Yet Another OOTP6 Dynasty: The Pale Hose

[cknox0723]

The Kansas City Royals, if you'll recall, were the first team that our oh-so-humble heroes took on in their quest to achieve more than just mediocrity. And The Regal Ones promptly set us in line, pounding our club into submission in the first two games of the season, outscoring us 17-3, and reminding us that we are, after all, just another team. We did manage to squeak out the third game and save face, a metaphorical foreshadowing of our season, at least as to its progression in this infantile stage. But I was unsatisfied and I've remained so -- until now. Time for some good, old-fashioned vengeance.

But Jimmy Gobble stands in our way, and while the Tennessee native isn't physically imposing, his name frightens the heck out of me. And it certainly works for him - he's carrying a 3.42 ERA and a strong 1.18 WHIP. It makes me wonder just how good Jon Garland would be if his name was Jon Moo. We're really lacking a name full of onomatopoeia, though The Out-Sucking Machine is a decent enough substitute, much like Cheez-Whiz.

But no matter how much you might enjoy "pasteurized process cheese sauce", it's still not as good as the real stuff, since it's crap, not cheese. In that sense, our Pale Hose are Cheez-Whiz. And Jon Garland is our own little cheese ball, proven by a lackluster start. Still, a few hard-hit balls manage to go for outs, but Garland issues a two-out walk to David Bell to put two men on for the career .258 hitting catcher, Chad Moeller, batting fifth. That's one of those things that makes you think that either Tony Pena is a dip or he knows something beyond the numbers. In this case, the esteemable manager apparently "believed" in Moeller's numbers against us in that first series - four hits in ten at-bats. That's probably the stupidest of stats to go on (other than ESPN's Productive Outs), but then Moeller goes and puts a hanging curve into the left-field seats. Three-nothing. Um, ****?

Lest we forget, though, we're facing a guy named Jimmy Gobble, and it'd be borderline criminal of me not to point out that he's just a turkey. Turkey Man looks to have the upper hand in the bottom of the first, but Magglio Ordonez destroys a curveball with a picturesque uppercut. 3-1.

Jon Moo gives up a two-out single to Kansas City leadoff hitter Henry Mateo in the top of the second, but Rich Thompson flies out, and all is well. We go down in order, and Moo puts David Bell and Chad Moeller on base in the third, but gets a 6-4-3 double play to get out of it unscathed. We peter out quickly, and the Regal Ones do the same in the fourth, though shenanigans from Brandon Phillips lengthen the process a bit. Our boys go down in order in the bottom half to make it nine in a row for The Birdbrain. Garland does the same in the fifth save a Mike Sweeney double, but he needed help from The Out-Sucking Machine, who's at least making up for some of his incompetence by flashing the leather.

Joe Borchard (Borch) prevents a vein from bursting in my head by ripping a single to left to start off the fifth. Joe Crede follows suit, albeit to the other side of the field. First and second. No one out. Catcher who's 1-13 at the plate. Time to manage, right?

"And the southpaw Gobble steps off the mound for a moment, as he's put two runners on base here in the fifth and just narrowly avoided hitting Miguel Olivo in the head with his first pitch to him. Now he's apparently composed himself, and he checks both runners and begins looking in for Moeller's sign. He shakes his head a few times, finally agrees, and now he sets for the 1-0 pitch. The right-handed Olivo digs in, and the 1-0 pitch is a high heater and it's swung on and driven, way back to left! Mench is back to the track, he's at the wall, and he leaps, but that ball is in the bleachers! A three-run home run for Miguel Olivo, his first of the year, and the White Sox have taken a 4-3 lead!"

Hacktastic Julio Lugo lines a two-bagger down the left field after two quick outs from the bottom of the order, but D.Y. taps out to third to quash that. Still, a lead. A lead with Jon Moo on the mound. I'll take it.

The Moo Man walks a few men in the top of the sixth, but strikes out Henry Mateo on three pitches (his 101st, 102nd, and 103rd of the afternoon) to dodge the silver bullet. Mags Ordonez leads off the sixth with a single, and I try to send him, knowing that a DP ball is inevitable. But the bum can't "get a good jump", and two batters later, Borch ends the inning with a hard-hit hopper at Henry Mateo.

Superfluous Kiko Calero comes in for the seventh. He's rested, so he's got that going for him. Unfortunately, he sucks, so Rich Thompson leads off with a single and moves to third on the next pitch when Miggy Olivo throws the ball into center field. Mike Sweeney And His Aching Back hits a hard shot back up the middle that requires Herculean effort from both Calero and Frank Thomas to turn into an out. Begging for an inning-ending double play ball, I intentionally walk Marty Cordova to bring up Chad Moeller. Except Tony Pena tries to outfox me, pinch-running and immediately ordering James Shanks to swipe second. But Olivo guns him, and an enthused Calero induces Moeller to bounce out to second. I hope the city of Kansas City and all of their freaking catchers and former catchers likes that. Jerks.

I'm surprised to see Gobble come out for the bottom of the seventh, but much to my greater surprise, he's only thrown 70 or so pitches. Still, he just seems done, a theory furthered by a leadoff single for Joe Crede. But Turkey Man gets ahead of Miguel Olivo one-and-two, but the scrappy backstop fouls off a pitch and then turns on a slider and lines it...FAIR...down the left field line. Kevin Mench And His Big Head fetches it, but by the time the ball's back in the infield, we've got men on second and third.

And The Out-Sucking Machine up. Great.

"Gobble, likely working his last inning, has one ball and one strike on Chicago second baseman Juan Uribe, who's 0-2. Uribe adjusts his helmet before stepping in, but now he's ready. Here comes the leg kick and the pitch from Gobble and Uribe lines it...right at Brandon Phillips! And Olivo slips and falls trying to get back to second base, and Phillips will tag the base for the unassisted double play!"



Brian Buchanan pinch-hits for Calero, but Henry Mateo makes a nice play on a high chopper, and the lead remains a mere run.

Shingo Takatsu comes in for the eighth, but on his second pitch, Tike Redman (Tike Redman!) hits a screamer. As before, I think, "Um, ****?", but the wind is blowing in. The wind is blowing in, and Dmitri Young tracks it down near the wall. That whooshing sound you just heard was my sigh of relief. Kevin Mench, though, elicits a louder sigh when he hits a screaming line drive back up the middle. Except the ball happens to shoot right back into Mr. Zero's glove. Brandon Phillips, mercifully, just flies out, saving me from asphyxiation.

