Third Place

The Cigar Makers finished in third after fighting hard in September. Tulo and Cargo kept the team afloat, but the pitching cost us the title. Two closers went down with injuries during September. (Bailey and Street)

We made a push, but we finished 105 points behind the Dogs. The draft for next year is in March. I will update more at that time.

The Makers are in Third

The Mud Dogs are still in first by 500 over your Makers, but we are still plugging along in September. The Makers' bats are still mashing with Tulo and Cargo. Shields struggled last night against the Orioles, and Vazquez struggled against the Jays.

Standings: (Sept 4)

1. Dogs 9365

2. Steamers 9017

3. Makers 8895

4. Bars 8883

5. Shockers 8878

10. Lightning 8588

18. Machine 6645

The Makers need their pitchers to turn it on in September to stay in the top three. De La Rosa hopes to pick up the win today, and hopefully Street will notch another save.

Go Rockies! (Tulo and Cargo are leading our team)

Still in It

The Makers made a big push through the month of July thanks to Garza's no-hitter, Carlos Gonzalez mashing and hitting for the cycle, Delmon Young hitting for 30 RBI's, and Shields returning to form. The Makers traded for Andrew Bailey and Huston Street to try to get closer to the lead.

The Standings on August 3:

Posse 7130

Blumpkins 7102

6. Makers 6860

May 1

The injury bug bites the Makers again. Madson, my only potential closer, kicked a chair and broke his toe. Kelly Johnson, who hit nine homers in April, leads the Makers along with Paul Konerko, who hit eleven homers in April.

The Makers will need Jorge De La Rosa to get healthy as soon as possible in order to have a strong five-man rotation. James Shields struck out twelve in seven innings this week, and Matt Garza picked up another win this week.

Standings after the month of April:

1. Russ 1609

2. Steamers 1601

4. Makers 1575

17. Plan 1195

18. Deep 1193

I will try to update again before the end of May.

Monday April 13

Matt Garza and Matt Thornton led the Makers charge back into second place with two wins last night. Wandy got rocked by the Cardinals and he only lasted for 4.1 innings. Garza looked good against the Orioles again, but he struck out less batters in last night's outing. Ryan Madson picked up his second save of the year and scored 15 points. Juan Pierre scored seven points with a SB and Lind scored nine points.

Standings:

1. Russ 545

2. Makers 539

6. Steamers 495

18. Finest 322

Saturday

The Makers failed to perform well yesterday and my team only scored 15 points yesterday. I took out Howie Kendrick and started Kelly Johnson, but Kendrick outscored Johnson by five points last night.

Tulo is off to another slow start and he only has 11 points on the week. Hopefully he can start to score more points next week. Paul Konerko and Delmon Young have been bargains for my team.

Russ and Jim Ed took over the lead, but the Makers send James Shields to the mound today against the Yankees to try to close the gap.

Standings:

1. Russ 415

2. Crawdads 400

3. Makers 385

5. Steamers 365

18. Finest 207

The last round of the Masters should be great today if it is anything like the back 9 yesterday. Phil Mickelson came within a few inches of making three straight eagles. Westwood is in the clubhouse at 12 under par and Phil is one shot behind Westwood. Enjoy the final round.

Day 5

David Price pitched well last night and he threw strikes early as the Rays defeated the Yankees 9-3. Jorge De La Rosa showed out for the Makers and he struck out nine Padres in seven innings while only giving up one hit. He accounted for 51 points yesterday and he has the Makers in the lead.

Austin Jackson continues to show promise as he went 1-3 with a SB,RBI, and two runs last night against Cleveland.

The Makers need Ryan Madson to pick up some more saves before Lidge returns later this month.

Standings:

1. Makers 370

2. Crawdads 358

3. Baggers 350

6. Steamers 291

18. Finest 172