2041 ABL PLAYOFFS
Once more, the regular season had whittled down the number championship-eligible ABL teams from 24 to just four, with the goal now being to win eight more games to walk away with the trophy.
The Loggers had finished the season with the best record in the league, 94-68, despite only clinching the CL North on the Monday after nominal Closing Day. They were fourth in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the league, with the most home runs and a very good bullpen having to scratch out the droppings of their mediocre rotation. They were lining up four righty starters headed by Sergio Piedra (15-8, 3.32 ERA). The offense was led by Aaron Brayboy (.306, 21 HR, 101 RBI) and Jared Paul (.285, 23 HR, 90 RBI), with three other players also hitting 13+ homers and hitting .257 or better. Their lineup was pretty balanced between lefty and righty hitters. They had two players on the DL, regulars Dan Torri and Tony Lira, neither of which were going to come back this year.
Opposing the Loggers in the CLCS were the 86-76 Falcons, who had won the CL South by three games. They had only been eighth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, but with a meager +17 run differential. They were hitting .261, which was sixth-best in the league, but could neither hit home runs (11th), nor steal any bases (bottoms). They did have the best rotation though – entirely right-handed for the playoffs as well – at least as long as you only counted earned runs. They were also in the bottom three in defense. One of the weirder rosters to make the playoffs in recent memory, they had Oscar Flores (17-8, 2.97 ERA) and Ernie Quintero (13-13, 3.16 ERA) topping their rotation. Their best batter, Jose Farfan, was on the DL since July with a torn-up knee. Of the remaining batters, Chris Robinson (.294, 16 HR, 79 RBI) had compiled the best numbers. Nobody else had more than 12 home runs and only Tony Aparicio had reached the .300 mark (.303, 9 HR, 58 RBI). Their lineup was leaning heavily to the right.
Over in the FLCS, the Wolves had home field advantage after winning the FL West by one game, finishing with a 93-69 record. They had come second in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. They had the highest on-base percentage of any playoff team and any Federal League team at .348, but had also finished bottoms in stolen bases in the FL. They had come third in home runs. While their *also* entirely right-handed rotation was pretty decent with Ryan Bedrosian (19-11, 2.90 ERA) as headliner, their bullpen was entirely porous and prone to meltdowns. After regular closer Miguel Salazar ruptured his UCL during the season, they had gone through a number of closers, currently settling on Sebastien Parham (7-8, 5.47 ERA, 16 SV), acquired mid-season from the Thunder. Hitters Rai Higashi and Bill Jenkins were also stowed away on the DL for the year. Morgan Kuhlmann (.271, 33 HR, 109 RBI) won the home run title and was bating cleanup amidst up to five .300 batters, three of which (Jose Rivera, Bob Mancini, Sergio Barcia) had also hit 15+ home runs.
On the other end were the 87-75 Cyclones, winning the FL East by three games. They entered the postseason with no injuries of note, and third in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. Despite the superficially good runs totals, the rotation was headed by Willie Gallardo (15-14, 3.21 ERA) and then rapidly descended into 4-ish ERA’s. They, too, went with only right-handed starters after moving Chris “Tuba” Turner (15-8, 3.19 ERA) to the bullpen for spurious reasons. They also had gone through several closers, ending up with sophomore Carson Jarvinen (3-4, 5.43 ERA, 12 SV) at this stage. Cincinnati featured three .300 hitters, who also all hit for power and all hit left-handed: Danny Santillano (.337, 23 HR, 94 RBI), Melvin Hernandez (.318, 16 HR, 74 RBI), and Jayden Lockwood (.306, 23 HR, 84 RBI). After that the quality of their lineup fell off though, yet the force of those three left-handers was expected to give the Wolves some trouble.
Of the teams involved in the playoffs, the Cyclones and Falcons had the most appearances, both making the postseason for the 11th time. The Wolves won their eighth division title, while the Loggers only reached October baseball for the fifth time, breaking a tie with the Gold Sox for fewest among all teams.
The Loggers and Falcons both had one championship to their names, and the Cyclones and Wolves both had two. This included the Wolves being the defending champions.
Neither of the two LCS matchups had occurred in the past, nor had any of the potential World Series pairings been seen in the past.
The experts considered the Loggers clear favorites to win the CLCS, while the FLCS was more of a toss-up.
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2041 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
CIN @ SAL … 4-2 … (Cyclones lead 1-0) … CIN Jayden Lockwood 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; CIN Brandon Nickerson 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-0);
CIN @ SAL … 5-3 … (Cyclones lead 2-0) … CIN Danny Santillano 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;
CHA @ MIL … 1-3 … (Loggers lead 1-0) … CHA Chris Russell 3-4, 2B;
CHA @ MIL … 4-5 … (Loggers lead 2-0) … MIL Nick Duncan 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Sal Chavez 8.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (1-0) and 2-2, 2B;
Sal Chavez holds the Falcons to one hit and one run through eight before running out of fumes in the ninth inning. With two on and one out, Kurt Crater almost explodes the game, giving up four base runners before restoring order.
