The Happier Family Blog

Drug Scandal Rocks Happier Family League BREAKING NEWS

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:10:00 +0000

DOON, IOWA - Unnamed sources close to the Commissioner have indicated that they are opening an investigation into allegations that Don Baker of the Lyin' Cty Reformers has taken a banned substance. Although previously an overlooked rule, the Commissioner is working to "clean up the game" under significant pressure from the league. "How else do you explain the treasure trove of keeper talent the [Lyin' Cty] Reformers were able to retain at such a low salary this year," exclaimed an irate rival. "He is ruining the game for the rest of us honest owners."

A phone call to Don Baker's lawyer team of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe was not immediately returned.

PowerRanks: Week 21

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:39:00 +0000

The final PowerRankings for our 2010 league are below. The Lyin' Co. Reformers built the best team and although the owner is presently on the DL, his team seems to be rolling, currently beating TeamLA 9-0 for a spot in the championship game. Although my Cocos had the power of Coco Crisp for the last couple of weeks, I still managed to lose the first round of playoffs to Jon's ThunderCRACK after the Seal Beach Dreamers won the tie-breaker to gain a bye in the first week of playoff play. Who will ultimately wear the cufflinks this year?

A post on off-season trading will be up sometime soon. If your season ended like mine, you're probably looking for a bit of redemption and a shot at the cufflinks next season. Hopefully, the next post will clear up any confusion about off-season trading and re-ignite the age-old debate of live draft versus automated draft.

Weekly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	9	SD Thunder is BACK	5.0
2	2	deus ex machina	4.9
3	11	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	3.3
4	5	The Cocos	1.9
5	7	CV Mom	1.3
6	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	1.0
7	3	Arlen's Marlins	-0.6
8	6	Lucky 13's	-0.9
9	8	Team LA	-2.0
10	1	Charisma	-2.5
11	12	Corn Poppers	-2.5
12	10	Soi Disant	-9.0

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.2
2	2	The Cocos	5.8
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	4.0
4	6	deus ex machina	0.1
5	4	Team LA	-0.3
6	5	Arlen's Marlins	-0.5
7	8	Lucky 13's	-1.5
8	7	Soi Disant	-1.9
9	9	Charisma	-2.7
10	11	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.0
11	10	CV Mom	-3.2
12	12	Corn Poppers	-5.0

PowerRanks: Week 20

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Good weeks, but is it too late?

Charisma and deus ex machina turned in the top scores this week, but is it too late for post-season dreams? Perhaps, although one might make it if they win 10-0 and everyone else loses 0-10. Despite the fact that charisma very well may be out of it this year, he put up a strong 8.6 PR this week, the 5th highest week total this season.

For any team, a strong finish may indicate the players they'll want to keep for next season. Keepers may be sent to me at any time and you can trade keepers beginning December 1st. You may trade keepers for other keepers provided that all keepers are submitted to me a week before a trade. You may also trade your keepers for another team's draft pick. I'll get more information about how this might work coming soon, but it is never too early to begin thinking about keepers for next year.

Weekly PowerRank

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	6	Charisma	8.6
2	11	deus ex machina	4.0
3	8	Arlen's Marlins	1.6
4	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	1.2
5	2	The Cocos	0.6
6	4	Lucky 13's	0.5
7	5	CV Mom	0.1
8	7	Team LA	-1.8
9	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.5
10	12	Soi Disant	-2.6
11	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	-3.6
12	9	Corn Poppers	-6.1

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.2
2	2	The Cocos	5.8
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	4.2
4	4	Team LA	0.2
5	5	Arlen's Marlins	-0.5
6	8	deus ex machina	-0.7
7	6	Soi Disant	-1.0
8	7	Lucky 13's	-1.4
9	11	Charisma	-2.5
10	9	CV Mom	-3.4
11	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.8
12	12	Corn Poppers	-5.0

PowerRanks: Week 19

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:28:00 +0000

With just 2 weeks left to play in the regular season, the race for the last playoff spots are heating up. With the Lyin' Co. Reformers cementing their return to the playoffs. The Arlen's Marlins and SD Thunder is Back are tied for the 6th and final playoff spot with the Soi Disant and CV Mom within 2 games.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	3	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	6.0
2	10	The Cocos	5.8
3	2	Seal Beach Dreamers	4.8
4	5	Lucky 13's	3.0
5	11	CV Mom	2.7
6	12	Charisma	2.2
7	8	Team LA	0.1
8	9	Arlen's Marlins	-1.4
9	1	Corn Poppers	-3.1
10	6	SD Thunder is BACK	-6.0
11	4	deus ex machina	-6.9
12	7	Soi Disant	-7.1

