OOTP 7 Dynasty: Cubby Blue & Wrigley Field - Page 2

DawnBTVS · 03-08-2008, 11:58 AM

Game 9 on the year sees us yet again squaring off with the Atlanta Braves who are currently 6-3. We're sending Steve Traschel to the mound, looking for the fourth straight victory for our club.

We find ourselves in trouble quickly with a solo home run from Ryan Klesko and a two run home run from Mark Lewis in the second inning. We're down 3-0 and Traschel is up to 46 pitches. Not a good sight to see as I really hate burning out my bullpen.

Traschel has managed to calm down, giving us three straight innings without a run, however, our offense has been doing absolutely nothing despite getting two runners on at times. We only have three hits and one walk entering the fifth inning. Part of our scoring woes seems to be the ability for Greg Maddux to pick off our runners at second as he's done it twice now.

We finally get on the board in the sixth inning thanks to a six pitch at bat resulting in a single by Brian McRae and an RBI double on a ball outside by Swing For the Fences.

I call on the arm of Bob Patterson after Traschel gives up a single to start the seventh inning off. He comes up big with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to end the inning with the Cubs only down two runs.

Mr. Cub starts things off with a double, which is pleasing to see although I'm not enamored that in the three pitches he saw, he missed on a ball up high and made contact with a ball well outside the strike zone. Dunston shows the others how an at-bat goes, seeing five pitches before sending a cracked shot into center to give us runners on first and third. Dave Hansen and Bob Patterson combine to work Greg Maddux for three lousy pitches and two fly outs. The inning ends with a fly out and I'm a little disappointed and annoyed at the lack of patience.

I call on Terry Adams to start off the eighth inning to keep us in the contest. He does so with ease and we're up now, looking to strike late again. Dave Clark continues the ire of the night by flying out on a ball low and outside. Ugh. Two pitches. Brian McRae also strikes out but he has a great at bat, battling for eight pitches. Another fly out on two pitches and the inning is over again. I'm really not enjoying having to win games in the bottom of the ninth at home right now.

Mr. Superstition comes in after Adams gets one out and runners on second and third. A strikeout and fly out end the threat and once again I have to depend on my offense to come through in the clutch.

Noodle Arm, despite his struggles at the plate, sees five pitches and manages to work a walk out of the situation. A groundout advances Noodle Arm to second with Dunston now up.

Shawon Dunston is up to the plate with one out and Tyler Houston on second. Mark Wohlers peers in with the count two one in favor of the hitter. Dunston swings at the curveball, sharply lined towards Jeff Blauser on a one hopper. He fields it and throws to first but it's past Fred McGriff! Tyler off on the pitch scores and Dunston slides into second base! The Cubs are now down 3-2 with a run to tie and two to win.

In ten at bats, Dave Hansen is hitting .400/.455/.700 at home and I have my fingers crossed that the small sample size will hold true now. Two balls and an easy pop up and there are now two outs in the inning. I sigh and send in Scott Servais to pinch hit for Wendell. On the one one count he smacks a shot up the middle for a base hit! Runners on first and third, Dunston ninety feet away from tying this ballgame up at three with Mark Grace up to bat.

A sharply rapped groundball finds its way to Jeff Blauser and the game is over with the throw to first. Well, that hopeful situation got snuffed quickly. Game over.

CHC 2 ATL 3
WP: Greg Maddux (1-1) 8.0 IP, 9 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
LP: Steve Traschel (0-1) 6.0 IP, 9 HA, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
S: Mark Wohlers (2) 1.0 IP, 1 HA, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

The Game Ball goes to Ryne Sandberg who went a quiet 3-4 in the loss with a double.

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 10:08 AM

Well... lesson learned, this is why you save after every game played. My computer froze in the eighth inning of my game after this one so I lost the results of that one and this game.

Unlike the previous "lost" game, this turns into a pitcher's duel from the get go between Kevin Tapani and Kevin Millwood as through five innings both teams have combined for only five hits and the Cubs account for one.

In the seventh inning we plate the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly and Kevin Tapani manages to skate through the eighth inning allowing only four hits throughout the entire game.

I call on Mel Rojas to close the door in the ninth. He comes in a man on fire striking out the first two batters and getting a fly out to centerfield to give us the thin 1-0 victory.

CHC 1 ATL 0
WP: Kevin Tapani (1-0) 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
LP: Kevin Millwood 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
S: Mel Rojas (2) 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Game Ball goes to Kevin Tapani who gave us one of our finest pitching performances of the season with a game score of 75.

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 11:03 AM

We close out another series with Atlanta with Wily Ace taking the mound in front of 37,185 hardcore Cubs fans at Wrigley Field.

We score first in the first inning with an RBI single by Noodle Arm to score Mark Grace from third base. This is a bit more encouraging to score early and get some men on base this time against John Smoltz.

The game gets tied up in the fifth inning thanks to a bit of small ball by Atlanta as Danny Bautista manages to score after hitting a single, getting advanced on a sacrifice, moving to third on a fly ball, and scoring on a single.

After seven strong innings, I call on Mr. Superstition to get us through the eighth inning and keep us in the game. He walks three straight batters and I'm forced to call on Bob Patterson since it seems that too much time was spent around Doug Bochtler. Oy... first pitch is a single and two runs score with a single following to load the bases yet again. Zero outs and my bullpen is literally imploding before my eyes.

I call on Kent Bottenfield, newly healthy to salvage something. He comes up big with two strikeouts and a fly ball to centerfield, allowing us to only be down two runs when it could've been much worse.

We do nothing in the bottom of the eighth but Bottenfield is money again in the top of the ninth, getting all three hitters out in order and it's up to the offense to score three runs to win this thing in the bottom of the ninth.

Swing For the Fences starts things off with a single. Noodle Arm smacks a single but advances to second on the throw, giving us runners on second and third with Mr. Cub walking up to the plate. A groundout gets one out but also scores one run. I love this offense even with its cardiac ability.

Cubs are down one run and Shawon Dunston steps up to the plate with Tyler Houston only ninety feet away. Jim Corsi peers in and heres the windup, the pitch and Dunston makes contact! It's heading for the warning track and caught easily by Chipper Jones but Tyler Houston scores, giving us a tied game and folks, we're heading into extra innings!

Miguel Batista gets called upon in case he needs to go 2 innings. The tenth inning is skated through with ease and again it's up to the offense.

I call on Brant Brown to pinch hit for Batista. My offense sputters with a groundout and two straight strike outs. I sigh and call on Terry Adams for the eleventh inning. He issues a walk but makes it through unscathed, thanks in part to a sacrifice bunt.

Nothing doing for us and I'm annoyed that our offense continues to get shut down, even while getting a runner on to start things off. Terry Adams comes up big with a breezed through twelfth inning and I'm sighing with relief.

Dave Hansen gets on off a walk and an error puts Hansen to second and Adams to first.

Mark Grace stepping up to the plate with two runners on and two out. Brad Clontz comes in out of the bullpen sporting a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings of work. Grace finds himself down 0-1 as Clontz leans in. Here it comes, fastball inside, but Grace manages to pull his bat inside and it's heading towards the hole between Tony Graffanino and Ryan Klesko. It's through into right field! Hansen was off on the throw and he'll come around third to score! This game is over folks, all thanks to a seeing eye single by Mark Grace in the bottom of the twelfth inning! What a game!

CHC 4 ATL 3
WP: Terry Adams (1-0) 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
LP: Mark Wohlers (0-1) 2.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Game Ball goes to Mark Grace for being a beast throughout the game. Not only did he plate the game winner but he also got on base four times with a walk and three hits.

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 02:21 PM

Note: Anybody know how to do the tables w/o HTML or massive spacing things around? Quite annoying to deal with.

With our day off, let's take a look at the Chicago Cubs in detail.

Code:


Team Wins Losses Win % Games Back
Cincinnati Reds 6 6 0.500 -
Chicago Cubs 5 6 0.455 0.50
St. Louis Cardinals 5 6 0.455 0.50
Houston Astros 5 7 0.417 1.00
Pittsburgh Pirates 4 7 0.364 1.50

Right now, our current payroll is $38,234,048 which settles us into 18th among 28 teams. The lowest payroll is Detroit at $23,038,286 and the highest team is Baltimore at $72,697,096.

Our average salary is $943,112 compared to a league average of $1.16 Million.

Offensively here are our stars...

Code:

Name AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS
Mark Grace 46 6 13 4 0 0 1 6 6 .283 .365 .370 .735
Brian McRae 43 4 10 1 1 1 5 3 8 .233 .277 .372 .649
Sammy Sosa 43 5 12 4 0 2 9 2 11 .279 .311 .512 .823
Tyler Houston 39 4 12 3 0 0 2 2 6 .308 .341 .385 .726
Dave Hansen 38 3 10 1 0 1 5 4 7 .263 .333 .368 .702

And here are the stars of our pitching staff.

Code:

Name W L S IP HA HRA BB K ERA BABIP
Tim Worrell 1 0 0 6.1 3 0 2 8 0.00 .231
Terry Adams 1 0 0 6.0 4 0 2 4 0.00 .222
Kevin Tapani 1 0 0 15.0 12 3 3 5 3.00 .196
Steve Traschel 0 1 0 18.0 20 5 8 13 3.50 .278
Terry Mulholland 1 1 0 16.0 21 1 4 11 5.06 .370

Some news out of the minor leagues...
25 year old Robin Jennings is currently hitting 0.357/0.441/0.536/0.977 in 28 AB against right handers at AAA. He has 5 BB vs. 4 K.

27 year old Jose Hernandez is currently hitting 0.308/0.438/0.500/0.938 in 21 AB against right handers at AAA. He has 6 BB vs. 6 K.

22 year old Geremi Gonzalez has thrown 24.0 IP with an ERA of 1.50 and 22 K vs. 5 BB. He's allowed 0 HRA and has a BABIP of 0.193.

28 year old Kevin Foster has thrown 18.0 IP with an ERA of 3.50 and 17 K vs. 7 BB. He's allowed 1 HR and has a BABIP of 0.306.

