ATL 7, HOU 0; Bravos are World Champs

I admit I was somewhat distracted from this outcome by election crap in my district, but what a strange end for the Astros, shut out at home by a team that spent the first half of the season looking apathetic at best. But the first half of the season really doesn't matter -- and now the season's over.

Time to care about college hoops instead! But first, the business at hand. Final points of the session:

Albies 2
Freeman 6
Riley 0
Swanson 4

Altuve 1
Álvarez 1
Tucker 0

And thanks to Freddie, Yuhan surges back into the lead at the end. Your winners:

99 Yuhan 2 // $217
96 Fell 1 // $62
67 Cayenne 2 // $31

The complete final standings and a few awards, after the jump!

HOU 9, ATL 5

The Astros hang on to take the series back to Houston -- no real thanks to that Greinke single, but it was fun to see anyway. 

And a mild money shuffle thanks to the points, which despite the score resided mostly with the Bravos. 

Albies 0
Freeman 4
Riley 4
Swanson 0

Altuve 1
Álvarez 0
Tucker 2

Álvarez is on a cold streak in the Classic, but Yuhan just needs one dinger out of him to retake the lead. In the meantime, here's the money:

95 Fell
92 Yuhan
61 Cayenne 2

59 Stempel
51 Bingham

48 Tormey and Cayenne 1
44 SDB
40 Cameron

We resume with some November baseball on Election Day -- blessedly free of the Chop, whatever happens -- and I'll see you back here then!

ATL 3, HOU 2

As usual, my predictions reverse-jinx everything, and back-to-back homers for Atlanta were the difference, putting the Bravos one win away from the championship.

I have no comments about a racist clown fart participating in a racist fan activity except to say that Mrs. Racist Clown Fart, in addition to still being his wife for some reason, looked like she was notifying plane passengers of emergency-exit locations.

Anyway: points!

Albies 0
Freeman 1
Riley 2
Swanson 4

Altuve 5
Álvarez 0
Tucker 2

Diminutive infielders with six-letter first names starting with A giveth...and taketh away (c'mon, Ozzie, jeez), as the money looks different for the first time in a while:

88 Fell
86 Yuhan
58 Stempel

57 Cayenne 2

49 Bingham
47 Tormey and Cayenne 1

44 SDB

39 Cameron

Doesn't look great for Houston given Atlanta's various batting lines against tonight's starter, Framber Valdez, but I've been wrong before (read: "almost every time"), so we'll see what happens. Happy Halloween and good luck!

ATL 2, HOU 0

A quiet night all around, as the Astros get shut out and of COURSE d'Arnaud hits a homer, sigh. #formerMetsFT...W?

No points at all for Houston picks, and even Atlanta looked a little flat in the rain:

Albies 0
Freeman 1
Riley 2
Swanson 0

No change to the money; everyone in it moved up a skosh, and everybody outside of it got goose-egged:

83 Yuhan

79 Fell

56 Cayenne 2

53 Stempel

47 Bingham

42 Tormey and Cayenne 1

40 SDB 

34 Cameron

Tonight, we've got Gr-- hold up, Greinke's first name is Donald? Amazing. Anyway, he hasn't pitched since the last day of the regular season as far as I can tell and didn't have an especially dominant year, so between that and what I believe is a planned arm-barn game for Atlanta, we should have many more points on offer tonight. 

Why this isn't happening earlier given that it's a weekend is beyond me (okay, not really; college football) but the action resumes on FOX at 8:09 as usual. Good luck, all!

HOU 7, ATL 2

I would make a joke about Altuve being able to hear me/us, but then why won't Swanson go on a tear and hook me up? It's not like I haven't been wailing from various couches and barstools all month! ...The 'Stros boxed Fried's ears, Snitker really had no choice but to leave him in, and the Astros leave for Atlanta with a split. 

Points!

