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The Ding Dong Challenge is BACK!

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

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IT’S BACK BABY!

Time to make wild predictions about how’s gonna smack dingers and try our darndest to win meaningless pride (and a t-shirt!)! Congrats again to last year’s winner Mark who knocked it out of the park (see what I did there?).

Wait, what is the Ding Dong Challenge?

Simply, it’s a challenge involving correctly predicting who will knock the most homers in a given week. Then you keep track of all the homers you’ve predicted throughout the year and the person with the best score at the end wins a t-shirt. That’s right, a FREE T-SHIRT! What more do you need to know?

How do I play?

There are two categories of hitters each week for you to choose from: The Elites (the top 25 players in ISO) and The Everyone Else. Each week you will pick one Elite hitter and two Everyone Else hitters to be on your weekly squad (the week runs from Monday to Sunday). Type your squad into the comment section and I’ll keep track of who has which players. Each Monday I’ll recap the week prior and post a new list of The Elites for you to choose from.

Pretty straight forward.

Shut up and show me this shirt I win

BOOM! Plus you get your name on the back.

I’m hooked. Who’re The Elites this week?

Since baseball hasn’t started yet, the Elites this week will be the top-25 ISO guys all of last year:

Week 1 Elites

Name Team G PA HR ISO
Name Team G PA HR ISO
Mike Trout Angels 140 608 39 0.316
Khris Davis Athletics 151 654 48 0.302
J.D. Martinez Red Sox 150 649 43 0.299
Mookie Betts Red Sox 136 614 32 0.294
Joey Gallo Rangers 148 577 40 0.292
Jose Ramirez Indians 157 698 39 0.282
Trevor Story Rockies 157 656 37 0.276
Christian Yelich Brewers 147 651 36 0.272
Matt Carpenter Cardinals 156 677 36 0.266
Nolan Arenado Rockies 156 673 38 0.264
Javier Baez Cubs 160 645 34 0.264
Jesus Aguilar Brewers 149 566 35 0.264
Nelson Cruz Mariners 144 591 37 0.252
Rhys Hoskins Phillies 153 660 34 0.251
Bryce Harper Nationals 159 695 34 0.247
Alex Bregman Astros 157 705 31 0.246
Gregory Polanco Pirates 130 535 23 0.245
Paul Goldschmidt Diamondbacks 158 690 33 0.243
Giancarlo Stanton Yankees 158 705 38 0.243
Eugenio Suarez Reds 143 606 34 0.243
Francisco Lindor Indians 158 745 38 0.242
Manny Machado Padres 162 709 37 0.241
C.J. Cron Rays 140 560 30 0.240
Travis Shaw Brewers 152 587 32 0.239
Xander Bogaerts Red Sox 136 580 23 0.234

Anyone not on this list is an Everyone Else. Reminder: you pick one Elite and two Everyone Else each week so choose wisely!

Join the fun!

Create your squad of three, post them in the comments and sit back and watch the ding dongs come pouring in.