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01-22-2021, 06:44 AM
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#1 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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Transcontinental Baseball League (TBA)
The Transcontinental Baseball Association (TBA) commences in 1950. It consists of 50 leagues representing each state, with 328 teams in all. Cities with MLB teams and their affiliates have, by and large, been excluded.
The reputation of each league is reflective of the state involved. The 14 most highly-reputed leagues have 8 teams in them, the other 36 have 6. To further enhance the realism of disparity between each state, I have set the player creation modifiers accordingly. Here, for those who are interested, is a state-by-state breakdown: CALIFORNIA LEAGUE (CAL)
NEW YORK LEAGUE (NYL)
TEXAS LEAGUE (TXL)
PENNSYLVANIA LEAGUE (PAL)
FLORIDA LEAGUE (FLL)
ILLINOIS LEAGUE (ILL)
OHIO LEAGUE (OHL)
GEORGIA LEAGUE (GAL)
MICHIGAN LEAGUE (MIL)
MASSACHUSETTS LEAGUE (MAL)
NEW JERSEY LEAGUE (NJL)
WASHINGTON LEAGUE (WAL)
VIRGINIA LEAGUE (VAL)
NORTH CAROLINA LEAGUE (NCL)
TENNESSEE LEAGUE (TNL)
INDIANA LEAGUE (INL)
MISSOURI LEAGUE (MIL)
MARYLAND LEAGUE (MDL)
ARIZONA LEAGUE (AZL)
WISCONSIN LEAGUE (WIL)
COLORADO LEAGUE (COL)
MINNESOTA LEAGUE (MNL)
SOUTH CAROLINA LEAGUE (SCL)
ALABAMA LEAGUE (ALL)
LOUISIANA LEAGUE (LAL)
KENTUCKY LEAGUE (KYL)
OKLAHOMA LEAGUE (OKL)
CONNECTICUT LEAGUE (CTL)
UTAH LEAGUE (UTL)
IOWA LEAGUE (IAL)
MISSISSIPPI LEAGUE (MSL)
OREGON LEAGUE (ORL)
KANSAS LEAGUE (KSL)
NEVADA LEAGUE (NVL)
NEBRASKA LEAGUE (NEL)
ARKANSAS LEAGUE (ARL)
NEW MEXICO LEAGUE (NML)
IDAHO LEAGUE (IDL)
WEST VIRGINIA LEAGUE (WVL)
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEAGUE (NHL)
DELAWARE LEAGUE (DEL)
NORTH DAKOTA LEAGUE (NDL)
MAINE LEAGUE (MEL)
MONTANA LEAGUE (MTL)
RHODE ISLAND LEAGUE (RIL)
SOUTH DAKOTA LEAGUE (SDL)
VERMONT LEAGUE (VTL)
ALASKA LEAGUE (AKL)
HAWAII LEAGUE (HAL)
WYOMING LEAGUE (WYL)
I have also set stadium capacities according to the population of the state and the reputation of its league. These initially range from 25000 for the leagues with the highest reputation to 8000 for those on the bottom rung. The leagues have a shared Rookie Draft in May of each year, as well as a Rule 5 Draft in January. They are allowed to trade freely among one another. The regular-season schedule is 105 games long and balanced as much as the program allows, with teams only playing the other teams in their own state league. At the end of this, the 50 winners of each league plus the runners-up in the 14 that consist of 8 teams (as explained above) meet in the Lincoln Cup to decide the National Champion for the year. This is a knockout tournament, with participants seeded in order of their regular season record adjusted for the league’s reputation. The 50 champions are always to be seeded above the 14 wildcards. Those teams who make it deep into this tournament each season will receive a bump in their stadium capacity as a reward: 10% for the overall winner, 5% for the Runner-Up, 2.5% for the losing semi-finalists and 1% for the losing quarter-finalists. I have decided to do something I’ve seen others on here do that took my fancy. I will be acting as GM / Manager for a franchise until it makes the Lincoln Cup tournament, then move on. I will begin this process by taking over a last-placed team in one of the lowest-ranked leagues from the 1950 season, which I simmed separately just for this purpose, using the existing rosters for all teams . There are various rules I must adhere to in this exercise, the entirety of which I won’t go into now. But here’s a quick summary:
I won’t bore you with all of the tech specs for this (ad)venture, other than to say that all players will be fictional. Anything else important / relevant in this regard I’ll cover as needs be. I originally planned for this Association to be even bigger (nearly 600 teams) than the one I have described, but unfortunately file size was a real issue. Even this reduced version is likely to become problematic in that regard a few years down the track. But, until then, this should be a lot of fun. Before we get started I just want to thank all the modders whose amazing output I’ll be using in this Association, in particular TXRanger – who designed all of the various league logos (including the stunning TBA logo you see below) and a heap of the other graphics, to whom my managerial handle Rex Grant is an anagrammatic homage – and low for his stunning caps, unis and team regalia.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT Last edited by luckymann; 01-22-2021 at 07:27 AM. |
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01-22-2021, 06:48 AM
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#2 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 Preseason
The three teams eligible for my services are:
After careful deliberation, I have applied for and been given the GM / Manager role at sunny Honolulu for the princely sum of $4,000 per year over 4 years. I’m about as fair-skinned as they come so at least 25% of this will go toward a steady supply of SPF500+ sunblock and wide-brimmed Panama hats. The Boss is 49-year-old Tyler Bihr. His profile shows him as hands-off and patient, but fiscally controlling. Our Scout seems decent enough, same with the Doc. But the rest of our personnel is untried at this level. Hey, who am I to talk? They can stay and show me what they’ve got. I set the Scouting Budget to $50k spilt up 20% on Majors / 50% on Amateur / 30% on International, and set the Dev Budget to $65k. I’ll give the Scout some more insights into the sorts of players to seek out once I know myself what I’m looking for. To which end, let’s turn our focus to the playing group. CATCHERS Jaime Simko will be our starting backstop. The 30-yo is a decent enough ballplayer. Solid behind the plate, although his arm isn’t great. Won’t hit for much average but has a bit of pop. The mark against him is his hustle, or lack thereof. I’ll be closely monitoring how accurate this is. His backup will be Greg Sellers, who will prove adequate in this role, but no more. Third man Mike Boardway will, all things to plan, eventually be our #1 at this position. He is the #16 prospect in the league and the second-highest at our club. All in all, solid if unspectacular at the position – a good foundation. INFIELDERS There’s no doubt whatsoever that 3B Brian Malone is the cornerstone of this club. He’s the league’s second-best rated player and looks likely to figure in MVP calculations on a yearly basis. Not really a weakness in his game, either offensively or defensively, and he’s just 23! He’ll bat at 3, with veteran 1B Corey Wierenga at clean-up. Corey won’t hit the ball many times, but when he does it will stay hit. 2B David Boyd is another with a reputation for being a bit too laid-back (it’s all these beaches and bikinis, I tell you!), but he has above-average tools and with his pace should provide some spark leading off and hopefully set the table for the power bats. At 40, SS Tyler Allen has no doubt seen his best days, but still projects quite well. That said, shoring up this position will be one of my first priorities, as Tyler’s age and a lack of depth at the position stands out like the proverbial in this squad. Adam Bruner and seasoned campaigner Roy Archer will hold down backup and utility roles, as will Chris Barnes if and when injuries open up a spot on the Active Roster. OUTFIELDERS A surprisingly strong bunch of outfielders rounds off the position players, led by speedster CF Nick Terrance who’ll hit at 2. Jonathan Moulton, another low average / OK power guy, will cover left and bat at 5. Jason Taylor, Justin Parks and Josh Valdez will share RF / backup duties. All are decent enough players without being anything close to superstars. All three