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If you are a person 35 our younger all of your memories of the New England Patriots are likely memories of victory and Dominance thanks to the greatest sixth round draft pick ever made and the most important hit in the history of the NFL which combined gave you 20 years of Tom Brady. So given the potential of Aaron Rogers going to the Jets the shock of the Patriots being the worst team in their division is hitting many fans hard.
However if you are 60ish or older you remember a time when the Patriots were the worst team in New England (including the Whalers) so all of this brings us back to the days of our youth.
Given the state of the country these days perhaps it will be cathartic for us to have something to complain about.
The RedSox who used to rule the roots in New England but the last few years have seen their star fade as their stars leave.
One of the those starts Xander Bogarts is currently playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dutch and has led their team to upset victories against both Panama and Cuba, CUBA
If only Boston could get players like that.
The Boston Celtics broke a 3 game losing streak yesterday they currently sit in 2nd place in the East right behind Milwaukee. The Celtics are still the favorite to go to the finals but while they are clearly the most talented team in the East there are at least four teams in the East capable of winning a seven game series against them.
Most importantly not a one of those teams are afraid of them.
I’ve never seen so powerful a team produce so little shock and awe among their rivals.
While the Celtics are not scaring anybody the Boston Bruins are riding roughshod over the entire NHL with an insane .831 winning percentage losing only 8 game out of 62 played.
While there still a long ways away from the record of 132 points set by the 76-77 Canadians who only lost 8 games the entire season they have exceeded every expectation that anybody had for this team at the start of the season.
If they roll though the playoffs at anywhere near the rate they will become the top dog in town really fast, particularly if the Celtics stumble.
Finally our face to face Dynasty Baseball league is winding down and my magic number for the final playoff spot is 1 with six games to go.
Just a few months ago I ruled the roost but a 10 game losing streak dropped me to the bottom of the standings.
In our 1957 League my Brooklyn dodgers are chasing the Braves and the Cardinals and we’re gearing up for the expansion draft with two teams (Cubs and Twins) joining for our 1971 league we’re just waiting for Dynasty to finalize the release online.
My team seems to be pitching heavy this season so to take advantage of that situation I am finally making the move to Milwaukee that I held off on for 1970 while my Pilots tried to repeat.
Given the teams in the league I likely don’t have a chance but it will still be a fun season.
For only the 4th time since 1985 and the first time in the 21st century I’ll be heading to the World Series in our face to face league as my Washington Nationals will face the well rested Colorado Rockies for all the marbles.
The Rockies who won their division by winning the final series against me two games to one made short work of the Cardinals sweeping them in three.
My path to the big game was more complicated.
Finishing in a three way tie for the two wild card berths as the B team I defeated the NYY 7-2 with Max Scherzer dodging bullets the entire way to get me the home spot in the wild card game. In that game Yu Darvish who was acquired at the cost of a 1st round pick early in the season pitched a complete game shutout to give me a chance at a pennant against a NY Mets that had only swept the season series against me this year but one that I had only managed two wins against in the three years since the league was revived.
It was a classic series
In game one I jumped to a 4-0 lead after two but starter Lance Lynn who had lost the wild card game the previous year was jumped on for three runs in the 5th to make it a one run game. Mets relivers Valdez shut me down the rest of the way while my bullpen bent but didn’t break TJ Antony getting out of a bases loaded one out jam in the 7th and after a 9th inning leadoff walk two big defensive plays kept the tying run on first.
Final Washington 5 Mets 4
Game two was a scoreless pitching duel into the 7th until Nolan Arenado singled in Anthony Rendon and a Molina Sac fly scored Lindor to give me a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 8th Mookie Betts completely misplayed a Ramirez liner putting him on third where he scored on a Trey Turner ball that went to the warning track to make it a one run game. In the bottom of the 9th Jeffries allowed a one out walk and followed that with a two out walk a single loaded the bases bringing up Ramirez. With Washington about to go up 2 games to none he hit a shot deep into the hole at short that was just out of the reach of the diving Lindor and just like that the series was tied at once each
Final Mets 3 Washington 2
Game three in Washington started well for the Nats, Merrifield singled home Guriell in the 1st and promptly stole 2nd & 3rd with nobody out but Zac Gallen retired Betts, Rendon and Abreu in order to get out of the jam. Meanwhile Max Scherzer who dodged a bunch of bullets vs the Yanks was not so lucky giving up five runs in 2 2/3 innings including a monster 3 run shot to Trey Turner who had an incredible series. Meanwhile Valdez came in again with one outs in the 5th and after giving up a single that made it a one run game retired the next 14 in a row to make the Mets insurance run in the 6th superfluous.