Yearly PowerRanks

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	9.3
2	2	The Cocos	5.9
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	4.0
4	4	Team LA	0.6
5	6	Arlen's Marlins	-0.6
6	5	Soi Disant	-0.8
7	8	Lucky 13's	-1.6
8	7	deus ex machina	-1.7
9	10	CV Mom	-3.2
10	9	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.3
11	12	Charisma	-4.1
12	11	Corn Poppers	-4.5

PowerRanks: Week 18

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:46:00 +0000

Race tightens for final playoff spot

The Soi Disant and SD Thunder Is BACK are tied for the final playoff spot 22 games in back of the leader. Lyndsey tied former champion TeamLA while the Thunder knocked off the most improved team in the second half, the Lucky13's, by a score of 6-4. There are still three weeks to go and the two teams face each other on week 20. It will be an exciting race to the finish for everyone.

As you prepare your team for the playoffs and the off-season, please remember the trade deadline is August 15th. Also, remember that you are able to trade draft picks in next year's draft. If you wish to do this, email me when the trade is agreed upon and I'll make sure that everyone is on the same page and that the trade is recorded for next year.

Weekly PowerRank

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	9	Corn Poppers	7.6
2	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	5.6
3	2	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	2.8
4	7	deus ex machina	2.4
5	12	Lucky 13's	0.1
6	1	SD Thunder is BACK	0.1
7	8	Soi Disant	-0.6
8	5	Team LA	-0.8
9	3	Arlen's Marlins	-1.7
10	6	The Cocos	-2.5
11	10	CV Mom	-6.2
12	11	Charisma	-6.8

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.7
2	2	The Cocos	5.6
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.3
4	4	Team LA	0.6
5	5	Soi Disant	-0.1
6	6	Arlen's Marlins	-0.5
7	7	deus ex machina	-1.0
8	8	Lucky 13's	-2.0
9	9	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.8
10	10	CV Mom	-3.5
11	12	Corn Poppers	-4.0
12	11	Charisma	-4.3

PowerRanks: Week 17

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:55:00 +0000

The trade deadline

For those who care, I cannot stand the latest Dodgers trades. It may be only one game but seeing Theriot go 0-4 with 2 strikeouts while seeing Blake DeWitt get 3 hits in his Cubs debut is indicative of the type of trade the Dodgers made. Talent with upside given away for veterans who can't hit but have some mystical leadership ability. The Dotel trade was even worse considering Dotel walks around 4 batters per 9 innings. I don't like those odds. James McDonald and Andrew Lambo are top prospects and giving them up for 2 months of Dotel seems like a waste.

Back in our league, the race is tightening for first place. My Cocos are playing first place Lyin' Co. Reformers for a chance to close the 4.5 games between them. While having a down week last week against the Soi Disant, the Cocos still managed to win and remain in the hunt.

As a reminder, our league's trade deadline is not until August 15th, so if you don't quite have all the pieces for your end-game run to the playoffs, now is the time to trade for this year or acquire future talent for next year.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	4	SD Thunder is BACK	8.9
2	3	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.8
3	10	Arlen's Marlins	3.4
4	6	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.1
5	7	Team LA	1.1
6	2	The Cocos	-0.1
7	8	deus ex machina	-0.8
8	5	Soi Disant	-3.8
9	12	Corn Poppers	-4.0
10	11	CV Mom	-4.0
11	9	Charisma	-4.4
12	1	Lucky 13's	-6.2

Yearly PowerRanks

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	9.1
2	2	The Cocos	6.6
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.3
4	4	Team LA	1.1
5	5	Soi Disant	-0.1
6	6	Arlen's Marlins	-0.1
7	8	deus ex machina	-1.8
8	7	Lucky 13's	-2.3
9	11	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.7
10	9	CV Mom	-2.7
11	10	Charisma	-3.4
12	12	Corn Poppers	-6.0

PowerRanks: Week 16

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Chase gets Lucky?

Chase's Lucky 13s not so quietly knocked off his first-place dad 8-1 to move into a 4th place tie in the standings. This, though you may have missed it, is his 2nd week in a row leading the PowerRanks and 3rd time in the last 5 weeks. As little as 3 weeks ago, his team was in last place in the Yearly PowerRankings and has suddenly jumped to seventh place.

Looking over his past PowerRankings, it shows a steady progression to becoming one of the best in the league. However, can he maintain that and overcome the wins the top 3 already have in the bank? Yes. He is just 9.5 games off the new leader, Lyin' Co. Reformers who had a good week too. A 9.5 game swing in the few remaining weeks isn't that unheard of and if Victor Martinez starts playing again like he might tonight, he'll be in a great position to take the league.

