Manhattan Mothmen

[peterbernard209]

I never saw this thread before or I would have been posting the history of my team here instead of bothering my friends about it. We made the playoffs in each league through gold, although we got wiped out in the first round in gold. I didn't feel ready for Diamond, and have ended up in last place two seasons in a row.

I don't know if I'll be demoted back to gold or still in diamond by tomorrow, but I've decided on a plan or approach to try to improve the team within my budget.

First of all, I'm going to take out the fences and turn my park from a home run park to a pitcher's park like the old Yankee Stadium. I would still keep it close down the right field line but very deep elsewhere.

Second of all, I studied the stats for the league today and wrote down all players who ended up in top ten lists who are silver players. Now I'm trying to attain all of them, I have one left on my list. I'm selling off some diamond players who underperformed and gambling on some silver players with high on base percentages. I'm doing similar things with the pitching staff-- bringing in silver pitchers who have performed well for other teams.

I figure I can't do any worse than finish last again, so it's an experiment. The bandbox stadium worked for us through the gold level but now I'l like to have a pitcher friendly park for at least one season just to see what happens.

[peterbernard209]

We got demoted and started the first month 1-3. I had trouble moving the fences out, and left still keeps reverting to 375 no matter what I do. But I succeeded in making the stadium a nightmare for right handed power hitters, with left center at 420 and center at 418. It's still under 300 feet down the line to right though, so lefty pull hitters should do well there. I don't really have those but the team will morph over time.

Ichiro started poorly and I saw Hank Aaron at a price I could afford so I put him in place to see what happens. I probably should get a lefty pull hitter, obviously. I've got the Silver Rickey Henderson in left, Jim Edmonds in center and Bryce Harper in right, with Aaron DHing. I sent down Juan Gonzalez and Ichiro. Gonzalez had actually tied for the league lead among left fielders in the diamond league last season, but his WAR was strangely low. At first I wanted to go all fast-running on-base guys, but I'm hedging my bet by putting Aaron in there instead. If he doesn't work out, I can bring Ichiro or Juan Gone back up, or maybe try to get someone like Reggie Jackson. I also have Johnny Damon in my reserves-- I wonder if he wojuld pull cheapie home runs right down the right field line in this game the way he did when he played for the Yankees?

This season I will keep my eyes out for on base guys who can run and lefty pull hitters.

As for pitching, I really am wild-guessing, experimenting, and trying to learn. I have a knuckle baller, Wilbur Wood in there who did well for someone in the diamond league last week. He got bombed his first day, but he was among league leaders in innings pitched last week in a tougher league so I'm not going to bail on him yet. I got beat by Dallas Keuchel who I had in my reserves, so I brought him up, and he won for me! haha Monkey see, monkey do.

So last I looked, our record was at 2-3. Aaron Boone's dad Bob won it for me with a home run.

[peterbernard209]

Juan Gonzalez tied for the league lead in HOMERS for left fielders with 27 last week. That's what I meant.

[peterbernard209]

The other manager has a team of bronze and silver starters and he took 2 out of 3 games from me. It was a combination of him being a wizard and me not knowing what I'm doing, I think.

We got shut out by... Dallas Keuchel. Yup. He's the King of every team so far.

OK I'm going to try not to look for a while. Let them play a while and try to gel. If they continue to lose like this, at least I'd have some more stats to look at and try to understand why.

[peterbernard209]

Two wins and NINE LOSSES?? Really?

It says Hank Aaron and Rod Carew are both hot. It says nobody is cold. Yet 2 wins and nine losses.

We are FIRST in batting average, FIRST in on base percentage, yet we are 2 wins and NINE FREAKING LOSSES.

Severino has an ERA over 9. Zack Wheeler's ERA is over 7. Setup man Ken GIles' ERA is over 10. Giles has only pitched 4 innings, so it could be one bad appearance.

I'm not really sure what to do. Maybe I'll have time to analyze the team later tonight and try to make fixes before tomorrow.

[peterbernard209]

I sent down Catfish Hunter and brought up Andy Pettite, making him middle relief. I put Wilbur Wood in long relief and put Aaron Nola in the rotation in his spot. We have a lefty-heavy bullpen now. I'm not sure why we're losing so badly, it seems like too good a team to be losing this much.

