Yet Another OOTP6 Dynasty, Year 2: One Flew Over the Pale Hose

[jaykno14]

Fantastic thread. I plan on following this this year that way I can actually read the whole thing! Keep up the good work and don't get too discouraged if you continue to lose! :-)

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by TotalEnd98

Jorge Posada was not a late bloomer. He was a criminally-mismanaged catcher, who didn't get the playing time he deserved because the Yankees apparently were getting great oral sex from Joe Girardi or someone supporting him and his 650ish '97-'99 OPS.

Everyone knows how much I hate lists of numbers, but they paint a much better picture than do words in this case. (numbers through 2003, for reasons you'll see later)

AGE/LEVEL	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG
20 (S/S A)	217	.235	.384	.359
21 (A or Lo-A)	339	.277	.386	.472
22 (Hi-A)	410	.259	.366	.459
22 (AA)		25	.280	.338	.280
23 (AAA)	313	.240	.315	.406
24 (AAA)	368	.255	.355	.435
25 (AAA)	354	.271	.407	.460
25 (MLB)	14	.071	.071	.133
26 (MLB)	188	.250	.359	.410
27 (MLB)	358	.268	.350	.475
28 (MLB)	379	.245	.341	.401
29 (MLB)	505	.287	.417	.527
30 (MLB)	484	.277	.363	.475
31 (MLB)	511	.268	.370	.468
32 (MLB)	481	.281	.405	.518

That's way, way too many numbers for me. In any case, I originally referred to Posada only because I knew that he wasn't in the majors at a real young age and because I figured Elston Howard's stat line doesn't tell the whole story. But after checking Posada's numbers here, which you see above, I'm convinced that my subconscious may have been telling me something here. Check the slugging totals. Aside from a year in Low-A, Posada never touched the high-.400's, and even with that year, certainly didn't slug .518. His AAA numbers (why did he skip AA?) don't suggest a whole lot more than what he put up in his age 26 season -- middling average, patience, and OK power for a catcher. That was in '97.

Then he hit 17 home runs splitting time with Girardi the next year. But he was 27 years old -- the historical "peak" year for hitters. In '99, a rough year on all ends (remember all the crap slung about his defense and "game-calling"?), but Girardi was worse, and Jorge turned into Posada as the 21st century hit. But you couldn't have really expected that power stroke, as far as I can tell. Maybe I am missing a lot without park effects and with large gaps in my brain, but, yes, I think Posada was a late bloomer. Why his power came, how you could tell -- ya got me, aside from "walks are a good sign." If you know anything beyond that, don't tell me -- go call Brian Cashman, please. If it means less of Tony "Woe-Mack Daddy"...

For the heck of it, and to bring things back around to the Pale Hose, here are his stats the last three years, his final three in New York as he's now set to teach the 2007 Expos how to win.

YEAR/AGE	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG
2004 (33)	491	.267	.353	.513
2005 (34)	499	.295	.378	.495
2006 (35)	451	.242	.333	.366

The bloom may be off his rose by now.

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by jaykno14

Fantastic thread. I plan on following this this year that way I can actually read the whole thing! Keep up the good work and don't get too discouraged if you continue to lose! :-)

Thanks, Jay! The losing has become secondary to the team, by now, so even if we go 10-152...well, I'll probably break something by that point, but I'll keep updating if only because it will create many hilarious nicknames!

So, uh, a very long two-post digression. Back to the world of the Pale Hose!

[cknox0723]

The Mets are obviously the runaway favorites, as they have an outside chance to approach the other New York team's record. The other four teams probably couldn't do that in the International League. Nevertheless, Atlanta is not a bad team so much as a flawed one. They've still got enough firepower to be in the wild card mix, and though I'm loathe to admit it, with a trade or two, Philly could be in the same situation. But I'm sure as hell not falling back on last year's standings again, so the underdog Expos will slot in for fourth while the Circus Marlins, the world's newest freak show attraction, will bring up the rear.

Just don't quote me on that. Any of it.

[TotalEnd98]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

Everyone knows how much I hate lists of numbers, but they paint a much better picture than do words in this case. (numbers through 2003, for reasons you'll see later)

(lists of numbers followed)

Excellent points, but I think we just had different conceptions of "late bloomer." I was referring to the fact that he could have been the primary catcher for the Yankees a lot earlier than he was, and even after he was he lost a lot of time to Girardi for no good reason. But yes, he is a late bloomer in the sense that he hit his peak a lot later than you'd expect.

