2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- Atlanta Braves

The Braves found themselves ahead of schedule and on top of the NL East once again in 2018, shocking the baseball world by winning 90 games and comfortably outpacing the favored Washington Nationals. Although their postseason journey was short lived, Atlanta fans can expect more amazing things to come from their young squad, and have plenty of useful/fun cards to pull from the 2018 set! I know Bob is going to be fighting everyone in his league for the chance to draft Acuna. Also, shout out to my good friend Michael, an Atlanta native who loves his Braves! He'll undoubtedly be taking Mikey F and placing him into his starting rotation in our league!

Here's me and Bob's podcast

And now, onto the cards!

MLB Showdown 2017 Season: COMPLETE!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! My friends and I finally finished our 30 game season, using all 30 teams from the 2017 set that we made together! I know it's a little confusing, as this site also has Matt's Showdown Cup and Bob's league with mixed teams from a variety of years going on, so here's a reminder of what this season is:

All the cards in this league are based on the 2017 stats. However, in a twist, we made the rosters as a reflection of the beginning of the 2018 season (so Yelich is on Milwaukee, Stanton on the Yankees, etc etc). So basically, we played the season after the "Pennant Run" update came out! Moreover, we have minor league players -- a system that will be explained in the "off season" when teams get the chance to "develop" them -- that were used as trade chips. Unsurprisingly, the tanking of real life was strongly reflected here and the "haves" bought nearly every useful piece from the "have nots" with their prospects. If all goes according to strategy, the season will be much more balanced next season. In terms of scheduling, it's a 30 game season with teams playing five sets of home-and-home three game series with their division foes and their interleague rival.

So this will be a big, BIG post with lots of information that I hope y'all will enjoy! We've got playoff reports, stats, summaries, and finally giving everyone looks at our minor leaguers! Also, due to the epicness of this post, A LOT more images are going to sprinkled throughout this article, along with all the statistics from our 30 games season for 30 teams.... yeah, we actually played out (with a 20 sided dice or random number generator) all 451 Showdown games by hand!!!

So for illustration, Cozart had a MONSTER season with the Reds in 2017 and then signed with the Angels as a free agent. For our season, Cozart played on the Angels just like he did in real life in 2018 (despite producing a much, much worse card). 

Now without further ado, let's check out the Standings and Playoff Picture first:

Merry Christmas

Hey everyone, I just wanted to stop by and say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to
everyone that follows along on the site. This past year has been a ton of fun creating and blogging along my love of the showdown game. I got to know some great people through this site, and seeing how much it’s grown is so cool. I can’t wait for the next year because I think it will be bigger and better for the blog, so stay tuned, and in the Christmas spirit here is a little stocking stuffer

2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Finally rounding out the AL playoff teams. Everyone's favorite underdog that snuck into the playoffs with the WC had a fantastic MONEY BALL season. Led mostly by over performing players and fielding they finished very well and as a team look pretty decent on paper (mlbshowdown). They have 1 pretty good starter and 1 really good reliever and a handful of high defense high salary players. If you looking for defense in your draft you definitely want to look at Olson, Chapman, and Semien. The athletics had a pretty decent overall OB team but no big 9 or 10 OB players which hurt them overall and as seen in the wild card game hurt them against the Yankees. They do have a lot of power and don't get out much when they get the advantage. So managers should have fun if they get the advantage and that's a decent IF and more fun with Krush Davis. Lets get to the lineup.

Check out the YouTube podcast below. Please like and Subscribe.

2004 ST. Louis Cardinals

Much like the 1998 Yankees that I posted recently, this is another early post from the beginning of the blog site. I took it upon myself to update the cards to look like the rest of them.  So here is the original post, with the newer cards inserted. Although I don't know Kyle, and it isn't posted on his birthday like it was originally, I think we will keep that part too. Happy belated Birthday Kyle!

                                              

New Contributor Mike on the Highest Value Players in Showdown

Hey! My name’s Mike and I am going to start writing my own articles for the site, however first I wanted to introduce myself, my background with showdown, and what my articles will be like in the future.

I’m originally from New Jersey and so needless to say, growing up in the 90s, I am a diehard Yankees fan. One of, if not my earliest memory, is the Yankees winning in ‘96. I was undoubtedly spoiled. 

