Broken Bat - Discussion Forum: 2031 Cup

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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#45647	02/19/2017 6:50:57 am
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	Well I have the defending champions in my group RIP.

#45652	02/19/2017 7:08:33 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	I'm excited to see Athens in my group. They were big rivals of the Dinos back in '20 and '21. Picked up some important lessons from how their team was built.

#45696	02/19/2017 11:49:13 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	Had five LVI teams last season and went just 11-9, so only way is up. Have three more this time, two of which are bots, one LLIII bot and LLIV Lewiston, so should be interesting.

#45702	02/19/2017 1:21:32 pm
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	Got Laredo (II) and Bloomfield (III), 3 top 25 teams... May be odds be ever in our favor!

#45713	02/19/2017 5:59:20 pm
Tiger504 Joined: 06/17/2014 Posts: 1314 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers III.4	That's a loaded group Moe. But my experience getting scalped by your team tells me you can make it through!

#46026	02/25/2017 10:10:48 am
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Wow,how does a LL III stacked team get put in with my group that is all LL V/VI? You can punch their ticket now for petes sake

#46028	02/25/2017 11:50:22 am
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Guys go check out this link I want u guys to see this forum http://brokenbat.org/forum/0/8/4675

#46029	02/25/2017 11:52:06 am
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Well my groin looks easy, only league 5 and 6 teams with one league 3 team

#46030	02/25/2017 11:53:06 am
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Squids change ur team name to thunder and put thunder logo there

#46033	02/25/2017 1:09:55 pm
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	Well my groin looks easy, only league 5 and 6 teams with one league 3 team Auto-corrections can be great sometimes. Updated Saturday, February 25 2017 @ 1:10:34 pm PST

#46036	02/25/2017 3:09:25 pm
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	jreynoldson913 I was going to do that but decided not too. It is why I have the OKC below my logo tho.

#46071	02/26/2017 1:41:13 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Hopefully jreynoldson is a guy(groin=easy)doh😮😮😮

#46086	02/26/2017 6:37:10 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Lol Stupid auto creddit

#46087	02/26/2017 6:38:44 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	WOW It literally did it twice to me in same forum That's unbelievable

#46089	02/26/2017 7:28:20 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Apperently this thread is not for you jreynoldson lmao

#46366	03/06/2017 6:15:50 am
GullyFoyle Joined: 02/16/2016 Posts: 129 Spokane Wolves IV.5	Just realised my first Cup games this season are with the current champions. That is both a great treat and a frightening prospect.

#46376	03/06/2017 10:02:10 am
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	Let's blow the doors off! Good luck in '31 and in the Cup.

#46377	03/06/2017 10:21:40 am
Philliesworld Joined: 10/17/2014 Posts: 788 Pierre Jacobins III.3	Yeah....am I ever itching to get this show started. Good luck everybody!!!

#46379	03/06/2017 10:45:37 am
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	Now more than ever, I need to focus more on League that Cup this season. I have no clue if I can win at this new level yet. My group isn't super hard so I could easily advance if I really made a point to... but the games may better be served as playing time. Last season, I was able to just give some youngsters league games without consequence once I went 20 games up at a point.

#46389	03/06/2017 3:13:22 pm
AssumedPseudonym Joined: 10/26/2016 Posts: 1130 Deerfield Beach Rats V.7	Two games in — split 1-1 so far — and I’ve already got a second baseman and both catchers down with injuries. @.@

#46391	03/06/2017 3:47:27 pm
HoHoTDoG Joined: 07/19/2015 Posts: 43 Inactive	2 leads going into the bottom of the 9th, 2 times my closer blows it time to put in an advertisement - looking for` a new closer that doesnt suck like Fitzgerald

#46392	03/06/2017 4:10:53 pm
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	@GoHoTDoG Fitzgerald looks like a pretty good closer to me just bad luck. Updated Monday, March 6 2017 @ 4:11:12 pm PST

#46395	03/06/2017 5:20:36 pm
AssumedPseudonym Joined: 10/26/2016 Posts: 1130 Deerfield Beach Rats V.7	Despite four injuries over the course of the first series — add another second baseman to the earlier list — and a center fielder going down after Game 4, I somehow managed to Frankenstein a lineup together that went 2-2 against Margate. Seeing as Mike’s LL4 and I’m LL6, I’m happy with the split.

#46396	03/06/2017 5:24:26 pm
GrizzlyDan Joined: 06/30/2016 Posts: 199 Atlanta Braves IV.2	4-0 so far in the Cup, and judging from this, the anti-LHP lineup is primed for the regular season. Let's do this.

#46401	03/06/2017 8:28:07 pm
Brewnoe Joined: 03/25/2014 Posts: 818 Fall River Naughty Dawgs IV.5	4-0, 57-5 RD and a CG SHO 1 hitter with 1 walk. Only injury was a lineup I meant to change. Can't beat that with a stick. (Unless Atlanta quite the game)

#46402	03/06/2017 8:49:08 pm
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	I let my young guys play game one and they got ambushed. Ended up +10 RD for the day, but with a 2-2 record. I guess the regulars will get to play all of the next series.

#46405	03/07/2017 12:05:02 am
Favuz Joined: 02/26/2014 Posts: 641 Oxnard Sunsets IV.3	went 3-1 against a bot team (with reasonable players tbh), but could have easily been 1-3, because in game 3 and 4 we came back from behind. I'm not satisfied, let's hope this perfomance doesn't apply to League (made only a couple of lineup changes to give youngsters more playing time)

#46489	03/09/2017 12:40:45 pm
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	Have to battle my former manager next round but i'm playing younger guys in cup this year.

#46653	03/13/2017 2:26:40 pm
TheBa8e Joined: 02/26/2016 Posts: 32 Inactive	Game one today: tied game 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Lead off hitter gets a triple, next guy lines out, then an intentional walk Change pitcher to a guy with control 18 Hit batter, bases loaded Walk ... game over

#46655	03/13/2017 3:31:09 pm
Champ01 Joined: 02/17/2017 Posts: 6 Inactive	I should have checked my pitchers before this game My starter threw a complete game over 150 pitches and it looks like my long and middle relief were all tired 11 runs is def taking one for the team.

#46656	03/13/2017 3:33:45 pm
Pig_Cola Joined: 09/15/2013 Posts: 1445 Glendale Marshals III.2	2-0 so far today. Norm Tanaka had 10 K's in the last game and is now out for 3 weeks.

#46666	03/13/2017 5:35:14 pm
Philliesworld Joined: 10/17/2014 Posts: 788 Pierre Jacobins III.3	11-1 after today. Next cups series will be versus Sioux City. The only other legit team in the group.

#46668	03/13/2017 5:44:33 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I hammered Mount Vernon in game 1 10-0. Mount Vernon then won games 2-4 by a total of 4 runs. Mount Vernon now has a two game lead in the group and effectively won the group. I now have much less margin for error despite having a +42 RD (30 better than 2nd place Mount Vernon).

