Decided reunite with my old flame

David Watts · 08-29-2018, 09:37 AM

Back playing my OOTP16 random debut league. 12 team, one subleague, one division, 154 game round robin schedule. 1st place finisher gets bye in first round of playoffs. 2nd and 3rd place teams face off in round one. League started in 1947. Currently halfway thru 1972. Interesting season so far. Biloxi, one of the two remaining teams to never win a championship, sit on top of the league. Their lead isn't a big one though, as Alexandria, Beaumont and Birmingham are all within striking distance. The race for the two wildcard spots looks like it will go down to the wire.

What's bizarre about this season so far is the resurgence of some of the leagues big stars. Hank Aaron coming off two injury smacked seasons in a row is once again smacking home runs at a league leading pace. I have my fingers crossed that he remains healthy for the remainder of this season and beyond. Hank is 38 years old and currently sits at 561 career home runs. Would love to see him at least reach 600. He also is the RDL's first member of the 3000 hit club. Hank has 3100 hits. Two other players that have reemerged this year are Tom Glavine and Zach Grienke. Both find themselves pitching for the Birmingham Slammers. Glavine has bounced around between the bullpen and the rotation in the twilight of his career, but 1972 has him sitting among the leagues best pitchers. Tom has 219 career wins. There are 4 other RDL pitchers with 200+ wins. Van Mungo, Larry French, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. French and Verlander are still active. Justin is currently on the dl for and extended period. French is begging the OOTP Gods to put him out of his misery, as he sits in his teams bullpen pitching sparingly.

Alexandria is a interesting team, as they seem content to see how many future Hall of Famers they can have on their team at one time. The above mentioned Hank Aaron is a member of the Aces. So is are Joe DiMaggio, Craig Nettles and Boog Powell. DiMaggio and Nettles are both still playing every day, while Powell has become a bench player and not a very good one.

David Watts · 08-30-2018, 08:09 AM

The RDL has now wound its way into the 2nd week of August and things remain tight at the top. Birmingham went on a 6 game winning spree taking over first place. The Slammers RF Dwight Evans got hot especially in the home run department. Dewey now has 28 bombs putting him 3 ahead of Hank Aaron for the league lead. The Slammers followed up their winning streak with a 3 game losing streak, allowing the Alexandria Aces to take over 1st place. Birmingham and Beaumont are now tied for 2nd, while Biloxi is sits in 3rd by only a 1/2 game.

Right now it looks like Frank Viola is in the drivers seat in regards to the Cy Young award. Frank's won 16 games for the Fort Worth Mustangs who find themselves sitting middle of the pack at this time. The Mustangs have won 4 straight RDL championships. With a strong finish to the season, Jimmy Key may be able challenge Viola, but right now my money is on Frank. Beaumont's Johnny Gorsica is having a nice year, continuing to flirt with a under 2 era. Strange thing is Beaumont tends become run challenged when he pitches, so his record is only 12-10.

Bernie Williams is having a really nice year hitting at the top of the Shreveport Captains lineup. Bernie is hitting .352, best in the league.

It was a sad day in RDL history this morning when I just couldn't take it anymore and had to force retire Lou Gehrig. Mobile had Lou on their 23 man roster, but with 100+ games played, he had seen action in a grand total of 4 games. He was not contributing and had fallen into one of those dreaded OOTP black holes in which the AI simply ignores his existence. So, as Commish, I hit retire. Lou, we will miss you.

The RDL announced today that they will continue to have normal day to night progressions according to the laws of nature. This means the sky will not go from blue to pitch black in the time it takes to hit the space bar on your computer. This decision will eliminate what's been called the earthquake shakes in other leagues from ever happening in a RDL game.

David Watts · 08-30-2018, 08:38 AM

Never realized just how awful 1972 was in regards to offense. It's not 1968, but it's bad. .244 league batting average, 3.69 runs scored per game. Ugh! And guess what, my RDL is underperforming the real deal right now to the tune of a .239 league batting average. 1973 can't get here soon enough. Of course, 1977 looms in the near future. I'm guessing book of offense get completely rewritten that season. We are working our way to 1986. Once 86 is played, my plans are to use a random number generator from 1980-1986 to determine each future year. If I get 1980, the plan is to use 80, 81, 82 until 86 is played and then use the random generator all over again.

David Watts · 08-31-2018, 11:56 AM

Starting to think no team wants to win this 72 season. Just when I thought Alexandria was going to take the horse by the tongue, they decide it might be fun to lose 8 straight games. Birmingham now sits at the top of the hill, but their lead is a measly 1/2 game over Alexandria, Biloxi and Beaumont. Oh and Baton Rouge has decided to join the party as well, crawling to within 3 1/2 games. September should be a blast.

