I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about this league and am going to plan to begin making some changes after this season. Initially I planned on doing yearly updates, but started with the weekly updates. They've worked well, but I've been doing this for about seven months now, and gotten through about 14 years, plus I know I'm not getting any faster doing this. We'll see how it goes, and whether it works out well or not. Sometimes half the fun is tweaking things and how they play out, and it definitely takes longer going week to week. I've got some ideas that I'd like to try out though, and see if I can turn this into more of a universe. I'll see if I can strike more of a balance between doing that, moving quicker, and keeping the playoff races close.
But for now, but to the 1884 season and checking in on the divisions -
NBC East
It's another week and another win for the Eagles, who improved to 6-0 with a 6-5 win over the 49'ers.
Hardie Henderson continues to pitch well with a 7 hitter and allowing just 1 earned run. At the plate he was 1-2 on the night to raise his batting average to .474 for the year, which coincidentally leads the NBC.
Bobby Hanson added a big grand slam for the Eagles to take the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh. While the Eagles aren't my team, they are the local team and it's nice to see them have success, and interesting to see how the right player (Henderson) seems to be making such a big difference.
I haven't talked much about them this year, but the Giants can't be rules out after a 6-1 win over the Bears.
Al Atkinson improved to 5-1 on the year with a 3.08 ERA with a two hitter, striking out 4 and walking none. Given the choice to pick one of Atkinson or Henderson I'd pick Henderson, but the difference between the two isn't too significant. With Atkinson the veteran at 23 we could be in for a long Giants-Eagles rivalry in the NBC East. Mark August 3rd on your calendars, as the two teams will face off again in Week 15.
NBC North
With a 9-0 win over the Lions the Vikings improved to 6-0 and now hold a two game lead over the Packers, and three game lead over the Lions.
Rusty Messer doesn't get much respect among scouts, but he went 2-2 with a pair of walks and a run score and is hitting .455 on the year.
Tom Priest added a 3 run homer for the Vikings, who have now outscored opponents 63-21 in six games.
NBC West
Last year it seemed like I talked about the Cardinals every week, but after a 3-1 loss to the Rams the Cardinals are now sitting at .500, despite leading the suddenly weak NBC West. The 40 year old
Scott Young is now 2-3 on the year with a 3.89 ERA, a full run and a half higher than last season.
The West also features a pair of 1-6 teams, the 49'ers and Rams. While three divisions are led by 3-3 teams from top to bottom the NBC West is currently the worst division in baseball.
NBC South
With a 10-6 win over the Falcons the Saints are sending a message that they aren't ready to relinquish their grasp on the NBC South. While
Aaron Jackson struggled on the mound today (9 IP, 13 H, 6 ER), he led the Saints with 3 RBI at the plate.
ABC East
The ABC East is still any teams to win, or likely any team besides the 1-5 Dolphins. The second place Bills won their second straight game this week with an 8-3 win over the Patriots.
Zach Graziano improved to 3-4 on the season and saw his ERA raise to 1.37 after giving up 3 earned runs. While the Bills have four losses, they had some close ones losing 4-3 to the Texans, 4-1 to the Vikings, 2-0 to the Colts, and 3-1 to the Packers.
37 year old
Jimmy Young is off to a fast start (4-7, .571 AVG) after his promotion from AAA. The 37 year old rookie will get a chance to start in right field and help the Jets fend off the Bills.
ABC North
The first place Steelers had a bye week this week.
Kevin Phelan is 4-2 for the Steelers this year and last week struck out 6 and allowed just 5 hits as the Steelers defeated the Ravens 7-1 for their third straight win to move ahead of both the 3-3 Ravens and Bengals.
Jim Britt of the Ravens won for the third time this season, despite 8 Raven errors. Britt allowed 9 hits and 2 earned runs, while
Dave Foutz picked up 3 hits and drove in 3 runs while scoring two more.
ABC West
Things continue to remain very close in the ABC West. There is a three way tie for first with the Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers all at 3-3 on the year, and the Chiefs just one game back.
ABC South
The division leading Jaguars lost just their second game this season when they fell to the Texans 6-5. Sloppy defense played a big part in the loss as the Jags committed 8 errors which led to 6 unearned runs.
The Texans made a trade this week sending catcher
Charlie Bennett to the Cowboys in exchange for minor league starting pitcher
Bill Conway. With
Josh Kerins entrenched at the catcher's position the Texans hope that Conway will be able to succeed 38 year old
Vernon Zeber as the team's starting pitcher.