Season 3 (2021) Discussion: 12/17/18-12/23/18

[Thalion]

Originally Posted by 2002halos

Depends entirely on his health. He's that good when healthy. I was at his home pitching debut. His pitching numbers were decent, despite pitching in pain probably half of his outings. Besides the Tommy John surgery, he also has recurring blister trouble.

And his bat is impressive. One of the handful of men in the world who can hit home runs that leave other major leaguers with their jaws dropped open in awe, or giggling and shaking their heads. If they clear him to hit the whole season, and we know he won't pitch in 2019, I'm expecting 40+ home runs and above .800 OPS. Really, the sky's the limit for him if he recovers from his surgery to the same level he pitched at before. Certainly not every pitcher does though, so perhaps you'll turn out to be correct.

By the way, Angels have two more two-way players under development in the minors. I love that they're recognizing the value and innovating... innovation is not something this franchise has previously been known for.

I'm just glad that in my middle to late years of life I get to watch in Trout and Ohtani two of the most uniquely exciting players in the history of the game from premium club seats! Add them to the uniqueness of Nolan Ryan, Jim Abbott, and Vladimir Guerrero, and I feel that Angel fans have indeed been blessed by heaven.

I was an Angels fan back when the Hawaii Islanders were their AAA farm team. That's how far back I go.

[humboldt1498]

Has anyone has success running SP in the bullpen? I see this frequently from other teams and have played with it a bit myself and it seems like a terrible strategy. First, even though they have high stamina, throwing any pitches seems to automatically drop their fatigue to 50%, even if they only came in and threw a few pitches. This does not happen to relievers. Second, their stats are relatively poor because of the high stamina.

Am I missing something here?

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[Thalion]

I run all starters except for one player in my bullpen, but they are dedicated bullpen guys so their stamina dropping isn't an issue for me.

It gives me a ton of flexibility in the playoffs. That and the fact that I like starters better. Oh, and that there was not a lot of bullpen guys at all in the eras from which I am drawing my team.

[2002halos]

Originally Posted by Thalion

That's because I'm such an UBER manager! Actually, I'm more of a LYFT them up kind of guy.

I have to say it's been tough, but mainly because I look at nearly all of the perfect cards being the wrong "fit" for my team.

First, all of the Live Cards are out. I mean, they're great players and all but I have a historical team and I won't compromise on that.

Then, they have to also be excellent fielders and good/great baserunners. Guys like Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig don't make the cut there. Finally, there's the "if I don't like you, there's no chance you're on my team" criteria. Ty Cobb, I'm looking at you.

That pretty much excludes most of the perfects.

LOL, just as I say that I see a perfect Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson this morning. But, ooooooh... what people want for those.

Seriously though, I'm of the opinion, and I may be in the minority of the "whales" in that I'm going to do the best with what I have and if I never get promoted to the highest levels, then so be it because I'm always going to have a team I'm happy with. I'm not going to sweat it and begrudge what others may have. Life is too short for something like that, especially with a video game.

You backed into some success with your Live Card policy. Trout and Betts are exceptions, but from what I've seen most of the Live Cards don't have underlying ratings as good as the historical cards with the same OVR's. I have a feeling that when they made the "sets" the OVR shows more how a card compares to others in the same set, rather than to the game overall. I'm avoiding Live Cards not because of policy but due to trial and error!

I respect your decisions though. My GoT teams are about winning at any cost, like the characters in their fantasy namesakes.

But I have rules for my other teams. My American Angels were supposed to be mostly Angels (and their relatives, as well as broadcasters, managers, etc.) But I knew that as an expansion franchise they didn't have the history to compete at the top level, so I supplemented them with American-born players where I couldn't find a top drawer Angel. I figured that would be a challenge, but didn't expect the dominance of historical cards... which are mostly American born.

They've actually outperformed my GoT teams, with a Bronze Series title, and losing the Silver Series after leading it 3-0. Their Gold .291 league is nowhere near as tough as our .301, so again they're leading the Power Rankings, but this season the competition is getting close.

I didn't expect them to do so well, and I cringe to give that up, but I'm going to rename them the California Angels in two weeks and am looking to replace my American-born non-Angel Perfects and Diamonds with California-born players by that time while staying competitive. The players are there to do that, but getting them will be a challenge.

And my free-to-play team.... I was proud they avoided the cellar in season 1. Made the Wild Card game in season 2, and are now fighting to avoid the cellar in their Silver League.

[Kushiel]

Originally Posted by Thalion

I was an Angels fan back when the Hawaii Islanders were their AAA farm team. That's how far back I go.

