San Francisco Sports Dynasty

[UngratefulDead]

Thanks to Lawley for the idea. This dynasty will focus on my two favorite sports teams, the San Francisco Giants, and the San Francisco 49ers. I'm primarily a baseball fan so my knowledge is more limited on football, but I'll try my best.

I'll be starting prior to the 2004 season with baseball, but I'll start the football updates when that season begins. I've never really done anything like this before, so I'd be happy for suggestions.. I'll be using OOTP for the baseball section and playing out all of my games, though I won't do as in-depth reports as I usually do. Football will be run using ESPN NFL 2k5, and I'll play out those games as well. I'm not that good at it, but I found a difficulty level that gets realistic enough results.

Comments and suggestions appreciated.

[UngratefulDead]

March 15, 2004

______________________
San Francisco Giants owner Peter McGowan and 49ers owner John York.

Lotto Winner Purchases Giants, 49ers!

The California State Lotto's wealthiest winner, 21 year old college student Jake Scott was given a lot of advice following his pay-out, but he didn't listen to a word of it. "My mom told me to save it and live off the interest and my buddies wanted the worlds largest kegger, but I knew what I wanted. How many times in my life have I watched one of the bone-headed moves made by my favorite sports teams and known I could do better? Now's my chance to prove it."

The young multimillionare is now the majority owner of both the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League and Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants. Previous owners Peter McGowan and John York were both happy with their current positions but were swayed by an undisclosed but substantial amount of money into selling. "I love football and I love the 49ers," said John York, "But, that's an awful lot of money. And besides, as people keep telling me, I'm a jackass." Peter McGowan was unavailable for comment vacationing in Hawaii with sometime defensive replacement and cabana boy Cody Ransom.

[Jackie-O]

A great begining to what is surely going to be an awsome new thread. I cant wait to read more.

[UngratefulDead]

March 16, 2004

________________
General Manager Brian Sabean and Manager Felipe Alou will retain their positions with the club.

Sabean and Alou to Remain With Giants

One day after announcing his acquisition of the storied San Francisco Giants franchise, new owner Jake Scott made news by doing... absolutely nothing. In a press conference, Scott stated that he will keep both General Manager Brian Sabean and club manager Felipe Alou in their previous positions. "Sabean is still GM, though not quite to the extent he was before. He'll continue to sniff out trades and give advice, but everything will go through me, especially free agency once the off-season rolls around. We wouldn't want to end up with a 35 year old catcher with no stick or something ridiculous like that." On Alou, "I love Felipe, the players love Felipe, nothing will change with Felipe. He'll be out there every day, pulling twice as many pitchers as usual, just like you saw last season."

No announcement has been made regarding the 49er football team, though it is expected to come before football season begins.

[UngratefulDead]

Originally Posted by Jackie-O

A great begining to what is surely going to be an awsome new thread. I cant wait to read more.

I'll pretend your not just massaging my ego there..

[Dam610]

Cool new dynasty idea. Does anyone know if there is a football simulator like OOTP?

Also, what will become of the Gload?

[WillTheThrill]

Sounds great, can't wait to read about my two favorite teams.

[UngratefulDead]

Originally Posted by Dam610

Cool new dynasty idea. Does anyone know if there is a football simulator like OOTP?

Also, what will become of the Gload?

I believe there's a few, but I'm broke right now so I'll stick with what I've got. I'll continue to update the Gload, hopefully with greater regularity than I have been lately.

Originally Posted by WillTheThrill

Sounds great, can't wait to read about my two favorite teams.

[UngratefulDead]

Last year's Cy Young runner-up, Jason Schmidt, looks to repeat his previous success.

Starting Rotation

Jason Schmidt is the definition of an ace. When healthy he has no problem pitching 200 or more innings and his arm troubles have all but disappeared of late. He'll rack up plenty of strikeouts and on a good team can win 20 games easily. The second most important player on the team (the first being obvious). Unfortunately, the drop-off of pitching talent beyond Schmidt is steep.

