MLB Replay....A new History

[HerbertMcHoover]

Don't forget to update us on Bernie and Vaughn! Hopefully the Yanks get Bernie back. Feller 1 short is 6000 is ridiculous. If I'm a team, I would have gotten him back for one last go at it.

Welcome to New York, Eric Byrnes! Loved the Mets draft picks.

[George_Bell]

2003 MLB Preview

Well it looks like i forgot to snapshot the preseason prediction pages. Oops. Ya, I know, I'm slacking...oh well..

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[George_Bell]

2003 MLB Regular Season

Bernie Williams signs with Tampa Bay for a year, and looks like he play as a 4^th Ofer. Mo Vaughn heads to Arizona where he will start at first base. Vaughn gets 3.4 million for the season, 2 mil more then Williams.


Tampa Bay’s Albert Pujols, at 23 years of age, is finally starting in the big leagues. He’s had runs the past 2 years, but injuries forced those call-ups. This year, he’s starting from day 1, and his April player of the month award shows he was well worth the wait. He hits .379, with 6 home runs and 29 RBIs.



23 year old Rick Ankiel, a SF Giant, is playing in his 3^rd season. He hit a combined 30 home runs the last two seasons, with a .260 average. Pretty decent, but he’s off to a horrible start this year. So, for fun, you know where im going with this, I'm changing his position to a pitcher. He’s got excellent ratings to pitch, so lets see if he can transform himself in the opposite way he did in real life.



RA Dickey has had a very tough time. He spent many a year with the Expos going going 44-76, with an ERA over 6. Not too good. Well, the 28 year old signed a deal with the Cubs this offseason, and he all of a sudden, gotten his knuckler to dance. Through ten starts, he leads the NL in wins with a 7-0 record, and his ERA is 2.98, 3.3 runs better then his career average!!



First time all-star Todd Sears, 1B for the Rockies is the top vote getter for this years all-star game. A bit surprising. He’s having a great year, and won the NL batting title last year, so people are starting to notice the 27 year old. He received just over 4 million votes.



Here are the trades made during the first half of the baseball season




The Oakland A’s have celebrated winning their first ever World Series, by taking the next season off. On August 1^st, they have the 2^nd worst record in all of baseball at 40-67. No way this team is that bad, but wow, that’s a huge drop off. Doc Gooden has missed most of the season with back issues, and Derek Jeter has had issues with injuries as well, but the team is mostly intact.

Here are the 2nd half trades upto the trade deadline



Well that kind of snuck up on me. Rafael Palmeiro, who never really got a lot of “press” just hit his 600^th home run! That’s kind of insane, as Palmeiro is the typical 30 home run guy. Like real life Hank Aaron, he’s been doing it each and every year, for a very long time. The current Expo, has 20 home runs entering September.



The best team in baseball, the Florida Marlins, will easily make the playoffs, so will the Giants, and Devil Rays. Everything else is anyones guess. Pennant races exist this season.

Ok, that whole pennant race thing. Naw, nothing ended up close, and things were decided by the final weekend of the season. Here are the final standings.



Albert Pujols comes back down to earth, but still finishes up a strong rookie season. He hits .255, with 19 home runs, 96 RBI’s and a playoff birth!

Rick Ankiel becomes the Giants closer, and saves 28 games, striking out 107 hitters in 70 innings. His ERA was 3.45.

RA Dickey could not keep up his hot streak, and fell back pretty hard. He finished the season 12-12 with a 4.86 ERA. Not terrible, but not better then his final year in Montreal.

[reds1]

Wow, everything kind of came together for the Reds this year (I mean 2003, not 2015 )

And poor Houston!

[Dreamsicle]

How close is Doc Gooden to 400?

[rjl518]

The fla marlins...its their turn now!!!

[HerbertMcHoover]

Love what you did with Ankiel and Dickey's stats.

Duckworth?!

2B Paul Konerko traded! Feels like the first time in a while the Reds made the playoffs (since 1980, I think, when they reached the WS).

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by Dreamsicle

How close is Doc Gooden to 400?

Pretty damn close. He's 387-168 after the season. The 38 year old just had his worst year though. 5-6 with a 5.57 era. He suffered his first injury of his career which caused him to miss the first 4 months of the season. He will be a free agent after the season. Never has he resigned in this situation.

Declining skills, age, major injury, and a amazing resume, with a chance to make history. I'll be watching how the offseason plays out.

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

These two teams are unlikely historical opponents, and unlikely looking at their competition this season. The Giants and Indians have 6 championships between them in 204 years of competing. They also are both flawed teams, who were massive underdogs before the playoffs began.

Cleveland’s offense is elite. No question about it. From one to nine, the lineup is dangerous. Their problem is the pitching. The starters of been nothing short of terrible. They have no one they can count on. Not even a little bit. Sometimes average pitching gets described this way in the playoffs, but make no mistake, the starters have been bad! It’s massive pressure on the bats, but so far, the bats have been enough.

The Giants completed on of the most dominant sweeps in baseball history, outscoring the Marlins 31-2. They have pitching, its not great, but it’s much more reliable then their counterparts.

One factor that could be the difference in the series; The speed difference. Cleveland has elite speed, the Giant’s have none.

[George_Bell]

Cleveland gets off to a good start, but are disappointed to only score 2 runs in the 2^nd inning. They get two singles, a walk, and an error, but strikeout 3 times to leave runners on in scoring position. The Giants Damon Hollins ties it in the 4^th with a two out 2 run homer. The Giants go ahead in the sixth when Edgardo Alfonzo goes deep. Moises Alou provides an insurance run and San Francisco wins the opener 4-2.