#46669	03/13/2017 5:53:18 pm
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	Doing well in the Cup so far... but my group's a lot easier than my division.

#46675	03/13/2017 6:59:52 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Had a tough series against Athens. Fell behind early in 3 of the 4 games. Feel fortunate to get a split. Was nice to see Logan still hacking away. Sitting on 4 losses with 8 to go in the group stage. Pretty good odds of advancing.

#46676	03/13/2017 6:59:53 pm
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	Just split a series with the lat place cup team getting their first two wins and Monterey is still undefeated in cup and I play them last.

#46679	03/13/2017 8:45:08 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	Had a very tightly fought four games against East Lansing. The last two games were especially close. (btw - Mcdoogle's logo is the BEST!!!) Taking on 2nd place, Miami Beach, Friday. @Squiddcatt - I've never been close to undefeated in cup play before. I seriously got a very lucky draw ... regardless ... playing you will be one of this season's highlights. The biggest surprise of the cup this year is sophomore, Min Jun Kim. He didn't have a single POTG last season, and has three in this season's cup play. He has thrown 23 innings, giving up 14 hits and only 3 earned runs. Opponents are battings .171! Updated Monday, March 13 2017 @ 8:46:15 pm PDT

#46683	03/14/2017 1:07:26 am
AssumedPseudonym Joined: 10/26/2016 Posts: 1130 Deerfield Beach Rats V.7	GrizzlyDan of the Wilson Warriors: Your route through Group #35 has been a comfortable one through the first three series of Cup play. The bottom three teams in the Group offer little threat, and you’ve suffered but a single loss in your Cup run while coasting through those twelve games. That ends Friday. Gird your Warriors well, for besting the Rats of Deerfield Beach is no beginner’s quest for low-level adventurers. Not even the experienced Magicians of Margate could claim a convincing victory in their series against us, splitting wins and losses and surpassing us only in run differential despite many injuries dealt to us throughout the series. We’ve since recovered from our wounds, met two of the teams you’ve already defeated, and conquered both without further marring our record. We come to this penultimate Group series boasting a record nearly as lofty as your own, and arguably one stronger than yours due to the calibre of one of our earlier foes. Know that every game shall be contested on Friday; there will be no easy sweep. And, lest ye forget, your final opponent of the Group round — your boss fight, if you will — shall be those same Magicians who dealt us our only two defeats to date. Prepare yourself well, GrizzlyDan. Your nearly flawless record could be in for a rather nasty surprise. (And yes, I can get away with taunting him thus. He’s my step-father-in-law and the reason I got hooked on the game. ^.~ )

#46684	03/14/2017 2:14:45 am
Yuri84 Joined: 10/14/2014 Posts: 639 Apple Valley Raccoons IV.4	Cruising in style here. 11-1, +59 run difference...I guess I'll sacrifice some money and bring up a couple of young pitchers to play in the next round of group stage.

#46685	03/14/2017 2:29:22 am
GrizzlyDan Joined: 06/30/2016 Posts: 199 Atlanta Braves IV.2	Bring it, Mice. A death of a thousand cuts awaits you.

#46693	03/14/2017 7:36:31 am
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	What great posts, Assumed and Grizzly. I didn't know the relationship between the two of you. It's awesome that you have the chance to square off in the Cup in this round. Later rounds would be a bit nasty, but you can both move on given the current situation. Good luck! And keep up the great posts.

#46694	03/14/2017 8:09:29 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	It is nice to see people who know each other in real life do some friendly trash talking. It adds intrigue, and actual bragging rights to the series.

#46699	03/14/2017 9:04:13 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Agreed. I suspect more of this goes on privately. Managers may be cautious about publicizing real life connections between teams. Great to see some rivalries.

#46702	03/14/2017 9:42:13 am
Tiger504 Joined: 06/17/2014 Posts: 1314 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers III.4	Ding Dong, My Cup Is Dead! Assumed and Dan: enjoy your head to head matchup...relish it. My son in law and I have met heads up once in over 10 seasons. And I still have bragging rights, probably undeservedly so. I would love to play heads up every other season or so. That would be great.

#46712	03/14/2017 1:45:40 pm
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	Deleting double post. I've never figured out why/how this happens at times when I log in. Updated Tuesday, March 14 2017 @ 1:48:47 pm PDT

#46937	03/17/2017 5:26:50 pm
GrizzlyDan Joined: 06/30/2016 Posts: 199 Atlanta Braves IV.2	3 out of four from the Deerfield Beach crew! Well played. Bragging rights belong to the Warriors this time out.

#46943	03/18/2017 3:47:00 am
Yuri84 Joined: 10/14/2014 Posts: 639 Apple Valley Raccoons IV.4	Ben Wheeler made a solid debut in the cup, striking out seven in 7 2/3 innings played and giving up only two (home) runs on two hits. It was a long road for him, starting out with only 18 SI at 20 y.o., and he'll probably go back to minors untl next season, but I'm pretty satisfied with him nonetheless.

#46961	03/18/2017 9:28:26 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Interesting. Put a bookmark on Wheeler to keep an eye on his progress. Dinos had a good series against Commerce City, led by Enriquez. A split in the final series should get the team out of the group phase.

#47026	03/20/2017 2:26:51 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Just had an idea to put a pitcher with low stamina putting his pitch count low to see how it turned out and put a starter at LR I just tried that in the cup http://brokenbat.org/game/2441905 Turned out terrible but of course it was agianst the Thunder Bay Red Raiders

#47032	03/20/2017 3:50:07 pm
Bridger Joined: 08/04/2016 Posts: 264 Muncie Flyers III.4	Clinched my spot in the knockouts with a 20-run performance... http://brokenbat.org/game/2442626

#47036	03/20/2017 4:06:58 pm
Squiddcatt Joined: 02/25/2016 Posts: 375 Inactive	Congrats to Garnash1970 and my cup dreams failing.

#47040	03/20/2017 5:45:24 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	Thanks. You put up a good fight! I'll carry your flag as I (hopefully) advance. Good luck in your league play. You've got a nasty-good team!

#47045	03/20/2017 8:01:23 pm
hockeytrb99 Joined: 07/11/2015 Posts: 38 Sandusky Warriors VI.1	I can't believe I missed the knockout round by 1 run

#47046	03/20/2017 8:13:40 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	46-8 That's how many runs we got out scored by against the Thunder Bay Red Raiders. 1-19 in cup play. I'm not sure any team did worse

#47054	03/20/2017 8:58:07 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I missed the KO rounds... I lost two games to a LL VI team that was dead last before playing me, and three against a not great LL V team. I honestly don't know what to think right now.

