The mammals showed off their survival advantage: adaptability, surging on Sunday back to the top of the Week 25 standings (although NOT, clearly, the season standings). The ACTUAL mammals ended up finished 2nd (4.79 wins for the Kangaroos) and third (4.76 wins for the Wolverines), but remember that the winningest Week 25 team, the Dragons, are honorary mammals due to their extreme warm-bloodedness. Also if we call the Balk Balkans — an actual human population — and thus mammals, they finished fourth in Week 25 with 4.50 wins.
Standings, End of Week 25 (September 15, 2024)
| Team | Wins | Losses | WPct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haviland Dragons | 91.36 | 58.64 | .609 | 0.0 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 89.85 | 60.15 | .599 | 1.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 80.36 | 69.64 | .536 | 11.0 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 78.42 | 71.58 | .523 | 12.9 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 74.39 | 75.61 | .496 | 17.0 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 72.89 | 77.11 | .486 | 18.5 |
| Salem Seraphim | 72.87 | 77.13 | .486 | 18.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 67.33 | 82.67 | .449 | 24.0 |
| Cascadia Glaciers | 66.01 | 83.99 | .440 | 25.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 61.80 | 88.20 | .412 | 29.6 |
| Kaline Drive | 56.85 | 93.15 | .379 | 34.5 |
Haviland: 0.47 [4.94 – 1.06] v. Peshastin: (-0.47) [1.06. – 4.94)
Carlos Santana is still around! He led the Dragons on their way to reclaiming almost half a win from the Pears, going 3 for 4 with a double and a home run. Dragon hurlers closed the week adding 11.3 ip at the low cost of 4 earned runs. The Pears pitched well enough (8.3 ip, 3 earned runs) but had too little offense: .161, .278, .194. The Pears are on the verge of official elimination from the pennant race, sitting 11 games out with 12 to go. The Dragons rebuilt the 1. 4 game lead they had before their Saturday stumbles, plus a little bit.
Portland: (-0.54) [1.21 – 4.79] v. Canberra: 0.54 [4.79 – 1.21)
The Rosebuds wilted badly on Sunday, only getting 1 inning of scoreless pitching, and undermining their offense with 54 plate appearances of sub-replacement hitting (.157, .204, .314). It would have been even worse if it weren’t for Jackson Chourio’s 3 for 6 with a triple and a homer. Meanwhile the Kangaroos were bounding around the bases, hitting .257, .350, .686 thanks to five home runs, two of them by Riley Greene. They also enjoyed 3.3 innings of near-shutout pitching (allowing 1 earned run) .
Pittsburgh: (-0.56) [4.04 – 1.96] v. Kaline: 0.56 [1.96 – 4.04]
If we think of a 4 – 2 weekly record as a dominant weekly win, the Alleghenys almost theirs Sunday. They didn’t pitch, even though they were still 3.7 innings short of avoiding replacements. So their .288, .377, .558 hitting had a blunted effect. Kaline, on the other hand, not only pitched, they tossed 7.3 innings without giving up an earned run, all of those innings replacing replacements. That was enough to revise the ratio of raw winning percentages significantly in the Drive’s favor.
Flint Hill: (-1.06) [1.24 – 4.76} v. Old Detroit: 1.06 [4.76 – 1.24]
It’s not easy to snag more than a single win on a Bonus Day, but the Wolverines did it! Mostly by putting together another Happy Edgar Martinez Day (.324, .452 .529) led by Josh Bell’s 2 for 3 with a double and two walks, Tommy Edman’s 2 for 5 with a double and a homer, and Victor Robles’ 3 for 4. The W’s ended the week scoring 42.99 runs, easily the most in the league. The pitching wasn’t much (4 ip, 2 er Sunday, 42.36 runs on the week) but when your team ends up with 13.3 replacement innings, anything helps.
Still, we must acknowledge the help the W’s got from their Flinty foes, who pitched 5 innings, allowed 5 earned runs, and batted .156, .222 , .281, both efforts well below replacement-level quality. I’m guessing the Tornado highlight was Randy Arozarena, who went 2 for 3 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a homer. Arozarena spiced up the home run by stepping out on all three prior pitches, which were all called balls, and then smashing the fourth pitch for a home run. He also, during his next AB after the homer, calmed his own teammates down when they began to rush toward the plate after he got hit by a pitch. Maybe I should have tried to trade for Arozarena instead of Julio (who went 0 for 4 with a sac fly).
Salem: (-0.01) [1.50 – 4.50] v. DC: 0.01 [4.50 – 1.50]
The Balk preserved their dominant week over the Seraphim, but it wasn’t easy. Salem hit well — .286, .324, .514, with Michael Busch blasting 2 home runs and a single in 5 PAs — and pitched better (6.3 ip, 2 er), Ben Lively covering 5 innings without allowing a run. The Balk pitched just a hair better (6.7 ip, 2 er) , preserving a massive advantage in runs allowed (only 27.12 for the week, compared to the Seraphim’s league worst 51.47).
Cascadia: 0.28 [2.70 – 3.30]
The Glaciers gained on their MLB head-to-head opposition on the bonus day. They ended up losing more than they won on the week, but they were not subject to a lopsided weekly loss like 5 EFL teams were. The G’s closed out the week with 3.7 shutout innings and 44 PA at .256, 341, .333. Brooks Lee led the way, going 2 for 4 with a home run.
