2217 Roll Up

[ballmark]

The lice have left ... hello, Tampa Bay! I am secretly (well, not so secretly now) wondering if our new owner snuck in a classic pun with the team nickname - the Beach - y'know, owned by BlondeBombshell so it's like "bleach blonde" only "Beach Blonde" (ba-dum ching!) ... ahem. Well. I won't give up my day job.

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With the exception of the Twins once again returning to the playoffs, this year was a repeat of last year's postseason scene, except I don't know who is going to win the World Series as I write this. Let's take a look.

Atlanta, with 111 wins, topped our regular season in 2217. That tied last year's mark for Stephen, and the Braves rostered half a dozen All Stars - two fewer than last year - and also claimed the NL MVP. Atlanta then marched into the World Series for the third season in a row by topping the Heatwave in a six game NLCS.

Our next regular season win total went to the New York Titans with 109 wins, returning to the playoffs after missing last year. 109 is a franchise high for Chris, and four more than last year. Congratulations! New York put eight onto the Midsummer Classic team, the AL Cy Young, and the AL MVP, in fact four of the five candidates were Titans!

Arizona continued to climb back into potential winner's circle status with 106 victories, a solid 10 more than last year and placed eight on the NL All Star squad and upended Johnny Sain's hold on the NL Cy Young, replacing him with Heatwave hurler Tim LaPalme, in just his third year in the majors. They lost the NLCS again, but they'll be back.

Our final Wild Card this were the LA Twins, back for the tenth time in the last twelve years! That's pretty dang remarkable, Todd! Good job, man. 101 wins was three more than 2216 and just the second time in the last seven years LA has hit triple digits in wins. Yet here they are in the playoffs again. Manager of the Year, I swear. Five All Stars and the AL FOY are all the accolades this team can muster as I write. They did outmaneuver the Titans in the ALCS to find themselves once again the World Series, for the fourth time in the last six years. Remarkable.

Good luck to both World Series teams ... Atlanta is one win away as I finish typing, but I'm not counting LA out of this!

WON-LOSS VARIANCE FOR THE REST OF US:
San Francisco = +16 ... THIRD straight year of positive growth. Contender next year!
Pittsburgh = +14 ... hey, there's life in Steeltown!
Boston = +13 ... last year I said "two steps up" this year. Mission accomplished!
Texas = +13 ... I still don't think they're ready, but I'm biased.
Cincinnati = +2 ... captain of their own fate, now.
Milwaukee = <1> ... see Cincinnati.
Seattle = <3> ... is the window for competition closing?
Tampa Bay = <8> ... rebuild continues.
Cleveland = <10> ... in playoffs last year. They'll be back!
Baltimore = <12> ... can't tell if rebuilding or angling for draft position.
LA NL = <19> ... rebuild takes a hit. Good draft year for it, though.
Philadelphia = <22> ... bottom feeders second year in a row.

[ptech]

Philadelphia = <22> ... bottom feeders second year in a row.

The bottom is where the tasty prospects live, Mark.

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I should have mentioned something about that, yes.

[ptech]

Nah man. No worries. This is easily the worst team I’ve ever assembled