Season 12 (2030) Discussion: 2/18/19-2/24/19

[naterg1]

The Beverly Road Geese had their best month of the season in August, going 18-10. They have started September 6-6 and are currently 71-73, 6 games out in the AC Central and 4 games out of the 2nd Wildcard spot. This looks like the first time they will miss the playoffs in the 6 seasons they have been competing unless they finish on a year.

The Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks are already guaranteed to make the playoffs, but the question is whether they go in as the Wildcard, where they currently lead the 2nd place team by 7.5 games, or the AC East Champions, where they are currently trailing by half a game. They are tied for the 2nd best record in the AC, so it’s even possible that they will be the number one seed. It’s shaping up to be a fun finish.

The Ohio Bloodbuzz have been coasting the last couple of months or so after starting 44-12 through May. They have a record of 94-52, 13.5 games up in the NC East. They will likely be the number one seed in the NC with the best record in the league. They currently have 6 more wins than the closest team.

[DonkeyKongSr]

If anyone wants a fully-trained to 105 in RF Fred Lynn, I've put him up for auction. He's a high-end defender and great vRHP.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar....php?p=4439654

[DrTobiasFunke]

With the playoffs clinched and a decently comfortable 3 1/2 game lead in the division, the Sidewinders decided to upgrade before the playoffs began, and these September call ups should stick with the team for a while.



The biggest addition was Garry Maddox to Center Field, where his elite defense and blazing speed will make a great defense even better. But a whole bunch of depth has been traded out. Stirnweiss, Vukovich, Cabrera and Harrelson are out, and in their spots Tresh, Collins Sr., Cirillo, Sheckard. Long term, I think Cirillo is going to start at SS and Tresh will be infield utility, but for now Tresh and Belanger are doing alright. Collins Sr. (Gap Power), Sheckard (Eye) and Ohtani (Power) are going to be competing for the RHP DH spot and pitch hitting duty. Finally, Wyngar was replaced by Darrell Porter as my leftie catcher, and results have been very encouraging so far.

At this point I think I need to wait until they stop performing to change anything up here. They aren't going to lead the league in HRs, but this team can hit and they can run the base paths, and I think the depth is very solid now.



On the mound, we've downsized the bullpen by a pitcher while upgrading talent in the rotation. E-Rod, Dravecky, some other long relief and Bieler (160 ERA+ in 49 IP, I feel bad about that one) are out, and in their place Abbott, Wood, Ohtani and Ojeda are in. All starters, but I wanted to make sure I rostered at least 2 Leftie Starters, while at the same time respecting that Dock Ellis and Dennis Maritnez are having career years. Vic Rashi looks like he should be comfortable in long relief, while I suspect Ojeda and Ohtani might switch roles, depending on how the Japanese two-way performs. For the moment I'm training him on defense, so being the 5th starter keeps him available for more starts and pitch hitting duty. Abbott has been hot since he got into the rotation, and I feel like Kerry Wood should be a long-term 4-5 starter, throwing enough strikes to be a consistent PP machine.

Also, Shoutouts to bronze overachievers Greg Minton (142 career ERA+ in 111 IP), Mark Belanger (7.9 ZR in 261 IP this season) and the dearly departed Greg Vukovich (.287/.334/.429 in 939 PA, got up to 65/80 CF defense in 217 starts).

[Maddox]

My hippos are going to end up with their first non 1st place finish. We are 25 games over .500 but are 5 1/2 back with 7 to play.

My pitching cam through again. The top two ERA guys in the league are on my team and I am 1st in Runs Against (488), Def Efficiency (.744), Starter ERA (2.93) and 2nd an Bullpen ERA (2.53)

My offense though was just pathetic. Nothing I did could jump start them. Perfect Mike Trout's BA is .224 and he only managed a 79 RBIs

Will Clark in 129 games hit .228. I replaced him with Ted Kluszewski who in 26 games hit .214

That kind of production from your 3rd and 4th spots in the order just isn't going to cut it. I could reorder my lineup but in all honestly Keith Hernandez (.270 avg) and the late edition of Garry Maddox (.292) were the only batters who did well.

Meanwhile Luis Aparicio, with his 58 contact had a higher batting average than

• Perfect Mike Trout
• Will Clark
• Ted Kluszewski
• Ozzie Smith
• Kevin McReynolds
• Buddy Bell
• Bob Boone

[mrbucket]

Wooo, this wildcard race is wild. Four teams on 80-79. Other teams with a small chance to snipe it as well.