Earlier I had mentioned the career resurgence of one Tom Glavine. Well Birmingham's manager made a bold move towards the middle of August, by moving Tom to the role of closer. So far Glavine is making him look like a genius. The aging Glavine told reporters he called his old buddy John Smoltz for some tips on dealing with the high pressure that goes along with closing out games. A team that really needs to think about making a change at closer is Beaumont. Hoyt Wilhelm continues to struggle and now has 6 blown saves on the year. The last being exceptionally ugly. Hoyt entered a game against fellow contender Biloxi in the 9th with his team up by three and proceeded to give up 4 runs with the game ending in walk off fashion.

David Watts · 09-01-2018, 11:10 AM

In the end Beaumont was the team to finish in 1st place (89-65). The Crush finished one game ahead of Biloxi and 2 in front of Birmingham. Biloxi would defeat Birmingham 4 games to 2 in the Wild Card Round. The Cardinals would continue their roll dispatching Beaumont in just 5 games to bring home their very first championship. The win by Biloxi means Lake Charles is now the only team in the RDL yet to win a championship.

The league batting average ended up being .241, which tied 1968 for the lowest in league history. The league ERA was 3.28 second best behind 1968's 3.19.

Bernie Williams won the batting title with a .329 average. Harry Heilmann (.301) was the only other RDL player to finish with an average above .300.

Hank Aaron would finish with the most home runs, 35, finishing 2 better than Dwight Evans and Carlos Quentin. Ken Griffey Jr. was 4th with 31.

Not one player in the league drove in 100 runs. Hank Aaron finished with 97 for the league lead.

Frank Viola won 21 games (21-10) followed by Jimmy Key(20-9) and Bill Werle(20-12). Erik Bedard won 19 games and finished the leagues best ERA, 1.98.

Pete Alexander finished with a league best 227 strikeouts, 2 better than Al Mamaux.

Reliever of the Year Award: Mariano Rivera, Texarkana Grasshoppers. Rivera went 12-10, 30 saves, 1.55 over 116.1 innings. Mariano beat out Alexandria's Justin Duchsherer and Baton Rouge's David Robertson.

Biloxi's Charlie Hanford(CF) took home Rookie of the Year honors. .299, 14 home runs and 53 rbi.

Cy Young Award: Dutch Leonard, Biloxi Cardinals. 17-13, 2.26, 207 strikeouts. Leonard beat out Alexandria's Jimmy Key and Mobile's Erik Bedard.

Hank Aaron takes home MVP honors. .251, 35 home runs, 97 RBI. Hank sported a .391 on base percentage, walking 121 times. Shreveport's Carlos Quentin finished 2nd, Birmingham's Dwight Evans coming in 3rd. Have to think Bernie Williams got snubbed here.

David Watts · 09-01-2018, 11:28 AM

Duke Snider gets 82.5% of the votes, becoming the 5th member of the RDL Hall of Fame.

Snider was a 1st round pick of the Texarkana Grasshoppers in the 1948 amateur draft. He would play 19 years, retiring in 1967. 18 of those years were spent as a Texarkana Grasshopper. Duke played the 1966 season with the Shreveport Captains and then returned to Texarkana for his final season in 67.

Duke finished his career with a 444 home runs, scoring 1228 runs and driving in 1218. His career WAR was 72.3. 8 Silver Slugger Awards. 4 times, 1952,53,56 and 58, Snider took league MVP honors. He won one Gold Glove. Duke was a member of 3 championship teams, 1956, 1965 and 1967, all as a member of the Texarkana Grasshoppers.

David Watts · 09-01-2018, 11:50 AM

Boog Powell decided to call it quits following the 72 season making him this years most notable retirement.

Boog has an incredible 18 year career that began in 1955 with the Jackson Browns. Boog hit for a career .274 average, with 448 home runs, 1314 runs scored and 1518 RBI. His 1270 walks puts him 3rd on the all time list, behind only Hank Aaron(1578) and Lou Gehrig(1528). Boog finished with a career 56.0 WAR. Powell was the 1957 MVP, the 1955 Rookie of the Year and won 6 Silver Slugger Awards. He won a championship in 1959 with the Jackson Browns and in 1964 as a member of the Shreveport Captains.

Ugh, I almost forgot about Lou Gehrig, the player I forced retired during the 72 season. Lou entered the RDL in 1953, as a 1st round draft pick of the Mobile Hustlers. He would play 19 years in the RDL all as a member of the Hustlers. Gehrig hit 375 home runs, 1373 runs scored, 1382 RBI. .279, 394,.480,.874, with a career 68.8 WAR. 9 Silver Slugger Awards. 4 Gold Gloves. Gehrig took home league MVP honors in 1959 and won championships in 1955 and 1958.

