It’s official. We will be back for the 2021 MLB baseball season and be bringing you more Home Run excitement! Please check back in mid-late February for the 2021 Home Run Derby Entry Form.
Author Archive
Kings of Cork Home Run Derby in Quarantine
Stupid Corona Virus!… It’s one thing to make everyone sick, but it’s another thing to steal ALL of our sports. What are we supposed to do during a 2 week quarantine? Sit and talk to our family members… booooorrrrring… This does confirm one thing though, Baseball isn’t for the spectators; it’s definitely for MLB owner profits. If it was for the spectators, we would still have a season that is fully televised but no fans in attendance. Instead, there won’t be enough revenue due to no ticket sales or concession sales, so we can’t have any baseball.
Since there is no baseball, I thought I’d post a small update about our little competition. I’m going to put a halt on accepting payment for any entries for now. With MLB announcing a start date more likely in May and possibly even June, there is no point in starting a competition until an official announcement of a season start date is made. I won’t take down the entry form or the groupings, so if you still want to submit a temporary entry or research player groupings, feel free to do so. I will accept changes to any entries up until the first official MLB game starts. I do reserve the right to change some player groupings now that it’s unknown what player statuses are. Odds are that I will not change the groupings unless something major happens.
Until then, enjoy your quarantine and You can find old game replays or even radio broadcasts from baseball games in the 1930s if you need a baseball fix.
It’s official! I have banned all active Houston Astros and all Astros from the 2017 season from playing in the 2020 Home Run Derby. If the real Commish won’t do anything about the cheating, then this Commish will. That’s right, if you are a member of the Houston Astros, I will NOT accept your 2020 Kings of Cork entry form. You are officially banned from this contest for a full season. But what I won’t do is punish the other contestants of Kings of Cork for your Trash Can Banging. Every other manager will still be able to select Houston Astros from the player groups and collect their 2020 home run totals and use you to collect the coveted Home Run Crown. So continue to use your Code Breaking system, Trash Cans, and buzzing band-aids to hit numerous home runs, they just won’t do you any good in collecting the most elite title in the world, The King/Queen of Cork! (Who am I kidding, the Astros would scoff at our contest. Cheating is earning them seven figures a year…)
Now for the real news…
Kings of Cork is back for another season! Not just ANY season… our 10th season! 10 Years. That’s crazy. I only started this because a couple yahoo of friends wanted to keep being degenerate low value gamblers when our other host shutdown (we don’t do it for the money, we do it for the pride and ego of beating each other). We started with 38 teams and struggled to hit 100 for several years. Now we have consistently been at 100 teams for the past few seasons (even after missing the 2017 season, which I knew was tainted by the Astros…) I wouldn’t keep doing it if it weren’t for you guys/gals. You keep pressuring me and driving me to continue to do it. So thank you. I enjoy doing this as long as you keep playing and nagging me to do it (I got a lot of grief in 2018 when I didn’t run it).
Just like seasons past, prizes and group flights will be determined based on how many teams enter this season. I really wanted to shake things up this season being it’s a milestone of 10 seasons. Maybe with some modified rules or increased prizes, but I keep looking back at the wide variety, group of people I have playing and realize that the simple rules and low stakes is just too hard to walk away from. Being able to remember all the players you selected makes watching sports highlights a little more interesting at night. Having to remember 15-20 player names makes it more like a managing a fantasy roster and having to pull up a list to remember what stats you care about. So let’s keep it simple, at least for another season.
For all those who are returning, rules are basically the same… Pick 5 players. 1 from each group. Hit the most home runs. You win! The only change was that due to the 10day IL change from last season, I decided to move the trade date from 20 consecutive days without a plate appearance to 14 consecutive days. That means the penalty for injured players is not as steep in previous seasons as you will lose only 1/2 a month of Home Run totals before you can trade that player for a new one.
For those that are new, go check out the rules here. They aren’t too complex.
