Virtual Baseball Season/Franchise Updates

3-3 so far in 2011.  Won 2 out of 3 in Toronto with great pitching in all 3 games.  Won 1 of 3 in Baltimore where the pitching was mostly below-average, the key game being a tough 6-5 loss in 10 innings after giving up a 4-1 early lead and a 5-4 8th inning lead.

2 more road games at Minnesota, then a big homestand.

The good news: 10 HR in the first 6 games!  We had I think 44 HR in the 48 games last season, so it feels like our focus on upgrading power is paying off so far.  Also John Garland, our new 5th starter, pitched 6 shutout innings in our win against Baltimore.

No real bad news yet, other than we've already lost 2 1-run games.

Any new seasons for you guys with The Show of 2K10 ?

Strange weekend...

Played 2 at Minnesota to finish the road trip.  In the first, went up 4-0 in the top of the first and never looked back, winning 7-2.  In the second, went up 3-0 in the top of the first and never looked back, winning 7-1.  These were the 2 easiest wins in the entire franchise so far (more than 8 seasons), and I started thinking maybe our team is finally really strong.

Then played the first two home games of the season against Baltimore.  We lost 2-of-3 in Baltimore last week, and were tied for second in the East with them at 5-3 coming in, so I wanted these games pretty badly.  We went up 3-0 early in the first, and Shawn Chacon (our #4 starter now)  kept getting out of jams.  Then reality struck -- they got 2 in the 4th, 3 more in the 5th, and before I knew it the O's had won it in a rout, 11-4.  Then in game 2, we went down 4-1 early, scratched it back to 4-3 late, then Colby Lewis our great closer got roughed up for 2 runs in the 9th and we lost 6-3.

So we're now 5-5, third in the east.  Lots more home games coming up against strong competition -- Cleveland (top of the central), then TB (top of the east) are next.

I've been out of the country for a while, and haven't had a chance to get deeper into my Twins season on the PS3, but I did have a lot of airplane time to dig into the PSP version and a new Mets season.  I'm a very uninspiring 6-12 right now.  They play a lot like real life!  Many personnel changes, perhaps more to come...

My Mets season on PSP (which has been totally awesome after finding some excellent sliders that bring the offense on both sides back down to earth a bit) is chugging along enjoyably but unfavorably, initially going 8-17, followed by a six-game win streak filled with promise, and now a three-game slide (to the Nationals no less) that has me at 14-20, seven games behind the league leading Phillies.  It's still early though.

I have complete given up on the hopes of playing a full season on the PS3 (not enough time when home, which is fine), but have re-discovered the joys of Road to the Show after creating an 18-year-old second base prospect Seth Berkowitz in the Mets organization.  They included my last name in the audio database after I requested it in an Operation Sports thread last year, so coming up to bat and having my name said by Matt Vasgersian as well as the booming, echo-y stadium announcer is super cool.

I spent 2010 as a backup utility guy with the AA Binghamton Mets, and after an ice-cold start, finished the season respectably enough with a .266 average, mostly pinch-hitting but getting spot starts here and there (even catching from time to time).  They informed me on the last day of the season that I'd earned the starting job, just in time for minor league playoffs, where with a one-run lead and the opponents having loaded the bases but down to their last out in the ninth, I took a ground ball and overthew first base.  I hadn't had a throwing error all year up 'til then.  The series went five games, but we lost.  That burned!

I waited around for a contract offer in the offseason and thankfully was able to stay within the Mets organization, getting a job on the bench with the AAA Bisons.  I've just started the 2011 campaign, but am excited to hopefully reach the bigs along with some other real-life Mets prospects like Fernando Martinez, Dillon Gee, Ike Davis, and so on (I'm using the full minors rosters from O.S.).

Yeah, I appreciated the setback from a narrative point of view.  I don't think the team or fans resented it as much as they would in real life, though!  Short digital memories, they all have.