Brooklyn advanced to the World Championship with a resounding 14-7 victory over Helena in Game Five of the Socratic League Championship. Brooklyn scored nine runs in the top of the fourth inning to put the game and the series away. Catcher Pio Pastrana was the star, leading off the inning with a solo home run and closing it out with a three-run blast.

Congratulations to Matt and Jeremy on reaching the World Series. The two division winners will square off for the title and for the OEL Trophy (currently held by Nate). Game One will be Wednesday night, by either Nate or me (not determined yet). The web files are being completely updated as this is posted and the new league file is already updated.

Seattle closed out Pittsburgh in authoritative fashion with an 8-0 victory. Herman Colon was 3-4 with a home run, two runs, and three RBI to win Player of the Game. Starting pitcher Thomas Wilkerson was injured in the bottom of the first, but he and five relievers combined to shut out the Pisces on five hits. Seattle thus wins its second consecutive Platonic League Championship.

In the Socratic League, Brooklyn defeated Helena 5-4 in 11 innings. Stephen Hyer’s two-out single won the game for the Bombers. Helena was unable to respond, despite a leadoff double by Wiley Reynoso in the bottom of the 11th.

Game Five in the Socratic League Championship will be tomorrow night. Again, only limited web files are updated. League file is updated.

Like Game Two in each series, Game Three was also decided by a single run in each contest.

In the Platonic League, Seattle survived another ninth inning rally to hold on to a 3-2 victory, building a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. Alvaro Pedro gave up only a single run in eight innings to earn Player of the Game honors. Darren Schmeltzer had the big blast with a two-run homer in the third.

Meanwhile, in the Socratic League, Helena defended its home turf with a 2-1 victory. The star of the game was Gaby Duran. picked up in a mid-season deal from the Pittsburgh Pisces. Duran went eight frames, yielding only one run on a solo two-out pinch hit homer in the eighth by David Lipinski. Ben Anguita was 3-3 at the plate for the Handbaskets, driving in one run and scoring the other. Brooklyn still leads the series two games to one.

Games Four will be Sunday morning, with Game Five (in the Socratic League, at least) to follow Monday night. Rest of the schedule is TBA.

I only uploaded the main web page and the ones showing the box scores and game logs for the playoff games. The player pages will remain the same until the next round of the playoffs. I also uploaded the updated league file.

Both Games Two of the League Championship Series thrilled the fans by going down to the wire, one ending in extra innings. There’s only one October after all. (Or, in the case of our league, only one late September).

Platonic League

Seattle and Pittsburgh were scoreless for the first four innings. Carlos Araoz finally broke the drought with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Seattle. Seattle plated two three more runs in the inning to take a commanding lead. They might have had even more but Pisces centerfielder Tracy Snider overcame his pulled groin muscle to throw out the Ministry’s first bagger Amador Zaragoza at the plate.

Pittsburgh scored one in the top of the seventh to cut the gap to three. Seattle played add-on though in the bottom of the eighth with three runs to seemingly put the game out of reach. All three runs scored on a two-out, pinch hit, bases clearing double by reserve outfielder Willie May.

That hit assumed greater importance than first thought though as the Pisces would not go gentle into that good night however. Bryan Caraway got things started in the ninth inning with a 417 foot solo home run to deep left center field. After an out, pinch hitter Jose Valdes pounded a 408 shot to deep right center. Brian Staudt next hit a bomb to almost the same place, although a mere 386 feet, to make the gap 7-4. Seattle’s manager Tim the Enchanter pulled pitcher Alberto Hernandez, having seen enough from him, and installed closer Wesley Sevage. Savage was greeted savagely by pinch hitter James Rhodes, who hit a third consecutive home run to right center, travelling 394 feet. Back to back to back! Savage pulled it together to strike out Super-Fogy Bruce Bremer to record a second out. But, Tracy Snider, doing his best Kirk Gibson impression, clubbed the Pisces’ FIFTH home run of the inning, a 384 foot blast to left center, trimming the Ministry’s lead to a single run. Outfielder Paul Caldwell brought the Seattle crowd to its feet in stunned silence with another blow to left center, but Ministry centerfielder Araoz tracked it down on the warning track to end the game.

So, Seattle prevails 7-6 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. But did the 1,989 feet of Pittsburgh roundtrippers represent a dying team’s last stand or was it a harbinger of things to come? While Magic Mona may already know the answer, the rest of us will find out when the series shifts to Pittsburgh for Games Three through Five.

