Season 26 Wrap Up - Durham Wins it All!

Durham Screwballs (NL) oakman310 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Durham is your Season 26 Champion!

It was another eventful postseason in Kenny Powers that ended with Durham at the top of the heap, defeating Nashville in the World Series 4 games to 2.  Durham had an impressive run to end the regular season that shot them up to #2 in the Final Regular Season rankings.  That momentum carried on into the postseason as they took out Rochester in 4 games in the Divisional round and a tough Chicago team in the NLCS in just 5 games. Julio Park once again led the offense for Durham, posting a 1.025 postseason OPS, while a solid bullpen made up for the fact that their top Starting Pitcher had a less than stellar playoff run.

Nashville deserves a lot of credit as well for a solid postseason run, making it to the World Series as the 6 seed in the AL.  After two tough match-ups against New Britain and Helena, it was the battle of the underdogs in the ALCS as they faced Chicago, who knocked off defending champ and regular season powerhouse Little Rock, in which they prevailed in a back-and-forth 6-game series.  They pushed Durham hard in the World Series, but came up just short.  Still, hats off to them for a very nice playoff run.

This is Durham's and oakman310's first Kenny Powers title and for oakman310's 5th championship overall.  Congrats!

That's it for Season 26, hope to see you back for Season 27 soon!

Season 26 Awards Recap

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Jimmie Alou, New Britain - .290 AVG 44 HR 115 RBI 29 SB
The 22 year-old rookie right fielder came out of the gates swinging in his rookie campaign (Alou had not played a Major League game prior to this season), winning the AL MVP, garnering half of the votes in play.  The future is obviously bright for Alou, as very few players win the MVP their rookie season.  Alou was also an All-Star starter, won a Silver Slugger and led the AL in Slugging and OPS. It pretty much doesn't get any better than that.

National League - Jordan Lee, Las Vegas - .309 AVG 41 HR 117 RBI
It was an incredibly tight race for NL MVP, but in the end, the 31 year-old Las Vegas 1st Baseman took home the win.  It's an incredible comeback story, as Lee played sparingly last season, even spending some time in the minors.  It seems he finally found his way in Las Vegas, putting up career best numbers, and taking home a Silver Slugger award as well.  Very nice breakthrough for Lee in Season 26 indeed.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Guy Maybin, Helena - 20-3 1.90 ERA 161 K
The 27 year-old hard-throwing righty out of Helena was a runaway winner of the AL Cy Young, and looking as his numbers it's easy to see why.  Maybin led the AL in ERA and tied for the lead in Quality Starts.  He also made his 1st All-Star appearance in Season 26 and posted a career high 20 wins.  This is another nice breakthrough story, although taking a glance at his ratings, it's not really all that unexpected.  

National League - Tim Blair, Syracuse - 15-4 2.03 ERA 227 K
The votes for NL Cy Young were split among several candidates, allowing Blair to take the honors for the 3rd consecutive season and for the 4th time overall with just 10 votes.  Blair didn't post the impressive Win total he has the past two seasons, but did take home his 3rd straight ERA title and made his 7th All-Star appearance.  Blair is the 3rd ever pitcher in Kenny Powers history to win 4 Cy Young Awards, and the 2nd to win it in 3 consecutive seasons.  Blair, already cemented as an all-time Kenny Powers great, could reach legendary status if he is able to win yet again next season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League - Jimmie Alou, New Britain - .290 AVG 44 HR 115 RBI 29 SB
Alou also won the AL Rookie of the Year, by one vote, over a candidate that was also nominated for MVP, who received 14 less votes than Alou in that race.  Bizarre voting patterns for sure!

National League - Nicholas Rothschild, Rochester - .300 AVG 18 HR 62 RBI
The 21 year-old catcher was named NL Rookie of the Year by a landslide vote.  Rothschild also won a Silver Slugger award this season.  He has impressive durability (started all 162 games behind the plate), is fairly solid defensively, and is an OBP machine at the plate, with an elite batting eye and great contact and splits.  He has some pop, but won't hit a ton of home runs.  That aside, he should be one of the best catchers in Kenny Powers for many seasons to come.

