My Stratomatic Replay of the 2013 MLB season has been on a rather long hiatus, first due to other projects, and now I've lost access to the game stats and scoresheets I had stored on the iscore website after a refresh of the tablet I use to score :( I'm not sure yet whether and how I will continue the 2013 replay (I could just continue with the standings I have documented here, and the limited stats and game history I have recorded on paper, or I could redefine the games I played so far as a kind of spring training and start the regular season over again).
But the pause in the 2013 MLB replay made me think about other, possible projects, and I revisited the stack of Negro League player cards that I bought some time ago. The idea would be to create a handful of teams via some kind of draft of players, and then play a short (fifth of a full) season with a similar approach as for the 2013 replay schedule.
However, even if I go for the smaller rosters of about 15 players per team, the cards in the set will only be enough for about six teams, so I'll have to look at was to make that work (without any reference to historical league structures, the players are a mix from five or six decades, anyway...). So here are a few options I've been toying around with.
The goal would be to come to 32 or 33 total games per team so I can compare the resulting counting stats with the benchmarks one has in mind for modern day 162 day MLB seasons by simply multiplying with five.
I could also try to play a double header or three and squeeze the whole schedule into a calendar month to keep the pitching rotations busy and avoid that teams have the chance to start their aces nearly every day.
1. Six teams, one division (35 games per team, 105 games overall)
If each team plays each other team seven times, there is a 35 game season for everyone - a bit too much for the simple comparison but manageable total of games.
2. Six teams, two divisions (32/33 games per team, 96/99 games overall)
To get closer to the easy "x5" comparison to a 162 game season, I'd need each team to play nine games against the two teams in their own three team division and five games against each of the other teams.
Having two divisions would also allow for a nicer championship finals between the division champs.
An alternative could be to play 7 games within the division and six outside for a total of 33, but that would mean the intra- vs inter-division games are too close, or ten games within and four outside for a total of 32, but that way many of the team-against-team series could be tied.
3. Five teams, one division (32 games per team, 80 games total)
This would mean 8 games against each other team for a total of 32 (again, many chances for tied team-vs-team series) and a more manageable total. It would also mean more rest days for pitchers because each day one team will have to sit out.
Obviously, splitting five (or less) teams into divisions doesn't make sense anymore.
4. Four teams, one division (33 games per team, 66 games total or 39 games per team, 117 total for a fourth of a full season)
This would allow larger rosters, but also less differentiation between teams (e.g. pitching heavy, offensive vs defensive focus etc.), and less variation as most teams will rely on the HOF level stars and not need the rest of the players so much.
Now that I look at the list, the option 2 (six teams in two divisions) looks best, even though such small divisions look a bit artificial on paper.
Posts mit dem Label 2013 Replay werden angezeigt. Alle Posts anzeigen
Posts mit dem Label 2013 Replay werden angezeigt. Alle Posts anzeigen
Montag, 8. Februar 2016
Donnerstag, 26. März 2015
SOM Diary - 2013 replay: Angels in Oakland
Game 1: LAA 1, OAK 3
Neither starter pitches flawlessly, but both scatter hits far enough apart to get out of the early innings mostly unscathed. A's starter Milone strikes out eight over seven innings, only giving up a solo homer to Howie Kendrick in the third. He gets visibly tired in the seventh, but manages to get out of the inning with a close 2-1 lead and the win in hand.
Angels starter Blanton starts to waver in the fifth, gives up two hits and a walk to start the inning and is taken out of the game after he allows the go ahead run to score when he misfields a dribbler to the mound and forces 1st base man Mark Trumbo off the bag to keep a really bad throw in the infield.
The bullpens keep the game close, although Angels reliever Downs gives up a solo homer to Brandon Moss to give the A's an insurance run. Ianetta, who replaced Hank Conger after he got hit on the hand by a breaking ball from Blanton, then takes down Cespedes on an attempted steal and the Angels get out of the seventh inning without further trouble, but Balfour comes in for his first save opportunity and makes the best of it with a straightforward 1-2-3 inning on eight pitches to bring home the series opener.
On the losing LA side, rightfielder Cole Kalhoun goes 2 for 4 in a second solid performance standing in for the lackluster JB Shuck in right field, but commits the second error in as many games as he misjudges a flyball and lets it get past him in the third.
Game 2: Battle of the lead-off hitters - LAA 4, OAK 16
The Angels show how to score quickly as their leadoff man Erick Aybar doubles and is brought home on two groundouts by Trout and Pujols. The A's show how to score even faster as their leadoff Crisp starts the game with a homer off Jerome Williams. A walk, a double and another homerun follow, making it 1:4 A's with only one out in the first before Williams can work his way out of the inning with two more grounders. In the second, Williams' troubles continue as Coco Crisp hits another one (just - rolled a 1 on the ballpark chart, the only result that yields a homer in Oakland for a leftie batter) over the right field wall with Norris on base (on a fielding error from shortstop and Angels leadoff Aybar), and Cespedes adds another two run homer to make it 1:8.
Starting in the third, the game for the Angels is only about living to fight another day, and preserving their bullpen. However, Williams continues to struggle and leaves after 3.2 innings with 12 runs on the board for the A's, reliever Jepsen gives up another four runs in the fifth, and it never gets better after that as the A's cruise on to a 16-4 victory.
Game 3: "A" is for aces, "B" is for brooms - LAA 0, OAK 2
Game three of the series is a complete reversal from the homerun happy, high scoring previous encounter. Both starters leave after seven innings each with very similar numbers - about half a dozen K's, no or one walk, a handful of hits. The one run given up by C. J. Wilson in the fifth turns the scales in favor of the home team, and after scoring an (unearned) insurance run off Angels reliever de la Rosa, Doolittle and closer Balfour bring the brooms to sweep the series. Oakland advances to 5-1, the Angels need to get back on track after starting the season 1-5.
Donnerstag, 19. März 2015
SOM Diary - 2013 replay, Royals at Tigers
I've pulled out the Stratomatic 2013 AL replay again and finished the series of the Royals in Detroit, here are the results and game notes:
Game 1: Pitchers' duel - KC 2, DET 0
KC 000 100 000 2 3 3 0 3
DET 000 010 000 0 1 13 0 12
Anibal Sanchez pitches nearly flawless nine innings, allows only four batters to reach base, including three walks. The only blemish on his record is a solo homerun given up to Escobar in the fourth. However, the Royals can pitch, too, and the thirteen hits for the Tigers end up spread so thinly that not much comes out of them: Wade Davis scatters nine hits but allows only one run in 5.2 innings, Hochevar bails him out as Davis leaves with the bases loaded and the bullpen with Coleman, Collins, Holland and Smith brings the game into extra innings without allowing further runs despite Hollands failure to close out the tenth inning after coming in in the ninth.
