Top 10 Power Rankings (S9)

First let me say thanks to those who took the time and voted, the results were a huge part of these power rankings. Some teams are so close to each other in qulity and performance that it was really hard to put one over the other but with the votes it was much easier.

Here are the top 10 clubs in Hunter going into S9

1. San Francisco Night Demons (116-46) – No surprises here, even after the poor showing in S8 playoffs they will remain on top of the power rankings, personally I don’t think it’s even that close. The fact they won S6 and S7 WS combined with 116 win in S8 (13 wins better than any other franchise) proves they are still the best. The main part of this team is the pitching staff that finished season 8 with 3.03 team ERA, 1.12 team WHIP and .228 team OAV, is that crazy or is it just me? Some franchises don’t have a single pitcher put up these numbers not to mention entire staff doing it. Think about this, having a starter put up those numbers would be pretty sweet but we’re talking about the entire pitching staff doing it!

2. Scottsdale Aces (93-69) – Scottsdale stormed into the 2nd spot on the power rankings after their Championship run last season. The regular season record may not be as good as other teams ranked below them but they showed in the playoffs that regular season record doesn’t really matter. Let me point out that on their way to the Championship the Aces swept the Night Demons 3-0 in the DCS than beat up on very strong Sluggers club 4-2 in the LCS and took down the best team in NL Caesars for the WS title. In short they beat the #1, #3 and #4 teams on this ranking, need I say more?

3. Augusta Caesars (101-61) – In the 1st season of new ownership Augusta comes 2 games away from winning the WS. Augusta had to go through very tough NL on their way to the NL crown, they beat a very good up coming Salt Lake 3-2 in DPS, than took care of the very strong San Juan TCB club 3-2 in DCS, next in the LCS they beat up on very talented Charlotte team 4-2 and lost in the WS. Since they beat the next best two NL teams on the rankings and currently hold the NL crown, the #3 spot belongs to them.

4. Louisville Sluggers (103-59) – Personally I thought this is one of very few teams that could give San Fran a run for their money. The Sluggers strength in S8 was their pitching staff ranked 3rd in Hunter with 3.99 team ERA and 1.32 team WHIP. There’s also a guy by the name of Magglio Javier playing on this team who btw won the AL MVP last season as in S5 and S7. He posted .340 BA, .402 OBP and 1,064 OPS in S8 for his 3rd MVP award.

5. San Juan TCB (103-59) – San Juan held the best record in the NL for the majority of season 8 but allowed Colorado to catch up by game 162. Going into the playoffs as the 2nd seed they fell short in the DCS losing 3-2 to the current NL Champ Augusta. The offenses last season was ranked #2 in the world and many may argue that it should be #1 . Last season they posted .299 team BA and .856 team OPS both 2nd best in Hunter with .374 team OBP that was tops. This line up is lead by S7 NL MVP Angel Bolivar who also may be the best pound for pound player in Hunter.

6. Colorado Blasters (103-59) – The Blasters are exactly what their name says, they will simply blast you away. We all know but I will point out that Colorado line up made legendary marks in S8 that may be difficult to reach again, just to name a few they hit 448 HR (177 more than 2nd team) with 1140 RBI and unreal .945 team OPS. If the pitching staff takes their game to another level and the line up keeps on hitting like last season this team could be almost unbeatable. Hitters like Johnson, Zhang, Grimsley, Iglesias and Hutton is what powered this team to 103 wins last season, NL best record.

7. Charlotte FatNasty (98-64) – Second year in a row FatNasty reached the NLCS and second year in a row it’s a losing outcome. Charlotte beat S7 NL Champ NY 3-2 in DPS, came on top over the very strong Colorado club 3-2 in the DCS before losing to Augusta 2-4 in NLCS. Charlotte is probably the best young talented team in Hunter, with players like Henriquez, Beamon, Guardado, Molina, Morga, Allen, Kondou, Benett all under 30 y.o. and many of them are under 26 y.o., the future look very bright.

8. New York Metropolitans (87-75) – Season 7 NL Champs came into S8 with high hopes but injuries and 16-29 record in 1-run games equaled to only 87 wins. Mets pitching staff is near the top in Hunter every season and is the strength of the team, the offense can hit as shown by their .289 team BA but the lack of power is the weak point of this team. Overall Metropolitans are a very solid clun top to bottom full of hight quality veterans mixed in with some very good young players, the expectations for S9 are as hight as they ever were.

