Season 5 Draft

Now back to hockey! I hope to start the fifth season of my pre-NHL Hall of Fame league in the coming week or two, and the first step to get ready was to conduct the draft of new players. Five more Hall of Famers are joining the league, and the teams have selected players in reverse order of their Season 4 regular-season standings. 

1. Millionaires: Duke Keats, Center

The Millies passed up the best pure offensive talent in the draft class (see #2 below) to grab Keats, the franchise center they desperately need. Keats is the total package -- he can score, he can pass, he's an elite faceoff man, he can kill penalties -- but his mean streak is going to land him in the box more often than the Millies would like, and they're already the most-penalized team in the league. 

2. Comets: Frank Foyston, Right Wing

Foyston has blazing speed and elite scoring abilities -- welcome additions for a Comets team looking for offense after scoring a league-worst 2.44 goals per game last season. Foyston will suit up at right wing alongside superstar center Frank McGee, who has never had such an offensively gifted linemate. This pair of Franks is going to form a dominant combination. 

3. Thistles: Jack Walker, Left Wing

Walker is a top-notch defensive forward with offensive upside and will fit nicely on the Thistles' second line with Tommy Smith and Fred Whitcroft. He essentially replaces fellow defensive forward Harry "Rat" Westwick, whom the Thistles dealt to the Millionaires to obtain Whitcroft at last season's trade deadline.

4. Bulldogs: Jack Gibson, Defense

The defending Creighton Cup champions have bolstered their impressive blueline with Gibson, who moves the puck well and holds his own defensively. He's no Jack Laviolette, but he'll add value in a supporting role.

5. Victorias: James Sutherland, Defense

The downside to finishing the regular season in first place is that you get the last pick in the draft. Sutherland will be the worst defenseman in the league and won't be much help to the Vics, who could really use more depth at that position.

Season 5 Awards

Trophy time! Who were the top performers in Season 5? Read on to find out!

Position Player MVP: Cap Anson, Haymakers

Anson won this award in Season 3, as well, but this year he was even more dominant. He led the league in home runs with five (tying the single-season record) and total bases and also played error-free defense at first base. Second baseman Nap Lajoie of the Blue Legs and left fielder Ed Delahanty of the Canaries finished a distant second and third, respectively.

Pitcher MVP: John Clarkson, Resolutes

I've chronicled Clarkson's Lazarus-like return to stardom in earlier posts. The Season 2 Pitcher MVP has now regaind his old form and authored one of the best seasons we've yet seen in this league. Clarkson set a record with 102 innings pitched and although his record was just 5-5 due to the lousy run support he received, Clarkson notched a 1.94 ERA (the second-best single-season ERA in league history), tossed two complete-game shutouts, and even hit two home runs for good measure! The Haymakers' duo of Cy Young (7-2, 2.12 ERA) and Mickey Welch (6-3, 2.41 ERA) finished second and third.

Playoff MVP: Cy Young, Haymakers

I could make a case for Haymaker stalwarts Deacon White or Joe Kelley, or even Billy Hamilton of the Blue Legs in a losing effort, but the player who had the biggest impact on this series was pitcher Cy Young. Young posted a 2-0 record with a 1.50 ERA across two starts and 18 innings pitched, and in both starts he outdueled last year's Playoff MVP, Pud Galvin. As an interesting side note, Young now has five  career playoff victories, while no other pitcher in the league has more than two. He alone has accounted for 39% of all pitcher playoff wins!

Season 5 Championship, Game 4

Holding a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five series, the Haymakers were looking to wrap up their third Creighton Cup. Standing in their way was battle-tested veteran Old Hoss Radbourn, pitching in front of a raucous home crowd. A fired-up Radbourn struck out the first two batters he faced.

The scoring opened in the bottom of the second. With star catcher Roger Bresnahan injured, the Haymakers handed off the tools of ignorance to Deacon White, whose arm would be tested all night. When King Kelly singled, it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to run; White, however, gunned him down at second. It turned out to be a crucial play because the very next batter, Sam Crawford, blasted Welch's offering out of the park to give the Legs a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Bid McPhee led off with a single and scored when Joe Kelley doubled him home. The tally remained tied at 1 for several innings as Radbourn and Welch traded zeroes. The only moment of drama came in the top of the seventh; the Haymakers loaded the bases against Radbourn with only one out, but McPhee bounced into a double play to end the inning. 

The game's final run came in the top of the ninth. Sam Thompson, leading off for the visitors, greeted Radbourn with a double. He later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Ned Hanlon, making it 2-1 in favor of the Haymakers. A sac fly is perhaps the least-exciting way for a team to score a championship-winning run, but that's how it played out tonight.

The Blue Legs came to bat in the bottom of the ninth, but the outcome now seemed inevitable. Happy Jack Chesbro relieved Mickey Welch and worked a perfect ninth to record his first playoff save. The final play of Season 5 came from the bat of Hughie Jennings, who hit a screamer to short. Bobby Wallace fielded it cleanly and fired the ball to Cap Anson to clinch the Haymakers' third title in five seasons. 

Congratulations to the Haymakers! They are truly the first dynasty of my Hall of Fame league. Tomorrow I'll record all the final stats and then determine this year's trophy winners. At that point, Season 5 will be in the books and I'll be switching back to hockey!

Season 5 Championship, Game 3

This series has not disappointed! I really hope it goes the full five games! 

In Game 3, the Blue Legs took the field in front of their hometown fans, sending Pud Galvin to the mound in a rematch against Game 1 winner Cy Young. Galvin had trouble finding the strike zone and walked Joe Kelley, the game's first batter. Kelley later scored on a wild pitch from Galvin. The Haymakers' lead was short-lived, however, as Billy Hamilton smoked a leadoff double and scored when Dan Brouthers recorded a double of his own.

Galvin settled in after his first-inning jitters and even helped his own cause with his bat. He led off the bottom of the third with a single and, after the Legs loaded the bases, Brouthers brought him home with an RBI groundout to make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts. 

The Haymakers could muster little offense against Galvin until the top of the fifth, when light-hitting second baseman Bid McPhee led off the inning with a home run to tie the game at 2. The baseball gods give, but they also take away. In the sixth, the Haymakers lost starting catcher Roger Bresnahan to injury. We won't see him again this postseason unless the series extends to a fifth and final game. 

The score remained deadlocked at 2. With Deacon White filling in behind the dish, the fleet-footed Blue Legs were bound to run wild on the bases if they managed to get on board. Young, to his credit, turned up the heat and notched strikeout after strikeout. The ninth inning ended with no further scoring.

Now, for the first time in league history, a playoff game had gone to extra innings. Leading off in the top of the tenth, Kelley ripped a triple into the left-field gap in a devastating blow to the Legs. Jesse Burkett grounded out to bring him home and give the Haymakers a 3-2 lead. The next batter was Cap Anson, who promptly blasted a home run to increase the margin to 4-2.

Flamethrowing closer Amos Rusie came out in the bottom of the tenth to shut the door. He racked up two quick outs before Billy Hamilton -- a strong Playoff MVP candidate if the Legs win the series -- worked a walk and stole second. Rusie induced a weak grounder from Willie Keeler to get the final out, and the Haymakers now lead the series two games to one. If they win Game 4, they'll hoist the Creighton Cup!

Season 5 Championship, Game 2

The Blue Legs came out swinging early and often against Mickey Welch in Game 2. In the top of the first, speedy leadoff man Billy Hamilton singled, stole second, and later scored on a base knock by Big Dan Brouthers. Welch prevented any further damage, but it was clear from the get-go that the Legs were ready to pounce. They nearly scored again in the second when Ned Hanlon -- filling in for the injured Bobby Wallace -- muffed a scorcher from Hughie Jennings. Welch bailed him out, but the episode underscored the vital importance of the Haymakers' shortstop. The Legs did, however, strike again in the fifth when Jimmy Collins doubled to start the inning and scored on Hamilton's single to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

It was all Blue Legs at this point, because Old Hoss Radbourn was absolutely carving up the Haymakers' batsmen. Although regular season and playoff innings don't mix when it comes to setting records, Radbourn had soon surpassed two dozen frames since the last time he had allowed a run. His defining moment came in the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded and slugging outfielder Jesse Burkett at the dish. Radbourn induced a weak grounder that killed the Haymakers' rally and gave the Legs confidence that they would return home with the series tied at one game apiece.

That confidence was, perhaps, premature. The next inning, with two on and one out, Deacon White singled home Cap Anson to cut the Legs' lead in half. Radbourn had thrown 25 consecutive scoreless innings between the regular season and playoffs -- technically not a record, but a monumental achievement nonetheless. In an interesting twist of fate, it was none other than Deacon White who had snapped John Clarkson's 21-inning regular-season scoreless streak earlier in the year. The next batter, Hanlon, hit a long drive over Sam Crawford's head in center to plate Roger Bresnahan. The score was now tied at 2, but not for long. Bid McPhee singled to bring home White, and in a matter of moments Radbourn had gone from a shutout to a one-run deficit.

In the top of the seventh, Radbourn was lifted for a pinch hitter when the Blue Legs had a runner on third and only one out, but they failed to score. Al Spalding came in to retire the Haymakers in order in the bottom of the frame, and then the Legs got to Welch in the eighth. King Kelly singled to score Nap Lajoie and tie the game at 3. Later in the inning, Collins doubled home two more runs to make it 5-3.

