A tale of two teams
 

Giving the dynasty thread a shot for PT to track my two teams in their attempts to climb the promotion ladder. The two teams will be:

-Ghost Hill Green Dragons - this team will improve exclusively through players gained from packs (no auction purchases). All PP will be gained from in-game achievements and card sales (no $$ to purchase points). Any/all players will be available for to join the roster.


-Waffletown Syrups - will eventually be restricted to players from 1950ish and earlier (pushing towards pre WW2 as able). As that could take awhile drawing just from packs, the auction house will be available to add players who fit the bill. Like Ghost Hill, all PP will be gained from in-game achievements and card sales (no $$ to purchase points).

edit: side note - the ballpark for Ghost Hill will be the default settings as well.

point tracker: (last updated 3/17 with points through 3/17)

Ghost Hill:
total points gained: 118649
total days played: 109
points per day: 1088

by season:
entry league: 7493
season 1 (bronze): 6392
season 2 (silver): 4345
season 3 (silver): 8100
season 4 (silver): 5437
season 5 (silver): 9229
season 6 (gold): 3685
season 7 (silver): 10684
season 8 (silver): 7590
season 9 (silver): 4845
season 10 (silver): 11103
season 11 (gold):7921
season 12 (gold): 3640
season 13 (gold): 12790
season 14 (gold): 9015
season 15 (gold): 5535


Waffletown:
total points gained: 110467
days played: 109
points per day: 1013

by season:
entry league: 14259
season 1 (bronze): 5671
season 2 (silver): 3578
season 3 (silver): 6260
season 4 (silver): 6880
season 5 (silver): 12375 (won World Series)
season 6 (gold): 4752
season 7 (gold): 9455
season 8 (diamond): 5140
season 9 (diamond): 1870
season 10 (diamond): 4087
season 11 (diamond): 9565
season 12 (diamond): 4075
season 13 (gold): 9465
season 14 (gold): 8475
season 15 (gold): 4560

Branching out from their yearly battle for the Iron Throne in the Westeros Baseball League, the Ghost Hill Green Dragons enter strange new territory to take on a hodge podge of odd foreign teams. Their spring training league does contain one familiar face among the dozens of other teams: the Direwoves of Winterfell have apparently joined them in trying their luck in a new league.

The initial draft (starter packs) provided Ghost Hill with a quality anchor for their lineup at catcher with Francisco Mejia, and a solid starting pitcher to lead the team, Jake Arrieta.

After the first game (which coincidentally enough was against Waffletown), Ghost Hill racked up a quick 2000 points to draft more players. The new additions provided another good quality player, this time for the outfield: Yasiel Puig.

As we near the end of June in spring training, Ghost Hill finds themselves mired in mediocrity, 5 games under .500. A few bright spots provide some hope (Mejia's .346 avg; Scott Spiezio maintaining over .300; Mark Bellhorn's 17 homers; Arrieta's 9 wins; starters ERA ranking 3rd in the league), but there is plenty of room for improvement as spring training continues.

Looking to bring back 'old timey' baseball, the GM of the Waffletown Syrups is searching for throwback players to model a team after quality men like Carlton Molesworth, Bumpus Jones, Phenomenal Smith, Pretzels Geitzen, Pussy Tebeau, and Butts Wagner. While all players are welcome to practice and play for the team during spring training, it is the hope of management that they can field their old timey team when their rookie league season starts next year.

As the first draft picks arrive in Waffletown and are dropped off at Waffle Iron Park (also known as 'The Spile'), the new players milled about the grounds to get to know their new home. First baseman George H Burns stood at home plate and stared out pensively at the field. He waved over second baseman Eddie Collins Sr and put an arm around him and pointed at the ground in front of them.

"Gary Sheffield (the top/gold card from the starter pack) stood on this very spot and said... 'There is no way in hell I'm playing in this dump.'" Burns said to Collins.

