Who's going to win?

[czar]

OK, you've seen most of the teams. Who's going to win it all?

[DCBjohnny]

You're a funny, funny man, Gil! You put the league's most underperforming club on this list to mock me. Ladies and gentlemen, appearing weekly at a BLA website near you ... Gil LeBreton! (Insert sarcasm.) Let's give him a big, big hand. (Meanwhile, I'll just give him a finger.)

[DCBjohnny]

By the way, I'll vote for Mr. LeBreton's Gnus. Hopefully, it'll work as a curse. I've got the voodoo doll and pins in place.

[MSQscott]

Having just run into the Cowtown buzzsaw this period the YellaDawgs have me convinced.

[czar]

Johnny:

I went only by W-L record as of today.

[LKAjimmy]

Gents,

As I post this, we've had 10 responses and those individuals have selected 5 different teams, including one vote for "Other." I think that says a lot about the league's balance at the top ... Like last year, I think this will be a year where any team that gets a ticket to the post-season dance could wind up winning it. GBY entered the playoffs as either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed last year (can't remember which) and the Matadors took everyone they played behind the woodshed. I think the same thing could happen again this year, with a down-the-line seed running the table. But it's hard not to like COW, POM, ARL and MSQ. We've had very little success facing any of those teams this season ...

[GBYaj]

Actually, we Matadors were a number 4 seed last year because we won our division. However, as rightfully pointed out by Jimmy, we probably only had the 6th or 7th best record. But as Jimmy pointed out, anything can happen once you get into the playoffs.

[LAGalan]

AJ is right that ANYTHING can happen in the playoffs (ask Gil about the year that my worst Rascal playoff team ever took down his juggernaut in the 1st round). But part of it, too, is that in the playoffs, you don't need 600+ plate appearance horses or 35 GS star SPs as much as you do for the best regular season record.

Oh, it still helps to have stars. But in the playoffs, a 400 PA star hitter can help you just as much as a 650 PA star.

So sometimes a team that squeeks into the playoffs will make a lot more noise than you expect.

It should be a fun post season.

[czar]

(ask Gil about the year that my worst Rascal playoff team ever took down his juggernaut in the 1st round)

How's about NOT asking Gil about that?

Hey, I've lost more playoff series -- and World Series -- than anybody. Just as in real life, sometimes a team gets to the post-season and its bats go stone cold. Or some Bucky Dent-like creature hits a crucial home run.

At least when you consistently get to the playoffs, you have a chance to win. Our league has had No. 1 and No. 2 seeds lose in the first round before (as Alan graciously reminded).

The beauty of our league is that a team has to play head-to-head in the post-season and win 12 games to win the World Series. They truly earn the trophy (actually, the bat), whether they were the best team in the regular season or not.

It would not surprise me this year if the team that wins is not one of the four division champions.