Season 75 Midseason Recap

We are 75 games into the 75th season of Mantle, and playoff races are starting to take shape.  In the American League, 4 of the 6 teams that made the playoffs look poised to make it back to October baseball.  Only 3 teams can say the same in the National League which has extremely tight races in the NL South and NL West.  Let's recap some of the stories from the first half of the season.

American League

Current Playoff Picture:

1. Fresno (48-27)
Tied-2. Minnesota (44-31)
Tied-2. New York (44-31)
Tied-2. Houston (44-31)
WC1. Anaheim (43-32)
WC2. Dover (43-32)

In the hunt:

Madison (38-37)

Philadelphia (36-39)

Texas (36-39)

The AL has already seen some separation between the playoff teams and non-playoff teams as Madison is the closest team out of the playoff picture but they are 5 games back.  Anyone in the playoff hunt outside the top 6 is going to have to go on a run pretty soon if they expect to play postseason baseball.

Biggest Surprise - Fresno Grizzlies (48-27)

Currently the #1 team in the AL, the Fresno Grizzlies are on a 103-win pace thanks to solid all around play in all facets of the game.  They are 5th in runs scored, 4th in runs allowed, and 5th in fielding percentage through the 75-game mark.  Maikel Cervantes (0.289 AVG, 22 HRs, 65 RBIs) is an MVP candidate for his stellar two-way play and Valerio Bastardo (9-2, 2.18 ERA) is a Cy Young candidate leading their pitching staff.  Together they will have to keep up their great play to hold off several teams that are within striking distance.

Biggest Disappointment - Salem Pitches (35-40)

It's a little bit unfair to put them in this category, but the Salem Pitches' 19-season playoff streak is at risk of coming to an end with Salem 8 games out of the final playoff spot.  You wouldn't know it by their run differential though, as they are +9 through 75 games.  They unfortunately have a handful of players that are just struggling this year such as the aging potential future hall of famer Mitchell Forrest, fellow veteran pitchers Andy Stone and Damion Cho, and sluggers Dennis Lorenzen and Ali Villafuerte.  An injury to star pitcher Matty Guerrero hasn't helped as well.

MVP - Dana Robinson, Houston Romans

The Romans made a big splash bringing in Dana Robinson on a max contract, but he has been worth every penny so far, leading the AL in HRs, SLG, and OPS.  Together with fellow team Raul Pulido, the Romans might have the top two candidates for MVP at the end of the year.

Cy Young - Derek Bonds, Salem Pitches

The brightest spot for Salem this season, Derek Bonds has the best ERA in the AL and has the IP and wins to get him a nomination.  This race is pretty wide open right now though, so there's a good chance this changes by the end of the year.

National League

Current Playoff Picture:

1. Toledo (55-20)
2. Columbus (43-32)
3. Boise (40-35)
4. Montgomery (40-35)
WC1. Montreal (42-33)
WC2. Florida (40-35)

In the hunt:

Vancouver (40-35)

Jacksonville (38-37)

Portland (38-37)

Biggest Surprise - Toledo Freight Depot (55-20)

I wanted to give this to Boise, but I had to give it to Toledo, who has the best record in the entire league and is on-pace to win 22 more games than a season ago.  They have the Cy Young favorite in Willie Iglesias (more on him below), the #2-4 top OPS hitters in the NL in Ebenezer Cuyler, Randall Russell, and Parker Peavy.  They've scored the 2nd most runs in the league and are #1 in runs allowed.  They were already a great team, having won 96 games last season, but it seems like everyone is stepping up this season.  They're doing this even after losing Type A free agent Ray High and Type B free agent P.T. Sosa.  With the #1 seed looking like a lock, Toledo can focus the second half of the season on staying healthy and getting ready for the playoffs.

Biggest Disappointment - Portland Lastplace (38-37)

They are still above 0.500, but Portland has gone downhill from last year.  Their pitching has always been their strength, and that hasn't fallen off much.  They were 3rd in team ERA a year ago and they are 3rd again this season, and their offense has gone from 25th to 29th.  However, there is still time for them to turn it around as they are only 2 games out of the division lead.  They have more competition than normal this year, so it will be up to their offense to turn it around soon.

MVP - Robbie Stinson, Jacksonville Deplorables

He is only throwing out 19% of stolen base attempts, but Robbie Stinson's offensive numbers have been off the charts this season.  He is #1 in the NL in HRs, OBP, SLG, and OPS which is 100 points better than the next highest players.  The offense should be enough to overcome the defense for Stinson to be the eventual MVP.

Cy Young - Willie Iglesias, Toledo Freight Depot

The runaway favorite right now, Willie Iglesias has been awesome for Toledo.  He has 3 more wins than any other pitcher in the NL, the best ERA by 0.70 runs, and is 3rd in the NL in IP.  Barring a meltdown the second half of the season, Iglesias should have the Cy Young in the bag.

