Midseason report

Overall standings

1. VC Appraisers (Dave-Kevin) 2632
2. Holliday Road (Bill-Cliff) 2542
3. Ubaldo Spots (Rich) 2530
4. Triple-A's (Ken) 2524
4. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 2524
6. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 2478
7. Gladstone Goatwhisperers (Arik) 2460
8. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 2287
9. Misfits (Reid) 2279
10. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 2157

The VC Appraisers continue to nurse a comfortable lead, thanks to three 200+ point weeks in four from Weeks 3 to 6. They have five 200+ weeks in total, but none since Week 11. Yet they still hold a 90-point lead because none of the challengers have been able to sustain enough constant pressure.

Yet from places No. 2 to No. 7, things are very competitive. The Ubaldo Spots are 102 point back. The Triple-A's and Arbitration Losers are 108 points off the pace. Buoyed by a huge 240-point week last week, the Pickle Bugs moved within 154 points of the top spot, while the Goatwhisperers are still reeling from a 93-point week in Week 14. They're 172 points back.

Pitch You Blockhead and Misfits are still looking for a second-half spark, while Chico's Chuggers are trying to avoid finished dead last for a second consecutive season.

Head to Head

While the overall standings hasn't seen a lead change in weeks, the head-to-head battle is going right down to the wire.

Three weeks left in the head-to-head regular season, and no one has clinched anything.

The three teams with 9-6 records (VC Appraisers, Goatwhisperers and Holliday Road) are in good position to advance to the playoffs. It's not impossible, but very hard to imagine a 9-9 team not moving on to the postseason.

The Arbitration Losers and Pitch You Blockhead (8-7) can seriously improve their chances with a win this week, especially PYB because their overall standing is not so hot (overall points is a head-to-head tiebreaker).

The four 7-8 teams (Triple-A's, Pickle Bugs, Misfits and Ubaldo Spots) won't be eliminated with one more loss, but it doesn't help. It's especially true for the Misfits because their low overall standings. The Misfits meet Ubaldo Spots in Week 16, so (barring a tie) one team will be 7-9 after Week 16.

And then there's Chico's Chuggers, who need three wins and a whole lot of help.