Well our Dynasty 1971 league playoffs were slow in starting but we have finally reached the world series which finished before I finished writing this post: Here is a rundown of how the playoffs went:
AL Wildcard Series: Washington Senators vs California Angels
The Senators came in as big favorites winning game one 4-3 needing one more win at home to clinch but the angels rallied to win game two Tommy John beating Jim Kaat 7-5. Game three was a shocker as Juan Marichall who came in 3rd in the Cy Young voting collapsed and the angels held back a Senators rally to win game 3 7-5 to take the series.
NL Wildcard Series Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies behind MVP Joe Torre took game one at home 7-6 but the Braves 1-2 punch of Jenkins and Cuellar were too much for the Phils as they took game 2 6-5 and game 3 11-2 to coast to a wild card win.
AL Divisional Round Baltimore Orioles vs California Angels
Tom Bradley shut out the O’s in game 1 3-0 and it looked like another upset was in the works but Baltimore outlasted the angels winning game 2 2-1 in 11 innings and Mickey Lolich and Ray Culp combined to finish them off winning game 3 5-3 and game 4 11-2 to get to the League Championship series
AL Divisional Round Oakland A’s vs Kansas City Royals
Oakland led the AL West from start to finish on the back of excellent pitching but they had nothing on the Royals as Lew Krausse and Bert Blyleven shut out the A’s back to back to start the series winning game one 1-0 beating Vida Blue and game two 2-0 stopping Sonny Siebert. In game 3 the A’s finally got on the board for three runs but the Royals scored five to sweep the series three games to none.
National League Divisional Series
New York Daytraders (mets) vs Chicago Cubs
The Daytraders won 110 games this season and were a heavy favorite vs the wild card cubs and Tom Seaver’s game one win 3-2 put them on the right track. The Cubs won game 2 7-4 to even the series but the Daytraders behind Steve Carlton took game three 7-5 and needed only one more to get to the pennant game. It was not to be, the Cubs took game four 4-2 and managed to hit Tom Seaver in game 5 to pull off the upset 5-1 to clinch the series.
National League Divisional Series Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves
The Dodgers won 111 games in the series and dominated almost every team they faced and this series was no different. Cy Young winner Don Wilson won game one 5-2 and while the Braves managed to score six against Hoerner the Dodgers shelled Catfish Hunter and took game two 8-6. Finally Don Sutton 3rd in the Cy Young vote shut down the Braves again and the Dodgers got to Cuellar beating then 6-1 in a clean sweep.
NL Championship series Los Angels Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs
The Cubs fairy tale ride ended with the Dodgers as the Dodgers pitching staff held the cubs to 7 runs the entire series With Don Wilson winning two games (Game 1 3-1 and game 4 4-2). The only Cubs win came in game three when Clyde Wright shut out LA to give the Cubs a 1-0 win. The Dodgers took game two 6-3 and Don Sutton shut out Chicago again to put the finishing touch with a 7-0 win.
American League Championship Series Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals.
The American League East was the only Division in the league that was still in play in the final month of the season and it came down to the last two series before Baltimore outlasted the Royals for the division title but in game one the Royals got four in the 3rd (two thanks to a rare Mark Belanger error) and three more on a Harmon Killebrew shot on their way to a 9-6 win. In game two after trading homers between Stargell, Powel & Tenace the Royals broke loose with Stargell driving in another in the 5th and one of two in the 7th which was enough to hold off another Baltimore comeback to win 7-5. While the Orioles behind Lolich doubled up KC 6-3 to make the series two games to one three KC pitchers combined to shut out the birds in game four 3-0 and then jumped to a 4-0 lead that held up against the Orioles 3rd determined 9th inning rally of the series (The Orioles outscored the Royals 9-1 in the 9th inning of the series) to hang on for a 4-3 win and a trip to the series.
World Series Los Angeles Dodgers vs Kansas City Royals
Game one at LA: Blyleven vs Wilson
It was a pitching duel for the ages Cy Young winner Don Wilson only gave up one run on five hits in seven innings and the LA bullpen didn’t give up a hit but Bert Blyleven still got the win as he shut down the Dodgers for 5 innings on two hits before coming out with a stiff arm and the bullpen took over giving up only two single and no walks over the final four innings
Royals 1 Dodgers 0 WP Blyleven LP Wilson Royals up 1-0
Game two at LA Stoneman vs Nolan
The game went back and forth with the teams trading single runs the KC in the top of the 1st, LA in the bottom of the 1st & 2nd, KC in the 4th and LA in the 5th to take a one run and then a two run lead with one in the 7th until Darryl Evans three run shot off Roger Nelson put the game out of reach.
