LAD 3, TB 1; Dodgers are world champs

And no sooner had I tweeted my congratulations on that fact than it became evident Justin Turner -- whom I've always been especially happy for, that the Mets let him go somewhere he would actually play and that he did so well when that happened -- got pulled in the 6th after a positive COVID test. This year just doesn't quit, does it.

But baseball didn't either, although it probably should have (and although its commissioner...doesn't seem to like the sport very much), and we have a World Champion again at last. Sorry for the Rays; glad for the Dodgers; looking forward to the offseason for once. 110 days to go.

And now: the money! Betts had his best night of the postseason TB-wise; nobody else did anything.

Bellinger 0
Betts 6
Muncy 0
Pollock 0
Seager 0
Turner 0

Lowe 0

Repeating as BPP champ is MArbour! Here's the complete final scoring; congrats to our winners!

117 MArbour ($217)
106 Tormey ($62)
96 Cameron and Shotwell 1* ($15.50 each)

94 Barboot
93 JArbour 1

86 Winklepleck
85 SDB
80 Cayenne 1

69 Lund
67 Shotwell 2; Bauer

63 Cayenne 2
62 Stempelson
60 Bingham and DGB*

40 Dunn

33 JArbour 2

Of the picks who went the distance, the clear MVP for the pool, as well as the series, was Seager, who notched 50 points, followed by Betts, Turner, and Bellinger, who all got 30-odd. LVP, alas, was Pollock, who saw limited playing time. And this year's Shane Victorino Memorial Flyin' Hawaiian Award goes, unsurprisingly, to Randy Arozarena -- picked by no one; homered off nearly everyone. 

You're urged as always to check my math one last time before payouts go out this evening. Thanks so much to everyone for playing! It was nice to get to do this familiar thing in this unfamiliar year, and I hope to see you all back here in 2021, vaccined and ready to roll.

LAD 4, TB 2

Kershaw's done everything he could do. L.A. goes into the off day with a 3-2 advantage, and we're left with the usual random assortment of Dodger points, and back to famine for Lowe after the feast day Saturday.

Bellinger 1
Betts 2
Muncy 5
Pollock 0
Seager 1
Turner 0

Lowe 0

Leaders nearly out of reach now, but the last innings of our contest could get interesting at third place...

111 MArbour
100 Tormey
90 Cameron and Shotwell 1*

88 Barboot
87 JArbour 1
86 Winklepleck

85 SDB
80 Cayenne 1

63 Lund
62 Stempelson
61 Shotwell 2 and Bauer

57 Cayenne 2
54 Bingham and DGB

34 Dunn
33 JArbour

Off day today before the Dodgers again take their shot at the world championship at 8:08 ET on Tuesday; check my math, and best of luck!

TB 8, LAD 7

Look, I'm not blaming Charley Steiner for the denouement last night; I am pointing out that maybe wool-gathering smugly about how the Dodgers could clinch on Sunday is almost guaranteed to create this sort of outcome. ...But I kid Steiner and Rick Monday, whose broadcasts I love, and besides, it's Mets fans who have to account for this kind of malocch'. 

Plus it was a really fun game, with points galore for everyone! Well, if your last name didn't start with a B, anyway:

Bellinger 0
Betts 0
Muncy 1
Pollock 2
Seager 7
Turner 8

Lowe 4

Our #1 slate has a commanding lead, but this isn't over by any means with at least two games left to play.

108 MArbour
97 Tormey
87 Cameron and Shotwell 1*

...and look who's in the conversation thanks to A Met Who Got Away!

85 Winklepleck and Barboot
84 SDB

79 JArbour 1 and Cayenne 1

61 Stempelson
60 Lund

59 Shotwell 2 and Bauer
55 Cayenne 2
52 Bingham and DGB

33 JArbour 2
32 Dunn

This correspondent is now functionally out of it unless, like, Dansby Swanson shows up on the Rays bench in a pair of Groucho glasses -- but I'm very interested to see how it plays out ahead of me...and behind me. We've got a lone Muncy picker who could create problems here, not to mention Lowe maybe getting hot at last...anything could happen!

Well, not that Swanson thing, but I had a good run, it's fine.

Tonight's match-up is Kershaw v. Glasnow at 8:08 PM ET. I don't have the faintest idea what happens; I do know I wish you all luck!

