Your Expansion Seattle Mariners!!!

[BoilerRocketScientist]

The 1978 NL award winners were ...

MVP: Reggie Smith (LAD) - .305/.400/.578, 44 HR, 123 RBI, 73.6 VORP
CyYoung: Mike Krukow (SFG) - 22-8, 2.92 ERA, 283.2 IP, 204 K, 68.3 VORP
ROY: Kirk Gibson (PIT) - .300/.352/.539, 43 HR, 124 RBI, 51.1 VORP

The Montreal Expos stormed to a 102-60 record in the NL East to take the title by 12 games over Pittsburgh. In the NL West, the San Francisco Giants (97-65) held off the Cincinnati Reds to win their second straight division title.

Again, the NL team with the best record (Montreal) couldn't get the job done as San Francisco took the NL pennant in 4 games to go to their second straight World Series.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

It was deja vu all over again as the World Series featured a rematch between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants (last years champions).

• Game 1: Yankees 4, Giants 3 - 14 innings!
• Game 2: Giants 3, Yankees 0 - Montefusco 5-hitter!
• Game 3: Yankees 3, Giants 2 - 11 innings!
• Game 4: Giants 5, Yankees 0 - Jim Wright 7 innings of 4-hit ball
• Game 5: Giants 7, Yankees 5 - HR's by Gary Alexander, Jack Clark, Terry Whitfield
• Game 6: Yankees 8, Giants 2 - Doc Ellis CG, 3 RBI's for Reggie Jackson & Carlton Fisk
• Game 7: Giants 4, Yankees 1 - Terry Whitfield 3 HR of series

Terry Whitfield earned the Series MVP (3 HR's - 1 each in the final 3 San Francisco wins) as the Giants repeat as World Series champions!

[BoilerRocketScientist]

I lost my top 2 draft picks as compensation for free agent signings of Don Gullet and Dave Winfield. I used my 2 paltry picks on Jeff Little (MR) and Steve Macko (2B). I offered extensions to Bill Buckner ($1.75M, 4 years), Andre Thornton ($1.57M, 4 years), Wayne Twitchell ($400K, 2 years), and Dan Meyer ($260K, 2 years).

I also made a move to sign Richie Zisk to a 3-year, $1.15M contract after he had made an early retirement. Some sweet money convinced him to take another try after a early retirement from a torn labrum. One trip to "Dr. Feelgood" and some sweet cash convinced him to come to Seattle.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Looks like you're building a winner! I've won the division all four years, but only 1 Series in 2 appearances. I've faced Detroit in all four ALCS, and they've won the Series both times after they beat me. No fair, they have a better dynasty than I do!

Zisk, if he performs for you like he has for me, should be fun. He's prone to slumps, but also has a penchant for the occasional huge game, and usually hits 20+ HR & 80+ RBI on the season.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Yeah, we're coming along slowly. I'm trying to selectively use free agency to improve the team.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We took a step back this year finishing with an 84-78 record, finishing in 4th place, 9 games back of the division leading Minnesota Twins, who repeat at AL West Champions. The season started out strong as we went 14-7 in April to jump out to a 1.5 game lead. May went well also as I dropped to 1.5 games out of first with a 27-21 record, little did I know that I would only play .500 ball for the rest of the season. By June I was 3 games out of first and then the bottom fell out as I endured a horrid 9-16 July and got to the trading deadline 5 games under .500, 10 games out of first place. We got hot in September but by then it was too late.

My team MVP was Bill Buckner. Buckner finished the season on a 24-game hitting streak when he pulled a hamstring legging out an infield single for his 4th hit of the day. When Buckner went out with 5 games to go, he was tied with Jim Gantner for the batting title with a .325 batting average. Gantner ended up raising his average to .327 before he got injured for the rest of the season with 3 games to go. So Buckner lost the batting title but he did lead the AL in hits (215), edging out teammate Paul Molitor, and doubles (50). I had other leaders in Rupert Jones (ML leading WAR of 8.7), Dave Winfield (AL leading 131 RBI's), and Paul Molitor (AL leading 125 runs). Our offense led the AL in slugging %, on-base %, extra-base hits, and runs scored. So obviously offense wasn't the problem. The pitching was the weak point of the team as the staff was 8th or worse in all major pitching categories except for strikeouts. The team ERA of 4.19 was 9th out of 14 AL teams.

