Home | Webstore
Latest News: OOTP 25 Available - FHM 10 Available - OOTP Go! Available

Out of the Park Baseball 25 Buy Now!

  

Go Back   OOTP Developments Forums > Out of the Park Baseball 25 > OOTP Dynasty Reports

OOTP Dynasty Reports Tell us about the OOTP dynasties you have built!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 05-29-2010, 04:39 AM   #1
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
Leave Nothing To Chance

Before I begin, here's some background on my universe. I began it with an MLB Quickstart, added almost every standard league, then added a few new leagues. I simmed out the first entire season, just to see how it would all turn out. From this point forward, I will play out all the games..But, I will remain true to my position (If I'm the GM, I will allow my manager and his coaches to the game and I'll observe). I will at times tell my manager I want a certain person to play, as it is realistic (I am his boss after all).

Here's the leagues I added with some short description (Some details will be revealed about the leagues in the dynasty):

North American League: A Rookie Level Affiliate of the MLB. They get started in November for a 68 game season. Each MLB team has an affiliate.

Jamaican Winter League: Another Rookie Level Affiliate of the MLB. They get started in January for a 36 game season. Each team is based in Jamaican, for universe purposes the MLB created it as a league where every MLB could send young players throughout the season to work out at facilities, and after most of all baseball in finished play a short season.

Champions High School Baseball League and Champions College League: It's my concept of a fictional college league separate from the NCAA(to explain why both are in the 50 round draft pool).

Both get running around March every year. I attempted to model the amount of games played after real leagues.

India Professional Baseball League: A league in India where there isn't any foreign roster limits. The league gets started in December for 30 games.

Champions Master College Baseball: Added it after simming the first season, in theory it's a group of colleges that come together to play. Each college only accepts students looking for their Masters degree. The baseball league is for those students between ages 22-24. Should give a place for those drafted and are 22 to go play and further their education if they get into a contract dispute. They start around March as well.

American Baseball League: A small independent league in the US. Start play in March. Play 32 Games.

Phillippino Baseball Association: A league out of the Philippines, they start in December for a 26 game season.

European Baseball Association: A league based out of France, the idea was to have benefactors in France create a league with teams all around Europe. Teams stretch from Northern Ireland, Turkey(take that EU), to Sweden. Many countries have a team. They begin in September and play 100 games.

Youth Athletics Association: For game purposes the YAA is a group much like AAU, but for kids from ages 6-15. For the league, the best 12-15 years olds are selected to play in the league at one of the host cities(7 US, I Canadian). They play 22 games in March. Think of it as the All American Middle School Baseball league.

I also made some retired players coaches Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken, Paul Molitor, Tony Gwynn..and a few others...

The italics will be used for the thought process of my GM, mainly to give background information...Now on with the Dynasty!

Growing up a Chicago Cubs fan isn't easy...growing up a Chicago Cubs fan in North Carolina is impossible. If you're a baseball fan in North Carolina you like one of two teams the Yankees, because you're a bandwagon jumper or the Braves. Yes, the Braves were awesome in the 90s, but their popularity is due to their location.

I admit, growing up my favorite player was Sammy Sosa. I even imitated his little skip every time he hit a homerun. After Sosa was Mark Grace, I loved a Gracie at bat. It was fun to count the foul balls and how often he would frustrate a pitcher. Granted, there was never too much winning. Until that one season, where that one guy stole an out from Alou...

...But we're not going to talk about that...

I went off to college at East Carolina, studied Sports Marketing and Business Management never knowing where that would take me. Offseason of 2010, I was visiting Chicago and just heard about the firing of Jim Hendry after the Ricketts family took over ownership. Specifically, Thomas Ricketts. I didn't think much of the move, it was kind of funny I recently was published in Baseball America speaking about my desire to get involved in management. Unfortunately, I never played my favorite sport, sticking to basketball and football. Which was a mistake as I look back on it...

...But, I never could have guessed what would happen next...

Gloria Ricketts, one of Thomas Ricketts two teenage daughters had actually read my article in Baseball America. She's an avid Softball player...so I guess that makes sense. The part that doesn't is when she told her dad about me. The next thing I know, the following week when I was back in North Carolina I received a call from...

...Thomas Ricketts....


....No really...

He was extremely polite and told me he'd like me to come to Chicago to interview for the vacant GM position. I was stunned, yet in questioning he assured me that Baseball America wouldn't give my contact information out to just anyone. So, before I knew it...two days later I was in Chicago. March 23, 2010 being interviewed for the job of a lifetime...

The interview went well and Mr. Ricketts let me know I was on the short list, his wife and some members of the front office where there as well. On March 26 while I was still at my hotel in Chicago, I received a call from Mr. Ricketts...

...I was the new General Manager of the Chicago Cubs...

Granted, the fans on the South Side of Chicago were surprised by the move. I was antsy in the Press Conference and assured the fans that I would do all in my power to bring us a Championship very soon...

...Just not this year....

The year started to really tank on June 13th, when Fukudome went down with a fractured fibula. He was just getting off a hot streak, but it was the story of much more to come.

...Granted I tried...

On June 19th, to solve our terrible bullpen problems I traded Marshall, Caridad, Hoffpauir, and three low minor league players to the Braves for Takashi Saito, Derek Lowe, Michael Dunn, Brandon Hicks, and a cool $2 million. Hoff went on to play well and of course Marshall would drop his Era almost 4 points to 2.78 for the Braves. Saito was ok for us(4.34 ERA) and Lowe was awesome putting up a 3.28 era over 17 games. But, only went 4-6. Ended up being a pretty even deal.

Oh yea, on June 10th in what was a steal for us we claimed the Reliever Wen Zhong from Seattle, he was originally going to pitch in the upstart Chinese League, that went bankrupt before their first game. He had a 4.63 era with Seattle, and had a great 2.08 Era with us over 40 games.

...More Good....

Lee had 28 and 92 while hitting .275...Aramis hit 23 and had 90 RBIs...Sori had 20 and 57....

...Wait...

Soriano only had 20 and 57...granted a .290 average..but how much did we pay him?

...More Good...

Positive thoughts, Marmol had 38 Saves and a 3.01 ERA...Zambrano went 15-8 with a 2.90 Era and a couple of HR's...

...Really...

Soto went 21 and 72 but a modest .256 average...

...Yeah, that's all the good...

Wait, not quite...On June 22nd I was able to dump Silva's salary and 4 something ERA and a terrible farm hand in Jay Jackson to the Orioles for $2 mil....

..Yea, that's it...

Lets not talk about Randy Wells' 7 something Era and his two stints at AAA and one in Single A Peoria to be instructed by our best pitching coach Horace Brown who got him turned around in two games..only for Wells to get called up and again...pitch terribly. He was demoted to the pen in September.

