Season 26 (2044) Discussion Thread

[old timer]

Not sure how, but the Raccoons have a 1.5 game lead now. Even cooler, we've temporarily got the best record in the league (we're only 3rd in RDiff, behind the RipTide and then Westvleteren). This has never happened before this late into the season.

We've won 12 straight and somehow, the other teams have figured out how to beat Westvleteren. If only we could do so consistently. The Dab City Yeet (.546) have now won 8 of 18 against them including the last 2 straight. The Yeet play us coming up soon and have been equally effective against us, with my Raccoons going only 9-7 against them.

If we can just stay hot, we could force the XII into the WC game. And if we get lucky and they lose, we have a decent chance at another title. If we have to face them in the playoffs, I don't think it will go well for the Raccoons.

The playoffs should have lots of good matchups this year. Spokane has won 5 perfect titles and is having a great year, but Macon has improved of late. They have recently added Walsh and 3 hitters to their team so they're looking like they could be a threat in the playoffs. Then there's Coffeyville, who for much of the season, had the best record. They've never won a perfect title and Macon has never won any championship. If we don't win, it would be cool to see one of those teams win it.

In our conference, the Blue Hens look to be really tough in the playoffs, so even if we somehow make it past Westvleteren, it won't be an easy time for us this season.

[Orcin]

The Colonels have a three-game lead over the 49ers with eight to play. Three of the eight are on the road against the 49ers, so nothing is decided yet. We are 9-7 vs. the 49ers so I need at least one of the three for that goal and probably to win the division.

[JasonC23]

The fights for the #1 seeds in P408 are scorching hot. In the AC, Huntley is currently 0.5 games ahead of Excelsior. Of course, the "winner" of this battle will most likely face the 4-time Perfect League champs New Image Blaze in the Division Series...

Meanwhile, in the NC, Collingwood has won 10 in a row to pull within 4 games of Singapore. Come on, Collingwood!

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by old timer

The Dab City Yeet (.546) have now won 8 of 18 against them including the last 2 straight. The Yeet play us coming up soon and have been equally effective against us, with my Raccoons going only 9-7 against them.

I don't think you could possibly come up with a more millennial team name than Dab City Yeet. That is PEAK young person.

Anyhow, good luck possibly getting best overall record.

[Maxfire5]

Here's an end of season update with a few games left. Things have gotten interesting for the Defenders.

Topeka Defenders: First season back in perfect after a number of years in Diamond. My 96 Saberhagen leads the conference in ERA by a long shot with a 2.85 ERA. Second place is also my Lefty Gomez with a 3.34. Saberhagen also leads the conference in Wins, but unfortunately not in strikeouts so no triple crown though. Very productive year from him. Main addition: I completed the twins/senator collection so 100 Johan Santana slots into the rotation moving Eddie Plank to the pen. The ending to season has been very interesting. We are 10-1 in our last 11 games to close to the gap to just 2 games with 3 left to play. Who are we playing in those last 3? It's none other than the first place team, Palolo Puppies. Unfortunately, we do have to sweep them to win the division. If we don't win our division, I don't think we make the playoffs as we will likely just miss out on the wild card spot. Hopefully I can stay up to check the next 3 games, but no guarantees.

Missouri Legends: Disappointing season in gold and we will finish in 4th place. Not much else to say other than I'm trying to sell my 95 SE Amos Otis to raise 17k funds so I can buy the last card I need for the Royals collection so I can get Lorenzo Cain, Wade Davis and Saberhagen who will all significantly help this theme team.

Kansas Rangers: pack only team had some pack luck this week in packing a Perfect Bob Gibson. He has really enjoyed the bronze level. Between my 96 Mark Prior and 100 Bob Gibson, they've carried us to first place in the division with a solid 11 game lead. Offensively, we're led by 99 Duke Snider who has put a respectable .282/.382/.517 slash line and 6.5 WAR. We will see how this team does in the playoffs. It'll be interesting. The rotation is their strongsuit with all pitchers at a sub 3.7 ERA. Duke Snider carries the offense, and 65 Dave Jolly anchors the bullpen. He's posted 41 saves in 42 opportunities with a 1.1 ERA in 57.1 IP, and a solid save streak at 26 saves.

