The surprising Tacoma Raniers win it all in Season 8! What a fantastic finish to their season ... talk about peaking at the right time.

Congratulations to tyd2k1 on his first WS title (in only his first season with Stickball League, no less).

Season 8 Team Previews

(Note: All team records shown are for last season)

AL North

Montreal Sin City, plague *

102-60 (up 5 wins from S6)

Burlington (new venue, formerly Ottawa) Anthrax, suiciderick

75-87 (identical record as S6)

Columbus Battling Bishops, rgun

75-87 (down 7 wins from S6)

Hartford Whalers, Sved

74-88 (down 4 wins from S6)

AL East

New York Brokers, huskypride2

97-65 (up 3 wins from S6)

When huskypride2 took over to manage the New York Brokers in Season 6, they were the definition of mediocre. The Brokers only had one playoff appearance in their history and only once had finished above 3rd place in the division. Following an aggressive offseason in which the team was rebuilt catastrophically stemming from blockbuster trades and massive FA signings, the Brokers shocked the league winning 94 games and the division in Season 6. Although the team’s fairy tale run ended at the hands of the eventual champion Colorado Stickballers in the ALDS that season, the Brokers went on to win the World Series in Season 7.

Baltimore Black Stallions, wolfgangcrab; formerly the Boston Irish II, kcg67

72-90 (down 20 wins from S6)

Syracuse Highlanders, stmachi; formerly the Washington D.C. Monuments, thetrickster

72-90 (down 18 wins from S6) (Trickster's first and only season in the league)

Durham Bulls, milton7

70-92 (down 6 wins from S6)

The Durham Bulls are looking at another sub .500 season unless they play with more consistency as they were very streaky last season. No exciting free agents or rule 5 players were added this season to give the season any impetus. It will take a true team effort to be in the playoff hunt. Staff “ace” Bynum and minor leaguers Stokes and Donovan were fun to watch in spring training and the minor leaguers sold some extra season tickets down on the farm but the ML club may have to go back to the pretty chicks in hot pants cleaning off the bases during the 7th inning stretch to keep attendance from dropping.

AL South

Richmond Rug Rats , thebug715

93-69 (up 12 wins from S6)

This was a franchise in shambles three seasons ago when I took over. No major league talent to speak of and not much minor league talent either. Plus there was 10 mil + a year in contracts for career minor leaguers. Since then there's been a lot of turnover.

Charlotte Shoddies, giles21

83-79 (up 22 wins from S6!)

In only his second season with the League, Giles21 has his team (formerly known as the Memphis Beale Street Blues) completely turned around.

Kansas City Aristocrats, mattjmiller

83-79 (up 20 wins from S6!)

After relocating from Tampa Bay, Season 7 was the Aristocrats first winning season in franchise history and we learned the hard way that’s there’s no 1 game playoff for the wildcard.

Season 8 is full of hope and promise as we have a full season of our future stud, Mandy Matthews. Also former #5 overall pick, Archie Hill, will be our #2 starter. Look for former first rounders, Nick DeRosa and Joe Clark to make the rotation by midseason. The staff will definitely be different as we will return 3 pitchers from our Season 7 opening day roster.

The lineup was the 4th highest run scoring offense (Should be 3rd if you throw out the anomaly that is Colorado) in the majors last year and there haven’t been any major losses.

Season six 2nd round pick, Chet Wagner, should make his debut this year and should anchor down 2nd base for years to come.

Starting pitching will still be our biggest question mark but the Aristocrats will be hoping for 90+ wins and a division title and the franchise’s first playoff appearance.

Tampa Bay Tocobaga, Ripken0713 (formerly the Jacksonville Crusher, crusher73ca)

66-96 (up 7 wins from S6 after adopting their new mascot -- they were formerly called the Stingrays)

It's been an interesting off season for the TB Tocobaga. The franchise relocated from up the road in Jacksonville, with hopes of leaving it's many years of disappointment and underperformance behind.

An aggressive new owner inherits a team that could be legitimite contenders in the next couple of years. With solid young players like Alex Escobar, Javier Leon and Kevin Baker, TB has at least something to build upon.

