1997 Limoilou Wendigo (Jeff Boutet) vs. Parma Flamingos (Lou Bloss)

1998 St Foy Frenchies (Dino Barnabe) vs. Longue Pointe (Claude LaMarre)

1999 Limoilou Wendigo (Jeff Boutet) vs. Beauport Gamblers (

2000 Longue Pointe Hitmen (Claude LaMarre) vs. Philly Phantastics (Rob Hite)

2001 Ottawa Otters (Jack Jung) vs. Quebec Capitales (Chris Boutin)

2002 Philly Phantastics (Rob Hite) vs Limoilou Wendigo (Jeff Boutin)

2003 Limoilou Wendigo (Jeff Boutet) vs Brooklyn Superbas (Marc Wass)

2004 Brooklyn Superbas (Marc Wass vs Kansas City A's (Rich Schneider)

2005 Being played now....... Philly Phantastics (Rob Hite) vs Longue Pointe (Dennis Concepcion)

 The year 2005 will be remembered for lots of things.  It was a special season.  2005 CBA was truly international adding a franchise in Holland as well as another Canadian friend to our family.  CBA's website added many new features, and tons of history and achievements never before posted.   The pennant race was a dandy.  The races went down to the last detail.  Teams strategize to the very last game with game to game CM's and player moves to knock each other out of the post season.  2005 saw excellent, timely, and responsible preparation by almost all of CBA's GM's.  In 2005 we saw continuous uninterrupted play.  The 2005 season completed it's final game on time.  All files were complete and proofed.  Perhaps just as gratifying thanks to cooperation of our some and painstaking research and file work, CBA has an extended encyclopedia and record/achievement book. Technically a satisfying season.  Statistically a very interesting one.  It was generally a pleasure my Strat friends to serve you this 2005 season. 

 We took another step toward being one of Strat-o-matic's finest leagues with the help our committee Cory Light, Dennis Concepcion, and consultant Jeff Boutin.  From running the draft, checking facts, lists, and archives, to interpreting the CBA constitution and assisting other GM's with tech support.  Arranging league scheduling,  deciding trade approvals (a few controversies behind the scenes), league outreach, and the other contributions, they help make CBA go.  Additionally I'd also like to extend a personal thank you to Dennis C who spent many additional hours designing some terrific baseball cards with our likenesses, and team logos.  They are great.  With the addition of the team personal pages, I have found that quite a few outside Strat fanatics have browsed by and sent positive feedback to that fun extra.  Perhaps in '06 more can be added.   Speaking of the website, another thanks to Rob Hite who designed the unofficial CBA website which will be more developed in 2006. CBA has a complete library of old team logos fro current and defunct teams in the 9 year past.  Some current teams have gone through several logo changes over the years.   The website, press, and certainly our logos are a major component of the CBA, as CBA was largely based around that fantasy sports/press relationship that we currently see from some members.  We are in the process of culling the past 7 years of CBA press releases and have obtained quite a bit so far.  It will be posted on the web complex shortly.

     There was much rivalry and a measure of revenge in the final days of the season.  There was elation and extreme disappointment.  Guys let me tell you, this year we saw the competition go to a new level as guys delighted beating their rivals and some were more than pissed when their rivals beat them.  There seemed to be alot more off list banter and IM talk this year though the list was a bit quiet.  But no doubt alot of activity this year, and even better, more Strat friends made.     Some GM's managed to discover loopholes and tweaks that could give them that extra advantage which in this years case could even had made a difference in the playoff picture.   Some guys studied and tested and won, others floated through the schedule.   Some teams bench depth gave them staying power while others succumbed to fatigue/Usage  problems.  As always a few teams shot out the gate fast but faded, and some others came on later.  Some teams agonized over that narrowly missed playoff spot. While a few may have hoped for that #1 pick in 2006.  GM's and Teams in 2005 traded less than before, although the preseason saw as many trades as ever.  We saw in 2005 new GM's rise to the occasion, and older ones fade away.  We said goodbye to some GM's who became part of CBA's history, and hello to reliable and enthusiastic competitors.  We shed a proverbial tear when Gerald our founder finally left us after 9 terrific years, and we had anger because baseball abandoned the other Montreal / Quebec baseball fans like Gerald who simply can not face the game anymore.  We studied our LaManna's, Ratings guide's, and Strat analysis sheets looking for advantages over lesser informed GM's.  Old timers had lots of fun with the newly completed database and archive completed this season going back to inception, while others sought to preserve CBA's heritage by delving into the extensive past. CBA's press was alive and well this year with several bulletin's and some editorials that stirred the kettle leading to great friendly rivalries while a few chose to lay low.   We had a great trans-Atlantic Net Play series start in the wee morning hours, and other Net Plays help decide the playoff and usage pictures.  And last but not least once again we had another 1 game playoff in Staub's Dawson division....

The schedule provided a great deal of rivalry as each divisional game meant so much.  Each season series was vital.  And rise to the challenge teams did, while others faded away in the end.  It was a season where the bench became mightier than the sword as teams were forced to their secondary stars to pull out a playoff berth.  2005 showed us individual glory like Ichiro (.410) from Longue Pointe and Todd Helton (.405) from Brooklyn being CBAs first ever .400 regular season hitters.  Other individual glories like LPs Carlos Zambrano's June 17th, no hit shutout in a 1-0 LP over Limoilou revenge win or glory like Alamo's Juan Pierre (2nd all time steals with 279) 5 stolen bases against Michael Barrett in an August game against NY.  We saw many highlights and key games.   Lets look at a few...

For my money the 2005 highlights would have to spotlight the Limoilou - Longue Pointe series from June 17-19.  These teams have a long rivalry going back to CBA's first season in which Jeff Boutins Limoilou Wendigo won the 1st ever CBA World Series.  The former Hit men, from the Quebec province looking to prove last year was no fluke sent Carlos Zambrano to the mound and he delivered a 1-0 gem to set the tone for LP's winning series block.  Both teams seem to be fighting it out annually in the Dawson division.  An all time CBA game of note took place with the awesome Phantastics against the former Houston Aero's.  Philly who was involved in several highlight games no doubt had a tremendous year in CBA winning the Clemente overall crown with 99 wins.  An astronomical team batting average of .315 was Phillys calling card.