Andy Pettitte was always my guy (fun fact: he had the most wins in the majors from ’00-’09). 

2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- CHICAGO CUBS

The Cubs won 95 games in 2018, tied for the most in the National League after 162 games.  Unfortunately, they tied with their NL Central rivals to the North, and, after a disappointing game 163, ended up in the Wild Card game, where they lost in 2-1 in a crazy 13 inning game.  Despite only playing a single playoff game, the 2018 Cubs Showdown team is one of the NL's elite and have a salary of 5060 points.  They've got a stellar rotation, solid top end of the bullpen, and a very deep lineup that includes MVP runner-up Javy Baez.  Without further ado, the 2018 Chicago Cubs!

1998 New York Yankees

1998 Yankees

I took Peter's Original cards, and re-created them into the 00-01 style of card. So for those that haven't been with us from the beginning, here is his old post with the new cards.

The 1998 New York Yankees won 114 games, setting a (now eclipsed) record for wins in a single season. Unsurprisingly, the amount of wins in a season usually translates to a team's Showdown strength, so I was extremely excited to see what kind of firepower the 1998 Yanks brought to the game. The answer: not as much as expected. Oh sure, each component of this team is at least GOOD, but there is no unit that screams "wow!" like the 2004 Red Sox lineup or the 2016 Cubs rotation. The Big Four are still in their relative infancy (with Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera putting up prime seasons), and Roger Clemens has not yet joined the rotation.

On closer inspection, this team still looks like an all-timer, although it is not as instantly sexy on paper as, say the 2003 Yankees. However, the rotation is extremely solid (which was so important in the year of the HR), the bullpen is steadfast, and the lineup is incredibly deep. Trading HRs for consistency, speed, and enough OB to steal some charts from even the best aces, the Yankees will score runs while limiting opposing offenses. It will be fun to put this team up against other recent greats, especially the 2016 Cubs!

Lineup: The trio of Derek Jeter-Bernie Williams-Jorge Posada make up 75% of the fabled "Big Four" cementing the Yankees dynasty. In 1998, Bernie Williams had an incredibly strong season and is clearly the best hitter on this team. Surefire Hall of Famer, Derek "the Captain" Jeter's game never translated extremely well to Showdown, but his speed and steady hitting should be replicated by his card. Posada has yet to find his consistency, but his +8 arm and 17-20 HR are huge assets in a lineup's worst hitter. Darryl Strawberry provides the most power in this lineup and World Series MVP Scott Brosius ensures there's a fourth OB 9 or higher bat in the lineup. I'm always a sucker for Chuck Knoblauch, even if his card isn't that good.

Overall: a deep lineup! The 98 Yanks rarely will blast opponents away in one giant, power fueled inning, but could put up impressive stats in the aggregate. There's no one below a 7 OB and one of those 7 guys is their best power hitter. Plus, there's a lot of opportunity to use the lineup with versatility.

2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- New York Yankees

Sorry for the delay. Family and Holidays... you know the usual. But you get to come back to another heavy AL playoff team in the New York Yankees. Winning 100 games this past season. They were a power house of a team. Very impressive rookies and some heavy hitters with the addition of Stanton this year. I wanted to get all the playoff teams done first so only team left for the AL is the As. But this team should keep you on you toes. With a whopping team total of 5,420 points you can instantly see why this team made the playoffs. As always tune into our podcast for out breakdown and to hear Peter go in depth behind the team.

We for the moment will not be on itunes and are going back to YouTube. So feel free to listen there.

Batting alone had 2,850 led by the Aarons.. Judge and Hicks.

Greatest Showdown Players at Each Position: Second Base

The newest installment to the list of greatest showdown players is coming from the second base position. Five players all come in at over 500 points a piece and should be one of the best debates yet with how similar these guys charts are. Only 80 points separate the highest point player from the fifth place player. All of the players in the ranking are 10 OB's and 4 of the 5 are speed A leaving not much difference until you dive into the players charts and what chart fits the needs and wants of your team.

