Up and Down and Up Again - Page 5

jduteau · 04-16-2013, 09:21 PM

We continued our domination of the New York teams by going 9-2 against them in April and 2-4 against Philadelphia. With a record of 11-6, we are in first but there are four teams all within arm's length of each other. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St.Louis are all within 1-1/2 games.

Our offence is off the wall as we are first or second in all categories. The pitching is in 6th like it has been but Randy Jones is 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA. Sadie McMahon will be coming back in a week and we'll have to see how that plays out.

jduteau · 04-16-2013, 11:04 PM

We went 14-14 in May but that was rescued by an 8-4 run the end the month. Our two series against Philadelphia ended even at 3-3. We're at 25-20 and 1 game behind the Phillies. Our offense is still flying but our runs against is hurting. The big problem is that RF Terry Puhl is out for 1-2 months. RF is the one spot where we don't have depth, so I decided to make a move.

NY is in a rebuilding phase and they had some RFs that they were willing to move. Unfortunately, all of the 1-for-1 deals were in their favour, so nothing seemed right. They did have one of my RL favorites in Andre "The Hawk" Dawson but he was showing as a CF. When I clicked on him, I found out that he was much better rated at RF than CF. NY was lacking at 2B and SS and they were rebuilding, so I thought that another star for multiple very good pieces deal would be suitable. I started by offering SS Yunel Escobar and RF Al Libke. I then asked what else they wanted and the easiest piece to throw in was 2B Willy Aybar. That made the deal happen and it still gave me depth in SS and 2B. When Puhl comes back, I'm going to have a glut of good outfielders, but that is always a good problem to have. We now have Dawson playing RF and batting cleanup for us.

jduteau · 04-16-2013, 11:24 PM

A 20-6 month of June has us solidly in 1st place. With a record of 45-26, we are 5-1/2 games up on Philadelphia. Dawson won Batter of the Month award as he went .327 with 3 HRs, 25 RBIs and 28 Runs in the month of June. SS Rafael Furcal was Rookie of the month. We have both Keating and McMahon back so we have lots of starting pitching.

I finally spent some time looking at why our pitching statistics did not look as good as I thought they should. What especially confuses me is how our Runs Against can be 3rd in the league when our Starter ERA is 7th and our Defensive Efficiency is 7th. When I looked at the Pitching statistics, I see that it is actually our defense's ability to not make errors that is causing the anomaly. We have the fewest errors in the league and the highest Fielding PCT. And while our Def EFF is 7th, our Zone Rating is 2nd best. We have 63 Unearned Runs and the average is 88. That is why our Runs Against is so good but the ERA is not. This is either a positive or a negative. The reason that we're not making any errors could be attributed to the fact that we're not getting to the balls in the first place. But I'd rather look at it as a positive.

jduteau · 04-16-2013, 11:33 PM

We keep rolling along as we went 17-11 in July and now sit at 62-37 and are 6 games up on Cincinnati and 7-1/2 on Philadelphia. There is a little concern over who our 3rd and 4th starters are as the manager keeps moving things around there. Mitchell and Jones are a solid 1-2 so that is good. I truly believe that this is our year.

jduteau · 04-16-2013, 11:39 PM

The month of August had to be one of the most dominant that any team has had. We had a streak of 15 wins in a row and we were sitting with a record of 17-1. Strangely, we then dived for a bit as we lost five in a row. We finished the month at 19-7 and have already broken 80 wins. We are 12 games up on St.Louis and Cincinnati and our magic number is 18.

jduteau · 04-17-2013, 12:29 AM

We continued our hot streak throughout September as we went 22-7 and finished with 103 wins. We clinched the pennant on September 18th and will be facing our crosstown rivals again in the World Series.

Our offence is #1 or #2 in all categories and our Runs Against is #2 even if our Starter ERA and Defensive Efficiency is 6th.

George Sisler had a great season as he finished with an AVG of .375, 8 HRs, and 118 RBIs. His OBP was .426 and his OPS+ was 160.

Dawson had a great season after coming over. .329 AVG, 11 HRs, 98 RBI, OPS+ of 155.

Rafael Furcal had a perfect rookie season: .350 AVG, 14 Triples, 67 RBI, OPS+ of 153. He had 82 SB but 93 CS so I'd rather that we didn't send him as often, but he was all you could ask for.

Randy Jones had no sophomore jinx as he went 30-8 with a 2.97 ERA and 146 Ks and 63 BBs.

I feel that we're a better club and more than ready to face off against the Red Sox this time.