Here is a graph of his PowerRank by week:

Weekly PowerRank

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lucky 13's	10.4
2	2	The Cocos	5.1
3	4	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	4.5
4	5	SD Thunder is BACK	2.4
5	3	Soi Disant	0.8
6	12	Seal Beach Dreamers	0.8
7	11	Team LA	-0.6
8	7	deus ex machina	-1.7
9	8	Charisma	-3.3
10	9	Arlen's Marlins	-4.8
11	10	CV Mom	-5.3
12	6	Corn Poppers	-8.1

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.0
2	2	The Cocos	6.8
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	1.7
4	4	Team LA	1.0
5	6	Soi Disant	0.4
6	5	Arlen's Marlins	-0.6
7	10	Lucky 13's	-1.4
8	8	deus ex machina	-1.9
9	7	CV Mom	-2.0
10	9	Charisma	-2.8
11	11	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.6
12	12	Corn Poppers	-5.6

PowerRanks: Week 15 All*Star Week

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:28:00 +0000

A rather quiet week as there were only a few games. Scores will probably deviate more this week than any other as they are the victims or beneficiaries of luck. Some players had a good game and that was enough to push teams to the top this week whereas in a regular week that performance would be evened out a little more.

Weekly Rankings

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	6	Lucky 13's	6.6
2	2	The Cocos	5.7
3	10	Soi Disant	2.5
4	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	2.3
5	9	SD Thunder is BACK	1.6
6	8	Corn Poppers	1.0
7	12	deus ex machina	0.4
8	11	Charisma	-1.1
9	3	Arlen's Marlins	-1.9
10	7	CV Mom	-4.2
11	5	Team LA	-5.5
12	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	-7.5

Yearly Rankings

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.9
2	2	The Cocos	6.3
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	1.8
4	4	Team LA	1.6
5	5	Arlen's Marlins	0.3
6	7	Soi Disant	-0.1
7	6	CV Mom	-1.4
8	8	deus ex machina	-2.0
9	9	Charisma	-2.7
10	12	Lucky 13's	-3.4
11	11	SD Thunder is BACK	-4.0
12	10	Corn Poppers	-4.4

Tools to help manage your team: Benchcoach

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:35:00 +0000

Are you looking for a way to figure out how well you're doing? Do you want a way to evaluate a trade someone else has proposed to you? Well, Benchcoach is a tool which will analyze your team and provide you with some recommendations. The owners of the site have pioneered a new technology called "Fangelica" which does the back end heavy lifting to calculate what moves would be best for you to make.

Like any system, it is imperfect, but if you are looking for a way to easily manage your team or evaluate trades, this is a great tool. For example, they recommended I trade Hiroki Kuroda to Lyndsey for Ian Kinsler. I asked Lyndsey if she would go for that. Not surprisingly, she turned me down. However, they also recommended I trade Heath Bell for James Loney. That did sound reasonable to Lyndsey, although I don't need a 1B. So, if you use it, don't check your brain at the virtual door. Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Do you have a favorite evaluation system? Share it here!

PowerRanks: Week 13 Another week, Another Trade

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:09:00 +0000

Team LA shows us why he's in first

Arlen's Marlins were again active on the trade market sending Ryan Zimmerman and Hiroki Kuroda to The Cocos for Ben Zobrist. Coming into the season, Zobrist was a keeper (24th round) while Arlen's Marlins drafted Zimmerman 3rd (25th overall) and Kuroda in the 12th round (144th overall). The Marlins have been busy filling the middle of the infield positions with Pedroia and now Zobrist and adding an extra bat with Manny. Unfortunately, Pedroia and Manny are nursing injuries, but hopefully will be back soon to help out in the stretch run. The Cocos give up their best stolen bases guy for someone who provides a huge boost of power and get a pitcher who, until his last start, has been fairly dependable. We'll soon find out if the gamble was worth it.

Team LA got a whopping 13.5 PR score this week while 8 other teams went negative. He won 9-1 over last place charisma cementing his 1st place standing going into All-Star week. The rest of the league is beginning to separate as 25.5 games separate first and last place. However, who will be in the playoffs is still very much in the air and will probably come down to who goes on a hot streak to finish the season.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	8	Team LA	13.47445338
2	5	The Cocos	3.850307593
3	7	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.329371732
4	10	Soi Disant	0.090846982
5	6	Arlen's Marlins	-0.01855904
6	1	Lucky 13's	-0.910970562
7	3	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	-2.653140869
8	4	Corn Poppers	-2.739639144
9	11	CV Mom	-2.97227674
10	12	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.299219761
11	9	Charisma	-4.016644163
12	2	deus ex machina	-4.134529409

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.101073382
2	2	The Cocos	3.934261417
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.213357679
4	5	Team LA	3.207734429
5	4	deus ex machina	0.438299661
6	7	Soi Disant	0.291405675
7	6	CV Mom	-0.321095153
8	8	Arlen's Marlins	-0.700531791
9	9	Charisma	-1.789583288
10	11	Corn Poppers	-4.796844018
11	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-4.888856088
12	12	Lucky 13's	-5.689221906

PowerRanks: Week 12

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Deus ex machina jumps from 8th to 4th with a very strong week (Jordan are you reading this?) and Chase and the Lucky 13's lead the 2nd half improvement with a 12.4 point jump in PR over the first half.

