Charm City had the most successful season of their franchise with 107 regular season wins and are now pushing hard for their first-ever Landis Trophy. Founded in 2029, the Jimmies have made the playoffs 9 times (including this season) but have never won it all.
As defending champions, Sacramento has recently experienced the elation and downtown parades that come with being a BBA champion. And they want a repeat, especially for their boss. Mad Popes GM Doug Olmsted has announced he will retire at the end of this series. If the Mad Popes do prevail, it’s believed to be the first time a retiring BBA GM will end his career with the Landis Trophy in the crook of his arm (long-standing members, feel free to fact-check this).
Nothing seems new on the injury front for either team. Popes RF Okyay Nisanci still needs at least another week to recover from his hand injury and sadly for Sacramento he won’t be available until just after this series is already decided.
The Mad Popes and Jimmies are two talented teams that each won their division yet had to battle to get here. Sacramento had to survive a game 7 win-or-go-home scenario vs Twin Cities, and Charm City endured two of them (against Boise and Rocky Mountain). But those series are in the history books. Let’s look at the matchups and try to anticipate which team will receive a White House invitation this coming offseason:
Starting Pitching: The Jimmies’ rotation features a trio of lefties and a lone righty in Waseem bin Suhayb. Their rotation was ranked 2nd in the Johnson, but things have been a little touch and go for this group in the playoffs. There’s been a lot of starts with 3 or more earned runs given up, offset by Bin Suhayb who had the only scoreless outing. This group will need to stand tall in order to give Charm City a chance. Conversely, the Mad Popes have only had one rough outing by a starting pitcher, and that was by Ruben Vasquez way back in game 3 versus Twin Cities when he gave up 5 runs. Otherwise, it has been one quality start after the next for this group. Their pitching has been remarkable and is clearly a notch above what the Jimmies have. Advantage: Mad Popes
Relief Pitching: The Mad Popes dial-a-reliever approach has been working quite well in the playoffs. Of the 4 losses incurred by Sacramento in the playoffs, only one was attributed to a reliever and collectively they’ve had 5 saves and have done a fine job of holding onto leads. For Charm City, it’s all about closer Manuel Barrera, who had a Johnson-leading 46 saves during the regular season. With 5 saves and a 1.29 post-season ERA, Barrera is in prime form, and he has plenty of quality help in the bullpen around him. It’s close, but Barrera’s excellence and track record gets the nod here. Advantage: Jimmies
Batting: As mentioned in previous previews, Sacramento has been doing a fine job of hitting for average and cranking out doubles and triples. But they aren’t doing it at the high level they had in 2053. Meanwhile, the Jimmies led the Johnson in batting WAR and finished 3rd in runs scored. Looking at their playoff run, they’ve had contributions up and down the lineup and it hasn’t been just one guy. For Sacramento, aside from Dallas Dixon and DH Unem Ploid, the rest of the batters have not been coming to life in this post-season. Collectively, the Jimmies have a more fearsome lineup even putting aside the obvious home run differential between the two teams. Advantage: Jimmies
Catchers: Sacramento has a defensive whiz in John Kinsella who is very hard to run on. He’s also a passable contact hitter who is hitting .262 for playoffs with 2 RBI. His counterpart is Jimmies' 2054 all-star Tokimasa Yano. Yano has been a big factor offensively in the playoffs with a .340 average and 9 RBI. He is very adept at handling the Jimmies staff with only 2 errors during the season. However, he doesn’t have a lot of arm strength and the Mad Popes may be tempted to run on him often. But that weakness can be overlooked since Yano is hitting so well and recently won the Doubleday MVP. Advantage: Jimmies
Defense: Both teams have the top-ranked defense in their sub-league. I’m not going to bother looking at the defensive output in the playoffs due to small sample size. Therefore, let’s compare the major team metrics from the regular season. The Mad Popes have a .719 defensive efficiency, +64 net Zone Rating and 57 errors. The Jimmies counter with a .705 efficiency, +53.4 net Zone Rating and 75 errors. That error differential is quite significant, so the Mad Popes are the selection here. Advantage: Mad Popes
Verdict: Comparing these facets of the game, it seems like Charm City has a slight edge. But it would be no surprise if the Mad Popes starters seize control and achieve the repeat for Sacramento. I have very little confidence in this selection, but I’ll take the Jimmies in 7.
Good luck Charmies and Popes! May the Fourth be with you!!!
