My new Historical Random Debut (Starting in 1901 with 1984 stats output and strategy settings)

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

My internet crashed all day, I was referring to the proper award trophy pictures. I had them in 17 but couldn’t get them into 18 ever and thus far no success in 19. There were all sorts of questions in 18 in the forums. I am hoping once the mods came up I would be able to load them but as of yet nada.
Lundy went 5th in my November 1911 draft.

Sorry to hear about your internets. We get power failures here all the time, so I can relate somewhat. So you mean inserting pictures of the RL trophies into your game somehow?

Lundy looks like he's gonna be good. Fingers crossed for good health in both our games.

[JaBurns]

In 16 and 17 the award icons looked like the real trophies, for the life me I cannot get them into 18 or 19.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

In 16 and 17 the award icons looked like the real trophies, for the life me I cannot get them into 18 or 19.

Ah. I see now. You're right. Never noticed until now. Not that different, but still. If you've gotta have it, you've gotta have it.

[actionjackson]

1905 Season/Postseason Recap:

Regular Season:

I saw something in the 1905 regular season that I may never have seen before and may never see again. The Chicago White Sox had the best record in all of baseball (93-69), and yet they had a negative run differential. Not only was it negative, it wasn't really that close to being positive given their record on the season. They scored 693 runs and allowed 728, for a -35 run differential. How is that even possible? I guess being 33-12 in one-run games, and 6-1 in extra inning games helped, but still...Wow!

It was a season of huge turnarounds, as down became up, and up became down. In Boston, both fanbases had plenty to cheer about as the Americans improved from 73 wins to 84, and the Beaneaters went from 70 to 82. The Superbas fell off from three straight postseason appearances and a 96 win season to 83 wins, while the White Sox made another quantum leap from 79 wins to 93 wins and the first playoff appearance in franchise history.

On the north side of Chicago there was dejection as the Cubs came off a World Champion 97-win season and fell to .500 with a thud. The Reds were down too from 90 wins to 74 wins. Philadelphia was a baseball boomtown as well, as the Athletics improved by 11 wins (72 to 83) and the Phillies went from 75 wins to 90 wins and their first postseason ever. Meanwhile the Senators fell from 87 wins to 75. Three of the four teams in the postseason were there for the first time ever: the White Sox, the Phillies, and the Cardinals, who went from 82 to 90 wins to grab a share of 1st place in the National League. The St. Louis Browns were doing St. Louis Brown things, going back to the postseason yet again...Yawn!

On the individual side of things it was also quite the season. Honus Wagner missed the magical .400 mark by this much and had to settle for a .3964 batting average. He did manage to set the all-time hitting streak mark in my league (and that I've ever seen) at 51 games. Cupid Childs set the all-time OBP record at .477 with a single season record 141 BB! Mitch Jones set the single season record for HR at 48, while Rick Monday obliterated Beals Becker's single season RBI mark with a staggering 164 in just 158 games and 156 GS. Holy moley!

ALCS:

Lots and lots of runs in this 7 gamer (77 in all by both clubs), and nary a one-run game for the White Sox to take advantage of. Incredible performances from a lot of Browns, which would've made for an interesting MVP decision had the White Sox been able to win this series. Cupid Childs, Chris Speier, Rick Monday, and Sam Crawford separated themselves (Robinson Chirinos also hit 4 HR with 11 RBI, but batted just .172 for the series). On the pitching side, Jim Clancy (yeah!) went 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA for the series. In the end Monday was the choice, and I think it was a great one. I don't always agree with these things (as we'll see later), but in this case thumbs up.

The Browns were blanked in Game 1 by Jon Lester, as MLB's best offense in 1905 was absolutely shut down. Game 2 was the Robinson Chirinos show. Chirinos hit a grand slam in the 7th and a three run shot in the 9th to cap a 3 for 5 with 2 R and 7 RBI day. Jim Clancy was nails, going all the way on a two-hitter in a 14-2 romp for the Browns.

In Game 3, the White Sox lost two pitchers to injury (SP Bob Caruthers [sore elbow], and RP Brian Sweeney [mild hamstring strain]), but won the game handily 10-3 as Rocco Baldelli was 3 for 5 with 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR and 4 RBI. It was Chris Truby's turn to light the lamp in Game 4, as he went 2 for 5 with 5 RBI including a back breaking two out grand slam in the 7th inning to salt the game away for the White Sox. The Browns battled back against a tattered White Sox bullpen, but came up short in a 9-7 loss. The Browns needed someone to step up in Game 5 just to keep the series going. Rick Monday took care of that with a 3 for 3, 2 BB, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, and 5 RBI day. A 3rd inning three-run shot got the Browns on the board, and a 5th inning 2 run HR gave them a 6-3 lead in an eventual 11-4 rout. Back to the Windy City we go, with no margin for error for the Browns.

