Title droughts in '43 postseason.
Detroit (14)
San Francisco (10)
Phoenix (1)
Louisville (25, never won)
Florida (32)
Bakersfield (26, never won)
Salt Lake City (15)
New York Knights (2)
Brattleboro (27, never won)
Virginia (60)
Chicago (27)
Pittsburgh (defending champions)
WILD CARD SERIES
NL
San Francisco def. Detroit 2 games to 0
Phoenix def. Louisville 2 games to 0
AL
Florida def. Bakersfield 2 games to 1
New York def. Salt Lake City 2 games to 1
DIVISION SERIES
This year's LCS features teams all with 20+ year championship droughts and in the case of Brattleboro, never winning a title at all. Makes for interesting TV and also, reflects the parity of this league. Since I came back to this league about 40 seasons or so ago, there's been rampant parity. Teams might win their league consistently, but it's almost been impossible for teams to repeat as Series champs.
Take a look at the champs since 2112 and see how infrequent repeats are as a whole.
Return back to the blog for a full recap/reflection on the season and post-season.
Here is the man standing in the way of the Grocers return to the KCS.
The great-grandson four times removed of the best hitter to ever play the game - Joe Peters - he's dispatched onto the league and been a force to be reckoned with. But Virginia wasn't very good for the early years of his career. They've gotten better and he's putting them on their back towards a title.
Over in the NL, Florida might boast the best lineup in baseball bar none. It includes former Grocer playoff hero
Sam Dillard who got traded there at mid-season from Carolina after that team went to pot. Perennial all-star and MVP candidate catcher
Wil Hersberger and former MVP with Phoenix
Billy Marrow who also got traded from Carolina with Dillard in a blockbuster.
The Rockets are one of those teams that once a generation puts together a really great mix of home-grown talent with outside stars to just ruin the rest of the league. They are my personal favorite to win a title if somehow our Grocers aren't able to get it done. Just a scary lineup. We do have the best pitching staff of any team in this post-season, so that'll be what we hope pulls us through as we face a very scary Virginia team.
343rd KEROUAC CUP SERIES
Back for the 2nd straight year, the Grocers are a more experienced team than last year. As we said at the start of the post-season, this was the expectation and last year, everyone rode the euphoria of being a new team and just being happy to be here. Each round we won last year was like being invited to the party constantly. This year? It was all business. Guys stepped up as needed and there was never a real question of "who" would do the job, we just knew SOMEBODY would take care of business. It's just a different feeling being around this team and you just feel like they're about to do something special.
That said, Florida is a terrible matchup. They hit the cover off the ball. The saving grace for the Grocers? While Brattleboro was 4th in NL in runs scored and 1st in runs against, Florida was 1st in the AL in runs scored, but 14th in runs allowed. The hope is they're not able to keep up with our pitching depth and Western New England comes home with a title.
Or will the curse of Sam Dillard deny us for a second straight year?
Another year. Denied again.
This is difficult. I mean, everything was in place. They just didn't have enough. I told you Florida was good. Dillard only hit .172 against us, so you have to at least be glad he didn't really make us pay. But Hershberger is the best catcher in the game, Billy Marrow hit .355 and is now sporting a 2nd ring.
Three of the games were lost by a score of 7-6. The very definition of "a nailbiter" series. This is the other side of success, when you throw your hands up and say "I think we did our best. It just wasn't enough" and that's how we feel right now.
We're all numb. Former MVP
Omar Griggs was brought in during late August as the Dillard-type veteran presence and it wasn't enough. At the end of the day, we'll have to see what management does.
Joey Troxler is 36 and won 19 games this year. He has a $20.2m team option that we imagine they'll pick up. 21-game winner
Jimmy Palomares will want to come back, but at age 30, the southpaw is looking for a 6-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-70 million. Is it really worth it when our window is probably not going to be that long? Hard to say.
In general, our core will come back as it has and we'll be able to do what we did this year in terms of winning the division or at least being competitive. The real test is going to be figuring out how to crack the playoff egg. There are 38 other teams would have killed to be in our position, even if it meant losing. Because at least you have a shot.
But it hurts right now and it's not going to stop for a while.