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Juggernt · 05-06-2019, 08:51 AM

1985

Storhelten didn’t meet his vesting criteria due to the injury, Rose and Greenstone voided their options and Petito executed his. We scrambled to sign Greenstone right away. Rose was still asking for more than $4 million, and we didn’t think he’d be worth it. We also withdrew arbitration from Lars Einarsson. More than $3 million a year was too much for him. We also withdrew from Fenrisson, but offered to Mason, Dreamcatcher, Collins, and utility infielder Patreck Graves.

Owner goals are to win again, upgrade at 1B, and extend Cantor. Can do.

We were stunned at the Winter meetings when Gala’Kiron offered us two-time MVP Gavin Dockery in trade for some pitching prospects. At 27, he was at the height of his career, having hit 391 homers already, 60+ in each of the last three seasons. Sure, he came with an excessive salary, but this was a no-brainer. We also traded away promising but clubhouse disruption C-1B Ford Winslett for 23-year-old SS Ulfinn Deeping, who we thought could still develop into a front-line starter. It was a productive series of meetings.

Jones hatched a plan to upgrade at 1B by moving Cantor there and giving Paul Dickerson a shot at 2B. Mason would likely move to LF for Dockery, leaving the aging Crossbow to DH, but we’d work out Dockery in LF during the spring to see which of the LF-RF combos made more sense. Galvin, coming off his Rookie of the Year turn, would still have to compete for the CF job with up-and-comer Lucius Cragskull. All that movement left OF Blaze Fisher the odd man out. He had a nice season last year, but his lack of fielding ability and speed made him expendable. We traded him and P Jarad Harper to Lowenhalle for three strong prospects, SS Cennyth Master, who was our primary target, plus P Gerrard Blacksong, and 2B Micah Diamond.

1B Kevin “Smooth” Pepin (.294, 560 homers) was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first vote.

Deeping broke a bone in his elbow in Spring Training, missing 4-5 months, and putting a damper on our impending domination. We moved Dreamcatcher over the 3B along with top minor leaguer Lincoln Lionmarch, giving top prospect Thrain Fjursson some much needed time in a starting job. We expected him to make the big club anyway but had hoped to bring him along more slowly.

For the first time ever, we had the #1 prospect, RHP Ecthelion Caertania, who was going to make the club and the starting rotation. We had no one else in the Top 10, but our minor league system was ranked #1, with 16 players in the Top 100. Experts predicted us to win 112 games in a once-again weak OLD Eastern Division. At the Winter Meetings, the TBL Competition Committee encouraged umpires to call lower strikes in a more conservative reading of the strike zone, so it looked as though offense, which was at moderately high levels after the mound had been lowered in 1969, would be down some. Unless injuries piled up, we’d probably still hit close to 300 homers.

We were moving along in April at 16-8 when Cantor was hit in the head with a pitch on the last day of the month and suffered a concussion that would keep him out three weeks. Theronson moved into the starting job at 1B until he recovered, leaving Crossbow, who hadn’t taken to the position defensively, at DH. We were fourth in runs scored, fifth in homers, but way in front in runs allowed. With two of our big sticks on the DL, the offensive numbers weren’t likely to get better, but the pitching was going to make up for it. The team, in fact, started May by tossing three shutouts in a row, Caertania with help from the bullpen, and then complete games by Elliott and Oakwood.
May was streaky, featuring a nine-game winning streak and a five game loser, but we finished 37-17, with a 5.5 game lead over plucky Dardanov. The offense had actually picked up anyway, and we were first in runs scored, second in homers. Crossbow was second in all the Triple Crown categories at .351/20/59. Galvin was doing good work at .340/9/35. Dreamcatcher had a .394 OBP from the leadoff spot, and Thrain Fjursson had adapted to major league pitching, hitting .298/15/46. Dickerson was hitting only .229 but had shown pop with 12 homers.

We took another nine game streak into draft day (which would extend to 14). We picked Royce Elliott, a five-pitch high-schooler who might not have been at the top of all scouts’ lists, but we liked to think we could develop.

About a week before the All-Star break, Deeping was ready to come off the DL. We gave him a rehab assignment to Triple A and brought him back to start the second half. We were on a 10-game streak at the break and had a 14.5 game lead. We were first in nearly every offensive and defensive category. Dockery had gotten hot and had 31 homers and Crossbow with 28. Fjursson was the story with 30. Deeping coming back presented a small problem. Dreamcatcher had turned out to be a remarkable defensive 3B and rookie SS Fjursson was rocking it at .315/30/76. First thought was play Deeping at 1B and move Cantor back to 2B. Dickerson had hit 18 homers, but was still batting only .229, so he was odd man out. Of course, a natural SS like Dreamcatcher would also take to 2B, so that would align better defensively, and that’s the way we went. Deeping could learn 1B some other time in order to extend his career.

