An Experiment of 3 Teams - Page 14

chazzycat · 06-20-2019, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

My SaberCats like team (we'll be in Perfect with the SmallBallers next season) is exactly like this - horrible offense and pretty good defense.

Yeah...part of it is obviously the .9 AVG park factors, which makes all pitchers look like heroes and all batters look like scrubs. But the overall performance has been a bit disappointing to me. Not that being an average diamond team is anything to be ashamed of, spending just $9. But I was hoping to make perfect with this team. It seems unlikely without spending any more $$. I think the main issue is just that high-MOV pitchers and high-POW/EYE hitters (who also play D) are just rare and expensive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

But then again, my whole team BA in perfect is usually south of .220

Oh I don't even look at BAs for this team anymore. Too painful. The OBPs are slightly less horrible

Jeff1787 · 06-20-2019, 09:27 PM

I have a team in perfect that is modeled after your SaberCats. My batting averages are also pretty pathetic. I am now trying to find hitters with not only high Power/Eye, but high Contact. So I guess I am looking for players with high OPS...but who isn't....

This is also a totally free to play team.

chazzycat · 06-22-2019, 12:30 PM

That's awesome! Nice job getting to perfect, especially FTP...that is impressive. Are there any must have cards I'm missing?

In other news the SmallBallers have all but locked up the 2nd wild card (98% playoff chance).

The SaberCats are in a tight battle for a wild card spot as well, currently up just half a game, so anything could happen.

The Balancers who looked so good halfway through the season, just completely fell apart in the second half. They had a disastrous July, winning just 7 games. August was not much better winning just 10 games. It's so odd that this team is by far the least consistent. I would have thought they would be more predictable. The only change I made (adding Bill Dickey) worked out fantastically...he's been incredible. OBP over 400 and 2.4 WAR in just 180 PA. But everyone else just stopped performing completely.

Jeff1787 · 06-22-2019, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

That's awesome! Nice job getting to perfect, especially FTP...that is impressive. Are there any must have cards I'm missing?

In other news the SmallBallers have all but locked up the 2nd wild card (98% playoff chance).

The SaberCats are in a tight battle for a wild card spot as well, currently up just half a game, so anything could happen.

The Balancers who looked so good halfway through the season, just completely fell apart in the second half. They had a disastrous July, winning just 7 games. August was not much better winning just 10 games. It's so odd that this team is by far the least consistent. I would have thought they would be more predictable. The only change I made (adding Bill Dickey) worked out fantastically...he's been incredible. OBP over 400 and 2.4 WAR in just 180 PA. But everyone else just stopped performing completely.

Looks like I am going to be relegated!!

allenciox · 06-24-2019, 10:49 AM

So, it's interesting.... way back, when you first started posting about your three-team experiment, you inspired me to transform my third team into a smallball team. At the time, when I did it, I changed the name from the Knuckleheads to the Energizer Bunnies (since they keep goin' and goin'). That team has been quite effective, even making two playoffs in perfect. Now, this year, your smallballers have been put in the same perfect league as my bunnies. It should be a fun year.

chazzycat · 06-24-2019, 01:01 PM

Well the SmallBallers were the only team to make the playoffs last season, losing the wild card game in what turned out to be my least exciting weekend so far. But I did find two pretty good bargains to solidify my bullpen - Lee Smith and JJ Putz. I'm happy with those upgrades.

Also, the SmallBallers are joining the league over in this thread: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=303665

Looking forward to the competition!

Charlatan · 06-25-2019, 01:42 PM

You're also in the league with my Monuments, which is the SaberCats-like team I've been running for a while. It's like a convergence of all the streams (just don't cross them!).

Argonaut · 06-25-2019, 01:59 PM

I was inspired by my musings and conversations with chazzycat, along with his simulations to undertake a test. I think I have some conclusions.

Question: Does an actual smallball approach work in Perfect Team?
Hypothesis: Given the prevalence of the infield shift in modern baseball and in Perfect Team, perhaps players or a lineup focused on "bunting for hit" could provide an advantage. Simulations enforce the idea, especially if a player is a (lefty) pull-hitter.
Short Answer: No, it doesn't really work.

