Season 21 Discussion thread

[ABButters]

Originally Posted by dkgo

Is that team able to successfully switch Gibson from catcher to DH on rest days or does Gibson just DH full time? That would take some real depth chart magic to get to work right.

I've been trying to figure out how best to use the Josh Gibson card ever since I pulled it.

I usually set him as the reserve at both catcher and DH, and schedule him to play every second game at both. That results in around 60 starts at catcher and 80 at DH. This year I've been juggling the lineups a bit more to try to get a few more starts out of him.

[dkgo]

In theory that's what I would want to do too. A 50/110 split would be perfect since 110 is about how many games a starting catcher will play. I just can't get it to work with the depth chart interface.

[Nero]

Express:

So while the perfect Mays came up a night ago,and I pounced, the 99 Mays came up yesterday afternoon, and that's the one I really wanted. Why is it that neither comes up for a week, and then I end up with my second choice? That made it decision time, who was going to have to go? Of course by the time I had made a decision, Mays was already gone....

A hot June (beating up the some last place teams, and one team obviously throwing it, with a list of low 60's playing, while his 90's are not on his active roster) had me excited, but checking the schedule, Exeter played a run of the other top team, and just about kept even. 4.5 game lead, but July sees it go the other way, I see a much harder schedule, and he gets the soft schedule. I'm hoping that the 7 games we have against one another in September and 4 against Virginia Beach decide things.

The happy story of Leon Day came to a rather abrupt end, after 9 solid outings earlier in the year, he got lit up 6 straight games where walks, and HR's were issues, and he ended up going down. Mays has made a serious improvement in my outfield D, and moving DiMaggio to RF made two positions better. Today should be interesting.


Tombstone Glory:

I mentioned earlier I was waiting for the Mitch Williams implosion, yep, it happened, but he was dancing on the edge and now he's up to 13 BB and 15K's in his 15 innings. Just how I remember him! Granted they are over the league level, but Ron Santo at 3B (.342-14-58) and Ernie Banks (.292-12-29) are starting to take off, and if Bill Madlock gets the AB's to qualify for a batting title, he's going to have a shot at .377.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Marleigh

Paragon City Heroes

City of Heroes reference?

[Marleigh]

Originally Posted by Orcin

City of Heroes reference?

Yes

[brrrdt1]

The Dolphins are having a stellar first half of the season, and have raced out to a huge division lead. I think it is mostly attributable to a bunch of players that have been solid performers over the years finally all having a great year at the same time.

The biggest puzzle to me right now is that there is one team, which is hovering just a few games over .500 who has beaten us 6/7 times. No other team has more than 2 wins against us. I've got to dig under the hood to try to figure out whether it is luck or if his team is somehow Dolphin kryptonite. I'm hoping for the former and that I don't face those Toms River Little League Champs in the playoffs!

[bailey]

Things are just getting worse and worse for the Magpies this week. They have suffered 18 losses vs. "the field" against my space-faring opponents only getting hammered 10 times by them. As a result they are a full 8 games ahead of me. It looks like I will have to take care of business in the post season as a wild card team, because I enjoy a 6-4 lead in the 19 game season series with the Space Cadets. Even though my lineup is studded with "cards on steroids" the team batting average is significantly below what this franchise managed when it was a neglected F2P 3rd team.

[Magus978]

Season in-review so far for all my teams.

New York Patriots (G354, OL): 52-36, 1st in AC East. We've got the Pablo Pandas, another OL team, half a game behind. There's also a good pack of teams in contention for a wildcard spot, so playoffs are not a certainty if we start to crash and burn in a division race. Richie Ashburn is a distant 2nd in hitting in the conference (.328), while Fernandomania is running wild as he is 14-2 with a 3.07 ERA.

Brooklyn Dynasty (P408, $): 37-49, 4th in AC Central. Last week's 103-win season was a complete fluke as the pitching has fallen completely in on itself. Garry Maddox is on his way to a potential 6+ WAR season, hitting .330 with 5 HR and 49 RBI. New signings Hugh Duffy, Johnny Pesky, Jeff McNeil (All-Star), Rod Carew (PEAK), as well as pack pull Mike Scott are hoping to engineer a turnaround in the Kingdom en route to finishing with a respectable record and safely clear of relegation.

