...hee. (The MLB app is already alerting me to trades! Soler to the Angels!)
Our top four finishers have just gotten paid; congrats again to them, and thank you all for playing again this year. It's so much fun to do, and I hope I'll see you (and anyone you'd like to tag in!) in 11 months' time -- same Bunt time, same Bunt channel.
xo, SDB
Congrats to the Dodgers and their fans! To the Yankees and their fans, meanwhile...that was quite an inning y'all had! Maybe it's time to think about making some changes at the management level?
I will be making the final updates tomorrow morning because I'm dead on my feet; watch this space.
104 days until spring training...
Thanks to the pride of Watchung, I was wrong; hooray! More baseball = good. (Hope those fans who tried to mug Betts on that foul catch enjoy watching at home forever...)
How much more we get remains to be seen -- I don't think Cole is a guarantee of anything, but I don't hate the Yankees' chances against Flaherty -- but let's look at what last night's Hail Mary offensive barrage netted us.
Betts 2
Freeman 4
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 1
Smith W 4
Judge 1
Soto 2
Stanton 0
No real change to the money, but it's getting pret-ty interesting right outside the bolded type...
110 MArbour 2
106 JArbour Winklepleck Ltd.
97 Bauer Snooze
94 Shotwell 1 and Johnson
90 Quinn
Everyone else after the jump!
...again. One takeaway from last night's game, for me -- following what seemed like unified "what's really wrong with Judge"/"IS there really something wrong with Judge"/"Judge need hit ball more times" coverage from the writers I follow -- was the shots of the fans in Yankee Stadium. Leaving aside that it's FOX coverage, with all the blunt-force melodrama that implies, every shot of the faithful was a portrait in baffled outrage. How can this be? We're the Aaron Judge YANK-ees!!
I know not all Yankee fans are like this. I used to be one; I tried my best not to be That Guy. (I actually wrote years ago about early-aughts Yankees teams, which were more like a B/B-, being more fun to watch because the shit-talk was better.) I know other teams' fans have their issues, and I know a Met fan's "fine, we'll just sit here in the dark" self-loathing isn't cute, etc. etc.
But Met fans can comprehend things like "getting beat by better teams" -- reeeeeally well, like PhD-level comprehension -- in a way Yankee fans often seem incapable of. Like, can't compute information such as "the Dodgers have home-field for a reason that is not a coin flip" or "this line-up is more consistently dangerous than ours."
(Or "Juan Soto does not care to play an attentive RF," which is not a point of interest when he's tearing the cover off the ball, but a terrible look when he's not.)
This isn't Judge's "fault"; it isn't anyone's. The Dodgers are better -- maybe not this much better, but more accustomed to having to adapt and patch holes. But it's the Yankees, so Judge is going to get blamed, instead of the front office not trying harder to bolster the pitching at the deadline, or instead of giving credit to the way October activates dudes like Edman and Kiké.
"You know it's only Game 4 tonight, right?" I do. But I think L.A. has the brooms out, and I may not have as much time to do analysis tomorrow, so: here it is now. Hope I'm wrong.
Speaking of wrong (sigh), here's the smattering of points from last night...
Betts 1
Freeman 4
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 0
Smith W 0
Judge 0
Soto 0
Stanton 3
And with that, Stanton moves into a tie with Vientos for pool/points MVP. This is not a bad team! Freeman is just having a postseason straight out of Joseph Campbell.
No real change to the money, with Ohtani (IMO) playing hurt mostly to reassure Dodger Nation and none of the other popular picks doing much:
104 MArbour 2
98 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
92 Bauer Snooze
89 Shotwell 1
86 Johnson
85 Quinn
high 60s Stempel and Wonsetler
low to mid 60s Cameron 2, Dunn, and the SDBs
50s Fell, Tormey, Shotwell 2, Cameron 1, and Drake
40s Reid 1 and Bingham
30s Reid 2 and Brady
26 MArbour 1
Now that I've said the Dodgers are set to sweep, the Yankees are going to come out behind Gil and hammer...whoever Los Angeles sends to the mound, which is still TBD as of this writing. But it's on FOX at 8 ET; good luck, everyone!
Not as dramatic a win by the Dodgers last night...but pretty close, what with the heel-nipping in the ninth.
Of course, that happened in the shadow of Ohtani going fetal at second base while some Yankee infielder* just...ran past him all "none of my business Kermit dot gif"? Like, you don't have to cradle his head in your lap, but maybe just wait nearby until the trainer comes out, or get between him and the dugout cams? Or ask yourself what A-Rod would have done, and do the opposite?
*my dislike of Volpe is 1) irrational and 2) already public record so I don't care to pile on; someone can tell me in the comments who it actually was
Anyway, all of that was...not awesome to experience at home (ditto the FOX booth trying to find British-diplomat ways to slam Soto's cazh defense), but a lights-out Yamamoto + Freeman and T. Hernandez dingers were pretty rad.
Points!
Betts 2
Freeman 4
Hernandez T 5
Ohtani 0
Smith W 2
Judge 0
Soto 5
Stanton 1
Say hello to the new money!
102 MArbour 2
92 JArbour Winklepleck
91 Bauer Snooze
87 Shotwell 1
86 Bauer OMG
84 Quinn
82 Johnson
...and goodbye to the Zombie Bauer slate; everyone else after the jump.
