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rBBL Season 14 - 2003 League Predictions

crazyei8hts

rBBL, 8/2/2025


We are so back. The rBBL is gearing up for Season 14 - the Axeman season! And, as always, I provide pre-season predictions to give coaches bulletin board material and to see how good I am at guessing. Here are my predictions for the 2003 League, played on the less-loved but still ever important 2003 version of Backyard Baseball. We have a new twist this season, as there will be a mid-season trading period and a chance to edit your AI defense, two things which have never been offered before. However, I'm no soothsayer so I will predict as if teams will keep their rosters consistent the whole season.

FL West

# FL West Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Chicago Cardinals lillwaws26 10-4 This Cardinals team isn't especially flashy on paper, but they also have no glaring weaknesses. Just like I said in the 2001 predictions, coach lillwaws is tough to beat and will likely have another 10+ win season.
2. Milwaukee Brewers Natetastic28 7-7 Coach Natetastic had an awful Season 13 performance in the 2001 League, so maybe a league with a few more noobs will be beneficial to him. The Brewers' top three draft picks of Claudia, Davy, and Peggy should help keep the offense flowing.
3. Colorado Angels Extrafun 5-9 rBBL rookie coach Extrafun may have a little adjustment period coming from the online league. However, I really like the defense he's put together at Eckman Acres, so perhaps that will carry him through some games if the offense doesn't click.
4. Toronto Braves mapleteal 5-9 The Braves have no weak bats and will look to lean on the line drives with perhaps a few power swingers. My biggest concern with this team is that it's kinda slow and may run into trouble hitting into double plays.

FL Central

# FL Central Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Seattle Fishes MunchSmith 8-6 Munch, like Nate above, had a rough year in the veteran-heavy 2001 League and may see his fortunes improve in the 2003 League with a little less experienced competition. This team should have a pretty good offense but may have the most fly ball drops of any AI team, with three outfielders that have a rating of 49 coordination....COMBINED.
2. Minnesota Twins Toast 8-6 Toast was used as a pinch-drafter who then got to take over his team permanently, but he made all picks except the very first one, which was Julie Dunkel so no complaints there. These Twins have a pretty nice defense but they play at Dirt Yards for some reason, so I think they will likely win more road games than home games.
3. San Diego Orioles navycap115 8-6 This is navycap's first try in the 2003 League, but he got to pick his favorite player in Ichiro, so that's a nice way to start his tenure. This team has an offense that should work well at their home field of Cement Gardens, and Ichiro manning left field should take away a lot of hits from opponents.
4. Cleveland Indians juicyjews 4-10 Coach juicyjews was a mid-draft replacement, so he only got to pick about half his team, but he didn't seem to mind the players he started out with. Without a true power hitter on this team, and an inexplicable move to Casa de Pablo at the last second, I think this Indians team may fall into offensive ruts throughout the season.

FL East

# FL East Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Little Rockies Heinz 11-3 Heinz was nearly scarred for life from the 2003 League, with his only experience there coming from stepping in as a sub coach for a terrible lineup. But with the privilege of drafting this team himself and putting together a solid defense and offense, this team should renew his faith in Backyard Baseball 2003.
2. Junior Athletics whiffspree01 10-4 whiffspree burst onto the scene in the 2002 League last season, playing at Parks Dept. #2 and being the highest scoring team in the league. The theme is similar this season for his '03 A's, but this lineup could have benefitted from one more super slugger.
3. Little Devil Rays MattySamms 5-9 MattySamms is a newcomer to the rBBL, so I'm not too sure what to expect from him as he makes this transition. He's got some promising pieces in the lineup but I think Rafael Garbonzos at third base might be a target for opposing defenses to pounce on.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks SilverBullet102 3-11 SilverBullet is a long time coach coming off his best season, although that was in the 2002 League. I think this new team has a worse offense than his last team and SilverBullet might find it more challenging to score.
FL MVP: Julie Dunkel, Twins
FL Ace Wilson: Frank Thomas, Rockies
FL Goldie Glove: Ichiro, LF, Orioles
FL Best Team Defense: Angels

