seeing, I would say, is the most...meritorious match-up, I guess, that I can remember. The teams aren't similar in the how, but they're so close in terms of what they can execute, every game is really fun, just a clinic on how to make shit happen.

Now we're in elimination-game territory, and I'm torn: these Astros are great, the team's never won the whole enchilada, and Houston could use the boost. But the Dodgers are great too, and my Brooklyn-dwelling ass can't root against them, plus they went into the postseason with several former Mets on the roster (now I think it's just Turner; the hapless McHugh was also a Metropolitan product, I believe). And you kind of want this for Kershaw, if only to drive a stake through the heart of the postseason-choke narrative at last. (Kershaw pickers might want to drive a stake through something else entirely since he lost them a point.)

"Speaking of that: Buntsy, quit trying to avoid arithmetic and give us the stats." But wait, I had a whole thing on Sideshow Gurriel's hair okay fine here we go.

Bellinger 7
Puig 4
Seager 2
Turner 2

Kershaw -1

Altuve 7
Bregman 2
Correa 7
Springer 5

Keuchel 2

Thanks to Correa, Bauer climbs back into second place:

171 Yuhan
155 Bauer
151 Currie

Rest of the standings after the jump! 

LAD 6, HOU 2

Every now and then in a postseason, a team that dominated in the regular season proves itself unable to deal with a worthy opponent. Truly challenged, they fold. I didn't anticipate that from the Dodgers and I don't think they can't adjust, but in the middle innings of last night's game, I was starting to think maybe that's what we were looking at here -- that if the Astros struck first, the Dodgers would be done for.

It's not the logical prediction, of course; the logical prediction is that the Houston 'pen is vulnerable to pressure, and the Dodgers duly applied it. But it didn't look like that would happen, and that's why the play the games...at least two more of them, which is a happy thing, at least for me.

Less so for our lone Wood picker, who wasn't able to capitalize as much as you might assume.

Bellinger 4
Seager 1

Wood 1

Bregman 4
Springer 4

Morton 7

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Money looks different this morning:

151 Yuhan
137 Currie
135 Bauer 

124 Shotwell 2
121 Cooley

115 Shotwell 1
114 Williams

104 Powell

high 90s Stempel and MArbour
mid to low 90s Reid, Winklepleck, and Ansell

high 80s Tormey and Drake 2
mid 80s Brady, Bingham, and Drake 1

vegetative state: Bunting

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Last game of the three-top tonight at 8 ET; Kershaw v. Keuchel looks to shake things up at the top again, if only a bit. I'll have complete standings after that game. Good luck, everyone!

HOU 5, LAD 3

I missed the second half of this one, but once McCullers got out of that walkfest jam, the rest felt kind of predictable. Not as predictable as the Blue Bloods I was obliged to watch instead (hashtag mom shows), but predictable. Related: is Will Estes planning to age at some point? That show came on in the 1880s, no?

...Anyway: points. Darvish has been something of a decider here at the top of the standings, and his flameout in the second was...also that? And we may not see him again, so Baseball Today's note that getting into the third and fourth starters could key the offenses decisively is taken.

Puig 1
Turner 2

Darveeeeesh -1

Altuve 2
Correa 1
Springer 2

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No change to the money, and Darvish pickers hoping to move up had to rely on bits-and-bobs point gains from their hitters instead.

147 Yuhan
131 Bauer
124 Shotwell 2

122 Currie
121 Cooley
114 Williams
110 Shotwell 1

high 90s Powell, Stempel
low 90s Winklepleck, MArbour, Reid

high 80s Tormey, Ansell
low 80s everyone else except

40s Bunting

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Decisive-move time for Currie and Powell as tonight's match-up on the hill is Wood v. Morton. Dodger bats better do their thing; good luck, everyone!

HOU 7, LAD 6 (11)

That was a fun one! Well, not for Dodger fans, but even the Dodger announcers seemed to be enjoying the chaos. I'll enjoy seeing how it plays out in Houston -- how the Dodgers, all but ordained as the next World Champs already in many quarters, do with splitting at home.

