Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category

Dynasty league updates 9-10 and Looking for players for A New 1969 Draft League and face to face league UPDATE Several 69 teams taken since posting…

Posted: September 10, 2021 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, entertainment, fun, gaming, online gaming, Sable Baseball

Here is the current state of the online and table top baseball leagues I run and ore are in. All current leagues are 162 game seasons with one 3 game series scheduled per week If you click on a team link you can see their stats, injuries, leaders etc.

Since our last update more teams have been taken in online leagues the face to face league is deep into the playoffs and a new online draft league is forming

Postseason Key

  • Z Clinched home field throughout playoffs
  • Y Clinched Division Title
  • X Clinched Wild Card home
  • W Clinched Wild Card away
  • V Clinched Playoff spot

League one All Futility League (all teams lost 96 + games) 2nd Season. Scheduled series time Thursday Mornings. This league is nearly finished.

Teams AL Division AWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Milwaukee Brewers y9168.572—–NoN/A
1970 Chicago White Sox w8574.5356Noaway
2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays7584.47216YesE
2003 Detroit Tigers59100.37132NoE
Teams AL Division BWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Kansas City Royals v9663.604_____Yesn/a
2012 Minnesota Twins v9366.5853No+8
2008 Seattle Mariners8079.50314YesE
1973 Texas Rangers6990.43427YesE
Teams AL Division CWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2009 Cleveland Indians7980.497—–NoN/A
1967 Kansas City A’s7782.4842NoE
1957 Washington Senators7386.4596NoE
2019 Baltimore Orioles7188.4478NoE

AL Leaders: Hitting:

Avg Mauer Min .353, OBP, Mauer Min .463, Slug Huff TB .600 Runs Harper .Mil 139, Hits: Harper Mil 218, 2B Ibanez Sea, 50, 3B Crowe Cle 15, SB Suzuki 54 , BB Mauer Min 118 HR Sievers Wash 46, RBI Sievers Wash 137

Pitching: Wins Hernandez Sea, 22, ERA Diamond Min 2.91, IP John Chi 274 2/3, K’s Hernandez Sea 239, Avg against Krausse KCA .208 WHIP Krause KCA 1.07 HR/9 Hyde Wash 0.27 Saves Yan TB 31

Division Winner automatically makes playoffs

Teams NL Division AWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1998 Montreal Expos Z9262.610—–YesN/A
2009 Washington Nationals v9069.5667Yes+ 3
2001 Pittsburgh Pirates 8574.53512Yes2
1998 Florida Marlins7089.44027YesE
Teams NL Division BWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2000 Philadelphia Phillies Y8076.513—–YesN/A
2012 Houston Astros7086.44910YesE
2017 San Francisco Giants7086.44910NoE
2015 Atlanta Braves6690.42314NoE
Teams NL Division CWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1982 Cincinnati Reds8967.571_____Non/a
1993 New York Mets8772.5473 1/2No_____
1974 Chicago Cubs7782.48413 1/2NoE
1993 San Diego Padres7086.44919NoE

NL Leaders Hitting:

AVG Gwynn SD .361, OBP Giles Pit .450 Slug Giles Pit .623, Runs Giles Pitt 114, Hits Gwynn SD 189 2B Gwynn SD 56, 3B Guerrero Mon 15, SB Morgan Wash 45, BB Giles Pit 101, HR Murray Mets 34, RBI Ramirez Pit 114

Pitching Wins Hermanson Mon 29, ERA Hermanson Mon 1.82, IP Soto Cin 278 1/3, K’s Soto Cin 338, Avg against Soto Cin .197 WHIP Hermanson Mon 1.00 HR/9 Berenyi Cin 0.30, Saves Urbina Mon Zamora ChC 33.