#47055	03/20/2017 9:44:11 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	Wow... My guys just accomplished something that I will most likely never see again from my team: 20-0 in group play. It won't mean anything in the elimination round, but baseball in particular is such a hard sport to win 20 games in a row against ANY teams. My team was the only one, out of 756 teams, to win all 20 games. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it. Only four teams in the past ten seasons have gone perfect in the group stage. 4 out of 7560 teams. Again, it won't mean a darn thing once I'm eliminated in two games on Friday, but I'm going to savor this for now.

#47057	03/20/2017 10:54:16 pm
Razzle Joined: 03/21/2015 Posts: 130 Inactive	GRATZ Mig!! I hope you have a better fate than I did last year. I win the cup 2 years ago and fire out one of those 20 - 0 Cup pool play records you talked about last year. I promptly lost the first 2 games and was out. This year my KO matchup is with Waterloo. I'm looking forward to the matchup as I have a ton of respect for Seca.

#47062	03/21/2017 4:36:48 am
jdar25 Joined: 11/14/2016 Posts: 52 Inactive	gets Birmingham in 1st KO round R.I.P. my team

#47063	03/21/2017 5:01:30 am
Philliesworld Joined: 10/17/2014 Posts: 788 Pierre Jacobins III.3	Real Nice, Mig! We played to 16-4 record to end up 24th in BB cup rankings.

#47064	03/21/2017 5:29:21 am
Yuri84 Joined: 10/14/2014 Posts: 639 Apple Valley Raccoons IV.4	We finished with 16-4 record as well. Dropped the final series to Livonia but that didn't help them qualify even with 12 wins. Facing a LL.IV team next, I guess it's time to put all the main guns on.

#47075	03/21/2017 11:13:14 am
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	I had a pretty good Group run due to a week group... but my Cup will be over instantly as I face a LL2 (ranked 24 overall) team first. Just gonna use this for some experience, nothing more.

#47076	03/21/2017 11:25:43 am
Dan6176 Joined: 04/30/2016 Posts: 254 Inactive	Worst Cup showing in recorded team history.

#47084	03/21/2017 2:53:39 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Why in the world did 2 teams get in with less runs scored than some teams in front of them with the same record?

#47087	03/21/2017 3:00:38 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	I just looked. This years cup play recorded of 1-19 was actually an Improvemeant off last years 0-20 cup play. Geez this team sux

#47088	03/21/2017 3:02:54 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Mig2015 when u took over Bismark, we're they the worst team in the rankings?

#47094	03/21/2017 3:39:05 pm
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	Why in the world did 2 teams get in with less runs scored than some teams in front of them with the same record? They won their group, which automatically advances them.

#47096	03/21/2017 4:26:36 pm
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	We're currently 11-25 in league play and can barely do anything right. Yet we managed to go 12-8 in Cup play and book a spot in the KO rounds, quite pleased by that.

#47097	03/21/2017 4:32:44 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	That makes sense. First time I saw that. On another note,first time in 3 seasons I advance to the next rd and I catch a LLII team in Chessapeak(that spelling doesn't look right lol). Even though they had a better cup recoerd I got home field,so I have a slight chance

#47215	03/24/2017 12:06:05 pm
GrizzlyDan Joined: 06/30/2016 Posts: 199 Atlanta Braves IV.2	All I ask from Thunder Bay is to be merciful and be quick about it. I'll be surprised if I am even a momentary threat.

#47220	03/24/2017 2:08:16 pm
AssumedPseudonym Joined: 10/26/2016 Posts: 1130 Deerfield Beach Rats V.7	…Well, that was unexpected… o.O

#47235	03/24/2017 4:14:21 pm
AssumedPseudonym Joined: 10/26/2016 Posts: 1130 Deerfield Beach Rats V.7	After getting blown out in Game 2, I lost Game 3 5-4. Still, as a VI team against a III team, I was definitely punching above my weight class. At least I gave ’em a helluva fight. I can live with that. Good luck to those who’re still in the running!

#47237	03/24/2017 4:14:56 pm
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	back to Meaningless Mondays (I hate the Cup)

#47239	03/24/2017 4:17:21 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Well now,I did not expect to take down a LLII in cup play. My reward you ask? Thunder Bay on Monday. Somehow I think Monday is the end of my run lol

#47240	03/24/2017 4:33:54 pm
Ray2000 Joined: 02/15/2017 Posts: 9 Inactive	Got through the first round despite losing the first game. It also gained us enough ranking points to put us in the top 30. Pretty sweet for a IV. team.

#47243	03/24/2017 5:11:08 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	I took over the Bismark Bengals in 2023. We never made it out of cup group play until five seasons later, 2028. We never made it out of the first round, losing in 3 games in 2028, 2029, and 2030. Now, in 2031, after a perfect 20-0 group stage, the dream lives on after two truely inspiring comeback performances. Game 1: Came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 8th inning out of absolutely nowhere. We couln't get anything going until the 8th. 4 runs later we get a come-from-behind 5-3 victory. Game 2: The one that really blew my mind. We trail 6-0 after 5 1/2 innings. Got 3 in the bottom of the 6th all with two outs. Then, that darn 8th inning again... We got 7 in the 8th including a dramatic grand slam to put us in front 10-6. We win by the same score. So, somehow, we are still undefeated in cup play... until we get swept in two games by Troy on Monday. Enjoying this while it lasts! Updated Friday, March 24 2017 @ 5:11:59 pm PDT

#47247	03/24/2017 10:27:19 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Congrats mig, it would be pretty cool to see a team go undefeated in the cup

#47254	03/25/2017 3:32:59 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	After scraping through the group stage by the narrowest of margins, the Lancers, sitting at 16-27 in IV.4, took on the State College Bears, top of II.2 - and won, 2-1! I was hoping our early season struggles were just bad luck and that appears to be the case. Next up is a home series against IV.6 Brookview.

#47256	03/25/2017 6:42:18 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Congratulations to Edmond on winning a close fought series. Waterloo was without its starting outfield, but otherwise put their best foot forward. Had hoped to get a couple more series to help pay for McCarty's yacht. Or island. Or yacht-island. But Dino pitchers were so focussed on Cramer that Duke ripped us up, and the Bulldog pitching was very good. Good luck to the teams moving on! Will look forward to next season's competition.

#47264	03/25/2017 10:20:43 am
Slug5373 Joined: 12/23/2014 Posts: 376 Inactive	I'm still pretty unhappy with the current seeding system in cup play, but ignoring that... We went into Santa Monica to play the (then) 3rd best team in the BB world. After predictably dropping game one, we came back and won game two 4-2. Then, in game 3 our absolutely terrible offense that can't score a dang run to save its life during the regular season checks in with 10 hits against a legends all-star who is having another dominant year this year. That includes a 2 run dong from my back up to the back up DH Doug Preston. ...After all that complaining that I did about having to play a clearly better team, baseball is a funny sport not without a sense of irony, which is why we all love it so much. So, after all that, now I get a team at least in my same weight class right? right??? ........ Nope, traveling to Novi on Monday to take on Haselrig's boys. I do really look forward to it because I don't think we've ever matched-up, but it is pretty disheartening that I have to play yet another top-notch team. Will this be the first time in my 11 seasons here that I finally get to round 3? Updated Saturday, March 25 2017 @ 10:22:55 am PDT

#47266	03/25/2017 11:05:57 am
occham Joined: 11/07/2011 Posts: 258 Inactive	Good luck! At very least, you have a cool story! No one remembers the easy wins. It's the upsets that are most gratifying.

