| Last updated: 4 October 1997 |
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Our 1997 draft was held in mid-March, well before the season started. I ended
up drafting the following team:
BATTERS C Jim Leyritz Ana 0.20 C Mike Macfarlane KC 0.15 (Kept from 1996) 1B Tino Martinez NYY 1.05 3B Russ Davis Sea 0.35 CI Julio Franco Cle 0.55 2B Ray Durham ChW 0.90 SS Derek Jeter NYY 0.45 (Kept from 1996) MI Mark Loretta Mil 0.25 OF Ron Coomer Min 0.35 OF Reggie Jefferson Bos 0.50 (Kept from 1996) OF Shane Mack Bos 0.50 (Kept from 1996) OF Marc Newfield Mil 0.50 (Kept from 1996) OF Paul O'Neill NYY 0.75 DH Harold Baines ChW 0.45 PITCHERS SP John Burkett Tex 0.50 (Kept from 1996) SP Rocky Coppinger Bal 0.25 SP Chuck Finley Ana 0.70 SP Jack McDowell Cle 0.70 SP Brad Radke Min 0.05 (Kept from 1996) SP Tim Wakefield Bos 0.35 RP Jaime Bluma KC 0.80 RP Randy Myers Bal 1.00 RP John Wetteland Tex 1.60 RESERVES C Raul Casanova Det Minors 3B Mike Blowers Sea DH Phil Nevin Det DL SP Jason Dickson Ana SP Carl Pavano Bos Minors SP Nerio Rodriguez Bal Minors SP Glendon Rusch KC RP Brian Bevil KC RP Gregg Olson Min RP Danny Patterson TexThe early draft ended up being a serious problem for some people in the league. Chicago 3B Robin Ventura broke his leg, Cleveland traded Kenny Lofton to Atlanta for David Justice and Marquis Grissom, and Atlanta traded again, sending Jermaine Dye to Kansas City - all before the season started. Fortunately, none of these trades and actions affected me, although I did end up with Macfarlane, Bluma, Finley and Coppinger starting the season on the DL. Before the season, I also traded Julio Franco and Boston SP John Wasdin (who I claimed as a free agent) for Seattle OF Jay Buhner, a trade which I was very happy with, although Wasdin started the season very hot. My biggest problem so far has been erratic performances by Chuck Finley, Brad Radke, and (especially) Jack McDowell. I still feel my offense is a bit weak (especially since Mack and Coomer are both not playing much, although Mark Loretta has gotten a lot of PT due to Brewers injuries), but overall I think I have a good chance to compete. My closers have been nearly perfect so far, and I'm very happy I avoided going after Troy Percival.
Results In June, I traded Rob Ducey, who at the time was playing left field for Seattle, for Scott Karl, who at the time was sucking wind for the Brewers and was in danger of getting sent down. I had spent the first half of the season hovering around 3rd and 4th place. In July, that all changed. Tino Martinez and Randy Myers had outperformed any expectation I could possibly have had for them, and carried me through the first half. In the second half, it was my starting pitching that stepped up: Brad Radke went on a 12-game winning streak, and Chuck Finley and Scott Karl each had 9-game winning streaks. I picked up Kelvim Escobar, the new Toronto closer, and had been using rookie phenom Jason Dickson in my rotation all year. Tim Wakefield, after being shelled following an ill-considered 170-pitch outing, got it together and was strong in the second half. Even as the doomsayers had predicted that Paul O'Neill would fold in the second half, I held onto him and he had a fine full season; I also added Chad Curtis, who hit a bunch of dingers for the Yankees. (Why did I have so many Yankees? I hate the Yankees!) All of this moved me into first place in early August, and I built up a substantial lead. Or so it seemed. In early September my pitching started to collapse - due in no small part to Chuck Finley going out for the season - and it turned into a dogfight between me and Cracklin' Maclin's Oat Bran Men. But I managed to hang on, and I won the league for the first time in four years:
