SIM COMPLETE - 1988 - Regular Season 10

[spot]

Los Alamos gets swept and then sweeps. Meh.

[liquidcrash]

Speak for yourself. We held Davenport to 2 runs and Carolina to 4.

Held Carolina to 4? That's pretty much our standard amount of runs for a series.

[Jake]

4-2 sim. Haven't heard from Pat in this thread yet, of course, there's not much to say when you lose a series to Syracuse.

[Clay]

Virginia Colonials (32-32)

This Week: 6-0

3-0 vs <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Denver</st1:City>
3-0 vs <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City>

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
7 in a row and 9 of our last 11 and finally, the Colonials climb back to .500 after what can only be described a bitterly disappointing beginning of the season. A little DL pitching was just what the Doctor ordered as the home team woke up offensively and brought out the heavy lumber in handling two DL Wildcard Contenders. <o:p></o:p>

What Went Right This Week:
-- Almost everything offensively!!!<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
-- Joshua Poling, who was originally drafted by Maine and later moved on to Los Lunas before finding a home in Virginia, showed that his bat might have been even bigger in the DL as he pounded the Bulls and Snappers to the tune of .652/.724/1.261/1.985 (15 for 23) including 4 HRs, 11 RBI and an IL Player of the Week Award. With the All-Star Game rapidly approaching, Poling has to be fresh in Voter’s minds in the IL 2B race with <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State>’s Robert Abbott and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> rookie Good. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
-- Perhaps wrongly overshadowed by Poling’s impressive week was Mel Woodbury. “Doorbell” put up equally impressive power numbers with 4 bombs and 12 RBI while batting an impressive .440 on the week. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
-- As long as we’re tooting the offensive horn, let’s not forget to blow it one good time for RF Artie Rhodes. Rhodes, who was a Top Prospect most of his minor league career, fell a little off the radar after a relatively quiet rookie season in 1987. Now cemented firmly in the everyday corner OF position, <st1:place w:st="on">Rhodes</st1:place> has been great. This week he went 12 for 22 (.545/.600/.773/1.373) and stole 6 bases on 6 tries. That brings his league leading total to 20 on the season.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
-- Rookie Jerry Collins notched his 6<SUP>th</SUP> and 7<SUP>th</SUP> win of the season in two solid outings. Pancho Herrera also grabbed his 7<SUP>th</SUP>. And the revamped Bullpen continues to impress with Ivan Perez pitching lightsout in the Setup role.

What Went Wrong This Week:
-- Lost the services of Danny Nelson for a week to his first injury of the season. Nelson has been quietly having one of his most consistent seasons in years since being given the opportunity to play everyday again.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
-- The battle for innings at the Catcher position between Hernando and Phillips was uninspired this week. Neither guy was impressive at the plate, though they were both solid defensively.

<o:p></o:p>
-- Still have a ton of catching up to do to get back in this thing. A 6-0 week is great, but I don’t feel like I did a ton to dent to Stout lead of the Wildcard Race. Momentum will be key to get out of this huge hole that we’ve dug.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
COMING UP!
I said it two weeks ago and I’ll say it again. I think MORALE is huge in this game. Putting players in the roles they want to be in makes a huge difference. Between that and my “draft the guys with nicknames” theory, I may never win a title, but generations from now they’ll write books about me.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Big week coming up. Simple math… I’m chasing <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> for the WC. They’re up by 3 games on me. Win 3, we’re tied. Doesn’t get much easier than that. Now doing it will be a lot of tougher. <st1:place w:st="on">Los Alamos</st1:place> after that to face a team we historically struggle against and a very powerful lineup. I’d be happy to get out of this week with a split all things considered, but a lot will ride on what we get from Tosselli and Tracy who’ll platoon in LF for Danny Nelson.<o:p></o:p>

[Pat]

4-2 sim. Haven't heard from Pat in this thread yet, of course, there's not much to say when you lose a series to Syracuse.

Haha. I was just so devastated that I didn’t even want to show my face in the thread.

Pretty good week for the Bats. Swept the Clowns. Lost two of three to the Slammers, but the last two were in extra-innings. I can live with 4-2 weeks.

The Good
-Robert Abbott leads the IL in batting average at .370. He played in 105 games as a rookie last year and 60 this season. In 165 games, 237 hits, 46 doubles, 45 steals, 106 runs. Dale O'Hegarty, who?
-SP Rayford Winchel pitched his best game of the season. One-hit shutout of the Clowns, walking three, striking out four and his only hit was to a pinch hitter.
-R.A. Grounds is having a career year. His .301 average would be by far his personal best. I guess he likes hitting 8th.