While Waffletown has their work cutout for them to create their throwback team, they are off to a decent start with seven players who fit the mold and are eager to show what they can do:

1B - George H Burns (1926)
2B - Eddie Collins Sr (1911)
3B - Eddie Yost (1952)
LF - Allie Clark (1948) - (recent addition from the auction house to replace Jason Kipnis)
DH/RF - Paul Waner (1932)
SP - Bob Turley (1957)
SP - Larry Jansen (1947)

As June comes to an end, Waffletown finds themselves 9 games over .500 and 10 games back of the league lead with a record of 43-34. Bob Turley is off to a solid start at the top of the rotation, leading the team in wins, ERA and strikeouts; and while Gary Sheffield has expressed his desire to play elsewhere, he has performed well for the team to this point in the hopes he can impress another team and be traded elsewhere.

and a small highlight from Waffletown...

Friday, June 8th:

journeyman pitcher, Nick Pivetta (60) pitches a no-hitter against the Tacoma Tides.

Not one to let success go to his head, in his next three starts, Pivetta proceeded to give up 17 hits, 14 runs, and 9 walks in a total of 15.1 innings pitched. :rolleyes:

After an 0-5 start to July (adding to an 3 game losing streak to close out June); Ghost Hill used their funds to obtain a new mystery set of players. Among the six players obtained: starting pitcher Johnny Cueto (65); and closer Chad Green (80).

Cueto proceeded to start the next game and snap the Green Dragons 8 game losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the New York Matarraz.


meanwhile in Waffletown, the penny pinching GM went on a budgeted spending spree to try and fill out his team of throwback players. In the process he obtained five pitchers and two outfielders:

SP - Charlie Robertson - 1922 (69)
SP - Freddie Fitzsimmons - 1931 (53)
RP - Firpo Marberry - 1926 (60)
RP - Johnny Allen - 1941 (60)
RP - Tom Morgan - 1958 (60)
LF - Whitey Lockman - 1948 (65)
CF - Roy A Thomas - 1901 (72)

This leaves eleven more players (five pitchers / six batters) to obtain to finish out the lineup. Syrups manager Joe Shlabotnik was quoted by a reporter as saying "I'm really excited about the acquisition of Firpo Marberry. I've advised our GM to try and get Boots Poffenberger next. That would really round out the staff."

When the reporter attempted a followup question to Shlabotnik to ask if he actually knew anything about Marberry or Poffenberger, he was stopped by another member of the media and quietly reminded that Shlabotnik had a... unique... style as manager (having called for a squeeze play with no one on base in his first game as manager), so his judgement on quality staff should be taken with a grain of salt.

As July wraps up and we move into August, Ghost Hill finds themselves still stuck in neutral. An unimpressive 12-14 record for the month leaves them mired in the lower part of the league. The starting pitching still remains a relative bright spot, with an ERA that still ranks 4th among all teams. Mark Bellhorn and Francisco Mejia continue to set the pace on the offensive side (Bellhorn with 22 homers, 73 RBI to lead the team, and a 3.0 WAR; Mejia with a .344 avg and a 3.5 WAR to lead the team in both categories).

Even with the mediocre play, Ghost Hill managed to gather enough points to afford another set of mystery players. Management crossed their fingers that they would get some offensive help to support their quality starting pitching; and they were rewarded with.... Wade Boggs (86). They also received a small improvement in the bullpen with Anthony Swarzak (62); and Matty Alou (64) for a solid backup in CF.

meanwhile at Waffle Iron Park... the Syrups mirrored the team from Ghost Hill with a 12-14 record for July. They seem to be stuck in a pattern of one decent month (April: 15-10; June: 15-11) followed by one mediocre month (May: 13-14; July 12-14). Management hopes as the throwback team of old timey players comes together that they get into a groove (on the positive side) and begin to string together a series of wins.

The Waffletown GM continued to wheel-n-deal to obtain more talent for the squad and picked up four more pitchers and an outfielder to join the team:

SP-Herb Pennock - 1927 (70)
RP-Jack Quinn - 1931 (67)
RP Eddie Rommel - 1920 (60)
RP-Eddie Lopat - 1950 (60)
LF- Heinie Manush - 1934 (70)

As the training season continues and the end of September is upon us, the mood at Ghost Hill is soaring high. After another mediocre month in August where they only managed a 14-13 record, the team leaders Wade Boggs and Jake Arrieta had a closed door meeting with the rest of their teammates to drive home the fact that this team was better than their record reflected; and they expected everyone to start playing up to their potential.