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 07:40 PM

After seeing the line for Mr. Cub at .205/.225/.256 I've decided to switch in Tony Batista into the lineup. He's not only superior defensively but should have a better time at the plate as well.

We continue our home stretch, this time hosting the Colorado Rockies and game 1 will see Rick Helling taking the mound.

Nothing much happening in the first five innings although I'm noticing a not so pleasing pattering of the offense barely forcing Pat Hentgen to use more than 2-3 pitches per at bat in comparison to Rick Helling although the lack of control hasn't helped either.

In the bottom of the fifth, Shawon Dunston breaks up the no hit bid as well as the shutout for both teams with a Solo Home Run to give us the one run lead.

Turk Wendell gets called in after Helling allows runners to second and third with no out. A run scores off an Ellis Burk double but Wendell gets two strikeouts to keep the game tied.

Turk gets us through the seventh inning and Swing For the Fences smacks a double to start things off in a promising manner. Noodle Arm gets intentionally walked and that brings up Tony Batista. He promptly laces a shot past Ellis Burks in centerfield, scoring a run and putting runners on second and third. We get the 2-1 lead heading into the eighth.

I call on the arm of Mel Rojas, no longer caring about having a true shutdown closer when the bullpen can't even get to him more times than not. He immediately strikes out two before giving up the game tying solo home run to Ellis Burks. Typical of our team this season. That's all he allows though, inducing a fly out to leave it tied.

I call Bob Patterson out for the ninth after we strand two runners in the bottom of the eighth. Pinch hitter Cecil Fielder lines a double but Chris Gomez flies out. They take the lead after a single underneath the glove of Shawon Dunston and yet again, this damn offense has to leave it to the bottom of the ninth inning to try and pull off the victory.

Seriously, what the hell?

Swing For the Fences strikes out and Noodle Arm follows that up with a groundout leaving it to the bat of Tony Batista. He works his second walk of the game, bringing Shawon Dunston to the plate. Unfortunately he grounds out and that's the game.

CHC 2 COL 3
WP: Pat Hentgen (2-1) 8.0 IP, 5 HA, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
LP: Bob Patterson (0-1) 1.0 IP, 2 HA, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
S: Jerry Dipoto (4) 1.0 IP, 0 HA, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

The Game Ball goes to Turk Wendell who continues to be our most valuable reliever. He went 2 innings with 4 strikeouts and 0 hits. Tony Batista did get on base twice via walks and a hit so he gets honorable mention.

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 08:03 PM

In another move to foster some more runs, I've inserted Brant Brown into the starter's role in place of Dave Clark who's hit .208/.222/.283 in 53 AB with 1 BB vs. 14 K.

Steve Traschel takes the mound for us in front of 30,267 fans. I'm hoping that the addition of Batista and Brown will improve our slugging if not our on base percentage too.

Things start out promisingly enough as we get two men on, including Noodle Arm via walk allowing us to tag John Thomson for 14 pitches before Swing For the Fences comes up. He pops out after only 2 pitches and Brant Brown flies out to end the inning with the only noteworthy thing being that we worked Thomson to 20 pitches.

After three innings, both teams are scoreless but Thomson is over 40 pitches while Steve Traschel has been holding his own thanks to some solid defense.

Through five, Steve Traschel has a no hitter going but the perfect game got lost thanks to an error by Mark Grace. In the bottom of the fifth, Dave Hansen strikes with a Solo Home Run to give us the one run lead despite only three hits thus far.

The no hitter was intact through 7.1 innings until Larry Walker broke it up with a single.

We're still shutting out Colorado and in the bottom of the eighth, Swing For the Fences gives us some insurance with a Two Run Home Run to put us ahead 3-0.

In the ninth, Steve Traschel calmly mows down the three hitters he faces and we win our 6th game of the year.

CHC 3 COL 0
WP: Steve Traschel (1-1) 9.0 IP, 2 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
LP: John Thomson 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Like you really need to ask who gets the Game Ball?

DawnBTVS · 03-09-2008, 10:14 PM

After another off day (04/18), we're back on the road this time heading to play the New York Mets who are currently sporting a record of 3-11, somehow doing awful giving me hope that we can take the games with ease because that's been our way throughout the year. Largely ignoring the 0-5 start.

The lone bright spot for our club is our 5th ranked 2.99 starter ERA and Wily Ace will be taking the mound for us this time. He's been wicked unlucky given his BABIP but he should begin to stabilize and I'm hoping that this start is the first of many good outings.

The first inning leads us off as Mark Grace flies out to deep center, Brian McRae grounds out on 3 pitches, but hope isn't lost into the ether just yet because Noodle Arm rakes a double. Swing For the Fences is up hitting .500/.545/.800 with RISP so he lives up to the illusion with a smoking grounder but gets thrown out after lollygagging down to first base.

Things start off ominously for Wily Ace...
Manny Alexander: Double despite hitting .185 on the year.
Edgardo Alfonzo: Strikes out on 6 pitches.
John Olerud: Walks on 4 pitches.
Todd Hundley: Watches Noodle Arm throw out the trailing runner on a double steal attempt and then grounds out on 5 pitches.

Well, Wily Ace got lucky as hell there but it doesn't bode well for the evening that he had to expend so many pitches just to get a blank scoreboard.

Rick Reed effortlessly shuts us down on only 11 pitches and Wily Ace continues to piss me off with his ill-advised pitching as he gives up a solo home run to Butch Huskey to start off the inning. You're supposed to be the wily old veteran with a growling meanness about him. Come on! My pep talk is a rallying war cry because he proceeds to allow a single off a 7 pitch at bat to Bernard Gilkey and a 5 pitch base hit to Jim Eisenrich. He finally gets a strike out but of course he can't do it the easy way (6 pitches) and I'm smoldering in my seat because I'm gonna get to rip through my bullpen again. By June, I'll have 6 dead arm injuries. Wily Ace is up to 43 pitches to end the inning despite a sacrifice hit scoring a run.

To start the third, Dave Hansen swings at 4 pitches completely outside the strike zone and grounds out to prove that his judgement was fabulous. Wily Ace grounds out and I know this is a bad night when Mark Grace swings at two pitches outside the strike zone and flies out on a pitch high and inside. Oh, hell.

The bottom of the third starts out promisingly, 3 pitches to get two outs but then Todd Hundley shatters the funhouse mirror with a solo home run, giving New York a 2 run lead now. The inning can't end with a 1 pitch at bat... no, he's way too crafty for that. His 87 MPH fastball lets Wily Ace waste 8 pitches before Butch Huskey flies out to end the inning.

I manage to get my mind off the suck a little bit as Brian McRae walks to lead off the fourth and Noodle Arm flies out on only 2 pitches. God... why? Swing For the Fences does his job, popping out on 2 more pitches and Brant Brown mercifully ends this horrid display of patience by swinging at 4 pitches outside the strike zone, only taking 1 for the ball that it was.

The Mets add another run after getting two base hits from Rick Reed (Really??) and Manny Alexander. This of course all occurs after two outs and Wily Ace is now up to 84 pitches. In all of 4 innings of work, thank you. He walks Edgardo Alfonzo to load the bases and I'm stuck having to call Miguel Batista in. He comes in to face John Olerud and gets a 1 pitch foul popup for the final out.

How are we only down 3-0? I'm in utter amazement that they haven't completely ripped us apart but I still have faith that'll occur sometime later in the night. Tony Batista continues to supply mental anguish by getting a base hit, becoming greedy like he thinks he's the new Rickey Henderson, and getting thrown out at second for his troubles. Not surprisingly, Shawon Dunston gets a single and Dave Hansen gets his own single to mock the fact that we could have a run on the board right now but we don't. I actually sacrifice the runners over with Miguel Batista and there are two runners on with two out. Mark Grace channels the mastery of Bill James and walks after an insane 11 pitch at bat. Bases are now loaded and rockets are go! Go as in end the inning because McRae grounds out after taking hacks at three pitches low and outside the K zone.

*Groan*

As if my troubles couldn't get worse, Miguel Batista gets two quick strikeouts before a single by Bernard Gilkey and two straight walks to Jim Eisenreich and Carl Everett fill the bases. Only 1 run scores off the Rick Reed single due to greed and I'm still within striking distance.

The sixth inning starts with our offense still quietly plugging away. A Noodle Arm single starts things off followed by a ground out by Swing For the Fences to advance the runner to second. Brant Brown gets intentionally walked and Tony Batista makes them pay with a double play inning ender.

Doug Bochtler and his sparkling 54.05 ERA come in for the bottom of the sixth because in all honesty, things can't get much worse. He proceeds to get three straight outs on only 7 pitches, cementing this game as a bizarre mockery of whatever a normal game may be.

The 7th inning goes by with the offense doing nil and the Mets surprisingly go down in order as well. Since when did Doug Bochtler become the killer of all New York Mets bats? And we're still only down 4 runs!

Mark Grace and Brian McRae are both out on 9 pitches to start the eighth inning off. Noodle Arm ends things with a 5 pitch fly out and now it's up to calling on Terry Adams to keep things in check in the bottom half. Jim Eisenreich flies out but after 9 pitches, Carl Everett makes contact and slides into second with a double. Pinch hitter Matt Franco strikes out and Manny Alexander also K's on 6 pitches.

Top of the ninth down only 4 runs but our offense has been sputtering to the tune of 4 hits in comparison to New York's 11. Manny Alexander's 4th error of the year helps put Swing For the Fences on base to start things off and I can feel my heart speeding up at what could be with this offense. All hope gets crushed when Brant Brown proceeds to slug his way to an easy double play. As a mere formality, Tony Batista flies out to ensure another loss on the record sheet. I'm still confounded how we only lost 4-0.

CHC 0 NYM 4
WP: Rick Reed (1-2) 8.0 IP, 4 HA, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K
LP: Terry Mulholland (1-2) 3.2 IP, 8 HA, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 89 pitches

While that game sucked, Game Ball goes to Doug Bochtler who went 2 IP with 0 HA and dipped his ERA back down to a more manageable 13.50.

