In-N-Out The 64/60 LCS Edition

Playoff Tiebreakers are entrenched in the history of the 64/60. Both title contest in 07 and 08 were decided by ties. In 09 Jesse Ward held the tiebreaker in the LCS and went on to win the title. So to figure that 2010 would be void of such a tough contest would be foolish. As I had expected my contest with the BC Dingers was tightly contested and to script it like the 07 title game came down to a tiebreaker.
As the action played out on Sunday I experienced many highs and lows. Around 3:00 my hopes of a title had been shot. Joe Blanton was pitching a QS which would have put the game out of reach. About 3:45 that QS had become nothing more than a average outing and Blanton's failure to claim the QS opened the door for the Factory. At about 5:00 things were looking solid for the Factory. Jason Hammel was pitching well and a QS looked within reach. If Hammel could have sewn up a QS it would have given me a two stat lead. Hammel ran into trouble in the 5th and the QS was a distant memory. At 5:50 or so I flipped over from NFL viewing long enough to see David Aardsma wrap up his second save of the week, allowing the Dingers to even up the contest at 5-5. That moment was the low point of my season. Hats were being thrown, cursing was rampant, the children simply looked at their father and shook their heads in shame. It appeared as though once again the Factory would fall in the playoffs via the stupid ERA tiebreaker.
I still had a small glimmer of hope. Carlos Quentin was finally back in the lineup and I was only down a run. With Miguel Cabrera still in the lineup for the Dingers my hope was barely on simmer. That is until I revieved a phone call from GRC3. "I guess it's you and me.", "What are you talking about?", I asked. GRC proseded to inform me of the new tiebreaker format. Yahoo had finally realized that a better system than ERA tiebreaker was available. Yahoo decided to go on the Head-To Head Record of the two teams during the regular season as the first tiebreaker. In the event of a tie the higher seed would get the advanatge. After reviewing this breaking news for accuracy my lowest of lows quickly became the highest of highs. All that stood between me and my third championship game in four season was Miguel Cabrera and 2 HR's. Cabrera continued his terrible week with a 0'fer night and I was advancing to the finals.


I spoke with Christopher Lee yesterday evening and bitter would be understating his feelings. In all honesty it would not suprise me in the least if the Bopp would bunker down on Rice Lane for about a month or two in order to avoid other 64/60 owners. Chris quickly began picking apart the new setup and suggested any method in which he would have benefitted. Chris quickly pointed out his superior record in comparison to the Factory. I can't argue with that sentiment. However when I pointed out that in 07 I had a better regular season record he quickly spit out how many games I was behind in comparison to him. I quoted the great Ricky Bobby who stated that "If you aint first your last." Chris's arguement quickly ended. Chris then started to provide reasons as to why he posted a 9-14 record against the Factory. The conversation lasted 15 minutes and contained 85 excuses and enough wine to fill Strawberry Hill.



CHRIS LEE AFTER A LOSS TO THE FACTORY


In other league news. The Argumentative 9irons had a week for the ages. Everything fell into place this week. The pitching was very good as it has been all season and the offense had their best week since the very early going. The 9irons put together a great first 5 months to the season but the last two months or so have been borderline terrible. The 9irons had posted a record of 0-6-2 over the final two months of the season. Yet since the playoffs have begun the 9irons have owned their competition 18-5.

Game Recap

BCFP 5 vs. BC Dingers 5. Though the game was a classic the quality of play was terrible. The Dingers AVG was in the low 2's while the OPS hovered in the 500's. The Factory managed a decent AVG and OPS marks but had no Run Production to speak of and lost both Run Stats. Day-to Day injuries and day's off effected both teams all week. The pitching was better than the offense but with the amount of turnover the end results don't really indicate succesful campaigns. The day to day chess match is likely only appreciated by two people but it was a thing of mastery. Late nights and early mornings just to be the guy to get the desired name. It was a matchup worthy of a Championship and in many ways this contest was just that.

MVP- No one was worth of this distinction

Argumentative 9irons 10 vs. Prestige Worldwide 1. The 9irons had a week in which everyone would have fell in defeat at their hands. 56/15/44/12/.342/.997 on the offensive side with pitching totals of 1/65/2.13/1.03/8.16/9. Prestige Worldwide deserved better than this. He would have easily handled either Chris or I and his play over the season has been the most consistent in the league. After a hiatus from the 64/60 it was nice to have Whitley back in the fold. And I hope this is just the first of many playoff runs for Prestige Worldwide.


Pickup of The Week- It was a week filled with transaction after transaction but no one was more critical of a teams advancement than my boy Luke Hochevar. That stat line wasn't pretty but his 5K and QS earned me a win and a split and pushed me into the finals.

Head Scratcher Of The Week- Smack Talk by GRC3. During the phone conversation on Sunday GRC3 had the "stones" to inform me that he would rather play the Factory then the Dingers. Needless to say this quote is in the Locker room for every player on my squad and a slap in the face such as this will not be tolerated. It's gametime and I want my first title.

MVP- Choo .500/4/7/11/2/1.765