PLAYOFFS: The Finals 2011

SETTING THE SCENE

This is the third year running that I've opened with this song.  Its an old tune, Kenny Rogers I think.  Its my reminder that at the end of the day its simply a child's game.  We can have fun and try and think we're great, but this song and this league is for the 10 year old in all of us. 

Little boy, in a baseball hat,

Stands in a field, with his ball and bat,
says "I am the greatest, player of them all"
puts his bat on his shoulder, and tosses up his ball.

And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,

he swings his bat all the way around,

and the worlds so still you can hear the sound

as the baseball falls, to the ground.

Now the little boy, doesn't say a word,

picks up his ball, he is undeterred,

Says "I am the greatest, there has ever been,"

and he grits his teeth, and tries it again.

And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,

he swings his bat all the way around,

and the worlds so still you can hear the sound

as the baseball falls, to the ground.

He makes no excuses, He shows no fear,

He just closes his eyes, and listens to the cheers.

Little boy, he adjusts his hat

picks up his ball, stares at his bat,

says "I am the greatest, the game is on the line,"

and he gives his all, one last time.

And the ball goes up, like the moon so bright,

Swings his bat, with all his might,

and the worlds as still, as still as can be,

and the baseball falls, and that's strike three.

Now its supper time, and his Mama calls,

little boy starts home, with his bat and ball,

says "I am the greatest, that is a fact,

but even I didn't know, I could pitch like that."

THE GAME

The Dusty Cleats came into this game as overwhelming favourites and justifiably so.  The had a 22 - 2 regular season record.  They had 4 guys hitting over .700.  They had 4 guys with a 100 ABs.  They had the league batting champ.  They had the league batting champ from 2 years ago.  They were 6 - 0 to this point in the playoffs and had beaten the Grisslies during the regular season.  They had been held under 10 runs only three times all year and had won all of those games.  They had scored more than 20 runs ten times and won all those games.  They could win blow outs.  They could win tight games.  They would win with the bats or the gloves.  Their only two loses were by a combined 2 runs. 

In the robin robin, the Cleats weren't threatened.  They went through the other four teams in their pool outscoring them 73 - 39.  In the quarters they knocked off the Dog Catchers 20 - 3 and then dispatched The Wild 12 - 5 in the semis. 

The Cleats are good .... no doubt about it. 

The Grisslies.  I think most people forgot we finished second in the league.  We were in a pack with the Dog Catchers, The Wild, Lucky Stiffs, Brew Jays and Hot Tub Woody's.  With two weeks left in the season everyone could have finished between 2nd and 7th.  We finished 2nd despite having an abysmal record against the league's best teams.  We held very few tie breakers, but we lucked into the right combination of teams winning and losing in the last couple of weeks and woke up to find ourselves in second. 

The round robin section wasn't easy for the Grisslies.  Like the other 4 teams in Pool "B", the Grisslies went 2-2 and good fortune continued to smile on them as their plus minus was enough to earn top spot in the Pool and a bye to Sunday. 

In the quarters, the Grisslies had to fight back from 9 - 1 deficit and were smiled on by lady luck again when the Brew Jays offered the noble gesture of overruling the umpire on a grand slam home run by Rob Hayward.  In the semis there were a lot of hereos, but none bigger than Jim "Mannell" Mannell who had 4 hits and drove in 5 or 6 runs.  Good fortune?  Lady Luck?  Fluke?  It didn't matter, we made the final!

We were the underdogs for sure. 

The game pitted the league's best defense against the league's best offense.  The Grisslies were the only team to allow an average of less than 10 runs a game and the Dusty Cleats were the only team to score more than 400 runs on the year. 

Before the game we had a brief pregame speech and it was more yelled than spoken, but...it went something like this:

"I believe in the soul, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe we can win this game so kick ass and leave it on the field".

Sure, it was a little over the top, but I had to come up with something before Farah started singing "we are the Grisslies" again!  Besides....if you been following along this year, "over the top" is what we do best!

The real truth was that I just didn't want to be embarrassed.  I didn't want us to be be one of those "happy to be there" teams.  We came this far, no harm in continuing to try.  With 100+ spectators representing all the teams in the league, I wanted them to be able to say "that was a good game", reagardless of who won.

I got my wish.

1st Inning

The game started with the Grisslies as visitors for the second consecutive game.  Jim Hunter worked the count deep against Chris Pulfer before grounding out to second.  I came up and drew a 5 pitch walk.  Dave Argue followed with a single moving me to 3rd.  Rob Hayward came up and singled scoring me and moving Dave to 3rd.  We had our first lead of the year against the Dusty Cleats.  Gord Roberston would then double scoring both Argue and Hayward.  Gord was stranded on outs by Jerry Muirhead and Dave Doucette but we had a quick 3 run lead. 

We got Dane, before Scotty singled sharply up the middle.  Gord reached but forced Scott at second leaving a runner at first and two out.  Rob McCarron then flew out to Hayward. 

