The worst luck you've ever had managing your team?

damientheomen3 · 07-03-2009, 11:35 PM

I had my top prospect suffer an injury that sidlined him 12 months, then a setback that kept him out another 14 months, then another setback that just ended his career

Athletics17 · 07-04-2009, 12:18 AM

After two horrible seasons with the nationals i was finally in a tight pennant race. And in the last week of August I lost My leadoff hitter, my number three and four hitter for six weeks. And by the way it was all in the same game! Looks like I will be coaching in the Gulf coast League Somewhere.

Jami · 07-04-2009, 01:31 AM

I was playing with the Indians for awhile because I thought they'd be a fun team to play with, and got bit by a very bad injury bug. I swore my team was cursed, because everyone I played in centerfield for a couple weeks came down with a pretty serious 3-4 month injury. Grady Sizemore? Herniated disk and a talent hit that guaranteed he'd never hit .300 or 30 HR again. Shin-Soo Choo? Pulled a hamstring two days later and missed three months. Trevor Crowe? Broke a bone in his hand getting hit by a pitch.

Currently playing with the Pirates, I hit a rash of bad luck at the end of the 2010 season, just as I was about to take the Bucs into their first playoff appearance since the early 90s. Freddy Sanchez, who was hitting about .310 but battled injuries all year, went down for 3-4 weeks in the final week of the season. So did Neil Walker, who was doing a damn fine job playing all around the diamond (had about 11 HR and 80 RBI). That was on top of already losing Brandon Moss (only played in 30 games in 2010 after putting up a .900+ OPS in 2009) and Jamie Romak (a stellar 19 HR in 100 games as Moss' replacement) went down with season-ending injuries. Needless to say, after winning 94 games, I got swept in the first round by Florida. I then lost Adam LaRoche and Mike MacDougal (signed to a 1-year deal and ended up being my best MR) in the offseason, so things aren't looking good in terms of another trip to the playoffs.

thedudeingram · 07-04-2009, 02:10 AM

I had a pretty nearly injury free regular season and finished with the best record in the league. I lost my number one starter on his last start of the season for 6 months. I lost in the second round after losing two more starting pitchers and three starting position players to 3+ month injuries in 8 playoff games. I also had two other starting position players go down for 7-10 days and missed the majority of my playoff games.

griffeyin98 · 07-04-2009, 11:48 AM

I started managing Milwaukee in 2009 and built a pretty strong team, tradin away Hart, Hardy and Weeks for pitching and prospects. In 2 seasons, I've made the playoffs every year, but either Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun have been injured for the playoffs each season, and we've lost in the first round every year

jasonn29tn14 · 07-07-2009, 09:10 AM

My last season I had 5 guys on the DL by early May and never had less the rest of the season. I made a couple of trades in July in hopes of making up what had been a 5-7 game defecit. By the first of August my team had 14(!) guys on the DL and wound up finishing 77-85 and dead last 20 games back. I thought my team was better than that. So next spring when all but 1 of my guys had healed the team went 23-1 in spring training. I guess the moral of the story is injuries can and will determine whether or not you can win - just like IRL.

thamolas · 07-07-2009, 09:33 AM

The unluckiest season I had was one in which my winning percentage was over .800 in September. By October, my two best pitchers and three best hitters were on the DL until well after the playoffs. During game one of Round One, it looked as though one of the guys I called up from the minors (SS) was going to develop into a HoF-caliber player and potentially save my season (he hit 4-4 with three HR and a BB in game 1, which we won) - then he suffered a CEI in his first AB of game 2 and I lost four in a row to be eliminated.

Coincidentally, my luckiest season ever looked as though it were going to be my unluckiest. The first game I started on X: I felt good about my inaugural draft. In the early-going, my entire starting lineup was injured for months, some for the season. Several of my pitchers were also likewise injured (nearly my ENTIRE ROSTER was devastated by injuries). Most of my lineup was dropped in from the minors and didn't look promising (we were dead last in the league). Around mid-season all of these prospects got major stat bumps, we went on a tear and ended up winning the Championship. Half of these guys developed into HoF-ers and I had to slowly get rid of them (over the next 5-8 seasons) to keep my payroll half-reasonable. This core actually caused me to win several titles in a row, and I put them in my lineup because of injuries, despite their (at the time) awful ratings and horrible minor league stats!

