Mid-Season Report-Over/Under Achievers

Well, I'm back from vacation. California and Hawaii were great. Lots of great weather and poor golf. Back in NY to lousy weather and paying more attention to my teams before grissom97's Clippers completely run away with the AL East division. We are about midway thru season 11, so it's time to take a look at who is doing what in the American League.

AL EAST

The Columbus Clippers have been the cream of the division and the league so far. As of this writing, they sport a league best 56-26 record and hold a commanding 9 game lead over the NY Torrones. Sadly for the rest of the division, they are playing almost exactly at their expected pace(.683 exp/.682 act). They are 2nd in the league in RS(runs scored) and RA(runs against). That's a pretty lethal combo. Let's see if they can keep it up for the remainder of the season. My Torrones are a distant 2nd. With only 11 more RS than RA, we are actually playing well above our Exp(.512) at an Act pct of .573. Looks like we may be fighting it out with the rest of the league for a WC spot. The Norfolk Warheads are currently 4 games over .500 at 43-39(.524), which is slightly below their Exp of .533. This is disappointing for chrishoiles club, because they actually have the lowest RA in the league. The 'O' is not holding up it's end, however, at 2nd least RS in the league. Last year's division champs have a new owner(Korrupt Kings) and a new name, the Boston Greenwell Gators. Unfortunately, they also have a new W-L record. Currently 20 games under .500 at 31-51, their .378 Act pct is about at their .371 Exp, which is not a good thing. At over 130 less RS than RA, a Dover-like rise from last to 1st, as happened last season, does not look likely.

AL NORTH

Goldenboy69's Toronto Toros are making their yearly playoff run. Currently sporting a 1 game lead, they are playing well above their Exp pct(.549). At 50-32, gb69 has his club at an Act pct of .610, 5 games better than their RS/RA would suggest. Good job. The always tough Minnesota Twinkies are right on the Toros tail, but are playing a bit below expectations(.598 Act/6.14 Exp). They have scored the 3rd most runs in the league, so this looks like it will be it's usual battle to the end between these two clubs. The Philadelphis Flyin' Hawaiians are still in the hunt at only 7 games back, but are playing a bit below Exp(.556) at .524 Act. The Wichita Waffle House Posse are bringing up the rear at 12 games back and are a little off their Exp(.480) at .463.

AL SOUTH

Last season's AL champs, the New Orleans Freebeads are leading the South by 4 games. They are right about on target with their expectations(.552 Exp/.561 Act). 2nd place Florida Fire Sailfish are currently playing over their heads. They've given up 69 more runs than they have scored, which should work out to a .427 pct, but jmercer77 has his team playing at a .512 pace, a tribute to his managerial skills(or blind luck!). The Monterrey Cheeseheads are 14 games back with a .390 pct, which is only a bit worse than their .401 Exp. davidbutler9 is one of the most involved owners in the league and he's trying hard, but so far has no seen results commensurate with his efforts. His Louisville Sluggers have given up a league worst 594 runs and have scored the least(369), 37 runs less than the next worst team. Lots of work still to be done here, but david is committed to the job(or maybe he should just be committed!).

AL WEST

The Vancouver Villains and the Boise Browncoats are currently neck & neck for the division lead at 45-37. The Villains are playing slightly over their heads(.549 Act/.529 Exp). Boise, however, is the most underachieving team in the league to this point(.549 Act/.635 Exp). Last years surprise team, the San Jose Giants may be paying the price for some of last seasons big FA signings(Price) and trades(Brown), who are not performing at last season's levels. They are currently4 games under .500 and have scored the 3rd fewest runs in the league. optistrat's Tucson Desert Rats are scoring runs, but are giving up way too many. Even so, their .390 Act is well below their .428 Exp pct.