Analysis
We have reached the first-ever CBO All-Star break, and the leagues have taken full shape in the playoff rankings. It was a great week for several teams, while it was a terrible team for others. Thus, we have NINE teams with double pluses or minuses in our Power Rankings moves.
In honor of Red, White, and Blue week, our Power Rankings will feature two Red (hots), two White (kings of the associations), and three Blue (colds - oh so blue).
Power Rankings
Weekly Team Power Rankings: Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Oberland T-51s (147.5, o)
2) Goodneighbor Hancocks (133.6, o)
3) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (118.8, +1)
4) The Slog Ghouls (108.7, ++7)
5) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (105.9, ++10)
6) Starlight Lady Killers (102.7, +2)
7) Diamond City Swatters (98.4, +2)
8) Abernathy Adamantium (96.7, -2)
9) Warwick Mirelurks (95.2, -2)
10) Quincy Gunners (93.9, --5)
11) Concord Radstags (92.8, +2)
12) Easy Town Assaultrons (85.2, --9)
13) FHE Yao Guai (84.1, ++4)
14) Finch Farm Four Leafs (82.8, o)
15) Atom Cats (82.8, ++4)
16) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (82.1, ++4)
17) Salem Witch Hats (81.3, +1)
18) University Point Deathclaws (80.4, -2)
19) Egret Ninjas (77.1, --7)
20) County Crossing Bloodbugs (76.5, +1)
21) Lexington Synths (74.1, --11)
22) Vault 81 Dwellers (71.0, o)
23) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (53.5, o)
24) Roxbury Knuckle Punchers (35.1, o)
Red
Fort Hagen (++10, TW - 5, LW - 15) - Just when the Silver Shroud looked like they were fading away in the Institute League, they surprised us all with getting hits when they needed hits and pitching when they needed pitching to go 5-0 on the week. Neither of their opponents are considered to be playoff contenders, but those are the types of teams that Fort Hagen should dominate. With a two-game sweep of Salem and a three-game league sweep of Sunshine Tidings, the Shroud are now just one game behind both Abernathy and Starlight for the division lead, thanks in part to the Lady Killers sweeping the Adamantium to make the jumbled mess atop the IL.
The Slog (++7, TW - 4, LW - 11) - The Ghouls also enjoyed a 5-0 week in the week of sweeps. Like Fort Hagen, The Slog dd not face the top teams of the North Charles Association, but they did handle business in two road sweeps over Concord and Finch Farm. With their strong week, and a weak week by Easy Town (see the Blue section), the Ghouls have now surged into second place, two games up on the Assaultrons. The 2296 champions out of the Wild Card spot may be up to the task to try for a second championship banner in Tarberry Field Forever.
White
Oberland (o, TW - 1, LW 1) - The T-51s started on top and look like they will finish there. At 50-15, they drop few games and figure to be a tough out in any three-game series, much less a five or seven-game affair. As the current leaders of the South Charles Association by five games over the Minutemen League's Goodneighbor Hancocks, Oberland is the probable #1 seed in the SCA playoffs.
Nordhagen Beach (+1, TW - 3, LW - 4) - The Party Boys are another team that went 5-0 on the week which included scoring 14, 23(!), 4, 8, and 15 in sweeps over the Chemists and Assaultrons. Nordhagen Beach now leads the NCA in runs scored (374) and runs allowed (273). On top of that, the Boys from the Beach may have made the most important trade yet of playoff contenders by dropping their third base project for third base production in Jon Hitman. The offense has responded since he arrived. Going into the All-Star break, Nordhagen Beach (40-25) now has a four-game lead over the next three teams.
Blue
Lexington (--11, TW - 21, LW - 10) - The Synths thought they were getting into the playoff race, but then they suffered two bad sweeps to Finch Farm and Concord to go 0-5 on the week and drop into 5th place in the IL, six games back of Abernathy and Starlight.
Easy Town (--9, TW - 12, LW - 3) - In all fairness, the Assaultrons had a tough week ahead of them in facing both first place teams in the NCA, the Adamantium and Party Boys. However, to be a true championship contender, a team like Easy Town cannot go 0-5 in those two series, but they did. While Easy Town had been the CBO's best team in one-run games, both losses to the Adamantium were one-run losses. Nordhagen Beach, on the other hand, beat the Assaultrons by four, six, and twelve. It is worth noting that Easy Town is still 13-5 in one-run games, leading the CBO in wins in that category and only second in losses behind the T-51s (3).
Quincy (--5, TW - 10, LW - 5) - As opposed to the two teams above, the Gunners still hold the wildcard spot in the ML, but barely. After sweeping Vault 81 in two games, the Gunners then got swept in three games by league-leader Goodneighbor, pushing the Hancocks further away from the pack in what looks to now be a locked league for the league title. Quincy could not capitalize on being one of the best offenses in the league after losses of 4-3, 9-6, and 5-1.