FINAL RANKINGS Prior to Season Start ...

I've run thiry-five replays. Here are the FINAL RANKINGS. These rankings weight the 15 post-ALLCM replays over the others. There were some interesting observations in those replays I would like to share before getting to the rankings ...

#1) Brad Zeigler never once pitched for ALT, even though we was set as the closer on SuperHAL.

#2) The Babe Ruth MVP Award is Grady Sizemore's to lose. He's compiling crazy-good numbers in Denver.

#3) The Cy Young MVP Award is similarly "Phat" Albert's to lose. He pulled off three triple crowns in the final 15 replays and had six replays of 1200 OPS.

#4) If a starting pitcher wins 20+ for a division winner, he'll get either Cy Young. If none do, look for a closer with 45+ saves. A really great year from a SP on a division winner will take both awards.

#5) The bullpens will be worn out by September 1st. HAL was overusing almost everyone's entire pen by 10-20% each replay. Owners will need to leave their starters in longer than HAL does, or use some in-season moves to sign more relievers.

#6) It was a ton of fun running and posting the replays. If there is anything you want to post, just let me know and I'll make you a poster for the blog. Posting the boxscores is super-easy once you do it a few times. I'd love to have owners posting boxes as they are played with commentary. That'd be AWESOME!

POWER 6
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#1 -- CYK Ottawa (100, no change) -- Don't tell the 2-time defending champ he won't make the playoffs :-). Averaged 95 wins per season and won the division every time. Looks like the favorite to take home the DBA T-Shirt again this year.

#2 -- BRA Denver (94, down 1) -- The Strokers averaged 94 wins and won the Aaron division 70% of the time; never winning fewer than 86.

#3 -- BRW Fairfax (91, up 13) -- The Fighting Falcon moved up to #3 on the strength of averaging 90 wins and winning the division 80% of the time. They won 90+ in 60% of the replays.

#4 -- CYG Lebanon (84, down 4) -- The Lugnuts slip to #4 and hold a slim lead in the Gibson. They averaged 88 wins and made the playoffs 60% of the time, never topping 95 wins.

#5 -- BRA Bloomington (84, up 15) -- The SunKings power their way into the POWER 6 by virtue of making the playoffs 85% of the time, yet never winning the Aaron. They averaged 90 wins, with a low of 83.

#6 -- CYG Carbondale (83, up 11) -- The Dog Catchers move into the POWER 6 is more a result of ELR's collapse. However, CDC is averaging 88 wins and made the playoffs 65% of the time, recording the DBA high of 106 wins.

LOTTERY 6
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#18 -- BRW Cleveland (49, down 2) -- The Buckeyes take the #1 LOTTERY spot by averaging 63 wins, with 55 as a low.

#17 -- CYK West Huron (54, up 4) -- The Whitecaps are averaging 69 wins and managed to finish third for the first time in 35 replays.

#16 -- CYG Saint Gabriel (57, down 5) -- The Apostles are averaging just 72 wins with a low of 64.

#15 -- BRW Brighton (57, down 9) -- The Wampus Cats are averaging 72 wins with a high of 78 and a low of 67.

#14 -- CYG Normandy Lake (58, down 3) -- The Landsharks are averaging 73 wins with a high of 78 and a low of 63.

#13 -- BRW Burmese (64, up 9) -- The Blood Monkeys are averaging 79 wins and are playing like they don't want to be in the LOTTERY. BBM has an 89-win season under their belt and finished above 500 almost 50% of the time.

100+ Win Seasons
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OTT, 3 (104, 100, 100)
CDC, 1 (106)

Highest Win Average
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OTT, 95
DEN, 94
BSK, 90
FFF, 90

Worst Seasons
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CLE, 55
CLE, 58

Largest Win Spread
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LVP, 31 (66-99)
RBC, 28 (66-94)

Smallest Win Spread
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BWC, 11 (67-78)
LEB, 11 (83-94)

Most Division Titles
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OTT, 100%
FFF, 80%

Most Wild Cards
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BSK, 80%
ELR, 30%