Season 27 Wrap Up - Atlanta Repeats!

Atlanta Expos (AL) ekoontz41 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Atlanta is your Season 27 champion! 

The Season 27 World Series has concluded, and Atlanta came out on top 4 games to 2 in a rematch of last year's championship against Florida.  Atlanta came out of the gates strong, winning the first three games of the series.  Florida mounted a rally winning the next two games, but couldn't maintain their momentum when the series headed back to Atlanta for Game 6.  Atlanta defeated New York in 4 games in the DCS, and then went on to face arch rival Texas in the LCS, taking that series in 5 games. Enrique Garces was the leader of the offense in the postseason for Atlanta posting a .333 AVG, .958 OPS, and hitting 2 HR.  Atlanta only hit .235 as a team in the playoffs, but did pop 25 Home Runs in 15 games.  Their pitching was outstanding posting a 2.59 ERA with multiple-time Cy Young winners Thomas Hutchinson and Francisco Aramboles leading the way.

It was a great season for Florida as well, as they nabbed the NL's best record for the second season in a row with a phenomenal stretch run, and then beat out tough division rival Philadelphia in 4 games in the DCS, and then sweeping Santa Fe in the LCS.  It took Atlanta a few go-arounds in the playoffs before claiming the trophy, so Florida can certainly get there too.

Thanks everyone for a great Season 27, see you back soon for Season 28!

Season 27 Award Winners

With the World Series under way, that means this season's hardware for individual awards was handed out, let's see who took it home!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Albert Cruz, Cincinnati - .292 AVG 60 HR 146 RBI
In Season 24, Cruz became the first player in Cobbfather history to win 3 MVP's total, much less 3 straight.  After a two season break, he's back at the helm taking home his 4th MVP trophy.  At Age 27, Cruz is already establishing himself as an all-time great.  It will be interesting to see what numbers and how many trophies he ends up with when all is said and done.  Cruz also made the All-Star team, won a Silver Slugger, led the league in HR, RBI, OPS and Slugging and won the Home Run Derby.

National League - Don Sparks, Philadelphia - .300 AVG 48 HR 117 RBI 24 SB
The NL MVP trophy stays in Philadelphia, but this time it's 21 year-old Don Sparks who takes the honors.  Playing in all 162 games this season, Sparks posted phenomenal all-around numbers thanks to his impressive hit tool and solid baserunning abilities.  He has many outstanding seasons ahead of him, and accomplished the difficult feat of winning the MVP in his rookie year.  Not surprisingly he was also named NL Rookie of the Year.   He also made the All-Star team, won a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove at 1B.  The fact that he was not All-Star Game MVP and didn't win the Home Run Derby shows he is major letdown, I'd look to deal him in the offseason for sure.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Francisco Aramboles, Atlanta - 23-7 2.39 ERA 267 K
Aramboles capped another fantastic season by taking home his 2nd Cy Young Award.  He also earned the honor in Season 25.  Aramboles is a key part of the dominant Atlanta pitching staff that has helped keep the squad on the top of the power rankings for several seasons.  Aramboles made the All-Star team and led the AL in ERA, Wins, Strikeouts, Innings Pitched and Quality Starts making him a pretty obvious choice for the Cy Young Award.

National League - Don Monahan, Las Vegas - 19-4 2.46 ERA 236 K
Monahan nabbed his 3rd Cy Young win with another outstanding season for Las Vegas.  Winning previously in Seasons 20 and 23, Monahan becomes the 6th pitcher in Cobbfather history to win at least 3 Cy Young Awards.  Monahan had an outstanding record and ERA, great strikeout total, led the league in WHIP and tied for the lead in shutouts.  It's hard to argue that he didn't deserve trophy #3.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 
American League - Greg Wagner, Cincinnati - .272 AVG 47 HR 96 RBI
Wagner may not have the usual star makeup you see in most award winners, but he powered his way this season to the AL Rookie of the Year award.  Blasting 47 bombs to go with a respectable batting average was good enough to bring home the hardware to Cincinnati.  He'll probably need to continue playing in a hitter friendly park to come close to replicating this season's numbers, but still, you can't take away what he accomplished with his outstanding stat line this season.

