Biggest Trade in NASOMA History

The Warpigs traded Robinson Cano to the Rhinos in a deal that is not only the biggest deal in the history of the league, but should also result in 130 wins for the Rhinos.

The Warpigs traded Cano, Nick Markakis, Sean Marshall, and Joakim Soria to the Rhinos for Mike Moustakas, Freddie Freeman, two reserves, and ALL of the Rhino draft picks for 2012.

The Rhinos can now field a team of all 1's, most of whom received MVP votes last year.

Most Valuable Players

The MVP voting was announced this week. The voters get to pick 10 players in each league with weighted scoring (14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1). A total of 49 players received at least one vote, and every one of them is already on a NASOMA team. Below are the vote totals as they apply to each of our NASOMA teams. The first number is the number of players receiving votes; the second number is the total number of votes by those players.

1. Rhinos (9/959)
2. Killer Bees (7/546)
3. Zaps (3/455)
4. DVs (4/293)
5. Drillers (5/291)
6. Warpigs (2/278)
7. Mavs (1/214)
8. Fungoes (3/148)
9. Nads (2/107)
10. FFTs (3/98)
11. Inmate (2/48)
12. Wahoos (1/48)
13. Tweeners (5/40)
14. Buckeyes (1/10)
15. Sidewinders (1/5)
16. SuperGoofs (0/0)

I'm looking forward to a Rhino/Bee World Series next year.

Warpigs Announce Cuts/Retirements

The Warpigs today released infielder Donnie Murphy, veteran outfielder Magglio Ordonez, and starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf. In addition, the Pigs acknowledged the retirements of Manny Ramirez and Andy Pettitte.

Said Warpig GM Tex Schramm, "Murphy and Maggs are just guys with absolutely zero value. It has nothing to do with their complete inability to hit those two lefty Buckeye pitchers in the playoffs. Don't misunderstand me, I want to show these guys the respect they deserve. They just don't deserve any. This simply allows us to get rid of dead weight and remove the trash from the clubhouse. On the other hand, I actually like Ohlendorf, but hell, he can't pitch."

The Warpigs had traded for Manny Ramirez last summer in order to allow him to retire a Pig. Said Mr. Schramm, "We won a title with Manny here. Big deal. We coulda won that year with me dh'ing. Screw that long-haired piece of shit." There will be no retirement ceremonies to honor Manny, who was not allowed to come within 100 yards of the BallPork after the trade.

Nads Make Two Deals

The Nads, while driving from Chicago to New York for Thanksgiving, pull off a double deal day. In the Danny Duo Deal, they sent Danny Espinosa to the Inmates for Danny Valencia. At the same time, the Nads were acquiring starting pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and James McDonald from the Warpigs for a reserve pick.

More Division Talk

Or what about getting rid of the 4 divisions and making it 2.

The Ab Wheeler Division (Senior Circuit - made up of the 8 teams in NASOMA the longest)
Buckeyes
FFTs
Tweeners
Mavs
Inmates
Warpigs
Fungoes
Drillers

The Herman Wheeler Division (Junior Circuit)
Zaps
DVs
Wahoos
Sidewinders
Nads
Killer Bees
Rhinos
SuperGoofs

Division winners get byes, next 2 top records in each division play each other for the right to play the Division champ. It would bring back the old term of finishing in the top half (or bottom half) of the division.

Just an idea.

Division Re-alignment

There has been some talk about scrambling the divisions to shake up the league a bit. One suggestion was to just do a random drawing every four years (2 years? EVERY year?). Just to get a feel of it, I thought I'd give it a try. I am going to draw names out of a hat (literally) as I write this. Here goes...

Division 1
Warpigs (yep, drew my team first. weird)
Drillers
Buckeyes
FFTs

Division 2
Killer Bees
Sidewinders
Wahoos
Inmates

Division 3
Fungoes
Mavs
Tweeners
DVs

Division 4
Zaps
SuperGoofs
Rhinos
Nads

Well, that was interesting. I think we'd call Division 1 the Champions Division. There are 22 league titles among those 4 teams. Still, looks like another cakewalk to the playoffs for the Buckeyes, as the other three are in for down years.

Division 2 kept the Mullens together. Fate, I guess. And those two would again fight for the division championship, as the Wahoos are hurting a little. Oh, wait, our commissioner has just reminded me that this is the Year of the Inmate. It does put together 4 guys who (in the past) have always preferred dice to the computer game.

