Season 21 Wrap Up - Richmond Goes Back to Back

Richmond Manamfasha (NL) TXLnghrn View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Richmond successfully defends their World Series crown in Season 21!

The Season 21 World Series is in the books, and after a hard fought 6 game series against New Britain, it's Richmond coming out ahead, claiming their 2nd consecutive Kenny Powers title.  The preseason #1 in the Power Rankings, Richmond never held the spot during the regular season, although never drifted far from the top.  As the NL's #2 seed, they lost one game in each of the Divisional Series vs. Tampa Bay and the NLCS vs. Oklahoma City.  In the World Series, Richmond took Games 1, 2 and the clinching Game 6 at New Britain and also Game 5 at home. Marc Towers led the way for the Richmond offense with a 1.220 OPS in the playoffs.  The entire team put up an impressive .350 OBP during the postseason. Norberto Morales went 4-0 in 6 starts throughout the playoffs with a 2.79 ERA, and the bullpen was solid as rock, allowing the team to post a 3.28 ERA in their championship run.

It was a great season for New Britain, as their #5 preseason ranking proved to be too low, never dropping below #2 in the regular season.  They had a lot of momentum going into the playoffs, putting together a 32-9 stretch run to finish with the world's best record and #1 ranking.  They breezed through Seattle in the Divisional Round, and Helena in the LCS, but couldn't crack the magical playoff formula Richmond has going for them in the World Series.  A very nice season, nonetheless.

Thanks to everyone for playing in Season 21, hope to be back soon for Season 22, after a hopefully quick rollover!  

Season 21 Award Winners

Award season is here in Kenny Powers, so let's see who took home the hardware for Season 21!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

American League - Sherman Dunston, Boise - .292 AVG 60 HR 141 RBI
It was another phenomenal season for Sherman Dunston, reaching 60 Home Runs, which was good enough to earn him a Kenny Powers record 5th MVP award.  Even more impressive is that he's earned his 5 MVP trophies in the past six seasons!  He led the majors in Home Runs and the AL in Slugging and OPS this season, and won his sixth consecutive Silver Slugger Award.  He's truly one of the all-time greats already at age 29.

National League - J.C. Ganzel, Honolulu - .354 AVG 52 HR 153 RBI
Although Ganzel fell just short of winning the triple crown, his incredible season was good enough to win the NL MVP in a landslide, becoming only the third player in Kenny Powers history to win 4 MVP trophies.  He led the NL in Batting Average, RBI, Hits, OBP, Slugging and OPS, won his 9th Silver Slugger Award and made his 9th All-Star team.  No doubt Ganzel is also an all-time great in Kenny Powers.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Nicholas Miller, New Britain - 21-5 2.70 ERA 202 K
The 30 year-old Miller took home his first Cy Young Award in a landslide, leading the way for a strong New Britain team.  He led the AL in Wins, Strikeouts and WHIP, and tied for the lead in Shutouts.  He also made his 3rd All-Star appearance.  The 8 year vet finally put it altogether this season, topping the 20 win mark for the first time.

National League - Tommy Stoddard, Honolulu - 16-2 1.32 ERA 151 K
It was a tight NL Cy Young Award race, but in the end Honolulu's Stoddard got the nod by posting an outstanding record, and a new Kenny Powers single season record for ERA.  This is the 32 year-old's first Cy Young win, and he also made his 3rd All-Star appearance this season.  It was a tight race, but it's hard to argue that Stoddard didn't deserve the win with the outstanding numbers he posted.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League - C.C. Knott, Charlotte - .272 AVG 52 HR 123 RBI
The 28 year-old Knott finally got the call this season after toiling away in the minors for several seasons, and he didn't disappoint, knocking out an impressive 52 Home Runs to earn him AL Rookie of the Year honors.  He has an elite power bat, but questionable hitting skills otherwise, which probably resulted in his long minor league stint.  It's a good bet with these numbers, he's not headed back down any time soon.  He also took home a Silver Slugger Award this season.

National League - Alex Rosa, Chicago - 20-8 3.53 ERA 182 K
Rosa stepped up big time in his first season in the big leagues, leading the charge for Chicago, and the NL in Wins.  This was good enough to earn him NL Rookie of the Year by a wide margin.  Rosa is a workhorse with great control, good splits and solid velocity.  He should continue to post great numbers for Chicago, a squad that was in the thick of the NL pennant race all season.  

