My 1983 iOOTP replay with the Phillies: the stretch run

BradC · 08-29-2011, 05:44 PM

I've been replaying the 1983 season in iOOTP with the Phillies, but it didn't occur to me to post anything about it until now, so I'm going to cover the last month or so of the season. I'm a lifelong Phillies fan and went to a bunch of games in the early 80s, including Game 4 of the NLCS and Games 4 and 5 of the World Series in 1983, so this has been fun.

I'm also going to run an abbreviated version of this on Facebook and Twitter, if you want to follow along in either of those places. (And it's always nice to get more fans and followers.)

https://www.facebook.com/ootpbaseball

https://twitter.com/#!/ootpbaseball

So, here goes:

We started the season on an uneven keel, winning some, then losing some. We were hovering around .500 for a while as I tried to get a good feel for the lineup. Then I started doing some wheeling and dealing and landed Don Baylor, Larry Bowa (yes, I brought him back to the Phillies as a bench player), Kent Tekulve (before he came to the Phils in real life), Frank DiPino (the Astros closer at the time; I admit I was trying to weaken my likely NLCS opponent; more on that in a bit), Derrell Thomas (Derrel Thomas Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com -- not a major coup, but he can play a lot of positions), and Bill Almon (Bill Almon Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com -- again, not a big fish, but I needed someone dependable to play shortstop).

Interestingly, both Thomas and Almon wound up playing for the Phils in real life, at the end of their careers: Thomas in '85 and Almon in '88. I didn't know that before trading for them.

Of course, I had to give up some key players to land some of those guys, so Juan Samuel, Kevin Gross, Jeff Stone, and Ozzie Virgil were among those who I shipped off. Yes, I robbed my farm system of some top prospects to put together a solid '83 campaign, but I wasn't sure when I started that I necessarily wanted to play '84 and beyond. If I do, though, I'll have quite a challenge ahead of me, especially since the real-life Phils dropped off after 1983; I have a bunch of older players to deal with (their nickname wasn't The Wheeze Kids for nothing). However, I did hold on to Darren Daulton.

Some other notes:

Mike Schmidt's avg. has hovered around .230 all season, but he's leading the league in HRs and RBIs, and he's among the leaders in walks and runs, so he has stayed in the lineup, except when tired. Interestingly, out of 120 hits, he only has 12 doubles and 1 triple (along with 37 HRs), so he's basically knocking it out of the park or getting singles. Or, of course, he's also striking out a lot -- on more than one occasion, I could hear the Veterans Stadium boo birds in my head. (Yes, I remember those days all too well; I also have that image of him in that Rasta wig burned into my head.)

Joe Morgan is leading the league in walks, which is interesting, especially considering his #3 slot in the lineup, right ahead of Schmidt. I guess opposing pitchers aren't scared of Schmidt?

Batting Garry Maddox and Greg Gross at the top of the lineup has been a good strategy. When Maddox gets on base, I almost always put on the hit and run with Gross. Both of them have been hitting north of .300 all season.

I've been hot and cold with Gary "The Sarge" Matthews. I platooned him for a while, which pissed him off, and then I gave in and started playing him every day. His avg. is .256 right now, whereas it was around .230 when I was platooning him, so hopefully he'll keep hitting.

I've had to deal with my share of injuries. Von Hayes was on the DL once earlier in the season, and he was lost for the rest of the year a few weeks ago with a broken hand. He was another underperformer, so I kept putting him in the lineup and then pulling him out. We're pretty healthy right now, though, except for Gross, who is out a couple days with a hamstring injury. (A trick to avoid the DL with a short-term injury: put the guy in the minors and call someone up; since the minors are just a static roster, it doesn't matter. In this case, though, we're past Sept. 1, so I can just leave him where he is.)

On the pitching front, John Denny has been replicating his Cy Young season from that year: a 23-5 record with a 2.13 ERA through 30 starts. Yes, he only has 2 no-decisions so far, which is incredible. Carlton, Bystrom, and Hudson are all 14-game winners at the moment. Dick Ruthven has been pitching the way you expect a #5 guy to pitch.

