Anatomy of a Season

[luckymann]

OK, so my next OOTP (ad)venture is something totally different from any I've done before.

I am calling it Anatomy of a Season.

In it, as described on the box, I’ll be replaying a single season from MLB history and providing an in-depth report throughout - not just with regard to the simulation in progress but also the IRL season it is simulating.

The ultimate plan is to do this for some of the more memorable seasons throughout the history of MLB (EG 1961’s Mantle v Maris / the various races for .400 in more recent years / Sosa, Griffey jr and McGwire in 1998 / the M’s record run in 2001 / the Impossible Dream, Miracle Mets and the like / some really close pennant races), but because I’ve no experience at this type of exercise, I thought I’d do a few “dry runs” with some seasons of lesser historical significance.

For each season, I'll be choosing one player to use as the focal point of my observations. The team will be analysed on a game-by-game basis, while for the player this will be even more granular, with every plate appearance (for position players) and batter faced (for pitchers) listed. All the way through, a running comparison will be kept between simulation and reality at the player, team, and league levels. Historical lineups and transactions will be applied at all times.

I will have no involvement other than ensuring the smooth running of the sim and reporting the results generated. I’ll adapt how I present this along the way as I learn from the mistakes I am sure to make and will also do some procedural honing as new ideas come to mind and old ones show themselves to be ill-conceived.

To allow me to run this concurrently with my other saves, I'll be using v22, at least to begin with.

[luckymann]

The Season

My starting point was to choose a team that went .500 in a regular season that was as nondescript as possible yet still had an angle, an edge to it.


The Team

Once I had compiled that list, I scanned it looking for a suitable candidate to be our subject for Volume 1. As soon as I came to the ’85 Red Sox, I knew my search was over.


The Player

Given what is so imminently ahead of him from the vantage point of 1985, the choice of Billy Bucks was equally a no-brainer.


Thanks to BBRef for being such an invaluable treasure trove of info - it is almost exclusively their stuff you'll be seeing screenshots of along the way.

[CubMariner]

Looks interesting! As a lifelong Cubs fan (and added the M's to my fandom in the early 80's), always liked Buckner. Barely struck out over his career and always played hard. Plus had the perfect late 70's 'stache...

[luckymann]

Overview

The title drought that would later come to be known as the Curse of the Bambino was about to enter its seventh decade and yet, despite all those years of futility, heartbreak and despair, the members of Red Sox Nation were once again lining up at the Kool-Aid fountain with an unquenchable thirst ready to be slaked and a bottomless drinking vessel alloyed from the two materials in which the Boston area proliferates: hope and blind faith.

Yaz was gone, but in Wade Boggs, Jim Rice and Dewey Evans the Sox had the nucleus of a solid offensive group, which the retooling in progress had enhanced with the development of catcher Rich Gedman and 2B Marty Barrett (who had phased out stalwart Jerry Remy), along with the addition of veteran OF Tony Armas. Then, during 1984, they traded away pitchers John Tudor and Dennis Eckersley to the Bucs and Cubs, respectively, for DH Mike Easler and 1B Bill Buckner.

This offence was ranked 2nd in the AL for the 1984 season.

As had so often been the case with the BoSox, pitching was the problem. Which might at first make it seem odd that they traded away two of their big-name hurlers. On closer inspection, however, there’s method to their apparent madness. Eckersley was struggling as a starter, and was not far off the shift to the bullpen in Oakland that saved his career. And, yes, it was only a season later that Tudor led the Cardinals to a pennant with a career year. But he had never shown such stuff in Boston; nor would he in Pittsburgh, for that matter. Form is the most mercurial of concepts and hindsight is a miraculous thing that makes geniuses of us all.

Their exit freed up two spots in the Bruce Hurst-led rotation. One of them went to Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd.

The other, in May, went to a 21-year-old kid from Texas by the name of Roger Clemens. The Rocket had been launched.

That said, it’s not as if Clemens’ rookie season blew everybody away. He went a relatively modest 9-4 / 4.32 (1.8 WAR as per BBRef) as the Sox finished 4th in the AL East at 86-76. But stats like 126 strikeouts in 133+ innings had the Boston faithful salivating all the same. He was the X Factor that had been missing from the squad. The final piece of the puzzle.

And so, a mere decade after one of the franchise’s most heart-wrenching losses in arguably the greatest World Series of all, hopes were once again high at Fenway that the Red Sox' time was nigh. They were due.