Albies Freeman Riley Swanson LLC 1 each

Altuve 6
Álvarez 0
Tucker 1

So Fell closes the gap and Stempel sniffs the money, but no real change since yesterday:

82 Yuhan
77 Fell
55 Cayenne 2

53 Stempel

47 Bingham

42 Tormey and Cayenne 1
40 SDB

34 Cameron

Action resumes Friday night at 8 ET, Garcia v. Anderson. In the meantime, check my math/data entry, and good luck!

ATL 6, HOU 2

One of the Dave Sr. baseball-watching tics that annoyed my mother the most -- which I inherited, and now annoy Brady with -- is droning "there goes the perfect game" the minute the first runner reaches base. We set a land-speed record for that last night, but then managed to miss the Morton injury as it happened, possibly because we were doing some other bit that would have irritated Barb and weren't paying attention? Wouldn't have been the first time. 

In any event, that's hard cheese for the Braves, but we'll see how it plays out as the series wears on; this opening win may prove crucial.

The points!

Albies 2
Freeman 1
Riley 2
Swanson 1

Altuve 0
Álvarez 3
Tucker 3

The money remains unchanged, Yuhan widening the lead as the only Álvarez picker.

80 Yuhan 
69 Fell
54 Cayenne 2

46 Stempel and Bingham

38 SDB
36 Tormey and Cayenne 1

28 Cameron

Most of the second division only has Altuve left and his bat's been rather subdued for the last week, but we have a wide enough array of solo picks that this could still get interesting. Tonight's game is Fried v. Urquidy and the latter's fluffy postseason ERA; see you on the flip, and good luck!

ATL 4, LAD 2; Atlanta advances

 ...oh, hello. As some of you may have heard, my mom Barbara passed away yesterday evening. Her family was with her, and glad she's now at rest. 

Ma loved a lot of things -- crosswords; cursing; us, usually :) -- and one of those things, Lord help her, was the Mets. She used to go Shea Stadium's Ladies' Days back in the day, when they really couldn't get anyone to come except for free. She and her friends would stash their wedding rings in their bras and let dudes buy them beer all afternoon. She also went on a double date involving Johnny Bench once...but she and Dad were already married? It's possible she was invited along and was like "nah" and Dad was like "oh, you're going" -- I will try to get this intel out of Dave Sr. before my next update. When I was a baby, she would wheel my stroller down to Memorial Field to watch all the scouts watching Willie Wilson. She had crushes on Tom Seaver and Gary Carter. 

When I was a Little League umpire and some jackass parent was arguing balls and strikes -- but really "arguing" that I, the first girl to do the job, had no business doing it on that basis -- she told me, "Nobody else gets to tell you who you are."

She was not perfect. I wrote the infield-fly rule on an index card after explaining it for the 153rd time; she still kept asking. But she mostly knew her baseball and was very proud of how well I knew mine, so: let's keep going, shall we? (And confidential to Aaron Heilman's family: I am sorry she is haunting you. Light a candle and leave out a Thin Mints offering.)

*******

All righty then. For obvious reasons I didn't see much of this game (I did hear the Rosario home run) so I don't have anything in the way of commentary. I can report on the points, however:

Albies 2
Freeman 0
Riley 3
Swanson 1

Bellinger 1
Betts 0
Seager 0
Smith 1
Los Turner 0

...Yeah. That's a lot of names in italics and a bunch of slates are toast, but we'll get to that in a sec. In the meantime, the money remains more or less stable:

73 Yuhan 2
64 Fell 2
53 Cayenne 2

Everyone else...and who's really left, after the jump.

HOU 5, BOS 0; Houston advances

What a frustrating Boston loss to watch unfold. Predictable, probably, and I know the narrative is now Dusty Gets A Ring Maybe And Isn't That Great; I'm still not psyched about the Astros' success. That said, it's better for the pool! Not the one of my slates it killed, but we'll get to it.