The bullpen has been interesting. Nabbing DiPino and Tekulve means I have 3 closers. Ron Reed and good ol' Tug McGraw have been dependable setup men. Sid Monge, with his 5.06 ERA at the moment, has been in long relief, and Larry Andersen, Larry Christianson, and Ed Farmer have been disasters, although at least Anderson and Christianson have gotten their ERAs under 6: Farmer is currently at 7.84 (!).

I'm going to end this here and continue with a recap of the season to date and what lies in store for the rest of Sept. To be continued.

McGuiser · 08-30-2011, 12:43 PM

Did the virtual fans riot when you traded away any local favorite? I am replaying the 1976 Phillies (now about to start 1979), and am tempted to show Larry Bowa and Tug McGraw the door.

I learned from trading Gary Maddox for Fred Lynn that fans will tolerate the loss of a favorite player if they get another popular player in return. I guess that means I can't trade Bowa for a prospect without some grief.

Among my daily amusements in real life is reading Phillie fans' comments on philly.com. The conflicting opinions about various players are always good over morning coffee.

BradC · 08-30-2011, 04:15 PM

I didn't really trade any local favorites, since I mostly raided my farm system. I don't think they minded much that Ozzie Virgil left. I have to admit I didn't check fan response when Bowa came back.

McGuiser · 08-30-2011, 04:23 PM

I think you do not have to check how your fans react to trades. You'll get a message if the fans react one way or the other, even if it's a mild reaction for or against.

Maybe you have not gotten any messages yet because the Philly fans are always strongly divided in their reactions.

BradC · 08-30-2011, 08:43 PM

So, continuing with my recap of the season so far:

With an 89-57 record at the moment, I have an 8-game lead over St. Louis, with Montreal 11 back. The Cubs are an incredible 52 games back at 37-109. The Cardinals have gotten as close as 6 games back in recent weeks, but that's the best they've done lately. The Expos were in line with the Cardinals, but they faded.

Over in the NL West, the Astros have 10- and 13-game leads over the Dodgers and Reds, respectively. The Astros have the same record I do, but at one point they were about 40 games over .500 and their lead was 14 or 15 games over the Dodgers.

In the AL East, the Blue Jays, with baseball's best record at 94-52, have a 3-game lead over the Yankees. It's pretty much been just the two of them for a while. The Brewers are 10 back.

The NL West has the White Sox holding on to a 4-game lead over the A's, while the Rangers and Angels are 5 and 6 back, respectively.

In my division, the match-ups against the Astros have been tough; several of those games have been decided by 1 run. In fact, the last game I played was a 5-4 loss to the 'stros that saw me blow a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning. Ray Knight hit a 3-run double off Al Holland with 2 outs in the 8th, and Tug McGraw took the loss in the 9th. I may regret trading Juan Samuel to them, since he has incredible speed when he gets on board. In fact, the Astros have a lot of speed in general, and their pitching has been strong.

The game before that was a 1-0 win against the Astros, with Bystrom pitching 8 strong innings for his 14th win; Holland picked up his 34th save.

So, that's where I stand with 16 games to go. I'll update this after each of those games and then carry my report through the playoffs, assuming I don't suffer a repeat of the Phillies' 1964 collapse.

BradC · 08-31-2011, 05:32 PM

9/8/83:

What seemed like a likely pitching duel between John Denny and Houston's Mike Scott was anything but in the early innings, with the Astros jumping out to a 4-3 lead after 3 innings. They tacked on a run in the 4th, but that was it for the scoring as both starters settled down and we lost, 5-3. Phil Garner went 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run. Denny fell to 23-6, with a 2.18 ERA, while Scott raised his record to 15-7.

Our season series with Houston is now done. They won 10 of 15, so I wonder what the NLCS holds in store. Despite the loss, we're still 8 up against the Cardinals, and the Astros' NL West lead is 11 versus the Dodgers.

After an off day, we head home for a series against the Expos. Greg Gross is now healed from a minor hamstring injury, so we're in good shape for the final dash to the finish line.

JayWigley · 09-01-2011, 07:08 AM

Who's doing all the damage on the Astros' pitching staff? They were not especially memorable in 83. . .Scott hadn't yet learned that split-finger fastball.