As for my Mariners, here's how the season ended up for my position players.

• C: Bob Stinson (.290, 12 HR, 52 RBI's)
• 1B: Andre Thornton (.258, 22 HR, 83 RBI's after a horrific start)
• 2B: Paul Molitor (.300, 17 HR, 86 RBI's, 67 SB's)
• 3B: Steve Braun (.268, 9 HR, 64 RBI's, 103 BB's)
• SS: Craig Reynolds (.206, 4 HR, 35 RBI's)
• LF: Richie Zisk (.312, 15 HR, 81 RBI's)
• CF: Rupert Jones (.286, 23 HR, 104 RBI's)
• RF: Dave Winfield (.281, 32 HR, 131 RBI's)
• DH: Bill Buckner (.325, 19 HR, 108 RBI's)

So, I had a strong offense with 3 players with 100+ and 3 more with 80+ RBI's. I had 3 All-Star starters in Molitor, Zisk, and Jones. We didn't get much help from our bench so we're lucky we didn't lose any significant time from our starters.

My rotation did so-so this year and my bullpen took a step back. My starters are below.

• Don Gullett: 14-12, 3.73
• Floyd Bannister: 14-12, 3.88
• Dennis Lamp: 10-6, 4.80
• Brian Kingman: 10-13, 4.39
• Wayne Twitchell: 8-10, 5.49

Rich Gossage only collected 22 saves while blowing 6 saves and earning 7 losses.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

The 1980 AL award winners were ...

MVP: Mike Schmidt (NYY) - .259/.376/.521, 41 HR, 129 RBI, 60.5 VORP
Cy Young: Shane Rawley (KC) - 24-6, 2.82 ERA, 232.2 IP, 148 K, 57.7 VORP
ROY: Fernando Valenzuela (BOS) - 19-11, 2.43 ERA, 273.2 IP, 264 K, 81.7 VORP

The Baltimore Orioles (90-72) took the AL East crown on the final day of the season when they won while Detroit lost their finale. The Orioles ended the Yankees string of 3 straight AL East titles. In the AL West, the Minnesota Twins posted a 93-69 record to take the crown by 4 games over Kansas City.

The Minnesota Twins will represent the AL in the World Series after defeating the Orioles in 4 games.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

The 1980 NL award winners were ...

MVP: Steve Garvey (MON) - .338/.371/.534, 28 HR, 112 RBI, 63.1 VORP
Cy Young: J.R. Richard (HOU) - 21-9, 2.44 ERA, 283.2 IP, 241 K, 76.8 VORP
ROY: Mookie Wilson (STL) - .331/.377/.490, 8 HR, 73 RBI, 56.5 VORP

In the NL East, the Montreal Expos won 103 games ... and didn't win the crown as they finished 4 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (107-55). St. Louis and Montreal were the only teams with winning records in the East this year. In the NL West, the Cincinnati Reds (97-65) cruised to a 9 game margin over the 2nd place Houston Astros.

In a surprise, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 5 games to take the NL Crown! They will face the Minnesota Twins in the World Series.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

The World Series features the Minnesota Twins (93-69) against the Cincinnati Reds (97-65).

• Game 1: Reds 3, Twins 1 - Concepcion 2 runs, Bench 2 RBI's
• Game 2: Twins 5, Reds 3 - Steve Rogers gets the W
• Game 3: Twins 7, Reds 5 - Rob Wilfong (MIN) 3 RBI's
• Game 4: Reds 3, Twins 1 - Bill Gullickson get the W, George Foster HR
• Game 5: Reds 6, Twins 2 - Doug Rau complete game, Lefebvre 3 hits, 3 RBI's
• Game 6: Reds 6, Twins 2 - Pat Zachary 8.2 innings fro W, Lefebvre 2 RBI's

The Cincinnati Reds win the 1980 World Series!!! Rookie Joe Lefebvre earns the World Series MVP by virtue of his 8/21, 8 RBI performance in the series.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Contract extensions were offered to closer Rich Gossage and utility player Larry Milbourne. I also locked up star center fielder Ruppert Jones for 4 years. Trades and free agent pickups included catchers John Stearns and Barry Foote and outfielder Otto Velez. There were no pitchers I was willing to pay for and/or give up draft picks as compensation.

