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jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Entering the 2nd half of the season it looks like its gonna be a tight race what do u guys think



Updated Tuesday, March 8 2016 @ 6:55:44 pm PST
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm completely surprised, yet pleased, to be in first place in the east no matter how long that lasts.

We've had 4 different teams legitimately hold first place and I think it could easily go down to the wire between 2 or 3 teams if not 4. Lexington has struggled lately and Elyria is doing better. Division play over the last 50 games will be interesting.
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
ya, I think this is the closest division in all of broken bat, it is going to be very close
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
Using stats, here is how I currently break down the top 4 teams in the east.

Hitting:
Vermillion
Palatine
Lexington
Kalamazoo

Pitching:
Kalamazoo
Palatine
Vermillion
Lexington

Defense:
Lexington
Palatine
Kalamazoo
Vermillion

These are just my rankings and some of the differences are minuscule. There isn't a bad offense, defense or staff in the bunch.

Updated Friday, March 11 2016 @ 6:14:37 pm PST
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
ya I always thought u were the 4th guy who was just there, and was in contention and not that far behind but wouldn't get into 2nd or 1st place, I WAS WRONG.
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
This isn't quite the same team I started the season with. I've picked up a few key waiver claims and some of my youngsters are progressing nicely. Cooper has gained 9 SI. I had lost faith in Ma because I tried to get him to do too much too early last season but he's blossoming into a fine starter against RHP. Rosas is a rookie and I figured he wouldn't be ready to start but turns out at 24 he is ready against RHP. Nice surprise. Stafford is a marginal pitcher who seems to flourish as a MR.

I also make adjustments to the lineup and starters/relievers throughout the season. What's working I leave alone, what isn't I tweak.
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
ya you guys are doing very good
Carcharoth
Joined: 07/16/2015
Posts: 149

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Hey everyone!

Thanks @jreynold for starting the thread and getting us talking.

This league has been so close this season in the East, although it has opened up a bit after interdivisional play. I feel as though my team had a bit of a rough patch to start the season and lost a lot of close games. Our offense really struggled and was at the bottom of the league in most categories. However, we have played much better against teams from the West, going 27-13 so far. Hopefully we can keep up this momentum and avoid relegation! :)
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
I see we lost a good owner in Peekay. His team has been tough in this league. :/
newtman
Joined: 11/02/2013
Posts: 3343

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Unfortunate, I remember him having some positive points in several threads.
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
well it looks like Lexington is slipping but it is still close with them 8 games back and still roughly in striking distance, still very close with me 2 games back and Palatine 3 games back so lets see how this pans out at the end of the season.

It is very sad to see Peekay gone, his team was very good, I wonder if the new owner can get the LL III play as a new owner, cant wait to see what happens
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
Pat Giordano lost his first game of the season in game 99 after winning 11.
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm sad to see interdivisional play end. Tigers went 45-15 against the west. We entered 4 games out tied for 3rd and actually in 4th due to run differential. We now return to division play 8 games up. Likely the east will be as challenging and brutal as it was the first 50. Looking forward to the last 50. Good luck everyone!
PrivateSnowflake
Joined: 01/06/2015
Posts: 1168

Bloomington Thunder
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
Hello, gents! Looks like I'll be joining you next season. Tiger, maybe someday we'll meet up. The east looks super-competitive, it looks like I'm in for a tough fight.
Carcharoth
Joined: 07/16/2015
Posts: 149

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck Private! Shame I'm demoting, but yes the East is a real grind haha. I was 39-21 against teams in the West and am probably better than most of them. Corona and I have promoted together for the past two seasons so I use them as my yardstick in a way. It's unfortunate that I am demoting but I'm pretty confident I can make it back next year; have some decent position players I'm saving for next season so it'll be a nice boost. Hope we find ourselves in the same league!
dwindacatcher
Joined: 04/03/2014
Posts: 633

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm joining you all as well. And it's another year I wish I'd have picked a team in the west. :P

On our path from 6 to 1 is so much tougher in the east than west.
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Well were are fighting to stay alive but some rookies are getting hot which is a good sign
Endrju
Joined: 05/28/2015
Posts: 577

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Hi guys :) Finally promoted to a league with some active users :) Makes the game tougher, but surely more interesting.
dwindacatcher
Joined: 04/03/2014
Posts: 633

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Hopefully pitching isn't so head scratchy for you next season. The entire league ended with only 7 qualified pitches with a sub 4 era. I wanted to bitch, but every single team struggled to throw the ball. I'm very happy to be moving up, even if iii.4 is tough.
Endrju
Joined: 05/28/2015
Posts: 577

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Yeah I noticed that this league is heavy hitting. But the last 2 years my team ERA was over 1 run better than 2nd best in the league, so maybe we can change the trends here.
PrivateSnowflake
Joined: 01/06/2015
Posts: 1168

Bloomington Thunder
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
Welcome aboard!

