Lynn Live Oaks - Card collecting gone virtual

[BigRed75]

Like many of us, I'm sure, I collected baseball cards as a kid. While I was never able to complete a set on my own (although Santa often managed to bring me one of those boxes containing the complete sets a time or two), the never stopped me from trying. Running out of pocket money stopped me from trying, but not the will to collect.

This PT team is my attempt at collecting a virtual complete set of Live cards. It's Live only, and FTP. When the starter packs came out, this was the one that had the second-most number of Live cards in it (the one with the most was better suited to another theme of mine) as well as two Gold lives. So we start with 28 Live cards and my first goal will be to scrub the decks of the historical cards, at least replacing them with Live cards of equal value.

As for the name, well, I searched for the word "Live" in the book Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary and this was the only thing that came up. As the book states:

Although the American Elm is the state tree of Massachusetts, the Evergreen Oak, aka the "Live Oak" was exported to the city (of Lynn) from California, the Southwest, and Mexico, to line the city's streets...Lynn became known as the "Live Oak City." Newspapers often shortened the name to Oaks

So there you go. A team that I'm not sure how it will do, named after a city I've never been to. Should be fun.

Play ball!

[BigRed75]

So who are the inaugural 28 Lynn Live Oaks? An excellent question!

Pitchers:
84 OVR Kevin Gausman
81 OVR Garrett Richards
78 OVR Luis Castillo
71 OVR Tommy Kahnle
69 OVR Yusei Kikuchi
67 OVR Pablo Lopez
65 OVR Hector Rondon
61 OVR Tyler Beede
60 OVR Nick Goody
60 OVR Wade Miley
57 OVR Phillip Diehl
54 OVR Huascar Ynoa
50 OVR Carson Fulmer
50 OVR Austin Voth
48 OVR Jimmy Cordero

Catchers:
59 OVR Isiah Kiner-Falefa
58 OVR Aramis Garcia
50 OVR Jose Trevino

Infielders:
65 OVR Ty France (1B)
61 OVR Willi Castro (SS)
58 OVR Luis Rengifo (2B)
58 OVR Adrian Sanchez (2B)
55 OVR Dawel Lugo (3B)
52 OVR Harold Castro (2B)

Outfielders
59 OVR JaCoby Jones
58 OVR DJ Stewart
57 OVR Yonathan Daza
56 OVR Jonathan Stewart

As you can see, our pitching is in much better shape that our hitting. Most of our pitching staff is already Live cards, but our lineups are not. I'll need to bring in some reinforcements soon to take the place of my historical starters.

Collection completed 28/997 (2.81%)

[BigRed75]

About 24 hours after the game went live, I decided to start making some inroads with the Auction House. Remember, my first task was to replace the historical cards in my starting lineup.

I was glad to see prices stablise somewhat, with the notable (and frankly, not completely unexpected) exception of Silver cards. But when looking at the bids (not just the asks) for Gold, Bronze and Iron cards, they were only slightly elevated. Again, to be expected.

While there were a few Golds that I probably could have sniped for around 1,100PP, with only approximately 4,000PP in the bank that would have made for a quick visit. Since the cards I was looking to replace were mostly Bronze (with one Silver and one Gold, which I would look to sell anyway), I decided to focus on Bronze replacements. I was looking to spend around 30PP for each and am happy to report that I was successful, the most I paid for any of my cards this go-round was 28. Say hello to the new Live Oaks:

Garrett Stubbs, C, HOU (64 OVR, 25 PP)
Chad Wallach, C, FLA (64 OVR, 27 PP)
Brad Miller, 2B, STL (64 OVR, 27 PP)
Scott Heineman, CF, TEX (62 OVR, 25 PP)
Josh VanMeter, 2B, CIN (69 OVR, 28 PP)
Kevin Cron, 1B, ARI (69 OVR, 26 PP)
Aledmys Diaz, 3B, HOU (63 OVR, 27 PP)
Jack Mayfield, 2B, HOU (63 OVR, 27 PP)
Shin-Soo Choo, LF, TEX (62 OVR, 25 PP)

Although I said I was replacing historicals, the first thing I actually ended up doing was upgrading my all-Iron catching corps that were all hitting below the Mendoza line with some Bronze cards. Kron is my new starting 1B, Heineman is my new starting CF (and is slashing .381/.430/.667 in his first 30 games) and Diaz takes over at 3B. I originally envisioned Miller at 2B and Vanmeter in a play-anywhere role where he has no set position but still plays everyday (kinda like a poor man's Martin Dihigo). However, Miller has stunk up the joint and Vanmeter in third on the team in WAR, so he's my everyday 2B.

