Another example of how I love OOTPB

[1998 Yankees]

You all have met Ray "The Natural" Hodges from my previous posts, yes? NO? OK, no matter. Suffice to say that Mr. Hodges is the real deal, created and given to me on a platter by the game; I only supplied the nickname. He is the greatest that ever played the game in my 15-year-old baseball world.

Hodges has enjoyed a spectacular career; 10-time All-Star, winner of 8 MVP awards. I was looking forward to 2015 because, despite showing signs of slowing down at age 38, he was on track to be the first player to ever crack the 500 home run barrier.

One of his rivals in this regard was Rich Terry, who played 11 years with the Colorado Rockies, hitting home runs at a prolific rate. Then, I realized that I had not seen Terry's name in the news in a couple of years, so I checked on him.

It seems that in early 2012, Terry was hit in the face with a ball and was out for seven or eight months with a fractured cheekbone. When he came back in 2013, his contact rating had fallen way off, though his power was still better than average. Even so, he hit only one home run in 2013 to match the one he had hit the prior year, and batted .105. The Rockies released him in June.

When I found him the next spring, he was down and out, hitting the bottle. OK, I made that up, obviously. But, he was in danger of being retired if no one signed him for 2014; you may have noticed that older players will retire if they sit unsigned for a year.

Except he was not that old, only about to turn 36. He still had that green power number, and eye/discipline and avoid K's were rated good and average respectively. What really caught my eye, though, was that he was stuck on 464 HR's, only 36 short of HoF induction. Yes, I could have inducted him manually, but where's the fun in that?

So, being the sentimentalist that I am, I decided to give him a chance. I signed him as my starting 1B in order to maximize his chances. This, of course, upset the guy that I had just signed the previous fall who wanted to be in the starting lineup and I ended up having to trade him.

Terry hit .178 and produced only 46 RBI's in 2014. No doubt, this cost me some wins and we fell short of the playoffs. But, he had smacked 16 home runs.

He did not want to retire, thank goodness, and signed an extension for 2015. Again I put him in the starting lineup.

And he started to hit homers at a faster rate than the previous year.

So much so, that it became a race between him and Hodges who would reach 500 first. My gosh, had I created a monster that would ruin this achievement for my favorite player?

Now, the next part I did not invent. It seemed (I know it's only a coincidence, but I like the storyline) that Hodges was challenged by this competition and began to pick up his homer pace as well. One thing is for sure; his numbers so far this year are projected to be his best season in the last three.

The race finally ended on June 25, 2015 when Hodges belted #500 at Yankee Stadium, an historic occasion. Just four days later, Terry reached the same pinnacle of baseball greatness and secured his place in the Hall of Fame.

A very satisfying ending, all around. But that was not all. Two days later, Terry was selected as June's Batter of the Month in the American League! This, from a guy who was washed up a little over a year ago.

If Terry continues to pound the ball and can keep his batting average above .200, which he currently is doing, I'm thinking about signing him again, for 2016. I hope Hodges won't mind.

[Tyke]

Great story and, as you say, this is exactly the kind of thing that makes OOTP so engaging.

[Left-handed Badger]

That would be cool to have 2 players on the same team reach the 500 mark in the same week. Now, that would be a story for the news.

It does drive me crazy when someone retires just short of a milestone. Last week a pitcher retired at 296 wins. ARRRRGGG.

[The Wolf]

1998, you are such a sentimentalist.

It's always a pleasure to see someone enjoying the game as much as you do.

[manooly]

Great story 1998!!! Just curious as to how you play the game. Do you own one team and play out every game? Do you sim anything? Do you do all of the financial stuff along with each contract? How much time does it take you to get through a season?

I have been basically just a simmer. I always play the role of a commissioner and just watch the league progress. I still have yet to really let a league develop even though I've been playing this game for years (since OOTP2). I just love starting new leagues. I am just not sure what combination I need to use to actually stick with a league. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time!!!

[Vezna31]

I signed an ex-pitcher of mine one season because he was a few wins away from 250 with a low enough ERA to qualify. I would do things like put him into a tie ballgame at the end to see if I could get him the win because he would get bashed as a starter. As soon as he got the win, I released him and he was inducted at the end of that year.

