BBFL: Let The Playoffs Begin

Monday, September 01 2003 @ 08:54 AM EDT

Contributed by: Coach

And then there were six. OK, twelve. Actually, because of first-round byes, only eight of 20 teams will be in action this week, as the inaugural regular season of the Batter's Box Fantasy League is complete. Snellville Jones' Gashouse Gorillas took command in early May and never looked back -- congratulations!

With a poor prediction after leaping to a premature conclusion, I "awarded" second to Baird Brain last week, only to have Jurgen admonish me for jinxing him. Oops. I figured he couldn't get blanked (he did lose 8-4 to Jicks Rays) and someone would need to be perfect to catch him. Someone was; Billies Bashers rode a 12-0 week against Geoff's Grumpy Group into the runner-up spot and a bye.

The league's best team down the stretch, the Thunderbirds, also enjoyed a 12-0 week, whipping the Fish Candy, but Justin will have to settle for a bye in the consolation round. My staggering Toronto Walrus did not completely collapse, beating Garces_not_on roids 9-3 to hang on to the final spot in the championship bracket. Scott Lucas and his Nation Builders finished fourth, with Gwyn Price's Mebion Glyndwr fifth; both teams enter the playoffs on a roll, winning 10-1 and 11-0, respectively. The winner of their first-round battle could go all the way, with the coveted Ricciardi/Tosca autographed T-shirt up for grabs this month.

Here are the final regular-season standings. 

 #  Team                        W-L-T       Win %    GB
 1  gashouse gorillas         152-100-12    .598     -- 
 2  Billies Bashers           143-108-13    .566     8.5 
 3  Baird Brain               141-108-15    .563     9.5 
 4  Nation Builders           142-112-10    .557    11 
 5  Mebion Glyndwr            141-115-8     .549    13 
 6  Toronto Walrus            139-114-11    .547    13.5 
 7  Thunderbirds              136-118-10    .534    17 
 8  Jicks Rays                130-120-14    .519    21 
 9  Chatsworth Halos          128-124-12    .508    24 
10  K-Town Mashers            127-127-10    .500    26 
11  Red Mosquitos             124-125-15    .498    26.5 
12  Eastern Shore Birds       125-128-11    .494    27.5 
13  Sub-Urban Shockers        121-127-16    .489    29 
14  AGF                       118-132-14    .473    33 
15  Springfield Isotopes      118-132-14    .473    33 
16  Moscow Rats               114-135-15    .460    36.5 
17  Reykjavik Fish Candy      112-138-14    .451    39 
18  masssuckage               107-143-14    .432    44 
19  Garces_not_on_roids       105-145-14    .424    46 
20  Geoffs Grumpy Group        89-161-14    .364    62
If he has any hard feelings about me "jinxing" him, Jurgen will be able to settle this privately, as our teams meet in a sudden-death match this week. I think our paths were supposed to cross; we bumped into each other last week at the Cumberland theatre, where rodent and I took in the very satisfying American Splendour. Paul Giamatti is brilliant as Harvey Pekar, but I digress.

It will take plenty of good luck for me to beat Baird Brain, who is unlikely to have two poor weeks in a row. Losing Mike Lowell could really hurt the Walrus; we will need another huge week from Carlos Delgado to stay alive. I don't think I'll start David Wells today against the Jays, since I'm hoping they knock Boomer all over the Dome.

In addition to the T-Birds, Jicks Rays earned a bye in the consolation round. Red Mosquitos take on K-Town Mashers in one elimination matchup, with Chatsworth Halos facing Eastern Shore Birds in the other. Condolences to those on the sidelines, and best of luck to all the playoff teams. We'll continue the weekly updates, and will address the offseason trading issue before the playoffs are over.

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