NPL Week 7. "A Check List from Kooperstown."

May 22.... Happy 65th Birthday to Tommy John, who has perhaps the best known medical term named after him.... What are some others? Such as Steve Blass disease!

Here we are coming up on Memorial Day weekend already. These first two months went fast. And isn’t it strange that not all teams (including the Pirates) play on the Holiday? I can actually remember going to Forbes Field to watch a SCHEDULED Double-Header on the Memorial Day Holiday.

The race has currently sectioned off into 3 mini groups right now. But as we’ve seen in the past, that has a tendency to change quickly. Right now the closest race is between 3rd place through 7th place. The Owls, Niners, Bulldogs, Rock Cats and Lockhorns are 5 teams separated by only 39 points. Wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago that Harv’s Horns were in the cellar? Now they’re just a complete game win with 9 K’s away from 3rd.

Monday May 19 was quite a bizarre day for the KOOPERSTOWN KIDS. Going into that day I was trying to think of what I needed to make some headway in the NPL. So I decided to make a check-list of items I needed…. Here’s how that worked out…..

I need my slumping 22 year old rookie 3rd baseman to come up big. Asking for 3 hits including a double, home run and perhaps a 13 point NPL game.
CHECK.

Have my 230 pound catcher rap out a 3-run inside the park home run, and not even have to slide at home.
CHECK

Ask my 21st round pick to go out and toss a NO-HIT complete game shut-out with at least 9 K’s. CHECK.

Look for the schedule makers to have the team immediately ahead of me in the standings actually have NO players in action for that day of limited MLB action, meaning ZERO points for them on this day.
CHECK

This chain of events is like one of those lunar eclipses which occur like once every 157 years or so. This week – well, probably not so much….. Only 8 starts scheduled and that could even be 7 if Chris Young can’t go since Harv’s guy rapped one off his schnoz, and since Jon Lester threw 130 pitches he’s probably shot for the next month. Not that I’m a glass half empty guy, but I’m just saying……..

The 69’ERS recorded 535 points for Period # 7, the second high total in the league. Piffy’s team has been flying under the radar this year but the pitching is starting to really come on and the hitting has been there all season, so keep an eye on these guys. The hitting trio (or law firm) of Hamilton, Utley and Braun are on fire right now and newbie Clint Barmes had a 34 point week hitting .354. Both me and the Raven wanted Barmes last week for SS but Piff nabbed him before we had a chance. This week the Niners have 12 starts scheduled, and so it could be another high scoring week for the Nines.

Looking strong in 1st place are the PITTSBURGH O’s. If you watched the Bucs in Wrigley Field you know how good Alfonso Soriano has been and now Ryan Howard has awakened to hit 6 HR in his last 11 games. Larry is ranked # 2 overall in both total hitting and total pitching points, very consistent on both ends and he’s lovin’ those pitching WINS, which he leads the NPL in…. It’s something he wasn’t getting in 2007. Countless hours of research into the NPL files have led me to the conclusion that the O’s 2nd base combo of Akinori Iwamura and Tadahito Iguchi are the first 2nd base duo this league has ever had in which the last name of the two players starts with the letter “I”, along with both players also being of Japanese descent. And that’s what we call North Park League trivia folks….

In the transaction e-mail of Wednesday night I mentioned pitchers claimed who had “Track Records” of success. I was remiss in not including Jeff Suppan with that group. This was the waiver wire claim of THE BIG TRAIN and it is worth noting that Suppan has 56 wins in the prior 4 years. The Train does need some help from the staff as the Ace Jake Peavy heads to the DL. And who is more disappointed in Bucco Ian Snell right now? Is it Robert F. Sproule or Neal A. Huntington? The Train needs to turn it around or it could mean bad times between the GM and AGM of the ball club!! George Sherrill has been a big bonus in the Saves category for the BT and the guy is even on the cover of this week’s Sports Weekly newspaper. And Lance, Nate and the boys keep slugging away as the Train hit for a league high .325 for the week.

