December, 2021

2021: Year in Review

"Welcome to the most unique and unpredictable season in Big Daddy Baseball League history!"

-- Opening line from the 2021 Season Preview

Well? Was I wrong? Set aside the inconvenient fact that I got everything else wrong in that Season Preview. I certainly hit that prediction out of the ballpark, didn't I? The only predictable aspect of this 2021 season was that it was so unpredictable!

It's over. It's finally over. At times, I admit, it seemed as though the 2021 season would carry on forever, as if it had become Dante's tenth circle of Hell. But the end did finally, mercifully, arrive, and we have crowned a new champion. Congratulations to Billy Tiberius Baseball, III! The man who once famously told us all to get a life now has a life AND a BDBL trophy!

Thank you all for your patience during this extremely unusual season. Yes, it was aggravating and ridiculous, but it was fun...right? Thank you to the Assistant to the Regional Commissioner, Tony Chamra, who made this season a little less painful with his diligence over rule changes made necessary by the cancellation of most of the 2020 MLB season. Not only did Tony meticulously curate all of those changes, but he created a new role for himself as the Auctionmaster General, who presides over our new (now permanent) auction committee. That, in addition to his usual duties as Schedule Guy, Lord of Contracts, Keeper of the MLB Stats, Farm Scribe, and god knows what else he does in this league.

Thanks to all who attended this year's BDBL Weekend and returned a bit of normality to this absolutely insane world. Many thanks to Tony Badger for being the best damn software developer any fantasy baseball league could ever ask for. Thanks to our Transactions Secretary, Jeff, and to our Usage Nazi, D.J.. And thanks to Mike Stein for keeping track of our ballparks info.

"G---light G-lander. G**slight G****er. G#s#ight Gl...der! Dammit! What is the meaning of this tyrannical censorship?!"

-- Jim Doyle, paraphrased

Jim Doyle's first seventeen years in this league were legendary for all the wrong reasons. He was, without question, the unofficial Clown of the BDBL. In those seventeen years, he failed to achieve a single winning season. He came close in 2012, going 79-81, but that proved to be the high-water mark of his early career.

More than anything else, he was known for making the worst trades in BDBL history. In fact, in a 2008 article that I wrote to celebrate our tenth anniversary, one of Doyle's trades was ranked #1 on the list of worst trades in league history. Another of his trades was ranked #2. Yet another ranked #4. And another at #7. Four of the top ten worst trades in league history, during our first decade, were made by Doyle.

In addition to the bad trades and long record of failure, Doyle was notorious for his spectacular strategic failures, both as a GM (his "all-defense" strategy being the most famous) and as a manager (his propensity to hit-and-run with two outs, for example), his constantly-changing MLB loyalty, his "meters" that didn't actually measure anything, and his tedious and wildly-unpopular rule-change proposals.

At the end of that seventeenth season, Doyle abruptly quit when Bobby Sylvester assumed one of his trade offers was a joke. After a one-year hiatus, he returned to take over Anthony Peburn's former franchise, which had just won its BDBL-record seventh-straight division title. For the first time in his BDBL career, Doyle experienced some success, thanks to Peburn. Not only did his team finish with a winning record for the first time in his career, but he won the division and took the newly-named Joplin Miners all the way to the BDBL World Series, where he faced his arch-nemesis, Bobby Sylvester! (The Miners were swept out of that series.)

Joplin managed to eke into the playoffs the following year via the wildcard, and then lost 91 games in 2020. This past winter, Doyle decided to go "all-in" on the 2021 season. He spent nearly his entire budget -- $36.5 million -- on just five players in the auction. It was hardly the first time he employed this strategy, despite its repeated failures over the years. He then doubled-down on his all-in strategy by trading his two best prospects in exchange for the former face of his franchise, Clayton Kershaw, prior to Opening Day.