Arlen's Marlins was finally able to get the decent middle infielder they needed netting Pedroia and also Manny Ramirez from Adam. Charisma got Evan Longoria, Michael Young, and Alfonso Soriano in exchange. Vote on who "won" the trade in the sidebar.

Meanwhile, here are the new PowerRanks:

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	6	Lucky 13's	6.8
2	4	deus ex machina	6.5
3	3	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	5.8
4	11	Corn Poppers	1.5
5	7	The Cocos	1.1
6	10	Arlen's Marlins	0.0
7	2	Seal Beach Dreamers	-1.5
8	9	Team LA	-2.3
9	5	Charisma	-2.3
10	8	Soi Disant	-2.5
11	1	CV Mom	-5.4
12	12	SD Thunder is BACK	-7.8

Yearly PowerRanks

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.1
2	2	The Cocos	3.4
3	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.7
4	8	deus ex machina	1.0
5	4	Team LA	0.7
6	5	CV Mom	0.2
7	6	Soi Disant	0.0
8	7	Arlen's Marlins	-0.6
9	9	Charisma	-1.0
10	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.8
11	11	Corn Poppers	-4.7
12	12	Lucky 13's	-6.0

PowerRanks: Week 11

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:50:00 +0000

I don't have a lot to say as I've suddenly got quite busy. These PowerRanks reflect week 11's stats. The "previous week" is actually week 7.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	6	CV Mom	4.906027673
2	7	Seal Beach Dreamers	4.211198572
3	8	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	3.188224354
4	1	deus ex machina	2.816563014
5	5	Charisma	2.566144009
6	9	Lucky 13's	-1.135161275
7	3	The Cocos	-1.25415409
8	2	Soi Disant	-1.263392686
9	11	Team LA	-1.327521894
10	12	Arlen's Marlins	-1.800665166
11	4	Corn Poppers	-4.746068687
12	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-6.161193825

Yearly PowerRanks

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank	Team Owner
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.694133945	Don Baker
2	3	The Cocos	3.525334932	Grant Baker
3	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.366681649	Cathy Baker
4	2	Team LA	1.561073026	Dean Baker
5	8	CV Mom	1.537529982	Corrine Baker
6	5	Soi Disant	0.440307398	Lyndsey Baker
7	7	Arlen's Marlins	-0.418637951	Mich
8	9	deus ex machina	-0.712016452	Jordan Baker
9	10	Charisma	-1.093703735	Adam Nehring
10	6	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.148547986	Jon Manson
11	11	Corn Poppers	-5.57053211	Paul Manson
12	12	Lucky 13's	-8.181622699	Chase Baker

PowerRanks: Week 7

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:20:00 +0000

The so-called Soi Disant knock off former first place TeamLA

Image of Cathy Baker

In a week that can only be described as “stunning” Lyndsey Baker's Soi Disant pulled off an upset of early favorite TeamLA. Team LA has been wildly inconsistent this year as far as the weekly PowerRanks. This week, by far his lowest at -3.8, he paid for it by losing 6-3 to the quite consistent Soi Disant who, over the last 4 weeks have had PR's between 2.0 and 2.6 resulting in a 6-3 win and are now tied for 2nd place, just one game behind Cathy Baker's Seal Beach Dreamers.

Jordan Baker's deus ex machina led this week’s PR with a 7.4. That is the third best score this year.

Top Weekly PR Ranks, 2010

Team	PR	Week
Lyin' Cty Reformers	7.92	Week 6
Lyin' Cty Reformers	7.71	Week 4
deus ex machina	7.43	Week 7
SD Thunder is BACK	7.19	Week 2
Team LA	6.49	Week 6

As you can see, just 3 teams have scored over 7 PR this year, and the team after that didn’t quite score .5 PR below that. Way to go Jordan!

