Last Place Update - September 24

Is it too early to start a countdown? Nah. The 57-95 Philadelphia Phillies are making their move to become the 2015 MLB Kings of the Cellar and are 4.5 games ahead of my 62-91 Atlanta Braves. Philly is six losses away from clinching the championship. That means the defending Kings of the Cellar champion 73-79 Arizona Diamondbacks are officially eliminated from contention. The 63-89 Colorado Rockies and former cellar tease, 63-88 Cincinnati Reds, are in a battle for third place. The Reds are no longer a tease, because they are out of contention for the beer in the cellar.

Since the last update, the Phillies went 1-4 and just broke a six game losing streak. My Braves went a respectable 5-2, sweeping Philly and are on a two game winning streak. Sporting a pair of four game losing streaks, the Reds and Rockies are in a slugfest...or is it a whiff-fest? Both teams went 2-4 since the last update. This is by far the most interesting race for futility.

The 64-88 Oakland A's continue to be the AL's worst team. As with Colorado and Cincy, the A's are 2-4 since the last update, and yes, losers of their last four games. Today's honorable mention goes to the former three-peat Kings of the Cellar champion, the 80-73 Houston Astros, because I didn't want to give it to the 88-63 Kansas City Royals for the third consecutive week. Besides, the Royals have done just enough winning to get eliminated for the mention this week. Houston is 3-7 in their last ten games, losers of their last two.

The former Washington Senators host the former Cleveland Blues. The also former Cleveland Naps lead the series 1,115-977, but the now Minnesota Twins are 8-5 so far this season. They first met on May 22, 1901, when the former Blues won 6-5. The most runs Minnesota scored against the now Indians was a 23-2 spanking on June 4, 2002. The most runs Cleveland scored against the Twins was on August 7, 1923, when the Indians rolled over the then Washington Senators 22-2. Their longest game in the series happened on August 31, 1993, when in the bottom of the 22nd inning, Pedro Munoz hit a leadoff homerun and led Minnesota to a 5-4 victory.

Will Philly clinch the Kings of the Cellar Championship this week? Will my Braves collapse and pull off a stunning upset? Will Oakland clinch their place as the AL's worst team of the 2015 season?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update - September 17

A game and a half, two games ahead, what's the diff? No matter how hard other teams try, no one can be Kings of the Cellar this season like the 56-91 Philadelphia Phillies can. They lead my 57-89 Atlanta Braves by a game and a half. The 61-85 Colorado Rockies bring up the rear at 5.5 games back, making it a two team race right now. The 62-84 Oakland A's remain the AL's worst team, going 2-3 since the last update and 4-6 in their last ten games.

Speaking of, Philly is a semi-respectable 2-3 since the last update and is sporting a three game losing streak. My Braves are a hard charging 1-5 since the last update and had a four game losing streak during that stretch. The new Cellar tease, the 61-84 Cincinnati Reds, is hanging around the Cellar door at six games back. The Reds are 3-3 since the last update and, once again, are 5-5 in the last ten games. Former Cellar tease, the 63-83 Miami Marlins, have moved on. They are 7-3 in their last ten games, winners of their last two.

Today's honorable mention goes once again to the 85-60 Kansas City Royals. They are 3-3 since the last update and 3-9 since September 4. The defending Kings of the Cellar champion 69-77 Arizona Diamondbacks are three losses away from being out of contention for a repeat. They are 1-3 since the last update and are currently 13.5 games behind the Phillies.

This evening, the former Florida Marlins go to DC to take on the former Montreal Expos. The Marlins lead the series 197-172 and are 8-7 this season against the now Nationals. They first met on May 11, 1993, when the Expos won 6-4. The most runs Miami ever scored on Washington was on July 5, 2006, in an 18-9 beating of the Marlins. The most runs the Nationals scored on Miami was on July 22, 2000. when then Florida beat the then Expos with a football score of 17-7. Their longest game went to 14 innings twice. On September 17, 2002, a four run 14th inning propelled then Montreal over the Marlins 8-5. On April 20, 2007, an RBI single by Chris Snelling gave the Nationals their win in 14 innings 6-5.

