Tiger Fan finally gets a fictional League GM Job

[Tiger Fan]

Absolutely, I will give an end of the year progress report on each of the 4. Btw, the outfielder McMullin I selected will start at AA and the minors report says 'you could try him at AAA but he may not be ready yet." So he may get fast-tracked to the majors and there is a good chance you will see him in Salt Lake in September.

[Matt from TN]

Originally posted by Tiger Fan
The one other setup thing I forgot to mention is I used the OOTPorigin maker to give everyone a hometown. Sorry I fogot who created it but it is a real nice add-on for fictional leagues although it would be great if Markus could incorporate home towns rather than just countires into OOTP - perhaps a future patch idea hopefully.

Here's the thread, btw

[Tiger Fan]

Thanks, Matt


FINAL ROSTER MOVES
Three AAA starting pitchers were let go today. 30 year old Bill Koury (8-9, 5.08 at AAA a year ago), 33 year old Ramiro Martinez (9-18 at Salt Lake last year) and 36 year old Mark Robinson who was 5-7 with Oakland and Salt Lake last season. The moves will force me to eat close to 2 million in salary but these guys were dead wood and no one claimed them off waivers. That gets me down to 5 starting pitchers at each level.

I also made a bunch of other moves to get my roster size down for each minor league level. The new depth charts are visible below.

A look around the league just prior to opening day shows that Houston has now past us in the league's eyes as the top minor league organization. They did so primarily on the strength of pitcher Tommy Claussen (remember him) who is ranked the 2nd best prospect in the game behind only our own future ace Manny Amaral. Our draftee David McMullin is ranked 17th. We also have catcher Andrew Sistrunk (5th), major league SS Michael Desrochers (19th) and third round pick CF Travis Mader (60th) in the top 100. The league seems to think more of Mader than our scouts who consider him a possible major leaguer.

By the way, the other two potential players I was considering for my first round pick (aside from Claussen and McMullin) are ranked 8th and 16th best. San Francisco pick Brad Cousin, the number one overall selection will begin the season in Class A as will 19 year old Samuel Williams who was selected 4th by Alburquerque.

We are ready for opening day. I wont report on every game but I will provide a monthly update on how our top prospects are doing and what is happening with the big league club.

[Tiger Fan]

Here are the pitchers. Middleton lost a little at spring training so I am going to start him in AAA but he will be the first callup should one of the others struggle.

Amaral hopefully will be ready for AA in a month. My other top pitching prospect Dorsey may be overmatched at the AA level but I figure at his age he needs to push himself.


I am very happy with my pen. If Johnson and Roache can do a decent job we may be a .500 team.

[johnnyshaka]

Where's McMullen in your roster report?? Is he starting out in A or AA??

[HolyCow98]

Originally posted by Tiger Fan
Btw, the outfielder McMullin I selected will start at AA and the minors report says 'you could try him at AAA but he may not be ready yet." So he may get fast-tracked to the majors and there is a good chance you will see him in Salt Lake in September.

I think his RF's got chopped off in the screen shot.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally posted by HolyCow98
I think his RF's got chopped off in the screen shot.

Good call...didn't notice that ALL the rightfielders were missing.

[Tiger Fan]

Oops. Sorry. Also, I incorrectly listed Broussard's first name below. It is William not Warren.

[Tiger Fan]

April 18, 1952 Opening Day

Well, all the offseason work is hopefully about to pay off as we face the New Orleans Pelicans in the home opener at Salt Lake stadium. The Pelicans have already opened their season with 2 victories over the Dallas Texans. The Pelicans scored 24 runs in the two games and are hitting at a .412 clip to open the season.

We couldn't ask for more from Opening Day. We nipped New Orleans 5-4 thanks to 3 hits from newcomer William Broussard and a decent outing from starter Arthur Baxter. Baxter gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 6 innings but it was a 2 out walk to the opposing pitcher that proved costly to him. It was followed by a triple and a sac fly to account for all the New Orleans scoring against him. The day ended on a sour note for Baxter as he was forced to leave with a stiff shoulder in the 6th and will be out for a week or two.

