Week 5: May 3-9

Last week we went this way:

Team	BA	OBP	SLG	ERA	K/9	W/9	HR/9	BIPA
Ballard Killbots	0.247	0.330	0.366	4.03	7.66	1.61	1.01	0.309
BattlestarGrantica	0.255	0.384	0.503	3.49	6.98	2.39	0.73	0.264
Bumpin' Utleys	0.239	0.308	0.376	4.89	8.02	2.93	1.76	0.287
ConfusedCricketClub	0.307	0.374	0.468	3.83	8.04	4.02	0.57	0.313
Halfprice Henchmen	0.247	0.336	0.412	4.15	6.68	2.23	1.63	0.247
Hammarby	0.256	0.321	0.362	3.92	6.53	2.18	0.44	0.271
Honkbal Staars	0.181	0.237	0.299	2.35	9.56	3.19	0.84	0.230
Ichi-Chone FLeelix	0.332	0.400	0.545	2.13	8.84	2.62	0.65	0.270
Mike Sweeny Fan Club	0.213	0.273	0.367	4.70	8.41	3.33	0.98	0.307
Most Valuable Mauers	0.269	0.333	0.434	3.46	6.75	1.21	0.69	0.308
Return of the ATPL	0.251	0.361	0.389	5.64	6.18	3.90	0.81	0.317
Sam Zell is a Douche	0.280	0.355	0.440	2.33	6.83	3.50	0.67	0.253
SLUT Dodgers	0.260	0.330	0.435	4.39	8.46	3.42	0.98	0.309
WalnutCreekWolfpack	0.293	0.369	0.460	3.24	8.64	2.34	1.08	0.277
WestSideConnectGang	0.296	0.345	0.554	3.40	7.87	3.22	0.89	0.305
League Average	0.264	0.339	0.430	3.78	7.74	2.86	0.93	0.288

Good hitting stuff from fL3el1x, Westside Telecom, and Battlestar, AWESOME hitting stuff from Staaaaaaaaars. Good throwing stuff from Douchey, F1e3Lix, and Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaars, AWESOME throwing stuff from ATPL.

Now we are here:

Team	BA	OBP	SLG	ERA	K/9	W/9	HR/9	BIPA
Sam Zell is a Douche	0.292	0.365	0.482	3.02	9.06	3.18	0.81	0.274
WalnutCreekWolfpack	0.280	0.356	0.440	3.33	8.23	2.79	1.01	0.253
Hammarby	0.272	0.329	0.401	3.58	6.54	2.34	0.66	0.279
SLUT Dodgers	0.256	0.350	0.426	3.27	7.67	3.76	0.75	0.273
Honkbal Staars	0.254	0.313	0.412	2.91	9.12	3.91	0.83	0.261
ConfusedCricketClub	0.269	0.337	0.414	3.36	7.09	2.97	0.72	0.267
Most Valuable Mauers	0.269	0.351	0.443	3.39	7.46	2.90	0.73	0.294
WestSideConnectGang	0.275	0.350	0.469	4.68	8.07	3.53	1.33	0.305
Ichi-Chone FLeelix	0.279	0.346	0.440	4.48	7.56	3.59	0.89	0.294
Bumpin' Utleys	0.285	0.349	0.459	3.32	7.13	2.52	0.72	0.282
Return of the ATPL	0.267	0.340	0.465	4.12	7.20	3.57	0.97	0.301
BattlestarGrantica	0.260	0.378	0.477	4.99	7.25	3.19	1.28	0.300
Halfprice Henchmen	0.269	0.352	0.403	3.96	6.33	2.54	1.10	0.271
Mike Sweeny Fan Club	0.253	0.328	0.437	4.14	7.50	3.61	0.90	0.272
Ballard Killbots	0.241	0.333	0.400	4.36	9.16	4.16	0.92	0.314
League Average	0.269	0.345	0.438	3.80	7.69	3.24	0.91	0.283

In case you are interested, here is how our collective season is looking so far relative to past years:

	BA	OBP	SLG	ERA	K/9	W/9	HR/9	BIPA
League 2006	0.283	0.354	0.473	4.10	7.19	2.83	1.05	0.285
League 2007	0.284	0.354	0.465	4.03	7.26	2.91	0.95	0.287
League 2008	0.281	0.350	0.459	3.87	7.42	3.00	0.93	0.284
League 2009	0.278	0.349	0.456	3.90	7.61	3.07	0.99	0.283
League 2010, in prog	0.269	0.345	0.438	3.80	7.69	3.24	0.91	0.283

I sort of doubt we will ever be able to hit .283/.354/.473 as a league again (how did that happen?), but it looks like hitting has been a bit light so far. We can probably expect to gain 10 points in average and 20 points of slugging over the remainder of the season. Pitching is pretty close in line with the exception of being a little happy with the walks (KYLE) and slightly stingy with the HRs.

For historical comparison, here are the last few seasons at the start of the second week of May:

	BA	OBP	SLG	ERA	K/9	W/9	HR/9	BIPA
League 2006	0.279	0.356	0.471	4.17	6.87	2.86	1.06	0.274
League 2007	0.278	0.353	0.451	3.79	7.22	3.16	0.86	0.276
League 2008	0.271	0.345	0.435	3.92	6.81	3.23	0.88	0.275
League 2009	0.274	0.350	0.456	4.24	7.90	3.27	1.03	0.287
League 2010, in prog	0.269	0.345	0.438	3.80	7.69	3.24	0.91	0.283

So far 2008 looks like a pretty great comp, both offensively (almost identical) and with pitching (pretty close, with the exception of the Ks). What jumps out at me is the walk rate. With the exception of freak-show 2006 (featuring 2 fewer teams, btw), every season has started with some shaky control and gotten much better over the remainder of the season. I imagine a lot of this is selection, as it takes a couple of months to get a good read on pitchers.

Anyway, good work, dudes!