Rakeville Times: Eastern Excellence

Chase Utley makes the final out to seal the Eastern Division title for the Rockets. Rakeville now heads into a tough playoff matchup with the Price Cup in their dugout.



Eastern Excellence
By Aviator McShadeless, Rakeville Times

The Rockets are the best team in the Eastern Division, but you’d have a hard time convincing Rakeville fans of it. After a turbulent season that saw the best pitching staff in league history collapse, a prestigious head coach fired and a year long battle to keep the entire squad healthy, the Golden Arms in the bleachers would have been happy just to make the playoffs. Instead, they are proud holders of the team’s second Price Cup.

The crown is not undeserved. It was hard to argue that Rakeville was one of the best teams all season long. They ran into trouble, but no team handled injuries and underachievement better. While they didn’t have the initial success of Bridgewater and Quebec City, nor the hot streak that propelled Las Vegas, they grinded out win after win against tough Eastern Division opponents. No one could have predicted Bridgewater’s late-season collapse after their meteoric start, but Jack Reed did all he could to put his club into hunt.

“I had thought the Price Cup was lost to us,” said Reed. “Every season we build our team to be the best in the East, but after losing to Weymouth a month ago, My staff and I began focusing solely on the EHCC playoffs.”

Rakeville then went on to sweep their last three division opponents, including the Weasels with a decisive 9-1 win in week 21. After tying Bridgewater earlier in the season, the Rockets had the tie breaker if fate was on their side.

“It just snuck up on us,” said Gavin Floyd, who supplied two wins in the final game of the season. “After we beat Bridgewater, Coach Fuller said we had a chance to do something special. We had a team meeting before our flight to Arlington and decided to win.”

A 6-2 win against Arlington and a Bridgewater loss to Las Vegas sealed the deal.

“The East is full of tough teams,” said Reed. “It seems like our team has always gotten up for division games. This year is a perfect example.”

Critics suggest Rakeville’s success in the East has a lot to do with the strategy implemented by former manager Tom Seaver at the start of the season. Rockets players seemingly took off games against western conference teams. In arguably a weaker division, Rakeville stumbled.

“I’m not going to speculate on what Tom’s plan was heading into the season,” said Manager Justin Fuller. “He never indicated that he placed more importance on Eastern Division games. I did question his use of the bullpen at times, and I could see why some might think he mailed in Western Division games to keep players fresh, but I don’t think it affected our standing in the EHCC.”

Whatever the methods, the Rockets are now the proud owners of their second division crown in four years. They now prepare for a difficult first round matchup against Winston-Salem, a team that bested them twice in the regular season.
“There is no easy road to the EHCC championships this season,” said Fuller. “Teams that we though would be a sure-fire champ have faltered, and low ranked teams now have a history of success. The playoff pool is too deep to predict.”