Games

The Sidewinders won 4 out of 5 against the Buckeyes.

A Reminder

From the NASOMA Constitution...

Instructions for all games that cannot be played face to face or via netplay must be sent out by July 4th.

Game updates

Tweeners 3, Inmates 2

The HEAD INMATE reports...
Tweeners and Inmates hooked up via netplay Sunday morning. Tweeners won 3 of 5, kicking Inmates 11-0 in game five to award the Inmates a “Tweener split.” Inmates now 44-29.

And from the Tweeners...
Netplayed 5 at the Baptist Bowl. Split the first 4, all very competitive games; then Inmates took on the role of George Carlin's cat for game 5. Tweeners now 36-44, well beyond the reach of Demerit Man.

Kentucky Basketballin'

A nugget from the Tweeners...

Believe it or not, retired basketball coaches Joe B. Hall and Denny Crum corroborate on a daily radio call-in show on Kentucky stations. They are both pretty much senile. Here is the transcript from an actual call:

Caller to "The Joe B. and Denny Show," addressing Joe B. Hall:

"Have you ever had a guy in college that..."

Hall: "A gynecologist?"

Games

In games today...

The Fungoes swept all 7 against the Warpigs.
Then the Fungoes split 14 games with the FFTs.
The Wahoos won 2 of 3 against the Sidewinders.
The Buckeyes won 4 of 5 against the Oilers.
The Oilers won 4 of 5 against the Tweeners.

All seven of the Fungi/Pig games were close. Papelbon saved 5 of the Fungo wins. In one of the games, the Fungoes won despite 4 errors - 3 of them by Mike Napoli (two were dropped foul pop ups on back to back batters).

Fungoman reports...

Fungoes played 21 games today, winning 14 and losing 7.

Fungoes took advantage of some Warpig hospitality sweeping 7 games at the ballpork! Papelbon saved 5 of the 7.

Fungoes, then split 14 games with the FFTs. Highlights include a 13th inning 2-run shot by Berkman in game 2. Fungoes hold on to win that game 7-5.

Manny Ramirez hits two HRs in a game one win for the FFTs.

Roy Halladay throws a complete game shutout in a 1-0 game 6 victory for the Fungoes. Sizemore led off the game with a Homerun!

Dice-K shuts out the Fungoes 3-0 in game 7.

Sheffield wins game 8 with a ninth inning walkoff with two outs! FFTs win that one 3-2.

Fungoes have put a stop to the free fall! Playoffs here we come!

though, probably just to watch.........

The Chief reports on the Wahoo/Snake series...

Wahoos win Game 1 on an Aramis Ramirez homer (about the 6th inning). Hamels strikes out 11 and walks 0 in the six-hit 1-0 shutout.

SSWs even it up in Game 2, 4-3. Salty homered off K-Rod in the 8th and we had the hitters we wanted up down the stretch but Rafael Betancourt proved to be too much.

Wahoos win Game 3, 7-3, behind a great start from Fausto Carmona. He struck out 9 in 7 innings. The SSWs made it interesting off the Wahoos bullpen in the 9th.

The Snakeman chimed in...
Snakes lose 2 of 3 to the wahoos. We finish the year 3-7 vs the Chief. These are not your father's Wahoos,that is for sure.

End of June

Monday is the last day of June, so this weekend is the last opportunity to get some games played in order to be up to 75 games played by the end of the month. Here are the teams who are short of 75 games at the moment (and how many they would need to play to reach 75):

Zaps (31) - At 44 games played, the Zaps barely missed the mark at the end of May, and they haven't been heard from since. Zapper! Dude!!! Call me!
Fungoes (21)
Rhinos (21)
Sidewinders (14) - The league leader in demerits is aiming for even more.
Inmates (7)
Oilers (7)
Buckeyes (6)
Tweeners (5)
Wahoos (3)
Nads (1) - The Nads had 74 games played by March 20. Over three months later... they're still at 74 games played.

You guys could kill two birds with one stone by playing each other, but it doesn't matter who you play. Get on the phone and make some arrangements.