5 Jose Altuve '17 500pt

Greatest Showdown Players at Each Position:Third Base

By special request coming at you today is highest point valued third basemen in Showdown. Combining our custom cards with the 2000 and 2001 original sets. The list of third basemen is headline by the top 3 all being MVP winners from that season. The biggest one in the list, if you listened to the most recent podcast on the Los Angeles Dodgers talking about Max Muncy and his low at bats, is Fernando Tatis from the original 2000 set. In his career other than the 1999 season the most home runs he had in a season was 18, he hit 34 in 1999. His 2000 season was a decent season but after that he fell off completely. It goes to show that some guys like Chipper Jones and Miguel Cabrera can make these dominant cards yearly, while one good year for a player can make him look like a Hall of Famer. Lets examine the top 5 third basemen and let me hear your thoughts on your favorite to use third basemen in your showdown games. 

5 Fernando Tatis '00 570pts

2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- LA DODGERS

Finally, the most expensive team from the 2018 set is finished: the NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers! Simply put, this team is absolutely loaded.  Somehow the Dodgers only won 92 games and needed game 163 to win the NL West, and (as much as I love the Brewers) needed 7 games to take out the Brew Crew.  Even though the 2017 squad won over 100 games, I think this Showdown version is an improvement thanks to their incredibly deep and flexible lineup.  However, the starting pitching and especially the bullpen took a step back, but when you've got this many incredible hitters, it's easy to just say "the pitching will be fine."

Once again, there's a Bourbon over Baseball analyzing this Showdown squad: iTunes Link (episode 09)

Lineup: The Dodgers lineup is STACKED, and its incredibly deep.  There were so many dudes that needed cards on this squad that the Dodgers ended up with 13 players in the 2018 set. Shockingly, 11 of those players are at least 250 points -- an incredible display of depth! In the starting lineup, there's a bunch of power from Bellinger, Machado, and Muncy, as well as extremely productive and steady hitting from Turner, at the top of the lineup.  Grandal's really solid year has been overshadowed by his postseason struggles, but he put up a very decent card, especially for a catcher!  The 6 thru 8 spots are filled with potent OB 7 cards, a luxury shared by no other teams in this set.  And off the bench comes a very good David Freese, another weapon of an OB 7 in Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson (aka the guy to insert into a lineup against a Control 2 or lower constantly because WOW that chart).  If Dozier had reached his 2017 numbers, this team would've been an unfair cheat code.  As it stands, it's still the best lineup in the 2018 set.

Greatest Showdown Players at Each Position : First Base

We return for week 2 of the discussion of the greatest MLB Showdown players at each position. Last week we looked at the catchers position. This week we will be looking at the first basemen, and there will be plenty of familiar names as 5 of the top 6 are from the original 2000 and 2001 sets. With the catchers the difference between the players could be found in speed or defense or power. We will be looking at the same categories but defense for a first basemen might just be an extra bonus because not many get the coveted +1 on their cards. John Olerud comes to mind from the 2000 pennant run set as a card that could be a defensive first basemen while providing a 10 on-base but not much more after that. Let's take a look at who came out on top of the best first basemen made.

T4 Mark McGwire '00 570pts

2018 MLB SHOWDOW SET - HOUSTON ASTROS

Me again! No you didn't miss a week, the Holidays have consumed Peter so your all in luck and get the former World Series champions the Houston Astros. Don't worry we will be back to normal next week with the NL teams. This years Astros may not be as good as they were last year in terms of offense but the pitching was among the best in the league if not the best. They managed to win 103 games this year and blew through the Indians in the Playoffs. It was difficult to get past Boston's line up as you guys saw last week and they came up short this year. They still are a great team with big name players that I'm sure will get drafted. Make sure to listen to our break down on the Itunes podcast where we go in depth into each player.

Click link below for the Podcast
Itunes Podcast

How did the offense look this year for the Astros.

Greatest Showdown Players at Each Position : Catchers

Hey everyone the latest installment of a blog plan that I have is to look at each position and I made a list of the top 5 point getters in each position. On top of the top 5 in each category, if a position had more than 5 players getting over 600 points I continued the list because it truly is the best of the best. The first position that I will be taking a look at is the catchers position. When you're building or drafting a team do you want the high defensive catcher to scare off the speedy players from running, or would you prefer the power house catcher that you bat clean-up and will hit the ball out of the park for you?