9. Washington D.C. Generals (92-70) - The Generals fought Burlington for the top spot in the AL East the entire season and managed to finished 2 games ahead of the Black Sox for their 8th straight divison crown. In the playoffs it was a diffrent story as Burlington got the better of Washington by a 3-1 score in the DPS. Not reaching the ALCS is not what the Generals are use to as this was only the 2nd time in their 8 year history where they did not get at least to the ALCS. Let me repete that, Washington reached the ALCS 6 out of 8 seasons, not only are the a very good regural season team but they're also one of the best in the playoffs. Lets not forget about the 3 Championships they own, still most in Hunter by any franchise.

10. Pawtucket Patriots (90-72) - Pawtuckett in S8 won the AL North by 24 games and finished the regular seaosn with 90 wins. In the DPS the Patriots lost to Scottsdale 3-2 and will need to do more than just get to the playoffs if they want to move up on the rankings. One players that stands out on the team is Braden Cox who in 6 ML seasons hit 279 HR so far and is only 28 y.o. Braden won ROY in S3, ALMVP in S6 and went to the all star game 5 out of his first 6 seasons in the majors. With small improvements this team can not only get very good but they have the core to be one of the best in Hunter.

An Outsiders Inside View of Hunter

Dateline: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

As we begin the ninth season of Hunter world it seems appropriate to gather our thoughts and reflect on its storied history and perhaps discuss why this world establishes the HBD ideal of establishing true dynasties. Because this league has so many successful franchises, owners of "ordinary" teams have had a difficult time achieving long term success in this league. I am reminded of the movie "The Sandlot" where a group of baseball loving kids are menaced by the dog on the other side of the fence. If you are a member of Hunter, the attack dog on the other side of the fence is real. And if you are going to succeed  you will have to tame the savage beast.

Hunter was founded 8 seasons ago. By my count, twelve of the original founders are still with us. Four owners joined after the first season; so sixteen owners have been in this league at least seven seasons. Imagine that. A small group of owners have enjoyed remarkable success through these eight seasons dominating both their divisions and the playoffs yearly. For example, the AL East and NL North have both been dominated by a single team winning all 8 seasons. Washington DC has never lost a division championship and neither has Augusta. The AL North, AL South, AL West, and NL West have been won by a single franchise seven of the eight years : Pawtucket, Louisville, San Francisco, and Colorado all have seven division titles. New York has six division tiles in the NL East. Only the NL South has not been clearly dominated by a single team as all four franchises have at least one division title;  however San Juan does have four. Think of it, eight divisions for eight years means that sixty four separate titles have been won, but by only sixteen different franchises. That's dynasty building!!

The playoffs show a similar pattern. Four franchises have never missed the playoffs (Washington DC, Louisville, Augusta, San Francisco) and three teams have made the playoffs seven years (Burlington, Pawtucket, Colorado). When you stop and realize that only twelve teams enter the playoffs yearly, most of the years had those seven teams playing. Only five other teams (on average) could earn one of the remaining playoff spots. And indeed, six franchises have never been in the playoffs. (Rochester among them.) The World Series has also been dominated by these teams with Washington DC winning three, Colorado and San Francisco winning two apiece and last year Scottsdale won "The Ring". 

Which brings us to the final point of this musing. Our wall of dynasties can be cracked. Scottsdale proved last year that new blood can climb the fence and tame the mongrel.  In only his second playoff appearance, Oli35 came away a winner. And a chink in some of these franchises armor has got to start showing sometime soon. I mean, how long can Elvis Ogea, Felipe Bournigal, and Juan Gonzalez continue to play, although their pictures never seem to age? 

But in the meantime Hunter World can bask in its knowledge that it is truly one of the premiere leagues in HBD. Some owners might find the challenge of Hunter too difficult. Those owners don't stay long. Good. This is a league for hardcore HBD lovers who wish to test their skills in developing true dynasties. The bar has been set high for all who dare to enter. 

