Chronicles of The Monty Brewster Baseball Association

[mikev]

I love reading the dynasties here, and I'm in a writing league. I figured I'd try and add to the fray. I joined the MBBA several seasons ago, a fictional league started in 1973 and currently in the 1995 season.

League details:

• No DH!
• Coaches/Scouts Disabled
• Traditional Ratings System (Talents 1-10, All other ratings 1-20,)
• Financials On; Salary Cap $90M; Cash Max $25M
• Initial settings: Team Market (Good); Loyalty (Good); Fan Interest (65), Filled Minor Leagues
• Amateur Draft- 7 rounds
• 24 teams; 2 leagues; 3 divisions each (4/4/4)
• 3 Round Playoff Format (Best of 5, Best of 7, Best of 7)
• ERA: Baseball Boom (initially), Modern Baseball (currently)

Some (very) quick backstory on the MBBA, straight from the league constitution:

JANUARY 1973:
Major League Baseball passes the Designated Hitter rule for use in the American League on a trial basis. Oakland owner Charlie Finley lobbied hard for the rule and his counterparts obliged. The National League did not approve the rule, and were far from alone in opposing it. Many Americans were against the latest thing to disrupt the National Pastime. In 1969, Curt Flood successfully challenged the reserve clause in baseball, beginning arbitration. Challenges to bring about true free agency for players are lurking on the horizon. Along the way, a society for preservation of the National Pastime was formed. The society decided to launch their own baseball league that would abolish the Designated Hitter and fix financial and player association problems before they arose.

"Businessman" Montgomery "Monty" Brewster, who has come into millions of dollars from a deceased uncle, donated the money to the league and is the society's chairman.

The MBBA will consist of 2 leagues of 12 teams divided into 3 divisions each. Expansion will be considered as league continues.


Our story will begin in the 1994/1995 Offseason, specifically at the Amatuer Player Draft. The Crawdads are coming off of a 75-82 season in which they finished third in the Midwest Division of the Ford Frick League (FLM).

[darkcloud4579]

interesting! Good luck with this.

[mikev]

N'Awlins News, Volume 5 Draft Special

Selecting 10th overall in the 1995 First Year Player Draft, GM Mike Voelker had fairly lofty expectations on the day.

"Honestly, this is one of the deeper classes that I've seen in my time here," said the Crawdad leader. "I think probably the the first dozen or so picks, maybe more, all have a chance to be difference makers in the league, and soon. We definitely had a guy targeted, and we were anxious to see how the first 9 picks were going to play out."

As names were rattled off, starting with Mitchell Wayant, a 17 year old phenom, the first picks went a little outside of what the New Orleans War Room had been expecting.

"I was a little surprised to see (Caleb) Adam go as early as he did," said Voelker. "I expected Ron (Churches, Greenville GM) to take pitching at 2, and Shortfek as well, since they are a little thin with pitching in their minors. I don't know what Stunt Bum was thinking though, aside from Adams being pretty well developed for a kid his age. I don't know that his ceiling is as high as others, but he's closer to the bigs right now."

"I knew that after Vegas picked Bridgers, it was either going to be Streator or Plemons that would be available for us. I was beside myself. I actually felt like Billy Beane in Moneyball when Joe Blanton falls to him in the first round. Plemons was the #1 player on our draft board, and Streator was Top 5. We felt like it was a win-win situation for us."

When Omaha GM Lee Honigsfeld announced that the Barnstormers had selected Streator, the slugging teenage first baseman/outfielder, a roar erupted in Crawdad Central that was heard throughout the Bayou.

Rolland Plemons was going to be a New Orleans Crawdad.

Voelker waited (literally) two minutes before rushing to announce the selection, with a grin on his face nearly as big as when he saw the Georgia Curves for the first time. :excellent:

"Honestly, what's not to love about him? He can hit for average, swat some doubles, he's got a little pop in his bat, and he's got a fantastic eye. He's nearly impossible to strike out, he's an above average defensive catcher, and he can play a very solid first base if needed. The league is pretty slim as far as top tier catchers, so we figured it was a no brainer. He was number 1 on our list, period, and we got him."

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Draft Special Part 2

With no second round pick this year due to trading with Buffalo, the Crawdads were forced to wait until the third round to make their second selection in the 1995 Amateur Draft.

Rumors swirled arund New Orleans, speculation that 1B/3B Jack Dark was being offered up as trade bait for a round 2 pick and cash were never realized, and Dark remains in The Bayou.

