Season 29 Power Rankings #1

Happy holidays, it's time for the first power rankings of Season 29.   At the top, Atlanta reclaims the top spot with a solid start to the season.  At #2 is the surprise of the early season, as Cheyenne vaults all the way up from #19.  We didn't see it coming, but know never to doubt yanks21's ability to put together a great team.  Texas drops to #3, while Philadelphia and Salem round out the top 5.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the preseason rankings.

Biggest Climbers: #2 Cheyenne (+17), #11 Trenton (+17), #13 Los Angeles (+14), #9 Seattle (+11), #19 Houston (+11)

Biggest Falls: #16 New York (-11), #17 Chicago (-11), #18 Santa Fe (-10), #26 Louisville (-10), #27 Hartford (-10)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck and have a wonderful holiday season!

					Pitching	Offense
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Rank
1	Atlanta	27	14	2	1	4
2	Cheyenne	28	13	19	2	15
3	Texas	24	17	1	5	7
4	Philadelphia	27	14	13	9	8
5	Salem	27	14	7	7	13
6	Las Vegas	25	16	9	10	3
7	St. Louis	23	18	11	2	19
8	Florida	22	19	3	14	30
9	Seattle	21	20	20	8	21
10	Colorado Springs	21	20	4	13	17
11	Trenton	23	18	28	11	26
12	Vancouver	21	20	14	4	22
13	Los Angeles	21	20	27	17	29
14	Salt Lake City	20	21	10	12	12
15	Buffalo	20	21	12	16	19
16	New York	19	22	5	18	8
17	Chicago	18	23	6	20	1
18	Santa Fe	20	21	8	25	2
19	Houston	20	21	30	15	16
20	Dover	20	21	22	19	28
21	Milwaukee	19	22	23	24	4
22	Pawtucket	20	21	15	28	11
23	Detroit	19	22	29	23	10
24	Columbus	18	23	26	6	25
25	San Francisco	20	21	18	22	23
26	Louisville	18	23	16	21	23
27	Hartford	14	27	17	32	6
28	Charlotte	18	23	24	26	27
29	Boston	18	23	21	30	14
30	Monterrey	18	23	25	27	18
31	Charleston	16	25	31	29	30
32	Iowa City	11	30	32	31	32

Season 29 Preseason Power Rankings

OK, so it's a little after preseason, but these were taken based on rosters at the start of the regular season.  A lot of familiar teams near the top of the rankings, with defending champ Texas as the top team, followed by Atlanta, Florida, Colorado Springs and New York.   Enjoy!

				Starting	Relief
		Season 28		Pitching	Pitching	Hitting	Fielding
		W	L	Rank	Rank	Rank	Rank
1	Texas	117	45	1	1	4	1
2	Atlanta	112	50	2	22	1	16
3	Florida	105	57	3	10	2	8
4	Colorado Springs	102	60	11	7	3	27
5	New York	92	70	6	3	9	11
6	Chicago	97	65	4	2	14	6
7	Salem	92	70	8	11	6	13
8	Santa Fe	81	81	20	4	5	27
9	Las Vegas	86	76	9	15	11	20
10	Salt Lake City	75	87	24	5	7	2
11	St. Louis	88	74	13	8	15	8
12	Buffalo	94	68	17	12	8	23
13	Philadelphia	82	80	7	31	12	8
14	Vancouver	82	80	18	6	18	16
15	Pawtucket	66	96	12	9	24	4
16	Louisville	66	96	10	18	22	13
17	Hartford	79	83	14	24	12	30
18	San Francisco	59	103	15	13	21	23
19	Cheyenne	70	92	5	25	26	6
20	Seattle	85	77	19	32	10	20
21	Boston	74	88	23	14	17	23
22	Dover	87	75	22	16	23	11
23	Milwaukee	64	98	25	20	19	20
24	Charlotte	87	75	16	23	27	32
25	Monterrey	56	106	28	30	20	13
26	Columbus	69	93	31	27	16	23
27	Los Angeles	80	82	29	17	25	19
28	Trenton	77	85	21	21	30	2
29	Detroit	72	90	27	19	28	16
30	Houston	75	87	26	29	29	31
31	Charleston	63	99	32	26	31	27
32	Iowa City	58	104	30	27	32	4

Season 28 Wrap Up - Texas is Your Champion!