My draft position was #17. It was likely that any starting pitchers (e.g. Atlee Hammaker, Bob Walk, Mike Witt) would be available. So, I was hoping to fill a void at either SS or 3B (Steve Braun is in the last year of his contract). Unfortunately for me, Cal Ripken was selected at spot #16 ... DAMMIT! So again, I am forced to draft middle relievers and very marginal starting pitchers. My draft picks are below.

1st Round (17): Tom Gorman (MR, LHP)
2nd Round (82): Greg Harris (SP, RHP)
3rd Round (112): Bob Tufts (MR, LHP)
4th Round (138): Mark Mercer (MR, RHP)

So, yet again, I can't add anyone of any import to my bench, fill positional holes, or add starting pitching. So, I'm entering 1981 the same as before ... with marginal pitching. After the draft, I did send Dan Meyer (1B) and Wayne Twitchell (SP) to the New York Mets for Tim Wallach. I can use Wallach as backup to starting third baseman Steve Braun and then he can move into the starting role as I don't plan to offer an extension to Braun as he enters the final year of this contract.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

At this point, I'll be posting more detail as it's the season that I'm currently playing.

For reference, here's how I sim my games. I used to sim each batter, even going so far as to take pitches until the first strike. I did that for the first season and I was going absolutely nuts/crazy and I wasn't having fun.

So, I switched it up. I don't like giving the AI full rein as I don't think it handles relief pitching too well - either lets the starter go too long or repeatedly using the same reliever when a rested pitcher is available.

So, I still set the lineups but I let the game sim until the 4th or 5th inning, depending on my confidence in my starting pitcher. Then, I'll let the AI sim my offense while I'll sim defense & pitching until the other team has a runner in scoring position. Towards the end of the game, I'll sim batter by batter (in one-pitch mode) to make situational substitutions.

With that said, let's get on to 1981.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

The season got off rough with a 5-6 start. My pitching was atrocious with my relief pitchers pitching twice as many innings as all other teams. My offense started out very cold as well. Further complicating things, I also endured two early injuries. Dave Winfield went down in the first game with a bruised thumb and won't be back until mid-May. Then, third baseman Steve Braun had a collision on the basepaths and will be out with concussion symptoms for 4-5 months. But, my offense picked up and I finished April winning 8 of 9 to end with a 13-7 record, good enough for a 1 game lead in first.

While last year’s MVP Bill Buckner is struggling (.254, 1 HR, 6 RBI’s), newcomer Richie Zisk is pacing the team with 17 RBI’s (first in the AL). Paul Molitor has scored 18 runs to lead the AL. Tim Wallach has filled in well for Braun, hitting .326 with 3 HR’s and 13 RBI’s. We have 5 players with 12 or more RBI’s - good balance. After the slow start, the team batting stats are near the top of the AL. They need to be as the team pitching stats are 12th or 13th in nearly every category in the 14-team AL. Rookie closer Tom Gorman has 6 saves, good for 2nd in the AL. Several starters have 3 wins each but overall, opponents are hitting .278 against my pitchers … 12th in the AL.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Somehow, we kept our good start going with a 19-11 May to raise the season record to 32-18, good enough for first place and a 3.5 game lead over Kansas City. May was a long haul playing 30 games with only 2 days off all month (including 1 double header).

The team was paced by Tim Wallach who batted .317 with 5 HR’s and 24 RBI’s and currently is 2nd in the AL in RBI’s … behind teammate Richie Zisk who has 38 RBI’s this year. Filling in for the injured Steve Braun, Wallach finds himself in the top 5 in 8 different offensive categories. Other stalwarts include Richie Zisk (.320, 8 HR’s, 38 RBI’s) and Paul Molitor (.292, 4 HR’s, 27 RBI’s). The offense as a whole is 1st in runs, hits, & HR’s and 2nd in average, slugging %, and extra base hits.

