Let's Squeeze it and Seize it!!

 

September 2nd, 2024

Last week, was officially the last week of the 2024 regular season and this upcoming week is a week for make-up games. This week we still have 3 games remaining and it might effect the standings a little bit, but most teams are locked in to their spots. The Beer Cup will definitely come down to the final game between the Shake and Bake and the Gruesome Devils, who will be the Beer Cup winners? Last season the Inglorious Batsters won the league, the keg party and the Beer Cup... and the Gamblers won the championship against the Beer Bros in the final.

Last season going into the playoffs, I hammed up the fact that the Hurtin' Units finished 13^th place (last) and that we were the underdogs, hoping to get some sympathy from the teams we were playing. In the 4 games we played we didn't get much love from anyone. We started off the playoffs with a 18-11 win vs the Dogcatchers, but that was it. In game # 2 the Grumesome scared us straight with a 22-5 loss. The Twisters then sent us into a tailspin with a 15-8 loss. And in the final game of the round robin the Draft Kings gave us the royal treatment defeating the Units by a score of 17-15. After the round robin we had a 1-3 record and that ended our season.

This season was rough, we had some tough nights and came away with
losses in close games. We finished the season in 16^th position (last) and I get the feeling other teams are more sympathetic toward us this year. I'm not going to say that we are the underdogs this year (even though we might be), I'm not going to say we are the Dark-horse, I am going to say that the Units are better than our record would indicate. Our defense was good this season; it was our offense that hurt us. Our numbers for and against are not great, we are -83 in the run differential and that does sound good, but if we could have scored an average of 3 more runs a game, we would be at -11. The Units scored an average of 10.87 runs per game (second lowest in the league) and allowed an average of 14.3 per game, which is not the worst (3 teams higher). The Draft Kings (highest scoring team in the league) have an average of 16.04 runs per game, 6 more per game than the Units.

The -83 is not the worst run differential the Units have had. In 2014, the Units had -178 run differential. We finished in last place and lost 4 straight in the playoffs. The Rusty Rebels with Pete Hollmann went on to win the championship. The interesting thing about the Rebels winning was they finished the season in 6^th place and had a -31 run differential.

This playoff I think I'll consider the Units to be a dark-horse, we have some great batters, our defense is good and we have a few emerging players who could come up big in the round robin. The Units have 5 rookie players this season and it took awhile for them to acclimatize to the league, but I can honestly say that they are playing better now than earlier in the season. The Rookies could surprise this playoffs. The other 7 guys are all playing well also, Zander is recovering, but will be ready, Hollmann is pumped, Alex White is ball of energy, Justin has something to prove, Porter is always chattin' it up, Cookie got a taste of victory with the Gamblers last year and wants more, and myself, I need a solid playoff to feel good after how our season played out.

No matter how other teams view the Hurtin' Units, it's how we feel about ourselves that is going to determine how we do in the playoffs. We have a solid group of players wearing the white jersey this season, whether we go down 4-0 or play in the final, we have a chance to make something happen. We may be the Dark-horse or the Underdog, but in this league every team is created equal and every team has a chance to win. Get on a roll early and momentum could carry you through. The may not win, but we will go down swinging. Go Units!!!!