DawnBTVS · 03-10-2008, 09:04 AM

Kevin Tapani will be trying to lead our squad to its 2nd road win although our offense has been poor for the season with a .639 OPS and .283 OBP. Not exactly numbers that correlate to lots of runs scored.

Things start off with a fly out from Mark Grace while Brian McRae strikes out, further showing off a weakness with this team. We have 31 walks against 101 strikeouts and that's largely killing us during offensive opportunities as well. Tyler Houston flies out to end the first inning and I'm hoping that Tapani has something in the tank this afternoon.

First batter: Lance Johnson lines a shot past Grace to get on first. A wild pitch moves him to second but Edgardo Alfonzo flies out to center. Olerud advances the runner on a ground out and up steps Todd Hundley hitting a robust .300/.391/.450 at home. I choose to pitch around him and get the grounder back to Tapani for the third out.

In amazement, Sammy Sosa starts the second inning off with a 9 pitch single and the best part is that after being in an 0-2 hole, he showed patience and saw 3 straight balls outside. Strong at bat, Sammy. My brain almost stops processing as Brant Brown follows that up with another single, this off an 8 pitch at bat. Could it be? These guys are getting it? That's 17 pitches resulting in 2 singles. Now we have runners on first and second with Tony Batista up. He flies out to deep right center but Sosa advances to third. We plate the first run with a ground out by Dunston but he beats the throw to avoid the double play.

I'm particularly pleased as we worked Armando Reynoso over 40 pitches thanks to that second inning. Now that's what an efficient offense is supposed to do but then again we're the Cubs so supposed is completely forgotten by the time the game starts.

Trouble rears its head for Tapani thanks to a single by Jim Eisenreich and double by Tomberlin. Tapani smoothly gets out of the jam of two runners in scoring position with a strikeout and slow roller and it occurs to me that we've managed to keep a one run lead for longer than a half inning.

Nothing much happens in the top of the third for us but Tapani did reach base on a single so he has that going for him. The bottom of the third goes smoothly despite a 9 pitch walk to Edgardo Alfonzo because it was followed by a double play grounder from John Olerud. After last night's fiasco from Mulholland it's nice to see one of our starting pitchers giving us some solid innings although it's only been three and I'm probably jinxing the game now.

We again don't do anything but what pleases me is that after only 4 innings, Armando Reynoso is up to 71 pitches on the night. Bottom of the fourth Tapani does his thing, getting his second strikeout of the game in the process and I'm really wishing our offense would start coming around soon. Both teams have 3 hits but that one run isn't filling me with hope that we can sustain such a commanding lead.

The fifth inning sees both offenses continuing to sputter along and we enter the top of the sixth with Armando Reynoso at 81 pitches (68% for strikes which is great to see). Just to prove my point, Mark Grace starts things off with a walk, the first of the night for our team. Brian McRae grounds out bringing up Tyler Houston.

Armando Reynoso has been really getting worked on by the offense of the Chicago Cubs, even if he's only held them to three hits. Up in the box is Tyler Houston, hitting .294 on the year and .407 on the road in 27 at bats. It's a 2-1 count in favor of Houston. Mark Grace at second, taking a small lead. A fastball towards the outside of the plate and Houston makes contact! Eisenreich's charging hard, he's at the wall and leaps but it's a hair too late! The Cubs take a 3-0 lead thanks to Tyler Houston's first home run on the year.

Sammy Sosa and Brant Brown proceed to get outs to end the inning but do so with 14 pitches between them. Awesome job.

Kevin Tapani continues to get help from the defense and the sixth inning ends with him at 74 pitches while the Mets are calling on Yorkis Perez to start off the seventh. Shawon Dunston winds up at second off an error and with one out, Dave Hansen strikes out on 8 pitches. The .250 average of Kevin Tapani strikes fear in all and results in an RBI single, driving in the fourth run of the game for us. You know it's a good day when the starting pitcher is contributing to his own success at the plate too.

Trouble again appears in the latter half of the seventh with a base hit by Butch Huskey and Jim Eisenreich. Kevin Tapani buckles down and proceeds to strike out Tomberlin but the shutout is broken up thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Baerga. He comes to strike out Matt Franco and the inning's over before anymore damage can happen.

After a nothing top of the eighth, I call on Kent Bottenfield to bring us through into the ninth. Lance Johnson flies out and Edgardo Alfonzo pops out to Tony Batista. John Olerud works a walk and suddenly we gets runners on second and third thanks to an error off the bat of Todd Hundley. Thankfully the inning ends with Butch Huskey flying out and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

The only thing of note in our ninth is Kent Bottenfield scoring Shawon Dunston with an RBI single to push our lead to four runs.

Tim Worrell comes in to close things out. He walks Jim Eisenreich on 7 pitches and then muffs an easy grounder from Tomberlin to put runners on first and second with no outs. We get a force out at second and runners are now at the corners. Bernard Gilkey strikes out on a fastball at the knees and Lance Johnson takes 8 pitches and works a walk to load the bases. I call on Mel Rojas to get us one out and the victory with the tying run at the plate in Edgardo Alfonzo.

Four straight pitches and my bullpen's lost all sense of control. Another walk and one run scores, cutting the lead to 5-2. Up steps John Olerud hitting .171/.213/.286 on the year so I have some hope that he'll hit a weak fly ball. He promptly gets plunked in the back and my lead's suddenly down to only two runs. Guh!

Turk Wendell comes in to try and get the final out after Rojas couldn't even get one out and allowed two runs to score. It takes 5 pitches but Todd Hundley flies out harmlessly to center field to end the game.

CHC 5 NYM 3
WP: Kevin Tapani (2-0) 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K
LP: Armando Reynoso (2-1) 6.0 IP, 4 HA, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K
S: Turk Wendell (1) 0.1 IP, 0 HA, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Game Ball goes to Tyler Houston who helped break the game open with the two run home run and continues to be one of our more proficient hitters.

DawnBTVS · 03-12-2008, 05:24 PM

In an effort to avoid insanity, I've opted for a monthly approach so hide the pitchforks, please.

On 04/21 our bullpen suffers when we lose Terry Adams for 2 months thanks to a herniated disc. Up to that point he had thrown 7 IP with a 0.00 ERA and had 6 K vs. 2 BB. I opted to call up Kevin Foster who is 28 but had a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 IP at AAA (4 starts). What pushed him over the edge was that he had allowed 20 hits, only 1 HR, and had 24 K vs. 7 BB (3:1 ratio).

Because that isn't enough, we then lose him, Kevin Foster, for 2 months after he tears a back muscle. He had given us a 2.25 ERA in 4 IP with 4 K vs. 1 BB. I called on 27 year old Rodney Myers to take his place. At AAA he had a 5.06 ERA with 13 K vs. 9 BB in 10.2 IP but he'll be in the mop up role behind Doug Bochtler.

The month of April closed out with the following National League Central Standings
- Pittsburgh Pirates: 14-12
- Cincinnati Reds: 13-14
- Chicago Cubs: 11-15
- St. Louis Cardinals: 11-15
- Houston Astros: 10-16

Our Pyth shows us as being deserving of a 10-16 record.

Offensively, our team is beyond pathetic. We're currently dead last in almost every category in the NL except strikeouts (11th at 197). We're currently hitting 0.232/0.276/0.337/0.613 and when your SLG is what a decent OBP would be, you know you have issues.

Pitching wise we're a little better with a starter ERA of 3.91 and pen ERA of 4.35 but I'm not exactly doing a jig because we're 6th in BABIP with 0.283. For those unfamiliar, that means our staff is getting lucky with the balls in play and sooner or later that'll turn around.

Batters
- Swing For the Fences: 0.215/0.236/0.421 in 107 AB with 5 HR and 3 BB/27 K. Yes, Virginia... my star slugger has walked 1 time for every 9 strikeouts. At least Rob Deer walked from time to time.
- Mark Grace: 0.295/0.380/0.415 in 106 AB with 1 HR and 15 BB/10 K. Easily the star of the club through April and Sammy could take notes.
- Brian McRae: 0.198/0.241/0.327 in 101 AB with 3 HR and 5 BB/16 K. Another shining example of why this team realistically should be even worse than they are. 5 walks?
- Shawon Dunston: 0.260/0.276/0.350 in 100 AB with 1 HR and 2 BB/23 K. One would think with a decent enough BA that the OBP wouldn't be just 0.016 higher, no? I can already feel my blood pressure rising.
- Tyler Houston: 0.300/0.337/0.411 in 90 AB with 1 HR and 5 BB/15 K. Well, he doesn't walk much but he's making the most contact so his OBP isn't quite beside Satan's feet.
- Dave Hansen: 0.247/0.347/0.365 in 85 AB with 2 HR and 13 BB/22 K. Look at this guy, Dunston, and try... try to emulate him, please?
- Tony Batista: 0.155/0.194/0.241 in 58 AB with 1 HR and 3 BB/11 K. Seriously, is this for real? No, this isn't an OOTP 7 glitch? A guy can put up those numbers even at 23? Sadly, his OPS is still almost a mirror to Mr. Cub.
- Brant Brown: 0.255/0.305/0.327 in 55 AB with 1 HR and 4 BB/14 K. Well, at least he's been an improvement over Dave Clark but man this team sucks.

Pitching wise as pointed out earlier, we are a little better.
- CL Mel Rojas: 10.1 IP with 13 K/3 BB and a 0.87 ERA. Also has 5 saves.
- MR Kent Bottenfield: 15.1 IP with 9 K/3 BB and a 1.76 ERA.
- MR Miguel Batista: 15.0 IP with 12 K/13 BB and a 1.80 ERA.
- MR Bob Patterson: 12.2 IP with 11 K/2 BB and a 2.84 ERA.
- SP Rick Helling: 33.0 IP with 17 K/20 BB and a 3.55 ERA. He has a record of 1-2.
- MR Tim Worrell: 12.1 IP with 12 K/8 BB and a 3.65 ERA.
- SP Steve Traschel: 35.2 IP with 24 K/9 BB and a 4.04 ERA. He has a record of 1-3.
- SP Kevin Tapani: 29.2 IP with 15 K/6 BB and a 4.25 ERA. He has a record of 2-2.
- SP Terry Mulholland: 26.0 IP with 17 K/8 BB and a 6.92 ERA. He has a record of 1-2.