Long Answer: So I decided to run with an entire lineup of bunters, with individual strategy settings set to max bunting for hit. Might as well go all out. There was a minimum requirement of 60 BFH rating, and if that requirement was met I looked at other things like defense and regular hitting ability. There wasn't enough lefty pull-hitters to fill a team, so I let other guys in as well. This was my lineup for the Little Rock Crayons:

C Ivan Rodriguez 71 (Hardware)
1B Roberto Alomar 82 (All-Star)
2B Chris Sabo 73 (All-Star)
3B Bert Campaneris 79 (All-Star)
SS Luis Aparicio 66 (All-Star)
LF Rickey Henderson 70 (Record)
CF Kenny Lofton 75 (Rookie)
RF Tim Raines 77 (All-Star)
DH Darryl Strawberry 80 (All-Star)
C Roger Bresnahan 76 (Legend)
1B/DH Gregg Jefferies 72 (All-Star)
IF Rafael Furcal 68 (All-Star)
OF Ron LeFlore 67 (All-Star)

That's about as good as it gets for a bunting lineup, limiting the roster to Gold cards and below. There's some names that could improve it above that, but if you're running Ty Cobb on your team because of his bunting ability then I dunno what to say!

Other Factors: I decided to go minimum park factors... 0.9 AVG/HR and 0.5 doubles/triples. I don't know if bunting is affected by AVG sliders (logic says that it shouldn't?), but certainly suppressing gap hitting and homers should have helped me. My pitchers were all groundball specialists because my corner outfielders were a bit weak in the field, and I had a great infield defense.

Results: I ran this setup for a few seasons to make sure everyone was trained up at positions. The results were middling. In the last season, I managed a record slightly above .500 but out of the playoffs at Bronze level. If this lineup can't win at Bronze I doubt it's a viable strategy. Although Bronze is quite strong nowadays, especially in Our League.

My winning as is was more due to my strong groundball pitchers and infield defense. Offensive categories were all near or at worst in the league, even in park-adjusted formats. Interestingly, great bunters tend to be great basestealers, and I put up stealing numbers that would have shattered MLB records. But basestealing doesn't add much value. I think Rickey swiped 88 bags and wasn't caught much, but even then that was only worth about 1.0 WAR on its own. But with a team focused on bunting and stealing, it's definitely true to smallball.

Tim Raines, Luis Aparicio, and Roberto Alomar were probably the best players, but that's because they are already good cards on their own.

Conclusion: Although fun to try, real smallball (bunting and stealing) isn't a viable strategy in Perfect Team. BFH ratings can maybe enhance a card a bit against the infield shift, but it's not good enough to be a team-wide strategy.

I only have the time to do these long sort of posts at work and away from OOTP, so sorry that I don't have more specific details.

chazzycat · 06-25-2019, 02:20 PM

That's really interesting! Good stuff. Can't say I'm super surprised that it's not a good enough strategy to base a team around. But I still definitely keep my eyes out for any pull hitters with good bunting skills - I think the bunting skill neutralizes the damage done by the "pull" tendency at least.

chazzycat · 06-25-2019, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

You're also in the league with my Monuments, which is the SaberCats-like team I've been running for a while. It's like a convergence of all the streams (just don't cross them!).

I was looking around the league this morning and noticed something pretty crazy - 8 of the teams have my exact (SmallBaller) park modifier setup. And a handful also have the SaberCats setup. I think it's the most extreme collection of ballpark setups I've seen in one league. I'm guessing it's not going to be good for me...we'll see though

Jeff1787 · 06-25-2019, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

I was looking around the league this morning and noticed something pretty crazy - 8 of the teams have my exact (SmallBaller) park modifier setup. And a handful also have the SaberCats setup. I think it's the most extreme collection of ballpark setups I've seen in one league. I'm guessing it's not going to be good for me...we'll see though

My SaberCats like team just got relegated out of Perfect. I am going to play this entire season with absolutely no changes to the line-up. The only thing that I am changing is the ballpark factors. I am going back to a neutral ballpark.

chazzycat · 06-25-2019, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff1787

My SaberCats like team just got relegated out of Perfect. I am going to play this entire season with absolutely no changes to the line-up. The only thing that I am changing is the ballpark factors. I am going back to a neutral ballpark.