Hey, its official, the NPL has a new baby on board, and Congrats to John the Raven Stasko and Becky on the birth of Rachel. John says women’s hockey may be the sport of choice for the young lady (Rachel not Becky). The ROCK CATS took a dip in the standings this week, but as they were the above mentioned team that had no players on the field on Monday, I guess it’s understandable. RC’s are having tough luck with Colorado Rockies players this year. After the slumping Tulowitzki went on the DL, this week the Cats parted ways with outfielder Brad Hawpe and his .230 batting average. Original draft pick Jose Guillen is back on board and week 8 may project out to be a good one as the Cats have 13 Starts listed including 4 pitchers who go on the same day – TWICE in the scoring period.

Now that Harv had his hit man Albert Pujols take out my pitcher with a line drive to the face, I hope he’s happy!!! It couldn’t have been more of a direct shot if Harv did this…….


If you look at the top scoring pitchers for YTD points you will now see the LOCKHORNS closer Jose Valverde at the top of the list with 231 points on 4 Wins and 14 Saves plus 31 K’s in 25 IP. That total includes 4 Saves this past week.

Are OWLS a superstitious bird? Consider this……. When we did the lottery Wednesday afternoon to break the tie with the Niners for the pick-up, John won as the number was 036. John then noted that 036 would be 36 for Jerome Bettis. Bettis’ home town is Detroit. So the Owls went to Detroit to snatch up Jeremy Bonderman on the pick-ups!! Another omen for the Owls can be found on page 31 of this week’s Sports Weekly. The headlines on that page say….. “After Slow Start, Owls Soar.” Hmmm…. Now to the on the field stuff….. Owls pitcher Daniel Cabrera beans Owls shortstop Derek Jeter. What’s up with that? Is there a fine for that from Owls ownership? Another goofy injury occurs as Ryan Church breaks up a double play with his head into the knee of Pittsburgh O’s shortstop Yunel Escobar. They both ended up with those little red crosses next to their name on the web-site.

The H-BOMBERS had a rough week as John was without internet access. Damn Verizon!! What’s a War Room without the internet? But don’t worry, B.D. is back in business. Recent pick-up Ryan Ludwick was the league’s leading batter with 44 points in week 7 and Rubber-armed Roy Halladay even pitched 2 innings in relief. It is my understanding that John is not buying into the theory that is sweeping through the NPL…… The one that says…….. “Eddie is a Baseball Genius.”

As we then mention Eddie, he and Tony’s BULLDOGS had 9 games started this week and were 7-1 with 2 Saves kicked in. For what it’s worth, on the hitting side they have hit more Doubles (154) than any other team. Way to take the extra base guys! Mr. Uggla was at it again in week 7. All he did was bat .529 and Adam Dunn hit 4 dingers. New pitcher Dana Eveland, previously rejected by the Niners and Bombers toss a CG and Verlander actually looked good again. Pirate Jason Bay has done well and T&E wait for another Buc to return in Ryan Doumit. And speaking of those Pirates, after this weekend they hit the road and I think they won’t mind going to Cincinnati…..

And this brings us to the VULCANS. Climbing back with a nifty score of 520 points for the period. Nice rebound by the V’s. 6 Wins and 2 Saves gave them the 2nd best team pitching week and Rich gave the base runners the green light on the bases. A league high 14 steals in 19 attempts as Rich tries to chase down his MOASP/T-o-H rival the Big Train, as the Vulcs have 11 more starts coming up in week 8. And finally, Rich had the honor of having Harv rip his team a new one in some follow-up e-mails after last weeks report. Welcome to the club Rich. When Harv jumps on your team, ya know you’re now an official member!!!!

YOU TUBE:
2Mins. 29 Sec.

Arguably this is one of the best scenes from a sports movie (or any movie) EVER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGH_mtib9fo&feature=related

NPL - THE END OF APRIL..