Despite all the off-season effort, Joplin stumbled out of the gate, going 13-15 in Chapter One, and sat five games behind the Salem Cowtippers in the McGowan Division. Doyle's knee-jerk response was to yank the crank in reverse. Completely out of the blue, he traded three of his best players -- Kershaw, Josh Donaldson, and Carlos Santana -- to the already-loaded Great Lakes Sphinx in exchange for future considerations. "Sometimes you just have to cut your losses," Doyle explained.

That trade completely upended the Higuera Division race and seemingly stuck a fork into Joplin's postseason dreams -- or so would be the rational conclusion. But a funny thing happened on the way to non-contention. For reasons that will forever remain a mystery, the Cowtippers decided to stop winning at that point. They went 18-10 in Chapter One, and appeared to be among the elite teams in the league. Then, over the next four chapters, they played .500 ball. They wrapped up the season with just 87 wins -- well below expectations.

Meanwhile, despite the absence of three of their best players, the Miners went on a winning streak that lasted through the end of the season. In Chapter Two, Doyle reversed course for a second time, and began trading every player he had with any future value in exchange for players with present-day value. Joplin managed to overtake the Cowtippers by the end of the second chapter. By the all-star break, they had built a commanding four-game lead in the division.

Salem finally managed to cut into that lead toward the end of the season, and briefly held the division lead at some point in Chapter Six. But by that point, Doyle was no longer in charge of the Miners franchise. He wore out his welcome long before the 2021 season began, but he amplified his most annoying antics throughout the year, to the point where he became a detriment to the league. He was finally given his long overdue boot on August 19th. Before the end of that day, his replacement was announced to the league. Billy T. Baseball, founding member of the BDBL, made his triumphant return!

"Who is Rachel Phelps?"

-- John Gill, 3/13/21

Several themes emerged early in the season, but the one that stands out above all others is that 2021 will forever be known as the "Year of Rachel Phelps." The fictional owner of the Cleveland Indians in the Major League movies is known for intentionally sabotaging the ballclub she owns, only to discover that her team wins despite her efforts. Such was the case with not one, not two, but FOUR different owners in the BDBL this year. Given the year's theme, it seemed fitting that both participants in the 2021 World Series were Rachel Phelps teams.

John Gill announced his intention to sell several of his best players early in the offseason. He eventually found a taker in Jeff Paulson, who received Gill's best pitcher, Shane Bieber, along with young slugger Eloy Jimenez. In exchange, the Undertakers parted with young phenom Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Sandy Alcantara. Given the 2021 value of both Tatis and Alcantara, it wasn't a total talent dump, but it did signal to the league that the Black Sox were not looking to compete in 2021. That signal was amplified during the draft when Gill traded his only remaining quality starting pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, to the Joplin Miners in exchange for two young pitchers with future value.

In spite of Gill's efforts to the contrary, the Black Sox got off to the hottest start in the league, going 21-7 in the first chapter, with the league's best runs differential. Needless to say, this was a true rarity, given the history of slow starts for the Chicago franchise. By the all-star break, the Black Sox owned a comfortable eight game lead in the Hrbek Division -- the largest lead in the Eck League.

There was no need for Gill to make any more major trades given his team's commanding lead, so Gill simply filled some small holes with a few minor trades as the season progressed. The Black Sox finished with 49 wins in the second half, which tied the Great Lakes Sphinx for the best record in the BDBL. For the second year in a row, Chicago won 100+ games. For the third year in a row, the Black Sox were the Hrbek Division champions.

"I don't get it. I just don't get it. I say it every year, and I'll say it again and again, it seems. I just don't get how on earth the Great Lakes Sphinx win so many games."

-- Mike Glander, Chapter One Recap

The Great Lake Sphinx have finished in first or second place in their division six years in a row. Their success should not be a surprise to anyone, and yet I find myself consistently baffled by it. In my 2021 Season Preview, I predicted a third-place finish for Great Lakes based on a starting rotation that I wrote was "comprised of back-end inning eaters." That may be true on paper, but in actuality, the Sphinx starters performed far better than their numbers would indicate.

