2009 Championship-Round Playoff Matchups

(1) The Degenerates
vs.
(2) WinOrLoseHitTheBooze

Let the battle of the Jason's begin!

2009 Second-Round Final Recap

(1) The Degenerates DEFEATS (4) The Screwballs 701 - 492.5

(2) WinOrLoseHitTheBooze DEFEATS (3) Homestead Grays 653.5 - 638.5

2009 Second-Round Playoff Matchups

(1) The Degenerates
vs.
(4) The Screwballs

A confident top-seeded The Degenerates is coming off a bye to face the hottest team in the league.

Posting on Sept 5th.. ""An alleged fantasy baseball guru with titles on his resume, he brings an interesting reputation to draft day and it will be interesting to see how his strategy develops and whether he can become an instant contender in Tha Green Monster for years to come."

Alleged no more!!!! Now its time to end the season on the high note with the W."

The Degenerates finished the season with 9446 points and sat out the first round with a bye and are apparently on a run to the money. Perhaps The Screwballs will have something to say about that after posting a first-round high 796.5 points even without the services of dual aces Johan Santana (season-ending surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow) and Tim Lincecum (until Day 10 after missing his previous start with a bad back).

A Texas duo (Tommy Hunter and Scott Feldman) and Cincy starter Bronson Arroyo helped pick up the slack each posting 30+ points over 2 starts. Even without the services of Santana, Lincecum leads a talented rotation that also boasts Chris Carpenter, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe and Gavin Floyd. Tigers deadline acquisition Jarrod Washburn starts on Day #1 vs. KC and hopes to give The Screwballs the early edge.

The Degenerates boats a much younger rotation. Behind aces Justin Verlander, Adam Wainwright and Jon Lester, they will have to rely on the success of Oakland youngster's Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill. The offence is definitely the strong suit for The Degenerates, led by mashers Ryan Howard and Manny Ramirez. Throw in speedsters Carl Crawford and Brian Roberts and productive outfielders Matt Holliday, Torii Hunter and Nelson Cruz and there's little doubt the offence will do it's job.

The bullpen is definitely a question mark as Ryan Franklin and Fernando Rodney are coming off miserable weeks and Brian Fuentes is set to lose save chances to Kevin Jepsen. Huston Street hasn't even pitched since September 1st while battling with biceps tendinitis but is supposed to rejoin the Rockies bullpen during the series in San Francisco.

(2) WinOrLoseHitTheBooze
vs.
(3) Homestead Grays

Anchored by one of the top starting rotations in the league, WinOrLoseHitTheBooze will turn to John Lackey to get it started on the first day, but he has a tough matchup @ BOS. Even if Lackey falters, the 2nd seed can turn to Josh Beckett, C.C. Sabathia, Josh Johnson, James Shields, Matt Garza and even the suddenly relevant Pedro Martinez.

Losing 1B Carlos Pena and CF Grady Sizemore for the season dealt a significant blow to the offence but WinOrLoseHitTheBooze can still rely on standout C Joe Mauer and twin speedsters OF Jacoby Ellsbury and OF Shane Victorino. 1B Adam LaRoche and 2B Jose Lopez have been hot of late, posting over 100 points in the last month.

The Homestead Grays defeated the 6th seeded Master Batters in the first round and were led by ace Zack Greinke and the offence. 1B Justin Morneau has been shut down for the season, and second round pick B.J. Upton has been a disappointment and are both absent from the playoff roster. Surprise outfielders David DeJesus and Carlos Gonzalez will have to pick up the slack for the Homestead Grays to move on. Of course they can always rely on the Prince (39 HR 126 RBI) to lead the charge.

There's an important matchup in San Francisco tonight as the Grays have the starters on both sides of the matchup. SP Barry Zito has been shockingly productive of late and his opponent SP Ubaldo Jimenez has been a secondary ace all season long. The matchup has NL wildcard implications but more importantly a long scoring affair is important to get the Homestead Grays off on the right foot.