A D.Y. double play eliminates the threat (?) of a leadoff single from Julio Lugo in the eighth, and we're faced with Joe Roa to slam the door in the ninth. Joe Roa? Yes, Joe Roa, because Akinori Otsuka is tired and Long_Long_Name is not. Never underestimate rest.

That's a pretty obvious statement, but Roa fans pinch-hitter Byron Gettis and gets Henry Mateo to hit a can of corn, and I'm looking brilliant. Then Rich Thompson, he who's barely above the Mendoza line, singles, and Aching Back Man steps up with the GAME ON THE LINE!!!11!!

"And Mike Sweeney has worked the count to two-and-two after taking two quick strikes. He represents the lead run as well as the final out here in the top of the ninth. Roa toes the mound, Sweeney waves the bat, and here's the 2-2 pitch...slider, and it breaks right in on the outside half! Sweeney could do little but stare, strike three and the ballgame is over! The Sox take this one 4-3 as Joe Roa picks up his first save of the season."



KC 3 CHW 4

WP: J. Garland (2-1) - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 4 K (put guys on, but kept himself composed)
LP: J. Gobble (2-2) - CG, 9 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 102 pitches
S: J. Roa (1)

Game Ball Goes To... Miguel Olivo was signed by Oakland as a free agent in 1996, has four children, and enjoys playing the drums. On May 5, 2006, he had the game of his life, going 2-3 with a double and 3-run home run and throwing out a key base runner in the seventh. Certainly, that's a better career highlight than "caught Bartolo Colon".

Craig

[Vris]

Phew. I was on the edge of my seat reading that one. Very exciting game!

And aren't you glad you play in the AL Central? 7 games under, yet only 4.5 back. There's hope in the Windy City!

Other notes:
--The Olive's great game has to tell you something. You need a catcher. Sausage, Pepper, and Onions is only good for the rally-killing strikeout/double play, and Oliva pulls this out? You know he's gonna go oh for his next 20.
--4 strong performances by your pitching staff in a row, and 1A is coming into pitch tomorrow, correct? If you could somehow climb to .480 by the All-Star break, then you could actually be a buyer!

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Vris

Other notes:
--The Olive's great game has to tell you something. You need a catcher. Sausage, Pepper, and Onions is only good for the rally-killing strikeout/double play, and Oliva pulls this out? You know he's gonna go oh for his next 20.
--4 strong performances by your pitching staff in a row, and 1A is coming into pitch tomorrow, correct? If you could somehow climb to .480 by the All-Star break, then you could actually be a buyer!

I like that name for Piazza. See, it's just not that hard to create the witty nickname! But you're right - I figured Olivo would handle lefties pretty well, but nothing like yesterday. Nice to have that to fall back on.

Still haven't decided who's going to go for game two - Marc Kaiser Roll is still waiting to make his first MLB start, Nate the Great Cornejo is still around, and it appears that Buerhle, too, is rested. Maybe we should go with one of those tandem pitching staffs like Oakland uses in the minors, with three or four guys pitching a couple of innings each?

Craig

[cknox0723]

With a plethora of options available to take the mound against Royals' ace Todd Ritchie, who's taken the career path of our 1A starter, Esteban Loaiza, I see no reason to skip the order and go with someone other than our true ace, Mark Buerhle, so I don't. I make the requisite lineup changes (Fullmer and Reed in for Thomas and Borchard) since Ritchie has some trouble with left-handed batters, and off we go.

Buerhle looks strong from the start, fanning leadoff hitter Henry Mateo, and after surrendering a bloop single to Miguel Cairo, doing the same to Mike Sweeney as he did to Mateo. However, Marty Cordova lines a two-out single, and David Bell draws a walk, and suddenly Kansas City has a threat. Buerhle, somewhat flummoxed, falls behind two-and-oh to Kevin Mench And His Large Head, and forced to throw a strike, offers up a rather fat slider. Mench tags it back up the middle, but The Buerhle One sticks up the glove and makes the grab, and a rather sneaky threat is dodged sneakily.

Things continue to look good as we take our first turn at bat, as Jeremy Reed lines the first pitch he sees into right field and never stops running as Kevin Mench's Head prevents him from fielding the ball cleanly. The Young Stallion ends up on second, and moves to third when D.Y. grounds out to second. Magglio Ordonez lets down the team, everyone he knows, and the 19,000+ in attendance by popping out to shallow left and not scoring the run, but Brad Fullmer lines a 1-1 changeup into right field to plate Reed anyway, and I'm content even when Joe Crede stares at strike three. This is certainly different - we've got a lead in the first inning.

Buerhle, pumped up by actually having a lead, pitches a perfect second, and Ramon Vazquez hits a one-out triple into the right field corner in our half, but we can't capitalize, as The Hacktastic One grounds out to David Bell and Buerhle fans. And that looms, awfully frustratingly, as the Royals' bats wake up in the third. Henry Mateo leads off with a single, Mike Sweeney walks two batters later, and then Marty Cordova ties the game with a base hit to left. David Bell follows with a double down the line to make it 2-1, and after an intentional walk, Tike Redman beats out a double play ball, making it a 3-1 game. The Buerhle One finally gets out of the inning by handling a hard-hit James Shanks grounder, but there goes our comfortable lead.

D.Y., the second batter in the bottom of the third, gets a hanging curve ball and turns on it like I've never seen before, hitting a shot to right that hits the scoreboard. That's all we get, but it's enough to cut the lead to one.

Buerhle falls into trouble again in the fourth, again thanks to the pesky Henry Mateo, who lines a one-out single and steals second. But The Buerhle One bears down, striking out Miguel Cairo and getting Mike Sweeney to hit a lazy pop-up to right on a 3-2 fastball.

In the fourth, Sausage, Peppers, and Onions, of all people, draws a one-out walk, and this inspires the bottom of the order. Apparently all they needed was a boost of confidence, and seeing a guy with an OBP of .200 get on base will do that. First it's Ramon Vazquez, battling Ritchie to an eight pitch at-bat before hitting a long drive to left-center that Marty Cordova tracks down near the wall. Then, it's Hacktastic Julio Lugo.

"The right-hander Ritchie has fallen behind Lugo, one ball and no strikes, but he's one out away from getting out of the inning. He takes a quick glance at Piazza, who's stapled to first base, and looks in towards James Shanks as Lugo digs back in. Now Ritchie brings the ball and his glove together, and here comes the pitch...and it's a hanging slider, driven to deep right! Back goes Mench, to the track, but he won't catch that one! It's a two-run home run for Julio Lugo, his third of the year, and the White Sox have seized the lead again - it's 4-3!"

