20 Resims - #10, Sparta Hoplites

Overall Rankings
24 - .331, Chatanooga Lookouts (Al H)
23 - .394, Downsouth Brews (Allen C)
22 - .396, Denver RoidBoyz (Gary G)
21 - .444, Planet 10 Red Lectroids (Ivar A)
20 - .474, Brooklyn Cyclones (John J)
19 - .475, Hoboken Zephyrs (Stepehn L)
18 - .479, Helena Handbasket (Joe T)
17 - .482, Jeff City Blausers (Thomas R)
16 - .489, Seattle Pilots (Tony P)
15 - .496, Hudson MadBum (Brad P)
14 - .514, New Orleans Clown Punchers (TJ O)
13 - .521, Rochester Red Wings (Leanne S)
12 - .522, Galaxy Guardians (Joe V)
11 - .549, Oasis Gunters (Mike S)
10 - .553, Sparta Hoplites (Sean S)

Batting Records Set this Year

Not many at all, but here are the list of records and new entrants into the top 10

New Records

• SF - 16, Rickey Henderson (JFC)

That's it!

New Top 10s

• SLG - .653, Babe Ruth (FFL), 7th
• OPS - 1.076, Babe Ruth (FFL), 10th
• RC -- 170, Lou Gehrig (ANK), 7th
• R --- 134, Babe Ruth (FFL), 10th
• TB -- 410, Lou Gehrig (ANK), 5th
• H --- 232, Roger Connor (ROC), 9th
• H --- 231, Harry Heilmann (OAS), 10th
• 2B -- 63, Fred Dunlap (ROC), 6th
• 2B -- 62, Hugh Duffy (DHA), 9th
• EBH - 100, Babe Ruth (FFL), 7th
• HBP - 45, Hughie Jennings (GAL), 8th
• PA -- 776, Hugh Duffy (DHA), 10th
• AB -- 711, Hugh Duffy (DHA), 8th
• SB% - 84%, Maury Wills (DEN), 2nd
• SB% - 82%, Oscar Charleston (SHA), 6th
• SB% - 82%, Paul Molitor (DEN), 9th
• SH -- 18, Eddie Collins (ROC), 4th
• SH -- 16, Fred Dunlap (ROC), 5th
• SH -- 15, Johnny Evers (SPA), 9th

(Very) Quick Series Previews

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Dharma Islanders (92-70) vs Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters (98-64)
This is not another blatant attempt at a reverse jinx (tuly!) but the Pinata Beaters are likely the best team in ATB.  While they started slow, they more than made up for it in the second half and since August 1st they are a blistering 44-20.  Turkey Steanres (.313 / .347 / .575 since August 1) has turned it around and even Kevin Brown has shown signs of life after a season long funk.  Overall, this team has a top 3 offense and the best pitching staff in the American League.

This will be a considerable challenge for Dharma who lost 8 of 12 during the regular season against them.  With names like Bill Swift, Camillo Pascual, Kevin Appier, and Matt Harvey it does come as a bit of a surprise how good the rotation is on paper, and overall the team has given up the third fewest runs in the American League.  The lineup is defensive first, runs scoring second.  Dharma needs Jason Giambi (.784 OPS) to come up big in order to have a chance in this series.


Willets Point "Mechanics" (95-67) vs Ankhana Adventurers (100-62)
This is arguably the premier matchup of all the Division Series games.  Only three playoff teams cracked the +100 run differential and two of them are facing off in this AL matchup.   On paper, Ankhana has the edge thanks to a 48 run advantage in RD, the best record in baseball, and a 7 game winning streak to close out the season.  Conversely, Willets Point limped into the playoffs with a sub-.500 record in September and lost the Division title to Spanish Harlem during the last sim of play.

The Mechanics are well balanced (2nd in RA and 5th in RS) and feature 17- and 19 game winners in Harvey Haddix and Brett Saberhagen.  Almost every spot in the lineup is above average with shortstop Willie Wells leading the way thanks to 37 home runs and 103 RBI.  Ankhana counters with a high octane offense led by Lou Gehrig (1.039 OPS, 127 RBI), decent starting pitching, and the best reliever in the game, Dennis Eckersley (13-7, 1.74 ERA, 155 IP).  If the 6-6 record against each other in the regular season is any indication, this series should go at least six games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Lakeview Zeros (91-71)vs Grumman Hellcats (92-70)
A rivalry in name since the draft, these two teams are direct opposites of each other.  Grumman has great defense at almost every spot in the lineup and it has helped their rotation immensely.  Employing a 4-man all season long, three hurlers achieved at least 17 wins and three has ERA's under 3.40.   Despite a losing record, Justin Verlander appears to the best of the bunch with a 2.85 ERA.  No single player in the lineup will cause an inordinate amount of fear for the opposing club, but make no mistake, any batter can hit the ball out at any time.  Mike Schmidt hit 49 home runs this year, and four other Hellcats cracked 30.  And everyone in the lineup hit at least 16.

