Monty Brewster Baseball Association Recruiting Thread (historical) - Page 4

thefreaks · 02-06-2003, 12:47 PM

We are also approaching the trade deadline in the MBBA, and a solid Salt Lake City squad is in a heated division race with the Las Vegas Hustlers in the Frick League Pacific division. Whoever finishes second in the FL Pacific has an excellent shot at making the inaugural MBBA playoffs as a wild card!

The MBBA is an exciting league, with tight pennant races in nearly every division. In addition, over half the league regularly attends the live sims, which is a great place to talk trade as well. The league has several beat writers, and the majority of owners post team updates after every sim.

Come join us! Great opportunity for an active owner to have a lot of fun!

Wildcard88 · 02-06-2003, 01:08 PM

If you like a strong pitching squad, Salt Lake City Missions are certainly your team. Send in your interest now because the trade deadline comes with this Sunday's sim.

Hurry up and send in a request to the Commish and maybe you'll make it in by tonight's sim.

mad0die · 03-01-2003, 09:46 AM

The Monty Brewster Baseball Association has recently completed their inaugural season. The Honolulu Typhoon won the Landis Memorial Series capping a remarkable 11-0 playoff run.

Since crowning our champion, we have proceeded to the next season with OOTP5. We are now 19 games into 1974 and we have our first opening of the new season. The Salt Lake City Missions need you! This team had the best record in the Frick League last season, but were upset by the Montreal Blazers in the 1st round of the playoffs.

We are a fictional league competing against the MLB of our time. There will be a few MLB defectors over to the MBBA every season. The league was designed to be extremely owner active on the forums and has proven to be such. We do live sims three times a week, which really lends itself to owner interaction and overall league enjoyment.

If you are interested, please register for our message board and answer the following questions in the Waiting List forum:

Name:
Email:
AIM ID:
OOTP Boards ID:
Do you have OOTP5?
How often are you on AIM?
Willing to write a sim report for your team at least once a week?
Willing to write periodic articles for the league and participate in polls?
Availability for live sim chats Tue, Thu, Sun at 9pm CST?
Have you read the Rules?
What interests you about the MBBA?
Questions/Comments/Concerns:

I will be looking on AIM this evening for anyone who has signed up in our Waiting List. Our next sim is Tues night and I would like the new owner to be able to submit changes for this sim.

Newbies to OOTP online are definitely welcome!

JWay · 03-01-2003, 03:03 PM

This league is great, I recommend you sign-up soon!

Wildcard88 · 03-01-2003, 03:04 PM

As I mention in another post, only 12 teams per league and 4 playoff teams per league. 1/3 of each league makes the playoffs. Those are pretty good odds, especially since the league's worst team is already taken (sorry yet again Maddie

)

mad0die · 03-01-2003, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wildcard88
As I mention in another post, only 12 teams per league and 4 playoff teams per league. 1/3 of each league makes the playoffs. Those are pretty good odds, especially since the league's worst team is already taken (sorry yet again Maddie )

I prop Steve "he clocked the sh!t out of that one" Clockmer and Vernon "Homer" Simpson every chance I get and this is my payback?! The Lightning will definitely be circling our games against the Blazers this upcoming season.

Wildcard88 · 03-01-2003, 10:59 PM

Hey, I cannot help you have our league's version of Coors Field combined with apparently letting hitters use aluminum bats at your park.

Just think of it this way, it is a lot harder to fill the vacancies if the teams are all lousy.

mad0die · 03-03-2003, 01:35 AM

Two teams just opened up!

Recte44 · 03-06-2003, 12:58 AM

Six players from MLB have filed for free agency in the Monty Brewster Baseball Association (MBBA) this evening, league offices report.

The six are an interesting mix. Three players just beginning their careers, one who never really had a career, one at the end of a decent career, and one at the end of a Hall of Fame career!

1B Pete LaCock
The son of TV game-show host Peter Marshall, LaCock was the American Association MVP in 1974 (.327, 23 HR, 91 RBI). His career had stalled with the Cubs where he has yet to live up to the potential he showed in the minors.

SP Bill Parsons
Parsons was the number-two starter for the last-place Brewers, going 13-17, 3.20 in 1971 and 13-13, 3.91 in 1972. He was named TSN's AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year for his 1971 effort, and was runner-up to Chris Chambliss in the BBWAA vote for Rookie of the Year. He's gone through some injury problems in the last season and has begun to slip from favor, so he's seeking refuge in the MBBA.