I put a claim on 28 year old CF Alex Diaz who's been stuck in AA for the Texas Rangers. In 103 AB he had 4 HR with 10 BB/14 K while hitting 0.311/0.388/0.515 so I'll see how he handles AAA.

Around the majors, the best record belongs to the Baltimore Orioles at 19-8 in the American League East.

AL Batter of the Month: Bernie Williams (NYY)
AL Pitcher of the Month: Andy Pettitte (NYY)
AL Rookie of the Month: Frank Catalanotto (DET)
NL Batter of the Month: Barry Bonds (SFG)
NL Pitcher of the Month: John Smoltz (ATL)
NL Rookie of the Month: Paul Konerko (LAD)

DawnBTVS · 03-12-2008, 11:33 PM

We're hitting May and I'm pleased to see that this has topped 300 views. Thanks

although replies would be sweet too, heh.

Some around the league notes: Allen Watson threw a no-hitter on May 26th against the Detroit Tigers. He had 7 strikeouts and 2 walks.

On that same day, Mark McGwire hit his 400th career home run against Kansas City in a 7-4 victory.

As for the Chicago Cubs, we continue to kinda be in the race as evidenced by the standings.

Cincinnati: 30-25
Pittsburgh: 27-27, 2.5 GB
Chicago: 25-29, 4.5 GB. Pyth of 22-32.
Houston: 25-29, 4.5 GB
St. Louis: 24-29, 5.0 GB

We did play better overall in May, going 14-14 on the month. Our team still sucks according to the statistics though. In some cases, we managed to move backwards in terms of where we placed team stat wise.

Mark Grace continues to be our best hitter by a mile, now sporting a .913 OPS with 37 BB/19 K in 208 AB.

Our best pitcher is surprisingly, Kent Bottenfield with a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 IP. He has 17 K/3 BB with 0 HRA and only 9 HA. Opponents are hitting a woeful 0.117.

On the farm, we have a rash of injuries including Miguel Cairo (7 weeks), Rey Sanchez (6 months), and Brooks Kieschnick (2 months).

Third baseman Kevin Orie is really tearing things up in AAA with a line of .290/.411/.542 in 131 AB. He has 7 HR but the more promising stat is his 26 BB/18 K.

Amaury Telemaco playing relief at AAA has also had a sterling start. In 24.2 IP he has a 1.90 ERA with opponents hitting .198. He has 0 HRA, 18 HA, and 22 K/8 BB.

For those curious, recent waiver wire pickup Alex Diaz is currently hitting .333/.381/.449 in 78 AB at AAA. He has 5 BB/5 K to his credit.

Since I'm never short of making moves for my squad, I spy Gene Kingsale on the waiver wire being dangled by Baltimore. He's all of 20 years old and while he'll earn $247K this year, I can't help but see his stat line in 213 AB at AAA: .338/.401/.606 with 13 HR and 21 BB/45 K.

Prorated to 500 AB that would be 31 HR and 49 BB/106 K. That at the age of 20 is very, very impressive so I quickly put in a claim. Unfortunately, the evil Texas Rangers beat my claim and get his services. Damn Texans.

AL Batter of the Month: Frank Thomas
AL Pitcher of the Month: Roger Clemens
AL Rookie of the Month: Ben Grieve
NL Batter of the Month: John Olerud
NL Pitcher of the Month: Dustin Hermanson
NL Rookie of the Month: Todd Helton

Andy · 03-13-2008, 08:41 AM

I've been reading. I like to read dynasties from the 90s, it brings back memories of players I had forgotten about. Keep it up.

DawnBTVS · 03-13-2008, 12:07 PM

Amend: Kevin Foster is out for 6 months (originally 8).

Our pitching injuries continue as we lose Kevin Tapani on June 9th to back spasms. He'll be out for two weeks and we miss our best starter (7-3, 2.79 ERA in 87.0 IP).

I call up 23 year old Amaury Telemaco currently with a 1.35 ERA in 26.2 IP as a reliever with 24 K vs. 8 BB. He'll let Miguel Batista slide into the rotation now.

When June 15th, arrives it's finally time for the MLB Draft. We have the 9th selection in the draft. All the players are created by the way. I'm a big believer in the Chad Bradford model of high ground ball rates with decent velocity (or in the case of my picks, moderately good).

With pick 9 in the 1st round, I select Fernando Pina, a 17 year old LH starter out of Wellington, Florida. He's only 5'9" and 180 lbs but he has a 5 pitch repertoire and can get his fastball up to 93 MPH. What really grabbed my attention was his 72% ground ball rate.

In the second round, I select another starting pitcher in Nate Dyer who's 19 years old but comes from Manhattan, NY. He's 6'1" and 190 lbs. who can also hit his fastball at 93 MPH and has a ground ball rate of 69%. He also hits lefty and throws righty, which is always cool to see.

Since I love pitchers and can never have enough, the third round sees yet another starter in 18 year old Cesar Franco selected by us. He's 5'10" and 205 lbs. but also has 5 pitches and can get his fastball up to only 87 MPH so he works deception to help with his 71% ground ball rate.

I finally take my first hitter in the 4th round, a 19 year old solid fielding LF named Jason Mullins with a 78 arm. What caught my attention was his speed (100 speed & 100 steal) along with his decent size at 6'3" and 195 lbs.

Fifth round comes and I take a slick fielding 21 year old Michael Wilcox who plays solid SS. He has great speed (90) and can pull the ball. What caught my eye was his 83 range as I'm trying to get good defenders and hope they can hit afterwards.

I take 20 year old reliever Jeremy Fish thanks to a 59% ground ball rate, 3 pitches, and can get his fastball up to 97 MPH which is exactly what a reliever needs.

I add another reliever, Jim Gibbons who's only 18 and only has 2 pitches but has a ground ball rate of 57% and can get his fastball up to 94. I'm hoping he'll improve with some time at Single A.

The final pitcher I nab in the 8th round, 18 year old Julius Mayer at 6'2" and 210 lbs. I'll convert him into a starter since he has a 6 pitch repertoire and a 62% ground ball rate. He can also hit 93 on the gun.

In the 9th round I select Erik Akers who's 20 but can field at 3B or SS equally well (83 and 82). He's another pull hitter with decent stealing ability but again, defense is the main issue in regards to this selection.

The final selection of the draft is spent on 19 year old RF Jonathan Myers who can play a mean RF (86) but has decent range only (68). He, like the others can swipe some bases with a 72 rating but he bats LH and can give us some depth at Double A for now.

We finally get some good news when on 06/20, Terry Adams is eligible to come off the DL. I opt to send down Turk Wendell and his 8.16 ERA in 28.2 IP to get some room.

My first contract extension of the season goes to Mel Rojas at $450K a year for 2 years. He currently has 15 S with a 3.25 ERA in 27.2 IP and 37 K vs. 6 BB.

I also notice Rick Helling is up for arbitration but he's only 26 years old. I offer him a 3 year deal at $590K per year to try and get him on the cheap. He currently has a 4-7 record but an ERA of 3.24 with 51 K vs. 50 BB in 91.2 IP.

The next day, Kevin Tapani is eligible to come off the DL but 34 year old Terry Mulholland refuses to get sent down to AAA. Giving that he has a 3-6 record with a 5.34 ERA, I decide to see if I can swing him on a trade. Unfortunately nobody wants him and he's making $300K on the year. I decide it's best to waive him and designate for assignment if nobody steps up to claim him.

On 6/26, we learn that both Mel Rojas and Rick Helling have agreed to the extensions. Between them, that's $1.04 Million for the next 2 years. Not bad for a pitcher entering his prime and a lights out closer.

At the end of the June, the Chicago Cubs are well in last place unfortunately, no thanks at all to our offense. We finished June with a poor 10-18 record.

National League Central Standings
Cincinnati: 48-34
Pittsburgh: 44-37
Houston: 43-39
St. Louis: 36-45
Chicago: 35-47

We only have two players with an OBP of .330 or higher in Mark Grace at .430 and Dave Hansen at .336. The star slugger of the team, Sammy Sosa is hitting a mind boggling .195/.222/.324 with 9 HR in 333 AB.

One of the few bright spots has been Tyler Houston hitting .287/.319/.423 with 25 doubles in 279 AB.

Pitching wise, without Turk Wendell and Terry Mulholland, our team ERA dips down to 3.25 which is quite amazing considering our team has a run differential of -60 on the year. We're actually 1st in BABIP (0.267) and 3rd in opponent BA (0.242).

The only drafted rookie that has been producing is Jason Mullins at AA where he's hitting .300/.327/.360 in 50 AB with 6 SB in 6 chances.

In deciding that my offense needs some spark, I call up Kevin Orie who's hitting .260/.389/.456 in 215 AB along with Robin Jennings hitting .315/.381/.462 in 279 AB. I demote Scott Servais and his backup line of .183/.194/.366 in 71 AB and put Dave Clark and his $2.05 Million salary on waivers to designate for assignment. He's hitting .211/.246/.275 and is currently backing up at LF.

DawnBTVS · 03-14-2008, 11:58 AM

On a side note: I created college & high school feeder leagues so I'm excited about that for future drafts.

On 07/04 we receive word that nobody wanted Terry Mulholland. Yeah, I'm just as shocked as you that no team wanted a 34 year old SP with a 5.34 ERA making over $2 Million.

I decide to bite the bullet and officially release him, taking on $140K in expenses.

The only Cubs player to make the All-Star team was Mark Grace but was deserving on the addition.

On 07/06 we get bad news as Tyler Houston is out for 3 weeks with a strained Achilles tendon. Scott Servais gets called back up to start in his place.

