Ian Wins It All!

Ian's amazing 11-1 run culminated finally in a Needham Fantasy Baseball championship. The title promises a bright future for the young fantasy baseball manager. Congratulations, Ian!

Here's how the final World Series Challenge broke down:

Ian
Pitcher: Neftali Feliz (TEX). Predicted ERA: 0.00. Actual ERA: 4.91.
Hitter: Josh Hamilton (TEX). Predicted AVG: .310. Actual AVG: .241.

Alex
Pitcher: Chris Carpenter (STL). Predicted ERA: 2.34. Actual ERA: 2.84.
Hitter: Albert Pujols (STL). Predicted AVG: .327. Actual AVG: .240.


Tom
Pitcher: CJ Wilson (TEX). Predicted ERA: 2.60. Actual ERA: 2.92.
Hitter: Nelson Cruz (TEX). Predicted AVG: .320. Actual AVG: .200.

This series, as it turned out, was very difficult to predict, and nobody picked up any additional wins, leaving Ian in command of the field as the season wrapped up.

Excellent work on the part of all managers and assistant managers. We'll do it again next year, and I promise I'll start it earlier and be more on the ball. Thanks to all who participated!

World Series Challenge!

Choose one hitter and one pitcher from either the Texas Rangers or the St. Louis Cardinals.

Predict your hitter's AVG and your pitcher's ERA before the start of the World Series on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

You earn three wins if you predict both your hitter's AVG for the series within .010 and your pitcher's ERA for the series within .10. You earn two if you predict either your hitter's AVG or your pitcher's ERA. You earn one win if your prediction of your hitter's AVG is within .020 or your prediction of your pitcher's ERA is within .20.

With one win separating the top two teams in the league--Ian and Alex--the championship could very well be determined by this final challenge.

Send me your players and predictions by first pitch Wednesday night to qualify.

Good luck!

Alex, Ian Collect Wins in Pitcher's Duel

Alex added two wins with seven of nine correct responses and Ian answered all nine correctly to add three wins to his total.

Alex improves to 10-1 and Ian now moves alone into first place with an 11-1 record.

There are three wins still up for grabs, though. Stay tuned for the World Series Challenge!

Pitcher's Duel!

Your team can earn up to three wins with the correct answers to all nine innings below! Due by midnight, Monday, September 26. Good luck!



Answer the first three innings correctly and collect one win for your team.

First Inning: At Milwaukee on September 9, Roy Halladay gave up 1 earned run in 8 innings. What was his ERA for the game?

Second Inning:  Last week, CC Sabathia gave up 4 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Cole Hamels gave up 8 earned runs in 12 innings. Which pitcher had the better ERA?

Third Inning:  In 2009, Mariano Rivera gave up 13 earned runs in 66 1/3 innings. In 2010, he gave up 12 earned runs in 60 innings. In which year did he have the better ERA?


Answer the next three innings correctly and collect a second win for your team.

Fourth Inning:  Jonathan Papelbon has struck out 5 batters in 2 innings this week. If he had pitched 8 innings this week, how many batters do you think he would strike out?

Fifth Inning:  Jon Lester threw a total of 40 pitches in the first two innings. Terry Francona will not let his pitch count get above 110 pitches. If Lester continues to throw pitches at this same rate, will he come out to pitch the 7th inning? How do you know?

Sixth Inning:  Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers throws a curve ball that is only 80% as fast as his typical fastball. If his typical fastball is 90 MPH, how fast is his curve ball?


Answer the last three innings correctly and collect a third win for your team.

Seventh Inning:  Cliff Lee has 232 strikeouts in 31 games so far this season. If he pitches 2 more games this season, how many strikeouts do you expect he will finish the season with?

Eighth Inning:  Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers can get his fastball up around 102 MPH. About how long does it take for a 102 MPH fastball to travel the 60' 6" from the pitching rubber to home plate?

Ninth Inning:  Giants closer Brian Wilson's beard grows about 2" a year. It takes his fastball about 0.45 seconds to travel from the mound to home plate. About how many inches does his beard grow while his fastball travels from the mound to home plate?

Week Seven Statistics

Ian v. Alex
Tom v. Kyle
Manny v. Noah

Math will be due Monday, September 26 at midnight.

