Sunday Predictions

Here are my quick predictions for today's games. After bombing my predictions the last few weeks I think I'm due to go undefeated.

Lapine vs. Randell
Wallman vs. Schefkind
Goldfarb vs. Younger
Granese vs. Harris
Beilis vs. Spiegel
Randell vs. Beilis
Sarcona vs. Applebaum
Carlin vs. Peragine

Union Hill Hitters

I asked some captains earlier this season to give me a list of their top 10 hitters on Union Hill field. Here is the final top 10 after combining all the individual lists. Thank you to the captains who participated.

1. Ed Fradkin
2. Dave Silverberg
3. Chris Yee
4. Joel Zaretsky
5. Jared Goldberg
6. Justin Callow
7. Jessie Cytryn
8. Adam Greenspan
9. James Dell'alba
10. Jeff Turner

Also receiving votes:

Eric Golden, Justin Brock, Matt Granese

Power Rankings

Over the course of the month there seems to be a magnetic pull towards .500. Great teams who were cruising April through May hit a rough patch while cold teams are finally getting back on track. As a result it's become very hard to tell which teams look like they're in great shape as we head towards the playoffs. Earlier this month I divided my power rankings into 5 groups. The "elite" group remains pretty much in tact with only Sarcona added to the mix. The lines the separate the next three groups, however, have essentially evaporated. Teams Spiegel, Harris, Granese, Beilis, Peragine, Carlin, Lapine, Feldman, and Wallman are separated by a two games or less! That means with a little bit of luck, the 13th best team in the league can easily become the 5th best team in just three games. With so many teams on equal footing, seeding does not really matter once it gets past the #1 and #2 seeds. It only becomes important for choosing the fields to play on, not for who the opponent will be.

Here are the latest rankings:

1. Pollock(3)
2. Goldfarb(1)
3. Sarcona(2)
4. Younger(4)
5. Peragine(8)
6. Spiegel(5)
7. Carlin(7)
8. Granese(6)
9. Lapine(12)
10. Harris(10)
11. Feldman(13)
12. Beilis(9)
13. Wallman(11)
14. Schefkind(14)
15. Applebaum(15)
16. Randell(16)

Wednesday Night Preview

Wednesday Night Preview

Peragine vs. Lapine

Predicted Winner: Peragine

This is a huge game for Peragine since they still have a decent shot at getting the #1 seed in the American League. All signs point towards an offensive explosion since this game features two of the top three scoring teams in the league. So why do I get the feeling that the unexpected is going to happen? Something tells me that the game will have a surprisingly low score with Peragine on top.


Goldfarb vs. Applebaum

Predicted Winner: Goldfarb

Team Goldfarb has certainly looked like an ordinary team over the past few weeks. During this time they've gone from a team that looked certain to have the overall #1 seed to a team that's battling with at least four other teams for that spot. However, Team Applebaum is not one of those teams. For a brief time, it looked like Team Applebaum was starting a nice little streak, but the past few weeks have seen them return to their losing ways. Perhaps they will put together a little winning streak with the season winding down, but tonight their tough season will most likely continue.

Sunday Predictions

Projected winners are in bold:

Feldman v. Goldfarb
Schefkind v. Beilis
Carlin v. Harris
Younger v. Carlin
Randell v. Applebaum
Wallman v. Younger
Wallman v. Spiegel
Peragine v. Spiegel
Harris v. Peragine
Lapine v. Sarcona

Power Rankings

1. Goldfarb (1)
Their hold on the top spot is not as strong as it was a few weeks ago, but they remain the best team all around. Although they're a team that was thought of as being light on offense, they have the second highest slugging percentage in the league.

2. Sarcona (2)
Just like last season, Sarcona's squad is getting hot around midway through the season. When the power rankings began on June 6th, they were 10th. Depending on how things play out this week, they could be first.

3. Pollock (4)
The team with the best looking set of brothers (I'm of course referring to the Lombardis) seems to be over a tough doubleheader loss from two weeks ago. The highest slugging team in the league is going to have to keep that up in order to secure the top spot in the AL.

4. Younger (5)

Like Team Pollock, Younger seems to be over a bad doubleheader from a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, Younger is only 3-3 against the AL. That's second worst among NL teams.
5. Spiegel (3)

Spiegel's great season has hit a bit of a speed bump the past two weeks. Still, a team that only gives up 6 runs per game should be able to maintain a strong record going into the playoffs.

6. Granese (6)

Out of all the teams hovering around .500(and there are many), I can best picture Granese having something like a 13-9 record at the end of the regular season. Hopefully that hot streak starts next week and not this week.