The east is a gauntlet. All four teams above the relegation line would've won the west and Palatine was a tough out.

Coral Gables won 94 games and Vermillion is Vermillion again. Last and least, my Cougars had five regulars hit .300 or better.

With Warsaw and Elyria coming up, along with whichever team from D3 drops down, my Cougars expect another dogfight, er, catfight, to hold the league...
Tiger504
Joined: 06/17/2014
Posts: 1314

Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers
III.4

Broken Bat Baseball


Updated Monday, July 4 2016 @ 10:00:39 am PDT
Endrju
Joined: 05/28/2015
Posts: 577

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Close finish shaping up in the East. It's a shame two of those teams have to fall, looking how the West looks like - 5 teams with negative RD.
PrivateSnowflake
Joined: 01/06/2015
Posts: 1168

Bloomington Thunder
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
The East was so tough his year. There was no gap between any of us (except CG). It's not fair someone has to go, since either of the relegated teams would've been near the top of the West...
Carcharoth
Joined: 07/16/2015
Posts: 149

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Won't lie, but I have some re-evaluating to do. Pulled off the second best interleague record this year but just couldn't eke out wins in our division. I think I was right in the thick of things before the last 60 games started. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what was going wrong and fix it for the season after next; I'm hoping I'll be able to promote right back up next season. Congrats all and hope to see you again soon :)
Endrju
Joined: 05/28/2015
Posts: 577

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
28 runs lost in first 3 games, welcome to IV.7 I guess...
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Welp... first time back here since my 2nd season playing... where I promptly got kicked out. Let's see if I can do a bit better this time now that I maybe know what I'm doing xP

Best of luck to everyone else in the coming season~
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
My first time here! I think my team is a little overmatched but i'll do all i can to stay here.

Looks like you have a really strong team Li..good luck!
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
I hope you're right about my team being strong xD

Really bad start, dropping the first 3 games to open League play though x.x
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
I was happy to get those 3 wins! Still, your team will be very tough and probably favourites to win..good luck!
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
I don't know about favorites, but we should give it a good fight.

It looks like my offense is back for vengeance now too :p
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Wow I remember when I made this forum a while back with the vermillion dragons.
Glad to see its still goin
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Sadly lower level league forums aren't likely as active. I assume Legends gets the most and a fair number in II and III leagues.
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Yikes... Bloomington put a stop to my win streak with authority!

9-3 victory by the Cougars. Here's to an exciting rest of the series.
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
A 9 game lead for you now! I think it's safe to say my prediction will come true..lol
Crazy Li
Joined: 01/25/2015
Posts: 879

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm not going to get overly confident though. We're not even at the break yet.

I have no doubt I'll be in the running at the end of things... but not going to claim victory until the game tells me for-sure that's the case :p
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Time to start year 2 in this league. We won't win this year but the team is improving. We came through leagues 6 and 5, all while doing a complete overhaul and rebuild. We'll be happy to stay here for another couple years. Good luck to all the teams!
Andreimun
Joined: 10/25/2012
Posts: 44

York Frogs
III.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck to you as well! My first season here, just hoping I can survive with the youngest roster :) . Well, if I end up getting destroyed I can at least give my youngsters more playing time.
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
@Andreimun
4-0 start! looking strong man! I think your pitching will keep you going strong.
Andreimun
Joined: 10/25/2012
Posts: 44

York Frogs
III.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Thanks! I had the worst ERA in my league last season though, so my pitching is generally rotten except for 1-2 starters and 1-2 relievers, though maybe it has something to do with my really batter friendly ballpark. Still, I don't think I can keep my runs against under 5.5.

You're having a strong start yourself!

Updated Friday, May 26 2017 @ 7:16:24 am PDT
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
We're hanging in there. I have so much youth in my lineup, pitching and hitting, i'll be very happy to come top 3.
Andreimun
Joined: 10/25/2012
Posts: 44

