What a God Father, What a God Son (SID’s Prognostications)

The 2009 edition of Small Ball is comprised of POWER, SPEED, DEFENSE and PLUCKY PITCHING. The GODSON AND GODFATHER have been reunited to form one of the best outfields ever. Both Barry Bonds and Willie Mays have been transferred from the West Coast to Prime Time in the Big Apple. They have moved to a bigger stadium (Shea) to take advantage of their speed and awesome power.

Small ball won’t steal a lot of bases but they certainly will take the extra base when the opportunity arises. The Spring training stats might be misleading for some because half of the games were simmed in ATT Park. The move to Shea will knock down the Home Run Totals a bit but it serves as a safe haven for the expertly drafted pitching staff. It is no mistake that Dwight Gooden (2.82), Sid Fernandez (2.52), John Tudor (1.94) and JR Richard (2.15) were chosen to lead this staff. Their lifetime ERA in Shea (shown above) is outstanding and its spacious confines allow for the occasion fastball left up to fall harmlessly to Mays, Minoso or Bonds on the Warning Track.

The whole team is built around patience and you will see that this squad will lead the league at years end on BB/K ratio. Heck, after the first run the Small Ballers have 15 more Walks than Strikeouts. Heck, Wade Boggs is batting .033 and the team still went 6-2. Look out SID has a team that is going to make the playoffs and vie for the return to glory. The only thing in Sid’s way are the Freakin’ Millers.

Without going into details I will make some predictions of how some teams will finish. Rabbit Ray is a much better writer when it comes to the prognostications so I will not step on his toes. I will start with the Best Division in our league First. Here is the order I see for the upcoming year.

ALWEST
Small Ball 92-70
Freakin’ Millers 91-71
AUSTIN POWERS 85-77
Jack Rabbit Slim 70-92

I will make my comments brief (as only SID can). Small Ball is the most balanced team and has the best manager by far. The are already having the AL west Division Cahmp T-shirts made. The Millers found Gehrig (Small Ball Fodder) in the Free Agent market but Sweet Lou is still sad about not being a Small Baller. The pitching is suspect here and that is why they are one game worse than SID. Bad Luck for Austin Powers. If they were in any other division they would make the playoffs. Having to Face the Millers and Small Ball many times over the season will crush their dreams. I really like this team and could see them possibly challenging the Miller for 2nd. JR Runners, So sad… The argument is similar to that of Powers. Too many good teams in the division and somebody has to lose. This team can hit with the best of em’ but it has NO pitching. Pedro Martinez does not makeup for the lack of talent behind him in the rotation. Look for a lot of 10-6 losses for this team when Pedro is not on the mound. Check out the salary structure of Small Ball, Millers and Powers…. They are all lead by big numbers at the top and stop gap solutions the rest of the way. (Small Ball: Bonds 17, Mays 15, Mize 10), Millers (Gehrig 17, Robinson 12, Snider 10, Ott 10), Powers (Pujols 17, E Matthews 11) and Jack Rabbit has only one , Ken Griffey JR 10). Sure, I am jealous about Griffey, because I wanted him but life goes on. Again the great equalizer is pitching and defense and Small Ball trumps the competition here.

Here are the rest of my division winners and comment for those who care.

AL East

Saints 84 wins
Lindy’s
Lakers
Kickers

Saints and Lindy’s could both win it but I see no one else challenging them if they done look toward amnesty day and correct their draft misfortunes. This division is lacking power and it could hurt them in the AL. If you don’t win this division you are not making the playoffs.

NL NORTH

Monroes 90 wins
Knights
Rubble
Sluggers

The Monroes are the defending champs and still have Ruth, Dimaggio, Schmidt and Billy Hamilton so I see no reason they won’t win this division again. The pitching is suspect but they will simply outscore the opponents. This team was built for the AL but still thrives in the NL. Welcome to the NL Knights. Nice draft. No better than second. The Rubble did a great job drafting offensively but the pitching will let him down. Too much star power at the top of the rotation and not enough behind it. Sluggers are bound to finish last. Ted Williams is a great anchor but there is not enough power on this squad. Pitching is solid but the Monroes will eat this team for breakfast. The Wildcard will come out of the second best division in Baseball.

NL SOUTH

Mashers 84 Wins
Specials
Grays
Steam

I don’t know where to start here. The only certain thing is that the Steam will finish last. How long will it take Paul to figure out that the Cubs are losers and they will never win. Put a fork in Donna, this season is over before it starts. Change your stadium, look toward amnesty day its your only hope. The Grays have the best pitching staff assembled. But as we saw last year, Hitting overpowers pitching in this sim. Nice squad but will finish no better than third. You need to drop a stud pitcher and pick up a stud hitter. Any interest in trading Steve Carleton for Johhny Mize straight up? Specials and Mashers will fight to the finish but I give the edge to the Mashers and their brash manager. Refuse to lose is the mentality of the spuds. No wildcard birth out of this division.


Have I pissed enough people off? Are you ready to make the Small Ballers eat their words? Are you gonna sit back and take it? Lets enjoy the winter and get some smack going. For those that are interested, I offer consulting services for this league. Give me a call sometime and I know I can help your squad 763.753.8335.

Love SID