Orcin's Story

[Orcin]

July 10, 2003

Subject: Trade Talks

Pittsburgh did not call begging for Mike MacIntosh. I called them looking for a place to dump Mike MacIntosh. Pittsburgh actually saw value in MacIntosh and the discussions began to heat up quickly.

I want to revamp the bullpen for next year, partly because of performance and also to free budget space to pursue a free agent starting pitcher. The top secret master plan includes voiding the $4 million 2004 team options on relievers Rodrigo Melendez and Mario Chavez. I need quality young relievers as potential replacements. I have Garza, Trejo, international free agent Jesus Barajas, and 2003 draft picks Francisco Rodriguez and Michael Guthrie. I would still like to find another young left-hander.

I searched for young left-handed relievers with stuff and movement, and discovered Nathaniel Jones in Pittsburgh’s farm system. Jones is 21 and was a supplemental pick in the 2002 draft. Candelaria calls him a potential Hall of Fame reliever, but he has said that before. That’s why I want three or four of these guys, hopeful that he hits on one.

Jones is available for the right price. Pittsburgh is sort of rebuilding but they need help immediately in a couple of spots. I have some spare parts that can help them now, and MacIntosh fits in their bullpen and budget. It didn’t take long to reach a deal.

Sims will go back to the bullpen after this deal and Ray Alexander will return to the rotation. Chris Patterson was also demoted to AAA and newcomer Jesus Barajas was called up for an audition. I will resist the temptation to call up Garza for a little longer.

[Orcin]

July 10, 2003 (BNN)

Subject: Louisville Sends MacIntosh to Pittsburgh for AAA closer

Louisville and Pittsburgh have made a swap. The Colonels send 32-year-old reliever Mike MacIntosh, 27-year-old minor league right fielder Dale Harris and 22-year-old minor league shortstop Anderson Cunningham to the Warriors in return for 21-year-old minor league closer Nathaniel Jones.

Jones, a lefty, was the 44th overall pick in the 2002 draft out of Youngstown State. He had recorded 18 saves with a 0.47 ERA in AA and was promoted to AAA only a week before the trade. Louisville GM Otto Orcin said that Jones would report to the Colonels’ AAA team in Lexington. The Colonels have recalled starter Ray Alexander (3-5, 5.35) from AAA to replace MacIntosh on the active roster.

The Colonels moved three players and $4 million in salary from their 40-man roster to acquire Jones. Former closer Mike MacIntosh, who has struggled this season while shuffling between the majors and AAA, was a key to the deal for Pittsburgh.

MacIntosh recorded 42 saves and a 1.42 ERA in 2001 with Louisville, but he currently has a 4.71 ERA with only four saves. Pittsburgh is hoping that a switch of leagues for MacIntosh will help him be an effective setup man for closer Tynan Casey, who has seen his own troubles this season with a 6.34 ERA, 4 blown saves, and a 2-6 record.

Harris will take over center field for the Warriors and bat leadoff while regular CF Slamet Nitisastro recovers from an injury. Pittsburgh lacks a right-handed bat in their outfield and Harris can play all three spots. The Warriors added three players to their major league roster in return for one prospect, and have to be viewed as the early winners in this trade.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Sal, The Barber

Sal wonders if Duncan Bland can hit in the #2 spot. Sal thinks that might be the one move to make with the lineup. And then Sal will just remind you, Mr. Orcin, that the Louie-ville boys are in the first place. Do not worry so much. Come see Sal. He will put the hot towel on your face and give you the relaxing shave. The boys are doing fine.

Good points, Sal. Both of them. Byrne has also suggested putting Bland in the #2 spot. He has decent speed so he won't clog the bases, but he hasn't learn to steal effectively yet. Payne is on second base quite a bit between the doubles and the stolen bases. I will think about it some more tomorrow morning with a hot towel around my face.

P.S. I won't need any more tonic for MacIntosh. Be sure to thank your friends for me. Indeed, it DID make him look more attractive just like they said it would.

[Orcin]

July 13, 2003 (BNN)

Subject: All-Star Rosters Announced

The votes are tallied and the players have been chosen -- all that's left is to "Play Ball"! It's time once again for the midyear classic where the league's premier performers come together to show their skill and talent. The All-Stars from the Federal League and the Patriot League are set to tangle to determine which league is the best.

