11/05/24
October 20, 2008
MLB Post-Season Pick 'Em, World Series Edition: This is it. There are a bunch of marbles on the table, and the winner gets all of them. Make your picks inside.
The surprise winner of the AL ERA crown was Hideki Okajima, turning in a sparkling zero in 7.1 innings' worth of work. Don't fret too much about a reliever winning, though: it's not like anyone picked the runner-up, Matt Garza.
Another surprise was the base-stealing bonus: the AL absolutely dominated, swiping twelve bags to the NL's three. Phillies manager Charley Manuel agreed that this was startling, and informed reporters that in an effort to be more aggressive, Matt Stairs would be given the green light for the entire series.
| SpoFite | LAD vs PHI | BOS vs TB | NL Bonus | AL Bonus | Love Child | Points | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia in 5 | Tampa Bay in 7 | Hamels | Okajima | AL +9 | 8 | ||
| BoKnows | Philadelphia in 5 | Hamels | AL | 4 | 9 | ||
| DrJohnEvans | Tampa Bay in 7 | AL | 3 | 9 | |||
| Ying Yang Mafia | Philadelphia | Tampa Bay | Hamels | 3 | 9 | ||
| Folkways | Philadelphia | Tampa Bay | 2 | 8 | |||
| Howard_T | Philadelphia | Hamels | 2 | 8 | |||
| owlhouse | 0 | 8 | |||||
| boredom_88 | Philadelphia | Tampa Bay | AL | 3 | 7 | ||
| yerfatma | Philadelphia | Hamels | AL | 3 | 7 | ||
| holden | Tampa Bay | Hamels | 2 | 5 | |||
| Monica Poland | Tampa Bay | AL | 2 | 5 | |||
| trox | 0 | 5 | |||||
| apoch | Philadelphia | Tampa Bay | Hamels | 3 | 4 | ||
| mbd1 | Tampa Bay | 1 | 3 | ||||
| NoMich | 0 | 3 | |||||
| chris2sy | 0 | 0 | |||||
| jasonspaceman | 0 | 0 |
Please double-check your picks to make sure I got 'em right. And now to type the words which will never grow old:
WORLD SERIES
Philadelphia Phillies (92-70) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (97-65)
MVP BONUS
Pick the MVP of the Series.
MULTIPLE CHOICE BONUS
Pick which will happen with the most frequency in this series: a strikeout, a base hit, or a run scored.
That is, when we tally up the totals from the box scores, pick which stat will have the biggest number next to it, for both teams combined.
If it's a pitchers' series, strikeouts will be high at the expense of offence. If it's a sluggers' series, runs scored will probably win out. If it's neither, base hits could be tops.
TIEBREAKER BONUS
Pick the highest batting average a player attains in the Series. This is not worth any points, and is only used in the event of a tie for first place or the Costanza.
Total points available: 2 (Series pick) + 1 (MVP Bonus) + 1 (MC Bonus) = 4
Example pick: Rays in 6, Kazmir, strikeouts, .354
Good luck!
posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 07:02 PM - 26 comments
I'll go first. Well, it worked with the Division Series:
Rays in 6. Longoria. Base hits. 0.333.
posted by owlhouse at 07:58 PM on October 20, 2008
I posted more details of my error in the other thread (and I forgot that we don't have the new comment notifiers anymore). I got the spreadsheet wrong, but the points were unfortunately right.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:32 PM on October 20, 2008
Tampa in 7 Carlos Pena Strikeouts .400
posted by holden at 10:52 PM on October 20, 2008
Rays in 7 Longoria Base hits .415
posted by Monica Poland at 10:54 PM on October 20, 2008
but the points were unfortunately right
Thanks for clarifying, Dr J. I'm glad someone remembers who I picked.
posted by owlhouse at 01:55 AM on October 21, 2008
Rays in 5 Upton. base hits. .435 (10 for 23)
and a minor quibble, Doc. It's boredom underscore zero eight, not eight eight. just to clarify.