York Frogs
III.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Yup! I really think that's the only way to move through to higher divisions. I find it hard sometimes to play my youngsters and bench some of the older guys, but it's going to pay off at some point.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Rookie year in new league. Manager Rodgers new hall famer seats. 80/80 season team? Fans vote for more! 3 Rookie started. Can they win trophy. RF Hill gets the start. Team updates at all-star game.
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck wuggla! head to head today, just blew game 1.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
"DQ" on pace for MVP. Manager Rodgers says rookie infielders need more double play's. Bullpens holding strongly. Starters asked for more offense. How many all-star Condors?
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
81-79 3allstars 3goldgloves New London 47saves won all league closer and the MVP looking forward to next season
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
2nd season new manager good luck all. Update all-star game!
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck! You're looking good right now, my team is struggling for some reason.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Rippers take 9 all-stars. Clearly they was best. Condors got 3 all-stars. New London's the team to win the West. Good luck all.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Metalbat13 vs Deuce 2038. I hope next year is mine.
Deuce
Joined: 06/07/2016
Posts: 279

New London Rippers
V.3

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm sure your time is coming, good luck next season!
Meyrian
Joined: 09/24/2015
Posts: 61

Littleton Genesiz
II.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck everyone for this new season.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Good luck also. Update at all-star game.
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Condors have the most all-stars for west at halfway. Can they fly to win the west. 2nd halftime GO CONDORS!!!!
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Littleton looks to clinch west. Condors roosting near bottom in west. Hope of .500 season fan mood is low.
Meyrian
Joined: 09/24/2015
Posts: 61

Littleton Genesiz
II.2

Broken Bat Baseball
It will be tight until the last match with Pomona Wolves.
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
A quick "hi" to my fellow IV.7 managers. I took over Rockford Rhinos a month or so ago but have only just got round to checking out the forums. Demotion seems certain so will have to try to rebuild in league V next season.
Meyrian
Joined: 09/24/2015
Posts: 61

Littleton Genesiz
II.2

Broken Bat Baseball
The winner of tonight's series will be the West Division Champion.

Ballpark : Pomona Field
Littleton Cthulhu (88-69, 0 RD)
Pomona Wolves (87-70, +97 RD)

3 games, 1 champion.

wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
Condors vs Phoenixes ??? 4 games back from Tornadoes in the west.
LeeRyan
Joined: 12/16/2016
Posts: 24

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Looking to reach 100 wins!
wuggla
Joined: 05/10/2013
Posts: 1059

Colorado Springs Vultures
VI.28

Broken Bat Baseball
L.Hill 2time MVP wants 3rd!!! The Vultures V.Mullen looking for Clinch League?
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Hi to all the other managers in this league. We're back after 3 seasons in Div V. Not sure how competitive we'll be yet. Have quite an aging squad which may need a bit of an overhaul.
tamale
Joined: 02/19/2018
Posts: 357

Concord Jets
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
Welcome, and good luck for the season!
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Thank you. Look forward to crossing swords with you when we get to the inter-divisional games.
Meyrian
Joined: 09/24/2015
Posts: 61

Littleton Genesiz
II.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Hi everyone. Good luck for this season.
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Hi. I would say good luck to you too but, judging by the hammering your guys just dished out to my lot, I don't think you'll need it. :-)
Meyrian
Joined: 09/24/2015
Posts: 61

Littleton Genesiz
II.2

Broken Bat Baseball
This time, you won the series. :D
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
This is my team's first season in IV.7. Hopefully we can stop the slide.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
As the regular season begins, I'm facing it with some genuine hope. I think I have managed to strengthen the team in some noticeable ways, and we may have a real shot at putting together a winning season.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
And the optimism is gone. We split the cup series, which was a bad outcome because it was against the worst team in the group. Then, we got swept in sloppy, brutal fashion in the first league game.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
I thought it might be helpful to post a standings update before inter-division play begins. I'm reasonably happy with how the Turtles have played so far, we have a winning record and we're competitive. That's better than our last few seasons! We've historically played a bit worse against East teams than our own division, so I'm hoping we can buck that trend this year. The East does have a bit more separation in their standings than we do, and I'm curious to see whether it's because they have stronger teams at the top, weaker teams at the bottom or a combination.

West
Team, W, L, Pct, GB, DIFF
1 Berkeley Yellow Jackets, 29, 21, .580, -, +24
2 San Luis Obispo Turtles, 27, 23, .540, 2, +31
3 Mentor Catfish, 26, 24, .520, 3, -7
4 Palatine Americans, 25, 25, .500, 4, -17
5 Dallas Dragons, 24, 26, .480, 5, -1
6 San Bernardino Devils, 19, 31, .380, 10, -30

East
Team W L Pct GB DIFF
1 Miami Gardens Broncos, 32, 18, .640, -, +84
2 Dearborn Heights Americans, 30, 20, .600, 2, +28
3 Ann Arbor Wolverines, 24, 26, .480, 8, -6
4 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers, 24, 26, .480, 8, -11
5 North Platte Bengals, 23, 27, .460, 9, -38
6 Jonesboro Royals, 17, 33, .340, 15, -57
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Absolute DISASTER of a series against Ann Arbor. McNutts complete collapse this year has ben hugely frustrating. I really hope we can turn this around for the remaining inter-division play.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Welcome to back to "Geech's Running Monologue" thread. lol

Something a bit unexpected is happening at first base for us this year. The right-handed hitting Kaczmarek is finally breaking out after years of poor performance. Before this season, I was questioning the wisdom of running him out there even as part of a platoon. Now, I'm strongly considering trying him a full time basis and displacing the incumbent McLain. It's a small sample, but his vs RHP numbers are even better than the switch-hitting McLain. The one down note is his Cup performance, but even then his combined numbers are still noticeably better than McLain's.

