October 1, 2013 FINAL UPDATE

The results are in… Karen McCloskey is our 2013 MLB Predictions Pool winner! She is our ninth new champ in our contest’s nine-year existence; Karen also held or shared the lead in each of our September updates. Congratulations!

Here are the season category leaders, with bold indicating players we actually chose:

AL BA: Miguel Cabrera (8 entrants)

ALHR: Chris Davis

ALRBI: Chris Davis

AL R: Mike Trout (14)

ALSB: Jacoby Ellsbury

NL BA: Michael Cuddyer

NL HR: Pedro Alvarez, Paul Goldschmidt

NL RBI: Paul Goldschmidt

NL R: Matt Carpenter

NL SB: Eric Young Jr.

AL IP: James Shields (1)

AL W: Max Scherzer

AL ERA: Aníbal Sánchez

ALSO: Yu Darvish (2)

AL S: Jim Johnson (5)

NL IP: Adam Wainwright

NL W: Adam Wainwright, Jordan Zimmermann

NL ERA: Clayton Kershaw (12)

NL SO: Clayton Kershaw (12)

NL S: Craig Kimbrel (10)

ALHBP: Shane Victorino

NL HBP: Shin-Soo Choo

ALHBP: Justin Masterson (7)

NL HBP: Charlie Morton

Some pool tidbits:

- Our average score of 3.05 pts is our highest since 2010. Ten entrants predicted at least four categories correctly, compared to seven entrants in 2012 and only two in 2011.

- Our 2013 entrants averaged less than 30 HBP for the first time in Predictions Pool history, breaking a five-year streak of 40+ HBP.

- Mike Levine earns our only “unique pick” this year, as the only entrant to pick James Shields for AL IP. Mike was also the only person to pick September call-up Billy Hamilton for NL SB, who stole 13 bases in as many games for the Cincinnati Reds. Spread that over a full season and Hamilton’s 162 steals easily win the category.

- Karen is the first entrant since at least 2006 to lead in both our first and last official updates in a season.

We hope you had as much fun participating in this year’s pool as we did. Enjoy the playoffs, and congrats to Karen once more!

-Dan and Jud

September 30, 2013

We’re ready to say with confidence that Karen is our winner this year, but it just doesn’t feel right to make it “official” with Game 163 still unplayed! Let’s wait until tomorrow for our final standings, some interesting pool facts, and a fond farewell to the MLB Predictions Pool for 2013…

-Dan and Jud

September 28, 2013

Karen McCloskey maintains her lead with no real challengers in sight... Adam Wainwright has clinched the NL IP lead for the season, which eliminates those of us depending on a Kershaw point in that category.

We should be able make things official on Monday. Stay tuned!

-Dan and Jud

September 24, 2013

Karen McCloskey stands alone atop the MLB Predictions Pool in our last week of regular season baseball. Two category races are likely to decide if she wins it all…

NL IP- Karen broke a tie for first with Dan last night thanks to Adam Wainwright’s seven-plus-inning disposal of the Nationals, which put the Cardinals’ ace 6 1/3 innings up on Clayton Kershaw. Will Kershaw go deep enough on Saturday night to reclaim the lead in NL IP? If so, will the NL Central division standings warrant another start for Wainwright on Sunday?

AL RBI- Miguel Cabrera leads the category by one RBI over Chris Davis with five games remaining for Detroitand six for the Orioles. Will a banged-up Cabrera keep grinding out starts for a Tiger team trying to clinch the AL Central?

Karen should maintain her lead until Clayton Kershaw’s start this Saturday—if the lefty pitches at least one out into the seventh, Dan and Karen move back into a tie for first (HBP remaining equal). If Kershaw leads NL IP and Miguel Cabrera loses the AL RBI title, then Jud Ehrbar leads by HBP tiebreaker. In the unlikely event that Mike Trout blows a five-run lead in AL R, Rob LaColla can win with a Kershaw IP title as well.

We’ll send another update before the weekend if anything changes!

-Dan and Jud

September 18, 2013

Baseball fans:

Dan and Karen McCloskey remain knotted at the top with just twelve days left in the regular season. In fact, we see no movement whatsoever in the standings with only a handful of entrants making minute improvements in the HBP column.

Let’s look at some season stretch scenarios…

AL Batting- With BA (Mi.Cabrera), HR (Davis), and SB (Ellsbury) essentially wrapped up for the season, the Miggy/Crush RBI battle holds top billing. If Cabrera doesn’t maintain his 2 RBI margin over Chris Davis, we have eight entrants tied in points and Jud Ehrbar leads by tiebreaker. Mike Trout seems likely to keep AL runs, otherwise Rob LaColla picks up a point on our leaders.

NL Batting- Andrew McCutchen added six points to his BA over the last twelve games; an unlikely encore of this performance could earn him a batting title and net Steve Craig $400. As mentioned in last week’s update, Karen gains a point if Jay Bruce picks up three HR on the current NL co-leaders.

AL Pitching- Not much up for grabs here, especially after Jim Johnson’s three saves in four games for the Orioles. Dan’s petition to reverse last week’s application of official scoring rule 10.17(c) on Mariano Rivera is still pending…

NL Pitching- Although tonight’s scheduled start for Clayton Kershaw has been moved to Saturday, it appears that the L.A. lefty and current NL IP runner-up Adam Wainwright will each start two more games before the season’s end. While Karen (and Steve Craig) gain a point on the competition if Wainwright passes Kershaw in IP, our remaining NL pitching categories are unlikely to change.

HBP- Dan has a head-to-head advantage down the stretch over Karen, with his active Fielder & Cueto combo to her Cain. Dan and Karen, each currently with 34 HBP, exceed all entrants in our top ten except seventh-place Jud (44) and eighth-place Will Rice (34).

We’ll be sending out updates when anything changes in our standings from now on. Good luck to all!

-Dan and Jud

September 11, 2013

Baseball fans:

Karen and Dan McCloskey continue their September domination of the 2013 MLB Predictions pool, with Steve Craig and Rob LaColla still tied for third. Although the @PredictionsPool Twitter timeline reveals three lead changes in the last eight days, this week’s update is a virtual carbon copy of the last.

Andrew McCutchen is making a late run at the NL batting title, trailing leader Chris Johnson by just four points. McCutchen’s lead would put Steve Craig alone in first with seven points and return Will Rice to the top five. The NL home run race is also worth watching: Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce is three belts from giving our current co-leader Karen some separation at the top.

Enjoy the home stretch!

-Dan and Jud

September 3, 2013

Baseball fans:

Super Bowl XLVII is remembered by many as the Harbowl… could the 2013 MLB Predictions Pool become the McClassic? Co-leaders Karen and Dan McCloskey beat out our four other six-point entrants thanks to their gaudy HBP totals of 34 apiece. This week’s update features our highest point average of the year (4.33), with nearly half the pool boasting at least five correct picks.

Last season’s September 3^rd update contains a relevant tidbit: “…no entrant leading the pool in the first September update has gone on to win since Sid Harris took our inaugural grand prize in 2006.” In fact, neither of last year’s eventual co-champs even cracked the top ten on 9/3/12.

Stay tuned!

-Dan and Jud