Get Don Mattingly in a World Series

italyprof · 05-21-2023, 05:26 PM

I have taken over the Yankees as of 1983, Mattingly's first season. I will go through his entire career, trying to undo the injustice of Donnie Baseball never playing in a World Series and being in the postseason only in his last season, in the wild card division series with the Mariners in 1995.

The first thing is to improve the major weakness of the 1980s Yankees: the pitching, especially the starting rotation, which always lacked depth, and to build a good bullpen. Then some players ready to take over for the remaining 1970s stars like Nettles, later Randolph and to have a solid Shortstop, something eluded the team through most of the decade, and arguably up to 1996 when Jeter took over.

Note: I am playing with NO DH (I hate it, so I get to re-write history here). And with 3-year recalc but development on and talent randomness on 1.
Players miss seasons and retire as they did in real life.

First move: traded Steve Balboni 1B and Steve Kemp OF for two starters - Mike Smithson and Rick Honeycut, and for aging but still useful OF Mickey Rivers.

Second: We traded two OFs for two other OFs: We sent Oscar Gamble and Otis Nixon (I barely remembered he had once been on the Yankees' roster) to Houston for Kevin Bass and Omar Moreno. Moreno was actually on the real life Yankees a couple of years later, and is a good CF backup and speedster as a PR. Bass is a good player I always liked and can play CF as well as LF or RF and is a switch hitter.

We ended up 76-86 and in fifth place overall. The Reds beat the Red Sox in 7 games in the World Series for 1983.

Third: Once 1983 was over, and Mattingly was ready, I traded Don Baylor to Houston for another starter, Bob Knepper.

Our draft picks for the post-1983 first year draft:

1. 3B Terry Pendleton
2. SP Jimmy Key
3. SS Alvaro Espinoza
4. RP Mike Bielecki
5. C Randy Gomez

1984 Season:

On Opening Day, Mattingly more than rewards our faith in his readiness to play everyday, as he hits TWO two-run homers against Kansas City. But the bullpen blows the lead and does the same next day when Mattingly hits another homer. Ugh.

We start 1-4 against KC and Texas on the road, though we had one great come-back win against the Royals before leaving town. I thought having kept Gossage AND added Righetti (who in a really stupid move was moved to the bullpen in 1984, when Goose left) to the relief corps would be formidable. It might be but both of them have blown leads in early outings. Hope that straightens out.

More soon.

italyprof · 05-22-2023, 04:53 PM

Then: we get a trade offer: The Cardinals offer us Tom Seaver- in his last two good years, and Ozzie Smith for Doyle Alexander and Roy Smalley. I though the trade was too lopsided, so I threw in Spike Owen whom I had intended to inherit SS for us into the later 80s and 90s. But Ozzie is an upgrade. And while Alexander has more decent seasons left than Tom Terrific does, I wasn't going to turn down having Seaver in the rotation however briefly.

The addition of Ozzie seems to catalyze our moribund offense, as we slammed the Rangers 11-0. But then, coming home for our home opener, with Seaver making his first start for us, we ran headlong into the Twins and...Roger Clemens! A Seaver vs. Clemens matchup could have been fun, but Seaver did not have his best stuff that day and we lost 6-1.

Still, I like how we look now with all the additions. Let's see where 1984 takes us.

pholmer · 05-23-2023, 05:02 AM

It was, indeed, a cosmic injustice that Mattingly never got to the World Series. Just as painful an injustice was that a back injury hampered him late in his career and denied him a place in the HOF.

italyprof · 05-23-2023, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pholmer

It was, indeed, a cosmic injustice that Mattingly never got to the World Series. Just as painful an injustice was that a back injury hampered him late in his career and denied him a place in the HOF.

I could not agree more.

italyprof · 05-23-2023, 06:19 PM

After being way behind for most of 1984, we suddenly went on a winning streak and found ourselves within striking range of the first place Blue Jays with the season nearing and end.

We are 2 and a half back with only five games remaining!

We previously took two out of three from Detroit - a Mattingly late inning homer gave us one win in Tiger Stadium - and then won in Baltimore when Bob Shirley came through with a complete-game 4 hit shutout.

But we dropped the next game behind Rick Honeycutt.

Our starting pitching has kept us in it, but our bullpen except for Gossage and maybe Jay Howell has been disappointing.

We need to win all our remaining five games at this point realistically to have a chance to win the division.

italyprof · 05-23-2023, 06:45 PM

We pull out a close one in Detroit.

We are now 2 games out of first with three games to play!

italyprof · 05-23-2023, 06:52 PM

We failed to hold a lead over the Tigers in the 9th as Seaver tired and Gossage, already worn out blew the save.

We have to wait till next year!

italyprof · 05-23-2023, 06:53 PM

The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Montreal Expos 4 games to 3 in the first all-Canadian World Series.

italyprof · 05-26-2023, 03:51 AM

We came close but came up short. A very realistic 1980s Yankees outcome unfortunately.

Then...over the winter, we were made offers we couldn't turn down. Boston offered Wade Boggs for Butch Wynegar. I have trade up two notches from the default in difficulty, but they offered.

I thought that the offer was so lopsided that I added Terry Pendleton 3B to the trade but I took it. Maybe I shouldn't have. Not realistic really, but then again Boston let Boggs, Clemens and Fisk all leave so who knows?

Which leads me to the other big trade: We got Fisk for RP George Frazier who has some good seasons coming up.

So with Fisk and Boggs, and 2nd year pitcher Jimmy Key ready for the rotation, joining Guidry, Seaver - in what should be his last useful season, coming off a good year for us in '84, Bob Knepper and Bob Shirley, we hope we have enough to get over the top for 1985.