The Haymakers could muster nothing against Spalding, who tossed three scoreless innings to pick up the win. Welch pitched all nine in the loss. Now the scene shifts to the Blue Legs' home turf for Game 3, and this series all tied up!

Season 5 Championship, Game 1

It's Blue Legs against Haymakers with the Creighton Cup on the line! The best-of-five championship series kicked off tonight with the Haymakers hosting. Cy Young toed the rubber for the home team, and Pud Galvin started for the visitors.

Young survived a man-on-third-with-one-out scare in the top of the first, and then turned things over to his offense. Joe Kelley doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and later scored on a Cap Anson two-bagger to give the Haymakers an early 1-0 lead. Then, in the bottom of the second, Deacon White scored on a  groundout by Bobby Wallace. 

The tally remained 2-0 in the fourth when an injury threatened to change the complexion of the entire series. Wallace, the Haymakers' shortstop, was removed from the game and will miss Game 2, as well. Wallace is no Honus Wagner with the bat, but he's been the best defensive shortstop in the league over the past five seasons. Losing him deals a grievous blow to the Haymakers' defense, especially because the only other man on the roster who's rated for shortstop play is reserve outfielder (yes, outfielder) Ned Hanlon. 

With a gaping hole at the most critical infield position, the Haymakers went back to work. Star catcher Roger Bresnahan extended their lead with a solo homer in the sixth, but Young gave that run right back in the top of the seventh when Sam Crawford tripled before scoring on a groundout by Hughie Jennings. Young, however, buckled down and stymied the Blue Legs for the rest of the game. 

After a 3-1 victory in Game 1, the Haymakers will turn to co-ace Mickey Welch in Game 2. He'll be opposed by the Legs' Old Hoss Radbourn and his twenty consecutive scoreless innings. 

Season 5 Creighton Cup Preview

For the fifth consecutive season -- and therefore every season to date -- the Haymakers will play for the Creighton Cup. Named for baseball's first true superstar, this (imaginary) trophy is awarded to the champions of my Hall of Fame Strat-O-Matic league. The lordly Haymakers are vying for their third title, but in order to cement their standing as the league's preeminent franchise, they'll have to defeat a spunky Blue Legs team that has rebounded from their historically terrible performance back in Season 4. 

Starting this year, I've expanded the championship to a best-of-five series. Let's compare the teams in three key areas before I make a final prediction!

Offense

• Blue Legs: Team captain and second baseman Nap Lajoie was a solid MVP candidate, clubbing three homers (tied with Sam Crawford for the team lead) and generating great production from the three-hole on a team that finished second in the league with 3.67 runs per game. The Legs' lineup is full of high-OBP hitters -- Billy Hamilton, Wee Willie Keeler, and Dan Brouthers, to name a few -- who wear pitchers down by working deep counts.
• Haymakers: At 4.29 runs per game, the Haymakers sported the league's most potent attack; it was a down year for offense, however, and in no other season would 4.29 runs per game have led the league (or even come close). Still, the Haymakers managed to hit 12 home runs, tied for the most by a team in a regular season. Cap Anson hit five of those dingers, which tied the single-season record set last year by George Davis. Anson had a monster campaign and is sure to run away with the Position Player MVP this year. Jesse Burkett hit three bombs of his own, and along with Joe Kelley and Sam Thompson, the Haymakers boast some phenomenal hitters in the top four spots, but it gets thin after that.
• Advantage: Haymakers

Defense

• Blue Legs: The Legs were so-so in the field, and like the Haymakers they were far inferior to the Canaries but well ahead of the iron-gloved Resolutes. Third baseman Jimmy Collins had yet another fine season and did not commit a single error, nor did catcher King Kelly, who is known more for his bat than for his glove. 
• Haymakers: Anson played error-free ball at first base, and backstop Roger Bresnahan was also perfect in the field. There isn't much else to say about the Haymakers' defense; if they win, it's going to be because of their offense or their pitching.
• Advantage: Tie

Pitching

• Blue Legs: Prior to the season, the Legs flipped stud infielder George Wright to the Canaries for starter Pud Galvin, the reigning Playoff MVP. With Keefe and Nichols as their big arms, the defending champs didn't see the need to hang on to Galvin. Big mistake! The portly hurler turned in a brilliant season, finishing 5-3 in 11 starts. His 3.34 ERA was fifth in the league and better than both Keefe and Nichols. Galvin anchored the Legs' pitching staff while erstwhile ace Old Hoss Radbourn sorted things out. Radbourn ended up finishing 5-5, winning his last four decisions in a season that culminated in an astounding 18-inning complete-game shutout. Behind their two starters, the Legs have the reliable Al Spalding for long relief and tightrope-walking Vic Willis as their closer. 
• Haymakers: When the Haymakers finished the season allowing just 3.04 runs per game -- the best rate in league history by more than half a run -- it certainly wasn't because of their fielding. All the credit goes to the team's pair of aces, Cy Young (7-2, 2.12 ERA) and Mickey Welch (6-3, 2.41 ERA), who finished second and third, respectively, among the league's ERA leaders. Amos Rusie once again handled the closer duties, posting a 1-1 record with five saves in six chances; if not for that one blown save, Rusie would have turned in the finest season by a reliever that we've yet seen. The only weak link here is Jack Chesbro, who failed to capitalize on last season's breakthrough performance.  
• Advantage: Haymakers

Prediction

The Haymakers went 15-9 and the Blue Legs went 13-11, so only two games separated them in the standings. Looking the expected win percentages, however, the teams are nowhere near as close. With their measly +1 run differential, the Legs had an expected win percentage of .506 (vs. actual .542). Meanwhile, the Haymakers set a single-season record with a +30 differential that gave them an expected win percentage of .666 (vs. actual .625). Anything can happen in a five-game series, but the Haymakers have been the better team all year. I'm going with Haymakers in four.

Snyder Cut

THE SNYDER CUT DROPS AT MIDNIGHT!!!

Streakin'!

Although it counts for only one shutout in the books, Radbourn just pitched the equivalent of two consecutive complete-game shutouts. You might recall that John Clarkson of the Resolutes performed that feat during his first two starts of the season en route to a record 21-inning scoreless streak. Don't look now, John, but Old Hoss is right behind you! After throwing two scoreless innings in relief of Al Spalding over the weekend, Radbourn's 18-inning gem tonight puts him at 20 scoreless innings in a row. He won't get another regular-season start until next season, but he just needs one blank frame to match Clarkson's feat. I'm astonished that such a lofty record is in jeopardy so soon!

Let's Play Two!

One of the most iconic phrases in baseball history comes from the late, great Ernie Banks, who often said, "Let's play two!" Well, the Blue Legs and Canaries played two tonight, although it counts as only one game in the standings. One game, but eighteen innings. Yep, that's a league record for my nineteenth-century Hall of Famers! 

I'd venture to say that there isn't anything typical about an 18-inning game, but this one was bizarre all around. For one thing, the final score was just 1-0, which ties the mark for the lowest-scoring game in league history, despite being twice the length of a standard game. Holy cow (said the Scooter), it took 18 innings to score the game's first and only run! Even more astounding is that the fact that the two guys who started the game in the first inning -- Old Hoss Radbourn of the Blue Legs and Kid Nichols of the Canaries -- were still taking the mound in the 18th. 

Realistic? Obviously not today. In the nineteenth century, however, guys threw a lot of pitches, and they tended to finish what they started. When the ninth inning came and went with both men still working on shutouts, I didn't feel the need to remove them. There were a few opportune moments to lift them for pinch hitters, but both are reasonably proficient with the bat and Radbourn himself managed to pick up three hits in the game, which is more than most of the position players can say.

And I haven't even mentioned who won! In the end, the Legs edged the Birds by that single run when Jimmy Collins led off the 18th with a double and scored on pinch hitter Frank Chance's walkoff single. The Blue Legs' narrow victory also clinches them a spot in the Creighton Cup championship series against the first-place Haymakers. There are a still a few more regular-season games to wrap up before the championship, but I don't think anything will match the drama of what we saw tonight!

Oops...He Did It Again!

Tonight's game was a dustup between the Canaries and the Resolutes, with Kid Nichols and John Clarkson on the mound for their respective teams. Clarkson, of course, made history during his last start when he took the Haymakers' Mickey Welch deep to become the first pitcher in league history to hit a home run. Well, he just did it again! With one out and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh, Clarkson came to bat against Nichols and blasted another one out of the park. That blow increased the Resolutes' lead to 4-2, giving Clarkson a bit of insurance as he cruised toward his fourth victory of the season.

This win evens Clarkson's line at 4-4 in 10 starts. That record doesn't seem very impressive until you consider that Clarkson sports a 1.91 ERA, sandwiching him between the Haymakers' dynamic duo, Mickey Welch (1.83) and Cy Young (2.47), in the race for the league's ERA title. Welch (5-2) and Young (7-1) have the gaudy win-loss records, too, but Clarkson has pitched just as well as either of them. 