Top of the tenth, Tigers closer Benoit is called in to give his team another inning to win, but gives up a laser guided rocket towards the left field wall to Lorenzo Cain; leftfielder Andy Dirks chases back, jumps up and just gets some leather on the ball but cannot pull it in - homerun! (Cain rolled a 9 on the ball park card, so homerun robbing rule 30.3 comes in, and Dirks rolls 7, the biggest number that remains a HR for a "2" outfielder trying to rob someone of a homer). Benoit follows up with a walk to Moustakas and an RBI double to Johnson, Phil Coke finishes the tenth but leaves with his team behind by two and the Tigers cannot catch up anymore.
Game 2: KC 1, DET 7
KC 001 000 000 1 10 0 7
DET 110 011 03- 7 9 0 8
The only excitement in the game came from a few spectacular outfield plays (Cain) and a few just as spectacular near misses by outfielders trying to catch up with one of the nineteen hits of the game.
Scoring is less exciting: Royals starter Mendoza allows four runs on six hits over 5 and two thirds innings, and the KC bullpen takes whatever suspense is left out of the game by allowing three runs on two hits and three walks in the bottom of the eighth despite a double play to end the inning. Porcello gets an easy looking win, allowing just one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks over six innings.
Game 3: Aces don't like the rain
KC 301 002 000 6 14 1 9
DET 013 210 10- 8 14 0 9
Right from the start, the drizzle and cold seems to make both starters very uncomfortable. Tigers ace Verlander has an uncharacteristic, very shaky first inning, giving up three consecutive hits to start the game, which all turn into runs. The third of these runs scores on a ball batted into the double play by Cain, and then Verlander seems to be getting his feet under him, striking out Moustakas looking. But in the third, Verlander gets in trouble again and barely escapes a bases loaded situation, having given up another run before that.
However, in the bottom of the same inning, Miguel cabrera ties up the game with a single stroke, scoring Infante (double) and Hunter (walk). And in the next inning, Shields gets into trouble too, loading the bases and allowing runs to score on a single from Hunter and wild pitch to Cabrera.
Defensively, Omar Infante is in the thick of things through the first few innings - in the first inning several hits barely avoid his glove before he is in a DP to record the first two outs in the first, and a surprize third out in the second on a long throw from left field replacement Tuiasosopo (in to give Dirks a day of rest) that catches Alex Gordon by surprize at second base as he tries to stretch a hard line drive from a single into a double.
Brayan Pena shines with another stellar offensive effort, going 4 for 4 with a run and an RBI.
When the bullpens take over the bats go quiet, only Luke Hochevar allows one more run for the Tigers but Drew Smyly, Phil Coke and closer Benoit with the save bring the lead home for the Tigers who win their second series and go 5-1 to start the season.
Next up: the Angels visit Oakland, trying to win their first series of the season.
Game 1: Pitchers' duel - KC 2, DET 0
KC 000 100 000 2 3 3 0 3
DET 000 010 000 0 1 13 0 12
Anibal Sanchez pitches nearly flawless nine innings, allows only four batters to reach base, including three walks. The only blemish on his record is a solo homerun given up to Escobar in the fourth. However, the Royals can pitch, too, and the thirteen hits for the Tigers end up spread so thinly that not much comes out of them: Wade Davis scatters nine hits but allows only one run in 5.2 innings, Hochevar bails him out as Davis leaves with the bases loaded and the bullpen with Coleman, Collins, Holland and Smith brings the game into extra innings without allowing further runs despite Hollands failure to close out the tenth inning after coming in in the ninth.
Top of the tenth, Tigers closer Benoit is called in to give his team another inning to win, but gives up a laser guided rocket towards the left field wall to Lorenzo Cain; leftfielder Andy Dirks chases back, jumps up and just gets some leather on the ball but cannot pull it in - homerun! (Cain rolled a 9 on the ball park card, so homerun robbing rule 30.3 comes in, and Dirks rolls 7, the biggest number that remains a HR for a "2" outfielder trying to rob someone of a homer). Benoit follows up with a walk to Moustakas and an RBI double to Johnson, Phil Coke finishes the tenth but leaves with his team behind by two and the Tigers cannot catch up anymore.
Game 2: KC 1, DET 7
KC 001 000 000 1 10 0 7
DET 110 011 03- 7 9 0 8
The only excitement in the game came from a few spectacular outfield plays (Cain) and a few just as spectacular near misses by outfielders trying to catch up with one of the nineteen hits of the game.
Scoring is less exciting: Royals starter Mendoza allows four runs on six hits over 5 and two thirds innings, and the KC bullpen takes whatever suspense is left out of the game by allowing three runs on two hits and three walks in the bottom of the eighth despite a double play to end the inning. Porcello gets an easy looking win, allowing just one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks over six innings.
Game 3: Aces don't like the rain
KC 301 002 000 6 14 1 9
DET 013 210 10- 8 14 0 9
Right from the start, the drizzle and cold seems to make both starters very uncomfortable. Tigers ace Verlander has an uncharacteristic, very shaky first inning, giving up three consecutive hits to start the game, which all turn into runs. The third of these runs scores on a ball batted into the double play by Cain, and then Verlander seems to be getting his feet under him, striking out Moustakas looking. But in the third, Verlander gets in trouble again and barely escapes a bases loaded situation, having given up another run before that.
However, in the bottom of the same inning, Miguel cabrera ties up the game with a single stroke, scoring Infante (double) and Hunter (walk). And in the next inning, Shields gets into trouble too, loading the bases and allowing runs to score on a single from Hunter and wild pitch to Cabrera.
Defensively, Omar Infante is in the thick of things through the first few innings - in the first inning several hits barely avoid his glove before he is in a DP to record the first two outs in the first, and a surprize third out in the second on a long throw from left field replacement Tuiasosopo (in to give Dirks a day of rest) that catches Alex Gordon by surprize at second base as he tries to stretch a hard line drive from a single into a double.
Brayan Pena shines with another stellar offensive effort, going 4 for 4 with a run and an RBI.
When the bullpens take over the bats go quiet, only Luke Hochevar allows one more run for the Tigers but Drew Smyly, Phil Coke and closer Benoit with the save bring the lead home for the Tigers who win their second series and go 5-1 to start the season.
Next up: the Angels visit Oakland, trying to win their first series of the season.
Samstag, 6. September 2014
SOM Diary: 2013 Replay schedule
When I posted the summary of the Redsox' second three game series I noticed that I had not yet posted my overall replay schedule. So here it is:
The idea is to have nine games against each division rival (odd number so there is a winner), and a limited number of inter divisional games so the total number of games remains manageable.