05-21-2023, 05:26 PM	#1
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	Get Don Mattingly in a World Series I have taken over the Yankees as of 1983, Mattingly's first season. I will go through his entire career, trying to undo the injustice of Donnie Baseball never playing in a World Series and being in the postseason only in his last season, in the wild card division series with the Mariners in 1995. The first thing is to improve the major weakness of the 1980s Yankees: the pitching, especially the starting rotation, which always lacked depth, and to build a good bullpen. Then some players ready to take over for the remaining 1970s stars like Nettles, later Randolph and to have a solid Shortstop, something eluded the team through most of the decade, and arguably up to 1996 when Jeter took over. Note: I am playing with NO DH (I hate it, so I get to re-write history here). And with 3-year recalc but development on and talent randomness on 1. Players miss seasons and retire as they did in real life. First move: traded Steve Balboni 1B and Steve Kemp OF for two starters - Mike Smithson and Rick Honeycut, and for aging but still useful OF Mickey Rivers. Second: We traded two OFs for two other OFs: We sent Oscar Gamble and Otis Nixon (I barely remembered he had once been on the Yankees' roster) to Houston for Kevin Bass and Omar Moreno. Moreno was actually on the real life Yankees a couple of years later, and is a good CF backup and speedster as a PR. Bass is a good player I always liked and can play CF as well as LF or RF and is a switch hitter. We ended up 76-86 and in fifth place overall. The Reds beat the Red Sox in 7 games in the World Series for 1983. Third: Once 1983 was over, and Mattingly was ready, I traded Don Baylor to Houston for another starter, Bob Knepper. Our draft picks for the post-1983 first year draft: 1. 3B Terry Pendleton 2. SP Jimmy Key 3. SS Alvaro Espinoza 4. RP Mike Bielecki 5. C Randy Gomez 1984 Season: On Opening Day, Mattingly more than rewards our faith in his readiness to play everyday, as he hits TWO two-run homers against Kansas City. But the bullpen blows the lead and does the same next day when Mattingly hits another homer. Ugh. We start 1-4 against KC and Texas on the road, though we had one great come-back win against the Royals before leaving town. I thought having kept Gossage AND added Righetti (who in a really stupid move was moved to the bullpen in 1984, when Goose left) to the relief corps would be formidable. It might be but both of them have blown leads in early outings. Hope that straightens out. More soon.

05-23-2023, 06:19 PM	#5
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	After being way behind for most of 1984, we suddenly went on a winning streak and found ourselves within striking range of the first place Blue Jays with the season nearing and end. We are 2 and a half back with only five games remaining! We previously took two out of three from Detroit - a Mattingly late inning homer gave us one win in Tiger Stadium - and then won in Baltimore when Bob Shirley came through with a complete-game 4 hit shutout. But we dropped the next game behind Rick Honeycutt. Our starting pitching has kept us in it, but our bullpen except for Gossage and maybe Jay Howell has been disappointing. We need to win all our remaining five games at this point realistically to have a chance to win the division. Attached Images

05-23-2023, 06:45 PM	#6
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	We pull out a close one in Detroit. We are now 2 games out of first with three games to play! Attached Images

05-26-2023, 03:51 AM	#9
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	We came close but came up short. A very realistic 1980s Yankees outcome unfortunately. Then...over the winter, we were made offers we couldn't turn down. Boston offered Wade Boggs for Butch Wynegar. I have trade up two notches from the default in difficulty, but they offered. I thought that the offer was so lopsided that I added Terry Pendleton 3B to the trade but I took it. Maybe I shouldn't have. Not realistic really, but then again Boston let Boggs, Clemens and Fisk all leave so who knows? Which leads me to the other big trade: We got Fisk for RP George Frazier who has some good seasons coming up. So with Fisk and Boggs, and 2nd year pitcher Jimmy Key ready for the rotation, joining Guidry, Seaver - in what should be his last useful season, coming off a good year for us in '84, Bob Knepper and Bob Shirley, we hope we have enough to get over the top for 1985. Attached Images

05-22-2023, 04:53 PM	#2
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	Then: we get a trade offer: The Cardinals offer us Tom Seaver- in his last two good years, and Ozzie Smith for Doyle Alexander and Roy Smalley. I though the trade was too lopsided, so I threw in Spike Owen whom I had intended to inherit SS for us into the later 80s and 90s. But Ozzie is an upgrade. And while Alexander has more decent seasons left than Tom Terrific does, I wasn't going to turn down having Seaver in the rotation however briefly. The addition of Ozzie seems to catalyze our moribund offense, as we slammed the Rangers 11-0. But then, coming home for our home opener, with Seaver making his first start for us, we ran headlong into the Twins and...Roger Clemens! A Seaver vs. Clemens matchup could have been fun, but Seaver did not have his best stuff that day and we lost 6-1. Still, I like how we look now with all the additions. Let's see where 1984 takes us.

05-23-2023, 05:02 AM	#3
pholmer Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 25	It was, indeed, a cosmic injustice that Mattingly never got to the World Series. Just as painful an injustice was that a back injury hampered him late in his career and denied him a place in the HOF.

05-23-2023, 06:52 PM	#7
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	We failed to hold a lead over the Tigers in the 9th as Seaver tired and Gossage, already worn out blew the save. We have to wait till next year!

05-23-2023, 06:53 PM	#8
italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 983	The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Montreal Expos 4 games to 3 in the first all-Canadian World Series.