"Every manager in baseball could benefit from playing a few hundred games of Strat-O-Matic"
Quote from 2003 Edition of the Baseball Prospectus
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Thursday Friday Saturday






JULY 4th


Email address: dr4sight@hvi.net
The Capital Baseball League is a Strat-O-Matic play-by-mail league, with a limited amount of face-to-face play. The league was founded in 1975 and has managers throughout the country, from California to New York. We currently have 20 members.

If you are interested in joining us, contact our commissioner Mark

at:

CBL Commissioner

RECENTLY ADDED
Saturday:  Mitt Section;  Lighter Side
Friday:  Capital Ideas (new poll);  Wild card race standings;  Lighter Side;  Mitt Section
Thursday:  results; What A Game;  Capital Ideas;  Standings, Leaders;  Stepping to the Plate
Wednesday:  results;  Lighter Side;  Mitt Section








Table of contents for this page:

About MY Team

What A Game!

Stepping to the Plate

Capital Ideas

The Lighter Side

The MITT Section

Connections --CBL and Others




CBL LINKS


Complete CBL Draft 11/9/08

CBL ROSTERS

2009 DRAFT PICK GRID

 CBL RULEBOOK - as pdf file 

Article: The Unwritten Rules of the CBL

Article: Rebuild or Reload (by Matt)

Waiver draft - March 2009

Links to all of Matt's draft reviews

Eastern Division

Chicago Division

Southern Division

Western Division







MY POLICY  REGARDING TRADE CONFIRMATIONS
I believe I have been in charge of the rosters for six or more years.
I don't recall a single instance in the CBL where a trade was announced and then found to be counter to what both parties had agreed upon.
For this reason I have never compelled members to "confirm" trade announcements.
I realize that most other leagues require this and given the idiosyncrasies of those organizations it is probably an advisable maneuver.
But I still don't see the necessity for a CBL member to announce to me, or to the whole league for that matter, that they confirm a trade that has been announced.
A trade, in my opinion, becomes official when notification has come to me and I have posted the trade on the webpage.  I try to not post the trade until I've updated the database and adjusted the draft pick grid (even though I do not usually upload the draft pick grid to the webpage link at that time).


STANDINGS AS OF JULY 1st

A REAL CLOSE WILD CARD RACE

Check out the wild card race here at midseason.  Only 1/2 game
separates the four clubs involved.  The top two go to the playoffs and
the other two.....  well, they don't.


SOME INDIVIDUAL LEADERS






Suggestions for submitting results:
(1) start off with the team nickname "at" other team's nickname. Don't use the city in the top line.
(2) Keep it short - one or two sentences per game  OR one paragraph for the series.
(3) PLEASE USE  " at " rather than the ampersand  " @ "


Face to face games involving the Mitts and Bombers against the Chicago teams are shown in blue.

Whiz Kids 2 at Bombers 3

Pujols .400 push continued and he was enough to give the Bombers a narrow series win.  

Albert was 9 for 19 with a bunch of HRs. The usual.
Gm 1: Kids win 10-6 thanks to early HRs from Ramirez, Belliard, and Burrell
Gm 2: Pujols 8th-inning HR gives Bombers 8-7 win
Gm 3: Beltran 4 hits, Soria 2-inning save as Whiz Kids take it, 8-6
Gm 4: Pelfry 7 strong innings, Jeter, Pujols HR as Bombers tie series with 6-2 win
Gm 5: Bombers crush Kids 11-4, 2 more HRs for Pujols.


Ungulates 1 at Dream 3
Game 1:  Adrian Gonzalez homer breaks deadlock in bottom of the sixth for 5-4 Dream victory.
Game 2:  Arrickdale strands Pence on 3rd with 1 out in 9th for identical score.
Game 3:  Tejeda wild pitch in 14th scores Sandoval for Ungulate triumph.
Game 4:  Adrian Gonzalez 2nd HR of the game wins it in bottom of the 10th for Dream.