RF Gorman Thomas
He was the first player ever picked by the Seattle Pilots in the June 1969 draft. A two-time minor league home run champion, Thomas's frequent strikeouts and low batting average kept him from a steady major league job, so he's coming to the MBBA to establish himself.

1B Joe Pepitone
Pepitone joined the Yankees in 1962, playing behind Moose Skowron at first base. Fun-loving and carefree, he spent his $20,000 signing bonus on a fancy car and a motorboat. Pepitone had a powerful swing and an excellent glove, and some of Pepitone's tougher friends thought he should be the regular first baseman ahead of Skowron. They offered to help Joe out by breaking Skowron's legs; Pepitone declined. The Yankee brass believed he could handle the job and before the 1963 season traded Skowron to the Dodgers. Pepitone responded admirably, hitting .271 with 27 HR and 89 RBI. He went on to win three Gold Gloves, but in the 1963 World Series he made an infamous error. With the score tied 1-1 in the seventh inning of Game Four, he lost a routine Clete Boyer throw in the white shirtsleeves of the Los Angeles crowd, and the batter, Jim Gilliam, went all the way to third base and scored the Series-winning run on a sacrifice fly. He redeemed himself somewhat in the 1964 Series against the Cardinals with a Game Six grand slam.

The ever-popular Pepitone remained a fixture throughout the decade, even playing centerfield after bad knees reduced Mickey Mantle's mobility. After the 1969 season he was traded to the Astros for Curt Blefary. Later he played for the Cubs and finished his major league career with the Braves.

Pepitone played baseball in Japan for three years, but the regimented Japanese didn't know what to make of the free-spirited Pepitone, who was unhappy away from home. He jumped the Yakult Sparrows in 1973 while hitting .163, becoming a one-man international incident. He came home and eventually has landed in the MBBA.

Jeff Torborg
Torborg reportedly received the Los Angeles Dodgers' first $100,000 bonus in 1963 when he was signed out of Rutgers, where his .537 batting average in his senior year set an NCAA record which still stands. Though he stayed with LA from 1964 through 1970, he was always a backup catcher, behind Johnny Roseboro and Tom Haller. In California, Torborg found himself on the receiving end of some of the most memorable games in Dodger history. He caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965, Bill Singer's no-hitter on July 20, 1970, and the fifth of Don Drysdale's six consecutive 1968 shutouts. Later as an Angel, Torborg caught Nolan Ryan's May 15, 1973 no-hitter. MLB teams soured on his status as a player, suggesting he become a manager. Jeff, not quite ready to do that, bolts to the MBBA.

Willie Mays
Considered by many the greatest player of all time, Mays was the prototype of the complete player; he hit for average and power, ran the bases with intelligence and speed, played a spectacular centerfield, and possessed a great arm. He was also remarkably durable, playing in at least 150 games for 13 consecutive seasons.

Mays starred in baseball, basketball, and football at Birmingham, Alabama's Fairfax Industrial High School before joining the Birmingham Barons of the Negro National League at age 17. The New York Giants purchased his contract in 1950, and he played for Trenton of the Interstate League, then joined the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers of the American Association in 1951. In his 35-game stay at Minneapolis, he hit a sizzling .477, and the Giants called him up in late May 1951.

Mays had a discouraging 0-for-12 start with the struggling Giants. Manager Leo Durocher kept his spirits up by declaring that despite his poor start, Mays was and would remain the Giants' full-time centerfielder that season. His first hit was the first home run of his ML career, off Warren Spahn. It helped Mays to end his slump, and he became one of the sparks that ignited the Giants in their classic, come-from-behind pennant chase, climaxed by Bobby Thomson's dramatic ninth-inning playoff home run that beat Brooklyn for the NL championship. Mays was on deck when Thomson hit it out. His World Series debut saw him play opposite future cross-river rival Mickey Mantle, who was also a rookie. The meeting foreshadowed the debate of nearly a decade about who among Mays, Mantle, and Brooklyn's Duke Snider was the greatest New York centerfielder of the 1950s.

