42.1 Jackrabbits 2041 Season in Review

[crobillard]

What. the. fuck.

Did not see a Landis trophy coming to me this season if I am being honest. Of course I only ever win the Landis when I feel like I am battling for it. You know how to tell I didn't see this Landis coming? I traded Jharod Thealer, Niccolo Machiavelli, Joey O'Brien, Emilio Brazini and Sebastian Fradesso for the 2041 number one overall pick in Amos Swallows. If you're not privy to how I was throwing everything into this deal, Thealer was my starting second baseman, O'Brien was my starting shortstop, Machiavelli was my starting center fielder, Brazini was one of my best pitching prospects and Fradesso was one of my top outfield prospects. By the way, the players I traded had an average age of 22.8 years old, so these weren't veterans past their prime either.

I really wanted that 18 year old knuckleballer from Edmonton I created.

Let me be clear, I don't think this was the best team I fielded in the BBA. Especially the pitching. Last year this same team has 111 wins and the pitching staff had a FIP of 3.87. The only changes I made was cutting John Garcia so he could mash everything in Istanbul and cutting William Wood who would move on to Nashville and put together a good season which saw him launch 35 dingers. It was my quietest offseason that I've had in the BBA. I mean 111 win team, why change anything?

Well, OOTP would remind me why I need to keep grinding. I was in the middle of the division all season. I was threatened for the wild card and didn't have a particularly strong finish. In 2040, we lost Thealer, O'Brien and Chandler Hall by playoff time. I felt like not having the three of them cost me the playoffs. I didn't give them a chance to hurt me again and shipped them off for my top prospect that I will look forward to managing for the next several seasons. The team got Hall back in July and it couldn't have come at a better time because that's exactly when Mauro Flores started to flounder to the tune of a 7.09 FIP in 20.1 innings in July and a 7.61 FIP in 26 innings in August. God awful.

Of course we wouldn't be able to avoid the injury bug before the playoffs though. In early September, Mons Raider went down with a broken kneecap while attempting to stretch a single into a double. It was while he was running a campaign to become BBA's all time single season run leader on pace for more than 166 runs. The record, held by Sawyer Silk, was never seriously threatened prior to the coronavirus offensive performance enhancement of 2041. Raider had 148 runs in 140 games and was certainly going to break it if the Jackrabbits could continue their run production.

Amazingly, despite not having four of the players in the lineup that they had at the start of the season and the pitching completely collapsing with a 1.68 run increase in ERA over the 2040 season despite no changes to the pitching staff, the Jackrabbits made it to the playoffs. Edmonton beat Las Vegas in four games in the Geoghegan, beat Boise in five games in the Doubleday, beat the last remaining Frontier opponent, Calgary in the Cartwright in seven games and then finally won the Landis with a depleted pitching staff with their back against the wall in seven games over the cursed Yellow Springs franchise. Just having their city name in this post gives me shivers. Maybe we shouldn't speak of that team anymore.

Wild season. Definitely not our best work. Carried by the rookie Pedro Huerta's bat with his 1.002 postseason OPS and Chandler Hall's 2.94 FIP in 37 postseason innings. However, let's not discredit other amazing playoff performances. The tired pitching staff had to turn to Ryosei Akahori, for his only playoff performance, in Game 4 with the opposing Landis team up two games to our one. Akahori had been terrible all season, like BAD. Akahori kept us in game 4 though with 5.1 IP, six hits allowed, two earned runs, three walks and struck out three. Certainly not an amazing start, but he didn't blow up entirely either. We also needed an all star performance by Jubal Troop in game 6. He got the loss in game 2 after 7 innings of 9 hits and 4 runs, but he bounced back to keep the team alive in game 6 lasting 6.2 innings and only allowing two runs on four hits with eight Ks. I couldn't wrap this up without acknowledging the playoff contribution from Ignacio Castaneda. He was good in limited innings during the season, but once the team moved away from Jorge Huerta, Castaneda saw an expanded role to varying success. He was essential in the playoffs though and we needed it. Our pitching staff gave up a lot of runs and we needed someone to step up in the bullpen. He pitched in 13.1 innings, allowed 10 hits, three runs. six walks and struck out 11.

It was a fine season that ended in a miracle playoff run that went through the toughest opponents. I don't think I could draw up a more difficult gauntlet to run. Each one of the top Frontier teams, all whom crushed me during the season, then leading up to a cursed franchise who seemed poised for a fairy tale win that finally ended their curse. We joined a long list of their deniers instead and Edmonton acquires their second Landis trophy in four years and we're on the short list of teams that have acquired a Landis title in both the Frick and Johnson leagues.

[jleddy]

Honestly, incredible feat considering all the players you traded away mid-season. Kudos!

[lordtoffee]

That is one of the most impressive championship runs I have ever seen in either fake baseball or real baseball. By my count you won 10 games on the road, in some of the toughest parks in the BBA. That's not a fluke run at all.

[crobillard]

That is one of the most impressive championship runs I have ever seen in either fake baseball or real baseball. By my count you won 10 games on the road, in some of the toughest parks in the BBA. That's not a fluke run at all.

I think Brett said after I beat him in the Geoghegan that I would need a miracle. I guess I got it. Amazing run. My 2038 Landis win was against Vegas and we won after being down three games and a Steven Collins III hidden ball trick jump started our comeback. The best runs I’ll ever be a part of, but this one definitely seemed less likely from the start of the playoffs to finish.

[GoldenOne]

Congrats again! Definitely thought our deal might have slowed you down, at least a little bit. Working out the deal, I knew you were deep and had some guys that would easily back-fill the guys you were dealing. Hope Amos develops quickly enough and you get right back to winning another one soon! Get it out of your system before Charlotte gets there.

[crobillard]

Congrats again! Definitely thought our deal might have slowed you down, at least a little bit. Working out the deal, I knew you were deep and had some guys that would easily back-fill the guys you were dealing. Hope Amos develops quickly enough and you get right back to winning another one soon! Get it out of your system before Charlotte gets there.

Thanks dude. Yeah my depth since last season was so good and I decided it was time to cash out. Turned in my chips and got the thing I wanted most. It was just a perfect storm. I had the pieces to sell, Amos was my created ammy, from Edmonton, a knuckleball, #1 overall, etc. It’s an aggressive move, but I knew it wouldn’t cripple me.

I thought the deal might cost me a playoff spot, but I figured it would be close. We’ll see how Amos does. He could totally fizzle and it was all for just a Landis title.

[RonCo]

Amazing season, he says, polluting the thread .

[crobillard]

Amazing season, he says, polluting the thread .

Semordnilap! I adjure you by Jesus Christ to tell me your name, demon!

[bschr682]

No mention of Ngowa?