I also decided to fire up the AH right before I went to work, and was able to pick up two more players on the cheap:

Nick Markakis, RF, ATL (61 OVR, 28 PP)
Seby Zavala, C, CWS (56 OVR, 6 PP)

Why did I get them? Because they were available, they weren't in my collection, and I was bored.

Collection completed 39/997 (3.91%)

[neugey]

Good luck in your quest, hopefully any packs you open don't bury you in dupes. Does that mean you will be doing all the Live missions but selling the reward cards to keep the team concept pure?

[BigRed75]

Originally Posted by neugey

Good luck in your quest, hopefully any packs you open don't bury you in dupes. Does that mean you will be doing all the Live missions but selling the reward cards to keep the team concept pure?

Heck no! If a reward card makes my team better, I'm playing it. I think of the reward cards as the bonus you could get from Topps when you would mail in ten wrappers and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

As for packs - I don't plan on opening packs, for that reason. It's simple economics - you get six cards, and at 1,000 a pop, you're paying 166PP (more or less) per card. And you don't get to choose the card. If I'm paying 166PP/card for six cards, I want them to be six Silvers. And I want to choose cards I don't have.

Any packs that I open will be rewards (think Live-heavy missions like Rookies, Switch-Hitters, etc which I'm assuming will be back) and cards from Challenge Mode. I will be doing Challenge Mode, but only for this team and my Pack only team, because it's basically free money.

Anyway, back to the show...



I'm grinding. I'm doing the Lord's work, like Joey Knish in Rounders. Fired up the AH after work and spent about 30 minutes, but it was worth it. I managed to get 15 new cards, all Iron, all for either 5 or 6 PP each. Not a bad outlay, percentage-wise.

The new cards are (* indicates I paid 5 PP, ^ means I paid 6 PP):

Dustin Garneau, C, HOU (55 OVR)^
Rangel Ravelo, RF, STL (58 OVR)^
Josh Naylor, 1B, SD (59 OVR)^
Greg Allen, CF, CLE (59 OVR)^
Oscar Mercado, LF, CLE (59 OVR)*
Bobby Bradley, 1B, CLE (59 OVR)^
Grayson Greiner, C, DET (57 OVR)*
Dylan Moore, SS, SEA (58 OVR)^
Niko Goodrum, SS, DET (59 OVR)*
Adam Haseley, CF, PHI (58 OVR)^
Nick Williams, RF, PHI (59 OVR)^
Clay Holmes, SP, PIT (52 OVR)^
Tim Lopes, LF, SEA (57 OVR)*
Patrick Wisdom, 1B, SEA (58 OVR)*
Sam Hilliard, LF, COL (59 OVR)^

As far as missions, the team I am furthest along with is the Tigers, with six cards. Next is the Rangers with five, followed by the Astros and Mariners with four apiece. There are ten out of 30 MLB teams that I don't have any cards from yet.

Can you tell that I'm a big fan of Ichrio? It's not that I'm actively seeking out AL West teams, but maybe subconsciously I am anyway?

Collection complete: 54/997 (5.42%)

[BigRed75]

Okay, I'm steering into the skid and actively seeking out AL West cards in general and Astros cards in particular. Which is kinda funny, because the Astros would have been the last team I would collect when I was a kid. I hated the Astros. They would always beat the Reds.

But here I am, adding Astros cards to my collection. I picked up Martin Maldonado (58 OVR) and Josh Reddick (59 OVR) for under 10PP each. That puts me at six Astros cards, tied with Detroit for the most by a team.

But I wasn't done yet. Oh no. Here are the cards I picked up before the expiry of the entry pool:

Martin Maldonado, C, HOU (59 OVR)
Scott Schebler, CF, CIN (59 OVR)
Michael Perez, C, TB (58 OVR)
Michael Hermosillo, CF, LAA (59 OVR)
Josh Reddick, RF, HOU (59 OVR)
Justin Dunn, SP, SEA (54 OVR)
Josh Fuentes, 1B, COL (56 OVR)
Jason Martin, LF, PIT (56 OVR)
Tres Barrera, C, WAS (57 OVR)

Looks like I'm collecting back-up catchers like they're going out of style!

