Thanks to all for getting in their games and finishing the season on time! Had some close races and some great action as the season wound down. Congratulations to our three division winners (Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota) and wild-card winner (Maine)!
The Black Plague division was ruled practically from start to finish by the mighty Las Vegas Fremonts. Chuck ran away from the competition with his balanced power attack (8 batters with double-digit home run totals) and strong starting rotation. It does hurt to see Fremont SS Marcus Semien take the MVP award while I am left with the ghost of Jake Marisnick :-) The defending champion Michigan Mammoth knew they didn't have the horses to win it this year, so they are not too upset about their 2nd place finish. Rookie 3B Hunter Dozier had an all-star season, and Mitch Garver won the HR Crown with a crazy 27 homers in just 184 at bats! Lake Erie tied Michigan for second, with stalwarts Jose Altuve (21 HRs) and Miguel Cabrera (,329 average) pacing the offense. Toronto was just one game behind, with the ageless Nelson Cruz bashing all year (.333, 25 HRs, and 65 RBIs).
The Pittsburgh Phantoms firmly established themselves as one of the all-time great Friendship League with an amazing 58-23 record to run away with the Zika Division title, just two wins shy of the all-time record (60 wins by 2005 Boston). This is even more impressive when factoring in how difficult this division was. Monster stats abound with this team. Just a quick look at Pitt's primary stats show three players batting over .400 (in limited at bats, I must add). Joey Gallo, who just a short while ago seemed like he may be a modern-day Rob Deer, hit .328 with 21 homers. Rookie Eloy Jimenez cranked 25 homers. Brandon Workman dominated out of the bulpen, garnering 18 saves with a 0.86 ERA. Ken Giles vultured 7 wins (against just 1 loss). Jose Berrios (10-2, 3.23) and Shane Bieber (11-4, 4.05) were a potent one-two combo. The real drama in this division, though, came from the Battle of the Willni, as Maine and Boston were deadlocked for the wild-card bid all season. Steve's great writeup on the final game is a must read. Maine's Tyler Skaggs went 6-0, with a 2.06 ERA all season. Boston had an outstanding season from Yandy Diaz (.324, 10 HRs) and Marco Gonzales (10 wins). Mike Walter and his Montreal Grizzlies set a new league record for competing all 81 games before the leaves changed, but not much else went right as they were in this brutal division. Montreal was a very respectable 22-26 against non-division opponents. 1st Rounder D.J. Lemahieu established himself as a true superstar, hitting .317 with 20 HRs and earning a Gold Glove to boot.
The HIV Division was an exercise in mediocrity almost all season as everyone was just around or way below the .500 mark all season. However, Scott's Minnesota Men surged over the final weekend to grab the title and earn their spot in the playoffs. The Men slugged 142 HR's with Jose Abreu and Austin Meadows combining for 41 of them. Brad Peacock (do peacocks caw? I guess. CAW! CAW!) went 4-0 out of the bullpen. Kansas City hit the most homers in the league (145) but the generous KC staff gave back 133 of them. Mount Pleasant had a Jekyll and Hyde season, sitting pretty in first place at mid-season only to get plastered by division opponents and dropping to the bottom of the division. Mike Trout was uncharacteristically quiet, hitting just .245 witth 20 home runs (three of those in the final game of the year - the baseball equivalent of Stat Padford!) Wichita was tied with Mount Pleasant in the basement of the division. Anthony "Sea" Bass was just one out shy of making the All-Time Leaderboard for lowest ERA by a reliever.
 |
The Strat Gods have not been kind to the Butchers, after losing the play-in game to Vegas last year and getting edged by Minnesota this year |
Toronto Thunder setting what I can only assume is an all-time league record with just ONE stolen base all season!!! Brett Gardner was the only player defying Manager Steve Tufte's season-long edict against stealing. They surely set a new mark by never getting caught stealing all season long :-)
Wichita's Tim Anderson won the Batting Title (.339), Michigan's Mitch Garver led all in home runs with 27, and Pittsburgh's Eloy Jimenez won the RBI total with 69. Montreal's Mallex Smith led the league in steals with 30 (29 more than the entire Toronto team :-) )Pittsburgh starter Shane Bieber led the league with 11 wins, and teammate Jose Berrios won the ERA Crown with 3.22. Lake Erie's Gerrit Cole led everyone with 195 K's. Las Vegas SS Marcus Semien was MVP, and Pittsburgh's Shane Bieber won the Cy Young. Maine's Tyler Duffey won the Rolaids Relief Pitcher award, and Pittsburgh skipper Dave Steines won the Manager of the Year award.
Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, Francisco Lindor, Gary Sanchez, Mitch Haniger, and Joey Gallo all had three home-run games. Jackie Bradley Jr.(LAS), Rafael Laureano (BOS), and Mitch Haniger (MIC) all had seven RBI games. Toronto's Sean Manaea threw the only no-hitter this season.
Gerrit Cole's 195 K's tie him for third all-time! For more proof of how prevalent the whiff has become, three of the all-time most K's by a pitching staff happened this season!
All league history links have been updated, as have the Team Yearbooks and Encyclopedia. Happy clicking, hope that gets you all through to the next season!
No comments:
Post a Comment