Warehouse Wire 2043.07: Kings of the Atlantic Once Again

[bcslouck]

With 37 games to go, on August 21st, the Jimmies found themselves 10 games out of the division after a rough month looked to take them out of the division chase, and possibly a playoff spot. Tonight, on October 7th, they are Atlantic Division Champions.

For the first time since 2032, the Jimmies are the top of the Atlantic. A crazy year saw New Orleans and Charm City battle most of the year (until the Jimmies August tailspin), with Atlantic City and Montreal up there at times, and Rockville making a late season charge to get the lead late. Despite all of this, the Jimmies actually controlled their own destiny. All they had to do was beat the worst team in the league, Wichita and the division was there. They did not. The season to ended in a 3 way tie between the Crawdads, Pikemen, and Jimmies. 162 games was not enough.

Luckily for Charm City, whatever tie breakers determined that New Orleans and Rockville had to play game 163 to see who would play Charm City for the Division title. Charm City had to of hoped for New Orleans, a team they went 13-3 against in the regular season. Rockville prevailed, sparking a winner take all game between two Maryland teams with no love lost. Undoubtedly, it's the biggest game between the two teams since Rockville moved just outside of the Capital Beltway in 2033.

Despite Charm City getting the advantage of an extra day off, the game was held in Rockville. Potential HOF'er Dave Martin would take the bump for Rockville. Charm City sent rookie SP Maup Manshert. Despite Manshert's solid rookie campaign, Martin has a wealth of playoff experience that, combined, is more than just about every Jimmies pitcher.

It was a pitchers duel until the 7th. Manshert had gone 6 shutout innings. Martin went 6 innings of 1 run ball. Martin coming out in the 7th proved to be a mistake. The Charm City offense erupted for 6 runs to take a 7-0 lead after a 3-run home run by newly resigned Oliverio Luna and a 3-run double by William Drew. With a nice cushion, Manshert came out shaky, giving up 2 hits to start the innings. The rookie settled down though, striking out the next batter and inducing a double play to end the innings. Greg Barker would come in the 8th an pitch 2 clean innings to seal the division.

The Atlantic this year was the tightest division wire to wire. It's only fitting it ends with extra games.

As a result of the finish, Charm City gets a crucial bye and the chance to set up their rotation, one of the best in the BBA. Feliciano Rafael will take the ball in game 1. Rumors have swirled that as much as Charm City loves Bronco Rojas in the rotation, they are considering putting him in the 'pen as a stopper. Given the teams confidence in the rotation as a whole, odds seem to be 50/50 on this. New Orleans and Rockville will play another 5 games in the Geoghegan for the right to play San Antonio, the best team in the Johnson League this year.

This team is similar to the 2032 division winning team. They won 96 out of 162 games (97 this year coming in game 163/164). The are also the 2nd seed. 20232 saw Charm City get to the Landis. The lost the series in 6 games to Louisville. 2043 hopes to be a similar story with a different ending.

[recte44]

That performance by Manshert was epic. What an amazing run for the Jimmies!