Mantle and The 100-Win Season

In Season 72, only one team managed to win 100 games and it was exactly 100 wins.  That got me thinking, how many times has 100 wins happened in Mantle and how does that compare to MLB.  As it turns out, in MLB history there have been 119 teams that won 100 games.  The Yankees have done it the most at 21 times and the most number of teams to win 100 games in a season is 4 (2019 and 2022).  Obviously in HBD we have 32 teams and have always had 162 games in a season, so I would expect more than MLB.  Here's what I found in the data:

Through Season 74, there have been 160 times where a team won at least 100 games, an average of 2.16 per season.  The most number of 100-win teams in a season has been 5 and that has happened three times in the world's history:

• Season 17
• Season 50
• Season 70

There have been five instances where no team won 100 games and the last time that happened was over 30 seasons ago:

• Season 4
• Season 27
• Season 31
• Season 38
• Season 41

The franchises with the most 100-win seasons are the current Toronto franchise and the now departed Monterrey franchise with 17 each.  Anaheim is the only other franchise with double digit 100-win seasons at 14.  There are four franchises that have never won 100 games: Dover, Oklahoma City, New York, and Vancouver.  13 of the 32 franchises have not won 100 games more than 3 times, or roughly 40% of the league.  So even though it does happen in our world more often, it's still not very common and most teams haven't done it much.  I hope you found all of this information interesting.

By the way, the most wins in league history is 120 by the Norfolk franchise in Season 17, and that team actually ended up losing in the World Series!  My next post will talk more about the top ten teams by record of all time.  Stay tuned!

What's In a Record: League Records Through Season 69

As someone who has been in a handful of HBD leagues, I am always interested in my team's history when I join a new world.  If you're interested in some of the league's historical records, here's how things stack up through the first 69 seasons of the league's history:

Most Wins

The current Richmond franchise has the overwhelming lead in wins with 6,051, the only franchise above 6,000 winning 54.1% of their games.  They have had two separate dynasties in their history.  The first came in the beginning stages of the league when welsh5 won 3 titles with his Florida Lockdown in the first 29 seasons of the league.  Eventually, tricklesee would take over in Season 49 and win 3 titles of his own in Oklahoma City.  Together, they amassed 4,490 of the franchise's wins.

Most Titles

While the Richmond franchise has the most wins, they are tied for the 2nd most World Series titles with the Milwaukee and Anaheim franchises at 6.  The Toronto franchise actually leads the way with 7 titles.  Four different owners have led the franchise to a title, but it is jonas1102 who has the most with 3.  Jtpsops has the most recent title in Season 52, but things eventually went downhill under his reign.  It has taken a little bit, but erbgotti has gotten this once proud franchise back on track and will be looking for title #8 this season.

For the full historical records, see the table below.  I'll try and update this every season!

Season 68 World Series Recap: Pittsburgh Does It Again!

 Another Mantle season is in the books, and it was the Pittsburgh Privateers coming away with their 4th consecutive World Series title, winning in 7 games over the Columbus Clippers.  The teams alternated wins in the first four games before Columbus ace Albert Juarez pitched a 1-hitter in game 5 to give Columbus a 3-1 win and a 3-2 series lead.  Pittsburgh would bounce back in game 6 with a 6-5 win.  In game 7, a 3rd inning 3-run HR by Calvin Floyd gave Columbus the early lead.  However, Pittsburgh would rally back with a Bryson Hatcher RBI double in the 5th and a Mo Serrano 2-run HR in the 6th.  Former clipper Raul Nunez broke the tie with a solo HR in the 8th and Pittsburgh would close out the series in the 9th for a 4-3 win.  Congrats to aaron_clarke for the series win and another great season!

Season 68 NL South Recap: Changing of the Guard

The NL South has been dominated recently by the Oklahoma City Shipbuilders, winners of the division for the last 12 seasons.  However, this year saw a changing of the guard with Jacksonville winning the division for the first time since Season 51, only their 4th division title in franchise history.  They did so led by Damaso Nunez and the league's 6th best pitching staff according to ERA.  However, what seemed like a sure thing for Jacksonville almost wasn't.  After 96 games into the season, they led the division by 12 games with a 56-40 record.  From there, things spiraled and they actually trailed Oklahoma City by 2 games with 23 games left in the season.  They rallied however and clinched the division with 3 games left in the season.  We'll see if they can keep it going in the playoffs.

Oklahoma City seems to be shifting towards a youth movement as they traded future HOF pitcher Harry Chavez to Toronto for two prospects.  Louisville similarly traded future HOF 1B P.T. Feliz to Pittsburgh for two young hitters and veteran reliever Bryan Relaford.  Despite moving these players, both teams played some of their best baseball down the stretch and nearly nabbed the division title.

It wasn't a great year for New Orleans, but they did add talented OF Happy Taylor with the 6th pick in the draft and a couple of IFAs that could find themselves in the majors in a few years.