CFCL Owners of 1987

Not pictured [from left]:  Paul Mahlan (Paul's Penguins), Ken Visnack (Aces to Win), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Joe Gemini (Gemini's Apollos), Tim Davies (Davies' Crocketts), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1987 would be the final year of one of the Original Six.  Paul Mahlan (owner of the Penguins/Bunyans) would resign following this season.  We added three new teams in 1987.  The Crocketts, Aces to Win and Apollos.  I believe they were all connected to Monroe.  Joe Gemini had probably provided the best team name in the short CFCL history.  Looking at his last name you would think "Gemini" like the space program.  Hence the team name.  But his last name wasn't pronounce "Jem-in-I".  It was "ja-Minh-ee" which provided a bit of a disconnect.  Alas, it wouldn't matter much as they left the league at the end of the season.

Tune in tomorrow for more details, but 1987 should have been the season that David and I realized that the CFCL could withstand almost anything.  As you will see tomorrow, 1986 was our first year with eight owners.  At the end of the season three owners left.  We scrambled to find three new owners and keep things moving forward.

The Copperfields captured their second consecutive championship, winning by seven points over the Bald Eagles.

The draft took place on Sunday, April 12th at 1pm at the Mahlan home in Oak Park.

CFCL Owners of 1988

Not Pictured [from left]: Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Ken Visnack (Aces to Win), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks), Roy Garlisch (Davies' Crocketts), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1988 saw some interesting things.  First off, we had two new owners.  Kelly Barone (Six Packs) joined the league having met the Copperfields on the UIC campus.  Pat McGuire also joined.  Pat was a co-worker of Rich's at the local bank.  It was a couple of pretty good additions as Pat would be part of the CFCL for five seasons and Kelly would be around for sixteen.

One franchise stayed around but the ownership changed a bit.  Davies' Crocketts joined in 1987 but in 1988 Roy Garlisch took over as owner.  I don't remember much about Garlisch or the Crockett franchise, but I think Roy was a co-worker of the Bald Eagles.

1988 also saw the first three-peat as the Copperfields won for the third time in a row (and third time overall).  It didn't come easy though, as the Bald Eagles did everything they could to overtake the Copperfields.  They ended up just one point short (73-72).

Since David and I were still a couple of starving college kids, we hadn't moved out yet and the draft was held at David's parents home in Oak Park on Sunday, April 10th at 1pm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On behalf of the CFCL we would like to wish all fantasy baseball owners out there (and, more importantly, their families who tolerate our passion) a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

Personally I am thankful for my nine fellow owners who make it possible for the CFCL to continue at such a high level.  Additionally I am thankful for the previous 35 owners of the CFCL for providing us with such a colorful history and many great stories.

Most of all I'm thankful for David Mahlan and his idea to share a book with me 30 years ago that got the whole thing rolling.

CFCL Owners of 1990

Not pictured from left:  Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks), Paul Skupien (Mr. Paul's Swordfish), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1990 saw the Copperfields capture their fourth title in seven years.  It was also (sniff) the last draft at Mount Olympus (Rich and David's apartment in Forest Park) as girls had FINALLY entered our lives.

This was also the year that Paul Skupien (I think he came from the bank I worked at at the time) took over the Headless Horseman franchise.  While we were thankful that we could keep the league at eight owners, we had to deal with the fact that Paul came up with one of, if not THE, worst names in CFCL history - Mr. Paul's Swordfish.  1990 was also the final, but not quite final, year of the Picks franchise.  Pat would take a sabbatical from the CFCL for a year before returning for two more years beginning in 1992.

CFCL Owners of 1991

Prior to 1992 (other than the recently posted 1989 season) we didn't take pictures of the draft.  So we have to use our imagination to picture: [not pictured from left] Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), David Mahlan (David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Paul Skupien (Mr. Paul's Swordfish), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles and eventual 1991 CFCL Champion), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1991 saw a return of seven owners.  Pat McGuire left after three years (following 1991 he would return for two more seasons).  This would also prove to be the final season of the Bald Eagle franchise.  Bob was continually promoted up the Hancock Fabric chain of command and landed in Colorado.  The pre-Internet distance combined with work and family time requirements proved to be too much for Bob to consider running a team long distance.  However, in his final year, Bob would finally break through the ceiling of his three previous second place finishes and take home the cherished CFCL title.

Perhaps the biggest change the CFCL saw that year was on the draft table.  Kelly Barone introduced the Big Cards for owners to flip over if they were out of the bidding.  Despite all the technological advancements our country has seen in the following 23 years, the flip cards are a staple of the CFCL Draft Table.