[Ktulu]

It's cool how players can rebound from being almost totally washed up. I had a 21 year old pitcher who was pitching (very well) out of my bullpen, and was soon to be moved into the starting rotation, when he suffered an 11 month back injury. His potential ratings quickly dropped off the map and I thought he was done.

Anyway, the next year he came off the DL and I decided to hang on to him and let him pitch in the minors where over the course of a couple seasons he put up pretty good numbers.

Eventually I could no longer ignore his AAA performance and he returned to the majors at the age of 24.... almost 4 years after his catostrophic injury he won the rookie of the year award (yes he still qualified).

[1998 Yankees]

Guys, thanks for your responses.

Originally Posted by Tyke

Great story and, as you say, this is exactly the kind of thing that makes OOTP so engaging.

OOTP knocks my socks off in general, but this episode really thrilled me. I wrote that story in about 10 minutes, I was that excited.

Originally Posted by Left-handed Badger

It does drive me crazy when someone retires just short of a milestone. Last week a pitcher retired at 296 wins. ARRRRGGG.

Yeah, that bothers me too. I might have had a quiet conversation with that guy, convincing him in the end to unretire. Manual HoF induction is not very exciting, nor realistic for that matter. I have seen people here talking about how no one would voluntarily retire these days so close to such a milestone.

Originally Posted by The Wolf

1998, you are such a sentimentalist.

Only when it comes to ladies and baseball, Mr. Wolf.

Originally Posted by manooly

Great story 1998!!! Just curious as to how you play the game. Do you own one team and play out every game? Do you sim anything? Do you do all of the financial stuff along with each contract? How much time does it take you to get through a season?

Thanks, manooly. I used to play out each game and micro-manage. Some players like to do that exclusively and advance at a very slow pace.

The problem with that for me, I have realized, is that until I see accumulated statistics from at least several seasons, it's hard for me to get that feeling of immersion where I am following stories like Mr. Terry's. So far, this 15 year league matches my record for league longevity but with my new approach I want many more seasons in this one before I move on to the next. I find myself wanting to eventually look back on decades of history now. And, I don't want myself to significantly age too much in the meantime, heh.

So what I do now is function solely as GM, but a meddlesome one that handles all transactions down to lineups, depth charts, and pitching rotations. Once everything is in place, however, I will sim a day at a time and let my AI manager handle the on-field decisions. One day at a time, keeping an eye on league news, reading and responding to messages, watching the waiver wire, evaluating how my players are doing, checking the milestone charts . . . it still takes me an entire evening to get through one season!

Originally Posted by Vezna31

I signed an ex-pitcher of mine one season because he was a few wins away from 250 with a low enough ERA to qualify. I would do things like put him into a tie ballgame at the end to see if I could get him the win because he would get bashed as a starter. As soon as he got the win, I released him and he was inducted at the end of that year.

Well, it was nice that you gave him the chance, Vezna, but dumping him immediately afterward was a bit harsh! I would have kept him on the roster until the season was over, "sentimentalist that I am."

Originally Posted by Ktulu

It's cool how players can rebound from being almost totally washed up.

Yes, that was the really fun thing about my story; not the race between Hodges and Terry, exciting as that was, but how both players seemed to be feeding off of it to improve their performances. Seemed, I say, because I know it could not be programmed to happen that way. Could it?

[cibl commish]

That's an awesome story.. Closest I've had to that was in my historical league I picked up Don Drysdale off the scrap heap and he wound up winning 20+ games for me 2 seasons in a row.. Amazing how sometimes things just happen like that.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by cibl commish

That's an awesome story.. Closest I've had to that was in my historical league I picked up Don Drysdale off the scrap heap and he wound up winning 20+ games for me 2 seasons in a row.. Amazing how sometimes things just happen like that.

Thanks. I was joking in my previous post, but the design of this game does allow for such "against the odds" comebacks to happen rather than a smooth, inevitable bell curve of player development. Well done in that aspect, as in many others of course.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Only when it comes to ladies and baseball, Mr. Wolf.

And what else really is there?

