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The AL Beta Division of the 1973 Dynasty league

Posted: May 24, 2025 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming, Sable Baseball, Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

Write-up of the AL Alpha here:

NL Alpha here

Now let’s go and check out the AL Beta division.

TeamWinsLossesPercentageGBWCGB
Milwaukee Brewers6556.537—–+6
Washington Senators5962.4886—–
Boston Red Sox5863.4797–1
Minnesota Twins5764.4718-2
Oakland A’s 5470.43512 1/2-6 1/2

Milwaukee Brewers:

Full disclosure This is my team.

It is very rare in this league that a team repeats a division win but Milwaukee has managed to sneak by with pitching (WHIP 1.26 best in AL fewest hits given up in the league) despite the 4th fewest k’s in the majors. They also are 4th in RBI’s and 1st in walks in the majors and 3rd in the AL in hits thanks to Pete Rose (169 2nd in majors 1st in AL). And Ron Fairly tied for the MLB lead in walks (101). All of this is despite being 2nd to last in homers.

There are some weak spots. Don Wilson despite a 14-7 record a .201 avg against (7th in MLB) and a no-hitter thrown this season has given up 27 home runs in only 192 1/3 innings and Ken Holtzman 221 2/3 innings and 20 home runs. Jerry Bell 2nd year man has been 8-13 with a 5.31 ERA. Elias Sosa has been on and off with 10 saves but seven saves blown. Dennis Menke has 88 walks but is only hitting .152 and has been a defensive liability but his move to DH with the Harrelson & Davis for Carbo trade will mitigate this at least vs RHP

The lead is only six games and Washington, Boston and Minnesota are all only one good run away from catching up so if Milwaukee is going to pull this off their huge trade of on base Machines and incredible arm Bernie Carbo for SS Bud Harrelson and CF Willie Davis is going to have to pay off in addition HR’s and better defense

Washington Senators:

Washington has spent a ton of time in the cellar this season, due to the worst defense in the AL (.980) and a team batting avg (.233) tied for worst in the majors. However in their last mainly to their inability to get on base.

Yet they’ve gone 19-10 in their last 29 games including series wins against the powerhouse Reds, and Boston and sweeps of both Cleveland all teams that are either playoff teams or were playoff teams at the time of said series wins. They now hold the 3rd wild card sport and are only 6 games out of first.

Del Unser’s 11 triples (tied for the AL lead) and Dave Kingman’s 33 HR leading the AL have something to do with this along with the steady numbers of Jim Northrup along with Bob Johnson’s 19 saves in 22 chances and the workhorses of the staff, Bill Lee, Joe Coleman and Carl Morton have made a big difference.

The wild cards? Jim Kaat missed some time due to injury and Blue Moon Odem who was a winner in Milwaukee last season has been a bust at 1-10 his only win coming in relief. Furthermore while Washington is only a game behind Cleveland for the 2nd wild card spot and 6 out of 1st in the division they are a full 13 games behind the Royals for the top spot and Boston and Minnesota are right on their heels.

In short with 4 teams vying for 2 playoff spots and less than 3 games separating the top from the bottom there isn’t a lot of margin for error but so far Washington’s determination to keep fighting has paid off

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox started the season at the top of the division and then began dropping, first slowly then faster till at the moment they find themselves a game behind Washington for the final playoff spot and the Twins right behind them. How far has Boston fallen? You won’t find a single Red Sox player on any of the leaderboards.

Still Carlton Fisk has 20 HR in his sophomore year and they have a great crop of young players from Dave Winfield to Dwight Evans to Cecil Cooper. If Yaz and Petrocelli can start hitting a bit more anything can happen but Boston seems to be selling rather than buying trading starter Claude Osteen who was 9-3 for Boston and closer Lindy McDaniel to Pittsburgh and veteran Slugger Willie Davis and slick fielding but fragile SS Bud Harrelson for young on base machine Bernie Carbo all sings seem to be a youth movement for 1974 rather than a run in 73.

Oddity: Despite the green monster in left Boston is in the bottom half of the league in doubles.

Minnesota Twins

Minnesota is the epidemy of what you would call an average team. In all kinds of offensive categories they are at or near the league average with one exception this is true on the pitching side as well. The exception is walks allowed. They lead the AL in fewest walks allowed and both Jim Barr (1.80 per 9 innings) and Ross Grimsley (2.11 per 9 innings) are among stingiest in the majors on free passes. This explains their 6-1 record vs Milwaukee which lives by the walk who had the previous year swept the season series against them but in a team that is mostly average closer Sparky Lyle shines with a 6-1 record 24 saves in 30 chances, a 1.16 ERA and not a single home run given up in 38 relief appearences.

