Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Owner Hall of Fame welcomes newest member

In what ended up becoming a vote decided by a tie breaker, owner greygoose123, has become the newest member elected to the Pine Tar Owner Hall of Fame. greygoose 123 had some very stiff competition for this election, that left some very deserving owners waiting for another year. After all the votes were in, there was a tie between two great owners, greygoose123 and bjohara1. That meant that we had to go to the tiebreaker in which the three current members had to make a tough vote. One of those members even said that he wished he could just vote for both of them. Unfortunately the rules stated that only one member could be elected each season. The highest honor among owners was then awarded to none other than now Hall of Famer greygoose123.

greygoose123, is one of the owners that makes this world so great. Having been around since the inaugural season, this owner has put together a very impressive resume. This Hall of Famer has put together a record of 1211-895 through 13 seasons, and has won the south division 8 times. The fans in Jacksonville have been given a competitive team every season. The only season without a winning record was way back in season 3 when they still won 78 games. They have reached the 90 win plateau 8 times and 100 wins 3 times. Jacksonville has been to 3 World Series and has brought home 1 World Championship.

This my friends is a Hall of Fame owner. Congratulations to greygoose123 on becoming the 4th member of our Owner Hall of Fame.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Manager of the year

The 1st manager of the year vote has ended. Congratulations to the winner of this seasons award.

toe64 (Colorado Springs Night Watchmen)

This is a team that didn't have the greatest pitching staff but toe64 did a great job at managing it and putting them in position to win. I had this team predicted to finish way out of the division race and not a chance at making the post season. They stayed competitive all season and made a great run at the end to almost pull off winning the division title. They didn't, but they did manage to get into the post season. They won 18 more games than last season and improved their win total for the third straight season finishing at 91-71.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Owner HOF voting rules

We are going to do another vote for owner hall of fame. All 32 owners in the league are eligible to vote, and I will outline the rules as originally posted by prez. The votes of current Hall members toe64, Starbuckdc and rxw1 will be used to break a tie (with the vote of toe64, the most recent member, ultimately prevailing in the event that the decision is still deadlocked).

As per the original rules post:

"...in order to qualify, an owner must have had his team for at least 5 years (unless no suitable candidates exist with 5 years' experience to round out the 5 nominees). Length of time with the league and amount of success are both factors for nomination-- owners who have taken their team to the playoffs many times, and those who have had success while in the playoffs, will be preferred, although exceptions may be made for owners who have only been to the playoffs a few times but have reached or won the World Series multiple times. Also, an owner must still be with his team at the time of the vote in order to qualify for nomination; bpdelia, for example, is not eligible for nomination even though he brought home 2 championships because he is no longer an active owner in the league."

There will still be an option for "blank ballot." If that option ends up winning, there will be no inductee into the Owner Hall of Fame that year (so as to not force owners to vote someone in if they feel no one is deserving).

Voting ends on Monday November 22nd at 8:00 PM, so make sure you think long and hard about your decision and get your votes in by then!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Stretch Run-AL

With me owning an NL team I haven't really paid to close of attention to the AL this season so I'm going to give my best analysis without knowing too much of what has happened to this point.

AL North

In quite possibly the best division in all of Pine Tar, Syracuse is on top again. The lead isn't insurmountable however. Milwaukee stands just 5 back, with Ottawa only 6 back. Not too bad considering they all play each other down the stretch. Either Milwaukee or Ottawa would have to sweep the other and take the series against Syracuse to make a serious run though. Syracuse has 13 games left against teams with winning records but all of those games are at home. Ottawa also has 13 against winning teams but only 3 of those are at home. Milwaukee has 13 as well with 3 of those at home. I'm guessing this division will be won by Syracuse and both Ottawa and Milwaukee will get wild card spots. All 3 of these teams should be tough outs in the post season.

AL East

At 500 Durham is on top of this division be a mere 1 game. Atlanta is in 3rd and only 4 games out, with Toledo in second. This should make a very interesting finish to the season in the East. The final 6 games of the season for Durham will decide their fate as they finish against the other 2 teams. To get to that point though, they have a tough schedule to get by first. Even if they struggle and fall a few games out, the final 6 is where it's at for these guys. Toledo doesn't have it very easy either, but the battle with Atlanta is much earlier than the final 3 against Durham. If they can take Atlanta out of the picture it will be a much easier road to the post season for them. Atlanta has a much easier schedule to finish out but they have to get by the 2 teams in front of them. I'm going to make an off the wall prediction and pick Atlanta to leap frog the other 2 to take the division down the stretch. Realistically all 3 could win it and it will take a little skill accompanied by a little luck.