[peterbernard209]

I know I said I wasn't going to meddle till tonight, but this evening I got frustrated and demoted Luis Severino, Frank Viola, and Jim Edmonds, who were all playing poorly. I don't want to sell them because they play well in Diamond League and I hope to eventually get back there. I moved Carew to DH, put Aaron in left field, and brought Cano up to play 2nd. Cano came up hot, which helped the team a great deal.

But our record is 11-11 now, at least for another 20 minutes.

I hope tomorrow is a better month!

[peterbernard209]

Very grateful to be two games over .500 and in 2nd place in the division to start the day/month.

It;s telling me that Joey Votto has gone cold, and in fact his batting average is down to .220. I'm tempted to put Carew at first (this version of him is a first baseman), put Votto down for 14 days, and let someone like Juan Gonzalez get a crack at the DH spot for two weeks. Votto has always come through for me before, I've had him at DH or first in every version of this team in every league.

Wilbur Wood is back in the starting rotation and killing it. I love knuckle ball pitchers, and there aren't many of them in this game. His ERA is under 3 now, he's a big reason we're playing better. Also hot are Machado hitting .340 and Rod Carew hitting .391. Bryce Harper is hitting .300, Cano is hitting .364. Hank Aaron is only doing okay but he was known as a steady and not flashy kind of player, so he's probably okay and I want to just leave him alone.

I need a lefty pull hitter still, and am considering bringing Nettles up. With Machado at third and Carew (or Gonzalez or Votto) at DH, I don't know how I would get him at bats though.

All right, it's sacrilegious but I sent Votto down and replaced him with Juan Gonzalez. Juan Gone will DH and Carew moves to first. After 14 simulated days, I'll see how Gonzalez is doing and maybe put things back the way they were. Votto hadn't gotten a hit in some time, so it would be hard for Gonzalez to be worse than that. But I do expect to see Votto back in the lineup before too long, hopefully later today.

[peterbernard209]

Gonzalez played hot for a while now has cooled off. Votto has five simulated days before he can come back. Rickey Henderson has been struggling so I sent him down and brought Jim Edmonds back up for a second try at center field. We lost the first game of our series against the first place team, so I hope Edmonds is hot since we could really use a win. Hank Aaron went 4 for 4 and hit two homers but we still got beaten. This is the team we most need to win against.

[peterbernard209]

Edmonds, Cano, and Machado all homered as that 1972 silver Wilbur Wood card beat the feared Rick Porcello! We're currently 6 games behind them and play a .600 team in a few minutes. They've got Corbin and we've got Nola.

[peterbernard209]

We beat the first place wild card team and are tied for second wild card. This means a lot to me because we're officially competitive again, which was the second hurdle after passing .500. Now if we can maintain and make minor upgrades, we have a chance to still be in the playoff mix later in the season.

When Henderson is ready to come back up, I'm not sure what I will do, but I think I will send down Brandon Belt to make room for Votto. I don't know where I'll play Votto yet but I can get him on the team that way. Belt has a batting average of zero for us, because he was backing up Carew who has been on fire.

[peterbernard209]

The pitching staff combined for a shutout and we move to 5 games out, with sole possession of the 2nd wild card. Ottavino got his second save and still has no ERA. Jim Edmonds is down to hitting .184 now. Henderson is 11 days from being able to come back. My only other internal options for center are Micky Rivers or Willie WIlson. Can Lou Brock play center? Probably not.

Votto is 2 days away so Brandon Belt's days are probably numbered in single digits.

[peterbernard209]

I was looking at centerfielders in the auction house and saw how low Lo Cain is. He always has good on base in this game, so I was looking who to sell to raise the 400 I'd need to get Lo Cain at the buy now price. Then I saw I have Johnny Fredericks! He's decent at center, great arm, and although he has a mediocre eye, his batting stats are excellent other than that. He might be a good short term option for center if Edmonds continues to tank this badly. But I want to give him some more time to get back on track.

[peterbernard209]

Grand slam from Juan Gonzalez wins it for us, our 7th win in a row. Rod Carew is hitting .408! I dropped Jim Edmonds and brought up Johnny Frederick who went 2 for 5 with a double in his debut.