Game 6 looked a lot closer than it really was as Clancy throttled the White Sox on 2 hits. He got a little wild in the bottom of the sixth and issued 3 straight walks to start the inning, allowing three runs in the only inning in which the White Sox would score. Chirinos chipped in a two-run HR and Childs went 2 for 3 with a walk and 3 RBI, as the Browns sent the series to a seventh and deciding game with a 6-3 win. Game 7 would see Rick Monday hit a first inning 3-run bomb, allowing the Browns to exhale and take care of business in a 4-2 victory to send them to their fourth World Series in MLB's first five seasons.

[JaBurns]

Unbelievable that the White Sox could win 93 with a negative run differential, was it a case of “if your going to lose, lose big?”.

I am also seeing lots of hero to zero, first to worst seasons. St. Louis Browns are also doing well in my sim.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Unbelievable that the White Sox could win 93 with a negative run differential, was it a case of “if your going to lose, lose big?”.

I am also seeing lots of hero to zero, first to worst seasons. St. Louis Browns are also doing well in my sim.

Unfortunately, I've already passed the point where I can review their schedule, so I can't check that, but I would think it was some combination of the 33-12 record in one run games, the 6-1 record in extra inning games and more blowout defeats than blowout victories. Their bullpen was a bit of a hand grenade brigade, so I can see blowout losses getting out of hand (4.63 bullpen ERA, good for 7th out of 8 teams in the AL). Probably some sort of combo of that, but highly, highly unusual. You would think almost impossible. I mean they outplayed their Expected Record by 16 games. Holy cow.

[actionjackson]

NLCS:

The 1905 NLCS matched up a couple of newcomer teams to the postseason, as the Phillies squared off against the Cardinals. Game 1 matched up Rudy May and Brett Tomko (who place #8 and #3 respectively in the voting for the Walter Johnson Award). Bobby W Brown came through with a huge 2-run HR to tie the game at 3 in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Lieberthal and John Vander Wal would hit RBI singles later in the inning to give the Cardinals a 5-3 lead. Kenley Jansen got the final six outs for the save. The Phillies jumped all over Mike Hampton in Game 2 scoring 3 runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Dale Murphy and a 2-run double from Carl Reynolds. From there the rout was on as the Phillies beat the Cardinals 8-2. The Phillies had sixteen hits, and George Derby went the distance for the win. On to the city of brotherly love.

In Game 3, it was the Cardinals jumping out to a lead, as they came up with two in the second. That was all they would get on the night though even though SP Oscar Graham left the game in the first inning with a hamstring injury. The bullpen went to work giving up just 2 runs over the final 8.2 innings, which allowed Jean Segura to go to work. Segura scored the first run in the bottom of the sixth on a Bill Madlock RBI double, and then hit a tie breaking 3-run HR in the bottom of the seventh. Carl Reynolds was the star of Game 4 for the Phillies with a two run double to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth and scored the go ahead run on a single by Pete Runnels. Next inning he was at it again with an RBI single to bring it to 6-4. The Cardinals had held leads of 1-0 and 4-2, but once again the Phillies bullpen shut them down with four hitless innings in a 7-4 Phillies win. Suddenly the Cardinals were desperate for a win. Enter Brett Tomko, with help from a balanced attack, highlighted by Bobby W Brown's grand slam in the top of the sixth. A 7-3 win got the Cardinals back on home turf for what they hoped would be the start of a comeback.

Game 6 was a case of SP George Derby being on for the Phils and SP Mike Hampton not being on for the Cards. Simple as that really. Derby put up seven innings of 3-hit ball, while Ted Power finished up with the final six outs on just 19 pitches. The big killer for the Cardinals was the top of the fourth. With Jean Segura at the plate, Mark Bailey scored on a wild pitch and Segura eventually lined a 2-run single to give the Phillies the 4-0 lead that they would not relinquish. In the end the Phillies had the 4-2 victory and were off to the World Series for the first time in their history.

[actionjackson]

World Series:

The Browns were in their fourth World Series in five seasons, while the Phillies were on their maiden voyage. So in terms of experience you would think Browns right?...And you'd be wrong...Way wrong. This series was not very close at all. The Browns took the lead in every one of the four games, and Philly had more than enough answers for them. The leads by St. Louis were 2-0, 1-0, 1-0, and 2-0. Outside of that the Phillies outscored them 27-4. The Browns kinda kicked the ball around in this series, making nine errors in the four games.