The Drillers (109 games) and the FFTs (99 games) are well past the end of June point. The DVs (88), Warpigs (83), Bees (80), and Mavs (79) are all right where they should be.

Games

The Wahoos went 2-3 at home vs the Tweeners today.

Says the Chief...

Wahoos couldn't hit the mighty Tweeners pitching staff. TOO HOT to handle.

Wahoos only walked 5 Tweeners in 5 games, but that didn't seem to matter since the Tweeners hit .311 as a club. Cole Hamels has entered a shelter after being battered and abused by the Tweeners in his 2 starts.

Game 1 Tweeners 6-2

Game 2 Wahoos 2-1 (Morneau's 2-run homer in the first holds up)

Game 3 Tweeners 11-2 (just hit and hit and hit it seemed)

Game 4 Tweeners 5-2

Game 5 Wahoos 8-3 (1 big inning late gave Wahoos the win)

We'll find out just how good the Wahoos are when they square off Tuesday with the Rhinos in Kennedale.

NASOMA.ORG

The domain name for our website is now officially www.nasoma.org. Change your bookmark address.

I was told the old address will still work, but I'm not sure if it will work forever or for a short time. Anyway, this will be easy to remember when you're trying to reach our site from a different computer (like at work). The dotcom and the dotnet addresses were taken.

Also, we can save some money next March by paying for two years instead of one. It would mean paying more next year at the draft, but then paying nothing the following year. I believe one year is around $220 (I think I told you $200 this past year, but apparently I was mistaken). Two years, I believe, is $360. I'll check back with Homestead and get accurate numbers.

So I guess what we need to do before next March is decide if we want to (A) pre-pay for two years, (B) pay for it a year at a time, or (C) discontinue the site.

Words were exchanged

HOUSTON (AP) — Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

Chacon, upset after getting demoted to the bullpen over the weekend, told the Houston Chronicle this problem began when Wade saw him in the dining room before the game against Texas. Wade wanted to meet with Chacon in manager Cecil Cooper's office, the pitcher said.

“I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, 'You need to come with me to the office,”' Chacon said. “I said, 'For what?' I said, 'I don't want to go to the office with you and Cooper.' And I said, 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.' He's like, 'Oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, 'Yeah.' I'm not yelling. I'm calm.”

Chacon said things went downhill from there.

“He started yelling and cussing,” Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle's Web site. “I'm sitting there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said, 'You better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling.”

Chacon said that after Wade told him he needed to “look in the mirror,” it got worse.

“So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him,” he said. “Words were exchanged.”

Chacon said players quickly came and separated the two. He recalled outfielder Reggie Abercrombie pulling him away from Wade.

Wade announced the move, but would not provide any other details. Chacon has been upset since being bumped from the rotation and moved into the bullpen on Sunday.

“He is suspended pending final resolution of whatever move we end up making with him,” Wade said.

Chacon is 2-3 with a 5.04 ERA in 15 starts for Houston this year. The right-hander set a major league record with nine straight no-decisions to start the season.

When asked if Chacon was disciplined because he physically accosted Wade, the GM said: “I'm not getting into any details of anything beyond what I just said. It is an internal matter.”

Astros slugger Lance Berkman, who said he did not see the incident, was one of the few players who agreed to talk about it.

“Obviously it's something that nobody in here is thrilled that it happened,” he said. “But this is a sport of high emotion and sometimes things happen that organizations wish wouldn't and that's why there's vehicles like suspending the players to deal with those situations.”

Wade did confirm that Chacon's agent called and requested a trade earlier this week but said “that has nothing to do with the events of today.”

Chacon is concerned that he might not pitch in the majors again.

“Maybe it shouldn't have happened,” Chacon said. “But when you do those things and you're yelling at somebody and you're cussing you better know what type of person you're dealing with. If there's any regret, I just wish they had just let me alone. I wish they had left me alone,” he told the Chronicle.

Chacon signed a $2 million, one-year contract with Houston in February after spending 2007 with Pittsburgh. He split time as a starter and a reliever there and was 5-4 with a 3.94 ERA and one save in 64 appearances with the Pirates.

