Season 24 Wrap Up

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Buffalo takes it all in Season 24!

A new entry has been made into the Hall of Champions as Season 24 came to an end.  The Buffalo Bisons were crowned World Series champs after edging out AL pennant winner Pawtucket in a tough six game series.  Although not the favorite, Buffalo finished #6 in the final power rankings, indicating that they were a strong team capable of a nice playoff run after playing great down the stretch.   Cy Young winner Douglas Banks was a major driving force for Buffalo in the playoffs going 5-0 in six starts with a 2.03 ERA, while Magglio Johnson crushed 8 post season homers after a mediocre regular season.  This is the Bisons' first Cobbfather championship, as they lost their last World Series appearance in Season 17.

Pawtucket had an excellent regular season and post-season run led by record breaking slugger and 3-time MVP Albert Cruz.  The 25 year-old slugger will be back and better than ever next season looking to take that next step.

Thanks for a great season everyone, hopefully we'll be rolling on to Season 25 soon, see you then!

Season 24 Awards Recap

As Pawtucket and Buffalo start to battle it out in the World Series, the regular season awards were announced. Let's see who took home this season's hardware!

Most Valuable Player
American League - Albert Cruz, Pawtucket - .330 AVG 61 HR 148 RBI
No player in Cobbfather history has ever won 3 MVP awards, until now, as Cruz has amazingly managed to accomplish the feat in his first three full seasons in the majors.  There's not enough superlatives to describe Cruz's hitting ability, and he's most certainly a candidate to keep the MVP streak going next year. 

National League - Ray Rudolph, Ottawa - .298 AVG 60 HR 133 RBI
The streak of 17 consecutive different NL MVP winners is over, as Rudolph picks up his 2nd MVP trophy with an outstanding season.   Rudolph also won the NL MVP award in Season 19.  His Home Run and RBI totals are higher than his previous MVP campaign and are career highs.  The 31 year-old slugger obviously still is getting done, and his 2nd MVP trophy is well deserved. 

Cy Young Award
American League - Thomas Hutchinson, Atlanta - 18-3 2.70 ERA 174 K
Hutchinson remained the leader of a most impressive Atlanta pitching staff that dominated the regular season, enabling him to claim his 2nd Cy Young Award.   Hutchinson also won the Cy Young in Season 21.  The crafty 27 year-old righty looks to be a perennial Cy Young contender and is sure to come back strong for seasons to come.  His biggest competition for future awards may come from his teammates.

National League - Douglas Banks, Buffalo - 20-3 2.25 ERA 207 K
It's repeat winners all around this year, as Banks claimed his 2nd Cy Young award this season.  He also won in Season 19.  After missing most of the previous season due to shoulder surgery, Banks was back and better than ever this season.  That's an amazing medical team they have there in Buffalo!  Banks has led his team to the World Series this season, on top of taking home the Cy Young.

Rookie of the Year
American League - Dorssys Tatis, Colorado Springs - .313 AVG 35 HR 97 RBI
Tatis was a runaway winner of the AL Rookie of the Year Award.  He was a key part of the offense that led a second half surge for Colorado Springs and an outstanding playoff run that saw them take out the top two regular season teams in the AL.   At just 21 years old, Tatis has tremendous power, a great batting eye and excellent contact hitting skills that should make him a top slugger for years to come.

National League -  Juan Saenz, Houston - 14-2 2.83 ERA 109 K
Saenz was also a decisive winner in the NL Rookie of the Year race.  An early season call-up, Saenz posted a near flawless record, along with very nice peripherals.  We're not sure Saenz will win a boatload of Cy Youngs, but he's a high quality starter that will be an asset to any pitching staff for many seasons to come.

Fireman of the Year
American League - Gus Masaoka, Atlanta - 2.94 ERA, 43 SV, 2nd win
National League - Rodrigo Ontiveros, Las Vegas - 3.35 ERA, 40 SV, 1st win

That concludes the Awards recap, good luck to the World Series teams, and don't forget to renew your teams for next season!

