Week 7 Fact or Fiction

Will Week 9 feature a battle of undefeated teams? Will Winston-Salem get the monkey off their backs? Does Tokyo still suck? Pedro Gammo and Jayson Snark give you the answers in between shots of patron...okay, Jager. But they're drunk, and that's what matters.

1.) QC and LV will meet in week 9; both undefeated

Gammo – FACT

At this rate, the Doggs won’t make it past week 6 undefeated, but something tells me they’ll come back. Both the Doggs and Piglets have a pretty easy road ahead of them leading up to their anticipated match up in week 9. Vegas faces off against Tokyo and Peoria, both teams currently at .500 or lower, while Quebec has Arlington and Tijuana, who sit in last place in their respective divisions. These two teams seemed destined to face off in the finals this year, but knowing the history of both (LV not being able to win back-to-back championships and QC choking in the playoffs), no one will be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

Snark – FICTION

The Doggs must be chewing on a bone, because they’re choking this week. While our friendly neighborhood flu-carriers to the North should roll into the Week 9 showdown with an 8 game unbeaten streak, the Doggs will get stopped in their tracks by division rival Weymouth. The scrappy Shaddypoo are putting together another strong team, once again led by battle-tested veteran Johan Santana and his band of merry poos. While some of these pitchers are pitching way over their heads (I’m looking at you, Zach Duke) and will eventually come crashing back to Earth, it won’t be this week. And even if Las Vegas does pull off a miracle comeback win, things don’t get much easier after that with Tokyo in Week 7 (who ever thought we’d be typing those words?), another squad with a vastly improved pitching staff. Look for the Pups to have dropped one or two matches before the much-anticipated matchup in the desert.


2.) The WEST is actually better than the EAST this year

Gammo – FACT

With Rakeville, Arlington, and Peoria all falling further than their respective goals, the East has really taken a hit. It’s really early to say, but as of now the West has shown to be more durable with just 13 players on the DL within the division to the East’s 18, which will go a long way through a long season. As a division, they’ve racked up 17 more wins than the East, playing mostly against Eastern Division opponents. Even with Las Vegas’ current winning streak, Quebec City sits in the top 2 of every offensive category, with Golden in the top 4 in 4 out of 5. My prediction: of the 6 playoff teams, 3 will be from the West this year, along with teams 7 and 8. Remember, they did win the 2008 EHCC All Star game after all, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Snark – FACT

These things happen when you’re not paying close attention. While the fat cats in the East were resting on their championship laurels, the West was getting hungrier and hungrier for a title, and making moves designed to make it happen. Rakeville and Bridgewater are getting old and complacent, Arlington won a title and then decided to blow the franchise up and is now arguably the worst team in the league, and Peoria has never been a playoff contender and doesn’t appear poised to start now. Only Las Vegas and Weymouth continued to make moves designed to keep their franchises in contention, and as such, the East is suddenly looking like that guy at the gym who only works out his upper body—top heavy and a little bloated.


3.) It's already time for Rakeville to start panicking and thinking about 2010 and beyond

Gammo – FICTION

It’s fun to say it is, but really when it comes down to it Rakeville still has a very competitive team. Will they win a championship this year? Probably not. Then again, they couldn’t win a championship when they were good either. Rumors out of Rockets’ camp is that the team may be planning a small “fire sale” in the coming weeks ahead if the team continues to dip due to injuries and poor play. I just can’t see this continuing the rest of the season. BJ Upton should turn things around, and Josh Beckett will follow suit. The issue the Rockets have is with their DH David Ortiz on offense and their three minor league pitchers taking up roster spots in their bullpen. They refuse to cut anyone to bring up All Star catcher Joe Mauer, including out of work starter and captain Pedro Martinez, who they’ve kept around as “inspiration” to their young pitchers. Some rumblings around the league feel as though keeping a talent like Mauer on their DL when he’s obviously healthy and ready to produce is a type of tanking, but it may be too early in the season to make that an issue. With the right management, this team can still make the playoffs. They will be getting Manny back in July after all.

