Season 36 Preseason Power Rankings

Season 36 is off and running and it's time to kick off this season's blog coverage with the preseason power rankings!  These are always the toughest to do, and it's certain there will be some volatility once some of the regular season data is in, but we'll give it a shot anyways!

Topping the rankings is your defending champion, Montgomery.  They bring back a stacked lineup and some excellent pitching.  Surprisingly, this is the first time they have ever been ranked #1. Coming in at #2 is an up and coming Little Rock squad that features the top ranked Starting Pitching in Cobbfather and an excellent offense as well.  Sioux Falls, Florida and Salt Lake City round out the top 5.  

It should be another interesting season in Cobbfather, as there are many teams in the hunt for the title, it seems.  It will be exciting to see who comes out on top.  Good luck to all in the regular season! Here are the complete rankings!

				Starting	Relief
				Pitching	Pitching	Hitting	Fielding
	Team	W	L	Rank	Rank	Rank	Rank
1	Montgomery	96	66	7	5	1	7
2	Little Rock	91	71	1	30	5	6
3	Sioux Falls	102	60	2	10	7	17
4	Florida	98	64	4	1	9	11
5	Salt Lake City	84	78	9	3	4	31
6	Baltimore	88	74	10	9	6	7
7	Nashville	88	74	13	2	2	20
8	Santa Fe	101	61	12	4	2	27
9	Boston	91	71	8	6	11	11
10	Oklahoma City	49	113	6	16	20	15
11	Jackson	99	63	11	7	14	7
12	Portland	79	83	5	22	22	20
13	Buffalo	94	68	17	20	9	13
14	Cincinnati	80	82	14	13	17	17
15	Houston	106	56	19	17	11	20
16	Kansas City	88	74	18	14	19	2
17	St. Louis	75	87	25	12	8	20
18	Richmond	76	86	20	15	15	27
19	Salem	92	70	15	27	18	17
20	Los Angeles	75	87	16	24	21	20
21	Fargo	95	67	3	23	30	2
22	Helena	71	91	24	20	23	20
23	Syracuse	86	76	28	10	16	20
24	Norfolk	82	80	22	26	26	2
25	Minnesota	50	112	26	31	13	30
26	Charlotte	77	85	21	18	27	13
27	Milwaukee	69	93	27	8	24	7
28	Memphis	73	89	23	19	29	5
29	Colorado Springs	72	90	30	32	25	29
30	Honolulu	59	103	32	29	28	15
31	Atlanta	58	104	29	28	31	32
32	New York	48	114	31	25	32	1

Season 35 Wrap Up - Montgomery Takes the Crown!

Montgomery Mayhem (NL) jake72 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Montgomery Takes the Season 35 Title in a Thriller!

The Season 35 World Series couldn't have been any closer, as the top two teams in the Final Power Rankings, Houston and Montgomery battled it out.  It all came down to Game 7 in Houston and nine innings weren't enough to determine the Season 35 Cobbfather champion.  After a scoreless 10th inning, a 2-out single in the top of the 11th, followed by a steal and an errant throw that got the runner to 3rd, it was up to star slugger Jamie Lo who had been struggling at the plate in the postseason, but on this occasion he came through, knocking in the go-ahead run from 3rd with 2 outs to take the lead.  In this back-and-forth game, nothing was a given with Houston up at the plate in the bottom of the 11th, but Montgomery closer Davey Torrealba managed to close it out, completing a perfect postseason out of the bullpen for him and bringing the championship back to Montgomery for the team, their 2nd title in five seasons.  What an ending and what a series!  It's unfortunate either team had to lose, it was a great performance by both teams. 

Thanks everyone for playing in Season 35, hope to see you all back next season!

Season 35 Award Winners

The hardware has been handed out for Season 35, so let's see who took home this season's awards!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Sean Gosling, Charlotte - .282 AVG 52 HR 136 RBI 21 SB
The Season 33 Rookie of the Year has stepped up his game another notch to take home an MVP trophy in a landslide win.  Gosling pretty much did it all for Charlotte this season, leading the AL in Home Runs, RBI, and Slugging, being named an All-Star starter and winning both a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove. You pretty much can't do more than that in a season.  This is Gosling's first MVP win, and we expect the 25 year-old superstar to be in contention for many more.