The pitching staff again sits no better than 11th (out of 14) in all major team pitching categories except for strikeouts. Don Gullet is finally earning his big free agent contract from 2 years ago with a 9-1 record (3.07 ERA) good enough for tops in the majors. Gullet went 6-0 with a 2.54 ERA in his 6 May starts but still didn’t win pitcher of the month! Unfortunately, my other starting pitchers have ERA’s over 5 but all with winning records because of some prodigious offensive performances. Overall, my starters’ ERA is 4.67, worst in the AL and 25th out of 26 major league teams. We have the fewest complete games in the majors but lead all teams with 21 saves including 12 from rookie closer Tom Gorman.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Through the first half of the month we lingered around .500 going 8-5 and then we made a move. On June 14 we traded Otto Velez (OF), Bob Shirley (SP), Rick Burleson (SS), Mike Chris (CL), and Tug McGraw (CL) to Atlanta for Burt Hooton (SP) and Dave Stapleton (SS) and a scrub. Hopefully this will help my starting pitching and fill the void at shortstop. We lost our first 2 after the trade and then went on to win 9 of the next 11 to finish the month with a major league best 49-27 record and a 4-game lead in the AL West over Kansas City and Chicago.

Bill Buckner got super-hot, hitting .441 (45/102) for the month with 2 HR’s and 21 RBI’s … yet did not win player of the month. Paul Molitor put in a good month hitting .375 with 4 HR’s and 18 RBI’s and added 24 runs scored to his league leading total. My offense again sits near the top, leading the AL in average, runs, slugging %, and is second in HR’s. The pitching staff is still led by Don Gullet with his major league leading 13 wins but the staff sits with the 12th best team ERA. For the month, Gullet went 4-2, Alan Wirth went 3-0, and Floyd Bannister went 4-1. Tom Gorman added 6 more saves to lead the team with 18 saves, good enough for 5th in the AL.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Despite taking a step back in July (just over .500), we finished the month with a 63-40 record and end the month with a 3.5 game lead over Kansas City in the AL West. The big obstacle was when we lost Paul Molitor for 5 weeks with a fractured finger after getting hit by a pitch from the Yankees reliever Rick Langford on July 20th. When Molitor went down we had a 58-36 record and a 2.5 game lead over Kansas City. So since Molitor went down we’ve gone 5-4 and were able to increase our lead by 1 game. Kansas City and Chicago are still lurking and we’ve got to keep an eye out for Minnesota who picked up 6 games in July and sit 8 back in 4th place.

At the plate, Paul Molitor was hitting .403 for the month when he went down with the fractured finger. Catcher John Stearns hit .360 for the month and Andre Thornton and Dave Winfield each drove in 24 runs in July. Overall, Molitor and Bill Buckner are 1-2 in the AL in batting average and hits while Rupert Jones (66), Richie Zisk (66), and Thornton (65) are in the top 4 in RBI’s as the offense continues to lead the AL in most hitting categories.

The pitching staff is just doing enough to keep us in the game and allow the offense to carry the day. Except for strikeouts where we lead the AL, the staff is no better than 9 in all other pitching categories. Don Gullet continues to lead the staff, tied with a major league leading 16 wins against 5 losses. He's also tied for the AL lead with 3 shutouts. No one distinguished themselves much on the pitching staff for July. Hopefully we can just stay the course in August.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Despite another mediocre month (14-14), we finished August with a 77-54 record and remain in first place with a 2-game lead over the Chicago White Sox. The low point of the month was losing 4 in a row including 3 straight Minnesota (who’s streaking) being outscored 30-12 before busting out with a 17-5 win against Minnesota to keep a hold on first at 0.5 games. Former Mariner catcher Bob Stinson, who was let go as a free agent in the off-season, made us pay on 8/22 when he came for an injured Bo Diaz and proceeded to go 3/3 with 1 HR, and 3 RBI’s as his Red Sox beat the Mariners 5-3.

Paul Molitor re-joined the team on 8/26 after 37 days on the DL for a fractured finger. In his absence, the team compiled a 16-16 record and was able to maintain its 2.5 game lead in first. Despite being out for 5 weeks, Molitor is still the major league leader in runs scored. In his first game back, Molitor returned to his leadoff position and promptly went 3/5 with a double and a run scored. In his five games back in August, Molitor hit .478 with 1 HR, 3 RBI’s and scored 5 runs in raising his major league leading batting average to .345. Unfortunately, the day Molitor came back was the same day that starting catcher John Stearns (.292, 5 HR’s, 40 RBI’s) was put on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.

