Season 6 Championship, Game 1

Playoff baseball is back! The top-seeded Resolutes are in the Creighton Cup Series for the first time in their brief history, while the Blue Legs are in the Series for the second year in a row -- but they haven't won a championship since way back in Season 1. 

Game 1 got underway with home-team ace John Clarkson against the Legs' leadoff man, Billy Hamilton. Hamilton managed to work a walk, then promptly stole second. Two batters later, Big Dan Brouthers brought him home with a booming triple. The Legs extended that lead in the second when Hamilton's double scored Hughie Jennings and Harry Wright to make it 3-0 in favor of the visitors. 

Old Hoss Radbourn, meanwhile, cruised through the first three innings. He ran into trouble in the fourth, when third baseman John McGraw tripled with one out. Connie Mack doubled him home to give the Resolutes their first-ever postseason run. Monte Ward singled to put runners at the corners, bringing Clarkson himself to the plate. The game's best-hitting pitcher crushed one deep to the outfield, but had to settle for a sacrifice fly. Pete Hill then grounded out, so after four innings the Blue Legs were ahead by a slim 3-2 margin.

Not for long. In the bottom of the fifth, Orator Jim O'Rourke -- playing first base for the injured Jake Beckley -- led off with a double. Elmer Flick popped out, bringing up Fred Clarke, the Resolutes' most prolific slugger. Clarke belted Radbourn's pitch into the right-field seats, turning a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. It was the first playoff home run for the Resolutes, and it came from the very same man who hit the team's first regular-season homer way back on Opening Day of Season 5. 

Both pitchers buckled down in the late innings and traded zeroes until we reached the top of the ninth, with the Resolutes clinging to a one-run lead. Jennings and Wright went down quickly, bringing up the pitcher's spot. With two outs and no one on base, the Legs turned to pinch hitter Frank Chance. Clarkson, meanwhile, needed just one out to secure a complete-game victory. Chance smashed Clarkson's offering into the right-field corner, legging out a triple to silence the home team's fans. Now the tying run was ninety feet away and Hamilton dug in with the game on his bat. He smoked an opposite-field line drive to left, where Fred Clarke -- he of the earlier home run heroics -- had the opportunity to make a highlight-reel catch to end the game. 

It all came down to a single d20. I made the roll, Clarke made the grab, and Game 1 ended with a 4-3 victory for the Resolutes. Game 2, featuring Christy Mathewson against Pud Galvin, is on tap.

Season 6 Creighton Cup Preview

A Creighton Cup Series without the Haymakers? Here we are in Season 6, and for the first time ever, the league's most storied franchise will not be competing for the title. Instead, we have the first-place Resolutes and the second-place Blue Legs vying for the championship. It's been a fun and interesting season, and I fully expect a great series ahead! Let's see how the teams match up.

Offense

• Blue Legs: This deep, balanced lineup scored at a league-high rate of 4.29 runs per game. Slugging first baseman Dan Brouthers had a great (but injury-marred) season and could be a difference-maker in this series. He's flanked in the batting order by fellow stars Nap Lajoie and King Kelly. 
• Resolutes: At 3.21 runs per game, the Resolutes not only had the worst offense in the league this year, it was among the lowest scoring rates in league history. On a not-unrelated note, the Resolutes hit a league-low four home runs as a team; Brouthers alone had three for the Legs. Fred Clarke is the most likely Resolute to put up big offensive numbers, but I'm also keeping an eye on super-sub Jim O'Rourke, who's been swinging a hot bat this year in limited playing time.
• Advantage: Blue Legs

Defense

• Blue Legs: The Legs have never been known as a great defensive team, but somehow they managed to rank as the second-best on defense after the sure-handed Canaries. Hughie Jennings ranked as the league's top defensive shortstop this season, and catcher King Kelly turned in an uncharacteristically strong performance. 
• Resolutes: Technically, the Resolutes were right behind the Blue Legs as the third-best defensive team, but the gap between the two was significant. Their problems were entirely in the infield, as their three everyday outfielders (Pete Hill, Fred Clarke, and Elmer Flick) all played flawlessly.
• Advantage: Blue Legs

Pitching

• Blue Legs: The team allowed 3.88 runs per game, which is a so-so mark for this league. It would have been a lot worse without Old Hoss Radbourn, who went 7-2 with a league-best 2.42 ERA. Radbourn is a true ace, and he's backed up by a solid #2 in Pud Galvin, himself a former Playoff MVP winner. 
• Resolutes: The 3.08 runs per game that the Resolutes allowed this year is the second-best full-season total in league history. Credit goes to starters John Clarkson and Christy Mathewson, who are both adept at flummoxing opposing batters with the sharp movement on their pitches. Sophomore reliever Clark Griffith and veteran closer Joe McGinnity round out a top-notch staff.
• Advantage: Resolutes

Prediction

Although the Resolutes will be without injured first baseman Jake Beckley for the first game, the Legs will miss out on the offensive and defensive contributions of captain and star second baseman Nap Lajoie. Lajoie's absence in Game 1 will hurt the Legs, but I still consider them heavy favorites in this series. They may have finished in second place, but they had the league's best run differential (+10) and their actual winning percentage (.542) was right in line with their expected winning percentage (.551) based on runs scored and allowed. The Resolutes, on the other hand, sported an eye-catching .625 actual winning percentage, but the expected was only .520. That's more than a hundred points lower! The data suggests that the first-place Resolutes were extremely lucky during the regular season. Maybe their luck will hold, but in this best-of-five series, my money is on the Blue Legs to win, three games to one.

D&D Is for Nerds

So, if you eat NERDS candy, you can upload your proof-of-purchase to their website to get free NERDS-themed D&D adventures. No, gentle reader, this is not a bizarre dream you're having -- it's very, very real. You can check it out here. I don't think I've seen a box of NERDS candy in the past several decades, but I do wonder if the adventures are as gloriously goofy as the Wendy's D&D module from a while back...

But speaking of D&D and candy, this NERDS thing brought back vivid memories of going to KB Toys as a kid -- either at our local Arnot Mall or that legendary hub of commerce, MARKETPLACE MALL in Rochester -- and finding boxes of official D&D candy with actual stat blocks printed on the back. Really, was there a better time to be a D&D-loving kid than the 1980s?!

A New King Is Crowned

The Canaries visited the Haymakers tonight in the final game of the regular season. When Ed Delahanty, the Birds' left fielder, stepped to the plate against Cy Young with one out and nobody on in the top of the first, I had little inkling that history was about to be made. Delahanty promptly crushed Young's offering into the left-fielder bleachers for his league-leading fourth homer of the season. That blast was also the twelfth home run of his career, surpassing teammate George Davis's eleven career homers. The crown has passed from Mike "King" Kelly to Davis to Delahanty, and I wonder how long Delahanty will hold it before the next guy -- Cap Anson? -- takes it.