Every team plays two three game series against teams from other divisions. To keep it more interesting I paired teams against teams with similar performance in the real season (1st/2nd placed teams against each other, and 3rd/4th placed teams).
That gives a total of 27 games against division rivals and 6 games outside of the division for a total of 33 per team. This allows starters to play in 5-6 games, and overall counting stats can be multiplied by five to compare with a real season of 162 games (33x5 = 165, close enough).
Overall I need to get through 33x6 = 198 games. I started in April 2014, and until August inclusive played 21 games, so at this pace I'll need about two - three years for the complete season replay. That's a very similar timeline to my other hobby projects (e.g. here and here).
The idea is to have nine games against each division rival (odd number so there is a winner), and a limited number of inter divisional games so the total number of games remains manageable.
Every team plays two three game series against teams from other divisions. To keep it more interesting I paired teams against teams with similar performance in the real season (1st/2nd placed teams against each other, and 3rd/4th placed teams).
That gives a total of 27 games against division rivals and 6 games outside of the division for a total of 33 per team. This allows starters to play in 5-6 games, and overall counting stats can be multiplied by five to compare with a real season of 162 games (33x5 = 165, close enough).
Overall I need to get through 33x6 = 198 games. I started in April 2014, and until August inclusive played 21 games, so at this pace I'll need about two - three years for the complete season replay. That's a very similar timeline to my other hobby projects (e.g. here and here).
Montag, 1. September 2014
SOM Diary: Redsox at Orioles
So I do get to start the second round of three game series before the year ends (I wasn't sure how much progress I would make, but being on vacation sure helps find some time for rolling the dice). My season structure has all games in three game series so the scheduling is less complicated - I just realize that I haven't posted the replay season schedule yet, that's for a future post.
Without further ado here are the results of Boston's second series.
Orioles at Red SoxGame 1: BAL 7, BOS 5
060 000 001 7 12 0 7
010 001 003 5 7 1 2
The Orioles get one big inning off Doubront, scoring 6 runs in the second.Wei-Yin Chen cruises through eight innings, giving up only two runs incl. a solo homer to Gomes, striking out ten and walking only two. His attempt to go all the way falters in the ninth, though, where Napoli hits a three run homer after Pedroia reaches on a fielder's choice and Ortiz singles.
Johnson gets his first save of the season in two thirds of an inning with a single, a strikeout and a botched hit-and-run by Middlebrooks that makes Gomes easy pickings as he slides into second.
Game 2: BAL 4, BOS 5
400 000 000 4 8 0 4
112 010 00- 5 7 0 5
Boston gives up another big inning early, Lackey welcomes the Orioles with three singles, a double and a three run homer for Matt Wieters, who is obviously back in shape after starting the season with an injury.
However, this time the Redsox start to nibble back into the game immediately and finally take the lead with another Napoli solo homer in the fifth, and their bullpen takes it home with a solid setup inning from Bailey and save number three for Koji.
Game 3: BAL 5, BOS 6 - Bullpen bloopers
000 301 010 5 5 0 3
100 003 11- 6 13 2 8
Davis has a field day with two homers off the Boston ace John Lester. Both bullpens give up critical runs, the lead changes several times between runs conceded by McFarland in the seventh and eighth, and Tazawa in the eighth.
At the end the Redsox come out lucky despite two errors (a bad overthrow from the otherwise very agile Iglesias, and a Saltalamacchia throw into left field as Wieters tried to take third despite a swing-and-miss on a hit and run attempt by Adam Jones). Tazawa takes home the lucky "W" and Miller gets the save with a walk and three quick outs to end the game.
Without further ado here are the results of Boston's second series.
Orioles at Red SoxGame 1: BAL 7, BOS 5
060 000 001 7 12 0 7
010 001 003 5 7 1 2
The Orioles get one big inning off Doubront, scoring 6 runs in the second.Wei-Yin Chen cruises through eight innings, giving up only two runs incl. a solo homer to Gomes, striking out ten and walking only two. His attempt to go all the way falters in the ninth, though, where Napoli hits a three run homer after Pedroia reaches on a fielder's choice and Ortiz singles.
Johnson gets his first save of the season in two thirds of an inning with a single, a strikeout and a botched hit-and-run by Middlebrooks that makes Gomes easy pickings as he slides into second.
Game 2: BAL 4, BOS 5
400 000 000 4 8 0 4
112 010 00- 5 7 0 5
Boston gives up another big inning early, Lackey welcomes the Orioles with three singles, a double and a three run homer for Matt Wieters, who is obviously back in shape after starting the season with an injury.
However, this time the Redsox start to nibble back into the game immediately and finally take the lead with another Napoli solo homer in the fifth, and their bullpen takes it home with a solid setup inning from Bailey and save number three for Koji.
Game 3: BAL 5, BOS 6 - Bullpen bloopers
000 301 010 5 5 0 3
100 003 11- 6 13 2 8
Davis has a field day with two homers off the Boston ace John Lester. Both bullpens give up critical runs, the lead changes several times between runs conceded by McFarland in the seventh and eighth, and Tazawa in the eighth.
At the end the Redsox come out lucky despite two errors (a bad overthrow from the otherwise very agile Iglesias, and a Saltalamacchia throw into left field as Wieters tried to take third despite a swing-and-miss on a hit and run attempt by Adam Jones). Tazawa takes home the lucky "W" and Miller gets the save with a walk and three quick outs to end the game.
Donnerstag, 21. August 2014
SOM Diary: last season opener, first standings
Orioles at Yankees
Game 1: BAL 3, NYY 4
In the third inning, both catchers - both batting ninth - hit solo homers. The game continues to be close. With one out in the seventh, CC Sabathia loads the bases with a double and two HP. The second hit batsman (Pearce) even has to leave the game with an injury. However, Boone Logan can bail out Sabathia with two K's and gets some help from Robertson who keeps the Orioles to just one run in the eigth. Mariano Rivera notches his first save of the season with clean 1-2-3 ninth.
Game 2: BAL 3, NYY 4 - Defense and bullpens decide
Both starters are solid and give up one rub each, both bullpens give up the close lead at some point. Defensive heroics keep it close (Nix with a barehanded play on a ball that deflected off Kuroda, Jones with a catch on the warning track closing in on the wall in left center, the Yankees with two double plays, JJ Hardy with a couple of highlight plays on short).
Mariano shows that he is back with the second save in as many days, albeit giving up a walk and a single on the way.
