Playoffs Week 1: Saturday's report

Despite the best efforts of Jayson Werth (center), this
 season is turning out to be a "Tragedy" for the Nationals.

STUDS: Matt Holliday (AL) hit a 3-run homer and a solo homer. Zack Greinke (Fish) scored a run, got the win and struck out 7 in 6.1 shutout innings. Although he made an error, Jayson Werth (LGM) made up for it with a homer, 2 singles, 3 RBIs and 3 runs.

DUDS: Pedro Alvarez (LGM) made 2 errors, went 0 for 5 and got spiked in the hand by Dexter Fowler. Dan Uggla (Gonzo) went 0 for 3 with 2 Ks and an error, but his biceps looked really good.

TRANSACTION: Manwaring a Muumuu places OF/DH (the DH stands for Dodger hater) Carlos Quentin on the DL and acquires OF/1B Darin Ruf.

Head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 150, Testosteraun Braun 99
Lawyers, Guns & Money 140, Pitch You Blockhead 118
Going Going Gonzo 125, Misfits 118
Manwaring a Muumuu 153, Rookies 123
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (149), Fresh Fish (103)

Playoffs Week 1: Friday's report

We have a new leader in the clubhouse
for worst FBLG score of the year: -10.

STUDS: Wilin Rosario (Gonzo) was a triple short of the cycle, scored 2 runs and drove in 4. Mark Ellis (LGM) had a triple, 2 singles, 2 runs and 1 RBI. Joey Votto (Muumuu) tripled, singled, drove in 2 and scored twice. Michael Cuddyer (Muumuu) singled twice, drove in 3, scored 2 runs and stole a base. Brandon Beachy (Rookies) got the win and struck out 6 in 8 shutout innings. Bronson Arroyo (Rookies) singled and allowed 1 run while striking out 7 in a 7-inning win. Dan Haren (PYB) — seriously, Haren made the Studs list — "drove" in a run with a bases-loaded walk, allowed 2 runs and struck out 7 in a 7-inning victory.

DUDS: Francisco Liriano (Misfits) ended an impressive run of pitchers dominating the Rockies. Liriano allowed 10 runs and struck out only 1 batter in 2.1 innings. He also took the loss (no kidding). Carlos Gomez (Rookies) singled, stole a base and scored twice — but threw it all away with 2 errors.

Head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 118, Testosteraun Braun 82
Lawyers, Guns & Money 129, Pitch You Blockhead 103
Misfits 98, Going Going Gonzo 91
Manwaring a Muumuu 125, Rookies 112
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (133), Fresh Fish (74)

Playoffs Week 1: Thursday's report

Welcome to FBLG, Christian Yelich.

STUDS: Tim Lincecum (PYB) got the win and struck out 8 in 8 shutout innings. Hyun-jin Ryu (LGM) struck out 7 and allowed an unearned run in a 7-inning win. A.J. Ellis (SSS) hit a 3-run homer, singled and scored 2 runs. Christian Yelich (PYB) hit a 2-run homer, singled twice and scored 2 runs.

DUDS: Jeff Samardzija (Gonzo) struck out 3 and allowed 9 runs in a 3.1-inning loss. Andre Ethier (SSS) went 0 for 4 with a run and an error (seriously, look for a replay of the error — it's worth it). Allen Craig (AL) went 0 for 4 with 3 whiffs.

TRANSACTION: Going Going Gonzo places SP Tyler Chatwood on the DL and acquires Alex Wood to replace him in the rotation.

Head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 107, Testosteraun Braun 66
Lawyers, Guns & Money 86, Pitch You Blockhead 80
Misfits 83, Going Going Gonzo 41
Manwaring a Muumuu 101, Rookies 59
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (91), Fresh Fish (52)

Playoffs Week 1: Wednesday's report

How come Martin Prado hits better when he's on Tim's team?

