Season by Season and Overall Statistics

YEAR	AVG	OBP	SLG	BB%	K%	OIP%
2016	.230	.409	.475	.232	.445	.146
2015	.205	.364	.376	.200	.485	.152
2014	.211	.389	.369	.225	.439	.172
2013	.263	.455	.481	.261	.412	.133
2012	.226	.353	.360	.165	.396	.251
2011	.281	.410	.440	.180	.380	.210
OA	.233	.395	.412	.211	.429	.177
AVG: Batting Average  —  OBP: On-Base Percentage  —  SLG: Slugging Percentage BB%: Walk Percentage  —  K%: Strikeout Percentage  —  OIP%: Outs in Play Percentage = Best Year for Stat

YEAR	H	HR	TB	RS	BB	K	PA/RS	AB/HR
2016	1009	318	2081	1025	1328	2545	5.6	13.8
2015	965	214	1775	824	1185	2866	7.2	22.0
2014	1098	204	1918	1085	1516	2953	6.2	25.5
2013	1021	229	1864	1054	1374	2168	5.0	16.9
2012	1104	167	1758	764	965	2319	7.7	29.2
2011	1010	134	1581	773	789	1670	5.7	26.8
OA	6207	1266	10977	5525	7157	14521	6.1	21.0
H: Hits  —  HR: Home Runs  —  TB: Total Bases  —  RS: Runs Scored  —  BB: Walks K: Strikeouts  —  PA/RS: Plate Appearances per Run Scored  —  AB/HR: At Bats per Home Run = Best Year for Stat

2017 Player Star Ratings

Another season in the books, and it is time again to measure up every WSEM player and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, including half increments. The measure used to evaluate the offensive production of a player is Adjusted Weighted On-Base Average (Adjusted wOBA); the specific adjustment to the wOBA equation being the devaluation of walks (BB) from the MLB iteration. Every player bats, therefore every player receives an offensive rating.

Adjusted wOBA = ((0.2605 * BB) + (0.89 * 1B) + (1.27 * 2B) + (1.62 * 3B) + (2.1 * HR)) / PA

Value as a pitcher comes down to a balance of two things: dominance and consistency. Four stats were used to come up with a number to quantify this. It starts with Strikeouts per 6 Innings Pitched (K/6); the higher their K/6, the more dominant stuff the pitcher features. From that point we subtract three percentage stats: Earned Run Average (ERA), Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched (WHIP), and Opponents' Batting Average (OBA). For all three of these stats, the lower the number the better. Thus, the higher their overall number, the better their rating as a pitcher.

Pitcher Rating = K/6 - ERA - WHIP - OBA

Note: Negative Pitcher Ratings are not included. Pitching can never decrease a player's overall rating; ability to pitch - if only in a serviceable capacity - can only ever add to a player's value.

Other considerations affecting a player rating: Small sample size: decreased value for limited playing time Career performance and pedigree

Remember, star ratings only directly impact the dollar value against the salary cap for captains and franchised players ($ Value = 10 * Star Rating). The ratings for all players entering the draft basically serve as an early assessment of their market value. Captains have until November 1st to franchise a player on from the current roster. Each captain has one franchise tag for his team, but may choose not to use it.

PLAYER	ADJUSTED wOBA	PITCHER RATING	OVERALL PLAYER RATING
Stephen Farkas	.457	13.0	★★★★★
Austin Bischoff	.428	12.1	★★★★★
Evan Bischoff	.348	10.1	★★★★★
Chandler Phillips	.346	9.7	★★★★★
Scott Kujawa	.288	12.8	★★★★★
Stephen Werner	.433	2.8	★★★★½
Nathan Gendron	.414	6.6	★★★★½
Evan Bortmas	.358	7.6	★★★★½
Ray Brown	.333	5.9	★★★★
Dennis Pearson	.393		★★★★
Josh Nagorski	.367		★★★★
Travis Strojny	.313	6.6	★★★★
Craig Skinner	.238	8.2	★★★★
Kyle Schultz	.310	3.9	★★★½
Mark Brannan	.327		★★★½
Kyle Tomlinson	.317		★★★½
Greg Brannan	.315		★★★½
David Castle	.305	0.9	★★★½
Sam Hatt	.172	11.0	★★★½
RJ Fisher	.163	11.3	★★★½
Michel Bayley	.181	4.4	★★★
Chris Paquin	.293	0.9	★★★
Robbie Reamer	.376		★★★
Nick Braden	.306		★★★
Dylan Braden	.298		★★★
Anthony Kreza	.296		★★★
John Sharlow	.294		★★★
Justin Smith	.285		★★★
Michael Giguere	.283		★★★
Andrew Bruen	.296		★★½
Brandon Corbett	.258		★★½
Brendun Deer	.236		★★½
Stephen Villarreal	.236		★★½
Dakota LaDouceur	.223		★★½
Alex Linebrink	.223		★★½
Kiefer Haffey	.210	3.6	★★½
Kevin Doby	.132	5.8	★★½
Jason Hewlett	.215		★★
Michael Villarreal	.208		★★
Mark Phillips	.203		★★
David Buhr	.198		★★
Zac Adams	.166	1.5	★★
Nate Bellinger	.166		★½
Nate Bellinger	.166		★½
Justin Chandler	.154		★½
Dash Fejza	.151		★½
Jeff Bencher	.079		★
Michael Sessions	.129		★
Ryan Alexia	.082		★
Jason Hollister	.078		★