We stumbled some after the break, at one point losing three 4-3 games in a row, putting up a comparatively mediocre 12-8 record the rest of the month. Still, our lead was 15.5 We were 99-38 when the rosters expanded and our magic number was 5. We lost four of five to begin the month, then finally clinched on 11 September. Bors Elliott injured a hip and would be lost for the playoffs, a pretty big blow. Collins would fill in but our backup options were limited.

Our final record was 116-46. We were first in nearly everything save steals (6th) and bullpen ERA (2nd). The team ERA of 3.73 was the best in the post-mound lowering ERA. We threw 16 shutouts. Offensive was down across TBL, but not in Mele’Kiron. We scored 1011 runs, hit 360 homers, and had an OBP of .364. Nine players hit 20 or more homers. Dockery led the way at .305/62/143, his fourth consecutive 60-homer season. Crossbow, playing mostly DH, hit .304/47/133. Rookie Fjursson’s average cooled some, but he hit .269/47/128. Cantor hit .277/37/100, and Galvin had another fine year at .302/35/105. In only 66 games, Deeping hit .349/23/52. On the mount, Oakwood led the league in wins and ERA at 20-7/2.80, finishing only six strikeouts behind Furin Undertaker, just missing the Triple Crown. Elliot was 17-9/4.15, Brown 15-6/4.07, and rookie Caertania 16-6/3.63. Fifth starter Hawk Blitz was 14-6/5.15.

Ecthelion Faetwyr (GRM) and Taliesin Fanning (DAR) had three-homer games. Trevor’s Dakkon Scarthane had the top RBI performance with 8. There were no no-hitters. Lowenhalle’s Vladimir Litvinchuk at the best K game with 16.

Perennial powerhouse Shalane won 100 games to take the OLD East and Stiptar won 95 to take the West. The OLD had the batting champion with the lowest average ever, Salmyr’s Kestrel Galakirion hitting only .307.

For the first time in the Zanzibar Jones era, we’d face someone other than Gala’Kiron in the LCS. The Chanta’Kiron Sea Lords went 16-10 in September while the Waveborn went 12-13, to include a seven game losing streak, letting the Sea Lords back into the race. It came down to the last weekend when the Waveborn went into Chanta’Kiron for three, down a game. The Sea Lords swept them. Chanta’Kiron was the second best pitching team in the OTH, led by Einar Roskavyk (17-7/3.97) and Travis Twelvecross (13-9/3.63). Offensively, they were ninth in runs scored, their only big bat being 1B Robin Emerald (.275/43/125). The team won only 89 games during the regular season, so this looked like a pretty big mismatch.

Greenwood blew a save in the eighth and Chanta’Kiron took a 1-0 lead, winning 6-4. The Survivors evened the series with an 8-4 win in Game 2, plating four in the bottom of the eighth. The big blow was Dockery’s three-run homer. Brown got knocked around for 11 hits and six runs in 5.2, and the Sea Lords pushed us to the brink of elimination, 6-3. The rookie Caertania dazzled, allowing one hit through eight innings of a 13-0 win. C Collins had three hits and three RBI. It would go down to Game 5. The Survivors delighted the home crowd with an 8-2 win, Cantor and Collins both having three hits.

We’d face Shalane in the World Series, last year’s opponent and winners of five of the last eight OLD flags. The Brewers were clearly the OLD’s best team, with an offense led by RF Theron Cross (.295/45/132), 2B Giustino Le Roy (.306/42/117), LF Dalinar Mariner (.273/43/104), and CF Draven Whistler (.290/43/121). Unfortunately for them, Whistler would miss the Series with a fractured foot. The Brewers’ pitching was middling, with Vladimir Kalinchenko (18-5/3.35) their clear ace.

Former Survivor 3B Rory Stonehouse had three hits and the Brewers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 7-4 win. The Survivors got back in it with a strong eight innings from Caertania, 3-2. Oakwood went seven solid innings, allowing only five hits, and Greenstone got his second save, holding on for a 6-5 win. Brown gave up a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and the Brewers cruised to a 7-2 win. Constantino Fjurvyk pitching a complete game four-hitter. We were down to best of three. The Survivors won Game 5 in extra innings, 7-5, Galvin driving across the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th. Back at home, the Survivors staged a comeback from down 6-3, Deeping hitting a sixth inning grand slam to put them on top for good, one of his four hits and six RBIs in the 9-6 win. It was our second win in a row and third in four years.

