Tournament of Champions Series Preview 2

(4) Cleveland Indians vs. (5) Rockford Peaches

On paper, this should be an extremely competitive series. Each team has a monster power hitter, a flashy center fielder, a staff ace and a colorful manager. This series may come down to the Peaches Dottie Hinson who should go down as the greatest female player in baseball history.

For the Indians
Thanks to a recommitment to Jobu, Pedro Cerrano spotted enough curveballs to become a Three True Outcome player. He hit 40 bombs with a .264/.386/.554 line this season while playing some highly questionable defense in the outfield. Willie "Mays" Hayes was spectacular in center and swiped 68 bases despite only having a .341 OBP. Jake Taylor is still manning his spot behind the dish after having a successful and experimental surgery to replace all the ligaments in his knees with those of an ostrich.

Rick Vaughn made the transition from the bullpen back to being a starter with no problem after several sessions with Dr. Drew for some off the field transgressions. Eddie Harris rejuvenated his career after having adamantium attached to the bones in his hand. Closing in on 60-years-old, Harris scoffs at Jamie Moyer's career.

For the Peaches
Second basewoman Marla Hooch hit 33 home runs with a .292/.380/.535 line. She also had a banner year away from the ball park too when she and her partner adopted their first Asian baby. In center, "All the Way" Mae Mordabito set single season records in both putouts and puts outs.

Kit Keller rejoined the Peaches after patching things up with her sister Dottie Hinson. After resolving her inferiority complex, Keller put up a year for the ages going 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts.

Hinson turned her passion back to baseball after she discovered her husband was actually a polygamist who had several other wives on their farm compound. Fully devoted to the game, Hinson put together a 10.2 WAR from behind the plate and established herself as an all time great.

Key to the Series
The teams are pretty evenly matched. Hinson is the best player in the series but the Indians have much more depth. This could very well come down to the managerial styles of Jimmy Dugan and Lou Brown. Dugan floats between uninterested and passionate depending on which way the booze flows while many experts say Brown is still a great tactician but manages like a ghost of his former self.

Offbase Tournament of Champions Set

The editors at Offbase have always wondered what would happen if some of the great movie and television baseball/softball teams faced off against one another. Could 56-year old Eddie Harris, about to reach his pitch limit of 175, strike out Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth? How would the greatest female baseball player of all time, Dottie Hinson, do against male competition? And could Kelly Leak hit one in to the cornfield?

Soon we'll know.

Introducing the first Off Base Percentage Tournament of Champions, featuring, by seed:

1 - The 1919 Whitesox (Field of Dreams)
2 - Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (The Simpsons)
3 - Sandlot Gang (The Sandlot)
4 - Cleveland Indians (Major League)
5 - Rockford Peaches (A League of Their Own)
6 - Chico's Bail Bonds Bears (Bad News Bears)
7 - Durham Bulls (Bull Durham)
8 - Chatham Athletics (Summer Catch)



Stay with Offbase over the next couple weeks for game previews, recaps and analysis from the greatest imaginary baseball tournament ever created.