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A Look Back at 2019:
They may now be called Backdoor Sliders, but it is basically a rebranding of Bengals of yesteryears under new management. In 2019, Bengals had a very successful year based on preseason expectations with a semifinals showing in the NL division.
Bengals started 2019 on fire with a 8-0 start to the season. But that was more due to a soft schedule than anything else. They finished the regular season on a 4-10 skid as the competition grew strong and attendance/injuries kicked in. They even had losses to NWO and Dad Bods to close out the regular season. They finished the regular season 5th on offense, 4th in defense and a 5th seed come playoff time.
In the playoffs, they were facing a very strong Dynasty team and most predicted a Dynasty win. However, in 3 amazing playoff games, Bengals squeezed out a series victory. That would be their highlight of the season however, as they were swept in two close games in the Semifinals.
A Look Ahead at 2020:
Bengals quickly broke apart as the league went to 1 division for 2020. Crossover players like Jason Gregory, Pervez Khan, Saeed Anwar, Anwar Sadat, Bilal Latif were starters and went back to their original teams. However, at the last minute, Hasan Najmul and Manju Shanmugam decided to bring back the team and rebrand it. In comes Pink uniforms, and out goes Bengals green/orange/camo.
They quickly realized they lost 5-6 starters and it wasn’t going to be easily replaced so late into the offseason. But they went to work. They re-signed one of the best SS in SASL in Matt Schreiber and brought back a core of Travis, Yash, Sami, Raf. Then they made a major free-agent acquisition and signed 2018 Rookie of the Year in the NL- Obaid Farooque. They also coaxed Abir Rahman who was a fireplug at the top of the lineup before injuries out of retirement. If Abir is even at 80% of what he was 2-3 years ago, he will be a major force. They were also able to sign versatile Billy Pascalis, Pitcher Tariq Siddiqui, veteran Faraz Imam and speedy outfielder Rishi Rampal.
After that it seemed like they signed a bunch of new players to SASL to fill in the roster. Not much is known about a lot of the new players-Safi, Rafi, Rasheed. Maybe one or two will end up being solid.
Our Prediction:
Most of the teams in the league got better than last year. Backdoor Sliders haven’t done enough to replace the talent lost, let alone get better. They should be solid and be competitive every week. But we expect them to finish around the 9-10th seed and lose in the SNL one game playoff.
Best Players:
Obaid should be the feature player in the outfield. He won the Rookie of the Year in 2018 in the NL division. While he was a 5 tool player, none of the tools were eye popping. He did everything well. Matt Schreiber is an All Star type player at SS. Will his bat finally catch up to his fielding this year?
Players To Watch For:
Abir is finally back. Before his injuries, he was a .600+ hitter annually. If he can come back to where he was, that will be a huge boost. Travis Collins took a big step backwards in performance last year. We expect him to go back to hitting .550+ this year. Billy Pascalis is one of those players every team needs. Can play infield and outfield with equal grace and can hold his own at the plate. Will be interesting to see how he performs in the SASL again.
Hear It From The Captain: Manju Shanmugam
1. What do you enjoy most about your role as team captain?
—Best thing about being a team captain is able to control a dozen grown men for 3 hours on a Sunday. That power trip that you get with creating that lineup and benching guys who are Doctors and Businessmen is just amazing!! You have more control over their day than their wives… and I get to make them wear pink t-shirts!! If they cry and moan about it, I can film them and label them as “Softball Karen!”
2. Who do you think will be your toughest competition this season?
—Toughest competition will be The North…and whatever else team that just basically poached all the talents from the remaining teams that chose not to play this year (god bless those guys). But also the hot weather…lets face it, being home the past 4 months have resulted in low Vitamin D (gigidy) and heightened our sensitivity to sun/heat.
3. What do you think are your team’s strong points? Weak points?
—Strong point is definitely the team name… Backdoor Sliders. Imagine going home and telling your wife that you skipped out on family time, only to be beaten by a team named Backdoor sliders and guys wearing pink? Its pure bliss..
The weak points, although not really weak, is the fact that we have so many new guys on our teams that have never played together before. Being the last team to be created out of need to keep the league even on schedule, the 12th team is full of guys with names you would certainly find on Tinder app, or subscribed to OnlyFans during the pandemic. Basically the guys didn’t get affected by the first wave of COVID!
4. How do you see your teams season play out this season?
—I haven’t met half the guys on the team, not even sure if they’re cute. So once I see them in action, hopefully in good shape…I can form a decent assessment of our teams 2020 season. If they’re not cute, I’ll enforce the face mask rule for the entire season!! jk…everyone looks cute in pink. Hopefully we get sponsored by Pepto Bismol midseason or mid diarrhea! *If you’re offended by any of these answers, please exercise your right to march and protest safely while socially distancing.
