AL Division Champ Series

#1 St Louis Archies vs #4 Atlanta Major Duckies

The only team to win 100 games in the American League this season, St Louis did so in one of the toughest divisions in all of the Dream League. Third in runs scored, and third in runs scored against, they're a top 5 team in virtually every major statistical category. Darwin Floyd is an MVP and one of the three players on the team to go for more than 30 HR's this season. With four players snagging more than 20 bases, they are also swift on the basepath, and can do more than just hit for power. Combine that with a four-man rotation that sports 64 wins and a potential Cy Young winner, and you see why these guys won 100 games and are the number one seed. Throw in an above-average coaching staff, and the Archies are the favorite to make the World Series out of the AL.

We've already talked about Atlanta, and how they would get beaten in the first round.....yeah, that didn't work out too well. After sweeping Philly, the Ducks head into this series with a split record against the Archies during the regular season, going 5-5 against each other. Atlanta is actually comparable to St Louis in almost every batting category. Everyone in the offense is a threat, as the team sports 8 players who hit 20 or more HR's this season. Their only downside is the pitching staff, which doesn't quite match up with the stud staff over in the other dugout. And while their coaches are decent, they're not on par with the St Louis staff.

NJ Prediction: St Louis in 4.

#2 Durham Bulls vs #3 Colorado Knockers

The top two offenses in the AL this season, I feel bad for all of the pitchers who have to be involved in this series. Durham took the season series 6 to 4, and most of those games involved A LOT of runs. The two teams combined for 8 players hitting more than 40 HR's, and 12 players knocking in more than 100 runs. Pitching wise, both teams have some guys who throw the ball to the catcher, and sometimes the ball actually gets to his mitt, but usually it goes in the opposite direction, and that will definitely be true in this series. Colorado has Cookie Cradle, who we mentioned earlier, and that's about it. Durham has five guys (mmmmm, Five Guys) who logged 10 or more wins this season, but the lowest ERA among those five was 4.46, which isn't exactly Cy Young caliber. A few late season call-ups helped the Durham staff, but certainly not enough to slow the Colorado offense. Durham has a slight edge in the category of coaching, but that's about it.

NJ Prediction: We can't really predict a winner here, but we will say that "it will be a very good series, and could go to a 5th game."