The Good IV League On-Line:
The Archives
The Giants and Athletics have just polished off the Cubs and Blue Jays (respectively the oldest and now most recent members of the Red Sox' Honorary Close But No Cigar Club); the BART (x2) Series is about to get underway; and all you care about is "How did my Good IV League team do?" (translation: "How much cash am I going to pocket?") Well, we hope that most of you haven't been delaying the mortgage payment in anticipation of your payoff. But those lucky (skillful?) few can anticipate going out for at least a double cheeseburger and fries.
No, we're not going to just tell you the results. This is like a thrilling, unfolding drama, and if you're at all imaginative, you'll read through the following play-by-play without greedily rushing to the end. Before getting into it, however, there is one key announcement for those who discover on the first page that their team crapped out, and don't bother reading through to the end: Our end of season party will be held on Sunday, October 22, at **PM, at the Mitsock residence (386 Cedar St., Ashland). There we will douse the League champion in Yoo Hoo, watch a World Series showdown, and plan with boyish excitement for next year. Please be sure to come. Any questions, call Mike Mitsock at ***-****(W) or (508) 881-8615(H), or your Commissioner, David Townsend, at 423-3780(W) 492-7823(H). Now, on with our story.
Note in 1997: the tables don't convert easily to HTML. I'll leave the info here anyway, in case anyone has any insane reason to try to interpret it.
Batting Average Standings
Pos Team AB H Avg. Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Wolf 5115 1432 .280 10 1 Wolf 10 2 Cities 6486 1775 .274 9 2 Cities 9 3 Pets 6942 1775 .272 8 3 Pets 8 4 Fuller 4789 1271 .2654 7 4 Fuller 7 5 Schlagers 6570 1741 .2650 6 5 Schlagers 6 6 Shirleys 6563 1737 .2647 5 6 Shirleys 5 7 Skid Rowes 6996 1851 .2646 4 7 Skid Rowes 4 8 Noble 6842 1741 .255 3 8 Noble 3 9 Mtn Men 5958 1501 .252 2 9 Mtn Men 2 10 Fines 6031 1516 .251 1 10 Fines 1
A remarkable showing for a guy who disappeared from the planet right after Draft Day. Anchored by Wade Boggs, Steve Sax, and Julio Franco, the Lone Wolfs (?) soundly topped the Cities (Kirby Puckett) and the Pets (Kelly Gruber, Harold Reynolds). Note the exciting middle teams, all four of which would show up as .265! Sixth and seventh place are separated by .0001, and literally one hit either way would have tipped that difference. Can you stand the drama?! Runs Batted In Standings
Pos Team RBI Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Skid Rowes 984 10 1 Pets 16 2 Noble 868 9 2 Skid Rowes 14 3 Pets 820 8 3 Cities 13 4 Fines 809 7 4T Schlagers 12 5 Schlagers 770 6 4T Wolf 12 6 Shirleys 729 5 4T Noble 12 7 Cities 726 4 7 Shirleys 10 8 Mtn Men 633 3 8T Fines 8 9 Wolf 632 2 8T Fuller 8 10 Fuller 569 1 10 Mtn Men 5
As went Don Mattingly, so went the Skid Rowes, who picked up steam just as Matt was turning his season around. Of course, Ruben Sierra and George Bell didn't hurt. The big surprise, however, was Noble, who drafted a bunch of major question marks named Esasky, Leonard, and Parker, and cashed in big time. Note how team character can often be embodied by one player: e.g., the Fines were lousy in BA, but very competitive in RBIs - does the name Mark McGwire sound appropriate?
Total Bases Standings
Pos Team TB Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Skid Rowes 2907 10 1 Pets 25 2 Pets 2860 9 2 Skid Rowes 24 3 Noble 2698 8 3T Cities 20 4 Cities 2493 7 3T Noble 20 5 Schlagers 2486 6 5 Schlagers 18 6 Shirleys 2424 5 6 Shirleys 15 7 Fines 2372 4 7 Wolf 14 8 Mtn Men 2200 3 8 Fines 12 9 Wolf 2100 2 9 Fuller 9 10 Fuller 1842 1 10 Mtn Men 8
For some reason I found this category least inspiring - it didn't tell me much that BA and RBIs didn't already show, and was very closely aligned with total at-bats. For next season, I'm thinking of proposing the use of Slugging Average (TB/AB) in its place, to cut down on the potential impact of chance (injuries, benching). Had we gone with Slugging this year, the No. 1 and 2 finishers would have been the same, but Wolf would have moved to 3rd, the Fines to 5th, and Fuller to 6th, pushing the rest down accordingly. Do you notice that the Schlager/Shirley tandem has finished 5/6 in each category so far? Not surprisingly, those are their overall positions to this point, too. Runs + Stolen Bases Standings
Pos Team R SB R+SB Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Pets 991 151 1142 10 1 Pets 35 2 Schlagers 853 201 1054 9 2 Skid Rowes 30 3 Shirleys 813 179 992 8 3T Schlagers 27 4 Cities 769 154 923 7 3T Cities 27 5 Skid Rowes 858 58 916 6 5 Noble 25 6 Noble 787 82 869 5 6 Shirleys 23 7 Wolf 720 135 855 4 7 Wolf 18 8 Fines 764 88 852 3 8 Fines 15 9 Mtn Men 753 86 839 2 9T Mtn Men 10 10 Fuller 623 103 726 1 9T Fuller 10
This category was one of the more controversial at the beginning of the season, and it has proven highly interesting. Those most hurt by the addition of stolen bases were the Skid Rowes (2nd in runs but last in SB - thanks to the likes of Pete Incaviglia, Jim Presley, and even Mattingly), and Noble (5th in runs, 9th in SB). Fleet-footed teams helped by the SB statistic were the Schlagers (Rickey Henderson, natch, also Roberto Kelly, Robin Yount), the Shirleys (Devon White, Carney Lansford) and the Cities (Cecil Espy, Ellis Burks). Still, runs scored ruled this category, and the Pets captured it handily despite only finishing fourth in stolen bases.
