Your Love/Hate List

[Delandis]

Is there anybody on your team that you love and hate, at the same time?

For me its:

Yoshi Takahashi,
http://www.simgamingnetwork.com/blb/news/html/players/player_2167.html

Hitting .290 so far this year so, good hitter and should be a decent defensive shortstop but he is killing me with 10 errors so far this year.

[Ryan]

All of 'em!!

Actually I'll go with Vidal Olbera. Being a Cub's fan, this guys injuries are not amussing. Not that he could be a Prior/Wood, but he's got the best potential of any of my BLB ready guys.

[Lintyfresh85]

Awaits Diesel's Joe Rodriguez rant.

[BradleyB]

I hate the Whalers. I wish they would pack it up, move to North Carolina and call themselves the Hurricanes already. Why live a lie.

[spot]

I hate the Whalers. I wish they would pack it up, move to North Carolina and call themselves the Hurricanes already. Why live a lie.

Back off man! For me hockey died when they left. I haven't been to a hockey game since a Whalers playoff game in 1987 vs. Quebec. So sad...

I actually like seeing the name live on.

[BradleyB]

Back off man! For me hockey died when they left. I haven't been to a hockey game since a Whalers playoff game in 1987 vs. Quebec. So sad...

I actually like seeing the name live on.

This is fantastic. I thought Jeff was the only delusional person in this league. Don't worry spot, I'm sure Hartford will get another professional sports team sometime real soon.....anyday now....it'll be glorious....

[Z]

I hate Mel Woodbury. He's the JD Drew of the BLB.

I love Joe Iliquez and my all-time favorite player, Ron Detwiler. I wish they had never been hurt.

[spot]

This is fantastic. I thought Jeff was the only delusional person in this league. Don't worry spot, I'm sure Hartford will get another professional sports team sometime real soon.....anyday now....it'll be glorious....

They do. They're called the UConn Huskies!

Actually they have a pro women's basketball team that is owned by the Mohican tribe. They play at the casino Mohican Sun and are called, you guessed it, Connecticut Suns. Women's basketball is pretty big in CT, which is beyond me but whatever works...

[Z]

I've been to that casino. That place sucks. Foxwoods is way better.

[spot]

I've been to that casino. That place sucks. Foxwoods is way better.

I agree.

Although I worked in the small cabaret theater for a week and stayed in the hotel the entire time. It didn't suck too much then...

[Pat]

Awaits Diesel's Joe Rodriguez rant.

Here it is..

http://www.simgamingnetwork.com/blb/...ayer_2147.html


Why I love SP Joe Rodriguez
When I took over the Washington franchise in 1979, the minors were low on players, talent, and full of old dudes at lower levels. As the summer hit, I started to get the swing of things and began to weed out the scrubs. I signed (then) a 21-year-old MR named Joe Rodriguez from San Cristzbal, in the Dominican Republic. He was buried deep in the pen and only appeared in three games in Single-A. My scouts were never high on him, but I kept him around. (I think until later in his career, my scouts had him 3-2-3 potential)

In his second season, he saw plenty of action. Pitching in 31 games, 56 IP, with a minuscule .96 ERA. My scouts learned that he had developed his stamina from a "4" to a "5" and he finished the season (5 starts) in the rotation.

In his third season at Single-A, he got 10 starts, going 3-2, with a 2.62 ERA. He was promoted to Double-A, 13 starts, 6-5 with a 3.63 ERA. He was one of the key starters for the team that won the 1981 Double-A Championship. As soon as the minor league seasons ended, I moved him to Triple-A, where he received a ratings boost. Jumped from a total scrub (according to my scouts) to a lefty SP with 5-4-6 potential.

That next season, in Triple-A he got 24 starts, went 9-5, 3.07 ERA, 137 IP, 110 Ks, and only 17 BBs. He got promoted to the bigs in September, and despite striking out 14 in 12 innings, he had an ERA over 8.

That off-season, I needed OF help. I felt confident that Rodriguez could step up, so I traded #3 SP Carl Pateshall to Los Alamos for LF Steve Bing. Rodriguez finished the 1983 season at 15-9, 3.23 ERA, 151 Ks, and only 33 BBs. My only left handed starting pitcher. He got two starts in the post-season, going 2-0 with a 3.29 ERA for the Brewmaster Champs.

This season he has had some amazing starts. He came within two outs of a perfect game against Windy City. He pitched a two-hitter into the eight against Morgantown.

