Sharkadamus - Season 10 Review

A quick review of Shark's season 10 predictions. Sorry for the delay.

*Atlanta has its first .500 season since Season 5, but misses the playoffs, and still finishes 20+ games behind Charlotte for 2nd in the AL East.

TRUE. 2/3 gets my vote

*The knights will not get the recognition of KC or Jacksonville, and will finish 3rd in the AL. But with legendary playoff performer Christopher Ramirez now on the roster, they're able to wrap up their first AL pennant.

TRUE

*The New York Thunder do not (gasp!) finish last in the NL North.

FALSE. 63-99 was “good” enough for dead last.

*The Cheyenne Chillipeppers eventually regret not being more active in this historically active offseason, as they find themselves struggling with Scottsdale in their final series for the 2nd AL Wildcard berth.

FALSE. Cheyenne finished seven games ahead of Houston for the 2^nd WC.

*The Cleveland Steamers storm out to an early lead in the NL North, and hold on to win their first division crown since season 1.

TRUE. However, they were much more of a second half team.

*In a scene reminiscent of Brooklyn in 1955, the town of Colorado Springs goes wild after the AltiDUDES defeat Cleveland in the NLDS and advance to their first ever NLCS.

TRUE

*The Detroit Tigers have the first overall pick in the Season 11 draft.

FALSE. Scranton finishes as Shark's most futile team.

*The Fargo Nines find themselves stuck between retooling & rebuilding, not quite sure whether to chase the Moon Shots, or chase the Tigers. They finish behind Trenton, for 3rd in the division, but still do not get a Top 10 pick.

FALSE. Fargo finishes second and will have the 11^th pick in the draft.

*The Fire Dragons get over the loss of Castillo & Rosa quicker than most expected, and beat out divisional favorite Kansas City in winning their first ever AL Best title.

FALSE!

*Hartford has jumped from 53, to 54, to 56 wins in the last three seasons. Fans in Connecticut are eager to see what it will be this year... 57? Or another two-win jump all the way up to 58!

TRUE. Hartford does indeed improve and jumps all the way up to 66 wins in a rough AL. Nice job Frog.

*Houston makes a serious run at 90 wins in Season X, but can't close the gap on any AL West teams, or the Juggernauts, and again just miss out on making the playoffs.

TRUE indeed. 91 wins and no playoffs.

*The Huntington Cousins, ravaged by free agency, take a serious step backwards in Season X, losing 10+ more games than in their great season 9.

TRUE

*The Indianapolis Racers made yours truly look like a fool in last seasons "Fearless Predictions," so I'll play it safe this year, and say that the Indianapolis 500 will remain the most exciting sporting event of the year in this town for at least one more season.

TRUE

*The Jacksonville Juggernauts make a serious run at Kansas City's record 122 victories. Playing in the top-heavy AL hurts them, though, as they fall a handful of victories short.

FALSE. 97-65.

*For the 2nd straight year, the Shuffle fail to win the AL West title, but they do finish with the 3rd best record in the AL, and they produce yet another AL MVP.

FALSE. AL Best title, best AL record and Gentry has got to win MVP.

*The next great dynasty is one year away from its first taste of glory in Little Rock, but the Big Rocks still stay in playoff contention until the final days of the season.

FALSE.

*The Memphis Hound Dawgs leapfrog Texas for 2nd in the NL South, and compete for a return to the playoffs after a two season hiatus.

TRUE. Despite finishing third Memphis had a helluva year and did compete for a playoff spot.

*The Monterrey Cervezas challenge for their 9th season of .500 or better ball in 10 tries, while at the same time making a run at 4th place in the AL South.

FALSE. Monterrey finished 34 games under .500.

*The New Orleans Breeze finish second to the AltiDUDES in the final NL standings once again, but this time they win a playoff game - in fact, they win enough to collect their first NL Pennant.

FALSE

*The New York Moon Shots win their 2nd straight AL North title, but are still not ready to compete with the elite of the AL, and bow out in the first round again.