For the 2nd time in the series LA put a top 3 Cy Young vote getter on the mound and for the 2nd time he came up the loser as the Royals scored 4 in the first three innings and capped things off with a Killebrew HR in the 8th wasting Lou Brock’s 3 RBI 2-5 game as the Royals behind Hedlund 7 innings and three runs doubled up LA.
Down two games to one the Dodgers brought back Cy Young winner Don Wilson on three days rest and he didn’t disappoint going the full nine innings and again giving up only a single run. While the Royals were able to shut out the Dodgers in 8 of 9 innings a one out single by Leo Cardenas followed by a 414 foot shot from of all people Andy Etchebarren capped a four run 4th which was more than enough support for Wilson to even things up.
Dodgers 4 Royals 1 WP Wilson (1-1) LP Splittorff Series tied at two
Game 5 at KC Blyleven vs Nolan
A three run shot by Killebrew in the 5th off Nolan gave Kansas City the edge. LA answered with two off of Blyleven in the 6th to make it a one run game. The Royals added insurance with a one out single off of Fingers in the 7th but the Dodgers took advantage of an Enzo Hernandez error to start the 9th the Dodgers to load the bases off of closer Fred Scherman who gave up a pinch single to Dave Campbell to tie the game. Ironically Scherman would get the win when after a Mike Hershberger walk with one out Dave Cash put a Ron Klimkowski pitch into the gap which rolled all the way to the wall allowing Hershberger to score from first and put the Royals on the verge of an upset.
Royals 5 Dodgers 4 WP Scherman LP Klimkowski Royals lead series 3-2
Game 6 at LA Stoneman vs Sutton
With their backs against the wall the Dodgers jumped all over Stoneman with five runs in the first three innings and added another 3 on Darryl Evans 3 run shot in the 6th. That was more than enough for Sutton who despite giving up 3 in the 8th (1 earned) held on to both even the series and his record in it and force a 7th game.
Don Wilson made this 3rd start of the series and his 2nd on three days rest and the Dodgers again gave him some run support as Willie McCovey hit a solo shot off of Hedlund to start the game and the Dodgers added 2 in the bottom of the 2nd , a solo shot by Evans added a solo shot to start the 4th and another run on a key error spotting them to a 5-0 lead. And while AL MVP Willie Stargell (.200 avg) finally homered for his first RBI of the series and Killebrew drove in a run in the 9th that was a few feet from making it a one run game Wilson hung on with the tying runs on 1st and 2nd with two out to get Jerry Kenney to ground into the final out of the series and secure both the victory and the series MVP
LA 5 KC 2 WP Wilson (2-1) LP Hedlund (1-1) Dodgers win series 4-3.
Here are the rules for the 2nd season (1997) of the 1996 short season draft league.
How the league is to be played
We will be playing the 1997 season We will be playing under 1997 rules with two exceptions. There will be at least one interleague play to allow each player to play each other player at least one home and away series. There will be no wild cards.
The schedule
We will be playing an 80 game schedule with two series against each opponent.
2 Two game series vs interleague opponents
2 Three game series vs teams in the same league but different divisions
2 Four game series vs division rivals
One change in this season is that at least the final series of the season will be within the division
Frequency of games
There will be one series per week. This will make it easier to get in series vs division rivals and to prevent conflicts with my other leagues.
Number of teams
We will have a fixed number of teams 16.
Division setup:
2 leagues, 2 divisions in each no wild cards.
Trades and waivers.
After the fifth series of the season teams may trade. Any player on the current roster may be traded along with any of the first seven draft picks for the next season If a trade is made that increases a roster beyond the 40 man limit a player must be released before the next series is played. Any trades agreed will not be executed until all the teams involved have the same amount of games played.
Waivers takes place after the sixth series. Teams make waivers picked based on their current record and are made from the undrafted players not on rosters.. If a pick brings a Roster over 40 a player must be released or an injured player not on the DL must be placed there to make room.