Roster
(1984 season stats displayed)

[luckymann]

Hi, I’m Bill Buckner and I’m gonna be your guide as we travel together through the 1985 MLB season. I turned 35 last December, and this’ll be my seventeenth year in the bigs – man they fly by so quick – with my third club. I was drafted way back in 1968 by the Dodgers. I was their second pick, 25th overall, in what turned out to be a real strong one for the club. Along with myself, fifteen guys drafted by LA that night ended up playing in the bigs, including Davey Lopes, Doyle Alexander, Steve Garvey and Ron Cey. Being born in Vallejo, I was delirious to be staying in California.

I started off at the rookie-ball Ogden Dodgers in the Pioneer League, and wouldn’t you know it, my manager there was Tom Lasorda! 1969 was a big year for me, as I sped through the minors and was up at the big club by September. I had my first MLB at-bat on Sep 21 against Gaylord Perry and the Giants, but didn’t get a hit and that turned out being my only appearance for the Dodgers that season.

1970 had its highs and lows for me. I got my first career hit on April 8 against the Reds, but just couldn’t get it going. With my average sitting at a paltry 121, I was sent back to AAA Spokane in May along with Steve Garvey. I did better there, hitting 335 despite busting my jaw in a collision with Davey Lopes and Bobby Valentine that required me to get my jaw wired. In fact, we set a new Pacific Coast League record at Spokane that year, hitting 299 as a team. I got included in the PCL All-Star squad and the Dodgers called me back up in September. I did better this time, hitting 257 to get my season BA up to 191.

I stayed at LA thru the ’76 season, playing near 800 games for the Dodgers. My best year, and the club’s most successful season while I was with them, was 1974. I hit 314 that year and finished down-ballot in the MVP voting (25th in the final tally), and we made it all the way to the Series before getting beat by the A’s in five. I hit a homer off Catfish Hunter but also got thrown out on a bit of a bonehead play trying to stretch a double. Still, it was great to be on the biggest stage of all. If I’da known it was gonna be my only time, I’da savoured it more – but that’s just not how you think. You think you’ll make it every year.

Anyway, I got traded to the Cubbies with Ivan de Jesus at the end of the 1976 season for Rick Monday and Mike Garman. I was pretty pissed at first because everything and everyone I knew was at LA, especially Tommy – who I’d become real tight with by then and who’d just been made skipper of the big club. I was hurt as well, which didn’t make things easier, having had ankle surgery after the ’76 season.

But once I was back and playing I got over it pretty quick. That said, my first year at Chicago was a tough one because I just couldn’t stay healthy. My biggest highlight – maybe my only one – came right near the end of the season, when I had three homers and 8 ribbies in a three-game series against my old club. A little reminder I could still rake with the best of 'em.

My time at Chicago can best be described as fractious. I loved the fans and had some great teammates on those clubs, but never really felt settled there. Every year there was a new challenge to be overcome and by the time they finally traded me in the middle of 1983 for Eck and Mike Brumley, I was kinda glad to be moving on, you know? Looking for a fresh start.

That’s how I ended up here at Fenway with the Red Sox.

Playing in Boston is like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my baseball career. I thought the Cubs fans were passionate – man, they’re like corpses compared to these guys. I love playing here, love the city, the ballpark is the best I’ve ever played in – due respect to Wrigley – and I get on really well with the other fellas. It’s been a great move for me and the family.

1984 was an OK season for us, but we’re looking for much better than fourth this time around. After playing in the outfield early on in my career, I’m at first base now – all those years have taken their toll on my legs and I don’t cover the ground so good no more. In close games I usually get lifted for a defensive sub in the late innings just to be on the safe side, almost always Dave Stapleton. I’m fresh off elbow surgery but my ankles are still giving me hell and I reckon I’ll need to get them done as well after this season.

So that’s about it for now, I reckon. Our season starts in a few days with a three-game homestand against our arch enemies, the damn Yankees. The deal here is that I’ll give you a quick recap of each game from my perspective as well as whatever colour and scraps of news comes to hand from within the ballclub over the course of the season.

[luckymann]

So here are the standard reports as at OD.

BNN reckons the Sox will be in the mix, but eventually finish just behind the Yanks and Blue Jays.

Here are the Top 20-ranked position players and pitchers. Boggsy and Rich Gedman make it, but no Red Sox pitchers.

Finally, here are the 25 top-rated prospects.

So I won't be rushing this, we'll dwell on each game a while, and I'll also be providing the IRL version of each game to compare and contrast with, along with news from both the sim and its historical sister. I'll be trying different things along the way before hopefully settling on the perfect mix for you and me alike.

