OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

luckymann · 02-12-2023, 12:13 AM

The dangers of entering a season with elevated expectations are shown to full effect as we finish a distant second to the Dodgers, who never look threatened. Same goes with the Orioles over in the AL to set up a fascinating contest in the WS.

As is perhaps obvious from the fact that this season has passed in one real-time week instead of the usual two, my frustration at how things have progressed leads me to fly through this latter-season period with little regard for what is going on. A shame, really, for this prohibits me from fully appreciating the magnificent job our pitchers have done this year under the most difficult circumstances.

I'm going to try focus on the positives here. I'll put the vast underperformance from Wertz and Sievers down to bad luck and comfort myself in the knowledge of their IRL performances for the next few years. Runnels, Piersall and Boone give us plenty of cause for optimism, and obviously Clemente will be hugely improved by his first year at this level. Also, we've managed to move on from Burgess with what seems to be minimal effect.

The fact cannot be ignored, however, that we simply must start scoring more runs and finding more efficient and robust ways of doing so. We are near-to-last in both homers and steals, which leaves us overly reliant upon our contact hitting - an apple cart that is easily upended, as we've seen first-hand here. 5th in BA, 6th in OBP and 7th in SLG will not get it done, no matter how good our pitching.

A truly heroic performance from this bunch and the addition of Johnson was the most pleasant surprise of all. Sturdivant's season out of the pen (nearly 4 pWAR) is one out of the box, and I have everything crossed we get a season or two with this entire bunch able to ply their wares. The injuries continue right to the end, with both Bob Miller (nothing too serious) and Ray Moore (TBA) hurt in the final week.

The injury bug also robs Ted Kluszewski of a run at the all-time HR mark (he finishes up with 45 despite missing most of the final month), and he has to content himself with the NL batting title instead. Nellie Fox wins the AL with a low mark of 318, while Ernie Banks leads both league's with 121 RBI. The NL Wagner-Lajoie ballot will be most interesting, with Big Klu and The Say Hey Kid equally-worthy winners.

On the pitching front, Whitey Ford is the only 20-game winner and Billy Loes edges out Howie Pollet for the low ERA with 2.48. White Sox rookie Herb Score easily wins the strikeout title with 250, while Hoyt Wilhelm's 29 saves are the most of all.

Final Top 20s and Leaders

Monthly Award Winners

August

American League

Batter – Al Smith (Orioles): 389 / 4 HR / 18 RBI
Pitcher – Willard Nixon (Tigers): 6-1 / 2.32 / 34 K / 50.1 IP
Rookie – Herb Score (White Sox): 4-0 / 2.42 / 49 K / 44.2 IP

National League

Batter – Eddie Mathews (Braves): 309 / 10 HR / 24 RBI
Pitcher – Tom Sturdivant (Pirates): 3-0 / 2.61 / 6 SV / 31 K / 31 IP
Rookie – Tom Sturdivant

September

American League

Batter – Al Kaline (Detroit): 412 / 8 HR / 26 RBI
Pitcher – Whitey Ford (Yankees): 4-1 / 1.38 / 31 K / 39 IP
Rookie – Roger Craig (Tigers): 3-1 / 2.79 / 21 K / 29 IP

National League

Batter – Gus Bell (Cardinals): 383 / 8 HR / 20 RBI
Pitcher – Bob Rush (Cubs): 4-0 / 1.29 / 21 K / 42 IP
Rookie – Elston Howard (Cubs): 407 / 6 HR / 15 RBI

Milestones and Observations of Note

August starts poorly for the Dodgers, who lose another big name when Jim Gilliam breaks a cheekbone and will be out for six weeks.
The Yankees’ hopes of challenging take a big hit when they lose veteran hurler Preacher Roe for the rest of the season to a UCL tear.

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REPORTS HOME

PIRATES HOME

02-12-2023, 12:13 AM	#1695
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 13,455	The View from the Gangplank: end of regular season, 1955 The dangers of entering a season with elevated expectations are shown to full effect as we finish a distant second to the Dodgers, who never look threatened. Same goes with the Orioles over in the AL to set up a fascinating contest in the WS. As is perhaps obvious from the fact that this season has passed in one real-time week instead of the usual two, my frustration at how things have progressed leads me to fly through this latter-season period with little regard for what is going on. A shame, really, for this prohibits me from fully appreciating the magnificent job our pitchers have done this year under the most difficult circumstances. I'm going to try focus on the positives here. I'll put the vast underperformance from Wertz and Sievers down to bad luck and comfort myself in the knowledge of their IRL performances for the next few years. Runnels, Piersall and Boone give us plenty of cause for optimism, and obviously Clemente will be hugely improved by his first year at this level. Also, we've managed to move on from Burgess with what seems to be minimal effect. The fact cannot be ignored, however, that we simply must start scoring more runs and finding more efficient and robust ways of doing so. We are near-to-last in both homers and steals, which leaves us overly reliant upon our contact hitting - an apple cart that is easily upended, as we've seen first-hand here. 5th in BA, 6th in OBP and 7th in SLG will not get it done, no matter how good our pitching. A truly heroic performance from this bunch and the addition of Johnson was the most pleasant surprise of all. Sturdivant's season out of the pen (nearly 4 pWAR) is one out of the box, and I have everything crossed we get a season or two with this entire bunch able to ply their wares. The injuries continue right to the end, with both Bob Miller (nothing too serious) and Ray Moore (TBA) hurt in the final week. The injury bug also robs Ted Kluszewski of a run at the all-time HR mark (he finishes up with 45 despite missing most of the final month), and he has to content himself with the NL batting title instead. Nellie Fox wins the AL with a low mark of 318, while Ernie Banks leads both league's with 121 RBI. The NL Wagner-Lajoie ballot will be most interesting, with Big Klu and The Say Hey Kid equally-worthy winners. On the pitching front, Whitey Ford is the only 20-game winner and Billy Loes edges out Howie Pollet for the low ERA with 2.48. White Sox rookie Herb Score easily wins the strikeout title with 250, while Hoyt Wilhelm's 29 saves are the most of all. Final Top 20s and Leaders Monthly Award Winners August *American League* Batter – Al Smith (Orioles): 389 / 4 HR / 18 RBI Pitcher – Willard Nixon (Tigers): 6-1 / 2.32 / 34 K / 50.1 IP Rookie – Herb Score (White Sox): 4-0 / 2.42 / 49 K / 44.2 IP *National League* Batter – Eddie Mathews (Braves): 309 / 10 HR / 24 RBI Pitcher – Tom Sturdivant (Pirates): 3-0 / 2.61 / 6 SV / 31 K / 31 IP Rookie – Tom Sturdivant September *American League* Batter – Al Kaline (Detroit): 412 / 8 HR / 26 RBI Pitcher – Whitey Ford (Yankees): 4-1 / 1.38 / 31 K / 39 IP Rookie – Roger Craig (Tigers): 3-1 / 2.79 / 21 K / 29 IP *National League* Batter – Gus Bell (Cardinals): 383 / 8 HR / 20 RBI Pitcher – Bob Rush (Cubs): 4-0 / 1.29 / 21 K / 42 IP Rookie – Elston Howard (Cubs): 407 / 6 HR / 15 RBI Milestones and Observations of Note August starts poorly for the Dodgers, who lose another big name when Jim Gilliam breaks a cheekbone and will be out for six weeks. The Yankees’ hopes of challenging take a big hit when they lose veteran hurler Preacher Roe for the rest of the season to a UCL tear. S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME __________________ HISTORICAL DO-OVERS A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE GULF LEAGUE USBA Last edited by luckymann; 02-12-2023 at 03:58 AM.