My favorite stat for Clarkson, however, is the sheer number of innings he's logged. With 10 starts, and assuming no extra-innings games, he would have a theoretical maximum of 90 innings pitched. His actual total? 85! That's a staggering body of work, even in a league where pitchers tend to finish their starts far more often than today. As of this writing, he's pitched a dozen more innings than the next-highest hurlers (Cy Young and Pud Galvin at 73 apiece). Clarkson is out there throwing quality innings game after game, giving the Resolutes an excellent chance to win every time he takes the mound. There's still a lot of baseball yet to be played, but I think we're looking at this year's Pitcher MVP -- even without those two home runs!

JOHN F****** CLARKSON!!!

Well, the matchup between Welch and Clarkson turned out to be the game of the year, but not for the reason I suspected. A highly touted pitchers' duel evaporated after just three batters, when Cap Anson homered off of Clarkson to give the Haymakers a 2-0 lead. Another run in the second made it 3-0, and Clarkson was looking shaky. 

Welch, meanwhile, was dealing. Through three innings he had allowed only one baserunner, and that man was quickly erased on a double play. It was shaping up to be another superlative performance for a pitcher who was looking more and more likely to win his second straight Pitcher MVP trophy. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Welch was hoping for another one-two-three inning, especially considering that fellow hurler Clarkson was up. What did Welch throw to Clarkson? Strat-O-Matic accurately simulates strikeouts, walks, and other outcomes, but it doesn't specify particular types of pitch. I imagine it was a curveball that didn't have quite enough bite, or a changeup that came in slow and fat over the plate. In any case, Clarkson whipped his bat around and connected.

Gone.

For the first time in over four-and-a-half seasons of play -- a total of 158 games, including regular season and playoffs -- a pitcher had hit a home run. Clarkson rounded the bases to the jubilant ovation of Resolutes fans who haven't had a lot to cheer about in their inaugural season. Even Welch must've tipped his cap. 

Clarkson didn't allow another run, but Welch didn't either. Amos Rusie, the Haymakers' hard-throwing closer, came on to pitch a scoreless ninth and secured the 3-1 victory. For the Haymakers, it was just another win that continued to increase their enormous lead in the standings. For the Resolutes, it was another chapter in the growing legend of John Clarkson, the heart and soul of this young team.

Marquee Matchup

Can't wait to roll some dice in tonight's Strat-O-Matic extravaganza! The Haymakers are visiting the Resolutes, and it's possibly the best pitching matchup of the season. For the home team, John Clarkson will toe the rubber, looking to improve upon his league-leading 1.75 ERA. His opponent is Mickey Welch, the defending Pitcher MVP, who sports a sterling 1.93 ERA of his own. It seems almost inevitable that one of these men will claim his second Pitcher MVP trophy at the end of the season, and both are within striking distance of the league-record single-season ERA of 1.61, set last year by Welch.

Trade Deadline

Today was the trade deadline for my nineteenth-century baseball teams, and three of the four teams were involved in the action. The frontrunning Haymakers picked up versatile center fielder Ned Hanlon from the Resolutes in exchange for reserve infielder Sol White. Hanlon provides the Haymakers with speed on the basepaths and elite defense in the outfield, both of which his new team has been lacking. How did the Haymakers land such a useful player for, essentially, a spare part? Well, the Resolutes found themselves in need of a stopgap third baseman for the remainder of the regular season, as their other trade today ended up being quite the blockbuster! 

Here's the scoop on that one: The expansion team nabbed elite outfielder Pete Hill from the Canaries in a dream-come-true opportunity. Hill will bat leadoff for the Resolutes and replace Elmer Flick in center. With Flick shifting to right, Fred Clarke remaining in left, and iron-gloved Orator Jim O'Rourke riding the pine, the Resolutes will suddenly have the best outfield defense in the league, even without Hanlon! It's also a great opportunity for Hill to take a step forward in his career, as he'd been overshadowed by superstar center fielder Hugh Duffy and obliged to patrol right field despite being Duffy's defensive equal. With Hill comes pitcher Rube Foster, who had won the Canaries' closer role this season but will likely revert back to his natural position as a starter now that he's a Resolute.

The Canaries were loath to part with the multitalented Hill, but for team allowing a league-worst 4.13 runs per game (and with a -15 run differential, also worst in the league), the defending champs needed pitching. And they sure got it! Enigmatic hurler Rube Waddell moves to the Canaries after rejuvenating his career with the Resolutes. Waddell sports a solid 2.77 ERA, good enough for fourth in the league (although his 39 innings pitched is a much lower total than the other ERA leaders). The Canaries also get Tommy McCarthy, a natural outfielder who'd been pressed into service as a third baseman on the Resolutes (hence the Resolutes' need to trade for Sol White). McCarthy brings a solid bat, and although his defense at third was nothing short of atrocious, he profiles as a plus defender in a corner outfield spot, thereby softening the blow of losing Hill. 

It's a great trade for both teams, and, as luck would have it, the Canaries and Resolutes will face each other in their very next game...tomorrow!

Universes Beyond

Maybe I need to give MTG another try?

Heroes of Saltmarsh

In June of 2019, after wrapping up our long-running Shattered Realm campaign, our Skype D&D group (Matt, his daughter, my boys, and myself) created new characters and began to play through the Ghosts of Saltmarsh D&D book. Over a year-and-a-half later, we're about to embark upon the seventh and final adventure in that volume. To commemorate this epic campaign, Matt commissioned an artist to create illustrations of the four PCs.

Without further ado, I give you...the heroes of Saltmarsh!

How cool is that?!? From left to right, we have the triton hexblade Vlaryn, the dwarf barbarian Moe, the lizardfolk monk/rogue Seven, and the fallen aasimar sorcerer Ciara. A truly great party, now memorialized in artwork!

Better Than a Battle

We're making good progress in our family Alien RPG campaign. The intrepid colonists have struck out across the frozen, irradiated surface of their new world (thanks to a pesky xenomorph whose acidic blood caused the colony ship to crash) in the hope of reaching a Weyland-Yutani outpost that (they hope) is waiting for them. This part of the campaign is all about survival, and it's shaping up to a a really fun change of pace from typical combat encounters. Amy makes no secret of her disdain for lengthy, tactical RPG battles, and I too was looking for different kinds of threats and challenges in this campaign. 

We've had our share of cool, memorable moments so far -- I particularly enjoyed the bit where Nathaniel's character, a ten-year-old kid, piloted the escape pod down to the planet -- but one episode really serves to highlight what makes this campaign so different from our usual RPG fare. After dispatching a nasty scorpion-like creature in a hail of gunfire, the heroes stopped for a breather. Matthew's character, a smarmy Weyland-Yutani executive, botched his consumable resource check (rolling four 1's on 4D6!) and thus, in narrative terms, the character ended up spilling his entire water supply on the ground. The impact of that roll was far better than any battle, as dehydration is a foe that cannot be fought with pulse rifles or incinerator units. The other characters then had to share their own precious water, and now they're not feeling quite so confident about their ability to reach the outpost...

Midseason Review

We're at the halfway point of Season 5, and it's turning out to be the most fun season since our inaugural campaign. Here are some of the major storylines so far!

• While the Haymakers (8-4) have been comfortably in first since the start of the season, the other three teams are locked in a tight battle for second. As of this writing, the Blue Legs (6-6) hold that spot, with the Resolutes (5-7) and Canaries (5-7) on their heels. At the end of the regular season, the first- and second-place teams will face off in a best-of-five series for the Creighton Cup. Will the Haymakers reach the championship series for a fifth consecutive season?  
• With the expansion Resolutes now in play, the talent pool has been diluted quite a bit. Not surprisingly, scoring is way down. Thus far, teams are scoring 3.48 runs per game, more than a half-run drop from the 4.18 per game that the three original teams were scoring last year.
• On a related note, pitchers reign supreme! The single-season ERA record (1.61, Mickey Welch, Season 4) is in jeopardy as the Resolutes' John Clarkson (3-3, 1.53 ERA, 53 innings pitched, 2 shutouts) and the Haymakers' Cy Young (6-0, 1.84 ERA, 49 IP) have dazzled in the first half. Meanwhile, Pud Galvin (5-1, 3.18 ERA, 51 IP, 1 SO) has exceeded all expectations after coming over to the Blue Legs prior to the start of the season. Although Clarkson and Young have the inside track for Pitcher MVP, Galvin seems to be getting better with every start. As for some of the other accomplished moundsmen, Tim Keefe of the Canaries (2-4, 3.77 ERA, 43 IP) and Mickey Welch of the Haymakers (2-2, 2.54 ERA, 39 IP, 1 SO) have struggled in comparison to their past standards; Keefe, however, did manage to strike out a league-record six consecutive batters during one of his starts. 
• The Position Player MVP race is shaping up to be a two-man contest between Cap Anson of the Haymakers and Nap Lajoie of the Blue Legs. Lajoie is tied with teammate Sam Crawford for the league lead in home runs (three), but last year's top sluggers -- George Davis and Sam Thompson -- have experienced a major power outage, with nary a home run between them. 
• Finally, three cheers for the Resolutes, who are solidly competitive in their very first season! Led by rejuvenated hurler John Clarkson and slugging left fielder Fred Clarke, the Resolutes are a threat to reach the Creighton Cup series. How are they succeeding? In a word, pitching. They're dead last in defense and their offense is scoring a paltry 2.50 runs per game (also last), but their pitching is ranked second behind the Haymakers. 

