BYOF Blog

Follow the BYOF 2010 ML Draft

2010-01-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

Here is a separate link that anyone can use to follow the 2010 ML Draft.

http://byofonline.com/league/2010/MLDraft/DraftResults.asp

BYOF World Series (From the Minnesota Clubhouse)

2009-11-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Steve for the writeup.

In a series dominated by pitching The Minnesota Nice beat the defending champion Lonesome Dove Legends in 6 games. The composite hitting lines show how tight the series was, and how inept both offenses were. Minnesota hit .219/.293/.313, with Lonesome Dove at .221/.289/.333.
Nearly every game was a tense battle, the exception being the Legends 6-1 win in game 5. Lonesome Dove had a couple more bullpen breakdowns than the Nice, and that probably was the difference.

The big hitting stars for each team fizzled. Albert Pujols put up a .227/.370/.409 line, while Manny Ramirez was at .240/.240/.360. Carlos Beltran of the Legends and David Wright of the Nice were two other stars who put up poor overall numbers, though each delivered a game-winner.

I’d say Roy Halladay was the most valuable player as he pitched brilliantly in both Legend wins, but the award usually goes to someone on the winning team so that would be Jayson Werth, who went 7 for 18 with 5 walks and was in the middle of every key rally.

Game 1 – Minnesota (Beckett) @ Lonesome Dove (Halladay)

After retiring the first two hitters, Beckett hits Albert Pujols. Dan Murphy is safe on an error, and Ryan Doumit drives Pujols in with a double. Chase Utley hits a solo shot in the 3rd to make it 2-0 Legends.

Minnesota responds with four hits in the 5th, including a single by Beckett. That inning ends with a 2-2 tie.

The managerial wheels start turning in the 6th, as Pujols leads off with a walk and moves to 3rd on a double by Murphy. After Doumit lines out, the Legends send up righty-killing pinch hitter Chris Denorfia, and the Nice respond by lifting Beckett for lefty Scott Downs. That brings in lefty-killer Edgar Renteria to hit for Denorfia, and Downs is told to put him on intentionally to load the bases with one out. Relief ace Joey Devine is summoned from the pen, and Anderson Hernandez hits for Rick Ankiel. Downs induces a 5-4 double play to get out of the inning. Both managers chewed up a ton of resources just to get out of the 6th!

The bullpens start dominating at that point, as neither team gets a runner past 2nd through the 10th inning. In the bottom of the 11th Maicer Izturis lines a one-out single off Manny Delcarmen, the steals 2nd. That steal is critical as he gives Lonesome Dove the win by scoring on a 2-out single by Carlos Beltran.

Minnesota 0 Lonesome Dove 1

Game 2 – Minnesota (Mussina) @ Lonesome Dove (Hamels)

The Legends jump on Mussina in the 2nd, scoring one on a single by Ankiel and another on a double by Renteria. The Nice respond in the top of the 3rd as Hamels walks three, and they all score.

Lonesome Dove raps three straight one-out singles in the 5th to load the bases, and scores the tying run on an error by David Wright. But Mussina escapes with no further damage to leave game tied at 3.

Again the Nice respond immediately, retaking the lead on a solo homer by Alfonso Soriano. Then they explode against three Legend relievers in the 8th to take a 7-3 lead.

But that lead doesn’t even survive the inning, as Lonesome Doves chews through 3 Nice relievers to tie the game at 7. The inning ends with Izturis unsuccessfully attempting to steal home and the game off Devine.

The game heads to extra innings again, and Minnesota scores two on a 10th inning homer by Chris Iannetta off Brian Fuentes. This time Delcarmen shuts down the Legends and the Nice even the series with a 9-7 win.
Minnesota 1 Lonesome Dove 1

Game 3 – Lonesome Dove (Santana) @ Minnesota (Marcum)

On to Minnesota, and the return of the DH. This time Minnesota jumps out to the 1st inning lead on a 2-run double by Nomar Garciaparra. That lead lasts about a minute and Izturis drives home two in the next half-inning to tie the game at 2. Then the scoring settles down. Neither starter dominates as both teams get their first two men on base multiple times, but thanks to some good pitching and timely double plays neither teams scores again through the 7th.

Santana is lifted for Jose Valverde to start the 8th, and the Nice get two on. With two outs David Wright launched a 3-run shot to put Minnesota up 5-2. Scott downs gets three ground outs in the 9th to make that the final score.

Minnesota 2 Lonesome Dove 1

Game 4 – Lonesome Dove (Volquez) @ Minnesota (Volstad)

Lonesome Dove jumps on Volstad, with a leadoff single by Beltran followed by a home run by Utley. Volquez cruises through 4, but the Nice load the base with no outs in the 5th. But they can only score one, that on a double-play grounder.

The score remains 2-1 until the bottom of the 7th, when Edmonds lead off with a walk followed by a Jayson Werth triple. That ties the game and chases Volquez. Clayton Kershaw faces one batter, pinch-hitter Soriano. His single put the Nice up 1 run. Chad Billingsley comes in and just doesn’t have it, and he walks the first hitter then gives up doubles to Iannetta and Ramon Santiago. That makes it 6-2, and the Minnesota bullpen makes that the final score.

Minnesota 2 Lonesome Dove 1

Game 5 - Lonesome Dove (Halladay) @ Minnesota (Beckett)

Once again Halladay is on, but this time Beckett is not. The score is 1-1 after 4, when Utley and Pujols blast back-to-back homers to put the Legends up 3-1. It could have been worse, as Micah Hoffpauir follows the homers with a double but is out trying to make it a triple.

Beckett doesn’t take advantage of the reprieve, giving up a 2-run triple to Ivan Rodriguez in the 6th, who later scores to make it 6-1 Lonesome Dove. Halladay rolls with that lead into the 9th, where Francisco Rodriguez rescues him from a bit of trouble to close out the win.