Buerhle gives it back in the fifth, though, starting off the inning by fanning Marty Cordova but then giving up two consecutive singles. Tike Redman lines out, but then eighth place hitter James Shanks lined a base-hit to left to tie the game. Still two outs, and the pitcher Todd Ritchie up. Inning over, right? Nope...a liner to left field puts the lead back in the Regal Ones' hands, and facing the top of the order, Buerhle gets a weak ground ball from the guy that's tortured us all day, Henry Mateo. Grrrr...

Both pitchers dance around a baserunner over the course of the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, but we get base hits from Joe Crede and Mike Piazza (???) to start off the bottom of the sixth. That brings up a situation, runners at first and second and no one out, down a run, number seven hitter up, where most managers would bunt. Not I, since it's my boy Ramon Vazquez. Foolish? You make the call...

"Ritchie's fallen behind Vazquez three and one, and there's action in the bullpen for Tony Pena, so it's imperative that the right-hander bear down here. The left-handed hitting second baseman looks down at third base coach Dan Pasqua, who claps his hands encouragingly, and Vazquez nods and steps in. No threat from the runners, so Ritchie focuses in on Shanks and now he nods his head. 3 balls and 1 strike, Ritchie to the set, here's his offering, and it's a high fastball hit high and deep to right-center! Back is Redman, he's at the track, he nears the wall, he leaps...but it's gone! A three run home run for Ramon Vazquez, and the White Sox have taken back the lead once again! It's 7-5! Incredible!"

Unsurprisingly, that's all for Ritchie, and young left-hander David Sanders comes in. He retires Julio Lugo quickly enough, and I've got to decide on a pinch-hitter for Buerhle. A lefty on the mound - Brian Buchanan time, right? Well, I figure that I ought to save him for later in the game, since it's still only the sixth, and we might need him if we're down a run or something. So I go with, pretty much, the only other option - Juan Uribe. I like being tortured, I guess.

"Sanders gets a quick strike on Uribe, and he appears to want to work quickly, almost immediately toeing the rubber and looking in for the sign after receiving the ball. So Uribe steps out for a moment, fixes his shoelace, rubs the bat between his hands, and now he appears ready. Sanders nods quickly, and the big lefty kicks up his leg and offers a slider, and Uribe goes with it and drives it to deep right field. Back is Mench, to the track, he's at the wall, he leaps...but it's outta here! A pinch-hit home run for Juan Uribe, the light-hitting Chicago infielder! The bats are most certainly awake for Chicago today, and they've taken an 8-5 lead!"

Jeremy Reed follows with a double off the wall in right-center, and moves to third on a D.Y. ground out. Two outs, and Magglio Ordonez shows why he's making the big bucks, extending the lead to four with a screaming line drive to left. Brad Fullmer (left-handed hitter, remember) astonishes me by working the count full and then lining a base-hit, giving us another runner in scoring position, but Mike Sweeney allows Royals' fans to have a prayer of chance by making a diving stop on a Joe Crede scorcher, ending the inning.

Kiko Calero comes in for the seventh, but is off from the start, giving up a two-out ribbie double to Rich Thompson, and then surrendering a walk to Mateo and a run-scoring single to Byron Gettis. All of a sudden, the lead's down to two and Mike Sweeney's at the plate, representing the lead run. I call on P.J. Bevis and cross my fingers. And Sweeney lines an 0-1 slider right at Brad Fullmer. I love the Rule 5 Draft.

Tom Gordon shuts down our six, seven, and eight hitters in the seventh, and I shudder, blink, and leave out a well-rested P.J. Bevis for the eighth. He gets a few lazy fly balls and then gives up a shot to Kevin Mench And His Oversized Noggin, but D.Y. gamely tracks it down. It's all about the rest!

Borch is the obvious pinch-hitter to lead off the bottom of the eighth, with the pitcher's slot due up, right-handed Tom Gordon still on the mound, and a lack of other options. And he comes through with a leadoff double down the right-field line. Not to be outdone, Jeremy Reed works the count full and takes a big cut, but hits a liner right to shortstop Brandon Phillips, who tags Borchard for a double play. D.Y. strikes out, and there goes that threat, but all we need are three outs.

So being a save situation and a close game and all that, I go with Akinori Otsuka. Facing the bottom of the order, it should be smooth sailing, but Brandon Phillips works a full count and then bloops a check-swing single. Then James Shanks hits a more conventional line drive base-hit, and Eric Owens pinch-hits. But for whatever reason, the man doesn't bunt, instead falling behind 0-2. But Owens valiantly hits a hard ground ball - right at Julio Lugo, who starts a clutch, clutch double play, getting the tying run off base. But Henry Mateo squeaks a base hit to cut the lead to one, and then Byron Gettis lines a base-hit to left-center, bringing up Someone With An Aching Back. And for the second straight night, I call on Joe Roa. What's that expression?

"Roa's fallen behind two-and-oh to Mike Sweeney, and everyone in the stadium's on their feet, with the tying run at second base and the winning run at first. The big first baseman digs his spikes into the dirt and waves his bat as Roa takes a deep breath and looks in for Piazza's sign. Roa nods, he sets, and here's the 2-0...swung on and bounced to the right side! Fullmer ranges a few steps to his right, flips to Roa covering first, and that'll do it! For the second consecutive night, Joe Roa gets the save, and the White Sox win this one 9-8. Drive home safely, folks!"

Oh yeah..."History repeats itself..."



KC 8 CHW 9

WP: M. Buerhle (3-3) - 6 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 6 K (jeez, that's a lot of baserunners for someone that didn't pitch all that poorly)
LP: T. Ritchie (3-4) - 5 IP, 9 h, 7 R
S: J. Roa (2) - 3 pitches, one ground ball to first base

Game Ball Goes To... Boy, there are a lot of candidates, but for all the hitting, we wouldn't have won this game without the pitchers, and P.J. Bevis gave us a perfect inning and a third in the late innings that no one else, it appears, could have provided. Bravo.

Craig

[NYJuggalo45]

crazy game, but held on for the win. PJ Bevis has been a star in an otherwise bad bullpen, proving that yet again. and it was nice to see another appearance by Kevin Mench and his big noggin

[Vris]

"Things continue to look good as we take our first turn at bat, as Jeremy Reed lines the first pitch he sees into right field and never stops running as Kevin Mench's Head prevents him from fielding the ball cleanly. "


---The highlight of my day!


