MLB Replay....A new History

[HerbertMcHoover]

Braves started off the season nice and continue to make great moves.

Rusty Greer was hitting .403 at the All-Star break, looking like one of the best seasons ever. Actually, that entire NL All Star team is impressive aside from Sanders.

Yanks made a good effort at the end. Great to see that. So sad to see them just miss the playoffs AGAIN by half a game.

Bo Jackson continues to dominate and I would love to see the full season stats for Castillo and especially S. Kim of the Blue Jays rotation. Having less than five wins with close to twenty losses for them both is interesting.

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by HerbertMcHoover

I would love to see the full season stats for Castillo and especially S. Kim of the Blue Jays rotation. Having less than five wins with close to twenty losses for them both is interesting.

Here is the full rotation the Blue Jays are putting out there. Man, I wish i was the gm of this squad. I can't imagine it's too hard to find 3 better pitchers then the bottom 3 of this rotation. They are AA worthy. The Jays aren't even tanking enough to get the first pick either!!!

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

These two teams played 3 times in a row during the 1960’s. The Tigers won all 3 meetings. These were the heights of the Mickey Mantle, Johnny Callison, Eddie Mathews, Willie Mays Tiger teams. Detroit is trying to win their 6^th World Series in 10 years. Philadelphia hasn’t played in the fall classic since 1974.

Doc Gooden is still trying to win his first World Series. The best pitcher of his generation has just one appearance, which was a loss with the Mets in 1989. Gooden represents the lone advantage the Tigers have over the Phillies. Both bullpens are weak, the Phillies have much more power, including elite power hitter Tate Seefried, and a deeper rotation. The key to the series should be the Tigers ability to get through the middle of the Phillies order. If they can be successful, they can win this thing.

[Mike45]

Wow ... talk about some no-names breaking thru when given a shot

Tate Seefried's real life career

Tony Tarasco's real life career

Paul Abbott's real life career

And Baseball reference didn't even have a page for "Tyrone Woods" so he is the most surprising of the bunch

Your 1996 Philadelphia Phillies

[HerbertMcHoover]

Rough year for Gant. I expect him to do well during the World Series though.

Originally Posted by George_Bell

Here is the full rotation the Blue Jays are putting out there. Man, I wish i was the gm of this squad. I can't imagine it's too hard to find 3 better pitchers then the bottom 3 of this rotation. They are AA worthy. The Jays aren't even tanking enough to get the first pick either!!!

Thank you and yikes. It's like their current rotation, but in the steroid era (with a Hall of Famer as well).

[shipfb21]

finally the phillies are back in the fall classic. its been way too long... lets go phils

[George_Bell]

Paul Abbot takes on Doc Gooden in the opener. Abbot is fine until the 3^rd, when he falls apart for just a moment. He gives up a back to back singles, then throws 8 straight balls, walking in a run. The rest of the game is a battle for Abbot. He allows baserunners in every inning, but keeps getting out of it. Over 7 innings, Abbot allows 10 hits, and 5 walks, but that was the only run. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the good Doctor was on. He pitches 8.1, allowing 5 hits. That’s it. The lone run holds up. 1-0 Detroit final.

Detroit jumps ahead 2-0 early on, and it isn’t until the 4^th inning until the Phillies finally get a run. Tate Seefried hits a 2 run blast, and just like that, it’s a 2-2 tie. Tony Tarasco hits a 2 run shot of his own in the 5^th to give Philly their first series lead. They would pot another 2 in the next inning and cruised from there. Phillies tie the series with a 6-3 win.

Kenny Rogers battled Tim Wakefield in a masterfully pitched game. The knuckleballer was dancing all over the strike zone to a tune of 5 hits and 2 walks allowed over 8 innings. No runs. Kenny Rogers bested him, allowing just 2 hits and a walk over 7.2.

Runs..... what are those?!!? It’s 0-0 going into the 10^th inning! Mariano Rivera comes into the game to pitch against his former team. Joey Cora leads off with a single, and moves to 2^nd on a bunt. Hal Morris then doubles, scoring the first run of the game. Morris will also score on a Bobby Bonilla single. That’s enough. Mariano Rivera, who saved 45 games with a 1.98 ERA blows his second appearance in a World Series game. Tigers win 2-0.

Mike Kingery hits a home run, Doc Gooden singles and scores, and the Tigers get 3 runs in the third to go up 3-0. That probably means the game is over with Doc Gooden on the mound. He is dominant early. Seven strikeouts through five.

