All righty, friends -- everyone I don't live on the same block as has gotten paid. Congratulations again to our wise winners, and thanks again to everyone for playing this year! Can't wait to see you guys again in 10.75 months.
xo, SDB
https://springtrainingcountdown.com/#sthash.xCweR48x.dpbs
One of the pleasures of this time of year is watching "civilians" realize how great baseball is -- how dramatic, how communal, grand and goofy. I got to do it last night, in a pro-Jays "pod," texting frantically with one hand and turning newbies' hats inside out with the other, and it didn't go our way...but man, what a month we've had.
G., plaintively, as the Dodgers rushed onto the field: "Now what do we do?"
Welp, if you're me, you walk down to the corner to root on the runners in the marathon, and then you dust off the Carolina gear and over-invest in college hoops until the days get longer.
But first, you review some points and you pay some people, so let's do it.
Betts 0
Freeman 1
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 2
Pages 0
Bichette 5
Guerrero Jr. 2
Kirk 2
Schneider 0
Springer 3
MVP of the 2025 BPP is 100 percent Vladdy. Fifty-eight total bases. LVP...I don't know, it seems uncharitable to hang it on a guy who's not getting at-bats, but then, Pages didn't get at-bats because he...wasn't hitting, so. You could hang it on Betts for the expectation gap, I guess, but then again, the Dodgers won. idk.
And the Shane Victorino Honorary Flyin' Hawaiian Award for best performance by an unpicked player goes to Ernie Clement. Vlad Jr. had the most TB in the post; Ohtani had the second most; Clement was not far behind him with 41.
And for the last time, here's the money:
168 Izzo
129 Bauer Snoozical
126 Quinn 2 and Mopsiukas 1
A tie for third still makes those slate a little money; nice to see a mix of old and new BPPers finish in the top. (Need a refresher on the payouts since the playoffs started like five years ago? That's here.)
Eeeeeverybody else after the jump...
One of the weird things about watching the postseason as a middle-aged lady is the weird protective feelings that develop for certain "kids" -- specific to this World Series, last night I was like, "I want the Jays to win but I don't want them to do it off Sasaki," who has a birthday on Monday but still won't be old enough to rent a car.
Well, they didn't do either thing so we're getting max Classic this year. Love that for us!
A little thin on the ground, the points, which I don't love, but I also felt relieved for Mookie -- it was only the one, but it was THE one.
Betts 1
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 2
Pages 0
Bichette 1
Guerrero Jr. 2
Kirk 0
Schneider 0
Springer 2
As noted in a previous update, this is now a fight for second and third. The same five slates have been crabs-in-a-barreling for a week now, and going into the last game of 2025, here's where they are:
160 Izzo
126 Bauer Snoozical
124 Quinn 2
122 Mectomy and Mopsiukas 1
120 MArbour 1
From my perspective, it's nice to see this mix of new players and old heads, with the defending BPP champ in the mix too.
Everyone else after the jump!
The Dodgers look a little tight mentally, making some yips-y mistakes out there. Not to take anything away from the kid, though. What a great story. Yesavage has made like three times as many postseason starts in the majors as regular ones or something? Love it.
Dodgers pickers, less so; not a terribly point-ish evening, although everyone look out, Quinn 2's makin' a run!
Bichette 1
Guerrero 4
Kirk 1
Schneider 4
Springer 0
Betts 0
Freeman 0
Hernandez, T 2
Ohtani 0
Pages 0
Definitely cross-check these numbers -- my spreadsheet basically ran out of road; the tweak worked AFAIK, but if something looks off, leave a comment! -- but here's the money going into the last travel day:
154 Izzo
123 Bauer Snoozical
122 Quinn 2
119 Mectomy
118 MArbour 1 and Mopsiukas 1
112 Dunn 2
Betts is kind of a problem for non-Izzo slates that want to compete. It doesn't seem like he's having that terrible a postseason, until you remember that he has one more TB than a guy on the Cubs who hasn't touched a bat in weeks.
Everyone else after the jump!
What a watchable Series we have in 2025. What a well-matched pair of teams. What a mitzvah that they're tied up and we get at least a couple more games.
What an interesting points array...