also have a bit of a prickly reputation, which is something I’ll have to keep tabs on. ROTATION This is where the good news ends. As solid as the offensive group is it remains to be seen whether they can score anywhere near enough runs to cover these guys. Southpaws Edwin Chavez and Bryan Phillips aren’t too bad, but the dropoff from there is sheer to put it mildly and the Reserve Roster offers no solace. So if either of these guys get hurt or lose form this is going to be a tougher get than I’d hoped for and seasons will seem decades-long in duration. BULLPEN The story here isn’t quite so dire as in the rotation, but still there are holes aplenty that will yawn like gaping maws if the starters get shelled and chased early from too many games. Mike Christensen is the pick of the bunch, and he can look forward to plenty of work in the Stopper / Closer role. At 34, that’s a bit of a worry. Our next-best reliever Joe Alexander can tend to nibble and be susceptible to the longball, while if lefty Adam Hendricksen was anywhere near the pitcher he seems to believe he is then we’d be in a much healthier position. The rest of the group are nothing but chewers of innings, and there isn’t a decent prospect to be seen. I’ve hardly two bits to rub together for FA and little budget room for trades, so the Rookie Draft is our best / only hope of plugging gaps. One of the benefits of this exercise I’m undertaking – at least for the first year I take over a club – is that the last-place finish in the prior season elevates you to some degree up the Draft order. (For the 1950 Rookie Draft, we have pick #46.) However, given said Draft consists of only 5 rounds and with the talent pool only so deep when 300+ teams are drinking from it, I’ll really need to make every post a winner. With our present financial constraints as they are, I best be thankful that dreams are free. In those dreams, my 5 picks this year will include 2 SPs who are ready to go now, a longer-term pitching prospect, and a couple of solid left- or switch-hitting infielders. We’ll see what happens come mid-May. Until then, let’s see what these guys are made of. Here are our fellow Hawaiian Leaguers:
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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01-22-2021, 08:20 AM
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#3 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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Team pic
Here they are, the pride of Honolulu!
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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01-23-2021, 10:29 AM
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#4 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 season – April
At Opening Day, we have a Fan Interest of 53, with Average Market Size and Loyalty. We have a league-lowest payroll of $557k and sold 3,618 season tickets. We have $10,500 cash on hand but are $11,386 over our $700k budget. We have $596k available for extensions and zero for FA.
We are predicted to finish last with a record of 41-64, 22 GB the Hilo Volcanoes. The calculations have us scoring 461 runs and giving up 580, both worst in the HAL. Same deal with our .216 BA and 5.10 ERA. We are, however, predicted to ding out a league best – and by some margin – 164 HR. Simple mathematics tells me that if I can up our BA / OBP and get more runners on when they go yard, we should score more runs and, QED, win more games. Sounds easy enough... The Boss wants .500 ball, so let’s use that as our benchmark. This heat is killing me. I’m sweating in places I didn’t even know I had places, and in my sunburnt opinion they need to make a protective product whose SPF rating has a few more zeroes at the end of it. Here are some highlights and lowlights (okay, mainly – SPOILER ALERT!!! – the latter) from the first six weeks of play: We get an Opening Day 3-2 win over Kaunakakai but thud back to earth with an 8-2 flogging the following day. We then win 2 of 3 home to Hilo, including an 8-6 win that sees Boyd go 4-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI and Malone drive in 4, and a 6-5 loss in which Malone goes 4-for-4 with 2 dingers and knocks in all of our runs. We split our first 10 games. So far, not so bad. Yeah, you know it – me and my big mouth spoke waaaaaayyyyy too soon. We lose our next six games, some of them ugly, and sink to the bottom of the standings. Suddenly the so-called experts are looking... well... expert. In the middle of this I get a visit from reliever Ryan Ringo to tell me this season will be his last. He plans to retire to the cabin he and his wife bought on Kaneohe Bay. I consider asking him if he needs a valet. After we squeeze a couple wins out of the Juice (you see what I did there?), I get another player visit me to announce their retirement at season’s end. This time it’s third-baseman Roy Archer. He plans to head across to the mainland and drive across the country with his dog. I consider asking him if he needs a mechanic. Catcher Greg Sellers is the next player to pay me a visit. If he’s planning to retire and take over the family’s funeral parlor, I’d consider becoming his first client. But no, quite the opposite. Greg is very keen to play, so keen in fact that he’s there to have a whinge about his game time, or lack thereof. I have a look at my stats sheets. Greg has one hit in 18 ABs. Credit where credit’s due, he has driven in 2 runs. I am, for one of the first times in my life, literally speechless. I look around the room to see if I’m on that new show Candid Camera I’ve heard so much about. I tell Greg I’ll see what I can do, but add that he needs to do his part and... say... start hitting. He seems pleased and leaves my office with a smile on his face. I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess old Greggy boy isn’t a member of Mensa. Word of my open-door policy and open-mindedness toward the problems of my players spread like wildfire. Josh Valdez is the next to come say hi, shoot the breeze, complain about how he’s being used. His cause has far more validity than Greg’s did, I’ll admit that. Josh has gone 6-for-24 with a homer and 4 RBI. In actual fact I had already been considering bumping his game time up in right as Justin Parks (.160 / 3 HR / 9 RBI) isn’t exactly lighting it up out there, so when I guarantee him he’ll be seeing more action I am doing so in earnest. He gets up quickly with a scowl and slams the door nearly clean off its hinges. Ballplayers, pffft. We win a few, lose a few. At one point we win three on the trot including perhaps our best performance of the month—a 9-3 win over Kahului in which both Nick Terrance and Jon Moulton go yard twice. It is one of four straight games in which Terrance homers. On the second-last game in April at home to Kapaa, Jon Moulton takes exception to being HBP and charges the mound. The dugouts empty but little comes of it, pugilistically speaking. It does, however, seem to fire up the boys as they rally for a 9-7 walkoff win on a 2-run tater by Jason Taylor, who came in to replace Jon. Thanks, Universe! Moulton is handed a 4-game suspension for his part in the brawl. Oh well, that’ll help the Josh Valdez situation. Clouds, silver linings—you know the deal. As April rolls into May, our record is 12-16. We’re still last, but only 7 games behind Lanai City and just 2½ games out of second place. So all is not lost.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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02-02-2021, 08:31 AM
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#5 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 season – May 1 thru 15
Time for some analysis. Numerical, not Freudian, although some time on the couch probably wouldn’t go astray. This infernal heat would make a murderer of the Mahatma.
