 |
 Home | Webstore
|
|
Latest News:
OOTP 26 Available
- FHM 12 Available
- OOTP Go! Available
Out of the Park Baseball 26 Buy Now! |
|
|
||||
| ||||
10-24-2010, 11:13 PM
|
#641 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
Remembering the Hall of Famers: C Axel Perez
Axel Perez:
Over the years, it has become very clear that the most difficult position to achieve Hall of Fame immortality at is the catcher position. Currently, there are 122 position players in the Hall, and of those, only 7 spent their careers strapping on the "tools of ignorance." Every other position has at least 13 representatives. Thus far, we have discussed 3 of those catchers: Odon Lobo(12-time All Star, 406 career homeruns), Maurice Knox(5-time All Star, 433 homeruns), and James Paras(9-time All Star, 1-time Silver Slugger winner, 3-time Gold Glove Award winner, 645 homeruns). Now we come to a player who was one of the driving forces behind the Miami Dolphins becoming a perennial powerhouse within just a few years of entering the league. After suffering through a disastrous expansion season in 2038 that saw the Dolphins lose a record 131 games, the Miami franchise faced an important decision: who to take with the #1 overall draft pick in the '39 amateur draft. The right choice would potentially give the fledgling Dolphins a cornerstone player around which to build an annual contender. Every year, the team at the top of the draft is forced to choose between several talented players. Sometimes they make the right choice, and sometimes they don't. Let's briefly look at some of the players that Miami didn't pick. For simplicity's sake, I'll stick with just the other players chosen in the top five. With the 2nd pick in the draft, San Jose took shortstop William Westerlund. The infielder debuted in 2039 and became a regular the following season. He won the Rookie of the Year award and a Gold Glove Award in 2040, but was inconsistent in his first couple of seasons. He fell out of favor in San Jose in 2043, and got traded to Harrisburg in '44. He spent a few years in Washington before getting traded to Grand Rapids in 2047. Following the 2048 season, he was strictly a backup and bounced around from Knoxville to Kansas City to Grand Rapids to Portland to Buffalo to Washington, and finally, back to Kansas City. He retired after the 2054 season. Westerlund had decent power, but struggled to hit for average or make contact. He finished his career with a .740 OPS in a little over 4,000 at bats. Westerlund had a couple of pretty good seasons, but otherwise was a mediocre player. With the 3rd pick, Buffalo selected starting pitcher Eric Redus. The right-hander made his big league debut in 2041 and became a full time member of the Bills' rotation in 2043. He won 18 games with a respectable 4.00 ERA in 2044, but never really approached those numbers again. His strikeout rate was low and he had erratic control. By 2046, he was consistently walking more batters than he struck out. Nevertheless, Buffalo kept him in the rotation through the 2049 season. He signed with Portland in 2050, where he played until the end of his career in 2055. In just over 300 career starts, Redus had a 101-121 record, a 5.36 ERA, and more walks than strikeouts. The Denver Broncos took center-fielder Leroy Berning with the 4th pick in the draft. Berning reached the big leagues in 2042, and became a starter in 2044. Although he made the All Star team that year, the Broncos traded him to Hartford. He played a few years with the Whalers before getting traded to Nashville and then to San Jose in the 2047 season. He spent three seasons with Memphis from '48-'50, and then played for Rochester from '51 to '57. He also played briefly for Knoxville in the 2057 season, before ending his career with a stint in Buffalo in 2058. Berning has a decent case for the Hall of Fame, as he made 6 All Star teams, won a Silver Slugger Award in 2050, won 3 Gold Glove Awards, had an .880 career OPS, and hit 446 career homeruns. With the 5th pick in the 2039 draft, Grand Rapids also selected a center-fielder- James Williamson. Unfortunately, Williamson was pretty much a complete bust. He spent most of his career in the minor leagues, with the occasional big league cup of coffee. Williamson collected just 309 career at bats and posted a career .627 OPS. He bounced around the league, playing for Grand Rapids, Tucson, Portland, Nashville, Harrisburg, and San Joe, before retiring after the 2052 season. While those four players wound up having vastly different careers, any one of them could have been chosen first overall, instead of Axel Perez. In fact, the choice of Perez wasn't exactly a clear cut decision for Miami. During the 2038 season, the Dolphins had traded for a young, and very talented catcher by the name of Dennis Gillespie(Note: We'll be seeing this name again pretty soon...). Why draft a catcher when you already have one and can draft a player at another position? Ultimately, however, the prospect of a catcher as talented as Perez was too much to resist, especially since the 23 year old was considered an extremely advanced hitter- advanced enough that he might not have to spend much time in the minor leagues. In fact, upon drafting Axel Perez, the Dolphins decided that he didn't have to spend any time in the minor leagues, and installed him as the starting catcher, moving Gillespie to DH in the process. Perez's rookie season was a little bumpy. He struggled in April(.623 OPS), but hit better with each successive month: .745 in May, .800 in June, and .849 in July. He did begin to tire, however, and posted OPS's below .700 in both August and September. Nonetheless, he managed a somewhat credible .726 OPS for the season, and poked out 14 homeruns. His numbers were good enough to earn him the American League Rookie of the Year Award. The Dolphins improved significantly from their expansion season, but were still pretty terrible. Miami finished in last place in the Southeast with a 61-101 record. If you wanted examples of a "sophomore slump," Axel Perez's 2040 season would probably be at the top of the list. The young catcher struggled terribly through the first two months of the season. His bat began to pick up in June and July, but towards the end of July, he was injured in a collision at home plate. With a couple of broken ribs, Perez was done for the season. He finished the year with a pathetic .620 OPS in 295 at bats. About the only positive from the season was an increased walk rate. Despite Perez's struggles, the Dolphins burst onto the scene with a 91-71 record- good for 2nd place in the division, 8 games behind Atlanta. Perez returned in a big way in 2041. He earned his first trip to the All Star game, and finished the season with an .882 OPS, 34 doubles, 16 homeruns, and 88 walks. Miami slumped to 83-79, and finished in last place in the Southeast Division. The following year, Perez made his second trip to the All Star game. He posted an .875 OPS, finished 2nd in the American League in doubles with 49, smacked 17 homeruns, drove in 82 runs, scored 109 runs, and drew 81 walks. Miami, meanwhile, bounced back from a mediocre season to win 93 games and a Southeast Division title. Miami's first ever postseason appearance pitted the Dolphins against an 87-win Kansas City Royals team. The Dolphins swept Kansas City in 4 games, outscoring the Royals 23-13. Miami's World Series opponent would be a 101-win Portland team led by future Hall of Famer Hector Soriano(28-5, 1.50 ERA, 283 K's). In Game One, the Dolphins' own HOF starter, Robert Padgett, throttled the Trailblazers, limiting them to 2 hits over 9 innings in a 2-1 Miami victory. Miami edged Portland 6-4 in the second game; Perez contributed with 1 hit, 2 walks, and a run scored. Soriano dominated the Dolphins in Game Three with a 6-hit, 11-strikeout complete game. Portland won, 3-1. The Trailblazers evened the series in Game Four, with a 4-2 victory. In Game Five, Miami rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 5-3, eventually winning 6-5 in 11 innings. Perez walked and drove in a run in that game. The Dolphins clinched their first championship with a 7-3 win in Game Six. Perez produced a double and 2 runs batted in. Overall, however, Perez had a pretty poor postseason. In 36 at bats, he managed only 6 hits, and had a .491 OPS. After two straight All Star seasons in '41 and '42, Axel Perez exploded in 2043. He finished 4th in the league in batting average(.351), 3rd in on base percentage(.463), 5th in OPS(1.064), 3rd in doubles(46), and 4th in walks(101). He added 23 homers, a career-best 121 RBI, and 109 runs scored. Miami won its second straight Southeast Division title with a 99-63 record. Despite being outscored 46-45 in a wild, 7-game ALCS, the Dolphins prevailed against an 88-win Denver team. In the deciding game, Perez belted a pair of homeruns, including a grand slam, drove in 6 runs, and scored 3 runs. Miami scored 7 runs in the third inning, and led 14-1 after 6 innings. The Broncos chipped away at that deficit, with 2 runs in the seventh, 3 runs in the eighth, and 1 run in the ninth, but lost, 14-7. With the win, Miami reached its second straight World Series. Once again, the Dolphins would have to face Portland, which finished the regular season with a 105-57 record. Game One went to the Dolphins. Axel Perez doubled and drove in 2 runs in a 5-1 victory. Portland returned the favor with a 5-1 win in the second game; the Dolphins managed only 3 hits in the contest. Game Three was a back and forth affair. The Dolphins led 2-1 after three innings, but Portland struck for 4 runs in the top of the fourth inning. Runs in the fifth and seventh innings gave the Trailblazers a 7-2 lead. Miami, however, erupted for 5 runs in the bottom of the seventh-4 of which came from another Perez grand slam- tying the game at 7-7. Portland retook the lead in the ninth inning, and hung on for an 8-7 victory. For the first 8 innings of Game Four, Portland's ace Hector Soriano had the Dolphins' lineup at his mercy, as the Trailblazers led, 3-0. In the bottom of the 9th, however, Soriano tired. The Dolphins scored 4 runs- 3 off of Soriano- to win the game 4-3 and tie the series at 2 games apiece. Miami grabbed a quick 5-0 lead in Game Five, and held off Portland for a 5-4 win. Perez doubled twice, walked, drove in a run, and scored a run. Facing a second straight World Series defeat against Miami, the Trailblazers forced a seventh game, with a 5-1 victory in Game Six. Miami jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game Seven, but never scored again. Portland tied the game with 2 runs in the third inning, took the lead in the fifth, and secured a 5-2 victory with a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Perez had 2 hits and an RBI in the loss. Overall, Perez had a solid postseason. His batting average was an unimpressive .208, but among his 10 hits were 5 doubles and 3 homeruns. Throw in 9 walks, and he wound up with an .833 OPS. He also led the Dolphins with 15 RBI. In '44, Perez's numbers slipped back to the level of his '41 and '42 seasons. He posted an .864 OPS, hit 20 homers, drove in 93 runs, scored 93 runs, and drew 82 walks. He did, however, win his first Gold Glove Award. Miami had another strong season, with a 93-69 record; however, that was only good enough for 2nd place in the division. The Dolphins finished 3 games behind the Nashville Predators, who went on to win the World Series. After the '44 season, Perez became a free agent. However, after testing the waters, he elected to resign with Miami. Both the Dolphins and Perez bounced back in 2045. Perez made his 4th trip to the All Star game, and finished the season with a .964 OPS, 38 doubles, 22 homeruns, 94 RBI, 95 runs scored, and 97 walks. Miami, meanwhile, rolled to another division title. The Dolphins led all of baseball with a 105-57 record, and finished 25 games ahead of the defending champion Predators, who slumped to second place and an 80-82 record. Miami flattened a 95-win Tucson team in the ALCS, outscoring the Diamondbacks 32 to 16 in a 4-game sweep. After facing Portland in consecutive World Series, the Dolphins would finally get the opportunity to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, a franchise that was the undisputed "King" of the baseball world. At this point in time, the Pirates had won 17 World Series. The next highest total belonged to Grand Rapids, with 5. The Dolphins were just an upstart team with 1 World Series title to their name. Although Pittsburgh finished the regular season with "only" 100 victories, the Pirates actually finished 9 games under their Pythagorean record. To beat Pittsburgh, the Dolphins needed to be at the top of their game. Game One went in Miami's favor. The Dolphins prevailed, 5-4, in a back and forth game. In the second game, the Dolphins battered Pittsburgh's pitching staff into submission. Miami scored 4 runs in the first inning, 1 in the third, 6 in the fourth, and 1 run in the 5th, 7th, and 8th innings. The final score was a 14-4 beat-down. Perez ripped 2 hits, including a double, drove in 3 runs, scored 2 runs, and drew a walk. The Pirates battled back, winning Game Three by a 6-1 score, and Game Four by an 8-6 margin. Pittsburgh rallied from a 6-2 deficit to win the latter game. In Game Five, the Pirates grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning. It remained that way until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Miami erupted for 5 runs. Two innings later, the Dolphins again scored 5 runs. Miami cruised to a 10-3 victory. The Dolphins clinched their second championship when Albert Casey(17-9, 3.10 ERA, 196 K's) outdueled Dennis Hallowell(17-8, 3.44 ERA, 255 K's) in a 3-2 Miami victory. Perez contributed a double, 2 walks, and a run scored. Perez's final postseason numbers included an .878 OPS, 3 doubles, 5 RBI, 7 runs scored, and 11 walks. Perez's second monster season came in 2046. He ranked 6th in the American League with a 1.035 OPS and led the league with a .449 on base percentage. He also smacked 28 homeruns, knocked in 97 runs, scored 102 runs, and finished 3rd in the league with 104 walks. Not surprisingly, he went to his 5th All Star game in '46. The Dolphins led all of baseball with a 108-54 regular season record, easily winning the Southeast Division by 22 games over Washington. In the ALCS, the well-balanced Dolphins(4th in runs scored and 2nd in runs allowed) took on a 90-win Memphis team that had a powerful lineup(1st in homeruns, 2nd in runs scored) but an average pitching staff(12th in runs allowed). Despite Miami's seeming advantage, the two teams split the first four games of the series. The Grizzlies won Game Five by a score of 5-1; all 5 runs came off of the Dolphins' ace Robert Padgett(17-9, 2.90 ERA, 253 K's). Axel Perez's solo homerun in the 4th inning gave the Dolphins a 1-0 lead- a lead which disappeared when Memphis scored 4 runs in the fifth inning. Miami forced a seventh game when Albert Casey(23-9, 2.85 ERA, 231 K's) tossed a 3-hit, 10 strikeout, shutout in a 6-0 Game Six victory. Perez had 2 hits, including a triple, and a run scored in the win. The Dolphins drew first blood in Game Seven, with a run in the 2nd inning. Memphis took the lead with 2 runs in the top of the fourth, but Miami retook the lead with 2 runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the fifth inning, however, the Grizzlies erupted for 4 runs to take a 6-3 lead. Memphis added 2 runs in the eighth inning and 4 runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Miami managed 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but fell, 12-5. The Grizzlies went on to win their first World Series since 2032. Despite the loss, Perez had a strong postseason, with a .967 OPS, a double, a triple, 2 homeruns, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored. Perez had his 3rd consecutive, and 6th overall, All Star campaign in the 2047 season. He produced a .967 OPS, with 44 doubles, 17 homeruns, 106 RBI, 97 runs scored, and 95 walks. Miami rolled to a league-best 109-53 record, winning the Southeast Division by 20 games over Washington. For the second straight season, the Dolphins would face Memphis in the ALCS, although the defending champion Grizzlies very nearly missed the playoffs. Memphis(87-75) lost 13 consecutive games to close out the regular season, and finished only 1 game ahead of second place Denver. Memphis' late-season swoon had little bearing on the outcome of the ALCS. The Grizzlies stunned the powerful Dolphins, winning the series in 6 games. They outscored Miami 28-19 in the process. The clinching game was a 10-inning, 3-2 nail-biter. Memphis' designated hitter Bartolo Gurrola(.744 OPS, 18 HR, 64 RBI) hit a 2-out, solo homer in the top of the tenth inning for the eventual winning run. It was his 3rd homerun of the series. Memphis was unable to repeat as champions, however, losing to Pittsburgh in 6 games in the World Series. The 2047 ALCS was one of Axel Perez's worst postseason performances ever. He managed just 2 hits in 18 at bats, and had just a .607 OPS. His 8 walks did give him a .385 on base percentage, however. Despite having an OPS above 1.000 for the third time in his career in 2048, Perez's streak of All Star appearances came to an end. Nevertheless, Perez ranked 2nd in the American League with a 1.054 OPS. He won his only batting title, leading the AL with a .365 average, and also paced the league in on base percentage(.455). He finished 2nd in the league in doubles, with a career-high 50, had a career-high 187 hits, hit 20 homeruns, knocked in 100 runs, scored 121 runs, and drew 84 walks. In addition to his outstanding offensive season, Perez also picked up his 2nd career Gold Glove Award for his work behind the plate. The Dolphins won their 4th straight division title, leading the American League with a 103-59 record. Miami's ALCS opponent was an 84-79 Kansas City team that finished 6 games over its Pythagorean record and had to win a 1-game playoff with an 83-80 Denver team that finished 5 games under its Pythagorean record just to get into the playoffs. The Dolphins had very little trouble with overmatched Royals, outscoring them 50-23 in a 4-game sweep. The World Series looked to be a different story, as Miami would face an intimidating Pittsburgh team that went 111-51 in the regular season, and ranked 3rd in runs scored and 1st in runs allowed. Despite limiting the Pirates to just 4 hits in Game One, the Dolphins lost, 1-0. Game Two was scoreless for 5 innings, but Miami grabbed a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning. That lead disappeared in the top of the seventh, when Pittsburgh scored 3 runs, and then reappeared in the bottom half of the seventh, when the Dolphins scored 3 runs of their own. In top of the eighth, the Pirates promptly tied the game up at 5-all. An inning later, Pittsburgh went ahead 6-5 and hung for the victory. Down 2-0 in the series, Miami needed a big hit to get back on track. Axel Perez provided that big hit in Game Three. With 2 outs in the 3rd inning, and the game tied at 1, Perez smashed a 3-run homerun. Left-fielder Daniel Hayes followed with a solo homerun to give Miami a 5-1 lead. The Dolphins added 3 runs in the sixth, 1 run in the seventh, and another 3 runs in the eighth- Hayes hit his 2nd homerun of the game(a 2-run shot) during the latter outburst- to secure a 12-5 rout. Perez drove in 4 runs in the contest. Miami evened the series with another strong offensive performance in Game Four. The Dolphins scored 1 run in each of the first 3 innings, and then tacked on 3 runs in the fourth inning. Pittsburgh rallied to make it an interesting, but Miami escaped with an 8-5 victory. Perez produced 2 hits, a walk, and a run scored. Robert Padgett tossed a shutout in Game Five, leading Miami to a 5-0 victory and a 3-2 series lead. Perez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning of Game Six, the Dolphins quickly took control. Miami scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first, 2 in the third, and 2 more in the fifth. After that, it was just a matter of holding the Pirates off for 4 innings. Pittsburgh scored 3 runs in the sixth inning, but came no closer. The Dolphins clinched their 3rd World Series victory with a 7-4 win. Perez walked twice and a scored a run in the win. For the entire postseason, Perez had one of the best performances of his career. He managed a 1.097 OPS, with 11 hits, 3 doubles, a triple, a homerun, 8 RBI, and 11 runs scored. His 13 walks helped to give him a ridiculous .522 on base percentage. For a second straight year, Perez put up an OPS above 1.000, and also for the second straight year, he did not go to the All Star game. Perez finished 3rd in the league with a 1.038 OPS, ripped 49 doubles and 23 homeruns, drove in 114 runs, and scored 116 runs. He led the league with 105 walks and ranked 2nd with a .447 on base percentage. He also earned his 3rd Gold Glove award. Miami tied Pittsburgh for the best record in baseball, at 111-51, and easily won the Southeast Division; the Dolphins finished a whopping 34 games ahead of second place Knoxville. Like in 2048, the Dolphins faced off against the Royals in the ALCS. Unlike the previous year, however, this Royals team was not one that barely squeaked into the playoffs. Kansas City finished 94-68 and won the Central Division by 12 games over Tucson. Still, the Dolphins, who ranked first in all of baseball in both runs scored and runs allowed, weren't too scared by a Kansas City team that ranked 5th and 6th, respectively, in those categories. Despite outscoring the Royals 31-29, however, the Dolphins fell in 6 games. Kansas City went on to beat Pittsburgh in 7 games in the World Series. Perez had one of his lesser postseason performances in '49. He managed just a .577 OPS, and had only 4 hits in 24 at bats. Although his OPS slipped to .975 in the 2050 season, Perez made his 7th trip to the All Star game. He poked out 25 homeruns, drove in 96 runs, scored 111 runs, and drew 97 walks. Miami's 100-62 record led all of baseball, but the Dolphins did not win the Southeast as easily as they had the previous season. Second place Atlanta won 96 games and finished just 4 games out of first place. The Dolphins' ALCS opponent was Tucson, which finished 91-71. The Diamondbacks did not present much of a challenge, as Miami cruised past them in 5 games, outscoring them 31-17. In the World Series, Miami took the field against the 98-64 Hartford Whalers, a team that hadn't made the playoffs since 2003 and had never played in a World Series. The Dolphins survived an early Whalers' outburst in Game One, rallying from deficits of 5-0 and 7-5, to pull out a 9-8 victory. Perez didn't contribute much to the win, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Game Two was similar to the first game, as Hartford had leads of 3-0 and 4-3, before falling 6-4. This time, however, Axel Perez was a huge factor in the Dolphins' victory. He had 2 hits, including a 3-run homer in the sixth inning that erased the Whalers' 3-0 lead, 2 walks, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Perez had another strong game in Game Three, but Hartford turned the tables on Miami. Perez had 4 hits, including 2 doubles and a homerun, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. The Dolphins jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and led 5-2 after the top of the fifth inning. Hartford erupted for 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth, and went on to win, 9-6. Perez led the attack again in Game Four, and this time, the Dolphins didn't squander their early lead. Miami scored twice in the first inning, 7 times in the second, and twice more in the third. Hartford got a couple of runs in the fourth inning, but the Dolphins tacked on a run in the eighth and 3 runs in the ninth, capping a 15-2 rout. Perez had 4 hits, a walk, 4 RBI, and a run scored in the laugher. Miami clinched its 4th World Series title by winning Game Five by a score of 4-1. Perez walked and scored a run in the game. For the entire playoff run, Perez was superb. He finished with a 1.230 OPS, 15 hits, 4 doubles, a triple, 2 homeruns, 9 RBI, and 11 runs scored. In 2051, Perez had an OPS above 1.000 for the 5th time in his career, leading the American League with a 1.056 total. He also paced the AL in on base percentage(.438) and runs scored(130). He ripped 49 doubles and a career-best 29 homeruns, drove in 93 runs, drew 93 walks, and finished 2nd in the league with a .618 slugging percentage. Not surprisingly, Perez made his 8th trip to the All Star game. Miami rolled to a league-best 109-53 record, winning the Southeast Division by 11 games over Washington. For the second straight season, the Dolphins faced Tucson(85-77) in the ALCS. Miami flattened the out-manned Diamondbacks, outscoring them 40-14 in an easy 4-game sweep. Perez had 3 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored in the clinching Game Four, a 7-6 victory. With the 104-win Pittsburgh Pirates blowing past Sacramento in the NLCS in a 4-game sweep of their own, the 2051 World Series looked to be a battle of heavyweights. Game One went to Pittsburgh, as the Pirates overcame an early 2-0 deficit to win 8-3. Perez doubled, walked, and scored a run in the loss. Miami raced to a 5-1 lead after three innings in Game Two, and hung on for a 5-3 victory. Perez doubled, walked, and drove in a run. The Dolphins committed 6 errors in an 11-8 Game Three loss. Trailing 11-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Perez belted a 3-run homerun. Unfortunately, Miami's 5-run rally in that inning was too little, too late. The Dolphins blew a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning of Game Four, and lost 5-4, falling behind 3 games to 1 in the World Series. Miami survived for another day by blowing Pittsburgh out, 10-2, in Game Five. Perez had 2 hits, including a 3-run homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. The Dolphins' offense battered Pittsburgh's pitching again in Game Six to force a seventh game. Miami pounded out 14 hits in an 11-5 thumping. Perez had 2 hits, a walk, and 2 runs scored. Game Seven was scoreless until Miami got on the board in the 5th inning. The Dolphins scored again in the 6th inning, but Pittsburgh tied the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th. Miami, however, retook the lead in the eighth, and added an insurance run in the ninth to secure a 4-2 victory. Despite Miami's numerous championships, the '50 and '51 seasons represent the only time that the Dolphins have won consecutive World Series titles. Axel Perez had another outstanding postseason. He batted .419 with a 1.291 OPS, 18 hits, 7 doubles, 3 homeruns, 15 RBI, 14 runs scored, and 7 walks. Perez made his 9th and final trip to the All Star game in 2052. He posted his 6th 1.000+ OPS that year, finishing with a 1.056 total that ranked 2nd in the American League. He added 50 doubles, 23 homeruns, 114 RBI, and 109 runs scored. He also led the league in both walks(114) and on base percentage(.461). Miami tied with Pittsburgh for the best record in baseball at 106-56, and won the Southeast Division by 7 games over Washington. For the third straight season, the Dolphins went up against Tucson(90-72) in the ALCS. After beating the Diamondbacks in 5 games and 4 games the previous two seasons, however, Miami had much more difficulty with them in the '52 ALCS. The Dolphins trailed 3 games to 1 heading into Game Five. Axel Perez led the attack in an 10-5 rout, as he doubled, homered, drove in 5 runs, and scored a run. The Dolphins forced a seventh game with an 8-4 victory in Game Six. Unfortunately, Miami's bid for a third straight championship came to an end in Game Seven of the ALCS. The Dolphins led, 3-1, after three innings, but watched the game and the series slip away from them. Tucson scored a run in the fourth inning, 2 runs in the fifth to take the lead, and insurance runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, ultimately winning the game by a score of 7-3. Perez's overall performance was mediocre: he managed a .789 OPS, with a double, a homerun, 5 RBI, 3 runs scored, and 4 walks. The 2053 season proved to be Perez's last great season. He posted a .997 OPS, with 38 doubles, 23 homeruns, 89 RBI, 101 runs scored, and 97 walks. His OPS ranked 3rd in the American League. The Dolphins were easily the best team in baseball, as they tied their then franchise record of 111 wins. The next best team that year was Sacramento, with 97 wins. Miami won the Southeast Division by 17 games over Knoxville(94-68). In the ALCS, Miami went up against Kansas City(86-76), a team with a good lineup(3rd in runs scored) but mediocre pitching(13th in runs allowed). The Royals actually outscored the Dolphins 40-38 for the series, but Miami prevailed in 6 games. Trailing the series 2 games to 1, Kansas City evened things up with a 13-4 cakewalk in Game Four. In the fifth game, Miami rallied from a 4-2 deficit to win 6-4. Reserve infielder Santo Markowitz hit a grand slam in the 7th inning to give the Dolphins the lead. The clinching Game Six got out of hand early, as Miami erupted for 6 runs in the first inning. After five innings, the Dolphins led 10-1. Kansas City rallied, with 3 runs in the 6th inning and 3 runs in the 8th inning, but the Royals came up short in a 10-7 defeat. Perez doubled, homered, drove in 3 runs, and scored 2 runs in the game. For the entire ALCS, Perez hit .435 with 4 homeruns and 11 runs batted in. Miami's World Series opponent was Pittsburgh(96-66). It was the 4th World Series meeting between the two teams. The Dolphins and Pirates had previously met in 2045, 2048, and 2051, with the Dolphins winning each time. Miami took Game One, 8-6. The Dolphins led 5-0 after 4 1/2 innings, and 7-1 after 5 1/2 innings, but allowed the Pirates to make things interesting. Perez singled, walked, and drove in a run. Pittsburgh captured Game Two without much difficulty; the Pirates led 7-0 after 5 innings and cruised to a 7-3 win. Perez walked and scored a run in the contest. Miami