So, with the tenth selection in the third round, New Orleans went with starter William Kelly out of Rice.

Kelly put up fantastic numbers in college last year, going 16-3 with a 2.11 ERA. He walked 39 and allowed 110 hits over 140 innings, while striking out 164 batters. He features a fastball that can touch 94, a curveball, slider, and changeup. "We're happy with the pick," said GM Mike Voelker. "Anytime you can get a guy like Will, a proven college talent who is already showing signs of development, you make that move." Some scouts were apprehensive towards Kelly due to his perephial pitches not being all that great, but not Voelker. "Honestly, I really don't care if a guy throws 100mph, or buckles your knees with a curve, or whatever. He can keep the ball in the park, his control is above average, and he gets guys out. I'm more interested in results than with how they're achieved, but we plan on having our guys work with him to improve his stuff a little, yes."

New Orleans has 2 picks in the next round, also a result of the Buffalo trade mentioned previously. Look for the Crawdads to add some more depth in what has been a reasonably deep draft this year.

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Draft Special Part 3

The Crawdads had 2 selections in the 4th round, #1 and #10 to be exact.

With the first pick in round four, reliever Andrew Fiore was chosen to help bolster the New Orleans minor league pitching, which hasn't been very good lately.

Fiore, who could possibly see time as a starter in the minors to get more innings under his belt, is a 20 year old who relies mostly on control to get batters out. He won't blow anybody away, but the team is confident that he could become a serviceable middle reliever in the future. His fastball is right around 90, and he also features a change, slider, and splitfinger.

Selecting 10th, the Crawdads went with another reliever in 18 year old Samuel Segarra. Segarra can run it up into the mid 90s if needed, and has a splitter as his out pitch. Similar to Fiore, he doesn't have the best pure stuff in the world, but above average control and movment on his pitches are his bread and butter. He doesn't have the endurance to go more than 2 innings, but possible setup duty could be in his future.

Of course, both of these players are just a bump away from stardom. [/Joshuaaaaaa]

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Offseason Special Report

After several rounds of negotiations with several teams, corner infielder Jack Dark was sent to Long Beach today, the team announced a short while ago.

Coming back to the Bayou in exchange for Dark? 25 year old outfielder Arthur Jagger, as well as the Surfers 3rd round pick in next year's First Year Player Draft and $1 million dollars in cash. New Orleans also agreed to send their 4th rounder in '96 to Long Beach.

Jagger, a career .314 hitter with Long Beach, will assume the starting Right Field role with the Crawdads. He replaces departed free agent Guam Fantomhorsfli, who [s]suckered in[/s] agreed to a 5.5M per year deal with the Buffalo franchise.

When asked about the deal, Crawdad GM Mike Voelker had this to say: "I'm pleased with it. I know that I'm going to catch some flak from the rest of the league, saying I didn't get enough in return for Jack. The bottom line, though, is that Willie (Williams) is ready to start for us, Pepper (Brooks, 3B) had a hell of a season for us last year, and Mike D. is going to be ready to come back soon. There just wasn't room for him to play, especially when we can get basically the same production without him for nearly 4 million less dollars. We have to think about dollars and cents this year, that's for sure. Also, moving up a round in the draft is going to be very helpful, as that's one of the more likely ways we are going to get decent talent. We're projecting a very deep draft again next year."

"Plus, you can never discount that fact that players we aquire from Josh always bump right after leaving Long Beach. I'm sure that Jagger will rival Gary Barr in a few years, production-wise."

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Offensive Preview

Heading into the 1995 season, the Crawdads are hoping that they can actually stay healthy. Injuries to key members of the team were killers last year, and the loss of Guam Fantomhorsfli in the outfield is tough. The team is leaning towards a retool/rebuild and cutting costs, especially since the Asskernels have a juggernaut built.

Catcher - Champ Kind

Kind was rated as the top offensive catcher in the Frick League last season. He hit .300, slugged .500, and even stole a base!!! His .836 OPS was good, and if he can manage to raise his OBP he will turn into a complete monster. We're hoping that he will continue his stellar production from a position that really doesn't have a lot of offensive studs.

