EVIL~! alkeiper

QUARTERFINALS Vitali Klitschko v Fres Oquendo Pre-Fight: Vitali continued his hot streak by making short work of Jameel McCline. He faces Fres Oquendo, who has recently impressed with his boxing skills. He conquered one Klitschko brother, and looks to conquer the other. The Fight: Oquendo dominates the first round. Oquendo proceeds to take the second and third rounds. In round four, Klitschko strikes, knocking Oquendo down twice. Klitschko proceeds to takes the fifth round. Oquendo comes back in the sixth, winning the round and cutting Klitschko under the left eye. Klitschko comes back to win a close round seven. Klitschko knocks down Oquendo again in the 8th for a one count. Klitschko gets the better of a close ninth round. Klitschko wins the tenth as well. Oquendo rebounds to dominate the eleventh. The twelvth round was practically even, and the fight goes to the scorecards. Its 114-113, 114-112, and 115-111, all for the winner, Vitali Klitschko. Roy Jones v James Toney Pre-Fight: Two similar fighters. Both started out at middleweight, and rose to heavyweight. These two fighters met nearly ten years ago, as super middleweights. Jones won that fight via unanimous decision. Toney looks to avenge that loss. The Fight: Even first round. Toney wins the second round. Jones comes back to wins the third round. Toney wins the fourth round. Toney wins the fifth as well, and the sixth. Jones wins the seventh round. Jones dominates the eighth round, cutting Toney under the right eye. Ninth round looks tied. Jones wins the tenth round. The fight is tied at this point. Jones wins a close eleventh. Toney wins the twelvth and final round. Its really anyone's fight, as we go to the scorecards. The scores are 116-113, 115-113, and 115-114, all for the winner, James Toney. Corrie Sanders v David Tua Pre-Fight: Two fighters who pack a punch. David Tua has never been knocked out in 46 career fights. Sanders has suffered two knockout defeats. Look for a slugfest. The Fight: Corrie Sanders opens with a big round 1. Shockingly, Sanders is disqualified in round two for a blatent low blow. David Tua advances to the semifinals. John Ruiz v Chris Byrd Pre-Fight: The Ruiz legend survives another day. This time he encounters perhaps the best pure boxer in the tournament. This fight will likely look bad, and not in a good way. The Fight: John Ruiz knocks down Chris Byrd in round 1. Ruiz narrowly wins an exciting 2nd round. Chris Byrd comes back to take rounds 3 and 4. Ruiz narrowly wins round five. Byrd comes back again and takes round six. After the sixth round, Mills Lane stops the fight due to swelling on Ruiz, and awards the fight by TKO to Chris Byrd. SEMIFINALS Vitali Klitschko James Toney David Tua Chris Byrd

Well, if you come close, you cut back on the innings you use your pitchers. The basic premise of the limit is to keep you from cycling your bench players in every time one has a start up. If your 6 pitchers average 180 innings, and your closer/reliever gives you 80, that's 1160. Certainly plenty of room to spare. In order to reach 1400 innings, you'd have to use all seven pitching spots for 200 IP apiece. That seems excessive.

I'll consider it. Make me an argument in favor.

Its a bitch, because my AL fantasy team is dependant on the health of the Yankees' starters.

It is 1,250 innings.

Ok, lets take a look at the original post...... That line in bold is the one I argue with. Everyone faces bad pitchers, or faces clutch situations. Breaking them down either dilutes the available data, or is ultimately meaningless, only providing you information that you already knew. In most cases, a basic hitting line will provide you 90% of what you need to know about a player's ability or hit or pitch. Only Left/Right and Home/Road splits have any meaningful quality.

