"Champions." Those scare quotes used by many at the beginning of this season are all but a distant memory at this point. "Hot" is an understatement for the start the Whiteford Wicked Aces are off to this year: 8-0, outscoring opponents by 59 runs, and they have not even played at home yet! This week's series with the Ducks, their big rival in 2012, is the home opener for the Aces at the heavily modified Poolside Park. The left field fence - including the pool - is much deeper, the trees in right have been cleared out, and deep left-center field by the treefort has also been tweaked. This was the premier field in the 2012 season, and it looks to only be getting better.
The pitching prowess they are known for is still in full effect, too. As they did last year, they are running out a large rotation: four different starters have taken the mound in their first eight games, and all have been more than effective. Bortmas has not allowed a run in 16 innings. Austin has given up just 2 runs on 2 hits over 11 innings. Evan Bischoff has now given up runs in a regular season game for the first time, but is still 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA. As a unit, they have 107 K in 42 innings: that is 85% of their outs that have come by strike out. Individually, Austin has recorded 91% of his outs by K, and Bortmas has gotten 96% that way. With their pitching still firing at an elite level and their bats now at that high level, too, the Aces are stronger than ever. The same cannot be said for the Ducks. Coming off winning the Garcia Division pennant in 2012 and making big roster moves in the offseason, most were expecting great things from the Ducks. However, they have struggled to find any consistency in their lineup. Their highly touted pitching staff has an ERA of 6.58, sixth in WSEM, and a WHIP of 3.24, seventh. Their 0.84 K/BB ratio is the worst in the league. They have tried out the 2-2-1 rotation, and it seems to be yet another strike against that system. No active pitcher on the Ducks roster has an ERA below 5.90 or WHIP below 2.90. Only one pitcher has a K/BB ratio better than 1: David Castle at 1.09. They have been better offensively (first in home runs and slugging percentage, while third in average), but it has not been enough to overcome their pitching woes. That trouble has drawn comparison to another hometown team, the Detroit Lions. The amount of talent the Ducks have at their disposal is among the best in the league, however it is yet to equate to success.
To paraphrase everyone's favorite 6 PM Detroit sports talk radio host, this "panic in Quacker Town!" seems very premature. Yes, the Ducks are off to a rough start at 2-6 through eight games. However, that is just two games out of the fourth playoff spot at the moment. They are also one of the few teams with the talent capable of pulling off a 13-7 or 14-6 run over their final twenty games. That could put them in serious contention for one of the playoff spots. It sounds like their players want to play for contenders in important games. Well, in this man's opinion, they have created the perfect scenario for themselves. Every game from here out is important, nay, crucial for the Ducks. Every time they take the field they will be playing for their season. No series should fire them up more to start a turnaround than this one against the Wicked Aces, the team that swept them out of last year's playoffs. The teams had a fierce rivalry last year, and the Aces walked away from it 6-1. They then walked into the Ducks home and, picking up where they left off, took two more games this season. If the Ducks want to be winners, this is the time to show the world that they are. Go into Poolside, play the best team in the league tough, show them you are back, and steal a game - baby steps - or two - a thunderous stomp. |
| Field of Make-Believe | Warriors Den | Holy Grounds | Poolside Park | ||||||||
| 6/2 | 6/2 | 6/2 | 6/2 | 6/2 | 6/2 | ||||||
| BW | 2|0 | EL | 6|11 | BW | 0|0 | EL | 10|23 | IS | 6|1 | DU | 0|0 |
| KF | 4|1 | KF | 0|4 | WW | 5|14 | WW | 0|9 | HB | 4|9 | WA | 3|3 |
| Unavailable Pitchers: 1 Game: M. Brannan (BW), Castle (DU), Paquin (HB), C. Phillips (EL), Bursey (KF), Francis (IS), DeMaria (WW), Bortmas (WA) 2 Games: N/A |
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For the second straight week Chris went 4-1 to lead the Picker pack. This draws even with Rich, who went 3-2, for the overall lead. Both of them hit their locks last week. The Islanders/Belgian split series that gave everyone a strike, but it hurt doubly for David, who busted his lock on that pick. He ended up 2-3 on the week having gone against the grain while El Diablos covered the spread in their series with the Wiffles. Alex didn't play his lock, and fell in the middle at an even 2-2. Busiest week of the season so far with six series on the table. That means a lot of opportunity to move up or down in the rankings. The picks are pretty balanced: three series results, two over/unders, and one point spread. One locks per Picker is still in play, but some are shying away from using it after last week's surprises. |
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 David (9 - 13) |
 Richard (15 - 7) |
 Alex (8 - 13) |
 Chris (15 - 7) |
 @  Series Result |
Belgian Wiffles Sweep Belgian finally starts getting back on track. |
1 - 1 Split King Friday's bats show up for the home opener. |
1 - 1 Split Hewlett with 3 HRs. |
1 - 1 Split Hollister goes ape-shit after snorting a substance we can only assume is powdered sugar. |
@  Over/Under: 43.5 Total K |
Under This is a really tough one since I know Westside has some really good pitchers, but the most they can strike out in 2 games is 30 (unless we go extra innings), leaving 13 for Belgian. |
Under BW pitcher ejected from game for putting maple syrup on the balls. |
Over Way over. By WW alone. |
Over Buhr has a brain fart and tries to steal home. |
 @ Over/Under: 7.5 Total HR |
Over Though the tree may be effective in stopping a few, I'm still going with the Over on this one. Lollio and Skinner aren't the only Diablos that can rake. |
Over As easily as it could be under it could be double. |
Over By EL alone. |
Over Myers pulls himself early from the game to go play on the slide. |
@ Series Result |
El Diablos Sweep I picked a Diablos sweep before and I'm doing it again. |
Blos Sweep |
El Diablos Sweep A Phillips family cycle. |
Warriors Sweep No home runs this series. |
 @  Series Point Spread: WA -8.5 |
Wicked Aces -8.5 Also a tough one even though the point spread was not that close in their first meeting. Ducks still have a lot of talent, but it just hasn't shown up as of late it seems. |
Wicked Aces -8.5 |
Wicked Aces -8.5 Way more than 8.5! |
Wicked Aces -8.5 Roberts gets scared of Austin and goes to hide in the fort. |
 @  Series Result |
1 - 1 Split Islanders are making a good run and with Murtha and Mundel pitching may be able to squeak out a few more wins. |
Holy Balls Sweep Balls plant a fake treasure map in Islanders dugout and blow the concentration of the team. |
Islanders Sweep !!!!!!!! |
Holy Balls Sweep Corbett flies his underwear in place of the Jolly Roger. |