That game was wild enough before the finale, which: dang. Good for Freeman, whom I've always liked even though he tends to hit the Mets like they're the side of a barn. And how is it possible that this is the first walk-off grand salami in Series history?
Interesting point distribution:
Betts 0
Freeman 7
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 2
Smith 0
Judge 1
Soto 1
Stanton 4
Not a huge realignment here, but the zombie Bauer is beginning his descent:
90 MArbour 2
86 Bauer OMG
84 Bauer Snooze
81 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
80 Shotwell 1
74 Quinn
73 Johnson
65 Cameron 2
64 Stempel
62 Wonsetler
high 50s: the SDBs and Dunn
low 50s: Tormey, Shotwell 2, Fell, Cameron 1, and Drake
40s: Bingham and Reid 1
30s: Reid 2
20s: Brady and MArbour 1
I hope it's a little less dramatical in Game 2, which is the same Bat time, same Bat channel tomorrow night, Rodón vs. Yamamoto. Check my math (I figured out that Excel hiccup, but that doesn't mean I didn't foam-finger the data entry), and good luck to all, but especially the furniture in Nestor Cortes's hotel room.
MLB.com dropped theirs earlier this morning. You can read the full write-up here, but the short verzh is that the expert panel 1) gives a slight edge to the Dodgers and 2) thinks the Series will go at least 6 games.
That looks about right to me. If both teams hadn't had nearly a week off, I would feel much more confident about a "Dodgers in 6" prediction of my own, because the Yankees' pitching seemed much shakier to me than their season record reflected, and really got pushed in the previous rounds. All that rest time is a reset, though, and could have sapped hitting momentum on both sides.
But for all the rending of garments about the Dodgers' pitching issues, they've been finding creative (or long-ball) ways to neutralize opponents all year, and their line-up is deeper and more dangerous head-to-head IMO. I do feel confident that we won't see a ton of pitchers' duels. Or...any. And I'm going to stick on Dodgers in 6, powered by the benevolent ghost of Mr. Valenzuela.
We'll find out tomorrow at 8 PM ET, Cole vs. Flaherty. Predictions/fears/resentments go in the comments, and of course, good luck!
What a wild fun season for the Metropolitans; what a longer run they had than anyone expected (except the Mets themselves, which is probably no small part of it). I'm sorry it's over, but what a blast.
And congrats to Dodgers fans; the World Series should be a points-fest for everyone who's left. Tonight was a little thin in that regard, under the circumstances, since two picks didn't start and others didn't do much, but here's how we ended things:
Iglesias 0
Lindor 1
Nimmo 0
Vientos 4
Betts 2
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 2
Ohtani 2
Smith W 4
That's a handful of picks out, but only one slate -- Bauer OMG, which is now a zombie, but when it falls out of the money, I'll stop listing it in updates. As noted earlier, a big chunk of slates have no shot at catching the leaders with only one or two picks that the frontrunners share, but it's not really a problem to list everyone, so I'll keep on with that.
Although Vientos is currently the pool points leader, the MVP of this series is clearly Mookie Betts; it seems unsporting to give the LVP to either Freeman or Nimmo, since both were injured, but Jose Iglesias just...disappeared the last week. He's a big part of the team's drive this season, though...idk.
Tommy Edman Victorino'd Met pitching right out of the postseason.
Now, as we head into five off days before the Classic, the standings. (NB: my sort function in Excel is being a butt for some reason, so if anything looks off, holler and I'll investigate.)
86 Bauer OMG and MArbour 2
81 Bauer Snooze
76 Shotwell 1
71 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
69 Quinn
64 Cameron 2
62 Johnson
58 Wonsetler and Stempel
57 SDB Sorry
54 SDB Safe
53 Dunn
50 Tormey and Shotwell 2
48 Fell
47 Cameron 1 and Drake
43 Bingham
39 Reid 1
37 Reid 2
28 Brady
25 MArbour 1
We'll be back this weekend; in the meantime, good luck, check my math, and #LGM forever.
The older I get, the more heartbreaking I find these losses sometimes for the players, whose littlest mistakes loom so large in the postseason...and for the Cleveland fans, oo-fah.
With that said: dang, Soto! And it's a fascinating outcome; I really didn't think the Yanks had the pitching to get out of the ALDS, and they look like likely World Champs right now.
Fair bit of baseball between now and then, though -- and some off days to get rusty in -- so let's turn our attention to the points and admin.
Naylor 1
Ramírez J 0
Thomas 0
Judge 0
Soto 7
Stanton 4
And you know what the italics mean.
A fairly typical last set of stats for this LCS; Thomas is the pool's LVP for the series, but Judge is in that conversation...and so is Ramírez, who looked worse than his stats IMO. That last swing puts Soto in front for MVP; Gleyber Torres angling for the Victorino out of the AL.
Okay, here come the standings, which just got a lot more interesting for some thanks to Soto...and irrelevant for a few others.
81 Bauer OMG
80 MArbour 2
77 Bauer Snooze
Everyone else after the jump...
Another wild one I was trying to listen to on the train; I would say John Sterling sounded flummoxed by the twists and turns of the late innings, but that's not really news, is it? Hee. (It IS nice to hear him back; glad he's apparently well.)
