NPL owners were seen at professional ballparks this past week. Pictures of the Altoona fantasy camp adventure of our week 13 leading scorer Larry Ott (the Altoona fantasy camp MVP) have circulated. Did you know the Big O was a lefty? (More pics from Altoona will be seen in the next couple of weeks!)
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And of course June 30 was the big “walk-out” day at PNC Park. A number of NPL guys were there. And I’ve been informed that at that game, our own Alabama Slammer had a foul ball chance. I’m also told the scene in Al’s section looked a little like this……
Unfortunately the ball hit Al in the worst possible place. Right in the hands!! The ricochet then got him in the noggin. But not to worry according to Big Daddy, who reported….. “Other than still being a little dizzy, he’s Okay.”
Then, at the end of the 3rd inning, Al and the Rock Cat proceeded to pick up their Walkie Bobbles and take part in the protest.
On Monday nights game, former NPL owner TomVandergrift was spotted on TV during the final 3 innings sitting in the front row of the Home Plate Club seats in a bright yellow shirt, talking on his cell phone and wearing the upside down rally cap in the 9th inning of a Milwaukee blow out over the Bucs. And at that same game, my youngest son Mike (age 19) was sitting in the first row behind the visitor’s dugout. He was wearing a Brian Urlacher #54 Bears jersey. He said the famous Pittsburgh vendor “T.C.” was selling his product and you know T.C. likes to have fun with the fans. He looked at Mike (again, age 19) and said….. “Hey Urlacher, Bud Light?”
ODD FACTS & STATS AT THE HALFWAY POINT – Some regarding statistical categories that are not part of NPL scoring….
THE BIG TRAIN is #1 hitting points and #2 in pitching. Early in the season when JJ Putz was struggling, Bob was considering dropping him. Now he has 24 saves and the best ERA (0.90) and best WHIP (0.57) among all pitchers – SP’s and RP’s.
ROCK CATS lead the NPL in TEAM ERA 3.55 and TEAM WHIP 1.22 along with being 1st in Wins, K’s and overall pitching points.
The OWLS Jason Kendall is on pace to slug 4 HR’s this season!!! John leads the league right now in the categories of HBP and he was 2nd with that in ’06. Owls also lead in SB and RUNS SCORED thus far in 2007. John also led those two ranking in 2006. I think John likes the scrappy type of batters.
KIDS lead the league in Home Runs with 184. Didn’t expect Alex Rios to have 17 by the 4th of July.
The LOCKHORNS lead the NPL in Triples, and he doesn’t even own Curtis Granderson!! Horns SS Jimmy Rollins leads majors in AT BATS with 374, which is 22 more than the guy in 2nd place – the Owls Juan Pierre.
The ALABAMA SLAMMERS are the only NPL team still looking for that first Shut-Out but have the SP who leads the league in “Quality Starts” with 16 of his 18 starts being of quality. And despite one of Al’s co-workers saying after the draft that…. “I don’t like the pick of Grady Sizemore in the first round”, the Tribe centerfielder and 9th overall draft selection is the 6th best overall point scorer in the NPL.
Those 69’ERS lead the league in Complete Games with 8 despite ranking 8th in total pitching Wins. And some thought Vlad Guerrero was on the down side, but Piff’s 2nd round draft pick is 9th in NPL batting points.
The BULLDOGS thus far in 2007 have the most SAVES but the least amount of WINS. Another up and down statistic for the Dogs is that they have the best NPL Team Batting Average at .291, which is a full 10 points ahead of the 2nd best team (Niners) but then they have the worst Team ERA at 4.35.
Did you know the PITTSBURGH O’s have a team leading 86 Quality Starts? In the last 14 days, big guns Pujols and Griffey Jr are hitting .378 and .351 respectively. Big O says right now he would not trade Harv Xavier Nady for Jason Bay.
The H-BOMBS just can’t seem to get the roster to where he is happy with it. We draft 26 players, 16 hitters and 10 pitchers. So far Big Daddy has had 29 different hitters and 23 different pitchers on the roster - 52 total. Exactly double the number of players we start with. B.D. currently has used 24 of the allotted 30 DROP moves. Of course, he’ll get 4 more come September 1st.
