Season 18 (2036) General Discussion

[Westheim]

Same old, same old around here. Still waiting on the Accountants to get over the hump to Gold... the other teams are probably not candidates for greatness again …

[PocketsAintFull]

Pretty steady here too, with the exception of my Islanders making Perfect Literally *no* idea how that'll go, but i'm just happy to be there. Hopefully they can survive a season.

Stunners remain in Diamond, still a bit behind in their recruitment, while Bob's All-Stars get to do Bronze *again* But hey, they'll have a great season and earn some solid PP, so not all bad.

(edit: Islanders 1-2 in Perfect! They won a game Actually I'm one of 3 teams in the division having their first season up, which can't hurt)
(edit-edit: against a team with perfect Nolan Ryan, Ruth and Hornsby too hehe)

[PocketsAintFull]

Bob's Milwaukee All-Stars add 1973 All-Star Wayne Twitchell to the starting rotation.

An interesting one; Wayne was part of the Brewers minor league system, and made two appearances in 1970. I checked which games, and they were both on the road, so he never actually pitched in Milwaukee, I don't think (for Milwaukee, anyway)

(edit: Pitcher of the Month Luis M. Castillo joins the Islanders as Long Reliever, think he's gonna kick ass at that )

[Caedus]

I bought five Bryant’s on my silver team back in May so the cash in this week should hopefully be enough to get them over the hump. But with Vladdy Jr’s continued slow start means he’s not really up to par at 3B anymore.

And hopefully this week my Perfect Teams either get relegated or back to form because they were both massive disappointments last season (Hollywoo barely missing relegation and Tahiti solidly in the 15 under mediocre but safe from relegation.

[old timer]

The Raccoons finished the last season with several awards. Keefe not only won the triple crown, but he also won the pitcher of the year and MVP. Keeler won the MVP in the previous two years so that's 3 straight MVPs for the Raccoons! Also, Seaver won reliever of the year which is a 1st for the Raccoons.

This year, we find ourselves in a league with some really tough teams, like the New Orleans Brees (5 perfect titles), Chicago Rampage, Fighting Ahabs and Orlando Shockers (7 perfect titles!), Red Raiders and more. In our division, the Excelsior Dodgers look to give us a good challenge for the division title.

At the end of last season, I added Luke Appling to the team, hoping he'd get on base at a nice clip and improve our D at 3B (he'll train up there decently and be much better than Zimmerman). Plus he can sub at 2B once he trains up there, but for this season, he'll be a defensive liability since he's training so that may make things a bit rougher.

We're off to a 7-0 start and we better take advantage of an easy schedule for April (until we meet the Shockers at the end of April) to give us a chance at keeping ahead of the Dodgers.

[PocketsAintFull]

Gary Maddux ('92 AS) getting it done in Perfect!

We've won 5 games! 5-6 record!

(edit: also, 2009 AS Trevor Hoffman joins the Milwaukee bullpen )

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs have their work cut out for them this week in what should be a very competitive P412, replete with a handful of whales.

The Frogs' home division, the NC Central (seems like we're in the NC most of the time), has a bunch of competent looking teams residing there. The scariest of the bunch is the Pineville Phantoms--you know the type...perfect Cy Young, perfect Ed Walsh, perfect Curt Schilling, perfect Greg Maddux, perfect Lefty Grove...in the bullpen. It's not difficult to see how Pineville has won 4 Perfect titles so far. The Frogs have gone 1-5 against them in the early going (3 one-run losses, one 2-run loss, and a one-run win to go with a blowout loss) so I'm not sweating the early 6-7 record. Just counting down from 19...

The NC East contains a pair of whales in the Orlando Calrissians (which I assume is a pun on a Star Wars character) and the Free Cities Valyrians. The NC West is whale-free, so La Crosse will be gunning for that 2nd wild card spot this week.

The toughest teams in the AC appear to be the Alabama Farmers and the Virginia Beach Freaks. There's also some "fresh meat" in newly promoted teams from Diamond level that should get an eye full this week.

Aside from trying to make the playoffs, the Frogs will be running a small experiment--a platoon of Smoky Burgess and PEAK Craig Biggio at catcher. They of the 43 and 21 ratings at catcher respectively. Offense should be free-flowing, but we'll see about the defense...that might be offensive also.

[JasonC23]

Originally Posted by old timer

This year, we find ourselves in a league with some really tough teams, like the New Orleans Brees (5 perfect titles), Chicago Rampage, Fighting Ahabs and Orlando Shockers (7 perfect titles!), Red Raiders and more. In our division, the Excelsior Dodgers look to give us a good challenge for the division title.

OK, wow, sounds like we are in a really challenging league this week. Good luck to your Raccoons! I faced the Excelsior Dodgers in a Diamond League Series once upon a time; they were a great team then, and I can only assume they're even better now.

[Orcin]

This will be an interesting week for the Colonels.

I am in a division with a team that is clearly better than mine on paper, but I hope to challenge for the division and at least end up with a wildcard spot. I refuse to accept an end to my perfect record of playoff appearances.

I had made several changes toward the end of last season based on first half performance, and they got me into the sub-league series, but I reverted to my original "offensive" blueprint for the start of this season. The results of this season will lead to some long-term decisions about the roster composition and allocation of available points.

To be blunt... it is time for certain players to play up to their ratings and cost or be replaced. It is also time for the manager to succeed with the current offense-oriented strategy or come up with a new one. And by succeed, I mean win it all. I am not saying that I will blow up the roster if I don't win a championship, but I certainly expect to see a contender out there. Staggering into the postseason and exiting early is no longer acceptable. These players know who they are... they have been warned.

