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3fbrown · 10-10-2020, 10:59 PM

My 1998 review will be long, and certainly complete in one weekend. But I will start getting stuff out now. I will start with the American League results.
First, the key teams.

AL

Anaheim: The Angels seem to be the most talented team in the AL. For years they were terrible, and after a while the good draft picks started to come through. This is especially true in the rotation, where Mike Mussina, Ben McDonald, and Bill Pulsipher lead the best pitching staff in the AL. The position players are also strong. Eric Chavez had the killer rookie season that seems to be common in OOTP historical sims, hitting .334 with 30 HR and strong defense, being worth 9 WAR. Longtime stalwart (and terrible human being) Mel Hall is looking toasty, but they acquired Bobby Higginson to take his place, another strong hitter. Juan Gonzalez patrols CF reasonably well. Quilvio Veras is a top leadoff man.

Boston: Their main guy is Bernie Williams, who had a strong season, winning the batting title at .345 and being worth over 8 WAR. John Valentin bounced back with a 6 WAR season, as he has good offense and very strong defense. Jason Varitek had his first strong season, Fernando Vina was a solid leadoff hitter, and Kevin Millwood anchors the rotation.

Chicago: The White Sox bullpen is the best in the league, thanks to many good pitchers, but particularly the closer Mike Cather. The White Sox are a strange team. They have had various strong players throughout the 90’s show up, lose talent, and leave. This includes Randy Johnson, Tino Martinez, David Justice, and Curt Schilling. Same goes for Alex Rodriguez - already a league average hitter at best at age - but he is still around, and worth it for his amazing defense at SS. 2nd year SP Matt Morris leads an otherwise mediocre rotation. The lineup is also good-but-not-great, features guys that fit that description like Ben Grieve, Jeffrey Hammonds, Scott Brosius, JT Snow, and Todd Walker. Also, Prime Time!

Detroit: The strength of the Tigers is team defense - everyone is solid, with CF Dwayne Hosey and 3B Leo Gomez are particularly strong with the leather. Ramon Martinez and Bartolo Colon head a strong rotation. The lineup isn’t great, but they do have a lot of power. Gomez was the best hitter easily, but Javy Lopez, Jose Cruz, Kevin Young, and Damon Mashore bring HR power.

Texas: I can’t dazzle you with top players on this roster. Andy Pettitte is certainly one of the best pitchers in baseball - he is clearly the best guy here. But he tore his UCL in early July and missed the second half of the season. After him in the rotation it is Willie Banks and not much else. The lineup also has an unimpressive list of names. The top WAR guys were Rondell White and Craig Counsell - both good and all, but not great. The name Ken Griffey might sound good, but like his buddy A-Rod he lost his hitting talents early, and is a bad hitter with an incredible glove. He hasn’t been a league average hitter since 1991. He has 6 Gold Gloves though.

The season:

Anaheim, Chicago, and Boston were clearly the best three teams in the AL, and each won their divisions easily. Texas had a big lead for the wild card, with Detroit a distant second. But when Pettitte got hurt before the all-star break, the Rangers slowed down considerably. Detroit kept on being a solid team, and slowly gained ground. Still, the lead never got small. But Texas lost 7 of their last 8 games, allowing Detroit to tie them up on the last day of the season.

In the one game playoff, Texas really put out a substandard lineup. Regulars Chuck Knoblauch and Phil Clark were injured, so Edgar Caceras and Chris Donnels had to play. And it was Donnels that dominated with a double, 3-run HR, and 2 walks, to lead to an easy 10-4 victory over Darryl Kile and the Tigers.

In the ALDS, the Red Sox outscored the Angels 36-17 for an easy 4-1 series win. John Valentin was series MVP, and Millwood had two strong starts. The Texas-Chicago series was tight the entire way, with the White Sox winning in 7. The games were all tight as well, as you can tell by two Chicago relievers (Matt Mantei and Greg McMichael) combined to go 3-2 in a combined 7 innings of relief. Few games were decided by the starters.

In the ALCS, Chicago relievers gave up only 2 runs in 5 games, and they won 4-1. Ed Taubensee won series MVP, but those 17 relief innings from the Chicago bullpen was huge.