Those guys in Peoria are awesome, when I met with them for the first time. Horace Brown was amazing being the "old man" of the group at 61 with 27 years of experience. 12 as a manager of a Division II school in the NCAA, the rest as a Pitching Coach. The Hitting Coach Carl Lee was the second oldest at 55 with his 14 years of coaching..all as a Hitting Coach. Then finally the "Young Pup" Jose Madrid who was the manager at 33 and had 3 years of experience. He had to retire after playing a few seasons in Japan after a rotater cuff injury. He learned the basic fundamentals of baseball which drew him to coach. Yeah, those guys are awesome...

...Anyway...

More bad, we beat the Cardinals a grand total of 3 times..twice in one series...Yeah..they went on to win 110 games...yea...They clinched the division on September 1st...

Oh right...after being swept by the Reds in four games...I didn't just fire Lou...I fired Larry...I fired Salvador...I fired Alan...The only people that stayed were the Bullpen Coach and Catchers...Yeah...Lou and I had arguments. He never thought I deserved the job at 21. He slipped up and said that to a Reporter once. It was in July..so he knew as Mr. Ricketts was getting more angry I was going to take it out on him and his staff. Especially, after how I was greeted...

Don't feel bad Lou got a manager gig in the Mexican Leagues and had them hire Alan as the Hitting Coach the next day. They didn't have much faith in Tram, only giving him a one year deal.

...Lets see if he wins a title there in 2011...

Oh yeah...our record...Before that...Yeah, I hired everyone from the Peoria to the majors, resigned Brown, who was talking about retiring if he had to stay at Peoria. Gave the 33 year old Madrid a brand new contract. Oh, to keep the South Siders from killing me after replacing Lou with a 33 year old, I promoted Ryne Sandberg to the Bench Coach. I watched him for a couple of seasons before he retired and he could work wonders for this staff.

To quickly replace the Peoria staff, I made a call to Cal Ripken, who at first was iffy about working for an organization not in Baltimore, but I convinced him to start his career there and he hired a new staff. While on managers...yeah...I fired Bailey in Double A Tennessee after their terrible season. Everyone in Daytona...the staff from the Scarsdale Rookie Team left besides the Pitching coach. In a good story, I convinced Gerald Perry to take over as Hitting Coach at Daytona. Scarsdale had a great season going 44-24. Yet, they had nothing from our only success story with the Arizona Rookie team winning the Arizona League Championship.

Oh yea...we went 71-91...but Madrid had two hot streaks the team started off on a tear until getting swept by the Cardinals and won about twelve straight in September before tanking. So, his job was definitely safe. As long as I'm GM he's not going anywhere...

Oh yea, Ozzie on the North Side was fired after a 81-81 season. The surprising Royals went 82-80 and were 8 games from passing the Twins for the division and making the playoffs, but they tanked in September. They traded for Mad Vlad during the middle of the season and he went on a tear...

Even the Nationals made the playoffs, which ended up getting the GM in Philly fired, after losing their division and not making the Playoffs. The Reds and Brewers shared the 71-91 record...Leaving the Pirates to finish second with an amazing 76-86 record. Yeah they lit it up..Did I mention the 110 wins by the Cards?

What was more satisfying was watching them not win ANY in the playoffs getting swept by the Wildcard Dodgers. Granted Albert got hurt and missed every game...but still...The Silver Slugger was enough for him.

More surprising was the Rockies winning the whole thing beating Boston in 6...

On November 19th, I decided to shop around Soriano..Not expecting anything with his huge contract..but Doug Melvin responded. The Brewers had a lot of money and wanted Soriano. I wasn't even hesitant, even though they were in the division. The former manager wanted Sori, and I wanted the money..So we traded him for the stud Manny Para who could be something with the right coaching and we have that with Horace Brown coaching the staff. We also received their top farm hands at three different positions.

...22 year old Nick Weglarz LF...

...17 year old Jose Pena RF...

...22 year old Kentrail Davis CF...

That gave a big boost to our farm system, at least in the eyes of the so called BNN experts...

Yea...I was quite busy in the offseason....On November 27th I dealt Jeff Smarznotthatgood to the Brewers with a equally overrated Marcos Mateo after they both had terrible seasons. I gained a Lefty Scott Elbert and one of the top ranked 2B Prospects Brett Lawrie. I also designated John Grabow go after a 5 something era and refusing demotion. I tried my best to trade him, but nobody was having him. He was released on December 1st. The day we got a crafty left from Baltimore on the Rule 5...Grabow immediately replaced...I hope...

On the 21st I didn't offer arbitration to Fonty, Theriot, Hill, Tracy..and they became free agents. Theriot almost immediately signed to play in the Cuban League. Oh yea, I let Baker go as well.

On the 24th Derek Lee became a free agent, he laughed at a high dollar offer during the season..we eventually..eh I'll tell you later. The waiver claim Pitch Hitter Austin Kerns was let go and Xavier Nady who went to the press to complain about Madrid not playing him and me not doing anything about it. Yeah...


December 6th we Zhi-fu Mei from Taiwann who was reported by Tim Wilken's scout in Taiwan to be an outstanding Power Hitter with a decent glove. He only cost us $530,000 a year for two years. He was thankful saying he wasn't greedy and that money would do great things for his parents in Taiwan. The 23 year old was elated to be a Cub and his Left Handed Power could help the team. He also seemed very knowledgeable about the game through his interpreter. Players like that are worth having around.

December 13th we signed an outstanding back up Catcher and great clubhouse guy...one of the three Molinas'...Jose for two years. He immediately told me he's going to do everything he can to help the team win a championship and was going to work hard every day. I was impressed.

December 14th I went to the Winter Meetings, not expecting much. Just thought it would be useless. I started tossing around Ted Lilly's name, mostly as a joke to see the responses. I resigned him during the season to a nice contract. Most teams brushed it off..all but one..that's when I met Bill Smith from the Twins who offered Justin Morneau...I coughed up a sip on my Red Wine when I heard the name. Morneau had 34 HR's and 119 RBI's..but a huge contract and the Twins just signed a 1B from Mexico they thought could play the position for millions less....

I thought over the deal, and knew if I made the offer I was going to have to go after Brandon Webb to have enough quality starters. But, I made the deal...Trouble was...Derrek Lee was thinking about a 1 year deal I made to him, after not having any other viable options at 1B in the free agent market...That ended up costing us two early draft picks. Yeah...Mr. Ricketts wasn't pleased. Lee did sign..probably out of spite..and immediately on January 11th we contacted the Giants who had the AAA PCL player of the year Travis Ishikawa..even though he's a Lefty as well. We traded Lee, CF James Aducci, and 1B Rebel Ridling to San Fran. Didn't want to let Ridling go, but they were iffy about the deal until he was added...