Ross Grimsley, Gary Gentry and Stan Bahnsen , Doyle Alexander are all average pitchers who have performed as advertised only Dave McNally has disappointed with a 4.00 ERA and a record near .500. At the plate they have guys who can get the job done. Al Oliver’s 21 HR & 83 RBI’s lead the team and both he and Richie Hebner (18 HR 71 RBI) are flirting with .300 and Lou Piniella has been destroying left handed pitching (.352 4 HR vs southpaws) but on the down side young Jose Cruz is suffering sophomore blues slumping to .190 and committing 9 errors in the field, while Luis Aparicio has gotten his avg back to his career level from last seasons low with the Reds (.272 vs .193) he hasn’t been the spark plug he has been in the past.

In the field Aparicio and young Bobby Grich have been double play machines but Hebner’s 24 errors are a bit much but at the other corner the platoon of Mike Hegan & Oliver have put up range numbers through the roof

In short the Twins are good enough to win games but have not managed to get beyond that level. But being only 2 games out of a playoff spot they like Boston, Washington and Cleveland are just one big streak away from a return to the postseason while one bad streak away from obscurity.

Oakland A’s

It was a wild time when the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s last season swapped names. The A’s moved east to become the NY Giants back in the polo grounds while San Francisco abandoned the city by the bay to take advantage of the DH rule.

SF had been a solid playoff team last season playing in two of the most exciting series of the year, their victory vs the Pirates and their defeat by the Daytraders and they brought some of their star power to the AL with Bobby Bonds (.288 23 HR 88 RBI) and five outfield assists in right against the few who dare run against his arm. Darrell Evans adds 24 HR and 86 RBI’s of his own.

Alas while Ron Hunt at 2B has as usual been an on base machine (.440) he missed three full months due to injury and while Bill Sharp has done yeoman work getting on base at a .375 clip the rest of the supporting cast have not given the stars what they need to shine. They are dead last in the majors in both average at .233 and first in strikeouts. Of course when they hit the ball they can move their 41 triples are 2nd in the majors

The downturn in the pitching hasn’t helped. While Ron Bryant’s 13-11 record & 3.81 ERA is not bad it’s a far cry from last season’s 14-7 record and 3.44 ERA while ace Jim Palmer seems to be keeping up his pattern of outstanding seasons (26-5 1.87 last year) followed by mediocre seasons (11-12 3.04 this year). Their team ERA of 4.12 is not inspiring and while Dave Gusti does have 18 saves in 23 chances holding batters to a .203 avg he has given up six dingers this season so far while surrendering only a single one in 1972.

In theory Oakland is close enough to have a shot to return to the post season but has too many teams ahead of them to get around and no thump to get there. With a better supporting cast next season via the draft there is every chance that they will return to their winning ways as long as they can get Giusti, Palmer and Bryant back to their 1972 form.

I’m Old Enough to Remember When People Didn’t Get Rich Off of Murder

Posted: April 18, 2025 by datechguy in Uncategorized

This story amazes me:

The Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing a high school football star at a track meet allegedly lives in a $900,000 home with his family inside a luxurious gated community — despite requesting that a judge lower his $1 million bond because of financial difficulties, according to a report.

Karmelo Anthony, 17, is holed up with his family at the pricey home inside the gated community of Richwoods in Frisco, Texas, after he was released from jail Monday on a reduced $250,000 bond for allegedly killing Austin Metcalf earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported.

The home — where rent is estimated to be $3,500 a month — had a white Suburban, a black Acura, and a third sedan in the driveway on Tuesday, according to the outlet.

Murder apparently pays depending on who the killer is and who is killed:

Anthony allegedly told police he was acting in self-defense, and his family claimed “the narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful” on a GiveSendGo.com fundraiser for their legal fees — which has raised more than $440,000 as of Wednesday.

Well given that journalists have become fangirls for murders and the father of the murdered was escorted out of a public press conference none of this should be a surprise.

It’s Amazing What You Can do if You Don’t Give a Damn What Your Enemies Think

Posted: April 7, 2025 by datechguy in Uncategorized

Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.

General US Grant

It’s been more than adequately demonstrated that all we needed to secure our southern border was not a new law but a new president.

It’s now being demonstrated that all we need to do in order to check Iran’s proxies is to demonstrate that we mean business.

BREAKING: The Iranian Regime is reportedly abandoning the Yemeni Houthis following relentless U.S. strikes.

Furthermore it appears that our Houthis friends are going to have a lot more to worry about than US air strikes

Yemeni pro-government forces are reportedly preparing to launch a ground offensive aimed at retaking the strategic port city of Hodeidah, according to officials speaking to CNN. The planned operation is expected to be backed by coordinated Saudi and U.S. air and naval support. The decision to pursue a ground assault comes amid growing assessments that continued airstrikes alone have stopped short of halting the Iranian-backed Houthi group’s persistent drone and ballistic missile attacks targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

And lo and behold it appears that the various Iranian backed militias in Iraq have suddenly decided that disarming is a pretty good idea:

Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the U.S. Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters.

and apparently Iran has given their blessing for those guys to do what they can to save their own skins:

The commanders said their main ally and patron, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) military force, had given them its blessing to take whatever decisions they deemed necessary to avoid being drawn into a potentially ruinous conflict with the United States and Israel.