Minnesota 3 Lonesome Dove 2

Game 6 – Minnesota (Mussina) @ Lonesome Dove (Hamels)

Mussina wants no part of Pujols, as he walks him intentionally with 2 outs and nobody on in the 1st.

Neither team threatens through 3 innings, but Werth leads off the Minnesota 4th with a double. He scores on a two-base throwing error by 3rd baseman Carlos Guillen.

Again Mussina intentionally walks Pujols with two outs and nobody on in the 6th. That brings up pinch-hitter Denorfia, and Mussina yields to Downs. Denorfia scratches out an infield single to extend the threat, and the maneuvering begins. Jose Guillen replaces Ankiel to face the lefty, which brings on Devine to replace Downs. Murphy steps in for Guillen, and Devine gets him on a grounder to 2nd.

Santiago leads off the Nice 8th with a pinch-single, but Asdrubal Cabrera unsuccessfully tries to bunt him along. But Billingsley uncorks a wild pitch to the next hitter to move Santiago to 2nd. That’s critical because he scores on a Werth single to add the insurance run. Again the Minnesota bullpen makes that stand, with Delcarmen getting the final two outs for the save.

Minnesota 4 Lonesome Dove 2

Minnesota Wins First BYOF Championship

2009-11-04T22:51:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Steve Miles (Minnesota) on winning his first BYOF Championship. He defeated Lonesome Dove in 6 games. Congrats to Alan Lehmann (Lonesome Dove) who lead BYOF with the best record and won the championship last season.

Read a summary of the World Series: http://byofonline.com/league/2009/postseason/ws/

Past Champions

2009 ALCS Write-Up

2009-11-01T19:20:00.002-05:00

from Steve Miles

The Minnesota Nice swept the Winnipeg Goldeyes in four games to advance to the World Series. The Nice won the series with power, hitting 10 homers in the 4 games and slugging nearly .600 as a team.

Jason Werth led the way with a .563 average, 3 doubles , and 2 homers so I’ll name him the MVP.

Game 1 – Minnesota (Beckett) @ Winnipeg (Wakefield)

Jim Edmond jumps on Wakefield with a two-run homer in the 1st, then Manny Ramirez adds another two-run shot in the 3rd. Jayson and Chris Iannetta blast solo homers in the 6th to chase Wakefield and make it 6-0.

The Goldeyes then start flexing their muscles, as Ty Wiggington hits a two-run shot in the 7th, and Raul Ibanez hits another to make it 7-3 in the 9th. Winnipeg gets two more on base but Joey Devine closes the door for a 7-3 Minnesota win.

Minnesota 1 Winnipeg 0

Game 2 – Minnesota (Mussina) @ Winnipeg (Lannan)

Same start for the Nice, Werth hits a two-run homer off John Lannan in the 1st. Troy Tulowitzki drives in another in the 4th with a triple, then scores on an error.

The Goldeyes get to Mussina in the 5th, as Ronnie Belliard knocks one out with a man on to make it 4-2. Minnesota restores the 3-run lead in the next half-inning, with Nomar Garciaparra scoring on a passed ball.

Winnipeg rallies again in the 9th, with doubles by Ibanez and Jason Kubel making it 5-3, but Devine again gets the final out, this time with the tying run on base.

Minnesota 2 Winnipeg 0

Game 3 – Winnipeg (Wellemeyer) @ Minnesota (Marcum)

Both starters are on, but consecutive singles by Joe Inglett, Werth, and Ryan Sweeney put Minnesota up 1-0 in the 2nd.

Winnipeg loads the bases with two outs in the 4th but doesn’t score. Inglett leads off the bottom of that inning with a double but actually gets picked off 2nd by Wellemeyer.

The score remains 1-0 into the 8th, when Marlon Byrd whacks a leadoff double for the Goldeyes. Jose Arredondo gets the next two hitters, then yields to Robinson Tejada who strikes out Jeff Kent to strand Byrd on 3rd. Frank Francisco has an uneventful 9th and that 2nd inning run holds up for a 1-0 Minnesota win.

Minnesota 3 Winnipeg 0

Game 4 – Winnipeg (Moyer) @ Minnesota (Volstad)

Winnipeg grabs their first lead of the series, as Byrd leads off the game with a double and moves around to score on two ground outs. The Nice get the run right back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Manny.

Asdrubal Cabrera puts the Nice up 3-1 in the 2nd with a homer, but this time the Goldeyes come right back in the top of the 3rd with no-out hits by Zaun and Punto, who both score on sac flies.

Disaster strikes for Moyer in the bottom of the 3rd. David Wright leads off with a homer, Manny and Tulowitzki single, and Scott Hairston makes it 7-3 with another homer.

Both teams settle down, and Minnesota holds a 7-4 lead after 7. In the 8th Trevor Hoffman is rocked for two homers and a triple, making the score 11-4. That’s the final as the Nice close out the series.

Minnesota 4 Winnipeg 0

Legends Advance to WS, Look to Defend Title

2009-10-30T06:36:00.000-04:00

The BYOF Champion Lonesome Dove Legends defeated the Granbury Engineers 4 games to 1 in the NLCS, advancing to their second straight BYOF World Series. Congrats to Alan on winning and Andrew on an amazing season. This was Andrew's first BYOF postseason.

Minnesota Advances to World Series, Sweeps ALCS

2009-10-28T18:52:00.000-04:00

Minnesota has advanced to their first BYOF World Series. They swept Winnipeg in four games. Congrats to Steve on winning the AL Pennant. Congratulations to Nghia on another great season.

Winnipeg upsets Beartooth in the ALDS, Wins in 7

2009-10-17T10:27:00.001-04:00

Winnipeg upset Beartooth in a classic seven game series.

In game 7 Winnipeg took a 2-0 lead on a solo-shot in the 3rd and a RBI single in the 9th off the bat of Greg Zaun. In the bottom of the 9th Milton Bradley hit a solo shot, Beartooth loaded the bases and Cody Ross grounded out to 3B to end the game.

