Playoffs Round One
The first round of the playoffs saw two lopsided wins by favored teams, a major upset and a close battle decided by late heroics. The Contributors and Blackjacks had no problem advancing as the top two scoring teams for the week. The reward for the teams is round three of their season long battle. The Vipers pulled off the major upset as the ended the season of top seeded Hummers. The Death get the narrow win over the Cobras as they make a big comeback late in the game on Sunday. The two C Division teams remaining will face off in the semi-finals.
Here is a summary of how round one played out:
Contributors 4 Stingrays 1
The Contributors had the match won by Saturday with impressive consistent games
of 67-26-39. The Stingrays break up the sweep on Sunday, but too little to late.
Phillips, Castillo and Ordonez led the Contributors with 20+ each. Next up for
McSwain is the Blackjacks in what should be a great battle. Merv/Mike's season
comes to an end as they lose to a fellow A Division team. The Stingrays had a
solid week from $-Rod with 31, but not nearly enough to overcome the quick start
by the Contributors. It was another solid season for the Myers, they just had
the misfortune of being in the A Division. This was the toughest Division in the
league by far.
Blackjacks 4 Destroyers 1
Bill's team darted out to a huge early lead thanks to a monster 88 point game
during the week, as they cruised to a 4-1 win with 195 points scored. Seven of
the nine Blackjack players scored 10+ during the week, and they kept on slugging
as the team posted games of 30-40-37 over the weekend. Thome was the team leader
with a big 40 point week. Revenge is on the mind of Mr. Phillips as he seeks to
avenge the loss to the Contributors in the final week, a loss that gave up a
division lead they had held for most of the year. Steve/Frank had the unlucky
task of playing the week's top scoring team, and while they posted a respectable
144 points they could only manage a single win, on a tiebreaker at that. The
Destroyers had battled back during the regular season and won the B Division,
but the 36 point weekday deficit was to much to battle back from. It is the 3rd
straight year in the baseball playoffs for the Destroyers, but they are still
looking for their first series win. All in all, another solid season for the
Destroyers.
Vipers 3 Hummers 2
Rogan's Vipers get the major upset win over the top ranked Hummers. It was a
44-15 win on Saturday that was the deciding game for the Vipers, as that gave
them a big advantage in total points. The Hummers needed a huge win on Sunday to
make up total points, and the Vipers tried to help out by scoring just 4 points.
The Hummers could only put a 21 point game on Sunday, leaving them 11 points
shy. The Vipers will advance on thanks to solid weeks from Pierre with 28 and
Castilla with 22. Jeff/Scottx2 have to be disappointed with the first round
showing from their Hummers. The team was simply dominating all year and then
they put up a 116 point week, nearly 30 points below their season average.
Ichiro led the Hummers with 35, but it certainly is a tough pill to swallow for
the Hummers after such a solid season. Congrats to Jeff/Scottx2 on a great
regular season performance.
Death
3 Cobras 2
WOW! That is about all you can say about the
finish of this series. Maze/Sturken had things seemingly in hand, when suddenly
the Commish's team gets the much needed call from the Governor. Things started
off good for the Cobras as they took the early lead with a 56-50 win during the
week. The Death battled back with a 25-15 win on Friday, but then watched the
Cobras explode for a 46-27 win on Saturday. The Commish was pretty dejected
trailing by 15, and now needing a win on Sunday as well as total points. The
Commish was working Sunday in his sales office, to disgusted to even "call out
sick" and track the games. Maze was at work to, but on the phone following the
scores closely. The Commish gets a call on his cell from Maze, and he figures
that is just the conformation that the Death season is over. Maze relays the
story of the amazing swing in the Montreal/San Fran game. The Cobra pitching
staff (SF) has a shutout with 2 outs in the 9th, and a full count. BAM! A HR by
the Montreal batter.....a Grand Slam at that......and hit by Death OF Wilkerson!
Talk about a major turn of events! Maze is now disgusted, although this is still
a close match. The Commish finishes his day at work, is driving home when the
cell phone goes off. It is Maze again, this has to bad news for the Death, it
only seems fair. Maze is about ready to throw up......Death 2B Catalanotto only
makes a PR appearance, and Death sub middle infielder Kennedy has the game of
his life. Kennedy puts up a 18 point game, now giving the Death a 17 point lead
on Sunday, and 2 point lead overall. It is now up to the late games, the Death
has Abreu/Blalock/Konerko, while the cobras have Thomas/Polanco. Abreu gets on
base his first 3 times up, while Polanco takes and 0-4. Blalock is a dnp,
Konerko gets a 1. Thomas responds with just1 point and the series is over. Truly
a tough defeat for a Cobra squad that was looking for redemption after a long
payoff drought. The commish and his Death team move on, while Maze/Sturken are
left wondering when the fantasy gods will finally take them off the proverbial
jinxed list. A nice season for the Cobras, just a tough way to go out.
Here is a brief look at the second round matchups in the playoffs:
Blackjacks @ Contributors
Two teams that battled all year only to see
the Contributors take the Division title in the final week of play. Both teams
are playing well and it is a tough call no matter how you look at
it.......Blackjacks win 3-2.
Vipers @ Death
The Death were the division winner while the
Vipers just knocked off the top seed in the playoffs. The two teams had similar
scoring averages during the regular season. Looking for a edge in this matchup?
Try this.....the Vipers have 3 players from the Braves in their starting lineup,
Castilla, Furcal and A. Jones. Guess where the Braves play this weekend????? You
got it.....right here in Coors Field. Advantage Vipers.......3-2.
Good luck to everyone in round two of the playoffs! I am outta here!
The
Commish
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