Note:Any player who is planning to leave the league at the end of the season is encouraged NOT to trade as it is unfair to both the other teams and the player who will replace him or her.
NEW DRAFT TRADE WINDOWS
Pre-Draft Trade window:
There will be a 48 hour window before the formal draft where trading will be allowed.
Any player on the roster (rookie or retained player) may be dealt along with drift picks up to the 7th round at this time.
Only draft picks for the upcoming draft will be tradable.
The trade window will end 15 minutes before the start of the formal draft to allow for any updates to lists to be recorded before the start.
Draft Day Trading up or down window.
At the end of each round there will be a 10 minute window for rosters to be adjusted and all the paperwork to be done.
For the first five rounds of the draft During those 10 minutes teams will be allowed to Trade. NO PICKS BEYOND THE 7th ROUND ARE TRADABLE
Early Waivers:
Teams who drop out of the draft early (before round 26 season) can qualify for Early Waivers
Early waivers begin after week 1 and end after week 4
Players who leave the draft before round 30 may pick early waivers after week 4
Players who leave the draft before round 29 may pick early waivers after week 3
Players who leave the draft before round 27 may pick early waivers after week 2
Players who leave the draft before round 26 may pick early waivers after week 1
During Early Waivers the following rules apply
Players may choose up to two players
Order depends on when the player left the draft the earlier you left the higher you are in the order
If two teams picking early waivers left the same round the team who drafted later in the base draft has priority
Unlike regular waivers teams with a worse record can’t “counterclaim” you get who you pick.
The DL:
The DL WILL count toward your roster but to make up for it we will have a maximum 40 man roster. We will still only draft 30 but players may expand their rosters to 40 via trade and waivers.
Playing Games.
All games must be completed before the next scheduled series. the Dynasty system will take over and auto play any games that are not completed one hour before the next scheduled game (even if said unfinished game is in progress) Players are encouraged to use the chat room and the Dynasty message system to reschedule games if needed and are also encouraged to make a manager profile in case a game has to autoplay. Instructions on how to do that are here.
Be aware that if you have your team on AUTO and your opponent requests a rescheduled in the system Dynasty will automatically allow it so keep this in mind when or if you turn auto on. Also be aware if both team are on auto and you reschedule the game will be played automatically so make sure your team is not on auto before you do this. I also suggest when you go on auto if you plan on playing your next series make certain you checked off the “take off auto before the next series” button.
Expansion
This league will NOT have expansion. It is designed as a short season to contrast with the 1969 league and to give me an easy schedule to make. If you want a longer season and / or a bigger league check out my 1969 league currently playing 1971.
Selecting a franchise:
Players picked from existing franchises keeping two batters and two pitchers the rest go in the draft
Franchise locations and parks
Every team is presumed to have the park their team played in during the season they entered the league.
Franchises whose teams move in real life are not required to relocate their teams. So the Montreal Expos are not required to move to Washington but they retain the option to do so at the start of any season but such a move must be announced by draft day.
Franchises are NOT required to build new stadiums and my continue to play in their old stadiums if they wish. So Houstony can stay in the Astrodome if they wish but they retain the right to move into Minute Maid park at any time If a team chooses to move into their new park in the same city the old park is considered demolished and no other team may use it from that point on.
A team may NOT move into a park that in a different city because the Dynasty system bases the weather on the park used NOT the city that a team’s label claims it is in. .Example from the 1971 league: If the Seattle Pilots want to play in Country Stadium they MUST move to Milwaukee
A team may NOT move into a park in the same city that belongs to a future franchise. Example from 1971 league: If the Seattle Pilots choose to remain in Seattle rather than move to Milwaukee they may NOT move into the Kingdome because it is reserved for the Mariners franchise when it becomes available.
Old parks
A team MAY move into an old park from the same city under the following conditions:
The park was once the home park of the franchise OR
The franchise that once owned the park is now located in another city
You or the previous owner of the team in this league did NOT move the team out of the park.
Examples,
the Seattle Pilots move to Milwaukee the Mariners if taken MAY move into Sick Stadium.
The Cardinals may move into sportsman park because it was once their old stadium.
