HOU 4, PHI 1; Astros are World Champs

...Sure, whatever. Okay: I'm happy for Dusty Baker and Trey Mancini. I'm happy I don't have to hear that execrable booth anymore. But I'm sad the Phillies couldn't close the deal; I'm sad baseball is done for the season. A weird one, granted, but it's weird every year in a different way, so we'll see how MLB tries to mess with my head in 2023.

Last points of 2022:

Altuve 1
Alvarez 4
Tucker 0

None of them managed to catch Machado for most overall BPP points (more on that in a moment)...and nobody managed to catch Zombie Reid 2 for the win. We did, however, see another late shuffle at the top thanks to that Alvarez bomb, as one of the last multi-pick slates lurched into the money...which is as follows!

52 Reid 2 ($245)
50 Yuhan ($70)
48 Cameron ($35)

Well done, everyone! I'll send winnings out tomorrow. Rest of the standings and "awards" after the jump!

Maddeningly close for a couple of the remaining slates:

47 Rogge
46 Drake

41 Bingham 
40 Tormey and Fell

37 Cayenne
35 Dunn
32 Reid 1

25 SDB

Like I said, a strange year, and a Game 7 might have changed a couple of fates, but: we'll never know.

We'll also never know how it might have looked if anyone had picked Schwarber, which I regretted not doing several times, but he's not the pool MVP for the Series, of course; that's Kyle Tucker, by a nose. (Pool LVP for the Series, weirdly, is Alvarez, but there's only a two-point swing there.)

The BPP Shane Victorino Memorial Hottest Unpicked Player Award for the Series looks like Jeremy Peña, but for the entire postseason, I think you have to give it to Bryce Harper, especially since he's a Phillie.

And the Most Valuable Pick remains Manny Machado, with Canha, Goldie, and Toro sharing LVP honors this year.

Thanks so much for playing in 2022; it's always a joy to watch/rant along with you all each October. One last time: check my math; congrats to our top finishers; and pitchers and catchers report in 99 days. 

Until next year! - SDB

PHI 3, HOU 2

I feel like I should post some variation on the how-it-started/how-it's-going meme here; based on the first inning, it seemed like a big gaudy score was on the horizon, with a final score of 11-7 or something like that. That's not how it turned out, and all the points the pool picked up were in the bank with the first pitch of the game. 

Now, if I had any real idea how these things were going to go, I wouldn't be in dead last (aaaaagain), but I don't know how much more baseball there is. I think the Phils had to come out last night and break Houston's backs, and that didn't happen.

Here's what did happen: a new look for the money for the first time since the LCSes.

52 Reid 2
46 Yuhan
45 Drake

43 Rogge and Cameron

40 Bingham
39 Tormey and Fell

34 Dunn
33 Cayenne

28 Reid 1
24 SDB

No game tonight with the teams traveling to Houston. What happens from here? If last night was in fact the Phils' best/most important chance, I think the Astros handle their business tomorrow night and, with the exception of some scuffling around third place, the standings here probably stay about the same.

But I don't know! I hope I'm wrong. I don't care for the Astros and I always want more baseball. We'll find out either way starting at 8:03 (.........sigh with these start times) PM ET on FOX (super-sigh). Good luck!

HOU 5, PHI 0 (no-hitter!)

...Neat! Completely unexpected, especially after last night; marred somewhat by the customary dingus commentary from the FOX booth (do you...want to mention who no-hit the Phils in April? because it was the Mets, jackass); still: neat. 

AND it didn't handcuff our picks!

Altuve 1
Alvarez 1
Tucker 2

They didn't do enough damage to change the money, but we've got at least two games left...

52 Reid 2
46 Yuhan
43 Rogge

42 Drake
40 Cameron

37 Bingham
36 Tormey and Fell

33 Cayenne
31 Dunn

28 Reid 1
21 SDB

Last game of the Philly set tomorrow, same time, same channel; Verlander v. Thor. See you on the far side of that one, and good luck...

PHI 7, HOU 0

I would apologize for the late update, but there...is no update, functionally. I don't know if McCullers was tipping pitches, but since Philly pitchers weren't, none of the picks got points. 

And therefore the money, and nearby slates, haven't moved since the weekend:

52 Reid 2
45 Yuhan 
42 Rogge

41 Drake

38 Cameron

Full standings can be seen in the previous update, and my comments re: the Astros looking worn out in the update before that. Feels like it's getting late early.

Maybe I'M just worn out by the stupidity coming off the FOX booth in little stink waves, but in any case, Game 4 is at 8 PM ET tonight -- good luck to all!

HOU 5, PHI 1

Pretend I got clever with an "Altuve Comes Alive double album" joke here; while I always want Wheeler, an escapee from the Mets penal system, to do well, the Astros line-up had other ideas last night (not necessarily legal/ethical ones, if my Twitter feed is to be believed). 

But their points are legal here, and after Tucker doubled his points on Friday, José opted to do the same:

Altuve 5
Alvarez 2
Tucker 0

And we've got ourselves a horse race again.