Last night's points:

Bogaerts 0
Devers 0

Altuve 0
Álvarez 8
Tucker 4

Devers, the top point-earner to date, wasn't quite as valuable as Álvarez in this series...and only had one picker, yours truly. No real LVP here, but the Victorino without question is Kiké. Forty-one total bases, not one of them claimed by a BPP entrant.

And speaking of BPP entrants, only Shotwell and I lose picks, and only my No. 2 slate is out...and our lone Álvarez guy opens a booming lead:

73 Yuhan 2
61 Fell 2
53 Cayenne 2

Everyone else after the jump!

CT3-- er, LAD 11, ATL 2

You're welcome for that reverse jinx, Dodger fans! Los Angeles bats, one in particular, weren't having it re going home, so the series goes back to Atlanta and we all get more baseball. 

And some of us get more points! And...some of us lose a pick. More on that anon, but first, yesterday's damage:

Albies 1
Freeman 4
Riley 0
Swanson 1

Bellinger 3
Betts 1
Seager 1
Smith 0
J Turner 0
T Turner 3

Some interesting trends to contemplate on the NL travel day -- Freeman and Trea Turner waking up; Riley and Smith going dormant -- but the big headline for us, besides Shris Taylorino racking 13 points nobody around here could use, is Justin Turner getting replaced on the roster. Everything I've read suggests he's out for the duration, which is a damn shame for him...but probably won't actually affect his pickers that much. In any event, he's now considered a dead pick, with all that that implies. If he's back for the World Series somehow, we'll figure it out then. 

For now, let's look at the money:

61 Yuhan 2
57 Fell 2
53 Cayenne 2

Everyone else after the jump!

ATL 9, LAD 2

Ugly for the Dodgers, again -- they looked a little lost, in a way they haven't previously, to my eye -- and Justin Turner managed a point but pulled up lame mid-game, while most of the rest of the picks goose-egged. Meanwhile, Mr. Rosario becomes the brightest star in the Victorino-verse with 12! total bases and the Braves cued up Freeman Comes Alive!.

The points:

Albies 1
Freeman 6
Riley 0, for once
Swanson 1

Bellinger 1
Betts 0
Seager 0
Smith 0
J Turner 1
T Turner 0

And with that, we are reminded once again that you don't mess with the Yuhan. Here's the money:

57 Fell 2 and Yuhan 2
48 Cayenne 2
45 Shotwell 1

Everyone else after the jump!

HOU 9, BOS 1

Groundhog Game, of sorts, as once again Boston bats had no answer for the Astros' hitting attack. Boy, am I sick of those dudes.

Pickers aren't, though!

Bogaerts 0
Devers 5

Altuve 1
Álvarez 7
Tucker 1

Different look for the money as a result:

57 Fell 2
51 Yuhan 2
45 Shotwell 1

43 Shotwell 2
42 Cayenne 2
41 Arbour

But that's just after the first game, which sends the AL action back to the Juice Box with the 'Stros looking to clinch a World Series berth. NL update later this morning! 

HOU 9, BOS 2

That ninth was uuuuugly. I'll give it to this postseason so far, though -- it's not dull! Momentums keep shifting, narratives keep revising themselves.

And certain boutique picks keep revising the money. Points from the nightcap:

Bogaerts 6
Devers 1

Altuve 4
Álvarez 2
Tucker 1

Shotwell absolutely determined to turn a profit on BPP 2021 some way or another ;) -- but Fell's lead is now commanding. Here's the money at the moment:

55 Fell 2
45 Shotwell 1
43 Yuhan 2 and Shotwell 2

42 Cayenne 2
41 Arbour

The rest of us after the jump!

LAD 6, ATL 5

...Belli? Belli! Gotta love a ghost slate rattling the pool's cage! ("We don't 'gotta' do anything of the sort." - everyone) 

Plenty of points to go around for all NL pickers, though:

Albies 1
Freeman 3
Riley 2
Swanson 2

Bellinger 4
Betts 3
Seager 4
Smith 2
Ginger Elf 0
Infield-Hit Elf 1

And here come the Betts pickers! The first division shuffles itself a bit; most noteworthy is how clustered everyone is between second and sixth places.

