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3fbrown · 10-11-2020, 02:52 PM

Arizona: The expansion Diamondbacks were the surprise contenders in the NL. But not really. They did compete, but were outscored on the season. Luckily for them they got some good fortune in their record, and play in a division where all teams were under .500 for most of the year, so that’s good enough to compete. They do have the amazing Paul Byrd, maybe the best pitcher in baseball. Rusty Greer is a top hitter, hitting his career average of .330 with 60 extra base hits and 90 walks. Essentially a typical Greer season. Cliff Floyd is also a big bat, but is injury prone, and only played in 107 games. A surprisingly good season from rookie Edgard Clemente helped, as did another good year from .335 hitting Reggie Jefferson, but they were partially cancelled out by a complete collapse from Ken Caminiti.

Cincinnati: A mediocre team, like many in the NL. They have a lot of power, led by David Ortiz, Jeromy Burnitz, and Garret Anderson. Rookie Adrian Beltre was just OK. Darren Oliver had a good year starting, going 17-8 with a 3.58 ERA.

Montreal: This is the one great team in the NL. They have the best pitching staff, led by the consistently excellent Tommy Greene and the consistently good Steve Cooke. Geremi Gonzalez also had an excellent year. His ERA of 3.41 was the worst of those three. The lineup is star-studded. Mike Piazza had his best season, winning the batting title at .353, hitting 30 HR, and earning 8 WAR. The outfield of Brian Giles, Darin Erstad, and Mark Kotsay is quite strong. FP Santangelo had a fluky season of 5.7 WAR, thanks to amazing 2B defense and above average hitting. The Expos easily outpaced the Mets, who had a down season.

Pittsburgh: The Pirates had a down season also, getting outscored, but lucking into a good record anyway. Coming off their first world championship in many decades, the pitching staff got little help behind Pedro Astacio, and the offense struggled outside of Jim Edmonds. Brady Anderson and John Olerud look done being elite players, and the middle infield of Omar Vizquel and Pokey Reese contribute little with the bat.

San Diego: The Padres of the nineties are a consistently solid team. Not great, but in their division that tends to be enough. This year they were carried by their deep rotation of Juan Nieves, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Perez, Jeff Suppan, and Eddie Guardado. They also had big years from infielders Kevin Orie and Rich Aurilia, plus rookie star Carlos Beltran. Unfortunately the rest of the lineup was bad enough to keep runs pretty rare.

St. Louis: The Cardinals have a deep rotation, but it’s the offense that powers them now. The middle infield of Derek Jeter and Carlos Guillen was top notch, Jorge Posada had his best season, and Will Clark is still able to pitch in. Fernando Tatis came up from AAA for the last couple of months to show that he is about to contribute in a big way.

The season:

The Expos smoked everyone. In the west, the entire division was just cruddy the whole season, but eventually the Padres and Diamondbacks separated themselves as the contenders. The Rockies tried to hold on behind triple crown contender Mo Vaughn, but didn’t quite have the horses. The Central was a three team race the entire season.

In the West, San Diego and Arizona played the final series against each other, and ended up tied. Another playoff game! In the Central, it could have been a three way tie had things gone a certain way. But while the Reds and Pirates were beating on each other in the last week of the season, the Cardinals were winning their games to take the lead. The Reds won that last series to take the wild card - one game behind St. Louis and one game ahead of Pittsburgh.

In the one game playoff for the NL West title, the Padres scored 5 early runs off of Shane Reynolds, and managed to hold on for a 5-4 win, barely keeping Arizona from tying it up.

In the NLDS, both series went 6 games. The Expos pitchers kept the Cincinnati bats in check, though they did lose Gonzalez to injury for the rest of the playoffs. The Reds were plain outmatched. On the other side, the Padres did what they do - win despite not being very impressive. Two strong starts from Eddie Guardado and najor contributions from Alex Cora and Rico Brogna helped take down the Cardinals.

In the NLCS, Padres starters were nearly untouchable, and the Expos scored only 11 runs in 5 games. Carlos Beltran won series MVP.