52 Reid 2
45 Yuhan 
42 Rogge

41 Drake

38 Cameron
36 Bingham
35 Tormey

33 Fell
32 Cayenne
30 Dunn

27 Reid 1
20 SDB

Everyone's optimal combinations for who comes off the travel day hitting bombs and who doesn't is an algebra problem beyond my skill set as a retired poetry major -- but I am happy to correct any inputting errors as we wait for the series to resume Monday night. Mistakes on my part, rage on yours, let's hear about it in the comments, and good luck...

PHI 6, HOU 5 (10)

[Swiffers cobweb off BPP spreadsheet] Hey, everyone! Welcome back. A very watchable opener to the World Series; not terribly listenable, and I'm going to have to just suck it up and take the time to sync the TV broadcast to the radio call on the app, because the Smoltigue is very real. But the evening had several plot twists and felt pretty lively despite the long free-baseball runtime.

Meanwhile, in Pointville:

Altuve 1
Alvarez 0
Tucker 9

So the money didn't move, but everyone else did -- and don't look now, but here comes Fell...

52 Reid 2
43 Yuhan
40 Rogge

36 Drake
31 Bingham and Cameron
30 Cayenne and Tormey

28 Fell
25 Reid 1 and Dunn

15 SDB

This is a strange thing to say, maybe, about a team that stomped its division, hadn't lost in the postseason until tonight, and got the bye to rest in the opening round, but the Astros have looked flat all along to me. It seemed particularly in the LCS like they weren't necessarily winning so much as holding still to let their opponents beat themselves, and now, against a team with some mo, that strategy is showing some weaknesses. 

...I don't know. I don't follow the team and it could just be that weird washing-out light in the Juice Box, but I don't think they're going to win and I don't think it's going to take seven games to happen. 

We'll see, as we always do; Game 2 is at the same time tomorrow night. Good luck!

HOU 6, NYY 5; Astros move on

Before the game, Brady and I didn't have much hope that the Yankees could hang on. We don't follow the team that closely, but the team had seemed to lack resilience, starting with that midsummer slump -- not that they weren't good, just also not very tough. (Mets had the same problem towards the end of the season; no bounce-back left.) They only had so many comebacks in them last night, and the Astros had that many plus one.

MVP, points-wise, goes to Alvarez by a nose, though nobody in our picks list looked as good as Shanes Victorino Peña and Bader. LVP is Altuve, but maybe he's heating up just in time.

The point totals illustrate the issue, to an extent:

Altuve 2
Alvarez 3
Tucker 1

Judge 0
Stanton 1

You know what those italics mean.

As the maitre d'pool, it's hard to say which is a bigger nightmare scenario when you're down to only one team picks-wise. Yes, the Astros win knocks out a lot of slates with only Yankees left, but since -- with the exception of Brady -- everyone had that one pick, is it any more interesting to watch a lockstep march of more people* than it is to watch the daily shuffling of fewer people? 

*provided Judge hit a lick, which didn't seem guaranteed

Enough philosophizing; here's the money, with full standings after the jump. (If your slate is in italics, you will not appear in future updates unless you're still rattling around in the top three.)

52 Reid 2
43 Yuhan 1
40 Rogge

37 O'Reilly, Brady, and -- finally dropping out of the money after a WEEK -- Crase
36 Drake

PHI 4, SD 3; Phillies move on

It was pointed out to me by Rogge, although he nicely did not put it this way, that I brought the malocch' of this Philadelphia narrative by noting right up top that we had no Phillie picks. I apologize, and salute the picks we lost, whose points this afternoon were as follows:

Cronenworth 1
Machado 0

And you know why these names appear in italics.

I have the TV on in my office and Harper has just won the series MVP, which: yeah. BPP LCS MVP here though, obviously, is Machado, who as noted earlier has twice as many TB for the postseason as the two second-place dudes combined.

The LVP is...me, for not picking Schwarber like I thought about doing? All of us, for not picking any Phillies? The Met and Barve offenses for putting us all in this pickle? ...You know what, fuggit, let's hang it on Musgrove.

After all that, we've only lost one slate, O'Reilly, who is now in a three-way tie for third with Rogge and another zombie. And strictly speaking it's only about a half hour before ALCS Game 4 (...? It's raining in the city, let's see how they screw this pooch in a slicker tonight), and I have a wellness check to do on Reid before the game so here's your leaderboard for now:

52 Reid 2
40 Yuhan 1
37 Rogge, Crase, and O'Reilly

36 Brady
33 Drake
32 Sung

Thoughts and prayers to all the Judge-pickers; I hope the Bombers can stick in at least another night and drive up everyone's totals; good luck!

PHI 10, SD 6

This series too is teetering on the brink of extinction, with similarly dire results for the pool, but we'll get back to that. For now, an update on points, which Manny Machado continues to hog:

Cronenworth 0
Machado 5

Machado has notched twice as many points as the next closest pick, Trea Turner. Man, is BPP 2022 weird.

Your complete standings:

52 Reid 2
40 Yuhan 1
37 Rogge and Crase

36 O'Reilly and Brady
33 Drake
32 Sung

28 Cameron 2 and Bingham
27 JArbour, Cayenne, and Tormey
26 DGB
25 Yuhan 2 and Cameron 1

22 Reid 1 and Dunn
21 Quinn

19 Stempel
15 Shotwell and Fell
12 SDB

And we find ourselves in elimination games for both leagues today. The Philadelphia victory that has begun to feel inevitable may not happen today, but when it does, that knocks out a slate. The Houston victory that the Yankees have begun to seem like they're just going to hand over probably does happen today, and that knocks out eight slates. I think? I may have counted wrong. 