Tim Wakefield was named MVP. He was 1-1 and had a 1.08 ERA with a 403 opponent OPS.
10/13/2009 @BEA Beartooth 1-0 W:Cook L:Wakefield SV:Howell
10/14/2009 @BEA Beartooth 12-2 W:Buehrle L:Moyer
10/16/2009 @WIN Winnipeg 10-9 W:Wheeler L:Howell
10/17/2009 @WIN Winnipeg 8-2 W:Lannan L:Lohse
10/18/2009 @WIN Winnipeg 3-2 W:Wakefield L:Cook SV:Wheeler
10/20/2009 @BEA Beartooth 5-2 (11) W:Howell L:Wheeler
10/21/2009 @BEA Winnipeg 2-1 W:Wellemeyer L:Greinke SV:Wheeler

Congratultions to Nghia on advancing to the ALCS and Mike on another fantastic season.

2009 BYOF Awards, The Winners Are...

2009-10-13T20:44:00.001-04:00

Here are the winners of the 2009 BYOF Awards.

http://byofonline.com/league/2009/awards/

ALDS Write-Up, Minnesota vs Jersey

2009-10-09T18:02:00.000-04:00

The Minnesota Nice swept the Jersey Damage, Inc. in four games to advance to the AL championship series. The Nice pitching shut down the Damage, limited them to a total of 7 runs and a composite .165/.236/.276 line.

I’ll go with Joe “waiver bait” Inglett as the series MVP. He did a good job all series, and delivered key hits in games two and four.

Game 1 – Minnesota (Beckett) @ Jersey (Burnett)

Jersey gets to Josh Beckett early, as Bobby Abreu leads off with a walk, and Chipper brings him around with a 2-out homer. A. J. Burnett dominates, with 10 strikeouts through 4 innings. He gives up a leadoff double to Ryan Sweeney in the 3rd, then strikes out the next 3 hitters.

Ramon Santiago finally puts Minnesota on the board with a one-out homer in the 5th. Two batters later Jim Edmonds blasts another one, tying the game.

Burnett shows signs of tiring with a man on first and two outs in the 6th. He hits Joe Inglett with a pitch, then throws a wild pitch to put two runners in scoring position. Ryan Sweeney cashes in both runs with a single to make it 4-2 Minnesota.

Chipper hits another homer in the bottom of the 6th, but Nick Johnson restores the two run lead with a double in the 7th. Scott Downs and Joey Devine finish it for Beckett and the Nice opens the series with a 5-3 win.

Minnesota 1 Jersey 0

Game 2 – Minnesota (Mussina) @ Jersey (Haren)

Mussina struggles early, giving up six singles and a walk in the first 4 innings. Somehow he doesn’t give up a run.

Meanwhile Haren is brilliant, no-hitting the Nice through 6. Sweeney breaks it up with a leadoff single in the 7th, but he’s erased on a double play.

Jose Arredondo takes over for Mussina in the 7th, and sets down the Damage 1-2-3. James Loney opens the Nice 8th with a single, but Haren gets the next two hitters on a popup and a strikeout. With two outs Joe Inglett becomes the hero, bringing Loney around with a triple and putting the Nice up 1-0.

Arredondo cruises through the 8th, and Devine ends it with flair, picking Chris Dickerson off first for the final out.

Minnesota 2 Jersey 0

Game 3 – Jersey (Zambrano) @ Minnesota (Marcum)

Minnesota leadoff hitter David Wright opens with a solo shot off Zambrano. Marcum makes that run stand until the 4th, when Vernon Wells and Curtis Granderson open with singles, followed by Chipper’s run scoring double. Marcum settles down but a sac fly by Garrett Atkins puts Jersey up 2-1.

The Nice respond in the bottom of the inning. Edmonds and Jayson Werth walk, and both come around on singles by Loney and Chris Iannetta. A two-run homer by Manny Ramirez makes it 5-2 Minnesota after 5.

Marcum gives up a leadoff walk in the 5th, then retires the next 18 hitters in a row to finish a complete game 6-2 victory.

Minnesota 3 Jersey 0

Game 4 – Jersey (Cain) @ Minnesota (Volstad)

Jersey starts game 4 almost exactly like game 1. Abreu opens with a walk, and this time Dickerson brings them both around with the homer.

Minnesota comes roaring back in the bottom of the 2nd. Loney leads off with a homer, Henry Blanco singles, Inglett singles, Troy Tulowitzki rips a line drive – it’s caught by Mark Ellis, he steps on 2nd, throws to Jason Giambi at 1st, it’s a triple play!

Cain takes advantage of that play and just starts cruising through the Nice lineup inning after inning. Meanwhile Volstad is struggling with his control, and is pulled after consecutive walks with one out in the 5th. Frank Francisco relieves him and gets out of that inning and the next two.

A two-out double in the 8th by Ramirez brings in Takashi Saito for Cain, and he strikes out Edmonds to send the Damage to the 9th with a 2-1 lead.

Saito strikes out Werth and pinch hitter Nick Johnson to start the bottom of the 9th, but gives up a double to Iannetta followed by a game-tying double to Inglett. He intentionally walks the switch-hitting Santiago, then yields to Kerry Wood who will face Wright. Wright rips a double to left, winning the game and the series for Minnesota.

Minnesota 4 Jersey 0

Granbury Wins NLDS, Beats Houston in 6

2009-10-09T17:56:00.000-04:00

This evening in the National League playoffs, the Engineers (wild-card) defeated the Oil Barons (Eastern division champs) 4 games to 2.