McLain is himself a fairly appealing 1B/DH build, but for whatever reason the performance hasn't been there like I hoped. Maybe the extra hitting makes the difference for Kaczmarek, or perhaps it's the lack of plate discipline that holds McLain back.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Well, we've reached the All Star break, which means we've reached the middle of inter-division play. It's a familiar story this year (gosh, I say that a lot) as the East is currently leading 93-87. At least it's a small lead, so the West still has a chance to turn things around. The top individual performer is the Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers with an 18-12 record and .600 percentage. I know those guys! We relegated together last season. The second place individual team is the Ann Arbor Wolverines at 17-13 and .567. Well done to both teams! It's not good to have them both in the East, though. We really need to work on that in the second half, West teams.

Our Turtles went 16-14 with a .533 percentage, which actually put us in a three way tie for the best ID performance in the West. We haven't lost ground against Berkeley so I don't have too much to complain about, but don't worry: I'll find something! Let's move on to the complete inter-division standings:

Broken-Bat-ID-2052-1st-Half.jpg
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We've reached the end of inter-division play, so it's time for a recap. The second half was a VERY different story than the first. The West rallied spectacularly to dominate 105-75, good for a .583 winning percentage! Holy cow! Nice work, folks. It was so one-sided that no West teams were below .500 in second half inter-division play, and only ONE east team was above .500. The top individual performer was the Dallas Dragons at 20-10 and .667. Second place was the San Bernardino Devils at 19-11 and .633. Very well done!

There is an unfortunate downside to this, however, and it's one that will rock us all to our very core. The Turtles played only .500 ball in 2nd half ID. Yes, this makes us the worst performing West team, and it means we lost critical ground to the Yellow Jackets. I had nurtured hopes of competing for promotion this year, but that's looking unlikely at this point. Oh well.

Here's the complete 2nd half results:

Broken-Bat-ID-2052-2nd-Half.jpg

So, if the East narrowly won inter-division play before the All Star break and the West won with an absolute shellacking after, I suspect we can all do the math in our heads on this one. Yes, the West won inter-division play this season, which feels like a genuine rarity. The final tally was 192-168, for a reasonably solid .533 winning percentage. The top individual performer overall was *drumroll* the San Bernardino Devils at 35-25 and .583. A bot team! Yikes! Second place in overall ID play was a tie between the Berkeley Yellow Jackets and the Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers at 34-26 and .567. Nice job!

The Turtles were above .500, but, as predicted, we played worse against the East than we had against the West. Here's hoping we can right the ship in the last third of the season!

Broken-Bat-ID-2052-Complete.jpg
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Well, this concludes a very disappointing season for the SLO Turtles. We narrowly relegated in 2051, and I felt that some of the expensive waiver claims I made over the offseason improved our team. I thought between the drop in competition and the additions and improvements, we would be pretty competitive. Instead we were just two games over .500.

Some of the expensive players I brought in were disappointing, especially Ogawa. The dude literally put up the worst year of his entire career. I'm going to give him another shot and hope he can rebound, but I wonder if some combination of the defense behind him and the coaching staff held him back compared to earlier seasons.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Congratulations to the League champion Miami Gardens Broncos! Don't tell the rest of the West teams this. . . but I'm glad Berkeley didn't win. They don't seem to have much recent history of stable ownership, so I'm not sure they're much better than a bot team. I'm a bit embarrassed they're the team promoting above us!
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Hello fellow IV.7 managers - we're back after a couple of seasons at level V. I can see a mix of familiar names and a few new ones for us.