Will Philly finally take the beer in the Cellar? Will the Diamondbacks be eliminated from Kings of the Cellar contention by Saturday? Will my Braves take the Cellar? Will Cincy continue to be a tease?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update - September 12

One of life's constants is change...except for today's Kings of the Cellar. The 54-88 Philadelphia Phillies have a two game lead over my 56-86 Atlanta Braves. Philly is 1-7 since the last update and is enjoying a three game losing streak. My Braves are hanging with the Phillies, going 2-7 since the last update and are 3-22 since August 17.

Bringing up the rear are the 58-81 Cincinnati Reds and 59-82 Colorado Rockies. Both teams are 5.5 games behind Philly. Since Miami has been doing some winning, Cincy replaced them as the Cellar tease. The Reds are 5-5 in their last ten games and just broke a two game losing streak. The Rockies have also been doing some winning, going 5-4 since the last update and are on a two game winning streak.

The 60-81 Oakland A's continue their reign as the AL's worst team. The A's are 3-7 in their last ten games, losers of their last two. The defending Kings of the Cellar champion 68-73 Arizona Diamondbacks are 3-4 since the last update and are on a two game win streak. The Diamondbacks are 14.5 games behind the Phillies and remain no threat to repeat.Today's honorable mention goes to.83-57 Kansas City Royals. KC is 3-7 in their last ten games, losers of their last two.

The former Pittsburgh Alleghenys host the former Seattle Pilots this evening. The former Pilots lead the series against the now Pittsburgh Pirates 163-126 and the now Brewers are 10-7 against Pittsburgh this season. They first met in inter-league play in 1997, when the Brewers won 4-1. The most runs the Pirates scored against Milwaukee was a 17-10 win on August 24, 2002. The most runs the Brewers scored against Pittsburgh was a 20-0 spanking on April 22, 2010. Their longest game went to 14 innings three different times, with the last one occurring last season . On April 20, 2014 Milwaukee won 3-2, marking their only win in the three 14 inning games. Pittsburgh won the other two 2-1 (June 30, 2013) and 6-5 (April 28, 2010).

Will Philly hold on to the Cellar? Will the Rockies or my Braves kick them out? Will Cincy continue to be a tease or will Miami make a comeback?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!

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!!!

Counting the Days...

With eight days to go for NaNoWriMo, I have a good idea what story wants to be told. It lost the battle for July's Camp NaNoWriMo, but the story that wants to be told is one I started over three years ago, Return To Origin. The story is inspired by one of my favorite History Channel shows, Ancient Aliens.

I started writing this story soon after finishing the first draft of The Curse. Then I made the worst mistake involving Return To Origin. I stopped less than halfway through to begin editing The Curse. Since then, the writing process has sputtered at best. There were other issues, but they're mostly resolved now. However, that's no excuse to stop writing a novel in favor of editing another one.

In December, I have another decision to make. With four novels somewhere in the editing pipeline, should I participate in the April and July Camp NaNoWriMo? If I had to decide now, the answer would be no. However, it depends on how much time the upcoming edits and revamps take.

Speaking of, I'm currently revamping my novella, Rickshaw, New Mexico. So far, there are some minor rephrases and clarifications that were needed. The challenge will be my novel, The Curse, which is getting an overhaul. The story will remain intact. However, as my two-star reviewer said, it needed another edit. He was right and that's what's happening. After Rickshaw, The Hunted is next, followed by The Acts of 1.


Now for some sports trivia...

• Congrats to the Kansas City Royals for winning Game 1 of the World Series. This is their first World Series game they won in 10,587 days.
  
• Since we're counting days, here's another one. It has been 38,725 days since the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series (1908). The days continue.
  
• There are quite a few for football. Here are the teams who never made it to the Super Bowl, with the number of days since their last championship: Detroit Lions - 20,752 days (1957) and the Cleveland Browns - 18,197 (1964). The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars were born in the Super Bowl era, but never played in one.
  
• For one of the Super Bowl contenders, it has been 19,659 days since the Philadelphia Eagles won an NFL championship (1960).
  
• It's also been a long drought for three former AFL champions. The Buffalo Bills last won the AFL title 17,833 days ago (1965). It's been 18,554 days for the 1963 AFL Champion San Diego Chargers. Finally, the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) won their last AFL title 19,296 days ago (1961).
  
• One of the most famous Super Bowl games, Super Bowl III, it has been 16,720 days since the New York Jets won their only championship.