We ended up getting placed in Rookie League .121 - which, if I'm being honest with myself, is where we probably deserved to be. It's okay - this team is being built from the ground up - unless I see a super deal on a Gold or Silver card, I'm going to stick with grinding for now. 0-3 record to start the season be damned!

Unfortunately, I was getting hammered in the Auction House. Some of it was sniping, but most of it was somebody who had put in a previous bid that was higher than I was willing to go. In my mind's eye, it was some moneybags trying to get his hands on any cheap bronze card he could so he could finish all of the collections. At least I drove the price up on him on about 15 cards. Combined, that's 60 more PP than he had to pay. Take that, moneybags!

I was able to pick up a few cards, however:
Yu Chang, 3B, CLE (55 OVR)
Jared Walsh, LF, LAA (58 OVR)
Colin Moran, 3B, PIT (59 OVR)
Rio Ruiz, 3B, BAL (62 OVR)
Travis Jankowski, CF, CIN (57 OVR)

Collection Complete: 68/997 (6.82%)

[BigRed75]

Okay, so remember how I said I was sticking to Bronze and Iron unless I saw a super deal on a high card?

I saw a super deal on an Andrew McCutchen card.

He becomes my first Gold batter, and, even better, he replaces the last Iron on my active roster, JaCoby Jones.

Hopefully he will inspire the team to great feats and earn back the PP outlay I spent on him in short order. We are already on a two-game winning streak and now sit at 2-3 on the young season.

Until then, it's back to Bronzes and Irons. I promise.

Well, unless there's a good deal on some Gold Astros...

Collection Complete: 69/997 (6.92%)

[BigRed75]

While I was messing around with another team, I saw some good value actions. By the time I got logged back on with the Live Oaks - the usual crap. So I've starting some BINs instead to get the numbers up.

I did manage to sell Ed Figueroa, who was my only non-Live Gold card, for 2,222PP. So that gave me a nice boost. However, by another big boost was when my four-figure bid for Matt Olson was returned to me. Shame, too - I really could have used his bat in the lineup.

We are currently treading water at 13-17, in 4th place 3 1/2 games out of first. Of course, our roster is being rebuilt and the owner/GM is a notorious cheapstake. But once we start to put in some collection rewards - watch out!

Cards acquired today:
Albert Pujols, 1B, LAA
Tyler Wade, 2B, NYY
Skye Bolt, LF, OAK
Guillermo Heredia, CF, PIT
Tyrone Taylor, RF, MIL
Brett Phillips, RF, KC
Steven Duggar, CF, SF
Meibrys Viloria, C, KC

Collection complete: 78/997 (7.82%)

[rburgh]

Between buying cheap guys early to get the card count up and saving up for a few expensive cards that will earn AP's faster?

[BigRed75]

There is, and that's what I'm trying to work out. Basically, I am only looking for cards whose prices are in line with the PT20 auction house, because I think that's where the prices will eventually settle out. So if I can get Irons for less than 10, Bronzes for less that 30-35, etc, then I jump on them because I won't regret those purchases down the track or feel like I've overpaid. But, if I see a good price (i.e. < 1100PP) on a Gold, I still have enough PP to cover it.

Selling my Gold historical helped too. I think I'm going to use those funds for one or two Live Golds.

[rburgh]

That prices are not going to settle out - for instance, in PT20 I used Bob Hazle as a DH for a long time, and he was an OVR 90 and sold for 6K. In PT21 he's an 86, but it's almost the same card. And the prices are based on what the card should produce, not what the OVR is, I think.

[BigRed75]

The prices are based on what the market will bear. And right now, the only collections available are for Live cards. It's pretty much the same as any bubble in PT20 when new collections would be released, except that the supply is larger with Live cards.

As new collections are released and the speculators who rush to be the first to complete collections are out of the picture with the Live card collections, the prices of Live cards will settle down, I think. And for purposes of this exercise, that's all I care about.

As for Bob Hazle, if you got him for 6K you were doing well, because when I was trying to complete the Braves collections I rarely saw him for less than five figures. Plus he's a historical card so not really germane to this discussion...

[rburgh]

Now I'm just going to let it drift about while it churns out PP's. I'm going to change my ballpark to max offense, since my lineup is:


Darryl Hamilton CF
Marcell Ozuna LF
Derrek Lee 1B
Art Shamsky RF
Trevor Story SS
MIguel Andujar DH
Tony Bernazard 2B
Manny Machado 3B
Carson Kelly C


Rotation - Tewksbury, Medich, Davies, Marco Gonzales, Paddack
Bullpen - Pressly, Joe Jimenez, Tom Hume, Hansel Robles, Kiko Calero


The fact that some of these guys are historicals isn't relevant to me since I'm looking to collections to fuel a high-end team. I'm not a purist.