Defense Matters

I'm cruising toward the end of Season 6 of my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic baseball league, and the playoff picture is starting to shape up. The second-year Resolutes have clinched a spot in the Creighton Cup series, and most likely will finish in first place. The Blue Legs and Haymakers are vying for the second spot in the Series, with the Legs maintaining a 1.5-game edge entering tonight's tilt against the cellar-dwelling Canaries. Needing every win to hold the Haymakers at bay, the Legs had a 4-0 advantage entering the eighth. Leading off for the Canaries was infielder George Wright, who hit a sharp liner into right. I made the die roll for Sam Crawford and he couldn't come up with the catch. Wright ended up on second, and a few batters later the Canaries had stormed back to tie the game.  

The Blue Legs were falling apart, but before any further damage occurred, I realized I had made a mistake. The Legs' right fielder isn't Crawford, but Wee Willie Keeler. Crawford is their center fielder. Keeler's defensive rating is higher than Crawford's, and the same d20 roll that resulted in Crawford's error would be a catch for Keeler. There's a big difference between having the bases empty with one out and having a man on second with no outs, so I felt the fairest thing to do would be to rewind the clock, so to speak, to the point where that liner was scorching toward right field. This time, Keeler made the catch easily and the Canaries failed to score. They went down in order in the ninth, as well, giving Legs starter Old Hoss Radbourn a complete-game shutout. One catch certainly made the difference in that game!

Hammer Time!

I'm enjoying some time off and the opportunity to delve further into Blackstone Fortress with the boys. We're working our way through the ancient, labyrinthine space station in the hope of uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Vault. Tonight we squared off against a Chaos Space Marines captain called Obsidius Mallex, our chief rival in the quest for the Vault. 

Here's the moment we lured Mallex away from his flunkies and into a trap-filled choke point, blasted him to smithereens, and claimed his precious Thunder Hammer!

Below is a better view of the current party. I haven't had the time to paint the villains, but I did paint the heroes we're using. Sadly, my best paint job of the lof them was the flamer-wielding adept who wasn't part of this particular mission. 

I estimate we're about halfway through the game. Loving every minute of it!

Into the Fortress!

Between work, school starting back up, ever-present COVID, and California fires that continue to dump smoke into our valley, I think we all needed a bit of a pick-me-up. On a smokey Saturday afternoon, then, the boys and I made our first foray into the Blackstone Fortress of, well, Blackstone Fortress. We followed that up with a return trip on Sunday. 

How did it go? This is the game we wanted Gloomhaven to be. Granted, Blackstone Fortress can't top Gloomhaven's richly unfolding storyline or the players' ability to shape the world around them, but all that cool stuff doesn't matter if the game is lousy. Gloomhaven takes forever to set up and the mechanics are ridiculous, forcing players to abandon smart dungeon-crawler tactics due to the game's oppressive timer.  I've covered all this ground before. In contrast, Blackstone Fortress is rather lighter on story but the gameplay is slick and fun. There's a lot you can do on your own turn, and the generous overwatch rules keep you motivated to pay attention even when it's not your turn. The boys and I all found characters we liked, and so far our experience is that the characters play very differently; Matthew gets his mobile damage dealer, Nathaniel gets his tank, and I get my jack-of-all-trades. It's rare indeed that all three of us enjoy the same board game, so I think we've got a winner on our hands with Blackstone, and I'm pretty sure we'll stick with this game long enough to make it all the way to the hidden vault!

808 Storylines

As I noted a while back, I've been chipping away at my Druid Cycle matrix, a massive spreadsheet that tracks all characters, locations, organizations, etc. The character tab is by far the biggest component. As of this writing, I have 808 named characters for whom I've specified a location, any group affiliations, a 5e stat block, and lots of other relevant information. 

Something was missing, though. I needed their motivations. So, for all 808 characters, I added a new field to specify their objectives. What do these people want? Now every character -- from the lowliest shopkeeper to the most powerful immortal -- has a goal. It's taken me weeks to get to this point, but at last I have hundreds of potential storylines  just waiting to be explored!

Malaise

Work has felt rather more stressful of late, with setbacks that continue to nag me even after I leave the office. Between that stuff and the ongoing complexities of life in COVID times, I haven't had quite the same energy for game stuff. To wit, I've paused my Strat-O-Matic baseball league at the halfway point of Season 6 (the Blue Legs and Resolutes are neck-in-neck in a tight pennant race) and I even gave up on landing a copy of that new Gargoyles board game after my local Target twice indicated it was in stock but then didn't have it when I showed up. I did manage to grab the new Warhammer Age of Sigmar starter set for a bit of building and painting fun on the side, and at some point I'd like to try Blackstone Fortress with the boys. It's out of print now, but I grabbed a copy from an Amazon third-party seller and it seems like it will provide the great co-op gaming experience that we thought we'd get with Gloomhaven. I'm looking forward to some time off around Labor Day and hoping I can learn the rules by then so that the boys and I can jump right in.

FCBD Today!

 Today is Free Comic Book Day! Enjoy safely!

FCBD 2021

Just a quick reminder that Free Comic Book Day is scheduled for this Saturday, August 14.

Gargoyles Awakening

I just found out moments ago that there's a Gargoyles board game coming out today as a Target exclusive. I dearly love everything about the '90s Gargoyles cartoon -- its authentic New York City setting, its amazing voice cast, its deep allusions to literature and mythology -- so I will definitely need to find a way to pick up a copy of this game, pronto!

McCarthy Madness

Many baseball authorities would rank Tommy McCarthy as the worst player in the Hall of Fame. His career totals would be lousy enough for a middle infielder, but for a corner outfielder they're downright atrocious. Not surprisingly, then, McCarthy rode the pine for the first four seasons of my Strat-O-Matic league. He bounced around between a couple of teams, getting in some work here and there as a pinch hitter or late-game defensive replacement. 

Last season, the arrival of our expansion team, the Resolutes, drained the talent pool and turned a lot of benchwarmers into starters. McCarthy found himself the Opening Day third baseman on the Resolutes, but his athleticism and skill as a defensive outfielder did not translate to the hot corner. The Resolutes shipped him out to the Canaries midway through the season as a throw-in to a blockbuster trade headlined by pitcher Rube Waddell and center fielder Pete Hill. 

The upshot was that McCarthy got more playing time on the Canaries, and now, in Season 6, he cracked the lineup as the Birds' everyday right fielder. How's he doing on his new team and in his new role? Well, at about the one-quarter mark of the regular season, he's leading the league in home runs! Of course, it's a statistical fluke -- he had zero home runs coming into this season -- but it's cool to see this bit player get his moment in the sun.

Druid Cycle Matrix

For years -- see this blog post from almost exactly seven years ago! -- I've wanted to create a spreadsheet to track all of my Druid Cycle campaign information, such as the names of people, places, etc. The sheer scope of the project put me off, despite having created similar spreadsheets for my Shattered Realm and Torchlight settings. The truth is that Druid Cycle is bigger than everything else put together, with threads that go as far back as 1991. That's thirty years ago, people!

