Season MJ (23) Discussion Thread (2041)

[scott1964]

I am not tanking in Gold as much as I was expecting.

[scott1964]

Trying to get out of Bronze

[Orcin]

I will have a great record and make the playoffs this year by virtue of placement in a weak conference. The team feels like it is worse than previous years even though my run differential is on a +400 pace. I can't really put my finger on what I don't like about this team, but one thing that stands out is a 9-12 record in one-run games leading to a -7 pythag. Three possible culprits: bullpen (#1 in weak conf), offense (#1 in weak conf), and random luck. I can't fix luck, but it makes me wonder if the other two really need to be fixed. I always seem to be under the pythag record, so maybe I am creating my own bad luck. I am sitting on a pile of points and it is a buyer's market this weekend, so I feel compelled to do something. I am just not sure what exactly, so I am paralyzed by over-analysis. Maybe I should hire a consultant.

[Maxfire5]

Main team: Main team is suffering some bad luck according to Pythag Record. Currently sitting 57-64 and in 4th. Pythag says I should be 64-57. I'm underperforming by -7, and the team in first is overperforming by +7. Rough season, but also have a number of players learning new positions. Hoping for a new SP addition though soon once a couple cards sell.

[BigRed75]

Originally Posted by Marleigh

Neuman Furshlugginers are back to losing more than they win, the optimism in June quickly disappeared, and they limped to 49-57, 1 game behind 3 teams. They may be terrible at baseball but these teams are putting on a show. We are currently closer to relegation than the wildcard despite being 1 game back in the division, clearly whoever wins this division is going to sweep through the playoffs

I think the Neuman Furshlugginers are in the exact right division for them. In fact, I daresay there has never been a more appropriate pairing of team and division.

In a word...yeech!

[BigRed75]

Quite a month for the Everett Aquasox, my Seattle theme team. Here's what they did in August:

33-game hitting streak by 74 OVR Ichiro (1,000 points)
12-game winning streak by team (1,500 points)
30-game save streak by 75 OVR Kaz Sasaki (1,500 points)
20 runs scored by the team in a game (400 points)

We're now 90-40, 50 games over .500, and we've been here before. So we're probably lose in 4 or 5 games to the Wild Card in the division round, like we always do.

As I said, it's a Mariners theme team. But they don't have to take it so literally...

[Argonaut]

Has anybody ever run into the Glendale Golden Grizzlies? I'm pretty sure they have the best roster in all of Perfect Team. PEAK Bonds, Ripken, and Ruth and about 30 other Perfects on the reserve roster. All the best pitchers of course. I can't even guess how much PP he bought... maybe $50,000 worth? More?

So, my Cowboys beat him 3 games to 1 in this year's matchup. And I am running some absolute trash on my team as I wait for PP to build up. Jim Bunning 88 in the rotation, and he even won a game against them. Terry Leach 68 in the bullpen. Anyway I thought that was funny.

[Marleigh]

Paragon City Heroes went 17-9 in August to stand at 88-45 with a very healthy 16 1/2 game lead. We spent most of our PP on Charlie Gehringer who cost 17k, we'll see how that goes. Kirby Puckett is having himself a season 2nd in BA (.329) 2nd in RBI (94) 3rd in slugging (.543) 3rd in OPS (.901) and he's gone from 0 to 87 in RF. Considering how well Madlock, O'Neill and Puckett have played its surprising to see Lonnie Smith with the highest WAR, which shows how good his defence has been.

Meanwhile in Diamond League Bad News Bulldogs had their best motnh of the season (18-10) to pull out to a 8 game lead at 78-57. No real star of the show on offence but a real team performance, 6 players have over 60 RBI and 6 have scored over 70 runs. Eric Davis has broken 50SB again amnd is second in the league in WAR due to his stellar defence despite not having a great year with the bat. Our pitching is still fairly poor thanks to the bullpen, which is why i hope we don't end up getting to perfect league, it wouldn't be pretty.