50 Fell 2
45 Shotwell 1
42 Cayenne 2

41 Arbour
40 Yuhan 2
39 Crase

37 Bingham 1, Shotwell 2
35 Wonsetler
32 Stempel, Grove
30 Tormey

28 Cayenne 1
26 SDB 2, Quinn, Cameron 1, Yuhan 1
25 SDB 1
23 Cameron 2

14 Bingham 2

3 Brady

See you back here for the AL update when it's final, and good luck!

BOS 12, HOU 3

I missed most of this one, but on the other hand, it was over early. Not sure about Dusty's decision to leave Urquidy in that long; also not sure anyone can handle Hernandez and Schwarber right now. Of course, those dudes didn't get picked...here are the points for the picks:

Bogaerts 1
Devers 4

Altuve 0
Álvarez 1
Tucker 4

Tucker moves into a second-place tie with Smith for points MVP, and all the money leaders have him; Devers, the points leader at the moment, lets one of my slates clamber into the middle of the pack; and Fell 2 opens up some real daylight:

48 Fell 2
39 Shotwell 1
37 Bingham 1 and Yuhan 2

And just off the pace:

36 Cayenne 2

34 Crase
33 Arbour and Shotwell 2
30 Stempel

28 Wonsetler
27 Cayenne 2 and Tormey
26 SDB 2
25 Grove

24 Quinn
23 Cameron 2
22 Cameron 1 and Yuhan 1
21 SDB 1

13 Bingham 2

3 Brady

Both leagues in action tonight: NL-heavy slates look to shake things up starting at 5 ET, Morton v. Buehler; and it's Greinke v. Pivetta in the 8 PM game. I was at animal urgent care until the wee hours (Bear's unquenchable energy led to a back injury; he should be fine; I recommend everyone get pet insurance) -- so check my data entry/arithmetic as always.

And good luck!

ATL 5, LAD 4

...Groundhog Walkoff! Right down to my thinking, again, "Gotta reinstitute those walkoff points."

The points we did get didn't change things a ton, with Freeman and Los Turner (...I initially "mis"typed that as "Lost Turner") hanging some more zeroes...

Albies 1
Freeman 0
Riley 2
Swanson 1

Bellinger 0
Betts 1
Seager 4
Smith 1
J Turner 0
T Turner 0

...but Betts and Seager pickers inch closer to the action. Here's the money this morning:

44 Fell 2
39 Shotwell 1
36 Cayenne

Everyone else after the jump!

ATL 3, LAD 2

Wondering if I shouldn't reinstitute the "extra points for walkoff 'events'" rule for next year; it's been a postseason full of them so far. NOT wondering if I should have picked Riley; I definitely should have. 

But I didn't. The night game's points:

Albies 2
Freeman 0
Riley 5
Swanson 0

Bellinger 1
Betts 0
Seager 2
Smith 4
J Turner 1
T Turner 2

And with that, the current leader pulls away a bit...

42 Fell 2
37 Shotwell 1
35 Cayenne 2

The best of the rest (and...the rest) after the jump.

BOS 9, HOU 5

I was in Jersey for most of the afternoon, but did manage to see the Sox going up 8-0. That Houston made that much of a horse race out of it is kind of impressive.

The points:

Bogaerts 3
Devers 4

Altuve 0
Álvarez 1
Tucker 3

Just a money update since Metkiller Riley just walked off the Braves in the other game...

37 Fell 2
35 Cayenne 2
33 Bingham 1

32 Yuhan 2
31 Shotwell 1

Things will look a bit different in the next update, though, so hang on a few minutes for full standings...

HOU 5, BOS 4

Kiké is shaping up as a Victorino for sure...but we Mets fans well know that bringing in Hansel Robles is not a guarantee of anything except anxiety.

The points!