Oh, and this was a total pointfest as well, which is always fun. 

Altuve 4
Bregman 3
Correa 6
Springer 7

Verlander 3

Puig 4
Seager 4

Hill 4

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Once again, the change to the money is in third place, as it's probably going to go from here on out unless Darvish walks the ballpark in his next outing. Until then:

145 Yuhan 
129 Bauer
121 Shotwell 2

Not a ton of daylight between Shotwell 2 and

118 Currie
117 Cooley

Everyone else after the jump!

LAD 3, HOU 1

A creditable performance by the 'Stros under the circumstances, which included triple-digit temps at game time -- and a scorcher from Kershaw. Plenty of points to go around last night, but Kershaw had nearly as many as everyone else put together:

Altuve 1
Bregman 4

Keuchel 2

Seager 2
Turner 4

Kershaw 11

Nice to see Seager back in the mix, although as a Grandy fan, I'm sad that he got left off the roster. And speaking of rosters, here's ours, of money:

132 Yuhan 2
119 Bauer 
110 Cooley

Not far behind:

108 Shotwell 2
106 Williams
104 Shotwell 1
101 Currie 1

Everyone else after the jump!

HOU 4, NYY 0; Yankees eliminated

All's well on the fam-ergency front as of this writing! So let's get to it: Dodgers/Astros World Series! Happy for the Houstoneers, if not terribly surprised -- by the outcome, anyway. We had dinner guests and were not necessarily paying attention to the game, but from what I saw, los Yanquis just...couldn't. Not a single point for any of them on the way out. I thought this would be closer.

Altuve 4
Bregman 1
Correa 2
Springer 1

Morton 4

Leaving us: 

Chapman
Judge
Severino

Valid picks that ended up not doing quiiiiiite enough, especially Sevsie, our numerical LVP for this series.

The money looks a bit different:

120 Yuhan 2
107 Bauer Noobs and Shotwell 2
96 Currie 1

followed fairly closely by

94 Cooley
92 Shotwell 1

Best of the rest, and who's out, after the jump.

Delay of game

Hey, everyone! I didn't forget you. Minor family emergency had me out of town and now on scanty sleep; the big update will get done, just...not in the next little while. Stay tuned and sorry for the delay!

HOU 7, NYY 1

The texts were flying last night, at least between a couple of specific zombie slate-holders. I thought Verlander might be cashed after a lengthy previous outing, but he's a pro and got it done. Severino, less so, although his performance wasn't as grim as his AJ Burnettish point total might suggest.

Said points:

Judge 4

Severino -1

Altuve 5
Bregman 2
Correa 3

Verlander 7

The changes to the money give us a good idea of what the World Series will look like, pool-wise, vis-a-vis trading fire at the top:

114 Yuhan 2
101 Bauer Noobs and Shotwell 2
90 Cooley

Just off the pace:

88 Shotwell 1
86 Williams and the threateningly unique/still loaded Currie 1

83 Stembraaaaaains

79 Reid Classic
76 MArbour 2 and Powell, counting on Seager
72 Tormey
71 Bingham 2
70 Ansell and Brady

high 60s Drake 1, Bingham 1, Bunting 1, Camerons 1
low 60s Winklepleck, Drake 2, Reid DS, Elodie

high 40s JArbour, Camerons 2, Simone
low 40s Bunting 2, Currie 2

39 MArbour 1

I refuse to make a prediction on tonight's Game 7, Sabathia v. Morton at 8 ET; I can see half a dozen different scenarios unfolding. Few of them involve a low-scoring nailbiter, but maybe that's just wishful thinking. If the Yankees lose, Brady and I may have to go to shelter-in-place protocols -- people aren't fucking around with the fandom out here in the Ridge of Bay -- but if we can summon up a bar of service in the basement, I'll update, heh.

Good luck!

LAD 11, CHC 1; Cubs eliminated

It wasn't enjoyable to watch the defending champs take that sound of a beating, but I'm so happy for the Dodgers and Kershaw...and Turner and Grandy. 