Good to see we have 12 human-controlled teams to start the season at least - hope it stays that way. Best of luck for the season.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
The SLO Turtles finish up the first rotation on a roll: 7 in a row and 9 of our last 10. It won't last. We're buoyed by obviously unsustainable pitching and offense, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Here's were things stand in both divisions. The numbers are Wins, Losses, Pct, Games Back, and Run differential:

1 San Luis Obispo Turtles, 13, 3, .813, -, +39
2 Rockford Rhinos, 10, 7, .588, 3½, +2
3 Mentor Catfish, 10, 8, .556, 4, -4
4 San Bernardino Devils, 7, 9, .438, 6, -3
5 Daly City Dire Wolves, 5, 11, .313, 8, -30
6 Simi Valley Pirates, 5, 12, .294, 8½, -4

1 Ann Arbor Wolverines, 11, 6, .647, -, +1
2 Frankfort Eagles, 10, 6, .625, ½, +37
3 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers, 10, 6, .625, ½, +8
4 Dearborn Heights Americans, 9, 9, .500, 2½, +4
5 Atlanta Braves, 6, 11, .353, 5, -21
6 Miami Marlins, 4, 12, .250, 6½, -29
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
I have to say, I'm really impressed with Rockford's success so far this season. I thought they might show a degradation in performance upon promotion because they're so focused on run prevention. My suspicion was that their pitching wouldn't be as successful and they wouldn't have enough offense to pick up the slack. Instead they've continued to be extremely competitive with great pitching and low offensive numbers.
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Have to say it's a bit of a shock to us as well! I wasn't able to follow many of the games over Christmas and the New Year so when I was finally able to catch up, it was a pleasant surprise to find us in 2nd.

That said, it's still early days and I'd be surprised if we can keep up an ERA of 2.62 all season. I also get the impression we've been pretty lucky with injuries so far. I think the most I can hope for is we stay vaguely in the promotion race into the 2nd half of the season.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We've finished division play for the first half, and we're about to head into inter-division play. I took a look at the standings, and it was deja vu. If you take a look at the previous page in this thread, you can see the update I posted right before ID play last season in 2051. In it, my Turtles had the top run differential in the West, but had recently fallen out of the lead and were two games behind the division leading team.

Well, you can probably guess what's happened recently. The Turtles hit a bit of a swoon, and Rockford is heading into ID play with a two game lead. Truth be told, I fully expect this lead to endure like Berkeley's did last season.

I certainly can't complain about our performance. In fact, that's the problem. We're still fueled by hitting and pitching performances that feel largely unsustainable. It's entirely plausible that we've got more 7 game losing streaks in store for us this season if all of that stuff cools off at the same time. Historically, the Turtles have played poorly against the East division. Last year we cooled in ID play and never really rallied in the second half of division play. I'm expecting something similar.

Over in the East, Kalamazoo have staked themselves to a pretty solid lead. In 2051, they were a competitive team who emerged during ID play to really challenge for the division before the end of the season. I think this year, in 2052, it may be their turn to make the promotion to League Level 3.

1 Rockford Rhinos, 33, 17, .660, -, +35
2 San Luis Obispo Turtles , 31, 19, .620, 2, +55
3 Mentor Catfish, 25, 25, .500, 8, +16
4 San Bernardino Devils, 24, 26, .480, 9, +3
5 Daly City Dire Wolves, 20, 30, .400, 13, -83
6 Simi Valley Pirates, 17, 33, .340, 16, -26

1 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers, 30, 20, .600, -, +36
2 Ann Arbor Wolverines, 26, 24, .520, 4, +5
3 Frankfort Eagles, 25, 25, .500, 5, +18
4 Atlanta Braves, 23, 27, .460, 7, +21
5 Miami Marlins, 23, 27, .460, 7, -37
6 Dearborn Heights Americans, 23, 27, .460, 7, -43
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Well I have to say I still expect our bubble to burst at some point but we're still hanging on in there at the moment. Last season we got promoted despite scoring the fewest runs in the league. This year we're doing a bit better - 11th out of 12.

The way things have worked out we're going into inter-divisional play with our 2 best pitchers due to pitch in games 4 and 5 of each series. I did think of straightening things out a bit but decided to let it go and see how it plays out.

Updated Tuesday, January 11 2022 @ 9:43:58 am PST
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
It's the All Star Break, so we're halfway through inter-division play, and it's time for an update! The West managed to come back and win ID play last season in 2052 (did you see that I figured out what season it is?), but this year the East is having their revenge. Inter-division play has been pretty one-sided, with only one West team above .500. Overall, the East is leading 99-81, or a .550 winning percentage. The top overall team in ID play is the Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers at 21-9 and .700. Second place is a tie between two in East teams with the Ann Arbor Wolverines and Frankfort Eagles at 18-12 and .600. We need a mercy rule this season, apparently.

Our Turtles have played exactly .500 ball in ID play this season. That might sound bad -- and it's certainly a huge drop from where we were in division play -- but it means we're actually tied for second best ID record in the West and only one game behind the western ID leader, Rockford. We're technically hanging in there, for the division race!

