Showdown Cup Playoffs Championship Games 1-3

We made it to the Championship round, Dat Boy X facing off against the Wisconsin Wolves and what a series that this should be. Both managers have a strategy that they believe is going to win them the series, but what happens when strategy gets hit in the face, will they maintain that strategy or go to a move that is unconventional? This will be a fun ride to see who comes out on top.

Game 1: The two stud starters for each team take the mound in what was figured to be a pitchers showdown. Unfortunately for Dat Boy X and Clayton Kershaw it didn't go that way as the Wolves jumped him early scoring 7 runs in the first 2 innings. Justin Verlander was as good as expected going 8 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, striking out 16 batters.

Showdown Cup Playoffs First Round Game 7 and Showdown Cups Finals Preview

Game Seven, the best part of sports, and we have one here between Acuna Matata and Dat Boy X. Taking the mound is Reynaldo Lopez for Dat Boy X and Chris Sale for Acuna Matata. If you like pitching classics then this was the game for you over the course of the game there was only 7 total hits and 7 total charts given up by the pitchers. Reynaldo Lopez gave Boy X 4 innings pitched and only gave up 2 hits and a walk with 0 runs. Chris Sale was doing the same thing until the 6th inning when Justin Turner got his chart and hit a double. The next batter was Anthony Rizzo and he gave up the chart again with Rizzo rolling a double and scoring Turner. Sale ended up going 7 innings giving up 5 hits and 1 earned run with eleven strike outs and to the bullpens we go 1-0 Dat Boy X.

Showdown Cup Playoffs First Round Game 5 & 6's

It's now a best of three to the finish in both series. The games have all been so close, and I expect much of the same as we finish out the first round. First in the Chipper Jones Division we have Acuna Matata taking on Dat Boy X. Matata used their ace a game early and will have Zach Wheeler on the mound against Dat Boy X ace Clayton Kershaw. You wouldn't know Wheeler wasn't the ace as he went 8 innings pitched giving the bullpen some much needed rest and giving the Acuna Matatas a 3-2 series lead as they travel back home for game 6.

Showdown Cup Playoffs Round 1 Game 4's

Back again and the games just keep feeling more intense with every roll. One bad roll can spell disaster for a team and its showing in each and every game so far.

CHIPPER JONES DIVISIONAL SERIES

How about some more extra innings? These teams are going back and forth on each other like a championship fight. Each game it has felt like the next roll is going to break the game open. The series is tied back up at 2-2 and some heroics from the namesake of the team Ronald Acuna with his only hit of the game after 4 strike outs including 2 own chart strike outs. He was due for a big roll, and received it in the form of a 20 spot on the pitchers chart sending home Charlie Blackmon after he stole second base. This time Pedro Strop couldn't pull off another miracle performance and get the loss making him 1-1 in the series. Acuna sent their ace out to make sure they got their win, and they got it. How will Zach Wheeler respond in game 5 when going up against Clayton Kershaw with the series shifting back to the home of Dat Boy X.

ALL DECADE MARINERS

Next up is a team in total rebuild mode in 2019... and one of the few teams that failed to make the playoffs during the previous decade -- the Seattle Mariners! I'm not going to lie, it was difficult filling out the Mariners lineup... they've had a difficult time producing high On-Base guys over the seasons. So, I leaned into it and assembled a powerful squad for Seattle that'll make opposing pitchers pay significantly for giving up charts! The Mariners are the first (but certainly won't be the last) All Decade squad to feature an On Base 7 in the lineup, and they've got two of them. However, Seattle also has the best pitching staff we've featured so far, with four bonafide aces coming at you! Their bullpen is extremely scary too and led by the dominant Edwin Diaz. Overall, while I figured this was a brutal squad while assembling it, the pieces come together to form a nice squad that should be able to put up a STRONG fight in the All Decade Team season!

Felix Hernandez was a STUD in 2010, when he won the Cy Young with a mere 13 wins

Showdown Cup Playoffs First Round Game 3s

Back with another day of exciting showdown baseball with both series in a change of scenery and 1-1 split series. After all that excitement we have to be in for a let down in the third game of each series right? Wrong! First up we have Dat Boy X taking on Acuna Matata after an amazing  performance from Pedro Strop in game 2. The game kicked off with Dat Boy X first 5 batter all reaching base and taking a 3-0 lead right ogg the bat. Acuna Matata had no worries, and scored 3 of their own in the bottom of the 6th all even heading to the last third of the ball game.
CHIPPER JONES DIVISIONAL SERIES

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 2's

Two game 2's tonight and pressure is on the home teams, both down 0-1 in the series and do not want to be down 0-2 as they would be playing games 3 & 4 on the road. The first day of games didn't disappoint and let me tell you these ones were even better. Both games going extra innings, including a 14 inning marathon where an all time showdown performance happened. I'll get into those details shortly but first lets look at the box score.

CHIPPER JONES DIVISIONAL SERIES

ALL DECADE TIGERS

Another team that sadly won't be anyone from the 2019 Set to their ranks is the Detroit Tigers. However, the Tigers don't need anyone from 2019 to put together a complete and absolutely lethal collection of talent! In fact, the Tigers barely needed anyone from the last four seasons, only taking four guys from 2016-2019 for the squad. Instead, this team is loaded with talented players from 2011-2014, the prime years that the Tigers made runs at the World Series.