The second half begins tomorrow! Hmm...for future reference, maybe we need a midseason All-Star Game or something...

Tiny Supers

As much as I want to give Champions its due, I'm struggling to muster the energy to slog through the rest of the rulebook. I need a system that gets to the fun faster. In the words of Comic Book Guy...

I'll see if Nathaniel, who enjoys reading highly detailed game rulebooks, might want to give Champions a whirl. In the meantime, I'm switching over to Tiny Supers, part of the TinyD6 family of minimalist RPGs. Lots of flavor and fun, with fully customizable characters. If I ever do run a superhero campaign for the boys, it's gonna be a Tiny one!

Spreadsheet Sold Separately

Matthew got up late last night to go to the bathroom and found me in the living room reading the latest edition of the superhero RPG Champions. 

"Tell me about Champions when you finish reading it," he said. I could barely stifle a laugh. It's going to be a while before we have that conversation. Holy hell! This game is complicated. 

I have a newfound admiration for my twelve-year-old self. How had I managed to keep all these esoteric rules in my head? How had I created countless Champions heroes and villains without Excel and formulas to crunch the numbers? 

Game design has come a long way over the past several decades. I know a few grognards who still yearn for the days when games had rules to cover every possible situation and the quality of a system was directly proportional to the size of its rulebook, but I've come to appreciate the elegance and adaptability of games that have light, flexible core rules with the ability to layer in complexity through exception-based mechanics. 

I'll finish reading Champions Complete -- I owe it to my younger self to get through the rulebook, at the very least -- but if I ever do run a follow-up to the Earth Commanders campaign or play any sort of superhero RPG with the boys, I think I'll keep my eye out for another system.

Full Circle

Matt and I have been exchanging emails about superhero RPGs, and it got me thinking about my first true RPG love, Champions. Long before the Druid Cycle world, long before the siren song of AD&D lured me into TSR's clutches, I was a dyed-in-the-wool Champions fanatic. In fact, the original Front Porch campaign -- one of only two that was actually conducted on my parents' front porch -- was Earth Commanders, which employed the delightfully fiddly Champions system to tell a tale of cosmic superheroes based (where else?) in Montreal.

Earth Commanders got me hooked on gamemastering, but my favorite Champions memory is unrelated to Front Porch stuff. Decades before taking part in the D&D Fifth Edition playtest, I was a twelve-year-old kid who somehow managed to get access to playtest materials for Champions and related HERO System products. I used to dial up a BBS (remember those?) based in Texas, and, as my parents fretted their long-distance bill with every bit that trickled through my 1200 baud modem, I downloaded drafts of HERO System books and read them with a kind of awed reverence. One day, I mustered the courage to email a fan letter to prolific game designer Aaron Allston -- a fixture on that BBS -- and he sent me a very nice note in response. (Sadly, Allston passed away a number of years ago.)

I think it's high time to share Champions with my own kids, so I've ordered a copy of the most recent edition of the game. With our Alien RPG campaign starting up again soon and our ongoing Shattered Realm stories to continue, I have no idea when we would actually play this game, but it certainly will be fun to share all my old stories with the boys.

Snyderbronies Unite!

True story: I decided to sign up for HBO Max the very day I learned that the Snyder Cut of Justice League would be screened on that platform. Now the Snyder Cut has an official release date: March 18.

Sorry, Mugsy!

I'm reading a great book on iconic ballgames from the nineteenth century and happened upon an anecdote featuring the legendary John "Mugsy" McGraw. I grimaced at the sudden realization that I had somehow forgotten to include McGraw among the Hall of Fame players for whom I've created Strat-O-Matic cards. Prior to Season 5, I'd created cards for Connie Mack, Charlie Comiskey, and all the other early HoFers who were inducted in non-player categories. How had I missed McGraw? Not only is he one of the towering figures of baseball history, he's also a fellow upstate New York native; we used to go right past his memorial monument in the town of Truxton every time we'd drive from my parents' house to Colgate. 

Today I pulled some numbers from Baseball Reference and plugged them into my custom Strat formulas to calculate game stats for hitting, stealing, baserunning, and defense, and now I have a card for McGraw. Sadly, it's too late to include him in Season 5. The expansion Resolutes really could benefit from his services; as one of the nineteenth century's better third basemen, he'd address our newest team's greatest area of need. Now he'll have to enter the player draft with all the other players I'll be adding for Season 6, so there's no guarantee the Resolutes will be able to nab him. I'm disappointed to have missed him the first time around, but excited for him to join the league next year!

Pause for Applause

I'm still only in the fourth inning of a key contest between the first-place Haymakers (4-0) and the second-place Resolutes (3-1), but I had to put the game aside for a few moments to honor John Clarkson, whose tremendous 21-inning scoreless streak has just ended. 

Here's how it all went down. The Resolutes are hosting the Haymakers tonight. With Clarkson going against Cy Young, it's a marquee pitching matchup. Both men were on their game, trading zeroes through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth, Bid McPhee, the Haymakers' second baseman, led off with a bloop single. Testing the strong arm of catcher Connie Mack, McPhee managed to swipe second to put a runner in scoring position without nobody out. Into the batter's box stepped my fellow Western New York native, Deacon White, who was hitless through the Haymakers' first four games; in fact, White had yet to reach base by any means here in Season 5. It was ironic indeed that White promptly lofted the ball into the right-field corner, motoring around the bases for a triple. McPhee, of course, had already crossed the plate, which brought Clarkson's streak to an end. 

I'm sure the hometown Resolutes fans gave Clarkson a warm round of applause before the game continued. 21 innings without a run! (And it's 24 innings if we include his preseason action.) This was no Orel Hershiser-esque feat (59 innings!), but it's still by the far the longest scoreless inning streak in the five-season history of my nineteenth-century league. Watch out, Mickey Welch: Clarkson is still looking like the frontrunner for Pitcher MVP!

Back on the Upswing

Ever since I started my pre-NHL Strat-O-Matic hockey league, I've wondered if I should just abandon the baseball version and focus entirely on hockey. That first baseball season was a magical run (the charismatic King Kelly absolutely owned the league!), but Seasons 2 and 3 were rather humdrum affairs that provided few memorable moments. In Season 4, things started to get interesting again, with George Davis's home run heroics and Mickey Welch's mind-bogglingly dominant pitching. Season 5, however, is shaping up to be an all-time great. This league is back on the upswing!

Where do we stand after three games played for each team?

• Blue Legs: They're in third place at 1-2, but with six homers in three games, they're smacking dingers at a record-setting pace. The best single-season total for a team is 12, set last year by the Canaries over 21 regular-season games. Star second baseman Nap Lajoie has two of the Legs' six homers, and he's looking like an early MVP candidate.
• Canaries: At 0-3, with a -17 run differential, the defending champs are experiencing a serious hangover. They have yet to commit an error in the field, which is just about the only positive thing I can say at this point.
• Haymakers: This perennial powerhouse has jumped out to a 3-0 mark and +17 run differential. Once again, their pitching leads the way; Cy Young and Mickey Welch have pitched every inning thus far.
• Resolutes: The expansion team is 2-1 and in second place. Slugging left fielder Fred Clarke is tied for the league lead with two homers, but the real story here is the Lazarus-like return of John Clarkson to the upper echelon of moundsmen. He's pitched complete-game shutouts in both of his starts to date, meaning that he's working on a league-record 18-inning scoreless streak that he'll put on the line against the Haymakers in his next appearance. 

Opening Day

There's nothing quite like Opening Day, and the debut of a brand-new team only sweetens the experience! Season 5 kicked off with the defending champions, the Canaries, visiting the expansion Resolutes in the latter team's first-ever regular-season game. And what a game it was!

John Clarkson delivered the first pitch in team history, and a moment later he struck out Hugh Duffy to notch the team's first out. Clarkson looked sharp from the get-go, and the mighty Canary sluggers had trouble squaring up to his curve. 

Clarkson's opponent, Tim Keefe, retired the first three Resolutes in order. In the top of the second, however, left fielder Fred Clarke stepped into the box to face his former teammate. Clarke caught Keefe's fastball and belted it over the right-field wall. Fred Clarke had just recorded the Resolutes' first base hit, and it was a home run! I can only image the scene if this game had been real -- the Resolutes' fans would have lost their minds as a jubilant Clarke rounded the bases and a stunned Keefe could only shake his head in dismay.

Keefe did a lot of head-shaking, as it turned out. The Canaries' ace never had his best stuff, surrendering walks and hits left and right in seven laborious innings. He was fortunate that he had allowed only three runs, as the Resolutes struggled all game with runners in scoring position. 

Meanwhile, Clarkson was cruising. Aided by fine defensive work from middle infielders Monte Ward and Frank Grant, not to mention the strong throwing arm of catcher Connie Mack, Clarkson silenced the league's most potent offense. A leadoff single to Ed Delahanty in the top of the ninth provided a minor scare, but Clarkson made short work of the heart of the Canaries' lineup and completed the first shutout of his career. Not only that, Clarkson won a ballgame for the first time since Season 2, when he took home the Pitcher MVP award. His career unraveled after that magical run, but maybe, just maybe, John Clarkson is back!