Interesting...let me know how it goes

chazzycat · 06-26-2019, 01:17 PM

Yep the SmallBallers are having their worst season in history so far. There's still time to turn it around, but it's not looking great. I gotta think that when so many teams have the same ballpark modifiers, I lose a lot of my advantage. Props to the savvy owners in that league for providing solid competition.

Another thing I've been thinking about is my earlier decision to stick with LaValliere at C. It's his 5th season in perfect, and he's averaging just 1.0 WAR per 162. When I look at the Smoky Burgesses around the league they are all much much better, 4-5 WAR per 162. So I guess I was just wrong about that.

The other teams are playing well in diamond though, both leading their divisions in the early goings. Hopefully they can keep it up, we'll see. The SaberCats are actually doing something strange...they are hitting! Currently 3rd in their league in runs scored. First in HR by a lot. I have my doubts this is sustainable, but who knows.

chazzycat · 06-30-2019, 02:18 PM

The SmallBallers ended up clawing their way back to a few games below .500, good for 4th in their division, but at least nowhere near relegation. So while not quite their worst week ever (the first week in perfect was worse), it was still a fairly disappointing performance. They did lead the league in batting average, but the offense was just 10th best overall, which I'm at a loss to explain. This league is a bit weird, with tons of extreme park setups.

Lenny Dykstra performed really well in his first full season, leading the team in WAR and putting up a .388 OBP. So that seems to be working out. Also, my defense is still elite - my +43 ZR was tops in the league. But the pitching really needs some attention...I've been neglecting it FAR too long. There may be some changes coming there.

The SaberCats had a pretty good year, and it's not over yet. They won their division, but they aren't a powerhouse or anything, winning 88 games with a +79 run differential. Currently tied 1-1 in the first playoff round. They ended up reverting to their old ways...the offense cooled down and was just average at the end. But average is still good for them, combined with elite run prevention.

Leading the offense as usual was Mike Trout...I don't talk about him much, but yeah he leads the team in WAR every single year, even his down years (this was one - just 5 WAR). Eddie Matthews and Aaron Judge were the other standouts this year with 4+ WAR. In total, 6 of my regulars hit at least 25 HR.

The Balancers had the best regular season of my teams, winning 96 games and their division handily. There was a bit of luck involved, with a +6 pythag record. And they are down 0-2 in the first round already. We'll see what happens in 15 minutes. But regardless, I'm still happy with their performance. They had a lot of solid contributors, on both offense & pitching sides, to put together a great season. With 4 straight playoff appearances I have to give this team some credit.

chazzycat · 07-01-2019, 02:06 AM

the SaberCats won the Diamond World Series! And now all three teams have won at least one championship. And we'll get to see how they fare in perfect next week.

chazzycat · 07-01-2019, 03:15 PM

Made some upgrades this morning - each team got a new SP. I'm actually pretty happy with the bargains I was able to find:

- for the SmallBallers, I nabbed special edition 90 Pedro Martinez for around 10k. While a far cry from the dominant higher priced versions of Pedro, I think this card is a good fit for the team who should put up solid K/BB ratios but not give up QUITE so many homers as some of my other guys.

- for the SaberCats I finally got a diamond SP. It's pretty amazing they made it this far with a gold/silver pitching staff, IMO. Most diamond SP with good movement are very expensive - 30k at least. But for some reason the Special Edition Dean Chance card (85 MOV) was only 12k. So I snapped that right up. His price probably won't stay that low for too long. I don't know why special edition cards seem to be at a discount right now, but hey I'll take it.