First Base - Willie Williams

Williams blossomed after getting the hell out of Long Beach last season in the Donnie Rotten trade, bumping into a 9/5/8/7/7. This allowed the team to move Jack Dark and his 4 million dollar contract and slot Williams into the starting role at first. In limited time (227 ABs) last season, Williams put up a .344/.392/.559 line. 30 of his 78 hits were for extra bases. Williams is also rated very well as a defensive first baseman, so we're hoping that he'll stick around here for quite some time.

Second Base - Vic "Creole" Wood

One of the many Crawdad injury victims last year, Wood was primed for a breakout season before a broken foot sidelined him for six weeks in the middle of May. Wood hit about .290 last year, slugged .450, but his OBP was a pretty bad .324. He's really going to need to work on his plate discpline during Spring Training, as he is only in the lineup for his offense. His defense is not very good, and we have considered teadhing him first base and moving WIlliams to third

Third Base - Pepper Brooks.

Brooks sort of came out of nowhere last season to put up a pretty solid year. He tailed off towards the end of the season, but it was the first time he'd played consistantly in his professional career. Still, he hit .284/.323/.489 for an .812 OPS. Again, lack of plate discpline hurt, but he hit 22 homers, 24 doubles, and played a decent third base. He's actually a better second baseman, though, so a move might be in order if Creole Wood can handle the first base job.

Shortstop - Mike Diamond

Mike D. was aquired from Buffalo and expected to be a major part of the Crawdad's offense last season. Of course, he got hurt and missed all but 50 games last season, and might not be ready for the start of this year. A career line of .287/.351/.439 looks awfully good, and 24 of his 50 hits went for extra bases last year. Diamond is a fantastic fielder at four different positions, giving the team some flexiblity to move him around if needed. A full year of production from him will help what was a very mediocre offense in 1994.

Left Field - Archibald "Moonlight" Graham

Moonlight was another injury victim last season, however he wasn't hurt until September and the Crawdads were well out of the FLM race by then anyways. His average and OBP were slightly down from his career numbers last year (.260/.325 vs .279/.337), but Graham is still a spectacular corner outfielder defensively, and his production is good enough at the plate, especially given his very reasonable 1.9M contract. He's basically got just about everything an owner wants in a player. Recte, please bump him to superstardom, he really deserves it.

Center Field - Eric Davis

Davis, the high priced MLB defector from 2 years ago, did not disappoint last season as the Crawdad's center fielder. He hit .262/.344/.510 with 33 homers, 103 RBI, 100 runs scored, 29 doubles, and even 37 stolen bases. Clearly the team MVP, he returns looking to put up the same big numbers that he did last year. We're hoping that his production coupled with Mike D returning will be a formidiable combination in the middle of the order this season.

Right Field - Arthur Jagger

Aquired via trade with Long Beach for Jack Dark, Jagger will fill the hole left by the departure of Guam Fantomhorsfli to Buffalo. As a reserve outfielder last year in LBC, Jagger posted an outstanding .348/.376/.471 line. He is slotted as the starter this year, and it will be his first year of consistant playing time. Jagger project to mostly be a singles hitter who doesn't strike out a ton, but he plays very good defense in right field and shouldn't hurt the team at the plate. Realistically, he could equal most of Guam's production from last season minus the home runs.

Bench and Reserves

Christopher Crawford, OF - Crawford will see some starts in right field, primarily against left handed pitchers. He will also get plenty of pinch hit opportunites against lefties.

Porfirio Garza, IF - Garza will be used as primarily a defensive replacement for Vic Wood this year. He performed admirably as a full timer last year due to injuries, but really isn't cut out for it and is best when his time is limited.

Lemuel Mattis, C - Mattis, a New Orleans local favorite, performed well as the backup catcher last year. More of the same, as he's cheap, doesn't complain about playing time, and the fans love him. He'll also see pinch hitting duties against both left and right handers.

[mikev]

Garza sent to Vancouver.

In another cost-cutting move, the Crawdads announced earlier today that infielder Porfirio Garza has been dealt to the Vancouver Mounties in exhange for minor leaguers Pio Nuno and Eric Lindros.

Garza, who was mostly a starter last season due to injuries to several New Orleans infielders, was the odd man out in a young infield featuring Willie Williams, Pepper Brooks, and Creole Wood.

New Orleans GM Mike Voelker appeared somewhat down when the move was announced. "You know, this is a business as well as a game. Sometimes decisions have to be made that you might not want to do. PG is a hell of a player, he really is. He played his ass off last season for us when Diamond and Wood were hurt. It wasn't easy to move him, but if it had to happen, I'm glad I could send him somewhere that he's going to be a full time starter."