got a masterful pitching performance from Pete Young in Game Three(8 1/3 innings pitched, 7 hits and 1 walk allowed, 1 run allowed, and 9 strikeouts) en route to a 4-1 victory. Perez contributed little, going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Miami took control of the series in Game Four with an 8-5 victory. The Dolphins broke open a 2-2 game with a 3-run sixth inning, a 2-run seventh inning, and a 1-run eighth inning. Perez walked twice, but had no hits, RBI, or runs scored. He made up for that, however, by leading the charge in a World Series-clinching Game Five victory. With the Dolphins trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Perez smashed a 2-out, 3-run homerun to give Miami a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The Dolphins prevailed, 7-3, and Perez finished with 3 hits, including a double in addition to the homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Perez's final postseason numbers included a 1.218 OPS, 14 hits, 2 doubles, a triple, 5 homeruns, 15 RBI, 11 runs scored, and 5 walks. Age catches up to everyone eventually, and in the 38 year old Axel Perez's case, the first thing to go was his power. Usually a 20-25 HR hitter in his prime, Perez managed only 7 long-balls in the 2054 season. His other numbers remained solid, however, as he produced an .839 OPS, 37 doubles, 73 RBI, 78 runs scored, and 83 walks. He also earned his 4th career Gold Glove Award. Miami led all of baseball with a 101-61 record, and won the Southeast Division by 7 games over Atlanta. The Dolphins faced Denver(93-69) in the ALCS. Miami had little trouble with the Broncos, outscoring them 40-28 in a 5-game victory. The Dolphins' World Series opponent proved to be a familiar face: the Pittsburgh Pirates(98-64). Game One started off as a close, low-scoring game. After 7 innings, the Pirates clung to a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, starting pitcher Granville Jarvis(16-9, 3.84 ERA, 152 strikeouts) and relief pitcher Joel Basabe(3.30 ERA in 19 games) completely imploded in the eighth and ninth innings. When the dust had settled, Pittsburgh had itself a 12-4 victory. Game Two was frustratingly similar to Game One. After 7 innings, the scored was tied at 4-all. The Pirates, however, struck for 3 runs in the eighth inning and 1 run in the ninth to secure an 8-4 win and a 2-0 series lead. In the two losses, Perez was a combined 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts. The Dolphins got off to a quick start in Game Three, with 3 runs in the first inning. When Pittsburgh got close with a pair of runs in the sixth, Miami put the game out of reach with 3 more runs in the seventh inning. Despite a career high 7 walks, Miami starting pitcher Ervin Wright(12-11, 4.46 ERA, 145 strikeouts) went the distance in the 6-2 victory. Despite the win, Perez continued to struggle badly- he went 0 for 4 with 3 more strikeouts. The Pirates dominated most of Game Four, but nearly blew the game. Pittsburgh led 7-0 through seven innings, but allowed Miami to score 3 runs in the eighth inning and 2 runs in the ninth inning, turning what should have been a rout into a narrow, 7-5 victory. Although the Dolphins lost, Perez finally contributed something positive. He had 2 hits, including a double, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Miami managed to avoid elimination with a 7-1 whipping in Game Five. The Dolphins scored 6 runs in the first three innings. Perez hit a double, but did little else. After beating Pittsburgh in 4 previous World Series meetings, the Dolphins finally lost to the Pirates. Miami blew a 3-1 lead in Game Six, and ultimately lost, 5-3. Perez had a hit, a walk, and an RBI in the loss. The 2054 postseason run was one of Perez's worst. He managed a pathetic .573 OPS and struck out 19 times in 41 at bats. He did have 2 doubles, 4 RBI, 4 runs scored, and 5 walks. Although Perez's power had declined in 2054, he had remained a productive hitter that season. That was not the case in the 2055 season, which proved to be Perez's last. He got off to a slow, but not completely terrible start, as he managed a .707 OPS in April. In May, however, he dropped off a cliff, going 5 for 60 with 22 strikeouts. At that point, backup catcher Juan Ornelas, who wasn't hitting especially well, either, moved into the starting lineup. Perez initially seemed to do better in a reserve role, with a .747 OPS in 24 June at bats, but went 5 for 49 in July and August combined. Perez actually got slightly more playing time than Ornelas in September(40 at bats to 33), but that probably had more to do with the fact that the Dolphins ran away with the Southeast Division and wanted to prevent injuries to their starters in meaningless games. As it was, Perez finished his final season with a horrendous .486 OPS and a pitiful .174 batting average in 241 at bats. The abrupt decline of its start catcher had little effect on Miami, as the Dolphins rolled to a league-best 112-50 record, won the division by 26 games over Atlanta, and ranked 1st in both runs scored and runs allowed. For the second straight season, the Dolphins faced Denver(90-72) in the ALCS. After splitting the first two games, the Dolphins ripped off three consecutive victories to reach the World Series. Game Three was a 7-3 win in which Miami got 3 hits and 3 RBI from DH Daniel Hayes and 2 hits and 2 RBI from catcher Juan Ornelas. The Dolphins rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game Four to win 4-3. Third-baseman Santo Markowitz homered and drove in 2 runs. The clinching game was a 4-2 victory. Miami's World Series opponent was fellow 2038 expansion team, San Jose(92-70). The Sharks had the playoffs only once before(2047), but in '55, they took out defending champion Pittsburgh in 7 games in the NLCS. Game One of the World Series was an offensive slug-fest. The Dolphins struck for 4 runs in the top of the first inning, but the Sharks came storming back, with 2 runs in the second, and 7 runs in the third. Miami got a run in the fifth, but San Jose got 2 in the bottom half of the inning to make it 11-5. Another run in the seventh inning made it 12-5. The Dolphins cut it to 12-8 with 3 runs in the eighth inning, but the Sharks got another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. San Jose pounded out 18 hits in the 13-8 victory. Game Two was much lower scoring, but the outcome remained the same. San Jose picked up 2 runs in the first inning, 1 in the fourth, and 2 more in the sixth. Miami rallied with 3 runs in the seventh inning, but fell, 5-3. The Dolphins led Game Three 2-1 after four innings, but fell apart in the fifth inning. San Jose scored 3 runs in that inning, and another one in the sixth. Miami made it a 1-run game with 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Sharks secured a 7-4 win with 2 runs in the top of the ninth inning. On the verge of having their season end with a shocking World Series-sweep, the Dolphins led Game Four 2-1 after 7 innings. Miami's bullpen, however, choked. San Jose took the lead with a 3-run eighth inning. The Dolphins scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, but could not complete the comeback. San Jose won the game, 4-3, and stunned Miami with a sweep. In their entire history, the Dolphins have lost 10 World Series, but only one, the '55 loss to San Jose, was a sweep. Axel Perez saw little action during this postseason run, but he acquitted himself respectably when he did play. In 6 at bats, he had an .833 OPS. One of his 2 hits was a double. After the 2055 season, Perez retired. Although Axel Perez failed to reach any of the major career milestones- only 2371 career hits and 311 homeruns- there is certainly room in the Hall of Fame for a 9-time All Star, 4-time Glove Glove Award winning catcher with a career OPS of .933, and 6 seasons with a 1.000+ OPS. Throw in the fact that he played for a 6-time World Series winning team and was very good postseason performer(.909 OPS in 408 at bats), and you have one of the greatest catchers of all time. Perez's stats: Code:
Career Batting Stats Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams 2039 143 524 136 28 1 14 58 77 54 142 0 0 .260 .329 .397 .726 MIA 2040 89 295 61 17 2 3 34 44 45 86 2 0 .207 .312 .308 .620 MIA 2041 140 468 135 34 4 16 69 77 88 126 2 0 .288 .401 .481 .882 MIA,AL 2042 145 521 151 49 2 17 82 109 81 127 4 3 .290 .385 .489 .875 MIA,AL 2043 146 484 170 46 3 23 121 109 101 106 5 1 .351 .463 .601 1.064 MIA,AL 2044 138 487 134 32 5 20 93 93 82 120 5 4 .275 .380 .485 .864 MIA 2045 148 483 151 38 2 22 94 95 97 117 2 3 .313 .428 .536 .964 MIA,AL 2046 137 433 137 25 4 28 97 102 104 112 4 4 .316 .449 .587 1.035 MIA,AL 2047 142 481 153 44 5 17 106 97 95 124 11 9 .318 .431 .536 .967 MIA,AL 2048 143 512 187 50 5 20 100 121 84 119 6 11 .365 .455 .600 1.054 MIA 2049 147 499 165 49 6 23 114 116 105 127 6 12 .331 .447 .591 1.038 MIA 2050 141 490 152 29 7 25 96 111 97 112 10 6 .310 .424 .551 .975 MIA,AL 2051 148 500 167 49 3 29 93 130 93 119 7 5 .334 .438 .618 1.056 MIA,AL 2052 141 489 164 50 4 23 114 109 114 116 3 4 .335 .461 .595 1.056 MIA,AL 2053 135 451 142 38 2 23 89 101 97 94 0 1 .315 .436 .561 .997 MIA 2054 123 426 124 37 1 7 73 78 83 102 1 3 .291 .407 .432 .839 MIA 2055 76 241 42 6 1 1 23 22 30 81 1 0 .174 .266 .220 .486 MIA Total 2282 7784 2371 621 57 311 1456 1591 1450 1930 69 66 .305 .414 .519 .933 Career Postseason Batting Stats Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS 2042 10 36 6 2 0 0 3 3 5 11 0 0 .167 .268 .222 .491 2043 14 48 10 5 0 3 15 6 9 14 0 0 .208 .333 .500 .833 2045 10 35 11 3 0 0 5 7 11 7 1 1 .314 .478 .400 .878 2046 7 25 6 1 1 2 5 4 5 12 0 0 .240 .367 .600 .967 2047 6 18 2 2 0 0 1 1 8 9 0 0 .111 .385 .222 .607 2048 10 33 11 3 1 1 8 11 13 6 0 2 .333 .522 .576 1.097 2049 6 24 4 0 0 1 3 3 4 9 1 0 .167 .286 .292 .577 2050 10 37 15 4 1 2 9 11 7 10 0 1 .405 .500 .730 1.230 2051 11 43 18 7 0 3 15 14 7 10 1 0 .419 .500 .791 1.291 2052 7 21 5 1 0 1 5 3 4 6 0 0 .238 .360 .429 .789 2053 11 41 14 2 1 5 15 11 5 7 0 0 .341 .413 .805 1.218 2054 11 41 9 2 0 0 4 4 5 19 0 0 .220 .304 .268 .573 2055 2 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .500 .833 Total 115 408 113 33 4 18 88 78 83 121 3 4 .277 .399 .510 .909 Player History Drafted in 1st round, 1st overall pick, by Miami in 2039... Had first career hit on 4/1/2039, off Edson Villegas (WAS)... Hit first career homerun on 4/9/2039, off Eric Laplant (NAS)... Won Rookie of the Year Award in 2039, hitting .260 with 14 HR, 58 RBI... Injured on 7/27/2040 with a Broken Ribs, out for 8-9 weeks... Injured on 6/25/2041 with a Bruised Jaw, out for one week... Was selected to the 2041 Allstar game... Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Kansas City on 5/9/2042... Was selected to the 2042 Allstar game... Won World Series with Miami in 2042... Was selected to the 2043 Allstar game... Drove in 6 runs against Denver on 10/14/2043... Injured on 4/18/2044 with a Pulled Hamstring Muscle, out for one week... Won Gold Glove Award at Catcher in 2044... Signed as a free agent by Miami on 2/24/2045 to a 6-year deal worth $20,000,000 per year... Was selected to the 2045 Allstar game... Won Player of the Week award on 9/1/2045, hitting .600 with 3 HR, 10 RBI... Won World Series with Miami in 2045... Won Player of the Week award on 4/21/2046, hitting .440 with 4 HR, 7 RBI... Was selected to the 2046 Allstar game... Drove in 6 runs against Nashville on 7/19/2046... Injured on 9/16/2046 with a Bruised Jaw, out for 1-2 weeks... Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Tucson on 5/20/2047... Was selected to the 2047 Allstar game... Won Player of the Week award on 9/8/2048, hitting .545 with 2 HR, 10 RBI... Drove in 6 runs against Nashville on 9/22/2048... Won Player of the Week award on 9/29/2048, hitting .520 with 3 HR, 13 RBI... Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2048, hitting .485 with 6 HR, 28 RBI... Won World Series with Miami in 2048... Won Gold Glove Award at Catcher in 2048... Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2049, hitting .404 with 7 HR, 28 RBI... Drove in 8 runs against Knoxville on 9/8/2049... Won Gold Glove Award at Catcher in 2049... Was selected to the 2050 Allstar game... Drove in 7 runs against Memphis on 7/24/2050... Won World Series with Miami in 2050... Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2051, hitting .500 with 4 HR, 9 RBI... Had 21-game hitting streak snapped on 6/26/2051... Was selected to the 2051 Allstar game... Won World Series with Miami in 2051... Was selected to the 2052 Allstar game... Had 2000th career hit on 7/21/2052, off Eric Nicastro (WAS)... Drove in 7 runs against Knoxville on 9/14/2052... Won World Series with Miami in 2053... Drove in 6 runs against Grand Rapids on 9/24/2054... Won Gold Glove Award at Catcher in 2054... Injured on 10/6/2055 with a Inflamed Groin Muscle, out for one week... Retired in 2056. Batting Leader Boards Appearances AVG 2043 - .351 - 4th 2048 - .365 - 1st 2049 - .331 - 7th 2051 - .334 - 7th OBP 2043 - .463 - 3rd 2045 - .428 - 3rd 2046 - .449 - 1st 2047 - .431 - 5th 2048 - .455 - 1st 2049 - .447 - 2nd 2050 - .424 - 3rd 2051 - .438 - 1st 2052 - .461 - 1st 2053 - .436 - 2nd 2054 - .407 - 6th SLG 2046 - .587 - 10th 2048 - .600 - 6th 2049 - .591 - 8th 2051 - .618 - 2nd 2052 - .595 - 2nd 2053 - .561 - 5th OPS 2043 - 1.064 - 5th 2045 - .964 - 9th 2046 - 1.035 - 6th 2048 - 1.054 - 2nd 2049 - 1.038 - 3rd 2050 - .975 - 7th 2051 - 1.056 - 1st 2052 - 1.056 - 2nd 2053 - .997 - 3rd Doubles 2042 - 49 - 2nd 2043 - 46 - 3rd 2047 - 44 - 9th 2048 - 50 - 2nd 2049 - 49 - 6th 2051 - 49 - 3rd 2052 - 50 - 3rd RBI 2049 - 114 - 8th 2052 - 114 - 9th Runs 2048 - 121 - 8th 2049 - 116 - 5th 2050 - 111 - 8th 2051 - 130 - 1st BB 2041 - 88 - 8th 2043 - 101 - 4th 2045 - 97 - 7th 2046 - 104 - 3rd 2047 - 95 - 4th 2048 - 84 - 9th 2049 - 105 - 1st 2050 - 97 - 2nd 2051 - 93 - 5th 2052 - 114 - 1st 2053 - 97 - 2nd 2054 - 83 - 2nd The next Hall of Famer on the list is Anthony Ludwick, a good-fielding, high-average hitting left-fielder. Before I get to him, however, I will be doing an update on the 2087 season. The season is currently at the All Star break, so in addition to discussing the season to date and how the Broncos are doing so far, there will be a report on the All Star teams and on the All Star game itself.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
10-26-2010, 10:58 PM
|
#642 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
League Standings as of the 2087 All Star break
These are the league standings as of July 15, 2087.
Code:
National League Standings West Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 San Diego 49 39 .557 - 49-39 0 27-17 22-22 5-3 14-10 W3 7-3 San Jose 46 41 .529 2.5 51-36 -5 25-19 21-22 5-6 12-16 L1 5-5 Sacramento 45 42 .517 3.5 44-43 1 24-20 21-22 2-2 11- 7 L2 5-5 Los Angeles 45 43 .511 4.0 49-39 -4 24-20 21-23 2-6 11-13 W1 4-6 Phoenix 39 50 .438 10.5 37-52 2 21-24 18-26 7-2 12- 8 W1 5-5 Portland 36 52 .409 13.0 37-51 -1 21-22 15-30 3-5 9-19 W2 4-6 Northeast Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Harrisburg 50 38 .568 - 46-42 4 30-14 20-24 2-5 12-11 L2 6-4 Pittsburgh 48 39 .552 1.5 49-38 -1 28-16 20-23 6-5 15-14 L1 5-5 Hartford 46 42 .523 4.0 44-44 2 22-20 24-22 3-3 16-10 L1 4-6 New Jersey 47 43 .522 4.0 42-48 5 22-24 25-19 8-6 17- 9 L3 5-5 Rochester 39 49 .443 11.0 42-46 -3 20-24 19-25 5-1 12-15 W2 6-4 Buffalo 38 50 .432 12.0 40-48 -2 17-27 21-23 3-7 9-18 W1 5-5 American League Standings Southeast Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Miami 60 29 .674 - 59-30 1 31-13 29-16 3-1 15- 9 L2 6-4 Atlanta 53 37 .589 7.5 51-39 2 26-18 27-19 1-5 14-11 L2 4-6 Knoxville 44 45 .494 16.0 42-47 2 22-22 22-23 3-1 11- 9 W1 4-6 Charlotte 40 47 .460 19.0 39-48 1 17-26 23-21 2-5 16- 8 W3 6-4 Nashville 36 52 .409 23.5 36-52 0 15-30 21-22 2-2 12-12 L1 4-6 Washington 31 58 .348 29.0 30-59 1 20-25 11-33 0-2 7-11 W1 3-7 Central Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Tucson 52 37 .584 - 51-38 1 23-23 29-14 7-2 10-10 W2 7-3 Denver 49 42 .538 4.0 53-38 -4 26-19 23-23 2-1 8-16 L1 5-5 Memphis 45 44 .506 7.0 44-45 1 18-27 27-17 2-2 12-11 L1 5-5 Kansas City 43 45 .489 8.5 42-46 1 17-27 26-18 3-2 11-11 W2 6-4 Green Bay 40 48 .455 11.5 44-44 -4 17-26 23-22 5-5 8-11 W1 4-6 Grand Rapids 40 49 .449 12.0 42-47 -2 22-23 18-26 1-3 9-14 L3 6-4 Around the League: NL West- Nothing too surprising has occurred in this division, although Sacramento has bounced back from last season's 70-92 campaign. NL Northeast- Obviously, the biggest shocker of the season thus far is the fact that Harrisburg is in first place. The Capitals haven't had a winning season since 2077, and haven't finished higher than 4th place since 2063. The last time they finished as high as second place was 2041. Harrisburg has reached the postseason only once in franchise history, and that was back in 2016. It will be very interesting to see if the Capitals can keep this up, especially in a division as competitive as the Northeast. AL Southeast- No surprises here, though Knoxville has been disappointing. Miami is easily the best team in the league. One interesting thing to watch will be how Washington finishes the season. Currently, the Senators are on pace to lose around 105/106 games. Washington is one of just 2 teams(the other being Pittsburgh) that has never lost 100 games in a season. AL Central- Nothing terribly unusual going on this division; however, Denver's defense of its World Series title had a rocky start. As recently as June 1st, the Broncos were 3 games under .500 and in 4th place. I will talk more about Denver's struggles thus far in a few days. League News: (4/7/87) San Jose's second-baseman Victor Zurcher(.703 OPS, 7 HR) hit for the cycle on Opening Day in an 11-3 rout over Hartford. He had a 2-run double in a 6-run third inning that allowed the Sharks to take control of the game. A solo homerun in the fifth inning gave San Jose an 8-1 lead. He led off the seventh inning and scored when the next batter, pinch-hitter George Ormiston(.679 OPS), doubled. He completed the cycle with a single in the eighth inning, and came around to score when Ormiston, who had remained in the game to play left field, hit his second double. Zurcher finished with 4 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored. (5/9/87) Kansas City's second-baseman Nicholas Keough(.962 OPS, 15 HR) hit for the cycle in a 17-6 pasting of Knoxville. His first hit was a single in the third inning. Heading into the bottom of the 4th inning, the Royals trailed, 6-4. Keough, however, hit a 2-out, 2-run triple to tie the game at 6-all. He wound up scoring the go-ahead run in that inning, as well. The Royals broke open the game with a 5-run fifth inning. Keough helped the outburst with an RBI double. He completed the cycle with a solo homerun in the seventh inning. For good measure, Keough added a 5th hit, another single, in the eighth inning. He finished the game with 5 hits, 4 RBI, 4 runs scored. The cycle was 17th in Kansas City history, which tied the Royals with Pittsburgh for the most by any team. (6/24/87) Tucson's first-baseman Emil Cuestas(.896 OPS, 14 HR) recorded his 3,000th career hit, a 1st inning single off of Grand Rapids' Henry Carillo(5-7, 6.52 ERA). For the game, he had 3 hits and 2 runs scored in a 6-4 Diamondbacks' victory. (6/27/87) Atlanta's designated-hitter Jerry Benson(.898 OPS, 6 HR) hit for the cycle in a 13-9 victory over Kansas City. With the Braves already up 1-0, third-baseman Raymond Stair led off the top of the second inning with a homerun. Benson followed with his first hit, a triple, and eventually scored to give Atlanta a 3-0 lead. His second hit was a solo homerun to lead off the fourth inning. The Braves opened up a 10-0 lead with a 6-run fifth inning. Benson's third hit was a run-scoring double in that fifth inning. The Royals threatened to make it a game with a rally that cut Atlanta's lead to 10-6. A 3-run eighth inning, however, allowed the Braves to pull away again. Benson completed the cycle with a run-scoring single in the eighth. Benson finished the game with 4 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored. The cycle was the 17th in Atlanta's history, which tied the Braves with Pittsburgh and Kansas City for the most by any team. (6/28/87) Atlanta's Stephen Steffens(5-4, 6.28 ERA) tossed a no-hitter in a 7-0 win over Kansas City. Steffens struck out 8 batters and walked 5. It was the first no-hitter in Atlanta's history. It was the first time Kansas City had been no-hit since 2024, when Grand Rapids' German Marrufo achieved the feat. Overall, it was the fourth time in franchise history that the Royals' had been no-hit. (7/1/2087) Tucson's Emil Cuestas belted his 500th career homerun, a 2-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth against Charlotte's Carlos Fleitas(10 SV, 5.34 ERA). The homerun erased a 4-3 deficit, and the Diamondbacks eventually won, 8-5, in 16 innings. Cuestas is the 19th player in league history to reach both 3,000 career hits and 500 career homeruns. Notable injuries: (5/26/87) Sacramento's Carl Strothers(3-5, 4.33 ERA) was lost for the season with a torn rotator cuff. (6/13/87) Atlanta's left-fielder Joey Campos(.829 OPS, 13 HR) was lost for the season with a broken foot. (6/15/87) Hartford's third-baseman Louis Guerriero(.833 OPS, 11 HR) was lost for the season with a torn back muscle. (7/11/87) Knoxville's right-fielder Burl Wyatt(.869 OPS, 12 HR) was lost for the season with a torn back muscle.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
10-28-2010, 10:34 PM
|
#643 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
Denver's Batting and Pitching Statistics as of the 2087 All Star break
Here are the Broncos' batting and pitching stats as of the All Star break(July 15, 2087)
Code:
Overall Batting: Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS A. Stice 84 341 100 14 2 19 68 72 37 48 .293 .367 .513 0 0 M. Lore 81 317 103 11 0 13 58 44 34 41 .325 .393 .483 0 0 B. Branco 83 310 95 14 3 32 85 75 51 47 .306 .408 .681 0 1 L. Chappel 79 304 102 30 6 12 59 68 47 21 .336 .421 .592 5 0 M. Phillips 80 299 69 17 2 3 31 40 39 34 .231 .329 .331 0 0 R. Thomas 59 257 93 14 0 6 35 44 19 18 .362 .409 .486 8 4 T. Teika 63 232 73 10 1 7 48 41 27 57 .315 .385 .457 0 0 L. Ferro 65 227 50 17 3 12 38 54 36 66 .220 .338 .480 1 1 E. Abadia 53 205 72 16 3 23 60 42 16 34 .351 .397 .795 1 2 A. Mingo 54 179 35 5 1 1 21 22 17 34 .196 .264 .251 0 2 B. Romero 48 174 41 8 1 4 19 32 15 46 .236 .300 .362 6 4 A. Vasquez 33 107 29 5 0 0 14 11 5 16 .271 .310 .318 1 2 E. Bolling 30 91 19 6 2 5 13 17 7 21 .209 .273 .484 0 0 R. Shults 28 83 24 8 0 3 15 14 8 20 .289 .352 .494 0 0 V. Telles 20 62 16 6 2 1 9 11 2 23 .258 .303 .468 0 0 J. Fuensanta 12 34 6 1 0 1 2 7 7 7 .176 .317 .294 0 0 Summary: C- Lee Chappel, even at age 36, has been as good as ever. His slugging percentage is a bit down from recent seasons(.631 or higher in each of the past 4 seasons), but that's pretty much the only negative that one could say about him so far this year. Rookie backup Vincent Telles, who had only 4 at bats above AA coming into this season, has held his own in his limited opportunities. 1B- Veteran Ellis Bolling began the year as the starter but a slow start has limited him to a platoon role. His numbers seemed to improve after his role was diminished. Tamiko Teika actually started the season at AAA, but after getting promoted, he quickly secured a spot as the left-handed half of a platoon. Like Bolling, utility infielder Robert Shults got off to a slow start, and also like Bolling, his numbers picked up once Teika began the bulk of the playing time. 2B- Booker Romero got off to a decent start but missed about a month with an injury. He struggled after returning, but has been hitting a bit better lately. Reserve infielder Adrian Mingo, who has usually been somewhat adequate, performed very poorly in place of Romero. 3B- Michael Phillips got off to an o.k. start but has slumped significantly in the past two months. Jose Fuensanta, who has been a decent bench player the past two seasons, got demoted to AAA after a terrible start. SS- Arthur Stice's numbers are a bit down from last season's .294/.368/.553/.921 batting line, but not by that much. He is still one of the best short-stops in the league. LF- 37 year old Lamont Ferro, who was acquired from Green Bay in an off-season trade, has put up decent numbers despite a batting average that is quite poor. Alexis Vazquez, at age 38, is clearly at the end of the line. CF- Russell Thomas had a ridiculously awesome month of April, with a .500 batting average and a 1.217 OPS. He hasn't been quite as good since, and also spent some time on the disabled list. Thomas' injury did pave the way for one of this season's biggest surprises: Emanuel Abadia. The 33 year old outfielder has mostly been a minor league slugger in his career, with a handful of unsuccessful cups of coffee. Coming into this season, Abadia had a .133 batting average in 203 career at bats. He clearly had power, as 17 of his 27 career hits had gone for extra bases, but his ability to make contact was woefully bad. Upon his call-up after Thomas' injury, however, Abadia absolutely destroyed any and all opposing pitchers. In the month of May, he hit .431, with a 1.458 OPS, 9 homeruns, and 21 RBI. Those numbers were good enough to win a Batter of the Month Award. While his numbers have cooled from that torrid first month, they have remained exceptionally good. He had a 1.046 OPS and 9 homeruns in June, and thus far in July, he has a 1.169 OPS with 5 homeruns. Although Thomas is back from his injury, Abadia's performance has kept him in the starting lineup, mostly as a platoon partner with Lamont Ferro. RF- Marvin Lore has quietly become one of the Broncos' steadiest offensive performers. His numbers aren't spectacular, but he has been consistently well above average in each of the past three seasons. DH- Brooks Branco has been the main offensive force in the Denver lineup this season as well as one of the best hitters in the entire league. Code:
Overall Pitching: Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH R. Lockridge 19 19 10 7 0 3.95 130.0 123 60 57 26 95 2 2 R. Mcnett 19 19 11 2 0 3.75 122.1 128 55 51 25 87 1 1 K. Pillsbury 19 19 7 6 0 5.55 118.1 154 80 73 27 78 1 1 T. Fons 15 15 7 4 0 5.24 110.0 134 72 64 44 48 1 0 W. Ortiz 21 10 3 5 0 4.68 82.2 104 49 43 25 44 0 0 G. Buentello 19 9 3 4 0 8.54 59.0 102 58 56 29 39 0 0 R. Soto 29 0 4 5 0 5.65 43.0 52 33 27 11 19 0 0 C. Saari 28 0 2 7 0 6.17 42.1 62 33 29 9 35 0 0 L. Gwinn 25 0 1 0 1 6.35 34.0 43 25 24 7 31 0 0 L. Ruvalcaba 34 0 1 2 21 3.21 33.2 34 13 12 4 23 0 0 A. Haider 23 0 0 0 0 7.20 25.0 36 20 20 5 17 0 0 Summary: Rotation- Denver ace Kenny Pillsbury has been a massive, and inexplicable, disappointment this season. The worst ERA that Pillsbury has ever had in a full season was 4.92(2080), and he is easily on pace to surpass that. Robert McNett also got off to a terrible start(a 7.36 ERA in April), but unlike Pillsbury, he has turned things around considerably, and is pitching about as well as he ever has. Ray Lockridge has probably been the Broncos' consistent pitcher this season. He wasn't great at the start of the year, but neither was he terrible, and he has pitched quite well the past two months. He also had back to back complete game shutouts against Nashville and Memphis in mid-June. Thomas Fons' numbers are actually a bit deceiving. He started only 1 game in the month of April, and it was an absolute disaster: 10 earned runs allowed in 8 innings pitched. Take that start away, and he has a perfectly respectable 4.76 ERA. George Buentello began the year in the rotation, but the 35 year old pitcher, who was returning from a torn back muscle that limited him to 5 games last year, proved himself to be washed up. In 10 innings as reliever, however, he has posted a 3.60 ERA. Meanwhile, Walter Ortiz, who managed a passable 5.19 ERA in 27 starts as Buentello's replacement last year, opened the year in the bullpen. In 14 2/3 relief innings, Ortiz had a horrible 7.98 ERA. After moving into the rotation, Ortiz has pitched much better, with a 3.97 ERA in 10 starts. Bullpen- Lamont Ruvalcaba has been excellent this season as Denver's closer. Unfortunately, he has been the Broncos' only reliable relief pitcher. Left-hander Robert Soto got off to a strong start, with a 1.93 ERA in April. Since then, however, he has completely collapsed. Cornelius Saari didn't even bother with the strong start; he has been horrible since the season began. He gave up at least 1 run in each of his first 6 outings, and has had 8 appearances with at least 2 runs allowed. Lyndon Gwinn had a 12.38 ERA in April, and has continued to struggle. Alex Haider was ineffective and eventually sent to AAA.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
10-31-2010, 08:44 PM
|
#644 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 National League All Star Team
The National League All Star Team:
            (Note: Bolded stats represent league-leading totals.) Position Players: Code:
POS Name Team Age AS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS C Salomon Alvarez SD 32 2 83 292 93 15 1 20 61 63 32 21 2 3 .318 .395 .582 .977 C Norman Adrover HFD 31 2 77 249 86 8 0 10 43 39 17 36 0 0 .345 .406 .498 .904 1B John Rachal HFD 34 4 85 307 107 29 2 12 53 60 37 41 0 0 .349 .417 .573 .991 1B Ugo Momoru SJ 37 6 83 335 107 20 1 17 66 60 30 13 0 0 .319 .378 .537 .915 2B Jeremias Lucia SD 26 1 80 283 100 11 3 11 59 45 23 13 8 4 .353 .397 .530 .927 3B Anthony Nicklas PHO 29 3 84 329 107 31 1 19 101 63 44 17 1 1 .325 .403 .599 1.001 3B Benjamin Lamas BUF 26 2 82 327 105 24 2 15 49 53 28 19 1 0 .321 .377 .544 .921 SS Mike Morales PHO 28 4 85 288 88 8 3 26 68 70 72 56 2 1 .306 .447 .625 1.072 SS Alberto Ocampo SAC 32 4 84 315 103 17 3 20 66 56 35 19 9 3 .327 .394 .590 .984 LF Ramon Montalvo SAC 35 3 84 313 106 13 0 19 61 63 42 20 0 1 .339 .413 .562 .976 CF Carlo Romero LA 35 8 85 307 105 15 4 20 73 58 43 47 3 1 .342 .422 .612 1.034 RF John Kling BUF 31 3 83 305 100 32 7 21 65 61 51 41 10 5 .328 .425 .685 1.110 RF James Wysocki LA 27 3 86 298 96 15 1 16 57 64 57 23 1 0 .322 .432 .540 .972 RF Gary Calderon PIT 27 1 84 323 114 20 1 10 54 45 15 39 1 0 .353 .381 .514 .895 RF Jack Ector SD 37 6 84 289 88 12 1 17 58 62 46 20 3 0 .304 .402 .529 .932 The Pitchers: Code:
POS Name Team Age AS G GS W L SV ERA IP BB K CG SH WHIP SP Carlos Lozoya SD 31 5 18 18 12 3 0 2.67 138.0 34 119 3 1 1.03 SP Mose Urick ROC 34 4 20 19 11 3 1 2.16 129.1 48 113 2 1 1.10 SP David Myers SAC 25 1 16 16 11 3 0 3.02 122.1 15 93 5 1 0.99 SP Isaias Villalon PIT 28 1 17 17 10 3 0 2.72 119.0 32 114 2 2 1.28 SP Bill Simmerman SJ 29 2 18 18 10 5 0 2.83 127.0 32 59 2 1 1.02 SP Christopher Kirk POR 34 3 18 18 10 6 0 3.17 136.1 27 90 5 2 1.06 SP John Hazeltine POR 31 1 18 18 8 3 0 2.38 125.0 24 93 0 0 0.96 RP Clinton Blanton SJ 29 3 32 0 7 4 15 1.77 40.2 1 27 0 0 0.84 RP Jonah Alvarado HFD 30 2 39 0 3 7 22 5.20 36.1 19 21 0 0 1.51 RP Esteban Solano PHO 25 1 42 0 3 1 17 2.76 58.2 3 42 0 0 0.94 Summary: San Diego leads the NL roster with 4 All Stars, while 4 other teams have at least 3 members. Another 4 teams have at least 2 players on the NL squad. Bizarrely, the team with the best record in the National League at the All Star break- Harrisburg(50-38)- is one of just two teams to not have any All Stars. The other team is New Jersey, which has a 47-43 record. Veteran center-fielder Carlo Romero leads the NL team with 8 career All Star appearances. The team has 6 first time All Stars. First-baseman Ugo Momoru and right-fielder Jack Ector are the oldest players on the squad, while pitchers David Myers and Esteban Solano, at 25, are the youngest.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver Last edited by jamus23; 10-31-2010 at 08:46 PM. |
|
|
|
|
10-31-2010, 09:15 PM
|
#645 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 American League All Star Team
The American League All Star Team:
            Position Players: Code:
POS Name Team Age AS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS C Lee Chappel DEN 36 11 79 304 102 30 6 12 59 68 47 21 5 0 .336 .421 .592 1.013 C Bill Baker ATL 30 1 79 280 83 11 1 21 65 56 36 16 0 0 .296 .380 .568 .947 1B Sabas Laureano WAS 28 4 85 307 100 25 1 21 62 65 45 47 0 0 .326 .416 .619 1.035 1B Emil Cuestas TUC 36 7 89 377 126 26 0 14 67 60 32 52 1 0 .334 .382 .515 .896 2B Jack Forrester MIA 27 2 80 301 82 25 2 26 76 71 49 93 19 7 .272 .374 .628 1.002 3B Robin Vega TUC 30 1 81 287 90 10 2 18 67 65 57 21 10 0 .314 .424 .551 .974 SS Roger Attaway ATL 32 6 85 337 124 33 5 18 88 73 43 71 0 4 .368 .436 .656 1.092 SS Brooks Branco DEN 28 1 83 310 95 14 3 32 85 75 51 47 0 1 .306 .408 .681 1.089 SS Todd Lindsey CHA 29 1 68 256 97 29 1 6 61 53 35 15 9 11 .379 .465 .570 1.036 LF Reggie Melendez TUC 32 1 84 350 119 29 4 1 45 57 17 44 8 10 .340 .381 .454 .836 CF Marcus Murrin TUC 30 2 85 330 115 15 2 21 80 72 30 19 2 2 .348 .404 .597 1.001 CF Arnold Mcgarity ATL 30 1 84 335 110 11 6 3 39 68 42 35 21 11 .328 .403 .424 .827 RF David New MEM 28 2 84 328 123 14 4 16 61 59 25 43 5 2 .375 .421 .588 1.009 RF Emanuel Abadia DEN 33 1 53 205 72 16 3 23 60 42 16 34 1 2 .351 .397 .795 1.192 RF Lester Welter KC 32 1 82 343 109 14 1 12 58 56 22 11 7 1 .318 .354 .469 .823 Pitchers: Code:
POS Name Team Age AS G GS W L SV ERA IP BB K CG SH WHIP SP Christian Hokusai MIA 32 6 18 18 12 2 0 2.44 133.0 28 117 4 2 0.85 SP Thomas Sanchez ATL 31 1 20 20 13 4 0 3.61 157.0 65 117 5 1 1.31 SP Russell Mangano MEM 25 1 15 15 12 2 0 3.13 115.0 13 75 4 1 1.03 SP Rickie Standley MEM 28 1 20 20 12 8 0 3.65 158.0 46 161 7 4 1.15 SP Robert Mcnett DEN 32 4 19 19 11 2 0 3.75 122.1 25 87 1 1 1.25 SP Pedro Godinez KNO 33 1 18 18 10 4 0 4.50 128.0 23 70 2 1 1.37 SP Claudio Deherrera ATL 27 1 19 19 10 5 0 3.72 128.1 38 90 2 0 1.27 RP Leonard Farnum TUC 32 1 31 0 2 1 3 1.43 37.2 21 28 0 0 1.14 RP Lamont Ruvalcaba DEN 31 2 34 0 1 2 21 3.21 33.2 4 23 0 0 1.13 RP Abel Vivar ATL 34 1 34 0 2 5 20 4.14 41.1 22 39 0 0 1.62 Summary: Although the Miami Dolphins have the best record in baseball at 60-29, they do not lead the American League in All Stars. That distinction instead goes to the Atlanta Braves, who are in 2nd place in the Southeast Division and trail the Dolphins by 7 1/2 games. Atlanta leads the AL with 6 All Stars. Central Division rivals Tucson and Denver each have 5 All Stars. Three American League teams have no representatives on the AL squad: Green Bay, Grand Rapids, and Nashville. With this his 11th trip to the All Star game, catcher Lee Chappel is the most decorated member of the American League All Star team. Meanwhile, the team also has a whopping 15 first-time All Stars. At 36 years of age, Chappel joins first-baseman Emil Cuestas as the oldest AL All Stars. Twenty-five year old starting pitcher Russell Mangano is the youngest player on the team.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
11-04-2010, 09:06 PM
|
#646 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
The 2087 All Star Game
The American League All Stars
AT The National League All Stars Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E AL Allstars 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 11 0 NL Allstars 0 2 1 2 0 0 1 1 X 7 8 0 For the fourth consecutive season, the National League prevailed in the Midsummer Classic. Unlike last season's 9-3 blowout, however, this year's star-studded contest was a back and forth dogfight. On a warm, rainy night in Buffalo, the AL squad drew first blood. Washington first-baseman Sabas Laureano smacked a 2-run double in the top of the first inning. In the top of the second, Memphis right-fielder David New produced a 2-out, run-scoring single, and the American League had a 3-0 lead. The NL cut into that lead when Phoenix short-stop Mike Morales blasted a 2-run homer in the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom of the third, the National League tied the game. Sacramento left-fielder Ramon Montalvo singled in a run with 2 outs to make it a 3-3 ballgame. In the top of the fourth inning, which was delayed for 48 minutes due to heavy rain, the American League struck back. Denver designated hitter Brooks Branco delivered a 2-out, pinch hit, RBI single to put the AL in front again. In the bottom half of the fourth, however, the National League got a boost from right-fielder John Kling, playing in front of his home crowd. Kling clubbed a 2-out, 2-run homerun to give the NL a 5-4 lead. The AL battled back, though. In the top of the sixth inning, David New hit a sacrifice fly to the game at 5-all. In the bottom of the seventh inning, it was another hometown player providing some heroics. Buffalo third-baseman Benjamin Lamas launched a solo homerun to give the National League the lead once more. An inning later, Kling produced an insurance run with a sacrifice fly. The National League hung on for a 7-5 victory. John Kling was named the MVP, which was certainly a treat for the Buffalo fans in attendance. He had 1 hit(a homerun), 3 runs batted in, and a run scored. Sacramento's David Myers took home the win- he pitched a scoreless inning with 1 hit and 1 strikeout- and San Jose's Clinton Blanton recorded a save(he pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed 1 hit). The loss went to Knoxville's Pedro Godinez- he surrendered 2 hits and a run in 1 inning of work. Other strong performers included Mike Morales(1 hit, 1 walk, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored), Ramon Montalvo(2 hits, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored), David New(3 hits, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored), Sabas Laureano(1 hit, 1 walk, 2 RBI), Atlanta's Roger Attaway(2 hits), and Tucson's Reggie Melendez(1 hit and 2 runs scored). As for Denver's All Star representatives, here are their performances: Lee Chappel- 1 for 4, with a run scored(his hit was a double) Brooks Branco- 1 for 1 with an RBI Emanuel Abadia- 0 for 1 with a strikeout Robert McNett- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Lamont Ruvalcaba- Did not play
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
01-16-2011, 09:54 PM
|
#647 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
Remembering the Hall of Famers: LF Anthony Ludwick
Anthony Ludwick:
Many teams count themselves fortunate if they can get just one quality big-leaguer from an amateur draft class. A draft which produces 3 such players, then, is definitely a huge success. In 2038, the Sacramento Kings drafted 3 players that went on to have very good big league careers, although 2 of them played very sparingly for the Kings. The 1st round pick was starting pitcher Victor Ater, who wound up getting traded to Los Angeles at the deadline that same year. Ater finished his career with 213 wins, a 4.65 ERA, 2698 strikeouts, and 150 complete games(a total which ranks 12th all time). He made 3 All Star teams, won one Cy Young Award(2052), and pitched the 4th perfect game in league history. Sacramento's 5th round pick was John Diaz, a catcher/outfielder. Diaz was traded to Miami in 2040, and carved out a very solid career. He managed a .761 career OPS, with 172 homeruns. He made 1 All Star team, knocked in 100 runs twice, and helped the Dolphins win the World Series in 2042 and 2045. The third player from that draft to have a productive big league career was 2nd round pick Anthony Ludwick. Ludwick toiled in the minors for a year while Sacramento went 96-66, but finished in 3rd place in the West division, 8 games behind San Diego and 1 game behind Portland. He began the '39 season in the minors, but reached the big leagues in the middle of May. As a reserve center-fielder and left-fielder, he managed a .300 batting average and a .720 OPS in 100 at bats. Sacramento won 95 games, but finished in 2nd place to San Diego, which won 99 games. Still in a backup role in 2040, Ludwick's numbers dipped. He managed just a .249 average and a .702 OPS. The Kings, meanwhile, rolled to the best record in baseball at 108-54. After taking out Pittsburgh(102-60) in the NLCS in 5 games, the Kings faced off against Tucson in the World Series. Ludwick actually started 2 games during the series, as starting left-fielder Chet Plaisance was used as the DH for the games played in Tucson, and Ludwick took his place in left field against right-handed pitchers. In the first game of the series, a 7-4 Kings' win, Ludwick contributed with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored. Sacramento fell behind 2 games to 1 with a couple of close, low-scoring defeats(4-3 and 2-0). The Kings evened the series with a 10-4 thumping in Game Four, and then took the lead with a 3-2 nail-biter in Game Five. Sacramento captured its 1st World Series title with a 10-6 Game Six victory. Ludwick had 3 of the Kings' 20 hits, and also had 1 RBI and 1 run scored. For the entire postseason run, however, Ludwick was an unimpressive 4 for 16, with a .625 OPS. Ludwick moved into Sacramento's starting lineup in 2041, and had what might be considered the best season of his career. He had a career high .372 batting average, which ranked 2nd in the National League. He also had career highs in on base percentage(.401), slugging percentage(.529), and OPS(.930). Ludwick added 204 hits, 37 doubles, a league-leading 11 triples, 9 homers, 71 RBI, 97 runs scored, and 22 stolen bases. Sacramento finished the season 93-69, 2 games behind first place Portland. Ludwick spent three more seasons with Sacramento, and put up fairly similar numbers. He hit between .327 and .346, had .800+ OPS's each year, 200+ hits, and between 24 and 31 stolen bases. In 2043, he had a career high 42 doubles, a career-best 97 RBI, and scored 100+ runs(106). He made his first All Star appearance in 2044, although it was actually one of the poorer seasons of his career. He also won Gold Glove Awards for his play in left field in 2042, 2043, and 2044. The Kings began fading in this time period. In '42, they tied for 2nd place with San Jose, as both finished with 84-78 records. However, they were a whopping 17 games behind 1st place Portland. In '43, Sacramento collapsed to 70-92, and finished in last place. In '44, the Kings went 75-87, and finished only 1 game ahead of last place Los Angeles. A free agent prior to the 2045 season, Ludwick jumped ship and signed with the defending World Series champion Nashville Predators. Ludwick enjoyed a typical season, as he led the league with a career high 222 hits, finished second in the league with a .357 batting average, had an .878 OPS, 14 homeruns, and 24 stolen bases. Nashville, on the other hand, plummeted to an 80-82 record, though that was still good enough for 2nd place in the Southeast Division(albeit, 25 games out of first). Ludwick spent two more seasons with the Predators, and performed at his usual level: a .330 average, .850 OPS, 209 hits, 97 RBI, and 17 steals in '46, and a .317 average, .832 OPS, 14 homers, and 16 steals in '47. He also won his 4th Gold Glove Award in 2047. Nashville continued its slump, with a 76-86 record and 4th place finish in 2046, and a 68-94 record and last place finish in 2047. Ludwick signed with Harrisburg prior to the 2048 season. Unlike the Predators, who had been coming off of a championship season when Ludwick signed with them in '45, the Capitals hadn't had a winning season in a decade. Nothing changed with the addition of Ludwick, as Harrisburg tied with San Diego for the worst record in baseball at 59-103. It was the Capitals' worst season since losing 104 games in 2024. Ludwick, meanwhile, struggled through his worst season as a regular. He hit just .296 and mustered an unimpressive .724 OPS. He had a resurgence in 2049, as he hit .341 with an .863 OPS, 81 RBI, and 98 runs scored. He also made his second trip to the All Star game. Harrisburg improved to 70-92, and finished in 4th place, 2 games ahead of last place Buffalo. 2050 was another down season for Ludwick. He hit .320, but his OPS dipped to .792. Harrisburg endured the worst season in its history, finishing with a league-worst 54-108 record. Ludwick bounced back a bit in '51, hitting .333 with an .822 OPS, 204 hits, 15 homeruns, 90 RBI, and 99 runs scored. Harrisburg again finished with the worst record in baseball, at 62-100. In '52, Ludwick managed a .330 batting average, an .801 OPS, 209 hits, 83 RBI, and 91 runs scored. Harrisburg managed to avoid 100 losses, but still finished in last place in its division, with a record of 63-99. Ludwick's last hurrah came in 2053. He hit .342, posted an .854 OPS, recorded 221 hits, set career highs in homeruns(19) and RBI(108), and made his 3rd trip to the All Star game. Harrisburg had a respectable 75-87 record, but once again finished in last place. The following season, Ludwick's numbers dropped sharply. He hit .310 with just a .751 OPS. The Capitals went 66-96 but did escape from last place(Buffalo went 59-103). In 2055, Ludwick returned to his original team, Sacramento. His homecoming didn't turn out very well. Ludwick tore a ribcage muscle early in the season and missed more than a month of action. A couple of weeks after coming off of the disabled list, the Kings, en route to a 65-97 last place finish, released him. Ludwick signed with Atlanta in early July, and played the rest of the season for the Braves. However, he played very sparingly for them. Ludwick finished the year with a .688 OPS in just 63 at bats. Atlanta finished with a respectable 86-76 record, but was a very distant second to Southeast Division winner Miami, which won a league-best 112 games. The 39 year old Ludwick retired after the 2055 season. At the time of his retirement, Ludwick ranked 12th all time with a .331 career batting average. He was also tied for 23rd with 98 career triples. By 2061, he was no longer in the top 25 for triples. Prior to the start of the 2087 season, Ludwick still ranked 22nd all time in batting average. Ludwick's 4 Gold Glove Awards in left field made him one of ten players to win as many 4 Gold Gloves at that position. Ludwick's stats: Code:
Career Batting Stats Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams 2039 64 100 30 5 1 1 17 16 3 19 2 3 .300 .320 .400 .720 SAC 2040 97 185 46 8 2 6 21 30 11 49 5 4 .249 .291 .411 .702 SAC 2041 146 548 204 37 11 9 71 97 26 82 22 8 .372 .401 .529 .930 SAC 2042 154 648 219 37 7 5 80 98 29 96 29 17 .338 .366 .440 .806 SAC 2043 153 624 216 42 10 15 97 106 24 101 24 17 .346 .370 .518 .888 SAC 2044 151 620 203 20 10 11 83 98 28 83 31 16 .327 .356 .445 .802 SAC,NL 2045 158 621 222 28 7 14 82 93 28 85 24 18 .357 .385 .493 .878 NAS 2046 157 633 209 33 16 11 97 93 35 99 17 14 .330 .365 .485 .850 NAS 2047 152 586 186 25 13 14 73 85 35 68 16 9 .317 .356 .476 .832 NAS 2048 139 507 150 20 4 9 48 70 18 73 8 3 .296 .320 .404 .724 HBG 2049 152 557 190 32 6 13 81 98 28 76 11 14 .341 .373 .490 .863 HBG,NL 2050 155 584 187 27 1 13 61 93 32 94 9 2 .320 .356 .437 .792 HBG 2051 157 612 204 27 4 15 90 99 23 90 13 5 .333 .357 .464 .822 HBG 2052 160 634 209 28 0 14 83 91 31 75 11 5 .330 .361 .440 .801 HBG 2053 159 646 221 32 4 19 82 108 20 86 11 5 .342 .362 .492 .854 HBG,NL 2054 158 596 185 30 1 11 66 89 19 93 6 5 .310 .332 .419 .751 HBG 2055 20 63 19 2 1 0 9 7 2 15 0 0 .302 .323 .365 .688 SAC ATL Total 2332 8764 2900 433 98 180 1141 1371 392 1284 239 145 .331 .360 .464 .824 Career Minor League Batting Stats Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS 2038, A 50 215 61 9 2 5 24 24 6 74 8 11 .284 .299 .414 .713 2038, AA 88 353 101 12 6 5 34 54 23 91 17 8 .286 .320 .397 .717 2039, AA 19 71 24 2 1 2 8 16 3 17 2 2 .338 .355 .479 .834 2039, AAA 18 76 21 6 2 0 12 13 4 18 1 0 .276 .301 .408 .709 Career Postseason Batting Stats Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS 2040 8 16 4 0 1 0 2 2 0 3 0 1 .250 .250 .375 .625 Total 8 16 4 0 1 0 2 2 0 3 0 1 .250 .250 .375 .625 Player History Drafted in 2nd round, 25th overall pick, by Sacramento in 2038... Had first career hit (double) on 6/1/2039, off Donald Martin (SJ)... Hit first career homerun on 8/1/2039, off Juan Kotter (POR)... Won World Series with Sacramento in 2040... Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 9/23/2041... Won Player of the Week award on 7/7/2042, hitting .500 with 0 HR, 2 RBI... Won Player of the Week award on 9/15/2042, hitting .500 with 1 HR, 10 RBI... Won Gold Glove Award at Leftfield in 2042... Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against San Jose on 4/17/2043... Won Gold Glove Award at Leftfield in 2043... Had 25-game hitting streak snapped on 4/13/2044... Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2044, hitting .500 with 1 HR, 10 RBI... Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game... Won Gold Glove Award at Leftfield in 2044... Signed as a free agent by Nashville on 2/19/2045 to a 3-year deal worth $5,844,000 per year... Had 6 hits with 2 RBI against Washington on 7/15/2046... Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2046, hitting .615 with 1 HR, 9 RBI... Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Miami on 9/16/2046... Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Denver on 4/22/2047... Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 8/16/2047... Won Gold Glove Award at Leftfield in 2047... Signed as a free agent by Harrisburg on 2/13/2048 to a 4-year deal worth $3,830,700 per year... Was selected to the 2049 Allstar game... Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Hartford on 7/13/2049... Drove in 6 runs against Portland on 7/26/2049... Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2049, hitting .387 with 5 HR, 11 RBI... Had 2000th career hit on 8/2/2050, off Kim Sotelo (SJ)... Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Los Angeles on 7/1/2051... Won Player of the Week award on 9/22/2051, hitting .593 with 5 HR, 14 RBI... Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Pittsburgh on 9/30/2052... Was selected to the 2053 Allstar game... Won Player of the Week award on 6/2/2054, hitting .550 with 1 HR, 6 RBI... Signed as a free agent by Sacramento on 2/8/2055 to a 2-year deal worth $887,500 per year... Injured on 4/11/2055 with a Torn Rib Cage Muscle, out for 6-7 weeks... Released by Sacramento on 6/16/2055, refused assignment to minors... Signed as a free agent by Atlanta on 7/7/2055 to a 1-year deal worth $300,000 per year... Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2056. Batting Leader Boards Appearances AVG 2041 - .372 - 2nd 2042 - .338 - 7th 2043 - .346 - 8th 2044 - .327 - 8th 2045 - .357 - 2nd 2049 - .341 - 5th 2051 - .333 - 5th 2052 - .330 - 8th 2053 - .342 - 5th OBP 2041 - .401 - 9th OPS 2041 - .930 - 8th Hits 2041 - 204 - 3rd 2042 - 219 - 2nd 2043 - 216 - 4th 2044 - 203 - 4th 2045 - 222 - 1st 2046 - 209 - 6th 2049 - 190 - 7th 2050 - 187 - 8th 2051 - 204 - 2nd 2052 - 209 - 3rd 2053 - 221 - 2nd 2054 - 185 - 7th Doubles 2043 - 42 - 7th Triples 2041 - 11 - 1st 2042 - 7 - 10th 2043 - 10 - 4th 2044 - 10 - 4th 2046 - 16 - 2nd 2047 - 13 - 2nd Runs 2053 - 108 - 9th SB 2044 - 31 - 6th 2045 - 24 - 8th The next Hall of Famer will be first-baseman Christopher Bohanon, one of the greatest homerun hitters of all time. However, the 2087 regular season has come to a close, so before I get to Bohanon's bio, I will take a look at how the season played out down the stretch and preview the postseason matchups.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2011, 09:27 PM
|
#648 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Final Regular Season Standings
Code:
National League Standings West Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 San Diego 97 65 .599 - 98- 64 -1 52-29 45-36 10- 7 25-19 W2 7- 3 San Jose 96 66 .593 1.0 96- 66 0 53-28 43-38 10- 7 26-20 L2 6- 4 Sacramento 80 82 .494 17.0 78- 84 2 44-37 36-45 4- 6 26-20 L2 4- 6 Los Angeles 78 84 .481 19.0 86- 76 -8 45-36 33-48 6- 8 21-26 W1 4- 6 Phoenix 71 91 .438 26.0 67- 95 4 36-45 35-46 7- 6 17-15 L1 6- 4 Portland 64 98 .395 33.0 65- 97 -1 35-46 29-52 5- 7 15-34 L4 3- 7 Northeast Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Pittsburgh 94 68 .580 - 96- 66 -2 53-28 41-40 8-10 22-25 W2 4- 6 Harrisburg 87 75 .537 7.0 83- 79 4 50-31 37-44 8- 8 25-23 L1 6- 4 Hartford 86 76 .531 8.0 82- 80 4 48-33 38-43 7- 3 30-20 W6 9- 1 Rochester 79 83 .488 15.0 80- 82 -1 39-42 40-41 8- 4 24-21 L2 4- 6 New Jersey 75 87 .463 19.0 75- 87 0 35-46 40-41 10- 8 21-19 W2 4- 6 Buffalo 65 97 .401 29.0 71- 91 -6 33-48 32-49 4-13 22-32 W1 3- 7 American League Standings Southeast Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Miami 112 50 .691 - 110- 52 2 55-26 57-24 5- 2 30-14 W3 9- 1 Atlanta 93 69 .574 19.0 91- 71 2 50-31 43-38 2-11 26-23 W1 8- 2 Knoxville 79 83 .488 33.0 75- 87 4 40-41 39-42 5- 5 20-16 W4 5- 5 Charlotte 75 87 .463 37.0 71- 91 4 37-44 38-43 4- 8 28-17 L1 7- 3 Nashville 71 91 .438 41.0 73- 89 -2 27-54 44-37 6- 2 21-22 L3 4- 6 Washington 52 110 .321 60.0 53-109 -1 34-47 18-63 5- 6 16-20 L14 0-10 Central Division Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Stk Last10 Denver 99 63 .611 - 105- 57 -6 52-29 47-34 5- 5 19-28 L1 8- 2 Tucson 91 71 .562 8.0 85- 77 6 38-43 53-28 12- 4 24-16 L1 3- 7 Memphis 83 79 .512 16.0 83- 79 0 35-46 48-33 5- 4 21-25 W1 3- 7 Grand Rapids 74 88 .457 25.0 79- 83 -5 42-39 32-49 5- 6 20-30 W6 7- 3 Kansas City 73 89 .451 26.0 75- 87 -2 30-51 43-38 5- 5 18-22 L5 1- 9 Green Bay 70 92 .432 29.0 76- 86 -6 33-48 37-44 7- 8 14-24 W1 5- 5 Thoughts: NL West- San Diego outlasted San Jose to secure 1st place in this division, but the playoff teams had been all but decided already at the start of September. Los Angeles, in 3rd place at the time, had been 9 1/2 games out of first. The Dodgers slipped to 4th place and 19 games out of first. Portland finished in last place for the 5th consecutive season. The last time that the Trailblazers finished in the cellar in 5 straight years was a stretch from 2056 to 2060. NL Northeast- On August 1st, Pittsburgh had a 2 1/2 game lead on Harrisburg, a 5 1/2 game lead on Hartford, and a 6 1/2 game lead on New Jersey. By September 1st, the Pirates had opened up a 9 1/2 game lead on the Capitals, an 11 game lead on the Whalers, and a 14 game lead on the Devils. While Harrisburg and Hartford actually regained ground on Pittsburgh in the final month, the Pirates were never in any danger of blowing their lead. New Jersey, meanwhile, faded to a 5th place finish. Harrisburg held off the defending NL champion Whalers to secure the second playoff spot. It's the Capitals' first trip to the postseason since 2016. Buffalo finished in last place for the first time since 2080. The Bills also had their highest loss total since losing 99 games in 2075. AL Southeast- First place in this division had pretty much been decided for months, as second place Atlanta hadn't really been close enough to pose a real threat to Miami since sometime in July. Of course, the Braves themselves had pretty much secured 2nd place by August. With the Braves capturing their 2nd straight playoff spot, an interesting little trend continued. After the Washington Senators recorded 5 straight 2nd place finishes from 2077 to 2081, Nashville('82 and '83), Knoxville('84 and '85), and now Atlanta('86 and '87) have all finished in second place two years in a row. Speaking of Washington, the Senators lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history. They didn't exactly leave it to chance, either, losing 14 consecutive games to close out the season. AL Central- At the start of September, Denver trailed Tucson by 1 1/2 games, but eventually surged ahead of the Diamondbacks to win the division with a comfortable 8 game advantage. Ultimately, the Central Division ended the season looking pretty much like it has this entire decade. Denver won its 7th straight division title, Tucson finished in 2nd place for the 7th straight season, Memphis finished in 3rd place for the 6th time in the past 7 years, and the other three teams brought up the rear of the division(the only time one of those bottom 3 finished higher than 4th place in the last 7 years was in 2083, when Grand Rapids finished 3rd and Memphis slipped to 4th). League News: (7/19/2087)Green Bay's Robert Quirk(.824 OPS, 15 HR, 62 RBI) hit for the cycle in a 3-1 victory over Nashville. The third-baseman tripled in the first inning, hit a run-scoring single in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1, doubled(and scored the go-ahead run) in the fifth inning, and hit a solo homerun in the seventh inning. His 4 hits matched Nashville's total as a team, and he also had 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. The triple was Quirk's only one of the season, and his first since 2085. (9/1/2087)Phoenix's Gregorio Olivera(.795 OPS, 11 HR, 71 RBI, 96 runs scored) hit for the cycle in a 9-1 whipping of Sacramento. The Cardinals' first-baseman doubled in the first inning, tripled in the second inning, hit a solo homerun in the fifth inning, and singled in the sixth inning. He finished the game with 4 hits, 1 RBI, and 4 runs scored. (9/7/2087)Atlanta's shortstop Roger Attaway(.983 OPS, 55 2B, 31 HR, 136 RBI, 123 runs scored) hit the 500th homerun of his career in a 7-3 loss to Charlotte. The homerun came with 2 outs in the first inning off of Panthers' starter Leonard Mickelson. Atlanta built leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the game, but could not hold onto them. Charlotte took control of the game with a 5-run 7th inning. The 32 year old Attaway finished the season with 503 career homeruns. (9/18/2087)Washington's Santiago Pina(.971 OPS, 202 H, 60 2B, 21 HR, 99 RBI, 106 runs scored) hit for the cycle in a 14-12 victory over Denver. The Senators' shortstop singled in the 1st inning, hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning, tripled to lead off the 4th inning, and doubled to lead off the 6th inning. Not content with just a cycle, Pina added a second triple- this one a 2-out, 2-run laser in the 8th inning. Pina finished the game with 5 hits, 4 RBI, and 4 runs scored. (10/5/2087)Denver's Brooks Branco(1.137 OPS, 63 HR, 174 RBI, 146 runs scored) tied the AL single season HR record of 63 with a solo shot in a 3-2 loss to Green Bay. The record was previously set by Miami's Edmond McGurk in 2084. The homerun also allowed Branco to surpass Ellis Bolling's team record of 62, set in 2074. Branco also broke the franchise record for RBI(Donald Dowler's 170 in 2064) and came awfully close to breaking the American League record(Earl Quon's 178 in 2046). Up next: The final league batting and pitching statistics for the 2087 season.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2011, 10:05 PM
|
#649 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
The final league batting and pitching stats for the 2087 season
Batting Statistics:
Code:
National League Batting
West Division
Team AVG HR R AB H 2B 3B BB K OBP SLG OPS SB
San Diego .271 186 826 5633 1528 263 31 499 896 .333 .428 .761 123
San Jose .269 136 832 5689 1529 317 46 525 808 .332 .412 .744 47
Sacramento .270 186 747 5625 1516 233 30 404 1039 .320 .421 .741 59
Los Angeles .262 212 870 5595 1467 274 38 596 1021 .336 .438 .774 80
Phoenix .269 223 939 5635 1514 314 36 659 912 .347 .456 .803 67
Portland .240 151 656 5474 1316 224 39 524 1280 .309 .378 .687 133
Northeast Division
Team AVG HR R AB H 2B 3B BB K OBP SLG OPS SB
Pittsburgh .279 183 834 5767 1608 299 34 520 1105 .341 .438 .779 41
Harrisburg .250 131 746 5557 1391 314 36 590 1144 .325 .390 .716 117
Hartford .278 170 797 5580 1554 307 40 464 994 .337 .439 .776 54
Rochester .260 163 750 5601 1457 289 34 414 932 .316 .411 .727 83
New Jersey .273 166 798 5707 1560 276 48 483 1054 .331 .426 .757 152
Buffalo .257 176 750 5621 1445 316 47 415 1000 .310 .424 .733 77
Total .265 2083 9545 67484 17885 3426 459 6093 12185 .328 .422 .750 1033
American League Batting
Southeast Division
Team AVG HR R AB H 2B 3B BB K OBP SLG OPS SB
Miami .278 187 1006 5666 1575 363 39 720 875 .361 .455 .816 100
Atlanta .299 229 1056 5777 1730 358 40 655 906 .372 .494 .866 92
Knoxville .259 207 885 5585 1446 331 27 732 1316 .347 .439 .786 132
Charlotte .277 197 885 5753 1593 328 21 610 880 .348 .444 .792 105
Nashville .263 216 875 5690 1497 322 38 557 1012 .332 .447 .779 61
Washington .268 165 847 5669 1518 307 35 605 834 .341 .422 .763 92
Central Division