BradC · 09-01-2011, 04:08 PM

Bob Knepper is 20-7 with a 2.08 ERA. Joe Niekro: 18-10, 2.73. Nolan Ryan: 13-11, 3.02. Mike Scott is 15-7, 2.28 and LaCoss is 5-5, 2.16, although he's doing split duty with 23 appearances with 13 starts. Mike Madden has 11 starts and is 7-4, 3.44.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayWigley

Who's doing all the damage on the Astros' pitching staff? They were not especially memorable in 83. . .Scott hadn't yet learned that split-finger fastball.

BradC · 09-01-2011, 04:11 PM

9/10/83:

Steve Carlton pitched a complete game in a 6-1 victory over the Expos, striking out 10 and allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks. He improved to 15-6, with a 2.48 ERA while Bill Gullickson fell to 13-11 with a 2.79 ERA (likely the season-long victim of poor run support).

Don Baylor had 2 solo HRs to up his total to 14, while Schmidt added a solo shot of his own and Gary "Sarge" Matthews hit a 3-run HR that sealed the game for the Phils. Greg Gross was 2-for-4 in his return from missing a few games with a dinged hamstring.

We remain 8 games ahead of the Cardinals with a 90-58 record.

BradC · 09-06-2011, 03:35 PM

9/11/83:

Charles Hudson followed up Carlton's complete game with one of his own, going the distance while allowing one run, walking 2, and striking out 5. Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt hit solo home runs to lead the way to a 3-1 victory. Schmidt now has 39 HRs for the year, putting him 2 ahead of the Mets' Darryl Strawberry for the NL lead. He and Morgan remain the top two run scorers and drawers of walks in the NL.

The Expos' starter, Charlie Lea, left after one inning with a shoulder injury that will only sideline him for 4 days, so he should be able to make his next start.

We're now 9 games up on the Cardinals.

BradC · 09-07-2011, 03:05 PM

9/12/83:

Bo Diaz's 3-run HR fueled a 4-run 6th inning that erased a 5-1 deficit to the Expos, and Don Baylor's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth completed the comeback as the Phillies won, 6-5. Kent Tekulve was hurt sliding into home with the other 6th inning run, but it turned out to be a quadriceps strain that will only sideline him for two days.

Yes, I left Tekulve in to bat in the 6th. He relieved Bystrom, the starter, the inning before and got us out of a bases-loaded jam with 2 outs, so I figured, with 2 outs in the 6th and 3 runs already home thanks to Diaz, I'd let Tekulve bat and bring him back in the 7th. He ended up at 2nd base thanks to an error and then scored on a single by Garry Maddox. Nice to see him play hard, but, yikes, don't scare me like that!

Ron Reed picked up the win with a scoreless 9th inning. Jeff Reardon took the loss for the Expos. We're now 10 up on the Cardinals. The woeful Cubs have lost 111 games already and are 53 games out.

gbmoore121 · 09-07-2011, 04:16 PM

How are the Orioles doing (specifically Murray and Boddicker)?

BradC · 09-07-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbmoore121

How are the Orioles doing (specifically Murray and Boddicker)?

The Orioles are 72-78, 24 games behind AL East-leading Blue Jays.

Eddie Murray: 27 HR, 80 RBI, .306/.382/.476

(I still remember those "Eddddiieee Eddddiieeee" chants reverberating through the Vet. Yes, us Phillies fans got in our licks where we could during those losing World Series games.)

Boddicker: 8-12, 3.39 ERA, .245 BAA, 1.18 WHIP

As a team, they're hitting .257, which is last in their division and ahead of only the Mariners in the AL.

Their pitching, though, is competitive, with a 3.87 team ERA that's 6th in the AL.

I guess their hitting is underperforming compared to how they actually played that year.

The White Sox are still leading the AL West, which they ran away with in real life, but the Astros still have an 11-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West, so I guess the Vet won't reverberate with "Beat LA" chants during the NLCS. I still remember that too.

BradC · 09-08-2011, 04:05 PM

9/13/83:

Dick Ruthven (10-12) wasn't awful, but we were down 3-1 after the 4th inning against the Reds and were never able to come back, losing, 4-2. A pair of errors on our side didn't help, nor did the Reds' 8th inning run that crossed the plate before Ron Reed came in to put out the fire. Joe Price (6-3) earned the win for Cincinnati.