Week Six Scores

Alex 7
Manny 4
Box Score

Ian 9
Kyle 1
Box Score

Tom 7
Noah 3
Box Score

Week Seven Match-Ups

Ian v. Alex
Tom v. Kyle
Manny v. Noah

Week Six Statistics

Alex v. Manny
Ian v. Kyle
Tom v. Noah

Math will be due midnight Tuesday, September 20.

Week Five Scores

Ian 7
Tom 5
Box Score

Kyle 7
Manny 1
Box Score

Alex 7
Noah 3
Box Score

Week Six Match-Ups

Alex v. Manny
Ian v. Kyle
Tom v. Noah

Week Five Stats Are Now Available!

I apologize for the delay. Math will be due Monday.

Ian v. Tom
Kyle v. Manny
Noah v. Alex

Week Four Scores

Tom 4
Alex 7
Box Score

Ian 9
Kyle 1
Box Score

Noah 7
Manny 3
Box Score

Week Four Stats... A Bit Late

My apologies. Week four stats are now in. I will accept math through the end of the weekend.

Tom v. Alex
Ian v. Kyle
Noah v. Manny

Week Three Scores

Alex 8
Manny 4
Box Score

Tom 8
Kyle 6
Box Score

Ian 6
Noah 7
Box Score

Yanks Wrap Up Tough Road Trip, Suffer Three-Game Sweep by Kyle

On Friday, Kyle handed the New York Yankees their fourth sweep in as many series and improved his record to 3-3 on the season.

Great job, Kyle!

Week Four Match-Ups

Week Four (Monday 8/22 to Sunday 8/28):

Tom v. Alex
Ian v. Kyle
Noah v. Manny


Stats will be available Monday 8/29. Math for Week Four will be due Friday 9/2.

There will be another opportunity to earn a few extra wins this week... Details coming soon.

Ian Sweeps Yanks

Ian joins Tom and Alex in the elite group of teams that have been able to maintain mathematical dominance over the New York Yankees.

Ian's three game sweep of the Bronx Bombers extends his winning streak to five games and gives him a share of first place in the league.

Good work, Ian!

Week Three Stats

Stats for Week Three (Monday 8/15 to Sunday 8/21) are now available. Sorry for the delay!

Alex v. Manny
Tom v. Kyle
Ian v. Noah

Math for Week Three will be due Friday 8/26.

Alex, Tom Sweep Yankees

Alex and Tom each gain three wins as a result of solid pitching, clutch hitting, and, most importantly, some excellent math.

Who else will pull off the three-game sweep at home v. the first-place Yankees?

Home Stand - A Chance to Gain Some Ground

Your team has a three-game series against the New Your Yankees. You have a chance to add up to three wins to your overall record. You can win each game in the series by correctly solving each set of problems. Email your answers to me by Friday, August 26.

Note: You can't lose! If you do not answer all of the problems correctly, it will not affect your overall record. You may not earn any extra wins, but you will not add any losses either.

Game 1
Solve the following problems correctly to win game 1 of the series (you will add one win to your overall record).

1. In last Saturday's game, Carl Crawford had 2 hits in 4 at-bats. What was his batting average for the game?

2. Dustin Pedroia leads the Red Sox in batting average since the All-Star Break. He has 52 hits in 145 at-bats. What is his batting average since the All-Star Break?



Game 2
Solve the following problems correctly to win game 2 of the series (you will add one win more to your overall record).

3. The Red Sox recently brought up catcher Ryan Lavarnway. He has a batting average of .333 in 4 games for the Red Sox. He has 5 hits. How many at-bats has he had?

4. Over the last 7 days, Jacoby Ellsbury has a batting average of .250. He has hit safely in what fraction of his at-bats?



Game 3
Solve the following problems correctly to win game 3 of the series (you will add one win more to your overall record).

5. David Ortiz has a batting average of .300 for the season. If he continues to bat .300, how many hits we he get in his next 50 at-bats?

6. Josh Reddick has 51 hits in 171 at-bats so far this season.

     A. What is his batting average?

     B. How many hits does he need over his next 20 at-bats in order to bring his average up above .300?

Week Two Scores

Tom 6
Noah 5
Box Score

Ian 7
Manny 3
Box Score

Alex 9
Kyle 4
Box Score

Week Three Match-Ups

Week Three (Monday 8/15 to Sunday 8/21):

Alex v. Manny
Tom v. Kyle
Ian v. Noah

Stats will be available Monday 8/22. Math for Week Three will be due Friday 8/26.

Stay tuned: there will be an opportunity to earn an extra win this week! Details coming soon.