If the rest of the Resolutes' games are going to be this intense, I'm in for a long season!

Spring Training

The four teams have just completed spring training, assessing their talent after the biggest player shakeup in league history. I've run a few preseason games and already we have some intriguing highlights and storylines to consider prior to the start of Season 5...

• The Haymakers' slugging right fielder, Sam Thompson, was the runner-up for the Player MVP in Season 4. He suffered an injury early in spring training, and although he'll be back in time to start the regular season, his absence has underscored just how thin the Haymakers' lineup has become. 
• The lack of a solid cleanup hitter was especially painful for Cap Anson, who precedes Thompson in the Haymakers' usual lineup. Anson was absolutely locked in during our preseason action -- reaching base in all five of his at bats -- but came around to score only once.
• The Resolutes' best player thus far has been hard-luck pitcher John Clarkson. The former MVP tossed three scoreless frames and, notably, was the only Resolutes hurler who did not allow at least one run.
• Speaking of pitchers, we saw standout springtime performances from Mickey Welch (Haymakers), Cy Young (Haymakers), Kid Nichols (Canaries), Joe McGinnity (Canaries), and Pud Galvin (Blue Legs), but the Canaries' Tim Keefe utterly dominated, retiring all nine batters he faced. If their ace is in top form, the Canaries will be really tough to beat as they seek to defend their championship.
• My favorite spring training highlight was when Canaries star Honus Wagner homered off of the Blue Legs' Vic Willis in the twelfth inning of their preseason matchup. Wagner's shot was the only homer of the spring.

Opening Day is next!

Season 5 Preview

We've got a new team ready to make its debut and nine new Hall of Fame players to add to the league! It's almost time to get rolling with Season 5 of my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic baseball league! Let's take a look at the teams...

Blue Legs

• Where They Stand: After a 6-14 season and a -33 run differential, this team has a long road back to respectability. They just suffered through the worst season in the brief history of this league.
• New Faces: Frank Chance, 1B; Pud Galvin, P
• Outlook: Galvin, the reigning Playoff MVP, slides in as a solid #2 behind Old Hoss Radbourn, giving the Legs a pair of battle-tested starters. Chance will provide much-needed offensive and defensive help. Even with these reinforcements, however, the Legs seem like a .500 team to me.

Canaries

• Where They Stand: The defending champions finished the regular season in second place with a 12-9 record, but their +27 run differential was the best ever, as was their scoring rate of 5.24 runs per game. 
• New Faces: Wilbert Robinson, C/1B; George Wright, 2B/SS
• Outlook: The addition of Wright makes the league's most dangerous lineup even more potent, but the Canaries lost a lot of their depth to the Resolutes in the expansion draft. Still, my money is on the Birds to win their second consecutive championship at the conclusion of Season 5.

Haymakers

• Where They Stand: They finished in first place for the third consecutive year, but fell to the Canaries in the championship series. These days, the Haymakers rely on their elite pitching, which managed to paper over the team's shoddy defense on the way to allowing only 3.57 runs per game -- the lowest rate in history.
• New Faces: Sol White, 2B/3B
• Outlook: Their stellar .619 winning percentage in Season 4 was driven largely by luck, as the team posted only a +6 run differential and had a .538 expected winning percentage. I anticipate some regression this year, but I think the Haymakers remain strong enough to finish in second place.

Resolutes

• Where They Stand: This expansion team is a unique mix of new players I've added to the league and bench players who never got a real shot with their previous teams. They haven't played a single game yet, but I'm already loving this ragtag crew!
• New Faces: See my previous post!
• Outlook: The Blue Legs set a new standard for futility last year. Can the Resolutes do better than 6-14? I...rather doubt it.

Meet the Resolutes!

After playing through four seasons of nineteenth-century baseball in a mini-league consisting of only three teams (Blue Legs, Canaries, and Haymakers), I'm super excited to be able to bring on a fourth team -- the Resolutes! Unlike my analogous hockey league, however, I haven't been adding a handful of new players each season; rather, I'll be adding a whole bunch of new guys all at once. In narrative terms, it's as if a competing league has disbanded (a not uncommon scenario in the early decades of professional baseball!) and some of its players have found a new home in the surviving league. With nine new players (eight position players and one pitcher), I'll have just lads enough to fill out the roster for an expansion team (although all three legacy teams will see their rosters contracted by one position player and one pitcher). 

I'll spare you the tedious details, but in summary, first I divvied up all the new players among the four teams via a player draft. With an expanded talent pool, each of the three original teams decided on which players they would protect (three pitchers and eight position players). The remaining players would be eligible for the Resolutes to draft. Knowing that most of their depth players would be taken from them, however, the original teams conducted some trades to shore up their rosters as much as possible. (Among those players who changed sides was Playoff MVP Pud Galvin, who was traded from the Canaries to the Blue Legs in return for infielder George Wright, one of the new players.) After the original teams finished their trades, the Resolutes selected players from the final lists provided by each franchise.

So, who will take the field when the Resolutes begin play in Season 5? Read on!

• Jake Beckley: All bat and no glove, Beckley was behind Cap Anson on the Haymakers' depth chart at first base. Now a starter, he'll get a chance to show off his lefty power swing for the Resolutes.
• Fred Clarke: He wrested the left field position from Pete Hill, but the Canaries elected to protect the more versatile Hill during the expansion draft. Clarke has great pop and will be a potent middle-of-the-order bat for his new squad.
• John Clarkson: This guy needed a fresh start. He won the Pitcher MVP award in Season 2, but has not won a single ballgame since that magical run. The Blue Legs just traded for Pud Galvin as a more reliable starter behind Old Hoss Radbourn, but Clarkson could end up being a steal for the Resolutes if his luck evens out. He's the nominal staff ace.
• Candy Cummings: Like Clarkson, Cummings is a curveball specialist. In fact, many baseball historians believe that he invented the curveball! Cummings has been maddeningly inconsistent over the years, but is likely the Resolutes' best option as a #2 starter. 
• Elmer Flick: After struggling to get playing time with the Haymakers, Flick will be the Resolutes' leadoff man and starting center fielder. I suspect he'll be among the team's best hitters. 
• Frank Grant: Grant is one of the new players added for Season 5. In real life, he's regarded by many as the best African American player of the nineteenth century. He can play all around the infield, but will start at second base for the Resolutes. 
• Clark Griffith: According to Baseball Reference, Griffith, another of our new players, has strong similarity scores to the Canaries' successful closer, Joe McGinnity. For that reason, I'll pencil in Griffith as a reliever for now. He might get some starts if Cummings flames out.
• Ned Hanlon: I don't know quite what to make of Hanlon, a new player who has blazing speed and provides elite defense in center field, but isn't much of a hitter for an outfielder. He'll see playing time as a pinch runner and late-game defensive replacement, but he may end up getting traded, as the Resolutes already have four other players who are primarily outfielders.
• Connie Mack: Mack, too, is among the nine new players added to the league for Season 5. He'll be a first-rate defensive catcher, but currently would rank as the worst everyday player in the league in terms of offensive value. 
• Tommy McCarthy: This jack-of-all-trades has been a valuable bench player and pinch hitter for the Blue Legs. He would be a great defensive outfielder, too, but the Resolutes don't have a spot for him there. Instead, he'll land at third base, where his defense will be absolutely atrocious. Grant would be a far better option at third, but his glove is more valuable at the keystone; as such, the Resolutes will have to limp along with McCarthy at third until a better option arises. 
• Jim O'Rourke: Here's another Blue Legs bench player who now gets a shot at the starting lineup. O'Rourke can play just about any position on the field, but plays none of them well. The team will hide his iron glove in right field. His bat, however, will make him a leading offensive force for the Resolutes.
• Rube Waddell: Hands down, he's the hardest-throwing pitcher in the league. The Resolutes opted to select Waddell from the Haymakers instead of Amos Rusie, the league's all-time saves leader, because Waddell may have more upside. Like Clarkson, he's been snakebitten and might put up some solid numbers with a little positive regression to the mean. 
• John Montgomery "Monte" Ward: Sometimes the baseball gods can be cruel indeed. Ward was the de facto captain of the Canaries team that won the Season 4 championship, but their trade for George Wright made Ward expendable. On the Resolutes, he'll shift from second base to his natural position of shortstop and provide excellent defense but middling offense.

Will the Resolutes be any good? Well, the worst single season in league history was authored by the Season 4 Blue Legs, who turned in a 6-14 record and a dismal -33 run differential. It wouldn't surprise me if the Resolutes more or less matched those numbers in their first campaign. They'll be featured on Opening Day of Season 5, hosting the champion Canaries. 

The King Is Crowned

Ah, the bustling city of Tokyo!

It was just an ordinary, monster-free day until Godzilla (Matthew), King Ghidorah (Nathaniel), and Megalon (yours truly) showed up for an epic smackdown! Our first foray into Godzilla: Tokyo Clash involved a lot of head-scratching over rules ambiguities (Do you have to discard a defensive card when you block an attack on another monster's turn? Can you block the damage suffered from being thrown into another monster or just the damage from regular attacks?) and fumbling around for effective tactics, but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

The best part came when Megalon threw Godzilla into a skyscraper, and then King Ghidorah and Godzilla proceeded to throw Megalon back and forth at each other. It was like something out of a Three Stooges routine! 

