The Facegen Thread

[Amazin69]

Yeah, I was surprised to see that Bowman/Topps was still airbrushing in "painted" pics as late as '91. Thanks for your work, as always.

[Amazin69]

No idea why the AI liked this next guy. He wasn't a high draft pick (38th Round, 1987, out of Long Beach [CA] CC), he didn't post big strikeout numbers or an impressive WHIP or K/W rate, and he washed out of the pros after he lost the strike zone on his promotion to Lakeland in the FSL. Finished at age 23.

Perhaps the AI shares my fondness for guys named "Ed Ferm". I didn't realize it had such as sense of whimsy, though. But this is all speculative…it's not as if I'm on Ferm ground here, I'll admit.

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

No idea why the AI liked this next guy. He wasn't a high draft pick (38th Round, 1987, out of Long Beach [CA] CC), he didn't post big strikeout numbers or an impressive WHIP or K/W rate, and he washed out of the pros after he lost the strike zone on his promotion to Lakeland in the FSL. Finished at age 23.

Perhaps the AI shares my fondness for guys named "Ed Ferm". I didn't realize it had such as sense of whimsy, though. But this is all speculative…it's not as if I'm on Ferm ground here, I'll admit.

Attachment 566799

here you go.

[Amazin69]

The Detroit AI is making some interesting suggetions. Dan Raley played at Wichita State alongside his big brother, Tim (who is in the school's Hall of Fame), but went one further than Tim, leading the Wheatshockers to the 1988 College World Series after Tim had graduated and was playing in the Brewers' chain.

Raley had a strong 1989 at Fayetteville (.281/.401/.399) but washed out at Lakeland the following year and instead went into coaching. (He's in coaching for so long that almost all of his baseball cards are coach cards.) Currently, he's the head coach of the Metro Senators, a Northern Virginia travel team.

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

The Detroit AI is making some interesting suggetions. Dan Raley played at Wichita State alongside his big brother, Tim (who is in the school's Hall of Fame), but went one further than Tim, leading the Wheatshockers to the 1988 College World Series after Tim had graduated and was playing in the Brewers' chain.

Raley had a strong 1989 at Fayetteville (.281/.401/.399) but washed out at Lakeland the following year and instead went into coaching. (He's in coaching for so long that almost all of his baseball cards are coach cards.) Currently, he's the head coach of the Metro Senators, a Northern Virginia travel team.

Attachment 566986

Dan Raley per request. Image seems a tad off, but the more I tinkered the worse it got. Looks good though at game size.....

[Libid21]

Any chance I could get one of Ronald Acuna?



The link isn't coming up for some reason, but here's a direct link to his picture on MLB.com:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...31199952742329

[Outlaw Jim]

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[Outlaw Jim]

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[Outlaw Jim]

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[CM_Balkoth]

Looking for a directory of FG files, specifically random people of all ages for a fantasy league. Thanks.

[Amazin69]

Sheesh, over a month again. I mean, no surprise that I quit posting just then (I had a lot on my plate that week), but it's been too long since. Anyhow…

The Mets' 25th-round draft pick in 1986, John Thoden chose not to sign, attending North Carolina instead. When he went to the Cape Cod league in the summer of 1988, he pitched so well (9-1 and 2.43 for Wareham, winning the Outstanding Pitcher Award) that he was inducted into the league's Hall of Fame in 2005. (Fellow inductees in that class included Tim Teufel and Mic-KEY Mor-AND-ini [/Kalas])

Returning to Chapel Hill for his junior season, he went 12-1 and pitched the Tar Heels to the College World Series. This led the Expos to take him in the 11th round, and Thoden thought that was good enough, bypassing his senior year in order to turn pro. He made one start for Jamestown in the NY-Penn league, throwing four good innings in his debut.

In 1990, the Expos started him at Rockford in the Midwest league, where he posted some nice numbers (2.28 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 8.8 K/9) in 12 starts, earning a promotion to West Palm Beach. But the Florida State League proved more difficult, as the ERA saw a slight increase (3.30) while the K/9 showed a severe decrease, down to 5.1.

1991 was more of the same, as Thoden could only manage a 4.6 K/9 in the FSL. The Expos tried bumping him up to Harrisburg in the Eastern League, but he couldn't recover his strikeout pitch, only managing a 5.0 K/9 rate. Mind you, everything else was still fine (his WHiP was now well under 1.00, as he only walked 4 batters in 58.2 innings at West Palm), but the Expos had no taste for 24-year-old nibblers, no matter how effective, and cut him loose.