We remain 10 games up on the Cardinals.

BradC · 09-09-2011, 03:57 PM

9/14/83:

Mike Schmidt's 2-run 9th inning home run, his 40th of the season, punctuated a 5-1 Phillies win. John Denny went the distance, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while fanning 7 and upping his record to 24-6. His ERA is 2.13.

Jeff Russell (6-11) took the loss for Cincinnati. It's interesting to note that he went the distance too and threw 130 pitches in the process. I can't see that happening in today's game.

We're 11 games up on the Cardinals and have clinched the NL East. Virtual champagne flowed in the clubhouse. We're the first team to clinch, although the Astros won't be far behind us, since they're 10 up in the NL West.

Over in the AL, Toronto has extended its lead over the Yankees to 5 games, while the White Sox are now 8 up on the A's and Rangers.

BradC · 09-20-2011, 12:42 AM

Well, I was waylaid by various things, but I'm back in the thick of the stretch run in this season.

9/15/83:

Steve Carlton pitched a complete game in a 4-2 win over the Reds, throwing 134 pitches as he upped his record to 16-6. He even helped his cause by singling in a run. Garry Maddox led the way with a 4-for-5 performance that raised his average to .319.

Mario Soto (13-10) took the loss for the Reds, who scored their second run with a gutsy steal of home in the 8th inning.

We're now 12 games up on the Expos and Cardinals (hmmmm...kinda like the real-life 2011 Phils in the standings), while Houston became the second team to clinch their division (hmmmm...kinda not at all like the real-life 2011 Astros).

BradC · 09-23-2011, 04:27 PM

9/16/83:

Greg Gross' two-out double in the bottom of the 9th inning scored Garry Maddox with the winning run in a thrilling, come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Pirates. A four-run 5th inning put the Phillies up, 4-3, but the Bucs answered with a run in the 7th to knot it up. Both teams blew scoring opportunities until Gross' 9th-inning heroics.

Phils starter Charles Hudson pitched okay, going 6.2 innings for the no decision. Frank DiPino picked up the win with 1/3 an inning of work. John "Candyman" Candelaria went 8 innings for the Pirates and allowed just 1 earned run, thanks to an error in the 5th inning.

We're now 13 games up in the NL East. Over in the AL, the White Sox look to be the third team to clinch, thanks to their 8-game lead over the A's and Rangers, while the Blue Jays are still holding onto a 3-game edge over the Yankees.

BradC · 11-02-2011, 05:01 PM

9/17/83:

A seven-run third inning, highlighted by Darren Daulton's two-out grand slam, powered the Phillies to a 10-5 win over the Pirates. Garry Maddox, Don Baylor, and Gary Matthews had two hits apiece and Marty Bystrom pitched five innings to win his 15th game of the year.

The Pirates did all their damage against Bystrom, who ended up with just one earned run thanks to a pair of Phillies errors. A parade of relievers snuffed out a few potential threats by the Bucs in the late innings. Larry McWilliams (12-14) took the loss for Pittsburgh.

We're 13 and 14 games up against the Cardinals and Expos, respectively, while the lowly Cubs are an astonishing 57 games out of first place. Over in the American League, one division race remains tight -- the Blue Jays are clinging to a three-game lead over the Yankees -- while the other is on the verge of ending as the White Sox maintain seven games over the Rangers.

Maddox nudged his batting average to .321, good for third in the National League. Mike Schmidt is still the NL's home run and RBI leader with 40 round-trippers and 118 runs knocked in. He and Joe Morgan remain in the top three in runs scored: Schmidt has crossed the plate 108 times while the Phils' second baseman leads with 112. Morgan is far and away the NL leader in walks with 145; Schmidt is second with 117.

BradC · 11-02-2011, 05:03 PM

Wow, over a month since my last update in this season. Well, work got the best of me, plus I was looking forward to upgrading to the new iPhone 4S. I pre-ordered, but my phone ended up back-ordered and I finally received it two days ago. I have to say, iOOTP *screams* on this phone compared to my iPhone 3G.

