Last Statis-Pro World Series Finale So Similar to Real World Series

Sometimes our actual jobs get in the way and we just don't have time for board games, but we finally did finish up the Statis-Pro World Series.

In the actual World Series the Texas Rangers tied the Houston Astros in the regular season atop the AL West standings, but lost the tie-breaker for a bye, then beat them in a 7-game AL Championships and then won World Series. In the Statis-Pro season it was the Astros who took the AL and then won the World Series in a come-from-behind Game 7 (see below).

In the actual NL the Arizona Diamondbacks beat out the Chicago Cubs by one game for the last wildcard spot, then went all the way to the World Series. What might have been if the Cubs had won one more game, as in Statis-Pro they made the surprise run from wild card to the World Series before losing to the Astros. The box score of Game 7 is below.

Since going to the 6-team league playoff format the last two years, the average World Series contender has gotten there despite winning only 0.566 percent of their games. Our joke now is that the Statis-Pro World Series is more accurate than the real World Series because the top teams do not suffer from "rust" while waiting for the 3-game wild card series before they can get back on the field.

As the chart shows at the bottom of this blog, the average Statis-Pro World Series participant has had a 0.602 winning percentage in the actual MLB season in which they made the Statis-Pro World Series, and those teams have also had a 0.587 winning percentage the season before - important because the Statis-Pro rosters are the same as the current MLB roster, but the cards are derived from stats either completely or mostly based on the previous season stats.

In other words, Statis-Pro is more likely to produce a better regular season champion than the actual current MLB Playoff system where the four best teams have to wait several days between games.

Here is the decisive Game 7, followed by a list of our Statis-Pro World Series matchups over the years:

As in most games in this Statis-Pro World Series, the Cubs jumped on top. Patrick Wisdom launched a solo home run and then two batters later Ian Happ smacked a 2-run homer.

Chicago took another 3-0 lead.  

At a time in which small ball is returning due to the bases being closer together to enable more advancing on the bases, a sacrifice fly RBI (Altuve) and an RBI groundout (Tucker) helped the Astros fight back to within 3-2 after six innings.

Next, it was time for the Cubs’ bullpen to crack, Brandon Hughes surrendered the big 2-run blast to Kyle Tucker.  Houston added an insurance run, while the bullpen held on for the 5-3 win.

 

Astros are champs again!

And here is the history of Statis-Pro World Series champs.

Season	Statis-Pro World Series	Actual MLB	Prev Sea
2023	Astros (champ)	0.556	0.654
2023	Cubs	0.512	0.457
2022	Dodgers (Champ)	0.685	0.654
2022	Yankees	0.611	0.568
2021	Red Sox (Champ)	0.568	0.400
2021	Dodgers	0.654	0.717
2020	Dodgers (Champ)	0.717	0.654
2020	Rays	0.667	0.593
2019	Astros (champ)	0.660	0.636
2019	Nats	0.574	0.506
2018	Diamondbacks (Champ)	0.506	0.574
2018	Guardians	0.562	0.630
2017	Red Sox (Champ)	0.574	0.574
2017	Cubs	0.568	0.640
2016	Astros (champ)	0.574	0.531
2016	Cubs	0.640	0.599
Average	Average Statis-Pro WS Win%	0.602	0.587
2023	Actual MLB/12-team format	Win %
2023	Rangers (Champs)	0.556
2022	Diamondbacks	0.519
2022	Astros (Champs)	0.654
	Phillies	0.537
	Average Actual WS Win%	0.567

Here are the Baseball Reference Links to all players.

