World Baseball Classic 34 - Everything Thread

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Quarterfinals Games 3 and 4 Results

Super-Llamaland               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
United States of Devonta      0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  5

United States of Devonta      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X  2

Super-Llamaland wins series 3 games to 1

Gregoryisgodistan             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3  5
The Jeckish Union             0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

The Jeckish Union             1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 2  8
Gregoryisgodistan             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Series tied at 2 games apiece

Patistan                      2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4  9
South Yerfilag                2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

Patistan wins series 3 games to 0

Frenline Delpha               0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2  5
Cosumar                       0 0 1 0 0 4 0 2 X  7

Cosumar                       0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1  4
Frenline Delpha               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  3

Cosumar wins 3 games to 1

[Super-Llamaland]

PYTHAGOREAN RECORDS: LOOKING BACK AT THE GROUP STAGES

By: Kirk Eberhardt, LSN

A few days back, acclaimed blogger Franz Jensen (newly acquired by The WBC Project) posted this handy spreadsheet on The Sports Project...but he never did any sort of insights on what the numbers meant. So here I am.

Firstly, what is Pythagorean record? Well, say there's a team that loses two days in a row, 3-2 and 1-0. Another team manages a narrow 3-2 win, but in their second game they're beaten up on to the tune of 22-0. Which team is better? Clearly team one. But that's not what the standings will say, as team two is 1-1 and team one is 0-2.

Pythagorean record is sort of what the standings would look like if wins and losses were ignored. Generally having good relievers and management will make you look like you're outperforming a bit and bad relievers and management the opposite, but any large gaps (in thirty games, I'd say more than a game or two) are usually just luck.

But it's a fun exercise to see where things would line up if you looked at just runs scored and runs allowed.

Briefly looking over, a lot of the groups seemed to even out pretty well, with most teams in spots deserving at least those spots.

Then there was our group.

GROUP 6

Super-Llamaland: 19.57 (18)
Gregoryisgodistan: 19.17 (18)
Equestrian States: 18.77 (22)
New Hayeselia: 14.00 (15)
Flardania: 9.79 (10)
Ack Barnes 7.50 (7)

The obvious thing here is to notice that the team at the top is Super-Llamaland. We underperformed by 1.57, and while we did have a few bullpen struggles and Alex Cameron isn't the greatest manager strategically, we probably should've hit nineteen wins. But we didn't, and that wouldn't have made too much of a difference, although not facing Schlitzberg couldn't have hurt.

Of course, then you notice that the Equestrian States outperformed by 3.23 wins for no apparent reason at all.

GROUP 1

South Yerfilag: 18.40 wins (actual wins: 19)
Nova Anglicana: 15.93 (19)
Eykyellek: 14.37 (13)
Chromatika: 13.86 (12)
Norhe: 13.82 (13)
The Fair Republic: 13.74 (14)

Many thought South Yerfilag's strong group stage performance was just a fluke, but pythagorean doesn't exactly support that - the team was just .6 wins off their expected total. Nova Anglicana, though, proved to be a different story - although you'd expect them to outperform a little, their trend of underwhelming group stage performance continued - just without the underwhelming wins total. Eykyellek, Norhe, Chromatika, and the Fair Republic were all close to each other in both real life (two games between the Fair Republic and Chromatika) and projected wins (a mere .63 separating third-place Eykyellek and last-place The Fair Republic, who'd be considered underperforming no matter what their Pythagorean record said.

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[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Quarterfinals Game 5 Result

Gregoryisgodistan             1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 12
The Jeckish Union             1 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 1 11

Gregoryisgodistan wins series 3 games to 2

---

Semifinals

#8 Cosumar vs #15 Super-Llamaland @ Royal Park, St. Petrus
#13 Gregoryisgodistan vs #14 Patistan @ King Paulus XIV Park, St. Paulus

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Semifinals Games 1 and 2 Results

Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Cosumar                0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X  1

Cosumar                1 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0  6
Super-Llamaland        0 0 5 0 0 0 1 1 X  7

Series tied at 1 game apiece

Patistan               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Gregoryisgodistan      0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 X  5

Gregoryisgodistan      0 1 0 0 1 1 1 5 0  9
Patistan               2 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 1  8

Gregoryisgodistan leads 2 games to 0

[Gregoryisgodistan]

It was Game 1 of the World Baseball Classic 34 semifinals, and the Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves were getting set to take BP. All of a sudden, over the PA system came the sounds of a mass sung in Latin and praising Eye-ee-zus the false Lord came blaring through the speakers at the stadium. It was obviously done in an attempt to anger the team and distract them from the game. But what were they going to do? They had to take BP. So they did. And it obviously did not distract them, but rather anger and motivate them, as they were slugging balls out of the park during BP. It was a glorious sight to watch, but it was just BP. How would they do in the actual game?