Game 1 - Engineers, 3 at Oil Barons, 4

The first game of the series featured two aces who struck nearly every one out. CC Sabathia struck out 9 in six innings, while Tim Lincecum struck out 8 in 6 innings. The Engineers struck first in the top of the first on an RBI infield single by Fernando Tatis that scored Oscar Salazar. The Oil Barons got the run back in the bottom of the second when Chris Davis hit a bomb to deep right field. Both pitchers were money until the 6th when the Engineers scored their second run on a Salazar solo shot. The Oil Barons quickly answered with two of their own in the 6th. Juan Rivera hit a solo shot to knot the game up and then Kapler stroked a two out double down the third base line to score Mauer from first. Each team added another run, but Joe Nathan (S 1) closed the door despite allowing a lead off single and stolen base to Kaz Matsui.

Game 2 - Engineers, 12 at Oil Barons, 5
Looking to quickly knock any thoughts of a home series split out of th emind of the Engineers, the Oil Barons scored in the bottom of the first on a Ryan Braun sac fly. The resilient Engineers quickly got the run back off of Cliff Lee in the 2nd when Matsui singled, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by Andre Ethier. Matsui would end up stealing 5 bases during the series. The Engineers added 3 more runs in the 4th due in large part to two errors by the Oil Baron defense. The Oil Barons, however, scored two of their own runs in the 4th to close the gap. The game got a bit out of hand after the 4th. The Engineers ended up knocking out 18 hits.

Game 3 - Oil Barons, 4 at Engineers, 6

After seizing home field advantage, the Engineers moved to the friendly confines of Rangers Ballpark. The Engineers would win this game by scoring 6 runs off of Brandon Webb in the bottom of the 5th inning, helped again by two errors in the inning by the Oil Baron defense. The Oil Barons scored their runs in pairs. They notched two in the third off of a Webb double that scored Peralta from first and found Webb standing on third after a throwing error by Matsui. Webb would score on an infield grounder. Carlos Pena made things interesting in the ninth when he hit a 2-out two run homer off of one of the Ramon Ramirezes. After allowing another single, Bruney finally got the last out on a Stephen Drew ground ball fielders choice\

Game 4 - Oil Barons, 5 at Engineers 0
This game was all Ricky Nolasco and the awesome Oil Baron bullpen. Nolasco fired 5.2 innings of shutout ball, striking out 6 and allowing only 3 hits. Wagner, Lidge, Gregg, and Nathan finished the game off with 3.1 innings of 10 up, 10 down perfection. Sabathia sucked, allowing four runs in 6.2 innings, including 2 solo homers to Ian Kinsler and another solo homer to Peralta.

Game 5 - Oil Barons, 3 at Engineers 4 (10 innings)
The only extra innings game of the series was a good one. Lincecum struggled with his control, but still managed to throw six innings of 3-run ball despite 5-walks and 6-hits (plus 7 more K's). Leading 3-2 in the top of the 9th, the Engineers brought in the Wild-Card round MVP, Brian Bruney. After getting Peralta to quickly ground out, Bruney then allowed a single to Drew. Apparently a bit rattled, Bruney then waled Sizemore, even managing to throw a wild pitch on the 4th ball that allowed Drew and Sizemore to advance to 3rd and 2nd with only one out. Kapler came on as a pinch hitter, but rather than walk him to load the bases, the Engineers manager decided to pitch to him and brought the infield in. However, on a 1-1 pitch, Kapler managed to hit a medium fly ball to Rios in right field, that was just far enough for Drew to sucessfully challege the EX arm of Rios and tie the game. Bruney ended the inning by striking out Kinsler, and would end up picking up the win when Eric Hinske led off the bottom of the 10th with a solo shot off of Billy Wagner.

Game 6 - Engineers, 5 at Oil Barons 2

Back in Yankee Stadium, Sanchez quickly made himself comfortable, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning when Braun doubled and Guerrero brought him home on a two-run shot to left-center. The Engineers somehow managed to score 5 runs without the help of any errors by the Oil Barons or any homeruns to defeat Lee for the second time and end the series.

Because Ethier, Rios, and Matsui all put of similar numbers, the Engineers will continue their pitching theme and name Jonathan Sanchez the MVP of the series. In his two starts, Sanchez was 2-0, 2.19 ERA. He threw 12.1 innings, allowing only 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 13.

Legends Defeat Fairfax 4-2 in NLDS

2009-10-06T20:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Alan for the writeup

The NL Division Series boiled down to Lonesome Dove’s starting pitchers against Fairfax’s powerful lineup. And for almost 4 games the Pilots seemed to be running away with it. But up two games to one and two outs away from the their third win, Chad Qualls couldn’t hold a late lead for Fairfax in game 4. The Legends rallied to win that game and won in six.

Albert Pujols shook off a mildly disappointing regular season to hit .600 with a .800 slugging percentage. At one point, he had eight hits in a row at one point.

In game 1, Gil Meche outpitched Roy Halladay in the opener as Fairfax won 2-1. Chase Utley’s RBI in the 4th broke the goose egg. But Ryan Howard tied it with a single in the sixth. Then Kevin Youkilis took Brian Fuentes deep to cap the scoring in the 9th. Qualls worked a scoreless 9th for a tense save.

Game 2 was far closer than the 9-3 final would indicate. Greg Smith and Cole Hamels locked into a tight pitcher’s duel and left the game with a the Pilots up 2-1 in the seventh. But in the home 8th Ryan Theriot threw away a sure double play ball that would have ended the inning. Instead, a hit batsman and a strikeout led to a two out bases loaded situation. Chris Denorfia drew a walk off Justin Miller to tie the game. Then Daniel Murphy cleared the bases with a double down the line. When the dust settled, the Legends had scored eight gift runs to pull out the win.

In game 3, Lonesome Dove jumped out to a 3-0 win thru three innings off Bronson Arroyo. But Ichiro Suzuki slammed a two run homer off Johan Santana in the third. Youkilis slammed his 2nd homer of the series to tie it in the 4th. In the bottom of the 7th, Ichiro struck again. This time his two out liner to centerfield hit the turf about a half second before Carlos Beltran could snag it. That plated the deciding run, as Jonathan Broxton and Will Ohman threw two scoreless frames.