#47267	03/25/2017 11:16:57 am
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	Such is life... Anywell, Seattle is next. It's turning into a nice little rivalry. Fierce battle for the West with them and Pasadena, this matchup adds a little more fuel to the fire.

#47285	03/25/2017 11:53:28 pm
Haselrig Joined: 04/13/2014 Posts: 2790 Novi Doubledays III.4	I wouldn't get too down about our matchup, Slug. Cup series are notoriously volatile. A well managed team with a dedicated owner always has a good shot at winning one of these. I'm looking forward to it. This is the farthest I've made it in three seasons

#47337	03/27/2017 5:53:28 am
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Well today is a big measuring stick day. Does Thunder Bay enforce their will on me and and make my boys tremble and pee themselves or do we stare them in the eyes and smile? Here's hoping it's at least it's competitive 😉

#47339	03/27/2017 7:12:17 am
Meccanodonte Joined: 04/21/2014 Posts: 370 Inactive	I have a question. I probably know the answer. Why in a series of 3, 2 of the games are played the same day?

#47342	03/27/2017 12:26:04 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Why in a series of 3, 2 of the games are played the same day? To finish the BrokenBat season b/f December. All those off-days for the cup lengthen the schedule. There are double headers in the cup eliminations and during inter-division to compensate. Its clever design imo. The schedule is quite taxing during inter-division. Can force a team to decide between pushing for a high cup finish and pushing for a high league finish.

#47346	03/27/2017 2:46:59 pm
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	I think Mecca means, why are the first two games in Cup play played on the same game day, ie. effectively a double-header? When league games are played on consecutive days? It would certainly help teams with injuries, like mine, with my pitching struggling to put out a healthy staff for the first two games tonight.

#47349	03/27/2017 4:17:14 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Yup. And that's what I answered. The season ends October 24. Without the double headers in the 8 elimination cup rounds we'd be in November. Without the 12 double headers in inter-division we would be near December. And I still say it's neat it's set this way. It should be a challenge to put your full effort into both the cup and league. It makes for more interesting management decisions. If the schedule were more relaxed, results would be more top heavy.

#47350	03/27/2017 4:22:31 pm
Jason2327 Joined: 09/02/2014 Posts: 722 Abilene Patriots III.2	Congrats to Thunder Bay. I think I kept the series fairly competitive

#47351	03/27/2017 4:25:31 pm
TheBa8e Joined: 02/26/2016 Posts: 32 Inactive	@Jason Well my reward for winning this round is to be TB's next victim. We will walk to guillotine with our heads held high and our fists raised in defiance and our necks fully extended so the axeman can do it in one blow. It was fun! ~ Nah I think I have a shot. Especially if I line my pitching up right. Mr.TwoPlums --> you are going down!

#47366	03/27/2017 10:58:39 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	@Seca I like the updated logo! We finally dropped our first cup game in game 2 of today's matchup with VI Troy. We eventually pulled it out in the end, but I have to say that Troy put up a tremendous effort... oh wait, they are a bot team... never mind. For real though, I was extremely nervous we wouldn't win this series. Game one was especially nerve-wracking because we've been a team that needs to hit the ball to win. The 4-0 final score was really deceiving because we had a whopping 3 hits through 7 innings against a subpar pitcher. Estevez led off the game with a home run... then nada until the team remembered that hitting the ball is legal in the 8th inning. Then we lost game 2 in a shutout, and I'm starting to think its not meant to be. Thankfully, we pulled it out in game 3 fairly handily, 8-2, though Stroud did his best in the first few innings to let as many runners on base as possible without allowing runs. Well, anyway, the important thing is we are moving on. I'm enjoying this for now... until we get swept in two games by Lexington on Friday. (Yes, I'm a pessimist, lol)

#47370	03/28/2017 1:11:02 am
Meccanodonte Joined: 04/21/2014 Posts: 370 Inactive	@Seca @Amal I meant: a double-header in a long competition like league (or the first round in the cup) makes sense, b/c it's a long run and values emerge in the end. A series of 3 it's a bit of a coin flip and playing 66% of the games in the same day, if you have an accident like a simple +1 injury, could be frustrating and put a team unjustly out. I obviously understand that was a calendar-reason, but maybe it could be arranged in a different way.

#47375	03/28/2017 6:56:01 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Having those double headers in the cup competition is consistent with both of your points. League is about finding value / the best team. By placing almost half the double headers in cup competition, it adds strategy for the manager. A manager can choose to "opt out" of these dates. By doing this, they are essentially adding value to their team through less injury exposure and reduced pitcher fatigue. Even if a manager doesn't decide to ditch the cup, this adding of value gives some consolation when they are eliminated. The season I won the cup it was a conscious decision to go for it. I was mid-table in league. Wasn't going to win, wasn't going to drop. I could allocate my best starters to the cup. I could tolerate additional injury risk and fatigue. Many other seasons I have consciously ditched the cup so I could focus on my league standing. I feel the "unjustly eliminated" is off track. The cup isn't about justice. Its an rng fiesta. Its not supposed to find the best team, but the luckiest team. Most of the player base is probably happy more than half of Legends went down in the first elimination round. Structuring the cup to make it more consistent is almost against its mandate.

#47377	03/28/2017 8:25:17 am
Meccanodonte Joined: 04/21/2014 Posts: 370 Inactive	Ok, I don't agree but understand.

#47500	03/31/2017 8:46:21 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	Next up: Mig2015 and the mighty Bismark Phoenix. Good luck!!

#47538	04/01/2017 11:47:38 pm
sShadow Joined: 12/05/2015 Posts: 59 Inactive	http://brokenbat.org/player/130625/C http://brokenbat.org/player/130625/L Use his all ability to cup...

#47612	04/03/2017 2:21:14 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	Grinds my gears that my 17 control pitcher wild pitches in the winning run. Congrats to Bismark for taking game 1!!

#47620	04/03/2017 6:14:22 pm
Slug5373 Joined: 12/23/2014 Posts: 376 Inactive	Wow, this cup season has been absolutely crazy. 15-5 in group stage Beat a legends team in round 1 Beat a II team in round 2 Beat a III team in round 3 And today I squeaked by a very good V team, the Elyria Blue Jays. We squandered chance after chance after chance to win the game in game 1, but we eventually came through in the 14th inning on Art Neal's walk-off dinger. Ayers had to be extended in game 2 to 150 pitches and they finally jumped on him in the 8th. (Needless to say, I was very displeased that we had absolutely no one to pitch from the pen. Yeah yeah, I know why it happened. Lesson learned) Game three went 13 innings after we were 1 out away from elimination, and we eventually won on a sac fly in the 13th. Whew! Friday I have a very interesting matchup with Bismark. Good luck to Mig2015!

