Northern League Baseball: A humorously depressing look 50 years into the future...

[Nunyer]

Baltimore Results

Columbus 2 - Baltimore 3
Columbus 3 - Baltimore 5
Columbus 12 - Baltimore 3

63-45 overall, 2nd place, 7 GB

Series Notes
Condor Summers is out 2-3 months with a strained hammy. Mike 'No Nickname' Jackson took a bean ball in the 2nd game of this series and is out indefinitely with concussion symptoms. Wonderful. To replace the two guys moving to the DL, I have purchased the contracts of 1B Bob Anderson and OF Joe Wells from Springfield. They were my most consistent hitters down in Triple A and hopefully can give us something down the stretch. We're currently down four starters from the opening day lineup, with three of them likely out for the year. We do get Jeffrey Young back in a few days, that should help. Also, recently acquired Paul McWhirter went 4-for-10 with three doubles in his first series as a Hot Dog.

Up Next...
Three against the Rhode Island Revolution (51-57 overall)

[Nunyer]

Rhode Island Results

Rhode Island 3 - Columbus 9
Rhode Island 1 - Columbus 2 (11 innings)
Rhode Island 6 - Columbus 2

Series Notes
Once per series, we seem to go bonkers and score nine or twelve or some such huge number. The Hot Dogs hit four home runs in the game, including two by Rex 'The Shark' Scott. He now has 28 long balls in 97 games. Ruben 'Hard Luck' Vega pitches very well in the second game, giving up a solo home run and striking out six, but he does not factor into the decision. To go along with our one offensive explosion per series, the final game was our offensive no-show. Columbus manages only five hits in the loss.

I've largely abandoned hope of catching Cleveland for the division. Nothing is impossible, but seven games out with 50 to play will be a tall order. I am more concerned now with maintaining the wild card. Pittsburgh has been hot and they've closed the gap. We currently only have a two game lead for the final playoff spot.

GM Journal - Should they stay or should they go?
It's been quiet around here in the week since the trade deadline passed. Mothballs brought up the subject of budget relief the other day, pointing out that we are going to have to ship some long time Hot Dogs out the door to give us financial flexibility for the off-season.

DH/1B Wilson Flores has shown that he belongs in the NLB with his hitting. He's .278 with 4HR in 29 games and he's shown a knack for delivering the clutch hit. Coach Summers has only given him three games at 1B and he hasn't embarrassed himself, but he's never going to be a plus in the field. That said, we both think that Michael 'No Nickname' Jackson has become expendable. He is one of our highest paid players at $1m per year and he hasn't hit consistently for two seasons. I sent out feelers before the deadline to gauge interest, it wasn't overwhelming. But we still think we can move him for the greater good.

Former first rounder German Campos still hasn't shown a consistent hitting approach, but we feel he has a long term role on our infield. If we expect to start him and Flores next season, somebody else has to go. When looking at the financials and production, Don 'Tricky' Nixon looks like the odd man out. I extended his contract last off season, not sure what I had in my younger guys. I still am not 100% sure what I have, but it's probably time to find out. Nixon will make approximately $750k over the next two seasons, not outrageous, but money that can probably be better spent elsewhere. He still plays stellar defense at the hot corner. Likely Armanda Castilho will shift to 3B, Kenny Phillips will shift to SS and Campos will take over 2B.

Due to injuries and trade acquisitions, our outfield has become a crowded place. Mauro Moreno is about as talented as they come, but like Jackson, he has under performed and had injury issues for two straight seasons. He's a possible free agent this offseason... and we think we are going to let him walk. Jonathan Harris and Jeffrey Young both received contract extensions and will remain with the team. The last big decision to make will be with Francisco Pujols. He fell into our laps when Rhode Island didn't have consistent at-bats to give him and we got tired of watching Bill McMartin give up tape measure home runs. All he has done since arriving is hit the ball at a .338 clip. He is going to demand a hefty raise next season from his current $120k league minimum, but he's played his way into a future with Columbus. That leaves Condor Summers and recently acquired Paul McWhirter to battle for the remaining scraps. I like both of these guys a lot. After a legitimate Rookie of the Year campaign in 2052, Summers has had an awful sophomore slump, but we still have faith in him. Hopefully McWhirter can go into next season accepting the role of fourth outfielder.

