As the Scoresheet season hits the one hundred game plus marker, the time is right for a quick reflection. And so we stare in the rear views, mindful that objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.
These are the composite standings over the last five years in the Shoeless Joe League, by average wins per season:
AVG TOTAL TEAM WINS WINS % Moline 72 362 .674 Kansas City 70 352 .655 Baltimore/New York 63 316 .588 Florida 61 307 .572 Harrisburg 58 289 .538 Leones/Milwaukee 51 253 .471 Chicago/Miami Flamingos 49 246 .458 Pennsylvania/Virginia 48 240 .447 Savannah 47 235 .438 Bird-In-Hand 45 224 .417 St. Louis 44 219 .408 Caracas/Ft. Lauderdale 36 180 .335
If Py'gs Could Fly...Bill James's application of Pythagorean Theory argues that Runs Squared over Runs Squared and Opponent's Runs Squared [R*R/R*R + OR*OR] will indicate the expected winning percentage of a team over the course of a season.through 88 games TEAM R OR Py'g Theory % Moline 569 358 .716 Baltimore 477 424 .559 Harrisburg 524 482 .542 Pennsylvania 523 497 .525 Bird In Hand 438 473 .462 Chicago 404 583 .324 Kansas City 546 421 .627 Florida 482 426 .561 Miami 488 463 .526 Savannah 424 500 .418 St. Louis 407 491 .407 Caracas 338 502 .312
The marker of a team's success is also in its castoffs. Thus an All-Star team of former Moline and Kansas City ballplayers.The dominance of Whirls on this list speaks to the fickle fortune of many trades, but also to the quality of personnel that the Whirlwind have dealt. "Javy turned out real good, but so did Kendall, so I'm okay with that one," said KC GM Nils Samuels. "That Kent deal, though, sucks. We thought that Brent Gates would replace him. We were wrong." Likewise, when Ruben Rivera was traded for Derek Jeter, both were starring equally in Columbus. "We got lucky on that one," said Moline GM Rolf Samuels. "And the McGwire trade got us Palmeiro." Floyd was traded for Kevin Brown, so Moline came out ahead in that trade as well. If Moline has won because of its trades, Kansas City has often won despite them.
BA SA OBA G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E c Javy Lopez, KC .276 .453 .327 71 254 28 70 115 12 0 11 41 18 48 0 0 4 1b Mark McGwire, Mol .304 .756 .483 68 217 58 66 164 8 0 30 68 73 74 1 0 1 2b Jeff Kent, KC .354 .682 .436 80 308 67 109 210 26 3 23 80 46 58 7 3 7 3b Phil Nevin, Mol .274 .508 .336 79 303 48 83 154 18 1 17 61 29 72 1 0 15 ss Derek Jeter, KC .324 .469 .375 65 275 52 89 129 15 2 7 31 20 41 16 1 10 of Sammy Sosa, KC .306 .569 .392 82 320 56 98 182 19 1 21 69 47 89 6 3 5 Ben Grieve, KC .302 .528 .361 81 318 52 96 168 22 1 16 65 30 68 2 0 2 Cliff Floyd, Mol .274 .500 .361 78 274 50 75 137 17 0 15 54 34 54 16 2 6 PITCHERS W- L ERA BA G GS CG GF SH SV IP H R ER HR BB SO Baldwin, KC 11- 3 3.79 .246 16 16 2 0 1 0 107.0 99 47 45 18 35 70 Pettitte, KC 8- 4 4.40 .263 14 14 2 0 1 0 88.0 91 48 43 12 36 48 Sele, KC 10- 3 4.21 .265 17 17 1 0 1 0 107.0 108 53 50 8 37 65
Better to Be Lucky...
through June 27, Week 12 Team 1-Run and 2-Run Other Games Moline 14 - 12 41 - 8 Harrisburg 21 - 14 24 - 16 Pennsylvania 17 - 12 24 - 22 Baltimore 14 - 18 25 - 18 Bird In Hand 19 - 17 17 - 22 Chicago 14 - 18 9 - 34 Kansas City 21 - 12 29 - 13 Miami 17 - 14 24 - 20 Florida 17 - 23 20 - 15 St. Louis 13 - 18 19 - 25 Savannah 18 - 19 13 - 25 Caracas 13 - 21 7 - 34Results over the last six weeks, May 14- June 24 Northern Southern
Team W L PCT GB Team W L PCT GB Moline 31 6 .838 -- Kansas City 24 13 .649 -- Baltimore 21 16 .568 10 St. Louis 19 18 .515 5 Bird In Hand 21 16 .568 10 Florida 16 21 .432 8 Pennsylvania 21 16 .568 10 Savannah 15 22 .405 9 Harrisburg 16 21 .432 15 Miami 14 23 .378 10 Chicago 14 23 .378 17 Caracas 10 27 .270 14
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