Season 6 Wrap Up - Cinderella Cincinnati takes the crown!

Leon Jackson - Cobbfather Post Gazette

Season 6 World Champions

Cincinnati Red Stockings

In a turn of events few were predicting at the start of the playoffs, it's the Cincinnati Red Stockings that took home the Season 6 World Series trophy, defeating the defending champion New York Pride of the Yankees in six games. Cincinnati defeated the New York Primetimers in their play in series, and then defeated Memphis in the DCS, a matchup few thought they would win. No one thought they had a chance in the NLCS against powerhouse Rochester, but they pulled out the victory there too. Despite slaying the NL's best teams, there were still a lot of doubters of Cincy going into their World Series matchup vs. the defending champs. Even up 3-2, a lot of people weren't sure they could close it out. But sure enough, they came through, and will sport the World Series trophy in their front office for the next season to come. Without a doubt, this is the greatest Cinderella story in the history of Cobbfather. Mikey Wilkinson was no doubt their playoff MVP, dazzling on the mound, while much of the staff struggled. Junior Koh led the attach at the plate, as the offensive MVP for Cincinnati throughout the playoffs.

Congrats to Cincinnati on a tremendous playoff run, concluding a great and exciting Season 6 of Cobbfather. We hope to see everyone back for Season 7! Until next season...

Season 6 National League Playoff Preview

Leon Jackson - Cobbfather Post Gazette

So, we already know Rochester is the best team in the NL - let's see how the race for #2 is going! Here's the low down on the NL Playoff picture.

Starting Pitching

1. Rochester
2. Memphis
3. Jackson
4. New York
5. Sacramento
6. Cincinnati

Rochester’s staff was simply dominant this year, with all 5 of their starters winning 17+ games. While Jackson may have more talent in their rotation, the Memphis staff performed better in the regular season. New York’s top of the rotation was solid this year, and may be a bit underrated. Sacramento is led by well publicized Cy Young candidate Timo Green who was phenomenal, although it will be tough not to give every award to Rochester this season. After Timo, it gets a little shaky though, compared to what the other teams have. Cincinnati is far behind the others, although their stats are slightly skewed since they player in a hitter’s park.

Bullpen

1. Rochester
2. Jackson
3. Sacramento
4. Memphis
5. Cincinnati
6. New York

Rochester, once again is on top, they had an extremely consistent bullpen, and only blew 14 saves. Jackson’s bullpen was also very consistent, but they blew a few more saves than Rochester did. Sacto may have the most talented bullpen in the league, but we have to downgrade them since Sammy Felix was pretty awful at times this year. Memphis’s Billy Cox may be the best closer here, given Felix’s down year, but some of their other relievers have been hittable this year. New York’s bullpen numbers were a bit better than Cincy, but we’re giving them the edge due to their hitter’s park, we think they have just a bit more talent.

Offense

1. Rochester
2. Memphis
3. Cincinnati
4. Jackson
5. Sacramento
6. New York

Rochester put up mind blowing offensive numbers this year, and are easily the league’s best lineup. The rest of the pack is far behind them. Memphis is the best of the rest, led by slugger Buddy Poole. Cincy will likely be riding the bat of stud 3B Marvin Mays, who in just his 2nd full big league season has established himself amongst the league’s elite. Jackson edges out Sacramento, with just a slightly more deeper and consistent lineup. New York is in last place by a lot here, although Shayne Lemon did pot 47 HR’s and 128 RBI’s, the rest of the lineup didn’t do much.

Overall Rankings

1. Rochester
2. Jackson
3. Memphis
4. Sacramento
5. New York
6. Cincinnati

Projected NLCS: Rochester vs. Memphis
Projected NLCS winner: Rochester

You’d have to be off your rocker to predict anyone but Rochester to win the NL. Let’s face it, something’s wrong with the game engine if they don’t win. It’s really too bad Jackson has to play Rochester in the 2nd round, as we think they have a great shot to beat Memphis. Although, we wouldn’t be completely surprised if Sacramento upset Jackson in the first round either. New York and Cincinnati seem to be a notch below the rest of the teams, it would be surprising to see either upset Memphis. Although, the biggest surprise of all would be if Rochester doesn’t win the NL.

Best of luck to the NL Playoff Teams, except Rochester, don't want to waste luck on a team who doesn't need it!!

Season 6 American League Playoff Preview

Leon Jackson - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's playoff time in Cobbfather, and we've taken this opportunity to rank the AL Contenders in starting pitching, bullpen, and offense, and have made our prediction for AL Champion. Let's get started!