JaBurns · 09-01-2018, 07:10 PM

Did you import the game into 19? If so did you notice any benefits fro the import?

David Watts · 09-01-2018, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Did you import the game into 19? If so did you notice any benefits fro the import?

No, I'm back playing 16. When the whole hotfix thing was going on, I fired up 16 again just to kill time. Lukas pretty much spent that whole week saying if you didn't have the most up to date video cards and such, 19 would never work again. That had me thinking 16 was going to be my only option. The last hotfix actually solved all my issues, which is funny because my video cards remain severely outdated. By then I realized, I love 16 and was simply playing 19 to be one of the cool kids. I figure I will use 19 if I want to play a tournament here or there, or if I simply want to fast sim for kicks, but I'm back playing the last version not hampered by visions of silly little men running around a field.

David Watts · 09-02-2018, 09:34 AM

April 22 1973. Hank Aaron just smashed 3 home runs in a game against the Birmingham Slammers. Alexandria destroyed Birmingham 20-3. Hank went 3-3, 3 home runs, driving in 5 runs. He also walked 3 times as well. Aaron scored 5 times, tying the Southern League record.

His partner in crime Joe DiMaggio scored 4 times and drove in 4 as well.

Hank (39 years old) now has 585 career home runs.

David Watts · 09-09-2018, 11:22 AM

July 31 1973, Hank Aaron hits home run number 23 for the season and the 600th of his career.

David Watts · 09-20-2018, 09:26 AM

Approaching the end of June 1974. Baton Rouge looks like the team to beat, but I don't expect Biloxi to go down without a fight. In one of oddest moves in Southern League history, Biloxi traded one of their best pitchers, Harry Brecheen to the Beaumont Crush for Dmitri Young. Biloxi's rotation is loaded, Dutch Leonard, Scott Kasmir and Steve Rogers. but I liked their chances more with Brecheen in that rotation. Dmitri Young has had a fair to middling career and the Cardinals manager is batting him 9th in the order since his acquisition.

One of the things I love most about getting this far into a OOTP league is watching players chase milestones. Right now, one of the guys I've been watching is Mike Hampton. Mike is closing in on 200 wins, but getting their over the last couple years has been anything but easy. He's currently pitching for a bad Corpus Christi team, so his wins are earned the hard way. This morning I watched Hampton pick up win number 198. Mike has Ernie Banks for a teammate. Ernie is in the twilight of his career and is chasing 500 home runs. I'm pulling for both these guys.

Had to laugh prior to the 74 season when Alexandria drafted none other than my boyhood hero Aurelio Rodriguez. The Aces have had Graig Nettles (38) patrolling 3B for several seasons now, so I figured Rodriguez would either ride the reserve roster or be a backup. But, when the season started Aces management moved Nettles to DH and gave the rookie the job. This of course tickled me to death. As a kid, I used to watch Nettles make all those diving stops at 3B in the post season and tell my friends, Aurelio would have made that same play standing up...………………….I was a kid and in my eyes Aurelio was God.

David Watts · 09-20-2018, 10:52 AM

I keep thinking it may be time to expand, but another part of me says, don't do it. I've really enjoyed this one subleague, no divisions setup. I like that the top finishing team gets a bye in the first round of post season play and enters the Championship round with a fully rested pitching staff. I've had some great races for the regular season crown over the years. The wildcard race usually goes right down to the wire as well. It's a blast to watch teams jostle for home field advantage. I worry that splitting into divisions will result in a less exciting regular season.

In the end, what I should probably do is at least wait till every original team has won a league championship. I'm currently one team away from this, as Lake Charles remains the only team without a ring. The Pirates are playing better ball in 74, but I doubt they will factor in the post season, unless they get hot and nab the 2nd Wildcard. The main reason to expand would be to thin out the reserve rosters leaguewide. That being said, there really aren't a ton of great players going unused. Most of the non used, pretty much deserve their non use.

David Watts · 09-21-2018, 08:58 AM

May have spoken to soon in regards to Lake Charles chances to bring home a title. Got home last night and the Pirates went on a tear. They are now 2 games up on Jackson for the 2nd wildcard and only a game and half behind Biloxi for the 1st wildcard. Baton Rouge has built an 8 game cushion over Biloxi with no signs of slowing down.

