We are now done with 120 games in the 2000-2001 MLB Showdown Sim League. If you need a refresher on the previous installments in this series, check below. The link to the full season standings and stats so far is here.
Eastern Conference:
Williams Division
In the Williams Division, Columbus made up 4 games on Providence and 5 on Ottawa, going 14-6 to join Ottawa in a tie for 2nd in the division, as well as a tie for the second wild card spot (6 games behind Birmingham. The rotation was very effective, going 11-2 with a 3.53 ERA in this stretch. Four hitters knocked in 10+ runs and six scored 10+ runs in the 20 game stretch, chief among them 01 BS Mark McGwire who crushed 8 HR and knocked in 17.
Providence remains the top seed in the division, despite only going 10-10. 01 BS Pedro Martinez was excellent, allowing just 2 runs in his 30 IP (0.60 ERA), but somehow ended up just going 1-1. 00 Brian Anderson had it rough as well, going 0-3 despite a 2.88 ERA. The bullpen blew 5 saves during the 20 games, with 00 BS Mike Venafro being the only effective reliever. 01 PR Ellis Burks was excellent at the plate, batting .443 with 7 HR and 18 RBI, but 00 BS Jim Thome hit only .185.
Ottawa lost a game on Providence and fell into a tie for second in the division and for the second wild card spot by going only 9-11. 00 BS Scott Elarton continued his excellent season by having a 1.88 ERA, despite going 1-2. With the exception of 00 BS El Duque, the rest of the rotation pitched well, as did the top of the bullpen. The lack of hitting to back the pitching is why Ottawa lost 11 games, as no one hit above .280, had more than 4 HR, or knocked in double-digit runs, and only one player scored more than 10. That player was 00 BS Henry Rodriguez, who was the team leader in average (.278), homers (4), RBI (9), and runs (13).
Buffalo went 12-8, but remains in last. 00 BS Eric Milton and 01 PR Geraldo Guzman both pitched to sub-3 ERAs. 00 BS Sammy Sosa hit .319 and led the team in homers (8) and RBI (19), while 00 BS Terry Shumpert hit .371 with double-digit RBI and R. Buffalo sets 12 games back in the division with 42 to play, but only 4 back on the second wild card.
Musial Division
Memphis extended their division lead by going a division-best 12-8. 01 BS Tom Glavine was their top starter, going 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA. Four of their relievers (01 PR Tom Gordon, 01 PR Rod Beck, 01 BS Doug Henry, 01 PR Ricky Bones) combined for just an 0.77 ERA through 35 IP. They would have won more than their 12 games if not for poor hitting, as only 2 hitters hit above .265: 01 BS Richard Hidalgo, who hit .370 with 7 HR and 18 RBI, and 00 BS Miguel Cairo, who hit .309 but knocked in just 1 run and scored only 7.
Louisville went 10-10 to move into a tie for second, despite losing ground on Memphis. Their top 3 starters and top 3 relievers pitched well, but the rest of the rotation and pen were awful. They suffered from anemic hitting as well, with 5 of their starting hitters batting sub .260. 00 BS Dean Palmer continued to hit homers, taking the team lead in HR (6) and RBI (14) despite hitting .238. 01 BS Johnny Damon hit .375 and scored 13 runs, but only drove in 5. Louisville has a tough road to climb, sitting 6 back in the division and 5 in the wild card.
Indianapolis went 8-12, losing a game in the wild card and four in the division. 5th starter 01 BS Robert Person had just a 1.80 ERA despite a WHIP of 1.76. Closer 00 BS CJ Nitkowski had an awful 8.31 ERA and 2.31 WHIP, yet somehow didn't blow a single of his 4 save chances or lose a game. 01 BS Barry Bonds hit just .250 although added 7 HR, and 01 BS Jim Edmonds hit just .279 with 1 HR and 3 RBI. 01 BS Travis Fryman hit .447 with an almost-.500 OBP, and was second to Bonds in RBI with 9. Like Louisville, Indianapolis needs to get hot fast.
Many people's pre-season favorite Nashville struggled again, going just 9-11 and falling into sole possession of last place. The rotation was awful, but the bullpen had a few bright spots, such as 01 BS Kazuhiro Sasaki allowing no runs in his 10 IP. The lineup was pretty weak with the exception of 00 BS Ken Griffey Jr., who hit .388 with 10 HR, 21 RBI, 18 R, and an absurd .910 SLUG. At 7 games back in the division and 6 in the wild card, Nashville has a chance, but not a great one with 42 games to play.
