Update - Win At All Costs, 2004 Red Sox

AZTarHeel · 06-12-2006, 12:05 PM

A couple of summers ago, I started an OOTP5 dynasty called "Win At All Costs — the 2004 Boston Red Sox" (link here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...p/t-57594.html )

I took a real roster set and, as the title suggests, poured everything into breaking the curse that season.

I basically did a game by game walk through the season, with lots of newspaper articles and extras, and to my amazement the dynasty generated a pretty good following. I was out of work at the time undergoing some medical treatments, and so I had a lot of time to spend on playing and writing.

But, as some of you may remember, the dynasty stopped dead cold right as the Red Sox (with the best record in baseball) reached the post-season. I think I may have posted results from 1-2 playoff games and then nothing...

A lot happened to contribute to that: I became a new dad ... my medical treatments ended (with great success, thankfully) and I had to go back to work ... That October I moved across the country and started a new job that oftentimes meant 60-80 hour weeks, etc.

Frankly, once the real-life Red Sox won the World Series, it took some of the enthusiasm away from my storyline, and I just quit playing ... I prettymuch forgot about OOTP and that dynasty for a long time ... until this past week when I went on vacation...

I decided to finish out the dynasty, and well, the curse still lives in this OOTP world!! The Red Sox polished off the Twins 3-0 in the divisional series but got nailed by the Oakland A's 4-1 in the AL championship series. Ironically, pitcher Derek Lowe - who had won like 25 games with only two losses - during the regular season (he would be named the Cy Young winner for the AL) got hammered in the decisive fifth game, giving up seven or eight runs... Boston fell behind 10-0, mounted a mini-comeback in the last two innings but fell short - again...

For whatever reason, the Sox potent offense, which had averaged an unreal 8-9 runs per game, went south against the A's. I think it had a lot to do with Oakland's overabundance of left-handed pitching. Some of the bigger bats didn't get into the lineup (Trot Nixon, etc.). Oakland also had a bunch of lefties at the front of its lineup that were hard to get out...

Anyways, for folks who may have wondered, "what ever happened to AzTarHeel and his Win At All Costs dynasty?" that was it ... started with a bang, ended with a whimper ...

A few other notes that I can remember: In addition to Lowe winning the Cy Young, Manny Ramirez was the AL MVP ... he batted like .340 with about 40 HRs ... Curt Schilling finished 18-6 but deteriorated all season to the point I was afraid to use him as a starter (he was essentially the No. 5 guy). He was a one-star player in the post-season who was "clearly past his prime" according to my scout. How ironic. Maybe I should have used him in game five instead of Lowe, and a bloody sock moment would have happened ... the Oakland A's went on to beat the San Francisco Giants in another Bay Area World Series. I think it was 4-1 or 4-2 ...

The owner's rating for my dynasty was "horrible" with the expectation that I win it all in 2004- the perfect set up. He liked me during the season, but my ratings dropped dramatically after Boston was ousted. Even still, Francona was offered a three-year extension following the season, which I took.

I'm not sure if I'll continue the dynasty beyond the season. if I do, Boston will be in a MAJOR rebuilding mode. I spent lots of $$$ on keeping a few potential free agents in the fold, and then traded away a lot of the top young talent to get additional pitching help (ironically I got Josh Beckett for my '04 Sox, though he struggled in the post-season) ...

I did do some pre-season 2005 activities but had NO money to sign another hitting coach (since mine retired) or any FAs. So I traded Pedro Martinez to the Mets (trying to be a little realistic) for three youngsters with good potential in order to get some cash.

Maybe I'll keep playing and start another dynasty down the road ... My time to play the game is still limted by work and family, but I really do love OOTP (not sure if I'll upgrade to the new version but that's another story) ... I've also thought about doing an historical dynasty, either trying to make the Sox a perennial power over the decades or maybe trying one with the Yankees to see if I can match their vast number of titles ...

Many apologies for leaving folks hanging for so long on this Win At All Costs story ... That was not my intent... Obviously life has gone on...

AZ

AZTarHeel · 06-12-2006, 12:16 PM

Let me add, I'm very thankful to whoever archived my dynasty ... I never made a copy of it for myself and was glad to find it ... thanks!!

Jaxxvain · 06-12-2006, 01:16 PM

don't you know that the curse is hard-coded into the game?

AZTarHeel · 06-12-2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaxxvain

don't you know that the curse is hard-coded into the game?

It sure seemed that way ... Boston won like 115 games in the regular season, killing a lot of teams in the process ... No one else won more than 99 ... Then, ka-put in the post-season ... I wasn't too mad. I could almost sense it coming when Boston got down 2-0 to Oakland ...

Y0DA55 · 06-12-2006, 01:50 PM

Yay... Finally we have a conclusion to this one.

You know I was waiting for it. Too bad they didn't win the thing.

AZTarHeel · 06-12-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Y0DA55

Yay... Finally we have a conclusion to this one.

You know I was waiting for it. Too bad they didn't win the thing.