Whether it was the meeting or just a coincidence, either way the team started clicking on all cylinders. With one game remaining on the September schedule, Ghost Hill has so far managed a 19-5 record for the month; stringing together a 5 game winning streak and a 9 game winning streak during the run.

Since the end of July, they have improved their defensive efficiency from 11th in the league to 2nd. The starters ERA continues to be a rock of stability and still remains 4th ranked. Their on base pct improved from 17th to 10th; and their batting average improved from 22nd to 14th. In the process they moved from 37th place in the league to 20th. A nice turnaround from their half-hearted first few months and hopefully a snapshot of better days to come when the real season begins.

edit: Ghost Hill obtained two more mystery packs and received two small pitching upgrades:

-Clay Buchholz (66) - will replace Harry Kelly on the staff and enters as the 2nd starter
-Chaz Roe (68) - will replace Luke Jackson on the staff and join the bullpen

In Waffletown, the aptly names Syrups have become mired in a thick molasses of mediocrity and have fallen from 22nd in the league at 6 game over .500 to 30th in the league and 2 game under .500. The good news: Waffletown broke their pattern of one good month followed by one bad month. The bad news: Waffletown followed their previously labeled 'bad' month of July (12-14) with an abysmal month of August where they finished 8-19.

Management continues to keep their outlook on the positive side and believes their old timey team will start to gell as they find the final pieces and put them all into place. the GM continued his budget conscious acquisitions and landed a new third baseman for the squad:

-Pepper Martin - 1933 (73)

manager Joe Shlabotnik hopes that Martin can be a sparkplug to ignite the squad in time for the start of the real season. In his 32 games with the team, Martin is off to a good start with a .358 batting average and a .416 on base percentage.


edit: with the proceeds from the sale of Gary Sheffield burning a hole in his pocket; the Waffletown GM wastes no time in obtaining a new addition to the pitching staff

SP - Red Faber - 1921 (83) - purchased for 2201

in order to be completely transparent in the free-to-play efforts of Ghost Hill and Waffletown, I'll periodically post the total achievement points gained / points received from card sales for each day and the points spent on packs/auctions.

11/28

Ghost Hill total gained +2260
Ghost Hill -2 packs purchased - 2000

Waffletown total gained +2420
Waffletown 2 packs purchased -2000


11/29:

Ghost Hill total gained +2012
Ghost Hill 1 pack purchased -1000

Waffletown total gained +650
Waffletown 2 auction purchases (SP-Larry Jansen for 35; 1B George H Burns for 75) - 110 total


11/30:

Ghost Hill total gained +760
Ghost Hill 1 pack purchased -1000

Waffletown total gained +2510
Waffletown auction purchases: (total 1322)
-LF Allie Clark for 25
-SP Freddie Fitzimmons for 30
-RP Tom Morgan for 50
-CL Firpo Marberry for 34
-SP Charlie Robertson for 250
-RP Johnny Allen for 25
-CF Roy A Thomas for 200
-SP Eddie Lopat for 25
-SP Herb Pennock for 650
-CL Jack Quinn for 33


12/1:

Ghost Hill total gained +1251
Ghost Hill 1 pack purchased -1000

Waffletown total gained +7474 (sale of RF Gary Sheffield for 5490 the bulk of this day's points)
Waffletown auction purchases: (-550 total)
-LF Heinie Manush - 250
-3B Pepper Martin - 300

Since the spring training/entry league will most likely end and promotions happen before I log in again, here's the final updates:

Ghost Hill continued to build off their 19-6 month of September and kept the winning ways rolling into October. Through October 20th, the team managed to rack up a 12-5 record to climb to 14th place in the league. The team starting staff remained rock solid and improved their ERA to 3rd best in the league; while on the defensive side, they made the last step from 2nd best to be number 1 in defensive efficiency.

for points earned/spent on 12/2:

Ghost Hill earned 1210 points (so far); and purchased 2 packs for 2000 total. They enter the new season with 463 points on hand.



