Hi guys, I'm Bob Fuhrman (AIM-OfficerTimFisher/PTWarr18), the Asst. Commish of the Field of Dreams Baseball Simulation at www.fodsim.com We are a league that started up in August with the OOTP 2006 Software. When we started we had a full slate of owners but due to a problem with our league file that caused a 2 week hold up in simming before OOTP could fix it, we lost a lot of people. That was in Year 1. We are nearing completion of Year 2 (2007) of our league and still have quite a few openings I would like to have filled before the offseason. We have not been actively recruiting too much, but I think now is the time for us to fill this league for good.
To give you a little info on our league, we sim every M-W-F and next season will begin simming 10 days per sim. WE USE THE IN-GAME UPDATE FUNCTION, so you do not have to download and unzip every file the old way. Our offseason is about three weeks of daily sims, Monday through Friday. We are using real MLB rosters from 2006 so the teams have all changed some since then, we have a salary cap in effect, with revenue sharing off. The only rules we have that are different from some leagues is that we have a limit on incentives in contracts. We are continually working to improve the rules by league discussion and voting to fix what we view as bugs in the gameplay.
I am the Asst. Commish, and our Commish is Brian Nickerson (AIM- MakDaddy Nik). He and I are both very active in other leagues so you may have seen us around. We have a set up where we will alternate sim seasons. We think it is the best way to keep the league going without us getting burned out but not have a different person simming all the time which is how the 2006 season was run. He has run the 2007 season, and I will take over in the offseason and run sims until completion of the 2008 season. Another league member, Rob Hoffman, has volunteered to do everything involving the webpage and he has done a great job with it. It really takes a lot of the burden of us when we have a reliable guy like Rob running the web site for us.
Now that I have given you some background information on our league, I will get to the open teams and give a brief summary of their history in the league. Once again our website is
www.fodsim.com
Baltimore Orioles- Currently sitting in last place in the AL East, Do have the #4 System in Baseball including the #5 Prospect who plays SS. Also have Ryan Zimmerman, Barry Zito, and Brady Penny. This team desperately needs their hitting prospects to develop or sign a few players in free agency to compete in the powerful AL East
Chicago White Sox- First place team in the Central by a game. Led by Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jason Botts, and Brian Anderson. Kazmir was their big acquisition last season. Choked in late 2006 to miss the playoffs, will it happen again?
Cleveland Indians- Ah, the defending Champions are now unowned?!?! Former GM Jason Jung won the World Series and then disappeared in the offseason. The team has been on CPU control since then and they are 1 game back of the White Sox. They have made no trades since the start of this league so they are virtually the same team they were in 2006 when they won the World Series.
Minnesota Twins- Another AL Central team with no owner. This team is only 2 back of the White Sox. Like the Indians they have not made any deals since the league started so they have the same core as 2006. Santana and Liriano have been good. I think the right owner could put this team over the top very quickly.
Atlanta Braves- What happened to the Braves?? This team needs big time help. They just missed the playoffs last year but are now sitting in last place in the NL East. There is a lot of talent there though. You could either totally rebuild for the future, or go after some free agents, make a few trades and I can see this team competing again next year. (The first place Mets are very old in this sim)
Florida Marlins- 4th Place in the NL East, #2 System in baseball. The Marlins have a fantastic system loaded with talent but are not ready to compete yet. They will have financial difficulty as the Marlins always do, but a good owner could turn this team into a powerhouse with the right approach.
Washington Nationals- Another NL East team, they are in third place. This team is an all-around average team. No real superstars except Alfonso Soriano. I was not a fan of them trading Zimmerman but one of the key parts of that deal was Delwyn Young, and he is leading the team in Homers and RBI's, while being 2nd in average.
St. Louis Cardinals- The Cards are currently 2 games over 500 and 6 back in the Central. They are lead by Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Chris Carpenter, and Abe Alvarez (thanks to a very nice player development). The starters have the 3rd best ERA in the NL but the pen is dead last in the NL and that has been their downfall.
Once again, my name is Bob Fuhrman. My AIM screen name is OfficerTimFisher. You can reach me via email at
robert.fuhrman@email.stvincent.edu
Our website is
www.fodsim.com
I really want to have this league filled fast because it makes everything much more enjoyable for everyone involved. As you can see our problem spots are the AL Central and NL East for whatever reason.
Please email me and let me know your AIM, name, and a list of teams you would like to have an I will get back to you ASAP!