T5  Charles Johnson '01 460pts

2018 MLB SHOWDOW SET - BOSTON RED SOX

Back to the AL. I know I started off with my favorite team last time, but now we can release the best AL team! With a whopping 108 regular season wins and a complete domination of opponents from hitting to pitching it is no wonder the Red Sox took home the World Series title. But in the showdown world how do they measure out. Their team roster is a very impressive 5,610 pts, only second to one other team. They also have this year's AL MVP! Listen to the podcast below to get a more in depth look at the team and creation.

Itunes Podcast

We will start off as usually with the stacked lineup the Red Sox have. And even some late season playoff and world series heroes made the roster.

2018 MLB SHOWDOWN SET -- MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Come now the first National League team in the 2018 set, my personal favorite -- the Milwaukee Brewers! Obviously, I have not had much to root for in my lifetime of Brewers' fandom.  There was attending Miller Park's opening game with great hope that ownership would spend money in 2000, the amazing run to their first playoff berth of my life in 2008 after trading for CC Sabathia, and there was the 2011 team.  That 2011 team was really special, winning the Brewers first NL Central crown and getting to the NLCS (only to lose to my least favorite team, those dastardly Cardinals).  Of course, who could forget the hot, hot start of the 2014 Brewers before they absolutely collapsed down the stretch? However, 2018 took the cake in providing me with excitement and joy. 96 wins, an incredible stretch run to catch the Cubs and knock the Cardinals out of the wild card race, winning the play-in game, sweeping the Rockies, and pushing the vaunted Dodgers to seven games.  So obviously, this had to be the first team I made in the 2018 set!

Also, I had to make a special Christian Yelich card in the Brewers' awesome throwback unis, so enjoy this cool alternate card before the actual team (Yelich's points are a tad high in this one, which was a prototype... think of it as a "cooler uniform tax!").

2002 World Series Champion Anaheim Angels

The 2002 Anaheim Angels won the first championship in the franchises history. They went 99-63 in the regular season and made the playoffs as the wild card team. Garret Anderson has a monster season winning a silver slugger and hit 56 doubles. While the pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in the league. They eliminated the Yankees in the Division Series before taking out he Twins in the ALCS. They met the San Francisco Giants in the World Series and went into game 6 trailing 3-2 in the series and were down 5 runs in game 6 before coming back to win the game and force a game 7.

Line up: Are you ready for some Small Ball? I hope you are if you play as this team, get the speed on base, bunt them over and knock them in. This is an interesting team as they aren't what you would expect from a World Series winner, not a lot of power other than Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus, but a lot of high on-bases to try and get the rallies started.

2018 MLB SHOWDOW SET - CLEVELAND INDIANS

Hello everyone I'mmmmmm backkkkk. I know you must have thought I disappeared or retired. But I was just busy with work and family and creating the 2018 cards for everyone along with Peter and Matt. Over the next few months we hope to release all the 2018 card sets team by team with a little podcast as well. Hopefully all goes well, fingers crossed. We are hoping to release these week  by week to everyone so stay tuned for more teams and feel free to comment below. Haters are welcome.

Here is the link to the Podcast below. A little something to listen to as you look at the cards. (feel free to leave feedback)

PODCAST ITUNES
podcast-2018-cleveland-indians

Since I got a head start I get to start things off. I am working on the AL teams so I jumped on the chance to make my Cleveland Indians first. They had a decent looking year finishing with 91 wins and a 3 guys over 30 Hrs. But those stats can be deceiving. They were in an incredibly weak division and did very poor against over .500 ball clubs. The AL is a very drastic league, featuring multiple 100 win and 100 loss teams. The Indians are lucky right now to be in a weak division and can coast to the playoffs, but as we dive deeper into their cards, you will see they have a very drastic high and low line up, a very amazing starting rotation, and a very crappy bullpen. Typical Indians showdown cards have been red, we decided this year to go with the Navy. Let us know what you think.

Lets start things out with the starting lineup.

2013 Detroit Tigers

The 2013 Detroit Tigers won their third straight American League Central Division Championship with a record of 93-69. The defeated the Oakland Athletics in 5 games and then fell to the Boston Red Sox, whom are already posted on this site, in their third straight ALCS. The regular season team took home plenty of hardware as well. Miguel Cabrera won his second consecutive AL MVP Award, and Max Scherzer won the AL Cy Young, with rookie Jose Iglesias finishing runner up to Wil Myers for AL Rookie of the Year.

