Stacked Up by Travis Strojny: Last Day of Spring Rankings

1) El Diablos   (↑↓)
5-5 Spring. Good pitching, great hitting. WSEM Dads, a real dad, and a Mayor. Placed #1 b/c of Beat It semi-final win over the Cox.
2) Red Cox   (↑↓)
Only #2 bc of Nate Motta. Just kidding. This team is solid everywhere. Can't really say much else.
3) Flying Squirrels   (↑↓)
4-0 in 1 tourney. Young team, new captain. Will the team spend more time at wiffle or looking for the car? #DudeWheresMyCar
4) Holy Balls   (↑↓)
2-6 this spring. Ranked higher up b/c I feel like if Fisher shows up this season they could be playoff contenders. #CallinIt
5) See Yas   (↑↓)
3-1 this spring. Yes they have Farkas, they just need to score him runs this season and find their solid #2. Defense is solid.
6) Islanders   (↑↓)
They were 1-6 this spring. Average team all around if guys show. No Gendron/Doby = poor ERA & low team morale. Argghhh.
7) Wolfpack   (↑↓)
The reigning Garcia champs bring back the same 6 players. Will no change hurt them? No spring appearances. Will the Wolfpack be back for mass destruction?
8) Wicked Aces   (↑↓)
Reigning WSEM Champs. No spring appearances. Same core group besides Hatt. A. Bischoff's returning?! Little E gone shuckin' corn?
Labels: , , , , , , ,

WSEM Pickers: Week One

⇦ PAST NEXT ⇨
WSEM
PICKERS
2016
M
A
R
K
 
B
(1 - 5, .167)
 
 
M
I
K
E
(2 - 3, .400)
 
S
C
O
T
T
  (1 - 4, .200)
M
A
R
K
 
P
(2 - 3, .400)
WP @ WA
Runs Allowed by Strojny:

O/U 2.5
Under 2.5
Strojny has no problem shutting down the on the decline Aces.
👎
Under 2.5
Strojny takes an adrenaline needle and gives up no runs for the two innings he is able to pitch.
👎
Under 2.5
Strojnybony gives up only 2.
👎
Over 2.5
Stronjy somehow gets Dash's hackey sack stuck up his butt hole and has control problems.
👍
SY @ FS
Combined K for Skinner & Farkas:

O/U 31.5
Under 31.5
Farkas and Skinner start their own declines.
👍
Over 31.5
Hitting isn't the See Yas strong suit and neither is it for any of Farkas' opponents when he's throwing.
👎
Over 31.5
Last year Skinner threw a perfect game on Opening Day.
👎
Under 31.5
Skinner gives Farkas a merkin and a carton of Marlboro's as a retirement gift.
👍
EL @ IS
Total HR:

O/U 5.5
Over 5.5
Giguere starts his MVP bid. gets 3 himself.
👎
Under 5.5
These two teams are very different from last year. No gimmes Saturday.
👍
Under 5.5
Kyle can't hit all of those homeruns himself.
👍
Over 5.5
Michael Sessions will have 5 himself and Carl will try and trade for him.
👎
RC @ HB
Series Result:

RC sweep, HB sweep, split
RC Sweep
🔒
Cox dominate. Fisher no shows for balls.
👎
1-1 Split
Splitsville - assuming RJ shows up.
👍
RC Sweep
Wermigerm pitches a gem against an RJ-less balls team and castle hits a walkoff to win game one. MVP goes to Lil Vill game two.
👎
RC Sweep
Castle pulls a Kirk Cousins and yells "you like that" after he hits a HR off Paquin.
👎
Pick 'Em

HR Leader After Week 1
Giguere
MVP
👎
G. Brannan
The hawk-eyed, wiffle-crushing, thigh-flaunting beast gets his campaign off to a solid start.
👎
Werner
With the home run lead at 3.
👎
Tomlinson
👎
🔒 = Lock (2x Result) 👍 = Correct Pick 👎 = Incorrect Pick
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Gameday Results, 4/30: Coffee Grounds – Southgate, MI