Lets look at the 2005 season.   Team by team we start in the Clemente division.   The Schmidt division saw 2005 with several possible candidates for a playoff spot.  The Alamo City can be compared the 1930s Phillies.  All bat no pitching.  The Alamo (San Antonio Texas) Flames appeared in April to be headed in the right direction.  A powerful and run producing lineup managed by a top shelf Strat GM, runs would come fast and furious.   Scheduled to be KC Kauffman stadium, the stadium HR and single totals were higher than should be allowing both the Flames and their opponents more hit opportunities than expected.  Playing through the Stadium reconstruction proved disastrous for Malachi�s Flames suspect pitching.
A CBA high 6.75 team ERA doomed the Flames who could hit with the best in CBA.  The top winning starter was Steve Trachsel who finished 8-16.  Jorge Sosa fared better with a 7-4 record and a whopping 9.80 ERA!  The bullpen managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with only a measly 22 saves with Danny Graves the high man at 8 sv.  His 5-6  7.88 ERA showed his effectiveness thus the Flames season.  The Flames tough times may be over with the upcoming draft and a solid nucleus of good cards and players signed for 2006.  Theres enough talent on hand to make a solid playoff run. Jeff Suppan, Paul Byrd, Todd Jones, Mike Mussina, Jeff Weaver, Mark Mulder,Kyle Fartsworth, will comprise one of the best pitching staffs in CBA.  The lineup will be balanced and strong with the reemergence of Griffey Jr, Lo Duca, Roberts, Ben Molina, and Alex Gonzalez.  For Alamo Sean Casey had a career year with 30-117 .344 BA , MVP candidate Juam Pierre had 17 triples, a .369 BA, 240 hits, and 74 steals playing a near flawless C
F.   A team .373 OBA and .501 slug. Alamo scored 6.77 runs per game a team BA of .305 not too shabby.  More telling was a CBA low 9 PH attesting to the benches vunerability and Alamo�s struggles to pull out wins at key times in games.

New Yorks big three carried them to another playoff spot.  Ramirez, Bonds, and Beltre drove in scores of runs staking the Bombers to 92 wins.  Although the pitching was suspect a 5.06 ERA, there were some bright spots as Tim Harikkala posted 11 saves to complement Eddie Guardados 19.  Harikkala allowed only 38 hits in 69 innings.   Glavine won 13, and Derek Lowe miraculously finished as top winner with 14.  NYs pitching finished tied with Joliet tied for 11th place.     MVP candidate Bonds finished 55-134 .373Ba, and his 1.956 total average led the CBA.  Beltre had a 1.003 TotAvg with a .333 44 130 season.  His .757 XChart rating was not too shabby for NYs fine defense.  Ramirez added 47 more HR to a team total of 248 good for 6th place in CBA for 2005.  A team BA of .288 was good for 4th place.    NYs defense made all the difference for the pitching as Guys like Castillo, Rollins, Ausmus, Renteria, Bradley, L Walker all finished above .800 XChart primary positions.  Thats winning baseball and a lot of luck in inheriting a good squad like Rescigno did.  New Yorkers must be paying tribute to the legacy of Dino Barnabe a CBA Hall of Fame candidate who retired from Strat-o-matic and CBA back in 2002.  The St Foy Frenchies franchise will be awarded to a new (old) GM shortly. 

 

Ahh those Philly Phantastics!  Back in the Finals. The Americas team of the CBA.  The Rob Hite led Philly Phantastics built up a huge following early in CBA history after painstakingly building from the ground up through shrewd trading a CBA empire. In 1997 the Phans were 48 -114 Early on, Hite was active in the CBA trade scene.  By 1999 his team had finished with 89 wins.  One of CBA�s early rivalries with the Southwest Lizard Kings GM Eric Lindner) provided lots of fun and headaches for the committee and then commissioner Claude LaMarre.  Teams seeing the juggernaut building in the Clemente took notice of the Philly team.   But Hite proved a keen judge of talent.  His trades perhaps then the source of controversy indeed helped The Phans to become the one CBAs all time powerful franchises.  Once winning 120 games, they represented with an all star lineup CBA in the 2003 ESSOM Friendship advancing as far as the semi finals, best showing ever for a CBA team.  Now after a brief rebuild back t
hey were with a vengeance winning 99 games most in CBA in 2005.  Philly got solid defense and strong pitching to go with perhaps CBA�s greatest offense ever helped Philly walk away with the Schmidt title.  The Phans had 8 of 9 lineup spots with players over .800 OPS.
The #2, 3,4,6 batters all had OPS over .1000.  7 major contributors hit over .330   a team .317 BA best ever in CBA.  328 Hr�s at Ameriquest Field.  Considering the ballpark 1-15 Si* and 1-16 Hr, the pitching success can�t be measured here by numbers.  Teams in the smaller parks expect higher ERA�s the more telling numbers can be shown in ratio of HR for team and opponent which in this case showed Philly out slugging their opponents by 70 Hr�s.  Scoring an amazing 1139 runs while allowing only 899, Philly also had two aces on their pitching staff that combined for 41 wins and only 8 losses!  Oliver Perez a strong Cy Young candidate finished 19-2 Kng 240, and a tidy 3.25 ERA which is outstanding for Ameriquest teams.  Randy Johnson in what may be his last 20 game season went 22-6  298K's.  Johnson is a shoo-in CBA HOFer.   Seasonal High lites were many Rolens 50 Hr, Durazo 29 105 .350, Aramis Ramirez .341 39 125, Berkman 38 115 .338, Abreu 31 116 .334 24sb, Jeter 22 87 .
313 197 hits 22sb, the list goes on

Wayne McGees Stirling RedSox entered 2005 knowing that it would be tough to repeat the successes of 2004, Stirlings first ever playoff.  Marked as rebuilding year Dealer Wayne had an off year in the hot stove league not pulling off his usual stunning moves.  CBAs former most prolific trader had to sit painfully through a 95 loss season, their worst season since 1999 RedSox 59 - 103 season.  Even Stirlings initial 1997 team had lost only 93. That lineup boasted names like Sorrento, Tartabull, Nixon, Sprague, Baerga, and Blowers.  This years studs managed to hit a lofty 275 HRs and had a decent .267 Ba better than some playoff bound teams.  The pitching, mainly the pen were disastrous.  Cordero blew 15 saves.  In fact the whole pen converted saves an atrocious 46% rate, and allowed 39% of all inherited runners to score one way or another.   Zito and Matt Morris both had winning years and had records with high ERAs as the RedSox defense was not to blame being somewhere in
 the middle of the pack.  The pitching was a bust with Wood having a poor year and a team 5.75 Era.  Oh yeah and 66 wild pitches.  Guys were jaywalking around the base paths.  The failure of the bullpen likely contributed greatest to the Sox demise as it went to show how important that middle guys are in Clemente nowadays.  Stirling allowed 29 batters to reach base with a tired pitcher on the mound while their opponents allowed Stirling the ability to hit tired pitchers 11 times.  The opponent also out clutched the Sox by a wide margin.  They led CBA with over 77 intentional walks, no doubt which most probably scored

Portland SeaDogs.  The team managed by a man from Detroit, everyones Strat Pal, Disco Danny Gural.  Gural burst upon CBA taking over the team mid season and then when subbing for a team, advanced into CBAs playoff proving his managerial abilities.  Portland improved after a strong draft this year gaining 3 wins from last years 84 to finish with 87 wins.  In 2003 they had only 60 wins.  They face Philly in this years playoffs.  Portlands Travis Hafner carried them on his back in 2005.  Hafner was 6th in CBA batting at .359.  pacing a 38 116 season. His ISoPower .374 isnt too shabby either.  Melving Mora who was overused, finished with 37 112 .332 and Tejada 38 125 .320.  The best 10th man in CBA candidate has to be Justin Morneau who clobbered 26 Hrs in just 261 ABs.  Adam Dunn added a 46 Hr 125 season to put Portland into the playoffs.  Hitting .291 against the many CBA righties also helped.  If it wasnt for Portlands sloppy defense, who knows how many they would have
 won.  Gurals hiatus at the end of the season no doubt cost this team of wins and players and perhaps a great shot at the CBA title.  But who knows what can happen in CBAs playoffs.  Just look at last years KC team. 