Bogaerts 0
Devers 2

Altuve 4
Álvarez 1
Tucker 0

Our standings as we look ahead to a full schedule of play this afternoon:

35 Cayenne 2
34 Fell
31 Shotwell 1

30 Bingham 1

28 Yuhan 2
27 Crase
26 Tormey
25 Cayenne 1 and Stempel

24 Arbour
23 Grove, Shotwell 2, and Cameron 2
20 Wonsetler

19 Quinn
18 Cameron 1 and SDB 2
16 Yuhan 1

15 SDB 1
11 Bingham 2

2 Brady

Sox and Astros go again at 4:20 ET (snerk), Eovaldi vs. Garcia; then it's Dodgers at Braves at 8:08 (sigh), and as of this writing Dave Roberts hasn't chosen his guy, but Atlanta's sending Fried to the hill. Good luck, everyone!

LAD 2, SF 1; Los Angeles advances

I had a feeling the Dodgers would take this one. Not a big intangibles guy ordinarily, but had an inkling that the Giants were going to clench up. My condolences to San Fans, and especially to having to watch the team go out on a check-swing call. Very Metsy, in more ways than one.

But congrats to Dodger fans, too. Hell of a closer you got there.

...All right, well, I concurred with all the tweets last night calling for this series to go best of 33, but we live in THIS timeline and there's an ALCS game in like 12 hours, so let's sweep up this confetti and see where we're at. Starting, of course, with points:

Bellinger 1
Betts 4
Seager 2
Smith Turner Turner Ltd. 0

Belt 0
Bryant 2
Crawford 1
Duggar 0
Flores 1
Longoria 0
Posey 2
Yastrzemski 0

All eight (woof) of those picks are now out. Belt, Duggar, and Li'l Yaz never got on the board at all, and it's been a while since we had any picks with the BPP sombrero, never mind this many. I will check my facts on that, but this round's LVP goes to...heightened expectations? Smith, meanwhile, rocking the highest point total of the division serieseses with 14. And nominations for the Victorino Award are now open! 

In the meantime, here's the money as we head into the LCSes:

35 Cayenne 2
31 Shotwell 1
30 Fell 1 and Bingham 1

Sitting not far back with complete slates:

27 Yuhan 2 and Crase

Complete standings, plus BPP history, after the jump.

LAD 7, SF 2

A fairly point-y affair that sends this NLDS back to San Francisco for a Game 5...and that I don't have much to say about otherwise, as my week has been on one and I fell asleep midway through this one.

But some of these Gigante hitters still aren't on the board, yikes.

Bellinger 2
Betts 5
Seager 2
Smith 6
Justin 0
Trea 3

Belt 0
Bryant 2
Crawford 2
Duggar 0
Flores 0
Longoria 1
Posey 0
Li'l Yaz 0

So the money changes again! Very close here at the top, with a couple of still-complete slates just off the pace:

31 Cayenne 2
30 Fell 1
29 Bingham 1

Everyone else after the jump!

ATL 5, MIL 4; Atlanta advances

...That's too bad. I have two Atlanta picks, I don't totally hate some of these players, and yet: ugh. And why is the Chop still happening in 2021, my god. 

The deciding-game points:

Albies 2
Freeman 7
Riley 1
Swanson 2

Adames 1
Garcia 1
Yelich 1

Freeman and Riley the pick MVPs of this round; Garcia not so V; and I guess Joc Pederson is the Victorino?

And the money has a new look once again...

30 Fell 1
27 Bingham 1, Yuhan 2
26 Cayenne 2

24 The Zombie Troika* and Johnson 2
22 Richardson

But I'm sorry to say that both Johnson slates got zombied. 

That's the sum of the carnage from this update -- but it's early in this west-coast game yet. Good luck, all; see you in the AM.

HOU 10, CWS 1; Houston advances

As predicted, White Sox pitchers got spanked. This is a good team that I think wasn't ready for a stepped-up level of competition.