Obvious inclusions on the team are MVP Verlander, MVP Miggy Cabrera, and Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. There are some fun guys who the Tigers picked up later, particularly Victor Martinez, Prince Fielder, and Ian Kinsler. The bullpen is also stacked. Also, thank you to those who voted for the last two roster spots, which went to Doug Fister and Alex Wilson 2018. Follow me on Twitter at @MLBShowdown2016 for future polls -- I'm letting the fans pick the player at the most contentious/difficult final position battles!

Also again, major shout out to Matthew Pennertz and Colby Tallafus for their great card creating -- you'll see lots of their cards in here too! So without further ado, let's check out the Tigers!

MVP/Cy Young Justin Verlander is too OP with 8 IP in this early stab at him I took at card creating

Oh, and this little "All Decade" squad is coming in at a "mere" INSERT points!!!

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 1s

The playoffs are officially here, and Day 1 was incredible. Fresh sleeved cards, the sound of the dice bouncing off the table, and all the unpredictable showdown action led to a perfect day. More importantly I will be bringing fresh playoff content to the blog everyday that there is a game scheduled. This should be a fun ride as we see who has what it takes to outlast the other teams to win the 2018 Showdown Cup. Also if you haven't voted for who you think will win on the twitter poll follow this link and vote for your favorite team.

2018 Showdown Cup League Playoff Preview

As many of you may know, we officially made it to the playoffs in my league. The top two teams from each division advanced to the best of 7 series playoffs to see who will take home the inaugural Showdown Cup. In the Chipper Jones Division we have the #2 seed Acuna Matata taking on the #1 seed Dat Boy X. For the Gary Sheffield Division the #2 seed Wisconsin Wolves will be facing the #1 seed Skyway Rainiers. After a very successful first season I saw a lot of different strategies play out and these are the final four. In fun fashion for these teams to clinch playoff births it came down to the last series of the season and for Acuna Matata it came down to the very last game winning and advancing to the playoffs. I'm going to break down the playoff match ups and will start with the Chipper Jones Division Championship. Based on my real life schedule, I will probably play games 1,2,&3 on Monday, but I am only going to release game 1 on Monday, and game 2 on Tuesday. Over the rest of the week I will likely play out the remainder of the games for the first round. Hoping to release one day of games a day.

2018 MLB Showdown 12 Man draft Grades

Me(Bob), Jeff, Matt R, and Peter breakdown the 2018 12 man draft league. We breakdown what picks were good and not and go over each team ranking them from A-F. Some we were nice some we were not. Overall had a great time breaking down the draft and can't wait to see how wrong we all are as the season plays out.

What do you think the grades should be.

Middle League Results

The Middle Leagues Results

The Middle Leagues wrapped up yesterday after 8 teams played a 3 game series against each other team, plus a 4 team postseason. As a reminder, each team had only 4000 points and were comprised solely of players who were not drafted in Matt's Big Leagues. I used the same stat sheets and rules, and the two leagues existed at the same time. There were a few trades between unaffiliated teams, but most of the activity came from managers calling players up and sending players down. Anyway, here are the results after 7 weeks:

ALL DECADE MARLINS

Wow, I can't believe the 2018 Set is in the books, I hope everyone enjoyed it! We've got some big plans for the 2019 Set.... but until then, I'm super excited to start putting out "All Decade" teams to celebrate 10 years of card creating, starting with the excellent work of Colby Tallafuss and Matthew Pennertz did at http://mlbshowdowncards.blogspot.com/!!! Their work inspired my friends and I to start making cards too, which thanks to the excellent work of your beloved podcaster and blog author Bob, turned into the gorgeous looking cards that make up the 2018 set and that we've been posting lately. After speaking to Matthew, I'm happy to incorporate cards he made with the ones we're making for a true representative sample of the last decade of Showdown!

I'm hoping this series of "All Decade" teams can operate as a love letter to Showdown and the creative folks who've been keeping it alive well after a decade since it stopped going to print. Most teams will likely incorporate at least one guy from the 2019 Set, but considering how bleak the Marlins are this year.... this seemed like the perfect place to start! So without further ado, let's get this series started with the Marlins!! Overall, the Marlins are much stronger than many may suspect and come in at 6750 points!

Remember this guy?? Bob's first card posted to the blog!!

2018 12 Team Draft - 1910 edition

I thought I would share the very very long draft video we made as well as the draft itself. The podcast is close to 4 hours long. Which is how long it took us to finish the draft but you can see how all out we go. Below that will be the pages of the actual draft and who went where. As well as the team schedule.

2018 Definitive Draft Podcast

Well its that time! Time to draft the 2018 set. We have our expert panel of Me(bob), Jeff, Matt R, and Peter breaking down a 12 man draft board. We have draft strategies and sleeper picks for all. We also dive into the tough questions. So listen up and tell us who you like.

2018 Set Showdown League Post Week 13 Update

I'm getting closer to the finish line, 13 weeks of games have been played and only 3 weeks in the regular season remain. The past two weeks of game play have been crazy watching the standings just pack right on up. The top 2 teams from each division will be the ones that advance to the playoffs. Before I get going to deep into everything here is the updated standings.