Writing the pre-season projections can be a thankless job. Say something negative, and you become locker room fodder for the rest of the season. When I decided to revisit each championship team’s writeup for that given season, I admit I was expecting to see a lot of misfires. The league is full of surprises and I thought the projections would reflect this.
Enjoy this stroll down memory lane and let's revisit snippets of what was said about each championship team starting with the first season predictions are available online.
2011:
Champions: Pollock
Season Record: 14-8
Projected Record: 11-11
Speaking words of wisdom: “Rookie manager Matt Pollock had an impressive start to his inaugural draft by snagging Commish JZ , who has vowed to burn the Justin Jacoby Hitting CD he used last year , and bounce back with an MVP type year.” (JZ went on to win MVP)
I should have known better: “Unless the defense can win games with steady versus stellar, we predict it could be a tough start to the managerial career of Matt Pollock , a likely .500 season……which would not be terrible.”
2012:
Champions: Harris
Season Record: 12-10
Projected Record: 13-9
Speaking words of wisdom: “The author is predicting that the division will come down to the final game of the season leaving Harris one game short but expect them to make serious noise in the post season.” (Harris lost the division by two games but they sure made noise in the playoffs).
2013:
Champions: Jacoby
Season Record: 16-6
Projected Record: 14-8
Speaking words of wisdom: “What makes this team a potential championship team is Dave “if its not a 15 ft limit , I am not pitching” Clampferrer. Dave is not only a top pitcher , he is a steady fielder on the mound , allowing DK to squeeze the hole , and a lethal bat.” (Jacoby’s team came in second in runs against while Clamp batted .618 en route to winning the MVP award.)
2014:
Champions: Applebaum
Season Record: 19-3
Projected Record: 11-11
Speaking words of wisdom: “This top 3 is scary good offensively, clearly the best middle lineup in the league. Brian then grabbed the winning Yockel combo pick and Herm to don the mound to secure himself with one of the league's best hurlers. This team won't be at a loss for offense….”(This team set the record for runs scored)
I should have known better: “. . . the concern here is defensive consistency. We see an up and down campaign” (Applebaum’s team set the record for best regular season before coasting through the playoffs)
2015:
Champions: Granese
Season Record: 14-8
Projected Record: 13-9
Speaking words of wisdom: “Add in stud Murphy, beast power Siedenberg and steal of the draft Krauss and this team looks great on paper. This could be the year MG finally quiets the nay sayers.”
2016:
Champions: Goldfarb
Season Record: 14-8
Projected Record: 14-8 (ding, ding ding!)
Speaking words of wisdom: “Sure enough Justin and Pat fell in his lap with the 6th overall pick and a new era had begun. . . A nice blend of speed and versatility with a very well balanced roster has this years’ Jiffy squad primed for a strong season and potential lengthy playoff run.”
2017:
Champions: Pollock
Season Record: 15-7
Projected Record: 14-8
Speaking words of wisdom: “When you start with arguably the best two way SS in the league and follow him up with Clamp who but for his missed games would have gone as a late 1 you are on your way. . . Several veterans round out the roster and we have a team that should mash the ball, pitch as well as any team and play enough D to be one of the teams challenging for a #1 seed.”
I should have known better: “Defense- C+”(We came in second in runs against.)
2018:
???
If 2018 is another year where the pre-season projections were fairly accurate in predicting the championship then that's good news for either Marrone, Brock, or Goldfarb: the three teams predicted to have the best seasons this year.
That applebaum team though...
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