Simply The Greatest Team Ever

Upon sober reflection (OK - a night of wild partying), I'd like to point out the obvious and indisputable fact that the 2010 Seattle Monarchs are the greatest team in SDMB OOTP history.

The Monarchs were 114-48 in the regular season, the first team in history to post a winning percentage above .700 (.704). They withstood an onslaught from the 108-54 Saskatoon Cossacks, who featured both the best offense (relative to the league) in SDMB OOTP history and a pitching staff backed by long-time superstars Demarcus Ramirez and Richard Pimental.

The Monarchs' Pythagorean record was 119-43, second only to the 122-40 mark posted by last year's River Cities team. I note though that last year's River Cities squad (a) failed to capture the Cecil Cup, thus disqualifying it from the discussion, and (b) had its regular season accomplishments substantially boosted by the historically awful performance of that year's Covington squad, which was essentially run by no one at all and careened to an unthinkable 33-129 mark (.209).

The Monarchs' opponent in the Cecil Cup series was a River Cities squad that went 111-51 in the regular season and posted the lowest ERA in SDMB OOTP history. The Monarchs beat them like a drum, taking four of five games and scoring over five runs per game in the process.

The Monarchs' two aces, Chad Nelligan and Christopher Hester, both posted 23-6 marks. The five starting pitchers (including Peter Bird before his heroic move to the bullpen for the Cecil Cup and his 2.2 innings of perfect relief work in the pivotal Game Four) were a combined 86-24 with a combined ERA of 2.80. The bullpen was no slouch either, posting a combined ERA of just over 3. For his work, Mr. Nelligan won the Outstanding Pitcher of the Year Award.

The offense matched the pitching staff's excellence, having one of the top handful of seasons in league history. The 5.37 runs per game were sixth-best in league history and a third-best 23% above the league average. When veteran stalwarts such as John Willer and George Rawlins began to decline, promising youngsters Eugene Alustiza and Armando Cedeno stepped in. Despite being only a combined 40 years old, the two future stars both hit over .300 in the regular season and in the Cecil Cup. Leadoff hitter Sean Arant broke the record for runs scored in a season, tallying 140, and stole 81 bases while getting thrown out just 19 times. And first baseman Gregory Mudge won his third Outstanding Batter of the Year Award in the last four years (a streak broken only last year by fellow Monarch George Rawlins). He hit .329 with 46 home runs, drove in 146, and had an OPS over 1.000 for the first time in his career.

Finally, the Monarchs were no slouches with the glove either. The batting average on balls in play was an Adams League best .278 and they posted the fewest errors in the Adams League. The Monarchs' play in the field was recognized by voters as Waylon Blassingame won his second consecutive Slick Fielder Award behind the plate and Greg Mudge captured his fourth Slick Fielder Award at first base.

Pitching. Hitting. Defense. Wins. The Championship. By any measure, the 2010 Seattle Monarchs are the greatest team in SDMB OOTP history. I defy anyone to say otherwise.