Season 22 Power Rankings # 2

We're exactly half way through season 22, so it's time to check in with another edition of the Power Rankings.  The top team hasn't changed, with Dover earning the top spot for the 11th straight edition of the Power Rankings.  Tampa Bay has been pushing hard to take over that top spot though, tying Dover for the best record since the last rankings and putting up very similar numbers.  Boston, Pittsburgh and Houston round out the top 5.   Here are the rest of the rankings, it should be a very interesting second half of the season!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Dover	56	25	1	11 straight #1s and still rolling
2	Tampa Bay	54	27	5	Tremendous play since last rankings
3	Boston	55	26	4	Top offense, and pitching has been good
4	Pittsburgh	51	30	2	Numbers fell off a bit, but still playing well
5	Houston	49	32	9	Major improvement in pitching as of late
6	Buffalo	47	34	10	Great since last rankings thanks to pitching
7	Atlanta	47	34	3	If offense gets rolling, look out
8	Little Rock	45	36	6	Hanging in there with solid offense
9	Durham	49	32	15	Hanging tough in a very good division
10	St. Louis	43	38	18	Solid across the board and playing well lately
11	Los Angeles	43	38	8	Getting it done, but division is very tough
12	Austin	43	38	20	Tremendous improvement across the board
13	Burlington	40	41	23	Looking good lately in a very tough division
14	Salt Lake City	40	41	11	Fell off a bit, but still looks like a solid team
15	Charlotte	42	39	19	Pretty steady, with pitching up, but bats down
16	Las Vegas	41	40	13	Solid all around and potential to be better
17	Helena	40	41	12	Offense fell off , but still in the division race
18	Vancouver	38	43	16	Leading their division, for what it's worth
19	Louisville	37	44	22	Very good offense, but pitching has struggled
20	San Juan	40	41	24	Showed improvement since last rankings
21	Texas	38	43	26	Pitching has stepped it up as of late
22	Syracuse	40	41	27	Playing better as of late, which is a good sign
23	Detroit	34	47	25	Improving, but pitching has been an issue
24	Salem	35	46	7	It's been a total disaster since the last rankings
25	Ottawa	37	44	14	Major drop off in offense as of late
26	Colorado Springs	36	45	17	They've gone into full rebuild mode, it seems
27	New York	37	44	21	Drop off overall since the last rankings
28	Seattle	27	54	30	Need more offense, but did improve some
29	Rochester	33	48	28	In rebuild mode, and Lamb isn't his usual self
30	Philadelphia	25	56	32	Showed some improvement since last rankings
31	San Francisco	25	56	31	Pitching has been much better as of late
32	Jacksonville	29	52	29	Pitching fell off, but bats have been better