And the sight of Schwarber bunting was...something. A valiant effort by the Cubs; the pitching just had nothing left. Uh, obviously ^.

Plenty of clean-up to do after all that champagne, though, so let's get to it. The points!

Bellinger 4
Puig 2
Turner 1

Kershaw 4

Bryant 4

And while we had some worthwhile contenders for The Shane Victorino Memorial Non-Pick, the guy who killed it and whose points went nowhere, for the 2017 NLCS I think we have to give it to Kiké Hernandez [sing-songs "En-REE-kay" in a Mr. Katimski voice]. 

Leaving us:

Arrieta
Bryant
Davis
Lester
Rizzo

And of course the money:

Yuhan 2 99
Bauer Newbies 93
Shotwell 2 86

The best of the rest, plus some more housekeeping, after the jump.

CHC 3, LAD 2

Another cap-tip to the MLB site's hed writers, who are having the times of their liiiiiives the last couple weeks. "Long Good-Baez"? That is hideous! Love it! 

No huge surprise that the bearlets dug in for a victory at home. Postponing the inevitable, as I bet Maddon will admit when it's all over, which it may be tonight -- but first, your points.

Bellinger 4
Puig 1
Turner 5

Wood 7

Arrieta 5 (9K - 5BB + 1 TB)

(Davis was back in, finally, but netted out at 0)

The money remains relatively stable, but there's some activity in the 60s here as the zombie slates begin to fade:

91 Yuhan 2
86 Shotwell 2
85 Bauer Newbies

76 Williams
75 Shotwell 1
73 Cooley
72 Currie 1, Brainstempel

Everyone else after the jump!

NYY 5, HOU 0

As a fan of the game, I find the Yankees' resurgence interesting in what it says, or doesn't, about momentum, and whether Davey Johnson was right about the postseason coming down to bench and bullpen. (I think that was him.)

As a fan of anyone caring about the pool past Game 1 of the Classic, I find the sudden silence of the Houston bats distressing, because Judge is the only Yankee hitting pick and it's getting late in here.

Correa 2
Springer 1

Keuchel 7

Judge 2

Money's roughly the same; if you turn down your sound you can hear Bauer Noob quietly sobbing re: the Keuchel points, but you can usually hear me quietly sobbing about something up in here, so nothing new under the sun, heh.

AL's off until the weekend, at which time a number of slates better hope the 'Stros at least go down swinging. Stand by for the NL and full standings!

LAD 6, CHC 1

Strange pool result for such an authoritative win, with only Puig notching points on the hitter side. 

Puig 2

Darvish 6

Bryant 2

Rizzo 1

And we have a new leader!

85 Yuhan 2

84 Shotwell 2

79 Bauer Noobs

72 Zombie Stempel, still gnawing on a femur

71 Williams, Shotwell 1, and Currie 1

68 Cooley

That's the best; see the rest after the jump.

NYY 6, HOU 4

Sanchez is finally off the schneid; good news for the Bombers, bad news for the 'Stros, who may not have the breadth of pitching required for this particular match-up. But it's back to level in the ALCS. Points!

Judge 6

Chapman 2

Yep, that's right. Sonny Gray put a lid on the pool big-time.

The money remains unchanged from the previous update, but look out for Reid Classic and Drake 2...and full standings, in the next entry.

NYY 8, HOU 1

Judge breaks out with a vengeance -- much to the RF wall's dismay, heh -- but will it move the needle much in the pool?

Not s'much:

Bregman 1
Correa 1
Springer 1

Morton 1

Judge 4

CC and the Yankee bullpen's ability to confine Altuve kept things from getting out of hand. At the moment, here's the money:

84 Shotwell 2
79 Yuhan 2
73 Bauer Newbies

But Yuhan and Bauer have Darvish, the only starter pick in play tonight. Rest of the standings after the jump!

LAD 4, CHC 1

First, let me note the heroic pun work being done by the MLB.com homepage crew. "LA-'88 Show"? It's so bad it's good. 

Lester was not bad, but the points totals were not good for Cubs pickers, since he's the only one who got a TB...and it still didn't offset the 5 BB.

