The Final Four

The 2020 Hum Babe Dynasty Final Four has officially been determined. The first overall seed, LeBronto Blue James, made a statement with their victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms posting a League High 582.33 points to Brooklyn’s 387.83, and continues to assert themselves as the strongest team in the League. They now match-up against Morning Wood who pulled off the only upset during Elite Eight play, beating Straight Outta deGrompton 408.67 to 379.08. On the other half of the bracket, Jackal Attack took care of the defending champion Pablo and the Secret Weapons, 497.42 to 347.83 and will take on the Sarasota Splitters who topped the San Francisco Studs by a score of 562.5 to 474. Although you could have made an argument for six or seven different teams, these four remaining have been the favorites more often than not. Morning Wood has already spent four of their five transactions for the week, acquiring Touki Toussaint and Jorge Lopez who will each, most likely, make two starts during this match-up. LeBronto and Jackal will continue to ride the rosters that got them to this point, while interestingly, the Sarasota Splitters made some sneaky transactions last week that has set them up nicely for their match-up against Jackal. The Splitters now own four different St. Louis Cardinal hitters who, due to past COVID delays, will play ten games during this seven day match-up – part of the reason the Splitters are projected to have 747 innings of playing time over the week, compared to Jackal’s 594 innings, despite the two teams having an identical number of probable starting pitchers, twelve each. Morning Wood will also throw twelve starting pitchers, while LeBronto is lined up to see fifteen starting pitchers get a turn.

There’s Always Next Year

For the teams less fortunate in the Elite Eight, there’s always next year I suppose. Straight Outta deGrompton was unmatched among the first-year Hum Babe managers, finishing their expansion season with a Division Title, 7-5 record, 8th most points scored, and a chance to fight for a 5th place finish in the Post-Season. Pablo and the Secret Weapons fell short of defending their Championship Title, but after a season full of injuries, their 8-4 record and 6th most points scored is a performance worth being proud of. The Brooklyn Bridegrooms made a strong push into the Post-Season despite a 5-7 Regular Season record; their 7th most points in the League sets them up nicely for 2021 with newly acquired Mookie Betts and flourishing Dustin May. The San Francisco Studs on the other hand, probably aren’t looking back on the positives of their season just yet, but instead on what could have been. The Studs, for the second season in a row, found themselves in the toughest Hum Babe Division yet still managed an 8-4 record and the 3rd most points in the League. But because Jackal Attack stole the Division Title, San Francisco had to face the third seeded Splitters and couldn’t get it done. Nonetheless, once the aches of their early-exit subside, they have a lot to look forward to with Fernando Tatis Jr leading a young core of very talented players.

Consolation Prizes

In the first of the consolation brackets, Super Saiyan Shanobi took on the El Paso Border Patrol to determine the 9th and 10th place finishes for the 2020 Hum Babe season. Through the back-and-forth of this match-up, Super Saiyan had seven players put up more than 20 points, including JT Realmuto’s 44.5 points, while El Paso had six players provide 20+, led by Kyle Hendricks’ two-start week amounting to 41.08 points. The difference, Super Saiyan threw ten starting pitchers to the hill over the course of the week while El Paso managed only seven; final score, 300 to 255.75 in favor of Shanobi. Moving into Week 15, four more teams find themselves in consolation bracket match-ups to determine the 5th through 8th place finishes; San Francisco Studs, Straight Outta deGrompton, Pablo and the Secret Weapons and Brooklyn Bridegrooms.