Nuno, a 22 year old first baseman, has the potential to be a .300 hitter in the MBBA. He'll knock some doubles, hit a few out, but his plate discipline isn't very good. He's also got a propensity to strike out, and isn't much of a defender. He'll be sent to the AA Shreveport Swamp Dragons to continue working on his development.

Lindros, another 22 year old, has immense power. He'll shoot balls into the gaps and hit home runs, when he makes contact. He's also not much of a fielder, but he's got a rifle arm in left. There's still a good chance that he could turn into a solid player, but he will need to work on making better contact with the ball.

In short, this move nets the team a couple more mid level prospects, and it gets that much closer to actually turning a profit instead of being in the red.

[mikev]

Sim 1, 4-4 tied for 1st in the FLM.

Well, the first sim is in the books. The Crawdads seem to have been ravaged by the conversion, at least pitching-wise.

That said, we're sitting 4-4, third in the FLM. Fair enough.

The important stuff:

We finally moved Walters! Phoenix, desperate for pitching, came to us asking about him. Needless to say we pretty much jumped at the chance to move his 12M per and right the ship financially. We're now projected to actually make 6 million dollars this year. Coming back to us are a couple of surprisingly decent prospects in Kosuke Fukudome, a spectacular fielder in the infield who can hit a little bit as well. Another year in triple A and he's probably ready for the bigs. Leonel Oliphant, a hard throwing right hander, completed the deal, and projects to be a solid middle innings guy. He'll be the closer in AAA until he's ready for the big show.

Vic Wood is off to a hell of a start after missing time last season with injuries, hitting nearly .500 and OPSing 1.155!

Mike D was awarded player of the week honors. The team is going to desperately need him to produce after missing the majority of last season with an injury.

Shawn Boskie continues to be the staff ace. He's only given up 3 ER in his 15 innings pitched so far.

More to come later, once HTML gets finished up and I get used to the new game a little more.

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Issue 2

The conversion to 2006 decimated Crawdads pitching, which was looking to become a strength a few short seasons ago. Shawn Boskie, the staff ace, has regressed to 9/18/16 overall, but has a 1-1 record and a 3.41 ERA over 29 innings so far this year. Former ace Righty Grove suffered drops to 19/12/13, and has an ugly 5.08 ERA after the first three weeks of the season. Former prized prospect and star in waiting Lee Dedeaux, who was already lumped twice down to 10/5/7, saw his control further drop. In short, he sucks now and should be tossed on the scrap heap.

To add insult to injury, Second Baseman Vic "Creole" Wood suffered a dislocated shoulder and will miss approximately six weeks of play. Wood started the season on a tear, batting .467 with an OPS of 1.100. Leave it to Recte to injure him. In his place, the team called up infielder Kosuke Fukudome, who will start at second base while Wood rehabs his injured wing. Kosuke is a spectacular fielder, and a decent contact hitter, but tha'ts about it. Hopefully he may show some development with play in the bigs.

In other news, SS Mike D continues his quick start, sporting a line of .315/.367/.534

In the minors, the recently aquired Eric Lindros started making his case for a call up, hitting for the cycle against Hattiesberg. Just 2 days previously, Tommy Becker went 5-for-5 against the Eagles. Not to be outdone, double-A Shreveport second baseman Israel Pared also hit for the cycle against RRP.

So far, the Crawdads are the leader in the early race for the Crackhead, and are looking forward to the #1 pick in next years draft. At least this year we'll have the money to sign him!

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Issue 3

Finishing the month of April saw the Crawdads actually win some games, as New Orleans took 2 of 3 from Austin, and 2 of 3 from Montreal before dropping the first 2 of a 3 game set with Las Vegas and raised their record to 10-16, good for third place in the Frick Midwest. They're 5 games back of Des Moines, but only 1 behind Birmingham for second place.

Willie Williams was one of the hitting stars last sim, hitting over .300 and belting 3 home runs. His current line on the season is .283/.359/.478 with 5 homers and 14 RBI.

In transaction news, the team announced that in order to replace the injured Vic Wood for the next month, the recently aquired Kosuke Fukudome is going to be put on the active roster and will be starting at second base for the Crawdads. The expectation is that he will hit a few singles and provide good defense in the middle infield. Anything more on offense will be considered a bonus.