TRUE

*The Norfolk Nomads win the NL East...

*...just kidding. Pawtucket wins its 9th straight division title, a Sharkey's World record, while Norfolk once again earns a wildcard berth.

PUSH.

*The Richmond Moonshiners get out of the AL South basement.

TRUE.

*Rochester is still way better than people expect, and makes a late season push at winning its 7th NL North title, but fade away in the last 15 or so games of the season.

FALSE. Winning and NL North just don't belong in the same sentence.

*The Salt Lake City Dodgers let the preseason hype get to their heads a little bit, and while they do show improvement, its not nearly as much as people expect. Still, their 87 wins are enough to keep them in the NL Wildcard race until the last day of the season.

FALSE. SLC cashed in on the hype.

*The San Francisco Sourdoughs trade Lenny "Weed" Winchester mid-season for a bounty larger than Pawtucket got for Ramirez & also larger than Texas got for Hernandez.

FALSE. Weed still in SF.

*The Scottsdale T's finally cross the 90-win plateau. They may finish 5th in the AL, they may finish 8th...

FALSE.

*The Scranton Dunder-Mifflins, energized by not having to face Ramirez once in Season X, have their best final record since going 81-81 in season 5... but they're still bad.

FALSE.

*The St. Louis Birdnals are in full "wait 'til next year" mode, and lose 95+ games for the 3rd straight season.

TRUE.

*The Texas Tittyballs were hit harder than anybody else in the Season X offseason, and just never recover. They miss the playoffs for the first time since season 3, and only the second time ever.

TRUE.

*The Trenton Terror, barely a year removed from 39 victories, do Kingdean & the Garden State proud by finishing above .500, which keeps them in the divisional race in the weak NL North until the final series.

FALSE.

*The Turbocors regain their magic touch of Season 8, and make a strong push against Memphis & Salt Lake City for the final NL Wildcard spot.

TRUE. Tucson had a good year and was in contention.

The final tally:

True-False-Push

14-17-1

A sub .500 year for Sharkadamus. However, he did correctly pick 11/12 playoff teams and the WS champion, which in this world is extremely tough.

Review of a Decade; Part I

As we look forward towards the Christopher Ramirez & Billy Hernandez sweepstakes, arguably the two best, and most recognizable, players in National League history (although both played for AL squads last season), it's time to take a look back at the first "decade" of Sharkey's World.

Started in February 2007, this world has grown into undeniably the best on WhatIfSports. This much, we can agree on. Everything else upcoming we probably won't agree on. Over the course of this offseason, I'll put up a series of posts covering the teams of the decade, owners of the decade, players, moments, trades, etc.

There are many possible places to begin, many things to take into account when looking back on 10 seasons. But the one thing we can all agree on is that championships are the most important part of Sharkey's World. And because of that, we recognize the past champions.

Our most recent champion, the Charlotte Knights, won their championship with arguably the most fanfare of any team in any season. On the first day of Season X, even before Free Agency began, the Knights made a splash by "renting" Chris Ramirez from Pawtucket. This led to much speculation over whether it would be worth it. We all agreed if Dawgfan got a championship out of it, it was obviously worth it. 85 days later, they got their championship.

In the first 9 years, only four other teams won championships. Those four teams are, in this mans opinion, the four most successful franchises of the first decade.

One of those teams, Texas, won 1 World Series, 3 League Pennants, had 4 LCS appearances, 8 playoff appearances, and 6 division titles. That's the 4th most successful franchise.

One of those teams, Jacksonville, won 2 World Series titles, 3 League Pennants, 3 LCS appearances, 5 playoff appearances and 5 division titles. That's the 3rd most successful franchise.

One of those teams, Pawtucket, won 2 World Series titles, 3 League Pennants, 8 LCS appearances, 9 playoff appearances and 9 division titles. That's the 2nd most successful franchise.

And the mother of all teams, Kansas City, won 4 World Series titles, 5 League Pennants, 7 LCS appearances, 10 playoff appearances and 9 division titles. That, my friends, is a team of the decade.