Season 22 Power Rankings # 1

We're about a quarter of the way through Season 22, and it's quite a battle out there.   The entire NL West is over .500, proving to be the most competitive division this season.  Last season, Dover was a clear cut #1 the entire season, this season a number of teams have made it a tough call early on to name the top team, but in the end a decision had to be made.  By the slimmest of margins, your #1 team in the first rankings is Dover.  Dover hangs on to the top spot with outstanding pitching and a great offense.  Pittsburgh comes in at #2, basically the tiebreaker was Pittsburgh went 3-4 vs. #1 Dover in their 7 games this season.  Self proclaimed Season 22 champion Atlanta bolts up the rankings to #3, while offensive juggernaut Boston comes in at #4, with ever steady Tampa rounding out the top 5.   It's been a tremendous battle out of the gate, here's hoping the great competition continues!   Here are your complete first power rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Dover	26	14	1	Great so far, but a lot of teams knocking at their door
2	Pittsburgh	27	13	7	Very close #2, 3-4 vs. Dover is the tiebreaker, great start
3	Atlanta	27	13	12	Owner predicted WS title, and is living up to the hype
4	Boston	27	13	10	Offense is crushing it, pitching ok but not great
5	Tampa Bay	24	16	3	Solid as expected, great pitching and good offense
6	Little Rock	23	17	11	Pitching has been rough so far, but still winning games
7	Salem	24	16	16	Leading  AL West that has produced last 4 WS reps
8	Los Angeles	21	19	4	Incredibly tough division so far, but hanging in there
9	Houston	24	16	9	Numbers not great so far, but winning percentage is
10	Buffalo	21	19	6	Mediocre start, but numbers still look pretty good
11	Salt Lake City	22	18	17	Numbers are great, but no losing teams in the division
12	Helena	23	17	20	Offense is clicking, but the pitching has been roughed up
13	Las Vegas	23	17	21	Pretty solid across the board in all over .500 NL West
14	Ottawa	23	17	22	Nice start here, the offense is sure rolling so far
15	Durham	25	15	23	Putting up Durham numbers and winning games so far
16	Vancouver	18	22	2	Rough start, but they are known to bounce back
17	Colorado Springs	19	21	5	Seem to be looking to the future a bit with a few trades
18	St. Louis	20	20	8	Solid numbers show room for improvement in record
19	Charlotte	21	19	15	Doing good so far, but tough competition this season
20	Austin	20	20	25	Hanging in there, we'll see if the bats can pick it up some
21	New York	21	19	30	Leading division, but there are a lot of good teams
22	Louisville	17	23	14	Numbers aren't bad, record could improve a bit
23	Burlington	17	23	19	Stats are up this season, but division is really tough
24	San Juan	19	21	24	Pitching has taken a hit so far, but record is not bad
25	Detroit	15	25	18	Pitching has been down a bit, but getting good offense
26	Texas	16	24	27	Didn't play great the first quarter, but could bounce back
27	Syracuse	18	22	28	Pitching hasn't gotten the job done so far this season
28	Rochester	15	25	13	Numbers haven't been great, but could improve
29	Jacksonville	13	27	32	Pitching isn't bad, but offense is practically non-existent
30	Seattle	10	30	29	Rough start, they're better than a .250 winning % team
31	San Francisco	11	29	26	Guess the move from Colorado didn't help all that much
32	Philadelphia	10	30	31	The bats aren't good enough right now to contend.

Season 22 Preseason Power Rankings

Season 22 is right around the corner, and it's time to take a look at the preseason power rankings before the season gets under way.   Defending champion Dover remains atop the rankings, but there are a lot of solid contenders who could give them a run for their money.  Here are your complete preseason power rankings!

		Season 21
	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Dover	114	48	The defending champs will be tough to beat
2	Vancouver	96	66	Seemingly always in the mix at the end
3	Tampa Bay	93	69	Looking solid all around yet again
4	Los Angeles	95	67	Made some moves to improve offense, so look out
5	Colorado Springs	89	73	Active in FA, and have made last 2 World Series
6	Buffalo	91	71	Very good across the board, should contend again
7	Pittsburgh	89	73	Came on strong at the end of last season
8	St. Louis	94	68	Should have another very good season
9	Houston	93	69	No reason to think they won't be good again
10	Boston	90	72	Not sure about bullpen, but solid everywhere else
11	Little Rock	92	70	Lost a few FA's, but still a very good team
12	Atlanta	85	77	If owner is really committed, they will be solid
13	Rochester	85	77	If the pitching improves, they could be in the mix
14	Louisville	83	79	Very strong offensively, we'll see about the pitching
15	Charlotte	80	82	If they can get a little more offense, look out
16	Salem	82	80	Pretty well-balanced, can they take the next step
17	Salt Lake City	89	73	Should be pretty good again, pretty much held steady
18	Detroit	86	76	Lost a bunch of Type B Free Agents, so we'll see
19	Burlington	76	86	Added a couple of pieces, so could be better
20	Helena	85	77	Losing Nieves is tough, but they still could be good
21	Las Vegas	75	87	Capable of improving on last season's record for sure
22	Ottawa	77	85	This team has been getting better, so we'll see
23	Durham	81	81	It's hit or miss with this team, you just never know
24	San Juan	75	87	Nieves was a nice add, offense needed a boost
25	Austin	59	103	Very active in the FA market so should improve a lot
26	San Francisco	45	117	Out of Colorado now, which should help greatly
27	Texas	68	94	Looks pretty much the same as last season, we'll see
28	Syracuse	74	88	Not very active in the offseason, so jury is still out
29	Seattle	69	93	Should have some good prospects coming up soon
30	New York	63	99	Could be another year of rebuilding here
31	Philadelphia	62	100	Not sure how much they'll improve this season yet
32	Jacksonville	57	105	This rebuild will take a few more seasons, but good start

Season 21 Wrap Up - Dover Finally Wins it all!

