I Pick This One

So much to like about this game I'm not sure what is my favorite thing.

Who doesn't love getting 103 win team swept right of the semis so not even a credit is won.

And how about having the third best record in the league but not making the playoffs, that's always a treat.

But my favorite is when you're 36 games ahead of someone and you're at home and they sweep you three straight.

All good stuff for sure, but I go with that last one.

Silly, silly game we play,

Weird wild stuff.

I currently have a team that, with only minor changes to 4th SP and LH side of cheap DH platoon, had a 13-25 stretch...followed by a 33-10 stretch.

Here comes the 10-18 streak next to bring a little balance to my life.

My current team started out 10-18.
It has since gone 48-17 and owns the best record in the league.
I had made no changes.

I've had a 110 win team knocked out of the semis. I've also had an 83 win team steal a championship.

Similar things can and do happen in real baseball. The 1906 Cubs won 116 games but lost the WS to the crosstown "Hitless Wonders." The 111 win 1954 Cleveland Indians lost the WS to the Giants. The 116 win 2001 Mariners were knocked out of the ACLS by the Yankees. Between 1993 and 2013 the Braves won more than 100 games six times, but none of those teams won a WS. Their only World Championship in that period went to a 90 win team.

Meanwhile, the 1987 Twins won only 85 games in the regular season, but took the WS. And the 2006 Cardinals took the Series with just 83 wins.

In a game (real or simulated) where a strong modicum of chance mixes with skill, anything can happen, particularly in a short series. And in SOM we've had thousands of leagues instead of a little more than 200, so the chances for strange happenings is magnified.

That doesn't make it hurt any the less, though. I'm still getting over that wipe-out of my 110 win team in the semis. And I'm annoyed that my 100+ win teams have performed worse, overall, than my 90-94 win teams. (Yes, I've counted!)

I counted too, and when my team is lucky enough to get home field advantage in the semis I go home without a free credit well over half the time (including losing in the semis with 5 of my last 5 with home field advantage). On the other hand, my under 90 win teams and wildcard entries get to the finals over 50% of the time and have won several championships.

However, since this post is entitled "I Pick This One", here is a link to my favorite big season winner/playoff Loser.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/view/330703

and their playoff box scores

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/le ... res/136810

Nev, you might remember/recognize this squad.

For me it would be the first one. It hurts to put a great season together and walk away without a credit. I am on a fixed income however, so this may be a little bigger deal to me than to most.

One appeal of the Barnstormers Tournament is that you can win a credit for having the best regular season record in a particular type of park. That can get you a credit for a good regular season even if you wash out in the finals.

OTOH, for what it's worth, there have been 19 regular season 100+ game winning teams in the current Barnstormers. Of these, only 3 have won rings.

One of those non-championship teams won 113 games--but at least that manager got a free credit!

OL

My longest sustained streak of success was a team that started 17-18 then went on to go 50-7 over their next 57...Did not win a title though.

I had an 80s team that started out 1-8, then, after struggling to 16-19, caught fire and reeled of 16 straight wins.

Then, after a stretch of .500 ball, it went on a 20 game winning streak. The we lost one and won the next six straight--so that was a 26-1 stretch. We closed the season, though, going 11-17.

. Yet inside the season it put together two separate stretches in which combined for a 42-1. The team did go on a win a ring (we got hot again in the playoffs) and it won a total of 99 games.

Here we have a team that is 42-1 in its best two stretches. And it's 12-25 in its two worst stretches, marked by the opening and closing of the season.

That's what can happen...and I guess why the game is so interesting. You're never sure what will happen next.

One of my favorite sucker bets at the beginning of the (real) baseball season is that more than half the teams will have BOTH a winning streak and a losing streak of 6 games or more.

More than 80% of teams throughout history have done exactly that, but virtually everybody takes the bet.