Snark – FACT

Right now, Rakeville is a disgrace. Their best player is a steroid user who hasn’t played in over a week, they have arguably the best catcher in the league, putting up an insane line of .455 avg., 10 Runs, 4 Homeruns, and 14 RBIs in just over a week of action, although no one in Rakeville would know it, because GM Jack Reed is too lazy or foolish to put him into the starting lineup, preferring to leave the position vacant. However, that’s not a big deal since so few of Rakeville’s pitches make it past the batter anyway. Their pitching staff is dead last in the EHCC with an ERA of 5.12 and a WHIP of 1.54, both far and away the worst in the league; 7 pitchers on the roster have ERAs of worse than 5.00, and that includes #1 starter Josh Beckett. Meanwhile, upset over last season’s firing of manager Tom Seaver, team captain Pedro Martinez has organized a revolt against interim manager Justin Fuller, refusing to take the mound for the Rockets this season, and getting other young players to follow his lead. Since being drafted by Rakeville in March, prospect Neftali Feliz has also refused to take the mound. The impressionable youngster was unhappy with his contract and all-too eager to take up Martinez’s cause. Since then, young pitchers Dana Eveland, James McDonald, and David Purcey, as well as star OF Manny Ramirez have all joined in the protest, practically daring Reed to trade or cut one or all of them. Reed has found himself in a deadly game of chicken that has led to his team’s rapid descent from one of the EHCC’s elite to a borderline playoff contender that isn’t even as good as their crappy record indicates. Someone should point out to Reed that when nobody flinches in a game of chicken, the cars crash head-on and everyone dies. And sometimes there are explosions. Big ones. It’s awesome. Well, to everyone but the people trapped in the cars screaming for help, but it’s not coming, because of the aforementioned fire and twisted metal. So they die.

That was a metaphor, but Rakeville really does suck.


4.) Zack Grienke will lead the Green Monsters to their first playoff series victory

Gammo – FICTION

Cliff Lee couldn’t do it for the Cardinals in ‘08, and Grienke won’t be able to do it for the Monsters in ‘09. Winston-Salen currently sits 6 games above .500, 3rd in the West, 4th overall. They’ve actually lost every other matchup they‘ve had this season, but blew away their competition in their 2 wins (9-1 and 7-3 respectively), which is keeping them afloat this long. Grienke may not be their only shining star in the rotation, with Justin Verlander and Erik Bedard showing signs of past glory, an area they once struggled in seems to have become their strong point. The issue is that they currently sit in the bottom half of every statistical category except stolen bases, which with the help of Carl Crawford’s 22 stolen bases this season thus far, currently lead all of the EHCC by a considerable margin. Hell, Crawford would be beating 5 EHCC teams by himself thus far. But it just won’t be enough. Their pitching, as much as it’s improved, won’t be able to hold together all season, and unless they can find some extra firepower on offense, the Monsters will fall short once again, perhaps even missing the playoffs, opening up the door for either Tokyo, Rakeville, or Bridgewater to sneak in from behind.

Snark – FACT

And the reason is because it’s not just Zack Greinke leading the way. The Green Monster pitching staff is vastly improved this year, with the continuing maturation of Greinke and the addition of two bona-fide studs to join him at the top in Cole Hamels and Justin Verlander. After a slow start, both pitchers have turned it on in recent weeks, with Verlander being especially dominant. In addition to leading all EHCC pitchers in Ks, Verlander’s 69 strikeouts also lead the league in juvenile clubhouse laughter (you see, if you look closely, the number 69 sort of looks like a man and a woman doing naughty…well, you can pick up a pamphlet for further explanation. Suffice to say, it’s hilarious). With Erik Bedard once again flashing the form that made him one of the best pitchers in the EHCC two years ago, and potential studs in Rich Harden and Francisco Liriano, Winston-Salem’s pitching staff is nothing to sneeze at. Unless you have something in your nose, in which case, feel free to sneeze, but just understand that you’re not doing it at Winston-Salem’s pitching staff. It’s just a coincidence.

5.) Tokyo, currently at .500 and in 6th place, will FINALLY make the EHCC playoffs

Gammo – FACT

Tokyo, a long awaited addition to the EHCC playoffs, should finally make the needed push to break into the season end’s top 6. They’ve had arguably one of the toughest schedules this season thus far, and should be able to gain some ground in the middle of the season when they face off against South Carolina, Tijuana, & Peoria in Weeks 10-12. Their pitching staff is arguably the best in the EHCC, as they stand in the top 3 in every category except wins (5th) and their offense is coming together with Nick Markakis leading the way. They may need to add a bat or two at some point this season to make any type of push in the playoffs once they’re there, but this team has come a long way since entering the league in 2005, and should finally jump their first major hurdle in 2009.

Snark – FICTION

They still suck.