Way to show off them managerial skills Craig!

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Vris

"Things continue to look good as we take our first turn at bat, as Jeremy Reed lines the first pitch he sees into right field and never stops running as Kevin Mench's Head prevents him from fielding the ball cleanly. "


---The highlight of my day!


Way to show off them managerial skills Craig!

Much appreciated.

I may not get the time to sim a game tonight, so I thought I'd at least update the standings.

Minnesota Twins ....... 15-15 (--)
Cleveland Indians ..... 14-17 (1.5 GB)
Kansas City Royals .... 14-17 (1.5 GB)
Detroit Tigers ........ 13-18 (2.5 GB)
Chicago White Sox ..... 12-17 (2.5 GB)

Craig

[Vris]

Gotta love that AL Central!

[cknox0723]

Something about winning the first two games in this series has me wanting to draw blood and just tear apart the Royals in this last game. Standing in our way is a fine counterpart to our 1A starter Esteban Loaiza: left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, a young fireballer plagued with injuries. Somewhere, I'm sure Brien Taylor is shedding a tear.

Loaiza starts off strongly, retiring the first two on just eight pitches, but unsurprisingly, Mike Sweeney singles. Then Marty Cordova walks, and just to make things interesting, Loaiza hits Miggy Cairo on the shoulder with a 3-2 fastball. Bases loaded. Great! Chad Moeller's up, though, and Loaiza finally gets his head on straight, getting a little bouncer to the left side that Joe Crede is able to handle with ease.

Affeldt retires our first two, but again the three hitter makes things interesting. In our case, Magglio Ordonez doubles into the corner, and then Frank Thomas uses his incredible powers of perception to draw a base on balls. Mike Piazza, with a run in scoring position, goes up there hacking at the first pitch and actually manages to hit the ball out of the infield (for the first time in days!), but it ends up nestled in Marty Cordova's leather. This is what AL Central baseball is all about, baby! Wasting chances to score!

Both pitchers settle down in the second, but Loaiza pulls the same crap he always does in the third, giving up consecutive two-out doubles to Marty Cordova (yes, the sun's in my screen) and Miguel Effing Cairo, and just like that, we're trailing. Luckily, Veteran Catcher Chad Moeller (he knows how to call a game, d00dz!!) follows Cairo, and he sucks, so he strikes out, and we're only down 1-0.

Jeremy Affeldt continues to blister us, though, as a leadoff walk to Loaiza is quickly negated by a double play off of The Hacktastic One's bat, and D.Y. fans for the second time to end the inning. Yuck.

Loaiza continues to bother the bejeezus out of me in the fourth inning, putting both Kevin Mench and Carlos Febles on to start the inning, and eventually surrendering a two-out, two-run single to Rich Thompson, of all people. The same guy hitting .231 with 10 ribbies. Whatever. Mike Sweeney follows him, and he swats at a 2-0 pitch and bounces it right to The Festering Suck of Juan Uribe. Why not?

Magglio Ordonez takes the first two pitches he sees in the bottom of the fourth, and then sits dead red. Affeldt, low on the poise rating, it seems, tosses the two-seamer right there, and Mags destroys it, just in time to prevent me from spitting sunflower seeds at Miguel Olivo. (Hey, a guy's gotta do something to pass the time in games like this!) So it's down to a 3-1 deficit. Of course, the next three bums go down in order.

Thankfully, Loaiza is fine in the fifth but for a Miguel Cairo double (what has gotten into him today?), and the score holds. It holds until the sixth, too, because the bottom third of our order doesn't get the ball out of the infield in the bottom half of the fifth. Ack.

Affeldt is the second batter due up in the sixth inning, so as Carlos Febles is up there flailing hopelessly, I'm more concerned with whether or not Tony Pena will leave his man in the game. Disappointingly, he does, and I nearly flip the bird at the former catcher when Affeldt lines a single. Friggin' pitchers and catchers, man. Loaiza strikes out Henry Mateo for the third time, though, and then gets Rich Thompson to hit a can of corn, so that silly base hit means nothing. We do nothing again, and Loaiza's pretty gassed by the seventh, but I leave him out there anyway. He walks Aching Back Man and falls behind Marty Cordova, but the sun blinds the left fielder on a three-one pitch, and he tops a fat pitch, hitting it right to Joe Crede. Double play. Still, Miguel Cairo (i hate him!!!) follows with a base hit, and then Chad Moeller doubles to make it 4-1.

I fall into a stupor quickly after that, but eventually Ol' Rag Arm gets out of the inning without any further damage, though he's up around 130 pitches. Cool. I feel like Dusty Baker.

Mike Piazza lines a one-out single in the seventh to raise his average to a scintillating .162 (!), but Joe Borchard follows with a hot liner right at Mike Sweeney. Piazza, who apparently had about a twelve-step lead because, y'know, it's so imperative for the slowest man alive to get a huge lead off first, falls flat on his face and can't get back to the bag. Double play, inning over, fan-tas-tic.

I leave Loaiza out for the eighth because Kaiser Roll and Nate The Great aren't yet warm, and he gets the first two men, but then Rich Thompson rips a base hit. He steals second, and then I just leave Loaiza out there for the carnage. (Yes, I know, I've done that already.) When the inning finally ends by way of Nate Cornejo striking out (?) Chad Moeller, the score's 6-1 and "1A" has a 4.86 ERA for the year and 155 (!) pitches on the old arm. I can hear the Pitcher Abuse Points just racking up, like this is my own personal twisted pinball game.

Our offense isn't, at least not today, which is unfortunate, but it'll happen. Kaiser Roll comes in for the ninth and has a five pitch inning, which is cool (at least in my mind), but some guy named Nate Field shuts us down in the ninth. So much for a sweep - but it's good that I get these delusions of grandeur swatted away. I hate grandeur. And like the title says, there's nothing wrong with mediocrity.

KC 6 CHW 1

WP: J. Affeldt (2-2) - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K (tough to get runs when no one's on base, eh?)
LP: E. Loaiza (2-4) - 7.2 IP, 14 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 9 K, 155 pitches (makes me question DIPS, but I slagged poor Esteban. oh well.)

Game Ball Goes To.. Esteban Loaiza, who deserves an 'A' for effort. Not an 'A' as in 1A, though, because he's clearly inferior to Mark Buerhle. That's not a knock on him -- not everyone is The Buerhle One -- just the facts. Whatever. Esteban, I'm truly sorry for the way I treated you. Give me another chance, please? I promise I won't call you that name anymore...