Counting all these days makes one thirsty. So who's drinking the beer in the cellar in the NFL? Why that would be this week's Kings of the Cellar, the 0-6 Oakland Raiders, who are on a 12 game losing streak and haven't won one since November 17 against the Houston Texans. This week's honorable mention goes to my 2-4 New Orleans Saints. This is a talent laden team who has performed like the New Orleans Saints teams of the 1970's. By no means is the season over nor have the Saints collapsed as past teams have. Unless they get their act together, they will be mentioned here again.

Here are historic scores for teams playing each other this week, October 23,

1955  Chicago Cardinals 24 - Philadelphia 24
1983 - Denver 14 - San Diego 6
1988  Minnesota 49 - Tampa Bay 20
1994  Denver 20 - San Diego 15
2011  Atlanta 23 - Detroit 16
2011  Houston 41 - Tennessee 7


Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update - June 3

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. Now it gets interesting...

   The 16-41 Miami Marlins have taken a commanding lead over the defending Kings of the Cellar Champions, the 20-37 Houston Astros. The Marlins lead Houston by 4 games and the third place 21-34 Milwaukee Brewers by 6 games. However, the Marlins swept the New York Mets this weekend. Houston is also on a winning tear, by winning five straight. Milwaukee bucks this winning trend by going 3-7 in their last ten games and 4-10 since May 19.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 23-31 Kansas City Royals. The Royals are 2-8 in their last ten games and 3-14 since May 17. Kansas City has a homestand against last week's honorable mention, the Minnesota Twins and the defending champion Astros.

   After their three game win streak, Miami put some distance from the 1899 Cleveland Spiders record. The Spiders were 10-47 after 57 games. However, the Marlins are even with the 1962 Mets at 16-41 after the same number of games. And let's not forget a more recent abysmal record of futility, the 2003 Detroit Tigers. They were also 16-41 after 57 games.

Other Stuff...

   Who will win Game 7 tonight between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers? It's Miami's game to lose and they're my pick.

   At one time, this was the first week of competition in drum and bugle corps. The 2013 season kicks off on June 19.

   To stay on topic with drum and bugle corps, today in 1978, the Phantom Regiment won the Illinois Drum Corps Association show (69.95), beating the Guardsmen (60.20), Pioneer (43.95), CapitolAires (35.25), and Phantom Regiment Cadets (26.45). The Phantom Regiment and Guardsmen went on to compete at DCI Finals in Denver, CO. Today, only the Phantom Regiment and Pioneer still compete from those who competed in this show.


Is this the turning point for Houston and Miami? Can they put the 1899 Spiders, 1962 Mets, and 2003 Tigers in the rear view mirrors? Or will they have an epic collapse and break one of these records?

Stay tuned.

Have a great day!!!.

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The magic number is one. The 39-83 Houston Astros are one game away from the 1962 New York Mets 40-160 record of futility. The Astros have increased their lead to repeat as Kings of the Cellar champions over the 47-74 Chicago Cubs by 8.5 games. The 47-73 Colorado Rockies trail the Cubs by half a game. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 51-70.

   This week's honorable mention goes once again to the 62-60 Los Angeles Angels. They're 3-7 in their last ten games, losing their last four and 5-13 in their last eighteen games.

   The Astros went 1-4 since the last update, the Cubs are 2-5, and the Rockies are 5-2. Last week's AL worst 54-67 Kansas City Royals did some winning and are now off the radar.

   If the Astros do a little winning, it won't be over yet. The 1962 Mets were 30-92 after122 games. The 2003 Detroit Tigers were 31-91 after 122 games.

  Will the Astros continue their plummet to a repeat? Will they do some winning and make both records of futility safe for another year? Will the Cubs do a classic collapse and make a run at the Astros?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 38-79 Houston Astros increased their lead over the 42-71 Colorado Rockies by six games on their quest to repeat as Kings of the Cellar. The 45-69 Chicago Cubs are still hanging around, only 2.5 games behind the Rockies. The AL worst Kansas City Royals are 49-65.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 60-56 Los Angeles Angels. They are 3-7 in their last ten games and 3-9 in their last twelve games.

   Since the last update, Houston went 2-5, Colorado went 3-3, and the Cubs also went 2-5. The Royals did a little more winning and went 4-2.