STUDS: Martin Prado (AL) homered, doubled, singled twice, drove in 4 and scored twice. One of those singles brought in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning. Andre Ethier (SSS) was a homer short of the cycle, drove in 4 and scored twice. Matt Harvey (Muumuu) became the latest pitcher to dominate the Rockies, striking out 6 in a shutout. Justin Upton (SSS) was a triple short of the cycle and drove in 3 runs. Carl Crawford (Muumuu) had 3 singles, a double, a steal, 2 runs and an RBI; he also knocked Shelby Miller out of the game after two pitches by lining one off Miller's elbow. Hey, that's your FBLG teammate, Crawford!

DUDS: Plenty of big-name players posted 0-fers, including Ryan Zimmerman, Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence, Brian McCann, Troy Tulowitzki and Starling Marte.

Head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 85, Testosteraun Braun 61
Lawyers, Guns & Money 56, Pitch You Blockhead 39
Misfits 74, Going Going Gonzo 40
Manwaring a Muumuu 91, Rookies 53
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (77), Fresh Fish (47)

Playoffs Week 1: Tuesday's report

This guy could probably post a 17-point start against the
Giants these days.

STUDS: Chase Utley (Misfits) tripled, singled twice, drove in 2 and scored 2 runs. Wily Peralta (Misfits) singled and allowed 1 run while striking out 6 in a 6.1-inning win in San Francisco. A trio of pitchers posted 16-point victories: Julio Teheran (Braun) doubled and allowed 1 run while striking out 4 in 6 innings; Wade Miley (AL) allowed 1 run and struck out 5 in 7 innings; and Mat Latos (Muumuu) struck out 3 in 7 shutout innings.

DUDS: Chris Johnson (Rookies) went 0 for 4 with an error. Buster Posey (Muumuu) went 1 for 3 with an error.

TRANSACTIONS: Manwaring a Muumuu activates OF Domonic Brown and moves Denard Span to his rightful spot on the bench. Because of misleading information about OF Carlos Gonzalez going on the DL, Pitch You Blockhead actually moves Gonzalez to the bench, not the DL, and releases 1B Logan Morrison.

Head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 43, Testosteraun Braun 34
Lawyers, Guns & Money 33, Pitch You Blockhead 18
Misfits 59, Going Going Gonzo 24
Manwaring a Muumuu 43, Rookies 31
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (31), Fresh Fish (32)

Playoffs Week 1: Monday's report

Most NL teams didn't play Monday. These guys will spend the
next 45 minutes telling you why off days are bad for baseball.

STUDS: Justin Upton (SSS) had a homer, 2 singles, 2 runs and a steal. Zack Greinke (Fish) had an RBI single and allowed 2 runs while striking out 4 in a 6.1-inning win as the Dodgers won their 15th in a row on the road.

DUDS: Brian McCann (Misfits) went 0 for 4 with 2 Ks and left 5 men on base. Marco Scutaro (Rookies) went 0 for 5 with a strikeout and left 4 men on base.

Head-to-head scores

Testosteraun Braun 8, Arbitration Losers 7
Pitch You Blockhead 6, Lawyers, Guns & Money 3
Misfits 14, Going Going Gonzo 3
Rookies 18, Manwaring a Muumuu 10
Consolation round bound: Silver State Sagebrushers (16), Fresh Fish (15)

Week 19 Transactions and Lineups

Players acquired

Going Going Gonzo sign OF David DeJesus, SP Tyler Chatwood and RP Huston Street (Bonus moves #1, 2 and 3 for bench players being stolen).

Pitch You Blockhead sign OF Christian Yelich (August move #1).

Rookies sign SP Brandon Beachy (August move #1) and OF Alexi Amarista (August move #2).

Fresh Fish sign C Devin Mesoraco (August move #1).

Players released

None

Lineup changes

Testosteraun Braun: No changes.

Arbitration Losers: Bench OF Nate Schierholtz and SP Mike Leake; activate OF Gerardo Parra and SP Wade Miley.

Silver State Sagebrushers: No changes.

