Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

I wanted to ask an opinion question, to anybody who wants to answer. We are now 18 years into the future, and I don't want to jinx anything, so I'll just say that I still have eight teams left, so best case scenario is wrapping up no sooner than 2060, and that's probably pushing it.

I did one round of expansion to get to 32 teams, but I was wondering if I'll reach a point where baseball would expand again. If so when?

I guess there is no right or wrong answer, and I'm in no rush, but if anybody wants to share there opinion that'd be great.

[NYY #23]

Jose Ruiz was making his third playoff start of his career today, and first this year. The 24 year old pitched like a seasoned veteran today though after pitching 6 2/3 shutout innings and allowing just 3 hits.

He was working with a lead after the first inning when Ryan Herring doubled home the first run of the game , and when Mike Greenawalt singled home a pair of runs in the third it was more than enough for Ruiz to work with. Roberto Contreras would add an RBI single and Jason Walker provided solid relief going 2 1/3 innings to close out the game without giving up a run or hit.

The Knights have a day off tomorrow as we travel to Seattle for Game 3.

[Sharkn20]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Josh Beckett vs The Only Nolan was the pitching matchup, and the first four innings we saw all 0's on the scoreboard.

Scott Fletcher led off the fifth with a single, reached second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a groundout. With two outs in the inning Wally Joyner stepped to the plate and hit a grounder to the first baseman who booted the ball. E3 and we took a 1-0 lead.

Of course we have trouble holding any lead in the World Series and the Pirates promptly tied the score at 1 in the next half inning.

We exploded for 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth though, on RBI singles by Wally Joyner, Nellie Fox, and Rick Peters.

The score would stay at 5-1 until the bottom of the ninth, with Nolan still on the mound. Gus Williams hit a leadoff single, but the next two batters flew out. Of course nothing is easy for the Browns, as Nolan walked and then hit the next two batters.

Bases loaded, two outs and all I can picture is a grand slam to tie the game….

I have to intervene and bring in a reliever. With a left handed batter I brought in Harvey Haddix who induced a groundout to Wally Joyner. All I could think of was please don't turn in to Billy Buckner.

But it was uneventful, and we recorded the final out and finally won the World Series with St. Louis!!!

I want to say I can't wait to get out of this city, but I looked at the standing first. With both the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals posting 59-95 records I have a choice to make. It doesn't look like I could go right with either team.

I believe that the rule I established last time would be I'd switch leagues in the case of a tie. If not that is my new rule. Also, looking at the pythagorean record, the Cardinals were actually worse. St Louis it is.

I'll be back to say goodbye to the Browns, and hello to the Cardinals. We'll be having a reunion of sorts with Greg Brock, Javier Valentin, and Bernie Friberg.

Yessssssss finally the first one!!! Congratulations! ! That's awesome! !
Still thousands of post behind but wanted to give you some feedback about your first world series in Sant Louis many months ago!!!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Sharkn20

Yessssssss finally the first one!!! Congratulations! ! That's awesome! !
Still thousands of post behind but wanted to give you some feedback about your first world series in Sant Louis many months ago!!!

That's awesome! And it brings back memories. If I remember correctly Josh Beckett was my nemesis, so it felt real good to finally beat him in the World Series!

[Sharkn20]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

That's awesome! And it brings back memories. If I remember correctly Josh Beckett was my nemesis, so it felt real good to finally beat him in the World Series!

Hahaha yes!!! And you loved the only nolan!! Didn't you? Go now to read your stint with the Cardinals!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Sharkn20

Hahaha yes!!! And you loved the only nolan!! Didn't you? Go now to read your stint with the Cardinals!

It's funny that I remember my hatred of Beckett more than my love of The Only Nolan. He was my first ace though, and was fun to watch though.

[Sharkn20]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

It's funny that I remember my hatred of Beckett more than my love of The Only Nolan. He was my first ace though, and was fun to watch though.

I liked that Nolan two. I can imagine him as a grand-dad surrounded of young pitchers trting to know how to throw a proper slider!

Now turning into the 5th year with the Cardinals after you lost 4-2 the world series probably cause half of your rotation went down in September!

[Trebro]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

I wanted to ask an opinion question, to anybody who wants to answer. We are now 18 years into the future, and I don't want to jinx anything, so I'll just say that I still have eight teams left, so best case scenario is wrapping up no sooner than 2060, and that's probably pushing it.

I did one round of expansion to get to 32 teams, but I was wondering if I'll reach a point where baseball would expand again. If so when?

I guess there is no right or wrong answer, and I'm in no rush, but if anybody wants to share there opinion that'd be great.

Perhaps 2046, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first record pro game? Or not until 2076, for the 200th of the National League? Or 2036, going to an appropriate 36 teams?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Perhaps 2046, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first record pro game? Or not until 2076, for the 200th of the National League? Or 2036, going to an appropriate 36 teams?