EDIT: In addition, I do wonder how much of his latebloomerness was due to the conversion to catcher.

[Y0DA55]

GO METS!

[TotalEnd98]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

Thanks, Jay! The losing has become secondary to the team, by now, so even if we go 10-152...well, I'll probably break something by that point, but I'll keep updating if only because it will create many hilarious nicknames!

So, uh, a very long two-post digression. Back to the world of the Pale Hose!

If you go 10-152, and actually post a dissertation on all 152 losses without giving up, then drinks are on me.

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by TotalEnd98

Excellent points, but I think we just had different conceptions of "late bloomer."

Probably so, but that's how all good flame wars start, isn't it? Too bad that's about as likely to happen here as a Tampa Bay World Series trip, but on second thought, that's for the best.

Agree 100% with the rest of your points.

Originally Posted by Y0DA55

GO METS!

Fanboy.

Originally Posted by TotalEnd98

If you go 10-152, and actually post a dissertation on all 152 losses without giving up, then drinks are on me.

If you extend the definition of dissertation to involve wanton swearing at Esteban Loaiza every fifth game, I'm pretty confident I can do it, and it'd be well worth a frosty, cold chocolate milk.

And coming up, straight out of left field...we have some real, live baseball! So to speak, of course.

[cknox0723]

I've long been fascinated by guys that didn't quite make it, those who came this close to being big leaguers, or stars, but had to settle for living on the fringes and outskirts of top-quality baseball. Spring training is a chance for some of these unknowns, maybe the only chance. So it's only natural that I eventually would come up with a plan to experience that part of the game beyond fiddling with numbers to "improve" players. After backing up the old file, playing around with the rosters, and creating a three-game schedule, I've done just that.

So as a diversion from previews of every single team, you'll get to see the lesser lights of the Pale Hose in my own little Grapefruit Pomegranate League. No Buehrle or Ordonez or Roa; these are "B-squad" games you'll read about. Erick Blackburn, Ryan Wing, Clint King. I want to see what these guys are really like, rather than just associating stat lines to names. Games against the defending WORLD CHAMPION Indians, the Empire, and the other Chicago team seem most appropriate, so we'll have 27 bonus innings of Pale Hose coverage (for no additional charge!), spread out over the next couple of weeks.

After another long offseason, baseball's finally back. Sure, it's not quite major league baseball, per se, but why get caught up in the details?

[TotalEnd98]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

If you extend the definition of dissertation to involve wanton swearing at Esteban Loaiza every fifth game

Where Esteban Loaiza is concerned, there is no such thing as "wanton" swearing.

[cknox0723]

WARNING: This post is long and contains many words. Feeling adventurous? Read on.

Some part of me wants to play a season's slate worth of B-squad spring training games, and maybe the Pale Hose roster reflects that. But we're tied for first right now; no point in being hopelessly negative until we're at least five games out. And may as well take a look at some of these marginal guys and see if we've got anything here for when we are ready to take on the world.

So here's the first of three of those look-sees, with the hated opponent being bitter division rivals Cleveland. A gander at our lineup:

SS A. Cuevas
2B A. Kennedy
LF J. Reed
1B F. Thomas
3B E. Munson
CF B. Anderson
LF C. King
C Y. Torrealba
SP E. Blackburn

Their nine features Joe Crede hitting cleanup, which made me giggle. But of all the names listed, the one I'm most interested in is our ninth name.

25 year old Erick Blackburn is a college man, a fourth round pick two years back in the same draft that featured calamitous first round selection Mike Houchins, a now-25 year old OF who's not even in big league camp. Blackburn's a crafty lefty, and like so many before him, he could go either way. Will he be Adam Walker or Jamie Moyer, Kevin Bearse or Tom Glavine? 60 innings probably wouldn't be enough to get a good read on Blackburn, particularly considering that it typically takes time for crafty lefties to learn the art of nibbling at the major league level. One "spring training" game is pretty much meaningless. But I want to root for the skinny southpaw, or I want a reason to cut bait if he struggles this year. I want to make him more than '12-15, 3.02 ERA, 220.2 IP, 199 K'. Maybe six innings won't do that, but two were more than enough to turn Enrique Wilson into The Relief Ace. It's worth a try.