I've been chipping away at a Druid Cycle spreadsheet for a while, and now I'm pleased to report that I've completed a first draft. As of this writing, there are 742 named characters, 67 groups, and 342 unique locations. What's next? Lots of review, for one thing. The stat blocks are a major issue for this review. Every non-immortal NPC in the character list, no matter how minor, is tied to a stat block from the Monster Manual or another D&D reference book from the current edition of the game. If he's got a name, he's got a stat block. However, I'm not entirely confident that the characters are "ranked" properly. The flat math of Fifth Edition really compresses the power curve between the least- and most-powerful characters (especially compared to the previous-edition-that-shall-not-be-named), but I still need to be able to show meaningful distinctions between the abilities of characters. I'll also need to deal with the game's most prominent characters, for whom generic stat blocks just don't work. I'll probably create full-fledged character sheets for the likes of Cyfrinach and Iskander, but that's a project for another day.

Playoff Heroes & Zeroes

With five seasons in the books for my historical hockey league, there's enough data to start looking at interesting trends. I was curious about which players have tended either to shine or falter in the playoffs, and after reviewing the data, I've found that we have some clear playoff heroes and zeroes. (Note: For the purposes of this post, I'm focusing solely on outliers and ignoring guys whose playoff performances have been consistent with their regular-season performances.)

Heroes

• Frank Rankin: This three-time Creighton Cup champion now ranks second in career playoff goals and points, and he's first in career playoff games played. Although he's had more opportunities to compile playoff stats than any other player, Rankin has definitely turned it up a notch in these high-leverage games; he's posted 0.64 goals per game and 1.14 points per game in playoff action, compared to 0.37 goals per game and 0.87 points per game during the regular season.
• Mike Grant: Small sample size alert! Grant has played only six postseason games, but he's absolutely dominated during those contests, such that he sits third all-time in playoff goals and points. The guy is rocking out at 1.0 goals per game (vs. 0.31 in the regular season) and 2.17 points per game (vs. 1.19 in the regular season). Those numbers are on par with the regular-season and playoff scoring pace of Cyclone Taylor, the league's best player.

Zeroes

• George Richardson: It pains me to write this passage, because Richardson is a quiet star in this league (and, in real life, a war hero who died in battle in World War I). In the playoffs, however, this steady point producer has struggled. Despite 0.47 goals per game and 1.03 points per game in regular-season play, he's produced just 0.13 goals per game and 0.38 points per game in the playoffs.
• Riley Hern: The award for worst playoff performer ever goes to star goalie Riley Hern. He's second all-time in regular-season wins and has put up great stats (.908 save percentage, 2.93 goals-against average), but in the playoffs he really stinks up the joint (.873 save percentage, 3.78 goals-against average). His record of one win against eight losses only adds to the ignominy; in fact, Hern all by himself has racked up 47% of all playoff losses in league history!

Opening Day(s)

Baseball is back! With the Canaries hosting the Resolutes, rookie John McGraw lined out to George Wright to get Season 6 underway. With aces John Clarkson and Tim Keefe toeing the rubber, the game moved at a brisk pace. Keefe wasn't quite as sharp as last year's Pitcher MVP, however, and the Resolutes played with a lead for most of the game. The most dramatic moment came in the top of the sixth, when Fred Clarke homered off of Keefe on Opening Day for the second straight season. The Canaries made it interesting in the eighth and ninth against the Resolutes' new closer, Joe McGinnity, but the veteran managed to hang in there to seal a 4-2 road win.

Opening Day for our other two franchises involved the Blue Legs visiting the Haymakers in a rematch of last year's championship series. Playoff MVP Cy Young clearly didn't have his best stuff, and the Legs jumped all over him. Nap Lajoie's two-run shot was the backbreaker in a 6-1 triumph for the visitors. Old Hoss Radbourn, pitching for the Legs, managed to tie John Clarkson's record 21-inning scoreless streak (set at the beginning of last season), but a Bobby Wallace single prevented him from claiming a new record. I guess that's about the only positive takeaway for the Haymakers from that game.

It doesn't get any easier for the defending champs. Tomorrow, the Haymakers visit the Resolutes, where the legendary Christy Mathewson will make his first career start in this league!

Is It Baseball Time Already?!

I may be slogging through the Soulbound rulebook and working on a massive but top-secret Druid Cycle project, but I made sure to take some time tonight to prep for the upcoming Season 6 of my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic baseball league. It seems like forever since these lads took the field, but the new season really snuck up on me.

Last time around, the Haymakers captured their third championship in five years with a Creighton Cup series win over the Blue Legs. However, the balance of power in the league may well shift, as I had one more batch of players to distribute before I have, at last, reached the end of the Hall of Famers who have even the most tenuous ties to premodern ball. In the final player dispersal draft ever, the Canaries landed little-known but phenomenally talented hurler Addie Joss. The the second-year Resolutes, meanwhile, loaded up with stud pitcher Christy Mathewson and leadoff hitter John McGraw; I like the way our newest team is shaping up. I'd love to see them make a run at the playoffs, much like their expansion cousins -- the newly minted league-champion Millionaires -- did in my hockey league. 

Opening Day is tomorrow!

All Is Forgiven...For Now!

Games Workshop guys: "Uh oh, John is really unhappy with the Soulbound RPG Starter Set. We'd better announce some awesome new Age of Sigmar stuff to placate him!"

Damn you! I want that Extremis box!

The Isles Win It All!

On a brighter note, I won the Stanley Cup today with the New York Islanders in NHL '94 -- my first championship in that video game since, well, the actual year 1994. Why the Islanders, you ask? Why not my semi-local Golden Knights, my beloved Rangers, or even the long-suffering Sabres? I've really grown to like the Isles over their last two postseason runs. Maybe next year they'll find a way to get past the increasingly irritating Tampa Bay Lightning and newly-emerging supervillain Nikita Kucherov, who's likely to find a place of (dis)honor -- alongside the likes of Tom Wilson, Alex Ovechkin, and Brad Marchand -- in my pantheon of hockey heels.

TPKs are Not Fun

A starter set for a roleplaying game can have many objectives, but among the most important, surely, is the need to draw players in, excite them, and leave them eager to play more. The Soulbound Starter Set, by contrast, makes me want to stuff its terribly unbalanced introductory adventure into a troggoth's maw. One combat encounter early in the adventure gives players a two-in-three chance of encountering either a spine-worm or multiple bore-beetles. In either case, the party is completely overmatched. Both creatures have attacks bearing the outrageous Rend trait (with attacks at 8D6, so you're looking at a 77% chance per attack for permanent armor damage), and both also have Mettle -- a game mechanic that (among other things) allows a character to make a second attack on their turn. Maybe I'm truly not understanding the math of the game, but I can't see how you can avoid a TPK unless you have a full party of five heroes, all at full strength, and you get really lucky. How is this fun?!

Sigmar, Smite This Starter Set!

