S10 World Series Preview

AL – Cheyenne Gunslingers

The Gunslingers are making their first World Series appearance after finishing second in their division and winning a wild card berth for the second straight season.

The Road to the Series

Defeated #4 Texas, 3-1

Defeated #1 Florida, 3-0

Defeated #6 Richmond, 4-3

2^nd in Runs Scored
Cheyenne is led by three 30+ home run hitters in LF Geraldo Olivares (34HR, 120RBI, .305/.381/.560), DH/1B Pedro Johnson (34HR, 108RBI, .289/.382/.502), and C Mel Mays (30HR, 92RBI, .315/.393/.555). They were 180/248 in stolen bases, led by RF Donatello Burkett with 43.

3^rd in ERA

Led by 17-game winner, Shep Blanks (17-5, 197.0IP, 2.42ERA, 1.08WHIP), the pitching staff is strong. They’re not going to strike out a lot of guys, but they will get you out. They boast 4 double digit winners. They allowed the second fewest home runs in the AL.

3^rd in Fielding Percentage

SS Rickie Burgess was the defensive catalyst for the team, recording 33  “plus” plays and participating in 104 double plays. The team as a whole managed a .986 fielding percentage with 82 good plays and 27 bad plays.

NL - #2 Cincinnati Battlin’ Redlegs

Cincinnati won their 2^nd straight division championship (5^th overall in 10 seasons) en route to their 3^rd World Series appearance. The good news for Battlin’ Redleg fans…their previous 2 trips ended with the team hoisting the trophy over their heads.

The Road to the Series

Defeated #6 Columbus, 3-1

Defeated #1 Charleston, 4-0

#2 in Runs Scored

Boasting an incredible 5 players with .300+ batting averages (over 350 AB), Cincinnati is not so much led by any one player, as they are a team that gets things done. 10 players finished with double-digit taters. If you’re going to pick one player to single out above the rest, it’s young RF Al Mondesi (26HR, 113RBI, .317/.376/.521).

#1 in ERA
Led by Cy Young Finalist Julian Tejeda (19-8, 221.1IP, 3.42ERA, 1.17 WHIP) Cincy boasted five 10-game winners, and a closer who was nearly lights out in Dario Keefe (50G, 33/37SV, 49.2IP, 1.99ERA, 0.95WHIP). This staff boasted the second fewest walks in the NL.

T-#2 in Fielding Percentage
Cincinnati was a solid fielding team, won’t give you many outs and won’t take many outs. They’ll make you earn your runs the old-fashioned way.

Outlook:

What we’ve got is a staff in Cincinnati that will give up home runs and a team that can hit them in Cheyenne. On the flip side, Cincinnati can hit home runs, but Cheyenne is stingy with the long ball. Although there doesn’t appear to be many scenarios that end in Cheyenne winning, I’ve got a feeling and am picking Cheyenne in 7.

New Rule

After a lot of thought I've decided to add a new rule to the worlds I run. It does not affect gameplay at all so I am not putting it up for discussion or a vote. I spend a lot of time and effort to run these HBD worlds. I feel like I do a really good job and anyone can see, most HBD worlds are not run well AND take a lot time to fill during rollover. I've had some bad experiences lately with a couple owners who took over midseason from another owner who chose to leave and then refused to do the same when they did not want to stick around. 

All HBD worlds have to deal with the churn of owner. I recently dropped the one world I was in where I did not commish because of time constraints. After 40+ seasons of running worlds, I've found that it EASILY is the most beneficial to the world for a replacement owner to be found immediately once someone decides they are moving on. Inevitably the team is not taken as well care of and/or long term decisions are made by the outgoing owner which the incoming owner has to deal with.

The veteran owners whom I like to attract to these worlds almost uniformly prefer to take over the current budget instead of starting from the standard neutral budget.

Moving forward, if you choose to not come back next season, then you are open to transferring your team early. Preferably I would like that to happen immediately once the roll call is taken, however I understand each of us pays for a full season and if you demand to stick it out through the 162 game regular season then perfectly understandable. Furthermore, NO LONG TERM decisions are to be made by the outgoing owner without prior approval from the commissioner. This primarily is targeted at re-signing outgoing free agents, but trades will not be allowed either. 

Very very rarely does an owner from a playoff squad leave one of my worlds. However, in those cases the incoming owner will send a gift certificate to make up for the credits you will be missing out on by transferring your team. 

To sum up...the positives are huge for when a new owner comes in before rollover. They get to take their time and analyze their team, they get to promote/demote minor leagues, they get to make free agent decisions, and they get to inherit the current budget. This also helps the other owners in the world as it is MUCH easier to recruit a new owner when they have this option and we don't have to wait for someone to enter the world after rollover.

Sorry for the essay, but I wanted everyone to see I have thought long and hard about this. This rule will make the worlds better and make my job easier.