Game 4 seemed another road nightmare for the Legends. Lonesome Dove picked up an early 2-1 lead on a single by Pujols and an inning later, a Jose Guillen solo homer. Like clockwork though, the Pilots tied the game and pulled ahead in the mid innings. Carlos Quentin hit a two run blast to make it 3-2 in the 4th and hit a solo to put his team in front 4-3 in the 6th. In the next inning, Brian Fuentes wiggled out of a tight jam, with runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs, inducing a pop up that Pujols dove to snag and a hard grounder that Pujols speared to end it. In the 9th, Pujols singled with one out in the 9th off Qualls. Micah Hoffpauir delivered the biggest hit of his BYOF career, a ringing double to the LCF wall. Ryan Doumit followed with a grounder slow enough to score Pujols and knot the game at 4. Francisco Rodriguez threw a scoreless inning in the 9th and saw his offense take over in the 10th. Murphy and Denorfia started the rally with one out singles. An out later, Beltran tripled them both in and scored on Pujols’ sixth hit of the game. Rodriguez made the 7-4 lead stand up and the series was tied after four brutally tight games.

Unlike the others, game 5 featured NO runs thru the first 5 frames as Halladay and Meche again handcuffed the hitters. The in the top of the sixth, Hoffpauir again doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Pujols knocked in the first run with a single, his 8th hit in as many at bats (he had a walk mixed in). Utley’s sac fly scored Hoffpauir for a 2-0 advantage. In the 7th, Edgar Renteria’s single made it 3-0. Halladay and the bully held on for a 3-1 win.

Game 6 was anticlimactic. The teams came back to Lonesome Dove but the off day didn’t give the Pilot pen time to rest enough. Smith wasn’t sharp, giving up four early runs in a very unlikely 2nd inning rally. With two outs and nobody on, Smith walked the bottom of the order and Hamels (yes, the pitcher) laced an RBI double to start the scoring. Renteria then hit a huge homer into the bullpen to cap the uprising. Hamels gave up a solo homer to Brian McCann and a two run shot to Quentin, but the game was never in doubt. Hamels whiffed eight, giving up only five hits and a walk in the 8-3 clincher.

“Our pitchers really stepped up,” said Pujols as he received his MVP trophy. “My stats look good, but if they didn’t throw such a great series, we probably lose this and go home.”

Hamels dodged champagne near his locker as he disagreed. “Don’t listen to Albert,” he said. “We did ok, but without him carrying us we don’t go to the league championship series next week. People didn’t give him credit for his solid regular season, but you saw the real Albert here. He is nails.”

Ron could well have won this series if not for a fluky error in game 4. His team is superb and he deserved better. I want to thank him for playing and being a great sport.

Minnesota Sweeps Jersey in ALDS

2009-10-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

Minnesota has advanced to the ALCS, sweeping the AL West Champion Jersey Damage, 4-0.

10/13/2009 @JER MIN 5-3 W-Beckett S-Devine
10/14/2009 @JER MIN 1-0 W-Arredondo S-Devine
10/16/2009 @MIN MIN 6-2 W-Marcum
10/17/2009 @MIN MIN 3-2 W-Arredondo
Note: Minnesota is on a 6-game winning streak.

Congrats to Steve on his victory. Congratulations to Rob another strong season.

AL Wildcard Series Summary

2009-10-04T17:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Steve (Minnesota) for the write-up.

The Minnesota Nice beat the Alabama Braves four games to one in the inaugural AL wild card matchup.
Outside of an 8-run outburst in game 3 the formidable Alabama lineup failed to put runs on the board, totaling 4 runs in the other four games.

I’ll go with Ryan Sweeney as the series MVP, as his .632 OBP seemed to put him in the middle of every big rally.

Game 1 – Alabama (Harden) @ Minnesota (Mussina)

David Wright starts the series with an error, putting Nate McLouth on. With two outs Mussina (due to his “issues” with good right-handed hitters) is ordered to issue a rare first inning intentional walk to Jason Bay. He strikes out Prince Fielder to end the inning.

No scoring for either team until the bottom of the 5th. Jayson Werth opens with an infield single and steals 2nd with 2 outs. Harden then walks three of the next four hitters, with a Wright infield single in between. So the Nice score two without a hit to the outfield.

The Braves comes right back, doing it the quick way. With two outs Fielder singles, then Aramis Ramirez pulls a blast to left to tie it.

The Nice retake the lead in the bottom of the 6th, on Ryan Sweeney’s bases loaded two-run single. The tough Minnesota bullpen takes over, and Chris Iannetta adds a solo shot to make the final 5-2.

Minnesota 1 Alabama 0

Game 2 – Alabama (Hudson) @ Minnesota (Beckett)

Both starters are on today, though Hudson has to escape a bases loaded jam in the 2nd. A couple of the Alabama big boys (Fielder and Lance Berkman) triple in the 4th to put the Braves on the board. Another triple by James Loney of the Nice ties it in the 6th.

The first two Braves hitters single in the top of the eighth, chasing Beckett. Joey Devine escapes, striking out Berkman with the bases loaded.

Hideki Okajima relieves Hudson in the 9th, and Asdrubal Cabrera greets him with a double. Sweeney bunts him over, and Scott Linebrink takes over for Okajima. Linebrink gets Ramon Santiago to ground out to a pulled in infield, but Wright grounds a two-out single to left to win it for the Nice 2-1.

Minnesota 2 Alabama 0

Game 3 – Minnesota (Marcum) @ Alabama (Oswalt)

This game has a different tone, as both starters struggle from the beginning. Bay opens the scoring for Alabama with a two-run homer in the 1st. Iannetta and McLouth both hit solo shots in the 2nd to make it 3-1. A two-run single by Troy Tulowitzki ties it in the top of the 4th, but the Braves immediately reclaim the two-run lead on a run-scoring triple by Jose Reyes followed by a Nick Markakis single. That brings in Minnesota long reliever Robinson Tejada.

