Sports Gaming Nation Homepage

    Leagues & Ladders       League Shop        XGN Blog        Middle Aged Gamer        FlightSim Hangar        SGN Archive       
Forum Home Forum Home : SGN Forum : The Locker Room
  Active Topics Active Topics RSS Feed: Virtual Baseball Season/Franchise Updates
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Forum LockedVirtual Baseball Season/Franchise Updates

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 1213141516 21>
Author
Message
Slumberland View Drop Down
All-Star
All-Star
Avatar

Joined: 01-27-2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 577
Post Options Post Options   Quote Slumberland Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Virtual Baseball Season/Franchise Updates
    Posted: 09-30-2009 at 9:55am
Had an interesting game against the Pirates... Santana mowed them down for most of it, up 3-0 in the 8th, when things got out of control and suddenly I'm down 5-3.  Won it 6-5 after scoring three more runs in the 9th... seemed like a heartbreaker for those poor little virtual Pittsburghians.  I could really see their anguish in the stands during the replays.

Two more against Pitt, then a series against the Nats that I imagine I will largely sim, followed by the 2nd place Phillies and the Yankees, both of which should be interesting.

My current rotation, after giving up a bit of offense in trades:

Santana
Kazmir
Kuroda
Lester
Pelfrey

Ah, Pelfrey as a 5th starter, right where he should be.  It really was glass-half-full madness that the Mets slotted him in as a #2 this year.
Back to Top
Slumberland View Drop Down
All-Star
All-Star
Avatar

Joined: 01-27-2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 577
Post Options Post Options   Quote Slumberland Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-05-2009 at 11:59pm
Now 36-31, looking up at the Phillies who are two games out in front.  I intend to claw my way back however!  Loving my team after the recent round of changes.
Back to Top
Slumberland View Drop Down
All-Star
All-Star
Avatar

Joined: 01-27-2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 577
Post Options Post Options   Quote Slumberland Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-06-2009 at 8:34am
Some details: 

Had a brutal series against the Yanks at the new terrordrome.  Lost game one, Jon Lester was matching zeroes with Joba Chamberlain in game two when a baserunning blunder with bases loaded in the 8th cost us a potential first run, and then their rookie DH drove in the game winner in the 9th.  We jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind Scott Kazmir in the final game, couldn't tack on any more and eventually lost 4-3.  Then two more losses in Baltimore, and suddenly we're looking up not only at the Phillies but the Braves as well.  We pummeled Baltimore in the last one there to the tune of 8-0, then won an exciting game against the Rays at home... with us up 5-0, they started clawing back, eventually getting it to 5-4.  Bottom of the 9th, one out, two men on, K-Rod gets a fly ball to right, Francoeur gets a running start on it in case the runner at second decides to tag, and sure enough he tries it.  Frenchy fires a strike to third base for the game-ending double play.

Loving this game!  I remember when I hated it.  Strange.
Back to Top
TedSGN View Drop Down
MVP
MVP
Avatar

Joined: 01-26-2006
Location: Friday Harbor
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3288
Post Options Post Options   Quote TedSGN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-06-2009 at 10:49am
Clap

I'm well into my second season and need to post the details of off season moves and then a season update.

Glad you've finally found the groove and love your game.
Back to Top
Derek View Drop Down
MVP
MVP
Avatar

Joined: 01-26-2006
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1127
Post Options Post Options   Quote Derek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-06-2009 at 11:14am
You ended up switching to All Star and staying there, right Slumber?

My PS3 has been in a deep sleep lately, but I'll be dusting it off soon to play some Uncharted, so I may get some more baseball games in.
Back to Top
Slumberland View Drop Down
All-Star
All-Star
Avatar

Joined: 01-27-2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 577
Post Options Post Options   Quote Slumberland Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-06-2009 at 11:21am
I did go with All-Star for a while, but went back to Hall of Fame.  Overhauling the starting rotation helped a lot.  I think the game might have been accurately modeling the tremendous suck of the default 2009 Mets rotation once you got past Santana.
Back to Top
Mike_S View Drop Down
Rookie
Rookie
Avatar

Joined: 02-21-2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 254
Post Options Post Options   Quote Mike_S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-06-2009 at 7:31pm
Still hoping to get back to High Heat soon, but overwhelmed between work and football stuff on TV lately.  Glad you guys are keeping you seasons going!!
Back to Top
TedSGN View Drop Down
MVP
MVP
Avatar

Joined: 01-26-2006
Location: Friday Harbor
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3288
Post Options Post Options   Quote TedSGN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-25-2009 at 2:18am
After failing to make the playoffs I evaluated what I had, what I needed, and how close I could get to being where I wanted to be which was the playoffs.  I was happy with our hitting, but felt we needed more power.  Not a lot.  Or at least I wasn't willing to sacrifice a lot of hits to gain 10 or 20 more home runs, but some more power would be nice.  

I also came to the realization that we had a solid defensive corps and that was what kept us in all those games even though our pitching staff was decimated by so many injuries.  Beltre (3B), Ichiro (CF), and Gutierrez (RF) are all rated in the 90's defensively (Gutierrez is the best at 98) and they started 162, 153, and 153 games respectively.  Cedeno (SS) is also a 90's defensively and played a key role as a late sub for the sub-par defensively (66) Betancourt (SS) and was also a part time starter.  Lopez (2B) is a mid 80's glove and the rest of the platoon are average 70's fielders.  I needed pitching, but realistically I wasn't going to be able to put together an ace staff so I decided to try and also get some additional strong defensive players.