The roster for the Federal League is:

SP Alfredo Acosta (SLC) - 9-1, 3.10 ERA
SP Ronald Austin (DAL) - 10-3, 1.40 ERA
SP Charles Combs (STL) - 10-6, 3.01 ERA
SP Carlos De La Cruz (DAL) - 11-4, 3.24 ERA
SP Todd Fletcher (LOU) - 11-3, 2.75 ERA
SP Bryan Hancock (DEN) - 11-8, 3.10 ERA
SP Kenny Lewis (SD) - 9-4, 2.89 ERA
SP Francisco Ortíz (MIL) - 9-5, 2.74 ERA
CL Nick Davis (DEN) - 1-2, 22 SV, 1.18 ERA
CL David Hanna (MIL) - 2-3, 20 SV, 1.70 ERA
CL Miguel Morán (SLC) - 1-0, 30 SV, 0.90 ERA
CL Michael Morton (PHX) - 3-1, 17 SV, 1.45 ERA
C Francisco Flores (HOU) - .232/.343/.430, 12 HR, 36 RBI
C Duncan Bland (LOU) - .292/.368/.584, 13 HR, 36 RBI
1B Josh Haley (LA) - .279/.314/.631, 31 HR, 77 RBI
1B Alejandro Fernández (SD) - .275/.401/.502, 18 HR, 54 RBI
1B Paolo Bogliolo (CHI) - .317/.384/.586, 22 HR, 52 RBI
2B Tomás Barrón (SLC) - .331/.383/.459, 6 HR, 50 RBI
2B Tom Henry (SEA) - .294/.390/.474, 14 HR, 56 RBI
3B Lúcio Martínez (LOU) - .323/.379/.503, 17 HR, 56 RBI
3B King Zimmerman (HOU) - .311/.382/.443, 7 HR, 32 RBI
SS Manuel Fernández (SEA) - .267/.332/.481, 17 HR, 59 RBI
LF Dennis Morgan (LOU) - .301/.365/.671, 33 HR, 76 RBI
LF Gerard Turner (IND) - .312/.367/.525, 11 HR, 46 RBI
CF Brock Richardson (DAL) - .366/.428/.665, 25 HR, 59 RBI
RF Yann Rey (SD) - .295/.336/.605, 23 HR, 78 RBI
RF Girard Maini (IND) - .277/.349/.545, 20 HR, 65 RBI
RF Justin Holden (SEA) - .279/.349/.578, 20 HR, 41 RBI

The roster for the Patriot League is:

SP Vic Baldwin (CIN) - 7-4, 2.79 ERA
SP Justin Bell (DET) - 6-5, 2.50 ERA
SP Curt Blair (ATL) - 12-4, 2.25 ERA
SP Bill Davis (CLE) - 10-7, 3.53 ERA
SP Jesús De La Cruz (NY) - 13-1, 2.38 ERA
SP Dean Dickson (DET) - 13-3, 2.89 ERA
SP David Harrison (BAL) - 10-4, 2.48 ERA
SP Gilberto Huertas (PHI) - 11-7, 3.03 ERA
CL Gabriel Aldape (BAL) - 2-1, 31 SV, 2.31 ERA
CL Eric Alford (CIN) - 7-2, 24 SV, 1.02 ERA
CL Ismael Carranza (ATL) - 8-4, 16 SV, 2.13 ERA
CL Rafael Salinas (PHI) - 5-3, 18 SV, 1.41 ERA
C Tim Klein (BAL) - .279/.347/.482, 14 HR, 42 RBI
C Roberto Vásquez (CIN) - .301/.334/.554, 18 HR, 59 RBI
1B Ramón López (ATL) - .350/.437/.574, 17 HR, 68 RBI
1B Ángel López (CLE) - .306/.419/.552, 20 HR, 62 RBI
1B Craig Jackson (CIN) - .321/.405/.591, 22 HR, 55 RBI
1B Jon Schultz (CLT) - .385/.464/.815, 37 HR, 87 RBI
2B Leo McDonald (CLT) - .349/.378/.526, 11 HR, 51 RBI
3B Ben Daniels (BAL) - .335/.416/.430, 0 HR, 22 RBI
SS Juan Sandoval (PHI) - .337/.385/.530, 7 HR, 43 RBI
SS Grant Williams (ATL) - .331/.416/.497, 9 HR, 54 RBI
LF Jorge Núñez (CIN) - .358/.404/.608, 19 HR, 48 RBI
LF Joe Holloway (PHI) - .324/.410/.673, 32 HR, 76 RBI
LF Luis Fuentes (CLE) - .307/.371/.685, 26 HR, 71 RBI
CF Ángel Quintero (ATL) - .281/.412/.405, 7 HR, 28 RBI
CF Grady Townsley (NY) - .230/.304/.487, 16 HR, 44 RBI
RF Chris Pruitt (DET) - .336/.373/.613, 20 HR, 69 RBI