The SD Jones memorial .500 teams league is a league (all teams were no better than 2 games over .500 or no worse than 2 games under) Initial season . Games are scheduled for Tuesdays. AM

Teams AL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1993 Boston8250.621—–Non/a
1957 Baltimore6864.51514Yes+2
1973 New York (A)6468.48518Yes2
1967 Washington5973.44723Yes7
Teams AL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Detroit v8646.652—–Yesn/a
1975 Cleveland5676.42430No10
1973 Minnesota5676.42430No10
1998 Chicago (A)4686.34840No20
Teams AL WestWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Oakland7953.598—-Yesn/a
2018 Los Angeles (A)6666.50013Yes_______
2017 Kansas City6567.49214No1
2005 Toronto6369.47716Yes3

AL Leaders Batting

Avg Carew Min .344, OBP Trout LAA .436, SLUG Trout LAA .637, Runs Cabrera Det 116, Hits Carew Min 188, 2B Cabrera Det 45, 3B Durham ChW, 16, SB Carew Min 49 BB Trout LAA 100 HR Howard Wash(A) 41, RBI Cabrera Det 125

Pitching

Wins Verlander Det 20, ERA Clemens Bos 2.39, IP Vernalder Det 256 2/3, K’s Blyleven Min 240, Avg against Cahill Oak .205, WHIP Darwin Bos 0.99, HR/9 Bibby Cle 0.35, Saves Valverde Det Russell Bos 27

Teams NL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1967 Pittsburgh8256.594______Non/a
2018 Washington8055.5931/2No+12
1957 Philadelphia6072.45519Yes8
1975 New York (N)5580.40725 1/2Yes14

Division winner skips wild card

Teams NL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1996 Cincinnati7263.533_____Non/a
1975 St. Louis6864.5152 1/2Yes_____
2000 Colorado7068.5073 1/2Yes2
1973 Houston5973.44711 1/2Yes9
Teams NL WestWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1975 San Francisco8250.621—–Yesn/a
2012 Arizona6765.50815Yes1
2007 Los Angeles (N)5775.43225Yes11
1982 San Diego5481.40029 1/2Yes15 1/2

NL Leaders Batting

AVG Clemente Pit .372, OBP Mitchell Cin .453, Slug Clemente Pit .604, Runs Larkin Cin 111, Hits Clemente Pit 207, 2B Cirillo Col 60, 3B Clemente Pit 21, SB Pierre LAD 69 BB Larkin Cin 100, HR Helton Col 29, RBI Helton Col 118

Pitching Wins Scherzer Wash 19, ERA Scherzer Wash 2.33, IP Scherzer Wash 262 2/3, K’s Scherzer Wash 309, Avg Against Scherzer Wash .207, WHIP Scherzer Wash 0.96, HR/9 Reed StL 0.34, Saves Face Pitt 32

3rd League All time any time Great Teams League (3rd season) Games scheduled Friday evenings. Two teams have been picked up since the last posting (oddly not the Orioles)

Teams AL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Baltimore6534.657—–Yesn/a
1993 Toronto5643.5669No+6
1961 Yankees4947.51014 1/2No1/2
1999 Boston4158.41424No9
Teams AL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Texas5643.566—–Yesn/a
1954 Cleveland5049.5056No—–
2006 Detroit4755.46110 1/2Yes4 1/2
1974 Oakland4059.40416Yes10
Teams AL OtherWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2009 New York (A)5346.535____Non/a
1977 Kansas City4848.5003 1/2No1/2
1924 Washington4260.41212 1/2No9 1/2
1967 Minnesota3960.39414Yes11

AL Leaders Batting

Avg Carew Min ,369 , OBP Olerud Tor .466, Slug Mantle NYY61 .659, Runs Jeter NYY09 87, Hits Jeter NYY09 150, 2B Olerud Tor 38, Triples Taylor Wash 16, SB Henderson Tor 54, BB Killebrew Min 79, HR Mantle NYY61 31, RBI Hamilton Tex 81

Pitching Wins Martinez Bos 15, ERA Martinez Bos 2.25, IP Johnson Wash 196 2/3, K’s Martinez Bos 285, Avg against Martinez Bos .201 WHIP Martinez Bos 0.90 HR/9 Martinez Bos .034 Saves Ward Tor 29

Teams NL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1975 Cincinnati5544.556—–NoN/A
2019 Washington Nats5148.5154Yes_____
1998 Atlanta4749.4906 1/2No2 1/2
1955 Brooklyn4554.45510Yes6
Teams NL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1957 Milwaukee5346.535_____No+2*
1985 St. Louis5346.535_____No+ 2*
1971 Pittsburgh4653.4657Yes5
2003 Cubs4455.4449Yes7
Teams NL OtherWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2016 Chicago (N)7929.707—-Non/a
1977 Philadelphia4851.48522Yes3
2001 Arizona4554.45525Yes6
2007 Colorado4254.43826 1/2Yes7 1/2