The best pitching of this sim was done by Shawn Boskie, who went 8 innings and only gave up 2 ER in a no-decision on 4/24, and then went 7.1 again giving up 2ER but took a tough luck loss on 4/30. Also turning in 2 great starts was Lee Dedeaux, who had a 7.2 inning 1ER performance with 12 strikeouts on 4/21, and then bested that by going 8.1 innings and allowing 3 ER with 14 Ks on 4/26.

Upcoming Schedule
5/1 @ Las Vegas

5/2 v. Long Beach
5/3 v. Long Beach
5/4 v. Long Beach

5/5 v. Seattle
5/6 v. Seattle
5/7 v. Seattle

5/8 @ Hackensack
5/9 @ Hackensack
5/10 @ Hackensack

[mikev]

N'Awlins News Volume 5 Issue 4

New Orleans currently sits at 15-21, 6 games behind Des Moines in the Frick League Midwest and in third place.

The sim started off well, as we took the last of a 3 game set with Vegas before taking 2 of 3 from Long Beach as well as Seattle. Unfortunately the team couldn't carry that momentum and were swept in a 3 game set against Hackensack.

The best hitting performance over the last 10 days was clearly Willie Williams' 5-for-5 effort on 5/3 at Long Beach, the team he was formerly with. Williams was aquired in a salary shedding deal that saw Donnie Rotten sent to Long Beach, but he has blossomed into a star in the making since arriving in the Bayou.

Shawn Boskie can't buy a win right now. He threw a complete game and took the loss against Seattle on Cinco de Mayo, and then lost again after going 7.1 innings and giving up only 2 runs against Hackensack.

At the plate, Pepper Brooks is starting to heat up a little bit finally. His average is still a very uninspiring .235, but he had 10 hits last sim and now leads the team with 6 homers and 18 RBI. He's been complaining about being tired, so the team will probably give him an extra day off to get fully rested up and make sure that he's getting enough days off.

Upcoming Schedule

5/12 vs. Birmingham
5/13 vs. Birmingham
5/14 vs. Birmingham

5/15 @ Des Moines
5/16 @ Des Moines
5/17 @ Des Moines

5/18 vs. Buffalo
5/19 vs. Buffalo
5/20 vs. Buffalo

[mikev]

N'awlins News Volume 5 Issue 5

So it's early June, the Crawdads are currently at 28-36, 9 games behind 37-27 Birmingham (WTF?) in the Frick League Midwest. Des Moines, expected to be the class of the division, is 4 back of the Bandits at 33-31. austin is in their rightful place (last) at 26-38.

Last sim, we started with 2 losses to Montreal, then taking 2 of 3 from Las Vegas, then 4 straight losses (3 to Long Beach and 1 to Seattle). Yes, 2 wins last sim. Ouch.

Hey, look at Righty Grove go! Grove was awarded Pitcher of the Month honors in the FL for May, going 5-0 over 6 starts with a 0.72 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 50 innings. On the season, his ERA has dropped to 3.59 overall and he's got over 100 Ks compared to 35 walks.

Starter-turned-reliever Nate Minchey is flourishing in his new role this season. After 2 seasons as a bad starter, Minchey currently has an ERA of 1.65, allowing only 3 earned run in 16 innings of work so far this year. He's struck out fifteen and walked only 5. If he continues to pitch well in this role, the team is considering making his conversion to a reliever permanent and bumping his ratings just a tad.

While we're on the subject of relievers pitching well, Marty Powers is definitely going to get some recognition: 19 innings, one earned run, 11 strikeouts, 3 walks, only 11 hits allowed. The guy is dominating hitters, plain and simple. Negotiations on a contract extension are in the works, but rumors have said that Powers only wants a 1 year deal.

Offensively, there's not much to talk about in the Bayou, save for Willie Williams. The youngster continues to terrorize MBBA pitching, to the tune of .315/.393./.469 with 8 HR and 9 2B. He's basically carrying the offense right now.


Upcoming Schedule

6/11 @ Seattle
6/12 @ Seattle

6/13 vs. Hackensack
6/14 vs. Hackensack
6/15 vs. Hackensack

6/16 @ Birmingham
6/17 @ Birmingham
6/18 @ Birmingham

6/20 vs Des Moines

[Recte44]

[clashcity]

Man, I love to see Tommy Becker still kicking around in the minors. The Cali fans miss that guy...