The South Siders were furious to see Lee not be a Cub...

...Anyway...

On the 21st of December we welcomed by Reed Johnson who can play all the outfield positions and is popular in the city..and on the 22nd we made a splash..losing our 2nd round pick to Tampa..but we signed Carl Crawford who could easily put up Soriano type numbers from the past three years and give us 30-40 steals.

On the 27th we signed Outfielder Antonio Colon from the Mexican Leagues..he loved the Chicago area and being 33 with a 5 year old girl, wanted to give her a place where she could go to a good school. He's not a natural CF, but we plan on having the Switch Hitter in there against the Righties. He didn't hit a ton of HR's last season, but each of our 3 scouts in Mexico stated they saw him put on shows in batting Practice where he would pull each pitch into the stands. They all agree that he has outstanding Pull Power from each side of the plate especially from the Left side, for $1.4 and a $1.9 player option for a second year it was worth the risk.

We were actively trying to replace Fukudome, which pained me as he is my favorite Cub...but business is business..nobody wanted to pay him $13 mil in 2011 so he couldn't be traded. We eyed Jayson Werth who was injured often last year and was let go by the Phils..but he chose Cuba as well.

On February 6th, after losing the bidding war to the Twins for Brandon Webb we decided to sign Kang "The Monster" Zhang for Taiwan to a 3 year deal. He is 34 and is looking to be our 5th starter which could be pretty good.

So on February 24th, me and my staff finally did something to please the South Side. Although our Scouting Director Tim Wilken told me to not expect much..We signed Jermaine Dye to a one year $1.25 million deal to play in Right Field with Fuke. This made Mr. Ricketts not so angry as the fans gained some interest, which had dropped a quite deal through my moves..he wasn't even angry. Dye is a personal favorite of Mr. Ricketts, Dye personally signed a baseball for his 14 year old daughter Melinda and a glove for the 17 year old Georgina.

That brings us to now...March 5th, 2011

#Enter#

[Thomas Ricketts office, a modest room, badge walls. Pictures of his family and the Cubs emblem hang from the wall. An autographed Billy Williams Bat hangs on the wall. Mr. Ricketts sits behind his oak desk, the young 22 year old Cubs General Manager Walter Yeates sits across from him in a stationary black chair. A casual grin on his face.]

"I can't believe what the Yankees are doing." Yeates made the comment while shaking his head.

"They're spending a lot of money." Ricketts replied nodding his head in response.

"First off they don't resign Jeter, which was a shock to me. I did what you asked a tried to sign him, but Detroit bettered an over priced seven year deal I offered. They they sign Adam Dunn who hit like 36 home runs last year to DH, then they sign Manny Ramirez, then they sign Christian Guzman." Yeates listed the names with the aid of his fingers and thought...

Their lineup is going to be Gardner, Cano, Tex, A-Rod, Dunn, Gunderson, Swisher, and Posada against Righties and Manny for Gunderson against Lefties...Wow...

"
They must be upset Boston went to the World Series, even though they lost to the Rockies." Ricketts responded...

"Yeah and the Rockies added Mark Reynolds to play third, they're only weakness. Tracy wasn't kidding about wanting to be a perennial powerhouse." Yeates shook his head again, almost in disbelief at the talent on that team.

"What do you think will become of your 5 Guns...I hear you and Wilken talk about them all the time."

Oh man, he wants to make sure I'm not rushing Ryan, Martinez, and Morgan to the bigs. Ryan is one pitch away from being a Ace at 20 and a Lefty, Martinez is a stud, Morgan can be unhittible. Wilken wanted me to take Robert Machado in the first round, but Ryan had the best Sinker and Slider in the whole draft...Israel Medina is from Chicago and cried when we took him in the 5th round. He told me he wanted to wear a Cubs uniform when we won the World Series, he's always been a Cubs fan and will start off in Iowa. Martinez and Morgan are 22. Morgan was a tough sign, for liking Chicago. I....

"Well, Walter?" Ricketts responded putting an elbow on the desk.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. I predict one of them to be the surprise and make the All Star team. Medina and Portillo will stay in the minors this year, unless injuries make it necessary." Walter responded confidently.

"Nothing could be as surprising as Felix Pie." Ricketts responded with a laugh.

He's right, I can't believe that kid made the All Star Team for Baltimore, who was still terrible. But, he hit 21 and drove in like 64 or something. It just got him traded to the Angels for Morales. The Angels fired Scotia after a bad year. I would have hired him if it wasn't for Madrid.

[As the silence grows on, Ricketts becomes noticeably curious over Yeates' answer.]

"Well..." Walter crosses a leg over the other.

"With five arms that can throw 98, we'll go far. Wilken didn't agree at all stages, he thought my round 50 choice was a throw away." Yeates retorted with his famous smirk.

"Sorry...But, who was that?" A stumped Ricketts responded.

"Luis Fajardo, he's only 20. Made the North American League All Star Team and hit .340 for third in the league." As Yeates spoke the smirk stayed on his face, proud of the pick.

Yeah, Fajardo was going to go to a Community College close to his hometown in Monroe and play ball there. He was stunned and pleased when we picked him. He said the money will help his parents who were recently laid off. He's the kind of Outfielder that can play each position.

"Are you bringing him up to the majors too?" Ricketts responded with an overly sarcastic tone in his voice.

Jerk.

[Yeates laughs.]

"No, he has a lot to work on. The kid may be talented, but he's a project." Walter said.

[Ricketts laughs.]

"To think you were upset with me until I signed Dye." Yeates continued.

[Ricketts laughs again.]

[Ricketts face abruptly turns serious.]

"I was ready to fire you..." Ricketts responded.

[Uncomfortable silence.]

[Ricketts breaks the silence by pointing and laughing at Walter who has a worried expression.]

"Just kidding my boy! I like you..." Ricketts furthered.

[Yeates relaxes.]

"But, I have to get going, have a family day planned and it's already 3:20." He continued.

"No problem boss, I'll keep a close eye on Spring Training and keep you updated." Yeates responded.

[Scene.]

SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2010, 03:58 PM   #2
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
March 17, 2011

I woke up today slightly second guessing my cutting of Jose Ceda, that young 24 Righty I claimed off of waivers last year from Baltimore early in the season. He was shelled at the bigs, shelled in AAA, and had just given up four runs in less than an inning against the Mets in Spring Training yesterday.

...He wasn't getting it done...

So, I called him yesterday and informed him of his release. Then later today I find out he was signed by First Securities in the Taiwanese leagues. Reminds me of John Grabow, I cut him before the new year and on the 6th I hear he was signed to close for the Boras Club in the European leagues. He's getting $645,000 for three years, after picking up $2 mil from us after his release. He made out this year, gets to move his family to Europe and stole money from this organization.