National League - Edinson Hernandez, Montgomery - .317 AVG 31 HR 110 RBI 48 SB
The 28 year-old right fielder for Montgomery finally broke through in Season 35 to take home his first MVP trophy.  With many impressive seasons under his belt, this was perhaps his best season, leading the NL in Hits and Runs.  Surprisingly, he was passed over for the All-Star team, which speaks to the depth of talent in the NL, but in the end won the MVP by a significant margin.  The all-around five-tool star should certain be in contention to add to his award collection going forward.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Jimmie Hartman, Jackson - 22-4 3.08 ERA 167 K
The AL Wins leader ended up taking home the Cy Young Award as well, capping off a phenomenal season for the 25 year-old stud righty out of Jackson.  He also led the AL in Innings Pitched and Quality Starts and made his 2nd All-Star team in Season 35.  With a near flawless make-up, the former #8 pick in the Season 31 draft should continue to post impressive numbers for the foreseeable future.

National League - Monte Daley, Sioux Falls - 20-8 2.27 ERA 174 K
When you lead the league in Wins, ERA, Quality Starts and Innings Pitched, it's a good bet the Cy Young will be coming your way as well, and that's what happened for the 28 year-old Sioux Falls lefty. The former #1 overall pick in Season 27 finally made good on his potential in Season 35 en route to being named the NL's best pitcher.  On top of winning his 1st Cy Young Award, Daley also made his 1st All-Star team in Season 35.  With Sioux Falls looking strong, expect more awards to come for their top starter.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League - Charlie Lyons, Boston - .310 AVG 29 HR 82 RBI
The 22 year-old DH for Boston had a most successful rookie campaign, capping it off with a Rookie of the Year trophy.  Lyons has elite contact and an elite batting eye, which propelled him to the league lead in both OBP and OPS this past season.  Lyons was the 6th overall pick in the Season 31 draft and helped lead Boston to their first division title in 13 seasons.  He appears to be a big part of the future in Boston going forward.

National League - Sherman Berkman, Portland - 11-5 2.54 ERA 158 K
It was a tight race for NL Rookie of the Year, but the 23 year-old lefty out of Portland, who dazzled in 24 starts this past seasons, came out on top.  Berkman adjusted well after only a short stint in the minors, as he was the #2 overall pick in the Season 34 draft.  Already sporting very impressive ratings across the board, the ceiling is extremely high for Berkman, who should have some development left to go.

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League - Jace Sale, Boston - 3.59 ERA, 48 SV, 1st Win
National League - Al Balentien, Monterrey, 2.28 ERA, 46 SV, 2nd Win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS
American League

DH	Robert Hamilton	Houston	2nd
C	Rob Gagne	Atlanta	1st
1B	Albert Cruz	Milwaukee	12th
2B	Wandy Guillen	Cheyenne	3rd
3B	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	2nd
SS	Rymer Mota	Colorado Springs	1st
LF	Wiki Unamuno	Houston	6th
CF	Norman Berry	Little Rock	1st
RF	Francis King	Salem	5th

National League

P	Gregor Lopez	Buffalo	1st
C	Derrick Frank	Dover	3rd
1B	Benny Romano	Monterrey	1st
2B	Yohan Gomez	Buffalo	3rd
3B	Cesar Ozuna	Monterrey	1st
SS	Junior Wilson	Monterrey	1st
LF	Haywood Swann	Nashville	1st
CF	Kirt Raggio	Sioux Falls	4th
RF	Yoenis Portillo	Buffalo	2nd

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS
American League

P	Braeden Abercrombie	Albuquerque	2nd
C	Christopher Martin	Milwaukee	2nd
1B	Crash Cepeda	Albuquerque	2nd
2B	Hipolito Villar	Jackson	1st
3B	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	1st
SS	Ugueth Perez	Fargo	3rd
LF	Yusmeiro Seguignol	Jackson	1st
CF	Jon Curtis	Detroit	2nd
RF	Patrick Browne	Little Rock	3rd

National League

P	Raul Delgado	Kansas City	2nd
C	Jumbo Zambrano	Philadelphia	1st
1B	Albert Pineda	Florida	3rd
2B	Ernie McEnerney	Baltimore	1st
3B	Enrique Renteria	Richmond	1st
SS	Brian Haynes	Kansas City	1st
LF	Everth Sosa	Boise	1st
CF	J.T. Constanza	Minnesota	4th
RF	Dizzy Hawkins	Dover	2nd

Season 35 League Leaders

Here's the recap of this past season's League Leaders!

