Week 16 Newsletter

July 28, 2009

Vol. 25, No. 16
Season Week No. 16
July 28, 2009

PHONY LEAGUE BASEBALL
popculture.incompetech.com/baseball/
Newsletter Editor: Mark S Zimmer

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As we pass the 100-game mark for most major league teams, things still are a tossup in the Phony League. This week it’s the Trade Winds’ chance to make a big move, vaulting past the Kiwis. And the Foxes continue their inexorable climb, though the Instigators somehow are still hanging on by four PRP. Who would have thunk it?

Meanwhile, the Ham Fighters continue to sweat out the saga of whether someone is going to steal Roy Halladay from them as the trade deadline approaches. At least he’s in the last year of his contract for them, but still annoying for us potentates to be at the mercy of some dilrod in a fancy office. Especially when they're not OUR dilrods.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:
Team………. Player……………….. BA.. OP….. OA.. Special Achievement
Carp……….. Ryan Braun…………. .440. 41…… 1.640. 3 HR
Scapegoats.. Aaron Hill…………… .333. 41…… 1.367. 4 HR
Kiwis……….. Jhonny Peralta…….. .433. 39…… 1.300. 13 hits
Scapegoats.. Marco Scutaro……… .420. 38…… 1.226. 13 hits
Scapegoats.. Bobby Abreu……….. .400. 37…… 1.233. 12 hits
Scapegoats.. Ben Francisco……… .360. 36…… 1.440

Team………. Pitcher………………. ERA OOBA. PP.. Special Achievement
Trade Winds Cliff Lee……………... 1.69. 0.812.. 14….. 2 Wins
Bovine Sox.. AJ Burnett………… 1.29. 0.929. 13….. 2 Wins

The Player of the Week is Ryan Braun. Honorable mention to Mark Buehrle and his Perfecto, not to mention crossing over into Week 17 with a major league record number of batters faced perfectly. Nicely done, Mr. Buehrle. As if the Foxes needed the help (though Jose Contreras, Francisco Liriano and King Felix managed to give most of the gains right back).

Player of the Week on the Bench is Erick Aybar, who hit .441 with 39 OP and fifteen hits while on the Scapegoats’ bench. Helloooooo Scapegoats. Anyone home? On the other hand, maybe they just didn’t want to totally dominate the POW charts any more than they did this week….

TRANSACTIONS:

More waiver wire action than usual. Are we getting sloppy as we cast away our refuse, or is it just that the shiny free agent baubles are so much better than the bird in hand? Let’s ask Michael Wuertz and Adam LaRoche about that one.

July 22:
TRADE WINDS acquire free agent Michael Wuertz releasing Carlos Villaneuva.

July 23:
MASTODONS acquire free agent Adam LaRoche releasing Matt Palmer.

July 24:
INSTIGATORS acquire Tommy Hunter releasing Takashi Saito.
INSTIGATORS acquire free agent Ryan Langerhans releasing Jason Giambi.

July 25:
MASTODONS acquire free agent Brett Wallace releasing Adam LaRoche.

July 28:
MASTODONS acquire Ryan Sweeney on waivers releasing Willie Bloomquist.
TRADE WINDS acquire Carlos Guillen on waivers releasing Miguel Olivo.
BOVINE SOCKS acquire free agent Jose Bautista releasing Oscar Salazar.
HAM FIGHTERS acquire Craig Counsell on waivers releaing Chris Woodward.
TRADE WINDS acquire free agent David Hernandez releasing Michael Wuertz.

The last day to postmark or deliver a waiver claim for the players released in this newsletter is Monday, August 3, 2009. If a claim for one or more of those players is postmarked or delivered on or before that date and does not specify whether it is a waiver claim or a free agent claim, it will be considered a waiver claim. Announcements of all free agent and waiver acquisitions are subject to change if a late arriving letter or postcard is received from a team with a superior claim.

REMINDER ABOUT FREE AGENT CLAIMS: When claiming a free agent, you must specify whether the player being released is in the lineup or not. The status of the released player is the status on the day before the claim goes into effect, which means in most cases it is the status on the day you send the claim. If the released player is not in the lineup on the day you send the claim, you can just note NIL, which, of course, means not in lineup. If the released player is in your lineup on the day you send the claim, you must report who will replace that player in your lineup. I do not care if you already reported a sub to your “checker.” You must also report the sub in the free agent claim. If it makes it easier to understand, when you make the claim just forget that you have a “checker” for your lineup and pretend that all your substitutions are reported to the person receiving the player claim. Then, report the substitution in the free agent claim.

Questions? E-mail Steve