Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Kings of the Cellar - August 26

The race heats up. At the beginning of June, there was only one team in contention for the Kings of the Cellar Championship. Now there are three.

The 50-76 Philadelphia Phillies remain Kings of the Cellar. They are 4-3 since the last update, but lost the last two games. Hot on Philly's heels are the 50-74 Colorado Rockies, who trail by a game. They are 2-5 since the last update and just broke a four game losing streak. Also a game behind the Phillies are the 51-75, and Cellar tease, Miami Marlins. As with the Rockies, the Marlins are 2-5 since the last update and just broke a four game losing streak.

Today's honorable mention goes to the 62-63 Baltimore Orioles. They are 3-7 in their last ten games and are on a six game losing streak. The defending Kings of the Cellar Champion 62-63 Arizona Diamondbacks are 4-3 since the last update, losers of their last two games. The Diamondbacks are 12.5 games behind the Phillies, but the season isn't over yet.

The former Milwaukee Brewers...no, not those Milwaukee Brewers. Okay, let's use another version of this team. The former St. Louis Browns continue their series against the Kansas City Royals. At least the Royals is the only name this team has ever gone by. The now Baltimore Orioles lead the series 260-206, but have lost four straight to Kansas City dating back to last season. They first met on May 9, 1969, then the Royals notched their only victory against Baltimore until 1971, winning 4-2. The longest game went to 16 innings twice, first on May 28, 1979 (Royals won 5-4) and June 15, 1996 (Royals won 7-6). The most runs each team scored against the other was 15. Baltimore won 15-5 on May 9, 2003 and Kansas City did it twice. The Royals won 15-2 on August 16, 1992 and 15-5 on April 29, 1999. They only met in the playoffs once and that was the ALCS last year, when the Royals swept the O's 4-0.

Will Philly hang on to drink all of the beer in the Cellar? Will the Rockies fall far enough to evict the Phillies? Will Miami stop being such a tease?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Last Place Update - August 19

Oh Miami, you're such a tease. Just when you think the Marlins would take the cellar, as Lucy did with Charlie Brown, Miami pulled the football at the last second.

The 46-73 Philadelphia Phillies remain Kings of the Cellar. However, there is new competition on the scene. The 48-69 Colorado Rockies, with their 2-8 record in the past ten games, are only three games behind the Phillies. Philly is 4-6 in their last ten games, losers of their last four. The 52-69 Oakland A's have overtaken the 53-66 Boston Red Sox as the AL's worst team and enjoy a two game lead over the Red Sox. Oakland just snapped a seven game losing streak, but they still have to work to hold on to the title.

Today's honorable mention goes to former Kings of the Cellar champion, the 59-59 Washington Nationals. They're 3-7 in their last ten games and 5-13 since July 31. The defending Kings of the Cellar Champion 58-60 Arizona Diamondbacks are 12.5 games behind the Phillies and 8-9 in August. At this point, barring a collapse, Arizona is no threat to repeat.

So what happened to Miami? The 49-70 Marlins, on the cusp of restocking the cellar fridge with beer, did some winning and are now in a dead heat with the Rockies at three games back. No, it's not a monumental accomplishment, but then again, we're not talking about the race for the World Series. Miami is 6-4 in the last ten games, winners of four straight. They face the 51-70 Milwaukee Brewers and Philly this week, so that winning may continue. Or they may tease us again and lose.

The former Philadelphia Athletics host the former Brooklyn Atlantics today. That's what the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Dodgers were called in their first years of play. The A's lead the series 21-14, winners of their last three meetings. They first met in the 1974 World Series, when Oakland won 4-1. The next time was in 1988, when the Dodgers also won 4-1, featuring an injured Kirk Gibson's Game 1 game winning homerun. Their longest game went to 17 innings on June 17, 2006, when the A's won 6-5. The most runs Los Angeles scored on the A's was 7, in a 7-1 win on August 28, 1997 and an 11-7 loss on July 13, 2001. The most runs Oakland scored on the Dodgers was on June 11, 1999, a 12-6 victory.

Can Philly hang on in the cellar? Will the Rockies take over or will Miami stop being such a tease and get the job done?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Last Place Update - August 12

This is getting to be fun. What was a dominating performance is now a real competition. The current Kings of the Cellar, the 45-69 Philadelphia Phillies, is only half a game in front of the collapsing 45-68 Miami Marlins. The Phillies are on a two game losing streak, but Miami is keeping it interesting by going on a two game winning streak. The AL's worst team right now, the 50-63 Boston Red Sox are no threat to either team by being 5.5 games behind Philly.

Today's honorable mention goes to the New York Jets. Yeah, I know it's not baseball related, but how often does a 6th round draft pick from last season seal his fate by breaking the jaw of the starting quarterback? Geno Smith will be out for six to ten weeks. An honorable mention also goes to the New Orleans Saints' defensive staff for its personnel assignment woes during the Black & Gold scrimmage. If that continues, a 7-9 record may be the least of their worries.

Okay, die-hard baseball fans, today's honorable mention also goes out to two teams. The 61-50 New York Yankees and the 61-53 Houston Astros are sporting matching four game losing streaks. The Astros are 3-7 in their last ten games while the Yankees are 4-6 in their last ten.

The defending Kings of the Cellar Champion, the 56-56 Arizona Diamondbacks, host Philly tonight. The Phillies lead the series 64-57 and are 3-2 against Arizona this season. However, the Diamondbacks won the last two games. They first met on May 7, 1998 and the Phillies won 4-1. These two teams never met in the postseason. They went to extra innings 14 times, with Philly going 6-8. Speaking of extra innings, their longest game went to 18 innings on August 24, 2013. Arizona won that game 12-7. The most runs the Phillies scored on the Diamondbacks was on August 20, 2009, when they won in a rout 12-3. The most runs Arizona scored on Philly actually happened over the last two days. The Diamondbacks spanked the Phillies 13-3 on Monday and 13-1 yesterday.

Will Philly hang on to the beer in the cellar? Will Miami take over? Will Boston continue to stand outside the door as an also-ran?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Last Place Update - August 4

Ah, the game's afoot! The 41-65 Philadelphia Phillies' dominance of the beer in the cellar has almost disappeared. For now, the Phillies are still Kings of the Cellar. They lead the 43-63 Miami Marlins by two games and the 44-63 Milwaukee Brewers by 2.5 games. The 47-59 Boston Red Sox ended their rapid descent to the cellar and even allowed the 47-60 Oakland A's to reign as the AL's worst team right now.

Thanks to Philly's going 3-2 since the last update, the 1962 New York Met's record of futility is safe for another year.

Today's honorable mention goes to the 56-49 Los Angeles Angels. They are 2-8 in their last ten games and just broke a six game losing streak. However, their losing streak cost the Angels the lead in the AL West, which the former Kings of the Cellar Champion Houston Astro's now own.

The defending Kings of the Cellar Champions, the 51-53 Arizona Diamondbacks are treading water and appear to be no threat. They are 11 games behind the Phillies and are 7-3 in their last ten games.

Philly faces the NL West leader, Los Angeles Dodgers tonight. According to mcubed.net, the Phillies are 922-1,179 against the Dodgers, dating back to 1890, including a 1-3 record against them this season. They first met on April 28, 1890, when the Brooklyn Bridegrooms spanked the Phillies 10-0.

Will Philly hog all the beer in the cellar? Will Miami kick in the door and take over?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!