As predicted, we lead the league in HR with 38. Our team BA, however, is presently .231, last in the HAL. Our OBP and OPS are both somewhat better, with us sitting 3rd in each. So in the whole hand-eye coordination equation it is definitely the former factor letting us down. I address the group and tell them to take more pitches. But not pitches they think they can hit, especially for homeruns. The words are still making their way from my mouth to their ears when I realise precisely how ridiculous a statement I’ve just made. No wonder they are, to a man, looking at me like I’m Einstein explaining quantum mechanics to them in his native German. I can literally feel the points dropping off our performance in oncoming weeks of every offensive category known to Chadwick. A planned follow-up session with the pitching corps is quickly cancelled. Telling a group of guys with an ERA of over 5 to start spotting their pitches better would be about as useful as telling a bunch of hockey players to floss regularly. Instead, I retreat to the safety of my apartment, pull out a cold beer – resisting the urge to start living inside the refrigerator as I do – and start poring over the players up for grabs in the upcoming Rookie Draft. Even with it being sourced from all over the country and overseas as well, the sheer number of clubs vying for players means the talent is going to get chewed through pretty quickly in the Draft. There are only five rounds, which means we have overall picks 46, 374, 702, 1030, and 1358. 46 is sure to be a promising type, if we play our cards right. Even 374 should have some skills. The rest will be more hit-and-miss. The point being I must get the first two picks absolutely right for what we need. Plus, let’s face it, with the crapshoot of who picks whom, there’s little point in planning for Rounds 3 thru 5—you just need to be quick on your feet and sharp with your eyes when we get there. No doubt those key picks should be a high contact utility infielder who plays SS well and a quality starting pitcher, preferably a lefty. In my experience, these drafts see the position players snapped up well in advance of all but the most phenomenal hurlers, so my plan is to use 46 for the infielder and 374 for the pitcher. In the interests of both sanity and collaboration, I have entrusted our Scouting Director and Assistant GM to work on some candidates for our other three. I spend the rest of that night and well into the next morning lost among the potential ghosts of crisp hits future, drinking more beer than I really should but not enough to replace the fluids I am losing via the act of perspiration. My MO is to start with the lowest acceptable player and work up. The Draft, by simple virtue of its top-down nature, will meet you coming from the opposite direction, like trucks in a tunnel. Realism is the key—most of all, understanding which players on your radar will all but certainly be gone before your turn comes around and striking a line through them. It is armed with this philosophy that I apply myself to the task. Easier said than done with some 2000 players to consider. Nevertheless, by the time I waddle off to bed sloshing like a weak-swimming duck, I have somehow managed come up with 5 potential candidates for each of our first two picks. I go back to this list numerous times and hone it just a little, but in essence it remains unchanged thru Draft Night. (If you thought I was going to share my hops-fuelled findings with you, think again. How do I know you’re not a spy?) The very next day, things look as if they’ll go from worse to worst. Corey Wierenga – our equal leader in HR with 7 – goes down with a twanged hammy. Then, just two innings later in the same game (which, somewhat ironically, we won 6-0 with Chavez the winning pitcher of record and Wierenga the PoG), our “ace” Edwin Chavez goes down with a tweaked back, although thankfully it’s not too serious and he should only miss a start or two. I promote Joe Alexander to the rotation – which I’d been thinking of doing anyway, putting the 1-4 / 8.87 ERA Andy Estey into the pen to give us another southpaw reliever – and call up Nick Gekas. The soon-to-be-roughriding Roy Archer gets the starting nod at 1B, while Chris Gagliardi comes up from the Reserve Roster. But then the strangest thing happens – we start playing some semi-decent baseball. Dave Boyd gets us on the right track with a double-dinger game we win 6-4 over the Juice. Gekas nets the W in his first appearance as we squeak by the same side 7-3 in 13. We come back late to beat the Volcanoes 7-5 and then do the same again the following game in a 3-2 win, with Estey giving us his best showing of the season so far. But then the news that Chavez – not just our best pitcher but also a club talisman, of sorts – would miss a couple more weeks than initially thought seems to throw us completely. Matters compound further when Wierenga’s 35-year-old body doesn’t behave as desired, with the doc uncertain when he’ll be back. Despite it kicking off with Justin Parks winning Player of the Week, the seven-day period before the Draft totally blew, with us dropping five of six, consigning us to the cellar once more at 18-24, 10 back from Lanai City.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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02-02-2021, 08:32 AM
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#6 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 season – May 15: Draft Night
Old Robbie Burns knew what he was on about, that’s for sure, as in the end our plans go awry. Albeit in a good way, at least hopefully.
With our first pick we take Jason Edwards, a two-way player. Jason’s stuff is off the charts, and he’s a pretty decent switch-hitter as well. He does, however, come up short defensively. I honestly never thought he’d still be on the loose by now, and had earmarked a couple of other similar types whose talent spread was more skewed toward their everyday prowess while still being good on the mound. But Jason is simply too good to pass on, so we don’t, and cross our fingers that one of the full-time shortstops we have our eyes on are still available come next round. And the gods must be smiling on us, because by the time pick 374 comes around, my second-choice SS Blaine Luecke – a high-contact / no-power / solid glove switch-hitting speedster – is still in play. He is our second draftee. Let the lucky-dip begin. Unsurprisingly, the talent pool has been greatly depleted of its juicy fish by the time our next pick is upon us. That said, one of our outfield hopes is still available—Joe Boone; no superstar by any means and with about as much pop as a deflated balloon, but he should hit for .270 and offers plus defence at all three OF spots. With our fourth pick we take southpaw starting pitcher J.D. Bell, an inning-chewing workhorse who is unlikely to feature until next season. J.D. was actually on our longlist for lower picks. With our fifth and final, we take Tim Wilcox, whose glove is mightier than his bat, and who was not on any list we had compiled. I go to bed that night, if not feeling like we’ve solved all of our problems in one fell swoop (like that was ever going to happen), at least having taken a few steps in the right direction.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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02-05-2021, 09:31 AM
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#7 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 season – May 16 thru 31
I waste no time putting Edwards onto the Active, with Estey into the pen for now and reliever Nate Kurtz onto the Reserve. Our very first game we lose not just the game 7-5 to Lanai City as we rack up 13 whiffs as opposed to 8 hits, but also Nick Terrance to what looks like a long-term leg injury. Next night: same result, another serious injury, this time to SP Jon Bachman, and again the medico fears the worst. I start wondering if my ex-wife has put a curse on me but then realise she wouldn’t dare because she needs the alimony payments too much.