Socratic League

The Socratic League’s Game Two was not to be outdone in thrills. Helena struck first in the second inning, loading the bases with nobody out on a single and a couple of walks. However, first baseman Wiley Reynoso’s sacrifice fly was followed by an inning-ending double play by catcher John Neiman. The Handbaskets had to be disappointed to only score once in the frame.

Brooklyn struck back in the bottom of the fourth, plating four runs on three hits and two walks. Another run in the fifth gave the Bombers a comfortable 5-1 lead. Helena’s Juan Favela trimmed the lead with a solo home run in the sixth to deep right field.

The score remained 5-2 into the eighth when the Handbaskets struck again. Neiman, attempting to make up for the earlier twin killing, led off with a triple down the right field line. Neiman has surprising speed for a catcher, as he had 14 triples during the regular season. He then scored on a balk. Brooklyn starting pitcher Ayorou Hidetada then added injury to insult when he strained a ligament in his elbow while hitting pinch hitter Shane Spies with an errant curveball. The much ballyhooed Bomber bullpen was called upon when Wilson Abellan replaced Hidetada on the mound. However, Abellan promptly threw a wild pitch. He seemed to settle down, sandwiching two outs around a walk. But, Handbasket third baseman Ben Anguita then drove a ball into the left center gap for a two run double, tying the game.

The game stayed tied through the ninth, even though both teams put runners at second base in the ninth. In the top of the tenth, facing reliever Lyman Grimm, Handbasket centerfielder Joseph Watson led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by leftfielder Tory Chavez. Favela was intentionally walked and the strategy succeeded, as new third baseman William Parada (Anguita had been pinch run for in the ninth) grounded into an inning ending double play. Brooklyn also led off the teneth with a single, by third baseman Stephen Hyer. After batting champ Miyatarou Takenao struck out though, pinch runner Ivan Alustiza was thrown out attempting to steal second. With two outs though, catcher Pio Pastrana ended the affair with a solo blast to deep left center off Handbasket reliever Alfred Wickline.

Brooklyn has now squeaked out two close victories at home. But, the series now moves to the frigid plains of Montana. Will the Handbaskets get their revenge, or will the Bombers close out the series on Helena’s home turf?

Wrap Up

The website appears to be working again, so I’ve uploaded the league file and will be uploading the web pages shortly.

The pivotal Games Three will be tomorrow evening, as wild cards Pittsburgh and Helena will attempt to make the division champs work for their dates in the OEL World Series

I got preoccupied by the Christmas holiday (the hazards of three small children), so I never got around to emailing out the league file to the championship teams. Nate’s website is still not responding, so I’ll email the file out to the playoff teams today and play game two tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay.

I ran the sims for Game One today, but I can’t get into Nate’s server, so all you get right now is a report.

In the Platonic League Championship, Seattle easily handled Pittsburgh 7-3. Seattle scored two in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Seattle outhit Pittsburgh 14-6 and controlled the entire game. Darren Schmeltzer was player of the game, going 2-4 with a run scored, 2 RBI, and a walk.

In the Socratic League Championship, Helena held a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Brooklyn pinch hitter Antonio Alicea strode to the plate with two on and two out. He stroked a two-run double into the left-center gap to bring the Big Apple crowd to its feet. Rookie closer Steve Corner retired the side in order in the top of the ninth to preserve the 4-3 victory.

If I can’t get the upload onto Nate’s site, I’ll try emailing the league file (which can be pretty big) to the playoff teams so that they can see for themselves. I’ll try and run the next sim on December 26, but we’ll see.

With the Socratic League Playoff berths on the line, here’s how it went down:

September 17: Helena beats Winnipeg 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth with a one out, pinch hit single by John McCrady. Meanwhile, Brooklyn throttles Jersey City 6-1. Brooklyn has a four-game lead on Helena and Jersey City is two behind Helena with four days left. Brooklyn has clinched a playoff berth.

September 18: Brooklyn crushes New York 15-4 to clinch the Socratic League title. The rest of their games are therefore not worth reporting. In the first game of their crucial series, Helena beats Jersey City 3-2 with a strong effort from starting pitcher, and player of the game, Tomas Folch. Helena clinches at least a tie for the final playoff spot.

September 19: Jersey City rebounds to win an 11-9 slugfest from Helena. Jersey City gets two runs in the first inning on wild pitches and later plates two more on an error. Is Helena choking?

September 20: Apparently not, as Helena clinches the Socratic League wild card with a 9-5 victory. The two teams did seem a bit tight as they combined for 8 errors, 5 for Jersey City. However, each team only scored one unearned run, so the errors didn’t seem to turn the game.