As I was hanging around some facilities in Arizona, I was looking to replace our Hitting Coach from Mandenville from our Jamaican Rookie League team, Gustavo Diaz said he wanted out. Luckily, 42 year old Ed Bright was in town. He runs a Baseball Summer camp in Arizona that works on Hitting and Fielding, and is known for working with young players and his great Hitting instruction.

He's from Oakland and spent five years playing in Korea after graduating from the University Of Oakland. I met with him yesterday and he agreed to become the Hitting Coach, claiming his wife would love the move to Jamaica. But, who wouldn't? He had formally coached in Korea for three seasons after he retired, but had been running his camp for around a dozen years.

I ran into Marlon Byrd on the 15th when we played the Braves, he was apart of a trade that sent he, Bobby Scales, Jeff Stevens, and Welington Castillo to the Braves and we received Reliever Kris Medlen, SS Edward Salcedo, and LF Adam Milligan on November 11. He was polite, he told me he liked the Braves and working for Ozzie Guillen. After Ozzie was fired from the North Side the Braves hired him to take over for the retiring Bobby Cox. He's definitely a different personality to have in that clubhouse.

It's too bad about Jason Heyward, he tore his ratator cuff on August 1st and tried to rehab, but he kept having setbacks and on February 2nd he had to retire. Everyone kept mentioning how he was a lock for the Hall, it's a shame for the Braves that this would happen. Heyward said with all the money he received from signing he'd start a small business and possibly get into coaching one day.


#Enter#

[On the field of the Cubs Spring Training facility, Walter stands there with an attractive brunette reporter standing by his side. They are just about ready to begin. She nods her head, raises her microphone as she turns towards Walter.]

"Emily Long, WZTN news here today with the youngest General Manager in Major League history, Walter Yeates of the Chicago Cubs. What have you thought about Spring Training so far Walter?" She began.

[Walter smirks, his hand on his hips.]

"We're six and oh right now, so I'm pleased on that front. I'm not happy with the Pitching and shook things up a bit yesterday." Walter replied.

"You mean the cutting of Jose Ceda?" She inflected.

[Disappointment shows on Walter's face.]

"Yes, unfortunately sometimes you have to cut players. I don't like it, but it comes with the job." Walter replied.

"What are some things that have pleased you so far with Spring Training?"

[The smile returns with a glimmer in his eye.]

"Zhi-fu Mei, almost every at bat ends with him nailing a line drive somewhere. He really has a fluid swing. His High School Manager, Xiao-yong Kim has been around to help him with his swing. Tyler Colvin is showing he really wants to make the team, Angel Guzman has been pitching very well. Justin [Morneau] has been hitting as well." He answered.

"We've heard stories that your manager sent his well wishes to new White Sox manager Jim Leyland." Emily began.
[Walter laughs.]

"Yes, he sent him a letter wishing the White Sox good luck. Jose is a good guy."

"While you mentioned Mei, are the stories about him asking Mark Grace, through his interpreter to wear number 17?"

[Walter smiles.]

"Yes. He grew up in Taiwan watching Cubs games whenever they would be on TV, he wanted to wear 17 since he's a Left Handed hitter like Grace. Gracie was happy to let him wear his number."

"Thank you Walter."

[Scene.]
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2010, 09:13 PM   #3
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
March 26, 2011

It's been busy, I had to make some moves or our bullpen was going to get destroyed this season. On the 19th I surprised everyone by signing Pedro Martinez, I made the move to help the bullpen and draw some interest in the South Side. Whether good or bad...it got people talking and flooding talk shows. It only cost us $550k for a year, so it's worth it, so far he's pitched in three Spring Training games without giving up a run. With opening day on April 11th, it's good to seem him getting some work. He was good for Cleveland last year, and I expect him to make the opening day roster if he keeps showing the ability to pitch out of jams and get batters out.

On the 20th I made some signs to help with depth in the minors, I don't expect any of these guys to be around after this season...26 year old Remo Adizzone can play the entire infield and will back up in Peoria. 35 year old Kosaku Kokura will back up at 2B in Daytona.

On the 22nd I made another minor league signing by bringing in 24 year old Jin-Woo Huang who can play the entire infield and Center. He'll back up in Daytona as well.

I forgot, on the 19th I made a trade. I sent Sam Fuld, who just can't hit a Fastball and was taking too many strikes right down the middle and the 35 year old Lefty Alberto Castillo to the Pirates. I didn't want Alberto on the Roster all season after taking him in the Rule 5. He wasn't pitching well in Spring either. The Pirates took them both, they seem to love fringe players.

In return I received a group of Minor League Relievers to add depth 21 year old Javier Fernandez and Lance Hoover. Along with 23 year old Nathan Baker and 27 year old Craig Hanson . I don't have high hopes for any of them, but I may be surprised. I had shopped Fuld around a lot during the off season, we have way too many Outfield prospects and he was getting near 30, despite a great 2010 campaign at Iowa and some solid play in the bigs. He was expendable, and well Castillo isn't what I was hoping.

After watching Lefty Michael Dunn struggle and wanting to carry three lefties in the bullpen during the season, and thinking our 1st overall pick Darryl Ryan wasn't quite ready at 20 for the bigs. We made a surprise sign and I decided to pick up Dontrelle Willis to a one year deal for the minimum earlier today. I had offered him a minor league deal on the 17th, but he quickly turned it down. Last night I offered him this deal and he jumped on it.

I spoke with him and let him know he was going to have a fair shot to make the team if he pitched well and if not he'd go to Iowa and we'd see if we would need him during the season. He agreed and looked forward to the opportunity to resurrect his career. Deep down I was hoping he could find his 22 win season form again, as if he did we'd have a steal.

Unfortunately, on March 17th Reed Johnson hurt his shoulder sliding into a base and we lost him for 3 weeks. I still plan on having him on the opening day roster, hopefully I will be able to keep six outfielders. Jose likes the idea of having that many tools in the field.

On the 21st Carl Crawford showed why he won a Gold Glove last year in the bottom of the 6th with a 1-0 lead on the Diamondbacks he robbed Chris Synder by making a full extension dive. Two pitches later he made a running leaping catch to rob Rusty Ryal. I spoke to him after the game and gave him a high five for flashing the leather. We ended up winning 1-0.

On the 24th against the Pirates we would win 14-0. Antonio Colon would have two Home Runs one from each side of the plate, the first in the top of the 6th against the recently traded Alberto Castillo he took him 388 feet out to the left center gap for a three run shot, showing off his power from the right hand side. The other in the top of the 7th off of DJ Carrasco to the Right Center gap and it was a blast going 430 feet. Everyone leaned out the dugout to watch that ball fly. That's what our scouts in Mexico were talking about!