Overall, the team hit a slump in August with tired performances from starters Andre Thornton (.189), Tim Wallach (.209), Dave Winfield (.220), and Richie Zisk (.222). My starting pitchers fared no better in August. No starter won more than 2 games in the month with their ERA’s ranging from 3.75 to 6.35. Number 1 starter Don Gullet was 2-3 in his 6 starts but managed to push his win total to 18 games for the season to give him the Seattle team record for wins in a season with 1 more month to go.

My relievers pitched well with the exception to Enrique Romo who posted an 8.03 ERA in 10 appearances. We enter September 2 games up on Chicago (18-12 in August), 5 games up on Kansas City (reeling with a 14-17 record in August) and 6 up on Minnesota (17-12). September finds us 5 games into a string of 17 straight games with 6 of our first 15 games in September against second place Chicago. The AL West title may be decided by mid-September.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

A 1-2 start dropped our lead to 1 game. We were in danger of losing a 3rd straight when losing 6-1 to Boston going into the top of the 9th. The offense responded with a 6-run 9th inning off of Red Sox relievers to win the game 7-6 … could this be a turning point? The win raises the lead to 2 games as the White Sox lost to 6th place Toronto. Surprisingly, Toronto has taken 7 of 10 games from the much better White Sox. A 3-3 start to August brings keeps the lead at 2 games and we enter what may be the tipping point of the season as we play 6 of our next 9 games against 2nd place Chicago.

We split the first 2 games with Chicago, winning the first 5-0 and losing the second 4-3 in 12 innings when Rich Gossage made an error on a come-backer with a man on 3rd in the bottom of the 12th. Game 3 went to Seattle 8-3 to raise the lead back to 3 games and put the magic number at 20!

Losing 2 of 3 to 6th place Toronto sent us back home for a 3-game set against Chicago. We lost the first 6-4 when relievers Dave Geisel and Enrique Romo couldn’t hold a 1-run lead giving up 3 runs in the 8th. We bounced back in Game 2 helping Don Gullet earn his 20th win with Tom Gorman pitching the 9th for his 28th save, preserving a 2-1 win. The deciding hit (1 of only 4 in the game) was by Larry Milbourne who hit a 2-run homer in the 5th – his only homer of the season. The rubber game of this last series saw us jump on Tommy John for 5 runs in the first 2 innings. That would be enough behind rookie Greg Harris who pitched 6 innings (giving up 1 run) for his 3rd win of the season. Sheldon Burnside and Steve Focault pitched the final 3, striking out 6 to preserve the 5-1 win. The win lowers the magic number to 14 but the lead stays at 3 games as Chicago falls 1 game behind Kansas City who now sits in 2nd place.

After a day off, we have 6 out of their next 9 games against 2nd place Kansas City. We just traded one contender for another – we’re 3-4 against Kansas City so far this year. Game 1 of a 3-game set saw Kansas City destroy us 14-2. The Royals touched starter Burt Hooton for 8 runs in 2-2/3 innings … and it was all downhill from there. The loss drops the lead to 2 games over KC. Game 2 saw the our offense respond and lead the way to a 7-3 win over Kansas City as Floyd Bannister pitched 7 strong innings to earn the win, raise his record to 14-8, and raise the lead to 3 games with a magic number of 12. Disaster struck in Game 3 against Kansas City as we were drubbed 11-0 dropping the lead back to 2 games with 13 to go. In the game, Paul Molitor went down with back soreness and will miss the next 5 games – 4 against Texas and the opener in a 3-game set again with Kansas City.

We won the first 2 against the Rangers while Kansas City dropped 2 to Minnesota – the lead is 4 with 11 games to go for a magic number of 8. Unfortunately, injuries keep cropping up. After losing Paul Molitor for 5 games, super-sub Larry Milbourne was lost for 3 games with a bruised thumb and Richie Zisk was lost for 5 games with a twisted ankle. A third straight win against Texas coupled with a third straight loss by Kansas City to Minnesota raised the lead to 5 games and lowered the magic number to 6.

Then, the opposite happened – 3 straight losses (1 to Texas and 2 straight to Kansas City) lowered the lead back to 2 going into our final game of the season against Kansas City. A big 15-3 victory in the final game against the Royals re-raised the lead to 3 games with 6 games to go – 3 against Texas and 3 against Toronto.