 

Astros	Pos	Th/Bat
Bryan Abreu	RP	R
Jose Abreu	1B	R
Jose Altuve	2B	R
Yordan Alvarez	LF	L
Brandon Bielak	SP	L
Ronel Blanco	SP	R
Michael Brantley	LF	L
Alex Bregman	3B	R
Hunter Brown	SP	R
Kenedy Corona	CF	R
Yainer Diaz	C	R
Shawn Dubin	RP	R
Mauricio Dubon	2B	R
J.P. France	SP	R
Matt Gage	RP	L
Luis Garcia	SP	R
Kendall Graveman	RP	R
David Hensley	2B	R
Cristian Javier	SP	R
Corey Julks	LF	R
Grae Kessinger	SS	R
Joel Kuhnel	RP	R
Seth Martinez	RP	R
Chas McCormick	CF	R
Lance McCullers Jr.	SP	L
Jake Meyers	CF	R
Rafael Montero	RP	R
Parker Mushinski	RP	L
Oliver Ortega	RP	R
Jeremy Pena	SS	R
Ryan Pressly	RP	R
Cesar Salazar	C	L
Jon Singleton	1B	L
Bennett Sousa	RP	L
Ryan Stanek	RP	P
Kyle Tucker	RF	L
Jose Urquidy	SP	R
Framber Valdez	SP	R
Justin Verlander	SP	R
Forrest Whitley	SP	R
Cubs	Pos	Th/Bat
Kevin Alcantara	CF	R
Adbert Alzolay	RP	R
Miguel Amaya	C	R
Javier Assad	RP	R
Cody Bellinger	1B	L
Ben Brown	RP	R
Alexander Canario	CF	R
Pete Crow-Armstrong	CF	L
Jose Cuas	RP	R
Brennen Davis	CF	R
Yan Gomes	C	R
Ian Happ	LF	B
Kyle Hendricks	SP	R
Nico Hoerner	2B	R
Bailey Horn	SP	L
Brandon Hughes	RP	L
Caleb Kilian	SP	R
Mark Leiter Jr.	RP	R
Luke Little	RP	L
Nick Madrigal	3B	R
Miles Mastrobuoni	3B	L
Julian Merryweather	RP	R
Matt Mervis	1B	L
Christopher Morel	2B	R
Daniel Palencia	RP	R
Michael Rucker	RP	R
Drew Smyly	SP	L
Justin Steele	SP	L
Seiya Suzuki	RF	R
Dansby Swanson	SS	R
Jameson Taillon	SP	R
Mike Tauchman	CF	L
Keegan Thompson	RP	R
Luis Vazquez	SS	R
Hayden Wesneski	RP	R
Jordan Wicks	SP	L
Patrick Wisdom	3B	R

Statis-Pro Batters Set in Merge Order for 2023 (Astros as Example)

As we finalize the data for the 2023 Projected Statis-Pro cards, we decided to set them up to print in alphabetical order (vs. on the sheet right now when we put in the order of suggested line-up based on the cards). 

We added a column with our suggested line-ups - so based on the cards we suggest Jose Altuve bats 2nd and plays second base, whereas if you go down to Kyle Tucker we suggest he bats 1st and starts in right field. The Astros have hit Altuve 1st, and you can as well, but Tucker's A/A speed and wanting him to have as many at bats as possible nudge him to 1st in our line-up just based on the card.

If someone does not have a number 1 through 9 by them it means we are not recommending them for the starting line-up, thus "Res" for "Reserve."

The one other variable is Jake Meyers, "Bat: vLHP" meaning we do suggest starting him against left-handed pitchers. We don't overcomplicate by listing a left-handed order, but if you look up to Michael Brantley you see his 0.777 OPS is strong and actually very strong against right handed pitchers because his "13/87" means he turns all 87 or 88 numbers on either his card or the pitchers card into a single with runners all advancing two bases.

The flip side is that he is a much worse batter against left handed pitching, with the 13 to the left of the slash meaning he strikes out on an 11-13 on his card or the pitcher's card, thus we suggest Meyers replaces him in left field against left-handed pitching.

We also list extra cards to give you a quick card for any player that joins the team during the season for which we do not have a card created. Basically just use a new players OPS to pick the proper replacement card.

If you need a quick new card for a player not in our set, pick the closest OPS.

Yanks Sweep Jays, Face Dodgers in WS, Also Dodgers 1955 vs. Yankees 1927 ends bizarre with Lasorda pitching to Gehrig

We have reached the Statis-Pro World Series using 2022 Projected cards  The Yankees swept the regular season champ Jays with ease - as their 3rd and 4th pitchers Montas and Severino won 5-0 and 5-1 games against the highest scoring offense if our season. Rizzo had 5 hits in games 3 and 4. (See bottom of blog for score sheet and key player cards).

