ECB 2008: Week 1 Recap

Some quick hits about the week that was in ECB...

Squatters 345 / Mackerel 396.7

Recap: Mile High took it's opening series thanks mostly to heroic pitching efforts from Roy Halladay and Ben Sheets on Sunday afternoon. Going into the day, it looked like the Mackerel were in trouble, but the Fish put up 130 points which gave them the second highest score of the week. Mile High was helped by a poor hitting performance by L.A., the only team in the league to finish the week without scoring 200 points.

Looking Ahead: I get to eat crow or rub it in after Week 2 as my Mackerel take their 7-week regular-season win streak against Week 1's highest scoring team, the surprising (at least to me) Marshall St. Menace. Bob moves on to play Baltimore in an early season battle for last place.

Starwipes 375.7 / Tiger Army 368.7

Recap: The Curse Of Mark Teixeira will have to wait a few more weeks to wreak havoc on the Starwipes as they were able to take the opening series from the team with which they caused so much quasi-controversy before the season began. Led by Hitter O' The Week Chase Utley (39 points), the Wipes' hitters were able to carry the load as the pitching staff put up a less-than-impressive 118.2 points. Adler's Army has yet to get going with the sticks as they finished ahead of only L.A. in offensive points.

Looking Ahead: Frieds will look to build on his opening win when his squad takes on Ffej's Traffic Cones. It could turn out to be a slug-fest as Speedway and New Haven finished 1-2 in offensive points in Week 1. Adler will look to turn things around against the team he loves to hate, Woosta.

Traffic Cones 364.2 / Pimp Roostas 383.7

Recap: Ffej's T-Cones kept it just close enough against the Pimp Roostas to hold Rich's squad to a 5-4 victory. The Roostas didn't wow offensively, but got the job done on the bump as they put up the third highest pitching total of the week which more than made up for the 29 points they were outscored offensively. Still, once the struggles of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez dissipate, this team should have no problems scoring points on the offensive end. Chad Cordero and Erik Bedard having health issues could have been the difference in this series for Ffej, so this 4-5 loss could be chalked up to bad luck depending on how much you like Rich's team.

Looking Ahead: Round 1 of The Battle For Who Loves The Red Sox More takes place in Week 2 as Rich's Roostas take on Adler's Army. An early peek shows that Rich will probably have 4 2-start pitchers against only 2 for Adler... We'll see if quantity wins over quality a week from now. The T-Cones take on Frieds' Baby Wipes in a match-up that's got NASCAR references written all over it for next week's recap.

Devil Jays 347.2 / Menace 404.3

Recap: In the surprise of the week (did I already say that?), Watts' Menace hung an Atlanta area code on Grashow's Devil Jays (DosBot is dead). Looking ahead to Week 2, Jake Peavy peed on Ben Sheets' 56.2 points by dropping 63.5 points of his own and taking home the Pitcher O' The Week award. If Week 1 is any indication, Watts' pitching will be the strongest part of his team. The Devil Jays got the worst of the Week 1 DL bug as they had to put J.J. Putz and Pedro Martinez on the shelf, but they had to be encouraged by the numbers put up by Rick Ankiel, Alex Rios, and Justin Upton (32, 28, and 25 points respectively).

Looking Ahead: As previously stated, Watts and I are going toe-to-toe in Week 2 in the second installment of the Who's The Better Jon Series; Watts has the early lead by taking out Grashow, but Class of '98 has not yet begun to fight. Grashow's squad looks to rebound against the Squatters who also took a tough Week 1 loss against the Mackerel.

Adler the Recapler - Week 6

ANAHEIM (6) def. BALTIMORE (3)

This matchup was only the second-most important thing that Baltimore owner Jon Grashow did last week as he tossed aside years of tradition and grabbed a Yankee. Not just any Yankee but Mariano Rivera. The league was shocked, not because he’s a Yankee, but because he’s been so bad. In the actual matchup, Bob’s LA of Anaheim or California of the USA Squatters put up their 2nd-highest score of the year with 396.7 points. With a league-high for the week of 292 hitting points, Bob was paced by, well, everyone except Mike Piazza, who didn’t play. All other hitters put up double digits. On the mound, Bob was led by Brandon Webb and John Lackey, who continue to be two of the best, albeit underrated, pitchers in ECB.

In Baltimore, Grashow received the worst performance from his team this year with only 330 points (nearly 50 below his previous low score). Although all of his pitchers broke into double digits, there wer few stellar games, as Randy Wolf was the only player to crack 30 points. At the plate, Adam Dunn shone with a co-hitter of the week showing of 37, but there was little else to reward, as only 3 other batters broke 20.

NEW HAVEN (5) def. MARSHALL ST (4)

At the beginning of the season, Jeff seemed to fulfill his date with destiny by drafting Mariano Rivera. Well, it was a short date. The kind where something awkward happens and the date ends early, like a half hour in. "I'm sorry, it's just not working out. It's not you, it's me." That's the way Stanley broke the news to Rivera in the locker room. The good news is that Rivera went out with a win, although he didn't contribute much. Stanley's hitters were led by Mike Lowell's surprising 36 points. The pitching was paced by 3 of Stanley's 800 closers, in particular Billy Wagner, Trevor Hoffman, and Takashi Saito.

A week after knocking off ECB powerhouse Woosta, Menace GM Jon Watterson was disappointed with his team's performance, coming up short next to Stanley, (ED NOTE: Ha!) although Watterson had to be pleased with his team's improving offense. He pointed to Gary Matthews Jr, Carlos Lee, and Derek Jeter who all posted 30+ points. Despite the solid hitting, however, Marshall St. was betrayed by C.C. Sabathia, Chris Ray, and Aki Otsuka who all posted subpar performances. When reached for comment, Jon refused to make excuses, except for one: "My team was clearly looking ahead to our rematch with the Pimps."