And another one where you might expect more points from the line score -- but there are a bunch. Also, there's another Naylor! What a time to be alive.
Naylor The Greater 3
Ramírez 3
Thomas 0
Judge 1
Soto 4
Stanton 4
Probably our last two-game day of the postseason, although you never know. The standings going into the NL's travel day:
81 Bauer OMG
73 MArbour 2
70 Shotwell and Bauer Snooze
65 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
64 Cameron 2
58 Quinn
Everyone else after the jump...
By the time the curtain went up on the show I was attending, it was 10-2 Mets; I still didn't feel safe. Welcome to Flushing fandom. It turned out okay in the end, for the Mets and for certain pickers, but waiting for the score to load at intermission was a loooong six seconds.
Minorly weird points distribution as well:
Betts 6
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 2
Smith W 0
Iglesias 0
Lindor 4
Nimmo 1
Vientos 0
That puts the money at:
78 Bauer OMG
69 MArbour 2 and Shotwell 1
66 Bauer Snooze
And just off the pace,
65 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
60 Cameron 2
Full standings in the next update, which may have to wait until the AM.
Me, a week ago: "This is the preferable result for Mets fans, and for fans of pool chaos; I am both, but I didn't call this outcome -- and the rising of Dodger pitching to this occasion is somewhat worrisome for Met partisans."
Leaving aside the paradox here -- the team I believe is more beatable by MY team has to not get beaten by OTHER teams -- I still think based on what we'd seen at that point that the Mets "wanted" the Dodgers. What we had not seen at that point was a horrifying-to-opposing-pitchers line-up find its gear, which it has; or the Cinderfella Mets running out of gas, which I think they may have. Hope I'm wrong, hope they at least get to go back to L.A.
And the other preferable result, from a pool-chaos standpoint, was a couple of picks that looked like busts as week ago changing the conversation almost completely in like two days.
...Almost.
Betts 8 (!)
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 4
Smith W 1
Iglesias 1
Lindor 2
Nimmo 1
Vientos 5
Vientos's ongoing campaign for pick MVP continues apace/allows Bauer OMG to hold off the field...for now:
73 Bauer OMG
61 MArbour 2 and Shotwell 1
60 Cameron Deux
Everyone else after the jump...
I watched a lot of this one in, functionally, a set from The Sopranos -- and it seemed like the Yanks had it in the bag, and then it seemed like that again, and then one of Cleveland's handful of Victorino candidates ended things.
A bunch of points on offer, though:
Naylor 1
Ramírez 2
Thomas 2
Judge 4
Soto 0
Stanton 4
I won't get into a ton of detail here, since the other game is 1) hideous and 2) spraying points everywhere; you can look out for that update first thing tomorrow, but for now:
65 Bauer OMG
60 Cameron 2
49 MArbour 2 and Shotwell 1
And not far off the pace,
47 Quinn
46 Bauer Snooze
45 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
but the Betts believers are going to change the game big-time in our next update. Good luck, everyone (except whoever left Danny Young on the Mets roster) -- any math errors, LMK!
Well, that was fugly to watch -- with the exception of that Ohtani moonshot, which, always a pleasure but uch. The Mets' inconsistent offense is really frustrating the last few days -- and as far as the pool goes, the Dodgers' isn't that much better. Yes, there's the moonshot, but when the most popular pick hits it, and favored picks of yesteryear also hit them and the points don't go anywhere...so goes the BPP, I guess.
Broad, but not deep, sprinkling of points otherwise:
Betts 1
Freeman 1
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 4
Smith W
Iglesias 1
Lindor 0
Nimmo 1
Vientos 1
Mark Vientos pulls into a tie for the pool-MVP lead; Hernandez K doing that postseason-Kiké thing he does, though it doesn't help any of us; here's how everyone's sitting going into today:
63 Bauer OMG
54 Cameron 2
49 MArbour 2
46 Bauer Snooze
45 Shotwell 1, JArbour Winklepleck LLC
43 Quinn
39 SDBs Safe and Sorry
38 Stempel and Johnson
34 Dunn, Cameron 1, Drake, and Wonsetler
32 Reid 2, Fell 1, Tormey, and Shotwell 2
29 Reid 1, Bingham 2
28 Bingham 1
23 Brady
20 MArbour
Today's games kick off with NYY/CLE at 5 ET on TBS, the Guardians trying to get on the board; LAD/NYM is another night game, 8 PM on FS1. Check my math, as always, and good luck, ditto!
Well, the Yankees don't look great out there...but the Guardians look like they're moving underwater, and they've looked that way for a lot of the postseason, to me. Seems like it's getting late early in the ALCS.
But what a relief for Judge that he finally went yard (and a relief for much of the pool, not for nothing). It took like five years off his face.
All Guardians picks got points; only Stanton did not for the Yanks, in an inversion of the usual scorelines of late...
Naylor 2
Ramírez 4
Thomas 1
Judge 4
Soto 1
Stanton 0
This changes the landscape somewhat, for now, as the AL takes a travel day tomorrow and the NL is back on. I forget, year to year, that weird musical-chairs quality of the LCSes for the pool, where it's different standings every day and you hope the music stops when you're closer to the top.
61 Bauer OMG
54 Cameron 2
44 MArbour 2
Everyone else after the jump...
