3 games were played last night.  Here are the results.

As you can see, not everybody has played yet, but here are some early results.

To be played the week of February 13

Now that all of the teams have been set and the cards are being printed and sent out to everyone, I thought it would be a good idea to get everyone’s competitive juices and the conversations going just a bit.  What better way than to make some predictions and pre-season rankings.  Of course, this is all just my opinion based on statistics alone, so, let’s hear what you guys think.  Who is going to do what this year?

1. Fightins -  This team’s rotation features Burt Hooton (2.28 era), Jerry Reus (2.30 era) and Fernando Valenzuela (2.48 era).  It also features great offensive players like Matt Kemp, Mike Piazza, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero. They will likely be tough to beat.

2. Angry Birds – This is probably the best all around pitching staff in the league, with Jim Palmer (2.34 era), Mike Cuellar (2.38 era), Pete Richert (2.20 era), Eddie Watt (1.65 era) and Dick Hall (1.92 era).  The offense, who already featured Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, has been bolstered by the additions of Brady Anderson and Cal Ripken, Jr. But, is that enough?

3. Hammerheads – The Hammerheads have what is arguably the best all around team with Steve Carlton and Curt Schilling in the starting rotation and a line up featuring Bull Luzinski, Mike Schmidt and Garry Maddox.  They also have a solid bullpen and a bench with 4 players who hit over .300 such as Bake McBride (.339) and Tim McCarver (.321).  This team might surprise some people.

4. Bullies – The Bullies have one of the best rotations in history with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, but I’m not so sure about their offense.  Plus their bullpen isn’t as deep as the top 3 teams. Still, any team loaded with these pitching greats can be dangerous.

5. Cardinals – The Cards have arguably the 2 best starters in the league with Bob Gibson (1.12 era) and John Tudor (1.97 era).  offensively, they have the fastest team, but not a lot of power.  It will be interesting to see how that works out in this game.  Mark’s managerial skills will be on display as he tinkers with small ball and awesome pitching.

6. Yankees – One of the best teams of all-time and a team that many of the managers at least considered picking.  I like this team and they may have the best offense in the league.  Still, I’m not sure how the pitching will perform compared to some of the rotations mentioned above.

7. Phillies – This team, the defending champions, cannot be counted out.  Like last year, they have a decent offense and a decent pitching staff, but on paper at least, they look like one of the weaker teams.  Just like last year.  Of course last year they dominated everybody going 13-4 and winning the championship.  Jorge is ready to show everyone just how good a manager he really is.

8. Twins – Matt Fox’s pick surprised me here, but after looking into it some more, I really like it.  Plus, Matt improved his team by adding Johan Santana and Allan Anderson.  Offensively, he has Rod Carew who had a hell of a year in 1976.  Can this team compete with some of the pitching heavy teams above?  We’ll see.

I see the top 4 as play off teams with the Fightins winning over the Bullies in the best of 3 round 1, in 3 games.  In the other bracket, the Hammerheads will take the Angry Birds in 3 as the Angry Birds offense proves to be too little compared to the Hammerheads.

In the championship, I have the Hammerheads over the Fightins in a 3 game sweep!

Below is the schedule for the 2012 season.

Game Visitor Home

1 Phillies @ Broad St. Bullies
2 Fightins @ Twins
3 Yankees @ Cardinals
4 Orioles @ Hammerheads
5 Broad St. Bullies @ Phillies
6 Twins @ Fightins
7 Cardinals @ Yankees
8 Hammerheads @ Orioles
9 Phillies @ Twins
10 Fightins @ Broad St. Bullies
11 Yankees @ Hammerheads
12 Cardinals @ Orioles
13 Twins @ Phillies
14 Broad St. Bullies @ Fightins
15 Hammerheads @ Yankees
16 Orioles @ Cardinals
17 Phillies @ Fightins
18 Twins @ Broad St. Bullies
19 Cardinals @ Hammerheads
20 Yankees @ Orioles
21 Fightins @ Phillies
22 Broad St. Bullies @ Twins
23 Hammerheads @ Cardinals
24 Orioles @ Yankees
25 Phillies @ Yankees
26 Twins @ Cardinals
27 Broad St. Bullies @ Orioles
28 Fightins @ Hammerheads
29 Yankees @ Twins
30 Cardinals @ Broad St. Bullies
31 Orioles @ Fightins
32 Hammerheads @ Phillies
33 Broad St. Bullies @ Yankees
34 Fightins @ Cardinals
35 Phillies @ Orioles
36 Twins @ Hammerheads
37 Yankees @ Fightins
38 Cardinals @ Phillies
39 Orioles @ Twins
40 Hammerheads @ Broad St. Bullies
41 Phillies @ Broad St. Bullies
42 Fightins @ Twins
43 Yankees @ Cardinals
44 Orioles @ Hammerheads
45 Broad St. Bullies @ Phillies
46 Twins @ Fightins
47 Cardinals @ Yankees
48 Hammerheads @ Orioles
49 Phillies @ Twins
50 Fightins @ Broad St. Bullies
51 Yankees @ Hammerheads
52 Cardinals @ Orioles
53 Twins @ Phillies
54 Broad St. Bullies @ Fightins
55 Hammerheads @ Yankees
56 Orioles @ Cardinals
57 Phillies @ Fightins
58 Twins @ Broad St. Bullies
59 Cardinals @ Hammerheads
60 Yankees @ Orioles
61 Fightins @ Phillies
62 Broad St. Bullies @ Twins
63 Hammerheads @ Cardinals
64 Orioles @ Yankees
65 Yankees @ Phillies
66 Cardinals @ Twins
67 Orioles @ Broad St. Bullies
68 Hammerheads @ Fightins
69 Twins @ Yankees
70 Broad St. Bullies @ Cardinals
71 Fightins @ Orioles
72 Phillies @ Hammerheads
73 Yankees @ Broad St. Bullies
74 Cardinals @ Fightins
75 Orioles @ Phillies
76 Hammerheads @ Twins
77 Fightins @ Yankees
78 Phillies @ Cardinals
79 Twins @ Orioles
80 Broad St. Bullies @ Hammerheads

Here are some answers to some questions I have been getting.  If you have any others, you may ask them in the comments section.

• Yes, we can have more than one player from the same team as long as they are not taken by someone else.  For example….we may have 2010 Roy Halladay and 2011 Roy Halladay in our rotation.  Or, if we pick a 1970′s Reds team with Pete Rose at 3b, we could pick 1985 Rose and play him at 1b and 1965 Rose and play him at RF.
• No, we can not pick a player pre-1965.  The supplemental picks must come from the same time period as the teams.
• Yes, the supplemental picks have to be on the same franchise on the year in which we are picking them.  For example….if you pick the Phillies, and you want to pick Scott Rolen, it must be a season for which he played for the Phillies.  It can’t be 2004, his best year, but a year he was on the Cardinals.
• We each get 2 picks.  The reason we’re doing the “snake” style draft is in case the same franchise is picked more than once. If we all pick unique franchises, we can pick our supplemental picks at once in the second round
• FYI…the PB rating is based on era as most of you know.  The era distribution I am using to come up with these will be based on era’s from 1965-2010

I think that covers it for now.  It should be fun.  Local guys…let me know if you’re going to draft in person or via phone or chat.  Everyone else please confirm phone or chat.