Whenever/if they happen, Reid 2 gets zombied -- and still may not be catchable unless Alvarez returns to earlier-series form. Like I said: weird times. 

And it's not going to get any less weird today, with SD/PHI starting at an almost insulting 2:37 PM ET given that it's Football Day In America. I'll stick my head in after that one; HOU/NYY starts at 7:07 PM. Good luck, check my counts, and I'll see you this evening!

HOU 5, NYY 0

Another listless performance from the Yankee "offense" probably means this series is over. Not great for the fans, definitely not great for the pool, but also not a huge surprise, let's be real.

It has been a huge surprise to date that Altuve had done literally nothing, but finally he got on the board tonight. Didn't have a ton of company, though...

Altuve 2
Alvarez 0
Tucker 0

Judge 0
Stanton 2

This result doesn't do much to the leaderboard. It really says something about this postseason that a zombie is still in the money after a week:

47 Reid 2
40 Yuhan 1
37 Rogge and Crase

36 O'Reilly and Brady

33 Drake
32 Sung

I'll be back with the full standings after the NL game, although I can already tell you that result is primarily going to widen the gap between the leader and everyone else. Good luck, all!

PHI 4, SD 2

Kind of a rollercoaster for Jean Segura last night, but the Phillies never felt like they weren't in control of this one. And while this household continued to lament the Schwarber pick that wasn't, only one pick that IS got any points:

Cronenworth 2

Which means the standings remain almost unchanged, except for O'Reilly creeping closer to a payday:

47 Reid 2
40 Yuhan 1
37 Rogge and Crase 

36 O'Reilly
34 Brady

32 Sung
31 Drake

28 Cameron 2
27 JArbour and Cayenne
26 DGB and Bingham
25 Tormey and Yuhan 2

23 Cameron 1
22 Reid 1
21 Quinn
20 Dunn

19 Stempel
15 Shotwell
13 Fell

10 SDB

The AL teams return at 5:07 ET -- hopefully Altuve's bat made the flight to New York -- and then it's Pads/Phils again at 7:45. And I think that's it for days off in the LCSes, with the World Series slated to start next Friday. My weather app's showing a decent amount of rain this week; fingers crossed MLB has a better plan than they did during the LDSes.

MY plan is to file my next update from the couch at the DGB watch party, so as always, check my math, and good luck. 

HOU 3, NYY 2

By this point in the postseason last year, Altuve had 19 points. 2022: still 0. (Tucker? 21 in by this point in '21. 2022: 8.) I don't know if this is bye rust or what but nobody looks great out there except, you know, unpicked dudes like Peña and Bader.

Not that tonight's game was totally pointless:

Altuve: yeah
Alvarez: 1
Tucker: 1

Judge: 1
Stanton: 0

That doesn't change much, but it looks like that last zombie slate is finally about to crumble. Your full standings:

47 Reid 2
40 Yuhan 1
37 Rogge and Crase 

34 O'Reilly and Brady
32 Sung
31 Drake

28 Cameron 2
27 JArbour and Cayenne
26 DGB and Bingham
25 Tormey and Yuhan 2

23 Cameron 1
22 Reid 1
21 Quinn
20 Dunn

19 Stempel
15 Shotwell
13 Fell

10 SDB

The AL is off tomorrow, so it's Reid and O'Reilly's show in Philly tomorrow night at 7:37 ET. Good luck, everyone!

HOU 4, NYY 2

...How is Altuve still 0 for the entire postseason? Yeah yeah, the bye and a short series and etc. -- nothing? Not a single single? Not to be this person, but has he thought about bunting? He's certainly capable of turning it on in the next few nights, and I assume that will occur, but if he had as many points total as Machado racked up just today, it's a completely different landscape.

But we live here, where nobody else but Giancarlo picked up any points either:

Altuve 0
Alvarez 0
Tucker 0

Judge 0
Stanton 3

Which, pardon me, punts Brady up into 5th. 

Your complete standings:

46 Reid 2
39 Yuhan 1
37 Crase 

35 Rogge
34 O'Reilly and Brady

31 Drake and Sung

27 Cameron 2
26 JArbour
25 Cayenne, DGB, and Bingham

24 Tormey and Yuhan 2
22 Cameron 1
21 Reid 1
20 Quinn

19 Dunn
18 Stempel

14 Shotwell
12 Fell

10 SDB

Just the one game tomorrow night, 7:37 PM ET in Houston. Good luck, everyone, by which I mean let's hope anything at all happens? And if something dumb happened with my math, you know what to do.

SD 8, PHI 5

When I took my eyes off the game around 6, it was 4-0 Phils and I was like, great, another thrilling day for the pool. The next time I checked, it was 8-4 Padres; the final is about the same, and the series goes back to the east coast in a 1-1 tie.

