Author: commish

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!

Congratulations to the 2069 Weaver League Champions, the Panama City Locks!

Dominant starting pitching is the great equalizer in baseball. With defense controlling play from the start, an elite pitcher can neuter the most potent offensive lineups with ease by dictating a game’s flow through pitch placement and changing speeds. Baseball history is replete with great righty-lefty pairs: Spahn and Sain, Koufax and Drysdale, Maddux and Glavine, Johnson and Schilling… and after the 2069 Weaver Series, Panama City’s duo of RHP Smokey Joe Williams and LHP Frank Tanana can forever be linked with that prestigious class.

While most pundits focused their attention on Williams and Tanana, Panama City’s pitching staff posted a collective 2.40 ERA in 2069 (best: 2.39), good for 58th best all-time as a team. At the plate, no spot in the lineup could be considered an “easy out” as nine batters posted double-digit home run totals. Late-season pickup SS Nico Rinderknecht led the way with 32 HR (.273/32/81), while LF Frank Barlow provided critical lineup protection in the power slots (.282/26/93). On the basepaths, CF Charlie Hatcher (42) and 3B Harris Tovar (44) also embraced the “dynamic duo” theme by stealing 86 bases to help setup run-scoring opportunities.

After a 1-season hiatus, Panama City and Sapporo fans embraced the chance to build on the teams’ budding ILCS rivalry. In 2067, Sapporo had made short work of the Locks, knocking them out of the ILCS in 5 games. After a 4-3 home win in Game 1 over RHP Smokey Joe Williams, Snow Monkeys fans were confident that history was set to repeat. LHP Frank Tanana, on the other hand, had other ideas. After logging 7 scoreless innings in Game 2 to help lead the Locks to a 3-0 win, Tanana repeated his performance in a pivotal Game 5 with 7.2 scoreless innings to give Panama City the 3-2 series lead. The Locks had 2 chances to claim the IL pennant on the road in Sapporo, but LHP Red Stovey, the season’s jack-of-all-trades, cemented the series with a win in Game 6.

Heading into the Weaver Series, Panama City was almost an afterthought as most media coverage focused on the Stockholm Swedes’ inevitable reboot of their dominant 40s/50s dynasty. Were the Locks destined to be a forgettable “bad guy” for Sweden’s heroes to pummel into submission? Irritated by the comparison, Williams and Tanana worked with Locks equipment managers to paint their mitts in a Thanos-themed color scheme. Social media lit up with pictures of homemade replicas, and after the two logged road wins to open the Weaver Series, fans everywhere started to wonder: is Panama City winning the Weaver Cup the true inevitable end for the Finals? Stockholm eked out a Game 3 1-0 win in 13 innings, but the Swedes’ 1-0 loss in Game 4 put them right back on the brink of elimination.

At that point, Locks players could credibly be accused of letting their foot up off the gas. Stockholm won Games 5 and 6 by a collective score of 13-3, setting up a dramatic Game 7 at Stockholm’s Cruz Field. Throngs of Swedes fans packed Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s historic core, and were ready to celebrate their team’s potential comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Chants of “3-1 lead! 3-1 lead!” rang throughout the square before first pitch, but they got noticeably quieter after Panama City kicked off scoring with runs in both the 1st and 3rd innings. LHP Frank Tanana had marked each of Panama City’s 3 prior wins by crossing out a colored “infinity stone” with a Sharpie, and his focused glare on the mound revealed he was ready to blackout the 4th stone. Tanana pitched 7.1 innings, but with only 4 batters getting hits, the 2-1 lead established early looked to be enough. In the top of the 6th inning, SS Nico Rinderknecht wiped away all doubt by clubbing a 2-run homer deep into LF, and as Rinderknecht trotted around the bases, an eerie quiet enveloped the stadium and would remain until the final out.

Upon returning home to Panama City, Locks players were feted by a unique “canalside” parade. Instead of jubilant crowds lining downtown streets, fans from all across Panama converged on the Canal Zone and turned the 40-mile industrial shipping channel into a rollicking countrywide fiesta. Powered by adrenaline and perhaps a bit of liquid courage, Locks players started repeating their locker room mantra from the regular season: “Why not us, why not now?” In response, the fans chanted back a phrase that might be the Locks’ locker room catchphrase for the coming 2070 season: “Why not MORE?” Congrats again Panama City!

Congratulations to the 2068 Weaver League Champions, the Stockholm Swedes!

