Caribbean League Baseball

[pauwoo]

I've played through more than a few iterations of custom leagues, MLB Historical leagues, and other weird creations that this robust sandbox of a game has allowed before settling on Caribbean League Baseball. This will be a dynasty report beginning with the 2015 season, using local players (though I haven't been 100% happy with the name sets for these areas), two Cuban teams, and six converted Cricket clubs (for logos sake). A few caveats – the league will consist of 8 teams, 81 games, no playoffs, and no plans for expansion.

For the purposes of this dynasty, I will try to structure it like this:

• Pre-Season Predictions
• Mid-Season Report – Including Top Players & Highlighted trends and stats from the clubs
• Final Two Weeks Summary (with no playoffs this tends to be an exciting time as teams jockey for the top 3 positions).

I'll also post information on specific players, and should a baseball dynasty present itself over the next 35 seasons, they'll get their just due.

Here's a look at my League Map:

[pauwoo]

Heading into the 2015 season, St. Kitts, bolstered by the Trinidadian ACE Benjamin Dempster, is the consensus pick for the Championship, while the defending Champion Trinidad Red Steel seem a lock to finish near the top three. The Guyana Amazon Warrior's are picked to finish last for the second straight season and can only hope that the Barbadian Gerard D'Eath can deliver consistent offense on par with his designation as the best hitter in the league.

[pauwoo]

Mid-way through the 2015 campaign, Cuban squad Sancti Spiritis is off to a hot start, including an 8-2 run over their last ten games. Jamaica has looked sharp over the first half and find themselves sitting in the top three with the surging St Kitts & Nevis club.




Gerard D'Eath (GUY) has lived up to his early billing as the premier batsman in the league. With 17 HR's, 48 RBI's, a .331 AVG, and 2.4 WAR, he looks to be an early lock for Batter of the Year.

[pauwoo]

With one week to go in the 2015 campaign, the Tallawahs, Gallos and Patriots sit tied at the top of the table. Look for the Red Steel to make their move towards the top three if they can sweep the Tridents before meeting the Gallos for the last series of the season.



Strength of schedule gives the Tallawahs the easiest route to the Championship. With a series against sub .500 ball club Cienfuegos before closing out the 2015 campaign against basement dwellers Barbados, it would seem that the trophy is theirs to lose.

[pauwoo]

With a wild finish to the 2015 campaign, the Sancti Spiritis Gallos, after losing their first two games of the final week, went undefeated the rest of the way with a much needed win over St. Kitts to finish that series before sweeping the defending champs, Trinidad Red Steel in their final 3 game stand of the season at home. St. Kitts went 4-2 over the final stretch (including two wins over the Gallos) to secure second place on the table, and in a surprising twist Jamaica, despite having the easiest schedule to close out the campaign, slid into a three-way tie for third on the table with Cienfuegos and St. Lucia after going 1-9 over there last ten games.

[pauwoo]

The 2015 Awards were announced today, and it came as no surprise that Gerard D'Eath took home the Outstanding Hitter Award with his 27 dingers and 90 RBI's for the 40-42 Guyana Amazon Warriors, while Jean Charles was the surprising recipient of the Outstanding Pitcher Award for his stellar contribution to the Championship Runners-Up St Kitts from the Closer position where he earned 23 saves and 52 K's in 36 innings of work. The Newcomer of the Year went to the sweet swinging & budding superstar Jamaican Pat Burkitt, whose 15 HR's and 43 RBI's are surely a sign of a bright future for the Red Steel star.

[pauwoo]

As we head into the 3rd season of the Caribbean League, the only prediction that most pundits can agree on is that the current Champions, Sancti Spiritis Gallos, will produce a repeat of their magical 2015 campaign, albeit with much more breathing room this time around. St. Kitts Nevis are predicted to play the “always a bridesmaid' role again, while Trinidad look to rebound from their 1st to worst performance of 2015.

The early favorite for consensus Hitter of the Year is 26 year old Barbadian, Lee Sirett, who is healthy and coming into his own as a hard hitting clean up for the #1 ranked offense of Guyana. On the defensive side of the ball, another Barbadian, Jay “Cha Cha” Fellick, is the preseason pick to lead all pitchers in K's en route to winning the Pitcher of the Year award.

[pauwoo]

2016 mid-season report


Notables from the midway point...

• The Guyana Amazon Warriors, after two years of futility, have jumped out to a commanding 5 game lead heading into the second half of the 2016 campaign. Lewis Sirett, widely considered the best player in the league, is off to a smashing start with a .371 average, and last years Batter of the Year, Gerard D'Eath has started to recapture his 2015 form during his current 17 game hitting streak.
• The Jamaica Tallawahs are currently on a 7-3 run and have won their last 4 contests straight. Are they poised to make the strides necessary to finish at the top of the table after their crushing late season collapse of 2015?
• Imazighen Amaad of Barbados, has seemingly come out of nowhere and is flirting with the ever elusive .400 season after hitting just .279 the year before. At 33 years old, it may be worth tracking the Guyanese veteran.

