League Chat Box

Lead Story - 12/1/2025

A Quarter-Season in the Duel of Decades

The season has not yet fully stretched its arms, but already its shape is forming — a shape of thunderous bats, humbled legends, and pitchers who bend the very spine of the strike zone. A quarter through this improbable tournament of time, it is the Astros of 2022 who rise above all others, as though the modern age itself were making a declaration to history.

The Astros: Today’s Clarity Against Yesterday’s Romance
Somehow, the men from Houston have made the game look almost modernistic in its precision. Every at-bat feels like a laboratory experiment concluding in violence. Bagwell, with a .399 average and 21 home runs in just 41 games, hits with the authority of a steel mill press. Altuve dances at the plate like a man who knows the pitcher’s intention before it’s released. And presiding over all, like a drill sergeant of the fastball, is Verlander, posting a 2.03 ERA — the rare pitcher who ages like fine bourbon.

The Astros do not merely win — they disassemble opponents — inning by inning.

The Nationals: Youthful Fury
Just behind them wait the 2019 Nationals, with the explosive energy of players who still believe the world can be taken by force. Juan Soto is hitting just .241, yet the ball flies from his bat as though offended by gravity. Bryce Harper, the defiant son of the launch-angle revolution, is hitting .330 with 42 RBIs, a reminder that his legacy may yet outgrow his mythology.

And then there is Scherzer — eyes mismatched like an omen — staring down hitters with maniacal zeal. The strike zone is his kingdom, and woe to the batter who trespasses.

The Indians: Beautiful and Dangerous
The 1996 Indians have perhaps the loveliest lineup in the league — every name a bell: Ramirez, Belle, Thome, Giles, Kent. They score in bunches, like a storm that dumps rain in sheets. Their 241 runs lead the league, but their defense leaks as badly as their bats roar. Luis Tiant, with 65 strikeouts and a 2.82 ERA, is a tragic hero surrounded by fielders with holes in their gloves.

They win 24 games and lose 17, but every Indian contest feels like a heavyweight fight — bruising, theatrical, and never quiet.

The Dodgers: Hollywood Chaos
The 2009 Dodgers are a carnival at full motion. Matt Kemp, hitting .273 with 15 home runs, plays as though his every swing is a bet with destiny. Manny Ramirez — who carries the aura of a disreputable genius — hits .317 with calm menace.

Their pitching is inconsistent, their bullpen occasionally miraculous, and their defense mercurial — but to watch the Dodgers is to remember that great baseball is not tidy. It is wild.

The Giants: Bonds Against Time
The 1918 Giants are the ghost-team made flesh. In quiet sepia colors they step forward — but in the middle of them stands Barry Bonds, crashing through time like a comet. He hits .321, drives in 29, draws more walks than patience should allow. When he swings, the leather-helmeted fans of 1918 surely feel the tremor from 2001.
The team is old-world — Bonds is not. This creates a tension worth watching.

The Cardinals: Gibson’s Fury, McGwire’s Fire
The 1968 Cardinals are an argument made manifest: pitching versus power.

Bob Gibson stalks the mound with the bearing of an ancient commander — 2.76 ERA, but frustration simmering.

McGwire, meanwhile, hits .340 with 18 home runs — a modern titan parachuted into the Year of the Pitcher.
They are 21-20, living in a strange equilibrium between eras.

The Yankees: Myth Under Pressure
The 1924 Yankees score plenty — 226 runs — but cannot quite find themselves. Ruth and Gehrig, each with more than 40 RBI, remain mythic. Yet their pitchers stagger like horses on a muddy track. Mamaux is their leading winner at 5-2, but his ERA over 4 suggests that living in the shadow of legends offers no protection against line drives.

The Red Sox: One Man, One Masterpiece
The 1946 Red Sox are a respectable 18-23. But this undersells their marvel:
Pedro Martínez, with 85 strikeouts and a 1.62 ERA.
He is pitching quite possibly the greatest season in the league — but gets as little support as a prophet in a noisy market.

The Athletics: Foxx in the Wilderness
The 1931 A’s are an original power franchise. But here, early, they falter. They give up too many runs, lose every close game, and Jimmie Foxx hits .312 as though his teammates were merely spectators.
Yet something in their pace hints they may be poised for a mid-summer charge.