Up Next...
We travel to scenic Grand Rapids, Michigan for a three gamer against the Mammoths (49-62 overall)

[khucke]

Extraordinary dynasty! Very enjoyable read!

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - Slightly late mid season update

Figured everybody would be interested in seeing the overall picture of the team at roughly the half-way point. Wait... this is my personal journal... why I am talking about other people read this? It's not like I'm posting this on the internet for the world to see.... (And to distract you all from this logical inconsistency... look! A DANCING GIF GUY!!!)



The team performances have been strong when averaged over the long haul. We are top five in the league in most team hitting and pitching categories. The problem has been turning those solid "averaged over the long haul" performances into consistent winning. Since our hot start in April and May, the team is exactly .500 since the start of June with a record over that time of 30-30. There is no way in heck that we catch Cleveland playing .500 the rest of the way... and it's doubtful we'll even be able to hold off Pittsburgh for the wild card. This team needs to figure out how bad it wants the playoffs.

A few notes on the roster you see above, as I don't think I mentioned some transactions previously. Infielder Kane Green was killing the ball in Springfield, so he was recently recalled. He isn't a gold glove type of player, but can fill in anywhere in the infield without being a liability. Bob Anderson was sent back down. He went 1-for-6 in three games but did draw three walks. He isn't a bad player by any means, but he gives Coach Summers no flexibility on defense, being only capable at 1B. Outfielder Joe Wells was called up to replace a slumping Bill Thomas, who has been given plenty of opportunity, but doesn't appear to be a hitter at this level. Wells was signed off the scrapheap in May and is out of options. He's likely the bench OF for the rest of the dog days.

[Orcin]

I don't see much to worry about on the pitching staff. The starters look pretty solid. Vazquez and Hendricks are beasts.

The injuries to position players have hurt some, but you have adjusted nicely.

Frankly, I don't see why this team is 30-30. It looks like it should be better than that. Maybe you have a hot streak coming. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Maybe you should change whoever is wearing that hot dog suit for good luck.

[Nunyer]

Yea, it's tough to explain the 30-30 record. The best way I can put it is that the bullpen in lights out when we have a three run lead... shaky as hell when we need to hold down a one run lead. The lineup will score 26 runs in a two game stretch, only to score three runs over the next four. It's been feast or famine a lot of the time since June.

As far as Hendricks, I am very, very happy that I held onto him. I might have to invent the NLB Comeback Player of the Year Award just for him.

2052: 5.06 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, .259 OAVG
Not great numbers by any stretch, but not cover your eyes awful either. He was greatly helped by pitching well over the last two months when we were totally out of the picture. He was beyond cover your eyes awful during first four months.

2053: 0.31 ERA, 0.59 WHIP, .118 OAVG
He's been unhittable. His ERA+ is 1247. I'm not quite sure how ERA+ is calculated, but if I were a statistician, I'd be double checking my numbers... as that doesn't seem like it should be possible.

[Nunyer]

Grand Rapids Results
Columbus 8 - Grand Rapids 2
Columbus 6 - Grand Rapids 5
Columbus 2 - Grand Rapids 1

Series Notes
A sweep on the road against a bad team... just what we needed! Both Cleveland and Pittsburgh faltered a bit as well. We have closed the division gap to five games and expanded the wild card gap to five games as well.

In the first game, everybody came to hit. Everybody reached safely at least once, with only Don Nixon failing to deliver a base hit. Joe Davis improves to 11-7 on the season with seven strong innings. He allows only two earned on five hits. The pitching was shaky in the second game. Jose Mendez gets bumped around for eight hits, 4ER and gives up two gopher balls but still left with the lead after five innings. Jose Aurillo immediately notches his third blown save of the year in the sixth inning, allowing a run on three hits. However, he recovered nicely and held on to get the eventual winning decision. Wilson Flores delivers two sac flies in the game, including the game winning run. Hendricks and Vazquez are perfect in the 8th and 9th respectively. The final game was a pitching duel the whole way. Bill Clark improves to 10-4, giving up 1 unearned run on only three hits over seven innings.