Texas Giddy Ups (AL) rawdk27 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Texas Survives Several Elimination Games to Win the Title!

Texas has taken the World Series title in Season 28 in a hard fought series with an up-an-coming Seattle squad.  After a first round sweep of Chicago, it was a constant uphill battle for Texas, falling down 3-0 vs. rival Atlanta in the ALCS, and 3-1 vs. Seattle in the World Series.  When facing elimination, Texas went 7-0 this postseason, reminiscent of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.  The Texas pitching staff hit some rough spots during the playoffs, posting a 4.85 team ERA, but they managed to step it up when it counted.  Their top-rated offense wasn't quite as impressive as in the regular season, but managed to belt 25 homers in 17 games, and were also efficient on the basepaths stealing 16 bases in 20 attempts.  This is rawdk's 4th Cobbfather title, however it's his first since Season 8!

It was also a fantastic postseason run for NL Champ Seattle, winning their first two series in 4 games, and then taking a six game battle against strong favorite Buffalo in the NLCS.  They pushed Texas to their limit in the World Series taking them to 7 games, but it seemed it was just Texas' postseason for big series comebacks.  Nonetheless, a well-earned congrats goes to curtiswt on a great postseason run, it seems they have a solid core of players that should be strong for the next several seasons to come.

Thanks to everyone for making it a great Season 28, see you back for Season 29 after a hopefully quick rollover!

Season 28 Award Winners

With the World Series under way, that means the Award Winners were announced for Season 28.  Let's see who took home the hardware!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Vladimir Troncoso, Texas - .314 AVG 34 HR 141 RBI 12 SB
The offensive leader of the AL World Series representative, Texas, takes home the MVP by a fairly substantial margin.  Troncoso, who started for the AL All-Star team in RF, had a tremendous season at the plate as a key part of Cobbfather's top offense.  This is the 29 year-old's first MVP win.  He's flourished in his four seasons in Texas, having at least 34 HR and 130 RBI each of those seasons.

National League - Dorian Whitaker, Seattle - .280 AVG 51 HR 125 RBI 25 SB
The NL MVP is also from a World Series representative, as Whitaker crushed an NL leading 51 homers in a tough park for hitters and also swiped 25 bags.  Whitaker didn't make the All-Star team but came on to win Player of the Week twice towards the end of the season.  The 25 year-old looks like he will be the leader of the Seattle offense for seasons to come.  It was Whitaker's first MVP win.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Francisco Aramboles, Atlanta - 22-6 2.13 ERA 253 K
This was pretty much a no-brainer, as Aramboles led the AL in pretty much every pitching category.  Fired up by a preseason article rating him the #7 pitcher in Cobbfather, he used that motivation to put together a season for the ages.  This is his 3rd Cy Young win, and now holds the top 5 single season strikeout marks in Cobbfather history.  He is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, the question now is can he go down as the greatest pitcher ever in Cobbfather.

National League - Don Monahan, Las Vegas - 17-7 2.31 ERA 175 K
In an extremely close race, it was Monahan who came out with the NL Cy Young Award, a win that gives him his 4th Cy Young, a feat only accomplished by 3 other pitchers in Cobbfather history.  Monahan had a solid season leading the NL in WHIP, tying for the lead in Complete Games and making his 7th All-Star team.  Even though he is 35, he has aged well and looks in good shape to shoot for #5 next season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League - Co-Winners
Yeico Miranda, Durham - 2.59 ERA 29 SV
Ned Morris, New York - 7-3 2.12 ERA 101 K 5 SV
No one AL rookie stood out to the voters this season, resulting in an extremely tight race that saw two relievers end up as co-winners, one vote ahead of 3rd place.  Miranda had an outstanding season as Durham's closer, and should be one of the top relievers in the world for seasons to come.  Morris served in a setup role, putting up outstanding numbers.  Neither player's performance was a fluke, both should be tremendous relievers for seasons to come.

National League - Edinson Hernandez, Santa Fe - .305 AVG 37 HR 139 RBI 44 SB
The NL Rookie of the Year picture was much clearer, as Santa Fe's Hernandez won in a landslide.  Hernandez was an All-Star starter in his rookie campaign, a feat that is quite difficult to accomplish.  He took advantage of Santa Fe's hitter friendly park to put up great numbers and used his elite speed to wipe 44 bases.  He played in all 162 games, and actually finished 2nd in the MVP voting.  It appears this certainly won't be the last time we see Hernandez as an MVP finalist.

