Most Satisfying World Series Season

Matter2003 · 05-11-2006, 12:01 AM

I just had a season which was my most satisfying year in the 19 years that I have been managing the Florida Marlins.

All year long, my pitching was great but my hitting was horrible. I finished tied for last in team batting at .249, dead last in HR's at 97, and 2nd to last in runs scored with 674(Only the Mets with 669 were worse).

My Pitching however, was a completely opposite story. I finished first in the league in ERA at 3.61, Walks Allowed with 371, and Runs Allowed with 635. I was second in OPBA at .253 and 3rd in HRs Allowed with 140.

My season started great, and halfway thru the year I had one of the best records in baseball and was comfortably ahead in my division opening up an 8 game lead over the Atlanta Braves. However, after the all-star break my team really struggled and the Braves caught and passed me with about 25 games to go. I was nowhere near the wildcard so I needed to win the division to have any hope of making the playoffs, as my record had dipped to about 2 games over .500, and the wildcard team(SF Giants were over .600). Somehow, my team found a way to scratch and claw their way back on top and held on for dear life until the last series of the season when I dispatched the Braves 3 straight games to clinch the division.

I then beat the Giants in the first series 3-1 pretty easily, even though they had a better record than I did. The next series is where things would really get tough. Against San Diego, the best team in the NL that year, one of my only second half bright spots was injured and was at 75% for 4 weeks(basically the end of the playoffs). Curt Anderson was 6-10 through the end of July with an ERA of over 5.00...I kinda just figured he was having a bad year, as he was normally a very solid 14-15 game winner for me over the years with a 3-3.50 ERA most seasons. Anderson almost single-handedly got me into the playoffs, going 9-2 over the last 2 months of the season, including 6-0 in August with an ERA of 1.68...
To have him be less than 100% for me in the playoffs I knew would more than likely lead to a swift exit for me. It certainly looked like that was going to happen as I went down 3-1 in the series to San Diego. In Game 5 Anderson was scheduled to pitch for me, and I figured he wouldn't fare too well...much to my surprise, he went and pitched 6 shutout innings, and won 3-0. After tying the series at 3, Anderson again had the ball in the all important game 7. Again, he came out and pitched extremely well, holding the Padres to 2 runs in 7 Innings, allowing my team to wake up offensively for 7 runs, earning a 7-3 win. Into the WS for me, and I was honestly a little shocked...

Against Tampa Bay, Anderson pitched in Game 3 and threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball as my team shelled the Devil Rays 9-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. With a 3-2 Series Lead, Anderson took the mound for game 6, and once again pitched an awesome game allowing 1 run on 7 2/3 innings as I hammered TB 12-2. The Marlins were WS Champions again for the fourth time. Curt Anderson, at 75% and hurting allowed 3 runs in 28 1/3 innings in 4 Curt Schilling like performances to ensure victory.

Other Key Playoff Performances came from my aging superstar George White, now 36, who had the worst season of his career, hitting .229 during the season with only 16 HR's(previous low was 17 in his rookie year where he only played in 95 games), and a .341 slugging pct(his previous worst was .412), all career lows, but showed the heart of a champion in the playoffs, hitting .309, with 3 HR's and 12 RBI's.

My #1 rated prospect, 1B Doug Bjorkegen was a September call-up and quickly solidified his spot in the lineup, batting .297 with 3 HR's. In the postseason, he elevated his game even more, hitting .323 with 3 HR's and 18 RBI's. Not bad for a late season call-up and a rookie to boot.

Caddric Messick, my usually solid hitting LF struggled all year, ended up with a .267 BA(only season under .287 for a career .303 hitter), but found his stroke again in the postseason, hitting .323 with 11 RBI's.

After averaging a paltry 4.1 runs scored per game during the regular season, I scored 6.3 per game in the postseason and with some key performances from players who were hurt, who hadn't gotten it done during the season, and a rookie, I finished the most memorable season I have ever played in OOTP...

batted balls · 05-12-2006, 02:20 PM

Wow, Florida and Tampa Bay in the Series?! What were the TV ratings on that one? Congrats on your title after 19 seasons.