AWARDS
Gold Glove: Galvin (2)
Fireman of the Year: Davos Glenz (1), a quiet 7-1/2.02 with 97 Ks in 75 innings.
Silver Slugger: Dockery, Crossbow
Rookie of the Year: Fjursson (with Caertania getting two votes)
Manager of the Year: (4)
Ristonofer Trophy: Oakwood (1)
MVP: Dockery (4, 1 with us)

05-06-2019, 08:51 AM	#7
Juggernt Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 357	1985 Storhelten didn’t meet his vesting criteria due to the injury, Rose and Greenstone voided their options and Petito executed his. We scrambled to sign Greenstone right away. Rose was still asking for more than $4 million, and we didn’t think he’d be worth it. We also withdrew arbitration from Lars Einarsson. More than $3 million a year was too much for him. We also withdrew from Fenrisson, but offered to Mason, Dreamcatcher, Collins, and utility infielder Patreck Graves. Owner goals are to win again, upgrade at 1B, and extend Cantor. Can do. We were stunned at the Winter meetings when Gala’Kiron offered us two-time MVP Gavin Dockery in trade for some pitching prospects. At 27, he was at the height of his career, having hit 391 homers already, 60+ in each of the last three seasons. Sure, he came with an excessive salary, but this was a no-brainer. We also traded away promising but clubhouse disruption C-1B Ford Winslett for 23-year-old SS Ulfinn Deeping, who we thought could still develop into a front-line starter. It was a productive series of meetings. Jones hatched a plan to upgrade at 1B by moving Cantor there and giving Paul Dickerson a shot at 2B. Mason would likely move to LF for Dockery, leaving the aging Crossbow to DH, but we’d work out Dockery in LF during the spring to see which of the LF-RF combos made more sense. Galvin, coming off his Rookie of the Year turn, would still have to compete for the CF job with up-and-comer Lucius Cragskull. All that movement left OF Blaze Fisher the odd man out. He had a nice season last year, but his lack of fielding ability and speed made him expendable. We traded him and P Jarad Harper to Lowenhalle for three strong prospects, SS Cennyth Master, who was our primary target, plus P Gerrard Blacksong, and 2B Micah Diamond. 1B Kevin “Smooth” Pepin (.294, 560 homers) was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first vote. Deeping broke a bone in his elbow in Spring Training, missing 4-5 months, and putting a damper on our impending domination. We moved Dreamcatcher over the 3B along with top minor leaguer Lincoln Lionmarch, giving top prospect Thrain Fjursson some much needed time in a starting job. We expected him to make the big club anyway but had hoped to bring him along more slowly. For the first time ever, we had the #1 prospect, RHP Ecthelion Caertania, who was going to make the club and the starting rotation. We had no one else in the Top 10, but our minor league system was ranked #1, with 16 players in the Top 100. Experts predicted us to win 112 games in a once-again weak OLD Eastern Division. At the Winter Meetings, the TBL Competition Committee encouraged umpires to call lower strikes in a more conservative reading of the strike zone, so it looked as though offense, which was at moderately high levels after the mound had been lowered in 1969, would be down some. Unless injuries piled up, we’d probably still hit close to 300 homers. We were moving along in April at 16-8 when Cantor was hit in the head with a pitch on the last day of the month and suffered a concussion that would keep him out three weeks. Theronson moved into the starting job at 1B until he recovered, leaving Crossbow, who hadn’t taken to the position defensively, at DH. We were fourth in runs scored, fifth in homers, but way in front in runs allowed. With two of our big sticks on the DL, the offensive numbers weren’t likely to get better, but the pitching was going to make up for it. The team, in fact, started May by tossing three shutouts in a row, Caertania with help from the bullpen, and then complete games by Elliott and Oakwood. May was streaky, featuring a nine-game winning streak and a five game loser, but we finished 37-17, with a 5.5 game lead over plucky Dardanov. The offense had actually picked up anyway, and we were first in runs scored, second in homers. Crossbow was second in all the Triple Crown categories at .351/20/59. Galvin was doing good work at .340/9/35. Dreamcatcher had a .394 OBP from the leadoff spot, and Thrain Fjursson had adapted to major league pitching, hitting .298/15/46. Dickerson was hitting only .229 but had shown pop with 12 homers. We took another nine game streak into draft day (which would extend to 14). We picked Royce Elliott, a five-pitch high-schooler who might not have been at the top of all scouts’ lists, but we liked to think we could develop. About a week before the All-Star break, Deeping was ready to come off the DL. We gave him a rehab assignment to Triple A and brought him back to start the second half. We were on a 10-game streak at the break and had a 14.5 game lead. We were first in nearly every offensive and defensive category. Dockery had gotten hot and had 31 homers and Crossbow with 28. Fjursson was the story with 30. Deeping coming back presented a small problem. Dreamcatcher