Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Congratulations to Simon, who narrowly held off Jes Golbez, Sky, and 76 other contestants to win THE 2004 CONTEST, the annual Batters Box prediction game. Simon garnered 40 points out of possible 100. Final scores ranged from 40 down to 5 with an average of 20. Simon earned victory with his clairvoyance regarding the American League; he picked all three division winners, the wild card, pennant winner, and World Series champion.

It is my understanding that Simon will celebrate his victory by adding chocolate to milk.

The consensus picks tallied only 22 points but did correctly predict Boston's first World Series championship since 1918. The consensus earned additional points for Boston's pennant, Minnesota's division win, Florida's third-place finish, Cincinnati's fourth-place finish, and Vlad Guerrero's MVP award.

On to the highlights and lowlights of this year's voting:



Cheers!

Sky and Grand Funk Railroad were the only contestants to put St Louis in the World Series. Alas, they also predicted a Cardinals victory. Of 79 contestants, only Sky predicted a Boston - St. Louis World Series. Sky finished third in the overall voting. Jeff and Leigh joined Sky and Funk in picking the Cards to win the division.

Only 3 Run Homer and Ken Kosowan devined the quickness of the Seattle Mariners' collapse by predicting their fourth-place finish.

Ken Kosowan (again) and Kristian alone foresaw that Arizona could be worse than Colorado.

While no one correctly picked the Jays to bring up the rear of the AL East, three voters - T Nichols, Phil Pilmar, and our own lovable roster member John Gizzi - picked Baltimore third and Toronto fourth. A sharp prediction, if not one that earns much love amongst the readership.

Shame!

Nobody predicted that Toronto or Kansas City would finish last in their divisions; in fact, 21 voters put Toronto in the playoffs, and a full 28 picked KC to win the AL Central.

No one predicted Kansas City or Arizona would end up with the worst records in their leagues, though as noted above, two did pick Arizona to finish last in the NL West. To my mortal embarrassment, I picked the Royals and Snakes as division winners. The consensus picks for worst records were Detroit and Pittsburgh.

62 of us picked Philadelphia to win the AL East. (Mick Doherty correctly wondered what the fuss was about and picked Atlanta, as did nine others.)

55 of us picked the Cubs to win the division or the wild card. Actually, it's not a shame on us but on the Cubs, who collapsed down the stretch.

66 of us picked the Devil Rays to anchor the AL East, though only five had them with the worst record in the league.

Nine voters did not put the Red Sox in the playoffs. Two picked Seattle to win the AL West.

Starkian Tidbits

The White Sox, Tribe, Mariners, Marlins, Diamondbacks and Dodgers received at least one vote for every place in their respective divisions.

Texas was as close to a unanimous pick as could be found. 77 of 79 voters placed them last. 72 ultimately incorrect voters had Detroit at the bottom of the AL Central, and 74 picked the Rockies as the rump of the NL West.

Arizona troubled voters the most: they received 15 votes for first, 15 for second, 20 for third, 27 for fourth, and two for last. Their on-field performance was troubling indeed.

Awards

14 contestants correctly chose Barry Bonds as the NL MVP. The consensus pick was third-placer Albert Pujols (37). No one picked MVP bridesmaid Adrian Beltre. The consensus correctly chose AL MVP Vlad Guerrero.

Not a solitary person chose the Cy Young winner of either league. Johan Santana's spectacular second-half wrested the award from runner-up Curt Schilling, whom 17 contestants predicted would win. The consensus pick was Roy Halladay with 25 votes. Roy Oswalt, teammate of NL Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, gained the most preseason votes with 18 and finished third in the real voting. Mark Prior and Randy Johnson also received serious consideration.

Joe Mauer received a solid majority of votes (46) for AL Rookie of the Year from the Batters Box, but injuries precluded him from receiving a single vote from the writers. Bobby Crosby, with 22 votes from Bauxites, won the award. Five exceptionally wise voters chose real-life NL Rookie of the Year Jason Bay. The consensus pick was Kaz Matsui with 35 votes, and another 16 chose runner-up Khalil Greene.

