I’m going to have to say the 1^st round match-up between Andy and I was about as exciting of a contest as it could be. The strategy battles of two fine managers and 11^th hour heroics were all on display.

Strategy

At the 1 week mark, both teams were very strong in the pitching categories and Andy was dominating the hitting categories except stolen bases and strikeouts.

At the end of Sunday:

During this weekend, I spoke with Kevin about strategies for both of us to get into the playoffs. He had already made 5 roster moves, so there was no way either of us could influence the other team’s outcome. What we both decided was that the Cold War Strategy needed to be deployed. In the cold war, if Russia launched a nuclear missile, the US would respond the same way. For fantasy baseball, this Cold War would consist of a team benching offensive players in order to try to win Strikeouts, which is quickly followed by the opposing manager benching their team as well.

On Tuesday, I benched my catcher and first baseman and started only the players from my team with more than 10 steals during the season. Andy followed by benching 5 players that day. On Wednesday, I had my team set to again bench the C and 1B positions while Andy had his whole team benched. Right before the games started, I adjusted my roster and played a full 9 players for offense. On Thursday, I again showed a mostly-empty roster early in the day, but filled it out right before games began while Andy sat 5 positions.  By Friday, my team had nearly caught up in Home Runs, Runs, and RBI while falling off pace for Strikouts and the Cold War was over – both of us played full rosters the rest of the way.

Photo Finish

Come Sunday, it was difficult to tell which team was going to come out on top. Andy held a 9-5 lead, but was only ahead by 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 1 Win, and 1 Quality Start; I had a lead of 1 Steal. My team had Brett Anderson and Justin Verlander as probable starters while Andy had Chris Sale – which would put each of us at 14 starts for the 2 week period.

By the end of all the day games, Andy was still winning 7-5-2. The White Sox were yet to play versus the Tigers, with both starting pitchers and Paul Konerko to play from our fantasy teams. We were tied in RBI and I still led by 1 steal. However, Konerko has zero steals this season so far and I did not consider that feasible. With an amazing day of hitting by my team and a rather poor showing by Andy, there was a chance of him dropping Batting Average if Konerko wound up going 0-for-5. In pitching, we were tied in Wins and I was behind by one in Quality Starts. There was also a difference of 10 Strikeouts in pitching, but that was much too large a gap to think it could be overcome. Since I am the #2 seed and Andy is the #3 seed, if we finished in a tie, I would advance to the championship.

These were the scenarios for the last game of the contest:

• If Konerko went 0-for-5 (also has no RBI): I would only need either the win to go to Verlander or for him to finish with a Quality Start without Chris Sale getting a QS.
• If Konerko went better than 0-for-5 (but has no RBI): I would need a QS and a Win from Verlander AND Sale could not end the game with a QS.
• If Konerko got an RBI and went 0-for-5 (sac fly RBI): I would need a QS and a Win from Verlander AND Sale could not end the game with a QS.
• If Konerko went better than 0-for-5 and got an RBI: Andy wins.

Konerko recorded 2 outs in his first 2 plate appearances through the 5^th inning and both pitchers were cruising in a 1-1 tie game. In the top of the 6^th, Konerko laced a single to deep left field with nobody on base and did not steal a base or advance during the inning. In the bottom of the 6^th, Chris Sale allowed a single and a walk before striking out a batter, then gave up a home run to Delmon Young. This blew his shot at a Quality Start and after finishing the last two outs of the inning, his night was done, leaving him with no chance for the Win. Verlander allowed one base-runner in the next two innings and turned the ball over to Jose Valverde for the 9^th inning, ending with a Quality Start and in line for the Win. Konerko was the first batter of the inning. A home run was his only shot to get an RBI and seal the victory for Andy, but Valverde was able to retire him and the next batter, Rios. The Detroit closer then gave up singles to Pierzynski, Alexi Ramirez, and Dan Johnson – allowing a run, and putting the winning run at the plate and the tying run at 1^st base. A base hit would have put Andy in the championship, but Orlando Hudson lined out to center field and the consolation game is all Andy can look forward to against Kevin’s AngryRats.

About the Author

Jim Payseur

MFL Statistician and Historian extraordinaire. Paswa is our living fantasy sports almanac!

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Jim Payseur has written 13 posts for MFL News.