The Cubs: Heavy Bats, Leaky Gloves
The 1970 Cubs may be the most unlucky team in the quarter season. They hit — oh, they hit — especially Sosa, .329 with 15 bombs. But their pitching collapses at the wrong moments, and deep fly balls find empty grass.
Hoyt Wilhelm, with his beguiling knuckleball, keeps them afloat — but only barely.

The Tigers: Hard Luck in Detroit
The 1955 Tigers are dinged and dented. They hit singles, but no barrages. Their pitchers keep games close, only to surrender them in the late innings. They are 17-24, admirably stubborn despite their deficits.

Jim Bunning, 6-2 with a 3.34 ERA, deserves a better fate.
The Orioles: Yesterday’s Champions, Today’s Strugglers
And then the Orioles — once proud lords of patience and pitching — now find themselves 12-29, the league’s caboose. Their hitters swat gently, their pitchers bend in the wind.

It is one thing to be beaten — another to be worn down.
Even Cal Ripken, usually a standard of consistency, looks mortal.

What Lies Ahead

A quarter-season gone, and we know this:
The Astros are a machine.
The Nationals and Indians are joyful bullies.
The Dodgers and Cardinals are dangerous lurkers.
The Giants, Yankees, Red Sox — each could catch fire.
The bottom four will need miracles, or at least a summer of rediscovery.

And yet — in this strange league where time itself is pitcher and batter — nothing is settled. Ruth may awaken. Gibson may grow angrier. Tiant may start throwing shutouts like postcards.

The season stretches forward, long as hope. In baseball, the truth is never written in April — only whispered.

11/13/2025

Season 18 draft order

Decade draft/Franchise Draft
1/12 ExpatBama 2022 Astros + Jeff Bagwell
2/11 Midget 2009 Dodgers + Duke Snider
3/10 REVEJB 2019 Nationals + Bryce Harper
4/9 Joshbonds25 1996 Indians + Luis Tiant
5/8 Davrogbro62 1970 Cubs + Sammy Sosa
6/7 Jimgriddy 1983 Orioles + Dave McNally
7/6 dalbpho8 1968 Cardinals + Mark McGwire
8/5 Lordhawke 1955 Tigers + Justin Verlander
9/4 Kingdude 1924 Yankees + Russ Ford
10/3 bodell82 1918 Giants + Barry Bonds
11/2 CoachPappy17 1931 Athletics + Vida Blue
12/1 Ndekar 1946 Red Sox + Pedro Martinez

7/8/2023

Team Year combos used

* = Division Winner

1900s
1900 Boston Beaneaters/Braves* (season 2)
1901 Pittsburgh Pirates
1902 Pittsburgh Pirates
1902 St. Louis Browns
1903 Boston Americans (Red Sox)
1904 New York Giants
1904 Philadelphia Phillies
1906 Chicago Cubs
1907 Chicago Cubs* (season 3)
1908 Chicago Cubs
1908 Philadelphia Athletics
1909 Philadelphia Athletics
1909 Chicago Cubs
1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
1909 Cleveland Naps
1909 Boston Red Sox


1910s
1910 Chicago Cubs* (season 5)
1910 Boston Red Sox
1910 Pittsburgh Pirates
1911 Chicago Cubs* (season 4)
1911 Philadelphia Athletics
1912 Philadelphia Athletics
1912 Chicago Cubs
1913 New York Giants
1914 Boston Red Sox
1915 Boston Red Sox
1915 Chicago White Sox
1916 Boston Red Sox
1916 Chicago White Sox
1917 Chicago White Sox
1919 New York Giants* (season 6)
1919 Cleveland Indians
1919 Detroit Tigers

1920s
1920 Cleveland Indians
1920 New York Giants* (season 1)
1923 New York Giants
1923 Pittsburgh Pirates
1925 New York Yankees* (season 8)
1926 New York Yankees
1927 New York Yankees
1927 Philadelphia Athletics
1927 New York Giants
1927 Washington Senators
1928 New York Yankees
1928 Philadelphia Athletics
1928 St. Louis Cardinals
1928 New York Giants
1929 Philadelphia A’s
1929 New York Yankees

1930s
1930 Philadelphia A's
1930 Chicago Cubs
1930 New York Yankees
1931 Chicago Cubs
1931 New York Giants
1932 New York Giants
1932 New York Yankees
1933 St. Louis Cardinals* (season 3)
1934 St. Louis Cardinals
1934 New York Yankees
1936 Detroit Tigers* (season 8)
1936 New York Yankees
1937 New York Yankees
1938 New York Yankees
1939 New York Yankees* (season 1)
1939 St. Louis Cardinals