Craig

Addendum - I'll be out-of-state the next few days, so, sadly, no updates until the weekend. Have a good week, folks. -ck

[Vris]

Enjoy your out-of-state-ness Craig. We'll be waiting right here for your triumphant return. I know I'm awaiting the next move by the Guy With Managerial Skills.

[cknox0723]

I'm now absolutely certain why teams travel by air nowadays, as it took me 11 hours to get home from Virginia yesterday via the railways. Thanks Amtrak, keep up the good work! But I'm back, and I see that my club has also hit the road, taking our travelling circus to the launching pad of Texas to take on the Rangers. Oddly enough, this outfit is led by a couple of strong pitchers, Matt Morris and Chan Ho Park (?), but we avoid both of them and will start the series against homer-prone control artist Jeff D'Amico, and yes, he's the really tall one. My regards to the scheduling gods, though it's still not going to be much fun facing this Texas lineup. The troika of Young, Blalock, and Teixeira (think: law firms) is still around, and there are some decent complementary guys. But despite decent statistical rankings, this isn't an offense that strikes fear into my heart. I guess I'll have to be proven wrong.

But right at the start, it's our offense striking fear. Jeremy Reed leads off the game with a line-drive single, and I would have sent him to steal, but Gerald Laird is a man with a golden gun, so Reed just twiddles his thumbs as D.Y. works the count full and eventually draws a walk. Magglio Ordonez follows, and he, too, gets a free pass, for just the fifth time all season. Normally, The Big Hurt would hit, but I've tired of seeing him weakly ground out, so Brad Fullmer is in the lineup yet again. He works the count full, and I cover my eyes as D'Amico winds up. But I look up after hearing a smattering of boos, and find out that The Control Artist had gone with his mediocre fastball, not his changeup, and missed yet again. It's a third consecutive walk, and we've got a run. Joe Crede steps up, gets a 3-1 count in his favor, and in line with someone's philosophies, hacks away. He hits a hard grounder that turns into a force at second, but another run scores and there's still only one out. Ramon Vazquez hits a long sacrifice fly to make it three-zip, and Sausage, Peppers, and Onions grounds out to put a sudden end to the inning. But I've no gripe, especially if Good Jorge shows up today.

And as enigmatic and maddeningly inconsistent as Jorge DePaula has been this year, he's had some excellent outings, so I'm not too concerned by his current 1-4 record or 4.91 ERA. And DePaula rewards my faith on the first batter, absolutely dominating Ramon Nivar, striking him out on a filthy, hard-breaking slider. And as has been the norm for him this season, three pitches later, Corey Patterson is in scoring position after hitting a line-drive single and stealing second. Unfazed, DePaula gets a can o' corn from Mike Young, and a little tapper right back to him off of Hank Blalock. Best. Inning. Ever. 3-0.

Hacktastic Julio Lugo leads off the top of the second with a base hit, but Jorge DePaula can't get a bunt down and then hits a little ground ball to short on a full count. Double play. "Pitchers," I say, while shaking my head, and preparing for the bottom half. But that's only two outs, and Jeremy Reed keeps the inning alive with a liner to right-center. D'Amico, just as he had in the first inning, gets a 2-2 count on D.Y., but again our stocky left fielder gets on base, this time by way of a well-placed looper to left-center. Flummoxed, The Control Artist falls behind Magglio Ordonez and walks him, again on five pitches. Just like that, Brad Fullmer is up again with the bases loaded. Again. And Fullmer comes through (déjà vu, peut-être), lining the first pitch, a high slider, into right field to plate two. Unsurprisingly, that chases D'Amico out, and although Jeff Zimmerman is able to induce Joe Crede to hit a lazy fly ball to end the inning, The Control Artist's final line is still pretty ugly.

J. D'Amico - 1.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, 58 pitches, 15 game score

Hopefully, we'll see that a little later, too.

DePaula continues to make the Rangers look ridiculous in the second inning, striking out Teixeira and Ricky Ledee, but then he puts a changeup a bit too high, and Laynce Nix rips it down the line for a double. I order for the intentional walk to Gerald Laird to bring up the pitcher's slot, and good ol' Buck Showalter doesn't disappoint, leaving in Zimmerman to bat for himself. I guess he's blinded by the .428 (3-7) career batting average. Of course, Schizophrenic Jorge falls behind 3-1, but Zimmerman, remember, is a pitcher, and hacks at a 3-1 changeup only to pop it up. Inning over.

Ramon Vazquez, bless his heart, leads off the third with a walk, giving him as many walks today as The Out-Sucking Machine's drawn all year. (That's two, for those of you not counting along at home) Of course, Freaking Piazza hits into a double play, and Hacktastic Julio flies out, and we don't make it three straight innings with runs. What is wrong with these guys???

Good Jorge soldiers on through the third, though with one out, he falls behind, 3-1, to Corey Patterson and grooves a fastball that the lovable ex-Cub pastes to dead center. Jeremy Reed's abilities are kind of stretched in center field, so by the time he tracks down the ball and flings it back toward planet Earth, Patterson's digging for third base with a triple. Mike Young then gets a 2-0 hitter's count, but grounds out. If nothing else, it gets the run across, but Hank Blalock grounds out to third and that's all that the Rangers get.

Jeff Zimmerman, apparently still feeling the aftereffects of the numerous arm surgeries that he's had in his life, tires in the fourth after all of 15 or so pitches, and gives up a couple of hard-hit shots, the second of which goes for Jeremy Reed's third base hit. Left-hander Erasmo Ramirez comes in and strikes out D.Y., but walks Magglio Ordonez (his third walk of the game!) to put two on for Brad Fullmer. A left-handed batter. I bite my lip and make the decision to pinch-hit with Brian Buchanan. Fullmer will throw a tantrum, but it increases our run-scoring expectancy, or whatever the proper phrase is, a whole lot. Ramirez, not surprisingly, is surprised at my Stengel-like move (Stengelese?), and his first pitch to Buchs goes about fifty feet. Both runners advance, and Buchs takes a ball to run the count to two-and-oh. Facing a hitter's count, Dan Pasqua gives Buchanan the green light, and he gets a breaking ball on the outside half and laces it to the opposite field, plating both Reed and Ordonez and busting the game wide open. Ramirez gets out of the inning without any further damage, but it's now 7-1.