Time to separate the men from the boys...
We welcome the Boston Barons from three games and then travel to wild card rival Pittsburgh. These next six games will be huge. Boston is currently the comfortable leader in the Seaboard Division, with a 6 game lead. Pittsburgh has been up and down all season, but they are the most legitimate threat to knocking us out of the post season.

[Nunyer]

Boston Results
Boston 2 - Columbus 1
Boston 3 - Columbus 1 (10 innings)
Boston 8 - Columbus 3

Series Notes
It is downright painful to watch this team at times. So. Damn. Frustrating. Perhaps the biggest series Columbus has seen in YEARS... Facing a good team, ready to establish ourselves... looking to open a large wild card lead before visiting Pittsburgh... and what do we get? 5 runs, 15 hits, 5 errors over three games... We just took nice warm whiz in a stadium sized bed.

The Hardhats have, of course, won three straight to line up with our three game skid. The wild card lead is two games and we travel to their house. Our top two starters just wasted wonderful performances against Boston, getting a two runs of support in two games. Even if we somehow make the playoffs, I don't see us making any noise. We seem to be happy bending over and taking it against any halfway decent pitcher.

I need a drink... thank god Mothballs knows where Lerma hides the keys to his liquor cabinet...

[Nunyer]

Pittsburgh Results
Columbus 3 - Pittsburgh 4 (10 innings)
Columbus 4 - Pittsburgh 6
Columbus 8 - Pittsburgh 2

Series Notes
We had to work hard to lose those first two games. To start the series, the combination of Hendricks and Vazquez picked a fine time to stop being lights out. Hendricks blows the save in the 8th with a walk and two run bomb to the first two batters he faces. After scratching out a run in the ninth to survive, Vazquez gives up a walk and two hits to lose the game. The second contest we had two errors, a wild pitch and a passed ball in one inning to essentially hand the game to the Hardhats. In the third game Hard Luck Vega finally gets some run support. The poor guy has a 2.29 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 154 strikeouts... he's having a career year yet is somehow only 10-9 on the season for a potential playoff team.

We have a one game lead in the wild card with 42 games to play. I've already stopped paying attention to what Cleveland is doing... Maybe if they hit a seven game losing skid... I'll start worrying about winning the division.

Coming up...
The last place Bronx Zoo (51-69) visit Columbus...

[Nunyer]

Confederate Baseball League facing potential collapse
Multiple teams looking to jump to rival baseball leagues
by Skip Jutze, YTGTESPN Staff Reporter
August 17th, 2053

ATLANTA, GA -- The Confederate Baseball League, home to professional baseball in the southern United States for over a decade, is facing dire financial circumstances. Sources close to the league believe that almost half of the sixteen teams in the league could be facing collapse.

With college football, NASCAR and professional catfish noodling being the main draw for southern sports fans, attendance at CBL games has been dropping for over five years. The few solvent teams remaining have been rumored to be flirting with rival regional leagues. The Dallas Rangers and Houston Conquerors are considering heading west to join the Southwest Hispanic American Baseball Alliance. The St.Louis Cardinals have allegedly been in talks with Northern League Baseball. The Tampa Turtles are reportedly going to be sold to an investment group from Kansas City. The sale may be contingent on membership in the NLB if the team is moved to Missouri.

Officials from NLB have been largely quiet concerning the situation, but sources close to the league say that is because Commissioner Selig does not know how to issue a press release. The league would likely accept St.Louis into the league without much discussion. The sticking point appears to be Kansas City, which is geographically undesirable to other owners. Toronto, Milwaukee and a second team in Chicago have been rumored to be other landing spots for a team looking to leave the CBL. Although thought to be on shaky financial ground, the Knoxville Mountaineers have also been rumored to be interested in a move to NLB.

Most insiders consider a 20 team NLB to become a reality in 2054. Absorbing two teams from the CBL would remove the requirement for an expansion draft and allow the process to be completed quickly.

[Nunyer]

Bronx Results
Bronx 6 - Columbus 9
Bronx 8 - Columbus 6 (10 innings)
Bronx 5 - Columbus 4

Series Notes
Losing two of three at home to one of the worst teams in the league. This team wants nothing to do with the playoffs. Nothing. The bullpen blew the last two games in fantastic fashion, after we rallied back late to tie both times. Formerly untouchable closer Jesus Vazquez melts down in the final game of the series: three hits, one walk and two earned runs for his fourth blown save and third loss of the season.