Game 3: BAL 12, NYY 8 - Down, but not out
Once again, both starters start with a few innings of solid one-run ball, scattering occasional hits and runs but not allowing any big innings. The Orioles don't play spotless defense, though - Davis lets a ball get past him on a botched backhand play for an unearned run.
Bottom of the fourth, Hammel does get into trouble, loading the bases with one out and conceding a total of five runs (incl. a two RBI single from Cano and three run homer from Ichiro) before Tommy Hunter gets Baltimore out of the inning with a three pitch strikeout to Jayson Nix.
The Orioles' chances don't improve when Markakis is hit by a pitch and injures his ankle. However, they start a rally with a three run homer from Jones and chase Pettite from the game in the sixth. With Mariano unavailable after two straight saves, Robertson tries but fails to bring it home, giving up the tying runs.
With the game in extra innings, both bullpens run out of available relievers. Adam Warren breaks first, giving up four runs in the top of the eleventh after 2.1 solid innings. TJ McFarland gets the win with two scoreless innings after Jim Johnson kept the Orioles in the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Although they're basically meaningless, here are the first standings after three games:
AL West
OAK 2-1
SEA 2-1
LAA 1-2
TEX 1-2
AL Central
DET 3-0
KC 2-1
MIN 1-2
CLE 0-3
AL East
NYY 2-1
BOS 2-1
TB 1-2
BAL 1-2
Game 1: BAL 3, NYY 4
In the third inning, both catchers - both batting ninth - hit solo homers. The game continues to be close. With one out in the seventh, CC Sabathia loads the bases with a double and two HP. The second hit batsman (Pearce) even has to leave the game with an injury. However, Boone Logan can bail out Sabathia with two K's and gets some help from Robertson who keeps the Orioles to just one run in the eigth. Mariano Rivera notches his first save of the season with clean 1-2-3 ninth.
Game 2: BAL 3, NYY 4 - Defense and bullpens decide
Both starters are solid and give up one rub each, both bullpens give up the close lead at some point. Defensive heroics keep it close (Nix with a barehanded play on a ball that deflected off Kuroda, Jones with a catch on the warning track closing in on the wall in left center, the Yankees with two double plays, JJ Hardy with a couple of highlight plays on short).
Mariano shows that he is back with the second save in as many days, albeit giving up a walk and a single on the way.
Game 3: BAL 12, NYY 8 - Down, but not out
Once again, both starters start with a few innings of solid one-run ball, scattering occasional hits and runs but not allowing any big innings. The Orioles don't play spotless defense, though - Davis lets a ball get past him on a botched backhand play for an unearned run.
Bottom of the fourth, Hammel does get into trouble, loading the bases with one out and conceding a total of five runs (incl. a two RBI single from Cano and three run homer from Ichiro) before Tommy Hunter gets Baltimore out of the inning with a three pitch strikeout to Jayson Nix.
The Orioles' chances don't improve when Markakis is hit by a pitch and injures his ankle. However, they start a rally with a three run homer from Jones and chase Pettite from the game in the sixth. With Mariano unavailable after two straight saves, Robertson tries but fails to bring it home, giving up the tying runs.
With the game in extra innings, both bullpens run out of available relievers. Adam Warren breaks first, giving up four runs in the top of the eleventh after 2.1 solid innings. TJ McFarland gets the win with two scoreless innings after Jim Johnson kept the Orioles in the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Although they're basically meaningless, here are the first standings after three games:
AL West
OAK 2-1
SEA 2-1
LAA 1-2
TEX 1-2
AL Central
DET 3-0
KC 2-1
MIN 1-2
CLE 0-3
AL East
NYY 2-1
BOS 2-1
TB 1-2
BAL 1-2
Mittwoch, 25. Juni 2014
SOM Diary: Redsox salvage series at Rays after dropping season opener
Game 1: BOS 3, TB 5 - too many walks...
Boston pitchers give up total of six walks (two of them later turn into runs), 13 hits and five runs. Jon Lester takes the loss with 5 innings pitched, 3 walks, 9 hits, 4 earned runs. David Price has a strong season opener with 7+ innings, giving up 1 run on 8 hits for the win.
Joel Peralta with a 1-2-3 inning for a hold and Rodney with the save bring it home, although Mike Carp comes in as a pinch hitter against the Rays closer and manages to score a double and a run off him.
Ben Zobrist has a field day, going 4 for 5 with a 3 RBI double mixed in. So do Evan Longoria (3 for 4 and a walk), Wil Myers (1 for 3, 2 walks, run) and Sean Rodriguez (starting in left field against the leftie Lester, 3 for 4).
Game 2 BOS 9, TB 7
First innings see great defense, including several heroic feats by Zobrist and an over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track from Ellsbury.
Then the Rays pitching crumbles, as a procession of pitchers fail to do more than get out of a single inning - somehow it's all walks, hits and wild pitches as the Rays pitchers come to the mound after watching their own team bat.
The same disease affects the Redsox bullpen - Miller walks three in his second inning of work, Tazawa closes out the eigth on 2 pitches and then gives up a hit, a steal and a balk to put Zobrist on third.
Nevertheless, the Redsox pull through with Buchholz taking the win and Uehara the first save of the season.
Game 3: BOS 6, TB 5 after 10 innings - Ballpark robbery
Top of the fifth, the Redsox trail the Rays 2-4 and Ellsbury leads off. Ellsbury hits it deep to right field, just over the wall, or does he? No, what an amazing catch by the rightfielder! Joyce jumped up and reached over the wall and to his own surprize came up with the ball, robbing Ellsbury of a homerun by inches (in Stratomatic terms, Ellsbury rolled a 6 on the ballpark chart, just enough to barely scorw a homerun in Tropicana Field, and Joyce rolled the smallest possible number for a 3-rated outfielder to turn the HR into a flyout - can't have it any closer...).
However, next inning Bradley gets sweet revenge for the Redsox, hitting the ball cleanly out of the ballpark towards left field, scoring (of all possible payers) David Ortiz who had doubled to start the sixth.
The late game is a nailbiter, the tie after nine innings is broken up by classic Ortiz with a towering homer, but Miller gives up a double to the Rays' leadoff hitter Desmond Jennings who advances to third on a bobble by Carp in right field. However, Uehara comes in for the second save in two days and summarily dispatches Ben Zobrist (2 for 4 until then) with a three pitch strikeout. Reliever Andrew Bailey takes the win, and James Wright takes the loss from he hands of Big Papi.
Dienstag, 27. Mai 2014
SOM Diary: Season opener Oakland A's at Texas Rangers 2:1
The A's take their opening series against the Rangers with two wins clearly decided by struggling Texas pitching and a loss against Texas stalwart Yu Darvish.
