AvB 8: Circus Rained Out; Bush Quick to Respond

Before the 2006 season, when then-Dodger Edwin Jackson took his Circus of Hanging Curveballs (known in Canada as 'Suck du Soleil') to Tampa Bay, he apparently didn't change his m.o.: suck early, and suck often. In the 16 months since, Jackson (0-6, 7.78 ERA) has aggressively established himself as the worst starter on both the Devil Rays and the Abes, and is a big reason why thusfar Abes vs Babes has been All Babes, No Abes.

So when Jackson's Week 8 start was rained out, allowing the Devil Rays to skip his turn in the rotation, it looked to be good news for the Abes. However, two other Abes starters - Milwaukee's Dave Bush and Oakland's Joe Kennedy - quickly stepped up to assume Jackson's role, each giving up 7 ERs in their respective starts.

This all meant another loss in Week 8 for the Abes, a week that nobody seemed to want to win - in fact, neither team notched a win. The Babes' Carl Crawford becomes the first 2-time recipient of the Player of the Week award with a solid but relatively modest week (0.571, 0HR, 4RBI, 1SB).

After a brief whiff of victory in Week 5, it looks like the Abes are back to their losing ways. They trail the Babes in cumulative Stat Categories 7-1 and Weeks Won 5-1-1. For the Abes' sake, let's hope someone named Pujols or Santana enters the '08 presidential race soon.

Here're the Scoreboards:

Week 8 Only: The Abes The Babes Avg 0.263 0.283 Runs 20 17 HRs 2 3 RBIs 11 19 SBs 1 3 ERA 8.62 3.77 Wins 0 0 Saves 0 0 Ks 7 29 Total 1 6

Cumulative: The Abes The Babes Avg 0.251 0.268 Runs 187 164 HRs 26 32 RBIs 145 155 SBs 14 28 ERA 4.80 3.87 Wins 6 13 Saves 0 0 Ks 174 222 Total 1 7

And here are the full details on both the Abes' and Babes' pitchers:

Abes Pitchers:

Player	President	Team	ERA	Wins	Saves	Ks
Randy Johnson	Andrew	ARI	4.54	2	0	47
Tyler Johnson	Andrew	STL	1.08	0	0	11
Jim Johnson	Andrew	BAL	9.00	0	0	1
Joe Kennedy	John F	OAK	3.62	1	0	21
Edwin Jackson	Andrew	TB	7.78	0	0	31
CJ Wilson	Woodrow	TEX	2.16	0	0	17
Dave Bush	George	MIL	6.13	3	0	46
TOTAL			4.80	6	0	174

Babes Pitchers:

Player	Maxim Girl	Team	ERA	Wins	Saves	Ks
Trever Miller	Sienna	HOU	5.65	0	0	16
Wade Miller	Sienna	CHC	10.54	0	0	6
Andrew Miller	Sienna	DET	0.00	1	0	2
Justin Miller	Sienna	FLA	1.93	0	0	6
Jason Miller	Sienna	MIN	0.00	0	0	1
Joe Smith	Kim	NYM	1.25	1	0	25
Matt Smith	Kim	PHI	11.25	0	0	1
Anibal Sanchez	Roselyn	FLA	4.80	2	0	14
Jonathon Sanchez	Roselyn	SF	5.52	1	0	21
Ted Lilly	Avangeline	PHI	3.20	4	0	56
Heath Bell	Katherine	SD	1.20	0	0	34
Byung-Hyun Kim	Yunjin	FLA	7.02	2	0	11
Juan Cruz	Penelope	ARI	2.35	2	0	19
Sean Green	Eva	SEA	2.70	0	0	10
TOTAL			3.87	13	0	222