#4 Scranton Wild (86-76) vs. #1 Baltimore Revolution (111-51)
Season Synopsis: In the franchise's fifth season in Scranton, they won the AL North crown. The door opened for this team when the Redbirds finally relinquished their strangle hold on the division two seasons ago. The team's 86-76 record is also a franchise record since the move to Scranton. Former Redbird's ace SP Victor Rodriguez was disappointing in his first full season with the Wild. Many were uncertain how well he would respond after elbow surgery and shoulder problems over the last two seasons. Although he stayed healthy, he didn't pitch particularly well. He went 10-11 with a 4.73 ERA in 186 innings. On the other side of the ball, RF Rafael Silva had a career year and was vital to the Wild offense. Silva, who has spent his whole career with this franchise, hit .315 with 18 HR and 100 RBI. He will be rewarded for his solid play with his first chance to play in the playoffs in his 10th season as a big leaguer.
Wild Card Round Recap: In a huge upset, the Wild defeated the team with the second best record in the AL, the Norfolk Whiskey Jacks. Even more impressive was they tagged the odds-on-favorite for the AL Cy Young, Phil Leonard with the loss in the deciding Game 5. The decisive play of the game was a 2-run double by Trevor Billingsley in the 7th inning. Not only did it turn a 1-run Wild deficit into a 1-run lead, but it also knocked Leonard out of the game. It was Billingsley's team high 5th RBI of the 5-game series. The pitching, which was not a strength of the team during the regular season, continues to be a concern early in the playoffs. The team ERA against the Whiskey Jacks was 5.80.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 4th in AL
Runs Allowed: 11th in AL
Fewest Errors: 6th in AL
Season Synopsis: Once again, the three time defending champions were at the top of the AL, setting the pace for everyone else to keep up with. After finishing 2nd in the NL East for the first time in nine seasons, the Revolution regained their 'rightful' place at the top of the division. Also, for the 9th time in the last 10 seasons, Baltimore finished the regular season with at least 100 wins. Offseason acquisition SP Randy Meulens was very disappointing considering his $110M contract. He had the worst season of his career since his rookie campaign. After six consecutive 200 inning seasons and 4 All Star appearances in Philadelphia, Meulens only tossed 169 innings with Baltimore this season, while battling a sore shoulder. He had a record of 11-9 with a 4.69 ERA. Fans are hoping he'll earn his paycheck with some big starts during the postseason. On the other end of the spectrum was 1B Bruce Donovan. He's the odds on favorite to win a second consecutive MVP Award in his second full season in Baltimore. He hit .315 with 49 HR and 150 RBI, leading the AL in both HR and RBI.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 2nd in AL
Runs Allowed: 3rd in AL
Fewest Errors: 2nd in AL
* Led the AL in stolen bases and home runs
Editors' Pick; Clearly, as we've seen in the SP playoffs, anything can happen in a five game series. But on paper, the Revolution are clearly the favorite. The have better pitching and a better lineup, with more power and speed. They are the 3-time defending champs for a reason, and its hard to imagine them getting bounced this early in the postseason. Baltimore wins in three.
#6 Philadelphia Stomp (95-67) vs. #2 Anaheim Hitmen (95-67)
Season Synopsis: Not many teams can say they lost their 2nd best pitcher, and a 4-time All Star and then improved their team's record by 9 wins that season. That's exactly what the Stomp did. Using their franchise's pipeline of pitchers that they've carefully cultivated, they had another stud waiting for his chance and finished tied with the Hitmen for the 3rd best record in the AL. SP Al Fransisco had quite a rookie season filling in for free agent departure Randy Meulens. He tossed 216 innings with an 18-2 record and a 3.86 ERA. He's likely to win the AL RoY award. Young slugging C Rick Jamison had his breakout season as well. He was the team's 2nd best hitter this season with a .314 AVG, 39 HR and 114 RBI.
