OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Excellence Project

Nick Soulis · 06-11-2016, 01:17 PM

Season 30
May Review

DRYSDALE NO HITS METS

The fierce nature of Don Drysdale served him well as he handcuffed the 2015 Mets and overcame the late game pressures to complete a rare no hitter. Drysdale struck out 13 Mets and walked only three in a dominating performance for the 1959 Dodgers. The Dodgers won the game at CitiField by a score of 4-0.

"Today I went as hard as I could and as long as I could at the Mets" said Don, "The modern game isn't better than the classic game, I'm tired of hearing about that."

Awards

Batter of the month: Tom Tresh - 1963 New York Yankees (.318, 11 HR, 25 RBI, 32 R in May)

Pitcher of the month: Al Downing - 1963 New York Yankees (6-1, 66 IP, 91 K, 2.04 ERA in May)

- Frankie Frisch of the 1921 Giants will miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum. A tough loss for the last place club.

- Yogi Berra is out for 2 months following a broken hand for the 1963 Yankees.

- Roger Maris was given a seven game suspension for charging the mound in a bench clearing fight between the 63 Yankees and 1907 Cubs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team News

1963 New York Yankees - The Yankees turned the tide of the season with a four game sweep early in the month over the 56 Braves to overtake first place. The Yanks won 11 of their first 12 in May and finished it with 22 wins but the pennant race remains a tight one. Mickey Mantle has 17 home runs going into June and the Yankees offense is best in the league. Al Downing has been the real revelation with 10 wins and electric stuff on the mound. Whitey Ford is 8-2 and the Yanks starters ERA is a nice 3.15. The loss of Yogi Berra for the summer will hurt the leadership in the clubhouse but the Yankees are veterans that know how to win and are showing it early.

1956 Milwaukee Braves - After a very tough start to May the Braves turned things around and made a run at first place winning 12 of their last 13 games. Their sweep at Yankee Stadium has to haunt them but they have truly dominated the rest of the league. Young Hank Aaron is on fire with 17 home runs and 44 RBI in two months of action while Joe Adcock has done even better with 21 long balls. The Braves pick it better than anyone around and the starting duo of Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette are getting the job done. The top two teams seem to be running away with things but have every intention of fighting it out for the overall pennant.

2009 Los Angeles Angels - Average seems good enough for third place as a nice month of May bolstered the Angels. Mike Napoli has 13 home runs in the middle of the order but the team .244 average isn't great with the likes of Bobby Abreu hitting .235 at the age of 35; Tori Hunter is a .229. John Lackey has seven wins while Jared Weaver has struck out 89 batters. Kevin Jepsen has recovered from a bad spell in April and now has seven saves as the closer. There seems that there will be a mush in the middle of the standings for season 30, Mike Scioscia hopes his team can be at least "average", which may just be good enough.

2015 New York Mets - The Mets are tied for third and have done it as expected through their power arms. Jacob DeGrom has 121 strike outs while Matt Harvey has 101. The Mets have allowed the fewest runs in the league and relatively unknown Sean Gilmartin has dominated as a closer with 10 saves already; the Mets pen has been the stingiest in the game. All this and Noah Syndegaard is due off the DL is two weeks. So the no hitter by Drysdale puts the rest of the story in perspective as the Mets bats have frustrated. Yoenis Cespedes is hitting a shocking .188 while David Wright has seen more of the bench hitting .186. The Mets need an infusion, and its a shame for them no trades are allowed in the Excellence Project.

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers - Sandy Koufax before he was a star had some struggles, and this is the true case as he pitches for this team and holds a record of 0-9. In defense all Dodger pitchers have had hard luck as this team has scored the least runs in the league, even less then the Mets. The Dodgers have hit only 27 home runs as a team and Duke Snider is hitting .205 while Maury Wills cant get on base enough to steal bases and has only 7. The home park they play in may play a role in the lack of offense but losing to the top teams like the Yankees is becoming the norm. The Drysdale no no was magic, and this team in general has a reputation of getting it done when they need it.

1916 Chicago White Sox - Terrible month for the Sox who saw Showless Joe miss some time and the team dropped 19 games. Jackson is back at force in the middle of the order and has 30 driven in while the team leads all the league with 72 steals. The Sox have no bullpen and zero saves on the year. Eddie Cicotte is on the DL with a bad ankle and the rotaion behind Lefty Williams is really hurting. The Sox are 8-16 away from home but even so were swept in four games by the Braves with Hank Aaron tearing them apart. Crucial June will tell of if this team could fight for fourth or drop through the floor with even a last place finish.

1921 New York Giants - High Pockets Kelly may be the most dangerous man in the game and an MVP candidate. Kelly has 40 RBI and hitting .326 as the Giants hitting has not been the issue. New York has the best OBP in the game and Earl Smith is hitting .345. As is often the case, the contrast is on the mound where this team is missing quality. Nubby Barnes has been a disaster and as bad as he has been Art Nehf has been worse with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts. Rosy Ryan will get a look by John McGraw as a starter. The loss for the season of leader Frankie Frisch shouldn't be overlooked, the Fordham Flash was the heart of the middle of the diamond for this team.

1907 Chicago Cubs - A sweep to the Angels and then losing 7 of their last nine in May and the Cubs are wondering what is going wrong. The club has no injuries and is talented but the likes of Mordecai Brown are 3-10 while Ed Ruelbach cant be depended on to close a game. Even the hitting is scratching it head as no one in the Cubs order is over .300 and the team is hitting .243, even the 69 stolen bases by the Cubs isn't leading the league. Frank Chance has to figure this out quickly but doesn't have all the options in the world. A team as proven as the Cubs really should one would think turn this thing around.

