Season 51 (2069) - Discussion thread

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs finished with a 46.5 game division margin and won 131 games. This marks the 4th time the team has won 130+. The previous 3 times were all capped off with PL titles.

The max ballpark factor experiment has run its course and returns are mostly positive as you can see below. The Frogs set franchise bests everywhere except for stolen bases and base running. The +755 run differential is also a team record.

Individually, Eddie Collins (.312, 16 HR, 107 RBI), Cap Anson (.303, 28 HR, 167 RBI), Zack Wheat (.368, 27 HR, 137 RBI), Norm Cash (.339, 24 HR, 111 RBI), and Ted Simmons (.339, 41 HR, 138 RBI) were lethal as the top 5 in the batting order. Anson led the NC in PA (834 ), runs (150), and RBI (167). Wheat led the NC in 2B (63), AVG (.368), SLG (.673), and OPS (1.096). Cash led the NC in OBP (.458). Simmons led the NC in WAR (7.4) and set a franchise record with 41 HR. Barry Bonds led the NC in BB (119). Flip a coin as to whether Wheat or Simmons will win MVP.

Pitching-wise, it was rougher than normal thanks to the ballpark factors. But, SE Gooden still paced the NC in wins (23) and WHIP (1.05). Gooden has a decent shot at Pitcher of the Year, but will get a stiff challenge from an enemy 100 Lefty Grove's nice season. Frog SE Waddell led the way in Ks (248). Ed Walsh struggled like never before, ending the season with a 5.17 ERA despite a 3.58 FIP. The 5.17 ERA is a full 1.30 higher than his next worst season. Poor Ed.

The Frogs will get either the Edinburgh Hibs or the Stargell Stars in the Division Series. The Frogs will be heavily favored in that matchup.

[JasonC23]

Greetings from Huntley! P471 is the scene of the latest Red Raiders Adventures in Perfect Team. This was the most mirror-image league I can recall, with both leagues featuring one division with 2 teams each winning at least 120 games, 1 division with a one-hundred-and-teens-game winner, and...a third division. (Now watch, the Manhattan Horned Frogs will face the Anaheim Villans in the Perfect League Series...)

The 2 divisions featuring 2 teams with 120+ wins were the AC West, home to Huntley and the Great Lakes Loons, and the NC Central, featuring the legendary Bville Battling Bonsai and the Topeka Defenders. Both divisions were season-long back-and-forth affairs; below are the standings at the end of each month for posterity.

Huntley's pitching staff was led by old stalwart Rube Waddell (21-7, 2.54 ERA, 171 ERA+, 2.89 FIP, 6.7 WAR) and, with his best season in a Red Raiders uniform, Clayton Kershaw (19-6, 2.70 ERA, 161 ERA+, 2.90 FIP, 6.7 WAR). (Ed Walsh led the league in wins with 26, if you're into that sort of thing.) On the offensive side, I am THRILLED to report that, after his first 2 lackluster seasons back in the starting lineup (90 and 102 OPS+s), Arky Vaughan finally put together a much more representative Arky Vaughan-type season as the starting second baseman against righties (.315/.399/.497, 145 OPS+, 4.2 WAR). The Wizard of Oz was ridiculous once again, leading the Huntley batters in WAR (.309/.392/.421, 124 OPS+, 4.22 RF, +9.4 ZF, 1.046 EFF, 6.2 WAR), and Christian Yelich had a pretty typical Yelich Year (TM) (.292/.382/.527, 147 OPS+, 4.9 WAR). Barry Bonds led the league in walks with 120 and had himself a 20-20 season (34 HR, 21 SB), as well.

Good luck to everyone in the 2069 playoffs!

Month-by-month standings
April 30
Huntley: 22-6
Great Lakes: 20-8

Bville: 22-6
Topeka: 18-9

May 31
Huntley: 43-13
Great Lakes: 43-13

Topeka: 41-13
Bville: 41-15

June 30
Great Lakes: 64-19
Huntley: 61-21

Topeka: 63-18
Bville: 60-21

July 31
Huntley: 84-23
Great Lakes: 81-26

Topeka: 82-25
Bville: 81-25

August 31
Great Lakes: 104-29
Huntley: 101-32

Topeka: 103-30
Bville: 102-31

Final Standings:
Huntley: 125-37
Great Lakes: 122-40

Bville: 125-37
Topeka: 124-38

[Marleigh]

of course we go 109-53 and finish second to the only other team in the conference with over 100 wins (SDCA 115-47) then get bounced in the WC game by a 86-76 team who are now being crushed by SDCA

[macacks]

Warbirds finished with 129 wins and the best RD (+587) in a tough division.

highlights:
Bonds, Wheat and TOTY Yelich all had .300 / 30+ HR/ 120+ RBI.
Kid Nichols was fantastic with a 23-4/ 2.05 ERA / 1.00 WHIP.
Rivera's season was also fantastic with league leading 41SV and 1.19ERA.

