Computer Ratings S9W3 - March 26th 2009

Underachievers

1. Hartford Defenders: 3.945

2. Kansas City Shuffle: 3.645

3. Cleveland Steamers: 3.494

4. Fargo Nines: 2.925

5. St. Louis Birdnals: 2.848

Overachievers

1. Little Rock Big Rocks: -3.049

2. New Orleans Breeze: -2.889

3. Charlotte knights: -2.491

4. Richmond Moonshiners II: -2.447

5. Detroit Tigers: -2.418

Computer Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	Computer Score
1	Jacksonville Juggernauts	41-18	0.7148
2	Fresno Fire Dragons	39-20	0.6856
3	Colorado Springs AltiDUDES	39-20	0.6502
4	New Orleans Breeze	40-19	0.6486
5	Cheyenne ChilliPeppers	39-20	0.6436
6	Texas Tittyballs	37-22	0.6306
7	Kansas City Shuffle	35-24	0.6302
8	Pawtucket Polythene	37-22	0.6186
9	Norfolk Nomads	34-25	0.603
10	Charlotte knights	35-24	0.5678
11	Memphis Hound Dawgs	32-27	0.5606
12	New York Moon Shots	33-26	0.5572
13	Fargo Nines	31-28	0.555
14	Scottsdale T's	34-25	0.5526
15	Huntington Cousins	30-29	0.4966
16	Rochester Raging Rhinos	29-30	0.486
17	Richmond Moonshiners II	30-29	0.4834
18	Houston Aggies	28-31	0.4774
19	St. Louis Birdnals	25-34	0.4528
20	Salt Lake City Dodgers	27-32	0.4472
21	Cleveland Steamers	24-35	0.4424
22	Atlanta City Slickers	27-32	0.4406
23	Monterrey Cervezas	26-33	0.4362
24	Scranton Dunder-Mifflins	26-33	0.4176
25	Little Rock Big Rocks	26-33	0.4098
26	San Francisco Sourdoughs	24-35	0.4046
27	Tucson Turbocors	23-36	0.4038
28	Trenton Terror	22-37	0.3604
29	Indianapolis Racers	19-40	0.3496
30	Hartford Defenders	17-42	0.3282
31	Detroit Tigers	20-39	0.3144
32	Chicago Orphans	15-44	0.2618

A look back at seasons 1-5

As we recently rolled past the two-year anniversary of Sharkey's World, let's now look back on some of the dates & events that helped shape this world and turn it into the great world that it is.

February 16, 2007: Sharkey's World is created by sharkeyke. Badercubed, telecasting, jtrueblue & longdayintro, along with former league members gregg21, ejcory, canes628 & mfrone helped create the league and get it up & running. Current members peteskin, dupala, rockybill, krs, dubabe, pvc, snarfuller, bearclan, ripnsnort, johnderasmo & hausenpfeffe also joined on this date.

April 2, 2007 Cheyenne signed international free agent Pat Tamura. Tamura, 19 at the time, would go on to be one of the most dominant players in Sharkey's World. Now 27, he already has one AL MVP award on his mantle, and still 10+ years of dominance to look forward to.

Season One World Series Kansas City sweeps San Francisco 4-0. Far from the best world series in SW history- arguably the worst, if you get down to it- it was nonetheless monumental, as SW awarded its first champion, and unbeknownst to all, a dynasty was born.

May 15, 2007 Season two rollsover, and with that comes seven new owners. This was significant because after one season, it showed that 25 owners found the world worthy of giving another seasons worth of time & money to. And also, because of those 7 owners, 4 are still around: kalikgod, hallgren, irishfury & ohiopirate.

May 25, 2007 Kansas City & Jacksonville make a trade. The two teams who are most easily identifiable with the American Leagues postseason dominance in Sharkey's World, may be most responsible for each other reaching that position. In the offseason before season two, Jacksonville (then San Antonio) traded Ricardo Gongora, Paul Cooper and some cash to Kansas City, in exchange for Sam Gonzales, Domingo Gonzales, and Kevin Nakano. Gongora & Cooper are well known to be huge pieces of the Shuffle dynasty; what's overlooked is the fact that Gonzales, Gonzales & Nakano all were rookies in season 6 for San Antonio/Jacksonville, and season 6 was the year that franchise turned itself into a winner and a power.

