Elysian Fields Wins 2018 World Series

Here are the Strat game recaps from the 2018 World Series, in which the No. 1 Elysian Fields Dutchmen defeated the No. 2 Mohawk Valley Lions four games to none.

Game One
Dutchmen 5, Lions 4
Zack Greinke @ Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer retired 10 batters on strikeouts at Elysian Fields as the Elysian Fields Flying Dutchmen beat the Mohawk Valley Lions by the count of 5 to 4.

Scherzer (3-2) delivered a fine performance for Elysian Fields. He went 7 innings allowing 6 hits and 3 walks. Mohawk Valley made it exciting in the 9th, but they were unable to push the needed runs across.

Scherzer got help from Roberto Osuna who earned his 3rd save. The loss was charged to Andrew Miller (0-1) in relief.

Final Power Ranking For 2018

The final poll for the 2018 season. Teams sorted by wins. Ties broken by run differential.

OPS+ and ERA+ are adjusted for ballpark context.

RD run differential
PF park factor multiplier
BB% does not include intentional walks
SPD speed score
BABIP is a rough estimate of team defensive efficiency

Power Ranking 

No	Team	W	L	PCT	Division	R/G	OPS+	RA/G	ERA+	PF	RD
1	Elysian Fields	113	49	.698	Pacific	5.72	124	3.44	121	0.932	+369
2	Mohawk Valley	102	60	.630	Atlantic	5.16	110	4.01	113	0.980	+186
3	Death Valley	100	62	.617	Atlantic	5.91	111	4.27	116	1.086	+265
4	Brooklyn	97	65	.599	Pacific	5.48	111	4.35	108	1.033	+183
5	Rosehill	97	65	.599	Central	5.06	116	4.41	98	0.904	+105
6	Yankee	90	72	.556	Central	4.82	96	4.28	116	1.077	+87
7	Fighting	86	76	.531	Northeast	5.42	108	5.04	101	1.050	+62
8	Northwest	85	77	.525	Pacific	4.54	94	4.27	109	0.974	+44
9	Wilmington	82	80	.506	Atlantic	5.21	106	5.38	88	1.025	–28
10	California	81	81	.500	Pacific	4.35	105	4.33	105	0.917	+2
11	Goldenrod	77	85	.475	Central	4.35	88	4.65	110	1.090	–49
12	Northeast	76	86	.469	Northeast	4.17	92	4.62	94	0.909	–73
13	Miami	76	86	.469	Northeast	4.02	87	5.06	92	0.991	–168
14	Rochester	74	88	.457	Atlantic	5.01	108	5.42	82	0.979	–66
15	Lake County	67	95	.414	Central	4.54	96	4.86	101	1.043	–51
16	Spokane	67	95	.414	Pacific	3.49	81	4.87	85	0.905	–224
17	Sudbury	65	97	.401	Atlantic	4.51	83	5.22	103	1.143	–115
18	West Side	64	98	.395	Northeast	4.75	92	5.55	99	1.135	–130
19	Little Rock	62	100	.383	Central	4.92	97	5.91	78	1.031	–161
20	Cape Cod	59	103	.364	Northeast	3.57	89	5.04	79	0.854	–238

2018 Wrap: Award Winners & League Leaders

A recap collecting important—or at least interesting—tidbits from the 2018 season.

Postseason Awards

Here are the MMDA end-of-season award winners, as selected by the Strat-O-Matic game engine. 

MVP
Player	Team	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
G.Stanton	Dutchmen	634	40	3	71	169	.312	89	167	2	.404	.721
M.Scherzer	Dutchmen	See Cy Young Voting
A.Judge	Hornets	560	23	3	44	111	.271	44	158	2	.422	.559
B.Dozier	Dutchmen	657	36	0	31	94	.254	64	141	6	.328	.451
J.Martinez	Lions	473	32	6	48	109	.304	78	138	1	.400	.702

Dutchmen right fielder Giancarlo Stanton led the MMDA with 71 home runs, 169 RBIs, 153 runs and a .721 slugging percentage. He placed seventh in the batting race (.312) and ranked seventh with 89 walks and fifth with a .404 on-base percentage.

Stanton's prodigious power display in terms of homers and RBIs rank him among the best in league history since 2002, which is as far back as I have comprehensive records. His 71 homers ranks second only to Barry Bonds, who hit 82 for Rochester in 2002. Bonds also drove in 180 runs that season, which is the highest total on record. Stanton's 169 RBIs this year ranks fifth since 2002.

CY YOUNG
Pitcher	Team	W	L	ERA	GS	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	BB9	SO9
M.Scherzer	Dutchmen	20	5	2.60	31	0	215	116	66	272	36	.157	2.8	11.4
S.Strasburg	Lions	18	4	2.72	30	0	195	127	34	212	22	.182	1.6	9.8
J.Verlander	Lions	20	7	3.68	33	0	215	189	78	237	25	.231	9.9	3.3
R.Ray	Dutchmen	14	3	3.61	27	0	175	112	65	215	22	.181	3.3	11.1
Z.Greinke	Lions	17	10	3.49	31	0	222	167	63	223	24	.206	2.6	9.0

Dutchmen righthander Max Scherzer led the MMDA with 20 wins and a .157 opponent average. He placed second to Miami's Corey Kluber with a 2.60 ERA and third to Kluber and Elysian Fields teammate Chris Sale with 272 strikeouts.

The Lions placed three pitchers among the Cy Young Award finalists and had a fourth starter record 200 strikeouts. Righthander Yu Darvish went 12-11 with a 3.93 ERA and 215 strikeouts in 204 innings.