David and Michelle opened their doors to the CFCL on Sunday, April 14 at 10am in Oak Park.

Trading the Gator: What It All Means

As we ease into the baseball offseason, let's revisit "Trading the Gator" with the film's closing sequence.  It's an introspective segment, that reflects on what this whole fantasy baseball thing really means.  Original Rotisserie League founders Valerie Salembier and Dan Okrent, along with Dave Barry, Jim Cramer, Bill James, Tim Kirkjian, and American Dreams League owner Walter Shapiro all give their thoughts on the subject.

Also appearing in this clip is Paul Zeledon, owner of the CFCL's Da Paul Meisters, who is seen in action at White Sox Fantasy Camp.  The video of him legging out a triple earned Paul the nickname "wheels" after "Trading The Gator" premiered.

CFCL Owners of 1989

1989 was the first year the CFCL thought to chronicle its draft via pictures and it was by chance.  Below are three photos that captured all the owners.  We have Mrs. Mahlan (David's mom) to thank for stopping by our apartment with a camera and snapping a few pics.

From left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels and eventual 1989 CFCL Champion); Eric Lamb (Lambchops - obscured head); Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks); David Mahlan (David's Copperfields); Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs); Dave Holian (David's Ruffins - or at least his right hand); Empty Chair - was being saved for Scott something who never showed up so his team was renamed Headless Horsemen;

From left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels and eventual CFCL Champion [can that be typed enough?]; Eric Lamb (Lambchops); Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks); David Mahlan (David's Copperfields); Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs - or at least Kelly's right arm);

From left:  Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs); Dave Holian (David's Ruffins);

A few things, first of all this was 1989 so David and I hosted the draft at our apartment in Forest Park [Mount Olympus].  In all three pictures I see beer bottles (looks to be Coors).  I don't remember that at all.  I was under the impression that we had outlawed alcohol from the beginning.  That may explain why we ended up with the The Mitch Williams Incident.  I'm of two minds.  One, I really got burned by the Mitch Williams thing, but two, I WON THE PENNANT!  Maybe we should rethink alcohol at the draft.

You will also notice that, being the last of the decade of the '80's, the Lambchops were sporting a really nice porn star 'stache, the Picks had the 'fro going and Dem Rebels were getting it done with a full head of hair and glasses that covered half his face.

One other note, in pictures one and two you see plastered across our window a big sheet of paper.  Part of the pre-draft ritual was for David to measure out on this big sheet all the CFCL teams drafting that year and the slots for their players.  After each player was selected, David would write the name and salary of the player under the draft team's name which allowed for everyone to have an instant visual of who needed what.

Bad Boy Dance

Before there was The Voice, The Sing-Off, America's Got Talent or American Idol the world had . . . the CFCL videos!  Usually captivating in and of themselves, the video in 1996 got a little "oomph" from Ken Welsch, owner of the Flatfeet.

There doesn't seem to be any true explanation as to the reason Ken broke into song other than he wanted "to liven things up."  Based on the reaction of the other owners he may have had the exact opposite affect.

Nick Esasky Award

We complete our tour of the CFCL Post-Season Awards by highlighting the most uniquely named award.  When you see the Nick Esasky Award you may think the CFCL has an affinity for honoring mildly obscure power hitting corner infielders.  Not so.  Here's the official description:

The antithesis of the Steal of the Year. This award is given to the player acquired in the Draft that year whom the CFCL owners feel was overpaid the most. Like the Steal of the Year, the Nick Esasky award is purely subjective. The award was first given in 1990, and named in honor of the ex-Red and Brave, Nick Esasky. After playing for the Reds, and routinely clobbering the Braves' pitching whenever Cincinnati played in Atlanta, Esasky spent a year in the AL with Boston where he hit 30 HR. Then, in 1990, when he returned to the NL as a Brave, everyone in the CFCL figured he was a cinch for 40 homers playing in Atlanta. The Bald Eagles thought they had themselves a great deal when they got him in the Draft for a mere .25. Unfortunately for the Eagles, however, Esasky developed vertigo shortly after Opening Day and didn't play the rest of that season. Or any other season. His final 1990 stats: .171 - 0 - 0 - 0. Not exactly what the Eagles were expecting for their quarter. Not all was lost, though. Out of the misfortune of Esasky and the Eagles, a new CFCL award was born.

