Worst to First - The Sequel - Page 67

NYY #23 · 03-12-2014, 08:28 PM

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Erik Hanson pitched an 8 inning 2 hitter tonight to pick up the win as the Blue Jays won 3-1 to take a 3-0 series lead. Hanson also set a playoff record with 13 strikeouts in the game. Alan Embree came in to pitch a scoreless ninth to get the save.

Chris Hoiles homered, while Thomas Howard drove in a pair of runs.

NYY #23 · 03-13-2014, 08:50 PM

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Cal Eldred struggled tonight giving up 5 runs in 8 1/3 innings to pick up the loss as the Blue Jays couldn't close out the series in a 5-2 loss.

Jeff Bagwell hit a solo home run, while Mel Hall singled home the only other run for the Blue Jays.

NYY #23 · 03-13-2014, 10:18 PM

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We kept trying to climb back in the game, but couldn't overcome the Astros and lost 6-4. Roger Clemens got the win for the Astros, while Paul McClellan took the loss for the Jays.

We'll now head back to Houston where we once again try to close out the series with a win over the Astros in Game 6.

NYY #23 · 03-15-2014, 02:18 PM

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Erik Hanson picked up his fourth win of the postseason as the Blue Jays knocked off the Astros 8-7 to win the World Series!

It wasn't Hanson's best start, allowing 5 runs in 6 innings, but he left the game with the Blue Jays leading, and we didn't relinquish the lead. Paul Quantrill pitched 2 innings for a hold, and Alan Embree pitched a shaky ninth for the save.

Alex Gonzalez was 5-5 tonight, although he failed to drive in a run, and scored just once. Kent Anderson and Jeff Bagwell each picked up 3 hits in the game, while Barry Bonds drove in 3 runs, and Bernard Gilkey drove in 2 runs.

We'll be back to wrap up my time in Toronto, and then move on to our next team.

NYY #23 · 03-15-2014, 05:28 PM

After four years with the Blue Jays it's time to move on after winning World Series number 19. We now have 11 teams to go.

It seems like I've developed a formula during the free agency era, get under budget, build through the draft, and sign supporting free agents that don't cost compensation. In reality we did get lucky being able to sign Barry Bonds as a free agent coming off an injury plagued year, and were able to pair him with Jeff Bagwell to form the core of our offense.

That worked well, but I'm not sure how repeatable that is. It wasn't too bad in Toronto though, as we suffered just one losing season.

Toronto Blue Jays - 53-109 (.337) 39 GB
1991 - Toronto Blue Jays 66-96 (.407) 30 GB (Season Score - 1)
1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 87-75 (.537) 7 GB (Season Score - 45)
1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 98-64 (.605) - GB (Lost to California Angels 4-2 in LCS, Season Score - 74)
1994 - Toronto Blue Jays 92-70 (.568) - GB (Defeated Oakland A's 3-1 in Wild Card, Defeated California Angels 4-3 in LCS, Defeated Houston Astros 4-2 in World Series, Season Score - 88)

illeracula · 03-15-2014, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYY #23

After four years with the Blue Jays it's time to move on after winning World Series number 19. We now have 11 teams to go.

It seems like I've developed a formula during the free agency era, get under budget, build through the draft, and sign supporting free agents that don't cost compensation. In reality we did get lucky being able to sign Barry Bonds as a free agent coming off an injury plagued year, and were able to pair him with Jeff Bagwell to form the core of our offense.

That worked well, but I'm not sure how repeatable that is. It wasn't too bad in Toronto though, as we suffered just one losing season.

Toronto Blue Jays - 53-109 (.337) 39 GB
1991 - Toronto Blue Jays 66-96 (.407) 30 GB (Season Score - 1)
1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 87-75 (.537) 7 GB (Season Score - 45)
1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 98-64 (.605) - GB (Lost to California Angels 4-2 in LCS, Season Score - 74)
1994 - Toronto Blue Jays 92-70 (.568) - GB (Defeated Oakland A's 3-1 in Wild Card, Defeated California Angels 4-3 in LCS, Defeated Houston Astros 4-2 in World Series, Season Score - 88)

Nice quick turn around up in Toronto. Congrats!