I'm going after the NL West Mission first since Randy Johnson, Duke Snider, Jeff Kent, Dave Winfield, Tulo, and Mel Ott all would fit well on this roster.


Somewhere along the way I'll take an excursion into the AH to pick up a gold starter or two and a couple of more bullpen arms, but until I complete that mission, I will probably leave this lineup unchanged.

[BigRed75]

Anyway, getting back to my dynasty thread about my team. Feel free to ask questions, but please delete/erase that post and create your own thread if you want to discuss your own team. Thanks




Fed up with the lack of decent auctions whenever I seemed to log on, I accepted the new normal and went on a BIN buying spree, picking up every Iron I didn't have that was 13PP or less. The cheapest I got was for 8PP:

Jacob Nottingham, C, MIL
Alex Blandino, 3B, CIN
Lane Thomas, LF, STL
Albert Almora Jr, CF, CHC (this was actually an auction! There were about five listed, all with the same ending. I bid on one in the middle and snuck through)
Freddy Galvis, SS, CIN (a Bronze card, purchased for 50PP)
Chris Davis, 1B, BAL (another auction)
Ronald Guzman, 1B, TEX
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, DET
Stephen Piscotty, RF, OAK (Bronze)
Magneuris Sierra, RF, MIA
Luke Maile, C, PIT
Daniel Robertson, 3B, TB
Ben Gamel, RF, MIL
Andrew Velazquez, SS, BAL
Randy Rosario, RP, KC (the only pitcher today)
Adam Engel, CF, CWS

Now only five teams (Boston, L.A. Dodgers, N.Y. Mets, N.Y. Yankees, and Twins) don't have any representation. The most represented are the Reds and Tigers with seven each. The AL West has the most cards as a division (Go Ichiro!).

But we're still a long way off from Ichiro.

That's okay, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Collection complete: 94/997 (9.43%)

[rburgh]

I didn't mean to hijack your thread. You've given me lots of insight into how to cope with collection missions. With the current state of the Live cards on the AH, I have decided to focus on one or two specific teams for now, and have used the opportunity to sell off all other Iron and Bronze live cards to finance my specific collection missions.

But you can visit my blog at "Archie's Blog" which details the moves (and mistakes) of a relative noob.

[BigRed75]

First - Thanks for reading. Without readers we're all just talking to ourselves.

Secondly, let me apologize for my curtness. I didn't handle it as well as I could have and I am sorry. I will definitely check out your thread.

Finally, I took what you said to heart and decided to go with a point-generating strategy that worked well for me in PT20. I am going to target players with high PWR ratings as well as a potential 30-30 man for the top of the order. I bring the fences in and max out the park factors. To account for the small field, I target Ps who are groundball or extreme groundball pitchers who can keep the ball down.

With that in mind, I decided to spend the PPs I had on Gold players who could fit the bill. At the time I did this, I found three players with PWR ratings in the 80s or 90s that were ending in the next 10 minutes and either had no bids or were sitting with one big at 1,000PP. They were 2B Mike Moustakas (86 PWR), 1B Rhys Hoskins (84 PWR) and RF Nelson Cruz (95 PWR - who I used last year in this strategy to great effect).

I also found Sonny Gray, an extreme GB pitcher who also had no bids on an auction closing soon. I put my regular Gold card bid in and walked away, fully expecting to get gazumped on all four auctions. If I got one of the cards, it would be a success.

I got all four.

Obviously, I won't be able to change the park factors until Monday, but I certainly hope to pick up a couple more players between now and then, as well as adjusting my bench to include the best power guys I have amongst my Irons and whatever groundball pitchers I can find. And I have a particular target in mind for my new leadoff hitter - we'll see if I can get him.

Before all this, I went on another Buy It Now buying spree, and we are well over 100 cards. With the Moustakas and Gray acquisitions the Reds become the first team to reach double-digits in the card count with 10. The Tigers now have 9, and the Astros 8.

