Can Someone Bring A Title to the Cubs?

[fanatix111]

I know what you're thinking. ANOTHER lame current-day dynasty. And with a team so cliche as the Cubs. So, I apologize, right out of the gates. However, with as bad as the Cubs have struggled IRL this season, I thought it would be interesting (possibly for me alone), to run a dynasty and see if OOTP treats them the way real life has. Maybe someone out there will read this, maybe not. But at the end it will be fun for me to go back and read through this. So, without further adieu...

I brought in the latest version of Halofan's roster. In my experience they seem to be decent for the task at hand. After consulting with a couple people, I edited down some guys, and adjusted the fielding ratings of a couple more across the league. I noticed the talent levels in the minors were too high as well, but I chose not to touch that. I figure that OOTP will have a way of taking care of that in due time.

Initial Settings
Ratings and Stars OFF (Talent is the only thing showing..1 to 10 scale)
Scouts OFF
Modern ERA
Everything (Waivers, 40-man, Rule 5, etc) ON
10 Round Pre-Season Draft
Very Low Trades favoring Prospects

I also went across all the teams and un-injured everyone..giving everyone a fresh start.

[fanatix111]

So after the initial stuff was done and out of the way, it was time to set the roster for Opening Day. Pitchers Sergio Mitre, John Koronka, and Cliff Bartosh were farmed out, and Mark Prior ,Kerry Wood, and Nomar were brought back from the DL.

A ton of players were re-assigned throughout the minor league levels and we made 2 small transactions. Signing FA OF Val Pascucci to a 1yr, 300K deal and signing FA MR Danny Graves to a MLC. Pascucci will be backup OF insurance and will begin in AAA, and Graves will be pitching insurance. He will close for AAA to begin the season. I don't plan on making too many trades or FA signings, as I'm a minimalist when it comes to things such as transactions. But I will make moves when they are necessary. Usually after the first week or so of a new league, the CPU makes a round of cuts. After this occurs, I will be looking for possible utility IF to replace Jose Macias. I dont like the guy IRL, so I doubt he sticks around here too long.

So now, it's time for Opening Day. I plan on playing some of these games out, and bear with me as I work to find a strategy on reporting the results. Despite being a reasonably intelligent person, I'm a terrible writer.

[Silver]

"Despite being a reasonably intelligent person, I'm a terrible writer."

I'm sure thats not so. I'd be interested...so more.

[fanatix111]

Onto the first week of April.

The Schedule:
April 4, 5, 6 @ Arizona
April 7 OFF
April 8, 9, 10 vs. Milwaukee

Initially I plan on playing out the first game of each series and posting small recaps.

Mark Prior squared off against Brandon Webb in the season opener. We got on the board first, when Michael Barrett drove in Nomar with a double. Arizona came back in the bottom of the 3rd and plated a run on an Alex Cintron double. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 down, Todd Walker misplayed a Shawn Green grounder, allowing a 2nd run to score, 2-1 D-Backs. The game stayed at 2-1 until the top of the 7th when Jeromy Burnitz hit a solo homer of off Brandon Webb, tying the game at 2. Webb was subsequently lifted for a reliever. With Prior already out due to a high pitch count, neither starter would take a decision in this game. Todd Wellemeyer and Glendon Rusch both pitched flawless innings in relief (7th and 8th), setting the stage for some possible top of the 9th heroics. Aramis Ramirez and Nomar led off with singles, bringing Todd Hollandsworth to the plate with no one out. He hit a first pitch fastball from Jose Valverde into the gap, scoring both runners. 4-2 Cubs. The offense went out meekly after that, and Ryan Dempster came in for the easy 1-2-3 save. A good, solid, come from behind W. Hopefully this sets the tone for the season.
W: Glendon Rusch (1-0)
L: Jose Valverde (0-1)
S: Ryan Dempster (1)

Game 2 was another 4-2 victory, with the winning runs coming in the top of the 11th on a Todd Hollandsworth homer. Game 3 brought a sweep with a 14-2 victory. Kerry Wood pitched 6 strong innings for his first W of the year. We then took 2 of 3 from the Brewers, winning Game 1 by a count of 9-8, the difference being a Todd Walker RBI single in the 8th. Mark Prior lost game 2 of the series, our first of the year. We were never really in the game, dropping it 8-2. The finale brought home another win, 3-2 in 12 innings. Three straight singles by Jason Dubois, Corey Patterson and finally Walker, with Walker's scoring Dubois for the win.