Kirk Reuter is a junk-baller similar to Greg Maddux. In fielding ability. In pitching, he's maybe a poor (like, Ethiopia poor) man's Maddux. He won't strike out anybody but he doesn't walk many either. He has an excellent groundball ratio and gets a lot of double plays, many of them started by himself. He has very little endurance and I'm happy to get five good innings out of him on any given day.

Jerome Williams is young and talented but like most young and talented pitchers, very inconsistant. He has good stamina and with both Reuter and Hermanson in the rotation I'll try to get a lot of innings out of him. Hopefully his arm will be able to handle it. He's a different guy depending on which side of the plate you bat from, against lefties his control goes out the window but you'll rarely see a home run and against righties he can locate his pitches much better and is more balanced. The 22 year old Hawaiian will try to avoid the sophomore slump and help keep our makeshift rotation together.

Brett Tomko is garbage. One of those can't miss prospects that, well, missed, Tomko is only here because I have no other choice. If he can't be even mediocre look for a younger guy to take his place, maybe even Jesse Foppert when he recovers from elbow surgery.

Dustin Hermanson is probably better than Tomko but his stamina makes him my fifth starter. He's a very balanced pitcher but he doesn't excel at anything and occasionally leaves the ball up a little. Another guy who can be easily replaced in the event of injury or innefectiveness.

Down on the Farm

Jesse Foppert is more in the infirmary than the farm really, but he's probably our best pitching prospect. Currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, Foppert is a young fireballer who could be either Carlos Zambrano or Rick Ankiel. My hopes for the former, obviously, though the latter could also be quite entertaining.

Kevin Correia is unlikely to put it together at 23, but at his worst he'll just be Brett Tomko. He needs to work on his strikeout numbers if he wants to make it to the majors.

Noah Lowry is an injury away from the majors, and, while he probably won't make a splash, if he ever reaches his potential he'll be a very solid starter. He relies on control, rather than speed, but you'd be surprised how many guys swing through his changeup.

Merkin "El Mago" Valdez is about a year from the majors but has earned early comparisions to Juan Marichal. I wouldn't go quite that far, but he is definitely a blue-chip prospect and the 22 year old will start the year at AAA.

Matt Cain is a 19 year old fireballer, so it's definitely too early to make any predictions, but a teenager in AA putting up good numbers will definitely raise eyebrows. Together with Merkin and Foppert rounds out a very promising trio of young hurlers.

Ben Thurmond, Jeff Clark, Jesse English, Pat Misch, and Jesse Floyd round out the rest of our pitching prospects, but none of them are likely to make any impact this year, or, for that matter, ever. Ryan Jensen is a useless excuse for a baseball player, but if the 28 year olds new knuckleball somehow infuses him with talent he's an emergency emergency starter.

[UngratefulDead]

Robb Nen isn't actually in the bullpen this year, but he's cooler looking than any of the real guys.

Bullpen

Matt Herges is the de facto closer. De facto, if you're not familiar with the phrase, is Latin for "everybody else sucks". Or something to that extent. Herges isn't bad, but he's certainly not the dominating force you want to hand the ball to with a one-run lead. As long as he can avoid the deer in headlights mentality he suffered from this year, he should be serviceable.

Felix Rodriguez is an elite set-up man, but no better a closer option than Herges, particularly due to his affinity for late-inning home runs. He's in the final year of his contract and will only be returning if he's affordable.

Jim Brower is the go-to guy out of the 'pen. If Felipe Alou had his way, Brower would probably pitch well over three hundred innings, but I'll try to keep it more reasonable. A groundball pitcher who rarely gives up home runs, Brower is an excellent guy to bring in with runners on base. He also has the stamina to spot start, though not enough to hold a position barring multiple injuries. For now he's my long man or seventh inning guy.