David Watts · 10-08-2018, 09:54 AM

Okay having some commissioner remorse as we speak. Wondering if I did the right thing? Finished 1975 yesterday afternoon and started 1976. 76 is year 30 for this league. Both Ernie Banks(40) and Hank Aaron(42) were free agents at the end of 75. Both signed 1 year deals, Banks with Texarkana, Aaron with Mobile. Both players missed most of 75 with injuries. I know off the top of my head that Aaron only suited up for roughly 28 games in 75. Banks may have played in a few more.

So, I start 76 and as I always do, I perused all the starting lineups for the team in my league. I quickly noticed that Ernie Banks wasn't in Texarkana's starting lineup. Upon further investigation, I found him on their reserve roster. Hank Aaron was starting for Mobile. So, I start the season and play the first 2 weeks of the season. Aaron quickly launches 2 bombs and I'm thinking cool, could he reach 700 for his career. I fire up a Mobile game week 3 and Aaron isn't in the lineup. I check if it's just a matter of him being rested and find he isn't on the active roster. Aaron is now on the reserve roster as well.

So, here is where my remorse comes in. I decided to force retire both Aaron and Banks. Wondering if I did the right thing? I think I did, but a small part of me is saying, what if either one or both found their way back into the lineup and continued their milestone quest? But, I also know that more often than not when this occurs, players find themselves back on the active roster, but only in name only. They don't play, hardly ever pinch hit and simply become a burden to their team. Ugh!

David Watts · 10-15-2018, 09:15 AM

Oh man, 1977 has arrived!!!! I've played my way through April and May. I a few days into June.

Willie Horton is on pace to have the all time Southern League offensive season. The man is on fire. Horton was the MVP of the 1975 season, winning the Triple Crown. He had a very nice 76 season as well. But, what he's done over the first 2 months of the 77 season is flat out nuts.

Horton finished the first two months of the season with a .400+ batting average. That in itself is pretty amazing, but it's his home run total that makes what he's doing so amazing. On May 31st Willie Horton slammed home run number 30 on the season. Dudes on pace for 80+ home runs(154 game season) for the season. He hit 9 home runs in the month of April and 21 in the month of May. I think the MLB record for a month is 20.

There are a few players working their way towards career milestones as well.

Zack Greinke is working his way towards 200 wins(177) and Pete Rose is now roughly 150 hits away from 3000. Rose is 38 years old, so I think he will fall short of his real life total. Thought Tony Perez may have a chance for 3000 as well, but staying healthy has become a real issue and now he isn't starting either. Graig Nettles is working his way towards 500 home runs. I don't think he will get there, but I'm pulling for him.

1977 is year 31 for this league. Hoping to see some additions to the Hall of Fame, but the well has been dry over the last several seasons. Over the last 3 or 4 seasons Carl Hubbell has led vote getters with 45-48% of the votes, but that's well shy of the required 80%.

Another player that I think might be ready to explode into super stardom is George Brett. Brett is 26 years old and sports a .385 average so far this season. He is driving in runs at a hefty clip. Brett has had some solid seasons already in the Southern League, but 77 looks like it could be very special.

David Watts · 10-18-2018, 08:22 AM

June 27th and Horton now has 41 bombs. He's hitting .420+ and his average has been as high as .436 at one point. His on base percentage was .505 last I checked. Have to figure July will be hit the wall month. If not, this will be the offensive season for the ages.

BirdWatcher · 10-18-2018, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

June 27th and Horton now has 41 bombs. He's hitting .420+ and his average has been as high as .436 at one point. His on base percentage was .505 last I checked. Have to figure July will be hit the wall month. If not, this will be the offensive season for the ages.

This one makes me very happy. Another of my childhood favorite players.

David Watts · 10-19-2018, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

This one makes me very happy. Another of my childhood favorite players.

Have you ever had one of those OOTP moments where you wish instead of firing up the game to squeeze in a few games, you read a book, watched television etc.? Well I had that morning today. Fired up my game and decided to watch a series between the Shreveport Captains and the Jackson Browns. Game one, July 9th Willie Horton hits home run number 43 on the season, driving in his 90th run. He's hitting .415. Shreveport wins the game though and believe it or not Tom Brunansky passes Horton in the rbi race, driving in his 92nd. So on to July 10th. Game is cruising along and is actually a rare 77 pitchers duel, when a ball gets hit to left. Horton makes the play, but leaves the game due to injury. Turns out he has hamstring issues. Out 3-4 weeks. UGH! Say it ain't so!!!!!!