Our pen did a solid job although Dustin Landreth got roughed up a bit. James Green pitched a perfect 9th inning for his second career save. Adrian Martorell got the victory despite pitching just 1 inning.

The only downside to the day aside from the Baxter injury was that Salt Lake field was only half full as just 24663 came out to the old ballyard.

Great news from our minor league affiliates.

In AAA San Antonio Vincent Middleton allowed just 1 run in a complete game victory. Middleton will be promoted to replace Baxter for his next start.

In AA Topeka number one pick David McMullin went 2-for-4 and at Class A St George Manny Amaral pitched a 3-hit shutout. Catcher Andrew Sistrunk had 3 hits including a homer fueling speculation both he and Amaral will be in Topeka by the end of the month.

[johnnyshaka]

Great start...keep it up!!!

[Hank Greenberg]

Nice start. The team looks to have decent depth (though only 2 franchise type players seems low for a team with such little ML talent, of course you just took the team over).

Nice off-season, Id give it a B on a grading scale, though there wasn't much else you could do really. Improved your ML club a bit and helped out your minors.

[Tiger Fan]

Monday April 24

So much for the great start. Following the opening day win we lost 5 straight to finish the week. New Orleans beat us 10-3 and 5-3 before we went to Denver and got swept by the Bears. The Saturday loss was particularily tough as we rallied for 2 runs to tie it in the top of the ninth only to have Wayne Kane homer off of Jeff Green in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bears a 7-6 win. Vincent Middleton got the start for us that game and looked awful. I will be glad when Baxter is ready to go. He should be able to get a start by the end of this week.

Shortstop Michael Desrochers is off to a terrible start. He was 1-for-16 when I benched him for the final two games of the Denver series. The 23 year old may just need some more time in AAA. Catcher William Ludlow was also hitting well below .200 but Craig Gilliard has 4 hits in the last 3 games and is tied for the team lead with 3 rbi's.

The week ahead has us visiting Alburquerque for a 3 game set. The 4-2 Arrows are coming off a 3 game sweep of the Pelicans in New Orleans. We are off Thursday and then return home for a weekend set against Denver.

We put in a waiver claim yesterday on Denver pitcher Harry Carter. He was 7-10 a year ago and will likely be our number 3 starter if we are successful with our claim.

Around the league- Denver and Phoenix share top spot at 5-1. At 1-5 we are 7th, just ahead of the last place Dallas Texans (1-7). Player of the week honours go to James Gracia of the defending champion Kansas City Blues. The 28-year old outfielder from Danton, Texas went 10-for-20 with 4 homers and 8 rbi's.

In the Pacific Coast League, Seattle leads the way at 6-0, a game and a half ahead of Los Angeles and 2 up on San Diego.

[Tiger Fan]

Monday April 24th.

Now this playing out games is getting addictive. Kraig Edison ties the game at 4 with a 2-out, 2-run triple in the top of the 8th inning and we win it in 12 thanks to a solo homer from catcher Craig Gilliard - his second in two days. Even sweeter was the fact the homer came off of Bobby Soule. Soule was the closer I waived over the winter to free up some salary space.


Tuesday April 25th
Tuesday was a different story. One of those days that had me reaching for the Rolaids by the second inning. The Arrowheads scored 5 runs in both the second and third innings and hammered us 17-4. Roache, the loser today, and Middleton just are not doing the job in the rotation and my bullpen has struggled as well.