Jason Christianson is one of the three left-handers on the staff, and the best one, if you ask me. He's actually more effective against righties and will be my first or second reliever off the bench.

Scott Eyre is a lefty specialist who won't face many right-handed batters. Against southpaws he's quite good and is another guy not prone to the longball.

Chad Zerbe is the eleventh reliever, a southpaw who can pitch to righties or lefties. Sort of a Kirk Reuter out of the pen, but better. A shame he doesn't have more stamina. He'll be second off the bench behind Scott Eyre.

Down on the Farm

David Aardsma is a blue-chip prospect, though it's hard to be too excited about a first round draft pick reliever. If he meets his potential he'll be my closer of the future, if he doesn't, well, the world can always use another Salomon Torres.

There aren't any other real relief prospects in the organization though Kevin Walker and Leo Estrella are both under 30 and capable of filling in in the event of injury. At least one of my starting prospects may well end up in the bullpen eventually as well.

[UngratefulDead]

A left fielder who'll start for us next year. Some pop and a good eye, I'm told.

Lineup

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski is probably the best offensive backstop in the National League, except maybe Mike Piazza. Volumes could be written on his baserunning ability and cheery demeanor, but for now we'll just pencil him into the five-spot. He's a batting-average reliant hitter who never walks or K's, so expect him to be inconsistant. He's about average defensively.

First baseman J.T. Snow is getting along in years, and there isn't much of a market for light hitting corner infielders. He's in the last year of his contract, and is getting by at this point solely on his above average batting eye and spectacular defense. He probably won't be back next year but will start against righties for now.

Second baseman Ray Durham is a very well-rounded player. He can walk, hit for average and power, and steal. I'd like to see him batting behind Bonds, but unless we come up with a true leadoff man, Durham will bat first. He has good range at second but iron hands.

Third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo is 30 going on 50. His range has gone the same way as his bat since coming over from New York and he's no longer anything more than an average fielder. He has a strong arm and an excellent batting eye and he rarely strikes out, but he's still overpaid.

Shortstop Deivi Cruz has never met a pitch he didn't like. If only he met more he could hit, he might be an average player. As it is, he's only on the team because the alternative is even worse. His defense is mediocre at a position you want spectacular.

Left field is filled.

Centerfielder Marquis Grissom is entering the latter stages of his career, but he's still got some gas in the tank. His hitting is much better against southpaws, but he can hold his own against righties as well. His defense is declining but old Gold Glovers die hard. His reflexes aren't what they used to be, but he can still steal a base every now and then.

Right field will be a platoon between Michael Tucker and Dustin Mohr. The players are virtually identical except that one is right handed and the other a lefty. They are mediocre hitters with slightly above average eyes and good defense at either corner.

[UngratefulDead]

Neifi Perez represents all that is evil and wrong in the world. Also, he eats babies.

Bench

Our backup catcher is young Venzuelan Yorvit Torrealba. He can actually hit, which is why we had to trade away our best reliever for another catcher who can hit marginally better. Against lefties, Yorvit might even be a better option than Pierzynski, so I'll try to make most of A.J.'s rest days come against southpaws. Yorvit also plays spectacular defense and I'm told smells like lavender.

Pedro Feliz will play anywhere in the infield or outfield though he doesn't have the speed to handle up the middle very well. He's a good first and third baseman and can hold his own in the corner outfield spots, though he'll get most of his at-bats at first. With the bat he has power but not much discipline. He'll get around 400 at-bats here and there.

Neifi Perez is the worst player ever. I hate him. I want to feed his fingertips to wolverines. He's second on the depth chart at both shortstop and second base.

Jeffrey Hammonds is actually a pretty good player. He hits lefties very well and would play center but Grissom actually hits lefties better. At any rate, Hammonds is an injury away from the lineup and will get some starts in center against righthanders.