Both the Yankees and the Mets may move into the Polo Grounds because the park is in NY and both teams were once based there.
Franchise Moves and or Replacement players or teams
A player may decide to take a different franchise after playing one season under the following rules
The player who movies will get the city and park of the new franchise at once but will NOT get the rookies for said new Franchise until the season AFTER the move
Example: Boston decides to move to California after the 2010 season. he does NOT get the rights to Mike Trout but retains the rights to any RedSox player who has their first card in 2011. If Boston makes the move to California in 2009 then after keeping the Boston rookies for 2010 in 2011 Mike Trout is his as a rookie (see rookies below)
If due to circumstances in the real world a player has to temporarily drop out of the league their team will be put on auto until a substitute can be found. Said substitute shall take over the team and play games until the original player can return but may not make trades or drop players from the roster (excepting for injury).
If at the end of the season the base player can’t return the substitute has first rights to the team and gets full control over it.
If a player has to drop out permanently the team will go on auto until a substitute or replacement player can be found. Said player will get full rights to the franchise unless they declare that they will only be a substitute till the end of the season.
If no replacement player is found during the season a new player will be recruited for the next season. Said player will retain the franchise and draft picks of the player he is replacing. If said new player wishes to move the franchise he can per the limitations listed above, namely he retains the rookies of the current franchise for his first season and then get the rookie rights to the new franchise the following year.
Example The Yankees drop out of the league due to illness. A substitute is found to play their games. The sub places the games until the Yankees recover. If they do not recover sufficiently to return to the league the substitute may over the Yankees franchise permanently
Example 2: A replacement player is found for the Yankees in the above example but is a big Texas fan. Said substitute can move their franchise to Texas but will retain the Yankees rookies for the 1998 season. Starting in 1999 they will have rights to Texas rookies.
Rookies
A “Rookie” is define as any player who did not have a card for the previous season.
A rookie is considered to be part of the team listed on their card regardless of who they actually played their first game for (Dynasty lists cards based on who a player finishes a season with thus any rookie that was traded by an MLB team in his first season will have their card listed for the team they were traded to NOT the team they played their first game with.
All teams retain rights to their rookies prior to the draft and rookies for a franchise are not eligible to be drafted in any expansion draft.
A Rookie becomes a part of a team after said team names their protected players for the draft. They count toward the 35 man roster
Any team that doesn’t want to retain a rookie may release them before the draft to open up a roster spot but once release all rights to said player are surrendered.
Players retained list
At the end of a season teams may retain a number of players based on their finish in the previous one The players retained list for 1997 is
World series winner 4 players ( Boston)
World series runner up 5 players (Florida)
Division winners that don’t go to the series 6 players (San Diego, Toronto)
Teams with the 5th and 6th best records that didn’t win a division 7 players (Houston, Cincinnati)
Teams with the 7th and 8th best records 8 players (St Louis, Chicago White Sox)
Teams with the 9th and 10th best records 9 players(Yankees, Baltimore)
Teams with the 11th and 12th best records 10 players (Atlanta, Seattle)
Teams with the 3rd and 4th worst records 11 players (Pittsburgh, Los Angeles)
Teams with the worst and 2nd worst record 12 players (Cleveland, Minnesota)
Once the AL Pennant winner and world series are complete this list will be updated.
Rookies do not count toward the keeper list total.
As soon as all the keeper/rookies are finalized the draft day will be set. A minimum of one week wait will be given to make sure people can check out the cards the 1997 cards are here:
NOTE: 1 For teams with identical records we go to the tiebreakers
Head to head record the team with the worst head to head record is considered to have the worst record.
How many games behind the players were in their division. A team closer to a playoff spot his considered to have the better record.
The best record in their division.
The best record in the league
Dice Roll, high roll is considered the team with the better record.
NOTE:If a player on your current Roster does not have a card for the next season due to injury, military service etc but WILL the following year a team may choose to retain the rights to said player but will have to spend a protected spot for it and will have to keep a space for him all season.
