This page normally has writeups for only the most recent Weaver League champion. Unfortunately, the league website was not updated in a timely fashion after the 2070 season. In order to give proper recognition, both the 2070 and 2071 champions will be showcased here for a full season.
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Congratulations to the 2071 Weaver League Champions, the Stockholm Swedes!
“Nobody roots for Goliath.” Media narratives in sports always focus on the underdog story, with teams coming together to achieve difficult goals. While this might make for a great movie, what could be more difficult than meeting your own self-imposed expectations of excellence?
As the Rastas’ celebratory smoke wafted over Cruz Field, the Stockholm Swedes exited postgame media availability resolute and united. Losing to a squad in the BLCS, or even the Weaver Series, wasn’t something this organization condoned. With 8 Weaver Cups in their storied history, the Rastas and Locks and any other would-be contender out there really couldn’t be considered peers. Instead, it was the great Swedes teams of the 2044-54 era that this iteration measured their success against. And with only 1 Weaver Cup from 4 consecutive postseason trips, this group knew that offseason preparation would be critical to meeting that standard.
Stockholm’s winter training facility racked up record high heating and power bills as Swedes players continuously occupied the building. With a collective attitude of “one more rep, one more set”, the long Scandinavian nights were a perfect opportunity to get extra workouts in. Training table meals were optimized for performance, and the veteran roster could sense that the payoff for their effort was coming. Nobody outside of Sweden would be rooting for them, but they didn’t care. This team would be ready for the challenge come springtime.
Stockholm’s offense, once again, had no weak links as the team posted a collective .298 batting average in scoring 906 runs, just over 5.5 runs per game. RF Christian Yelich (.333/39/117) had a slight dip statswise, but 1B Mike Crane (.341/32/120) rebounded to have a career year while offering critical protection in the lineup. On the mound, Stockholm’s pitching rotation embraced their fan moniker of “The Four Horsemen” as RHP Mark Fidrych (22-8, 2.58), RHP Ray Brown (20-5, 2.91), RHP Hyonjin Yoon (23-2, 2.16) and RHP Harold Bender (23-4, 1.62) were all seen as credible BL Cy Young Award candidates.
Heading into the BLCS, Stockholm’s opponent was a plucky Havana Cigars squad who just seemed happy to be back in the playoffs (3 appearances in the last 23 seasons). While the margins of victory were not all that large, the outcome never really seemed in doubt, especially after the Swedes eked out a 1-0 win in 10 innings to go up 3-0. Havana hoped to give their fans something to celebrate by staving off the sweep, but RHP Mark Fidrych limited the Cigars to 2 ER in 7.1 IP to end their season. After a quick celebratory huddle on the mound, it was back to business for Stockholm as the quick finish to the BLCS allowed the Swedes plenty of time to review video of their prospective Inferno League opponents.
After a dramatic G7 win by Panama City in the ILCS, the Locks had hoped that their previous Weaver Series win over the Swedes might pay dividends this time around: it sure looked that way after Panama City sealed a 2-1 win on the road in G1. This opening loss just seemed to wake up Stockholm, though. Stockholm proceeded to win the next 4 games in a row, as RHPs Ray Brown, Mark Fidrych, and Harold Bender limited Panama City to only 5 runs.
The final out of the Weaver Series was greeted by golf claps by the Panama City faithful, but back home in Stockholm, the viewing parties were electric. Crowds thronged Gamla Stan, the city’s historic downtown, and pubs throughout the city reported being “drank dry” by excited fans. On the plane ride home, Swedes players finally cut loose and celebrated as all of their self-imposed pressure drained out of their faces. Tonight was a night to celebrate, and soon enough it would be time to go back to work. The 2071 Stockholm Swedes team was chasing ghosts, and if offseason transactions break right for 2072, more Weaver Cups might yet still be in the cards. Congrats again Stockholm!
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Congratulations to the 2070 Weaver League Champions, the Jamaica Rastafarians!
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” For Jamaica Rastas fans, this quote had become a recurring theme as each of the late 2060s seasons all seemed to end the same way: cruise to a Roehm Division title, then get stomped in the BLCS by the latest Barnes powerhouse. Why should 2070 be any different? Can we just fast forward to Thanksgiving Dinner?