Mays served in the army in 1952 and 1953, and the Giants finished second and fifth, respectively. He returned to the Polo Grounds in 1954, leading the NL with a .345 batting average with 41 homers and 110 RBI to help the Giants to the NL flag. The 1954 World Series is most often remembered for a marvelous outfield play by Mays in the first game. With the score tied late in the game, Indians first baseman Vic Wertz clubbed a long drive to deep centerfield at the Polo Grounds. At the crack of the bat, Mays turned his back to the plate, raced for the outfield wall, glanced up at the last minute, and pulled the ball in over his shoulder. Nearly 430 feet from the plate, he whirled and threw on a line to the infield. The play killed the Indians' threat, and the Giants won the game and swept the Series.

In 1955, his last season under manager Durocher, Mays led the league with 13 triples, 51 home runs, and a .659 slugging average. He won four consecutive stolen-base titles from 1956 through 1959. He stole 338 bases in his career and might have had more had he and the Giants not elected to minimize his chance of injury on the basepaths. His unique 1957 performance of 20 or more doubles, triples, homers, and stolen bases established his claim as one of the game's greatest all-around offensive threats.

Mays had a habit of addressing his fellow players with a high-spirited "say hey" salutation, prompting New York sportswriter Barney Kremenko to call him the Say Hey Kid. An exuberant figure during his earlier days in New York, he became a folk hero by playing stickball with children in Harlem streets bordering the Polo Grounds. He was embraced lovingly by New Yorkers, who were heartbroken when the Giants moved to San Francisco following the 1957 season, but his reception in the Bay Area was lukewarm by comparison, and he was never shown the affection accorded to Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, who debuted there. Some writers ascribed Mays's limited popularity to his New York affiliation. Other writers found Mays to be aloof from the fans as well as the media, and there were rumors that he demanded special treatment from his managers. Nevertheless, he continued to shine. He cracked 49 home runs in 1962 as the Giants tied the Dodgers for first place on the last day of the season and captured the pennant in a three-game playoff before losing the World Series to the Yankees in a seventh-game 1-0 squeaker.

Along with Mantle and Aaron, Mays was the dominant slugger of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1958 through 1966, he produced eight consecutive seasons of over 100 runs and RBI. He collected four home runs in a game in Milwaukee on April 30, 1961, and he hit three homers in a game on two other occasions. He hammered 52 homers in 1965 to join Ruth, Foxx, Kiner, and Mantle as the only players with more than one 50-home run season. He hit 30 or more homers in each of 11 seasons. On May 4, 1966, Mays passed Mel Ott's 19-year-old record of 511 National League home runs and finished his career with a total of 660, ranking him third on the all-time list behind Henry Aaron's 755 and Babe Ruth's 714.

Mays's preeminence as a centerfielder is supported statistically by his career total of 7,095 putouts, the most in major league history. He used his patented basket catch on routine fly balls, and he regularly dumbfounded onlookers by making seemingly impossible plays. After a particularly astonishing display in which Mays raced to his left, speared a fly ball, spun 360 degrees counterclockwise, and threw the ball on a 325-foot line to nail a tagging Dodger baserunner at the plate, Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen commented, "I won't believe that play until I see him do it again."

In May 1972, the fading Mays was traded to the Mets. With them, he played his final season and made his final World Series appearance on a 1973 team that had finished the year with a record just slightly over .500. Desiring to give it one more go, he's come over the the MBBA to give our fans a taste of his legendary talent before taking up residence in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Welcome to the six newest members of the Montgomery Brewster Baseball Association!

mad0die · 03-09-2003, 02:13 AM

bump

Recte44 · 03-09-2003, 01:19 PM

A very exciting, active league with very astute owners. We've never missed a sim and don't plan to. In addition, we do live sim chats which bring even more to the table.

Check us out!

The two open teams are the Jacksonville Monarchs (JL Atlantic) and Seattle Storm (FL Pacific). Both have advantages to them.

Hope to hear from a bunch of you. Even if you don't get into these openings, we'd welcome you in another capacity!

mad0die · 03-14-2003, 12:04 PM

The MBBA league office is proud to announce that the 1974 All-Star Game has been awarded to the Brooklyn Bombers. Owner Jon Lyons submitted an outstanding bid that beat out a very competitive field. The All-Star Game for the upcoming season will take place at The Hangar in Brooklyn Square. To view Jon's impressive bid in all it's image-laden glory, find the attachment here: Bomber's Winning Bid

In other recent MBBA news, the Lexington Lightning made OF George Koybayashi the first player chosen in the very first MBBA amateur draft:
CF George Koybayashi (Bats Left Throws Left)- The son of a Japanese business man and US Navy nurse stationed at Pearl Harbor, George has been playing the game in the sandlots of Hawaii his whole life. Since his father was more concerned with George's academic life, George did not have an opportunity to play high school ball. During the tryout camp George impressed the MBBA scouts with his range and arm in the outfield and his speed on the basepaths. Due to his relative inexperience, George did have trouble hitting off-speed pitches, but handled big-league fastballs relatively well.