DePaula has a strong fourth inning, allowing but a single to Ricky Ledee and racking up another strikeout, this time victimizing Laynce Nix. Sausage, Peppers, and Onions leads off the fifth with a base hit to left, and moves up to second on a hard-hit fielder's choice off The Hacktastic One's bat. DePaula bounces out, but Jeremy Reed steps up and lines a 1-1 fastball to the opposite field for his fourth hit, and since there's two outs, Our Heroic Catcher scores from second. D.Y. gets robbed by some nice glove work from the pitcher Ramirez, but now it's 8-1.

And that's about the point, even for us, where the details becoming nearly irrelevant, especially when you've got a pitcher throwing as well as Good Jorge is. He cruises through the fifth and sixth, and has but a small blip in his final inning, the seventh, when Ramon Nivar punches a two-out single to right that plates Gerald Laird, who'd doubled earlier in the inning. Nate Cornejo gives up a solo home run to Hank Blalock, whose given name is really Hank, in the eighth, but Joe Crede hits a two-run shot in the top of the ninth to make it 10-3. And I retire to the clubhouse to watch the last three outs in the comfort of air conditioning. And that's not something Casey Stengel would have liked.

Bottom of the 9th

Pitching: N. Cornejo

L. Nix - Doubles to right.
G. Laird - Doubles to left-center, Nix scores.
PH C. O'Riordan - Singles to right, Laird scores.
R. Nivar - Doubles to right-center, O'Riordan to third.

New pitcher - P.J. Bevis

C. Patterson - Doubles to right-center, O'Riordan and Nivar score.
M. Young - Singles down first-base line, Patterson scores, Young to second on throw home.
H. Blalock - 2-run home run to right-center (407 feet).

New pitcher - Shingo Takatsu

PH B. Trammell - Singles to left-center.
R. Ledee - Flies out to right.
L. Nix - Grounds into fielder's choice, 4-6.
G. Laird - Base on balls, Nix to second.
PH R. Castro - Grounds into fielder's choice, Nix out at 3rd.

Inning over... 7 runs, 8 hits, no errors
Score: Texas 10, Chicago (A) 10

What. The. F*ck.

Predictably, even though I pinch-hit for Takatsu with Joe Borchard, we do nothing in the tenth, and Marc Kaiser, the only guy who's warmed up, gets shelled in the tenth, loading the bases and then giving up the game-winner, a base hit by Tony Graffanino. I have no idea what just happened. It feels much like being hit by a train.

CHW 10 TEX 11 (10 innings)

WP: R. Mahay (4-1) - scoreless tenth
LP: M. Kaiser (0-1)

Game Ball Goes To... Blalock, though I'm still not sure what the hell just happened. Because it has to be shown:

		1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10	R  H  E
Chicago (A)	3  2  0  2  1  0  0  0  2   0  10 12  0
Texas		0  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  7   1  11 18  0

I don't get it.

Time to do some...thing. But at this point, I'm not sure that what I'm doing is even helping. And I sure as hell don't know how that can happen, or how to stop it. It's like the friggin plague. The plague of suck. That's what it is - this team is infected with suck.

Craig

[BadluckinOOTP]

I laughed out loud at that one... sorry

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by BadluckinOOTP

I laughed out loud at that one... sorry

Want to trade user names?

Craig

Postscript - I'm just about at the point where I, too, can laugh at it. But if you'd said that a half-hour ago, when I'd just finished the game, I might have called you a sadist or something. But, yeah, what can you possibly do about a game like that except run the team ragged in practice, call them a bunch of sissies without heart, and swear never to pitch Nate Cornejo again? I can't do the first two (though if there's a way, I'm going to figure it out), so Cornejo's in AAA. I hate him with a passion now, and I'm going to screw up his career somehow. I need to think of a method to do just that.

Craig

[BadluckinOOTP]

That's one reason I don't like to play out my games because if I have guy let up 4 runs and not get an out I release him, even if he had an ERA of 1.00. On Season Ticket Baseball I'd edit their contract to give them what they deserve

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by BadluckinOOTP

That's one reason I don't like to play out my games because if I have guy let up 4 runs and not get an out I release him, even if he had an ERA of 1.00. On Season Ticket Baseball I'd edit their contract to give them what they deserve

I'm almost at the point where I agree with you - this is the first time, save for a STB dynasty that got an error 20-something games in, where I've played out all the games. I've enjoyed it, but a game like that - well, in that ninth inning, it just seemed like it ceased being a baseball game, and turned into pinball, or something. I mean, every hit was a shot off the wall, and I just sort of sat there, hitting 'continue', not fully comprehending all of it. It's within the realm of logic, but just barely. But it certainly didn't seem like it.

On the brighter side, Cornejo was actually out of options, so I canned his ass. So he'll sit on the free agent list, likely all year, carrying an 0-3 record and an 8.87 ERA. Yet another fine remnant of the Kenny Williams era.

Craig

[cknox0723]

I nearly satisfy my itch to flip out and trade, trade, trade, but it's probably better in the end that my only move is to cut the horrifyingly bad Nate Cornejo and call up Rick Ankiel (yes, that same guy) from AA. Since his meltdown in the 2000 postseason, the fireballing left-hander 48.2 major league innings to his credit, and the results have been pretty disastrous - 35 walks and 33 runs, and he's only been marginally better in the minors. But one of my smaller moves this offseason was to sign the southpaw to a minor league deal with the intention of pitching him out of the bullpen. And it's only AA, but Ankiel had been fantastic at Birmingham, with 6 saves and 2 wins in 25.1 IP. Most impressively, his strikeout to walk ratio was 34/8. Perhaps he's finally found a home, though I certainly won't anoint him a savior.

After last night's fiasco, it's not very inspiring to see that you'll be facing Matt Morris, one of the top pitchers in the American League, especially when you've got Jon Garland going, and his only real claim to fame is a nickname of Moo. This club never fails to surprise me, though, and we get a couple baserunners on in the top of the first, but Joe Borchard swings through a 3-2 fastball, and we fail to score.

Garland marches out to the mound for the first, owner of a 3.70 ERA (that surprised even me), and pitches his best inning to date, striking out leadoff hitter Ramon Nivar, inducing Corey Patterson to hit a weak grounder to second, and striking out Michael Young on three pitches.

The bottom of our order goes down meekly in the second, and when Garland gets two quick strikes on Hank Blalock, I figure that he may be on the way to one of his rare consistently good outings. Of course, he inexplicably grooves an 0-2 fastball, and Blalock turns on it and deposits it into the right-field bleachers, and we're down by a run, just like that.