Aaron Division
Charlotte finally broke the tie with Birmingham, going 14-6 to take a commanding 7 game lead in the division, and a 5 game lead for first in conference. They are now tied for top team overall in the league. 01 PR Barry Zito had a lot of bad luck, as despite a 2.89 ERA he was on the hook for 3 of the 6 team losses. 00 BS Sterling Hitchcock had a great first 100 games, but was above 6.00 in ERA in this stretch. 00 PR Ryan Rupe, 01 BS Darryl Kile, and 01 BS Travis Harper combined for a 9-1 record with a 2.30 ERA. The top 3 pitchers in the pen were excellent as well. 00 PR Al Martin hit .448 without a homer, and 5 hitters knocked in double-digit runs, and 7 scored 10+. With 42 games to play, they have pretty much punched their postseason ticket, as 13 games separate them from the first team out in the conference
Birmingham fell from a tie for first in the conference to seven games back in the division, going just 7-13. They still hold a six game lead on the first wild card spot. The bullpen pitched well, but other than 01 PR Bruce Chen, most of the starters lost the games before they even got to the late innings. 01 BS Jorge Posada hit .443, but it was not enough to rally the lineup when the top two hitters slumped. 01 BS Jason Giambi hit just .225 despite his OB11, and 01 BS Vlad Guerrero, who had been dominating the season until this point, hit just .256 with 2 HR and 6 RBI.
Jacksonville went 10-10, but sits 20 back in the division and 7 in the wild card. 00 BS Kevin Brown continued to prove that his awful luck for me does not translate to the sim, furthering an excellent season with a 1.93 ERA in the stretch. The lineup hit very well, with 00 BS Larry Walker (.383, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 23 R), 00 BS Fred McGriff (.410, 7 HR, 17 RBI, 14 R), 00 BS Dante Bichette (.373, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 13 R) all putting up MVP-tier numbers. 00 BS Dmitri Young hit .368 despite little power as well. Jacksonville has an outside playoff chance at this point, as despite being 7 back in the wild card they are second-last in conference.
Orlando continued to suck, going 6-14 and now sits 9 games behind the second-worst team in the conference. Sixteen back in the wild card and 29 in the division with 42 games left pretty much means Orlando has no shot, short of a miracle 40-2 stretch to close out the year. 00 BS John Smoltz and 00 BS Bartolo Colon had respectively 6.00 and 10.12 ERAs as the 1-2 starters. 01 BS Nomar Garciaparra continued his quest for the batting title, hitting .369, but no hitter had more than 2 HR (team combined for 10) or 11 RBI.
Western Conference:
Mays Division
Portland leapfrogged Calgary, going 13-7 to jump into first place in a close division. The rotation was led by 00 PR Kerry Wood, who went 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA and struck out 39 batters in 25 innings. 00 BS David Cone went 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA, and 00 BS Andy Ashby went 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA. The bullpen was great as well, with closer 00 BS Scott Sullivan leading the way, allowing just 1 run in 13 innings. Three hitters hit 6 HR (01 BS Lance Berkman, 01 BS Richie Sexson, 01 BS Trenidad Hubbard), although none hit for average. Portland has a 3 game lead in division and is 5 games ahead of the third place wild card team, so they are in a good position although definitely not a lock.
Calgary went just 9-11, and now sit tied for the first wild card spot and just two games ahead of the first team out. With the exception of 00 BS Jeff Suppan, who had a 1.33 ERA, the rest of the rotation was awful. Similar situation in the bullpen, where 01 BS Arthur Rhodes was excellent and the rest of the pen stunk. The lineup did have two bright spots, as 00 PR Jeffery Hammonds hit 8 HR and knocked in 18, and promo Andruw Jones hit .333 with 4 HR and 13 RBI.
Anchorage went from first to third, going just 7-13, and are now two games out in the wild card. The rotation was mixed, but the bullpen was completely awful outside of 01 PR Dan Micelli. Closer 00 BS John Rocker, who had been the best reliever in the league, had a 6.48 ERA, and 01 PR Ray King had an 11.91 ERA as the setup man. 01 PR Alex Rodriguez played well but fell off his MVP pace, hitting .294 with 4 HR and 15 RBI.
Vancouver went 12-8, and now despite being sub-.500 is only 3 games behind in the wild card and 6 in the division. The top four starters pitched well, especially 00 PR Hideki Irabu, who had a 1.57 ERA. Two hitters hit particularly well; 00 BS Dave Nilsson who hit .355 with 4 HR and 16 RBI, and 01 BS Greg Colbrunn who hit .370 with 5 HR, 11 RBI, and 11 R.