Zips 2 at Dream 2
gm 1 Zips 11-2 upton 2 hrs holiday 3 rbi
gm 2 dream 6-3 hamilton 2 hrs
gm 3 dream 9-4 hawpe hr 3 rbi shields 7 k's
gm 4 Zips 6-2 berkman 3-4 hr 3 rbi


Zips 2 at ponies 2
gm1 Zips 13-7 utley hr 4 rbi
gm 2 ponies 11-10 ina slugfest ponies slug 4 hr and hang on for win
gm 3 Zips 4-1 garza 8 inn 1 run howard 3 run hr
gm 4 ponies4-3 old man mussina limits Zips to 6 hits


Zips 3 at titans 1
gm 1 titans 7-2 lilly 11k's delgado hr
gm 2 Zips 5-1 kazmir 7 inn 1 hit
gm 3 Zips 9-5 Zips slug 4 hrs titans slam 3
gm 4 Zips 5-2 meche 8 inn 2 run berkman 2 hr


Zips 2 at cubs 2
gm 1 Zips 10-4 holiday 3 rbi
gm 2 Zips 5-4 Zips score 2 in ninth to win exciting game
gm 3 cubs 9-3 nolasco 14 k's cubs 16 hits
gm 4 cubs 7-2 saunders 3 hitter 13 more hits for cubs


Baseball  1 at  Huskers  3


Icons 3 at Comets 1
#1 Comets 4 - Icons 1: Hamels and Franklin combine on a 4 hit, 0 walk shutdown of the Icons. Ordonez' 3 run shot in 3rd broke a 1-1 tie and provided the margin of victory;
#2 Icons 5 - Comets 4: Icons score all their runs in the 6th lead by 2 run Wells 1B. Scherzer, Blevins, Ramirez and Wagner threw 2.2 innings of 1 hit, 0 walk relief;
#3 Icons 13 - Comets 5: Every Icons starter and sub got a hit in the 18 hit battering of Maholm and 5 relievers. Guzman and Soto each had 3 hits;
#4 Icons 13 - Comets 6: Hairston went 4-4 and 3 other Icons had 3 hits each in the 21 hit salute barrage against Zito and company. Ordonez went 4-5 for the Comets with a HR and 4 RBI.


Mavs 3  at Hurricanes 1
Game 1:  Mavs 6  Hurricanes 5
The Mavs pound out 15 hits and come back from a 5-1 deficit to take game 1.
Game 2:  Hurricanes 7  Mavs 6
Gabe Gross has 2 hits and a homer to lead the Hurricanes.  The Mavs score 3 in the 9th to make it close, but Houston Street saves the game.
Game 3:  Mavs 4  Hurricanes 1
Ubaldo Jimenez has a great start and the bullpen preserves the win.  Gabe Gross homers again for the Hurricanes.
Game 4:  Mavs 10  Hurricanes 8
This was a crazy game.   With the Mavs up 3-0, Jessie Litsch (who had only walked 16 batters in 96 innings) walks 5 batters in one inning!  The Hurricanes tie the game and then take the lead 7-3 only to see the Mavs come back with 6 runs in the 7th.  The Hurricanes battle for a run in the 9th, but the Mavs hold on and take the series.


A's 2 at Mavs 3
 #1 A's 5 Mavs 4 - Davis and Ankiel HR; Sizemore HR in 8th makes A's sweat
#2 A's 4 Mavs 3 - Ellsbury HR in 12th vs Nathan for W
#3 Mavs 6 A's 5 - Marcum CG, Mavs pound 12 H lead for Cabrera 3 for 4
#4 Mavs 7 A's 4 - Baker 3 R HR in 6 run 5th key hit of game
#5 Mavs 10 A's 8 - Fontenot 2 R walkoff HR in 9th for series victory; Mavs hit 5 hr


Whiz Kids 2 at Revival 2
Gm 1:  Sabathia 6 /13 shutout innings; Revival win 3-0
Gm 2:  Kids win 4-2; Heath Bell 2+ hitless innings in relief for save
Gm 3: Manny Parra of all people a CG, 4-hitter; Kids blast 20 hits and win 14-2
Gm 4:  Cody Ross 3-run HR turns late deficit into 6-4 Revival win