Game 1: Starters bad, bullpens good: A's 7, Rangers 3
OAK 005 110 000 7 10 0 8
TEX 200 100 000 3 6 0 6
Both sides in the OAK-TEX season opener display the same pattern: starters struggling to get through the first innings, giving up hits and runs aplenty, and then solid bullpens taking over and essentially freezing the game in the state after four innings.
The Rangers come out of spring training blazing away on all barrels: Holland has back to back 1-2-3 innings backed by a strong infield, while the Rangers' bats greet AJ Griffin with two solo homers in the first by leadoff Ian Kinsler and short stop Adrian Beltre.
However, in the top of the third the bottom of the A's order hit back with a single from Seth Smith and a two run homer from Derek Norris to tie the game, and the A's continue to hit nearly uninterrupted - Donaldson makes it 5-2 with a three run long ball. Bottom of the third the Rangers continue to hit, loading the bases with one out, but Griffin pitches out of trouble with a forced play 1-2 and a flyout to center. After that the offensive fireworks peter out with just a few single runs being added by either team. The bullpens take over from Holland after 4+ innings and from AJ Griffin after six, and bring the game home without any big shifts in balance anymore.
Game 2: A's 1, Rangers 3
Three solo homers by Beltre, Cruz and Moreland were all it took for the Rangers to get by the A's in the second game of the series.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish got into trouble early and often, loading the bases with no outs in the second and with two outs in the first, but was saved by timely double plays from his defense each time. He allowed one run on six hits, seven strikeouts, five walks and hit one batter in 6.1 innings. Joe Nathan got the save with a clean 1-2-3 ninth.
Jarrod Parker went seven innings for the A's, only allowed six hits and not much else but took the loss as the Rangers made the most of their hits and prevented the A's from scoring after the second inning.
Game 3: Texas pitchers are losing it: A's 9, Rangers 1
The series finale was decided by struggling Rangers pitchers and solid Oakland hitting (9 hits including three doubles, and a homerun from Brandon Moss).
Top of the fourth, Alexi Ogando is struggling with his control: with one out and rightfielder Josh Reddick on first base, catcher Norris is hit by a pitch and has to be replaced by John Jaso; Reddick advances on a flyout to left from Brandon Moss and scores on a wild pitch that also advances Jaso to second. Eric Sogard scores Jaso on an RBI single, steals second, advances to 3rd on another wild pitch and then scores on a balk from Ogando, who then gets out of the inning by inducing a lucky flyout from Coco Crisp.
In the eighth, Ross Wolf comes in for Ogando but fails to record a single out while giving up four runs on three hits and a rare two base fielding error by Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus.
Game 1: Starters bad, bullpens good: A's 7, Rangers 3
OAK 005 110 000 7 10 0 8
TEX 200 100 000 3 6 0 6
Both sides in the OAK-TEX season opener display the same pattern: starters struggling to get through the first innings, giving up hits and runs aplenty, and then solid bullpens taking over and essentially freezing the game in the state after four innings.
The Rangers come out of spring training blazing away on all barrels: Holland has back to back 1-2-3 innings backed by a strong infield, while the Rangers' bats greet AJ Griffin with two solo homers in the first by leadoff Ian Kinsler and short stop Adrian Beltre.
However, in the top of the third the bottom of the A's order hit back with a single from Seth Smith and a two run homer from Derek Norris to tie the game, and the A's continue to hit nearly uninterrupted - Donaldson makes it 5-2 with a three run long ball. Bottom of the third the Rangers continue to hit, loading the bases with one out, but Griffin pitches out of trouble with a forced play 1-2 and a flyout to center. After that the offensive fireworks peter out with just a few single runs being added by either team. The bullpens take over from Holland after 4+ innings and from AJ Griffin after six, and bring the game home without any big shifts in balance anymore.
Game 2: A's 1, Rangers 3
Three solo homers by Beltre, Cruz and Moreland were all it took for the Rangers to get by the A's in the second game of the series.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish got into trouble early and often, loading the bases with no outs in the second and with two outs in the first, but was saved by timely double plays from his defense each time. He allowed one run on six hits, seven strikeouts, five walks and hit one batter in 6.1 innings. Joe Nathan got the save with a clean 1-2-3 ninth.
Jarrod Parker went seven innings for the A's, only allowed six hits and not much else but took the loss as the Rangers made the most of their hits and prevented the A's from scoring after the second inning.
Game 3: Texas pitchers are losing it: A's 9, Rangers 1
The series finale was decided by struggling Rangers pitchers and solid Oakland hitting (9 hits including three doubles, and a homerun from Brandon Moss).
Top of the fourth, Alexi Ogando is struggling with his control: with one out and rightfielder Josh Reddick on first base, catcher Norris is hit by a pitch and has to be replaced by John Jaso; Reddick advances on a flyout to left from Brandon Moss and scores on a wild pitch that also advances Jaso to second. Eric Sogard scores Jaso on an RBI single, steals second, advances to 3rd on another wild pitch and then scores on a balk from Ogando, who then gets out of the inning by inducing a lucky flyout from Coco Crisp.
In the eighth, Ross Wolf comes in for Ogando but fails to record a single out while giving up four runs on three hits and a rare two base fielding error by Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus.
Mittwoch, 7. Mai 2014
SOM Diary: Opening series Angels@Mariners
Game 1: 4-0 Pitchers' duel in a pitchers' park
LAA 000 010 003 4 7 2 5SEA 000 000 000 0 2 0 3
Both starters go deep into the game and see several long flyballs picked off just before they leave the ballpark. Iwakuma takes the loss despite quality start of 7.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits and a run (a solo homer by the catcher Hank Conger) on 4 strikeouts and three walks.
The loss looks higher than it was because the Mariners' bullpen gives up another three runs in the top of the ninth. CJ Wilson pitches eight shutout innings, giving up just one hit and two walks with ten strikeouts for the win. Conger has a field day, going 3 for 4 with a homerun and a double.
Game 2: 6-9 Just the opposite...
LAA 120 021 000 6 12 0 8SEA 000 251 10- 9 14 0 7
In stark contrast to game 1, both starters struggle. Thanks to better offense and an LA pitching meltdown in the fifth that sees ten batters come to the plate, Felix Hernandez comes out with a win despite giving up all six of the Angels' runs.
Jered Weaver lasts just 4+ innings and leaves a tied game in the fifth, but Hansen fails badly in an attempt to provide long relief, giving up three hits, a walk and two runs in a long fifth to come away with the loss. Tom Wilhelmsen earns a close save, recording the last two outs with back to back K's after walking two.