2018 MLB Hall Of Fame

I made a few of the guys that were inducted into the hall of fame this past summer into a subset type of card. I made this back in August and never got it typed up and ready to post and i figured a little late is better than never. Lets enjoy there 4 players and some of the great seasons they had with each team they had played for. 

Inaugural Showdown Cup Tournament In Review

Well that sure made for a fun end to my summer playing out the first Showdown Cup and crowning the first Champion the 2016 Chicago Cubs whom just dominated the tournament. To me the biggest disappointment in the tournament was the 1995 Atlanta Braves, I felt the pitching staff set them up to be competitive but other than Fred McGriff the offense was not able to get anyone across the plate. I have a feeling if I replayed the tournament with the exact teams all over again there would be a different playoff out look and who knows maybe a different match up presents a different problem for the Cubs. All I know is that I am ready for the second one to come along, but I will get more into that later, first I have some awards to give out.

Picking the Winners: When I sent out the poll prior to the tournament starting two people selected the Cubs to win it all, Myself and Raeyrd69@yahoo.com

Tournament MVP & NL Best Pitcher

COMING SOON: 2018 Set!!!!!

As the Showdown Cup has finally come to a close, with the 2016 Cubs proving their Showdown superiority, it's time to look to the future -- the 2018 Set!

That's right, we're going to be making and releasing an entire set for the 2018 season! As always, we are not doing this for profit -- we're just making these because we love Showdown and want to keep the game alive! So we'll be posting each 2018 team one by one, absolutely free and without strings attached! If you're so inclined, feel free to print them out and play with them.

2007 Cleveland Indians

The 2007 season saw the Cleveland Indians win the Central Division for the first time since 2001. This team lost to the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS blowing a 3-1 lead and falling just short of a World Series match-up with the Colorado Rockies. A great all star season from Grady Sizemore although it wasn't as good as the previous season, a Cy Young season from CC Sabathia and a surprising season from up and coming starter Fausto Carmona both winning 19 games. Here is the 2007 Cleveland Indians with their line up from game 1 of the ALCS vs Boston lineup.


Lineup: A great lead off hitter in Sizemore who had 24 homers, 34 doubles and 33 stolen bases, getting him on base is nice but hitting off this chart is always a plus. Next is Asdrubal Cabrera who can plenty of pop with 13 and up being extra bases. "Pronk" hits third  and this is more of the Travis Hafner card as he started losing his power with the two prior seasons being 33 & 42 home run seasons. Hes followed by all star Victor Martinez. The rest of the lineup leaves a lot to be desired, while Ryan Garko and Kenny Lofton also have 8 on bases the rest of the line up is going to struggle to produce runs against some of the teams that we have seen posted on this site over the past year.

Showdown Cup Finals Game 5

Game 5 of the series has wrapped up and we have crowned our very first Showdown Cup champion. The Chicago Cubs of 2016 won the game and the series by a score of 4-1.  The Cubs struck first in the second inning with a RBI double from Jorge Soler and the very next batter Addison Russell belted a 3 run home run giving them their 4-0 lead. The Royal would be shut down until the 9th inning when Lorenzo Cain ripped a triple scoring Ben Zobrist but the Cubs would remove their starter from the game and bring in Aroldis Chapman who would strike out the next two batters and end the series. The bottom half of the Cubs order strikes again and with help from their undefeated pitcher and tournament save leading closer it was too much for the Royals to handle. This was such a fun tournament and I already can't wait to get started on the qualifying with some new teams that should be showing up on the site soon. I hope all of you enjoyed following along as well.

  

Showdown Cup Finals Game 4

We aren't done yet as the royals pulled off the comeback against the Cubs being down 3-1 after the top of the third, they came back to win the game 4-3 on a walk off double from Ben Zobrist. The scrappy never quitting Royals are now down 3-1 in the series and will need a lot of magic to stay alive. The spirit of this team to not give up in this game showed as the pitching staff locked in and didn't allow the Cubs to run away with the game. Now the hard part for the Royals, they must do this 3 more times but they seem up to the challenge.