I do like the 200th anniversary idea, and also the idea of 36 teams. I like the idea of keeping the leagues even. That would also give me some time to figure out expansion cities, and how to realign, and who knows, maybe go on a run and avoid expansion.

[Sharkn20]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Elimination games feel a lot better when you are up 3-2 than when you are down 3-2, but my mind already started panicking that if we lost this game then we would be facing a winner take all game 7. I really wanted the Cardinals to put away the Indians today.

Jack McDowell got the start, and the Indians struck first with 2 runs in the top of the first. Jason LaRue led off the bottom of the 2nd with a double, followed by a Barry Bonds walk. Richie Zisk doubled home a run, moved to third on a wild pitch that scored the second run, and came in to score on a ground out to put the Cards up 3-2.

After an uneventful third inning, the Indians tied things up in the top of the fourth, where it would stay tied until the sixth inning.

Jason LaRue again started the inning off with a single, and Barry Bonds drove him home with a triple. Richie Zisk again came up big singling Bonds home to give us a 5-3 lead.

It's never easy though, as Eddie Collins, Sr. came up with two runners on base, and tripled them both home to tie up the game.

On to the bottom of the seventh, where Hersh Martin reached on an error to lead off the inning. A single by Honus Wagner, and a groundball to first base brought up Chipper Jones with runners on second and third with one down. Chipper hit a silent .300 for the series, but would make my last ditch trade worth it if he could deliver….

But the Indians decided to walk him to load the bases and face Jason LaRue. LaRue seems to have come up big this entire series, but he's hitting just .231. It's funny what you do and don't notice. LaRue knew his job though, and drove home the go ahead run with a sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately we couldn't score an insurance run, but fortunately we didn't need it.

We managed to hold on to the 6-5 lead and the St. Louis Cardinals have won the World Series.

I'll wrap things up in St. Louis next, then head back east to take on a team with one World Series title, which happened to come against the St. Louis Browns. Since the Pirates beat me twice that really narrows it down to two teams….

Uuuuhhhh haaaa you are awesome man! you won 2 with 2 different teams already in 15 years!!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Sharkn20

Uuuuhhhh haaaa you are awesome man! you won 2 with 2 different teams already in 15 years!!

I don't think any team was as hard as the first one (or the current one)!

[NYY #23]

Another strong start by a Knight pitcher has me wondering if this could be the year. It was Ferri Boere's turn to take the mound today and he pitched 7 1/3 innings while allowing just 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 10. Once again our bullpen didn't allow a run with Tim Rogers pitching the final inning and two thirds as the Knights go up 3 games to none against the Mariners.

We got home runs from Ryan Herring and Pete Woolford today, each two run shots with Ramon Feliz adding two hits and two RBI in our 7-1 win.

[NYY #23]

The Knights entered today's game with the Mariners needing just one win to advance to the American League Championship Series and used the same formula we used during the first three games to complete the sweep.

Daniel George would pick up the win today with 7 innings of one run ball, allowing just 5 hits and Mark Carver and Don Webb would come out of the pen to pitch an inning apiece without giving up a run to nail down the win.

Roberto Contreras would hit a solo home run while Francisco Carranza and Ricardo Martinez would pick up RBI doubles in the win.

[NYY #23]

The one team standing between the Carolina Knights and the World Series is the New York Yankees. We faced off against the Yankees six times this year, winning four of those games.

The Yankees strength is their offense, ranked 2nd in the league, while their pitching is ranked ninth. The Knights are built differently allowing the second fewest runs in the league while scoring the seventh most.

[illeracula]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

I did one round of expansion to get to 32 teams, but I was wondering if I'll reach a point where baseball would expand again. If so when?

That is a good question, because at 32 teams there are a lot more possibilities, such as 4 4-team divisions, or 2 8-team division in both leagues... now if you expand to 34 teams or 36 teams its not as "even" as it with 32.

That being said expansion is going to happen, I think I have heard rumors that Manfredi was thinking about it. Personally, I think where they are now is good, seems like good balance and the "bad" teams aren't really that "bad". Expand and I believe you will start to see more teams like the Marlins. Win then blow the team up.

I think 32 is the best, but with inter-league and the inevitable DH in both leagues, will it really matter? I say expand, but that means you will be running more teams like Charlotte with stingy ownership... maybe.

You could follow MLB suit, which would mean in 2033, ten years after your expansion, you are due... if you look at it in pairs MLB has never gone more than 8 years without expanding 2 times.

1961—Los Angeles Angels (now Anaheim) and Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers) join AL;
1962—Houston Colt .45s (now Astros) and New York Mets join NL;

1969—Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots (now Milwaukee Brewers) join AL, while Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres join NL;
1977—Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays join AL;

1993—Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins join NL;
1998—Arizona Diamondbacks join NL and Tampa Bay Devil Rays join AL.