The Parker Division is noted for Brooklyns domination over division teams.  With the current CBA champs once again dominating Parker, 2005 was the year they finally faced some competition this year from Ottawa, and of all teams Kilgore.  Many expected Houston to factor in the race, though they did somewhat as a spoiler, Houston pitching couldnt support their playoff drive.  Brooklyn whose pitching was not terribly good, used big defense to prop up the staff, and a mega performances from Todd Helton who smacked 33 Hr and 133 RBIs 143 runs scored while hitting .405 second highest regular season average ever.  Helton is 1/1000 of a point behind Ichiro Suzuki as CBAs highest all time batting leader with a career .346 BA.   JD Drew hit 44 Hr 11 triples, drove in an amazing 141 runs while hitting .341 scoring an amazing 151 runs.  Sammy Sosa slugged 38 HRs for Brooklyn before his much talked about trade to Longue Pointe.  Sosa is currently CBAs all time HR leader with 448 add perhaps another 40 from 1998 and Sosa is at about the 500 career CBA HR level.  He is in first place with RBIs.  Sosa 37  113  .311 for Bklyn, Vidro (26 76 .328), Ivan Rod his best season ever ( 26  106  .359) , and Jeff Bagwell (29 HR  112  .285)  added good performances at the plate for the perennial powerhouse Brooklyn offense at Coors field.  The platooners had great years too.  Eric Valent took over in RF for Sosa and did an adequate job with 5 for 7 as a PH,  and a 10 37 .285 season.  Payton added some defense with an .806 X rating.  RFA Miguel Ojeda hit 19 Hr off the bench mostly vs Lefties.  Gomez .323, Everetts 24 steals and CBA leading .930 X rating at SS.  Aging hipster Barry Larkins final CBA hurrah was triumphant as he hit a career ending .311 for the Superbas.  Vernon Wells had about as good a year in CF as any CBA player could ever have with a perfect 1.000 X rating. Late season RFA Luis Rivas ( 5 28 .333 6sb) had key contributions down the stretch with hi
s bat and glove.

The story for Brooklyn was the defense, because there wasnt much pitching to rave about despite Hernandez 15-11, Halliday 13-3 and Willis 15-5.  Looks deceive because these pitchers all had ERAs over 4.70.  Totaling more than 1000 Ks the Superbas were able to limit the damage caused by their starters by getting big strikeouts, and having a tremendous defense.  The Superbas committed a CBA low 76 errors.  16 were made by pitchers and 18 by their 3rd basemen Mackowiak, Gomez and Castro.  The rest of the defense was rock solid.   Brooklyn signature offense hit a whopping .310 good for CBAs all time top 5 along with this years Philly team.  Brooklyn has been in 6 playoff series, 3 Division finals, and 2 World Series truly a CBA elite team under GM Marc Wass.

As tough as Brooklyn was this year they had their hands full all season with the Jack Jung led Ottawa Otters.  Ottawa came close to their best finish since 1999's 88 win season.  Ottawa got a few big time performances from their lineup.  The success of Ottawa had largely to do with the 1-2 punch of Vlad Guerrero and David Ortiz.  The Vlad and Papi show accounted for Ottawa most potent run production since Vlad hit 51 Hr's and McGwire hit 79 for the 1999 Otters.  Ortiz joined CBAs elite 50 HR club with 58 and 145 RBI.  He scored 131 runs and many of them in the clutch in key games and situations.  He also hit a very higher .400 Iso Power average to boot showing even futher his value to this team.   The only downside was Ortiz 24 errors at 1B.   Vlads 43 HR 120 RBI and .344 BA ahead of Ortiz was outstanding as was Pattersons leadoff work (29 85 .284  14sb)  setting the table along side of Vizquel who moved runners along with a .310 BA and tons of runner advances.  Adam Kennedy too had a good year moving runners along and a decent year with the glove.  Ottawa had every chance to win this season a wildcard spot but fell shy in the final week.  Perhaps the lack of bench strength doomed them at the end, when backups like Kotchmann, Cota, Zeile, Quiroz couldnt keep pace with the spoilers.  There were some surprisingly good contributions not only from the dynamic duo, Vlad and Papi, but others such as Scott Hairston 17 64  .268,  and Randa who hit .291 vs righties and putting the ball in play.  He also provided  a steady glove with a .765 X% per chance.  Not bad at third base.  Even Ottawa's 9th place hitters contributed 24 HR.  264 HR is perhaps Ottawa team record.  21 PH with high man having 5 (Vizquel).  Ottawa PH hit at a .364 clip.
Ottawa's season never looked more promising when from June 16 to July 4th, Ottawa held first place in the Parker.  Key contributions by their bullpen during that run from 2 way play Brooks Kieschnick, Julian Tavarez helped a lot with 26 saves. Scott Eyre did a yeoman's job as a lefty set up getting many key outs.  The rest of the pen was an adventure.  Wheeler suffered a dismal season with a 6.12 ERA.   Brandon Webb had some impressive stats in '05 with 173 K's and 189 hits in 211 innings.  But his 116 bb's contributed to a losing 8-11 record.  Ottawa's final record doesnt do justice to the quality of the season they had in a tough division.  4 teams in Parker had the ability to win a series from anyone in CBA.  Ottawa gave Brooklyn and Kilgore all they could handle in '05.  The Otters came a long way back in 2005.  For awhile fans in the capitol city thought it was 2001.