Broken-Bat-ID-2053-1st-Half.jpg
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
As you say, the East is dominating inter-divisional play so obviously the West won the All Star game!

At the Rhinos, no surprise that we had 3 pitchers but no hitters selected. I was interested that Franco got the start ahead of Beck for example. It suggests the AI values wins or possibly WHIP ahead of ERA.

Back in the league the West looks like a 2 horse race that will go down to the wire but in the East the Bloody Tigers' lead is getting fairly significant.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Yeah, the AI definitely has some statistical preferences. I really thought Mota would be a shoe-in for the All Star team. He plays good shortstop defense and came into the break with a .259/.330/.584 line, good for a .914 OPS.

The shortstop selected, Pozzi is a great player, but Mota is clearly better defensively at this point and arguably better offensively. I suspect the selection is more about Pozzi's higher batting average than anything else.

To make it weirder, Bond was selected as a bench player over Mota, despite having a clearly worse offensive season at a less valuable position. Again, I suspect it's largely a matter of batting average.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We've reached the end of inter-division play for 2053, so it's time for a summary. It was largely more of the same in the second half. The East won two more games this time around, for a record of 101-79, or a .561 winning percentage. Yeouch. The top team was the Ann Arbor Wolverines at 22-8 and .733. The Atlanta Braves were right behind them at 21-9 and .700. Nicely done! An honorable mention goes to the Rockford Rhinos. At 19-11 and .633 they were the third best team in the second half of ID play, and the best team in West.

The Turtles technically improved in inter-division play after the All Star break, by winning one more game: We went 16-14 with a .533 record. As far as improvements go, it was a rollercoaster of a run with some high highs and some very painful lows. This actually gave us the opportunity to shape both division races this season. We obviously shaped the race in the West by failing to keep pace with the Rhinos and looking no longer competitive. In the East, we swept the previously-leading Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers immediately before going into a 1-9 tailspin that included LOSING all five to the now-leading Ann Arbor Wolverines. I'm going to take this opportunity to apologize to Tiger504. I would have won some more against Ann Arbor if it was in my power.

Broken-Bat-ID-2053-2nd-Half.jpg

Overall, then, the East absolutely dominated 2053 inter-division play in embarrassing fashion. At 200-160 and .556, this is one of the more one-sided seasons I've seen in a while. I think the West may be a pretty weak division this year, which might explain why Jezzat and I felt so uncertain about our respective teams' performances. Overall, the top teams across all of inter-division play were Ann Arbor at 40-20 and .667 followed by Atlanta at 37-23 and .617. Congratulations! Thanks for making the rest of us look bad! lol

Broken-Bat-ID-2053-Complete.jpg
GrizzlyDan
Joined: 06/30/2016
Posts: 199

Atlanta Braves
IV.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Well, it looks like we'll be here another season. Congrats to Ann Arbor. We'll see y'all another day. Remember that last series when you see the Bravos in the other dugout again.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Yes, congratulations are in order to the league champion Ann Arbor Wolverines. They had a great season and overcame some good competition to end up on top.

Congratulations are also in order to the Rockford Rhinos. They totally outclassed the rest of the West division. Definitely on a different level than the rest of us.
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Thank you Geech. I'm conscious I haven't been as talkative as I'd have hoped over the 2nd half of the season - I never end up posting as much in the forums as I plan to.

Basically it felt like we got on a roll and it just kept going long enough to get us over the line. We certainly had some luck as well. My main 5 pitchers only missed 2 starts all season. The playoffs were a step too far - Congrats to Ann Arbor.

So we're off to league III for the first time in our history. I suspect we'll be back soon - we're very much reliant on good starting pitchers and a good closer and only 1 of those 6 pitchers will be under 30 next season. Good luck to everyone in IV.7 next time around.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Yep, it's shaping up to be one of THOSE seasons. I wonder who we'll be playing in LL5. LOL

Early season pessimism is a big tradition with the Turtles.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We got no hit by Burlington's Alex Alvarez.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Well, that's baseball for you. Worst in the West Turtles take all five from the East leading Braves. *shrug*
GrizzlyDan
Joined: 06/30/2016
Posts: 199

Atlanta Braves
IV.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Well played, SLO. You are no longer worst in the West, and we have hit our stride. We have pitching we haven't had around here in a long time. Hey Kalamazoo! You got some chase in you?
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
The server problems prevented me from doing the first half standings for inter-division play, but you can't stop the signal. Or something. What I mean to say is: I have standings for the whole thing. Let's take a look!

