Dynasty Great Teams League Update NL Division B Report

Posted: June 23, 2020 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming, Sports
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This week we looking at the National League Division B in the All Time Any Time Great Teams League All individual stats were current at the time of writing.

All franchise are currently full if you are interested in picking up a team if one becomes available or to join the expanded Futility league when it starts up again leave a comment to this post.

National League

1985 St. Louis Cardinals 48-36 1st place

The Cardinals remain the only team in the majors who have been in 1st place since day one and don’t seem inclined to let anyone take it from them. Can they rule the 2nd half as they have the 1st?

Heroes: You can find Cardinals all over the league leader boards of the league Vince Coleman’s 78 stolen bases is more than every other team in the majors except Cincinnati Willie McGee leads in batting & Triples while on the mound John Tudor is tops in wins and Innings pitched.

Zeros: Some leader boards are worse than others and Jeff Lahti’s five blown saves (against 8 converted) leads the NL. Kurt Kepshire’s 7.67 ERA the WHIP 2.06 and 51 walks vs 39K’s won’t impress anyone. The Catchers spot has been adaquote behind the plate but at it Tom Nieto ( .208 0 HR 12 RBI ) and Darryl Porter ( .192 5 HR 30 RBI ) haven’t delivered.

Wild Cards: St. Louis is one of two teams in the NL that play on turf and their 26-13 record on the artificial surface reflects that skill. But more important has been their 22-8 record in the division that has kept them on top.

Coming Attractions: The Cards end short road tip in Chicago vs the tough Division C leading 2016 Cubs before heading home to host the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1986 NY Mets and the 1997 Florida Marlins.

Injury Report: Third Baseman Terry Pendelton will miss the entire series against the Cubs but once he’s back the cards will be back to full strength.

1957 Milwaukee Braves 43-41 5 GB 2nd place

Milwaukee has kept pace with the Cardinals going 7-3 over the last 10 games and currently in a tie for the last wild card spot. Can they make a move and finally knock StL off the top of the heap?

Heroes: Hank Aaron is 3rd in batting 1st in hist and 3rd in RBI’s & 9th in HR in the league. Wes Covington may not be on the leader boards but his triple crown numbers (.306 avg 16 HR 47 RBI) are trouble for opposing pitchers. On the mound Don McMahon is the surest way to a Milwaukee win with 11 saves in 12 chances.

Zeros: Juan Pizarro (4-4 6.57 ERA .319 avg against 2.29 WHIP and 0-2 inn save chances) and Eddie Johnson (2-3 9.53 ERA .351 avg against 2.18 WHIP 2.18 & 1-2 in save chances) have been the anti McMahon this season. Frank Torre .219 avg is no better than Del Crandall but while Crandall has 11 HR 35 RBI & 3 triples Torre’s .3 HR 12, RBI & 11 walks mean that the table isn’t getting set.

Wild Cards: Milwaukee’s OPS is 2nd in the league behind Brooklyn in both slugging and OPS. The latter is really something when you consider that they are 2nd to last in OBP. They also don’t like turf very much with a .167 winning percentage on artificial surfaces.

Coming Attractions: It’s 3 at home vs the 2005 Houston Astros and three more against their wild card rival 1962 Giants before heading off to a short two city trip, first to Cincy to play the 1975 Reds and then to the Nations Capital for a shot at the 2019 Nationals.

Injury Report: All hands are all deck for the Braves

1997 Florida Marlins 42-42 3rd 6 GB

Florida is at .500 within striking distance of 1st and just a game away from a wild card stop. But .500 isn’t going to be enough to get to the post season. Will they rise, will they fall or will they stay where they are?

Heroes: Moises Alou 2nd in OBP, OPS and Batting (regularly trading places with McGee for 1st. Teammate Gary Sheffield leads the league with his .442 OPB and is 3rd in walks. 1st in hist and 3rd in RBI’s & 9th in HR in the league. Kevin Brown’s 8-8 with a 4.57 might not impress but he’s been an innings eater with 136 (5th) and has not been a Strikeout machine 4th in the league (135) & 5th in K’s rate (8.93).

