I am declaring the Pears for real because it looks like it’s true. I am NOT, as you may suspect, trying to jinx them. Why would I do that? I’d have to jinx 10 teams to maneuver the Wolverines back into first place. I have never had anywhere near that much jinxing power. And if I did, I seem to have spent it all on my own team.

No, I am basing my conclusion on actual evidence:

The left-most standings are from exactly a week ago, on Week 3 after 6 games (but before the bonus 7th-day stats). The other three are from the last three games of Week 4 (which didn’t include a bonus 7th day), which just finished yesterday.

Volatility in the standings is usually higher in April than September. And there are some pretty dramatic results comparing this morning’s standings to last week’s. Take special note of these things:

AFTER SATURDAY’S (April 20) GAMES

The incredible rise of the Kangaroos. Starting in 8th place, the ‘Roos bounded all the way to 2nd, winning almost 4 straight games, and slashing 2.8 games off the Pears’ lead in a four-game span. They were on pace to seize first place by the end of Week 4, with room to spare.

The durability of the Balk: While the K’s got some boost from the 7th day of Week 3, they built most of their incredible rise while inflicting 3 losses on the Balk, who started Week 4 in second place. But the Balk only slid one place in the standings through Saturday’s games — and only 0.6 games further behind the Pears.

The spectacular rise of the Tornados: The T’s also won almost 4 straight games, coming within a half-game of keeping up with the speeding Kangaroos. This surge lifted FH — who were in last place not that long ago — all the way to 6th place, and 2.3 games closer to first.

The fall of the angels: The Seraphim took the brunt of the Tornado rampage, and it shows: collapsing from 4th to 9th place in just four games, acquiring 3 losses — but only losing 1.2 games to the front-running Pears.

The utter immovability of the Alleghenys. With all that turmoil boiling around them, the A’s stuck to 4th place. They gained on the Pears — 1.2 games — but rode along contentedly in the same place in the standings.

The COLD in COLoraDo: This was the scene in Colorado’s Coors Field for Saturday evening’s game against the Mariners:

Despite the literally freezing conditions (and snow flurries), Canberra management was there, diligently scouting on behalf of his soaring team. He was surprised when his nephews, Enzo and Mateo, ages 12 and 9, and residents of Seattle, appeared at his seat. He suspected his sister and brother-in-law were nearby, too, and of course they were. He was less surprised when his brother Sam, who lives in the Denver area, also appeared. But he got a second big surprise when Wolverine management (along with Melanie) also appeared — all there to wish him the happiest possible 40th birthday, coming up on April 30.

The Mariners won what was announced as the second-coldest game they’d ever played — although all of the birthday partiers left by the end of the 5th inning.

AFTER SUNDAY’S GAMES (Apr 21)

The most remarkable thing about Sunday’s results: no EFL team moved in the standings. What happened to the volatility?

But almost as remarkable: the Canberra/Old Detroit summit meeting (and their kin) enjoyed a round of par 3 golf (11:00 AM tee time) on a cool but gorgeous and comfortable Denver spring day, temperatures in the 60’s.

Ah, now I see: all the EFL’s vaunted volatility was used up improving Denver’s weather. Sorry about that.

AFTER MONDAY’S GAMES (Apr 22)

Ah, but volatility springs eternal in the EFL. After Monday’s games, 8 out of 11 EFL teams had shifted places in the standings — even the Alleghenys! The Dragons moved up 2 places to second place, while the Glaciers slid two spots to 9th, having lost 2.2 games in the standings, probably due to the warmer weather finally having some effect on them.

However, three teams did NOT move. One was the Drive, who I am sure still are not anchored to 10th place. No, the only two teams positively cemented into their positions, are:

The Pears, who now have been in first place for 3 weeks straight! They won 1.3 games on the last day of the week easily, in ONE day, rebuilding their lead from 0.7 games to 1.8. That created a conspicuous separation from the pack. The next FIVE teams are only separated by a total of 0.9 games — half the span from 1st to second.

The Wolverines, who, despite a great day of pitching, and winning 0.3 games, lost an entire game to the Pears, and are now down a season-worst 7.6 games. Even worse, they trail the Drive now by 1.9 games — meaning the biggest difference in quality in this league is between the Woeverines and 10th place Kaline — who are 2/3 closer to 6th place than they are to 11th place.

Oh, well, there is a bright side: every other EFL team is going to be happy to face the Wolverines. We’ll be the most popular team in the league.

Standings: Week 4, Game 4 (Apr 20,2024)

Team	Wins	Losses	WPct	GB
Peshastin Pears	12.83	9.17	.583	0.0
Canberra Kangaroos	12.04	9.96	.547	0.8
D.C. Balk	11.62	10.38	.528	1.2
Haviland Dragons	11.62	10.38	.528	1.2
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	11.41	10.59	.519	1.4
Flint Hill Tornadoes	10.93	11.07	.497	1.9
Cascadia Glaciers	10.06	11.94	.457	2.8
Portland Rosebuds	9.72	12.28	.442	3.1
Salem Seraphim	9.63	12.37	.438	3.2
Kaline Drive	8.85	13.15	.402	4.0
Old Detroit Wolverines	6.25	15.75	.284	6.6

Standings: Week 4, Game 5 (April 21, 2024)

Team	Wins	Losses	WPct	GB
Peshastin Pears	13.65	9.35	.593	0.0
Canberra Kangaroos	12.92	10.08	.562	0.7
Haviland Dragons	12.53	10.47	.545	1.1
Flint Hill Tornadoes	11.86	11.14	.516	1.8
D.C. Balk	11.74	11.26	.510	1.9
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	11.63	11.37	.506	2.0
Cascadia Glaciers	10.24	12.76	.445	3.4
Portland Rosebuds	9.71	13.29	.422	3.9
Salem Seraphim	9.70	13.30	.422	4.0
Kaline Drive	8.94	14.06	.389	4.7
Old Detroit Wolverines	7.03	15.97	.306	6.6

Standings, End of Week 4 (Apr 22, 2024)

Team	Wins	Losses	WPct	GB
Peshastin Pears	14.96	9.04	.623	0.0
Haviland Dragons	13.17	10.83	.549	1.8
Canberra Kangaroos	12.99	11.01	.541	2.0
D.C. Balk	12.67	11.33	.528	2.3
Flint Hill Tornadoes	12.46	11.54	.519	2.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	12.27	11.73	.511	2.7
Portland Rosebuds	10.47	13.53	.436	4.5
Salem Seraphim	10.10	13.90	.421	4.9
Cascadia Glaciers	9.93	14.07	.414	5.0
Kaline Drive	9.30	14.70	.388	5.7
Old Detroit Wolverines	7.39	16.61	.308	7.6