When asked if he was concerned about his personality or character when Chacon was signed, Wade opted to discuss his play instead.

“I'd hoped he pitched better for us,” Wade said. “That's the bottom line. We took him out of the rotation on Sunday basically on merit. He'd had 10 starts since late April, and the last three starts, four starts weren't very good. So we hoped that he would help us in the bullpen, and unfortunately we're at a point right now when we think it's in our best interest to move forward.”

The CNN Tower in Toronto

HEAD INMATE, this is for you.

Long Shots

The College World Series ended tonight with a huge upset. The Fresno State Bulldogs beat the Georgia Bulldogs in a real dog fight (ugh). The commentators said Fresno State was the lowest seeded team to ever win ANY college championship, although it seems to me the 8th seeded Villanova basketball team of 1985 would be hard to top.

Still, when a long shot like that comes in, it must give hope to the NASOMA long shots like the Bees and Wahoos and Mavs and Tweeners and Inmates and Rhinos and Nads... you know, teams that have never won the league.

In fact... nah... nevermind. I was going to add the DVs to that list of hopefuls, but let's not get crazy.

Feedback Request

I need some feedback from you guys. Please reply to these questions either in the comment box or in an email to me.

1. Do you visit the NASOMA website very often?

2. What can I change or add to the website that would make you want to visit it more often? Right now, the only thing I change on a regular basis is the Standings Page.

3. Do you visit Big Innings very often?

4. What suggestions do you have to make Big Innings better?

Thanks for your help,
Pigman

Games

Last year's World Series teams faced off tonight for 7 netplay games. The Sidewinders won the first four (making 7 straight counting the 3-game sweep back in March). The Warpigs then won the final three. John Lackey carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning of the series finale before combining with Chris Capuano on a 2-hitter.

Game updates

The DVs won 4 out of 5 vs the Buckeyes.

The report from the DVgeek...

DVs figured out how to silence the Buckeye bats holding them to a .206 average on 34 hits and 13 runs in the 5 games. They didn’t hit a homer (DVs hit 7), and Maddux turned in a 1.54 ERA in two starts, but ended 0-1. DVs actually dropped the first game 8-7, then reeled off 5-4, 7-1, 5-0 and 1-0 wins, with the much maligned DV bullpen providing 15 scoreless innings over the set.

DVs move to 53-35.

Trade

The Buckeyes trade Curt Schilling to the Warpigs for a 12th round pick.

Game updates

Games were played today at the BallPork.

The results...

The Drillers swept 5 from the Wahoos.
The Inmates went 5-1 against the Warpigs.
The Drillers took 2 of 3 from the Warpigs.
The Inmates took 2 of 3 from the Wahoos.
The Inmates won 3 of 5 against the Drillers.

On the day, the totals were:
Inmates 10-4
Drillers 9-4
Warpigs 2-7
Wahoos 1-7

The Drillers are now tied for 1st with the DVs in the NERDD. The Inmates surged ahead of the Buckeyes in the MFD. The Wahoos dropped below .500 for the first time in awhile but still own 2nd place in the BUD. The Warpigs suck.

Game updates

The Buckeyes took 3 of 5 at home vs the DVs.

DVboy reports...

DVs were fortunate to pick off the two wins as both were one run games that Jenks either won or protected. Buckeyes match up well and the park suits them perfectly, giving the Bucks manager a timely combination of talent and form to capitalize on any mistakes.

If the DVs are fortunate enough to make the playoffs and draw the Buckeyes, strong consideration will be given to saving the aggravation and simply forfeit the 4 games. Would also allow me to get back to the ‘bean flickage’ sooner as well.

DVs an unhappy 49-34.

A couple of other tidbits from the series:

DVs only hit .238 (47 points below our season average)- and only hit 3 home runs, Helton and Ludwick combined to go 2 for 23.

Holliday slips all the way to .360, while Mags begins his pursuit of Tony Gywnn’s single season batting average record, as he moves his average to .366.

It's not just football coaches who are dummies...