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League - Shawn Melhuse, Boston - 3.70 ERA, 56 SV - 1st Win
National League - Bo Edmonds, Chicago - 2.79 ERA, 47 SV - 1st Win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS

American League
DH	Nick Spence	Helena	1st
C	Richard Tateyama	New Britain	1st
1B	Sherman Dunston	Boise	6th
2B	Ken Ingram	New Britain	3rd
3B	Luis Diaz	Helena	1st
SS	Delino Santana	Jacksonville	3rd
LF	C.C. Knott	Charlotte	1st
CF	Sidney Forbes	New York	2nd
RF	Heathcliff Davis	New York	1st
National League
P	Bryan Cordova	Oklahoma City	1st
C	Jeremy Randall	Buffalo	10th
1B	Brett Leach	Las Vegas	2nd
2B	Albert Valenzuela	Buffalo	5th
3B	Dingo Price	Chicago	2nd
SS	Brendan O'Neil	Louisville	2nd
LF	Shane Curtis	Rochester	2nd
CF	Greg Rivers	Honolulu	1st
RF	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	9th

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS

American League
P	Allan Blackley	New York	2nd
C	Wayne Sherman	Oakland	1st
1B	Joaquin Gonzales	Jacksonville	1st
2B	Ken Ingram	New Britain	2nd
3B	Andy Minor	Atlanta	1st
SS	Banana Bergeron	New Britain	3rd
LF	Will Burkhart	Iowa City	1st
CF	Rex Kennedy	Helena	3rd
RF	Walt Silva	Boise	1st
National League
P	Jim Forbes	Huntington	1st
C	Julian Butera	Rochester	2nd
1B	Vasco Correa	Chicago	1st
2B	Miguel Armas	Syracuse	1st
3B	Lenny Brinkley	Huntington	1st
SS	Beamer Healy	Durham	2nd
LF	Hipolito Mesa	Burlington	1st
CF	David Meng	Huntington	2nd
RF	Jason Douglas	Cleveland	1st

Season 21 League Leaders

All-Time Top 5 Performances in Season 21
ERA - Tommy Stoddard, Honolulu - 1.32 - New Kenny Powers Single Season Record
Stolen Bases - Manuel Paez, Iowa City - 110 - 2nd All-Time
Saves - Shawn Melhuse, Boston - 56 - Tied for 2nd All-Time
Hits - J.C. Ganzel, Honolulu - 224 - Tied for 3rd All-Time
Shutouts - Nicholas Gil, Las Vegas; Jim Forbes, Huntington - 4 - Tied for 4th All-Time
Strikeouts - Nicholas Gil, Las Vegas - 262 - Tied for 5th All-Time

LEAGUE LEADERS

Offense
American League
Batting Average	Benj Cassidy	Pittsburgh	.324
Home Runs	Sherman Dunston	Boise	60
RBI	Nick Spence	Helena	146
Stolen Bases	Manuel Paez	Iowa City	110
Hits	David Frias	Boston	205
Runs	Sean Lewis	Helena	121
OBP	Richard Tateyama	New Britain	.401
SLG	Sherman Dunston	Boise	.636
OPS	Sherman Dunston	Boise	1.029
National League
Batting Average	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	.354
Home Runs	Vasco Correa	Chicago	53
RBI	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	153
Stolen Bases	Howie Hooper	Burlington	75
Hits	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	224
Runs	Albert Valenzuela	Buffalo	129
OBP	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	.426
SLG	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	.649
OPS	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	1.075
Pitching
American League
ERA	Stewart Mouton	Jacksonville	2.52
Wins	Nicholas Miller	New Britain	21
Strikeouts	Nicholas Miller	New Britain	202
Saves	Shawn Melhuse	Boston	56
WHIP	Nicholas Miller	New Britain	0.99
Innings Pitched	Valerio Baez	New Britain	266.2
Quality Starts	Ham Sampson	Seattle	26
Complete Games	Ham Sampson	Seattle	9
Shutouts	Nicholas Miller	New Britain	2
	Valerio Baez	New Britain	2
	Robert Dimaggio	Helena	2
	Ham Sampson	Seattle	2
National League
ERA	Tommy Stoddard	Honolulu	1.32
Wins	Alex Rosa	Chicago	20
Strikeouts	Nicholas Gil	Las Vegas	262
Saves	Bo Edmonds	Chicago	47
WHIP	Justin Jordan	Tucson	1.03
Innings Pitched	Nicholas Gil	Las Vegas	258.1
Quality Starts	Norberto Morales	Richmond	29
Complete Games	Nicholas Gil	Las Vegas	8
Shutouts	Nicholas Gil	Las Vegas	4
	Jim Forbes	Huntington	4