The 1997 All-Star Game goes to the American League (7-0). Mark Grace went 0-1 as a pinch hitter.

On 07/11, Dave Clark refuses to be sent down and will cost almost $3 Million in player expenses if I cut him. I decide to shop him around and actually get some interest from Minnesota who are offering me Paul Molitor but he's 40 years old. He's only making $347K and does have a .265/.302/.293 line at age 40 in 41 AB.

I decide to be a little greedy and try and get some more fruit. I spot 27 year old 1B Scott Stahoviak. Between AA and AAA he's hitting .346/.452/.561 in 315 AB with 21 doubles and 17 HR. He also has 55 BB vs. 49 K.

The trade goes through and I also improve my budget room by $640K. Here's hoping I've landed another Jack Cust to my squad.

I send Stahoviak (what a great name) to AAA and find out that option years can be a pain in the ass. I put Ryne Sandberg on waivers to designate for assignment in order to make room for Paul Molitor. It's okay 'cause Mr. Cub was only hitting .176/.200/.284 in 102 AB.

Nobody claims Sandberg and he'll cost $418K to release. Unfortunately nobody has any interest in the 37 year old so I again threaten to incur fan wrath by releasing him and taking the pill monetarily.

Injuries continue to pile up as Scott Servais goes out for 2 weeks on 07/23. Tyler won't be healthy for a week so I call up Mike Hubbard from AA where he was hitting .327/.383/.448 with 20 BB vs. 30 K in 223 AB. Before you jump out of your seats, he is 26 years old.

On 07/29 we get Noodle Arm back and thank Hubbard for his 19 AB .263/.333/.474 line before shipping him back to AAA. Of course he's out of option years so I put him on waivers and pray that nobody else snaps him up.

On the day of the trade deadline, I'm finally too fed up with Sammy Sosa so I decide to shop him around. I get a slew of offers and begin to peruse them.

I finally opt on 25 year old CF Jason McDonald who can play a decent enough RF as well (62). He only has 193 AB for Oakland but he's hitting .281/.343/.373 with 15 BB vs. 42 K. And he's making the minimum salary.

In comparison, Sosa is making $2.47 Million while being 3 years older and hitting .205/.234/.337 with 12 HR in 415 AB. He also has 15 BB vs. 110 K.

I also try and get them to throw in 29 year old reliever Billy Brewer who's stuck at AAA. He has a 3.94 ERA in 29.2 IP with 35 K vs. 14 BB and 4 HRA. Opponents are hitting only .221 off him.

The trade meets their approval and yet again, we save on budget room this time to the tune of $742K.

At the end of July, the National League Central Standings are as follows...
Cincinnati: 59-48
Houston: 59-49
Pittsburgh: 59-50
Chicago: 50-59
St. Louis: 45-63

We had our best month yet, going 15-12 and we're 28-24 at home on the year.

Kevin Orie in 63 AB has 2 HR and is hitting .302/.362/.476 with 5 BB vs. 10 K.

We only have 4 pitchers with an ERA of 3.77 runs or more and Kent Bottenfield is going nuts to the tune of a 1.10 ERA in 41.0 IP with 33 K vs. 13 BB.

Rodney Myers and Amaury Telemaco fresh off their call ups have combined for an ERA of 3.24 in 50 IP with 36 K vs. 23 BB.

In some minor league news...

Jonathan Myers is hitting .301/.318/.357 at AA in 143 AB with 12 SB in 16 chances. He also has only 3 BB vs. 26 K... not a good sight.

Ric915 · 03-14-2008, 04:24 PM

Great stuff so far, enjoying the read

DawnBTVS · 03-14-2008, 08:17 PM

Thanks for the comments.

I start off the month making a few contract extension offers. The first goes to Frank Castillo for 3 years at $835K per year to bring him through his age 30 season. He currently has a 3.26 ERA in 102 IP (8-7 record) with a somewhat pedestrian 5.38 K/9 but a more solid 3.26 BB/9.

With Mark Grace likely leaving and despite having Paul Molitor signed through next year, he could retire as well so I'm left to offer Scott Stahoviak an extension while he's only 27. It'll be a 2 year deal at $570K per season and he'll be hitting the bigs very shortly. He's continued hitting at AAA: Now at .286/.423/.635 in 63 AB.

My final extension goes to Kent Bottenfield who is arbitration eligible but a 2 year deal at $375K sounds workable and will probably be a lot cheaper than if he went through arbitration.

The next day, I get confirmation that Castillo and Stahoviak have agreed to their extensions. On 8/4, Bottenfield accepts his extension and I couldn't be more pleased.

We now have a good core of players signed at cheap prices during their prime years and hopefully we'll begin to do much better next year.

I'm relieved to see Mike Hubbard clear waivers and he's sent down to AAA along with the healthy Scott Servais on 8/8.

We manage to do even better in August, going 16-12 all without Sammy Sosa. The current NL Central standings look like this...

Houston: 77-59
Pittsburgh: 74-63
Cincinnati: 72-63
Chicago: 66-71 (Pyth = 65-72)
St. Louis: 61-75

Looking back at the trades...
In 112 AB with Oakland Sammy Sosa is hitting .313/.330/.598 with 8 HR but still only has 3 BB vs. 24 K.

In only 18 AB, Jason McDonald is hitting .167/.250/.167 but has 2 BB vs. 4 K. Billy Brewer has produced a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 IP at AAA for us and could get a shot at a bullpen spot next season.

In Minnesota Dave Clark has been stuck in AAA while Paul Molitor has been hitting .310/.355/.310 in 29 AB for us. Stahoviak has been talked about enough.

None of our draft picks are making much noise outside of Jonathan Myers hitting .308/.335/.372 in 172 AB at AA with 14 SB in 19 chances (74%) and Jason Mullins hitting .290/.328/.383 in 183 AB at AA with 19 SB in 22 chances (86%).

The following players can be expected to get some time thanks to September Call Ups...
CF Alex Diaz: The waiver wire grab has been hitting .291/.350/.398 with 25 doubles in 337 AB. He also has a 26 BB/31 K ratio.
LF Brooks Kieschnick: Hitting .261/.340/.502 with 12 HR in 207 AB and has 25 BB/39 K. That'd be 29 HR in 500 AB.
1B Scott Stahoviak: Hitting .304/.421/.545 in 224 AB combined at AAA with 11 HR and a ratio of 39 BB/45 K. That'd be 25 HR in 500 AB.

As an aside, my third basemen Dave Hansen and Kevin Orie have been really good offensively. They have combined for a line of .262/.353/.379 with 9 HR and 86 BB/120 K.

DawnBTVS · 03-14-2008, 09:10 PM

September starts off well until 9/6 when Brant Brown goes down with a fractured ankle and will be missing the next 7 months as a result. On the season he had been hitting .252/.300/.392 (.692 OPS) with 18 doubles and 13 HR in 452 AB. He only had 27 BB (5.97%) against 101 K (22.3%) but it will open up a spot for one of the newcomers at least.

I decide with the spot open to call up RF Pedro Valdes who's been hitting .256/.352/.399 (.751 OPS) in 476 AB at AAA. He has 45 doubles(!) and 67 BB vs. 81 K.

As the season officially draws closed, here are the final NL Central Standings. I have to admi

03-08-2008, 11:58 AM	#21 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Still stuck in the muddy waters of the NL East Game 9 on the year sees us yet again squaring off with the Atlanta Braves who are currently 6-3. We're sending Steve Traschel to the mound, looking for the fourth straight victory for our club. We find ourselves in trouble quickly with a solo home run from Ryan Klesko and a two run home run from Mark Lewis in the second inning. We're down 3-0 and Traschel is up to 46 pitches. Not a good sight to see as I really hate burning out my bullpen. Traschel has managed to calm down, giving us three straight innings without a run, however, our offense has been doing absolutely nothing despite getting two runners on at times. We only have three hits and one walk entering the fifth inning. Part of our scoring woes seems to be the ability for Greg Maddux to pick off our runners at second as he's done it twice now. We finally get on the board in the sixth inning thanks to a six pitch at bat resulting in a single by Brian McRae and an RBI double on a ball outside by Swing For the Fences. I call on the arm of Bob Patterson after Traschel gives up a single to start the seventh inning off. He comes up big with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to end the inning with the Cubs only down two runs. Mr. Cub starts things off with a double, which is pleasing to see although I'm not enamored that in the three pitches he saw, he missed on a ball up high and made contact with a ball well outside the strike zone. Dunston shows the others how an at-bat goes, seeing five pitches before sending a cracked shot into center to give us runners on first and third. Dave Hansen and Bob Patterson combine to work Greg Maddux for three lousy pitches and two fly outs. The inning ends with a fly out and I'm a little disappointed and annoyed at the lack of patience. I call on Terry Adams to start off the eighth inning to keep us in the contest. He does so with ease and we're up now, looking to strike late again. Dave Clark continues the ire of the night by flying out on a ball low and outside. Ugh. Two pitches. Brian McRae also strikes out but he has a great at bat, battling for eight pitches. Another fly out on two pitches and the inning is over again. I'm really not enjoying having to win games in the bottom of the ninth at home right now. Mr. Superstition comes in after Adams gets one out and runners on second and third. A strikeout and fly out end the threat and once again I have to depend on my offense to come through in the clutch. Noodle Arm, despite his struggles at the plate, sees five pitches and manages to work a walk out of the situation. A groundout advances Noodle Arm to second with Dunston now up. Shawon Dunston is up to the plate with one out and Tyler Houston on second. Mark Wohlers peers in with the count two one in favor of the hitter. Dunston swings at the curveball, sharply lined towards Jeff Blauser on a one hopper. He fields it and throws to first but it's past Fred McGriff! Tyler off on the pitch scores and Dunston slides into second base! The Cubs are now down 3-2 with a run to tie and two to win. In ten at bats, Dave Hansen is hitting .400/.455/.700 at home and I have my fingers crossed that the small sample size will hold true now. Two balls and an easy pop up and there are now two outs in the inning. I sigh and send in Scott Servais to pinch hit for Wendell. On the one one count he smacks a shot up the middle for a base hit! Runners on first and third, Dunston ninety feet away from tying this ballgame up at three with Mark Grace up to bat. A sharply rapped groundball finds its way to Jeff Blauser and the game is over with the throw to first. Well, that hopeful situation got snuffed quickly. Game over. CHC 2 ATL 3 WP: Greg Maddux (1-1) 8.0 IP, 9 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K LP: Steve Traschel (0-1) 6.0 IP, 9 HA, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K S: Mark Wohlers (2) 1.0 IP, 1 HA, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K The Game Ball goes to Ryne Sandberg who went a quiet 3-4 in the loss with a double.