↴  Printable Scoresheet (.PDF) ‣  League Lineup Stats Entry
GAMES 1 & 2 1:00 PM FIELD A
(0-2)
WOLFPACK
(2-0)
WICKED ACES
GAME 1
1
LP: Strojny (0-1)
HR: Strojny (1)
 7
WP: Bortmas (1-0)
HR: Bortmas (1,2), A. Bischoff (1)
GAME 2
7 inn.
2
LP: Strojny (0-2)
HR: G. Brannan (1)
 3
WP: A. Bischoff (1-0)
HR: A. Bischoff (2,3)

(2015)
AVG: .222
SLG: .388
RpG: 4.04
ERA: 3.72
WHIP: 1.56
K/6: 12.3
0  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   • 
Ties: 0		 8
The 2015 division champions clash in the first series of the new season. Neither team appeared in the preseason tournaments. So, this series marks two milestones: 1) the return of Austin Bischoff to the WSEM field for the first time in 600 days, and 2) the first game action for Greg Brannan as captain of the Wolfpack.

Greg's first test will be a big one for his team. The Aces have dominated the head-to-head series with the Wolfpack, going 6-0 over two seasons of play while outscoring the Wolfpack 65-5 in those games. In fact, when Austin last led the Aces in 2014, they did not surrender a single run to the Wolfpack. It's a very different lineup Austin has to work with today, though. With Evan Bischoff anticipated to be in Nebraska to start the season, Austin and Bortmas will be the only veterans on hand. The rest of his roster will be comprised of untested rookies. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, are in very familiar territory, returning the identical roster of 6 veterans that won the 2015 Garcia pennant.

(2015)
AVG: .249
SLG: .453
RpG: 5.71
ERA: 1.98
WHIP: 1.12
K/6: 13.9
GAMES 3 & 4 1:30 PM FIELD B
(2-0)
SEE YAS
(0-2)
FLYING SQUIRRELS
GAME 3
3
WP: Farkas (1-0)
HR: Farkas (1), Nagorski (1)
 1
LP: Skinner (0-1)
HR: N. Braden (1)
GAME 4
13
WP: Nagorski (1-0)
HR: Farkas (2), Corbett (1)
 11
LP: Brown (0-1)
HR: Skinner (1,2)

(2015)
AVG: .163
SLG: .261
RpG: 2.18
ERA: 4.91
WHIP: 1.46
K/6: 12.8
4  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   • 
Ties: 0		 2
In their one-year history, these two teams have a history of trading blows. Both teams recorded a shut out victory against the other in 2015, and both teams also recorded a 6-run victory over the other. This trend continued when they met at the Wind-Up in their only action of the spring, and exchanged crooked numbers back and forth. The See Yas priority this offseason was to boost offensive production. They addressed this 2015 deficiency two-fold by adding the power bats of Bayley and Nagorski. For their part, the 2016 Squirrels roster is more cohesive: one that should get the most out of each piece in defined roles. Their undefeated streak through the Wind-Up bracket had some close calls, but exemplified what this roster is capable of.

The Opening Day Game 3 matchup of Skinner and Farkas has a 1-0 result written all over it. These are two of the only three pitchers to throw perfect games in 2015, and they're also the career leaders in that category with 5 (Farkas) and 4 (Skinner). The expected Game 4 pitching matchup of Brown vs Bayley is a rematch of the 2016 Wind Up Tournament championship. Brown was hit around a bit in that game, but edged out Bayley by a final score of 6-5. This meeting should get better performances out of both number-two arms in their only start on the day.