And nobody else wanted Thoden, either. He landed with the independent Salt Lake Trappers of the Pioneer League, going 9-3 with a 1.74 ERA, second-best in the league. And still nobody wanted his lack of putaway pitches, so the next year (1993) found Thoden out of organized baseball altogether, with the independent St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. He was still effective (6-4, 2.76; 1.16 WHIP), still didn't draw any interest because of his mediocre strikeout totals (6.4 K/9) and finally hung them up.

As a control pitcher, Thoden struck out, in other words.

[timthemusicman]

Can you make one for me please?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nCu9h78c4DJJeE3n8

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Sheesh, over a month again. I mean, no surprise that I quit posting just then (I had a lot on my plate that week), but it's been too long since. Anyhow…

The Mets' 25th-round draft pick in 1986, John Thoden chose not to sign, attending North Carolina instead. When he went to the Cape Cod league in the summer of 1988, he pitched so well (9-1 and 2.43 for Wareham, winning the Outstanding Pitcher Award) that he was inducted into the league's Hall of Fame in 2005. (Fellow inductees in that class included Tim Teufel and Mic-KEY Mor-AND-ini [/Kalas])

Returning to Chapel Hill for his junior season, he went 12-1 and pitched the Tar Heels to the College World Series. This led the Expos to take him in the 11th round, and Thoden thought that was good enough, bypassing his senior year in order to turn pro. He made one start for Jamestown in the NY-Penn league, throwing four good innings in his debut.

In 1990, the Expos started him at Rockford in the Midwest league, where he posted some nice numbers (2.28 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 8.8 K/9) in 12 starts, earning a promotion to West Palm Beach. But the Florida State League proved more difficult, as the ERA saw a slight increase (3.30) while the K/9 showed a severe decrease, down to 5.1.

1991 was more of the same, as Thoden could only manage a 4.6 K/9 in the FSL. The Expos tried bumping him up to Harrisburg in the Eastern League, but he couldn't recover his strikeout pitch, only managing a 5.0 K/9 rate. Mind you, everything else was still fine (his WHiP was now well under 1.00, as he only walked 4 batters in 58.2 innings at West Palm), but the Expos had no taste for 24-year-old nibblers, no matter how effective, and cut him loose.

And nobody else wanted Thoden, either. He landed with the independent Salt Lake Trappers of the Pioneer League, going 9-3 with a 1.74 ERA, second-best in the league. And still nobody wanted his lack of putaway pitches, so the next year (1993) found Thoden out of organized baseball altogether, with the independent St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. He was still effective (6-4, 2.76; 1.16 WHIP), still didn't draw any interest because of his mediocre strikeout totals (6.4 K/9) and finally hung them up.

As a control pitcher, Thoden struck out, in other words.

Attachment 573615

Here it is - I am VERY pleased with this one. I did widen the face a bit to make it look better in game....

EDIT: Added a second copy naming the file with the BBRef Minor League ID

James

[Outlaw Jim]

Been doing these for fun lately - facegens are cool, but after a while players begin to look a like - so I created this using the fg file I just created.

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by timthemusicman

Can you make one for me please?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nCu9h78c4DJJeE3n8

I do not see a photo at this link - please attach a copy of the image here to make it easier.

James

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by Libid21

Any chance I could get one of Ronald Acuna?



The link isn't coming up for some reason, but here's a direct link to his picture on MLB.com:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...31199952742329

Here is one I just did for you - I have also attached on that I had on my computer from the minor league facegen collection

[timthemusicman]

Originally Posted by Outlaw Jim

I do not see a photo at this link - please attach a copy of the image here to make it easier.

James

https://imgur.com/a/Klw5gJh

[Outlaw Jim]

Originally Posted by timthemusicman

https://imgur.com/a/Klw5gJh

Per your request:

[Amazin69]

Hugh Kemp got a lot of good advice. His pitching coach at DeKalb (GA) College was his dad, Bill, and they did good enough work that Hugh moved from the two-year school to pitching for the University of Georgia, where he was successful enough that Cincinnati made him their 13th-round pick in 1983.

