Week 25 NewsletterSeptember 29, 2009PHONY LEAGUE BASEBALL NEWSLETTERVol. 25, No. 25 PHONY LEAGUE BASEBALL ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Usually when the Foxes are leading at the end of week 24, you can say “Game Over.” But the Instigators, apparently determined not to be denied, come on strong and seize back the lead that they held so long during this season. The excitement continues, as it all comes down to the final week, and even the Trade Winds still have an outside chance at the title and the World’s Gaudiest Trophy (though the rest of us are finally eliminated from that honour). If anyone’s still reading, email me at mzimmer@mailbag.com with what you think was your 1) best move at the auction; 2) worst move at the auction; 3) best move during the season; and 4) one thing you did during the season that you’d really like to take back, and I’ll include it in the final newsletter of the year. But I hold out little hope for that, since I mostly get the feeling I’m talking to myself, as usual. Blah, blah, blah blah blah. Okay, let’s see what’s up in the POW races. PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS: The Player of the Week on the Bench is David Ortiz, who finally starts hitting the ball with authority in the 25th week, unfortunately way too late for the Carp, as they eat his .333 average, 38 OP and 4 HR. Honorable mention to the unclaimed Jose Bautista, who has a little hot streak of his own, with 10 hits, 2 HR and 33 OP to his credit this week. What I want to know is how Joe Mauer can always be so dominant and hardly ever show up in the POW races. Super-Consistency, with no really hot streaks, I guess. TRANSACTIONS: Hey, look. All these transactions, and no Bo Sox claims. Sign of the Apocalypse? September 25: September 26: September 28: September 29: Players released in this newsletter cannot be claimed unless an American League game from the 162-game schedule is played on or after October 6, 2009. If such a game is played on or after October 6, the last day to postmark or deliver a waiver claim for the players released in this newsletter is Monday, October 5. 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.
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