Ultimately, Matthew had a lot of bad luck attempting to damage the other monsters, so it ended up a two-way race between Nathaniel and myself. His kaiju, King Ghidorah, squeaked past mine by one point to end the game as the king of monsters!

Happy New Year!

Good riddance to 2020! I'm glad to have started the year off right with a couple of new board games, courtesy of my amazingly awesome (and awesomely amazing) team at work. Thanks to their lovely holiday gift, the boys and I will be exploring Godzilla: Tokyo Clash and Santorini: New York. 

Holiday Fun

We're enjoying some downtime this week, basically just bumming around and playing with Christmas presents. One one of the kids' big gifts this year was Hockey Sauce, and although Matthew and I both consider ourselves pretty accurate shooters, I have to admit that we need to hone our skillz!

On the indoor gaming front, we've enjoyed a few memorable rounds of Butts in Space and are now poring over the contents of Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. It's a bit like AVP, but without the "P". I suspect we'll mainly use the components to enhance our Alien RPG gameplay experience in the next campaign. I've also tried introducing the boys to the second edition of Pathfinder, without much success; they're ho-hum about a system that's like D&D but not actually D&D. 

Finally, Nathaniel got a full set of fencing gear for Christmas, so here are a couple of photos of us in action!

WW84

It's a lot later than we had hoped, but Wonder Woman 1984 opens on Christmas Day, in theaters and on HBO Max. 

Building a Better Box

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Paizo does the best RPG starter sets. Although D&D hit home runs with the original Basic Set and the less renowned but still totally awesome Basic Game from Third Edition, most other starter sets have been lackluster at best. Paizo once again dunks on D&D with the Pathfinder Beginner Box for Second Edition. Like similar products for First Edition and also for Starfinder, this set is an absolute triumph of value for the gamer and a wonderful introduction to the game system. I look forward to giving it a test drive with the boys over the holidays. There's precious little chance it will displace Fifth Edition D&D as our system of choice, but it will be fun to play through the starter content and see how Pathfinder and D&D have gone in very different directions over the past decade!

Season 4 Awards

It's awards season again! Read on to find out who took home the hardware!

Scoring Title: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

Roberts notched 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points, and joins Cyclone Taylor as the only players ever to crack the 30-point barrier (Taylor had 32 in Season 2). Roberts bested Taylor by two points and linemate Bruce Stuart by five to capture his first scoring title.

Runners Up: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias; Bruce Stuart, C, Bulldogs

Forward MVP: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

Roberts was the first-ever winner of this award back in Season 1, and he had an even better year this time around with a career-best 30 points and a plus/minus of +10, which was tops among all forwards in the league. 

Runners Up: Alf Smith, RW, Thistles; Frank McGee, C, Comets

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

Taylor, the league's premiere blueliner, takes this award for the third time in four years. He finished second in the league in scoring (13 goals, 15 assists) behind Roberts, and his +8 was fourth in the league and second among defensemen.

Runners Up: Jack Laviolette, Bulldogs; Hod Stuart, Thistles

Goaltender MVP: Bowse Hutton, Victorias

Like his legendary teammate Taylor, Hutton is now a three-time winner of the MVP award for his position. Hutton's save percentage of .924 was the second-best in league history, and his 2.13 goals-against average was the best ever. This year, he also became the first goalie to post two shutouts in a single season. 

Runners Up: Paddy Moran, Bulldogs; Riley Hern, Thistles

Rookie of the Year: Jack Laviolette, D, Bulldogs

After a slow start, Laviolette took the league by storm and set a league record for the most points by a rookie with 14 (5 goals, 9 assists). His +13 led the league and tied the mark for the highest single-season plus/minus rating.

Runners Up: Hugh Lehman, G, Millionaires; Harry Hyland, C, Victorias

Playoff MVP: Paddy Moran, G, Bulldogs

Bowse Hutton had the first-ever playoff shutout, and Gord Roberts and Tommy Dunderdale scored huge overtime goals, but Paddy Moran was truly the most valuable player in this postseason. His 2.80 goals-against average and .915 save percentage led all playoff goaltenders, and he set a single-playoff-game record with 42 saves in the overtime victory that clinched the championship for his team.

Runners Up: Bruce Stuart, C, Bulldogs; Bowse Hutton, G, Victorias

Creighton Cup, Game 4

Congratulations to the Bulldogs on winning their first Creighton Cup! Check out the recap below for all the thrills and chills!

With their season on the line, the Victorias struck first. Cyclone Taylor tallied an early goal, but the injury bug bit the Vics again when captain Hobey Baker headed back to the locker room in pain. Baker had already shifted from right wing to defense to cover for the injured George McNamara, so forward Dubbie Bowie spent much of the first period camped out in front of Bowse Hutton as a defenseman. Remarkably, the Vics managed to escape the first period with a 1-0 lead.

The courageous, gallant Baker (read up on his real-life story!) returned in the second to give his lads an emotion lift, but it didn't translate to the scoreboard. Tommy Dunderdale and Scotty Davidson scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs at the end of the second.

Taylor scored his second goal of the game to knot the score at two in the early stages of the third period. Bruce Stuart, however, restored the Dogs' lead a few moments later. Then, midway through the frame, Davidson took an ill-advised penalty to give the Vics a power play and a golden opportunity to tie the game once more. Penalty killing had been the Dogs' bugaboo throughout this postseason, and this game was no different; the hobbled Hobey Baker scored to make it 3-3 with just moments to go in regulation time. The Vics made a furious push in the final minute, and it all came down to Paddy Moran stonewalling Cyclone Taylor on two point-blank shots as time expired.

Overtime! The Bulldogs had needed OT to get past the Thistles in the wild-card game, and now they had a chance to win the Creighton Cup with a sudden-death goal. If the Vics scored, on the other hand, the series would culminate in a winner-take-all Game 5. The overtime period began with a scare for the hometown Bulldogs, as Gord Roberts took yet another penalty. Roberts is a superstar in this league and will take home multiple trophies at the awards ceremony, but damn, it seemed that this guy spent more time in the penalty box than on the ice here in the postseason. (He was, in fact, the league leader in both points and penalty minutes during these playoffs!) Given the Dogs' penalty-killing woes, I was expecting the Vics to strike for victory on the ensuing power play, but the Bulldogs held strong and the period continued. 

And then, before I knew it, the game was over. Rookie defenseman Jack Laviolette led the rush out of the Dogs' defensive zone and flipped a pass to Stuart. Stuart connected with Roberts, who skated in and knifed the puck past Hutton. Game over, series over! The Bulldogs had won the Creighton Cup! After four seasons of futility, the Dogs racked up more wins over the Victorias (three) in this one series than in all previous regular-season and playoff games combined (two).

Creighton Cup, Game 3

Back at home, the Victorias looked to rebound after losing Game 2, along with losing star winger Marty Walsh to injury. Game 3 did not begin auspiciously, as Bruce Stuart beat Bowse Hutton on the very first shot of the game. The Vics had little opportunity to recover from this setback, as stay-at-home defenseman George McNamara soon went down with an injury and did not return to the game. He's expected to miss Game 4, as well. Walsh is likely to return for Game 4, but for Game 3, at least, the Vics were forced to soldier on without two of their key players. They closed out strong in the first when Frank Rankin scored to tie the game. Rankin suffered through a miserable regular season, but, as in years past, he's elevated his game in the playoffs. With a goal in every contest thus far, Rankin has been one of the few bright spots for the Victorias in this series.

In the second period, the Bulldogs' second line took over. Tom Hooper and Oliver Seibert had quality chances, but it was power forward Scotty Davidson who did the damage. Davidson skates like a runaway train, and when he manages to put his speed, skill, and attitude together at the same time, he can be a fearsome opponent. Davidson scored early in the second to restore the Dogs' lead, and then he scored again on the power play midway through the frame. With three goals in four postseason games, he's been a solid contributor who's taken pressure off of the Dogs' big stars.

The third period featured a lot of back-and-forth, but little in the way of scoring. The Dogs' PK woes continued, as they surrendered yet another power-play goal, this time to Billy McGimsie. The Vics' top center made it 3-2 with that strike, but Paddy Moran slammed the door shut and backstopped his team to a 3-2 win and a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 takes us back to the Dog Pound (with apologies to the Cleveland Browns), where the Bulldogs can claim the first Creighton Cup in franchise history if they win at home in Game 4. For the Vics, they'll need to prevail on the road in order to force a fifth and final game on home ice.

Creighton Cup, Game 2

The Bulldogs came home needing a win, and boy howdy did they answer the call! It all started with a Victorias power play early in the first period. Superstar left wing Gord Roberts set the tone by stealing an errant pass and scoring a beautiful breakaway goal against Bowse Hutton. It was the first shorthanded goal in playoff history, and it was also the Dogs' first goal of the series. Minutes later, Tommy Dunderdale struck to give the home team a 2-0 advantage. Scotty Davidson increased the lead to three when he scored in the closing minutes of the first. The Vics had embarrassed the Dogs in Game 1, and now the Dogs wanted to return the favor!