In season 2, the Texas Tittyballs won their only championship, the first championship won for the National League (which got demolished in this decade, winning only 3 of 10 World Series). The Tittyballs also won the NL Pennant in seasons 6 & 7. A run like that would more than likely make a team the most successful of their league in any decade.

Of course, there is their highly publicized rivalry with Pawtucket to take into account. The teams met in the playoffs 5 times in between seasons 2 & 8, twice in the NLDS and three times in the NLCS. Pawtucket came out on top, winning 3 of the 5, although Texas won 2 of 3 NLCS'. But, the Polythene, like Texas, won 3 National League pennants. The two biggest differences to take into account, the Polythene won 2 World Series titles, not one. And they played in the best World Series of all time, and the most talked about game of all time.

But we'll get to that.

In Pawtucket's World Series VIII victory, they beat the Jacksonville Juggernauts. As it turns out, this victory by Pawtucket prevented Jacksonville from winning back-to-back-to-back World Championships, a feat not yet accomplished in Sharkey's World. A feat that was repeated in World Series VIII, though, was the prevention of the three-peat. By winning World Series IV, the Polythene, who were again sandwiched by another team in championships, prevented the first ever three-peat, which actually would have been a four-peat.

But we'll get to that.

Jacksonville had a craptastic owner in Season one, and was crazily mismanaged. Kalikgod came in in the second season, assessed things, and quickly put his team on a five year plan. He stockpiled draft picks, and Internationals, and within a season was dubbed (by yours truly) as the team of the future. In season 6, the future arrived. Thanks to a less than stellar division, the Juggernauts were able to win their first NL South championship. In season 7, all that hard work finally paid off when the Juggernauts defeated the favored (and at that point second most successful franchise in history) Tittyballs to win their first championship. A loss to Pawtucket followed in World Series VIII, and then a victory over the 81-81 Rochester Rhinos in World Series IX cemented Jacksonville's place among the world elite.

Like Texas, that resume most decades would be enough to lay claim to the title of best team in your league. Like Texas, there was somebody better. Unlike Texas, this one was never a rivalry. While Texas-Pawtucket is widely regarded as the best there ever was, Jacksonville-Kansas City never happened, unless you count in the trade market (numerous star players were traded between these franchises over the years). From Seasons 1-6, Kansas City was as good as there was. In the last four seasons of the decade, the Shuffle didn't make an ALCS appearance, while Jacksonville went on their run.

But, that takes nothing away from Kansas City. The Shuffle won 9 division championships in 10 years, tying Pawtucket for the decade high. The Shuffle won 5 league pennants, 2 more than Jacksonville, Texas & Pawtucket each won. Before we get to Kansas City though, a little recognition for the teams that won the 6 Pennants not won by the Big Four this decade.

Charlotte's Season 10 championship was already mentioned. In that World Series, they defeated Colorado Springs, an early front-runner for the best of the next decade. We also mentioned Rochester's amazing run in season 9. Seasons 4-8 all featured some combination of Jacksonville/Kansas City vs Texas/Pawtucket, with both AL teams playing both NL teams at least once. In Season 3, the Salt Lake City Dodgers, then the Salem Dodgers, in their first year under the control of Benny, won the NL Pennant. In Season 2, Hall of Famer mhoffa1382 lead the Iowa City Kaysons (currently the Trenton Terror) to their only AL pennant. And in the inaugural World Series, johnderasmo led the San Francisco Sourdoughs to their only NL pennant.

San Francisco & Salt Lake City both lost to Kansas City. Pawtucket lost to Kansas City. Texas lost to Kansas City. In the decade, everybody lost to Kansas City. The Shuffle, led by future Hall of Famers Dennys Shin, Nicholas Bryant, Bret Kubenka, Tomas Hernandez, and Ricardo Gongora, epitomized the word dynasty. In a 6 season stretch, they won 5 pennants and 4 world championships. The Shuffle, led by pvc4twenty, led the decade in championships, pennants, hall of famers, division titles, playoff appearances, MVPs, allstars, regular season victories, and playoff victories.