Neuman Furshlugginers struggle to score runs despite decent offensive numbers, they also give up more runs than anyone else, a potent combo which has led to a 64-69 record

[Will_L]

Corsairs are 6.5 up in their division and did their usual August fade (12-14) but only lost 1/2 a game of their lead.
Reavers up 0.5 up but its a knife fight. They played to a 17-9 tune last month.
Subway Rats are 0.5 back in their division and 0.5 up in the second wild card spot, went 16-11 in August.

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs had another solid month (21-8) in P404 and are right there with the Whatever Whatevers as the top 2 teams in the league. The Frogs sport a 95-38 mark (+282) and the Whatevers are just an eyelash better at 96-37 (+291). Thankfully both teams are in different divisions so we won't have a very overqualified wild card team. The Frogs will need to post a 16-13 record or better tomorrow to set a new high water mark for franchise wins.

With a 14-game lead in the division over the plucky 81-52 Layton Calicos, it'll take a collapse of epic proportions for the Frogs to not win the division. The two clubs will play 7 more games right at the end of the schedule, so hopefully the lead is still comfortably in double digits by then.

The Frogs have mostly been on cruise control with very little intervention by waittilnextyear ( as he spends his time whining about cards not selling in the AH instead ). One of the only roster moves made all season was subbing out SE Eddie Plank because 7 relievers is overkill for this team; some relievers were spending a little too much time blowing bubbles and chewing seeds while not getting into games. Brought in SE Bill Madlock to supplement 87 Wade Boggs and 95 Chipper Jones vs LHP--neither Boggs nor Jones is the best option against lefties. Also dusted off SE Harry Heilmann and subbed out SE John O'Neil just because Heilmann provides a little more thunder.

The team has generated 11K PP so far this season but I don't really know if that's a lot or a little. It seems I've been tracking almost everything else but that. With various earnings for playoffs and award winners upcoming, there's maybe a chance to break 20K. Would be nice because my cards aren't selling. lol

Standouts on the 2041 Fighting Frogs are legion, but SE George Sisler [.321/.365/.563, 25 HR, 123 RBI, 52 2B, 27 SB] is the man on offense and Christy Mathewson [19-4, 2.74 ERA, 0.93 WHIP] is the dude among the pitchers. Sisler has a pretty decent shot at 30/30--he projects to 30/33 as of right now. Mathewson would already have 20 wins (with one whole month left to play) were it not for him losing a 1-0 game the last time out in which his only run allowed was unearned and he was voted player of the game. Tough break. He also had the team's first 15-K game ever, earning 800 PP for what I learned is called a "Rocket Game."

[Westheim]

All my teams had a terrible August. That means the Accountants are still up by 16 games, but the other two have no disappeared into the void for good. The 61-72 Rebs have yet to break 3k PP for the season.

But I sold the Bellinger and some other stuff from yesterday while I snoozed, so I have enough PP to break open another 50 packs later, or maybe even 75.

No, I will never learn.

[Westheim]

Bought another 73 packs, which was all that my current PP account would allow me.

(41) – RP Tommy Lasorda – 1956 Unsung Hero *
(47) – CL Ernie Johnson – 1957 Unsung Hero *
(53) – LF Delmon Young – 2012 Unsung Hero *
(57) – 2B Joe Panik – 2014 Unsung Hero *

(68) – SP Luiz Gohara – Live – this one completed the “Players from Brazil” mission, which does not yield a pack

(70) – RP Lance Lynn – 2011 Unsung Hero
(73) – SP Matt Cain – 2009 All Star
(74) – SP Dean Chance – 1962 Rookie Sensation
(75) – CF Lance Johnson – 1996 All Star
(77) – RF Tony Gwynn – 1987 All Star
(77) – 1B Gil Hodges – 1952 All Star

(80) – CL David Robertson – Live
(81) – LF Mark Canha – Live *
(83) – LF Cliff Floyd – 2001 All Star
(84) – 3B Eric Chavez – 2001 Hardware Heroes
(85) – SP David Price – Live
(87) – SP Ubaldo Jimenez – 2010 All Star

(93) – SP Blake Snell – Live
(98) – 3B Alex Bregman – Live

(100) – 3B Nolan Arenado – Live
(100) – SP Jacob deGrom – Live *
(100) – SP Jacob deGrom – Live *

Yes, actually.