Both teams get two homeruns. For the Angels, Ianetta and Callaspo hit a homerun each while Hank Conger continues to be on a roll, going 3 for 4 with a walk and missing just a homerun for the cycle.
For the Mariners, Justin Smoak homers in the sixth after hitting into double plays twice in the first and third. Michael Saunders hits 3 for 4 with three RBIs and is just a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
Game 3: Mariners take the series win
LAA 000 200 200 4 11 4 7SEA 150 000 02- 8 11 0 7
Angels starter Jason Vargas struggled mightily, ans couldn't get out of the second inning after the Mariners hit around and scored six runs (five earned). The Angels' cause wasn't helped by the four errors committed by their defense, although their bullpen was able to stop the bleeding with good performances from Richards and Kohn.
The Mariners sealed their season opening series win with back to back homers from the bottom of their order in the eighth. Hank congers hot streak continues with another homer and a single for a 667/692/1500 triple slash line after three games.
Dienstag, 15. April 2014
SOM diary: Royals sweep Indians to open their season
Royals sweep Indians 3-0 to start the season
1.5. DET@CLE 2-1: Pitchers' duel decided by homers
Bottom of the third, Chisenhall starts the scoring with a solo homerun. In the fourth, both pitchers put runners on base but manage to pitch put of the jams. Top of the fifth, Omar Infante ties the game with a solo homerun off Masterson, and in the eigth Miguel Cabrera hits the winning homer, again a solo, from reliever Albers who takes the loss.
Verlander tosses seven innings, gives up only one run on five hits, four strikeouts and three walks for the win. Putkonen pitches a scoreless eighth for the Tigers and Benoit notches up the first save of the season despite giving up a run in the ninth. In the bottom of the last of a nailbiter of a season opener, the Tigers get help from a fortunate out as Asdrubal Cabrera is cut down by Avila trying to advance to second on a botched hit and run by Brantley.
2.5. Game 2 of the
DET@CLE series saw both starters struggle, Jimenez getting in deep
trouble in the first, third and fourth and lucky to escape having given
up only three runs. On the other side, Scherzer seemed to be cruising
through the first three innings but hit a brick wall in the fourth when
the tribe hit around and scored four runs. Jimenez left the game after
five and two thirds, and in full synch Scherzer was chased from the game
with two outs in the sixth by a solo homerun from Chisenhall.
In the last three innings the Indians bullpen gave up a total of five runs (four earned), the second error from 3rd base man Chisenholm (third error in total) didn't help matters and a solid Tigers bullpen brought home the 8:5 lead with Phil Coke getting the save.
DET 100 200 302 8 12 0 11
CLE 000 401 000 5 9 3 8
3.5. Game 3 Kazmir vs Fister 5-1
Kazmir struggles for 5.2 innings, giving up 11 hits, including three doubles, for four runs. While the Tigers clearly brought their bats to the game, the Indians didn't: Fister dominates the Cleveland offense, limiting them to one run on two hits with nine Ks and 1 walk over 7.2 innings, and Putkonen gets the final four outs.
Bottom of the third, Chisenhall starts the scoring with a solo homerun. In the fourth, both pitchers put runners on base but manage to pitch put of the jams. Top of the fifth, Omar Infante ties the game with a solo homerun off Masterson, and in the eigth Miguel Cabrera hits the winning homer, again a solo, from reliever Albers who takes the loss.
Verlander tosses seven innings, gives up only one run on five hits, four strikeouts and three walks for the win. Putkonen pitches a scoreless eighth for the Tigers and Benoit notches up the first save of the season despite giving up a run in the ninth. In the bottom of the last of a nailbiter of a season opener, the Tigers get help from a fortunate out as Asdrubal Cabrera is cut down by Avila trying to advance to second on a botched hit and run by Brantley.
In the last three innings the Indians bullpen gave up a total of five runs (four earned), the second error from 3rd base man Chisenholm (third error in total) didn't help matters and a solid Tigers bullpen brought home the 8:5 lead with Phil Coke getting the save.
DET 100 200 302 8 12 0 11
CLE 000 401 000 5 9 3 8
Kazmir struggles for 5.2 innings, giving up 11 hits, including three doubles, for four runs. While the Tigers clearly brought their bats to the game, the Indians didn't: Fister dominates the Cleveland offense, limiting them to one run on two hits with nine Ks and 1 walk over 7.2 innings, and Putkonen gets the final four outs.
Samstag, 5. April 2014
SOM Diary: AL Central opening series KC@MIN
The Kansas City @ Minnesota series continued with a game where batters started to make more contact than in the first game, at least for the visiting KC team.
KC@MIN game 2: 6-2
In game 2, Ervin Santana quickly recovered after giving up two runs in the first, while Kevin Correia labored through 6 innings giving up four runs. Josh Willongham showed his range limitations by conceding two triples to hits to left that younger, faster leftfielders might have had a clean play on. The Twins bullpen gave up another two runs while the Royals relief corps held up well and brought the game to tie the series safely home. Final score Royals 6, Twins 2. Santana takes the win, Correia the loss, the Royals batters contribute a HR and three (!) Triples, while the Twins manage only 5 hits out of 32 at bats and only Joe Mauer continues his work as anon base machine with two hits and a walk.
KC@MIN game 3: 8-1
Game 3 was a pretty lopsided affair. The Royals hit ten hits off Mike Pelfrey and scored seven runs off the starter who lasted only 4+ innings, while the Twins' bats remained mostly silent (the team is batting below .200 as a whole in the three first games of the season). Jeremy Guthrie cruised to an easy win, pitching seven innings and giving up one run on three hits, a walk and seven strikeouts. Billy Butler went 3-for-5 with a two run homerun to get the Kansas City scoring started in the first inning.
They paid a high price for it, though, losing both starting catcher Perez and infielder Getz to injuries. However, the Twins didn't fare any better, losing Joe Mauer in the first inning after he fouled two balls off his foot.
KC@MIN game 2: 6-2
In game 2, Ervin Santana quickly recovered after giving up two runs in the first, while Kevin Correia labored through 6 innings giving up four runs. Josh Willongham showed his range limitations by conceding two triples to hits to left that younger, faster leftfielders might have had a clean play on. The Twins bullpen gave up another two runs while the Royals relief corps held up well and brought the game to tie the series safely home. Final score Royals 6, Twins 2. Santana takes the win, Correia the loss, the Royals batters contribute a HR and three (!) Triples, while the Twins manage only 5 hits out of 32 at bats and only Joe Mauer continues his work as anon base machine with two hits and a walk.