SAL @ CIN … 11-16 … (Cyclones lead 3-0) … SAL Morgan Kuhlmann 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; SAL Bob Mancini 2-5, 2 RBI; SAL Kurt Wall (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; CIN Mike Gibson 3-3, 2 BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Danny Santillano 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 7 RBI; CIN Jayden Lockwood 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; CIN Cody St. Peter 2-5, 2 RBI;
Maybe the Wolves should get credit for almost rallying out of a 15-1 hole after five innings.
SAL @ CIN … 7-5 … (Cyclones lead 3-1) … SAL Jose Rivera 3-4; SAL Morgan Kuhlmann 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI; CIN Danny Santillano 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI;
MIL @ CHA … 0-5 … (Loggers lead 2-1) … CHA Ruben Esperanza 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; CHA Oscar Flores 8.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);
SAL @ CIN … 2-4 … (Cyclones win 4-1) … CIN Danny Santillano 2-2, 2 BB; CIN Cody St. Peter 2-4, HR, RBI; CIN Juan Brito 3-4, RBI;
MIL @ CHA … 3-0 … (Loggers lead 3-1) … MIL Aaron Brayboy 3-5; MIL Nick Duncan 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;
MIL @ CHA … 7-4 … (Loggers win 4-1) … MIL Aaron Brayboy 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; MIL Hector Alvarez (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;
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2041 WORLD SERIES
With that, the Loggers would have homefield advantage over the Cyclones in the World Series. They had however shed one of their most important hitters, Jared Paul, who had suffered a forearm strain in the CLCS and was ruled out for the World Series. The Cyclones had dropped backup outfielder Celio Umbreiro to a strained oblique.
Thus, it remained a matchup of two right-handed banks of starting pitchers against fairly well-mixed (Loggers) to left-leaning (Cyclones) lineups, with crummy bullpens and la-la defense. It could entirely become a World Series of comebacks – or be over in four games. Odds are fairly even at the bookies, though.
CIN @ MIL … 2-3 … (Loggers lead 1-0) … MIL Joseph Ronan (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; MIL Carlos Padilla 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K;
Hitting for Pat Wynn, Paul’s replacement and a veteran of 17 ABL games at age 27, Joseph Ronan erases the Cyclones 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Daniel Hertenstein doubles in Ted Del Vecchio in the eighth to secure the victory.
CIN @ MIL … 8-4 … (series tied 1-1) … CIN Dan Rollin (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; CIN Dan Mathes (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;
MIL @ CIN … 5-6 … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … MIL Tim Cannizzard 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; MIL Ted Del Vecchio 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; CIN Ricky Rodriguez 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; CIN Danny Santillano 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI;
Santillano is hitting .440 with 4 HR and 12 RBI in the playoffs. He looks fairly determined to finally add a damn ring to his six Player of the Year honors.
MIL @ CIN … 8-3 … (series tied 2-2) … Felipe Gomez 1-2, HR, 4 RBI; CIN Jayden Lockwood 2-3, 2 BB, 3B;
Tim Cannizzard and Felipe Gomez both hit 3-run homers to fuel the Loggers’ drive to get even.
MIL @ CIN … 2-1 … (Loggers lead 3-2) … MIL Daniel Hertenstein 3-4, RBI; MIL Valentino Sicco (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; MIL Sergio Piedra 7.1 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-0) and 2-3, 2B; CIN Ricky Rodriguez 3-4, RBI; CIN Jayden Lockwood 3-4, 2B; CIN Willie Gallardo 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (2-1);
Rodriguez gives the Cyclones the lead in the third inning, but the Loggers scrabble together their runs off Gallardo in the seventh inning. The whole affair in pivotal Game 5 takes 2 hours and 21 minutes despite 19 hits being sprinkled around and is immediately labelled an all-time classic for gritty pitching with runners in scoring position.
CIN @ MIL … 6-5 (10) … (series tied 3-3) … CIN Ricky Rodriguez 3-5, 3B, 2B; CIN Melvin Hernandez 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; MIL Nick Duncan 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;
Rico Leyva walks and is run for by Jesus Burgos, who steals second base immediately in the top 10th. Cody St. Peter singles, and Burgos comes home to score, while the Loggers hit a pair of 2-out singles between Cannizzard and Wynn, but strand the ring-bearing runners when Brayboy flies out to center.
CIN @ MIL … 5-7 … (Loggers win 4-3) … MIL Ted Del Vecchio 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; MIL Justin Nelson (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;
Nelson pinch-hits for the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning, which gives the W to Carlos Padilla (2-1, 3.51 ERA) eventually, after the Loggers piece together the final three innings with six different pitchers shedding four hits and a run.
The Loggers!
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2041 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Milwaukee Loggers
(2nd title)