In particular, Jake Arrieta (16-2, 2.62 ERA) posted an ERA that was nearly two runs lower than his 4.45 projected stat. Masahiro Tanaka (10-4, 3.39 ERA) also posted an ERA that was nearly a full run lower than his projected ERA. Trevor Williams (8-2, 3.88 ERA) also outperformed his projected stats. Across the board, nearly every Great Lakes pitcher outperformed his projection despite the fact that the Sphinx's home ballpark drastically inflates home runs!

Great Lakes jumped out to a hot start (17-11) in Chapter One and never looked back. Shortly after Chapter Two began, GM Scott Romonosky made the biggest trade of the season, adding Carlos Santana, Josh Donaldson, Clayton Kershaw, and Matt Barnes from the Joplin Miners in exchange for six players with mostly future value.

From that point forward, the Sphinx played .600 baseball. The Buckingham Sovereigns managed to hang in the Higuera Division race, but in the end, they were forced to accept the wildcard consolation prize. The Sphinx finished with the best record in the BDBL, 102-58, and won the Higuera Division title for the second time in franchise history, by a double-digits margin.

Buckingham's path to the postseason was made possible by the historic bidding war that took place in January for the auction's grand prize, Mike Trout. Trout had spent his entire BDBL career as a member of the Buckingham franchise. Buckingham GM Tony Badger, being a sentimental type, desperately wanted to keep Trout on the payroll -- so much so that he was willing to pay him more than any player had ever been paid in the history of the league.

The bidding for the 29-year-old future BDBL Hall of Famer began on the very first day of the auction, and quickly reached league-record territory within 24 hours. In the very last seconds of the first lot's deadline, Badger bid $26 million for Trout -- $4 million more than the $22 million record salary that C.C. Sabathia had earned in the 2009 auction. Darien Blue Wave GM Lee Scholtz, however, had submitted an even higher bid, and won the rights to Trout at a record salary of $26.5 million.

Trout enjoyed yet another stellar year in 2021, hitting .303/.439/.658 with 51 homers and 147.5 runs created. Unfortunately for Scholtz, Trout strained his right calf on May 17th of the MLB season and was done for the year.

Although he was devastated by losing that bid, it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for Badger and the Sovereigns franchise. Instead of blowing that $26 million on one player, Badger spread the wealth around the auction, signing Aaron Hicks ($3.5M), Taylor Rogers ($4.5M), Jorge Soler ($7M), and Charlie Morton ($9M). Those four players proved to be extremely valuable assets, and carried the Sovereigns to the postseason following a tight wildcard race with the Cleveland Rocks.

"A lot can happen over the next five chapters. I would expect Vegas to fall back to earth as those one-run games become tougher to win. I would also expect Akron to rebound at some point. The only team not in this division race is the one that purposely exited from it."

-- Mike Glander, Chapter One Recap

Needless to say, my expectations for the Benes Division race were wildly off-base. Las Vegas' Chapter One performance looked like a mirage. They went 17-11 that chapter, but were outscored by 22 runs. They went an unsustainable 7-0 in one-run games, giving them a Pythagorean difference of +5 in just 28 games. Meanwhile, the South Loop Furies were right on their tail, just one game behind, and the division favorites, the Akron Ryche, seemed guaranteed to rebound at some point.

Akron's rebound never happened. They followed a lackluster 10-18 first chapter with a mediocre 14-14 record in Chapter Two. By the all-star break, they trailed by 15 games in the division, and were basically done for the year. Ravenswood GM Brian Potrafka threw in the towel before Chapter One had even ended, selling off his best trade chit, Chris Sale, to the Allentown Ridgebacks. It was the first of many trades for Potrafka, who went scorched-earth over his roster.

That left only South Loop as the sole competition for Vegas in the division. At the Chapter Two deadline, Vegas GM John Bochicchio traded his best trade bait, Heliot Ramos, to Darien in exchange for Eddie Rosario. It would be his only trade of the season.