Wild Card Round Recap: The Stomp advanced to the ALDS by defeating the New Orleans Jazz in a brutally tough 5 game series. Each game was decided by 1 or 2 runs. The Stomp took a 2-0 lead, but the Jazz fought back, taking 2 games on the road to force a Game 5. And just as it should have been, Game 5 was decided in extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning, Rick Jamison hit a double to drive in Yannick Broome and give the Stomp the lead. It was Broome who was red-hot for the Stomp during the series. He led the team in hits (8) and RBI (8) while hitting .381 and had a HR in Game 3. While the pitching as a whole was shakier than normal during the wild series, Quilvio Lee was rock solid in his start. He pitched 7 scoreless innings and continues to make a case that he is the 2nd best pitcher in the AL.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 3rd in AL
Runs Allowed: 6th in AL
Fewest Errors: 11th in AL
* 2nd in AL in home runs
*3rd in AL in AVG, OBP, and SLG
*2nd in AL in quality starts
Season Synopsis: Despite playing in one of the toughest, deepest divisions in SP, the Hitmen have managed to win the AL West in 6 of the last 9 seasons, including Season 17. With all of the top AL records in the AL East, the Hitmen were also able to take advantage and clinch the 2nd bye. Rookie 1B Brian Mathewson had an up-and-down season trying to fill the shoes of departed fan favorite 1B Brian Okajima. He only hit .249 with 23 HR and 76 RBI, but he did draw a team high 93 walks. Veteran SP Tomas Valentin had one of his strongest seasons, going 17-12 with a 3.41 ERA.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 6th in AL
Runs Allowed: 4th in AL
Fewest Errors: 2nd in AL
* 4th in AL in home runs
Editor's Pick: This is a great match up. Two well balance teams that can both score and pitch very well. Both teams finished with identical regular season records and both teams play in very tough divisions. The difference in this series will be that Philadelphia's starting rotation is a little bit stronger at the back than Anaheim's is. That small advantage can make all of the difference in such a tight series. Philadelphia wins in five.
Nationnal League
#5 Cleveland Lake Shores (94-68) vs #1 Pittsburgh Polar Bears (112-50)
Season Synopsis: For four consecutive seasons, the Lake Shores have Wild Carded their way into the playoffs as one of three teams from the NL East. This season, they overtook the traditional 2nd place finisher, the Chicago Gray Stockings. They did it with their usual recipe of overlooked, overachieving veteran starting pitchers, and a solid lineup. The Lake Shores boasted two of the top three NL MVP candidates this season. And neither one of them is the defending NL MVP, Oswaldo Canseco, who also calls Cleveland home. C Matt Wolf and LF Randall Bryant both had amazing seasons. Wolf led the league in a number of categories including AVG (.348), OBP (.450), hits (212), walks (110) while also scoring 115 runs, hitting 14 HR with 63 RBI. If you didn't read that right, you'll notice that means that Wolf was on base an almost unbelievable 332 times this season. He will also win the NL Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove Award for catchers. Did I mention that he also lead the NL in throwing out stolen base attempts at a 32% rate... and Wolf wasn't the team's most dynamic offensive player. Randall Bryant was easily the NL most potent offensive player in his breakout Season 17. He hit .299 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI while leading the NL in steals with 73, only getting caught 4 times.