05-11-2006, 12:01 AM	#1
Matter2003 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: In the vicinity of Buffalo,NY Posts: 1,634	Most Satisfying World Series Season I just had a season which was my most satisfying year in the 19 years that I have been managing the Florida Marlins. All year long, my pitching was great but my hitting was horrible. I finished tied for last in team batting at .249, dead last in HR's at 97, and 2nd to last in runs scored with 674(Only the Mets with 669 were worse). My Pitching however, was a completely opposite story. I finished first in the league in ERA at 3.61, Walks Allowed with 371, and Runs Allowed with 635. I was second in OPBA at .253 and 3rd in HRs Allowed with 140. My season started great, and halfway thru the year I had one of the best records in baseball and was comfortably ahead in my division opening up an 8 game lead over the Atlanta Braves. However, after the all-star break my team really struggled and the Braves caught and passed me with about 25 games to go. I was nowhere near the wildcard so I needed to win the division to have any hope of making the playoffs, as my record had dipped to about 2 games over .500, and the wildcard team(SF Giants were over .600). Somehow, my team found a way to scratch and claw their way back on top and held on for dear life until the last series of the season when I dispatched the Braves 3 straight games to clinch the division. I then beat the Giants in the first series 3-1 pretty easily, even though they had a better record than I did. The next series is where things would really get tough. Against San Diego, the best team in the NL that year, one of my only second half bright spots was injured and was at 75% for 4 weeks(basically the end of the playoffs). Curt Anderson was 6-10 through the end of July with an ERA of over 5.00...I kinda just figured he was having a bad year, as he was normally a very solid 14-15 game winner for me over the years with a 3-3.50 ERA most seasons. Anderson almost single-handedly got me into the playoffs, going 9-2 over the last 2 months of the season, including 6-0 in August with an ERA of 1.68... To have him be less than 100% for me in the playoffs I knew would more than likely lead to a swift exit for me. It certainly looked like that was going to happen as I went down 3-1 in the series to San Diego. In Game 5 Anderson was scheduled to pitch for me, and I figured he wouldn't fare too well...much to my surprise, he went and pitched 6 shutout innings, and won 3-0. After tying the series at 3, Anderson again had the ball in the all important game 7. Again, he came out and pitched extremely well, holding the Padres to 2 runs in 7 Innings, allowing my team to wake up offensively for 7 runs, earning a 7-3 win. Into the WS for me, and I was honestly a little shocked... Against Tampa Bay, Anderson pitched in Game 3 and threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball as my team shelled the Devil Rays 9-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. With a 3-2 Series Lead, Anderson took the mound for game 6, and once again pitched an awesome game allowing 1 run on 7 2/3 innings as I hammered TB 12-2. The Marlins were WS Champions again for the fourth time. Curt Anderson, at 75% and hurting allowed 3 runs in 28 1/3 innings in 4 Curt Schilling like performances to ensure victory. Other Key Playoff Performances came from my aging superstar George White, now 36, who had the worst season of his career, hitting .229 during the season with only 16 HR's(previous low was 17 in his rookie year where he only played in 95 games), and a .341 slugging pct(his previous worst was .412), all career lows, but showed the heart of a champion in the playoffs, hitting .309, with 3 HR's and 12 RBI's. My #1 rated prospect, 1B Doug Bjorkegen was a September call-up and quickly solidified his spot in the lineup, batting .297 with 3 HR's. In the postseason, he elevated his game even more, hitting .323 with 3 HR's and 18 RBI's. Not bad for a late season call-up and a rookie to boot. Caddric Messick, my usually solid hitting LF struggled all year, ended up with a .267 BA(only season under .287 for a career .303 hitter), but found his stroke again in the postseason, hitting .323 with 11 RBI's. After averaging a paltry 4.1 runs scored per game during the regular season, I scored 6.3 per game in the postseason and with some key performances from players who were hurt, who hadn't gotten it done during the season, and a rookie, I finished the most memorable season I have ever played in OOTP...

05-12-2006, 02:20 PM	#2
batted balls All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: White Sox Country Posts: 1,323	Wow, Florida and Tampa Bay in the Series?! What were the TV ratings on that one? Congrats on your title after 19 seasons.