Paul Rogers was a one man gang, shutting out WCW on three hits while hitting three home runs.
101 in the shade. 104 in the sun. The hottest gameday in league history demanded constant hydration, a giant canopy, and abundant patience with game pacing. With this coming two weeks after the rainiest gameday in league history, we can only hope that July is more mild.
Weather aside, week 9 featured pitching performances that shuffled the leaderboards and propelled former champions back into the playoff picture.
Power Rankings After Week Nine
1. Bilabial Stops (13-1)
Last Week: 1
Eddie Brown and Nick Usoff gave up a total of two hits while shutting out Wiffully Ignorant in Sunday’s sweep. A 4 for 4 second game has Brown climbing the offensive leaderboards after a slow start. He now has a .586 average with 8 home runs to go along with a 3.45 ERA that now stands second in the league. With 14 games in the books, the Stops will take several bye weeks before their next matchup against the Mighty Knicks on July 25th.
2. RBI Steaks (6-2)
Last Week: 2
The Steaks 6-2 Steaks had a bye in week 9. Their next matchup is against Wiffully Ignorant on July 11th.
3. West Coast Washout (7-3)
Last Week: 3
WCW’s offense fell silent against Paul Rogers in Sunday’s opener as they fell to the Crows 8-0. The bats came alive in game two, with Jeff Hanschmann, Karl Koch, and Matt McGiveron all going deep twice in a mercy-shortened 15-5 rout. On the mound, McGiveron got his first career win, while Hanschmann closed out the game and remained unscored upon. Their bats will have to show up against the Mighty Knucks on July 11th. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for the sake of everyone involved.
4. Mighty Knucks (5-3)
Last Week: 4
The Knucks’ key series against the South Side Sliders will have to wait after Sunday’s postponement. Although idle, Brandon Wallach’s 2.70 ERA now sits atop the leaderboard. Another key series against WCW awaits on July 11th in a battle between two teams vying for a round one playoff bye.
5. Sheryl Crows (4-4)
Last Week: 6
Paul Rogers had a filthy riser working on Sunday in shutting out WCW on just three hits. He put on a clinic at the plate too, hitting three home runs and racking up six RBIs in game one. Game two was less kind as the Crows were battered for 7 home runs in a 15-5 (4) loss. The usually long lineup was just six players in game one and five in game two, and certainly appeared to play as a strength. Still, many tough matchups remain on their schedule and game two pitching has been a lingering problem that remains unsolved.
6. 100% Real Juice (6-6)
Last Week: 8
Nearly everyone in the lineup had a great day as the Juice pummeled Chicken’n’Wiffles for 35 runs and 41 hits in Sunday’s sweep. Luke Moedritzer homered twice in each game, Matt Guindon went 8 for 12 with two homers, and Adam Brickett went 8 for 9. The blue and yellow have now won five of six to get back to .500 and return to playoff contention. An intriguing matchup against Wiffle House is up next on July 11th.
7. Wiffle House (4-6)
Last Week: 5
100% Real Juice, South Side Sliders, Sheryl Crows, West Coast Washout remain on the schedule for Wiffle House, who had week nine off. It’s not an easy road to the playoffs, but they can’t be counted out as darkhorse contenders at best and capable spoilers at worst.
8. South Side Sliders (3-5)
Last Week: 7
So many bye weeks. So little wiffle. Let’s hope Scott MacGowan can fortify the ranks in what has been a bumpy ride with a rotating cast of players.
9. Chicken'n'Wiffles (3-9)
Last Week: 9
It’s hard to make a case for anyone other than Liam Munro to win comeback player of the year at this point. A 6 for 12 performance against the Juice on Sunday dropped his average to a paltry .684 with 7 home runs and a 2.092 OPS. Unfortunately, Munro’s offense hasn’t resulted in more victories as CNW fell to 3-9. A whopping 207 hits allowed in just 54.2 innings pitched has been difficult to overcome, even though they’ve managed to get to a few tough pitchers and play tight defense. The Crows, WCW, and the Sliders remain on their schedule.
10. Wiffully Ignorant (1-13)
Last Week: 10
Noah Jaffe limited the Bilabial Stops to 7 runs on just four hits in a complete game on Sunday. Unfortunately, his control just wasn’t there and the offense wasn’t able to put anything together. The Steaks and Mighty Knucks remain on their July schedule - duck and cover.
July Captains Meeting & Weekday Games?
Captains, please send us your available days/times for our July meeting if you haven’t already. Check your July schedule email for a link to do so. There are a lot of things to discuss not only for this season, but for next season as well. Playoffs, weather considerations, rule clarifications, and possible 2022 expansion are among the other items up for discussion.
June postponements and the potential for July/August smoke have us considering how we might squeeze in a weeknight games to keep moving forward. This is up for discussion at the captains meeting as well, but we want it to be on everyone’s radar as it would take a combined effort to make this happen. More on this soon ...
A Sunday Fourth of July means no games this weekend, we’ll see you on the 11th!
