Post by St. Louis Sting on Dec 13, 2023 23:38:14 GMT -5
What better time to write about the MLB season that just happened than the middle of December, amiright? With Shohei Ohtani's mega-contract bringing baseball back into the limelight we can piggyback off of that to wrap up the final sport of our 2022/23 4SM season.
We have to start the recap with a congratulations to our MLB champion DC Patriots, who secured their second title of the 2022/23 year to go along with the earlier NFL trophy. This also marked DC's second consecutive MLB championship so we may be seeing something of a dynasty forming on the diamond. The final battle against the Buffalo Wings was truly one to behold, coming down to the final day as multiple categories continuously flipped throughout the week. To give you an idea, here are some of the final categories in DC's 8-6 win:
The Wings themselves had a fantastic full season in their quest for a first league championship since the 2019/20 NHL season, securing a bye with the 2nd best regular season record (behind the Strips) and using that great season to break a 7-7 tie with the Sting in the semi-finals. Rounding out the playoff teams were the Grizzlies and Pelicans, who finished the season with the #5 and #6 seeds. That is not to say that those two teams were not fantastic in their own right, as there has been a pretty clear trend in recent years of playoff caliber teams loading up before the trade deadline with very clear buyers and sellers. The 6-seed Pelicans were actually closer to the top-seeded Strips than they were the #7 Nemesis, over whom they held a whopping 32.5 game lead. That means that the Nemesis could have swept the Pelicans 14-0 in back-to-back weeks and STILL not caught them. Had I actually crafted this recap in October after the season I'd call this insane, but we have seen something very similar in NFL so it appears that owners may just be more willing to make dramatic moves earlier than ever before. It's something that bears watching going forward!
With the MLB season marking the end of our league year this also means that we get to crown a new champion for the year. With semi-final appearances in NFL, NBA, and MLB to go along with their NHL trophy our 2022/23 league champion is the St. Louis Sting (hey, that's me)! The Sting finish the season with a total of 84 points in the league standings, a yearly total falling behind only last year's Las Vegas Strips for the highest in league history. This is the Sting's third league crown (2014/15, 2019/20) and they will aim to defend the title in our 10th league season in 2023/24!
As for the all-time league standings, the Sting padded their lead at the top and sit a comfortable 56 points ahead of the 2nd place Grizzlies. The Grizz managed to add a few points of separation between themselves and Pensacola as the Pelicans continue to battle for the #2 spot. The Strips are still lurking in the shadows within striking distance of those two teams so they need to be sure to watch their backs. At the other end of the standings we saw Gordie's Wings put up their best season in league history, riding a phenomenal MLB season out of their 12th place cellar past the Dawgs and Nemesis. The season's second place finisher DC Patriots made a strong charge and have teams across the board that show no signs of slowing down so don't be surprised if they start working their way up the standings in future years.
The NFL season (which is admittedly almost over at the time of this writing) represents new beginnings for all the franchises that didn't meet their goals this past season, and a stepping-stone for those looking to maintain their strong showings. Best of luck to you all in our 10th season, and may luck ever be on your side (as long as you're not facing the Sting)!
We have to start the recap with a congratulations to our MLB champion DC Patriots, who secured their second title of the 2022/23 year to go along with the earlier NFL trophy. This also marked DC's second consecutive MLB championship so we may be seeing something of a dynasty forming on the diamond. The final battle against the Buffalo Wings was truly one to behold, coming down to the final day as multiple categories continuously flipped throughout the week. To give you an idea, here are some of the final categories in DC's 8-6 win:
- Patriots win Runs 40-39
- Wings win HR 12-11
- Wings win RBI 35-34
- Patriots win AVG .246 - .243
- Patriots win K/BB 3.33 - 3.17
- Wings win WHIP 1.244 - 1.246
The Wings themselves had a fantastic full season in their quest for a first league championship since the 2019/20 NHL season, securing a bye with the 2nd best regular season record (behind the Strips) and using that great season to break a 7-7 tie with the Sting in the semi-finals. Rounding out the playoff teams were the Grizzlies and Pelicans, who finished the season with the #5 and #6 seeds. That is not to say that those two teams were not fantastic in their own right, as there has been a pretty clear trend in recent years of playoff caliber teams loading up before the trade deadline with very clear buyers and sellers. The 6-seed Pelicans were actually closer to the top-seeded Strips than they were the #7 Nemesis, over whom they held a whopping 32.5 game lead. That means that the Nemesis could have swept the Pelicans 14-0 in back-to-back weeks and STILL not caught them. Had I actually crafted this recap in October after the season I'd call this insane, but we have seen something very similar in NFL so it appears that owners may just be more willing to make dramatic moves earlier than ever before. It's something that bears watching going forward!
With the MLB season marking the end of our league year this also means that we get to crown a new champion for the year. With semi-final appearances in NFL, NBA, and MLB to go along with their NHL trophy our 2022/23 league champion is the St. Louis Sting (hey, that's me)! The Sting finish the season with a total of 84 points in the league standings, a yearly total falling behind only last year's Las Vegas Strips for the highest in league history. This is the Sting's third league crown (2014/15, 2019/20) and they will aim to defend the title in our 10th league season in 2023/24!
As for the all-time league standings, the Sting padded their lead at the top and sit a comfortable 56 points ahead of the 2nd place Grizzlies. The Grizz managed to add a few points of separation between themselves and Pensacola as the Pelicans continue to battle for the #2 spot. The Strips are still lurking in the shadows within striking distance of those two teams so they need to be sure to watch their backs. At the other end of the standings we saw Gordie's Wings put up their best season in league history, riding a phenomenal MLB season out of their 12th place cellar past the Dawgs and Nemesis. The season's second place finisher DC Patriots made a strong charge and have teams across the board that show no signs of slowing down so don't be surprised if they start working their way up the standings in future years.
The NFL season (which is admittedly almost over at the time of this writing) represents new beginnings for all the franchises that didn't meet their goals this past season, and a stepping-stone for those looking to maintain their strong showings. Best of luck to you all in our 10th season, and may luck ever be on your side (as long as you're not facing the Sting)!