The MBBA is a fictional league competing against the MLB of it's time to be the best professional baseball league. Highlights of the MBBA include a few MLB defectors every season. We have an extremely active group of owners who are contributing incredible content to the league on a daily basis. We are currently full, but our waiting is bare! We have at least 2 teams I know of that would like Assistant GM's until a full-time ownership becomes available. If you want to get in on the action, come join us by signing up for the MBBA Waiting List.

Thanks!

Recte44 · 03-23-2003, 11:29 PM

Looks like we might have another opening soon. I encourage anyone interested in getting involved with one of the more active leagues out there, with three live sims a week, to check out our message forums and get involved!

mad0die · 03-24-2003, 01:28 PM

We do have an opening! Read the first post in this topic. Thanks.

mad0die · 03-29-2003, 04:09 PM

The Monty Brewster Baseball Association is in May of their second season. The Honolulu Typhoon won the Landis Memorial Series in the inaugural 1973 campaign capping a remarkable 11-0 playoff run.

Since crowning our first year champion, we are now using OOTP5. We have a West coast team that is in need of an enthusiastic owner!

We are a fictional league competing against the MLB of our time. There will be a few MLB defectors over to the MBBA every season. This year's defectors included Willie Mays (41 yrs old), Joe Pepitone, Gorman Thomas, Bill Parsons and that current manager of the Marlins

. The league is extremely owner active on the forums. We also do live sims three times a week, which really add an exciting element of owner interaction and overall league enjoyment.

If you are interested, please register for our message board and answer the following questions in the Waiting List forum:

Name:
Email:
AIM ID:
OOTP Boards ID:
Do you have OOTP5?
How often are you on AIM?
Willing to write a sim report for your team at least once a week?
Willing to write periodic articles for the league and participate in polls?
Availability for live sim chats Tue, Thu, Sun at 9pm CST?
Have you read the Rules?
What interests you about the MBBA?
Questions/Comments/Concerns:

I will be looking on AIM this weekend for anyone who has signed up in our Waiting List. Our next sim is Sunday night and I would like to get the new owner in place by then.

Newbies to OOTP online are definitely welcome!

Wildcard88 · 03-29-2003, 04:57 PM

Don't just take his word for it....take mine

I'm the Vice-Commish of this league and there are a lot of recognizable fictional names in the league but also some created fictional guys who are making their mark.

The team in question needing an owner requires not only an enthusiastic owner but one willing to take on a challenge and a dedicated owner. Experience would probably be a bonus in this case.

Check out the league web page and message board and you'll find that the core group is quite a fun bunch of guys.

Rainey · 03-29-2003, 10:23 PM

I also endorse this league 100 percent. You will not have to worry about this league folding anytime soon. We have a very active community that love the game of baseball and the excitement of competition.

Recte44 · 03-30-2003, 12:53 AM

All of my past fictional leagues rolled into one superbly run, mega active league. We all know that having a great Commissioner can really make or break a league and Joel is proving to be one of the best in OOTP Leagues.

Come check us out, I think you'll find it to be addicting!

SpaceNinja · 03-31-2003, 12:10 AM

I just joined this league, but I can already vouch for its quality. Tons of write-ups, great owners, live sims, entertaining backstory, and Richard Pryor. What more could you want?

roseinc05 · 03-31-2003, 01:53 AM

Great league with lots of activity. Come join the fun!!!!!!!!