Week Two Stats Are Final

Here are the stats for Week Two (Monday 8/8 to Sunday 8/14):

Alex v. Kyle
Ian v. Manny
Tom v. Noah

Math for Week Two is due Friday 8/19.

Week One Scores

The scores from Week One are now in! Teams earned one point for winning a category--having the best AVG, most RBI, lowest ERA, etc.--one point for correctly calculating their own statistics, and one point for correctly calculating their opponent's statistics. Click on "box score" to see all of the numbers for each match-up.

Alex 4
Noah 7
Box Score

Ian 7

Kyle 6

Box Score

Tom 6
Manny 4
Box Score

Week Two Match-Ups

Here are the match-ups for Week Two (Monday 8/8 to Sunday 8/14):

Alex v. Kyle
Ian v. Manny
Tom v. Noah

I will have Week Two statistics available on Monday 8/15. Math for Week Two will be due Friday 8/19. Remember that math for Week One is due this Friday 8/12.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Week One Stats Are Final

Had to wait until the tenth inning of the 8:00 game last night (worth the wait!), but the stats for Week One are now complete and final.

Now it is time to do the math in order to see who has won each match-up in Week One. Your team gets one point for a higher team batting average for the week, a higher team total of home runs, a higher team total of RBI, a higher team total of stolen bases, a lower team ERA, a higher team K/9, a higher team total of wins, and a higher team total of saves.

Plus, you earn a point for your team if you calculate all of these statistics correctly. You earn two points if you calculate your statistics and your opponent's statistics correctly.

Click on the link to your Week One statistics below. Print the charts and do the math. You may ask for some help with this if you need it. Then, email your calculations to me (davberkley@gmail.com) by this Friday, August 12. 

Week One statistics:

Alex v. Noah
Ian v. Kyle
Tom v. Manny

Some helpful formulas:

• batting average (AVG) = hits / at bats
• earned run average (ERA) = (earned runs / innings pitched) x 9
• strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) = (strikeouts / innings pitched) x 9

Talk to your assistant manager about what these statistics tell you about a player and a team.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Week One

Week One is under way! Each week will begin with Monday's games and end with Sunday's games. Teams will go head-to-head each week, with a different opponent each week. Below are the match-ups for this week. Click on each match-up to view a spreadsheet with league-generated statistics. Use league-generated statistics to calculate the other statistics. Remember, each team can earn points at the end of each week for accurate calculation.

Alex v. Noah

Ian v. Kyle

Tom v. Manny


                                                     

Draft Day Has Arrived!

My apologies for taking so long to set this up!

So, we will be a post-All-Star-break fantasy league. Just means we will have better informed managers who can use real data to draft a team (rather than speculative preseason projections).

The drafting period will begin today, and your pre-draft player rankings will be due on Friday July 29 (see below). The draft will take place Saturday July 30. You do not need to be present at the draft, although you can be if you'd like. Week 1 of the season will begin Monday, August 1.

Pre-Draft Rankings

1. Please rank the top 16 players that you would like on your team as infielders (they may play any position in the infield, catcher, or DH). You are guaranteed to have two of these players on your team.

2. Please rank the top 16 players that you would like on your team as outfielders (they may play any position in the outfield). You are guaranteed to have two of these players on your team.

3. Please rank the top 16 players that you would like on your team as starting pitchers (they must be starters rather than relievers). You are guaranteed to have two of these players on your team.

4. Please rank the top 8 players that you would like on your team as relief pitchers (they must be relievers rather than starters). You are guaranteed to have one of these players on your team.

Remember, only the following offensive categories matter in the scoring: AVG, HR, RBI, and SB. Only the following pitching categories matter: ERA, K/9, W, SV. So, you will want to choose your players accordingly.

For example... a manager's pre-draft rankings might look like this:

Infield (16):

1 Adrian Gonzales (Bos), 2 Jose Reyes (NYM), 3 Miguel Cabrera (Det), 4 Dustin Pedroia (Bos) 5 Lance Berkman (StL), 6 Prince Fielder (Mil), 7 Joey Votto (Cin), 8 Paul Konerko (CWS), 9 Albert Pujols (StL), 10 Michael Young (Tex), 11 David Ortiz (Bos), 12 Robinson Cano (NYY), 13 Adrian Beltre (Tex), 14 Ricky Weeks (Mil), 15 Jimmy Rollins (Phi), 16 Kevin Youkilis (Bos).