Division 3 is... I got nothin'. But wouldn't it be fun for these 4 teams to go into the season without the usual obstacles standing between them and a division title? And all 4 teams are loaded for 2012.

Good luck ever hearing from the Division 4 teams. lol. But it does group together the winner of the last two titles (Zaps) with the winner of the 2012 title (Rhinos).

Again, before you get all excited and think I just made up some new rules (the dumbass Beeboy is probably checking his calendar to make sure he hasn't been fooled yet again with an April Fools joke), remember this is just a trial run. In my opinion, adding some spice to the mix could only help.

Looking Forward

The Zaps are the champs for the second year in a row.

Big fat hairy deal. There's nothing to see here. Let's move on.

The 2012 Draft Grid has been posted on our website. The current rosters are also linked on the home page. At the bottom of each roster you can find your picks AND the number of reserves you own. Look over both the Draft Grid and the Rosters and let me know if you spot any mistakes.

The Tracker link is still there, but Yahoo has taken the MLB Fantasy 2011 info down. The DVs are working on a winter version supplement.

Also, if you have any suggestions for the website, please let me know.

2012 Draft Order

1. Nads
2. Inmates
3. Drillers
4. SuperGoofs
5. Sidewinders
6. Tweeners
7. Fungoes
8. Rhinos
9. Mavs
10. Killer Bees
11. DVs
12. Wahoos
13. FFTs
14. Warpigs
15. Buckeyes
16. Zaps

NASOMA World Series 2011

The Buckeyes vs the Zaps.

Game 1 starters are Wandy Rodriguez for the Zaps and Chris Carpenter for the Buckeyes.

Buckeyes win game 1, 2-0. Carpenter and bullpen dominate the Zaps.

Game 2 starters are Zach Greinke for the Zaps and Ted Lilly for the Buckeyes.

Zaps win game 2, 8-5. Series tied.

Game 3 starters are Josh Johnson for the Zaps and Vicente Padilla for the Buckeyes.

Zaps win 6-1. Johnson with the complete game. Zaps lead 2 games to 1.

Game 4 starters are Wandy Rodriguez and Chris Carpenter.

Zaps win 3-2. They are one win away from a repeat championship.

Game 5 starters are Greinke and Lilly.

Buckeyes toss another shutout, winning 6-0. The Zaps lead is now 3 games to 2, heading back home.

Game 6 starters are Johnson and Padilla.

The Zaps win game 6, 6-4, to win the Higdon.

Second Round - FFTs vs Zaps

The Zaps advanced to the World Series with a 3-2 win in game 7.  The FFTs, who came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Wahoos earlier, were on the other end of it this time.
Manny Ramirez homered in the 9th for the FFTs in what will be his last NASOMA at bat.

Second Round - Buckeyes vs Warpigs

The Buckeyes routed the Pigs, winning the series 4 games to 1.

The scores:
Game 1 - Buckeyes 9, Warpigs 1 - Cliff Lee sucks. Jim Thome's homer was the only Pig run.

Game 2 - Warpigs 4, Buckeyes 3 - Thome hit a 2-out grand slam in the 8th inning.

Game 3 - Buckeyes 2, Warpigs 0 - Vicente Padilla with the shutout.

Game 4 - Buckeyes 5, Warpigs 1 - Chris Carpenter with the near shutout.

Game 5 - Buckeyes 4, Warpigs 1 - Ted Lilly with the virtual shutout. Albert Pujols homered for the only Pig run.

First Round - FFTs vs Wahoos

Dice about to hit the table at 10:00.

Game 1 starters: Roy Oswalt for the FFTs, R.A. Dickey for the Wahoos.

Wahoos win game 1, 4-0. R.A. Dickey goes the distance, scattering 6 hits in the shutout. He walked none. Jon Jay went 5-5, with the last hit coming on a Single 1, lineout 2-20. The Wahoos scored 1 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th.

Game 2 starters: Jered Weaver for the FFTs and Jeremy Guthrie for the Wahoos.

Early game 2 note: Jon Jay singled in the first on a Catcher's-x roll (got the 1 - again). The Wahoos have gone on to score 4 in the first (including ANOTHER single on a 1).

The Wahoos scored 4 in the1st and 5 in the 2nd for a 10-5 win in game 2. They lead 2 games to none.

Game 3 at the Reservation. Starters are Fausto Carmona for the Wahoos and Hiroki Kuroda for the FFTs.

