There were no thrilling photo-finishes to dramatically alter the final standings in the Alomar division. While the regular season title is satisfying, Walrus management is well aware that we haven’t won anything that really counts yet. No matter how good any team has been so far, a considerable degree of luck is required in Head-to-Head playoffs.
Congratulations to Gwyn Price, whose Mebion Glyndwr earned the other first-round bye. In this week’s championship bracket quarter-finals, third-place AGF takes on the sixth-place Red Mosquitos for the right to knock me out of the semis, and the fourth-seeded Gashouse Gorillas do battle with fifth-seeded Chatsworth Halos, with the winner to face Gwyn’s squad.
The defending champion Austin Senators did everything in their power this week to earn a chance to repeat, mashing K-Town 11-1, but fell short of cracking the top six and will have to settle for a bye in the consolation round, along with Hannibal’s Cannibals. The Sens will face the winner of the Horse Field Hammers-Eastern Shore Birds matchup, while the Baird Brain vs. SABR Magicians survivor will risk being devoured.
To the Barfield owners whose success has earned them 2005 promotions, well done! Tough luck all season doomed Jick’s Rays to relegation, along with the Isotopes and Mashers. I don't know of any other league that has this feature, which is sure to keep things interesting for years to come. As an aside, I think every owner in Alomar and Barfield should, after the playoffs are concluded but before the offseason moves begin, confirm their intention to return next year. When we added the second division, we made plans for the transitions, but I'm not sure if we considered the priority list for taking over any teams that may be abandoned.
Final Regular-Season Alomar Standings
# Team W-L-T Pct GBThis past week, Carlos Delgado and Curt Schilling played like the superstars they are. Please, guys, keep it up for one more month. In a season when three of my five keepers disappointed much of the time, Billy Wagner is off the DL just in time and even Raffy Palmeiro may have woken up. Mostly, I've relied on a win-win trade with Commissioner Moffatt — kudos on a terrific job, Mike; I will always be grateful — and my remarkably astute draft picks (or dumb luck, depending on your point of view) in the 19th through 24th rounds: Johnny Estrada, Carlos Silva, Royce Clayton, Matt Lawton, Jason Marquis and Ronnie Belliard. Without them, it would have been a struggle to play .500 ball. A few timely and/or fortunate FA pickups helped too. There's no denying that my 40-6-2 record against the bottom two clubs had a lot to do with the margin of victory, but I'm pleased with my team's consistency — we won 16 weeks and tied twice, compared to just four losses, three of which were consecutive in a midseason slump.
1 Toronto Walrus 161-87-16 .640 --
2 Mebion Glyndwr 152-103-9 .593 12.5
3 AGF 144-106-14 .572 18
4 gashouse gorillas 145-110-9 .566 19.5
5 Chatsworth Halos 143-112-9 .559 21.5
6 Red Mosquitos 141-111-12 .557 22
7 Austin Senators 137-111-16 .549 24
8 hannibal's cannibals 134-112-18 .542 26
9 Baird Brain 127-126-11 .502 36.5
10 Horse Field Hammers 126-125-13 .502 36.5
11 Eastern Shore Birds 124-129-11 .491 39.5
12 SABR Magicians 119-128-17 .483 41.5
13 Thunderbirds 119-137-8 .466 46
14 Garces_not_on_roids 118-137-9 .464 46.5
15 Billie's Bashers 117-136-11 .464 46.5
16 Moscow Rats 115-136-13 .460 47.5
17 Reykjavik Fish Candy 117-138-9 .460 47.5
18 K-Town Mashers 105-143-16 .428 56
19 Springfield Isotopes 102-147-15 .415 59.5
20 Jick's Rays 68-180-16 .288 93
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