Another triple, this one by Werth in the 5th, makes it 5-4 and brings in John Smoltz for Alabama. He gives up the game-tying single to Cabrera.

Tejada and Smoltz calm things down and the score remains 5-5 until the bottom of the 7th.
Jose Arrendondo comes in for the bottom of the 7th and immediately gives up a walk to Berkman and a home run to Bay. Frank Francisco gives up another Braves run in the 8th, making the final 8-5. Alabama’s bullpen clearly outshone Minnesota’s in this game.

Minnesota 2 Alabama 1

Game 4 – Minnesota (Volstad) @ Alabama (McGowan)

Loney lines a double off McGowan to score Manny Ramirez and put the Nice up in the 1st. A two-run homer by Manny makes it 3-0 in the 3rd.

That’s more than Volstad needs, because if not having to deal with 3 errors by his fielders he wouldn’t have been threatened. He gives way to Scott Downs in the 7th. Alabama threatens in the 8th with men on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, but Devine comes in to retire pinch hitter Mike Fontenot, and then finishes the 3-0 win with a perfect 9th.

Minnesota 3 Alabama 1

Game 5 – Minnesota (Mussina) @ Alabama (Harden)

Both pitchers start strong, but Minnesota scratches out a run in the 3rd. Sweeney gets to 2nd with no outs, and the next two hitters bring him around with fly balls. Alabama ties it on a Markakis sac-fly in the 5th, following a Reyes triple. Sweeney scores again in the bottom of the 5th, this time on a Wright homer.
Harden makes it to the 9th, where he gives up a run on a Joe Inglett single. Wright drives in another run to make it 5-1.

It turns out that Reyes triple was the only hit Mussina gave up, and a little help from Downs in the 9th closed out the game and the series.

Minnesota 4 Alabama 1

Lebanon and Thunder Bay Get Top Picks

2009-10-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

The top four picks for both drafts were selected via a draft lottery this morning. My 4.5 and 2.5 year old pulled the names out of a box.

ML Draft

The ML draft order did not change. Lebanon with the lowest winning percentage got the first pick.

Lebanon .278
Thunder Bay .284
Gettysburg .346
Midgard .358

MiL Draft

There were a few surprises with the MiL draft. Thunder Bay got the first pick overall and Midgard jumped up and got the second pick.

Thunder Bay .284
Midgard .358
Lebanon .278
Gettysburg .346

BYOF Postseason History

2009-10-04T00:25:00.000-04:00

BYOF postseason history has been added to the website. You will find a HISTORY section on the navigation menu. There are links for the Wildcard Series, Division Series, League Championship Series and the World Series.

This is the link for the World Series.

You can navigate to the other series from there.

NL Wildcard Series Summary

2009-10-03T17:40:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Noel (Philly) for writing.

In a tight series, the Granbury Engineers won the NL Wild Card Series 4 games to 1 against the Philly Smackdown in H2H action. The Engineers won all 4 games by 1 run, and hit a backbreaking homer in the late innings in each one. Carlos Marmol, a key trade deadline acquisition by the Smackdown to shore up the bullpen, was absolutely brutal, serving up 3 of those homers. Here's how it all went down.

Bruney was named series MVP, pitching 4 SHO innings and picking up 3 saves.

Game 1: Engineers win 4-3 in 11 innings, leads series 1-0

The series started with the marquee pitching matchup of CC Sabathia for the Engineers versus Jake Peavy of the Smackdown. Sabathia had his good stuff, going 6 1/3 innings and giving up 2 runs. Peavy, on the other hand, did not. After giving up 2 runs in the first, he was pulled in the 4th with the bases loaded. Craig Breslow, who was huge all series except for one critical moment, stuffed that rally. The Smackdown plated one run in the 4th on a Dustin Pedroia home run and then rallied for 2 in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. Garret Anderson had a key 2 out pinch hit RBI single to give the Smackdown the lead into the 9th. They just needed Marmol to hold the lead and jump out to an early lead in the series, KO'ing the Engineers ace in the process. Marmol had done his job in the 8th, coming in for one out with a runner in scoring position. But in the ninth, he gave up a solo shot to Andre Ethier to tie up the score. The Smackdown then started the 10th with 2nd and 3rd on a single by Matt Holliday and double by Adrian Gonzalez (in hindsight, maybe Holliday should have been sent home against Alex Rios' EX arm but he had already thrown out one guy at home so the Smackdown 3rd base coach was gun-shy). After the Engineers smartly intentionally walked Pedroia to load the bases with no outs, the Smackdown couldn't plate a single run as the next three guys made outs, although Jeff Baker lined to the drawn-in second basemen for the second out. Oscar Salazar led off the 11th for the Engineers with a walk, and pinch runner Felix Pie stole second. After a ground out moved him to 3rd, Eric Hinske hit a sac fly to give the Engineers a 4-3 lead. The Smackdown went down weakly in the bottom of the 11th and the Engineers took game 1.

Game 2: Smackdown win 5-0, series tied 1-1

Justin Duchscherer of the Smackdown pitched 8 stifling innings to give the bullpen a rest and Dustin Pedroia went 3-4 with a triple, his second homer of the series, and 3 ribbies. The Engineers had some chances, but Duch was on his game. Dana Eveland went 5 innings for the Engineers and gave up all 5 runs.
Game 3: Engineers win 6-5, leads series 2-1

With the series tied 1-1, it was on to Engineers' Rangers Ballpark. Neither starting pitcher (Jonathan Sanchez for the Engineers and Jesse Litsch for the Smackdown) distinguished themselves, each giving up 4 runs in less than 6 innings of work. The Smackdown had a 4-1 lead on a 2 run homer by Adrian Gonzalez, but the Engineers cut that to 4-3 in the 4th on a 2-out 2-run single by Russell Martin. After the Engineers tied it up an inning later, the Smackdown manufactured a run in the 7th on a double and two sac flies to go up 5-4. Breslow started the inning but gave up a single to Jeff Clement so he handed the ball reluctantly to Marmol. After getting Fernando Tatis to fly out for the second out of the inning, Marmol again served up a devasting homer, this time a 2-run shot to Rios to give the Engineers a 6-5 lead. In contrast to that pitiful display of relief, the Smackdown did nothing against the Engineers tough relievers in the 8th and 9th innings and the Engineers emerged victorious.