So then I move on. Play Sunday the 11th, which leads to the midseason break. The next games are on Thursday July 15th. I decide I will watch Mobile play as rookie phenom Bob Gibson is on the mound. Gibson is 11-6 for the first place Hustlers. 2 outs into the game disaster strikes in the form of a torn rotator cuff, Gibson is out for the season. Double UGH UGH!

I should have read a book or went to work early.

By the way, Horton was my very first sports hero. He was my Tiger,,,,well he was up until the cat with the black glove showed up to play 3B.

David Watts · 10-20-2018, 05:56 PM

Oh man, what could have been.

10 games remain in the 1977 baseball season. I'm sad to report that Willie Horton won't be playing in any of them. He's currently riding out his third DL stint of the season. This time he's out 5-6 weeks with a oblique strain.

Horton's season over 105 games

.390, .457,.843, 1.300 8.6 WAR.

164 hits, 120 runs, 22 doubles, 2 triples, 55 home runs, 122 RBI.

471 plate appearances, 421 at bats.

Will be interesting to see if he did enough to earn MVP honors. His teammate Bob Watson may take the honor instead. Plus, George Brett should get some serious consideration as well.

55 is the new Southern League record, breaking the mark of 51 set by Duke Snider in 1958.

08-29-2018, 09:37 AM	#1
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Decided reunite with my old flame Back playing my OOTP16 random debut league. 12 team, one subleague, one division, 154 game round robin schedule. 1st place finisher gets bye in first round of playoffs. 2nd and 3rd place teams face off in round one. League started in 1947. Currently halfway thru 1972. Interesting season so far. Biloxi, one of the two remaining teams to never win a championship, sit on top of the league. Their lead isn't a big one though, as Alexandria, Beaumont and Birmingham are all within striking distance. The race for the two wildcard spots looks like it will go down to the wire. What's bizarre about this season so far is the resurgence of some of the leagues big stars. Hank Aaron coming off two injury smacked seasons in a row is once again smacking home runs at a league leading pace. I have my fingers crossed that he remains healthy for the remainder of this season and beyond. Hank is 38 years old and currently sits at 561 career home runs. Would love to see him at least reach 600. He also is the RDL's first member of the 3000 hit club. Hank has 3100 hits. Two other players that have reemerged this year are Tom Glavine and Zach Grienke. Both find themselves pitching for the Birmingham Slammers. Glavine has bounced around between the bullpen and the rotation in the twilight of his career, but 1972 has him sitting among the leagues best pitchers. Tom has 219 career wins. There are 4 other RDL pitchers with 200+ wins. Van Mungo, Larry French, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. French and Verlander are still active. Justin is currently on the dl for and extended period. French is begging the OOTP Gods to put him out of his misery, as he sits in his teams bullpen pitching sparingly. Alexandria is a interesting team, as they seem content to see how many future Hall of Famers they can have on their team at one time. The above mentioned Hank Aaron is a member of the Aces. So is are Joe DiMaggio, Craig Nettles and Boog Powell. DiMaggio and Nettles are both still playing every day, while Powell has become a bench player and not a very good one. Last edited by David Watts; 08-29-2018 at 09:56 AM.

09-02-2018, 09:34 AM	#10
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	April 22 1973. Hank Aaron just smashed 3 home runs in a game against the Birmingham Slammers. Alexandria destroyed Birmingham 20-3. Hank went 3-3, 3 home runs, driving in 5 runs. He also walked 3 times as well. Aaron scored 5 times, tying the Southern League record. His partner in crime Joe DiMaggio scored 4 times and drove in 4 as well. Hank (39 years old) now has 585 career home runs. Last edited by David Watts; 09-02-2018 at 10:09 AM.

10-15-2018, 09:15 AM	#16
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Oh man, 1977 has arrived!!!! I've played my way through April and May. I a few days into June. Willie Horton is on pace to have the all time Southern League offensive season. The man is on fire. Horton was the MVP of the 1975 season, winning the Triple Crown. He had a very nice 76 season as well. But, what he's done over the first 2 months of the 77 season is flat out nuts. Horton finished the first two months of the season with a .400+ batting average. That in itself is pretty amazing, but it's his home run total that makes what he's doing so amazing. On May 31st Willie Horton slammed home run number 30 on the season. Dudes on pace for 80+ home runs(154 game season) for the season. He hit 9 home runs in the month of April and 21 in the month of May. I think the MLB record for a month is 20. There are a few players working their way towards career milestones as well. Zack Greinke is working his way towards 200 wins(177) and Pete Rose is now roughly 150 hits away from 3000. Rose is 38 years old, so I think he will fall short of his real life total. Thought Tony Perez may have a chance for 3000 as well, but staying healthy has become a real issue and now he isn't starting either. Graig Nettles is working his way towards 500 home runs. I don't think he will get there, but I'm pulling for him. 1977 is year 31 for this league. Hoping to see some additions to the Hall of Fame, but the well has been dry over the last several seasons. Over the last 3 or 4 seasons Carl Hubbell has led vote getters with 45-48% of the votes, but that's well shy of the required 80%. Another player that I think might be ready to explode into super stardom is George Brett. Brett is 26 years old and sports a .385 average so far this season. He is driving in runs at a hefty clip. Brett has had some solid seasons already in the Southern League, but 77 looks like it could be very special. Last edited by David Watts; 10-15-2018 at 09:17 AM.