I added pitcher Henry Carter off waivers from Denver. He will hopefully help solidify my rotation. He was not good enough to crack the Bears rotation but will definately be at least my number 3 starter. I moved reserve infielder Otis Banks to AAA to make room on the active roster for Carter. I also placed Middleton on waivers in hopes he clears and I can send him back to AAA. I need to bring another reliever up as soon as I am able to demote Middleton. The guy I will likely recall is lefty John Sanders. The 26 year old is a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities with AAA San Antonio

Down in A ball Manny Amaral pitched his second straight complete game. He is 2-0 with an era of 0.50. I will give him one more start with the Utes before he moves to AA Topeka. Speaking of Topeka, after a quick start first round pick David McMullin has gone hitless in 5 games. He is now batting .125 and I am getting tempted to put him down to A ball for a week to get some confidence back. For now I will wait a few days and see how he handles the mini-slump.

Wednesday, April 26th
Good news on Wednesday as William Ludlow hits a 2-run homer in the 8th to help us beat Alburquerque 3-2 and take 2 of 3 from the Arrowheads. New pitcher Harry Carter was thrust into the rotation and had allowed just 1 run on 5 hits through 8 innings before he got into trouble in the ninth. With the bases loaded and every one in my pen either nursing a minor injury or tired I had to give the ball to Vincent Middleton. Middleton, with a 7.71 era and placed on waivers just yesterday responded by inducing a doubleplay ball that allowed 1-run to score. He then escaped further damage and preserved the victory with a fly out to end the game. Our first series victory and our record on the year is now 3-6.

I feel much better than I did a day ago because Carter looks like the real deal and ace Arthur Baxter is just 2 days away from returning to the lineup.

Elsewhere, last place Dallas (3-8) suffered a huge blow when their ace Jason Lee hurt his arm. Their only consistant starter is out for 6 weeks. Houston minor league phenom Tommy Clauson (the pitcher I bypassed in the draft) is now 2-0 with a 1.59 era for the Class A Lubbock Steers. The other 2 prospects I was following are Brad Cousin of San Francisco, who is hitting .310 for the San Jose Giants (Class A) and moved up to number 5 on the top prospect list. Samuel Williams is struggling a little at Class A Flagstaff in the Alburquerque system. He is hitting .200

[Bobbuttons]

Thank God you are writing about a new league. Nobody writes up a dynasty like Tiger Fan. The only competition was when The Professor wrote up his Norfolk dynasty with Version 4, if I remember correctly.

[Hank Greenberg]

Playing the games out is VERY addicting...it moves slow but you just sorta grow attached to your tea.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally posted by Hank Greenberg
Playing the games out is VERY addicting...it moves slow but you just sorta grow attached to your tea.

I am absolutely seeing this. I had focused almost exclusively on historical leagues so it is a bit of a shock that I am so quickly becoming engrossed in this league. I can see it taking an awfully long time to play out but the day-to-day organizational decisions I am faced with make it very entertaining to do so. However, it leaves me torn. I want to fast-forward 5 years from now to see how Manny Amaral has evolved and if McMullin was a better draft pick than Clausen but at the same time I do not want to miss a minute of the day-to-day activity with my franchise.

Just a week into my league and I already know my team very well and have identified several opposing players who's seasons I want to follow.


The new roster options are outstanding. I have a couple of pitchers nursing minor injuries (not serious enough for the DL) and I want to call up a reliever or two but because of 40 man roster rules and waiver guidelines I am really forced to struggle with my planning. I am also watching my minors very closely as there are a number of players in line for promotion or demotion already. The waiver wire requires constant attention as you never know when you can grab someone who might be a slight improvement like Henry Carter appears to be for me.

Finances are also a major concern for Salt Lake and I am toying with different promotions and when the best date is to have them. From what I understand it is important that you win on your promo day in order to receive the full benefits a promotion can provide so I have to be very cognizant of who is pitching for each club and who my opponent is before I schedule a promo.

Anyone who has not tried to micromanage an organization is shortchanging themselves on what they can get out of OOTP6. I will certainly still run historical sims but I know I will make sure I reserve plenty of time for my Salt Lake City Bees.

[Bobbuttons]

One thing I have found when I started with my 1995 Indians and played out every game until 1999 was that it was very tough to be patient with you players. You get Steinbrenner Syndrome after a couple of bad starts or an 0-17 slump and you just get the urge pull the trigger on a trade to get some new blood in the lineup. I was able to balance it throughout the season, so I didn't go overboard, but that urge was always there.

