20 Resims: #5 - Newport Beach Cole Trains

Owner:  Brad B

87 - Actual Wins

89 - Resim Wins
91 - ATB Balanced Schedule Wins
87 - Standard ATB ERA Wins instead of 1906

105 - Max Win Potential (Pythag Record of best RF and RA)

11 Playoff Appearances (7 Div, 4 WC)

3 Playoff Slots to be Decided Today - Probably

It is the last mini-sim of the season and 6 teams are fighting to the end, not bad for a odd 1906 National League era sim that is never to be repeated.

Here is what is at stake tonight, the final night of simming for the regular season.

NL East Champion
Probably the most exciting race left, the Grumman Hellcats and Kansas City Cobblers are each fighting 'till the very end, and each are in the midst of 5 game winning streaks.  The Hellcats hold a 1 game advantage and are clearly in the drivers seat.  They face The 116-loss Red Lectroids in their final two games with 20 game winner Mike Mussina starting game 1.

Kansas City is lined up to make it interesting though, they have their #1 and #2 starters on the mound for their final two games against 102-win Spanish Harlem.  It's a tall order but Spanish Harlem is a little banged so KC has a fighting chance.

Clear Edge:  Grumman

AL Wild Card Race
Despite finishing with a 5-5 stretch run, the Failures have been one of the best September teams in the American League, winning 14 of their last 22.  The Cole Trains have seemingly righted a sinking ship after a mid season 14-36 swoon, and have bested the Failures September record by 1 game to take a minuscule 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card Race.

The Failures have just 1 game left, against the Red Eagles, in a must win situation.  They're sending #3 starter Curt Schilling to the mound and in a bit of bad luck, the Red Eagles are lining up their post season rotation and are sending Garland Braxton to the mound.

The Cole Trains can't relax though, their last two games come against the team with the best record in ATB, the Valley Otters.  Fortuitously, the Cole Trains are perfectly lined up with the top-2 starters, including 20 game winner Nels Potter.

Edge:  Newport Beach

NL Wild Card Race
This is a fun one, and Inglorious still has a real chance, despite a losing record since August.  The overall situation - they are 1 game behind Kansas City for the Wild, who as mentioned, is 1 game behind Grumman for the NL East crown. 

Scenario 1:  KC Takes the NL East, and Grumman and Inglorious have to face off for a 1 game playoff.   This is highly unlikely but possible, and would only come about if both Inglorious and KC win their final two, and Grumman loses their final two.

This brings us to the more likely Scenario 2.  Grumman wins the NL East and Inglorious has to catch Kansas City for the wild card.  We saw above that the schedule makers were unkind to KC who have their last two games versus Spanish Harlem.  For Inglorious, they finish against the Walleyes, a solid team for sure, but not the quality as the Beaters.  They send Bill Swift and Camillo Pascual to the mound to pit their skills against Ted Lyons and Noah Syndegaard.

I guess there is a scenario 3 as well, where each of these teams finish with the same record.  If this happens, there will be a 1 game series on September 27th to decide the NL East, then on the 28th there will be another 1 game playoff to decide the Wild Card.  All playoff series would be pushed back to start on the 29th in this unlikely scenario.

Power Alley (from Last Week)

This was as of sim 7E

+4 Grumman Hellcats
+3 Fox City Foxes

-6 Kansas City Cobblers
-4 Newport Beach Cole Trains

Power Alley - Week 6

+5 Dayton Toppins
+4 Kansas City Cobblers

-4 Lady Evelyn Walleyes
-3 Grumman Hellcats
-3 Lakeview Zeros
-3 Newport Beach Cole Trains

Power Alley Week 5

+6 Inglorious Batters
+4 Lady Evelyn Walleyes
+3 Dayton Toppins

-3 Back Bay Bivalves
-6 Newport Beach Cole Trains
-6 Cleveland Spiders

Week 5 Transactions

• Birmingham DLs Eric Gagne; activates Ron Guidry
• Birmingham signs Matt Capps 2007; drops Mike Adams
• Birmingham signs Jeff Reardon 1988; drops Jose Mendez
• Birmingham activates Russell Martin and releases him.
• Lakeview signs Claude Hendrix 1914; drops Andy Cooper
• Manetheren signs Rick Aguilera 1999; drops Blake Parker
• Manatheren signs Don Drysdale 1957; drops Ben Sheets
• Newport Beach signs Zack Cozart 2017; drops Carlos Correa
• Shamokin sings Dan Otero 2016; drops Steve Ontiveros
• Springfield signs Bid McPhee 1896; drops Troy Glaus
• Spanish Harlem signs Jimmy Sheckard 1901 ; drops Chino Smith
• Otterville signes Bill Risley 1994; DLs Liam  Hendricks
• Lady Evelyn signs Jose Valverde 2003; drops Candy Nelson
• Ohio signs Frendando Valenzuela 1981; drops Shoehei Ohtani