08-30-2018, 08:09 AM	#2
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	The RDL has now wound its way into the 2nd week of August and things remain tight at the top. Birmingham went on a 6 game winning spree taking over first place. The Slammers RF Dwight Evans got hot especially in the home run department. Dewey now has 28 bombs putting him 3 ahead of Hank Aaron for the league lead. The Slammers followed up their winning streak with a 3 game losing streak, allowing the Alexandria Aces to take over 1st place. Birmingham and Beaumont are now tied for 2nd, while Biloxi is sits in 3rd by only a 1/2 game. Right now it looks like Frank Viola is in the drivers seat in regards to the Cy Young award. Frank's won 16 games for the Fort Worth Mustangs who find themselves sitting middle of the pack at this time. The Mustangs have won 4 straight RDL championships. With a strong finish to the season, Jimmy Key may be able challenge Viola, but right now my money is on Frank. Beaumont's Johnny Gorsica is having a nice year, continuing to flirt with a under 2 era. Strange thing is Beaumont tends become run challenged when he pitches, so his record is only 12-10. Bernie Williams is having a really nice year hitting at the top of the Shreveport Captains lineup. Bernie is hitting .352, best in the league. It was a sad day in RDL history this morning when I just couldn't take it anymore and had to force retire Lou Gehrig. Mobile had Lou on their 23 man roster, but with 100+ games played, he had seen action in a grand total of 4 games. He was not contributing and had fallen into one of those dreaded OOTP black holes in which the AI simply ignores his existence. So, as Commish, I hit retire. Lou, we will miss you. The RDL announced today that they will continue to have normal day to night progressions according to the laws of nature. This means the sky will not go from blue to pitch black in the time it takes to hit the space bar on your computer. This decision will eliminate what's been called the earthquake shakes in other leagues from ever happening in a RDL game.

08-30-2018, 08:38 AM	#3
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Never realized just how awful 1972 was in regards to offense. It's not 1968, but it's bad. .244 league batting average, 3.69 runs scored per game. Ugh! And guess what, my RDL is underperforming the real deal right now to the tune of a .239 league batting average. 1973 can't get here soon enough. Of course, 1977 looms in the near future. I'm guessing book of offense get completely rewritten that season. We are working our way to 1986. Once 86 is played, my plans are to use a random number generator from 1980-1986 to determine each future year. If I get 1980, the plan is to use 80, 81, 82 until 86 is played and then use the random generator all over again.

08-31-2018, 11:56 AM	#4
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Starting to think no team wants to win this 72 season. Just when I thought Alexandria was going to take the horse by the tongue, they decide it might be fun to lose 8 straight games. Birmingham now sits at the top of the hill, but their lead is a measly 1/2 game over Alexandria, Biloxi and Beaumont. Oh and Baton Rouge has decided to join the party as well, crawling to within 3 1/2 games. September should be a blast. Earlier I had mentioned the career resurgence of one Tom Glavine. Well Birmingham's manager made a bold move towards the middle of August, by moving Tom to the role of closer. So far Glavine is making him look like a genius. The aging Glavine told reporters he called his old buddy John Smoltz for some tips on dealing with the high pressure that goes along with closing out games. A team that really needs to think about making a change at closer is Beaumont. Hoyt Wilhelm continues to struggle and now has 6 blown saves on the year. The last being exceptionally ugly. Hoyt entered a game against fellow contender Biloxi in the 9th with his team up by three and proceeded to give up 4 runs with the game ending in walk off fashion.

