Week #18
The regular season is over, and the playoff teams have been determined after a photo finish for just about all the playoff spots.
This years Division Winners are the Stingrays, X-Men, Creeping Death and Connection. The wildcard spots went to the Destroyers, Blackjacks, Clippers and Hummers.
The final week of the season saw every playoff spot/position still up for grabs. There were some wild scenarios that could have played out, and of course some of them did.
In the A Division, the Stingrays got 4 wins and top 8 to finish with 64 team points, one more than the Destroyers, and take the division title as well as the overall league points sidepot. The Destroyers take the top wildcard spot thanks to their sweep of the Oysters, but they failed to get a top 8 finish as they scored just 104 points. That missed top 8 point was the single point they finished behind for the overall top team points. The Oysters see their division lead and playoff hopes crumble in the final week. The Oysters only managed to score 75 points for the week as they get swept by the Destroyers, but end up in a tie with the Blackjacks for a wildcard spot. They lose the tiebreaker 51-50 on wins, leaving them out of the playoffs. As if it wasn't bad enough for the Oysters, they also lost the M-Th game to the Destroyers on a tiebreaker, as the two teams tied 46-46, but the Destroyers were the home team. That is about as close as you can get to the playoffs, and not get in. A heartbreaking way to go.
The X-Men held a one point advantage over the Blackjacks in the B Division going into the final week, and then both teams went on to sweep their opponent. Both teams also got a top 8 finish, so the X-Men hold onto the one point lead and win the division. The Blackjacks were left to hope for some help in the wildcard race, and they got it thanks to the Destroyers sweep of the Oysters.
The Creeping Death and Clippers were dead even going into the final week, and the Death take the division title after their 4 win week over the Cobras. The Clippers only manage 2 wins for the week, but did get a top 8 finish, to finish one point back and take a wildcard spot. Tough week for the Clippers, as their opponent Wiseguys play the spoiler with one of their better weeks with 161 points to wash out the Clippers division title hopes.
The Connection come all the way back and win the D Division title after their 4 win week and top 8 finish. The Hummers can only get 2 wins over the Redbirds, despite scoring 157 points. The Redbirds also play the spoiler with their best week of the year, as they posted a league high 178 points. The Hummers do advance as a wildcard team.
The Redbirds also managed to steal the team high game sidepot on the final game of the regular season. They posted a 63 on Sunday, one better than the previous high set by the Stingrays.
Many sidepots went down to the wire as well, as the Stingrays get a 46 point week from their Arizona pitching to win that close sidepot. The Connection only got 3 points from catcher LoDuca, but is was good enough to hold onto a 3 point margin over the Cobras' Fick.
This was quite a finish, as every single game played in the final week had serious playoff implications. It was one of the closest leagues I have ever been involved in. Almost every team in the league was in playoff contention in the final weeks of the regular season.
Here is a quick look at how the games were determined in Week #18:
Destroyers 5 Oysters 0
Nothing fancy for Steve, a M-Th tiebreaker
and 3 wins over the weekend. Despite scoring just 104, the Destroyers almost
take a share of the overall league points sidepot. Magglio led the team with 27.
JR/Corey are left out of the playoffs, as their Oysters picked the wrong week to
post their worst effort of the year. After losing on the tiebreaker, the team
never recovered as they go 7-7-15 over the weekend. Kearns led the team with 19,
but it is a disastrous way to finish the year for the Oysters.
Stingrays 4 Barracudas 1
The Barracudas still had a little fight in
them but the Stingrays had more than enough in the tank to post the 2nd high in
the league and take the Division and overall team points title. It has been
quite a ride for Merv/Mike this year, but the team rallies and gets the job
done. While it was mostly all good for the 'Rays, losing the team high game
sidepot on the final game of the regular season is a little disappointing for
the Myers. The 'Rays were led by Boone's big 39 point week, along with the
sidepot clinching 46 point week from their Arizona pitching staff. Bert/Pam/Ron
see a rough season come to an end. Kent and Beltre both had 26 point weeks to
lead the team.