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	7	deus ex machina	7.4
2	4	Soi Disant	2.6
3	6	The Cocos	2.4
4	11	Corn Poppers	2.1
5	8	Charisma	0.8
6	9	CV Mom	0.4
7	3	Seal Beach Dreamers	-0.5
8	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	-1.2
9	12	Lucky 13's	-1.8
10	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.0
11	2	Team LA	-3.8
12	5	Arlen's Marlins	-6.4

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	2	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	6.6
2	1	Team LA	5.0
3	5	The Cocos	2.6
4	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.5
5	7	Soi Disant	1.1
6	6	SD Thunder is BACK	0.3
7	3	Arlen's Marlins	0.0
8	8	CV Mom	-0.6
9	10	deus ex machina	-1.2
10	9	Charisma	-1.6
11	11	Corn Poppers	-5.9
12	12	Lucky 13's	-8.8

PowerRanks: Week 6

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:17:00 +0000

It just got interesting

There are now TWO first place teams as Cathy Baker and Dean Baker lead the league with a .608 winning percentage. However, there are still 6 more teams within 10 games of the leader and no one is more than 12½ games behind the co-leaders.

Navigating the Trade Waters

The waiver wire remains active as well with several teams picking up players last week and several others putting players up on the trade block. I know I've made a few trade proposals and have received some others. If I haven’t gotten back to you yet, its just because I’m pretty busy at the moment. I encourage all of you to get out there and get the trade market hopping. Post your available players on the Trading Block and let others know about it through your comments here at the blog.

Also, don’t forget that you can trade things like draft picks in addition to players. To do so, indicate this in the trade comments and then email me if/when the trade goes through. This gives you added flexibility to go for it all this year or play for next year.

On to the PowerRanks

Image of Dean Baker

This week, TeamLA rose to 1st place in the Yearly PowerRanks. He achieved a 6.5 PR last week, despite losing 6-4 to Michael Bittiker’s Arlen’s Marlins and their 1.4 score. How can that be? Well, Dean scored very well in the pitching categories while Mich struggled there with a 5.97 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Because Dean had such a large lead over the entire league in a few categories like ERA and WHIP, he scored very well in PowerRank even though he was fairly average in the other categories.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	11	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.9
2	7	Team LA	6.5
3	2	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.1
4	4	Soi Disant	2.1
5	5	Arlen's Marlins	1.4
6	3	The Cocos	0.8
7	12	deus ex machina	-1.9
8	6	Charisma	-2.1
9	8	CV Mom	-2.5
10	1	SD Thunder is BACK	-2.6
11	9	Corn Poppers	-5.5
12	10	Lucky 13's	-6.1

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	2	Team LA	6.9
2	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	6.9
3	3	Arlen's Marlins	2.8
4	6	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.6
5	5	The Cocos	2.6
6	4	SD Thunder is BACK	1.4
7	9	Soi Disant	-0.2
8	8	CV Mom	-0.9
9	7	Charisma	-2.7
10	10	deus ex machina	-3.6
11	11	Corn Poppers	-6.8
12	12	Lucky 13's	-8.9

PowerRanks: Week 5

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:15:00 +0000

Fight for the top knots virtual 2nd place tie

Behind TeamLA, four teams are within four games of claiming first place. SD Thunder IS BACK have led the charge and are just 3.5 games behind the leader. The other teams are the Seal Beach Dreamers, Soi Disant, and The Cocos.

Image of Jon Manson

Jon Manson of the SD Thunder has put together a crack team that is in the top 3 in all pitching categories and leading batting strikeouts. He has also gotten surprising production from Alex Rios and Ryan Theriot. As for pitching, no one can doubt that Lincecum is helping out, but Francisco Liriano? Who thought he would be doing this well after struggling so much after Tommy John surgery? Seven of his pitchers are in the top 100 in Yahoo’s rank. It’s not surprising then that he was tops in PowerRank this week with a 4.8 and improved from 6th to 4th in the yearly PowerRank.

This week has some interesting matchups as all four 2nd and 3rd place teams play each other and Dean Baker (Team LA) plays Arlens’s Marlins who are 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Yearly PowerRanks.

Weekly Rank

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	8	SD Thunder is BACK	4.8
2	9	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.5
3	4	The Cocos	2.4
4	5	Soi Disant	2.4
5	6	Arlen's Marlins	1.8
6	7	Charisma	1.5
7	3	Team LA	1.5
8	10	CV Mom	0.7
9	11	Corn Poppers	0.4
10	12	Lucky 13's	-5.0
11	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	-6.0
12	2	deus ex machina	-7.1

Yearly Rank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	5.402189439
2	2	Team LA	5.186046434
3	3	Arlen's Marlins	3.628191112
4	6	SD Thunder is BACK	2.662336224
5	4	The Cocos	2.168704839
6	5	Seal Beach Dreamers	2.055793344
7	7	Charisma	-0.831047507
8	8	CV Mom	-0.865740052
9	9	Soi Disant	-1.114582188
10	10	deus ex machina	-4.779252739
11	12	Corn Poppers	-6.188355067
12	11	Lucky 13's	-7.324283838

PowerRanks: Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:03:00 +0000

Big Wins, Big Losses

Five of six matches had the winner scoring 7 or more points. Three of those scored 9. However, the difference between first and last place is just 10 games meaning a big week will get you right back into it. Everyone still has a good shot. You may just be missing one piece. There are 11 potential trade partners out there, so find someone who matches up well with your team's needs and make a trade.