Players of the Week

AL BATTER
Willie Stargell (FCF)*
.305 / .379 / .864, 1.243 OPS, 6 2B, 9 HR, 17 R, 21 RBI, 20 RC

NL BATTER
Oscar Charleston (SPB)
.429 / .492 / .696, 1.189 OPS, 5 HR, 12 R, 15 RBI, 15.0 RC/27

AL PITCHER
Nip Witers (SM)
4-0, 1.32 ERA, 34 IP, 21 H, 6 BB, 20 K, 1.52 RCERA

NL PITCHER
Ed Siever (DT)^
3-0. 1.13 ERA, 24 IP, 16 H, 3 BB, 0.79 WHIP

*Tip o the cap the Nap Lajoie (NCT) for 14.9 RC/27
^Just traded from Spanish Harlem to Dayton

The AL Central - the Best of the Best

Every team in the AL Central has a record above .500. 
Every team in the AL Central has a positive Run Differential. 
Every team in the AL Central is having a winning Sim 4, it is easily the best place to watch or participate in a baseball game right now.

The AL Central is 53-25 vs the AL West. 
Games against the AL East start at the end of Sim 4; Watch out Otterville, we are coming for you!

Week 2 Transactions

• New Amsterdam DL's Willie Wells, picks up Rabbit Maranville 1921
• New Amsterdam drops Dave Concepcion 1974, picks up Bert Dorr 1882
• Newport Beach DL's Al Orth, picks up David Robertson, 2017
• Birmingham DL's Mike Jackson, picks up Jeff Nelson 1995

LATE TRANSACTIONS:  

• Willets Point DL's Max Scherzer, picks up Bill Hands 1968
• Ohio DL's Hideo Nomo, picks up Phiel Niekro 1967

Sim 1E Complete and Players of the Week

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/ATB19Reports/ATB19.htm

Batters of the Week
The 39-year Barry Bonds mesmerizes fans as much in this fantasy league as he did in real life.   DH'ing for the Critical Failures, Bonds was on fire in week 1, leading the American League in OBP, SLG, HR, R, RBI, OPS, and RC. 

His line: 
.375 / .500 / .850, 4 2B, 5 HR, 13 R, 11 RBI, 1.350 OPS, 17.1 RC27

The National League was a much tighter race with several all-time greats making case, but in the end we just can't ignore the 40 total bases that the Lakeview Zeros first basemen recorded.  He doesn't hit many home runs, but in week 1 Bill Terry smacked 28 hits, 7 of them of the extra-base variety.

His line: 
.431 / .439 / .615, 3 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 11 R, 10 RBI, 1.055 OPS, 16.3 RC

Pitchers of the Week
For those keeping up with the blog it should be no surprise that Jason Schmidt, 3rd starter for Newport Beach, brings home week 1 honors.  Schmidt did all he could in two starts - both shutouts.

His line
2 GS, 0.00 ERA, 18 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K, 0.61 WHIP

The National League was rife with excellent pitching performances - 40 qualifying pitchers had ERA's under 3.00 - but only Monty Stratton was so utterly dominant in so many innings.  Another right handed 3rd starter, this time for Spanish Harlem, Stratton made three starts and took credit with three wins.

His line:
3 GS, 0.36 ERA, 25 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 0.52 WHIP

Ohio is Thankful For Turkey and other Sim Notes

Turkey Stearnes, the Ohio DH and occasional corner outfielder can rake and this is no surprise - he was after all drafted 13th overall.  However, in previous ATB seasons he has become known as a streaky hitter with moderate spells of below average play followed by power surges that can single handedly carry a team.  His success this season has been the opposite - he's gotten a hit in every game, the only ATB'er to make that claim,.  And while he has been driving in runs, the power is not quite there yet and Stearnes remains homerless through 9 games.  The power will come, and  when it does, Turkey may be on the road to MVP.

Eastward in Newport Beach, club skipper Lou Pinella could care less about Thanksgiving turkey, he is just thankful for #3 starter, Jason Schmidt.  The right hander has been stellar - 2 starts, 2 shutouts, 2 wins:  18 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 K.  Schmidt takes the mount tonight against a struggling Miners team that is desperate for a win.

Over the in National League, Lakeview has frankly been in awe of Roberto Clemente.  We've become accustomed to his stellar fielding in the outfield, but this season he is also off to a tremendous start at the plate, batting .457 / .475 / .743 in 9 games.

And finally we need to talk about Spanish Harlem who finds their team just 1 game over .500 despite a team ERA of 1.55.  On the entire staff, including starters and relievers, only Kevin Millwood has an ERA above 3.00 and he has no losses to his name.  So, what's going on?  Nothing out of ordinary in truth.   The Beaters are 3rd in the league in runs per game and just ran into a little bad luck in two of their last three games, losing 1-0 to Walter Johnson and the Toppins, followed by a 2-1 defeat to Roger Clemens and the Isotopes.  It's early, the wins should come.