The month finishes with us winning 2 of 3 against Texas while Kansas City loses 2 of 3 to Minnesota – giving Seattle the AL West crown with 3 games to go in the season!!! In the decisive game, reserve catcher Mike Heath was the unlikely hero in driving in 3 of the 4 runs for Seattle … Heath only had 9 RBI’s all season.

For the month, the offense was paced by Dave Stapleton (.350, 2 HR’s, 12 RBI’s) while Dave Winfield and Bill Buckner each had 21 RBI’s for the month. Rookie Greg Harris came up in September and went 4-1 with a 0.99 ERA in 5 games (4 starts). Don Gullet earned 3 more wins in his 5 starts despite a 5.28 ERA for the month. Tom Gorman earned 2 wins and 5 saves in relief.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We took 2 of 3 from Toronto to finish the season at 94-68 good enough for 1st place in the AL West (Kansas City finished 4 games back) and the best record in the major leagues!

Paul Molitor won the AL Batting Crown with a .333 average and was just edged out by St. Louis catcher Johnny Wockenfuss for the major league lead. Molitor also led the AL in slugging % (.511), OPS (.898) and was just edged out by Yankees third baseman Mike Schimidt in runs scored (103 vs. 102 for Molitor), all this despite Molitor missing 5 weeks of the season.

Bill Buckner led the majors with 198 hits while hitting .308 with 14 HR’s and 98 RBI’s just breaking his string of 3 straight seasons of 100+ RBI’s. Rupert Jones shook off a slow start to lead the team in RBI’s with 101 while Richie Zisk led the team with 21 HR’s. My lineup was nice and balanced.

• C: John Stearns (.303, 6 HR, 47RBI's)
• 1B: Andre Thornton (.241, 16 HR, 80 RBI's)
• 2B: Paul Molitor (.333, 13 HR, 68 RBI's)
• 3B: Tim Wallach (.272, 15 HR, 79 RBI's)
• SS: Dave Stapleton (.314, 10 HR, 47 RBI's)
• LF: Richie Zisk (.260, 21 HR, 92 RBI's)
• CF: Rupert Jones (.271, 17 HR, 101 RBI's)
• RF: Dave Winfield (.239, 15 HR, 86 RBI's)
• DH: Bill Buckner (.308, 14 HR, 98 RBI's)

Don Gullet led the staff with a 21-8 record and a 3.38 ERA. My other starters included Floyd Bannister (14-8, 3.88), Brian Kingman (12-10, 4.58), Alan Wirth (10-9, 5.17), and Burt Hooton (8-8, 5.19). Rookie Tom Gorman led the relievers with 32 saves and an ERA of 0.88. My top setup men were Rich Gossage (3-5, 6 Saves, 1.99), Steve Foucault (1-1, 5 Saves, 2.27), and Sheldon Burnside (4-2, 1 Save, 3.05).

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We’ll start our 5-game playoff series at home against the New York Yankees. This season we were 7-5 in our 12-games against New York. Against expected starters Ron Guidry, Bill Bonham, and Luis Leal we hit .202, .294, and .237, respectively.

The series could prove to be a slugfest featuring the top run-scoring team in Seattle (812, 2nd in HR’s with 134, 2nd in average, 1st in slugging & OPS) against the top HR hitting team in the Yankees as they blasted 138 for the season. However, the Yankees finished 12th in batting average (.245) to the Mariners 2nd (.273).

On the pitching front, the Yankees boast the 3rd best team ERA (3.36) and starters ERA (3.45) against the Mariners 12th best in both categories (4.02 & 4.35). Both staffs give up a fair amount of homers – 105 for the Yankees (7th) and 118 for the Mariners (13th).

[CatKnight]

Originally Posted by BoilerRocketScientist

So, I still set the lineups but I let the game sim until the 4th or 5th inning, depending on my confidence in my starting pitcher. Then, I'll let the AI sim my offense while I'll sim defense & pitching until the other team has a runner in scoring position. Towards the end of the game, I'll sim batter by batter (in one-pitch mode) to make situational substitutions.

With that said, let's get on to 1981.

As a possible alternative:

In OOTP 13 I played several game years by letting the game sim to the beginning of the seventh inning. If I was two runs or more ahead/behind, then I autosimmed half an inning at the time til either that wasn't true, or the game ended.

If the game was close, I'd play the game out in one pitch mode - primarily to control my relief pitchers and any subs.