The Around the Horn League (AtHoL)

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Mad Dog's wins record doesn't last a season and Hoss will get a few shots at becoming the AtHoL's first 30-game winner.

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The Red Wings are currently engaged in a mighty tussle with the Knickerbockers for the O'Malley Band title, with just a game separating them with a dozen to play. New York has the upper hand at present, so this outstanding performance by Mike Cuddyer in a 16-12 win over Walden means just that little bit more.

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Bobby Doerr has put together another solid campaign and goes bananas here, putting 3 into the seats against Nashville. In the same game, his teammate Roy Zimmerman also went deep, giving him 59 for the year to put him one ahead of Johnny Mize.

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The Group round of the 3BL playoffs are over and unfortunately, despite a brave performance, our Cairo Egyptians just come up short against the Trojans, losing Game 5 by 3 to 1 to end their season.

A full wrap of their season in a bit.

Troy will now meet the Memphis Chicks, who easily accounted for the Albany Babies. On the other side of the draw, both the Nashua Millionaires and Hagerstown Hubs survive tough 5-setters to face off in the Conference Championship round.

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Some astounding HR numbers for the AtHoL this season, and while the Mize-Zimmerman race - which Roy currently leads, 61 to 60 - continues to hog most of the headlines, some other players try and steal at least some of the limelight.





And this in a doubleheader





Reggie Jackson has 52, Fernando Tatis jr 50 and Dick Allen 47.

[luckymann]

The Knickerbockers-Red Wings duel is going right down to the wire, with this Hawpe-powered win putting the New Yorkers 2 to the good with 4 to play. As it stands, the runner-up here faces a tough WC game at Raleigh so the O'Malley Band title takes on even more significance.

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A big day for the Terriers SS.

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The Trojans and Hubs have won their respective Conference Championships, with Troy seeing off Memphis in 6 and Hagerstown easily accounting for Nashua in 5, and will now face off in the 3BL World Series.

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The huge HR numbers continue for this season, with Roy Zimmerman still leading John Mize 63 to 62 with two games to play.

There's an imminent rush of players who'll soon reach this milestone, but for now Fernando becomes just the third to make it there. His Pensacola Flyers have also locked down their spot in the playoffs by winning the Adams Band. A full rundown when the regular season is done.

[luckymann]

Not much drama this time around, with only the O'Malley Band going down to the wire, with New York finally seeing off Rochester in the final game. The Red Wings, however, will still feature in the playoffs via the second Wild Card.

So the final standings look like this.





We end up with a record 109 wins, but our season at the end deserts us as we go 2-5. The BP is still our Achilles' Heel and this will test us in the playoffs. A full Podcast when the post-season is run and won.

Buffalo's Chuck Klein has a monster season, winning the LA batting title with a 390 BA, as well as mashing 44 taters and driving in 135. Buck Leonard of the Keystones leads KA hitters with a 339 average.

Roy Zimmerman edges out Johnny Mize 63-62 in the HR race, while Johnny sets a new seasonal mark with 175 RBI.

Old Hoss Radbourn leads the AtHoL with 31 wins, while Jack Jones is the King of K with a staggering 483. Charlie Guth leads with 43 saves.


So the playoff tree looks like this to begin with:

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Lincoln Association

Columbus Red Birds (93-73) @ Detroit Wolverines (93-73)




King Association

Rochester Red Wings (93-73) @ Raleigh Capitals (95-71)




This sets up meetings for the winners with division rivals - we now face the Wolverines while Raleigh will take on Winston-Salem in the best-of-five Freedom Band Series.

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Hagerstown upsets the highly-favoured Trojans to take the inaugural Third Base League Championship.




Full season recap after the AtHoL playoffs.

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Our spotty form continues as we dodge a bullet and just get past Detroit in 5. Pensacola will be a much different proposition, as they show by easily disposing of a good Indy side in 3. They've lost the last 2 Brotherhood Series and I'm sure are desperate to get a third bite at that cherry.

Over in the KA, Raleigh sweeps division rivals Winston-Salem, while New York rallies from 0-2 to stun the Stogies in 5 for the second straight year.

Here are the recaps in full.

Lincoln Association

Chicago Whales (107-59) v Detroit Wolverines (93-73)




Indianapolis Hoosiers (99-67) v Pensacola Flyers (95-71)




King Association

Winston-Salem Twins (98-68) v Raleigh Capitals (95-71)




Pittsburgh Stogies (95-71) v New York Knickerbockers (95-71)

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We lose Zeke Zarilla to injury and call up Jerry Hairston in his place, while Zane Smith's horrible performance in the Band Series sees him dropped and Lee Thompson called up.

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Two fairly straightforward wins as we make a fairly meek exit, comprehensively beaten by a far better side, and Raleigh easily accounts for the Knickerbockers.

Lincoln Association

Chicago Whales (107-59) v Pensacola Flyers (95-71)





King Association

Raleigh Capitals (95-71) v New York Knickerbockers (95-71)

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Pensacola comes up short again in an epic 7-gamer with Game 6 one that will be talked about for a long time. That, and a much easier win in the decider, get Raleigh home after trailing 3 games to 2 for their first AtHoL Championship.

Raleigh Capitals (95-71) v Pensacola Flyers (95-71)

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A fair bit of managerial carnage on the first day of the offseason, with Curtis Mackney (Toronto), Dave Shephard (Dayton), Brandon Watson (Newark), Mike Maloney (Boston), Lorenzo Becerra (Jersey City), Bucky Harris (Baltimore), Dan Keane (Wilmington) and Jason Ford (Lewiston) all getting the chop.

Some rules and settings changes effective from the 1950 season:

• DH is now on for both AtHoL Associations
• Scouting down from VERY HIGH to HIGH
• 5-man rotations now in use, with pitcher stamina down from HIGH to NORMAL
• Injuries up from VERY LOW to LOW
• MiLB FA now on, set at 6 years

[luckymann]

In most sims like this one where I am playing games out, I leave Owner Goals on. Despite the often ridiculous orders you get from up on high, I find it adds another challenge to the game and every now and then there is merit in what you are told to do.

My Chicago boss Corey Porter is an easy enough man to work for. His set goals for last season were to improve attendance and SB. I easily got the first done, while the second is still a bit of a work in progress, with us jumping from 17th to 11th. He seems pleased enough with me, extending my contract for 4 more years at $21k per.

This time around, in addition to the ubiquitous winning record and the longer-term goal of winning it all that has been in place for the past couple seasons, he wants me to further improve our SB ranking and to upgrade at CF.

I tend to agree with him on this latter idea. Sammy Sosa is a few years off juicing up, and for now is better suited as a fourth OF, with some quasi-platoon time in RF with Sam Rice, as well as DHing. But there's no doubt his presence at 5 was a factor in Johnny Mize seeing as many hittable pitches as he did, and so I need a power threat with some speed on the bags to try and improve us in that area as well.

Not a huge selection around the AtHoL to choose from who fit these criteria. Fortunately, the one guy I like who does match up doesn't end up costing us too much, and so I make this trade.




Zane's time with us was up. I would have liked to have kept Bill, who looks to have at least a couple decent years in him, but in the end only he would seal the deal.

Cesar is certainly no elite defensive CF. But he is a quality bat with good wheels and will slot in perfectly in the manner I've described.