The Tocobaga was able to acquire via trade or free agency 3 legimate power bats: Oswaldo Arias, Damian O'Brien and Orlando Cervantes. Also, they moved up STUD rookie Vincente Franco to the major league rankings. Franco and O'Brien had a killer Spring Training combining for a .295 average, 17 HR and 38 RBI's! TB had a 13-5 Spring Training Record, overall.

The definite strength of this team is it's solid bullpen, but as is with the rest of the team, they are young and at this point inconsistant. Talent alone, gives them the chance to win most games, however their inexperience will more than likely leave them on the outside looking in come playoff time.

Nevertheless, for the first time in many years, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for this franchise's loyal following. Especiially if Mitch Smith or Denny Shibata have anything to say!

AL West

Colorado Stickballers, mr_stickball

112-50 (up 15 wins from S6)

Summary: The Stickballers have won their division in all but one of the seven seasons in Stickball World, but only won the WS Trophy once, in Season 6. They are known for having an explosive offense, and feature a lineup of very patient power hitters, but their defense has been really strong in recent times and has been a major factor in their success. This offseason saw the Stickballers part ways with two of the best players in the league, Nick Abbott (league's best career AVE) and Felipe Ozuna (one of the League's greatest SPs). Apparently neither would accept their asking price but, instead, elected to test the free agent market. (Colorado fans are just a wee bit upset with both of them, especially considering Ozuna flubbed up royally in the playoffs).

Pitchers (opening the season with a 6-man rotation):

SP1 – Rocky Martin 16-1 (OAV .255/ WHIP 1.34/ ERA 4.00) Former Rookie-Of-The Year, this 16 game winner collected 169 strikeouts last season and is the Ace of the staff despite not having the highest stamina and being something of a flyball pitcher.

SP2 – Bill Brown 19-5 (OAV .264/ WHIP 1.25/ ERA 4.06) Colorado’s Season 1 Supplemental Pick won 19 games this season. He signed a nice, fat contract at the beginning of last season and responded well, dropping his WHIP and ERA considerably.

SP3 – Sean McKay 14-7 (OAV .281/ WHIP 1.45/ ERA 5.86) The very young McKay was brought up to the Majors early last season and played well enough to stick and make the Playoff Roster. Colorado expects big things from this kid.

SP4 – Pinky Merloni 8-11 (OAV .254/ WHIP 1.37/ ERA 3.38) Merloni is a new addition this offseason, and Colorado is quietly excited about the fact that this guy was still hanging around when they offered him a contract. Merloni, with this offense behind him, could be in for a big year.

SP5, Tracy Grimsley 7-8 (OAV .303/ WHIP 1.55/ ERA 4.69), is an aging groundball pitcher picked up midway through last season from Washington.

SP6, Juan Carrara 1-2 (OAV .294/ WHIP 1.53/ ERA 6.75), is an young groundball pitcher who was called up toward the end of last season. He is blessed with wicked "stuff", but is a soft-tosser and needs to keep the ball down or he gets victimized by the long ball.

Long Relievers – Anchored by Sidney Coleman (OAV .300/ WHIP 1.52/ ERA 5.71) Colorado’s all-time winningest pitcher, this wily 39-year-old sinkerballer responded well the last two seasons by winning 27 games. He graciously has accepted bullpen duty, but knows that he could be called up to start in a pinch if the need arises. He allows a ton of baserunners but the offense seems to rally around him and he always seems to get the double play when he needs it.

Short Relievers – After boasting about these guys in last year's Team Preview, this unit jumped up from a combined regular season ERA of 3.50 the season before to somewhere around a 4.50 ERA last season.

Closer – Miguel Sanchez (OAV .279/ WHIP 1.49/ ERA 4.73) got the nod after Spring Training, but the Stickballers are going to keep him on a short leash and may come up with someone new to take this role over.

Lineup:

1. 2B Denny Koch (.298/.386/.352) Fleet-footed 32-year-old stole 38 bases last season while platooning in CF, LF, and 2B. He has will platoon 2B with young stud Heinie Barrett this season. Barrett is a GG'er at 2B and hits lefties particularly well.