The Vics, however, found some life in the second period, courtesy of one of their star players. Marty Walsh scored to bring the Vics within two, but Oliver Seibert picked up an unassisted goal for the Dogs shortly thereafter. Not to be outdone, Walsh scored again late in the frame, this time on the power play. With three tallies in the series thus far, Walsh was tied with Dunderdale for the league lead in postseason goals and was starting to look like a candidate for Playoff MVP.

As such, it was a cruel blow when Walsh went down midway through the third; he'll also miss Game 3 as he recovers. Adding to the Vics' misery, Bruce Stuart had just scored to put the game out of reach. Frank Rankin picked up a late goal on the power play, but the game ended in a 5-3 triumph for the Bulldogs. 

The series is now tied at a game apiece. The Bulldogs have regained their scoring touch, but their penalty killing remains a serious problem, as they've allowed six power-play goals in nine chances through the first three games of the postseason (including the wild-card game against the Thistles). The Vics, meanwhile, will have to find a way to win without Marty Walsh, and hope that Bowse Hutton recovers quickly from his worst-ever playoff performance.

Creighton Cup, Game 1

It's a rematch of the Season 1 championship series! Will the Victorias claim their third Creighton Cup in four years, or will the Bulldogs win their first? If Game 1 was any indication, Bulldogs fans, don't plan that parade just yet.

Less than a minute into the first period, Vics captain Hobey Baker got behind the Bulldogs defense and rifled a shot past Paddy Moran. Two minutes later, the Vics were on a power play and Marty Walsh popped one into the back of the net. The game had hardly begun and Moran had already allowed two goals on two shots. The Bulldogs managed to stop the bleeding and push back a bit, but the period ended 2-0 in favor of the Victorias.

After a scoreless second in which the teams were on mostly equal footing, the Vics elevated their play and put the game out of reach in the third. Billy McGimsie tallied on the power play to make it 3-0, and Frank Rankin scored a garbage goal two minutes before the final buzzer put the Dogs out of their misery. In the end, the Vics notched goals on two out of three power-play attempts, meaning that the Bulldogs are a woeful 33% on the penalty kill over two playoff games thus far. Gord Roberts has been a no-show, with costly penalties and nary a goal. And what about the Vics' stars? High-flying defenseman Cyclone Taylor assisted on all four of his team's goals, which set a record for assists and points in a playoff game. And most impressively of all, Bowse Hutton achieved the first-ever shutout in postseason history. 

The Bulldogs will be on home ice for Game 2, and they'll have winger Tom Hooper back in the lineup. They need to treat this game as a must-win if they have any hope of getting back into this series.

Creighton Cup Finals Preview

The wild-card game is now behind us, so we have our teams for the best-of-five Season 4 Creighton Cup Finals! Let's take a look at how the Victorias and Bulldogs match up. 

Forwards 

• Bulldogs: Gord Roberts (12 goals), Bruce Stuart (7), and Tommy Dunderdale (10) make up the most dominant line in the game. What makes the Bulldog attack even stronger, though, is that they get tremendous support from role players like Tom Hooper (7 goals), Oliver Seibert (6), and Scotty Davidson (8). One complication they'll face is the temporary absence of Hooper, whose injury will keep him out of at least the first game of the series.
• Victorias: The versatile Victorias mix and match their players rather than roll consistent lines. They're led by captain Hobey Baker (6 goals), Billy McGimsie (7), and Marty Walsh (7). Supporting players Frank Rankin (6 goals), Harry Hyland (3), and underrated two-way forward Dubbie Bowie (5).
• Advantage: Bulldogs

Defensemen

• Bulldogs: Rookie star Jack Laviolette tied the single-season mark for plus/minus (+13), but Art Ross and captain Si Griffis (both +7) were also rock-solid defenders. There's no one here who can equal the sheer offensive output of someone like Cyclone Taylor or Hod Stuart, but the Bulldog defensive corps is the best in the league.
• Victorias: Cyclone Taylor had another superlative season (13 goals, 15 assists, +8) and is almost certain to win the Defenseman MVP trophy, but there isn't much depth behind him. George McNamara and Phat Wilson are average players at best.
• Advantage: Bulldogs

Goaltending

• Bulldogs: Paddy Moran, in his second season with the Dogs, posted solid numbers in the regular season (2.63 goals against average, .908 save percentage), but good luck played a large role; his Strat-O-Matic stat card shows a far less competent netminder.
• Victorias: Bowse Hutton dominated this season (2.13 goals against average, .924 save percentage) and will undoubtedly win the Goaltender MVP.
• Advantage: Victorias

Special Teams

• Bulldogs: They were first in the league in power-play percentage (30.43%), but their penalty killing was...not so good (75.61%). The Dogs finished fourth in PK, although this unit did manage to score two shorthanded goals. Troublingly, they also gave up two goals in three chances in the wild-card game against the Thistles.
• Victorias: At 25.93%, the Vics' power play finished third, although typically the Vics have the best power play in the league. Their penalty killing (88%) was tops in the league by almost a dozen percentage points.
• Advantage: Victorias

Prediction

It's hard to bet against the team that has gone 13-2-3 against its opponent over the past four seasons, but I think the Bulldogs are the better team. Bowse Hutton is likely to steal a game or two, but the Bulldogs are a deeper team with an overwhelming offense. It's going to be an amazing series, but I'm calling it here: Bulldogs in five.

Wild-Card Game

Tonight was our first-ever wild-card game, where the second- and third-place teams duke it out for the right to face the first-place team in the Creighton Cup Finals. This contest between the Thistles and the Bulldogs was a game for the ages -- it had everything but Don Cherry, Gritty, and Marty McSorley's illegal stick!  

Tommy Dunderdale, playing in his first career playoff game, got the scoring started early in the first period. The hometown Bulldog fans were ecstatic, sensing that a date with the Victorias was at hand. Riley Hern, however, had other plans, and stonewalled the Dogs on shot after shot. The next goal would come late in the second, when the Thistles' Dan Bain tallied on the power play to tie the game. Moments later, the Dogs picked up a power-play goal of their own, courtesy of a Bruce Stuart lamplighter. It was 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs at the end of two.

Then things got kind of crazy. On just their second try with the man advantage, the Thistles scored again, tying the game once more. This time it was Fred Whitcroft, the Thistles' midseason acquisition, who found the back of the net. Two power plays, two goals. The Dogs were on their heels, dumbfounded that they just couldn't put away this vastly inferior Thistles team. The specter of sudden-death overtime loomed with each passing moment. Then, with under five minutes to play in regulation, Bulldogs winger Tom Hooper went down with an injury and was removed from the game. Gord Roberts took his spot and, as time was expiring, the feisty superstar hauled down Whitcroft and was called for a penalty.

It was looking grim for the Bulldogs. Their best player was in the box, their foes were already two-for-two on the power play, and now the game had gone to overtime. The Dogs could feel their extraordinary season slipping away. For a brief moment, a shorthanded breakaway by Oliver Seibert brought fans to their feet, but Hern turned him aside with ease. As soon as the penalty expired, Roberts joined linemates Bruce Stuart and Tommy Dunderdale, and the league's top trio got to work. All it took was a couple of crisp passes, and Dunderdale found himself in the slot with the puck on his stick. He snapped a shot past Hern for his second goal of the game -- a goal that has sent the Bulldogs to the Creighton Cup Finals!

Playoff Preview

First Place: Victorias (9-3-4, 22 PTS)

After a lost year that saw them slip to third place, the Vics returned strong in Season 4 and reclaimed their customary spot at the top of the standings. As such, they've earned an automatic berth in the Creighton Cup Finals and will play the winner of the wild card game. The Vics will be a tough opponent in that series, as they boast a potent combination of offense and defense. They scored at a rate of 3.13 goals per game (second in the league) and allowed only 2.13 (first in the league and the best single-season mark in league history). Scoring a full goal per game more than they allowed, the Vics racked up a +16 goal differential that tied for first in the league. Led by their two superstars -- offensive-minded defenseman Cyclone Taylor (13 G, 15 A, +8) and goaltender Bowse Hutton (2.13 GAA, .924 save percentage) -- the Victorias are looking to win their third Creighton Cup in four years.

Second Place (1st Wild Card): Bulldogs (8-4-4, 20 PTS)

A record of 0-2-2 against the Vics cost this dominant team the first-place finish they deserved. They scored at a ridiculous rate of 3.63 goals per game (first in the league and the second-highest single-season average ever) and, like the Vics, they gave up exactly one fewer goal per game than they scored (2.63, good enough for second in the league); the Bulldogs, too, had a goal differential of +16. This team is loaded with talent. Gord Roberts led the league in scoring (12 G, 18 A, +10), and Bruce Stuart (7 G, 18 A, +8) and Tommy Dunderdale (10 G, 13 A, +8) both finished in the top five. Rookie defenseman Jack Laviolette tied the single-season record for plus/minus (+13). I should also mention the crucial role of supporting players like Scotty Davidson, Tom Hooper, and Oliver Seibert, all of whom had career years. I fully expect the Bulldogs to annihilate the Thistles in the wild card game. 

