2011 - Arizona Diamondbacks World Series Champions
2011 was my second "modern baseball" replay season. My Tigers were eliminated in the ALC by the Texas Rangers. My goal was to see if I could take them further.
In the American League I managed the Tigers and spent most of the season chasing the Chicago White Sox. The Tigers underperformed from a record standpoint, however I did manage to catch the Sox and ended up winning the A.L. Central by 7 games. The Yankees won the A.L. East by 6 over Tampa. Tampa would get the wild card. The Rangers cruised to the A.L. West crown by 17 games over Oakland. This was the exact same results as in real life. In the National League. Cincinnati won the west by 7 games over St. Louis. Arizona and the Los Angeles finished in a tie and had a one game elimination for the division which Arizona won. In the East, a three way tie between Washington, Atlanta and Philadelphia resulted in an elimination tournament. Washington beat Atlanta 4-3 in 11 innings then they defeated Philadelphia 4-2 to win the division. Philadelphia took the wild card.
In the Divisional Playoffs Texas beat Tampa 3-2 and Detroit beat New York 3-1. Cincinnati beat Philadelphia 3-1 and Arizona beat Washington 3-1
The A.L. MVP was Robinson Cano (.315-42-140). A.L. Cy Young winner was Justin Verlander (19-9, 2.87, 237K) N.L. MVP was Prince Fielder (.316-42-141). N.L. Cy Young winner was Clayton Kershaw (21-9, 1.93, 283K).
Here is how the replay compared to real life in some basic categories:
The AL had a .260 AVG (.258), .336 OBP (.323), .407 SLG (.408), .732 OPS (.730), 10315 Runs (10117),
2231 HR (2271), 4.23 ERA (4.08), .983 FLD (.983)
The NL had a .253 AVG (.253), .317 OBP (.319), .387 SLG (.391), .704 OPS (.710), 11047 Runs (10691), 2216 HR (2281), 3.84 ERA (3.81), .983 FLD (.983)