7. Carlin (9)

If not for a 9th inning Pollock comeback, Team Carlin would be looking at a 9-5 record and a good shot at the AL best record. While this is still a possibility, this solid overall team will most likely have to settle for kings of the AL West. Come playoff time I think Carlin will be a tough matchup for anyone due to their strong defense.

8. Peragine (7)

This team can hit. Only two other teams have a better batting average and have scored more runs per game. Their +1.6 runs differential they have the second best in the AL.

9. Beilis (8)

The fact that Beilis is last in the AL West tells you how great that division is. They'd be looking at a 5 game winning streak if it weren't for a tough one run loss this Wednesday. It's amazing that a team this solid would only have the 6th seed if the playoffs started this week.

10. Harris (14)

They have a tough schedule ahead of them (Carlin, Peragine, Granese), but it looks like the team I thought had the 4th best team before the season started is showing signs of life. The aforementioned three game stretch will be a great indication of exactly where this team stands. If they win two out of three then watch out.

11. Wallman (10)

I'm still waiting for Team Wallman to show they're among the league's elite. Consistency is the problem. Here's how many runs they've scored over the past 7 games: 1,16,8,10,4,0,13.

12. Lapine (11)

Any team that scores 11 runs per game is going to be dangerous to play. Unfortunately any team that gives up 11 runs per game is going to be fun to play as well.

13. Feldman (12)
The team stats posted on the league's website show a team that would be incredibly good if they could only do one thing. Hit. They have 15 extra base hits all season while the second lowest total has more than twice as many. On the plus side, they've kept opponents to fewer than 10 runs for seven consecutive games which is tied with Sarcona for the longest current streak. Their defense will keep them close.

14. Schefkind (13)

Schefkind's runs scored vs. runs against suggest they should have a record better than 4-10. Personally, this team is the main reason why I want to have the best record in the AL. It's tough for a 2nd seed to have to play a team in the first round that has pretty good potential.

15. Applebaum (15)
16. Randell (16)

Both teams are in the same situations. You can get away with not scoring a ton of runs and still be .500 or better (Spiegel, Beilis) and you can get away with giving up a fair share of runs (Pollock, Peragine), but it's tough to win games if you're not scoring a lot of runs and are giving up a lot of runs. Great analysis I know.

Wednesday Night Preview

Pollock vs. Carlin


While I can't predict a winner in this game, I can say that this is another great Wednesday night matchup. The American League #1 seed is likely going to come down to one of these two teams, and Team Pollock will be looking to create some distance at the top. While having the #1 seed is always desirable, a quick look at the AL Standings show just how crucial it is this season. As of now the #2 seed would play a very dangerous Team Schefkind. Their 4-10 record hides the fact that they've kept it close in almost every game. Team Pollock beat Carlin 20-3 in their first meeting but as my brother pointed out in his weekly recap, that feels like it was played last season already.



Beilis vs. Harris:

Projected Winner: Harris

I expect this to be another "making a statement" game in Team Harris's climb towards NL respectability. A 6-8 record in the AL would have you in the middle of the pack, but a sub .500 team in the NL gets you the 7th seed. Harris seems on paper to be a better fit for Union Hill, and I wouldn't be surprised if action on Union Hill Left has to stop so we can retrieve one or two Justin Callow HR balls.

Power Rankings

Power Rankings:
Last Week's rankings are in parentheses.

1. Goldfarb (1)
2. Sarcona (7)
3. Spiegel (2)
4. Pollock (3)
5. Younger (4)
6. Granese (5)
7. Peragine (10)
8. Beilis (9)
9. Carlin (6)
10. Wallman (11)
11. Lapine (12)
12. Feldman (8)
13. Schefkind (14)
14. Harris (13)
15. Applebaum (15)
16. Randell (16)

Wednesday Night Predictions

Spiegel vs. Sarcona

Winner: Sarcona

One of the best matchups you can ask for now. No two teams have steadily improved in the rankings during the seasons like Spiegel and Sarcona. While I'd still say Goldfarb has the top squad in the league, this game will feature the #2 and #3 teams. The game will also feature the two teams with the longest winning streaks, and while both teams have guys who can hit it out of Union Hill, I think Sarcona will be the team that keeps on winning.

Lapine vs. Schefkind

Winner: Lapine

No offense to either team, but it may be hard selling tickets to this game with Sarcona vs. Spiegel on the other field. I continue to be amazed at how Team Schefkind keeps losing despite keeping it close most games. They could end up being 2-16 in a few weeks and I'll still think they'll be able to turn it around. After many weeks of having the second best offense in the league, Team Lapine is back to being the top scoring team. Even though Schefkind's team has kept it close most weeks, here's a night where Lapine will win by a healthy margin.