Tri-State Sky Rockets (S308): 41-45, 4th in AC Central. This team has been in free-fall since an unexpected promotion to gold 4 weeks ago, and a very much expected relegation back to silver the next week. Fernando Tatis Jr. (FL) has been one of the few bright spots since being pulled from a pack, hitting .304 with 11 HR and 52 RBI. With a little luck he could be a 20/100 guy. This team will be rebranded as the "Connor Joe Appreciation Society" for next week, and will pretty much be an anything goes team except for one constant: Connor Joe, the lovable meme card of PT, must be a regular starter at all times. I do not think it would be constituted as tanking, but if I have to I will get a ruling from a higher-up.

Blitzkrieg Boppers (D388, OL): 45-44, 3rd in AC East. Two promotions in as many weeks saw the Boppers climb from silver to diamond. After a terrible start, things have stabilized and the Boppers are right in the thick of a very competitive division race. Vada Pinson (Special Edition) continues to be an RBI machine, hitting .280 with 16 HR and 70 RBI. He is on pace for a 127-RBI season, which would make his 4th 100+ RBI year in the last 5. Rickey Henderson (Special Edition) is looking more and more like the overwhelming favorite for MVP, hitting .298 with 20 HR and 49 RBI from the leadoff spot, as well as 39 stolen bases! He's on pace for an incredible 9.4 WAR, which if he doesn't get the MVP based on that, then the algorithms are broken beyond repair. If the Boppers are going to make a genuine push for a 3rd straight promotion, they will need much more out of Hugh Duffy (.231, 5 HR, 50 RBI) and an underachieving back-end of their rotation, which includes the use of Dan Plesac as an opener.

New York Mets (B272, OL): 47-40, 2nd in NC Central. Richie Ashburn has rebounded from an abysmal season last week and is hitting .318, around where he was expected to hit when he was signed. Pat Zachry leads the team in wins with 10. Not much to say about a theme team that is essentially on autopilot while they stock up on points.

Metuchen Mariners (G316, Pack-Only): 52-36, 2nd in NC East. The division is a lost cause as they have a dominant non-whale team ahead of them. The Mariners are fully focused on keeping hold of a wildcard spot. Warren Spahn (PEAK) and Bret Saberhagen (1994 Record Breaker) are a combined 20-6 with a 3.28 ERA. The back end of the rotation, which consists of Harry Breechen, Justin Verlander (2011 All-Star), & David Price (2012 Hardware Heroes) are 18-16 with a combined ERA well over 4. Alan Trammell (1987 All-Star) leads the conference in batting average (.343) and is tied for the lead in RBI (68).

[Westheim]

Accountants have won ten in a row to surge to the top of the division… and I flipped a Special Edition Bobby Thomson for some 3k profit in just over an hour.

But I still can't find a left-handed shortstop with blue D and an actual bat.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

But I still can't find a left-handed shortstop with blue D and an actual bat.

John Henry Lloyd

[Westheim]

That is a pretty card! Unfortunately the Accountants are still some 20k short of getting there.

I don't know, I have looked at the Johnny Pesky cards, which seems the only other readily available option, but they are quite pricey for gold cards and he is lacking in the agility department. And as far as what I've seen, those are the only options commonly available…

Edit: Also, my big mouth ended my winning streak...

[lightningbolts35]

Finally had a no-hitter thrown by a Jonestown Athletics pitcher...

[Marleigh]

Paragon City Heroes are in a deep rebuilding phase, sold pretty much everyone apart from locked cards so surprised they are still 52-55. Trying to finish off some live collections but its pretty painful. On the plus side LeMahieu and Greinke made the ASG

Bad News Bulldogs continue to stumble due to pitching woes 55-51, Pete Rose, Joey Votto, Johnny Bench and Eric Davis go to the ASG

Neuman Furshlugginers remain inconsistent at 56-51, I've finally brough in some gold hitters, at the most underperforming OPS+ positions, LF/RF/1B and 2B (where i'm training Brooks Robinson)

[PocketsAintFull]

I don't think I've had this happen once before, let alone twice in the same game from the 1 & 2 hitters

(in 'only' a 10-2 win lol)

[One Great Matrix]

And I'm not sure I'd seen 6-for-6.