December 19, 2007 Pawtucket & Louisville make a trade. A few weeks earlier, Kansas City & Pawtucket made a much more publicized swap of Julian Thomson and Rob Aldridge, but without this Louisville trade, Pawtucket may not have made 3 of the next 5 world series. Sending rookie pitcher Buddy Bako, hard-hitting 1B Wilfredo Bennett, and minor league journeyman Eugene Dillon to Louisville, the Polythene acquired Geoff Hunter and Charles Randall. Hunter has found himself on the NL MVP ballot twice since joining Pawtucket, while Randall ended up on the NL Cy Young ballot all 4 full seasons he pitched with the Polythene.

December 21, 2007 Season Four Draft. While many great players were drafted on this date, two names stand out among the rest: Pete West and Enrique Ortiz. Both players, both still very young, find themselves on great teams with great futures. Much like Nicholas Bryant & Billy Hernandez before them, these two offensive machines will be talked about for years to come.

Season Five World Series Kansas City vs Pawtucket. The greatest world series played thusfar. A season earlier, the Polythene defeated teh Shuffle 4 games to 2, giving them their first world series, while KC has won 2 already. After two games, this series appeared over. Polythene ran out to a 2-0 lead, convincingly, and the series was returning to Pawtucket for the enxt three games. This led PVC to proclaim that he thought it was over, and that maybe Pawtucket was the best team in SW history, not his Shuffle like many believed. Kansas City won a nailbiter of a third game, and then Christopher Ramirez won game four for the Polythene, giving them a 3-1 series lead. Games 5 & 6 went to Kansas City, which set up an epic game 7, pitting the aforementioned Ramirez against the only pitcher in the world that can be considered his equal, KC's Dennys Shin. The hype was better than the game. Up to this point, the world series has been great. The first 7 innings of game 7 were great, as the pithcers pitched to a 2-2 deadlock. In the end, KC's offense was too much for Pawtuckets bullpen. The Shuffle erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th, then retired Pawtucket 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, and won their 3rd World Series.

There are many more great dates & events that took place in seasons 6-9, but many more dates & events from this current era won't be known to us until things play out over time. For now, we appreciate the first five seasons.

Rumor Mill

Monterrey Cervezas
After a poor start (20-27), there are talks to test the trade market for Jayson Owen. The 28 year old starting pitcher has top tier stuff, but has struggled this year (2-4, 5.61 ERA). A pending free agent, he is rumored to be looking to test the market next year believing that Monterrey, with almost $50mil on the books for Season 10, may not have the money needed to retain his services.

Texas Tittyballs
Recently injured J.R. Lankford is said to be unhappy with the Texas front office, believing the training budget ($15mil) and medical budget ($12mil) is to blame for his significant injury. In a contract year, rumors are rampant that this latest rift may lead ultimately to the free-agent departure of Lankford. Friend and injured teammate Footsie Burnett is still undecided on his future, but is said to be disatisfied as well with management. Historically, these budget numbers have been successful for Texas.

Fresno Fire Dragons
Starting pitcher Joaquin Beltre is struggling in his last year before free agency. After two solid seasons, the 27 year old pitcher is said to be looking for a change of scenery next year. Centerfielder Danys Castillo has publicialy critized the Fresno front office for their arbitration dealings with players and has stated that he too will be leaving for free-agency.

Detroit Tigers
25 year old first baseman Omar Castilla, who signed a 5 year, $42mil contract at the start of the season, is looking to be dealt. After being promised by the front office that they would pursue some free agents in the off-season, Castilla is disappointed with their lack of commitment to winning.

