Game Date: 9/23/2017
Who Uploaded?
Houston
Los Angeles
Maui
New York
Ohio
River Cities
Seattle
Awards:
Ohio's Christopher Moss wins Player of the Week
Playoff Brackets
Series #1: Saskatoon vs. River Cities
Series #2: Maui vs. Seattle
Final Standings:
Adams:
River Cities 106-56
Brooklyn 82-80
Hickory 79-83
Cleveland 76-86
Zotti:
Seattle 103-59
Saskatoon 96-66 (Wild Card)
Los Angeles 94-68
Ohio 85-77
Signorino:
Maui 84-78
New York 63-99
Houston 59-103
Danville 45-117
Playoff Schedule:
Game 1: Thursday night 12/2
Game 2: Saturday night 12/4
Game 3: Monday night 12/6
Game 4: Tuesday night 12/7
Game 5: Wednesday night 12/8
Game 6: Thursday night 12/9
Game 7: Saturday night 12/11
If Games 5, 6 and/or 7 are not needed, the schedule will be adjusted to start the Cecil Cup series earlier.
Zev
Two freaking games back! And, ten games above Maui. Grr!
ReplyDeleteAre you ready, Saskatoon? Are you ready?
ReplyDeleteI have my roster down to 25 already! Let's go!
So ends the most disppointing season in my time running Hickory. Another solid season by Paul Shunk (.299/.364/.544, 40 HR, 120 RBI) entirely wasted. Lots of blame to go around. Michael Slye, who cost me a good young pitcher in William Lawrence, was essentially no more productive than the guy he replaced. Mostly, though, it was all about Donald Hunnicutt, who was just *terrible*, in spite of peripheral numbers that really weren't any different from what he's put up all season.
ReplyDeleteStill, hope springs eternal. James Drum (.264/.325/407, 12 HR, 16 SB), Carlos Pais (24 HR and first-rate defense at short), and Mario Lopez (.298/.367/.430 with 18 steals in just over 100 at bats) all had strong rookie seasons. Bill Dewall gave Hickory its first dependable closer since... well, since Bill Dewall.
...nah. Still a disappointing season.
Well, another division title for the Seattle Monarchs, so hurray! That's 10 consecutive division titles and 12 in the last 13 years. I try not to unnecessarily blow the Monarchs' horn, but that's really cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd, this is a title in the best division, by far, in the SDMB history. Every single team finished well over .500 and the Zotti Division this year featured four of the five best records in the league. So, that's pretty good.
In the end, the Monarchs finished with the best Pythagoread record, so I'd normally be somewhat confident heading into the playoffs. And, my pitching should remain strong, but the loss of my clean-up hitter (Kerry) and another guy who was hitting leadoff when he got hurt (Nichols) will cut deeply. On the plus side, Quijada is healthy again and that's a great bat to put back in the line-up. In the end, I think Seattle's success in the playoffs will depend on how well the starting pitching performs.
As always, when a team has a great year, there are lots of reasons for it. But, I am most pleasantly surprised by the performance of Nicholas Vargas after he was moved to the rotation in mid-July. I didn't know if Vargas would have the endurance to be an effective starter, but he was great. He made 12 starts and went 6-2, throwing 83 innings (almost 7 per start) and putting up a 2.71 ERA and a 82:18 strikeout to walk ratio. I'm not sure now whether to keep him in the rotation for the playoffs or move him back to the bullpen, which was my original plan.
In any case, we're now entering what I've always seen as the coin-flip portion of the season. Good luck to Nate, Eric, and Matt, although I hope the coin flips my way in the end.
This season was somewhat disappointing for Miami, since I only made the playoffs by virtue of being in what is currently the weakest of the three divisions. But the season also highlights, to me, the importance of randomness and luck on the final standings. As a point of reference, Maui's team hitting was better, and its team pitching was either equal to or better than Los Angeles, yet LA finished 10 games ahead of Maui in the standings. The pythagorean records explain part of the difference I guess.
ReplyDeleteI don't care who wins it all, as long as it's not Mack again. SDMB gods, please hear me. :)
That should be "Maui" not "Miami"... one of the hazards of playing in multiple leagues...
ReplyDeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete1. My team's stats were skewed by a dreadful start. My team only got good when I promoted prospects John Kautz (a leading contender for both Outstanding Newcomer and Best Pitcher), David Seibel, John Cooper, Ignacio Perez, and let OBP-machine Christobal Santoyo take over 3B and the leadoff spot in the lineup.
2. If Seattle loses the Cecil Cup to Maui, it will be a karmic downpayment on the Seattle Seahawks winning the NFC West with a 7-9 record. (Right, Mack?)
By the way:
ReplyDeleteTo anyone not currently participating in the playoff party looking ahead, Hickory is interested in shedding payroll. I don't have any serious superstars to offer, but extra pieces like Michael Slye, Kareem King, Cesar Pla, Danny Lorenzen, and most of my farm system apart from Jesus Flores are available at modest cost to the buyer, as long as some of my dead salaries - Lucien Weber, Mohammed Stelly, or dear God Frank Osborne - go your way as well. Frankly, if any of you want Osborne, just let me know, and he's yours for whatever compensation you see fit to offer.
I'll take a division title for the Seahawks at any record. I expected them to be bad this year. And, a lot of times, they have been. But the Cardinals and 49ers helpfully collapsed, so they might pull out a division title yet.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably trade a SDMB OOTP title for a Seahawks playoff game, if it were up to me. But, I'm pretty sure it's not up to me. So, I'll just go ahead and try to win another Cecil Cup.