The Phillies finally get to him in the 6^th. Luis Alicea and Tate Seefried lead off with singles. Alicea scores on a Kevin Mitchel ground out. Al Martin would single, and Tony Tarasco hits his 2^nd homer of the series. A 4 run inning gives Philly the improbable lead. They add an insurance run in the eighth, and Mariano Rivera shakes off his game 3 failure with his 2^nd save of the series. 5-3 Phillies to tie the series.

Philly strikes first when Tony Tarasco, who seems to be getting a lot of big hits, triples in Al Martin in the second inning. Detroit responds and takes the lead when some sloppy Philly fielding allows 2 runs to score in the 4^th. A passed ball allows Al Martin to tie the game in the 6^th. No more scoring occurs for a while which means extra innings!

Curtis Pride hits a lead off solo homer in the 11^th to put the Tigers ahead 3-2. Scott Baker comes on to close it for Detroit. He gets the first two hitters. With 2 strikes on Tom Pagnozzi, Baker makes a mistake. That mistake ends up 380 feet away, over the left field wall, and we are tied again!!

No scoring in the 12^th. Disaster strikes in the 13^th though. The Phillies put in John Johnstone, owner of a 6.61 era this year. Extra innings, gotta empty the bench! Johnstone walks the first 3 batters he faces. Bobby Bonilla then singles in a run. The bases remain loaded, and the Tigers manage to clear them before the inning ends. It’s a 4 run inning, which leads to a 7-3 final score. That might have taken all the air out of their sales. Tigers lead the series 3-2.

Back in Detroit for game 6, the teams trade early runs. Curtis Pride comes up with 2 on and 2 out in the 4^th and doubles both runs home. 3-1 Tigers. It’s now desperation time for the Phillies. Still trailing by 2 in the eighth, Luis Alicea comes to the plate with men on 2^nd and 3^rd and two out. He lines a single up the middle which plates a run. Monty Fariss holds at third.

Tate Seefried, the best hitter on the team comes to the plate. Wayne Edwards, a fairly unreliable lefty comes in to face the left handed Seefried. Ball 1…..Called Strike…….Foul Ball…….STRIKE THREE LOOKING. The Phillies leave the tying run on third base. Tigers closer Paul Shuey strikes out the side in the ninth, and the Tigers win 3-2, and take the series in 6!!

[George_Bell]

[HerbertMcHoover]

Gant had a miserable series, but these Tigers are a juggernaut.

[rjl518]

even though it wasnt with the mets...Dr.K gets his 1st world series championship

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

1996-97 Offseason News and Notes

Lance Berkman is the newest member of the Colorado Rockies, selected 1^st overall. Not sure what the Mets are doing selecting John Patterson 2^nd. I’ve never heard of him. SD grabbing Vernon Wells at 21 is fantastic value, he looks great.




5 players elected to the Hall of Fame, but i veto four, and only allow one new member. Mike Scott recieved 90.9 percent of the votes, and is the only player i deem worthy this season.



Mike Scott was really good. Probably underrated playing with a not so good Brewers team, but he was the franchise for a long time. He actually won 20 games or more 6 times between 78 and 85. His 28 wins in 1984 are the most in the majors since Don Kaiser won 31 times in 1958! Welcome to the Hall of Fame Mike Scott.

Greg Maddux will be beginning rehab around opening day. Because of this, the cpu won’t sign him until he’s healthy. Yes, I see this as somewhat realistic, and somewhat stupid. I think most teams would be weary of signing a obviously damaged Maddux to a long term contract, but they should be lining up to sign him to a 1 or 2 year deal with options or incentives. The guy has come back from arm troubles before, and been wonderful. How the Mets aren’t willing to give him a 1 year/4 mil contract is crazy to me at least…



The Giants are the big spenders this season, and they needed to be. San Diego has controlled the NL west for a few seasons now, and a team from that division has not played in the World Series since 1983!!

Look at all the trades made during the offseason. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips to get the CPU to deal a bit more?!



Here's a look at the history of the AL west teams. Probably baseballs weakest division currently, and historically!


The California Angels have changed their name to the Anaheim Angels. Here are their and other logo and uniform changes.

[rjl518]

you don't know who John Patterson is???????

that's okay neither do I...lol

terrible pick concerning who the mets could have had

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Patterson_(pitcher)

the marlins getting Tim Hudson...now that is a good pick

oh...and if you want the AI to do more trades...couldn't you just raise the AI Trading frequency on the setting pages?