AL South

Nashville has had a good season, but so has Tampa Bay. With only a 3 game lead this division could come down to the final game of the season. Nashville has a brutal 9 game stretch coming up against Syracuse, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay. If they can get through that stretch alive and on top then the division is theirs for the taking. While Nashville is starting that stretch, Tampa Bay has it easy until the series against Nashville. It's very possible that Tampa will be on top of the division when that series starts. The biggest problem for them is that after that series they get Syracuse for 4 on the road. It's going to be an interesting finish in the South, but I'm going to give the edge to Nashville.

AL West

Vancouver has a 5 game lead here over Cheyenne. While Cheyenne won't go away, Vancouver looks like they should be able to take the division for a third straight season. Vancouver has an 8 game home stretch against Milwaukee and Ottawa coming up that will be tough to get through that could lead to their unravelling. Cheyenne's only real tough series will be against Ottawa at home until they finish the season with 3 games in Vancouver. That series could very well decide the division which is why I give the edge to Vancouver.

Post Season Predictions

1st Round
Milwaukee over Atlanta 3-0
Ottawa over Vancouver 3-1

2nd Round
Syracuse over Ottawa 3-2
Milwaukee over Nashville 3-2

ALCS
Syracuse over Milwaukee 4-3

World Series
Fargo over Syracuse 4-2

Stretch Run-NL

With 20+ games remaining in the regular season, I think now would be a good time to take a look at the division races heading in to the final turn.

NL North

This division has long been decided with Fargo building an early lead and never really letting up. As I predicted, this team has wrapped up the division. They are going to be hard to beat in the post season. This division doesn't even have another contender for post season admission. The second place team, Cleveland is well under 500. The division will only get one team in the post season, but that team is a major threat to take it all this season.

NL East

Cincinnati, and Jacksonville have been battling it out in this division for the better part of the season. As of the time of this writing, it's Cincinnati with a small lead in the division and Jacksonville the number one wild card team. The two of them have an important 3 game series coming up that could very well decide the division. Both teams have fairly easy schedules down the stretch and both should be able to get over 95 wins due to that. In the closest of division races right now it should be a very interesting finish in the East. As a consolation prize, the team that finishes in second has a very good shot at the top wild card spot.

NL South

This is another division that has seen the top 2 teams share the lead throughout the season. Monterrey has pulled away and have a 7 game lead right now and it appears as though the division title is theirs to lose. Charleston has been a contender for a big part of the season but it seems like it is getting late to make the run at the top. While it's not impossible for Charleston to take the top spot, I'm going to guess that they are better off shooting for the top wild card spot. The schedule favors Monterrey, as they only have 7 games left against teams with winning records and 3 of those are to close out the season against Charleston. Charleston on the other hand has 10 games left against teams with winning records. My guess is Monterrey winning the division and getting a 1st round bye and Charleston getting the number 2 wild card spot.

NL West

What a wild season it's been in the Wild West. Heading down the stretch, their are still 3 teams with chances at the division title. Seattle has led for the biggest part of the season, with Colorado Springs on their tail for just about the entire time. Scottsdale has led the division for a period of time and have been in the race for a big part of the season, even though early on they fell a good distance back of the leaders. At this time both Scottsdale and Colorado Springs are 6 back and need some help and key victories to jump ahead of Seattle. The biggest advantage for them is that they each have series left against Seattle, but the disadvantage is that they have to beat each other as well. Colorado Springs has a very tough schedule to end the season and most of those games are on the road. Scottsdale also has a tough time ahead although they finish with a majority of home games. Seattle has a tough schedule as well, but the finish with 17 straight home games. The winner of this division will be the divisions only playoff team and right now my pick, although I hope I'm not jinxing myself, is Seattle.

Playoff Predictions

1st round
Jacksonville over Seattle 3-1
Charleston over Cincinnati 3-2

2nd round
Fargo over Jacksonville 3-1
Monterrey over Charleston 3-2

NLCS
Fargo over Monterrey 4-2