Sluggers 5 at Comets 0
Game 1 - Sluggers 8 Comets 2 - Teixeira and Wright each hit homers.
Game 2 - Sluggers 2 Comets 1 - Kapler homers and Church has 2 hits.
Game 3 - Sluggers 10 Comets 3 - Teixeira has 3 hits including 2 HR's and 6 RBI's.
Game 4 - Sluggers 5 Comets 0 - Santana throws a 4 hit shutout.  Wright has 3 hits including a homer and 3 RBI's.
Game 5 - Sluggers 16 Comets 1 - Kapler has a HR and 5 RBI's.  Ibanez drives in 4 runs, Rowand has 3 hits and Teixeira hits a HR.


Icons 2 at Sluggers 2
#1 Icons 6 - Sluggers 2: Ramirez retires 4 straight batters to save game for Beckett;
#2 Sluggers 8 - Icons 0: Kuroda scatters 7 hits without a walk for CG win. Ibanez and Church go deep;
#3 Icons 6 - Sluggers 0: Olsen walks 3 and gives up only 4 hits in CG shutout. Icons break 1-0 game wide open in 9th with 5 runs highlighted by 2 run single by Mientkiewicz;
#4 Sluggers 3 - Icons 2: Soto ties game in 9th with solo HR but Wagner falters in 9th giving up a leadoff 1B to Wright, plunking Church with an inside fastball, and then hanging a slider to Rowand who rapped it to CF for the game winning hit. Wood took the win after striking out 2 in the 9th after relieving Devine. 



Ungulates 2 at Titans 2
Game 1:  Perkins and Lyon twirl 5-hit shutout for 1-0 Birmingham victory.
Game 2:  Vlad's 3-run homer in the 6th powers Titans to 5-4 win.
Game 3:  Lyon issues 3 9th inning walks to blow game 3-2.
Game 4:  Sandoval's pinch bases-loaded double leads Arrickdale 8-1 for a split.


Mavs 3  at Blackjacks 1
Game 1:  Blackjacks 5  Mavs 3
Ryan Zimmerman goes 4-5 and Jair Jurrjens  throws a complete game to lead the Blackjacks.
Game 2:  Mavs 4  Blackjacks 1
A 3 run homer in the 7th by Adam LaRoche broke open a scoreless game.  Halladay and Litsch both pitched well.
Game 3:  Mavs 5  Blackjacks 3
The Mavs scored 5 runs in the 6th to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Game 4:  Mavs 12  Blackjacks 0
Marcum goes the distance for the Mavs while the hitters rack up 12 hits.


Icons 3 at Huskers 1
#1 Icons 5 - Huskers 2: Olsen goes the distance for 7 hitter while Span notches 3 hits;
#2 Icons 8 - Huskers 2: Sheets throws CG 5 hitter with 0 walks and 8 K's. Garko gets 3 of 16 Icons hits;
#3 Icons 9 - Huskers 5: Icons score 4 in 9th after 2 outs to break 5-5 tie.  Mientkiewicz and Pedroia walked preceding Damon's GW single. Glaus sent fans to exits with monster 3 run blast off loser Chris Perez;
#4 Huskers 4 - Icons 2: Back-back HR's by Hardy and Willingham in 7th rocked Beckett. Duaner Sanchez pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings for the win as Chris Perez rebounds for the save.


Icons 2 at Mavs 2
#1 Mavs 15 - Icons 4: 19 hits paced by 4 by Jose Reyes (.526 in series) and 3 by Grady Sizemore makes mincemeat of Burnett. Marcum went the disatnce scattering 7 hits and 3 walks to go along with 9 K's;
#2 Mavs 7 - Icons 1: 5 run 4th against Beckett carries Cain to win despite 6 hits and 6 walks in 7.2 innings. 2 hits each for Reyes, Mauer, and Crawford;
#3 Icons 6 - Mavs 1: Gourmet CG 5 hit, 0 walk performance by Cook. 2 hits, 3 RBI by Guzman paces win;
#4 Icons 3 - Mavs 1: Injured Olsen denied the victory as 4 Icons pitchers carry shutout into 9th where Wagner faltered but earned the save for Scherzer. Wells (.357 in series) hit 2nd HR of series.