03-09-2008, 10:08 AM	#22 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Shielding myself from the glare of the sun Well... lesson learned, this is why you save after every game played. My computer froze in the eighth inning of my game after this one so I lost the results of that one and this game. Unlike the previous "lost" game, this turns into a pitcher's duel from the get go between Kevin Tapani and Kevin Millwood as through five innings both teams have combined for only five hits and the Cubs account for one. In the seventh inning we plate the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly and Kevin Tapani manages to skate through the eighth inning allowing only four hits throughout the entire game. I call on Mel Rojas to close the door in the ninth. He comes in a man on fire striking out the first two batters and getting a fly out to centerfield to give us the thin 1-0 victory. CHC 1 ATL 0 WP: Kevin Tapani (1-0) 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K LP: Kevin Millwood 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K S: Mel Rojas (2) 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Game Ball goes to Kevin Tapani who gave us one of our finest pitching performances of the season with a game score of 75. Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-09-2008 at 10:41 AM.

03-09-2008, 11:03 AM	#23 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Saving the best for last like always at Wrigley Field We close out another series with Atlanta with Wily Ace taking the mound in front of 37,185 hardcore Cubs fans at Wrigley Field. We score first in the first inning with an RBI single by Noodle Arm to score Mark Grace from third base. This is a bit more encouraging to score early and get some men on base this time against John Smoltz. The game gets tied up in the fifth inning thanks to a bit of small ball by Atlanta as Danny Bautista manages to score after hitting a single, getting advanced on a sacrifice, moving to third on a fly ball, and scoring on a single. After seven strong innings, I call on Mr. Superstition to get us through the eighth inning and keep us in the game. He walks three straight batters and I'm forced to call on Bob Patterson since it seems that too much time was spent around Doug Bochtler. Oy... first pitch is a single and two runs score with a single following to load the bases yet again. Zero outs and my bullpen is literally imploding before my eyes. I call on Kent Bottenfield, newly healthy to salvage something. He comes up big with two strikeouts and a fly ball to centerfield, allowing us to only be down two runs when it could've been much worse. We do nothing in the bottom of the eighth but Bottenfield is money again in the top of the ninth, getting all three hitters out in order and it's up to the offense to score three runs to win this thing in the bottom of the ninth. Swing For the Fences starts things off with a single. Noodle Arm smacks a single but advances to second on the throw, giving us runners on second and third with Mr. Cub walking up to the plate. A groundout gets one out but also scores one run. I love this offense even with its cardiac ability. Cubs are down one run and Shawon Dunston steps up to the plate with Tyler Houston only ninety feet away. Jim Corsi peers in and heres the windup, the pitch and Dunston makes contact! It's heading for the warning track and caught easily by Chipper Jones but Tyler Houston scores, giving us a tied game and folks, we're heading into extra innings! Miguel Batista gets called upon in case he needs to go 2 innings. The tenth inning is skated through with ease and again it's up to the offense. I call on Brant Brown to pinch hit for Batista. My offense sputters with a groundout and two straight strike outs. I sigh and call on Terry Adams for the eleventh inning. He issues a walk but makes it through unscathed, thanks in part to a sacrifice bunt. Nothing doing for us and I'm annoyed that our offense continues to get shut down, even while getting a runner on to start things off. Terry Adams comes up big with a breezed through twelfth inning and I'm sighing with relief. Dave Hansen gets on off a walk and an error puts Hansen to second and Adams to first. Mark Grace stepping up to the plate with two runners on and two out. Brad Clontz comes in out of the bullpen sporting a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings of work. Grace finds himself down 0-1 as Clontz leans in. Here it comes, fastball inside, but Grace manages to pull his bat inside and it's heading towards the hole between Tony Graffanino and Ryan Klesko. It's through into right field! Hansen was off on the throw and he'll come around third to score! This game is over folks, all thanks to a seeing eye single by Mark Grace in the bottom of the twelfth inning! What a game! CHC 4 ATL 3 WP: Terry Adams (1-0) 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K LP: Mark Wohlers (0-1) 2.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Game Ball goes to Mark Grace for being a beast throughout the game. Not only did he plate the game winner but he also got on base four times with a walk and three hits.

03-09-2008, 07:40 PM	#25 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Another last inning attempt at heroics After seeing the line for Mr. Cub at .205/.225/.256 I've decided to switch in Tony Batista into the lineup. He's not only superior defensively but should have a better time at the plate as well. We continue our home stretch, this time hosting the Colorado Rockies and game 1 will see Rick Helling taking the mound. Nothing much happening in the first five innings although I'm noticing a not so pleasing pattering of the offense barely forcing Pat Hentgen to use more than 2-3 pitches per at bat in comparison to Rick Helling although the lack of control hasn't helped either. In the bottom of the fifth, Shawon Dunston breaks up the no hit bid as well as the shutout for both teams with a Solo Home Run to give us the one run lead. Turk Wendell gets called in after Helling allows runners to second and third with no out. A run scores off an Ellis Burk double but Wendell gets two strikeouts to keep the game tied. Turk gets us through the seventh inning and Swing For the Fences smacks a double to start things off in a promising manner. Noodle Arm gets intentionally walked and that brings up Tony Batista. He promptly laces a shot past Ellis Burks in centerfield, scoring a run and putting runners on second and third. We get the 2-1 lead heading into the eighth. I call on the arm of Mel Rojas, no longer caring about having a true shutdown closer when the bullpen can't even get to him more times than not. He immediately strikes out two before giving up the game tying solo home run to Ellis Burks. Typical of our team this season. That's all he allows though, inducing a fly out to leave it tied. I call Bob Patterson out for the ninth after we strand two runners in the bottom of the eighth. Pinch hitter Cecil Fielder lines a double but Chris Gomez flies out. They take the lead after a single underneath the glove of Shawon Dunston and yet again, this damn offense has to leave it to the bottom of the ninth inning to try and pull off the victory. Seriously, what the hell? Swing For the Fences strikes out and Noodle Arm follows that up with a groundout leaving it to the bat of Tony Batista. He works his second walk of the game, bringing Shawon Dunston to the plate. Unfortunately he grounds out and that's the game. CHC 2 COL 3 WP: Pat Hentgen (2-1) 8.0 IP, 5 HA, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K LP: Bob Patterson (0-1) 1.0 IP, 2 HA, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K S: Jerry Dipoto (4) 1.0 IP, 0 HA, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K The Game Ball goes to Turk Wendell who continues to be our most valuable reliever. He went 2 innings with 4 strikeouts and 0 hits. Tony Batista did get on base twice via walks and a hit so he gets honorable mention.

03-09-2008, 08:03 PM	#26 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Steve Traschel: Where Are You? In another move to foster some more runs, I've inserted Brant Brown into the starter's role in place of Dave Clark who's hit .208/.222/.283 in 53 AB with 1 BB vs. 14 K. Steve Traschel takes the mound for us in front of 30,267 fans. I'm hoping that the addition of Batista and Brown will improve our slugging if not our on base percentage too. Things start out promisingly enough as we get two men on, including Noodle Arm via walk allowing us to tag John Thomson for 14 pitches before Swing For the Fences comes up. He pops out after only 2 pitches and Brant Brown flies out to end the inning with the only noteworthy thing being that we worked Thomson to 20 pitches. After three innings, both teams are scoreless but Thomson is over 40 pitches while Steve Traschel has been holding his own thanks to some solid defense. Through five, Steve Traschel has a no hitter going but the perfect game got lost thanks to an error by Mark Grace. In the bottom of the fifth, Dave Hansen strikes with a Solo Home Run to give us the one run lead despite only three hits thus far. The no hitter was intact through 7.1 innings until Larry Walker broke it up with a single. We're still shutting out Colorado and in the bottom of the eighth, Swing For the Fences gives us some insurance with a Two Run Home Run to put us ahead 3-0. In the ninth, Steve Traschel calmly mows down the three hitters he faces and we win our 6th game of the year. CHC 3 COL 0 WP: Steve Traschel (1-1) 9.0 IP, 2 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K LP: John Thomson 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Like you really need to ask who gets the Game Ball?