BradC · 11-02-2011, 11:24 PM

9/18/83:

The Pirates prevented the Phillies from sweeping them with a 15-7 thrashing. The Bucs pounded out 21 hits against six Phils pitchers, starting with Dick Ruthven, who lasted just 2.2 innings and saw his record drop to 10-13. September call-up Tony Ghelfi allowed three runs in 2.1 innings of relief, and Larry Christenson and Ed Farmer showed why they were demoted to the minors earlier this year, letting up 3 and 4 runs respectively.

Joe Morgan got the scoring started with a two-run first inning home run for the Phils, but the Pirates exploded with a five-run third inning. Don Baylor's two-run blast in the fourth inning cut the lead to a run, but the Pirates pulled away with three runs in the fifth and never looked back.

08-29-2011, 05:44 PM	#1
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	My 1983 iOOTP replay with the Phillies: the stretch run I've been replaying the 1983 season in iOOTP with the Phillies, but it didn't occur to me to post anything about it until now, so I'm going to cover the last month or so of the season. I'm a lifelong Phillies fan and went to a bunch of games in the early 80s, including Game 4 of the NLCS and Games 4 and 5 of the World Series in 1983, so this has been fun. I'm also going to run an abbreviated version of this on Facebook and Twitter, if you want to follow along in either of those places. (And it's always nice to get more fans and followers.) https://www.facebook.com/ootpbaseball https://twitter.com/#!/ootpbaseball So, here goes: We started the season on an uneven keel, winning some, then losing some. We were hovering around .500 for a while as I tried to get a good feel for the lineup. Then I started doing some wheeling and dealing and landed Don Baylor, Larry Bowa (yes, I brought him back to the Phillies as a bench player), Kent Tekulve (before he came to the Phils in real life), Frank DiPino (the Astros closer at the time; I admit I was trying to weaken my likely NLCS opponent; more on that in a bit), Derrell Thomas (Derrel Thomas Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com -- not a major coup, but he can play a lot of positions), and Bill Almon (Bill Almon Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com -- again, not a big fish, but I needed someone dependable to play shortstop). Interestingly, both Thomas and Almon wound up playing for the Phils in real life, at the end of their careers: Thomas in '85 and Almon in '88. I didn't know that before trading for them. Of course, I had to give up some key players to land some of those guys, so Juan Samuel, Kevin Gross, Jeff Stone, and Ozzie Virgil were among those who I shipped off. Yes, I robbed my farm system of some top prospects to put together a solid '83 campaign, but I wasn't sure when I started that I necessarily wanted to play '84 and beyond. If I do, though, I'll have quite a challenge ahead of me, especially since the real-life Phils dropped off after 1983; I have a bunch of older players to deal with (their nickname wasn't The Wheeze Kids for nothing). However, I did hold on to Darren Daulton. Some other notes: Mike Schmidt's avg. has hovered around .230 all season, but he's leading the league in HRs and RBIs, and he's among the leaders in walks and runs, so he has stayed in the lineup, except when tired. Interestingly, out of 120 hits, he only has 12 doubles and 1 triple (along with 37 HRs), so he's basically knocking it out of the park or getting singles. Or, of course, he's also striking out a lot -- on more than one occasion, I could hear the Veterans Stadium boo birds in my head. (Yes, I remember those days all too well; I also have that image of him in that Rasta wig burned into my head.) Joe Morgan is leading the league in walks, which is interesting, especially considering his #3 slot in the lineup, right ahead of Schmidt. I guess opposing pitchers aren't scared of Schmidt? Batting Garry Maddox and Greg Gross at the top of the lineup has been a good strategy. When Maddox gets on base, I almost always put on the hit and run with Gross. Both of them have been hitting north of .300 all season. I've been hot and cold with Gary "The Sarge" Matthews. I platooned him for a while, which pissed him off, and then I gave in and started playing him every day. His avg. is .256 right now, whereas it was around .230 when I was platooning him, so hopefully he'll keep hitting. I've had to deal with my share of injuries. Von Hayes was on the DL once earlier in the season, and he was lost for the rest of the year a few weeks ago with a broken hand. He was another underperformer, so I kept putting him in the lineup and then pulling him out. We're pretty healthy right now, though, except for Gross, who is out a couple days with a hamstring injury. (A trick to avoid the DL with a short-term injury: put the guy in the minors and call someone up; since the minors are just a static roster, it doesn't matter. In this case, though, we're past Sept. 1, so I can just leave him where he is.) On the pitching front, John Denny has been replicating his Cy Young season from that year: a 23-5 record with a 2.13 ERA through 30 starts. Yes, he only has 2 no-decisions so far, which is incredible. Carlton, Bystrom, and Hudson are all 14-game winners at the moment. Dick Ruthven has been pitching the way you expect a #5 guy to pitch. The bullpen has been interesting. Nabbing DiPino and Tekulve means I have 3 closers. Ron Reed and good ol' Tug McGraw have been dependable setup men. Sid Monge, with his 5.06 ERA at the moment, has been in long relief, and Larry Andersen, Larry Christianson, and Ed Farmer have been disasters, although at least Anderson and Christianson have gotten their ERAs under 6: Farmer is currently at 7.84 (!). I'm going to end this here and continue with a recap of the season to date and what lies in store for the rest of Sept. To be continued. Last edited by BradC; 08-29-2011 at 05:46 PM.