And it's a thrilling day for some so far, with these points:

Cronenworth 1
Machado 7

The ALCS game is, as of this moment, also tied at 1, but until then, here's the money:

46 Reid 2
39 Yuhan 1
37 Crase

35 Rogge
34 O'Reilly

31 Drake Sung Brady LLC

...lol, I just checked the NYY/HOU score and someone that nobody picked just homered to make it 3-1. Altuve has still done squat-ola. Brady's got an eye on 6th place. Still plenty of game left.

When there's not, I'll return with the full standings...

PHI 2, SD 0

I should have saved that LDS update for THIS post, because there's...nothing else to report in this post. Wheeler & Co. one-hit the Pads, and the possessor of said hit was Wil Myers; no Phillie picks = nothing to report.

A reminder on the money going into today's action:

39 Yuhan 1 and Reid 2
37 Crase
35 Rogge

33 O'Reilly
32 Fell 2
31 Drake, Sung, and Brady

That's that until the games begin at 4:30 ET (NLCS), with the few/proud/NYY and HOU picks going at 7:30. Good luck to all...

NYY 5, CLE 1; Yankees move on

I might be writing up a different outcome had this game been played last night -- but it wasn't, and the Guardians get eliminated on a crisp afternoon at Yankee Stadium. And I hoped for a different outcome, frankly, not just because one of my slates is toast (although that is part of it) but because it seemed like a marginally more interesting road for the pool generally to go down. Yeah, Judge has a ton of pickers left, but...you know. Judge has a ton of pickers left. It's not going to mix shit up much.

But this is the pool we have chosen, so to say. Let's look at the points:

Kwan 2
Ramirez 1

Judge 5
Stanton 4

The Guardian picks leave us -- and with about a half hour before the NLCS, we find our pick field whittled from 39 down to 7.

Who got whittled out of the pool field? Technically, just two of us, Fell 2 and SDB 2. Still a zombie gnawing on the doorframe of the money, but that could change if Cronenworth has a decent night.

The full standings, with zombie/recently deceased slates in italics:

39 Yuhan 1 and Reid 2
37 Crase
35 Rogge

33 O'Reilly
32 Fell 2
31 Drake, Sung, and Brady

27 Cameron 2
26 JArbour
25 Cayenne 1, DGB, and Bingham 1

24 Tormey and Yuhan 2
23 SDB 2
22 Cameron 1
21 Reid 1
20 Quinn

19 Dunn
18 Stempel

14 Shotwell 2
12 Fell 1
10 SDB 1

If you only have Judge or Altuve left and you're not rocking more than 30 points already, you're probably toast -- certainly your new basement-dweller is not pre-spending any winnings over here -- but I'll keep updating slates as long as they're active.

If you see any weird math/input errors, as always, let me know; I'll fix it in the next update. Which, because this postseason is bonko, is in like 13 minutes. Good luck!

[10/18/22 10 PM edited to add: MVP for the pool is for sure Ramirez; Stanton can't really be the "least" anything with 8 TB, but it does seem like the Shane Victorino of the series is Harrison Bader.]

NYY 4, CLE 2

New York evens up the series, and we go back to the Bronx tomorrow night. Not a ton of points on offer tonight, but almost everyone eligible picked up one.

Kwan 1
Ramirez 1

Judge 1

Stanton 0

Not a ton of movement here, although we do see the Chavez Ravine 3 fall out of the money.

39 Yuhan 1
37 Crase
34 Reid 1

32 O'Reilly
30 Rogge, Drake, and Fell 2

And then various Judge-only, Astros, and odd-lots slates after that.

We'll know more -- and we probably won't like it much -- by tomorrow night this time; in the meantime, good luck, and if you see an input error, send up a flare in the comments.

SD 5, LAD 3; Padres move on

Oooooo-fah what a day at the ballparks! San Diego is going to the LCS; another seemingly invincible Dodger team is going to the pro shop. 

What does this say about the new postseason structure? Lot of postmortems already being written about it; I'll save mine until we have a Yankees/Guardians outcome, because BOY do I have a bunch of housekeeping to do as it is.

Let's start with the points. Italics, well, sadly you know the drill...

Betts 0

Freeman 5

Smith 0
Turner J 1
Turner T 3

Cronenworth 2
Machado 2

Manny is easily the series MVP for us; the Ginger Elf and Mookie didn't look great, but honestly, nobody really did for the Dodgers except The Other Turner. Grisham continuing to compile stats for his Shane Victorino case is maddening, but at least he did it to someone besides the Mets also? And "great," it's a Nola v. Nola storyline in the LCS, I guess.

And that brings us to the money, which has both a new look, and a bunch of slates lurching around with their extremities falling off. Full standings after the jump, and again, if you're in italics, you won't appear in future updates, I'm sorry to say.

39 Yuhan 1
37 Crase
33 Reid 2 and The Chavez Ravine 3 (MArbour 1, Shotwell 1, and Winklepleck 2)

31 O'Reilly

CLE 6, NYY 5

Me after that walk-off: "Oh boy, Yankee-Twitternobyl."

Not a terrible day at the office for the pool, however -- and Judge is finally on the board.