September 21: Gaby Duran and three relievers combine on a shutout to keep Helena on a roll going into the playoffs.

Pittsburgh and Seattle meet in a rematch in the Platonic League, albeit with Seattle heavily favored. It’s a big city/rural outpost match-up in the Socratic League between Helena and Brooklyn.

The first eight spots in the draft order for next year are set as follows: Winnipeg, Cairo, New York (a far fall from the playoffs last year), Sylva, defending champ Marietta, Stockholm, Maryland, and Jersey City. The remaining four spots will depend on the playoff results.

First game will be Monday (December 24), early in the day. All playoff teams must remember to get their active rosters down to 25 people as well as setting playoff rotations and lineups, so get those updates in this weekend.

League file is loaded now and the web pages will follow. The game is acting quirky, to say the least, so it may take a little while to get entirely up.

It’s me, your pinch-hitting commissioner subbing in for Mack.

And what’s the latest, Sports Fans? Has the playoff race in the Socratic League resolved itself? Has Brooklyn’s second baseman Takenao broken above .400 again? Check the game to find out!

In the Platonic League nothing is surprising with Seattle a distant first followed by Pittsburgh’s secured wildcard slot. Nothing shocking there.

In the Socratic League Brooklyn remains 4 games up and has all but locked it up given that Helena and Jersey city play each other four times in the last five days.

Speaking of which…Helena moved one game up on Jersey City in the wildcard race but this one is coming down to the wire! Which team will perform in the final head-to-head season ending series to take the wildcard? Only the next and final sim will tell!

In standout performances this sim Pittsburgh’s Donald Mines turned in the 13th best pitching performance of the year with a 9 inning, 2 hit complete game against Cairo. Well done, Donald!

On the injury front both leaders in the Platonic League lost players. Seattle lost CF Carlos Araoz to a pulled rib cage muscle for a week and Pittsburgh lost Starting Pitcher Timothy Hornyak for a week. Both may be back in time for game one of the divisional series if they heal properly.

Next, and final sim is on Friday by Mack! Good luck to all the contenders! I will be away Saturday through Tuesday so send all roster moves to Mack through that day.

Things heat up something fierce in the OEL this sim as Seattle clinches its playoff berth and Pittsburgh all but locks it up with an eight game lead with ten days to go!

But in the Socratic League things continue to refuse resolution. Brooklyn, now up by 4 games seems a good bet to make the playoffs…but over whom is the question! Both Helena and New Jersey are now locked up for that last playoff spot with the aforementioned 10 games to go! Jersey City tied it up on the last game of the sim with a win and a Helena loss!

And the drama only continues to deepen! These two teams finish the season with four games against each other! Keep reading, loyal readers, to see who emerges with the wild card in the SL!

Next sim is Wednesday by Mack! Don’t miss it!

Just 15 days left in the regular season and playoffs are right around the corner. Mack’s famous bullet point summary follows.

In the Platonic League, Seattle’s lead is 12 games and the Ministry’s magic number is down to four. Pittsburgh extended its lead in the wild card by a game and now sits 5.5 ahead of Maryland.

In the Socratic League, Brooklyn has survived a four-game losing streak to stay three games in the lead. Helena still holds the wild card spot with a fragile one-game lead over third-place Jersey City. All three teams appear to be staggering rather than sprinting toward the finish though.

Winnipeg has all but sewed up the first pick in next year’s draft, finding itself eight games behind Cairo.

Seattle’s George Pullum and Brooklyn’s Miyatorou Takenao continue their remarkable seasons by taking the latest Player of the Week honors. Takenao maintained his average at .402.

The Pisces, although is strong position for the wild card, were devastated by injuries, losing two starters in the same game. Third baseman Tyler Payne is out for the season while centerfielder Tracy Snyder is out only nine to ten weeks. Of course, the season won’t last nine to ten weeks, so that’s of scant comfort to me.

In significant games, Seattle beat Brooklyn on September 7 to take their three-game set 2-1 while Pittsburgh rode a shutout by Wilfred DeSilva to do the same over Jersey City and Maryland did likewise over Helena. (Go Platonic League!)

In the crucial three-game set from September 8-10, Pittsburgh took two of the first three of their four game series with Maryland to perhaps put the wild card out of reach.

In the next sim, Pittsburgh and Maryland finish their series and Brooklyn and Helena will play the first game of a crucial four-game series.

The league file is uploaded and the web pages are in process. Next sim will be by Nate on Monday and the regular season will end next Friday. The first week of playoff schedules is up on the main league page, so be aware. The first playoff sim will likely be morning or midday (Pacific time) on December 24, so be aware.