Power Alley Great 8

20 Resims: # 16 North Podunk Banana Bears

At the end of each season owners may submit a new lineup that is used in the 20 Resim competition.  This competition is purely for speculation and is used as a gauge to determine who had the best draft.  The true ATB champion remains the World Series winner.


20 seasons are automatically simulated and compiled.  No lineup changes are allowed and injuries are turned off.  Through a formula that considers Win-Loss record, Playoff Appearances, and Pythagorean Record the teams are ranked in order from worst to first. 


Special thanks to Justin B who provided the formula and methodology behind the raw park OPS values, which provides a new way to interpret park factors.

This is why we play the games.  The North Podunk Banana bears had the second most wins in ATB this season and sported an outstanding +143 Run Differential, tops in the National League.  However, in the 20 resims they never approached either of these figures and come in as a very disappointing 17th ranked team.  With 96 regular season wins and a max win potential of 97, the Bears received just about every break possible en route to their NL East Division Title.

What happened?  First, and perhaps foremost, owner Mike G was the most active owner in our leagues history. In a 13 week season (12 weeks of regular season, plus 1 week of playoffs) Mike submitted an unheard of 26 lineups.  It is entirely possible that his active hand and lineup machinations allowed the Banana Bears to over perform.

On the other hand, it may have just been pure luck.  Let’s take a more in depth look at some of the regulars:

Somewhat speechless here.  Reggie Jackson had a career type year, coming in with an .876 OPS vs. a resim average OPS of .770 (which by the way was directly in line with his career ATB average of .770).  Lenny Dykstra and Jim Genitely also significantly outperformed their resim averages.

The excellence of pitching staff was even more pronounced, every regular except Harry Brecheen outperformed their 20 resim baseline in the ATB regular season.  And Brecheen did exactly as he was supposed to.  Look at third starter Lefty Gomez, almost a full run and half better then he should have been.

In all, the Banana Bears made the playoffs just three times but they were still a good team.  They had a winning record 10 times, including 7 occasions with Wins in the mid 80’s or better.

Mike G had an awesome year.  Hey may not have had an awesome team, but he had a good one, and as so many owners can attest, not many can say that in a rookie season.

800 OPS Batters: 
George Brett: .809 OPS, 91 Runs

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
Harry Brecheen: 12 W, 3.63 ERA, 1.28 WHIP
Jesse Tannehill: 12 W, 3.70 ERA, 1.24 WHIP
Kevin Millwood: 13 W, 3.88 ERA, 1.30 WHIP

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
John Smoltz: 3.05 ERA, 36 IIP

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 24: Ryan Braun - .285 / .336 / .443 in a platoon

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 2: Joe Morgan batting .229 with a .329 OBP.  In general, many owners, including myself, panicked when the great infielders were taken early.  We all decided to jump on the next best available, but situations like this occurred too often.  This simply isn’t enough offense for a second round selection.

#24 - Downsouth Brews
#23 - Leesburg Snow
#22 – dogphin29
#21 – Team America World Police
#21 – Uncle Robbie’s Daffiness Boys
#19 – Indiana Black Sox
#18 – Haven Tommyknockers
#17 – Planet 10 Red Lectroids
#16 – North Podunk Banana Bears

National League MVP

In a landslide win, center fielder Mickey Mantle wins his second consecutive MVP award.  The Fanclub outfielder batted .342 / .453 / .521 with 56 extra base hits and 124 runs scored.  He played Vg/101 defense and had league high ATB Value score of .387

Ted Williams received two first place votes and finished a distant second.