[luckymann]

April 8, 1985: New York Yankees (0-0) @ Boston Red Sox (0-0)

So, like I think I mentioned, we kick things off with a homestand against the dreaded Yankees – three games with an off-day tomorrow for whatever reason. Man, I thought the Giants-Dodgers rivalry was hot – baby it ain’t got nothing on how much these two clubs hate each other. This whole scenario with Ruth getting sold to New York and the Sox not having won anything since while the Yanks have stocked their trophy room to overfill drives the most even-tempered Bostonite stark raving mad come baseball season.

Oil Can Boyd gets Opening Day honours for us, while they’ve got Phil Niekro going for them. “Knucksie” joined the Yanks at the end of the 1983 season as a Free-Agent after the Braves – who he’d won over 250 games for – let him go. Oh, well, it’s all part of the game and it obviously didn’t bother Phil much, as he went out and had himself a fine old season, going 16-8 with a 3.09 ERA and making the All-Star team. At 46, I'm told he becomes the second-oldest pitcher to ever start on Opening Day - good on you, Knucks!

Our Analytics guys tell me I’ve faced Phil more than any other pitcher in my MLB career. No real surprise there I s‘pose, with him at the Braves all that time and me where I was. Anyway, apparently I ain’t done too bad against him and his giggling knuckleball – I’ve hit 301 in 123 ABs and have even taken him deep a couple times. Musta guessed right on those two. All the same it’s nice to know this sort of stuff when the stats work in your favour – not so much if they’ve ridden you like their favourite saddle and ya’ve hit 147 lifetime against ‘em! It’s all about that positive reinforcement.

Game Recap

We get to Phil early, as Tony Armas comes through for us with a two-out single in the 1st to knock in a couple. After I make the third out with my first appearance of the year, the Yanks come right back at us as Pags Pagliarulo belts one out with one on in the top 2nd.

The pitchers settle down a bit until Dave Winfield leads off the 4th with a double and eventually comes in on a sac fly by Ken Griffey.

My second AB ends up in Winfield’s glove in deep RF.

Our bats get something going in the home 5th, with Boggs tying it at 3 with a run-scoring hit. He then scores the go-ahead run on a trip by Jim Ed Rice, who in turn comes home when one of Phil’s floaters gets past Butch Wynegar.

That’s Niekro done for the game, with Rich Bordi taking over in the 6th. I seem to appreciate the change, as I ride one out to right-centre to make it 6-3. The top of the order tacks on another one in the next, with Rice knocking it in with a single, and I make the third out with a routine flyball to Moreno in CF.

Can finishes it off for a complete game win that we can feel pretty good about.

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Lou Thornton, Chris Pittaro, Tim Burke
• Daily Notes: That loss by Niekro is his seventh in a row, an MLB record. Jack Quinn is the oldest OD starting pitcher, at 47 in 1931 for Brooklyn.

[luckymann]

April 9, 1985: No game scheduled

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Ozzie Guillen, Shawon Dunston, Mariano Duncan, Pat Clements
• Daily Notes: At County Stadium, Chicago White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver makes his 15th opening day start to break the mark set by Christy Mathewson. In the sim, Seaver pitches 7 1/3 scoreless in a 1-0 win against the the Milwaukee Brewers - IRL he hurls 6 2/3 innings and is credited with the victory as the White Sox win 4-2.

[David Watts]

Can you keep an eye on something for me while playing this and let me know if you see it happening. Whenever I try to use real lineups/real transactions or even just real transactions, I end up with AI controlled teams with incomplete active rosters. If I have active rosters set to 25, I will come across teams with only 23 players active. A team will be rolling day to day 2 pitchers short in their bullpen. I've posted this in the bug forum, but never get a reply, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Can you keep an eye on something for me while playing this and let me know if you see it happening. Whenever I try to use real lineups/real transactions or even just real transactions, I end up with AI controlled teams with incomplete active rosters. If I have active rosters set to 25, I will come across teams with only 23 players active. A team will be rolling day to day 2 pitchers short in their bullpen. I've posted this in the bug forum, but never get a reply, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

Will do - all sitting at 25 for the moment.

[luckymann]

April 10, 1985: New York Yankees (0-1) @ Boston Red Sox (1-0)

Funny the way it works, this baseball life. I can’t speak for everyone but I know I feel a bit lost on getaway days early in the season. You spend the offseason waiting for things to start and now you just want to play. Compare that with later in the season, especially with my creaky old bones, when your body starts screaming out for rest and there are days you feel like you can’t get outta bed. I always reckoned the key to playing well was keeping as even a keel as you can, day in and out. It’s not unlike walking on flat ground as against walking up hill and down dale. Easier said for the most part, but this is one of those situations where you just have to go with it.