2023-- Carolina Breaks and Montreal Expos


Ok I got a little long winded... thinking aloud... I say if you expand you should end up expanding the play-offs as well. MLB has the lowest percentage of teams make the playoffs of any other pro sport. Could be a reason why MLB is talking about lower the games back to 156...

I say expand... but only if you expand the playoffs (and you feel up to taking on more teams)
but if you are getting tired of it all then I say pass on the extra 2 or 4 teams and just enjoy the rest of the teams, as your loyal readers will be.

--- and finally good luck against the Yankees, its nice to see Kirby in line for the Game 1 start.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by illeracula

That is a good question, because at 32 teams there are a lot more possibilities, such as 4 4-team divisions, or 2 8-team division in both leagues... now if you expand to 34 teams or 36 teams its not as "even" as it with 32.

That being said expansion is going to happen, I think I have heard rumors that Manfredi was thinking about it. Personally, I think where they are now is good, seems like good balance and the "bad" teams aren't really that "bad". Expand and I believe you will start to see more teams like the Marlins. Win then blow the team up.

I think 32 is the best, but with inter-league and the inevitable DH in both leagues, will it really matter? I say expand, but that means you will be running more teams like Charlotte with stingy ownership... maybe.

You could follow MLB suit, which would mean in 2033, ten years after your expansion, you are due... if you look at it in pairs MLB has never gone more than 8 years without expanding 2 times.

1961—Los Angeles Angels (now Anaheim) and Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers) join AL;
1962—Houston Colt .45s (now Astros) and New York Mets join NL;

1969—Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots (now Milwaukee Brewers) join AL, while Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres join NL;
1977—Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays join AL;

1993—Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins join NL;
1998—Arizona Diamondbacks join NL and Tampa Bay Devil Rays join AL.

2023-- Carolina Breaks and Montreal Expos


Ok I got a little long winded... thinking aloud... I say if you expand you should end up expanding the play-offs as well. MLB has the lowest percentage of teams make the playoffs of any other pro sport. Could be a reason why MLB is talking about lower the games back to 156...

I say expand... but only if you expand the playoffs (and you feel up to taking on more teams)
but if you are getting tired of it all then I say pass on the extra 2 or 4 teams and just enjoy the rest of the teams, as your loyal readers will be.

--- and finally good luck against the Yankees, its nice to see Kirby in line for the Game 1 start.

Thanks for the feedback, and the suggestions. It's funny, but I was starting to reach a point where I was looking forward to this ending. I'm not sure if it's my struggles in Carolina, or the fact that the league is essentially 100% fictional, but I feel like it's been a good spark to rekindle my interest.

That said I'm still not 100% sure either way. I figure I'll take a few more days, get through the playoffs, and come up with a plan.

Thanks - I am happy we have things lined up with Kirby against the Yankees. I'm looking forward to the series, although after getting up early, spending the day in DC, and getting home late I think I'm too tired to start today, so I think I'm going to begin the series tomorrow.

[NYY #23]

The Knights got off to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Pete Woolford hit an RBI triple, Jose Hernandez an RBI single, and Ramon Galindo an RBI double.

Bob Kirby was on the mound for the Knights and entered the fifth inning working on a one hit shutout, but he quickly gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and the Yankees took the 4-3 lead. Kirby made it through the fifth, but hit the showers after Ricardo Martinez singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.

Steven Johnson came on to pitch the sixth for the Knights, and allowed the first run from our bullpen in the postseason this year.

The Yankees would take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth when Mike Greenawalt drew a walk followed by bac to back singles by Ken Blake and pinch hitter Francisco Carranza to tie the game.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth Ricardo Martinez would hit a walk off solo homer to give the Knights the 6-5 win. Don Webb would pick up the win after pitching the ninth.

[NYY #23]

I had a feeling our postseason winning streak would come to an end, despite hoping that it wouldn't. We got a solid start out of Jose Ruiz today, although it was a short one - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K. It would have looked a lot better if he could have gotten out Antonio Garcia too, who was 3-3 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored off Ruiz.

But my manager went to the pen early, trailing 2-1 and brought in Cole Patterson to pitch the sixth and seventh. He didn't allow a hit, so it's hard to argue with the results. Matt Carver allowed a run in the eighth, and pitched the final two innings.

Offensively things started off so well, when Francisco Carranza doubled home a run in the first to give us an early lead, but we wouldn't score again until a solo homer by Ricardo Martinez in the bottom of the eighth. With just 2 runs on 6 hits we went down without much of a fight as the Yankees tied up the series.

[mirrf]

How do you feel going against your favorite team the Yankees?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by mirrf

How do you feel going against your favorite team the Yankees?

Oh, I hate it. I'm ok during the regular season, but during the playoffs is the worst. I do keep track of all of my playoff opponents, and it's really been a rare occurrence that has happened just once before. That was with the Twins in 2017 where we beat the Yankees 4 games to 2 in the ALCS, and went on to win the World Series.

It's tough rooting against your team, but I'm hoping that history repeats itself this year.