Lance Johnson actually goes on the Critters’ active roster, replacing a rather dull Victor Robles. Arenado will replace Ken Caminiti – they have very similar batting ratings, but Arenado is significantly better on D. Caminiti has a little speed advantage, but it’s not like he’s stealing 20 bags…

[BigRed75]

Okay, I've decided to do a Magus-esque mega update, in time for the last month of the season. Like anyone cares.

Cincinnati Redlegs (OL) - Perfect .409, 63-71, 3rd place ACC: Our second time in Perfect is going better than the first, as we are six games above the relegation zone instead of six games below it. Suffered from some bad pitching luck, as many of our pitchers are performing worse than their peripherals would indicate. If we stay up, I'm hoping a regression to the mean will provide, if not a competitive season next week, at least a more comfortable one. We spent most of our war chest on three players once promotion was achieved, leaving us with very little in the way of upgrades, unless I decide to pull the trigger and put up some unlocked cards for auction tomorrow. Haven't decided yet. Highlight of the season was definitely being in first place at the end of May.

South Side Lumber Company (White Sox) - Silver .298, 66-66, 5th place ACC: The Lumber Co. are two cards away from completing all of the White Sox missions and getting the coveted 100 OVR Ed Walsh. What those two cards are, however - well, they're the next two cards that I don't have that come up on the AH at a reasonable price (there's the rub). As far as on the field goes, SSLC have been bouncing all over the standings. They're in 5th now, but could easily be in 2nd in 10 games' time. They do have a 10.4% chance of making the playoffs, which would be their first in 4 tries at Silver.

Amarillo Gold Sox (OL) - Silver .314, 61-72, 4th place ACW: Last season, the Gold Sox went from a theme team (broadcasters) to a free-wheeling OL team whose only restriction is the Our League charter. It worked, winning them promotion back to Silver with a 110-52 record. The definite highlight of this season has been signing 94 OVR SE Eddie Plank for 2K under 7-day average. The plan is to take this team to Perfect, and he will be the ace that drives us there. 99 OVR Van Lingle Mungo (pulled from a pack in 2039) won the Cy in Bronze last year and has a good chance to go back-to-back this season. With the post season out of the picture, our big goal is to finish ahead of the Amarillo Aramdillos - we are currently 4 1/2 games ahead.

Rottnest Island Quokkas (FTP) - Diamond .399, 50-83, 5th place NCC: "The Quokks" are one of my original three teams and made it to Diamond for the first time after winning Gold last season. Unfortunately, it looks like they're heading back there as they are propping up the whole league. Like the Reds, pitching as been exposed. Unlike the Reds, the hitting sucks, too. I have three catchers, the lowest rated is 88, and none of them are hitting. I have three 3B, all diamond, none of them are hitting (one of them, Javy Baez, is playing SS). It's September 1, and Cody Bellinger has just cracked 1.0 WAR. A nightmare all around, really.

Everett Aquasox (Mariners) - Iron .195, 92-42, 1st place NCE: I've already talked about the Aquasox a couple of posts up from this one. The Froggies are listed as 100% chance to make the playoffs. Is this their year to finally break out of Iron? Probably not. We'll have finished the missions and be running 100 OVR Sasaki, 93 OVR Schooler, 90 OVR Cano, 96 OVR Edgar and 92 OVR Felix out there in Iron in 2047...