Anyways, can’t say I’m a fan of having Opening Day split like how they’ve done it this year. Cheapens it a bit, in my mind at least.

The Yanks are back at Fenway today for an afternoon game, and they send Ed Whitson on the mound against Bruce Hurst. Ed’s another guy I’m quite familiar with from his time with the Bucs and Giants, and again I’ve done OK with him so far – hitting 280 with a homer and 6 ribbies in 25 at-bats against him. He’s a fair pitcher when he’s on so we’ll need to be ready for him.

Bill Buckner YTD stats entering the game




Game Recap

Not much doing for the bats early on, and Whit gets the better of me in the 2nd as he fans me swinging on a nice bender.

New York opens the scoring in the next as Bob Meacham triples and scores on a hit by Billy Sample, and our chance to reply fairly quickly are snuffed out when I ground into a DP to end the home 4th. These old wheels are a dead set liability.

It isn’t until the 6th that we get things moving, and when we do the runs come in a bunch. Jim Rice leads off with a jack to tie the game and we add two more around a useless flyout by yours truly on a run-scoring trip by Ged followed by a Marty Barrett two-bagger.

But Bruce gets in a pickle in the 7th as they tie the game on a 2-run single by Donny Mattingly and it is suddenly all tied at 3 apiece. Not for long, though, as Mike Easler puts us back in front in the home half of that one with an RBI hit.

Mac sticks with his man thru to the 9th after we go down quietly in the 8th as my pretty ordinary night continues with a weak flyout to CF to leave me 0-for-4. And Bruce doesn’t let his skipper down, closing it out for a tight win to leave most of the 20-odd thousand in attendance glad they came out for a spot of Wednesday afternoon baseball.

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Jim Weaver, Manuel Lee
• Daily Notes: This day marks 38 years since Jackie Robinson signed his original Dodgers contract.

[luckymann]

April 11, 1985: New York Yankees (0-2) @ Boston Red Sox (2-0)

The last game of this Yankees homestand sees our Great White Hope, the Rocket, Roger Clemens make his first start of the year against tricky southpaw Dennis Rasmussen. I’ve not seen much of Dennis, just the one game last season not long after I’d come to Boston when I went 1-for-3 with a double. Keen to bounce back from my ohfer yesterday.

Bill Buckner YTD stats entering the game




Game Recap

Once again we fall behind early as Don Baylor takes Rog solo deep in the 2nd, but we return the favour immediately as I crack a sharp double and eventually score on a Gedman hit.

No such luck on my next AB as a get jammed and float a lazy fly out to Ken Griffey in LF.

We get our noses in front in the 5th as Rasmussen goes walkabout and Jim Rice singles one in. Jim Ed already looks primed for another big year and there’s no doubt he’s key to our success.

That solo shot is still the only hit Rocket has conceded thru 6 but the game is far from won as we aren’t having much luck either. I ground out weakly in the home 6th.

I’m due to lead off the 9th but in the end am not needed as Clemens goes the distance, allowing just two hits and fanning seven in an impressive display, despite a spot of wildness in walking six.

Three-from-three against the Yanks is never to be sneezed at, and we’ll be seeing them again soon – only this time on their turf, a wholly different proposition altogether.

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Roger McDowell, Jeff Kaiser, Craig Gerber, Mike Gallego, Terry Blocker
• Daily Notes: IRL, Gorman Thomas belts 3 HR for the M's in a 14-6 win over the A's. In the sim, it's Oakland who triumphs 8-3 as Stormin' Gorman has an ohfer.

[luckymann]

April 12, 1985: No game scheduled

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Bob Kipper
• Daily Notes: NIL

[luckymann]

April 13, 1985: Chicago White Sox (1-1) @ Boston Red Sox (3-0)

The White Sox come to town for three before we head off on our first roadtrip for the year. Always nice to see Pudge back at Fenway and the fans still love him, no matter the uniform. He’s a bit of a marvel, really. I mean he’s a couple years older than me and has played all those games at catcher, yet he’s still one of the league’s most dangerous hitters.

Floyd Bannister going for them today, against whom I am hitless in three ABs. Let’s see if we can change that, shall we? Oil Can back for his second start of the year for us.