(2015)
AVG: .219
SLG: .423
RpG: 4.11
ERA: 3.13
WHIP: 1.69
K/6: 14.1
GAMES 5 & 6 3:30 PM FIELD A
(2-0)
EL DIABLOS
(0-2)
ISLANDERS
GAME 5
3
WP: C. Phillips (1-0)
 2
LP: Doby (0-1)
GAME 6
10
WP: Hatt (1-0)
HR: Tomlinson (1)
 0
LP: Gendron (0-1)

(2015)
AVG: .196
SLG: .404
RpG: 4.32
ERA: 4.07
WHIP: 1.96
K/6: 12.6
10  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   • 
Ties: 0		 2
2015 was the Islanders best season as a franchise, resulting in their first playoff berth. Coming out of the draft, talk around the league was that the Islanders had assembled an even better roster that would take them even further. Well, they rode that wave straight into a 1-6 spring. If there's good news to be garnered from that, it's that they're yet to put even half of that roster together in a lineup. A lot of the Isles' potential likely tied into Gendron. When G slides in as the ace, Doby can become an above average number-two arm: the role which paved the way for most of his 8 W last season. The bats in this lineup should hold their own; being able to use the pitching staff tactically to its fullest will be the key to their season.

El Diablos end to 2015 was a bitter one, failing to get eligible and missing the playoffs for the first time as a franchise. Chandler Phillips addressed eligibility in the draft by grabbing his father and his fellow "bash brother," Sessions. He'll get the games he needs out of both, and do that without any headaches. The acquisition of Hatt answers the question of, "who's their number-two pitcher?" for at least a chunk of the season. If there's any question about how well the roster can hang in without Hatt, just take a look at their spring results: a 5-5 record in which Chandler went 4-0 on the mound. If El Diablos can continue playing near-.500 ball during their Hatt-less weeks, they'll be smoothly sailing toward a finish at least a few games above that mark overall.

(2015)
AVG: .201
SLG: .347
RpG: 3.61
ERA: 5.06
WHIP: 2.06
K/6: 12.4
GAMES 7 & 8 4:00 PM FIELD B
(1-1)
RED COX
(1-1)
HOLY BALLS
GAME 7
2
WP: Kujawa (1-0)
 0
LP: Fisher (0-1)
GAME 8
1
LP: Castle (0-1)
 11
WP: Pearson (1-0)
HR: Pearson (1)

(2015)
AVG: .195
SLG: .339
RpG: 2.86
ERA: 1.84
WHIP: 1.14
K/6: 14.5
4  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   • 
Ties: 0		 2
The Cox were one of only two teams to reach 15 preseason points (5 W). While there's no direct correlation to in-season results, version 2016 does seem poised to follow in the footsteps of the 2015 squad. It is likely true that the loss of Jardine will weaken their pitching to a degree, but Castle can adequately fill that role while providing more power at the plate. The rest of the roster remains solidly intact, so the 17-11 secret recipe is largely unchanged.

The Balls narrowly missed the playoffs last year while not getting any innings pitched from mid-season pickup RJ Fisher. Now, Fisher's arm at the top of the rotation will be the first key to any success they find this season. There's basically a 1:1 correlation between his number of appearances and how far this team goes. They have a few useful options to fill the number-two pitcher role, but their bats - led by Pearson's power - likely play more of a role in the outcome of those games than the arms.

(2015)
AVG: .193
SLG: .397
RpG: 3.64
ERA: 4.46
WHIP: 2.06
K/6: 12.5
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Wanna Bet? / Clown Shu Watch

The Clown Shu is WSEM's equivalent of MLB's Cy Young. Why the weird name? Well, wiffle is weird for one. Also, Cy Young never played wiffleball. The Clown Shu is named for the Clown Shoes, a tournament team from the 2009-2010 Downriver Wiffle days that is credited with introducing the hard-throwing pitching style into our lives. The spelling was changed since Shu reads a bit more like a name than "Shoe," a la Cy Young. Rumors of us once upon a time intending to hand out golden clown shoes to the winner are almost certainly true, although a dream we quickly forgot about ever seeing through.