07-04-2009, 12:18 AM	#2
Athletics17 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: jackson Hole, Wy Posts: 1,187	Bad luck continues... After two horrible seasons with the nationals i was finally in a tight pennant race. And in the last week of August I lost My leadoff hitter, my number three and four hitter for six weeks. And by the way it was all in the same game! Looks like I will be coaching in the Gulf coast League Somewhere.

07-07-2009, 09:33 AM	#7
thamolas Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 91	The unluckiest season I had was one in which my winning percentage was over .800 in September. By October, my two best pitchers and three best hitters were on the DL until well after the playoffs. During game one of Round One, it looked as though one of the guys I called up from the minors (SS) was going to develop into a HoF-caliber player and potentially save my season (he hit 4-4 with three HR and a BB in game 1, which we won) - then he suffered a CEI in his first AB of game 2 and I lost four in a row to be eliminated. Coincidentally, my luckiest season ever looked as though it were going to be my unluckiest. The first game I started on X: I felt good about my inaugural draft. In the early-going, my entire starting lineup was injured for months, some for the season. Several of my pitchers were also likewise injured (nearly my ENTIRE ROSTER was devastated by injuries). Most of my lineup was dropped in from the minors and didn't look promising (we were dead last in the league). Around mid-season all of these prospects got major stat bumps, we went on a tear and ended up winning the Championship. Half of these guys developed into HoF-ers and I had to slowly get rid of them (over the next 5-8 seasons) to keep my payroll half-reasonable. This core actually caused me to win several titles in a row, and I put them in my lineup because of injuries, despite their (at the time) awful ratings and horrible minor league stats! Last edited by thamolas; 07-07-2009 at 09:35 AM.

07-04-2009, 01:31 AM	#3
Jami Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 6	I was playing with the Indians for awhile because I thought they'd be a fun team to play with, and got bit by a very bad injury bug. I swore my team was cursed, because everyone I played in centerfield for a couple weeks came down with a pretty serious 3-4 month injury. Grady Sizemore? Herniated disk and a talent hit that guaranteed he'd never hit .300 or 30 HR again. Shin-Soo Choo? Pulled a hamstring two days later and missed three months. Trevor Crowe? Broke a bone in his hand getting hit by a pitch. Currently playing with the Pirates, I hit a rash of bad luck at the end of the 2010 season, just as I was about to take the Bucs into their first playoff appearance since the early 90s. Freddy Sanchez, who was hitting about .310 but battled injuries all year, went down for 3-4 weeks in the final week of the season. So did Neil Walker, who was doing a damn fine job playing all around the diamond (had about 11 HR and 80 RBI). That was on top of already losing Brandon Moss (only played in 30 games in 2010 after putting up a .900+ OPS in 2009) and Jamie Romak (a stellar 19 HR in 100 games as Moss' replacement) went down with season-ending injuries. Needless to say, after winning 94 games, I got swept in the first round by Florida. I then lost Adam LaRoche and Mike MacDougal (signed to a 1-year deal and ended up being my best MR) in the offseason, so things aren't looking good in terms of another trip to the playoffs.

07-04-2009, 02:10 AM	#4
thedudeingram Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 9	I had a pretty nearly injury free regular season and finished with the best record in the league. I lost my number one starter on his last start of the season for 6 months. I lost in the second round after losing two more starting pitchers and three starting position players to 3+ month injuries in 8 playoff games. I also had two other starting position players go down for 7-10 days and missed the majority of my playoff games.

07-04-2009, 11:48 AM	#5
griffeyin98 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 311	I started managing Milwaukee in 2009 and built a pretty strong team, tradin away Hart, Hardy and Weeks for pitching and prospects. In 2 seasons, I've made the playoffs every year, but either Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun have been injured for the playoffs each season, and we've lost in the first round every year

07-07-2009, 09:10 AM	#6
jasonn29tn14 Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 320	My last season I had 5 guys on the DL by early May and never had less the rest of the season. I made a couple of trades in July in hopes of making up what had been a 5-7 game defecit. By the first of August my team had 14(!) guys on the DL and wound up finishing 77-85 and dead last 20 games back. I thought my team was better than that. So next spring when all but 1 of my guys had healed the team went 23-1 in spring training. I guess the moral of the story is injuries can and will determine whether or not you can win - just like IRL.