My Dad was an Angel fan from day one until he passed because of Gene Autry. We could never agree on that. I liked Roy Rogers better. I was a Dodger fan growing up in the 50's and then in the 60's because of my dislike for the evil empire in NY. Then we got the Rangers. I was at their first ever home game and have been stuck in mostly years of mediocrity since. They never did and still do not understand pitching and defense wins championships. HR's are exciting but most(not all) big HR hitters are one dimensional or maybe 2 tool players..

[Hammercraft]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

Silver .268 here. I won my opening day game and I'm going to close my eyes and focus on the one day of the year I was in first place. Go Tigers!

And approaching the end of July I'm fighting to stay out of last place. I've got a record of 41-46, and have been shut out an amazing 10 times already.

[Maddox]

I got so frustrated last night over my teams performance that I let the AI reorder my batting order. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.

[Thalion]

Originally Posted by Kushiel

My Dad was an Angel fan from day one until he passed because of Gene Autry. We could never agree on that. I liked Roy Rogers better. I was a Dodger fan growing up in the 50's and then in the 60's because of my dislike for the evil empire in NY. Then we got the Rangers. I was at their first ever home game and have been stuck in mostly years of mediocrity since. They never did and still do not understand pitching and defense wins championships. HR's are exciting but most(not all) big HR hitters are one dimensional or maybe 2 tool players..

I don't remember, but were you a Dodger fan back when Garvey/Lopes/Russel et al were there?

I remember them in AAA. Now THAT was a stacked team for it's level.

OMG! Garvey/Lopes/Cey/Russell/Buckner/Yeager/Ferguson/Hough/Paciorek. I think they were all on the roster for Spokane at the same time.

[2002halos]

Originally Posted by vyshka

His team is pretty ridiculous. Just lost to him 8-9 and his relief pitcher was Kershaw. Hoping I can maybe take 1 from him to slow him down a bit for you and continue to keep me above relegation.

LOL, well, as you just swept me, you may avoid relegation, I'm pulling for you. But I'm waaaay too far behind now to catch him. I need to just get out of this losing streak so that I can cling desperately to the second wild card spot.


How hard is this league? I'm 14-18 since adding TWO 100's to my starting rotation!

[Thalion]

Hey, 2002halos. How am I doing so far today? I am barely clinging to the 2nd WC when I left for work this morning. May be behind by now.

[2002halos]

Originally Posted by Thalion

I run all starters except for one player in my bullpen, but they are dedicated bullpen guys so their stamina dropping isn't an issue for me.

It gives me a ton of flexibility in the playoffs. That and the fact that I like starters better. Oh, and that there was not a lot of bullpen guys at all in the eras from which I am drawing my team.

And there just aren't many relievers in the game with ratings good enough to compete at the top level. Most of the whale teams are doing this not necessarily because they're brilliant strategists, but because how else are they going to use all their 100's!

I'm moving towards a similar strategy with all three of my teams. Being able to swing the rotation left or right really does give a playoff advantage, and can even help during the season when you have time to tinker and look ahead at the upcoming schedule.

[Morug]

Originally Posted by 2002halos

Depends entirely on his health. He's that good when healthy. I was at his home pitching debut. His pitching numbers were decent, despite pitching in pain probably half of his outings. Besides the Tommy John surgery, he also has recurring blister trouble.

And his bat is impressive. One of the handful of men in the world who can hit home runs that leave other major leaguers with their jaws dropped open in awe, or giggling and shaking their heads. If they clear him to hit the whole season, and we know he won't pitch in 2019, I'm expecting 40+ home runs and above .800 OPS. Really, the sky's the limit for him if he recovers from his surgery to the same level he pitched at before. Certainly not every pitcher does though, so perhaps you'll turn out to be correct.

By the way, Angels have two more two-way players under development in the minors. I love that they're recognizing the value and innovating... innovation is not something this franchise has previously been known for.

I'm just glad that in my middle to late years of life I get to watch in Trout and Ohtani two of the most uniquely exciting players in the history of the game from premium club seats! Add them to the uniqueness of Nolan Ryan, Jim Abbott, and Vladimir Guerrero, and I feel that Angel fans have indeed been blessed by heaven.

Do you see Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson? thats was an awesome trio in the fields too.

[humboldt1498]

Originally Posted by Thalion

I run all starters except for one player in my bullpen, but they are dedicated bullpen guys so their stamina dropping isn't an issue for me.

It gives me a ton of flexibility in the playoffs. That and the fact that I like starters better. Oh, and that there was not a lot of bullpen guys at all in the eras from which I am drawing my team.

Are you changing their position to reliever from starter? Maybe that's my problem. I have just moved starters to the bullpen in the past.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

[Izz]

Originally Posted by humboldt1498

Has anyone has success running SP in the bullpen? I see this frequently from other teams and have played with it a bit myself and it seems like a terrible strategy. First, even though they have high stamina, throwing any pitches seems to automatically drop their fatigue to 50%, even if they only came in and threw a few pitches. This does not happen to relievers. Second, their stats are relatively poor because of the high stamina.

