The Secret Diary of Paulie Beane, Aged 43 3/4

[Edster007]

Originally Posted by Paulie123

Thanks for posting, it's great to hear someone is enjoying this.

I sim every game. I do begin a game as the manager, so that I can amend the lineup and defensive positions if I don't like what my depth charts give me or take out a guy with a day-to-day injury. But then I switch full control to the CPU and sim the game. I sim on quickplay an inning at a time, so that I can get through the game in a few seconds but can see the flow and progress of the game. Occasionally I may briefly take back managerial control in the late innings to change defensive positions if the CPU puts a replacement in a silly place, but switch back to CPU before continuing to sim.

That's my personal preference for how to play for two reasons. First, I don't have much time to play, and if I played out games it'd take me an age to complete a single season. Second, I'm terrible at managing, and it's definitely more harmful to the team for me to manage than leaving it to the CPU.

After reading these I may do my own. I'm going to sim from 1901 to 1949 and take over the worst team just prior to the draft. Haven't decided if I will start with a fantasy draft of historical players or fictional. To advance some years I am going to try doing sims in your manner. I play out games now and have let the CPU run in the past but have been frustrated with the way it handles the bullpen, I do always check the lineup, when its time for a rest day for a player some of the CPU's batting orders don't make much sense

Thanks again for sharing this.

[Paulie123]

30 Sep - 4 Oct 2042 - division series vs Manchester Falcons (94-68)

We finished on identical records in the regular season, and the Falcons edged it 5-4 in our head-to-heads. It all points to a close series and a battle of our quality pitching against their stellar batting lineup.

MAN 2 LEE 0: McGinnity 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Mitchell 2-4, DBL. McGinnity gave a typically great performance, and we actually out-hit the Falcons 7-6. But we just couldn't string our hits together, and RBI singles in the 3rd and 8th innings were enough for the Mancunians. [0-1]

MAN 4 LEE 1: Magana 2-3, BB, SB. Fuentes 2-4. Chris Kemp got popped for 3 runs in the top of the 1st, and the writing was on the wall. We've kept the Falcons offense fairly quiet so far but our offense just hasn't shown up. [0-2]

LEE 7 MAN 6: García 2-5, HR, BB. Hayashi 2-5, HR. Absolutely incredible. Emanuel Namora was on the mound for the Falcons, and the omens weren't good when they went 5-2 ahead in the bottom of the 5th. It looked all over as the score remained that way entering the top of the 9th. But Hayashi hit a 2-run homer as we tied the game at 5-5. Jim Mullins homered in the top of the 13th as we went 7-5 in front. The Falcons briefly threatened a comeback of their own, scoring a run on a sac fly, but Isidoro Fortini saw it out to keep us alive. [1-2]

LEE 5 MAN 6: González 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER. Magana 2-4, DBL. McGinnity was only 89% fit so I decided to go with my lefty González to try and negate the Falcons's lethal lefty hitters. It looked like a good decision as we took a 4-1 lead into the 7th. But it's hard to keep future Hall of Famer Bobby Fields and co down, and they overhauled us with 2 runs apiece in the 7th and 8th. We tied it up in the 9th, only to lose the game and get eliminated thanks to an unearned run in the bottom of the inning. [1-3]

So for the fourth time in five postseason appearances, we've fallen at the division series. What a disappointment. But there is nothing for it but to go again next season.

Manchester will get the chance to win their 10th Northern League championship pennant. They don't yet know who they'll play, with Leicester and Stoke tied at 2-2.

[Paulie123]

14 Oct 2042

Manchester will play Southampton in the 2042 EBA Cup Final series. They both prevailed 4-1 in their championship series against Leicester and Essex respectively. It's a repeat of the 2018 Cup Final series when Southampton won to clinch their only EBA title to date. For the Falcons, they've got that 10th NL crown (Derby are way back in 2nd place in the all-time list with 3 NL pennants) and a chance to win their 5th overall title.

[Paulie123]

23 Oct 2042

The Southampton Titanics are the EBA champions for 2042. They won 4-2 against the Falcons for their second EBA title. It's a bitter defeat for the Falcons, who have now lost 5 of their last 6 appearances in the Cup Final series.