The A-Rod acquisition is overblown. You have to remember that they lost Alfonso Soriano AND Aaron Boone. Rodriguez doesn't make up for that. Yeah, what a shame that was. It IS a shame, because as it stands right now, your team is playing Enrique Wilson at second base. Wilson's the type of player the Detroit Tigers uses when one or two of their regualrs falls to injury. He doesn't deserve a starting job on ANY team, let alone one competing for a title. You can groan about Aaron Boone all you want, but he's not a bad player. Everyone has slumps. Some are just unfortunate to have them in the postseason. Boone can hit a little, he walks, steals bases, and unlike most recent Yankee infielders, he has this uncanny ability to pick up a groundball and deposit it in the first baseman's mitt. The Yankees are worse now than two months ago.

Blalock belongs higher on that list, as does Larson. Larson's got the potential to hammer the ball. I don't feel so sanguine about David Bell's hitting. Chavez is better than Rolen, in my view.

Keep an eye on Guillermo Quiroz. He hit 282/372/518 at Double A New Haven last season, at the age of 21. He should put in a year at AAA this season, and make the majors by 2005.

That's not really clutch hitting then. Just recognizing a player's weeknesses. A guy like Sanders would struggle against good pitching in the 1st inning with no one on base.

Thanks for joining. We've now got all 16 teams in our league, so registration is closed. The live draft is scheduled for Thursday, March 11. Hopefully I'll get it to work this time. Good luck to all involved.

I had LeCroy ranked highly because I liked his catcher eligibility, but with Pudge drafted he lost a lot of value. I think Phelps is ready to explode on the league. Dump Traber. He's out for the year. The hitting is good. Teixeira could really break out this year. Except for Myers and Olerud, all of those guys are on their way up. If Crede develops, he could become useful trade bait. That lineup looks really good. The pitchers could be good, but they're somewhat suspect. The lack of a closer could hurt. ERA might be a concern as well.

First off, Iits easy to throw around the "choke" label, but you have to remember that major league hitters fail 66% of the time. Choking is the norm. Second, I've yet to see clutch hitting as a measurable skill. Who are these infamous clutch hitters? Moreover, would you pinch hit a Miguel Cairo for a Gary Sheffield because one is "clutch" and the other isn't? That's my basic point. The idea of clutch hitting is adds no benefit to existing statistical analysis, or in-game strategy.

A lot of us will cycle starters in and out, so it won't make a difference.

You have to remember that the player pool is MUCH thinner in this league. While Jeremy Bonderman or Mike Maroth aren't worth shit in the H2H league, picking the right one can mean victory in this league.

Thankfully I pre-ranked some 200 players.

Yep. Soriano is not a bad guy to have around at all. My only concern is that he starts in the pen. That shouldn't last.

I downloaded Netscape, and the draft test seems ok. So I should be in good shape for the SNKT draft, Tom's draft, and the NL draft. A reminder. There are two available slots remaining in the NL league. First come, first serve.

Al's draft strategy: Draft players who aren't injured or retired.

Treble, Joe Mays is out for the year.

The lineup looks good, albeit with DaVanon's limited playing time. Aubrey Huff is a hitting machine. Lots of homers and steals spread around. Good lineup. The pitching is a problem. Too many middle relief guys, and too few starters. Villone is no better than 7th on the M's depth chart. John Burkett......retired. You desperately need to find starting pitching.

Ok. Lets evaluate...... Playing time could become an issue with Eric Young and Craig Monroe. Having Dmitri Young helps as he is multi-position eligible. Erstad is an injury risk, but should be able to fill in at first. I like the flexibility of the hitting, but I would worry about depth. The rotation looks solid. No worries there. A great closer as well. Scot Shields is next in line if one the Angels' first five goes down. Timlin's a good middle reliever. Overall, not too bad, but I think team OBP might be a problem.

If you know me, you know I'll back up Bobby Crosby more than anyone on this forum. As an aside, put him one spot above Tejada for kicks.

Thanks a bunch Tom. With work lately, its been iffy as far as getting out exactly on time. With 7:30, I'll just make it home on time. Now if only I can get the draft application to work.....

Perhaps, but I wanted to create a real challenge. Besides, I kind of like trying to figure out who will have a real season between Grant Balfour, Matt Riley, and Jimmy Gobble. Most real teams have bad 5th starters as well.