     

Showdown Cup Finals Game 3

Things are starking to look grim for the 2015 Royals falling down 3-0 to the Cubs in the finals. The Cubs took a 3-0 lead into the 7th inning before Alex Gordon tied the game with a 3 run home run pushing the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning Jorge Soler doubled scoring Anthony Rizzo, this was followed by an Addison Russell single sending in Ben Zobrist pushing the lead out to 5-3. The Cubs closed the game out and took the 3-0 lead looking like we may be crowning our very first Showdown Cup Champion very very soon. For a 3-0 lead this feels so much closer, losing in extras and losing game one 2-1 makes it feel like Kansas City could be in this series. Now they will have to play perfect over the last 4 games to make this a series.

  

Showdown Cup Finals Game 2

Game two is in the books and the Chicago Cubs have taken a 2 games to none lead over the Royals. This one was not as close as game one but the royals still had plenty of chances but couldn't get their runners across. Jake Arrieta remained the only undefeated pitcher in the duel of the starters. They bottom half of the order for the Cubs came up huge scoring 4 runs between their 8 and 9 hitters. This was the key for the Royals, preventing the lower half of the order from getting involved in the scoring. The Royals will look to right the ship when the series shifts to Kansas City for games 3 and 4 of the Showdown Cup.

     

Showdown Cup Finals Game 1

The first game sure started the finals off with a bang. The Royals strike first with an Eric Hosmer single in the top of the first scoring Lorenzo Cain. The Cubs come right back and answer in the bottom half with an Anthony Rizzo single scoring Dexter Fowler. Then in the bottom of the second Javy Baez lead off with a double, followed by a Dexter Fowler single scoring and giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead and they never looked back. From this point forward it was a shut out on both sides with all the pitchers dominating the bats. Some of the things discussed in the preview like for the Royals to keep the lower half of the order in check basically happened. Only one hit but it was the lead off double by Baez to lead to the winning run for the Cubs. A 1-0 series lead for the Cubs gets them off to the right start but if the games all play this close, do not count the scrappy Royals out of it just yet.

        

Showdown Cup Finals Series Preview

Showdown Cup Finals Preview

Here is the preview for the finals of the Showdown Cup. The 2016 Chicago Cubs will be taking on the 2015 Kansas City Royals. I will be breaking down the match ups in this series and look at the ways each team may have an advantage.  Here are the Statistics for both teams throughout the tournament so far. 

Showdown Cup Playoffs RD 2 Wraps Up

I decided to lump the rest of the second round of the playoffs all together in one post leading to game 1 of the finals of the Showdown Cup on Sunday. I will start with the Chicago Cubs knocking off the Marlins in game 5 for a 4-1 series win  beating the 6-5 thanks to an Anthony Rizzo three run home run in the 7th. The Cubs had the best record in tournament play, and will be looking to capture the inaugural showdown cup.

2001 Seattle Mariners

The winningest regular season team of all time, the 2001 Mariners racked up an incredible 116 wins over 162 games. Since Showdown squads are entirely based on regular season performances, this team is understandably a really good Showdown team... which is surprising, since they just came off losing superstars Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez. However, the arrival of AL MVP and ROY Ichiro injected a real spark in the team, which got career seasons out of players like Bret Boone and rode deep pitching and a well-rounded lineup to their hefty win total.

Showdown Cup Playoffs Rd 2 Games 3&4

Two days worth of games come at you today as I fell behind this week. The game 3's gave us the first opportunity to see a potential sweep as the Cubs outlasted the Marlins in a duel 1-0. Kris Bryant hit another home run and Kyle Hendriks threw a complete game 2 hitter with 14 strike outs keeping the Marlins from getting any offense going in the game. The Cubs will now take a 3-0 lead into game four looking for a four game sweep. In the second game of the day we saw the Mariners finally get a win in the series. Ichiro went 4/4 sparking the offense to their 4-2 win.Aaron Sele gave the Mariners 6 innnings on the mound before swinging to their power packed bullpen to shut down the Royals the rest of the way.

