#2 Diamond City Swatters (73-35) vs #3 Quincy Gunners (64-44)
Season Series: Diamond City 4, Quincy 4
April 6-7 @DC: DC 7-4, DC 6-2
April 25-26 @Quin: Quin 3-2, DC 7-4
August 15-16 @Quin: Quin 2-1, DC 9-7
August 22-23 @DC: Quin 6-2, Quin 4-3
Diamond City Home Page
Quincy Home Page
Game 1 Matchup
Analysis
Diamond City took its 2298 success and turned it up a notch, remaining near the top in the standings and Power Rankings throughout the season. Though Quincy had a better August, including winning 3 of 4 from Diamond City in the month, the Swatters were one of the most consistent teams throughout the season, never having a losing month with a near consistent two wins for every three games played. Their longest losing streak all season was four, including being swept by league rival Oberland before coming back the next week and sweeping the T-51s.
It may not appear that way looking at the offensive stats (5th in the SCA in runs scored with 591), but the Swatters offense was a strong squad in an association with many tough squads. The team revolves around RF Wayne Lacy (.307/27/85) who may not even be the team MVP in 2299. That award appears to go to almost assured Red Rocket Rookie Award winner 1B Oren Gep (.297/25/102). Four other players on offense are dangerous: CF Witcher Craft (.319/2/30), 3B Allen Bishop (.363/16/72), SS Wally Warwick (.337/15/71), and LF Tyler Ross (.307/23/67).
The pitching was the true strength for Diamond City, finishing 2nd in runs allowed (439), 1st in Starters ERA (3.69), and 2nd in Bullpen ERA (3.36). The first two starters, X10-44 Mannson (12-6, 3.50) and Tim Fusion (11-5, 2.84), are tough to score on. The third starter, Blaine Phrasemaker (9-14, 4.71), may be the one chink in the Swatters' power armor. Closer Josh Samm (37 SV, 1.12) is the best in the business, and regular starter Tyler Powers (15-4, 3.53) will probably move to the bullpen, though he probably should be starting over Phrasemaker. However, who is to tell Manager Bucky Bachelor what to do with his rotation?
Quincy may be a stronger opponent than the Swatters would like to see. In fact, if it were not for being curb-stomped by Goodneighbor (2-10 vs them on the season), the Gunners may have been looking to be the #1 seed in the SCA. Quincy was really good on both sides of the ball, finishing 2nd in runs scored (612) and 3rd in runs against (514).
On offense, CF Steve Gunkill (.357/14/73) had a strong season to get the Quincy lineup off and running as one of the top leadoff hitters. There is no comeback player of the year award, but if there were, his recovery from
a miserable 2298 (.178/2/10) between Jamaica Plain and the Gunners is an impressive one. The team star is 3B Ben Pettinato (.328/24/72) and Quincy has a rare good-hitting catcher in Stuart Costantino (.336/9/81). LF Bryan Benton also quietly stepped up his game in 2299 with a .325/18/78 line. The rest of the lineup was consistently good with RF Baywatch Fischler (.264/6/43) having the lowest batting average, not a bad average at all.
The pitching is led by ace Manny McDuff (17-5, 2.99) who had a stellar 2299 season, his first winning season of his career. The next two pitchers were not as sharp but can still win games: Joey Dimes (11-13, 4.96) and Ray Human (10-6, 4.86). CL Wick Prater (28 SV, 1.97) had an outstanding season, with a record 35-straight saves converted going back to 2298, giving Quincy a chance to cut down any team with a late lead.
Prediction
This will be a tough one, so we are going to stick with consistency and predict the Swatters to edge the Gunners, 3 games to 2.