Considering that only two contestants picked the Rangers to finish out of last place (even I, lifelong Ranger fan, wasn't one of them), you wouldn't have expected anyone to choose Buck Showalter as AL Manager of the Year. You'd be right. The consensus pick was Terry Francona with 19 votes, while Carlos Tosca earned 15 votes but would finish the season unemployed. Seven intrepid souls selected NL winner Bobby Cox. Bruce Bochy gained a tiny plurality among Bauxites, and Dusty Baker and now-deposed Jimy Williams received at least ten votes.

Contestant Paul D correctly picked four of the eight award recipients and earned a contest-high 18 points out of 36 possible for awards. 29 of the 79 contestants didn't pick anyone correctly.

Contestant
World Series and Pennants (16)
Division Races (52)
Awards (36)
TOTAL (100)
Simon
12
23
5
40
Jes Golbez
12
15
10
37
Sky
8
18
10
36
baseballnut
4
21
10
35
Paul D
0
17
18
35
Sophoric
12
12
10
34
Geoff
12
15
3
30
Kristian
12
15
3
30
Mike Green
12
12
5
29
EddieZosky
12
12
5
29
T Nichols
0
19
10
29
Cristian
12
6
10
28
Brian W
0
13
15
28
Donkit RK
12
11
5
28
Argonaut
12
16
0
28
NDG
12
11
5
28
Craig Burley
4
14
8
26
Dave Till
8
13
5
26
David Goodwin
12
9
5
26
Phil Pilmar
12
14
0
26
Jack Cooney
12
8
5
25
Gerry
4
13
8
25
Jonny German
0
14
10
24
Ben
12
2
10
24
Coach
12
7
5
24
Asher
0
24
0
24
Dylan B
4
15
5
24
3RunHomer
0
20
3
23
Brian Stewart
0
18
5
23
CONSENSUS
12
5
5
22
Gwyn Price
12
10
0
22
benum
12
10
0
22
Rob
0
16
5
21
alsiem
4
12
5
21
sweat
4
17
0
21
Nolan
4
17
0
21
Eric
12
4
5
21
Mike Moffatt
0
10
10
20
Tom
12
8
0
20
Steve Birnie
4
11
5
20
Boris
0
19
0
19
Cornwall Lou
0
11
8
19
Dgriebeling
4
14
0
18
Leigh
0
13
5
18
Bill Liming
0
13
5
18
Johnathan
4
14
0
18
Oggman
0
17
0
17
Joe Blow
0
12
5
17
Elijah
0
7
10
17
Rob C
12
4
0
16
Andrew Edwards
0
11
5
16
Randy Winter
4
7
5
16
Scott Lucas
0
10
5
15
Pistol
0
10
5
15
Peteski
0
10
5
15
WillRain
0
14
0
14
David Armitage
0
9
5
14
Chris B
0
9
5
14
Skywalker
0
14
0
14
ghol
4
10
0
14
Alex O
0
9
5
14
young
0
8
5
13
braden
0
8
5
13
Tassle
0
8
5
13
Harley
0
8
5
13
Harley Winfrey
0
8
5
13
Grand Funk Railroad
4
8
0
12
Best Mate
4
8
0
12
John Gizzi
0
11
0
11
Nick Frame
0
6
5
11
A
4
6
0
10
Jeff
0
10
0
10
Ken Kosowan
0
10
0
10
superdevin
0
9
0
9
Mike D
0
8
0
8
Dr. Zorco
0
8
0
8
Mick Doherty
0
8
0
8
endos
0
8
0
8
whizland2000
0
5
0
5
Harry Heatherington
4
1
0
5
Simon wins THE CONTEST | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_Sophoric - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 01:34 PM EST (#6363) #
Bah, I just missed the top 5 :(
_braden - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 02:04 PM EST (#6364) #
Yes! Cracked the top 60.
_Jes Golbez - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 03:15 PM EST (#6365) #
Congrats to Simon, Don't go overboard on the sugar.