After one inning it was Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0. 

2nd Inning

The Cleats made short working of us in the 2nd inning.  Farah and Smith both flied out and Mickey Mannell lined out to short.

The second inning was crisp for the Grisslies too.  Robin Dickson, Chris Pulfer and Brett Mabee were set down in order. 

Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0

3rd Inning

We knew the Cleats weren't going to be held down forever, and we were pressing a bit to get more runs.  But the Dusty Cleats turned their second consecutive three up; three down inning as Bill Sallustio, Stephane Simard and Jim Hunter were set down in order. 

Mike Ghaney started this inning with a ground out which was followed by a Craig Beatty flyout.  Next up was Dave Fleming who singled.  With one on and 2 out, Dane came up for his second at bat and ripped a solid single.  Now with two on and two out, Scott Barton was up and I got that first feeling that this might be the inning where the Cleats take control.  Scotty hit the ball about as hard you can and Rob Farah stabbed it on a hop and tossed to 1st for the 3rd out. 

Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0

4th Inning

The Grisslies were somewhat bouyed by the dodging the Scott bullet; however it didn't help me as I led of the inning grounding out to second base.  Dave Argue was next up and he singled.  Rob Hayward followed with fly out.   Then Gord Robertson came up and singled moving Dave to 3rd base with two out.  Jerry Muirhead singled scoring Dave with the Grisslies fourth run.  The inning ended on a Dave Doucette fly out. 

The Grisslies have had a regular rotation of sitting people out through games.  We were in the finals and it didn't seem like the right time to make a change.  However while I was standing at short stop in place of Bob Smith and turned around to see Bill Sallustio behind me in center field in play of Rob Hayward, I started to second guess the strategy.  Gord Robinson led off with a single that was followed by a McCarron single.  Robin made an out that advanced the runners and Pulfer scored them with a single.  The Cleats were on the board and had 2 in, one on and one out.  It was looking like the game was starting to fray a bit.  Neither Bill nor I were involved in a plays, but I still felt guilty with Hayward and Smith on the bench.  The next batter was Brett Mabee and he hit a routine ground ball to me.  I funnelled quickly to Agrue who smoked one to Gord Robertson for the double play.  We escaped the inning. 

Grisslies 4; Dusty Cleats 2

5th Inning

The 5th inning began with Farah being thrown out at first followed by a Bob Smith single.  Mickey Mannell struck out and Bill Sallustio singled Bob over to third.  Steph then hit into a fielders choice ending the inning without scoring a run. 

With the Grisslies regular defense back on the field we got Mike Ghaney for the first out, before Craig Beatty singled hard past third.  However, Craig never advanced as Dave Fleming and Dane both made outs. 

Grisslies 4; Dusty Cleats 2

6th Inning

Jim Hunter started the 6th with a ringing double.  I came up and hit a crappy ball to 2nd that was briefly bobbled, but I was still thrown out in a bang-bang play at 1st.  Dave Argue flew out advancing Jim to third and bringing Rob Hayward to the plate with two out and a runner on third.  The Cleats made the strategic decision to walk Hayward and face Gord Robertson who already had two hits on the day.  It was a smart move, but it didn't work out for the Cleats.  Gord smashed his second double scoring Hunter and Argue.  The ball Gord hit was a liner between left and left-center and had both outfielders charging hard for it.  Mabee and Fleming made valiant stabs at it but it fell to the ground.  Jerry Muirhead then doubled home Gord before Dave flew out to end the inning.

Scott Barton led off the 6th with a single up the middle.  He was thrown at 2nd on a force out on a hit by Gord Robertson.  Rob McCarron then walked putting runners at 1st and 2nd.  Robin Dickson hit a ground ball forcing McCarron at 2nd base but the relay to 1st was off line which allowed Gord to score.  Mabee then hit into a fielders choice ending the inning.  

Grisslies 7; Dusty Cleats 3

7th Inning 

Farah grounded out to start the inning, then Bob Smith hit a double.  Jim Mannell grounded out before Bill Sallustio got his second hit of the day moving Bob to 3rd.  Steph ended the inning on a line out. 

3 outs to go. 

The Cleats 7th inning began with Mike Ghaney singling.  Craig Beaty followed with his second single on the day putting runners at 1st and second with nobody out.  Dave Fleming flied out to right but not deep enough for the runners to advance.

2 outs to go.

Dane flew out to Jim Hunter leaving the runners at 1st and 2nd.

1 out to go.

Scott Barton.  Scott singled right past me at 3rd on a ball I should have at least knocked down.  Gord Robinson followed with a double resulting in two runs and base runners on 2nd and 3rd.  The runner on second was the tying run. I was starting to feel goat horns as McCarron came up.  Rob hit a sharp ground ball, and had it been a foot to the right, we would have been in a tie game.  Instead it went to the sure glove of Bob Smith who went to a knee to get it and then made a perfect throw to 1st.  Game over. 