Their loss in season 2 ALCS was shocking. Their loss in World Series IV was equally shocking, and set up a huge interleague rivalry, which set up the best world series to date.

In World Series V, the Shuffle made their fourth appearance, and for the second straight year played the Pawtucket Polythene. The previous year, the Polythene beat the Shuffle in 6 games. This year, the Shuffle were heavily favored. With home field advantage yet again, they seemed destined to regain the championship. Then the Polythene exploded offensively, and in the first two games Kansas City looked more like Detroit (sorry peteskin). The Polythene went home for games 3-5, lost a heartbreaker in game 3, and easily won game 4. A 3-1 lead, and a near sweep, made their second straight world championship (tying them with Kansas City) a near certainty.

A funny thing happened, though, and suddenly KC remembered how to win. They won game 5, forcing the series back to KC, and won game 6. Game 7 featured that seasons Cy Young winners, Dennys Shin and Christopher Ramirez. Those two pitchers had combined to win 5 of the 10 Cy Youngs up to that point, in the decade combined to win 12 Cy Young Awards, 419 games, and 44 post-season games, are both first ballot hall of famers, and are arguably the two best pitchers of all time (Ramirez is better :). And through 7 innings, the 7th game was a pitchers battle. In the bottom of the 8th, though KC, led by Bryants bat, exploded for 6 runs, and took an 8-3 lead. The Polythene whimpered, went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, and took 3 seasons to recover. Kansas City meanwhile won its 3rd championship in 5 years, would win its 4th the following season (still only franchise to ever win back-to-back), and made it impossible for anybody else to argue that they had the best franchise of the decade.

So that's that.

Over the next few days, I'll try to get up a post a day, and it'll all culminate with the announcement of the All-Decade Team. Enjoy.

Good luck in decade 2!

World Series X

Charlotte Knights (dawgfan1974) defeat Colorado Springs AltiDUDES (ohiopirate)

Game One: Charlotte 11 - Colorado Springs 2
Christopher Ramirez wins 4th straight postseason start, Charlotte bats explode as Knights take 1-0 series lead.
Charlotte leads 1-0

Game Two: Charlotte 11 - Colorado Springs 7
Charlotte storms to 7-1 lead, Colorado Springs ties it at 7, Charlotte scores in 7th, 8th & 9th innings to win 11-7; lead series 2-0.
Charlotte leads 2-0

Game Three: Colorado Springs 2 - Charlotte 4
Charlotte DH Kent Titan hits 5th HR in last 7 playoff games; Knights take commanding 3-0 series lead.
Charlotte leads 3-0

Game Four: Colorado Springs 2 - Charlotte 1
All-Stars Trevor Miles, Stan Saunders, and John Kondou combine to give up one run for CSP; AltiDUDES stay alive with 2-1 victory.
Charlotte leads 3-1

Game Five: Colorado Springs 2 - Charlotte 0
Henry Mackowiak, Armando Roque, and John Kondou combine to shut out Charlotte this time; AltiDUDES win 2-0 and force series to return to Colorado.
Charlotte leads 3-2

Game Six: Charlotte 7 - Colorado Springs 3
CSP pitching walks in 2 runs in 2nd inning, Charlotte takes 4-1 lead and never looks back. Wins first world championship with 7-3 victory.
Charlotte wins series 4-2

World Series MVP: Felix Pickering
.391 average, 9 runs, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 SB

Career Playoff Victories

As in the regular season victories, 1-2-3 remained unchanged, and uncoincidentally are the same 1-2-3 as that list. Sharkeyke closed the gap slightly on #1 pvc4twenty, winning 6 more games than Kansas City. LDI did not make the playoffs, and fell further off the pace. Kalikgod picked up enough wins to leapfrog badercubed, who did not make the playoffs, into fourth place. OP's great playoff run moved them up to 6th place all time, dropping rmkelley, who hasn't been in the league in four seasons now, down to 7th. Dawgfan's world championship propelled them all the way up to 8th on the list (from 14th). Nnurmo's run to the ALCS moved them from 12th to 9th place. Landmanatee, who hasn't been in the league since season 5, rounds out the Top 10. LoganRU and johnderasmo, two no-shows in this years postseason, dropped out of the top 10 all together.

