It's the DDs and the Giant Killers

The Founding Fathers and the next longest tenured manager are in the playoffs.

It was pretty clear by the weekend that the DDs meant business this week. They held a huge lead throughout their matchup with TheOzzieGuillens. The matchup ended 10-1 putting the DD's in great position to make the playoffs despite falling all the way into 6th Place last week. Miggy got some help from both the Trolley Dodgers and The Rise of Wang who fought to a virtual stalemate in their crucial final matchup. As a result, the final playoff spot was The Giant Killers for the taking, and they took it with an 8-3 pounding of the L-Trains.

The DD's had been in a tailspin during the second half of the season, but were able to put together their best week when they needed it. Last year, the DD's (known as Brian Fellows at the time) tied for the final playoff spot, but lost the tiebreak to the L-Trains. In Kevin Braun's 7th season as a manager, he has only made it to the round of 4 once before and that counts the years there were only 6 teams in the league so congrats.

The Giant Killers completed a second half comeback for the ages to clinch their second straight playoff berth. The GKs have been riding one big day per matchup for a few weeks now- this week it was Friday. The L-Trains had an opportunity to play spoiler, but instead had their worst pitching week of the season leaving little doubt in this matchup after the GKs big hitting Friday. The L-Trains needed only 2 points this week to clinch the 2 seed and they got 3. It was the L-Trains first loss since Week 16.

So it's the #3 Miggy's DD's vs. #2 L-Trains and #1 The Dynasty vs. #4 The Giant Killers. Tiebreakers are held by the DDs and The Dynasty.

And now for the obituaries...

South Side Hit Men

The South Side Hit Men had all kinds of bad luck this year. For one, they actually deserved better than last place, but on top of that most of their top draft picks either flopped or got hurt. In the end, it's not all bad for the Hitmen since they get the first pick in the 2012 NDKL Draft.

TheOzzieGuillens

The Guillens, like The Giant Killers, had a long early season losing streak. Unlike the GKs, the Guillens could not recover. The Guillens never gave up and ended up leaving their mark in the last few weeks by losing big to GKs and DDs and destroying The Wangs to shape the playoff picture. The Guillens will have the #2 pick in next year's draft.

The Rise Of Wang

Last year's champion had such promise this year with star players Roy Halladay, Troy Tulowitzki, Clayton Kershaw and Joey Bats - all solid keeper candidates, but they could not surround them with enough talent. The Wangs deserved to make the playoffs overall, but could not take care of the Ozzie Guillens last week. They will have the #3 pick in the draft.

Trolley Dodgers

The TDs sailed by on Trolley Luck most of the year, but their luck went away when Jair Jurjens finally remembered he was Jair Jurjens. The TDs were the anti-GKs, winning their first 7 matchups and failing to make the playoffs. Big losses to the GKs and The Dynasty in weeks 20 and 21 finally knocked the TDs to the brink of elimination. In week 22, the TDs won, but it wasn't enough. They miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year and will draft 4th in 2012.

[Final Helmuth Standings will be updated when Yahoo finishes getting their act together]