08-30-2011, 04:23 PM	#4
McGuiser Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 363	Fan Response I think you do not have to check how your fans react to trades. You'll get a message if the fans react one way or the other, even if it's a mild reaction for or against. Maybe you have not gotten any messages yet because the Philly fans are always strongly divided in their reactions.

09-07-2011, 04:16 PM	#12
gbmoore121 All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Arizona Posts: 602	How are the Orioles doing (specifically Murray and Boddicker)? __________________ WWPF- via DDS Pro Football

09-23-2011, 04:27 PM	#17
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/16/83: Greg Gross' two-out double in the bottom of the 9th inning scored Garry Maddox with the winning run in a thrilling, come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Pirates. A four-run 5th inning put the Phillies up, 4-3, but the Bucs answered with a run in the 7th to knot it up. Both teams blew scoring opportunities until Gross' 9th-inning heroics. Phils starter Charles Hudson pitched okay, going 6.2 innings for the no decision. Frank DiPino picked up the win with 1/3 an inning of work. John "Candyman" Candelaria went 8 innings for the Pirates and allowed just 1 earned run, thanks to an error in the 5th inning. We're now 13 games up in the NL East. Over in the AL, the White Sox look to be the third team to clinch, thanks to their 8-game lead over the A's and Rangers, while the Blue Jays are still holding onto a 3-game edge over the Yankees. Last edited by BradC; 11-02-2011 at 11:25 PM. Reason: fixed date

11-02-2011, 05:01 PM	#18
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/17/83: A seven-run third inning, highlighted by Darren Daulton's two-out grand slam, powered the Phillies to a 10-5 win over the Pirates. Garry Maddox, Don Baylor, and Gary Matthews had two hits apiece and Marty Bystrom pitched five innings to win his 15th game of the year. The Pirates did all their damage against Bystrom, who ended up with just one earned run thanks to a pair of Phillies errors. A parade of relievers snuffed out a few potential threats by the Bucs in the late innings. Larry McWilliams (12-14) took the loss for Pittsburgh. We're 13 and 14 games up against the Cardinals and Expos, respectively, while the lowly Cubs are an astonishing 57 games out of first place. Over in the American League, one division race remains tight -- the Blue Jays are clinging to a three-game lead over the Yankees -- while the other is on the verge of ending as the White Sox maintain seven games over the Rangers. Maddox nudged his batting average to .321, good for third in the National League. Mike Schmidt is still the NL's home run and RBI leader with 40 round-trippers and 118 runs knocked in. He and Joe Morgan remain in the top three in runs scored: Schmidt has crossed the plate 108 times while the Phils' second baseman leads with 112. Morgan is far and away the NL leader in walks with 145; Schmidt is second with 117. Last edited by BradC; 11-02-2011 at 11:25 PM. Reason: fixed date

08-30-2011, 12:43 PM	#2
McGuiser Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 363	Did the virtual fans riot when you traded away any local favorite? I am replaying the 1976 Phillies (now about to start 1979), and am tempted to show Larry Bowa and Tug McGraw the door. I learned from trading Gary Maddox for Fred Lynn that fans will tolerate the loss of a favorite player if they get another popular player in return. I guess that means I can't trade Bowa for a prospect without some grief. Among my daily amusements in real life is reading Phillie fans' comments on philly.com. The conflicting opinions about various players are always good over morning coffee.