[Hank Greenberg]

Originally posted by Tiger Fan
I am absolutely seeing this. I had focused almost exclusively on historical leagues so it is a bit of a shock that I am so quickly becoming engrossed in this league. I can see it taking an awfully long time to play out but the day-to-day organizational decisions I am faced with make it very entertaining to do so. However, it leaves me torn. I want to fast-forward 5 years from now to see how Manny Amaral has evolved and if McMullin was a better draft pick than Clausen but at the same time I do not want to miss a minute of the day-to-day activity with my franchise.

Just a week into my league and I already know my team very well and have identified several opposing players who's seasons I want to follow.


The new roster options are outstanding. I have a couple of pitchers nursing minor injuries (not serious enough for the DL) and I want to call up a reliever or two but because of 40 man roster rules and waiver guidelines I am really forced to struggle with my planning. I am also watching my minors very closely as there are a number of players in line for promotion or demotion already. The waiver wire requires constant attention as you never know when you can grab someone who might be a slight improvement like Henry Carter appears to be for me.

Finances are also a major concern for Salt Lake and I am toying with different promotions and when the best date is to have them. From what I understand it is important that you win on your promo day in order to receive the full benefits a promotion can provide so I have to be very cognizant of who is pitching for each club and who my opponent is before I schedule a promo.

Anyone who has not tried to micromanage an organization is shortchanging themselves on what they can get out of OOTP6. I will certainly still run historical sims but I know I will make sure I reserve plenty of time for my Salt Lake City Bees.

It doesn't take me that long (as I stated in my dynasty its about 2 weeks a season...maybe a little more).

For me the best part is watching my duel aces challenging each other in the strikeout race (each are getting over 7 a game lately).

I like watching my guys careers develop, is he a hall of famer, how good is he going to get.... who is going to become the HR king ect....

But then I start thinking about each game and each season.... even though I wasn't alive, Bob Gibson's 1968 season..... Hank Greenbergs 1938 (which may be the most overlooked season ever)..... Mariano Rivera in any post-season....Johnson and Schilling win 'Zona won it all....'61....Gibson hobbling off the bench....

Yea, seeing everyone's career unfold in great....but following someone for an entire season of dominance or watching a guy win (or blow) the world series is even better.

Just wait in 6 years and your team is challenging for the pennet and Baxter (now a closer) gets a 2 inning save in game 7 or your first round pick caps off his RoY type season with the winning shot in the bottom of the 12th...

You just dont get that simming seasons

*steps off soap box*

[Gastric ReFlux]

Originally posted by Hank Greenberg
Playing the games out is VERY addicting...it moves slow but you just sorta grow attached to your tea.

[rant]
There is only one thing about that which can be extremely frustrating for me. Let's face it, the in-game Computer AI needs to be overhauled. It's really rough to watch it let a pitcher bat in the top half of the inning, then when the bottom half of the inning starts to pull that pitcher then for a reliever. Why not use a pinch hitter?!??!??!/
[/rant]

[Tiger Fan]

Originally posted by Gastric ReFlux
[rant]
There is only one thing about that which can be extremely frustrating for me. Let's face it, the in-game Computer AI needs to be overhauled. It's really rough to watch it let a pitcher bat in the top half of the inning, then when the bottom half of the inning starts to pull that pitcher then for a reliever. Why not use a pinch hitter?!??!??!/
[/rant]

I never really played out games much before this so I had never noticed it with previous versions of OOTP but I assume it was there. I agree with you 100%. Letting a pitcher bat in the 9th inning or letting him hit and then replace him with a reliever are things I have seen in my games. To me, it is the only aspect of the entire replay so far that has suspended believability for me.

Some fine tuning to the cpu AI handling of pitchers/pinch-hitters is definately needed. It is something that has been brought to Markus' attention so hopefully he can find a way to address it.