After 5 weeks of exhilarating play, the regular season of League of Legends 2019 is over! Let’s take a look back at the short week as the season came to a close.

Standings Update

Spitball Division: Panthers keep their impressive streak going, winning out their last 4 games to swipe the division right out of Imperial’s hands! As the runner-up, Imperials will still be playing playoff baseball. The rest of the division will have a long off-season to think about how they were sooooo close to winning 1 more game to force a play-in game.

Knuckleball Division: Dirty Fed Danger did what he needed to do to get in the playoffs – score runs. After his Monday night loss to the Beers, he was tied with Maize for the most runs scored of the non-playoff teams. All he need to do was score once more to move onto the playoffs. Coming out swinging, he did just that, grabbing 6 runs in his final game of the regular season. Though the two loses this week might not be what he wanted, the 11 runs is ultimately what he needed. He’ll be joining the 1st place Lumberjacks and the 2nd place Aces in the playoffs representing Knuckleball Division.

Forkball Division: Fortunately (or unfortunately?), all the crazy scenarios did not come to fruition, and the final standings were Bean Counters taking the division crown, with Lobsters taking the 2nd place over the Xenon due to run differential tiebreaker. Xenon is dancing too though, as they were the team with the least amount of runs allowed outside of those already in the playoffs.

Batter of the Week

Needing to sweep their season-ending series against the Clam Chowda to clinch the division, there was a lot of pressure in the Bean Counters’ clubhouse. A seasoned veteran, Roger Maris answered the call. Homering in both games, Maris went 4/8 with a walk and 6 runs batted in. The old-timer put his team on his back, as the first 3-run homer was a huge momentum changer, giving his team a 1-run lead. The last 3-run homer was all the run support the pitching staff needed as they cruised to a shutout win. With his strong finish, Roger Maris is the Batter of the Week.

Pitcher of the Week

He may not be a household name, but don’t underestimate Diego Castillo. One of the best cards to come out of S1, Diego has quietly put up a great season for the Xenon, going 10 1/3 innings with a 0.68 WHIP and 1.74 ERA. This week was no different. He may not have gotten the win, but he played a large part in preserving the lead for Xenon, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no baserunners and striking out 3. Since his more famous bullpen mate got the nod as one of the cards of the week, it’s only fitting for Diego Castillo to finally be recognized as the Pitcher of the Week.

Cards of the Week

With only 8 games this week, it was hard to find cards that made large impacts. But over 4 games, O’Hearn made solid contributions for both Clam Chowda and Xenon. Going a combined 5/15, belting a home run, and knocking in 5 runs while scoring 2 himself, O’Hearn lived up to his potential. With an otherwise quiet week from the other offensive cards, Ryan O’Hearn is one of the Cards of the Week.

Josh Hader has is a common talking point, both praising his incredible performance sometimes, while languishing his ill-timed meltdowns at other times. This week he faced himself during the middle innings of the Xenon vs Microbrews game, and it was quite the show. Between the two Haders, there was 6 innings total, 9 strikeouts, and 2 eared runs. Xenon’s Hader got the win, while ‘Brew’s Hader picked up the loss. Having such a big impact in a game with playoff seeding implications is why Josh Hader is on the of Cards of the Week.

Number: 0.333

Nope, that’s not Indiana Maize’s batting average. Unfortunately, that his stolen base percentage, the only team to not succeed on at least 50% of their attempts on the year. His team had a lot of great speed, between Joe Jackson, Christian Yelich, Omar Vizquel, and Jose Ramirez. But the dice gods were clearly not in his favor, as his team was thrown out on 10 out of 15 stolen base attempts this season. Better luck next year!

 

It’s Monday night at the end of week 4 with only 8 games left in the season! 3 out of the 8 playoff spots are locked. Let’s do this!!!

Standings Update

Spitball Division: The only division with the 1-2 seeds already decided, it’s now a matter of seeding as Panthers has 2 games left this week to determine if he’ll take the division or be the runner-up. If he wins both games, he’ll take the crown; otherwise Imperials will have it on tiebreakers. Sadly for the other teams, neither the Runs Scored nor Runs Allowed champ is coming out of this division.

Knuckleball Division: Lumberjacks have already popped the champagne as division champs. Orange County Aces is sitting pretty knowing that he’ll either be second in the division or (barring some incredibly high-scoring games) will take the Runs Scored title. Danger need to win out to get the second seed, but can still get in with the Runs Scored title if they can get at least 6 runs over their 2 remaining games.