02-06-2003, 01:08 PM	#62
Wildcard88 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 79	If you like a strong pitching squad, Salt Lake City Missions are certainly your team. Send in your interest now because the trade deadline comes with this Sunday's sim. Hurry up and send in a request to the Commish and maybe you'll make it in by tonight's sim. __________________ Montreal Blazers GM 1973 FL Atlantic Division Champion MBBA

03-01-2003, 09:46 AM	#63
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	MBBA Opening The Monty Brewster Baseball Association has recently completed their inaugural season. The Honolulu Typhoon won the Landis Memorial Series capping a remarkable 11-0 playoff run. Since crowning our champion, we have proceeded to the next season with OOTP5. We are now 19 games into 1974 and we have our first opening of the new season. The Salt Lake City Missions need you! This team had the best record in the Frick League last season, but were upset by the Montreal Blazers in the 1st round of the playoffs. We are a fictional league competing against the MLB of our time. There will be a few MLB defectors over to the MBBA every season. The league was designed to be extremely owner active on the forums and has proven to be such. We do live sims three times a week, which really lends itself to owner interaction and overall league enjoyment. If you are interested, please register for our message board and answer the following questions in the Waiting List forum: Name: Email: AIM ID: OOTP Boards ID: Do you have OOTP5? How often are you on AIM? Willing to write a sim report for your team at least once a week? Willing to write periodic articles for the league and participate in polls? Availability for live sim chats Tue, Thu, Sun at 9pm CST? Have you read the Rules? What interests you about the MBBA? Questions/Comments/Concerns: I will be looking on AIM this evening for anyone who has signed up in our Waiting List. Our next sim is Tues night and I would like the new owner to be able to submit changes for this sim. Newbies to OOTP online are definitely welcome! __________________ Commish GUBA Last edited by mad0die; 03-24-2003 at 01:30 PM.

03-01-2003, 03:04 PM	#65
Wildcard88 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 79	As I mention in another post, only 12 teams per league and 4 playoff teams per league. 1/3 of each league makes the playoffs. Those are pretty good odds, especially since the league's worst team is already taken (sorry yet again Maddie ) __________________ Montreal Blazers GM 1973 FL Atlantic Division Champion MBBA

03-01-2003, 10:59 PM	#67
Wildcard88 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 79	Hey, I cannot help you have our league's version of Coors Field combined with apparently letting hitters use aluminum bats at your park. Just think of it this way, it is a lot harder to fill the vacancies if the teams are all lousy. __________________ Montreal Blazers GM 1973 FL Atlantic Division Champion MBBA

03-03-2003, 01:35 AM	#68
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	Two teams just opened up! __________________ Commish GUBA Last edited by mad0die; 03-09-2003 at 02:12 AM.

02-06-2003, 12:47 PM	#61
thefreaks Minors (Single A) Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 73	We are also approaching the trade deadline in the MBBA, and a solid Salt Lake City squad is in a heated division race with the Las Vegas Hustlers in the Frick League Pacific division. Whoever finishes second in the FL Pacific has an excellent shot at making the inaugural MBBA playoffs as a wild card! The MBBA is an exciting league, with tight pennant races in nearly every division. In addition, over half the league regularly attends the live sims, which is a great place to talk trade as well. The league has several beat writers, and the majority of owners post team updates after every sim. Come join us! Great opportunity for an active owner to have a lot of fun!

03-01-2003, 03:03 PM	#64
JWay Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,021 Blog Entries: 3	This league is great, I recommend you sign-up soon!