The Kilgore Bashers completed their best season ever.  Back in July we got a taste of what Kilgore would be able to accomplish when we saw Kilgore defeat Houston on July 25th, 19-15 in a game which saw a CBA record 44 runs and 43 hits.  It was a foreshadow of the excitement to come as the Bashers stayed in the playoff hunt right down to the last game of 2005.  It was only a Portland win which kept them from their first ever post season appearance.   They finished 86-76,  just 1 game off the wildcard this year, and were in the race all the way until the last 2 games of the year.  Cory Light must have been really proud as his team performed beyond even his expectations.   Although preseason analysis showed Kilgore could finish with a strong season, Kilgore had never had a team finish that close to a spot in the post season.  In fact looking at Kilgores season to season record it may be the strongest Basher team sinces the 1997-1999 Bashers who finished with 80+ wins.  Only 3 p
layers remain from that 1999 Kilgore team. Chan Park 0-1 7.68 whose Basher career is in jeopardy, Miguel Cairo playing as well as ever finishing a great season as a utility/platooner with a career best .345 average along with 4HR and 44 RBI, a key performance and reason behind the success of Kilgore.  Mitch Redmond is still around as well hitting a lowly .223.   You could make a case that the super subs of Kilgore were as much reason for success as the regular lineup. A team BA of .265 along with 206 Hr's and 51 Sac fly RBI's staked a good offense for Kilgore.   Despite Burnitz 39HR  125RBI  .275 season, and the emergence of Brad Wilkerson who hit 37 Hr driving in 93, the team play in Kilgore gave the offense just enough to stay competitive.  Strangely enough, Wilkinson was mostly a #2 hitter in the Basher lineup.  Overbay hit 20 with a .287 avg, and Mike Lamb added 22 more for the Basher lineup. Kilgore got it done in the clutch with several 9tth inning comeback wins early i
n the season to set the tone.  Mike Tucker, Brad Inge, Ross Gload, and Vance Wilson did well in part time roles.  Mr Vance was Mr clutch all year with big hits to win games and 8 backup HR's to boot.  Gload took the 3 hole at the end of the year giving the Bash Bros a solid hitter at the top when it counted most finishing at .333.  The biggest reason for Kilgore's success was the bullpen in particular CBA All-star Dustin Hermanson.  The 2005 Rolaids fireman of the year award winner in CBA finished with a near CBA record 40 saves alongside 10 wins in 80 appearances and 100+ innings.  Simply without him, Kilgore would have quite a lower record.  He easily surpassed Basher all time save king, 2001 Bob Wickman's  21 saves, and 2002's Buddy Groom who had 22 saves, and 2004's Lance Carter who saved what was a team record of 36 for the Bashers.  6 Bashers drove in 2 or more and 5 with 3 or more to kind of summarize the overall team offensive contribution all season. The defense was a sore point with a lower end of the CBA  .66% X rating despite 1 team triple play from Belliard to Overbay.  Kilgore had 4 Pinch HR.  All key contributors to big wins.  1 by Wilkerson won it in extras for Kilgore, and Mr Dance, Vance Wilson had another big blast to win another late inning escapade.  Those lengthy games are a signature of Kilgore�s. As they played over 20 innings in one game and 18 in another.   

The Houston Aero's are a team of the past.  Hopes were high in the pre season as this franchise was able to land several good prospects and a marquis player Alex Rodriguez in the expansion draft of �04.  Bob Fidler took over in 2005 and added his Strat knowledge to take Houston higher in the standings.  A slow start when Fidler took over the team took Houston of of the wildcard race early.  The Aeros dropped a whole bunch early in July effectively dulling any hopes for a playoff shot.  On July 10th they were 14 games under .500.   They hit their low point on July 17th having a .400 winning % after dropping a series to Kilgore. Fidler then led them to a winning record afterwards establishing a potent lineup and offense with a few tweaks of the CM. The Aeros had a high .281 BA and 295 HR.   Personal achievements marked the Aeros in 05.  Albert Pujols had an absolutely incredible year.  Consider 65 HR 160 RBI .366 157runs .436 oba  .802 slg  1.238OPS.   Gosh.  A triple  crown contender, he only missed the batting title by finishing 5th after leading CBA in HR RBI Slug OPS for 2005.  No question one of the all time performances in CBA history.  His partners in the lineup fared pretty well too though paling in comparison.  Both A Rod and Hank Blalock hit 45 HR.  A Rod hit only .278 with 12SB, but drove in 127 runs in what some might say was a disappointing season.  Considering the stadium advantages and his card (and performance in other leagues) A Rod (45 127 .278) seemed more a culprit than MVP contender grounded into 21 double plays. His numbers were nearly identical to Blalock (45 124 .280)
Houston catchers did the job, and the Aero pitchers held runners at their bases, allowing by far the least amount of SB in CBA, 34. 14 more were gunned. Matt Stairs was their top PH with 3 not a great number in the clutch as PH by committee accumulated only 16 hits.  Houstons pitching was in shambles. Oswalt and Pavano did excellent work. Both winning 17. The rest of the staff unbelievablely rotten.  Couldnt be worse, just putrid, absolute, well you get the picture.  12 guys over 5 ERA, 9 of em over 6 ERA.   And so it goes for Houstons last hurrah. 

    The Cooperstown Iron Horses suffered a similar ending in 2005 finishing 60-102.  Admittedly building for the future, Wyke's team did manage to get the bat on the ball hitting a nice .266 with a little pop 166 HR's.  They hit righties at a .271 clip but failed vs Lefties at a .245 clip.  8 Iron Horse men finished with double digit HR's.  2005 trade acquisition Craig Wilson finished with 27 Hr mostly as a catcher.  Michael Young emerged as a true CBA star with 16Hr  75rbi  .321ba.  Dave Bell added 17 more taters and a .311 batting average to surprise a few GM's.  Garrett Anderson also chimed in with a .310 ba overall with a .346 ba vs Righties but a lously .147 vs lefties.  Cooperstown had 6 PH Hr's including 2 by PH deluxe Ken Harvey, and catcher Joe Buck.   Cooperstown just couldn't get the big bats going with cleanup hitters hitting a paltry .246  15Hr  60Rbi in '05.   Perhaps more telling was that in a park like Wrigley Field, pitchers yielded a 5.47 ERA allowing 6+ runs per game while scoring 4.7   The Iron Horses defense had to take some of the blame here as they committed 131 errors with a .683 X rating overall.  Not too good. 

 went 9-38 vs lefties  who started and were 21-31 in 1 run games which evidenced the poor pen work.   Billy Wagner (1-5  5.35era 15sv)  just was awful, though the set up guys in the pen (Stanton, Madson, Speier) fared better with mid 3 era's.  It's rather amazing here how the Cooperstown closers reflect a real life age old story.  With both Wagner and Cordero save artists, both couldn't be used in tandem effectively enough to muster even 15 saves.  How often have we seen that in the majors that two stars compete for the closers role only to have both wilt under the heat?  Legends filed barely drew 'em in this year, and by seasons end was drawing in the low 4,000 range.  They averaged about 9,000 customers in the LeatherStocking region of upstate NY with this years team.  With the #1 pick in hand Cooperstown looks ahead to better years as their rebuilding task seems formidable for now.  Players like BJ Upton, Young, Jose Contreras, Wagner, F Cordero,  Criag Wilson, Ryan Madson, Jason Phillips move them ahead with better cards and future prospects.  Another strong draft and Cooperstown could be in the pocket for a long time. 

The Staub division has seen more rivalries over the years that have had direct impact than has Clemente. With the DH Clemente's flavor decidedly AL with the DH rule, the Staub's identity has been more NL like. With great twirlers Like Schmidt, Schilling, Zambrano, Pedro, etc, the staff ERA's have been lower and some teams have embraced more of the small ball ethic. With 2003's Limoilou win, follwed by 2004 Brooklyn win, both leagues have split the last two series. This year may decide once and for all who is the more formidable division. What is for certain in Staub is the intensity of rivalry and the excruciated tightness of the pennant races the past 3 seasons. Last year we saw the well balanced KC A's shock the CBA world with a mad dash to the finals. A wildcard team at that. The Dawson race saw classic and legendary 1 game playoff between JD Adams Belfast Brawlers and the current Dawson champ Limoilou Wendigo. Limoilou moved on while Belfast went on vacation. Well wouldn't ya know in '05 we had another race that was so tight that once gain we had 1 game playoff between Limoilou and this time Longue Pointe. The loser still would make the playoff on basis of record.