After South Loop went 12-16 in Chapter Two, GM Bart Chinn threw in the towel and traded Madison Bumgarner to the schizophrenic Miners. Despite trailing Vegas by only six games at the time, Chinn insisted that it simply wasn't his year to compete. That Bumgarner trade was notable not only because it handed Vegas the division, but because Chinn had agreed to a deal with Doyle the previous day that included two players Doyle had forgotten he already traded. When that deal obviously fell through, Chinn simply accepted the second-best offer made by Doyle without taking any other bids. That consolation package of Clarke Schmidt, George Kirby, and Ryan Rolison seemed a bit underwhelming, to say the least, and yet it was enough to land a guy who pitched the biggest game in franchise history.

With no competition for the division, Vegas coasted to the finish line in the second half, going 48-32 (.600) to finish with 97 wins, tying the franchise high that was achieved way back in 2001. Akron eventually did pick up the pace, going 43-37 (.538) in the second half, but it was far too little, far too late.

"We went from World Series champs with the greatest team morale in league history to bottom of the barrel bums with attitude problems all throughout our clubhouse."

-- Bobby Sylvester, 4/8/21

The defending-champion Highland Freedom were yet another one of the Rachel Phelps teams in 2021. After winning his second BDBL championship in 2020, Bob Sylvester announced that he was shaking up the front office by hiring his son, Bobby, to be his new GM. To launch this new joint venture, they changed the name of the franchise from the Southern Cal Slyme to the Highland Freedom.

Of all the divisions in the BDBL, the Wilkie Division was the toughest to predict. In preseason polling, all four teams in the division received at least two votes, with Highland receiving the most (6). Despite high expectations, however, the Freedom went just 9-19 in Chapter One. They followed that chapter with a decent showing (16-12) in Chapter Two, but new GM Bobby Sylvester thought he saw the writing on the wall.

"We just (don't) have a playoff team this season," Bobby wrote. "The rebuild continues, and boy has it been fun!"

At the Chapter Three trading deadline, Sylvester traded Manny Machado and several others in exchange for future potential. As the league headed into the all-star break, the Carolina Saints held the top spot in the Wilkie Division, four games ahead of the South Carolina Sea Cats, five games ahead of the Freedom, and seven games ahead of the Niagara Locks. Fittingly enough, in this season that Tony Chamra dubbed a "Swampass of a season," the owner of the Carolina Saints, Don Swearingen, abandoned his first place team at the end of March. Luckily, we were able to find Adam Miner on short notice.

The division turned upside down in Chapter Four. The Saints went just 10-14 while Highland went a division-best 15-9, placing the two teams into a tie with only two chapters remaining. Miner fortified his roster for the stretch run by adding Asdrubal Cabrera, Starlin Castro, and Johnny Cueto at the Chapter Four deadline. Sylvester countered by adding Ken Giles and Patrick Corbin. Just like that, the Freedom had fetched the bloody towel they had thrown into the ring and reversed course.

The Freedom team responded with their best chapter (19-9) of the year while the Saints fell to 11-17 in Chapter Five. In the end, it seemed as though neither team wanted to win the division. Highland went just 12-16 in Chapter Six while Carolina went an astonishing 11-17. In the end, Highland backed into a division title with 83 wins, five games ahead of the Locks and nine games better than the Saints.

"It's nice to see teams go for it. It is going to be an insane race in the Griffin this year."

-- Jeff Paulson, 4/9/21

On April 8th, Lake Norman Monsters GM Joe Demski announced a major trade in which he had acquired Manny Machado from the rebuilding-then-not-rebuilding Freedom. That same chapter, he had also acquired Yasiel Puig, Adam Eaton, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ken Giles, and Starlin Castro, among others. Even though the Monsters were dead-last in the division at the time, Demski pushed all of his chips into the center of the table. By doing so, it meant that all four teams in the Griffin Division were shooting for that title.