03-06-2003, 12:58 AM	#69
Recte44 Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Oconomowoc, WI Posts: 2,789	1974 MBBA Defectors from MLB announced! Six players from MLB have filed for free agency in the Monty Brewster Baseball Association (MBBA) this evening, league offices report. The six are an interesting mix. Three players just beginning their careers, one who never really had a career, one at the end of a decent career, and one at the end of a Hall of Fame career! 1B Pete LaCock The son of TV game-show host Peter Marshall, LaCock was the American Association MVP in 1974 (.327, 23 HR, 91 RBI). His career had stalled with the Cubs where he has yet to live up to the potential he showed in the minors. SP Bill Parsons Parsons was the number-two starter for the last-place Brewers, going 13-17, 3.20 in 1971 and 13-13, 3.91 in 1972. He was named TSN's AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year for his 1971 effort, and was runner-up to Chris Chambliss in the BBWAA vote for Rookie of the Year. He's gone through some injury problems in the last season and has begun to slip from favor, so he's seeking refuge in the MBBA. RF Gorman Thomas He was the first player ever picked by the Seattle Pilots in the June 1969 draft. A two-time minor league home run champion, Thomas's frequent strikeouts and low batting average kept him from a steady major league job, so he's coming to the MBBA to establish himself. 1B Joe Pepitone Pepitone joined the Yankees in 1962, playing behind Moose Skowron at first base. Fun-loving and carefree, he spent his $20,000 signing bonus on a fancy car and a motorboat. Pepitone had a powerful swing and an excellent glove, and some of Pepitone's tougher friends thought he should be the regular first baseman ahead of Skowron. They offered to help Joe out by breaking Skowron's legs; Pepitone declined. The Yankee brass believed he could handle the job and before the 1963 season traded Skowron to the Dodgers. Pepitone responded admirably, hitting .271 with 27 HR and 89 RBI. He went on to win three Gold Gloves, but in the 1963 World Series he made an infamous error. With the score tied 1-1 in the seventh inning of Game Four, he lost a routine Clete Boyer throw in the white shirtsleeves of the Los Angeles crowd, and the batter, Jim Gilliam, went all the way to third base and scored the Series-winning run on a sacrifice fly. He redeemed himself somewhat in the 1964 Series against the Cardinals with a Game Six grand slam. The ever-popular Pepitone remained a fixture throughout the decade, even playing centerfield after bad knees reduced Mickey Mantle's mobility. After the 1969 season he was traded to the Astros for Curt Blefary. Later he played for the Cubs and finished his major league career with the Braves. Pepitone played baseball in Japan for three years, but the regimented Japanese didn't know what to make of the free-spirited Pepitone, who was unhappy away from home. He jumped the Yakult Sparrows in 1973 while hitting .163, becoming a one-man international incident. He came home and eventually has landed in the MBBA. Jeff Torborg Torborg reportedly received the Los Angeles Dodgers' first $100,000 bonus in 1963 when he was signed out of Rutgers, where his .537 batting average in his senior year set an NCAA record which still stands. Though he stayed with LA from 1964 through 1970, he was always a backup catcher, behind Johnny Roseboro and Tom Haller. In California, Torborg found himself on the receiving end of some of the most memorable games in Dodger history. He caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965, Bill Singer's no-hitter on July 20, 1970, and the fifth of Don Drysdale's six consecutive 1968 shutouts. Later as an Angel, Torborg caught Nolan Ryan's May 15, 1973 no-hitter. MLB teams soured on his status as a player, suggesting he become a manager. Jeff, not quite ready to do that, bolts to the MBBA. Willie Mays Considered by many the greatest player of all time, Mays was the prototype of the complete player; he hit for average and power, ran the bases with intelligence and speed, played a spectacular centerfield, and possessed a great arm. He was also remarkably durable, playing in at least 150 games for 13 consecutive seasons. Mays starred in baseball, basketball, and football at Birmingham, Alabama's Fairfax Industrial High School before joining the Birmingham Barons of the Negro National League at age 17. The New York Giants purchased his contract in 1950, and he played for Trenton of the Interstate League, then joined the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers of the American Association in 1951. In his 35-game stay at Minneapolis, he hit a sizzling .477, and the Giants called him up in late May 1951. Mays had a discouraging 0-for-12 start with the struggling Giants. Manager Leo Durocher kept his spirits up by declaring that despite his poor start, Mays was and would remain the Giants' full-time centerfielder that season. His first hit was the first home