Kwan 4
Ramirez 3

Judge 4

They're still playing at Petco, but let's deal with that tomorrow. For now, here's the money and the top half of the standings:

37 Crase
31 Yuhan 1
29 O'Reilly, Fell 2, and Winklepleck 1

26 Reid 2
25 The Chavez Ravine 3
24 Brady, Drake, and Rogge

22 Cameron 1 and Sung
21 Reid 1

This is already getting fluxed by the late game, of course, so whatever the outcome there, I'll see you for that update tomorrow morning. Good luck, all.

HOU 1, SEA 0 (18) (!!!); Astros move on

jfc, baseball. Not only was that an extraordinarily crappy way for the Mariners to have to end their season, but: that score! Basically no points anywhere, right?

Well, not quite.

Altuve 1
Alvarez 0
Tucker 2

Crawford 1
France 1
Haniger 1
Raleigh 0
Rodriguez 2
Santana 2
Suarez 1
Toro 0

Alas, I have to italicize all those Ms, because, of course, they're out -- along with a few slates; we'll get into it -- but the pool MVP of the series is Suarez, with Alvarez making a strong case on the Astros side. LVP is Toro, I suppose, but...Altuve's OPS for the LDS was .059. The hell?

Gurriel picks himself up a Victorino nomination, and as we wait for the ("other") night games to wrap up, let's look at the BPP standings. More after the jump, but if your slate is in italics, you got zombie'd. 

37 Crase
31 Yuhan 1
29 Winklepleck 1

26 O'Reilly
25 Fell 2 and the Chavez Ravine 3

PHI 8, ATL 3; Phillies move on

I watched most of this one, and once it became apparent that the Barves had not in fact come to play, somehow -- the outfielders in particular seemed to have just woken up -- I kind of gave myself up to it, despite the BPP blast radius I am now typing from. It's bad for the pool, yes, but boy do I not hate it.

The Shane Victorino Award for this series really belongs to the entirety of the Flyin' Hawaiian's old team -- unpicked; ignored; victori(n)ous -- but Harper's 1.437 OPS brings it home for him.

LVP technically is probably Rosario, who ran out of postseason pixie dust, I guess, but as far as BPP picks go, Riley and Harris were equally unhelpful.

To the points; everyone's in italics because everyone's off the board:

Acuña Jr. 0
Harris II 0
Olson 4
Riley 0
Swanson 0

No change to the money:

Crase: 32
Yuhan 1: 31
Winklepleck 1, O'Reilly, Fell 2, and the Chavez Ravine 3: 25

and Brady just off the pace at 24. Everyone else after the jump, plus a zombie-infestation check...

PHI 9, ATL 1; SD 2, LAD 1

What's that expression -- the long arc of the postseason bends towards chaos? 

"uh..."

Yeah, I know. And yet: one ALDS tied, with one of the main picks doing bubkes. The other on the brink of ending and sweeping out a raft of money slates. The NLDSes both in elimination games that, if said eliminations occur, will leave the pool with exactly two (2) picks. Hey, baseball: knock it off! No no, not like that!

...Okay, let's get the pointage straightened out here. Popular past pick Harper had a great game for the Phils, but of course nobody picked him or anyone else on that roster. Among the guys we DID pick, Harris II got off the schneid:

Acuña Jr. 1
Harris 1
Swanson 2

So, not bad for a team that didn't look like it was making an offensive dent. It didn't dent our leaderboard, however; still Crase, Yuhan 1, and Winklepleck 1 at the top before the nightcap.

In said nightcap, the points looked like this:

Betts 1
Turner T 1

Cronenworth 2

...with the result that the third-place level of the podium is rull crowded suddenly. Going into Blunderdome later today, here's the money, with the full standings after the jump:

32 Crase
31 Yuhan 1
25 Winklepleck 1, the Chavez Ravine 3, and O'Reilly

24 Brady

CLE 4, NYY 2 (10)

Another freed former Met, Amed Rosario, making a difference; another 0-fer for Aaron Judge, this one featuring a golden sombrero of its own. We did see some points,

Kwan 1
Ramirez 2

Stanton 4

but no change to the money, though O'Reilly inches up to join the Chavez Ravine 3 at 23, just off the pace, and our lone Stanton picker leaps up to 21.

No rest for the NL wicked, though, and we're sure to see some shuffling by midnight; I'll see YOU later with an update.

Yours, Mrs. Stant N. Picker

HOU 4, SEA 2

A fun game to watch -- which is nice, since it's today's only match, as it turns out -- and a nice range of points, but Seattle goes down 2-0 despite not looking like that's what's happening, if that makes sense.

And the team illustrates the giveth/taketh away knife's edge the PP always lives on: Seattle pickers look great now, but will those points hold if the Mariners get eliminated Saturday?

"Could Altuve start hitting and throw a rope down this well?" is another question I have, but no answers 'til the weekend. For now, the points:

Alvarez 4
Tucker 4

Crawford 2
Haniger 2
Rodriguez 2
Santana 2

And here's the money, with the full standings once more after the jump since the CLE/NYY game got postponed entirely...

32 Crase
29 Yuhan 1
25 Winklepleck 1

23 The Chavez Ravine 3
22 Reid 2

SD 5, LAD 3

I'll spare you the "[X team]'s goose is cooked" puns, but only because it's not technically true. The Dodgers did catch a case of LOB-itis partway through last night's game, but not before notching some points -- and what do you know, Cronenworth is here!