08-30-2011, 04:15 PM	#3
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	I didn't really trade any local favorites, since I mostly raided my farm system. I don't think they minded much that Ozzie Virgil left. I have to admit I didn't check fan response when Bowa came back.

08-30-2011, 08:43 PM	#5
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	So, continuing with my recap of the season so far: With an 89-57 record at the moment, I have an 8-game lead over St. Louis, with Montreal 11 back. The Cubs are an incredible 52 games back at 37-109. The Cardinals have gotten as close as 6 games back in recent weeks, but that's the best they've done lately. The Expos were in line with the Cardinals, but they faded. Over in the NL West, the Astros have 10- and 13-game leads over the Dodgers and Reds, respectively. The Astros have the same record I do, but at one point they were about 40 games over .500 and their lead was 14 or 15 games over the Dodgers. In the AL East, the Blue Jays, with baseball's best record at 94-52, have a 3-game lead over the Yankees. It's pretty much been just the two of them for a while. The Brewers are 10 back. The NL West has the White Sox holding on to a 4-game lead over the A's, while the Rangers and Angels are 5 and 6 back, respectively. In my division, the match-ups against the Astros have been tough; several of those games have been decided by 1 run. In fact, the last game I played was a 5-4 loss to the 'stros that saw me blow a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning. Ray Knight hit a 3-run double off Al Holland with 2 outs in the 8th, and Tug McGraw took the loss in the 9th. I may regret trading Juan Samuel to them, since he has incredible speed when he gets on board. In fact, the Astros have a lot of speed in general, and their pitching has been strong. The game before that was a 1-0 win against the Astros, with Bystrom pitching 8 strong innings for his 14th win; Holland picked up his 34th save. So, that's where I stand with 16 games to go. I'll update this after each of those games and then carry my report through the playoffs, assuming I don't suffer a repeat of the Phillies' 1964 collapse.

08-31-2011, 05:32 PM	#6
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/8/83: What seemed like a likely pitching duel between John Denny and Houston's Mike Scott was anything but in the early innings, with the Astros jumping out to a 4-3 lead after 3 innings. They tacked on a run in the 4th, but that was it for the scoring as both starters settled down and we lost, 5-3. Phil Garner went 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run. Denny fell to 23-6, with a 2.18 ERA, while Scott raised his record to 15-7. Our season series with Houston is now done. They won 10 of 15, so I wonder what the NLCS holds in store. Despite the loss, we're still 8 up against the Cardinals, and the Astros' NL West lead is 11 versus the Dodgers. After an off day, we head home for a series against the Expos. Greg Gross is now healed from a minor hamstring injury, so we're in good shape for the final dash to the finish line.

09-01-2011, 07:08 AM	#7
JayWigley Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 129	Who's doing all the damage on the Astros' pitching staff? They were not especially memorable in 83. . .Scott hadn't yet learned that split-finger fastball.

09-01-2011, 04:11 PM	#9
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/10/83: Steve Carlton pitched a complete game in a 6-1 victory over the Expos, striking out 10 and allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks. He improved to 15-6, with a 2.48 ERA while Bill Gullickson fell to 13-11 with a 2.79 ERA (likely the season-long victim of poor run support). Don Baylor had 2 solo HRs to up his total to 14, while Schmidt added a solo shot of his own and Gary "Sarge" Matthews hit a 3-run HR that sealed the game for the Phils. Greg Gross was 2-for-4 in his return from missing a few games with a dinged hamstring. We remain 8 games ahead of the Cardinals with a 90-58 record.

09-06-2011, 03:35 PM	#10
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/11/83: Charles Hudson followed up Carlton's complete game with one of his own, going the distance while allowing one run, walking 2, and striking out 5. Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt hit solo home runs to lead the way to a 3-1 victory. Schmidt now has 39 HRs for the year, putting him 2 ahead of the Mets' Darryl Strawberry for the NL lead. He and Morgan remain the top two run scorers and drawers of walks in the NL. The Expos' starter, Charlie Lea, left after one inning with a shoulder injury that will only sideline him for 4 days, so he should be able to make his next start. We're now 9 games up on the Cardinals.