The East dominated inter-division play in 2053, so of course the West won convincingly this season. Why not, right? We went 193-167, for a .536 winning percentage. Despite a fairly pronounced advantage for the West, first place was actually a tie between an East team and a West team. The Queens Park Rangers and the Simi Valley Pirates both went 38-22 for an awesome .633 winning percentage. Really nicely done! But what's this? Who's the next team? It's the San Luis Obispo Turtles at 36-24 and .600! :O

I feel like this merits some commentary. I've complained in many previous seasons that the Turtles have a history of playing worse against the East, and I stand by this. I think it's absolutely true. This year has been very different, though. Some of this is due to personnel changes. After our really bad start I sort of freaked out and brought in some expensive free agents to shore things up, and in at least some cases that has paid off. But I also think our really bad start was a product of bad luck. I had a lot of players playing poorly at the same time, and some of our big improvement was the pendulum swinging the other way. I don't think either our initial really bad start or our hot ID play is the true talent level going forward. In fact, if I could break out the first and second halves like normal, I think you would see that we played noticeably worse in second half ID. See for example, Atlanta returning the favor with a five game sweep of the Turtles right after the break.

Here's the overall standings, though:

Broken-Bat-ID-2054-Complete.jpg
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
There's plenty of season left, but that three game sweep of Fullerton feels huge. We're actually managing to create some separation and look like a legit second place team at the moment.

Simi Valley is tantalizingly close, but I don't think we can close the gap. It's shocking how few wins they have considering the run differential (or may be how many we have considering ours?), but I think their advantage is bigger than a comparison of win/loss records would suggest. I don't think we can catch them, and if we do finish second in the West then I will feel pretty satisfied. That will feel like an accomplishment after our really rough start to the season. I expected to still be competing to avoid relegation.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Congratulations to the 2054 league champion Atlanta Braves who capped an impressive season with an impressive postseason series win! Congratulations also to the division champion Simi Valley Pirates! Both teams won their respective divisions easily and look like they belong in higher level leagues.

Updated Tuesday, May 3 2022 @ 3:48:07 pm PDT
GrizzlyDan
Joined: 06/30/2016
Posts: 199

Atlanta Braves
IV.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Thanks! See you again soon.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Welcome to all the new IV.7 teams for the 2055 season!

This is going to be an awkward season for the SLO Turtles, I think. I have a ton of young players trying to break into the bigs all at once, and I think we'll end up being less competitive for it.

I have log jams at multiple positions, but the worst is probably my pitching. I have a glut of young, low to medium stamina pitchers ready to break into the big leagues, and I don't know how I'll manage to get them all playing time. I think I'm going to try experimenting with some relatively low stamina starters to try to make the roster work out.

By the all star break I'll probably be desperate and abandon the plan. lol

I've also got a bit of a jam at the OF and 3B, but I think age and/or effectiveness will clear those by the end of this season.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We've finished the first "third" of the season, with the first 50 games of division play behind us and 60 straight games of inter-division lurking ahead. I though it might be a good time to check in on the standings and see how things are going.

The numbers after each team name are respectively wins, losses, winning percentage, games back and run differential.

1 San Luis Obispo Turtles 30, 20, .600, -, +49
2 Mentor Giants 28, 22, .560, 2, +57
3 Daly City Dire Wolves 26, 24, .520, 4, -24
4 Fullerton Distortion 25, 25, .500, 5, -28
5 Federal Way Knights 21, 29, .420, 9, +15
6 Ventura Aces 20, 30, .400, 10, -69

1 Queens Park Rangers Cup 33, 17, .660, -, +53
2 Lowell Crusaders 27, 23, .540, 6, +24
3 Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers 26, 24, .520, 7, +13
4 Atlantic City Broadwalkers 22, 28, .440, 11, -23
5 Frankfort Eagles Bot 22, 28, .440, 11, -26
6 Miami Marlins 20, 30, .400, 13, -41

Over in the East, the Queens Park Rangers have built themselves an impressive lead for this point in the season. They probably have enough cushion to cool off a bit and still win the division, as long as they don't totally collapse. There's still a lot of season left, though, so the Crusaders or the Bloody Tigers could heat up and get themselves back into it.

Things are tighter in the West, and our SLO Turtles are currently in the lead. If you've read my posts for a while, you've probably detected a continuing thread of pessimism. In that case this won't surprise you, but I don't really believe in our lead. lol!

The truth is our performance so far is built upon some unlikely play from a number of players. Now, this can sometimes last all season. In 2048 we won the West division in league II.2 on the strength of career years from several key veterans. However, usually it doesn't last. Last season for example, we had a very cold stretch to open the season, a very hot stretch in inter-division play, and then a middling to cold stretch to close out the season. If the hot stretch had occurred first, 2054 might have looking just like 2055 for the first 50 games. As players regress to their true talent levels, I think we have more downside than upside. This doesn't mean we can't hang on to the lead, but I think we'll need more than two games of separation to do it.