NYY #23 · 03-16-2014, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illeracula

Nice quick turn around up in Toronto. Congrats!

Thank you!

NYY #23 · 03-16-2014, 02:54 PM

We are now down to just 11 teams that we need to guide to the World Series, and 9 active teams. It would be nice to win in the next three years and take control of the next expansion team, but that doesn't seem likely. Let's take a look at the remaining teams:

11 - Tampa Bay Rays - begin play 1998
10 - Arizona Diamondbacks - begin play 1998

9 - Houston Astros 99-63
8 - Los Angeles Angels 95-67
7 - Texas Rangers 83-79
6 - Los Angeles Dodgers 82-80
5 - Minnesota Twins 75-87
4 - Seattle Mariners 69-93
3 - San Francisco Giants 67-95
2 - Florida Marlins 61-101

And the loser is:

1 - Colorado Rockies 46-116

By record the 116 loss Rockies are the worst team that I've taken over. Things are pretty bleak for the expansion Rockies, who have averaged 115 losses during there two years of existence. We'll get into the details soon, but there isn't much time to prepare for the draft with the postseason running so long.

NYY #23 · 03-17-2014, 08:27 PM

With the first pick in the 1994 amateur draft the Colorado Rockies selected SS Derek Jeter. We selected SP Carlos Perez and CF Curtis Goodwin in the supplemental round. In the second round we selected RF Ruben Rivera with SP Robert Person picked in the third round. We selected another SP, Bill Pulsipher in the fourth round, with reliever Mike Myers picked in the fifth round. Reliever Jim Dougherty was our final pick of the draft.

While there may have been better choices with the number one pick, it was hard to pass up Derek Jeter as a Yankee fan.

Other than Charles Johnson at catcher, last year's number one pick, there isn't much to like about the Rockies.

Our budget is low, payroll is low, talent is low, attendance is low, and we are losing a lot of money.

Against my better judgement we offered arbitration to everyone but C Andy Allanson and LF Chris Gwynn. With 15 players set to become free agents we do need to be able to field a team.

ShagVT · 03-18-2014, 12:11 PM

Is that Greg Maddux who went 2-20 with a 6.61 ERA?!?!?

You definitely have the Rocky Horror Pitching Show. Wow.

NYY #23 · 03-18-2014, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Is that Greg Maddux who went 2-20 with a 6.61 ERA?!?!?

You definitely have the Rocky Horror Pitching Show. Wow.

Yes, that is the one and only Greg Maddux. What a sad story too. He had the misfortune of being drafted by the Rangers, and wasn't backed by too much talent. He still was close to Greg Maddux though, winning 14-16 games per year, low to mid 3 ERA, low walks, and averaged about 6.5 WAR per season.

He left as a free agent and went to Cleveland and had an injury plagued year where he went 5-16 with a 5.53 ERA. Definitely a bad season, but not as bad as it really looked. It still was enough for Cleveland to leave him unprotected, and the Rockies made him the top pick in the expansion draft after just one year in Cleveland. He made 11 starts last year and went 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA, and it looked like he was back on track before the dreaded Tommy John surgery.

He came back and it wasn't pretty this year, 2-20, 6.61 ERA, career high walks, and his ratings have plummeted. He's a free agent now, and it's tempting to invite him back just on name alone, but I'll probably let him walk. He wants a two year deal at about $2 million per, and even if I could afford that I wouldn't pay that much. I'll keep an eye on him this offseason to see if he'd sign a cheap deal, but he's likely going to move on.

NYY #23 · 03-18-2014, 07:58 PM

The Rockies are down to 39 players in the organization after free agent's filed and signing most of our draft picks. We're down to just Robert Person and Mike Myers, and out of money. Tom Browning is our most expensive player making $2.9 million, but we can't give him away.

This is pretty much the team we'll open the season with. We may look for a couple free agents willing to sign for the minimum, just for some additional depth, but that's it.