Game 3 Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs RD 2 Game 2's

The second games of the second round of the playoffs have been completed and we are looking at two 2-0 leads by the number one seeds for each side. Kris Bryant ssems to be breaking out at the right time homering in the first inning and going 3 for 4 in the game. The Marlins had plenty of offensive opportunities but just couldn't get the big hit to knock in any more runs coming up short 5-1. The Royals and Mariners had quite the pitchers duel for the second game in a row. Edison Volquez improved to 5-0 in the tournament and threw a complete game shut out. While Jamie Moyer lost his first game in 6 innings pitched and only allowing 2 hits. Mike Moustakas was the hero of the game blasting a 2 run home run in the top of the 7th sending off Jamie Moyer. Now we stand wit htwo teams in command as we switch locations for the road teams to try and pick up some momentum back and not getting swept hopefully.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup RD 2 Playoffs Game 1's

The stage is set for the Semi-Finals and all four teams are ready to make their case on who should be the first ever Showdown Cup Champion. An interesting day with the two games both coming to a final score of 3-1. First game we had was the Marlins visiting the Chicago Cubs with the Cubs pulling out the victory behind another dominant start from Jon Lester. Lester improved to 4-0 in the tournament and the Marlins didn't get their only run until the ninth inning which opened the door for the closer Aroldis Chapman to come into the game. Unlikely hero Jason Heyward provided 2 RBIS on 3 hits for the Cubs in the victory. Over on the American League side the Royals struck early with 2 runs in the third and another in the fourth helping them cruise to a 3-1 victory over the Mariners. Johnny Cueto was stellar with 10 strikeouts over seven innings before making way to the bullpen to shut this game down. In this series if either team has a lead going into the 7th inning it will be interesting to see if a team can comeback against these two dominant bullpens.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 5's

Three win or go home games today to advance to the next round of the Showdown Cup and we started off with an amazing 10 inning game between the Yankees and Marlins that saw the Marlins advance on a walk off hit by Ivan Rodriguez in the bottom of the 10th. Up next was the Mariners and the Diamondbacks which resulted in a big win for the 01 Mariners as Curt Schilling continued to struggle in the playoffs to keep runs off the board. Finally we had the Royals and Dodgers and we saw the Royals jump out to an early lead from a Alex Gordon Grand Slam en route to a 6 run inning and the Royals advancing over the Dodgers. In what were some very close series, the results didn't change, the team with home field advantage won each series.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 4's

The tournament is getting tighter and tighter with the room for error shrinking as we enter what was one teams last game of the tournament and 3 teams pushing the series to a 5 and final decisive game. The Marlins scored 4 runs over the last two innings to secure a victory over the Yankees sending them to game 5. Randy Johnson took the mound for the Diamondbacks and again deliver a complete game shutout pushing this series to a 2-2 tie, its a shame for the D-backs that Johnson can't pitch in game 5, and a welcome sight for the Mariners I am sure, but Curt Schilling will take the mound in that final game. The Dodgers struck early with a grand slam in the first inning en route to a victory for Clayton Kershaw and this series will also see a fifth game. Finally the Cubs closed out the Red Sox tournament with a 2-0 1 hit victory for the Cubs. Now for the exciting part, we have three game 5's taking place tomorrow, who will survive and advance?

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 3's

The third games of the first round of the playoffs have been completed and no one is officially eliminated although there were two teams facing elimination. The Dodgers took one away from the Royals behind another impressive outing from Yu Darvish who has been pitching outstanding so far in this tournament. The Mariners dominated the Diamondbacks taking a 2-1 lead behind a complete game from Aaron Sele. The Marlins avoided the sweep striking for 7 runs on the Yankees and are looking to get back into the series tomorrow to tie it up. The Cubs won there second in a row to take the 2-1 lead over the Red Sox thanks to two big 3 run innings.

Player of the Day:

1997 Season in Review

The 1997 MLB Season was the very first season that introduced Interleague play, as well as the last season for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League. It was also the first time in Major League History that the Wild Card team won the World Series. My idea behind this creation was to get some more teams and players into the pool. I chose the 1997 season basically at random but once i found out it was the first season of interleague play I figured what a great place to start. What this post is going to bring to you are the final four teams in the MLB Playoffs as well as each leagues MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the year. Take a trip down memory lane here with the 1997 season.

(Cy Young pitcher Roger Clemens, as done by David Bush. My version from my site official 97 set is later on in the article!)