   The magic number is now two. The 1962 Mets, who have the modern record of futility finished that season 40-120. After 117 games, the '62 Mets were 30-87. The 2003 Tigers were 31-86.

   Will the Astros post an 0-fer like Cleveland did last week and collapse further? Will the Cubs make a run of their own? Will the Royals win their way off the radar? Will the last repeat Kings of the Cellar champion Washington Nationals make a different run and finish the season with the best record in the majors?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 36-74 Houston Astros have solidified their hold on Kings of the Cellar by leading the 39-68 Colorado Rockies by 3.5 games. The 43-64 Chicago Cubs lost six straight and are back on the radar. They trail the Rockies by  four games. The AL Worst Kansas City Royals are 45-63.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 50-59 Cleveland Indians. Anytime a team posts a goose egg and is not in last place, it earns an honorable mention spot. The Indians are 0-10 in their last ten games and are 5-18 since July 14.

   Since the last update, the Astros went 1-6, the Rockies went 2-5, and the Cubs went 1-6. The Royals did a little winning and went 4-3.

   The 1962 Mets and 2003 Detroit Tigers were 29-81 after 110 games. Houston is only seven games and a late season collapse from them.

   Will Houston totally collapse and not only repeat as Kings of the Cellar, but surpass the Tigers and Mets? Will the Cubs decide whether to win or lose? Will the Royals keep up its winning ways or make a run at Houston?

  Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 35-68 Houston Astros are making their move the repeat as Kings of the Cellar champions. The last team to do that was the Washington Nationals in 2008 and 2009. And where are the Nationals today? They're 61-40, tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the best record in MLB.

   The Astros are 3.5 games ahead of the 37-63 Colorado Rockies and seven games ahead of the AL worst 41-60 Kansas City Royals. The Astros are 1-9 in their last ten games and 3-25 since June 28. The Rockies are 2-8 in their last ten games and 4-11 since July 13. The Royals are 2-8 in their last ten games and 6-21 since June 30.

   The former neck and neck contenders, the 43-60 San Diego Padres and the 42-58 Chicago Cubs, are off the radar for now. Good job Cubs and Padres!

   This weeks honorable mention goes to the New York Yankees. They're 3-7 in their last ten games after poor showings against the Oakland A's and Boston Red Sox.

   The 1962 New York Mets were 26-77 and the 2003 Detroit Tigers were 28-75 after 103 games. Houston is still a safe distance from these records.

   Will Houston put more distance from the pack? Will one of the contenders stumble or fumble into last? Will the Astros collapse further and threaten the modern records of futility?

  Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.  The 10-25 Minnesota Twins still lead the 12-24 San Diego Padres by a game and a half for Kings of the Cellar.  The 14-20 Kansas City Royals went 6-4 in their last ten games and won three straight, which got them knocked out of third by the 13-21 Colorado Rockies.  The Rockies hit the skids, losing nine of their last ten games and lead KC by a game for third place.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 15-21 Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Diamondbacks are 2-8 in their last ten games and are on a three game losing streak.

   Minnesota went 3-5 and San Diego went 3-4 since the last update.  At this pace, they continue to be no threat to the 1962 Mets or the 1899 Spiders.  The defending champ Houston Astros slipped a bit and are now 15-20, only five games behind the Twins.  Will Houston make a move to repeat?   Stay tuned.


   Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to the first Last Place Update of the 2012 MLB season.  The 7-20 Minnesota Twins lead the 9-20 San Diego Padres by 1.5 games for Kings of the Cellar.  Minnesota is a league worst 2-8 in their last 10 games.  The Padres are 6-6 in their last 12 games, but 4-6 in their last 10.  The 9-18 Kansas City Royals are a game behind San Diego.  However, after losing 12 games in a row, Kansas City is 6-4 in its last 10 games.  The defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros are 13-15, five games behind the Twins.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Chicago White Sox.  After going 10-6, Chicago lost 9 of their last 12 games, matching the Astros' record of 13-15. 

   The two primary records of futility these teams are matched against are the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120 and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 in their last ever season.  So far, none of the teams are on pace to match or break either of these records.  The most recent record of futility was the 2003 Detroit Tigers.  They finished the season at 43-119.

   At this point, we'd go into next losses, but because of the sheer number of games, they will be omitted for now.  The next losses will eventually go in, either when the race heats up or a team competes for the '62 Mets or 1899 Spiders record. 