It may only be a run, but after yesterday's disaster, it seems insurmountable. Garland's struggles don't subside, and after the Blalock home run, the Rangers string together three consecutive hits, the third of which brings home Ricky Ledee to make it 2-0. Somehow, Garland gets out of the inning without any more runs scoring, but I didn't pay attention as to the specifics.

Ramon Vazquez lines a one-out single to left in the third to force me to raise my head a bit, and then D.Y. fouls off a bunch of pitches before hammering a hanger into the gap for extra bases, though I tell Dan Pasqua to hold Vazquez at third, fully aware that my baserunning antics have shot us in the foot before. And Magglio Ordonez seemingly comes through, hitting a liner into the gap, but Corey Patterson makes the catch, and I don't get the chance to send the runners. The Big Hurt follows, and he draws a walk to load the bases, and Joe Borchard's immediately hacking, and he hits a drive to deep left-center. But it dies, Patterson tracks it down, and with that, my hopes die just a bit. We leave the bases loaded.

The middle innings are rather uneventful after that, though the bottom of the fourth is an interesting study in DIPS - Garland walks two (his first two free passes of the game), fans two (his sixth and seventh K's), and gets Ramon Castro to fly out to center field. Certainly nice to see Garland settle down like that.

And he leads off the fifth, and surprises me by actually making contact with the first pitch. He hits a bouncer into the hole at short, and Michael Young bobbles it and then throws it into the seats. Sweet. Garland moves to second, and moves some more after Ramon Vazquez lines a 1-0 slider down the right field line for a double of his own. Just like that, the deficit's cut in half. Hey -- this is the team I've been waiting for! But just as quickly as we'd woken up, we fall back into our slumber - D.Y. grounds out, Mags Ordonez flies out, and Frank Thomas grounds out. Hmmm. Well, at least we're only down one.

The Moo Man worries me when he gives up a two-out hit to Corey Patterson, but he gets Mike Young to bounce out, and all is well. We don't score in the sixth, and in the bottom half, Garland gets in big trouble, giving up a leadoff single to Hank Blalock and a double off the wall to Ricky Ledee. I walk Laynce Nix, owner of a great name and a .361 batting average, intentionally, and bring the infield in. Tony Graffanino hits a grounder, and we get the force at home, and that brings up Ramon Castro. "He's a slow catcher," I figure, and put the infield at normal depth. He, too, hits a ground ball, but he beats the throw to first, and a run scores. Then Matt Morris, the freaking pitcher, lines a single, and we're down four. Moo issues another walk, but strikes C-Patt to get out of the inning. I scarcely care, as apathy's taken over in my mind quickly, 9 strikeouts for Jon Garland be damned.

But as is the norm with this team, they do just enough to make me care. Pinch-hitter Brad Fullmer and leadoff hitter Ramon Vazquez go down quickly to start off the seventh, but D.Y. cracks a two-out single to keep us alive. That's still not much to get excited about, but then Magglio Ordonez hits a two-bagger into the gap that plates out burly left fielder. Then Matt Morris falls into a 3-1 hole against Frank Thomas, and stubbornly refusing to walk him, grooves a fastball. Thomas goes with the outside pitch and lines it into right, past a diving Tony Graffanino, and just like that, it's a 4-3 game. Borch grounds out, but we're not dead yet.

Joe Roa (again, since he's the only guy that's warmed up) comes in for the seventh, and carves up the meat of the Texas order, inducing two ground outs and a fly ball to right. Admittedly, it's significant that the Rangers' number five hitter is Ricky Ledee, and he wouldn't look out of place as the number five hitter for the Oklahoma City Red Wings, but by gosh, I'll take it.

We hit three ground balls in the eighth, despite the fact that Morris is up around 120 pitches. I knew pitch counts didn't matter. Guess that torturing that Esteban Loaiza took isn't that bad, after all.

I leave Roa in for the eighth, despite the fact that we've never had much success this year with relievers past their first inning of work, and that Laynce Nix leads off with a line drive single. Tony Graffanino follows by striking out and looking pretty foolish in the process, so I figure we'll be OK. Especially since the bottom of the order's up. Roa runs the count full to eighth place hitting Ramon Castro, and then puts a fastball right down Broadway. Ramon Castro may not be much, but even he can hit a fastball down the middle, and just like that, it's 6-3. Bubba Trammell then hits a ball to the wall, but Ordonez runs it down, and Ramon Nivar follows by launching a home run to left. 7-3. Finally, C-Patt grounds out, but that is an insurmountable lead. And though we threaten in the ninth and even manage to plate a run, the loss is inevitable, and the inning's best epitomized by Brad Fullmer, who got himself rung up on a strike three call to start the inning and then argued enough to get himself thrown out of the game. I feel ya, Brad, I feel ya.

CHW 4 TEX 7

WP: M. Morris (5-2) - 8 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 121 pitches
LP: J. Garland (2-2) - 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 9 K (very symmetrical)
S: R. Mahay (7) - one whole out...whoop-dee-doo!

Game Ball Goes To... Castro, as he proves timing is everything, though Ordonez has certainly hit well for us, and this 3-5 day was no exception. It's unfortunate that he and Mr. Bonds have proven that one man can only do so much.

Craig

[cknox0723]

With no one else rested and ready, it's time for Marc Kaiser Roll to make his first major league start, though all I really hope is that he gets out of the first inning. He'll face Chan Ho Park, who's turned in a few years slightly above league average since the start of this sim. He's yet another soul happy that OOTP only knows ratings, not names. His 2.56 ERA in his first seven starts this year would scare me, but regardless of how the program views him, he's just not that good. I stack the lineup with lefties, since they hit him for about an .800 OPS last season, and away we go.

Our only baserunner in the top of the first is courtesy of a walk, but all eyes are on Marc Kaiser in his first major league start. And he doesn't disappoint...Ranger fans, that is, walking leadoff hitter Ramon Nivar on four pitches. Somehow, his first pitch to Corey Patterson (who's taking all the way) is a strike, but his second pitch is a hanger, and C-Patt puts it in the cheap seats. 2-0. What was that about getting out of the first inning? Kaiser retires Hank Blalock, giving me some small amount of hope, but it proves to be futile, as the right-hander surrenders a couple of doubles right after that, and another one after managing to retire Laynce Nix, again on a comebacker. Kaiser then walks the bottom two in the Texas order, including the pitcher Park, which loads up the bases for Ramon Nivar. Kaiser runs the count full, and like so many young pitchers, overthrows on the payoff pitch, missing way outside and forcing in another run. C-Patt then hits a weird groundball that turns into an out, but at least it ends the inning. (see here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...363#post768363)

We do squat in the second, and Kaiser gets hammered again in the second, though there's a rain delay called after the first two base hits. And for the few seconds that I was reading "it's still raining...", I found myself wishing, though I knew it was impossible, that the game would get rained out. There's got to be a word for that - anyone know? In any case, 48 minutes later, Kaiser trudged back out, and apparently refreshed, gets out of the inning eventually, only surrendering two runs.