While Grumman has pop, they also have some gaping holes.  Namely, their team .229 batting average is a liability and is exactly what Lakeview does best.  The Zero's are batting .282 / .350 / ..411 as a team and have scored the second most runs in the National League.  Their lineup is admittedly star heavy, but that may not matter much with Ted Williams, King Kelly, and Heavy Johnson in the heart of the order.  The key for Lakeviews success rests on the right arm of Greg Maddux.  The much debated mid season trade for the star hurler is settled right now, depending upon his success.  Lakeview narrowly took the season series 7-5 and there is no reason to think this will be a short series either.

Sparta Hoplites (87-75) vs Shamokin Miners (96-66)
The Hoplites have a remarkable pitching staff, one that obliterated the all time ATB record for fewest runs allowed.  The previous best was 540 runs allowed, set by both Spanish Harlem and Dos Equis last season.  In ATB 17, the Hoplites allowed just 508.  And to make matters worse for Shamokin, this was accomplished with Pedro pitching every 5 days.  In the playoffs, he may go every 3rd start and with a line of 21-6, 1.57 ERA, and you can easily see how Sparta can win this series.  However, in order to win, the Hoplites must score and they have a weak offense, one that scored only 588 runs.

Shamokin counters with a well balanced attack, and they had the best record in the NL for a reason.  Third in the National League in both run scoring and run prevention during the regular season,   Oscar Charleston (.928 OPS) and Dan Brouthers (.895 OPS) led the offense, while Johnny Podres (3.14 ERA) and Randy Jones (3.20 ERA) are the co-aces.  They key to the the Miners success is likely the bullpen.  While they are above average, they have no elite standouts and can be beat.  Head to head, Shamokin won 7 of 12 and did best Pedro in one of his two starts.  

Standings Summary

With only 9 or 10 games left in the regular season, the playoff teams have all but been finalized in the American League.  However, the race in the AL East is not over yet and the loser will have to square of against the team with the best record in baseball, at least as of today.

Willets Point closes the season as with tough matchups, and do not have a winning record against any team the face:

1 - Ankhana (5-5 H2H so far)

3 - New Orleans (3-6)

3 @ Hudson (2-4)

3 - Hudson (2-4)

1 @ Ankhana (5-5)

On the other hand, Spanish Harlem has a winning record against every they team face the rest of the way.

1 - Rochester (7-3 H2H so far)

2 - Ankhana (6-4)

3 @ New Orleans (5-1)

3 - New Orleans (5-1)

1 @ Rochester (7-3)

Since August 1st the Pinata Beaters have a 4 game advantage of the "Mechanics" and if the trend continues through Sim 13 they'll win the division.

If the two teams tie for the division title we'll follow the MLB rules and have a 1 game playoff to determine division winner and wild card.  

If there is a three way tie for best record in the American League, Ankhana would obviously be the AL Central champions, and the winner of the 1 game playoff would be crowned the team with the best record in the AL by the fact they played 1 more regular season game and therefore have a higher winning percentage.  I couldn't find the MLB rules on this one, so if anyone knows otherwise feel free to chime in.

Things are a bit simpler in the NL.  Lets call the NL East and NL West races over, and Lakeview has a 6 game lead in the Wild Card so lets declare that all but over as well.  That leaves the NL Central where up until last night, I would have declared the race over thanks to a 5.5 game lead from Sparta.  

That lead is now down to 3.5 games and it is still plausible, if unlikely, that Flin Flon could catch them.  Sparta had 9 games left and if they win 5 of them, Flin Flon would need to go on a tear, winning 9 of their last 10.

Elsewhere
Lets also take a moment to congratulate the Miners, Zeros, Hellcats, and Islanders on closing the season in fine fashion.  Their records since August 1

• DHA: 28-21, 3rd best in the AL
• GRU: 28-23, overtook GAL (25-26) for the division crown 
• SHA: 31-21, best record in NL.  Must feel good after some of the trade debate
• LAK: 25-24, they struggled a bit, but were doing some major tinkering with the lineup.

Pedro on Par to Have Greatest Season Ever

These numbers do actually speak for themselves:

20-4, 1.52 ERA, 231.1 IP, 132 H, 43 BB, 246 K, 5.1 H/9, .459 OOPS
plus
0.75 WHIP, 1.46 RCERA, 1.28 CERA, .164 oppenents batting average.

There has been no better season ins the 17 year history of ATB and Pedro, with 4 or 5 more starts, just needs to avoid imploding to set a myriad of records.  Below are some of the single season marks he is gunning for.