Mei has started to struggle a bit, his High School manager is leaving at the end of the month. Our Hitting Coach Carl Lee has started to work with Wei on getting his Heel down and not opening up his shoulders.

#Scene#

[Walter Yeates is standing inside of his office at the Arizona Spring Training facility. Cubs Manager Jose Madrid sits in a chair across from him, wearing his skippers attire. Both seem relaxed.]

[Walter paces around the room.]

"We need to figure out this bullpen, we're ten and four now, mostly due to our relievers not coming through." Yeates began.

[Jose quick to respond.]

"Kris Medlen and the rookie Martinez have been pitching well. I've been shocked that Pedro is getting people out now." Madrid added.

[Walter looks over at his manager.]

"So am I, it should be good for the bullpen if he can make the team. He knows a lot about the game. Maybe he can help Dontrelle." Walter stated.

[A look of doubt comes over the Cubs Managers' face.]

"I don't know, when he flies in tomorrow he's going to have a bullpen session with Horace [Brown, Cubs Pitching Coach]. Greg [Maddux] will be there as well to get a gauge on how he's throwing. I don't have high hopes for him honestly." Jose confessed.

[Walter shrugs, not bothered by the comment.]

"It's worth a shot Jose, it's worth a shot. We need another Lefty, I think Dunn showed us both he isn't ready for the bigs. Elbert has been a little shaky too." Yeates responded.

[Madrid quick to respond.]

"Russell has been lights out! He'll probably be the guy I need to get out quality Lefty Bats. Zhong hasn't been really bad, we've been trying to work with him. He was great last year, but he's lost all his control." Jose continued.

[Yeates nods.]
"He had a 2 era for us last year, and now he's lost it. Saito hasn't been great either. Guzman is tailing off, I'm worried about the bullpen. I think our rotation is going to be great, Kang has really come along. Parra is going to be special, Big Z could win 20 this year. We just need people to get the ball to Marmol." Yeates worried.

[Jose nods.]

"We'll work on it Walter, I'm leaving nothing to chance." Jose responded.

[Scene.]

Last edited by SmoothGentleman; 05-31-2010 at 09:17 PM.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2010, 02:29 AM   #4
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
April 10, 2011

We ended up going 16-8 through the Spring, only the Yankees (17-7) were better. The Twins and Angels also shared our record, the troubles came after our last game on April 4th when I got together with the Coaching Staff, Tim Wilken, and Director of Player Development Oneri Fleita to decide who would make the 25 Man Opening Day Roster. 33 year old Javier Marquez and 37 year old Van Gates (the new Manager and Pitching Coach of our Scotsdale Guides Rookie League Team) were assistants for Spring Training along with Greg Maddux, all would take part on the meetings.

We had secret meetings on the 6th, as I had to fly out to Melbourne Florida on the 7th to watch the Bouckville College Demolition face the Melbourne Beach College Squadron. This was the opening day for Champions College Baseball, meaning Sean Bell (The Indians unsigned 1st Round, 5th overall pick) would be making his debut for Bouckville at SS. I wanted to get a good look at the kid. I'm going to be going to some College games throughout the year, accompanied by scouts. Tim actually went with me to the game.

...Back To The Roster...

Russ Cantzler 1B/LF(Ok Spring, the outfield is just full and he needs some at bats) was sent to AAA Iowa

As Was

Josh Vitters 3B(Had a good Spring, just wouldn't get many at bats)

Matt Matulia 2B, 3B, SS(Terrible Hitting Spring, showed good skills in the Field)

Robinson Chirinos C, 1B, 2B, SS(Ok Spring, was just there as a 3rd Catcher so Soto and Melina wouldn't overwork)

Scott Elbert Lefty MR(13.50 ERA, Enough Said. Will start in AAA to work on his pitches.)

Jeff Gray MR(Terrible Spring after a great season last year, lost open competition)

Randy Wells SP, MR(Terrible Spring, really struggled again. Will start in AAA)

Our 1st Round Draft Pick last year Darryl Ryan was sent to Double AA Tennessee with Lefty MR Michael Dunn.

Dunn was horrible and Ryan was decent. He'll make four starts in AA before heading to AAA. Will be a starter as we try to develop him a new pitch. He probably will be called up sometime this year for a quality Lefty in the bullpen.

Those two moves were announced on the 7th, the rest on the 8th. Here's the players who were cut or designated.

Travis Ishikawa 1B was put on Waivers(Claimed by the Angels on the 9th, didn't hit too well in the Spring and was out of options. Didn't have a place in AAA really either, so we decided to waive him. Weren't looking for a lefty to back up lefty Justin Morneau. Hitting Coach Carl Lee wanted to keep him around.)

Pedro Martinez MR (14.14 ERA, Maddux was straight forward and told us Pedro didn't have it anymore and may be a problem in the clubhouse. He started off well, but started getting hit hard. He gave up a 440 foot Home Run to Ron Howard and it tanked from there. He was Waived and Designated after refusing a AAA Demotion.)

Wen Zhong MR(Walked way too many people in the Spring, the staff was shocked when he refused a AAA Demotion. He had a 2.08 ERA for us last season in 40 games. His mechanics got bad and his velocity dropped from 97 to around 89. His control grew worse and the 30 year old just tanked. We wanted to keep him in the system but he refused the assignment. We Waived and Designated him.)

Angel Guzman MR(7.84 Era with 11BB in 10 1/3. I was furious when arbitration gave him $3 million for this season when we offered what I thought was a fair $875k for someone who has been often injured. So, with his Spring and him being out of options we Waived and Designated him.)

The 2011 Opening Day Roster is As Follows(Batting Order for RHP)

L Carl Crawford LF
R Starlin Castro SS
R Aramas Ramirez 3B(Great Spring)
L Justin Morneau 1B(Very Good Spring)
L Zhi-fu Mei 2B(Struggled But Will turn it around)
R Geovany Soto C(Solid Spring)
S Antonio Colon CF(Great Spring 6 HR's 2 Grand Slams)
L Kosuke Fukudome RF(Great Spring)

Bench

Jermaine Dye RF(Good Spring, Starts in Right against Lefties)
Reed Johnson OF(Missed two weeks of Spring with Separated Shoulder, starts against Lefties in Center)
Jose Molina C(Ok Spring, will play his roll well)
Tyler Colvin OF(Good Spring, back stiffness caused him to miss some games. Will get plenty of starts this season)
Darwin Barney SS(Ok Spring, worked him at 2B and 3B so he could sub at those positions as well. Will be out utility IF)

Starting Pitchers(In Order)

Kang "The Monster" Zhang(He and Mei were teammates on the Chinese Trust team that won the Championship in Taiwan last year. One reporter from the country will be at each Cub game to follow he and Mei. Which is nothing compared to the 6 for the Rays who signed DH Qi-Chai Ow or "Oggie" who won the Taiwan Outstanding Hitter Award and the other Chinese Trust export Fo-hian Zhou who will play LF for them.)

