Baseball Update June 26

OK, my last post of the day, since I'll be on the road back to New Jersey tomorrow. Here's the status of my baseball teams:

RFSJuniors is still in second place. I had a decent day yesterday with 5 starts and 2 wins with a 3.81 ERA. No saves, but a decent outing for all 5 starters except for Jeff Francis who earned 6 ERs over 5 IPs and a 10.80 ERA. My team ERA is currently 3.94, so I'm happy with a 3.81 for the day. I'm still hoping to gain some points in stolen bases, but that will take some time to accumulate because they aren't that common.

RFSJ II had 5 starts yesterday too, with a very good cumulative daily ERA of 1.86 over 29 IPs and 2 wins. Tim Hudson had a great 1.29 ERA for the day (and he pitches for the Juniors as does C.C. Sabathia as well) with 1 ER over 7 IPs. No saves today either, but I still gained an incredible 19 points for the day, but that still only puts me in 7th place in the league. Pitching is doing pretty well, but my hitting needs to improve here. I have Jeter, Wright, and Bonds, so I'm ever hopeful.

RFSJ III is down to 6th place, with 3 starts yesterday, 20 IPs and a not-very-good 5.85 ERA with a win and a save. I had Jeff Francis in this team as well, and I'm starting to wonder if this is a good idea. He was available for Juniors and III and I picked him up from waivers in both leagues. It works both ways, however, since when pitchers like Hudson and Sabathia do well, I get performance in multiple leagues. When they don't, I lose in more than league as well. I am leading in wins (8 so far vs. 4 for the nearest competitor) but am dead last in average with .233 so far. The next person up is at .263 so I have a lot of work to do. I will be looking at the waiver wire this evening. I turned down a trade today for OF Manny Ramirez for 3b Mike Lowell, both of Boston. Lowell's performance just didn't seem like the trade was worth it.

International League Update: the Mudhens beat the Indians 9-1 last night, starting with a 3-RBI double in the first inning. We had really great seats behind and a little to the right of home plate and about 7 rows up, and it wasn't crowded at all. In about the 7th inning Dad and I debuted "WSOL Radio" and provided play-by-play and color for the fans sitting around us. We had a good time, and no one told us to shut up, so I guess we must not have been too bad. We ended up taking a bus running from a shopping center near my parents' home right to the game and then back. It was very convenient and only cost a dollar besides. Price check: $3 for a dog at Fifth Third Field, and $4.50 at Yankee Stadium. $5 for a beer in Toledo, and $8 in the Bronx. Go figure.

Next update is probably not until Thursday. Hopefully I will have better news then!

RFSJ