[HerbertMcHoover]

Nice moves from: Blue Jays picking Soriano 4th, Marlins picking Hudson, Athletics picking V-Mart, Reds getting Rollins at THIRTEEN(!), Cardinals getting what I think is Michael Young at twenty-six(!), Lohse at 27 and round two picks Dewayne Wise and Grant Balfour.

Giants make a big splash in free agency, with my favorite move of all being Biggio to the Athletics. Mussina to the Giants is also a key move.

I'd just boost up the trade frequency, like rj518 to see more trades. It's strange that there hasn't been that one awful trade in quite a while. The Randy Johnson is the last one I think, where we all were like "What are the Tigers doing?"

[George_Bell]

1997 MLB Preview





Top Player


Top Pitcher


Top Prospect

[CecilCooper]

It took me a week and a half but I caught up to you. I cheated and started in 1920 or so, but this has been very fun to follow along with. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by CecilCooper

It took me a week and a half but I caught up to you. I cheated and started in 1920 or so, but this has been very fun to follow along with. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

[George_Bell]

1997 MLB Regular Season

Oops, i forgot to save the pic of the top 10 prospects, so that wont be shared in this update.

Greg Maddux suffers a setback, and will miss an additional 6 weeks. Still think he can be a fantastic pick up. I’m looking at Detroit. They seem to make smart decisions like that.

In the first week of the season, Jose Canseco hits his 300^th home run, Cecil Fielder hits his 400^th home run, and Mark McGwire hits his 500^th home run. Pretty cool to see milestones like that happen so close together!

At the end of April, Greg Maddux signs a 1 year, 750,000 contract with the …..Minnesota Twins!!! He’ll be a free agent again, and fairly sought after as long as he’s able to be decent once he returns to action.

Greg Maddux makes 6 rehab starts with the Toledo Mud Hens. He goes 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 6 starts, not great, but he’s healthy, which is all that’s important. His first start, back in the majors, is a 2-0 Twins win over Texas. Maddux pitches 8 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits. Wow, he’s back!!



Todd Greene, catcher with the Cubs is again the top vote getter for the All-Star game. He received 3.5 million votes, which is almost a million more than Ramon Martinez, who finished second.


Todd Greene

I did change the trading frequency this year from low to average. A lot of trades occurred in July, which was my goal. Might be to many, but that’s nit-picky. Nothing that really stands out in this world, though as a Jays fan, I did notice Pat Hentgan and Kelly Gruber being dealt.



We got some very close races after the trade deadline. The Giants are trying to dethrone the Padres, and lead by a game. The Cubs hold that same 1 game lead on the Pirates, and the Marlins are looking to win their first division, with a 2 game lead on the Phillies. In the AL, the Angels have a 1 game lead on the Rangers, and the Yankees lead Detroit by 3. Looks like only the White Sox have a comfy lead at this point. Might be a busy September for me!!

While the races sort of stayed close, nothing stayed REAL close, by the last weekend of the season, 3 teams had clinched, and 3 teams were on the verge of clincing, with only complete meltdowns stopping them. The wildcards were pretty much the same situation. Both teams in a wildcard position had big enough leads where only disasters would lose it for them.

So I simmed to the end of the season, and one of these doomsday scenarios came through! Up by 3 games, the Phillies lost all 3 remaining contests to the Marlins. Florida, was the team chasing Philly. Their sweep has tied them atop the NL east, and a 1 game playoff will determine who wins the division!!



Tate Seefired opens the scoring with a first inning home run for Philly. The Marlins then strand Nomar Garciaparra after a lead off triple!! The Phillies score 3 runs over the next 4 innings, and take a 5-0 lead after five!

A solo home run and a fielders choice get the Marlins within two. Mariano Rivera comes in to close the game for Philadelphia, and loads the bases. Ruben Sierra, who hit 31 homers during the season comes to the plate with two outs in the ninth….



So close! The Marlins go home, and the Phillies play on!





The Giants free agent signings really came through. Mussina and Perez were great, combining for 42 wins, with Mussina looking like a Rube Waddell favourite. Gilkey had a career year, hitting .317 with 17 bombs. They take their first division title in 8 years. Spending money worked!!

Greg Maddux goes 13-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 23 starts. No more injury trouble, and a 1.28 WHIP. It’s a pretty decent comeback season for Maddux. He wont sign for as much as he could have gotten last year before the injury, but he proved he can still be pretty good. He’s pitching in the playoffs too, so that could make him some money!