PLACE TEAM SCORE
1 HOT RAWDS 76.5
2 CRACKLIN' MACLIN'S OAT BRAN MEN 73.5
3 NOBODIES 73.5
4 GIMPS 70.0
5 OLEY COWS 55.5
6 LUTS' MUTTS 52.0
7 THE BATMAN AND ROBINS 48.0
8 SWEET TOMCATS 39.0
9 DENDARII FREE MERCENARIES 36.0
10 HEINOUS HOMONKEYS 26.0
TEAM AVG AB H R HR RBI SB
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GIMPS 0.275 6504 1787 961 263 980 100
NOBODIES 0.282 6822 1923 1030 241 1024 133
CRACKLIN' MACL 0.269 6877 1849 1050 291 1026 121
HOT RAWDS 0.281 6913 1941 1030 232 1027 106
SWEET TOMCATS 0.271 6239 1691 896 201 840 152
OLEY COWS 0.278 6508 1806 978 196 881 153
HEINOUS HOMONK 0.276 5578 1539 801 167 753 124
LUTS' MUTTS 0.267 6292 1680 886 228 892 113
DENDARII FREE 0.273 6176 1689 920 165 759 119
THE BATMAN AND 0.270 6444 1739 890 212 839 131
TEAM AVG R HR RBI SB TOT
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GIMPS 6.0 6.0 9.0 7.0 1.0 29.0
NOBODIES 10.0 8.5 8.0 8.0 8.0 42.5
CRACKLIN' MACL 2.0 10.0 10.0 9.0 5.0 36.0
HOT RAWDS 9.0 8.5 7.0 10.0 2.0 36.5
SWEET TOMCATS 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 25.0
OLEY COWS 8.0 7.0 3.0 5.0 10.0 33.0
HEINOUS HOMONK 7.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 6.0 17.0
LUTS' MUTTS 1.0 2.0 6.0 6.0 3.0 18.0
DENDARII FREE 5.0 5.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 17.0
THE BATMAN AND 3.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 7.0 21.0
TEAM ERA W IP ER H BB WHIP*9 SO SV
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GIMPS 4.2891 84 1187.2 566 1172 451 12.299 1059 78
NOBODIES 4.3259 94 1404.1 675 1454 478 12.382 914 53
CRACKLIN' MACL 4.2096 82 1451.2 679 1454 539 12.356 1059 66
HOT RAWDS 4.2990 93 1388.0 663 1470 433 12.339 1054 92
SWEET TOMCATS 4.8596 71 1372.1 741 1523 510 13.333 874 24
OLEY COWS 4.5676 84 1487.2 755 1604 544 12.995 1017 15
HEINOUS HOMONK 4.9606 74 1302.2 718 1424 544 13.597 777 1
LUTS' MUTTS 3.8790 56 1000.0 431 893 405 11.682 911 75
DENDARII FREE 4.2521 51 1071.0 506 1063 438 12.613 889 22
THE BATMAN AND 4.1332 66 1308.2 601 1330 509 12.647 948 45
TEAM ERA W WHIP SO SV TOT
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GIMPS 6.0 7.5 9.0 9.5 9.0 41.0
NOBODIES 4.0 10.0 6.0 5.0 6.0 31.0
CRACKLIN' MACL 8.0 6.0 7.0 9.5 7.0 37.5
HOT RAWDS 5.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 10.0 40.0
SWEET TOMCATS 2.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 14.0
OLEY COWS 3.0 7.5 3.0 7.0 2.0 22.5
HEINOUS HOMONK 1.0 5.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 9.0
LUTS' MUTTS 10.0 2.0 10.0 4.0 8.0 34.0
DENDARII FREE 7.0 1.0 5.0 3.0 3.0 19.0
THE BATMAN AND 9.0 3.0 4.0 6.0 5.0 27.0
I have some good keepers for next year: Russ Davis at 0.35, Tino Martinez at 1.05, Ben Grieve at 0.50, Scott Karl at 0.25, Tim Wakefield at 0.35, and potentially Randy Myers at 1.00 (if I decide he'll hold onto the closer role in Baltimore next year; Armando Benitez is knocking at the door). I like my chances of forging ahead for another season...
hits since 24 August 2000.
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