06-11-2016, 01:17 PM	#342
Nick Soulis Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 4,394	Season 30 May Review DRYSDALE NO HITS METS The fierce nature of Don Drysdale served him well as he handcuffed the 2015 Mets and overcame the late game pressures to complete a rare no hitter. Drysdale struck out 13 Mets and walked only three in a dominating performance for the 1959 Dodgers. The Dodgers won the game at CitiField by a score of 4-0. "Today I went as hard as I could and as long as I could at the Mets" said Don, "The modern game isn't better than the classic game, I'm tired of hearing about that." Awards Batter of the month: Tom Tresh - 1963 New York Yankees (.318, 11 HR, 25 RBI, 32 R in May) Pitcher of the month: Al Downing - 1963 New York Yankees (6-1, 66 IP, 91 K, 2.04 ERA in May) - Frankie Frisch of the 1921 Giants will miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum. A tough loss for the last place club. - Yogi Berra is out for 2 months following a broken hand for the 1963 Yankees. - Roger Maris was given a seven game suspension for charging the mound in a bench clearing fight between the 63 Yankees and 1907 Cubs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Team News 1963 New York Yankees - The Yankees turned the tide of the season with a four game sweep early in the month over the 56 Braves to overtake first place. The Yanks won 11 of their first 12 in May and finished it with 22 wins but the pennant race remains a tight one. Mickey Mantle has 17 home runs going into June and the Yankees offense is best in the league. Al Downing has been the real revelation with 10 wins and electric stuff on the mound. Whitey Ford is 8-2 and the Yanks starters ERA is a nice 3.15. The loss of Yogi Berra for the summer will hurt the leadership in the clubhouse but the Yankees are veterans that know how to win and are showing it early. 1956 Milwaukee Braves - After a very tough start to May the Braves turned things around and made a run at first place winning 12 of their last 13 games. Their sweep at Yankee Stadium has to haunt them but they have truly dominated the rest of the league. Young Hank Aaron is on fire with 17 home runs and 44 RBI in two months of action while Joe Adcock has done even better with 21 long balls. The Braves pick it better than anyone around and the starting duo of Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette are getting the job done. The top two teams seem to be running away with things but have every intention of fighting it out for the overall pennant. 2009 Los Angeles Angels - Average seems good enough for third place as a nice month of May bolstered the Angels. Mike Napoli has 13 home runs in the middle of the order but the team .244 average isn't great with the likes of Bobby Abreu hitting .235 at the age of 35; Tori Hunter is a .229. John Lackey has seven wins while Jared Weaver has struck out 89 batters. Kevin Jepsen has recovered from a bad spell in April and now has seven saves as the closer. There seems that there will be a mush in the middle of the standings for season 30, Mike Scioscia hopes his team can be at least "average", which may just be good enough. 2015 New York Mets - The Mets are tied for third and have done it as expected through their power arms. Jacob DeGrom has 121 strike outs while Matt Harvey has 101. The Mets have allowed the fewest runs in the league and relatively unknown Sean Gilmartin has dominated as a closer with 10 saves already; the Mets pen has been the stingiest in the game. All this and Noah Syndegaard is due off the DL is two weeks. So the no hitter by Drysdale puts the rest of the story in perspective as the Mets bats have frustrated. Yoenis Cespedes is hitting a shocking .188 while David Wright has seen more of the bench hitting .186. The Mets need an infusion, and its a shame for them no trades are allowed in the Excellence Project. 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers - Sandy Koufax before he was a star had some struggles, and this is the true case as he pitches for this team and holds a record of 0-9. In defense all Dodger pitchers have had hard luck as this team has scored the least runs in the league, even less then the Mets. The Dodgers have hit only 27 home runs as a team and Duke Snider is hitting .205 while Maury Wills cant get on base enough to steal bases and has only 7. The home park they play in may play a role in the lack of offense but losing to the top teams like the Yankees is becoming the norm. The Drysdale no no was magic, and this team in general has a reputation of getting it done when they need it. 1916 Chicago White Sox - Terrible month for the Sox who saw Showless Joe miss some time and the team dropped 19 games. Jackson is back at force in the middle of the order and has 30 driven in while the team leads all the league with 72 steals. The Sox have no bullpen and zero saves on the year. Eddie Cicotte is on the DL with a bad ankle and the rotaion behind Lefty Williams is really hurting. The Sox are 8-16 away from home but even so were swept in four games by the Braves with Hank Aaron tearing them apart. Crucial June will tell of if this team could fight for fourth or drop through the floor with even a last place finish. 1921 New York Giants - High Pockets Kelly may be the most dangerous man in the game and an MVP candidate. Kelly has 40 RBI and hitting .326 as the Giants hitting has not been the issue. New York has the best OBP in the game and Earl Smith is hitting .345. As is often the case, the contrast is on the mound where this team is missing quality. Nubby Barnes has been a disaster and as bad as he has been Art Nehf has been worse with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts. Rosy Ryan will get a look by John McGraw as a starter. The loss for the season of leader Frankie Frisch shouldn't be overlooked, the Fordham Flash was the heart of the middle of the diamond for this team. 1907 Chicago Cubs - A sweep to the Angels and then losing 7 of their last nine in May and the Cubs are wondering what is going wrong. The club has no injuries and is talented but the likes of Mordecai Brown are 3-10 while Ed Ruelbach cant be depended on to close a game. Even the hitting is scratching it head as no one in the Cubs order is over .300 and the team is hitting .243, even the 69 stolen bases by the Cubs isn't leading the league. Frank Chance has to figure this out quickly but doesn't have all the options in the world. A team as proven as the Cubs really should one would think turn this thing around.