A different player won the Shu each year over the first four WSEM seasons before Stephen Farkas became the first to repeat in 2015. Here's a rundown of all the Clown Shu winners and the numbers it took to claim the prize: You see the numbers it will take to make it happen. That just leaves the question of who are the favorites to get it done this season. Conveniently, as always, we have the bookies on call. Some familiar names, a few fresh faces: here are the names being thrown around and the early odds any of them can bring the Clown Shu home in August.
PLAYER BRIEF ODDS
On this list because he's thrown down the gauntlet; said he will win the Shu this year. He throws hard and his career numbers - admittedly based on short seasons - can put him in the discussion: 0.60 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 14.9 K/6. If he can keep that up over a season of 10+ games pitched, he has a shot.
15:1
Posted a 0.52 ERA and 0.68 WHIP over the final 81.1 IP of the 2015 season (from May 3 - July 25). That performance, which covers 98% of his season, earns him a spot on the shortlist of candidates. What decides whether or not he stays there? Whether or not he can avoid another blow up with the other 2%.
9:1
2013 Shu. Never posted a season ERA higher than 0.69; his career 0.58 is #3 all-time. His 0.76 WHIP is even better, putting him #2 all-time in that category. Also, #2 all-time in perfect games thrown with 4.
6:1
Entering his sophomore campaign may provide an inside track: a second-year pitcher has won the Shu 3 out of 5 times. One of the hardest throwers in WSEM, his rookie campaign numbers (0.82 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15.0 K/6) are a bit inflated after he helped the Cox tank their final series. His "real" ERA may be half that.
5:1
2 years in the league. 2-time Clown Shu. And he's done it with lower ERA and WHIP numbers than any other pitcher. Number-one all time in those two stats (0.30 and 0.39, respectively), as well as K/6 (16.7) and perfect games tossed (5).
2.5:1
2012 Shu. Always in the discussion. Career 0.35 ERA (#2), 0.79 WHIP (#4), and 16.5 K/6 (#2). Expect him to carry his roster on his arm. X-factor: Comes into the season with the advantage of nobody having seen him pitch in 600 days.
2:1

Straightening Up with a New Dead Ball Zone

At last Saturday's Beat It Tournament we tried out a new style of dead ball zone for "future consideration." Well, after the overwhelmingly positive reaction the new dead ball zone style received — "This is smart," "I like this better than the 20' arc," etc. — the future is here. Effective immediately WSEM will adopt the straight line dead ball zone for the 2016 season and beyond with only a minor, two-foot tweak from the tournament arrangement.

Our new dead ball zone will be marked at 28' down the foul lines from home plate, with those two points connected by a straight line drawn across the field. This results in a distance of 19.8' to the line directly in front of home plate.

The scale graphic of the field layout found above compares the old (darker arc) and new (white lines). The playable area in front of the pitcher hasn't changed much at all. Slow dribblers rolling straight-ahead will play out like they always have, where the pitcher charging in has a chance to make a quick play. It's those same 'little tricklers' tapped further toward the lines where defenders now have more options and get a bit of a reprieve. It was all-but-impossible to record an out on a ball settling into these short corners, even against a below-average runner. Now, a pitcher or shortstop charging the ball has a couple extra steps to make a play to stop the ball short and keep it out of play. Any ball hit hard enough to reach the new line should provide any heads-up defender with at least a shot at making a bang-bang play.

Will this end up taking away a few hits? Sure. Really crappy ones that not even your mother could be proud of.
Now, go make mom proud.

Wanna Bet? / 2016 Team Over/Under Projections

Two preseason tournaments down. Inside two weeks to Opening Day. All that's left now is the anticipation! ... And how about a few wagers, possibly? Everyone's probably just about over how badly their March Madness brackets exploded. So, we're ready to offer up some easy action to get you back on your feet. After all, nothing's more predictable than a wiffleball pitch a wiffleball game an entire wiffleball season, right???

We've poured over the rosters' statistics to provide 5 Over/Under numbers for each WSEM team in the 2016 season. Four of these are offensive (hitting) numbers: Hits (H), Home Runs (HR), Stolen Bases (SB), and Runs Scored (RS). The only team pitching category is for Strike Outs thrown (K). To forecast these projections we took diluted massaged the career numbers for the players that make up each roster. Rookies, for their part, were assigned a number within +/- 20% of the league average in each category. Then, massaging a little deeper based on the anticipated number of games played, we were able to fairly-close-to-scientifically come up with the projected number for each team to reach during the 2016 season.