National League - Don Sparks, Philadelphia - .300 AVG 48 HR 117 RBI 24 SB

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR 
American League - Walt White, Charlotte - 2.78 ERA, 33 SV - 2nd win
National League - Tomo Hayashi, Santa Fe - 2.01 ERA, 46 SV - 1st win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS
American League
	Player	Franchise
DH	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	6th
C	Sean Dahl	Atlanta	1st
1B	Eugene Brantley	Colorado Springs	6th
2B	Harvey Talbot	St. Louis	1st
3B	Tony Cassevah	Salem	1st
SS	James Dillard	Charlotte	6th
LF	Claude Hughes	Trenton	1st
CF	Gary Harvey	Colorado Springs	3rd
RF	Theo Waters	Cincinnati	1st
National League
	Player	Franchise
P	Douglas Banks	Buffalo	1st
C	Michael Mancuso	Kansas City	1st
1B	Don Sparks	Philadelphia	1st
2B	Vin Gandarillas	Richmond	2nd
3B	Joe Foster	Las Vegas	1st
SS	Eduardo Ortega	New York	1st
LF	Willie Cerda	Richmond	4th
CF	Timo Worrell	Seattle	1st
RF	Wiki Unamuno	Santa Fe	1st
GOLD GLOVE AWARDS
American League
	Player	Franchise
P	Bobby Kydd	Cheyenne	1st
C	Eugene Baker	Trenton	1st
1B	Harvey Stein	Durham	2nd
2B	Joshua Hendrick	Texas	2nd
3B	Xavier Dean	Colorado Springs	1st
SS	Philip Payton	Pawtucket	1st
LF	Luis Sanches	Cincinnati	1st
CF	P.J. Roberts	Durham	2nd
RF	Emil Javier	Trenton	1st
National League
	Player	Franchise
P	Thomas Lyon	Buffalo	1st
C	Edgmer Moreno	Dover	1st
1B	Don Sparks	Philadelphia	1st
2B	Kevin Coomer	Santa Fe	2nd
3B	Haywood Realmuto	Kansas City	1st
SS	Wilfredo Javier	Las Vegas	3rd
LF	Benny Lee	Kansas City	4th
CF	Eli Espinosa	Santa Fe	4th
RF	Ryan Martin	Seattle	4th

Season 27 League Leaders

With Season 27's regular season is in the books, let's see who finished as the league leaders!

OFFENSE
In the AL, the offensive league leaders board was dominated by two players. Joshua Hendrick of Texas tied for the league lead in Hits and led the league in Runs and OBP.   3-time MVP Albert Cruz of Cincinnati did his best to make a strong case for his 4th, leading the league in Home Runs, RBI, SLG and OPS.

In the NL, Kansas City's Benny Lee led the league in Hits and OBP.   While, this postseason's most talked about player, Ahmed Ratliff of Philadelphia led the NL in Home Runs, RBI, Slugging and OPS, yet still wasn't a finalist for MVP!  What's a guy gotta do!

Here are the complete Offensive League Leaders!

American League
Batting Average	Eugene Brantley	Colorado Springs	.339
Home Runs	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	60
RBI	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	146
Stolen Bases	Apollo Faulkner	Durham	55
Hits	Will Maxwell	St. Louis	207
	Joshua Hendrick	Texas	207
Runs	Joshua Hendrick	Texas	136
OBP	Joshua Hendrick	Texas	.426
SLG	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	.650
OPS	Albert Cruz	Cincinnati	1.032
National League
Batting Average	Michael Mancuso	Kansas City	.341
Home Runs	Ahmed Ratliff	Philadelphia	64
RBI	Ahmed Ratliff	Philadelphia	161
Stolen Bases	Erubiel Sosa	Austin	54
	Jim Hume	Florida	54
Hits	Benny Lee	Kansas City	193
Runs	Jerrod Griffiths	Houston	119
OBP	Benny Lee	Kansas City	.429
SLG	Ahmed Ratliff	Philadelphia	.684
OPS	Ahmed Ratliff	Philadelphia	1.035

PITCHING
In the AL, the league leaders board is dominated by one pitcher, Atlanta's Francisco Aramboles. He won the pitching triple crown leading the league in ERA, Wins and Strikeouts, as well as Innings Pitched and Quality Starts.  His Strikeout total was the 3rd most in Cobbfather history (he now owns the four best single season strikeout totals in Cobbfather history) and he had the 5th most Innings Pitched in Cobbfather history.  What a season!  Honorable mention goes to Randall Washington of Texas who tied for the fourth most shutouts in Cobbfather history with 4.

