Any Given Sunday - The Journey Continues

[NYY #23]

The Minnesota Viking relied on Nick Hornburg this week as the 33 year old starter pitched a complete game 7 hitter for the Vikings as they remained undefeated with a 5-3 win over the Jets. Hornburg improved to 8-0 on the season while lowering his ERA to 1.85. The Vikings scored 4 unearned runs on the night after 5 errors by the Jets. The Vikings will be travelling to Atlanta next week where they take on the 6-3 Falcons.

The Eagles lost their first game of the year last week against the undefeated Vikings, but took out their frustrations this week with a 19-8 drubbing of the Chiefs. John Reilly, Chief Roseman, and Aaron Pilkington each drove in 3 runs in the Eagles victory, while Bobby Hanson hit a 3 run homer and drove in 4 runs on the night as the Eagles improved to 8-1 on the season.



The Eagles aren't the only team shooting for a bye with an 8-1 season though, as Aaron Jackson and the Saints improved to 8-1 with a 4-1 win over the Bucs. Jackson allowed just 6 hits and 1 run with 5 strikeouts as he got the win. Joey Koskinen picked up a pair of hits and scored a run for the Saints.



George Derby was named the ABC Player of the Week as he led the Chargers to their fourth straight win. Derby allowed 6 hits in the Chargers 6-0 shutout of the Giants. Jimmy Wood triples, singled, and drove in 2 runs for the Chargers, who now lead the ABC West by 1 game over the Raiders.

The Jaguars now have the best record in the ABC after their 4-3 win over the Falcons. Bob Kruger, Bill Crowley, and Phil Ormsby each drove in a run for the Jaguars.

[StLee]

The NBC is a three-headed hydra right now!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

The NBC is a three-headed hydra right now!

I definitely don't remember a season like this where three teams were playing this well. Hopefully it'll be an exciting end to the season!

[NYY #23]

By the time Vikings starter Nick Hornburg left this week's game against the Falcons with an injury in the second inning the Vikings already had an 8-0 lead. They'd go on for a 15-2 rout of the Falcons to remain undefeated, and announced after the game that Hornburg is not expected to miss his next start. Terry Larkin came out of the pen to pick up the win with 4 1/3 innings of relief. Tom Priest was 2-4 on the night for the Vikings, homered, and drove in 4 runs. The Vikings will continue their quest for an unbeaten season next week at home against the 5-5 Lions. They'll then hit the road to take on the Bears (6-4) and Patriots (3-7). There final three games will be at home against the Dolphins (3-7), on the road against the Seahawks (5-5), and at home against the 49'ers (2-8).

In the NBC East the Eagles fell 4-3 in extra innings to the Buccaneers. While Hardie Henderson allowed just 1 earned run in 10 innings, the Eagles defense failed him with 5 errors, including 3 by shortstop Gid Gardner, who also went 0-5 at the plate and is now hitting .125 for the season.

Sloppy defense was also the downfall of another 1 loss team as the Saints committed 9 errors in their 6-5 loss to the Colts. Every Saints starter but second baseman George Strief committed an error in the game.

The ABC North features a three way tie between the Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals with each team winning this week. The Steelers will be coming to Baltimore next week for their second meeting of the year. The Steelers won 7-1 earlier this year in their game in Pittsburgh.

It was also monthly award time as both league's announced their awards:

Monthly Awards
Batter of the Month:
ABC - Fred Lewis, Chargers - 458, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R
NBC - Bobby Hanson, Eagles - .333, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 8 R

Pitcher of the Month:
ABC - George Derby, Chargers - 3-1, 0.79 ERA, 45.2 IP, 19 K
NBC - Larry Corcoran, Panthers - 4-1, 1.47 ERA, 49 IP, 27 K

Rookie of the Month:
ABC - Bert Dorr, Chiefs - 3-2, 0.72 ERA, 37.1 IP, 18 K
NBC - Hardie Henderson, Eagles - 3-1, 1.72 ERA, 36.2 IP, 19 K

Then finally some of the top college performances this month:

Justin Duke, Illinois - .476, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R
Harry Fuller, Notre Dame - .409, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R
DJ Bash, Boston College - 3-0, 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 25 K
Jimmy Kiser, Kentucky - 4-0, 1.31 ERA, 41.1 IP, 16 K

[StLee]

Whoops. Jinxed the Saints and Eagles.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

Whoops. Jinxed the Saints and Eagles.