I feel like this season I put 150 MLB player names in a hat and randomly pulled them out into groups. I’m not kidding… Unlike years past where you had the staples at the top: Pujols, Bautista, Braun, Tulo, A-Rod, now I’m not sure I have a group that has more than 5 returning players in it from the 2019 season. It’s kind of interesting to think about why. Basically every player is now capable of hitting 30 homers and maybe one will hit 50… and that single player won’t even be on any list of projected 30 home run players. It’s like every season is 2010 (our first season) when Jose Bautista showed up out of nowhere and hit 53 homers. Now look at him, unemployed and looking to come back as a two-way player. Where will Alonso end up this season? Will he be staying in Group A in 2021 or back to the basement? These are great reminders that this contest isn’t won in Group A… It’s won in Group C through E, but can easily be lost in Group A.
And with that, without further ado, the 2020 Home Run Derby Groups: The Official 2020 Entry Form
Great news! The 2020 Kings of Cork Home Run Derby groups are being finalized and will be announced in the first week of March.
The Bad News… Kings of Cork is banning the use of trash can lids for 2020.
Be on the look out for an email announcing the release of the 2020 entry form.
Good Luck!
How About A May Update… Near The End Of May
You can tell the weather is warming up… Lawn mowers are roaring, birds are chirping, more hitters are hitting homers, and my updates are more spread apart. I’ve been slacking in the update department. And now it’s almost the end of May and you are finally getting the announcement of the April Winner.
Well, that April Winner was Keep Trying. Their team ended up hitting 46 homers in the month of April (and a few days in March)… 46!!! That is the most any team has ever hit in a single month since we have gone to monthly payouts. The previous record was 45 in May of 2015. Followed by 43 as the 2nd most, which is incredible because there were 5 total teams (including the winner) that hit 43 or more this April.
Each of those teams had either Yelich in Group C or Bellinger in Group B. None of the Top-5 teams had both. There are 2 teams that own both of the MLB HR “leaders”, Too High? and Fran-tastic Five. Both sit comfortably in the top-20, one in the top-10.
Several teams have tried to catch on to the early fire that Pete Alonso sparked. He is available as a write-in and currently leads Group E with 16 homers (although, no team has credit for all 16 of them).
The month of May seems to have cooled off some of the hot starts by certain players. But one thing hasn’t changed, Group A is still a full blown Hospital wing. Judge is still on the IL, Stanton just started a rehab assignment, Khris Davis is headed to the IL tonight, and Nelson Cruz is on the IL. If you didn’t select one of those players, consider yourself lucky and cross your fingers that Group A is done with the injury bug.
The current leader in the month of May is Claim Crushers with 30 homers. They currently sit in the top-5 overall standings as well. Just behind them in May and the Overall standings is The 20 Somethings Have It. They have 26 in the month of May and sit in 5th in the Overall Standings. Such a clever name and riding the wave of young players with an average team age of 26. In case you didn’t know, they say that hitters break out at 27yrs old. Chicks Dig The Long Ball is just in front of The 20 Somethings Have It and it may lead to a domestic disbute depending on how the month ends. And in 2nd for the month of May thus far is I found myself a homer, a first time participant and making a run at a monthly payout.
Speaking of payouts, I have finalized the payout structure again for 2019. Head over to the Rules page to check it out. I will flight the payouts again to make the lengthy season fun for all, but it still pays to finish in the top-10.
That’s all for now. I’ll post another one shortly about fun things that happened in the past month of baseball. Some pretty good links coming your way, so be on the lookout.
2019 Has Started Like 2018 Ended
Welcome Back to Real Baseball!!! The snow is gone (for most of us). The weather is warming up (well, it’s warmer than it was). And baseball is back on the television. As usual, I spent Opening Day watching the chaos. You may ask, ‘Which Opening Day are you talking about’. Yes, 2019 technically started a week ago. And, Yes… I did wake up at 4am to watch the Japan Series where Oakland and Seattle put on a great opening 2 game series. K-hris Davis continued to Mash like it was 2018. The only down side of the Japan Series was watching Matt Olson go down due to a hand fracture that needed surgery. But back to Opening Day. The “REAL” Opening Day. I love what MLB baseball has done the past couple years. All teams play on Day 1, and All teams play game 162 on the same day to end the season. Talk about baseball overload!!!