Rank	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	4	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	7.707772133
2	8	deus ex machina	5.500410795
3	3	Team LA	4.537061983
4	5	The Cocos	3.548194213
5	11	Soi Disant	2.029211142
6	7	Arlen's Marlins	0.726446093
7	1	Charisma	0.657337359
8	10	SD Thunder is BACK	-0.394424078
9	12	Seal Beach Dreamers	-2.337492751
10	2	CV Mom	-5.515657943
11	9	Corn Poppers	-7.459363922
12	6	Lucky 13's	-8.999495024

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank
1	1	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	8.7
2	3	Team LA	4.8
3	2	Arlen's Marlins	3.2
4	7	The Cocos	2.0
5	4	Seal Beach Dreamers	1.2
6	5	SD Thunder is BACK	1.1
7	8	Charisma	-1.0
8	6	CV Mom	-1.2
9	10	Soi Disant	-2.1
10	12	deus ex machina	-2.3
11	9	Lucky 13's	-6.6
12	11	Corn Poppers	-8.0

PowerRanks: Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:54:00 +0000

TeamLA Thunders into Lead

With their 7-2 victory over the SD Thunder, TeamLA takes first place in the Happier Family League. The Thunder managed to edge out TeamLA on batting strikeouts and on base percentage and managed to tie in saves at 5 apiece (league average last week was just 2.5). Dean and Jon trade places in the yearly PowerRank as Dean is now ranked 3^rd and Jon is 5^th.

This week, the SD Thunder try to get back on track against the floundering, yet seemingly always undervalued Charisma while TeamLA goes up against the 3^rd place Seal Beach Dreamers.

It is still a young season as only 10 games separate first place from last place, so if your team isn’t doing well right now, a good week could put you right back in the hunt, especially against a higher positioned team.

Weekly PowerRanks

Rank	Team Name	PowerRank
1	Charisma	5.4
2	CV Mom	4.7
3	Team LA	3.6
4	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	2.1
5	The Cocos	1.4
6	Lucky 13's	-0.6
7	Arlen's Marlins	-0.6
8	deus ex machina	-1.0
9	Corn Poppers	-2.3
10	SD Thunder is BACK	-3.2
11	Soi Disant	-4.7
12	Seal Beach Dreamers	-4.7

Yearly PowerRank

This Week	Last Week	Team Name	PowerRank	Team Owner
1	2	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	5.4	Don Baker
2	4	Arlen's Marlins	3.5	Mich
3	5	Team LA	3.3	Dean Baker
4	1	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.1	Cathy Baker
5	3	SD Thunder is BACK	1.5	Jon Manson
6	7	CV Mom	1.1	Corrine Baker
7	6	The Cocos	0.5	Grant Baker
8	11	Charisma	-0.2	Adam Nehring
9	9	Lucky 13's	-1.9	Chase Baker
10	8	Soi Disant	-4.8	Lyndsey Baker
11	10	Corn Poppers	-4.9	Paul Manson
12	12	deus ex machina	-6.7	Jordan Baker

PowerRanks: Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:44:00 +0000

Wow, losing 10-0 to your cousin. That was sad! I’m hoping for a big rebound this week against Seal Beach Dreamers, although I am losing 2-3 at the moment. Don’t forget to send in your predictions for the regular season!

Weekly PowerRank

	Team Name	PowerRank
1	SD Thunder is BACK	7.2
2	Arlen's Marlins	6.2
3	Team LA	5.8
4	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	3.9
5	Seal Beach Dreamers	3.2
6	CV Mom	1.9
7	Soi Disant	-0.8
8	Charisma	-4.3
9	The Cocos	-4.8
10	Corn Poppers	-5.1
11	deus ex machina	-6.1
12	Lucky 13's	-7.0

Year to Date PowerRanks

	Team Name	PowerRank
1	Seal Beach Dreamers	7.2
2	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	4.9
3	SD Thunder is BACK	4.7
4	Arlen's Marlins	4.2
5	Team LA	2.1
6	The Cocos	0.2
7	CV Mom	-1.1
8	Soi Disant	-2.8
9	Lucky 13's	-2.9
10	Corn Poppers	-4.5
11	Charisma	-5.0
12	deus ex machina	-7.0

Who Will Wear the Cufflinks?