Zeros: Rob Nen may lead the team with 8 saves but is also 7th in the league with 4 blown. that .297 avg against & 5.31 ERA likely has something to do with it. At the plate Devon White (.222 6 HR 27 RBI) Jim Eisenreich (.226 1 HR 23 RBI 18 runs) and Luis Castillo (.231 0 HR 17 RBI 25 Runs) are all failing to produce

Wild Cards: There’s no place like home for Florida who are a full 10 games over .500 when playing in the Sunshine state. But the real wild card on this team is reliever Felix Heredia. His 6.18 ERA is the worst on the team but put him in a save situation and he’s a perfect 5 saves in five chances.

Coming Attractions: Florida gets a chance to pad that home record with four series at home welcoming the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers the 1986 New York Mets and the 2013 Arizona Cardinals before hitting the road again.

Injury Report: With Luis Castillo off the DL Florida finds itself back at full strength for their 12 game homestand.

2019 Washington Nationals 34-50 4th place 14 GB

After threatening to reach .500 the nationals have gone 2-8 to sink to the bottom of Division B. Can they match the 2nd half that put them in this great teams league against tough competition?

Heroes: Patrick Corbin remains a strikeout machine leading the league with 151 & 2nd in k’s per 9 innings to go with a 7-4 record 4 Nationals Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto Trea Turner and Matt Adams are in double digits in HR and while Howie Kendrick is one shy but his 100 hits 54 RBI & team leading .309 avg makes up for it.

Zeros: Max Scherzer is still 3-8 with a 5.44 ERA and a .304 avg against, but might be on this list for the last time. Those ERA and avg against figures are the best he’s posted since opening week. He’s 2-1 in his last 3 decision has struck out 9 or more in his last 5 and leads the league in k’s per 9 innings and that ERA and avg against. Unfortunately that can’t be said for Anibal Sanchez his is 2-8 with a 6.46 ERA in 18 starts Or reliever Daniel Hudson who in 48 appearances is 6-8 with 3 blown saves in 4 chances.

Wild Cards: Despite their record this teams is dangerous. Their 98 HR is only one behind Milwaukee good for 4th in the league as is their slugging pct .425 (also 4th) and their pitchers have stuck out 732 batters 2nd in the majors (3 of the top 4 stops in K’s per 9 innings are held by Nationals starters) but their ERA of 5.05 is dead last and the 88 HR they’ve given up is also 4th in the league and their WHIP of 1.47 3rd. However until they learn to hit right handed pitching (14-40 vs righties) they aren’t going anywhere.

Coming Attractions: It’s the 1962 San Francisco Giants at home followed by the 1975 Cincinnati Reds before a quick trip to Arizona for 3 vs the 2013 Diamondbacks, then back home for series against the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the 2016 Chicago Cubs

Injury Report: Danial Hudson will miss the series vs the giants but should be back before the end of the series against the reds.

Report from Louisiana: More Protests

Posted: June 22, 2020 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – Everyone is talking about statues again, and not just Confederate ones.

Now the Theodore Roosevelt statue will be removed from the Museum of Natural History:

The bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt, on horseback and flanked by a Native American man and an African man, which has presided over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 1940, is coming down.

The decision, proposed by the museum and agreed to by New York City, which owns the building and property, came after years of objections from activists and at a time when the killing of George Floyd has initiated an urgent nationwide conversation about racism.

For many, the equestrian statue at the museum’s Central Park West entrance has come to symbolize a painful legacy of colonial expansion and racial discrimination.

This is becoming epidemic.

They aren’t stopping at just monuments. At LSU in Baton Rouge, the Middleton Library is being renamed, and Troy Middleton’s name removed from the exterior of the building after a dig through archives determined Middleton held segregationist views in the 1950s.

Lee High School is Baton Rouge is going to be renamed. The school board member who opposed the motion is being targeted as a racist.

Activist Gary Chambers is also calling for street names with Confederate names to be changed:

Chambers, who is publisher of The Rouge Collection, also repeated his call that streets near Lee High, several of them named after Confederate generals, be renamed. “There’s even a street named Whitehaven,” he said.