FFTs win game 3, 10-1.  Manny Ramirez went 3-4 with 4 rbi. Reid Brignac was the star of the game, though, with a pinch-hit 3-run homer. Said the esteemed FFT manager, "We're just trading ass-kickings." The Wahoos lead 2 games to 1.

Game 4 starters: J.A. Happ for the Wahoos and Alex Sanabia for the FFTs.

The Wahoos win game 4, 5-3.  Kevin Youkilis homered and the Wahoos scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Neither starter lasted long. The Wahoos lead 3 games to 1 and will try to avoid a return trip to FFT Park by winning game 5.

Game 5 starters are Oswalt and Dickey.

R.A. Dickey took a no-hitter into the 7th inning for the Wahoos, but lost the no-no and the game. FFTs take the series back home with a 4-1 win. Wahoos are still up 3 games to 2.

Game 6 starters are Weaver and Guthrie.

Game 6 early update: The Wahoos started off the game with a ballpark homer chance (1-3) and rolled ANOTHER 1. The batter was weak, though, and only singled. He stole second and eventually scored, giving the Hoos an early lead.

The FFTs and Jered Weaver return the butt-whipping from game 2, winning game 6, 10-2. Weaver struck out 13. The series is now tied and headed to game 7.

The Rhinos are here wondering when they play. The Buckeyes and Zaps just came in. The talk right now is mostly about the DVs and their multi-colored charts they used to (not) beat the Buckeyes.

Game 7 starters are Kuroda and Carmona.

Wahoos    000 100 000 - 1 6 0
FFTs         100 001 02x - 4 8 0

1st inning - Josh Hamilton with an rbi single
4th inning - Justin Morneau homers
6th inning - Hamilton with another rbi single, this time off a lefty.

The FFTs come back from down 3-1 to win their first round series with the Wahoos. They advance to the second round to meet the defending champion Zaps.

First Round - DVs vs Buckeyes

The first dice roll is seconds away. I'll keep an ongoing update here.

Game 1 starters: Roy Halladay for the DVs and Ted Lilly for the Buckeyes.

DVs win game 1, 2-1. Halladay the winner. Storen the save. The DVs overcame 3 errors in the first 4 innings (and the chore of figuring out this "fielding chart" thing).

Game 2 starters: Kris Medlen for the DVs and Vicente Padilla for the Buckeyes.

Buckeyes win game 2, 4-1. Padilla the winner; Uehara the save. Series tied 1-1.

Game 3 starters: Chris Carpenter for the Buckeyes. Mat Latos for the DVs.

With stopper Drew Storen already on the mound to protect a 2-1 DV lead in the top of the 9th at DV Park, Big Papi stepped to the plate. DV manager Ozzie Smith visited the mound. During the visit, Francisco Liriano suddenly appeared from the bullpen. Said Smith, "What the hell are you doing here?" Forced to bring Liriano in, John Buck pinch hit for Ortiz and blasted a game-tying homer. Mike Aviles saved Ozzie's job (temporarily) with a 2-out, 3-run homer for the walk off, 5-2 win by the DVs. The DVs lead 2 games to 1.

Game 4 starters: Cole Hamels for the Buckeyes and Brian Matusz for the DVs.

Buckeye slugger Daric Barton hit a 3-run homer, and the Buckeyes even up the series with a 6-2 win. Hamels got the win. Evan Meek got the save, getting Mike Aviles with the bases loaded in the 8th, leading to the DVs shouting, "Aviles, you suck!" This is the same Aviles who won game 3 with a homer.

Game 5 starters are Ted Lilly for the Buckeyes and Roy Halladay for the DVs.

Halladay took a no-hitter in the 7th inning. Casper Wells homered to end the no-no and the shutout, but Halladay goes the distance for a 3-1 win. The DVs lead 3 games to 2 heading back to Buckeye Park.

Game 6 starters are Kris Medlen for the DVs and Vicente Padilla for the Buckeyes.

Game 6 is tied going to the 8th.
Chris Heisey hit an rbi single in the bottom of the 9th for a 3-2 Buckeye win. On to game 7.

Game 7 starters are Chris Carpenter for the Buckeyes and Mat Latos for the DVs.

DVs           000  000  000 - 0  2  0
Buckeyes  010  000  00x - 1  3  0

2nd inning - Daric Barton draws a bases loaded walk.
top of 7th - Ian Kinsler missed a double 1-3, fly with 2 on and 2 out.
Meek relieved Carpenter in the 7th. He's still in.
The Buckeyes win 1-0 and advance to the next round.