2021 FGM Playoffs Recap & Commentary

[Paul S.]

Congrats to Flash and his Giants for a great week and season as they continue to represent the NL West!  Unfortunately the Rockies managed to have 5 starting pitchers on the il for the playoffs and the hitters did not step up.

[Flash]

It?s Thursday in fantasy baseball land and here?s an update on our two Conference Series.

Matchups
Period 24 (Sep 6, 2021 - Sep 12, 2021)

NLCS
A bit of a surprise here, but the :SF:, with 1008.23 points, are leading the :PHI: with 707.99 points.  The :SF: were certainly helped by a hitting barrage at Coors Field by the MLB :SF:.  But, that lead will probably evaporate today as the :SF: will be dealing with an off day for many of its players, while the :PHI: will be at full strength.

ALCS
In the ALCS, the fortunes of the :MIN2: seem to be waning a bit.  The :LAA:, in their own consistent and methodical way, have basically doubled up on the :MIN2: to the tune of 857.95 to 466.70.  The :MIN2: found themselves in a similar predicament in the ALDS and finished strong to advance to the ALCS, so no one can count them out just yet. 

Both series are far from over.  There are still four days of fantasy play, and with COVID lurking in the background for every team, coupled with unforeseen injuries and slumps, anything can happen.  The :PHI: and the :LAA: are former champions, so they are undeterred by the task ahead.  For the :MIN2:, it?s been six years since  they advanced this far, and that was under different management.  As for the :SF:, they have never advanced this far in the playoffs.  Losing in the Wild Card round has been a familiar end for them.  Stay tuned for more commentary as the four remaining teams try and advance to the FGM World Series.

[Flash]

Here we are, in the final two days of the NLCS and the ALCS, and my oh my, things have certainly changed.  Both races have tightened up and the outcome is still very much in question.  Here?s what we have in this final weekend of the two Conference matchups.

In the NLCS, the :SF: are hanging onto a slim lead.  The :PHI: have made a charge and closed the gap since the last posting.  The :SF: comfortable 300 point lead has been sliced in half, with the current score being :SF: 1408.86 :PHI: 1257.85.  Can the :SF: hang on and upset another higher seed?  Or will the :PHI: continue to gain ground and overcome any challenge to their quest for another FGM World Series title? 

On the other side, the ALCS has turned into a real dogfight.  When we last looked at this series, the :LAA: were seemingly on the verge of running away with it, leading by nearly 400 points.  However, as noted previously, the :MIN2: were unfazed by their predicament, and have amazingly surged ahead 909.36 - 888.40.  The :MIN2: have turned on the jets and turned the series around, while the :LAA: seemed to be stuck in the mud as they have scored a measly 31 points in the past two days.  Can the :LAA: get themselves untracked and get thei bats going again?  Or will the :MIN2: accomplish a victory that seemed out of the question just two short days ago?

The crazy world of fantasy baseball is on full display in our FGM playoffs.  Let?s see what happens as all four teams race to the door with their ticket to the FGM World Seies

[papps]

Congrats Flash! Your Giant bats were too much for me. Good luck in the finals!  :toth:

[Anthony]

I can't believe I pulled that out

[Flash]

In the words of that old Cubs announcer, Harry Carey, ?Holy Cow!? Who would have thunk it?  The :MIN2: and :SF: have done the unthinkable and advanced to the FGM World Series, 

In the NLCS, the :SF: were the beneficiaries of a hitting barrage by the MLB :SF: this past week.  During a 3 game series at Coors Field and another 3 game series at Wrigley Field, the MLB :SF: outscored the :COL: and :CHC: 55-22 and that translated into a total of 309 more hitting points than the :PHI:.  That offset the 72 point pitching advantage accumulated by the :PHI:.  The final score was 2293 - 2055 and for the first time in it?s FGM history, the :SF: are going to advance to the World Series.