I really dig the Soulbound hardcover rulebook, but I'm quickly becoming disappointed by the Starter Set for this Warhammer Age of Sigmar (I still think they need a colon there) tabletop roleplaying game. In a well intentioned but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to teach new players the rules of the game in a piecemeal fashion, the end result is a confusing hodgepodge that leaves me with more questions than answers on every page. The worst part is that there's a showstopper of a problem in the very first combat encounter. 

So, I'm asking myself, do these fyrehunter critters really destroy the characters' armor during the first battle? Like, permanently destroy it? Yes, and yes. Maybe I'm just having flashbacks to the dreaded rust monster from D&D days of yore, but I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the game designers' decision to gank the party right from the get-go. I mean, I get that the setting is intended to be more harsh than a typical D&D campaign, but what do you say to players when you hamstring their characters before they have any idea of what's happening?

LOL grimdark, amirite?!

Here's how it goes down. In that first combat encounter, the party faces no fewer than four fyrehunters. The book indicates that these creatures use their armor-destroying attack on the second round of combat (and the monsters are too tough to one-shot during the first round). Their attack has the Rend trait, and in Soulbound it means that for every unmodified roll of 6 on a D6, the attack permanently reduces the defender's Armor rating by one. The fyrehunters roll 4D6 for that attack, and the odds of rolling at least one 6 on 4D6 is 52%. Most of the pre-generated characters in the Starter Set have an Armor rating of 1 or 2, so even a single 6 is a crippling blow to their defenses. Although the full rulebook provides rules for repairing armor and prices for purchasing new armor, the Starter Set includes none of this information. A character whose armor is destroyed during this first encounter is stuck for the rest of the adventure. If I ever play this system with the boys, you'd better believe I'm houseruling that Rend trait!

Soulbound

So Warhammer Age of Sigmar has a tabletop RPG called Soulbound. I picked up the gorgeously-illustrated core rulebook this week during my long-awaited trip to Ra-cha-cha. Soulbound looks like a lot of fun, and utilizes that oh-so-trendy dice-pool mechanic, along with some additional rules that encourage the party to work together...or else suffer together! I'm not sure the boys and I will find the time to play it, but it should provide some great reading material.

Season 5 Awards

I love handing out the (imaginary) trophies at the end of each season! Let's take a look at our star performers from Season 5!

Scoring Title: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias

Taylor paced the league with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists), notching his second 30-point season; he finished just two points shy of the record he set back in Season 2. A model of consistency, Taylor scored double-digit goals for the fifth straight campaign; no other player has more than three seasons of 10+ goals. As if he needed more black ink in the record book, his 20 assists are a new single-season mark. This year's scoring championship is Taylor's third such title in the league's five-season history.

Runners Up: Barney Stanley, RW, Millionaires; Dan Bain, C, Thistles

Forward MVP: Barney Stanley, RW, Millionaires

Although Taylor passed him in the scoring race, Stanley finished second in the league in points with 26 (13 G, 13 A), and his 13 goals led the league. He also set a single-season record with a +14 rating, a testament to his peerless play at five-on-five hockey.

Runners Up: Dan Bain, C, Thistles; Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

In a great year for D-men, this season saw two blueliners among the league's top five in points and four in the top 15. Hod Stuart had an epic season and appeared to be the frontrunner for much of the year, but the numbers don't lie: Taylor outscored Stuart by six points (30 vs. 24) and beat him solidly in plus/minus (+5 vs. 0). Taylor has now won this award in four of the league's five seasons.

Runners Up: Hod Stuart, Thistles; Graham Drinkwater, Millionaires

Goaltender MVP: Riley Hern, Thistles

Of all the awards this year, this one was the easiest call (especially because playoff performance doesn't factor into the decision). Hern led the league's netminders in wins (9), Goals-Against Average (2.63), and Save Percentage (.914) en route to picking up the second Goaltender MVP of his career. Kudos to Hugh Lehman, however, for taking a big step forward in his sophomore campaign.

Runners Up: Hugh Lehman, Millionaires; Bowse Hutton, Victorias

Rookie of the Year: Duke Keats, C, Millionaires

Two deserving candidates, but only one trophy! Frank Foyston set a rookie record with 15 points (5 G, 10 A), while Duke Keats was right behind him with 14 (6 G, 8 A). Keats had the better plus/minus (-4 vs. -8), although neither man would have cause to brag about those numbers. Where Keats separated himself, however, was in leading the Millies' top-ranked penalty-killing unit and establishing himself as one of the best faceoff men in the league. All things considered, Keats was truly the most valuable rookie.

Runners Up: Frank Foyston, RW, Comets; Jack Walker, LW, Thistles

Playoff MVP: Hugh Lehman, G, Millionaires

This was the most difficult trophy to award, probably because it forced me to acknowledge an earlier mistake. Last season, Paddy Moran of the Bulldogs won this honor, but as I looked again at the numbers, I really think that his teammate Bruce Stuart should have won instead. However, I can't punish Lehman for that oversight, as the Millies' goaltender put in a superlative performance (4-1, 2.60, .920). Goalies have now won this award in three out of five seasons; I guess that's...okay, as they do add more to their team's chances of winning than any other position, but it still seems weird.

Runners Up: Duke Keats, C, Millionaires; Graham Drinkwater, D, Millionaires

Creighton Cup Finals, Game 4

In Game 4, the Millionaires had a chance to put that Game 3 clunker behind them and close out this series on home ice in front of their raucous fans. The Thistles, however, entered the game with all the momentum. 

Big players need to shine in big moments, and Barney Stanley came through for his team with an early goal that gave the Millies a 1-0 lead. The advantage proved to be fleeting, as Dan Bain found Alf Smith for a tally just moments later. The first period ended with the two teams deadlocked at one goal apiece.

The prettiest goal of the game came in second period, when Graham Drinkwater set up Duke Keats for a breakaway goal to make it 2-1 for the Millies. Once again, the Thistles rallied to tie the game when rookie Jack Walker buried a pass from Tommy "Tools" Smith. The Millionaires had little opportunity to get back on the attack, as the Thistles managed to provoke the Millies into taking penalties left and right. Harry Westwick alone was penalized twice in the waning moments of the second.

The Millies took the lead for the third time early in the final frame when Jimmy Gardner scored on a feed from Keats. Hugh Lehman did his best to make that slim lead stand up, stopping everything that came at him, in particular a point-blank shot from Bain midway through the third. As the clock ticked toward doom for the Thistles, top center Bain was whistled for a penalty. The Thistles were the most-penalized team in the league this year, so it was only a matter of time before one of their aggressive players took a penalty at an inopportune moment. On the ensuing power play, Gardner scored again for his league-leading fourth goal of the postseason. That, my friends, was the backbreaker. Lehman denied Tommy Phillips with a minute to go, and when the clock ran out, the Millionaires had won their first Creighton Cup championship. The Thistles are now the only franchise in our five-team circuit that has yet to win a title. 

