As I sat down and began to sift through last week's results to find something to write about, all I could think of was John Lennon's song Nobody Told Me. Maybe I had heard it on a TV commercial or in the background on the radio, I don't know, but the lyrics kept playing in my mind: "Nobody told me there'd be days like these. Strange days indeed."
Oddly, they're fitting in a sense. And now that it's stuck in your head too, let's talk about last week.
Heading into week 6, the Mermen were averaging 309 runs/gm and their opponent, Damn Yankees - the lowest scoring team in the league - were averaging over 60 runs less per game, 248. So, naturally, you all cashed in your bets because you picked the Yankees to win, right?
There are two things I took from the Yankees upset victory.
First, for all the success the Mermen have had this season, they've struggled against Cactus teams. Which is bizarre, given the fact the Sagebrush division appears to be the more dominant of the two.
In three games against Cactus teams, the Mermen are 1-2 but what is striking is that their scoring falls off a cliff in inter-league play. In four divisional contests, the Mermen average a respectable 299.3 runs/gm. But in inter-league matchups, their scoring plummets to 240.0 runs/gm, nearly 60 runs less per game.
If I told you that there are two teams that are undefeated in inter-league play, you probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that one of them is the Tallahassee Tator Tots. But would you be able to guess the other team?
That's my second insight into the unusual: the Damn Yankees are undefeated against the Sagebrush division.
Read that again if you need to.
If you're skilled in the basic rules of deduction, I don't need to tell you that if the Yankees are 3-0 in inter-league play, then they're also 0-4 in divisional matchups. I haven't checked my inbox recently, but I'm expecting to see their official request for a divisional transfer any moment now.
In other news last week, the aforementioned Tator Tots won their 3rd straight contest and broke the Los Perros Locos weekly high of 371 by 6 runs. Not to be outdone, the Perros then put up 414 runs and set a another new weekly high. At this rate, these two will be outscoring each others records in week 18 by scoring 680 runs.
The Tots and Perros are two of the hottest teams in the league right now and they're scoring at a frightening pace. Over the past two weeks, the Tots are averaging 358.0 runs/gm and the Perros are averaging 392.5 runs/gm. And while this level of run production is surely unsustainable, a reduction of 20% would still leave them both at, or above, 300 runs/gm.
An area of the league that I haven't written much about this season is the bonus win/loss each week. Some teams are doing very well, like Akes and Pain who lead the league with a 6-1 bonus record. And others, like the Green Monstahs (1-6) are struggling. But that's not the strange part.
While those teams successes or failures in the bonus category are in line with their weekly performance, there is another team that has bucked the trend.
The Poke Bananas have won only two of seven weeks this season, but their 5-2 record in the bonus category has them at .500 for the season. Granted their 7-7 record has them four games off the Sagebrush division lead, it's pretty odd that a team losing that often is even remotely in striking distance.
If you dig a little deeper, there's a simple explanation for that: they're very generous to their opponents. The Bananas are currently the 5th highest scoring team in the league, however, they're also the league-leader in the Runs Allowed category. And when you allow an average of 313.6 runs/gm but only score an average of 286.0 runs/gm, you're going to lose a few. Chalk it up to a tough schedule. If they're pitching staff ever figures out how to shutdown their opponents, look out because their lineup can score.
Looking over this week's game lineup, my gut tells me that we're in for a few more surprises. Of the six contests on the board, there's really only one that seems balanced: Team Prepas at Damn Yankees.
And if there's one thing that is guaranteed in fantasy sports, it's that strange things will happen in lop-sided contests. What might appear to be a guaranteed pick can ruin your parlay when the game is played out.
Good luck in week 8!
-- Commish
POWER RANKINGS
With their outstanding play last week, the Tator Tots remain our leader in the Power Rankings. But a record-setting week for the Perros has them closing in on the #1 spot as they leaped past Akes and Pain to claim the #2 ranking.
Barely scoring 150 runs has it's consequences. Just ask Ringworm. In addition to taking two losses last week and falling in the Cactus division standings, they also suffered the greatest fall in the rankings - three spots, from #5 to #8.
ALL-STAR LINEUP CHALLENGE
Week 7 gave us only one change in the standings of this contest. The Tallahassee Tator Tots and Los Perros Locos traded the #3 and #4 positions. A glance at the standings suggests that if you're outside of the top 5 in this contest, there's probably little hope. And, you might even go as far as to say it's really just a race between the top 2: Akes and Pain and the Myrtle Beach Mermen.
BATTING CHAMPION & CY YOUNG CHALLENGES
The season is still young and, as expected, much has changed since my last update for these contests.
Of the 10 new contestants to enter into the top 20 in the Batting Champion contest since our last update, 3 of them belong to You're Killing Me Smalls: Gorman, Lowe, and Judge. But the two newcomers to the leaderboard that impress me the most are Freddie Freeman and Luis Robert Jr. There's no doubt they've been hot lately and they're bound to challenge the leaders if they can keep it up.
A pair of Braves players suffered the greatest decline in the rankings since our last update. Sean Murphy fell from #3 to #43 and Ozzie Albies fell completely out of the contest to NR from #5.
Mitch Keller might be the hottest pitcher in baseball right now. This week, Keller climbed 20 spots in the rankings and over-took Gerritt Cole for the Cy Young contest lead. Other notable names joining the top-20 include Kirby, Nola, Gibson, and Peralta.
Clayton Kershaw continues his slide in the rankings, falling from #5 to #11 while the injured Urias fell from #7 to #30. But the P that would concern me the most would probably be DeSclafani who has had trouble in his last 3 starts and fell from #19 to NR this week.
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