Week 3 Marquee and Picks

Always the gentlemen, and notable hide-and-seek aficionados, the Whiteford Wicked Aces gave the rest of the WSEM pack a two week head start before coming after them. Now, the champions are finally in the thick of things! And they come out charging with two series on the road against teams off to good starts: Belgian Wiffles (3-1) and Holy Balls (2-2). Aces bats more potent than given credit for. The Aces are one reigning champion that you can count on not to be content and come out slowly. The (all too) common practice of using scare quotes when talking about their 2012 WSEM Championship has the Aces continuing to play to earn their respect due from that title; so, in a non-literal way, the championship run in Whiteford is still ongoing. The core of the roster remains, as well, with a couple part-time players from 2012, Connor Vandecaveye and RJ Fisher, bumped up to the full-time roster. The pitching rotation of Clown Shu winner Austin Bischoff, Evan Bischoff, Justin Hughes, and Joel Crozier that put up a 0.97 team ERA and 1.00 WHIP last season is once again the class of the league. The Aces' offense often gets overshadowed by their pitching. However, that is more praise for the pitching than it is a knock against their hitting. As a team last season their 147 hits, .245 AVG, 71 runs, 18 HR, and 16 doubles were all good enough for fourth best in WSEM. Their .372 OBP was second best in the league. That offense will be needed as they head into the large Holy Grounds. The Holy Balls have allowed 13 runs in four games, third lowest in league. The impressive part: that comes against two of the highest powered offenses in WSEM, the Ducks and El Diablos, who put up 18 and 17 runs respectively in their one other series played. Chris Paquin is quickly establishing himself as an ace. His 1.00 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and 19 K to 7 BB through this stretch is commendable. Paquin's establishing himself as an ace. "This stretch," referring to the first three weeks of the Balls schedule, which feature the three most highly touted teams in the league. The Ducks were nationally ranked #26 in week one, El Diablos were ranked #6 in week two, and while the Aces have slipped due to not playing, they were #8 to start the season. Most preseason predictions penned the Balls as an average, middle of the pack team that would finish around .500; two of the simulated seasons put them at 14-14, while the third had them 13-15; the Balls record on the Spring was also a perfect .500, at 4-4. With everything pointing to "average", and despite what the toll it takes on batting averages, the Balls roster are fans of this tough start: it is a barometer for what they can be in WSEM. Sure, their record currently reads 2-2, but that .500 is far from average. Balls players are on record saying that getting three wins out of these first three weeks would be "fantastic" and "fucking awesome." Well, now they are staring down that opportunity, and the team that stands in there way is the reigning champs. The Aces have every bit as much to gain from this series, though. Going on the road and sweeping the "giant trippers" would be something other elite teams have not been able to do, and could potentially start putting an end to those obnoxious scare quotes.

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The Island		Wiffle Iron				Holy Grounds
5/10		5/11		5/11		5/11
KF	9|23	EL	11|7	WA	9|2	WA	5|5
IS	3|12	BW	3|3	BW	0|0	HB	3|2

Unavailable Pitchers:    1 Game:  M. Brannan (BW),  D. Braden (DU),  Paquin (HB),  C. Phillips (EL),  C. Coffee (KF),  Seto (IS),  DeMaria (WW)    2 Games:  N/A

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After every Picker posted a positive record in Week 1, the second week saw some bolder calls and rougher outcomes for it. Rich showed best in Week 2 going 3-1 for the second consecutive week. Alex and Chris both had a tough go at 1-3, while Buhr drew even at 2-2. This makes Rich the new leader on the season at 6-2; Buhr and Paquin are right behind him at 5-3, and Alex is bringing up the rear, but still in good shape at 4-4. Four picks are on the table again for Week 3 - three series results, one over/under - and once again nobody in the group has identical picks. Will Hurd's newfound devotion for Two for the Money keep him pulling away from the pack, or will we see a new leader emerge? Also, more importantly, will there be ice cream?

	David (5 - 3)	Richard (6 - 2)	Alex (4 - 4)	Chris (5 - 3)
@ Over/Under Total Home Runs: 9.5	Under	Over	Over The brothers go back to back!	Over Hollister gives his Iverson sleeve to a hottie in the stands.
@ Series Result	1 - 1 Split	Wicked Aces Sweep	Wicked Aces Sweep PAQUIN falls asleep in the field.	1 - 1 Split Corbett wears his underwear outside his shorts to distract Austin.
@ Series Result	1 - 1 Split	Wicked Aces Sweep	Wicked Aces Sweep Bischoff perfect game.	Wicked Aces Sweep Two hit shutout for Austin.
@ Series Result	1 - 1 Split	King Friday Sweep Knowing KF has 1 total hit this season, this is a monster pick. Write it down, it's my Buster Brown lock of the week, 'cause the baby needs a new pair of shoes.	Islanders Sweep Murtha and Hewlett both go deep against their old teams.	King Friday Sweep Either an offensive struggle for both teams or massive amounts of runs. Linebrink chases down the ice cream truck.