Wild Card Round Recap: For all of the hype surrounding the dynamic Cleveland lineup, it was the pitching that shined against Vancouver. In the final three games of the series (all Lake Shore victories) the Tragedy Twins only scored a combined 5 runs. For the series, the team had an ERA of 2.37. If their pitching continues to dominate like that, they may pull off a huge upset of heavily favored Pittsburgh. It will be much tougher going though, against the highest scoring offense in the NL. Matt Wolf continued to be impossible to keep off the bases in the opening round. He had 6 hits and 4 walks in the 4 games for an OBP of .526.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 5th in NL
Runs Allowed: 6th in NL
Fewest Errors: 12th in NL
*2nd in NL in OBP
Season Synopsis: Pittsburgh continues its strangle hold on the NL East, winning it for the 12th consecutive season. That ties the record that is currently held by St. Louis. They find themselves in their usual #1 seed and patiently awaiting their NLDS opponent. With the decline of Jimmie Brownson, Ramon Yamamoto led the pitching staff in Season 17. He had a very good season, going 20-8 with a 2.82 ERA in 226 innings and is a strong candidate for the NL Cy Young Award. 1B Brian Okajima, acquired from Anaheim, provided stability and production at 1B that Pittsburgh hasn't had since Pascual retired a few season ago. He led the Bears in HR with 28 while hitting .280 with 110 RBI.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 1st in NL
Runs Allowed: 3rd in NL
Fewest Errors: 6th in NL
*3rd in NL in ERA
*1st in NL in AVG, 2nd in NL in OBP and SLG
Editors' Pick: The Pittsburgh Polar Bears are used to playing against the fierce division rivals in the playoffs, but for the last three years its been their foes from Chicago. With two of the most patient teams in the NL playing. This series could turn into one of attrition and bullpens. An untimely error could also prove costly, as neither of these teams wants to give up extra base runners when the two top NL teams in OBP are playing. The veteran starting pitchers in Pittsburgh give their team the edge though. Pittsburgh wins in five.
#6 Chicago Gray Stockings (86-76) vs. #2 Milwaukee Titans (101-61)
Season Synopsis: Chicago had a very unusual season. There were some questions in the starting rotation with both Carter Maybin and Wayne Spence coming off of fairly serious arm injuries. Despite that, the season started off well and the team seemed well on its way to another playoff berth. Then the team went into a spiral, losing a franchise worst 12 straight games, putting the team below .500. That seemed to wake the team up because after that losing streak, the team played solid, going 44-32 for the rest of the season. The Gray Stockings had two players earn their way onto the MVP ballot this season, although only one has a realistic shot of winning the coveted award. 3B Tony Benitez, who was a last minute free agent signing just before ST got underway, had the best season of his career. Not only was he one of the best defensive 3B in the NL this season, but he also earned an All Star nod while hitting .282 with 26 HR and 78 RBI with 24 stolen bases. CF Butch Ramirez is one of the three legitimate candidates for this season's MVP award. He also won the NL Silver Slugger Award and was in consideration for the Gold Glove Award. The multiple time All Star had the best season of his career. He hit .302 with 32 home runs, 118 RBI and 22 steals.
Wild Card Round Recap: The enigmatic Gray Stockings squared off against the Richmond Rebellion, who have been a consistently strong team for all of Season 17. However, after Game 1 turned into a 12-2 rout of Richmond, it just seemed to take all of the wind out of their sails. They didn't go quietly though, and it was once again Butch Ramirez who proved his MVP mettle to advance the Gray Sox. In Game 4, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Sox trailed by one run. Ramirez hit a two-run home run to put Chicago up by one and ultimately into the NLDS for the 4th straight season.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 6th in NL
Runs Allowed: 8th in NL
Fewest Errors: 1st in NL
* 4th in NL in HR
Season Synopsis: Milwaukee had their usually good season, finishing in their usual #2 seed while enjoying the first round bye. Unlike Chicago's long losing streak, Milwaukee had a long winning streak. They won 13 consecutive games earlier this season, and haven't looked back. SP Mitch Shaw was the Titans' best starting pitcher this season, and is a dark horse on the NL Cy Young Award ballot. Shaw went 17-6 with a 2.66 ERA. CL Ken Wall was historically good in Milwaukee's pen this season. He closed out 46 out of 47 save chances while only allowing 2 ER for the entire season in his 43 innings for an ERA of 0.42. He is a lock to win the Fireman of the Year Award.
Season Stats:
Runs Scored: 3rd in NL
Runs Allowed: 1st in NL
Fewest Errors: 3rd in NL
*1st in NL in HR
Editor's Pick: This is a rematch of last season's NLCS. The result of last season's series was a 4-1 series victory for the Titans. With the core of these two rosters essentially the same, their isn't much reason to expect a different outcome. Milwaukee wins in four.