Mike Shawaryn, SP, BOS
Jeffrey Springs, RP, BOS
Austin Brice, RP, BOS
Justin Shafer, RP, CIN
Taylor Ward, 3B, LAA
Seth Brown, 1B, OAK
Jake Bauers, LF, CLE
Maikel Franco, 3B, KC
Myles Straw, RF, HOU
Cionel Perez, SP, HOU
Ryan O'Hearn, 1B, KC
Max Stassi, C, LAA
Travis Demeritte, LF, DET
Wilmer Difo, 3B, WAS
Austin Wynns, C, BAL
Jeff Mathis, C, TEX
Victor Reyes, CF, DET
Tony Gonsolin, SP, LAD
Mike Moustakas, 2B, CIN
Sonny Gray, P, CIN
Nelson Cruz, RF, MIN
Rhys Hoskins, 1B, PHI
JT Riddle, SS, PIT
Dwight Smith Jr, LF, BAL
Ildemaro Vargas, 3B, ARI

I also got a Challenge Mode pack. Why I did it with this team and not my -Pack Only team, I'm not sure. Of course, three of the six cards were historicals. Another was a duplicate. But the other two were Live Bronze cards - JT Riddle and Dwight Smith, Jr. So that's alright.

Heading into the final month of the season, the Lynn Live Oaks are 65-69, in third place, 7 1/2 games back. We have a 1.8% chance of making the playoffs.

Collection complete: 119/997 (11.94%)

[rburgh]

I have learned much from your blog so far, and I'm glad to be able to return the favor. I have sorted out both my batting average teams, and am going to link a challenge mode game to the Pirates, my underperforming big power team.


I'm not going to get involved with tournaments, though. I did some of those last year and they make playing this game a dawn to dusk proposition. And I have a life.

[BigRed75]

Thanks for the kind words, rburgh!

Would everyone like to know an update on the Live Oaks! Of course you would, that's why you're here!

In my last post, I left things a little cryptic...

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Obviously, I won't be able to change the park factors until Monday, but I certainly hope to pick up a couple more players between now and then, as well as adjusting my bench to include the best power guys I have amongst my Irons and whatever groundball pitchers I can find. And I have a particular target in mind for my new leadoff hitter - we'll see if I can get him.

Well, about 15 minutes after I posted that, I did get him. His name is 90 OVR Jose Ramirez, my first diamond. Why Jose Ramirez? Well, if you go by the list of most recent 30-30 hitters, he's the most affordable (And his 30-30 season was fairly recent).

I had good success last year generating points with Gold Kirk Gibson. With the sliders posted all the way over, he was a consistent 20/20 man, reached 30/30 more often than not, and even had a handful of 40/40 seasons. Obviously, he's not eligible for the Live Oaks (pesky thing, that retirement) so I went hunting. And if you look at the most recent 30/30 hitters, you get:

• Christian Yelich (Perfect)
• Ronald Acuna (Perfect)
• Mookie Betts (Perfect)
• and Ramirez (low Diamond)

After that, you have to go all the way back to 2012 for Mike Trout (also Perfect) and Ryan Braun (old and broken down). Then it's 2011, with Braun (still old), Matt Kemp (also old and broken down), Jacoby Ellsbury (ditto, and doesn't even have a card) and Ian Kinsler (retired).

So you can see how Ramirez was the only choice for a discerning card collector on a budget. I nabbed him for a BIN of 4800PP and installed him at the top of my lineup. Why the leadoff spot? Because of a little achievement called Leading Off In Style - if he hits a home run at the start of the game, that's even more points for me.

So far, things are going good for the Live Oaks this season. The addition of Ramirez, Hoskins, Cruz, Moustakas and Gray have propelled us to a 16-11 record, just 2 1/2 games out of first. And Jose Ramirez in particular has 6 HR and 9 SB, which is on pace for a 30/50 season. Rhys Hoskins hit 11 HR in April. Moose clobbered 9, and while Cruz only hit 3, one was a grand slam and the other was a walk off, so both of them earned points. Plus, Scott Heineman(!), who I have starting at CF out of sheer necessity, hit 6 HR this month. Go figure.