We play for this prize


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Managers may trade draft picks for the next free agent draft only.  As soon as the free agent draft begins, picks for the subsequent draft may be traded.  A manager may trade as many of his draft picks as he wishes, but must have at least six draft picks at all times, two of which must be in the fourth round or higher. 


Guys. Please submit your trades in the following format. Make it easier for your old webmaster.
Team nickname (not city) trades player X, player Y to Team for Player Z + Team's #whatever pick.

=======================================================================





....articles written or found by Eric "the Comet" Johns...
















articles by Mark L






                                                                                                                   

STEPPING TO THE PLATE



Poll: Most MLB players would not want to play for Piniella, Guillen
Player vote labels Piniella, Guillen as worst bosses

By Paul Sullivan and Mark Gonzales

Chicago Tribune reporters

July 1, 2009
 

Lou Piniella was voted the manager major-league players would least like to play for while Ozzie Guillen ranked second, according to a Sports Illustrated poll.

Piniella and Guillen, both of whom have World Series rings as managers, took the poll results with a grain of salt.

"I take that as a compliment," Piniella said. "We demand things and we want to win. There are some pretty good names on that list."

Guillen said he doesn't blame the players for voting him so high.

"What you see out there is [different than what] you may see inside the clubhouse," he said. "They got Tony La Russa [ranked] No. 3? This guy has won a couple of times, no? Well, that's peoples' opinion. I respect that. As long as I'm No. 1 with the White Sox, that's all I really care about."

Sports Illustrated correspondents in every major-league city interviewed 380 players in May for the poll, though many players declined to answer that question. SI did not break down the exact totals but listed Piniella first with 26 percent of the vote, followed by Guillen at 21 percent. St. Louis' La Russa (10 percent), the Dodgers' Joe Torre (4 percent), and Cleveland's Eric Wedge (4 percent) rounded out the top five. Players could not vote for their managers.

Piniella and Guillen have much in common, including fiery personalities and honest dealings with their players. But not everyone can handle playing for them, as evidenced by the departures of players such as Michael Barrett, Scott Eyre, Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera.

Guillen said some players may not like "old-school baseball" managers like him and Piniella.

"They don't like letting the players know what you feel," he said. "Maybe they worry about what you're going to say in the newspaper. But in the meantime, you can ask any of my players, and let's say 59 percent are going to say they like me. I won't say 100 percent will say they like me, but 59 percent is enough for me to feel good enough. To play for me you have to have some [intestinal fortitude]. It's not easy. I expect to win every day, and that's the way it is."

Though they were interviewed a couple hundred miles apart at almost the exact same time, Piniella basically echoed Guillen's comments.

"You can ask the players that have played for me," Piniella said. "I think they have fun. We let 'em play. I'm in this business to win."

Piniella is reputed to be especially tough on his pitchers, though he disputed that notion.

"I get along with pitchers," he said. "Look, what do I know how people voted or don't vote? I'm proud of my record and I'm appreciative of the players who played for me to attain that record. That's the truth.

"If some of them don't want to play for me, they can stay where they're at. I don't need 'em."

Added Guillen: "In sports you have to be a bad boy. Everyone remembers Billy Martin."




OMAR FIDDLES WHILE METS BURN

article from New York Post





If you'd care to write an article about baseball, strat, and/or the CBL please send it to me and I'll put it up in this section.







How's your club doing here at the season's midpoint?

POLL

Compared to what you expected before the season began, how is YOUR team doing?
Much better than expected.
A bit better than expected.
Pretty much as expected.
Somewhat below what I expected.
Far below what I expected.
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com







from MLBtraderumors.com

Indians Prospect Faked Identity

Ben Badler at Baseball America reports that Indians shortstop Jose Osoria falsified his age and identity. He is 20 years old, not 17, and his real name is Wally Bryan.

