The Level Playing Field - An Alternative MLB Universe (2014)

[jaysdailydose]

2014 Week 8 Notes: 4 at Texas (4-0), 2 at Cleveland (0-2)

· 05/19: DET 7, TEX 5 – Kirby Puckett 2-5 (.301), 3 RBI – Gerardo Parra 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 R, RBI
· Jim Abbott wound up giving up 5 earned runs as Duke Brett allowed his inherited runners to score, but he pitched very well, not allowing a baserunner until the sixth inning.
· 05/20: DET 8, TEX 3 – Jerry Adair 2-5 (.393), 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R – Noodles Hahn 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-2, 2.65)
· Ryan Ludwick was injured legging out a double in the sixth inning. He just tweaked a hamstring and is viewed as day-to-day with a strain. We'll give him at least a day of rest.
· Our Tigers have now won three in a row, and six of eight to pull into second place, trailing first-place Chicago by 3.5 games, and above .500 at 21-20.
· 05/21: DET 12, TEX 3 – Kirby Puckett 2-5, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB – Dennis Eckersley 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-3, 4.23)
· Three MLB players had five-hit games on this day, LF Mike Hargrove of the Red Sox, 2B Jay Kirke of the Brewers, and LF Baby Doll Jacobson of the Indians.
· The division leading White Sox have suffered a serious injury themselves. 31-year-old first baseman Dan Brouthers will miss the next six weeks with a torn hamstring.
· 05/22: DET 6, TEX 5 – Adolpho Phillips (TEX) 2-4, HR, 2 RBI – Miguel Cabrera 3-3, RBI, R, 2 BB – Ryan Ludwick 4-5, 2B, 2 R
· The Toronto Blue Jays have fired their manager, Greg Abbott, today for “failure to meet organizational goals.” They are 18-26, and 8.5 back in the AL East.
· The Blue Jays owner, Jose Arias, is said to be a tolerant and charitable man. I mean, 18-26 isn't good, but all he was expecting was a winning record. A lot of time left...
· Our owner, Bruce Geffre, is still “worried” about us, even though the sweep of the Rangers left us 2.5 back in the division and only 2 games in the wild card. He doesn't like me!
· Former Tiger High Pockets Kelly is already requesting a trade away from the Mets. We made that trade in early April, and he's already “publicly welcoming a deal.”
· 05/24: CLE 7, DET 5 – Carlos Baerga 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, Mark Grudzielanek (CLE) 2-4, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, R
· Julio Franco has now hit in fourteen straight games for our Detroit Tigers, and is third in the AL in hitting at .368.
· 05/25: CLE 5, DET 3 – Julio Franco 2-4, 2 3B, 2 RBI – Tony Gwynn (CLE) 2-3, 3B, R, BB
· Not only did Franco extend his hitting streak to fifteen games, he set the American League record for triples in a game with his two triples.
· Next Week: 4 vs. Minnesota, 2 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 at Pittsburgh

Even though I'm obviously no happy with the two losses to end the week, it is still a 4-2 week, and we suffered no more serious injuries. Ryan Ludwick has been a lot better offensively, and especially after he was pulled from the game with that hammy tweak, he went 4-5 the next day.

Also, a look on the bright side is those two losses were in the 4 and 5 slot in our rotation. Jim Abbott has really been solid for the most part, but Dupee Shaw has definitely been a bit erratic. Regardless, we don't really have any assets that we'd really be willing to part with in an attempt to upgrade the rotation.

We play our next 6 at home before going to Pittsburgh for the final two games of our four-game set with the Pirates. We are still only 3 games out of the division lead, with the entire division no more than 4.5 games back (the Twins), so this will be a really important 4-game set to start the week for both of our ballclubs.

Thanks as always for following along, I didn't have much time to get into the game this weekend, but will be updating most days this week! Hope to see you on another solid week for the Tigers next time!

[jaysdailydose]

