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

Showdown Cup Day 12

Day twelve is complete and the Chicago Cubs have offically clinched a spot in the playoffs with an absolute destruction of the Cardinals 11-0. The Braves picked up a big win over the giants making it now 3 teams at 2-4. The Diamondbacks took down the dodgers improving to 4-2 and also 4-0 when Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling take the mound. Finally the Marlins big win over the Phillies giving them a tie in the last playoff spot and put them ahead of everyone because of run differential.

Day 12: Player of the Day

Showdown Cup Day 11

The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays got a much needed victory today and the playoff races remain super tight. The White Sox are eliminated officially and the Astros are hanging on for dear life needing the Blue Jays, Mariners and Yankees to lose in the last week of action while winning big against the Mariners so they can control one portion of what they need to happen. The 07 Red Sox and Royals also play next week in what can be what will determine who the #1 seed for the American League may be.

Day 11: Player of the Day

Showdown Cup Day 10

5 games each in the tournament and some things will never change, like getting shut out by Randy Johnson. Johnson shined in his dominating performance today en route to his second straight complete game shut out and striking out 19 batters. Arizona will be a tough team to beat if they make the playoffs knowing teams will see the Big Unit twice in a 5 game Series and potentially 3 times in a 7 game series. The Cubs have now won 4 straight after being no hit in their first game of the tournament, while Greg Maddux falls to 0-2 and the Braves continue to falter. The playoff race is wide open for all the teams in the National League block but you have to figure the Atlanta Braves are eliminated barring some miraculous performances.

Day 10: Player of the Day

Showdown Cup Day 9

The aces take the hill again for day 9 in the American League Block and they sure didn't disappoint. 4 of the 8 starters had complete games and if the standings couldn't become more jam packed this week certainly made that possible. The 13 Red Sox are alone at the top of the standings at 4-1 with two more games to play seem to be in control of their own destiny. They probably need a win in their last two because they have three teams at 3-2 behind them and three teams at 2-3, five wins seems to be the safe point to make the playoffs.

Day 9: Player of the Day

Day 8 Showdown Cup

Over halfway through the first round of the tournament officially. The Braves found their first win of the tournament thanks in large part to Fred Mcgriff. The Phillies were able to pick up their second win in a row helping them climb up into the playoffs as of now. 4 teams are now 2-2 which will make the last three weeks match ups interesting to see who plays who and how those game will change the rankings in the end.

Day 8: Player of the Day

Day 7 Showdown Cup

Day 7 in the books and the standings keep on changing. Today's games brought upon some wins for the bullpens, with all the games being decided in the seventh inning of later. Four teams are now 3-1 with the Yankees at 2-2. The Astros and Blue Jays at 1-3 is a shock but the Blue Jays bullpen can not keep opposing teams from scoring.

Player of the Day

Day 6 Showdown Cup

Another day completed and all teams have now played 3 games a piece. There is only one team left that hasn't been defeated and that is the 2015 Kansas City Royals. Who all had that on your scorecards? Probably not anyone, the most surprising to me so far is the Atlanta Braves being 0-3 with their top 3 pitchers going. The offense just can not put any runs on the board to get their pitchers some support. The 08 Phillies finally found their offense being shut out in their first two games. Chase Utley got on base 6 times and scored a run all 6 of them. The top of the West Block is stacked with 5 teams at 2-1 making the rest of the games crucial to advance.

Day 6 Player of the Day

Showdown Cup Day 5

Day 5 of the Showdown Cup is complete and we have some very interesting standings. The Kansas City Royals and that bullpen pull out another game to remain unbeaten at 3-0 while the Yankees Blue Jays and Astros are all 1-2, something that I certainly wasn't expecting as I figured all three teams would probably move on to the next round. With 4 games remaining for all the American League teams it will be interesting to see who can finish in that top 4.

Day 5 Player of the Day

Day 3&4 of The Showdown Cup

I forgot to post yesterday so I have 2 days worth of games here in this post. The offense broke out in the American League games, and the National League had some more dominant pitching. Now through 2 games for every team we have 4 undefeated teams left. The 01 Arizona Diamondbacks are showing what a dominant starter can do for you as they have 2 complete games from their starters. As the tournament keeps unfolding it will be interesting to see who can sustain when the #3 & #4 starters take the mound.