Team AVG HR R AB H 2B 3B BB K OBP SLG OPS SB
Denver .296 295 1127 5834 1724 315 43 633 921 .368 .516 .884 49
Tucson .288 173 980 5815 1677 344 58 553 862 .353 .457 .809 145
Memphis .274 228 884 5679 1554 316 42 551 1116 .341 .465 .806 91
Grand Rapids .262 200 860 5595 1467 303 43 629 1054 .340 .439 .779 46
Kansas City .286 207 1018 5811 1664 347 44 725 945 .365 .468 .833 140
Green Bay .259 219 860 5669 1468 349 24 616 1115 .334 .445 .779 65
Total .276 2523 11283 68543 18913 3983 454 7586 11836 .350 .458 .808 1118
Thoughts: The National League saw its lowest OPS since 2068, when it was .746. It's the first time that the OPS has even been below .760 since 2073, when it was .755. Likewise, the league slugging percentage was the lowest since 2068(.417). The league batting average was below .270 for the first time since 2075(.267) and was the NL's lowest since 2068(.265). The runs scored total dipped below 10,000 for the first time since 2075(9914) and overall it was the fewest runs scored since 2067(9352). Walks were also down, with lowest total since 2074(6080). While offensive numbers were clearly down in the National League, the American League remained at a similar level as recent seasons. The league OPS was only slightly down from last season's .811 total, and marked the 4th straight season that it has been above .800. The league slugging percentage topped .450 for the 5th straight season. The AL's 2523 homeruns were actually a record total; the previous high was 2507, set in 2084. Pitching Statistics: Code:
National League Pitching
West Division
Team ERA S IP HA R ER HRA BB K OAVG CG SHO
San Diego 3.75 48 1456.2 1440 670 607 139 361 1030 .256 21 6
San Jose 3.96 40 1459.2 1324 687 642 194 454 974 .240 12 5
Sacramento 4.49 41 1432.1 1389 779 714 176 588 1079 .253 19 5
Los Angeles 4.70 31 1444.2 1508 815 754 159 563 948 .269 15 1
Phoenix 6.47 33 1433.1 1863 1115 1031 235 560 813 .313 4 0
Portland 4.64 29 1436.1 1390 806 740 208 505 1023 .251 24 6
Northeast Division
Team ERA S IP HA R ER HRA BB K OAVG CG SHO
Pittsburgh 3.77 32 1464.2 1528 688 613 156 331 1065 .267 17 9
Harrisburg 4.07 44 1462.1 1503 729 661 152 360 934 .264 24 3
Hartford 4.48 42 1429.0 1353 785 712 185 562 1124 .248 20 6
Rochester 4.33 42 1442.1 1433 756 694 154 623 1086 .259 10 2
New Jersey 4.86 39 1453.0 1549 863 785 184 542 1067 .271 13 4
Buffalo 4.94 35 1445.1 1606 852 793 141 644 1042 .284 9 1
Total 4.53 456 17359.2 17886 9545 8746 2083 6093 12185 .265 188 48
American League Pitching
Southeast Division
Team ERA S IP HA R ER HRA BB K OAVG CG SHO
Miami 3.99 48 1446.2 1386 693 642 154 467 1169 .249 21 10
Atlanta 5.27 45 1441.1 1490 936 844 196 771 1117 .264 22 3
Knoxville 5.42 38 1436.0 1659 956 865 165 586 978 .289 31 5
Charlotte 5.74 36 1456.1 1616 1005 929 266 626 1037 .278 19 1
Nashville 5.57 36 1441.2 1481 966 892 219 805 960 .264 7 4
Washington 7.01 25 1420.2 1794 1214 1107 278 762 946 .308 12 2
Central Division
Team ERA S IP HA R ER HRA BB K OAVG CG SHO
Denver 4.78 38 1441.2 1660 831 766 130 412 958 .286 9 6
Tucson 5.24 36 1466.1 1605 931 853 236 610 1021 .276 22 0
Memphis 4.85 33 1441.0 1462 860 777 218 564 969 .260 42 10
Grand Rapids 5.11 40 1428.0 1541 884 811 206 646 922 .274 15 2
Kansas City 6.25 32 1443.1 1733 1091 1003 234 672 763 .297 24 5
Green Bay 5.15 22 1443.1 1487 916 826 221 665 996 .263 23 5
Total 5.36 429 17306.1 18914 11283 10315 2523 7586 11836 .276 247 53
Thoughts: Not surprisingly, the National League ERA was the lowest since 2068, when it was 4.46. The AL ERA, meanwhile, remained close to previous seasons, when it has been between 5.32 and 5.41.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
01-30-2011, 10:28 PM
|
#650 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Divisional Round Preview: Pittsburgh VS. San Jose
The Pittsburgh Pirates(94-68)
 VS. The San Jose Sharks(96-66)  Quick Facts: - Pittsburgh and San Jose have an extensive postseason history, as both teams have dominated their respective divisions for the past 30 seasons. The two teams have faced off in postseason play a total of 17 times, with Pittsburgh winning 10 of those series. They met most recently in the 2083 National League Championship Series, with the Pirates outlasting the Sharks in 7 games en route to a World Series victory over Miami. San Jose's last win over Pittsburgh came in the 2079 NLCS, when a 97-win Sharks team upset a 115-win Pirates team in 6 games. San Jose then lost to a 95-win Miami team in 5 games in the World Series. - After missing the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history, Pittsburgh returned to the top of the Northeast Division this year. This is San Jose's 3rd straight trip to the postseason. - San Jose dominated the regular season, winning 10 out of 14 games. The average score was 5.2 to 3.0, in favor of the Sharks. San Jose reached double digits in runs scored in two of the games(wins of 14-2 and 11-1). The Pirates' high was 8 runs. Each team recorded 2 shutouts. Three games were decided by 1 run, and the Sharks won all 3, including the only extra inning game: a 4-3 victory in 11 innings. - Pittsburgh's offense ranked 5th in batting average, 15th in homeruns, 18th in walks, and 15th in runs scored. The Pirates' pitching staff ranked 2nd in ERA, 13th in opponents' batting average, 7th in homeruns allowed, 1st in walks allowed, and 3rd in runs allowed. - San Jose's offense ranked 13th in batting average, 23rd in homeruns, 16th in walks, and 16th in runs scored. The Sharks' pitching staff ranked 3rd in ERA, 1st in opponents' batting average, 13th in homeruns allowed, 5th in walks, and 2nd in runs allowed. Thoughts: This is about as even a playoff matchup as you'll ever have. Both teams feature slightly below average offenses and very strong pitching staffs. There are no elite hitters in either lineup, but there are plenty of players who have proven themselves as reliable contributors. The Pirates' rotation is a bit better, but the Sharks counter with a dominating bullpen. Still, San Jose did win the majority of their regular season meetings, so perhaps things are not as evenly matched as they appear. The Teams: Pittsburgh's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS G. Calderon RF 154 628 222 39 6 26 112 109 34 85 .354 .391 .559 2 0 J. Harmer Jr. LF 151 579 175 51 4 18 64 127 103 113 .302 .412 .497 3 0 J. Sequeira 1B 139 560 192 30 5 30 123 88 28 37 .343 .374 .575 2 0 R. Triado CF 142 517 162 31 1 19 93 76 43 74 .313 .365 .487 0 0 B. Cubillas SS 138 494 126 18 0 4 39 78 43 84 .255 .316 .316 1 0 R. Able 2B 123 471 122 20 4 21 64 72 67 116 .259 .352 .452 14 1 S. Mack 3B 109 406 126 21 4 14 64 48 22 99 .310 .343 .485 0 0 E. Mccullough C 109 393 89 26 0 11 62 50 47 107 .226 .314 .377 3 0 D. Barrientos CF 120 330 92 7 3 10 40 40 26 47 .279 .343 .409 1 0 J. Rael 3B 97 298 71 14 1 15 41 53 45 48 .238 .337 .443 0 0 H. Yosuke C 62 194 43 9 0 4 22 16 23 34 .222 .315 .330 2 0 S. Garcia 1B 75 175 52 7 0 4 24 19 4 24 .297 .313 .406 1 0 G. Leal 2B 51 145 39 5 2 6 22 25 7 26 .269 .319 .455 9 0 B. Tovar SS 58 111 27 1 1 1 10 14 6 7 .243 .282 .297 2 0 S. Council SP 33 101 28 4 1 0 4 7 3 40 .277 .298 .337 0 0 C. Cooper SP 31 81 16 2 1 1 6 6 0 38 .198 .198 .284 0 0 A. Fajardo SP 33 79 14 3 1 1 11 4 1 31 .177 .181 .278 0 0 I. Villalon SP 32 74 5 3 0 1 4 4 5 33 .068 .127 .149 0 0 R. Labat SP 26 52 4 1 0 0 5 0 3 26 .077 .125 .096 0 0 J. Miller SS 15 36 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 5 .028 .103 .056 0 1 T. Preuss SS 18 34 7 1 0 0 1 9 1 6 .206 .229 .235 3 1 J. Rowland C 9 26 6 0 0 0 2 0 2 10 .231 .286 .231 0 0 E. Lasa CF 15 25 6 3 1 0 1 3 3 5 .240 .321 .440 0 0 W. Pigford 1B 13 24 6 3 0 0 2 1 3 4 .250 .357 .375 0 0 C. Ostlund SP 4 11 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 7 .091 .091 .182 0 0 K. Wehr CF 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 .200 .429 .200 0 0 R. Tibbs LF 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .200 .200 .200 0 0 E. Beltran SP 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .250 0 0 A. Whipple SP 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 K. Nampo RP 33 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Barnett RP 37 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Vega RP 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Odonoghue RP 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 The Pirates had two regulars who were particularly bad. Veteran catcher Errol McCullough, acquired in the offseason, was fairly disappointing. His .690 OPS was one of the worst of his career, and his 11 homeruns were his fewest in a decade. His 47 walks marked the first time since 2079 that he had fewer 70 in a season. Meanwhile, shortstop Benito Cubillas actually had the best season of his career. However, his standards are so low that what counts as his "best" is still awful. He set career highs in hits(126), runs scored(78), batting average(.255), and OPS(.632). Pittsburgh's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH S. Council 33 33 18 11 0 2.95 256.1 233 88 84 50 208 9 4 A. Fajardo 33 33 15 8 0 3.69 224.2 254 101 92 41 147 2 1 I. Villalon 32 32 16 9 0 3.30 215.2 227 89 79 57 182 2 2 C. Cooper 31 31 15 9 0 3.74 204.1 205 96 85 35 150 2 1 R. Labat 26 26 7 10 0 4.30 161.1 158 97 77 67 108 2 1 D. Martinez 48 0 1 1 7 2.36 80.0 61 25 21 12 28 0 0 J. Barnett 37 0 10 8 3 3.81 52.0 57 26 22 12 48 0 0 J. Odonoghue 33 0 1 0 0 8.55 46.1 81 49 44 14 46 0 0 K. Nampo 33 0 1 2 1 4.60 45.0 42 26 23 15 30 0 0 J. Vega 33 0 3 5 2 4.63 44.2 55 27 23 12 35 0 0 R. Melendez 32 0 2 3 17 4.40 30.2 34 15 15 0 18 0 0 R. Chavez 15 0 0 1 1 3.68 22.0 25 9 9 1 11 0 0 C. Ostlund 4 4 3 0 0 4.50 22.0 33 11 11 6 17 0 0 M. Garcia 16 0 1 0 1 2.55 17.2 14 5 5 3 6 0 0 R. Boring 15 0 0 0 0 6.60 15.0 16 12 11 3 13 0 0 E. Beltran 2 2 0 1 0 4.85 13.0 14 7 7 1 10 0 0 A. Whipple 1 1 1 0 0 4.50 6.0 7 3 3 1 2 0 0 F. Kuntz 2 0 0 0 0 3.00 3.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 S. Hankerson 2 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 P. Saez 2 0 0 0 0 4.50 2.0 5 1 1 1 2 0 0 J. Lis 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Anchoring the Pittsburgh rotation was Scott Council, who went 18-11 with a 2.95 ERA and 208 strikeouts. The wins ranked 4th in the NL, the ERA ranked 6th, and the strikeouts ranked 4th. He finished 2nd in the league in innings pitched(256 1/3), tied for 2nd in complete games(9), and 1st in shutouts(4). He had a stretch in September in which he tossed 3 consecutive complete game shutouts(against San Diego, Buffalo, and Hartford). The streak came to an end when he gave up a run in the 1st inning of a game against Rochester. After giving up the run, he pitched 8 shutout innings against the Rhinos for another complete game. One of the surprise pitchers of this season was Isaias Villalon. Although he had managed a respectable 4.17 ERA in 24 starts last year, few expected the level of performance that he exhibited this year. Villalon went 16-9 with a 3.30 ERA, and 182 strikeouts. The wins tied for 5th in the league and the ERA ranked 9th. Left-hander Andreas Fajardo will likely never again approach his rookie season numbers(22-4, 2.12 ERA, 188 strikeouts), but in the 5 seasons following that year he has established himself as a durable pitcher who will put up an ERA ranging from the mid-3's to the mid-4's, and that's pretty valuable. This season was on the better end of that scale, as he posted a 15-8 record with a 3.69 ERA, and 147 strikeouts. He tied for 9th in the league in quality starts, with 22. Veteran Christopher Cooper, a free agency signing this offseason, isn't the devastating 200+ strikeout guy that he used to be, but even at age 37, he still a capable starting pitcher. He went 15-9 with a 3.74 ERA and 150 strikeouts. His 1.5 walks per 9 innings ranked 8th in the National League. Rounding out Pittsburgh's rotation is 34 year old Raymond Labat, who had a solid, if unspectacular campaign. Labat went 7-10 with a 4.30 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Labat was rather unlucky at times this season, as, heading into the final month, his won-loss record was just 3-9. The Pirates' most used and most effective relief pitcher spent the first 2 1/2 months of the season in the minor leagues. Injuries gave 36 year old Donato Martinez an opportunity, and he made the most of it. In a career high 80 innings pitched Martinez posted a 2.36 ERA(also a career best) and recorded 7 saves. Left-hander Joseph Barnett managed a 3.18 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched. Although he earned 10 wins, he also took 8 losses. The bulk of the save opportunities went to 37 year old Rolando Melendez(he led the team with 17 saves), but after a less than stellar season(4.40 ERA in 30 2/3 innings pitched), expect the Pirates to lean on someone else in the playoffs. San Jose's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS U. Momoru 1B 153 614 189 33 3 27 112 108 56 35 .308 .367 .503 1 0 O. Escobedo SS 152 612 174 23 3 22 99 82 30 48 .284 .320 .440 0 0 J. Lumsden RF 154 579 180 36 9 24 107 104 77 32 .311 .397 .528 1 0 V. Zurcher 2B 142 512 128 39 5 14 84 64 37 88 .250 .299 .428 1 2 H. Motoshige 3B 137 506 143 38 3 4 61 64 42 38 .283 .335 .393 0 5 L. Urrutia C 131 449 108 23 1 13 68 57 57 120 .241 .328 .383 1 0 E. Alexander CF 120 431 128 19 8 16 55 67 24 57 .297 .341 .490 31 5 S. Martinez LF 115 362 80 22 5 2 36 62 68 65 .221 .343 .326 4 3 G. Ormiston LF 115 334 105 23 1 0 39 48 28 32 .314 .375 .389 0 0 F. Conde CF 107 322 93 13 4 1 38 54 40 22 .289 .368 .363 1 5 W. Mchale 3B 55 141 40 12 1 0 11 22 10 32 .284 .331 .383 0 0 C. Alvarez 2B 46 134 31 11 3 2 14 20 11 30 .231 .286 .403 5 0 M. Preciado LF 56 120 32 3 0 4 22 21 9 11 .267 .333 .392 1 0 C. Seaver C 39 119 26 4 0 5 17 16 11 22 .218 .276 .378 1 0 P. Leff CF 49 91 29 8 0 1 17 13 5 25 .319 .354 .440 0 0 B. Simmerman SP 34 83 18 4 0 0 9 8 6 32 .217 .270 .265 0 0 J. Myatt SP 32 75 9 5 0 0 3 5 2 30 .120 .139 .187 1 0 S. Withrow SP 32 71 14 2 0 0 5 8 2 28 .197 .216 .225 0 0 J. Holcomb SP 32 71 3 2 0 1 5 1 2 28 .042 .068 .113 0 0 F. Shimizu 3B 32 70 16 3 0 0 7 10 8 14 .229 .313 .271 0 0 J. Echeveste SP 26 64 9 0 0 0 3 5 2 32 .141 .167 .141 0 0 W. Turner RF 11 23 6 1 0 1 1 5 1 6 .261 .292 .435 0 0 F. Villatoro 2B 9 11 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 .182 .182 .364 0 0 C. Geter SP 6 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 .083 .000 0 0 J. Hise 1B 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 0 0 G. Parker RP 55 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 .250 .000 0 0 D. Vassar C 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 R. Whitesell C 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .333 .000 0 0 B. Frisch RP 45 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 N. Martinez RP 41 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 San Jose right-fielder James Lumsden set career highs in on base percentage(.397), OPS(.925), walks(77), and triples(9) this season. He also produced his 5th straight season with at least 35 doubles(36), 20 homeruns(24), and 100 RBI(107). He scored 100 runs(104) for the 4th straight season. After suffering through one of the worst seasons of his career last year, first-baseman Ugo Momoru bounced back considerably. The 37 year old raised his OPS from .791 to .871, and hit above .300(.308) for the first time since 2082. Momoru also smacked 27 homeruns, knocked in 112 runs, and scored 108 runs. Center-fielder Eric Alexander overcame a slow start and injuries to set career highs in both slugging percentage(.490) and OPS(.830). He added 16 homeruns and a team-high 31 stolen bases(in 36 attempts). The stolen bases ranked 3rd in the National League. Although Orlando Escobedo's .759 OPS was above the league average, it was still the worst of the 33 year old shortstop's career. His 22 homeruns were his lowest in a full season. Escobedo did manage to drive in 99 runs. Third-baseman Hidesaburou Motoshige had a typical season: a decent batting average(.283) but little else(.728 OPS). He did manage career highs in hits(143), doubles(38), RBI(61), runs scored(64), and walks(42). Second-baseman Victor Zurcher continued his inconsistent ways. After a pretty solid 2086 season(.838 OPS) he slumped to a .726 OPS. He did set career highs in hits(128), doubles(39), RBI(84), and walks(37). Offseason catching acquisition Lazaro Urrutia had his moments, but overall, he wasn't anything special. He managed just a .711 OPS, with 13 homeruns and 68 RBI. The biggest disappointment in the Sharks' lineup this season was left-fielder Simon Martinez. After 6 consecutive seasons with an OPS ranging between an .817 OPS and a .936 OPS, Martinez had a disastrous .669 OPS. After hitting between .292 and .309 the past 4 seasons, Martinez mustered just a .221 batting average. He managed a pathetic .326 slugging percentage. Because of his struggles, much of his playing time wound up going to outfielders George Ormiston(.764 OPS) and Ferdinand Conde(.731 OPS). San Jose's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH B. Simmerman 34 34 19 9 0 3.41 235.0 198 102 89 57 124 3 2 S. Withrow 32 32 13 11 0 4.44 209.0 225 117 103 85 160 4 2 J. Myatt 32 32 14 8 0 4.13 205.0 189 95 94 92 157 1 0 J. Holcomb 32 32 14 11 0 4.96 196.0 186 112 108 96 130 0 0 J. Echeveste 26 26 10 9 0 4.87 175.2 175 101 95 37 73 4 1 G. Parker 55 0 9 5 6 2.73 102.1 95 32 31 14 67 0 0 C. Blanton 57 0 9 5 31 1.25 72.0 49 10 10 3 54 0 0 B. Frisch 45 0 1 3 2 2.74 65.2 37 23 20 26 77 0 0 N. Martinez 41 0 3 2 1 3.95 57.0 47 27 25 8 35 0 0 J. Turner 38 0 1 0 0 4.11 57.0 41 26 26 13 47 0 0 C. Geter 6 6 2 3 0 4.66 36.2 33 20 19 13 25 0 0 J. Pounders 28 0 1 0 0 1.15 31.1 19 4 4 3 16 0 0 L. Preuss 5 0 0 0 0 9.00 6.0 12 6 6 1 1 0 0 A. Cavazos 3 0 0 0 0 2.08 4.1 3 1 1 1 4 0 0 J. Matthews 3 0 0 0 0 11.57 2.1 7 3 3 1 1 0 0 J. Bray 2 0 0 0 0 18.00 2.0 5 4 4 2 1 0 0 M. Carlyle 3 0 0 0 0 27.01 1.1 3 4 4 2 0 0 0 T. Richmond 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 After winning the NL Cy Young Award last season with a 24-6 record and a 2.78 ERA, Juan Echeveste collapsed to a 10-9 record and a 4.87 ERA. He also missed nearly a month and a half with an elbow injury. Second year left-hander James Holcomb was somewhat better than he was last year. He improved his ERA from 4.98 to 4.96, cut his walk rate from 5.8 per 9 innings to 4.4 per 9 innings, and improved his strikeout rate from 5.4 per 9 innings to 6.0 per 9 innings. Reliever George Parker piled up a career high 102 1/3 innings pitched, and posted a 2.73 ERA with 67 strikeouts against 14 walks. Closer Clinton Blanton was almost unhittable as he recorded a career best 1.25 ERA in 72 innings pitched. His strikeout to walk ratio was a ridiculous 54 to 3. He finished 4th in the NL with 31 saves. Flame-thrower Bill Frisch had a typical season: 2.74 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings pitched. Prediction: Although San Jose dominated this series in the regular season, I have a feeling that Pittsburgh's superior rotation will take control of this series quickly. I expect the Pirates to win in 5 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
01-31-2011, 10:49 PM
|
#651 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Divisional Round Preview: Harrisburg VS. San Diego
Harrisburg Capitals(87-75)
 VS. San Diego Padres(97-65)  Quick Facts: - These two teams have never faced each other in the playoffs before. That's not surprising considering that this is just the 2nd ever trip to the postseason for Harrisburg. In the Capitals' previous playoff appearance(2016), they faced Los Angeles. - San Diego returns to the playoffs after missing last season. The Padres were in the playoffs every year from 2081 to 2085, with West Division titles coming in '84 and '85. - Harrisburg won the regular season series against San Diego, with 8 wins in 15 games. The average score of the games was 3.6 to 3.5, in favor of the Capitals. Neither team reached double digits in runs scored in any game; the high was 8 runs scored, with each team reaching that total once. Each team recorded one shutout among the 15 meetings. Four of the games were decided by 1 run, and Harrisburg won 3 of them. There was one extra inning contest, won by Harrisburg. - San Diego ranked 11th in baseball in batting average, 13th in homeruns, 19th in walks, and 17th in runs scored. On the pitching side, the Padres ranked 1st in ERA, 6th in opponents' batting average, 2nd in homeruns allowed, 3rd in walks allowed, and 1st in runs allowed. - Harrisburg ranked 23rd in batting average, 24th in homeruns, 12th in walks, and 23rd in runs scored. The Capitals' pitching staff ranked 5th in ERA, 12th in opponents' batting average, 4th in homeruns allowed, 2nd in walks allowed, and 5th in runs allowed. Thoughts: Only the old-timers remember Harrisburg's previous playoff appearance, which was 71 years ago. The 2016 Capitals led all of baseball with a 97-65 record and, with eventual Hall of Famers Michael Mathew(1.000 OPS, 47 HR, 112 RBI) and Robert Jordan(27-5, 2.20 ERA, 352 strikeouts) leading the way, were considered strong favorites to at least reach the World Series, and possibly win it. Unfortunately, Jordan was injured in his only start, and Harrisburg was outscored 37-27 by an 89-win Los Angeles team in the NLCS. The Dodgers won the series in 6 games. Los Angeles proceeded to lose to Kansas City in the World Series in a 4-game sweep. The Capitals finished 4 games out of first place the following season and quickly faded into mediocrity, and worse, over the next few seasons. Harrisburg has been almost completely irrelevant since that playoff year, but this year's success has fans hopeful for a new and better era for the franchise. Needless to say, the disparity in playoff experience between these two teams is enormous. With 5 trips to the postseason in the past 6 seasons, plus a World Series appearance, the Padres have extensive experience in baseball's "second season." The Capitals? Not so much. Only seven players on Harrisburg's roster have played for playoff teams, and only 1 played for a team that reached the World Series. Second-baseman Robert Clear has the most playoff experience among Capitals' players. He played for San Jose teams that reached the playoffs in all but one season from 2081 to 2086, and has 22 hits in 77 career postseason at bats. Reserve infielder Patrick Chason compiled 18 career postseason at bats while playing for Denver from 2078 to 2082 and for Los Angeles last season. Closer Jordon Odle has pitched in 5 total playoff games(for San Diego in 2075 and for Knoxville in 2084 and 2085). Catcher Oswaldo Colunga went 1 for 6 during Sacramento's run to the World Series in 2084. Reserve infielder Jeffrey Helman had 2 at bats for San Diego in 2085. First-baseman Walter McNeel had 1 at bat while playing for Knoxville in 2085. Starting pitcher Ray Lozano was with Buffalo in 2082, but did not see action in any of the Bills' playoff games. And that's the extent of Harrisburg's playoff experience. If you believe in the importance of such things, then you have to believe that Harrisburg has little chance of winning this series. The Teams: Harrisburg's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS D. Underwood SS 153 575 166 25 4 13 58 92 82 94 .289 .376 .414 24 11 J. Mccluney LF 156 561 177 52 0 30 103 90 62 143 .316 .390 .569 1 0 G. Vidal RF 150 534 128 21 6 4 38 62 41 38 .240 .297 .324 1 4 C. Drews 3B 153 526 135 33 3 24 91 84 89 157 .257 .364 .468 10 2 R. Clear 2B 147 513 129 32 3 4 75 59 27 67 .251 .290 .349 19 4 O. Colunga C 145 474 101 36 2 16 73 64 61 127 .213 .315 .399 1 0 N. Pla CF 128 378 94 22 4 5 42 59 47 62 .249 .334 .368 10 5 W. Mcneel 1B 138 374 95 21 6 20 66 70 62 59 .254 .363 .503 16 7 T. Difranco 1B 103 235 75 14 5 4 41 36 21 33 .319 .374 .472 7 6 M. Ortiz CF 104 229 55 13 2 3 25 35 15 57 .240 .293 .354 18 2 C. Ruano CF 72 202 54 10 0 1 21 18 13 23 .267 .318 .332 1 0 A. Crowley C 94 190 50 9 0 3 27 16 22 33 .263 .338 .358 0 0 J. Helman SS 54 137 25 3 1 1 9 17 17 14 .182 .285 .241 6 5 P. Chason 2B 55 108 22 4 0 0 7 10 7 5 .204 .252 .241 0 0 R. Lozano SP 33 97 19 2 0 2 13 7 1 44 .196 .204 .278 0 0 C. Noguez SP 33 86 16 0 0 0 3 3 3 42 .186 .213 .186 2 0 J. Bradford SP 31 84 15 5 0 1 9 3 4 41 .179 .211 .274 0 0 J. Baine SP 33 78 5 1 0 0 3 0 5 40 .064 .120 .077 0 0 R. Silva SP 31 73 10 6 0 0 3 4 3 31 .137 .171 .219 0 0 N. Sauceda 2B 34 64 11 5 0 0 5 10 6 22 .172 .239 .250 1 3 D. Armenguer C 7 9 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 .444 .444 .444 0 0 M. Saunders 3B 4 8 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 4 .250 .250 .250 0 0 B. Posada LF 4 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .333 0 0 M. Upson RF 5 6 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 .167 .286 .167 0 0 A. Lazar RP 40 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Evan RP 53 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0 0 P. Duran RP 38 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 F. Savoie RP 51 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 .500 .000 0 0 J. Odle RP 55 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 A. Diaz SP 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 In just his second big league season, Harrisburg left-fielder James McLuney has emerged as a star. He posted a .958 OPS, smacked 52 doubles and 30 homeruns, knocked in 103 runs, and scored 90 runs. The OPS ranked 8th in the National League while the doubles ranked 3rd. McLuney also led the NL with 12 intentional walks. First-baseman Walter McNeel, who spent the past 4 seasons as a little used reserve(196 combined at bats), was acquired in the offseason by the Capitals and deployed as the left-handed half of a platoon. He responded with an .865 OPS, 20 homers, 66 RBI, and 70 runs scored. Third-baseman Coy Drews bounced back from a disappointing 2086(.776 OPS) to post an .832 OPS, 33 doubles, 24 homeruns, 91 RBI, 84 runs scored, and 89 walks. The walks ranked 6th in the NL. Twenty-two year old shortstop Daniel Underwood took a step backwards from last season, when he had an .871 OPS, but still had a solid season. He managed a .790 OPS, with 13 homeruns, 92 runs scored, and 82 walks. He tied for 7th in the NL in walks. Catcher Osvaldo Colunga's return from last year's torn calf muscle did not go as well as either he or Harrisburg would have liked. After posting OPS's of .874 and .892 in 2085 and 2086, respectively, Colunga collapsed to a .714 OPS this season. While he did show some pop(36 doubles and 16 homeruns), he mustered just a .213 batting average. Center-fielder Nathan Pla, another player who dealt with injuries last season, also struggled mightily in 2087. He hit just .249 with a .702 OPS- a far cry from the .323 and .820 figures he put up 2 years ago. Second-baseman Robert Clear, who had been a part-time player for the previous 5 seasons with San Jose, was acquired in the offseason and handed a starting job. He proceeded to put up the worst numbers of his career. His .290 on base percentage and .639 OPS were easily the lowest of his career. Right-fielder George Vidal, who had been pretty solid the past two seasons(OPS's of .803 and .837) inexplicably imploded this season. He mustered an ugly .240/.297/.324/.621 batting line. Each of those stats represent career worsts for Vidal. Harrisburg's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH R. Lozano 33 33 16 15 0 3.47 254.1 273 111 98 38 112 11 1 C. Noguez 33 33 11 9 0 4.00 247.1 229 114 110 50 199 5 2 J. Bradford 31 31 12 11 0 4.71 223.1 243 128 117 52 136 5 0 J. Baine 33 33 12 9 0 4.36 219.0 231 120 106 36 165 0 0 R. Silva 31 31 14 6 0 3.71 198.2 195 93 82 32 110 3 0 J. Evan 53 0 2 5 5 2.79 61.1 47 22 19 32 33 0 0 F. Savoie 51 0 7 5 2 3.03 59.1 44 20 20 31 44 0 0 J. Odle 55 0 4 5 29 4.01 51.2 52 27 23 40 33 0 0 A. Lazar 40 0 4 4 0 2.40 48.2 52 17 13 7 37 0 0 P. Duran 38 0 3 3 3 6.92 40.1 52 32 31 19 22 0 0 R. Byler 25 0 0 1 1 6.75 26.2 36 23 20 15 23 0 0 R. Walker 14 0 2 1 1 6.46 15.1 26 11 11 5 8 0 0 G. Dowdy 8 0 0 0 2 6.00 6.0 9 4 4 1 5 0 0 A. Diaz 1 1 0 1 0 7.20 5.0 8 4 4 1 4 0 0 M. Lewis 4 0 0 0 1 7.36 3.2 4 3 3 0 3 0 0 C. Blanc 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 The Capitals didn't reach the playoffs on the strength of their lineup; rather, they leaned on a surprisingly good pitching staff. Leading the way was Ray Lozano, who went 16-15 with a 3.47 ERA, a 112/38 K/BB ratio, and 11 complete games. Lozano was a workhorse, ranking 3rd in the league in innings pitched and 1st in complete games. He also ranked 3rd in the NL with just 1.3 walks per 9 innings. One of the most surprising pitchers this year was Ricardo Silva, who came into this season with a 6.73 ERA in 21 career starts. While the Capitals began the season with Silva as the 5th starter, the expectation was that they would have to cycle through several different pitchers in that spot, hoping for a passable performer. Silva didn't let them. He got off to a good start, and remained consistent all season long. He finished with a 14-6 record, a 3.71 ERA, and a 110/32 K/BB ratio. With 1.4 walks per 9 innings, he ranked 5th in the National League. Cedric Noguez, in his second full season, continued to progress as a pitcher. He went 11-9, improved his ERA from 4.53 to 4.00, and struck out a career high 199 batters(against 50 walks). He finished 5th in the league in innings pitched and 6th in strikeouts. Left-hander Jack Baine went 12-9 with career bests in ERA(4.36) and strikeouts(165). Baine, like Lozano and Silva, was among the best in the league at avoiding walks. His 1.5 walks per 9 innings ranked 6th in the NL. The only Harrisburg starting pitcher to finish with an ERA below the NL average was Jason Bradford, who went 12-11 with a 4.71 ERA. The Capitals' most effective reliever was Aloisio Lazar, who posted a 2.40 ERA in 48 2/3 innings pitched, and had a 37/7 K/BB ratio. John Evan had his third straight season with an ERA under 3.00, as he posted a 2.79 ERA in 61 1/3 innings. As usual, he had an unimpressive strikeout to walk ratio(33/32). Frank Savoie, moved out of the closer role, rebounded from a miserable 2086 season(6.14 ERA) to put up a career best 3.03 ERA