I'm surprised at the outcome, to say the least. Anything can happen in a five-game series, of course, but I was curious about how the Millies pulled off this upset. It wasn't at five-on-five hockey -- their key strength during the regular season -- but rather they won through special teams. In knocking off the Comets and the Thistles, the Millies' power play was 27.27% and their penalty killing was an eye-popping 94.12%. Goaltender Hugh Lehman was also a major factor, and is probably the frontrunner for the Playoff MVP. I need to dig a little deeper into the numbers as I start to determine the Season 5 award winners, but for now I'll put this league aside and return with fresh eyes to wrap up a very enjoyable campaign!

Creighton Cup Finals, Game 3

The Millionaires arrived at the Thistles' arena with a chance to sweep the series and win the Creighton Cup in just their second year of existence. Did they pull it off? Boy howdy, they did not. 

The first period started slowly, and over five minutes of play elapsed before either team recorded a shot on goal. By the middle of the frame, however, the Thistles were starting to pick up the pace and get the puck on net. They capitalized when Moose Goheen scored for the second consecutive game after being a healthy scratch in Game 1. 

It was 1-0 in favor of the Thistles to start the second period. The Millionaires' offense continued to struggle, and a rash of penalties certainly didn't help. They killed off every Thistles power play, but elite players like Barney Stanley and Graham Drinkwater languished on the bench while the penalty-killing unit was on the ice. Later, a goal from sniping winger Alf Smith gave the Thistles a 2-0 lead, and then defenseman Hod Stuart scored near the end of the frame. As the second period came to a close with the Thistles on top 3-0, it was obvious that the Millies would not sweep their way to a championship. 

Tommy Phillips scored early in the third to increase the lead to 4-0. The visitors could muster very little offense against Riley Hern and remained off the scoresheet until a late penalty to Fred Whitcroft gave them their first and only power play of the game. Jimmy Gardner scored to spoil Hern's shutout bid, but the game ended 4-1 for the Thistles, allowing Hern to secure his first-ever postseason victory. The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Millies, who will get a second chance to close things out at home in Game 4.

Creighton Cup Finals, Game 2

Game 2 shifted to the Millionaires' arena, where jubilant fans celebrated their team's stunning Game 1 victory on the road, as well as the return of convalescing center Harry Westwick. 

The first event of note from Game 2 was a questionable penalty to Millionaires captain Art Farrell. During the ensuing Thistles power play, Westwick snagged a pass and flipped the puck to Duke Keats -- the overtime hero of the wild-card game -- who skated in against Riley Hern on a breakaway and scored just the second playoff shorthanded goal in league history. The Thistles were unable to convert on the remainder of the power play, but seemed to find a bit of life later in the period when they killed off a penalty to Moose Johnson. Hern turned away several quality chances, and it appeared that he was starting to find a rhythm. That sentiment proved to be a bit premature, as Westwick set up speedy winger Frank Rankin for a goal, putting the home team up 2-0. 

Feeling the Creighton Cup slipping away from their grasp, the Thistles came out sharper in the second. Some strong work by Tommy Phillips and Alf Smith led to defenseman Hod Stuart's first career playoff tally. Later in the period, Dickie Boon fed Moose Goheen (yes, this team has two different guys nicknamed 'Moose') for the tying goal. The Thistles' rally was short-lived, thanks to the resurgent Rankin. Using Goheen as a screen, Rankin fired a shot from the top of the circle that Hern didn't see, and with his second score of the game, the period ended with the home team up 3-2. This goal also gave Westwick his third assist of the night.

In the third, Rankin had several more chances to complete the hat trick, but Hern delivered his best period of the series and did not allow any further damage. In the closing seconds, Dan Bain found Alf Smith for a cannon of a one-timer, but Lehman turned it aside as time expired to seal the one-goal win.

The Millionaires now have a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five series. The Thistles now return home in search of answers and facing elimination. Millies fans, meanwhile, can start dreaming of which of their stars will earn the Playoff MVP trophy. Could it be Hugh Lehman (2.33, .924), Graham Drinkwater (3 G, 2 A, +4), or Frank Rankin (3 G, 2 A, +4)? Harry Westwick, Barney Stanley, and Duke Keats have all played key roles as well. The Millionaires certainly don't lack for candidates!

Creighton Cup Finals, Game 1

The championship series for Season 5 is finally here! Tonight the top-seeded Thistles hosted the injury-ravaged, emotionally drained Millionaires in Game 1!

The first period gave little indication of the offensive fireworks to come. The game was quiet until late in the first, when rugged winger Rusty Crawford -- dressing in place of the injured Harry Westwick -- whipped a pass to ersatz centerman Frank Rankin, who beat Riley Hern to make it 1-0 in favor of the visiting Millionaires.

While the first period was a tight, defensive affair, the second turned out to be a shooting gallery. A half-minute into the frame, defenseman Hod Stuart set up Tommy "Tools" Smith for a quick goal to tie the game. Just moments later, another Stuart pass led to a goal for rookie Jack Walker. Suddenly trailing by a goal, the resilient Millies went right back to work, and soon a Jimmy Gardner tally tied the game at two. Then the floodgates opened. The line of Duke Keats, Jimmy Gardner, and Barney Stanley cycled the puck with ruthless efficiency, setting up defenseman Graham Drinkwater for a slapshot goal from the point. Without pausing even for a drink of water, Drinkwater scored again on his very next possession. It was now 4-2 Millionaires and the home team was on its heels. Thistles hothead Alf Smith went berserk toward the end of the frame, leading to a Millies power-play goal from Art Farrell. 

Trailing by three goals to start the third period, the Thistles made some adjustments in the hope of obtaining more favorable line matchups, but all they could do was chase the Millionaires. Midway through the period, Drinkwater collected his own rebound and fired it past an imploding Hern to complete the first hat trick of his career. That goal also set a record for the most goals (six) a team has scored in a single postseason game. The end of period was marred by penalties on both sides. Alf Smith scored a late power-play goal to make it 6-3, but the Thistles had no time for a comeback. 

The Millionaires return home leading the series 1-0, and they'll get star center Harry Westwick back in the lineup for Game 2. The Thistles, meanwhile, need to right the ship in a hurry.

Creighton Cup Finals Preview

I know two things about this Creighton Cup series: 1) It's going to be really hard to top that heart-stopping wild-card game between the Millionaires and the Comets, and 2) a team that has never won the cup will win their first title over the next three to five games. Now let's take a look at how our finalists match up!