2014 Week 9 Notes: 4 vs. Minnesota (4-0), 2 vs. Pittsburgh (1-1), 1 at Pittsburgh (0-1)

· 05/26: DET 2, MIN 0 – Noodles Hahn CG, 0 R, 8 H, 0 BB, 8 K, W (6-2, 2.34) – Cecil Travis 3-4, RBI
· Noodles got his second shutout of the season, a dominant effort. He did throw a lot of pitches, so we might look to get him out of his next start an inning or two earlier than normal.
· Yankee 24-year-old centerfielder Ty Cobb will miss the next 4 months with a severe concussion. Cobb is hitting .394 so far this season, with 19 RBI.
· 05/27: DET 6, MIN 2 – Miguel Cabrera 2-4, GS (9), 4 RBI (40), 2 R – Dennis Eckersley 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K, W (6-3, 3.90)
· A great outing by Eckersley, and big Miggy's grand slam was obviously quite huge for us. His acquisition could be what makes this season.
· Cabrera has also now hit in twelve consecutive games, raising his average to .316. His beautiful flames are back where they belong – and Carlos Baerga is on fire as well.
· 05/28: DET 5, MIN 4 – Carlos Baerga 3-5, 3 2B, RBI, 2 R – Miguel Cabrera 3-4, RBI, R, BB
· Baerga also scored the winning run on a walk-off grounder to second in the 9th. Cecil Travis hit a soft grounder to second and they tried to make the play at the plate, not in time!
· Gerardo Parra was injured in the top of the 1st sprinting to catch a ball in the gap and blasting into the wall. His diagnosis is pending, so Ludwick will move to LF and Steve Brodie will start in RF.
· Jerry Adair is also slightly banged up, with a mild hip strain that will keep him day-to-day for 5 days. Tigers policy will see Adair sit these 5 days.
· 05/29: DET 3, MIN 2 (10) – Red Schoendienst (MIN) 4-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R – Dupee Shaw 9.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 2-3, 2B, RBI, ND
· Dupee Shaw pitched a very nice ballgame, and we win another game in walk-off fashion, this time with a bases-loaded base on balls to catcher Rick Wilkins!
· The four-game sweep of the Twins bring us to 1.5 games behind the first-place White Sox. We are doing better in the division than the wild-card race, where we are 3 games back.
· 05/30: DET 7, PIT 4 – Jim Abbott 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K, 1-4, RBI, W (4-3, 4.85) – Julio Franco 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB, SB (8)
· Miguel Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and Cecil Travis now has an 11-game streak. Ryan Ludwick saw his streak snapped at 10 games with an 0-4 day.
· 05/31: PIT 9, DET 3 – Curtis Granderson (PIT) 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI, R – Claude Hendrix (PIT) 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-2, 3.08)
· Well, you can't win them all, but its still disappointing to see our five-game winning streak ended. Cabrera and Travis kept their streaks alive, 16 and 12 games, respectively.
· Carlos Baerga now also has an eleven game hitting streak going. The lads have been really stroking the ball lately, and that's the biggest reason for our run of good results.
· Steve Brodie strained his hip flexor legging out a double, and he'll be day-to-day for three days. The Tigers will have a short bench for the next few days as Adair is still out as well.
· We got horrible news on Gerardo Parra today, as tests divulged a broken bone in his throwing elbow. He'll miss seven months, so obviously, the rest of 2014.
· With Brodie hurt as well, youngster Merito Acosta will see some playing time. He really isn't ready for the Show, but he needs playing time anyway, since he's on the MLB roster.
· Harmon Killebrew of the Blue Jays won the AL Player of the Month for May, and Billy Southworth of the Phillies took home NL honors.
· Garland Braxton of the A's won AL Pitcher of the Month, with Andy Benes of the Washington Nationals winning the NL award.
· The AL Rookie of the Month goes to the Royals Danny Hoffman, while the National League's top rookie this month is Pablo Sandoval of the Pirates.
· Cincinnati and Baltimore made a trade today, with Baltimore receiving SP Edinson Volquez and $3M in cash in exchange for 23-year-old minor league closer John McMullin of the Reds.
· 06/01: PIT 4, DET 1 – Zack Greinke (PIT) 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, W (6-4, 2.85) – Kirby Puckett 2-5, 2B, SB (7)
· Cabrera has now extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a double in the contest. Cecil Travis has also upped his streak to 13 games, with Carlos Baerga at 11.
· Next Week: 1 at Pittsburgh, 3 at Baltimore, 2 vs. Tampa Bay

Well, after this 5-2 week, our Tigers now sit in sole possession of second place, 2.5 games behind the division leading Chicago White Sox, but 2.5 games ahead of the third-place Cleveland Indians who are five games back in the division.

Along with Chicago, we are now the only teams in the AL Central with a record above the .500 mark. Injuries have plagued us, but luckily, other than the injury to Gerardo Parra, they have not been of the serious variety. Unfortunately, we gave up a lot of our minor-league depth in order to make the Cabrera trade and the Parra trade (irony), so we may have to move one of our major league players for some additional depth on the roster. At present, we only have 24 men on the active roster, as we only have one actual player in our minor league system, in 21-year-old reliever John Strike. We don't want to carry 13 pitchers, so if we do make a trade, it will hopefully be us giving up one player in exchange for two. Johnny Pesky's name has been rumored to be available in trade, as he doesn't play much for our Tigers and is awfully unhappy about it.