7-0 score, top of the third, and I get a momentary chuckle when Enrique Wilson, pinch-hitting for Kaiser Roll, hits a ground ball to second. Normally, that's an easy out, but the play-by-play tells me that Ramon Nivar "slips on the wet grass". Ha. I picture the Dominican rushing toward the ball for no real reason, then slipping and getting up only to see himself covered in patches of mud and soaked as though he'd taken a shower. I hear the heckles now..."Need a hand, Ramon?"...hehehe. We don't score, but that's the kind of stuff that makes this game enjoyable.

I bring in Rick Ankiel for the third, but any thoughts of another failed-starter-turned-closer are put to rest when the second batter he faces, Corey Patterson hits a 464 foot long ball to dead center. Wow. Despite a wild pitch and passed ball, Ankiel gets out of the inning without any further run scoring.

The top of the fourth isn't noteworthy but for the fact that Park comes out due to an unnamed injury. I think they just want to rest him, but maybe we can hit around that Texas bullpen a bit. After we finish flailing away, Ankiel marches out and throws a perfect fourth inning.

I lift the young lefty for a pinch-hitter in the fifth, not wanting his confidence to be destroyed by giving up seven runs to the top of the Texas order, and fortuitously, Laynce Nix drops Joe Borchard's can of corn. However, we still don't score, and P.J. Bevis comes in and has one of his bad days in the fifth, surrendering the first career home run of one Chris O'Riordan. As the inning continues and every pitch Bevis makes is pounded, I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with the game, though the pitcher fouls off a bunt with two strikes, just to break the monotony and get an out on the board. Bevis starts hitting people and giving out free passes after that, and once he's given up eight runs, made the score 17-0, and loaded the bases, I put in The Out-Sucking Machine to pitch, as a protest to the OOTP Gods. Of course, Ricky Ledee hits a three-run double. 20-0. Uribe then walks three guys, but gets the pitcher to fly out, and we enter the sixth down 21. Twenty-one. After a twelve run fifth.

We go down in order in the sixth, and Uribe apparently settles down in the bottom half, only walking two, and so Corey Patterson's triple and Mark Teixeira's single only lead to a couple runs.

Ramon Vazquez leads off the seventh with a liner into the right field corner, and I've found my nickname for him, as he hustles into third base with triple. The moniker - The Disillusioned One. Sausage, Peppers, and Onions then comes through (!!!) with a huge single to break up the shutout. It's 23-1. The Hacktastic One follows with a single, putting runners at the corners, and looking to pad the stats with The Big Hurt pinch-hitting, I tell Lugo to steal second. And Gerald Laird guns him out. Great, that's another move I've made that's pissed off the baseball Gods. Expect a 47-1 loss in September now. Thomas eventually draws a walk, and Matt Herges relieves a tired Rosman Garcia (so that's who was pitching), but Jeremy Reed greets him with a solid line drive -- right at Texas third baseman Chris O'Riordan. Piazza falls into a sinkhole five steps down the line and gets doubled off. Fantastic.

With Piazza indisposed (somewhere in the inner circles of the Earth), I bring in Miguel Olivo to catch and Superfluous Kiko Calero to pitch. He gives up a leadoff single and then a two-run shot to Gerald Laird, but getting out of the inning after that really feels like an accomplishment today. Our 2-3-4 hitters (D.Y., Mags, Fullmer) go down in order in the eighth, but I bring in Joe Roa and he pitches a scoreless inning. Way to go, Joey! He's officially off my "Turd List" forever. Fittingly, we go down in order in the top of the ninth, and thus ends quite possibly the lowest point in the franchise's history. Worse than the Black Sox scandal, I'd say.

CHW 1 TEX 25

WP: R. Garcia (1-0) - 2.2 IP, 1 R, relieved Park when he spontaneously combusted
L: M. Kaiser (0-2) - 2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 BB, 0 K, game score of 4 (!)

I would have laughed my skinny butt off if there was a save in this game; unfortunately, Matt Herges only worked the last two and two-thirds perfectly for Texas. All he needed was one more out!

Game Ball Goes To.. You're kidding, right?

Some notable box score stuff:

THE PALE HOSE	AB	R	H	RBI	BB
THE TEAM	32	1	5	1	2

TEXAS		AB	R	H	RBI	BB
2B Nivar	2	5	2	1	5
CF Patterson	7	4	4	6	0
1B Teixeira	6	4	6	1	0
RF Ledee	6	3	4	5	1
SS Graffanino	6	3	3	3	1
C Laird		3	2	2	4	3

After these last few games, I'm thinking about putting this dynasty out to pasture, so to speak. I've enjoyed writing this up immensely, but this just doesn't seem like it'll be worth all the effort, in the end. It's not the losing so much as the comedic lack of realism. The 6.03 patch fixed a lot of the AI problems I was seeing, but it's pretty tough to go with a no-ratings, no-talent league when the minor league stats don't mean much, and the game results seem predetermined to the point of not being logical. (The results are predetermined, but that's not the point - the play by play is terribly inadequate, for one thing) I don't think that I'm through with this team, just curious to see what everyone and anyone thinks, if anything. Let me know - I'll hold off on the updates for a bit so y'all can get caught up.

Craig

[BadluckinOOTP]

Perhaps Ankiel could be a LOOGY???

[Vris]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Though it does suck to see your team lose and lose horribly day after day, you can't just give up. But I guess I shouldn't talk, as I have shelved OOTP (for different reasons, though I think 6.03 is the ultimate reason) and so would have to eat my own words.

Anyway, this is my favorite read on the boards and if it stopped, I don't know what I would do with myself. (okay, I'm being selfish. It's your game Craig. I'm sure whatever you do it'll be successful.)

Go Pale Hose!

[cknox0723]

Yeah...this last series has been pretty ridiculous, but I wouldn't feel right just ending it. Despite all the problems in the game, I've become attached to this team (or at least Brian Buchanan and Dmitri Young), and I will continue on. Likely for a long time.

As Jason Giambi could tell you, I guess this team is like parasites.

Craig