03-09-2008, 10:14 PM	#27 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	What do you do with a 1-5 record on the road? After another off day (04/18), we're back on the road this time heading to play the New York Mets who are currently sporting a record of 3-11, somehow doing awful giving me hope that we can take the games with ease because that's been our way throughout the year. Largely ignoring the 0-5 start. The lone bright spot for our club is our 5th ranked 2.99 starter ERA and Wily Ace will be taking the mound for us this time. He's been wicked unlucky given his BABIP but he should begin to stabilize and I'm hoping that this start is the first of many good outings. The first inning leads us off as Mark Grace flies out to deep center, Brian McRae grounds out on 3 pitches, but hope isn't lost into the ether just yet because Noodle Arm rakes a double. Swing For the Fences is up hitting .500/.545/.800 with RISP so he lives up to the illusion with a smoking grounder but gets thrown out after lollygagging down to first base. Things start off ominously for Wily Ace... Manny Alexander: Double despite hitting .185 on the year. Edgardo Alfonzo: Strikes out on 6 pitches. John Olerud: Walks on 4 pitches. Todd Hundley: Watches Noodle Arm throw out the trailing runner on a double steal attempt and then grounds out on 5 pitches. Well, Wily Ace got lucky as hell there but it doesn't bode well for the evening that he had to expend so many pitches just to get a blank scoreboard. Rick Reed effortlessly shuts us down on only 11 pitches and Wily Ace continues to piss me off with his ill-advised pitching as he gives up a solo home run to Butch Huskey to start off the inning. You're supposed to be the wily old veteran with a growling meanness about him. Come on! My pep talk is a rallying war cry because he proceeds to allow a single off a 7 pitch at bat to Bernard Gilkey and a 5 pitch base hit to Jim Eisenrich. He finally gets a strike out but of course he can't do it the easy way (6 pitches) and I'm smoldering in my seat because I'm gonna get to rip through my bullpen again. By June, I'll have 6 dead arm injuries. Wily Ace is up to 43 pitches to end the inning despite a sacrifice hit scoring a run. To start the third, Dave Hansen swings at 4 pitches completely outside the strike zone and grounds out to prove that his judgement was fabulous. Wily Ace grounds out and I know this is a bad night when Mark Grace swings at two pitches outside the strike zone and flies out on a pitch high and inside. Oh, hell. The bottom of the third starts out promisingly, 3 pitches to get two outs but then Todd Hundley shatters the funhouse mirror with a solo home run, giving New York a 2 run lead now. The inning can't end with a 1 pitch at bat... no, he's way too crafty for that. His 87 MPH fastball lets Wily Ace waste 8 pitches before Butch Huskey flies out to end the inning. I manage to get my mind off the suck a little bit as Brian McRae walks to lead off the fourth and Noodle Arm flies out on only 2 pitches. God... why? Swing For the Fences does his job, popping out on 2 more pitches and Brant Brown mercifully ends this horrid display of patience by swinging at 4 pitches outside the strike zone, only taking 1 for the ball that it was. The Mets add another run after getting two base hits from Rick Reed (Really??) and Manny Alexander. This of course all occurs after two outs and Wily Ace is now up to 84 pitches. In all of 4 innings of work, thank you. He walks Edgardo Alfonzo to load the bases and I'm stuck having to call Miguel Batista in. He comes in to face John Olerud and gets a 1 pitch foul popup for the final out. How are we only down 3-0? I'm in utter amazement that they haven't completely ripped us apart but I still have faith that'll occur sometime later in the night. Tony Batista continues to supply mental anguish by getting a base hit, becoming greedy like he thinks he's the new Rickey Henderson, and getting thrown out at second for his troubles. Not surprisingly, Shawon Dunston gets a single and Dave Hansen gets his own single to mock the fact that we could have a run on the board right now but we don't. I actually sacrifice the runners over with Miguel Batista and there are two runners on with two out. Mark Grace channels the mastery of Bill James and walks after an insane 11 pitch at bat. Bases are now loaded and rockets are go! Go as in end the inning because McRae grounds out after taking hacks at three pitches low and outside the K zone. Groan As if my troubles couldn't get worse, Miguel Batista gets two quick strikeouts before a single by Bernard Gilkey and two straight walks to Jim Eisenreich and Carl Everett fill the bases. Only 1 run scores off the Rick Reed single due to greed and I'm still within striking distance. The sixth inning starts with our offense still quietly plugging away. A Noodle Arm single starts things off followed by a ground out by Swing For the Fences to advance the runner to second. Brant Brown gets intentionally walked and Tony Batista makes them pay with a double play inning ender. Doug Bochtler and his sparkling 54.05 ERA come in for the bottom of the sixth because in all honesty, things can't get much worse. He proceeds to get three straight outs on only 7 pitches, cementing this game as a bizarre mockery of whatever a normal game may be. The 7th inning goes by with the offense doing nil and the Mets surprisingly go down in order as well. Since when did Doug Bochtler become the killer of all New York Mets bats? And we're still only down 4 runs! Mark Grace and Brian McRae are both out on 9 pitches to start the eighth inning off. Noodle Arm ends things with a 5 pitch fly out and now it's up to calling on Terry Adams to keep things in check in the bottom half. Jim Eisenreich flies out but after 9 pitches, Carl Everett makes contact and slides into second with a double. Pinch hitter Matt Franco strikes out and Manny Alexander also K's on 6 pitches. Top of the ninth down only 4 runs but our offense has been sputtering to the tune of 4 hits in comparison to New York's 11. Manny Alexander's 4th error of the year helps put Swing For the Fences on base to start things off and I can feel my heart speeding up at what could be with this offense. All hope gets crushed when Brant Brown proceeds to slug his way to an easy double play. As a mere formality, Tony Batista flies out to ensure another loss on the record sheet. I'm still confounded how we only lost 4-0. CHC 0 NYM 4 WP: Rick Reed (1-2) 8.0 IP, 4 HA, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K LP: Terry Mulholland (1-2) 3.2 IP, 8 HA, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 89 pitches While that game sucked, Game Ball goes to Doug Bochtler who went 2 IP with 0 HA and dipped his ERA back down to a more manageable 13.50. Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-09-2008 at 10:21 PM.

03-10-2008, 09:04 AM	#28 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	I hear the Big Apple appears after a home run Kevin Tapani will be trying to lead our squad to its 2nd road win although our offense has been poor for the season with a .639 OPS and .283 OBP. Not exactly numbers that correlate to lots of runs scored. Things start off with a fly out from Mark Grace while Brian McRae strikes out, further showing off a weakness with this team. We have 31 walks against 101 strikeouts and that's largely killing us during offensive opportunities as well. Tyler Houston flies out to end the first inning and I'm hoping that Tapani has something in the tank this afternoon. First batter: Lance Johnson lines a shot past Grace to get on first. A wild pitch moves him to second but Edgardo Alfonzo flies out to center. Olerud advances the runner on a ground out and up steps Todd Hundley hitting a robust .300/.391/.450 at home. I choose to pitch around him and get the grounder back to Tapani for the third out. In amazement, Sammy Sosa starts the second inning off with a 9 pitch single and the best part is that after being in an 0-2 hole, he showed patience and saw 3 straight balls outside. Strong at bat, Sammy. My brain almost stops processing as Brant Brown follows that up with another single, this off an 8 pitch at bat. Could it be? These guys are getting it? That's 17 pitches resulting in 2 singles. Now we have runners on first and second with Tony Batista up. He flies out to deep right center but Sosa advances to third. We plate the first run with a ground out by Dunston but he beats the throw to avoid the double play. I'm particularly pleased as we worked Armando Reynoso over 40 pitches thanks to that second inning. Now that's what an efficient offense is supposed to do but then again we're the Cubs so supposed is completely forgotten by the time the game starts. Trouble rears its head for Tapani thanks to a single by Jim Eisenreich and double by Tomberlin. Tapani smoothly gets out of the jam of two runners in scoring position with a strikeout and slow roller and it occurs to me that we've managed to keep a one run lead for longer than a half inning. Nothing much happens in the top of the third for us but Tapani did reach base on a single so he has that going for him. The bottom of the third goes smoothly despite a 9 pitch walk to Edgardo Alfonzo because it was followed by a double play grounder from John Olerud. After last night's fiasco from Mulholland it's nice to see one of our starting pitchers giving us some solid innings although it's only been three and I'm probably jinxing the game now. We again don't do anything but what pleases me is that after only 4 innings, Armando Reynoso is up to 71 pitches on the night. Bottom of the fourth Tapani does his thing, getting his second strikeout of the game in the process and I'm really wishing our offense would start coming around soon. Both teams have 3 hits but that one run isn't filling me with hope that we can sustain such a commanding lead. The fifth inning sees both offenses continuing to sputter along and we enter the top of the sixth with Armando Reynoso at 81 pitches (68% for strikes which is great to see). Just to prove my point, Mark Grace starts things off with a walk, the first of the night for our team. Brian McRae grounds out bringing up Tyler Houston. Armando Reynoso has been really getting worked on by the offense of the Chicago Cubs, even if he's only held them to three hits. Up in the box is Tyler Houston, hitting .294 on the year and .407 on the road in 27 at bats. It's a 2-1 count in favor of Houston. Mark Grace at second, taking a small lead. A fastball towards the outside of the plate and Houston makes contact! Eisenreich's charging hard, he's at the wall and leaps but it's a hair too late! The Cubs take a 3-0 lead thanks to Tyler Houston's first home run on the year. Sammy Sosa and Brant Brown proceed to get outs to end the inning but do so with 14 pitches between them. Awesome job. Kevin Tapani continues to get help from the defense and the sixth inning ends with him at 74 pitches while the Mets are calling on Yorkis Perez to start off the seventh. Shawon Dunston winds up at second off an error and with one out, Dave Hansen strikes out on 8 pitches. The .250 average of Kevin Tapani strikes fear in all and results in an RBI single, driving in the fourth run of the game for us. You know it's a good day when the starting pitcher is contributing to his own success at the plate too. Trouble again appears in the latter half of the seventh with a base hit by Butch Huskey and Jim Eisenreich. Kevin Tapani buckles down and proceeds to strike out Tomberlin but the shutout is broken up thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Baerga. He comes to strike out Matt Franco and the inning's over before anymore damage can happen. After a nothing top of the eighth, I call on Kent Bottenfield to bring us through into the ninth. Lance Johnson flies out and Edgardo Alfonzo pops out to Tony Batista. John Olerud works a walk and suddenly we gets runners on second and third thanks to an error off the bat of Todd Hundley. Thankfully the inning ends with Butch Huskey flying out and I can breathe a sigh of relief. The only thing of note in our ninth is Kent Bottenfield scoring Shawon Dunston with an RBI single to push our lead to four runs. Tim Worrell comes in to close things out. He walks Jim Eisenreich on 7 pitches and then muffs an easy grounder from Tomberlin to put runners on first and second with no outs. We get a force out at second and runners are now at the corners. Bernard Gilkey strikes out on a fastball at the knees and Lance Johnson takes 8 pitches and works a walk to load the bases. I call on Mel Rojas to get us one out and the victory with the tying run at the plate in Edgardo Alfonzo. Four straight pitches and my bullpen's lost all sense of control. Another walk and one run scores, cutting the lead to 5-2. Up steps John Olerud hitting .171/.213/.286 on the year so I have some hope that he'll hit a weak fly ball. He promptly gets plunked in the back and my lead's suddenly down to only two runs. Guh! Turk Wendell comes in to try and get the final out after Rojas couldn't even get one out and allowed two runs to score. It takes 5 pitches but Todd Hundley flies out harmlessly to center field to end the game. CHC 5 NYM 3 WP: Kevin Tapani (2-0) 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K LP: Armando Reynoso (2-1) 6.0 IP, 4 HA, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K S: Turk Wendell (1) 0.1 IP, 0 HA, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Game Ball goes to Tyler Houston who helped break the game open with the two run home run and continues to be one of our more proficient hitters. Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-10-2008 at 09:07 AM.