2. CF Winston Miles (.280/.338/.404 AA). Rule 5 Draftee Miles, at only 22 years old, is really being thrust into the limelight here. His ability to execute situational hitting and steal bases is why he is starting the season at the number two hole, but the Stickballers are prepared to move him down the lineup if he struggles in this spot in the order.

3. 3B Scot Sexton (.332/.409/.594 - Combined) Came over in a trade with Washington near the trade deadline last season. While in Washington he hit .310/.391/.549. Once in Colorado, he hit .385/.449/.698 ... think he's happy to be here?

4. 1B Jose Johnson (.362/.450/.750) actually started out last season pretty slow but lit it up toward the end of the season. He finished with 63 HRs and 202 RBIs. He is the League's All-Time HR leader.

5. DH J.P. DeRojas (.346/.429/.730) Drafted in Season 1 in the second round, DeRojas was traded away at the very beginning of Season 6 only to be brought back later in the season. The team just wasn’t the same without him. He hit 56 HR’s last season and knocked in 158 RBI’s in 500 at-bats. He serves as MAJOR protection for Jose Johnson.

6. SS Dante Wynn (.312/.367/.494) Acquired last preseason, Wynn hit 35 doubles and drove in 82 runs last season earning himself an All-Star game. He tanked, however, in the playoffs and looks to redeem himself this season.

7. 3B Pablo Duran (.272/.379/.447) Two-time All-Star has a great eye, hits with some pop, and doesn't seem to mind playing in RF this season. His numbers were down last season, but he had a decent Spring Training and is looking to improve his bat.

8. C Jamie Cornelius (.318/.418/.521) While not the Stickballers best defensive catcher, young Cornelius’ bat gets him a lot of playing time. C Lee Benson (.286/.329/.493) is their defensive catcher (he throws 1 out of every 3 base-stealers out and calls a pretty good game), and he sees a lot of time, esp. vs. righties.

9. LF Albert Cruz (.304/.366/.350) Picked up in the offseason from Washington, journeyman Albert Cruz is back in Colorado. In Season 3, while with Colorado, Cruz, then only 23-years-old, hit for a .332 AVE, and, if he shows that kind of pop once again, he could find himself in the #2 Hole in a hurry.

Bench: Colorado features primarily defensive guys on the bench, but sometimes they’ll start a defensive stalwart and keep either DeRojas or Cornelius on the bench just in case an important pinch-hit opportunity arises. Dan Baumann is exactly this kind of player, Colorado ranks him as a starter vs. lefties and an excellent defensive replacement/pinch-runner any time during a game.

Oakland Asterisk's, aa12on

90-72 (down 2 wins from S6)

Tucson Suns, billhowell75

74-88 (down 4 wins from S6)

Honolulu Islanders, kobylesky

58-104 (down 19 wins from S6)

------------------------------------------

NL North

Chicago Black Sox, tombrady12

81-81 (same number of wins as S6)

Detroit Dominators, formerly known as the Syracuse Orange Crush, armymp

79-83 (down 1 win from S6)

The experiment with mixing veterans and youth didn't work out as planned last season for Syracuse...so a change of venue was in order. Memories of the Baltimore Colts midnight escape to Indy were everywhere as Syracuse boxed everything up and moved to Detroit to start fresh and hopefully give that city something to cheer about. Doing more with less is the motto for this season with one major change being that Filipe Ozuna is no longer the Ace of the staff after being traded to Colorado for some young prospects. It's kind of a rebuilding year for the franchise as cutting some payroll was a priority. A trade or two plus the releasing of some overpaid and middle of the road talent hopes to lighten the load and Detroit can get back to the basics of playing some sound and fundamental Baseball. The youngsters have had another season to mature and hopefully will start living up to expectations such as Ruben Macias the fireballing Lefty who anchors the rotation. The veteran Catcher Chen brings his big bat with him this season and will hopefully combine his leadership and power into a positive influence on the club. Second place in the Division last season was underachieving for this club and they're hoping to improve on last season and get back to the Playoffs and do some damage.