Grisslies 7; Dusty Cleats 5

EPILOGUE

The Dusty Cleats had a truly remarkable year.  They were 28 - 3 in the regular season and playoffs.  Their three loses were by a combined 4 runs.  The season they had was statistically staggering.  Making it all the more remarkable is that they had the season they did without swagger and down playing their own accomplishments.

I subbed for the Cleats against the Dog Catchers.  They lost that game.  They invited me back to the clubhouse after and I went for a beer.  I was a little worried that they be upset with the loss, but they were about as loose as any team I've played with.  They had a great year, but more importantly I'm convinced that they enjoyed their year.

The way it ended might not have been completely 'fair'.  I get that.  But the baseball gods can be funny.  Maybe it was the Grisslie banner.  Maybe it was the pre-game Bull Durham speech. Maybe it was Fan Appreciation night or the knighting of Sir Rob Hayward.  Maybe it was the shouts from the bench of "Mickey", "Popeye", "Freddy", "Lumiere Rouge", "Catfish" or "Don't Call Me".  Maybe it was 12 guys yelling "Tabernac" in unison or going Hawaiian on Mickey Mannell night.  Maybe it was the red shirt.  Maybe it was the thong.  Maybe it was the lucky charms.  Maybe it was the lucky Jays hat. Maybe it was that we didn't change from game to game.

Or maybe, as Rob and I have said countless times on Saturday and Sunday and again on Monday....Maybe it was just the perfect storm.

PLAYOFFS: Sunday Bloody Sunday

                                                                                                                                                      

To read about all the action from Saturday click HERE

The BLOG above and this one will catch you up to the finals...the finals BLOG will be posted at midnight tonight.
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I've been known to place a wager or two...and if I was to bet on the team least likely to win it before the Sunday's games started I would have bet on the Grisslies.  This has nothing to do with the quality of the team, how hard they played and most importantly; how well they got along together.  It had everything to do with who was left. 

The Grisslies needed to start with the Brew Jays who we were 0 - 1 against, losing a tough 18 - 17 game.  Then, if favourites won, would need to go through the Lucky Stiffs who we were 0 - 2 against losing 7 - 2 and 16 - 13; then deal with the Cleats who beat us 15 - 13.  If the defending champions, The Wild could pull an upset then you could add our 0 - 2 record with losses of 24 - 3 (our only double digit loss of the year) and 7 - 5. 

Added together, the Brew Jays, Dusty Cleats, Lucky Stiffs and The Wild owned a combined 6 - 0 record against the Grisslies and were +34 in those games.  The Grisslies only had two losses on the year that didn't come from that group.  We did exceptionally well on the year, but didn't have any positive results against the top clubs. 

Quarter Finals Results:

Dusty Cleats 20 Vs. Dog Catchers 3
Lucky Stiffs 23 Vs. Red Dogs 7
The Wild 17 Vs. Dislocated Joints 4
Grisslies 24 Vs. Brew Jays 17

Not having witnessed any of the games other the one I played in, I can't speak to 'how' the games were played.  If you went by the scores, it showed the favourites all winning fairly handily.  But sometimes the scores don't reflect the quality of competitiveness of a game.  This was certainly the case in the Brew Jays / Grisslies game.  Like the Torn Ligaments in the Round Robin, the Jays came out fast and swinging hard!

The Grisslies found themselves down 9 - 1 after two innings and things weren't looking good.  The team, as was the case all year, played the same regardless of the score....we started to chip away and the defense settled down. 

In the 5th inning Rob Hayward came up with the bases loaded and hit a bomb to left centre field that appeared to hit the warning track and skip under the fence.  A couple of people thought it went out, but when a ground rule double was called, there was no surprise or arguing.  The runner from first moved to third, Robbie was a second and two runs scored pulling the Grisslies into a tie. 

Rob Hayward and Rod Duggan (playing short stop) were chatting, neither knowing if the ball cleared the fence or not.  Rod called out to Ken Doan (playing center field) asking him if he saw the play.  He indicated that it was home run.  Rod called time before the next pitch was thrown and spoke with the umpire telling him it was a home run, the ump then signaled the home run and Rob Hayward completed the longest home run trot in TOT history. 

I don't know that I've seen a more magnanimous gesture in an elimination game.  This exemplifies our league and will be pointed to in the future as to how we operate.  Well done Brew Jays, our hats our tipped to you. 

Semi Finals Results:

The top four teams in the regular season were still alive.  The order was slightly changed, but not much.  The Dusty Cleats were the number one seed and would face The Wild, the number four seed in the semi final.  These teams finished 1st and 4th in the regular season.  The Lucky Stiffs and Grisslies flip-flopped their regular season order with the Stiffs now occupying the second spot and the Grisslies dropping from 2nd to 3rd. 

The Wild  5  Vs.  Dusty Cleats  12
Grisslies 16  Vs.  Lucky Stiffs  6

Neither game was in a lot of doubt.  There is always an element of worry in this league, every team is capable of a come back, but Stiffs had lost their punch.  They got down early the Grisslies defended well.