Why I hate SP Joe Rodriguez
This season he has been not only my most inconsistent starting pitcher, but my most inconsistent player. In an April start against the Virginia Colons he lasted all of .2 innings, giving up 7 ER in a 10-4 loss. (I know, seriously...Virginia?) His next start following his near perfect game, he lasted all of .2 innings against Batavia, giving up 6 ER. It seems that if he doesn't pitch a gem, he gets hammered.

This season I went with 11 pitchers instead of my usual 12, which means I dropped the spot-starter/mop-up reliever. When Joe Rodriguez gets knocked out in the middle of the 1st inning, not only does it put my hitters in a huge hole, but it kills my bullpen. I can connect more than just one-loss to those blowouts because for the rest of the week, my bullpen is overworked. I hope it isn't a sign of things to come, as he was pretty consistent in 1983.

And with that...I will do one more:

http://www.simgamingnetwork.com/blb/...player_87.html


Why I love CF Dan Hogan
Pretty simple, his power. He is my biggest XBH threat in the lineup. In 1981 (half in Davenport, half in Washington, 144 games) he hit 38 doubles, 14 triples, and 25 homeruns. In 1982, he hit 37, 10, and 13 (136 games). In 1983 (137 games), my title season, he hit 36, 12, and 19. This season, he has 10, 2, and 7.

He is also one of the best defensive CFs in the game. Oh, and he is a burner on the base paths. In 1982 he had 47 steals, and in 1983 he had 32. This season he has 8.

Why I hate CF Dan Hogan
Injuries. You can book him for two 15-day-DL stints every year.

Oh, and did I mention that he is terribly inconsistent? He will have amazing stretches where he tears the cover off the ball, and then he will go 1-50. Right now, he is hitting .204 with just a .690 OPS. Now, I figure that he will get out of the slump, but the question is when? He will likely finish the year in the .250-.260 range, but can I afford to bat him in the middle of the lineup when he can't come even close to contact? Oh, and I hate the fact that he strikesout about once a game. Career: 828 Ks, 906 games, 850 hits. His normal stat line is 1-4 with an extra base hit and a strikeout.

I also hate that he is one of my highest paid players and isn't consistent. He is on the books for $14.5 mill this season and next. Now, I have money to burn as I have the highest budget in the league, but it still pisses me off to the see the guy hitting at the Mendoza-line and having the salary of the entire Hartford Whalers lineup.

should I love them...should I hate them...

[Clay]

I think have the easiest... no brainer... no doubt.... (besides my entire organization)...

Danny Nelson



Danny Nelson was taken in the 2nd round (Pick 14) in the first Amateur Draft by the previous and far more successful Virginia Ownership group. Nelson played 46 games in A ball before making the direct jump to the BLB as a teenager. He rewarded the GIGGAS GROUP with the 1979 IL Refreshing New Brew award with a staggering 31 HR - 103 RBI season back in the early days of the league when the IL was completely Pitching Dominant.

He started 1980 with an injury and has had at least 3 injuries every single season of his career since then. He's the king of the Day-to-Day compound injury. On multiple occasions, because the AI doesn't allow you to tell it to sit D-to-D injuries that take place in the middle of the sim, he has suffered an additional injury while Day-to-Day.

Nelson has never finished in the Top 10 in any offensive category since that remarkable 1979 year. Though he has increased him BA over his career and trimmed his K's, his BB's have declined as well and his career OBP of .328 is so far off the level where it could/should be.

After his first month in the bigs, the GIGGAS GROUP, for whatever reason, decided to resign Nelson to a 5 year - $14,000,000 deal before he ever cashed his first $280,000 killing all of his Auto Renewel and arbitration years in the process. Nelson will be a FA after '84 and, unlike most, is willing to talk to the team about extending his stay in Virginia. However, what does a team do with a guy who could be 1 injury away from going Stafford?

[Jim]

After his first month in the bigs, the GIGGAS GROUP, for whatever reason, decided to resign Nelson to a 5 year - $14,000,000 deal before he ever cashed his first $280,000 killing all of his Auto Renewel and arbitration years in the process. Nelson will be a FA after '84 and, unlike most, is willing to talk to the team about extending his stay in Virginia. However, what does a team do with a guy who could be 1 injury away from going Stafford?

Not sure I'd do that in his first month but I can see doing it after a few months or their first season. I've actually been resigning some of my younger guys much like is the current trend in MLB. There have been several young MLB players who haven't even become arbitration eligible who have signed long term extensions.

[Clay]

I think it's a stretch to ever do it in their first season.

[Z]

You mean like how the Rays re-signed Longoria to a huge deal a week after his call-up?