Terrance has a torn meniscus in his knee, apparently as painful an injury as it sounds. It hurts us all, as it means he’s done for the season. Onto the 60-day IL he goes, and I “replace” him with our best outfield prospect, Joe Douglass. He’s nowhere near up to this yet, but the season is all but lost so we may as well get him closer to being so. Josh Valdez, whose only hope of ever getting some balance in his life is if a massive chip miraculously grows on the one that doesn’t already have one, gets the nod at CF against righties, and I’m going to play it by ear against the southpaws. Remarkably amid all this flux, we manage to score 4 in the 8th for a 7-6 win over Lanai the next day, with Moulton’s 3 ribbies a deciding factor. The buzz is killed somewhat by the news that Bachman, too, is out for the year with a torn labrum. So, with Chavez’s return date still unknown, I promote JD Bell, even though he’s almost certainly out of his depth. His fellow draftee Jason Edwards makes his HAL debut the next day, acquitting himself quite well despite taking the loss as we drop it 3-2 to the Juice. Chavez finally gets his clearance to play and Bell goes back to the Reserve. The next day Wierenga also returns to action, with Gagliardi making way. We’re 1-9 in our last 10 at this point and hopefully this spurs us into action to stop the haemorrhaging. Hope is a dangerous thing, my friends. The very next game Wierenga gets hit by a pitch and Tyler Allen does his back in. Adding insult to injury, we lose the game 5-4 in 10. Allen will miss a fortnight or so, which gives new boy Blaine Luecke his big chance. Fortunately Corey is cleared of any damage and stays in the lineup. We are being competitive, and not losing further ground because league leaders Lanai City are also in a rut, but still we keep losing. When we pitch OK, we don’t hit. When we hit well, our pitching falls apart. Sounds like my love life. The halfway point is upon us, and I decide it’s time to shake things up in the front office. The contracts of all personnel expire this season, and I opt to make the moves now so as not to miss out. The only one who stays is Hitting Coach Joe Femino. When I try to extend the Scout, Bench Coach and Trainer, each turns us down flat. So, in actual fact, the decision is made for me. I make some offers over the next few days. It’s harder than it seems as remarkably few available personnel want to work for us. I try not to take it personally. The Top 100 Prospects list comes out, and we feature prominently as you’d expect with us having the highest pick in the league. Edwards is rated #1, Douglass #4, Luecke #6. The boss sits me down and tells me he’s pleased with my performance so far, except the part about the not winning. What a goof. If he wasn’t paying my salary I’d punch him in the chops for being a Weisenheimer. We win Chavez’s first game back 3-2 against the Sugar Cane, walking it off on a Ryan Archer double. The next day, Edwards gets his first HAL win in a 12-4 blowout, celebrating it with his first HAL dinger. Then all of our personnel offers are accepted. We’re on quite a roll. Only Assistant GM Mark Espino causes a bit of a scene, the rest seem glad to be rid of the place. That’s good, I hate burning bridges. The bonhomie gets smashed to smithereens the next day as we get belted 13-2. But we end the month on a high as we demolish Kapaa Bay 16-1, posting a 10-spot in the third. 16 runs and 19 hits are both season highs, with Malone going 4-5 and Moulton and Boyd both going yard and knocking in 4 and 5 respectively. Bryan Phillips also gives us his best performance of the year, a complete game allowing just three hits. It’s a nice way to finish a 10-17 month that was otherwise nothing short of a horror show.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT Last edited by luckymann; 02-08-2021 at 03:04 AM. |
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02-08-2021, 03:04 AM
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#8 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1950 season – June
New month. New staff. New outlook. New lease on life.
There’s little that can be done for what’s left of this season other than to properly use it to plan for the next. Obviously, the recent draftees are all auto-renew. OF Joe Douglass and Earl Stewart, along with SP Joe Alexander, are all arb eligible next year. There’s a few on MiLB contracts. No action required for any of these guys just yet. Same goes with the imminent retirees Ryan Ringo and Ray Archer. We have team control over Malone thru 1952, with nominal arb estimates of $19k and $26k for the next two seasons (he’s on $11k this year). But I reckon the risk of those is to the upside, so I wouldn’t mind locking him in and capping that risk. Somewhat surprisingly, he’s only after $18k for a 1-year deal, so I snap that up before he changes his mind. Franchise cornerstone secured for at least one more year. Jonathan Moulton, who is the other position player I definitely want to keep, is a different kettle of fish. He’s our third-highest-paid player this year with $28k and I’m hoping his terms will be somewhere in the vicinity of 2-year / $60-70k. I got the figure right, just not the term—he wants $60k, but for one year. I’ll come back to him on that once I’ve tested the waters elsewhere and have a better idea of how our finances are placed. As far as pitchers go, only Bryan Phillips is a definite yes. He is on $12k this season and arbs out at $14k for next, then is a FA. I offer him a 1-year $15k contract just to get him on the books. He accepts. I’d like to hold onto Alex Ocaguera as well. He’s arb eligible at an estimated $12k for each of the next two seasons, so I test the water with him and offer him $12.5k for a year’s service. He contras with $13.5k. Long story short, we settle at $13k. I flip things about and look at it as a process of elimination from this point. Here’s a breakdown of how that goes: HARD PASSES
MEDIUM PASSES
SOFT PASSES
Roy Archer – he of the Transcontinental to transcontinental plans – surprises me by coming to my office requesting a trade because he feels he is being underutilised here. Aren’t you just about to drive off into the sunset, Roy? I feel like asking. Instead I hold my tongue and shop him around without any real hope of baiting a fish. To my great surprise and pleasure, however, White Plains offers Cory Hanes, a decent enough RHB who plays 1B / 3B well, the other IF spots OK and isn’t too bad a backup outfielder either. Cary offers up a better player in Jesse Wright, but he’s an FA come season end earning $27k this year and I just don’t know that we’d be able to afford him, whereas Hanes still has almost his full complement of team control attached. Bit of a no-brainer really. But I play it cool and see if they’ll sweeten the pot. They offer a decent young reliever Rafael Agront. Sold to the man soon to be in the unemployment line. Just remember, there’s no crying in baseball. Flushed with the success of this trade I give the names of two of the hard passes each to Assistant GM Rickey Tassone, Scouting Director Matt Dunigan, Bench Coach Pedro Salazar, along with a list of player types we need and absolute dealbreakers, and tell them to get shopping. I keep Parks and Barnes for myself and do the same, but quickly discover how one-hit wonders feel as I flame out miserably with both. Rickey has better luck, offloading Valdez for a really good IF named Adam Fallis. (What a time he must have had at school; even worse for his sister Ophelia.) It’s a straight swap salary-wise, but Adam has the full team control stint to get through. Cory Hanes goes 5-for-5 on debut as we win a thriller 9-8 at Kapaa, with both Parks and Moulton going yard. Pedro strikes pay dirt that evening, trading Allen and a young 2B I’d never given much thought to for a couple of excellent utility IF / OFs in Ben Penley and Greg Collette. Within the hour, Matt joins the party. He’s raided White Plains again, trading Corey Wierenga for JJ Davis, who will slot into the rotation straight away, with Gloeckler giving us another southpaw option in relief. It goes on like this for the next couple weeks. Games by day, winning some and losing others. Trades by night, saying farewell to some and hello to others. In one 24-hour period, the other three strike gold. Rickey manages to offload Taylor and Simko in one deal, getting solid backstop David Schuld and handy IF / OF utility Jonathan Paulsen. Mike does another twofer, swapping Gagliardi for a pair of utilities, infielder Rick Clayton and outfielder Shane McBride. Obviously not wanting to feel left out, Pedro finds us Art Zachry, a