10-11-2020, 02:52 PM	#15
3fbrown Major Leagues Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 414	1998: A Very Lengthy Update, Pt. 2 (NL) Arizona: The expansion Diamondbacks were the surprise contenders in the NL. But not really. They did compete, but were outscored on the season. Luckily for them they got some good fortune in their record, and play in a division where all teams were under .500 for most of the year, so that’s good enough to compete. They do have the amazing Paul Byrd, maybe the best pitcher in baseball. Rusty Greer is a top hitter, hitting his career average of .330 with 60 extra base hits and 90 walks. Essentially a typical Greer season. Cliff Floyd is also a big bat, but is injury prone, and only played in 107 games. A surprisingly good season from rookie Edgard Clemente helped, as did another good year from .335 hitting Reggie Jefferson, but they were partially cancelled out by a complete collapse from Ken Caminiti. Cincinnati: A mediocre team, like many in the NL. They have a lot of power, led by David Ortiz, Jeromy Burnitz, and Garret Anderson. Rookie Adrian Beltre was just OK. Darren Oliver had a good year starting, going 17-8 with a 3.58 ERA. Montreal: This is the one great team in the NL. They have the best pitching staff, led by the consistently excellent Tommy Greene and the consistently good Steve Cooke. Geremi Gonzalez also had an excellent year. His ERA of 3.41 was the worst of those three. The lineup is star-studded. Mike Piazza had his best season, winning the batting title at .353, hitting 30 HR, and earning 8 WAR. The outfield of Brian Giles, Darin Erstad, and Mark Kotsay is quite strong. FP Santangelo had a fluky season of 5.7 WAR, thanks to amazing 2B defense and above average hitting. The Expos easily outpaced the Mets, who had a down season. Pittsburgh: The Pirates had a down season also, getting outscored, but lucking into a good record anyway. Coming off their first world championship in many decades, the pitching staff got little help behind Pedro Astacio, and the offense struggled outside of Jim Edmonds. Brady Anderson and John Olerud look done being elite players, and the middle infield of Omar Vizquel and Pokey Reese contribute little with the bat. San Diego: The Padres of the nineties are a consistently solid team. Not great, but in their division that tends to be enough. This year they were carried by their deep rotation of Juan Nieves, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Perez, Jeff Suppan, and Eddie Guardado. They also had big years from infielders Kevin Orie and Rich Aurilia, plus rookie star Carlos Beltran. Unfortunately the rest of the lineup was bad enough to keep runs pretty rare. St. Louis: The Cardinals have a deep rotation, but it’s the offense that powers them now. The middle infield of Derek Jeter and Carlos Guillen was top notch, Jorge Posada had his best season, and Will Clark is still able to pitch in. Fernando Tatis came up from AAA for the last couple of months to show that he is about to contribute in a big way. The season: The Expos smoked everyone. In the west, the entire division was just cruddy the whole season, but eventually the Padres and Diamondbacks separated themselves as the contenders. The Rockies tried to hold on behind triple crown contender Mo Vaughn, but didn’t quite have the horses. The Central was a three team race the entire season. In the West, San Diego and Arizona played the final series against each other, and ended up tied. Another playoff game! In the Central, it could have been a three way tie had things gone a certain way. But while the Reds and Pirates were beating on each other in the last week of the season, the Cardinals were winning their games to take the lead. The Reds won that last series to take the wild card - one game behind St. Louis and one game ahead of Pittsburgh. In the one game playoff for the NL West title, the Padres scored 5 early runs off of Shane Reynolds, and managed to hold on for a 5-4 win, barely keeping Arizona from tying it up. In the NLDS, both series went 6 games. The Expos pitchers kept the Cincinnati bats in check, though they did lose Gonzalez to injury for the rest of the playoffs. The Reds were plain outmatched. On the other side, the Padres did what they do - win despite not being very impressive. Two strong starts from Eddie Guardado and najor contributions from Alex Cora and Rico Brogna helped take down the Cardinals. In the NLCS, Padres starters were nearly untouchable, and the Expos scored only 11 runs in 5 games. Carlos Beltran won series MVP.