Regardless, our Tigers keep plugging away and are really making me proud at present. Our owner is still worried, but honestly, Mr. Geffre, you are a stick-in-the-mud and I don't think you'll be happy unless we're 10 games up in the division or locked into a playoff spot. The league just started, I don't think we should be under the pressure we are under, as we were NEVER looked at as a favorite in this division.

Thank you as always for following along with the “Level Playing Field” and we hope to see you again next week after another hopefully solid week for your Detroit Tigers!!

[jaysdailydose]

2014 Week 10 Notes: 1 at Pittsburgh (1-0), 3 at Baltimore (2-1), 2 vs. Tampa Bay (1-1)

· 06/02: DET 6, PIT 2 – Miguel Cabrera 3-4, GS (10), 4 RBI (46), BB – Doc Landis 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, W (3-1, 2.45)
· Cabrera hit his second grand slam in a week, this one a go-ahead shot in a close 2-2 ballgame. In his last 8 games, Cabrera is 14-26 (.538) with 2 HR and 10 RBI.
· We should also not fail to mention that Miguel Cabrera now has an eighteen-game hitting streak to go along with this recent hot streak.
· Doc Landis got the ball with two outs in the third after Milt Wilcox suffered an injury while pitching. His line doesn't look great, but he's been big for us this year in these situations.
· Wilcox has a mild oblique strain and was lifted mainly as a precaution from the trainers. He won't throw for two days, but is not expected to miss his next start.
· 24-year-old Phillies outfielder Billy Southworth just won the Player of the Month for May. Unfortunately, he'll now miss the next four months with a torn labrum.
· We placed a free-agent offer to 40-year-old LF Frank Scheibeck. He is the only player currently available in free agency, and we need warm bodies. He's taking some time to consider.
· 06/03: BAL 3, DET 2 – Dave Shean (BAL) 2-4, HR, RBI – Dupee Shaw 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K, L (3-3, 6.32)
· Cecil Travis had his hitting streak broken up at fourteen games, but Miguel Cabrera has extended his streak to nineteen straight contests with a hit.
· Kirby Puckett has also hit in ten straight. Good contact hitters equal a lot of hitting streaks!
· 06/04: DET 9, BAL 5 – Kirby Puckett 2-2, GS (1), 6 RBI (30), 3 BB, 2 R, 11-gm hit streak – Jim Abbott 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 0 K, ND
· Puckett's first homer of the year is a clutch grand slam to provide the margin of victory. He's still young, but he is starting to show glimpses of that real-life HOF form.
· Miguel Cabrera has now extended his hitting streak to 20 straight contests, with two hits including a first inning two-run home run.
· 23-year-old 2B Pancho Herrera of the St. Louis Cardinals became the first man in MLB history to have six hits in a game.
· Herrera's sixth hit of the ballgame was a walk-off single -- in the 22nd INNING, to give his Cardinal team a 2-1 victory. The Cardinal bullpen pitched 13 innings of scoreless relief!
· 06/05: DET 4, BAL 2 – Noodles Hahn CG, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2-4, HR, W (7-3, 2.51) – Rick Wilkins 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB
· Rick Wilkins messaged me about an extension. He's having a nice season, but he's 32 years old. He currently makes $1.5M. He wants $7.5M per for 5 years. Ummm...
· 06/07: TB 7, DET 5 (10) – Chick Gandil (TB) 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB – Julio Franco, 3-5, 2 R, SB (9)
· Washington Nationals 24-year-old SP Bill Monbouquette will miss the next four months with a torn back muscle. He was 6-4 with a 3.24 ERA in 12 starts.
· 06/08: DET 7, TB 6 (13) – Miguel Cabrera 4-7, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R – Doc Landis 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, ND
· Doc Landis again pitched great in long relief after Milt Wilcox gave up four runs on twelve hits in 4.1 IP.
· Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 23 straight games, and his two-run HR came in the 11th inning after the Rays had scored twice to take the lead at 6-4. Clutch.
· Miguel Cabrera was recognized for his efforts this week, winning the AL Player of the Week Award! For the week he hit .481 with three homers and 10 RBI in six games.
· Next Week: 1 vs. Tampa Bay, 3 vs. Cleveland, 3 at Kansas City

Another 4-2 week, and Miguel Cabrera is again the story, obviously. His Player of the Week effort has carried us the last two weeks (at least) and during his 23-game hitting streak he has raised his slash line to .358/.450/.617 and currently has an OPS+ of 198. He is now at a WAR of 3.2, and projected to finish at 9.6 currently. He's also played excellent defense at first base.