Games 1 and 2 took place in St. Louis. The Browns plated two in the bottom of the fourth of the first game. The Phillies struck like lightning in the top of the sixth on a back-to-back RBI double by Bill Madlock and a 3-run HR by Devon Travis ( ). In the ninth they iced it on an error by eventual series MVP Jerry Denny (don't ask, I have no idea either - in a four game sweep, shouldn't it be a guy on the winning team?...Uh, not necessarily I guess - I mean he made five errors in a four game series...Five!), and a two-run single by Jean Segura. Game 2 was more of the same as the Browns took a first inning lead, and the Phillies blitzed them from there. Jean Segura hit a solo blast in the third, Jim Morrison hit a two-run shot in the seventh, and Dale Murphy made it an 8-3 ballgame with a solo bomb in the ninth. Segura was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, and Devon Travis was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. The Phillies had more than done what they set out to do in St. Louis and headed back home up 2-0 in the series.

George Derby was on once again for the Phillies, going the distance allowing just a solo HR to Robinson Chirinos in Game 3. The Phillies bombed Jim Clancy for seven runs in 4.1 innings with a 2-run second inning HR from Dale Murphy, and a 3-run homer by Neill Sheridan in the bottom of the fourth being the big hits. An RBI double by Jim Morrison and an RBI groundout by Pete Runnels rounded out the scoring for the Phillies in a 7-1 drubbing. Stop me if you've heard this before. In Game 4 the Browns jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third, and the Phillies overcame the deficit with a huge inning, scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth. A two-run homer by Mark Bailey got things going and Jim Morrison closed things out with a two-run double, with a sac fly by Bill Madlock in the middle. The Browns managed two runs in the top of the eighth on a sac fly by Chirinos and a solo shot by Jerry Denny, but after that it was fly out, ground out, fly out, ground out and the celebration was on in Philly as 15,876 fans exploded in National League Park, as well as (I'm sure) many more in the streets of Philly.

[actionjackson]

1906 All-Stars:

AL:

Alex Fernandez (SLA), SP
Wes Ferrell (WS1), SP
Terry Larkin (PHA), SP
Jon Lester (CWS), SP
Fritz Ostermueller (BOS), SP
Toad Ramsey (BOS), SP
Eppa Rixey (DET), SP
Bucky Walters (DET), SP
Bert Dorr (NYY), CL
Rollie Fingers (BOS), CL
Casey Hageman (CWS), CL
Kenley Jansen (DET), CL
Craig Biggio (DET), C
Ryan Doumit (PHA), C
Jim Bottomley (BOS), 1B
Boog Powell (PHA), 1B
Cupid Childs (SLA), 2B
Edgar Martinez (WS1), 3B
Kid Elberfeld (CWS), SS
Trevor Story (DET), SS
Beals Becker (CWS), LF
Andy Dirks (BOS), LF
Lefty O'Doul (DET), LF
Ben Chapman (PHA), CF
Marquis Grissom (BOS), CF
Rick Monday (SLA), CF
Sam Crawford (SLA), RF
Al Kaline (CLE), RF

NL:

Paul Derringer (STL), SP
Mark Gubicza (BSN), SP
Bill Hoffer (PIT), SP
Tim Leary (CHC), SP
Mickey Lolich (BRO), SP
Eddie Lopat (CHC), SP
Garrett Richards (NY1), SP
Nolan Ryan (CIN), SP
Mike Montgomery (PHI), RP
Sean Doolittle (PIT), CL
Alejandro Pena (NY1), CL
Eric Wilkins (CHC), CL
Floyd Rayford (PIT), C
Chief Zimmer (NY1), C
Chuck Hinton (NY1), 1B
Pete Runnels (PHI), 1B
Dustin Pedroia (CHC), 2B
Casey Blake (BRO), 3B
Bill Madlock (PHI), 3B
Robin Ventura (PIT), 3B
Alex Rodriguez (CHC), SS
Honus Wagner (NY1), SS
Carl Reynolds (PHI), LF
Johnny Damon (PIT), CF
Craig Gentry (BSN), CF
Ian Happ (NY1), CF
Jim Landis (STL), CF
Dale Murphy (PHI), RF

2 hits were all it took for the National League to come out on top in the 1906 mid-summer classic. Craig Gentry's 3rd inning 2-run shot off Wes Ferrell gave the NL a 2-1 lead, and Alex Rodriguez put the game away with a pinch hit grand slam off Casey Hageman. On the AL side, the star was Edgar Martinez, who went 3 for 4 with a single, a double, and a triple and scored the AL's only run on a Jim Bottomley RBI single, which gave the AL a brief 1-0 lead in an eventual 6-1 loss. Each side has won 3 games so far in the history of the All-Star Game.