Player of the Day: Day 3

2018 MLB Showdown Super Draft League Week 2 Results

Week 2 is in the books. The No Squat Bulls and Butch Huskeys had bye weeks this week. But now at least every team has 2 games played. We should start seeing some results like up. Let me know your thoughts.

Day 2 of Showdown Cup

Day 2 is in the books and the National League has finished their first games. We saw some pitchers shine on this side, leading the way was Clayton Kershaw No-Hitting the 2016 Chicago Cubs. Matt Cain vs Cole Hamels had both starters ending with complete games and we also had Greg Maddux vs Randy Johnson with both starters going the distance in an absolute duel.

Player of the Day 

Day 1 Of The Showdown Cup

Day 1 of the Greatest Showdown Cup has finished for the American League Block. Close games in all four of them and if this is any indication of what the tournament is going to be than I am very excited to continue this on.

Player of the Day

AL Block Team Previews Showdown Cup

Here's a look at the 8 American League teams who will be in the Showdown Cup

MLB Showdown 2017 Season: 80% MARK!

Alright, I know it's confusing with Bob's season and Matt's Showdown Cup kicking off, but I've got to update everyone on the season my friends and I have been playing with our MLB Showdown 2017 set. While we didn't make cards for our charted players, all those charts have been presented in old posts and everyone is welcome to download and use them!

As a brief reminder, 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). 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.

As it stands, there may not be league wide parity, but there's a ton of fun series and division races that'll be decided in the final six games!

For example, the surprising Rockies are in a three-way tie for first in the NL West with LA and Arizona. They're led by the explosive Blackmon, who's hitting .317 with a .432 OBP and has 8 triples/8 homers!

The Greatest Showdown Cup Pre-Tournament Power Rankings

Showdown Cup Pre-Tournament Power Rankings

In the upcoming MLB Showdown Greatest teams Showdown Cup Power Rankings we
analyzed the 16 teams in the tournament in statistical categories based on the cards
presented. The only non showdown category is the team’s record from the season they
are representing. From that point we broke it down into subcategories, offense,defense,
starting pitching and relief pitching to try and determine each teams strengths and
weaknesses. Inside of each category was three more categories to determine each teams
ranking. Now let’s meet the teams broken down in order of their power ranking.

All the teams are linked in their team name to the cards representing them so if you missed
them being posted earlier catch up on all the great content provided.

Introducing The Greatest Showdown Cup

The Greatest Showdown Cup

Rolling out this season is the Greatest Showdown Cup between some of the greatest teams
of all time. We have 16 teams committed to the first tournament of its kind. Presented by the
Greatest Showdown Blog we have 8 American League and 8 National League teams
competing. With even numbers for each side that is how this tournament will be conducted.

2007 Red Sox

Despite how many of these World Series Red Sox teams we've posted, they were seen as a real snakebite franchise before 2004! After waiting nearly 100 years for the Curse of the Bambino to be broken, Boston struck oil again a mere three years later. Incredibly, very few of the players on this championship team overlap with their 2004 squad. There's Varitek, Manny, Schilling, Ortiz, Wakefield... and then a bunch of new faces! Rookie sensation Dustin Pedroia, hot-hitting Kevin Youkilis, the intriguing and highly touted Matsuzaka, young arms like Beckett and Lester, and veteran acquisitions JD Drew and Mike Lowell empowered this squad. They won 96 games (101 by the Pythagorean W-L metric, which tends to indicate more accurately how great a Showdown team is) and eeked out an AL East title over the Yankees.

The Red Sox famously pulled another ALCS miracle on this title run. While the 2004 season will always be more memorable because it was from 3-0 down to their greatest rivals, overcoming a 3-1 deficit against a 96-win Cleveland squad that had Cy Young winning CC Sabathia and the Sizemore, Hafner, Martinez core in the lineup. Josh Beckett's incredible pitching in Games 1 and 5 earned him the ALCS MVP and, just like in 2004, the Red Sox breezed to a sweep over the Rockies in the World Series. Since I put out the 2007 Rockies last week, it seems fair to include their World Series rivals so people can replay that title game!

As seen here, David Ortiz was an absolute monster in 2007! And on that note, here's the team!