W - 23, Addie Joss (OFB) and Greg Maddux (WPM)
ERA - 1.92, Greg Maddux (WPM)
WHIP - 0.87, Pedro Martinez (MEN)
RCERA - 2.04, Pedro Martinez (MEN), Mort Cooper (JMF)
CERA - 1.78, Pedro Martinez (P10)
H/9 - 5.7, Russ Ford (HH)
OOPS - .523, Greg Maddux (P10)

PS.  Sorry for the jinx Sean

Power Alley Great 8

Standings Summary

Two main story lines in the American League this week.  First is Ankhana, who went 11-2 and improved their run differential by an incredible 54 runs, twice as good as any other team this week.  Just about the entire offense was firing on all cylinders -  four regulars batted over .400 on the week and the team batting line was .331 / .395 / .512.

In the AL East the Divisional Race tightened up a bit with Spanish Harlem gaining a 1.5 games on Willets Point making it possible, if not plausible, the Beaters can catch-up.  Turkey Stearnes broke out of his season long slump batting .350 / .381 / .667 in 60 at bats.  This was bad news for Oasis who lost a half of game in the Wild Card race and have a brutal schedule to close out the season

The East headlines the National League where the Guardians turned in an awful sim at an awful time.  Their 1.5 game lead evaporated in moments and now Grumman, after winning 10 of 15, have taken a commanding 4.5 game lead in the division.  It was the Hellcats pitching staff combined for a 2.87 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 138 innings.

The other divisional races remain in doubt as well, though both Sparta and Shamokin extended their leads by 2 and 1.5 games respectively.

Week 11 Transactions

Week 11 Transactions

• Shamokin  picks up Phil Cockrell 1922 and drops Earl Moore.
• Lakeview picks up Will Clark 1989 and drops Brian Downing
• Sparta picks up Aaron Fultz 2005, DL's JJ Putz

Reminder - it is August 29th in ATB land.  Trade deadline is August 31st and FA pickup deadline is the end of this week (beginning of Sim 12)  The one exception is injuries, you can always replace an injured player with an FA.

Power Alley Great 8

Players of the Week

Pedro Martinez (SPA): 3-0, 1.40 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 5 BB, 30 K

Mickey Mantle (GAL): .449 / .509 / .735, 1.243 OPS, 4 HR, 14, 14 RBI

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly

Best Performances of the Season

Pitchers (by measure of Game Score)
97 - Jun 14 - Johnny Cueto (BRO)
93 - Apr 12 - Pedro Martinez (SPA)
91 - Jul 01 - Christy Mathewson (HOB)
91 - Jun 28 - Randy Johnson (OAS)
90 - Apr 30 - Deacon Phillippe (SPA)
90 - Jun 25 - Deacon Phillippe (SPA)

Batters (By Measure of Total Bases)
14 - Jul 17 - Bill Joyce (HOB) - Hit for Cycle
12 - May 16 - Jimmy Foxx (SEA)
12 - Jun 20 - Hack Wilson (CHA)
12 - May 13 - Johnny Bench (GRU)
12 - May 02 - Reggie Jackson (SEA)
12 - Apr 13 - Mike Napoloi (DHA)
12 - Jun 11 - Willie McCovey (DOW)
12 - May 28 - Rogers Hornsby (BRO)
12 - Apr 24 - Luis Gonzalez (HUD)

Power Alley Week 8

+3 Ankhana Adventurers

-5 Sparta Hoplites

The Great, The Good, and The Ugly

Power Alley Great 8

Week 7

Week 8 Transactions

• Sparta picks up Kevin Saucier 1981 and Jose Bautista 2011; dorp Zack Britton and Magglio Ordonez
• Albuquerque picks up Jim Bottomly 1928 and drops Clay Buccholz
• Hudson picks up 1899 Jimmy Williams and 1989 Will Clark; drops Pat Neshek and DL's Mike Tiernan
• Shamokin picks up Earl Moore 1903 and drops Dick Donovan
  Jeff City picks up Luis Tiant 1968 and Bob Veale 1963; drops Red Lucas and Brian Fuentes
• Ankhana picks up Atlee Hammacker 1983 and drops Dean Chance
• Galaxy picks up Monte Ward 1882, places Hughie Jennings on the DL (33 days!)
• Helena picks up Tiny Bonham, drops Smokey Joe Williams

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly

Checking In on the New Batters

Has the ATB owner community finally run out of new batter ideas?  It appears so, as this seasons crop is leaving a lot to be desired.  No new batter is a full time role for the full season and just 5 have amassed over 175 plate appearances.

I am not sure Tim Raines (CHA) is a legitimate 9th rounder, but he is at least worthy of a roster spot.

I doubt any owner would miss any of these players  between 50-174 plate appearances:

Finally, here are those with hardly any playing time.  Only Heinie Reitz (SPA) holds some promise:

Power Alley Great 8

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly

Week 5