Things are looking so far, with a record of 5-1, though it is only against Arizona and Milwaukee.

No major league news as of yet, and no trades, though there has been an incredible amount of waiver moves (as expected).

[Astros33Resurrected]

[QUOTE=fanatix111]Can someone bring a title to the cubs?QUOTE]

Not in my life-time! j/k Good dynasty so far!

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by fanatix111

I know what you're thinking. ANOTHER lame current-day dynasty.

I wouldn't worry about it, you could always do a lame fictional-historical mix-up dynasty like mine is, so at least it will be better than that - although maybe that's not such a good comparison to make...

Originally Posted by fanatix111

Can Someone Bring A Title to the Cubs?

As the joke has already been used, I am going to say yes... eventually... maybe.
Seriously, you can do it, dude, no worries!

[fanatix111]

Thanks for the replies guys!

This week's schedule:
April 11,12,13 - vs. San Diego
April 14 - OFF
April 15,16,17 - @ Pittsburgh

April 11th brings us San Diego coming to town to start a 3-game series. Adam Eaton (1-0, 3.00) will be starting for the Padres, while Kerry Wood (1-0, 1.50) starts for us. San Diego gets on the board first in the top of the 2nd with back to back RBI doubles by Khalil Greene and Eaton (!). It's 2-0 heading to the bottom of the 2nd when Jeromy Burnitz hits a 1-out double which is followed by another double by Todd Hollandsworth which scores Burnitz. In the bottom of the 3rd, Derrek Lee hits a solo shot, his 3rd of the year, which ties the game up at 2. In the 5th, we let a good scoring chance go by the board when we left Michael Barrett stranded at 3rd with just one out. The game continues scoreless into the bottom of the 7th. Wood, who has thrown 107 pitches already, is lifted for a pinch-hitter. Jason Dubois, doing the pinch-hitting, strikes out to end the 7th. Mike Wuertz is brought in to relieve, this is his first appearance of the season. He does well in the 8th, but when brought back out for the 9th, he gives up a HR to the 2nd batter he faces, RF Adam Hyzdu. 3-2 Padres. Scott Linebrink comes in to save the game for the Padres, and does just that. We go 1-2-3 against him in the bottom of the 9th, and lose 3-2.
W: Trevor Hoffman (1-0)
L: Mike Wuertz (0-1)
SV: Scott Linebrink (3)
The next day was even worse. Jerome Williams, making his first start of the season, got roughed up for 7 runs in 2 innings. We lost the game 12-1. We did manage to salvage the last game 6-5 in 11 innings. The difference was Derrek Lee's 4th HR of the season. He's off to a ridiculously hot start! Against the Pirates 2 days later, Mark Prior won his first game of the season, a 6-1 victory. We had a pitchers duel the next day, an eleven inning thriller. It's too bad that we ended up on the wrong side of the 1-0 score. Ryan Dempster completely fell apart in the 11th, giving up 3 straight singles before getting an out. Jason Bay then singled in Rob Mackowiak for the win. 1/3 IP, 4 H. . The next day was a disappointment as well, as Kerry Wood gave up 8 runs early in our 8-2 loss.

Our record sits at 7-5, 2 games behind the Cardinals (8-2). We're only hitting .239 as a team (T-23rd). That's a bit troubling, but the season is still young. Plenty of time before we have to make any big decisions about roster shakeups.

[fanatix111]

I dont like this format. It feels tedious for me, and I can only imagine what it's like to the reader. I'm going to try something different... Thoughts?

[Dagrims]

Originally Posted by fanatix111

I dont like this format. It feels tedious for me, and I can only imagine what it's like to the reader. I'm going to try something different... Thoughts?

I think you'll do fine if you write what interests you. If it truly does feel tedious to yourself, that will start coming out in the writing. Write it exactly the way you want, and have fun doing it. That will seep into every post you submit. Good effort so far.