The classic Dodgers - Yankees series lead us to open the All-Time play in our 12-team New York-Boston Division. We decided to try two of the greatest teams of all-time - the 1927 Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Their player cards in sheet form are below. Don Newcombe pitches game 1 and when he bats can hit a homer on a 23-31.

Division openers:

East Division - 1909 Pirates won 1-0, vs 2008 Phillies won 5-3 in 11 innings.

New York-Boston Division - 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. 1927 Yankees - craziest double header I've ever played. Aces Newcomb (who also bats 3rd) and Hoyt started in dead ball 1927 game for  3-2 Dodgers win in 14 innings. Duke Snyder hit 2-run homer in top of 14th then in bottom Jackie Robinson's Clutch Defense 5 saved game with diving stop down 3rd base line. Both bullpens shot for finale in a little more lively ball 1955, which Brooklyn won 19-9. Dodgers ended up needing to put the affable but terrible pitch Tommy Lasorda on mound for last two outs. He gave up a sac fly to Meusal to cut it to 19-8, then a wild pitch to make it 19-9 with the greatest mismatch in Statis-Pro history of Lasorda pitching to Lou Gehrig - who against all odds grounded out to shortstop.  The ridiculous score sheet is at the very bottom of the blog.

Certainly feel the Dodgers got their money's worth for the ridiculously high salaries they paid their big three bats!

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
Salaries

Roy Campanella	$42,000.00
Jackie Robinson	$35,000.00
Duke Snider	$35,000.00

Midwest Division - St. Louis Browns 1922 vs KC Royals 1985, royals win 5-3 and 3-2.

South Division - Atlanta Braves 1995 win 7-2 vs. Washington Senators 1934 win 1-0.

West Division - 1972 Oakland A's vs. 2001 Seattle Mariners - to be played

Statis-Pro Playoffs; Improved Verlander, Altuve & Alvarez Lead Astros vs. Injured Twins

The Twins actually finished a game ahead of the Astros in our Statis-Pro season, a far cry from the actual MLB season in which the Twins failed to make the playoffs while the Astros had the top record in the AL. However, we produced new cards for the 28 most improved players above their 2022 projections.

The new cards below for Game 1 starter Justin Verlander, and No. 2 and No. 3 hitter Jose Altuve and Jordan Alvarez seem to give them a huge edge against the Twins roster further down that look like a hospital unit with Bruxton, Sano and Maeda among many player cards that can not be used due to injuries.

Click here for the preview of the other Statis-Pro Wildcard series as the Yankees host the White Sox. The winner of that series advances to face the Cleveland Guardians, while the winner of the Astros-Twins series moves onto play the Toronto Blue Jays, as outlines in the season review.

Houston Astros

 

Pos	Astros Batters	Statis-Pro
RF	Kyle Tucker	1 - RF
2B	Jose Altuve	2 - 2b improved
LF	Yordan Alvarez	3 - DH improved
3B	Alex Bregman	4 - 3b
LF	Trey Mancini	5 - LF
1B	Yuli Gurriel	6 - 1b
CF	Chas McCormick	7 - CF
C	Christian Vazquez	8 - C
CF	Mauricio Dubon	9 - SS vs LHP
SS	Jeremy Pena DD	9 - SS vs RHP
SS	Aledmys Diaz	find
LF	Michael Brantly	ineligible
C	Jason Castro IL60	ineligible
SS	David Hensley
C	Martin Maldonado
CF	Jake Meyers
Pos	Astros Pitchers	Statis-Pro
P	Justin Verlander	a
P	Lance McCullers Jr.	b
P	Cristian Javier	c
P	Luis Garcia	d
CL	Ryan Pressly	1
RP	Hector Neris	2
RP	Will Smith	3
P	Framber Valdez	4
CL	Rafael Montero	5
RP	Ryne Stanek	6
RP	Bryan Abreu	7
RP	Phil Maton	find
RP	Josh James	ineligible

Minnesota Twins

 