Betts 2
Freeman 6
W Smith 1
J Turner 1
T Turner 4

Cronenworth 4
Machado 6

Different look for the money this morning -- and that nudges the zombie slates out of the discussion, so after this update, you won't see those slates again -- but don't get used to it, because the NL's off today.

Your leaders, with the full standings after the jump:

26 Crase 1
25 Yuhan 1
23 The Chavez Ravine 3

22 Reid 2
21 Winklepleck 1, O'Reilly, and Bauer Heart

ATL 3, PHI 0

Two former Met pitchers did pretty well for the Phils tonight, but not as well as the Barves pitchers did (or former Met d'Arnaud did, ugh). Not that it matters to the pool whether the Phillies hit, of course.

And not that the Barves hit a ton, but here's what we got in the first game:

Acuña Jr. 1

Olson 1

Riley 1

Riley finally gets on the board; Harris II, a pick I envied, still waiting to notch one.

Not a huge change at the top as a result:

26 Crase 1
21 Winklepleck 1 and Bauer Heart
18 Fell 2

17 O'Reilly
15 SDB 2 and Crase 2

All that's going to look different after the west-coast game -- I just heard Cronenworth go yard, for one thing, and it sounds like Betts is finally in play -- but that's where it is for now. That full update probably comes tomorrow morning, so in the meantime, good luck to all.

LAD 5, SD 3

I miss Vin Scully on the call as much as a non-Dodgers fan can, but I've always liked Charley Steiner a lot too, going back to the '90s when he was on the mic for the Yankees, and the elemental joy in his voice when the Dodgers are doing their thing in the postseason is really something. So happy that this is his job and that he gets to do it after the bye week.

He'd have been just as pleased on some level if the team lost, but they did not, and while not every pick notched points, an SD pick finally got on the board. Did everyone in the pool do the same? 

Smith W 4
Turner T 6

Cronenworth 2
Machado 1

...Not yet! We still have a slate eligible for the Gol-Dunn Sombrero, although based on the picks, that outcome doesn't seem probably unless Altuve throws the Dodgers into the La Brea tar pits and then is eaten by a bear. 

It is, however, getting a bit more crowded towards the top. Here's the money, with your full standings after the jump (remember that zombie slates are italicized):

26 Crase 1
21 Winklepleck 1 and Bauer Heart
17 Fell 2 and O'Reilly

NYY 4, CLE 1

You'd never guess this outcome from the score, but Guardian pickers made out like bandits in this 1-4 loss to the Bombers, and the Yankee picks did nothing. Judge and Stanton contributed, but not in ways that count as TB.

So for the primetime game, it's 

Kwan 5
Ramirez 3

and that's it.

Still waiting for a number of slates to join us, although given the night Trea Turner's already having a few innings in, things could look quite a bit different at our final update. For now:

26 Crase 1
21 Winklepleck 1, Bauer Heart
17 Fell 2

15 O'Reilly, SDB 2, Crase 2
14 Yuhan 2
13 Reid 1, Cameron 1, Drake

Bit of a weird one so far on LDS Day one! Good luck, everyone, and I'll see you with a full wrap-up after SD/LAD (probably tomorrow morning). 

HOU 8, SEA 7

Man, based on Twitter, I wish I'd seen any of this one. The aftermath is plenty entertaining, though, so let's get into these points:

Alvarez 7
Tucker 1

Crawford 4
France 4
Haniger 1
Raleigh 1
Rodriguez 5
Suarez 5

The Guards/Yanks on in the background and with Pads/Dodgers about to start, here's where we are:

26 Crase 1
21 Winklepleck 1, Bauer Heart
15 Crase 2

14 Yuhan 2
13 Reid 1, Cameron 1
12 Fell 2, O'Reilly
11 DGB
10 SDB 2, Drake, Rogge

9 Reid 2, Cayenne 2
8 Cayenne 1
7 Bingham 2, Brady

6 Dunn, Quinn, Fell 1
5 JArbour, MArbour 2
4 Bauer Shock, Stempel, Sung
3 Cameron 2, Shotwell 2, SDB 1

0 Tormey, Bingham 1, MArbour 1, Shotwell 1, Winklepleck 2

Lots more shuffling before the day is done, I'm sure, so stay tuned.

PHI 7, ATL 6

I spent several hours in a podcast record and have barely seen any baseball yet today, so I'm going to do this quick update for the first afternoon game and see you later for the rest. And in this first one, Philadelphia flips off the pool by going up 1-0 in the series, but Atlanta did make a dent. 

Points in the NLDS opener:

Acuña 4
Olson 5
Swanson 1

No change to the leaders -- reminder: zombie slates are in italics -- but DGB has sprung up towards the top of the standings. 

21 Bauer Heart
16 Crase 1
15 Crase 2

Yuhan 2 and Fell 2 not far behind.

It does look based on the score like the first ALDS game racked up serious pointage for both sides, so I haven't bothered with a fuller listing, but look out for that in an hour or two.

And in the meantime, good luck!