The second game of the day, the second instance of an entire team's picks doing bubkes. Not the second instance of Judge and Ramírez doing bubkes, alas, but let's have a look...
Naylor 0
Ramírez 0
Thomas 0
Judge 0
Soto 5
Stanton 4
So the standings reshuffle in favor of Soto pickers; here's the full list after LCS Day 2:
57 Bauer OMG
46 Cameron 2
43 MArbour 2
40 Bauer Snooze
39 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
38 SDB Sorry
36 Shotwell 1
34 Stempel and Quinn
31 SDB Safe
29 Dunn
28 Reid 2 and Johnson
27 Fell 1
26 Fell 2, Cameron 1, and Drake
25 Reid 1 and Wonsetler
24 Bingham 1
22 Tormey
21 Brady
20 Shotwell 2 and Bingham 2
16 MArbour 1
We'll see how things develop tomorrow with the NL off day; the AL plays at 7:40 PM ET again. Until then, check my numbers and good luck!
This Mets fan will take a split on the road anytime, and especially after the media spent the last couple days talking up that Dodger scoreless streak.
Weirdly, though the Dodgers themselves scored several times in this Game 2, not one of the picks created a base. Met pickers had a nice night of it, though.
Betts 0
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 0
Smith W 0
Iglesias 1
Lindor 4
Nimmo 0
Vientos 5
Apparently Nimmo is dealing with plantar fasciitis, but it isn't bothering Bauer any...
57 Bauer OMG
46 Cameron 2
39 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
38 MArbour 2
36 Shotwell 1
35 Bauer Snooze
33 SDB Sorry
31 SDB Safe
30 Stempel
I'll save the rest of the standings for the end of ALCS play, where Rocchio is making his best pitch for the Victorino, but if any numbers look weird in the meantime, LMK!
Welp, this is sort of what I feared with the Dodger offense AND pitching heating up (and it looked like the Senga gambit wasn't as intimidating the second time), but it's a longer series, so as a Met fan, I'm not freaking out too much yet.
As a pool fan, this is fine. Points!
Betts 2
Freeman 2
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 2
Smith W 0
Iglesias 1
Lindor 0
Nimmo 0
Vientos 0
A somewhat different view at the top with Betts pickers coming on:
48 Bauer OMG
46 Cameron 2
39 JArbour Winklepleck LLC
38 MArbour 2
36 Shotwell 1
35 Bauer Snooze
31 SDB Safe
30 Stempel
29 SDB Sorry and Quinn
28 Reid 2
26 Fell 2 and Cameron 1
25 Reid 1
24 Bingham 1 and Dunn
23 Johnson
22 Fell 1 and Tormey
21 Brady
20 Wonsetler and Shotwell 2
19 Bingham 2
16 MArbour 1
All remaining picks in play tomorrow, NL at 4 PM ET, AL plays Game 1 at 7:30. We'll see where we are then; in the meantime, check my math and good luck...
Thanks to disrespectful start times, this series may not have gotten the attention it warranted -- and now it's over, and the Tigers' magic season is too. But Cleveland's most-picked bat may be heating up in time for the LCS -- and we only lost one pick, who will appear in italics below.
Greene 1
Naylor 0
Ramírez 1
Thomas 5
And Thomas is our MVP here...with the other two Cleveland picks sharing the LVP "honors." The Victorino is pretty clearly Kwan, who was a popular pick in previous BPPs and seemed never NOT to be on base last week.
No slates knocked out, and no change to the money, but some shuffling of the field...
48 Bauer OMG
46 Cameron 2
34 MArbour
33 JArbour Winklepleck Ltd.
32 Shotwell 1
31 Bauer Snooze
29 the SDBs
28 Reid 2 and Stempel
27 Quinn
26 Fell 2
24 Cameron 1, Drake, and Bingham 1
23 Reid 1
22 Dunn and Fell 1
21 Brady
20 Tormey
19 Johnson
18 Wonsetler and Shotwell 2
16 Bingham 2 and MArbour 1
This will get VERY interesting IF Judge and Soto start cranking, but we won't find that out until Monday -- and that's the 7:40 game on TBS.
In the meantime, NLCS action starts tomorrow night at 8:15 ET on FOX, with the Mets sending Senga to the hill against L.A.'s fluffily-ERA'd Flaherty at Chavez Ravine. You may hear my wails of anxiety before you see an update ;) -- in the meantime, good luck, and if the numbers/math looks off, LMK!
This is the preferable result for Mets fans, and for fans of pool chaos; I am both, but I didn't call this outcome -- and the rising of Dodger pitching to this occasion is somewhat worrisome for Met partisans.
Somewhat objectionable for Padre pickers too, as the Dads depart with only one point among them.
Lots of admin tonight, so let's start with the points:
Betts 0
Freeman 1
Hernandez T 4
Ohtani 0
Smith W 1
Arraez 1
Machado 0
Merrill 0
Tatis Jr. 0
Those italics mean, as you know, that these picks are out.
Technically, our pool LVP for this round is Freeman, but given what he's going through just to stay in the lineup, I can't do it -- and Arraez wasn't any better in this round of the playoffs. MVP remains Tatis Jr., who did what Machado usually does in the pool. The Victorino is...well, that's a tough one. Higashioka, let's go with that.