X-Men
5 Vipers 0
Al/Mike get the sweep and top 8 finish,
which it turns out was needed to hold off the Blackjacks for the division title.
The X-Men were led by Chipper's 28 and Erstad's 25. On to the playoffs for Al,
yet again. Rogan's Vipers fell out of the playoff race in the final weeks, and
couldn't muster up much to contend with the X-Men. The Vipers were led by
Furcal's 23 point week.
Blackjacks 5 Contributors 0
Bill's team gets the needed sweep and top 8
finish, as the Blackjacks also get the need help as the advance to the playoffs.
Vladi led the team with 37, and got help from Green with 30. John/Frank stumble
across the finish line as their Contributors team continues their late season
funk. Not a lot of good news for the Contributors as they finish out of the
playoffs after a solid start to the year. Vina led the team with 15.
Creeping Death 4 Cobras 1
The Commish and Mr. Tom Brady get the
necessary wins to take the C Division title. The Death didn't crack the top 8,
but had a respectable 129 point week. They were helped by the Cobras 1 point
game on Sunday, as they take the 4 wins to advance on. The team was led by
Woodward's 22 week, or more preciously his 17 point M-Th game. Maze/Sturken
needed a lot of help to get in, but couldn't get the job done in their own game.
A 1 point game Sunday, despite $-Rod scoring 8, was not a good way to go out.
The Cobras also had several players in sidepot contention, but also came up a
little short there as well. $-Rod led the team again with a 20 point week.
Wiseguys 3 Clippers 2
Chris/George put up a solid week, as their
Wiseguys prevent the Clippers from a division title after their 161 point week.
While out of the playoff race, the Wiseguys came through with a solid
performance to help decide a division race. Konerko, Jones and Finley all posted
20+ point weeks to lead the 'Guys. Mike/Harry get a solid week from their
Clippers, but can only manage the two wins as they fall one point short of the
division title. Burrell and Dunn led the 'Clips with 28 and 23.
Redbirds 3 Hummers 2
Larry/Tim get their best performance of the
year from their Redbirds, as the post a league high 178, and also take the team
high game sidepot with 63 on Sunday. The Redbirds performance knocked the
Hummers out of the division lead and into a wildcard spot. The 'Birds were led
by Sosa's monster 52 point week, after Sammy went nuts a Coors Field all
weekend. Jeff/Scottx2 make the playoffs, but have to be a little disappointed
after they posted a 4th high points total of 157. Barry led the way again with
30, as he took the individual player points honors in the league this year.
Connection 4 Victory 1
Scott/Chris climb all the way back to the
top, as their Connection take the D Division title after their 155 point week.
While things were tough early on, the defending champs make it back to the
playoffs and take quite a few sidepots, including high team scoring average,
along the way. Olerud led the team with 29. Brian's Victory continue to struggle
as the regular season comes to an end. The Victory were leading the league in
scoring for quite some time, but couldn't get wins. They finish the year
struggling to score points, and they are left out of the playoffs. Eckstein led
the Victory with 17.
Week
#18 Awards:
Player of the Week:
Sosa, Redbirds 52 Points
Sammy goes off here in Denver over the weekend, to help the Redbirds take the
league high score for the week.
Pitching
Staff of the Week: Arizona, Stingrays
46 Points
Merv/Mike get a big week from their staff, helping them win the A Division and
take the sidepot as well.
Surprise of the Week: The league was close throughout the year, but could anyone have imagined how close the playoff races and sidepots would have been all the way down to the final week? Parity is a good thing in sports, makes things quite exciting to follow.
Sad
story of the week:
The Oysters finish out of the playoffs, thanks to two separate tiebreaker losses
in the final week. A long off-season for JR/Corey.
Good luck to everyone in the playoffs! I am outta here!
The
Commish
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