L Manny Parra(Was Amazing in the Spring could turn into something special if his elbow holds up and he works on his mechanics to get his velocity up. He could turn into a 20 game winner if he keeps up. Maddux worked with him a great deal.)

Carlos "Big Z" Zambrano(We expect 16-18 wins from him, especially if he has a 2.90 ERA again. Had a good Spring. Pitching Coach Horace Brown helped him with mechanics in the Spring to continue his success.)

Derrek Lowe(Was good in the Spring, hoping for 15 wins from him.)

Ryan Dempster(Was solid in the Spring, hope for 15 from him as well.)

Bullpen

Kris Medlen(Great Spring)

L James Russell(Good Spring, beat out the other Lefties for a Spot)

Jose Martinez(Our 2nd Round Draft Pick in 2010 and one of the "5 Guns". Was great in the Spring, earned his spot.)

L Dontrelle Willis(All the hits he gave up were light ground balls. There was some debate here, some felt Elbert may have been better. But, it came down to Willis getting good movement and showing past flashes.)

Set Up Men

Takashi Saito(The 40 year old started rough, but ended up pitching well. Will be solid this year.)

Tommy Morgan(One of the 5 Guns, his 1.54 Era beat out other 5 Gun Martinez's 2.16 and Marmol's 1.69 for Spring Bullpen lead. None touched Parra's .48 era. There was some debate as he had control issues at first. But, he settled down. Both he and Martinez are 22 the second youngest on the team behind Starlin Castro. Mei is also only 23, all have important roles.)

Closer

Carlos Marmol(Great Spring)

...Now Back To The Games...

Bell went 2-4(1 Double) and had an Error as Bouckville won 15-5. He also had two walks. The kid showed promise, just needs to work on his footwork out at Short. Wilken was impressed with him as well.

On the 8th I went to Moblie to watch our Smokies take on the Mobile Bay Rays. Hung Wen Chen went 7, gave up no runs and had 7ks, along with no walks and 5 hits. The Smokies won 3-1. I liked what I saw the new Manager Jeremy Williams had them playing well.

Today, I had a short call from Mr. Ricketts, he told me he only expected the team to play .500 ball. I definitely won't settle for that and it played on my mind so much, I didn't even bother to watch opening day an the Rays beat the Yankees.

I decided to get on the phone with Cubs Manager Jose Madrid...I, suggested he give the team a speech tomorrow before we play the Brewers in Milwaukee. I'm going to be in the locker room and think the team needs some motivation for the year.

[Scene.]
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2010, 04:39 PM   #5
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
Bad News

After my last save, the game crashes during loading. I entered a support ticket, but somehow I doubt it will help...
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2010, 01:19 AM   #6
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
Update

I've restarted, the back story will remain the same. I am simming the first year and my first update will be during the offseason and talk about all of our moves.

All the leagues are the same other than adding another fictional DII High School Champions League(Did away with the YAA). I also added the Israeli Summer League(fictional) for some Major League teams and added the Dominican Summer Leagues for some teams. Also, added DII and DIII for Champions College Baseball.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2010, 06:23 PM   #7
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
Here's the small update, after this post everything will be in-character once more.

We went 68-94...I fired Lou and Allan after the season, Ryne Sandberg became the new manager.

Our Rookie League teams in the DSL and AZL leagues won titles. Theriot had a terrible season hitting .248 so I let him go, Baker is gone as well. Our starting pitching was 4th in the NL until about September when it dropped to 9th our Bullpen ERA was about last all season, so I signed some foreign relief arms during the off season.

Our 1st Round Draft Pick Quinton Hooton, wanted a big contract and signing bonus. He is a solid Left Handed Starting Pitcher, we didn't sign him or our 44th or 45th round pick who were both high school pitchers that ended up going to DII schools in the Championship Leagues. Hooton (22) will play a year in the Championship League Championship Division before entering the draft again.

We traded for Cliff Lee Mid-Season as Seattle was begging to get rid of he and Bedard. He pitched well, but the bullpen was terrible. The Cards ended up signing him giving us another 1st round selection. Soriano had a terrible season but we couldn't trade him. We traded Byrd to the Yankees, who added Rafael Soriano, Jeremy Affedlt, and Antonio Rodriguez(EBL Closer) to bolster their bullpen.

They lost to a Albert-less Cards team in the World Series in seven games. In the EBL the Galatsion Snowstorm (Greece) lost to the Makiyivka Offenders in 8 games(EBL has 9 game Championship series). The Snowstorm had a payroll over 170 million while the Offenders had one around 70 million.

Former Cub Henry "Oh Henry" Rodriguez became the new Hitting Coach at the Rookie League team Grand Marais Bluffers after Cole Alexander didn't want to resign. Jose Madrid and Carl Lee moved to the Manager and Hitting Coach of AA Tennessee. Horace Brown was to become the Manager in Iowa, but he ended up retiring. Madrid almost became the Bench Coach of the Cubs, but veteran Brian Butterfield came in, having 24 years experience coaching.

Our big signing was Left Handed Bat Lee tai hoi Li from Taiwan to play in Center Field, not a hustler, but has some power. He's 27 and may work out. Left Hander Tzu-jao Xu the 32 year old from Taiwan who lit it up last year along with, Paco Perez who didn't pitch in 2010 after not making the Cracow Conquest in the EBL, and Righty Bruno Casinhas from the Mexican Leagues were brought in to help the bullpen. We traded Tom G. to the Angels for Maizcer Isturis who will probably start at 2B.

James Adduci(had a great 2010), Sam Fuld, Soriano, and Tyler Colvin are all competing to start in Left Field after Sori's .228 2010 campaign. Colvin hit .199 in 2010, Fuld .259 and Adduci .281.

Finally, we drafted Nate Schierholtz in the Rule 5 and he will back up Fuke in Right Field.

We also have 4 Catchers competing for two spots. Soto only went .246 and the average only got that high in September. Hill hit .250 and the two split time. Francisco Cervelli(Received in Bradley trade) and Wellington Castillo are also competing.

Bradley was traded mainly due to injuries. His production was okay, but not great. He just kept getting injured. Ricketts hasn't given me any money for free agents or I would have went after the huge EBL bat Arnold "Pongo" Noordijk.

The Cards also brought in Manny Ramirez, which is awesome he'll kill the chemistry.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-09-2010, 04:19 PM   #8
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
[Opening Day] April 10, 2011

Spring Training saw us make a lot of moves, first we traded to get Kyle Farnsworth back in a Cubs uniform. Myself and Rhyno were terrified with the thought of having Jeff Stevens on the opening day roster, after struggling during the Spring.

