[The_Myth]

The Dead Zone: A Guide

Currently: December 1985

Chapter One > Cleanup Time

Part One > March-April 1984 > Sorting Out The Squad
1. Assessing the System
2 Considering the First 25-Man Roster
3 The First Roster Moves (Ozzie Virgil trade)
4 A Solid Start (at Braves, at Reds)
5 Reality Snaps In (vs Astros, vs Expos)
6 Failing to Reach .500 (at Pirates, vs Mets)
7 Sounds About Right (vs Pirates, at Mets)

Part Two > May-June 1984 > The Ups and Downs
8 Frustration Sets In (vs Expos, vs Reds)
9 Headed West (vs Braves, at Astros, at Padres)
10 Work To Do (at Dodgers, at Giants)
11 Glimmer of Hope (vs Dodgers, vs Padres)
12 Back to Normal (vs Giants, vs Cubs)
13 Accumulating Data (at Cardinals, vs Pirates)
14 A Thud (vs Cardinals, at Cubs)

Part Three > June-July 1984 > Thinking Ahead
15 Center Field and Shortstop (at Mets)
16 Trade Season Begins (at Pittsburgh)
17 The Purging Begins (vs Mets, vs Astros)
18 The Bullpen Game (vs Astros, vs Reds)
19 The Second Bullpen Game (vs Reds, vs Braves)
20 Down With Kelly Downs (vs Braves)
21 No Break (All-Star Game, Bo Diaz trade)
22 Sixto Shopping (at Astros)
23 The Dave Stegman Era (at Reds, Al Holland trade)
24 Sayonara, Sixto (at Braves, Sixto Lezcano trade)
25 Koosman, The Killer (vs Cubs)
26 Jerry, Goodbye (vs Expos, at Cubs, Jerry Koosman trade)

Part Four > August-September 1984 > Trial Period
27 Bash The Crap Out of Our Problems (at Cubs, at Cardinals)
28 That One Terrible Cardinals Loss (at Expos, vs Cardinals)
29 The Bottom (at Padres, at Dodgers)
30 Let's Come Home (at Giants, vs Dodgers)
31 100 Club? (vs Padres, vs Giants)
32 Take That, 'Spos (vs Cubs, at Cardinals, at Expos)
33 The Jeff Stone Arrival (at Cubs, vs Cardinals, vs Expos)
34 Speed In '85, Baby! (vs Mets, at Pirates)
35 A Season Redeemed (at Mets, vs Pirates)

Part Five > October-November 1984 > Decisions, Decisions
36 The Pope Is Dead (Paul Owens fired)
37 Yellow Series '84 (1984 World Series)
38 I Can See Clearer Now (Postmortem)
39 Sifting For Skip (Manager search)
40 Darryl ... Darryl ... (1984 awards)
41 The Rainbow List (1985 draft prep)
42 I'll Take ... That Guy (1985 draft)
43 How's-er Goin? (Dick Howser hired)
44 I Like ... That Guy (Free agency prep)
45 Holding Pattern (Free agency)
46 Rodeo Season (1984 Winter Meetings)

***

Imagine, in the course of a week—just before the start of the season—a team executive trades away an eventual top-five MVP finisher in one league, and the eventual MVP in the other league. That’s precisely what Bill Giles did in March 1984, sending reliever Willie Hernandez to the Tigers, then moving Gary Matthews Jr. to the Cubs. Hernandez won the AL Cy Young and MVP for the eventual world champions, while Matthews finished fifth in NL MVP voting for the NL East champion Cubs. The Phillies would go 81-81, the first of nine consecutive seasons without a postseason berth, the start of a dead era in Philadelphia baseball.

At the time the moves were somewhat understood. After a sustained run of success from 1976 to ‘83, including a world championship, two NL pennants, and six postseason appearances, there were hints that rebuilding, or at least retooling, had to happen. A need to contend past 1980 drove the Phils front office to send away more than a few prospects and young talents, including Lonnie Smith, Bob Walk, Keith Moreland, Dickie Noles, Jerry Reed, Roy Smith, Julio Franco, Jerry Willard, Lance McCullers, and of course, future hall of famer Ryne Sandberg. Annually the Phils got older, climaxing with that ‘83 club that included Pete Rose, Tony Perez, and Joe Morgan. Once they left after the ‘83 season, the front office must’ve felt a need to get young, and quickly, so they could get back to being contenders in the mid-80s. (And also to save money probably, but we’re not going there for this sim.)

So, on March 22, 1984, the Phils sent Hernandez - a good reliever blocked at closer by the better Al Holland - along with acquired-that-day Dave Bergman to Detroit for utility bat John Wockenfuss and outfielder Glenn Wilson. This was about getting Wilson, a promising 25-year-old hitter who had otherwise found himself on the outs in Detroit.

But with so many outfielders on the roster, Giles made a corresponding move four days later, shipping out the 33-year-old Matthews (who had shown signs of a power decline), plus defense-only outfielder Bob Dernier to the Cubs for reliever Bill Campbell (who would slot in Hernandez’s place in the bullpen) and utility bat Mike Diaz, 23, who put up good numbers in AAA in ‘83.

Add to that haul a few other youngsters - outfielder Von Hayes (age 25), second baseman Juan Samuel (23), and starting pitchers Charles Hudson (25), Marty Bystrom (25), and Kevin Gross (22) - and Giles had reason to believe that, while the ‘84 team might take some licks, the future was pretty good in Philly. He even said as much before the season started.

There’s no way he - or most people - saw Matthews, Dernier, and Hernandez making such a dent in the ‘84 campaign.

But forget all that. Giles has just hired me to take over as general manager of the Phillies, while he re-assumes the role of owner and team president. He wants me to oversee this group, in which I have to balance a youth movement with a need to contend. Considering Mike Schmidt is still in his prime, Steve Carlton remains a top National League arm, and John Denny just won the NL Cy Young, there’s reason to think a refreshed group of Phillies can return to prominence sooner rather than later.

That’s my job. It’s March 1984, and I’m here to rescue the Philadelphia Phillies from the dead zone.

Housekeeping:

• I’m using the 20-80 scale.
• Injury frequency is low. (Likely to bump it to OOTP Normal if this heads into, say, 1986.)
• Talent change randomness is 115. I like just a bit more variation than normal.
• Trade settings are difficulty hard with neutral preference.
• Player evaluation is 40/30/20/10.
• Lineup selection is traditional; it is 1984.
• First-year player draft is Nov. 1, 1984. That way the 1985 draft class starts playing in 1985, and I avoid holding the draft in the middle of free agency, causing an opportunity to game the system when it comes to signing players with arbitration conditions.

And a couple notes on my style:

• I try to be faithful to the historical era and to the job of general managing. Thus, I’m not going to make a slew of trades all the time, and I don’t mess with the 25-man roster too much before May/June.
• Also, I don’t promote and demote in the minors until usually late-May. And yeah, I’m handling promotions and demotions.
• I’m doing daily rosters for the Phillies; essentially, I want to micro-manage playing time, and this is my favorite way to do so.