SPEEDWAY (6) def. WOOSTA (3)

In the battle of former GSC teammates, Ryan T. Friedman's Wipes earned a 6-3 victory. With a strong pitching performance of 185.7 points for the week, Speedway were led by Fausto Carmona and Ted Lilly both posting over 40. With the bats, everyone but Josh "The Natural" Hamilton posted double figures. Hamilton was promptly cut and now resides in Baltimore. Friedman was quoted while signing the release papers as saying, "Cue starwipe...and you're out."

In an uncharacteristic down year (ED NOTE: So far. Don't hurt us.), Rich's Pimps were handed their 3rd-straight loss since stomping Chicago with their league high of 555 points 4 weeks ago. Woosta was led by David Ortiz and Justin Morneau both posting 35 points, and only Ian Kinsler failing to reach double digits. On the mound, the unlikely triumverate of Ian Snell, Chris Young, and Oliver Perez led the way, combining for 102.7 points. When reached for comment on the beaches of Hawaii, Gallup was brief, simply stating, "Go ahead. Write us off. See what happens."

CHICAGO (8) def. MILE HIGH (1)

In the smackdown of the week, Chicago beat down Mile High to the tune of an 8-1 result. Aided by the second-highest hitting performance of the week, Adler's Army posted a season-high 465.5 points. With co-hitter of the week Lance Berkman's 37 points and Gary Sheffield and Russell Martin posting strong weeks, the Army put up 276 at the plate alone. The pitchers received at least 25 points from everyone except Doug Davis for a league high 189.5.

Mile HIgh's Jon Bielecki stated that his team was betrayed by his hitting. And he was right, as the lineup only managed a team-low for '07 with 181 points, although Ken Griffey Jr was the final co-hitter of the week. Particularly putrid were the efforts of Pudge Rodriguez, Derrek Lee, and - ah screw it - the entire infield. On the pitching side, the Macks were saved by Brad Penny's pitcher of the week showing with 58.67 points. JB has failed to write his team off after a second straight losing week (ED NOTE: Probably because he's still in first place), and walked out of the locker room offering the following encouragement: "A little less suck out there next week fellas."

Adler the Recapler - Week 4

In the week that was for week 4 the cream of the crop has started to distance themselves from the rest of the pack. It is a long season though and only time will tell how it unfolds.

Marshall St. @ New Haven

In a battle of teams picked to finish at or near the bottom by a near league consensus Owner Jeff Stanley's Cones emerged with nearly 400 points walking away with a 7-2 victory. With Jose Valverde leading the way, Jeff recieved between 18-36 points from each of his closers and the Cones put up the third highest pitching total of the week. On the hitting side the Cones were led by a resurgent Sammy Sosa who posted 34 points and whose veteran tips helped first round pick Carl Crawford post 33 points. Marshall St was betrayed by his pitching posting a league low total of 81 points. Only Dontrelle Willis was able to post more than 14 points for the week with two solid outings. Watterson's hitting was led by the unlikely trio of Josh Willingham, Rocco Baldelli, and Chad Tracy.

Anaheim @ Mile High

In a battle of the two westernmost teams in ECB, JB's team walked away with a 6-3 victory. JB continues to lead the pack after four weeks with a league best record of 26-10. The Macks were powered by a week-best pitching performance of 195.17 points. With both John Maine and Danny Haren posting over 50 points and Al Reyes putting up an additional 41.5, JB's team distanced itself from Anaheim. With the lumber, the Mackerel were led by Jimmy Rollins' 43 points and supported by Kelly Johnson's 35 and Derrek Lee's 32. Anaheim had the second highest pitching total coming in with 145 points, but it wasn't enough. Led by Aaron Harang's 49.83 and Scott Kazmir's 32.83, Bob was able to give JB his second closest week to date. On the hitting side, Torii Hunter led the way with 33 points followed by Kevin Youkilis and Travis Hafner.

Chicago @ Baltimore

Chicago was the only away team to win this week emerging with a 6-3 victory. The bats of Chicago finally awoke and broke 300 points for the first time this year, posting a 301. With 10 of 13 players posting over 20 points only Manny Ramirez, Ryan Howard, and Scott Rolen failed to break the 20 point barrier. On the pitching side, closers Coco Cordero and Flash Gordon led the way with 37 and 25 points respectively. Baltimore's bats led the way as Chipper Jones posted a 34 with Edgar Renteria and Baltimore's favorite son Grady Sizemore posting 30s. On the pitching side, Baltimore was led by first round pick Francisco Rodriguez and was hurt by Kip Wells only starting once and posting a -3.

Woosta @ Speedway

In the marquee matchup of the week, Speedway walked away with an 8-1 victory. One week after posting a season high of 555 points, Rich's bats were not nearly as potent. With not one batter breaking 30 points a week after 5 did, Rich's team struggled to keep pace with the 'Wipes. Michael Barrett, Bill Hall, and Nick Markakis all failing to crack double digits certainly didn't help the cause. Rich recieved solid efforts across the board on his pitching staff with the exception of Bob Wickman who merely covers the board... because he's fat. Speedway was led by a week-high of 363 hitting points. With Magglio Ordonez, Chase Utley, and Vernon Wells all breaking 40 points, GM Ryan Friedman's victory was assured before his pitchers took the field. When the pitchers did hurl, everyone - with the exception af Kyle Davies - turned in solid weeks.