Going Going Gonzo: Bench OF B.J. Upton; place SP Trevor Cahill and RP Jason Grilli on DL; activate SP Tyler Chatwood, OF David DeJesus and RP Huston Street.

Lawyers Guns and Money: No changes.

Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP Travis Wood; place OF Carlos Gonzalez on DL; activate SP Dan Haren and OF Christian Yelich.

Rookies: Place SP Yovani Gallardo and SS Everth Cabrera on DL; activate SP Brandon Beachy and SS Zach Cozart.

Manwaring a Muumuu: Bench OF Carlos Quentin; activate OF Denard Span.

Misfits: Bench SP Scott Feldman; activate SP Wily Peralta.

Fresh Fish: Place C Miguel Montero on the DL; activate C Devin Mesoraco.

FBLG 2013 Playoff Preview

As if any other image comes to mind with the word "playoffs."

Welcome to the 2013 postseason!

First, a refresher on the playoff format for everyone. Playoff seeds are determined by win-loss record, with overall point total serving as a tiebreaker. So our 2013 playoff seeds look like this:

1. Misfits (14-4)
2. Manwaring a Muumuu (12-6)
3. Testosteraun Braun (11-7, 2921 points)
4. Pitch You Blockhead (11-7, 2767 points)
5. Lawyers, Guns & Money (10-6, 2988 points)
6. Arbitration Losers (10-6, 2947 points)
7. Rookies (7-11)
8. Going Going Gonzo (6-12, 2756 points)
9. Silver State Sagebrushers (6-12, 2615 points)
10. Fresh Fish (3-15)

The bottom two seeds are officially eliminated from championship contention. They can, however, still win the overall points title and/or the consolation championship.

The next two weeks serve as the first round of the playoffs, with the top 2 seeds getting an advantage. The top-seeded Misfits will face Gonzo, and No. 2 Muumuu will face the Rookies. The Misfits and Muumuus need to win only one of the next two weeks to advance, with Gonzo and the Rookies needing a clean sweep to pull off the upset.

Testosteraun Braun, as the No. 3 seed, gets the Arbitration Losers in the first round. And fourth-seeded Pitch You Blockhead faces Lawyers, Guns & Money. The winners of these two matchups will be determined by the best overall score the next two weeks.

Silver State and Fresh Fish continue to accumulate points, but have no head-to-head matchups until week 21. 

After the first round, the semifinalists advance to another two-week face-off, with the top remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed. The best overall score in each matchup will determine the two teams who advance to the championship.  The semifinal winners then face off in a best-of-three championship series, running weeks 23-25. The semifinal losers do the same, with the winner capturing third place.

Starting in week 21, the six teams that don't reach the semifinals play a five-week round robin. The teams with the best records then face off in week 26 (the final week) for the consolation title. Any win-loss record ties will be broken by aggregate points during the consolation round robin only.

All waiver rules remain the same, with noon Monday being the acquisition deadline (or first pitch, if there are NL games before noon). Lineups can be altered until the first NL pitch is thrown on Monday. Trades are still allowed, with any trade happening after September 1st subject to cancellation if  two other owners in the league object. And teams still have three moves each to use in August and September.

Best of luck to everyone!

The Check Swing: Week 18

Well, gang, we made it through our 18-week season. Surprisingly, we had no change in the points race this week. All teams remained in the spots they held after week 17. Stay tuned for a playoff preview to come later today, including a complete rundown of the matchups. (Please note that my previous ramblings about playoff byes was incorrect; I showed a deep misunderstanding of the playoff structure. I think I understand it now.)

1. Manwaring a Muumuu (3,250 points, 12-6, last week 1): The 1-point loss to the Braunies in Week 18 was a heartbreaker, but Muumuu management is more than happy to throw Carlos Quentin under the bus for this one. Quentin scored zero points (or 20 fewer than Eric Young of Testosteraun Braun) in the one game he managed to play a portion of.