Last fall Terry and I discussed in depth our joint belief that college football coaches have to be some of the dumbest men in the world. My personal feeling is that it's not so much that they are dumb as that they aren't satisfied with just winning - they want to be the reason their team wins. I won't go into that too much here. I just wanted to point out a play from today's opening game of the 2008 College World Series that I think serves as proof that baseball coaches fall into the same category.

Leading off the 6th inning, the #2 hitter for Stanford homered to make it 2-0. The 3 hole hitter followed with a double off the wall. The pitcher was tiring... his pitches were getting up in the zone... the wind was blowing out... and the clean up hitter was coming up. And what do you think he did? Yep, he bunted the runner over to third. The runner scored later on a single (that would have scored him from second anyway).

Why give away the out like that? Don't they realize how precious those outs are? Even if the batter is Chico Lind, there was no benefit in bunting. You are more likely to score from 2nd with no outs than you are from 3rd with one out. And this wasn't Chico Lind! It was the cleanup hitter! Who had ZERO sac bunts this year before that one!

Somewhere Dusty Baker is going, "Now THAT'S the way to play baseball!"

Games

The last place Warpigs met up again with the last place Tweeners in part two of the Battle of Last Place teams. And from all indications, the Hooverdome is the last place you would want to be when these games were being played.

The Pigs turned the tables on the Tweeners and took 4 of 5 on the road. Three more complete games by the Pig staff. This appears to be the key to Pig success: avoid using the bullpen. Gaudin and Hernandez both threw complete game shutouts, with Felix's being a 2-hitter in which he walked only 1 and struck out 11.

The Tweener adds...
Tweeners can only manage to
score 9 runs in the 5 games. Someone pointed out that our #3 hitter, Mark
Teahen, on the season has a total of 11 RBI's and zero homers. Tweeners'
record 29-36.

Games

The Tweeners took 3 of 5 at the BallPork. The Tweeners hit .340 for the five games. The Warpigs did not.

Game updates

The Tweeners went 3-2 against the Wahoos.

Good competitive series here vs. Wahoos. Game one was a relaxing 18-inning affair, won by the 'Hoos 5-2 on homers by Damon and Bradley. Rauch picks up the win with 8.1 innings of scoreless relief. Tweeners strand 15. Wahoos get 19 hits in game 2, take a 7-1 lead and hold on to win 7-5. Tweeners take games 3 and 5, both 4-0 shutouts, by Oswalt and Harang respectively. Harang took a no-hitter into the 7th, broken up on a Pedroia double, finished with a 3-hitter. Soriano's 2 homers and 4 RBI's carried us to a 6-4 victory in game 4.

Tweeners are playing .500 ball in games that do not go extra innings. An astounding 13 of our 55 games have gone into extra innings, and we are 4-9 in those games. Overall we are 25-30.

The Fungoes and DVs went 2-2 tonight.

Fungoes and DVs squared off tonight in a four game set. DVs jumped out to a 8-1 lead in game 1 only to succumb to a, (as FFT's would say) "GAWD AWFUL BULLPEN!! Fungoes win game 1, 9-8. The following showed up in print in the Morning Edition:

'We really needed this win' said DEREK's manager. 'That first drink of water

at the end of a drought sure does taste good!' Amen to that brother!

Game 2 DVs beat up on Roy Halladay winning 6-2. Clemens got the (surprise) complete game win as DVs boss was hesitant to use the "GAWD-AWFULS" in this one.

Game 3 was another DV win. This one was 6-0 shutout! Fungoes played more to their capabilities in this one. Kazmir threw 6 innings and struck out nine for the win.

Game 4 was one for the ages for the Fungoes. DVs sprinted out to an 8-0 lead scoring 3 in the 2ND and 5 in the 4th. Maine was cruising along allowing 1 hit before Fungoes erupted for an 8 spot in the bottom half of the 4Th inning. Sizemore hit a Grand Slam to make it 8-7 and Frank Thomas hit the very next pitch into the ozone to make it 8-8. Fungoes picked up the winning run on a Berkman sac fly in the 8Th. Papelbon picked up the save!

Fungoes had lost 14 of their last 15 before the DVs came to town.....we need some more DV games!