There was a little controversy in the middle innings when Jim "Mickey" Mannell reached with a single and asked for a runner.  While we were sorting our the last out, Don Swabuk (umpire), called for the pitcher to throw.  Our batter swung and hit to second while we were still trying to sort out the runner situation.  End of inning.  Some of the Stiff players knew what was happening and stayed on the field thinking that there might be some kind of 'do over' while others trotted off.  Our guys were milling about unsure of what was happening.  I went  out and talked to Don.  I asked him if he had called time and he said "no". 

I said, "no problem, end of inning" and turned to the bench and told the guys to head out to the field.  No squawking from our bench, no complaining.  We went out and had a 3 up 3 down inning and got in right into our groove.  These guys don't rattle.

As a follow up, Donnie came up to me between innings and said that he didn't refuse the call for time; he simply didn't see or hear it.  No harm from our side.  Our next argument with an umpire will be our first.  And for anyone that saw this; this wasn't a failure of the umpire.  The captains (me or Rob) should have been front and centre in calling time and making sure the runner was cleared to go on.  We 'assumed'.  That won't happen again. 

Ultimately, we exercised our second demon of the day in beating the Lucky Stiffs. 

Going Home

Dog CatchersCudnik for a large portion of the season due to injury.  Gary Cox, Randy Hipkin and Steve Hunt all achieved 100 at bats on the season and Paul Doyle and Steve Hunt both hit over .700.

Red Dogs. The Red Dogs finished 11th overall in the league, eked through the Round Robin and pulled an upset over the Hot Tub Woody's in their elimination game on Saturday.  The big issue for the Red Dogs were getting everyone on the same field at the same time...when they did they were damned tough.  Doris Casullo was the only Red Dog to get to 100 ABs.  Will Goodin had as spectacular rookie campaign hitting .797.  Doris and Mike Candy also topped .700.   

Dislocated Joints.  The Joints were the biggest surprise in the quarter finals.  After finishing the season in 14th spot, they pulled off huge round robin upsets against the #5 team the Dog Catchers and the #8 team, the Torn Ligaments to win second in their pool and advance to Sunday.  The Wild made short work of them in the quarters, but it was good run in the end.  Late arrival Bill Krawiec seemed to spur on the team as he .757 in his 37 at bats.  Gary Basso had a fantastic season going .775 and was joined by Neil Pendlebury in the 700 club.

Brew Jays.  The Jays were 6th overall in the league and were a difficult team to play.  They seemed to score at will and were the authors of multiple 7th inning comebacks this year.  The most amazing one was overcoming an 11 run deficit in the 7th.  The Jays had three guys with over a 100 ABs, Jim MacDonald, Bo Niederhuber and Bob Pearce.  Matt Foerster was their leading hitter and their only player over .700.

The Wild.  It took until the semi finals before we knew for sure that The Wild weren't going to three peat as league champs.  What an unbelievable run by Tony Mrasek and Ed Vonda.  Two championships and a semi final appearance in the last three years.  They were hampered, by injuries all years but still finished season in 4th place.  The boasted 4 hitters that hit better than .700; Wilf Roblin, Derryl (not Roger) Gaudet, Dave McGovern and Chuck Cragg. 

Lucky Stiffs.  The Stiffs looked to be the only legit challenge to the Cleats for the first half of the year.  They were .500 in the second half of the season and would finish the season in third place.  Roger Burton and Dan Chiasson both reached 100 ABs for the Stiffs and Roger (.842) was joined by Jens Lepa (.742) as the only batters over 700. 

Finals Matchup:

GRISSLIES Vs. DUSTY CLEATS

PLAYOFFS: Saturday, here in the park

Day 6 Results

Banshees 11 Vs. Hurtin' Units 11

Red Dogs 6 Vs. Torn Ligaments 10

Rusty Rebels 11 Vs. Hot Tub Woody's 9

Dislocated Joints 6 Vs. Grisslies 12

Beer Bros. 8 Vs. Lucky Stiffs 21

Dodge City Rounders 5 Vs. Dusty Cleats 16

Red Dogs 11 Vs. Dog Catchers 5

Rusty Rebels 5 Vs. Brew Jays 8

Banshees 7 Vs. The Wild 16

Beer Bros. 4 Vs. Hurtin' Units 10

Dodge City Rounders 11 Vs. Hot Tub Woody's 15

Dislocated Joints 11 Vs. Torn Ligaments 6

Brew Jays 10 Vs. Dusty Cleats 16

The Wild 8 Vs. Lucky Stiffs 12

Dog Catchers 11 Vs. Grisslies 9

Final Pool Standings

The Top two in each pool received the automatic advancement to play on Sunday and were re-seeded based on a host of tie breaking scenarios. 