Moving Pitchers: S9 Relocation Report

We had five openings in Hunter this season. Four were in the American League and two of those were in the AL South. But really, can you blame anyone for not wanting to play in the division responsible for our last 3 World Series Championships? This year, our new owners bring a lot of experience to Hunter (which is good because losing to newbies is getting pretty old) and will likely have their new teams competitive before we know it. I'm telling you, these guys are serious--3 of the 5 new owners have over $100M budgeted to player salaries.

I welcome you all and wish you the very worst of luck with your new teams.

St. Louis Mashers (bobgilbert) Formerly Tampa Bay Nice Rays (andreb)
As strange as it may seem, bobgilbert's name appears to Gary. Who puts "bob" in their user name when their name actually isn't Bob? Just the awesome ones, if you ask me! Anyway, this franchise hasn't had a winning season since they left Mexico City in season 4 and they had their worst record last season losing 100 games in Tampa Bay. St. Louis has the oldest ML team in the NL but seems to have the salary cap situation under control. The Mashers also have one of the better AAA teams in Hunter. St. Louis gets the 3rd draft pick but this newbie still has his work cut out for him.

Hartford The Whale (rebenjamin) Formerly Toledo Mud Hens (the_e_man)
A man called E had this franchise for four years. In season 6 his Mud Hens won a wildcard spot and in season 7 they lost 101 games. With four seasons of experience under his belt in other worlds, rabenjamin77 takes over this up and down team. The Whale inherits one of the better hitting teams in the AL last season and the pitching staff was middle-of-the-pack. They also appear to be pretty healthy as far as age and player salary goes. A couple good moves and this team could have an up season.

Huntington HEAD HUNTERS (vikingdal) Fromerly Wichita Bad Boys (ewchippe)
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought vikingdal's caps-lock button was stuck but alas, he has gone all uppercase with all four of his other teams, too. And it works for him. Viking comes to Hunter with 2 World Series titles (with the MAD DAWGS in Ripkin) under his belt. He now has the task of reforming these former Bad Boys, who ewchippe has managed since season 1 (although he skipped season 4...I don't remember that), and could never quite get them over the hump. It appears that Huntington wants a winner now as vikingdal has raised player salary budget from $72M last season to $105 and has already hit free-agency hard. With Viking at the helm, I'm guessing this ship will be righted soon.

Anaheim Angels (michaelkoss) Formerly Arizona Rattlers (matrat101)
Last season's owner, Matrat101, was one of our newbies last year who didn't stick, but before him, this was the Arizona Thinderstrikers team that was pretty good in seasons 4-6 but have fallen-off since. Historically, this franchise has always been one of the top two teams as far as player salary goes without much to show for it. This season appears to be no different as michaelkoss has $106M designated to players salaries which is second to only Charlotte's $135M (which is a Hunter record, by the way). But it appears that Micheal plans to shave down some salary by placing Derek O'Keefe on the trading block. This looks like a rebuilding time because moving O'Keefe is going to be rough on a pitching staff who was already one of the worst in the AL.

Boise Posse (dennisdee) Formerly Vancouver Velvet Vultures (eclipse33)
Dennisdee brings a ridiculous 39 season of experience and 2 NL Championships to HUnter to take over for our lovely, lone female owner (as far as I know), eclipse33. OK, I've never met her but it's much more fun to imagine how lovely she was, right? But in her 6 seasons in Hunter, her Velvet Vultures never had a winning record. They did steal a lot of bases last year, though (317 to be exact) and always played great defense. They just couldn't hit. Boise has also hit free agency pretty hard and will try to stay afloat in that very tough AL South.

The Elite Eight

I can remember the first days of HBD like it was yesterday and we’re ready to start season 9, did that go by fast or is it just me? After 8 seasons I would like to point out some divisional stats, some pretty interesting stuff -

Augusta Caesars franchise won NL North all 8 seasons (2 owners)
New York Metropolitans franchise won the NL East 6 times and finished 2nd twice (once by 1 game)(1 owner)
San Juan TCB franchise won the NL South 4 times and finished 2nd in the other 4 seasons (1 owner)
Colorado Blasters franchise won the NL West 7 times and finished 2nd once (1 owner)
Pawtucket Patriots franchise won the AL North 7 times and finished 2nd once (2 owners)
Washington D.C. Generals franchise won the AL East all 8 seasons(1 owner)
Louisville Sluggers franchise won the AL South 7 times and finished 2nd once (1 owner)
San Francisco Night Demons franchise won the AL West 7 times and finished 2nd once (1 owner)

Hunters' Elite Eight (Aug, NY, SJ, Col, Paw, Was, Lou, SF). In 8 seasons these 8 teams have accumulated 54-1st place division finishes, 10-2nd place division finishes and 0-3rd place finishes.

