League Schedule

The season has come to an end, so let’s take a look at what happened, or didn’t happen.

Pre season prognostication:

Now, I like running full seasons as much as the next guy, but I do it for the microeconomics of my team. I barely pay attention nowadays to the macroeconomics, how the whole league does.

But, with one very notable exception, Randy hit the mark here. Randy stated that each league run had it’s own quirks in the outcomes, and it seems that whatever league Bob uploaded as the April playball LZP, the quirk was Punxsutawney getting all the rolls. Looking at the PLAYOFFS row, it looked like it was always going to be either Bayou or the Hogs in the playoffs, and this year was just Punxsutawney’s year.

Now, there is another weird thing: Colorado, with a strong team and a 61% chance of winning the division, ended up inching into the playoffs after Bayou lost a series at rival Longmeadow.

Now, about those playoffs:

The marquee matchup is Punxsutawney hosting Hollywood. Mike A joined the league in 1992, and has accumulated a .514 winning percentage and 6 Championships. I joined the league in 1994, and have a .546 winning percentage and 6 Championships as well. Both of us are vying to break the tie here. Don’t be fooled, however, by our season record, which Hollywood won 6 games to 4. The stats of those games showed Punxsutawney dominance. The Hogs hit their season average, .261 while the Swingers hit a measly .208. The Hog pitchers performed near their league average with a 3.83 era, while Hollywood’s staff struggled with a 4.40 era. It looks like Punxsutawney just lost on fluke plays. Both of these teams ended up with about 100 homeruns LESS than Colorado and Woodland Hills, so batting averages might be gold here, and the Hogs have 2 of the best in T Turner and A Bohm. Hollywood, though, pretty much matched Punxsutawney in on base percentage, so they will be getting men on base as well. Theoretically. After that, it will just come down to the splits, as Rocky would say.

Now, for Woodland Hills hosting Colorado: The Battle of the Bridesmaids. Randy, in the league since 1983, has 3 Championships under his belt, but was unceremoniously dumped at the altar in last year’s playoffs. Scott Fa has been in the league since 2018, and has made it to the playoffs in 2023, 2024, and 2025, but has never won the Championship. That alone makes him the sentimental favorite. The Chompers have the stacked roster: Ohtani, Lindor, A Chapman, Glasnow; but the Reavers have a solid roster of their own: Machado, Olson, Schwarber, Hader and Fried. The Chompers may pitch a little better, but the Reavers hit a little better, especially in the home run department. Colorado won the 10 game seasonal play between these two 6-4, and hit 18 homeruns compared to 9 for the western division winners. Colorado hit .264 while Woodland Hills hit .203, so the Chomper’s star offensive players, S Ohtani and F Lindor, better come out hot. I love talking up J Verlander, the best 7th round pick ever, and he won both his starts against Colorado with a 1.59 era. M Fried went 1-1 against the Chompers with a 0.73 era, so he will be a big gun in this series too.