And of course June 30 was the big “walk-out” day at PNC Park. A number of NPL guys were there. And I’ve been informed that at that game, our own Alabama Slammer had a foul ball chance. I’m also told the scene in Al’s section looked a little like this……
Unfortunately the ball hit Al in the worst possible place. Right in the hands!! The ricochet then got him in the noggin. But not to worry according to Big Daddy, who reported….. “Other than still being a little dizzy, he’s Okay.”
Then, at the end of the 3rd inning, Al and the Rock Cat proceeded to pick up their Walkie Bobbles and take part in the protest.
On Monday nights game, former NPL owner TomVandergrift was spotted on TV during the final 3 innings sitting in the front row of the Home Plate Club seats in a bright yellow shirt, talking on his cell phone and wearing the upside down rally cap in the 9th inning of a Milwaukee blow out over the Bucs. And at that same game, my youngest son Mike (age 19) was sitting in the first row behind the visitor’s dugout. He was wearing a Brian Urlacher #54 Bears jersey. He said the famous Pittsburgh vendor “T.C.” was selling his product and you know T.C. likes to have fun with the fans. He looked at Mike (again, age 19) and said….. “Hey Urlacher, Bud Light?”
ODD FACTS & STATS AT THE HALFWAY POINT – Some regarding statistical categories that are not part of NPL scoring….
THE BIG TRAIN is #1 hitting points and #2 in pitching. Early in the season when JJ Putz was struggling, Bob was considering dropping him. Now he has 24 saves and the best ERA (0.90) and best WHIP (0.57) among all pitchers – SP’s and RP’s.
ROCK CATS lead the NPL in TEAM ERA 3.55 and TEAM WHIP 1.22 along with being 1st in Wins, K’s and overall pitching points.
The OWLS Jason Kendall is on pace to slug 4 HR’s this season!!! John leads the league right now in the categories of HBP and he was 2nd with that in ’06. Owls also lead in SB and RUNS SCORED thus far in 2007. John also led those two ranking in 2006. I think John likes the scrappy type of batters.
KIDS lead the league in Home Runs with 184. Didn’t expect Alex Rios to have 17 by the 4th of July.
The LOCKHORNS lead the NPL in Triples, and he doesn’t even own Curtis Granderson!! Horns SS Jimmy Rollins leads majors in AT BATS with 374, which is 22 more than the guy in 2nd place – the Owls Juan Pierre.
The ALABAMA SLAMMERS are the only NPL team still looking for that first Shut-Out but have the SP who leads the league in “Quality Starts” with 16 of his 18 starts being of quality. And despite one of Al’s co-workers saying after the draft that…. “I don’t like the pick of Grady Sizemore in the first round”, the Tribe centerfielder and 9th overall draft selection is the 6th best overall point scorer in the NPL.
Those 69’ERS lead the league in Complete Games with 8 despite ranking 8th in total pitching Wins. And some thought Vlad Guerrero was on the down side, but Piff’s 2nd round draft pick is 9th in NPL batting points.
The BULLDOGS thus far in 2007 have the most SAVES but the least amount of WINS. Another up and down statistic for the Dogs is that they have the best NPL Team Batting Average at .291, which is a full 10 points ahead of the 2nd best team (Niners) but then they have the worst Team ERA at 4.35.
Did you know the PITTSBURGH O’s have a team leading 86 Quality Starts? In the last 14 days, big guns Pujols and Griffey Jr are hitting .378 and .351 respectively. Big O says right now he would not trade Harv Xavier Nady for Jason Bay.
The H-BOMBS just can’t seem to get the roster to where he is happy with it. We draft 26 players, 16 hitters and 10 pitchers. So far Big Daddy has had 29 different hitters and 23 different pitchers on the roster - 52 total. Exactly double the number of players we start with. B.D. currently has used 24 of the allotted 30 DROP moves. Of course, he’ll get 4 more come September 1st.