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League - Butch Gray, New York - 2.29 ERA, 40 SV - 2nd Win
National League - Livan Marin, Rochester - 5.04 ERA, 40 SV - 1st Win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS
American League

DH	Nick Spence	Helena	2nd
C	Javier Martis	Boise	1st
1B	Jimmie Alou	New Britain	1st
2B	Nerio Skinner	Louisville	1st
3B	Albie Latos	Nashville	2nd
SS	Sean Lewis	Helena	4th
LF	Albert Mendoza	Chicago	2nd
CF	Addison Cortes	Monterrey	1st
RF	Ernest Hancock	Little Rock	4th

National League

P	Hector Montero	Atlanta	1st
C	Nicholas Rothschild	Rochester	1st
1B	Jordan Lee	Las Vegas	1st
2B	Abraham O'Neill	Las Vegas	1st
3B	Gary Castillo	Rochester	1st
SS	Edgardo Serra	Chicago	1st
LF	Patrick Grieve	Syracuse	2nd
CF	Ken Ingram	Chicago	6th
RF	Christopher Hamilton	Rochester	2nd

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS
American League

P	Crash Prades	Chicago	1st
C	Darrin Lawson	Seattle	1st
1B	Felipe Fuentes	Boise	1st
2B	Weldon Kendrick	Little Rock	1st
3B	Willy Trammell	Louisville	1st
SS	Ross Moran	New Britain	1st
LF	David Molina	Nashville	1st
CF	Pablo Arredondo	New Britain	1st
RF	Brett Puckett	Nashville	1st

National League

P	Oswaldo Campos	Burlington	1st
C	Yoslan Moreno	Salt Lake City	1st
1B	B.C. Philips	Salt Lake City	1st
2B	Fausto Espinosa	Atlanta	1st
3B	Pep Saito	Salt Lake City	2nd
SS	Johnny Osborne	Atlanta	1st
LF	Brendan O'Neil	Chicago	3rd
CF	Ken Ingram	Chicago	5th
RF	Darryl Matthews	New York	2nd

Season 26 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.

Two strikes were earned this season, for each owner it is their first.  jnosek and hrrng_dnn each failed to meet the 55 win floor. ozzzball19's win total this season does not count against the 185 wins over 3 seasons requirement, as he took over the team mid-season.

For next season, owners needing to win more than 55 games in Season 26 to avoid a strike are jnosek (62 wins needed) and hrrng_dnn (85 wins needed).

Here's the complete summary through Season 26.

						Wins
American League					3-Season	Needed in
Team	Owner	S24	S25	S26	Win Total	S27 for 185
Little Rock Little Necrophiliac Nine	ab90	112	127	120	359
Seattle SuperSonics	alogman1	86	76	65	227
Norfolk Tides	bjc30		78	71
Helena Bighorns	bluebaran	108	88	101	297
Boise Taters	bubbleboy	95	95	96	286
Louisville Thunder Frogs	crickett13			79
Washington D.C. Senators	douglasdao			56
Ottawa Code Blue	fireattack	86	80	76	242
Nashville Neutron Dance	Ghostrunner	86	101	92	279
Charlotte StarLords	goodtymes31	96	91	83	270
New York Yankees	grissom97	83	84	86	253
Detroit City Baseball Club	jdavidson1			54
Oakland Invaders	jnosek	68	74	49	191	62
New Britain Frothing Walruses	merott	59	88	99	246
Chicago Cubs	osbornlefty			88
Monterrey Charros	sethstorer	65	74	78	217
						Wins
National League					3-Season	Needed in
Team	Owner	S24	S25	S26	Win Total	S27 for 185
Buffalo Tiny Chickens	AceCards	73	83	80	236
New Orleans Babycakes	AmCan			91
Burlington Giant Pumpkins	breezee	69	70	72	211
Honolulu Tiki Gods	dodgersrays	88	92	88	268
Syracuse Blizzard	groth911	89	93	92	274
Salt Lake City Stormin' Mormons	habslmets		102	72
Pittsburgh Diamondbacks	hrrng_dnn	66	59	41	166	85
Omaha Cornhuskers	jfuchs31			52
Rochester Garbage Plates	jimt14120	82	86	94	262
Durham Screwballs	oakman310	104	104	106	314
Santa Fe Salad Forks	ozzzball19			62
Las Vegas Crap Shoot	pbsilver11	88	73	86	247
Chicago White Sox	slashtc	91	102	105	298
Atlanta Black Crackers	tenaciousdx			68
New York Empire	tmfran	64	83	88	235
Richmond Manamfasha	TXLnghrn	94	91	102	287