#47623	04/03/2017 7:26:32 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	@Slug Congrats on moving on despite your complaining earlier on. Seriously though, it should be a fun three game set. As to today's contests, we traveled to a very good Monterey Titans team who threw everything they had at us. I'm not going to lie, despite our sweep, it was a very close series. Both games went down to the wire, and I'll be the first to say we were lucky to get the late runs when we did to win both of those games. I think I saw someone mention discrepancies between cup performance and regular season performance. Introducing Cap Carmona! regular cup Updated Monday, April 3 2017 @ 7:28:57 pm PDT

#47630	04/03/2017 9:18:49 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	@Mig2015 - you've got a terrific team. Congrats. Really, the difference between us today: one wild pitch and one three-run jack. But, that's all it takes. May the ball always bounce fair for you. Good luck the rest of the way and to all the teams advancing!

#47632	04/03/2017 9:39:23 pm
12twelve Joined: 02/05/2017 Posts: 131 Inactive	May the ball always bounce fair for you. Garnash, since Mig's logo looks like the Mockingjay from the Hunger Games movies, I thought you might say "may the odds be ever in your favor" instead. Congrats and good luck to all still in the Cup!

#47636	04/04/2017 12:34:01 am
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	@12Twelve ... I gotta sit down and watch that movie ... too much time is spent here ... I'm definitely a Star Wars geek, so .... May the Force be with you ... or ... MTG? ... May a Sol Ring be always in your opening hand. Peace :o)~ Just win, Mig2015, that's all I'm asking! Updated Tuesday, April 4 2017 @ 12:35:02 am PDT

#47758	04/07/2017 3:12:43 pm
Mesh77 Joined: 10/25/2016 Posts: 144 Palo Alto Invaders V.15	Well all three remaining Legends teams went out this round of the Cup by losing their first two games, us in two one-run games. Congrats sShadow, and to the remaining teams!

#47785	04/07/2017 10:04:06 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	Bismark advanced which is the team I'm pulling for to win it

#47786	04/07/2017 10:47:01 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	The run continues after a surprising 2 game sweep of the talented Hampton Isotopes. I cannot believe we've made it this far. Just last season I was thrilled to advance to the first elimination round. After 10 elimination round wins, we still need 6 more to win it all. That's a long way to go! We've got a matchup with another really good team next round also from division IV, the Port Arthur Pirates. We'll probably get swept, so I'm enjoying this while it lasts! Good luck to the other seven remaining teams, and congrats to Hampton on their equally impressive run, knocking out a legends team and a II team among others along the way. Good luck the rest of the season!

#47788	04/07/2017 11:35:02 pm
sShadow Joined: 12/05/2015 Posts: 59 Inactive	We are trying to make another history since CW on 2009, and maybe we clear the biggest powerful challenge to us. Thanks to Mesh77 for great series! 10 consecutive win after losing the first game of 1 rd, and we are definitely exceed our expectation before the season. Still there are 6-9 game remaining, so we should not be satisfied with the result but push ahead for better one. Good luck to every remaining team!

#47839	04/10/2017 2:09:17 pm
TheBa8e Joined: 02/26/2016 Posts: 32 Inactive	Hey @MukilteoMike, did ya check out Mililani v. Cedar Rapids game 1 today? Mililani (a team about to go bot for the umpteenth time) ran out this starting pitcher. Aren't you outraged at how horribly constructed this game is??? It was his first start in 224 official games.

#47843	04/10/2017 4:43:50 pm
cbstatic Joined: 04/05/2014 Posts: 106 North El Dorado Pay Dirt VI.20	I want to take this opportunity to wish all the contending teams good luck in this years cup. I really did enjoy my run last season but once again my team has returned to the non qualifing group. I do have a question for the final 4 teams. I did enjoy making those predictions for my cup game. Would anyone be interested to see if I could come close with predictions for this cup? As I recall, I did pretty well until I "padded" North El Dorado's Dingers & Stolen Bases. I should not have put on those rose colored glasses. It would be the least that I could do to show my respect to those who make it to the Cup Finals. Charley

#47844	04/10/2017 4:56:14 pm
the gizmo Joined: 02/07/2013 Posts: 574 Inactive	My money is on Mig2015

#47848	04/10/2017 8:26:04 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	I see one semi-final pits Bismark against Mililani. Mililani was in my league for a while ... fun, if they are going bot again, then they would be my pick to win it all. Irony and all that. LOL ... I'm rooting for Bismark cuz they knocked me out this season, but I live in fear of Mr. Murphy and this match-up is exactly his favorite kind. So let's say the Turtles in two. Good luck Mig2015, I'm rooting for you and I hope you do win it all!!!

#47851	04/10/2017 9:29:28 pm
MukilteoMike Joined: 08/09/2014 Posts: 3294 Inactive	Ba8e, ha! Once again I've gotten named to a displeasure that I haven't mentioned. In this case, no, it doesn't bother me at all. When a team is still in the Cup this late, it's a do-anything-it-takes scenario, in my opinion. Look to the real world playoffs and Series and you'll see plenty of similar moves. I can think of one right off the top of my head because it is still painful--Game 7, 2014, WS, Madison Friggin' Bumgarner. He threw a complete game in game five and then came in and threw five closing innings just two days later for game seven. That seems impossible to all mortals and Kansas City fans, but it happened. 2015 helps me deal with that memory, but by no means has it been wiped away. In the BB Cup example you mentioned, did you see the carnage of their staff? Three guys were out with injuries and another three unavailable due to fatigue. Another two had moderate fatigue, so they may not have been available. They really didn't have many options. I doubt they wanted to start him; he has a 5.62 career ERA.

#47853	04/10/2017 10:11:27 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ I have no words... except these: We travel to play Miliani on Friday where we will probably get swept, so I'm enjoying this while it lasts! Edit: Also, thanks for the support everyone! I'm hoping my boys can pull it out! Updated Monday, April 10 2017 @ 10:30:29 pm PDT

#47854	04/10/2017 10:29:37 pm
Slug5373 Joined: 12/23/2014 Posts: 376 Inactive	... and then there were four. My predictions: Bismark over Miliani in 3 Oceanview Woods over Philadelphia in 3 Championship: Oceanview Woods over Bismark in 2 close games But, the good thing about cup? ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!! Good luck to the final four!

#47866	04/11/2017 5:44:28 am
robinsmd Joined: 05/25/2014 Posts: 86 Loveland Tigers V.10	Ahhh well that sucks. Up over Oceanview 7-5 going into the 9th inning. They score 3 runs with 2 outs to beat me 8-7. That engine roll couldn't have gotten any worse.