Forwards

• Millionaires: This crew contributed to a league-leading 3.13 goals per game, with MVP frontrunner Barney Stanley leading the league with 13 and Harry Watson chipping in a career-best eight. Stanley (+14), Watson (+11), and Harry Westwick (+11) paced the league in plus/minus, a testament to their excellent five-on-five play. The lingering injury to Westwick, however, robs this unit of an elite player for at least the first game of the series.
• Thistles: The Thistles' 3.00 goals per game ranked second in the league. Top center Dan Bain led the way with 11 tallies, and he's flanked on a potent first line by Alf Smith (9) and captain Tommy Phillips (7). The Thistles need more goals from supporting players like Tommy Smith (4) and Fred Whitcroft (3).
• Advantage: Even

Defensemen

• Millionaires: Graham Drinkwater (5 G, 11 A, +5) earned a nomination for Defenseman MVP, but will likely finish third behind Cyclone Taylor and Hod Stuart. Captain Art Farrell was injured for a quarter of the season but, impressively, still managed to notch a half-dozen goals.
• Thistles: Their top three defensemen have been together since the first game of Season 1 and truly represent the heart and soul of this team. Hod Stuart had a monster season, his 24 points placing him fourth overall in the scoring race. Moose Johnson (+8) and Dickie Boon (+5) were among the league's best in plus/minus.
• Advantage: Thistles

Goaltending

• Millionaires: Second-year netminder Hugh Lehman was second in Goals-Against Average (2.75) and third in Save Percentage (.906). He's not going to steal any games, but he's turning out to be a very solid goaltender.
• Thistles: Riley Hern posted 2.63 and .914 in the aforementioned stats, ranking first in the league in both. He's the hands-down favorite to win Goaltender MVP this year.
• Advantage: Thistles

Special Teams

• Millionaires: Their power play was third in the league (17.65%), and their penalty kill climbed steadily over the course of the season to finish first (83.64%).
• Thistles: They were second in power play (20.41%), with Bain scoring a single-season record of six power-play goals. While their penalty kill was third (81.36%), they led the league in shorthanded goals.
• Advantage: Even

Prediction

The Millionaires are scrappy, but the Thistles are loaded with high-end talent. Over a five-game series, I think their stars will carry the day. Thistles in four.

Wild-Card Game

Nobody would want to face the scorchingly hot Comets in a single winner-take-all playoff game, but the Millionaires were especially concerned. The last time these teams met, the Comets spanked them 4-0. Percy LeSueur notched the only shutout of any goaltender this season, but a lot of the credit should go to the Comets' skating players -- to wit, the Millies managed just two shots on goal during the first period of that game, the lowest shot total for any single period in league history. 

Well, the Millionaires managed to rack up rather more shots in tonight's wild-card game. Midway through the first, Harry "Rat" Westwick buried a pass from Frank Rankin to give the hometown Millies a 1-0 lead. Rankin's clutch play was a bit of a surprise given his miserable season (2 G, 5 A, -10), but in his earlier years with the Victorias, he's always been able to take his game to another level in the playoffs -- and entered the game tied for second in league history in postseason points. At the horn, however, Ranking got into a tussle with the Comets' Blair Russell and was assessed a penalty. The Millies headed to the dressing room knowing they'd start the second period up against the league's top power play (26.67%), but they trusted in the skill of their league-leading penalty kill (83.64%).

The Millies killed Rankin's penalty to open the second, and then killed a Jimmy Gardner penalty shortly thereafter. The second frame remained uneventful until the closing minutes, when Percy LeSueur stonewalled Art Farrell and Rankin in rapid succession, keeping the Comets within striking distance. With mere seconds left on the clock, sparkplug winger Billy Gilmour snapped a shot that Hugh Lehman turned aside, but a juicy rebound landed on the stick of former Playoff MVP Mike Grant, who buried the puck to tie the game at one goal apiece.

Giving up a last-second goal was bad enough, but worse news came from the Millies' dressing room: top pivot Westwick was injured and would not return. The Millies had lost more man-games to injury than any other team this season, and the trend now continued into the playoffs. Westwick had finished tenth in the league in total points, and without their best playmaker the home team would need to rely on rookie center Duke Keats to step up.

The somber mood in the Millies' stadium soon turned to elation, however, when Jimmy Gardner set up star winger Barney Stanley for a goal early in the third to give the hosts a 2-1 edge. It was Stanley's first-ever playoff goal, and it came in his first-ever playoff contest. His tally remained the difference for much of the third as the desperate Comets -- their season on the line -- threw everything they had at Lehman.

With less than a minute left in regulation, the Millies had pinned the Comets deep in their own zone. Keats won a crucial faceoff and kicked the puck back to Farrell, who blasted a slapper that LeSueur somehow managed to swat away. The Comets recovered the biscuit and worked it up to Grant, who fired one last shot as time expired.

It went in.

I could scarcely believe the dice roll, but defenseman Mike Grant had not only scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the second period, he had just scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the third as well! (As an aside, Grant has been ridiculous in the postseason -- the guy basically turns into Cyclone Taylor when the playoffs start!) The game was now tied at two and headed for sudden-death overtime. It was yet another dagger in the hearts of the Millies and their dumbfounded fans. Two last-second heartbreaker goals, plus the crippling loss of Rat Westwick? This team was on the ropes.

With grim determination, the Millies set to work in the overtime frame. Five minutes in, Stanley found an open Keats in the slot. The rookie rifled the puck past LeSueur, sending the Millionaires and their fans into a frenzied celebration. With a victory in the wild-card game, they had punched their ticket to the Creighton Cup series to face the top-seeded Thistles!

What a Finish!

Tonight's tilt between the Bulldogs and the Comets was, for all intents and purposes, a contest to determine the third and final playoff spot (the Thistles and Millionaires had already locked up the first two). The Dogs came into the game holding a slim one-point edge in the standings, but the Comets were absolutely red-hot, riding a five-game unbeaten streak that had already pushed the flagging Victorias into the cellar. In a stunning turn of events, the Comets knocked off the Bulldogs with an easy 3-1 win, vaulting them into the playoffs. There's still a meaningless game between the Victorias and the Thistles to finish up before the postseason, but the playoff picture is set. The Millionaires will host the Comets in the wild-card game, and then the winner of that contest will face the first-place Thistles in the best-of-five Creighton Cup finals.

The Home Stretch!

We've passed the three-quarter mark! Season 5 of my pre-modern hockey league is careening toward an exciting end to the regular season. Here are a few key storylines I'll be watching as the teams make their push for the playoffs...

• Three Tiers: The teams have settled into three distinct tiers, with the Thistles and Millionaires vying for first place and therefore the crucial bye into the Creighton Cup Finals; the Bulldogs and Victorias as deeply flawed teams struggling to snag the third and last playoff spot; and the Comets suffering through a wire-to-wire stint in the basement. 
• Photo Finish: Four players are in contention for the scoring title, with Dan Bain (11 G, 11 A), Barney Stanley (11 G, 11 A), Cyclone Taylor (7 G, 15 A), and Hod Stuart (5 G, 16 A) all within a point of each other. One of these four will most almost certainly take home that trophy, and I'd say Bain and Stanley are co-frontrunners for the Forward MVP, while Taylor and Stuart are co-frontrunners for the Defenseman MVP. Multiple trophies up for grabs!
• Record Breakers: The single-season record for points (32), assists (18), and plus/minus (+13) might all be broken this year. (Not surprisingly, we haven't seen a single shutout so far!) On the other end of the spectrum, the record for worst plus/minus (-10) and most penalty minutes (28) might also be set. 
• Race to the Bottom: Somebody has to win Rookie of the Year, right? Top contenders Duke Keats (6 G, 4 A, -6) and Frank Foyston (4 G, 7 A, -11) have produced well enough offensively, but they both rank among the league's worst in plus/minus.