Maybe, but both teams have a comfortable lead, so neither should have any trouble making the playoffs. I think the big question is which team gets that second bye.

[NYY #23]

The hottest team in the ABC is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who won their fourth straight game with a 10-1 win over the Patriots. Jim Manning had three hits for the Jags while Phil Ormsby won his 7th game of the year while allowing just 1 earned run. The Jaguars now lead the Titans by 2 games in the ABC South.

The ABC West is all tied up after the Chargers dropped their second straight, and the Broncos and Chiefs won their second straight game. With all three times tied at 6-5, the Raiders are just one game back at 5-6.

The Jets squeaked by the Packers 7-6 this week and now have a two game lead in the ABC East. Bob Girton had a big game for the Jets going 3-5 with a pair of home runs and driving in 5 runs. The 38 year old Girton doubled his career RBI total today.

The Steelers won their third straight game with an 8-5 victory over the Ravens. Chad Arndt, Elmer Foster, and Tom Dolan each had two hits this week for the Steelers, who are now tied with the Bengals in the ABC North.

For the second straight game starter Nick Hornburg left the game with an injury. The Vikings relied on a three run eighth to pull ahead of the Lions and win a narrow 6-5 game and improve to 11-0. Monk Cline put the Vikings ahead for good with an eighth inning single that drove in 2 runs. The Vikings will finish up the season with the following games:



In the NBC East the Eagles moved closer to a playoff appearance with a 3-2 win over the Panthers. Hardie Henderson improved to 9-2 on the season with an 8 hitter. Pete Browning of the Panthers tied a Panther record with a pair of triples in the game. The Giants remain two games back of the Eagles with a 3-2 win over the Falcons. Al Atkinson had a dominating game allowing just 2 hits and no earned runs to improve to 7-4 on the year.

It looked like this would be the year for the Falcons to finally break their streak of failing to reach the playoffs, but that is now in jeopardy after their third straight loss. They now trail the Saints by three games, and have a one game edge over both the Panthers and Bucs. 39 year old Aaron Jackson improved to 9-2 on the season with a complete game 5 hitter against the Titans, winning 3-1.

In the NBC West the Cardinals won their second straight game with a big 4-1 game win over the Seahawks, moving ahead of the Seahawks in the standings. After a rough start to the season Scott Young has rebounded nicely with a string of solid starts. Young has seen his ERA fall from 9.28 after week 2 to 2.72 after week 12.

[NYY #23]

It was a historic week 13 with the second pitcher in history reaching a milestone win number, a record tieing performance, and the end to an undefeated season.



Let's begin first in Chicago where the where after 11 straight wins the Vikings fell 6-2 to the Bears. Bill Sweeney held the Vikings to 2 runs on 9 hits as the Bears did what no other team could do this season. Ed Bowie was the offensive hero for the Bears going 2-4 with a pair of RBI.



He may be 41 years old, but Milt Foss gave Titan fans another memory with a 5-4 win over the Buccaneers to become just the second pitcher in history to win 100 games. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth Milt Foss failed to sacrifice over Danny Bassett, who singled to leadoff the inning, but Bassett advanced to second anyway on a passed ball, and came home to score the winning run when George Shoch hit a walk-off single.



That wasn’t the only history being made in Tennessee though, as earlier in the game Cletus Boyar hit his record tieing 5th home run this season, and is now tied with Buck Ewing atop the leaderboard.

In the NBC East there were two dominant performances from young hurlers this week. Hardie Henderson pitched a 5 hit shutout as the Eagles won 2-0 over the Falcons, while Al Atkinson pitched a 3 hitter in the Giants 5-1 win over the Cowboys.