run of his ML career, off Warren Spahn. It helped Mays to end his slump, and he became one of the sparks that ignited the Giants in their classic, come-from-behind pennant chase, climaxed by Bobby Thomson's dramatic ninth-inning playoff home run that beat Brooklyn for the NL championship. Mays was on deck when Thomson hit it out. His World Series debut saw him play opposite future cross-river rival Mickey Mantle, who was also a rookie. The meeting foreshadowed the debate of nearly a decade about who among Mays, Mantle, and Brooklyn's Duke Snider was the greatest New York centerfielder of the 1950s. Mays served in the army in 1952 and 1953, and the Giants finished second and fifth, respectively. He returned to the Polo Grounds in 1954, leading the NL with a .345 batting average with 41 homers and 110 RBI to help the Giants to the NL flag. The 1954 World Series is most often remembered for a marvelous outfield play by Mays in the first game. With the score tied late in the game, Indians first baseman Vic Wertz clubbed a long drive to deep centerfield at the Polo Grounds. At the crack of the bat, Mays turned his back to the plate, raced for the outfield wall, glanced up at the last minute, and pulled the ball in over his shoulder. Nearly 430 feet from the plate, he whirled and threw on a line to the infield. The play killed the Indians' threat, and the Giants won the game and swept the Series. In 1955, his last season under manager Durocher, Mays led the league with 13 triples, 51 home runs, and a .659 slugging average. He won four consecutive stolen-base titles from 1956 through 1959. He stole 338 bases in his career and might have had more had he and the Giants not elected to minimize his chance of injury on the basepaths. His unique 1957 performance of 20 or more doubles, triples, homers, and stolen bases established his claim as one of the game's greatest all-around offensive threats. Mays had a habit of addressing his fellow players with a high-spirited "say hey" salutation, prompting New York sportswriter Barney Kremenko to call him the Say Hey Kid. An exuberant figure during his earlier days in New York, he became a folk hero by playing stickball with children in Harlem streets bordering the Polo Grounds. He was embraced lovingly by New Yorkers, who were heartbroken when the Giants moved to San Francisco following the 1957 season, but his reception in the Bay Area was lukewarm by comparison, and he was never shown the affection accorded to Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, who debuted there. Some writers ascribed Mays's limited popularity to his New York affiliation. Other writers found Mays to be aloof from the fans as well as the media, and there were rumors that he demanded special treatment from his managers. Nevertheless, he continued to shine. He cracked 49 home runs in 1962 as the Giants tied the Dodgers for first place on the last day of the season and captured the pennant in a three-game playoff before losing the World Series to the Yankees in a seventh-game 1-0 squeaker. Along with Mantle and Aaron, Mays was the dominant slugger of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1958 through 1966, he produced eight consecutive seasons of over 100 runs and RBI. He collected four home runs in a game in Milwaukee on April 30, 1961, and he hit three homers in a game on two other occasions. He hammered 52 homers in 1965 to join Ruth, Foxx, Kiner, and Mantle as the only players with more than one 50-home run season. He hit 30 or more homers in each of 11 seasons. On May 4, 1966, Mays passed Mel Ott's 19-year-old record of 511 National League home runs and finished his career with a total of 660, ranking him third on the all-time list behind Henry Aaron's 755 and Babe Ruth's 714. Mays's preeminence as a centerfielder is supported statistically by his career total of 7,095 putouts, the most in major league history. He used his patented basket catch on routine fly balls, and he regularly dumbfounded onlookers by making seemingly impossible plays. After a particularly astonishing display in which Mays raced to his left, speared a fly ball, spun 360 degrees counterclockwise, and threw the ball on a 325-foot line to nail a tagging Dodger baserunner at the plate, Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen commented, "I won't believe that play until I see him do it again." In May 1972, the fading Mays was traded to the Mets. With them, he played his final season and made his final World Series appearance on a 1973 team that had finished the year with a record just slightly over .500. Desiring to give it one more go, he's come over the the MBBA to give our fans a taste of his legendary talent before taking up residence in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Welcome to the six newest members of the Montgomery Brewster Baseball Association! __________________ Matt Rectenwald Commissioner, GM: Las Vegas Hustlers, The Brewster Baseball Association- fictional league (JOIN NOW)