Now, while a handful of slates got gut-punched by the Pads' departure, we didn't lose any (technically; there are a handful with one functionally immaterial pick left, but we'll get there). We did see a realignment of fortunes, and will likely keep seeing them daily for the next week, but for now here's the money:
47 Bauer OMG
45 Cameron 2
34 MArbour 2
And we'll see the rest of you after the jump.
This isn't a shocking outcome, I guess; Kansas City had been scuffling, I think, down the stretch, and were considered "ahead of schedule" as far as the team developing into a contender, but the Yankees looked flat enough the first couple games that I didn't love their chances.
Not sure I love their chances against whomever they end up in the ALCS with, either, but that's a debate for another day. Today's debate is lost picks, but let's start with points, and heyyyyy, Judge has some!
Witt Jr. 1
Judge 2
Soto 1
Stanton 3
Witt The Younger is the only pick who's out; only two slates lost him; only one slate goes dark. He's not the LVP here -- that's Judge -- but honestly nobody did great except Giancarlo Stanton. We don't even have an obvious Victorino candidate, IMO...Torres? Massey?
Y'all can argue about it in the comments if you like; I've already been working on this update for 40 minutes because I keep having to stop to pry a zooming kitten out of the bookshelf, off my ankle, out of the printer tray, etc. etc. so let's get to the standings while she's "only" somersaulting around chasing her tail.
47 Bauer OMG
45 Cameron Deux
31 Bauer Snooze
Everyone else after the jump!
The Guardians hang on to force a Game 5 back at home; more to the point, JRam is on the board at last!
Not that the leaders, who both were doing just fine even with no Ramírez points, needed the help, but all the game's relevant picks did a little something today.
Naylor 1
Ramírez 4
Thomas 2
Greene 2
Money remains the same at different numbers --
47 Bauer OMG
43 Cameron 2
30 Bauer Snooze
-- but the game's just gone final in KC, so I'll see you in a sec with a full update!
There were a lot of ways last night could have gone for L.A.; I didn't have this way on my list. I was figuring something more like "Pads put up 4 early, Dodgers rally, Padres put up another 4, Freeman pinch-hits bkj9 Z¸¸." What does that last notation mean? I don't know, but the foster kitten Has Opinions about the playoffs, and hurtled onto my desk to share them.
Bodie's blogging aspirations aside, this authoritative away win seems good for the Dodgers' chances -- and good for the pool, which finally saw some theoretically/historically smart but underperforming picks put up big numbers last night.
Betts 5
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 2
Ohtani 1
Smith W 4
Arraez 1
Machado 0
Merrill 0
Tatis Jr. 2
Fernando fils continuing to rack points towards an eventual BPP MVP crown; Betts leapfrogging all the other L.A. picks. New look for the standings, too.
The view from the top:
43 Bauer OMG
39 Cameron Folie a Deux
30 Bauer Snooze
[hums "OMG"]
Everyone else after the jump!
The Bombers take one, somewhat surprisingly, in Kansas City -- behind a big night, quite surprisingly, from Stanton. You legit love to see it, or at least I do; I often wonder what his career would look like if he were playing the number of games a season Alonso is across town.
Witt Jr. 1
Judge 0
Soto 0
Stanton 7
No change to the money, but our lone Stanton picker, Stempel, is in the chase now. That said, based on the late game so far, the middle of the pack is about to make moves, so I'll wait on full standings until those results are in...which may not be until tomorrow morning.
Keep an eye on my math/data entry, and good luck!
...what?
Look, I love the Mets and I'm thrilled; I think something, or some things, happened around Memorial Day that started to shift the story; it was a hell of a lot more fun than the season I thought we had in store as of May 22nd, god knows. But against this Phillies lineup? And those Phillies pitchers?
That said, having faced them in the last week of the season, we could see they were mortal; I'm not sure the Mets could have bested them best-of-7, but...here we all are. As it often goes, fantastic result for one team's fans that is also brutal for the pool, sooooo here we go.
Iglesias 0
Lindor 6
Nimmo 0
Vientos 3
Bohm 0
Castellanos 3
Harper 2
Schwarber 0
Turner 0
Yeahhhh that's a lot of italics. Pool LVP for this series is Bohm, although if he'd gotten to play another couple games, it seemed like he was about to turn it around. MVP is Vientos, and it's not close. It seems weird to give the Shane Victorino Flyin' Hawaiian Award to a home-run-derby winner, but I think it's Alonso! Nobody picked him, best unpicked OPS in the series.
This outcome only knocked out one slate, which will also appear in italics until it falls out of the money...and we still have two games to finish tonight SO FOR NOW:
43 Bauer OMG
37 Cameron 2
28 SDB Sorry and Crase
26 Reid 2
24 Bauer Snooze
21 MArbour 2 and Cameron 1
Report any errors via the usual methods (now if you like, but you may want to wait until tomorrow morning when the dust has settled); see you shortly!
I never used to think momentum was A Thing, but in recent years, I've started to buy into the concept, and it may be because of the postseason the last couple of years? It seems like the Tigers have it; it also seems like the Guardians don't know how to manage it.
And like José Ramírez has forgotten how to hit.
Naylor 1
Ramírez 0
Thomas 1
Greene 1
A little movement near the back of the pack, but this match-up is underpicked comparatively; I'll give a fuller update in an hour or two.
