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Welcome to the Ding Dong Challenge, a game were we try and correctly predict who will hit the most home runs in a given week, keep score throughout the entire season, and win a free, awesome t-shirt.
Week 1 scorecard
| Name | Week 1 Total | Elite | Everyone Else 1 | Everyone Else 2 | Total Dongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Week 1 Total | Elite | Everyone Else 1 | Everyone Else 2 | Total Dongs |
| Garrett | 7 | Nelson Cruz (4) | Fernando Tatis Jr (0) | Mike Trout (3) | 7 |
| Pete | 4 | Ketel Marte (0) | Vladimir Guerrero Jr (1) | Mike Trout (3) | 4 |
| Heath | 3 | Ketel Marte (0) | Christian Yelich (0) | Mike Trout (3) | 3 |
| Mark | 2 | Shohei Ohtani (1) | Trevor Story (0) | Pete Alonso (1) | 2 |
| Feslen | 2 | Shohei Ohtani (1) | Akil Baddoo (1) | Buster Posey (0) | 2 |
Garrett starts off with a win to start the year DESPITE cheating as I clearly stated this year is different and you MUST pick an Elite and can’t just ride with three everyone elses. Thems the rules but I’ll let this one slide. Just this once Garrett. Just this once.
Dong leaders last week: Ronald Acuna Jr, J.D. Martinez, Nelson Cruz, Wilson Ramos, Eduardo Escobar, Tyler Naquin, Rafael Devers, Ryan McMahon, Freddie Freeman all knocking four dingers.
Onto Week 2!
For those of you who have never participated in the Ding Dong Challenge and are wondering what the bloody hell is going on right now, let me explain. Each week you draft a team of three hitters, the goal being for your team to hit the most home runs during the week. You MUST pick one player from the “elites”—top 25 players in ISO rating—and two players from the “everyone else” category (which is just everyone who’s not elite), then list your team in the comments. The sooner you create your team, the better as you only get the homers from when your team is posted till the end of the week!
Week 2 Elites
| Name | Team | G | PA | HR | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | G | PA | HR | ISO |
| Byron Buxton | MIN | 8 | 31 | 5 | 0.704 |
| J.D. Martinez | BOS | 8 | 38 | 5 | 0.611 |
| Tyler Naquin | CIN | 9 | 36 | 5 | 0.516 |
| Nelson Cruz | MIN | 9 | 32 | 4 | 0.481 |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | ATL | 9 | 39 | 4 | 0.472 |
| Franmil Reyes | CLE | 8 | 32 | 4 | 0.467 |
| Ryan McMahon | COL | 10 | 38 | 5 | 0.459 |
| Nick Castellanos | CIN | 9 | 39 | 4 | 0.432 |
| Jared Walsh | LAA | 8 | 30 | 3 | 0.423 |
| Mike Trout | LAA | 9 | 39 | 3 | 0.414 |
| Shohei Ohtani | LAA | 9 | 36 | 3 | 0.412 |
| Freddie Freeman | ATL | 9 | 36 | 4 | 0.400 |
| Eduardo Escobar | ARI | 9 | 39 | 4 | 0.378 |
| Rafael Devers | BOS | 8 | 37 | 4 | 0.375 |
| Phillip Evans | PIT | 8 | 31 | 3 | 0.357 |
| Whit Merrifield | KCR | 7 | 33 | 3 | 0.357 |
| Zach McKinstry | LAD | 9 | 31 | 2 | 0.357 |
| Kyle Tucker | HOU | 9 | 41 | 4 | 0.351 |
| Dylan Carlson | STL | 9 | 35 | 3 | 0.345 |
| Evan Longoria | SFG | 8 | 33 | 3 | 0.333 |
| Austin Meadows | TBR | 9 | 40 | 3 | 0.333 |
| Kris Bryant | CHC | 9 | 36 | 2 | 0.333 |
| Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 9 | 36 | 2 | 0.333 |
| Eric Hosmer | SDP | 9 | 38 | 3 | 0.324 |
| Yermin Mercedes | CHW | 7 | 32 | 2 | 0.321 |
Anyone not on this list is an Everyone Else. Reminder: you pick one Elite and two Everyone Else each week so choose wisely! Leave your team in the comments if you want to play this week (and feel free to leave your twitter handle as we’ll give a shoutout each week to the previous week’s winner).