Any time the CFCL can benefit from the pain of the Bald Eagles, it's a win-win.  Most of the time the winner fits perfectly with what happened with Esasky.  A team waaay overpays for anticipated production of either a stud or a highly over-hyped player.  Occasionally it will be a consistent stud who just has an off year (recently see Tim Lincecum and Hanley Ramirez).  On the rare occasion, the owners will vote for a player who didn't play at all yet was drafted on Draft Day (Brandon Webb).  This is certainly one award each owner is not excited about winning.  Here are the past "winners":

1990		Nick Esasky		Bald Eagles		.25
1991		Von Hayes		Dem Rebels		.15
1992		Dave Righetti		David's Ruffins		.23
1993		Rob Dibble		Twin Picks		.42
1994		Mitch Williams		Six Packs		.24
1995		Rudy Seanez		Six Packs		.23
1996		Paul Wilson		Six Packs		.18
1997		Jeff Brantley		Dem Rebels		.39
1998		Mark Wohlers		Eric's Lambchops		.43
1999		Mark Wohlers		Steve's Slackers		.18
2000		Mike Jackson		Matt's Hard Hats		.29
2001		Matt Mantei		Da Paul Meisters		.44
2002		Kevin Brown		Steve's Stones		.37
2003		Robb Nen		DoorMatts		.22
2004		Nick Johnson		By Kennen		.29
2005		Barry Bonds		Splendid Splinters		.23
		Jeff Bagwell		Sludge Sundae		.26
2006		Eric Gagne		Da Paul Meisters		.32
2007		Chris Capuano		David's Copperfields		.25
2008		Andruw Jones		Kenndoza Line		.29

 2009    Brandon Webb    Morkertzuma's Revenge  .31
 2010    Brandon Webb    Graging Bulls               .11
 2011    Hanley Ramirez   Dem Rebels                 .49
 2012    Tim Lincecum     Twin Killers                 .37
 

Paul Mahlan Award

The name on the award may be familiar.  Paul Mahlan was an Original 6 owner of the CFCL.  He ran the Penguins/Bunyans from 1984-1987.  In 2000, well here's the description of the award and why we started it in 2000.

Paul Mahlan Award

The Paul Mahlan Award was established in 2000 to honor of one of the charter members of the CFCL. Each year the award goes to the team that overcomes the most adversity during the season; the team that, through injuries, was expected to do poorly, but somehow managed to come back and finish the season strong. The team doesn't necessarily need to win the title, but just show that they didn't give up. It should go to the team whose owner made moves to overcome the injuries, retirements and/or trades to the American League.

The Executive Committee determines the winner of this award each year.

The award is named for one of the CFCL's original owners. During the 2000 season, Paul was paralyzed in a diving accident, but impressed everyone with his determination and never-say-die attitude. The following is from Rich Bentel's original proposal for the award:

Given what Paul is facing, it might be a reminder for us all that even though our team may be languishing in the 2nd division, we should still work to do as well as possible. Seeing the challenges that lie ahead for Paul, there can't be justification for taking the second half of the year off because one didn't feel like researching a recent call-up, or make a trade to improve for next year, or replace a player on the active list that has recently retired.

So for eleven years we tried to identify an owner who never gave up; who kept working to build either for this year or next; who consistently made moves to keep his team productive.  The challenge was that there was inherently something different about the Paul Mahlan Award from the GM of the Year Award and the CFCL Champion.  But to fairly identify the differences and recognize the proper owner was getting to be more and more difficult each year.

So following the 2010 season, the decision was made to discontinue handing out the Paul Mahlan Award.  This was in no way reflective on Paul, it was more that we didn't want to take the award lightly and not just pick someone to pick them.  We wanted the award to be meaningful and the concern of not being able to keep up with the standard the award was intended encouraged us to stop even though we continue to be impressed with Paul's focus on life and accomplishing the next day's goals.

Here is a list of the eleven winners:

2000		David Mahlan		David's Copperfields
2001		Matt Grage		Matt's Hard Hats
2002		Rich Bentel		Dem Rebels
2003		Eric Lamb John Lemon		Eric's Lambchops
2004		Steve Olson		Steve's Stones
2005		David Holian		David's Ruffins
		Matt Grage		Hot Sludge Sundae
2006		Kenn Ruby		Kenndoza Line
2007		Kenn Ruby		Kenndoza Line
2008		Bob Boryca		Mo's Red Hots

 2009    Kenn Ruby         Kenndoza Line
 2010    Mike Coulter     Candy Colored Clowns
             Bob Boryca        Mo's Red Hots

GM of the Year

In 1996 we began to award the owner who ran their team the best.  You might think, well Team A won the championship, didn't that owner run his team the best?  Not necessarily, though unfortunately I think that is the thinking for most owners when they are voting.  Here's the definition of the award:

CFCL General Manager of the Year

In 1996, we decided to vote on which of the CFCL managers had done the best job of running his team during the season. Criteria for this award includes trades and free agent acquisitions, as well as intelligent movement of players between the Active and Reserve Rosters. Unofficially, no owner who allows his pitchers to pitch in Coors Field should be eligible for this award. More often than not, the owner who finishes in first place will probably win this award, however, it is the quality of the owner's management, not the performance of his players that should determine the winner of the GM of the Year award.