Pos	Twins Batters	Statis-Pro
2B	Nick Gordon	1 - 2B
SS	Carlos Correa	2 - SS
2B	Jorge Polanco IL10	3 - 1B
DH	Luis Arraez	4 - 2B
3B	Gio Urshela	5 - 3B
C	Ryan Jeffers	6 - C
C	Gary Sanchez	7 - DH
CF	Gilberto Celestino	8 - CF
LF	Jake Cave	9 - LF ops .644 B/D
1B	Jose Miranda DD	ops .751 D/E
RF	Matt Wallner	rf - 8 ops .709 E/D
CF	Mark Contreras
C	Caleb Hamilton
CF	Billy Hamilton
SS	Jermaine Palacios
CF	Byron Buxton	ineligible
	Alex Kirilloff	ineligible
LF	Trevor Larnach	ineligible
C	Sandy Leon IL60	ineligible
3B	Royce Lewis IL60	ineligible
1B	Miguel Sano IL60	ineligible
LF	Kyle Garlick	ineligible
Pos	Twins Pitchers	Statis-Pro
P	Sonny Gray IL15	a - improved
P	Joe Ryan	b
P	Dylan Bundy	c
P	Bailey Ober	d
RP	Caleb Thielbar	1
RP	Emilio Pagan	2
CL	Jhoan Duran	3
RP	Michael Fulmer	4
P	Chris Archer IL15	5
RP	Griffin Jax	6
RP	Jorge Lopez	7 - era 5.45
RP	Kenta Maeda	ineligible

MLB Playoffs: 9 of 12 teams overlap with Statis-Pro Playoff Teams

 The Major League Baseball playoffs start today. 

Nine of the 12 teams overlap with the teams that emerged from the season we played out with Statis-Pro projected 2022 cards created at the beginning of the season. We will cover the key players who led their team to overachieve by playing much better in the actual season than the 2022 projected cards - starting with the Mariners Julio Rodriguez who would get this card based on his actual stats this season.

In Statis-Pro the Brewers, Twins and White Sox made the playoffs, while in real life they were replaced by the Phillies, Mariners and Rays. A 4th team that was much better in real life than in the Statis-Pro season are the Astros. We will add the players who performed much better than their Statis-Pro card projected.

The Statis-Pro NL was played in tournament style this summer, and the bracket is how the teams finished. The Statis-Pro AL was a mini-season, and results are the bracket right now with a couple of games to play.

And then courtesy of CBS Sports, here is the actual MLB bracket for the real season.

Here are the players who were much better this season - and thus have much better Statis-Pro cards next year then they had this year. Each of the four teams had one pitcher that improved to one of the top pitchers in the league and will have a dominant PB 2-9 card based on this season. Their new card appears in this blog.

Houston Astros - Justin Verlander

Philadelphia Phillies - David Robertson

Seattle Mariners - Paul Sewald, and if we had a card for just his games pitched after being traded to the Mariners, then Luis Castillo would also make this list.

Tampa Bay Rays - Shane McClanahan

In addition, the Astros and Mariners benefitted from three of the 10 most improved batters in the league.

Eugenio Suarez and Julio Rodriguez (see card at top) dominated for the Mariners, and Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez for the Astros.

Astros Blast Yankees Out of 1st with 25 hits, dominant starters

 The new additions to the Astros line-up gave some punch with Vazquez singling his first two at bats in the no. 9 Spots, as they tagged the Yankees for 25 hits in two games. The Astros went 8-3 in their last 2 series.

The results are from the free Statis-Pro baseball game using the 2022 Batters cards, 2022 Pitcher cards from Arizona to Miami, and 2022 Pitcher cards from Milwaukee to Washington. When you see the term "sweep" in these accounts, it refers to our league rule that a team that wins a game in which they led by at least 5 runs without using their reliever with the best PB (2-9 is best, then 2-8, 2-7, 4-7, 2-6, 2-5 and the worst is 2-4). In our records, a SWEEP gives the team credit for 3 wins and 0 losses, while any other win is 2 games to 1. 

However, the bigger addition was pb 2-8 Lance McCullers finally off the 60 day DL to allow his card for the 1st time. He and Javier both had 11 strikeouts and only one run allowed between them in 12 innings. 