[pauwoo]

With just 6 games left in the season and the top two clubs all but decided, the league leading Guyana Amazon Warriors need just two wins to clinch the title. Before they can lay claim to the championship, however, they will need to get by a rejuvenated Tallawahs squad that has went 7-3 over their last 10 games. If the Jamaican stalwarts can get the sweep they will be sitting pretty heading into their final series of the season against defending champion Sancti Spiritis. Can they avoid the collapse of 2014 and pull off a miracle?

[pauwoo]

For all the attention paid to what the Jamaica Tallawahs had the opportunity to do, it was the retooled Guyana pitching staff that led the team to their first CLB Championship. Their foundation, of course, remains the offense, and there's no better hitter to build around than Gerard D'Eath, especially when paired with lead-off man Lewis Sirett.

According to many baseball pundits, the first Championship for the Amazon Warriors could begin the first dynasty of the CLB using the age old blueprint of: dominant starting pitching, key hits throughout the lineup and stellar work out of the bullpen.

[kq76]

Great stuff! I've been thinking of doing a Carribean league for awhile.

I'm curious: how did you decide what cities to use? You have some surprise additions and omissions in there.

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by kq76

Great stuff! I've been thinking of doing a Carribean league for awhile.

I'm curious: how did you decide what cities to use? You have some surprise additions and omissions in there.

Thanks! Originally, I was looking at doing a Cuban league, but when I was looking at expanding it I started researching teams in the region and happened upon the Caribbean Premier League (Cricket Tournament). I knew I wanted to leave the DR as is, and adding Jamaica was something I wanted to do, so after mapping out the teams from the CPL, and adding two of my favorite Cuban clubs, I thought I had an interesting world with wide open potential. Add all this to the fact that I fall firmly in the camp of "logo's increase immersion" and it would be fair to say that the league sort of formed itself.

[pauwoo]

The 2016 Player Awards were announced today, with Trinidad and Tobago's Phil Barraclough taking home the Outstanding Hitter Award with a rock solid season at the plate, and St. Lucia's Juan Delvalle taking home the Outstanding Pitcher Award after finishing with a league leading 11 wins and 2.91 ERA. Also announced was Newcomer of the Year Dwaine Lew of the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots. The youngster finished with a .241 average, 12 dingers, and 24 RBIs to lead all rookies.

[pauwoo]

Among the many topics discussed during the off-season meetings was the possibility of extending a charter to a 9th franchise to play on the leeward island of Antigua. The proposed franchise only managed to secure 3 yes votes from the existing members of the CLB. A total of 5 yes votes are required to be granted a charter. Devidasa Motiwala, owner of the Jamaica Tallawahs, said in a statement that, "it is too early in our leagues history to foolishly extend a 9th charter. We can not be reasonably certain that the league or its existing franchises can bare the extra expenses associated with expansion."

The Antigua and Barbuda Foundation for Leeward Baseball promised to put their membership forward for a vote again in 2017.

[pauwoo]

OK, Guyana fans, don't let Baseball punditry cause you to rage quit the beautiful game.

Despite an electric run to last year’s Championship, it seems most people believe the Amazon Warriors were another flash in the pan.

The predicted results were ugly for Guyana, who will finish 6th on the table according to sports writers throughout the Caribbean. In all 17 people gave their predictions and just three picked Guyana to finish in the top half of the table. St. Kitts, who will field what looks to be a solid lineup on both sides of the ball, are predicted to finish 1st – only time will tell if these paper tigers have any bite.

[pauwoo]

The Jamaica Tallawahs have dazzled over the first half of the season, and their defense has made a series of spectacular plays over their last 10 games to help the squad go 7-3 over that stretch. "Unbelievable," said Jamaica's Manager Paul Julian, who marveled at his teams start to the season. "We have the best defense in baseball right now. It gives us a lot of confidence."

In terms of the mid-season individual leaders, Dominic Honeybourne of Sancti Spiritis is on an absolute tear behind the plate batting .343 with 20 HR's and 48 RBI's. With a start like that, fans are starting to whisper about the triple crown. From the mound, fireballer Bailey Harsnett of Cienfuegos is off to an electric start with an ERA of 1.55, 5 wins, and 54 K's. As one of the few bright spots for the Cuban Elefantes, Harsnett is a big part of the reason his club is only 5 games off of the pace set by the Tallawahs.

[pauwoo]

The Jamiaca Tallawahs are on pace to win their 1st ever Caribbean League Championship as they sit atop the table despite their 4-6 run over their last ten games. Meanwhile, St. Kitts & Nevis have given the Tallawahs something to think about following their recent charge, going 9-1 in their last ten match-ups.

On the face of it, the Tallawahs seemingly have the easier rout to the title with a three game tilt against the St. Lucia Zouks to close out their 2017 campaign. Recently, the Tallawahs have dominated the Zouks, outscoring them 32-6 over their last series, a 3 game sweep, and posting a 5-4 record against them overall. St. Kitts will probably have their hands full with Barbados during their last series of the campaign. The 3rd place Tridents made it 7-2 against St. Kitts and outscored the Patriots 16-7 during their 3 game sweep earlier this month.