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:03:00 +0000

Recently, Lyndsey and I took a look at everyone’s team and ranked them according to how they would finish the regular season. Who do you think will win? Send in your ranks by email to grantebaker (at) gmail (dot) com or post in the comments below.

Team LA
Lyin Cty Reformers
CV Mom
SD Thunder is BACK
Lucky13's
The Cocos
deus ex machina
charisma
Seal Beach Dreamers
Corn Poppers
Soi Disant
Arlen's Marlins

First off, I don’t think there will be a repeat of the Cocos in first this year. I didn’t get any of the top pitchers I wanted and Pujols is great, but he alone will not guarantee a win every week. That’s the breaks of head to head—sometimes you draw a team you match up well against and sometimes you don’t.

Secondly, we see these more as tiers rather than a straight listing. This allowed us a little more leeway in deciding the standings. Basically, we see each set of three as a different tier. The top tier of the league is tied up in Team LA, Lyin Cty Reformers, and CV Mom. All have top talent through good keeper picks and the draft.

The second tier is: SD Thunder is BACK, Lucky 13’s, and The Cocos. We believe that these teams caught some breaks in the draft and had decent keepers, enough to get them into the playoffs, but don’t seem to have the number of dominating players that the top tier has.

Deus ex machina, Charisma, and the Seal Beach Dreamers are next and might just miss the playoffs but still have some solid players.

The last tier either has injuries to key personnel (Soi Disant losing number 1 and 2 picks and Arlen’s Marlins losing their closers) or have players that are waiting for their opportunity.

We’re not experts—we wouldn’t be surprised to see this all change. Remember the battle for the last playoff spot between Jordan and Dean last year?

Tell us who YOU think will be atop the standings this year!

PowerRank, what's that?

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:34:00 +0000

The PowerRank numbers look a little different this year. What do they mean and how do they apply to our league?

Basically, the numbers are a measure of how well your team is performing regardless of who you played this week. If your number is above 0, your team is above average. If it is negative, your team is performing below average. It is possible to lose a week, but still have a good PowerRank. You probably just played a very good team.

You can use your team's rank to determine if your team is getting lucky or unlucky and to look at how you might do against the rest of your schedule. For example, if you are losing some weeks, you might use this to determine if your players are doing terrible and you need to work out a trade or if everything is fine, you're just playing teams that are either getting lucky or happen to be much better than average.

If you have any more questions, let me know in the comments.

PowerRanks: Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:11:00 +0000

Welcome to the new year! Baseball got underway and even though the Dodgers are off to an abysmal 2-4 start against teams they should be beating, I have found a way to cope.

I still don’t have the trade page opened up yet, but it should be coming soon. In the meantime, here are this weeks’s PowerRanks:

	Team Name	Team Owner	PowerRank
1	The Cocos	Grant Baker	5.7
2	Seal Beach Dreamers	Cathy Baker	5.4
3	Lyin' Cty. Reformers	Don Baker	3.4
4	Lucky 13's	Chase Baker	2.2
5	SD Thunder is BACK	Jon Manson	1.3
6	Arlen's Marlins	Mich Bittiker	-0.1
7	Corn Poppers	Paul Manson	-0.7
8	Team LA	Dean Baker	-1.6
9	Charisma	Adam Nehring	-2.6
10	Soi Disant	Lyndsey Baker	-3.7
11	CV Mom	Corrine Baker	-4.1
12	deus ex machina	Jordan Baker	-5.2

It was quite the back and forth week as several teams had 10-0 leads at various points during the week. If you didn’t do well this week, remember, its only week 1. If you did great this week remember, its only week 1. It helps to get off to a good start, but its not going to make or break your season. Maybe...

What do YOU think of the ranks? Whose team do YOU think should be in first? Let us know in the comments!

Opening Day

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:49:00 +0000

Coming Soon!

In addition to Easter, baseball's Opening Day will be here this Sunday. Although only the Red Sox and Yankees will play, its a sign that winter is ending and baseball is here again.

Be sure to set your lineups and take note of those who have gone down with injuries already. I notice that several of you have already made some pickups to bolster your rosters. As I previously mentioned, you will soon be able to submit trading block proposals to me where I will give you the opportunity to pitch your proposals to everyone at once. In preparation, feel free to email me with the following information:

Introduction to what you want and what you're willing to give up
Player(s) name
Benefits each player will bring a trade partner’s team.
Any closing remarks

All of these will be optional, so if you just want to send me a list of players, that’s fine too.

I hope to have a great season, see you all on the diamond!

Welcome to Your New Team

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:45:00 +0000

You’ve probably seen that your team has been drafted and we're ready to go for the 2010 season.