Updated Monday, June 13 2022 @ 5:07:50 pm PDT
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
We've reached the All-Star break. We're halfway through the season and halfway through inter-division play, which means it's time for an update!

The East won ID play in the first half with a comfortable 97-83 record, good for a .528 winning percentage. The top overall team was the Kalamazoo Bloody Tigers with an impressive 21-9 record. Queens Park was right behind them, however, with a 20-10 record. Nicely done, fellas! Queens Park is going to be very tough to catch in the East, but the Bloody Tigers are making a great effort. The top West team was a three way tie at exactly .500. That's right, no one in the West was better than 15-15 in ID play so far!

My Turtles were only 14-16 for a .467 winning percentage, but this was actually roughly average in the West! Mentor had the exact same record, so we really didn't give up much ground. It was kind of a rollercoaster of a first half for us, suffering a five game sweep in one series and winning a five game sweep later on. Still, we can't count on everyone remaining as pathetic as we are. If we want to have a shot at holding onto the division, we're going to have to improve our play a bit from this level.

Here are the standings:

Broken-Bat-ID-2055-1st-Half.jpg
geigerted
Joined: 07/16/2018
Posts: 59

Queens Park Rangers
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
@Geech thanks for writing these. I suspect the East will tighten considerably down the stretch as our (Queens') pitching and record in 1-run games are both unsustainable and mean regression has to rear its ugly head at some point. We might have just enough of a cushion to hold off Kalamazoo but it'll be a damned close-run thing.
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Inter-division play has come to a close, so let's take a look at the results.

The East still had the advantage in 2nd half ID play, albeit with a much narrower margin. They won 92-88. The top 2nd half team went a blistering 22-8, for a .733 winning percentage. Pretty remarkable stuff! This amazingly hot team was none other than our own SLO Turtles. I don't know, folks, I can't explain it. This season is starting to feel like 2048, in which career years from established vets somehow coincide and carry us over the top. The second best record in the second half of inter-division was actually a tie between two teams: The Lowell Crusaders and the Fullerton Distortion, both at 18-12 and .600 pct. Nicely done! Fullerton tied with us for the most improved record compared to our first half results.

Here are the complete 2nd half results:

Broken-Bat-ID-2055-2nd-Half.jpg

Overall, then the East won 2055 inter-division play with a pretty convincing 189-171 record, good for a .525 winning percentage. The top overall team was a tie between the Queens Park Rangers (no big surprise there), and us the Turtles. We were both 36-24 for a .600 winning percentage. Congratulations to geigerted! An honorable mention goes to the Lowell Crusaders, who were third in overall inter-division play with a 35-25 record for .583.

As for us, I have no explanation. It's not what I expected. At the break we were two games in first with a comparable run differential to Mentor, and I was predicting a drop in performance. Instead our performance improved to a shocking degree, and we're now sitting on a 10 game lead. Anything that can be won over the course of 30 games can surely be lost over the proceeding 50 games, but at this point I'm feeling pretty good about our odds of hanging onto the division. *shrug*

Broken-Bat-ID-2055-Complete.jpg

Updated Friday, July 1 2022 @ 7:20:55 pm PDT
Geech
Joined: 01/12/2014
Posts: 545

San Luis Obispo Turtles
IV.8

Broken Bat Baseball
Congratulations to geigerted and the 2055 IV.7 league champion Queens Park Rangers.

I wish we had stretched the series out a bit more if only to sell more tickets! Still, I'm delighted to be promoting for the first time in seven seasons.
geigerted
Joined: 07/16/2018
Posts: 59

Queens Park Rangers
Legends

Broken Bat Baseball
Gratz to the Turtles on an excellent season and a hard-fought final series. Looking forward to seeing you guys in III next year!

For our part, next season will mark our first season above IV in franchise history, so the excitement is palpable here in Queens.
jreynoldson913
Joined: 08/18/2015
Posts: 293

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
I'm back.
mehmeteren2458
Joined: 08/07/2022
Posts: 2

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
IV 7 CHAMPİON EAST PROVİDENCE HAHAHAHA
mehmeteren2458
Joined: 08/07/2022
Posts: 2

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
IV 7 CHAMPİON EAST PROVİDENCE HAHAHAHA
jezzat
Joined: 01/27/2019
Posts: 113

Rockford Rhinos
V.9

Broken Bat Baseball
Hello again IV.7. We're back after a 3 year sojourn in League III. Not sure which way we'll go next or if we'll stick around here for a bit. Anyway good luck to everyone for the upcoming season.


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