[old timer]

So we've got 3 games left and we're tied for 1st with 118 W. Westvleteren gets to play the Reds who've won 85 games while we get to play the team with the worst record in the conference, appropriately named the Wursts (who are currently on a 15 game losing streak). This has been the closest division race the Raccoons have ever been in. I'll be surprised if we don't end up tied at the end and have to play one more game to decide it.

[Marleigh]

Going into the final game the wildcard race couldn't be much tighter in Diamond 371, we have the misfortune of playing against the division leaders, the gators are playing the swinging As, so our only hope is if the As win and we win. Steel City Blaze are playing the worst team in the conference so it could be a 4 way tie unless the gators pick up the clutch win



and this is how it ended, wow



we play the Blaze and the As and Gators play again

The As continued bullying the Gators and won their playoff game,
we took 17 innings to win 4-2 vs the blaze.

Hank Aaron is hitting over .400 in his last 8 and has a 22 game hitting streak going

[old timer]

We lost the last game of the season to the Wursts (2-0) and so will now be in the WC game. Very disappointing ending. I really thought we'd meet them in a 1 game playoff. We did finish with 120 W and kept up with them to the end, so I'm very pleased with that. Congratulations to Westvleteren! It was fun... Until the last day of the season.

We've only ever played in 2 WC games before and won both of them. We'll be playing the Sachse Roughnecks with Schilling for us vs Blackwell for them. We went 5-2 vs them in the regular season. Hopefully, we'll get a rematch with the division champs in the division round.

Good luck to everyone in the playoffs!

[JasonC23]

The P408 playoffs are set. In the AC, the race for the #1 seed couldn't have been any closer: Huntley and Excelsior finished with identical 115-47 records and were 3-3 in head-to-head matchups. Whatever the third tiebreaker was went the way of the Red Raiders, though, so Huntley will host the winner of the New Image Blaze/Boston Idiots Wild Card matchup, while Excelsior faces the Charity Island Walleye in the #2/#3 face-off.

Interesting note about those Idiots: They won their last 5, while the California Alliance lost their last 4, to just squeeze into the second Wild Card spot and the right to visit the Blaze. Can they keep that momentum going and pull off a shocking upset?

In the NC, Singapore took the top spot, as they do, relegating Collingwood to the Wild Card game, where they will host the Phoenix Firebirds. The #2/#3 matchup will feature the Barut Patriots and the Austin Fellwalkers; neither team has won a championship at any level, but one will be the NC Sub-League Series, very likely against the legendary Sluggers or Magpies.

Final standings follow...good luck to all P408 playoff participants!

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs rolled thru P424 this week to a franchise-best 122-40 record. The previous mark was 117 wins. Maintained about the same level of offense as last season (850 runs) but allowed 162 fewer runs (459 runs). Just about everything went right. The team was tops in the conference in bullpen ERA (1.96), defensive efficiency (.715), and zone rating (+56.3). The Frogs were 2nd in the conference in 12 different categories.

The pitching staff was dynamite with every starter winning at least 21 games (except for that slacker CC Sabathia at 18-5). Ed Walsh wasn't even very good in September, but with a 1.92 ERA still won the ERA crown by more than half a run over Parish's perfect Pedro. Christy Mathewson has an active 15-game winning streak. PEAK Chipper Jones had 10 hits in his final 5 games to rally past Parish's duo of 100 Griffey and 100 Brett and win the batting crown (.335). La Crosse's 89 Eck finished in a tie with Parish's 100 Lee Smith with 49 saves.

The Frogs were also able to add SE Vida Blue to the mix earlier this evening.

The NC playoff bracket sets up with #1 seed Parish WhoDats (132-30) awaiting the winner of the Massachusetts Minutemen (83-79) and the Mizzou YakAnglers (81-81). The Frogs will host the Philadelphia Mostly Phillies (91-71). Philly actually won the season series by taking 4/6, including a couple of walk off wins. Despite that, the Mostly Phillies appear to play into the Frogs' wheelhouse. They are a very left-handed rotation, a team that hits lefty pitching much better (.658 WPct vs lefties, .532 WPct vs righties, and will have to face 100 Walsh, 100 Seaver, and 100 Mathewson), and have a ballpark set up for defense while the Frogs have home field advantage and also a significantly better defense.

