Season 54 (2072) - Zombie Teams Unite!

[waittilnextyear]

Fighting Frogs here.

We're in P480 this week, and the coast looks pretty clear vis-a-vis the division. No other previous PL champs to do me dirty. Although, we're just 2-3 so far, so...

The coast is most definitely not clear vis-a-vis the conference. The AH "success story" Golden Saucer Wonder Squares are lurking in the AC Central with their 18 PL titles. JMallet's Newton Dragons have a solid 5 PL titles and should carry the AC West. The Dragons are more of an SE special team and the Wonder Squares are what you might come up with if you had unlimited PP to buy cards on the AH and wanted to cause terror in your community.

The NC is a bit less on the multi-PL champ teams. In fact, there is only a combined 3 PL titles in the NC. The Fairway Ninjas have 1; the Toms River Little League Champs have 2. Both teams happen to be in the same division.

None of the above teams appear to be cheesing in any way (the Ninjas have the lefty ballpark strategy, but no pitch count stuff), so it should be good, clean fun for the entire family this week!

[One Great Matrix]

Vida Blue threw a shutout. David Cone threw a no-hitter after a 1-hitter late last season. 22-12 on the season so far... Alllllllll-right!

[dancariaz]

Like many others I still can't log in. I hope they fix it soon, I've been able to log in once since Monday last week. Still have no idea how my last season ended and I still have a 4-man rotation that I couldn't change back to a 5-man one

[dkgo]

I decided not to play 21 so still checking in occasionally. Added HOF Ted Simmons for an insane amount of points to replace SE Pudge since catcher defense doesn't really seem to matter that much, so I now have a million point platoon at catcher with Gibson who has been around forever.

Since the only possible upgrades left are TOTD players and I have literally not seen one on the auction house in a month I have about 500 packs to open and see what happens.

[daves]

So on my Woodpecker team I decided last season to change my CF to 99 Rickey Henderson from defensive gem Garry Maddox. This Rickey card is decent on defense. However, this is the 1st season in a while the Woodpeckers are in last place. Nobody can pitch or hit. Did Rickey hurt the team chemistry?

[dkgo]

I'm a huge buyer of the theory that it takes some time to gel after making any changes to your team. I know people will say just confirmation bias but I see it happen every time I add someone new.

[One Great Matrix]

Originally Posted by daves

So on my Woodpecker team I decided last season to change my CF to 99 Rickey Henderson from defensive gem Garry Maddox. This Rickey card is decent on defense. However, this is the 1st season in a while the Woodpeckers are in last place. Nobody can pitch or hit. Did Rickey hurt the team chemistry?

I doubt Rickey hurt team chemistry. It's not active in Perfect Team...

I played him many seasons in 20 & he has up and down years for me in CF, from spectacular to just above average...He'd make a nice combo with Cobb in the SB department.

The New York Flyers are 53-27 in 2072 after 80 games...Nothing much else to report.

[One Great Matrix]

We're an impressive but turbulent 73-33 after 106 games in the books, on the record, in the rearview mirror...

A few new players on the roster.

I liked the way my bullpen was looking, & despite the varying performances you can get year-by-year, that good-looking pen has played just like I thought it could.

We've got guys going in & out of the rotation and the lineup...

My best mash-up team record to date... I guess despite some of the special cards, many of which I don't have, continuing to buy packs & check out the AH can win one some games as well. & the looser managing does allow some changes that I sort of trust on a loose level but may have left alone if I were trying to be too meticulous.

I'll let you all know on Sunday how everything panned out I guess.

[waittilnextyear]

Frogs clock in at 88-18, actually a couple of games ahead of the Wonder Squares. Things are setting up for a titanic Sub-League Series here in P480.

We have a 3-game set upcoming. The first 3-game set went 2 games to 1 for the Squares, but the Frogs actually have a slight 13-12 edge in run differential.

[Orion]

Angel Fire locked in a battle with the infamous Scottsdale Scorpions. Let me tell you, I work in Scottsdale and there are not many scorpions, unless you are counting the lawyers. Guardians take game 2 on the road and head home for three crucial games against the heavy favorites.

Oh and we picked up a 100 Gagne with the points we got from Chipper plus some good earnings this season. Good cards are sparse so adding him for 60k seemed wise. He will backup Goose as the closer/provide some elite setup action. Tiny Bonham gets sent down, but did ok for what he is.