The two wildcards entrants came out of the Warbirds division.
The Colorado Heroes beta the Warbirds 10 of 19 games and the Geshden Grizzlies won only 6 of 19.

Gesheden won the one game playoff and was immediately swept by the Warbirds, who now face the Southern California Storm.

The of the Tape:


...and an Exxon Valdez update...get the Dawn.

[JasonC23]

Huntley and Bville won the ultra-competitive AC West and NC Central over Great Lakes and Topeka, respectively.

So, naturally, in the Division Series showdowns, the winners were the Great Lakes Loons (who, after losing to Huntley 7-1 in game 1, held the Red Raiders to 1, 1, and 0 runs in their 3 straight victories) and the Topeka Defenders (who held the Battling Bonsai to 1, 1, and 2 runs in their 3 victories in 4 games).

First-world PT 2.0 rant: This is now 5 weeks in a row that Huntley has entered the playoffs as the #1 seed in its conference and then was unceremoniously bounced out of the tournament prior to the Perfect League Series. My well of playoff luck has dried up.

Good luck to all those left in the 2069 playoffs!

[bailey]

Logging in late, I found my beloved Tigers down 2 games to none and wondering why I bother writing about it. I like to write, though, and I still had the better team and God knows how many times I've been up 2 games to none and still lost. And so it went. Vida Blue had a solid outing and the bats did what bats can do, 2 games to 1. Then Gaylord Perry pitched a gem, establishing his postseason ERA of 1.xx, 2 games to 2. Then GM Bailey has his choice for game 5 starter: the higher rated Ed Walsh, or the better season-long stats of Clayton Kershaw? Opting to go with Kershaw because the Grasshoppers had less success against LHP was a wise choice: HORN BLAST, HORN BLAST, HORN BLAST.

Meanwhile, the 13-time Perfect League champion, Santa Maria Ghost Riders, had their own nail-biting fight on their hands. They decided on game 1 loser, Cy Young (OVR 100), for game 5 and, well, no horn blast for them. Another tale of woe for the 124-win team losing to the 91-win wild card.

[Orion]

OOTP up and running on the new laptop. Angel Fire had a nice whale free conference and cruised to it's 2nd best season ever with 120 wins. The highlight of the year has been RB Pedro's Triple Crown season with 25 Wins, a 2.12 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 242 K's to lead the conference in all cats. My 1st PL Triple Crown. He also had an 18 game win streak in what has been easily the best pitching season in AF history. Expecting a Cy Young and ~7000 total PP earned this year. Good stuff. The other news was new closer "Goose" Gossage joined the team and mustered an excellent season with 34 saves and a sparkling 1.44 ERA. At the moment, we are locked up 2-2 in the Sub League series and hope to advance to take on one of the two whales fighting in the NL Sub League series...

[macacks]

Originally Posted by macacks

Warbirds finished with 129 wins and the best RD (+587) in a tough division.

highlights:
Bonds, Wheat and TOTY Yelich all had .300 / 30+ HR/ 120+ RBI.
Kid Nichols was fantastic with a 23-4/ 2.05 ERA / 1.00 WHIP.
Rivera's season was also fantastic with league leading 41SV and 1.19ERA.

The two wildcards entrants came out of the Warbirds division.
The Colorado Heroes beta the Warbirds 10 of 19 games and the Geshden Grizzlies won only 6 of 19.

Gesheden won the one game playoff and was immediately swept by the Warbirds, who now face the Southern California Storm.

The of the Tape:
Attachment 678968

...and an Exxon Valdez update...get the Dawn.

Attachment 678969

Another Sweep for the Warbirds puts them in their 8th straight PL championship series.
The opponent is a bit of unknown. Starting only in season 2058 this is only the Cleveland Heemers 6th PL season.
The Heemers are looking for their first PL medallion. They have very solid team considering the short build time.