1940s
1941 St Louis Cardinals* (season 6)
1941 Boston Red Sox
1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
1942 St Louis Cardinals* (season 4)
1942 New York Yankees
1943 St Louis Cardinals
1944 St. Louis Cardinals
1947 New York Yankees* (season 2)
1947 St. Louis Cardinals
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
1947 Cleveland Indians
1948 Brooklyn Dodgers
1948 Boston Red Sox
1948 Cleveland Indians
1949 Brooklyn Dodgers
1949 New York Yankees* (season 5)
1949 Cleveland Indians

1950s
1950 Cleveland Indians
1950 St Louis Cardinals
1951 New York Yankees
1953 Chicago Cubs
1955 Cleveland Indians
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
1956 Cleveland Indians
1956 Brooklyn Dodgers
1957 Brooklyn Dodgers
1957 Milwaukee Braves
1958 Milwaukee Braves
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
1959 San Francisco Giants
1959 Milwaukee Braves
1959 Los Angeles Dodgers
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates
1959 Chicago White Sox

1960s
1961 Los Angeles Dodgers* (season 6)
1962 Cincinnati Reds
1962 St. Louis Cardinals
1963 Detroit Tigers
1963 St. Louis Cardinals
1964 San Francisco Giants
1965 San Francisco Giants* (season 5)
1966 Baltimore Orioles
1967 Baltimore Orioles
1967 Chicago White Sox
1967 Detroit Tigers
1968 Detroit Tigers
1968 Baltimore Orioles
1969 Baltimore Orioles
1969 San Francisco Giants
1969 Chicago Cubs

1970s
1970 Baltimore Orioles* (season 1) **Champions
1970 Minnesota Twins
1971 Baltimore Orioles
1971 San Francisco Giants
1972 San Francisco Giants
1972 Oakland Athletics
1972 Baltimore Orioles
1972 Cincinnati Reds
1973 Detroit Tigers
1974 Boston Red Sox* (season 4)
1974 Cleveland Indians
1975 Cleveland Indians
1976 Philadelphia Phillies
1977 Cincinnati Reds
1977 Boston Red Sox
1978 Philadelphia Phillies
1979 New York Yankees* (season 3)

1980s
1982 California Angels* (season 2)
1983 California Angels
1984 Montreal Expos
1985 New York Mets
1985 California Angels
1985 St. Louis Cardinals
1986 Houston Astros
1986 New York Mets
1987 New York Mets
1987 Oakland Athletics
1988 Cincinnati Reds
1988 New York Mets
1988 Montreal Expos
1989 Oakland Athletics
1989 Seattle Mariners
1989 Montreal Expos* (season 8)
1989 Texas Rangers

1990s
1990 Oakland Athletics
1991 Houston Astros
1992 New York Mets
1993 Texas Rangers
1995 Cleveland Indians
1995 Atlanta Braves
1996 Atlanta Braves
1996 Seattle Mariners
1997 Atlanta Braves* (season 5) **Champions
1997 Seattle Mariners
1998 Atlanta Braves
1998 Houston Astros* (season 8) ** Champions
1998 Los Angeles Dodgers
1998 Seattle Mariners
1999 Atlanta Braves
1999 Arizona Diamondbacks

2000s
2000 Atlanta Braves
2001 Atlanta Braves
2001 St. Louis Cardinals
2001 Boston Red Sox
2002 Atlanta Braves
2003 Florida Marlins
2004 Boston Red Sox* (season 2) **Champions
2004 Houston Astros* (season 3) **Champions
2004 Angels
2006 Boston Red Sox
2006 Los Angeles Dodgers*(season 4) **Champions
2006 Minnesota Twins
2007 Boston Red Sox
2007 New York Mets
2008 New York Mets
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers* (season 1)
2009 Philadelphia Phillies

2010s
2010 Boston Red Sox
2012 Boston Red Sox
2014 Los Angeles Angels
2014 Detroit Tigers
2015 Detroit Tigers
2016 Washington Nationals* (season 6) ** Champions
2016 Toronto Blue Jays
2016 Chicago Cubs
2017 Washington Nationals
2017 Cleveland Indians
2017 Los Angeles Dodgers
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers
2018 Milwaukee Brewers
2018 Washington Nationals
2019 Houston Astros
2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 Atlanta Braves

2020s
2021 Houston Astros
2023 San Diego Padres