#47874	04/11/2017 1:49:58 pm
jreynoldson913 Joined: 08/18/2015 Posts: 293 Inactive	I'm starting to wonder if the system is rigged for Bismark. Lol

#47876	04/11/2017 2:55:22 pm
Philliesworld Joined: 10/17/2014 Posts: 788 Pierre Jacobins III.3	Go Phoneix!

#47975	04/14/2017 9:05:19 am
sShadow Joined: 12/05/2015 Posts: 59 Inactive	Today, Philadelphia try to achieve the cup final contender against Oceanview Woods, which was the winner of the IV.2, West Division on last season. We were 3-7 on last season against them, so this series would be tough for us like last two series. However, our fans are expecting to be a 4th 2-cup-winners on BB history(Las Vegas - Central Empire Falls(now, Augusta) - Mount Vernon), and I believe we can do it. Good luck for Bismark and Mililani, also for Oceanview Woods and us to have competitive matches! Updated Friday, April 14 2017 @ 12:35:33 pm PDT

#47982	04/14/2017 12:21:24 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	That is a really tough way to go robinsmd. . My sympathy. A compelling final 4 tho! Thanks for the background eshadow. Looking forward to the games.

#47992	04/14/2017 4:49:36 pm
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	Wow looks like there will be a bot team in the cup finals this season. Yes although Mililani has an owner, it was a one time login. Hopefully Oceanview can pull it off over our eventual overlords. There is a prevailing notion that the cup tournament is a measure of how "fortunate" a team has been; a clown fiesta of RNG, if you will. Where the better team does not necessarily win. However, flogging a dead horse never provides a fruitful discussion. Instead I'd like to offer up a corollary. While RNG can only provide so much help, a case can be made that parity is beginning to emerge. Not just among teams in a particular division, but across the pyramid scheme. A while back, 5 or so seasons, the talent pool began to diminish. Such that the top teams at the time were no longer filled with only 14 potential players. Results of this are evident in the choice of free agents. Lately, how many instant starters have been pulled from waivers or even signed as opposed to 7 seasons ago? Overall I believe that this is good for the health of a game such as BB. Being forced to develop talent and work out the intricacies rewards the diligent players. Also, Steve does lots of work behind the scenes. Work on the game engine such that parity is possible, While I may find the RNG infuriating at times, the same could be said for a few results in baseball. Any thoughts on this matter? Updated Friday, April 14 2017 @ 4:50:43 pm PDT

#47996	04/14/2017 6:17:12 pm
cbstatic Joined: 04/05/2014 Posts: 106 North El Dorado Pay Dirt VI.20	Well, It looks like we are down to two teams. I thought I would offer my two cents with some predictions if no-one has any objections: But alas... I will wait until Sunday so they can get their pitching rotations set. As far as the offensive numbers... Here they are: For Oceanview: Based on a 3 game series: Hits: 25 Dingers: 3 Walks: 9 Strikeouts: 16 Stolen Bases: 1 Caught Stealing: None For Mililani: Based on a 3 game series: Hits: 20 Dingers: 3 Walks: 7 Strikeouts: 14 Stolen Bases: 2 Caught Stealing: 1 Good Luck to Both Teams !!!

#47997	04/14/2017 6:24:42 pm
Garnash1970 Joined: 08/07/2014 Posts: 199 Inactive	First of all ... @Mig2015 - congrats on an epic, epic cup run. You should be proud as hell of your team. Secondly, good luck to me former league-mates, Mililani. I spent a couple seasons playing them in VI.30. Thirdly, good luck to Oceanview Woods. You've had a hell of a good run. Lastly, congrats to all the teams that made it to the knock-out stage! It was a fantastic and exciting season in cup play!! GOOD LUCK!!!

#48001	04/14/2017 9:09:53 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	This stings, and it is stinging hard. After six rounds, we end up losing to an effing BOT TEAM??? I know baseball is a sport where anyone can win in a three game set, but seriously, how has an owner who logged on exactly one time and done absolutely NOTHING even advancing to the semi-finals (Now the championship) in the first place??? I've put my heart and soul into this game, scavenging the waiver wire, drafting every week, strategically playing my younger guys, and investing so much time into this. That is what really hurts. What an anticlimatic and disappointing way to go out. What an freaking letdown. I would have rather lost IN THE 1ST ROUND, to an actual team with an actual owner who put at least a little bit of time into this game. That way, I might have avoided getting my hopes up that I could take care of a freaking bot team. GD, that pisses me off. Seriously, I would have rather lost to Troy way back in round 2 or 3, a VI team, because at least their owner logs on occasionally. I might be disappointing if I lose to a team I think I'm better than, but I can get over it much more quickly if I'm looking at another human being who beat me fair and square. Today really really sucked. And the way I lost didn't help anything. After taking a 1-0 lead in the series, our offense decided it would be a good idea to not hit the ball whatsoever. An offense I have long touted as my strength, one I've talked about over and over again as what I pride myself in having on my teams, came up with 4 hits... FOUR -- one, two, three, four... FOUR!!! I know this was against their "ace" but seriously??? You can't do any freaking better than that? And, not only that, two of those hits were leadoff doubles in back to back innings that we didn't even ADVANCE ONE BASE!!! We could have brought them in without the benefit of a hit: a simple sac bunt and a fly ball or ground ball or whatever, could have brought in two runs for us. So, EVEN WITH our 4 hits and 5 total baserunners for the entire game, we still could have 2 runs in the first 9 innings and forced extras (Because our pitching did terrific in that game). But no: nothing, nada, zilch, zero. However, far worse was game three. Firstly, this was a game I think we deserved to win. Granted, it was a fairly even game, but the LOB show the story of the game. We simply COULD NOT get a big hit: not one. Sure, we walked in a run or got a 2 out single with a man on second every so often, but on three seperate occasions after giving up the 6 spot in the 3rd (Which I will get to in a minute) we had the tying or even the go ahead run at the plate with the bases loaded. 3 times we had bases loaded and two outs after the 3rd inning. How many runs did we score in those situations??? One, on a walk no less... thanks for nothing. Then, when we actually had an opportunity to start a rally with no outs (God forbid we get runners on base with 0 or 1 outs.) We hit into two double plays in the last three innings. Great job guys. Inspiring. Now, for the most frustrating moment in my ENTIRE 9 seasons of playing Broken Bat -- and this even beats me losing the division crown to Twin Falls a few seasons ago despite having twice as good of a run differential -- WHY WAS STROUD TAKEN OUT OF THE FU****** GAME??????????????? Oh my freaking goodness, I about lost my mind when I saw that. I simply couldn't believe my eyes. My starting pitching is actually a strength of my team this season, but my bullpen... not so much to say the least. So, let me paint a picture of what happened: We are down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 3rd, Stroud had given up a 2 run HR in the 2nd, but was not getting hit hard other than that. He gets the first two outs of the inning in like, 5 pitches. Would you guess he'd be out of the game two batters later? Well, I didn't think so either. The next two batters go like this: single, stolen base, RBI single -- BAM! Stroud's out of the game. I am not being dramatic when I say that I about fell out of my chair. I could not, and still not believe that Stroud, one of my most reliable pitchers, was taken out after allowing back to back singles and only three runs total for the game. His hook is set at 6 for God's sake, he had only thrown about 40 pitches, and he was only 1 click under full stamina when he started. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ What? I knew we had lost once he was taken out and replaced with, of all people, the guy with the highest ERA in my entire bullpen... brilliant idea. Almost as smart as the Phillies leaving Jeanmar Gomez in for the 10th inning today against the Nationals with two of the best left-handed hitting players in all of baseball due up (Needless to say, the Nationals walked off on my Phillies in two batters: single, double). But I digress... Anyway, predictably, Barrios sucks a big one and gives up: single single walk ...Setting the stage for the most devastating at bat in Bismark's franchise history... Cordova comes into the game. He was a little fatigued coming in, but nothing crazy. He has been my most improved bullpen arm without a doubt this season, and I actually was relieved he came into the game. (Not as relieved as if Stroud had been in like he should have been, but it was better than my worst bullpen arm.) Well, my relief lasted about 2 seconds, literally: Cue slow motion BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM Grand slam Yep, that just happened. We trailed 8-1. To my guys credit though, they put up a whale of a fight, and my bullpen actually pitched pretty well after the 3rd inning horror story. At one point, we had cut it to 8-6 in the top of the 8th, despite our squandering of every single opportunity with the bases loaded to truely get back in the game. All it would take was one big hit to seal the deal, and they got it in the bottom of the 8th: Boom! 2 run jack, 10-6. I didn't quit yet because our team does have a tremendous offense capable of scoring four runs in an inning easily... We got the leadoff guy on, it could be happening!!! ... Sike! Double play, ground out, ballgame. I know what y'all are going to say: be proud of the run you put together. You shouldn't be so negaitve because other teams would give an awful lot to be in my place. Yeah, yeah, I know. Its just unbelievably frustrating to lose to someone who logged on once with no intention of playing the game. I'll tell you all straight up that if I lost to a real person, it still would have stung, but I would have held my head up, congratulated them on a well-played series (and I would have meant it), and moved on to tomorrow. There will always be more baseball, but I think the biggest reason this stings so much is that I may never get an opportunity like this again. I probably won't get to legends, I certainty won't go perfect in the cup group stage starting 33-2 in cup play and get to the semi-finals again. Now, I want to give a GENUINE congrats to Oceanview for their win and I want to give a big congrats to the Philadelphia Crusaders as well for a great run and for losing to a respectable team. I would say good luck to Miliani, but a computer doesn't understand what I'm saying, which is good because in all seriousness, I hope you stomp on them 30-0 in back to back games Oceanview and send them back to the abyss from whence they came. I'm done Mic drop