[sharknut]

Just had Vlad Jr go 6-7 with 4 doubles and 6 RBI's. Anyone have someone get 7 hits? How many PP for that?

[Nero]

The All-Star break.....

That's where it happened. I was actually starting to get cautiously optimistic, as I had (key word, "had.) a 7 game lead on Exeter. We played him coming out of the break, lost all 3 (11-1, 8-3, 5-2.). As part of sweeping me he's gone off on a 18 game winning streak, and still going, while I dropped 6 in a row, and now am looking up at him in the standings.

The bullpen, and the rotation have taken some hits, and I'm struggling, like I am every year, to find some quality left handed pitching. If I can get my duplicate Halladay sold, that'll about be the budget, (couple of other random pieces too.) Not sure if I should invest in one guy, or look for two, and yeah, I could use two, but in this case, need someone who can get quality left handed bats out. Any suggestions of guys worthy to be looking at? This has been one part that I seem to have failed miserably at.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Nero

I could use two, but in this case, need someone who can get quality left handed bats out. Any suggestions of guys worthy to be looking at?

Can you be more specific about the max pp that you want to spend? What will be the role... starter, bullpen, specialist only?

[Nero]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Can you be more specific about the max pp that you want to spend? What will be the role... starter, bullpen, specialist only?

Of course, and apologies.

Trying to get my Halladay duplicate sold for about 140,000, and have a Yadier Molina up for 37k, so after the 10%, call it 160k budget.

Ideally I'd like to find a starter, but that's pretty far from the the top level of lefty's that I've seen, so I'm thinking that perhaps my best value will come from 2 bullpen lefty's. I've run thru 4-5 lefty's in the pen this year, everything from setup, to middle, to specialist, and unfortunately they've all gotten bombed. Just a rough year.....

Other thought would be to find one quality left handed arm for the pen. Looking at potential playoff match-up's, I notice that two of the division leaders are very lefty heavy, even against a lefty starter. I'd love to have a quality lefty starter, but I suspect that in a short series, I'm better off trusting my rotation, and having a quality arm that can give me a few outings in key situations in those games, at least for what I can spend.

Clear as mud? That's how I feel after blowing a 7 game lead! Even if I knew it was coming, I still had that glimmer of hope...


Updates:

After another brief look...I'll amend it.... ideally one middle relief type who can give multi-inning stints in a short series, and one lefty specialist.

And it's possible budget could go up. I checked collection missions, and I'm only a couple away from the Future Legends, depending on when/if I find them, and their price, I suspect selling the Griffey Jr. card would give me significantly more budget. I wanted to keep the card, so that's a hard one to commit to selling, but CF is manned just fine, and I need the pitching help.

[Charlatan]

Originally Posted by Nero

I looked hard at the 97 Morgan too, because his glove was excellent (and I agree, I think he's an absolute sabermetric delight) but his bat, if I remember right was the issue. The 100 version was a consistent .270/.390/.485 guy with 60-70 SB a year, and he made the plays when he got to the ball, but his zone rating was awful, and his efficiency as well. I agree with you that he is one of the best 2B ever, and I feel like OOTP criminally under rates Roberto Alomar (at least to my eye/memory test), so I was really sorry to let him go.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I was looking at the 100 Morgan. I really really wanted to see how that card would perform at the plate. But I wondered if his glove was just too terrible to allow him to play in the field and so I chickened out and didn't get him when I had the chance. I realize he's going to be bad in the field but on the whole is using him at 2B a plus or minus? FYI, this would be for a theme team so I don't expect the team to consistently (ever?) compete in Perfect against whales.

Also, has anyone tried him at DH? Seems like he'd do great there (of course, that opens up another can of worms, as he'd then be competing against all sorts of other hitters for that spot).