[NYY #23]

Bill Sweeney became just the fourth pitcher in history to pitch a no-hitter after a 2 walk, 9 strikeout performance in the red hot Bears' 3-0 win over the Packers. It was the Bears sixth straight win, and they've now pulled within 2 games of the Vikings, who lost their second straight game this week after falling to the Patriots 6-4.

The hottest team in the ABC is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who defeated the Seahawks 4-1 to improve to 9-4 on the season and win their fifth straight game. The Steelers lead the ABC North by 1 game over the Bengals, and 2 games over the Ravens. Tommy Davidson had a big day for the Steelers going 3-3 with a walk, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a home run.

With a 7-5 win over the Eagles the Saints became the first team to clinch their division and now are tied for the best record in the NBC with a 11-2 record. Dave Orr singled, doubled, and tripled while driving in 3 runs in the Saints win.

The Giants beat the Redskins 7-6 for the fourth straight win, and with the Eagles loss they now trail the Eagles by just 1 game in the NBC East. The Giants will travel to Philly next week for a big NBC East showdown.

It doesn't appear anybody wants to win the NBC West with both the Cardinals and Seahawks losing this week and the 49'ers (3-10) and Rams (2-11) having two of the worst records in baseball. At 7-6 the Cardinals lead the division and will host the Saints next week.

[StLee]

Huge win for the Saints! Also, thank you, Pats!

[NYY #23]

The Giants traveled to Philadelphia this week for a big showdown with the Eagles, but what was expected to be a close game turned into a blowout as the Giants routed the Eagles 20-1 to pull even in the NBC East. Rookie Eagles starter Hardie Henderson entered today's game with a 1.56 ERA and looked like a favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but tonight Henderson only lasted 4 innings, allowed 16 hits, and allowed 12 runs, 9 earned. Henderson wasn't the Eagles only problem this week though as their offense combined for just 7 hits, and their defense committed 13 errors, including 4 apiece from Aaron Pilkington and Gid Gardner.

Al Atkinson picked up his 10th win of the year for the Giants, who won their fifth straight game. Alfredo Diaz and Mike Whitt each had 4 hits for the Giants who are now tied atop the division with the Eagles.

Three teams clinched their division this week. The Vikings clinched the NBC North with a 9-1 win over the Dolphins. Nick Hornsburg got the complete game win while allowing 5 hits and striking out 3. The 11-3 Jaguars beat the Bills 9-0 to clinch the ABC South. Jaden Cawley picked up 3 hits and scored a pair of runs in the Jaguars' win. With the Bills losing and the Jets beating the Raiders 9-3 the Jets clinched the ABC East.

That leaves the ABC North where the Steelers lead the Ravens and Bengals by a game, the ABC West where the Chiefs and Chargers are tied at 9-5, the NBC West where the Cardinals lead the Seahawks by 2 games, and finally the NBC East where the Giants and Eagles are tied at 10-4.



Cletus Boyar of the Titans hit his record breaking 6th home run of the season this week in the Titans 8-6 loss to the Colts. Boyar now sits alone atop the single season home run leaderboard.



It was time for the monthly awards with Bob Girton of the Jets winning the ABC Batter of the Month. Girton hit .600 for the month with 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and 2 runs scored.



In the NBC Mike Whitt of the Giants hit .500 with 1 home runs, 6 RBI, and 6 runs scored to win the Batter of the Month.

Bert Dorr of the Chiefs won both the Pitcher of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards in the ABC. Dorr was 4-0 in the month of July with a 1.50 ERA in 36 innings while striking out 12. In the NBC the Pitcher of the Month award went to Bill Sweeney who was 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA. Sweeney struck out 24 in 36 innings.

The NBC Rookie of the Month award went to LF Lefty Johnson of the Redskins, who hit .400 with 3 RBI.

[NYY #23]

First I have to apologize for my lack of updates recently. I haven't necessarily forgotten about this dynasty, but sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day. At this point even I had to do a refresher on what the heck was going on, and I feel like I lost my rhythm with this dynasty. Regardless, I hope to wrap up the 1884 season and playoffs this week.