I didn't see much of this one -- with a couple of exceptions, I find these FOX commentators untenable -- but I could tell from the score we had a point-fest on our hands, and sure enough, with San Diego taking a series lead (but Betts finally getting off the mat), the standings look a little different now.
Betts 5
Freeman 1
Hernandez T 4
Ohtani 1
Smith W 0
Arraez 0
Machado 2
Merrill 0
Tatis Jr. 4
Fernando is just having a monster post this year -- and so, therefore, is Cameron Deux. The money!
37 Cameron 2
34 Bauer OMG
23 Crase and Reid 2
22 SDB Sorry and Bauer Snooze
21 MArbour 2
20 JArbour and Winklepleck
19 Cameron Un
18 Dunn and Shotwell 1
17 Fell 1, Drake, Stempel, SDB Safe, and Quinn
16 Brady and Reid 1
15 Wonsetler 2 and Tormey
14 Wonsetler 1 and Johnson
13 the Binghams and Fell 2
12 MArbour 1
10 Shotwell 2
The good news is, eeeeeveryone's in play tomorrow: CLE/DET at 3 ET, PHI/NYM at 5, NYY/KC at 7, the California clubs at 9.
The bad news is, the NL games could be deciders, and a few picks are running out of time.
I'm dead on my feet but I'll be back here tomorrow AM if there are any data-entry screw-ups; just leave a comment/send an email and I'll sort it. Good luck, all!
Brady and I didn't manage to meet up with Bauer Grimace at Citi Field earlier, but: man. So much fun. Not just because the Mets won, which they did behind a truly stunning performance from Manaea, but because all of us fans got here from the end of May, which if you don't follow this team was some goddamn grim "baseball." Also loved seeing all the kids who got to come out. And the jersey game in this crowd was willllld. I saw a Blevins jersey? I love the Blev too, but I don't think Blevins's MOTHER has a Blevins jersey.
And a handful of points as well!
Iglesias 2
Lindor 2
Nimmo 0
Vientos 2
Bohm 1
Castellanos 1
Harper 1
Schwarber 0
Turner 1
Nobody who went yard is a pick this year, natch, but we still see a minor shuffle at the top:
34 Bauer OMG
33 Cameron 2
23 Crase
Reid 2 and SDB Sorry not far out of the third spot -- but points are flying around Petco tonight and that game's not even half over, so I'll wait to do full standings until that's final.
I'm sure I could chase down the stats that would confirm (or overrule) this impression -- run differential, probably -- but I just feel like the Yankees have looked worse than their record. It's why I don't love their chances in the postseason; mostly it's the pitching, partly it's the injuries, but there's just been the sense since midsummer that if Judge and Soto aren't both hitting, they don't have the horses. Like, "Berti playing first for the first time in his career" don't have the horses.
Not to take anything away from KC; you still have to go out there and do the thing. (Berti was fine too.) But the Yankees aren't making it look real hard.
Points!
Witt Jr. 0
Judge 1
Soto 0
Stanton 1
Unsurprisingly, this isn't going to make a huge difference to the standings...
33 Cameron 2
30 Bauer OMG
20 Crase and Reid 2
Everyone else after the jump...
An extremely compelling and satisfying game from a baseball standpoint -- just some old-school pitchers'-duel shteez. From a pool standpoint, l...ess so.
Naylor 2
Ramirez J 0
Thomas 0
Greene 0
No change to the money, with only Tormey inching up through the middle of the pack.
Our next, pick-heavier game starts in about half an hour on TBS; good luck, all!
That was a wild one, and not just because Jurickson Profar took 4 points off the board for Betts. Well...actually, it WAS because of that, but you don't usually see security out on the field in Game 2 of an LDS.
Then again, you don't usually see picks racking 10 points, and it's happened TWICE today.
Not much happened for Dodger picks, though.
Betts 0
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 0
Smith W 0
Arraez 1
Machado 1
Merrill 6
Tatis Jr. 10
And just like that, Bauer OMG gets passed on the rail. Here's the money:
32 Cameron 2
30 Bauer OMG
20 Crase
Everyone else after the jump...
Sorry for the delayed update; I went out to Jersey -- with beer, peanuts, and crackerjack -- to watch with my pops. Fun as hell even though it didn't go the Mets' way.
Pointy as hell as well!
Iglesias 1
Lindor 2
Nimmo 5
Vientos 10 (...I know)
Bohm 0
Castellanos 6
Harper 4
Schwarber 0
Turner 2
We should probably dock Vientos a couple of those for defensive miscues, but we'd have to do the same for Lindor aaaand that's not how it works anyway so...the money, hilariously:
30 Bauer OMG
20 Crase
18 Reid 2
17 SDB Sorry
16 the Camerons and Dunn
I've just spent 2 hours trying to get back from the Garden State so I'm going to go eat something; back with a fuller update in a bit!
The kind of messy street fight both managers predicted; for fans of the teams, it's like "wait so HOW many more weeks of this?", but you love to see it for the pool.
Not an all-inclusive buffet of points, and some of the recent-postseason stats about Betts and others the broadcast was throwing up (as it were) during the game were a bit frightening, but Sho Time And Friends did get everyone on the board...
Betts 0
Freeman 2
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 5
Smith W 0
Arraez 1
Machado 4
Merrill 0
Tatis Jr. 3
...and here's the money after LDS Day 1:
16 Cameron 2
15 SDB Sorry
13 Bauer OMG
Everyone else after the jump...