#48006	04/14/2017 11:05:27 pm
Frankebasta Joined: 09/15/2013 Posts: 885 Kodiak Mules III.3	Hear ya!

#48008	04/15/2017 2:41:54 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	@Mig - I think we can all understand your pain, but one point I have to make: if your starting pitching is a strength, especially compared to your bullpen, then why the heck do you have a 6 Hook on a starting pitcher? That makes zero sense. I have a 9 Hook on all my starters, and I know some teams set them even higher. Its not a guarantee that Stroud wouldn't have given up those ten runs but there's a much higher chance that he wouldn't - 10-6 might instead have been 6-6, and your bats might have turned that around. @mcrmoe - you make some very good points, and I completely agree. You can get hot & cold swings in league play, on a seasonal or weekly or even daily basis, because baseball is so unpredictable. The Cup is very much a crapshoot and even Steve says anything can happen in a three-game series, so it is very much about luck. Which is why I guess the Cup is such a love/hate thing. Updated Saturday, April 15 2017 @ 2:47:52 am PDT

#48014	04/15/2017 7:11:46 am
Philliesworld Joined: 10/17/2014 Posts: 788 Pierre Jacobins III.3	This cup stuff keeps getting better and better. Wow! This is keeping me on edge.

#48018	04/15/2017 10:12:47 am
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	Ok, I sat on it overnight, and I want to apologize to anyone I may have offended with my last post. I did have a great run, and sometimes baseball, and all sports really, just has a way of punching you in the face. That is what makes winning all the more sweet, which is why we idiots love sports even though we are more likely to lose than win. I was being over-dramatic about an online game. However, I am still hoping Oceanview kicks the crud out of Miliani. That hasn't changed.

#48019	04/15/2017 11:35:41 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	I'm passionate about my team. I like that other managers are passionate too. Getting this far in the cup is a unique opportunity and experience. Understandably frustrating being eliminated (under any circumstances). Milani seems to have 2 exploitable weaknesses. Poor base stealing defense and a vulnerability to LHP. Oceanview has Noble to help with the latter, but not many tools to take advantage of the former.

#48021	04/15/2017 12:07:24 pm
hardhat Joined: 05/26/2013 Posts: 200 Oceanview Woods Grizzlies Legends	Oh boy, it took so much luck to get to this point but I'm really excited! Re: Milani's weaknesses -- I wish I could exploit them more but my team isn't built that way. I have NO basestealers on my team and ONE LHP. The latter is a major team construction weakness that I'm gonna have to address at some point soon anyway... I'm just thrilled to be able to represent the human race in this cup battle vs the robots. Updated Saturday, April 15 2017 @ 12:09:58 pm PDT

#48022	04/15/2017 12:23:22 pm
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	I'm glad that the battle against the machine theme is being embraced. I believe this will be the 2nd time a notable title is up for grabs against the AI, Thunder Bay slipped against Orland for the legends title in 2024. On a slightly heavier note, the raise of machine learning techniques is very present in every day lives. At least in my field, data science has been instrumental for the past 5 years in changing many aspects of our lives, albeit these go unnoticed. This reminds me that Microsoft let loose Tay, a chat robot, on Twitter last year. The results were interesting and somewhat disturbing. Updated Saturday, April 15 2017 @ 12:25:15 pm PDT

#48037	04/15/2017 8:22:01 pm
cbstatic Joined: 04/05/2014 Posts: 106 North El Dorado Pay Dirt VI.20	Appology accepted Mig. And I hope you are enjoying it as much as I did last season HardHat...