One of the groups behind the removal of the Confederate monuments in New Orleans, Take ‘Em Down NOLA, has a list of sites they want renamed which they published in 2017. Their website now also calls for abolishing the police:

In this moment of global reconciliation with age old truths around systemic racism, Take Em Down NOLA demands that the city government finally begin the real work of reckoning with the WHOLE truth of white supremacy in New Orleans. They can start with the immediate removal of ALL symbols to white supremacy, including those that represent figures both before and after the Civil War. And they can move further by taking steps towards the abolition of the NOPD by DEFUNDING them (as they currently expropriate some two-thirds of taxpayers’ money) and PROACTIVELY reallocating those funds to children and families and the development of jobs that pay a LIVING wage. Minimum wage has never been sufficient, and it certainly isn’t now. 

There is apparently no compromise and no room for discussion with radical extreme points of view – from either direction.

In Shreveport this past weekend, we have seen one demonstration after another; they have been peaceful, but have not been without conflict. Shreveport’s Confederate monument is still standing in front of the courthouse; the monument stands within a fence on a tiny parcel of land owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy – although this is still in litigation. During the protest this weekend, one of the participants climbed over the iron fence with a sledgehammer and posed for photos with the caption “Move it or Lose It!” 

No harm was actually done, but the threat was made, and the person was trespassing on private property. Whether that land is actually owned by the UDC or not, the monument certainly is, and so: trespassing.

The Dallas, Texas Confederate monument is being dismantled as I type this.

At any rate, there is no end to this, and when all the monuments are gone, when all the school names and street names have been changed, when every single symbol is erased, will people then stop having racial bias? Will that do it?

When does it end? What does it take?

I don’t think anyone has the answer to that.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.

A Challenge for the “Mostly Peaceful” Crowd, “Mostly Unpoisoned” Vegan Soup

Posted: June 22, 2020 by datechguy in culture, News/opinion, politics

Mortimer Brewster: Wait a minute! Stop all this. Now, look, darling, how did he die?

Abby Brewster: Oh, Mortimer, don’t be so inquisitive. The gentleman died because he drank some wine with poison in it.

Mortimer Brewster: How did the poison get in the wine?

Martha Brewster: Well, we put it in wine, because it’s less noticeable. When it’s in tea, it has a distinct odor.

Arsenic and Old Lace 1944

One of the memes we’ve been hearing from the left and the media for the last several weeks is that the “protesters” in blue cities are “Mostly Peaceful” meaning that they were peaceful right up until the time they weren’t. In yesterday’s lead post I noted that played right into POTUS hands.

It came again up yesterday as I pointed out that the violent protesters who had to be restrained by the national guard had blocked entrances and threatened violence at attendees just might have had something to do with the numbers at the President’s Tulsa Rally:

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I replied with the standard bit about the April 1865 production at Ford’s theatre:

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But given the historical ignorance of so many of the left I’ve thought of a more practical way to answer the “mostly peaceful” crowd:

Mostly Un-Poisoned Soup

Before you can make “mostly un-poinsoned soup” you need a recipe for soup. I found this one at All recipes .com

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ pound leeks, cleaned and chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
  • ⅓ head green cabbage, chopped
  • ¼ eggplant, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • ¼ (12 ounce) package extra-firm tofu, cubed
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 cup water to cover
  • 1 Roma tomato, chopped

I had originally taken a chicken soup recipe but figured our leftist friends would prefer something vegan. Now to this we add the following to convert our completely un poisoned soup into Mostly unpoisoned

  • 1 teaspoon of arsenic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of strychnine
  • a pinch of cyanide

This is per gallon of water and can be adjusted up or down per the recipe provided by Aunt Martha Brewster here:

Aunt Martha: For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.

Mortimer Brewster: Hmm. Should have quite a kick.

And here are the Instructions for preparation

  • Step 1 Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks, celery, red onion, green onion, jalapeno, basil, and rosemary. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add cabbage, eggplant, carrots, tofu, and garlic. Add water to cover. Bring soup to a boil uncovered.
  • Step 2 Cover soup partially; reduce heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add tomato. Cook until vegetables are fully tender, about 10 minutes more. Season with salt.