Five of the eight divisions have been settled with races remaining in the NBC East, ABC North, and ABC West. The NBC is much simpler. While the Giants and Eagles are tied at 10-5 after both losing this week one team will win the division, and one will enter the playoffs as a Wild Card. The NBC North will send both the division champion Vikings and Wild Card Bears to the playoffs, joining the Cardinals and Saints. Once again both the Rams and Falcons remain on the outside looking at the playoffs. That's an impressive 14 year streak of futility.

With the Bengals winning this week and the Steelers losing the two teams are now tied atop the ABC North. The Bengals will travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens while the Steelers travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills.

The red hot Chiefs have now won six straight games and will host the second place Chargers in Week 17. If the Chiefs win they'll clinch the AFC West with an 11-5 record. If the Chargers beat the Chiefs they'll finish with identical 10-6 records, but the Chargers would win the AFC West with two wins against the Chiefs.

[StLee]

Welcome back! I know you've still been posting your other dynasty reports, but this one if my go-to as a fan of fictional dynasties.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

Welcome back! I know you've still been posting your other dynasty reports, but this one if my go-to as a fan of fictional dynasties.

Thanks! I've definitely missed this one, and have been wanting to get back to it. It's also the one that is the most time consuming because it's at a league level. I'm looking forward to how the playoffs play out though, and I've got some ideas that I'd like to try out. So the plan is to get back to a normal frequency.

[NYY #23]

Another regular season is in the books and the attention shifts to the postseason. The playoff teams are set, and the battle for World Champion begins. Let's take a look at the playoff teams this week begin in the National Baseball Conference:

1) Minnesota Vikings (14-2) - the Vikings became just the second team in the history of the NBC to win 14 games in a season, and started off and finished the season hot with a two game losing streak in the middle. The Vikings will pair Nick Hornsburg (11-2, 2.13 ERA) with the top offense in the NBC and top defense. With the #1 seed they'll be the favorite to head to their first World Championship game.
2) New Orleans Saints (12-4) - no team has defined success more than the Saints, who will be making their 13th playoff appearance in 14 years. 39 year old Aaron Jackson won 12 games this year, the most since 1880. With the 12th best offense in the league, and average defense the Saints aren't the flashiest team in the league this year, but they always seem to find a way to win.
3) New York Giants (10-6) - New York wins the tiebreaker with a 4-2 division record, compared to the Eagles 3-3 record. The Giants didn't look like the same team that routed the Eagles 20-1 just two weeks ago, but will face off with the Eagles for the third time this year in the first round. Second year starter Al Atkinson (10-6, 2.48) will be getting the start.
4) Arizona Cardinals (9-7) - the Cardinals sport the worst record of any playoff team, but get the four seed by winning the NBC West. 40 year old Scott Young (8-7, 2.95) will hope father time doesn't catch up with him in the playoffs.
5) Chicago Bears (10-6) - the Bears get the fifth seed with 7-5 conference record over the Eagles (6-6) and will look to get revenge on their 4-3 opening week loss against the Cardinals. Rookie starter Bill Sweeney (10-5, 2.56) will be making his playoff debut.
6) Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) - I thought that Hardie Henderson (10-6, 2.39 ERA) was the missing piece for the Eagles, but the Eagles look like they might need a little bit more to win it all. After starting the 7-0 the Eagles have gone 3-6 and looked like a different team. The Eagles are a young team though, with the potential to be a dangerous team. If Henderson can get on track for the playoffs they'll be a tough team to beat.