LAD 6, TB 2

...SORRY! I am so sorry. I really don't know why I spaced the update until just now. There was a lot going on today, including waiting for three hours on an early-voting line, but on the way home, I saw a big ol' Dodgers pennant hanging off a porch in Bay Ridge, which is not perhaps as unusual as if I lived in, like, Omaha but still should have reminded me that I hadn't updated the spreadsheet, and y'all.

Anyway, this is already outdated as I type this BUT here are the Game 3 points:

Bellinger 1
Betts 2
Muncy 2
Pollock 0
Seager 1
Turner 6

Lowe 0

This let the leader open up some space between himself and the rest of the money...which all of a sudden is super-crowded again. Like, "if the pool ended today, a bunch of people are getting 75 cents" crowded.

93 MArbour
86 Tormey
78 Barboot, Cameron and Shotwell 1*, JArbour 1

...Okay, it's not that crowded. Kinda weird to see that sort of cluster this late in the going, though.

77 SDB

70 Winklepleck

68 Cayenne 1
61 Stempelson
60 Lund

59 Shotwell 2
55 Cayenne 2
53 Bauer
52 Bingham and DGB*

32 Dunn

29 JArbour 2

So: yeah, I apologize, and Seager and Turner have already homered tonight, so I'll see you shortly. No, really! (hee.)

TB 6, LAD 4

Rays avoid the sweep behind a solid Snell outing; Lowe nearly doubles his point output for the entire pool in one game. 

Bellinger Betts Muncy Pollock LLC 0
Seager 5
Turner 2

Lowe 8

And we've got a new sheriff in town! Two, actually.

84 MArbour
83 Tormey
76 SDB

I'm not giving Pollock great odds to go on a tear, but it would change the pool-scape big-time. Meanwhile, outside the subjunctive:

75 Barboot; Cameron and Shotwell 1*
73 JArbour 1

67 Cayenne 1
63 Winklepleck
60 Stempelson

57 Shotwell 2; Lund
53 Cayenne 2
51 Bauer
50 Bingham and DGB*

30 Dunn

29 JArbour 2

And that's where it stays 'til the weekend; with all the gassing on about the no off days in-series to date, I think it escaped my notice that the Classic does in fact have off days built into it as usual, and today is one of them. We'll return to action at 8:08 PM ET Friday, Buehler at Morton, as the Rays assume home-field. Therapeutic grousing is, as ever, welcome in the comments -- and also as ever, good luck, everyone.

LAD 8, TB 3

I guess Bellinger's shoulder is fine? Love that the team immediately adapted with ankle bumps, heh. Plenty of those last night in a decisive victory for L.A., and it was so nice to see Kershaw on a roll.

Points:

Bellinger 4
Betts 5

Muncy 3

Pollock 0

Seager 0

Turner 2

Lowe 0

It's rather crowded at the top here, I'm somehow still able to say firsthand...

77 MArbour
73 JArbour 1
71 SDB

70 Barboot; Tormey; Cameron and Shotwell 1*

60 Stempelson

57 Shotwell 2 and Lund
56 Winklepleck
54 Cayenne 1

53 Cayenne 2
50 Bingham and DGB

43 Bauer

30 Dunn

21 JArbour 2

And that's where we leave it until 8:08 this evening ET, Snell vs. Gonsolin on the hill. Good luck, all!

LAD 4, ATL 3; Dodgers move on

We've got ourselves a World Series! Dodgers vs. Rays. Not necessarily how I saw this going weeks ago, and as a poolie, 'tis not great for me, but as a fan, I like it. 

The final points for ATL picks:

Acuña 0
Freeman 0
Ozuna 1
Swanson 4

We lose all four of these guys. Points for the Trolley-Dodgers:

Bellinger 4
Betts 3
Muncy 2
Pollock 1
Seager, weirdly 0
Turner 0

And now, a couple of brief days in the lead all by my lonesome...with only Seager remaining. (I'll also note that my other slate is and will remain in possession of last place. I contain multitudes!) Just a reminder that if you're slate's in italics, it's a zombie, and once it falls out of the money it will no longer appear in updates. I'm so sorry, friends -- but this was a pretty good run in the CSes.

71 SDB
70 MArbour 1
68 Fell 2

The Gang Of 65, and everyone else, after the jump.