The AC is the Virginia Beach Freaks (135-27) and everyone else. No other AC team even won 95 games so it would be a titanic upset for the Freaks to not advance to meet the NC winner.

[Marleigh]

Bad News Bulldogs went 8-2 in their last 10 to get into a 4 way tie for the last WC spot, they then won 2 playoff games, one in 17 innings and the other a 3-2 game which our closer did his best to blow giving up the 2 runs. Hank Aaron (93) was red hot at the tail end of the season with a live 23 game hitting streak to win the batting title at .305, he also led the league in extra base hits. Tim Leary notched the most pitching wins with 17 including the last playoff game for the WC spot

Neuman Furshlugginers had a typical up and down final month to finish 84-78 well out of playoff contention, Wilbur Wood won the most games (19) and Will Clark won the batting crown (.327) however Clark and Jefferies both had great seasons, Jefferies must be favourite to win his 3rd straight MVP


It's the end of an era for the Heroes as quite a few old favourites get sold off and incoming players including Nomar, Sisler, Colavito warm up for next season after missing the playoffs with a 78-84 record

[macacks]

Originally Posted by macacks

A tough Perfect League last year with two multiple PL champions and Coming out of a gruelling 1-run game 7 loss (after being up 3-2) in the PL finals against one of the two 131 Win teams...the Warbirds are now facing to more multiple PL teams (410)...this time in their own division.
Combined 13 PL titles in the Division and 20 in the conference.

7 teams finished with 100 wins this year. 5 in the Warbirds Conference. 3 in their division. The Winterfell Direwolves missed the playoffs with 105 Wins.

The very tough NC central came down to the wire. All three teams making the playoffs
Warbirds - 110 Wins (1PL titles)
Valyria Dooms - 109 (5PL)
Chernobyl Meltdowns - 109 (7PL)

This will be one of the most even Playoffs in recent years.

[Izz]

The 'Glou have finished their worst season in perfect. 63-99. 5th-worst record in the league, so we will be back in perfect next season as a punching bag.

We had our worst offensive season (649 runs scored), and worst defensive too (866 runs allowed), by 6 runs.

Mike Trout was plain awful. .204/.331/.321, for an OPS+ of 82. Only 3 of the team had a BABIP above .300.

I'm not particularly surprised by the season result as we haven't upgraded any key positions in 3 seasons.

[Maxfire5]

Originally Posted by waittilnextyear

I don't think you could possibly come up with a more millennial team name than Dab City Yeet. That is PEAK young person.

Anyhow, good luck possibly getting best overall record.

Funnily enough, they may not even be a millenial! Could be (and probably more likely to be based on the team name) part of Generation Z! Millennials ended in '94.

[Orcin]

The Colonels finished 124-38, winning the division by 3 games. We were 10-9 against the rival 49ers by virtue of winning one of the final three against them. We did not have a losing record against any team, but we did not play the #1 team in the league (Spearfish Blackhawks at 132-30).

Evaluating the regular season, the first thing that I noticed was 67 wins at home and 57 on the road. It appears that increasing the BAVG factors from 1.000 to 1.025 in my park helped to give me a home advantage. I led my conference in runs allowed (502) and was second in runs scored (965 vs. the 49ers 969). However, Spearfish beat me handily in both categories (1140 scored, 482 allowed) so there is still much work to be done. Spearfish has increased park factors, except for RH HRs which are depressed to fit his roster. I will at least keep mine where there are or perhaps slightly increase them again.

Adding Walter Johnson (13-2, 2.59) and Pedro Martinez (11-4, 2.76) to the roster on Tuesday certainly helped me to win the division. However, I didn't buy them in order to win regular season games. The investment (and it was an investment at a combined value of $400) was made to win POST-season games. We'll see today if that investment pays off.

My bullpen also improved after adding Lee Smith. I was able to have the best two closers (Smith and Sutter) as short men and hide the worst (Gagne this year) as a middle reliever because Hubbell was an excellent 7th inning setup man. It seemed to work well with lefty Hubbell following the starter since my entire rotation is right-handed. Keefe will also be in the bullpen for the playoffs today.