SD 6, NYM 0; Padres move on

I don't really have much to say beyond what I said on Twitter earlier, to wit: at some point 4-6 weeks ago, a team that had spent the season to that point believing it could always come back and would usually dominate...stopped believing anything like that. Around Labor Day, even a couple of runs' deficit felt insurmountable, and often was (when it wasn't, like, a half-dozen-run hill to climb). 

In any event, although for personal-rooting and pool-health reasons I wish this had gone a different way, it didn't, and I had a feeling it wouldn't. 

The points:

Machado 3

Alonso 1

Leaving us:

Alonso
Canha
Escobar
Lindor
McNeil

Which thereby zombifies two slates before we even get to the LDSes:

Bauer Heart
Crase 2

And a couple others already look pretty frail. But that's why they play the games, as the saying goes. In the meantime, here's the money going into the off day, with walking-dead slates in italics:

21 Bauer Heart
16 Crase 1
15 Crase 2

14 Yuhan 2
10 SDB 2, Drake, Winklepleck 1

9 Reid 2
8 O'Reilly
7 Bingham 2
6 Dunn, Reid 1, Quinn, DGB, Fell 2, and Brady

Everything else basically status quo since the last update. Questions/math errors, let me know!

Here's the schedule for Tuesday 10/11, with play starting at 1:07 ET.

Until then, the comments are here for your reverse jinxes, rending of garments, Gol-Dunn Sombrero predictions, and the rest. Good luck and see you in a couple days!

PHI 2, STL 0; Phillies move on

Welp, this is what happens when you have 12 teams and four rounds of postseason in play, I guess. With the dust not yet settled on the first round, this could have been worse for the pool...but this may yet be much worse for the pool if the curtain goes up on a Guardians/Phils Classic. 

But let's worry about that in a couple of weeks. Today, let's salute the outgoing Cardinals, and in particular

El Hombre 2

Blogspot has not preserved the updates from the very first BPP, probably because if the pool were a kid, it would be old enough to drive, but I won BPP I thanks to a Pujols pick. What a pleasure to watch his final season.

The following picks also leave us:

Arenado
Goldschmidt

Goldie is always a tempting pick, but he can burn you; usually it's by being on a team that gets bounced early. This year he added taking a collar to the list. 

So, a couple of slates already clipped, but nothing's fatal yet. 

The money first; complete standings after the jump:

20 Bauer Heart
16 Crase 1
15 Crase 2

NYM 7, SD 3

Brutal series for Cronenworth so far, Machado somehow managed a rib-eye without a TB, and Jake didn't look great, but he and the Met line-up got the job done. Barely. Take years off your life, "These Mets." 

No points for Padre pickers, but:

Alonso 4
Canha 0
Escobar 1
Lindor 5
McNeil 2

So now your leaderboard looks like this:

20 Bauer Heart
16 Crase 1
15 Crase 2

13 Yuhan 2
10 Drake and Winklepleck 1

8 SDB 2 and O'Reilly
7 Bingham 2

Full standings in the next/last update, but this series resumes at 7 PM tonight; I believe the match-up is Musgrove/Bassitt. Rest up, check math, good luck!

SEA 10, TOR 9; Mariners move on

We stepped away from coverage for like 10 minutes yesterday evening to do other things; the next time we saw a TV, it looked like George Springer was...dying. Then we saw the replay 19,293 times. Truly scary -- and a little hard for me to feel good for the Mariners under the circs, but they did what had to be done, and the Jay bullpen did not. 

The loss knocked out three picks, and started to expose the limitations of picking pre-wild card round, a process a certain Easter-Island-headed gent continued in the night game, so I'll have to marinate on that over the winter. For now, let's pick up all the points that got Oprahed around in this game...

Crawford 2
France 1
Haniger 1
Raleigh 3
Rodriguez 0
Santana 6
Suarez 3

Leaving us, and therefore italicized:

Bichette 2
Guerrero 1
Springer 0

And for the brief time before the next update, here's the money:

16 Crase 1
10 Winklepleck 1
8 Bauer Heart and O'Reilly

And Crase 2 just off the pace, but Mets pickers would like a word in our next update, so stand by.

CLE 1, TB 0 (15) (!); Guardians move on

The big takeaway for me here: Sciambi and Glanville should do the higher-profile games. Yeah, there's some ESPN-iness, but for long stretches, there's also...quiet. I felt informed, but not blathered on. 

The Rays didn't feel great about the day, which was very long and sent them home, but while neither Cleveland pick notched a point, Rozie grabbed one for Cayenne 1 on his way out the door.

Arozarena 1

And that's kinda that. Cayenne 1 is on the board, but down a man; no other change.

That won't be true for long today, as it looks like our friends to the north are throwing a crooked number up the Seattle pen's ass, but I may not have time to update until later, what with the compulsive and useless worrying over which lucky Keith Hernandez shirt to wear and the praying to both deGrom's ancestors and my own. And this is relatively restrained compared to the high holy rituals performed on behalf of Carolina basketball in this house. At least that shit seems to do some good sometimes, sigh. 

...What was I saying? Oh yeah: longer series = better for the pool, so root accordingly and good luck!