1. Dusty Cleats

2. Lucky Stiffs

3. Grisslies

4. The Wild

5. Dislocated Joints

6. Brew Jays

To round out the eight teams required for the quarter finals, the next four teams played an elimination game on Saturday evening.

Elimination Games

#7 Red Dogs 14 Vs. #10 Hot Tub Woody's 11

#8 Dog Catchers 13 Vs. #9 Torn Ligaments 5

NOTES:

I didn't get to see these games or the game sheets, so I don't have much I give you about these games... however I thought it was pretty interesting that all 5 teams in pool B made it through the round robin portion of the tournament.  It was a well contested division to say the least, with all teams finishing 2-2 and having respectable plus/minus to advance. 

GOING HOME:

The tournament ended for seven teams on Saturday. 

Beer Bros.  In their Rookie year as captains, Paul Piellusch and Steve Ross looked poised to make some noise after they upset the Wild on Friday night.  However their usually reliable bats could only must 12 runs through two games on Saturday spelling the end to their season.

Dodge City Rounders.  Dodge City offered the first surprise of the tournament with a shocking 31 - 17 win over the Brew Jays way back on day one.  But they would only score more than 5 runs once more as the finished round robin at 1 - 3. 

Rusty Rebels.  A number of people picked the Rebels as the team to watch in these playoffs.  The finished the season exceptionally well winning 6 of 7 games and won the first game of the Round Robin.  They would drop their next 3 however; by a combined total of 10 runs.  All were closely contested ball games.

Hurtin' Units.  The Units were one of 2 teams to have beaten both the Lucky Stiffs and the Dusty Cleats this season, they were another 'watch out' team in the playoffs.  Their opening losses to the Stiffs and The Wild put them behind the 8-ball before Saturday.  They didn't lose on Saturday, as they beat the Beer Bros., but a tie against the Banshees took them out of contention.

Banshees.  The Banshees were 1 - 1 heading into Saturday.  They had beaten the Beer Bros., but lost to the Lucky Stiffs during the week.  They were equally hurt by the Hurtin' Units tie game and The Wild officially finished their season by beating them in their final game on Saturday afternoon. 

Hot Tub Woody's.  The Woody's had a strange year.  They started awful, were dominant in the middle of the year, were around .500 over the last 8 games and then made it to the elimination game on Saturday evening.  In a close game they were eliminated by the Red Dogs. 

Torn Ligaments.  The Ligaments ended up being the first team from Pool B to go home.  They were eliminated by fellow Pool B competitors, the Dog Catchers.  These guys fought hard all year and hit spectacularly up until this game when they dropped a 13 - 5 decision.

Match ups for Day 7

Quarter Finals

#1  Dusty Cleats Vs. #8  Dog Catchers

#2  Lucky Stiffs Vs. #7  Red Dogs

#3  Grisslies Vs. #6  Brew Jays

#4  The Wild Vs. #5  Dislocated Joints

 

PLAYOFFS: Day 6

Day 5 Results

Beer Bros.  15 Vs. The Wild 11

Dislocated Joints 21 Vs. Dog Catchers 12

Current Pool Standings

 NOTE:  I left this the way it sorted.  The Ligs are not in last as they beat the Gris, the Red Dogs beat the Joints...I hope this sorts out a bit. 

Match ups for Day 6

The first number in brackets after the team name is their overall seeding, the second number is their seeding in their pool....ie Red Dogs (11,4)

Good Luck To Everyone Saturday!!!

POOL "C" - Banshees 1-1 (10,4) Vs. Hurtin' Units (9,3) 0-2

Previous Meetings:  Split 2 games, Banshees won 16 - 13 and Hurtin' Units won 14 - 12

POOL "B" - Red Dogs (11,4) Vs. Torn Ligaments (8,3)

Previous Meetings:  2 games, Torn Ligaments swept the series 9 - 6 and 17 - 12

POOL "A" - Rusty Rebels (12,4) Vs. Hot Tub Woody's (7,3)

Previous Meetings:  Split 2 games, Rusty Rebels won 12 - 9 and Hot Tub Woody's won 17 - 2
 
POOL "B" - Dislocated Joints (14,5) Vs. Grisslies (2,1)
Previous Meetings:  2 games, the Grisslies swept with 5 - 4 and 22 - 4 wins.
 
POOL "C" - Beer Bros. (13,5) Vs. Lucky Stiffs (3,1)
Previous Meetings:  Split 2 games, Lucky Stiffs won 20 - 12 and Beer Bros. won 20 - 4.
 
POOL "A" - Dodge City Rounders (15,5) Vs. Dusty Cleats (1,1)
Previous Meetings:  These teams met only once this season with the Cleats winning 13 - 12
 
POOL "B" - Red Dogs (11,4) Vs. Dog Catchers (5,2)
Previous Meetings:  These teams met only once this season with the Dog Catchers winning 22 - 6
 
POOL "A" - Rusty Rebels (12,4) Vs. Brew Jays (6,2)
Previous Meetings:  Split 2 games, Brew Jays won 19 - 10 and Rusty Rebels won 5 - 2.
 