In the NL, ERA Champ Douglas Banks of Buffalo also led the NL in Innings Pitched and Quality Starts. Don Monahan was the NL leader in WHIP and tied for the lead in shutouts, while Seattle's Paulie Flynn tossed an NL best 8 complete games and tied for the lead in shutouts. NL strikeout king Chick Munson of Austin also tied for, you guessed it, the league lead in shutouts.

Here are the complete Pitching League Leaders!

American League
ERA	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	2.39
Wins	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	23
Strikeouts	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	267
Saves	Shane Williams	Pawtucket	37
	Gail Hausmann	Cincinnati	37
WHIP	Thomas Hutchinson	Atlanta	1.04
Innings Pitched	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	271.2
Quality Starts	Francisco Aramboles	Atlanta	28
Complete Games	Yeico Oliva	Atlanta	6
Shutouts	Randall Washington	Texas	4
National League
ERA	Douglas Banks	Buffalo	2.00
Wins	Norman LaPorta	Philadelphia	20
Strikeouts	Chick Munson	Austin	242
Saves	Tomo Hayashi	Santa Fe	46
WHIP	Don Monahan	Las Vegas	1.00
Innings Pitched	Douglas Banks	Buffalo	229.0
Quality Starts	Douglas Banks	Buffalo	27
Complete Games	Paulie Flynn	Seattle	8
Shutouts	Chick Munson	Austin	3
	Don Monahan	Las Vegas	3
	Paulie Flynn	Seattle	3

Season 27 Final Power Rankings

The regular season has wrapped up for Season 27 and before the playoffs begin it's time to check in with the final power rankings of the season!  Atlanta holds on to the top spot, completing a clean sweep for the season holding #1 in every edition of the rankings this season.  Texas holds steady at #2.  Jumping up to #3 with a great finish to the season is Colorado Springs, who were only topped by #4 Florida who went an unbelievable 33-7 down the stretch!  Philadelphia drops 1 spot to round out the top 5.  Now, here's the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings. 

Biggest climbers: #4 Florida (+9), #12 Boston (+9), #3 Colorado Springs (+5), #18 Kansas City (+4)

Biggest falls: #15 Cheyenne (-9), #16 Los Angeles (-9), #31 New York (NL) (-6), #19 Pawtucket (-5)

Good luck to all the teams in the playoffs.  Here are the complete power rankings! 

					Offense		Pitching		LAST 40
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Atlanta	110	52	1	4	-2	2	-1	26	14
2	Texas	101	61	2	2	-1	5	-1	24	16
3	Colorado Springs	93	69	8	1	2	17	4	28	12
4	Florida	99	63	13	24	4	4	0	33	7
5	Philadelphia	97	65	4	9	-1	9	1	24	16
6	Salem	96	66	5	11	5	10	4	27	13
7	Las Vegas	96	66	3	16	-5	3	0	23	17
8	Seattle	91	71	7	14	5	7	1	24	16
9	Santa Fe	92	70	12	6	3	22	4	27	13
10	Cincinnati	87	75	11	7	6	18	2	25	15
11	New York (AL)	90	72	10	17	0	6	0	22	18
12	Boston	81	81	21	3	2	21	2	26	14
13	Salt Lake City	84	78	15	5	1	23	-1	23	17
14	St. Louis	85	77	17	12	6	13	-4	22	18
15	Cheyenne	86	76	6	8	-1	14	2	18	22
16	Los Angeles	87	75	9	32	-2	1	1	19	21
17	Buffalo	85	77	20	28	3	8	-1	23	17
18	Kansas City	76	86	22	26	0	11	1	21	19
19	Pawtucket	77	85	14	21	-2	14	-1	17	23
20	Houston	79	83	16	15	4	20	-5	17	23
21	Richmond	76	86	18	9	-5	27	2	20	20
22	Vancouver	78	84	19	30	-3	12	-1	19	21
23	Trenton	72	90	26	21	2	24	-5	19	21
24	San Francisco	67	95	23	27	1	16	2	16	24
25	Austin	66	96	28	20	-5	24	1	12	28
26	Charlotte	65	97	24	13	-1	29	1	11	29
27	Dover	68	94	27	29	-5	19	-2	14	26
28	Charleston	71	91	29	25	-1	28	-1	15	25
29	Durham	64	98	30	19	-5	30	1	13	27
30	Syracuse	63	99	31	23	-4	24	0	14	26
31	New York (NL)	59	103	25	18	-8	31	-3	7	33
32	Iowa City	51	111	32	31	1	32	0	11	29