[Cheesehead1964]

Originally Posted by PocketsAintFull

Gary Maddux ('92 AS) getting it done in Perfect!

We've won 5 games! 5-6 record!

(edit: also, 2009 AS Trevor Hoffman joins the Milwaukee bullpen )

Garry Maddox is an amazing card. Speaking of which...


Switching back to my powerhouse Bees (featuring Maddox) after the Brewers theme team got demoted last year. Probably switch back and forth each season to mix things up...


SenaTwins had a lackluster first season. I predict they will rebound and so far so good.


Homestead Grays finished lower half last year in Perfect. I'm going with an All Negro League team at the moment (I sometimes run my Barnstormers which add pre-1947 MLB players). I sold a bunch of cards so I can buy Willie Wells, probably the remaining card from the Negro League card set I can afford (last saw him for 85K PP). The Gashouse Gang collection is interesting though as I have a lot of those cards - diamond Paul Dean reward. I may complete that and switch to Barnstormers next season. Depends on how soon Willie Wells pops up in the AH...

[osborneman]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead1964

Garry Maddox is an amazing card.

Lol you're talking about the centerfielder Garry Maddox, but the guy you replied to meant the pitcher Greg Maddux.

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by osborneman

Lol you're talking about the centerfielder Garry Maddox, but the guy you replied to meant the pitcher Greg Maddux.

Did your team make it back from Diamond to Perfect? Or did your team not get relegated? I only ask because I think both of our teams were in a scrum of about 10 teams that were sweating relegation a couple of weeks ago. Congrats if you made it back already. That was quick.

[Cheesehead1964]

Originally Posted by osborneman

Lol you're talking about the centerfielder Garry Maddox, but the guy you replied to meant the pitcher Greg Maddux.

LOL! Well at least he said "Gary" in his post so I'm not totally crazy.

[moalkha]

Doha is in a very tough NC Central with 2 very strong teams (Kogarah Kings and New Image Blaze) and 2 very good ones (New York Gustopi and Phoenixville Phloaters). We finished day 1 at 19-8 but the Kogarah and New Image are very close at 18-8; it will be a very tight battle all season long.

Great Lakes (AC West) is in a very balanced league with a lot of good teams but only one clearly better (USC Trojans in the NC central). At the end of day 1 we are 19-8 and leading the division by 2-1/2 games.

Perugia is in a balanced division (NC West) but there are 2 super teams in the conference (Battery Park City Tamps in the NC East and Santa Maria Ghost Riders in the NC Central). We finished day 1 at 14-13 1/2 games behind the division leader.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Orcin

It is also time for the manager to succeed with the current offense-oriented strategy or come up with a new one.

This morning over coffee, I took a long look at the Methuen Silver Sox, a team in my league that loses about 2-3 games per month. He has spent a bit more than I have for a very deep roster (37 perfect cards) but he can only play 25 men at a time. I concluded that his lineup is a little better than mine (0.33 runs per game or so) and his defense is a bit better overall... and then it hit me. IT'S THE PITCHING, STUPID!

His rotation is perfect Cy, perfect Walter, perfect Schilling, perfect Walsh, perfect Pedro. His bullpen is perfect Rivera, perfect Lee Smith, perfect Eck, perfect Roger, Coveleski and Rixey. That covers a lot of mistakes. I am a few points short of that staff no matter what I do, but maybe I have allocated too many points to offense. Maybe I could re-structure my more modest house to look like a smaller version of his and be more successful in the postseason. IF I still make the postseason...

[dkgo]

I've experimented quite a bit and concluded that the better your pitching is then the better your offense is going to perform (normalized to overall ratings of course). It is all correlated since the total offensive production for the league is fixed, so if you take a lot of runs out of the system by upgrading to an elite pitching staff then some of those are going to come back in through your hitters.

[moalkha]

Originally Posted by dkgo

I've experimented quite a bit and concluded that the better your pitching is then the better your offense is going to perform (normalized to overall ratings of course). It is all correlated since the total offensive production for the league is fixed, so if you take a lot of runs out of the system by upgrading to an elite pitching staff then some of those are going to come back in through your hitters.

I agree with you and I think that's why contact teams are better than power ones, as in a league with a fixed offensive output, hits are easier to "steal" from opponents that HRs.

[Orcin]

Great game for Tim Keefe...







We won 16-0, so I also got 620pp in offensive achievements... game was worth 8,020pp in total.

[LeroyJenkins]

Originally Posted by moalkha

Great Lakes (AC West) is in a very balanced league with a lot of good teams but only one clearly better (USC Trojans in the NC central). At the end of day 1 we are 19-8 and leading the division by 2-1/2 games.

I'm also in .409 and it is definitely one of the more balanced and competitive Perfect Leagues I've been in to date. I have the Trojans in my division and I can foresee a season long grind trying to win the NC Central. So far so good though, as the Hammocks are currently tied for 1st place with USC. Should be a fun season!

[Dogberry99]

Originally Posted by moalkha

I agree with you and I think that's why contact teams are better than power ones, as in a league with a fixed offensive output, hits are easier to "steal" from opponents that HRs.

Are all offensive categories set up like this? If not, which ones are excluded?

Categories not tied to league wide production have more growth potential than those anchored to a standard total. If, for example, my team's stolen bases are not limited by the stolen bases taken by my opponents, then this statistic should be a more efficient target for offensive growth (or to limit it via defensive choices). However, if there are going to be a set amount (or range) of SB's in every league, then it might still be an attribute I want on my team, but I no longer need to focus and maximize it, as diminishing returns will limit the production.