NYY #23 · 03-19-2014, 07:50 PM

A couple of things have become clear during the opening month of the season. 1 - the Rockies are terrible. 2 - the rest of the NL West isn't much better.

We really need some pitching though, because we've given up 25 runs twice, 24 runs once, and 14 runs once.

We get to the end of the bullpen after our starter lasts three innings and a pitcher will last 2/3 of an inning and give up 11 runs. So we'll see if we can convince any free agent pitcher to take a one year deal and come to Colorado to pitch, just so we can field a competitive team.

I also noticed that I missed calling out Chipper Jones as a keeper. I missed him during the initial roster review, but he's rated best at shortstop, so we need to figure out how best to use Jones with Jeter.

ShagVT · 03-20-2014, 06:59 PM

It's an interesting question - in Colorado, would it be better to give up pitching as a lost cause and just get a ton of power hitters?

I guess with pitchers, you need to concentrate on high movement guys since they don't get as much pop on the ball?

NYY #23 · 03-21-2014, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShagVT

It's an interesting question - in Colorado, would it be better to give up pitching as a lost cause and just get a ton of power hitters?

I guess with pitchers, you need to concentrate on high movement guys since they don't get as much pop on the ball?

I've definitely been thinking about that approach. I generally like to build with pitching and defense, but Colorado may change that approach. I'm not against out-slugging other teams, or taking the best available. I guess the one good thing is that Pulsipher has been better than expected early on. Maybe he'll give us one option.

NYY #23 · 03-21-2014, 11:19 PM

First up we agreed to terms with 39 year old Jim Clancy, 35 year old Tim Conroy, 38 year old Scott Sanderson, and 39 year old Silvio Martinez on one year deals to come pitch for Colorado. Clancy and Sanderson both joined the rotation, while Conroy and Martinez will both head to the bullpen. If nothing else I'm hoping they can provide us 5 innings each time out.

Charles Johnson had a 20 game hitting streak end this month, while Derek Jeter was named Rookie of the Month after hitting .450 with 2 home runs, 26 RBI, and 28 runs scored.

They both are helping our offense jump from horrible to not so bad.

NYY #23 · 03-22-2014, 07:53 PM

I almost feel bad for my manager Kelsey Nelson for having the pitching staff that we do. He's signed through 1997, and I already know I'm not going to renew his contract. In fact I'd fire him today if we had a better team and I thought it would help. But he gets to run out his contract for now, and has to deal with this pitching staff. At least he stays in shape from making so many pitching changes.

We lost both Orestes Destrade and Derek Jeter to injuries this month, and we've fallen 14 games out in last place in a very winnable division.

NYY #23 · 03-23-2014, 07:36 PM

The Rockies came into the league at the same time as the Florida Marlins, and they lead the NL East with a 63-42 record, while the Rockies have lost 74 games already and are well on our way to our third straight 100 loss season. We managed to win just 4 games this month, while losing 23.

Both Charles Johnson and Derek Jeter were named to the All-Star team.

NYY #23 · 03-23-2014, 07:44 PM

The Rockies won just 9 games this month, and we ended the month with a 14 man pitching staff, just to see if that will stop the bleeding. It didn't.

Derek Jeter won both the Batter of the Month and Rookie of the Month after hitting .432 with 3 home runs, 27 RBI, and 21 runs scored.

Trebro · 03-23-2014, 07:58 PM

Has anyone in your universe ever hit .400 for the year? Wondering how unique Jeter is vs. rest of your world?

03-12-2014, 08:28 PM	#1321
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/25/1994 - World Series Game 3 Erik Hanson pitched an 8 inning 2 hitter tonight to pick up the win as the Blue Jays won 3-1 to take a 3-0 series lead. Hanson also set a playoff record with 13 strikeouts in the game. Alan Embree came in to pitch a scoreless ninth to get the save. Chris Hoiles homered, while Thomas Howard drove in a pair of runs.

03-13-2014, 08:50 PM	#1322
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/26/1994 - World Series Game 4 Cal Eldred struggled tonight giving up 5 runs in 8 1/3 innings to pick up the loss as the Blue Jays couldn't close out the series in a 5-2 loss. Jeff Bagwell hit a solo home run, while Mel Hall singled home the only other run for the Blue Jays.