[Paulie123]

Okay, a second attempt to finally wrap up this dynasty report.... The dynasty reports on these forums that I most enjoy reading are those where it’s obvious that the writer hugely enjoys both writing the report and playing the game. In my case, I rather lost the enjoyment of playing. Throughout my time playing MLBM 16 I’ve suffered with the “black screen of death” problem: often it would take many attempts firing up the game on my iPad before it would stay open and I didn’t get the black screen; other times, even more annoyingly, the game would suddenly go black a couple of minutes after loading it. I got to the end of my tether with it finally, and that also coincided with an extremely busy time at work which curtailed how much time and energy I had to play. So I stopped. But at the same time, I don’t want to leave this report unfinished...

[Paulie123]

24 Oct 2042

Something’s up. The day after the conclusion of the World Series, Rodrigo Miller traditionally calls me into his office, tells me that he refuses to increase my payroll budget for yet another year, and gives me a little pep talk for the new season. Today, though, he’s nowhere to be seen. And the media are reporting that “sources close to Miller” are saying that he’s considering the makeup of the Hedgehogs front office and whether the organisation needs to be “taken in a different direction”. This is ominous news. When news outlets say “sources close to X” that normally means that X themselves has told the reporter something but doesn’t want it attributed. And of course “taken in a different direction” means sacking the GM.

Oh well, it’s out of my hands, and what will be will be. In the meantime, I used the unexpected free time in my diary for the day to confirm my priorities for the offseason, should I have an offseason this winter.

- New catcher to replace Hayashi.
- I need to get a second staff ace to head the rotation with McGinnity, even if it comes at the expense of weakening the team elsewhere. I don't have the payroll headroom to do that via free agency if an ace is available, so it will need to be by trade and shifting a salary or two.
- Acquire a left-handed bat as infield backup to replace Alfonso Rodríguez, who's becoming a free agent; getting Rodríguez himself back is not out of the equation.

Meanwhile it was Hall of Fame induction day, headlined by the inevitable election of Arrows legend Dae-il Kim, who finally called time on his 25-year EBA career. His final careerstats are a thing of beauty. Many of his EBA cumulative totals - 361 career wins, 5375.2 innings pitched, 5247 strikeouts, 796 starts - are likely to never be surpassed. He only won 1 Outstanding Pitcher award but his longevity was off the scale. The guy last missed a scheduled start back in 2019! He is a 9-time all-star and threw 2 no-hitters.

[Paulie123]

25 Oct 2042

I suspect the end is nigh for me here. Rodrigo was back in the building but he holed himself up in his office the entire day, talking on the phone, and we didn’t speak. The media is saying that the Hedgehogs and I will part company next week. Those dratted “sources close to Miller” have been blabbing again. Which might explain his day of phone calls...

[Paulie123]

31 Oct 2042 - end of season award announcements

Outstanding Hitter
SL: David Johnson (Reading) .365 OBP / .961 OPS / 44 HR
NL: Britt Dixon (Liverpool) .418 OBP / 1.047 OPS / 46 HR

Outstanding Pitcher
SL: Todd Lilly (Westminster) 18-9 / 1.85 ERA / 0.87 WHIP - second straight
NL: Brian McGinnity (Leeds) 18-6 / 2.28 ERA / 0.96 WHIP - second of his career

Rookie of the Year
SL: Albert Vélez (Milton Keynes) .329 OBP / .746 OPS / 9 HR
NL: Lorenzo Díaz (Coventry) .351 OBP / .824 OPS / 15 HR

We had no Glove Wizards this year.

Brian McGinnity! Well done, Brian. A 2-time outstanding hitter now, and we're only paying him $13m per year over the next four years. His market value is probably double that. That’s a terrific gift for my successor.

[Paulie123]

1 Nov 2042

And that’s all, folks. Rodrigo called me in to his office first thing today and said I was being let go as general manager. He thanked me for all my efforts and wished me all the best. We talked for a couple of hours. There are no hard feelings on either side. I didn’t even bother asking him why I was out. Deep down perhaps I knew that this past season was my last chance of glory here.

For nine seasons I’ve given it my best shot and had a blast. Ultimately I failed in my mission here: I couldn’t replicate my success at Oakland and bring the Hedgehogs organisation a first title. But I’m proud of what I achieved anyway, turning the club from the EBA’s worst team to consistently the best, and leaving a deep roster capable of challenging again for the next few years at least. I’ll always remain a Hedgehogs fan.

My immediate intention is to take a long break from baseball. A proper, long break. Whether I’ll return to the sport someday in some capacity, who knows? But somehow I suspect my involvement in the game isn’t over. Yesterday afternoon Clare and I were at the hospital. Clare’s pregnant. And it’s a boy. As soon as he can walk I’m sure I’ll be getting him to throw a ball around. Maybe he’ll be quite good at it.