Turner was great; I'm always happy to see him do well. I knew he'd kick ass if he got a chance with some other team. If he'd stayed with the Mets he'd be...dead, probably.

The points:

Bellinger 3
Turner 5 (and pool vets may remember/be annoyed by how walk-offs used to get a bonus)

Hill 7

Lester -2 (2K - 5BB + 1TB)

Money's shifted slightly:

83 Shotwell 2
78 Yuhan 2
72 Bauer Noobs, Zombie Stempel

71 Williams, Shotwell 1

68 Cooley, Currie 1
61 Zombunting

mid- to high 50s: Brady, Tormey, Drake 1, Winklepleck
low 50s: Bingham 1, MArbour 2, the Reid slates, Ansell

40s: Powell, Camerons 1, Bingham 2

high 30s: Drake 2, Simone, Camerons 2, JArbour, Elodie
low 30s: Dunn, Bunting 2, MArbour 1, Currie 2

Attendance Award: Bauer Rematch

We're back underway at 8 PM with Astros at Yankees, Morton v. Sabathia. Nobody picked the latter, understandably, but he's a steadying guy to have going when you're down 2-0. Of course, these pronouncements on my part have led to the exact opposite occurring, so sorry in advance, Carsten, and I'll just keep quiet about Currie 1's slate making its big move.  

LAD 5, CHC 2

Anyone else theorize that Maddon got himself thrown out to give a very tired team an extra shot of adrenaline? Just wondering. And if that was the reason, it fell a bit short, although I also suspect Maddon had no expectations of winning Game 1 in the first place.

Who won points-wise? Not the big movement you'd tend to assume with a Kershaw start since Roberts pulled him early; it's Puig pickers who made out:

Gryan 1

Bellinger 1
Puig 6
Turner 1

Kershaw 3

Don't mess with the Yuhan, the only full slate left:

83 Shotwell 2
75 Yuhan 2
72 Zombie Stempel

Rest of the slate, after the jump.

HOU 2, NYY 1

Do not adjust your set: same score as last night, but with a rooooof twist for the Yanks, as Sanchez is going to get clocked for the next two days for not holding onto that ball, fairly or not. 

Not great news for Yanks pickers, either, as Judge posts nothing but whiffs, again, and Severino goes negative:

Severino -2
Chapman 1

Altuve 2
Correa 6

Verlander 15 (13K - 1BB + 3 for the CG)

And you'll simply never guess who had all three of the big points-getters. Hee. The money before the night game:

Shotwell 2 83
Stempel 72
Yuhan 2 71

Currie 1 not far behind at 68, but look out for

Bauer Noobs 65
Shotwell 1 64
Williams 62 
and Cooley 59

who are all sporting Kershaw plus some Dodger hitters. The former is perhaps likelier to make a difference than the latter after a few days off (and nobody who picked Seager is going to make any progress in the LCS; his back has him off the roster), but I guessed Lackey as the Cubs starter and Maddon went with Jose Q, and order has been restored to the universe with my second slate once again in dead last, so what do I know, is the point.

Actually, I know this: we always see some big swings in the early LCS going, so buckle up, and good luck!

HOU 2, NYY 1

"To zombie slates!" - Stempel and I with cocktails last night

I'm not actually put out by losing most of my picks; it lets me enjoy the drama without conflict. Speaking of which, here comes Ansell, unopposed, with the lone Keuchel pick...

Your points:

Judge 1

Altuve 3
Bregman 1
Correa 1

Keuchel 9

That puts the money as:

62 Shotwell 1
60 Shotwell 2 and Williams
57 Bauer Newbies

55 Stempel and Bunting 1, aka "Braaaaaaaains"
51 Currie 1
50 Winklepleck

49 Yuhan 2, the only remaining complete slate

middle 40s: Tormey, Ansell all of a sudden, Reid Classic

low 40s: Bingham 1, Cooley, Camerons 1, Brady

highish 30s: MArbour 2, Drake 1, Elodie

mid- to low 30s: Drake 2, Dunn, Camerons 2, Reid DS, Simone, Powell

20s: everyone else except MArbour 1

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It's fixing to get point-tastic today at 4 ET as NYY/HOU go again, Severino v. Verlander. The night game is TBD v. Kershaw at 8 ET; unsurprising that Maddon hasn't called a starter, since he threw everyone and a kitchen sink at Game 5, but if I had to guess right now, I'd say it's Lackey.

