So it's come to this...4 teams, approximately 45 players, 2 fields, and an assload of pocket-fulls of dreams.
You know when you're shirking your cubicle duties in March, not faxing Donald from HR, or making that Excel Spreadsheet for Supervisor Rebbecca because you're filling out those wonderful March Madness Brackets -- those glorious branches on the tree of Post-Football Life?? Then you step back to admire your work, and you realize that somehow...someway...Stanford and Duke are in your Final Four?!?!
Well then we're on the same page. No, this is NOT to say that ANY one of the four teams remaining in my Playoff Prediction Showcase is undeserving, or would be incapable of winning this Spring League Championship...it's just that, if you had instead asked me to pick four teams who I thought would make it, it might not EXACTLY look like this same four. But, I had to chose based on the match-ups, and we're left with four really solid teams: The Masterbatters, Swingers, and Bayside, who have all won championships before, and the Bloop Singles who, if my predictions are correct, will have fielded and swatted their way through the tough, but not breathtaking American League.
I know what you're saying..."Where are the Pourhowzers?? Where are the Perfect Strangers??.."
I don't know, alright...get off my back. Yes, both of those teams are definite possibilities to win it all...as are the Blue Team, PRD, AAR, The Ligers, maybe even another team I'm forgetting...but this is just how the match-ups have shaken out. Maybe Pourhowzers topple the Swingers, sure...maybe Bayside or Masterbatters stumble...maybe Bloop can't string together 4 great games...who knows. Regardless, these are the four teams left, and we'll see who comes out on top.
AL Champs-
Swingers v. Bloop: Maybe this is where, I'm ashamed to say, I've painted myself into a corner. I don't know if Bloop is quite ready to be in the championship game, or if they can beat the Swingers.
Conversely, if you'd asked me if the Swingers would make the finals, I probably would have said no. They have offensive consistency problems and increasingly frequent defensive and base-running lapses. If the Swingers put it all together, they can beat just about anyone, but this year, the games in which they've put it ALL together at once have been fewer than expected. They came out flat against the Ligers and Masterbatters, resulting in a tie and loss, respectively, and couldn't hold on in the Pourhowzers game.
Bloop Singles, on the other hand, have been one of the league's most consistent teams and have looked very very good, but rarely unbeatable.
Can either team beat Bayside/Masterbatters? I don't think so.
Perhaps, the Swingers are my Duke...always good, but just not complete enough to make the finals. Bloop, then, would be my Davidson -- all the tools to win against big teams, and the luck/ability to have it all come together at the right time. Bloop wears the
NL Champs-
Masterbatters v. Bayside: Even though I'm pretty sure that they've met since, the greatest DcCityBall game that I've ever seen and/or been a part of was the Summer Championship of two summers ago, between these two squadrons. An epic 14 inning battle (if I remember correctly) in which both teams played legit, near professional defense, robbing their opponents of base hits, turning double plays, and getting out of tough jams. I was working the field, first and second base, for this incredible match-up, eventually won by the Masterbatters(who turned the first summer/fall repeat that year), and was astonished by the level of play in a recreational co-ed softball league. If there is a softball
But it's not 2005, or whatever the hell year that was, anymore and I'm not sure this game will live up to what I've built up in my mind as one of the 3 single greatest days of my life (the other two being the time Robert Goulet threw his velvet ascot to me backstage at the Borgata in Atlantic City, ala Joe Green, and the night I beat Barbara Walters in a drinking/arm wrestling/spinning-around-on-a-baseball-bat-then-running-an-obstacle-course contest, thus forcing her to make out with Tom Arnold at the Playboy Mansion. Well...it wasn't exactly for Playboy..it was Swank. And it was less a mansion and more of a...two-car garage, but I'm almost positive it was Barbara Walters. Either way, it was a friggin blast.).
That being said, it's unreasonable to expect the same kind of toe-to-toe ass-kickery as the first time 'round. I do, still, expect a great game out of both teams, and it should be close. Let's go point by point and see who should win.
Infield fielding : Slight edge to Bayside. Great SS (the whole left side really), good fielding pitcher, good catching first basemen, who will come off the bag. Masterbatters are no slouches though, with some dynamic SS play of their own.
Outfield: Big plus to Bayside. Center fielder with tremendous range and solid arm, left fielder with plus arm. This, it should be noted, is despite the legendary Masterbatter's left field arm (Andy).
Pitching: Masterbatters, slight edge.
Base-running: Masterbatters. Bayside has 2 or three burners, but Masterbatters can turn a hump-back liner into a triple, and I've seen it.
Hitting: Bayside. They hit line drives wherever the fielders aren't.
Power hitting: Tough one. Masterbatters probably have more raw power, but Bayside shows it more consistently, with fewer pop outs.
Verdict: Bayside should, if they play to potential, win this game. There might be a lower score than you'd expect from these two offensive juggernauts, because both teams are so defensively competent : Bayside 14, Masterbatters 9.
So there it is. Somehow, in a span of four days, I've whittled 32 teams down to just two: the cream of the Cityball crop -- the Cinderella and the Mainstay.
I don't have a ton to say about the final game -- mostly because I've said all I can about both teams already, but MORE mostly because this match-up probably won't even happen, and I've wasted enough of my/your time. Realistically, anything past Round 1 is probably garbage.
Finals
Bloop v. Bayside:
I'll keep it simple. Few of you not in grey/gold and maroon (save their opponents) have seen Bayside play in the Finals. It's an entirely different animal (pardon the pun, I f---ing hate puns). It took the Masterbatters, at their peak, 14 innings of incredible softball to win by a run. I'm not sure any of the AL teams are as good as the Masterbatters were that year. Fact is, if some jealous Congressional League member held a poorly organized and lower-talent-level gun to my head (Take that competitors!) and made me choose a winner for our league, I'd take Bayside every time. Is it a guarantee that they'll win? No. But they're the safe bet. And they've earned that.
Bayside wins it all, 19-12.
So what the hell do we do now? What am I going to write about? Well, we'll do some updates and recaps the next few weekends regarding the ACTUAL games being played (no I won't do any updated picks, that would be a conflict of interest, remember, I'm not umpiring this weekend). I'll be back next Sunday with my insights, and we'll see how the playoffs really shake out.
Following the championship game, I will, instead of writing a boring Summer League preview, be providing you all with my final post of the Spring Season : The Beginners Guide to the End of the Season Party, with a foreword by Evan Stancil (just kidding, he's already drunk for the party, but I will be giving you a step-by-step guide on how to not only survive the party til the very end, but to optimize your fun to the MAX!)
Good Luck to all teams this weekend, I regret that I won't get to be a part of the first round, but I'm committed to a charity softball event (yes, always with the softball) for the American Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If any of you should ever like to donate to this wonderful cause, you can do so at any time directly on their official website HERE .
Thanks for reading, folks. Keep your eyes on the prize, teams.
-Play Ball!
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