I've got three games against the Suwon Wiz. No one else in the running has a game against each other.

[rudel.dietrich]

At 93-68 and one game left to play the Zurich Golden Lions managed to win their division in their first season in the Silver league.


We had a great start and end to the season and has a sub par middle. But I will take it and on to the playoffs to see what we can do. Did not think I would make the playoffs this first season.

[DonkeyKongSr]

Damn, talk about consistent. 3 straight seasons with the same record, almost the same BA and around the same ERA. 3 playoff berths, too.

This is my 8th Perfect League season and 4th PL playoff appearance, so hopefully I can finally win it. This is my weakest conference in quite awhile and I've got home field in round 1, so the path to the WS isn't too bad.

[Westheim]

Raccoons won their division with a 94-68 record, nine games ahead of the competition, and will be the #3 seed in their half of the Gold League playoffs.

I also got some poor fool to quick-buy my recently drawn Bryce Harper card for 3k PP, so that one makes me merry, too!

[naterg1]

The Geese made a valiant effort but came up short, finishing 3 games out of a postseason appearance.

The Crybaby Geeks ended up forcing a game 163 to determine the division champ and won that game to avoid a wildcard game.

The Bloodbuzz finished with 108 wins and the best record in the league. Now they wait to see who they will play in the division series.

[Izz]

The Hoggs went 16-9 in September, to pull within 1 game of the second wildcard with 2 to play. They lost on the 1st but so did the other wildcard contender, the Winterfell Wolves.

They fell behind 4-0 on the 2nd against the conference's best team (who the Hoggs also share a division with), Walk With Elias. They got 2 back in the 7th but Elias pulled ahead 5-2 in the 8th. It became 5-3 in the bottom of the 8th. A 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th tied it up and sent it to extras. Neither team scored for 7 innings before Elias manufactured the go-ahead run in the top of the 17th. But these Hoggs, who'd consistently showed a lack of steel throughout the season, weren't going to be denied. They loaded the bases with nobody out. Elias got 2 outs back, including a force-out at home. Then Bill Terry slapped the first pitch he saw wide of 2B. One runner scored. Andrelton Simmons rounded rounded 3B and headed for home. The throw came in from the CF... late! Walk-off 7-5 Healy win in 17 innings.

Of course, the effort would be all for naught if Winterfell, who'd dropped their previous 3 straight, won. They were up against the eliminated Coronado Bonefrogs, who only had a .500 record to play for. Winterfell went ahead early but the Bonefrogs got 5 across home-plate in the 5th and held on for a 5-4 win.

The Hoggs were improbably headed to Game 163.

They scored 2 in the top of the 1st. Winterfell equalized in the bottom of the 2nd. Neither team scored again through regulation innings. In the top of the 11th Lefty O'Doul sent a flyball over right. It had just enough legs to clear the fence. Bottom of the inning Winterfell loaded the bases with 2 outs but Freddie Freeman could only ground out to 2B.

3-2 win to Healy and they'd somehow made the postseason.

They finished the regular season 5 games below Pythag. The competition level in this conference was pretty close - the best team won 96 games, the worst 66, with only 2 teams winning less than 70 and only 2 more than 90 - so they might have a chance if they can get past the wildcard game.

It's been a weird season so far, so anything could happen!

ETA: Also, added Gavvy Cravath (the 100+ power one, not the 80 contact one) to the lineup at DH, but decided to keep Socks Seybold in there too. Why not try two out and out sluggers for a bit to see if they complement my other contact/gap guys?

[W0rmzbr0]

The Hoboken Zephyrs finally won more than 90 games in Gold, winning their division handily with a 97-65 record. Garry Maddox won the batting title with a .320 AVG. Will have home field in the Division Series. Hope this is the year they finally make it out of the DS.

The Port Washington Pack Rats won their division in their second Gold season, finishing at 94-68. Max Muncy slugged 42 HRs on his way to the HR crown and Patrick Corbin finished as the wins leader in the NC with 20. They will also have home field in the DS, though I'm not sure these guys are ready for Diamond. Pitching was not their strong suit, particularly in relief.

[Canadaleaf]

Originally Posted by mrbucket

Wooo, this wildcard race is wild. Four teams on 80-79. Other teams with a small chance to snipe it as well.

I've got three games against the Suwon Wiz. No one else in the running has a game against each other.