American Baseball Conference -

1) Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4) - the Jaguars rank 2nd in runs scored, 2nd in runs allowed, and 4th in defense. I'm not completely sold on Phil Ormsby (10-4, 2.76) being the answer, but they are the team to beat in the ABC. A lot can happen between now and the championship game, but I'd predict any NBC team other than the Cardinals would win in a matchup against the Jaguars.
2) San Diego Chargers (10-6)- the Chargers win the tiebreaker over Steelers with 4-3 win this season to earn the bye. I always felt that George Derby (9-5, 2.39) has the potential to be the best pitcher in baseball, but he always seems inconsistent.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) - the Steelers scored the 8th most runs in the conference, with the 12th highest batting average (.218). The Steelers hope that pitching and defense win championships, because their offense doesn't seem like it has what it takes to win.
4) New York Jets (9-7) - the Jets sneak into the playoffs with the worst record in the ABC, courtesy of a weak ABC East. They are rewarded with an opening matchup against the hottest team in the league. With the 10th ranked offense, 7th ranked pitching, and 7th ranked defense I expect an early exit. The Jets will have a choice on which pitcher will get the playoff start, 37 year old Pat Rehberg (3-2, 3.21) or 35 year old Dave Thompson (6-5, 2.53).
5) Houston Texans (10-6) - the Texans win the tiebreaker over the Chiefs with a 10-2 conference record and enter the playoffs with a five game winning streak. 39 year old Vernon Zeiber (10-4, 1.72) has been dominant this year and been helped out by the best defense in the league.
6) Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) - the Chiefs are just about the perfect team, except they can't play defense. 22 year old Bert Dorr (10-6, 1.37) is one of the top rookies in the league. The Chiefs won 6 games in a row before this week's 18-7 blowout loss in which they committed 12 errors.

[NYY #23]

The Wild Card weekend has arrived and it's time to begin the march to the World Championship Game. 12 teams remain in contention, with four games on the docket this week. I always like to make predictions on who will win, at least in my head. This wasn't a good week, as I only predicted one of the four games correctly.

I also realized that I need to slightly modify the schedule to prevent certain problems, like this week one of the starters for the playoff games decided to retire. I manually unretired him, and he'll officially retire after the season. Now, on to the Wild Card results -

American Baseball Conference
Byes:
1) Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4)
2) San Diego Chargers (10-6)

6) Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) @ 3) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)



Kevin Phelan really stepped it up this week for the Steelers with a dominant complete game three hit shutout that ended the Chiefs season. Phelan struck out 7 batters and walked 2. The Steelers managed just 3 hits tonight, but did score 3 runs. Chad Arndt drove in 2 of those runs for the Steelers with a single. I mentioned in the previews that the Steelers would need their pitching to carry them in the playoffs, and at least for tonight Phelan did.

5) Houston Texans (10-6) @ 4) New York Jets (9-7)



With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth inning Pat Pinkerton doubled home the go ahead run for the Jets as they edged the Texans 3-2 to advance to the Divisional Round. Pat Rehberg picked up the complete game win after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits for the Jets, while picking up 2 hits with the bat.

National Baseball Conference
Byes:
1) Minnesota Vikings (14-2)
2) New Orleans Saints (12-4)

6) Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) @ 3) New York Giants (10-6)



The Eagles and Giants were facing off for the third time this season, with a battle between a pair of young hurlers, Hardie Henderson and Al Atkinson. While both pitchers pitched well, it was the veteran Cap Anson of the Giants who was the star of the day, hitting a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth to send the Giants to the next round. It was Anson's second hit and second RBI of the day. The 14 year veteran is hitting .353 for his career, but raised his postseason batting average to .281 with a pair of hits.

5) Chicago Bears (10-6) @ 4) Arizona Cardinals (9-7)



This game featured a matchup of 22 year old Bill Sweeney for the Bears opposing 40 year old Scott Young for the Cardinals. Young had already announced that this postseason would be his last, but was hoping tonight would not be his last start. After giving up 11 hits and 7 runs in 8 innings I'm sure he'd rather be remembered as an 89 game winner, but the Cardinals bailed him out in the bottom of the ninth when Lew Brown singled, moved to third on an error, and came home to score the tieing run on a sacrifice fly, sending the game into extra innings.

It wasn't meant to be for the Cardinals though, as Bill Krieg reached on an error for the Bears to start the tenth, moved to third on a single by Pop Snyder, and scored the winning run on a throwing error. The youngster Bill Sweeney got the win despite a shaky start, going 9 innings while allowing 11 hits. Sweeney did strike out 8 batters, and picked up 2 hits, scored twice, and drove in a run with the bat.