Example: Rheal Cormier was out the entire 1998 Season. If a team has him after the 1997 season and wants to keep him they can choose to hold his rights when his season ends and keep a roster spot for him. He will play 1998 with 39 players and in 1999 will hold the rights to Cormier.. If at any time he chooses to release him Cormier will be considered a rookie for Boston because
He had no card the previous year
No team held his rights
His 1999 card says “Boston”
The draft order of teams for each season will be based on their finish the previous season. Any team that is not retained will of course not be drafting BUT If a team holds the draft pick of a team that is no longer in the league he will draft those picks as if that team was still in the league in the round that he holds them.
Worst team (12) Cleveland Indians
2nd worst team (12) Minnesota
3rd wort team (11) Pittsburgh (head to head vs Min)
4th worst team (11) Los Angeles
5th worst team (10) Atlanta (Fewer GB than LA)
6th worst team (10) Seattle
7th worst team (9) Yankees (Fewer GB than Sea)
8th worst team (9) Baltimore
8th BEST team (8) St. Louis
7th Best team (8) Chicago White Sox
Team with the 2nd Best record that didn’t win a division (7) Cincinnati
Team with the best record that didn’t win a division (7) Houston
Division winner not in WS with worst record (6) Toronto
Division winner not in WS with best record (6) San Diego
World series loser (5) (Florida)
Word series winner (4) ( Boston)
NOTES
Tiebreakers are the same for the keeper order
The 2nd tiebreaker if teams had identical records AND split their season series is draft order for the previous season
The pick order of traded picks remain the same even if a team is replaced.
Examples: If San Diego traded the NYY their 3rd round draft pick last season but are not an active team in 1997 then during round 3 the Yankees would get a pick in the sport where SD would have been had they played..
When all teams have drafted that will be considered the end of a round and the next round will commence.
Teams WILL continue to draft in this order until:
Round 30 OR
A team reaches 40 men OR
A team with 25 or more players on their roster voluntarily drops out
Once a team has dropped out of the draft they may not re-enter it. If they have less than 40 men the can only increase their roster either through trades or waivers.
The Formal & InformalDraft.
Formal Draft & Designated Draft day(s):
A date and time will be set for the initial rounds of the draft. It will almost certainly be a Saturday or Friday as those are the days I have off. Because my schedule is full from Thanksgiving to Christmas this may be delayed. If/When a designated draft day is set All teams will be expected to be either:
Available in the slack chat room (preferred)
Available by phone
With me in my home at the time of the draft
Have a list of players to be drafted submitted
All currently players are presumed to have looked over the card(s) for 1997 online or at least looked up stats by draft day. All teams are encouraged to start doing so at once.
There will be one designated draft day per week.
On a designated draft day a strict 5 minute limit will be allowed to make a pick.
If a team misses their pick will be moved to after the next player on the list who will be considered on the clock and allowed to pick. Example: Cincinnati misses their pick and Houston is next, Houston is allowed to pick and Cincinnati picks after them
If a team who has been skipped has to be skipped twice their pick can be made any time before the end of the round. Example Cincinnati is scheduled to pick 11th They miss their pick If they figure out who they want they can make a pick or submit a list any time before the end of the round and that pick will be valid.
If a team that has been skipped has not picked by the end of the round then a pick will be made for them by me. Said pick will be the player from your franchise who played the most games that season based on their card. Example: Boston does not pick or submit a list for round 5 I will look at the Roster for the actual 1997 red sox to see who is available. If John Valentin has the most game played among unpicked players he will be Boston draft pick. If Boston already has 2 shortstops that will not matter Valentin becomes the pick.
As soon as a round ends there will be a ten minute period to update the rosters and lists and confirm players were put on the right team. During that period draft day trades may be made (see above)
The opening Scheduled draft days will go on for 100 picks. Other scheduled draft days will be 60 picks. Once the number of picks is reached the clock is turned off
The Formal Draft generally begins at either 11 am or 1 pm EST to give west coast folk the time to be awake. Be aware that if you are scheduled to pick
BE AWARE THAT EVEN WITH A FIVE MINUTE LIMIT THAT CAN MEAN 80 MINUTES FOR 16 TEAMS TO PICK IN ONE ROUND. PLEASE DO YOUR BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DRAFT TO CUT DOWN ON THE TIME REQUIRED. The more prepared everyone is the faster things will go.