I did pick up some other cards, of course. The prices of Live cards do seem to be going down. I'm seeing more Iron cards with single-digit BINs and Bronze cards with BINs below 50. I'll keep biding my time and trying to win some auctions to make my PP go farther. But here's what I've picked up since my last post:

Jose Ramirez, 3B, CLE
Lewis Brinson, CF, MIA
Billy McKinney, RF, TOR
Jake Rogers, C, DET
Chris Shaw, LF, SF
Walker Lockett, P, NYM
Daniel Descalso, 2B, CHC (got beat on auction for 14PP, one minute later, found it for sale with a BIN of 10PP )
Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B, BOS
Anthony Alford, CF, TOR
Jake Noll, 1B, WAS
Scott Kingery, 3B, PHI
Duane Underwood Jr, SP, CHC
Jake Marisnick, CF, NYM
Corey Oswalt, SP, NYM
Delino DeSheilds Jr, CF, CLE
Jake Fraley, RF, SEA
Andrew Stevenson, CF, WAS
LaMonte Wade Jr, CF, MIN
Edmundo Sosa, 2B, STL
Anthony Santander, RF, BAL
Sam Haggerty, RF, SEA
Zach Plesac, SP, CLE
Lucas Sims, RP, CIN
Robel Garcia, 3B, CHC
Anthony Benboom, C, LAA
Harold Ramirez, LF, MIA

Collection complete: 145/997 (14.54%)

[BigRed75]

So I'm going to change things up a little bit in how things are being reported. Instead of listing every card I acquire, I'll still give a percentage update at the end of each post. I'll also highlight acquisitions that are interesting/important/economical and go more into how the team is actually doing.

With that in mind, the big pickup lately has been Max Fried. Much like Sonny Gray, Fried is an extreme groundball pitcher. And in a park as small as Lynn Tricentennial Park, we want guys who can keep the ball down. Fried has gotten off to a good start for us, as he sits with a 2-0 record. He's also the first Live Oak with stats from another team, having played in the 2020 season. That would drive Orcin insane.

The team, by the way, is doing great on the field. The Live Oaks currently sit at 49-37, in 1st place and 1/2 game ahead of the Kansas City Monarchs. We have been swapping places with the Monarchs all season, with neither team getting more than a handful of games ahead of the other.

In my last post, I mentioned that Nelson Cruz only hit three home runs in April. Well, the calendar has just flipped to July and Cruz is sitting on 26 home runs and 78 RBI, good enough for second place in the conference in both categories. Rhys Hoskins has 23 dingers and Mike Moustakas, the third member of the triumvirate, has 20 homers. Jose Ramirez has slowed down his homer count somewhat, but if he keeps hitting them the same rate he has been he will still turn in a 20-20 season. Not surprisingly, the Live Oaks lead the league in home runs and it isn't even close. What is nice to see is the points being generated by the pitching staff, mostly through strikeout-related achievement such as Leave Them Loaded and Corner Painter.

Some have asked why I don't open more packs. To continue the analogy from the first post in the thread, the way I see it as that I've opened my packs, and now I'm flipping through the card boxes in the shop with all the commons and looking for ones on my list that I don't have. If I pay a pack, I get six cards. And yes, I could get one that is worth more than the price of the pack, but the odds say I won't. However, if I go to the AH I can turn that 1,000PP into closer to 30 cards, with some judicious spending and patience. And with the goal being card accumulation, this just makes since.

Of course, there's more than just commons. Sometimes I treat myself to a Gold card if it helps the team, like Max Fried did. Sure, some of those cards might not be needed for the mission because they're not in the team's 26 cheapest. But the name of the game here is to collect all of the cards, not just complete all the Live missions. So they're have to be acquired eventually, anyway. Why not make some points off them?

Collection Complete: 156/997 (15.65%)

[rburgh]

Why not make some points off them?

Exactly. I just bought Anthony Rizzo for one of my mission teams to upgrade a very productive 77 OVR Joyner, because (a) I'll probably want him as part of the mission, and (b) he rates to produce more PP's than Joyner does.


That's also why I basically focus on a small group of missions at any one time - when I acquire the mission reward card, I expect him to start paying down his debt with points toward further missions. It worked that way with Plank; he earned 3600 PP all by himself with a no-hitter, a Maddux, a pile of 100 PP events, and the league's Cy. However much I "overpaid" to get that card into the fold, it's been repaid and further achievements for Eddie will just be gravy.


I expect even bigger rewards for slogging through the Dodger mission to get Snider into a 1.1/1.1 ballpark with 1.2/1.2 for XBH. I am considering turning the Urchins' park into a max RH park for RHB to see if Burns can log a 40/40 season. I don't think I will, I'll just settle for flipping between 20/20 and 30/30 years. But I will certainly be putting Jose Ramirez onto that team in the future, so they can double my pleasure.