[Orcin]

July 14, 2003

Subject: Week 14 Notes

Record: 50-40, .556, - GB
Position: 1st place (5.5 game lead)
Runs Scored: 463 – 2nd in Federal
Runs Allowed: 376 – 6th in Federal
Defense: .684 – 12th in Federal
Power Ranking: 100.0 (13th in CBA)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 87/100

• Last week (3-4): 2-1 vs. Phoenix, 1-3 vs. Salt Lake City
• Dennis Morgan was 3-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs to lead an 11-4 drubbing of Phoenix on Monday. Simon and Lucio Martinez also had three hits in the game.
• Todd Fletcher moved his record to 11-3 by beating Phoenix 5-1 in the rubber game of the series.
• The bullpen continues to plague the team by blowing another save in the first game of the Salt Lake City series. Trejo and Sanders combined to lose this one.
• The young pitchers at the back of our rotation did not fool the powerful Salt Lake City offense and we were badly out-classed in the series.
• Harry Hall was named Player of the Week after abusing our pitching staff.
• The Providence Grays (29-58, last place, 22 GB) fired their manager and GM. It’s unusual to see a GM fired in mid-season.
• The Orlando Sharks (35-54, last place, 16 GB) fired manager Jose Hurtado. I felt like Hurtado did not have the experience to handle a major-league job when they hired him out of AA.
• Pittsburgh traded Slamet Nitisastro back to Cincinnati after getting Dale Harris in the trade with us. They are making a lot of moves ahead of the deadline.
• This week: All-Star break followed by the special inter-league home & home series featuring two games at Charlotte followed by a pair at home with the Knights.

[Orcin]

2003 Mid-Season Recap: Louisville Colonels
(courtesy of cbatraderumors.com)

The Louisville Colonels have overcome a sluggish start to reclaim their familiar post atop the Federal League Midwest Division. But are they really that good, or is the rest of the division still that weak?

The offense is that good. The Colonels keep finding ways to boost run production. Silas Campbell is getting older and less productive? No problem, just plug in Dennis Morgan for MVP-caliber power numbers. Chris Brown is having an off-year (for him)? Don’t worry about it because Lucio Martinez is having a career year (for anybody). Julio Martinez is a Gold Glove catcher, but what about his .230 batting average? Rookie of the Year candidate Duncan Bland, an All-Star offensive player who might have his own Gold Glove at the end of this season, comes to the rescue.

Ah, but the pitching staff… there’s the rub. The ace of the staff is Todd Fletcher, and he is back to the form that garnered him the Outstanding Pitcher Award in 2001. After that, there is a combination of spotty performance and just downright bad performance. The bullpen is a carnival game with one good prize and six useless trinkets. GM Otto Orcin has tried everything from shuffling responsibilities to demotions to trades. There are even rumors of voodoo but nothing has worked.

Despite the pitching woes, the Colonels probably have enough firepower to win this division. How far they go after that depends upon the pitching staff. At this point in the season, they don’t look capable of slowing down Salt Lake City, Dallas, San Diego or Seattle in a playoff series. Perhaps they have enough offense to win anyway.

[5cards]

It sounds to me like you need to go trolling the poor-performing teams and look for that one gem of a pitcher that you can fit to your rotation. Then I suggest that you go out and invest in a robotics facility so you can manufacture relievers (you can use them in two ways - they can get rid of the old relievers as well!).