Good luck, everyone!

CHC 9, WAS 8; Nationals eliminated

That game. Buh. Tough to watch; fun to watch; enraging, at least for this #neverDusty partisan who found his decisions on Scherzer infuriating. I don't like the Nationals generally, and generally I enjoy watching them fail and choke...except, somehow, for Harper, whose fratty resting-dickface attitude I respect for some reason; and for Ol' Husky Eye, who deserved better from his manager and from this season.

But once again the Nats are left in the afterburn of a division series. Decent points pick-ups on the way out, though...

Bryant 2

Davis 1

Harper 3
Murphy 6
Rendon 1
T Turner 3

Leaving us:

Harper
Murphy
Rendon
Scherzer
Strasburg
Turner the Lesser
Zimmerman

Oof. And: a couple of you will be leaving us as well, as far as updates go. First, the money:

59 Shotwell 1
57 Williams
56 Shotwell 2

Remainder of the final full standings after the jump, plus some housekeeping.

NYY 5, CLE 2; Clevelanders eliminated

In retrospect, I feel a bit silly not seeing this coming after Game 3, when Tito's team couldn't leverage the Yanks' depressing loss in the previous game. That bullpen is just impossible; add to that the loss of Encarnacion and the Shane Victorinonian performance of one D. Grigorius, and there you have it. And I'm not unhappy for the Yankees (not that I would say so if I were, because I live in Bay Ridge and I'd like to avoid getting killed), as a fan of the game.

As a fan of people still caring about the pool into the final round, well, this is sub-great, but let's get into the points and then we'll survey the damage.

...Sorry, just had to exchange texts with Stempel. If you're wagering on the percentage of the conversation that was curse words, I strongly advise you to take the over.

Anyhoodle: points, which didn't really even benefit most Yankee pickers because Judge is still swingin' like it's a key party.

Chapman 3

Bruce 1
Lindor 1

Kluber 4
Miller 5

Leaving us:

Bauer
Bruuuuuce
Carrasco
Encarnacion
Kipnis
Kluber
Lindor
Miller 
Ramirez

...*@#($&

The money, for now:

59 Shotwell 1
54 Williams
53 Bauer Newbies

Full standings and a body count after the jump.

WAS 5, CHC 0

Return with me, poolies, to those halycon days of literally yesterday, when the biggest story was this start by "Dr. October" -- a nickname that is enjoyable to say even if, when you think about it, it doesn't really make sense -- and not, you know, the smoking crater calling itself a baseball pool that will oblige this classics-minor dweeb to point out that teeeeeeh-chnically the word "decimated" is inadequate to what has occurred.

In weather resembling early scenes in The Perfect Storm, two different Cubbeenie pitchers cost their pickers points, nobody picked Taylor because he looks about 15, and Durph managed a single point, again.

However: Strasburg.

Murphy 1
Rendon 2
T Turner 2 (hey buddy)

Strasburg 10

Arrieta -1
Davis -1
Lester 2

I'll take a very quick moment to enjoy the Struffle this created, and note that her 2017 picks are putting the "well" in Shotwell:

54 Shotwell 1
50 Shotwell 2, Williams
49 Bauer Noobs

Bunting 1, Currie 1, and Winklepleck just off the pace, and big jumps for Reid Classic and Stempel.

So that's fun, right? [wrenching your face back around to this entry] RIGHT?!

I'll give the Nats this, they're hangin' on. Hope the same can be said of most of us in our next update, coming to a box of Kleenex near you later this AM. 