POOL "C" - Banshees (10,4) Vs. The Wild (4,2)
Previous Meetings:  These teams met only once this season with the Banshees winning 13 - 11.
 
POOL "C" - Beer Bros. (13,5) Vs. Hurtin' Units (9,3)
Previous Meetings:  2 games, the Hurtin' Units swept with 22 - 15 and 14 - 10 wins.
 
POOL "A" - Dodge City Rounders (15,5) Vs. Hot Tub Woody's (7,3)
Previous Meetings:  These teams met only once this season with the Hot Tub Woody's winning 19 - 18.
 
POOL "C" - Dislocated Joints (14,5) Vs. Torn Ligaments (8,3)
Previous Meetings:  2 games, the Dislocated Joints swept with 16 - 9 and 20 - 8 wins.
 
POOL "A" - Brew Jays (6,2) Vs. Dusty Cleats (1,1) 
Previous Meetings:  2 games, the Dusty Cleats swept with 14 - 13 and 22 - 18 wins.
 
POOL "C" - The Wild (4,2) Vs. Lucky Stiffs (3,1)
Previous Meetings: These teams met only once this year with the Lucky Stiffs winning a 14 - 6 contest.
 
POOL "B" - Dog Catchers (5,2) Vs. Grisslies (2,1)
Previous Meetings:  2 games, the Grisslies swept with 14 - 3 and 16 - 11 wins.

PLAYOFFS: Day 5

Day 4 Results

Hot Tub Woody's 15 Vs. Brew Jays 23
Banshees 11 Vs. Lucky Stiffs 19
Rusty Rebels 17 Vs. Dusty Cleats 22
Torn Ligaments 24 Vs. Grisslies 21

Current Pool Standings

This is a little later having played the late game on Thursday night.  The Ligs played very well, particularly offensively.  The Grisslies haven't given up 24 runs in a game since May 9th.  That was the 1st game of the season!  It would be unfair to the Torn Ligaments to say we played poorly defensively; they simply brought their sticks, especially early.  They rolled two 7's and a 5 in the first three innings.  The fact that we fought back to make it a 3 run game speaks volumes to moxie of this collection of Grisslies.  All said, this game was played the way it should be.  Even down a ton early, the guys (both sides) had fun and enjoyed a great night of ball. 

 NOTE:  Dodge City are ahead of the Brew Jays by virtue of 3rd tie breaker rule (head to head)

 NOTE:  Torn Ligaments are ahead of the Grisslies by virtue of the 3rd tie breaker rule (head to head)

 For the Tie Breaker sequence click HERE

Match ups for Day 5

POOL "C" - Beer Bros. (13) Vs. The Wild (4)

Both teams are playing their second round robin game.  The Beer Bros. come in sporting an 0 - 1 record with a tough 21 - 14 loss to the Banshees.  Meanwhile, the 1 - 0, Wild fought through a slow start and bad weather to post a convincing 18 - 12 win over the Hurtin' Units.  During the season these teams matched up twice with the Wild winning by 15 - 5 and 24 - 23 counts.

POOL "B" - Dislocated Joints (14) Vs. Dog Catchers (5)

This is another matchup of 0 - 1 versus 1 - 0 teams.  The Dislocated Joints will be aiming to even their record against the Dog Catchers after dropping a close game (10 - 4) to the Red Dogs.  This has been one of the few losses not to be decided by the maximum 7 runs and could prove to be benificial in a tie break scenario.  Meanwhile the Dog Catchers, who beat the Torn Ligament 20 - 7 will look to maintain control of the "B" pool with a big win.  These teams met twice during the regular season with the Dog Catchers winning by scores of 18 - 7 and 12 - 4. 

PLAYOFFS: Day 4

Day 3 Results

Dodge City Rounders 5 Vs. Rusty Rebels 18

Hurtin' Units 12 Vs The Wild 18

Current Pool Standings

Match ups for Day 4

POOL "A" -  Hot Tub Woody's (7) Vs. Brew Jays (6)

This match up of the #6 and #7 teams in the league has some urgency to it, this early in the round robin.  The Brew Jays come in 0 - 1 having lost a decision to the upstart Dodge City Rounders and the Woody's are also 0 - 1 after getting taken down by the Cleats.  The teams split their season series with the Woody's winning 24 - 13 and the Jays winning 18 - 14.

POOL "C" -  Banshees (10) Vs. Lucky Stiffs (3)

The Banshees and Lucky Stiffs will be wrestling to take control as the only 2 - 0 team in Pool "C" The Banshees and Stiffs both won as favourites with the Banshees besting the Beer Bros. 21 - 14 and the Stiffs downing the Hurtin' Units 12 - 4.  The Banshees have had no luck against the Stiffs this year losing twice.  11 - 1 in the first game and 16 - 7 in the second.