04-16-2013, 09:21 PM	#81
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	April 1911 We continued our domination of the New York teams by going 9-2 against them in April and 2-4 against Philadelphia. With a record of 11-6, we are in first but there are four teams all within arm's length of each other. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St.Louis are all within 1-1/2 games. Our offence is off the wall as we are first or second in all categories. The pitching is in 6th like it has been but Randy Jones is 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA. Sadie McMahon will be coming back in a week and we'll have to see how that plays out. Attached Images

04-16-2013, 11:04 PM	#82
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	May 1911 We went 14-14 in May but that was rescued by an 8-4 run the end the month. Our two series against Philadelphia ended even at 3-3. We're at 25-20 and 1 game behind the Phillies. Our offense is still flying but our runs against is hurting. The big problem is that RF Terry Puhl is out for 1-2 months. RF is the one spot where we don't have depth, so I decided to make a move. NY is in a rebuilding phase and they had some RFs that they were willing to move. Unfortunately, all of the 1-for-1 deals were in their favour, so nothing seemed right. They did have one of my RL favorites in Andre "The Hawk" Dawson but he was showing as a CF. When I clicked on him, I found out that he was much better rated at RF than CF. NY was lacking at 2B and SS and they were rebuilding, so I thought that another star for multiple very good pieces deal would be suitable. I started by offering SS Yunel Escobar and RF Al Libke. I then asked what else they wanted and the easiest piece to throw in was 2B Willy Aybar. That made the deal happen and it still gave me depth in SS and 2B. When Puhl comes back, I'm going to have a glut of good outfielders, but that is always a good problem to have. We now have Dawson playing RF and batting cleanup for us. Attached Images

04-16-2013, 11:24 PM	#83
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	June 1911 A 20-6 month of June has us solidly in 1st place. With a record of 45-26, we are 5-1/2 games up on Philadelphia. Dawson won Batter of the Month award as he went .327 with 3 HRs, 25 RBIs and 28 Runs in the month of June. SS Rafael Furcal was Rookie of the month. We have both Keating and McMahon back so we have lots of starting pitching. I finally spent some time looking at why our pitching statistics did not look as good as I thought they should. What especially confuses me is how our Runs Against can be 3rd in the league when our Starter ERA is 7th and our Defensive Efficiency is 7th. When I looked at the Pitching statistics, I see that it is actually our defense's ability to not make errors that is causing the anomaly. We have the fewest errors in the league and the highest Fielding PCT. And while our Def EFF is 7th, our Zone Rating is 2nd best. We have 63 Unearned Runs and the average is 88. That is why our Runs Against is so good but the ERA is not. This is either a positive or a negative. The reason that we're not making any errors could be attributed to the fact that we're not getting to the balls in the first place. But I'd rather look at it as a positive. Attached Images

04-16-2013, 11:33 PM	#84
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	July 1911 We keep rolling along as we went 17-11 in July and now sit at 62-37 and are 6 games up on Cincinnati and 7-1/2 on Philadelphia. There is a little concern over who our 3rd and 4th starters are as the manager keeps moving things around there. Mitchell and Jones are a solid 1-2 so that is good. I truly believe that this is our year. Attached Images

04-16-2013, 11:39 PM	#85
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	August 1911 The month of August had to be one of the most dominant that any team has had. We had a streak of 15 wins in a row and we were sitting with a record of 17-1. Strangely, we then dived for a bit as we lost five in a row. We finished the month at 19-7 and have already broken 80 wins. We are 12 games up on St.Louis and Cincinnati and our magic number is 18. Attached Images

04-17-2013, 12:29 AM	#86
jduteau Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 166	Regular Season 1911 We continued our hot streak throughout September as we went 22-7 and finished with 103 wins. We clinched the pennant on September 18th and will be facing our crosstown rivals again in the World Series. Our offence is #1 or #2 in all categories and our Runs Against is #2 even if our Starter ERA and Defensive Efficiency is 6th. George Sisler had a great season as he finished with an AVG of .375, 8 HRs, and 118 RBIs. His OBP was .426 and his OPS+ was 160. Dawson had a great season after coming over. .329 AVG, 11 HRs, 98 RBI, OPS+ of 155. Rafael Furcal had a perfect rookie season: .350 AVG, 14 Triples, 67 RBI, OPS+ of 153. He had 82 SB but 93 CS so I'd rather that we didn't send him as often, but he was all you could ask for. Randy Jones had no sophomore jinx as he went 30-8 with a 2.97 ERA and 146 Ks and 63 BBs. I feel that we're a better club and more than ready to face off against the Red Sox this time. Attached Images