As we roll into the real season, the Ghost Hill lineup will be:

starting lineup:
LF - Anthony Alford (73)
SS - Ildemaro Vargas (63)
3B - Wade Boggs (86)
RF - Yasiel Puig (80)
C - Francisco Mejia (81)
DH - Andrew McCutchen (74)
1B - Scott Spiezio (64)
2B - Mark Bellhorn (69)
CF - Kevin PIllar (66)

bench:
C - Danny Jansen (52)
IF - David Freese (70)
IF - Marwin Gonzalez (63)
OF - Matty Alou (64)

pitching:
SP - Jake Arrieta (69)
SP - Clay Buchholz (66)
SP - Johnny Cueto (65)
SP - Larry Jansen (65)
SP - Garrett Richards (65)
RP - Luis M Castillo (57)
RP - Juan Minaya (62)
RP - Anthony Swarzak (62)
RP - Hal Brown (63)
RP - Chaz Roe (68)
RP - Luis Avilan (76)
CL - Chad Green (80)

after the abysmal month of August and the slightly less dismal month of September; the mood in the Waffletown clubhouse improved immensely in October. A large portion of that turnaround was a result of the continued spending spree by management as they made use of the funds from the sale of Gary Sheffield. New additions to the squad:

SP - Burleigh Grimes - 1928 (80)
SP - Curt Davis - 1934 (81)
SS - Luke Appling - 1943 (76)

this leaves only two catchers and a utility infielder to locate who fits the mold of the old timey player to complete the roster.

For October, Waffletown pushed their record back above the .500 mark as they went on an 8 game win streak to go 13-5 so far this month. They clawed their way back up to 22nd place in the league with a 90-84 record, and hope their new winning ways will be a sign of good things to come when the real season begins.

for points earned/spent on 12/2:

Waffletown earned 1205 points; and spent 6952 (breakdown: 2201 on the previously mention Red Faber; 750 on Luke Appling; 2350 on Burleigh Grimes; and 1651 on Curt Davis)

As we roll into the new season, the Waffletown lineup looks like this:

staring lineup:
CF- Roy A Thomas -1901 (72)
1B- George H Burns - 1926 (60)
2B- Eddie Collins Sr - 1911 (78)
LF- Heinie Manush - 1934 (70)
3B- Pepper Martin - 1933 (73)
RF- Paul Waner - 1932 (66)
SS- Luke Appling - 1943 (76)
DH- Whitey Lockman - 1948 (65)
C- Pat Borders - 1992 (62)

bench:
C- Tucker Barnhart - 2018 (64)
IF - Eddie Yost - 1952 (62)
IF - Bud Harrelson - 1971 (60)
OF- Allie Clark - 1948 (64)

pitching:
SP - Red Faber - 1921 (83)
SP - Curt Davis - 1934 (81)
SP - Burleigh Grimes - 1928 (80)
SP - Herb Pennock - 1927 (70)
SP - Charlie Robertson - 1922 (69)
RP - Bob Turley - 1957 (69)
RP - Eddie Rommel - 1920 (60)
RP - Eddie Lopat - 1950 (67)
RP - Larry Jansen - 1947 (65)
RP - Firpo Marberry - 1926 (60)
RP - Tom Morgan - 1958 (60)
CL - Jack Quinn - 1931 (67)

The bronze league season is underway and Ghost Hill finds themselves placed in the NC West Division of the Tau Delta league. As we move into the final week of April, Ghost Hill is off to a solid start, finding themselves atop the division with a 12-7 record. The rock solid starting rotation from the training league has faltered to start off the season, ranking only 14th in the league in ERA (versus the 3rd ranked they managed in training).