After a steady 10-season climb up the Barnes Division standings, the 2068 Stockholm Swedes came to the realization that their Weaver Cup journey would be a classic example of the 90/10 rule: the final 10% of their mission to unseat Weaver’s back-to-back reigning champs, the Entebbe Zealots, would take 90% of their collective effort. With the Zealots motivated to cement their own place in history as one of Weaver’s epic dynasties, Stockholm would need to play their A-game starting from Day 1 of the season.

Stockholm came roaring out of the gate in April with a 15-8 record (.652) and refused to let up, posting 3 straight months of 20+ wins during the temperate Scandinavian summer. The Swedes knew that any dip in focus could allow Entebbe to gain momentum and pass them in the standings, so the division-clinching celebration was marked by outbursts of relief almost as much as joy.

The Swedes offense featured a potent combination of power and speed, as 6 of 9 regular starters posted double-digit totals in both homers and steals. LF Pete Hill led the way in winning his 1st MVP Award, logging a .306/42/101 slashline coupled with a staggering 62 steals. On the mound, RHP Mark Fidrych (24-5/1.73/163) took home the Cy Young Award after fending off some tough internal competition by RHP Ray Brown (22-7/3.20/169). RHP George Young (19-5/2.01/173) capped a rare clean sweep of the awards podium by winning Rookie of the Year.

Injury-ravaged Jamaica presented little challenge to Stockholm in the BLCS round, as the Swedes rolled the Rastas 4 straight in a sweep. The Honolulu Volcanoes looked doomed to a similar fate, but back-to-back shutout wins in Games 3 and 4 evened out the Weaver Series and sent Stockholm fans into a collective anxiety attack. After all the work to unseat Entebbe, would their beloved Swedes fall short, just steps away from claiming the prize? Homegrown star SS Huey Boland would answer with a firm NO, stepping up to the plate in the top of the 10th with the score tied 0-0. Volcanoes RHP Hugh Freeman was writing his own storybook arc in pitching a complete game shutout, but his brilliance would soon be forgotten as Boland hammered a game-winning home run deep into the left field stands of Diamond Head Diamond. Returning home with a 3-2 lead, Stockholm took care of business and claimed the Weaver Cup with a dominant 7-2 win at home in Game 6.

The exuberant shouts of joy from fans inside Cruz Field soon reverberated throughout the city, as fans left the comfort of their flats to join the impromptu rally in the streets of Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s historic old quarter. With the Swedes’ return to glory and memories of the last Stockholm dynasty still fresh in the minds of many, was it too soon to start thinking of this 2068 championship as the first step of a revival? We’ll see in the coming seasons! Congrats again Stockholm!

Congratulations to the 2067 Weaver League Champions, the Entebbe Zealots!

When a team claims a title in dominant fashion, often the toughest opponent to deal with in the seasons ahead is “the disease of more”. Players want increased roles and a matching salary to boot, while management can sometimes be caught resting on their laurels, basking in the glow of praise from their peers as well as the home fanbase. Would the 2067 Entebbe Zealots fall victim to this curse?

The answer to that question was a resounding NO, as Entebbe exceeded their win total by 8 games during the regular season to finish 120-42. The Zealots needed every one of those wins too, as the Stockholm Swedes put forth their claim as the next powerhouse-in-waiting with a 111-51 record.

The Zealots offense featured a staggering 7 hitters batting over .270, with MVP 3B Jud Wilson leading the way (.308/43/112). While Wilson may have won the actual award, CF Carey Blais (.283/37/90), 1B Bobby Muich (.288/43/117), and RF Art Harris (.282/38/97) all provided stiff internal competition by logging MVP-caliber seasons themselves. On the mound, RHP Francisco Matthei dominated the league in recording his 2nd Pitching Triple Crown (24-4/1.59/228) en route to his 3rd Cy Young award. RHP Al Link came in 2nd in the BL Cy Young voting after winning 22 games and posting a 2.15 ERA.

With such dominant regular season performances, most pundits bet on the Zealots winning the Weaver Cup in short order. The Roehm Champion Havana Cigars must have missed the memo, though, stealing the 1st game on the road 4-3 and evening up the series in Game 4 with a 5-1 win. With the series down to best of 3, Havana hoped to pull off a surprising upset but their inability to get any offense going in Games 5 and 6 sealed their fate.

After the stern wakeup call in the LCS round, Entebbe was determined to avoid any sort of repeat and blasted the Polanski Champion Sapporo Snow Monkeys 4-0. Zealots bats plated home an impressive 35 runs in 4 games, with 19 coming in a Game 3 drubbing. RHP Matthei claimed the Weaver Series MVP with bookend wins in Games 1 and 4.