Cincinnati RedSpeedos, r7gordon

77-85 (up 6 wins from S6)

Tacoma Raniers, tkd2k1 (formerly the Toledo Muffdivers, laughin_lion)

75-87 (down 16 wins from S6)

While it is quite certain Laughin_Lion would like to blame his team's collapse on last year's notorious trade-veto, one thing is for certain, no one is surprised to see him leave Stickball League after dropping 16 games in the win column. Let's hope tkd2k1 can get things turned around in his "small-ball" park.

NL East

Pawtucket Powderfingers, vdaino

105-57 (up 16 wins from S6)

Florida Alienists, strang; formerly the Baltimore Grinders, bigfrank84

100-62 (up 16 wins from S6)

After one stunning season, BigFrank high-tailed it this off-season, leaving a very good team for HBD veteran, Strang. Could this be Strang's opportunity to win his first WS Title? We shall see ...

Augusta A-Team, nesman; formerly the Atlanta Dropouts, b2goofy

69-93 (down 7 wins from S6)

If there was ever truth in a name, last season's "Atlanta Dropouts" definitely lived up ... er, I mean DOWN to it. The new name sure sounds like things might be turning around for this franchise!

Philadelphia Phunky Phillies, beamer88 *

56-106 (down 11 wins from S6)

NL South

Charleston Sumter Men, bwb53 *

95-67 (up 15 wins from S6 and right into the World Series).

Witchita Wendigo, ormank * ; formerly the Jackson No Names, BBMogul

79-83 (down 1 win from S6)

Texas Tornados, bingles

70-92 (down 22 wins from S6)

Bingles somehow got his record backwards from the previous season: 92-70. But we're very glad he's back and is "sticking" with the league!

St. Louis Sourpusses, dryb; formerly the New Orleans Pickelmen, goofballhell

54-108 (down 10 wins from S6)

NL West

Albuquerque Isotopes, supatroopa

98-64 (up 9 wins from S6)

Los Angeles Galaxy, mike1184 *

91-71 (down 4 wins from S6)

Fresno Fugitives, jd2764; formerly the Seattle Scallywags, graybeard

84-78 (up 3 wins from S6)

Arizona 420, the_potsuns; formerly the Vancouver Terminators, dspahlinger

83-79 (up 2 wins from S6)

Season 8 Is Upon Us

Well, another season is here. This offseason saw us loose an unprecedented number of owners (11!). We had only been loosing two to four per season before that, so we hopefully have a strong group of new owners. Remember, the gimmick with this league is that "Stickball" has the double meaning of "sticking" with your team through multiple seasons!

Regardless of all that, we are EXTREMELY glad to see ArmyMP not only back home safe (well, sort of ;), but we are glad doog23 was good enough to give him back his team. Anyone who feels up to it should send doog23 a little gift certificate. Heck, just a very small donation would be thoughtful. (Besides, I plan on inviting him back next offseason if we lose an owner).

As I look over the league I must confess that I don't see a clear favorite. Huskypride still has the team to beat, but behind him there appears to be a wide open field. Anybody who wants to sitemail me their Team Season Preview is welcome to. I think I'd like to do something like what we did last Season and post as many season previews ... no matter how short ... as possible.

Season 7 WS Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS Huskypride2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New York Brokers (AL)
Owner: huskypride2		Ballpark: Yankee Stadium (II)
ML: 97-65	AAA: 56-88	AA: 37-107	Hi A: 13-131	Lo A: 74-70	RL: 18-58

Season	Owner	Level	Record	%	Final Standing	Wild Card	Division Title	DCS Winner	LCS Winner	WS Winner
1	tmfran	ML	83-79	.512	2nd	Yes	No	no	no	no
2	tmfran	ML	83-79	.512	3rd	No	No
3	tmfran	ML	79-83	.488	3rd	No	No
4	metsny	ML	79-83	.488	3rd	No	No
5	metsny	ML	72-90	.444	3rd	No	No
6	huskypride2	ML	94-68	.580	1st	No	Yes	no	no	no
7	huskypride2	ML	97-65	.599	1st	No	Yes	yes	yes	yes