Season 42 (2060) - Thread
 

aka the thread where Magus finally no longer has any pressure on him to win and can finally cut loose!

In search of a repeat title win, the Steelport Saints have been placed in P463 with 8-time champions Novato Diamond Miners and fellow 1-time champions Lisle Beer Drinkers & Conlon Collectors. On the other side of the league, two-time champions Boca Bears seem to be one of the favorites to come out of there.

Can we really make it two in a row?

The Raccoons had their worst start ever last season, but finished with 112 W and took the Bombers to game 7 in the WS. It was our 2nd straight game 7 WS defeat. The year before those 2 seasons, we won the WS so that's 3 straight WS appearances.

So how about this year? Same as last year so far. Last year we started 10-16 and this year we're on the same pace at 5-8.

So the "old timer 5" is no more. After 2 seasons with pappyzan's LyinCheatin Senators, I thought I was done with him. But no! Look atop our division right now. Yup, it's pappyzan and those LyinCheatin guys lil' brother, the Washington Senators - 0$. So far, they've taken 2 of 3 from us. All kidding aside, I hope your father is doing better (and you too!).

Edit: Schilling is now 1-3 with a 7.29 ERA and 1.86 WHIP. So after his 2nd worst season ever (and 1 of only 2 not so great seasons), he's pitching even worse!

Thanks Old Timer, he's doing pretty well so far. A week after his stroke and he's been moved to a rehab facility and is doing really, really well. Looks like he'll lose a bit of peripheral vision but that might be the worst of it. Will take some time to build his strength back up but that's expected.

Also expected is your team at the top of the division soon enough.:thumbup:

The Frogs are in P462 this week. It'll be a tale of 2 teams for the most part.

The ten-time PL champion Scottsdale Scorpions are denizens of the AC Central division. They have a flat out ridiculous roster and, barring something seismic, will represent the AC in the PL Series. Those Scorpions have not just one, but two of the new-ish TOTD cards in Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw. Not to mention the new SE Zack Wheat and Doc Gooden cards. Surprised this team hasn't come by a PEAK Pedro yet...

Vying to face off with the Scorpions are those Frogs. The eight-time PL champion Frogs are living in the NC East. This division is full of teams with .500-ish track records in Perfect, so the Frogs should win it. The stiffest competition figures to come from the New Orleans Yankees and/or Indiana Barons, both residents of the NC Central. The Yankees have an interesting history of promotions and demotions and I'll leave it at that.

I raised the ballpark HR factors from 0.950 last week to 1.075 this week. The offense will like that, but we'll see how the pitching fares. The lowest MOV rating for any of my own pitchers this week is 83. So far we've hit 23 HR and given up 10.

I managed to get my Angels to Diamond in 4 weeks. Having a blast so far with the game and the collections let you build a nice team without spending hundreds of dollars. Rough start of 4-10 and I'm already on the line with the GM yelling "We need to upgrade our pitching again!" Someone about early panicking was mentioned but he did say he saw a nice Curt Schilling for only 200k if I was willing to spend the windfall from selling my collection Ed Walsh. I Considered it, but I heard some guy said Schilling was struggling bad and couldn't pull the trigger.

Pull the trigger! :) Schilling's been great for my team (see below). To properly interpret those numbers, consider that he always pitched in a maxed out hitters park until recently and the only thing reduced a few seasons back was HRs. Also, 2040 and 2041 were in a whale league with some of the top whales in PT (about 15 of them) so he often faced many of the best hitters in those two years.

One other really important thing... He's a neutral pitcher while Walsh is an extreme groundballer so unless you have great infield defense, you'll benefit more from Schilling.

P404: Some Heavy Hitters
 

Two weeks ago, Huntley was in the Old Timer 5 NC East Division of Doom. Last week, Huntley was in a league with 7 PL titles total, 6 of which were ours. (That we now have 7 is no coincidence.) This week, Huntley finds itself in P404, and it's a nice balance between those two extremes--some heavy hitters, but they're spread out around the league and not clustered all together.

Huntley, with its 7 PL Series titles (:D) and 6 PL Series defeats (:crying:), is in the AC West with 3 former Diamond champions. Three more former Diamond champions, but no former PL champions, reside in the AC Central. And then there is the AC East, home of joehart's legendary Washington Explorers. The Explorers have a .781 all-time winning percentage and 15 PL championships--including 4 in a row, 5 out of 6, and 6 out of 8, for crying out loud (;))--so they are clearly the AC team to beat. Huntley and Washington have already faced each other this season, with Washington taking 2 of 3 from the Red Raiders in Huntley just a week into the season. The teams face each other again for the final time during the regular season in the last sim of today and the first two tomorrow. Then we retreat to our respective corners and stare each other down for 4.5 months...

Meanwhile, each NC division features a former PL champion, led by the NC West RealMadrid El Blanco with 9 PL titles--only one of which came at Huntley's direct expense. Off to a scorching start are the AC Central Confederate Dunces, owners of 6 PL championships. Finally, the AC East boasts the Philadelphia Legends, who have a single PL medallion to their name.

Should be a fun 2060 season in P404!

I, too, will vouch for Schilling's abilities...

Haha I had already sold the Walsh, was a tough call but felt we needed the capital and my team just wasnt ideally suited even if I do have good up the middle D. I do still want a Schilling (Dback fan here) but it would have used up most of my points and I have some collections that will need major PP to complete. I ended up finding a Grover Pete for 65K and a Prince Hal for 20K that fills out my rotation quite well joining Waddell Blue and Bender I got from the A's quest and Rigney and Peters from Sox. That should be more than good enough for now...the next plan is to finish the 100 Norm Cash quest, I'm pretty close, just need 2 more. My thinking was to grab the 99 peak Kaline to upgrade Tim Salmon SE in RF... Thats 4 upgrades for less than it would have cost for Curt, and I'll have money left over...

