Sweet songs from the Spile

[stl jason]

and since I missed this part in my previous post.... bios/pics for new acquisitions Smoky Joe Wood and Sad Sam Jones:


https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9f244666

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/aa010a66

[stl jason]

wasn't sure if he'd get this one or not (and I'm obviously biased in his favor over the competition ), but the award voters saw fit to give Wilcy Moore his second Reliever of the Year award for his outstanding season:

[stl jason]

George Sisler hits for a natural cycle (and adds a cool 5000 points to the war chest for his efforts)

[stl jason]

As their third season at the top tier comes to the halfway mark, Waffletown finds themselves in a strange, yet familiar, position as they sit atop the AC East division with a record 51-44, a half game ahead of long time rival Palolo (and only 6.5 games separating first from last place).

After a so-so start in March/April (13-15), the Syrups managed to get on a better track quicker than previous seasons in Perfect league, with a 15-12 May and 13-12 June, they are looking to keep the better-than-500 month streak going in July and currently sit at 10-5 with 9 games remaining after the all star break.

Waffletown will send two representatives to the all star game:

SP - Eddie Plank (4th appearance)
C - Ernie Lombardi (11th appearance)

[stl jason]

Waffletown held their fate in their own hands heading into the final month of the season, but failed to do what was necessary to secure their first Perfect tier division title. When the dust settled, the Syrups found themselves 6 games back of the AC East lead. The five game losing streak to finish the season didn't help their cause, but even if they had won all of those, they would have ended up 1 game short of both the division title and the wild card (once again, every game counts).


While the team overall had a respectable performance at the top tier, a special shout-out has to be given to reliever Willis Hudlin. At first glance, his ratings don't look like much, especially against Perfect tier competition (51 stuff, 90 movement, 58 control; best pitch only rates 58); but he had a lights-out type of season in his limited role:

- 2-0 record with 2 saves
- 0.36!! ERA (only 1 earned run in 24.2 IP)
- ERA+ of 1190

in 3 of his 4 seasons at the top tier, his ERA has been 1.09, 1.03 and 0.36 (one poor season of 6.35 mixed in).

[stl jason]

At the all star break, Waffletown finds themselves spinning their wheels in the NC East division with a nearly break even record of 46-49. While a similar mundane record was good enough in prior seasons to keep them within striking distance of the division title, that isn't the case this year as the Syrups find themselves in the same division with the best team in the league (and almost 20 games back already).

With that in mind, and the announcement of new tournament style play on the horizon, management has decided to temporarily suspend their pre-ww2 player restriction for the active roster and will begin to call up other players from the farm system to train up for use in tournament play.

For the 2042 all star game, Waffletown sent three representaties:

SP - Smoky Joe Wood (1st appearance)
C - Ernie Lombardi (12th appearance)
1B - George Sisler (4th appearance)

[gemini615]

Do you have a lot of post-WW2 players stashed in your reserves? My reserves are pretty dry due to a constant need for points. I have maybe 30 players, mostly pitchers and I doubt they'll help me much in tournaments.
Who are some of your big names? Any Cardinal greats?

[stl jason]

Originally Posted by gemini615

Do you have a lot of post-WW2 players stashed in your reserves? My reserves are pretty dry due to a constant need for points. I have maybe 30 players, mostly pitchers and I doubt they'll help me much in tournaments.
Who are some of your big names? Any Cardinal greats?

while I could use the points for upgrades, I've tried to only sell off duplicates and keep everything else (except for a few big diamond cards for a nice point infusion).

currently have 565 cards in my collection.... about 60 of those are Cardinals (have the live collection, or most of it, after completing that mission).... have the Dean brothers (Dizzy and both the gold version and special edition of Paul).... Mort Cooper... bronze Musial.... bronze Frisch.... Tex Carleton... Joe Medwick....

about 90 of my collection are pre-ww2


for the tournaments, I'm making everyone in my collection available since it would be difficult to compete in some of them otherwise.... spent the past couple days listing out all the cards I have on my tracking sheet to try and come up with the best options for different tourney options (like the point cap ones.... don't realize how quickly points add up until you try to build a team under 1250 / 1500 / 1750 / etc total)....

[gemini615]

I like your approach to the tournaments. You've got a nice pool of players to choose from. I'll be interested when they post the rewards we can win.

And you're right on about caps. They add up quickly. I've been hanging on to my silver Ernie Broglio for that very reason

[stl jason]

Another so-so season in the Perfect tier came to and end and Waffletown found themselves once again in the mediocre middle of the pack, not good enough to reach the playoffs, but not bad enough to be relegated back a tier.

A few bright points from the year:

-the team tied their single season home run record with 145; led by George Sisler who broke his own team home run record with 38

-the pitching staff set a new single season strike out record with 1475 (breaking the old record of 1385 set in 2038)


tourney training notes:

-Luis Aparacio has trained up quickly, raising his skill at 2B from nothing to 105, and 3B from nothing to 71 in just two and a half months.

-management also called up CF - Kevin Keirmaier (2015) in September to train in LF/RF. In his limited time he has boosted his skill at LF from nothing to 83.

[stl jason]

Halfway mark of the latest season is more of the same for Waffletown in the Perfect tier, as the team languishes at 44-54, a distant 26 games back of the division lead.

The team sent three representatives to this years all-star game:

SP - Lefty Gomez (3rd apperance)
C - Ernie Lombardi (13th appearance)
1B - George Sisler (5th appearance)


Management continues to train up players for the upcoming tournament rounds. Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has improved to 104 in left field, and 89 in right field. Shortstop Tony Kubek has been brought up and has improved his abilities at second base from nothing to 79, and third base from nothing to 17.