Where will teams overshoot their projections? Where will teams fall short of their mark? Look for the easy money. Beware the traps. Find your bookie. Place your bets.
TEAM H
(HITTING)		 HR
(HITTING)		 SB
(HITTING)		 RS
(HITTING)		 K
(PITCHING)
133.5 32.5 23.5 110.5 377.5
114.5 24.5 15.5 88.5 392.5
113.5 30.5 12.5 89.5 390.5
115.5 21.5 7.5 81.5 370.5
136.5 28.5 25.5 94.5 395.5
110.5 22.5 15.5 80.5 393.5
117.5 26.5 17.5 97.5 422.5
121.5 24.5 9.5 100.5 353.5
Labels: , , , , , , ,

2016 Beat It Tournament: Results

POOL PLAY   —   GAME 1   —   10:00 AM (A)
@
1
LP: Werner (1-2)
HR: Werner (2)
2
WP: C. Phillips (2-0)
POOL PLAY   —   GAME 2   —   10:00 AM (B)
@
3
LP: Linebrink (0-1)
 11
WP: Strojny (1-0)
HR: G. Brannan (1,2,3), Strojny (1,2)
POOL PLAY   —   GAME 3   —   10:45 AM (A)
@
0
LP: Pearson (0-3)
 2
WP: Castle (1-1)
HR: Werner (3)
POOL PLAY   —   GAME 4   —   10:45 AM (B)
@
10
WP: Tomlinson (1-1)
HR: Tomlinson (1)
3
LP: Linebrink (0-2)
HR: Linebrink (1)
POOL PLAY   —   GAME 5   —   11:30 AM (A)
@
6
WP: Strojny (2-0)
HR: Strojny (3,4,5), Corbett (2)
0
LP: Paquin (1-1)
POOL PLAY RESULTS   •   PLAYOFF SEEDING
# TEAM Pts W L T DIFF
1 6 2 0 0 +14
- 6 2 0 0 +8
3 3 1 1 0 +1
4 0 0 2 0 -8
5 0 0 2 0 -15
Winner's Bracket
1)  EMPIRE
B
4)  HOLY BALLS   EMPIRE
A E
  HOLY BALLS
5)   ISLANDERS   EMPIRE
H/I
2)  EL DIABLOS
C
  EL DIABLOS
3)  RED COX   EMPIRE
BEAT IT CHAMPION
Loser's Bracket
LE)  EL DIABLOS
G
LA)  ISLANDERS
D   EL DIABLOS
  RED COX
F
LC)  RED COX   RED COX
LB)  HOLY BALLS
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME A   —   Field B
@
6
LP: Giguere (0-1)
HR: Giguere (1,2), Linebrink (2)
7
WP: Paquin (2-1)
HR: Pearson (4)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME B   —   Field A
@
1
LP: Pearson (0-4)
 12
WP: Strojny (3-0)
HR: Corbett (3)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME C   —   Field B
@
4
LP: Castle (1-2)
HR: Werner (4), Bellinger (1)
14
WP: C. Phillips (3-0)
HR: Tomlinson (2,3), C. Phillips (1,2)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME D   —   Field B
@
1
LP: Linebrink (0-3)
 11
WP: Kujawa (1-0)
HR: Werner (5), Kujawa (1)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME E   —   Field A
@
0
LP: Tomlinson (1-2)
 10
WP: Strojny (4-0)
HR: Adams (2,3,4), G. Brannan (4,5), Strojny (6,7)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME F   —   Field B
@
14
WP: Kujawa (2-0)
HR: Werner (6,7), Bellinger (2), Kujawa (2)
0
LP: Paquin (2-2)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME G   —   Field A
@
(9 inn)
0
LP: Kujawa (2-1)
 2
WP: C. Phillips (4-0)
HR: Tomlinson (4)
PLAYOFFS   —   GAME H   —   Field A
@
6
LP: Tomlinson (1-3)
HR: M. Phillips (1,2,3), Tomlinson (5)
16
WP: Strojny (5-0)
HR: Adams (5,6), G. Brannan (6,7,8), Corbett (4,5,6), Strojny (8,9)
Labels: , , ,