like-for-younger-like replacement for Mike Christensen, and gets decent prospect Nathan Fadely into the bargain. I trawl the Reserve Roster and see what I can dredge up. Reliever Mike State nabs us Bobby Henry--a cheaper, better version of himself. Jon Bachman gets us a really good lefty setup man in Gabe Bernal and Jeff Peoples, a young backup catcher. Adam Bruner, now expendable, is traded to Grand Rapids for solid reliever Ryan Vann. Nick Gekas is the big surprise, generating a flurry of interest—so much, in fact, that I have to go back and see if I’ve missed something. Confident I have not, I ship him off to Cary for Kelly Hackett, who by himself should bump our BA above the Mendoza line. But we’ll have to wait a few weeks for that as he’s out of action with a bone marrow edema. In the end the only two hard passes left are the two I flunked on, Parks and Barnes. There are a few other odds and sods we’ll revisit later, but we’ve almost completely revamped our squad and reduced our payroll by $50k in the process, meaning we have $194 to splash out on Free Agents. That’s some pretty fancy horse-trading there podner, e’en if I do say so meself. Most importantly, it leaves us with a really good chance of being able to afford a couple of absolute superstars when FAs declare. JJ Davis wins his first start for us, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits over 6, with Zachry giving us a 3-inning save. Then, out of the blue Roanoke gets in touch and canvasses our interest in a gun SP and team leader by the name of John Leon, exactly the sort of player we have been building up our war-chest for. They submit a list of players they are interested in. I mull things over. John is on $34k for the next 3 years before becoming arb eligible, which is big bucks in this league. But their player demands are doable and, like I said, he’s a dream recruit in so many respects. What the hey, you only live once. I take him in exchange for Nick Terrance (retaining 5%), Mike Boardway, SS Jonas Allen and recent recruit Rafael Agront. Now we’re talking. That means we can offload Chavez. Unsurprisingly, he’s as popular as the prettiest belle at the ball. But his high salary means those offered for him are equally well-compensated, many of whom are impending free agents. One player in particular catches my eye: 1B / 3B Marcus Strickland. Huge, huge bat. But, from all reports, an ego to match. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t touch him with a 45-foot Ukrainian. But with John Leon now there to keep the clubhouse in order and with Marcus being on auto-renew for another year before arb starts, I decide to take another punt. We get another trade proposal that seems like a gift from the gods, when Laramie offers excellent catcher Chris Blair up for Justin Parks. At 30, Chris is a bit older than I’d like and on a sturdy $34k, but he is a quality player on both offence and defence and seeing as we got no love shopping Justin around and now have plenty of quality outfielders at our disposal, I jump at the chance to move him on. That then frees up Greg Sellers, and I flip him to Riverside for a strong lefty reliever in Ralph Grosso and a semi-decent starting pitcher prospect, Alphonse Cowley. A great week for the club culminates in Brian Malone winning PoTW honors for his .407 / 3 HR / 11 RBI performance. He celebrates with 5 ribsters the next day in an 8-5 win over Lanai City that also sees Marcus make his debut with a 3-5 / 2 RBI showing. 2 more dingers the following game give him a league-leading 21. The lad’s on fire. I mention the highlights, but there are plenty of lowlights as well, which is to be expected seeing as we’ve basically just thrown a bunch of relative strangers together kind of like the baseball equivalent of Noah’s big boat and told them to perform as a cohesive unit. The middle section of the month – after the initial euphoria of all the flux has waned – is especially torrid, as we lose a bunch on the trot. A Bryan Phillips one-hit gem then turns things around as we string together 4 wins in a row, but the month finishes on a sour note as we fall into a rut once again and then, on the final day of the month, John Leon is hurt. There’s no doubt we’ve made huge strides in the right direction, but there are still a number of holes to be plugged before this club will contend. As we enter the final month of the season, we sit at 34-48, still last and 14½ games out of first, having gone 12-15 for June. One pleasing fact amid the darkness is that our BA has continued to rise slowly but steadily to its current .241.
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02-08-2021, 03:42 AM
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#9 |
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1950 season – July
At our first management meeting for the month, I make the call to clear the decks of what’s left in respect to players we aren’t interested in keeping. I’m not expecting much with so little of the season remaining, but we hit pay dirt first cab off the rank, doing a straight swap of David Boyd for a clubhouse leader and gun 2B in Ethan Williams. What we really need is pitching, however, and that’s where I turn my focus on the day of the trade deadline.
To bump Nate Kurtz for a great starter in Rob Moore, we need to part with Joe Alexander. I have no problems with losing Joe to make this upgrade, and pull the trigger without hesitation. Chris Barnes nets us solid reliever Garrett MacArthur and stopgap starter Andy English, who may come in handy should John Leon’s injury keep him out for any length of time. We get another reserve starter Dave Klasen, along with backup reliever Joel Levi, for Bryce McCray. Our final move for the season sees Mark Gentry shipped to Caldwell for reliever Greg Moore. In the end, much to our relief, John is cleared to play. Still these guys will be ready to go if and when injury does sideline one of our hurlers. The next day, however, Jonno Moulton goes down with a virus that knocks him for six, so much so I opt to IL him and bring up Joe Douglass for some game time. We lose Dave Schuld for a week with a bruised thigh as well. None of these are bad things, mind you, as they keep the roster ticking over and let us have a look at what some of the lesser lights bring to the table. The group shows what it’s capable of early in the month with a massive 14-5 demolition of Lanai City, who look a virtual lock for the HAL pennant. Malone goes yard for the 27th time and drives in 3, while Kyle Hackett – batting nearly .400 for us so far with 13 RBI in just 78 AB – also has a good game. With some time spent in the offseason getting the squad to gel, here’s hoping this sort of performance becomes the rule rather than the exception next year. Point in case, the 11-4 drubbing they give us the very next day. We lose Ben Penley for the season to a fractured thumb mid-month. John Leon finally gets his first win for us with a dominant two-hit complete game performance, one of three in a row we reel off. We enter our final series of the regular season just one game behind second-last-placed Kaunakakai. Two wins against the putative champions Lanai City, the second of which sees John Leon break the team record for strikeouts with 14, see us pull level with the Juice with one to play. We play the early game, completing a sweep of the Lightning with an emphatic 8-3 win powered by Malone’s 35th dinger of the year, and with a couple of innings to go in their game against Hilo, the Juice look down and out trailing 7-2. But they rally to pinch it 8-7, meaning we finish in a tie for last – or second last if you want to look at it that way – with a record of 47-58, 13 games behind Lanai City, who win the league by 4 from Hilo. That’s 7 games better than BNN predicted we’d do, and we finish July with at 13-10, our only winning month of the season. Our BA finishes at .250, third best in the league. All of which bodes well for next season.
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02-08-2021, 08:16 AM
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#10 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - Jefferson 64
Plenty of upsets to kick off the inaugural TBA National Championship: Savannah knocking out 11th seed Ft. Lauderdale in straight sets; Clinton Township disposing of Hoover in 4; 4th seeds Bentonville swept by Springfield; New Bedford polishing off the 2nd seeded White Plains Motion; Plano squeaking by Hammond with a 6-0 win in Game 5; Georgetown needing 12 to get home in their decider against Ft. Collins; Watertown upsetting Gilbert with a 10-inning Game 5 triumph on the road.