The Bad
-Grant Lewis blew his first save of the season.

The Ugly
-I don't need the Colonials having 6-0 weeks. Gotta keep Clay's spirits down.

[Clay]

Isn't Abbott what you condemned Maeda's potential as? I believe your quote was "a glorfied doubles-hitter." I believe there was a "meh" in there too.

[Pat]

Isn't Abbott what you condemned Maeda's potential as? I believe your quote was "a glorfied doubles-hitter." I believe there was a "meh" in there too.

No, I said Maeda was a "doubles-hitter who doesn't strikeout a lot." Abbott is a contact hitter who steals a lot. They have completely different makeups.

Speaking of Maeda, wasn't your prediction that he was going to hit .280? With 45 doubles? 15 triples? 10 HRs? 70 RBI? 90 runs? I also think you said he would have a better season that Eddie O'Fallon? What's Maeda hitting these days? We might need to start calling the .200 mark the Maeda-line.

[Clay]

No, I said Maeda was a "doubles-hitter who doesn't strikeout a lot." Abbott is a contact hitter who steals a lot. They have completely different makeups.

Speaking of Maeda, wasn't your prediction that he was going to hit .280? With 45 doubles? 15 triples? 10 HRs? 70 RBI? 90 runs? I also think you said he would have a better season that Eddie O'Fallon? What's Maeda hitting these days? We might need to start calling the .200 mark the Maeda-line.

No, that was O'Hegarty that I predicted would have the 20-40-60-80-100 season. Injuries killed him, but he's still putting together a respectable season.

Maeda has definately taken a step back this year. He's still young and still Scouts out the same for me. I'm not too concerned. Rhodes was shakey for a few months, but my Scout was still steadfast in his belief in the kid... and suddenly he's becoming lights out... same with Poling. Hell, I think Poling was hitting somewhere near the Maeda-line in April. Maeda wasn't ready for the #2 hole. Still a puppy though. Not worried.

[Pat]

No, that was O'Hegarty that I predicted would have the 20-40-60-80-100 season. Injuries killed him, but he's still putting together a respectable season.

Oh?

He played exactly 81 games at the BLB level last season.... he had 80 hits, 41 runs, 20 doubles, 9 3B, 4 HRs and 37 RBI... his Power rating most of last season was 3. He's jumped in all areas and now has power at 4-5 depending on who you ask.

150 hits... 90 runs... 40 (maybe 50) 2B... 15 3B.... 10 HR... 65 RBI our of my #2 hitter...I could easily have two of the best triples hitters batting back to back at the top of my lineup.

[Clay]

That wasn't a prediction. That was forcasting last season over a full year.

Don't get me wrong, I was way off on my expectation for Maeda this season, but I think the only real BOLD prediction I made was the O'Hegarty one.

[Pat]

That wasn't a prediction. That was forcasting last season over a full year.

Don't get me wrong, I was way off on my expectation for Maeda this season, but I think the only real BOLD prediction I made was the O'Hegarty one.

Pains me to say it, but I did like that O'Hegarty prediction. Very, very bold.

I think Maeda will be fine in the long run, but I do think he is a little in over his head. I think in those 81 games last season he got that rookie "boost" that Riverman always used to talk about.

[Carlos]

It seems that guys that don't belong have these really good rookie years.

Promising players struggle at first and then develop into solid hitters. I'm experiencing that with Seltzer, Pargas, Borkholder (really catching on now) and Higgins.

One exception is Browning who hit very well in his rookie season (one month) and first full season, but there's no doubt in anyone's mind that he's a very good hitter. He just knows how to hit and has hit well at every level.

Al-Sadat is the question mark for me. I think he is what he's shown. Actually, he's a lot like Browning's development. He just won't ever have a Browning like season.

[BradZ]

Philadelphia Freedom (38 - 26, 1st)

Pretty up and down week for us, 3-3 overall. We were hoping for a little better since all 6 games were at home. This was the first week of the season that we had an ERA in the 4’s (it was 4.00 even) so the fact that we managed a .500 record might be a bit of surprise. Oh, and Dave Sievewright can choke on a big fat one. I don’t know why he’s still on my roster, but we’ll probably remedy that soon. His in-game Arb estimate is $2.4mil next year (currently makes $600k). He’s lights out at AAA but gets his jock knocked off in the bigs. I’m done.