Starting Pitching

1. Atlanta
2. Florida
3. Tampa Bay
4. New York
5. San Francisco
6. Vancouver

Atlanta has a huge edge over everyone else in the playoffs in pitching. The trio of Sosa-Saunders-Pendleton is going to be tough for any team to handle. The next three teams are pretty close, as Florida, Tampa Bay and New York all have excellent rotations. It was a toss up ranking these three. San Francisco and Vancouver lag a little bit behind the pack, but are still good enough to be competitive in the playoffs

Bullpen

1. Florida
2. Atlanta
3. New York
4. Tampa Bay
5. Vancouver
6. San Francisco

The top bullpens are all pretty close here, and we’ll go with Florida at the top here, as closer Luis Gonzales was lights out this year, and the supporting cast was solid as well. Atlanta was solid as well, although their closers’ ERA’s were a bit high, they blew the least saves as a whole out of any AL team in the playoffs. New York had a nice bullpen this year too. We didn’t downgrade them for playoff hopes killer Esteban Terrero, but maybe we should have. Tampa Bay may have the most talent in the pen, but 19 blown saves is a bit of a red flag. Vancouver was a bit shaky in the pen this year, and San Francisco blew 21 saves, more than anyone in the AL playoff picture.

Offense

1. New York
2. Tampa Bay
3. Vancouver
4. Florida
5. Atlanta
6. San Francisco

New York’s lineup, as always, is one of the league’s best, and will be a nightmare for opposing pitching staffs. Tampa Bay isn’t that far behind, they had 4 guys with 39+ HR and 100+ RBI. Vancouver is another team known for their offense, and this year was no exception. Florida is a little more power oriented than in years past, but isn’t quite up to the level as some of their playoff rivals. Atlanta hit a lot of home runs, but not for a very good average. San Francisco looks to be the least impressive out of this group.

Overall Rankings

1. Atlanta
2. Florida
3. New York
4. Tampa Bay
5. Vancouver
6. San Francisco

Projected ALCS: Atlanta vs. Florida
Projected ALCS Winner: Atlanta

Atlanta is so far and away better pitching wise than any other team, we’re jumping on their bandwagon to win the AL playoffs. Pitching is the name of the game in the playoffs, and usually wins out. Losing the first round bye was a bit of a blow, but they should get by San Francisco, and we like them in a tough series vs. New York, and yes, even over Florida. But, anything can happen in a five game series, so they are far from a lock, and really, we’d only be surprised if Vancouver or San Francisco ended up winning, the top 4 are extremely close.

Good luck to all of the playoff teams!

Season 6 Power Rankings - End of Regular Season

Chuckles McGee - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's Chuckles here back with the final edition of the power rankings for Season 6. And as we've done all season, we start off with more props for Rochester, who finishes the season at #1, posting the most dominant regular season in Cobbfather history. They didn't take their foot off the gas down the stretch, posting a league best 15-4 record in the final week. Ridiculous.

Florida jumped up to #2 in the final poll with an outstanding 15-5 record down the stretch. Florida seems to have the most momentum of any AL team heading into the playoffs, as they overtook the division lead, and the #1 overall seed in the final week. Memphis drops to #3 in the final poll, only going 9-10 in the final week, although it's likely they were resting guys for the playoffs. New York (AL) and Atlanta round out the final top 5.

San Francisco made a nice jump in the final rankings, climbing 7 spots with a great 14-6 final week to seal up the 2nd AL Wild card spot. Buffalo surged up 10 spots to #12 going 15-5 in the final week to finish above .500, and although they didn't make the playoffs, they finished ahead of three NL teams that did in the final poll.

On the downside, Oakland had a terrible last week going 4-16, and San Juan went 5-14, conceding the final NL playoff spot to New York on the last day of the season.

Here's the five best and five worst over the last week of the season in Cobbfather:

Five Best:
#1 Rochester (15-4)
#2 Florida (15-5)
#12 Buffalo (15-5)
#8 Jackson (14-5)
#9 San Francisco (14-6)

Five Worst:
#23 Oakland (4-16)
#13 San Juan (5-14)
#31 Durham (6-14)
#32 Wichita (6-13)
#16 Burlington (6-13)

And now the Unveiling of this week's edition of the Regular Season Power Rankings!!

Rank	Team	Record	Prev
1	Rochester	123-39	1
2	Florida	99-63	6
3	Memphis	100-62	2
4	New York (AL)	98-64	3
5	Atlanta	98-64	4
6	Tampa Bay	98-64	5
7	Vancouver	95-67	7
8	Jackson	90-72	9
9	San Francisco	89-73	16
10	Detroit	87-75	8
11	Boston	88-74	12
12	Buffalo	82-80	22
13	San Juan	83-79	10
14	Cincinnati	84-78	11
15	Sacramento	81-81	13
16	Burlington	81-81	14
17	New York (NL)	83-79	15
18	Los Angeles	80-82	17
19	Cheyenne	75-87	20
20	Honolulu	78-84	18
21	Dover	75-87	21
22	Kansas City	72-90	27
23	Oakland	70-92	19
24	Charleston	69-93	29
25	Chicago	68-94	23
26	Little Rock	68-94	24
27	Austin	72-90	25
28	Syracuse	71-91	26
29	Ottawa	67-95	28
30	Boise	61-101	30
31	Durham	57-105	31
32	Wichita	50-112	32

That's it for the power rankings for this season, good luck to the playoff teams!