by seanreflex » Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:23 am
Ugly,
congratulations on your championship!! First one is special. I am in leagues with Ugly and Yellow Dog frequently; for as awesome competition as they are, I didnt realize until reading this post there was only one ring between the two of them.
My first championship was in a theme league, the Overuse League # 1. Led by 3 key midseason acquisitions (Willie Upshaw 33 HR in 345 AB; Chili Davis 38 HR and 91 RBI in 130 games; Kal Daniels 28 HR in 303 AB) and great starting pitching from Reuss and Bryn Smith, my team quickly discarded YountFan in the semis by a combined 27-6 score in 3 games.
In the finals, my Montezuma Leathernecks faced a very talented (best record in the league at 93-69) Sit Me Down Coach team managed by Yellow Dog himself. His team had 349 HR in regular season in the Kingdome led by Jack Clarks 62. Lance Parrish, Will Clark and Frank White all had over 40, and Robin Yount and Dave Winfield also had huge years.
The infamous Mark Salas, who came on to play 3B for league MVP Pedro Guerrero (.311, 45 HR, 138 RBI) after an injury, hit a deep sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th to score Bump Wills. Here's the newsclip:
[i:73cab67815]"The game was won by Montezuma with a run in the 9th inning. Bump Wills drew a walk. Dave Concepcion came next and he drew a walk. Tony Gwynn then laid down a sacrifice bunt. Mark Salas came up and he hit a deep fly making Montezuma the winners and sending the 41,162 fans home happy. The game was a scoreless duel until the 8th inning."[/i:73cab67815]
Sorry to contribute to your ringless streak, YD. You're a great competitor. I won my championship in my 9th playoff appearance. I then won two more within a 60 day window. I've only won one more since, but I still keep trying. Problem is, competition keeps getting better and better.
Thanks,
Sean