For one glorious spring day, though, any thoughts of the Zealots faltering melted away in the warm afternoon sun. Today was a day to celebrate, and throngs of Entebbe fans in high spirits came out to catch a glimpse of their returning heroes at the rally held on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. The worries could wait, because Entebbe now had 2 titles under their belt and the players and management both seemed hungry for more. How many more? Not 1, not 2, but maybe 3 in 2068? Congrats again Entebbe!

Congratulations to the 2066 Weaver League Champions, the Entebbe Zealots!

Baseball, more than any other sport, is a marathon, not a sprint. With the rhythm of the 162 game season lasting from spring to fall, a team’s fortunes can climb and dive as players get hot, run into cold streaks, and battle the fatigue associated with topline performance coupled with grueling everyday travel.

The 2066 Entebbe Zealots were not afforded the luxury of time to figure out the narrative of their regular season. Cairo, winners of 3 of the last 5 Weaver Cups, were looking to rebound and improve the Scorpions’ claim for “Best Dynasty in Weaver.. Ever.” Coupled with a rapidly improving Stockholm Swedes squad, Zealots management realized that their contending window might not remain open that much longer. The time to strike was now: to win the Weaver Cup, Entebbe would have to be at the top of their game right away. Any small slip-up, even in the early part of the season, could put the Zealots in a hole that was too deep to climb out of.

What followed over the next 6 months was one of the most back-and-forth Weaver pennant races ever seen. The top of the Barnes Division changed hands 13 times, with the final 7 weeks featuring consecutive flip-flops between Entebbe and Cairo, Cairo and Entebbe. Entering the final week in a dead heat, the Scorpions and Zealots closed out with a combined 11-1 record. Hong Kong ended up playing kingmaker, plating home 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th vs Cairo to record a 6-4 win. The Dragons’ win pushed the Zealots into 1st with a 112-50 record, finishing 1 game ahead of the Scorpions.

Entebbe’s potent offensive attack featured 4 fearsome hitters at the heart of the order: 3B Jud Wilson (.290/36/94), 1B Bobby Muich (.300/34/96), RF Art Harris (.301/33/104), and LF Frank Barlow (.283/30/78). The spine of the defense, anchored by SS Paul Blaisdell, CF Carey Blais, and C Fred Luebbers, may have had a down year offensively but the trio always seemed to deliver during high leverage at-bats and on defense. Meanwhile, on the mound, RHP Francisco Matthei recorded a season for the ages, winning the Blizzard League Cy Young Award with a Pitching Triple Crown season: 24-4, 1.33 ERA, 248 SO. Entebbe’s pitching staff was so strong that during the playoffs, they were able to occasionally reassign former Negro Leagues legend Andy Cooper from the rotation to the closer slot!

After struggling all season to finally claim the Barnes Division, the BLCS was almost anticlimactic for the Zealots. Entebbe swept Jamaica 4-0 in the BLCS, winning Games 3 and 4 on the road in extra innings. In the Weaver Series, however, Entebbe ran into an equally determined Oakland Lumberjacks squad looking to defend their 2065 title and win back-to-back. Entebbe and Oakland split the first 4 games, with each squad winning once on the road.

In most series, Game 5 is typically the decisive matchup, and Oakland looked set to celebrate after RHP Mike Scott outdueled RHP Al Link for a 4-0 win. However, with Entebbe recording the most wins in Weaver this season, this meant that Oakland’s closeout win would have to come on the road. Could Entebbe come back from 3-2, winning 2 games at home?

The Zealots jumped out quickly to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of Game 6, but a late run by Oakland in the top of the 7th silenced the Zealots faithful into a nervous buzz. Then, in the bottom of the 10th inning, LF Frank Barlow hammered a deep drive to left for a 2-run HR to set up a winner-take-all matchup in Game 7. Despite Barlow’s heroics, LHP Andy Cooper was universally cited as Player of the Game for pitching all 10 innings of the contest, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 6. Postgame interviews featured a demoralized Oakland squad talking about lost opportunities, and that mental hangover continued into Game 7. RHP Francisco Matthei capped off his spectacular season with another dominant pitching performance, and both 1B Julian Jeffords and SS Paul Blaisdell each hit homers to lead Entebbe to a 5-1 win.

At long last, after 25 seasons, the Entebbe faithful had a title of their own to celebrate. Having reached the top of the mountain, can the Zealots stay hungry and claim a few more titles to establish their own dynasty? Or will this Weaver Cup be a one-shot deal, a dream season to remember for all the Entebbe faithful who remember the tough rebuild years immediately after relocation? The Zealots look strong for next season, but with a bevy of contenders all excited to stake their claim, 2067 should be a fun season to watch. Let’s hope for another compelling pennant race and playoffs! Congrats again Entebbe!