Well, I'm in Alaska, working the night shift. Sounds like a bad country and western song, but it has somehow become my life, hence the question in the title of this post. It's only temporary, so I'm told, and I'll be back working the day shift again soon, but still in Alaska. The 49th state will likely be my home in the coming year. That should be weird. Maybe I'll blog about it! My Alaska Year. It should be every bit as compelling as the rest of the usual fecal matter herein.
My Strat team made the playoffs, with a 77-85 record. That was exactly the same record I had last year, which means I stopped regressing, anyway. I expect to get dispatched in short order by the Mammoths, who posted a league-best 114 wins. My opponent is a fellow charter member of the league, and it's always fun to play him on Netplay, blowout losses notwithstanding.
For the 2010 real-life season, the Gunslingers posted a .799 team OPS, with 299 homers. I decided to cut Ben Sheets, Kevin Millwood, Kenshin Kawakami, Andrew Miller, and Jamie Moyer, which left me with only three starters. Anybody I can pick off the reject pile has to better than those five guys. I should cut K-Rod based on ethical principles alone, but I need his saves.
The minor leaguers pretty much plateaued at mid-season, except for Grant Green who had a very strong finish in the Cal League. I expect the A's will move him to AA and/or AAA next season, with an eye toward a September 2011 call-up. Mike Trout should be on a similar trajectory for the Angels. We'll see what Miguel Sano can do in A-ball next year. The only pitcher who looks worth anything is Alex White, although I'm not giving up on Martin Perez. I could have picked NL batting champ Carlos Gonzalez with that pick. I blew that one.
Back to the void.