SIM COMPLETE - 1996 - SIM 13

[Clay]

Knight was always supposed to be the next Woodbury. Now he's actually playing in a stadium that fits him. His HOME splits are off the charts.

Unfortunately, the Logo is no longer the measuring stick - Chavez is.

[Delandis]

Unfortunately, the Logo is no longer the measuring stick - Thrifty is.

There was a typo there. I fixed that for you.

[Clay]

There was a typo there. I fixed that for you.

Oh with the Daly injury, Knight has a legit shot at 2nd or 3rd in the Stout Slugger. But, his numbers across the board don't touch Chavez'.

That being said, could the Virginia backlash hurt Chavez? Sure. Could he Maeda split some votes? Maybe. But Chavez is carrying a team to a ridiculous record with no Daly, no bullpen, and an 85% Logo.

Not a slight on Knight. Love him. Asked indy about him every single season. Wanted him to be the heir to Woodbury. BUT...Hector Chavez is the best player in the BLB.

[Delandis]

Knight was always supposed to be the next Woodbury. Now he's actually playing in a stadium that fits him. His HOME splits are off the charts.

He's does have a .462 OBP on the road though. He gets a lot of walks when we aren't in Baltimore. Pitchers are less likely to challenge him and just wait for Kubota who seems to be making a slow decent down the Top Players List.

[Clay]

He's does have a .462 OBP on the road though. He gets a lot of walks when we aren't in Baltimore. Pitchers are less likely to challenge him and just wait for Kubota who seems to be making a slow decent down the Top Players List.

Believe me, I wasn't hammering those numbers. His ROAD splits are superstar level too. His HOME numbers are just surreal. That stadium has produced some amazing HOME numbers, but these are a whole different level. He's a great player.

[funclown]

Pawtucket 3-3. Gained a game on Maine, but Ivan allowing 3 runs in the 9th against Indy made us to lose ground against Harftord by a game.

Still not 100% on our direction, but 6 games out of the wildcard isn't cause for panic. We've been thru this nonsense before.

[Delandis]

Rex impacting the bottomline:

I was just looking through our financials and last year, we made $8.5M all year in merchandising rev.

In 1996, we have already made $9.5M in merchandising revenue, plus we have regained our usual #1 position in total attendance, up 58% from 1995.

We average over 99% in home game attendance.

[BradZ]

Rex impacting the bottomline:

I was just looking through our financials and last year, we made $8.5M all year in merchandising rev.

In 1996, we have already made $9.5M in merchandising revenue, plus we have regained our usual #1 position in total attendance, up 58% from 1995.

We average over 99% in home game attendance.

We've already exceeded our 1995 merchandising revenue as well. It's shaping up to be a good financial year in Philly. We're 4th in the league in attendance and have a 58.5% increase over last season. Keep showing up people! We need to finance some stadium renovations.

[mwetts]

5-1 sim. opened a three game lead in the division going into the ASG. That aint much in this division. Ok 1st half summary and 2nd half expectations coming..

1st half Recap...

Pitching... has been up and down all season. As stated many times losing our ace after four starts has put a lot of pressure on the staff and BP. Instead we have leaned on a 26 yr old southpaw Ramano Jacopina and his very leadership anchor the staff. He has rewarded us with his 2nd all-star appearence and a steady climb up the Top Players list.

-Ollie Kane has been pretty dissapointing with a 5.03 ERA for a guy we expected to be the number three on this staff.

-Finally playing to his potenial at least for the 1st half Nate Taylor has thrown a no-hitter and been an innings eater for us.

Which brings me to our biggest problem this year. The BP. Something I had hoped would be a strength this year has been a glaring weakness. I think a lot of this has to due the SP not being able to go deep into games but Ivan Perez and Jerry Murdock have been been extremely dissapointing.

-We lost Jerry Collins on the waiver wire before the season started because of my export problems. This left us with only one lefty in the BP and something we are trying to adresse.

-Adrian Diaz and Travis Oleslager have been our only real stady options out of the pen and will rely heavily on them as the season progresses.

Hitting...

This has been a big strength this year because as Funclown said, a lot of guys are playing over their head. We have 5 all-stars, 4 player of the week awards, and 1 batter of the month.

-Ron O'fallon as one owner put it eloquently when Ron was playing well half way through last was having a freak year that sometimes happen. Well I kinda believed that as well until he came out hot and made the allstar team this year w/ a split of .301/.443/.616 with 19 HR's and 59 RBI.

-Tex Watts at 24 seems to be hitting his stride. He is making his first all-star appearence and has a whopping 60 RBI for a 2B hitting in the 2nd and 8th hole in the lineups. He has tied his career high in HR's and on pace to have 50+ doubles.

-Making his first all-star selection in 5 seasons Cristian Negron like O'fallon has found a kind home in Pitt. His numbers are eerily similar (both 1/2 season of .256, 21 HR's and 65 RBI) to the last time he made the all-star which was his first stint in Pitt.

-Hitting at the a level I have not experienced out of him Dani Trujillo has returned to his form of '93. He has responded to being moved to 3rd in lineup (.333/.451/.551) against lefties while Shitty, after a slow start, has also responded well to being moved to top of the lineup (.384/.505/.547) against lefties.

-Wish he played better defense but Victor Alvarez has proved he will be the starting catcher for the remainder of the season. Since being signed a month into the season he has put up a line of .280/.418/.478 and OPS+ of 143. Dusty Simms has been terrible and thats all i have to say about that.

-The outfield has been curious for us as Wes Farmer has been better than expected and Hugh Brown way worse. Farmer makes his first all-star team and has thrived in the LU. On the other hand Pancho Martinez lost a point in contact but is finally playing up his to rating potentials (according to my scout). A lot of that having to do with the fact that he does not have to face RP with the three lefty OFers.

2nd Half Expectations...

We expect to be fighting for a playoff spot right till the end of the season which sets up to end a lot like last year, the whole division on the road to end the year. We are looking to aquire a lefty for the BP and maybe one more RH hitter. We don't believe the offense can continue to carry us this much in the 2nd half so I hope the pitching comes around.

We hope the BP gets it together after this break and for them to get more rest once Pete Fitz comes back (hopefully 8/14 against the Dinos) and we can send Shawn Gates, who has been solid, back to AAA. At this point barring anymore injuries our owner believes we should make the playoffs. Hope he's ready for the arms race that is sure to ensue in a couple weeks.

[BradZ]

I didn't dog the O'Fallon FA deal like some around here, but I did raise an eyebrow. Unbelievable how that guy has bloomed in PIT. My scout (as well as others I'm sure) always thought he had some decent offensive ability but he'd never really put it all together before PIT. Good stuff.

[Delandis]

-We lost Jerry Collins on the waiver wire before the season started because of my export problems..

Was wondering how he ended up there. THANKS!!!

[mwetts]

Was wondering how he ended up there. THANKS!!!

yea i really fucked that up. like that he has been solid for you although we made sure to rough him up when we faced him.

[Gyrodork]

My starting SS and LF are getting back into the lineup just in time. These .500 weeks aren't going to get it done. I can smell dinosaur breath. (At least, I think that's their breath.) I hope Cavadas doesn't take too long to get back into the swing of things.

[Plastic]

Back to .500, but Old Joe Toapanta had a bad week: 1-2 with a 9.75 ERA in his last 3 games.

[mwetts]

anyone else dissapointed that we will only have two games to look at over the weekend?