KC@MIN game 3: 8-1
Game 3 was a pretty lopsided affair. The Royals hit ten hits off Mike Pelfrey and scored seven runs off the starter who lasted only 4+ innings, while the Twins' bats remained mostly silent (the team is batting below .200 as a whole in the three first games of the season). Jeremy Guthrie cruised to an easy win, pitching seven innings and giving up one run on three hits, a walk and seven strikeouts. Billy Butler went 3-for-5 with a two run homerun to get the Kansas City scoring started in the first inning.
They paid a high price for it, though, losing both starting catcher Perez and infielder Getz to injuries. However, the Twins didn't fare any better, losing Joe Mauer in the first inning after he fouled two balls off his foot.
Mittwoch, 2. April 2014
SOM diary: Season Opener - KC@MIN
To get the season started, and to learn how to prepare lineups and rosters in a somewhat historical way, I decided to start with teams I don't know at all (which are actually most teams outside of the AL East ;), and randomly picked KC @ MIN as the series I would play first.
BTW, as mentioned earlier, I had decided to up the Twins' chances by giving them RA Dickey as a starter. This is basically the only unhistorical player assignment I will intentionally make to my 2013 replay rosters for now (given my general penchant for knuckleballers it felt such a shame not to have Dickey play despite running only four teams per division...).
Anyway, both opening day starters went deep into the game after shaky starts: James Shields pitched seven innings, coneding runs in the first and fourth inning, and R A Dickey nearly played a complete (nine inning) game, giving up a two run homer to Billy Butler in the top of the first, adding five 1-2-3 innings and leaving only after giving up two hits in the ninth.
The game went deep into extra innings and ended on a not-so-dramatic note when Royals reliever Chen gave up back to back walks in the bottom of the 12th. Aaron Crow took the loss, Casey Fien got the win with two hitless, scoreless innings of relief.
Josh Thole (brought to Minnesota to catch R A Dickey) actually went 1 for 3. He was replaced by Joe Mauer who went 0 for 1 with a walk in extra innings.
Let's see how the season opening series continues for these two teams...
BTW, as mentioned earlier, I had decided to up the Twins' chances by giving them RA Dickey as a starter. This is basically the only unhistorical player assignment I will intentionally make to my 2013 replay rosters for now (given my general penchant for knuckleballers it felt such a shame not to have Dickey play despite running only four teams per division...).
The game went deep into extra innings and ended on a not-so-dramatic note when Royals reliever Chen gave up back to back walks in the bottom of the 12th. Aaron Crow took the loss, Casey Fien got the win with two hitless, scoreless innings of relief.
Josh Thole (brought to Minnesota to catch R A Dickey) actually went 1 for 3. He was replaced by Joe Mauer who went 0 for 1 with a walk in extra innings.
Let's see how the season opening series continues for these two teams...
Dienstag, 1. April 2014
SOM Diary: Lineups and Rosters for 2013 Replay
After some experimentation I have arrived at the following format to get an overview of each team's roster and some reminders of historical use of the players (how many games played, which position, typical position in the line up). I create these via sheet.zoho.org and intend to use printouts to record the games played and some simple indicators (smilies) for performance (click on the thumbnail to see a larger version):
Initially I wanted to start building these with the SOM cards in hand, but I found that inventing my ownlineups led to very unrealistic results so I ended up using baseball-reference.com to build these sheets and only refer to the actual SOM cards to figure out which players were available at all.
I used the following data available there:
Initially I wanted to start building these with the SOM cards in hand, but I found that inventing my ownlineups led to very unrealistic results so I ended up using baseball-reference.com to build these sheets and only refer to the actual SOM cards to figure out which players were available at all.
I used the following data available there:
- Team Roster for number of games started per player and position
- Defensive lineups for default starting positions and position players
- Batting orders for a default batting lineup (that's the order in which position players appear on the roster above, and how I sort their SOM cards after each game)
- Lineups linked above, and pitching gamelogs to understand why some players only played few games or had few at bats - were they players brought on the team (or leaving the team) at some point during the season or were they bench players who only got to play once or twice a week all season long?
Samstag, 18. Januar 2014
SOM Diary: 2013 replay - team selection
I've started thinking more specifically about the 2013 replay with the cards I ordered today (yay!). I've also started to write up some depth charts and charts where I can track each players games played to track performance and make sure I roughly hit the correct numbers of games per player.
Team selection
After some more thinking and reading, and also simply looking at the sheer number of games to be played, I have decided to go for the AL only option 2 in my earlier list. So there will be three four team divisions, dropping the fifth placed team in each:
AL East: BOS, TB, BAL, NYY
AL Central: DET, CLE, KC, MIN
AL West: OAK, TEX, LAA, SEA
Individual "player trades"
In general I will do the 2013 replays without and changes to the player rosters provided by SOM card selections. I will reflect major trades like Peavy or Soriano.
However, when I read the AL 2013 summaries in the Hardball Times Annual 2014, the idea occurred to me to make a few individual "trades".
In addition to trades that occurred in reality (e.g. the Iglesias/Peavy trade for the RedSox mid season) I could help out the worse teams and at least get a look at some of the key players from the fifth placed teams by moving one or two people from the fifth placed teams to a fourth place team with an obvious need.
For example, the Twins (? to be verified) seem to have struggled with below average starting pitching, and on the other hand with the Blue Jays placed fifth I was sad not to be able to run R A Dickey. So why not move Dickey to the Twins, give the Twins a reliable starter with good ERA and many innings pitched and get a chance to see some knuckle balls fly past batters and catchers? I guess he'll have to take Thole with him as a personal catcher - if only to get the passed ball stats roughly right...
I might also look into giving the Yankees some support in the injury plagued infield, e.g. by looking for some good infielders from the Astros or White Sox.
Team selection
After some more thinking and reading, and also simply looking at the sheer number of games to be played, I have decided to go for the AL only option 2 in my earlier list. So there will be three four team divisions, dropping the fifth placed team in each:
AL East: BOS, TB, BAL, NYY
AL Central: DET, CLE, KC, MIN
AL West: OAK, TEX, LAA, SEA
Individual "player trades"
In general I will do the 2013 replays without and changes to the player rosters provided by SOM card selections. I will reflect major trades like Peavy or Soriano.
However, when I read the AL 2013 summaries in the Hardball Times Annual 2014, the idea occurred to me to make a few individual "trades".
In addition to trades that occurred in reality (e.g. the Iglesias/Peavy trade for the RedSox mid season) I could help out the worse teams and at least get a look at some of the key players from the fifth placed teams by moving one or two people from the fifth placed teams to a fourth place team with an obvious need.