Top ten list has been added to the Hall of Fame. Link on right.

1. pvc4twenty 71
2. sharkeyke 60
3. longdayintro 46
4. kalikgod 39
5. badercubed 35
6. ohiopirate 30
7. rmkelley 23*
8. dawgfan1974 21
9. nnurmo 19
10. landmanatee 16*
11. loganru 15
12. johnderasmo 14
13. snarfuller 13
14. dupala 11
15. dubabe401 9
15. mhoffa1382 9*
15. benny b la 9
18. canes628/lmw5488 7
19. ripnsnort 6
20. krs96 5
20. telecasting 5
22. gregg21 4*
22. jtrueblue 4
22. irishfury01 4
22. hallgren 4
26. vladyhop 3
27. rockybill1 2
28. esf242 1*

*no longer in league as of season 10

Career Wins Leaderboard

For the umpteenth straight year, the top 3 remained unchanged as pvc4twenty, sharkeyke @ longdayintro remained the most historically successful franchises in SW history. Snarfuller moved up to 4th from 6th, and dupala dropped one place to 5th to round out the Top 5. Ohiopirate, after leading the majors in wins for the first time ever, moved up one spot to 6th, and remained the highest ranked team to not partake in every season in history. Badercubed suffered through his worst season in a long time, and fell two places to 7th. Johnderasmo tried to restore some glory to San Francisco this season, and in doing so kept himself in 8th place. Kalikgod, another non-original member, became the only new member of the top 10, jumping up to places to 9th, and booting jtrueblue from the list. Rockybill, who just announced his leaving of SW, rounds out the top 10.

The top 10 list has been updated on the Sharkey's World Hall of Fame (link to immediate right).

The following list shows what place each owner is, how many wins, how many wins/season played, and if they are no longer an active member as of season 10 (*). Any teams with a number of seasons next to them shows how many seasons this owner has been active. If no number is indicated, then the owner has played in all 10 seasons.