Clearly this was written before the Rockies installed their humidor.  If the logic is "Well, that owner won the league so he should be GM of the year" then we don't need this award.  We already have this award - it's called the Copperfield Trophy.  This award is meant to recognize the owner that did the best job of managing his team throughout the season, not who had the best draft or walked in with the best players.

The GM of the Year could easily be an owner whose team finished sixth, but during the season the owner picked up some talent on waiver wires, made astute trades to put them in position to compete next  year, freed up some salary to give them flexibility at next year's draft, etc.

The main problem in trying to vote for this award the way it's supposed to be voted on is that during the course of a loooong season, we are focused on our teams, making our moves, living our lives, working, family time, etc.  It is very difficult to also monitor what another owner does when the moves are more subtle.  If one owner makes a ton of trades to acquire massive young, inexpensive talent - that's not too hard to identify.  But the intelligent waiver claim, the subtle trade, the constant bi-weekly tweaking of the active roster is less easy to identify - especially if that owner's team isn't all that talented to begin with.  But that owner could have worked his ass of to have his team finish 6th when had he not worked as hard as he did, the team easily could have finished last.

In fact, in the seventeen years the award has been handed out, only two and a half times has the award gone to an owner who did not also win the league.  In 2008 Bob Boryca won the GM award despite the Stones (Steve Olson) winning the league.  The following year in 2009 Matt Bentel won the GM award when the Kenndoza Line (Kenn Ruby) won the title over Bentel in a tie-breaker.  And last year (this is the "half" I referred to) Mike Coulter (who won the CFCL title) and Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels) tied in the voting for GM of the Year.  Here are all the past winner:

1996		Rich Bentel		Dem Rebels
1997		David Mahlan		David's Copperfields
1998		David Holian		David's Ruffins
1999		Kelly Barone		Six Packs
2000		David Mahlan		David's Copperfields
2001		David Mahlan		David's Copperfields
2002		Eric Lamb John Lemon		Eric's Lambchops
2003		Eric Lamb John Lemon		Eric's Lambchops
2004		Steve Olson		Steve's Stones
2005		David Mahlan		David's Copperfields
2006		David Holian		David's Ruffins
2007		Kenn Ruby		Kenndoza Line
2008		Bob Boryca		Mo's Red Hots

 2009    Matt Bentel        DoorMatts
 2010    David Holian     David's Ruffins
 2011    David Holian     David's Ruffins
 2012   Mike Coulter      Candy Colored Clowns
             Rich Bentel        Dem Rebels
 

Rookie of the Year

In 1996 the CFCL added two more awards.  Even though we recognized the CFCL Cy Young and MVP in 1990, for some reason we waited six years to add Rookie of the Year.  For a player to qualify for ROY in the CFCL they must have had rookie status according to MLB heading into the season.  The reality of it is that almost all of ROYs have never previously been activated by a CFCL club prior to that year (as opposed to the MLB which has AB or IP threshholds to determine if a player holds "rookie" status).

Additionally, the ROY winner (the owner that receives the certificate) is the owner that owns the player at the time of his CFCL activation.  So for example, in 2009 Andrew McCutchen won the ROY for the CFCL.  Dem Rebels received the award, even though David's Ruffins had selected McCutchen in the Rotation Draft years before.  The Ruffins traded McCutchen to Dem Rebels when they (the Ruffins) were making a push to a CFCL title.

Here is a list of past award winners:

1996		Todd Hollandsworth		David's Ruffins
1997		Scott Rolen		David's Ruffins
1998		Todd Helton		David's Ruffins
1999		Scott Williamson		David's Ruffins
2000		Rafael Fucal		Matt's Hard Hats
2001		Albert Pujols		DoorMatts
2002		Damien Moss		Matt's Hard Hats
2003		Scott Podsednick		Dem Rebels
2004		Jason Bay		Splendid Splinters
2005		Willy Tavares		Kenndoza Line
2006		Hanley Ramirez		Graging Bulls
2007		Ryan Braun		Da Paul Meisters
2008		Geovanny Soto		David's Ruffins

2009     Andrew McCutchen      Dem Rebels
2010     Jason Heyward              Twin Killers
2011    Craig Kimbrell               Kenndoza Line
2012    Bryce Harper                 Graging Bulls

Best Reserve List Pick

In 1992 we added an award to recognize the owner who was most prescient during the second stage of our Draft. When we expanded to Ultra, we added seventeen man reserve lists to our teams (actually originally we test drove Ultra in the beginning with a 12 man reserve list and then shortly thereafter expanded to the recommended 17 man reserve roster). So now on Draft Day, we acquire, via auction draft, our 23 active man rosters. Then we move right into a true draft to fill our seventeen man roster.

