CFBL 2018, Year #29

The Lodi Crushers dominate the playoffs to take home the trophy.

Nothing beats a summer day at Wrigley Field, Chicago

New Rules:  We continued to tinker with SP point rules; this year we downgraded SPW from 4 to 3 and added a new SP stat: WHIP (0-3 points).  This was expected to help pitchers who pitch well but get a loss or no decision.  We also added a rule that requires a SP to pitch 5 innings (for the week) in order to score ERA and WHIP points.

The River Rats & Homeboys, the two original teams left, both returned to their original team names.

     DRAFT (1st found picks):

        Fisherman (Arenado)

        Lodi Crushers (Stanton)

        River Rats (Trout)

        Casuals (JD Martinez)

        Devil Rays (Goldschmidt)

        Oakies (Harper)

        Homeboys (Kershaw)

        Clubbers (Judge/Altuve)

REGULAR SEASON:  The regular season was all about the River Rats; they started 7-0 the first two weeks, "slid" to 6-1, then followed up with 7-0 marks in weeks 7, 8 & 12.  By the end of the seaon, the Rats had built a 13- game lead over the Fishermen, who easiiy outdistanced the Clubbers, Oakies & Crushers.  However, a week #9 mega-trade between the Homeboys & Crushers brought super-stud starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, to the Crushers, and they rode him the rest of the season and into the playoffs.

Standings:

            77-35   River Rats

          64-48   Fishermen

          59-53   Clubbers

          57-55   Oakies

          57-55   Crushers

          52-60   Devil Rays

          42-70   Casuals

          40-72   Homeboys

PLAYOFFS:  In the first week of the playoffs, the #3 Clubbers and #4 Oakies easily moved on to the Final Five, while the Crushers lost out to the dRays to force another week; the Casuals & Homeboys were elimianted that same week.

In the second week, the #5 Crushers beat the #6 dRays, 157.25-149.00, to round out the Final Five, which included the top 5 teams of the regular season (the #4 Oakies & #5 Crushers actually tied with the best record, with the Oakies gaining the higher seed by scoring more regular season points).

In the Final Five, the Crushers dominated by going 8-0 the first two weeks, before the Rats blew them out in week #3; by then, of course, it was too late, and the River Rats' dream of a wire-to-wire championship were dashed.

          #5 Crushers     4-0     4-0     3-1     11-1

          #1 River Rats   2-2     3-1     4-0      9-3

          #2 Fishermen   3-1     0-4     2-2      5-7

          #4 Oakies         1-3     2-2     1-3      4-8

          #3 Clubbers     0-4     1-3     0-4     1-11