You also may be a bit frustrated with your team and want to trade players. Yahoo has a trade block, but it can be a bit overwhelming or confusing and you can’t write notes to would-be trade partners

So, starting soon, you'll be able to email me with your various trade proposals where I can put them up for the league to see and respond. You’ll be able to add notes, request certain types of players, whatever you need to build your team. I hope this will increase league participation and help to facilitate trades that benefit all teams involved.

Also, if you have’t already, subscribe to The Happier Family by email or grab the RSS feed. This will ensure you receive the latest news from around the league.

Final Keepers List

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Draft Status to “Ready” Tomorrow

Here is the final list of keepers. Get your pre-ranks ready!

Player	Round Drafted
deus ex machina (Jordan Baker)
Ichiro Suzuki	2
Joe Mauer	6
Felix Hernandez	9
Yovanni Gallardo	11
Josh Johnson	14
charisma (Adam Nehring)
Manny Ramirez	1
Alex Rodriguez	4
Nick Markakis	5
Jacoby Ellsbury	6
Troy Tulowiski	7
Lyin' Cty Reformers (Don Baker)
Chase Utley	3
Roy Halladay	4
Cliff Lee	5
Derek Jeter	10
Kendry Morales	24
Arlen's Marlins (Mich Bittiker)
Evan Longoria	1
Derek Lowe	7
Denard Span	16
Andy Pettitte	24
Soi Disant (Lyndsey Baker)
Ian Kinsler	1
Jimmy Rollins	2
Bobby Abreu	8
Matt Cain	10
Shin-Soo Choo	12
The Cocos (Grant Baker)
Albert Pujols	1
Dan Haren	6
Pablo Sandoval	19
Tommy Hanson	23
Ben Zobrist	24
Seal Beach Dreamers (Cathy Baker)
Mariano Rivera	5
Jayson Werth	13
Ubaldo Jimenez	18
Aaron Hill	23
Jason Bartlett	24
TeamLA (Dean Baker)
Mark Teixeira	1
Andre Ethier	2
Jose Valverde	11
Justin Verlander	12
Rajai Davis	24
Lucky13's (Chase Baker)
Matt Kemp	5
Derrek Lee	10
Zack Greinke	13
Brian Wilson	15
Chris Carpenter	18
CVMom (Corrine Baker)
Hanley Ramirez	1
Ryan Braun	3
Justin Morneau	4
Jair Jurrjens	16
SD THUNDER IS BACK (Jon Manson)
Tim Lincecum	1

Final Keepers due today!

noreply@blogger.com (Grant) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:20:00 +0000

Just a reminder that I need your final list of keepers today!

The Happier Family Blog

Drug Scandal Rocks Happier Family League *BREAKING NEWS*

PowerRanks: Week 21

Weekly PowerRank

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 20

Good weeks, but is it too late?

Weekly PowerRank

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 19

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRanks

PowerRanks: Week 18

Race tightens for final playoff spot

Weekly PowerRank

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 17

The trade deadline

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRanks

PowerRanks: Week 16

Chase gets Lucky?

Weekly PowerRank

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 15 All*Star Week

Weekly Rankings

Yearly Rankings

Tools to help manage your team: Benchcoach

PowerRanks: Week 13 Another week, Another Trade

Team LA shows us why he's in first

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 12

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRanks

PowerRanks: Week 11

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRanks

PowerRanks: Week 7

The so-called Soi Disant knock off former first place TeamLA

Top Weekly PR Ranks, 2010

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 6

It just got interesting

Navigating the Trade Waters

On to the PowerRanks

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 5

Fight for the top knots virtual 2nd place tie

Weekly Rank

Yearly Rank

PowerRanks: Week 4

Big Wins, Big Losses

PowerRanks: Week 3

TeamLA Thunders into Lead

Weekly PowerRanks

Yearly PowerRank

PowerRanks: Week 2

Weekly PowerRank

Year to Date PowerRanks

Who Will Wear the Cufflinks?

PowerRank, what's that?

PowerRanks: Week 1

Opening Day

Coming Soon!

Welcome to Your New Team

Final Keepers List

Draft Status to “Ready” Tomorrow

deus ex machina (Jordan Baker)

charisma (Adam Nehring)

Lyin' Cty Reformers (Don Baker)

Arlen's Marlins (Mich Bittiker)

Soi Disant (Lyndsey Baker)

The Cocos (Grant Baker)

Seal Beach Dreamers (Cathy Baker)

TeamLA (Dean Baker)

Lucky13's (Chase Baker)

CVMom (Corrine Baker)

Drug Scandal Rocks Happier Family League BREAKING NEWS

Seal Beach Dreamers

(Cathy Baker)

SD THUNDER IS BACK
(Jon Manson)