POOL "A" -   Rusty Rebels (12) Vs. Dusty Cleats (1)
The Rusty Rebels will have no time to rest after defeating the Dodge City Rounders 18 - 5.  They have to hop right back on the wagon and face the #1 over all seed in the Dusty Cleats.  The Cleats are fresh off their win in their first round robin game over the Hot Tub Woody's (19 - 7) and are ready to get back at it.  The Rebels come in winners of 6 of their last 7.  The Cleats are 5 of their last 7.  Two hot teams.  These teams played in week one with the Cleats winning 22 - 19.  Later the Cleats would win a rain shortened affair 8 - 7.
POOL "B" -   Torn Ligaments (8) Vs. Grisslies (2)
The Grisslies will try to remain undefeated against a Torn Ligaments squad that hung against the Dog Catchers despite a number of injuries.  The final of that game was 20 - 13.  The Ligaments feature depth up the middle including be two deep at the pitching spot.  During the season the Grisslies beat the Torn Ligaments 17 - 5 in their only meeting.

BONUS STAT

One of my favourite stats (not just because I'm in it) is the century club for At Bats.  This is a combo thing...you have to be on a decent enough team to get enough ABs, but you also have to not miss many games.  Looking over the list, I'd say there are less than 10 missed games between the 20 guys.  Add that to a combined .700 OBA and they are pretty reliable guys.  Present company withstanding.

 

PLAYOFFS: Day 3

Day 2 Results

Hot Tub Woody's 7 Vs. Dusty Cleats 19

Torn Ligaments 13 Vs. Dog Catchers 20

Dislocated Joints 10 Vs. Red Dogs 14 

Beer Bros. 14 Vs. Banshees 21

Current Pool Standings

As this will come up at some point, I'm including the tie break scenario's for your review.  These were agreed upon in the July Captain's / Executive meeting.  The teams are sorted by the tie breaker format with the exception of Head to Head which must be accounted for.  Again, and as always, the standings that I post are for informational use and are superceded by anything posted on the league website.  (And they shouldn't be used for gambling purposes either)

Tie-break rules:

• Total points
• Greater number of wins
• Head to Head
• Plus / Minus
• Runs for
• Runs against
• Regular season standings

Some interesting notes:  While all the #1 pool seeds are undefeated through one game they are all in second place on various tie break scenarios.  In first place are the #5, #2 and #4 pool seeds.  Those teams finished the year in 15th, 5th, and 10th place in the regular season standings. 

Match ups for Day 3

POOL "A" - Dodge City Rounders (15) Vs. Rusty Rebels (12)

Dodge City is playing their second game of the tournament and bring a 1 - 0 record into this match.  The Rusty Rebels (arguably) had a worse first half of the season than the Rounders.  But they rebounded to have the 3rd best record in the league in the second half and moved up the rankings, still last in offense but jumping up to 9th defensively.  These teams met twice during the season with the Rebels winning 19 - 15 and 14 - 12.

POOL "C" - Hurtin' Units (9) Vs. The Wild (4)

The Hurtin' Units are making their second appearance of the post season and come into this game trying to recover from an 0 - 1 start.  They are meeting the always dangerous and two time defending champion, Wild who finished the year in fourth place with the 8th best offense, the 2nd best defense and the 4th best run differential.  These teams matched up twice during the season.  In the first game the Hurtin' Units walked away with a convincing 22 - 14 victory.  In the second game, The Wild ended up with the point that secured 4th place with a needed 11 - 11 tie against the Units. 

BONUS STATS

Here is a look at each teams top 4 hitters over the second half of the season...govern yourselves accordingly. 

PLAYOFFS: Day 2

Day 1 Results

Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley used to say that the playoffs didn't really start until a home team lost.  So, by the calendar and by Riley's thinking, the playoffs are in full swing.  We all knew of course that there would be upsets, but there was a typical shocker on day one with the 4 - 20 Dodge City Rounders pulling off the upset over the 13 - 9 - 2 Brew Jays.  The other two games saw the #2 and #3 team win over #11 and #9.   While those victories resulted in a +7 for the Lucky Stiffs and Grisslies; the Red Dogs and Hurtin' Units were very much in those games and in both cases the favourites were aided by late seven run innings. 

For Paul Gyori's game notes on the Stiffs V. Units game, click HERE.  If anyone else would like to submit any commentary from a game they participated in or watched; please send an email to dwyerdouglas@gmail.com and I'll get is submitted for you.  Thanks Paul!

Red Dogs 11 Vs. Grisslies 18
Hurtin' Units 4 Vs. Lucky Stiffs 12
Dodge City Rounders 31 Vs. Brew Jays 17

Current Pool Standings

Match ups for Day 2

POOL "A" - Hot Tub Woody's (7) Vs. Dusty Cleats (1)

The Hot Tub Woody's had a slow start and a slow end to the season but were brilliant in the middle to finish over .500 on the year.  The Dusty Cleats were dominant throughout.  The Woody's sport the leagues 5th best offense but the 13th best offence, while the Cleats come in #1 in offense, #3 in defense and #1 in run differential.  These teams met twice in the regular season with the Dusty Cleats prevailing 18 - 5 and 19 - 15.