Last points of the series/for Hose pickers:

Anderson 0
Moncada 1
Robert 1

Altuve 7
Álvarez 0
Tucker 1

The resulting revision to the money:

29 Fell 1
27 Bingham 1
24 Zombour Zombauer Zombetler LLP* 

22 Richardson and Johnson 2

Chicago was lightly picked; no slates lost, but a couple of the leaders got clipped. Tucker for sure the MVP pick of the series; as for the LVP, well, I was the lone Moncada picker, and we'll leave it there.

MIL/ATL in progress, Atlanta trying to plate some runs, a bunch of points already on offer; SF/LAD starts at 9. See you soon!

SF 1, LAD 0

Meeeemorieeees...of the very first BPP, when my Pujols pick carried me to victory. Alas, a soccer score like this one isn't going to move the ball much, so to speak, but we did see a little shuffling in the middle of the pack.

Bellinger 0
Betts 0
Seager 0
Smith 1
Turner J 1
Turner T 0

Belt 0
Bryant 1
Crawford 0
Duggar 0
Flores 0
Longoria 4
Posey 1
Yastrzemski 0

No change to the money:

Bingham 1: 26
Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2: 24*
Richardson, Johnson 2: 22

And just off the pace,

Fell 1: 21
Cayenne 2, Yuhan 2: 19

Full standings and schedule after the jump!

BOS 6, TB 5; Red Sox advance

 Many of us, but especially Lowe pickers:

Try the goose egg, IT'S DELICIOUS. ...Okay, let's start with the points.

Bogaerts 1
Devers 6

Arozarena 2
Cruz 0
Franco 4
Lowe 0
Zunino 2

But those last five depart the proceedings. Will any of YOU be departing? First let's look at the money:

26 Bingham 1
24 ArBaWo Corp*
22 Richardson and Johnson 2

21 Fell 1

More from FEMA after the jump...

ATL 3, MIL 0

The Brewers couldn't do much against Atlanta pitching, but Brewer picks managed a handful of points:

Albies 2
Freeman 0
Riley 1
Swanson 1

Adames 2
Garcia 0
Yeli 1

Slight change to the leaderboard...

24 Bingham 1
21 Fell 1
20 Richardson

19 Yuhan 2
18 Johnson 2 and The Wonbaubour Triptych
17 Shotwell 2

Mid-tier NL-heavy slates have a chance to shake the piggybank tonight, since HOU/CWS got postponed due to rain...so there's nothing going on but the weather until the AL East showdown at 7 ET. Since the morning update, the Rays have elected to start former Met Collin McHugh; since various other former-Met picks are throwing up zeroes around here, maybe that's a good sign for McHugh? [sigh]

Good luck!

CWS 12, HOU 6

Don't know how much longer this postpones the inevitable, but the Hose hammered Houston (I would apologize, but I'm not sorry) to stave off the sweep. 

Anderson 3
Moncada 2
Robert 1

Altuvarez 0
Tucker 6

Tucker and Franco our MVPs so far this round, and our standings have settled down a bit...for now.

24: Bingham 1
20: Richardson and Fell 1
19: Yuhan 2

18: The Arbausetler Troika
17: Shotwell 2

Everyone else, plus Baseball Prom II, after the jump...

BOS 6, TB 4 (13)

I don't think I realized until Ronnie mentioned it last night that the extra-innings Manfred Man (tm Calcaterra) isn't a thing in the postseason; if it were, this game might have ended sooner. Then again, if that weird play on the Kiermaier hit had gone differently...

And what if Lowe...hit a baseball where some fielders...aren't? 

Meanwhile, in THIS timeline:

Bogey 0
Devers 1

Rozie 2
Cruz 1
Franco 5
Lowe and Zunino 0

The money is a little nuts rn.

18 Bingham 1; Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2*
17 Richardson
16 Shotwell 2

15 Winklepleck, Johnson 2, Cayenne 2
14 Fell 1

Over on the night game, it's already shaping up as a point-fest. Love it. Not as much as I'd love it if I EVER got smart and picked Grandal, but what can you do. Good luck, everyone!