Bichette 1
Guerrero Jr. 5
Kirk 0
Schneider 0
Springer, not in the line-up 0
Betts 1
Freeman 2
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 0
Pages 0
Perfectly creditable outing from Ohtani, but Dave Roberts thinks Blake Treinen is...anything, and that belief put it out of reach.
The BPP money going into the final game in Los Angeles...
150 Izzo
121 Bauer Snoozical
119 Mectomy
118 MArbour 1 and Quinn 2
114 Mopsiukas 1
112 Dunn 2
So there's not zero drama here.
97 Fell 1
95 Drake 2
91 Green
80s Cameron First, Wonsetler 1, DGB, AK Dos, and the Shotwells
70s Bingham Prime, AK Uno, and Reid Omega
60s Dunn 1 and Cameron Second
50s Drake 1, Bingham Emo, the Estros, and the Arbours
40s Tormey and Mopsiukas 2
22 Quinn 1
The simultaneous fun and torture of the pool is sitting in front of the spreadsheet when I have other work to do, wool-gathering about paths to the money for the un-bolded slates. I need to stop it with that now, so let's all speculate groundlessly about tonight's pitching matchup instead, Yesavage v. Snell. Everybody's tired, everybody's seen everybody else's pitch array, one of the bodies started the year eating cheese sandwiches on a creaky bus, but you just never know at this time of year.
You do know to check my math, though, so do that, get stretched out for Game 5 at 8 ET, and good luck!
I stayed up for ENOUGH of this one that my eyes feel all gritty today -- but only managed to get to the bottom of the 14th before, well, "Enter Sandman" and all that. I kind of wish I'd managed to watch the entire thing, as a badge of honor...even though a lot of the baseball was weird at best, there was another "bunting is absolutely inexplicable, why would anyone" etc. etc. incident, pinch-runners were in that shouldn't have been, Springer hurt himself mid-at-bat, the determined tag everyone was talking about was glued to Ohtani's nuts, on and on.
But watching my Bluesky feed populate with variations on "what the crispy fuck was THAT" over and over again was a delight for as long as I could keep my eyes open.
Plenty of points on tap, too, although maybe not as many as you'd hope given they, you know, played two full games? But that's part of the story, too, that neither of these bullpens is, er, especially well-regarded, and they both stuck in for another nine.
That's going to have ripples tonight, but for today, the points:
Betts 1
Freeman 5
Hernandez, T 7
Ohtani 12 again (is a thing I get to type)
Pages 0
Bichette 2
Guerrero Jr. 2
Kirk 5
Schneider 1
Springer 0
And with that, the 2025 pool functionally becomes a fight for place and show.
143 Izzo
118 MArbour 1 and Mectomy
117 Bauer Snoozical
113 Quinn 2
110 Dunn 2
109 Mopsiukas 1
Everyone else after the jump...
Tonight's game felt a bit more like a game, versus the barely-controlled bottle rocket of adrenaline of last night's. Good storylines, good performances.
And the...JoBros? Why does Manfred have to be like this, I'm sincerely asking. There is no halftime show in baseball. Please go run a sport you don't despise.
No great segue from that to the somewhat subdued points, so let's get to those:
Betts 0
Freeman 2
Hernandez, T 0
Ohtani 1
Pages 1
Bichette 0
Guerrero 1
Kirk 0
Schneider 0
Springer 2
As established in my update on the previous post, you should check my math/inputting, but provided I got it right this time, here's the money going into the travel day:
124 Izzo
111 Quinn 2
106 MArbour 1
105 Mectomy
95 Mopsiukas 1
93 Dunn 2
92 Bauer Snooze
90 Fell 1
And everyone else after the jump!
And we're back! No rust on the Blue Jay bats, that's for sure. The Dodger pen might have been discombobulated by other factors than the usual (and of course you'll join me in wishing the Vesia family the best right now)...or it might be that these Jays can just hit.
Points!
Betts 1
Freeman 0
Hernandez T 0
Ohtani 4
Pages 0
well well well, look who's back and feelin' fine -- Bichette 1
Guerrero Jr. 2
Kirk 6
Schneider 0
Springer 2
The mid-range and one-off picks need to step it up if anyone wants to catch the leader; for the moment, that's...
