Chicago Cubs Challenge Tournament circa 1962

quillenl · 08-12-2020, 04:43 PM

In 1962 the Cubs won 59 games... and while they would often beat that mark in later seasons it would not be till 2016 that they tasted World Series victory. In between there were 3 MVPs, 6 Cy Young Winners, and Countless All Stars. So... can we beat reality with a greater challenge in a Recalc League?

The rules:
1) 3 year Recalc with Double Current Years Stats
2) Fielding and Stamina based on career Totals
3) reserve rules
4) No finances
5) Players debut per historical norms, and the Amateur Draft determines placement... with an exception.
The cubs do not get a 1st Round Draft pick... ever. Instead the Cubs will get their choice of any player debuting that season so long as they have never won an MVP Award, a Cy Young Award, nor participated in an All Star Game per Baseball Reference. 2nd Round and on will proceed per normal.

This will be an attempt to counter knowledge of baseball's future in 1961 with a handicap that initially seems unsurmountable. I've never triied this before, but I fully expect that until further expansion the numbe of available good players who never sniffed an all star game will be small.

We'll see how it goes. Maybe it will be easier than I think... maybe I'll never see greater than 70 wins. I'll sim through 1961 at the following draft. I've got no plan... I just plan on doing stuff. Let's see how it goes!

[Edit] Additional Settings
No Finances
15 player Reserve Roster
Trading enabled, but Cubs enabled to only trading excess players via "Shop" feature... no negotiating.
Very Low Injury Setting
High Fatigue / High Suspension (these and injury allow for fast sims)
Strategy Settings customized to what I normally use... which is close to 1975. All other settings and stats auto update to current season.

quillenl · 08-12-2020, 06:22 PM

1961 has ended with an exciting victory by the San Franciso Giants over the Baltimore Orioles in a series that ended with a 6-3 victory at home in game seven for the Giants behind Willie Mays and Juan Marichal.

The Cubs were as bad as advertised in losing 91 victories. Truthfully, I was not as familiar with this period of Cubs history. I knew of the names... but I didn't realize these guys were all part of a terrible Cubs period at the same time. I'm looking at Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Richie Ashburn wondering how these guys couldn't muster up enough pitching to make a playoff run.

In this history changing version of 1961 Ernie Banks won the triple crown... so I feel good about the pieces I start with.

quillenl · 08-12-2020, 06:35 PM

First order of business is getting the protection list submitted for the upcoming Expansion Draft. I've changed auto protect for expansions to "1 Year" since most players we see would have several years of Minors we would be unaware of with how OOTP works.

I let the AI take first stab at it, but have to step in and make at least one change. The AI left Mike Cuellar off the protected list... and that just isn't happening. Richie Ashburn does not have much time left, and I can't make trades... so I honestly expected him to not make the cut. I must have forgotten the team won 63 games in thinking that because a couple bad unprotected relievers later Mr Ashburn finds himself having a few more years with the Cubs left!

quillenl · 08-12-2020, 07:21 PM

En route to our December Amateur Draft Jack Fisher wins the AL Cy Young Award going 24-7 for the Baltimore Orioles. Bob Friend of the Pittsburgh Pirates joins him from the National League with his own stellar 23-6 record managing to outpace both Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax who finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting.

Mickey Mantle won the AL MVP award with a league-leading 10.2 WAR but notably finished no better than 3rd in any of the big three traditional statistical categories. Meanwhile, Triple Crown winner Ernie Banks finished behind Willie Mays who had his own decent season on the way to his World Series victory.

I immediately get a list of players in the draft who never participated in an All Star Game and have to decide between
3B Ken McMullen
3B Bob Bailey
C Ed Kirkpatrick
SP Fred Norman
SS Dal Maxvill

Pickings are slim. Ron Santo is only 21 and will be at third for the next decade. Kirkpatrick and Maxvill are decent fielders, but nothing I wouldn't expect to find available in the second round... so I end up taking Fred Norman. He won't be good for a while... but eventually he'll be adequate in the rotation and may be a missing piece at that point if all goes well.

In round two I no longer have to worry about All Star games... and their is a lot of talent. Sadly, a lot of that talent is at 1B, LF and RF where I have Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Lou Brock... but Joe Pepitone is still available and plays Center so we'll grab him and pray for starting pitchers another time. I finish up best available taking 3B Ken McMullerm in the 3rd round, RP Tommie Sisk in the 4th,, Brian McCall in the 5th (no stats after age 19 so chance of a dev boost), and finish the rest of the draft picking up young guys I have never heard of.