You would think that (in a ten team league) once you have filled your active roster (230 players) there isn't much talent left. Au contraire. There has proven to be scads of baseball goodness lingering on the Reserve Rosters. And for the owner that grabs the most productive player, he is bestowed with the Best Reserve Pick Award. Here is the list of past winners:

1992		Eric Anthony		David's Copperfields
1993		Derek Bell		David's Copperfields
1994		Bobby Jones		DoorMatts
1995		Pete Schourek		David's Copperfields
1996		Eric Davis		David's Ruffins
1997		Kevin Young		David's Copperfields
1998		Gregg Olson		ForGoetz Me Nots
1999		Kent Bottenfield		ForGoetz Me Nots
2000		John VanderWal		David's Copperfields
2001		Paul LoDuca		Da Paul Meisters
2002		Junior Spivey Tomo Ohka		David's Ruffins Six Packs
2003		Joe Borowski		Tenacious B
2004		Doug Davis		Reservoir Dogs
2005		Derek Turnbow		Reservoir Dogs
2006		Roger Clemens		Dem Rebels
2007		Heath Bell		Steve's Stones
2008		Ryan Dempster		Moore Better

2009    Randy Wolf              Morkertzuma's Revenge
2010    Brandon Lyon          David's Ruffins
2011    Emelio Bonafacio    David's Ruffins
2012    AJ Burnett               Candy Colored Clowns

Cy Young Award

And if you're going to recognize the MVP in 1990 you HAVE to recognize the Cy Young Award.  The criteria for selecting the Cy Young is "vote for whatever pitcher was most valuable to his CFCL team during the season.  The CFCL votes for and distributes our awards (most of the time) well before any announcements are made by MLB for their awards, so we're not voting in a copy cat manner.  And as you can see on the list below, in the 23 years the award has been around, the CFCL has disagreed with MLB eight times.

The thing to keep in mind is that the CFCL used to use Wins as one of the scoring categories, along with ERA, WHiP and Saves.  So a pitcher with four or five more wins that someone else was VASTLY more valuable unless their WHiP and ERA was egregiously high.  In MLB, Wins may be discounted a bit.  But in the CFCL an extra win or two (or five) could garner three or four points in just one category.  That's huge.  That may explain how Mike Hampton won the Cy Young in the CFCL in 1999 over Randy Johnson (who took the award for the first of four in a row in the NL).

Same sort of concept in 1998 when Trevor Hoffman (53 saves) beat out Tom Glavine (20 wins).  The affect of the numbers has greater meaning in the CFCL. 

Here is the list of past winners.  The 'x' next to a player identifies that that player did not win the Cy Young Award in the NL that season.

1990		Doug Drabek		Dem Rebels
1991	x	Lee Smith		Eric's Lambchops
1992		Greg Maddux		Six Packs
1993		Greg Maddux		David's Copperfields
1994		Greg Maddux		ForGoetz Me Nots
1995		Greg Maddux		ForGoetz Me Nots
1996		John Smoltz		ForGoetz Me Nots
1997		Pedro Martinez		David's Copperfields
1998	x	Trevor Hoffman		David's Copperfields
1999	x	Mike Hampton		Six Packs
2000		Randy Johnson		David's Copperfields
2001		Randy Johnson		Six Packs
2002		Randy Johnson		Matt's Hard Hats
2003		Eric Gagne		Picts
2004	x	Ben Sheets		David's Ruffins
2005		Chris Carpenter		David's Ruffins
2006	x	Roy Oswalt		DoorMatts
2007		Jake Peavy		David's Ruffins
2008	x	Johan Santana		Steve's Stones

2009    Tim Lincecum        Kenndoza Line
2010    Roy Halladay         DoorMatts
2011  x Roy Halladay         DoorMatts
2012    R.A. Dickey           Dem Rebels

Most Valuable Player

It wasn't until 1990 that we expanded our awards.  That year we added three more, one of which was the Most Valuable Player.  One might think "well, Major League Baseball already awards the MVP to the National and American Leagues, so isn't this overkill?"  The MVPs of Major League baseball have different criteria, however cryptic, for determining their MVP.