Javier's start resulted in a 10-1 sweep. McCullers had hard luck ad his relievers let the lead slip due to a Jose Altuve error (below average cd2) starting a 3-run rally in the 8th for a Yankees 4-4 win.

However, the Astros are the hottest team in the league, and after starting in 10th place have rallied to be in the playoffs for the first time if the season ended today.

The Astros would now be 5th and play the 4th place Twins, with the winner advancing to play the same Yankees, who fell to 2nd with the loss.

Cy Young Leader Bieber Hosts Astros' Verlander

 We have updated the log of all Statis-Pro games played this season. We don't really keep stats, but we run a quick pivot table for each Starting Pitcher and calculated how many runs his team averages in his starts, how many are allowed (like an ERA but counts relievers runs allowed as well), then his team's record in his starts - keeping in mind a win with a 5-run lead after 8 innings count as a win.

Looking at the numbers, our next starter Shane Bieber of the Indians would need to be the Cy Young Leader. The Indians have averaged winning his games 7.3 to 2.0, and have gone 8-1 in his starts. 

His next game is against Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros. Verlander has been unlucky so far as his relievers have falled apart for an average loss of 4.7 to 7.7. However, some of the Astros pitchers were the ones corrected to a PB one better than their card at the beginning of the season.

The next start will feature Verlander with his PB 2-8 card against Bieber with his even better PB 2-9 card as the Astros try to rally as the biggest disappointment so far in our season as they challenge the Yankees for the best record in the AL in real baseball.

The new sharper and corrected 2022 Projected Pitchers are here. Use the Projected Batters and the free Statis-Pro baseball Game if you do do not already have a game, but if you like it we suggest going on line to find real fast action cards and an entire game.

Row Labels	Abreu	Ave Score	Ave Allowed	Wins	Losses
Baz	Tampa Bay	1.0	0.00	2	1
German	ny yankees	4.5	0.50	4	2
Hill	Boston	4.0	1.67	6	3
Bieber	Cleveland	7.3	2.00	8	1
Houck	Boston	4.7	2.00	6	3
Ryu	Toronto	5.5	2.00	5	1
Keuchel	Chicago WS	2.0	2.00	2	4
severino	ny yankees	5.0	2.33	6	3
bundy	Minnesota	1.3	2.67	4	5
Rasmussen	Tampa Bay	2.7	2.67	4	5
Gausman	Toronto	4.3	3.00	5	4
banks	Chicago WS	5.5	3.00	4	2
Valdez	houston	5.0	3.00	2	1
King	ny yankees	5.0	3.01	2	1
ryan	Minnesota	9.0	3.33	6	3
Lopez	Chicago WS	4.0	3.50	3	3
garcia	houston	6.3	3.67	6	3
Syndergaard	LA Angels	2.0	3.67	4	5
Quantrill	Cleveland	5.0	4.00	5	4
Sandoval	LA Angels	3.3	4.00	4	5
barrios	Toronto	5.0	4.00	2	1
cole	ny yankees	6.0	4.33	6	3
Berrios	Toronto	6.0	4.50	4	2
Gonzalez	Seattle	3.0	4.50	2	4
McClanahan	Tampa Bay	5.3	4.67	4	5
Flexen	Seattle	5.0	5.00	5	4
Ober	Minnesota	11.0	5.00	3	0
paddack	Minnesota	1.5	5.00	3	3
Giolito	Chicago WS	9.0	5.00	2	1
Lynn	Chicago WS	3.0	5.00	1	2
mckenzie	Cleveland	4.7	5.33	4	5
gilbert	Seattle	3.0	5.33	3	6
Romero	Tampa Bay	4.5	5.50	2	4
Detmers	LA Angels	8.3	5.67	7	2
Plesac	Cleveland	3.0	5.67	3	6
ray	Seattle	8.7	6.00	5	4
Cease	Chicago WS	5.3	6.00	4	5
Eovaldi	Boston	5.7	6.00	4	5
Uriquidy	houston	4.0	6.00	1	2
Pivetta	Boston	4.3	6.33	3	6
Abreu	houston	11.0	7.00	2	1
Cueto	Chicago WS	2.0	7.00	0	3
Manoah	Seattle	6.0	7.33	4	5
Verlander	houston	4.7	7.67	3	6
Montgomery	ny yankees	3.3	8.00	4	5
Kirby	Seattle	10.0	8.00	2	1
Odorizzi	houston	2.7	8.00	1	8
Kluber	Tampa Bay	2.3	8.33	1	8
Ohtani	LA Angels	5.7	8.67	3	6
gray	Minnesota	6.3	9.00	3	6
Kukuchi	Toronto	7.0	11.00	1	2