He's far from the only story, though. I'd like to recognize Doc Landis, who is now 3-1 on the season, with a 2.15 ERA in 37.2 innings pitched. He comes in and saves the day anytime we have a pitching injury or just a horrific start. He keeps us in ballgames. His potential rating is now going up to show it, but at 27 years old (nearly 28) you'd figure he wouldn't be at the LOWEST end of the overall rating spectrum with the way he is pitching. He is currently a 20 on the 20/80 scale, but he doesn't pitch like it.

Kirby Puckett has also quietly put together a fourteen game hitting streak, and even though Cecil Travis had his streak snapped earlier in the week, he's already putting together a new streak, although he didn't play in the last game of this week, getting a day of rest and getting Johnny Pesky in the lineup.

We are now six games over .500 at 32-26, 2 games out of the divisional lead behind the Chicago White Sox and only one game back in the Wild Card, trailing the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, and our owner, Bruce Geffre, is still “undecided.”

I think we're playing very well, and our team is really starting to come together. Thanks as always for checking out The Level Playing Field, and we hope to see you next week after another positive week for your Detroit Tigers!

(P.S. - I started bolding the individual game scores to make them stand out in this dynasty report as well. I don't personally "like" it, but I feel it will make the individual games stand out more for those that are just scanning. Please let me know what you think! Thanks!)

[gRaider2001]

Very nice Dynasty Report, I have subscribed. As a Cleveland Indians fan I can not root for your Tigers in the upcoming series with my Tribe lol. Hopefully they will give you a run for your money:-)

[jaysdailydose]

Originally Posted by gRaider2001

Very nice Dynasty Report, I have subscribed. As a Cleveland Indians fan I can not root for your Tigers in the upcoming series with my Tribe lol. Hopefully they will give you a run for your money:-)

Thank you very much for subscribing, and especially for commenting. It gets lonely in here and my other dynasty report.

I'll make sure to keep you posted on the Tribe, and if you have any questions regarding their roster or situation, don't hesitate to ask, I'll be happy to provide screenshots or whatever to anyone who is interested!

Thanks so much, again, for following!

[jaysdailydose]

· 2014 Week 11 Notes: 1 vs. Tampa Bay (0-1), 3 vs. Cleveland (2-1), 3 at Kansas City (2-1)

· 06/09: TB 10, DET 4 – Kirby Puckett 4-5, 2B, 2 R – Chris Fulmer (TB) 2-5, 3 R
· Cecilio Guante really gave up this game for us. I didn't want to use any more pitchers, so I made him take his medicine. I still wound up pitching a position player in the 9th.
· Marty Martinez pitched one inning, allowing just one hit, walking none.
· 06/10: CLE 6, DET 5 – J.T. Snow (CLE) 2-4, 2 RBI, R, BB – Julio Franco 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI
· Bill Sayles gave up the tying and go-ahead runs with a lead in the ninth for his second blown save in thirteen chances.
· Miguel Cabrera singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. Cleveland has now won five games in a row.
· 40-year-old LF Frank Scheibeck signed today for 1 year, $1.3M. We're not expecting him to do much, but he will get some playing time. He'll be 41 in 17 days.
· 06/11: DET 2, CLE 0 – Noodles Hahn CG, 0 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K, W (8-3, 2.29) – Miguel Cabrera 0-4, streak ends at 25 games – Steve Brodie 3-3, R
· While the streak ending at 25 games for Cabrera is disappointing, Miguel is fine with it as long as the team wins! Another great performance for Noodles Hahn.
· 06/12: DET 4, CLE 0 – Dennis Eckersley CG, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K – Ryan Ludwick 2-4, HR, 3 RBI
· A second straight dominant pitching performance, this one from The Eck. He hit 102 mph on the gun a few times and scattered five singles with his ten punchouts.
· Kirby Puckett has now hit in eighteen straight. He had an eighteen-game streak earlier in the season, and this streak has raised his average to .327 on the season.
· Eckersley's gem was far from the best of the day, as Chuck Finley of the Baltimore Orioles threw the third no-hitter this year, striking out 6 and walking 3 to defeat Tampa Bay 2-0.
· 06/13: DET 3, KC 1 – Milt Wilcox 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K, ND – Kirby Puckett 3-4, 19-game streak – Cecil Travis 3-4, 2B, R
· Rick Wilkins got a big pinch-hit 2-RBI single in the ninth, after Phil Coke got three big lefty outs in the bottom of the eighth. Bill Sayles locked it down for save #12.·
· 06/14: KC 4, DET 3 (10) – Hee-Seop Choi (KC) 4-5, 2 RBI – Dupee Shaw 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 0 K, ND
· A walk-off single off Cecilio Guante in the tenth sealed our fate in this one. Kirby Puckett did extend his hit streak to twenty straight games.
· 06/15: DET 1, KC 0 – Jim Abbott CG, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-3, 4.41) – Julio Franco 3-5, 2B
· Kirby Puckett continued his hitting-streak, he's now up to twenty-one games. Jim Abbott threw the 3rd Detroit masterpiece of the week, keeping us fighting right along for the playoffs!
· Next Week: 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs. Baltimore