...k

I just...all y'all Nats just settle down. I did not understand Strasburg's decision not to go, I must say; I told someone on Twitter this AM that 95 percent of pitchers would demand the ball, rightly or not, even if they were hocking up actual lung tissue. He's a strange one that way, I guess, and it's his right to say he's too sick -- and he probably is; Brady and I have been trading the same low-grade leaf-mold-and-first-cold mung back and forth for two weeks now -- but it's unusual.

Then now maybe he's starting again? Which NOW seems like not that great an idea, and I say this as a picker of his?

And then on top of all that, the Red Sox org is like, "...[beat] Dear John: Beat it."? I mean, hey, the Mets are hiring, but...second prize is, the Mets are hiring!

...Baseball, man. Anyway! Nats/Cubs at 4 on TBS; Yanks/Cleveland at 8 on FS1. Try not to get whiplash from the Washington press releases.

LAD 3, ARI 1; Diamondbacks eliminated

Had nothing left to give the day and was already asleep by the time this was accomplished; not a surprise, although I did think the Snakes would fight longer. And maybe not cost us points, Greinke. And why Goldie gotta be the Pujols of the teens? I'd be like, that guy should be more famous/admired, I'll pick him every year like a sap, and he'd do bubkes.

Aaaaanyway, your points, which Dodgers racked up and Dbags Dbacks did not:

Bellinger 5
Turner 2

Darvish 7

Greinke -1

Leaving us:

Goldie, Greinke, Ray, Rodney

A comparatively minor hit for the slates -- the magic combination so far seems to have been to pick Altuve and/or Kershaw -- but we saw a minor shuffle of the leaders:

50 Williams
49 Bauer Newbies, Shotwell 2
47 Winklepleck, Currie 1

Rest of the standings after the jump.

NYY 7, CLE 3

I mean I gueeeeeess I'm happy for the Yanks, and especially that Severino got to come back from the wild-card meltdown he had (and make his pickers look like genii)...but with the number of Cleveland picks in this pool? And how tied up they got yesterday? Defending pennant-winners need to shut it DOWN on Wednesday.

Your points for the nighttime AL contest:

Bruce 1

Judge 2

Bauer 1

Severino 8

That didn't move the needle like I thought it would, as your leaders are still

Shotwell 2 49
Williams 48
Winklepleck & Currie 1 47

and Shotwell 1 and Bauer Newbies threatening from the high 30s. Bigger news in the nightcap, of course; stand by.

CHC 2, WSH 1

Anyone else think we could have done without the repeated, tight close-ups on Schwarber during this one? We get it, he's not Ozzie Smith out there. Neither is Durphy and neither of them is making up for it at the plate; why not some close-ups on THAT guy?

The points, meager though they are:

Zimmerman 2

Rizzo 1

Scherzer 4

Davis 1

Shotwell leapfrogs into the lead, followed by Williams, Winklepleck, and Currie 1.

HOU 5, BOS 4; Red Sox eliminated

#fyeahbaseball

I'd like to dedicate this entry to all those dinguses who say baseball is boring...and to Dunn, whose agonized texts were a poem this afternoon.

And if it makes y'all Sox pickers feel any better, eeeeeeehhhh-verybody got some points...except Verlander pickers, who went negative.

Buckle up, here's the points:

Bregman 4
Correa 1
Springer 4

Morton 4
Verlander -2, ugh

Benintendi 5
Betts 1

Sale 6

Leaving us:

Benintendi
Betts
Price
Sale

Sale gave the money slates a big boost on his way out the door...but out the door he's going, so while this elimination probably has the smallest net effect on the pool team-wise, the money isn't going to stay where it is for long.

At the moment, your leaders are

48 Williams
46 Winklepleck and Currie 1
45 Shotwell 2

A handful of others in striking distance, none of whom has Scherzer. Guess we'll see!

Please check my arithmetic if you'd like. It's a safe and fun alternative to gnawing off your cuticles.

NYY 1, CLE 0

Of course nobody picked my fellow avian-last-named 1B, because why would we, but what a nice moment for Greg Bird.