Final New York 6 Nationals 4
Darvish came back for the do or die game and thanks to another big hit by Merrifield was staked to a 3-0 lead until Trey Turner once again hit a 3 run shot to tie things up in the 5th. That’s how it stayed till the top of the 12th when with runners on 1st & 3rd and two outs manager Gionet surprised everyone calling for the suicide squeeze. Josh Bell laid it down perfectly and everyone was safe so even when Washington turned the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, the Mets were still only 3 outs away from a trip to the series.
They would only get one of them, Rendon and Betts would both walk to start the bottom of the 12th and with one out and the runners going pinch Hitter Didi Gregorius would smash a double down the line scoring them both and tying the series at 2
Final Nationals 5 NY 4 (12)
The rain clouds looked ominous for game five but they decided to try to get the game in anyways. That decision looked poor for NY when Betts and Hosmer went back to back to give Washington a 3-0 lead (they scored first in every game of the series) but with Lance Lynn finally finding his pitching groove giving up only one hit in 4 innings the sky opened up and the rain didn’t stop. The Game was called to be replayed the next day.
Washington surprised everyone by throwing Scherzer who had been roughed up the last time on three days rest while the Mets did the same with Gallen. Washington scored first on a single two wild pitches and another single to make it 1-0 but Acuna Jr.’s two run shot (his only big hit of the series) was enough to chase Scherzer in the third. The Mets went back to Valdez who had shut down the Nats in game 3 but it didn’t work out that way this time A solo shot by Abreu tied the game up and a critical error by Jeff McNeil led to another two run double by Gregorius followed shortly by a 3 run shot by Betts made it 7-2 and it looked like it was all over but the shouting .
It wasn’t Tejay Antone who had been excellent in relief came in with two on and one out in the 7th and after coaxing a force out to third gave up two walks and a double for three runs before the 3rd out was caught against the left field wall just short of giving away the lead.
Down by two the Mets started the 8th with a leadoff single when McNeil an excellent bat handler trying to make up for his 5th inning miscue hit a liner with the runner going that looked destined for left field but Lindor remembering the ball he couldn’t get to dove to his right to spear the liner and managed to get the ball to first to double off the runner. This turned out to be a critical play as the Jeffries arm stiffened up and he had to come out Rosentall was rushed in and threw a fat pitch for his first offering which was promptly deposited into the left field stands. 7-6.
Washington went quietly in the 9th and Trey Turner who already had 7 rbi’s in the series came up and put a 2-1 pitch into the gap to lead off the 9th. Alas what would have capped a sure MVP award for the series never happened as Trevor Rosentall decided to prove the wisdom of deadline trade that sent him to DC retiring the next three batters in a row for his 2nd save of the series and completing the biggest playoff upset in years.
Final Washington 7 Mets 6
Well my pitching staff isn’t well rested and Colorado who leads the season series against me 4-2 is but on the bright side my starting center fielder who was injured on the final day of the regular season has been cleared to play adding both power and defense to my lineup.
The All time great league was won by the 1985 Cardinals who after staring the season slow roared into first and after beating the 1975 Reds in seven Swept the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL Pennant and the 2010 Rangers who beat the 61 Yankees in Seven for the AL Pennant
Josh Hamilton of the Rangers led all the majors with a .365 Avg while Willie McGee of StL led the senior circuit at .361 while also leading the majors with 238 hits. Derick Jeter of the 2009 Yanks led the AL with .232
Roger Maris hit 54 HR five more than Mickey Mantle to lead the AL, Hank Aaron’s 46 HR led the NL. Johnny Blanchard of the 61 yanks also had 46 HR and led the majors with 153 RBI’s while George Foster of the 75 Reds 140 RBI led the NL
On the mound John Tudor led the majors with a 1.83 ERA on his way to the NL Cy Young and while the 1999 Boston Red Sox finished last in the east at 71-91 Pedro Martinez won the AL Cy Young still lead the league in ERA 2.04 Wins (23 tied with Mike Cuellar of Balt, Greg Maddux led the majors with 24) strikeouts with 428 (Randy Johnson had 396 for Arizona to lead the NL) avg against .198 (Tudor led the majors at .195) and WHIP 0.90 with Tudor leading all with 0.88
Mantle took the AL MVP while McGee won NL honors.
the 1969 Continual Draft league is in its 1st season. We are playing 126 and things are pretty much settled in the NL but the AL things may be coming down to the wife here are the standings:
The season will be finishing in 4 weeks and we are accepting expansion teams for next season if anyone is interested.
