CFBL 1993, Year #4

Second Year Casuals Defy Their Monikker

The first year that the league had all teams return promised to be the league's most competitive season.  It also was the year that saw the league adopt one of its best rule changes: the elimination of divisional play.  A new rule meant that the top four teams over the course of the entire season would make the playoffs, not just a hot team for one part of the season or another.

The eventual champions, the second-year CASUALS, in spite of an excellent draft, spent themselves silly early in the season (primarily looking for relief).  They then pulled off a last-week-of-the-regular-season trade for OF Gant -- after spending the season literally talking teams to death in search of a trade -- to take them through the playoffs. 


team (owners) (bonus pick)

     Homeboys:  Carter

     Cactus Scouts:  Griffey

     THE CASUALS:  McGriff (Thomas/Puckett)

     River Rats:  Bonds

     Young Guns:  Puckett (Bonds)

     Trig's Tricks:  Sheffield

     Clubbers:  Will Clark

     Foul Polls:  Thomas

New Rules: All teams were put into the same division, and the season was divided into thirds; the top 4 teams at the end of the season would make the playoffs (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3), with separate pay-outs to each third winner.  Teams were restricted to 3 relievers.  Some players were given multiple position designations for drafting purposes, rather than being given one draftable position only.

Season: The defending champion Young Guns started strong, weakened, then finished strong, to nip THE CASUALS by a game in the regular season, thanks to a last week, 1-point win over the rival Cactus Scouts.  The River Rats had tied the Guns in weeks #14 & #15, but then fell apart and needed a last week win over the Clubbers to salvage a 3rd place tie with the Cactus Scouts and a place in the playoffs -- both teams finishing just one game ahead of the Homeboys.

But it was the Year of THE CASUALS.  In the draft, they took McGriff (#1), Fryman (#3), Grissom (#5), Cone (#7), Molitor (#9), Juan Guzman (#10), Phillips (#12) & M.Williams (#15).  But they spent more than half of their cap by week #4, then survived a mid-season slide (2-5) to finish eventually a game behind the Young Guns.  It was ironic, perhaps, but THE CASUALS started the season as the only team to have ever lost their first two bonus round draft picks: Thomas & Puckett

The Playoffs: In yet another mockery of the two-week, total score playoffs, the Cactus Scouts and THE CASUALS ran up huge first week leads over the Young Guns (by 81) and the River Rats (by 60) respectively.  Both teams continued their dominance in week #2, however, as the Scouts won by a total of 111 points; THE CASUALS beat the Rats by a total of 86 points.

The Scouts went to the finals for the third time and were favored to win their 2nd title.  THE CASUALS had other ideas, however, rubbing the Scouts' nose in their previous week's drop of RP Myers; THE CASUALS out-bid the Scouts, spending $46 of their playoff dollars.  The Scouts turned around and picked up THE CASUALS' drop of RP Aguilera.

THE CASUALS overwhelmed the Scouts by 69 in the first week of a two-week playoff, helped by their rebuilt bullpen (Myers, DiPoto & Holmes), OF Gant and SP Schilling.  The Scouts came back for a win the 2nd week, but the 35-point difference wasn't enough to overcome THE CASUALS' big first week lead.

In the consolation games, the Young Guns beat the Rats for 3rd, and the Homeboys beat the Foul Polls for 5th.

Wrigley Field