All-Time Top 5 Performances in Season 35
Shutouts - Midre Tavarez, Fargo - 4 - Tied for 5th All-Time

Multiple Category Leaders
Monte Daley, Sioux Falls - NL - 4 - ERA, Wins, IP, QS
Sean Gosling, Charlotte - AL - 3 - HR, RBI, SLG
Jimmie Hartman, Jackson - AL - 3 - Wins, IP, QS
Charlie Lyons, Boston - AL - 2 - OBP, OPS
Mitchell Sweeney, Philadelphia - NL - 2 - HR, RBI
Edinson Hernandez, Montgomery - NL - 2 - Hits, Runs
Chick Munson, Fargo - AL - 2 - Strikeouts, WHIP
Midre Tavarez, Fargo - AL - 2 - CG, Shutouts
Gregor Lopez, Buffalo - NL - 2 - Strikeouts, Shutouts
Randall Washington, Florida - NL - 2 - CG, Shutouts
Thomas Lyon, Philadelphia - NL - 2 - CG, Shutouts

Complete League Leaders

Offense
American League
Batting Average	Ron Corino	Salem	.325
Home Runs	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	52
RBI	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	136
Stolen Bases	Dennis Brock	Charlotte	94
Hits	Luis Valverde	Boston	190
Runs	Wandy Guillen	Cheyenne	120
OBP	Charlie Lyons	Boston	.425
SLG	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	.579
OPS	Charlie Lyons	Boston	.963
National League
Batting Average	Junior Wilson	Monterrey	.333
Home Runs	Mitchell Sweeney	Philadelphia	49
RBI	Mitchell Sweeney	Philadelphia	139
Stolen Bases	Damon Mackowiak	Monterrey	67
Hits	Edinson Hernandez	Montgomery	208
Runs	Edinson Hernandez	Montgomery	145
OBP	Yoenis Portillo	Buffalo	.421
SLG	Kirt Raggio	Sioux Falls	.603
OPS	Haywood Swann	Nashville	1.013
Pitching
American League
ERA	Armando Merced	Houston	2.63
Wins	Jimmie Hartman	Jackson	22
Strikeouts	Chick Munson	Fargo	224
Saves	Jace Sale	Boston	48
WHIP	Chick Munson	Fargo	1.02
Innings Pitched	Jimmie Hartman	Jackson	254.0
Quality Starts	Jimmie Hartman	Jackson	24
Complete Games	Midre Tavarez	Fargo	9
Shutouts	Midre Tavarez	Fargo	4
National League
ERA	Monte Daley	Sioux Falls	2.27
Wins	Monte Daley	Sioux Falls	20
Strikeouts	Gregor Lopez	Buffalo	200
Saves	Al Balentien	Monterrey	46
WHIP	A.J. Gil	Sioux Falls	0.99
Innings Pitched	Monte Daley	Sioux Falls	229.2
Quality Starts	Monte Daley	Sioux Falls	28
Complete Games	Randall Washington	Florida	4
	Kris Saarloos	Dover	4
	Thomas Lyon	Philadelphia	4
Shutouts	Randall Washington	Florida	2
	Thomas Lyon	Philadelphia	2
	Gregor Lopez	Buffalo	2

Season 35 Final Power Rankings

The regular season is over and the playoffs are barely under way, so let's see where everyone finished in the final power rankings of Season 35!  At the top, finishing where they started in the preseason rankings, is Houston.  There were three different #1's between their stays at the top, but they do finish where they started.  Up 4 spots to #2 is Montgomery.  They had an impressive stretch run, led by improved pitching.  Rounding out the top 5 is Sioux Falls, Monterrey and previous #1 Jackson.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #18 Dover (+7), #2 Montgomery (+4), #10 Boston (+4), #12 Baltimore (+4), #15 Norfolk (+4), #16 Cheyenne (+4), #20 Portland (+4), #22 Milwaukee (+4), #23 Colorado Springs (+4)

Biggest Falls: #27 Richmond (-9), #24 Albuquerque (-7), #19 Detroit (-6), #17 Philadelphia (-5), #5 Jackson (-4)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck to the playoff teams!