2. Misfits (3,061 points, 14-4, last week 2): Ho-hum. Just another 200-point week for Reid's Misfits. This team is firing on all cylinders, and a reliable fourth starter might be the only thing that could keep the Misfits from a championship. Freddie Freeman and Francisco Liriano combined for 69 points in the Misfits' blowout win against the Rookies.

3. Lawyers, Guns & Money (2,988 points, 10-8, last week 3): Yadier Molina's injury was a mere hiccup in another win for Matt's juggernaut. Andrew McCutchen is rolling like he was last year, and Lance Lynn seems to have recovered from his recent struggles. Can Yasiel Puig stop running into walls long enough to lead LGM to a championship?

4. Arbitration Losers (2,947 points, 10-8, last week 4): Cliff Lee scored 7 points, Nate Schierholtz had 4 and Aroldis Chapman had 3, yet Tim's team still scored almost 200 points for the week. If Matt Kemp and Johnny Cueto can return from injury and contribute, the Arbitration Losers could be FBLG winners when all is said and done.

Looks like someone's mad at Scott for
earning a first-round matchup with LGM.

5. Testosteraun Braun (2,921 points, 11-7, last week 5): The Roid Ragers rode big performances from Madison Bumgarner and Julio Teheran to defeat Manwaring a Muumuu. The matchup with Arbitration Losers in the first round of the playoffs will be a challenge, but Bill's team still shows the ability to put up big points.

6. Pitch You Blockhead (2,767 points, 11-7, last week 6): Sixth in points but fourth in the standings, PYB earned a first-round matchup with the surging LGM. Scott's team limped into the playoffs, with Shin-Soo Choo slumping, Carlos Gonzalez injured, and Travis Wood and Jonathan Papelbon getting knocked around. Is Omar Quintanilla the answer at shortstop?

7. Going Going Gonzo (2,756 points, 6-12, last week 7): A shorthanded Gonzo team managed to get past PYB, which was the difference between being the 8 seed in the playoffs and being relegated to the consolation round. The win was impressive considering that the outfield didn't produce (B.J. Upton, Nori Aoki and Jay Bruce combined for 20 points) and Trevor Cahill and Jason Grilli didn't play because of injuries.

8. Rookies (2,657 points, 7-11, last week 8): The Rookies didn't exactly finish the season strongly. The pitchers combined for 11 points in the loss to the Misfits, and 10 of those came from closer Bobby Parnell. If not for Henry's Braves — Jason Heyward scored 29 and Chris Johnson 24 — the Rookies' week would have been a disaster.

9. Silver State Sagebrushers (2,615 points, 6-12, last week 9): It's off to the consolation round for Brian's team, which got burned all season by poor performances from Rickie Weeks, Starlin Castro and Andre Ethier. With Brandon Belt's inconsistent playing time and an injured David Wright, things don't look good for the Sagebrushers.


10. Fresh Fish (2,531 points, 3-15, last week 10): What a difference a year makes for Rick's team, which won the points championship in 2012. The Fish will have their work cut out for them to avoid a last-place finish this year. Injuries to Hanley Ramirez (again) and Miguel Montero won't help. Neither will Todd Frazier, who managed to put up fewer points this week than Montero and Edward Mujica, neither of whom even played.

Week 18: Sunday's report

A.J. Burnett thanks the Colorado hitters for being feeble.

STUDS: Lance Lynn (LGM) got 15 runs of support but didn't need it. He allowed 2 runs and struck out 11 in an 8-inning win A.J. Burnett (Muumuu) became the latest pitcher to make the Studs list by facing the Rockies. He went the distance in a victory, allowing 1 run and striking out 9.

DUDS: Mike Leake (AL) allowed 7 runs and struck out 3 in a 5-inning loss. Todd Frazier (Fish) went 0 for 3 and threw an error in there for good measure.

Final head-to-head scores

Arbitration Losers 191, Silver State Sagebrushers 151
Lawyers, Guns & Money 196, Fresh Fish 130
Misfits 205, Rookies 118
Testosteraun Braun 181, Manwaring a Muumuu 180
Going Going Gonzo 132, Pitch You Blockhead 117