Fausto Carmona, one of the few real ballplayers playing in this backyard brawl, sets down our chaps in order in the first, and young Blackburn strides out to the mound for his turn. Ray Durham's a hell of a guy to debut against, and Blackburn's nervousness shows when he bounces his first pitch, supposedly a hook, five feet in front of the plate. But his next is a fastball that runs in on the switch-hitting Durham, and he pops it up into right-center. Brian Anderson eases under it, squeezes it the two-handed, old-fashioned way, and Blackburn's made a nice first impression. Four pitches and two outs later, he's turned that nice first impression into a nice first inning.

In the top of the second, free agent signing and likely starting third baseman Eric Munson wallops a one-out shot to the left-center field wall that's good for two bags, and two batters later, Clinton King turns on a Carmona fastball and scalds it...fair! down the right field line and into the corner. He, too, gets two, and the Pale Hose get one on the board. May only be spring training, but I couldn't help but pump my fist like Jeter at that. Yorvit Torrealba grounds to second to end the inning, and that puts young Erick Blackburn in a most unfamiliar situation -- in a major league camp and pitching with a lead. As for the latter of those, that really is unfamiliar territory, as he's 22-25 in his two-year pro career despite strong ERA's. Such is the Pale Hose minor league system.

And Blackburn responds by inducing Joe Crede to bounce to second on the second pitch, which is nice and all -- but, really, it's Joe Crede. Not exactly a crowning achievement. Coco Crisp strikes on out a big 1-2 yellow hammer...but it's a guy named after a cereal. So what? Faced with toolsy Alex Escobar, Blackburn starts to doubt himself, doubt that he should be here, that he belongs. He tries to be perfect, instead handing out a walk. Blackburn's panic attacks continue against monster prospect Frankie Gutierrez, and he runs up the count on him. One ball away from a second consecutive walk, he puts a mediocre pitch over, and Gutierrez clobbers it to the right side. Adam Kennedy, perhaps in a tantalizing glimpse of the future, makes a wonderful stop, but that's all he can do. Two on now, two down, veteran Scott Spiezio up. Pitching coach Jamison Bryan heads out to the mound.

After a short chat, Blackburn eventually steps back on the rubber with purpose, with that look in his eye. He challenges Spiezio -- imperfectly, as he's just a green youngster -- but he goes after him, rather than trying to throw that knee-high fastball with late life on the outside corner five straight times. Blackburn simply pitches, nothing more. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, with baserunners still looming on the paths, Blackburn fires out a two-seamer on the outside half, and Spiezio pops it up to left. Jeremy "Fetal Position" Reed makes the grab, and the inning's in the books, no sweat.

The third frame is quick on both ends, which suits me just fine, and after another quiet inning for our offense, Blackburn runs into a bit of a jam in the second half of the fourth. Joe Crede and Coco Crisp, both real major league ballplayers, line solidly struck hits, and Alex Escobar, who walked first time up, steps in with two on and only one down. But Blackburn, utilizing that high poise rating, induces the pitcher's best friend on his fourth pitch -- a sharp bouncer to second. 4-6-3 double play, inning over.

And his spring training outing's over, as it turns out, as Yorvit Torrealba doubles to start the fifth. Ramon Vazquez pinch-hits for Blackburn and sacrifices, but Aneudi Cuevas strikes out for the second out. Even though it's only spring training, I couldn't help but drop an expletive there. But Adam Kennedy hammers a high slider to the opposite field gap, and we notch our second run anyway. Jeremy Reed, who's had a lousy three at-bats (cut his ass!), strikes out, but we have a nice little lead.

And Mike Crudale.

No, I'm serious. "And" Crudale, the journeyman right-hander, looks wonderful over the fifth and sixth innings, as minor league veterans tend to do. He allows but a single hit and caps off his two frames with something to tell the grandkids about, a strikeout of Joe Crede. OK, so his little tykes would probably respond with, "We struck him out, too, Papa." It's still better than walking uphill 10 miles to school and walking uphill 10 miles home, isn't it?

Clint King begins the seventh by coming up about ten feet short of an opposite field blast to left, but he settles for his second two-bagger. I wish he'd have settled for a fly out, because now the stupid scout part of me wants to put him on the Opening Day roster, but it's easier to ignore it when he's off the basepaths, as he is after Yorvit Torrealba sacrifices so poorly that King is cut down at third. Shea Hillenbrand grounds into a fielder's choice, and my first response is "Trade the faggot", but we get a run anyway as the middle infield tandem of Aneudi Cuevas and Adam Kennedy chases Carmona with a pair of singles up the middle. Jeremy Reed strikes out for the third time (is he really going to start for the Pale Hose?), and we're nine outs away and three runs ahead.