Happy Kentucky Derby Saturday:

HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE?
Since the basis of this more detailed report is the end of the first month of the season, let’s go even further by stating the following…………..

We’ve played ---

1 month out of 6.

4 scoring periods out of 26.

441 MLB games played out of 2,430, which is thru Friday and includes one in a suspended status.

Or, if you’re more of a percentage type of guy….. 18% of the season is now in the books with 82% still on tap. Lots of balls and strikes to come.

THE RACE:
Since it’s the day of the big race, let’s take a look at the NPL race through the first month. One of the closest that I can recall. The biggest gap between two positions at this moment is 77 points between 3rd and 4th. But only 74 points separate 4th thru 10th. On Derby Day in 2007 we had the Rock Cats in first as they are this year. However, the lead back then was 123 over 2nd place instead of 32 as it is currently. The Pittsburgh O’s seem to have the biggest one year difference. Today, 2nd place with 2,169 points, 32 back. Last year 10th place, 1,932 points and 426 out. Yep, a new season for the Pittsburgh O’s.

AROUND THE HORN:
Starting from the top……..

ROCK CATS:
Yes, the Cats are once again out of the gate fast (sorry, another horse racing reference). They’ve been a good balanced team and again have exceptional starting pitching. Right now #2 in pitching wins, but ironically the RC’s are 1 of only 2 teams who do not have a Complete Game registered yet. Carlos Quentin was a big waiver wire pick-up and Chipper Jones has been fantastic, leading all MLB hitters with a Ted Williams like .417. He leads all of MLB in Singles hit with 31 but still maintains a lofty .689 slugging percentage. The only negative with Chipper is that he gets nicked up and misses a few more games than you would like. One of the few low points for the Raven is 5th round draft choice Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo now out injured until mid-season it is reported, but he never seemed to recover from the disappointment of not being drafted by the Bulldogs. Before the injury he was experiencing a bigger sophomore slump than Friday Night Lights, as he was batting just .152 on the season. But the other shortstop Rafael Furcal is making up for Tulo. Check out his numbers! The Rock Cats continue to purr.

PITTSBURGH O’s:
The O’s seem to have it all working in 2008. The #1 team in Team Pitching points and #1 in the WINS category with 26, and this included a terribly slow start by CC Sabathia who now seems to be out of his funk. Another thing to watch for is #1 draft choice Ryan Howard. He is off to his usual slow start, but it will be a boost when he starts slugging like he can again. Speaking of 1st basemen……. What a smart move by Larry to dump Adam LaRoche for the start of Period #2. Since the move, Kevin Youkilis has outscored the lethargic LaRoche by 40 points, 67 to 27. (Can you tell I’m not a fan of the 1st baseman of YOUR BUCCOS, as Jim Colony likes to say!!) Anyway – back to the O’s…… Last night the Big O had his group of 5 starters all pitching on the same night AGAIN!! Result – the biggest one day scoring total thus far in ’08. Thanks to Tim Hudson’s CG-ShO, a 163 point splash was made. The Pitt-O’s also have the 2nd best one day total in 2008 with 147 points scored on April 11. Final note on O’s pitching. Larry may have wished we would have looked at that Quality Start stat for scoring. He leads the NPL with 34 and that is double the team with the low number in that category (Bulldogs).

KOOPERSTOWN KIDS:
I guess I’m in this spot for the most part due to the hitting. After a slow start, the team is now #1 in overall team hitting points. I’m still trying to figure these guys out. For example – catcher Geovany Soto. Last weekend he had a stretch in which he struck out in 8 consecutive At-Bats. But the guy is still hitting .333 with 5 HR, 21 RBI and 108 points in 96 at bats! The two Tigers (Cabrera & Ordonez) are now the top two hitters for me as I expected they would be. As some of you may know, the Tigers are a special team to me in 2008. MOASP baby!! And on the pitching side, a tough pitcher to figure is Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers. 5 games started, only one quality start, a 5.20 ERA and a 1-4 record. Shouldn’t this guy be cut by now?? But….. 40 K’s in only 27 IP. Chad has me hanging with those kinds of numbers. And finally, I’m still wondering if Evan Longoria can do it? Maybe the guy needs a good baseball nickname? Evan Longoria doesn’t sound like a ballplayer. That sounds more like some kid who got expelled from boarding school for trying to steal the SAT!!