09-01-2018, 11:10 AM	#5
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	In the end Beaumont was the team to finish in 1st place (89-65). The Crush finished one game ahead of Biloxi and 2 in front of Birmingham. Biloxi would defeat Birmingham 4 games to 2 in the Wild Card Round. The Cardinals would continue their roll dispatching Beaumont in just 5 games to bring home their very first championship. The win by Biloxi means Lake Charles is now the only team in the RDL yet to win a championship. The league batting average ended up being .241, which tied 1968 for the lowest in league history. The league ERA was 3.28 second best behind 1968's 3.19. Bernie Williams won the batting title with a .329 average. Harry Heilmann (.301) was the only other RDL player to finish with an average above .300. Hank Aaron would finish with the most home runs, 35, finishing 2 better than Dwight Evans and Carlos Quentin. Ken Griffey Jr. was 4th with 31. Not one player in the league drove in 100 runs. Hank Aaron finished with 97 for the league lead. Frank Viola won 21 games (21-10) followed by Jimmy Key(20-9) and Bill Werle(20-12). Erik Bedard won 19 games and finished the leagues best ERA, 1.98. Pete Alexander finished with a league best 227 strikeouts, 2 better than Al Mamaux. Reliever of the Year Award: Mariano Rivera, Texarkana Grasshoppers. Rivera went 12-10, 30 saves, 1.55 over 116.1 innings. Mariano beat out Alexandria's Justin Duchsherer and Baton Rouge's David Robertson. Biloxi's Charlie Hanford(CF) took home Rookie of the Year honors. .299, 14 home runs and 53 rbi. Cy Young Award: Dutch Leonard, Biloxi Cardinals. 17-13, 2.26, 207 strikeouts. Leonard beat out Alexandria's Jimmy Key and Mobile's Erik Bedard. Hank Aaron takes home MVP honors. .251, 35 home runs, 97 RBI. Hank sported a .391 on base percentage, walking 121 times. Shreveport's Carlos Quentin finished 2nd, Birmingham's Dwight Evans coming in 3rd. Have to think Bernie Williams got snubbed here.

09-01-2018, 11:28 AM	#6
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Duke Snider gets 82.5% of the votes, becoming the 5th member of the RDL Hall of Fame. Snider was a 1st round pick of the Texarkana Grasshoppers in the 1948 amateur draft. He would play 19 years, retiring in 1967. 18 of those years were spent as a Texarkana Grasshopper. Duke played the 1966 season with the Shreveport Captains and then returned to Texarkana for his final season in 67. Duke finished his career with a 444 home runs, scoring 1228 runs and driving in 1218. His career WAR was 72.3. 8 Silver Slugger Awards. 4 times, 1952,53,56 and 58, Snider took league MVP honors. He won one Gold Glove. Duke was a member of 3 championship teams, 1956, 1965 and 1967, all as a member of the Texarkana Grasshoppers.

09-01-2018, 11:50 AM	#7
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Boog Powell decided to call it quits following the 72 season making him this years most notable retirement. Boog has an incredible 18 year career that began in 1955 with the Jackson Browns. Boog hit for a career .274 average, with 448 home runs, 1314 runs scored and 1518 RBI. His 1270 walks puts him 3rd on the all time list, behind only Hank Aaron(1578) and Lou Gehrig(1528). Boog finished with a career 56.0 WAR. Powell was the 1957 MVP, the 1955 Rookie of the Year and won 6 Silver Slugger Awards. He won a championship in 1959 with the Jackson Browns and in 1964 as a member of the Shreveport Captains. Ugh, I almost forgot about Lou Gehrig, the player I forced retired during the 72 season. Lou entered the RDL in 1953, as a 1st round draft pick of the Mobile Hustlers. He would play 19 years in the RDL all as a member of the Hustlers. Gehrig hit 375 home runs, 1373 runs scored, 1382 RBI. .279, 394,.480,.874, with a career 68.8 WAR. 9 Silver Slugger Awards. 4 Gold Gloves. Gehrig took home league MVP honors in 1959 and won championships in 1955 and 1958.

09-01-2018, 07:10 PM	#8
JaBurns All Star Starter Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Kelowna, British Columbia Posts: 1,266	Did you import the game into 19? If so did you notice any benefits fro the import?

09-09-2018, 11:22 AM	#11
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	July 31 1973, Hank Aaron hits home run number 23 for the season and the 600th of his career.