Bryan, whom Baseball America ranked as the Indians' No. 30 prospect this season, is "one of many players MLB has been investigating" for this type of misrepresentation. According to Badler, "industry insiders believe the number of players under suspicion is at least 70 and expect several other Dominican signings to be caught soon as well."

This issue came to light in February, when Carlos Alvarez (aka Esmailyn Gonzales) was found to have lied about his age and identity.

Bryan has not been suspended and will remain in the Indians organization.
=========================
And in the true spirit of coming clean I guess I should admit that I am really 64 year old Pancho Guerrero from Ponce, PR.  But I intend to stay in the CBL and (like Omar Minaya) only acquire Hispanic players.

  







Poll results.  
The number in parentheses  is how many votes each team got from the CBL managers.


Phila (11) Chi Cubs (12) LA Dodgers (10) Boston (11) Minnesota (5) LA Angels (11)
NY Mets (9) NY Yankees (7)




BLOCK DATES
Block 1 - April 2nd to May 18th, 2009
Block 2 - May 21st to July 1st, 2009
Block 3 - July 4th to August 18th, 2009
Block 4 - August 22nd to September 30th, 2009
Playoffs start the first week of October




HERE'S OUR DIVISION STRUCTURE FOR

CBL 2009







Please send along interesting boxscores you think
our members will enjoy seeing.

CHECK OUT THIS 18 INNING MARATHON





                                                                                         




MY SMARTASS SON
Jordan finally got around to viewing the pictures of the Chicago Division
guys plus Mitch and myself playing games.

His email to me simply stated:

"Thanks, Dad.  Seeing you guys together makes me feel so young."











FROM THE IRONIC TIMES








In case you were wondering about our vote in the poll.  I voted that the Mitts are doing MUCH BETTER than expected.  At this point we expected to be somewhere within two games of the Eastern division lead.  A lead of 3 to 5 games would have been somewhat better than expected, but 12 games? Wow......The Reds activated Edwin Encarnacion on Friday.  Guess all my troubles for 2010 are over....Who's trying harder to NOT win its division, the Phils or the Mets?......I'm starting to think the Nick Evans, despite his perpetual deer-in-the-headlights look, may actually have a future as a ballplayer.....The talk has already started about Citifield's fences being moved in for next season. Got to.......Nice to see Peter Moylan working his way back to respectable.  Next project: BJ Ryan.....I give credit to the Seattle GM for trusting in Russell Branyan.  Nice payoff for the GM, the player, and the Mitts.....Speaking of Seattle I always thought it rained every day there.  What's the difference - it friggin rains every day here now......Considering how cool Strat-o-polooza was this year could you imagine if we could ever put 10 to 15 of us together for a long weekend.  Dream come true....As much as I enjoyed seeing Carl's mini-Cooperstown for the second time it was particularly nice to see Mitch's reaction to it.  Unlike me, Mitch is a bit of a collector himself and apparently collectors are a different breed.  Mitch and Carl were like birds of a feather.....Mitts' wins leader is the most unlikely one, Jamie Moyer (10-2  3.87).....Two teams having much tougher going than I would have expected are the Dream and the Sluggers.  Meanwhile the Rogues seem to be putting up a particularly good season.....I've heard some trade rumors involving Boston perhaps trading Masterson.  I'm OK with the talk of his going to Cleveland but not to Colorado....Tense weekend for my son Brandon, a Mets fan, and his wife, Robyn, a Phillies fan.  It didn't bother me to marry outside the religion but no way could I ever have married a Yankees fan.



Mitts' Branyan Goes Yard And A Half

Branyan punctuates win with long blast
Slugger hits restaurant in center field at Yankee Stadium

By Jim Street / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- After going nearly two games without hitting a ball between the white lines at Yankee Stadium, Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan hit one where no else has gone.