Season 24 Final Regular Season Power Rankings

As the playoffs get under way, it's time to take a look at the final regular season power rankings.  Atlanta was a clear and dominant #1 all season.  Behind them is a glut of teams that could have been ranked a number of ways, as they were all very close.  It will be interesting to see how the playoffs go, if anyone can dethrone Atlanta and who will emerge in a very tight NL picture.  Good luck to all in the playoffs, here are the complete final rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Atlanta	115	47	1	Simply dominant, one of the best season in world history
2	Boston	97	65	4	Playing well, and actually finished with the top offense
3	Pittsburgh	97	65	5	Tremendous second half of the season, looking real good
4	Houston	98	64	2	Mediocre down the stretch, but still a high quality squad
5	Salt Lake City	101	61	3	Excellent season for sure with the NL's best record
6	Buffalo	96	66	8	Great stretch run, but offense is a bit of a question mark
7	Pawtucket	91	71	10	Made a run to claim division title, and could make waves
8	Arizona	89	73	9	Solid team by the numbers, great offense for this team
9	Colorado Springs	82	80	18	Huge run down the stretch earned them the division title
10	Los Angeles	88	74	7	Improved during the 2nd half, could be a threat in the NL
11	Charlotte	86	76	21	Major run the last 40 to get division title, hot right now
12	Jacksonville	82	80	19	Well balanced team but couldn't grab a playoff spot
13	Cincinnati	88	74	6	Struggled down the stretch, but they're in as a wildcard
14	St. Louis	79	83	16	Very good, but may need a little more offense to contend
15	San Juan	84	78	12	Getting there, but pitching is not yet playoff caliber
16	New York	87	75	14	Just missed the playoffs, but a nice record this season
17	Austin	82	80	20	Middle of the road by the numbers, seem on the cusp
18	Tampa Bay	77	85	11	Down season, good numbers, so a bit of tough luck here
19	Salem	80	82	17	Good 2nd half shows they look to be on the rise
20	Dover	77	85	15	Poor stretch run expected, as they look to be in rebuild
21	Las Vegas	76	86	25	Solid pitching, but offense was lacking this season
22	Texas	75	87	24	Offense wasn't there, but the pitching was pretty good
23	Seattle	74	88	29	Nice stretch run shows they may be putting it together
24	Trenton	77	85	22	Fell off down the stretch, as pitching was an issue
25	Ottawa	75	87	13	It really all came apart the last 40, as pitching got rocked
26	Florida	73	89	28	Over .500 the last 40, so they have some promise here
27	Durham	74	88	23	Pitching rough down the stretch, and in a tough division
28	Louisville	62	100	27	They're ptiching staff got rocked pretty hard this season
29	Syracuse	64	98	26	Pitching isn't quite there yet, so they struggled some
30	Albuquerque	62	100	31	They're pitching hasn't adjusted to this park yet it seems
31	San Francisco	54	108	32	Down season as pitching was a major issue again
32	Philadelphia	50	112	30	Bad luck down the stretch, could improve next season

Season 24 Power Rankings #3

As we're about to head in to the stretch run of Season 24, it's time to check in with another edition of the power rankings.  Atlanta has been simply dominant this season, and remains #1.  Houston had a better record than Atlanta since the last rankings by one game, so they move up to #2.  #3 Salt Lake City is still playing well and has momentum.  Boston comes in at #4, and Pittsburgh cracks the top 5 with a strong run since the last rankings.  It seems a few teams have broken away from the pack, but come playoff time, you never know what will happen!   Good luck to all, here are the complete rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Atlanta	87	35	1	Simply dominant this season, no doubt about it
2	Houston	78	44	3	Best record since last rankings, so they move up one
3	Salt Lake City	79	43	2	Numbers dropped off a tad, but still playing very well
4	Boston	71	51	4	Pitching tailed off a bit, but they are still winning games
5	Pittsburgh	70	52	12	Major all-around improvement, they are making a run
6	Cincinnati	70	52	6	Just above .500 since last rankings, numbers are good
7	Los Angeles	65	57	15	Making a run as well, as the pitching found their groove
8	Buffalo	70	52	7	Pitching is great, but offense struggling, but are winning
9	Arizona	65	57	9	Great offense dropped off some, but they are still in it
10	Pawtucket	65	57	5	Under .500 since last rankings but they are a good team
11	Tampa Bay	60	62	26	Getting back into it after awful start with better pitching
12	San Juan	64	58	14	Numbers down some, the offense is very good though
13	Ottawa	64	58	8	Drop off all-around since last rankings, offense is solid
14	New York	66	56	17	Playing well with solid pitching, but not much offense
15	Dover	61	61	10	Tailed off a lot, as they have enter rebuild mode it appears
16	St. Louis	57	65	18	Excellent pitching, but it hasn't translated to wins yet
17	Salem	59	63	30	They hot as of late, with numbers improved all-around
18	Colorado Springs	57	65	25	Playing well, but Salem knocked them off division lead
19	Jacksonville	59	63	13	Numbers good since last rankings, but didn't get wins
20	Austin	60	62	19	Offense dropped off since last rankings, so they fall some
21	Charlotte	59	63	16	Pitching not good enough to duplicate last season
22	Trenton	61	61	11	Rough since last rankings, pitching and hitting down
23	Durham	60	62	27	Playing well, offense is coming around and pitching is ok
24	Texas	56	66	20	Pitching got hit pretty hard since the last rankings
25	Las Vegas	54	68	22	Pitching improved, but still not generating enough offense
26	Syracuse	52	70	31	Offense kicked it up some, but pitching is still an issue
27	Louisville	49	73	24	Offense didn't get it done since last rankings, rough going
28	Florida	52	70	21	Their bats not enough to get them back to playoffs
29	Seattle	50	72	23	Pitching hasn't been there, and offense is an issue here
30	Philadelphia	42	80	32	Actually playing better, is pitching really improved here
31	Albuquerque	46	76	29	Pitching has been really bad, offense can't make up for it
32	San Francisco	44	78	28	Pitching continues to get rocked, which is surprising