The Warbirds have home field advantage, a better RD (+197 better), and championship pedigree.

[Orion]

Looks like a tough series vs...er whoever these guys are...

[macacks]

Warbirds win again to go up 2-0 in the series 9 straight playoff victory (9-0).

Wade Boggs leading the way on the bats and Rivera is 5 for 5 on saves with 0.00ERA.

[Splitter24]

In their 38th consecutive season in PL, the FTP Pack Only Lowell Muck Rakers are making their first-ever PL Final. I'm not digging my chances, but everybody loves an underdog.

[daves]

Originally Posted by Orion

Looks like a tough series vs...er whoever these guys are...

You got Krary! They took game 6 and 7 from the Doubledays at my home field to beat me in 7. I just couldn't beat Young and Hoyt.

Maybe I tired them out for you? Good luck!

[Orion]

Unheralded backup Thurman Munson leads the charge in game 1.

[Orion]

Angel Fire taking advantage of the tired K Pop group.

[Magus978]

The randomizer just didn't want me winning anymore titles.

Won 115, was a wildcard. Swept the top seed in the LDS, only to lose in 7 to the 16-time PL champion Maine Gems, blowing a 3-2 series lead.

So glad PT 20 is over for me once OOTP 21 hits early release.

[Orion]

Originally Posted by daves

You got Krary! They took game 6 and 7 from the Doubledays at my home field to beat me in 7. I just couldn't beat Young and Hoyt.

Maybe I tired them out for you? Good luck!

I thought you were the stronger of the two teams but it was pretty close. I get Young an Hoyt now at his place, let's see how it goes.

[Orion]

On the doorstep of ring #3!!

[macacks]

Clean sweep of the major award.
Kid Nichols - POY
Zack Wheat - MVP
Mariano Rivera - Reliever

4 Great Bats but shut out of the Defenders.

An early finish this week!

*******
My FTP team is in PL finals after 51 week sthey are down 3-1 to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

It has been a fun team. It is/was a LIVE(every live was collected) only team. After pulling 2 Perfects (Schiling/Mantle) and 99 Nap Lajoie and the addition of the new LIVE collections/Tournament rewards it was decided to invest the PP in 'almost live' players.
POTM / TOTY / 2019 ALL- Stars / Live Future Legends.

I will take similar path for a second team next year.

[trman73]

The Fort Worth Frogs woke up Sunday assuming our stay in the PL .432 playoffs would last one game. Despite winning 109 games we were the second wild card in the AC playoffs, in a conference with three teams that had 110+ wins and 13 PL titles amongst them.

Then we knocked off the 113-win Hong Kong Tigers in the wild card game, 4-0, riding a dominant performance from John Clarkson.

Next up was the league-leading San Francisco Smallballers, a team that’s beaten us three times in the playoffs, including the 2066 Perfect League Series. I’ve never had an answer for these guys as I start five righties in the rotation and they start nine lefty hitters. But we split the first two games with them, then I got a NO-HITTER from Don Sutton in Game 3, and won Game 4 5-4 on an eighth-inning home run from Christian Yelich to make our way into the League Championship.

Things looked good against the 114-49 Mocosloco’s Green Sox as we took the first three games, including a four-hit, 12-K shutout from John Clarkson in Game 3. But they took the next three games to even it up, and we headed to Game 7. In the final game, we were down 5-0 with two outs in the seventh and were being no-hit by Rube Waddell before we exploded for eight runs in the seventh and eighth to win 8-5 and head to the Perfect League Series.

On our way to the series we beat teams that won 113, 114, and 119 games. And in the final we got the surprise Deep Space Nines, who went 80-82 and were in the Perfect playoffs for the first time ever. Their feel-good story ended in a four-game sweep as we held them to one run in four games, winning 2-0, 4-0, 3-1, and 3-0 to claim our second Perfect League Championship!

After 35 seasons in Perfect without a title we’ve won two in the last five seasons.

I am officially ready to put PT20 to bed and start the new game.

[Renfro]

I haven't been posting for a variety of reasons but I just had to tonight because my 88-74 2nd Wild Card Yumenes Orogenes became that team that beats a 105-win team, a 109-win team, and holds it together after 100 Goose Gossage balks in the tying run in the bottom of the 9th, to win it in the 11th on a 2-run single by mid-season acquisition Paul Lo Duca.

My first ever Perfect League Championship. Bring on OOTP21.