Several key Mariners had contracts that were up and I needed to decide who to try and keep.  The bullpen was a bunch of journeymen at best so I released Aardsma, the aging Walker, and the elderly Batista to free agency since all of their contracts were expired.  The remaining Mariners that needed to negotiate were the #1 and #2 starters Felix Hernandez and Eric Bedard, both of whom I had to try and keep.  Beltre, Gutierrez, Cedeno, Griffey Jr., Chad Cordero (CL), and the aging Russell Branyan (1B) were all in need of new contracts and I was willing to try and keep them all, but Cordero wanted a 5 year, 6.5M deal and I didn't want to pay him that much based upon his stats and the fact that I wasn't willing to use him as a closer as his WHIP was too high and his K's to BB and K/9 numbers were too low.  Bye Cordero.  And then there was Griffey.  The guy was a stud and I felt like he was the heart of that 2009 team.  He hit 50 doubles!  But he didn't want to retire and he wanted a 1 year contract for 6.5M.  He was the DH and if I wanted more power in the lineup I was going to have to do it at DH since there weren't any power hitting position players coming up on the market this year.  I made the tough decision to release him.  (Incidentally Milwaukee picked up both Griffey and Cordero.)

So I resigned Hernandez to a 7y/59.5M deal.  Bedard got a 5y/22.5M deal.  Beltre took a pay cut and happily signed for 15M over 5y.  Gutierrez, Branyan, and Cedeno all signed deals for less than 1M per year.  Branyan signed for 1 year and the other two multi-year contracts.  Interesting thing about Beltre.....I never could stand him in video game baseball.  I was only so-so about him in real life when we lived in L.A., but always felt he was over rated.  The season he hit 48 homers I felt like he had to be juicing, but who knows.  He signed a massive contract with Seattle and appeared to go to sleep at the plate again.  Then it all kind of came together for me playing through this 09 season and I started to really appreciate him for what he is.  A fantastic fielding third baseman who hits for average and can knock 20 to 25 homers a year.  When he took the massive pay cut in my franchise I started to like him even more.  Now I adore watching him on the field and cheer when he comes to bat, especially against lefties.

I still needed to replace Griffey and find some home runs.  The best player I could find for that role was Marcus Thames and I quickly signed him to a 4 y/8M deal.  Thames lacks even Griffey's abilities in the field so I also signed Josh Willingham (LF) who is solid defensively if only mediocre at the plate.  I also signed two starting pitchers, Anibel Sanchez and Kyle Davies for the four and five spots in the rotation.  I filled out the bullpen with Jeremy Sowers, Kevin Correia, and found a new closer in veteran Jason Isringhausen.

Around the league Randy Johnson, Trevor Hoffman, and Mike Cameron retired.  There were no big ticket free agents on the market this season, but some notable signings around the league were:

Jim Edmonds to Atlanta for 1y/5M

Griffey Jr, and Cordero to Milwaukee

Pedro Martinez to L.A. for 2y/13M

Richie Sexson to Wash for 3y/4.2M

Gary Sheffield to Tampa for 1y/6.85M

Omar Vizquiel to Boston for 1y/1.58M

Tom Glavine to Colorado for 1y/5M

Mark Mulder to Minnesota for 3yr/2.8M

At the start of 2010 season I also traded away Jared Washburn to Florida for two minor leaguers, Jai Miller and Bill Simon.

You can see my 2009 franchise stats at http://www.flightsimhangar.com/fsblog/?page_id=976

The pitching rotation for 2010 is

1.  Hernandez
2.  Bedard
3.  Morrow
4.  Davies
5.  Sanchez

Bullpen:

Correia
Rowland-Smith
Olson
Corcoran
Sowers
Isringhausen (CL)
+ 1 or 2 others.

Starting Lineup:

1.  Ichiro (CF)(L)
2.  LaHair (1B)(L)
3.  Beltre (3B)
4.  Thames (DH)
5.  Lopez (2B)
6.  Balentien (LF)
7.  Clement (C)(L)
8.  Gutierrez (RF)
9.  Cedeno (SS)

Bench:

Betancourt (SS,2B)
Johjima (C)
Branyan (1B,3B)(L)
Willingham (LF)

LaHair blossomed last year as a contact hitter and is better defensively than Branyan.  He can also hit with some power.  Cedeno is so solid at short I decided to sacrifice Betancourt's better bat and use him as a backup instead.  Future plans might see Betancourt move to DH if we ever find a position player (or two) that can hit for power as well.  Willingham is good enough to play every day and can hit 20 home runs.  He'll be seeing regular action relieving the outfielders as they fatigue.  I plan to platoon him regularly with Balentien or Gutierrez as the need arises.  Branyan moves into a role player now.  He has that nice left hand bat and he can hit for power against righties.  I plan to use him in key pinch hit situations and to spell Thames when he gets fatigued.

I'm actually over 70 games into 2010 at this point, but I'll save that for another update.

Back to Top
Mike_S View Drop Down
Rookie
Rookie
Avatar

Joined: 02-21-2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 254
Post Options Post Options   Quote Mike_S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-26-2009 at 4:07pm
Awesome update.  Still overwhelmed between work and college football (so many channels, so many shows, so little time), will probably get back to High Heat once it gets closer to Thanksgiving.
Back to Top
Slumberland View Drop Down
All-Star
All-Star
Avatar

Joined: 01-27-2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 577
Post Options Post Options   Quote Slumberland Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-27-2009 at 7:13am
I lost game two of the World Series to the Red Sox, 9-8, after they score six in the bottom of the eighth.  The lesson to be learned... even if you're up 8-3, don't treat it like a regular season game and bring in your long man in the playoffs.

Tied 1-1.  How I got here is a bit dubious (some lucky simming) but what the hey... I was getting impatient and am really looking forward to the off-season.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 1213141516 21>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.406 seconds.