All-Star Game 2 Scoresheets and Statis-Pro Results

 Trout, LaMahieu and Judge had three hits each, including Judge's 2-run homer that gave the AL a 5-3 win and sweep of our 2-game All-Star series. (the results of Game 1 of our 2-game All-Star series are here, while the free player cards and games are here).

Like the first game, it ended with Chapman striking out all three that he faced in the bottom of the ninth.

The NL utilized their speed on the bases to execute the hit and run to perfection - going 2 of 4 and advancing runners the other two times including Posey's RBI single in the third and RBI groundout in the 5th. Betts drove in the third and final NL run with his second double and third hit of the game.

Overall there were more than twice as many hits as in the AL 1-0 win in game 1. In that game both teams had just five hits, but the AL outhit the NL 13-8 in the second game to sweep.

We joke about the "statis-pro gods" making things happen sometimes, and we had one if those funny moments. The AL Commissioner put Rays close Nick Anderson on his AL roster, even though I had left him out of my interleague play because he tore something in his elbow early in the season and has been out for months. I left him in the pen for the 1st all-star game, but in the second game brought him in after Ohtani's 5 innings. The very first card was a Z-play, and the result was Anderson had to leave the game before facing one batter. The official z-play was an ejection for arguing balls and strikes, but im considering it an injury. The AL's four relievers who stepped in went four scoreless innings, and in real baseball Anderson is throwing off a minor league mound for the first time in months, so hopefully he returns.

The AL does not have as long a winning streak in Statis-pro as in real baseball. The NL did win 1-0 last year, when we used the pb 2-9 cards that were too strong mathmatically. However, the AL did dominate our 2019 game 5-1 and won on back-to-back Astros homers in my first year back in 2018, making the AL 4-1 since i resumed playing.

Debut Score sheets and Free 2020 Statis-Pro Cards and Game; Machado Stops Cole's Perfecto but Yanks Dominate

To play Statis-pro baseball just click on the score sheet for each of the 30 teams, which now includes cards for all 30 teams based on Zips projections. See the (free game here). Search "new games" to find where newest game score sheets start.

This blog includes the games we have played. In our season five teams from each league were relegated, while the 10 AL teams below and 10 NL teams being played separately continue to play for four division Championship byes and eight wild card spots.

AL "East"	W	L	Div	WC	Upcoming 2-game series	playoffs
NYY	49	29	0	7	LAA, Min, Mil (3)	2-Bye
TB.	48	30	-2	6	CWS, LAA, StL (3)	3 vs 6-cws
Cle	40	38	-9	-2	Hou, Oak, Tor (3)	Out
Bost	36	42	-13	-6	Hou, Oak, Pit (3)	Out
Tor.	35	43	-14	-7	Cle, Hou, Min, (3)	Out
AL "West"	W	L	Div	WC	Upcoming 2-game series	playoffs
Hou	47	25	0	8	Bos, Cle, Tor, CWS (4)	1-Bye
Min	43	35	-7	2	NYY, Tor, Tex (3)	4 vs 5-oak
LAA	41	37	-9	-1	NYY, TB, Phi (3)	Out
Oak.	39	33	-8	0	Bos, Cle, CWS, CHC (4)	5 vs 4-min
CWS	42	36	-8	0	TB, Hou, Oak (3)	6 vs 3-tb

The grid of all series are in this google sheet. Bold opponents indicates games against a relegated (therefore easier opponent). After all series above, each team will have played two games against the other 9 teams in these AL standings, two NL qualifiers, and 5 relegated teams.

