CFBL 2023, Year #34

Petco Park, San Diego

The Devils Rays Come From 6th Place to Upset the Field

Hammerin' Hanks Enjoy Solid Season

The Hammerin' Hanks enjoyed a solid regular season and went into the playoffs as slight favorites to take their first crown; the Crushers & Oakies were expected to give them a run for the money.  The Devil Rays had other ideas, however.  An oft-times second place finisher, the dRays captured their second title in three years, coming from a 6th place regular season finish.

We expanded the draft back to 22 rounds, adding a 4th outfielder and 2nd DH/U to strengthen the offense.

Regular Season:  There were several runs during the regular season.  The Oakies had their 3rd 7-0 in W-7 to take over 1st from the 0-7 Hanks (that week); but then they stumbled to their own 0-7 in W-8, allowing the Crushers (24-4 in four weeks) to take over 1st.  

The Hanks then had three 7-0 weeks in four weeks to take a two-game lead over the Crushers, who remained hot.

It was tight 'til the end of the 16 weeks between the Hanks & Crushers, but the Hanks' 6-1 W-16 gave them a two-game regular season win.

The Hanks actually finished 3rd in total points behind the Crushers & Oakies.

Playoffs:  The Hanks & Crushers, by virtue of their 1-2 finish in the regular season, qualified for the Final Five.  The Oakies, 3rd place regular season finishers, easily cruised into the Final Five after the first week of the playoffs, while the 8th place Dawgs were mercifully eliminated.

The Fishermen, Clubbers, dRays & Rats moved on to the 2nd week of the playoffs, and the dRays dominated, while the Fishermen edged the Rats for the final Final Five slot.

In the finals, the dRays had 4-0, 3-1, 4-0 weeks for an 11-1 mark; the Hanks went 3-1 & 4-0, and needed to best the dRays in the 3rd week; however, they finished behind both the dRays & Oakies in that 3rd week.

         Draft:

Crushers (Judge)

Clubbers (Ramirez)

Hanks (Soto)

dRays (Trout)

Fishermen (T Turner)

Oakies (Betts)

Rats (Machado)

Dawgs (Goldschmidt)

         Regular Season:

Hanks:  77-35 (2904.00)

Crushers:  75-37 (2957.00)

Oakies:  64-48 (2912.50)

Fishermen:  56-56 (2723.00)

Clubbers:  50-62 (2685.00)

dRays:  45-67 (2664.25)

Rats:  42-70 (2593.50)

Dawgs:  39-73 (2570.00)

      Playoffs:

dRays:         11-1

Hanks:         9-3

Oakies:         6-6

Crushers:     3-9

Fishermen: 1-11