All season long the Dawson top spots were shared by LP, Limoilou, and Belfast who remained in the race right to the last week of games. Each of these teams took turns battering each other in games so good they'd make you wanna "punch yo' mama in the mouth". In fact some of the games were all time classics. The highlites page on the web has a few key games archived. Even SD and Joliet got into the act. Perhaps the highlite being current division finalists Limoilou and LP in midst of a scorching series for the top spot in June, Carlos Zambrano tossed a key no-hitter to thrust LP past the Wendigo. Longue Pointe further added to the rivalry besting the Wendigo in CBA's Staub division playoff winning 4 games to 7.

This year's Staub was quite interesting. A flurry of trade activity in the off season went and changed the parameters of the 2005 season bringing some respectabilty to teams like Montreal (Skokie) and seeing others build for the future like KC last years Staub champs. Key trades saw big names like Matt Clement, Roger Clemens, Joe Crede, Ben Molina, Eric Gagne, Torii Hunter, Mariano Rivera, switch uniforms, and many RFA pick ups that helped make a difference in the races. Highlite games included San Diego's June 19th, 25 run assault of Joliet in which 3 batters had 4 or more hits (Deivi Cruz 5, Keith Ginter 5, and Juan Encarnacion 4). On May 18th in Montreal, the same Joliet Jackhammer team which lost to SD had the dubious distinction of using 15 pitchers, including 5 position players (Kata, Podsednick, Torrealba, and Melhuse) in a 21-1 loss to the former Royals. The Jacks also lost a 1 hit shutout to KC's Josh Towers to complete a forgettable season that left manager Jack Frost scratching his head. Highlites from all games are on the website. Lets look at the teams and how they fared in 2005, starting in the Carter conference with the previously mentioned Joliet Jacks.

Carter Conference

The Wantagh Woodsmen had a difficult sophomore season under GM Anthony Cusumano. Fading from playoff view early the Woodsmen struggled all season with an anemic offense. The Woodsmen could only hope to finish near respectability, but a late season hiatus cost the GM any chances for salvaging the season. Subsequently deterioration and destructive overusage doomed the Wantagh's. The neglect of the franchise caused ripples throughout CBA, and tainted the franchise perhaps for years to come as Wantagh has lost high draft picks which could have moved the rebuild process ahead for Cusumano. Some trades will need to happen here for Wantagh to move up. Finishing 66-93, the Woods hit only 114 Hr with a team .260 average. A lowly .327Oba creating only 4.3 runs per game. Luis Gonzalez in an 'injury' plagued year was the team leader with 15Hr. Stars if there were any would include Chad Tracy (8 62 .316), Womack .312 24sb, Juan Rivera ( 11 54 .293 ) and Rondell White's 12Ph. Orlando Hudson sucked up all but ten groundballs hit to 2B showing great range. Of note on the pitching staff was Jason Isringhausen ( 3.34 23sv ), Damasso Garcia's set up work ( 2.20 83 app ). Next year Wantagh promises to be improved as guys like Luis Gonzo, Chad Tracy, Orlando Hudson, Lowry, Vic Zambrano, Biggio, and Aaron Boone return to form.

The KC A's are admittedly in a rebuild phase. Acknowledging that 2004's World Series appearance was a last chance situation, Rich Schneider wasted no time in 2005 dealing away some quality players in order to continue to mold his team into a winner for years to come. First in March came Ben Molina the shotgun arm he craved at catcher. By April 16th Cesar Izturis was gone for a couple of mid round picks in 2006. Then looking into the crystal ball on June 16th, Ben Broussard came aboard and the aging Edgardo Alfonso was dispatched. In another move gone was Mariano, and in return a #1 pick and Carrera who later helped bring in young Josh Towers. Towers paid immediate dividends winning a few off the bat including a classic 1 hit shutout against Joliet. With the many returning players, and some guys that had career type years, KC no doubt will be back in '06 and in great shape going into the draft.

In 2005 the A's had a few nice individual performances. But they didnt add up to team wins which is the important column. Despite good speed (108sb) KC's offense couldn't produce runs in their stadium. only 28 BP HR in 107 chances. 83/276 BP Singles. Most damaging only 132 HR's leaving many runners on base. Guys like Loretta (12 83 .335 ), Winn (.302) , and Finley ( 27 101 .291) couldn't get driven across the plate. Of note Termel Sledge's rookie campaign was asuccess hitting 11hr 51 rbi and a nice .319ba. Sheffield was off a bit driving in only 100 runs and hitting .261. Not up to his standards but good nonetheless.

The pitching fared better with an average 4.49era. Doug Davis went 15-8 with a 3.38 era and the set up guys King and Duscherer did a great job with inherited runners and below 2.00 ERA's. With Rivera gone KC used a bullpen by committee scattering a few saves between some unlikely closer candidates like Halama (4), Field (7), Eldred (4), Seanez(2) and some others whose only future claim in CBA is when we scan the Encyclopedia and see those "Oh I remember that guy" types. Ryan Drese led CBA pitchers with 20 hits at the plate. Termel Sledge hit three Grand Slam HR this year as well.

The story of Bodega Bay is a sad one. This was a HAL team by seasons end. A team with talent, a team orphaned, a team in need of some love and attention. Abandoned, and after such high hopes! Bodega Bay California is crying as another CBA franchise becomes a distant memory ala Montecito Habaneros, Louisville Mob Squad, Alexandria Assault, Harlem Knights, and the legendary Canadian River Ballyard Rats. Bodega Bay had 2 lives. In early CBA history 97-2000 and resurrected only to fail drawing in crowds to tiny Bodega Bay California. While corporate management committed to other responsibilties, the poor Madbirds languished. Until CBA management turned the decisions to the HAL 9000..er 10.0 CM generator, the Madbirds were a non-entity in the race. As they began to win some with the impressive talent, the MadBirds became a spoiler. Finishing 4 under .500 (79-83) meant this was a solid team. Going into the season I thought this franchise would give Neah some trouble in the Carter. And they did that as Belfast could attest when in the final week the MadBirds swept the final series from the Brawlers. This poor franchise simply needs a home. John Thomson (14-11) and Jamey Wright (11-6 3.20) led the staff. Bullpen by committee di fairly well this season. Juan Rincon (104 K's) used his steroids succesfully in leading the Birds pen with 7-3 1.78era and 10sv. All after the HAL. Shields went 8-2 and threw good innings in the set up role to cover a shaky rotation. Try Percival was a disater though allowing 13 big HR's in critical moments late innings. Mark Hendrickson threw the most pitchers per game of all CBA relievers (35.5) on average. Among the obscure stats, Rheal Cormier allowed 10 triples all in relief.