Although Lake Norman was in last place after one chapter, they were only two games out of first place and owned a .500 record. The four teams began to separate in the second chapter as the Allentown Ridgebacks took a one-game lead in the division following an 18-10 Chapter Two. Ridgebacks GM Tom DiStefano had made his big move prior to that chapter by adding Chris Sale from the Ravenswood Infidels. Sale would play a very key role for Allentown, as he posted a record of 11-6 with a 2.77 ERA in 149+ innings as a Ridgeback.

After a disastrous third chapter, the Monsters began to fall far behind in the division race. By the all-star break, they held a double-digit deficit behind the division-leading Ridgebacks. By the Chapter Four deadline, Lake Norman switched from buyers to sellers. Although Los Altos (three games back) and Bear Country (five) remained in contention, neither team made a big move to gain ground heading into the second half.

Allentown continued their momentum into the second half, and expanded their lead to four games after four chapters, and eight games by the end of Chapter Five. With the division title seemingly wrapped up, attention turned to the Ozzie League wildcard race, where Bear Country trailed Los Altos by just one game with one chapter remaining.

That is when yet another Rachel Phelps team was exposed. BDBL history is filled with owners who bailed on teams that appeared to be contenders, but Los Altos owner Jeff Paulson was about to set a brand new precedent. At the final deadline of the season, he released several players who had significantly contributed to his team's success: Mac Williamson (.262/.314/.595 overall, with a .963 OPS vs. LH), Ryan Braun (.291/.355/.500 overall, with a .902 OPS vs. RH), Derek Dietrich (.281/.351/.528 overall, with a .955 OPS vs. LH), Yoshi Tsutsugo (.268/.343/.492 overall, with 801/846 splits), and David Price (7-5, 3.49 ERA in 116 IP.) In their place, he selected players from the free agent scrap heap who he deemed to have future value.

This was the first time in league history a first-place team deliberately knee-capped itself so late in the season. "I have come to realize over the last chapter or two, that this Undertaker team just is not good enough to win a championship," Paulson explained. "I tried to win the division and stuck it out as long as I could, but I just couldn't catch Allentown...My options were: stay in race, maybe win the wildcard (or not) and then get knocked out in round 1 or round 2. Or, take advantage of the fact that we are using the projection disk (hopefully the last time ever) and pick up players that would normally be unavailable to me and unavailable to the league. So I decided to pick up some intriguing players that will hopefully help me in the future. We shall see."

As expected, the wildcard race was inevitably decided by the final series of the season between Los Altos and Bear Country. Los Altos needed to win the series in order to capture the wildcard. After winning two out of the first three games, it all came down to game number 160. The winner of that game would move on to the postseason. The loser would get a top draft pick in 2022.

Bear Country's Mike Moustakas smashed a three-run home run in the first inning. Matt Duffy then hit a grand slam home run in the sixth inning, and that was all she wrote. The Jamboree headed into the Division Series while Los Altos succeeded in reaching their manager's low expectations.

After a year's hiatus in which the entire planet came to a standstill, it was nice to reconnect and celebrate the magic of BDBL Weekend this summer. Seven brave participants from BDBL past and present gathered in the Windy City of Chicago to witness a game between the hometown Cubs and the visiting Cleveland Indians (who shall remain the Indians forever, as far as I'm concerned.)

I arrived a day early and watched another game from the rooftop across the street. Mike Stein and I got our money's worth from the all-you-can-eat-and-drink package deal. The following day, we met up with my son, Ryan, John and Ryne Gill, Brian "Skizm" Potrafka, and Matt Clemm. We sat at a table in a nearby bar and caught up with our lives, shared BDBL gossip, and downed a few beers before heading to the game.

Unfortunately, the game took a back seat to a new and awful trend in Chicago: the Cup Snake. The young Millennials surrounding us seemed to have little interest in the actual game. Instead, they busied themselves with adding more and more plastic cups to a "snake" that wound its way from the middle of the bleachers where we sat to the very top. This trend was only slightly more annoying than "The Wave", and roughly as intolerable as the "YMCA."

Despite the Snake, we still managed to have a lot of fun. If nothing else, it was good to see thousands of people acting normally again, like real human beings.

