Wow! the 2024 Great British Fantasy Baseball Superleague season was better than our wildest predictions, and trust me, some of our predictions are pretty mad.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
The 2023 division winners competed in the highly competitive Champions League Division to establish the overall 2024 GBFBS champion.
Rosters were selected by live auction at the end of March. First nominated was Shohei Ohtani, who was taken for $28 by Richard Davison. Remember when there was concern that the injury and betting scandal might impact Ohtani’s production? Anyway, Richard snapped up what proved to be exceptional value.
The most expensive purchases were Ronald Acuna Jr ($65), Juan Soto ($58), and Jose Ramirez ($49). Chris Deeley took the biggest hit of the day by splashing $47 on Spencer Strider, who threw just nine innings in 2024.
Michael Garmston, Luke Kendrick, and Mark Finbow shared the division lead at the end of April, but Richard Davison sat at the top of the standings by the end of May. Pete Urwin was in first place at the end of July, and a streak of four straight wins to finish the regular season by Mark Blakemore and David Runciman put them in contention for a playoff spot.
Playoffs
Mark Blakemore produced the shock of the playoffs by defeating Richard Davison – the highest points scorer among all of the GBFBS divisions for two straight seasons. In the other semi final, Luke Kendrick beat Pete Unwin 503 to 402.
Final
Luke Kendrick was just too good for Mark Blakemore in the two-week final and was the deserved GBFBS Champions League Champion for 2024. He will attempt to defend his title in the 2025 edition – entries now open.
Rosters for second tier of GBFBS were also selected by auction, with Rob Noverraz throwing the rest of the bidders into confusion by nominating Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt with the first nomination. No one responded and Rob secured himself a $1 pitcher. Next up was Ronald Acuna Jr who went to Nick Wilson-Smith for the significantly higher amount of $70.
Incidentally, Rob Noverraz’s second acquisition was Brent Rooker for $5, which turned out to be one of the steals of the auction. Good work, Rob.
Jamie Steed was the highest regular-season points scorer in this division, but it was Angels fan, Nick Wright who took the trophy and booked himself a place in the Champions League in 2025.
They say cream rises to the top, so there was no surprise that the dream team of Jonny Gould and James Holden won their division despite tremendous pressure from Matt Pumfrey, Mark Johnson, and Jonny Benton.
Elsewhere across the divisions, there were excellent performances, especially by…
NL North: Paul Denyer, Matt Sutton, Paul Dearnley, Andrew Sharp
NL East: Sam Devereux, Sim Ralph, Jacob Slade, Rachel Needham
NL Central: Rob Kermode, Neil Littlewood, Liam Tumelty, Ian Carter
AL West: Brent Bentley, James Oakley, Peter Farr, Jason Derr
AL South: Bryan Mullin, Ian Flux, Nathanael Garfield, Thomas McConnell
AL North: Joel Bailey, John Shortland, Jon Lansdown, Timothy Burtt
AL East: Ben Salvi, Malcolm Bamford, Daniel Woodrow, Kevin Orchard
AL Central: Gav Hagon, Ian Blease, Martin Osborne, Ian Allwood, Chris Knoblock
Fancy your chances in 2025? Don’t delay, enter today.