10-10-2020, 10:59 PM	#14
3fbrown Major Leagues Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 414	1998: A Very Lengthy Update, Pt. 1 (AL) My 1998 review will be long, and certainly complete in one weekend. But I will start getting stuff out now. I will start with the American League results. First, the key teams. AL Anaheim: The Angels seem to be the most talented team in the AL. For years they were terrible, and after a while the good draft picks started to come through. This is especially true in the rotation, where Mike Mussina, Ben McDonald, and Bill Pulsipher lead the best pitching staff in the AL. The position players are also strong. Eric Chavez had the killer rookie season that seems to be common in OOTP historical sims, hitting .334 with 30 HR and strong defense, being worth 9 WAR. Longtime stalwart (and terrible human being) Mel Hall is looking toasty, but they acquired Bobby Higginson to take his place, another strong hitter. Juan Gonzalez patrols CF reasonably well. Quilvio Veras is a top leadoff man. Boston: Their main guy is Bernie Williams, who had a strong season, winning the batting title at .345 and being worth over 8 WAR. John Valentin bounced back with a 6 WAR season, as he has good offense and very strong defense. Jason Varitek had his first strong season, Fernando Vina was a solid leadoff hitter, and Kevin Millwood anchors the rotation. Chicago: The White Sox bullpen is the best in the league, thanks to many good pitchers, but particularly the closer Mike Cather. The White Sox are a strange team. They have had various strong players throughout the 90’s show up, lose talent, and leave. This includes Randy Johnson, Tino Martinez, David Justice, and Curt Schilling. Same goes for Alex Rodriguez - already a league average hitter at best at age - but he is still around, and worth it for his amazing defense at SS. 2nd year SP Matt Morris leads an otherwise mediocre rotation. The lineup is also good-but-not-great, features guys that fit that description like Ben Grieve, Jeffrey Hammonds, Scott Brosius, JT Snow, and Todd Walker. Also, Prime Time! Detroit: The strength of the Tigers is team defense - everyone is solid, with CF Dwayne Hosey and 3B Leo Gomez are particularly strong with the leather. Ramon Martinez and Bartolo Colon head a strong rotation. The lineup isn’t great, but they do have a lot of power. Gomez was the best hitter easily, but Javy Lopez, Jose Cruz, Kevin Young, and Damon Mashore bring HR power. Texas: I can’t dazzle you with top players on this roster. Andy Pettitte is certainly one of the best pitchers in baseball - he is clearly the best guy here. But he tore his UCL in early July and missed the second half of the season. After him in the rotation it is Willie Banks and not much else. The lineup also has an unimpressive list of names. The top WAR guys were Rondell White and Craig Counsell - both good and all, but not great. The name Ken Griffey might sound good, but like his buddy A-Rod he lost his hitting talents early, and is a bad hitter with an incredible glove. He hasn’t been a league average hitter since 1991. He has 6 Gold Gloves though. The season: Anaheim, Chicago, and Boston were clearly the best three teams in the AL, and each won their divisions easily. Texas had a big lead for the wild card, with Detroit a distant second. But when Pettitte got hurt before the all-star break, the Rangers slowed down considerably. Detroit kept on being a solid team, and slowly gained ground. Still, the lead never got small. But Texas lost 7 of their last 8 games, allowing Detroit to tie them up on the last day of the season. In the one game playoff, Texas really put out a substandard lineup. Regulars Chuck Knoblauch and Phil Clark were injured, so Edgar Caceras and Chris Donnels had to play. And it was Donnels that dominated with a double, 3-run HR, and 2 walks, to lead to an easy 10-4 victory over Darryl Kile and the Tigers. In the ALDS, the Red Sox outscored the Angels 36-17 for an easy 4-1 series win. John Valentin was series MVP, and Millwood had two strong starts. The Texas-Chicago series was tight the entire way, with the White Sox winning in 7. The games were all tight as well, as you can tell by two Chicago relievers (Matt Mantei and Greg McMichael) combined to go 3-2 in a combined 7 innings of relief. Few games were decided by the starters. In the ALCS, Chicago relievers gave up only 2 runs in 5 games, and they won 4-1. Ed Taubensee won series MVP, but those 17 relief innings from the Chicago bullpen was huge.