09-07-2011, 03:05 PM	#11
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/12/83: Bo Diaz's 3-run HR fueled a 4-run 6th inning that erased a 5-1 deficit to the Expos, and Don Baylor's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth completed the comeback as the Phillies won, 6-5. Kent Tekulve was hurt sliding into home with the other 6th inning run, but it turned out to be a quadriceps strain that will only sideline him for two days. Yes, I left Tekulve in to bat in the 6th. He relieved Bystrom, the starter, the inning before and got us out of a bases-loaded jam with 2 outs, so I figured, with 2 outs in the 6th and 3 runs already home thanks to Diaz, I'd let Tekulve bat and bring him back in the 7th. He ended up at 2nd base thanks to an error and then scored on a single by Garry Maddox. Nice to see him play hard, but, yikes, don't scare me like that! Ron Reed picked up the win with a scoreless 9th inning. Jeff Reardon took the loss for the Expos. We're now 10 up on the Cardinals. The woeful Cubs have lost 111 games already and are 53 games out.

09-08-2011, 04:05 PM	#14
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/13/83: Dick Ruthven (10-12) wasn't awful, but we were down 3-1 after the 4th inning against the Reds and were never able to come back, losing, 4-2. A pair of errors on our side didn't help, nor did the Reds' 8th inning run that crossed the plate before Ron Reed came in to put out the fire. Joe Price (6-3) earned the win for Cincinnati. We remain 10 games up on the Cardinals.

09-09-2011, 03:57 PM	#15
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/14/83: Mike Schmidt's 2-run 9th inning home run, his 40th of the season, punctuated a 5-1 Phillies win. John Denny went the distance, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while fanning 7 and upping his record to 24-6. His ERA is 2.13. Jeff Russell (6-11) took the loss for Cincinnati. It's interesting to note that he went the distance too and threw 130 pitches in the process. I can't see that happening in today's game. We're 11 games up on the Cardinals and have clinched the NL East. Virtual champagne flowed in the clubhouse. We're the first team to clinch, although the Astros won't be far behind us, since they're 10 up in the NL West. Over in the AL, Toronto has extended its lead over the Yankees to 5 games, while the White Sox are now 8 up on the A's and Rangers.

09-20-2011, 12:42 AM	#16
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	Well, I was waylaid by various things, but I'm back in the thick of the stretch run in this season. 9/15/83: Steve Carlton pitched a complete game in a 4-2 win over the Reds, throwing 134 pitches as he upped his record to 16-6. He even helped his cause by singling in a run. Garry Maddox led the way with a 4-for-5 performance that raised his average to .319. Mario Soto (13-10) took the loss for the Reds, who scored their second run with a gutsy steal of home in the 8th inning. We're now 12 games up on the Expos and Cardinals (hmmmm...kinda like the real-life 2011 Phils in the standings), while Houston became the second team to clinch their division (hmmmm...kinda not at all like the real-life 2011 Astros).

11-02-2011, 05:03 PM	#19
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	Wow, over a month since my last update in this season. Well, work got the best of me, plus I was looking forward to upgrading to the new iPhone 4S. I pre-ordered, but my phone ended up back-ordered and I finally received it two days ago. I have to say, iOOTP screams on this phone compared to my iPhone 3G.

11-02-2011, 11:24 PM	#20
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,872 Blog Entries: 1	9/18/83: The Pirates prevented the Phillies from sweeping them with a 15-7 thrashing. The Bucs pounded out 21 hits against six Phils pitchers, starting with Dick Ruthven, who lasted just 2.2 innings and saw his record drop to 10-13. September call-up Tony Ghelfi allowed three runs in 2.1 innings of relief, and Larry Christenson and Ed Farmer showed why they were demoted to the minors earlier this year, letting up 3 and 4 runs respectively. Joe Morgan got the scoring started with a two-run first inning home run for the Phils, but the Pirates exploded with a five-run third inning. Don Baylor's two-run blast in the fourth inning cut the lead to a run, but the Pirates pulled away with three runs in the fifth and never looked back.