You'd think a game with this many lead changes would have racked more points for pickers...but nobody notched any except Soto:
Witt Jr. 0
Judge 0
Soto 4
Stanton 0
So now the money is
13 Cameron 2, Bauer OMG
11 Bingham 1, SDB Sorry, and Fell 1
10 Brady, Wonsetler 2
Reid 2 and Crase a couple points back...but the last game, which is only half over and already has like 15 points clattering around, is going to rewrite everything big-time. See you back here for that, and our first full standings.
I didn't think the Mets were incapable of winning a game in Philly; I didn't think it would be the one Wheeler started, however (though I think they won the last time they faced him). But the minute Wheeler was out, the playoff pumpkin...cast its...spell? I don't know what the f's going on with that team, I just know it's fun as hell.
Decent day at the points office all around:
Iglesias 1
Lindor 0
Nimmo 2
Vientos 2
Bohm 0
Castellanos 1
Harper 2
Schwarber 5
Turner 0
Whole bunch of folks on the board, and a new look at the top:
13 Cameron Deux and Bauer OMG
11 Bingham 1
10 Brady and Wonsetler 2
8 Reid 2 and Crase
7 SDB Sorry, Cameron Un, Fell 1
6 Fell 2 and Tormey
5 Drake and SDB Safe
4 Reid 1
3 Wonsetler 2, Stempel, Bingham 2, Dunn
2 Bauer Snooze and MArbour 1
Everybody else waiting for the Dodgers to play/Jose Ramirez to hit, basically. Good news for the back of the pack, though: 1) it's not a pitchers' duel in the Bronx rn, and 2) Freeman's evidently in the line-up for the Angelenos tonight.
I'm back later this evening; in the meantime, check my math, and good luck as always.
The drama started im-meej-utly earlier today as the Guardians jumped all over the Tigers' non-Skubal pitching. It's continuing in the City of Brotherly Love rn so this update will be brief; your points:
Naylor 1
Ramirez 0
Thomas 4
Greene 1
No change to the money yet, but thanks to a leadoff dinger from the Schwarb and a top of the eighth that doesn't seem like it wants to end, that's going to look quite different in an hour.
KC/NYY underway now in the Bronx as well; see you back here in a bit!
[quadruple-checks notes] Nope, that's...correct. Mets move on. "OMG" is right.
I'll spare you the "where were you when" account; I will say I had two calls coming in at the same time while trying to answer four different text threads...when not ten minutes prior, I had delivered a eulogy for the (very unexpected and fun) Mets season, because the Brewers are a better team and this was the correct result.
And then Alonso, picked by no one, did an Alonso thing for the first time in like a month. And then the Brewers, picked by one Mets fan whose name rhymes with Farah Funting, departed.
Classic BPP.
...Okay, points:
Adames 1
Iglesias 0
Lindor 3
Nimmo 1
Vientos 0
A somewhat quiet night overall, and only I lost a pick, the probable LVP for this series. The Victorino is absolutely Chourio, whom I considered picking. MVP seems like it's Lindor; others had the same number of TB, but if he doesn't cluster his in this game, his team is done. JMO, feel free to argue it in the comments.
Going into the off day, that puts the standings at
13 Cameron Folie a Deux
10 Brady
9 Bauer OMG
7 SDB Sorry
5 Bingham 1
4 Reid 1
3 The Wonsetlers, Drake, Stempel
2 Bingham 2, Reid 2, Fell 2
1 Dunn
And everyone else still waiting until Saturday.
That wild rumpus starts at 1 ET with DET/CLE on TBS, followed by NYM/PHI at 4 on FOX, KC/NYY at 6:30 on TBS (Darling/Costas booth...sigh #freeRonnie), and SD/LAD at 8:30 on FS1. I have no meaningful predictions, only a sincere desire for you to check my math ;) -- see you soon!
Good for that team for not laying down after the injury year they had, BUT: I hate the Barves, I'm sick of d'Arnaud always beating us, and nobody had Atlanta picks to lose, so this outcome is grrrrrreat by me.
Last points of the night:
Arraez 2
Machado 2
Merrill 5
Tatis Jr. 3
Tatis the points leader at the moment and the MVP of the series; Victorino is...Higgy? I'm just relieved I didn't pick Harris II.
As predicted, a bunch of slates join the board, and a handful leap forward:
13 Cameron 2
10 Brady
5 Bauer OMG, Bingham 1
4 Reid 1
3 Wonsetlers, Drake, Stempel, SDB Sorry
2 Bingham 2, Reid 2, Fell 2
1 Dunn
Everyone else waiting for the LDSes.
Mets and Crew meet for all the marbles tomorrow at 7 PM (I think?) on ESPN 2. In the meantime, check my math and good luck!
Oh, that's nice -- an actual three-game series that lets us pick up some more points! And by "us," I mean "Mets pickers who smartly passed on Lindor," sigh.
No idea what happens tomorrow, since the starter for NY isn't announced yet. As a fan: we're playing with house money IMO, I'm fine with whatever comes. As a pool jefe: #lgm. ;)
Points!