[stl jason]

Another year in Perfect tier and another less-than-stellar finish for the Syrups as they struggle to find their way facing the top tier competition.


George Sisler had another solid season at the plate, cranking 33 home runs and driving in 124 runs to go along with his .311 average (leading the team in all three).

On the tournament training front, outfielder Chris Singleton has boosted his abilities in right field from nothing to 85; and shortstop Tony Kubek has improved his abilities at second base to 93.

[stl jason]

At the all star break, the Waffletown gear shift seems to be stuck in reverse as the team struggles with their offense and defense (which makes for a long season of sorts). The Syrups currently sit in last place in the NC West division at 40-57, 13.5 games back of the lead and more importantly, in 27th place in the league which puts them in the final relegation spot.

The general consensus among fans is it would be a blessing of sorts for the team to be relegated back to the Diamond level, where they had their best success of any tier.

On the tourney training front, Chris Singleton has improved his outfield ratings at all three positions to 100+, so he has been sent back to the reserve roster and Tony Gwynn has been called up to train in left and center field. Tony Kubek has improved his ratings at third base to 80, but still has a little ways to go to reach his full potential there.

[stl jason]

August 13th, 2044:


Mort Cooper pitches the 3rd no-hitter in Waffletown team history against the Clyde Truckers; joining Tex Carleton (2022) and Eddie Plank (2032)

[stl jason]

The final pitch of the last game of the last home game of the 2044 season ended fittingly, as Martin Dihigo weakly popped out to first base and brought a dismal season to a merciful end for Waffletown. Dotted around the stands were fans wearing paper bags over their heads so as not to be identified as being an actual fan of the Syrups; but there was some relief after the last series in Motown, as Waffletown finished with their worst record in history (66-96), which was bad enough to secure one of the four relegation spots to send them back to the Diamond tier.

"You never want to have such a spectacularly bad year, but hopefully a year back in the Diamond level will be just what we need." said starter Smoky Joe Wood, who set an unwanted team record for losses in a single season with 20.


Outside of Mort Cooper's no-hitter earlier in the year, there wasn't much positive to say about the season. Management hopes the team can recapture their winning form in Diamond level, as it was their most successful tier of any.

[stl jason]

I would be remiss if I failed to mention this little nugget from the 2044 season:


Longtime Waffletown catcher, Ernie Lombardi stole 1 base. Now that's not normally a significant stat as numerous players steal multiple bases in a single game. What makes this stolen base significant (outside the fact it was done by the lumberingly slow Lombardi) is the fact that this was Lombardi's first stolen base... ever. After 24 years, 9992 at bats, 2818 hits, he finally picked up his first stolen base.

[stl jason]

At the all star break, Waffletown is riding high in their first season back at the Diamond level. After a number of struggling years at the top tier, the Syrups welcomed the move back down to re-energize the team. As we head into the second half of the year, Waffletown sits atop the AC West division at 62-37, 7 games up on the second place team.


"It's definitely a confidence boost to see the wins rolling in. We just need to stay focused and not let any summer slump drag us down." said shortstop Johnny Pesky


Waffletown had two representatives in the all star game:

SP - Smoky Joe Wood (2nd appearance)
1B - George Sisler (6th appearance)

[stl jason]

The champagne flowed freely in the clubhouse and the streets around The Spile were packed with celebrating fans as Waffletown secured the AC West crown and punched their ticket to the post season for the first time in eight years. After their worst season in history last year, the mood in and around the park was at an all time low. One year later, that same team will enjoy home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as they went from their worst record ever to their best record ever. Waffletown finished with a league best 100-62 record (their first ever 100 win season).

"What a difference one season makes." said staff ace Smoky Joe Wood, who went from losing 20 games last season to almost winning that many this year (19-5). "We just need to stay focused. The real season starts now."

Team records:

As already mentioned, the team set an all time record in wins this year with 100. They also tied their all time low in errors (58) and tied their best fielding percentage (.990)

Harry Heilmann broke his team record for RBIs (previously 133 set in 2034) and knocked in 137 this year.


At the plate, Harry Heilmann (22 home runs, 137 rbis, .293 avg) and George Sisler (18 home runs, 108 rbis, .318 avg) did their jobs well pushing runs across. At the top of the lineup, Cool Papa Bell (.308 avg, 76 stolen bases, 115 runs scored) and Sliding Billy Hamilton (.286 avg, 68 stolen bases, 90 runs scored) did a fine job setting the table.

On the mound, Smoky Joe Wood (19-5, 3.30 era) and Lefty Gomez (17-10; 265 K) provided a nice 1-2 punch; and Wilcy Moore (40 saves, 1.75 era) made a strong case for a possible third reliever of the year award with his solid performance.


Waffletown will await the winner of the Annandale-Janesville wild card match.

[stl jason]

As Waffletown celebrates their 25th season, management would like to spotlight a few players for their career achievements so far:


First up - closer, Wilcy Moore.

The Syrups had been around for 10 years already by the time Moore joined the team in 2030. He stepped into the closer role immediately and has been a rock there ever since. This season, Moore reached a milestone mark, notching his 600th career save (14 of those came prior to his arrival in Waffletown; so in 15 years with the Syrups he has gathered 586 saves).

[stl jason]

Next up - Cecil Travis


Travis arrived in Waffletown in 2021 and began his career as the leadoff batter and starting shortstop. Over the years, he has moved around to learn every infield position, and has moved around the lineup to bat near the top and bottom of the order. Despite all the movement, he has remained a solid contributor from season to season. He currently ranks second on the team in career hits with 4160; and is the team career leader in doubles with 1014. His career average of .293 is proof positive that he can hit at any level (as he has been with the squad from Bronze to Perfect tiers), and versatility in the field will ensure he will remain a fixture in the lineup.