Then, he tore through the Pioneer league in his rookie half-season, going 9-3, 2.21 and posting 11.3 K/9, helped out by a 20-strikeout game, as the Billings Mustangs (also featuring Rob Dibble and Kurt Stillwell) romped to the league title. With Cedar Rapids in 1984, Kemp was less phenomenal, but still good (11-9, 2.79, K/9 of over 8), and in 1985 he went all the way from Tampa (A) to Vermont (AA) to Denver (AAA), going a cumulative 12-7 and being promoted to the 40-man roster (along with Joe Oliver, Tracy Jones, and others) ahead of the Rule V draft.

He also got a brief consultation with Sandy Koufax just before he left Tampa (the T-Reds were playing the Vero Beach Dodgers and Koufax was helping them), which really didn't amount to much more than "work hard, keep your head down, and keep your mouth shut", but still, it's good to hear that from Koufax, after all. Things were looking good.

Except that Kemp didn't make the Reds in 1986. Or 1987. He was a steady AAA pitcher, but the big team didn't seem inclined to call him up from Denver (or Nashville, after the team switched affiliates). He went to the Venezuelan winter league in 1987, did well (he was the winning pitcher in the Venezuelan All-Star Game), and came back to Nashville in 1988 as the star of their staff, going 9-3 in the first half of the season and making the AAA All-Star game, in Buffalo. Kemp claims the manager recommended him for promotion, twice, but as the Reds were doing a version of the old "College of Coaches" strategy, rotating their minor-league managers among the affiliates, I'm not sure which of the five managers who were in charge at Nashville in 1988 said that Kemp was ready.

Kemp slumped in the second half of 1988, perhaps out of frustration, but still felt that he deserved the September call-up that never came. "I thought I deserved it," he told The Tennessean newspaper in an interview on February 12, 1989. "I won 13 games, tops on the club, and pitched a lot of innings [175.2, leading the team]. Still, they called up some guys who weren't doing as well. (Eh, I think Dibble and Norm Charlton and Jack Armstrong and Tim Birtsas were doing just fine; all of them had better ERAs than the 4.30 Kemp wound up at. Teams want thoroughbreds, not plowhorses. Also, Kemp was 27 by now.) It's only natural to feel you should get some kind of award."

Kemp's resentment increased when he found he had not received an invitation to the major-league camp for 1989, either on the 40-man or as a NRI. "When they said I wasn't [invited], I told them it sounded as though they had no plans for me on the major-league level. But (general manager) Murray Cook said that wasn't necessarily true, that they had their hands tied because they had so many players with big league experience who must be considered." This was an obvious line of bull****, as only 39 of the Reds' 50 invitees had previous ML experience, while most of the others were from A and AA, but I guess Cook felt he had to say something.

"I know they have to protect players from the lower classifications," Kemp continued, "but why is it always at the expense of people who have proven themselves?" Anyway, the Reds told Kemp not to worry, that they liked him and had plans for him and thought he would eventually be able to help them at the big league level. Remarkably, Kemp didn't choke from all the smoke being blown up his backside, but he did bright-sky things, noting that his first child was due on March 3 and this way he would get to be present at the birth, as minor-league camp didn't start until the 6th.

Still, he remained skeptical. "I'll either be in Nashville or be traded," Kemp predicted. "I think there are some teams in the big leagues I could help. I'd like to stay in the organization, but I know I'm going to have to do something outstanding if I'm going to reach my goal. The way I look at it is that I'm a little late maturing, so maybe this will be my year."

It wasn't. In fact, it was the worst season of Kemp's career, as he went 4-6, his ERA soared close to 6.00, and he walked more batters than he struck out. It came as no surprise when he was released after the season, but on December 14, he signed with the Pirates, so perhaps 1990 would be better. And it was, as Kemp went 7-7 and largely got his peripherals under control (his K/W was almost 3/1).

But Pirates GM Larry Doughty, whom Kemp knew from the Atlanta area, was more honest than Murray Cook had been. He told Kemp that he didn't see a future where he could crack the Buccos' strong rotation (John Smiley, Zane Smith, Doug Drabek, Randy Tomlin, Bob Walk) and on March 13, 1991, Kemp got his release.

The Georgian had thoughts of pitching for his hometown Braves (Kemp thought that if he had been in the Atlanta system in the previous years he might have gotten the call-up the Reds had denied him), but Atlanta wanted him to go pitch in Mexico. Kemp was willing, but when the Braves couldn't guarantee him a slot at AAA Richmond by June, he decided to retire, instead.

Adios, Senor Kemp.

[Outlaw Jim]

Picture was grainy, but managed to get a good facegen.

James