[actionjackson]

Two of my favourite people in baseball history are in the 1906 amateur draft: Yogi Berra, and Buck O'Neil (oneilbu00 in the Spritze database).

[JaBurns]

Both of them already in my HRD, O’Neil (John Jordan) was not quite a random selection but whatever, please post the rest of your random imports.

[actionjackson]

I re-imported five MLB guys with zero position ratings: Ray Cosey (coseyra01), Bill McGilvray (mcgilbi02), Larry Strands (stranla01), Tip Tobin (tobinjo01), and Roy Valdes (valdero01). The other random guy was Gene Bacque (bacquge95) who played in the minor leagues and Japan. Looks like he was playing with the Hawaii Islanders (Angels PCL affiliate) and decided to go to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers and later the Kintetsu Buffaloes. That's why he has the 95 number, which you usually don't see except for Japanese Leaguers.

[actionjackson]

Just discovered something. In the OOTP LTMs for 1984, it claims that the BABIP for 1984 was .289. In reality (looked it up on BB-Ref...Have I ever said how much I love BB-Ref? ) it was .286. Why is that significant you ask? Well, in my 40-year test sim the BA was .264, OBP was .325, SLG was .388, and OPS was .714 (RL 1984: .260/.323/.385/.708. I've had this sense that the results were a little bit on the hot side, not crazy hot, but enough to bug me, and this could be a reason why. I think in future seasons I'll plug in the 1984 numbers, reset the two pitcher hook settings and change the BABIP from .289 to .286 and see what happens. Can't hurt and could help. This message has been brought to you by Obsessive Compulsives Anonymous. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Edster007]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Just discovered something. In the OOTP LTMs for 1984, it claims that the BABIP for 1984 was .289. In reality (looked it up on BB-Ref...Have I ever said how much I love BB-Ref? ) it was .286. Why is that significant you ask? Well, in my 40-year test sim the BA was .264, OBP was .325, SLG was .388, and OPS was .714 (RL 1984: .260/.323/.385/.708. I've had this sense that the results were a little bit on the hot side, not crazy hot, but enough to bug me, and this could be a reason why. I think in future seasons I'll plug in the 1984 numbers, reset the two pitcher hook settings and change the BABIP from .289 to .286 and see what happens. Can't hurt and could help. This message has been brought to you by Obsessive Compulsives Anonymous. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Curious how you are changing the hook settings. I am using 1984 as well and planning to start over for the 4th time. You're not the only member of the OCD club...

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Edster007

Curious how you are changing the hook settings. I am using 1984 as well and planning to start over for the 4th time. You're not the only member of the OCD club...

Not really changing them. Just resetting them to "Default". When you input "1984" for the seasonal stats output, the Hook settings go from "Default" to -4 for starters and +2 for relievers, so I like to set them back to "Default" before starting my latest season. I've found that starters probably lose an average of 20.0 IP per season if I don't do it, and I like the innings numbers that I get with the default hook in place. Just another little quirk of mine. One of many I guess.

[actionjackson]

1906 is in the books (finally!). Here are the two-part standings, the final batting stats, and the final pitching stats for the year:

[JaBurns]

Beals (David) Becker had a one hell of year. I have to keep reminding myself you are playing 162 games, I am still at 154 and will be for about 45 years. I always reset my hook settings to “Default”, I think you mentioned it earlier when we were supposed to be pick a year and have set it and forget it....

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Beals (David) Becker had a one hell of year. I have to keep reminding myself you are playing 162 games, I am still at 154 and will be for about 45 years. I always reset my hook settings to “Default”, I think you mentioned it earlier when we were supposed to be pick a year and have set it and forget it....

It's gonna be a crazy AL MVP race this year. The first seven players (Kaline to Minoso) are all in the AL! And nine of the top ten are in the AL (Delahanty and O'Doul). The only NLer in the top ten is A-Rod, who still plays for the Cubs, but is ready to test free agency.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Beals (David) Becker had a one hell of year. I have to keep reminding myself you are playing 162 games, I am still at 154 and will be for about 45 years. I always reset my hook settings to “Default”, I think you mentioned it earlier when we were supposed to be pick a year and have set it and forget it....

I always play 162 for comparative purposes. Easier to compare across generations if everybody has played the same number of games.

[actionjackson]

Absolute bumper crop of free agents for the 1906/1907 offseason. From the top 30 position player list: Al Kaline, Beals Becker, Alex Rodriguez, Lefty O'Doul, Dale Murphy, Ian Happ, Chuck Hinton, and Raul Mondesi. From the top 30 pitcher list: Mark Gubicza, David Wells, Rudy May, and Mark Langston. There'll be dollars flyin' everywhere to be sure.