09-20-2018, 09:26 AM	#12
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Approaching the end of June 1974. Baton Rouge looks like the team to beat, but I don't expect Biloxi to go down without a fight. In one of oddest moves in Southern League history, Biloxi traded one of their best pitchers, Harry Brecheen to the Beaumont Crush for Dmitri Young. Biloxi's rotation is loaded, Dutch Leonard, Scott Kasmir and Steve Rogers. but I liked their chances more with Brecheen in that rotation. Dmitri Young has had a fair to middling career and the Cardinals manager is batting him 9th in the order since his acquisition. One of the things I love most about getting this far into a OOTP league is watching players chase milestones. Right now, one of the guys I've been watching is Mike Hampton. Mike is closing in on 200 wins, but getting their over the last couple years has been anything but easy. He's currently pitching for a bad Corpus Christi team, so his wins are earned the hard way. This morning I watched Hampton pick up win number 198. Mike has Ernie Banks for a teammate. Ernie is in the twilight of his career and is chasing 500 home runs. I'm pulling for both these guys. Had to laugh prior to the 74 season when Alexandria drafted none other than my boyhood hero Aurelio Rodriguez. The Aces have had Graig Nettles (38) patrolling 3B for several seasons now, so I figured Rodriguez would either ride the reserve roster or be a backup. But, when the season started Aces management moved Nettles to DH and gave the rookie the job. This of course tickled me to death. As a kid, I used to watch Nettles make all those diving stops at 3B in the post season and tell my friends, Aurelio would have made that same play standing up...………………….I was a kid and in my eyes Aurelio was God.

09-20-2018, 10:52 AM	#13
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	I keep thinking it may be time to expand, but another part of me says, don't do it. I've really enjoyed this one subleague, no divisions setup. I like that the top finishing team gets a bye in the first round of post season play and enters the Championship round with a fully rested pitching staff. I've had some great races for the regular season crown over the years. The wildcard race usually goes right down to the wire as well. It's a blast to watch teams jostle for home field advantage. I worry that splitting into divisions will result in a less exciting regular season. In the end, what I should probably do is at least wait till every original team has won a league championship. I'm currently one team away from this, as Lake Charles remains the only team without a ring. The Pirates are playing better ball in 74, but I doubt they will factor in the post season, unless they get hot and nab the 2nd Wildcard. The main reason to expand would be to thin out the reserve rosters leaguewide. That being said, there really aren't a ton of great players going unused. Most of the non used, pretty much deserve their non use.

09-21-2018, 08:58 AM	#14
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	May have spoken to soon in regards to Lake Charles chances to bring home a title. Got home last night and the Pirates went on a tear. They are now 2 games up on Jackson for the 2nd wildcard and only a game and half behind Biloxi for the 1st wildcard. Baton Rouge has built an 8 game cushion over Biloxi with no signs of slowing down.

10-08-2018, 09:54 AM	#15
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Okay having some commissioner remorse as we speak. Wondering if I did the right thing? Finished 1975 yesterday afternoon and started 1976. 76 is year 30 for this league. Both Ernie Banks(40) and Hank Aaron(42) were free agents at the end of 75. Both signed 1 year deals, Banks with Texarkana, Aaron with Mobile. Both players missed most of 75 with injuries. I know off the top of my head that Aaron only suited up for roughly 28 games in 75. Banks may have played in a few more. So, I start 76 and as I always do, I perused all the starting lineups for the team in my league. I quickly noticed that Ernie Banks wasn't in Texarkana's starting lineup. Upon further investigation, I found him on their reserve roster. Hank Aaron was starting for Mobile. So, I start the season and play the first 2 weeks of the season. Aaron quickly launches 2 bombs and I'm thinking cool, could he reach 700 for his career. I fire up a Mobile game week 3 and Aaron isn't in the lineup. I check if it's just a matter of him being rested and find he isn't on the active roster. Aaron is now on the reserve roster as well. So, here is where my remorse comes in. I decided to force retire both Aaron and Banks. Wondering if I did the right thing? I think I did, but a small part of me is saying, what if either one or both found their way back into the lineup and continued their milestone quest? But, I also know that more often than not when this occurs, players find themselves back on the active roster, but only in name only. They don't play, hardly ever pinch hit and simply become a burden to their team. Ugh!

10-18-2018, 08:22 AM	#17
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	June 27th and Horton now has 41 bombs. He's hitting .420+ and his average has been as high as .436 at one point. His on base percentage was .505 last I checked. Have to figure July will be hit the wall month. If not, this will be the offensive season for the ages.

10-20-2018, 05:56 PM	#20
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 8,863	Oh man, what could have been. 10 games remain in the 1977 baseball season. I'm sad to report that Willie Horton won't be playing in any of them. He's currently riding out his third DL stint of the season. This time he's out 5-6 weeks with a oblique strain. Horton's season over 105 games .390, .457,.843, 1.300 8.6 WAR. 164 hits, 120 runs, 22 doubles, 2 triples, 55 home runs, 122 RBI. 471 plate appearances, 421 at bats. Will be interesting to see if he did enough to earn MVP honors. His teammate Bob Watson may take the honor instead. Plus, George Brett should get some serious consideration as well. 55 is the new Southern League record, breaking the mark of 51 set by Duke Snider in 1958.