Quote:
Originally Posted by blazertaz13
Congrats on the World Series win. Outside of game 7, I probably would have had a stroke managing out the other three Raccoon victories. A very exciting series. Now time for the AA meetings as I started drinking while watching Portland hang on. :-)
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To say that I came pretty close to drinking AND a stroke would be an understatement. This series was an emotional rollercoaster between weeping for mercy and grinding for a run in extra innings.
And to be fair, the Capitals defeated themselves. If that wild pitch doesn't score the tying run in game 6, we do not score and lose. So, there was a mountain of luck involved here.
I still can not believe it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orcin
Congratulations! Back-to-back championships... hard for even you to complain about that. 
I want to add that you write it very well. The suspense of this whole series was great. I felt like I was playing the games. Well done! |
Thanks, I enjoy writing a ton. Glad you liked it.
If I wouldn't enjoy messing with people just as much, I would do a dynasty just reporting what happened in a fictional league, without being actually involved.
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The Portland Agitator ran our repeat World Championship on page 1 (including a giant blown up photo of Bobby Quinn making the final catch) as well as in the sports section on pages 28 and 29. It included the usual polemic bite for that paper, not missing a few shots at certain managerial decisions during the series, like who started which game, and who played left field at which point.
They had one point. I started Daniel Hall against right-handers, and Vern Kinnear against Ortíz more than was prudent, but to be honest, neither of them batted .200 for the series, and neither of them would have made a difference, if switched their starts, in the blowouts of games 1, 3, and 5. Those games were not lost on who played left field, but on who pitched. The starts of Beato in game 1 and Wade in game 5 were especially awful. While Wade would have taken the loss in game 5 anyway due to us being shut out forcefully, neither of them exactly sparkled in the line of fire.
Who played left field was another interesting question for the offseason. If Vern Kinnear would have been born one year later, had played his rookie season this year, and had won ROTY this year, Daniel Hall would have been handed a bunch of flowers and a cigar and would have been sent into retirement without much thought.
But Kinnear’s OPS this season was .684 – not only one far cry removed from his .920 rookie campaign. Those are about opposite ends of the spectrum. The Loggers would probably be glad to have a 24-year old left-handed left fielder batting that. But we are not the Loggers (anymore).
Daniel Hall’s OPS was .712. His defense was that of a 38-year old, and all added together gave +0.1 WAR. Kinnear’s? Zero. Last year, both had phenomenal years with 5.0 (Kinnear) and 4.2 (Hall) WAR gained.
What are our options, because, really, outfield decisions will be the most significant to make this offseason. I don’t see us doing any major upsetting trades this offseason. I will check the free agent market carefully, of course.
We have a centerfielder in Neil Reece, who has been so fantastic at the plate, in the field, and in the clubhouse, a such high and noble personality, how – if everything combined – there are about two or three centerfielders born in a generation. We won’t discuss this position for years to come, as long as we can pay him, and he will be subject to salary arbitration three more times.
Either wing is up in the air. We have a colorful cast of characters here. Bobby Quinn had a splash first few seasons after being selected off waivers (from the Capitals!) in 1989, then struggled last year, and came back this year. Alejandro Lopez was a former Raccoon first round draft pick, was traded away, had success, then was a leftover free agent this season, walked onto the team two months in and almost led the team in home runs. Hall and Kinnear, too. Then there is Glenn Johnston, who has been the odd man out after two cancerous years.
And there will be free agents and trades that can be done.
But the foremost thing to consider is the following: will we give a new contract to Daniel Hall (who drove in the winning runs in game 7)? The fans love him a mountain, Hall wants to continue, and I want a lot of things, but I don’t want him to play anywhere but for the Raccoons.
Oh yeah, and if I want to keep Hall AND Quinn AND Lopez, all three of which are free agents, I need to make this work with just $718k of budget space available until we can clear another contract off the books. Combined they made over $800k this year, and that includes Lopez being on a minimum contract after signing a minor league contract initially. And it’s only three weeks until free agent will file for freedom.
(cue dramatic music)