Computer Rankings - S9W2 - March 19th, 2009

Underachievers

1. St. Louis Birdnals: 3.887

2. Kansas City Shuffle: 3.715

3. Hartford Defenders: 3.628

4. Fargo Nines: 2.687

5. Jacksonville Juggernauts: 2.495

Overachievers

1. Scottsdale T's: -3.372

2. New Orleans Breeze: -2.377

3. Cheyenne ChilliPeppers: -1.859

4. Little Rock Big Rocks: -1.79

5. Salt Lake City Dodgers: -1.723

Computer Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	Computer Score
1	Colorado Springs AltiDUDES	28-11	0.7126
2	New Orleans Breeze	28-11	0.6814
3	Jacksonville Juggernauts	25-14	0.6794
4	Fresno Fire Dragons	26-13	0.664
5	Kansas City Shuffle	23-16	0.647
6	Cheyenne ChilliPeppers	26-13	0.6382
7	Norfolk Nomads	23-16	0.6254
8	Pawtucket Polythene	25-14	0.6176
9	Fargo Nines	22-17	0.6054
10	Texas Tittyballs	23-16	0.6002
11	New York Moon Shots	23-16	0.5918
12	Memphis Hound Dawgs	22-17	0.5682
13	Charlotte knights	23-16	0.5648
14	Rochester Raging Rhinos	22-17	0.5424
15	Huntington Cousins	21-18	0.5266
16	Cleveland Steamers	19-20	0.5032
17	Scottsdale T's	21-18	0.4864
18	Richmond Moonshiners II	19-20	0.4738
19	Atlanta City Slickers	19-20	0.4618
20	Salt Lake City Dodgers	19-20	0.4606
21	Monterrey Cervezas	18-21	0.459
22	Hartford Defenders	14-25	0.4148
23	Little Rock Big Rocks	17-22	0.4084
24	Houston Aggies	15-24	0.4042
25	St. Louis Birdnals	13-26	0.393
26	Tucson Turbocors	13-26	0.3678
27	Scranton Dunder-Mifflins	15-24	0.364
28	Indianapolis Racers	14-25	0.344
29	Trenton Terror	13-26	0.3378
30	San Francisco Sourdoughs	13-26	0.3318
31	Detroit Tigers	13-26	0.3216
32	Chicago Orphans	9-30	0.2316

Computer Rankings S9W1 - March 12th, 2009

Underachievers

1. Hartford Defenders: 3.987

2. Jacksonville Juggernauts: 2.08

3. Fresno Fire Dragons: 2.058

4. Houston Aggies: 2

5. Cleveland Steamers: 1.94

Overachievers

1. Little Rock Big Rocks: -2.566

2. Cheyenne ChilliPeppers: -2.113

3. Scranton Dunder-Mifflins: -1.844

4. Charlotte knights: -1.804

5. Atlanta City Slickers: -1.64

Computer Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	Computer Score
1	Jacksonville Juggernauts	14-6	0.7624
2	New Orleans Breeze	14-6	0.6814
3	Pawtucket Polythene	13-6	0.6426
4	Rochester Raging Rhinos	12-7	0.6182
5	Cheyenne ChilliPeppers	13-6	0.6174
6	Norfolk Nomads	12-8	0.6126
7	New York Moon Shots	12-7	0.6068
8	Colorado Springs AltiDUDES	12-8	0.6036
9	Scottsdale T's	12-8	0.603
10	Salt Lake City Dodgers	11-8	0.5694
11	Texas Tittyballs	11-8	0.5694
12	Fargo Nines	11-9	0.5584
13	Cleveland Steamers	10-10	0.5582
14	Fresno Fire Dragons	9-10	0.5388
15	Huntington Cousins	10-10	0.5246
16	Charlotte knights	11-8	0.522
17	Monterrey Cervezas	10-9	0.5056
18	Kansas City Shuffle	9-11	0.5016
19	Memphis Hound Dawgs	10-10	0.4934
20	St. Louis Birdnals	9-11	0.477
21	Houston Aggies	8-12	0.46
22	Atlanta City Slickers	10-10	0.4508
23	Trenton Terror	9-11	0.4326
24	Indianapolis Racers	9-11	0.4302
25	San Francisco Sourdoughs	8-11	0.4102
26	Hartford Defenders	5-14	0.389
27	Richmond Moonshiners II	7-12	0.3776
28	Scranton Dunder-Mifflins	8-11	0.3628
29	Tucson Turbocors	6-14	0.3552
30	Little Rock Big Rocks	8-11	0.34
31	Detroit Tigers	6-13	0.277
32	Chicago Orphans	3-16	0.17

World Baseball Classic Rosters

Was only able to fill out six teams. So it's a six-team competition. United States, Japan, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, & Dominican Republic. I'll list at the bottom the hodge-podge of other players from Korea, Puerto Rico, and "Team Europe" who I had slotted to make it, but was unable to fill their teams.

I'm pretty sure I got at least one player from all 32 organizations. I tried to, at least. That was my intention.