And, in an all-PA matchup, the favoured Red Roses needed all 5 to get past McCandless. 64-Albany Magpies (NY) v 1-Ames Aggies (IA) 1-Ames Aggies (IA) won series 3-1 63-New Bedford Millmen (MA) v 2-White Plains Motion (NY) 63-New Bedford Millmen (MA) won series 3-1 62-Asheville Spitfires (NC) v 3-Austin Outlaws (TX) 3-Austin Outlaws (TX) won series 3-0 61-Springfield Stars (OH) v 4-Bentonville Trotters (AR) 61-Springfield Stars (OH) won series 3-1 60-Hamilton Tiger-Cats (NJ) v 5-Billing Mustangs (MT) 5-Billing Mustangs (MT) won series 3-2 59-Portsmouth Privateers (VA) v 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) won series 3-2 58-Orlando Palms (FL) v 7-Macon Peaches (GA) 7-Macon Peaches (GA) won series 3-2 57-Vancouver Horse Doctors (WA) v 8-Fremont Bulldogs (CA) 8-Fremont Bulldogs (CA) won series 3-2 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) v 9-Hoover Appalachians (AL) 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) won series 3-1 55-McCandless Moose (PA) v 10-Lancaster Red Roses (PA) 10-Lancaster Red Roses (PA) won series 3-2 54-Savannah Sand Gnats (GA) v 11-Ft. Lauderdale Pirates (FL) 54-Savannah Sand Gnats (GA) won series 3-0 53-Aurora Skyhawks (IL) v 12-Kenosha Cranes (WI) 12-Kenosha Cranes (WI) won series 3-0 52-Riverside Rubes (CA) v 13-Fall River Indians (MA) 13-Fall River Indians (MA) won series 3-1 51-Plano Falcons (TX) v 14-Hammond Horseshoes (IN) 51-Plano Falcons (TX) won series 3-2 50-Watertown Bombers (SD) v 15-Gilbert Geckoes (AZ) 50-Watertown Bombers (SD) won series 3-2 49-Moore Resolutes (OK) v 16-Plymouth Rockers (MN) 16-Plymouth Rockers (MN) won series 3-1 48-Lanai City Lightning (HA) v 17-Kirkland Crawdads (WA) 17-Kirkland Crawdads (WA) won series 3-1 47-St. Albans Saints (VT) v 18-Medford Rogues (OR) 18-Medford Rogues (OR) won series 3-2 46-Dover Garrison (NH) v 19-Elyria Rage (OH) 19-Elyria Rage (OH) won series 3-2 45-Middleton Peaches (DE) v 20-Rock Hill Wrens (SC) 20-Rock Hill Wrens (SC) won series 3-0 44-Pocatello Bannocks (ID) v 21-Gulfport Gledes (MS) 21-Gulfport Gledes (MS) won series 3-0 43-Lincoln Lions (NE) v 22-Newport News Swabbies (VA) 22-Newport News Swabbies (VA) won series 3-0 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 23-Dearborn Bulls (MI) 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) won series 3-0 41-High Point Hype (NC) v 24-Cranston Rays (RI) 41-High Point Hype (NC) won series 3-1 40-West Valley City Wasps (UT) v 25-Fargo Buffalo (ND) 25-Fargo Buffalo (ND) won series 3-1 39-Ft. Collins Merlins (CO) v 26-Georgetown Baptists (KY) 26-Georgetown Baptists (KY) won series 3-2 38-Columbia Boonslickers (MO) v 27-Bartlett Coachmen (TN) 38-Columbia Boonslickers (MO) won series 3-1 37-Lake Charles Explorers (LA) v 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 3-0 36-Shawnee Dusters (KS) v 29-College Park Power (MD) 36-Shawnee Dusters (KS) won series 3-2 35-Ketchikan Bootleggers (AK) v 30-New Haven Knights (CT) 30-New Haven Knights (CT) won series 3-2 34-Parkersburg Marblers (WV) v 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) won series 3-2 33-Edison Scholars (NJ) v 32-Enterprise Armadillos (NV) 33-Edison Scholars (NJ) won series 3-1
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02-08-2021, 08:25 AM
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#11 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - Truman 32
Carnage in the top 10 as Brunswick knocks out the highly-regarded Billings Mustangs; #7 seed Macon loses to Georgetown in 4; Sheridan beats the Red Roses 3-1; Fargo bumps off the #8 Bulldogs in 5. The Stars continue to surprise, putting away the Dusters in straight sets; same with Watertown, who win an epic 5-gamer over Medford.
33-Edison Scholars (NJ) v 1-Ames Aggies (IA) 1-Ames Aggies (IA) won series 3-0 30-New Haven Knights (CT) v 3-Austin Outlaws (TX) 3-Austin Outlaws (TX) won series 3-1 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) v 5-Billing Mustangs (MT) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 3-1 38-Columbia Boonslickers (MO) v 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) won series 3-0 26-Georgetown Baptists (KY) v 7-Macon Peaches (GA) 26-Georgetown Baptists (KY) won series 3-1 25-Fargo Buffalo (ND) v 8-Fremont Bulldogs (CA) 25-Fargo Buffalo (ND) won series 3-2 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 10-Lancaster Red Roses (PA) 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) won series 3-1 21-Gulfport Gledes (MS) v 12-Kenosha Cranes (WI) 21-Gulfport Gledes (MS) won series 3-1 20-Rock Hill Wrens (SC) v 13-Fall River Indians (MA) 20-Rock Hill Wrens (SC) won series 3-2 17-Kirkland Crawdads (WA) v 16-Plymouth Rockers (MN) 17-Kirkland Crawdads (WA) won series 3-0 50-Watertown Bombers (SD) v 18-Medford Rogues (OR) 50-Watertown Bombers (SD) won series 3-2 51-Plano Falcons (TX) v 19-Elyria Rage (OH) 19-Elyria Rage (OH) won series 3-1 54-Savannah Sand Gnats (GA) v 22-Newport News Swabbies (VA) 22-Newport News Swabbies (VA) won series 3-0 63-New Bedford Millmen (MA) v 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) won series 3-0 61-Springfield Stars (OH) v 36-Shawnee Dusters (KS) 61-Springfield Stars (OH) won series 3-0 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) v 41-High Point Hype (NC) 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) won series 3-1
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02-08-2021, 08:28 AM
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#12 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - Roosevelt 16
The Stars book their spot in the last 8 with a strong win over the Wrens, while the C Sox sweep their way through Fargo to lock down a matchup with the on-fire top seeds from Ames. Four series go the distance, with the Rage upsetting the 3rd seed Outlaws, the Whistlepigs finally getting past the dogged Swabbies, the Sheriffs trouncing the Baptists 12-3 and Las Cruces shutting out Watertown 7-0.