1. pvc4twenty - 1064 (106.4)
2. sharkeyke - 1016 (101.6)
3. longdayintro - 947 (94.7)
4. snarfuller - 886 (88.6)
5. dupala - 885 (88.5)
6. ohiopirate - 883 (98.1) 9 seasons
7. badercubed - 860 (86.0)
8. johnderasmo - 806 (80.6)
9. kalikgod - 778 (86.4) 9 seasons
10. rockybill1 - 771 (77.1)
11. dubabe401 - 769 (76.9)
12. hausenpfeffe - 757 (75.7)
13. krs96 - 756 (75.6)
14. jtrueblue - 745 (74.5)
15. telecasting - 735 (73.5)
16. hallgren - 728 (80.9) 9 seasons
17. bearclan1 - 727 (72.7)
18. dawgfan1974 - 693 (86.6) 8 seasons
19. loganru - 692 (86.5) 8 seasons
20. ripnsnort - 666 (83.3) 8 seasons
21. irishfury01 - 654 (72.7) 9 seasons
22. mhoffa1382* - 644 (92.0) 7 seasons
23. nnurmo - 632 (90.3) 7 seasons
24. peteskin - 622 (62.2)
25. dave23 - 599 (85.6) 7 seasons
26. benny b la - 586 (73.3) 8 seasons
27. rmkelley* - 569 (94.8) 6 seasons
28. vladyhop - 555 (79.3) 7 seasons
29. gregg21* - 498 (83) 6 seasons
30. jlinchec - 461 (76.8) 6 seasons
31. landmanatee* - 439 (87.8) 5 seasons
32. frog06 - 291 (58.2) 5 seasons
33. lmw5488 - 232 (77.3) 3 seasons
34. thedirtydog* - 227 (75.7) 3 seasons
35. mcrobbyj - 222 (74) 3 seasons
36. cjwagner - 193 (64.3) 3 seasons
37. ejcory* - 173 (86.5) 2 seasons
38. kingdean - 153 (67.5) 2 seasons
39. baf 38* - 140 (70.0) 2 seasons
40. wgs3* - 137 (68.5) 2 seasons
41. tiffy* - 136 (68.0) 2 seasons
42. flippen* - 134 (67.0) 2 seasons
43. esf242* - 85 (85.0) 1 season
44. vacoarrfb* - 84 (84.0) 1 season
45. pete0713* - 83 (83.0) 1 season
46. kjmulli* - 81 (81.0) 1 season
47. mfrone* - 80 (80.0) 1 season
48. drnick77* - 78 (78.0) 1 season
49. oardarby* - 75 (75.0) 1 season
50. brickyard9* - 75 (75.0) 1 season
51. bigbuc40* - 73 (73.0) 1 season
52. scottjdumais* - 73 (73.0) 1 season
53. weeba* - 69 (69.0) 1 season
54. stewart UK* - 69 (69.0) 1 season
55. btmills* - 67 (67.0) 1 season
56. geltzig* - 67 (67.0) 1 season
57. darnmosquito* - 66 (66.0) 1 season
58. elduderino* - 66 (66.0) 1 season
59. tjeut* - 65 (65.0) 1 season
60. fequreshi* - 64 (64.0) 1 season
61. mickeym53* - 41 (41.0) 1 season
62. johncfremont* - 40 (40.0) 1 season
63. bentnschride* - 34 (34.0) 1 season

Season 10 League Championship Series Recaps

#2 Charlotte knights (97-65) defeat #5 Fresno Fire Dragons (100-62) 4-2
Game One: Fresno 2 @ Charlotte 3
Christopher Ramirez throws 10th career postseason complete game, earns 25th career playoff victory; strikes out 10.
Game Two: Fresno 7 @ Charlotte 2
Christopher Ramirez earns 10th career postseason victory, striking out 7 in 8 innings; Fresno ties series.
Game Three: Charlotte 7 @ Fresno 2
Kent Titan smacks 2 home runs, Charlotte regains homefield advantage.
Game Four: Charlotte 0 @ Fresno 6
Marvin Mathews throws 8 scoreless innings; Fresno ties series.
Game Five: Charlotte 3 @ Fresno 2
Christopher Ramirez (8IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, 6 K's) outduels Chad Jones (7IP, 10 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs, 5 K's) as Charlotte takes control of series.
Game Six: Fresno 7 @ Charlotte 8, 10 innings
Kevin Stone hits walk-off RBI single to clinch Charlotte's first league pennant.

#1 Colorado Springs AltiDUDES (112-50) defeat #3 Pawtucket Polythene (94-68) 4-1
Game One: Pawtucket 4 @ Colorado Springs 2
Theo Lamb hits 7th inning grand slam, Polythene take game one.
Game Two: Pawtucket 3 @ Colorado Springs 5
Ruben Barrios hits 3rd inning grand slam, AltiDUDES tie series.
Game Three: Colorado Springs 7 @ Pawtucket 0
Brady Walton and Vin Gonzales home runs lead offensive explosion for Colorado Springs.
Game Four: Colorado Springs 13 @ Pawtucket 4
Charles Xaio hits two home runs as CSP bats continue to explode; AltiDUDES take commanding 3-1 series lead.
Game Five: Colorado Springs 13 @ Pawtucket 0
Nine different AltiDUDES score as CSP clinches first NL Pennant, puts finishing touches on most lopsided LCS in SW history.