Third Place (2nd Wild Card): Thistles (6-8-2, 14 PTS)

The Thistles finished a very distant third, edging out the Comets and Millionaires by a couple of points for the final playoff spot. Their 2.69 goals per game, 3.13 goals against, and -7 goal differential all ranked third in the league. This team is making its second straight appearance in the playoffs, but in many ways Season 4 has been a step backwards for the Thistles; centers Dan Bain and Tommy "Tools" Smith, along with defenseman Hod Stuart and netminder Riley Hern, all regressed from their award-winning Season 3 performances. How, then, did they make it back to the postseason? Star wingers Alf Smith (16 G, 8 A, -1) and Tommy Phillips (8 G, 12 A, -1) carried the team with MVP-caliber seasons. Additionally, midseason pickup Fred Whitcroft helped improve the league's worst power play by a full 10% in the second half.

Wild (Card) Finish

Incorporating the wild-card format turned out to be a great decision. Without it, the Vics and Bulldogs would have punched their tickets to the Creighton Cup Finals weeks ago, leaving the other three teams to play out a bunch of meaningless games. Instead, the remaining teams all had a shot at a wild-card berth. Although the Millionaires were eliminated from contention in their penultimate contest, the Thistles and Comets met in their respective final games with a playoff spot hanging in the balance. The Thistles would clinch with a win or a tie, while the Comets needed to win outright. 

It was a heated affair from the first minute of the game, when the Comets' Blair Russell took down MVP candidate Alf Smith. Of course, the Strat-O-Matic game system has no way of knowing the emotions that real-life players would feel in this high-stakes game, but it was a cool coincidence that my Action Deck draws resulted in all sorts of aggression and mayhem. There were five penalties in the first period alone! 

The teams traded power-play goals in the first, with the legendary Frank McGee scoring for the Comets and captain Tommy Phillips for the Thistles. Alf Smith gave the Thistles a 2-1 lead in the second; that strike was his sixteenth of the year, tying him for the second-most goals ever scored in a single season. It's probably not enough to push him past Gord Roberts for Forward MVP, but it was certainly a memorable season for the rugged winger. In the third, Mike Grant blasted a slap shot on the power play to tie the game at two. For the Comets, however, a tie would still end their season. They tried to keep up the pressure, but the Thistles would not relent. The game ended in a draw, and thus the Thistles claimed the second wild card. They'll face the Bulldogs for the right to battle the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. 

There's only one more game left in the regular season (the Millionaires hosting the Bulldogs in a game that matters only for individual stats but with no playoff implications), and afterwards I plan to take a little break before beginning the postseason. I need to catch my breath -- Season 4 has been a blast!

Thank the Scheduling Gods!

Creating the schedule for a professional sports league is a herculean task; for my five-team Strat-O-Matic hockey league, however, the scheduling is essentially random. When I generated the Season 4 schedule, I plugged in the team names without giving much thought to who was playing whom and when. I certainly had no way of knowing that the Victorias and the Bulldogs -- last year's third- and fourth-place teams -- would improve so dramatically and dominate the other three franchises. I also had no way of knowing that first place in the regular-season standings -- and an automatic berth in the Creighton Cup Finals -- would come down to a Vics/Dogs matchup in the former team's final game of the season and the latter's penultimate game. 

But here we are! Tonight the top teams of Season 4 squared off for the fourth time this year. Historically, the Vics have owned the Bulldogs, and came into this contest with a record of 1-0-2 against their favorite foes here in Season 4. (A quick check reveals that the Bulldogs had defeated the Vics only twice in 17 prior regular-season and playoff games.) 

Phat Wilson and Bruce Stuart traded goals in the first, and then the Vics' Marty Walsh tallied on the power play in the second to put his team up by a goal. The stage was set for a wild third period. Tommy Dunderdale tied it moments into the final frame, with assists going to Gord Roberts and Jack Laviolette, both of whom had assisted on Stuart's earlier goal. Cyclone Taylor had assisted on both goals for the Vics, so the race for the league scoring title will come down to either Roberts or Taylor. Laviolette, meanwhile, continued his march toward setting a single-season plus/minus record; not only is Laviolette the strong frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, he's also giving Taylor a run for his money as both men vie for the Defenseman MVP trophy.

With the score knotted at two apiece, the Vics knew that a tie would secure first place. Even so, they pressed the attack and made an emphatic statement late in the third. Dubbie Bowie set up rookie Harry Hyland for the go-ahead goal, and then Bowie fed Taylor a moment later for a strike that sealed a 4-2 win. The Dogs must now face the third-place team (either the Thistles or the Comets, as the expansion Millionaires have already been eliminated) if they're to join the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. As for the Vics, they can rest easy for a few days, admiring their astounding 13-2-3 all-time record against the Bulldogs.

Down to the Wire

We're down to the last few games of Season 4, and the playoff picture is coming into focus. The Victorias and Bulldogs are running neck-and-neck, and both teams have clinched playoff spots. Whichever team finishes in first place (at the moment, it's the Vics by a whisper) gets an automatic berth in the best-of-five Creighton Cup Finals. The second-place team, meanwhile, will host the third-place team in a one-game, do-or-die contest that will determine the other spot in the Finals. The Thistles have the inside track to claim third place, but technically the Comets and the expansion Millionaires are still in the hunt for that last playoff position. The Millies were dealt a blow last night, however, when rookie defenseman Joe Hall suffered a season-ending injury. Up to this point in Season 4, there had been no serious injuries for any player league-wide, but it looks like our newest franchise will have to rely upon the services of free agent blueliner Harvey Pulford for its last-ditch playoff push.

9th Edition Blues

I picked up the smallest of the 40k 9th Edition starter sets back in August and I've been painting the minis on and off for the past couple of months. Why has it taken so long? Honestly, it's been hard for me to get excited about 9th Edition, which I feel is a real step back from 8th. Even so, the starter set provides some nice reinforcements for Nathaniel's Ultramarines, and the Necrons will augment the impressive army that Matt so kindly gifted to us a couple of years ago.

I was rather pleased with the painting until I saw the high-resolution photo images. Argh! Digital photos highlight every imperfection. Well, to the naked eye, at least, they look pretty good. 

The starter set includes a Primaris Lieutenant and a squad of Assault Incercessors. 

The Necron lineup, meanwhile, consists of a Royal Warden (the bigger guy in the center), three Canoptek Scarab Swarms, and ten Necron Warriors. 

As with the previous edition, the starter set includes a battle map and a box insert that doubles as a terrain piece. It's a fast, easy way to create cool-looking, multi-level battlefields!

Here's the Lieutenant in a showdown against the Royal Warden.

My favorite aspect of any of these miniatures is the Lieutenant's awesome shield!

9th Edition does have some cool new units like the Hammerfall Bunker, but I don't have immediate plans for any more models. The boys and I are already hard-pressed for time to play our regular RPG campaigns, so wargames have taken a backseat over the past year or so.

Forward MVP Race

We're at the three-quarter mark of Season 4, and in addition to jockeying for playoff position (currently the Victorias, Bulldogs, and Thistles are in, and the Comets and Millionaires are out), the players are vying for the various end-of-season MVP trophies. Aside from Cyclone Taylor cruising toward his third Defenseman MVP in four seasons, the other awards are all up in the air.

The most exciting race is for Forward MVP, and it's quite a contrast from Season 3. Last time around, Frank McGee won his second consecutive Forward MVP trophy because...well...no one really stood out. It was, on the whole, a ho-hum year for forwards. This year it's a whole different story. I could make a strong case (at least as strong as last year's case for McGee) for Bruce Stuart (C, Bulldogs), Tommy Phillips (LW, Thistles), Jimmy Gardner (LW, Millionaires), and even McGee (C, Comets) again. 

However, it's really coming down to two phenomenal players: Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) and Alf Smith (RW, Thistles). Roberts, the Forward MVP from Season 1, is having his finest campaign (12 GP, 11 G, 10 A, 21 PTS, +5), and currently leads the league in points. Sitting one point behind him is Smith (13 GP, 14 G, 6 A, 20 PTS, +0). Roberts has been the better all-around player (the plus/minus difference is hard to ignore), but Smith has an eye-popping 14 goals in 13 games. He's on pace to match or beat McGee's single-season record of 18 goals back in Season 2. (Side-note: McGee managed this prodigious feat in a mere 12 games, whereas today the seasons are 16 games long.) I think Roberts has the edge for now, but if Smith does, in fact, break the record, it would be hard to deny him the award, especially if all the other numbers are close. After all, a forward's job is to score goals!

G-Mac Gets the G

George McNamara has spent his entire career with the Victorias and has won two Creighton Cups with that team over the past four seasons. This durable defenseman has suited up for all 48 games that his team has played to date. He brings an intimidating physical presence to a team that otherwise lacks it, and has been a valuable penalty killer as well. He's done a little bit of everything except, well, scoring goals.

Tonight, however, G-Mac scored for the first time ever. The big blueliner somehow found himself on a two-on-one break with star winger Marty Walsh. Walsh had the puck, and everyone -- including Bulldogs goalie Paddy Moran -- was thinking shot, but Walsh had other plans. He dished to McNamara, who buried the puck to end that pesky 48-game drought, the longest in league history.