Strikes in S26		Strike
jnosek	Failure to win 55 games in S26	1st
hrrng_dnn	Failure to win 55 games in S26	1st

Season 26 League Leaders

All-Time Top 5 Performances in Season 26
Runs - Theo Reese, Little Rock - 144 - 4th All-Time

Multiple Category Leaders
Oswaldo Campos, Burlington (NL) - 4 - Strikeouts, IP, CG, Shutouts
Jimmie Alou, New Britain (AL) - 2 - SLG, OPS
Elmer Miller, Honolulu (NL) - 2 - HR, RBI
Edinson Pescado, Burlington (NL) - 2 - SB, OBP
Julio Park, Durham (NL) - 2 - SLG, OPS
Nicholas Gil, Chicago (AL) - 2 - Strikeouts, CG
Guy Maybin, Helena (AL) - 2 - ERA, QS
David Alcantara, Chicago (AL) - 2 - WHIP, QS
Tim Blair, Syracuse (NL) - 2 - ERA, QS
Pedro Tovar, New York (NL) - 2 - CG, Shutouts

LEAGUE LEADERS

Offense
American League
Batting Average	Ozzie Martin	Chicago	.323
Home Runs	Nick Spence	Helena	48
RBI	Angel Perez	Little Rock	141
Stolen Bases	Ketel Hubbard	Seattle	73
Hits	Sean Lewis	Helena	200
Runs	Theo Reese	Little Rock	144
OBP	Yunesky Morlan	New Britan	.395
SLG	Jimmie Alou	New Britan	.630
OPS	Jimmie Alou	New Britan	1.007
National League
Batting Average	Patrick Grieve	Syracuse	.323
Home Runs	Elmer Miller	Honolulu	51
RBI	Elmer Miller	Honolulu	131
Stolen Bases	Edinson Pescado	Burlington	74
Hits	Alfredo Ortiz	Chicago	200
Runs	Christopher Hamilton	Rochester	128
OBP	Edinson Pescado	Burlington	.414
SLG	Julio Park	Durham	.603
OPS	Julio Park	Durham	.989
Pitching
American League
ERA	Guy Maybin	Helena	1.90
Wins	Dean Clarkson	Little Rock	22
Strikeouts	Nicholas Gil	Chicago	212
Saves	Howie Lockwood	Nashville	42
WHIP	David Alcantara	Chicago	1.02
Innings Pitched	Clyde Sandberg	Detroit	259.0
Quality Starts	Guy Maybin	Helena	25
	David Alcantara	Chicago	25
	Peter Chang	New Britain	25
Complete Games	Nicholas Gil	Chicago	6
Shutouts	Alvin Gonzales	Seattle	3
National League
ERA	Tim Blair	Syracuse	2.03
Wins	Chipper Savage	Honolulu	23
Strikeouts	Oswaldo Campos	Burlington	242
Saves	Livan Marin	Rochester	40
WHIP	Boomer Lange	Chicago	0.96
Innings Pitched	Oswaldo Campos	Burlington	257.2
Quality Starts	Tim Blair	Syracuse	30
Complete Games	Oswaldo Campos	Burlington	5
	Pedro Tovar	New York	5
Shutouts	Floyd Glenn	Durham	2
	Oswaldo Campos	Burlington	2
	Pedro Tovar	New York	2