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 2's

Day two of the first playoff round is complete with the Chicago Cubs bouncing back and evening the series with the Red Sox at 1. The Yankees took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Marlins in a come from behind victory propelled by a Nick Swisher RBI in the 8th inning. The Mariners beat the Diamondbacks marking the first time they have lost with Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling on the mound. The Royals joined the Yankees in going up 2-0 on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Come Thursday we will have two teams looking to close out their respective series and move closer to the Showdown Cup Finals.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 1

The dust settled after a thrilling opening round of the Showdown Cup and the aces took the field in the first round of the playoffs and it showed. Runs were at a premium in every game and the 01 Mariners were the first team to score a run on Randy Johnson in the tournament. The Royals took down the Dodgers at home 3-1 as Johnny Cueto fanned 13 batters as this Cinderella story continues. CC Sabathia went the distance against the Marlins with a complete game shutout, while Derek Jeter drove in the two runs for the Yankees. The highest scoring game of the day was the Diamondbacks and the Mariners as Randy Johnson improved to 3-0 in the tournament gibing up 2 runs and striking out 13. The 07 Red Sox pulled off the upset victory at Wrigley taking down the Cubs scoring 2 runs late in the 8th inning to take the series lead.

Player of the Day:

 

Showdown Cup Day 14

The final day of the opening round of the inaugural Showdown Cup has come to a close and what great competition we had. The Cubs rang off their 6th win in a row after being no hit by Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in their first game. The Dodgers knocked off the Cardinals to secure a playoff position with a walk off  home run by Joc Pederson. The Braves beat the Phillies taking them both to 3-4 with a -3 run differential effectively making them tie for 5th&6th place. Finally the Marlins beat the Diamondbacks pushing the Marlins into the second seed and Arizona to the third seed.

Day 14: Player of the Day

The "What If" Montreal Expos

In the original MLB Showdown 2000 set, the Expos are one of the worst teams and for good reason. They were 68-94 in 1999, the year the game based its stats on. They only received a single foil, Vlad Guerrero. It was a team devoid of many dangerous hitting cards, had a weak rotation led by Mike Thurman of all people, and definitely reflected the team's reality -- they were way off from making the playoffs. And that got me thinking about one of my favorite questions: what if the 1994 Strike never happened? Not only in terms of "do the Expos win the World Series" or "would the Expos keep their core and start a dynasty to match the Braves in the 90s?" Instead, I thought about how cool would it be if Montreal won in '94 and kept on competing... therefore making enough money (in my head canon) to keep their stars like Pedro, Walker, and Alou. In this crazy scenario, all the starters from the 1994 season stick around! And that made me think.... what would the Expos have been like in the original MLB Showdown 2000 game if life played out like that? Thus, the "What If" Expos were born!!

The "What If" Expos are a collection of the 1994 Expos players that were playing and received Showdown cards in the original 2000 set, plus Gabe White's 01 card since he didn't get one in 2000. Surprisingly, of the 1994 Expos team, an incredible 15 guys earned card in the 2000 set!! Of those 16 players, a mere one was still on the team. So conceivably, if they'd all stuck around, here's what the 1999 Expos would've looked like, and it's a monster Showdown team!

Yes, Vlad Guerrero and Jose Vidro are notably absent, but I wanted to keep this as fun and "what if the 1994 team stuck it out and just kept rolling" as possible. Plus, they would be incredibly overpowered vs realistically a World Series contender with those two guys providing upgrades (which really makes you think "wow, if only" if you still miss the Expos). In reality, I'm sure Vlad would've beaten out Grissom and Vidro definitely would have replaced Lansing, but it's more fun in my mind to give y'all more "new" look cards to use! Actually, the only non-1994 member on this team is Ugetha Urbina, filling the final available bullpen slot valiantly. Also, everyone is using their original 00 card charts except Gabe White, since he's one of my favorite cards in the 01 set and unfortunately did not receive a card in the original set. Also, since Rondell White is literally the only 1994 Expo worth mentioning who stuck around, he's keeping his original card! Finally, this was a fun challenge of my cut out and editing skills that I think mostly worked out ok... frankly, it's hard to find good images of players from the early 90s!

Showdown Cup Day 13

13 days down and 1 to go and we have the American League participants in the playoffs set. The Kansas City Royals absolutely bludgeoned the 13 Red Sox and took them officially out of the playoff rankings scoring 20 runs. The Mariners eliminated the Astros with a win, the Blue Jays shot themselves in the foot with their 3rd blown save of the tournament and lost to the White Sox in extras to a Juan Uribe Grand Slam. While the Yankees beat the 07 Red Sox moving the Yankees into the playoffs.

Day 13: Player of the Day