03-13-2014, 10:18 PM	#1323
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/27/1994 - World Series Game 5 We kept trying to climb back in the game, but couldn't overcome the Astros and lost 6-4. Roger Clemens got the win for the Astros, while Paul McClellan took the loss for the Jays. We'll now head back to Houston where we once again try to close out the series with a win over the Astros in Game 6.

03-15-2014, 02:18 PM	#1324
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/29/1994 - World Series Game 6 Erik Hanson picked up his fourth win of the postseason as the Blue Jays knocked off the Astros 8-7 to win the World Series! It wasn't Hanson's best start, allowing 5 runs in 6 innings, but he left the game with the Blue Jays leading, and we didn't relinquish the lead. Paul Quantrill pitched 2 innings for a hold, and Alan Embree pitched a shaky ninth for the save. Alex Gonzalez was 5-5 tonight, although he failed to drive in a run, and scored just once. Kent Anderson and Jeff Bagwell each picked up 3 hits in the game, while Barry Bonds drove in 3 runs, and Bernard Gilkey drove in 2 runs. We'll be back to wrap up my time in Toronto, and then move on to our next team.

03-15-2014, 05:28 PM	#1325
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/30/1994 - Wrapping it up in Toronto After four years with the Blue Jays it's time to move on after winning World Series number 19. We now have 11 teams to go. It seems like I've developed a formula during the free agency era, get under budget, build through the draft, and sign supporting free agents that don't cost compensation. In reality we did get lucky being able to sign Barry Bonds as a free agent coming off an injury plagued year, and were able to pair him with Jeff Bagwell to form the core of our offense. That worked well, but I'm not sure how repeatable that is. It wasn't too bad in Toronto though, as we suffered just one losing season. Toronto Blue Jays - 53-109 (.337) 39 GB 1991 - Toronto Blue Jays 66-96 (.407) 30 GB (Season Score - 1) 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 87-75 (.537) 7 GB (Season Score - 45) 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 98-64 (.605) - GB (Lost to California Angels 4-2 in LCS, Season Score - 74) 1994 - Toronto Blue Jays 92-70 (.568) - GB (Defeated Oakland A's 3-1 in Wild Card, Defeated California Angels 4-3 in LCS, Defeated Houston Astros 4-2 in World Series, Season Score - 88)

03-16-2014, 02:54 PM	#1328
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	10/31/1994 - Who's next? We are now down to just 11 teams that we need to guide to the World Series, and 9 active teams. It would be nice to win in the next three years and take control of the next expansion team, but that doesn't seem likely. Let's take a look at the remaining teams: 11 - Tampa Bay Rays - begin play 1998 10 - Arizona Diamondbacks - begin play 1998 9 - Houston Astros 99-63 8 - Los Angeles Angels 95-67 7 - Texas Rangers 83-79 6 - Los Angeles Dodgers 82-80 5 - Minnesota Twins 75-87 4 - Seattle Mariners 69-93 3 - San Francisco Giants 67-95 2 - Florida Marlins 61-101 And the loser is: 1 - Colorado Rockies 46-116 By record the 116 loss Rockies are the worst team that I've taken over. Things are pretty bleak for the expansion Rockies, who have averaged 115 losses during there two years of existence. We'll get into the details soon, but there isn't much time to prepare for the draft with the postseason running so long.

03-17-2014, 08:27 PM	#1329
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	11/1/1994 - Draft Results/Welcome to Colorado With the first pick in the 1994 amateur draft the Colorado Rockies selected SS Derek Jeter. We selected SP Carlos Perez and CF Curtis Goodwin in the supplemental round. In the second round we selected RF Ruben Rivera with SP Robert Person picked in the third round. We selected another SP, Bill Pulsipher in the fourth round, with reliever Mike Myers picked in the fifth round. Reliever Jim Dougherty was our final pick of the draft. While there may have been better choices with the number one pick, it was hard to pass up Derek Jeter as a Yankee fan. Other than Charles Johnson at catcher, last year's number one pick, there isn't much to like about the Rockies. Our budget is low, payroll is low, talent is low, attendance is low, and we are losing a lot of money. Against my better judgement we offered arbitration to everyone but C Andy Allanson and LF Chris Gwynn. With 15 players set to become free agents we do need to be able to field a team. Attached Images

03-18-2014, 12:11 PM	#1330
ShagVT Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 103	Is that Greg Maddux who went 2-20 with a 6.61 ERA?!?!? You definitely have the Rocky Horror Pitching Show. Wow.

