I'll Try again...parallel world, starting in 1993

Sberl · 04-24-2023, 04:48 PM

I started following baseball in late 90's and I became a real fan when I was able to watch baseball from Italy thanks to MLB.TV (around 2003/2004). I will try to run a parallel world starting from 1993, some years before my falling in love with baseball thanks to the summer of 1998 and the HR duel between Mcgwire and Sosa. Since there, I've been a Cardinals fan!

I will try to update regular, simulating and trying to keep a short day to day recap. Hope it works!

1993 SEASON START

After the Spring Training start, teams decide to shake things immediately with some trades:
1) Giants sent Van Landingham (RHP), Lou Pote (RHP) and Deivi Cruz (3B) to Mariners in exchange of Erik Hanson (RHP)
2) Dodgers acquired Kevin Millwood (RHP) from Braves for Kevin Gross (RHP) (note...Millwood was a young prospect in 1993)
3) Mariners sent catcher Dave Valle in Florid for minor leaguers (Robert Person, RHP and Brendan Kingman, C)
4) Blue Jays acquired Jose Vizcaino (SS) giving Chicago Cubs two prospects (Shannon Stewart and Robert Perez)
5) Phillies sent LHP Terry Mulholland to Twins per prospect Brad Radke (RHP)
6) Indians acquired John Kruk (1B) from Phillies for Richie Sexson (1B) and Miguel Flores (2B)
7) Pirates acquired RHP Jim Gott from Dodgers in exchange of prospect pitcher Dan Miceli

And last trade is a potential blockbuster....Braves acquired Curt Schilling from Philadelphia in exchange of Javy Lopez (C), Tony Tarasco (LF) and Jason Schmidt (RHP)

Like every year, also the injured list was opened and most notable players on it are John Smoltz (ATL, 4-5 months out), Lenny Dykstra (PIT, 1 month out) and Danny Darwin (BOS, 4 months out)

Before hearing the first play ball of the season, let's take a look to other two things, top prospects and season prediction. The hottest prospect in april 1993 is Manny Ramirez (LF, CLE), and the top 10 is full of position players like Shawn Green, Richard Hidalgo, Scott Rolen, Bill Mueller, etc...the best pitching prospect is Jason Schmidt, which the Phillies acquired from the Braves in a blockbuster trade.

And how about predictions? They says Tigers will win AL East Division ahead of Yankees while Rangers will triumph in West with Chicago White Sox as runner-up. In NL, experts tell us that Cardinals will win East Division (with Cubs as runner-up) and Atlanta Braves will win West Division, in a tight race with San Francisco Giants. And now...we're ready to start!

OPENING DAY

Some interesting matches in the first day in the majors...

Game of the day: YANKEES-INDIANS 8-0
In a cloudy day in Cleveland, with some rain during the game (45 minute rain delay in the 3rd inning), Melido Perez tossed a 3 hit shutout for the Yankees, with their bats doing some damage. Scoring opened in the 4th with an RBI single by Gallego, followed by a 2 RBI single by Bernie Williams. Yankees continued to build with a solo shot by Stanley in the fifth, another run in the 6th and 3 more in the eight. 4 RBI day for Bernie Williams, while Perez added 7 strikeouts to his day (3 walks). Nagy, Indians starter, was hit pretty hard, but he also conceded 5 walks while striking out 3.

In the other AL games, Orioles defeated Rangers 10-7 in a slugfest, with a 5 run eight inning decisive for the Orioles. 3 RBI day for Segui and Baines while Palmeiro hit 2 HR for the Rangers. Good first day also for the Royals: they defeated Red Sox 10-3 inspired by a 4 RBI game for Gagne and 8 plus innings by their starter, Appier (7 K, 3 R, 3 BB). Bad day for Roger Clemens and his Red Sox, plagued also by 2 defensive errors. Last AL game between Tigers and Athletics in Oakland, with the Tigers winning 10-2 in 4 HR game for them. Good start for Leiter (6 IP, 5 K, 1 R, 3 BB), awful day for Darling (2.1 IP, 6 ER, 1 BB).

In the NL Dodgers win 1-0 at Marlins, thanks to a 3 hit shutout by Candiotti and a run scored on a wild pitch in the first inning by Offerman. A great 9th inning sparkled Expos to a win 6-2 against the Reds, highlighted by a 3 run shot by Larry Walker while in Houston a complete game by Doug Drabek led to a 6-1 Astros win against Phillies.
In the last two games, Mets prevailed 6-3 at home against the Rockies (HR by Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman) and Braves win in Wrigley in the extras, with a decisive HR by catcher Berryhill (Atlanta bullpen threw away a masterclass from Greg Maddux).