69’ERS:
Good, very good hitting ball club here. Led by the Chase Utley factor. The #2 overall draft pick is looking like an MVP. Can he be the 3rd different Phillie in 3 years to do it? Chase is the top NPL hitter with 162 points and he’s MLB’s top slugger at a .771 percentage. MLB HR leader and in the league leaders all over the stat sheet. But what is the Chase Utley factor? Well, like Aaron Rowand and Vernon Wells, he has some good charm going for who ever owns him. Going back to his entrance into the majors…. In 2005, on the Kids for 1st place. 2006- 4th as an Owl. 2007 – Championship with the Big Train. Chase brings good mojo to his NPL teams. Another up and coming star is 10th round draft pick Josh Hamilton. Hitting .311 with 6 HR – 32 RBI, which is the Ribbie leader in MLB. Jim Leyland had a recent quote in which he compared Hamilton to a young Larry Walker. Nice…. You no doubt remember it was a young Larry Walker who carried the Lockhorns to an NPL title back in 1997. Don’t you?

VULCANS:
The rookie Vulcs are hanging tough, right in the thick of this race. Rich has the #2 team in total pitching points led by 12th round choice Ben Sheets (4-0, .164 ERA) and Brad Penny is off to another great 1st half – 5 Wins this first month. A rejuvenated Derrek Lee leads the offense (.355 BA) and Michael Bourn is giving this team an Identity as a running squad, as they now lead the NPL in swiped bags. As of this date, the Vulcans have more points than the Owls, and I believe Rich would want that fact to be noted. And in cutting a pitcher this past Wednesday, Rich’s specific comment was…. “The Francisco Liriano experiment is over.”

Hey – we’re at Half Time of this report…….. Let me ask a question…….. How about that Roger Clemens – Mindy McCready scandal, huh? You have the ace pitcher of the Boston Red Sox staff having an affair with a 15 year old county singer. How bizarre is that?? So here’s my question….. That was a long time ago, but what would be today’s equivalent of that same scenario? Think about it. It would then have to be Josh Beckett having an affair with Hannah Montana!! Unless you prefer to sub in Dice-K, but that even seems weirder because he’s a Jap. And I wonder if Chris Hanson and the NBC Dateline crew will be paying the Rocket a visit?? Yikes!!


Okay, back to the NPL teams…….

OWLS:
The way the season started for the Owls I was going to be forced to pull out the historical records to research what team had the most DL moves made for one year, but it appears that trend has slowed now and the Birds are back in flight. John may be the owner of the best pick-up thus far. Cliff Lee of the Indians has been nothing short of sensational. John got him after his 1-0 start, but on the year, Lee is 5-0 with a miniscule 0.96 ERA. In 37 IP, 32 K’s with ONLY 2 Walks. The X man was another nice claim and left the Owls with the tough dilemma of which outfielder to cut when Cuddyer returned and it was hard to let Ellsbury go, but take a look at the others, they are all solid. These Owls are changing some positions too. It may be a bonus when Carlos Guillen gets his 3rd base eligibility but it is reported that John Smoltz may be a closer when he returns. JF can keep him in the Owls rotation if that would make sense, but with K-Rod and Putz there, the bullpen is loaded. By the way, John says that he’s only a one swing of the bat – Home Run away from passing the Vulcans!!

the BIG TRAIN:
The Train is running out some heavy hitters in this early season. Bob owns the #2, 5 and 7 batters in NPL hitting points. That’s the N-Dog, Berkman and Han-Ram. Seems like when talking about the Train, it always comes back to McLouth. But why not? What a start he has had. How much longer until Lanny gives him another goofy nickname? How about the Blond Bomber? This week an article on MLB.com compared McL to Lenny Dykstra in his prime. I hope that’s an on the field comparison only. Wasn’t Dykstra a real A-Hole off the field??