Season 10 League Divisional Series Recap

#5 Fresno Fire Dragons (100-62) defeat #1 Kansas City Shuffle (100-62) 3-1
Game One: Fresno 8 @ Kansas City 5
Fresno overcomes season-closing sweep at hands of Kansas City, marches into Kauffman Stadium and steals game one from favored Shuffle.
Game Two: Fresno 1 @ Kansas City 2
Rob Aldridge (6 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 BB, 9 K's) outduels Paul Cooper (CG, 6 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 1 BB, 6 K's) as Kansas City evens series.
Game Three: Kansas City 2 @ Fresno 3
Geronimo Limon gives up 2 runs in 7 innings as Fresno inches towards ALCS.
Game Four: Kansas City 2 @ Fresno 5
Kyle Donovan hits a walk-off, series-clinching 3 run home run in bottom of 9th.

#2 Charlotte knights (97-65) defeat #3 Jacksonville Juggernauts (97-65) 3-2
Game One: Jacksonville 6 @ Charlotte 5
Max Hernandez collects yet another playoff W, Christopher Ramirez loses Charlotte playoff debut.
Game Two: Jacksonville 4 @ Charlotte 6
Charlotte comes from behind, sparked by Stu Hull's 2-run HR to tie series at one.
Game Three: Charlotte 2 @ Jacksonville 4
Nicholas Bryant collects 3 hits as Jacksonville moves within one game of 4th straight ALCS.
Game Four: Charlotte 1 @ Jacksonville 0
Christopher Ramirez tosses a 3-hit shutout, forces decisive 5th game.
Game Five: Jacksonville 1 @ Charlotte 2
Willie Coronado gives up leadoff home in 9th, then retires side in order for second save of series.

#1 Colorado Springs AltiDUDES (112-50) defeat #4 Cleveland Steamers (75-87) 3-2
Game One: Cleveland 8 @ Colorado Springs 2
Same sinking feeling setting in in Colorado Springs as Trevor Miles gets shelled, Cleveland takes game one 8-2.
Game Two: Cleveland 1 @ Colorado Springs 4
CSP's Johnny Cordova strikes out 9, help AltiDUDES even series.
Game Three: Colorado Springs 2 @ Cleveland 6
Footsie Burnett moves to 3-0 in playoffs; Cleveland one win away from NLCS.
Game Four: Colorado Springs 10 @ Cleveland 3
Antone Robbins (2 hits, home run, 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored) leads offensive explosion as CSP forces game 5.
Game Five: Johnny Cordova throws 6 innings of shutout relief; CSP advances to first ever NLCS.

#3 Pawtucket Polythene (94-68) defeat #2 Richmond Moonshiners II (94-68) 3-1
Game One: Pawtucket 5 @ Richmond 2
Julian Thomson scores 3 runs & steals 2 bases as Pawtucket becomes fourth lower seed to open LDS with W.
Game Two: Pawtucket 5 @ Richmond 4, 11 innings
Benny Brito's 2-run HR in bottom of 9th ties game, Pawtucket wins it in 11 on Paul Reese's RBI single; lead series 2-0.
Game Three: Richmond 8 @ Pawtucket 3
Lead-off man Emmanuel Padilla scores 3 & knocks in 3 as Richmond fights off elimination for one more day.
Game Four: Richmond 2 @ Pawtucket 4
Pawtucket score two in 6th inning on bases loaded walk and passed ball, advance to 8th career NLCS.

Season 10 Music Awards

Jane's Addiction Award (Most Caught Stealing w/o a SB)

Rock Hurst Tucson Turbocors Age: 26 B/T: S/R Born: Covert, MI Position(s): 1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Michael Jackson Award (Most Infield Hits)

Turner Rosen Detroit Tigers Age: 23 B/T: S/R Born: Millinocket, ME Position(s): 2B/OF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Whitney Houston Award (Most Times Hit By Pitch)

Ken Hill Scranton Dunder-Mifflins Age: 34 B/T: L/L Born: Fresno, CA Position(s): LF View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Bobby Brown Award (Most Times Hitting A Batter)

Trevor Miles Colorado Springs AltiDUDES Age: 28 B/T: R/R Born: Baker, WV Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Beatles Award (Longest Hitting Streak)