Adames 1
Iglesias 1
Lindor 0
Nimmo 1
Vientos 1
Atlanta's trying to make a horse race out of that Game 2, but until that's final, the money:
5 Brady, Cameron 2, Bauer OMG
4 Reid 1
3 Bingham 1, Wonsetlers 1 and 2, Drake
Padre picks set to spread the pack out a bit, so stand by.
You really could hear the air leaking out of the Juice Box as that last cleared-base run crossed the plate. ...That might have been a couple of slates, too, as the game's picks cleared a solitary point before three of them departed.
Greene 0
Altuve 0
Alvarez 0
Bregman 1
And you know what the italics mean.
That Bregman point did let Brady climb into a tie for second --
5 Cameron Deux
4 Reid 1, Brady
3 Wonsetler 1, Bauer OMG, Bingham 1
-- but a handful of these leading slates lost picks. Seems weird to do M and LVPs for serieses this short, but reliable BPP pick Altuve was at the back of the pack here; I guess the Victorino is [checks notes] something called a Malloy?
We could be looking at a similar Oriole outcome (certainly Ripken doesn't look too happy in the stands rn). I'll be back when we know.
I felt for the sweet autumn child the Barves sent out there tonight...but only for him. The rest of that team can suck it, especially d'Arnaud.
And they kind of did! Points!
Arraez 1
Machado 0
Merrill 1
Tatis Jr. 4
At the end of the first day of postseason play, the standings:
5 Cameron Folie a Deux
4 Reid 1
3 Wonsetler 1, Bauer OMG, Bingham 1, Brady
1 Stempel, Drake, Wonsetler 2, Bingham 2
A handful of slates need active picks to do something, but most of the goose eggs are waiting for bye teams to tag in.
Until that happens, wild-card play continues tomorrow at 2:30 PM; same order of play, but slightly different start times for KC/BAL and NYM/MIL. More info here -- https://www.mlb.com/scores/2024-10-02 -- which is also where you can double-check my stats info. If you spot an error/something looks weird, LMK!
I thought getting the superior announcing team (...relatively) was probably the best Mets fans could hope for with this game, but with this 2024 team, you sometimes don't know! The Crew's defense could have maybe been a little less casual, but: here we are.
Points!
Adames 0
Iglesias 1
Lindor 0
Nimmo 1
Vientos 2
Quick look at the leaderboard with one game left in progress:
4 Reid 1
3 Wonsetler 1 and Bauer OMG
2 Bingham 1 and Brady
That's already set to shuffle after ATL/SD; full update after that game's in the books.
That got a bit hairy for the Tiger pen there at the end, looks like. Nice to see J. Hey in uniform; I get why he was let go, but I've always liked him.
And we've got points in play!
Greene 2
Altuve 1
Alvarez Y 3
Bregman 2
Reid 1, Bingham 1, Wonsetler 1, Brady and Stempel all on the board.
Watching NYM/MIL as the booth talks about shutting down the bunting game (I won't be silenced, DOUG). Back in a bit with KC/BAL scores.
I'm still futzing with the spreadsheets, but everyone's picks are in and we're ready for the start of action! We've got 28 slates in play for a $280 pot: $196 for our winner, $56 for second, $28 for third. Good luck to all!
A screenshot of the slates:
Picks definitely lean to the NL side overall, with LA and Philly tied for the highest number of different picks, although the only team with no picks, Atlanta, is also an NL team. Just not a ton of confidence in early-round AL teams. Or in the Crew, so we'll see how that plays out...
...starting in a couple hours! DET/HOU at 2:30 ET on ABC; Royals/Birds at 4 on the Deuce; ESPN Prime tags in with Mets/Brewers at 5:30, and your nightcap is Barves/Padres at 8:30.
I'm still coding formulas with one hand and eating a sammich with the other and then I have my real job to deal with for a few hours BUT I'll be back with early returns around cocktail hour.
Reminder: 1) I pull TB info/points from MLB's box scores. 2) I screw up the data entry on these alllll the time. If you see mistakes, please let me know by email (bunting at tomatonation dot com) or in the comments!
Merry playoff-mas; let's do this!
...finally! You can find it here.
Deadline for picks is tomorrow (Tue 10/1) at 11 ET but feel free to submit earlier; again, zero wiggle room on this deadline, as play begins for the AL wild-card teams at 2:32 PM...and I'm in headphones for work tomorrow starting at 1 PM.
Questions, corrections, lamentations about the Hit King all go in the comments.
Good morning, friends. Since the last full day of "regulation" did not give us a complete Wild Card slate for the NL, the new deadline for picks is Tuesday October 1 at 11 ET. No exceptions. The first wild-card rounds kick off at 2:32 (sigh) PM ET tomorrow, and I've got spreadsheet automations to write.
Again, you don't have to wait until the NYM/ATL doubleheader's business is concluded -- but that's why I've pushed the deadline back.
Said doubleheader gets underway at 1 PM ET, in theory. Thoughts and prayers, see you back here tonight.
Hello friends and fans of baseball (and money),
[Swiffering fixtures] Hey, y'all. Hope everyone's well! Email's going out shortly for the 2024 BPP; no changes to the rules, really.
You can send me picks now if you like, I suppose, but we won't have a full schedule picture for a few days yet, as you can see here -- https://mlb.com/postseason -- so in the meantime, feel free to jump in friends/family/co-workers, start working on your slates, etc.