Little offense to speak of other than Mark Texeira who had a sensational (.320 32 109) campaign. He finished 7th in batting in Staub. Of note SS Carlos Guillen (.331 15 67 9sb) had an awesome season and merits consideration for post season awards. A .273 team batting avg and 168 Hr weren't too bad and a staff 4.55 era is about average. An average team with good young players. But alas! This poor team needs a home. Some lucky GM would make ....Won't you please contri....Send your help to.....Save the ch...A mind is a terr...McGruff the cr.....The united wa.....Dial 1-900-Help-Bodega Ba.......I wont waste my further time on this team. A GM is in the wings.

Ahh the Montreal Royals aka Skokie Wolfmen. If you go to the Wolfman's home page on the website you can hear him "Howl" a warning to CBA. That warning is that he's arrived and intends to win. And under a full moon many a night Josh Shapiro made his plan and set about his passion, building a team, a competitive team. Some panic set in after some trades. Some wondered if the franchise were being weakened for the future. Wolfman went on what seemed to be an all out attempt to trade the future of this once dead franchise for some wins. Some GM's protested to committee, some applauded the moves, some made deals with Montreal, and some watched idly and let one of CBA's all time stories pass them and many others by...And pass they did with a terrific season and a piece of the the coveted playoff action. With some teams never even making the playoff's, Wolfman Shapiro took the Benoit built Royals and made many transactions. Too many to list. Blessed with a nice bullpen to trade from,The Wolfman went hard for more pitching and defense bringing in pitchers like Clemens (17-7 3.54) and Gagne (11sv 3.03). The pitching allowed only 1350 hits in over 1466 innings. Unexpectedly, lefty Ted Lilly went 20-7 with 166 K's. He solidified the lineup and defense with Alamo's Vinny Castilla. Took in Erstad's (14 Pinch hits) glove to replace Rafael Palmeiro's (14 48 .328) glove at 1B. A few other tweaks with the situational players, and the result? a 95-67 season and a wildcard spot in the playoffs. The Royals must've exausted manager Josh Shapiro who probably experienced most of his emotions in his teams wild ride.

In April the Royals seemd lost as a pinwheel in a typhoon. Balls were swishing by their players and pitchers were dishin out the meat for opposing batters. They started with a dismal 9-15 record by April 23rd. April 27th saw Montreal games behind and in 3rd place. All that changed when Montreal went on what became a season long roll. Desperate to make most out his investment, The Wolfman made his CM moves bringing them up to .500, and then beyond, way beyond as the team began to fire on all cylinders. Great defense helped some good pitching (3.66 Era) get even better. It's conceivable that with more efficient closer work (67% sv opp %), the Royals could've finshed with CBA's best record. Juggling his usage wisely, Montreal was able to play many of his best during critical late season series. To talk about the Carter division we must look at the rivalry between Neah Bay and Montreal. Montreal and Neah battled back and forth all year each within games of each other. The Carter lead changed hands 10 times from June 11th till season end when Neah edged Montreal for the Carter title.

Key performers for Montreal were Pedro Feliz (33 105 .313), Carlos Beltran (39 128 .262 39sb), Carl Crawford .296 81sb), Woolie Harris (.280 33sb). The Royals got good production from there #3 and 4 hitters, but the table setters were merely average and had some trouble getting on base despite the gaudy SB numbers, getting on base only about 34% of the time between 'em. Despite Gonzalez and Izturis at SS, Montreal made 26 errors at SS, and oddly turned less than 1 DP per 9inn. The combo of power (258Hr) and pitching/defense wasn't enough as Montreal was bumped off in Rd 1 by Limoilou in a full and exciting 7 game series. Season one, The Wolfman Howls but can't draw blood. It was a nice ride to watch between Montreal and the next team in the report Neah Bay.

Neah Bay (96-66) won the Carter by sweeping the tough Belfast Brawlers (85-77) then the KC A's in the final week of the season to barely edge Montreal. Neah started out the season red hot going on a few long winning streaks to stake a claim. They simply had to ride .500 ball after that start to make the playoffs. Eventually they lost to Longue Pointe in Rd 1 of the playoffs. Despite LP's great play, it could be argued that if John Skillings had run his own team instead of some other guy, Neah would be in the finals not LP. The talent is all there. Neah's trademark is their tough pitching once again leading CBA with a stingy 3.35 team ERA. Pitchers tossed 12 shutouts, and the relievers allowed a CBA low of only 20% (.208) of inherited runners score. Good defense evidenced by the high .745 X rating factor meant that Neah turned 75% of his X rating chances into outs. Neah turned fewer DP's than the opposition (112-134) but strikeout pitchers help strand runners eliminating that as a key stat for some teams, and thats what Neah Bay Whalers have. Neah pitching allowed only 53 of 258 total chances for ballpark hits, a league low. Pedro (15-5 2.47 207K's) ,Ben Sheets (20-4 2.64 257K's) led the staff. The pen was spectacular with Smoltz leading CBA in appearances, 96. Lidge saved 23, but struck out 129 in relief for Neah. He and Matt Miller had ERA's below 2. In the clutch Mike Remlinger a late season RFA, tossed 9 key innings in relief allowing only 1 hit in a critical stretch. Neah used strong bench depth to maintain their lead the role players all performed nicely and were managed well by Skillings during the season. Names like Kaz Matsui, Jeremy Reed, Robb Quinlann pprroovviiddeedd a lift towards the end of the year. Perhaps the only weakness Neah had was on offense where a team .332 Oba and .249 batting average kept Neah from winning even more. Mike Lowell had a great year (31 106 .302) conversely Mike Cameron hit 27 Hr, but batted a feeble .195. The bullpen could have done better Neah goig 26-26 in 1 run games. Not much else too mention individually as this was a team effort. Goes to show how good balance can outweigh the big numbers by seasons end. 22 quality starts for Pedro made a difference.

Always drama in the Dawson. From the early 97-98 dogfights between Limoilou, Quebec, Brooklyn (later switched to Clemente), and Hamilton, to the present Longue Pointe, Limoilou, Belfast rivalry, the Dawson rivalries have always been the most intense in CBA. Some may recall the Jeff Boutet Chris Boutet championship playoff game to get into the WS. It can be found on the website. Last years 1 game playoff has been well chronicled but this year again another 1 gamer but perhaps the closest tightest race ever in CBA. I cant see any rivalry or 2 season that had finishes as close, yet with more meaningful games in the final series in all my 26 yrs of Strat baseball league play. It was satisfying watch. The final playoff run saw lots of strategizing by the Dawson managers, and there opponents too! Specific directions and CM's came in sets by some and many adaptations being made game to game against certain pitchers. A chess match. Yet in no other division, no other season did the impact of being a total manager have more effect. The teams that were the best prepared, and best built had a strong season, and made the playoffs. Managing usage was the key for LP and Limoilou in determining their playoff entrance. Belfast ran out of gas and dropped their last series and out of the playoff. The very best team of Dawson turned out to be Limoilou Wendigo again. Jeff Boutet's most successful Strat team. Jeff a member of what used to be a fine league, QSBL has had more winning seasons than anyone in CBA history. A sure CBA Hall of famer. He captures yet another conference crown.