Picks off the clock and on non-draft days
As soon as the initial draft ends the “informal draft” begins
During the informal draft a team has 24 hours to make a pick. Picks can be submitted in the draft room or via the Dynasty message system or in person if the person picking is local or via the phone to me. If there is an existing list from the formal draft it will be used to continue the informal draft.
Once the pick is made and recorded on the draft sheet and the player moved to the roster I will announce the pick in the slack chat room and inform the person up, the person on deck and the person in the hole to be prepared to pick. Until you see that announcement the pick is not official.
The Informal draft ends when:
Round 30 is complete OR
The next formal draft begins
The informal draft resumes after any formal draft that doesn’t reach round 30.
Be aware that trading can be made at any time during the informal draft until:
round seven is complete
15 minutes before a formal draft that has not completed round 7
IMPORTANT: Once round seven of the draft is complete trading is finished until the end of week 5 of the season.
The season will begin one week after the draft is complete.
Game Play Etiquette:
Given the weekly nature of the game it should be not difficult to get games in on time or at least get series started but here are some basic guidelines.
If you know in advance you can’t play on the scheduled game day and time try to contact your opponent to arrange a different time both through the chat room and the dynasty system.
If gameday comes and your team is on AUTO your scheduled opponent should assume they can play all or part of their series if they choose.
If gameday comes and you haven’t heard from your opponent check your “Friends” list to see when the last time they signed on was. If it is 10 days or more then play the series vs the PC
If gameday comes and you haven’t heard from your opponent give him or her at least two five minute waiting periods before letting the computer take over the team
On occasions when you and your opponent are in touch but just can’t seem to find a time when both are available I make the following suggestion.
The player who shows up on gameday should play one game (2 game series) or two games (3-4 game series) against the pc.
When those games are finished exit the system and put yourself on Auto being sure to check the “Take my team off auto after this series”
Then your opponent can finish the series as his or her time permits
Keep in mind that the Dynasty system is designed to keep games moving the default position should always be to get games played when possible.
If you have any questions not covered here please let me know.
Update: Casual / Informal draft now gives people 24 hours to make a pick or provide a list before the rules of the timed draft apply.
If you are interested in joining this league or going on a waiting list to join leave a comment on this post or contact me via the Dynasty system.
I apologize, I had previously stated that I’d give you the lyrics of my parody song “Don’t Mess With God” (sung to the tune of “Don’t Bring Me Down”) if the Catholic Hating Dodgers got bounced from the playoffs quickly but I think the time has passed.
I will however note that the Texas Rangers who won their first ever world series against a gritty Arizona Diamondbacks team four games to one were not just the only MLB team not to have a “Pride Night” (meaning gay pride) in their stadium, but did not lose a game in the playoffs in any MLB park that hosted one.
The only sad thing, the great Frank Howard didn’t live to see them win.
You might recall I hit the Celtics hard for their trade of Marcus Smart noting that on a team devoid of balls he had the most.
Well the Celtics who got rid of Smart and both Williams and Brogdon and replaced them with Kristaps Porzingas and Jrue Holiday have yet to lose a game in four tries while the teams involved in these trades are a combined 4-13 with the Memphis Grizzlies who got Smart yet to win one in six tries.
So I guess a mea culpa is in order but I’ll hold off the mea maxima culpa for now because Porzingas has a long history of injuries and we’re just under 5% into the season.
If he plays in 95% of the games then we’ll go to the max.
The Patriots made no moves at the trade deadline and while that doesn’t sit well with a lot of the Boston media I’m fine with it for a few reasons:
There was not going to be a lot of interest in middling players beyond a 7th rounder at best
There is no point in trading people who are good enough to build around for draft picks that may or may not produce an NFL player. The cost benefit just isn’t there.
While everyone is drooling over the chance to get the top pick in the draft in the end since a full 20% of super bowls were won by QB’s taken in the first round it’s also true that a full 20% of Superbowls have been won by players picked at 199 (Tom Brady) or later (Bart Starr pick 200) (Brad Johnson 227)
The bottom line is that while a stud is a grand thing to have you still have to develop a QB. I think it’s better to get a team to win some games, even against bad competition than to tank for a first round pick. After all most teams who play the tank game are still losing big.
Instead of insisting on the return of the Brady era which isn’t happening lets remember and celebrate that we had that abnormal time to win and let Bill develop players as best he can.