Our face to face 2020 league is a 30 game season and the final games are tonight
Lynn Division
Team
Wins
Losses
Pct
GB
WCGB
New York Mets
20
10
.667
—–
n/a
St Louis Cardinals
18
12
.600
2
+ 1
New York Yankees
17
13
.567
20 1/2
——
Tampa Bay Rays
5
25
.167
15
elim
Dan Division
Team
Wins
Losses
Pct
GB
WCGB
Washington Nationals
16
11
.593
—–
+ 1/2
Colorado Rockies
16
11
.593
—–
+ 1/2
Seattle Mariners
17
13
.567
1/2
—–
San Diego Padres
8
22
.267
9 1/2
elim
Five teams make the playoffs, the two division winners and three wild card teams
The worst division winner faces the first wild card team with home field advantage
The best division winner faces the winner of a wild card playing game with the 2nd wild card team hosting the 3rd.
The Mets have clinched the Best Division winners spot and will host the winner of the wild card game
The Cardinals have clinched the 1st Wild card team and will face the winner of the Dan Division.
The Yankees and the Mariners have clinched at least a change to play in a wild card A-B-C round
There are three games left with the Nationals facing the Rockies tonight
IF Either Washington or Colorado sweep the other THEN
the Winner wins the Dan division and hosts St Louis in round one of the playoffs
The Yankees Host Seattle in the wild card game holding the tie breaker (2-1 regular season adv) with the winner facing the Mets in Round one.
If there is no Sweep THEN
The winner wins the Dan Division and hosts St. Louis in round one of the playoffs
The Loser is in a 3 way tie for the two wild card spots and an A-B-C system is used to determine who goes to the wild card game
the ABC system works like this
Team A hosts Team B The winner advances to the wild card game as the home team
Team C hosts the Lose The winner is the away team in the wild card game and the loser doesn’t make the playoffs
If Washington wins the series Colorado is Team C in the ABC game Team A is Seattle (5-3 vs others) team B is NYY (3-3) Col (4-5)
If Colorado wins the series Washington is team B in the ABC game Team A is NYY (4-2) Team C is Seattle (2-7) Washington (6-3) is tied with NYY but becomes team C because NYY won the season series 2-1.
It’s going to be a really exciting finish. I’m Washington Wish me luck.
Pitching Wins Hermanson Mon 29, ERA Hermanson Mon 1.82, IP Soto Cin 285 1/3, K’s Soto Cin 347, Avg against Soto Cin .196 WHIP Hermanson Mon 1.00 HR/9 Berenyi Cin, Anderson Pit 0.33, Saves Urbina Mon 35.
NL Playoff results
Wild card 2009 Nationals over 1993 Mets
Division Series 1982 Reds over 2000 Phillies 4 games to 2
Division Series 2009 Nationals over 1998 Expos 4 games to 3
League Championship series 2009 Nats over 1982 Reds 4 games to 1
World Series
2009 Nationals over 1970 Royals 4 games to 3
The SD Jones memorial .500 teams league is a league (all teams were no better than 2 games over .500 or no worse than 2 games under) Initial season . Games are scheduled for Tuesdays. AM Only 2 series are left to play in the entire league
Avg Carew Min .356, OBP Trout LAA .432, SLUG Trout LAA .616, Runs Trout LAA 138, Hits Carew Min 235, 2B Cabrera Det 55, 3B Durham ChW, 20, SB Carew Min 65 BB Trout LAA 119 HR Trout LAA, Howard Wash Cabrera Det 45, RBI Cabrera Det 148
Pitching
Wins Verlander Det 24, ERA Clemens Bos 2.31, IP Blyleven Minn 313, K’s Blyleven Min 297 , Avg against Cahill Oak .204, WHIP Darwin Bos 0.97, HR/9 Bibby Cle 0.30, Saves Knowles Wash Lyle NYY 33
AVG Clemente Pit .362, OBP Mitchell Cin .439, Slug Helton Col .614 Runs Larkin Cin 134, Hits Clemente Pit 234, 2B Cirillo Col 67, 3B Clemente Pit 23, SB Pierre LAD 82 BB Ashburn Phil 122, HR Helton Col 37, RBI Helton Col 141
Pitching Wins Scherzer Wash 23 ERA Scherzer Wash 2.38, IP Scherzer Wash 302, K’s Scherzer Wash 367, Avg Against Scherzer Wash .208, WHIP Scherzer Wash 0.95, HR/9 Reed StL 0.28 , Saves Face Pitt 37
3rd League All time any time Great Teams League (3rd season) Games scheduled Friday evenings. Two teams have been picked up since the last posting (oddly not the Orioles)
Avg McGee StL .365, OBP Morgan Cin .457, Slug Kendrick Wash .611, Runs Morgan Cin 114, Hits McGee Stl 186, 2B Rizzo Cubs16 40, 3B McGee StL 19, SB Morgan Cin 71, BB Morgan Cin 106, HR Ga;arraga Atl, Aaron Mil 37, RBI Foster 117
Pitching Wins Maddux Atl 18, ERA Tudor StL 1.75, IP Maddux Atl 231, K’s Johnson Arizona 295, Avg against Tudor StL .181, WHIP Tudor StL 0.82 HR/9 Buhl Mil 0.34, Saves Chapman Cubs16 32
If you are interested in taking over the management of any of the online leagues teams contact me in comments.