The Joliet Jackhammers started the season with some hope and dreams but those quickly faded away as the hapless Jackhammers drill bit was quite dull. Joliet finished 63-99 as the team started in April with a strong start. Starting April 1-5, they went on a roll winning 7 of 8 week 2 and 3 and staying around 500 in what was a weaker start by all the Dawson teams. They held around .500 and by May 2nd they found themselves in 1st place 4 games over .500 with an 18-14 record. They held 1st place for a week before their slow march to oblivion began and little was done to stop the slide. By May 24th the team slipped down to 4th place, 9.5 games out of first losing to SD that day. Joliet was in all fairness done for the season at that point. By the end of June they had faded to 19.5 games behind the eventual conference champ Neah Bay Whalers. They finished '05 28.5 behind. Though bright spots were few, Matt Holliday (14 59 .309) had a solid rookie season, Derek Lee (24 78 .289) began his climb to greatness, and Jon Lieber (12-8 3.23 era) put up impressive numbers for a moribund pitching staff. A nice bullpen was like the only bright spot for Joliet. Luis Vizcaino managed to lead CBA with 18 holds. Braden Looper pitched in 15 saves and a tiny ERA but had limited opportunities for more with such a poor offense that managed only 126 HR's in Busch stadium. The Jack's just couldn't get 'em on base with a team .316 OBA and .374 slug. Those numbers are more reflective of players like Doug Flynn, not guys like Alfonso Soriano (22 61 .249) who finished a dismal year by his own standards. Joliet will be looking to return in 2006 with a much stronger team as players like DLee, Barmes, Cliff Lee, Soriano, H Ramirez, Podsz, Holliday, and ole Chipper Jones put some good cards together. Joliet is in good shape in what could be an even tighter race in 2006. This team is no doubt on its way up in the standings.

SSD was actually in first place this year! Well from March 30th to April 2nd...Awww forget it. They did finish third ahead of Joliet after 162 games. The anomaly being the season ending tie with LP and Lim in first place counting as 1st place. A 4th place finish puts Joe ahead of Jack for the first time. Seriously, A building team with a bright future. SD (65-97) has loads of young talents and perhaps 2006 is the season Joe Wallace's perrenial chump team finally breaks out. Involved on the short end of the highlight reel, SD another humiliating near 100 loss season. Wallace has lotsa stuff ready in 2006 and will likely give the boys a run for the conference with a little more pitching. Consider Reyes, Khalil Greene, Peavy, Hoffman, Benson (14 sac hits to lead CBA), Francisco Rodriguez (102 K's), Burrell, Dye, David Wright, and John Gibbons. Could contend.

But 2005 was another story. Aside from Burroughs hitting a weak .372 in 411ab, and perhaps Peavy (9-7 3.31) SD had no stars or standouts. Kris Benson went 14-5, but Ronson Award contenders Jose Lima (7-17 5.58) and Gil Meche (4-12 6.68) did more damage than good. A dismal .693 X rating factor. A .316oba guy leading off, a low .246 22 HR from the cleanup hole. Blanco and Victore Martinez did little with the bat to have an impact. Martinez did throw out 78 runners. Pat Burrell hit 25 HR and David Wright added 17 more.

Ginter solid season at 2b, as did Khalil Greene SS (20 60 .300 .772Xrating), who in his rookie year will likely win the Staub rookie of the year award. Other key stats, only 66 Sb at a 72% clip. From 20 hit & run plays, only 3 were successful and only 11 succesfully advanced runners. Lotta hit run with C and D rated guys. Kevin Gregg was a bomb allowing too many (13) Hr's in relief. Lotta bad out rally killers. Lotta losses. By comparison the next team in Dawson had a 24 of 30 advance rate for H&R, and that is the .....

.....And they did win. They won 85 times and barely missed the playoffs again giving spirited GM John Derek Adams fits. Belfast was in and out of first place through most of the early season until May 29th. In fact Belfast took first place over 9 times to show you how the race see sawed back and forth. Yet, Another heartbreak. What does JD have to do get into the playoffs? A beautifully balanced team, the Brawlers combine most aspects of the game to out manage and deliver wins against seemingly tougher teams. A strategist, Adams teams usually have all the tools in place to outpunch their opponents. In what may have been a rebuilding year for Adams turned out to be another strong contender. 2005 could have been JD's best year of managing to get this collection of reserves, platooners, and low impact players to perform at a high level.

Definitely a candidate for Mgr of the year as some predicted a lesser fate for the Brawlers. Truly the underdog of Dawson, this team was scrappy and had attitude. The leadoff hitters got on base often and scored in what was a well put together lineup. Leadoff hitters accounted for a .322ba and .382 on base %. The #2 hitters added 180 more hits and a .352 oba. With only Huff (22 95 .309) with any power numbers, the Brawlers (121) had the second lowest HR total next to Wantagh (114) in CBA. But clutch performances by the 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup brought around runs. But heres where it got done. MVP candidate Chone Figgins (7 65 .340 72sb 15 triples 17 sac) finished in second place in Staub division batting race, second in steals, first in triples. Lugo (15 sb, 15sac) did the job with hit and run in the 2 hole. Stole a few more as well. Kotsay (10 76 .322 .388oba) hit well in the 3rd spot. Javy Lopez hit .322. In fact Belfast placed Figgins, Lopez, Kotsay, and Huff in the Staub top ten batters for 2005. Belfast used these and other high OBA high average guys to push the runners. 139 Stolen bases, and a CBA leading 97 sacrifices put runners into scoring position in key times of the games. Belfast grounded into the fewest DP's in all of CBA. The bullpen was very tough keeping runners from advancing .283 IRSC. Dan Miceli saved from the scrap heap struck out 88 and provided great setup work all year. BJ Ryan added 75 Rolaids pts 2nd in Staub. Daniel Cabrera was decent in long relief averaging 29 pitches each time out. Perhaps if Belfast had a bit more defense (.67% Xrating) they could've picked up a few more wins. Brain Meadows also did a poor relief job allowing 12 HR in key moments. Good bench performances by Hollandsworth, Brady Clark, and Reggie Sanders kept the Brawlers in every game. Thats baseball.

The pitchers Tomko (13-9) and Lawrence (12-8) headed the staff, while Miguel Batista (9-17 4.63) hurt the cause at the bottom. BJ Ryan (1.97 25sv 81K's 68inn) did a nice job at closer. Adams will need to make some moves to get the Brawlers back in 2006. With some solid years by guys Like Clark, Sanders, Burke, Mensch, and Seo, Adams has some talent to work with.