Here's our definition, which still allows a wide swath of interpretation.

CFCL Most Valuable Player

This award is presented to the team that owns the player that the CFCL owners feel was the most valuable to a Rotisserie League team. Obviously, the criteria we use is slightly different than that used in determining the MVPs in Major League baseball. However, just as in the "real" world, the criteria is vague enough to allow a wide variety of interpretations. For example, CFCL owners are free to decide for themselves whether the position a player plays should have any bearing on the voting or whether it should be based on the stats alone. The first CFCL MVP award was presented in 1990.

 

This definition points out that we may focus solely on stats, stats and position or other values.  Here are the list of past winners:

 

1990		Barry Bonds		Eric's Lambchops
1991		Howard Johnson		David's Ruffins
1992		Barry Bonds		Clark's Kents
1993		Barry Bonds		Clark's Kents
1994		Jeff Bagwell		David's Copperfields
1995		Greg Maddux Craig Biggio		ForGoetz Me Nots David's Ruffins
1996		Ellis Burks		David's Copperfields
1997		Larry Walker		ForGoetz Me Nots
1998		Sammy Sosa		Eric's Lambchops
1999		Chipper Jones		Eric's Lambchops
2000		Todd Helton		David's Ruffins
2001		Barry Bonds		DoorMatts
2002		Vladimir Guererro		David's Copperfields
2003		Albert Pujols		DoorMatts
2004		Barry Bonds		Da Paul Meisters
2005		Albert Pujols		DoorMatts
2006		Albert Pujols		DoorMatts
		Jose Reyes		Teddy's Splendid Splinters
2007		Matt Holliday		Da Paul Meisters
2008		Albert Pujols		Steve's Stones

2009     Albert Pujols             Kenndoza Line

2010     Albert Pujols             Candy Colored Clowns

2011     Matt Kemp                Mo's Red Hots

2012     Ryan Braun               Twin Killers

 

Largest Increase in Place

The final award that originated in 1985 is Largest Increase in Place.  The astute reader of this blog would say "Hold on a minute!  Didn't you just cover this yesterday?" 

Yesterday we looked at Largest Increase in Points.  Today is Largest Increase in Place.  Most people would think that if you had the largest increase in points you would have the largest increase in standings.  Not so.  In fact if you compare the list below with the list from yesterday - don't worry, I saved you the time - you will see that the awards have been handed out 28 times.  Only 15 times, or 53.5% of the time has the same team won both awards.

I will let you draw your own conclusions as to why that's the case.  Here is the list of past winners:

1985		Mudville Sluggers		+ 4 (4 - 1)
1986		Paul's Penguins		+ 3 (6 - 3)
1987		Davies' Crocketts Aces To Win		+ 2 (7 - 5) + 2 (8 - 6)
1988		David's Ruffins		+ 2 (8 - 6)
1989		Six Packs Dem Rebels		+ 2 (5 - 3) + 2 (3 - 1)
1990		Mr. Paul's Swordfish		+ 4 (8 - 4)
1991		Bald Eagles Six Packs		+ 6 (7 - 1) + 6 (8 - 2)
1992		David's Ruffins		+ 4 (6 - 2)
1993		Da Paul Meisters		+ 4 (8 - 4)
1994		Eric's Lambchops Da Paul Meisters		+ 3 (7 - 4) + 3 (4 - 1)
1995		ForGoetz Me Nots		+ 4 (9 - 5)
1996		Six Packs		+ 3 (7 - 4)
1997		Da Paul Meisters		+ 5 (8 - 3)
1998		Welsch's FlatFeet		+ 5 (10 - 5)
1999		Six Packs		+ 9 (10-1)
2000		Dem Rebels		+ 6 (8-2)
2001		Matt's Hard Hats		+ 5 (12-7)
2002		Eric's Lambchops		+ 11 (12-1)
2003		Reservoir Dogs		+ 8 (11-3)
2004		David's Copperfields		+ 9 (11-2)
2005		Kenndoza Line		+ 9 (12-3)
2006		Teddy's Splendid Splinters		+ 7 (9-2)
2007		Dem Rebels		+ 8 (12-4)
2008		Mo's Red Hots		+ 9 (11-2)

2009     Copperfields                         + 6
2010     Red Hots                               + 6
2011     Kenndoza Line                     + 6
2012     Candy Colored Clowns        + 7

Largest Increase in Points

Getting back to the CFCL Post Season Awards.  Today we look at another award that was created in 1985.  Having two seasons under our belt we had the ability to see how teams had done, compared to themselves, from the previous season.  We decided to award the team that increased their point total the most with the (creative name) Largest Increase in Points.  Pretty self explanatory.  As you can see on the list below, there have been some magnificent increases.