So who made it?

[Canadaleaf]

The Nation of John Cena aka Cenation has clinched there first playoff appearance in there inaugural season with a 111-51 season.

Things didn't look great for Cenation after the first two months of the season. The team wasn't hitting like they were suppose to, the pitching was doing decent, but not as good as it was suppose to. This team on paper was suppose to contend for first place in the league, but only managed a record of 27-29.

Reinforcements were brought in to help the squad start to contend. The major contributors were CF Bobby Thompson who was gotten at a nice discounted price on the Auction House. He was moved to RF and started learning a new position. He Mashed!

Two other Major Reinforcements who were brought in to shore up the Pitching Staff, Larry Dierker and Kyle Freeland. Larry pitched very well to a nice 2.83 era in 21 starts. However Kyle Freeland was a man possessed. He pitched to a 18-0 record in 21 starts sporting a 1.78 era. He dominated teams at will.

Other minor pieces were added as well and the team started playing to there potential. At seasons end after a dismal 27-29 start The Nation of John Cena ended the regular season in first place with a 111-51 record. They had not lost a series since the end of May. We were first in the league in most hitting stats,pitching stats, and had the best defense in the league. The only thing we sucked at was taking a walk, where we ranked 10th in the American Conference.

We look forward to the playoffs today and hope to win the World Series!

[Westheim]

Man, went up 2-0 in the division series and then fudged a Game 3 with five unearned runs in a 6-5 loss, all in one inning.

Would not surprise me if the Raccoons win the series still and go back to Diamond; they have been unable to make any level their home for more than two consecutive seasons...

[Westheim]

Swannie with seven innings of 2-run ball moves the Critters to the LCS.

...and back to Diamond League.

[mrbucket]

Originally Posted by Canadaleaf

So who made it?

Three teams finished 82-80 for the two wildcard spots, me (winning two games off Suwon Wiz to knock them out), Vernon Hills Golfers, and San Diego City.



There were two tiebreaker games and San Diego City lost both of them for me and Vernon Hills Golfers to grab the wild card spot.



Needed extra innings to win a rollercoaster wild card game. Currently down 2-1 in the division series.

[DrTobiasFunke]

All coming down to the wire for the Sidewinders in the division series against the Briar Swampbeavers, as we have a game 5 coming up that will see Dock Ellis faceoff against Justin Thompson in a premature playoff battle of the two best regular season teams. Dock threw a shutout in Game 1 and there's no one else I'd want the mound for the deciding feature, though Justin Thompson is no slouch either, with a 41 wins and an 150 ERA+ over the past two seasons. The Series has been back and forth to this point, with the combined score 18-17 in favor of the Sidewinders.

With the stakes so high, the Sidewinders put team bench MVP Lonnie Smith back into the field, with Pete Rose to come in as the defensive sub late. Defensive Wunderkind Jim Cirillo will push Chipper Jones to the DH, and all eyes turn to team captain Hack Wilson, who has all of 3 singles and 3 walks in 21 PAs this series. The Sidewinders haven't tried this lineup all season, so is the good doctor desperate or a genius? Let's find out.

[Izz]

The weird season continues...

Woke up this morning fully expecting to be eliminated after the wildcard game. But our pitching and defense turned up, even though our offense left 9 runners on base, and we beat the Mankato Mallards 2-1.

On to our dreaded division rivals, Walk with Elias. We won Game 1 in a 12-9 punch-up. Elias hit 4 long balls but still couldn't quite get it done. Game 2 was a lower-scoring affair, Elias winning 3-2, the difference the result of a Bill Terry error. To our house for Game 3 and we scored 4 runs across the 6th-8th to take the lead and win 5-2. And in Game 4 we took an early lead and didn't relinquish it to win 4-2, taking the Division Series 3-1.

And now we go to play the Frisco Eagles in the Sub-League Series. We played 7 games against them during the regular season and squeaked ahead 4-3. Which means I'm pretty sure we'll lose this series in 5 or 6

[naterg1]

The Crybaby Geeks and Bloodbuzz both swept their way into the SubLeague Series in their respective Silver Leagues.

On to the next one!

[Maddox]

I won game two so we should be guaranteed the big game 4 pitching match up between Sad Sam Jones and Sad Sam Jones. My Sad Sam Jones was the league ERA leader.
*EDIT * - Pitchers got shuffled and the match up did not happen.