"I can do the math and build a team, I'm just not passionate about it."

-- Tom DiStefano, 11/6/21

The OL Division Series between Allentown and Joplin had all the makings of a BDBL classic. In a way, it was one that will be remembered for years to come, although probably not due to anything that took place on the field. Due to some technical difficulties (or, more accurately, difficulties with technology), it was the first postseason series in league history to be played entirely via MP. It was also the last series ever played by BDBL legend Tom DiStefano.

Game One was, indeed, a BDBL classic. It was without question the greatest pitcher's duel in league history. Through eight innings of play, Allentown's ace, Chris Sale, held the Joplin Miners to just one hit -- a harmless single by Joplin's ace, Luis Severino in the sixth inning. And through eight innings, Severino had also held his opponents to just one hit --  a sixth-inning single by Aaron Judge. With the game tied at 0-0, George Springer stepped up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and proceeded to end the first game with a walk-off home run.

Joplin managed to tie the series in Game Two, and the managerial responsibility was handed off from Tom to Billy. Joplin took the lead in Game Three thanks to the combined efforts of starter Eduardo Rodriguez and the fantastic Joplin bullpen. A pinch hit grand slam home run by Nelson Cruz in Game Four then put Joplin one win away from advancing to the next series.

Game Five featured the same pitching match-up as Game One, but with far different results. Allentown slugger Matt Olson tied the game in the sixth inning with a two-run blast, but Joplin quickly got those runs back on a two-run dinger by Cruz in the bottom of the inning. The Joplin bullpen then held that lead to clinch the series.

Immediately following that game, DiStefano announced his resignation from the league, citing a lack of passion for the game. DiStefano's BDBL record is almost difficult to believe. In his remarkable career, he made ten postseason appearances in fifteen seasons. In those ten appearances, he lost the Division Series only three times, advanced to the LCS seven times, and won the World Series five times (four against the Salem Cowtippers.) In total, he went 7-for-10 in Division Series, 6-for-7 in League Championship Series, and 5-for-6 in World Series. Absolutely insane.

"I can't say this was necessarily a fun team this year. The offense really sputtered at times, and I just knew it would happen in the playoffs. The pitchers held the Black Sox down as best it could, but just got very little help."

-- Tony Badger, 11/5/21

The Division Series between the Chicago Black Sox and Buckingham Sovereigns got off to an exciting start when Gavin Lux launched a walk-off home run for Chicago in the eleventh inning of Game One. Chicago's 19-game winner, Sandy Alcantara, then secured a Game Two victory with seven stellar innings of work. Chicago took a 5-3 lead into the sixth inning of Game Three when Buckingham bats exploded following a pep talk by manager Lou Brown. A seven-run inning gave the Sovereigns their first win of the series.

Buckingham managed to cut Chicago's lead to 5-4 in the sixth inning of Game Four, and had a chance to take the lead when an untimely line-drive double play ended their threat. Chicago managed to hold onto that 5-4 lead, and then clinched the series victory in Game Five with a 2-1 win, thanks to a clutch home run by Kyle Schwarber in the top of the ninth.

"Game 1 festivities delay the beginning of the game, with the largest ovation by Wayne Newton throwing out the first pitch! But once they cleared the field, the series was finally underway."

-- Matt Clemm, 11/1/21

After getting shut out, 6-0, in Game One of the Division Series, the Las Vegas Flamingos offense woke up in a big way in Game Two, and tied the series with an 8-3 victory. That victory was notable because it was the first postseason win EVER for the Vegas franchise! The pink birds then carried that momentum into Game Three, which they won handily by a score of 7-3.

Bear Country's veteran utility man Ben Zobrist came through with a clutch base hit in the eighth inning of a tied game, allowing Aroldis Chapman to close out the one-run win in Game Four to tie the series at two games apiece. Vegas ace Zach Wheeler pitched a gem in Game Five, and the Flamingos cruised to a 5-1 win.