The Boston Bruins have yet to lose in their first 10 games this season and seem even better than last year (19 out of a possible 20 points so far) despite the two major retirements in the off season. The difference seems to be the defense that has allowed only a single power play goal against them and of course the excellent goaltending of their pair of Ullmark and Swayman.
Many have suggested they should have traded one I disagree. Having both of them is the best insurance policy that a team can have against a single injury derailing a season as both are #1 goalies on any team in the league.
I would however suggest that whatever rotation you are using in the regular season be applied to the playoffs. The failure to do so last year after a record breaking regular season in my opinion contributed to their 1st round playoff defeat.
Finally in my two primary Dynasty Leagues the disappointment continues. While I was able to play spoiler to the White Sox playoff hopes in the final series of the year I tanked against Florida finishing 2 games out in a league that has no wild cards.
Meanwhile in the 1971 league my team that has traded off most of it’s stars for draft picks and prospects have won 5 of their last 6 but with only 35 games to go 9 games is just too much to make up in the race for the final wild card, even if I didn’t have two teams ahead of me to pass.
However there is movement in the NL as the Phillies who had a ten game lead for the final wildcard spot have gone 1-9 in their last ten letting the Cards pick up 4 games while playing .500 ball at the same time.
St. Louis is now only 6 games out with nobody to pass and still has three games against the Phillies coming up before the end.
On the down side the Cardinals next 12 games are against teams with winning percentages of .654, ,604 .535 and .708.
If they are going to come back they’ll have to earn it.
Division games: Baltimore at Kansas City , Washington or California at Oakland (best of 5)
AL Pennant Series (Best of 7)
NL Division Winners
NY Daytraders (Mets) (up 8 games)
West Division Los Angeles Dodgers (up 13 1/2 games)
Wild Cards
1st Wild card Chicago Cubs (+4)
2nd Wild Card Atlanta Braves (+ 1 1/2)
3rd Wild Card Philadelphia Phillies (11 games up)
Playoffs:
Wild Card Games Phillies at Braves
Division Games Chicago at New York, Philadelphia or Atlanta at Los Angeles (best of 5)
NL Pennant Series (best of 7)
World Series (Best of 7)
Top Draft picks
1st Cincinnati Reds (-1)
2nd Pittsburgh Pirates (- 1 1/2)
3rd Montreal Nos Amours (-4)
There are however 69 games left to the season and anything is possible although the absolute collapse of the NL 2nd division (the highest winning percentage of a non-playoff team is St. Louis at .386) suggests that the NL playoff races are pretty much done and the only real question is can either Philly or Atlanta pass the cubs to get that 1st round bye?
In the AL it’s more complicated. All the division races are still races and 3 teams are within 5 games of the last wild card (2 teams within 3 games) and even the worst team in the league (NY Yankees) has a .402 winning percentage and is only 10 1/2 games out of the wild card.
My own team (Milwaukee) is out of it technically only 7 1/2 out but with 4 teams to pass thus I’ve already traded:
My starting CF Tommie Agee (Mets)
My starting LF Frank Howard (Orioles)
My Starting SS Ron Theobold (Royals)
My Starting 3B Phil Gagliano (Orioles)
My #2 starter SP Ray Lamb (Orioles)
My Closer Ken Sanders (Mets)
For these players I have acquired:
2 1st round picks
1 3rd round picks
1 5th round pick
1 sixth round pick
Ken Berry CF (Gold glove in 72 & good offensive year)
How will this end? I have no idea but given how the NL is doing and the fact that I play every game to win no matter what I might have a lot fewer keepers that I hoped for.
I still have available to trade:
My starting 2B (Ron Hunt)
My starting Catcher (Jack Haitt)
My new Starting 3B (Jose Pagan)
My #3 Starter George Stone
My #4 starter Rookie Jim Slaton
Middle Reliver Jim Ray
Middle Reliver Bob Miller
Slaton will likely be expensive as he has a long MLB career ahead of him
I also have the following players who either have long MLB careers ahead of them or have good cards for next year available
OF Mike Jorgenson (long career)
P Bob Reynolds (good stats in 1972)
They will likely go cheap since I don’t expect to have room to protect them even if I crater.
My needs are draft picks or a solid power hitter for next year.
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