POOL "B" -  Torn Ligaments (8) Vs. Dog Catchers (5)

The Dog Catchers were models of consistency playing to a 7 - 5 record in both halves of the season to earn a 5th spot overall in the league.  The Torn ligaments rebounded from a dreadful start (4 - 8) to finish the season .500 with a terrific second half.  The Dog Catchers are balanced with the league's 2nd best offense and 5th best defense.  The Ligaments come into this game 11th rated offense and 8th rated defense.  However, in the second half of the year they are rated 5th and 6th in those categories.  The teams met twice during the season and split the games with the Ligaments winning 15 - 9 and the Dog Catchers evening things up with a 12 - 9 win.

POOL "B" - Dislocated Joints (14) Vs. Red Dogs (11)

The Dislocated Joints bring the 12th ranked offense and 10th ranked defense into this match up with the Red Dogs.  The Red Dogs will be the 1st team to have played a second game in these playoffs and this will be a statement game.  Going 0 and 2 will NOT be devestating, but it will put them in a position no one wants to be in.  The teams met just once during the regular season with the Joints winning 15 - 11.

POOL "C" -  Beer Bros. (13) Vs. Banshees (10)

The Beer Bros. potent offense is ranked 3rd in the league; however, their defense is ranked 13th overall.  The Banshees also play their first game bringing in the 8th ranked offense and 12th ranked defense.  If you like a lot of runs, this should be your game.  Case in point; these teams played just once during the year and combined for 44 runs in a 22 - 22 tie.  Bring an extra score card to this one. 

BONUS BLOG: Team Stats Breakdown

More Numbers
Well lads, this is as far as I made it before the playoffs start....  This is somewhat of a summary of everything else you've seen without having to rummage back and forth to see who's ahead of you and who's behind.  One stop shopping if you will.
If you want to review the summary of each Pool, you can click on HERE, THERE and EVERYWHERE.

So, this one you've seen a number of times...each team's record, winning percentage and rank.  Based on the winning percentage and nothing else.

This is the same as above, but only accounts for each team's first 12 games.

Again, the same; but this time only accounts for each team's last 12 games. 

In order to avoid doing 9 different charts (lazy, eh?) I've condensed Runs Scored, Runs Against and Run Differential into one chart.  I've ranked each team in each category and then averaged the ranking.  Example:  The Dusty Cleats are 1st in runs scored, 3rd in runs against and 1st in run differential, (1, 3, 1 for an average ranking of 1.66).  Teams are sorted by their average rank, which is found in the last column.  I think its (a little) interesting to see how teams finished in this order compared to the actual standings.  Its surprisingly similar with a couple of notable differences that I'll let you discover. 

Same as above for the first 12 games of the season. 

Same as above for the final 12 games of the season.

Match ups for Day 1

POOL "B" -  Red Dogs (11) Vs. Grisslies (2)

The Red Dogs have the league's 14th best offence and the 6th best defense.  Meanwhile the Grisslies bring their #4 offense and #1 defense into the game.  The teams met twice during the regular season with the Red Dogs winning the first game 13 - 4 and Grisslies evening it up in the second game with 19 - 12 win. 

POOL "C" -  Hurtin' Units (9) Vs. Lucky Stiffs (3)

The Units have the 10th best offense and the 11th best defense.  The Stiffs finished with the 7th best offense and were 4th in defense.   These teams met twice this year with the Lucky Stiffs winning an 8 - 2 defensive game before the Unit's exacted their revenge in their last game of the season winning a 13 - 12 dramatic comeback game.   

POOL "A" -  Dodge City Rounders (15) Vs. Brew Jays (6)

Dodge had the league's 13th best offense and 15th best defense.  For the Brew Jays, they finished #5 in offense and #7 in defense.  These teams met twice in the regular season and the Brew Jays had their way with Dodge City; winning the first game 16 - 5 and the second game 18 - 11.

BONUS BLOG: Pool "C"

THE NUMBERS

Here is what you will be reading about Pool "C". If you missed the report on Pools "A" and "B", click THIS and THAT.

• Season record and where it ranks (wins only, not points)
• Record for 1st half of the year and 2nd half of the year and rank
• Runs scored for the year plus rank, followed by the same view for the 1st half and 2nd half
• Runs against for the year plus rank, followed by the same view for the 1st half and 2nd half
• Plus / Minus for the year plus rank, followed by the same view for the 1st half and 2nd half
• Then we have the record for the Pool. This is the combined record of every team in the pool EXCEPT the one being evaluated.
• Then we have 'record against level'. If your pool (minus your team) was .500, then this would indicate what your record was this year against all teams who finished the season at or over .500.
• Finally we have the head 2 head record within the pool.

POOL "C"