For example, the Twins (? to be verified) seem to have struggled with below average starting pitching, and on the other hand with the Blue Jays placed fifth I was sad not to be able to run R A Dickey. So why not move Dickey to the Twins, give the Twins a reliable starter with good ERA and many innings pitched and get a chance to see some knuckle balls fly past batters and catchers? I guess he'll have to take Thole with him as a personal catcher - if only to get the passed ball stats roughly right...
I might also look into giving the Yankees some support in the injury plagued infield, e.g. by looking for some good infielders from the Astros or White Sox.
Montag, 30. September 2013
SOM Diary: the next project(s)
For this summer's vacation it was fun to play with what I had (the 1992 edition of Strat-O-Matic), and I intentionally didn't buy the 2012 set because the RedSox were just not playing well last year.
This year, they are playing great, though, and overall the AL East had an exciting year, with four teams stillin the competition for the playoffs into September. So I will obviously get the 2013 cards as soon as they are available.
The big question is what to do with them. I have toyed with three options how to do a 2013 season replay that
- has some real competition
- leads to meaningful player stats, i.e. covers at least 30-40 games per team so starters fet more than five games and offensive stats at least start to balance out
- has a manageable total number of games. For the 1992 replay I have managed to get in eight days so far, for a total of 32 games, in about three months real time (but playing a lot during my vacation and varying amounts otherwise).
So far I've come up with three ways to select some 2013 teams and get rolling.
1. Two divisions, AL and NL
This is similar to what I've tried in the 1992 replay:
Play AL and NL with one division @ 5 teams each (AL East and the division of the NL champion), teams play each division rival 7 times, one interleague rival in a 3 game series and the others twice.
Total 39 games per team (ca. 1/4 of a complete season), 195 regular games to be played.
Seven games world series between division champions.
Drawback: I'm not really excited to play a lot of NL games because a) they don't play the RedSox as often so I can't relate to their players as well and b) I find that NL games take much longer to play and are harder to interrupt due to the intricacies of switching in pinch hitters, double switches and everything else you have to consider when there is no DH. While this does mean that real life NL baseball is more interesting and, I guess, more challenging to manage, I'd rather get through three AL games than 2 NL games in a given time.
2. AL only
3 divisions with 4 teams each (dropping the worst team of each real one, e.g. the Blue Jays from the AL East although that means that I miss the chance to play the one remaining knuckleballer...), play each division rival in 3 three game series and two teams (based on 2013 real life rank - same rank from one div and 1-2/3-4 from other) from other divisions.
Total 33 games per team (ca 1/5 of a complete season), 196 regular games
Could be upped to 39/234 by doubling inter division games.
Playoffs: 5 game divisional series best 1st vs. Wildcard, 2nd vs 3rd 1st, then 7 game AlCS and a 7 game world series against the real life NL champion.
This limits the number of games (unfortunately also the games per team so statistics may be a bit off - on the other hand I highly doubt I will be able to colete these games within twelve months...) and should provide an exciting season as teams of similar strength face each other, especially in inter division games.
3. Mini full league
Two 4 team divisions per league (AL East and divisions of real life LCS contenders, each divison losing its last ranked team as in 2. above), play each division rival 3x3 times, each league rival 3x, two similar ranked (based on 2013 real life rank - same rank from one div and 1-2/3-4 from other) interleague rivals twice.
Total 43 games per team (bit more than 1/4 of complete season, 39 games w/o interleague), 344 (312) regular games
Playoffs: 5 game LCS, 7 game world series
This would also mean a lot of NL play , and the total number of games is probably way beyond what I can accomplish in a year or so.
So at the moment I'm leaning towards option 2 and focusing on the AL season. That would also make winter a nice preparation for next year- even the 1992 replay helped me bring some life to the names I read about from the time in the hardballtimes.com and other places.
This year, they are playing great, though, and overall the AL East had an exciting year, with four teams stillin the competition for the playoffs into September. So I will obviously get the 2013 cards as soon as they are available.
The big question is what to do with them. I have toyed with three options how to do a 2013 season replay that
- has some real competition
- leads to meaningful player stats, i.e. covers at least 30-40 games per team so starters fet more than five games and offensive stats at least start to balance out
- has a manageable total number of games. For the 1992 replay I have managed to get in eight days so far, for a total of 32 games, in about three months real time (but playing a lot during my vacation and varying amounts otherwise).
So far I've come up with three ways to select some 2013 teams and get rolling.
1. Two divisions, AL and NL
This is similar to what I've tried in the 1992 replay:
Play AL and NL with one division @ 5 teams each (AL East and the division of the NL champion), teams play each division rival 7 times, one interleague rival in a 3 game series and the others twice.
Total 39 games per team (ca. 1/4 of a complete season), 195 regular games to be played.
Seven games world series between division champions.
Drawback: I'm not really excited to play a lot of NL games because a) they don't play the RedSox as often so I can't relate to their players as well and b) I find that NL games take much longer to play and are harder to interrupt due to the intricacies of switching in pinch hitters, double switches and everything else you have to consider when there is no DH. While this does mean that real life NL baseball is more interesting and, I guess, more challenging to manage, I'd rather get through three AL games than 2 NL games in a given time.
2. AL only
3 divisions with 4 teams each (dropping the worst team of each real one, e.g. the Blue Jays from the AL East although that means that I miss the chance to play the one remaining knuckleballer...), play each division rival in 3 three game series and two teams (based on 2013 real life rank - same rank from one div and 1-2/3-4 from other) from other divisions.
Total 33 games per team (ca 1/5 of a complete season), 196 regular games
Could be upped to 39/234 by doubling inter division games.
Playoffs: 5 game divisional series best 1st vs. Wildcard, 2nd vs 3rd 1st, then 7 game AlCS and a 7 game world series against the real life NL champion.
This limits the number of games (unfortunately also the games per team so statistics may be a bit off - on the other hand I highly doubt I will be able to colete these games within twelve months...) and should provide an exciting season as teams of similar strength face each other, especially in inter division games.
3. Mini full league
Two 4 team divisions per league (AL East and divisions of real life LCS contenders, each divison losing its last ranked team as in 2. above), play each division rival 3x3 times, each league rival 3x, two similar ranked (based on 2013 real life rank - same rank from one div and 1-2/3-4 from other) interleague rivals twice.
Total 43 games per team (bit more than 1/4 of complete season, 39 games w/o interleague), 344 (312) regular games
Playoffs: 5 game LCS, 7 game world series
This would also mean a lot of NL play , and the total number of games is probably way beyond what I can accomplish in a year or so.
So at the moment I'm leaning towards option 2 and focusing on the AL season. That would also make winter a nice preparation for next year- even the 1992 replay helped me bring some life to the names I read about from the time in the hardballtimes.com and other places.
Abonnieren
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