UmpBump’s Week 20 Fantasy Results

Sarah: A 7-4 win over croutchyoldman catapulted the Green Sox into third place in the league. It has been a long, arduous week of lineup-setting, with many of my players day-to-day with injuries (Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Guillen) and with Rickie Weeks losing out on some playing time to Ray Durham. (And to top things off, Weeks hurt his thumb yesterday.) I ended up adding Marlon Byrd back to my roster (after he cleared waivers since I dropped him a few days earlier) because the rash of injuries meant I was having trouble fielding a full squad. Hot: Russell Martin, Ian Kinsler, Xavier Nady, Troy Glaus, Matt Kemp, Pedro Martinez, Roy Oswalt, Jensen Lewis, Johnny Cueto. Not: Justin Verlander, Andy Pettitte, J.D. Drew, everyone who got injured.

Paul: In and of itself, fantasy baseball is not the least bit scary. But this past week, I was terrified. It was as if I was being chased by an army of Nazgul with the Ford of Bruinen still miles away. And if the previous sentence made any sense to you whatsoever, please let me know or else I will feel very alone indeed. Anyhow, in this scenario, the Nazgul came in the form of Sooze (freebase my balls), whose team was in last place and was 64 games behind me going into the week. But then, something happened. Her team caught fire, and mine struggled. For me, Jim Thome, Shane Victorino, and Troy Tulowitzki had subpar numbers while Sooze has Mike Cameron, Carlos Pena, Jeff Kent, Raul Ibanez, and Delmon Young, all of whom had performances that my guys couldn’t match. Throw in the fact that her pitchers had a 2.75 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, and I found myself in trouble against the last place team. Hence, the fear. The fear of being mocked, ridiculed, derided, and other similar words that just aren’t coming to me at the moment. But of all people, it was Arizona’s Chris Young’s contributions that allowed me to squeak by 6-5-1. Chris, you’ve been missing the entire season. Glad you joined the party. Hot: Kevin Youkilis, Chris B. Young, C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Scott Kazmir. Not: Troy Tulowitzki, Shane Victorino, Jim Thome, Scott Baker.

Coley: The good news: I won this week 8-4. The bad news: staff ace Josh Beckett bombed again and it’s clear that something is horribly wrong. I’m guessing he’ll go on the DL soon. That means I’ll be without Carlos Lee and Beckett, two of my big late season additions. Hot: Hanley Ramirez, Mark Teixeira. Not: Beckett.

Alejandro: What a crock. After having a commanding lead all week, I end up squeezing by Montefusco’s Revenge with a 5-4 victory, and only because we tied in three categories. My blockbusters have neither helped nor hurt, as my team inches along keeping pace with Sarah’s Somerville Green Sox, Hamilton collects RBIs like a driving range tractor collects golf balls, but it didn’t necessarily help this week as Montefusco’s stumped me 46-31.  I’m very glad however, one Alexei Ramirez is making the strongest case for Rookie of the Year in a long while (don’t look now, but I called it). Other than him, Jermaine Dye keeps on keeping on with a strong year. Come to think of it, the blockbusters have hurt, as Todd Jones and Carl Crawford hit the DL, prompting me to pick up Garret Anderson. If it’s going to slow down my team, instead of guarantee a win, like it did this week, I’m toast in the playoffs. Hot: Alexei Ramirez, Jermaine Dye, Josh Hamilton, A.J. Pyerzinski (I need to stop relying on White Sox players), Tim “Just give me that Cy Young already” Lincecum, Mike Pelfrey, Kerry Wood, B.J. Ryan, John Danks. Not: Manny “Prince’s bitch” Parra, Garret Anderson, Dan Uggla, Yunel Escobar.