Not a bad moment for some poolies, though many of the points below were...niche interests:

Kipnis 1
Ramirez 1

Carrasco 4

Chapman 4

No change to the money, but it's a full slate today; standings after the jump!

BOS 10, HOU 3

AHHHH HA HA HA, you are WELCOME, Boston fans! ...I never learn.

A shite-motif of the postseason to date: how ugly it has to get to put up a W most of the time. Case in point, this game, in which both starters are gone by, what, the third? Not that I'm not enjoying watching Burkhardt blow a gasket about it on the postgame show, because Keith's "no more Red Bull for this guy" face is everything, but it's nothing new this year. 

Nothing new any year: my pronunciamentos that have no basis in anything, proven wrong with a double-digit quickness.

Points!

Altuve 3
Correa 4
Springer 2

Benintendi 1
Betts 1

Price 3

So the leaderboard will look familiar:

Williams 42
Winklepleck 40
Shotwell 1 39

Bauer Newbies at 36, then a clot of slates at 34.

Know what the basement slates have in common? Encarnacion...and Carrasco. Fingers crossed for cheddar!

LAD 8, ARI 5

The scores, and the manner in which they were achieved, seem like the Dodgers v. everyone else in a nutshell in 2017. You can come part of the way back...and then they'll put on another burst and leave you behind.

I'd like to see a little more burstiness from one C. Bellinger, but I'm quirky like that.

Points:

Goldie 4

Ray 2

Puig 3
Seager 1
Turner 1

Hill 1, and I felt lucky to get by with that, hashtag never AJ

So that makes the money

39 Williams
36 Winklepleck Shotwell LLP
34 Bunting 1

Full standings and more, after the jump.

WSH 6, CHC 3

The Nationals seemed as surprised as anyone that they didn't roll over and let the Cubs step over them last night. And what a nice little haul for poolies!

Bryant 4
Rizzo 4

Lester 0 (K and BB cancelled each other out)

Harper 4
Murphy 1
Rendon 4
Zimmerman 4

Money after the twilight game:

Williams 38
Shotwell 1 36
Bunting 1 and Winklepleck 33

Brady and Cooley not far behind.

Full standings in the next update, coming momentarily -- and whether enough dust has settled to tell us anything.

LAD 9, ARI 5

Not a pretty outing for anyone, and not a point to be had for ARI pickers (c'mon, Goldie; help me help you). Nice of Puig to show up, though:

Bellinger 1
Puig 5
Seager 4
Turner 6

Kershaw 5 (7K - 3BB + 1TB)

Everyone's on the board at last! The money:

36 Shotwell 1
34 Williams
33 Winklepleck

Full standings after the jump.

CHC 3, WSH 0

I didn't watch much of this one -- too busy gnawing my cuticles over AL extra innings -- but Strasburg chucked up a nice crooked number for his pickers, including, for once, yours truly. Makes me feel a little better about also picking that shitbird Murphy because he always hits, ALWAYS, RIGHT? ...Grr.

Points!

Bryant 1
Rizzo 3

Davis 1

Harper 1

Strasburg 9

That line lets Stempel and Bunting 1 elbow their ways into the conversation temporarily. Still have one slate not on the board, but that's why God invented Kershaw.

Let me warm up this coffee and I'll get back at you with ARI/LAD and full standings.

CLE 9, NYY 8 (13)

Ouuuch. At the same time, #fyeahbaseball.

Once again, no points for Yankee hitters, though Chapman got on the board:

Chapman 1

Bruce 4
Kipnis 2
Lindor 4

Kluber 3

Leaders look roughly the same before I add the NL numbers, although those won't be moving the ball as far as many of us hoped. Stand by.

HOU 8, BOS 2

A bit distracted by Encarnacion Theismanning his ankle out there in the twilight game, and I doubt BOS pickers are in a much better mood, with Betts in obvious pain at the plate and their pitching in...whatever that is out there.

Your points for the opener:

Betts 2

Price 1

Altuve 2
Bregman 2
Correa 6
Springer 6

Keuchel 4

So your leaders are currently

Currie 1 28
Shotwell 2 26
Williams 24

Yuhan 2 and Bauer Noobs not far behind. May not get to another update until tomorrow AM; good luck, everyone.

