Updated power rankings

1. Lapine (3): Why Lapine over my team for the top spot? Besides the half game advantage, I gave Lapine the edge for beating the other top tier team, Wallman, while we lost to them the first week of the season. Lapine is on track to have his best regular season since 2012 when he went 14- 8.

2. Pollock (2): Pollock is now an incredible 15-2 in their last 17 regular season games going back to last year. The offense erupted last week for 17 runs and the top ranked runs against total is 2.4 runs better than second place. There has only been only one other time this decase when there was a bigger difference between the best and second best runs against average (2010 Goldfarb 3.0 runs better than second place Beilis).

3. Wallman (1): At 7-4 I still view Wallman as clearly the third team in a top tier that has separated themselves from the rest of the league. If the slip, however, Team Brock and Schefkind aren’t too far behind in the division. I just don’t see Wallman slipping though. Right now they are ranked 5th in run differential, which would make this his 4th consecutive year of being ranked in the top 5. That’s the current longest streak in the league.

4. Lombardi (NR): Let’s be honest, when they lost 4 out of 5 games many probably thought this team was falling back the pre-season expectations many had. Lombardi is proving to be a great leader and it doesn’t hurt that Mark Goddard has been perhaps the MVP of the league with a .765 average. Lombardi’s on pace to go 14-8 in his rookie captain campaign, a rookie mark only bested this decade by Fradkin last year and Brock the year before(both 16-6).

5. Ferrarese(6): The curse of the #1 ranked team has gotten all the publicity, but the true curse has been for the 5th spot. Every team that has been ranked 5th has lost their next game. I think this team will break the curse tomorrow. The 3.2 run differential suggests the 6-4 record only undersells how solid this team has been this year.

6. Brock (4): The 2019 Brock team could be similar to last year’s Goldfarb’s club: Huge pre-season favorites who didn’t exactly fall flat on their faces, but could never put a run together to make their final numbers match expectations. At 6-5 there still is time to finish with 14-15 wins, but the window is closing. Still, this team is playing with at least three players who should be first rounders, so never count them out.

7. Marrone (7): A 10 run victory while missing their entire outfield is the most impressive win any team has had this year. Marrone is sneaking up on everyone. They’ve won 5 out of their last 6 games and were missing Mike Conti their only loss during this stretch. 

8. Applebaum (8): The team that has never lost back to back games this year has a chance of winning three in a row for the first time this year. Applebaum deserves some captain of the year votes for handing the pitching duties to Burns, who has done a great job in his first year as a full-time pitcher.

9. Schefkind (NR): It got ugly there with a 5 game losing streak, but it looks like Schefkind’s team is back to playing the solid ball that made them part of the Elite East group.

Power Rankings- Summer is here!

It’s starting to get to that time of year where we can look past hot and slow starts, fluky one-game performances, and start putting teams in different tiers based on overall performance. Without using any personal analysis, the standings provide a strong starting off point for this kind of division. We have:

Tier One: Teams well above .500

Tier Two: Teams that are .500 or one win/loss away from .500

Tier Three: Teams at least two games under .500

This year features perhaps the most balance the league has had this decade with only four teams are in tier 1 and four teams in tier 3. Over half the league is swimming in that middle division. The year this is most similar to is 2017 when four teams had 13+ wins, five teams had 13+ losses, and the rest of the league was somewhere in between. The author of this piece is hoping 2019 ends the same way 2017 ended.

In a twist from previous power rankings, there is a lot of stability at the top:

1. Wallman (1): The curse of the #1 ranked teams is over. I’ve been surprised by the high runs allowed total, but if their rookie slugger Ziolkowski continues to rake and Wallman keeps up his resurgent year, they can get away with not having a top 5 defense.

2. Pollock (2): Conversely, I’m surprised our offense hasn’t fully clicked yet. This is a team that has over half the same players as 2017 and 2018 when we led the league in runs scored. This is a team being led by pitching and defense.

3. Lapine (4): They beat a Brock team missing Justin (as did we) but that should not prevent them from flip flopping with Brock in the rankings. The team energy is great and I don’t see many games where their bats will be silenced. This is a team that feasts on Union Hill fields. Getting a top field choice for the playoffs will be important.

4. Brock (3): You all know what’s going to happen. Missed games is going to cause this team to finish either second or third in the division. Then because each division winner gets seeded before the other teams, Brock will be the 5th seed. Whoever they play is going to complain about their luck. They have to play the most talented team in the first round even though they’re not even one of the worst four teams in the playoffs.

5. Goldfarb (NR):As we enter the second tier, it gets much harder to separate these 10 teams. WHat impresses about Goldfarb is that they’ve won these last three games without their star rookie, Evan Rosenthal. While some teams would use missed games to justify losses, top teams find ways to win anyway.

6. Ferrarese (5): There are other teams with better records I could put in this spot, but like I always say: If these rankings were only based on team record, there would be no reason to publish this list. I like teams that have clear strengths to build around. In this team’s case, they have one of the best infield defenses and more power than probably anyone in the league. I’d be curious to see Team Stats listed on the website again; Team Ferrarese probably leads the league in home runs.

7. Marrone (9):I’ll be honest. I had a lot of trouble figuring out who to put in this slot, and who to fill out for the rest of the rankings for that matter. I went with Marrone because they’re currently on the second longest streak of giving up single digit runs, have done very well over the course of their last five games.

8. Applebaum (NR): Trivia question. Name the only team not to lose two consecutive games yet this year? If you said Applebaum because why else would I be mentioning it here, you’d be correct! Yes, this arbitrary little piece of information is enough to break away from a pack of similar performing teams and earn the 8th spot this week.