Outfield (16):
1 Matt Kemp (LAD), 2 Jose Bautista (Tor), 3 Jacoby Ellsbury (Bos)... 16 BJ Upton (TB).

Starting Pitchers (16):
1 Justin Verlander (Det), 2 Jared Weaver (LAA), 3 Josh Beckett (Bos)... 16 Jon Lester (Bos).

Relief Pitchers (8):

1 Jonathan Papelbon (Bos), 2 Brian Wilson (SF), 3 Craig Kimbrel (Atl)... 8 Mariano Rivera (NYY).

Send your rankings to me at davberkley@gmail.com by July 29. MLB.com has all the stats you need to make good choices.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your patience!

How Does This League Work?

We will play a simplified version of fantasy baseball that will hopefully be about the right speed for our third graders. This will mean fewer statistics used in scoring, fewer decisions to make as manager, weekly participation rather than daily participation, and more opportunity for the kids to apply a variety of mathematical concepts.

The Yahoo.com fantasy leagues, like the fantasy football league we did last fall, calculate all of the statistics and do all of the scoring automatically, so there is little authentic opportunity for our young mathematicians to do any math. But, I am hoping that this do-it-yourself approach to fantasy baseball, which will leave a lot of the statistical calculation and scoring up to the kids, will work to force some good, rigorous mathematical thinking out of them. Through this fantasy league, I plan to introduce the following mathematical concepts to Tom:

• The meaning and computation of averages (batting average and earned run average).
• Decimal notation, the meaning of tenths to thousandths places, and basic fractional equivalents (.500 = 1/2, .250 = 1/4, .333 = about 1/3, etc.).
• Double and triple checking all calculations!
• Other concepts will probably come up, too.

Each manager (each kid) will draft, from the pool of all real MLB baseball players, a team of four position players, two starting pitchers, and one relief pitcher (closer). Teams will face off against a different opponent each week. Each manager will be responsible for calculating his team's weekly batting average, homerun total, RBI total, stolen base total, earned run average, strikeouts, wins, and saves. At the end of the week, one point will be awarded to the team with the best performance in each of these statistical categories. One point will also be awarded to each team whose manager has calculated all the statistics for his team correctly. So, a total of nine points are possible each week for each team. The team with the highest score at the end of the week wins the match-up that week. In the case of a tie, the tie-breaker will be an extra-inning challenge of some sort (yet to be determined).

So, at the end of a certain week (let's say Week 9), the matchup between Frank's Team and Gary's Team might look like this:

Week 9 Matchups

Frank's Team vs. Gary's Team

		AVG		HR		RBI		SB		ERA		K/9		W		SV		MATH		Total
Frank's Team		.331		17		31		9		2.07		7.8		6		2		1		6
Gary's Team		.297		22		43		4		1.96		6.1		5		1		1		4

Box Score

Frank's Team wins this week, 6 to 4. If you click on Box Score above, you will see the raw data for each team -- the total hits and at-bats per player for the week, the total innings pitched and earned runs, etc. I will compile these numbers every Sunday. Each manager will have until the end of Monday (or some other reasonable deadline) to compute his team's statistics for the week. Once a manager has submitted his team's statistics to me (probably via email), I will check his math and post the official final score for that week's matchup.

Below you will see a display of the current standings, with the two fake example teams. If you choose to join this league, your fantasy team will appear in place of Frank's Team and Gary's Team. If you click on Frank's Team or Gary's Team below you will be able to view the rosters for each team. Frank and Gary would have participated in a draft and selected these players from the pool of active 2011 Major League Baseball players. I'm not sure yet how we will conduct our draft, but I vote for a live, face-to-face draft at someone's house with pizza and beer (for the assistant managers).

Current Standings

Through Week 8

	Team			Wins		Losses		GamesBack
1	Frank's Team			7		1		--
2	Gary's Team			6		2		1
3
4
5
6
7
8

Transactions

Frank and Gary could improve their draft-day rosters as the season unfolds by trading or acquiring players. Any player who is not claimed in our league will be considered a free agent. A manager may choose to drop one of his current players and fill his vacated roster spot with a free agent. A list of free agents with their current statistics will not appear on this website, but there are plenty of other sites that post such lists. I will provide links to some of these sites.

Trades may be proposed and require the consent of all managers involved. Once this is achieved, I will approve the trade and it will be final. I still need to work out the details, but there will be a process in place for proposing a trade.