After Sockmaker 818ZAUE gave up a run on two hits in the Top of the First, it was time for Gregoryisgodistan to come to the plate. "Leading off for Gregoryisgodistan, the second baseman, Shirtmaker 9DHUAS. Ducens off enim Gregoriusnonestdeusistan, secundo solent ignavi, Shirtmaker 9DHUAS. Then, as Shirtmaker 9DHUAS stepped into the batter's box, one of Cantus Virginum's "Greatest" hits began to play as the walk-up music. The Gregoryisgodistanis in attendance began to boo, while the Sanctii, realizing what was happening, began to cheer wildly. When Shirtmaker 9DHUAS struck out on three pitches, they just went all the more nuts. Next came Chauffeur JJIASDES, more Cantus Virginum music, and another three pitch strikeout. Enemy Crusher Bobby Furgles at least managed to put it in play, but lined out to end the frame.

Patistan went down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, bringing the Bat Slaves back to the plate. "Now batting, the designated hitter, Barber LIEUIUSH. Nunc batting, designato hitter, LIEUIUSH Barber. And then came more Cantus Virginum music, to the delight of the Sanctii and anger of the true believers. But Barber LIEUIUSH quickly showed the Sanctii who the True Lord was by ripping a double down into the right field corner. Up came Lumberjack JSUUSI99387, who to the delight of the Sanctii, struck out. That brought up Grammar Enforcement Officer CUPSI19291, and for a change they decided not to play Cantus Virginum but English gospel music proclaiming "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit is me friend." Apparently it had been written just for this occasion, because no sensible person, if you could call a false believer that, would write such a song seriously. But it did anger Grammar Enforcement Officer CUPSI19291, who promptly hit a two run home run to give the Bat Slaves the lead.

And so it continued for the rest of the game, playing Cantus Virginum music as walk-up music for the Bat Slaves, except for Grammar Enforcement Officer CUPSI19291 who got English gospel music with awful grammar, but it managed to motivate the Bat Slaves who won 5-2.

The Sanctii dared try it the next night as well in Game 2, but the Bat Slaves were clearly motivated en route to a 9-8 win over the Patistanis. Grammar Enforcement Officer CUPSI19291 went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, a double, and 7 RBIs, including a grand slam in the 8th to put the Bat Slaves up 9-7. They would win 9-8 and were just a win away from the finals against Cosumar or Super-Llamaland. Gregoryisgodistan remembers all to well being one win away from the Championship in World Baseball Classic 32 against Patistan and blowing it (OOC: No, they were actually one win away from forcing a second Championship Series against Patistan due to the weird format, but they didn't know that and still don't because it made no sense.) So they will be out for revenge here even if it is only the semifinal. Thankfully for Patistan, they have not been readded to the Enemy List and there are no plans to do so at this time. But Lord Almighty Gregory was reportedly furious at the Sanctii, saying just two words - "Kill them." Whether this constitutes a death warrant on the Sanctii sound guy remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure - the Bat Slaves are hungry for victory.

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Semifinals Games 3 and 4 Results

Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Cosumar                0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  2

Cosumar                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Super-Llamaland        0 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 X  8

Series tied at 2 games apiece

Patistan               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Gregoryisgodistan      0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  2

Gregoryisgodistan wins series 3 games to 0

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Semifinals Game 5 Result

Super-Llamaland        0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  6
Cosumar                0 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  8

Cosumar wins series 3 games to 2

---

Third Place Series (best of 3)

#14 Patistan vs #15 Super-Llamaland @ King Paulus XIV Park, St. Paulus

Finals (best of 7)

#8 Cosumar vs #13 Gregoryisgodistan @ Royal Park, St. Petrus

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Finals Games 1 and 2 Results

Finals
Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 2  6
Cosumar                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1  5

Cosumar                0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2  5
Gregoryisgodistan      1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3

Series tied at 1 game apiece

Third Place Series
Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Patistan               2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

Patistan               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  3
Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Patistan wins series 2 games to 0

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Finals Games 3 and 4 Results

Gregoryisgodistan      0 1 1 0 0 0 6 0 0  8
Cosumar                0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Cosumar                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  1

Gregoryisgodistan leads 3 games to 1

[Kaboomlandia]

Kings Clean House at the Top

After a disappointing 13-17 record and a second straight elimination in the Group Stage, Baseball Kaboomlandia have fired their entire management team. The move comes on the heels of WBC 33, where the entire team was banned from ever playing baseball for the Kings again after losing three straight to three unranked teams. Had the team lost to Cosumar that time, they would have been imprisoned for life. As fate would have it, the Kings beat Cosumar 6-3 in that game, leading management to simply ban them from playing again.

"When the team goes 13-17 and misses embarrassingly like that, it might be time to look from the top down," commented Lane Denson, chairman of Baseball Kaboomlandia. An internal review is expected to be undertaken in the coming weeks.

[Saintland]

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
"A Home Run of a Return"

Finals Games 5 and 6 Results

Gregoryisgodistan      1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1  5
Cosumar                0 1 1 2 0 1 1 1 X  7

Cosumar                1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Gregoryisgodistan      2 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 X  6

Gregoryisgodistan wins WBC 4 games to 2

Congratulations to the Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves on their first WBC championship! Commiserations to Cosumar. Thanks to everybody who participated.