SIM COMPLETE - 1987 - Regular Season 10

[BradZ]

Philadelphia Freedom (36 - 28, 1.0 GB)

4-2 overall

2-1 vs. Sin City
2-1 vs. Mississippi

Started both series off with 2 victories, but in both instances we were unable to complete a sweep.

Good:

SP Joe Aurillo – returned from a week off to throw 8.0 IP allowing 0 ER giving up 3 H and striking out 6. Failed to pick up the victory as our offense likes to take the night off when he’s on the hill

SP Yeong-suk Kang – Gave us exactly what we are hoping for. Solid, but not spectacular performance. 6.0 IP 3 ER, but most importantly 1 W.

RP Cristián Correa – It’s about time I throw some ink his way. 22 year old who got his first taste of the Bigs last season. That experience certainly seems to have done him some good as he as started this season out on fire. He gave us 6.2 solid IP in 4 games posting a 1.35 ERA for the week. How good has he been for us this year? That 1.35 ERA actually increased his overall ERA to 1.01. Oppenents are batting a solid .186 off of him. He is a big part of us having the best Bullpen ERA in the IL

Not as Good:

Greg Josey/Jim Newlin – Come on guys. In case you haven’t noticed we are in the middle of a baseball season. You might want to show up at some point. Talk it over and decide which one of you wants to go first.

Bill Gillespie – He took all the momentum of a 3H shutout and rolled out a 5.0IP 4ER effort.

Trevor Broomfield – Not terrible, but terribly mediocre. Not just this week, but this has been an ongoing issue. It’s to the point that we are going to have to start trying to hide him in our bullpen.

[BradZ]

I'm moving Shannon from the 3 spot to the 4 spot to try and increase his RBI total.

Lets hope it doesn't mess with his hitting mojo.

I'm going to go ahead and hope for the opposite of this.

[Ryan]

I'm moving Shannon from the 3 spot to the 4 spot to try and increase his RBI total.

Lets hope it doesn't mess with his hitting mojo.

I don't know Linty, the only place I'd move that guy is back to Indy.

[mahoney2]

When do we get our draft picks in the game? I thought we usually get them the first sim of June.

[Pat]

The 16th.

[Riverman]

Falling Down

After a 19-7 start Davenport has floundered going 12-26 of over the last 6 sims. I've had three 1-5 sims in that stretch and I was pretty lucky to avoid an 0-6 in the last one as I came from behind to steal one from Maine. I was not so lucky against Hartford though as the Whale absolutely abused my pen in the last two games of the series. I took a 3-0 lead into the 7th in game 2 and a 6-1 lead into the 8th of the 3rd game, only to have the Whalers put up 18 runs in the 5 remaining frames of those two games.

Uncle! After toying with the idea of addressing my weaknesses in an attempt to snag a WC berth, I'll either be a seller again this season or standing pat. My revised block may be appearing soon.

Even with the problems there have been some pluses this season. Despite trading away two of my biggest bats from last season, Robbins and Fortin, I've been scoring more runs. There have been several key contributers - Kenichi Sato .320/.362/.475, Ivan Solis .315/.361/.408, Len John .321/.379/.461, Vern Branch .301./.394/.397, Ivan Arellano .262/.354/.483 and Scott Neville .269/.331/.494. No super stars in the bunch but solid offensive contributions from each.

The rotation led by Carl Pateshall 5-3, 2.27 has also improved. Number 2 starter Jerry Sizemore 4-7, 3.66 has not quite been adequate as a #2 but he is young and I am hopeful that he will get there. He has been solid except for his penchant for allowing the long ball -12 HRs in 82.2 innings. I may need to move the fences back in Davenport if I wish to rely on him as a top-of-the-rotation guy. I have several young players to choose from to fill out the rotation the most interesting of which may be Rule V acquisition Pete Collins 1-1, 3.01. Collins started the year in the pen but has enjoyed some success as a starter since his recent move to the rotation.


Meanwhile, the combination of the hot start and the extremely skewed schedule (after the next sim I'll have played 47 home games and just 23 on the road) benefits me financially. I draw between 10 and 15 thousand more per game early in the season while the fans are under the illusion that they are watching competitive baseball in Davenport.

[Guest]

I just realized that in both of the sim baseball leagues I've been involved in, essentially the same thing has happened. BLB being one and a mogul league being the other.

At first I make a few trades and have some decent years, then I manage to assemble a "super team" with an extremely high payroll and have a 100-win season or two, completely tank in the playoffs, and then fall apart in the following years.

Coincidence, I think not. My mogul league Orioles were amazing too. Rotation of Zambrano, Bonderman, Buerhle, Nolasco, and another good guy with Wagner and Ryan in the pen, and a lineup of Furcal, Tejada, Manny, Andruw (back when he was in his prime), Huff, Markakis, and a 1B prospect that was crazy good.

[Carlos]

Being able to build a competitive team is everyone's goal, I'm sure. Take solace in the fact that you've been able to do that in the BLB and that other league.

Maintaining that dominance is incredibly difficult to achieve and even the greatest of teams in sports hit a wall. Players get old, money gets tighter as everyone gets a raise, your farm system suffers as you get lower picks. It's a cycle.

You're struggling now, but the challenge has been set up for you. Now, you take this bump and you work on getting yourself back to the top.

That's what I did in another league. I walked into a good team that was old. I made two league championships in my first two seasons (losing both). Played above average the two seasons after, and then my players started retiring, I was cash-strapped, and I tanked it for three seasons. Absolutely horrible. I worked on it, and within two seasons from those failed years, I rebuilt my team and finally won my first championship. Now I'm heading into the offseason looking for ways to defend that crown. But the joy was in rebuilding that team and finally getting back to the championship and winning it.

I'm hoping I can do that in Denver. And someday you'll be back. Just gotta take the hits.