(# Ballots) Total Points (1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Votes)
(14)58 - Mickey Mantle, JMF (10, 2, 2)
(12)30 - Ted Williams, RKA (2, 5, 5)
(6) 16 - Ross Barnes, NOT (1, 3, 2)
(3) 9 - Stan Musial, HH (1, 1, 1)
(3) 7 - Willie McCovey, HH (0, 2, 1)
(1) 5 - Reggie Jackson, NPB (1, 0, 0)
(1) 3 - Josh Gibson, SWR (0, 1, 0)
(1) 1 - Hank Aaron, OFB (0, 0, 1)
(1) 1 - Albert Belle, JMF (0, 0, 1)
(1) 1 - Honus Wagner, OFB (0, 0, 1)
(1) 1 - Mike Schmidt, NOT (0, 0, 1)
(1) 1 - Lou Gehrig, HT (0, 0, 1)

National League Cy Young Award

The Otherton Fishbiscuits' Addie Joss is the National League Cy Young Award winner.  Joss outpaced Pedro Martinez by receiving 8 of 15 first place votes and only missing a vote on 1 ballot.  Joss not only had a stellar W-L record at 23-14 and a superb ERA of 2.60, he led both leagues in innings pitched at 294.  Voters took that into consideration when comparing to Martinez, who may have had slightly better rate stats but threw 40 less innings.

Cy Blanton came in third and was on more ballots than Martinez.

(# Ballots) Total Points (1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Votes)
(14)56 - Addie Joss, OFB (8, 5, 1)
(13)37 - Pedro Martinez, EYO (4, 4, 5)
(14)30 - Cy Blanton, HT (2, 4, 8)
(2) 8 - Walter Johnson, HH (1,1,0)
(2) 4 - Jesse Tannehill, NPB (0, 1, 1)

Martinez and Doby send Ee-Yah to the NLCS

NLDS Game 4 
North Podunk Banana Bears @ Ee-Yah Orators

All season long the Ee-Yah Orators took a back seat to the first place North Podunk Banana Bears.  In the playoffs however, it has been the exact opposite and the underdog Orators completed the 4 game sweep tonight.

The Orators scored early and often, compiling 10 hits and 4 walks in the first four innings, breaking the game open in the third on a Josh Hamilton 2-run double.

The Bears got to Pedro Martinez in the 6th, knocking him from the game after scoring 1 runs on 2  hits and a walk.  The Orator relief corps allowed two more runs to score, one in 6th and another in the 7th, but ultimately kept the Bears at bay.

Similar to the Brighton Shadows, Mike G is another new owner, and piloted his team to the second best record in ATB.  Great job.

Starter Lines:

Gomez (NPB):::: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Martinez(OFB):: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Hamilton walk-off caps and incredible 8-7 Orator win

NLDS Game 3
Ee-Yah Orators @ North Podunk Banana Bears

Words cannot describe the emotions felt when watching this contest.  Yes, it's a computer game, but this was one wild affair.

A Great pitchers duel turned blowout, turned 9th inning comeback, turned 9th inning heartbreak.

The Orators broke open the game by scoring five in the 6th, capped by the second of Tommy Holmes' three doubles.  They slowly coughed the lead up, letting in 7 runs cross the plate in the last 3 innings, blowing through an incredible 7 pitchers in the process.  The Banana Bears ultimately tied the game at 7 when Jonathan Broxton walked Joe Morgan with the bases loaded.  Broxton redeemed himself by further getting out of the jam by striking out Sam Wise and retiring Lenny Dykstra on a pop-out to center, but the damage had been done.

In the bottom of the 9th, after seeing the lead evaporate, Josh Hamilton had enough.  He took the first pitch offering from Mike Jackson deep into the night over the right field fence, ending the game, and effectively ending the Banana Bear's season.

North Podunk will rely on Lefty Gomez (12-8, 3.81) to keep hopes alive, but the southpaw faces the best pitcher in ATB history, Pedro Martinez (18-9, 2.64)  in game 4 tomorrow night

Starter Lines:
Tannehill (NPB): 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Cone(EYO)::::::: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 3 K

Repeat performance: Phillippe 6-1 CG win for Ee-Yah

NLDS Game 2
Ee-Yah Orators @ North Podunk Banana Bears

With 96 wins in the regular season, the Banana Bears were heavily favored heading into the NLDS against the Ee-Yah Orators.  Things haven't progressed according to plan however, as the Orator rotation has tossed back to back complete game wins, jumping to a 2-0 lead as the series heads to Ee-Yah.