Cleveland has lost 5-of-6, Pittsburgh has lost 3-of-4... Yet we can do absolutely nothing to gain ground... again... when facing one of the worst teams in the league at home.

Tomorrow is an off-day before the team travels to Chicago. I already told Lerma and Mothballs that I'll be out for a personal day. We've dropped 7 of the last 9 in just about every imaginable way... The lack of drive and desire being displayed by this team is disgusting me at the moment... I need a day to clear my head.

[Marmacette]

This dynasty thread is pure gold... keep it up and good luck with your faltering 'Dogs in the last stretch of the season !

[Orcin]

Sorry for jinxing your bullpen.

[Nunyer]

Hah... no jinxing was required... They were playing so far over their heads for so long... a correction was bound to happen. It's a bummer that early in the season when we were winning games by five and six runs the bullpen was awesome. Now that we need to hold down one or two run leads, the correction shows up.

In my purely anecdotal and non-scientific experience, these stretches in OOTP seem to go in month long periods. We were really good for two months, we've been bad for two months... now it's time to march into the post season with a great September! At least that's what I keep telling myself...

[Nunyer]

Chicago Results
Columbus 6 - Chicago 5
Columbus 5 - Chicago 4
Columbus 1 - Chicago 3

Series Notes
The Chicago Fire have not been very good this year. They are 60-66 after this series and 18 games behind the Comrades. It was critical to take two out of three on the road, but it wasn't enough to keep our lock on the wild card. Pittsburgh has won four in a row and we're now tied at 72-54.

In this series, every game was a nail biter. After a blown save in the first game from the suddenly human Timmy Hendricks, we needed a three run rally in the top of the ninth to pull out the victory. German Campos is not known for his home run power, but he was the hero of the second game. Campos delivered his 4th long ball of the season in the top of the ninth. All of the scoring in the final game was finished by the end of the 2nd inning, after that it was an old fashioned pitchers duel that was won by the Chicago Fire. Aurelio Garza drops to 12-8 but he went the distance giving up three runs on six hits.

Up next...
The Hartford Diablos come to town for three games. Although a perennial powerhouse throughout the history of the league, the Diablos are rebuilding this year. They are currently in dead last in the Seaboard Division with a record of 54-72. The last time we faced a crap team, we dropped two in a row to the equally bad Bronx Zoo. That better not happen again... It's been stressful enough around here as it is... Lerma isn't going to be happy next time he opens his liquor cabinet and sees what Mothballs and I have done to it.. To be honest, $300 per bottle scotch doesn't get you any drunker than the cheap stuff... Maybe we'll refill his bottles with whatever they sell at the Piggy Wiggly around the corner... doubt he'll notice the difference.

[Nunyer]

Hartford Results
Hartford 8 - Columbus 2
Hartford 1 - Columbus 3
Hartford 3 - Columbus 4

Series Notes
I'm going to start calling this team the Heart-Attack Hot Dogs. First, because eating enough actual hot dogs would probably give you a heart attack.. Or at least mess you up somehow... ulcers or butt cancer or something... There is a reason we call our mascot Benny Byproduct. But beyond that, these Columbus Hot Dogs look to keep me on the edge of my seat the rest of the season.

Hartford is having a terrible season, as I mentioned previously. The lineup is aging and not producing, the bullpen is shaky... but they still have a very solid top of the rotation. As our luck would have it, we faced their top three starters in this series. In the first game, we just couldn't hit. In the second game, our inconsistent pitching got into a few jams late, but managed to pitch out of all of them. We string together four singles and a sac bunt to score the game winning runs in the bottom of the 7th inning. In the final game, Ruben 'Hard Luck' Vega continues his season of pitching fantastic baseball but not getting rewarded with the victory. Vega gives up only two hits and one run over six innings, but left with the game tied. After Pedro Campos gives up three runs on two long balls over the 7th and 8th, we needed another mad rally in the bottom of the ninth to pull this one from our collective ass. Following a walk by Jeff Young, Rex Scott blasts a two run shot to tie the game. Two batters later with two outs, the suddenly clutch German Campos crushes a hanging breaking ball on an 0-1 count for the walk-off home run. That's two series in a row where Campos has won a game in the ninth inning with a home run.