Am I missing something here?

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

Try changing their position to reliever.

[Thalion]

Originally Posted by humboldt1498

Are you changing their position to reliever from starter? Maybe that's my problem. I have just moved starters to the bullpen in the past.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

I don't know if it matters. I know if you do that in regular OOTP, you get a boost to stuff, but I've done it and didn't notice much of a change. Note that all my starter turned relievers have two excellent pitches so it's not like they're lacking what a reliever brings to the table.

Besides, I find that the control of most relievers leave something to be desired.

[Kushiel]

Originally Posted by Thalion

I don't remember, but were you a Dodger fan back when Garvey/Lopes/Russel et al were there?

I remember them in AAA. Now THAT was a stacked team for it's level.

OMG! Garvey/Lopes/Cey/Russell/Buckner/Yeager/Ferguson/Hough/Paciorek. I think they were all on the roster for Spokane at the same time.

Long before them, more like since Campy, Robinson, Snider, Gilliam, Koufax, Drysdale, Willie and Tommy Davis, Wills, Peranoski etc

[2002halos]

Originally Posted by Thalion

I was an Angels fan back when the Hawaii Islanders were their AAA farm team. That's how far back I go.

Their last year as the Angels AAA team was my first year as an Angel fan, 1970. I was born in '61, same as the Angels, though.

But I was born in Seattle and my first MLB team was the 1969 Seattle Pilots of Ball Four fame. Bout the same time they moved to Milwaukee, Boeing cancelled the SST and my Dad packed us up for Southern California.

At first I rooted for the Dodgers also, but preferring the California Angels because my 8-year old logic noticed I lived in Carson, California, not in Los Angeles... completely oblivious that Dodger Stadium was closer than Anaheim.

The '74 World Series was the last time I rooted for the Dodgers. When they lost I was very offended that Vin Scully had been lying to me all summer about how great the Dodgers supposedly were. Enberg and Drysdale never covered up Angel shortcomings.

When friends at school gave me grief and said I couldn't root for both teams, it was, "fine, I know which team I prefer."


Graduated from high school in '79 and the new freedom meant I could spend my summer at the Big A watching the Angels storm to their first ever postseason appearance.

Been fortunate to have been able to attend every home postseason game in Angels history, as well as every regular season game that clinched a playoff spot, both home and away.

Meanwhile, Dodger fans are now the Oakland Raider fans of baseball. Yuck.

[Thalion]

Originally Posted by 2002halos

Their last year as the Angels AAA team was my first year as an Angel fan, 1970. I was born in '61, same as the Angels, though.

But I was born in Seattle and my first MLB team was the 1969 Seattle Pilots of Ball Four fame. Bout the same time they moved to Milwaukee, Boeing cancelled the SST and my Dad packed us up for Southern California.

At first I rooted for the Dodgers also, but preferring the California Angels because my 8-year old logic noticed I lived in Carson, California, not in Los Angeles... completely oblivious that Dodger Stadium was closer than Anaheim.

The '74 World Series was the last time I rooted for the Dodgers. When they lost I was very offended that Vin Scully had been lying to me all summer about how great the Dodgers supposedly were. Enberg and Drysdale never covered up Angel shortcomings.

When friends at school gave me grief and said I couldn't root for both teams, it was, "fine, I know which team I prefer."


Graduated from high school in '79 and the new freedom meant I could spend my summer at the Big A watching the Angels storm to their first ever postseason appearance.

Been fortunate to have been able to attend every home postseason game in Angels history, as well as every regular season game that clinched a playoff spot, both home and away.

Meanwhile, Dodger fans are now the Oakland Raider fans of baseball. Yuck.

Oh! You would have been a fan when Winston Llenas was a member of the Angels! My childhood favorite! Whenever I do a historical replay in OOTP, he always finds a way onto my team.

We'll never see him in PT though because c'mon.... Winston Llenas?

[2002halos]

Originally Posted by Thalion

Hey, 2002halos. How am I doing so far today? I am barely clinging to the 2nd WC when I left for work this morning. May be behind by now.

You're 3-5 in "July", and 1/2 game behind Great White in your division and the 2nd WC. But hey, you're still tied with him in the "All-Important Loss Column"!

[Thalion]

Hmmm, I'm in that sort of area where I may not make the playoffs but am playing well enough to get promoted anyway.

At least if I don't make it to the WC game this year, I can sleep in on Sunday.

Hey Kushiel.... see? My Summer Swoon is starting again. LOL