118 Izzo
110 Quinn 2
105 MArbour
Just off the pace:
104 Mectomy
Still a couple zombies groaning around in the top quarter; everyone else who's still active, after the jump!
I just keep thinking about all the Bsky posts asking plaintively for a Game 8. It was a nail-biter, fun as hell, and I'm happy for the Jays...but man, it would be nice for Seattle to get to a Classic, ever.
And for half the pool not to get kneecapped, but we have to live in this world.
Last LCS points, with knocked-out picks in italics...
Arozarena 1
Canzone 0
Crawford 2
Naylor 1
Polanco 1
Raleigh 4
JRod 6
Suarez 1
Bichette 0
Guerrero Jr. 1
Kirk 1
Schneider 0
Springer 4
MVP for us, unsurprisingly, is Vladdy. LVP...I don't know, I guess Canzone, but if you're looking at expectations vs. performance, you could argue it's Arozarena. (Schneider didn't notch a TB this series, but wasn't getting at-bats; what can you do.) Barger and Clement looking likely for the Victorino if a Dodger doesn't steal it from them.
But that's a problem for the weekend. Now, we're looking at the money. Here again, italics mean the slate has no picks left, and will fall out of the updates going forward.
110 Izzo
108 Quinn
102 Crase AL
101 MArbour 1
99 Mectomy
The rest of us, after the jump...
A number of the serieses in the 2025 postseason haven't lived up to their potential; the ALCS doesn't have that problem. A certain Mets-osity to last night's defense aside, both teams feel pretty locked in -- at just the right time for a winner-take-all game tonight.
Some individual hitters have cooled, but that's what makes things interesting around here. Points!
Arozarena 2
Canzone! 1
Crawford 0
Naylor 5
Polanco 0
Raleigh 0
Rodriguez 0
Suarez 1
Bichette 0
Guerrero 5
Kirk 1
Schneider 0
Springer 0
Vlad Jr. just an absolute monster this past week. You love to see it.
Slight realignment of the money going into Game 7:
105 Izzo
96 Quinn 2
90 MArbour 1 and Crase AL
89 Mectomy
86 Mopsiukas 1
84 Bauer Snoozical
Everyone else after the jump!
It's a mitzvah of sorts that Shohei Ohtani had the Ohtani-est, unicorniest postseason game in the history of baseball last night -- not just because we got to watch it (live, and the Bluesky timeline, which was 33 1/3 short variations on "hooooooly crap"), but because, thanks to that, the conversation is about that and not as much about the Crew not really showing up for the LCS.
Someone made the comment on Bsky last night that the Brewers hadn't seemed "in" any of these games since last week; watching Yelich flapping at garbage sinkers the last couple days, he was overmatched, but also it looked like he didn't want to be there really. How did a team this well-oiled and dominant for six months, with that many big win streaks, just...recede?
Not to take anything away from the Dodger starters, or their professional postseason hitting attack. The team is not the defending champ for no reason. But the Brewers had opportunities and let them starve in a positively Metsy fashion. I'm not a pro athlete and what I don't know is a lot, but this specific instance of a team getting out over the canyon, looking down, and plummeting out of recognizable view is remarkable.
"Great, you've remarked, now get to the points!!" - Ohtani pickers
On it! You know the drill: picks and slates in italics are out. Relatively minor damage compared with what we'll see in a couple days, and lbr, these Brewer picks weren't critical anyway, but:
Chourio 3
Frelick 0
Turang 0
Yelich 0
The Crew's series in a nutshell: Chourio playing hurt but trying to make things happen; Turang and Yelich doing shit-all to help. Frelick does have the fewest TB of the group...but barely, notching 6 to Turang's 7 and Yeli's 8. Yelich looked worse, but I forgot Turang existed for most of the post, so he's the pool's series LVP.
In happier news,
Betts 1
Freeman 1
Hernandez T 1
Ohtani 12
Pages 0
Nobody else among the Dodger picks had as many as 10 TB for the entire LCS. Ohtani is the MVP here, and everywhere else, truly. Best "smelling a fart" faces on the mound? Ohtani. Legend. Kiké, Edman, and Will Smith doing that Victorinoid thing the lower half of the Dodger order always does in October.
All righty: the full standings, which actually complicate things more than they clarify them, because there's a clear leader and then a bunch of people splitting place and show. (And Brady's out; sorry, honey.)