[Orcin]

July 15, 2003

Subject: Defense

The Internet pundits at cbatraderumors.com write cute and clever things about the team, but they don’t always have the right answers. It’s easy to say that pitching has been the problem, but the real problem has been the defense. Our defensive efficiency is #12 in our league. We don’t get to enough balls and we don’t field them consistently when we do get there. I reach this conclusion by benchmarking our team against the competition.

There are 30 teams in the CBA but not every team has a regular at every position, so let’s assume that there are 24 regulars at each position. The first figure for each position shown in the table below is the range factor (balls the fielder makes a play on) for the first quartile (top 6 players) in the CBA compared to my player. The second figure is the fielding percentage (balls fielded successfully) compared to my player. Finally, I assign a subjective grade based primarily on where the player fell in the overall rankings. I am ignoring catcher for this exercise but I assure you that catcher is not the problem.

1B: CBA RF 10.08, Brown 9.78; CBA FPCT .995, Brown .995; Grade B+
2B: CBA RF 5.15, Bennett 4.93; CBA FPCT .992, Bennett .983; Grade B
3B: CBA RF 2.54, Martinez 2.92; CBA FPCT .980, Martinez .980; Grade A
SS: CBA RF 4.68, Simon 4.03; CBA FPCT .987, Simon .967; Grade C
LF: CBA RF 2.20, Morgan 1.70; CBA FPCT .994, Morgan .985; Grade C+
CF: CBA RF 2.69, Payne 2.12; CBA FPCT .995, Payne .982; Grade C
RF: CBA RF 1.82, Banks 1.65; CBA FPCT .993, Banks .963; Grade C-

The shocking truth is that we have a top 25% defensive player at only one position: Lucio Martinez at third base. We are barely in the top half at all other positions and sometimes below.

The infield is not too bad overall, except shortstop where Simon is performing way below his capability. There is some hope that Simon, playing a very key position, will perform better in the second half. His range factor was 4.40 last year (10% better) and for a shortstop that’s a big difference. Bennett and Brown are good enough.

The outfield is barely mediocre and that’s the big problem. Look at the range factors for the corner outfielders. They are very poor, and the center fielder has to compensate for that lack of range. Unfortunately, Payne has mediocre range. So our outfield turns a lot of fly balls into hits and singles into extra base hits. That’s a big reason why our pitchers have high (over .300) BABIPs and low FIP figures compared to their ERA. Our starting pitchers are better than their performance to date. The bullpen is affected too, because the starters throw fewer innings so the bullpen pitches more innings and more often.

This is not an easy problem to fix, but the solution to improving my pitching is to replace Payne with a great defensive center fielder. It is time to check the trade market.

[5cards]

On behalf of the pundits everywhere I want to state that I resemble those remarks! :P I also want to state that the information provided does change things quite a bit. Had I had that information in the first place, I would not have arrived at my current conclusions.

[Sal, The Barber]

Originally Posted by Orcin

July 10, 2003 (BNN)

Subject: Louisville Sends MacIntosh to Pittsburgh for AAA closer

Jones, a lefty, was the 44th overall pick in the 2002 draft out of Youngstown State.

As you know, Mr. Orcin, Sal has a special place in his heart for Youngstown State. Sal learned his trade there while he was flunking out of school. This Jones must be special. He's a mighty mighty YSU Penguin! Of course, YSU has no good tradition in baseball or basketball and they don't even play the ice hockey. Even when they call the football stadium the ice castle. But Sal digresses. This Jones is a YSU success story!

[Orcin]

5cards: I thought a starting pitcher was the answer myself. Then the defense idea came to me and I did the analysis. Now, I am off in a different direction.

Sal: I thought you would like Jones. In fact, I knew you would.

[Orcin]

July 16, 2003

Subject: Trade Market for Center Fielders with Defensive Skills

The best defensive center fielder in the CBA is Fernando Martinez of the Baltimore Robins. He is struggling offensively this season but has huge potential at age 26. He hits for power and has blazing speed. The Robins will trade him for Payne plus a minor prospect.

I know you are saying – wait a minute, they will trade him for Payne? Why? Martinez is hitting .217 at mid-season and the Robins are eighth in the Patriot League in offense. Of course, they are third in defense and first in pitching, but please don’t tell them about my data and conclusions. The second, and maybe more important reason, is money.

