S25 NL West All-Stars by bigparb13

C -  Pedro Juarez - Salt Lake City
1B-  Marc Clarke  - Colorado
2B-  Christy Rivers  - Helena
3B-  Kevin Lowery  - Salt Lake City
SS-  Ajax Maybin    - Salt Lake City
LF-  Cristobal Chavez  - Helena
CF-  Felipe Mercado   - Colorado
RF-  Louie Santiago   - Salt Lake City
Utility -  Gerald Hull  -  Helena
Utility -  Dock Sanders  - Colorado 

SP -  Rafael Beltre  -  Colorado
SP -  Alex Torres  -  Salt Lake City
SP -  Darrell Bigbie  -  Helena
SP -  Gio Hernandez  -  Colorado
SP -  Babe Colin  -  Helena 
SP -  Valerio Santiago  -  Helena 
RP - Stump Matheson  -  Helena
RP - Lorenzo Alomar   -  Colorado
RP - Lyle Erickson  -  Colorado
RP - Del Castillo   -  Kansas City

MVP - Marc Clarke  - Colorado

Cy Young -   (tie) Rafael Beltre  -  Colorado
                            Alex Torres  -  Salt Lake City

ROY -  CF Zachrey Anderson - Helena       
   
                

Top 5 All-time ARod Dynasties by habslmets

Well here's the non-consequential rankings you've been waiting all week for. The top 5 owners in the history of AROD. We've got a current owner somewhere in these rankings, and one who left us just this season. Fasten your seat belts, grab your favorite alcoholic beverage and get ready, because here it comes.

5. St. Louis Redbirds/Los Angeles Stars – ronzabill (11-24)

Free agency has been a popular way to build a team in AROD. It's generally a quick patch job that allows teams to win championships. Ronzabill dominated AROD for 14 seasons, and took home two world series titles thanks largely to home grown talent. Future HOF catcher Chuck Merrick, 6 time All Star SP Alex Torres and 6 time All Star RF Louie Santiago were a constant threat every single season ronzabill managed each spending more than 10 years with the club. The trio brought home ronzabill 2 world series titles in seasons 14 and 17, one of 6 coaches with multiple titles. The Redbirds brought home 7 AL West titles and 10 playoff births for the privileged residents of St. Louis. Ronzabill kept his teams in the hunt every year till his departure, and the discussion of greatest general managers can't occur without mention of his Redbird teams.

4. Houston/Texas/Nashville/Montgomery/Little Rock/Charlotte/Memphis Minute Men -safetyman (6-present)

Safetyman has yet to truly call one city home, but that doesn't mean he hasn't made his mark in AROD. In 20 seasons in the league, safetyman has qualified for the playoffs 15 times. After taking home the AL South title in his first 6 seasons, safety hit paydirt in his 7th season (12) winning the World  Series as the 6 seed over the Milwaukee Boomers in 6 games, one of two seasons he would reach the finals. Hall of Fame CF/2B Emmanuel Aquino played 7 and a half seasons for the franchise, winning a Silver Slugger and making the all star team each season. Hall of Fame CF Tony Martin just missed out on a ring, leaving in season 11. The Minute Men have the 5th most franchise wins of all time; and are only one of four current teams with at least 1,800 wins (Wichita, Scranton and New Orleans). No one knows when and where the Minute Men will pop up next, but I have a feeling safetyman isn't done winning anytime soon.

3. Fargo Flockers – dblaine (1-17)

Picking between Syracuse and Fargo for the number 2 spot was tough, but in the end Syracuse got the slight edge. That is not a slight against the Flockers, who under dblaine made the playoffs each of the first 16 seasons in AROD. The Flockers won at least 100 games in 9 different seasons, which was good enough for the 6th most wins of all time. The Flockers had a crazy .627 winning percentage, and was the only franchise in league history with a career winning percentage above .600 for teams with at least 10 years in the league. However, for all of his success, dblaine didn't win a World Series till his second to last year, season 16. Hall of Famer Sal McDougal was a big reason for Fargo's success, playing for 16 seasons with the franchise, during which he won 265 games, played in 7 All Star games and won a Cy Young.

2. Syracuse Pyschos – gydk (1-22)

One of the founding owners of AROD, gydk spent an incredible 22 seasons making life miserable for rival AL East owners. Gydk won an astonishing 12 divisional titles, including every season from 5-12. Syracuse is one of two franchises to top 2,000 wins, along with the Wichita Rocks; the only team to play in all 25 seasons of AROD. All of gydk's hard work paid off in seasons 9 and 11, when he took home world series titles. Syracuse was led by one of the greatest players to grace the league in Roy Bell, who earned 5 of his 8 all star appearances with the franchise. Bell also hit 80 home runs for the franchise in season 10. Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Redmond also made his career home in Syracuse, winning over 200 games for the franchise. The Pyschos 4 world series appearances are  second all time in league history. Gydk set the standard for dominance achieved in his legendary career.