Let’s talk about some of the highlights you may have missed or want to re-live before I give you the 2019 HR Derby breakdown.
- Yelich is playing like its the 2nd half of 2018 – Christian Yelich is the first MVP to hit a home run in the first 4 games the season after winning MVP honors. He’s the 6th player to do it regardless of the previous season. I’ll be honest, I don’t think he hits 30 homers this season. He hit 21 in Aug/Sept last season. That’s the streak he is riding. He’s in Group C because I do all my groupings based on historical statistics. Not just 1 season. But he is on pace for 162 homers and his way to Group A in 2020. And 23 of you don’t care what my stats say. You have him hitting many more than 30 all the way to the top of the standings.
- Khris Davis is going to lead the league in homers and hit 0.247 for the 5th straight season – Or that’s what he is making it look like after the first weekend. To be fair, he has played 2 more games than most other players, but he still shares the league lead in homers with 4. He’s an ex-Brewer so it’s nice to see him preform so well, but I can’t help but think what it would look like to have him back in the Brewer lineup the past few years. Oh that’s right, the NL doesn’t have a DH. Down with the DH!!! But for 19 of you, you are loving the A’s DH. He’s really the only one in Group A even performing after the first weekend. In fact, 73 other managers don’t even have a home run from Group A yet. Me included.
- Players got paid prior to 2019 – We all knew that Harper and Machado were getting big paychecks, but no one saw Newton’s Third Law coming. The rest of MLB management decided to use this slow offseason as leverage to lock up a lot of you players… 22 of you have Trout, the 12-year, $430Million man (Last week’s Powerball winner is the only one that can laugh at that), Chris Sale is getting $145Mil over 5 years, DeGrom got 5 years at $138Mil, Goldy gets $130Mil over 5 years (20 picks from Group C), Bregman got 6 years at $100Mil (along with 27 picks from Group D), Eloy Jimenez hadn’t even played in the Majors and he got $43Mil over 6 years (he also got picked by 4 HR Derby managers). It sounds like Bogaerts is about to get a pay day as well after 3 days into the season. This is very, very good for baseball. As a fan, I was tired of seeing overpaid free agency. What was worse was when players weren’t getting paid at all (really, $10Mil for Moose… that’s crazy) and the best are left watching from home (Kimbrel and Keuchel remain unsigned). Free Agency might be boring as the years roll on, but the trades should be better and hopefully games become more affordable since fans don’t have to pay for Pujols type contracts.
- The Dodgers broke an opening day home run record with 8 – You read that correctly. Eight homers in a single day, on Opening Day = Another Home Run record broken in 2019 already. Six different players pitched in, including Muncy from Group A (Only 1 happy HR Derby Manager), Bellinger from Group B who now has 4 homers (6 happy HR Derby managers), Corey Seager from Group E (2 happy managers), Joc Pederson from Group C hit 2 and has 3 total (No happy managers), and Enrique Hernandez hit 2 for Group E (3 happy managers). All of those homers lead to 12 runs on Opening Day. Two days later, they dropped 18 runs on the D-Backs and Russel Martin pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to end the game. Yup, we already had a position player throw an inning in 2019.
- Goldy hit 3 homers in a game – That should put the Cardinal fans’ minds at ease. Many may have been worried about the money being tossed around for a 1B not named Albert Pujols. But on Friday, Goldy smashed 3 homers to get the Cardinals their first (and only) win of 2019. He didn’t wait long to hit his 4th home run and share of the lead in Group B. Who knows, maybe that switch to a better division is going to boost is overall numbers and take him to an even more elite status.
- The MLB Seniors Club is swatting Big Flies in 2019 – Some one might want to tell the MLB veterans that it isn’t 2010 anymore. Adam Jones has 2 home runs (4 managers chose him in Group D) which is crazy considering he hasn’t been with the team for more than 3 weeks. McCutchen has 2 homers which have 6 HR Derby managers ecstatic in Group E. Longoria and Troy Tulowitzki both have a homer (3 chose Longo, 1 chose Tulo). Hanley Ramirez even has a homer. I don’t think he even had an MLB at-bat in 2018.
