2064 POSTSEASON REPORTS

PROJECTED 2065 FREE AGENTS BY TEAM

PROJECTED 2065 FREE AGENTS BY RATINGS

SIMBL CHARTER GM TED WILLIAMS & HIS BANDITS WAIT 60 SEASONS, NEARLY 18 REAL-LIFE YEARS & WIN FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP IN FRANCHISE HISTORY, ARE 2064 CHAMPIONS

Bend Wins Only The Fifth Matchup Between Two Wildcards In SIMBL History In Seven Games Against Syndicate League Champion St. Petersburg

14-Time All-Star & 7-Time Hurler Of The Year SIMBL Legend Eddie Batista Makes Only The Second Postseason Of Illustrious Career, First In 18 Seasons, & Finally Gets His SIMBL Championship Ring

Bend teammates celebrate hoisting the SIMBL Coveted Cup after winning a hard-fought full seven-game series against the St. Petersburg Admirals in the 2064 SIMBL Coveted Cup Championship Series.  In only their second SIMBL CS appearance, and their first in 59 seasons since their loss to San Diego in the inaugural SIMBL CS for the 2005 season, the Bandits win the first SIMBL championship in franchise history.  SIMBL charter GM and Bandits founder Ted Williams has been there since Day One of the league's inception and finally wins his first championship after being in the league at the Bandits helm for nearly 18 real-life years.

Bend teammates douse Bandits stalwart Eddie Batista (above right) with the bubbly after winning Game Seven of the 2064 SIMBL Coveted Cup Championship Series.  The SIMBL's best pitcher of the past 20 seasons and one of the greatest pitchers in SIMBL history, Batista has won 305 games (one of five pitchers) and has struck out over 4600 batters (one of two pitchers) in his 19-season career. The 14-time All-Star has won 7 Hurler Of The Year awards which are the second-most in SIMBL history next to SIMBL Hall Of Famer Bobby Grimes' eight awards.  It was only the second postseason appearance of the future first ballot Hall Of Famer's career and his first trip to the playoffs in 17 seasons.

2064 SIMBL CS:
BEND 4 ST. PETERSBURG 3

2064 SIMBL CS MVP:
Bend LF Keitaro Sakai

2064 SIMBL Coveted Championship Series:
Game One: Bend 9 St. Petersburg 8 (Walk-Off 4-Run Bottom Of 9th Inning)
Player Of The Game: St. Petersburg 3B Nathan Armbruster
Game Two: Bend 5 St. Petersburg 2
Player Of The Game: Bend SP Daniel Lewis
Game Three: St. Petersburg 5 Bend 1
Player Of The Game: St. Petersburg SP Jesse Barnett
Game Four: St. Petersburg 3 Bend 0
Player Of The Game: St. Petersburg SP Pat Weeks
Game Five: St. Petersburg 10 Bend 3
Player Of The Game: St. Petersburg 2B Lane Bates
Game Six: Bend 6 St. Petersburg 3
Player Of The Game: Bend SP Daniel Lewis
Game Seven: Bend 3 St. Petersburg 2
Player Of The Game: Bend SP Patrick Harrington

2064 SIMBL LCS:
BEND 4 CALGARY 2
ST. PETERSBURG 4 INDIANAPOLIS 2

2064 SIMBL LCS MVPS:
Bend 3B Luke McAlister
St. Petersburg 3B Nathan Armbruster

2064 SIMBL LDS:
BEND 4 MIAMI 2
CALGARY 4 TEXAS 2
ST. PETERSBURG 4 KNOXVILLE 2
INDIANAPOLIS 4 HAWAII 2

2064 SIMBL LDS MVPS:
Bend 1B Pete Farmer
Calgary CF Carson Reese
St. Petersburg SS Jamie Law
Indianapolis 1B Herman Solano

Well, the wait is finally over for SIMBL charter GM and Bend Bandits founder and longtime GM Ted Williams.

A time that Ted has painfully waited for since being one of the originals to join and stay with his franchise and the league since the real-life September 2, 2006 date that was the SIMBL's inception.

Ted's Bandits capped the best season in the franchise's 60-season history with a +19-game improvement from last season's last-place finish in the battle-hardened UL West with a second-half surge (a Union League-best 44-30 after the All-Star break) into the UL wildcard spot two games back of division winner Calgary, upset defending SIMBL champion Miami in the first round and then upset favored divisional foe Calgary in the ULCS and then again won the first SIMBL league championship in franchise history by disposing of the SL champion St. Petersburg Admirals of GM David Bliley in seven games including a thrilling come back from a three-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th inning to win Game One.