17-Kirkland Crawdads (WA) v 1-Ames Aggies (IA) 1-Ames Aggies (IA) won series 4-0 19-Elyria Rage (OH) v 3-Austin Outlaws (TX) 19-Elyria Rage (OH) won series 4-3 61-Springfield Stars (OH) v 20-Rock Hill Wrens (SC) 61-Springfield Stars (OH) won series 4-2 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) v 21-Gulfport Gledes (MS) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 4-2 22-Newport News Swabbies (VA) v 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) won series 4-3 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) v 25-Fargo Buffalo (ND) 56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) won series 4-0 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 26-Georgetown Baptists (KY) 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) won series 4-3 50-Watertown Bombers (SD) v 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) won series 4-3
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02-08-2021, 08:29 AM
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#13 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - Kennedy 8
Two fairy-tale runs come to an end as the Stars and C Sox are both beaten handily in 5, while Elyria upsets Waukegan. Sheridan and Las Cruces take 7 to sort out their series, with the Sheriffs getting home 4-3 in the decider.
56-Clinton Township C Sox (MI) v 1-Ames Aggies (IA) 1-Ames Aggies (IA) won series 4-1 19-Elyria Rage (OH) v 6-Waukegan Whistlepigs (IL) 19-Elyria Rage (OH) won series 4-1 61-Springfield Stars (OH) v 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 4-1 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 31-Las Cruces Golden Sombreros (NM) 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) won series 4-3
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02-08-2021, 08:30 AM
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#14 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - King 4
A massive shock as Brunswick knocks out the high-flying Aggies to set up a small-state final against Sheridan, who easily account for a disappointing Elyria outfit.
28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) v 1-Ames Aggies (IA) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 4-1 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 19-Elyria Rage (OH) 42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) won series 4-0
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02-08-2021, 08:32 AM
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#15 |
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1950 TBA National Championship - Lincoln Cup
And it is Maine who triumphs over Wyoming as the Vulcans overcome a Game 1 home loss to win it in 6.
42-Sheridan Sheriffs (WY) v 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) 28-Brunswick Vulcans (ME) won series 4-2 1950 TBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BRUNSWICK (ME) VULCANS
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT Last edited by luckymann; 02-08-2021 at 08:34 AM. |
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02-08-2021, 08:43 AM
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#16 |
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1950 TBA Leaders & Award Winners
1950 TBA Most Valuable Player: Julian Williams, Fremont (CA) Bulldogs
1950 TBA Pitcher of the Year: Jason Sawyer, Anchorage (AK) Kodiaks
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02-09-2021, 04:38 AM
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#17 |
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1950-51 offseason
We go as a group to what turns out to be the only home game for Lanai against Kirkland. Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Lightning are brave but, ultimately, outmatched by the Washingtonians and go down 6-3 to be eliminated. I wanted the lads to see first-hand what our goal is and the trip seems to tighten their knit. After a nice dinner at which we make a pledge to one another that we’ll be taking part in the National Championship by 1953 at the latest, I send them on their way and tell them to be ready for training to start on January 15.
Awards season comes around. Brian Malone wins Platinum Stick @ 3B and the HAL MVP. Marcus Strickland wins RoY in the Wyoming League. A SNAFU in personnel means all of my staff’s contracts are voided and the HAL refuses them permission to resign with us. So I start the process again, and within a few weeks have a full retinue back at my disposal. You’ll meet them along the way. FAs file on October 10 and I want to be ready. We really don’t have much to do thanks to all of our wheeling and dealing throughout the season. I sit down with Jonno Moulton and hear what he has to say. His demands have become more reasonable since the last time we spoke. He likes the club and thinks we’ve got a good thing going that he’d like to be part of. I like him, as a bloke and as a player. I’d like him to make contact more often but he sure hits it hard when he hits it at all, and him and Malone are good in combo. He is looking for $40k per now, I’m thinking more like $30k. In the spirit of compromise, we eventually settle on $35k for one year. The fact that this comes out of our extensions budget rather than our FA one makes it just a little more appealing. On the topic of which, the boss sits me down and says he likes how we went about things last season. He feels confident we’ll reap the rewards over the next couple of years and gives us a budget of $760k for 1951, up $60k on the previous year. With our current payroll and expenses sitting at $613k that leaves us roughly $150k to play with. I don’t want to go through the season this time around operating on the smell of an oily rag like we were last year. So I decide $110-130k is my limit for FAs, leaving us with $20-40k for running repairs once things get underway. Our absolute top priority is a starting pitcher who is an out-and-out ace to slot into the top of our rotation. Leon is fantastic. Moore is solid. Edwards projects to be better than both of them in a couple years. Phillips is adequate for a fifth wheel. But I want a guy who will set the tone for the others from the #1 spot. A true ace, a workhorse. Preferably a lefty, but they are few and far between among the elite. $65k max demand. The new staff don't know me well enough, nor I them, to be able to handle this the way I want. So it's a DIY project. I write out a wishlist and go to work, top to bottom. The first two guys are out of our price range but the third, Josh Alfonso is seeking $75k. I put in a cheeky bid at $65k and see how that goes. He doesn’t say no. Nor does he sign. But at least the ball is rolling. Next I’d like an emergency starter who’ll operate from the pen but be ready for a call-up should injury or form decree. Our relief corps is solid, if unspectacular, and stronger from the left than right. So I’m nonplussed about which arm they throw with. Price and value are the key here, as I really only want to spend $25-35k. If I can get someone better than Phillips then so be it, we’ll just roll them down the line. I try and fail with a few nibbles, all the while keeping an ear out for Alfonso’s call telling me he’s in. I get to Tyler Canty, a southpaw who fits the bill as a #5 starter perfectly. We start the negotiations at $25-35k and end them at $30k with him seemingly amenable to the idea. But again, he’ll need a grace period to mull it over. We are pretty much good to go for position players. Malone and Strickland are the core of our lineup, with Williams’ snap, Hackett’s crackle, and Moulton’s pop on either side. Our activity last season has given us a good spread of versatile players to support them. Joe Douglass should be an absolute peach when he ripens. But I’d like to cover the time until he does with a quality bridge. A guy who plays at all three positions and perhaps first as well, defensively solid and offensively well-rounded. That’s where the rest of our money will go. I find the perfect guy, Paul Arcila, and hit him up. Still not having heard back from either of the other two I don’t want to overcommit, so I lowball him at $28k. No dice. I tell him $31k is all the room I have and leave him to chew on it. The days pass. Gray hairs proliferate on my pate like rabbits in springtime. Finally the phone rings. I wish it hadn’t. It’s Alfonso telling me I’m out of the race if I don’t bump the offer by at least $10k. I’ve seen this sort of thing before. $10k just wastes my time before it becomes more. I wish him well and bow out. It’s obvious I’ll need to temper my expectations somewhat. So I slowly work my way down the list feeling players out. All of them are asking for more than I can give them until I get to Chris Eddington, whose ballpark is in the mid-$60k. I offer him $55k and leave it with him. I know the drill. All I hear is crickets chirruping over the next few weeks and I’m unsure how to proceed. Word comes through that Josh Alfonso signed for $75 with Fremont. Mark Garcia, another guy I had my eye on, went to Fortuna for $72. Should I have stayed in the race? We’ll never know. By the time November rolls around I’m a nervous wreck. Then the phone rings. It’s Tyler Canty—he’s in. It rings again the following day. It’s Chris Eddington—he’s not. It rings again almost as soon as I’ve put it down, I’m presuming it’s Eddington again, remembering something he'd wanted to say. It isn’t, it’s Erik Edwards - a Free Agent pitcher I'd put a call in to but not heard back from. He has recently married a Hawaiian girl who is now expecting and they want to move here to start their family. I congratulate him, after biting my tongue to stop from asking if he knows about the climate. (Hey, it’s been months since I had a moan about the heat—mainly because it’s pretty darn nice here out of the hot season... Now it’s just these potential recruits making me sweat). He says he likes the look of our club and would love to play for us. OK. Catch is he wants a multi-year deal. But it’s affordable and he was one of the guys I’d liked but ruled a line through because of price, so I’m all ears. I tell him of our shorter-term cashflow concerns and ask if he’d be OK with a slightly back-ended deal. He has no problem with that. So we tailor a 4-year $250k structure that seems to suit both parties and I offer him the obligatory “talk with my family” time. He doesn’t need it. Deal done. Paul Arcila signs on the dotted line the next day. Thank the Lord that’s all over. I reckon I’ve aged a generation in a month. So thankful we “didn’t have much to do...”