100 Izzo
89 Quinn 2, MArbour 1, and Mectomy
84 Crase AL and Bauer Snoozical
81 Mopsiukas 1
79 Dunn 2
77 Winklepleck 1
Everyone else after the jump...
...Well, Max didn't throw a no-no, but he settled in well enough, which was nice to see. You do like to watch a guy who freakin' loves it out there and knows he's got something left to offer. You also like to see a series you know is going to last for a while (it's pointier!).
Pity my reverse jinxes aren't working on the Brewer line-up, but let's see how the Jays tying up the series worked for y'all:
Bichette 0
Guerrero Jr. 5
Kirk 0
Schneider 0
Springer 2
Springer's not having that Vladdy-mash postseason, obviously, but he's steadily chipping his way towards the top of the points board for us.
Arozarena 0
Canzone 1
Crawford 0
Naylor 6
Polanco 0
Raleigh 0
Rodriguez 0
Suarez 1
That reshuffled the money a bit -- and it's pretty crowded just outside the money, too.
83 Izzo
81 Quinn 2
70 Mectomy and Winklepleck 1
69 (nice) Bauer Snoozical, Crase AL, and Fell 1
66 Shotwell 1 and DGB
Everyone else after the jump!
See my previous notes on this match-up. It would have seemed impossible that the Crew would sort of just...subside? But the Dodger pen is doing enough, and the line-up is doing what a postseason Dodger line-up in the '20s does. It's like the Brewers can't "solve" it.
Tonight's their last chance. Here's last night's points, which on the Brewer side just will not get it done. Yelich continued to look overmatched; I know Glasnow's big, but...guys.
Chourio 0
Frelick 0
Turang 0
Yelich 1
But on the other hand,
Betts 2
Freeman 0
Hernandez, T 0
Ohtani 3
Pages 1
Like, I guess it's the Mr. Edman show again?
Just the top tier here until I input the other game, but here's the money:
76 Quinn 2 and Izzo
70 Mectomy
69 (nice) Bauer Snoozical
66 Shotwell 1
64 Winklepleck 1
62 Crase AL, Fell 1, and MArbour 1
And a raft of slates at 60, but let's put a pin in this until my Mad Max: Old Dogs review in a few minutes...
The last couple years, when the Mets have a bounce-back game like this, we're always like, guys, save some offense for the rest of the week, yeah? Especially with ol' Husky-Eye going tomorrow, who, bless his heart, needs the back-up. (Although given my confident assertions re: the pitching yesterday, watch Max throw a no-no later. Sigh.)
Still. So many points available -- from both dugouts!
Bichette 0
Guerrero 9
Kirk 5
Schneid-er (sorry, had to) 0
Springer 6
Arozarena 4
Canzone 0
Crawford 1
Naylor 0
Polanco 2
Raleigh 4
JRod 5
Suarez 1
This battering, in all senses of that word, revamped the money pretty thoroughly, with Vladdy taking over from Teoscar as the top-scoring pick...
76 Quinn 2
73 Izzo
66 Shotwell 1
65 Mectomy
64 Bauer Snooze and Winklepleck 1
And a bunch of folks who were on THIS page yesterday are suddenly...after the jump, like so:
Maybe it's just me? But the atmosphere around this series is odd...listless. The Brewers seem tired; even L.A.'s hitters last night felt...I don't know, not apologetic, but their rallies had a "[shrug] well, this is what we do" vibe. I can't really articulate it. Yeah, it's not "as fun" for the neutral fan when the teams start 0-2 at home, but that's not what I'm talking about.
...Well, it's not all I'm talking about. And there was points-related joy in Mudville last night, certainly:
Betts 0
Freeman 2
Hernandez, T 5
Ohtani 1
"Picture" Pages 2
Chourio 4
Frelick 1
Turang 1
Yelich 0
Mookie and Yeli dragging ass here in the LCS so far (and Ohtani doesn't look great, lbr); hope everyone gets some sleep on the plane.
And speaking of snoozing...
64 Bauer Snoozical
62 Shotwell 1
58 Izzo and DGB
57 Winklepleck 1
56 Mectomy
55 Cameron Second
54 Quinn 2 and Bingham Prime
Everyone else (and their Bax Buncy regrets) after the jump...