Dover Diamond Dogs (NL) jiml60 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Dover wins its first Cobbfather World Series in Season 21

Dover took the Season 21 crown, defeating Colorado Springs 4-2 in a rematch of the Season 20 World Series.  This was Dover's fifth attempt at a World Series title, as they made it in seasons 4, 7, 19 and 20, unsuccessful in each of these prior attempts.  But alas, after sitting at the top spot of the power rankings all season, they took home the crown in a tough series with Colorado Springs, whom after an up and down season fell just short of a repeat.  Dover assembled an impressive squad that ranked near the top of the league in just about every category.  The should be strong going into next season as well.   Congrats to Dover and jiml60 on finally reaching the peak in what has been a long journey.

Awards were also handed out, let's see which players took home the individual hardware in Season 21.

Most Valuable Player
American League
Eugene Brantley, Tampa Bay - .303 AVG 35 HR 113 RBI
Dustan Jackson, Kansas City - .286 AVG 47 HR 130 RBI 29 SB
The AL MVP race was literally too close to call and ended up in a tie between Eugene Brantley, his first MVP win, and Dustan Jackson winning his 2nd straight MVP.  Both players had outstanding seasons and in the end the voters could not decide, so they will split the honors.  Brantley took home his 5th Silver Slugger award this season, while Jackson was an all-star starter, his 3rd appearance, and won his 3rd Silver Slugger award

National League - Pascual Hernandez, Buffalo - .317 AVG 60 HR 172 RBI 17 SB
It's hard to argue against Hernandez winning the MVP with the incredible numbers he put up in Season 21.  He crushed the ball all season as apparent by his ridiculous numbers.  This is his first MVP win, and he was an all-star starter, his 3rd appearance, and won his first Silver Slugger award.  Well done, as this is one of the truly impressive seasons in recent Cobbfather history. 

Cy Young Award
American League -  Thomas Hutchinson, Atlanta -18-5 2.04 ERA 143 K
Hutchinson beat out perennial Cy Young Winner and greatest pitcher in Cobbfather history James Haselman to win his first Cy Young award.   Hutchinson led the way for an up and coming Atlanta squad with several solid prospects.  He made his 2nd all-star appearance this season and at just age 25, he has the potential to bring home a lot more hardware before his career is done.

National League - Norman LaPorta, Dover - 22-6 2.20 ERA 197 K
LaPorta was the top pitcher on the league's best team, so it seems fitting that he takes home the Cy Young award.  LaPorta was acquired in Season 20 in a trade and it has paid off as hoped for.  This is LaPorta's 3rd Cy Young win, his first since Season 14.  He made his 6th All-Star appearance this year as well.  Coming back to a solid Dover squad, he should be in the running next season as well.

Rookie of the Year
American League -  Aneury Tejeda, Atlanta -12-4 2.11 ERA 151 K
Tejada's impressive rookie season earned him the AL Rookie of the Year award.  His ERA was outstanding at a stunning 2.11 and that led to a solid 12-4 record.  With his teammate winning the Cy Young award, it shows that Atlanta's pitching staff will be a force to be reckoned with for seasons to come.

National League - Harry Sanchez, Buffalo - 17-10 3.21 ERA 127 K
Sanchez put together a very solid season for Buffalo in his rookie campaign to take home NL Rookie of the year honors.  After toiling in the minors for 6 seasons, he finally got the call in Season 21 and showed he has big league stuff.  He looks like he'll be a solid middle of the rotation starter for seasons to come, and will be an asset to the Buffalo staff.

Fireman of the Year
American League -  Jayson Klesko, St. Louis - 1.51 ERA 39 SV, 1st win
National League - Homer Butler, Los Angeles - 2.41 ERA, 41 SV, 2nd win

Well that does it for Season 21, looking forward to an exciting Season 22, we have a few openings, so let your friends, family, colleagues, and other world leaguemates know that Cobbfather is the place to be!  Hopefully we'll have a quick rollover and be getting started soon!   See you in Season 22!