9. Fradkin (5): Like I mentioned, it was tough determining who would round out this week’s power rankings. I went with Fradkin because I think they have the best chance at having a good week, being they have a double header on Union Hill against teams with a combined 4-11 record. It was only a few weeks ago Fradkin was sitting atop the rankings. Here’s a chance to gain back some momentum.

Updated Power Rankings AKA Who Am I Putting The Curse on This Week?

For those keeping track at home, the #1 ranked team is now 0-6 in games played the week of posting the rankings.

1. Wallman (2): Am I putting Wallman at the top spot just so I can avoid putting the curse on my own team? Well, partly. The other part is both our teams are essentially tied for first and Wallman did beat us head to head.

2. Pollock (3): I don’t want to jinx our team, so I’ll be brief. It’s a pleasure to play with these fine gentlemen and Dave Meyer every week.

3. Brock (4): Just like our team, Brock has quickly made up for a subpar start to the season. No division this decade has had three 15-game winners, but that could change this year.

4. Lapine (6): Specchio is playing like the top prospect he was when he came into the league and Carroll might be the scariest lefty slugger in the league besides Fradkin. Brock vs. Lapine this Wednesday night is the game of the season so far. UH Left plays well to Lapine’s strengths.

5. Fradkin (1): The curse of the power rankings bit Fradkin last week. After giving up 39 runs in the double header Sunday, #1 ranked teams have now given up an average of 19.33 runs per game the week after earning the top spot. Their resume includes beating Lapine and Brock, so it’s not time to hit the panic button. Fradkin plays this week at UH Right which always give his team an edge.

6. Ferrarese (NR): They may not have a winning record, but the team with the best run differential deserves a spot on the rankings. They may have the best offense in the league(first in runs scored) and very few can compete with their infield defense.

7. Lombardi (5): They picked up a much needed win vs. Sarcona because they have been skidding of late. I believe they’re one or two batters short from being consistently among the elite. I hope I’m wrong because I’m pulling for the Lombardis.

8. Randell (NR): As mentioned in my notes last week, this is a dangerous team when all players are on the field. Eventually though, attendance issues become a pattern and not just an anomaly.

9. Marrone (NR): Many teams hovering around the .500 mark can make a solid claim for the last spot on this list, but I’m going with the team that’s on one of the best streaks in the league. I don’t see Conti lighting up the leaderboard yet, so the team will only get better once he inevitably finds himself among the leaders.

Updated Power Rankings

If there is any bright side to all the rainouts that have plagued the league over the last two years, it's the Sundays when almost half the league has double headers. 15 games are slated for this Sunday including the first Sunday night game since week one. It'll be fun to see what kind of shakeup in the standings happen after all of Sunday's action. 

Power Rankings Update:

1. Fradkin (6)- Who would’ve thought that a Fradkin-led team would be one of the top offenses in the league? So far the results have been very similar to Fradkin’s first year as captain. An impressive start to his managerial career.

2. Wallman(1)- Out of all the longstanding captains who have not been to the finals this decade, Wallman is easily the most successful. This team has all the right pieces to end that drought. They will need rookie slugger Ziolkowski to return soon, but it’s hard to imagine Wallman winning anything fewer than 14 games this year.

3. Pollock (9)- Although we still have the reputation for being an offensive heavy team, our runs against rankings since 2016 have been, #2, #2,#1 respectively. Hopefully we can keep that up against two of the best offensive teams in the league this Sunday.

4. Brock (7)- With Brock rounding out the top 4, this means that 3 of the top 4 teams are from the East division. Like I mentioned last time, I feel comfortable putting this team ahead of others that have better records. They were heavy pre-season favorites for a reason and after stumbling just a little out of the gate, they seem to be back on track.

5. Lombardi(2)- In my unpublished(ok,unwritten) power rankings for last week, Lombadi was the #1 team. This means they suffered the same curse of the #1 slot that plagued Wallman and Larocca(watch out, Fradkin). It will be interesting to see how Lombardi’s team responds to the first bump in what has been an impressive season. Their defense will keep them in games, and Jim is well on his way to getting his first(overdue) Cy Young nomination.

6. Lapine (NR): I feel like every year I end up writing the same thing about Lapine’s team: Good team who just can’t stay consistently hot. Every time they look like they’re ready to break away from the pack, they lose a few games. Now that they’re on a three game winning streak, will they break the mold?

7. Applebaum(NR): Speaking of consistency, Applebaum is a tough team to figure out. They already have two shutouts this season, including a near no-hitter. On the other hand they also recently had a stretch where they gave up 34 runs over a three game span.

8. Schefkind(4): It was a tough double header going against the top two teams in the power rankings. Everyone has a rough day, and they nearly defeated Wallman, so I don’t see this team staying down for too long.

9. Granese (NR): I did not really know what to make of Granese’s team going into the year since they so many newbies/haven’t played in the league for a long time players. Ultimately, I think this team will finish around the .500 mark but will be a threat to win the Central division.

Other Notes:

Although they are not listed this week, I expect Bykfosky and Goldfarb to make appearances in the top 9 very soon. Both teams have only played four games, and I think the wins will starting piling once they play their make up games.

These last two weeks have been  missed opportunities for Ferrarese, first with playing against a three man OF against Granese and then losing a 13 inning game against Marrone. Still, the defense, especially infield, is one of the best in the league.

Team Randell has had trouble getting all their star players on the field at the same time but have shown they can be dangerous when they do. If the attendance improves then they'll likely make some noise in the rankings.

Every year there seems to be one team that just can’t avoid the injury bug. Last year it was Jacoby, and this year it seems to be Larocca. I wish Mark and Andrew speedy recoveries. Hope to see you on the field soon.