"I unintentionally set up a Chicago-Boston World Series. In that case, Babe's shadow will be eradicated. The gods will intevene though"

Well, Simon, the gods must have been asleep...or they just like to torment Chicago fans (of both teams)

I'm surprised more peeps (This is a Canadian site, isn't it?) didn't pick our own Jason Bay to take home the ROY.

...and looking back, I picked KC and Arizona to win their divisions. What crack was I smoking?
Mike D - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 03:21 PM EST (#6366) #
Yowza. Ahead of a grand total of two entrants.

Lousy Royals.
Thomas - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 04:26 PM EST (#6367) #
I'm sure I would have won had I entered. ;)

Congrats to the winner.
Gitz - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 04:54 PM EST (#6368) #
Woohoo! I beat Mike D! Oh, wait. He stunk, too. Dang it.

(Did I really pick Baltimore third? I'd wager dollars to donuts that was a typo on my part . . . )
_Dr. Zarco - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 05:02 PM EST (#6369) #
Ha! I picked Jimy Williams as NL manager of the year. Whoops. Even bigger whoops was finishing nearly last...eh, I'll do better in 2005.
Mike Green - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 06:16 PM EST (#6370) #
See, Burley, you didn't do half bad.

I'll take bragging rights for the roster. With it, undoubtedly, comes some kind of committee work at the usual rate of remuneration. Zilch, nada and bupkes, to boot.
Dave Till - Wednesday, December 29 2004 @ 06:43 PM EST (#6371) #
I finished above average! Yay!
_Paul D - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 02:17 AM EST (#6372) #
Wow, if only I'd picked any of the pennant winners!

Oh well, this was fun.
_Argonaut - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 10:04 AM EST (#6373) #
Congratulations Simon. Now with your proven powers of clairvoyance tell us what to expect for 2005. David Bush garners the Cy Young perhaps? (-:
_Moffatt - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 10:25 AM EST (#6374) #
Wow.. I didn't come in last. Most of my picks were at least not too far off. A Dodgers-A's series wouldn't have been unthinkable. I had one stinker, though:

Lousy Royals

I think this is the only time in the history of the known universe that Mike D and I have ever agreed on anything. It turns out we were both so horrendously wrong, it wasn't funny.

From now on I'll reflexively disagree with anything Mr. D has to say. :)
Mike D - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 10:59 AM EST (#6375) #
Just goes to show you, Moffatt...your overwhelming, visceral instinct to disagree with me will continue to serve you well. Hope you've learned your lesson!
_baseballnut - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 12:45 PM EST (#6376) #
WOW I finished 4th. 2 pts of the 2nd spot. Las Vegas here I come :)

Hey MOFFAT, how can I get a hold of you. I have tried emailing you but you don't reply. I'm the manager of Homer JAYS Simpsons of BBFL in the Barfield division. I want to know why I'm not being promoted to the Alomar division even though I finished 3rd. My understand is the top 3 advances (not including playoffs).
_Moffatt - Thursday, December 30 2004 @ 02:49 PM EST (#6377) #
Hey MOFFAT, how can I get a hold of you. I have tried emailing you but you don't reply.

Really? I haven't gotten an e-mail from you. They must be being eaten by my spam filter. Try again at economics.guide@about.com .

Oh.. make sure not to include the word "fantasy" anywhere, as those tend to get eaten as porn spam. Seriously.

Why would you not be being promoted to the Alomar division? Did someone say you weren't?
_Anders - Friday, December 31 2004 @ 01:11 AM EST (#6378) #
And I thought, at a certain point, that my Houston- New York world series was looking good.
Sigh...

At least I didnt finish completely in last (under another alias, but close, unfortnately)
Simon wins THE CONTEST | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.