Atomic RoadRunners

Sometimes these things work themselves out naturally . . .

Going into vacation on May 23rd, I was battling for the lead of a generally weak front pack. We’re talking low- to mid-60’s in points, top five separated by seven points, etc.

Since then, however, the Roadrunners have been on quite the uptick, while the league has lagged behind. Here’s the progression:

 Date    Place	Points
----------------------
May 21	 T-4 	  64
May 22	  1	 68.5
May 23	  2	 68.5
May 24	  1	  68
May 25	  3	 64.5
May 26	 T-2	  66
May 27	  1	 69.5
May 28	  1	  72
May 29	  1	 70.5
May 30	  1	 74.5
May 31	  1	  76
June 1	  1	 76.5
June 2	  1	  78
June 3	  1	  79
June 4	  1	  81

Not only that, but there has been an ever-increasing gap between 1st and 2nd, currently at 18.5 points. Goodfellas has fallen from a battle for first to sixth with 53 points. Shoeless Jews is in fifth with 55 points. X-Men was holding fast in third recently until Misogynistic Padres passed him on the back of Chase Utley. And The Pi Train has been consistently in second during that stretch.

So what is the Roadrunners’ winning formula?

The boring answer is “Balance.”  In the past 14 days:

• 9 of 14 hitters have at least 2 homers.
• 10 of 14 hitters have at least 5 RBI (and Mark Teixeira has 19 in that span!)
• 12 of 14 hitters have at least 5 Runs (and Shane Victorino has 19 in that span!)

Sure, there have been some streaks:

• Chipper Jones is still batting over .400
• The Atomic Roadrunners have batted .300 (194-for-647)
• Jose Reyes had an 18-game hitting streak
• Shane Victorino is currently on a 14-game hit streak

But essentially, the guys that had started the season off slowly have started to heat up (I’m looking at you, Reyes, Fielder, and Teixeira).  In the 14-Day span, the Roadrunners:

• Went from 51 homers (9th place) to 82 (4th place)
• Went from 290 runs (6th place) to 389 (1st place)
• Went from 260 RBIs (8th place) to to 338 (4th place)
• Held steady in pitching categories, picking up two points in WHIP
• And Todd Wellemeyer was named NL Pitcher of the Month for May

I’m usually accustomed to having to make trades to come from behind.  Being up 18 points on my nearest rival is heady stuff, but there are still four months to go.  Last season Drew was untouchable early on with 86 points, and though he eventually won, he had a dogfight on his hands, and dipped into the high-60’s before finishing with 79.5.

Looking ahead, there needs to be some luck involved to avoid slipping back to the pack:

• Only 11 homers separate 4th Place (82) and 9th (71)
• My nearest competitor is behind me by 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 4 Saves and 5 Wins
• During the hot streak the pitching was steady, improving ERA by .12 and WHIP by .004, but we gained only 5 wins and 2 saves.

We will stay vigilant!

Overall Standings

Rank Team                Batting Pitching Total Dif  Behind
---- ------------------- ------- -------- ----- ---- ------
 1   Atomic Roadrunners  43.0    38.0     81.0  2.0  0.0
 2   The Pi Train        26.0    36.0     62.0  -2.0 19.0
 3   Misogynistic Padres 29.5    30.5     60.0  1.0  21.0
 4   X-Men               20.0    39.0     59.0  -0.5 22.0
 5   Goodfellas          33.0    22.5     55.5  -1.0 25.5
 6   Shoeless Jews       28.0    26.5     54.5  -2.5 26.5
 7   Stanimals           38.0    14.5     52.5  2.0  28.5
 8   Get Off Kong!       25.5    21.0     46.5  1.0  34.5
 9   Uncle Lester        8.0     37.0     45.0  0.0  36.0
 10  Cover Zero          24.0    10.0     34.0  0.0  47.0

Yesterday's Stats

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (6/3/08)
Player                       BA HR R RBI   SB
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Blanco, Gregor M. OF ATL 0.3333  0 0   0    0
Coste, Chris C PHI       0.0000  0 0   0    0
Dewitt, Blake 3B LA      0.0000  0 0   0    0
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL   0.2500  1 1   1    0
Gerut, Jody RF SD        0.5000  0 1   0    0
Hart, Corey C. RF MIL    0.0000  0 0   0    1
Iannetta, Chris C COL    1.0000  1 1   1    0
Jones, Chipper 3B ATL    0.5000  1 2   3    0
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN 0.0000  0 0   0    0
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM    0.0000  0 2   1    0
Spilborghs, Ryan CF COL  0.3333  0 0   0    0
Teixeira, Mark 1B ATL    0.3333  0 1   0    0
Theriot, Ryan SS CHC     0.0000  0 0   1    1
Victorino, Shane CF PHI  0.0000  0 0   0    0

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (6/3/08)
Player                      ERA  K S   W WHIP
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Campillo, Jorge RP ATL     9.00  3 0   0 1.75