NL Leaders Batting

Avg Kendrick Wash .369, OBP Morgan Cin .464, Slug Galarraga Atl .627, Runs Morgan Cin 91, Hits Kendrick Wash 146, 2B Kendrick Wash 34, 3B McGee StL 14, SB Morgan Cin 54, BB Morgan Cin 82, HR Campanella Bkyn, Aaron Mil 27, RBI Aaron Mil 89

Pitching Wins Nolan Cin 15, ERA Tudor StL 1.80, IP Tudor StL 174 2/3, K’s Johnson Arizona 226, Avg against Tudor StL .181, WHIP Tudor StL 0.82 HR/9 Buhl Mil 0.28, Saves Chapman Cubs16 27

There will be a new Draft league starting in October beginning in the 1969 season. Each player will select a franchise and one player to protect and the rest of the players will go in the draft.

Out of a max of 24 teams available here are the teams selected with the player they choose to protect all others go into the draft. All unlisted franchises are still available franchise with a * are teams that have been picked but the confirmation email has not yet been received

Players may join up until Sept 30th or until we reach 24 teams The draft is scheduled for the 1st week of October and will last one week. Teams will draft until they have 35 players or until we run out of players to draft.

At the end of the season each team will be able to protect 4-12 players based on their finish plus new rookies (IE Bowa Phi Blyleven Minn) who don’t count toward that total, all others go into the draft, draft order for the 1970 season will be based on the finish.

This league will play twice a week 5-6 games

UPDATE: This list has been updated for several teams now taken since the post went up

Team SelectedPlayer withheld from Draft
Oakland A’sNot announced
Chicago White SoxLHSP Tommy John
Baltimore Orioles1B Boog Powell
Atlanta BravesOF Hank Aaron
Cincinnati RedsC Johnny Bench
Los Angeles DodgersRHSP Don Sutton
Montreal ExposNot Announced
New York MetsRHSP Tom Seaver
Pittsburgh PiratesOF Roberto Clemente
St Louis Cardinals RHSP Bob Gibson
San Francisco GiantsOF Bobby Bonds
New York YankeesSP Fritz Peterson
Cleveland IndiansLHSP Sam McDowell
Washington SenatorsSS Ed Brinkman
Minnesota Twins2B Rod Carew

If you are interested in this or any other league contact me in comments.

The face to face league in Fitchburg MA has finished its regular season here are the final standings

Lynn DivisionWLPCTGBWCGB
Tampa Bay Rays 4119.683—-n/a
San Francisco Giants3525.5833 1/2Bye
St. Louis Cardinals3228.5337Home
Colorado Rockies2436.40014 1/2ELIM
Dan DivisionWLPCTGBWCGB
New York Yankees 3921.650—-n/a
Washington Nationals2833.45911 1/2Away
Seattle Mariners2734.44212ELIM
San Diego Padres1743.28321ELIM
Nationals and Mariners played a 61th game to break a tie for the final wild card spot

Here are the playoff results to date:

Wild Card Playin at St Louis

St. Louis Cardinals 8 Washington Nationals 5

Playoffs round one: best of five

Tampa Bay Rays defeat St. Louis Cardinals 3 games to 1

New York Yankees defeat defending WP champ San Francisco Giants games to one

World Series Best of seven

9/11 NYY at TB

On 9/25 at 1:30 PM at Zeda’s Pizza in Fitchburg MA our face to face draft league which first began playing in 1987 in Fitchburg Massachusetts will have it’s meeting to finalize the plans for our next season (2020) We currently have 8 teams in two divisions and would like to expand to at least nine or possibly 10. Anyone interested in joining is welcome to show up. Issues to be decided

  • Dues (currently $35 a season)
  • Number of games (currently 60 but may shrink to let us catch back up with MLB)
  • Number of weeks per month. (currently playing every other week, considering adding one extra week or more)
  • Date for draft (and / or expansion draft) and date to begin season.

New players are always welcome

Five Reasons Why Jersey’s Jack’s Next Machine Should be The Chosen

Posted: August 25, 2021 by datechguy in business, culture, entertainment, fun, pinball
Tags: , , ,
Christ about to deliver the Sermon on the Mount from the Chosen Season 2 finale

One of the great bits of fun about Pintastic each year is to see the new machines that are being released. Some are original, some are licensed. The question is to find a game that would not only make a good machine, but would have a good customer base to start with.