The Robins are way over budget and the owner is a penny-pincher. Martinez is signed for five years at $60 million so he is pretty expensive now and in the future. We would need to cut $5 million per year from our payroll to afford Martinez over what we have budgeted for Payne. Tempting, but let’s see what else is out there.

The only center fielder in the same class (offense and defense) as Fernando Martinez is Atlanta’s Angel Quintero, who is not in a slump. He leads the majors in stolen bases and will start tonight’s all-star game for the Patriot League. When I asked Atlanta about trading Payne for Quintero, Atlanta GM Mike Lambert said, “You’re kidding, right?”

The best center fielder in range factor this season is Salt Lake City’s Eric Sheehan. He is not a strong offensive player like Martinez and Quintero, but he is also significantly cheaper. The Bees would take Payne back for Sheehan if I add a decent minor league player. I don’t think that is a good deal for me. I would expect them to add a player.

A similar player to Sheehan is Washington CF Manuel Jaramillo. Washington would love to juice their offense with Payne, who could bat third for them. Jaramillo is a year younger than Payne and $1-2 million per year cheaper. The Admirals are broke and they will only trade Jaramillo for Payne if I add enough cash to cover the difference in salaries. I have the cash. Jaramillo is not quite the offensive player that Payne is, but he is not terrible either. He has a .266 lifetime average, draws some walks, steals 20-30 bases per year, and has great gap power. His lifetime OPS+ is 110.

The impressive thing about Jaramillo is his defense. He can just flat out go get the ball, doesn’t drop many, and his arm is a cannon. He has a career range factor in CF of 2.69, a career fielding percentage of .994, and he averages seven outfield assists per year. The assists would be higher but no one will run on him.

So do I stand pat with Payne or make a trade? If I make a trade, do I go for the great player that I can’t really afford and trim somewhere else to make the money work? Or do I trade for a player that fits my needs and my budget but compromises my offensive output somewhat? I’m going to watch the all-star game and mull it over.

[Orcin]

July 17, 2003 (BNN)

Subject: Louisville and Washington Agree to Trade

A trade was announced today at a press conference in Louisville. Not satisfied with their current roster, the Louisville Colonels general manager shook things up by acquiring 27-year-old center fielder Manuel Jaramillo and 25-year-old closer Jim Wilson from the Washington Admirals for 29-year-old right fielder Terrence Banks and 22-year-old minor league third baseman Wilson Allen. The Colonels general manager said, "We're a better team now. We've added several pieces to the puzzle."

To date this season Banks is hitting .289 with 14 home runs. For the season Jaramillo is batting .246 with 67 hits and 6 home runs. He has scored 33 times and batted in 36. Wilson has 24 saves and a 2.91 ERA in 43 appearances this year.

**********

Fooled you, didn’t I? The trade was originally for Payne but the Admirals really wanted Banks. He is cheaper than Payne so I didn’t need to include cash, and they were willing to include another quality major league player to get Banks. This trade deals out of my strength (home run power) and addresses two weaknesses (bullpen and defense), so trading Banks was the best solution. Baltimore was willing to trade Fernando Martinez for Banks, but I preferred the combo of Jaramillo and Wilson for the same total dollars.

A key to this trade was getting Wilson, who should upgrade the bullpen and is young enough to fit my future plans as either the closer to succeed Sanders or as the setup man. Candelaria says “if you don’t have Wilson closing games, you must have one of the best bullpens in baseball.” Wilson will be the setup man for Sanders, so I just made the leap from “downright bad” to “one of the best” bullpens.

Overall, the outfield defensive alignment is much improved. Payne will move to left, his natural position where he is rated 9/10. Morgan will play right field, where he is rated 6/10 and no worse than Banks. Morgan will cover more ground than Banks and make fewer errors but his arm is weaker. Jaramillo is of course 10/10 in center field.

The lineup won’t change much. Bland will move up to the sixth spot previously occupied by Banks, and Jaramillo will bat seventh. We will hit fewer home runs, but we will draw more walks, steal more bases, strike out less, and play much better defense. I hope that is the winning formula for the second half of the season and beyond. It needs to work quickly because fans are outraged that I traded the popular Banks and fan interest has crashed. Winning will fix that soon enough (I hope).