Both Cleveland and Pittsburgh stumbled in their last series and we've gained a game on both teams. We're currently six behind in the division and one ahead in the wild card with 33 games left...

Coming up next...
The Kentucky Bluegrass (65-64 overall) come to Columbus for a three game set.

[Nunyer]

Kentucky Results
Kentucky 0 - Columbus 5
Kentucky 5 - Columbus 8
Kentucky 11 - Columbus 2

Series Notes
Columbus only managed seven hits in the first game, but three were long balls. Bill Clark improves to 11-5 on the year with the first complete game shutout of his NLB career. Clark gives up five hits and five walks while striking out two. The second game we knocked around Bluegrass starter Edwardo Rodeia for six runs in less than four innings and drop his record to a woeful 3-16. Jesus Vazquez made it interesting in the ninth, giving up a hit and two walks, but ultimately picked up his 20th save on the season. In the final game of the set, Joe Davis gave up four home runs in under five innings of work. The bullpen came in early and didn't do much better.

Up next...
We travel to the nation's capital to see the Liberty Bell, no wait... that's in Philadelphia, we travel to the nation's capital for a three game set against the Colonials. Currently saddled with the worst record in the league at 52-80, lets hope we can maintain the momentum. We're five games behind Cleveland and one ahead of Pittsburgh.

Also, the final game of the Washington series will be the NLB 40 man roster expansion. The Springfield Isotopes still have a shot at the Triple A post-season, they are 5 games out with 13 to play. But quite frankly, screw that, anybody that can come up and potentially help the big club will be on that bus in three days.

[Nunyer]

Washington Results
Columbus 3 - Washington 4 (14 innings)
Columbus 4 - Washington 1
Columbus 2 - Washington 7

Series Notes
Yep, we dropped two of three against the worst team in the league. We score a grand total of nine runs in three games against the worst pitching staff in the league. In the first game, we managed four hits... and we had 14 damn innings to swing the bat... against the worst pitching staff in the league. In the final game, three errors allow six unearned runs... Not that it mattered, seeing we only had five hits against the worst pitching staff in the league.. If you think I might be exaggerating: Last in overall ERA, Last in starter ERA, second to last in bullpen ERA, allowed the most runs in the league, allowed the second most hits in the league... And we got treated like chumps by the worst pitching staff in the league. If it weren't for Vega twirling a complete game, three-hitter gem in the middle of the series... we probably would have been swept.

Roster Expansion
Following players have joined the club from Springfield:
SP Rich Audley
MR Craig Hayden
MR Dave Robinson
MR Silas Wright
MR Pedro Campos
1B Bob Anderson
OF Bill Thomas


Up next....
This team finds new, even more frustrating ways to take a steaming dump in my lap...

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

Up next....
This team finds new, even more frustrating ways to take a steaming dump in my lap...

LOL... definitely among the top 10 quips in this dynasty thread.

[Nunyer]

Richmond Results

(If you haven't guessed, Richmond was our next series. They were 67-68 coming in)

Richmond 0 - Columbus 4
Richmond 4 - Columbus 1 (10 innings)
Richmond 1 - Columbus 7

Series Notes
The offense is still lackluster, but we got really good pitching performances this series. The only blemish was a disastrous 10th inning from Kevin Ladner. Coach Summers has started sitting our All-Star center fielder Jonathan Harris on a regular basis. Since the beginning of August, he is hitting under .200 and his average for the season has fallen to .295. Harris is 32 years old and has played in 132 of 138 games, maybe we've worn him down. Coach Summers is doing what he can, mixing and matching and shuffling the lineup pretty much every game trying to jump start the run production. It's going to be tough from here on out if we don't start playing better.

Up next...
We have 24 games left on the season, but the next nine are going to be critical. We travel to Philly and face the best team in the league. Then we come home to go against Buffalo. They are currently in last place, which is our friggin kryptonite lately. Then we have our final series of the season against the Cleveland Comrades.

Pittsburgh has won three in a row and have a one game lead in the wild card. The Comrades have rolled six in a row and have pulled away with an eight game cushion.