What a difference the right president makes.

Closing thought: How different would history have been in the United States had declared war on Iran the day after they took our people hostage and invaded. One of the greatest terror networks in the world and the rise in Islamic militants in the west could have been totally averted.

We Don’t Talk About Biden (FBI song sung to the tune of “We Don’t talk about Bruno:”) And an AI version featuring Joe & Mike, O’Donnell and Woodruff on vocals

Posted: April 3, 2025 by datechguy in Uncategorized

I had put this aside but with the story of the FBI gag order on Joe Biden’s to keep the lid on things I present this draft of the song I never finished on Jan 20th. “We Don’t talk about Biden”:

We don't talk about Biden, no, no, no
We don't talk about Biden, but
It was inauguration day day

Our day for a change

Trump was getting ready
And is EO Pen was steady

Steady like a tower in the sky

The press walk in with a mischievous grin

Thunder

You're telling the story or am I?

I'm sorry, mi vida, go on

The Press says, "Mr Trump Please"

"What is thing we see."

"The J6 guys they flooded our brains"

"And Your letting them go?"

The Donald said said the Pardon game

Was one Joe Biden just played, but anyway

We don't talk about Biden, no, no, no
We don't talk about Biden

Last year we grew in fear of Biden stuttering or stumbling
We nearby could hear him sort of muttering and mumbling
We always had to ignore it and pretend nd-nd-nd
It's a heavy lift to mask him crumbling
Always Jill and the family fumbling
Grappling with keeping everybody unable to understand
Do you understand?

Then Trump came, went on the attack
The Debate was made and all fades to black
Everyone sees and now nobody believes when we scream eam eam

We don't talk about Biden, no, no, no

No, no

We don't talk about Biden

We don't talk about Biden

Tried to make a point, and they bring up pardons

No, no

Complain about deportation's and then they started

No, no

Mention the chat they Bring up Afgan dead

Complain about the eggs now the prices dropping
All on the boarder the hoard is stopping
Your fate is sealed when the email files are read

Hey!
No, no


We don't talk about Biden, no, no, no

No, no

We don't talk about Biden


 Why did I talk about Biden?

Not a word about Biden

I never should have brought up Biden

Now here is the AI version as opposed to the one I wrote, written by Grok with the names of the singers:

“We Don’t Talk About Biden”

(Sung by Joe Scarborough, Mika, Norah O’Donnell, and Judy Woodruff)

[Joe Scarborough]
We don’t talk about Biden, no, no, no!
We don’t talk about Biden… but!
It was election day,
Folks were asking me to say,
“Is he sharp or in decay?”
I said, “He’s fine, okay?!”

[Mika]
We don’t talk about Biden, no, no, no!
We don’t mention how he slows!

He’s just quirky, that’s his way,
A little stumble, slight delay,
The man’s a champ, he’ll slay,
That’s all you need to know!

[Norah O’Donnell]
Seven-second pause when he’s on the air,
Lost his train of thought, but we don’t care!
Shuffled steps, a vacant stare,
We framed it like he’s debonair!

[Judy Woodruff]
Whispers in the green room, “He’s off his game,”
We just smiled and praised his name!
Teleprompter’s his best friend,
Cut the mic before the end!

[All Together]
We don’t talk about Biden, no, no, no!
We don’t talk about Biden!

[Joe Scarborough]
Hey! Grew up in the spotlight, leading the pack,
Now the gaffes are piling, no turning back!
I spin the narrative, keep it intact,
“Joe’s a legend, that’s a fact!”

[Mika]
He’s got ice cream, charm, and grit to spare,
Ignore the clips they share everywhere!
A little nap? He’s just prepared,
For four more years, he’s unimpaired!

[Norah O’Donnell]
Election night, the polls were tight,
He forgot a name or two, all right?
We cut to break, kept it light,
Kept the story out of sight!

[Judy Woodruff]
Do you see the slump? No, you don’t, my dear,
A steady hand is what we steer!
The voters never need to hear,
We’ll keep the optics crystal clear!

[All Together]
We don’t talk about Biden, no, no, no!
We don’t talk about Biden!

[Joe Scarborough]
He told me the country’s in his hands,
A leader with unshakable plans!

[Mika]
He told me his mind’s as sharp as ever,
Age is just a number, so clever!

[Norah O’Donnell]
He told me he’d win with ease, oh my,
Then tripped on the stage, we still deny!

[Judy Woodruff]
The truth’s a burden we won’t bear,
We’ll prop him up with tender care!

[All Together]
We don’t talk about Biden, no, no, no!
We don’t talk about Biden!
He’s fine, he’s great, he’s grand, you see,
The leader of democracy!
We don’t talk about Biden!

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