Season 27 Power Rankings #3

As we head down the stretch in Season 27, it's time to check in with another edition of the power rankings!  At the top spot, Atlanta continues to hold the #1 ranking, they are an outstanding squad indeed.  Texas jumps into the #2 spot, sporting the best record since the last rankings at 30-11, and improving in both pitching and hitting.  Las Vegas jumps into the top 5 at #3 with a great run since the halfway point, while Philadelphia is down two spots to #4.  Making an incredible jump into the top 5, Salem is up 14 spots from the mid-season rankings with a 29-12 record since then.  Now for the biggest climbs and falls since the last rankings!

Biggest climbs:  #5 Salem (+14), #11 Cincinnati (+12), #18 Richmond (+10), #23 San Francisco (+9), #12 Santa Fe (+8)

Biggest falls: #17 St. Louis (-14), #26 Trenton (-12), #28 Austin (-12), #22 Kansas City (-10), #20 Buffalo (-9)

Here are the complete rankings!

					Offense		Pitching		LAST 41
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Atlanta	84	38	1	2	-1	1	0	29	12
2	Texas	77	45	5	1	4	4	6	30	11
3	Las Vegas	73	49	9	11	1	3	3	29	12
4	Philadelphia	73	49	2	8	3	10	-1	22	19
5	Salem	69	53	19	16	7	14	1	29	12
6	Cheyenne	68	54	6	7	-5	16	1	22	19
7	Seattle	67	55	13	19	3	8	3	25	16
8	Colorado Springs	65	57	10	3	0	21	4	23	18
9	Los Angeles	68	54	7	30	-3	2	0	21	20
10	New York (AL)	68	54	4	17	-1	6	-3	18	23
11	Cincinnati	62	60	23	13	4	20	2	25	16
12	Santa Fe	65	57	20	9	1	26	3	24	17
13	Florida	66	56	8	28	1	4	0	20	21
14	Pawtucket	60	62	15	19	5	13	-1	21	20
15	Salt Lake City	61	61	21	6	8	22	5	21	20
16	Houston	62	60	22	19	5	15	4	24	17
17	St. Louis	63	59	3	18	-9	9	-2	16	25
18	Richmond	56	66	28	4	3	29	2	22	19
19	Vancouver	59	63	17	27	-8	11	2	20	21
20	Buffalo	62	60	11	31	-3	7	-2	19	22
21	Boston	55	67	18	5	-1	23	3	16	25
22	Kansas City	55	67	12	26	-5	12	-4	14	27
23	San Francisco	51	71	32	28	3	18	3	24	17
24	Charlotte	54	68	26	12	3	30	-2	19	22
25	New York (NL)	52	70	30	10	-2	28	2	18	23
26	Trenton	53	69	14	23	-3	19	-5	15	26
27	Dover	54	68	25	24	6	17	-1	19	22
28	Austin	54	68	16	15	-3	25	-6	14	27
29	Charleston	56	66	29	24	0	27	-3	20	21
30	Durham	51	71	24	14	-8	31	1	15	26
31	Syracuse	49	73	27	19	-1	24	-2	16	25
32	Iowa City	40	82	31	32	0	32	-14	6	35