By: Alex Winter

Northern League

Team	Pitching	Batting	Overall
Chicago Cardinals The Chicago Cardinals had a very good run in the Open Cup, getting stopped by Miami in the quarterfinals. The defending ABLCS champ cruised through the first 3 matchups, beating two AA ballclubs and the Carolina Cobras. Their batting was 2nd best in the conference, behind Miami, with a .354 average. Their pitching was above average, but not enough to get them over the top and win the Open Cup.	B-	A	B
Detroit Bulldogs The Detroit Bulldogs had a great run in the Open Cup, going to the Final Four, but losing to Miami in the semifinals. New Owner Anton Massey rose this team to the highest level, but still only won an easier half of the bracket. They got much help from Lapointe and the Indiana Eagles by knocking off the Boston Bears. They beat some quality teams in Raleigh, San Diego, Houston, and Indiana, though all teams that they should have beat. They did not do so well in either category for an ML team, so that was their downfall in their dismal performance.	C	C+	C
Indiana Eagles Lapointe lead the Indiana Eagles to an Elite 8 appearance and the eagles got knocked out by Detroit. The Eagles did not have a good performance, making matchups with Providence, Madison and Daytona very close. They had a stroke of luck by beating the Boston Bears to move on to the Elite 8 but could not go on any longer. If you can barely beat your own A team, then you have a weakness.	C+	B-	B-
Minnesota Monarchs The Minnesota Monarchs, lead by Tim Schneider did not have that impressive of a run in the postseason. They easily beat Gainsville in the 1st round, but lost in a hard fought Schmito matchup, where the two teams fought tooth and nail, but New Orleans came out on top in the end. Minnesota had decent batting but bad pitching and will be their downfall in the regular season.	C-	C-	C-
St. Louis Stallions The St.Louis Stallions lead by Fink, advanced to the Elite Eight, losing to the LA Lions in 4 games. They had a decent run in the playoffs and played right to where they're expectations should be. They did not play well in either the batting or pitching category, but did well enough to advance that far. They beat Boston's A team, the surprisingly hot Sun Devils,and they eeked out a series win over Dallas, but not enough to put them over the top.	B-	C+	C+
Boston Bears The Boston Bears had their seemingly unstoppable team stopped by the Indiana Eagles of all teams. They had cruised by Charleston and Milwaukee, but faltered against Indiana and it really stopped their chances of a title run. Other than that series, though they did well, topping the batting and pitching categories. If it wasn't for a one-time wonder, we could be looking at a different champion.	A	A	A
Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders played very miserably and lost to a AA team in the opening round, proving thus again, how crappy they are. They played horribly and losing to a AA team makes them the worst ML team in this tournament.	F	F	F
Connecticut Thunder The Open Cup runner-up had a spectacular Open Cup, advancing through the Franckowiak Conference. They beat, Montgomery, San Jose, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, only losing 3 games in the process. They finally ended it in 6 games in the Open Cup Championship. They are the best team in the NL right now and they finished superbly, most likely leading to a great finish in the NL	A+	A+	A+
New York Bombers The New York Bombers, lead by Nate Nitro, lost in the 1st round to the Miami Talons, though beating Detroit's A team in the opening round. They did very poorly, but it was expected for them to lose. It doesn't make it better because their offense failed them when they needed them the most and the pitching to say the least sucked. Better luck next time	B	F	C-
Philadelphia Demons The Philadelphia Demons lost in their first series in an upset to San Jose. They did not play well, being swept and playing poorly the whole time. They round out the NL, with a bad choice of play, being close to Clevelands type of play. They had a poor average and their pitching was below par. It just plain stunk	C-	F	D+

Southern League

Team	Pitching	Batting	Overall
Los Angeles Lions The Lions had a pretty good run in the Open Cup, going to the Semifinals, losing to the Miami Talons in 5 games. They beat some pretty tough opponents in Memphis, Mobile, Las Vegas, and St. Louis, and they succeded throughout the Cup. They exceeded in both pitching and batting. They played at the top of their game and did well.	A	A-	A
Las Vegas Scorpions Las Vegas did well to start off the cup, beating 2 AAA ball clubs, but then tapered off, by being swept by LA. They did well in the pitching category, but their bats didn't do as well as they would have wanted. They failed a bit, but they are still not a bad team at all.	A	B	B+
Dallas Rattlers The Dallas Rattlers got to the Final 16, but lost to the St. Louis Stallions in 5 games. They beat two easy teams in Des Moines and Louisville, but then were tested by the Stallions and lost in the end. The Rattlers had patient bats with a very high On Base Percentage, 4th in the conference and tops in Slugging percentage in the conference. Their pitching didn't fair that well, but well enough to go to the final 16.	B+	C+	B-
< Houston Outlaws The Houston Outlaws advanced to the round of 16 but lost to the Bulldogs in 5 games. They swept two AA teams in St. Lucie and Huntsville, but their loss proved that they were not certainly ready for the big time. They played decent in their pitching and their batting as well, but not enough to wow people. They did play two AA teams, so their efforts are not that great, but still well deserving of what has happened to them these past couple of years.	B	B	B
San Diego Pelicans The San Diego Pelicans went to the second round, losing to the Detroit Bulldogs in 2 games. They only beat two A teams, barely beating them, creating a horrific performance by these Pelicans. They had decent batting throughout this Cup, but horrific pitching, with a 4.66 ERA against mostly A teams. They are deserving of this and it shows that the Pelicans need a bit of time to rebuild and be a very good team.	B-	D	C
Miami Talons Where can we start with the Talons, they won the Open Cup, played flawlessly throughout the cup and blazed through the competition. They pitched and batted to the highest abilities possible and all the teams they faced, they showed their strength that has given them 3 straight Southern League Titles.	A+	A+	A+
Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras had a good run before the reigning ABL Champs stopped them in the third round. They easily went through Richmond and Kansas City, but the Cardinals took them down easily, showing that they aren’t as mighty as their record might have said they were. Their batting and pitching were horrific, not living up to par at all. They even weren’t able to do that well including that most of their games were against minor league teams. They are definitely not going to live up to the same expectations as they did thos year.	C-	C-	C-
New Orleans Colonels The New Orleans Colonels had a great run, going to the quarterfinals and losing to the Open Cup runner-up Connecticut Thunder in four games. They went through 4 grueling rounds beating Rockford, Syracuse, Minnesota, and Lakeland, but fell in the end. The Colonels had pretty good pitching and batting, which kept them to be good enough to get to the next rounds, but they only beat one ML team, so we shouldn’t reward them that much.	B	A-	B+
Atlanta Sun Devils The Sun Devils made a surprising run to the 2nd round, but what was more surprising was the fact that they played the St. Louis Stallions to a grueling three games. They beat two very good AA teams, but they werent able to pass the big hump, but they gave it their all. In the games that they played, they played as one of the best around. Their pitching was phenominal and their batting was OK, but good for their circumstance. They played their best, but their best won’t be good enough for the playoffs for a while.	A+	B+	A
Tampa Tigers The ownerless Tampa Tigers finished poorly, only able to beat one AA team and losing to a AAA team in the next round. They got beat out by probably one of the best AAA teams in the ABL, but it still doesn’t negate the fact that they lost to them. The Tigers had horrible batting and below average pitching, thus resulting in a result that was not favorable to them.	D	C	C-

Home
Rivalries Update
Minor League Spotlight
Archives