[NYY #23]

American Baseball Conference

3) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) @ 2) San Diego Chargers



Kevin Phelan improved to 2-0 in the postseason with a complete game 5 hitter as the Steelers upset the Chargers 3-2 to advance to the ABC Championship game. All three of the Steelers runs were unearned, taking advantage of 5 errors by the Chargers. The Steelers will be making their third appearance in a Championship game.

4) New York Jets (9-7) @ 1) Jacksonville Jaguars



The Jets entered the playoffs with the worst record in the conference, but are heading to the ABC Championship game after defeating the Chargers 7-4. The Jets relied on solid pitching from Pat Rehberg (9 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K), good defense, and timely hitting. While the Jets were outhit 10-6, they made them count.

38 year old Bob Girton has hit just 2 home runs during his career, but hit two tonight with driving in 3 runs. Adam Webber tripled home a pair of runs for the Jets.

National Baseball Conference

3) New York Giants (10-6) @ 2) New Orleans Saints



It was a battle of youth versus experience today as Al Atkinson took on Aaron Jackson. In the end neither pitcher pitched too well, but it was the Giants bats that carried them to victory. Noah Herl, Mike Whitt, Marty Woodford, and Joe Maloney each drove in 2 runs for the Giants.

5) Chicago Bears (10-6) @ 1) Minnesota Vikings (14-2)



After going 14-2 this year this was supposed to be the Vikings year to shine, but once again they ran into the Bears, who beat the Vikings for the second time this year. This was the one that counted though, as the Bears eliminated the Vikings from the playoffs. 22 year old Bill Sweeney pitched a complete game for the Bears, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs, but just 2 earned.

Mike Iorio and Kevin Barkley each picked up three hits for the Bears in their win. The Bears will now face off against the Giants, with each team making their second appearance in the NBC Championship game.

[ZTO333]

Wow 4 upsets. Hopefully next year can be the year the Eagles win it all!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ZTO333

Wow 4 upsets. Hopefully next year can be the year the Eagles win it all!

The cruelty of single game eliminations. I was definitely surprised by four upsets though.

The Eagles should be in the mix. I was pretty surprised that they essentially fell apart at the end of the year. I think they could have beaten anybody early on. I guess it's all when you get hot. They should continue to have a nice rivalry with the Giants though.

[NYY #23]

American Baseball Conference

4) New York Jets (9-7) @ 3) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)



Pat Rehberg drove in one run for every error that the Jets committed today to pick up the win and send the Jets to their first World Championship Game. Before the series began the Jets weren't even sure who was going to start in the playoffs. Rehberg made just five starts during the regular season this year going 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA. He's now 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 3 playoff starts. Rehberg also leads the Jets in the playoffs with 4 hits, 4 RBI, and a .364 batting average. The 37 year old is definitely making the most of what could be his final opportunity.

National Baseball Conference

5) Chicago Bears (10-6) @ 3) New York Giants (10-6)



It's been 11 years since the Giants have made it to the World Championship Game. They lost their opportunity with a 3-2 loss to the team that would become the Kansas City Chiefs (http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...8-post102.html). With a 7-4 win the Giants are returning to the World Championship Game where they'll face off against the Jets in an all-New York Championship.

Cap Anson was on that team, still just a 21 year old who hit .278 in the postseason. Tonight he picked up one hit and scored a run, but he got plenty of help. Catcher Mel Herwig drove in a pair of runs, first baseman Charles Russ picked up 3 hits, and Marty Woodford hit a big 3 run homer. Perhaps the biggest hero for the Giants was Al Atkinson, who went 3-3 at the plate and scored 2 runs, and allowed just 6 hits in the complete game win. As a 22 year old Atkinson was shelled in his one playoff start, picking up the loss and leaving with a 4.91 ERA. As a 23 year old Atkinson is now 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA. What a difference a year makes.

Bears starter Bill Sweeney hopes for a similar story next year, who exits the playoffs with a 2-1 record and 3.91 ERA after taking the loss tonight.