in 59 1/3 innings pitched. He had 44 strikeouts against 31 walks. Replacing Savoie as the closer was veteran Jordon Odle, signed as a free agent in the offseason. Odle recorded 29 saves with a 4.01 ERA. The 39 year old showed his age with 33 strikeouts against 40 walks and a career worst 1.78 WHIP. San Diego's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS G. Canales 1B 155 593 162 16 2 27 87 93 80 41 .273 .361 .444 18 8 G. Ruiz LF 146 557 145 36 1 21 78 76 34 153 .260 .306 .442 0 0 G. Matos CF 149 548 160 34 5 34 117 98 60 118 .292 .366 .558 6 3 S. Alvarez C 152 544 169 32 3 25 99 110 63 41 .311 .391 .518 7 3 J. Ector RF 153 525 156 20 1 30 107 92 82 40 .297 .393 .510 4 2 J. Lucia 2B 150 520 163 17 3 18 93 74 49 29 .313 .371 .462 12 4 A. Burdick 3B 136 511 147 19 0 2 29 78 44 72 .288 .343 .337 2 0 M. Alarcon SS 153 489 132 41 9 6 50 67 23 89 .270 .313 .427 42 6 B. Romero 3B 111 243 79 7 1 5 24 32 10 33 .325 .349 .424 14 2 R. Ashford 2B 101 213 65 7 1 4 25 25 19 33 .305 .369 .404 8 6 R. Borland LF 88 157 27 6 2 6 23 23 10 40 .172 .221 .350 7 2 M. Saldana CF 62 148 46 9 1 1 13 18 4 4 .311 .333 .405 0 0 C. Threatt C 67 132 19 3 0 3 8 10 3 12 .144 .162 .235 0 1 C. Lozoya SP 34 98 9 5 0 1 8 4 2 43 .092 .110 .173 0 0 P. Pauli SP 32 80 12 2 0 0 3 6 2 31 .150 .169 .175 0 0 D. Spicher SP 29 78 7 3 1 0 6 3 2 42 .090 .111 .154 0 0 C. Greene SP 27 54 1 1 0 0 1 3 3 19 .019 .070 .037 0 0 T. Bee SP 25 50 5 2 0 0 5 4 1 23 .100 .111 .140 0 0 W. Boudreau 3B 20 34 11 0 0 2 9 6 2 12 .324 .361 .500 1 0 B. Delapaz SP 16 31 6 1 1 0 2 1 2 12 .194 .242 .290 1 1 R. Matamoros 2B 23 26 7 2 2 2 4 4 1 5 .269 .296 .731 0 0 C. Panella RF 7 10 4 1 0 0 3 1 3 2 .400 .538 .500 0 0 R. Tracy RP 44 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .200 0 0 D. Peña RP 65 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Donato RP 41 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .667 0 0 J. Sanchez SS 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 1 0 B. Jacques C 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 0 0 J. Ruark RP 58 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 S. Eye RP 49 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 H. Neyra RP 34 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 J. Cordero SS 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 R. Orosco RP 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 1.000 .000 0 0 San Diego center-fielder Gaby Matos added to his already impressive career resume with a .925 OPS, a career-high 34 doubles, 34 homeruns, a career-high 117 RBI, and 98 runs scored. The RBI ranked 6th in the NL. Catcher Salomon Alvarez had a career-best .311 batting average, and produced a .910 OPS, 32 doubles, 25 homeruns, 99 RBI, and 110 runs scored. He ranked 8th in the league in runs scored. Veteran right-fielder Jack Ector had his best season in several years, as he posted a .903 OPS, with 30 homers, 107 RBI, 92 runs scored, and 82 walks. Second-baseman Jeramias Lucia enjoyed a breakout season, as he improved his OPS from .656 to .833, and set career highs in hits(163), homeruns(18), RBI(93), runs scored(74), and walks(49). First-baseman George Canales actually had one his poorest seasons, but fortunately for him, it was still pretty good. His .804 OPS was his lowest since he posted a .710 OPS in 2079, which was his first full season in the big leagues. He poked out 27 homeruns, drove in 87 runs, scored 93 runs, and drew 80 walks. Left-fielder Gregorio Ruiz got off to a strong start this season, with a .906 OPS in April and an .868 OPS in May, but as the season went on, the 36 year old began to wear down. After hitting at least 5 homeruns in each of the first three months of the season, he managed a combined 5 for the last three months. His .748 OPS was his worst since his rookie season of 2073, when he mustered just a .691 OPS. His 36 doubles marked the first time he has hit fewer than 40 since 2077. His 21 homeruns were his lowest since his rookie season, when he hit 19. His 78 RBI were his fewest since his rookie season, when he had 56. Those are the only two seasons of his career that he has driven in fewer than 100 runs. His 76 runs scored were the second lowest of his career(he had 38 in his rookie season). Manuel Alarcon was better this year than he was last year- he improved his OPS from .685 to .740- but still wasn't especially good. He did managed 41 doubles, 9 triples, and 42 stolen bases(in 48 attempts). Alarcon has had at least 40 steals in six consecutive seasons. He ranked 7th in the league in doubles, tied for 4th in triples, and 1st in stolen bases. Third-baseman Andrew Burdick has had a legendary career, one that will have him enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but even the great ones eventually falter. While his batting average(.288) and on base percentage(.343) were respectable, his OPS was a dreadful .680, and he set career lows in homeruns(2) and RBI(29). San Diego's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH C. Lozoya 34 34 23 6 0 1.96 262.1 175 68 57 58 225 6 3 P. Pauli 32 32 11 14 0 4.18 221.2 224 107 103 34 145 6 2 D. Spicher 29 29 16 8 0 4.71 204.2 251 115 107 37 105 9 1 C. Greene 27 27 14 7 0 3.67 169.0 205 75 69 13 83 0 0 T. Bee 25 25 8 8 0 4.71 143.1 142 85 75 57 147 0 0 B. Delapaz 15 15 3 4 0 5.63 88.0 105 61 55 41 43 0 0 D. Peña 65 0 4 3 4 3.38 74.2 73 31 28 23 79 0 0 J. Ruark 58 0 6 6 38 1.71 58.0 34 13 11 18 26 0 0 R. Tracy 44 0 3 2 1 2.72 56.1 49 19 17 29 62 0 0 J. Donato 41 0 3 1 0 2.61 51.2 44 17 15 19 36 0 0 S. Eye 48 0 2 3 1 5.29 49.1 49 35 29 12 25 0 0 H. Neyra 34 0 2 1 1 4.84 35.1 35 21 19 9 21 0 0 R. Orosco 42 0 2 2 3 4.50 34.0 39 18 17 7 28 0 0 I. Brunswick 5 0 0 0 0 2.45 3.2 4 1 1 1 3 0 0 A. Carrasco 4 0 0 0 0 10.80 3.1 9 4 4 2 1 0 0 M. Santana 2 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 Carlos Lozoya is pretty much a lock for his 4th Cy Young Award after his brilliant 2087 campaign. He posted a 23-6 record, a 1.96 ERA, 225 strikeouts against 58 walks, and had a career best 0.89 WHIP. He led the NL in wins, ERA, innings pitched, and quality starts(26). He allowed the fewest baserunners per 9 innings(8.0) and the fewest hits per 9 innings(6.0). He ranked 2nd in strikeouts, tied for 6th in complete games(6), tied for 2nd in shutouts(3), and 5th in strikeouts per 9 innings(7.7). Casey Greene bounced back from a career-worst 4.03 ERA to post a 3.67 ERA this year, along with a 14-7 record, and an 83/13 K/BB ratio. His 0.7 walks per 9 innings led the National League. Preston Pauli, meanwhile, rebounded from a career-worst 4.92 ERA to post a 4.18 ERA this season. Pauli went 11-14, and had 145 strikeouts against 34 walks. He tied for 6th in the league with 6 complete games and ranked 4th in walks per 9 innings(1.4). Despite his 16-8 record, Delbert Spicher had his worst ERA since 2081. He managed a 4.71 ERA, and had 105 strikeouts against 37 walks. He tied for 5th in the league in wins and tied for 2nd in the league in complete games, with 9. Unfortunately for Spicher, he suffered a late season injury that will prevent him from playing in the first round. This is the third time that Spicher has gotten injured right before the playoffs(2083 and 2084 were the other two years). Rounding out the Padres' rotation is Thomas Bee. The 30 year old right-hander didn't start the year at the big league level, and he didn't stick when he did get his first opportunity. Bee did, however, make a better second impression. He made his first start of the season at the end of April, but after failing to impress over a 7 start stretch(8.37 ERA), he was shipped back to the minor leagues for about a month. Bee was recalled in late June, and while his second chance got off to a rocky start(11 runs in his first 2 starts), he quickly turned into a more reliable starter. From July to the end of the season, Bee went 7-3 with a 2.99 ERA. For the year, Bee was 8-8 with a 4.71 ERA and 147 strikeouts against 57 walks. If Bee had pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, his 9.2 strikeouts per 9 innings would have ranked 3rd in the National League. Leading the bullpen was closer Joshua Ruark, who recorded 38 saves and posted a 1.71 ERA. The saves ranked 2nd in the National League. Juan Donato bounced back from a 4.66 ERA to post a career-best 2.61 ERA this season. Robert Tracy improved from last year's 5.60 ERA to post a 2.72 ERA this year. He also racked up 62 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings pitched. Dario Pena improved from a 4.53 ERA to a 3.38 ERA this season. He also piled up 79 strikeouts in 74 2/3 innings. Prediction: After unexpectedly making a run to the World Series in 2082 as an 85-win team, the Padres have repeatedly come up short ever since, despite having seasons with 90, 107, and 108 wins. For a team with arguably the best pitcher in the game over the last 5 years or so, that has definitely been disappointing. The pressure is building to win a championship and Harrisburg, though a feisty and dangerous team, should not present a difficult obstacle. The Capitals don't have a strong enough lineup to overcome the likes of Lozoya and Greene, and their pitching, while very solid, is unlikely to be good enough to keep the Padres from scoring just enough runs. San Diego should win in 5 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 10:07 PM
|
#652 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Divisional Round Preview: Tucson VS. Miami
Tucson Diamondbacks(91-71)
 VS. Miami Dolphins(112-50)  Quick Facts: - This will be the 15th postseason meeting between Tucson and Miami, and the 6th in the past 7 years. The Dolphins have won 10 of those postseason series, including the most recent one: a 4-game sweep in the ALCS in 2085. The Dolphins went on to lose the World Series in 6 games to New Jersey. - This is Tucson's 8th consecutive trip to the postseason. Miami, meanwhile, won its 15th straight Southeast Division title this year. - Miami dominated the regular season series, winning 11 out of 16 games. The Dolphins won by an average score of 5.8 to 2.7. The Dolphins reached double digits in runs scored twice, with wins of 11-0 and 17-2, while the Diamondbacks topped out at 7 runs. Miami shutout Tucson twice, while the Diamondbacks managed 1 shutout of the Dolphins. Six of the games were decided by 1-run, with each team winning 3 of the games. Included in those games were the only 2 extra-inning games: a 5-4, 10-inning Tucson victory and a 4-3, 12-inning Miami victory. - Tucson's lineup ranked 3rd in batting average, 17th in homeruns, 14th in walks, and 5th in runs scored. The Diamondbacks' pitching staff ranked 17th in ERA, 17th in opponents' batting average, 22nd in homeruns allowed, 15th in walks allowed, and 17th in runs allowed. - Miami's offense ranked 7th in batting average, 12th in homeruns, 3rd in walks, and 4th in runs allowed. The Dolphins' pitching staff ranked 4th in ERA, 3rd in opponents' batting average, tied for 5th in homeruns allowed, 6th in walks allowed, and 4th in runs allowed. Thoughts: While both the Diamondbacks and Dolphins have similarly productive offenses, the same cannot be said about their pitching staffs. Miami's was as strong as ever- the Dolphins haven't finished worse than 5th in runs allowed since 2071- though after two straight years of allowing the fewest runs in all of baseball there was a slight drop-off. Tucson, meanwhile, had its worst ranking in runs allowed since 2077. The pitching mismatch could very well decide this series; however, the Dolphins had a major injury to one of their best hitters, and that loss could keep this series close. The Teams: Tucson's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS E. Cuestas 1B 148 633 207 43 1 26 123 102 39 74 .327 .363 .521 2 0 R. Melendez LF 153 627 211 49 6 4 79 98 27 80 .337 .376 .453 18 15 A. Escalera 3B 154 602 181 26 12 9 98 100 33 26 .301 .334 .429 16 25 R. Billips RF 154 580 154 54 10 21 106 113 71 89 .266 .351 .502 31 13 M. Murrin CF 143 547 189 26 4 32 133 108 47 26 .346 .401 .583 4 3 J. Morales 2B 154 524 165 23 6 25 101 97 77 45 .315 .402 .525 15 6 B. Breton C 112 387 111 17 0 8 42 49 22 61 .287 .328 .393 0 0 T. Arviso C 103 340 79 24 0 4 45 47 45 105 .232 .322 .338 0 0 R. Sala SS 118 318 75 20 3 17 55 48 23 54 .236 .291 .478 3 0 D. Pigott 3B 111 313 74 19 3 5 39 39 45 90 .236 .339 .364 4 6 A. Alemany SS 98 290 68 20 5 0 29 47 33 84 .234 .320 .338 18 8 J. Segarra CF 88 213 42 11 4 6 27 49 24 47 .197 .284 .371 21 3 B. Costa 2B 27 69 22 1 1 0 3 11 4 12 .319 .356 .362 2 1 G. Wilson 1B 13 49 10 2 0 0 2 5 2 18 .204 .250 .245 1 0 J. Ortega C 24 42 14 2 1 0 2 5 3 3 .333 .378 .429 0 0 C. Soto SS 24 37 7 1 0 1 3 5 2 10 .189 .250 .297 0 0 J. Picklesimer RF 12 23 2 0 0 0 2 1 3 10 .087 .192 .087 0 0 A. Mitchell LF 12 19 4 1 0 0 2 1 1 8 .211 .250 .263 0 0 W. Oliver SS 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .250 .250 .250 0 0 R. Werner 1B 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 As a rookie back in 2081, Tucson's center-fielder Marcus Murrin(then with Grand Rapids) posted a .752 OPS. Murrin has improved his OPS each season since then, including this year. He delivered a career high .984 OPS, a career high 32 homeruns, a career high 133 RBI, and a career high .583 slugging percentage. Murrin ranked 5th in the American League with a .346 batting average, 9th in slugging percentage, 5th in OPS, and 5th in RBI. Second-baseman Jose Morales easily had the best season of his career and improved dramatically from last season. Morales' previous career best in OPS was .858 and last year he managed a paltry .760 total. This year, he produced a .926 OPS, and also set career highs in hits(165), triples(6), homeruns(25), RBI(101), runs scored(97), and slugging percentage(.525). Veteran first-baseman Emil Cuestas produced an .884 OPS, 207 hits, 43 doubles, 26 homeruns, 123 RBI, and 102 runs scored. He ranked 3rd in the league in hits and 7th in the league in RBI. Right-fielder Richard Billips posted an .853 OPS, with 54 doubles, 10 triples, 21 homeruns, 106 RBI, 113 runs scored, and 31 stolen bases. He ranked 4th in the league in doubles, tied for 2nd in triples, and 5th in stolen bases. Left-fielder Reggie Melendez had an .829 OPS, with 211 hits, 49 doubles, 79 RBI, and a career high 98 runs scored. Melendez ranked 8th in the league with a .337 batting average, 2nd in hits, and tied for 7th in doubles. Shortstop Robert Sala had one of the best seasons of his career, with a .769 OPS- he hasn't had an OPS even close to that in a season with regular playing time since 2082- and 17 homeruns. Third-baseman Alfredo Escalera had his second straight mediocre season, and 3rd in his last 4 seasons. Although he has an .820 career OPS, in the last four seasons he has posted OPS's of .738, .847, .778, and now, .763. His 9 homeruns were his fewest in a full season. He did, however, set career highs with 12 triples and 98 RBI. He also scored 100 runs for the first time since 2083, with 100 on the nose. Escalera led the American League in triples, and also had the dubious distinction of leading the league with 25 caught steals(only 16 successful steals). Catcher Benito Breton improved from his disastrous 2086 campaign(.673 OPS), but still wasn't particularly good, managing only a .720 OPS. Dorsey Pigott was the primary DH for the Diamondbacks but suffered through his worst season as a regular. His .703 OPS was more than 100 points worse than his career .806 OPS. Tucson's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH C. Crane 35 35 12 11 0 4.68 248.0 253 149 129 144 164 4 0 F. Dugan 33 33 14 14 0 4.72 242.1 254 138 127 50 204 11 0 A. Diaz 35 35 14 12 0 5.49 232.2 263 151 142 44 156 2 0 B. Schrupp 22 22 9 9 0 5.86 136.2 183 94 89 61 90 2 0 W. Winningham 64 0 4 4 3 2.61 100.0 89 32 29 46 73 0 0 R. Ugarte 54 0 8 2 0 6.73 92.1 102 73 69 64 79 0 0 S. Sutton 16 15 5 5 0 8.53 82.1 120 80 78 50 32 3 0 O. Yother 48 0 8 1 4 5.58 69.1 65 46 43 39 42 0 0 F. Lemire 54 0 8 2 26 2.28 67.0 49 25 17 15 58 0 0 L. Farnum 52 0 5 2 3 2.37 60.2 35 16 16 33 44 0 0 F. Cobos Jr. 3 3 0 0 0 4.82 18.2 22 10 10 14 12 0 0 A. Solorzano 5 5 1 3 0 11.65 17.0 33 27 22 10 6 0 0 D. Poulsen 5 0 1 0 0 4.85 13.0 14 7 7 0 13 0 0 M. Zellmer 3 0 0 0 0 8.59 7.1 10 9 7 5 3 0 0 C. Alvarez 2 0 0 0 0 16.20 3.1 9 6 6 2 1 0 0 Tucson's best starting pitcher this year was an unlikely candidate. Free agent acquisition Christian Crane, after 4 straight seasons with an ERA above 6.00, posted a career best 4.68 ERA, and set career highs in wins(12), innings pitched(248), and strikeouts(164). He remained as wild as ever, however, with 144 walks(he's had more than 100 walks in 4 straight seasons). He led the AL in walks. Second year starter Francis Dugan improved from his rookie ERA of 5.83 to 4.72. He posted a 14-14 won-loss record, struck out 204 batters against 50 walks, and tossed 11 complete games. Dugan ranked 9th in the league in strikeouts, 4th in complete games, and 8th in walks per 9 innings(1.9). After having the best season of his career last year(17-9, 3.69 ERA), Armando Diaz slumped to a 14-12 record and a 5.49 ERA. He managed 156 strikeouts against 44 walks. Brandon Schrupp, who posted a 4.88 ERA last year in his first season as a full time starter, slumped to 5.86 ERA this year. He went 9-9, with 90 strikeouts and 61 walks. Closer Fred Lemire posted a career-best 2.28 ERA, recorded 26 saves, and struck out a career high 58 batters. Lemire ranked 7th in the league in saves. Leonard Farnum set career highs in games(52) and innings pitched(60 2/3) and the second best ERA of his career(2.37). He had 44 strikeouts against 33 walks. William Winningham topped 100 innings pitched for the second year in a row and the third time in the past four seasons, and posted a career best 2.61 ERA. He also had 73 strikeouts. Miami's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS A. Shorts 1B 150 613 172 62 1 4 79 100 110 50 .281 .392 .405 12 0 L. Romanowski RF 141 569 195 31 7 14 86 104 64 40 .343 .411 .496 4 5 J. Forrester 2B 147 558 146 44 7 47 146 126 90 176 .262 .361 .618 28 14 T. Fuentes Jr. 3B 148 548 147 22 2 28 113 105 82 85 .268 .363 .469 6 0 D. Fernandez LF 137 511 112 31 6 23 95 96 81 62 .219 .323 .438 4 0 E. Mcgurk C 130 496 116 21 6 32 107 97 72 81 .234 .329 .494 4 3 A. Chichester LF 129 496 137 39 6 12 72 86 43 71 .276 .344 .452 2 1 A. Steiger SS 128 478 146 28 1 3 59 77 34 81 .305 .356 .387 18 1 D. Armas CF 115 430 131 26 0 2 56 70 57 64 .305 .388 .379 3 0 J. White RF 61 220 61 12 0 11 47 38 32 34 .277 .370 .482 1 0 F. Alvarez SS 53 199 54 9 1 4 32 18 6 32 .271 .297 .387 8 3 J. Foss C 43 166 61 8 0 2 26 31 19 28 .367 .428 .452 1 0 M. Allen CF 37 125 37 14 1 3 22 24 13 29 .296 .389 .496 1 0 W. Mcalpine LF 32 81 19 5 1 1 15 12 5 1 .235 .276 .358 7 1 D. Guzman LF 32 49 8 1 0 0 5 5 3 12 .163 .208 .184 0 0 J. Meacham 1B 15 41 11 4 0 0 6 5 4 12 .268 .354 .366 0 0 S. Deputy 3B 12 33 5 1 0 0 3 2 3 11 .152 .216 .182 0 0 J. Destefano 2B 8 21 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 6 .190 .190 .190 0 0 P. Sala RF 5 17 4 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 .235 .278 .471 0 0 C. Villanueva 3B 4 17 4 2 0 0 2 1 1 4 .235 .278 .353 0 0 R. Takanori CF 4 16 7 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 .438 .438 .500 0 0 T. Melton 1B 4 14 6 2 0 0 1 3 0 4 .429 .429 .571 0 0 J. Hasler C 4 13 2 0 0 0 3 3 2 2 .154 .313 .154 0 0 W. Chamber SS 5 9 2 0 0 0 1 4 0 2 .222 .222 .222 1 0 J. Cervantes 3B 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .250 .000 0 0 Second-baseman Jack Forrester, signed as a free agent in the offseason by Miami, had the biggest offensive season of his career, with career highs in OPS(.979), homeruns(47), RBI(146), runs scored(126), walks(90), stolen bases(28), and slugging percentage(.618). He tied his career high in doubles, with 44. Forrester ranked 7th in the league in OPS, 4th in slugging percentage, 2nd in homeruns, 2nd in RBI, 2nd in runs scored, and tied for 7th in stolen bases. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Forrester injured his rotator cuff in the penultimate game of the season and will likely miss all of the postseason- a devastating blow, for sure. Right-fielder Larry Romanowski, acquired via trade in the offseason, had the best season of his career. The 35 year old posted career highs in OPS(.907) and slugging percentage(.496). He tied his career high for homeruns(14), and also produced 195 hits, 86 RBI, and 104 runs scored. He ranked 6th in the league in batting average(.343) and 6th in hits. Third-baseman Thomas Fuentes, Jr. delivered an .832 OPS, with 28 homeruns, 113 RBI, 105 runs scored, and 82 walks. After his last 4 seasons, this season felt like a disappointment to catcher Edmond McGurk, but ultimately, it was still pretty good. He produced an .823 OPS, with 32 homeruns, 107 RBI, 97 runs scored, and 72 walks. After leading the league in homeruns in 3 consecutive years, he slipped all the way to a tie for 13th. First-baseman Aaron Shorts got off to a terrific start this season, with an OPS over 1.000 after the first month of play. Even after two months, it was still well over .900. He wore down in the middle of the season and ultimately posted his worst OPS since 2081, at .797. Despite that, he topped 60 doubles for the third straight season(62), knocked in 79 runs, scored 100 runs, and tied his career for walks, with 110. Shorts led the American League in doubles and ranked 3rd in walks. After having one of his best seasons last year, Albert Chichester dropped off considerably. A year ago, he had an .893 OPS with career highs in homeruns(28), RBI(110), and runs scored(104). This year, Chichester managed just a .796 OPS, with 12 homers, 72 RBI, and 86 runs scored. Center-fielder Daniel Armas slumped from last year's .356 batting average and .907 OPS down to a .305 batting average and a .767 OPS. His slugging percentage dropped from .475 down to .379. Dennis Fernandez, used as the DH this season, hung on for as long as he could. As late as the end of July, he was still having a pretty good season. But the 38 year old absolutely tanked in the final two months of the season, with a .153 batting average in 170 at bats, just 2 homeruns, and 16 RBI. For the year, he finished with a .761 OPS, 23 homeruns, 95 RBI, and 96 runs scored. Odds are, Fernandez will not be in the lineup during the postseason. Rookie shortstop Arthur Steiger had cup of coffee last season, and looked completely over-matched: a .532 OPS in 62 at bats. This year, Steiger got off to a solid start, with an .870 OPS in the month of April. He slumped from May to July, then put up good numbers in the final two months(.847 OPS in August and .926 in September). His final numbers weren't especially impressive, however. He had an empty .305 batting average, with just a .743 OPS. Miami's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH C. Hokusai 33 33 22 3 0 2.40 236.1 150 68 63 47 215 8 5 R. Baston 29 29 14 9 0 5.01 206.2 236 118 115 71 172 5 2 A. Ibañez 28 28 13 6 0 4.21 183.2 201 95 86 55 110 2 2 M. Prior 25 25 13 9 0 4.87 164.1 179 94 89 67 137 4 0 A. Otte 27 24 11 7 0 4.97 150.1 163 86 83 57 136 2 1 S. Fierros 63 0 9 2 34 1.97 82.1 66 20 18 22 89 0 0 T. Pough 11 11 4 5 0 7.05 67.2 81 54 53 30 34 0 0 J. Carpenter 44 0 8 3 5 2.94 64.1 52 21 21 13 50 0 0 J. Strahan 41 0 7 2 3 2.95 64.0 47 23 21 16 38 0 0 H. Rivero 7 7 4 1 0 4.24 51.0 58 25 24 9 28 0 0 V. Fuentez 30 0 0 0 1 4.20 45.0 31 25 21 35 61 0 0 C. Drain 36 0 2 0 4 1.51 41.2 31 12 7 14 39 0 0 S. Barros 36 0 4 0 1 3.23 39.0 38 16 14 8 25 0 0 J. Espinoza 5 5 1 3 0 4.22 32.0 33 24 15 16 24 0 0 R. Mcclinton 6 0 0 0 0 9.00 8.0 13 8 8 3 8 0 0 E. Breeze 4 0 0 0 0 5.40 6.2 6 4 4 4 1 0 0 E. Owen 3 0 0 0 0 0.00 4.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 Christian Hokusai is the most likely candidate for the AL Cy Young this season, after he dominated the American League to the tune of a 22-3 record, a 2.40 ERA, 215 strikeouts against 47 walks, 8 complete games, 5 shutouts, and a 0.83 WHIP. He led the AL in wins and ERA, ranked 8th in strikeouts, tied for 7th in complete games, ranked 2nd in shutouts, ranked 1st in quality starts(27). He had a league-best .177 opponents' batting average, allowed a league-best 7.7 baserunners per 9 innings, a league-best 5.7 hits per 9 innings, and ranked 4th with 8.2 strikeouts per 9 innings. He had a string of 3 consecutive shutouts in late August, against Kansas City, Grand Rapids, and Charlotte. Miami's second best starting pitcher this year was pretty much a surprise to everyone. Alberto Ibanez came into this season with an ERA of 9.00 in 59 career innings pitched. The former 1st round pick(2074) has been a career minor leaguer with just a few, mostly ineffective, cups of coffee over the last several years. Even this year, he began the season at AAA. But after an injury to Mark Prior in late April, Ibanez got the call. After a shaky start, he quickly settled into a groove and secured himself a spot in the rotation for the rest of the season. Ibanez finished the year with a 13-6 record, a 4.21 ERA, and 110 strikeouts against 55 walks. Speaking of Prior, he slumped from last year's strong campaign(18-9, 3.76 ERA, 209 strikeouts) to go 13-9, with a 4.87 ERA, and 137 strikeouts against 67 walks. Adam Otte, in his second full season in the Dolphins' rotation, improved slightly. His ERA went from 5.33 to 4.97 this year and he cut his WHIP from 1.53 to 1.46. He also posted an 11-7 record and had 136 strikeouts against 57 walks. His 8.1 strikeouts per 9 innings would have ranked 5th in the league if he had pitched enough innings to qualify. Two years removed from winning the Cy Young award, Ramon Baston had a very disappointing season, although it would still be considered above average in the American League. His 5.01 ERA was his worst in a full season. Baston also had a 14-9 record, 172 strikeouts, and 71 walks. Closer Salvador Fierros had one of the most dominant performances by a reliever this season. He piled up 34 saves, had a sparkling 1.97 ERA in 82 1/3 innings pitched, and had 89 strikeouts against 22 walks. He ranked 3rd in the American League in saves. Rookie reliever Christopher Drain didn't make his debut until May, but he went on to have a very impressive first season. His ERA was a superb 1.51, and he had 39 strikeouts against 14 walks in 41 2/3 innings pitched. Left-hander Joseph Carpenter had another fine season, with a 2.94 ERA and 50 strikeouts against 13 walks in 64 1/3 innings pitched. James Strahan had the best season of his career, with personal bests in ERA(2.95), strikeouts(38), and WHIP(0.98). Second year left-hander Silverio Barros was much better this year than he was as a rookie, as he improved his ERA from 5.54 to 3.23. He had 25 strikeouts against 8 walks in 39 innings pitched. Prediction: The loss of Jack Forrester and the late season decline of Dennis Fernandez will definitely make things easier on Tucson's pedestrian pitching staff, but even if the Dolphins are unable to score many runs, it is likely that the Diamondbacks will also have difficulty scoring, especially against someone like Christian Hokusai. Tucson might steal a few games, but I expect the Dolphins to outlast them. Miami in 6 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-06-2011, 10:37 PM
|
#653 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Divisional Round Preview: Atlanta VS. Denver
Atlanta Braves(93-69)
