The #2 seed Baltimore Comets did the near impossible…They upended the #1 Dynasty Tempe Tempers.  When Tempe sniffs a World Series appearance, they have no let downs, they kick it into high gear.  To put that in perspective, the last time Tempe lost a League Championships Series was in 2012 to Sacramento (4-3).  In Tempe’s 25-year history, that was the ONLY loss in the League Championships Series, and it was in 7 games.  So, to dispatch them in only 5 games was a monstrous feat.  And, to top it all off, this is the same team they traded expected Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander (28-2) to two weeks before the Annual Draft.  Baltimore put together the core of this team prior to the season.  Miles Mikolas & eventual draft pick David Robertson came back in the Verlander deal, along with potential superstar Jasson Dominguez.  #1 starter Tyler Anderson and bullpen piece Jake Woodford came over via an offseason trade with Triple Creek, but the most notable trade was the one made on January 25, 2023, linking Hollywood and Baltimore this season.  The two teams swung a deal that was expected to make Hollywood the favorite in the American League and just help Baltimore compete, possibly making the playoffs.  Baltimore sent Aaron Judge (with Mike Clevenger and a late pick) to Hollywood for what turned out to be three key bodies vaulting Baltimore to the World Series, Nick Castellanos, Cristian Vasquez & Matt Olson. The combination of Castellanos, Vazquez & Olson combined for 54 home runs and 181 RBIs.  While Judge hit 55 homers, driving in 136 for Hollywood.  It’s a trade was one of those rare ones that saw both teams reap the benefits.  That’s 7 pieces via trade.  Then you consider that in the draft they also added their closer in Evan Phillips and secondary starter Jose Quintana, makes 9 significant adds prior to the season.

The #2 Hollywood Werewolves led the AL all season, but faltered down the stretch, losing a late series to Chicago, which lost the #1 seed and home field advantage.  In the end it didn’t matter as Hollywood took out Chicago in 5 games.  The last time the two teams faced off in a League Championships Series was 2020, where Hollywood won in 5 games (as well) and eventually the World Series.  Now looking back at the Judge trade, some view that the biggest of the acquisition in Hollywood’s offseason, but while that was significant, the answer would be, it was not.  There were a series of bullpen acquisitions that turned a sad looking bullpen to stellar.  Hollywood added Cinel Perez (and Lane Thomas), Adam Ottavino, Peter Fairbanks and Jordan Romano in several trades.  Hollywood’s starting staff is some of the best in the game, but they cannot pitch long as they are often injured, so they need to be careful with their handling.  That was the reason they needed to shore up the bullpen.  Without that bullpen, Hollywood doesn’t win the division and is not in the League Championships Series. 

The Fremont Cannons finished atop the AL with a 121-41 record, while the Dirt Bags of Long Beach were 3rd in the NL and the top Wild Card at 109-53 while winning the Central.

Fremont brings the top offense in MWBL to bear, while Long Beach finished 5th in the NL in runs scored. Long Beach’s strength is their pitching, 3rd in the NL in runs allowed but not far from the top. Fremont is no slouch in that department, allowing the fewest runs in the AL. Long Beach can toss out 4 starters that you’ll have a tough time beating. Fremont’s top 2 might be better but there is a drop-off after that. Conversely, the back end of the Dirt Bags bullpen is dominant, but Fremont has more depth. Both teams were upper middle of the league in fielding, with Long Beach’s .983 fielding average edging Fremont’s .982. Long Beach enters with Alcides Escobar rehabbing from injury for the first two games, while Fremont is fully healthy.

Fremont gets home field based on the alternating Al/NL format. Jim “The Oracle” Craddock ran the numbers and is calling it a low-scoring, seven-game win for Long Beach. What do the dice say?

The 2019 World Series Recap was written to you by Jim Craddock.

Two Central Division titans face each other in the 2019 MWBL World Series.
In the AL, The Detroit Crime went 108-54, winning the AL Central by 25 games. Then they provided some postseason drama by finishing their ALDS series against Mesa Solar Sox with a combined no-hitter by Carlos Carrasco and Seranthony Dominguez in the fifth game. In the ALCS, they took down the Southbend Lynx in six games.
In the NL, perennial powerhouse Tempe Tempers racked up an amazing 126-36 record, winning the division by 23 games. They created plenty of drama of their own in the NLDS, taking the back-and-forth series from the Columbus Explorers with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game. In the NLCS, they had to win three one-run games (two of them extra-inning affairs) to take the series in five games from the Sacramento Capitals.