08-12-2020, 04:43 PM	#1
quillenl All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 581	Chicago Cubs Challenge Tournament circa 1962 In 1962 the Cubs won 59 games... and while they would often beat that mark in later seasons it would not be till 2016 that they tasted World Series victory. In between there were 3 MVPs, 6 Cy Young Winners, and Countless All Stars. So... can we beat reality with a greater challenge in a Recalc League? The rules: 1) 3 year Recalc with Double Current Years Stats 2) Fielding and Stamina based on career Totals 3) reserve rules 4) No finances 5) Players debut per historical norms, and the Amateur Draft determines placement... with an exception. The cubs do not get a 1st Round Draft pick... ever. Instead the Cubs will get their choice of any player debuting that season so long as they have never won an MVP Award, a Cy Young Award, nor participated in an All Star Game per Baseball Reference. 2nd Round and on will proceed per normal. This will be an attempt to counter knowledge of baseball's future in 1961 with a handicap that initially seems unsurmountable. I've never triied this before, but I fully expect that until further expansion the numbe of available good players who never sniffed an all star game will be small. We'll see how it goes. Maybe it will be easier than I think... maybe I'll never see greater than 70 wins. I'll sim through 1961 at the following draft. I've got no plan... I just plan on doing stuff. Let's see how it goes! [Edit] Additional Settings No Finances 15 player Reserve Roster Trading enabled, but Cubs enabled to only trading excess players via "Shop" feature... no negotiating. Very Low Injury Setting High Fatigue / High Suspension (these and injury allow for fast sims) Strategy Settings customized to what I normally use... which is close to 1975. All other settings and stats auto update to current season. __________________ Last edited by quillenl; 08-12-2020 at 06:08 PM. Reason: Added Rules

08-12-2020, 06:22 PM	#2
quillenl All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 581	1961 has ended with an exciting victory by the San Franciso Giants over the Baltimore Orioles in a series that ended with a 6-3 victory at home in game seven for the Giants behind Willie Mays and Juan Marichal. The Cubs were as bad as advertised in losing 91 victories. Truthfully, I was not as familiar with this period of Cubs history. I knew of the names... but I didn't realize these guys were all part of a terrible Cubs period at the same time. I'm looking at Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Richie Ashburn wondering how these guys couldn't muster up enough pitching to make a playoff run. In this history changing version of 1961 Ernie Banks won the triple crown... so I feel good about the pieces I start with. Attached Images __________________

08-12-2020, 06:35 PM	#3
quillenl All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 581	First order of business is getting the protection list submitted for the upcoming Expansion Draft. I've changed auto protect for expansions to "1 Year" since most players we see would have several years of Minors we would be unaware of with how OOTP works. I let the AI take first stab at it, but have to step in and make at least one change. The AI left Mike Cuellar off the protected list... and that just isn't happening. Richie Ashburn does not have much time left, and I can't make trades... so I honestly expected him to not make the cut. I must have forgotten the team won 63 games in thinking that because a couple bad unprotected relievers later Mr Ashburn finds himself having a few more years with the Cubs left! Attached Images __________________

08-12-2020, 07:21 PM	#4
quillenl All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 581	En route to our December Amateur Draft Jack Fisher wins the AL Cy Young Award going 24-7 for the Baltimore Orioles. Bob Friend of the Pittsburgh Pirates joins him from the National League with his own stellar 23-6 record managing to outpace both Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax who finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting. Mickey Mantle won the AL MVP award with a league-leading 10.2 WAR but notably finished no better than 3rd in any of the big three traditional statistical categories. Meanwhile, Triple Crown winner Ernie Banks finished behind Willie Mays who had his own decent season on the way to his World Series victory. I immediately get a list of players in the draft who never participated in an All Star Game and have to decide between 3B Ken McMullen 3B Bob Bailey C Ed Kirkpatrick SP Fred Norman SS Dal Maxvill Pickings are slim. Ron Santo is only 21 and will be at third for the next decade. Kirkpatrick and Maxvill are decent fielders, but nothing I wouldn't expect to find available in the second round... so I end up taking Fred Norman. He won't be good for a while... but eventually he'll be adequate in the rotation and may be a missing piece at that point if all goes well. In round two I no longer have to worry about All Star games... and their is a lot of talent. Sadly, a lot of that talent is at 1B, LF and RF where I have Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Lou Brock... but Joe Pepitone is still available and plays Center so we'll grab him and pray for starting pitchers another time. I finish up best available taking 3B Ken McMullerm in the 3rd round, RP Tommie Sisk in the 4th,, Brian McCall in the 5th (no stats after age 19 so chance of a dev boost), and finish the rest of the draft picking up young guys I have never heard of. __________________ Last edited by quillenl; 08-12-2020 at 07:36 PM.