As a sample, here is the score sheet and game notes for the 2-game series between the Yankees and Padres, which you can click on and stretch out to see the result of every at bat.

For the past month I've been plugging a set of Basic because the batters cards seemed as accurate as the Advanced Cards produced by Derrick Beckner that I use for all-time games. Unfortunately when I pointed out the formulas for those Basic cards allowed way too many hits to be allowed by most pitchers, rather than simply considering revising his cards the creator was defensive and I simply created the 2020 cards myself so you can play your own games with them. I suggest using the sheets for your pitcher cards, and use a stack of cards you already have or choose to buy for your line-ups, but I did include a second sheet on the google sheet with rough batters cards - so you can play without buying anything except a few dice.

New games

Dbacks crush Ohtani to complete 8-4 and 12-3 domination to knock Angels out of playoffs for now

The Angels would not make the playoffs if the Statis-pro season ended today, as even with a great card Ohtani was blasted as hard as he was in his actual 2020 season.

Manchado spoils Cole perfect game, but Yanks blast Padres, pull within 1 of Astros (13-0, 6-1).

Through 8 innings, Cole allowed only one base-runner (Machado double) and striking out 13 in a 13-0 win. That saved the 4 ace relievers to close out the 2nd game. The score sheet appears at the top of this blog.

Twins lose 2-5 and 0-4 to Nats - Scherzer 15k, 1 H and 2 W in shutout

Twins fall percentage points behind Angels to flip 4- and 5- seeds.

White Sox 8-6 and 10-9 over Orioles when 2 9th inning DEEP drives caught at wall

The White Sox continued to slug, finally catching the A's for a virtual tie for the 6th and final AL playoff spot. This was our first game played since the actual MLB season started.

Tigers 3-1 win, then Red Sox 4-1

At the 78-game mark for all AL East teams, the Red Sox managed only a split with their weakest opponent left on the schedule, staying 13 games behind the Yankees for 1st and six out of the playoffs.

Indians pull within 2 games of playoffs, 9-1 and 4-2 over Marlins 

Pitching (assume 1 inning pitched unless parenthesis for number if innings) runs allowed. Each # symbol means one unearned run.

Indians - 1st Game, beiber (8.0) 1 w, Rodriguez 0. 2nd game, Plurko ( 3.0*) 0, wittgren 0, Maton (0.2) 1, wood (1.1) 0 W, Hoyt 0, Perez 0, Hand 0 S.

Marlins - 1st game, Hernandez (4.0) 7## L, neibert 0, Duggar 0, stekenridge 0, Brigham 1, alcantara 0. 2nd game, Lopez (6.0) 3 L, sharp 1, stanek 1, tarpley 9.

Mariners scrap past Rays once, Rays respond with blowout to stay within game of Yanks

Rays best pitching staff in game.

Mariners Speed Upsets Rays 7-5; Tsutsugo in Rays 10-2 win to stay within a game of Yanks.

Tsutsugo 3 homers in 2-game series.

Blue Jays Playoff Hopes Fade with 7-2, 10-2 Losses to Rangers

Blue Jays' ace Ryu pitched 7 great innings in a 2-2 tie, but when the Blue Jays young sluggers do not put up their normal great numbers they are in trouble. In the 8th inning, Gallo's 3-run but HR started a 9-inning stretch during which the Rangers scored 15 runs. The complete sweep was a huge blow to the young Blue Jays' playoff hopes, as they are now 7 games out of the last wild card spot.

In their last 6 at bats, respectively, Gallo had three hits including two home runs, and Choo (batting before him in the No. 3 spot)  had 5 hits including one home run. In the second game, Rangers ace Lance Lynn went 8 strong innings to wrap up the 7-2 and 10-2 wins.

Once the schedule at the top is done the strength of schedule will be balanced and all 10 teams will have played 6 games against each other, as well as the same number of relegated teams (5 from each league that did not make the cutoff for the top 10) and NL teams who did advance. The free instructions are here. All you need is a few dice. However, while we don't sell anything, we do recommend once you try out the game you order your own playing cards and we recommend using adjustments for ball parks based on this chart,.