A pitching duel was expected with Kluber going against Carrasco, and the final score would make you think that starters both went deep. On the contrary, neither saw the fifth inning as both managers went all out to get leg up in the series. Carrasco pitched into trouble in the bottom of the first, but Tempe left the bases loaded (the first of two innings in which they would do so). He couldn’t escape damage in the fourth inning, giving up Maikel Franco’s solo HR to give Tempe a 1-0 lead. Both pitchers left for pinch-hitters when their first at-bat came up. For Tempe, Kluber got through his four innings giving up only two hits. The bullpens took over, with Tempe’s manager having a particularly quick hook, using eight pitchers in the game, including five in the fifth inning, with Detroit mounting a rally that fizzled out. For Detroit, Madison Bumgarner tossed three innings of one-hit relief. Detroit did manage to tie the game on a seventh-inning sac fly by Adam Jones, scoring pinch-runner Daniel Descalso (running for Yasmani Grandal). That was it until the bottom of the ninth when Wilmer Difo led off the inning with a triple off Roenis Elias that went over the head of Cameron Maybin. Seranthony Dominguez came in the face Ozzie Albies. With the infield drawn in, Albies blooped one down the line in right that Bryce Harper couldn’t get to, driving in Difo with the game-winner.

Final Score: Tempe 2 – Detroit 1

W – Kyle Crick 1-0 (0.00)

L – Roenis Elias 0-1 (6.75)

HR – Maikel Franco (1)

Another close, low-scoring affair, as both managers brought the hook with them. Paths were worn from the dugouts to the mound as Tempe used nine pitchers, and Detroit used six. The scoring started early as Tempe got back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first from Ozzie Albies and Ryan Braun. Miley’s appreciation for the early run support was short-lived, as he left for a pinch-hitter before he could grab a bat. He ended up going two innings without giving up a hit. In fact, Detroit wouldn’t get their first hit until the sixth inning on a Luke Voit single. They would mount a rally in the fourth inning on a walk and an error, but three Tempe pitchers snuffed it out.  In the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Braun reached on a Mike Minor error, stole second, and then scored on Melky Cabrera’s double to make it 3-0 Tempe. That’s where it would stay as the tempers’ bullpen gave up three hits over seven innings and nailed down the shutout and the Game 2 win.

Final Score: Tempe 3 – Detroit 0

W – Kirby Yates 1-0 (0.00)

L – Mike Minor 0-1 (4.50)

HR – Ozzie Albies (1), Ryan Braun (1)

Bringing the series back to Detroit, the Crime was looking for home cooking to help them solve the Tempers. Well, it worked. Aaron Nola got in some early trouble, as Joey Votto walked, Miguel Cabrera doubled, and Detroit got a sense of déjà vu. But two strikeouts and a lineout to Luke Voit ended the rally and the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Leadoff hitter Bryce Harper didn’t waste any time getting the crowd into it with a solo home run. From there, a parade of Tempe pitchers (they used a total of seven relievers in the game) kept things quiet until the bottom of the fifth, when Bryce Harper doubled and Yasmani Grandal gave Detroit a 3-0 lead with a two-run shot to right field. Meanwhile, Aaron Nola was cruising for Detroit until the sixth inning, when Joey Votto walked, and JD Martinez drove him home with a double off the CF wall. Martinez went to third on a ground out, but then, with two outs he tried to steal home and was thrown out. Detroit pushed across an insurance run in the seventh, when Brett Gardner singled, went to second on Michael Brantley’s error, and scored on Martin Maldonado’s RBI two-out double. Tempe made three errors in the game.