 VS. Denver Broncos(99-63)  Quick Facts: - The Braves and Broncos have never faced each other in the postseason before. Last season was the only time the two teams had even reached the playoffs in the same year, and Atlanta lost to Miami in the first round. - This is Atlanta's 2nd straight playoff appearance. The last time the Braves reached the postseason in consecutive seasons was in 2068 and 2069. Denver won its 7th consecutive Central Division title, and reached the postseason for the 15th year in a row. - Atlanta won the regular season series, with 8 wins in 14 games. However, the Broncos actually outscored the Braves by an average score of 8.0 to 6.8. Denver reached double digits in runs scored 3 times, in wins of 17-3, 19-8, and 17-11. In addition to scoring 11 runs in that last game, the Braves also had an 11-7 victory. Four of the games were decided by 1 run, and Atlanta won 3 of them. None of them games went to extra innings. - Atlanta's offense ranked 1st in baseball in batting average, 2nd in homeruns, 5th in walks, and 2nd in runs scored. The Braves' pitching staff ranked 18th in ERA, 11th in opponents' batting average, 14th in homeruns allowed, 23rd in walks, 18th in runs allowed. - Denver's offense ranked 2nd in batting average, 1st in homeruns, 6th in walks, and 1st in runs scored. The Broncos' pitching staff ranked 11th in ERA, 20th in opponents' batting average, 1st in homeruns allowed, 4th in walks allowed, and 11th in runs allowed. Thoughts: Given the fact that these are the two highest scoring teams in baseball, and that neither team has a particularly good pitching staff, I expect this series to be pretty high-scoring. I'm not really sure who that favors, however. Denver does have the better pitching staff, overall, but that didn't really seem to matter in the regular season. For whatever it's worth, Atlanta hasn't won a postseason series since the 2021 World Series, with 6 playoff appearances since then(not including this year). The Teams: Atlanta's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS R. Attaway SS 153 603 192 55 6 31 136 123 82 143 .318 .399 .584 0 7 A. Mcgarity CF 153 586 185 26 9 5 63 121 82 73 .316 .400 .416 41 21 F. Trujillo RF 153 554 159 34 1 12 88 92 82 66 .287 .382 .417 0 0 J. Benson 1B 148 540 177 27 8 13 94 97 61 47 .328 .398 .480 8 2 D. Bertrand 2B 148 526 165 24 2 42 120 97 40 75 .314 .364 .606 0 1 B. Baker C 146 509 153 26 1 39 116 104 64 27 .301 .381 .585 0 0 A. Vazquez 1B 137 509 177 33 0 10 85 83 42 68 .348 .397 .472 3 4 R. Stair 3B 130 454 107 39 4 18 82 70 56 72 .236 .320 .458 8 1 M. Shunji LF 88 261 61 10 3 13 47 38 36 67 .234 .329 .444 7 3 B. Rocha SS 90 259 68 6 1 13 45 46 20 77 .263 .318 .444 11 2 J. Campos LF 60 227 61 15 0 13 39 42 19 48 .269 .323 .507 1 0 S. Mash 3B 70 204 54 14 1 1 25 33 19 23 .265 .329 .358 5 1 A. Andersen C 62 164 56 17 1 2 24 31 31 43 .341 .442 .494 1 0 C. Gray CF 70 156 44 10 2 9 26 32 13 34 .282 .337 .545 3 1 R. Turner RF 71 144 43 15 1 5 23 31 10 23 .299 .353 .521 5 3 L. Dodds LF 24 85 22 5 0 1 8 11 5 20 .259 .297 .353 0 1 J. Catania 2B 22 27 9 3 0 1 4 5 0 7 .333 .357 .556 0 1 J. Delacruz CF 15 14 5 1 0 1 2 6 0 6 .357 .357 .643 0 0 Atlanta's shortstop Roger Attaway had one of best seasons, which is saying something for a player with a .940 career OPS. His .983 OPS wasn't a career high, but his .318 batting average and .399 on base percentage were. He also had career highs in hits(192) and doubles(55). He added 31 homeruns, 136 RBI, 123 runs scored, and 82 walks. Attaway ranked 8th in the league in slugging percentage(.584), 6th in OPS, tied for 8th in hits, 3rd in doubles, 4th in RBI, and 5th in runs scored. Second-baseman Douglas Bertrand burst onto the scene in his first season as an everyday player, with a .971 OPS, 42 homeruns, 120 RBI, and 97 runs scored. Bertrand ranked 9th in the league in OPS, 6th in the league in slugging percentage, 4th in the league in homeruns, and 9th in RBI. Catcher Bill Baker set career highs in slugging percentage(.585), OPS(.966), homeruns(39), RBI(116), runs scored(104), and walks(64). The slugging percentage ranked 7th in the AL and the homeruns were tied for 6th. First-baseman Jerry Benson, who was signed in the offseason and mostly DH'ed, produced career highs in batting average(.328), on base percentage(.398), slugging percentage(.480), OPS(.878), and triples(8). It was an impressive bounce-back from last year, which was his worst season as a regular(.761 OPS). First-baseman Angelo Vazquez, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Tucson, improved dramatically from the .269/.323/.346/.669 batting line that he managed last season. For the Braves this season, Vazquez delivered a .348 batting average, a .397 OPS, a .472 slugging percentage, and an .868 OPS. He added 33 doubles, 10 homers, 85 RBI, and 83 runs scored. The batting average was the 4th highest in the American League. Center-fielder Arnold McGarity had his 3rd straight solid season, as he compiled an .816 OPS, with career highs in on base percentage(.400) and runs scored(121). He tied for 5th in the league in triples, with 9, ranked 6th in runs scored, and 2nd in stolen bases(41). Veteran right-fielder Flavio Trujillo got off to a strong start, with an .852 OPS in April and a 1.042 OPS in May. He also had 16 doubles and 7 homeruns after those first two months. For the rest of the season, however, Trujillo's highest monthly OPS was .759, and he managed a combined 18 doubles and 5 homeruns. His final OPS for the year was .799, which represented his worst since he mustered a .764 total back in 2077. His .417 slugging percentage was his worst since he had a .377 total in 2073. His 12 homeruns marked the first time that he had failed to hit at least 20 since 2073. Third-baseman Raymond Stair went from the best season of his career(.903 OPS) to his worst since 2081. He had just a .778 OPS, but still collected 39 doubles, 18 homeruns, 82 RBI, and 70 runs scored. When left-fielder and 2085 Silver Slugger winner Joey Campos(.829 OPS, 13 HR) was lost for the season in mid-June with a broken foot, the Braves were forced to scrounge for alternate solutions. When their first option failed(Leslie Dodds and a .650 OPS in 85 at bats) they looked outside the organization and traded for former Denver Bronco Masahachirou Shunji, who had quickly fallen out of favor in Charlotte after a slow start. Shunji performed well initially after coming to Atlanta in the second week of July- he had a 1.051 OPS and 4 homeruns in 42 at bats in July, followed by a .981 OPS and 6 homeruns in August- but he tanked down the stretch, managing just a .604 OPS in the final month of the season. For the whole year, he produced a .773 OPS, with 13 homeruns, and 47 RBI in 261 at bats. Atlanta's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH T. Sanchez 36 36 21 6 0 3.94 276.2 243 131 121 122 219 8 2 C. Deherrera 32 32 15 7 0 3.82 219.1 203 113 93 85 166 3 0 T. Testa 32 32 18 7 0 5.46 207.2 197 133 126 131 184 3 0 S. Beal 29 27 7 13 1 7.03 155.0 188 138 121 92 129 3 0 L. Cuomo 58 9 3 6 2 6.82 136.0 175 110 103 87 82 0 0 S. Steffens 38 13 5 8 0 7.10 104.0 102 93 82 94 112 1 1 A. Vivar 62 0 4 9 36 4.01 74.0 80 35 33 40 74 0 0 C. Schulz 53 0 6 1 5 3.57 53.0 53 24 21 15 29 0 0 G. Menjivar 23 0 0 2 1 5.55 24.1 28 15 15 11 12 0 0 W. Sing 16 0 3 2 0 6.23 21.2 31 20 15 12 8 0 0 A. Hall 12 0 1 2 0 7.89 21.2 28 19 19 16 13 0 0 O. Maldonado 20 0 0 1 0 5.89 18.1 22 12 12 17 14 0 0 C. Montenegro 5 1 0 2 0 4.20 15.0 17 8 7 5 8 1 0 M. Pierce 8 0 0 0 0 2.08 13.0 10 4 3 6 3 0 0 P. Gobin 9 0 1 0 0 7.15 11.1 22 10 9 5 6 0 0 W. Donald 3 0 0 0 0 10.80 3.1 4 4 4 5 1 0 0 Left-hander Claudio Deherrera, who was considered a disappointment in Memphis after a promising rookie season back in 2082, signed with Atlanta this offseason and promptly had the best season of his career. He won a career high 15 games(against 7 losses), and had a career best 3.82 ERA. He tossed 200 innings for the first time in his career(219 1/3), and had 166 strikeouts against 85 walks. His 1.31 WHIP was a career best. Deherrera ranked 6th in the league in ERA and tied for 9th in wins. Thomas Sanchez had the best season of his career this year, with a 21-6 record(career high in wins), a career best 3.94 ERA, and career highs in innings pitched(276 2/3), strikeouts(219), WHIP(1.32), complete games(8), and shutouts(2). He tied for 2nd in wins, ranked 9th in ERA, 2nd in innings pitched, 7th in strikeouts, tied for 7th in complete games, and 5th in homeruns allowed per 9 innings(0.4). There is a rather large drop-off from the latter two pitchers to the rest of Atlanta's starters, especially since Tony Testa(18-7, 5.46 ERA, 184 strikeouts) got hurt near the end of the season and will not be available for the playoffs. The Braves' remaining starting pitchers include Steven Beal(7-13, 7.03 ERA, 129 strikeouts), Leon Cuomo(6.82 ERA while used mostly as a reliever), and Stephen Steffens(7.10 ERA while used mostly out of the bullpen). Cristopher Schulz was a solid reliever, with a 3.57 ERA in 53 games, and 29 strikeouts against 15 walks in 53 innings pitched. Closer Abel Vivar managed a 4.01 ERA, 36 saves, and 74 strikeouts against 40 walks in 74 innings pitched. Vivar led the American League in saves. Denver's Batting: Code:
Name POS G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG SB CS A. Stice SS 150 612 191 26 3 44 138 124 66 90 .312 .382 .580 2 0 B. Branco 2B 151 587 188 32 8 63 174 146 91 86 .320 .413 .724 2 2 M. Lore RF 139 556 189 18 1 22 94 88 51 89 .340 .398 .495 0 0 L. Chappel C 141 555 181 51 7 32 122 126 91 43 .326 .419 .616 9 0 R. Thomas CF 125 551 204 21 1 22 93 113 35 35 .370 .413 .532 17 5 M. Phillips 3B 120 438 106 21 3 8 48 67 53 44 .242 .333 .358 1 0 E. Abadia LF 106 408 110 22 5 39 110 76 39 65 .270 .331 .635 1 3 T. Teika 1B 107 402 121 18 1 12 70 68 41 97 .301 .368 .440 0 0 L. Ferro LF 101 344 78 25 5 15 45 71 47 99 .227 .328 .459 1 1 J. Fuensanta 2B 70 250 70 9 1 11 34 58 36 19 .280 .375 .456 1 0 B. Romero 2B 69 240 64 16 1 6 29 44 22 55 .267 .333 .417 11 4 A. Mingo 2B 73 238 52 10 1 1 26 36 23 46 .218 .286 .282 0 2 R. Shults 3B 56 178 46 15 1 9 34 30 14 46 .258 .314 .506 1 0 A. Vasquez LF 48 161 48 6 1 0 27 18 6 23 .298 .325 .348 1 2 E. Bolling 1B 45 141 32 12 2 6 21 25 11 31 .227 .292 .468 0 0 V. Telles C 33 96 24 9 2 2 16 19 3 33 .250 .284 .448 0 0 A. Fuentez RF 24 49 14 1 0 0 5 5 5 12 .286 .364 .306 0 0 J. Jackson C 17 46 11 0 0 0 2 5 6 17 .239 .327 .239 0 0 D. Lopez 3B 8 30 8 1 0 2 6 6 0 9 .267 .290 .500 0 0 H. Lewis Jr. 1B 5 16 3 1 0 1 7 2 0 3 .188 .176 .438 0 0 A. Elbert LF 7 15 2 1 0 0 0 4 2 6 .133 .278 .200 2 0 S. Lattimer CF 6 11 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 2 .273 .273 .364 0 0 Denver's designated hitter Brooks Branco had an absolutely legendary season. In his first season as a full time player, he tormented American League pitchers to the tune of a 1.137 OPS, 32 doubles, 8 triples, 63 homeruns, 174 RBI, 146 runs scored, and 91 walks. He tied the American League record for homeruns in a season, broke the franchise record for RBI in a season(previously 170) and just missed tying or breaking the AL record of 178. Branco ranked 9th in on base percentage, 1st in slugging percentage, 1st in OPS, tied for 8th in triples, 1st in homeruns, 1st in RBI, and 1st in runs scored. Branco is pretty much a sure bet to win the Silver Slugger award. Meanwhile, 36 year old catcher Lee Chappel "quietly" had his 7th consecutive season with an OPS over 1.000(1.035), and delivered 51 doubles, 7 triples, 32 homeruns, 122 RBI, 126 runs scored, and 91 walks. Chappel ranked 7th in the league in on base percentage(.419), 5th in slugging percentage(.616), 3rd in OPS, 5th in doubles, tied for 10th in triples, 8th in RBI, and tied for 2nd in runs scored. Left-fielder Emanuel Abadia was probably one of the craziest and most incredible stories of the season. The 33 year old came into the season with a .133 batting average in 203 career at bats spread over 8 seasons, and wound up producing a .966 OPS, with 39 homeruns, 110 RBI, and 76 runs scored in 408 at bats this year. Abadia tied for 6th in the league in homeruns, and would have ranked 2nd in slugging percentage if he'd had enough at bats to qualify. Shortstop Arthur Stice was even better in his second season with the Broncos than he was in his first. His batting average went from .294 to .312, his on base percentage went from .368 to .382, his slugging percentage went from .553 to .580, and his OPS went from .921 to .962. All of those were career highs. He also set career highs in hits(191), homeruns(44), and runs scored(124). Although they weren't a career high, he also managed to drive in 138 runs. Stice ranked 10th in slugging percentage, 10th in hits, 3rd in homeruns, 3rd in RBI, and 4th in runs scored. Despite a couple of DL stints this season, center-fielder Russell Thomas still produced a .370 batting average, a .945 OPS, 204 hits, 22 homeruns, 93 RBI, 113 runs scored, and 17 stolen bases. He ranked 2nd in the league in batting average, 10th in on base percentage(.413), and 4th in hits. Right-fielder Marvin Lore had his third straight productive season, as he hit .340 with an .893 OPS, 22 homeruns, 94 RBI, and 88 runs scored. Lore finished 7th in the batting race. Second-baseman Jose Fuensanta began the year as a reserve, and after a slow start(.611 OPS in first 34 at bats), was sent to the minor leagues. In July, he got a second chance due to injuries and quickly secured a spot in the starting lineup. He finished the year with an .831 OPS, set career highs in at bats(250), runs scored(58), and walks(36), and tied his career high in homeruns(11). First-baseman Tamiko Teika didn't start the year on the big league roster, but before the month of April was completed, he had been promoted and had a starting job locked down. After a strong start(an .895 OPS in April and a 1.037 OPS in May), however, Teika's numbers dropped off. In the final 4 months of the season, his monthly OPS's ranged from .729 to .779. His final numbers included an OPS that matched the American League average(.808), 12 homeruns, 70 RBI, and 68 runs scored. Third-baseman Michael Phillips endured the worst season of his career, with career lows in batting average(.242), on base percentage(.333), slugging percentage(.358), and OPS(.691). Denver's Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SH R. Lockridge 32 32 17 10 0 4.17 218.0 216 108 101 43 176 2 2 R. Mcnett 33 33 21 3 0 3.48 214.2 214 88 83 56 157 1 1 K. Pillsbury 33 33 14 10 0 4.67 208.1 256 121 108 57 154 2 1 T. Fons 28 28 16 5 0 5.28 206.1 255 132 121 73 82 2 1 W. Ortiz 35 24 10 8 0 4.30 182.0 195 96 87 54 104 2 1 R. Soto 50 0 5 7 1 4.84 74.1 90 49 40 19 31 0 0 C. Saari 50 0 4 11 5 4.91 73.1 93 45 40 15 64 0 0 G. Buentello 30 9 3 4 1 9.41 72.2 126 78 76 38 48 0 0 L. Ruvalcaba 52 0 5 3 27 3.10 61.0 54 22 21 11 43 0 0 L. Gwinn 42 0 2 0 2 4.66 56.0 57 30 29 11 57 0 0 A. Haider 32 0 1 0 1 6.82 33.0 47 26 25 10 21 0 0 R. Alvarez 2 2 0 1 0 6.00 12.0 16 8 8 6 2 0 0 F. Alvardo 10 0 0 1 1 10.80 10.0 17 12 12 6 2 0 0 J. Streit 2 1 1 0 0 6.75 6.2 7 5 5 4 7 0 0 B. Peres 6 0 0 0 0 11.57 4.2 7 6 6 4 5 0 0 D. Weingartner 4 0 0 0 0 0.00 4.0 1 1 0 3 3 0 0 W. Breeze 4 0 0 0 0 5.40 3.1 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 P. Wass 5 0 0 0 0 6.75 2.2 5 2 2 1 2 0 0 Robert McNett got off to a disastrous start to the season(a 7.36 ERA in April) but quickly got things under control. He produced his 4th 20-win season by going 21-3, had the 2nd best ERA of his career(3.48), and had 157 strikeouts against 56 walks. McNett tied for 2nd in the league in wins, ranked 4th in ERA, and ranked 1st with just 0.1 homeruns allowed per 9 innings. Ray Lockridge had one of his best seasons since joining the Broncos. His 4.17 ERA was his 2nd best as a member of the Broncos, and he also had a 17-10 record with 176 strikeouts against 43 walks. In mid-June, he tossed back to back complete game shutouts against Nashville and Memphis. Those were his first shutouts since 2083. Lockridge ranked 7th in wins, 10th in ERA, tied for 6th in quality starts(18), 5th in baserunners allowed per 9 innings(10.9), and 6th in walks allowed per 9 innings(1.8). Walter Ortiz began the year in the bullpen, and although he struggled in that role, he fared much better after moving into the rotation at the end of May. In 11 appearances as a reliever, he had a 7.98 ERA. In 24 starts, Ortiz had a 3.98 ERA. For the year, Ortiz was 10-8, with a 4.30 ERA(a huge improvement from last season's 5.19 figure) and 104 strikeouts against 54 walks. Ortiz allowed the 4th fewest homeruns per 9 innings in the American League(0.3). Kenny Pillsbury struggled badly through the first three months of the season, and although he improved considerably in the second half, he still had the second worst season of his career. After 5 straight 20-win seasons, he managed just only 14 wins(against 10 losses), and had a 4.67 ERA, a career low 154 strikeouts, and 57 walks. Third year starter Thomas Fons actually finished with a better than league average ERA, with a personal best 5.28 figure. He also had a 16-5 record(the wins were a career high), and 82 strikeouts against 73 walks. Fons ranked 8th in the league in wins. On a negative note, Fons had the fewest strikeouts of any pitcher in the AL to qualify for the ERA title, his 3.6 strikeouts per 9 innings ranked last among qualifying pitchers, and his impressive won-loss record was bolstered by the best run support of any pitcher in the American League(9.9 runs per game). Closer Lamont Ruvalcaba had a career best 3.10 ERA, 27 saves, and a career high 43 strikeouts(against 11 walks). He ranked 6th in the league in saves and, with only 3 blown saves, had the best save percentage(90%) of any closer in the American League. Lyndon Gwinn managed a serviceable 4.66 ERA in 42 appearances and 57 strikeouts against 11 walks. Left-hander Robert Soto went from a career best 2.55 ERA last year to the second worst ERA of his career(4.84) this year. He recorded as many losses this season(7) as he had in his whole career combined prior to this year. He also had 31 strikeouts against 19 walks. Cornelius Saari was terrible for the first three months, with an ERA comfortably over 6.00, but did pitch better in the second half of the season. He finished with a 4.91 ERA- much worse than last year's 3.66 total- and had a career high 11 losses. Saari had 64 strikeouts against 15 walks. Prediction: Atlanta has 2 pretty good starting pitchers at the top of its rotation, and utter dreck after that. Denver has 1 very good starter, and 3 solid-to-above-average guys. If the Broncos can at least split the games that Thomas Sanchez and Claudio Deherrera start for Atlanta and take care of business against whoever is the 3rd starter, then they should be able to pull out this series. Denver in 7 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-13-2011, 11:26 PM
|
#654 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 Divisional Round Recaps
Harrisburg(87-75)
VS. San Diego(97-65) Game 1: San Diego, 4-1 Game 2: Harrisburg, 3-1 Game 3: Harrisburg, 7-2 Game 4: Harrisburg, 10-3 Game 5: San Diego, 5-4 Game 6: San Diego, 5-4 Game 7: San Diego, 3-2 Harrisburg's first trip to the postseason in more than 70 years could have resulted in an upset over the Padres. Instead, the Capitals choked away a 3 games to 1 lead, losing three consecutive 1-run games in the process. The Capitals rallied from a 4-1 deficit in Game Five, only to lose the game in the eighth inning. In Game Six, Harrisburg squandered a 4-0 lead, giving up 5 runs to the Padres in the eighth inning. Harrisburg blew a 1-0 lead in Game Seven, then took a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, only to give up 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth to lose the game and the series. San Jose(96-66) VS. Pittsburgh(94-68) Game 1: San Jose, 6-0 Game 2: San Jose, 7-1 Game 3: San Jose, 7-1 Game 4: Pittsburgh, 3-2 Game 5: Pittsburgh, 3-1 Game 6: Pittsburgh, 4-3 Game 7: Pittsburgh, 8-6 Harrisburg wasn't the only team that blew a comfortable lead in the first round. After winning the first three games in convincing fashion(a combined score of 20-2), San Jose proceeded to lose 4 straight games by a total of 6 runs. The Sharks never had the lead in either Game Four or Game Five, falling behind 3-0 in both games. In Game Six, San Jose fell behind 2-0 and 3-1 before rallying to tie the game at 3-all. Pittsburgh retook the lead in the eighth inning. In Game Seven, San Jose jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, fell behind 4-2 in the top of the sixth, and then tied the game at 4-all in the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates pulled away again with 4 runs in the seventh. The Sharks managed a 2-run rally in the bottom half of the seventh, but could get no closer. Tucson(91-71) VS. Miami(112-50) Game 1: Miami, 8-1 Game 2: Tucson, 8-5 Game 3: Miami, 13-6 Game 4: Miami, 5-1 Game 5: Miami, 15-5 Despite the absence of the injured Jack Forrester, the Dolphins rolled over Tucson in five games, outscoring the Diamondbacks 46-21. Catcher Edmond McGurk was a one-man wrecking crew, with 4 homeruns and 14 RBI. Atlanta(93-69) VS. Denver(99-63) Game 1: Denver, 11-7 Game 2: Denver, 8-6 Game 3: Denver, 3-0 Game 4: Denver, 5-4 Denver produced the first playoff sweep in franchise history, although Atlanta managed to be competitive in all of the games. In Game One, the Broncos jumped out a 3-0 lead, but quickly fell behind, 5-4. In the sixth inning, Denver retook the lead, 7-5. The Braves tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, but the Broncos pulled ahead for good in the bottom of the seventh. Denver quickly took control of Game 2, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after 3 innings. Atlanta cut it to 4-3 in the fourth inning, but the Broncos made it 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth. Atlanta got within 2 runs in the fifth inning but never got any closer. Game Three was controlled by Denver's pitching. Ray Lockridge tossed 6 scoreless innings and the bullpen did the rest. Three runs proved to be enough. The Broncos grabbed a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning of Game Four, and led 4-1 after four innings. Atlanta tied things up with 2 runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth. Arthur Stice delivered the knockout blow, however, with a solo homerun in the top of the ninth inning. Denver held on for the victory. This sets up the League Championship Series, which will pit Pittsburgh against San Diego, and Denver against Miami.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-21-2011, 09:25 PM
|
#655 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 NLCS Preview: Pittsburgh VS. San Diego
Pittsburgh Pirates(94-68)
VS. San Diego Padres(97-65) Quick Facts: - This will be the 18th overall postseason meeting between Pittsburgh and San Diego and the 14th NLCS meeting. The Pirates have won 14 of the previous 17 matchups, including the most recent- a 7 game victory in the 2083 Divisional Round. The Padres' only playoff victories over Pittsburgh were in the NLCS in 2030 and 2073, and in the Divisional Round in 2082. San Diego wound up winning the World Series in both 2030 and 2073, but lost the World Series in 2082. - San Diego dominated the regular season series with Pittsburgh this year. The Padres won 12 out of 16 games, with an average score of 4.8 to 3.3. San Diego reached double digits in runs scored twice, in blowout wins of 18-2 and 10-3. Pittsburgh's high was 8 runs scored. The Pirates did, however, produce 2 shutouts(wins of 5-0 and 8-0), while the Padres had none. There were 5 1-run games, and San Diego won them all. There were 3 extra-inning games, and the Padres won all of them(a 2-1 14-inning game, a 3-2 12-inning game, and a 3-1 10-inning game). Thoughts: The last time that Pittsburgh and San Diego met in the NLCS was in 2073. Coincidentally, this year's ALCS participants(Denver and Miami) also met in the ALCS that year. Here, however, we will focus solely on the Pirates and Padres. As dominant as Pittsburgh has been over the year, the early 70's was the most frustrating time period in franchise history. After winning 3 straight World Series titles from 2057 to 2059, the Pirates had only 2 appearances(2060 and 2063)- both losses- since. In '73, they led all of baseball with 104 wins and knocked off a 92-win San Jose team in the Divisional Round. The only player remaining from that team is reliever Joe O'Donoghue. Back then, he was a 25-year old who had enjoyed an impressive rookie season(54 games, 2.85 ERA, 53 strikeouts, 11 walks). Now, he's a 39-year old who has been reduced to mop-up duties(33 games, 8.55 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 14 walks). San Diego, meanwhile, hadn't won a championship since 2030 and hadn't made the playoffs since 2057. The Padres had spent the late 50's, 60's, and early 70's hovering between mediocrity and respectability, but had only 2 winning seasons from 2062 to 2072. In the latter year, San Diego had completely imploded and had a franchise-worst 55-107 record. The Padres' response to that disaster of a season was spend, spend, and spend some more. In the offseason prior to the '73 season, San Diego doled out over $40 million in free agent contracts. It wasn't the worst strategy to employ. Those free agents included SS Andrew Burdick(1.149 OPS, 38 HR, 93 RBI), C Timmy Rachal(.740 OPS, 13 HR, 50 RBI), SP Alvaro Kabas(24-4, 2.58 ERA, 189 strikeouts), and SP Todd O'Brien(13-14, 2.82 ERA, 245 strikeouts). Another free agent, C John Lounsbury(.801 OPS, 11 HR, 62 RBI), was traded to Charlotte to acquire CF Harold Willems(.767 OPS, 27 HR, 89 RBI). San Diego surged to a 96-66 record- its best since winning 99 games in 2040- and beat out the defending champion San Jose Sharks for first place in the West Division. The Padres whipped a 93-win Hartford team in 5 games in the Divisional Round to set up their matchup against Pittsburgh. Just 2 players remain from that San Diego team: the aforementioned Burdick, who was a 25-year old budding superstar back then, but is now a mostly washed up 39 year hoping for one last hurrah before he calls his Hall of Fame career quits(.680 OPS, 2 HR, 29 RBI); and left-fielder Gregorio Ruiz, who was a talented but raw 22-year old rookie acquired in a deadline trade(.691 OPS, 19 HR, 56 RBI). Now, Ruiz is a 36 year old borderline Hall of Famer who saw his numbers drop sharply this season(.748 OPS, 21 HR, 78 RBI). Despite having gone 4-10 against Pittsburgh in the regular season, San Diego cruised past the Pirates in the NLCS, winning in 5 games. The Padres would eventually outlast Miami in 7 games to win just their second World Series. What happened after the Padres' championship is rather interesting. The following year, Pittsburgh swept San Diego in the Divisional Round en route to its first championship since '59. The Pirates then proceeded to win World Series titles in '75, '80, '81, and '83. The Padres followed up their championship with a 96-win season and the sweep to Pittsburgh, a 102-win season and a 1st round loss to San Jose, and then a complete collapse. Starting in 2076, San Diego went 65-97, 57-105, 60-102, and 71-91 over a 4 year period. Only in 2080 did the Padres begin to turn things around, with a 79-83 season. They returned to the playoffs in 2081, and had a streak of 5 consecutive playoff appearances, which ended last season, when they finished 1 game behind second place Los Angeles. The Padres made a return trip to the World Series in 2082, but lost to Miami in 6 games. Pittsburgh's Postseason Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS G. Calderon 7 28 10 1 1 0 4 4 0 7 .357 .419 .464 .884 S. Mack 7 27 7 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 .259 .259 .296 .556 R. Able 7 26 4 0 0 1 2 2 2 10 .154 .214 .269 .484 B. Cubillas 7 25 6 1 0 0 2 3 0 7 .240 .240 .280 .520 J. Harmer Jr. 7 24 5 1 0 0 0 5 6 6 .208 .387 .250 .637 R. Triado 7 23 4 1 0 0 3 0 2 2 .174 .240 .217 .457 J. Sequeira 7 22 3 0 1 0 6 1 0 3 .136 .125 .227 .352 E. Mccullough 6 20 8 3 0 0 1 2 3 8 .400 .478 .550 1.028 D. Barrientos 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 S. Garcia 3 7 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 .429 .500 .429 .929 I. Villalon 2 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .200 .200 .400 .600 S. Council 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .200 .400 H. Yosuke 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 J. Rael 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 C. Cooper 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 .667 A. Fajardo 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 Pittsburgh's Postseason Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K S. Council 2 2 1 1 0 2.51 14.1 18 7 4 1 13 A. Fajardo 2 2 1 1 0 5.68 12.2 18 10 8 2 9 I. Villalon 2 2 1 1 0 6.40 12.2 14 9 9 0 14 C. Cooper 1 1 1 0 0 1.29 7.0 4 1 1 0 2 J. Barnett 3 0 0 0 3 1.93 4.2 4 1 1 1 6 D. Martinez 3 0 0 0 1 4.50 4.0 8 2 2 2 3 R. Chavez 2 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 K. Nampo 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 J. Vega 1 0 0 0 0 9.00 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 R. Melendez 1 0 0 0 0 9.00 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 J. Odonoghue 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 San Diego's Postseason Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS G. Canales 7 29 6 0 0 1 4 1 1 1 .207 .233 .310 .544 J. Lucia 7 27 7 1 0 1 7 4 2 0 .259 .310 .407 .718 G. Matos 7 26 6 0 1 1 4 3 1 3 .231 .286 .423 .709 J. Ector 7 26 5 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 .192 .222 .308 .530 G. Ruiz 7 24 6 2 0 0 2 1 1 5 .250 .280 .333 .613 M. Alarcon 7 23 9 3 0 0 1 6 0 3 .391 .417 .522 .938 S. Alvarez 7 23 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 .174 .321 .174 .495 R. Ashford 6 13 7 1 0 0 2 4 1 0 .538 .571 .615 1.187 B. Romero 5 13 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .231 .231 .231 .462 A. Burdick 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .125 .000 .125 C. Lozoya 2 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 .200 .200 .400 .600 T. Bee 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 .333 .333 1.333 1.667 C. Greene 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 P. Pauli 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 R. Borland 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 M. Saldana 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 San Diego's Postseason Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K C. Lozoya 2 2 2 0 0 1.20 15.0 13 4 2 3 16 C. Greene 2 2 0 1 0 3.21 14.0 17 7 5 2 6 T. Bee 2 2 0 1 0 5.40 10.0 13 7 6 6 8 P. Pauli 1 1 0 1 0 9.00 7.0 9 7 7 3 6 D. Peña 3 0 1 0 0 7.20 5.0 10 4 4 0 6 J. Ruark 2 0 0 0 2 0.00 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 J. Donato 2 0 1 0 0 3.00 3.0 5 1 1 1 2 R. Orosco 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 S. Eye 1 0 0 0 0 4.50 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 Prediction: Pittsburgh's rotation is deeper than San Diego's, but the Padres' top 2 starters are just as good as the Pirates'. That means San Diego could very easily take control of the series in the first two games, potentially rendering the superiority of Pittsburgh's 3rd and 4th starters moot. Neither team really has a good enough offense to tip the scales one way or the other, though from a talent standpoint, San Diego has more top-tier hitters. Given the fact that San Diego dominated in the regular season, I'm going to have give the Padres the nod. San Diego will win in 6 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-21-2011, 09:49 PM
|
#656 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 ALCS Preview: Denver VS. Miami
Denver Broncos(99-63)