Trophies Are Kids Toys

The Commissioner's Cup had a nice run. True, it didn't exist at the time of the first WSEM Championship Series in August 2011. Also true, it wasn't often seen. I think it may have actually only been handed out at the field as part of the Championship celebration twice: to the Aces in 2013 and El Diablos in 2014. The first champs, Git R' Done, got their hands on the Cup five months after they had earned it at the 2012 Winter Meeting. In truly bookend fashion, Nathan Gendron was the last person to ever hold the Commissioner's Cup; having received it eventually through back channels some months after the Aces won it in 2015, only to have it travel around in his trunk for much of the following year. The Cup made one final appearance at The Jack during the 2016 season before being permanently retired.

To be honest... I won't miss it. Crozier did a nice job with it, it had nice height to it, but it always felt a bit generic in presentation. Like it could belong to any wiffle league or tournament. It didn't scream, "THIS IS THE WSEM CHAMPION!"

That absolutely won't be the case with the WSEM Title: the simple, straightforward name of our new Championship hardware. The belt of leather and metal comes with no shortage of WSEM iconography: the timeless league logo large, front and center; the swing and miss riff on the MLB batterman logo that has seen ever-increasing use over the last year (SOL: Motor City?) flanking on either side; and the DWL ball logo on the outsides as a throwback to our humble beginnings. The belt was chosen over a couple competing concepts for one and a half specific reasons: 1) it is easy bring with you, and ½) it's something fun to bust out. A trophy in any shape lends itself to sitting on a shelf or the floor (or in your trunk). The See Yas have already promised that while in their possession the belt will be on hand and made a part of the show at every WSEM event: Winter Meeting, Draft, tournaments, gamedays, etc. And you can bet your ass it will be present at the final game of the Championship Series to be lifted by the 2017 kings. To kick all that off the #CHOMPions are planning a "glorious celebration" later this month to publicly display the new WSEM Title for the first time. All are invited with the promise that the celebration will be kept to one-quarter See Yas, three-quarters the league as a whole. A date and place for that ruckus affair will be announced in the coming days.

Handies: Clown Shu

CLOWN SHU
SCOTT KUJAWA (RED COX)

IP	ERA	WHIP	OBA	K	K/6	K/BB	W%
62	0.97	1.05*	.082*	143*	15.3*	3.3*	.750

First of all, before we talk about great pitchers and the seasons they put together, this is a bit embarrassing. This is the first season in our six that we do not have complete stats to look at. Travis Strojny took over the Wolfpack prior to Week 10, and never entered stats for any of his team's remaining games. This also excluded pitching stats for the Holy Balls, See Yas, Wicked Aces, and Red Cox, which effects some big names: Scott Kujawa (RC), Stephen Farkas (SY), and Austin Bischoff (WA). We were able to calculate ERA accurately, but other important stats like WHIP, OBA (Oppenents Batting Average), K (Strike Out Total), K/6 (Strikeouts per 6 Innings), and K/BB (Strikeouts per Walk) remain incomplete. With that noted, now we talk about the great pitchers.

Scott Kujawa appeared on the scene in 2015 as a force to be reckoned with, and reprised that effort without skipping a beat in 2016. By far his most impressive stat is the listed .082 OBA (note: this is likely closer to .074, but #WolfpackStats). That number is just stupid good; at least 20 points better than the closest, also-dominant competitor. It is this stat that puts the Clown Shu in Scott's hands. He scattered more walks than Farkas, resulting in a higher WHIP, but not to a point that got dangerous. Hence, the two finished the season with an identical (and accurately depicted) 0.97 ERA. When it comes down to judging two pitchers solely based on hits surrendered versus walks surrendered, this panel finds in favor of fewer hits surrendered as being the more impressive and award-deserving achievement.

Honorable Mention:

• Stephen Farkas (See Yas) is obviously always a great pitcher. His numbers did slide back to the pack some (at least in theory, from what we can see, #ThanksTravis), but he still found himself right in the thick of the Shu discussion. Strike outs per 6 innings were up (15.9), walks were low (26 total), and his ERA was a league-leading match of the Shu-winner Kujawa (0.97). The strikes against Farkas' bid were mainly that his numbers were down from previous years (fewer K, more BB, comparatively higher ERA and WHIP) and, as mentioned above, that he surrendered significantly more hits than Kujawa.

* Pitching numbers for all potential Clown Shu candidates incomplete due to stats not having been entered by Travis Strojny of the Wolfpack.