Sunday Preview

One question I have as we enter the second half of the 2011 season is "Where has all the offense gone?" While the individual leaderboards show no indication of any offensive declines, team totals tell a different story. Last year, 10 teams averaged at least 10 runs per game. This year, only 2 teams can say the same. Last year there was an average of 20.09 runs scored per game. This year that total is down to 17.08. This means over the course of a season there will be approximately 550 fewer runs scored this year than last year. Most likely the difference between the two seasons is just coincidental and can't be attributed to anything. Perhaps this means we're in for a very high scoring second half to make up for the first half.

As we enter the second half of the season, several teams playing double headers are looking to put a mediocre first half behind and show that they're a real threat. Unfortunately for Teams Lapine, Harris, and Feldman they have some tough matchups that will most likely prevent them from sweeping their Sunday games. If I had to pick one of these three teams to win both their games I'd pick Feldman. However, I think they'll come up short against Younger.

So while Sunday doubleheaders provide opportunities for teams to accumulate some momentum, I think we'll have to wait for a middle of the pack team to take a major step up. Here are my complete Sunday predictions(minus my team's games) with the projected winner in bold:

Harris vs. Wallman
Granese vs. Randell
Sarcona vs. Schefkind
Applebaum vs. Peragine
Younger vs. Feldman
Feldman vs. Harris
Spiegel vs. Carlin
Goldfarb vs. Lapine
Lapine vs. Younger

Wednesday Night Preview- What's At Stake

I'm burning the 8:00 oil with how close this post is to game time, but I figured for a Wednesday night preview I'd just cover what's at stake for each time tonight in relation to the power rankings.


If Pollock beats Wallman:

Pollock- I'm not going to change the top 3 until we see Spiegel or Goldfarb lose.

Wallman- Likewise, a loss against a tough team wouldn't be enough to drop Wallman in the rankings.

If Wallman beats Pollock:

Pollock- It pains me to move my team down the rankings! Most likely, a loss tonight would move us down to 4th, especially if the game isn't close.

Wallman- this would be a huge "quality win" so a win would put them ahead of other teams that are similar boat. As indicated in last week's rankings, this group includes teams like Beilis, Peragine, and Feldman.


If Granese beats Applebaum:

Granese- Granese is currently right below the "elite" teams. Since Applebaum is on the lower end of the spectrum right now, a win tonight would not be enough to get to the next level.

Applebaum- Poor Randell will still be the lowest rung on the ladder until they can string together some wins.

If Applebaum beats Granese:

Granese- Being that this would be a very tough loss, an Applebaum victory would move Granese to the bottom of the "almost elite" group.

Applebaum- A win tonight would make it a winning streak and show things are finally improving after a very rough start. A victory would move them to the top of the "very tough hole" group.

Power Rankings

This week's Power Rankings is divided into five categories. Last week's rankings are in parentheses:

The Elite- Teams who have shown they'll be one of the best teams by the end of the season. Although the playoffs are always unpredictable, these teams should easily win any first round matchup. Yeah, I know we're still far away from September, but it's always fun to look ahead.

1. Goldfarb (2)
2. Spiegel (3)
3. Pollock (1)
4. Younger (4)

The Almost Elite- I know, clever group name. In playoff terms, these are the teams who as of right now can go into the post season confident they can knock off an elite team in the second round. With half the season left, they can end up being an elite team, but it will take a hot streak.

5. Granese (6)
6. Carlin (5)
7. Sarcona (8)


The In Limbo- This is the most interesting group. A team in this category is one winning streak away from showing they're a dangerous squad, but they're one 3 game losing streak away from facing a disappointing season. It's fitting that since this is a league that encourages parity; more teams are in this group than any other.

8. Feldman (10)
9. Beilis (12)
10. Peragine (7)
11. Wallman (9)
12. Lapine (11)

The Very Deep Hole - I was originally only going to have four groups, but I created this one for two teams whose records hide the potential these teams still have. Maybe at this point in the season "you are what you are", but maybe these teams just have been unlucky and will find good fortune soon. If they don't get hot, they'll find themselves in the last group.

13. Harris (14)
14. Schefkind (13)

The Maybe Next Year Group- For whatever reasons, this is not the year for these teams. It's true anything can happen in the second half and the playoffs, but to quote the Ramones, it'll most likely be "second verse same as the first."

15. Applebaum (15)
16. Randell (16)