When you need to know who to scowl at

aka "the full picks post." Thanks for the heads-up that I hadn't posted that, Leigh! A pic of the picks is below; let the ball-busting begin.

CLE 4, NYY 0

The Bombers got goose-egged by Drone Boy, is a thing I'm typing right now. But seriously, folks...

Yankees looked a little flat last night; no points for their pickers. Elsewhere:

Bruuuuuuuce 6
Ramirez 1

Bauer 7
Miller 1

The money is the same for now

20 Winklepleck
18 Currie 1, Shotwell 2
17 Williams

followed by a scrum at 14, another scrum in the single digits, and NL-heavy slates waiting to get on the board. 

And what a smorgas-board it's going to be today. Sox/'Stros at 2 ET on FS1; Yanks/Cleveland at 5 on MLB; the world champs swat the Nats at 7:30 on TBS; and we wind up with ARI/LAD at 10:30.

[hums "it's the most wonderful time of the yeeeeear"]

Excel's been a sassy bitch this AM so if you see arithmetic errors, email me or post a comment. See you in the PM!

HOU 8, BOS 2

Well, that might have been painful for Boston fans...but it actually netted out okay for Sale pickers. Oh, and there's the little (literally) matter of 3 HR for a certain pocket rocket at the top of the 'Stros line-up.

Points*:

Benintendi 1
Betts 3

Sale 5

Altuve 12
Bregman 5
Verlander 1

That puts Winklepleck, Currie 1, Shotwell 2, and Williams out to an early lead. Stand by for the NYY/CLE update!

*(And don't forget, if your Ramirez pick was actually Hanley and not José, as I assumed across the board, let me know ASAP! You've got some points coming to you, in the event.)

And away we go!

BPP 2017 is on, friends. A few notes after compiling the slates, which is one of the funnest parts of the process for me, as I get a bird's-eye view of everyone's thought processes:

- bloom is off the Cubs this postseason, especially on the pitching side; some Cubbeenie picks, but not nearly as dominant as last year

- confidential to the side bettors who guessed the over on Judge picks: only four total, far lower than I would have predicted

- Altuve is our most popular hitter pick; Kluber leads the pitchers (and picks overall)

- once again, no duplicates

The real fun begins at 4 ET when Boston and Houston face off (MLB Network); then it's Yankees at Cleveland at 7:30 on FS1. Tomorrow, of course, is a full slate when the NLDSes get underway, or as it's now known here at Fort Rad II, "Pool Prom."

Good luck, everyone! I would say "see you back here this evening," but I have wine club and I am not trying to Math While Intoxicated over here, so look for a full update tomorrow morning.

ARI 11, COL 8; final LDS match-ups set

"Goldies gonna Goldy." - a bartender in Bay Ridge, peaceably watching Prince Paul go yard

Well, here we are: all eight teams set for the postseason. Get those picks in by noon ET, and good luck!

NYY 8, MIN 4

I feel bad for the Twins, but that was a fun one to watch in a Bay Ridge bar for sure. The Judge homer reminded me of a Sheffield laser; it got out so fast.

NL Wild Card game's tonight, and then we'll have LDSes solidified -- but you're welcome to send picks now, or any time ahead of the Thursday noon deadline.

One door closes, another door opens. A MONEY door!

(^ Not a thing.) Hey, everyone! I was more than happy to pound the last nail into the Mets' 2017 season yesterday, but I was also happy that I could get to pickin' former Mets for my slate -- because aw yeah, the Notorious B.P.P. is back for another year.

As a matter of fact, no, I did NOT leave any coffee for anyone else. Okay, good talk.

Anyway! I've posted the rules/regs below. You should get these in your email inboxes later today; please note the changes to the stats in use. I'm trying to even things up a bit pitcher-/hitter-pick-wise; new FOX postseason announcer Keith Hernandez would not approve, but he doesn't have to know. Info's after the jump; in the meantime, dig the full postseason sked here.