Rule 5 Pick Marcos Carvajal, faced with the bottom half of the lineup, is the choice for the seventh, and he starts off well enough by retiring Coco Crisp on a tapper to the big lunk at third, Eric Munson. Alex Escobar scalds a single, but pinch-hitter Shaun Larkin strikes out looking on a 97 mile an hour heater and we're one out away from moving on. But another pinch-hitter comes on -- a real, live one.

Randall Simon.

Carvajal wets himself, and throws three pitches, each one further off target than the last, with the third clanging off the backstop and allowing the runner to move to second. But Carvajal, just 22 years old, steps off for a moment and has an epiphany.

With the pitcher on deck and the score 3-0 in our favor, it doesn't matter what Randall Simon does. With that in mind, Carvajal steps back on the rubber with a stupid, impish grin and exposes Simon for the flawed hacker that he is. Fastball, BAM, strike one. Fastball, POP, strike two. A foul ball, and then -- cheddar, on the inside half. 99 mile an hour cheddar. Simon taps it to second. Pitch. Out. Inning.

Carlos De La Cruz, who has somewhere between one and three words in his last name, pitches a fine eighth, and it's Rick Hummel's turn for our side. Now, we actually know him a bit, so, predictably, he gives up two leadoff singles to bring the tying run to the plate. Josh Bard flies out, easing my stress level temporarily (and yes, I know, I know, it's spring training), but then Pokey Reese (!!) drives a hanging slider to deep right-center. Brian Anderson takes off like a rocket, and scarcely has the thought, "How the f*** is he going to catch that?" crossed my mind before the sphere's flight suddenly dies out. Anderson slows up some fifteen feet before the warning track and makes what turns out to be an easy grab. Joe Crede bounces to second, the inning's suddenly over, and I'm struck with a brilliant nickname for Crede, if only there was no damn character limit. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Kaz Tadano bedevils us in our turn at-bat, and second year pro Ray Butner is the obvious choice for the last of the ninth. The 22 year old Gamecock battled his control and older competition at AA Birmingham last year, but this ain't AA. It ain't quite the major leagues, either, but it's somewhere in between.

Jhonny Peralta's more or less a major leaguer, though, and he wallops Butner's sixth pitch, a straight-as-an-arrow fastball, off the left field wall for two bags. But Alex Escobar grounds out, rather than hitting a home run like I thought he might when Butner tossed in another straight screamer. It moves Peralta up, and when Butner's wildness results in a pitch that Yorvit Torrealba can't catch, our shutout's gone. Heralded prospect Cooper "Mash" Brimer draws a free pass, and our lead suddenly has a chance to be gone, too, with Randall Simon in the box.

"Nothing and one to Simon. The southpaw Butner to the stretch, to the set. He kicks and fires in a four-alarmer, and Simon raps it to second. Kennedy to Cuevas for one, down to Thomas at first in plenty of time for number two, and that'll win it for the Sox. Ray Butner tallies his twenty-third professional save in a 3-1 victory for Chicago in the Cactus League."

I know, I know, no one actually announces a spring training game. Doesn't count, it's no cause for celebration. But it's a nice feeling just the same.



CLE 1 CHW 3

WP: M. Crudale - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K
LP: F. Carmona - 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R; 7-9, 3.93 ERA in 126 IP last year
S: R. Butner - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB

Game Ball Goes To... Typically I would give it to the whole world, but something about Erick Blackburn makes me think that giving it to him would be prescient. Four innings, three hits, a walk and a K. I know, it's only 57 pitches, but allow me to hope that we may just have something here.

[jaykno14]

So how are you playing these spring training games again? I was a little confused at how you explained it.

[Vris]

Wow, Spring Training. Way to exploit a loophole in the game's system Craig.

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by jaykno14

I was a little confused at how you explained it.

Me too.

Originally Posted by jaykno14

So how are you playing these spring training games again?

It's actually pretty easy, though. Back up your regular file, name it something like "Spring Training" file. Open up that one, change the active roster limit to 40 and turn off all the fancy roster rules (all done in the "league setup" screen). That'll allow you to play your rookies and prospects. Then delete the schedule (found under "edit schedule" in league setup) and add your own games in.

Since I am obsessive-compulsive about this stuff, I injured all of the Indians' veterans and starting position players so they would play the scrubs, too, but that was probably just so we could get a 'W'. But it works OK as a spring training model, even if it doesn't mean anything -- the only thing I plan to carry over are injuries, no development and obviously no stats. I just like baseball, that's it.