This is the kind of outcome that is trainwreckishly compelling for the BPP. Dominant pitching, mostly; absent baserunners, mostly; a single dude hogs all the points.
This almost always happens, at every round; we almost never know who it's going to be, just that it's going to be some medium-traffic pick x-factoring the money. I know points updates like the one below are frustrating for most of the pool, but at the same time, they're fascinating. (At least to me, since my view is usually from the basement and I have nothing else to concern myself with here, hee/sigh.)
Betts 0
Freeman 6
Hernandez, T 0
Ohtani 0
Pages 0
Chourio 0
Frelick 0
Turang 0
Yelich 0
The money turns over again at the end of play:
60 Shotwell 1
57 Winklepleck 1
56 Bauer Snoozical
55 Mectomy and Izzo
54 Quinn 2
Pretty cozy up at the top, eh what? Everyone else after the jump...
Uh...wow. I mean, it's not a huge surprise that the Mariners, after some time off and possibly fueled by leftover adrenaline as well, came in hot to the series, but I did think the Blue Jays would have a better response at the plate -- and not be quite so gettable on the hill.
But this pool is not about the pitchers' duels (anymore). What hath tonight's blowout wrought?
Arozarena 1
Canzone 0
Crawford 1
Naylor 6
Polanco 5
Raleigh 0
JRod 4
Suarez 1
Bichette 0
Guerrero 0
Kirk 1
Schneider 0
Springer 2
And it's a whole new ballgame, so to speak, in the money, as a quiet night for Toronto bats and for Big Dumper let a few other picks shine.
57 Winklepleck 1
55 Mectomy
54 Shotwell 1 and Quinn 2
53 Yuhan
52 DGB and Crase AL
50 Bauer Snoozical
49 Izzo
48 MArbour 1
47 Cameron Second
Jays have a long flight to think about what's next when that series resumes Wednesday night.
Still waiting on the totals from LAD/MIL, which so far is not a terribly point-y affair -- as I'm writing this, "chaos on the bases" thanks to a wild fly ball of Muncy's bat -- but I'll check back in with a full update after that goes final.
Whatever "fumes" the Ms might have been running on after the other night's marathon, they got the job done; if anything, Toronto seemed a touch rusty.
Smoltz was in midseason "wait...what? that makes no sense/was there even a verb in that bromide glop" form, though.
Points!
Arozarena Canzone Crawford Naylor LLC 0
Polanco 2
Raleigh 5
Rodriguez 1
Suarez 2
Bichette* Guerrero Kirk Schneider LLC 0
Springer 4
*I thought sure Bichette would join the club for the LCS, and while he's in the dugout, he's not on the roster; guess that knee is really effed
Speaking of effed...well, not really, but it's the first time Bauer Snooze isn't appearing in bold since what feels like 2018. The money right now:
54 Shotwell 1
52 Yuhan
51 Mectomy
50 Bauer Snoozical
49 Quinn 2
I think the top 7-8 will keep trading blows like this until the weekend, hopefully with some MIL-pickers joining the fray. Anyway, everyone else after the jump...
Uecker magic indeed! I spent the game under a sleeping cat, reading magazines; also magical. I doubt Cub fans feel that way, or that this Chicago team ever got its due this year, but: baseball, man.
Last LDS points coming up; Cub picks in italics, as you know.
Busch 1
Hoerner 1
Chourio 0
Frelick 1
Turang 4
Yeli 0
I know his team lost, but you've got to give the MVP here to Busch -- more TB in this series than Chourio -- and I'm afraid the LVP is Yelich. Yeah, Frelick has fewer TB, but Frelick was fully a Vic pick and is doing roughly what you'd expect from him. (The actual Victorino candidate out of Milwaukee is Vaughn.)
The departure of the Cubs picks, as well as they did for their pickers, means the departure of one more slate, which you'll see in italics here as well, and then it too will depart the full updates; sorry, T.O.
The money at the end of division-series play:
50 Bauer Snoozical
49 Shotwell 1
47 Cameron Second
46 DGB
45 Mectomy and Yuhan
43 AK Uno, Quinn, and Izzo
Everyone else after the jump!