Sberl · 05-04-2023, 09:04 AM

DAY 2

GAME OF THE DAY: Toronto Blue Jays @ Seattle Mariners 8-4

Great start of the season for the World Champions, defeating Seattle despite a not so good performance by their starter, Guzman (6.2 IP, 3 R, 8 BB, 3 K). They strike fast and maintained the lead, with 2 doubles each for Molitor and White and a 2 run shot for Joe Carter. Despite a great game by Ken Griffey Jr. (2/5, 2 RBI, HR), Seattle was unable to capitalise the 8 walks that Guzman conceded and they were plagued by an erratic start from Randy Johnson (7 IP, 7 R, 5 BB, 10 K) and wrong decision by their manager, who left Johnson on the mound in the 8th despite a very high pitch count, leading to the Carter HR that closed the game.

There were 2 others AL Games: Brewers won 10-6 in California (Angels), with a wonderful game by John Jaha (4/4, HR, 3 RBI) in a 33 hit game (2 HR for Chili Davis, Angels); White Sox lose 6-4 in Minneapolis, with a 3 run shot in the 8th by SS Reboulet.

Five games in NL: Dodgers collect another victory against Florida Marlins (6-1, complete game for Hershiser); Chicago Cubs even the series with the Braves winning 6-2 (first HR of the year for Sammy Sosa; 3/3 for May) and the same do Phillies with Houston (6-2, complete game for Danny Jackson); bad opening day for Pirates, with the 10-4 home loss against San Diego Padres (good games by McGriff and Teufel, both HR). In the last game a 4 run 8th inning fueled Cardinals to victory in their opening game against the San Francisco Giants (7-5 in a sloppy game with 5 defensive errors for Cardinals, 2 committed by Ozzie Smith)

italyprof · 05-08-2023, 07:21 AM

Nice to see another baseball and OOTP fan in Italy. Are you able to access Billjamesonline.com from here by any chance? I haven't been able to since the new privacy laws went into effect.