had turned out to be a remarkable defensive 3B and rookie SS Fjursson was rocking it at .315/30/76. First thought was play Deeping at 1B and move Cantor back to 2B. Dickerson had hit 18 homers, but was still batting only .229, so he was odd man out. Of course, a natural SS like Dreamcatcher would also take to 2B, so that would align better defensively, and that’s the way we went. Deeping could learn 1B some other time in order to extend his career. We stumbled some after the break, at one point losing three 4-3 games in a row, putting up a comparatively mediocre 12-8 record the rest of the month. Still, our lead was 15.5 We were 99-38 when the rosters expanded and our magic number was 5. We lost four of five to begin the month, then finally clinched on 11 September. Bors Elliott injured a hip and would be lost for the playoffs, a pretty big blow. Collins would fill in but our backup options were limited. Our final record was 116-46. We were first in nearly everything save steals (6th) and bullpen ERA (2nd). The team ERA of 3.73 was the best in the post-mound lowering ERA. We threw 16 shutouts. Offensive was down across TBL, but not in Mele’Kiron. We scored 1011 runs, hit 360 homers, and had an OBP of .364. Nine players hit 20 or more homers. Dockery led the way at .305/62/143, his fourth consecutive 60-homer season. Crossbow, playing mostly DH, hit .304/47/133. Rookie Fjursson’s average cooled some, but he hit .269/47/128. Cantor hit .277/37/100, and Galvin had another fine year at .302/35/105. In only 66 games, Deeping hit .349/23/52. On the mount, Oakwood led the league in wins and ERA at 20-7/2.80, finishing only six strikeouts behind Furin Undertaker, just missing the Triple Crown. Elliot was 17-9/4.15, Brown 15-6/4.07, and rookie Caertania 16-6/3.63. Fifth starter Hawk Blitz was 14-6/5.15. Ecthelion Faetwyr (GRM) and Taliesin Fanning (DAR) had three-homer games. Trevor’s Dakkon Scarthane had the top RBI performance with 8. There were no no-hitters. Lowenhalle’s Vladimir Litvinchuk at the best K game with 16. Perennial powerhouse Shalane won 100 games to take the OLD East and Stiptar won 95 to take the West. The OLD had the batting champion with the lowest average ever, Salmyr’s Kestrel Galakirion hitting only .307. For the first time in the Zanzibar Jones era, we’d face someone other than Gala’Kiron in the LCS. The Chanta’Kiron Sea Lords went 16-10 in September while the Waveborn went 12-13, to include a seven game losing streak, letting the Sea Lords back into the race. It came down to the last weekend when the Waveborn went into Chanta’Kiron for three, down a game. The Sea Lords swept them. Chanta’Kiron was the second best pitching team in the OTH, led by Einar Roskavyk (17-7/3.97) and Travis Twelvecross (13-9/3.63). Offensively, they were ninth in runs scored, their only big bat being 1B Robin Emerald (.275/43/125). The team won only 89 games during the regular season, so this looked like a pretty big mismatch. Greenwood blew a save in the eighth and Chanta’Kiron took a 1-0 lead, winning 6-4. The Survivors evened the series with an 8-4 win in Game 2, plating four in the bottom of the eighth. The big blow was Dockery’s three-run homer. Brown got knocked around for 11 hits and six runs in 5.2, and the Sea Lords pushed us to the brink of elimination, 6-3. The rookie Caertania dazzled, allowing one hit through eight innings of a 13-0 win. C Collins had three hits and three RBI. It would go down to Game 5. The Survivors delighted the home crowd with an 8-2 win, Cantor and Collins both having three hits. We’d face Shalane in the World Series, last year’s opponent and winners of five of the last eight OLD flags. The Brewers were clearly the OLD’s best team, with an offense led by RF Theron Cross (.295/45/132), 2B Giustino Le Roy (.306/42/117), LF Dalinar Mariner (.273/43/104), and CF Draven Whistler (.290/43/121). Unfortunately for them, Whistler would miss the Series with a fractured foot. The Brewers’ pitching was middling, with Vladimir Kalinchenko (18-5/3.35) their clear ace. Former Survivor 3B Rory Stonehouse had three hits and the Brewers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 7-4 win. The Survivors got back in it with a strong eight innings from Caertania, 3-2. Oakwood went seven solid innings, allowing only five hits, and Greenstone got his second save, holding on for a 6-5 win. Brown gave up a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and the Brewers cruised to a 7-2 win. Constantino Fjurvyk pitching a complete game four-hitter. We were down to best of three. The Survivors won Game 5 in extra innings, 7-5, Galvin driving across the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th. Back at home, the Survivors staged a comeback from down 6-3, Deeping hitting a sixth inning grand slam to put them on top for good, one of his four hits and six RBIs in the 9-6 win. It was our second win in a row and third in four years. AWARDS Gold Glove: Galvin (2) Fireman of the Year: Davos Glenz (1), a quiet 7-1/2.02 with 97 Ks in 75 innings. Silver Slugger: Dockery, Crossbow Rookie of the Year: Fjursson (with Caertania getting two votes) Manager of the Year: (4) Ristonofer Trophy: Oakwood (1) MVP: Dockery (4, 1 with us)