After watching A-Ram have two errors in a game, without showing any remorse or care I had enough. I immediately got on the phone and called Cashman. I hate dealing with the Yankees, but they are willing to make moves. They were willing to take on his big contract, in return we picked up Adrian Lucero, a 36 year old 3B the Yankees signed from the Mexican league.

More fans appreciated the move than not, while Lucero isn't proven at this level he has tons of power and plays with passion. A-Ram had a decent 2010 campaign, but I couldn't keep that attitude around. This allowed me to sign Macier's older brother another former Cub, Cesar. Castro was having a terrible Spring at the plate and neither I nor the staff felt it would have been wise to have him be on a big league roster. Juan Cabreja, our Arizona League Manager(who won a title in 2010), worked on the Spring Training staff, spending hours with Castro, but nothing came from it. We ended up sending he and Tyler Colvin(who hit a sad .154 during the Spring, after a .199 2010 campaign) to AAA Iowa Preseason camp before the conclusion of the Spring.

The Ramirez trade also included, Sam Fuld(who wasn't going to win the LF position or a roster spot after struggling), Jason Dubois, and 1B Javier Gomez to the Yankees, in return for "Bubby" Lucero and Minor League 2B Corban Joseph. Who will start the season in Peoria. The deal also freed up over $5 mil in cap space for us to work.

Maicer Izturis hit around .375 during the Spring, enough to earn him the starting 2B job next to his brother Cesar at SS. Cesar had a good Spring after playing 7 games in India during the winter.

We also signed 28 year, and career minor league outfielder James Tomlin, who had yet to play a game in the majors. He had a great Spring after coming in late and made the team. The same for Josh Barfield who played in the Dominican Winter League after being released by the Indians during the winter. Barfield can play a lot of positions and will be valuable.

Paco Perez ended up getting cut, he was a waste of a million bucks! I'm not sure how he ever got involved in baseball, the bum couldn't hit the strikezone from thirty feet away! Most of our high valued foreign signs struggled in the Spring, which causes some concern for the bullpen.

While Li barely hit over .200(.204) he drove in 11 and had 2 homers. He also walked a lot, I feel like he could be the key for this team. Bobby Scales had a terrible Spring, almost getting designated. Fontenot didn't have a great spring, which is why Maicer beat him out, Fontenot will play backup at 2B and 3B. While being called upon in emergencies to play SS. So, he will get about two starts a week.

Soto, surprised me and won the starting Catcher job, it was a toss up between Hill and Cervelli for the back up position, but Cervelli put up better numbers. We luckily snuck Hill through waivers.

I also had a sit down conversation with Rhyno, I told him I was taking a hands on approach and would be writing out the lineups until we started struggling. I wasn't please with the way Lou managed last year, so I wanted to put the players out there. He wasn't thrilled, but promised to keep this away from the players and the press.

I called Jerry Hairston Sr.(Our new Iowa Manager) and told him I would do the same for Iowa from time to time, especially if I wanted to see a player in action. We ended up going 11-13 in the Spring, but Berg had a 1.80 Era(after giving up two on the final Spring Training game) and Thomas Diamond pitched his way on the team as well, after being brilliant.

Here's how our lineup against Righties will look:

Kosuke Fukudome RF
Maicer Izturis(Switch) 2B
Derrekk Lee (Hit over .400 in the Spring) 1B
Adrian "Bubby" Lucero(Switch) 3B
Lee tai hoi Li CF
Geovany Soto(Right) C
Cesar Izturis(Switch) SS
Nate Schierholtz LF

[Lefties Unmarked]

Against Lefties:

Maicer Izturis(Switch) 2B
James Tomlin CF
Derrek Lee 1B
Adrian Lucero (Switch) 3B
Alfonso Soriano (Hit .239 in Spring but had 9 RBI's) LF
Geovany Soto C
Cesar Izturis (Switch) SS
Josh Barfield RF

[Righties Unmarked)

The rest of the position players are:

Mike Fontenot 2B, 3B, SS
Fransisco Cervelli C


Starting Pitchers:

Carlos Silva
Ted Lilly (Lefty)
Carlos Zambrano
Ryan Dempster
Randy Wells

(Righties Unmarked)

Middle Relief:

Tzu-jao Xu (Not a good Spring) [Lefty]
Kyle Farnsworth (1.15 Era in Spring)
Justin Berg (1.80 Spring Era)
Thomas Diamond (2.45 Spring Era)

(Righties Unmarked)

Set-Up Men:

Bruno Casinhas(8.59 Spring Era)
Angel Guzman(5.73 Spring Era)

Closer:

Carlos Marmol(2.45 Spring Era)

I announced that I would attend every Cubs home game this year and most of the away games. To add some spirit to the team, I also announced that I will be seen in a Cubs cap anytime I'm seen in public. I have to admit, I am very nervous about the season. The Cards have to play awhile without Albert, and I think we are level with every team in the division. We just have a lot of questions to answer. Especially with having 3 members of the Taiwanese press traveling with us and 4 from the Mexican press to cover foreign player Lee tai Hoi Li, Tzu-jao Xu, and Adrian Lucero.

I'll probably watch the Yankees and Rays game tonight to calm my nerves.




Last edited by SmoothGentleman; 07-09-2010 at 06:24 PM.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2010, 03:59 AM   #9
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
April 19, 2010

Our first seven games have been very interesting, watching opening day at Wrigley was exciting. The game ended turned into a pitching duel between Carlos Silva and Javier Vazquez. Our new third baseman earned his first hit and RBI during the game.

The game would be full of drama, Jonathan Broxton, last years Cy Young winner in the National League came on in the bottom of the 9th to preserve a 2-2 lead.

Soto began the the inning with a Single, Soriano came in as a Pitch Runner. Cesar Izturis came to the plate and fought Broxton to a 2-2 count. Then he lined a Double to the Left Field corner, Soriano broke immediately and would score! Cesar began the year with a walk off Double! April 11th was a great beginning of the season.

The 12th wasn't as good, James Tomlin earned his first hit of his career. Even though we had a few chances to get back into the game, Soriano earned three hits and his first homerun.

That would be our only run as an error in right by Josh Barfield would end up being our doom. Lilly only gave up two earned runs, but those were enough as Xu gave up two and Marmol got nailed for 4. We lost 10-1.

The 13th was more of the same, errors by Cesar Izturis and Soto spelled the doom for Zambrano, Soto had two bases stolen on him. Sandberg made some interesting decisions, when in the 6th he decided to intentionally walk Loney with Matt Kemp on second to pitch to Russell Martin.

That didn't work well, as it was almost a mirror of the previous day, a double steal was on the first pitch and again the throw went to third and Soto couldn't get the out. Martin grounded out to Lucero at third allowing Kemp to score. I almost threw my cap to the ground after seeing Kemp steal third again and score.