Player Payroll Cap Rule Clarification

Here is the player payroll cap rule clarification for Season 22, and a structured penalty scale so that such penalties will be transparent and consistently applied going forward.

1. SALARY CAP - $100 MIL. (Updated for Season 22)
At no time may player payroll exceed $100 million.  The means for determining compliance will be the Payroll Number that appears under Payroll Information upon clicking the team name link on the Standings page.   You are not permitted to accept players in a trade that will put your Payroll number over $100 million, even if cash is included to cover the player's salary.   The commissioner will make every effort to monitor deals to ensure they are in compliance with the Salary Cap rule, and urge owners to veto deals that are not, but if a deal slips through putting a team at over $100 million in payroll, it is a violation, as ultimately it is each owner's responsibility to ensure compliance with the rule.

WIS has ruled in past inquiries that a Player Payroll budget above $100 million is not an enforceable violation (it has to be actual payroll); however, Player Payroll budgets over $100 million are strongly discouraged to prevent accidental violations.

Penalties for Non-Compliance:
Owners will have 7 days from the date of discovery of the violation to get back under the $100 million payroll cap.  If unable to do so, the owner will face the following penalties:

Violations of $2 million or less
1st Offense:  Owner receives a cap penalty for the following season of 3 times the amount over the cap, rounded up to the nearest million.
2nd Offense:  Owner receives a cap penalty for the following season of 6 times the amount over the cap, rounded up to the nearest million.
3rd Offense:  Owner will be removed from the world.

Violations of more than $2 million
1st Offense:  Owner will be removed from the world.

Rule Objective: The rule somewhat minimizes the # of max salary contracts that can be offered and to guard against having to find an owner for a team with bad contracts if the original owner bails.

Rule V Exception: It is possible that payments from having rule V players drafted from your team will put you over the cap. You will not be forced to transfer $ in this case, however, your player payroll will not be allowed to exceed $100 million.  

Minimum Win Requirement Update

Our minimum win rule in Kenny Powers is 55 wins in one season (50 if you are a first season owner) and 185 wins over 3 seasons. You get 2 "strikes" against the policy, and on the third strike, you're out. If you don't earn any strikes over 3 consecutive seasons, all previous strikes are wiped out.

Only one strike was earned in Season 21, by peerishere, which was a 2nd strike, for failure to 185 games over three seasons.  Needing to win above the single season minimum win requirement of 55 games in Season 22 to avoid a strike is goodtymes31, needing 73 wins, msmsales, also needing 63 wins, and peerishere, needing 78 wins.

Additionally, a $3 million salary cap penalty is issued to New Britain in Season 22 for accidentally exceeding the $100 million player payroll cap.  They will not be permitted to exceed $97 million in Player Payroll.  I will be clarifying the player payroll cap rules and penalties soon, as there seems to be a need for clarification on the rule, as well as a need to determine firm penalties, which have not been established in the past.

In the meantime, here is the minimum win requirement summary for Season 21.