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League - Antonio Ishida, Chicago - 2.37 ERA, 49 SV - 2nd win
National League - Chris Rivera, Dover - 2.93 ERA, 40 SV - 1st win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS

American League
	Player	Franchise
DH	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	7th
C	Santiago Arroyo	St. Louis	2nd
1B	Aurelio Lima	Texas	1st
2B	Vic Crowe	Colorado Springs	3rd
3B	Marcell Johnson	Texas	1st
SS	James Dillard	Charlotte	7th
LF	Shea Callaway	Cheyenne	1st
CF	Gary Harvey	Colorado Springs	4th
RF	Vin Gandarillas	Chicago	3rd
National League
	Player	Franchise
P	Vinny Parker	Las Vegas	1st
C	Benny Franco	Hartford	3rd
1B	Dorian Whitaker	Seattle	1st
2B	Crash Cepeda	Florida	1st
3B	Vic Castro	Vancouver	2nd
SS	Walter Bird	Seattle	1st
LF	Jim Hume	Florida	2nd
CF	Tony Mercado	Las Vegas	2nd
RF	Wiki Unamuno	Santa Fe	2nd

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS

American League
	Player	Franchise
P	Louis Markakis	Charlotte	1st
C	Jim Woods	Cheyenne	2nd
1B	Edgardo Rosa	Durham	1st
2B	Dizzy Hawkins	Atlanta	1st
3B	Alving Palmeiro	Colorado Springs	3rd
SS	Harry De La Rosa	Colorado Springs	1st
LF	Vinny Dickinson	Atlanta	1st
CF	Wilfredo Rincon	Chicago	1st
RF	Rubby Javier	Boston	1st
National League
	Player	Franchise
P	Geronimo Lopez	Vancouver	1st
C	Garry Dunston	Houston	1st
1B	Felipe Bennett	Hartford	1st
2B	Keith Smith	Tacoma	1st
3B	Joe Foster	Las Vegas	5th
SS	Wilfredo Javier	Las Vegas	4th
LF	Jim Hume	Florida	1st
CF	Ching-Lung Suzuki	Nashville	2nd
RF	Albert Pineda	Florida	1st

Season 28 League Leaders

With the playoffs in full swing, let's take a look back at the Season 28 League Leaders from the Regular Season!

OFFENSE
In the American League, Marcell Johnson of Texas won the batting title (.335) and also led the league in runs (133).  Teammate Aurelio Lima led the league in Slugging (.602) and OPS (1.004).

On the NL side, the leaderboard is dominated by Wiki Unamuno of Santa Fe (leader in Batting Average, Hits and Runs) and Willie Cerda of Buffalo (OBP, Slugging and OPS leader).

Here are the complete Offensive League Leaders!

American League
Batting Average	Marcell Johnson	Texas	.325
Home Runs	Thurman Hall	Charleston	55
RBI	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	144
Stolen Bases	Shea Callaway	Cheyenne	79
Hits	Claude Hughes	New York	197
Runs	Marcell Johnson	Texas	133
OBP	Vic Crowe	Colorado Springs	.406
SLG	Aurelio Lima	Texas	.602
OPS	Aurelio Lima	Texas	1.004
National League
Batting Average	Wiki Unamuno	Santa Fe	.336
Home Runs	Dorian Whitaker	Seattle	51
RBI	Edinson Hernandez	Santa Fe	139
Stolen Bases	Felipe Barrett	Hartford	55
Hits	Wiki Unamuno	Santa Fe	205
Runs	Wiki Unamuno	Santa Fe	140
OBP	Willie Cerda	Buffalo	.425
SLG	Willie Cerda	Buffalo	.671
OPS	Willie Cerda	Buffalo	1.096

PITCHING
In the American League, it was a disappointing season for Atlanta's Francisco Aramboles, as he did not lead the AL in Saves.  Other than that, he held at least a share of the lead for every other major category (ERA, Wins, Strikeouts, WHIP, IP, QS, Shutout leader, CG co-leader).  His 253 strikeouts were 5th most all-time, and he now owns the top 5 single season strikeout marks.  His 30 quality starts tie him for 2nd all-time, becoming only the 5th player to reach 30 quality starts in a season all-time.  I think we have a favorite for the Cy Young here!