The ALCS was certainly something to behold, as the :MIN2: defeated the :LAA: 1613 - 1597.  For the past four days, the :MIN2: kept doing just enough to stay within striking distance.  In the waning moments of the series, the :LAA: looked to be the winning team, but in his last at bat for :MIN2:, OF Nick Solak hit a 2B and RP Ryan Pressly finished up with an clean inning to put :MIN2: ahead.  With victory assured, the :MIN2: GM then moved the last eligible hitter in his lineup, Javy Baez, to the bench to take away the possibility of any negative points.

Every team in the playoffs deserved to be there and each of the series was hotly contested.  Each of the GMs who made the playoffs, BHows, davinci_ascent, kidd5jersey, RyanJames5, Paul S., Speedster18431, game162 and papps, are all to be commended for putting together very competitive teams.  Often times, fantasy play is dictated by the unknown and it?s one of the things that draws us to a league such as Franchise GM.  Now we are at the point where we are left with two survivors, :SF: and :MIN2:. They will now engage in a two week matchup to see who will join the other previous winners on the FGM Wall of Champions.  Stay tuned for periodic updates as the series rolls on.

[Flash]

After five days of fantasy play, the :SF: have leaped ahead of of the :MIN2: by a sizable margin: 1817-1015.  So far the :SF: have been the beneficiaries of some timely hitting up and down their lineup.  The pitching numbers are about even at this point for both teams.  There?s still a long ways to go, and no one, including the :SF:, can count the :MIN2: out yet.  The :MIN2: have overcome the odds throughout these playoffs, and although the situation looks grim at the moment, we all know that fantasy fortunes can take some wired and crazy turns. Stay tuned for further updates as the Series moves on.

[Flash]

FGM World Series Update

To say this week has been wrought with surprises is an understatement.  The :SF: have enjoyed a week like no other, scoring 2419 points.  The :SF: has certainly benefited from the run by the MLB :SF:, but with that, the team has got a lot of production from other players on their roster.  The :MIN2: have also had a productive week, but their lineup has been hurt by a lack of players to turn to when their regular players are rested or have an off day.  The :MIN2: currently have 1401 points and have a lot of ground to make up during the coming week.

Both teams have limited pitching staffs and have basically offset each other by scoring about the same amount of points:  :SF: 552  :MIN2: 511. 

There?s still 7 days of fantasy play, and we all know bats can go cold and batters can heat up, so the outcome is far from being settled.  Both teams have shown a lot of resilience during the playoffs, so there is no reason to break out the champagne just yet.

Stay tuned for further updates as we race to the finish.

[Flash]

Monday, September 20th Update

It was an off day for many MLB teams, but even so, the :MIN2: fielded 7 position players and 2 SPs.  The :SF: had 6 position players and no SPs.  The night started out very well for the :MIN2: as 4 players, with Nolan Arenado, Bryan Reynolds, Nick Solak (2), and Andres Gimenez hitting 5 HRs. However, the 2 :MIN2: SPs had miserable outings and both scored negative points.  Three of the :SF: players had negative points, and :MIN2: seemed to be headed to making a significant dent in the :SF: lead.  But, yet again, :SF: got an unexpected lift from Joey Votto.  Votto, like Nick Solak, hit 2 HRs, but with those two long balls, he went 3 for 3 with 2 BBs and scored 198.08 all by himself.  The Giants were also helped by JP Crawford (43.68) and Mitch Haniger (87.2). 

So while :MIN2: cut into the :SF: lead with its 356.28 points, the :SF:, thanks to Votto, Crawford, and Haniger, stayed close with 314.42 points.  Six days of fantasy play left, and right now the score is :SF: 2734 - :MIN2: 1772.  Stay tuned for more updates.

[Flash]

FGM World Series

Tuesday, September 21st Update

The :SF: had a very productive night, scoring 401 points, and pushing their total to 3135.83 for a lead of 1327 points.  The :MIN2: added only 36 points to their total, which stands at 1808.29, and with only 5 days left, their path to victory is becoming increasingly difficult.  But, with those five days, there?s still a lot of baseball to be played.  More updates in the days to come.