SD 7, NYM 1

Not a promising Day 1 for BPP, net -- and definitely not a promising day for the Mets. We can get into it in the comments if you need the therapy, but the shelling of Maxie was not a surprise. I hope my prediction that, if they lose this game, they're done is wrong, but...

That said, some pickers did well from the nightcap:

Alonso 1
Escobar 6
McNeil 1

Machado 4

At the end of the first day of play, here's how it looks at the top:

8 Bauer Shock
7 O'Reilly and Crase 2
6 Winklepleck 1

5 Drake and Crase 1
4 Reid 2

3 Fell 1 and Bingham 2
2 Cayenne 2, SDB 1, and Yuhan 2

1 Los Cameron, Bauer Shock, JArbour, SDB 2, Brady, DGB, Dunn, Fell 2, Quinn, Reid 1, Rogge, Shotwell 2, and Stempel

All other slates are all-bye picks and won't be heard from 'til next week.

Tomorrow, it's already all elimination games starting at noon with Rays/Guardians (not that the ESPN intern got the memo about the name change...sigh). Then it's Mariners/Jays at 4, SD/Metsies at 7:30, and Phils/Cards at 8:30.

Good luck, everyone -- and don't forget to check my math!

SEA 4, TOR 0

A nice range of points picked up by various poolies in the evening game, but Springer got hit in the wrist late, which THIS poolie is not keen on, and the other Jays couldn't do much against the Mariner starter.

Able-bodied Seaman* hitters did just fine, however:

France 1
Haniger 2
Raleigh 4
Rodriguez 1
Suarez 3

And Toronto did a little something; thanks, Boba Chette:

Bichette 1
Springer 2

Whole bunch of Met pickers hoping to get on the board in about 20 minutes, but until then:

O'Reilly: 7
Winklepleck 1: 6
Drake and Crase 1: 5

Fell 1 3
Bingham 2, Cayenne 2, SDB 1: 2

Los Camerons, Bauer Shock, J Arbour, and SDB 2: 1

An inch of this and fervent prayer is what's up at BPP HQ for the next couple of hours; check my math and good luck to all. (...Bless your heart, Whirling Darvish, but: not you.)

*sorry, but also, get used to it

PHI 6, STL 3

...Welllll so this isn't going how anyone thought so far, is it? As noted this morning, no Phillies picks in play, and only Arenado managed to kick loose a point (while giving back on defense, but that's for Cards fans to bemoan).

Arenado 1
Goldie 0
The Man 0

O'Reilly back from BPP sabbatical with an early lead; Drake, ditto, close behind in your first leaderboard:

6 O'Reilly
5 Drake
1 Bingham 2, Cameron 1

Nobody else on the board yet, but SEA/TOR in progress should mix things up, and we've got a ton of picks in play for the nightcap. Thoughts and prayers and I'll see you later.

CLE 2, TB 1

Nice to see former Met Amed Rosario getting it done for the Guardians -- but the only one getting it done for pickers in the playoff opener was Ramírez.

Kwan 0
Ramírez 5

Arozarena 0

Drake and O'Reilly on the board, everyone else waiting to see what El Hombre does.

BPP 2022: It's on

Welcome (back) to Bunting's Postseason Pool for year...16?! Amazing. We've got a couple new faces in the crowd, a couple of past masters returning, and a LOT of slates this year: 35 total. That's a $350 pot on deck; the 70/20/10 split gives $245 to this year's winner, $70 and $35 to the 2nd- and 3rd-place slates.

And that's as good a segue as any into my constant BPP refrain: if you see mistakes/think I bonked the inputting, let me know. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm just a poetry major standing in front of a legacy Excel spreadsheet asking it not to hate her, etc. etc. If you suddenly have -17 points, let me hear from you.

Let's have a look at that spreadsheet, shall we?

I was interested prior to input to see how the extra pick would affect the breadth of picks; it seems roughly proportional to previous years. Heaviest action this year, unsurprisingly, is on your new AL home-run record-holder, Aaron Judge, with LAD's Betts and Freeman not far behind, and plenty of interest in NYM's Alonso/Lindor/McNeil, Houston's Altuve and Álvarez, Dodger Trea Turner, and Barve Dansby Swanson.

There's one triple-dupe slate of all Dodgers; there's also a pleasant seasoning of "what do they know that I don't" singles to keep things interesting.

More after the jump...

BPP 2022: Rules Rundown

The set-up and instructions for entry appear below. A couple of changes since last year, due to MLB's constitutional inability to quit messing with the playoffs -- these are marked like so: **. Any questions, LMK.

For an overview of previous years' action, feel free to browse around the BPP blog, http://buntingspostseasonpool.blogspot.com.

Think I left someone off the dist list? Forward at will; the more the merrier!

Deadline for picks/payment is THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 AT 9 (nine) PM ET.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

THE SCORING

**It works like this: you pick four (4) 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, CJ Abrams notches 3 points:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/braves-vs-nationals/2022/09/28/661099#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661099

[something something "BOOSTING the offense" fishcakes]

 ...hello! We're back. MLB is determined to drive me around the bend and out of sight with the playoff tweaks, but...joke's on Manfred; I lost it years ago.

Email's going out shortly. Any questions, you know where to find me, but let me save you a few keystrokes, because I don't know where the Mets' bats are either, xo.