On this night it was Deacon Phillippe who employed a "bend but no break" philosophy.  While seemingly on the ropes for much of the night, Phillippe never allowed the big hit, stranding nine runners.

In a game that was much closer than the final score indicates, the Orators scored five in the sixth on 5 hits, a hits batsmen, and a walk.

Starter Lines:
Phillippe(EYO): 9.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Brecheen (NOB): 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Pedro dominates Banana Bears in 6-1 victory

NLDS Game 1
Ee-Yah Orators @ North Podunk Banana Bears

Behind 8 strong innings from Pedro Martinez, the underdog Ee-Yah Orators took the series opener from the North Podunk Banana Bears.  Martinez walked one and struck out 8, keeping the Bears batters off balance all evening

The Orator batters scored 4 on Kevin Millwood in 2 innings, highlighted by a 3-run second innings that featured 4 singles.

Starter Lines:
Martinez(EYO): 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K
Millwood(RKA): 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K

Orators and Banana Bears Announce Playoff Rotation

• Pedro on short rest

Tale of the Tape - Orators @ Banana Bears

(stats as of sim 11c)

Batting Edge - Banana Bears
Pitching Edge - Equal

Tale of the Tape - Fishbiscuits @ All Stars

(stats as of sim 11c)

Batting Edge:  All Stars
Pitching Edge:  Fishbiscuits

Power Alley Great Eight

Standings Summary

National League Week 9

All eyes were pointed East this week as the New Orleans Thrill came out of the season long funk with a 12-2 sim, leapfrogging three teams in the process, and taking the lead in the NL East Wild Card race.  Few pitchers were better than Scott Stratton who went undefeated in 3 starts, pitching two complete games and giving up just 20 hits in 27 innings.  Mike Schmidt teed off with 6 homers and 20 RBI and might be the best third basemen in the game.

After an 8-5 week, the North Podunk Banana Bears, however, still feel they are the team to beat. They maintained a 3 ½ game lead on the division and appear to be in cruise control; Reggie Jackson led the team with 5 home runs while Lefty Gomez maintained a 1.90 ERA in 3 starts (23.2 IP).  Just a game out of the Wild Card, the Haven Tommyknockers made some noise as well, winning 9 of 13 contests.  Their bullpen was top notch, with no member recording an ERA over 3.00.

The rest of the East struggled and are starting to fall out of the playoff hunt.  After starting the week with a 3 ½ game lead in the Wild Card, the Ee-Yah Orators will finish it 3 ½ games out.  The White Rats, a +47 Run Differential team fighting with bad luck all year, are 4 ½  games out while the Saginaw Slammers are all but finished, 8 ½ out of the Wild Card.

The NL West remains an incredibly tight four horse race that is simply too close to call.  The Otherton Fishbiscuits finished last week in first, but are now in third.  John McDonald Fanclub moved from fourth to first and Helena dropped from 3rd to 4th.  The All Stars went 8-7 and maintained the Wild Card lead but just a ½ game.

The best player in the division might have been Cla Meredith, who pitched in 8 games, recorded 7 saves, and didn’t give up a run in over 10 innings for the Fanclub.  While much of the rest of the staff struggled, the offense more than made up for it giving the team a 10-4 record on the week.  Joe Sewell and Brooks Robinson batted close to .400; Rod Carew and Tommy Tucker approached a .400 OBP, and Albert Belle, Carl Yastrzemski, Mickey Mantle, and George Hall combined to hit 10 home runs and a .550 slugging.  The Fanclub's record over the past two weeks is 18-9.

There are several key series during Sim 10:

• Otherton twice travels to John McDonald for a total of 7 games
• Wild Card hopefuls from each league, the All Stars and Tommyknockers, face off in a 3 game set
• New Orleans faces those Tommyknockers twice on road;
• In between of which, they stay home for a 3 game series with Helena.  We’ll learn a lot about the Thrill over these 9 games.