Games

The Warpigs dropped 5 of 7 to the Rhinos. The games were much closer this time. Four of them were 1-run games. I don't remember much about the 5 Pig losses, but I remember the wins: Lackey just missed a shutout in a 4-1 win, and the other ended on a walk-off, bases loaded single and error on a ground ball to ARod.

The Rhino lead in the BUD is now 4 games over the Wahoos.

Our little Wahoo's play-by-play audition tape

Your Texas Rangers

The Rangers have had some pretty good hitting teams in the past, but when they scored 9 runs tonight, it made the first time EVER that the Texas Rangers had scored 8+ runs in five straight games.

Of course, they also LOST 3 of those 5 games.

Standings Update 6/1/08

As we head into summer, the Killer Bees have the best overall record in the league. They lead the AWD and have a 9 game lead over the Sidewinders. NASOMA's second best record belongs to the DVs, although they are only 3 games ahead of the Drillers in the NERDD. The Rhinos haven't been heard from in awhile, but they still narrowly lead the Wahoos in the BUD. An even closer race is going on in the MFD, where the Inmates lead the Buckeyes by a half game and the Nads by 2.

Speaking of the Nads... they haven't played a game in over two months. They're still in good shape with 74 games played, but I expect to see some Nad action this month. They have lain dormant in their Nad Scrotum for much too long.

The Warpigs, Mavs, Fungoes, and FFTs are in a battle for the worst record. Sadly, the only thing waiting at the end of the season is the rights to draft Cliff Lee.

Below are the standings at the end of May. June and July have a higher number of required games to be played, so get on the ball! And remember to not only report the results to Pigman Publishing and your opponent, but also get those stats or game files sent to your opponent as well. Don't be like the Snakeman!!!

And if you are missing results from somebody, alert the Demerit Police (and the team with the results, of course). Once my Pig stats are updated, I'll post some of them in the comments section. Please do the same if you want. It's nice to read about who's hot and who's not.

B.U.D.	W	L	%	GB		Remaining Games	Last Update
Rhinos	28	19	.596	--		115	4/8/08
Wahoos	29	25	.537	2.5		108	4/29/08
Oilers	30	38	.441	8.5		94	5/31/08
Warpigs	17	33	.340	12.5		112	5/31/08
M.F.D.	W	L	%	GB
Inmates	32	22	.593	--		108	5/28/08
Buckeyes	34	25	.576	0.5		103	5/26/08
Nads	40	34	.541	2.0		88	3/20/08
Mavs	27	52	.342	17.5		83	5/26/08
A.W.D.	W	L	%	GB
Killer Bees	53	27	.663	--		82	4/23/08
Sidewinders	31	23	.574	9.0		108	5/12/08
Zaps	23	21	.523	12.0		118	4/6/08
Tweeners	22	28	.440	16.0		112	5/31/08
N.E.R.D.D.	W	L	%	GB
DVs	45	29	.608	--		88	5/30/08
Drillers	53	43	.552	3.0		66	5/27/08
Fungoes	18	32	.360	15.0		112	5/31/08
FFTs	34	65	.343	23.5		63	5/3/08

Update

The Warpigs swept 3 games from the Fungoes. Edwin Jackson, John Lackey, and Felix Hernandez all threw complete games as the Fungo bats just did not hit.

Tweeners went 2-3 vs the Oilers. The Tweener report...

Tweeners split with the Oilers, taking 2 of 5 at the Hooverdome. Lots of good pitching and defense (i.e., no one hit much). Only a total of 27 runs scored for the 5 games. Four one-run games were divided equally, and the Oilers captured the one "slugfest" by a score of 6-3. Tweeners finish their 50th game just before midnight on May 31st, again teasing the "demerit man". Record stands at 22-28.

The Zaps and Rhinos did not escape the Demerit Man, however. Both finished May with fewer than 50 games played. Also, the Snakeman and FungoDude both gained a demerit for not sending stats after playing a series. The Fungo turned himself over to the police, admitting his grievous error and vowing to change his crooked ways. The Snakeman, however, went with a defense of: "I know. I'm an idiot."

No leniency was given.