Roto Reality: The Playoffs Begin

     As the calendar gets ready to flip over to September, most head to head fantasy baseball leagues, especially those done on Yahoo, are beginning their playoffs this week.  After 5 grueling months, it all comes down to these final 4 weeks as teams fight to walk away with the coveted championship trophy.  The Gentlemen’s Game League is just such a league and with the playoffs beginning today, the particiapants are anxious to get it going.  If you’ve been following the Roto Reality series all year, then, not only are you familiar with its participants, but you also know how tight things got in the standings down the stretch.  With only 8 teams in the league, the playoffs were leaving out just 2 as the rest go on to fight throughout the month of September.  Here’s how things are looking…

When we last checked in with the Gentlemen’s Game League just two short weeks ago, the standings looked like this…

     At the time, there was still plenty of movement going on.  Just a Little Outside and One Man Wolf Pack had maintained their hold on the top two positions in the standings, but teams like Pine Tar, The Move Maestro and even Rock n Roll were making a late push to grab hold of a playoff spot.  Only a month prior saw all three of them sitting in the bottom three places in the standings and with just 2 weeks to go in the regular season, all three needed a big finish to atleast maintain their positions.  11.5 games separating second from seventh place may have looked like a significant lead, but in the game of fantasy baseball, it most certainly was not.

     Everyone knew just how intense it was going to be coming down to the wire.  The Move Maestro had just made a deal with the last place Who Dat’s, sending Triple Crown threat Miguel Cabrera, Alexei Ramirez, Raul Ibanez and Tommy Hanson in exchange for surprising slugger Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro and Johan Santana.  While he was losing a top flight player in Cabrera, the season Bautista was having, coupled with the addition of a power shortstop like Tulo and a veteran ace like Santana gave the Maestro plenty of confidence heading into the final 2 weeks.  Little did he know that The Masterbatters, his opponent for the second to last week and a seemingly dead (or atleast dying) team, were going to surge as if their lives depended on it.  Despite his blockbuster deal, the Maestro got whupped to the tune of a 12-0 shellacking and was subsequently shoved towards the bottom of the standings with the loss.

     Meanwhile, to continue to tighten things up, Rock n Roll continued his ascent with a 7-2 thrashing of the fading Poo Holes, the Who Dat’s upset Pine Tar by a score of 8-5, and JALO fended off the Wolf Pack with a 7-5 victory.  Suddenly, the playoff picture got even murkier as The Move Maestro joined the Who Dat’s at the bottom while everyone else moved withing just a few games of each other.  It was all going to come down to the final week.  JALO and the Wolf Pack seemed pretty safe, but the rest ofthe guys were going to need a big last week to secure their spots for the championship run.

     And what an exciting final week we saw!  JALO was looking to further extend his first place lead with a matchup against the surging Rock n Roll, The Move Maestro was hoping for a rebound against the Wolf Pack, the Masterbatters were locked up against the last place Who Dat’s, while Pine Tar was hoping to improve his playoff seeding against the slumping Poo Holes.  Almost everyone was looking to make an improvement here and there and, with the exception of Pine Tar, everyone did.  The bulk of the maneuvering came from the usual suspects (the Maestro, JALO and Rock n Roll), but everyone else got in on the action for one final week.  It was do or die, and the final week was going to be a battle.

     As the week passed, it became a tale of two games.  JALO’s team seemingly went int the tank for the final week as Rock n Roll grabbed an early lead and held it well into the weekend.  The Masterbatters also continued their onslaught and were manhandling the last place Who Dat’s.  But the Maestro was in a heated dogfight with the Wolf Pack (no pun intended) and Pine Tar and Poo Holes were deadlocked heading into the final days.  It was father versus father, son versus son, and, in my opinion, the perfect way to end the season.  Hatfields and McCoys, Montagues and Capulets, none of them had the fervor of these final two battles.

     But despite some last minute maneuvering, both contests ended in a tie.  With 13 categories to fight over, the Maestro finished 5-5 with the Wolf Pack and Pine Tar and Poo Holes were locked at 6 apiece.  While none of them officially won their final week’s game, it was just enough for the Wolf Pack to keep the Maestro out of the playoffs while Pine Tar maintained it’s playoff seeding over the Poo.  It was a tough season for the Maestro, who actually first introduced me to these guys, as he is now forced to watch the end of The Gentlemen’s Game League from the sidelines.  His only consolationwas that, with his last ditch effort, he was able to help drag down the Wolf Pack and pull them out of second place and away from that coveted first round playoff bye. 

     As for the others in the final week, Rock n Roll continued to surge and took down JALO by a score of 8-3 with 2 ties and the Masterbatters, the surprise of August, thrashed the last place Who Dat’s by a score of 11-1 and vaulted into second place and a first round bye.  Like I said earlier, 11.5 games separating second and seventh was not all that big a lead.  The final standings for the regular season ended up looking like this…

     So now the playoff stage is set.  JALO and the Masterbatters get a week off from the grind, while we’ve got quite the pair of first round matchups this week.  Father and son do battle as the Wolf Pack takes on Poo Holes and then Pine Tar attempts to avenge his father’s name and tangles with the defending champions, league commissioner, and neighbor, Rock n Roll.  It should be a fierce battle in both games all week long as all four teams, not only have their studs, but they’re also dealing with some injuries and slumps. 

     Can Rock n Roll repeat as champions with a slumping Tim Lincecum and without Alex Rodriguez?  Can Pine Tar’s pitching hold up or will he have to continue to rely on Robinson Cano and Prince Fielder to carry him through?  Will Chris Carpenter and a makeshift band of waiver pick ups be enough for the Wolf Pack or will his son, the Poo, have just enough in the tank to take down the old man? 

     And what about our bye week boys?  Will ManRam’s eventual move to the South Side be the difference maker for JALO?  Or will the Masterbatter’s continue their late season onslaught and run away with the title?  All these questions…..and many more….will be answered shortly.  Good luck to all of you who made the playoffs.  And for those that didn’t, well….fantasy football is just around the corner.

My predictions for this week –

Rock n Roll over Pine Tar

One Man Wolf Pack over Poo Holes

Go get ‘em boys!  Hit ‘em where they ain’t!

Tagged as: Alex Rodriguez, Alexei Ramirez, Chris Carpenter, fantasy baseball, fantasy baseball leagues, head to head fantasy baseball leagues, head to head playoffs, Johan Santana, Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Raul Ibanez, Robinson Cano, roto, Roto Reality, Starlin Castro, Tim Lincecum, Tommy Hanson, Troy Tulowitzki