COPPERFIELDS reserve T Gorzelanny, activate J Jennings.

COPPERFIELDS reserve M Capps, activate G Geary.

SPLINTERS reserve C Sullivan, activate L Scott.

SPLINTERS reserve M Prior, activate C Vargas.

SPLINTERS reserve E Guardado, activate B Lidge.

RED HOTS reserve Ra Ortiz, activate Od Perez.

RED HOTS reserve D Oliver, activate J Sosa.

BULLS sign J Mateo (.05), reserve R King, waive R Langerhans.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve S Finley, activate J Rauch.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve T Tankersley, activate J Valverde.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve  V Chulk, activate M Wuertz.

RUFFINS reserve C Coste, activate R Paulino.

RUFFINS reserve C Wilson, activate C Quentin.

RUFFINS claim T Hamulack on waivers, reserve him, waive C Park.

LAMBCHOPS reserve A Reyes, activate O Villareal.

LAMBCHOPS reserve M Wise, D Borkowski.

LAMBCHOPS reserve D Eckstein, activate N Perez.

DOORMATTS reserve B Webb, activate R Clayton.

DOORMATTS reserve D Willis, activate J Grabow.

DA PAUL MEISTERS reserve R Ring, activate W Rodriguez.

DA PAUL MEISTERS sign J Moyer (.18), reserve D Baez, waive E Young.

PICTS reserve D Bell, activate M Lamb.

That Time of Year

Next Friday is September 1, which means two things:

Rosters can expand by one player.  You can activate a player from your Reserve List on Friday (Noon deadline) or on any subsequent Friday (effective for Saturday's games) through the rest of the season.  The extra player can also be a free agent acquired during the regular Friday transactions, but keep in mind that free agents acquired during September receive a S contract (unless the bid is .25 or more).  Players with S contracts are automatically released at the end of the season, but are not eligible for Home Town Discounts next year.

In order to accommodate the extra player, the salary cap increases to 3.60.

Keep in mind that it's the ACTIVE ROSTER only that expands on September 1 – your full roster can still only be 40 players total.  This means that if you activate a 24^th player for September Roster Expansion, you're limited to 16 players on reserve.  Keep this in mind when you bid on free agents – don't assume you have an extra roster spot to play with and can acquire a player without waiving or releasing someone to make room.

Eye on the Record Book

This is also the time of year we check in on progress toward any full-season category records.

On the offensive side, we have a slight chance at some action:

As always, there's not a chance in Hades that anyone will touch the Bald Eagles' 18-year-old mark of 312 Stolen Bases.  The category-leading Ruffins have an outside chance at compiling half that many by the end of the year, though.  Likewise the record of 1201 RBI (2000 Copperfields) looks to be safe from assault.

What records might fall?  A consistent, strong, five-week finish from the Ruffins might give them enough Total Bases to surpass the 2004 Copperfields' record of 3262.  They'll need to average about 120 TB each week to do it, but they've averages approximate 125 TB per period to this point in the season.  

The record of 1059 Runs Scored (2004 Copperfields) would appear to be safe.  The current leader in the category (Ruffins again), would need to average about 50 RS (season average=39) to top them.  

In the possible-but-not-likely category, if the Splendid Splinters can maintain a .400 On-Base Percentage through the end of the season, they might squeak by the season mark of .3681 set by Da Paul Meisters in 2004.

What about pitching?  

Well the Mudville Sluggers' season ERA of 2.82 has been safe since 1985 and the 1.15 WHIP recorded by the Copperfields has gone unchallenged since 1992, and this year appears to be no different.  Likewise, a more recent record of the 3.04 K:BB (2005 Ruffins) is equally safe.

In the counting stats, it would be a reach to think that anyone will top Da Paul Meisters' mark of 160 Holds+Saves from 2004, but the DoorMatts are on pace to set a new mark in Quality Stats.   They'll need 5 a week the rest of the way in order to reach the 119 that the Meisters had last year, and they've averaged just about 5 per period over the course of the year.

Finally, the Point categories...

Those Ruffins look to make some history here.  They're currently about 3 points ahead of the 2004 Stones' record of 104.5 Total Points in a season, and are just ahead of the 58 Offensive Points the Reservoir Dogs recorded in 2003. 

The Lambchops may be struggling this season, but they can at least take pride that the record of 57 Pitching Points they set in 2003 will stand for at least one year -- no one is close to that one.

Hometown Discount Watch

In 2007, the teams that finished in 5^th-12^th place in 2006 will receive a budget of up to .06 to use toward reacquiring players who had played out their option with the team (B-contract players). The exact amount each team receives will be based on how far behind the 5^th place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5^th place team's point total.

Record Book

Week Ending 08/25:  No new records were set this week.