We are first in our division in batting average and on base. We are 5th and 8th in starter/reliever ERA.

Certainly much improved from our 2 wins and nine losses start to the season!

Well I hope the luck continues. I will bring Henderson back up unless Frederick is setting records, so he's got another week to impress me.

[peterbernard209]

Homers by Cano, Machado and Aaron. Severino wins in relief, striking out 4 in 2, lowering his ERA to 7. Keuchel is now cold, and in long relief with Corbin getting a chance to start the next game. We are 2 1/2 out of first and in sole possession of the wild card but it's only May. At least we've gotten into respectable position.

[peterbernard209]

Yesterday we had a huge day, going from last place to 1 1/2 games out with a .618 winning percentage. Today I won't be able to monitor the team as they play and will only be able to do one update tonight, but we've got some big new changes going on!

Okay, Juan Gone was doing fine, doing what you'd expect from him at DH. Low on base but good average and hitting with power. Rickey Henderson got brought back up but for some reason was still struggling.

Then I saw Lefty O'Doul in the auction house and my eyes lit up.

I reversed my earlier position and sold Jim Edmonds! I wanted to save him till I was back in Diamond League but I sold him and got Lefty O'Doul instead. I sent Rickey down and made Lefty the DH, with Juan Gonzalez his backup and the main pinch hitter. I will try to check in today to see how Lefty is doing. If he's tanking, I can either put Gonzalez back in the DH role or platoon them. But I'm very hopeful and excited about O'Doul. He can't run and he doesn't have much range in the outfield, so taht's why I'm DHing him, but in terms of hitting he's quite unique and powerful. He's got an 86 Contact and 84 Avoid K's!!! And he's in the green on the other three as well-- 53 gap power, 57 eye and 72 home run power! Plus he bats lefty (obviously) and he's an extreme pull hitter, so he can take advantage of our short porch down the line in right field.

I never heard of Lefty O'Doul before but he's a player from the Babe Ruth era back in the 20's. I'll be googling him when I have time this week!

And I will try to check in during the day to see if Lefty should be moved up in the lineup or sent down or what, but I wont be able to write more till tonight.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

[peterbernard209]

Okay, O'Doul at first was a stiff, hitting under .200. But I just checked and now he's hitting .300 and he just won a game for us with a double! He gets quoted in the news article: "We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow." I imagine him saying that like Commissioner O'Hara from the Adam West Batman show.

Hank Aaron has been great. Currently hitting .320 with 18 homers and 54 rbi on June 28th. Bob Boone, who was supposed to support Wilson Ramos, is still hitting over .320 so he's become the lead catcher and I replaced Ramos with Charles Johnson to serve as backup catcher. Both of them can hit, Johnson has power, but mainly they are both extremely good fielding catchers. Johnny Frederick has also been excellent in center. Henderson is in the reserves, everyone is playing too well to bring him back.

Sean Doolittle has a 0.75 ERA with 21 saves (!). Wilbur Wood leads the team in innings pitched (109) and strikeouts (72). Wheeler has a 4.05 ERA but every other current starter is under 4.

We're listed as first for runs scored, batting average, and on base. We're 7th in defense, 6th in starter ERA, and top 5 in everything else. 52 wins, 27 losses, .658 winning percentage, 6 games up over the Israel Snipers. We have three more games tonight, and the final two are against those same Snipers.

This team is very hot right now.

[peterbernard209]

So Lefty O'Doul really wasn't doing badly but wasn't doing as well as Juan Gonzalez, who I was platooning him with. I was browsing through the Auction House and saw the Reggie Jackson gold Oakland peak card. I keep thinking that lefty pull hitters should thrive on this team mixed with high on-base guys to score when they hit. Johnny Frederick continues to amaze in the way I had expected O'Doul to, for example. He's got 6 triples, 18 doubles, and 8 homers.

So anyway, I illogically demoted Juan Gonzalez to give Reggie the DH spot and kept O'Doul to hit against lefties for the 14 days till Juan Gonzalez is back. It makes no sense but that's what I did. REggie came up hot and is hitting .400 in the early going, so a Gonzalez-Jackson platoon seems at this point to make more sense than keeping O'Doul up. He has ten games to change my mind. Next season, whether we're in Gold or Diamond, I want to plan on O'Doul either in left or at DH from the start to see if he catches on fire like I've seen him do for other teams.