03-09-2003, 02:13 AM	#70
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	bump __________________ Commish GUBA

03-09-2003, 01:19 PM	#71
Recte44 Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Oconomowoc, WI Posts: 2,789	A very exciting, active league with very astute owners. We've never missed a sim and don't plan to. In addition, we do live sim chats which bring even more to the table. Check us out! The two open teams are the Jacksonville Monarchs (JL Atlantic) and Seattle Storm (FL Pacific). Both have advantages to them. Hope to hear from a bunch of you. Even if you don't get into these openings, we'd welcome you in another capacity! __________________ Matt Rectenwald Commissioner, GM: Las Vegas Hustlers, The Brewster Baseball Association- fictional league (JOIN NOW)

03-14-2003, 12:04 PM	#72
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	MBBA '74 All-Star Game The MBBA league office is proud to announce that the 1974 All-Star Game has been awarded to the Brooklyn Bombers. Owner Jon Lyons submitted an outstanding bid that beat out a very competitive field. The All-Star Game for the upcoming season will take place at The Hangar in Brooklyn Square. To view Jon's impressive bid in all it's image-laden glory, find the attachment here: Bomber's Winning Bid In other recent MBBA news, the Lexington Lightning made OF George Koybayashi the first player chosen in the very first MBBA amateur draft: CF George Koybayashi (Bats Left Throws Left)- The son of a Japanese business man and US Navy nurse stationed at Pearl Harbor, George has been playing the game in the sandlots of Hawaii his whole life. Since his father was more concerned with George's academic life, George did not have an opportunity to play high school ball. During the tryout camp George impressed the MBBA scouts with his range and arm in the outfield and his speed on the basepaths. Due to his relative inexperience, George did have trouble hitting off-speed pitches, but handled big-league fastballs relatively well. The MBBA is a fictional league competing against the MLB of it's time to be the best professional baseball league. Highlights of the MBBA include a few MLB defectors every season. We have an extremely active group of owners who are contributing incredible content to the league on a daily basis. We are currently full, but our waiting is bare! We have at least 2 teams I know of that would like Assistant GM's until a full-time ownership becomes available. If you want to get in on the action, come join us by signing up for the MBBA Waiting List. Thanks! __________________ Commish GUBA

03-23-2003, 11:29 PM	#73
Recte44 Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Oconomowoc, WI Posts: 2,789	Looks like we might have another opening soon. I encourage anyone interested in getting involved with one of the more active leagues out there, with three live sims a week, to check out our message forums and get involved! __________________ Matt Rectenwald Commissioner, GM: Las Vegas Hustlers, The Brewster Baseball Association- fictional league (JOIN NOW)

03-24-2003, 01:28 PM	#74
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	We do have an opening! Read the first post in this topic. Thanks. __________________ Commish GUBA

03-29-2003, 04:09 PM	#75
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	Monty Brewster needs you! The Monty Brewster Baseball Association is in May of their second season. The Honolulu Typhoon won the Landis Memorial Series in the inaugural 1973 campaign capping a remarkable 11-0 playoff run. Since crowning our first year champion, we are now using OOTP5. We have a West coast team that is in need of an enthusiastic owner! We are a fictional league competing against the MLB of our time. There will be a few MLB defectors over to the MBBA every season. This year's defectors included Willie Mays (41 yrs old), Joe Pepitone, Gorman Thomas, Bill Parsons and that current manager of the Marlins . The league is extremely owner active on the forums. We also do live sims three times a week, which really add an exciting element of owner interaction and overall league enjoyment. If you are interested, please register for our message board and answer the following questions in the Waiting List forum: Name: Email: AIM ID: OOTP Boards ID: Do you have OOTP5? How often are you on AIM? Willing to write a sim report for your team at least once a week? Willing to write periodic articles for the league and participate in polls? Availability for live sim chats Tue, Thu, Sun at 9pm CST? Have you read the Rules? What interests you about the MBBA? Questions/Comments/Concerns: I will be looking on AIM this weekend for anyone who has signed up in our Waiting List. Our next sim is Sunday night and I would like to get the new owner in place by then. Newbies to OOTP online are definitely welcome! __________________ Commish GUBA

03-29-2003, 04:57 PM	#76
Wildcard88 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 79	Don't just take his word for it....take mine I'm the Vice-Commish of this league and there are a lot of recognizable fictional names in the league but also some created fictional guys who are making their mark. The team in question needing an owner requires not only an enthusiastic owner but one willing to take on a challenge and a dedicated owner. Experience would probably be a bonus in this case. Check out the league web page and message board and you'll find that the core group is quite a fun bunch of guys. __________________ Montreal Blazers GM 1973 FL Atlantic Division Champion MBBA

03-29-2003, 10:23 PM	#77
Rainey Minors (Double A) Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 138	I also endorse this league 100 percent. You will not have to worry about this league folding anytime soon. We have a very active community that love the game of baseball and the excitement of competition.

03-30-2003, 12:53 AM	#78
Recte44 Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Oconomowoc, WI Posts: 2,789	All of my past fictional leagues rolled into one superbly run, mega active league. We all know that having a great Commissioner can really make or break a league and Joel is proving to be one of the best in OOTP Leagues. Come check us out, I think you'll find it to be addicting! __________________ Matt Rectenwald Commissioner, GM: Las Vegas Hustlers, The Brewster Baseball Association- fictional league (JOIN NOW)

03-31-2003, 12:10 AM	#79
SpaceNinja Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 92	I just joined this league, but I can already vouch for its quality. Tons of write-ups, great owners, live sims, entertaining backstory, and Richard Pryor. What more could you want?

03-31-2003, 01:53 AM	#80
roseinc05 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1	I will vouch as well Great league with lots of activity. Come join the fun!!!!!!!!