This award is good and bad at the same time.  In most cases, the reason for winning the award is having a good year (the good) immediately following having a really poor year (the bad).  But the overall good news should be that since we're talking about an increase from one year to the next, the team is trending in the right direction.

Two teams (Copperfields and Lambchops) increased the point total one year to the next by over 50 points.  The Kenndoza Line and Dem Rebels have the most amazing transformations, increasing an astounding 67 points from 2004 to 2005 and 65 points from 2006 to 2007 respectively!  Since we keep score in ten categories, that means they increased their place in each category an average of almost seven places.

Here's the full list starting with 1985.

1985		Dem Rebels		+ 10 points
1986		David's Copperfields		+ 9 points
1987		David's Copperfields Bald Eagles		+ 4 points
1988		Dem Rebels		+ 11.5 points
1989		Six Packs		+ 12.5 points
1990		David's Ruffins		+ 15.5 points
1991		Six Packs		+ 38 points
1992		David's Ruffins		+ 18 points
1993		Da Paul Meisters		+ 17.5 points
1994		Da Paul Meisters		+ 13 points
1995		Dem Rebels		+ 14 points
1996		Six Packs		+ 16.5 points
1997		David's Ruffins		+ 22 points
1998		Eric's Lambchops		+ 21.5 points
1999		Six Packs		+ 40 points
2000		Dem Rebels		+ 46 points
2001		Matt's Hard Hats		+ 27 points
2002		Eric's Lambchops		+ 56 points
2003		not given (change to 5x5)
2004		David's Copperfields		+ 56.5 points
2005		Kenndoza Line		+ 67 points
2006		Teddy's Splendid Splinters		+42.5 points
2007		Dem Rebels		+ 65 points
2008		Steve's Stones		+45.5 points

2009     Moore Better                          +21.5 points
2010    David's Ruffins                       +42 points
2011     Kenndoza Line                       +35.5 points
2012    Candy Colored Clowns           +42 points

New Addition to the CFCL

As was mentioned in a previous post, the off-season for most fantasy leagues is fraught with many different things.  There could be rule changes, the CFCL has post season awards (still to be completed for 2013), owners leave and ultimately, hopefully, new owners arrive.  It became official on Monday, November 4th, 2013 that the 45th team in CFCL history came to be.

Pat Chesnut and Matt Barriball joined forces, passed a rigorous application and voting process to be accepted as new owners to the CFCL.  They immediately set about the task of naming their franchise.  They narrowed it down to two possibilities, hired professional Team Naming Consultants and were unanimously told to go with:

Hey Patta Matta Swing

The name harkens us all back to our Little League days, standing in position on the field (firstbase for me) and chirping at the batter.  While the name could be cumbersome at the draft "Hey Patta Matta Swing bids .07 on Schierholtz."  "Hey Patta Matta Swing acquires Jay Bruce." etc., the team will, in casual conversation, be known as The Swing - still a nice reference to the greatest game around.

More will be learned about our new owners as they will be featured in an upcoming exclusive interview with The Monroe Doctrine.  Additionally, they are hard at work putting together their Owner Profile.

But for now we would simply like to welcome Pat and Matt to the CFCL.

Best Waiver Claim

Also in 1985 we created the Best Waiver Claim Award.  CFCL (and all fantasy owners, honestly) try to build a winning team by drafting well, making astute trades, picking up talented free agents during the season and keeping a sharp eye out for who other teams cut.  When a team cuts a player during the season, that player is on our "waiver wire".  All teams have an oppportunity to scoop up waived players (our system uses the standings in reverse to decide which claiming teams have priority).

After a while the CFCL, due to constraints of the stat service we used, did away with the in-season waiver.  But starting in 2003 we began a thing called Winter Waivers.  Mainly it was an opportunity to do some management and tweaking of our rosters during the off-season.  There is nothing better that making some roster moves in early January.  The following list includes the winners of Best Waiver Claim and Best Winter Waiver Claim.