- the Balancers added diamond Steve Rogers also at a fair price. I've been looking for this card for quite a long time, so was happy to finally pick him up. He's got similar ratings to the other pitcher cards that have performed really well for me, and helps return balance to the staff because it was getting too lefty-heavy. Starting Pitching was already a strength for the Balancers the past couple weeks, and I'm hoping this will take them to the next level so they can join the other teams in perfect soon.

chazzycat · 07-03-2019, 01:23 PM

All three teams have started out pretty well this week. The SmallBallers are having a better season this time around (so far), leading the division by 4 games in the early goings. There do seem to be some smoke & mirrors involved...the run differential doesn't suggest a playoff team. But we'll see. Lenny Dykstra continues to tear it up, leading the team in WAR again and putting up an OBP over 400. Pedro has been only slightly better than Verlander so far.

The SaberCats are totally holding their own their first week in perfect. They are currently a couple games over .500, and may even contend for a wild card. I don't really expect the playoffs, but at least I feel somewhat safe from relegation. The team stats look familiar...strong pitching (5th best ERA) but horrible offense (2nd to last). They do lead the league in HR at least. I suspect this a fairly weak league for perfect...there's only one mega-whale, and he's in the other conference. So that's pretty lucky.

The Balancers look like a strong diamond team again, with the 2nd best run differential in the league. They are in one of those weird leagues this week with only 24 teams. At this point I'm just kind of waiting for them to get lucky in the playoffs to join the other teams in perfect. Steve Rogers has been fantastic so far, leading my pitching staff in all stats, so that seems like a good pickup. I'm kind of amused by the fact that Captain America is the MVP of team Thanos.

neugey · 07-03-2019, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

I'm kind of amused by the fact that Captain America is the MVP of team Thanos.

-

chazzycat · 07-08-2019, 12:39 PM

So, the SmallBallers just wrapped up an awesome Cinderella-story season, winning the perfect league world series for the first time. I say Cinderella story because there was truly a ton of luck involved. I wasn't anywhere close to the best team in the league, with a run differential of just +8 on the season. But with lady luck on my side, I won 92 games and cruised to the division title. And then in the playoffs, again I was very fortunate that the megawhale I was seemingly destined to face in the CS was beaten by a more mortal team. In the finals, I was matched up with a crafty all-lefty team and the series went the full distance. I'd like to think it was my tinkering with the rotation and lineups that allowed me to eventually prevail...but who knows, that was probably luck too. Plus I have a lot of lefties myself, so he didn't really have a huge advantage. Anyways, thank the baseball gods, I can rest in peace now.

The SaberCats managed to hold their own a week in random perfect league. They were below average, but never super close to the very bottom, so I guess I feel OK about them "belonging" in perfect. I've joined them up with the SmallBallers over in the NFTP/OL league (doldrums league?...not quite sure what to call it). Anyways, for the first time we'll see how the two teams perform in the same league together.

The Balancers had another sad playoff run. The fifth time was, unfortunately, not the charm. They did manage to win the wild card game, but then got swept in the division series. So this week we try again.

OMGPuppies · 07-08-2019, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

So, the SmallBallers just wrapped up an awesome Cinderella-story season, winning the perfect league world series for the first time. I say Cinderella story because there was truly a ton of luck involved. I wasn't anywhere close to the best team in the league, with a run differential of just +8 on the season. But with lady luck on my side, I won 92 games and cruised to the division title. And then in the playoffs, again I was very fortunate that the megawhale I was seemingly destined to face in the CS was beaten by a more mortal team. In the finals, I was matched up with a crafty all-lefty team and the series went the full distance. I'd like to think it was my tinkering with the rotation and lineups that allowed me to eventually prevail...but who knows, that was probably luck too. Plus I have a lot of lefties myself, so he didn't really have a huge advantage. Anyways, thank the baseball gods, I can rest in peace now.

The SaberCats managed to hold their own a week in random perfect league. They were below average, but never super close to the very bottom, so I guess I feel OK about them "belonging" in perfect. I've joined them up with the SmallBallers over in the NFTP/OL league (doldrums league?...not quite sure what to call it). Anyways, for the first time we'll see how the two teams perform in the same league together.

The Balancers had another sad playoff run. The fifth time was, unfortunately, not the charm. They did manage to win the wild card game, but then got swept in the division series. So this week we try again.

Congrats chazzycat!

