CFBL 1999, Year #10

.500 Devil Rays Emerge From First All-Teams CFBL Playoffs

The DEVIL RAYS nabbed their first CFBL title with a tremendous run during the playoffs, thanks to the new playoff format.

The Cactus Scouts got off to a hot regular season start (6-1) but were caught at the end of the 14-week regular season schedule by the San Andreas Dogs.  The Dogs played with one hand tied behind their backs during the season, having spent half of their credits for bonus round pick Griffey.  The Clubbers (aka Clunkers), Young Guns (aka Pop Guns) and the River Rats (aka Stream Slugs) brought up the rear, thankful for the new format.  In the meantime, the DEVIL RAYS were lying in the weeds with 3-4 & 4-3 half records.

Rule changes:  A year after the worst rule change was instituted (no playoffs), the best rule was begun: every team made the playoffs.  As absurd as it seems on its face, this meant every team was in the hunt for the championship until they were eliminated.  That increased every team's incentive to remain competitive.  To strike a balance between doing well during the regular season and chances in the playoffs, lower-ranked teams were required to win both games of a two-week playoff the first two rounds of the playoffs.  The top two seeds would only need to win one of two games in each of the first two rounds. 


team (bonus pick)

     San Andreas Dogs (nee Grays & Homeboys):  Griffey ($100)

     Devil Rays:  Alex Rodriguez ($65)

     Clubbers:  Sosa ($20)

     Coasters:  Belle ($5)

     Casuals:  Juan Gonzalez ($40)

     YOUNG GUNS:  Bonds ($5)

     River Rats:  Maddux

     Cactus Scouts:  Castilla ($5)

Regular Season Standings:

   Dogs:  9-5

   Cactus Scouts 9-5

   Coasters:  8-6

   Casuals:  8-6

   Devil Rays:  7-7

   Clubbers:  6-8

   Young Guns:  5-9

   River Rats:  4-10

Playoffs:  The 1 vs 8, etc., playoff format was extremely popular -- especially in the DEVIL RAYS camp -- as it allowed every team an opportunity to compete for the title.

The #2 Scouts were the only top seeded team to get through the first round, besting the #7 Guns by 5 in the first round.  The #8 Rats, #6 Clubbers and #5 D-Rays all pushed their higher seeded opponents to a second week.  Then the bottom-ranked Rats shocked the top-ranked #1 Dogs by 47 points, the #6 Clubbers finished off the #3 Coasters by 40 and the #5 D-Rays killed #4 The Casuals by 33.  The higher ranked #2 Scouts knocked off the upstart Rats (again!) by 8, and the #5 D-Rays demolished the Clubbers by 76 points, an omen for their Cinderella post-season.

The best 2-of-3 finals started with the Devil Rays staying hot, knocking off the Scouts by 70 points, with Palmeiro hitting 7 HRs, but the Scouts came back to win week #2 by 3 to set up a showdown game.  It was no contest as the Rays rode the bats of Caminiti & Helton and blasted the Scouts by 80 points, thus becoming the 6th different CFBL champion in the league's 10-year history.

Baseballs sculpture outside of Chase Field, Phoenix