With an uber-talented young pitching rotation consisting of all former top five draft picks (Eddie Batista #1 overall in 2046, Patrick Harrington #3 overall in 2056, Bob Rebadow #4 overall in 2057, Ken Moran #3 overall in 2058 and Daniel Lewis #1 overall in 2059) and a lineup with few holes and a mix of young draft talent and All-Star veterans, this may be just the beginning of the Bandits standing on top of the elite in the SIMBL after so many seasons in the gutter regions of the league.

Before any offseason additions and loaded with still more talent in the pipeline with the SIMBL's current 4th-rated farm system, the Bandits possess five of the SIMBL's currently-rated Top 40 players: 22 year-old 2060 #1 overall draft pick 3B Luke McAlister, 34 year-old two-time SIMBL champion, 2062 Union League MVP and this season's SIMBL CS MVP Keitaro Sakai, 23 year-old SP Daniel Lewis, 30 year-old SP Patrick Harrington and 29 year-old SP Bob Rebadow.

Lewis was spectacular in Bend's postseason run.  The 18-game winner this past season went 2-0 in his 5 postseason starts with a blistering 1.12 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched.  Bandits slugger Pete Farmer, won in the lottery for his services two offseasons ago, hit .329 with 7 HR and 16 RBI with a 1.116 OPS in 73 at bats in 19 games.

In the previous 46 seasons of the SIMBL New File Era (2019-current), the Bandits had only made it to the postseason 10 times winning six divisional titles and four wildcard berths.  The Bandits reached their only previous SIMBL Coveted Cup Championship Series in the SIMBL's first season of 2005 where they lost to San Diego in six games.  Bend went 59 long seasons until their next SIMBL CS appearance this season.

This season, the Bandits ended the SIMBL's longest postseason drought which dated back to the 2047 season.  The Bandits' 92 wins this season are their most in 46 seasons dating back to their 98 wins in the SIMBL New File Era's first season back in 2019.  The 98 wins in 2019 and 92 wins this season are the only 90-win seasons in the past 46 seasons of the SIMBL New File Era (2019-current) for the franchise.

In their previous 59-season history, the Bandits advanced to the ULCS only three times: in 2005, 2028 and 2038.

Being only four seasons removed from the last of three consecutive 100-loss seasons, the Bandits had only 10 winning seasons in the previous 46 campaigns-and only one 90-win season- and only four winning seasons (including two 82-80 seasons) in the past 19 seasons when 300-game winner, 4000-strikeout, 14-time All-Star and 7-time UL Hurler Of The Year Eddie Batista, the best pitcher of his generation in the league, joined the franchise.  This season's marvels are only the second postseason appearance of Batista's illustrious and Hall Of Fame-bound career and his first postseason in 18 seasons.

The 39 year-old Batista is the most-accomplished player in SIMBL history yet only made one previous postseason trip back 17 seasons ago previous to this season's Bandits run.

This season's SIMBL CS featured both wildcard teams from each league.  St. Petersburg and Bend were the 31st and 32nd wildcard teams to make it to the SIMBL CS out of 120 past possible SIMBL CS berths (26.7%). It was only the 5th time in the league's 60-season history that two wildcards met in the title series previously happening in 2022 (Hollywood vs. Dallas), 2024 (San Diego vs. Dallas), 2031 (Las Vegas vs. Dallas) and 2055 (San Diego vs. Calgary).  It's the 14th time out of now 60 (23.3%) title winners in league history that a wildcard team has won it all.

St. Petersburg was seeking the fourth SIMBL championship in franchise history and their first since the 2056 season.  The Admirals now have won 11 divisional titles, two wildcard berths, four SL titles and 3 SIMBL championships in their 60-season history and appear to be a favorite to contend for the SL and SIMBL title next season with a veteran-laden squad.

Rochester and Knoxville, tops in the league's most frustrated postseason teams, now remain the only teams in the SIMBL's 60-season and 17.5 real-life year history to have not yet won a SIMBL championship.  Rochester remains the only team in league history to not yet advance to a SIMBL Coveted Cup Championship Series.  Both franchises are on the right track though with both making the postseason in the past two seasons.

Toronto now holds the SIMBL's longest postseason drought at 13 seasons.  Cleveland and Oregon are now at 7 seasons with Chicago and Montreal at 5 seasons each.

Next up for the league is the annual mandatory end of season 2064 SIMBL GM Awards balloting.  After a few days for voting then the 2065 offseason SIM schedule will be announced and another offseason will begin, the looking forward to 2065 Opening Day and the 2065 SIMBL Draft.

The new 2065 league and team finances (before 2065 arbitrations) have been calculated and revealed ingame.  Team options and arbitration offers are now due via export.

Congratulations to everyone on another fun and successful season of play together as we head towards Season 61 of history together.