Game 4: Engineers win 2-1, leads series 3-1

In a rematch of the game 1 pitching matchup, both Sabathia and Peavy pitched on 3 days rest. Sabathia was touched for 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. His only blemish was a 2-out run-scoring single to Holliday in the 5th. Peavy was even better, simply brilliant, carrying a no-hitter into the 6th inning. After Alex Cora broke up the no-hitter with a single, Peavy got the next two outs. But Ryan Ludwick smoked a 2-out triple to plate Cora and tie up the game. After Breslow put out a 2nd and 3rd fire in the 7th, he stayed in to pitch the 8th so he could face Ethier for the lefty on lefty matchup. Unfortunately for the Smackdown, that didn't pay off as Ethier hit a tie-breaking solo shot to put the Engineers up 2-1 for the 3rd tieing or tie-breaking late inning Engineers dinger of the series. Despite getting speedster Rajai Davis to second with one out in the top of the ninth, Brian Bruney worked out of that mini-jam to preserve the win for the Engineers.

Game 5: Engineers win 1-0, wins series 4-1

The shell-shocked Smackdown sent Greg Maddux to the mound to try to send the series back to Philly. The Engineers pitcher Eveland on 3 days rest. As one can tell from the score, this was a great pitcher's duel. In his last appearance ever for the Smackdown, the retiring Maddux went 7 innings and only gave up 3 hits with no walks. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th and the appreciative Engineers home crowd classily gave him a standing ovation. Coco Crisp, the pinch hitter walked and went to second on a single by Holliday. Michael Young killed that rally by grounding into a double play. For some reason, the Smackdown went back to Marmol to try to hold the scoreless tie. He got the first two batters out, but instead of going to Breslow against Russell Branyan for the lefty-on-lefty matchup, the tactically challenged Smackdown manager left Marmol in. Despite being pitched around, Branyan did indeed launch a solo shot to break the tie. Pedroia led off the ninth with a single as the Smackdown tried to launch a last-gasp attempt to keep the series going. Bruney shut the door again and the Engineers pulled out their 4th 1-run win of the series.

Minnesota and Granbury win Inaugural Wild Card Series

2009-10-03T09:32:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Steve (Minnesota) and Andrew (Granbury) on winning their Wildcard Series.

ALWS - Minnesota defeated Alabama 4-1
NLWS - Granbury defeated Philly 4-1

The Division Series matchups will be:

ALDS

Winnipeg vs. Beartooth (home field)
Minnesota (WC) vs. Jersey (home field)

NLDS

Fairfax vs Lonesome Dove (home field)
Granbury (WC) vs Houston (home field)

AL and NL Wildcard Series Matchups

2009-09-27T21:32:00.000-04:00

For the first time in BYOF two wildcard teams qualify for the postseason. The winners will move on to the League Division Series.

AL Wildcard Series (ALWS)

Alabama 94-68 vs Minnesota 108-55

Head to Head: Minnesota 13-9

Game 1 @ MIN: Harden vs Mussina
Game 2 @ MIN: Hudson vs Beckett
Game 3 @ ALA: Oswalt vs Marcum
Game 4 @ ALA: McGowan vs Volstad
Game 5 @ ALA: Harden vs Mussina
Game 6 @ MIN: Hudson vs Beckett
Game 7 @ MIN: Oswalt vs Marcum

Note: Steve (Minnesota) is making his first BYOF postseason appearance. Chris (Alabama) has made seven straight postseason appearances.

NL Wildcard Series (NLWS)

Granbury 94-68 vs Philly 101-61

Head to Head: Granbury 13-9

Game 1 @ PHI: Sabathia vs Peavy
Game 2 @ PHI: Eveland vs Duscherer
Game 3 @ GRA: Sanchez vs Litsch
Game 4 @ GRA: Sabathia vs Maddux
Game 5 @ GRA: Eveland vs Peavy
Game 6 @ PHI: Sanchez vs Duscherer
Game 7 @ PHI: Sabathia vs Litsch

Note: Andrew (Granbury) is playing in his first BYOF postseason. Noel (Philly) is making his second BYOF postseason appearance. He won the NLDS last season and lost in the NLCS.

Beartooth Wins AL East Tie-Breaker over Minnesota

2009-09-23T23:07:00.004-04:00

Congrats to Mike Bush (Beartooth) on winning the AL East. He defeated Steve (Minnesota) 4-2 in a one game tie-breaker. Mike won the AL East last season. Steve is making his first BYOF postseason appearance after winning the AL Wildcard.

2009 AL East Tie-Breaker Boxscore

Game Summary: by Mike Bush

With the AL East Championship on the line, Minnesota made the trip out to Montana to play a one game play off. Chris Volstad started for the powerful Minnesota team and Aaron Cook for Beartooth. This pair of groundballers indicated that the teams better be ready to grind out runs as home runs would be few and far between despite two powerful lineups.

Game time temperature was a chilly 56 degrees.

Inning One: Santiago playing SS for Nice was immediately K’d by Aaron Cook to get Beartooth off to a strong start. Ramirez and Edmonds went out in order to end the top of the inning. Volstad got David DeJesus and Milton Bradley (on his good behavior because he wants to play in the playoffs!) to ground out before ARod doubled to deep LF. Mark Teixeira came up with the crowd on their feet and noisy only to ground out as well.

Inning Two: David Wright struck out leading off the inning for Nice before Loney singled but true to his groundball ways Cook got Werth to ground into the first DP of the game. Joyce lead off the second for Beartooth flying out, then Volstad lost his command and hit Dioner Navarro before duplicating Cooks success by getting Kelly Johnson to ground into a double play.

