2081 AOR DieHards Playoffs

[joebaseball]

...As the 2081 season nears its end, the league has seen some changes in how the playoffs are shaping up. In Conference A, Division 1, the surprising Llano Llamas(87-68) have gone 9-1, and are now in 1st place, with 5 games remaining. The Fukuoka SouthBank Hawks(86-71) held the lead throughout most of the regular season, but now find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the Llamas.
...In Division 2, the Seattle Grinders(100-56), with the league's best record, overcame a slow start to lead the Flagstaff Giants(90-66), by 10 games. " The Giants had originally planned to begin rebuilding this season, "said joebaseball, owner/manager of the Giants. "But with a couple of free agent signings, we decided to give it another shot. The Grinders will be a tough team, as usual, to get passed in the playoffs... Seems familiar somehow..." With 4 games remaining for both teams, the Grinders and the Giants currently have the best two records in the league.
...In Conference B, Division 3, there are 3 teams still in the running for a playoff spot and the Lake Erie Monsters(83-73) are in 1st place over the Peconic Bay Scallopss((82-75), and the Canadian PolarBears(80-76), all fighting for two playoff spots.
...Division 4 has the (89-66) Frankfurt Eagles leading the 88-68 Groom Lake Engineers and the 87-69 Solingen Explorer by 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 games respectively in the league's other 3 team race. Perennial champion, the Murrieta Mayhem(76-79) is 13 games back, but has gone 9-1 in their or last 10 games.
..."There's a lot at stake for these teams and its come down to the season's end," joebaseball added. "Its good to see so many teams having a chance to win it all this late in the season, and no matter who wins this year, next season should be even better."

[joebaseball]

...The 2081 AOR Diehards playoffs will get underway soon, and some series participants have already been decided. In Conference A, Division 1, the Llano Llamas(89-70)-1 game left, will meet the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks(89-71). The Llamas have 1 more game remaining, and, should they lose, it will result in a season record tie with the Hawks. In Division 2 the Seattle Grinders(103-57) will host the Flagstaff Giants(92-68). The two teams went 1-2 in runs scored this season, with Seattle scoring a league leading 241 runs, and the Giants 2nd with 183.
..In Conference B the Lake Erie Monsters(85-75) will meet the Peconic Bay Scallops(84-76). Division 4 is not yet decided, with the Frankfurt Eagles(91-68) playing either the Groom Lake Engineers or the Solingen Explorer, both currently at 89-71. Groom Lake would take the Division record tie Breaker, (49-29) to (34-36)
...If Frankfurt wins their final game, they would tie the Flagstaff Giants for the leagues 2nd best record...

[joebaseball]

...One of the Conference A playoff teams has been decided, with the Flagstaff Giants upsetting the league leading Seattle Grinders 4-1 to take the Division 2 title. "We got hot at the right time," said joebaseball, owner/manager of the Giants. "Seattle is a great team, and although we briefly led the division in the regular season, they blew by us and stayed on top. Its a tribute to our players that they came through in the crunch against the Grinders... Hopefully we can do the same in the Conference playoffs..."
...The Giants await the outcome of the Division 1 series, where the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks lead the Llano Llamas 3-2.
...In Conference B, the lake Erie Monsters swept the Peconic Bay Scallops 4-0 to take the Division 3 title and will face the winner of the Division 4 playoffs, with the Groom lake Engineers leading 3-2 over the Frankfurt Eagles.

[joebaseball]

..It'll be the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks vs the Flagstaff Giants for the Conference A Championships after the Hawks downed the Llano Llamas to take the Division 1 Title 4 games to 2.
...More to come after Division 4 is decided...

[dl3mk3]

I would say good series, but Seattle didn't seem to want to make it competitive, good luck to Flagstaff moving on.

[joebaseball]

...The Division 4 series has been decided with the Groom Lake Engineers playing host to the Lake Erie Monsters, after the Engineers defeated the Frankfurt Eagles 4 games to 3...
...Groom Lake and Lake Erie met 9 times during the regular season, with the Engineers taking the series, 5 games to 4. Pretty close there, hard to call a favorite... Groom Lake's 46-34 record at home might enable them to take advantage of Lake Erie's 40-40 road record...
...The Flagstaff Giants and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks played each other during the season 9 times, and the Giants managed a 6-3 record. The Giants will have the homefield "advantage" in the series. With Flagstaff having a 48-32 record at home, and Fukuoka with a 47-33 record on the road, neither team can claim a real advantage in this series...
..."Its great to see the newer owners fielding so many teams in the playoffs this season," said joebaseall, "They'll all be seasoned veterans in the DieHards next year... and good luck to all the teams in the playoffs..."

(doaf always used to welcome new owners into the league with, "Good luck and don't beat the Snowmen...")

[joebaseball]

I would say good series, but Seattle didn't seem to want to make it competitive, good luck to Flagstaff moving on.

... Seattle has always been tough, both during the regular season and in the playoffs... I'll have to go over the league history someday and see what our career records for our teams are, but I frankly did not expect to get by the Grinders at all this playoffs...

[joebaseball]

...With a 9-1 victory over the Division Champion Fukuoka SoftBanK Hawks, the Flagstaff Giants claimed the Conference A Title 4 games to 3, and are moving on to the AOR DieHards 2081 World Series, where they will meet the Conference B Champion Groom Lake Engineers.
..."Hats off to The Hawks," said joebaseball, owner/manager of the Giants. "They beat some good teams to get here and it was a tough series against the Giants."
...Groom Lake is batting .262 during the playoffs, scoring 60 runs in 12 games, with 24 HR's. Their era is at 4.11 with 5 saves. The Giants are hitting .283, matching The Engineers with 60 runs scored, and adding 15 HR's. The Staff's era is 3.58 with 6 saves.
...the two teams met once during the season in Groom Lake for a 3 games series, with the Giants taking the honors 2 games to 1.

[joebaseball]

..."We're going to 7 games," commented joebaseball after the Giants won a close 7-5 game at home vs the Groom lake Engineers to tie the 2081 AOR Diehards World Series at 3-3. "Its almost a shame this series has to end, its been real close all the way."
...Groom Lake has won one previous world series title, in 2059, and lost one in 2062. The Giants have gone 4-4 in world series play, although one of those losses took place back in the 1984 season,when they were under different management and were known as the "Silly Sluggers"

[joebaseball]

...Congrats to the Groom Lake Engineers, who took game 7 2-0, behind the solid pitching of Lefty Obaid Phillips, to win the AOR DieHards 2081 World Series title! Phillips went 18-4, with a 2.06 era during the regular season, and 6-1 .067 during the playoffs, in one of the more dominating performances the DieHards have seen. Phillips averaged 15 KO's, and 2.3 W"s during the playoffs, and opponents managed only a .128 average and slugged .194 against the lefty.
..."Just our luck to go up against a pitcher of his caliber," said joebaseball, "Hats off to him and Groom Lake..."
...In 10 previous seasons, Obaid did not start a SINGLE game!!! He had 26 QS in 32 Starts this year, and 330 KO's... One shudders to think what might have been had the previous owner(s) made him a starter earlier in his career. Although his low endurance made for no CG's during the regular season, his impact during the playoffs this year cannot be denied. WTF were the previous owners thinking?