I don’t claim to have the expertise of the Brewster Sisters but I have a feeling that this would have quite a kick too.

Now of course being a sensible man of the right I would never cook , serve or eat such a recipe because I understand that “Mostly UnPoisoned” soup is in fact poisoned soup, just like a “mostly peaceful” protest, in in fact not peaceful. Nor would I suggest any sane person do so.

But our friends on the left think obviously think differently, so the next time a person of the left insists that a protest is “mostly peaceful” and berates you for suggesting it is not, offer them this link and tell them you will concede that point as soon as they prepare and eat a bowl of this delicious vegan “mostly unpoisoned” soup. I suspect they will no more anxious to try it as they would drive a car with “mostly fixed” breaks or have an operation with “mostly effective” anesthetic.

Hey There could be a Darwin Award in it!

For those who don’t know them, meet the Brewsters:

The far-left wants a Year Zero

Posted: June 21, 2020 by John Ruberry in crime, culture, News/opinion, politics
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Woodrow Wilson Street in Detroit

By John Ruberry

Yesterday, on Messidor Duodi (2), 228, three statues were toppled by a leftist mob at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. One of Junípero Serra, the builder of the first Catholic missions in California, one of Francis Scott Key, the composer of Our National Anthem, and of Ulysses S. Grant.

I don’t want to get into a discussion of which statues of historical figures in this country should stay up and which should go because I believe nearly all of them should. Although I support the decision by the Dearborn Historical Museum to remove the statue of segregationist and virulent racist Orville Hubbard, a long time mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, from their grounds. It formerly stood at the Detroit suburb’s city hall.

Last week I wrote that statues of Abraham Lincoln, even in Illinois may not be safe. As far as I know, no Lincoln statues in the United States have been removed or vandalized. Although two, one in Boston and one in Washington, both with a freed slave, might go. The Great Emancipator’s greatest and best-known general, Grant, of course isn’t so lucky. The 18th president freed the only save he owned, at a time when he was suffering severe financial difficulties, was the commander of all Union forces during the Civil War, which of course saw to the ending of slavery in America. As president he pushed strongly for Reconstruction and he led the successful effort to destroy the first incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan.

Oh, the date yesterday wasn’t really Messidor Duodi (2) 228, unless you follow the French Republican calendar. Among the dementedness that came out of the French Revolution was dropping the seven-day week Gregorian calendar for a ten-day week calendar, think of the metric system only for time. That calendar began in 1792, but to the French revolutionaries it was Year One. Napoleon returned France to the Gregorian calendar in 1805 and except for 18 days during the Paris Commune of 1871, another leftist insurrection, the French have kept it since.

When the Khmer Rouge conquered Cambodia in 1975, the communists declared it Year Zero.

I’m sure you know where I’m heading in this discussion. The far-leftists who are pulling down and defacing statues–they even placed a burning US flag on a George Washington statue after toppling it–don’t want to reinterpret history, they want to destroy it.

Now that Grant can’t be protected–oh, where were the San Francisco police when his statue was removed from its pedestal?–is anyone safe? Franklin D. Roosevelt is a hero to the left. But Roosevelt ordered the internment of over 100,000 people of Japanese descent, many of them US citizens, during World War II.

What about Woodrow Wilson? To be fair, most white men 100 years ago were racist under contemporary definitions, but that makes Wilson an extreme racist. Wilson, another lion of the left, chose the ultra-racist Birth Of a Nation to be the first motion picture to be screened at the White House.

A quote from Wilson appears on a caption in that movie, “‘The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self preservation … until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a veritable empire of the South, to protect the Southern country.’ — Woodrow Wilson.”

Wilson also re-segregated the federal workforce. As for Birth Of A Nation, that movie brought on the second incarnation of the KKK.

Wilson is already under attack. Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, New Jersey will be renamed. Monmouth College in New Jersey–the Garden State was Wilson’s adopted home state–will remove his name from a building on its campus.

Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower had racist views. What about them?

What about everyone?

What about you?

The far-left wants their Year Zero.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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