What was, and what could have been

vyshka · 02-06-2010, 12:46 PM

Recently I fired up ITP for the 1st time in years and played through a career as a left handed 1B.

I was drafted out of HS late in the 1st round by the Atlana Braves. My 1st season in A ball was rather disappointing and hard to take. The 2nd season went much better, but at the trading deadline I was handed off to the Detroit Tigers in return for a pitcher. My 3rd season saw me in AA with a jump to AAA midway through the season. The next season I got called up to the show when rosters were expanded late in the season, playing in 16 games. I spent the next 2 seasons mostly in AAA with intermittent call ups to the majors. I was used in a platooning effort and didn't do too well at the start in that role. More depressing was that Detroit had gotten rid of one high profile 1B and brought in another, so my shot looked like it might not be coming any time soon. I managed to convince the boss that I could do the job though, and started at 1B in 2009.

It paid off with me making a trip to the All-Star game. 2010 started slow for me and I didn't repeat my trip to the All-Star game, but a strong 2nd half of the season garnered me an outstanding batter award for the season. The next season I was coming up on the end of my contract. Detroit didn't seem to want to pay top dollar for me, so I decided to let my bat do the talking and take my shot in free agency. Then disaster struck in the middle of the season, with an achilles tendon injury bringing my season to a premature close. Luckily there was still interest around the league and I was able to negotiate a contract with Seattle. The next couple of seasons again saw me sustaining injuries, one luckily towards the end of the season, and it looked like my career was going to come to an end rather quickly. I did manage to get a full season in my last year with Seattle, and then I moved on to Boston as I wanted to play for a contender and Seattle seemed to be going nowhere fast. My first 2 seasons with Boston were okay, some minor injuries but nothing serious. Then it seemed that luck decided to shine upon me. A nice season with a trip to the All-Star game and a Championship ring took place in 2017. 3 more trips to the All-Star game took place the next 3 years.

Age was finally catching up with me though, and I managed one more season of good play, followed by a mediocre season, and then a season mostly on the bench. Finally in 2023 Boston decided they couldn't waste the roster space on me anymore and I was let go. I went ahead an retired at this point since I had nothing left in the tank.

I did eventually get called by the Hall of Fame, which was an honor. I thought with the injuries that had plagued me earlier in my career that might chance might have went by. I am wondering if I made a strategic error in using books to try and speed my recovery after injuries. They helped me get back to 100% quicker, but it meant the end of my career was a quick drop off instead of a really slow decline. It would have been interesting to see what kind of numbers would have been put up if there wasn't the major injuries, but overall it was a good run especially late in the career with Boston.

In the postseason I tended to underperform, but I did hit a game winning HR in game 7 of the World Series.

Rookie Card value: $1005.79

James HoF Career Standards Test score is 41 (50 is an average HoF career).
Grey Ink Test: 153
Black Ink Test: 21

02-06-2010, 12:46 PM	#1
vyshka Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chandler, AZ Posts: 393	What was, and what could have been Recently I fired up ITP for the 1st time in years and played through a career as a left handed 1B. I was drafted out of HS late in the 1st round by the Atlana Braves. My 1st season in A ball was rather disappointing and hard to take. The 2nd season went much better, but at the trading deadline I was handed off to the Detroit Tigers in return for a pitcher. My 3rd season saw me in AA with a jump to AAA midway through the season. The next season I got called up to the show when rosters were expanded late in the season, playing in 16 games. I spent the next 2 seasons mostly in AAA with intermittent call ups to the majors. I was used in a platooning effort and didn't do too well at the start in that role. More depressing was that Detroit had gotten rid of one high profile 1B and brought in another, so my shot looked like it might not be coming any time soon. I managed to convince the boss that I could do the job though, and started at 1B in 2009. It paid off with me making a trip to the All-Star game. 2010 started slow for me and I didn't repeat my trip to the All-Star game, but a strong 2nd half of the season garnered me an outstanding batter award for the season. The next season I was coming up on the end of my contract. Detroit didn't seem to want to pay top dollar for me, so I decided to let my bat do the talking and take my shot in free agency. Then disaster struck in the middle of the season, with an achilles tendon injury bringing my season to a premature close. Luckily there was still interest around the league and I was able to negotiate a contract with Seattle. The next couple of seasons again saw me sustaining injuries, one luckily towards the end of the season, and it looked like my career was going to come to an end rather quickly. I did manage to get a full season in my last year with Seattle, and then I moved on to Boston as I wanted to play for a contender and Seattle seemed to be going nowhere fast. My first 2 seasons with Boston were okay, some minor injuries but nothing serious. Then it seemed that luck decided to shine upon me. A nice season with a trip to the All-Star game and a Championship ring took place in 2017. 3 more trips to the All-Star game took place the next 3 years. Age was finally catching up with me though, and I managed one more season of good play, followed by a mediocre season, and then a season mostly on the bench. Finally in 2023 Boston decided they couldn't waste the roster space on me anymore and I was let go. I went ahead an retired at this point since I had nothing left in the tank. I did eventually get called by the Hall of Fame, which was an honor. I thought with the injuries that had plagued me earlier in my career that might chance might have went by. I am wondering if I made a strategic error in using books to try and speed my recovery after injuries. They helped me get back to 100% quicker, but it meant the end of my career was a quick drop off instead of a really slow decline. It would have been interesting to see what kind of numbers would have been put up if there wasn't the major injuries, but overall it was a good run especially late in the career with Boston. In the postseason I tended to underperform, but I did hit a game winning HR in game 7 of the World Series. Rookie Card value: $1005.79 James HoF Career Standards Test score is 41 (50 is an average HoF career). Grey Ink Test: 153 Black Ink Test: 21 Last edited by vyshka; 02-06-2010 at 02:50 PM.