There have already been more story lines in the last 4 days that I can even keep up with. The important ones are that the Yankees and Red Sox are at the bottom of their division, the Royals are leading the Central, the Mariners who are in rebuild mode are 5-1, the Phillies haven’t lost yet after spending all their money, the Padres are 3-1 leading the West, and most importantly, the Brewers are the only NL central team above 0.500. But the season is early. There are going to be many more story lines to follow. I’ll try to post more links and keep you up to date on stories as I can. But, don’t get too excited. Summer is coming which means I go absent on the site but at a minimum I will keep the Derby going.
Next up: An entire recap of the Kings of Cork Home Run Derby selections.
2019 Home Run Derby is Open For Business
Welcome back! Can you believe it’s the 9th season of Kings of Cork. It’s been a fun ride to get here and things have changed. But, even though the site isn’t as active as it once was, the 1 thing that has been constant is the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately, I’m getting a bit of a later start than usual. (I blame it on Harper dragging out Free Agency). And you, the fans, have made me well aware of that. There have been whispers and some clamoring about whether there would be a HR Derby this year.
But fear not, I have returned and I bring you the 2019 Home Run Derby Groups and more importantly:
The 2019 Home Run Derby Entry Form.
I’m not going to try to pull the wool over your eyes. Most of you know the drill and the tricks I play, but this year, just like last, you will not see an extension to the entry deadline. You have until March 25th at 6pm CT to submit an entry. After that, you will have to wait another year.
The rules haven’t changed. I mean, why fix what isn’t broke (plus, my creativity juices aren’t flowing). And the prizes and flights will again be determined after we finalize all the entries.
The entry form has links to all the players. I’ve tried to note which players who are still unsigned, who are stuck in the minors, and who are currently injured. But I’m not perfect. So it’s up to you to do the research and make sure you chose the best team.
After all of this record snow and cold this winter, I’m ready for some sun and baseball. Spring Training is in full swing, and its only a couple weeks until real baseball is back. So head on over to the entry form and start picking a team.
Week 1 Recap
Ahhhh, it’s good to have “real” baseball back!
It’s still early in the season, the excitement is still high, and I have baseball on pretty much non-stop once the kids are in bed (Baseball can’t trump Elmo during wind down time). So if you haven’t had much time, or you tend to focus on a single team, don’t worry I’ve got you covered. Here’s a quick recap of what has happened the past 10 days.
- Opening Day starts with a bang –
First pitch, first hit, first home run. Ian Happ wasted no time and went yard on the first pitch of the MLB season and forced a sports writer to eat his words and go swimming. The Marlins are not going to be good this season after Jeter shipped everyone out (including Marlins Man… he’s still a Free Agent though). Happ has struggled mightily since then after what looked like a no-brainer pick in Group E of the HR Derby contest. - Home Runs are still King –
There were 33 homers hit on opening day. That’s the most since 2006 when the league started doing mandated drug testing. Don’t worry, they have finally admitted to the ball being slightly different. Lower seam height… maybe causing less movement on pitches?! Whatever the cause, I’m happy to see homers still flying out at a high rate to help with our home run contest. - Orioles like to Walk-Off on Opening Day –
The Orioles are the first team to win 3… 3! consecutive Opening Days with walk-off hits. This year it was done by Adam Jones in the 11th inning. - Free Baseball and No Baseball –
Speaking of extra innings, as of April 8th, there have been 18 games that have provided free baseball to fans, including a 17-inning snooze fest between the Cubs and the Marlins. A lot of them being spectacular and exciting finishes. On the other side of the spectrum, MLB decided to start baseball 5 days earlier than usual to give teams 5 more off days throughout the season. However, some of those have already been consumed because Winter just won’t quite (I think I’m on day 567 of Winter). There have been 10 postponed games thus far which is going to make for a packed Summer of baseball. - Harper Hits Homers –
