April Showers Bring May Flowers?

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RonCo
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April Showers Bring May Flowers?

Post by RonCo » Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:46 pm

Top Surprises of the First Month of 2040 (UMEBA/BBA)


With the coming of expansion, league-wide pundits were excited about the prospects of the BBA divisional shake ups, and with good reason. Power structures were in swing, and off-season uncertainty made for fog of war that was debated ad nauseum over the Hot Stove League. With a month of games under the year’s belt, the fun news is that if April is to bear witness, the uncertainty and excitement will continue to bear out.


UMEBA IS NO EXCEPTION

This is as true in the UMEBA as it is in the BBA, actually. Both divisions are seeing tight races in which all teams are involved—even if the Bancroft League is clubbing the Burt.

Jerusalem stands atop the dominant Bancroft on the strength of an 20-10 start, but is only a game up on Mumbai and another on Bucharest. Beirut, who looked like a weak sister a couple weeks ago, ripped off a 9-game winning streak to be hanging at only 6 games back from the pack, and will be playing at home through most of May.

The Burt is even more competitive within its ranks, with Cairo and Istanbul knotted at the top, Manama a game back, and Baghdad two games. While none of these teams has turned a winning record to date, the season is young, and he UMEBA is a bit of a wild-west kind of league, and it could take only a couple key pick-ups to change the tables.

The bottom line at this point is that it’s really anybody’s game in the Middle East, a fact that is sure to raise heartbeats in the area.

If you had to pick a true UMEBA surprise at this point, though, you’d probably have to go with Gregg Greathouse’s Beirut Cedars. They won 64 games last season, and are sitting at nearly .500 despite a schedule weighted with road games. The next couple weeks will see them play in division, and will likely tell the tale of how real this surprise is.


JOHNSON LEAGUE – ACCORDING TO HOYLE

In the Atlantic, much has already been made of Charm City’s rise, but while has been impressive, and while it’s true that the Media Guide had the Jimmies as a sub-.500 team, this performance still doesn’t seem like a total surprise. On the whole, the club is both young and good. I wanted to point out the club in Montreal, too, however, because while the Blazers were not considered by any serious pundits to be particularly good this season, their 10-20 record is marred by another historically horrid start (1-12). This means the club has been 9-8 since that point, which is actually a bit surprising. Keep your eyes peeled: Things in the rearview mirror may be larger than they appear. Otherwise, however, the Atlantic appears to be following the script a bit, with Rockville, New Orleans, and Jacksonville rising to the top, Brooklyn and Atlantic City hanging in the middle, and Charlotte struggling to find wins.

The Frontier was expected to be a dogfight and that’s what it’s been. The surprise of the moment is probably on the downside, where both Mexico City and Boise have managed to under-perform. Some pundits had the Aztecs at the top of the league, and while no one had Boise at the top of the table, no one had them down as a .241 ballclub. One suspects the Frenchy phones will be ringing soon, if they aren’t already. Regardless, the idea of Edmonton stading atop the division, with Calgary a step behind in their draft, and Vegas and San Antonio hanging within easy striking distance can’t be too surprising at all. Phoenix at .500 is a bit of a disappointment, and Wichita at 12-18 is probably likewise, but then again, someone has to lose some games, right? That’s the beauty of the division-weighting of the schedule.


FRICK LEAGUE – WTF?

If the Johnson League is playing out mostly to plan, the Frick is all Topsy-turvy.

The Heartland was supposed to be the BBA doormat, and yet April saw the division turn the tables. The division has drubbed the Pacific, and with all eight teams within six and a half games of each other is arguably the most exciting division in baseball. Who would have thunk? Surprises abound. I mean, here a shock, there a shock, everywhere a shock-shock. The pre-season co-favorites in Nashville posted a slow start and a tepid 13-16 record. Madison, under new management and projected to be tepid, are on a hot start (19-11) and while Louisville (18-12) was an enigma during spring training, no one had tagged them as a serious candidate to take the division. Similarly, Des Moines, who was discounted in the pre-season polls, has once again risen to a .500 respectability early in the year. That’s surprise, right? And Omaha—who was a co-fave as an upset winner in the Heartland is 14-16, a half step behind rebuilding Twin Cities, and six games out. Chicago’s .500 record is probably the only team outside of Yellow Springs that you’d look at and say, “yeah, that’s about what I expected.”

Arguably, you might say the Pacific is going exactly according to plan too—except to do that you’d have to pretty much turn the projection tables on their head. Minus the expansion club Portland, who sits at 7-23 at the bottom of the projections, what was supposed to be good is bad and what was supposed to be questionable is good. I mean, seriously. San Fernando, California, and Seattle were supposed to be leading this division, and they are in the #5, #6, add #7 slots—the Crusaders and Storm falling so far behind a reasonable person might actually wonder if they’ve lost the ability to catch up. Valencia (19-10) at the top isn’t a total shocker, but Long Beach (20-11) and Hawaii (18-12) were both projected to have sub-.500 records by some pundits. And the club from Vancouver, who the media guide projected as a 64 win club, standing at 15-15 is, yes, a bit of a shock for some.

YES, OF COURSE IT’S EARLY


So, yeah, what does all this mean? How real are these standings?

If history proves anything, it’s that these early reviews will settle down, that it’s likely the original projections aren’t too far off. Baseball is like this, though, right? Talent levels are close, and the fact that the “best” team doesn’t always win makes for lots of these kinds of swings. It gives fans something to argue over beers with. It makes GM’s hair fall out. Maybe the results are real? Maybe the problems are sample size, but maybe they aren’t?

All I can say for sure right now is that this is part of what makes it all so danged fun.
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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers?

Post by usnspecialist » Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:57 am

I will tell you what is real, my pitching staff is an abomination. I will have to look at the date, but I might be on course to become the first team to score 900+ and still have a negative RD.
Randy Weigand

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JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
JL Southern- 34
FL Pacific- 37, 39
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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers?

Post by jleddy » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:12 am

RonCo wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:46 pm
FRICK LEAGUE – WTF?
On behalf of Brett Schroeder, Fred Holmes and Joe Lederer, and all those involved behind-the-scenes of the Frontier Division Round-Up Podcast® (name subject to change), we ask politely that you cease and desist using any wordmarks associated with the name "Frick" or "Frick League" and the terminology "WTF" or "What the ___-".

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The law offices of Kirshbaum, Faireborn & French
"My $#!? doesn't work in the playoffs." - Billy Beane Joe Lederer

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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers?

Post by usnspecialist » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:19 am

jleddy wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:12 am
RonCo wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:46 pm
FRICK LEAGUE – WTF?
On behalf of Brett Schroeder, Fred Holmes and Joe Lederer, and all those involved behind-the-scenes of the Frontier Division Round-Up Podcast® (name subject to change), we ask politely that you cease and desist using any wordmarks associated with the name "Frick" or "Frick League" and the terminology "WTF" or "What the ___-".

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The law offices of Kirshbaum, Faireborn & French
Frick off
Randy Weigand

Havana Sugar Kings/San Fernando Bears: 32-50 (1608-1481)
Des Moines Kernels: 52-

League Champion- 34
JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
JL Southern- 34
FL Pacific- 37, 39
Wild Card- 33, 35, 36, 40, 43

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