[Sal, The Barber]

You put the wool over Sal's eyes. Yes, Mr. Orcin, you fooled Ol' Sal by trading someone he didn't think you would trade.

But Sal is too distracted to notice at the moment. You see, he is still fixated on this Jones from Youngstown. You know, that the founder of Youngstown College--as it was known back then--was also the name of Jones. There is a statue of President Jones on campus; he was the founder and first president. Sal knows. As an alumnus, Sal donated to the statue. Well, ok, maybe Sal exaggerates a little bit; Sal is not an alumnus, but it is the only school from which Sal was expelled. Sal considers that alumni status.

But better than the statue, the oldest building on campus is Jones Hall. Your Jones could tell you all of this, Mr. Orcin, of course. But Sal likes to feel useful, and Sal is an old man who does not feel much any more. Jones Hall is the signature building on campus. You must send your Jones to see Sal some day soon. We have lots to talk about, n'est pas?

[Orcin]

July 21, 2003

Subject: Week 15 Notes

Record: 54-40 .574, - GB
Position: 1st place (7.5 game lead)
Runs Scored: 480 – 2nd in Federal
Runs Allowed: 377 – 5th in Federal
Defense: .689 – 11th in Federal
Power Ranking: 109.4 (4th in CBA)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 82/100


• Last week (4-0): 2-0 at Charlotte, 2-0 vs. Charlotte
• The Federal League won the All-Star Game 8-6. The Louisville position players all started and played most of the game. Fletcher pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
• Reliever Jesus Barajas was optioned to AAA to make room for Jim Wilson on the active roster. Jaramillo replaced Banks.
• Robert Westaway tossed a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and only one walk in the first game after the All-Star break.
• Manuel Jaramillo was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a homer in his first game with the Colonels.
• Todd Fletcher went 7.1 innings, allowing one run for his 12th win in the second road game. Sanders picked up his 20th save.
• SP Ricardo Martinez (age 33) still really wants a contract extension at six years, $72 million ($12M/yr). We still really want compensation picks instead.
• Ricardo Martinez punctuated his contract extension demand by throwing a 2-hit shutout against Charlotte, winning 1-0.
• Chip Davidson followed Martinez with his own three-hit shutout, striking out seven while walking only one.
• The Charleston Generals fired long-time manager Jordan Robinson, who had been there since 1992. The Generals won one championship and made the playoffs four times during Robinson’s tenure.
• This week: 3 vs. Orlando, 3 at Nashville


We had three shutouts by Colonels pitchers in the last four games!

Charlotte only scored one run in the four-game series. We solved the bullpen problem by keeping them off the field (1.2 innings in the four games). Did the improved outfield defense contribute to this long weekend of outstanding starting pitching?

[Galeg]

Great thread Orcin!

[Orcin]

July 28, 2003

Subject: Week 16 Notes

Record: 59-41 .590, - GB
Position: 1st place (10.5 game lead)
Runs Scored: 519 – 2nd in Federal
Runs Allowed: 384 – 3rd in Federal
Defense: .694 – 8th in Federal (up from 12th two weeks ago)
Power Ranking: 115.2 (3rd in CBA)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 82/100

• Last week (5-1): 3-0 vs. Orlando, 2-1 at Nashville
• Ray Alexander and David O’Daniel combined to keep the shutout string going as we beat Orlando 4-0 on Monday.
• Robert Westaway and Lucas Sanders combined for a fourth consecutive shutout on Tuesday, making it one run allowed in the past six games! McGlone went 2-3 with a homer and drove in both runs in the 2-0 win.
• Fletcher allowed a run to break the shutout streak in a 9-1 win on Wednesday. We got three scoreless innings from the bullpen to finish the rout.
• Ricardo Martinez pitched his second straight two-hit shutout to beat Nashville in the opener of that series.
• The win streak was finally snapped at 8 when Jim Wilson lost his first game for the Colonels 6-5 in the tenth. It is hard to blame the poor guy since he hadn’t pitched in two weeks!
• Ray Alexander and Rodrigo Melendez started a new streak on Sunday, combining for a two-hit shutout over Nashville. Alexander walked four and had thrown too many pitches to finish the game.
• This week: 3 at St. Louis, 3 vs. Phoenix


Pierre-Louis Simon was rewarded with the Federal League Player of the Week honors. The scrappy Louisville Colonels shortstop hit .538 while collecting 14 hits in 26 at-bats, 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. So far this season Simon has put up a .304 batting average with 91 hits, 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. He leads the Federal league with 29 stolen bases in 35 attempts. Simon currently has an 18-game hitting streak.