Worth the Wait

I've waited over six months for NHL '21 to come down in price so that I could justify purchasing it solely for the copy of NHL '94 that comes bundled with it. Matthew noticed the other day that NHL '21 was on sale for about twenty bucks, so I jumped on it. 

This old gem was worth the wait! From the graphics to the music to the sound effects, NHL '94 is just as I remember it from high school. Well, it's not exactly as I remember it, because it's a lot harder to play using the Xbox controllers. Once I get the hang of it, I can't wait to start a playoff and guide my team to the Cup!

Pop quiz: Why do these screenshots feature the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks?

Cup Preview?

Tonight the Thistles and Millionaires faced each other for the first time since skating to a 2-2 tie a couple of weeks ago. Here in the second half of the season, these two franchises have cemented their status as the teams to beat and they entered the game tied for first place -- although the Thistles have more wins, so technically they hold the top spot. Could this be a preview of the Creighton Cup finals?

The Thistles found themselves in penalty trouble early and often, but the Millionaires' inept power play failed to cash in. In fact, Thistles center Tommy "Tools" Smith potted a short-hander on the team's very first shot on goal. After that rude awakening, the Millies went on the offensive, peppering Riley Hern with a baker's dozen shots but without denting the twine.

The second period found both teams settling into a measured pace. Barney Stanley, the league's leading scorer, had one quality chance, but otherwise found himself harried by Thistles captain Tommy Phillips every time he touched the puck. About five minutes into the second, defenseman Graham Drinkwater found a wide-open Harry Watson, who beat Hern for the Millies' first goal. Later in the period, star defenseman Hod Stuart scored on Smith's rebound to make 2-1 in favor of the Thistles. Shortly thereafter, however, Tommy Tools took a penalty and Millies captain Art Farrell rifled home a shot from the point to tie the game at two apiece.

Not much happened in the first half of the third. Phillips made it interesting with a power-play goal to put the Thistles up by a goal for the third time, but rookie Duke Keats knotted the game at three with a goal of his own in the waning moments of the third. 

In the end, not much was settled tonight. I hope we see these two heavyweights clash again in the finals!

Midseason Report

Hard to believe, but I'm halfway through Season 5. So far it's been a year of high-octane offense, with teams scoring an average of 3.25 goals per game (vs. 2.875 last season). We've seen the emergence of new stars (Barney Stanley) and the fall of old ones (Frank McGee), and the two teams that have never won a Creighton Cup (the Thistles and Millionaires) are currently one-two in the standings. There's a lot of hockey yet to be played, but let's take a look at each team's highs and lows here at the midway mark!

1. Thistles (5-2-1, 28 Goals For, 22 Goals Against, +6 Goal Differential)

• Highs:
• Riley Hern (2.75 Goals Against Average, .913 Save Percentage) is the clear frontrunner for Goaltender MVP.
• Top-line center Dan Bain (6 Goals, 8 Assists, 14 Points, +5) is in contention for the scoring title as well as the Forward MVP trophy.
• Hod Stuart (4 G, 10 A, 14 PTS, -1) is in the running for Defenseman MVP.
• Lows:
• Captain and star left wing Tommy Phillips (3 G, 5 A, 8 PTS, +5) has underperformed and is tied for eighteenth in the league in total points.
• Fred Whitcroft is leading the league in penalty minutes (20) and, largely because of him, the Thistles are the league's most-penalized team.

2. Millionaires (3-2-3, 30 GF, 27 GA, +3)

• Highs:
• Their scoring rate of 3.75 goals per game is tied for tops in the league.
• Right wing Barney Stanley (8 G, 9 A, 17 PTS, +10) exploded out of the gate and is tied for the league lead in points. He's also the frontrunner for Forward MVP.
• The Millies are getting career years from veterans Harry Watson, Harry Westwick, and Graham Drinkwater (4 G, 6 A, 10 PTS, +2), the last of whom is a dark-horse candidate for Defenseman MVP.
• Lows:
• Their power play is dead last in the league and their penalty kill is second-to-last. 
• The theoretical top line of Duke Keats, Frank Rankin, and Jimmy Gardner has been downright awful -- the league's second-worst line at five-on-five hockey.

3. Bulldogs (4-4-0, 30 GF, 31 GA, -1)

• Highs:
• Their scoring rate of 3.75 goals per game is tied for first.
• The Dogs rank first in penalty killing.
• Gord Roberts (7 G, 7 A, 14 PTS, -1) and Tommy Dunderdale (5 G, 8 A, 13 PTS, -1) have shaken off slow starts and are in the running for the scoring title and Forward MVP.
• Supporting players like Tom Hooper, Oliver Seibert, and Scotty Davidson carried the team while the superstars shook off the rust.
• Rookie blueliner Jack Gibson leads all league defensemen in plus/minus (+8).
• Lows:
• The Dogs are giving up a league-worst 3.88 goals per game.
• A good chunk of the blame for the stat referenced above can be tied to goaltender Paddy Moran (3.88 GAA, .880 SP) whose numbers are way down from last year's Playoff MVP performance.
• Last season's Rookie of Year, Jack Laviolette, is a woeful -6 after leading the league in plus/minus as a rookie, and twice so far he's been a healthy scratch.

4. Victorias (3-4-1, 21 GF, 22 GA, -1)

• Highs:
• Bowse Hutton (2.75 GAA, .908 SP) is in contention for Goaltender MVP.
• Cyclone Taylor (4 G, 13 A, 17 PTS, +4), the most accomplished player in the history of this league, is tied for the lead in points, and (as always) is in the mix for the scoring title as well as the Defenseman MVP.
• Lows:
• Taylor has either scored or assisted on a staggering 81% of his team's goals. The story with the Vics this year is that if Taylor isn't on the ice, the team doesn't score. That's a big problem.
• At 2.63 goals per game, the Vics are tied for the lowest scoring rate.
• Newcomer Ernie Russell is second in the league in penalty minutes and George McNamara is tied for third; for the first time in franchise history, the classy Vics are starting to look like a goon squad.

5. Comets (2-5-1, 21 GF, 28 GA, -7)

• Highs:
• Veteran forward George Richardson (5 G, 5 A, 10 PTS, +0) is doing all he can to keep this team afloat.
• Frank Foyston (4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS, -7) leads all rookies in scoring.
• Lows:
• Where to begin? Their scoring rate of 2.63 goals per game is tied for worst in the league.
• The Comets are last in penalty killing at an abysmal 60%.
• Percy LeSueur (3.50 GAA, .876 SP) is suffering through a lousy season in goal.
• Defenseman Jack Marshall is dead last in the league in plus/minus at -9.
• The top unit of Frank McGee, Blair Russell, and Frank Foyston is the league's worst five-on-five line.