   Have a great day!!!

Random Musings

• Hats off to Jered Weaver of the Anaheim Angels for givings Angels fans something to celebrate by throwing the second no-hitter of the season.  Anaheim dominated the Minnesota Twins 9-0.  Weaver struck out nine batters in the victory and went to 4-0 on the season.  LP Liam Hendriks fell to 0-2.
  
• The football world suffered a great loss at the death of future NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau.  Seau committed suicide yesterday.  Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come with former NFL players.  Former Chicago Bears CB great Dave Duerson and one of his former opponents, former Philadelphia Eagles CB Andre Waters also committed suicide.  Both Waters' and Duerson's autopsies revealed brain damage from the concussions they suffered as players.  Seau was an old school hard hitting linebacker.  He will be missed.
  
• The NFL has handed down its suspensions of current and former New Orleans Saints players from the Bountygate scandal.  LB Jonathan Vilma received the worst punishment, getting suspended for the entire season.  DE Will Smith (4 games), former Saints LB Scott Fujita, (3 games) and DE Anthony Hargrove (8 games) also received suspensions.  There's a lot of chatter on both sides of the argument, from too harsh and lack of due process to the suspensions being more than fair.  If the NFL has smoking gun evidence, then the suspensions are fair.  If the NFL only has hearsay and no hard evidence, then the players should win on appeal.  Regardless of who wins, this will probably not help the NFL in the class action lawsuit the former players filed.
  
• Drum corps season starts next month.  Back in the day, the first contests usually for junior drum & bugle corps began on the first weekend in June.  The first contest sanction by Drum Corps International is on June 16.  The All Age drum & bugle corps of Drum Corps Associates begin their contest season on the same day.  The drum and bugle corps activity is the second highest youth activity in the country next to sports.  The activity changed a lot of lives for the better, including mine.  Let's support the activity and if you or people you know are too old to march in the junior corps, find an all age corps and get back to playing music.  There will be "On this day" entries for drum corps, but as with baseball, the entries will be posted when I can post them.
  
• Speaking of posting, if this was a Last Place Update, the 6-18 Minnesota Twins, fresh from getting no-hit by the Anaheim Angels, lead the 7-16 Kansas City Royals by a game and a half for Kings of the Cellar.  The defending champion Houston Astros are 11-14.  The honorable mention would go to the 12-12 Detroit Tigers for going 3-7 in their last 10 games.
   
• On this day in 1978, Mother Nature gave our local weathermen a reality check on predicting rain.  The evening before, the local New Orleans weathermen said the city had a 20 percent chance of rain and would have maybe a few showers.  Yeah...right.  The downpour began early in the morning and never let up.  By 6:30, the streets began to flood.  By 1:00, the high school I attended turned into one big lake and the principal was authorized to declare an early dismissal.  The rain finally stopped at about two or three in the afternoon.  What happened?  A cell of rain developed over the city and never moved, although the rest of the storm connected to the cell moved northeast.  By the time the cell dissipated, it had dropped a good six inches over parts of the Greater New Orleans area and caused a lot of flood damage.  Luckily, we weren't flooded at all where I lived, but at least we had some fun in our high school lake.

Have a great day!!

Last Place Update - August 29, 2011

There is some good news and some bad news.  Let’s get the good news first.  The 44-90 Houston Astros are officially no longer in any danger of becoming the worst team ever (1899 Cleveland Spiders 20-134), in modern times (1962 New York Mets 40-120), or this millennium (2003 Detroit Tigers 43-119).

The bad news is the Astros are cruising to mediocrity at a 10.5 game pace over the 53-78 Baltimore Orioles for MLB’s Worst.  The 55-79 Kansas City Royals are a game and a half behind the O’s.  On a positive note, the Astros did win two of their last four games.

There is an honorable mention this week.  The 56-77 Minnesota Twins, who are a game and a half behind the Royals, have won only two of their last ten games, winning one yesterday.  They are 4-10 over the past two weeks.

The defending champion Pittsburgh Pirates are 62-71 and are in no danger of a repeat, like the Washington Nationals did before them.  On this date last year, the Pirates were 43-87.

Houston is on pace to finishing the season at 53-109, which is a game less than projected in the previous last place update.