LAD 9, SF 2

I haven't seen much of this Giants team, so I could be talking through my hat here -- nothing new there -- but is it just me, or did SF seem kind of...confused at the Dodgers' temerity? Like, "Oh, you're going ahead with a hitting attack, huh"? 

Probably just me. These teams see each other more than I see family members during the season; this lineup and its experience can't be a surprise. 

Couple surprises in the points, though!

Bellinger 2
Betts 1
Seager 1
Smith 4
Ginger Elf 0
Imported Elf 2

Crawford 2
Posey 4
Belt Bryant Duggar Flores Longoria Yastrzemski LLP 0

New, crowded look for the money this morning:

16 Shotwell 2 and Bingham 1
15 Richardson and Winklepleck
14 Fell 1

13 Yuhan 2
12 Bauer 2, Shotwell 1

Everyone else after the jump, plus storytime!

ATL 3, MIL 0

Braves pitching blanks the Crew to even up the series; most of the picks gained at least a little ground. The points:

Albies 2
Freeman 1
Riley 5
Swanson 0

Adames 2
Garcia 1
Yelich 1

Only slight shuffling overall, but the money looks slightly different between the games...

Shotwell 2 15
Bingham 1 and Fell 1 14
Richardson and Yuhan 2 13

Lots of picks in play in the night game, but so far they're not doing much; we'll see what the full update holds tomorrow morning. Until then, good luck!

SF 4, LAD 0

In which some of the...freelancier? picks looked brilliant, and some of the more common picks looked, well, not. Lots of points, but lots of zeroes as well.

Bellinger 0
Betts 2
Seager 2
Smith 3
Los Turner 0

Belt 0
Bryant 6
Crawford 4
Duggar Flores Longoria LLC 0
Posey 4
Yaz 0

We have a slightly better idea now of where all this is headed; here's the money now that all DS teams have played...

15 Shotwell 2
14 Bingham 1
13 Richardson

12 Yuhan 2
11 Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2
10 Bauer 2

Everyone else after the jump!

BOS 14, TB 6

Not that FS1 could be bothered to enter his name properly into their system, but ol' First Lastna-- sorry, "Kiké Hernandez" is making a great case for himself as this year's Victorino. Lots of other points to go around too:

Bogaerts 6
Devers 4

Rozie 1
Cruz 1
Franco 2
Lowe 0
Zunino 0

That'll give the money a different look, to wit:

Shotwell 2 13
Yuhan 2 12
Arbour 1, Bauer 1, and Wonsetler 2 11

Bingham 1 10
Fell 1 and Richardson 9

The nightcap isn't shaping up as a huge difference-maker so far, but I'll have an update and full standings for you tomorrow morning. Good luck!

MIL 2, ATL 1

 I'll keep this short, since the second AL game is a veritable points-fest and this...wasn't.

Albies 0
Freeman 0
Riley 1

Adames 1
Garcia 0
Yelich 0

Fell 1 moves up to second place; otherwise, no change to the money. Back shortly with the ALDSsacre.

HOU 9, CWS 4

 Am I reading this right -- the losing pitcher for Chicago is someone named Bummer? ("It's pronounced 'boo-may.'")

In retrospect, this was somewhat predictable given that Chicago had been backstroking since, like, Memorial Day. Still not great news for Chicago pickers, who will have to hope Sunday isn't the end of it for their picks. (And not the news from the game broadcast, either. Yiiiiiikes.)

Fair number of points to go around, though!

Anderson 3
Moncada 0
Robert 3

Altuve 1
Álvarez 1
Tucker 5

The money after our first game:

Yuhan 2 12
Bingham 1 9
Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2, Richardson, Fell 1 8

Shotwell 2 just off the pace at 7, bunch of 4s and 3s in the middle of the pack, and a third of the slates waiting for the NL West battle royale so they can get on the board.