Li had his first hit in the 7th, which was also his first homer as he drilled one to right field. Unfortunately, we lost 9-2.

We had the day off on the 14th and the Nationals came into town the next day. Dempster was awesome going 7 and not giving up anything. Zimmerman struck out 12. Soto couldn't throw out another baserunner, but we took the game 3-0.

The 16th was another dramatic game. Silva didn't pitch well, it took Lee in the bottom of the 9th to hit a 2 run Homer to take it to extras. After Marmol gave up three in the top of the 9th, getting his first blown save and another bad outing. Li who came on as a pitch hitter in the 8th and stayed on to play RF became the hero.

He blistered a 3 Run Homer to right after Barfield earned a walk and Pitcher Thomas Diamond hit a single. The blast was 409 ft, it was only Li's second hit of the year and both have been blasts to right. From what I've seen, our Asian scouting director Marcus Myer was spot on about Li, his bat speed is incredible. He has a very long swing, but the power is there almost every ball has been a line drive somewhere.

The 18th was another win for the Cubs, Lilly came in and went 8 and only gave up three while Guzman came in and got the save. Li had his first base hit that wasn't a homer and it was a double that scored two runners. Cervelli started at Catcher after Soto left more baserunners on in scoring position and didn't throw out another baserunner. Fukudome had three hits a homer and two RBIs. Lucero pulled an oblique running the bases, luckily he'll only be out for five days.

We took the game 6-3 and I joined the team on a trip to St. Louis for a three game set over four days. The 18th was more frustration for Zambrano, Derrick Lee had two errors at first giving Zambrano two unearned runs, while he only gave up one. Former Cub Cliff Lee was on their mound and Li decided to jack another homer in the 2nd after I told Sanberg to start him against the lefty, Lee struggled last year against other lefties. Li shortened his swing and went the other way to left for a 374 foot homer. That was his third homer and his seventh RBI.

Farnsworth gave up three and Berg gave up one from the 7th on and gave St. Louis the 7-2 win. Our bullpen isn't performing well, today is the off day. The Taiwanese reporters were in Li's face wanting to talk about his slugging start even though he's only hitting .238 with all extra base hits besides a single.

I sat in my hotel, deciding to give the players and coaches a break as it was early in the season. I have my worries about Berg and will be paying attention to Cashner's next start in Iowa, if he pitches well I could call him up for Berg who has no confidence in his Sinker.


SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2010, 09:38 PM   #10
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
April 21, 2010 [Showing Some Fire]

I may have gotten myself into a little trouble, we defeated the Cards 14-4 in their park on the 20th. Maicer had 4 RBI's hitting a Grand Slam and his 2nd Homer in the ninth. His brother Cesar also had 3 RBI's. Tomlin had a pitch hit single to drive in two.

Dempster went seven, he did give up four, but it was plenty enough for the win. We lost 10-4 on the next day, Wells gave up four in five innings. Diamond gave up 3, Berg gave up 1, and Xu gave up 2 as well. I was so frustrated I threw my Cubs hat on the ground and the media picked it up.

BSN Reporter Clair Kim caught up with me after the game and asked me what I thought about the game and that she noticed me throwing my hat down:

Clair, I'm not sure how "THAT" team took two out of three games. Pujols (Albert) isn't going to be in the lineup for at least two months, if every again. Our Daytona Single A team has more talent than their major league roster. It's embarrassing to lose to a team without a single player I'd sign! I guarantee they won't win the division much less repeat. This is the Cubs year.

I admit I was frustrated with the game and Cesar getting hurt, with preliminary reports from trainer O'Neil saying that he'd probably need a DL stint. Knowing Clair, she'll bash me for being twenty-three and being frustrated, and La Russa will definitely respond.

We travel to Houston for three games, on the plain ride to Houston I decided to look over our Roving staff:

1B Coach: Ivan De Jesus
3B Coach: Mike Quade
Bullpen Coach: Andrew Lorraine(Former Cub)
Coach: Andrew Dawson(Former Cub)

Minor League Fielding Coordinator: Dave Bialas
Minor League Hitting Coordinator: Dave Keller
Minor League Pitching Coordinator: Horace Brown(Retired from active coaching to spend more time with family)[Signed to position in January]
Minor League Infield Coordinator: Franklin Font
Minor League Catching Coordinator: Mike Hubbard(former Cubs Player)
Minor League Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Bob Dernier

Scouts:

Director, International Scouting: Paul Weaver
South American Scouting Director: Jose Franco
European Scouting Director: Chris Little
Asian Scouting Director: Sojuro Echi

Dave Keller spent a good amount of time in the Dominican Republic during the winter working with our 5th round pick now 18 year old(17 when we drafted him) Felicio Zonta who will play 2B for the DSL Cubs. He rented an apartment down there (from Brazil, played his Junior and Senior years playing ball at Waterville Highschool in Waterville, Washington) after signing his $210,000 signing bonus. He almost begged me and anyone to get some work.

Keller and our DSL Hitting Coach Eduardo Ortiz worked with him a good deal, he impressed a lot of people with his work ethic after not playing in the minors last year. We had him work a great deal at our Australia facility with the staff there for awhile.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow the backlash of my comments, hopefully it will light a fire underneath my players.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2010, 03:30 PM   #11
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
OOC: I installed the new patch, and the injury history rating is now off. So, only other ratings can be seen.

Also..I added winter leagues in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia. Also, I will probably add a few more American independent leagues. I added the winter leagues for a place for players to get more experience, and it will be explained in the story on how they came about.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2010, 07:17 PM   #12
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
May 1, 2011

I was correct, before our game against Houston on the 22nd, I received a notice from my secretary (as I went back to Chicago for the upcoming Met series on the 26th).

Larussa fired into me, he called me "Young" "Naive" and my favorite quote was:

...Hiring this Yeates kid as GM, shows why the Cubs haven't won a World Series in a century...

That didn't hurt as much as our 13-1 loss to Houston, then on the 23rd we drilled them 7-3, and lost again on the 24th. Well my spirits were raised by the sweep of the Mets through the 26-28.

Unfortunately, we were swept by the Brewers right after. I started to hit the phones tonight, I knew I had to make a deal and SOON to give this team something.


SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-27-2010, 05:04 AM   #13
SmoothGentleman
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 394
I'm still playing, and will turn to this dynasty after the MLB season is over. It shouldn't be too long, some interesting things have gone down.
SmoothGentleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:55 AM.

 

Major League and Minor League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com and MiLB.com.

Officially Licensed Product – MLB Players, Inc.

Out of the Park Baseball is a registered trademark of Out of the Park Developments GmbH & Co. KG

Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.

Apple, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

COPYRIGHT © 2023 OUT OF THE PARK DEVELOPMENTS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Out of the Park Developments