					Pitching		Offense		LAST 40
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Houston	106	56	2	2	0	8	3	29	11
2	Montgomery	96	66	6	4	4	3	0	27	13
3	Sioux Falls	102	60	3	1	0	18	1	25	15
4	Monterrey	101	61	5	12	4	1	0	23	17
5	Jackson	99	63	1	5	1	7	-3	21	19
6	Florida	98	64	9	6	0	17	3	25	15
7	Fargo	95	67	4	9	-6	5	4	21	19
8	Buffalo	94	68	7	3	1	14	3	21	19
9	Salem	92	70	8	8	2	13	-3	23	17
10	Boston	91	71	14	18	4	4	0	24	16
11	Little Rock	91	71	11	22	4	2	0	24	16
12	Baltimore	88	74	16	11	1	12	5	25	15
13	Kansas City	88	74	10	7	-2	18	-3	23	17
14	Nashville	88	74	15	20	2	6	2	24	16
15	Norfolk	82	80	19	17	0	22	3	25	15
16	Cheyenne	84	78	20	13	6	20	-4	23	17
17	Philadelphia	86	76	12	20	-2	15	-3	18	22
18	Dover	76	86	25	14	1	21	2	21	19
19	Detroit	80	82	13	22	0	10	-3	16	24
20	Portland	79	83	24	10	3	28	1	20	20
21	Los Angeles	75	87	21	16	-2	24	2	19	21
22	Milwaukee	69	93	26	24	-4	11	2	18	22
23	Colorado Springs	72	90	27	28	-1	16	4	19	21
24	Albuquerque	71	91	17	29	-4	9	-3	14	26
25	Charlotte	77	85	22	27	3	23	-9	17	23
26	St. Louis	75	87	23	15	-4	29	-2	14	26
27	Richmond	73	89	18	19	-10	27	-7	11	29
28	Boise	59	103	29	25	-4	30	0	17	23
29	Atlanta	58	104	28	26	3	25	-1	15	25
30	New York	48	114	32	31	1	32	0	17	23
31	Minnesota	50	112	30	31	0	26	2	8	32
32	Oklahoma City	49	113	31	30	-2	31	0	13	27

Season 35 Power Rankings #3

It's time for the stretch run in Cobbfather Season 35, but first, it's time for another edition of the power rankings!  And we have our 4th different #1 team of the season, with Jackson taking over the top spot!  They had the best record since the last rankings and improved significantly both in pitching and offense.  Up 3 spots to #2 is Houston, who continues to play well, despite selling off some of their most formidable arms for younger talent.  Sioux Falls, with their top ranked pitching staff, comes in at #3, followed by previous #1, Fargo, followed by previous #2 Monterrey to round out the top 5.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #8 Salem (+7), #9 Florida (+7), #19 Norfolk (+7), #1 Jackson (+6), #21 Los Angeles (+6)

Biggest Falls: #23 St. Louis (-12), #26 Milwaukee (-9), #12 Philadelphia (-6)

Here are the complete rankings.  Good luck down the stretch, there are a lot of tough teams this season, so you never know what will happen! 

					Pitching		Offense		LAST 40
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Jackson	78	44	7	6	7	4	9	30	10
2	Houston	77	45	5	2	-1	11	10	28	12
3	Sioux Falls	77	45	3	1	1	19	1	28	12
4	Fargo	74	48	1	3	0	9	-3	21	19
5	Monterrey	78	44	2	16	-2	1	0	23	17
6	Montgomery	69	53	8	8	0	3	4	23	17
7	Buffalo	73	49	4	4	0	17	-2	24	16
8	Salem	69	53	15	10	0	10	7	25	15
9	Florida	73	49	16	6	5	20	4	27	13
10	Kansas City	65	57	14	5	1	15	-4	22	18
11	Little Rock	67	55	10	26	-5	2	1	20	20
12	Philadelphia	68	54	6	18	-2	12	-4	20	20
13	Detroit	64	58	18	22	2	7	2	20	20
14	Boston	67	55	9	22	3	4	-2	18	22
15	Nashville	64	58	12	22	1	8	-3	19	21
16	Baltimore	63	59	19	12	-3	17	0	20	20
17	Albuquerque	57	65	21	25	1	6	-2	20	20
18	Richmond	62	60	13	9	-3	20	-1	18	22
19	Norfolk	57	65	26	17	5	25	2	23	17
20	Cheyenne	61	61	22	19	9	16	-2	20	20
21	Los Angeles	56	66	27	14	3	26	4	23	17
22	Charlotte	60	62	24	30	0	14	-2	20	20
23	St. Louis	61	61	11	11	-6	27	-11	15	25
24	Portland	59	63	23	13	-1	29	-1	20	20
25	Dover	55	67	20	15	4	23	-2	15	25
26	Milwaukee	51	71	17	20	-5	13	-3	13	27
27	Colorado Springs	53	69	25	27	-7	20	3	18	22
28	Atlanta	43	79	31	29	3	24	1	20	20
29	Boise	42	80	30	21	6	30	-1	17	23
30	Minnesota	42	80	29	31	-2	28	-2	12	28
31	Oklahoma City	36	86	28	28	-10	31	0	9	31
32	New York	31	91	32	32	-1	32	0	9	31