VS. Miami Dolphins(112-50) Quick Facts: - This will be the 10th postseason meeting between Denver and Miami. The Dolphins have won 7 of the previous 9 meetings, but the Broncos won the most recent: a 6-game victory in last year's ALCS en route to their first ever World Series title. Denver's only other playoff win against Miami came in the 2058 ALCS; the Broncos went on to lose the World Series in 7 games to Pittsburgh that year. - Miami won 9 out of 14 regular season meetings against Denver this year. The Dolphins outscored the Broncos by an average score of 6.1 to 4.8. The Dolphins topped 10 runs in a game 3 times, and won 2 of them(11-8 and 10-6). Denver topped 10 runs twice, and won both games(11-10 and 10-3). The Broncos produced the only shutout- a 2-0 victory. Three of the games were decided by 1 run, and Denver won 2 of them(11-10 and 4-3). Miami won the other 1-run game, which was also the only extra-inning game: a 6-5, 10-inning victory. Thoughts: I mentioned in the NLCS preview that both of the LCS matchups this year are rematches from the 2073 season, so here I will discuss Denver and Miami's side of that story. After reaching the World Series in 2058, and losing in 7 games to Pittsburgh, the Denver Broncos fell on hard times. At first, they were just mediocre. From '59 to '62, Denver posted records of 74-88, 82-80, 82-80, and 72-90. Not great, of course, but not terrible, either. Even after slumping to a 61-101 season in 2063, the Broncos bounced back to 81-81 the following season. Of course, that was an expansion year, and even a bad team like Denver could beat up on overmatched newbie teams(23-7 against Charlotte and Green Bay). The late 60's, however, represented one of the worst stretches that any team has endured. In '65, the Broncos produced a 58-104 season. In '66, they duplicated that record. In '67, they worsened to 57-105. In '68, they hit rock bottom, and finished 48-114. Following that season was when the Broncos current front office took control. Slowly, the team returned to respectability. Denver went 73-89 in 2069, followed by seasons of 65-97 and 61-101. In 2072, the Broncos finished at .500, with an 81-81 record. In 2073, the rebuilding efforts finally paid off. Denver enjoyed its first winning season since 2061, and captured the Central Division title with a 93-69 record. In the first round of the playoffs, the Broncos surprised a very good and very balanced Knoxville team(95-67 record, tied for 3rd in runs scored, 4th in runs allowed) in 6 games. Three players remain from the '73 Broncos team. Twenty-five year old first-baseman Ellis Bolling had bounced back from a sophomore slump to produce a .903 OPS, with 39 homeruns, and 116 RBI. This year, the 39 year old Bolling saw his role diminish to that of a platoon player(.760 OPS, 6 HR, 21 RBI). Most likely, the future Hall of Famer will retire after this season. Outfielder Alexis Vazquez was a 25-year old rookie who might have won the ROTY in any other year(.815 OPS, 9 HR, 77 RBI). Like Bolling, Vazquez is now a 39-year old part-timer in what will certainly be his final season(.673 OPS, 0 HR, 27 RBI). The reason that Vazquez didn't win the Rookie of the Year Award was because 22-year old catcher Lee Chappel did(.916 OPS, 16 HR, 82 RBI). At 36, Chappel remains one of the elite hitters in the game(1.035 OPS, 32 HR, 122 RBI). Miami, like Pittsburgh, was in the midst of a championship drought in 2073, though it was not quite as bad as the Pirates' drought. The Dolphins had won the 2065 World Series, but hadn't made an appearance since. Furthermore, after a lengthy run of dominance over the Southeast Division that saw Miami win the division every year from '45 to '65, the Dolphins had only 2 division titles from 2066 to 2072. Of course, they still made the playoffs in those other years, finishing in 2nd place each time. In 2073, Miami surged back to the top of the Southeast, pacing the American League with a 102-60 record. The Dolphins had little difficulty with an 86-76 Memphis team in the first round, sweeping the Grizzlies in 4 games. Only 2 players remain from the '73 Dolphins: One was catcher Jake Foss, who was signed as a free agent that year(.843 OPS, 13 HR, 61 RBI). Back then, he was a 25 year old who had been used as a part time player in his first 6 seasons and would get his first opportunity to play regularly with Miami. Now, he's a 39 year old who is one of the better backup catchers in the league(.880 OPS, 2 HR, 26 RBI). The other player was first-baseman Aaron Shorts, who was a 23 year old in his rookie season that year(.705 OPS, 6 HR, 57 RBI). These days, Shorts is a 37 year old who is still serviceable, if unspectacular(.797 OPS, 4 HR, 79 RBI). Denver and Miami fought for 7 games to decide who would go to the World Series. In the deciding game, the Dolphins raced out to a 4-0 lead, but promptly blew it and allowed the Broncos to tie the game. Miami retook the lead, 5-4, in the fourth inning, but fell behind 8-5 in the top of the fifth. The Dolphins cut the deficit to 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning, and tied the game at 8-all in the sixth. Miami took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the eighth inning; Denver managed 1 run in the ninth, but fell, 10-9. Miami went on to lose in 7 games to San Diego in the World Series. Like with Pittsburgh and San Diego, the aftermath from that series for Denver and Miami was just as interesting as the series itself. Miami reasserted its dominance of the Southeast Division, with division titles in every season since, but its championship drought continued for a few more years. In addition to losing the '73 World Series, the Dolphins would also lose the '74 World Series. Finally, in 2079, the Dolphins ended their drought, beating San Jose to capture a championship. Miami would win another World Series in 2082, but also lose in the '81, '83, and '85 World Series. Meanwhile, Denver's breakthrough year in 2073 ushered in a highly successful era for the Broncos. They have made the playoffs every year since then. However, it wasn't until last year that the Broncos finally reached, and won, a World Series. Denver's Postseason Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS R. Thomas 4 18 9 2 0 1 6 4 2 0 .500 .550 .778 1.328 L. Chappel 4 18 5 3 0 1 4 3 0 0 .278 .350 .611 .961 A. Stice 4 16 5 0 0 2 3 4 3 2 .313 .421 .688 1.109 B. Branco 4 15 4 1 0 0 4 4 4 0 .267 .450 .333 .783 M. Phillips 4 14 7 0 0 0 1 3 2 1 .500 .563 .500 1.063 M. Lore 4 13 2 0 0 1 3 3 5 3 .154 .389 .385 .774 T. Teika 3 13 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 .077 .077 .077 .154 E. Abadia 4 12 3 0 0 1 4 2 0 2 .250 .250 .500 .750 J. Fuensanta 3 12 2 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 .167 .333 .167 .500 L. Ferro 2 5 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 .400 .500 .600 1.100 R. Shults 2 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 .400 .400 .800 B. Romero 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 Denver's Postseason Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K K. Pillsbury 1 1 1 0 0 6.75 6.2 12 5 5 0 6 W. Ortiz 1 1 0 0 0 5.68 6.1 5 4 4 2 4 R. Lockridge 1 1 1 0 0 0.00 6.0 7 0 0 1 3 R. Mcnett 1 1 0 0 0 7.50 6.0 7 5 5 4 6 R. Soto 3 0 1 0 1 0.00 5.0 4 0 0 0 1 L. Ruvalcaba 3 0 0 0 3 2.08 4.1 3 1 1 1 1 C. Saari 1 0 1 0 0 10.80 1.2 4 2 2 2 2 Miami's Postseason Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS A. Shorts 5 23 8 2 0 0 3 6 4 2 .348 .444 .435 .879 E. Mcgurk 5 22 9 2 0 4 14 7 3 2 .409 .462 1.045 1.507 A. Steiger 5 21 7 2 0 2 6 4 1 0 .333 .364 .714 1.078 A. Chichester 5 21 4 1 0 1 6 5 3 1 .190 .292 .381 .673 T. Fuentes Jr. 5 21 3 1 0 0 0 3 5 7 .143 .308 .190 .498 F. Alvarez 5 20 8 2 0 1 4 5 1 4 .400 .409 .650 1.059 L. Romanowski 5 20 7 2 0 0 2 7 4 1 .350 .480 .450 .930 D. Armas 5 19 2 0 0 0 1 2 2 4 .105 .227 .105 .333 J. White 3 11 5 2 0 0 3 4 1 2 .455 .500 .636 1.136 D. Fernandez 3 9 6 2 0 1 5 2 2 1 .667 .727 1.222 1.949 W. Mcalpine 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 1.000 .000 1.000 Miami's Postseason Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K C. Hokusai 2 2 2 0 0 1.26 14.1 8 2 2 2 14 M. Prior 1 1 1 0 0 4.70 7.2 5 5 4 2 8 A. Ibañez 1 1 0 0 0 5.14 7.0 7 4 4 1 3 A. Otte 1 1 1 0 0 7.50 6.0 9 5 5 3 5 V. Fuentez 3 0 0 0 0 0.00 4.0 1 0 0 0 4 J. Strahan 2 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.2 1 0 0 0 0 R. Baston 2 0 0 0 0 0.00 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 S. Fierros 1 0 0 1 0 36.00 1.0 4 4 4 1 1 C. Drain 1 0 0 0 0 27.03 0.1 2 1 1 0 1 Prediction: This is a tough call. On the one hand, Miami has a superior pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, which would seem to give the Dolphins a big advantage. On the other hand, one could argue that after you get past each team's #1 starter(Hokusai for Miami and McNett for Denver) the rotations are about equal. Furthermore, although the Dolphins scored plenty of runs against Tucson in the first round, the absence of slugging second-baseman Jack Forrester makes the Dolphins' lineup a lot less threatening. Given that at least two games will be played in the homer-friendly confines of Denver, Forrester and his 47 homeruns would likely have played a key role in this series. Ultimately, I think Miami's overall advantage in the pitching department will be a little bit too much for Denver to overcome. The Dolphins will win in 7 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-28-2011, 09:54 PM
|
#657 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 League Championship Series Recaps
NLCS Recap:
Pittsburgh Pirates(94-68) VS. San Diego Padres(97-65) Game 1: San Diego, 2-0 Game 2: Pittsburgh, 3-2 Game 3: San Diego, 6-5(12 innings) Game 4: Pittsburgh, 10-0 Game 5: San Diego, 5-1 Game 6: San Diego, 7-1 The Padres took control of this series early, when ace Carlos Lozoya tossed a 6-hit shutout in Game One. They dropped a close Game Two, and then won a wild Game Three. That game lasted 12 innings and featured 5 lead changes. San Diego's first-baseman George Canales tied the game at 5-all with a homerun in the 9th inning, and gave the Padres the lead for good with a leadoff homer in the 12th. Pittsburgh shook off the tough loss and tied the series with a blowout win in Game Four. Lozoya made his 2nd start of the series in Game Five, and although he gave up a run in the first inning, it would be the only run he allowed in 8 innings. San Diego produced 5 runs, and that was easily enough for victory. The series-clinching Game Six was an anticlimactic blowout: the Padres led 7-0 after 4 innings and cruised to the win. ALCS Recap: Denver Broncos(99-63) VS. Miami Dolphins(112-50) Game 1: Miami, 3-0 Game 2: Denver, 5-4 Game 3: Miami, 5-4(17 innings) Game 4: Denver, 5-1 Game 5: Denver, 9-7 Game 6: Denver, 14-1 The Broncos were helpless against Miami ace Christian Hokusai in Game One of the ALCS. Hokusai authored a 1-hit shutout against Denver. Game Two went much more favorably for the Broncos. They grabbed a quick 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning and led 5-1 after 8 innings. Things got a little dicey in the bottom of the 9th, when the Dolphins' second-baseman Francisco Alvarez hit a 2-out, 3-run homerun to cut Denver's lead to 1 run. The Broncos escaped with a win, however, tie the series. If the Broncos had gone on to lose the series, Game Three would have been the game that everyone would point to as the turning point. Denver jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and led 3-1 after 4 innings. That lead held up until the 8th inning, when Miami tied the game at 3-all. Eight innings later, in the 16th inning, the Dolphins took their first lead of the game. In the bottom of the 16th, Brooks Branco produced his 3rd homerun of the game to retie the game. The next inning, Miami again took the lead, and this time, the Broncos couldn't rally. Despite the loss, Branco produced just 6th 3-HR playoff game in league history and the first since 2060. Instead of folding after the crushing defeat, however, the Broncos fought back with everything they had. A 4-run 7th inning in Game Four broke a 1-1 tie, and Walter Ortiz pitched a 5-hit complete game to even the series at 2 games apiece. In Game Five, the Broncos rocked Hokusai for 10 hits(including 5 homeruns) and 9 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Denver led 9-0 after 6 innings, and survived a 7-run 9th inning rally by the Dolphins. Game Six of the ALCS proved to be as anticlimactic as its NLCS counterpart. The Broncos led 2-0 after 1 inning and just kept on scoring. Emanuel Abadia knocked in 5 runs in the 14-1 beatdown. Thus, the 2087 World Series will pit the San Diego Padres against the defending champion Denver Broncos. The Broncos will attempt to become the first American League team win consecutive World Series since Memphis did it in 2062. Two other teams had the opportunity since then, but failed: Knoxville in 2071 and Miami in 2083.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
02-28-2011, 10:59 PM
|
#658 |
|
Major Leagues
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Osaka, Japan
Posts: 386
|
Let's go Denver!
__________________
Former dynasties: Bonjou Bezbol! (A Fictional Haitian Baseball Dynasty) The Zoom Taylor Dynasty |
|
|
|
|
03-21-2011, 09:33 PM
|
#659 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 World Series Preview: Denver VS. San Diego
Denver Broncos(99-63)
VS. San Diego Padres(97-65) History: Ideally, this section of the preview would consist of an in-depth look at a prior World Series matchup between the two participants. In this case, however, San Diego and Denver have never faced each other in the World Series. That is not unusual; last year's meeting between Hartford and Denver was not a rematch. In such a situation, I might simply take a look at one or more of each team's previous World Series appearances. That worked well for last year, as Hartford and Denver had only 4 combined appearances between them. Unfortunately, that is more problematic this season. Denver only has 2 previous appearances(last year's and in 2058) and rehashing them would be somewhat repetitive. Meanwhile, San Diego's most recent appearance was in 2082, and thus, was already covered extensively in this thread. In the preview for that World Series, which pitted the Padres against Miami, I discussed the 2073 World Series, which also pitted San Diego against the Dolphins. I could talk about San Diego's victory in the 2030 World Series, but I've decided to go in a different direction instead. This section will focus on Denver's bid for a 2nd straight World Series championship, and will examine a few teams that either successfully or unsuccessfully attempted to win consecutive championships. All told, there have been 17 instances of teams winning two consecutive World Series, with another 11 failed attempts(by that, I mean a team that won the World Series one year and then reached, but lost, in the World Series the following year). With as many championships as Pittsburgh has won, it's not surprising that the Pirates account for 13 of the 17 successful bids, and 3 of the unsuccessful ones. The other 4 repeat champions are Grand Rapids(2017-18), Miami(2050-51), Memphis(2061-62), and San Jose(2067-68). This preview will focus on those four teams and, since the Pirates have won consecutive championships so many times, one of Pittsburgh's failed attempts(2059-60). The 2017 and 2018 Grand Rapids Tigers: Despite a World Series championship in 2007, Grand Rapids was a fairly middling team in the early days of the league. From 2003 to 2011, the Tigers finished above .500 only 3 times, but also only had 2 seasons with more than 90 losses. The second decade of this league's history proved kinder, as Grand Rapids earned division titles in 2012, 2014, and 2015. It wouldn't be until 2017, however, that the Tigers made a second trip to the World Series. That team had a powerful offense(1st in baseball in runs scored) led by future Hall of Famers center-fielder Emilio Fernandez(.922 OPS, 40 HR, 133 RBI) and second-baseman Bill Criss(.813 OPS, 10 HR, 103 RBI), and an average pitching staff(7th in runs allowed). The Tigers finished 91-71 and cruised to a Central Division title, beating out second place Memphis by 9 games. In the NLCS, Grand Rapids faced a 97-65 Knoxville team which was more balanced(5th in runs scored and 3rd in runs allowed). After falling behind 2 games to 1, the Tigers rallied. Starter Raymond Dawes(17-10, 4.82 ERA) tossed a 2-hit shutout in Game Four, a game that the Tigers won 1-0. Left-fielder Guillermo Morales(.803 OPS, 22 HR, 88 RBI) drove in 4 runs in Game Five, as Grand Rapids rallied from a 4-3 deficit to score 5 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for an 8-4 victory. The deciding Game Six saw the Tigers outhit Knoxville 14-3 and win 6-1. Grand Rapids' league-best offense was matched against the Pittsburgh Pirates' league-best pitching staff in the World Series. In Game One, the Pirates raced out to a 6-0 lead after 4 innings. Grand Rapids rallied, but couldn't pull off the comeback, falling 6-5. The Tigers didn't lose again. Grand Rapids nipped Pittsburgh 3-2 in Game Two, as first-baseman Urbano Canton(.774 OPS, 13 HR, 91 RBI) had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Game Three was an 8-2 Tigers' blowout. Canton and third-baseman Jacobo Olivas(.872 OPS, 17 HR, 71 RBI) each knocked in 2 runs. Emilio Fernandez doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs, and scored 2 runs in a 4-1 Game Four victory. The Tigers clinched the series with a 1-0, 10-inning win in Game Five. Morales led off the 10th with a triple and Olivas, who led Grand Rapids with 10 postseason RBI, knocked him in for the win. Following the 2017 championship, the Tigers lost three key players as free agents: second-baseman Bill Criss, starting pitcher David Presswood(16-11, 4.79 ERA), and reliever Kenny Trawick(40 G, 2.72 ERA). They replaced the latter player with free agent John Estrella, who would put up a 2.63 ERA in 43 games, but filled the other holes internally. Grand Rapids remained a strong offensive team(3rd in runs scored) with average pitching(8th runs allowed). Nevertheless, the Tigers rolled to an AL-best, 97-65 record, and outlasted Memphis(92-70) for the Central Division title. In the ALCS, the Tigers faced Atlanta, which went 88-75 and defeated Knoxville(87-76) in a 1-game playoff to determine the Southeast winner. Despite the Braves' inferior record, they were a more balanced team than Grand Rapids, ranking 6th in runs scored and 5th in runs allowed. The Braves outscored the Tigers 51-38 in the series, but Grand Rapids prevailed in 7 games. That set the stage for a World Series rematch against Pittsburgh, which cruised to a league-best 105-57 record, and ranked 7th in runs scored and 1st in runs allowed. The '18 World Series is generally considered one of the greatest and most thrilling of all time. The series lasted 7 games, and none of the games were decided by more than 2 runs. Five of the games were decided by a single run. Two of the games went to extra-innings. Game One went in favor of Grand Rapids. The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Pittsburgh tied it in the top of the 5th. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Grand Rapids went ahead 4-2. The Pirates, however, rallied, with a run in the sixth, and 2 runs in the seventh. In the bottom of the 9th, little-used reserve infielder Roberto Nunez(.311 OPS in 9 regular season at bats) hit a 2-run double to give the Tigers a 6-5 victory. In Game Two, third-baseman Jacobo Olivas(.841 OPS, 28 HR, 106 RBI) produced a 2-run homerun in the first inning. That was enough for starter Jose Rios(16-12, 5.94 ERA), who limited the Pirates to 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings of work, as the Tigers prevailed, 2-1. Game Three saw Grand Rapids again take an early lead, with runs in the first and second innings. It remained a 2-0 game until the Pirates plated runs in the fifth and sixth innings. In the top of the 9th, the Tigers retook the lead, with run-scoring doubles from shortstop Willie Toms(.634 OPS, 2 HR, 10 RBI) and second-baseman Richard Oliphant, Jr.(.715 OPS, 5 HR, 23 RBI). One scoreless inning from closer David Greenwald(38 SV, 1.89 ERA) later, and Grand Rapids had a commanding 3 games to none lead in the World Series. However, while Pittsburgh was no longer the juggernaut that had won the World Series every year from 2008 to 2013, the Pirates were still an exceptionally good team and had no intention of going quietly. In Game Four, Pittsburgh built a 3-0 lead after five innings, squandered it , and then escaped with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings. In Game Five, Grand Rapids held a 3-1 lead through 7 1/2 innings. The Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the eighth, and then pulled out a 4-3 victory by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning. Two solo homeruns from Pittsburgh catcher Matthew Bisson(.830 OPS, 21 HR, 91 RBI) were enough to eke out a 2-1 win in Game Six, as the Pirates' Brent Lockett(20-3, 3.00 ERA) out-dueled the Tigers' Raymond Dawes(22-8, 4.64 ERA). With that, Grand Rapids' 3-0 series lead had vanished. On to Game Seven! The Tigers struck quickly, with 2 runs in the first inning. Pittsburgh battled back emphatically. The Pirates scored 1 run in the second inning, 3 runs in the third inning, and 2 runs in the top of the fourth to take a seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead. Grand Rapids got 2 of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 6-4. The Tigers tied the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Two more runs in the bottom of the eighth gave Grand Rapids the lead again, and this time, the Tigers hung on. With an 8-6 victory in the seventh game, Grand Rapids earned its second consecutive World Series title. The Tigers inexplicably slumped to last place in 2019, and then rebounded and won another World Series in 2020. The Tigers remained competitive throughout the '20s, and reached 2 more World Series, losing in 2024 and winning in 2029. Since that era, however, they haven't had much success. A few playoff appearances here and there, and 2 World Series defeats(2037 and 2068). The 2050 and 2051 Miami Dolphins: After entering the league in 2038, Miami swiftly rose to prominence, winning its first World Series in 2042. The Dolphins continued to dominate for the rest of the decade, but couldn't put together two straight championship-winning seasons. After the '42 win, Miami reached the World Series in 2043, but lost. The Dolphins won again in 2045, but failed to reach the World Series again until winning in 2048. Despite winning 111 games in '49, Miami lost in the ALCS to Kansas City, once again failing in the quest for consecutive championships. In 2050, Miami led all of baseball with 100 wins, and outlasted a 96-win Atlanta team to win the Southeast Division. The Dolphins boasted the best offense in the league(1st in runs scored) and a strong pitching staff(5th in runs allowed). They cruised past a 91-win Tucson team in 5 games in the ALCS to set up a World Series matchup with a 98-win Hartford team. After pulling out wins of 9-8 and 6-4 in the first two games, Miami dropped Game Three by a score of 9-6. The Dolphins then proceeded to pummel the Whalers by scores of 15-2 and 4-1, securing a 4-1 World Series victory. Following the '50 World Series, Miami lost only one free agent of note, and his loss was of questionable significance. Second-baseman Antione Hoerr(.712 OPS in 220 at bats) had been injured for much of the '50 season with a ruptured MCL, and his injury had opened the door for 24-year old Claudio Romeo, whose .372 batting average and .875 OPS had earned him the nod as Rookie of the Year. Miami was not active in free agency that offseason, and thus returned virtually the same team as in 2050. The only notable new face was rookie starting pitcher Granville Jarvis(10-7, 4.40 ERA). The Dolphins were a machine in '51, winning a league-best 109 games. They again finished 1st in runs scored, and improved the pitching staff to a 2nd place ranking in runs allowed. And 85-win Tucson team proved to be little more than a speed-bump as Miami swept the Diamondbacks in the ALCS. The Dolphins were pitted against a 104-win Pittsburgh team in the World Series. The Pirates had a strong offense of their own(4th in runs scored) and the best pitching in baseball(1st in runs allowed). Miami blew an early 2-0 lead in Game One and got thumped, 8-3. The Dolphins rebounded with a 5-3 victory in Game Two. In Game Three, the two teams exchanged early 3-run outbursts- Pittsburgh in the first inning and Miami in the second. The Pirates then opened up a commanding 11-3 lead. Miami staged a valiant, but ultimately unsuccessful rally in the bottom of the ninth inning; the Dolphins plated 5 runs to bring the final score to 11-8. The Dolphins blew a 3-1 lead in the late innings of Game Four, falling 5-4. On the brink of defeat, Miami's offense finally got the best of the Pirates' pitching. The Dolphins blasted Pittsburgh by scores of 10-2 and 11-5 in Games Five and Six, tying the series at 3 games apiece. Game Seven featured a duel between the rookie Jarvis and Pittsburgh's Asa Charboneau, who would win the NL Cy Young Award that year with a 23-5 record and a 3.01 ERA. The game was scoreless for 4 innings. Miami drew first blood in the fifth inning, and added a second run in the sixth. Pittsburgh scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game. The Dolphins, however, scored 1 run each in the eighth and ninth innings to secure a 4-2 victory. Finally, Miami had consecutive World Series titles. Of course, that was also the only time Miami would win back to back World Series. In fact, the Dolphins represent 4 of the 11 instances of a team failing in its bid to win two straight championships. In addition to losing in 2043 after winning in '42, the Dolphins also have World Series defeats after World Series victories in 2054, 2057, and 2083. The 2061 and 2062 Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis' history in the World Series has been interesting, to say the least. The Grizzlies lost 3 straight World Series from 2008 to 2010, all to Pittsburgh. They lost again to Pittsburgh in 2019. Inexplicably, a 78-win Memphis team won the Central Division, reached the World Series, and knocked off a 114-win Pittsburgh team to win win its first championship in 2032. In 2046, the Grizzlies won a second World Series, once again against Pittsburgh, but the following year, they lost in the World Series(also against the Pirates). The next several seasons after Memphis' defeat in 2047 were largely unsuccessful ones. From '48 to '56, the Grizzlies never finished better than 82-80 and finished higher than 3rd place only once. Memphis reached the playoffs in 2057, but posted 3 straight 2nd place finishes after that. In 2061, the Grizzlies returned to postseason, winning the Central Division with an 89-73 record. The Grizzlies had an o.k. offense, ranking 7th in runs scored, but a below average pitching staff(11th in runs allowed). In the ALcs, Memphis was pitted against a 102-win Miami team coming off of a World Series victory the previous year. The Dolphins ranked 2nd in runs scored and 5th in runs allowed. Despite the apparent mismatch, the Grizzlies swept Miami, outscoring the Dolphins 17-7 in the process. The Grizzlies' World Series opponent was a 103-win San Jose team that ranked only 12th in runs scored, but had the league's best pitching staff. After Memphis' leadoff hitter made the first out in the top of the first inning of Game One, the next three batters- 1B Edward Owens(.734 OPS, 14 HR, 62 RBI), 3B Carson Worden(.863 OPS, 28 HR, 106 RBI), and LF Dan Nichols(.777 OPS, 20 HR, 81 RBI)- each ripped homeruns. San Jose responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the first, but Memphis added to its lead with runs in third and sixth innings, eventually holding on for a 5-3 victory. Owens' second homerun of the game came in the third inning. Game Two was another nail-biter. The Grizzlies struck first, with a run in the second inning, but the Sharks produced 3 third inning runs. After Memphis got a 2nd run in the top of the fourth inning, San Jose opened up a 5-2 lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Grizzlies rallied, however, with a 3 run sixth. In the seventh inning, Memphis took the lead, and pulled out a 6-5 victory. The third game of the '61 Series was much like the previous two. Memphis got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first inning when Worden hit a solo homerun. San Jose tied the game in the top of the fourth inning, but the Grizzlies retook the lead in the bottom half of the fourth. The Sharks grabbed the lead with 2 runs in the seventh inning, but Memphis tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Memphis plated the winning run to take a commanding 3 games to none lead. Game Four, like the previous three games, was a hard-fought battle. Memphis jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, getting a 2-run homerun from Worden. The Sharks seemed to take control of the game after that. They got 1 run in the second inning, took a 4-2 lead with 3 runs in the third inning, and made it 5-2 in the top of the fourth. In the blink of an eye, however, the Grizzlies turned things around. Memphis tied the game with a 3 run fourth inning. One inning later, the Grizzlies had the lead, a lead they protected for the final four innings of the game. With a 6-5 victory, Memphis had one of the closest World Series sweeps in history. In the offseason prior to the 2062 season, Memphis lost two key players to free agency: third-baseman Carson Worden and relief pitcher Elmer Brown(54 G, 2.53 ERA). The Grizzlies didn't add any free agents, but they did acquired a third-baseman via trade. Memphis sent starting pitcher Adam Ringer(11-15, 5.35 ERA) and a prospect to Atlanta for third-baseman Christian Chasse(.848 OPS in 194 AB). The Grizzlies weren't a significantly better team than they were in '61. They won the Central Division with a 91-71 record, and while their offense improved to 3rd in the league in runs scored, their pitching slumped to 14th in runs allowed. The ALCS saw Memphis matched up against Miami for the second straight season. This Dolphins team went 97-65, ranked 2nd in runs scored, and 6th in runs allowed. Once again, however, the Grizzlies emerged victorious. Memphis bested the Dolphins in 6 games, outscoring them 34-32. In the clinching game, the Grizzlies' ace, Denny Tsosie(14-10, 3.38 ERA), out-dueled Miami's Sam Barger(20-8, 3.51 ERA, 223 strikeouts) in a 2-0 Memphis win. Tsosie tossed 7 scoreless innings, while Barger got into the eighth inning before surrendering a run. He gave up the second in the ninth inning. For the second straight season, Memphis went up against San Jose in the World Series. This Sharks team went 92-70, ranked 13th in runs scored, and once again, had the league's best pitching staff. After not winning a single game in the '61 World Series, San Jose took