Well, we got a different story this week – and that story was starting pitching. Three complete game shutouts and just all-around good outings by the entire staff this week. Miguel Cabrera may have cooled off a bit, but Kirby Puckett has stepped it back up a notch, and with this kind of pitching, its been alright for our offense to have a little bit of a regression.

We'll look to keep going strong and hope you'll be with us next week after hopefully another winning week for the Tigers! Thanks as always for checking in on the Level Playing Field!

[gRaider2001]

Wow back to back complete game shut outs by your pitching staff. My Tribe could not muster a run. Good job. At least we ended Miguel Cabrera's hitting streak.

[jaysdailydose]

Yeah, sorry for the delay in updating, I've been very caught up in fantasy baseball. I play in a $75,000 contest so I was insane in spring training and the early season.

[jaysdailydose]

For those that have been following along, I don't know the feelings on importing to the new game at this point, so I may do a new project for this version. It would be similar to the Level Playing Field, but I'm just kicking it around for now.

There are definitely more options in this year's game, and I think I may want to take advantage of those from a league creation start.

Regardless, I have all of my projects saved always, now, so I can always come back to what we're doing here. I'm exploring setup options right now, and I'll be posting my new project soon.

[gRaider2001]

Originally Posted by jaysdailydose

Yeah, sorry for the delay in updating, I've been very caught up in fantasy baseball. I play in a $75,000 contest so I was insane in spring training and the early season.

Originally Posted by jaysdailydose

For those that have been following along, I don't know the feelings on importing to the new game at this point, so I may do a new project for this version. It would be similar to the Level Playing Field, but I'm just kicking it around for now.

There are definitely more options in this year's game, and I think I may want to take advantage of those from a league creation start.

Regardless, I have all of my projects saved always, now, so I can always come back to what we're doing here. I'm exploring setup options right now, and I'll be posting my new project soon.

No worries jaysdailydose, I understand about being caught up in fantasy baseball. I have never played but I always play fantasy football and I really get into it. I hope you win the $75,000 and if you do you should share it with your fans like me lol:-)

I think you should start a new dynasty instead of transferring it over. Like you said there are so many new features this year. I transferred my fictional league over, but now I want to make a new one to take advantage of all of the new features.

Keep us updated when you start a new dynasty so I can make sure to follow it!

[jaysdailydose]

Originally Posted by gRaider2001

No worries jaysdailydose, I understand about being caught up in fantasy baseball. I have never played but I always play fantasy football and I really get into it. I hope you win the $75,000 and if you do you should share it with your fans like me lol:-)

I think you should start a new dynasty instead of transferring it over. Like you said there are so many new features this year. I transferred my fictional league over, but now I want to make a new one to take advantage of all of the new features.

Keep us updated when you start a new dynasty so I can make sure to follow it!

That's the great thing, I can always do a 2015 project and forward, and always still have these. I am the same as you, I know I will want to make use of all the new features.

One major one that always stuck in my craw when creating the Level Playing Field stories was that the inaugurals were never random, but predetermined. Now that you can change the fields of players (or in my case, have a true randomness) that's a big factor for the LPF. Plus with the new posting fee system and the like, I definitely want to incorporate those features in the LPF.

My main concern with importing is with my fictional league, I don't know if you are a reader of that one... and I definitely want to leave that story alone until I figure that out.

As far as 2015 goes, I really only want to have one project this year. I split myself too thin and I wasn't able to get the amount of detail I wanted into both stories. I'm sitting over here kicking around ideas now... but I think we'll be having the final Level Playing Field finally starting and being my sole focus for years to come. That random debut pool changer was a real game-changer for me and the OOTP franchise, I must admit.