Harper is on a tear. He just doesn’t stop hitting. He’s now hit 6 homers in 27 AB and has 13 Walks which is good enough for the top of the HR leader board. It only helps his stats when he faces pitchers that he just OWNS. Harper has Atlanta Braves Julio Teheran’s number. He has now homered off of him 8 times (once this year already) in 39 ABs with a slugging pct of 1.154. But that’s ok, the Braves organist got a good laugh out of Harper coming to town by playing Go Cubs Go and New York, New York as Harper approached the batter’s box (Harper is a free agent this season and will go where the money is). - Stranger Things are afoot in MLB –
So there have been more and more odd things going on in the MLB these days. The defensive shift is super popular. There is a pitch clock and a man starting at 2B in extra innings in the Minors. But some managers are getting even crazier. The Tampa Bay Rays have implemented a 4 man starting pitcher rotation. That’s not all that odd, but 1 of the days is a ‘Bullpen’ day. Yes, the Rays have 3 SP on their roster and the rest are Relievers. Even more strange is that the ‘Bullpen’ day is the 3rd spot in the rotation. Sooooo, they plan to burn up the bullpen on the day before their worst starting pitcher?! Just as odd are the Astros’ new defensive shift of 4 outfielders. Do they think they are playing beer league softball or what?! Just bunt it to 3B!!! If this 4 man outfield “works”, I suspect the MLB coming up with a rule about odd shifts which probably will include 5 infielder shifts as well. - Sho-time –
Continuing the non-normal theme, Shohei Ohtani bluffed everyone in Spring Training. His stats in Spring were 4-for-32 at the plate and a 16.2 ERA on the mound. But with a simple change to his batting stance (no more leg kick), Ohtani is 7-for-18 with 3 homers and a 2.08 ERA with taking a perfect game into the 7th inning. Right now, he has MORE home runs than Aaron Judge AND MORE strikeouts than Max Scherzer. Ya, I would say that is living up to the hype. - The Giants offense is scuffling but winning games –
The Giants are the first team to get their first 3 runs of a season by 3 solo home runs by the same player. Yes, Joe Panik (not a HR hitter by trade) hit 3 solo home runs and the Giants won 2 of those games by a score of 1-0. Not only is that odd, but the newly acquired McCutchen was awful with a 2-for-24 start but then goes 6-for-7 in an extra inning game with a walk-off homer. - Back to Back to Start, Back to Back to End –
The Brewers and Cardinals made history this week by starting a game where the first two batters hit Back-to-Back homers and then the game ended with the last 2 hitters going Back-to-Back to walk-off a win for the Home Team… thankfully, the Brewers were on the winning side of that game. - Eagles Continue to Make Headlines in Minnesota –
James Paxton of the Mariners (nicknamed “Big Maple” because he’s Canadian) became a true American this week when a Bald Eagle landed on him during the National Anthem in Minneapolis. The last time Eagles made the headlines in Minnesota… Beating the Vikings in the Superbowl in February. *Bu Dum Tss* - Fighting Phils put up a 20 on the scoreboard –
The Phillies are on the back-end of finishing a rebuild. Will they be good this season? Will it be 1 more season? The signed Arrieta hoping to help build a young starting rotation, but the Phillies bats did all the talking during one game. They scored 20 (they only scored 19 in the first 9 days) against the horrible Marlins by hitting 2 grand slams in the first 3 innings of the game. The first time since Fernando Tatis did it by himself for the Cardinals in 1999… and in the same inning. - Big Fat Bartolo Colon is still relevant –
Somehow, at the age of 44, soon to be 45, “Big Sexy” is still relevant in the pitching world of professional baseball. He signed with the Rangers and in his first game of the season he threw 6-innings of 1 run ball for a QS (no run support ended in a non-win). He literally throws like 1 pitch, an 85mph 2-seam fastball. How can most pitchers not pitch below a 4.00era and here Bartolo is at 45, throwing 1 pitch, and still keeping his team competitive?! - Red Sox Can Still Make History –
And finally, the Red Sox have started 8-1 this season. This is the first time in the club’s history… which dates back to 1901. I didn’t think they would win the AL East (those Yankees’ bats are crazy powerful) but with their best start in history, maybe I should reconsider the AL East final standings.
What did I miss from the Opening Week??? Feel free to comment below.