Game One of the '62 Series. The Sharks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but allowed Memphis to tie the game in the fifth. The Sharks retook the lead with a 3-run eighth inning, and although the Grizzlies got one of the runs back in the bottom of the eighth, San Jose held for a 6-3 victory, getting another run in the ninth inning. San Jose was in control of Game Two early on, but couldn't keep up the momentum. The Sharks got a run in the first inning and a run in the second inning. After Memphis scored in the bottom of the second, San Jose scored twice in the third inning to go up, 4-1. Memphis cut the deficit to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the third, and then exploded with 5 runs in the fourth inning. The Grizzlies added 2 runs in the eighth inning to secure a 9-4 win. Game Three was the opposite of Game Two. Memphis raced out to a 6-0 lead after four innings and then completely fell apart. San Jose banged out 5 runs in the sixth inning, 1 in the seventh, and 2 in the eighth to pull out an 8-6 victory. Game Four saw Tsosie author another gem- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K- and Memphis bludgeoned San Jose by a 7-0 margin. Right-fielder Sergio Gutierrez(1.007 OPS, 32 HR, 126 RBI) belted a pair of homeruns in the rout. Game Five was a marathon. San Jose drew first blood with 2 runs in the first inning. Memphis erupted for 4 runs in the top of the fourth inning, but the Sharks got 1 back in the bottom half of the inning. Memphis made it 5-3 with a run in the fifth inning, and then 6-3 with a run in the top of the seventh. The Sharks made it 6-5 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, but once again, the Grizzlies pulled away. Memphis scored in the top of the eighth inning to make the score 7-5. San Jose dug deep, getting a run in the bottom of the eighth, and then the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It remained a tie game until the top of the 12th inning, when Memphis scored the go-ahead run. Once more, the Sharks rallied. San Jose tied the game in the bottom half of the 12th. In the top of the 13th inning, however, Memphis once again retook the lead, and this time, the Sharks had no answer. Memphis survived by a 9-8 final score. San Jose rebounded from the heart-breaking defeat in Game Five with a 5-3 victory in Game Six. The Sharks got on the board with a run in the third inning, and then opened up a 5-0 lead with 4 runs in the seventh inning. Memphis mounted a comeback, with 1 run in the eighth inning and 2 runs in the ninth, but came up short. Game Seven was a little on the anticlimactic side. The Grizzlies burst out of the gate and led 9-1 after 3 innings. San Jose got runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but Memphis scored 2 more runs in the bottom of the sixth to lead 11-3. The Sharks got 3 runs in the eighth inning, but Memphis held on for an 11-6 victory, and its second straight World Series title. The Grizzlies remained successful throughout the decade, reaching the playoffs every year until 2070, and won another championship in 2069. The 2067 and 2068 San Jose Sharks: The San Jose Sharks first rose to prominence in the '50s, reaching, and winning, their first World Series in 2055. They reached the World Series again the following year, but lost. Although San Jose remained a consistent playoff team, more World Series titles proved hard to come by. The Sharks didn't reach the World Series again until 2061, when they lost to Memphis. A year later, they came up just short again, with another loss to Memphis. San Jose finally got its second title in 2064, but two years later, lost yet another World Series. That brings us to 2067. The Sharks rolled to a league-best 114-48 record in 2067, led by the 3rd highest scoring offense and the best pitching staff in baseball. In the first round of the playoffs, they swept aside a Hartford team that, at 80-82, really had no business being the playoffs. San Jose outscored the Whalers 30-10 in the 4 games. In the NLCS, the Sharks faced off against division-rival Sacramento, which had a 93-69 record, ranked 12th in runs scored, and 2nd in runs allowed. The Sharks cruised past the Kings in 5 games, outscoring them 42-21. The final game was a 15-4 white-washing. That set the stage for a World Series battle with Washington, a team that went 93-69, tied for the 4th most runs scored, ranked 10th in runs allowed, and had bested 101-win Miami and 108-win Tucson in the first two rounds of the playoffs. San Jose drew first blood in Game One, with a pair of runs in the second inning. Washington tied the game briefly with 2 runs in the top of the sixth, but the Sharks' first-baseman Celso Rivas(.857 OPS, 35 HR, 99 RBI) smacked a solo homerun to retake the lead for San Jose. In the eighth inning, Rivas went deep for a second time, this one a 3-run blast to put the Sharks up 6-2. The Senators, who outhit San Jose 14-7 for the game, tried to rally in the ninth inning, but were unsuccessful, ultimately falling by a score of 6-4. Washington ace Robert McEachern(19-9, 3.77 ERA, 225 K's) pitched his heart out in Game Two. He tossed 8 innings, surrendered just 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and recorded 7 strikeouts. The Sharks had an early lead in the game, as they picked up a run in the second inning, but the Senators tied the game in the fourth inning. It remained a 1-1 game until the top of the 9th inning, when Washington's backup catcher Jose Ortiz(.700 OPS, 6 HR, 52 RBI) delivered a run-scoring single. Washington pulled out a 2-1 victory, and the series was tied. At this point, San Jose took control of the series. In Game Three, the Sharks' Oswaldo Baños(19-5, 3.00 ERA, 235 K's) authored a 4-hit shutout, with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks. San Jose clubbed 5 homeruns in a 7-0 rout. Game Four was more of the same. The Sharks raced out to a 4-2 lead after 2 innings, and then piled on 3 more runs in the 6th inning. The two teams traded runs in the 7th inning to make it 8-3, and San Jose completed the scoring with yet another run in the 8th inning, producing a 9-3 final score and a 3-1 series lead. The decisive Game Five was much closer, as McEachern had another strong outing, but unfortunately for Washington, it wasn't enough. San Jose got on the board first, with a run in the second inning. Another run in the third inning made it 2-0, a score that held up until the seventh inning. The Sharks picked up a 3rd run, which proved to be very important, as the Senators finally got to San Jose ace Thomas Plaza(22-2, 2.25 ERA, 217 K's) in the bottom half of the seventh. Washington scored 2 runs in that inning, cutting the deficit to 1 run. The Sharks, however, successfully protected that lead, winning the game 3-2, and the World Series, 4-1. San Jose did lose a couple players of note in the offseason following the 2067 championship. Hall of Fame third-baseman Timo Colome(.759 OPS, 3 HR, 32 RBI), who had been reduced to a backup role, announced his retirement at the age of 40. Meanwhile, reliever Eduardo Piñeiro(37 G, 2.97 ERA) left as a free agent. The Sharks made no transactions of note during that offseason. It made little difference. San Jose posted a league-best 106-56 record, beating out 102-win Sacramento to take the West Division. The Sharks finished 6th in runs scored and 1st in runs allowed. For the second straight season, the Sharks played the Hartford Whalers in the first round of the playoffs. This Hartford team had a slightly better record than the previous year's version(85-77), but probably wasn't much better of a team. The Whalers ranked 17th in runs scored and 12th in runs allowed. Despite a competitive effort, the Whalers fell to San Jose in 5 games, getting outscored 38-31 in the series. The NLCS was also a rematch of the previous season, pitting San Jose against Sacramento. The Kings came in with the 7th highest scoring offense and the 3rd best pitching staff. Unlike in 2067, Sacramento put up a much stronger fight against the Sharks. This series went the distance, with San Jose pulling out a 2-1 Game Seven victory, with the winning run coming in the bottom of the 9th inning. That put San Jose in the World Series, where the Sharks would play Grand Rapids, which went 93-69, tied for 11th in runs scored, and ranked 2nd in runs allowed. It was the Tigers' first World Series appearance since losing the 2037 series to Portland. If one were to compile a list of the greatest World Series of all time, the 2068 series would definitely be one of the first to be mentioned. The series went 7 games, three of the games were decided by 1 run, the largest margin in any game was 4 runs, and one game went to extra innings. Grand Rapids won Game One. The Tigers built a 4-0 lead through 5 innings, with runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. San Jose plated 3 runs in the 6th inning, but couldn't score any more, losing 4-3. In Game Two, the Sharks and Tigers each scored 2 runs in the first inning. San Jose scored 2 more runs in the second inning, and maintained that 4-2 lead until the sixth inning, when Grand Rapids tied the game up again. The 4-4 tie continued all the way into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning, San Jose retook the lead, and pulled out a 5-4 victory. The Sharks struck first in Game Three, with 2 first-inning runs. Grand Rapids responded with a 3-run second inning. The Tigers added a couple of runs in the fifth inning, and another run in the sixth inning to take a seemingly secure 6-2 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, however, San Jose erupted for 4 runs, tying the game at 6-all. The following inning, third-baseman Elmer Jagger(.786 OPS, 15 HR, 80 RBI) smashed a grand slam homerun to give the Sharks the lead. San Jose hung on for a 10-6 win. Grand Rapids' ace and '68 Cy Young winner Raimundo Carbajal(22-7, 2.88 ERA, 178 K's) pitched the Tigers to a Game Four victory. He limited the Sharks to 4 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings, and Grand Rapids pulled out a 4-2 nail-biter. Rocky Mallery(22-9, 2.88 ERA, 233 K's) very nearly did the same thing in Game Five. Mallery tossed 8 scoreless innings, while second-baseman Daniel Perry(.769 OPS, 13 HR, 72 RBI) produced a 2-run single in the seventh inning to put the Tigers in position to win the game. Unfortunately, Grand Rapids' bullpen could not hold the lead. Closer Joshua Heikichi(65 G, 44 SV, 3.82 ERA) allowed San Jose to rally in the bottom of the ninth. The Sharks scored 3 times in that inning, pulling out a 3-2 victory. Elmer Jagger was the hero again, with a 2-out RBI single to win the game. One win away from a second straight championship, San Jose got off to a quick start in Game Six, with 2 runs in the second inning. That lead did not last, however. Grand Rapids got on the board in the third inning, and then took the lead with a 2-run fifth. The Tigers opened up an 8-2 lead with a 5-run seventh inning. The Sharks mounted another 9th inning rally, but this one was short-lived and unsuccessful. Grand Rapids hung on for an 8-5 victory, forcing a seventh game. The deciding game matched the Tigers' Carbajal against San Jose's Oswaldo Baños(21-5, 2.46 ERA, 188 K's). The two pitchers matched each other, inning for an inning. For seven innings, the two put up goose-eggs. Carbajal tired in the eighth inning, and left with 1 out and a runner on base. The Tigers' bullpen could not keep San Jose off the scoreboard, as the Sharks came up with 2 runs- one credited to Carbajal. Baños also tired in the eighth inning, but he managed to record 2 outs, and his bullpen fared better. Another run in the ninth inning secured a 3-0 San Jose victory, and the Sharks' second consecutive World Series title. Since those championships, San Jose has remained an ever-present playoff contender, but has not been quite as dominant as it was in that era. From 2058 to 2068, the Sharks had fewer than 100 wins only one time. From 2069 to the present, San Jose has only 3 seasons with 100+ wins. The Sharks won another World Series in 2072, but have not won one since. They did reach, and lose, the World Series in 2076 and 2079. The 2059 and 2060 Pittsburgh Pirates: Because Pittsburgh has had so much success at winning championships, and has won consecutive championships numerous times, I thought it might be more interesting to look at an instance of the Pirates failing to accomplish that feat. There have been three Pirates' teams that have won a World Series one year, reached the World Series the following year, but lost. The first of those was in 2014, and while that one would certainly have been interesting(Pittsburgh actually came in having won 6 straight championships), I decided against it. The second was in 2048, but given that the Pirates went 2-4 in the World Series in that decade, that particular loss doesn't seem that notable. The 2060 World Series, on the other hand, was a different story. Pittsburgh was a powerhouse in the late 50's, with World Series victories in 2055, 2057, 2058, and 2059. From '56 to '59, the Pirates won a combined 451 games. In 2057, Pittsburgh won a league-record 126 games. But as dominating as that era was for Pittsburgh, its championship success was short-lived, and the ensuing decade-plus was one of the "least" successful in Pittsburgh's history("least" is a relative term, of course, as the Pirates were still an annual playoff team). The 2059 Pirates rolled to a league-best 106-56 record, backed by a lineup that ranked 8th in runs scored and a pitching staff that ranked 2nd in runs allowed. The second best team that year was San Jose, which won 100 games, ranked 11th in runs scored, and 1st in runs allowed. Pittsburgh swept the Sharks in the NLCS, blasting them by a combined score of 27-7. In the World Series, Pittsburgh faced off against Miami, which went 92-70, ranked 6th in runs scored, and 4th in runs allowed. The Dolphins took Game One, despite blowing a 3-1 lead. Pittsburgh tied the game with runs in the fifth and eighth innings, but Miami scored twice in the ninth to pull out a 5-3 victory. In Game Two, Miami led 6-0 after five innings, and 7-3 after seven innings, but completely imploded in the bottom of the eighth. The Pirates erupted for 5 runs and went on to win, 8-7. Game Three saw the Pirates jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, fall behind 4-2 after five innings, and then rally with a 3-run sixth inning. Pittsburgh hung on for a 5-4 win. The fourth game of the '59 series had most of the scoring come early. The Pirates scored a run in the top of the first inning, but Miami responded with 3 runs in the bottom half of the inning. Pittsburgh plated 4 runs in the second inning, but the Dolphins got 1 back in the bottom of the second. The Pirates made it 6-4 in the top of the third inning, and clung to that lead until the bottom of the ninth inning. Miami mounted a rally in that final inning, but could only produce a single run, making the final score, 6-5. After four closely contested games, the outcome of Game Five was a complete surprise. Pittsburgh scored first, with a run in the first inning. The Pirates then notched 3 in the third, 1 in the fourth, and 2 in the fifth to make it 7-0. Miami got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, and the two teams traded runs in the sixth inning, making it an 8-2 Pittsburgh advantage. The Pirates then put the game completely out of reach with 6 runs in seventh inning and 4 more in the eighth. The Dolphins kept their faint hopes alive with 5 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Pittsburgh tacked on 2 more runs in the ninth to complete a 20-7 shellacking, securing its third straight World Series title in the process. Catcher Michael Chea(.751 OPS, 6 HR, 56 RBI) produced half of his 12 postseason RBI in that final game, along with 3 doubles, a homerun, and 4 runs scored. Following the '59 championship, the Pirates did not lose anyone of consequence- just a couple of older reserves. The only offseason trades they made were for minor-leaguers. Essentially, it was the same exact team as the one that had won the previous three World Series. However, this team was not quite as dominant. Pittsburgh still won the Northeast Division, but it went only 98-64, failing to win 100+ games for the first time since 2055. The Pirates' Pythagorean record was 91-71, which was identical to that of 2nd place Buffalo, which went 93-69. Pittsburgh ranked an average 10th in runs scored, and 7th in runs allowed. It seemed like a mismatch in the NLCS, as the Pirates' opponent was the 101-win San Jose Sharks, owners of the 7th highest scoring lineup and the league's best pitching staff. And yet, once again, San Jose found itself heading home early. Somehow, the Pirates' middle-of-the-pack lineup battered San Jose 41-22 in a 5-game series victory. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, a very powerful Miami team was the American League's representative. The '59 Dolphins were a good, but not great, team. The 2060 version was a different story. Miami piled up a league-best 106 wins, and finished 2nd in runs scored and 1st in runs allowed. Although few prognosticators gave the Pirates a chance against the fearsome Dolphins, teams that win 3 straight titles don't back down without a fight. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 2 innings in Game One. Miami cut it to 2-1 in the third inning, but the Pirates got a third run in the fifth. It remained a 3-1 game until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Dolphins produced 2 runs to tie the score. The game stretched on. Finally, in the bottom of the 12th inning, reserve outfielder Isidro Kennedy(.869 OPS in 189 at bats), delivered a sacrifice fly to win the game for Miami, 4-3. The Dolphins struck first in Game Two, with 2 runs in the second inning. Pittsburgh tied the game with 2 runs in the top of the third, but Miami retook the lead with a run in the bottom half of the inning. An insurance run in the sixth inning completed the scoring in a 4-2 Dolphins' victory. Game Three began poorly for Pittsburgh, as Miami scored 2 runs in both the first and second innings. The Pirates chipped away, however, with 2 runs in the third, 1 in the fourth, and 1 in the fifth. The Dolphins broke the 4-4 tie with a run in the sixth inning, but Pittsburgh tied things back up with a run in the seventh inning. Pittsburgh first-baseman Abdiel Ortiz(.859 OPS, 18 HR, 66 RBI) ended the game with a walkoff homerun to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning. Game Four had a somewhat misleading final score. After 8 innings, Miami clung to a 3-1 lead. In the top of the ninth inning, the Dolphins exploded for 4 runs, producing a 7-1 outcome. The final game of the series saw both teams' aces go head to head: Pittsburgh's southpaw Ricky Stephens(16-5, 3.15 ERA, 175 K's) versus Miami's Sam Barger(20-7, 3.18 ERA, 218 K's). The Dolphins grabbed an early lead, with a run in the first inning. It remained 1-0 until the Pirates tied the game in the fourth inning. An inning later, aided by an error, Miami erupted for 4 runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Pittsburgh got 2 of those runs back. That's as close as the Pirates would get, however, as the Dolphins hung on for a 5-3 victory, which clinched a 5-game World Series victory, and ended Pittsburgh's run of championships. The Pirates remained a successful regular season team for the next decade or so, but aside from a World Series defeat in 2063(a 4-game sweep, also at the hands of Miami), they would not make any World Series appearances from 2061 to 2073. Of course, Pittsburgh would then produce 5 championships from 2074 to 2083, including consecutive titles in '74-'75 and '80-'81. Thoughts: The first thing to consider about this year's World Series is that San Diego has home field advantage in the World Series. That means that if the series goes beyond 4 games, 2 of the final 3 games would be played in the more pitching-friendly confines that the Padres play in, rather than Denver's hitting-enhancing ballpark. Over the past two postseasons, the Broncos have a 20-9 combined record. At home, they are 12-3, but on the road, they are just 8-6. Another consequence of San Diego having home field relates to the designated hitter. Ordinarily, the Broncos deploy Brooks Branco(1.137 OPS, 63 HR, 174 RBI) in that spot. For the games played in San Diego, Denver will likely put him at either first base or third base, bumping out Tamiko Teika/Robert Shults or Michael Phillips, respectively. That will be a sizable defensive downgrade, but at least the Broncos won't be losing a particularly dangerous hitter. For the Padres' part, they have a couple of DH options. Left-fielder Robert Borland, who had a poor regular season as a reserve, is a good defensive outfielder and has some pop in his bat. He could allow the more statuesque veteran Gregorio Ruiz to move to the designated hitter spot. Another possibility is infielder Rodney Ashford, who has had a terrific postseason for San Diego. He and third-baseman Balta Romero have pushed Andrew Burdick to the bench in the postseason, and having the DH would get both he and Romero into the lineup. The key matchup in this series will be Denver's lineup, which ranked 1st in the league in runs scored and homeruns, against San Diego's pitching staff, which ranked 1st in runs allowed and 1st in ERA. The Padres are led by ace Carlos Lozoya(23-6, 1.96 ERA, 225 K's) and a very capable Casey Greene(14-7, 3.67 ERA). The rest of the rotation isn't great, but it's not terrible either. The bullpen, anchored by closer Joshua Ruark(58 G, 38 SV, 1.71 ERA), is one of the strongest in the league. The offensive foursome of Brooks Branco, Lee Chappel(1.035 OPS, 32 HR, 122 RBI), Arthur Stice(.962 OPS, 44 HR, 138 RBI), and Russell Thomas(.945 OPS, 22 HR, 93 RBI) is one of the most intimidating in the game. That doesn't taken into consideration the very solid Marvin Lore(.893 OPS, 22 HR, 94 RBI) or the surprising Emanuel Abadia(.966 OPS, 39 HR, 110 RBI). Getting to Lozoya will be as difficult as it was to get to Miami's Christian Hokusai, but the Broncos did manage to do the latter in Game Five of the ALCS. The important thing will be taking advantage of any and all opportunities to score runs. Blasting homeruns is nice, but runs can be gotten in other ways, too. The less high-profile matchup is between the Padres' offense, which ranked 17th in the league in runs scored, against Denver's pitching staff, which ranked 11th in runs allowed. Although San Diego's offense was not very productive, it certainly has the talent to be better. Gaby Matos(.925 OPS, 34 HR, 117 RBI), Salomon Alvarez(.910 OPS, 25 HR, 99 RBI), Jack Ector(.903 OPS, 30 HR, 107 RBI), and George Canales(.804 OPS, 27 HR, 87 RBI) are a pretty dangerous foursome, and all are capable of better numbers. It wouldn't shock me at all to see the Padres score a lot of runs in this series. As for the Broncos' pitching staff, I imagine that their numbers would look much better if former ace Kenny Pillsbury(14-10, 4.67 ERA, 154 K's) hadn't spent half the season pitching horribly. Fortunately, he came around in the second half, and has had a solid postseason. Lefty Robert McNett(21-3, 3.48 ERA, 157 K's), who took over the #1 starter role, may not be as dominating as San Diego's Lozoya, but he can hold his own. Veteran Ray Lockridge(17-10, 4.17 ERA, 176 K's) and 2nd-year man Walter Ortiz(10-8, 4.30 ERA, 104 K's) fill out the rest of Denver's rotation. As for the Broncos' bullpen, well let's just hope there aren't many games that come down to needing Denver's relievers to come up big. Closer Lamont Ruvalcaba is solid(52 G, 27 SV, 3.10 ERA), but the rest of the 'pen is mediocre, at best. Postseason Statistics: San Diego Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS G. Canales 13 54 8 0 0 3 6 4 3 2 .148 .193 .315 .508 G. Matos 13 52 14 0 1 2 6 6 1 8 .269 .296 .423 .719 J. Lucia 13 50 12 2 0 2 8 6 5 1 .240 .309 .400 .709 J. Ector 13 50 9 0 0 2 3 4 3 3 .180 .226 .300 .526 S. Alvarez 13 49 11 0 0 5 9 6 5 2 .224 .296 .531 .827 G. Ruiz 13 45 10 2 0 0 2 2 3 12 .222 .271 .267 .538 M. Alarcon 13 43 11 3 1 0 2 7 1 5 .256 .289 .372 .661 B. Romero 10 27 8 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 .296 .296 .296 .593 R. Ashford 10 25 12 1 0 0 3 6 2 2 .480 .519 .520 1.039 C. Lozoya 4 12 2 2 0 0 3 0 0 5 .167 .167 .333 .500 C. Greene 4 8 2 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 .250 .250 .625 .875 A. Burdick 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .111 .000 .111 T. Bee 3 5 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 .200 .200 .800 1.000 P. Pauli 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 R. Borland 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 D. Peña 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 M. Saldana 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 San Diego Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K C. Lozoya 4 4 4 0 0 0.84 32.0 25 5 3 4 27 C. Greene 4 4 1 2 0 2.86 28.1 34 11 9 3 9 T. Bee 3 3 0 1 0 4.02 15.2 17 10 7 10 18 P. Pauli 2 2 0 2 0 10.38 13.0 21 15 15 4 8 D. Peña 5 0 1 0 0 4.15 8.2 15 4 4 1 10 J. Ruark 3 0 0 0 2 0.00 6.0 1 0 0 1 2 R. Orosco 3 0 1 0 0 0.00 5.0 1 0 0 0 3 J. Donato 3 0 1 0 0 4.50 4.0 8 2 2 2 2 S. Eye 2 0 0 0 0 9.00 3.0 5 3 3 0 1 D. Spicher 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 H. Neyra 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.1 2 1 0 0 0 Denver Batting: Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS L. Chappel 10 49 15 5 0 4 12 10 0 4 .306 .333 .653 .986 R. Thomas 10 47 13 2 0 1 6 7 3 5 .277 .333 .383 .716 B. Branco 10 42 16 1 2 5 12 12 5 4 .381 .480 .857 1.337 A. Stice 10 41 9 1 0 2 5 7 5 7 .220 .313 .390 .703 M. Lore 10 39 8 2 0 1 5 6 6 4 .205 .311 .333 .644 M. Phillips 10 38 13 0 1 0 2 6 4 2 .342 .419 .395 .813 E. Abadia 10 37 9 0 0 4 12 7 2 8 .243 .300 .568 .868 J. Fuensanta 7 26 4 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 .154 .241 .154 .395 T. Teika 6 25 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 .120 .185 .120 .305 R. Shults 5 18 8 0 0 1 3 3 0 1 .444 .444 .611 1.056 B. Romero 4 13 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 .231 .286 .231 .516 L. Ferro 2 5 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 .400 .500 .600 1.100 Denver Pitching: Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K R. Mcnett 3 3 1 1 0 3.66 19.2 16 8 8 10 11 K. Pillsbury 3 3 2 0 0 3.86 18.2 20 8 8 6 12 W. Ortiz 2 2 1 0 0 2.93 15.1 10 5 5 2 10 R. Lockridge 2 2 1 0 0 1.80 15.0 14 3 3 4 11 C. Saari 2 0 1 0 0 2.35 7.2 7 2 2 3 6 L. Ruvalcaba 5 0 0 1 4 4.05 6.2 7 3 3 2 2 L. Gwinn 2 0 1 0 0 0.00 6.0 4 0 0 0 6 R. Soto 4 0 1 0 2 0.00 5.1 5 0 0 0 1 T. Fons 3 0 0 0 0 30.38 2.2 9 9 9 1 2 Prediction: Ultimately, I think this series comes down to 2 things: 1) Carlos Lozoya and 2) Denver's bullpen. Lozoya is perfectly capable of taking over the 2 or 3 games he will likely start, making things very difficult for Denver. To bring back Christian Hokusai as an example, the Dolphins' ace tossed a 1-hit shutout in Game One of the ALCS, but got lit up for 9 runs in 5 1/3 innings in Game Five. The latter game gave Denver a 3 games to 2 lead in the series. The Broncos don't necessarily need to hammer Lozoya, but they do need to avoid the dominating performances that aces of that caliber are capable of producing. As for Denver's bullpen, it seems clear that if the games in this series are close, the Broncos are at a distinct disadvantage. I don't think it's any surprise that the Broncos were 19-28 during the regular season in 1-run games. Only two teams were worse: Green Bay(14-24) and Portland(15-34). Either the offense will have to produce more runs or Denver's starters will have to work deeper into games, reducing the chances of the bullpen imploding and blowing a close lead or turning a close deficit into a blowout. Despite all that, I have a good feeling about this series, so....Denver in 7 games.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
|
03-23-2011, 09:16 PM
|
#660 |
|
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 896
|
2087 World Series Game One: Denver AT San Diego
Denver Broncos(99-63)
AT San Diego Padres(97-65) Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Denver 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 5 4 0 San Diego 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 8 2 San Diego drew first blood in the first game of the 2087 World Series. First-baseman George Canales belted a solo homerun with 1 out in the third inning. With 2 outs in the third, catcher Salomon Alvarez scored from third base when Broncos' starter Ray Lockridge threw a wild pitch. In the sixth inning, the Padres tightened their grip on the game. Alvarez led off the inning with a homerun, and center-fielder Gaby Matos followed with a homerun of his own to make it 4-0 San Diego. Denver finally got on the board in the seventh inning, when shortstop Arthur Stice delivered a sacrifice fly. One inning later, catcher Lee Chappel turned the game with one mighty swing of the bat. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Chappel smashed a go-ahead, grand slam homerun. Two scoreless innings of relief from closer Lamont Ruvalcaba later, and Denver emerged victorious in Game One, by a final score of 5-4. Lockridge took home the win, though he did not have a great outing: 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 6 K. Chappel finished with 2 hits(a double and a homerun), 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. On the Padres' side, starter Thomas Bee pitched valiantly, but left with a no decision. He tossed 7 1/3 IP, gave up 3 hits, 3 runs(1 earned), and 1 walk, and recorded 6 strikeouts. Reliever Juan Donato was the losing pitcher. He pitched 1 2/3 IP, gave up 1 hit, 2 runs(none earned), and 1 walk, and recorded 1 strikeout. Catcher Salomon Alvarez had 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Denver leads the World Series, 1 game to none.
__________________
2081: Desperation in Denver |
|
|
|
 |
| Bookmarks |
|
|