Like a storm the Loggers have moved into and through the playoffs to a date with Philly for the 9th annual CBA World Series. It took LP winning 8 of their last 10 games to sew up a wildcard. With a rested set of regulars playing some usage depleted teams that is exactly what happened. Just as last year the Loggers bench proved a key. It was a long hard road for Dennis C who has put together some nice trades and nice draft picks to put LP into contention and likely into good shape for 2006. Not blessed with the top shelf talent that some other contenders had for 2005, this scrappy bunch of team players prove that a well built team can advance just as far if not further than the superstar laden ones. In fact over the past several seasons more often than not the teams with the best balance have advanced into the playoffs perhaps deeper than those who on paper look stronger. At closer look LP employed 8 first basemen, 7 SS, 6 2b, 6 3b, and 9 RF during their season. Team play indeed.

Some trades last year brought in guys like Craig Monroe (13 Hr). Monroe accumulated 33 PH in 82 at bats! a .402 PH average easily best in CBA perhaps best in CBA history. Other role players like Tino Martinez (16 53 .287), Alfonso (.271 Key contributions), "Dandy" Doug Mirabelli who could be this years Brian Jordan for LP(11 31 .313), Menenchino (9 39 .262), Torii Hunter (11 50 .238 15sb), Luis Gonzalez (10 33 .259), Marshall Thames (5 18 .292 in 65ab)The numbers dont astound you except for 1 thing, these are LP's reserve players who came in to support the starters and their usage. That kind of bench production in absense of the regulars kept that Loggers from falling too far behind the Brawlers and Wendigo. Jorge Julio (4-4 2.78 29sv) led Staub relievers with 81 Rolaids pts. Sabathia (10-9) also acquired in trade had solid seasons for the Loggers. If there was a knock on LP this season it was a mediocre road record. LP will need to do better on the road (41-40) next season to stay within the CBA elite. LP held first place at least 14 times in the race for Dawson. Towards the season end in September it looked as if LP would fall from the race after the August 21-23rd series vs SD they dropped two to fall 7 back of Limoilou and into 3rd place. By the 24th they were 8 games out. LP finished the season 91-71 20 over .500 after being 2 below .500 on May 5th. It took a last series sweep of San Diego (revenge) to get into the 1 game playoff with Limoilou.

Of note for LP was a record setting performance by team MVP Ichiro Suzuki. The future CBA hall of famer compiled CBA's greatest single season batting average a record .410ba with 291 hits. A record unlikely to be broken anytime soon in CBA. Could be that Ichiro's name will be permanently etched in stone forevermore. He also set a modern CBA record of 713 Ab playing in 163 games for the Loggers. He chipped in with 62sb as well. Hideki Matsui (32 119 .295) had a good season though only scoring 85 runs which reflects more upon the weaker lower half of the LP lineup. Shane Hillenbrand (15 87 .310) split time between 1B and 3B and was quite underrated in his fine season. He finished 9th in Staub batting. Nomar Garciaparra hit .321 in 321 p/t at bats. The Logger pitching staff used a bullpen by committee with no real standouts other than Julio. Calero (2-1 3.63 4sv) was solid in set up relief as was TJ Tucker (6sv). Fassero added a reverse lefty from the pen and contributed many key outs over the season even if not spectacular. However he allowed 52 relief walks which certainly did help LP. Dennis Reyes allowed 49 walks both were 1 and 2

The staff was led by Carlos Zambrano who tosssed his 1st CBA no hitter in a key game vs Limoilou that may have been the most important game of LP's season. He finished 15-8 3.83 with 184K's. He was 2nd among CBA pitchers with 18 hits at the plate. Moyer (13-10 3.97), and Kelvim Escobar (14-6) pitched well for LP's 3rd rated pitching staff. LP pitchers allowed only a .254 ba against them in 2005, and batted an impressive .285. Quite a difference which translated to wins. A team on base of .345 wasn't too shabby, however the dismal SB rate possibly cost LP some necessary run support. perhaps in part due to LP's use of hit and run style baseball. LP had 72 hit and run attempts in '05 1st in CBA. LP had some trouble turning Double plays as well getting only .7 per game likely due to weak range ratings in the infield positions. It remains to be seen how LP does in the WS against Philly and elite GM Rob Hite. In what is Dennis Concepcion's first time in the deep post season, it remains to be seen if Concepcion has truly joined the elite GM's of CBA. A series win might gain him the respectability his record has demanded the past two seasons.

"The Franchise" The Wendigo are as close to a CBA dynasty as there is. Perhaps only the old Quebec Capitales, Brooklyn Superbas, Phantastics, and maybe Longue Pointe could come close to approaching the success that Jeff Boutet's Wendigo have had in 9 years. They have appeared in the WS 3 times winning twice in 1999 and 2003. (If Im not mistaken Jeff correct me if I'm wrong) They have been in several championship series including 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005. They have made the playoffs in most years. This can all be traced back to Jeff's thorough knowledge of the game and cards. Jeff is as knowledgeable of the cards year to year as any GM in CBA. His drafts have blended a mix of prospect hunting and role player designed to fit his winning model for the team. It isnt uncommon for Jeff to draft a lesser known player with a terrific 1 year card in a high round. Ultimately that player going on to a key role for the Wendigo. Although the move may have backfired in this years Staub championships with Jason Michaels (game 7 defensive disaster) it had paid off dividends in previous years.

For the first time in awhile the Wendigo didnt have many players who were leaders in the individual categories excepting Jim Thome (38 93 .252) 3rd in Staub HR, Jim Edmonds (35 89 .295) finishing 2nd in runs scored and with 109. He also was 4th in Staub HR's. As is the Dawson trademark, teamwork and strong bench has led the Wendigo into first place winning the Dawson crown. Kent had an off year by his standards (19 54 .263). Ramon Hernandez (18 67 .314) split time with Piazza (16 49 .275). Shannon Stewart hit .304 with a little pop. Christian Guzman justified his place at SS with a solid season in the field with a .987 fielding % and a .834 Xrating. Overall the Wendigo had a terrific .76% X rating %. That served to help a shaky bottom of the rotation for Limoilou. Despite Odalis Perez going 10-12 5.06 Schilling went 19-7 3.18 era and Schmidt's 16-7 238 K's were fine atop the rotation. Schmidt even chipped batting in with 2 HR's. Foulke saved 33 games though blew a few (13) saves in the process. He was second in CBA with that dubious honor. Hawkins (5-6 6sv 3.16), Betancourt, and Weathers (6-1 3.78 42 walks) were decent in middle innings support. Michaels the Staub championship goat was a good PH going 17-49 during the season. Limoilou did not use the sacrifice much except for the pitchers who went 49-58 in sac attempts. Generally though the Wendigo had most of their problems with righty pitchers hitting .250 and .423 slug %, but tore lefties at a .289 & .529 slugging % clip. Strikeouts limited the Limoilou teams performance. They amassed a whopping 1240 K's this season alone. By comparison Philly only had a total of 957, though Stirling had 1450 and a horrible season.