Branyan took one of his husky swings at the first pitch he saw from right-handed reliever Alfredo Aceves in the ninth inning of the Mariners' 8-4 win over the Yankees on Thursday night and drove the ball majestically to straightaway center field.

It had distance, it had height and it caromed off the dark glass protecting the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, located above Monument Park, becoming the first player to hit the structure in the first season of the new stadium.

The Yankees apparently don't measure opponent's home runs, but this was a long one.

"That was majestic," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "[Alex Rodriguez's] was measured at 439 feet and this one went way beyond that one."

It was the 20th home run of the season for Branyan, tying his previous single-season high in 2001.

"He's a very good hitter," Aceves said, "but we didn't expect that. He hit the ball and that was it. It's a credit to him."

Branyan said the full-count walk he coaxed out of left-handed starter CC Sabathia in the sixth inning, which ended a streak of seven consecutive strikeouts, put him in a good frame of mind heading into his final at-bat.

"I was focused on seeing the ball," Branyan said. "It was a good pitch to hit."



MITTS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT 2010

So far the 2009 season is going great for the MidHudson Mitts.  We expect to be the #1 or #2 seed going into the playoffs in a few months.  Whether we can make it through is a matter of luck.  We all know that 7-game series are dicey.  So actually I'm not that worried about that since there is so little I can do about the luck of the dice.

But what I can do and am doing is planning a strategy for the upcoming offseason.  It's based on the assumption that the Mitts have almost no chance of being a playoff team.  The pitching staff is in a shambles -  Maddux retired,  Moyer awful,  Webb seriously injured, and Masterson used mostly as a setup RP rather than a rotation starter.  Add to that to no 1st round pick and it's silly to think that a playoff caliber starting staff is possible in '10.   Some of the relievers are coming around which is helpful only in that we may not have to spend many of our limited picks taking on bullpen help.

Rollins is having a dreadful season and Ludwick is barely mediocre.  The lineup will be one putting up an average number of runs at best.

So no playoffs for this team.

But there is work to be done and a few chips with which to do it.  Unlike the Ungulates of a couple of years ago the Mitts are not saddled with numerous aging stars.  A core of young to early-thirties guys figure to weather the one year storm: Youkilis, Markakis, Hudson, Salty, and even Marlon Byrd figure to stick around.

What may be our most valuable trade chip is Russell Branyan who just continues to hit.  His OPS remains over 1000.  He's a veteran player undoubtedly having a career year.  I have to think he could push a contender three or four wins forward.  We will probably shop him and hope to bring in two or three future value items, be it draft picks or prospects.  The tough call will be whether to try and move him before or after our November draft.

Other people who could be attractive are RH hitters Jonny Gomes and Andruw Jones.  Gomes may not get to the critical 200 AB mark but if he does he'll probably offer his typical (forgetting his deplorable 2008) card of RF-4, LF-4,  1000+ OPS vs LHP.   He's made us a great DH vs LHP several times and could do so for another team next CBL season.

I'm thinking that Andruw will get a LF-3 (and RF 3 or 4) and will have a solid offensive card but light on ABs.   I'm glad we held on to him when the best we were offered for him was a 7th round pick.  He'll likely be worth more than that on the market in a few months.

So that's the plan.  Subject to change without notice.









 MITTS TRADES



The members of the CBL will never forget our friend and charter member Mac McConchie


Connections to some useful sites:


CBL CHAT ROOM

Rumors-Pro Sports Daily
MLB Trade Rumors
Strat Fan Forum - the SOM Online Community

Strat-o-Sphere
John Skilton's Baseball Links Page
SOMWORLD
Gary's Strat-o-matic Page
Baseball Reference.com
article on programming SuperHal
Online Ballparks Museum

Lamanna's Baseball Bulletin
USA Today Baseball
Sporting News Baseball

Strat-O-Matic Game Company


Free viewer for Microsoft Excel files
Fox It Reader (reads pdf files)
Adobe Acrobat Reader (reads pdf files)



CBL WEBMASTER CAN BE REACHED AT

dr4sight@hvi.net

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