What an incredible two-week stretch of pitching! We have thrown seven shutouts in our last ten games. If Nashville hadn’t scored six in one of the games, I might be concerned that the league was broken. I have managed three or four games during the streak, and I really can see the difference in the defense. The real test will come this week when we play division rival St. Louis for three key games.

[Orcin]

This thread just went over 10,000 views this morning, and I want to say thank you to everyone that is reading and participating. This is a labor of love and I can't call it work. I do it for myself because I like to do it. But the main reason that I like to do it is getting to share the fun of the game with others that have the same passion for it. Something exciting happens, and I can't wait to tell you. Without you, this would be drudgery and I would quickly tire of it. So thanks again to everyone, and especially you boys down at the barber shop.

[Orcin]

August 4, 2003

Subject: Week 17 Notes

Record: 64-42 .604, - GB
Position: 1st place (13.5 game lead)
Runs Scored: 547 – 3rd in Federal
Runs Allowed: 404 – 3rd in Federal
Defense: .695 – 8th in Federal
Power Ranking: 118.7 (2nd in CBA)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 82/100


• Last week (5-1): 2-1 at St. Louis, 3-0 vs. Phoenix
• Tuesday’s opener against St. Louis proved the shutout magic was over. The bullpen struggled to save it for Westaway but got the job done, and we won 4-3.
• Charles Combs (12-7, 2.73) defeated Todd Fletcher (13-4, 2.55) by a score of 1-0 in the second St. Louis game, a classic pitcher’s duel between two of the best.
• Pierre-Louis Simon’s hitting streak was snapped by Combs at 19.
• Ricardo Martinez is putting together a great contract drive. He held St. Louis to one earned run in 7 innings to win the rubber game of the series. Lucio Martinez won the game with a three-run homer in the eighth inning.
• David O’Daniel and Sanders pitched a scoreless final two innings. O’Daniel (2.19 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 11 holds) is quietly making a case to be the setup man.
• Howard Archuleta was activated from his rehab assignment and will take over at second base. Archuleta is an outstanding defensive player. We’ll see if he can hit.
• Bennett is not bad defensively but he was not hitting lately. Bennett and Aponte will be the utility men for the time being.
• Tom John was demoted to AAA to make room for Archuleta, but John made a good impression while he was here.
• St. Louis traded former Colonels pitcher Fraser Wall (8-7, 3.97) to the Chicago Cougars at the deadline. Wall will be a free agent at the end of the season.
• This week: 3 vs. Charleston, 3 at Denver


We were 18-8 in July and 11-2 since the All-Star break. We are still 4 games below our Pythagorean record, but we are improving rapidly in one-run wins. Our Player of the Month is July was SS Pierre-Louis Simon. He had a 19-game hitting streak, batting .352 with 7 home runs, 25 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases. Our Pitcher of the Month was a tough choice, but it goes to SP Robert Westaway (4-0, 2.19 ERA, 1.05 WHIP in July).

[5cards]

Originally Posted by Orcin

This thread just went over 10,000 views this morning, and I want to say thank you to everyone that is reading and participating. This is a labor of love and I can't call it work. I do it for myself because I like to do it. But the main reason that I like to do it is getting to share the fun of the game with others that have the same passion for it. Something exciting happens, and I can't wait to tell you. Without you, this would be drudgery and I would quickly tire of it. So thanks again to everyone, and especially you boys down at the barber shop.

I have to say, Orcin, that your thread is a classic when it comes to OOTP dynasties. I enjoy reading it each and every day. I also enjoy being able to drop comments in and have you respond to them in many unique and interesting ways. 10,000 views is quite an achievement and I hope that you will collect many more views in the future and have many many many more posts. I continue to look forward to reading it and I hope that I can, in some small way, emulate you in my own dynasty.