#9/10 Seeded Teams

#9 1941 Washington Senators

Original Season Record:70-84, .455, T-6thth place, AL

Star Attractions: SS Travis Cecil is a hidden gem in this league and is one of top contenders for the Poistion Player of the Year award.  He led Washington with a .359 batting average, 520 s;lugging percentage, .930 OPS and 150 OPS+, not to mention 39 2B, 19 3B, 101 RBI and 106 R.  If for no other reason, he alone is worth the price of admission to this team's games.

Also Featuring: 1B Mickey Vernon provides some protection in the batting order, with a .299 batting average and 93 RBI, while speedy OF George Case ran away with the league SB title with 33, injecting a threat on the base paths into the lineup. Dutch Leonard and Sid Hudson were an excellent 1-2 duo in the starting rotation, combining for 31 wins and 505.6 innings with 3.45 and 3.46 ERAs respectively.

Potential Pitfalls: The core of this team is pretty impressively, but the depth falls off quickly.  Of the top nine pitchers in innings five had ERAs north of 5. 4 of the 8 starting position players had  an OPS+ of 86 or lower.  That was partly attributable to playing in an extreme pitcher friendly park, leading to no hitters with more than 10 HR, but mostly due to a top heavy roster that was extremely thin at the bottom and even middle.

#10 1993 Minnesota Twins

Original Season Record: 71-91. .438, 6th place, AL West

Star Attractions: Wildly popular Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett led the team with a .474 slugging percentage, .824 OPS, 39 2B, 89 RBI and 89 R while still playing high level defence.

Also Featuring: Brian Harper was one of the best hitting catchers in the league and led the Twins with a .304 BA.  Dave Winfield came back after winning an elusive World Series title and was a hometown hero in Minnesota.  Kent Hrbek supplied the power with a team best 25 dingers while Chuck Knoblauch was an effective leadoff hitter, swiping 29 bases.

Potential Pitfalls: The pitching was abysmal with a frightly 4.71 team ERA, leading to a league worst -137 run differential.  While the bullpen was decent enough, the starting pitchers were a horror show, with Scott Erickson leading the league in hits allowed, and one of four Twins starters with ERAs higher than 4.40.  While Harper was a terrific hitting catcher, he didn't do the pitching staff any favours, leading the league in passed balls and stolen bases allowed.