As I write this, ATL/MIL is still scorel-- psych, Tellez just jerked one for two runs, which literally only happened because nobody picked him. Let me know if you had him on your long list and I'll forward that muffin basket from HQ, hee.

TB 5, BOS 0

Hey, Bosox: you can't just leave goose eggs on the field rn. We're trying to do a pool here.

But both Boston picks managed to get on the board, along with a smorg-Aroz-board for Tampa pickers. Naught for the oft-picked Lowe, though. (Say that last bit 5 times fast.)

Bogaerts 2
Devers 1

Arozarena 4
Cruz 4
Franco 4
Lowe 0
Zunino 1

This got a bunch of people on the board. As usual in the early going, the money's a mess, but here's your leaderboard right now:

8 Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2
6 Yuhan 2
5 Richardson

4 Shotwell 2, Bingham 1, Cayenne 2, Grove, Johnson 2, Yuhan 1

And then a crap-ton of folks with 1-3 points and a half dozen waiting for the NLDSes to start...which it will do at 4:30. All four series on today, aka "the moooost wonderful tiiiime of the yeeeeear"; here's the sked, with all times Eastern.

CWS at HOU, 2 PM (MLB)
ATL at MIL, 4:30 PM (TBS)
BOS at TB, 7 PM (FS1)
LAD at SF, 9:30 PM (TBS)

I'll have at least half an eye on all of these, and partial updates as the evening goes along. Your arithmetic corrections, pick regrets, and more are welcome in the comments; good luck, everyone!

HOU 6, CWS 1

And we're off! Didn't see much of this one, but did hear the booth talking about Houston jumping all over the Sox pitching early and getting in their less-experienced heads. Not sure how much of a factor that is. Also not sure why none of us learned our Arozalessons re: Michael Brantley.

And most of the relevant picks got on the board, too.

Anderson 1
Moncada 1
Robert 2

Altuve 2
Álvarez 6
Tucker 0

Yuhan 2 jumps out to an early lead with 6, followed by 7 slates with 2, a handful with 1, and everyone else waiting on the nightcap/tomorrow's NL action.

The nightcap starts in a few minutes, and as Smoltz is in the booth on the TV side, I'll be confining myself to a radio broadcast conducted by people who DON'T hate their jobs (as much). Good luck, all!

BPP 2021: And away we go

 And we're off! ...Almost. The ALDSes start in under an hour, but picks are locked and I'm updating the spreadsheet as we speak. 

31 slates in play means the winner takes home $217, 2nd place $62, and 3rd $31...unless it's a tie, which could happen, as we have one slate (Arozarena/Franco/Lowe) that got triple-dipped. But that's the only dupe that I can see.

Other trends: 

• people aren't sleeping on "Rozie" like they did last year; heavy action on Arozarena
• Seager, a popular and productive pick last year, has a few adherents, but his and Betts's pick numbers are way down; both Turners remain popular, but Belli and Yeli were chosen only once each
• the pool isn't giving the Chisox much of a shot, it seems, and compared with 2020, Atlanta picking is...subdued
• y'all are keeping it fun with some avant-garde choices this year -- like, "I had to Google a couple of these dudes to make sure they hadn't retired" avant-garde. Love it.

A snapshot of the picks sheet, after the jump, plus my side bet for this year's winner of the Victorino Award...

BPP 2021: Rules rundown

Not much new to see here, but just in case you need a refresher.

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THE SCORING

It works like this: you pick three (3) position players; points come from total bases.

single, e.g. = 1 pt.
double = 2 pts.
triple = 3 pts., etc.


For example, in the game linked below, Vlad Guerrero Jr. notches 4 points:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-blue-jays/2021/10/03/632235#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=632235

Still workshopping the "everybody's got a shot" pun

[hand-sanitizes piggy bank]

What's up, guys? Ready to do this again?

Less than a week until playoff action begins; watch this space.