1. New York Mets/Philadelphia Thunder Gods – BIGTHUNDER (1-7)

Honestly, is it possible to argue against BIGTHUNDER being the greatest team in AROD history? The Vince Lombardi of HBD, BIGTHUNDER took home 5 of the first 7 World Series titles in the league, and played in a sixth. Hall of Fame pitcher Marvin Punto won 2 Cy Young awards for the Mets, and won at least 24 games in three different seasons. With Punto leading the way, the Mets/Thunder Gods led the league with the lowest ERA from seasons 1-7. Players like Malcolm Tracy, Junior Matos, Carlos Carrasco and Tim Washington were always a threat to hit 50 home runs in a season. BIGTHUNDER won the NL East every single season he was in the league. Many owners will wonder how the history of our league would have looked had BIGTHUNDER not left after a short 7 seasons, but no one will ever be able to argue the impact he had on AROD.

Top 10 Dynasties through 25 Seasons of ARod (#6-10) by habslmets

Top 10 Hardball Dynasties through 25 Seasons of AROD.

In honor of 25 glorious seasons of AROD, I have spent the last week researching some of the top teams/owners in the history of the league. I've compiled all time records, and used win-loss records, winning percentage, playoff appearances, Hall of Famers, World Series, a trusty magic 8 ball and many other subjects of criteria while trying to create my rankings. In unrelated news I'm single. That being said, there were some notable omissions from this list. My apologies go out to the current owners gjd13, barjaz, dengodd2, bigparb13, langer1979 and rcf106, all of whose franchise deserve a lot of recognition. However there can only be 10 teams that make this list, so let's get this started so everyone can begin sending me their hate mail. Keep in mind that owners only gained credit for their work with one franchise. The top 5 will be released shortly.

Note: Bold lettering indicates the city where the franchise spent the majority of its history. Parenthesis is seasons played in AROD.

10. Jackson Colonials/Houston Oilers/Santa Fe Demons – ml4ku (10-23)

Ml4ku has only been gone from AROD for two seasons, and he definitely won't be forgotten any time soon. The barjaz/safetyman/ml4ku rivalry in the AL South was one of the best in the league for 14 seasons. The crowning moment of his dynasty came in season 20 in the form of a World Series ring, courtesy of a 112-50 regular season record, followed by an 11-2 in the postseason. The iconic player of the franchise over this stretch was legendary Reese Hemphill, who amazingly signed  20 million dollar contracts on back to back contracts. Hemphill, who got his big league start with ml4ku, is the franchise career leader in starts, wins, strikeouts and ERA. The man calling pitches during that stretch was Wes Dickenson, who made 8 All-Star games and won 4 Silver Slugger awards. In 14 seasons in AROD, ml4ku won 2 American League pennants and 4 division titles.

9. Monterrey Cervecos/Atlanta Brewers – milwaukee_al (7-11)

Milwaukee_al coached the least amount of seasons out of all the coaches who appear in the top 10 rankings, but his short reign was hard to beat. He qualified for the playoffs all 5 of his seasons with Monterrey, winning 100 games 3 times, two pennants and two world series rings in seasons 8 and 10. Keep in mind he did this all in the always strong NL South. The Cervecos were led by hall of fame pitcher Dan Stuart in his prime, who racked up his 2 world series rings and first of three Cy Young awards in his time in Monterrey. Possible future Hall of Famer Bronson Jiang gave the Cervecos one of the most devastating 1-2 punches in the league. That's all impressive, but milwaukee_al's most impressive stat: a career .642 winning percentage. His clubs just reeked of excellence during their far too brief history.

8. Colorado Ballvalanche/Boise Tatermashers/Tucson Toros Diablos – sarmos78 (6-13)

His run was short, but sarmos78 kept the AL West in his back-pocket for the majority of his career. The Colorado Ballvalance won at least 100 games in sarmos78's first 6 seasons, winning the division title every year during that span. His crowning moment came in season 7, winning the World Series with 118 wins in the regular season, winning 11 out of 12 playoff games and sweeping the legendary BIGTHUNDER in his last season in the league. If not for milwaukee_al and the Cervecos, the Ballvalance could have repeated in season 8. Sarmos was led by two of the all time AROD greats; Albie Villano, who won 3 Cy Young awards with the franchise, and Omar Castillo, who brought home two MVPs while calling Colorado home.


6a. Tampa Bay Don Ceasars – cebola (13-present)
6b. Iowa City Rounders – Ahsowhat (13-present)

I mean can you really pick one of these franchise from the other? Over the last 12 seasons, these teams have been almost identical stat wise, whether it be wins (1155 for Iowa City, 1128 for Tampa Bay), playoff appearances (7 each), and World Series wins (2 each). Ahsowhat and cebola have won the last 4 world series between the two of them, and look to be in good contention in season 25. Both coaches get the work done behind a stud pitching staff. It is crazy that Elrod Coke, Gio Hernandez, and Bruce Mullins were all homegrown players with Iowa City, and are responsible for their successes over the years. John Ueno also cut his teeth originally with the Rounders. Tampa Bay has had their own success with growing players. Right now their may be no better center fielder in the game than Hi Shouse, who has 5 All Stars, 3 Silver Sluggers and 2 Gold Gloves in his 6 years in the majors. Shouse along with Derrick Grissom has led the Don Ceasars in the field. The other owners of AROD have to look up at Tampa Bay and Iowa City if they want to be on this list in 10 seasons.