Sunset Mountains

Nathaniel and I have reached the second of three chapters in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. We're now traipsing through the Sunset Mountains, looking for the oil needed to start a signal fire. Tons of fun so far!

Down Into the Sewers

It's rare that I enjoy (non-hockey) games on the Xbox, but Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is right up my alley. Nathaniel is also quite taken with the game. He's playing as the archer, and I the sorceress, and since Saturday morning we've logged a couple of hours in the sewers beneath Baldur's Gate. It's also great to have a game I can play with Nathaniel, as he's not as keen on hockey games as Matthew is. I suspect we'll play this one all the way through!

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Just heard that the classic console game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is being re-released for Xbox tomorrow. Was it really twenty years ago that I first saw this game at Matt's house in Rochester? In any case, you bet your sweet beholder I'll be buying it! 

Stanley Up

I've now played through a quarter of Season 5, and so far the Millionaires have had the most interesting experience. At 1-1-2, they're right in the middle of the pack, but they're the only team with a positive goal differential (+2). 

I was expecting great things from their spiffy new top line of rookie center Duke Keats, veteran trade acquisition Frank Rankin, and incumbent star Jimmy Gardner, but those lads have sputtered out of the gate. Rankin has yet to score, Gardner is nowhere near his Season 4 MVP-caliber pace, and Keats has a measly three points in his inaugural campaign -- and will probably end up with the dubious distinction of becoming the first number-one draft pick who doesn't win Rookie of the Year.

On the other hand, the Millies' second line -- Harry Westwick flanked by Barney Stanley and Harry Watson -- is off to a scorching start. All three are top-five in the league in points, with Stanley leading all players with 5 goals and 6 assists after 4 games. Compare those numbers to last year's totals, when he had 6 goals and 6 assists in a full 16 games! Ironically, Stanley was the last man to make the Millies' opening-day roster, as I had to choose between him and second-year defensive forward Rusty Crawford. 

Thanks to this line's heroics, the Millies are scoring 4.5 goals per game (best in the league by an entire goal over the second-place Bulldogs), but on the flip side, they're giving up 4.0 (worst in the league). That goals-against stat is due in large part to goalie Hugh Lehman, whose .861 save percentage is 26 points worse than the next-lowest goaltender. Looking further at the stats, it's interesting that the Millies are also dead last in power play (16.67%) and penalty kill (62.50%). This team would really be in the toilet if not for the stellar five-on-five play of Stanley's line!

Sailing Off Into the Sunset

Our long-running trans-continental Saltmarsh campaign came to an end this past weekend. We'll say farewell to Vlaryn, Moe, Seven, and Ciara, but I'm sure we'll see them again someday! In the meantime,  we'll continue to enjoy this amazing illustration of the party that's now framed in our game room!

When one story ends, however, another begins! Right after wrapping up Saltmarsh, we launched into Matt's new superhero campaign!

Tomorrow's Stars

In lieu of the preseason games I've done in the past, I thought it would be fun to showcase some of my pre-NHL hockey league's up-and-coming talent, so I put together an exhibition game consisting entirely of rookies and prospects. Eligible players included those who were rookies in Season 4, draft picks for the upcoming Season 5, and prospects who could be drafted for Seasons 6 and 7. For captains, I selected this season's top two draft picks, Duke Keats and Frank Foyston. Why not get their rivalry started a little early? I then divvied up the remaining players more or less randomly and got them on the ice!

Team Foyston notched the first goal early in the first period when Dick Irvin (eligible for Season 6 draft) took a pass from his captain and beat Millionaires' rookie Hugh Lehman. Foyston himself would score unassisted on the power play later in the opening frame. Team Keats, meanwhile, couldn't get much going against opposing goaltender Hap Holmes (eligible for Season 7 draft).

In the second, future superstar Newsy Lalonde (eligible for Season 6 draft) got in behind the defense and converted a feed from Keats to get his team on the board. With the score 2-1 in favor of Team Foyston, the squads settled into a lot of chippy back-and-forth with few quality chances. Lehman then stonewalled Irvin at the buzzer to keep his team within one.

Irvin would get revenge in the third, however, when he rifled a wrist shot past Lehman -- his second goal of the game -- to make it 3-1 for Team Foyston. Midway through the period, Keats tallied on a pass from Shorty Green (eligible for Season 7 draft) to make it 3-2, but his team couldn't get the equalizer. 

Who were the standout performers in this contest? Irvin was the MVP with a two-goal performance, and he looked the part of a number-one center. The two captains, Keats and Foyston, each racked up a goal and an assist. Lalonde had just the one goal, but had several good looks and is sure to be a force in this league someday. For the goaltenders, Holmes stopped 27 of 29 shots for Team Foyston and Lehman stopped 23 of 26 for Team Keats. 

Time to get rolling with Season 5. As it happens, Keats and Foyston will be facing off against each other for real when the Comets and Millionaires meet on opening day!

Preseason Deal

The Millionaires lack a number-one defenseman and there are legitimate questions about whether Hugh Lehman is the real deal in goal, but this team is aggressively pursuing players who can vault them into contention. Drafting stud pivot Duke Keats with the first overall pick was a huge step, and now the Millies have made a significant -- if not quite blockbuster -- trade to continue to bring talent into the organization: They've worked out a deal with the Victorias to land high-scoring winger Frank Rankin.

Rankin was an original member of the Vics and won a pair of Creighton Cups with that celebrated franchise in Seasons 1 and 2. He ranks thirteenth all-time in points with 52, so although he's not quite a star, he's had a fine career and will be the most accomplished player to have donned a Millionaires' sweater.  

Season 4, however, was a bit of a challenge for Rankin. He lost his spot on the top line and muddled along with a plus/minus that was among the league's worst until recovering somewhat over the last few games. Rankin was so snakebitten that by season's end he was primarily a power-play specialist and wasn't trusted to play big minutes for a Vics team that was in a tight battle with the Bulldogs for first place. He finished with just 9 points (6 G, 3 A) in 16 games. Perhaps a change of scenery will help! On the Millies, Rankin will play on the first line with rookie Keats and incumbent star Jimmy Gardner (10 G, 9 A, 16 games). That line should be a lot of fun to watch, as all three lads can skate and score. As an added bonus for the Millies, Rankin almost never takes penalties, and they need disciplined players to balance out their many hotheads.

Moving to the Vics in return is Ernie Russell, who was the (de facto) top centerman for the Millionaires in their expansion season, though he's primarily a winger by trade. Russell was second to Gardner in scoring (7 G, 6 A, 16 games) among the Millies, and he'll bring a lot of energy and feistiness to a Vics team that seemed dull and listless despite its prodigious talents. I'm excited to see how this trade pans out, and hope especially that Rankin rediscovers his touch with a new organization!

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!