Joe Nathan finally gave up an earned run. His ERA has soared up to 0.82. And boy do these Big Train guys like to go for the stolen base. They are #2 in the league with 42 steals, but they also lead the NPL in caught stealing with 25, which are 10 more than the next highest total. “Run Big Train Run” may be the motto of this 2008 club. And oh by the way……. Bob is hoping there is no substance to that Josh Beckett – Hannah Montana thing I mentioned!!

Lets’s break here again at this time…….. Since former Pirate player and current road games only analyst John Wehner is a Bob Sproule favorite, let’s tell his recent story….
As I mentioned, he was talking to Greg Brown on the broadcast during the late stages of a blow out game while in New York. Wehner wanted everyone to know about his day off in the Big Apple. He reported that he took in the Regis & Kelly show in the morning. He thought about introducing himself to Regis, but then let it go…… In the evening he was at the Penguins – Rangers playoff game. He said Mike Lange saw him and told him… “Johnny, you’re our lucky charm.” But when talking about how the hockey game unfolded, Wehner then said…… “Then Malkin scored a power play goal to give the Bucs a 4-3 lead.” The BUCS??? Gee, I thought it was the PENS playing hockey.
Okay, back to the NPL……..

BULLDOGS:
The Dogs are not alarmed if they’re not at the top half of the standings. They traditionally start slow, come on strong, and they also don’t care how old Miguel Tejada is. If you have a shortstop who hits .350 it’s all good. What a bullpen for Tony and Ed. Papelbon and Mo Rivera both with 8 saves and Paps ERA is 1.93 while Rivera is a perfect 0.00. T&E didn’t get the big name Santana at SP, but their guy Ervin is 5-0 to start the year. Pirate backstop Ryan Doumit a nice pick-up, hitting .365 since acquired with 63 points in 52 At Bats. And during the pick-ups on Wednesday, Bull D’s co-owner Eddie Dubis had a statement for H-Bombs owner John Big Daddy Schoming. Ed said they didn’t need the H-Bombs “endorsement” of their waiver claims from his War Room and if there is any baseball knowledge to spread, it would be the Dogs telling Mr. Schoming what is what with baseball opinions of players. Eddie then finished this up by stating……. “I’m Ed Dubis and I approve this message.”

LOCKHORNS:
With the history of the Lockhorns, I don’t expect they will be down for long. And in October we may look back at the Max Scherzer pick-up as a turning point. Harv’s other newbie Wladimir Balentien pronounces his first name with a “V” instead of a “W” and he therefore sounds like a power forward for the Russian National Hockey League. The Horns pitching have the leagues best ERA at 3.31 and the Joe Saunders for David Bush move was another excellent one that took place in this league. He’s 4-0 for Harv’s Horns.

H-BOMBS:
The Bombers got off to a fast start and have had some recent struggles, but in reality, as mentioned above, they are only 74 points out of 4th place. Big D is keeping an eye on his DROP moves, as he already has 8 tallied thus far. Overall #1 A-Rod just went on the DL and #1 starter Roy Halladay has 4 CG’s in a row, although a couple have been with the L instead of the W. J-Schom has got great production out of ex-Lockhorn closer Brandon Lyon as he racked up 4 saves in slightly more than one week. Big Daddy said two things are known……. The H-Bombs will come on strong and Eddie will pay!!!!!!!

YOU-TUBE:

We also have the NBA playoffs going on, and this 2 minute clip is perhaps one of the best all-time arena team introductions ever. It's the Chicago Stadium intro of the Jordan-Pippen era Chicago Bulls starting with the "Running of the Bulls" on the jumbo-tron to PA announcer the great Ray Clay introducing the players under spotlight to the famous Bulls intro music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc11-pt_X6g