Murderer’s Row End Regular Season With Another Loss

Murderer’s Row joined One Less Curse in 2017 and since then have failed every season to finish with a winning record. The 2021 season will be no exception. The week 22 loss, 6-4 to Chod’s Team, gave them a 99-105-16 record and a sixth-place finish.

The 2021 season was an up and down rollercoaster, but there were more losing streaks than winning ones, so the final numbers reflect those situations. The last matchup against Chod’s Team summed up the season in the sense that Murderer’s Row was 2-0 against their final opponent during the campaign, yet dropped the last contest, failing yet again to win when it mattered most.

Matchup Recap

Chod’s Team has been the tenth place team for the bulk of the season, which means the Row’s loss in week 22 was more salt in an already bleeding wound. Chod’s team failed to beat the Row in their previous encounters, only to storm back and take this one, adding insult to injury.

The Row picked a terrible time to go in a slump. Even when the team made roster adjustments to salvage the final matchup of the regular season, they came up empty-handed. The pitching staff was the heroes of the matchup, producing six wins and 58 strikeouts to go along with a 3.42 ERA and 1.14 ERA. Chod’s Team avoided a clean sweep in those five categories by recording seven saves to take the category by five.The hitters failed again to put a dent into their competitor’s scores by getting hammered in all five categories, coming close in stolen bases (6-4) to secure a tie. The boys had 28 extra at-bats, which meant the opportunities were there, but got doubled up in RBIs and outhit by over 50 percentage points.

The two teams were close in runs, 39-31, though Chod’s Team knocked out 13 runs while the Row countered with just six. It was indeed a messy situation regarding the Row’s premier hitters, all of who failed to come through in the clutch. The worst part of Row’s 6-4 loss in this matchup was that the team never held the lead in seven days. The score was pretty close, 5-4-1 in favor of Chod’s Team for just two days, but that was as close as the Row would get against the last-place team, who made this victory look way too easy.

Statistics

If you have been a frequent visitor to Murderer’s Row 2021 baseball season, you will notice that once the games kept moving down the schedule, the team’s overall numbers rolled right along with them. The information in the following graphs barely changed over 22 weeks, which is the fault of the players on the roster. There were many transactions, 30 to be exact; however, no matter who left or came in, the team statistics continued to be in the bottom third of the league.
Murderer’s Row clawed their way towards the top in just three categories, stolen bases, batting average, and WHIP, securing the second-best in the last two categories. Those numbers are not that bad since they predicted the team to be a bottom feeder after draft night.

When looking deeper into the numbers, it is clear the team’s pitchers were far better than the hitters, who finished dead last in home runs. The Row’s closers managed the eighth-best save totals, which is extraordinary considering one guy handled all the duties for the entire season.

Standings

As mentioned in the opening, Murderer’s Row is still looking for their first winning season in One Less Curse. It’s been a long five years. The 2021 season marked the first time the franchise didn’t finish at the bottom of the league. Instead, the team secured sixth in the standings and a date with the bottom teams in the consolation bracket.
The 2020 champions Screw the ‘Stros did not advance to the championship bracket despite finishing the season six games over .500. The top four teams, who held their spots for the bulk of the season, all advance to play for the championship trophy.

Bad News Bears enter the tournament as the best team, overcoming HOMERsexuals down the stretch to secure the first seed. SHABB’S Team, meanwhile, held off ItsNoRyanItsRyne, by one game to be the third seed as the second season begins.

Roster Moves

With the chance to clinch a winning record in the final matchup of the season, Murderer’s Row didn’t acquire any players to help them overcome a deficit against Chod’s Team.

The only move management made was cutting ties with David Fletcher (Los Angeles), who was in the midst of a month’s prolonged slump. His numbers at the plate were hurting the team’s batting average the one or two points he collected in a week was not enough to warrant a spot on the team anymore.

Weekly Move Total: 1/4

Season Move Total: 30/40