04-24-2023, 04:48 PM	#1
Sberl Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 56	I'll Try again...parallel world, starting in 1993 I started following baseball in late 90's and I became a real fan when I was able to watch baseball from Italy thanks to MLB.TV (around 2003/2004). I will try to run a parallel world starting from 1993, some years before my falling in love with baseball thanks to the summer of 1998 and the HR duel between Mcgwire and Sosa. Since there, I've been a Cardinals fan! I will try to update regular, simulating and trying to keep a short day to day recap. Hope it works! 1993 SEASON START After the Spring Training start, teams decide to shake things immediately with some trades: 1) Giants sent Van Landingham (RHP), Lou Pote (RHP) and Deivi Cruz (3B) to Mariners in exchange of Erik Hanson (RHP) 2) Dodgers acquired Kevin Millwood (RHP) from Braves for Kevin Gross (RHP) (note...Millwood was a young prospect in 1993) 3) Mariners sent catcher Dave Valle in Florid for minor leaguers (Robert Person, RHP and Brendan Kingman, C) 4) Blue Jays acquired Jose Vizcaino (SS) giving Chicago Cubs two prospects (Shannon Stewart and Robert Perez) 5) Phillies sent LHP Terry Mulholland to Twins per prospect Brad Radke (RHP) 6) Indians acquired John Kruk (1B) from Phillies for Richie Sexson (1B) and Miguel Flores (2B) 7) Pirates acquired RHP Jim Gott from Dodgers in exchange of prospect pitcher Dan Miceli And last trade is a potential blockbuster....Braves acquired Curt Schilling from Philadelphia in exchange of Javy Lopez (C), Tony Tarasco (LF) and Jason Schmidt (RHP) Like every year, also the injured list was opened and most notable players on it are John Smoltz (ATL, 4-5 months out), Lenny Dykstra (PIT, 1 month out) and Danny Darwin (BOS, 4 months out) Before hearing the first play ball of the season, let's take a look to other two things, top prospects and season prediction. The hottest prospect in april 1993 is Manny Ramirez (LF, CLE), and the top 10 is full of position players like Shawn Green, Richard Hidalgo, Scott Rolen, Bill Mueller, etc...the best pitching prospect is Jason Schmidt, which the Phillies acquired from the Braves in a blockbuster trade. And how about predictions? They says Tigers will win AL East Division ahead of Yankees while Rangers will triumph in West with Chicago White Sox as runner-up. In NL, experts tell us that Cardinals will win East Division (with Cubs as runner-up) and Atlanta Braves will win West Division, in a tight race with San Francisco Giants. And now...we're ready to start! OPENING DAY Some interesting matches in the first day in the majors... Game of the day: YANKEES-INDIANS 8-0 In a cloudy day in Cleveland, with some rain during the game (45 minute rain delay in the 3rd inning), Melido Perez tossed a 3 hit shutout for the Yankees, with their bats doing some damage. Scoring opened in the 4th with an RBI single by Gallego, followed by a 2 RBI single by Bernie Williams. Yankees continued to build with a solo shot by Stanley in the fifth, another run in the 6th and 3 more in the eight. 4 RBI day for Bernie Williams, while Perez added 7 strikeouts to his day (3 walks). Nagy, Indians starter, was hit pretty hard, but he also conceded 5 walks while striking out 3. In the other AL games, Orioles defeated Rangers 10-7 in a slugfest, with a 5 run eight inning decisive for the Orioles. 3 RBI day for Segui and Baines while Palmeiro hit 2 HR for the Rangers. Good first day also for the Royals: they defeated Red Sox 10-3 inspired by a 4 RBI game for Gagne and 8 plus innings by their starter, Appier (7 K, 3 R, 3 BB). Bad day for Roger Clemens and his Red Sox, plagued also by 2 defensive errors. Last AL game between Tigers and Athletics in Oakland, with the Tigers winning 10-2 in 4 HR game for them. Good start for Leiter (6 IP, 5 K, 1 R, 3 BB), awful day for Darling (2.1 IP, 6 ER, 1 BB). In the NL Dodgers win 1-0 at Marlins, thanks to a 3 hit shutout by Candiotti and a run scored on a wild pitch in the first inning by Offerman. A great 9th inning sparkled Expos to a win 6-2 against the Reds, highlighted by a 3 run shot by Larry Walker while in Houston a complete game by Doug Drabek led to a 6-1 Astros win against Phillies. In the last two games, Mets prevailed 6-3 at home against the Rockies (HR by Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman) and Braves win in Wrigley in the extras, with a decisive HR by catcher Berryhill (Atlanta bullpen threw away a masterclass from Greg Maddux).

05-04-2023, 09:04 AM	#2
Sberl Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 56	DAY 2 GAME OF THE DAY: Toronto Blue Jays @ Seattle Mariners 8-4 Great start of the season for the World Champions, defeating Seattle despite a not so good performance by their starter, Guzman (6.2 IP, 3 R, 8 BB, 3 K). They strike fast and maintained the lead, with 2 doubles each for Molitor and White and a 2 run shot for Joe Carter. Despite a great game by Ken Griffey Jr. (2/5, 2 RBI, HR), Seattle was unable to capitalise the 8 walks that Guzman conceded and they were plagued by an erratic start from Randy Johnson (7 IP, 7 R, 5 BB, 10 K) and wrong decision by their manager, who left Johnson on the mound in the 8th despite a very high pitch count, leading to the Carter HR that closed the game. There were 2 others AL Games: Brewers won 10-6 in California (Angels), with a wonderful game by John Jaha (4/4, HR, 3 RBI) in a 33 hit game (2 HR for Chili Davis, Angels); White Sox lose 6-4 in Minneapolis, with a 3 run shot in the 8th by SS Reboulet. Five games in NL: Dodgers collect another victory against Florida Marlins (6-1, complete game for Hershiser); Chicago Cubs even the series with the Braves winning 6-2 (first HR of the year for Sammy Sosa; 3/3 for May) and the same do Phillies with Houston (6-2, complete game for Danny Jackson); bad opening day for Pirates, with the 10-4 home loss against San Diego Padres (good games by McGriff and Teufel, both HR). In the last game a 4 run 8th inning fueled Cardinals to victory in their opening game against the San Francisco Giants (7-5 in a sloppy game with 5 defensive errors for Cardinals, 2 committed by Ozzie Smith)

05-08-2023, 07:21 AM	#3
italyprof All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,012	Nice to see another baseball and OOTP fan in Italy. Are you able to access Billjamesonline.com from here by any chance? I haven't been able to since the new privacy laws went into effect.