Thankfully for the starting staff, the rest of the team has pulled their weight and then some. The offense is humming along with the number 1 rank in batting average and on base percentage; and the 2nd rank in runs scored. Where the starting staff has struggled, the bullpen has their backs covered, holding the 2nd best bullpen ERA in the league.

For individual performances, Anthony Alford is off to a great start in the leadoff position; with 24 hits, 2 homeruns, 10 rbis, 18 runs scored and a .320 average. Francisco Mejia has set the pace for batting on the team with a .364 average (though Matty Alou might have something to say about it; as he replaced Kevin Pillar in centerfield after the first 10 games, and currently has a .413 average for his efforts).

In the bullpen, journeyman starter converted to reliever, Luis M Castillo (57 rank... might have to call him Ironman if he keeps it up), has thrown 12 innings, racking up 13 strikeouts, a 1.50 ERA and has held opposing batters to a measly .122 average. Not to be outdone, closer Chad Green has pitched 10 innings, with 13 strikeouts of his own. He currently leads the league in saves with 7 and has yet to surrender a single run.

Management hopes when the starting staff begins to click like they know they can, the rest of the team continues its solid play and they can start racking up the wins.

After a relatively strong finish to the training season, spirits in Waffletown were riding high and their fans expected a hot start to the new season when it got underway. Unfortunately, the month of April has felt more like their abysmal month of August in training. The Syrups find themselves in 4th place in the NC West division of the Omikron Sigma league with a 7-12 record.

While the starting staff ERA ranks a respectable 4th in the league, the bullpen has struggled (ranking 14th) and the offense has been... well... offensive... and not in a positive way (ranking 12th in runs scored and on base percentage, 13th in average and 15th in homeruns).

After their latest 10-4 loss to the Vancouver Wagons, left fielder Heinie Manush sat with his head bowed in front of his locker. When asked by a reporter how he felt about the team's performance so far, Manush just sighed, shrugged and said "After how we finished the training season, the boys and me figured the start to the new season would be a lally cooler... instead our fans are just watching a flummadiddle. But we don't need to be making no fimble famble... we need to get it together and make them proud." He said. He glanced at catcher Pat Borders who was staring at him with a blank look on his face. "Am I right?" Manush asked him. Borders sat quietly for a moment and said.

"Son... I didn't understand a word you just said."

The following game, Charlie Robertson took the mound against Vancouver (top team in the league at 16-4) and pitched a masterful game holding the high powered team to just a single hit (homerun by Travis Shaw); while his teammates pounded out 14 hits and 8 runs. Whether it was the (confusing) pep talk from Heinie Manush that inspired him, it's hard to say; but the team hopes they can use this as a spark to keep the winning ways going.

Vancouver lineup:
-Mookie Betts
-Andrew Benintendi
-Corey Seager
-Albert Belle
-Bryce Harper
-Brian Downing
-Travis Shaw
-Xander Bogaerts
-Jose Altuve

After a stellar opening month of April where they finished 17-8, Ghost Hill continued their red hot start in May winning the first four games of the month to sit atop the NC West division at 21-8. The winning streak ended on May 5th with a 10-3 loss to the San Francisco Elves. Ghost Hill hoped to shake off the loss and get back on track, but they fell again May 6th to San Francisco 6-1....

and lost again on May 7th...

and again on May 8th...

and again on May 9th... (queue the descending slide whistle sound)

Ghost Hill wouldn't taste victory again until Clay Buchholz managed to pitch a 2 hit complete game shutout of the C-Town Crushers on May 19th to end the 13 game losing streak.

During the slide, management obtained another mystery pack in the hopes of obtaining some new blood to give the team a needed spark. For the efforts, they obtained SS - Javier Baez (86) and LF - Alan Wiggins (62). With DH - Andrew McCutchen struggling to hang on to a .200 average, management decided to shake things up and plugged Wiggins into that slot to see if his speed could get things moving.

The starting staff also saw some a change, as management called up Nick Pivetta and sent Johnny Cueto down to the reserves. Cueto struggled in his starts and his gaudy 9.32 era was just too much to bear. While Pivetta lost his first start, he struck out 11 batters and only gave up 2 runs; so with a little offensive support, he might hang onto his spot.