03-18-2014, 07:58 PM	#1332
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	11/24/1994 - The Rockies are down to 39 players in the organization after free agent's filed and signing most of our draft picks. We're down to just Robert Person and Mike Myers, and out of money. Tom Browning is our most expensive player making $2.9 million, but we can't give him away. This is pretty much the team we'll open the season with. We may look for a couple free agents willing to sign for the minimum, just for some additional depth, but that's it.

03-19-2014, 07:50 PM	#1333
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	5/1/1995 - A couple of things have become clear during the opening month of the season. 1 - the Rockies are terrible. 2 - the rest of the NL West isn't much better. We really need some pitching though, because we've given up 25 runs twice, 24 runs once, and 14 runs once. We get to the end of the bullpen after our starter lasts three innings and a pitcher will last 2/3 of an inning and give up 11 runs. So we'll see if we can convince any free agent pitcher to take a one year deal and come to Colorado to pitch, just so we can field a competitive team. I also noticed that I missed calling out Chipper Jones as a keeper. I missed him during the initial roster review, but he's rated best at shortstop, so we need to figure out how best to use Jones with Jeter. Attached Images

03-20-2014, 06:59 PM	#1334
ShagVT Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 103	It's an interesting question - in Colorado, would it be better to give up pitching as a lost cause and just get a ton of power hitters? I guess with pitchers, you need to concentrate on high movement guys since they don't get as much pop on the ball?

03-21-2014, 11:19 PM	#1336
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	6/1/1995 - First up we agreed to terms with 39 year old Jim Clancy, 35 year old Tim Conroy, 38 year old Scott Sanderson, and 39 year old Silvio Martinez on one year deals to come pitch for Colorado. Clancy and Sanderson both joined the rotation, while Conroy and Martinez will both head to the bullpen. If nothing else I'm hoping they can provide us 5 innings each time out. Charles Johnson had a 20 game hitting streak end this month, while Derek Jeter was named Rookie of the Month after hitting .450 with 2 home runs, 26 RBI, and 28 runs scored. They both are helping our offense jump from horrible to not so bad. Attached Images

03-22-2014, 07:53 PM	#1337
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	7/1/1995 - I almost feel bad for my manager Kelsey Nelson for having the pitching staff that we do. He's signed through 1997, and I already know I'm not going to renew his contract. In fact I'd fire him today if we had a better team and I thought it would help. But he gets to run out his contract for now, and has to deal with this pitching staff. At least he stays in shape from making so many pitching changes. We lost both Orestes Destrade and Derek Jeter to injuries this month, and we've fallen 14 games out in last place in a very winnable division. Attached Images

03-23-2014, 07:36 PM	#1338
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	8/1/1995 - The Rockies came into the league at the same time as the Florida Marlins, and they lead the NL East with a 63-42 record, while the Rockies have lost 74 games already and are well on our way to our third straight 100 loss season. We managed to win just 4 games this month, while losing 23. Both Charles Johnson and Derek Jeter were named to the All-Star team.

03-23-2014, 07:44 PM	#1339
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	9/1/1995 - The Rockies won just 9 games this month, and we ended the month with a 14 man pitching staff, just to see if that will stop the bleeding. It didn't. Derek Jeter won both the Batter of the Month and Rookie of the Month after hitting .432 with 3 home runs, 27 RBI, and 21 runs scored. Attached Images

03-23-2014, 07:58 PM	#1340
Trebro All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 756	Has anyone in your universe ever hit .400 for the year? Wondering how unique Jeter is vs. rest of your world?