Charlotte Monarchs (Pack Only) - Silver .293, 66-67, 4th place ACE: I'm not even trying with the Monarchs, just playing the hand I'm dealt. I've only got two diamond cards and this team is still two levels higher than the Aquasox and even has a 4.3% chance of making the playoffs this year! With 4,637 points, one pack from a mission and another that I'll get when I get around to doing Challenge Mode, it looks like there will be 7 packs to open for next season (maybe 8, if we go on a point frenzy in the last month).

Baltimore Orioles (Orioles/Browns) - Silver .282, 72-61, 1st place ACC: This team needs pitching, but I've already got every decent pitcher with an Orioles card except for 96 OVR Moose. So I've decided to open the team up to players who played for the minor league Orioles (hello, Lefty Grove!). That also means, of course, famous Baltimorean George Herman Ruth is now eligible. Since I need pitching, I'm going after his SE Red Sox card first. It makes sense, since that was the place he went after being sold by the Orioles. Another team with a decent offense, but shaky pitching. How good is the offense, you ask? Well, we've had not one, not two, but THREE walk-off grand slams this season, at 400 PP a pop. Earl Weaver would be proud.

Clinton Lumber Kings (Offense only) - Bronze .225, 63-71, 3rd place ACW: My "bombs away" team ditched the three true outcomes approach for a more balanced squad, picking up bronze point generating gods 69 Carew, 69 Gwynn, 69 Madlock and 69 Wes Parker. It's worked, as we've already picked up 10K and the season isn't over yet. Kirk Gibson is still our leadoff man (he was the gold card we got from the starter pack) and his big contribution is the Leading Off in Style award - he has 5 so far this season (and 6 last year). He's also 2 SB away from another 20/20 season. Greg Luzinski has 33 HR this season, Mel Ott has 32, and last year's team (and league) leader Miguel Sano has 28 bombs.

Thetford Mines Mineurs (Canada) - Iron .243, 74-61, 3rd place ACW: I should have been more focused with this team, but I wasn't. There are seven Canada-based collection missions, and I have spent pretty much all the PP this team has, spreading it around so that I'm not really close to completing any of them. The result is a solid team, not as good as the Aquasox but, like the Froggies, still a team that's really too good for this level. Third place, but only 1/2 game out (and in the Wild Card spot, of course), the Mineurs have an 82.4% chance of making the playoffs. Mark Langston has been the man, leading the team in every statistical category. Last season, Mike Soroka joined the team midway through the season as part of the Canadian pitchers mission and went 12-1 with a 3.03 ERA. This season, he's 11-11 with a 5.10 ERA. SMH.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Like anyone cares.

We care.

[BigRed75]

Originally Posted by Orcin

We care.

Aww...thanks pal!

[waittilnextyear]

The Frogs have taken much of the suspense out of following the team's progress in September. They've gotten out of the gate like a rocket ship with a 9-0 mark (11-game active winning streak) to build the division lead to 19.5 games with 20 left to play. I'm not a mathematician, but I think that makes the magic number 2.

George Sisler was 5 HR and 3 SB shy of 30/30 as of my previous post, so he just decided to get that out of the way already. Logged in to see he's got 31 HR and 30 SB now...hmmm, 40/40 then? Maybe?

Another first for the team...96 Roger Clemens tossed the Frogs' first ever no-hitter! Can finally cross that one off of my bucket list. I just wish he hadn't taken advantage of such a fine breakfast sausage.

"I'm just glad to be here," Clemens said. "Today I just went right at the Sausage as hard as I could, as long as I could."

[BKlip]

Seriously.... life's not fair

[scott1964]

I knew it was going to happen.
Max Scherzer 3-11 since the first week in June


On a 1-9 streak

[old timer]

Originally Posted by BKlip

Seriously.... life's not fair

I agree. It's totally not fair for Washington who has a .775 WPct and yet will probably be a WC team.

[scott1964]

I wonder if I have enough umpht to do it.