I can't help but notice Schilling's only ERA over 4 for your team came when you were in the division of doom. Ah, the good ol' days. :D

Any thoughts on Al Kaline 99? For about 65k (80-15 for sale of Timmy) I could replace Tim Salmon and be one card from unlocking the Norm Cash SE...He looks he will Sledgehammer Rightys and is an decent defender at 1B. It seems like a good move but i'd be locking him in, no room to back out later.

99 Kaline is an animal. Can play RF serviceably too. I bought him for 90k since he was also a Norm Cash card, and absolutely no regrets since.

Rallied to finish 13-14 after the 4-10 beginning. The new guys shine right away, 2 great starts by Pete Alexander allowing just 2 runs in 15 innings while Newhouser responded by tossing a CG 1 hitter! 1st in FIP, 2nd in runs scored. Two games out of first and and on a 4 game streak, lets keep it up!

99 Kaline and 100 Yaz make a real nice combo.

After a slow start, Belfast feels like they are in a good position.

Tassie is the team to beat.

Trenton is 17-14, I decided to splurge on a 99 Ed Delatanty
https://i.postimg.cc/W4P3RPvq/ed.jpg

Denver is 16-15 and went out and purchased a SE 100 Micky Welch
https://i.postimg.cc/8C5tRx79/mickey.jpg

Warbirds off to their slowest start in 20 years and are in 2nd in the division at respectable 27-15.

The bullpen and the bats are lagging behind but I am confident a large winning streak is coming soon.

Only 16 PL titles in the league but 13 are in the Warbirds division NC EAST(9PL for Homestead Graysons)

1 Lone title in the WC that was won during last week's sim.

After a bizarre end to Monday's sims (scored 2 runs or less in 8/13 games to end the night), the Frogs (43-11, +199) are hopping mad once again. The team raised its batting average about 40 points today to .314. It figures to be the 2nd week in a row batting > .300 after never doing that before.

We're even in the same area code as the mega-whale Scottsdale Scorpions (45-7, +228). For the time being. Their Zack Wheat is batting .438, so that would be cool to see a card bat .400. Don't think I've seen a qualifying player bat .400 in PT before.

The offense has been very good for the Frogs. In addition to the .314/.393/.483 team slash line, we're out-homering opponents 55-18. Appling (.378 AVG, 165 OPS+), Ashburn (.371 AVG, 166 OPS+), and Ozzie Smith (.353 AVG, 146 OPS+) are all operating at 9+ WAR pace right now. Bonds has been cold (.236 AVG) but paces the club with 12 HR.

The pitching might be performing even better (2.58 team ERA). The worst ERA on the staff belongs to 100 Gaylord Perry (3.17), a card I'm playing for a couple of seasons mainly just to see what the ground ball rate might be. So far it's 56.2% over 142.2 IP, meaning he's on the extreme groundballer side of things despite being listed as "groundballer."

99 Newhouser is having a nice 1st go-round with the team after being a playoff roster addition only last week. Prince Hal is on pace to go 27-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 243 IP. 100 Rube Waddell (8.5 WAR pace) is among the top pitchers I've owned. 100 Ed Walsh continues his work as staff Steady Eddie (7.8 WAR pace). 100 Smoltz is walking more guys than usual (3.0 BB/9), so he's on a mere 4.5 WAR pace and trailing far behind the others. 100 Red Ruffing, newly converted into a stopper after some hiccups last week, figures to be a strong contender for La Crosse's annual Reliever of the Year entry. That stuff boost tho.

Froggy's gone whale hunting...I kinda regret selling my Appling SE now but hard to complete your missions without either turning over your profits or reaching into the RL wallet.


May was very good to me after the sub .500 April, we went a stunning 24-4 as our GM's decision to add Ole Pete has paid off big divdends. He's started off lights out, 2.3 WAR 2.21 FIP after 8 starts. Keying the offense has been Jimmie Foxx who struggled his first season with us but is hitting .317/.611/1.016 with 17 Taters. His play at 1b is something of an adventure on the other hand, so much so that I recalled 80 Tex to at least give me a defensive sub. Longterm we need some help there for sure. Meanwhile, coming off 2 straight league MVP's, Tim Salmon has been very average. I'm quickly learning not to dismiss players due to one off season, there is a lot of variance it seems, especially if someone gets hot/cold in April right off. Maybe Timmy is pressing after hearing rumors the team wanted to trade him for Al Kaline. :)

So, uh, how's everyone's season going?

The Frogs did the unthinkable...got 10 guys into the All-Star Game. Bonds, Ichiro, Ashburn, Ozzie, Appling, Cash, Ruffing, Kershaw, Walsh, and Newhouser. Red Ruffing already has 3.8 WAR as a reliever. Newhouser is working on a 14-game winning streak (gotta get that PP). Barry Bonds has gone H.A.M. with 15 more homers since my previous post. Also, when you can play Ozzie Smith-level defense at SS and also bat .343, it seems unfair.

Probably not a shock that the team is doing well with 10 All-Stars, but the Frogs are 77-21 (+320) with an active 8-game winning streak at the break. Talk about holy ballpark factors, Batman! We're playing .906 ball at home (46-5) and .660 ball on the road (31-16). The team is still clinging to a .301 batting average.

Despite the strong first half, we're starting to lose sight of the Scottsdale Scorpions (81-14, +397) for #1 overall seed throughout the playoffs. That was to be expected. It is starting to bother me wondering why they don't have the new and improved PEAK Pedro--what's 1.5 million PP anyway? And their Zack Wheat is batting .392 now. Rooting for him to get back over .400.