#48085	04/17/2017 12:34:06 pm
cbstatic Joined: 04/05/2014 Posts: 106 North El Dorado Pay Dirt VI.20	Just a couple of hours to go... I wanted to re-post those predictions I made earlier along with the starting pitcher predictions. For Oceanview: Based on a 3 game series: Hits: 25 Dingers: 3 Walks: 9 Strikeouts: 16 Stolen Bases: 1 Caught Stealing: None Starting Pitchers Noble - Hits 7 - Runs 3 - BB 1 - K 2 - HR 0 Nishizaki - Hits 6 - Runs 3 - BB 2 - K 7 - HR 1 Church - Hits 5 - Runs 2 - BB 2 - K 5 - HR 1 For Mililani: Based on a 3 game series: Hits: 20 Dingers: 3 Walks: 7 Strikeouts: 14 Stolen Bases: 2 Caught Stealing: 1 Starting Pitchers Hampton - Hits 3 - Runs 2 - BB 1 - K 1 - HR 0 Donati - Hits 5 - Runs 3 - BB 2 - K 2 - HR 1 Castro - Hits 8 - Runs 3 - BB 1 - K 3 - HR 1 Good luck and hopefully I come out close again.

#48089	04/17/2017 2:09:48 pm
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	First blood to the Grizzlies.

#48094	04/17/2017 4:14:52 pm
Bridger Joined: 08/04/2016 Posts: 264 Muncie Flyers III.4	I finished ahead of the cup champs in groups...lol

#48096	04/17/2017 4:38:54 pm
Pig_Cola Joined: 09/15/2013 Posts: 1445 Glendale Marshals III.2	Well, I'm very surprised that Mililani won the cup with their owner logging in only once. But congrats to them.

#48097	04/17/2017 5:10:03 pm
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	Machine 2 - Humans 0 I think it was actually a slip up by Oceanview Woods. For elimination games and play offs, I don't use LR and adjust the pitchers to avoid a situation like that of game 3.

#48098	04/17/2017 5:18:43 pm
hardhat Joined: 05/26/2013 Posts: 200 Oceanview Woods Grizzlies Legends	Yep, I made a big mistake allowing my reliever Grasso to pitch in game 3. He gave up 10 runs in a couple innings, because he is really a developmental guy for me at this point. I could've rotated him out for one of my better pitchers, but I didn't think to do it. Disappointment in Oceanview today!

#48100	04/17/2017 5:30:13 pm
cbstatic Joined: 04/05/2014 Posts: 106 North El Dorado Pay Dirt VI.20	Well, it looks like congratulations go to Mililani… But let us not forget to congratulate Hardhat for his deep run into the Cup. I hope he remembers the thrill of getting there. Oceanview – Hits 35 – HR 3 – BB 9 – K 16 – SB 1 – CS 0 Actual – Hits 32 – HR 5 – BB 4 – K 13 – SB 1 – CS 0 Noble - Hits 7 - Runs 3 - BB 1 - K 2 - HR 0 Actual - Hits 8 – Runs 4 – BB 1 – K 5 - HR 2 Nishizaki - Hits 6 - Runs 3 - BB 2 - K 7 - HR 1 Actual - Hits 12 – Runs 6 – BB 1 – K 7 - HR 0 Church - Hits 5 - Runs 2 - BB 2 - K 5 - HR 1 Actual - Hits 7 – Runs 4 – BB 0 – K 3 - HR 1 It looks like Oceanview was just short of my predictions with Hits, Walks and K’s… But nice job with those Dingers. Noble and Church came close to my predictions while Nishizaki gave up double with Hits & Runs. Mililani – Hits 20 – HR 3 – BB 7 – K 14 – SB 2 – CS 1 Actual – Hits 32 – HR 7 – BB 5 – K 24 – SB 2 – CS 0 Hampton - Hits 3 - Runs 2 - BB 1 - K 1 - HR 0 Actual - Hits 6 – Runs 7 – BB 1 – K 1 - HR 2 Donati - Hits 5 - Runs 3 - BB 2 - K 2 - HR 1 Actual - Hits 5 – Runs 2 – BB 2 – K 4 - HR 0 Castro - Hits 8 - Runs 3 - BB 1 - K 3 - HR 1 Actual - Hits11 – Runs 3 – BB 1 – K 1 - HR 1 Mililani did a wonderful job between the Hits and Dingers… But they definitely had a lot of problems when it came to the strikeouts… Donati stayed pretty close to my predictions. Hampton obviously got hit harder but Castro did a fine job with the runs despite giving up 11 hits.

#48101	04/17/2017 8:26:13 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Grats Hardhat on a great run. And to cris92! Grats on the win. Also imaloy769 ... wherever you are ... well done! You put a fine team together. And all participants! Was a fun tournament. Looking forward to next season's tilt. Updated Monday, April 17 2017 @ 8:52:57 pm PDT

#48106	04/17/2017 11:04:17 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	11-1111-1110-111-10010-1-11-10101-1100-1-10100-1001-1111-1110-10011 10100-1111 1101-1001-1100-1001-1-1110-1001 1-1110-100 10100-1000-101 11-10000-10101 110-1111-10010 10111-1001-1110-1110-1001-1110-111 10100-1000-101 11-10101-10000(Character.toString((char)33)) *10100-1000-1-10100 1001-10011 10001-10101-1001-10100-101 1-1110 1-11-11-1111-1101-10000-1100-1001-10011-1000-1101-101-1110-10100 11001-1111-10101 10011-10100-1111-1100-101 110-10010-1111-1101 10011-1111-1101-101-1111-1110-101 10111-1000-1111 1101-1001-111-1000-10100 1000-1-10110-101 1-11-10100-1-1100-1100-11001 101-1110-1010-1111-11001-101-100 1001-10100(Character.toString((char)44)) 11001-1111-10101 10000-1001-101-11-101 1111-110 10011-1000-1001-10100(Character.toString((char)46)) Updated Monday, April 17 2017 @ 11:12:47 pm PDT*

#48118	04/18/2017 12:18:35 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	Also, congrats to hardhat and Oceanview for a tremendous run, even though it came to an unfortunate end yesterday. Edit: Yes, my previous post has a meaning. Its not a typo. Updated Tuesday, April 18 2017 @ 12:19:15 pm PDT

#48120	04/18/2017 12:54:19 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Yes, my previous post has a meaning. Its not a typo. I assumed you were still grumpy. In the end, Milani went 14-2 vs. RH starting pitching in elimination rounds. 1-3 vs. LH. One of the advantages an active manager has against a passive one is targeting weakness. Not once in 8 series did the active manager throw 2 LH starting pitches at them. Another advantage of active managers is recognizing a big game, and changing management settings accordingly. Not trying to salt wounds, but in the 3rd game of the final the losing starter 7-hooked into a 26 yr 93 SI LR who exploded. In game 3 of the semi-final the losing starter 5 hooked into a 22 yr 87 SI reliever who exploded. If you were given game reports and not the team pages, I suspect you'd be hard pressed to tell which teams were actively managed and which weren't. I'm not sure if you are still criticizing Milani's passive management, but I think its hard to do so when the opposition was so passive. Performance lags the real work of assembling the team. Milani had an active manager who gritted out 6 seasons in VI putting this team together. I find it hard to take anything away from their cup victory.

#48121	04/18/2017 1:39:45 pm
mcrmoe Joined: 09/24/2014 Posts: 290 Inactive	Hear hear Seca. He just described the subtleties present in what can arguably be the better managers.