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Here we are again. The same place we found ourselves last season, in the ILCS coming off a 7 game ILDS series win. Last season the eventual champion Kodiaks took care of us in short order, advancing to the Brewmaster’s Championship series after dispatching of the Freedom in a quick 5 game series. We were overmatched in that series by the superior pitching staff of the California squad and our offense was lacking our biggest weapon with Mel Woodbury on the shelf. In the end the outcome was about as predictable as a series can be. Now again, as a famous ballplayer once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again”.
On paper the Freedom have no shot to win this series. The Bats are the better team, no doubt about it. They have an advantage in just about any statistical category you would care to look at.<style type="text/css">
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th></th><th>Washington</th><th>Philadelphia</th></tr> <tr><td>Home-field Advantage</td><td>
They were the best team in the IL all season long and arguably the best team in the BLB too. Their starting pitching 1 through 4 is likely the top starting staff in the league, but there's no doubt it's the best staff remaining in the playoffs.
The last two regular seasons combined we have a record of 7-17 against Washington. As matchups go, they are probably one of the worst ones going for our squad. Our pitchers don't specialize in striking many batters out (10th in the IL) and Washington makes a lot of contact (1st in the IL in lowest K total). That doesn't bode well considering our defense is prone to bad stretches (we allowed 9 unearned runs in the Davenport series alone). So, a team that puts the ball in play against a team that doesn't strike many batters out backed-up by a defense that can be shaky at times? This could get ugly quickly.
We have no real discernable advantage no matter how you look at it. We may have a slight edge when comparing bullpens (Bats were 7th in the IL in BP ERA, we ranked 2nd, a half a run better), but in the playoffs some of those pitchers that contributed to those rankings don’t get much of a leash and may not really factor into the final outcome much at all.
Our task is daunting, no question about that. Luckily we don’t have to play these games on paper. We get a chance to do something on the field. We’ve reminded the team of some of the greatest upsets in sports history:
-Super Bowl III
-NC State over the Houston Cougars in the ’83 title game
-The US National Soccer team upsetting England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup
-Villanova defeating the heavily favored Hoyas of Georgetown in ‘84
-NAIA member Chaminade over #1 ranked Virginia in ‘82
-The US Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
All done in an effort to remind each and every player on the team that sometimes miracles do happen and individuals or teams can rise up above their expected level and perform at previously unreachable heights.
In fact, Freedom management went to great lengths to invite two members of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, captain Mike Eruzione and coach Herb Brooks, to provide a little motivational message in the face of this upcoming difficult series, hoping that a bit of magic might just rub off on the Freedom squad. Brooks delivered a speech in the clubhouse to the Freedom players that was almost identical to the one he delivered to his young Olympic team right before they took the ice to take on the Soviet machine. To hear the man speak brought chills to every man in the room.
In the end it probably doesn’t amount to much and the Freedom will end up overwhelmed like the Spartan King Leonidas and his 300 men at Thermopylae or like the 200 some-odd defenders of the Alamo falling to a vastly superior Mexican force in the Texas Revolution, but if it plants an inkling of confidence or removes even a hint of doubt from the players’ minds and prepares our boys mentally for the challenge that lies ahead, then we’ve done our job to get them in the best frame of mind possible for this series. There’s no shame in losing to a superior opponent as long as you give them everything you’ve got.
Prediction: Bats win 4-2
LINK
On paper the Freedom have no shot to win this series. The Bats are the better team, no doubt about it. They have an advantage in just about any statistical category you would care to look at.<style type="text/css">
table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}</style><table class="tableizer-table">
<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th></th><th>Washington</th><th>Philadelphia</th></tr> <tr><td>Home-field Advantage</td><td>
X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>2 - 21 Game Winners</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>9-3 Reg Season Advantage</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>Best Record in the League</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>#1 Pitching Staff (by ERA)</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>#1 Offense (runs scored)</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>Best Home Record</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr> <tr><td>Best Road Record</td><td>X
</td><td>-
</td></tr></table>They were the best team in the IL all season long and arguably the best team in the BLB too. Their starting pitching 1 through 4 is likely the top starting staff in the league, but there's no doubt it's the best staff remaining in the playoffs.
The last two regular seasons combined we have a record of 7-17 against Washington. As matchups go, they are probably one of the worst ones going for our squad. Our pitchers don't specialize in striking many batters out (10th in the IL) and Washington makes a lot of contact (1st in the IL in lowest K total). That doesn't bode well considering our defense is prone to bad stretches (we allowed 9 unearned runs in the Davenport series alone). So, a team that puts the ball in play against a team that doesn't strike many batters out backed-up by a defense that can be shaky at times? This could get ugly quickly.
We have no real discernable advantage no matter how you look at it. We may have a slight edge when comparing bullpens (Bats were 7th in the IL in BP ERA, we ranked 2nd, a half a run better), but in the playoffs some of those pitchers that contributed to those rankings don’t get much of a leash and may not really factor into the final outcome much at all.
Our task is daunting, no question about that. Luckily we don’t have to play these games on paper. We get a chance to do something on the field. We’ve reminded the team of some of the greatest upsets in sports history:
-Super Bowl III
-NC State over the Houston Cougars in the ’83 title game
-The US National Soccer team upsetting England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup
-Villanova defeating the heavily favored Hoyas of Georgetown in ‘84
-NAIA member Chaminade over #1 ranked Virginia in ‘82
-The US Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
All done in an effort to remind each and every player on the team that sometimes miracles do happen and individuals or teams can rise up above their expected level and perform at previously unreachable heights.
In fact, Freedom management went to great lengths to invite two members of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, captain Mike Eruzione and coach Herb Brooks, to provide a little motivational message in the face of this upcoming difficult series, hoping that a bit of magic might just rub off on the Freedom squad. Brooks delivered a speech in the clubhouse to the Freedom players that was almost identical to the one he delivered to his young Olympic team right before they took the ice to take on the Soviet machine. To hear the man speak brought chills to every man in the room.
In the end it probably doesn’t amount to much and the Freedom will end up overwhelmed like the Spartan King Leonidas and his 300 men at Thermopylae or like the 200 some-odd defenders of the Alamo falling to a vastly superior Mexican force in the Texas Revolution, but if it plants an inkling of confidence or removes even a hint of doubt from the players’ minds and prepares our boys mentally for the challenge that lies ahead, then we’ve done our job to get them in the best frame of mind possible for this series. There’s no shame in losing to a superior opponent as long as you give them everything you’ve got.
Prediction: Bats win 4-2
LINK