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

And what else really is there?

Not a whole heck of a lot. The question I now ponder is, which is better?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Not a whole heck of a lot. The question I now ponder is, which is better?

Depends on the mood and time of day, eh?

[cibl commish]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Thanks. I was joking in my previous post, but the design of this game does allow for such "against the odds" comebacks to happen rather than a smooth, inevitable bell curve of player development. Well done in that aspect, as in many others of course.

Agreed completely!

[1998 Yankees]

Rich Terry went on to hit 35 home runs in 2015, knock in 99 RBI's, and bat .210 for the year, earning him an extension for 2016. Terry and Ray Hodges ended up tied at 515 career home runs. Next year should be a very interesting season; Terry is the youngest of those five guys - who will last the longest and become the all-time HR leader?

Take a look at Terry's turnaround since 2012. By the way, Terry and his wife had a baby boy in November. They named him "1998" after the GM who gave Terry a second chance when everyone else had given up on him.

[Khrog]

I had a guy Felix Acevedo that was the oddest freak during my latest league. hit around .220 with 40-45 HR for 2 seasons before I off loaded him. He also was the fastest base stealer in the league. Had 65 + 72 during those 2 seasons. I ended up trading him as part of a multiplayer deal for a better Starting rotation, but he was undoubtedly the oddest guy on the team.

If he could have got on base at all he'd have been stealing 100+ bases and hitting over 45HR most seasons. I had to let him go because he was so unreliable as a hitter.

Still overall I wouldn't mind a .210 hitter dropping 30/30 in 2B/HR filling #7/#8 in the order unless I could deal him for something better.

[wlight1]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Rich Terry went on to hit 35 home runs in 2015, knock in 99 RBI's,

Are you like me in that you hate to see favorite players fall just short of round numbers? I'll try my damnedest to get a guy his 100th RBI in a season, even to the point of diminishing chances to win a game (example: have my cleanup hitter bunt with a man on first and 1 out to make sure he doesn't homer or GIDP so my 5th-place hitter can earn #100). Or am I crazy in that?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by wlight1

Or am I crazy in that?

Well, I'd never do it, but then I'm managing to win.

[Antonin]

Wonderful story, 1998!

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Khrog

I had a guy Felix Acevedo that was the oddest freak during my latest league. hit around .220 with 40-45 HR for 2 seasons before I off loaded him. He also was the fastest base stealer in the league. Had 65 + 72 during those 2 seasons. I ended up trading him as part of a multiplayer deal for a better Starting rotation, but he was undoubtedly the oddest guy on the team.

If he could have got on base at all he'd have been stealing 100+ bases and hitting over 45HR most seasons. I had to let him go because he was so unreliable as a hitter.

Still overall I wouldn't mind a .210 hitter dropping 30/30 in 2B/HR filling #7/#8 in the order unless I could deal him for something better.

The speed is the odd part. Other than that, I see plenty of these Dave Kingman (1982: .204/37/99; look familiar?) type of guys; hit barely above .200 but knock the ball out of the park when they make contact. A guy hitting 30 or 40 home runs will usually produce close to 100 RBI's. To me, that's well worth the low BA, hence why I extended Terry.

Originally Posted by wlight1

Are you like me in that you hate to see favorite players fall just short of round numbers? I'll try my damnedest to get a guy his 100th RBI in a season, even to the point of diminishing chances to win a game (example: have my cleanup hitter bunt with a man on first and 1 out to make sure he doesn't homer or GIDP so my 5th-place hitter can earn #100). Or am I crazy in that?

No, I feel the same way about round numbers like .300 BA, 100 RBI, 20 wins. I will not go as far as you to achieve them, although I remember a couple of times that I stupidly started a 19-game winner on the last or next-to-last day of the regular season, trying for 20 W's, and thereby losing him until the middle of a 5-game playoff series.

But, in this case I felt it was appropriate for Terry to have a really good season coming back from his long recovery, but not a really outstanding one. 99 RBI's looked just fine, just like $9.99 looks cheaper than $10.

Originally Posted by Antonin

Wonderful story, 1998!

Thanks. It really was "Another example of how I love OOTPB."