Forkball Division: This division is crazy. 3 teams still have chances at the number 1 seed, with 2 other teams still having a chance at the Runs Allowed entry. Only 1 team (barring a 50 run barrage over the final 2 games) is truly eliminated from the playoffs.

Batter of the Week

Andruw Jones of the Maine Lumberjacks went on a tear this past week, going 7 for 11 and knocking in 11 RBIs on the back of 3 home runs. Known mostly for his defense, his offense is nothing to be surprised by. With a sneakily good chart, it’s not surprising that Jones went off this week to be the Batter of the Week.

Pitcher of the Week

Don’t be surprised if Pedro Martinez of the Florida Lobsters ends up with some serious hardware after this season wraps up and the awards are announced. For the second straight start, Pedro dominated the opposition, notching 15 strikeouts in a 2-run complete game win against the Bean Counters. With a 0.667 WHIP and 2.00 ERA this week, it’s no wonder Pedro is the Pitcher of the Week.

Cards of the Week

Albert Belle had quite a good week for his two teams, Indiana Maize and Maine Lumberjacks. Combined, Albert led all batters with 13 RBIs, powered by 3 home runs. He was the king of consistency, having an extra-base hit, run, and RBI in all four games this week. Add in a slash line of 0.474/0.500/1.000, and you have plenty of reasons for Belle to be one of the Cards of the Week.

Owners of Hideo Nomo were treated with a fantastic week from the Japanese import. He took the mound for three teams this week (Bean Counters, Imperials, and Dingoes), pitching a combined 22 innings and sporting a 1.64 ERA and 0.955 WHIP. Imperials and Dingoes got the added benefit of a win, with Bean Counters being dealt a loss from Eric Gagne’s inexplicable blown save. Needless to say, Nomo pitched beyond his lofty expectations, and for that, he’s one of the Cards of the Week.

Number: 69

That’s the total strikeouts Florida Lobsters was involved in this past week. They were tied for the lead in strikeouts by a pitching staff, and also had the most strikeouts while batting. That’s 1.30 strikeouts per half-inning over their 3 games. Talk about the state of 2019 baseball!

 

 

Just like that and we’re over halfway done and on the home stretch! Some teams have already finished their schedules. Awesome job everyone!

Standings Update

Spitball Division: As of early afternoon on 9/17, this division is incredibly tight! Imperials have the lead at the moment, though Panthers and Armada are dueling it out tonight, both currently just a half-game back. Both Nightmare and Dingoes are still in the fray at only 1 game back. Who knows what the final results will look like!

Knuckleball Division: These managers know how to get a season done! Two of the teams have already finished, with another two having only two games left. Both Aces and Lumberjacks can’t finish worst than 3rd in the division, and if either of those scenarios happen, they’ll most likely take the most runs scored crown. Don’t count out Fed Danger or Maize, as either can win out and force some interesting tiebreakers!

Forkball Division: There remains a scenario where all 6 teams finish with a 5-5 record. No teams are eliminated. Plus the team with the least runs allowed is most likely coming out of this division as well. Going down to the wire!

Batter of the Week

Luis Gonzalez hasn’t played a game in the Majors in over a decade. Thankfully, he was seen hanging around ballparks this spring, being one of the 2019 Ballpark Exclusive clutch cards. He’s already showing the league why he was worth the price of admission. In the two games from Sunday to Sunday, Luis Gonzalez was nearly unstoppable. He homered in both games and was on base 4 times in each contest. Along with 3 runs and 4 RBIs, Gonzo’s slash line was 0.714/0.800/1.571. He’s putting up a fantastic season as well, being a top 10 hitter in several categories, including leading the league in BBs. Not bad coming out of the two-hole in the Imperials lineup, and definitely deserving of Batter of the Week.

Pitcher of the Week

Call me biased, but after 9 innings in the Clam Chowda/Nokos game, it was apparent that whichever pitcher came out on top would have to be the Pitcher of the Week, and deservedly so. Both Justin Verlander and Fergie Jenkins were dealing, keeping the game scoreless through a combined 19 2/3 innings before a mistake-fueled walk-off double to end the struggle. Verlander was masterful, throwing 8 2/3 innings of PERFECT ball (that’s 8 card draws in Los Angeles-N Stadium!!!), and ultimately only surrendered 1 hit over 10 innings, the last 3 innings of which were all whilst tired. The man absolutely lived up to The Man Is Non-Stop, going 6 innings with that strat by his side. Thanks to a 2-out 2-run HR turned flyball from Splitter 2.0, Verlander is the Pitcher of the Week.

