Alternate History Sports / AltLB - 2023 Season

**Posted by DireBear** 8/07/2023 3:15 pm

It was a high scoring face-off in New York, but the T-Birds came out on top and extended their win streak to 8 games. We'll stay on the road heading back west to Kansas City to take on the Colts. KC are looking to play spoiler this week against us, but we hope that is a good game nonetheless. Will Smith (the pitcher, not the catcher) is our featured player this week, striking out 3 and getting 3 saves last week as our top reliever. The Red Rock State Park is the highlighted locale, located just north of Sedona, providing excellent landscapes of red sandstone mountains and canyons surrounded by the green Coconino National Forest. We're sticking with our road jerseys this week as we hope to continue to compete for the AL pennant. #Thunderstruck

**Posted by ItDoesntMatter** 8/07/2023 7:15 pm

Well, the Atoms didn't have a great week, and the Gemini decided they were gonna be red-hot all of a sudden, and we fall to 14-03. But thanks to a Griffins loss, we've clinched a playoff spot, so it's not all bad. We'll look to salvage the homestand with a win over the Turtles, against whom we're undefeated, but I'm not really in the mood to tempt fate at the moment, so we'll have to bring our A game. A, in this instance, obviously stands for Aroldis - Chapman, that is, who fireballed his way to 06 strikeouts and 03 holds against the Gems. #BetOnIt #UpAndAtom #TBvsLV

**Posted by Dan O'Mac** 8/14/2023 10:13 am

With another week down, no one new has clinched a playoff spot, but three teams have moved closer.

AL scenarios:
TB clinches playoff spot with win or tie OR MIN loss or tie
DET clinches playoff spot with win or tie OR MIN loss or tie
to make the playoffs, MIN must win out AND TB OR DET lose out AND outscore the team that loses out on the season (currently 1096.67 points behind TB, 1393 points behind DET)
OKC and AZ are in
LA, HAV, and CHI are eliminated

NL scenarios:
NY is in with a win or tie OR CAR loss or tie
LV is in
MTL is eliminated with a loss or tie OR OAK win or tie, needs a three way tie as OAK won both matchups
KC is eliminated with loss or tie OR OAK win or tie
MEM is eliminated

Here are your power ranks!

**Posted by Dan O'Mac** 8/14/2023 10:17 am

The team of the week is looking good! With Matt Olson on the team for the second consecutive week, Trea Turner (who is on the trading block!) locking up the SS position, and Freddy Peralta making the team for the first time since week 1!

**Posted by Dan O'Mac** 8/14/2023 10:22 am

We're coming off an absolute nail-biter, as the Griffins, who were leading by exactly 100 points after Thursday, couldn't hold on and the Bison stampeded back to take the win thanks to Kodai Senga's Sunday night gem on the mound and the closest points based result in Bison history at 1.33 points. We have no time to rest, as we're heading west to take on the Thunderbirds in Phoenix. Arizona is coming in on a 9-game win streak, and we're coming in on an 11-game win streak, and both teams are looking to get that upper hand on the top seed in the AL with only 4 weeks remaining. We're not going to mess with a good thing, and are going to wear the road grays in this one. We're featuring outfielder Marcell Ozuna in this one, who has been a big boost to the offense while Jonathan India has been on the IL with a foot issue.

**Posted by DireBear** 8/14/2023 3:26 pm

The Colts proved they were no easy challenge, but the T-Birds came back and won with ease to increase our win streak to 9. Now we return home to play our toughest series yet, a series against the Oklahoma City Bison to potentially determine who wins the AL pennant this year. This is set to be one of the best matchups all year for the Thunderbirds, and we'll be trusting reigning AL Cy Young pitcher Sandy Alcantara on the mound. Alcantara has found his groove after a down year, pitching a complete game as he stuck out 10 and only allowed a single run. We'll be wearing our typical home jerseys, but sporting the alternate hat for this special series. Featured this week in the Arizona wildlife tour is Slide Rock State Park, where Oak Creek forms one of the best water slides to cool off from the scorching summer heat. #Thunderstruck

**Posted by ItDoesntMatter** 8/14/2023 8:41 pm

The Atoms avoided their 02nd losing streak of the season last week, as we outmuscled the Turtles (and their 04 Team of the Week-ers) en route to win number 15. We've also finished our final homestand of the year, as 03 of our final 04 matches come away from the videodome in Vegas. This one takes us international, as we head up to Montréal for a matchup with les Saints, who are barely hanging onto playoff contention. With our pitching staff beat up at the moment, we'd like to shoutout SP/RP Cole Ragans, who slotted into the rotation and K'd 16 Turtles in just under 12 innings. #BetOnIt #UpAndAtom #LVvsMTL

**Posted by ItDoesntMatter** 8/21/2023 8:47 pm

After several weeks of nailbiters, it was nice to see the Atoms jump out to a huge lead against Montréal and never look back. It was even nicer to see them clinch the NL's top seed with that win, which means we can let off the gas a bit for the next few weeks while we prep for the playoffs - and hopefully heal up while we wait. We do have our last home game of the regular season this week, though, so we'll try to send off the Vegas crowd with a win over the Kansas City Colts. For the second week in a row, we're highlighting a pitcher who has filled into the rotation, as SP Tarik Skubal is coming off a 06-inning, 07-strikeout performance during which he only allowed a single earned run. #BetOnIt #UpAndAtom #KCvsLV

Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (8/21/2023 8:47 pm)

**Posted by Dan O'Mac** 8/23/2023 7:58 am

I'm on top of this. I created the graphics, then just failed to upload them and post them. We'll correct that now. There was, once again, very little change in the power ranks. It appears that some tweaks to the formula are necessary.

**Posted by Dan O'Mac** 8/23/2023 7:59 am

And your team of the week, headlined by hitter Julio Rodriguez and pitcher Dakota Hudson!