Bill Buckner YTD stats entering the game




Game Recap

Jim Rice stays hot with a solo jack to open the scoring in the 1st and my game starts poorly with a weak groundout to third leading off the 2nd. I’m unlucky my second time up as Floyd jags a comebacker more in the act of protecting himself than actually trying to catch the thing. Geds, hitting behind me, is making me look bad with back-to-back doubles, although we can’t do anything with either of them as it keeps at 1-0 thru four.

We double our lead in the next, however, as Boggsy puts one in the seats, but they cancel it out with a run of their own in the 6th via a spot of small ball.

We blow it open in the bottom half of that frame. Tony Armas belts our third solo home run of the game, then I double down the line to right and score on a Gedman single. Hits to Barrett and then Boggs bring him around, chasing Bannister in the process, but another single to Dewey Evans adds a fourth run for the inning to make it a much more comfortable 6-1.

They keep us on our toes with a run in the next and I end our 7th with a flyout to RF that I just miss hitting on the button. Can gives us 8 before the rain comes and we're off the field for about an hour. When we resume, Mark Clear cleans it up for another strong win. Only us and the Cubs remain unbeaten.

Best Performances, News & Highlights of the Day

The Real Deal

• MLB Debuts: Rich Yett, Ron Mathis
• Daily Notes: IRL, Rollie Fingers records his 217th American League save in the Milwaukee Brewers' 6 - 5 win over Texas, breaking Sparky Lyle's record. In the sim, he's yet to be used this season and remains on 216.

[David Watts]

Did you ever play PureSim Baseball? Your showing of the real boxscores made me think of that game. Puresim had a feature that allowed you to click on an in game link when using real lineups and the game would display the real boxscore from baseball reference.

[luckymann]

No, TBH have never heard of it. The only sim I'd ever played before OOTP was DMB, and it only briefly.

Not growing up with baseball, not being from a country where it has any real impact or importance (I've never seen a live MLB game), means my experience with it is totally foreign to most. I have an intricate knowledge of the early years, because that was what interested me when I picked the game up, and so I studied it intensely. But I have so many blind spots in the later years and can barely stand this modern version of it. Through this save and wandering through baseball history in the Bucs save, I will no doubt remedy that to some degree - and am most looking forward to doing so.

I picked the game up properly for the first time just after this season - when the Bash Brothers joined my beloved, beleaguered A's and made them not just competitive but exciting. But, really, post-1950 excluding 1988-1995 is a baseball wasteland for me apart from the more widely-known events. So I am really loving the granularity of this save and the new perspective and understanding it will bring me and cant wait to march through it with Pittsburgh chasing titles.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by luckymann

No, TBH have never heard of it. The only sim I'd ever played before OOTP was DMB, and it only briefly.

Not growing up with baseball, not being from a country where it has any real impact or importance (I've never seen a live MLB game), means my experience with it is totally foreign to most. I have an intricate knowledge of the early years, because that was what interested me when I picked the game up, and so I studied it intensely. But I have so many blind spots in the later years and can barely stand this modern version of it. Through this save and wandering through baseball history in the Bucs save, I will no doubt remedy that to some degree - and am most looking forward to doing so.

I picked the game up properly for the first time just after this season - when the Bash Brothers joined my beloved, beleaguered A's and made them not just competitive but exciting. But, really, post-1950 excluding 1988-1995 is a baseball wasteland for me apart from the more widely-known events. So I am really loving the granularity of this save and the new perspective and understanding it will bring me and cant wait to march through it with Pittsburgh chasing titles.

So cool. Forgive me if you've I missed it in one of your posts, but where are you from?

[luckymann]

Born, bred and still reside in sunny Sydney, Australia.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by luckymann

Born, bred and still reside in sunny Sydney, Australia.

What's more popular in Australia, baseball or softball? Growing up, my best friends dad sponsored a fastpitch softball team in Saginaw Michigan. Over the years he brought several different pitchers to town from New Zealand Kevin Herlihy and Owen Walford were two of them. These guys were flat out studs.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by David Watts

What's more popular in Australia, baseball or softball? Growing up, my best friends dad sponsored a fastpitch softball team in Saginaw Michigan. Over the years he brought several different pitchers to town from New Zealand Kevin Herlihy and Owen Walford were two of them. These guys were flat out studs.

Both are incredibly niche. Here, my friend, summer is the season of cricket and nothing else - on land, at least. You think baseball games are slow? Mate, test matches in cricket go for 5 DAYS and a fair percentage of them end in a draw. Dear Lord, I hate that sport.