Cards of the Week

Nelson Cruz is not fast, not good at fielding, and is not cheap. He is, however, a great hitter, one with only 5 outs, knocking 1Bs at 10, doubling at 17, and a fantastic 19+ HR along with his 12 L+1 OB. He’s also clutch with +2, and a relative bargain for a middle-of-the-order type bat. But over the four games this past week for two clubs, Cruz failed to deliver in epic proportions. Collectively, he was 1 for 16 with a BB. That’s an OPS of 0.180. He scored once and drove in 1 RBI. He also had 6 strikeouts. This is the cleanup hitter on two playoff-caliber teams in the Xenon and Imperials. This slump Cruz has been in is why he is one of the Cards of the Week.

Sean Doolittle has high command, is left-handed, has a fantastic chart, and is expensive. He was not, however, a great pitcher this past week. At 330 points, you’d expect your lights-out reliever to perform closer to how his card looks, with only a 1 mistake zone, 19 outs, 25+ HR, and 7 command. He’s a poor-man’s, 1 inning Josh Hader. Yet this past week, he performed closer to how you’d expect Luis Perdomo to pitch. For two teams over 3 games this past week, he pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up 7 earned runs and recording 2 blown saves after given a 3-run lead in the 8th for the Dingoes and a 1-run lead in the 8th for the Chowda. Worse, Doolittle took home the loss in both of those games. Failing multiple teams in the same week is how he ended up as one of the Cards of the Week.

Closing Number: 1.230

That’s the OPS (On-Base percentage plus Slugging percentage) of Dirty Fed Danger this past week. The other 17 teams averaged an OPS of 0.781. The next best OPS team was nearly 0.200 less. This ability to get on-base and have solid contact resulted in the most runs and the fewest strikeouts over the past week. Though maybe they should stick to hitting, not stealing, as their 0-3 in stolen base attempts this week was their only offensive blemish!

 

Week 2 has flown by! We’re off to a great start, with every team having played at least 4 games, and almost half the league well ahead of that! Keep it up!

Standings Update

Spitball Division: Boy did the Imperials have a great week. They swept their series against the Monarchs in high scoring affairs, powered by their offense, which had 6 home runs over the past 7 days, the most in the league. Along with the reigning champs Armada, they are looking to be the class of the division.

Knuckleball Division: Talk about offense. 6 of the top 8 run scoring teams call this division home, lead by Lumberjacks, who are averaging 11.8 runs per game. The Burritos, though, are right on their heels, only a half-game back.

Forkball Division: This division is going to go down to the wire. Nokos may lead at 3-1, but right behind him are 4 teams at 2-2. Even the Chowda are only 2 games back despite being dead-last in the division.

Batter of the Week

Getting banned from baseball and shunned from the Hall of Fame does not prevent you from getting a fantastic Clutch card made in your honor, and neither does it stop you from getting Batter of the Week. In the two games over the past week, Joe Jackson of the Maryland Microbrews was incredible, racking up 2 BBs, 3 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 SB, and 5 runs over 11 plate appearances. His slash line of 0.667/0.727/1.222 is just mind-boggling for a hitter straight out of the dead-ball era. He’s anchored the 2-hole in the Brews lineup and helped win them the series against the then first place Florida Lobsters. We have to admit he’s the Batter of the Week. Say it ain’t so, Joe!

Pitcher of the Week

Sometimes the best pitcher is the guy who you’d least expect to give you a great start of 1 run over 5 innings to notch the win. This week, Steven Matz of the Orange County Aces did just that. More impressively, he only gave up 3 BBs and 3 hits, despite tossing 7 mistake pitches to a star-studded lineup in the Olympia Beers. For a back-of-the-rotation starter, he absolutely was worth every point this week, proving to be the Pitcher of the Week.

Cards of the Week

The offensive juggernaut card of the past week was clearly Rickey Henderson. Over the last 7 days in 11 games, Rickey racked up 2 doubles, 5 home runs, 8 stolen bases (against 0 caught stealing), 9 RBIs, and 14 runs. All 5 teams rostering Rickey benefited greatly, leading him to be one of the Cards of the Week.