As a bonus here are the standings of our face to face draft league which first began playing in 1987 in Fitchburg Massachusetts. We have two divisions with 4 teams each playing a 60 game season every other Saturday at Zeda’s Pizza in Fitchburg MA. The individual leagues are named for deceased members of the league. Five teams make the playoffs, the best record gets home field throughout and 2nd best record of the division leaders gets a home series against the best non-division winner while the final two teams play a one game playin for the right to face the best division winner in the playoffs.
New players are always welcome
Lynn Division
W
L
PCT
GB
WCGB
Tampa Bay Rays (x)
41
19
.683
—-
n/a
San Francisco Giants(w)
35
25
.583
6
Bye
St. Louis Cardinals(w)
32
28
.533
7
Home
Colorado Rockies
24
36
.400
17
2
w clinched at least wildcard game x clinched playoff spot
Dan Division
W
L
PCT
GB
WCGB
New York Yankees (XY)
39
21
.650
—-
n/a
Washington Nationals
28
33
.459
11 1/2
_____
Seattle Mariners
27
34
.442
12 1/2
E
San Diego Padres
17
43
.283
22
E
Playoff results
Wild card playin StL over Washington
Playoffs round 1 NYY over SF 4 games to 2
Tampa over Stl 4 games to 3
World Series Tampa over NYY 4 games to 3
The 1969 Draft league is a continual draft league in its first season (1969) All teams drafted full rosters (max 35) while being allowed to keep one player from the teams picked. In subsequent season (next year 1970) teams will retain rights to new rookies plus 4-12 currently held players based on their finish. There are no wildcards and 1969 rules are in play.
AL
East
W
L
PCT
GB
Baltimore Orioles
12
8
.600
—–
Cleveland Indians
11
11
.500
2
Washington Senators
10
10
.500
2
NY Highlanders (Yankees)
9
13
.409
4
West
W
L
PCT
GB
Minnesota Maul of America (Twins)
13
9
.591
—–
Oakland A’s
13
9
.591
—–
Chicago White Sox
9
13
.409
4
Seattle Pilots
9
13
.409
4
AL Leaders
Avg Billy Williams balt .444, OBP Harmon Killebrew Cle .516, Slug Frank Howard Wash .768, Runs Jimmy Wynn Cle 19 , Hits Billy Williams Balt 36, 2B Dick Green Oak, Johnny Callison Wash 8, 3B Billy Williams Balt , Ron Fairly NYY, Johnny Callison Wash 4, BB Mike Fiore Sea 26, HR Frank Howard Wash 10 , RBI Harmon Killebrew Cle 27
Pitching Wins Andy Messersmith Balt 4, ERA Mel Stottlemyre Cle 1.83 , IP Larry Dieker NYY 41, K’s Sam McDowell Cle 49, Avg Against Jerry Koosman Oak .152, WHIP Jerry Koosman Oak 0.82, HR/9 , Wally Bunker Oak, Mike McCormick Sea 0.00 , Saves Tug McGraw Twins, Moe Drabowski Wash 6
NL
East
W
L
PCT
GB
New York Metropolitans (Mets)
17
8
.680
—–
Pittsburgh Pirates
12
10
.545
3 1/2
Montreal Nos Amours (Expos)
8
12
.400
6 1/2
Atlanta Braves
7
13
.350
7 1/2
West
W
L
PCT
GB
Los Angeles Dodgers
14
8
.636
—–
Cincinnati Cin City (Reds)
13
9
.591
1
St. Louis Cardinals
14
11
.560
1 1/2
San Francisco Seals (Giants)
4
18
.182
10
Leaders NL
Avg Bobby Tolan Mets .376, OBP Rusty Staub Mon .485, Slug Reggie Smith LAD .761, Runs Reggie Smith LAD 21, Hits Bobby Tolan Mets 41, 2B Curt Flood StL 9, 3B Sal Bando Mets, Jerry Grote Pit, Tim McCarver mets, Bobby Murcer SF, Reggie Smith LAD, Doug Rader Pitt, Rich Reese Stl, Maury Wills Stl 2, BB Willie McCovery LAD 21 SB Cesar Tovar mets 7, HR Dick Allen Reds 8, RBI Bobby Tolan Mets Hank Aaron Atl 21
Pitching Wins Tom Seaver Mets 5, ERA Nelson Briles StL 1.50, IP Bob Gibson Mets 50 1/3, K’s Bob Gibson StL 46, Avg against Jim Palmer SF .170, WHIP Jim Palmer 0.84, HP/9 Dave McNalley SF 0.00 Saves Ron Taylor Mets 7
We Expect to expand by at least 2 teams next season
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