posted by boredom_08 at 02:23 AM on October 21, 2008
Phillies in 6 Chase Utley Base Hits .308
posted by apoch at 05:33 AM on October 21, 2008
Phillies in 7. Utley Strikeouts .475
posted by jasonspaceman at 08:31 AM on October 21, 2008
How about that! All along I've been thinking that you're _88. I must've heard wrong when first introduced to you. Sorry about that!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:02 AM on October 21, 2008
Tampa Bay in 6 Longoria Runs scored (the underdog pick, but I think both teams have just enough pop to make it feasible) .416
posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:05 AM on October 21, 2008
I can't believe I'm still within a point of the leader. I knew I should have picked Okajima instead of Papelbon for the ERA leader (yeah, right, Howard). Anyway, here goes:
Philadelphia to win the series that features offensive fireworks in every game.
Rollins to win the MVP. He'll be an on-base machine and contribute some timely RBIs as well.
In two hitter-friendly parks, we'll see a lot more base hits than strikeouts or runs.
The top batting average will be 1.000 (Some pinch hitter will get lucky in his only at bat. You should have put a minimum plate appearances clause in this one, Dr. J.)
posted by Howard_T at 10:23 AM on October 21, 2008
Oh right. I was so wrapped up in the multiple choice bonus that I forgot to set a minimum PA clause.
Should we bother setting one post-hoc? It's for the tiebreaker, so it's not worth points. Thoughts?
(Also, Howard, you forgot to pick the length of the series.)
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:05 AM on October 21, 2008
Tampa Bay(post exorcism)Rays in 5 Games.
Jason Bartlett walks away with the MVP.
Series turns into a dull pitchers duel. Strikeouts happen more often than hits or runs.
But still one lucky batter will hit 0.546.
posted by Folkways at 01:22 PM on October 21, 2008
OOPS! How about 6 games.
I feel as if I've snuck in through a loophole on the tiebreaker, but judging from the standings, it might come into play. If you base it on 10 plate appearances, that eliminates the random pinch-hitter, yet still allows for the DH to be a factor. If you do that, then you may change my entry to .427.
And for the REAL tiebreaker: Number of catwalks (in play) hit = 2.
posted by Howard_T at 01:26 PM on October 21, 2008
Yes, I think we will go ahead and say 10 PA minimum for the Series hitting title—probably best to avoid turning the tiebreaker into a trick question. (Thanks for understanding, Howard!)
"He does his little thing on the catwalk?"
posted by DrJohnEvans at 01:41 PM on October 21, 2008
Tampa Bay in 5 B.J. Upton Base Hits .436
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:07 PM on October 21, 2008
Phillies in 6 Cole Hamels Base Hits .431
posted by BoKnows at 03:46 PM on October 21, 2008
Ah, no worries. What's a couple of digits between acquaintances, anyway? All is well.
posted by boredom_08 at 03:58 PM on October 21, 2008
One half-inning in, Runs Scored is lookin' pretty good.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:50 PM on October 22, 2008
End of Game One:
Strikeouts - 17 Base Hits - 13 Runs Scored - 5
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:05 AM on October 23, 2008
Game Two totals:
Base Hits - 16 Strikeouts - 11 Runs Scored - 6
Series totals to date:
Base Hits - 29 Strikeouts - 28 Runs Scored - 11
Curse you, Phillies and your terrible RISP average!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 07:14 PM on October 24, 2008
Game Three totals:
Strikeouts - 17 Base Hits - 13 Runs Scored - 9
Series totals to date:
Strikeouts - 45 Base Hits - 42 Runs Scored - 20
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:05 PM on October 26, 2008
Game Four totals:
Strikeouts - 16 Base Hits - 17 Runs Scored - 12
Series totals to date:
Strikeouts - 61 Base hits - 59 Runs Scored - 32
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:25 PM on October 30, 2008
Game Five totals:
Strikeouts - 13 Base Hits - 18 Runs Scored - 7
Series totals:
Base Hits - 77 Strikeouts - 74 Runs Scored - 39
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:27 PM on October 30, 2008
Soooooooooo.....what do I win?
posted by BoKnows at 10:19 PM on November 01, 2008
Thanks Dr J. But unless you penalised me a point for getting absolutely nothing right, I should still be on 9.