Erubiel Durazo hits 2 and Carl Everett hits 1 home run to score 4 Indians runs early. The Giants respond, keeping the ball in the park with a series of clutch hits in the 3^rd and 4^th innings. All told, they score 4 runs, which has us tied after four! Cleveland loads the bases in the sixth, and pinch hitter, Mike Lamb earns himself fan favourite status. He triples, which clears the bases. 7-4 Indians. Luis Matos would hit a 2 run homer and the route is officially on. Cleveland wins game two, 13-7 to tie the series.


Mike Lamb, so laid back!

Brian Schneider hits a 3 run homer in the third. Luis Matos decides going back to back would be fun, and the Indians have an early 4-0 lead playing their first home game of the series. The Giants Troy Glaus immediately gets 2 of those runs back, hitting his first bomb of the series. The Giants cut the lead to one, then Damon Hollins would double home both Troy Glaus and Tony Batista. Come back complete. 5-4 Giants. They add 3 more on a Batitsta 3 run shot, and win game three 8-5. Demoralizing loss for Cleveland.

Indians starter Darryl Kile walks the lead off hitter Jason Giambi, allows Edgardo Alfonzo to single, Troy Glaus to double and Hank Blalock to single. A horrible start, and it’s 3-0 Giants right away. This series looks done….oh wait a minute......

Cleveland’s Mark Sweeney revives the crowd and his team with a 2 out, 2 run homer in the first to cut the lead to one. Carl Everett and Brian Schneider each hit 2 run homers in the next two innings, and before we know it, it’s 9-3 Cleveland! The offense exploded. They would cruise the rest of the way with a series saving 9-6 win.

The Giants need some way to grab the momentum back, and get it in the form of a Jon Lieber start. After taking a 1-0 first inning lead, Lieber retires the first 6 batters he faces. Edgardo Alfonzo and Troy Glaus both homer, and the lead reaches 4. Lieber cruises allowing 4 hits over 8.1 innings. SF wins game five 6-2 and take a 3-2 series lead.

Both offense have been getting off to quick starts. That changed in game 6. Starters Glendon Rusch and Kip Wells did their jobs well. No scoring through 6 innings until Cleveland breaks through. Julio Lugo homers to give the Indians the slim 1-0 lead. In the 7^th, all hell breaks lose. Julio Lugo and Erubiel Durazo each hit 2 run shots, as part of a 7 run inning! The Indians force a game 7 with the 8-0 win.

GAME 7


Both Colby Lewis and Brad Penny seem on for the final game of 2003. Each pitcher looks good shutting out their opponents though 3. No scoring in the 4^th either. In the fifth, Shea Hillenbrand leads off with a double, and scores when the next hitter, Ben Petrick doubles. 1-0 Giants.

Colby Lewis gets that shut down inning in the sixth, and things are looking up for San Francisco. Tony Batista homers in the sixth, making it 2-0. Brian Schneider gets the Indians off the schneid (pun intended) with a solo homer in the 7^th.

The Giants add 2 insurance runs in the 8^th courtesy of a Damon Hollins single. For the first time since moving from NY, the Giants win the World Series with a 5-1 game seven victory!!

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

2003-04 Offseason News and Notes

There were 3 guys with #1 potential in this years draft, and they all went top 3. Evan Longoria is the first pick by the Houston Astros. He, like Price and Gonzalez look like stars! I feel the draft was weak overall. There are some names, but the talent level isn't great.




No hall of fame induction this year. We are getting close to some newly eligible guys getting in, but the halls doors will continue to be difficult to open.

Looking at the record books, I've never really looked at longevity records. Games played, innings pitched. That sort of thing. Here are the true iron men of baseball!



It is crazy to me that Tom Seaver got 750 starts in for the time he pitched. That's amazing. Danny Tartabull is also a surprising name on the list of all-time at bats. His career just ended, and he was a good player, but never would i guess he came to the plate that many times.

Here's a look at Tom Seaver's amazing Hall of Fame Career.






The reigning Rube Waddell award winner had to wait until March to find a contract, and there wasn't much of a commitment to him. The Montreal Expos surprisngly spent some money. World Series champions San Francisco end up the big losers, saying good bye to two big hitters. Oh, John Wetteland is a starter now, and a good one, after 15 years of closing!!


John Wetteland

Here are the trades made during the offseason.





I absolutely hate what my Blue Jays have done here. Thanks the baseball gods this look is gone in real life.

[HerbertMcHoover]

Don't sleep on Adam Jones going at 10, Carlos Gomez at 15, Desmond at 21 and Moreland and Robertson in round 2.

Tartabull... huh?

Loved the free agent movement, especially Millwood to the Red Sox. Seems like disaster.

Completely agree about that Blue Jays look. Too much black and silver. Yuck.

[George_Bell]

2004 MLB Preview





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[wwines]

Hey George,
You haven't posted in awhile, I hope all is well and looking forward to one of my favorite dynasty's to return.

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by wwines

Hey George,
You haven't posted in awhile, I hope all is well and looking forward to one of my favorite dynasty's to return.

Everything is fine. I pretty much have been doing this for 2 years. I'm in break mode at the moment. Playing another game with my cpu time at the moment. I will return to this at some point, just won't be tomorrow!!

[skyballer455]

Hello there George!

Firstly, I really hope that you'll continue this soon. I've enjoyed reading it ever since I discovered it.

Secondly, all the graphics from about the 1903 season to before the 1993 regular season have disappeared once again.