In the National League, there wasn't a single dominant pitcher like in the AL, but a few great seasons were had nonetheless. Chick Munson of Nashville led the league in ERA and strikeouts. Don Monahan of Las Vegas makes the leaders list once again, leading the NL in WHIP and was a co-leader in Complete Games.  Seattle's Albert Tapies also was a co-leader in Complete Games and led the NL in shutouts.

Here are the complete Pitching League Leaders!

American League
ERA	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	2.13
Wins	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	22
Strikeouts	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	253
Saves	Antonio Ishida	Chicago	47
WHIP	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	0.96
Innings Pitched	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	270.2
Quality Starts	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	30
Complete Games	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	7
	Randall Washington	Texas	7
	Steve Buckner	Charlotte	7
Shutouts	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	3
National League
ERA	Chick Munson	Nashville	2.29
Wins	Red Collins	Florida	21
Strikeouts	Chick Munson	Nashville	224
Saves	Rodrigo Ontiveros	Las Vegas	44
WHIP	Don Monahan	Las Vegas	0.94
Innings Pitched	Paulie Flynn	Seattle	234.2
Quality Starts	Douglas Banks	Buffalo	27
Complete Games	Albert Tapies	Seattle	4
	Carl Young	Philadelphia	4
	Don Monahan	Las Vegas	4
Shutouts	Albert Tapies	Seattle	3

Season 28 Final Power Rankings

The regular season has concluded in Cobbfather Season 28, so let's take a look at how all the teams finished in the Power Rankings.  Holding steady at #1 is Texas, sporting an incredible 117-45 record, including an unbelievable 34-6 in their last 40.   Atlanta still holds down the #2 spot with a fine season of their own, winning 112 games, while fellow 100 game winners Florida and Colorado Springs come in at 3 and 4 respectively, with Chicago rounding out the top 5.  Let's take a look at the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #7 Seattle (+10), #13 Philadelphia (+6), #10 St. Louis (+5)

Biggest Falls: #21 Hartford (-10), #23 Detroit (-8), #17 Santa Fe (-8), #4 Buffalo (-4)

Congrats to all the playoff teams, and good luck in what should be a great postseason battle.  Here are the complete final rankings!

					Pitching		Offense		LAST 40
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Texas	117	45	1	4	2	1	0	34	6
2	Atlanta	112	50	2	2	2	3	1	28	12
3	Florida	105	57	5	1	0	12	13	27	13
4	Colorado Springs	102	60	3	15	-2	2	0	24	16
5	Chicago	97	65	6	14	3	4	-1	24	16
6	Salem	92	70	10	16	2	8	2	26	14
7	Seattle	85	77	17	9	2	15	-2	23	17
8	Buffalo	94	68	4	5	-2	18	-4	20	20
9	New York	92	70	7	10	-2	11	-3	20	20
10	St. Louis	88	74	15	8	2	23	1	21	19
11	Charlotte	87	75	8	17	-1	10	-1	20	20
12	Las Vegas	86	76	13	6	-1	27	1	21	19
13	Philadelphia	82	80	19	11	3	20	1	24	16
14	Vancouver	82	80	18	12	-5	17	4	23	17
15	Dover	87	75	12	17	-6	14	4	21	19
16	Los Angeles	80	82	16	3	-1	30	1	21	19
17	Santa Fe	81	81	9	21	0	7	0	18	22
18	Houston	75	87	22	20	2	22	-3	24	16
19	Boston	74	88	20	24	2	9	2	20	20
20	Tacoma	77	85	23	7	1	29	0	20	20
21	Hartford	79	83	11	27	-2	5	-1	13	27
22	Salt Lake City	75	87	21	25	-1	13	1	19	21
23	Detroit	72	90	14	13	2	24	-12	14	26
24	Syracuse	69	93	24	26	4	16	0	18	22
25	Cincinnati	64	98	25	32	0	6	0	17	23
26	Cheyenne	70	92	26	22	-2	26	1	15	25
27	Nashville	66	96	28	23	0	28	-2	15	25
28	Charleston	63	99	32	31	0	18	3	19	21
29	Durham	66	96	27	30	-2	21	-2	14	26
30	Monterrey	56	106	29	29	0	25	-8	13	27
31	San Francisco	59	103	30	19	0	32	0	12	28
32	Iowa City	58	104	31	28	-1	31	-1	12	28