2009 First-Round Final Recap

(3) Homestead Grays DEFEATS (6) Master Batters 601.5 - 542

(4) The Screwballs DEFEATS (5) Starcity Arms 796.5 - 618

First-Round Playoff Rundown (After Day 5)

(6) Master Batters leads (3) Homestead Grays 359.5-354

So we're half way there and it's been an interesting start.

Albert Pujols has singe-handedly led the 6th place Master Batters to a very slim lead over the 3rd place Homestead Grays. Pujols has 4 HR and 43 points over the first 5 games of the series. The Master Batters jumped out to a quick 155-95 lead with 5 strong starts from Rich Harden (@NYM), Joe Blanton (@HOU), Scott Baker (@CLE), Mitchell Boggs (@PIT), and Brian Matusz (TEX). The five hurlers combined to go 3-0 over 31 IP with just 10 ER and 26 K's and a total of 106 points.

The Homestead Grays have been led by the contributions of a couple of young Rockies. OF Carlos Gonzalez has launched 2 HR and swiped 2 bags for 25 points over the first 5 games. Teammate Franklin Morales has 3 saves over the stretch while filing in for injured Rockies closer Huston Street. The young lefty threw3 scoreless innings with 4 K's for 32 points out of the bullpen. Zack Greinke (27), Jonathan Sanchez (21), Jorge De La Rosa (24), Johnny Cueto (21.5), Ricky Romero (22) have all posted 20+ point performances in their first starts.

The Master Batters offence has outpaced the Homestead Grays 188-134 though the first 5 days.

The Homestead Grays will need strong starts from Greinke (@CLE), De La Rosa (@SD), Cueto (@CHC), Jimenez (@SD), Sanchez (LAD), Scott Kazmir (CWS), Jason Hammel (@SF) and Ricky Romero (@DET) and hope that opposing pitchers can keep Albert Pujols in the ballpark.

The Master Batters will need him to do just the opposite. With just 4 starts remaining and '08 4th Overall Pick Brian Matusz facing the Yankees in the Bronx, the likes of Prince Albert, Ian Kinsler, and Robinson Cano are going to have to lead the charge offensively to get it done.

(4) The Screwballs vs. (5) Starcity Arms... to come

2009 First-Round Playoff Matchups

The First Round of our 2009 Playoffs will run from September 5th-14th

(1) The Degenerates and (2) WinOrLoseHitTheBooze receive first round byes.

(3) Homestead Grays (9234 points) vs. (6) Master Batters (8929 points)
(4) The Screwballs (9120 points) vs. (5) Starcity Arms (9100 points)

(1) The Degenerates awaits the lowest advancing seed and (2) WinOrLoseHitTheBooze will face the highest advancing seed.

2009 Final Regular Season Standings

Well guys, the summer has flown by and our regular season has come to an end. Congratulations to TGM rookie Jason G. for finishing in first place. Playoffs are three rounds of 10 days. The top two seeds receive first round byes. Below are the 2009 final regular season standings:

1. The Degenerates (Jason G.) 9446
2. WinOrLoseHitTheBooze (Jason M.) 9358

3. Homestead Grays (Danny) 9234
4. The Screwballs (Buster) 9120
5. Starcity Arms (Grosh) 9100
6. Master Batters (Ilya) 8929

7. Eric Byrnes Joints (Shay) 8911.5
8. Ball Smashers (Jordie) 7924
9. YBombers (Yosef) 7807.5
10. Black Sox (Kedro) 7381.5

The 2010 Entry Draft Order is the inverse of our final standings.

Therefore the first selection goes to the Black Sox. Will Kedro be calling Stephen Strasburg's name 1st Overall in early February 2010?


Full 2010 Entry Draft Order (non-snake draft)

1. Kedro
2. Yosef
3. Jordie
4. Shay
5. Ilya
6. Grosh
7. Buster
8. Danny
9. Jason M.
10. Jason G.