Inning Three: Inglett and Iannetta managed to get the ball in the air against Cook but both resulted in harmless flyballs before Sweeney and Santiago hit consecutive triples to put the first dent in the scoreboard, ManRam produced the third out. Nice was up 1-0. Rowand walked to lead off the inning but Orlando Cabrera, DeJesus, and Bradley went down in a row to end the inning.

Inning Four: Edmonds grounded out to Cook to start the inning, then David Wright singled but Loney grounded into the second DP that Beartooth turned on the day. Beartooth’s fourth started with Volstad K’ing ARod but Teixeira followed with a double, Joyce walked, and Navarro singled to centerfield. Beartooth’s 3rd base coach took one look at Werth loading up for the throw home and threw up the stop sign for Teixeira holding him at third to load the bases with one out. Volstad seemed to become rattled at that point as he walked Kelly Johnson to square the game at 1-1. Rowand then singled one run home and Cabrera singled home two as Beartooth took a 4-1 lead. Manager Miles faced a tough decision early in the game but he went and got Volstad bringing in Arredondo who promptly set DeJesus and Bradley down to end the inning.

Inning Five: Cook walked Werth to lead off the inning but induced Inglett to hit into the 3rd DP of the game for Beartooth and then retired Iannetta to complete the inning. Arredondo K’d ARod but walked Teixeira before retiring Joyce and Navarro to finish the inning with Beartooth still leading 4-1.

Inning Six: Cook still going strong retired Sweeney, Santiago, and Manny in a row to get to Beartooth’s half inning. Frank Francisco came on for Nice and got Kelly Johnson to hit a squibber that Iannetta pounced and and got him at first. Rowand then singled and Cabrera walked to mount another Beartooth challenge before Francisco got DeJesus and Bradley.

Inning Seven: Cook walked Edmonds to lead off the inning, but he then got David Wright to ground out to second on a hit and run before retiring Loney and Werth. Francisco put down the heart of Beartooth’s lineup in order K’ing Teixeira and Joyce.

Innning Eight: Inglett singled and got to second on a throwing error to mount a challenge with no outs. Cook struck out Iannetta and then saw Inglett advance to third on a ground out by Sweeney. He then reached way back into his bag of tricks to get Santiago to fly out to right field to end the half inning with Beartooth still up 4-1. Adrian Devine then came on to pitch the eighth for Minnesota and he Navarro to pop out to first before he (Devine) flubbed a ground ball off the bat of Kelly Johnson putting the first runner on. Rowand popped out to second and then Cabrera singled sending Johnson to third. Cabrera took off for second and went in standing up on catcher’s indifference. Devine was in quite a hole with runners at 2nd and 3rd with only one out. He was up to the task however as he quickly retired DeJesus and Bradley to end the threat.

Inning Nine: With a 4-1 lead, Aaron Cook was left out on the mound to face Manny. BAM, one pitch, ball 355 feet deep into the left field seats, bye bye Aaron Cook. JP Howell was brought in. Edmonds was immediately replaced by Perez to pinch hit, but Howell promptly struck him out. Howell then K’d David Wright for the second out. Loney then was removed for Garciaparra and Howell was removed for Heath Bell. Manager Miles countered by setting down Garciaparra in favor of Alphonso Soriano. Bell fired the ball in, Soriano fired it back out twice as fast, lining a single into LF. Bell bowed his back, faced Werth, fired it in and Jayson flied out to RF ending the game giving the division championship to Beartooth!

It was a good game, could have gone either way but the early walk with the bases load made a huge difference.

Congrats to Steve on a great season and good luck in the playoffs.

AL East Tie-Breaker Matchup

2009-09-21T23:04:00.003-04:00

Beartooth and Minnesota tied the AL East with a 108-54 record (best in AL). They will be playing a one-game tie-breaker this week. Once the game is complete the AL and NL Wilcard Series can begin.

Beartooth won the season series 12-10 and will host the game.

The starting pitchers will be:

BEA: Aaron Cook, 16-8 3.54 ERA
MIN: Chris Volstad, 6-2 3.79 ERA

Good luck to both Steve and Mike.

Manny Ramirez wins AL Triple Crown

2009-09-19T13:21:00.003-04:00

Minnesota's Manny Ramirez won the AL Triple Crown

His stats were .339, 38 HR's and 136 RBI's

http://byofonline.com/statistics/reports/lg1_lgbatldrs.asp

Jermaine Dye (Dayton) just missed the NL Triple Crown by 1 HR and 4 RBI's. He lead the NL in batting average.

http://byofonline.com/statistics/reports/lg2_lgbatldrs.asp

Wildcards not settled yet

2009-09-19T08:42:00.002-04:00

The AL and NL Wildcard teams are not settled yet.

NL

Congratulations to Noel (Philly) and Andrew (Granbury) on clinching the NL Wildcards. For Andrew, this is his first in BYOF. Noel was a wildcard team last year.

Philly and Granbury will play each other in the first ever NL Wildcard Round. Seeding will be finalized once Granbury submits their final September stats.

AL

The AL East is tied between Minnesota and Beartooth. They will play a one game tie-breaker to decide the division championship.

The loser will play Alabama who clinched an AL Wildcard. Congrats to Chris (Alabama) who is making his 5th straight postseason appearance.

Lonesome Dove clinches NL Central

2009-09-19T08:32:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Alan on winning back to back NL Central Division titles. This franchise has won six division titles in a row.

Fairfax takes NL West

2009-09-17T19:29:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Ron (Fairfax) on winning the NL West. Fairfax went 17-11 in September and hung on to win by 2 games over Dayton. Congrats to John (Dayton) a great season. Fairfax last won the division in 2007.

Damage Take AL West

2009-09-15T06:25:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Rob (Damage Inc.) on repeating as AL West Division Champions. Last season the Damage won the AL Championship.