The answer of course is the Chosen. Here are five reasons why Jersey Jack Pinball should consider making a Chosen Machine.

5. Mutually beneficial to both parties

One of the goals of the folks at the Chosen is to expose this series and the message of Christ to as many people as possible, particularly those who might not be exposed to it. As a pinball company one of the goals at Jersey Jack is to expand the hobby exposing it to others. A Chosen Pinball machine would accomplish both. The message of Christ would be spread to a hobby base that while having some Christians like myself in it is not known as a faith base, while Jersey Jack with it’s line of G-PG machines would be an excellent entre to the hobby for those who would like the game.

4. Inexpensive licensing:

One of the biggest expenses for a game based on a movie or TV series is the licensing cost. The Wizard of OZ, the Hobbit and Pirates of the Caribbean all involved licensing costs.

The folks at the Chosen have been giving away the show in order to spread it to as many people as possible, that being the case it is likely that the license cost will likely be nominal for the very same reason.

3. Consistent with Jersey Jack Personal Beliefs:

Jack is known as a solid Catholic and a Knight of Columbus. In speeches at Pintastic NE he has talked about how his wife reminded him of this when deciding what games to make and use. You can’t find a product more in tune with those religious believes than a Chosen Pinball machines.

2. Ready Made Customer Base:

The first thing to consider when making a commercial product is “will it sell” “Is there a customer base for it?”

According to the Chosen website 75,346 people raised $10,000,000 to fund season one and 125,346 people (including 86% of those who funded season one) raised the ten million for season two. On the “Pay it forward” page as of this writing the first five episodes of season three are funded while 21,000+ people have kicked in to fund episode six so far. The chosen has managed to crowd fund $11.85 Million of the 18 million they’ve budgeted toward paying for season three. Over 257,000,000 people have watched the series so far and over 2000 fans showed up from all over the country to be part of the “Sermon on the Mount” scene that ended season 2 and will begin season three.

That’s what I call a customer base.

and finally the #1 reason why the Chosen should be Jersey Jack’s next machine.

  1. It’s practically designed for a Pinball machine!

Pinball machines these days are all about progress toward goals. The chosen is made for it.

Imagine a goal of collecting 12 apostles plus Mary Magdalene (most with video clips for them).

Progressive increases for bumpers are there like the size of crowds in Sychar or for the sermon on the mount, the lines in Syria, the fish in Simon’s boat) and we they haven’t even gotten to the potential stuff in season three like multiplication of the loaves and the fishes Those are made for the bumpers to increase.

Point to point goals. From miracles (Driving the demons from Mary, Simon getting the fish, curing the leper, healing Simon the Zealots’ brother) to meetings (Nicodemus meeting Jesus, getting through the crowd to the roof) traveling from city to city Capernaum, Cana, Syria, Caesar Philippi etc etc etc

Several potential mini-games (making Abagail’s toys,, Simon in a fight, preparing Shabbat dinner, finding Jesus in the crowd at Sychar or as a child in Jerusalem, escorting the taxes, plowing the field, even fixing the axel or fishing for food in season two ).

There’s even potential penalties (Roman taxes that subtract point) or arrests (John the Baptist or Jesus) and ducking the Pharisees.

Moreover there is potential for growth. A game that encompasses the first three seasons can potentially be followed by a 2nd doing seasons four and five as the really heavy stuff that might be tougher for such a game (the final arrest, scourging and Crucifixion are many year away.

The chosen is , as of now, the finest example of an excellent television with small non-cooperate control, combine that with Jersey Jack, the best new pinball makers also with the same small non-cooperate model and you have potential for a winner that will sell long after both men are gone.

It would be educational, inspiring, and most of all for a pinball game, fun!

Artistic Goals verses Spiritual Ones Good News and Bad News on an ex-post facto Chosen Edit.

Posted: July 29, 2021 by datechguy in catholic, culture, entertainment
Tags: , ,

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Matthew 16:21-23

On the Chosen Youtube page there is a video up about having to re-record lines in studio due to a plane flying over. In the video the creator of the series Dallas Jenkins had the actress playing the Blessed Virgen Mary re-record a line for episode one of Season two after it had already been broadcast.

It’s a flash forward scene long after the crucifixion  & ascension where John writing recollections from the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of God of their time with Jesus.

In the existing scene Mary asks John why he is doing this now John replies:

Because everyone is here, I need to get their memories.

and Mary answers:

You need to mourn your brother.