06-20-2019, 09:27 PM	#262
Jeff1787 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Doghouse Posts: 3,536	I have a team in perfect that is modeled after your SaberCats. My batting averages are also pretty pathetic. I am now trying to find hitters with not only high Power/Eye, but high Contact. So I guess I am looking for players with high OPS...but who isn't.... This is also a totally free to play team. __________________ 1903: The hatchet is finally buried

06-24-2019, 10:49 AM	#265
allenciox All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 735	So, it's interesting.... way back, when you first started posting about your three-team experiment, you inspired me to transform my third team into a smallball team. At the time, when I did it, I changed the name from the Knuckleheads to the Energizer Bunnies (since they keep goin' and goin'). That team has been quite effective, even making two playoffs in perfect. Now, this year, your smallballers have been put in the same perfect league as my bunnies. It should be a fun year. __________________ Last edited by allenciox; 06-24-2019 at 10:50 AM.

06-25-2019, 01:59 PM	#268
Argonaut All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 1,085	Smallball I was inspired by my musings and conversations with chazzycat, along with his simulations to undertake a test. I think I have some conclusions. Question: Does an actual smallball approach work in Perfect Team? Hypothesis: Given the prevalence of the infield shift in modern baseball and in Perfect Team, perhaps players or a lineup focused on "bunting for hit" could provide an advantage. Simulations enforce the idea, especially if a player is a (lefty) pull-hitter. Short Answer: No, it doesn't really work. Long Answer: So I decided to run with an entire lineup of bunters, with individual strategy settings set to max bunting for hit. Might as well go all out. There was a minimum requirement of 60 BFH rating, and if that requirement was met I looked at other things like defense and regular hitting ability. There wasn't enough lefty pull-hitters to fill a team, so I let other guys in as well. This was my lineup for the Little Rock Crayons: C Ivan Rodriguez 71 (Hardware) 1B Roberto Alomar 82 (All-Star) 2B Chris Sabo 73 (All-Star) 3B Bert Campaneris 79 (All-Star) SS Luis Aparicio 66 (All-Star) LF Rickey Henderson 70 (Record) CF Kenny Lofton 75 (Rookie) RF Tim Raines 77 (All-Star) DH Darryl Strawberry 80 (All-Star) C Roger Bresnahan 76 (Legend) 1B/DH Gregg Jefferies 72 (All-Star) IF Rafael Furcal 68 (All-Star) OF Ron LeFlore 67 (All-Star) That's about as good as it gets for a bunting lineup, limiting the roster to Gold cards and below. There's some names that could improve it above that, but if you're running Ty Cobb on your team because of his bunting ability then I dunno what to say! Other Factors: I decided to go minimum park factors... 0.9 AVG/HR and 0.5 doubles/triples. I don't know if bunting is affected by AVG sliders (logic says that it shouldn't?), but certainly suppressing gap hitting and homers should have helped me. My pitchers were all groundball specialists because my corner outfielders were a bit weak in the field, and I had a great infield defense. Results: I ran this setup for a few seasons to make sure everyone was trained up at positions. The results were middling. In the last season, I managed a record slightly above .500 but out of the playoffs at Bronze level. If this lineup can't win at Bronze I doubt it's a viable strategy. Although Bronze is quite strong nowadays, especially in Our League. My winning as is was more due to my strong groundball pitchers and infield defense. Offensive categories were all near or at worst in the league, even in park-adjusted formats. Interestingly, great bunters tend to be great basestealers, and I put up stealing numbers that would have shattered MLB records. But basestealing doesn't add much value. I think Rickey swiped 88 bags and wasn't caught much, but even then that was only worth about 1.0 WAR on its own. But with a team focused on bunting and stealing, it's definitely true to smallball. Tim Raines, Luis Aparicio, and Roberto Alomar were probably the best players, but that's because they are already good cards on their own. Conclusion: Although fun to try, real smallball (bunting and stealing) isn't a viable strategy in Perfect Team. BFH ratings can maybe enhance a card a bit against the infield shift, but it's not good enough to be a team-wide strategy. I only have the time to do these long sort of posts at work and away from OOTP, so sorry that I don't have more specific details. __________________ Texas Rangers Dynasty (Est. 1972) Hartford Whalers Dynasty: Brass Bonanza Last edited by Argonaut; 06-25-2019 at 02:45 PM.