Joe DiMaggio had a great year with 33 HR, 123 RBI, and a .993 OPS. Babe Ruth (DH vs. R) led the team with 39 HR and 125 RBI. Hank Aaron was supposed to be playing against LHP only, but pushed his way into the regular lineup with a .964 OPS against RHP. Oscar Charleston is playing the other outfield spot in a platoon with Willie Mays, but the outfield is still very much undecided for next season. DiMaggio is playing CF vs. RHP in today's playoffs. He is a plus defender in CF over his 1,612 career games played there, so I am considering keeping him there next season because Mays (104 OPS+) did not have an inspiring year at the plate. Mantle and Mays are redundant as fourth outfielders, but I frankly haven't decided on the first three yet. It may be best to keep them all and play the hot hand.

Luke Appling and Jackie Robinson ended up with very similar offensive production. Appling had a better OBP and Robinson had a better SLG. Appling cooled off considerably after a scorching April and left some doubt about which player should start at 2B next season. Rizzuto left no doubt about the shortstop position, finishing with 4.7 WAR and a +9.9 ZR. Brett (1B) and Boggs (3B) both had plus years defensively so that change is permanent. I really would like to find a RH hitter to platoon with Brett at 1B. Aaron doesn't play the position well enough to fit my style. I am thinking about peak A-Rod because he can also play 3B and even SS in a pinch.

Good luck to everyone still playing today and best wishes for next week!

[Argonaut]

Originally Posted by Maxfire5

Funnily enough, they may not even be a millenial! Could be (and probably more likely to be based on the team name) part of Generation Z! Millennials ended in '94.

Yeah I was gonna say, that's definitely more of a Gen Z thing. Us Millenials are pretty old now. Wife and kids, the whole bit.

[BigRed75]

The Froggies finished with 107 wins, two shy of the franchise record. All of my teams managed to do a spectacular job of not setting up their rotations properly and going into the first game of the playoffs with their ace at less than 100%

So things might be rough.

Overall, five teams in the playoffs, counting the son's team. Along with the Froggies, the Mineurs are back in, as well as the Tribe and, in a surprise, the Game Theories, whose coin flip came up correct. They sneak in as the 3rd place team in their division and 2nd wild card, travelling to the 1st wild card.

I lie, there's actually six teams in the playoffs, but the other is the unofficial 12th team that I'm not talking about because their team doesn't have a collection mission yet. So they might be doing really well. Heck, for all you know, they might be in Perfect.


Hint: they're not in Perfect. Do you honestly think I'd have a team in Perfect and not talk about them?

Oh yeah, the Redlegs. Well, they're not in Perfect anymore after this season, so that solves that problem.

[bailey]

I gambled on the wildcard game (if you can call using Cy Young 100 gambling) and won. Arguably Walter Johnson was my best pitcher by far this week while Cy Young had his worst season since 2035 (ERA-wise). I used WJ in a late season game even after I was eliminated in the division race because he would face the best team for K's and he needed 11 for the triple crown. (He only got 9). Walter Johnson is was also my best pitcher on the road and games 1 and 5 are on the road in the division series.

Over the last 10 weeks in random perfect leagues I won 79% of my games, but I had an 80 game stretch this week where I "only" won 66%. What is the probability of getting 53 or fewer wins in 80 games with a 79% chance of winning? I tried the probability calculators online, but I couldn't figure them out.

[RunninYakAngler]

My YakAnglers finished 81-81, good enough for the last wildcard spot, but 41 games behind waittilnextyears La Cross Fighting Frogs. In the wildcard game we outhit the Massachusetts MinuteMen 8-4 but lost 3-2. 99 Rickey Henderson stole 3 bases and scored two runs for the Minutemen.

The Marathoners finished 77-85 and 3 games out of the final wildcard spot. Definitely need some major upgrades at some point.

The Miners, who seem to go up and down from perfect, once again won their division in Diamond at 87-75. Not going to tank the playoffs but staying in Diamond wouldn't be the worst thing for this team.

[Dogberry99]

Originally Posted by Argonaut

Yeah I was gonna say, that's definitely more of a Gen Z thing. Us Millenials are pretty old now. Wife and kids, the whole bit.

So then would this be one of the whales in game? https://youtu.be/ATTMB4gH3sU?t=221

Just kidding. I'm Gen X. I just sit on the sidelines and watch the world burn.