Tony Torcato is a left-handed bat off the bench and should flourish as a pinch-hitter. At 24 he's barely a prospect, but he can play any of the outfield positions and third base and looks to be a fixture on my bench for years to come. He doesn't have the pop or the discipline to start unless the injury bug starts biting.

[WillTheThrill]

Originally Posted by UngratefulDead

Neifi Perez represents all that is evil and wrong in the world. Also, he eats babies.

If only it weren't true

[UngratefulDead]

Prince Fielder is on the Brewers. It sure would be cool if the Giants had him, though.

Hitting Prospects

Okay, that title was misleading. We don't actually "have" and "hitting" "prospects" per se. No amount of quotation marks is going to change that, so I should just give up. Anyway, here's the guys we have who might ever get a major league at-bat.

Todd Linden has actually already had some major-league at-bats, and hit .200 with one huge home run. That's about all I'd expect from him, ever. If he can meet his potential, he'll be a fourth outfielder.

Lance Niekro is a batting average dependent corner infielder with no power and even less discipline. Nah, don't like that.

Travis Ishikawa and Dan Ortmeier might amount to something, but it's too early to tell at this stage in their careers. They are Giants hitting prospects, so chances are they'll reach AAA, tear the league up, then turn out to actually be in their mid-fourties.

[Jestor]

De facto, if you're not familiar with the phrase, is Latin for "everybody else sucks".

Roffle. Brilliant start so far, though I despise Barry Bonds with every fibre of my being.

[jeheinz72]

Haha. This is great! Loving the Giants stuff.

[UngratefulDead]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Roffle. Brilliant start so far, though I despise Barry Bonds with every fibre of my being.

Originally Posted by jeheinz72

Haha. This is great! Loving the Giants stuff.

Always glad to hear it. (well, except for the Bonds stuff, but whatever.. )

[UngratefulDead]

March 31, 2004


Third baseman Alex Rodriguez homered off of Jeremi Gonzalez in his first at-bat as a Yankee.

Yankees Edge Out Devil Rays in Japan
Yankees 7, Devil Rays 6

The heavily favored New York Yankees barely squeezed by the lowly Devil Rays in a 7-6 Opening Day victory played at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The Bronx Bombers trailed 6-4 going into the seventh but rallied for three runs capped by a Hideki Matsui two-run single that brought the Japanese crowd to it's feet. Both starters were knocked out of the game early, Kevin Brown lasted less than four innings allowing six runs and Jeremi Gonzalez five and two thirds allowing four. Travis Harper took the loss for Tampa Bay allowing three runs in one and a third and Jorge DePaula was the winner for the Yankees with four innings of one-hit ball. Mariano Rivera pitched through an error in the ninth to notch his first save of the year. Both Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi homered for the Yankees and Julio Lugo hit a bases loaded triple in the first inning for the Devil Rays.

[UngratefulDead]

April 1, 2004


Mariano Rivera took the loss for New York when he couldn't keep the game tied in the eighth.

Devil Rays Turn Tables in Land of the Rising Sun
Devil Rays 7, Yankees 6

In a reverse score of yesterday's contest, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays upset the New York Yankees with a 7-6 victory in front of a packed Tokyo Dome. The Devil Rays took a commanding lead with a five run third, but New York worked its way back into the game, finally taking a 6-5 lead on Jason Giambi's two-run homer in the eighth. When Steve Karsay couldn't hold the lead in the eighth, Mariano Rivera entered the tie game and allowed Aubrey Huff's second double of the night to make it a 7-6 margin that would prove to be the final score. The starters Doug Waechter and Mike Mussina again didn't figure into the decision, though both pitched less than admirably, as Travis Harper earned the victory for Tampa Bay and Rivera was saddled with the loss for New York. Al Reyes earned his first save of the season pitching the eighth and ninth, allowing one run and striking out three.

[Tiger Fan]

Not normally a fan of modern day dynasties but I am enjoying this one. Keep it up.