Final Score: Detroit 4 – Tempe 1

W – Aaron Nola 1-0 (1.23)

L – Corey Kluber 0-1 (1.42)

HR – Bryce Harper (1), Yasmani Grandal (1)

Detroit was looking to even the series, but Tempe signaled early that it wouldn’t be easy. Before the home crowd could even get comfortable, Joey Votto ambushed Strasburg with a leadoff home run. In the second inning, Marcell Ozuna singled and scored on Jose Castillo’s base hit. Ozuna rode home on again in the fourth inning, this time on Maikel Franco’s two-run home run to make the score 4-0 and chase Stephen Strasburg from the game. The move didn’t help much, as Ozzie Albies greeted Carlos Carrasco with a solo home run. Things were going all Tempe’s way, as, in the bottom of the inning, Ozuna continued his good day by robbing Kendrys Morales of a home run and keeping Wade Miley’s no-hitter intact. Miley would lose the no-no on a sixth-inning leadoff Brandon Crawford single. That would be the end of Miley’s day, as Tempe’s manager was itching to make a pitching change. In the top of the sixth, Wilmer Difo tripled but was thrown out trying to steal home with two outs. Undeterred, the Tempers scored two more in the seventh on Joey Votto’s second solo home run of the day, and a Ryan Braun RBI single for a 6-0 lead. Detroit answered the two runs with two of their own in the bottom of the inning on Manny Machado’s two-run home run. That was the last gasp for the Crime, though. Tempe added a couple more demoralizers in the top of the ninth on a pair of doubles by Jeff Mathis and Yeonis Cespedes and a bloop RBI by Xander Bogearts. Tempe’s 9-2 victory gets them to within one win of the championship.

Final Score: Tempe 9 – Detroit 2

W – Wade Miley 1-0 (0.00)

L – Stephen Strasburg 0-1 (9.82)

HR – Joey Votto 2 (2), Ozzie Albies (2), Maikel Franco (2) & Manny Machado (1)

Trying to extend their season, Detroit got off to a good start with a first-inning Luke Voit leadoff home run. They added to the lead with a pair of doubles by Manny Machado and Daniel Descalso. Tempe quickly answered back in the top of the second with a three-run home run by Maikel Franco, scoring Marcell Ozuna and Yeonis Cespedes ahead of him. The Tempers weren’t finished, as Ryan Braun followed up with a solo shot to make it 4-2 Tempe and knock out Crime starter Madison Bumgarner. Tempe added a run in the fourth on an Ozuna single and RBI double by Ryan Braun, and yet another on a JD Martinez RBI single that scored Xander Bogearts, who had doubled. Braun made his case for MVP with his second home run of the day in the top of the sixth inning to make it 7-2 Tempe. After failing to cash in a mini-rally in the seventh, Detroit entered the bottom of the ninth staring down the end of their season. Sparking some hope, Brandon Belt led off with a single and Brandon Crawford doubled to put two on for Bryce Harper. Harper rose to the moment with a three-run home run to bring the Crime to within two runs. Tempe manager brought in Dylan Floro to get a ground ball to shortstop for the second out. Kyle Crick then came in to face Manny Machado, who got him to swing and miss for the strikeout, the Save, and the 2019 MWBL Championship.

Final Score: Tempe 7 – Detroit 5

W – Jose G. Castillo 1-0 (0.00)

L – Madison Bumgarner 0-1 (8.31)

HR – Maikel Franco (3), Ryan Braun 2 (3), Bryce Harper (2) & Luke Voit (1)

World Series MVP: Ryan Braun, who hit .600 (6-10), with 3 Home Runs, 5 RBI, AND 4 runs scored, and a double.

–Tempe used at least eight pitchers in every game of the series.

–The team that scored first won every game except Game 5.

–Other standout performances for Tempe: Marcell Ozuna (.389, 7 hits, 4 runs); Maikel Franco (.333, 2 HR, 3 runs, 6 RBI); Ozzie Albies (3 HR, 3RBI, 2 runs); JD Martinez (.538, 7 hits, 2 doubles, 2 RBI); Kyle Crick (Win, Save, no runs or hits, 1.1 IP).

–Standout performances for Detroit: Bryce Harper (.333, 5 hits, 4 RBI, 3 runs, 2 HR, 2 doubles); Daniel Descalso (.444, 5 hits, 2 doubles).

—Wade Miley took a no-hitter into the 6^th inning of Game 4.