While Rastas fans may have been resigned to a Sisyphean fate, 3B Joe Torre was intent on breaking Jamaica’s streak of playoff futility. Instead of flying home to New York to enjoy the holidays, Torre organized a series of grueling offseason workouts with the intention of hitting spring training at peak fitness, ready to excel. He invited the rest of the Rastas squad to join, but privately thought that only a small group would attend, maybe just enough to occupy a small section of Kingston’s Fort Clarence Beach. To his surprise, though, nearly everyone (minus C Jack Whitney) on the 40-man roster showed up for training, focused and ready to go. With such a large group, the location was forced to shift to the Hedonism resort in western Jamaica. At the spacious resort, the odd experience of mingling with other guests helped bond the team together for the long campaign ahead.
With a newfound spirit of team unity, the Rastas smoked their Roehm peers by posting an 18-3 record in April. The wins kept rolling deep into the summer until a glitchy August (13-17), but Jamaica soon rounded into playoff form by closing with a 24-9 record. At the plate, the dominant Rastas offense was powered by 1B Moises Alcala (.317/39/105), SS Paul Blaisdell (.301/32/101) and Torre (.321/30/77); nine players each hit over 20 HRs, combining for a team total of 271. On the mound, RHP Bullet Rogan (19-11, 2.46) was the unquestioned ace but RHP Junho Paik (21-8, 2.58) and RHP Ed Mielke (23-5, 1.84) helped fill out a formidable rotation that would prove to be tough to score on during postseason play.
Jamaica jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the BLCS by stealing G1 on the road, but their dream start quickly turned into a nightmare. 3B Joe Torre, firmly ensconced as the Rastas’ fiery leader, tore his thigh muscle running out a routine groundball and was declared OUT for the postseason by team doctors. On the field, Torre had taken a while to board the gurney and fans in the stands could be heard murmuring, “oh f@#$, what else is new?” Once play had resumed though, the vibe in the stadium started to shift as a leaked TikTok video of Torre imploring his teammates to push on started to go viral. Jamaica lost a heartbreaking G3 1-0 in 15 innings despite RHP Bullet Rogan striking out 9 in 11 IP, but the Rastas managed to rally at home to take G4 to setup a best-of-3.
Stockholm drew first blood with a 4-2 win in G5, but failed to seal the deal in G6 as Jamaica scored 4 runs in the 5th inning en route to a 4-2 victory. With a winner-take-all showdown setup for G7, the Swedes started ace RHP Mark Fidrych while the Rastas opted for RHP Ed Mielke. Mielke was ineffective and got pulled early, and the teams ping-ponged scoring runs until the 7th inning stretch arrived with the Swedes leading 5-4. As the resounding strains of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” echoed throughout Cruz Field, a powerful voice could be heard emanating from the Rastas dugout. Torre had gathered the troops to give one last final speech, and while reports of what he actually said were inconclusive, the results were not. Jamaica rallied in the top of the 9th, scoring 4 runs while taking advantage of a rare falter by Fidrych. Swedes fans could be heard calling for the bullpen coach: “why aren’t you pulling The Bird, he’s tired and has already given so much?!” but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Sometimes, fate just smiles on a team and tonight, it was all Rastas in a G7 8-6 win.
With their goal of advancing past the BLCS finally complete, Jamaica’s next challenge was to manage their adrenaline hangover and not let it ruin their shot at the Weaver Series. On the other side of the bracket, the upstart Cozumel Mayans were living out their own dream scenario after rallying from 5th place late in the season to eke out the Lockwood Division title. RHP Ed Mielke again got the call to start in G1 and was yanked early, but his ineffective performance had no consequence as the Rastas’ powerful offense plated home 10 runs in a decisive 10-4 win. Jamaica won G2 and G3 by identical 3-2 scores, but Cozumel managed to stave off a sweep and give the home fans something to cheer about in a 4-2 G4 win. With their rally experience vs Stockholm fresh, Jamaica was intent on closing out the Weaver Series in G5 and used a trademark late-inning rally to do it, scoring 4 in the top of the 9th to win 5-2.
The 2070 Jamaica Rastas had finally done what their late 60s peers could not: bring home the franchise’s 3rd Weaver Cup! As crowds lined the Norman Manley Highway to welcome their returning heroes home, the jubilant mood on the bus was punctuated by Rastas players recounting their favorite moments from preseason training camp: “sure, the playoffs were memorable but can you believe the stuff we saw going on during preseason workouts?!? Just absolutely wild…” Meanwhile, in the back of the bus, team captain 3B Joe Torre had a wry smile on his face and knew that all of this, the accolades, the glory, the unfettered joy everywhere on the island, was the direct result of a simple decision last winter. Rededicate himself, and by extension, the franchise, to playing great baseball. Pour your heart into training, get everyone to buy in, and with a little luck, even the hardest things are possible. Congrats again Jamaica!