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs ended the 2072 regular season with a 126-36 record. But, things went poorly in the Division Series. We were reverse swept by the Newton Dragons. Kudos to the Dragons for pulling it off with a mostly all-SE team geared toward defense and ballpark factors where offense goes to die. It was an example of how a good manager with just good enough cards can pull off the playoff upset.

Every game in the series was very close [2-0, 3-2, 3-5, 4-5, 3-4].

Goats of the series for the Frogs? RB Pedro gave up 5 earned over 2.1 IP in G3. Ed Walsh was victimized similarly in G4, allowing 5 ER in 3.2 IP. In G5, it was SE Red Ruffing giving up 2 ER in the 9th (all with 2 out) before the Frogs scored 3 in their half to come up a run short (with the tying run stranded at 3B).

This series loss robbed us of the ability to lose to the Gold Saucer Wonder Squares in the Sub-League Series. Oh well. Onto 2073.

[JasonC23]

So, for the last 7 weeks, the Huntley Red Raiders have squandered their #1 seeds, not making it to a Perfect League Series after last winning in 2064. Well, that streak is finally broken, as the Red Raiders will be facing off with the 9-time PL champion San Dimas Wyld Stallyns (no way! yes way!) in the P435 Perfect League Series! No matter who wins...this final is gonna rock. <air guitar>

[daves]

Feeling fine with #9

[JasonC23]

Sadly, Huntley could not claim #9; instead, San Dimas broke the "home team wins" pattern with a 5-2 game 7 victory and the championship. Great series, though...

[One Great Matrix]

Originally Posted by One Great Matrix

We're an impressive but turbulent 73-33 after 106 games in the books, on the record, in the rearview mirror...

A few new players on the roster.

I liked the way my bullpen was looking, & despite the varying performances you can get year-by-year, that good-looking pen has played just like I thought it could.

We've got guys going in & out of the rotation and the lineup...

My best mash-up team record to date... I guess despite some of the special cards, many of which I don't have, continuing to buy packs & check out the AH can win one some games as well. & the looser managing does allow some changes that I sort of trust on a loose level but may have left alone if I were trying to be too meticulous.

I'll let you all know on Sunday how everything panned out I guess.

Here is how things panned out... It was an excellent playoff, until I lost the first three games of the Championship Series to the Scorpions. Then it was an excellent playoff again when I won the next three games. As you can see we lost game 7, 3-0, though... so no 4th PL title for me this week. It was a pretty good series & good playoff Sunday, though. I can hardly believe I made it to a game 7 for the title & I can hardly believe I wasn't able to finish off the comeback.

[macacks]

The Warbirds won their 11th PL title by defeating the Bearsville bears (123 win team)
The Bears had home field due to their Reg season record but the Warbirds had a better RD and Pyt record.

The bears knocked off the Brooklyn Dodgers (143-19) but ran out of gas against the San Angelo Warbirds.

[Orion]

Think this is last season's thread but I'm thrilled at the moment. Angel Fire was defeated in the Sub Series but felled one whale before succumbing to Battery Park and their Jillion titles. Lo and behold, on the other hand my beloved Dodgers team had landed in a league with only one previous title winner and managed to blow it by ending up 1 game out of the division title and settling for a WC due to bad pitching overall. Somehow, they have scrapped their way to the World Series and have taken a 3-2 league with 2 games left on the road. My merely adequate starters (Peak Drysdale, 99 Kershaw, Peak Dazzy, and 94 Koufax) have risen to the task with Kershaw and Koufax both going 7 IP with 2 ER in games four and five. Not only that but my ragtag bullpen has been scintillating, piling up scoreless 8th and 9ths. Can we do it!?

[waittilnextyear]

Well, nobody started a new thread this week and I'm not gonna start one just to make this one post....but, it's a pretty sweet post. Frogs won #14 this week. Makes up for the disappointing playoff upset in PT21 this week.

Frogs took out the Deadwood Desperados in 3 games. Then, we topped the formidable Carmel-By-The-Sea Otters in 6 games. Twas a pretty high profile Sub-League Series with both of us coming in with 13 PL titles!

Then, we got lucky and swept the Cincinnati Reds in the PL Series. The lucky part wasn't really about sweeping them...The Reds had taken out the Athletic Winged Ratweilers in the AC Sub-League Series, who had pulled off a major upset against the whale team Bville Battling Bonsai in the DS. I'm sure no one remembers this, but Bville was the very first opponent the Frogs ever faced in a PL Series in PT20...some 40 seasons ago. We took an infamous 3-0 lead before getting reverse swept. I still haven't avenged that series loss, but this is about as close as we've come.