Hardball Dynasty's

Mark Abercrombie

U2 Award (Pitcher that deserves a worse record)

Sal Freeman Kansas City Shuffle Age: 32 B/T: L/L Born: Trion, GA Position(s): P (SP2) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Kinks Award (Pitcher that deserves a better record)

Odalis Guzman Huntington Cousins Age: 29 B/T: S/R Born: Los Llanos, DO Position(s): P (SP3) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Paula Abdul Award (Walking Away From Too Much Money)

Steven Flaherty

Terence Trent D'arby Award (Player whose contract demands ensured nobody would sign him)

Bret Grace none none Age: 29 B/T: R/R Born: San Diego, TX Position(s): DH/C View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Season 10 First Round Recap

#5 Fresno Fire Dragons (100-62) sweep #4 New York Moon Shots (84-78)
Game One: Fresno 5 @ New York 3
Paul Cooper and Victor Simmons retire the last 18 New York batters; Fresno takes game one 5-3.
Game Two: Fresno 8 @ New York 7
Thanks to Gregg Mabry error in top of 9th, Fresno scores 2 runs, wins 8-7.
Game Three: New York 5 @ Fresno 6
Juan Carrasco's 3 RBI lead Fire Dragons to first round sweep; date with Kansas City.

#3 Jacksonville Juggernauts (97-65) defeat #6 Cheyenne Chillipeppers (98-64) 3-1
Game One: Cheyenne 1 @ Jacksonville 2
Ricardo Diaz avoids the tag at the plate and scores on Roger Stevenson's walk-off RBI single in 9th; Jacksonville wins 2-1.
Game Two: Cheyenne 2 @ Jacksonville 4
Dude Johnson throws six strong innings to give defending champs 2-0 lead.
Game Three: Jacksonville 1 @ Cheyenne 2
Sammy Cordero gives up one run in 8 innings as Cheyenne tries to make a series out of things.
Game Four: Jacksonville 2 @ Cheyenne 1
For 3rd time in series, winning team scores 2 runs; Juggernauts advance to face Charlotte.

#4 Cleveland Steamers (75-97) defeat #5 Salt Lake City Dodgers (96-66) 3-1
Game One: Salt Lake City 1 @ Cleveland 5
Footsie Burnett throws a complete game victory, striking out 11; Cleveland scores 5 in 8th, win 5-1.
Game Two: Salt Lake City 3 @ Cleveland 7
Ruben Estrada's 3-run home run in 8th seals victory for upstart Steamers.
Game Three: Cleveland 7 @ Salt Lake City 8
Back-to-back solo home runs by Vicente Gomez and MVP-candidate Jonathan Cummings in bottom of 9th save SLC season for one more day.
Game Four: Cleveland 11 @ Salt Lake City 1
Footsie Burnett earns second win of series, looks to become Season 10's Max Hernandez; Cleveland advances!

#3 Pawtucket Polythene (94-68) edge #6 New Orleans Breeze (92-70) 3-2
Game One: New Orleans 5 @ Pawtucket 7
September call-up Allie Taylor hits 3-run home run in 6th, Pawtucket beats New Orleans 7-5.
Game Two: New Orleans 6 @ Pawtucket 4
Frank Harris gives up 4 earned runs in 9th, blows first career playoff save; had previously saved all 31 playoff attempts while giving up 5 total runs in 9 seasons.
Game Three: Pawtucket 2 @ New Orleans 3
35-year old Albert Burks earns first career playoff victory, lead Breeze to 2-1 series lead.
Game Four: Pawtucket 4 @ New Orleans 1
Polythene score one run in top of 7th, 8th & 9th innings to put away New Orleans, force decisive 5th game.
Game Five: New Orleans 3 @ Pawtucket 4
New Orleans builds 3 run lead in 4th inning, Pawtucket ties it in 5th, takes lead for good on Paul Reese RBI single in 7th; advance to 9th straight NLDS.