The Super 3 - Washington D.C Generals 3 time WS Champ, Colorado Blasters 2 time WS Champ and San Francisco Night Demons 2 time WS Champ share 7 of 8 Hunter Championships.

These 3 franchises deserve to be placed on a scale of their own so next time you see one of these on your schedule make sure you have your best team ready. Scottsdale Aces came out of nowhere last season to take the WS Championship but will need to prove this season that they're here to stay, if the Aces repete as WS Champions we'll make this the Super 4.

Owner Profile: oli35

In season two, Oli moved the struggling Seattle Superstars (remember them? Me neither) to Scottsdale, Arizona and started rebuilding. The first five years were not great for the Aces at the ML level never breaking .500 but, in the meantime, there was lots of training and good drafting going on. Last year they finally broke through and made the playoffs for the first time. Except for the big free-agent signing of Mark Meng, the Aces are pretty much a home grown team. On of my favorite stats is that Oli has only made 4 trades. And I don't mean 4 trades this season...4 trades EVER! It's nice to see that there is more than one way to build a great team.

And let us not forget that he did this playing in the same division as the defending World Series Champs, San Francisco Night Demons. San Fran still won the division but Scottsdale knocked them out of the playoffs, as a 5 seed, 3 games to none. And for those of us keeping score, that's the American League 6 World Series' and the National League (well, Leppy) 2.

I hope you enjoy Oli's answers. I know I did. I've learned some pretty cool things about some of you (For example, did you know we have a female owner in Hunter?) but Oli probably takes the cake. And, no, he's not the girl. See for yourself.

Is oli35 your real name?
oli35 is Bill Olson.

What are your vitals?
I am a 58 year old mechanical contractor living about 100 miles north of NYC. I am married with 1 grown son. I spent my college years as a door gunner in a helicopter patrolling I Corps in Vietnam.

What are your favorite real-life sports teams or players?
I root for the Mets, Boston College football, Skidmore College hockey and although I used to be an enthusiastic fan of the game I have lost almost all interest in basketball. I have had only 1 sports idol in my life and that was Mickey Mantle. To this day I am not sure why.

Why Hunter?
I have stayed in Hunter becauase I can be stubborn to a fault. I took over a pathetic team early on. I decided I would try to build a contender from the draft without the benefit of high priced free agents. It has been an arduous process. I finally reached .500 ( and my first playoff spot) in season 7 only to lose in the 1st round. This season I thought we would be pretty good as we had our highest payroll ( just over $60M). But we started out very slow with a 23 - 29 record after 52 games. Then we got hot and have gone 70 - 40 the rest of the way.
I have permission from ownership to raise the payroll to $70M next season if I so chose.

Is there a team in Hunter you especially love to beat (or hate to lose to)?
I have had my butt kicked so many times there is nobody in Hunter who I do not enjoy getting the best of.

What's the deal with your team nickname, Aces?
The team nickname is in honor of one of my favorite sports venues in the world. The PGA tour holds a tourney in Scottsdale, Arizona and on the 16th hole the is a par 3 in an amphitheater which holds about 30,000 rowdy spectators. They boo poor shots but when there is an ace, it is the loudest outdoor reaction in sports.

When you aren't WISing, what do you do?
I was very involved in youth hockey in the 90's serving as president of the Long Island Gulls for several years. It was an incredibly rewarding experience as dozens of my players have gone on the play college hockey, many are playing professionally with one in particular, Rob Scuderi, trying to get his name on the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was also tremendously time consuming and when I stepped down it left an incredible void in my life. WIS came along at that time and has helped to fill it.

I am an avid reader having turned my formal dining room into a library holding almost 3,000 books at present most of which I have read at least once, many I have read multiple times.