We have a winner! ...A...different one!

From the This Is Why I Ask You To Check My Math files...I cross-checked the numbers for the top four finishers with the cumulative-postseason totals on MLB.com, and something didn't look right. Like, a "we had a different winner entirely" kind of "didn't look right." So I checked it again, combing through every relevant box score to tote up the left-on-base numbers, and swearing very colorfully at myself for not setting up an automated spreadsheet ahead of time like I promise myself I will do every year, then forget about doing until September 30.

I don't know where the arithmetic initially got biffed, and I apologize for not catching it sooner...but the money is in fact

Shee/Bell 227.33
Arbour 206.33
Simone 197

and Williams at 189.

I ran this set twice to make sure and am reasonably confident this is correct and final BUT I am going to hold payouts for a day, to make sure nobody is seeing different results on their end. Again, so sorry about this, but I'd rather get it right late than not at all.

Questions/alternate totals, feel free to comment or email me -- and belated congrats to our winner, the Sheehan/Bell household! [bustles off to set up Excel automation]

CHC 8, CLE 7 (10); Cubs are World Champions

What a crazy game. And now the season's over; gross.

Points below. Just a reminder as/if you're looking over the totals for the pool that, when pitchers bat, they are eligible for hitter points -- and liable for LOB deductions as well. I may have forgotten to make that explicit.

Not relevant to last night's contest; just thought I'd mention it.

Baez 2
Bryant 0
Rizzo 2
Russell 1
Zobrist 0

Hendricks 5.67
Lester 6

***

Bauer 1.67
Kluber 4

Napoli -3
Santana 2

-----

Hendricks and a last-game surge put a first-time player as the BPP champion; congrats, Arbour!

Arbour 203.34
Simone 201
Williams 193

Shee/Bell 190.01

160s Johnson 1, Yuhan 1

150s Bingham 2, Reid Love

140s Stempel, Cameron 1

130s MacEachern, Drake, Bauer 1

90s Ekard, Bauer 2

80s Shotwell

Which I guess leaves Simone as the Cleveland of this outfit this year. Sorry, kid. Nice little haul for you, though, still. Thirty-two slates at $10/pop = $224 for the leader, $64 for second, $32 for third. 

I will leave these here for the day and wait for the arithmetic errors to be pointed out (heh/sigh) but I don't expect much to change in terms of the final rankings. I'll do another cross-check in the evening, and send out everyone's winnings tomorrow. Any questions or errata, emailing me is faster: bunting at tomatonation dot com.

Watch this space and thanks again to everyone for playing!

Cuuuuuu-UUUUUUUUUBS!!

Hell of a thing, towards the end of a year that has tried our souls. Days before an election that isn't really going to end even after the polls close, now we have this, this poem. The David Ross part of it alone...just one of half a dozen subplots in this year's postseason that a network executive would have sent back for rewrites because it's too on the nose.

Roger Angell finally saw a Cub championship. Three out of my four grandparents were born and died without seeing that. The other, my dad's dad, was a year old in 1908. He was also an A's fan, which is probably what killed him at age 46. ("'Probably'?" - Cameron.) Wherever he is, he gets it.

I thought the pool would never see it! I feel like we've been making these jokes since the very first year, that you can bet your heart (the Cubs) or you can bet to win, that I hated seeing a bunch of Cubbeenie picks because it meant half the pool got knocked out by the LCS. Not this time. Not anymore.

So, Cubs fans, from a Met fan minted in 1985 and schooled in the Met-history catechism, that our first crown in 1969 came with a big assist from y'all (and a brunet feline), who remembers the Dawson Cubs and the Manny Cubs and wishes Mr. Banks had stayed just a little bit longer so he could have shared it with you guys: call in sick, dump all those books about the curse on Half.com, and enjoy it. 

And welcome back to the ranks of rooting neuroses NOT tinged with history. You're just like the rest of us now. 

(Indians fans, my condolences. This team will never really get its due -- see also: 1919 Reds, Cincinnati -- but you guys were great and I'd have loved to see you win too. And if ownership/management's casting about for something to blame, I'd strongly suggest the name and mascot, and get rid of it, yesterday.)

"Buntsy. Come on man. Where's the money." I'm right on top of that, Roses, just got some day-job/life stuff to check off. Stand by. 

CHC 9, CLE 3

By the time I got home last night, this game was functionally over...and now we spend the day biting our nails and waiting for 8 PM. I have no predictions, nothing to say, no idea what awaits us.

Wait: I do have something to say. Anyone who thinks baseball is boring is fucking insane.

Speaking of madness: points.

Baez 1
Bryant 9
Rizzo 8
Russell 9 (and that's after 4 LOB)
Zobrist 1

Arrieta 11.67

***

Napoli -1
Santana -1

---

This is going to come down to the wire thanks to Hendricks getting the nod for tonight and Arbour taking over authoritatively in second place:

Simone 191
Arbour 189.67
Williams 183

Shee/Bell 181.01

Johnson 1 161.34
Yuhan 1 160.34

Bingham 2 152

Stempel 143.67
Reid Love 140.33

MacEachern 138.34
Cameron 1 133

Drake 129
Bauer 1 126

Ekard 96.33
Bauer 2 92.66

Shotwell 87.67

---

Now is the time to check my math.

8 PM ET: Hendricks v. Kluber, drought v. drought. Let's do it.