by Paul Gammons
It’s hard to believe that in just a few short weeks, the 2009 SearchFantasyBaseball playoffs will be upon us. While I’ve been mourning the death of the King of Pop, there’s nothing like fantasy playoffs to revive the spirit — when six months of preparation and execution can come down to a final Sunday night start, when rivalries are born and renewed, and when the Cavemen inevitably run out of roster moves.
In anticipation of what’s expected to be another riveting run to the SFB title, here’s my countdown of the top five storylines heading toward the postseason:
No. 5 – Is fate finally on Chamiqua’s side? The RuPaul of SFB dominated the regular season both last year and the year before, only to fall short in the playoffs. This year, like Barney at a Miley Cyrus concert, Chamiqua is quietly lurking nearby, just six games back of the leader.
While it hasn’t been a dominant season, Chamiqua team captain Roy Halladay says the mood in the locker room is upbeat. “We haven’t been able to put a consistent stretch of wins together for a while,” Halladay said, noting the team’s inconsistency since the halfway point, “but nobody else has either.” Well, that’s true, except for…
No. 4 – Does Gomes have yet another remarkable stretch run in store? After breaking all natural laws to take the SFB title a couple years ago, Los Gomos Extranos has fired off a league-best 35-15 run during the past five weeks. Plus Gomes has a soft schedule the rest of the way, facing two of the league’s three worst teams in the regular season’s final four weeks. So is the hype justified, or has Gomes already dumped Kate Major, so to speak? With Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Jones and Jason Kubel leading a suddenly potent offense and Johan Santana anchoring a solid rotation, Gomes might sneak into the playoffs once again, and from there, anything can happen. Unfortunately.
No. 3 – Have the bad teams ever stunk this much? Smell those rotting corpses? Then you must be checking out the bottom of the SFB standings. Ortiz’s Taint(ed), Watergates and Bums v2.4 have been sucking pond water all year long. Even all of Billy Mays’ drugs couldn’t console this sad group, which sit 27.5, 40.5 and 42 games back, respectively. It’s futility unlike that which we’ve ever seen in SFB. Well, at least since The Huntress left.
No. 2 - Which bubble teams will be on the outside looking in? An epic battle is underway for the last few playoff spots, as six teams from 4th to 9th in the standings are all within eight points of each other. In fact, as many as three above-.500 teams may miss the playoffs, something that’s never happened in the history of SFB head-to-head competition. (Insert your own dramatic pause here. Go ahead, I’ll wait.)
No. 1 – Can the MimoSox avoid an epic collapse? After looking dominant all season long, the Mimosox’s wire-to-wire run atop the standings is in jeopardy. Currently in the midst of its only multi-week losing streak of the season, the MimoSox have been outscored 5-17 in the fortnight. Albert Pujols and Mark Reynolds have been huge as of late, but the starting pitching looks as vulnerable as it has at any point in 2009. Not unlike Eddie Cibrian. With Parizona and Chamiqua both just a half dozen games back, the MimoSox’s first-round bye could be hanging in the balance. (Optional dramatic pause here. Only if you want to.)
Paul Gammons, a columnist for PaulGammons.com, will probably be back later this week with his annual (or when he feels like it) “three deals that need to happen now” feature in advance of this weekend’s SFB trading deadline.