1985		Dem Rebels
1986		Bald Eagles
1987		Paul's Penguins
1988		Twin Picks
1989		Bald Eagles
1990		Lambchops
1991		Six Packs
1992		Twin Picks
1999		Roger Cedeno (W)		DoorMatts
2000		Jeffery Hammonds (W)		Dem Rebels
2001		Mike Williams (W)		Nick's Picts
2002		Mike Williams (W)		Matt's Hard Hats
2003		Winter: Edgar Renteria		Picts
		Season: Chris Reitsma		David's Copperfields
2004		Winter: Jim Thome		Picts
		Season: Rheal Cormier		Picts
2005		Winter: Aaron Harang		Dem Rebels
		Season: Roberto Hernandez		Sludge Sundae

2006		Winter: Freddy Sanchez		Kenndoza Line
		Season: Matt Capps		Nick's Picts
2007		Winter: Manny Corpas		David's Copperfields
		Season: Rudy Seanez		David's Copperfields
2008		Winter: Lance Berkman		Nick's Picts

2009      Winter:  Skip Schumacher            David's Copperfields
2010      Winter:  Casey McGehee              Dem Rebels
2011      Winter:  Ben Francisco                 Red Hots
              Winter:  Alfonso Soriano              Graging Bulls
2012      Winter:  Kenley Jansen                Candy Colored Clowns

Most Productive Farm System

In 1985 we added an award to recognize the team that dug deep and planned for the future by picking quality minor leaguers.  In the beginning (1985, 1986, etc) we were allowed to select three minor leaguers.  Many teams in the CFCL, still trying to figure out how to pick major league talent, would look at the Chicago Tribune and see who was in the Cubs minor league system.  That's no doubt  how guys like Don Schultze, Dan Rohn and Dave Owen were selected.  Not surprisingly the owners that selected those players did not win the award.

Then in 1992 we moved to Ultra and added reserve lists, 12 initially and then our current 17.  This afforded owners to really dig deep into the minor leagues and even Japan to snatch up all the young talent available.

The Most Productive Farm System Award goes to the team who ACTIVATES the most productive players from the minors during the current baseball season.  So, for example, let's look at 2009.  The Rebels won the award with Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen and Mat Latos.  The Rebels didn't select McCutchen.  They traded for him while he was still in the minors.  When McCutchen went to the show in Pittsburgh, he was part of the Rebels team and therefore the Rebels got credit for him coming from their minor league system.

It's not perfect and maybe more credit should have gone to the Ruffins, but in truth minor leaguers are traded so frequently and multiple times over it would be near impossible to track the origin of each player.

Here is the list of all the Most Productive Farm System Winners:

1985		Fred's Friars		VColeman
1986		David's Copperfields		BBonds, JGonzalez
1987		Bald Eagles		R Palmiero, J Magrane
1988		David's Copperfields		R Alomar, R Gant
1989		David's Copperfields		G Jefferies, Dw Smith, E Anthony
1990		Eric's Lambchops		D Deshields, T Ziele, S Avery
1991		Bald Eagles		W Chamberlain, A Cedeno
1992		Clark's Kents		D Nied, M Piazza
1993		Dem Rebels		J Burnitz, P Martinez, R Klesko, J Lopez
1994		David's Ruffins		C Floyd, B Hunter, JR Phillips
1995		David's Ruffins		B Pulsipher, B Barber, R Bottalico
1996		David's Ruffins		A Jones, S Rolen, B Wagner, Al Benes
1997		Dem Rebels		L Hernandez, B Keischnick, P Reese
1998		David's Ruffins		A Boone, D Gibson, A Ramirez, K Wood, M Clement, S Elarton
1999		David's Ruffins David's Copperfields		M Clement, D Gibson, O Dotel, C Hermanson, D Ward, P Bergeron, L Berkman R Belliard, B Chen, B Petrick, J Ramirez
2000		David's Copperfields		Lance Berkman, Ben Petrick, Brad Penny
2001		Matt's Hard Hats		Josh Beckett, Jimmy Rollins, Bud Smith
2002		Matt's Hard Hats David's Ruffins		Josh Beckett, Jacob Peavy, Kurt Ainsworth, Peter Bergeron Bobby Hill, Jack Cust, Sean Burroughs, Juan Cruz
2003		DoorMatts		Dontrelle Willis
2004		Ruffins		David Wright, John Buck, Todd Linden, Scott Hairston
2005		Kenndoza Line		Ryan Howard, Rickey Weeks, JD Closser, Luke Hudson
2006		David's Ruffins		Angel Guzman, Cole Hamels, Carlos Quentin, Jeremy Hermida
2007		Graging Bulls		Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Upton
2008		Candy Colored Clowns		JR Towles, Jay Bruce, Chris Perez, Blake DeWitt, Chris Volstad

2009     Dem Rebels                    Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen, Mat Latos
2010     Candy Colored                Buster Posey, Starlin Castro, Yonder Alonso
             Clowns
2011     Kenndoza Line                Danny Espinosa, Craig Kimbrell, Jordan Lyles, Jerry Sands
2012     Graging Bulls                  Bryce Harper