						Wins
					3-Season	Needed in
American League		S19	S20	S21	Win Total	S22 for 185
Atlanta Aardvarks	dierickx3	90	94	85	269
Boise Taters	bubbleboy	77	80	82	239
Boston SlamPigs	themarlyman	81	87	79	247
Charlotte StarLords	goodtymes31	65	50	72	187	63
Detroit FC Dinamo	lfkbibanul	77	90	94	261
Helena Bighorns	bluebaran	67	86	90	243
Iowa City Zumwalts	peerishere	56	51	61	168	73
Jacksonville Landsharks	Frozenherd			85
Nashville Neutron Bombs	Ghostrunner	73	74	78	225
New Britain Frothing Walruses	merott	111	101	109	321
New Orleans Zephyrs	msmsales	68	64	58	190	63
New York Yankees	lets_try			71
Oakland Invaders	jnosek	90	91	81	262
Pittsburgh Pirates	buckdeep			83
Seattle SuperSonics	alogman1	91	90	87	268
Wichita Wankers	jamesp469	99	79	82	260
						Wins
National League					3-Season	Needed in
		S19	S20	S21	Win Total	S22 for 185
Buffalo Tiny Chickens	AceCards	98	89	83	270
Burlington Giant Pumpkins	breezee	75	61	69	205
Chicago White Sox	slashtc	63	87	94	244
Cleveland Tribe	jslipford916			70
Durham Screwballs	oakman310		80	83
Honolulu Tiki Gods	dodgersrays	97	89	100	286
Huntington Thundering Herd	cbriese		88	77
Las Vegas Crap Shoot	pbsilver11		92	95
Louisville Sluggers	yanks21		74	82
Oklahoma City Bombers	tisi29	90	98	92	280
Richmond Manamfasha	TXLnghrn	86	88	97	271
Rochester Garbage Plates	jimt14120	87	69	74	230
St. Louis Gunners Er' Back	cosborn		79	76
Syracuse Blizzard	groth911	98	85	65	248
Tampa Bay Mermen	dmurphy104	75	83	83	241
Tucson Diamondbacks	trinitybants	90	83	67	240

Strikes in S18	Cause	Strike
msmsales	Failed to win 55 games in S18	1st
Strikes in S20		Strike
goodtymes31	Failed to win 55 games in S20	1st
peerishere	Failed to win 55 games in S20	1st
msmsales	Failed to win 185 over 3 seasons	2nd
Strikes in S21		Strike
peerishere	Failed to win 185 over 3 seasons	2nd
Player Payroll Penalty		Penalty
merott	Exceeded player payroll cap in S21	$3 Mil

Season 21 Final Power Rankings

A little bit late, sorry, but here are the end of regular season power rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #14 Durham (+8), #10 Jacksonville (+7), #12 Boise (+7), #26 Syracuse (+5)

Biggest Falls: #27 Nashville (-11), #16 Pittsburgh (-9), #18 Buffalo (-8), #19 Tampa Bay (-5)

					Pitching		Offense		LAST 41
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	New Britain	109	53	2	2	0	2	4	32	9
2	Honolulu	100	62	1	1	0	3	0	24	17
3	Richmond	97	65	6	3	2	10	1	24	17
4	Chicago	94	68	4	8	1	9	-2	25	16
5	Las Vegas	95	67	3	7	0	14	-2	22	19
6	Oklahoma City	92	70	5	5	-1	4	-2	20	21
7	Helena	90	72	9	15	3	7	3	26	15
8	Seattle	87	75	12	6	0	27	1	26	15
9	Atlanta	85	77	13	11	-3	14	5	25	16
10	Jacksonville	86	76	17	9	7	12	2	24	17
11	Louisville	82	80	8	20	0	6	-2	21	20
12	Boise	82	80	19	21	5	5	0	23	18
13	Detroit	84	78	11	4	-2	28	-2	19	22
14	Durham	83	79	22	22	5	18	0	26	15
15	Wichita	82	80	15	19	-4	13	8	19	22
16	Pittsburgh	83	79	7	25	-2	1	0	15	26
17	Huntington	77	85	20	9	1	24	3	21	20
18	Buffalo	83	79	10	16	-4	14	-6	17	24
19	Tampa Bay	83	79	14	14	-4	24	1	16	25
20	Oakland	81	81	18	17	-1	28	1	20	21
21	Boston	79	83	24	24	0	22	-5	20	21
22	Rochester	74	88	21	13	0	30	0	19	22
23	St. Louis	76	86	27	18	0	31	0	22	19
24	New York	71	91	25	28	-6	11	5	17	24
25	Cleveland	70	92	23	29	-1	8	1	16	25
26	Syracuse	65	97	31	27	4	21	-2	22	19
27	Nashville	75	87	16	23	-2	23	-1	14	27
28	Charlotte	72	90	28	30	-1	19	-4	19	22
29	Burlington	69	93	29	12	2	32	0	18	23
30	Tucson	67	95	26	26	-1	14	-1	15	26
31	New Orleans	58	104	32	32	0	20	3	16	25
32	Iowa City	61	101	30	31	-1	26	-2	13	28