. We’ve ended up spending a good deal less than expected in acquiring these three great players, and now have just over $60k left in the kitty. The two areas of our squad I’m still unhappy with are the depth of our pen and #3 catcher Jeff Peoples. I don’t see a ready solution that won’t cost us cash I’m unwilling to spend but nevertheless take a deeper dive in search of a solution. On the block at Provo I find Mark Struebing, a really good pitching prospect who is a rotation candidate down the track and investigate further. They show some interest in Ben Penley, who was on my trade bait list as it was. I don’t like paying nearly $20k to a guy who’s likely to spend more time on the reserve roster than off it, so I offer him up and they bite. That not only buffs up our bullpen, but gives me some flashing to get a good backstop. I find exactly what I’m after in Malachi Smith, who is good enough that he’d actually slot in ahead of Dave Schuld as Chris Blair’s backup. He’s cheap, too, and I offer him $10k for a year. I’m all but spent from the seemingly non-stop dealmaking, but one phone call revives my interest for just one last swap. The GM at Irving calls offering up gun SS Roland Taylor for what seems a steal. I run through the players I’d consider giving up for him. He picks four: Tim Wilcox, Adam Fallis, Brent Wiggins and Joel Levi. I agree. This has the added benefit of freeing up some roster spots for next year’s draftees. Christmas comes in the form of Malachi Smith agreeing to our terms. We now pretty much have the squad I’ve been looking for. And we still have $75k left over just in case. Bring on '51.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT Last edited by luckymann; 02-09-2021 at 04:45 AM. |
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02-09-2021, 09:51 PM
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#18 |
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Minors (Single A)
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 88
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Nicely done with wheeling-and-dealing.
Between "aging" during the off-season like you described, and the "aging" that I do each game that I watch my team trying to hold a late lead with our shaky bullpen, I will be ready for RL retirement in no time. |
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02-09-2021, 10:15 PM
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#19 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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Quote:
In my main save I am the Manager / GM of my beloved Oakland A's and handle every aspect, playing out every game in one-pitch mode. Same with my college league, the ACBA. SO I know exactly what you mean. In the Footnote League I am merely the reporter / Commish. For this one I am trying something completely different, setting lineups, depth charts and strategy for team and players then just letting the game sim out a week at a time in the background. Sure does reduce the game-by-game stress levels! BTW that handle of yours is the best. Any story behind it?
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT Last edited by luckymann; 02-09-2021 at 11:38 PM. |
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02-10-2021, 08:10 AM
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#20 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 11,722
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1951 preseason
As planned, the squad reconvenes for the first time on January 15th. We take it very easy for the rest of January, just meeting three times a week for a few hours. This is aimed at letting the players get to know one another at their own pace. I want the camaraderie and cohesion within the group to be organic, not manufactured. I also don’t want them to be sick of the sight of one another halfway through the season. So we just shag some flies, play a few squad games, nothing too serious or strenuous.
Mid-Feb we start amping things up a bit, progressively increasing the intensity, frequency and duration of the sessions. I feel confident we have just about the best bunch of players we could have assembled under the circumstances particular to our club. They are understandably rusty at first, and still unfamiliar to each other in varying degrees. So we make sure those who interact most closely on the field get plenty of time with one another off of it. Outfielders together; infielders; batteries. With every week I see the unit meshing. It’s all looking good. By night myself and the management team work on game plans, both individual and collective. Lineups and depth charts. Situational roles. Defensive alignments. No matter how high-quality they are, a pile of bricks doesn’t become a house without the blueprints, without the grout, without the skilled workers to make it so. That’s how I see the time between now and Opening Day – as the time when we build our house, with us as the architects and artisans. We spend March doing our own version of Spring Training. Full squad games, no bars held. Time to get the competitive juices flowing. Time to get the old instinct back into action. For some, they’ve never gone away. For others, they take their time to reappear. Human nature, the most inexact of sciences. In the shadows of Opening Day, Butte comes calling to canvass about the availability of Jeff Peoples. His availability, I tell them, is subject to what’s being offered in return. They float a really encouraging relief prospect. I don’t say no. In perusing their team sheet I see Jason Geist, a flamethrower with a cutter that makes hitters’ legs concertina from under them but some serious wildness and gopher ball issues that grabs my fancy. I try to fold him into the deal, as is. They counter by asking for Seth McKenzie, a guy so far down our depth charts that a volcanic eruption catching us unawares is his best chance of seeing action this season. We make the trade. It sets us back $12k of the $40 extra the boss gave us earlier in the month, but improves our bullpen no end. The night before OD the full squad gathers at Hanauma Bay for a traditional luau meal. By this time everyone seems on good terms with each other. The constant close contact over the course of a season means this will not always be the case. But if you go into the beginning of a season without this general feeling of goodwill toward all the other members of the group, then you are greatly behind the eightball. I give a quick speech thanking the players for their efforts since the start of the year, and telling them that as long as they give their best then I’ll be proud of them regardless of results. The mood is jovial, and the breeze makes it so you can feel the salt on your skin, taste in with every swallow. At this very moment I can see why people never want to leave this place. But you know I’ll be whinging like crazy about the heat in a month or so. Of course, results are what matter. For them and for me. So we are all eager on the morning of our first game to see what BNN is predicting for the season. It is with mixed emotions I read they have picked us to win the division handily by 18 games with a 72-33 record. So much for flying under the radar. I’m not being cagey when I tell you I disagree wholeheartedly with them. Sure, if things go our way we’ll be among the first division down the stretch. But I think we are still another year away from being a true contender. I believe Kahului are the team to beat this year. They have a brute of a lineup, with their infield particularly strong. It is their pitching that is a worry, but a couple trades could quickly fix that should the need arise. Same go with the other sides, and there’s the Draft to consider as well. Enough with the cogitation and speculation, let’s go play some ball.
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HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE AROUND THE HORN LEAGUE MY NEL PROJECT |
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