With Las Vegas looking to clinch the series in Game Six, Bear Country fought tenaciously with their backs against the wall. A key throw from Jamboree outfielder Jason Kipnis in the top of the ninth preserved a tied score and forced the game into extra innings. Jay Bruce then stepped to the plate for Bear Country in the top of the tenth inning and deposited a pitch from lefty Justin Wilson over the fence in right field. Jose Urena then closed out the bottom of the ninth to send this series to a do-or-die Game Seven.

After such an exciting first six games of this series, Game Seven was a bit of a letdown. The Flamingos cruised to a 16-6 win by pounding Bear Country starter Frankie Montas and the Jamboree bullpen. For the first time in 23 seasons, Johnny Bo was heading to the Championship Series.

"Of the four Division Series, this one looks like the most lopsided matchup."

-- Mike Glander, 10/29/21

Carlos Santana, Jose Martinez, and Christian Yelich gave the Great Lakes Sphinx an early series lead in the EL Division Series against Highland. The Freedom then tied the series with a victory in Game Two after a four-run rally against the Sphinx bullpen in the top of the ninth inning. Great Lakes returned the favor in Game Three, pounding the Freedom bullpen for seven runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Great Lakes extended their series lead with an easy 4-1 win in Game Four, and then clinched the series victory in Game Five with a 13-0 laugher. For the fourth time in his BDBL career, Scott Romonosky was heading to the EL Championship Series. He lost all three of his previous ELCS, and all three came at the hands of Bobby Sylvester. This victory over the Freedom served as a bit of sweet revenge against the Sylvester family.

"Unfrigginbelievable. Billy Baseball is heading to the World Series."

-- Mike Glander, 11/11/21

In a season in which Joplin GM Jim Doyle traded his best starting pitcher and filled his bullpen with child rapists and various unsavory characters he found in the free agent trash heap, who could have predicted that his team would ultimately succeed thanks to its pitching? That is exactly what happened in the OLCS matchup between Joplin and Las Vegas.

The series opened with a 3-1 Joplin win thanks to the continued stellar pitching of Luis Severino, who struck out twelve batters through eight-plus innings. The Flamingos managed to tie the series with a barrage of runs in Game Two, winning by a score of 14-8. But then, once again, Joplin's pitching took center stage, as Madison Bumgarner led his team to a 7-2 win.

After holding the powerful Vegas lineup to just one run in Game One, and two runs in Game Three, James Paxton (of all people) and the Joplin bullpen of misfits secured a 3-1 victory in Game Four to push the Flamingos' backs to the wall. What better way to clinch the series with a shutout? That is exactly what happened thanks to another gem from Severino, who not only went the distance in Game Five, but drove in the game's only run with a sac fly.

For the series, Severino went 2-0, with 10 hits and one walk allowed in 17+ innings, and 21 strikeouts. During the regular season, he had gone just 9-6 with a 4.14 ERA in 148 innings. Evidently, he saved his best for last.

"Hilarious. Chicago tries to tank by trading Kershaw, then beats him to make the World Series, with the guy they got helping along the way."

-- Mike Stein, 11/17/21

Great Lakes skipper Scott Romonosky used former Black Sox ace Clayton Kershaw out of the bullpen in both Game One and Game Two, to great effect, as Kershaw earned the save in both games. He wasn't nearly as effective as a starter in Game Three, however. Chicago won their first game of the series, 3-1, and then tied the series with a Game Four victory at home.

Game Five proved to be the key game of the series. ELDS MVP Gavin Lux played the role of postseason hero yet again with a clutch pinch hit home run in the fifth inning, which put Chicago in the lead. Chicago carried a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning, but the Black Sox pen coughed up four runs on a pair of walks, a single, and two doubles. Great Lakes then loaded the bases with one out, but Chicago reliever Pedro Strop managed to escape that jam with a ground-ball double play.