06-22-2019, 12:30 PM	#263
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	That's awesome! Nice job getting to perfect, especially FTP...that is impressive. Are there any must have cards I'm missing? In other news the SmallBallers have all but locked up the 2nd wild card (98% playoff chance). The SaberCats are in a tight battle for a wild card spot as well, currently up just half a game, so anything could happen. The Balancers who looked so good halfway through the season, just completely fell apart in the second half. They had a disastrous July, winning just 7 games. August was not much better winning just 10 games. It's so odd that this team is by far the least consistent. I would have thought they would be more predictable. The only change I made (adding Bill Dickey) worked out fantastically...he's been incredible. OBP over 400 and 2.4 WAR in just 180 PA. But everyone else just stopped performing completely.

06-24-2019, 01:01 PM	#266
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Well the SmallBallers were the only team to make the playoffs last season, losing the wild card game in what turned out to be my least exciting weekend so far. But I did find two pretty good bargains to solidify my bullpen - Lee Smith and JJ Putz. I'm happy with those upgrades. Also, the SmallBallers are joining the league over in this thread: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=303665 Looking forward to the competition!

06-25-2019, 01:42 PM	#267
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,492	You're also in the league with my Monuments, which is the SaberCats-like team I've been running for a while. It's like a convergence of all the streams (just don't cross them!).

06-25-2019, 02:20 PM	#269
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	That's really interesting! Good stuff. Can't say I'm super surprised that it's not a good enough strategy to base a team around. But I still definitely keep my eyes out for any pull hitters with good bunting skills - I think the bunting skill neutralizes the damage done by the "pull" tendency at least.

06-26-2019, 01:17 PM	#273
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Yep the SmallBallers are having their worst season in history so far. There's still time to turn it around, but it's not looking great. I gotta think that when so many teams have the same ballpark modifiers, I lose a lot of my advantage. Props to the savvy owners in that league for providing solid competition. Another thing I've been thinking about is my earlier decision to stick with LaValliere at C. It's his 5th season in perfect, and he's averaging just 1.0 WAR per 162. When I look at the Smoky Burgesses around the league they are all much much better, 4-5 WAR per 162. So I guess I was just wrong about that. The other teams are playing well in diamond though, both leading their divisions in the early goings. Hopefully they can keep it up, we'll see. The SaberCats are actually doing something strange...they are hitting! Currently 3rd in their league in runs scored. First in HR by a lot. I have my doubts this is sustainable, but who knows.

06-30-2019, 02:18 PM	#274
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	The SmallBallers ended up clawing their way back to a few games below .500, good for 4th in their division, but at least nowhere near relegation. So while not quite their worst week ever (the first week in perfect was worse), it was still a fairly disappointing performance. They did lead the league in batting average, but the offense was just 10th best overall, which I'm at a loss to explain. This league is a bit weird, with tons of extreme park setups. Lenny Dykstra performed really well in his first full season, leading the team in WAR and putting up a .388 OBP. So that seems to be working out. Also, my defense is still elite - my +43 ZR was tops in the league. But the pitching really needs some attention...I've been neglecting it FAR too long. There may be some changes coming there. The SaberCats had a pretty good year, and it's not over yet. They won their division, but they aren't a powerhouse or anything, winning 88 games with a +79 run differential. Currently tied 1-1 in the first playoff round. They ended up reverting to their old ways...the offense cooled down and was just average at the end. But average is still good for them, combined with elite run prevention. Leading the offense as usual was Mike Trout...I don't talk about him much, but yeah he leads the team in WAR every single year, even his down years (this was one - just 5 WAR). Eddie Matthews and Aaron Judge were the other standouts this year with 4+ WAR. In total, 6 of my regulars hit at least 25 HR. The Balancers had the best regular season of my teams, winning 96 games and their division handily. There was a bit of luck involved, with a +6 pythag record. And they are down 0-2 in the first round already. We'll see what happens in 15 minutes. But regardless, I'm still happy with their performance. They had a lot of solid contributors, on both offense & pitching sides, to put together a great season. With 4 straight playoff appearances I have to give this team some credit.