At this point, half way home, the race has taken clear shape. Teams 1-6 have consistently demonstrated reaonable if not exceptional offensive strength, whereas the Fines, Mountain Men, Wolf, and Fuller are much weaker overall. Of course, some of this could turn around in the pitching categories.
The lesson of the year's hitting results is unclear. The Pets dominated without many big names - their two biggest stars were Fred McGriff and Joe Carter. In part, they rode the success of the overachieving Orioles (Milligan, Tettleton, Orsulak), but on the whole, it seemed that consistency and balance marked their attack. Get a full lineup of solid starters who will come to bat 20-25 times per week, hit in the .270s, and simply get on base and drive in and score runs with regularity. By contrast, if you pick a few big names but don't round out the squad strategically, or don't keep up with transactions, you could collapse like Fuller (Greenwell, Molitor), the Mountain Men (Barfield, Moseby, Gaetti), or the Fines (Bo Jackson, Dwight Evans). Wins Standings
Pos Team Wins Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Noble 110 10 1 Pets 41 2 Mtn Men 102 9 2 Skid Rowes 37.5 3T Fines 92 7.5 3 Noble 35 3T Skid Rowes 92 7.5 4T Schlagers 30.5 5 Pets 87 6 4T Cities 30.5 6 Shirleys 76 5 6 Shirleys 28 7T Cities 74 3.5 7 Fines 22.5 7T Schlagers 74 3.5 8 Wolf 20 9 Wolf 51 2 9 Mtn Men 19 10 Fuller 44 1 10 Fuller 11
This category involved one of the best battles for first place, and Noble only clinched when Bret Saberhagen went nuts in the last few weeks of the season. Despite Nobles impressive corps of Saberhagen, Dave Steib, Dave Stewart, and Jimmy Key, the Mountain Men challenged most of the season with the likes of Jeff Ballard, Greg Swindell, Bert Blyleven, and Mike Moore: a true Cinderella staff.
Saves Standings
Pos Team Sv Pts Pos Team Pts
1 Wolf 135 10 1 Pets 49 2 Noble 76 9 2 Noble 44 3 Pets 60 8 3 Skid Rowes 40.5 4 Schlagers 43 7 4 Schlagers 37.5 5 Fuller 42 6 5 Cities 35.5 6 Cities 38 5 6 Shirleys 32 7 Shirleys 35 4 7 Wolf 30 7 Skid Rowes 34 3 8 Fines 23.5 9 Mtn Men 29 2 9 Mtn Men 21 10 Fines 28 1 10 Fuller 17
We all know what happened in this category: the rest of us were bludgeoned to death by the Wolf Pack (?), which, due to their owner's greediness, cornered the market on quality relievers (Russell, Plesac, Schooler, Farr, Guetterman). To their credit, the Pets managed to obtain through trade (Righetti) and shrewd scouting (Olson), a respectable corps that brought them up from the early season cellar in this category. Of course, Noble's all-pitching Draft strategy was good enough for 2nd place in saves (Eckersley, Thigpen) in addition to the 1st in wins. If you think about it, 4th through 10th places were pretty close: a spread of only 15 saves, which one half-decent newcomer or unexpected closer could bring in for you. Don't believe it? Check out the Schlagers: Montgomery (18 saves for KC) wasn't supposed to close, but got the call when Farr faltered; Honeycutt (12 saves for Oakland) was a middle reliever who only pitched because the Eck got hurt. Dumb luck or genius??
That's as far as this report goes on my diskette. Maybe someday I'll fill in the rest. Maybe NOT. Anyway, for the overall results, check the Winners and Losers file.
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Contact me: DNT@DNTownsend.com
Copyright 1997 David N. Townsend