United States
C Pete West Scottsdale
1B Ronald Watson Atlanta
2B J.R. Lankford Texas
SS Julian Thomson Pawtucket
3B Enrique Ortiz New Orleans
OF Nicholas Bryant Kansas City
OF Jonathan Cummings Rochester
OF Billy Hernandez Texas
SP Christopher Ramirez Pawtucket
SPChad Jones Kansas City
SP Alex Olmeda Jacksonville
RP Frank Harris Pawtucket

Japan
C William Martin New York
1B Ramon Jang Pawtucket
2B Antonio Gong Little Rock
SS John Yosida Scranton
3B Ozzie Ma Norfolk
OF Del Lee Cleveland
OF Mac Yamamoto Detroit
OF Phil Seung* Richmond
SP Joseph Liang Hartford
SP Kevin Seung Houston
SP Dennys Shin Kansas City
RP Martin Baek New Orleans

Mexico
C Harry Cela Chicago
1B Ruben Martinez* Cleveland
2B Bernie Macias Huntington
SS Jose Martinez Monterey
3B Julio De La Vega Jacksonville
OF Victor Franco Cleveland
OF Miguel Solano Houston
OF Andres Jacquez* Huntington
SP Raul Diaz Detroit
SP Vic Arias Texas
SP Octavio Pescado Tuscon
RP Pedro Nunez Richmond

Cuba
C Manuel Delgado* Colorado Springs
1B Vicente Gomez Salt Lake City
2B Victor Martin Pawtucket
SS R.J. Servet Colorado Springs
3B Torey Pena Indianapolis
OF Placido Feliz Hartford
OF Alfonso Ordaz Richmond
OF Rico Mesa Trenton
SP Geronimo Limon Fresno
SP Juan Contreras Indianapolis
SP Albert Carreras Richmond
RP Ariel Arrojo Indianapolis

Venezuela
C Wascar Aguilar Kansas City
1B Tomas Hernandez Norfolk
2B Ricardo Diaz Jacksonville
SS Eduardo Lunar Fresno
3B Andres Manzanillo* St. Louis
OF Carlos Hernandez* Colorado Springs
OF Juan Jimenez* Norfolk
OF Edgar Jose San Francisco
SP Miguel Rosado Hartford
SP Jose Olivares Jacksonville
SP Edgard Amaral Salt Lake City
RP Julio Mendoza Norfolk

Dominican Republic
C Matty James San Francisco
1BJose Rodriguez Cheyenne
2B Jose Tavarez Memphis
SS Juan Tavarez Cheyenne
3B Orlando Rosa Fresno
OF Danys Castillo Fresno
OF Vladimir Brogna Jacksonville
OF Rodrigo Manto Tuscon
SP Tony Garces Monterey
SP Placido Gonzalez Salt Lake City
SP Alejandro Carrara Tuscon
RP B.C. Nunez Fargo

Korea
C Paul Hasegawa New York
OF Pat Tamura Cheyenne
OF Melvin Hyun Indianapolis
OF Frank Ogawa Texas
SP Junior Chen* Hartford
RP Michael Chang Huntington

Puerto Rico
SP Stan Saunders Colorado Springs
RP Jose Guzman Charlotte

Team Europe
SS Felix Pickering Charlotte
SP Paul Cooper Kansas City
SP William Barkley San Francisco
RP Alex Smith* Norfolk


*denotes minor leaguer

32 Fearless Predictions

32 teams, 32 predictions...

*Atlanta's Juan Beltre, who two months ago yesterday in real-life time was signed as an international FA, will explode onto the ML scene, and find himself on the ROY ballot at seasons end.

*The Charlotte knights will win more games than the previous season for the third straight year, and that will this time result in them getting a first round bye.

*Sammy Cordero will prove that he's a product of Colorado Springs, as he has his first 4+ ERA since season 3 this year, his first in Cheyenne.

*The return of Gregg does nothing for Chicago, as they once again finish last in the NL North.

*The Cleveland Steamers eventually get over the loss of John Bird. Getting over finishing within 5 games of the playoffs and missing out for the second straight year is a little more difficult.

*The Colorado Springs AltiDUDES win 95+ games again. Win their division again. And don't make the NLCS, again.

*The Detroit Tigers win at least 61 games for the first time since season 4.

*The acquisition of Henry Etherton went mostly unnoticed, but it helps Fargo win their division for the 6th time in 7 seasons, an accomplishment only Colorado Springs, Texas, Pawtucket & Kansas City have been able to achieve.

*Billy May doesn't quite make his way onto the ROY ballot, but he has a very solid season, and his speed helps fans of the Fire Dragons get over the impending loss of Danys Castillo.

*Hartford finishes last in the division again, but wins 10 more games than the 54 they had last season.

*Houston's Esteban Rincon wins Rookie of the Year, the first of many awards he wins throughout his career.

*Michael Chang returns to the bigs in Huntington, where this time its for good, as he saves 30 games for the up & coming Cousins.