BL West

# BL West Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Red Hornets sky 12-2 In sky's first full season drafting and playing, he promptly went 13-1 and won the World Series in the 2003 League. I don't think this lineup is as strong as last season's lineup, but it's hard to imagine there will be a huge drop off with the way he steamrolled through the league a season ago.
2. Crazy Pirates George Bonouki 9-5 Last season George made the playoffs twice, and while that will be tougher to do as he got bumped up to 2001, I think he has a great chance to get back in the 2003 playoffs. This team has the right combination of speed and line drive hitters to thrive at their home park of Tin Can Alley.
3. Mighty Wombats Marco 5-9 Marco is back with the Wombats for the first time since Season 11 and he's gathered an interesting cast of characters. The Wombats will need to maximize the power hitting of Zena, Gary, and Joella, because they'll be rather susceptible to teams that like to grounder.
4. Mighty Monsters Lukeseth1 4-10 Lukeseth must have heard that speed is king in rBBL, as he stockpiled 7 players with a 9/10 or 10/10 running. This team has a lot of issues to address but I'll sum them up this way: Ivan King is on this team and he has a stronger throwing arm than 3 teammates and a bat with power greater than or equal to 4 teammates.

BL Central

# BL Central Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Little Blue Jays DEPaf679 10-4 Last season in his rBBL debut, DEPaf had an insane comeback late in the season and stole the #2 seed away from division rival and heavy favorite personizzle. He's in a similar situation this season in the same division as Vissery, but people will definitely notice the Blue Jays and their all-around talents.
2. White Tigers Vissery 10-4 Vissery brings back the Tigers after going 14-0 in the regular season but coming up just short in the World Series. At first glance, this season's version of the Tigers looks a little weaker and less intimidating on defense, but this is Vissery we're talking about so don't be surprised if they exceed expectations.
3. Philadelphia Phillies sternwizardd 5-9 sternwizardd put a lot of emphasis on throwing arms, but at a home field of Parks Dept. #2, the funky bounces might counteract that strength. They also don't have anybody above 8/10 running, which is a missed opportunity to take advantage of Parks being one of the fastest running surfaces.
4. Blue Reds flyingj138 5-9 Settling in at the spacious Dubois Diamond, the Reds have some weak bats and might have trouble against any team with a tough infield. On the flip side, this team has a scary outfield which might not drop anything, so consider the grounder swing instead.

BL East

# BL East Coach Record Two Sentence Prediction
1. Detroit Melonheads jyknight 9-5 jyknight almost wins this division by default, but he's also been known to extract the most offense out of his lineup as he possibly can. One underrated aspect to watch out for with this team: four batters with extremely low contact can be rally killers as soon as a two strike pitch is painted on the corners.
2. Humongous Red Sox bobbyJONES 8-6 bobby is coming off a rough season in which he only mustered up 10 wins between two teams. Drafting Henri is a great way to turn things around, as he and custom player Willie Mays Hayes will be running like crazy around the basepaths.
3. Little Giants joey 4-10 Joey is another coach who was brought in mid-draft, but he did draft most of his team. This team has a lot of arms in the field but they could have a tough time scoring runs with the lack of power in their lineup.
4. Junior Bombers CRK 3-11 CRK went all in on power with this team, but he ended up making a roster that will break the league record for home runs yet still be more remembered as the worst AI defense of all time. Betty Houston plays third base on this team for crying out loud.
BL MVP: Fred Benson, Hornets
BL Ace Wilson: Amanda Hellerman, Phillies
BL Goldie Glove: Derek Jeter, SS, Melonheads
BL Best Team Defense: Giants

Playoffs

FL
  1. Rockies
  2. Cardinals
  3. Fishes
  4. Athletics
  5. Twins
  6. Orioles
BL
  1. Hornets
  2. Blue Jays
  3. Melonheads
  4. Tigers
  5. Pirates
  6. Red Sox
FL Bracket
BL Bracket
World Series