07-01-2019, 02:06 AM	#275
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	the SaberCats won the Diamond World Series! And now all three teams have won at least one championship. And we'll get to see how they fare in perfect next week.

07-01-2019, 03:15 PM	#276
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Made some upgrades this morning - each team got a new SP. I'm actually pretty happy with the bargains I was able to find: - for the SmallBallers, I nabbed special edition 90 Pedro Martinez for around 10k. While a far cry from the dominant higher priced versions of Pedro, I think this card is a good fit for the team who should put up solid K/BB ratios but not give up QUITE so many homers as some of my other guys. - for the SaberCats I finally got a diamond SP. It's pretty amazing they made it this far with a gold/silver pitching staff, IMO. Most diamond SP with good movement are very expensive - 30k at least. But for some reason the Special Edition Dean Chance card (85 MOV) was only 12k. So I snapped that right up. His price probably won't stay that low for too long. I don't know why special edition cards seem to be at a discount right now, but hey I'll take it. - the Balancers added diamond Steve Rogers also at a fair price. I've been looking for this card for quite a long time, so was happy to finally pick him up. He's got similar ratings to the other pitcher cards that have performed really well for me, and helps return balance to the staff because it was getting too lefty-heavy. Starting Pitching was already a strength for the Balancers the past couple weeks, and I'm hoping this will take them to the next level so they can join the other teams in perfect soon.

07-03-2019, 01:23 PM	#277
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	All three teams have started out pretty well this week. The SmallBallers are having a better season this time around (so far), leading the division by 4 games in the early goings. There do seem to be some smoke & mirrors involved...the run differential doesn't suggest a playoff team. But we'll see. Lenny Dykstra continues to tear it up, leading the team in WAR again and putting up an OBP over 400. Pedro has been only slightly better than Verlander so far. The SaberCats are totally holding their own their first week in perfect. They are currently a couple games over .500, and may even contend for a wild card. I don't really expect the playoffs, but at least I feel somewhat safe from relegation. The team stats look familiar...strong pitching (5th best ERA) but horrible offense (2nd to last). They do lead the league in HR at least. I suspect this a fairly weak league for perfect...there's only one mega-whale, and he's in the other conference. So that's pretty lucky. The Balancers look like a strong diamond team again, with the 2nd best run differential in the league. They are in one of those weird leagues this week with only 24 teams. At this point I'm just kind of waiting for them to get lucky in the playoffs to join the other teams in perfect. Steve Rogers has been fantastic so far, leading my pitching staff in all stats, so that seems like a good pickup. I'm kind of amused by the fact that Captain America is the MVP of team Thanos.

07-08-2019, 12:39 PM	#279
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	So, the SmallBallers just wrapped up an awesome Cinderella-story season, winning the perfect league world series for the first time. I say Cinderella story because there was truly a ton of luck involved. I wasn't anywhere close to the best team in the league, with a run differential of just +8 on the season. But with lady luck on my side, I won 92 games and cruised to the division title. And then in the playoffs, again I was very fortunate that the megawhale I was seemingly destined to face in the CS was beaten by a more mortal team. In the finals, I was matched up with a crafty all-lefty team and the series went the full distance. I'd like to think it was my tinkering with the rotation and lineups that allowed me to eventually prevail...but who knows, that was probably luck too. Plus I have a lot of lefties myself, so he didn't really have a huge advantage. Anyways, thank the baseball gods, I can rest in peace now. The SaberCats managed to hold their own a week in random perfect league. They were below average, but never super close to the very bottom, so I guess I feel OK about them "belonging" in perfect. I've joined them up with the SmallBallers over in the NFTP/OL league (doldrums league?...not quite sure what to call it). Anyways, for the first time we'll see how the two teams perform in the same league together. The Balancers had another sad playoff run. The fifth time was, unfortunately, not the charm. They did manage to win the wild card game, but then got swept in the division series. So this week we try again.