With 6 games remaining in May, Ghost Hill is hoping they can improve their 7-16 record for the month and get back on the winning track. Despite their dismal month, they still only find themselves 2 game off the lead in the division, so all is not lost.

(Ghost Hill points gained 12/3: 550 / 1 pack purchased -1000)

In Waffletown, a fog of mediocrity has settled over the ballpark as the Syrups continue to run in place. After a 12-14 opening month of April, the team continue a similar pattern of ups and downs and sit at 10-12 for May with 6 games remaining. They sit at 22-26, 4 game back of the division lead.

While the starting staff has remained a model of consistency (boosting their ERA to 3rd in the league), the rest of the team continues to struggle to find their groove. Management has failed as of yet to locate a suitable old timey player for their catcher, but they continue their search and hope a hard nosed field general is exactly what they need to pull all the pieces together.

(Waffletown points gained 12/3: 856)

While the month of May was disappointing (12-17), Ghost Hill took a small bit of solace in how they ended the month, going 7-1 in the last 8 games to head into June.

As the end of June quickly approches, Ghost Hill considers themselves lucky to be in second place at 42-36, a mere half game behind the division leaders from Nashville.

Clay Buchholz has been the epitome of consistency for the team (5-0, 1.84 ERA in his last 8 starts), racking up a 10-2 record (leading the NC in wins), and a 2.31 ERA (also #1 in the NC); and Chad Green has been in a similar zone on the back end of the staff, leading the league with 23 saves.

On the downside, Nick Pivetta struggled in the rotation, only managing 1 win to go with his 4 losses and ERA over 8. He was sent back down to the reserves and Johnny Cueto was recalled in the hopes his brief stint on the sidelines would be enough to wake him up. In his first start back, he proceeded to give up 11 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of work (in a 5-3 loss). Management was prepared to send him back down again but decided to give him one more shot. Cueto managed to dig deep in his next start, pitching a solid 8 innings where he gave up just 3 hits and 1 run in a 2-1 victory.

For the batting lineup, Alan Wiggins continued to struggle at the plate, so he was sent down to the reserves and David Freese was called up to take his spot in the DH role. Freese proceeded to go on a 6 game hitting streak with 1 homerun, 9 rbis, and raised his average from .318 to .391.

As the halfway point of the season approaches, the mood in the Ghost Hill clubhouse is cautiously optimistic that they can contend for the NC West crown and make it into the inaugural post season.

12/4 points earned: 1610
12/4 points spent: -1000 (1 pack - no players high enough to make the roster)

With 4 games remaining in June, Waffletown only needs to win one more game to ensure their first winning month. After two mediocre months in April (12-14) and May (12-16); the Syrups have gone 13-10 in June. Even with their less-than-stellar record of 37-40, Waffletown still finds themselves only one game out of first place in the NC West division; as the Lajas Pineros have an equally anemic record of 38-39 to lead the way.

A growing impatience from management in the efforts to find a suitable catcher to fit the team's style of play encouraged the GM to try his luck in the mystery pack market. He hoped to get lucky and obtain his desired catcher there, or at least draw a star player who he could sell to obtain the necessary funds to purchase not only a catcher, but other upgrades should they present themselves. Four packs of players later the team received.... nothing... zilch... nada... no catchers and no star players to sell. With 316 points remaining in the budget, the team is set for the time being until they can amass more from their play.

12/4 points earned: 595
12/4 points spent: -4000
(316 points remain on hand)

The further into the season they get, the more thankful they are every day in Ghost Hill for their hot start in April. If it weren't for the 17-8 opening month, they would be languishing well below the .500 mark. Sub .500 months of May and June has been followed by another uninspired month of July. With four games remaining in the month, the Green Dragons stand at 11-11 for the month, and hope to take three of the last four games to finish July with a winning record.

The one step forward/one step backwards pattern to their season has left Ghost Hill in second place in the NC West at 53-50, 3.5 games behind Nashville for the division lead.


12/5 points gained: 610