Jenkins notes that a lot of people didn’t realize this meant James or as he called in the show: Big James as opposed to the much shorter James (James the lesser) so the line has been changed to:

“You need to mourn Big James.”

In the context of the scene it makes absolutely no sense to say “Big James”, both of them know who has died and even if she didn’t say, “Your brother” she would say “James” not “Big James”. After all Zebedee didn’t take after George Foreman and name all his sons George and nowhere in the series does John call his brother “Big James”

Artistically this change is awful but religiously it is very good news for Dallas Jenkins because while he wanted to make a high quality program I suspect he had a different goal in mind.

You see his goal is to introduce the story of Jesus and his disciples to people who are not familiar with it.

Now for anyone who has read the New Testament, this line would not be necessary because they would know that James the Greater the brother of John is who they are talking about:

About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (It was (the) feast of Unleavened Bread.)

Acts 12:1-3

James is not only first of the apostles martyred but he’s the only one, other than Judas, whose fate is explicitly stated in scripture even a person with a passing knowledge of scripture knows this.

But while commercially the faithful might be the target audience of this series the real target are those who have likely never cracked open a bible in their lives, whose knowledge of Jesus in general and the tenants of Christianity in particular have been shaped by a world and a culture that at best is indifferent to them and at worst hates both.

This edit which I presume is based on the feedback from viewers means he is over the target that he needs to reach who are now seeing Jesus and his disciples closer to their actual context then they ever likely have.

He should rejoice and be exceeding glad.

Five Chosen Thoughts Under the Fedora

Posted: July 14, 2021 by datechguy in catholic, entertainment
Tags: , , ,

The 2nd season finale of the Chosen was released on Sunday. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger which was a bit of a surprise but it was very well done and a great setup for the start of next season. The ending also suggests that a good part of the 3rd season premiere is already filmed.

The quality of this show is setting a high bar for any kind of Christian television that will follow.

One of the things that I really enjoy about the series is the conflicts between the disciples. Different thoughts, different styles that clash. Many times people forget that the disciples of Christ were regular people who had different lives and different perspectives and that those perspectives weren’t always going to mesh.

That is the thing about Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular, it brings together different people from different perspectives in a unity that is Christ.

An oddity of the series is how much is not is scripture. A great example is Season two episode 3 which is based on a single verse from Matthew, most of the episode is about the interaction between the disciples and Mary the mother of God of which we know nothing. Other episodes like the Wedding at Cana (Season 1 episode 5) which is based on scripture also provides a backstory to Thomas that we don’t know, while practically the entire first season gives a backstory to Matthew before his call.

All of it is logical and even plausible and great television, but is not scriptural. That doesn’t make it bad or evil but none of this should be considered a substitute for actual scripture. Of course given that so much of the public knows less about scripture than a disinterested person would have known a century ago it might be a very important introduction to it.

As a Catholic I’ve been particularly impressed how Mary is being portrayed. Being a widow with only one son it makes a lot of sense that she would be traveling with her son who would be her source of support. There are several key moments that really stand out as a Catholic one in particular in that finale encapsulated in this image from the show:

The disciples are out informing the people of the upcoming sermon on the mount and who does Mary approach? The man who is seemingly the lowest and the poorest and the least.

I don’t know if this is a marketing strategy to attract Catholics of if it comes from the actor who plays Christ (who is VERY Catholic) but given that this is written by the son the the author of the very Protestant Left Behind series I find it rather significant.

Finally as you might or might not know the show is crowdfunded. Last week the cost per episode of Season three went up from 1.875 Mil to 2.25 Mil about a $400K increase. I’m sure part of it is a raise for the actors who have certainly earned it and with a regular cast of 18 in every episode (12 disciples, Mary and the women plus Christ) plus the incidental regulars who you want to lock up for the next five season I suspect these costs will only rise.

DaWife bought a T-Shirt but I’m holding back myself until I see how they handle John Chapter Six (the bread of life discourses). As my own Pastor notes almost all “Jesus” movies skip over this because how they handle the question of the Eucharist will determine if this series is worth my cash to support.

I think the real conflict will be how the very vey catholic Johnathan Roumie as Christ will do with what the very protestant Dallas Jenkins writes for him or if they will work together to handle this.

I don’t know when this is coming, it might be season three but it might also wait till season 4 but it is coming and will be for me the moment of truth.

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