Season 29 Wrapup - Montreal takes the title!

Montreal Lanterne Rouge (AL) sneekes View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Montreal is your Season 29 Cobb Champion!

Season 29 saw two first time World Series participants go head to head for the Cobb World Series title, which would give us our first new champion since season 22.  In the end, it was Montreal who erased an early 2-0 deficit by winning the next 4 to take a tight World Series victory.  Montreal battled through the playoffs playing 22 games out of a maximum of 24 as the #3 seed in the AL.  Every series was close, but in the end they came through, thanks in large part to an offense that crushed 59 homers during the post season, and a pitching staff that held its own throughout.  Fresno has a nice run as the #2 seed in the NL, winning a tight divisional series and then cruising through the NLCS.  They gave Montreal a good battle, but in the end couldn't stop the powerful Montreal bats.

In other news, the Season 29 award winners were crowned and they are:

Most Valuable Player
American League -  Orlando Gabriel, Durham - .353 AVG 24 HR 102 RBI 22 SB
At age 30, Gabriel had his best season yet and was rewarded with the Most Valuable Player award and his first Silver Slugger award.  Gabriel sported a stellar .443 OBP to go along with his .353 AVG and slugged an impressive .578.  He topped his career best OPS by 168 points.  If only he had been playing in Durham sooner, who knows what his career numbers would look like.

National League - Keith Wilkins, Omaha -.337 AVG 36 HR 104 RBI 25 SB
Although Wilkins could not lead Omaha to a repeat championship, he gets the NL MVP as a consolation prize.  He flat out crushed the ball this season in a pitcher's park, no less.  Now if this guy was in Durham, the numbers would be down right scary.   He still managed ridiculous numbers like .430 OBP and .658 SLG to take home his first MVP trophy.   At age 27, it would be a surprise if Wilkins didn't rack up a few more MVPs before his career is done.

Cy Young Award
American League - Jamie Hayashi, Memphis - 2.18 ERA 17-4 146 K
Hayashi showed this season that he is an ageless wonder, taking home the Cy Young Award at age 37 with a stellar season for Memphis.  This is his first AL Cy Young Award, however, it should be mentioned that he took home 4 Cy Young Awards in the NL, now putting him amongst Cobb's all time greats with 5 Cy Young Awards.  Hayashi is surely Hall of Fame bounds, although it looks like he still has a couple of good seasons left in the tank, and who knows, maybe a 6th Cy Young?

National League - Gil Elster, Charleston - 2.36 ERA 18-5 147 K
Elster took home the NL Cy Young Award, his first, in an extremely close race.  It's hard to argue that he wasn't deserving though, with his microscopic ERA and WHIP and a great win-loss record.  Elster is a crafty lefty who is only 26 years old, and looks to be a sure fire stud pitcher for the next several seasons.  Certainly, he should contend for the Cy Young regularly for the foreseeable future.

That's a wrap on Season 29!  Don't forget to renew your teams for next season to make it a quick rollover!   Thanks to all the owners for another great season. 

Season 28 Wrapup - Omaha Wins Another Title!

Omaha Sluggers (NL) yanks21 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Omaha Wins the Season 28 Crown!

It's been quite a while since the last article in the Cobb Times Herald, I guess we were just waiting for a big moment, and the Omaha Sluggers winning their 7th World Series crown seems to fit the bill.  The Sluggers rolled through the playoffs sweeping their first two series and losing only 1 in the World Series to compile an 11-1 playoff record.   Their pitching was fantastic throughout the playoffs, and Jade Stetter was perfect closing games going 8 for 8 in save opportunities with a 0.00 ERA.  Their offense was pretty solid as well, with several players contributing good postseasons.  As mentioned, this is the 7th Cobb title for the Omaha Sluggers.  After winning 5 titles from Seasons 7-13, the well dried up for a bit, as they needed to go through a rebuilding phase.  It's finally paid off, as they have won 2 out of the last 3 titles.  If anyone knows the formula for putting together a championship club, it's yanks21, who not only has 7 World Series championships here, but a staggering 25 total, one of the best in Hardball Dynasty history!

In addition to the World Series trophy, some other hardware was handed out, here's a recap of the winners:

Most Valuable Player
American League - Don Nation, Baltimore - .339 AVG 51 HR 147 RBI
After an impressive rookie campaign that won him Rookie of the Year honors, Nation exploded on to the scene in his 2nd season to take the MVP award.  The former #9 overall draft pick pounded the ball this season, winning the AL Triple Crown, as led the league in batting average, home runs, RBI, and also Hits, Slugging and OPS. He definitely looks to be primed to contend for MVP for seasons to come.  He also won a Silver Slugger award this season.

National League -  Stephen Hubbard, Charleston -.331 AVG 53 HR 143 RBI
Hubbard won a close race for the NL MVP, however with his numbers you can't really dispute him winning.  This is Hubbard's 2nd MVP win, he also won in Season 24.  Although his last three seasons were good, he stepped it back up to an MVP caliber lever this season leading the NL in Home Runs and RBI, and finishing 4th in batting average.  He also won a Silver Slugger award this season.  At only 27, a third MVP title isn't out of the question.

Cy Young Award
American League - Doug Dreifort, Kansas City - 23-5 3.02 ERA 157 K
At age 34, Driefort, who was a rock all season in the World Series runner-up Kansas City rotation, took home his first Cy Young Award.   His 23 wins led the league, and he also made the All-Star team.  The winner by a wide margin, Dreifort had a truly impressive season in capturing the AL's top pitching honors.

National League - Oswaldo Veras, Omaha - 23-3 1.72 ERA 191 K
Veras was a runaway winner of the NL Cy Young Award, posting a microscopic ERA, the third lowest all-time in Cobb, and an extremely low WHIP, while tossing 7 complete games and 3 shutouts for the World Series Champions.  He won the first three Pitcher of the Week awards, and easily made the All Star team.  At age 26, this could be the first of many Cy Young Awards for Veras, who was simply dominant this season.

Well, that wraps up Season 28, and the first blog post in ages!  We hope to have more content next season.  Don't forget to renew your team for a quick rollover into Season 29.  See you next season!