Unfortunately, the other card with the largest impact was 2018 Generations Kerry Wood. Kerry took the mound for 3 teams, and each time he rewarded his manager with a loss. Collectively he gave up 18 runs over 14 innings, an ERA of 11.57 along with a WHIP of 2.29. His K/9 was a respectable 10.9, though his 6 home runs surrendered lead the league over the past week. All of this means that Kerry is one of the Cards of the Week.

Closing Number: 10

That’s the number of stolen bases over the 2 games Orange County Aces accumulated this past week. Even with all the base stealing, only one runner was caught stealing, a 90.9% success rate. The rest of the league had 17 stolen bases against 10 caught stealing, a success rate of 63.0%. That’s a lot of Speed Demons!

 

Week 1 is in the books! Very proud of all of our managers getting their games finished in less than a week. Great start to the season!

Standings Update

Spitball Division is looking mighty tough, with only 1 team under 0.500 and very balanced offense and pitching teams. Apparently these teams don’t like sleeping in their own beds, as collectively they are 1-5 at home.

Knuckleball Division is turning into a pitcher’s nightmare, as 6 out of the 7 of the highest run scoring teams calls this division home. Burritos and Lumberjacks are starting to gain some distance, but still only have 1 game leads over the next two teams.

Forkball Division is showcasing the pitching prowess these staffs (and their associated underwhelming lineups) were paid to do. Teams are averaging just over 2 runs per game. Hell the Chowda still haven’t sniffed a run yet!

Batter of the Week

Orange County Aces’ Jose Canseco has been the best story so far for his team that ran into the Lumber buzzsaw team from Maine. He leads the league in batting average at 0.750 and is tied for first in slugging at 2.000. Throw in a stolen base and you got yourself the Batter of the Week.

Pitcher of the Week

It was tough to choose which Pedro was deserving in their epic game 2 duel that resulted in 28 strikeouts and 1 run over a total of 18 innings. But an even more impressive show of domination was the game 1 start put out by Florida Lobster’s Sandy Koufax. Allowing only 3 baserunners to 9 strikeouts over 9 shutout innings, Koufax dominated the opposing offense. The lone mistake pitch he threw was harmless, resulting in a walk. Koufax looks great for his age and even better as the Pitcher of the Week.

Cards of the Week

Without a doubt, the most impactful batter card this past week was Alex Rodriguez. Collectively, A-Rod lead all batters in hits, runs, RBIs, doubles, and home runs. For the Lumberjacks, he has homered in all 4 games and driven in 11 RBIs. Though only rostered by 2 teams, his presence cannot be dismissed.

One of the most highly-anticipated players coming out of the S2 set, and on many rosters to be used in key situations, Adam Ottavino finds himself as one of the Cards of the Week for the impact he had on games. He’s pitched well for some teams, including earning a win for the Lumberjacks. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all positive. 2 out of the 3 highest ERAs in this young season belong to an Ottavino, including an ugly 53.73 for the reigning champs. He was also tasked with keeping a tie game tied for the Orange County Aces in the 9th during game 2, but was unable to do so, getting tagged with the loss after surrendering 4 runs.

Closing Number: 32

That’s 17 doubles, 1 triple, and 14 home runs for a total of 32 extra-base hits in 4 games for the Maine Lumberjacks. The rest of the league has a total of 85 extra-base hits over 34 games. Just sheer dominance.

 

The Clutch Baseball Online League is coming off of an absolutely electric season. Winter 2017 featured an expansion from 8 to 16 teams that battled from November to April, leading to an absolute story book finish. The champion, Cady Phillips, found herself needing to win out from 5-8 just to make playoffs. She then won two series primarily on the road, leading to a World Series match-up vs. Clutch Baseball veteran Patrick Burke. The series ended with a Game 5, 9th inning, 2 outs comeback to tie the game and then win it in extras. Once again, Seattle, WA was home to the Online League champion.

Continue reading “Clutch Baseball Online League: Summer 2018” →

For our 3rd Online League season, we’ve upped the stakes with official prizes. Here’s what we’ll be giving away not only for the winners, but all players.

Continue reading “High Heat 2018 PRIZES!” →

The full High Heat 2018 Summer League Schedule is now available!

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