Season 26 Final Power Rankings

					Pitching		Offense		LAST PER
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Little Rock	120	42	1	5	3	1	0	32	7
2	Durham	106	56	4	2	7	4	0	31	8
3	Helena	101	61	2	7	3	2	1	26	14
4	Chicago (NL)	105	57	3	8	-6	5	3	30	10
5	Richmond	102	60	10	3	0	14	2	27	12
6	Syracuse	92	70	7	3	2	12	0	23	17
7	New Britain	99	63	5	9	-3	13	1	24	16
8	Boise	96	66	8	12	4	9	-4	23	17
9	Honolulu	88	74	14	1	6	20	-2	21	18
10	Rochester	94	68	9	19	-2	7	-1	21	18
11	Chicago (AL)	88	74	6	15	-2	3	-1	17	22
12	Las Vegas	86	76	15	5	-1	18	-2	22	18
13	Nashville	92	70	12	22	-2	6	1	20	19
14	New York (NL)	88	74	13	10	-9	19	1	18	21
15	New Orlears	91	71	11	16	-2	14	-3	15	25
16	New York (AL)	86	76	19	13	5	24	-1	23	17
17	Charlotte	83	79	16	25	-3	8	0	20	19
18	Louisville	79	83	21	24	3	11	2	24	16
19	Monterrey	78	84	22	23	3	16	2	24	16
20	Buffalo	80	82	17	18	-3	17	-2	17	23
21	Ottawa	76	86	18	14	-3	22	-1	17	22
22	Atlanta	68	94	24	17	4	21	3	21	18
23	Burlington	72	90	27	21	-2	27	1	20	19
24	Salt Lake City	72	90	20	20	3	23	-1	14	26
25	Seattle	65	97	25	11	1	32	0	17	22
26	Norfolk	71	91	26	26	-2	24	5	17	23
27	Santa Fe	62	100	23	31	-1	10	0	12	28
28	Washington	56	106	28	28	0	26	-1	13	26
29	Omaha	52	110	29	27	-2	30	0	11	28
30	Detroit	54	108	30	29	0	28	-1	9	31
31	Oakland	49	113	31	30	1	29	-3	10	29
32	Pittsburgh	41	121	32	32	0	31	0	13	27

Biggest Climbers: #5 Richmond (+5), #9 Honolulu (+5), #23 Burlington (+4)

Biggest Falls: #11 Chicago (AL) (-5), #15 New Orleans (-4), #24 Salt Lake City (-4), #27 Santa Fe (-4)

Season 26 Power Rankings #3

It's time again for another edition of the power rankings.  Let's jump right into it!  No change at the top spot, as Little Rock has continued their excellent play since the last rankings.  Helena is up 3 spots to #2, as their pitching has stepped it up a notch since the last rankings.  The NL Chicago squad has improved all-around this last rankings period and is up 6 spots to #3.  Durham drops 1 spot to 4, while a surging New Britain squad jumps 9 spots to finish out the top 5.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #5 New Britain (+9), #9 Rochester (+8), #3 Chicago (NL) (+6), #20 Salt Lake City (+5)

Biggest Falls: #10 Richmond (-8), #11 New Orleans (-7), #13 New York (NL) (-7), #14 Honolulu (-6), #12 Nashville (-5)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all during the stretch run!

					Pitching		Offense		LAST PER
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Little Rock	88	35	1	8	-6	1	2	29	12
2	Helena	75	47	5	10	5	3	-1	28	12
3	Chicago (NL)	75	47	9	2	3	8	7	27	13
4	Durham	75	48	3	9	-3	4	0	24	17
5	New Britain	75	47	14	6	6	14	6	28	12
6	Chicago (AL)	71	52	10	13	0	2	-1	26	15
7	Syracuse	69	53	11	5	5	12	0	28	12
8	Boise	73	49	12	16	2	5	0	26	14
9	Rochester	73	50	17	17	3	6	0	31	10
10	Richmond	75	48	2	3	0	16	-7	21	20
11	New Orlears	76	46	4	14	-5	11	-3	26	14
12	Nashville	72	51	7	20	1	7	0	23	18
13	New York (NL)	70	53	6	1	0	20	1	22	19
14	Honolulu	67	56	8	7	-4	18	-2	21	20
15	Las Vegas	64	58	13	4	3	16	-3	19	21
16	Charlotte	63	60	19	22	0	8	6	23	18
17	Buffalo	63	59	15	15	-1	15	-5	18	22
18	Ottawa	59	64	18	11	0	21	1	21	20
19	New York (AL)	63	59	16	18	-2	23	-6	15	25
20	Salt Lake City	58	64	25	23	3	22	1	19	21
21	Louisville	55	67	23	27	0	13	5	19	21
22	Monterrey	54	68	20	26	-2	18	1	19	21
23	Santa Fe	50	72	21	30	0	10	0	14	26
24	Atlanta	47	76	27	21	1	24	0	16	25
25	Seattle	48	75	26	12	-4	32	0	17	24
26	Norfolk	54	68	22	24	-7	29	1	15	25
27	Burlington	52	71	24	19	0	28	-3	14	27
28	Washington	43	80	28	28	-1	25	1	11	30
29	Omaha	41	82	31	25	0	30	1	14	27
30	Detroit	45	77	29	29	0	27	0	12	28
31	Oakland	39	84	30	31	0	26	2	12	29
32	Pittsburgh	28	94	32	32	0	31	-2	10	30