*The Indianapolis Racers, who finished above .500 6 times in 6 seasons under rmkelley, finally get back to that level of play for the first time since his unexpected departure.

*The Jacksonville Juggernauts win their third straight AL pennant, and play one of the two teams they've already played (Texas/Pawtucket) in the season 9 World Series.

*The Kansas City Shuffle, still very much good, but quietly aging/losing key underrated players, win 100+ games again, and make the playoffs, again. But they do not win the AL West.

*Andres Pineda, Vicente Crespo, Matty Plata, and Andy Thomas join the aforementioned John Bird as rookies on Litle Rock... and the next great AL Dynasty is born (although still a year or two away from being seriously dangerous).

*Achilles Mitchell and Kevin Ball turn out to be a lot of money thrown around for not a lot of results, and Memphis once again finishes 7th in the NL.

*The Monterrey Cervezas quietly collect their 9th straight season of .500 or better ball.

*The New Orleans Breeze challenge Texas for the division championship all season long, losing out in the last few days, but take the 5th seed in the NL playoffs, possibly with the 2nd or 3rd best record in the NL.

*The New York Moon Shots don't come close to reaching the same level of improvement they showed in season 8, when they won 14 games more than season 7. But they do improve, 4 games more than season 8, and get to 90 wins.

*The Norfolk Nomads return to the playoffs after a one year absence, and once again play Colorado Springs in the first round.

*Cy Young Ramirez breaks at least 3 of these milestones/league records: 300 IP, 300 K's, 28 wins, 0.89 whip, 1.82 ERA.

*Tony Pelaez has his best season to date in Richmond, but still doesn't throw more than 140 innings due to his atrocious durability concerns.

*The Rochester Raging Rhinos join Fargo in their quest of joining Colorado Springs, Texas, Pawtucket & KC as the only teams to win their division at least 6 times in a 7 season stretch... and succeed.

*The Salt Lake City Dodgers 63 wins in season 8 were 13 more than their 50 in season 7. They match that improvement in season 9 as they win 76 games.

*The San Francisco Sourdoughs finish 16th in the NL, as its full-fledged rebuilding time in the Bay Area.

*The Scottsdale T's win 90+ games. Which may or may not be good enough to finish 3rd in the AL West.

*The Scranton Dunder-Mifflins give San Fran a serious run for their money in the battle for last place. The entire Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is officially on R-Pod watch, and will continue to rebuild until the kid is ready for the bigs.

*The St. Louis Birdnals continue to prove that their season 6 divisino championship was a fluke attributed solely to the MVP season of Steve Randolph, as they lose 95 games for the second straight year.

*The Texas Tittyballs do not win their 4th NL Pennant.

*The Trenton Terror more than double their season 8 win total, as they win at least 75 games in season 9.

*Tuscon at least matches their 86 wins of a season ago, but does not make the playoffs this time around.

Division Champions
Fargo Nines
Charlotte knights
Jacksonville Juggernauts
Fresno Fire Dragons
Rochester Raging Rhinos
Pawtucket Polythene
Texas Tittyballs
Colorado Springs AltiDUDES

Wildcards
Kansas City Shuffle
Cheyenne Chilipeppers
Norfolk Nomads
New Orleans Breeze

LCS
Jacksonville Juggernauts over Fresno Fire Dragons
Pawtucket Polythene over New Orleans Breeze

World Series
Jacksonville Juggernauts over Pawtucket Polythene in 5

How Old is your team?

Franchise	Avg ML Years	Avg Age
Pawtucket	6.4	31
Fargo	5.5	30.3
New Orleans	5.7	30
Kansas City	5.8	29.8
St. Louis	5.4	29.8
Texas	6	29.6
Indianapolis	4.2	29.6
Rochester	4.4	29.6
Scranton	3.7	29.4
Colorado Springs	3.8	29.4
Norfolk	5.3	29.3
Cleveland	4.7	29
Scottsdale	4.1	28.8
Monterrey	4	28.6
Memphis	3.8	28.6
Chicago	3.3	28.5
Cheyenne	4.2	28.3
Trenton	3.7	28.3
Houston	2.3	28
Salt Lake City	3.7	27.8
San Francisco	3.1	27.8
Tucson	4.1	27.8
New York	4.2	27.7
Atlanta	3.2	27.4
Hartford	2.9	27.4
Fresno	3.2	27.4
Huntington	3.5	27.3
Jacksonville	3.3	27.3
Richmond	3	27.2
Charlotte	3	27.1
Detroit	2.8	26.6
Little Rock	1.5	23.8