Season 35 All-Star Recap

Results
National League    1
American League  0
W - T. Arnold
L - J. Hartman
S - A Gonzalez

Home Run Derby Winner: Trever Phillips, Philadelphia - 29 HR
All-Star Game MVP: Benny Romano, Monterrey - 0-2, RBI, SB
Futures Game MVP: Juan Siqueiros, St. Louis - 3-6, 2 HR, 3 RBI, SB

Appearance Leaders
American League - Wiki Unamuno, Houston; Yeico Miranda, Norfolk - 6 appearances
National League - Jhoulys Olmedo, Minnesota; Felix Tanaka, Baltimore - 5 appearances

Teams With Most Players
American League - Houston - 5
National League - Monterrey - 8

Complete Rosters

American League All-Stars
Starters

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Angel Johnson	Jackson	1st
1B	Crash Cepeda	Albuquerque	2nd
2B	Calvin Hukata	Detroit	2nd
3B	Sean Gosling	Charlotte	2nd
SS	Ugueth Perez	Fargo	4th
LF	Wiki Unamuno	Houston	6th
CF	Raul Galvez	Salem	4th
RF	Rubby Javier	Boston	2nd
DH	Kyuji Shinjo	St. Louis	1st

Pitchers

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
P	Jace Sale	Boston	1st
P	Yeico Miranda	Norfolk	6th
P	Jimmie Hartman	Jackson	2nd
P	Midre Tavarez	Houston	2nd
P	Olmedo Valdez	St. Louis	2nd
P	Armando Merced	Houston	4th
P	Wascar Molina	Albuquerque	1st
P	Charles Lee	Little Rock	1st
P	Chick Munson	Houston	4th
P	Terrell Brownson	Little Rock	1st
P	Spud Newcomb	Boston	1st
P	Don Reid	Fargo	1st
P	Rube Hewitt	Charlotte	1st

Reserves

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Rob Gagne	Atlanta	2nd
1B	Claude Hughes	Houston	2nd
2B	Hipolito Villar	Jackson	2nd
3B	Edgardo Melendez	Little Rock	1st
SS	Dan Pribanic	Boston	2nd
LF	Jamey Crawford	Albuquerque	1st
CF	Norman Berry	Little Rock	3rd
RF	Corey Walker	Fargo	1st

AL All-Stars by Team

Houston	5
Boston	4
Little Rock	4
Albuquerque	3
Fargo	3
Jackson	3
Charlotte	2
St. Louis	2
Atlanta	1
Detroit	1
Norfolk	1
Salem	1

National League All-Stars
Starters

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Seth Robinson	Nashville	2nd
1B	Benny Romano	Monterrey	1st
2B	Yohan Gomez	Buffalo	2nd
3B	Cesar Ozuna	Monterrey	1st
SS	Jumbo Camacho	Buffalo	2nd
LF	Haywood Swann	Nashville	2nd
CF	Kirt Raggio	Sioux Falls	2nd
RF	Yoenis Portillo	Buffalo	2nd

Pitchers

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
P	Al Balentien	Monterrey	2nd
P	Andre Harper	Richmond	4th
P	Gregor Lopez	Buffalo	1st
P	Jhoulys Olmedo	Minnesota	5th
P	Ernest Lewis	Kansas City	1st
P	Dante O'Connor	Montgomery	1st
P	Felix Tanaka	Baltimore	5th
P	A.J. Gil	Sioux Falls	1st
P	Bryant Landrum	Monterrey	4th
P	Monte Daley	Sioux Falls	1st
P	Raul Delgado	Kansas City	1st
P	Virgil Murphy	Monterrey	1st
P	Alberto Gonzalez	Monterrey	2nd
P	Tommy Arnold	Richmond	1st

Reserves

	Player	Franchise	Appearance
C	Michael Mancuso	Monterrey	3rd
1B	Matt Prior	Kansas City	1st
2B	George Dubler	Nashville	2nd
3B	Marcell Johnson	Montgomery	4th
SS	Junior Wilson	Monterrey	1st
LF	Yohan Mairena	Buffalo	1st
CF	Trever Phillips	Philadelphia	1st
RF	Dizzy Hawkins	Dover	3rd

NL All-Stars By Team

Monterrey	8
Buffalo	5
Kansas City	3
Nashville	3
Sioux Falls	3
Montgomery	2
Richmond	2
Baltimore	1
Dover	1
Minnesota	1
Philadelphia	1