Gibson Division
Las Vegas remains the top team in the league, going 11-9 over the last 20 game stretch. With 42 games to go, they have a 17 game lead in the division and a 9 game lead in the conference. This was despite their top 4 starters pitching poorly. Only 00 PR Steve Parris (3.04) had an ERA below 4.70, with 3/4 of the other starters above 5. The top two pitchers in the pen, 01 PR Jeff Nelson and 01 BS Greg Swindell pitched well, but the next two relievers had ERAs above 8. 01 BS Bobby Higginson was their top hitter, batting .286 with 5 HR and 13 RBI.
Boise went 11-9, and now is five games out of the wild card. Three of their starters were great: 00 PR Bret Saberhagen (3-1, 1.73), 00 PR Juan Guzman (2-0, 2.57), and 01 PR Paul Rigdon (2-0, 1.77). The bullpen was excellent (1.61 ERA in 50.33 IP), with the exception of closer 00 PR Steve Karsay who had a 6.94 ERA. 01 BS Jose Vidro hit .408 with 0 HR and 10 RBI, 01 BS Eric Chavez hit .297 with 6 HR and 15 RBI, and 00 BS Jeromy Burnitz hit .297 with 4 HR and 11 RBI.
Salt Lake City went an abysmal 6-14 to drop from 5 to 8 games back in the wild card race. Three of the starters pitched great, 00 PR Alex Fernandez (2.49 ERA), 01 PR Mike Mussina (2.17), and 01 BS Jose Mercedes (3.38). The pen was mostly bad outside of 00 BS Steve Montgomery (0.82 ERA). Two men in the lineup, including 01 PR Ichiro, hit below .200, and three other starting hitters hit below .250.
Sacramento went 5-15, and at 24 games out of first and and 12 out of the wild card, is almost definitely going to miss the playoffs. The starters were awful: 01 PR Freddy Garcia (6.75 ERA), 00 BS Hideo Nomo (8.38), 00 BS James Baldwin (14.40), 00 BS Jeff Weaver (11.81), and 01 BS Brad Penny (4.74) were all bad. The bullpen was great, with 00 BS Billy Wagner not allowing a run in 11 innings, and four of the next five relievers having sub 3 ERAs. However, the pen was not able to overcome the awful performances by the starting pitchers and lineup, as 6 hitters in the starting lineup hit below .250. The one bright spot was 01 BS Edgar Martinez, who led the team in average (.368), homers (6), and was second in RBI (11).
Koufax Division
Albuquerque retained their one game first place lead in the division, going 12-8. Their top three starters pitched well, especially 00 BS Wilson Alvarez, who went 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA. The bullpen was mostly mediocre. 01 BS Todd Helton had a great stretch, hitting .309 with 6 HR, 13 RBI, and 13 R, and now leads the league in RBI, XBH, SLUG, and OPS, and 00 PR Roger Cedeno hit .355.
Tucson went 12-8 as well, and is still one game out of first. They are tied for the wild card, two games ahead of the first team out. 00 BS Randy Johnson was great, going 3-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 50 K in 32 IP. Closer 01 BS Robb Nen pitched well also, allowing just 1 run in 17 innings, although that one run was the tying run in a game the team lost. 00 PR Erubiel Durazo hit well, batting .329 with 5 HR and 10 RBI.
Oklahoma City went 10-10, and is four games out of first and three behind in the wild card. All five of their starters got beat up. The bullpen was solid, on the other hand, with closer 00 BS John Johnstone and 00 BS Steve Kline combining for 4 runs in 23 innings. 00 BS Eric Karros was incredible, hitting .348 with 6 HR and 19 RBI. 00 BS Chipper Jones had a good stretch also, batting .333 with 4 HR, 12 RBI, and 13 R.
San Antonio went 11-9, falling to five games back in the division and four back in the wild card. The rotation had three studs, with ace 01 BS Jeff D'Amico (2.25 ERA), 00 BS Joe Mays (4-0, 1.93) and 01 BS Jim Parque (2.08) all pitching very well. The bullpen was excellent as well. 01 BS Carlos Delgado was one of the best hitters in the league, hitting .362 with 9 HR, 19 RBI, and 14 runs. 00 BS Corey Koskie hit .378 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.
Hitting Leaders:
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Pitching Leaders:
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