If you have any other questions, feel free.

Originally Posted by Vris

Wow, Spring Training. Way to exploit a loophole in the game's system Craig.

Ha! See, you've been around too long. You know exactly what I'm thinking, often before I do!

I'd throw another preview in here now, but...I don't have one. I guess that just makes this a shameless bump. Oh well. Go check out this thread instead.

[cknox0723]

From one side of the country to the other we go, in reverse order this time.

Colorado Rockies.......92-71 (.564 win %), lost to CHC in NLCS
Los Angeles Dodgers....91-72 (.558), 1 GB, lost to CHC in NLDS
San Diego Padres.......79-83 (.488), 12.5 GB, lost to CHC 4 of 9
San Francisco Giants...74-88 (.457), 17.5 GB, lost to CHC 2 of 3
Arizona Diamondbacks...72-90 (.444), 19.5 GB, lost to CHC 5 of 7

Yes, to steal UD's line, that's right, the Rockies. But I see the division as wide-open this year. None of these clubs have a huge financial advantage, all are a relative stone's throw of .500. For the sake of the Pale Hose making some incredible worst-to-first leap, I'd like to find out that this universe isn't based around the concept of "what you've done for me lately." Guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Jestor]

The What Have You Done For Me Lately Concept?

You're playing Manager Mode?!

[cknox0723]

Teams usually end up in last place for two reasons -- the cyclical nature of talent flow (rebuilding) or complete and total mismanagement (building, period). The Pale Hose of two years ago would fall under both categories. But I can't figure out which, if any, Arizona falls under.

Their payroll sits comfortably above $60 million, fourteenth highest in the league, one spot above last year. Considering they only won 72, that's a lot of bags full of marginal dollars per marginal win. (RIP Doug Pappas) It's not really misallocated, though; overallocated, perhaps, but no gazillions going to has-beens like Juan Gonzalez or Jorge Posada here. And the organization made a tidy profit last year, so they're not mirroring the financial indiscretion of their real-life counterpart.

All that's really missing is a bona fide star, as 25 year old second sacker and #3 hitter Scott Hairston isn't quite there, despite pounding 20 long balls and 35 doubles last year to go along with a .300 average. Call him the new Billy Grabarkewitz if you like. The rest of the lineup is average at best, with familiar names like Luis Gonzalez and Danny Bautista intermingling with unknowns who could go either way, such as center fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. and shortstop Josh "U.S.S. Maine" McKinley.

The pitching staff is guilty of the same misdemeanor as most other last place teams, a lousy back end of the rotation. Brandon Webb, despite an 8-15 ledger last year and a proclivity for the big fly, is a bona fide ace, and Eric DuBose and Casey Fossum are fine middle-of-the-way starters, but there's little beyond that, no matter what our scout-trout says of Danny Meyer. The bullpen's fine, though everyone's making six figures, so it darn well better be fine. Closer Jose Valverde has 100 career saves at the age of 27, so health willing, he could be the Mo Rivera of this generation.

Despite adding only Sean Casey this offseason (and unnecessarily, to boot, as Ryan Shealy would have done a fine job; instead, he'll do so in Cincinnati), I like the Snakes' chances to slither upwards in the division. In addition, they have a handful of quality position players on the way up, all of whom share an ability into the $5 seats. Names like Conor Jackson, Prince Fielder, and Carlos Gonzalez should become more familiar over the next few years, as should last year's first round pick, big right-handed moundsman Joe Chittenden, who bagged 12 wins to go along with an even 2.00 ERA in 135 AA innings last year. This club may move up faster than any other last place team, but it doesn't mean I'll be rooting for them. They're not lovable losers like the Pale Hose, and they're not fighting against the bourgeoisie comme Les Expos. You want an Empire, this is it. But, hell, apparently the Parthians had an empire, too.

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

Names like Conor Jackson, Prince Fielder

As a Brewer fan I am wondering how Fielder got to the Diamondbacks if that wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

[Jestor]

Originally Posted by jaykno14

As a Brewer fan I am wondering how Fielder got to the Diamondbacks if that wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Don't forget Tony Gwynn, Jr. too.

My guess is those two were involved in a DBacks-Brewers trade.

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Don't forget Tony Gwynn, Jr. too.

My guess is those two were involved in a DBacks-Brewers trade.

I didn't see the Tony Gwynn Jr. name too. Yeah it was probably a trade but I think it'd be interesting to hear what they got for those two.