The Black Sox tied the score once again in the bottom of that inning, but then gave up a run in the eighth and another in the ninth. Chicago came to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing by a score of 7-5. They loaded the bases on an error and two walks. Kyle Schwarber then stepped to the plate and unloaded them with a ringing double off the wall in left-center field, giving Chicago a walk-off win and a 3-2 lead in the series.

Kershaw got the ball once more in Game Six. Gill responded to that challenge by starting lefty-masher Yasiel Puig in the #2 spot in the lineup. That move paid dividends immediately when Puig took Kershaw yard in his first at-bat. With the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth, Puig did it again, putting his team in the lead with his second home run off of Kershaw. Just for good measure, Puig added a third home run later that game -- a solo blast off of reliever Pedro Baez. Chicago cruised to a 7-3 victory, sending John Gill to the BDBL World Series for the fourth time.

Perhaps the most unpredictable thing to happen in 2021 was a BDBL World Series appearance by Billy Romaniello. For the uninitiated, I met Billy when we played on the same Little League team together at age twelve. Billy lived within a short bike ride to my house, so we hung out often. The year before I met Billy, my father had purchased a Commodore-64 computer. My very first software purchase for that C-64 was a game called "Computer Baseball" from a company named SSI.

Billy and I played many games head-to-head with that software. We continued playing through high school until eventually one of us came up with the bright idea of starting a league. We called it, originally enough, the Computer Baseball League. As far as I'm aware, it was the first computer-simulated fantasy baseball league in New Milford, Connecticut. Or maybe anywhere, for that matter.

That league, the CBL, eventually set the stage for the Big Daddy Baseball League. Our original set of 24 owners included four members from the CBL. The records from the CBL are long lost, but I seem to recall that Billy held the league record for most losses. That trend continued into the BDBL, as Billy somehow managed to lose 114 games in our inaugural season. He went on to lose 100+ games in two other seasons before he surreptitiously hired Anthony Peburn to help him out with the franchise. Of course, Peburn eventually weaseled his way into full ownership by 2008.

The team of Romaniello and Peburn managed to eke into the postseason in 2006 via the wildcard. Incredibly, that team somehow advanced all the way to the World Series...where they were swept by the Villanova Mustangs. Two years later, Billy stepped out of the way, and Peburn took over. On August 19th of this year, Billy agreed to take on the managerial responsibility for the franchise he once owned.

Like Romaniello, Chicago owner John Gill was also one of our original 24 owners in the BDBL. Like Romaniello, his franchise had never won a World Series. New Milford was swept out of both the 2006 and 2018 World Series, while Chicago lost to Stamford in 2000, Ravenswood in 2004, and Los Altos in 2015. Looking back, all three opponents seemed to be the Team of Destiny in those three seasons. Would John Gill have the misfortune of encountering yet another Team of Destiny in 2021?

"Prediction: after Billy wins the first three, they’ll play a fourth game just to get it over with. Steel. Lock. Prediction."

-- Mike Glander, 11/21/21

Chicago never had a chance. Severino, the MVP of the OLCS, continued his hot streak in Game One, limiting the powerful Chicago offense to just two runs through seven-plus innings. Bumgarner, the man Jim Doyle had acquired in exchange for his second-best trade offer, went the distance in Game Two, allowing just one run on two hits.

Chicago finally managed to put some runs on the board in Game Three, scoring eight off of Eduardo Rodriguez and the Joplin bullpen. But the Miners brought their bats as well. The Black Sox carried a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning when Hanser Alberto's grand slam home run put Joplin in the lead. Chicago tied the score at 8-8 in the top of the ninth, but once again, the relentless Joplin offense answered the bell. Nelson Cruz's three-run blast off of Liam Hendriks gave the Miners the walk-off win and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

Game Four saw more of the same great Joplin pitching -- this time by James Paxton. He limited the Black Sox to just one run through seven innings. The Miners took a 4-1 lead into the ninth. Chicago rallied for two runs on a clutch two-out double by Wilsson Contreras, but child molester Felipe Vazquez then slammed the door by striking out pinch hitter Philip Ervin for the final out of the game -- and the season.