Week 9 Free Agents

• Banana Bears DL Brad Lidge, pick up Daniel Bard 2010
• Chips drop Matt Williams, pick up Ken Caminiti
• Fishbiscuits drop Red Lucas, pick up Ginger Beaumont 1902
• Fishbiscuits drop Dave Concepcion, pick up Simon Nichols 1907
• Hoplites drop Jim Brewer, pick up Hank Thompson
• Hoplites drop Ken Sanders, pick up Teddy Higuera

Transactions

For Upcoming Week 9

• Black Sox - Drop Jerry Koosman, pick up Kirk Gibson 1984
• Pinata Beaters - Drop Teddy Higuera, pick up Mike Mussina
• Banana Bears - Drop Jack Clark, pick up John Reilly 1884
• Mechanics - Drop Jim Hearn, pick up Fritz Peterson 1969*

Missed Player due to claim priority

• Carnies -  Mike Mussina
• Gossamers - Mike Mussina

* Added 4/21, I forgot to include

Power Alley Great Eight - Week 7

Standings Summary - Week 7

National League
Our biggest story in the NL has been the resurgence of the Ee-Yah Orators.  Winning 10 of 14 this week, the Orators are now in the East Wild Card lead and perhaps more importantly, are squarely in the positive for team run differential.  Three standouts on offense were Cap Anson (.421 Avg), Hughie Jennings (.417 AVG), and Tommy Homes (4 HR, .667 SLG).  The top end of the rotation also pitched extremely effectively - David Cone, Pedro Martinez, and Deacon Phillippe combined to go 7-1 with a 2.01 ERA.

The rest of the East played within a game or two of .500.  The Banana Bears struggled with just 6 wins, but still have a 4 game lead on Orators for the division crown.  Meanwhile, the Slammers are just a 1/2 game out of the wild card and the entire rest of the division should not be considered out of the race either.

In the West, the Otherton Fishbiscuits continue to pour it on and opened up a 3 game lead over the Handbasket this week.  At 8-4, Otherton relied heavily on the bullpen this week.  Incredibly, their top 7 relievers combined hold the opposition to absolutely no runs in 26+ innings.

Helena continues their up an down season, waiting to string together a few solid consecutive weeks like they had been doing in April and May.  Over the past month they've played only .500 or so baseball, winning 14 of 26.  Hot on their heals are the All Stars, just 1/2 game out of the Wild Card, and John McDonald, just 2 games out.  Be sure to check out this shellacking, a 20-2 Fanclub victory over Hanbasket.

And while the Snow and Brews aren't playoff bound, the Brews at least put together a solid effort this sim at 7-4.  Their pitching continued to disappoint (4.86 team ERA) but the offense was good enough to win a few close contests.  Robbie Cano led the way with a slash line of .382 / .400 / .500.

Power Alley - Great 8

Bears, Fishbiscuits announce Griffey Jr for Tannehill Trade

The Otherton Fishbiscuits ship 3rd round draft choice Jesse Tannhill to the North Podunk Banana Bears for Ken Griffey Jr.  Both players have performed fairly well this season, if a bit below their owners expectations.  Griffey is on pace for 30 HR's but his low OBP has frustrated North Podunk all season long.  Tannehill is in a similar situation, happy with 12 Wins, Otherton wasn't enamoured with a league average ERA in a pitchers park in front of great defense.

Joe Wood and Trevor Hoffman also head to OFB in exchange for Lenny Dykstra and Keith Foulke.

To Otherton
Rd 4: Ken Griffey Jr - .261 / .300 / .427, 14 HR, 314 AB
Rd 10: Joe Wood - - - - 7-3, 5.06 ERA, 91 IP, 98 H, 31 BB, 62 K
Rd 15: Trevor Hoffman - 1-1, 6.07 ERA, 13 IP 

To North Podunk
Rd 3: Jesse Tannehill - 12-6, 3.83 ERA, 129 IP, 148 H, 28 BB, 61 K
Rd 13: Lenny Dykstra --- .257 / .335 / .297, 202 AB
Rd 13: Keith Foulke ----- 2-1, 3.05 ERA, 41 IP,, 37 H,, 10 BB, 29 K

The Great, The Good, and the Ugly

Week 6