Yeah, it's too bad ... I could have pulled some great celebration photos into my story from the real thing ... of course, I would have had to PhotoShop Red Sox gear on Josh Beckett ...

06-12-2006, 12:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
AZTarHeel All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,488 Thanks: 9 Thanked 9x in 8 posts	Update - Win At All Costs, 2004 Red Sox A couple of summers ago, I started an OOTP5 dynasty called "Win At All Costs — the 2004 Boston Red Sox" (link here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...p/t-57594.html ) I took a real roster set and, as the title suggests, poured everything into breaking the curse that season. I basically did a game by game walk through the season, with lots of newspaper articles and extras, and to my amazement the dynasty generated a pretty good following. I was out of work at the time undergoing some medical treatments, and so I had a lot of time to spend on playing and writing. But, as some of you may remember, the dynasty stopped dead cold right as the Red Sox (with the best record in baseball) reached the post-season. I think I may have posted results from 1-2 playoff games and then nothing... A lot happened to contribute to that: I became a new dad ... my medical treatments ended (with great success, thankfully) and I had to go back to work ... That October I moved across the country and started a new job that oftentimes meant 60-80 hour weeks, etc. Frankly, once the real-life Red Sox won the World Series, it took some of the enthusiasm away from my storyline, and I just quit playing ... I prettymuch forgot about OOTP and that dynasty for a long time ... until this past week when I went on vacation... I decided to finish out the dynasty, and well, the curse still lives in this OOTP world!! The Red Sox polished off the Twins 3-0 in the divisional series but got nailed by the Oakland A's 4-1 in the AL championship series. Ironically, pitcher Derek Lowe - who had won like 25 games with only two losses - during the regular season (he would be named the Cy Young winner for the AL) got hammered in the decisive fifth game, giving up seven or eight runs... Boston fell behind 10-0, mounted a mini-comeback in the last two innings but fell short - again... For whatever reason, the Sox potent offense, which had averaged an unreal 8-9 runs per game, went south against the A's. I think it had a lot to do with Oakland's overabundance of left-handed pitching. Some of the bigger bats didn't get into the lineup (Trot Nixon, etc.). Oakland also had a bunch of lefties at the front of its lineup that were hard to get out... Anyways, for folks who may have wondered, "what ever happened to AzTarHeel and his Win At All Costs dynasty?" that was it ... started with a bang, ended with a whimper ... A few other notes that I can remember: In addition to Lowe winning the Cy Young, Manny Ramirez was the AL MVP ... he batted like .340 with about 40 HRs ... Curt Schilling finished 18-6 but deteriorated all season to the point I was afraid to use him as a starter (he was essentially the No. 5 guy). He was a one-star player in the post-season who was "clearly past his prime" according to my scout. How ironic. Maybe I should have used him in game five instead of Lowe, and a bloody sock moment would have happened ... the Oakland A's went on to beat the San Francisco Giants in another Bay Area World Series. I think it was 4-1 or 4-2 ... The owner's rating for my dynasty was "horrible" with the expectation that I win it all in 2004- the perfect set up. He liked me during the season, but my ratings dropped dramatically after Boston was ousted. Even still, Francona was offered a three-year extension following the season, which I took. I'm not sure if I'll continue the dynasty beyond the season. if I do, Boston will be in a MAJOR rebuilding mode. I spent lots of $$$ on keeping a few potential free agents in the fold, and then traded away a lot of the top young talent to get additional pitching help (ironically I got Josh Beckett for my '04 Sox, though he struggled in the post-season) ... I did do some pre-season 2005 activities but had NO money to sign another hitting coach (since mine retired) or any FAs. So I traded Pedro Martinez to the Mets (trying to be a little realistic) for three youngsters with good potential in order to get some cash. Maybe I'll keep playing and start another dynasty down the road ... My time to play the game is still limted by work and family, but I really do love OOTP (not sure if I'll upgrade to the new version but that's another story) ... I've also thought about doing an historical dynasty, either trying to make the Sox a perennial power over the decades or maybe trying one with the Yankees to see if I can match their vast number of titles ... Many apologies for leaving folks hanging for so long on this Win At All Costs story ... That was not my intent... Obviously life has gone on... AZ Last edited by AZTarHeel; 06-12-2006 at 12:11 PM.

06-12-2006, 01:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
Y0DA55 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: In the middle of the Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry Posts: 1,764 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5x in 4 posts	Yay... Finally we have a conclusion to this one. You know I was waiting for it. Too bad they didn't win the thing. __________________ Do, or do not, there is no try!

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06-12-2006, 12:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
AZTarHeel All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,488 Thanks: 9 Thanked 9x in 8 posts	Let me add, I'm very thankful to whoever archived my dynasty ... I never made a copy of it for myself and was glad to find it ... thanks!!

06-12-2006, 01:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jaxxvain All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 509 Thanks: 54 Thanked 50x in 37 posts	don't you know that the curse is hard-coded into the game?