The big star of our team is Hank Aaron right now. He has 4 WAR, 26 homers, 80 RBI, all of which lead the team. Amazingly, he's also our best base stealer-- 12 steals and caught twice. Carew stole 13 but was caught 12 times, and Royce Lewis stole twenty but was caught 17 times, which places him among the league leaders in getting caught stealing so far. I guess I have to go into game strategy and discourage those guys from trying to steal. Who expected Henry Aaron to be the best base stealer on the team? Imagine if he has a 20-20 season? That would be cool.

So having a stadium that gives pitchers room for error actually seems to be a better strategy at least for me at the higher levels. Another thing I've learned that I would pass on is that there are a lot of silver and a number of bronze cards that do better than some gold and diamond. We all know the famous ones but it's really fun and worth it to check the stats of every card you never heard of the first time you see it in the Auction House.

That's another thing-- I understand some people have good pack luck but I think Gold level and up PERSONALLY makes more sense to almost never buy packs. When you're really struggling and can't see anyone in the Auction House you can afford who would upgrade you at any position, then roll the dice with the card packs, or if you have the money to gamble. I think the first two levels of play should be used to get as many cards as you can, and to start to have too many for them all to be active. Then when a player isn't performing at gold level, you check the reserves and the auction house and player by player keep your eyes open for possible upgrades.

I guess all of that seems obvious and dumb but I had to learn it through experience.

Some people get lucky and get a perfect card they can sell to get every other great player with. If that's not you, I think you can still eventually create a great team on a very limited budget. I haven't proven it myself yet haha but I think it can happen.

[peterbernard209]

The race has tightened up, we have a 5 game lead. Gary Carter couldn't hit .200 as a backup catcher so I'm auditioning Thurman Munson for September with Bob Boone backing him up to rest him for the post season. I expect to have Boone as the main catcher if we are playing October baseball just because he's hit well and is the better fielder according to the game.

Ozzie Smith filled in well while Cano was cold. I'm platooning them now. I discovered a different way to platoon besides lefty-righty. You can just tell it to play the backup every 2 games or 3 or whatever you want. That way you can also specify who should be the fielder in late innings. So I can put Boone as backup and defensive replacement while scheduling him to start every other day and he's potentially getting more playing time than the supposed lead catcher. I was doing that in the beginning of the year, when Wilson Ramos was the starting catcher, but not hitting as well as the superior-fielding Boone.

Hank Aaron was our first to 100 RBI and 30 homers Oh Henry!

Carew has 93 RBI out of the leadoff spot! Partially shows what a great season he's having (still hitting over .350) but also shows that we've had some excellent on base guys playing in the bottom third of the lineup.

We've been very lucky so far!

I have Frankie Frisch backing up in the infield who is okay. It's hard to find a backup who can play 2b-3b-ss. I can find 2b-3b-LF and combos like that but hard to find someone good at 3 backup infield positions. I wish I could carry one less pitcher and one more infielder but we've been lucky to have good pitching so far and I don't want to mess it up.

Well we're not as hot as before but we're still in first and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[peterbernard209]

Well we finished weak, losing games against teams with poor records that we probably could have won. We still ended up 1st in runs scored, average and on base. We were 6th in starters ERA but top five in everything else.

Rod Carew finished the season strong, going 12 for 28 in his last 7 games. He hit .351 with 12 homers and 103 RBIs from the leadoff spot. Hank Aaron hit .295 with 32 HRs and 107 RBIs. Wood, Haddix, Corbin and Greinke all had ERAs under 4. Sean Doolittle I think led the league with 41 saves. Half the guys on the most saves list are Doolittle. I used to have the diamond card Diaz with Doolittle as setup but he kept filling in for Diaz when he went cold until eventually I just sold Diaz. I bet that's what happened with a lot of teams.

So I better make final roster decisions now. I'm thinking of carrying Enos Slaughter as an extra lefty pull hitter. He didn't play on the team at all, but I think it's allowed.

There are two teams named the Mountaineers in the playoffs, they could end up playing each other. We might play one or both of them.

Should be interesting. I hope we make it past the first round!