2-1 vs. Sin City

Gm 1: The week got off to a good start with a 2 run rally off of George Birley to turn a 3-4 deficit into a 5-4 victory. SS Geoff Scott was dominant with a 4 for 4 performance which included a double, a triple, 2 runs scored and 2 runs driven in. Jim Newlin, Greg Josey and Victor Alveraz each had two hits in the game as well. Ben Irvin was ok during his start (6.1 IP | 8 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 6 K) but didn’t figure into the decision as CL Joe Alveraz picked up a cheap victory.
SIN 4 PHI 5

Gm 2: Sin City scored 4 runs in the 5th off SP Ray Minnoz and 7 runs in the 8th off of a couple of RPs. We can’t overcome those sort of big innings under just about any sort of circumstances imaginable. This one went as it should since we only managed a single run on 5 hits. Geoff Scott had another multi hit effort, going 2 for 4 and scoring the only run of the game for us.
SIN 13 PHI 1

Gm 3: Joe Aurillo made quick work of the Gamblers on this day, going 8.0 innings while giving up 0 runs on 4 hits and striking out 5. Geoff Scott had his 3rd multi hit game of the series (and 4th in a row dating back to last week against Batavia). OT was 2 for 4 and scored 2 runs, while Joe Lukies scored 2 runs as well. Joe Aurillo picked up 2 hits in two official Abs.
SIN 0 PHI 4


1-2 vs. Mississippi

Gm 1: SP Gervasio Areas is really good. He’s put up a sub 2.00 ERA on the year so far despite dealing with the DH on most nights. He certainly had no trouble with our lineup in this one as we managed a total of 3 hits against him while he fanned 9. One of those hits was by SP Tim Nathan. Unfortunately for us Nathan was unable to match the effort of Areas and we dropped game 1.
MIS 4 PHI 1

Gm 2: Former #1 overall draft pick Don Leonard is still getting his feet wet as a BLB pitcher, but he looked like a seasoned vet in this one (8.0 IP | 4 H | 0 ER | 1BB | 7 K) as only a pitch count kept him from going for a CG shutout. Vet CL Eric McCoy made sure the slate stayed clean with a perfect 9th as our offense was shut down yet again by Storm pitching. Joe Arredondo was solid in defeat (7.1 IP | 8 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 5 K).
MIS 2 PHI 0

Gm 3: Ben Irvin took the mound for game 3 facing the potential sweep and he did enough to make that didn’t happen. He’s having trouble getting deep into games, but his performances are relatively solid (6.2 IP | 6 H | 1 ER | 2 BB | 4 K in the game). Geoff Scott put up another multi hit game, going 2 for 5 and scoring a run. Jose Urra was 3 for 4, scored a run and drove in one. Joe Alveraz pickedu up his 17th save of the year.
MIS 1 PHI 5


Good:

- Geoff Scott was outstanding in going .435 | .500 | .565 with 4 runs and 3 RBI for the week. He was essentially the only offensive bright spot.

- Joe Aurillo was solid in picking up his 6th victory of the year.


Not as Good:

- our catching situation is dissolving into an untenable position. Victor Alveraz had 2 hits in the first game of the week, but went hitless the rest of the way. He’s now down to .201. We knew he would struggle at times this year, but this slump is getting fairly prolonged at this point.

[Carlos]

So, Clay.

I find it a personal battle of mine to have a guy who leads the entire BLB in steals so I'm always checking on Rhodes (and it disappoints me when Montero doesn't swipe a bag against you or all sim despite batting over. 300. Why was he standing on 1B?).

Anyway, Rhodes is a better base stealer. He's an 8-8-8 in all running ratings. Montero is an 8-8-7 (according to OSA).

However, the one thing I never understood about OOTP is why a guy like Rhodes can't play centerfield. He's a 2 there. How can a guy with the best speed the game can generate have trouble playing centerfield? It makes very little sense in the world of baseball.

[Pat]

So, Clay.

I find it a personal battle of mine to have a guy who leads the entire BLB in steals so I'm always checking on Rhodes (and it disappoints me when Montero doesn't swipe a bag against you or all sim despite batting over. 300. Why was he standing on 1B?).

Anyway, Rhodes is a better base stealer. He's an 8-8-8 in all running ratings. Montero is an 8-8-7 (according to OSA).

However, the one thing I never understood about OOTP is why a guy like Rhodes can't play centerfield. He's a 2 there. How can a guy with the best speed the game can generate have trouble playing centerfield? It makes very little sense in the world of baseball.

Fielding ratings are based on experience.

Clay probably played him exclusively at LF and RF while he was in the minors because he was so high on Danny Nelson and Yan Van Den Adel.....