03-12-2008, 05:24 PM	#29 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Closing out April (Not O'Neil) In an effort to avoid insanity, I've opted for a monthly approach so hide the pitchforks, please. On 04/21 our bullpen suffers when we lose Terry Adams for 2 months thanks to a herniated disc. Up to that point he had thrown 7 IP with a 0.00 ERA and had 6 K vs. 2 BB. I opted to call up Kevin Foster who is 28 but had a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 IP at AAA (4 starts). What pushed him over the edge was that he had allowed 20 hits, only 1 HR, and had 24 K vs. 7 BB (3:1 ratio). Because that isn't enough, we then lose him, Kevin Foster, for 2 months after he tears a back muscle. He had given us a 2.25 ERA in 4 IP with 4 K vs. 1 BB. I called on 27 year old Rodney Myers to take his place. At AAA he had a 5.06 ERA with 13 K vs. 9 BB in 10.2 IP but he'll be in the mop up role behind Doug Bochtler. The month of April closed out with the following National League Central Standings - Pittsburgh Pirates: 14-12 - Cincinnati Reds: 13-14 - Chicago Cubs: 11-15 - St. Louis Cardinals: 11-15 - Houston Astros: 10-16 Our Pyth shows us as being deserving of a 10-16 record. Offensively, our team is beyond pathetic. We're currently dead last in almost every category in the NL except strikeouts (11th at 197). We're currently hitting 0.232/0.276/0.337/0.613 and when your SLG is what a decent OBP would be, you know you have issues. Pitching wise we're a little better with a starter ERA of 3.91 and pen ERA of 4.35 but I'm not exactly doing a jig because we're 6th in BABIP with 0.283. For those unfamiliar, that means our staff is getting lucky with the balls in play and sooner or later that'll turn around. Batters - Swing For the Fences: 0.215/0.236/0.421 in 107 AB with 5 HR and 3 BB/27 K. Yes, Virginia... my star slugger has walked 1 time for every 9 strikeouts. At least Rob Deer walked from time to time. - Mark Grace: 0.295/0.380/0.415 in 106 AB with 1 HR and 15 BB/10 K. Easily the star of the club through April and Sammy could take notes. - Brian McRae: 0.198/0.241/0.327 in 101 AB with 3 HR and 5 BB/16 K. Another shining example of why this team realistically should be even worse than they are. 5 walks? - Shawon Dunston: 0.260/0.276/0.350 in 100 AB with 1 HR and 2 BB/23 K. One would think with a decent enough BA that the OBP wouldn't be just 0.016 higher, no? I can already feel my blood pressure rising. - Tyler Houston: 0.300/0.337/0.411 in 90 AB with 1 HR and 5 BB/15 K. Well, he doesn't walk much but he's making the most contact so his OBP isn't quite beside Satan's feet. - Dave Hansen: 0.247/0.347/0.365 in 85 AB with 2 HR and 13 BB/22 K. Look at this guy, Dunston, and try... try to emulate him, please? - Tony Batista: 0.155/0.194/0.241 in 58 AB with 1 HR and 3 BB/11 K. Seriously, is this for real? No, this isn't an OOTP 7 glitch? A guy can put up those numbers even at 23? Sadly, his OPS is still almost a mirror to Mr. Cub. - Brant Brown: 0.255/0.305/0.327 in 55 AB with 1 HR and 4 BB/14 K. Well, at least he's been an improvement over Dave Clark but man this team sucks. Pitching wise as pointed out earlier, we are a little better. - CL Mel Rojas: 10.1 IP with 13 K/3 BB and a 0.87 ERA. Also has 5 saves. - MR Kent Bottenfield: 15.1 IP with 9 K/3 BB and a 1.76 ERA. - MR Miguel Batista: 15.0 IP with 12 K/13 BB and a 1.80 ERA. - MR Bob Patterson: 12.2 IP with 11 K/2 BB and a 2.84 ERA. - SP Rick Helling: 33.0 IP with 17 K/20 BB and a 3.55 ERA. He has a record of 1-2. - MR Tim Worrell: 12.1 IP with 12 K/8 BB and a 3.65 ERA. - SP Steve Traschel: 35.2 IP with 24 K/9 BB and a 4.04 ERA. He has a record of 1-3. - SP Kevin Tapani: 29.2 IP with 15 K/6 BB and a 4.25 ERA. He has a record of 2-2. - SP Terry Mulholland: 26.0 IP with 17 K/8 BB and a 6.92 ERA. He has a record of 1-2. I put a claim on 28 year old CF Alex Diaz who's been stuck in AA for the Texas Rangers. In 103 AB he had 4 HR with 10 BB/14 K while hitting 0.311/0.388/0.515 so I'll see how he handles AAA. Around the majors, the best record belongs to the Baltimore Orioles at 19-8 in the American League East. AL Batter of the Month: Bernie Williams (NYY) AL Pitcher of the Month: Andy Pettitte (NYY) AL Rookie of the Month: Frank Catalanotto (DET) NL Batter of the Month: Barry Bonds (SFG) NL Pitcher of the Month: John Smoltz (ATL) NL Rookie of the Month: Paul Konerko (LAD) Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-12-2008 at 05:26 PM.

03-12-2008, 11:33 PM	#30 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Skating through May at .500 We're hitting May and I'm pleased to see that this has topped 300 views. Thanks although replies would be sweet too, heh. Some around the league notes: Allen Watson threw a no-hitter on May 26th against the Detroit Tigers. He had 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. On that same day, Mark McGwire hit his 400th career home run against Kansas City in a 7-4 victory. As for the Chicago Cubs, we continue to kinda be in the race as evidenced by the standings. Cincinnati: 30-25 Pittsburgh: 27-27, 2.5 GB Chicago: 25-29, 4.5 GB. Pyth of 22-32. Houston: 25-29, 4.5 GB St. Louis: 24-29, 5.0 GB We did play better overall in May, going 14-14 on the month. Our team still sucks according to the statistics though. In some cases, we managed to move backwards in terms of where we placed team stat wise. Mark Grace continues to be our best hitter by a mile, now sporting a .913 OPS with 37 BB/19 K in 208 AB. Our best pitcher is surprisingly, Kent Bottenfield with a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 IP. He has 17 K/3 BB with 0 HRA and only 9 HA. Opponents are hitting a woeful 0.117. On the farm, we have a rash of injuries including Miguel Cairo (7 weeks), Rey Sanchez (6 months), and Brooks Kieschnick (2 months). Third baseman Kevin Orie is really tearing things up in AAA with a line of .290/.411/.542 in 131 AB. He has 7 HR but the more promising stat is his 26 BB/18 K. Amaury Telemaco playing relief at AAA has also had a sterling start. In 24.2 IP he has a 1.90 ERA with opponents hitting .198. He has 0 HRA, 18 HA, and 22 K/8 BB. For those curious, recent waiver wire pickup Alex Diaz is currently hitting .333/.381/.449 in 78 AB at AAA. He has 5 BB/5 K to his credit. Since I'm never short of making moves for my squad, I spy Gene Kingsale on the waiver wire being dangled by Baltimore. He's all of 20 years old and while he'll earn $247K this year, I can't help but see his stat line in 213 AB at AAA: .338/.401/.606 with 13 HR and 21 BB/45 K. Prorated to 500 AB that would be 31 HR and 49 BB/106 K. That at the age of 20 is very, very impressive so I quickly put in a claim. Unfortunately, the evil Texas Rangers beat my claim and get his services. Damn Texans. AL Batter of the Month: Frank Thomas AL Pitcher of the Month: Roger Clemens AL Rookie of the Month: Ben Grieve NL Batter of the Month: John Olerud NL Pitcher of the Month: Dustin Hermanson NL Rookie of the Month: Todd Helton Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-12-2008 at 11:35 PM.

03-13-2008, 08:41 AM	#31 (permalink)
Andy All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 1,497	I've been reading. I like to read dynasties from the 90s, it brings back memories of players I had forgotten about. Keep it up. __________________ My Myspace My CD Collection

03-13-2008, 12:07 PM	#32 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	While, this certainly isn't a June Jones kinda team... Amend: Kevin Foster is out for 6 months (originally 8). Our pitching injuries continue as we lose Kevin Tapani on June 9th to back spasms. He'll be out for two weeks and we miss our best starter (7-3, 2.79 ERA in 87.0 IP). I call up 23 year old Amaury Telemaco currently with a 1.35 ERA in 26.2 IP as a reliever with 24 K vs. 8 BB. He'll let Miguel Batista slide into the rotation now. When June 15th, arrives it's finally time for the MLB Draft. We have the 9th selection in the draft. All the players are created by the way. I'm a big believer in the Chad Bradford model of high ground ball rates with decent velocity (or in the case of my picks, moderately good). With pick 9 in the 1st round, I select Fernando Pina, a 17 year old LH starter out of Wellington, Florida. He's only 5'9" and 180 lbs but he has a 5 pitch repertoire and can get his fastball up to 93 MPH. What really grabbed my attention was his 72% ground ball rate. In the second round, I select another starting pitcher in Nate Dyer who's 19 years old but comes from Manhattan, NY. He's 6'1" and 190 lbs. who can also hit his fastball at 93 MPH and has a ground ball rate of 69%. He also hits lefty and throws righty, which is always cool to see. Since I love pitchers and can never have enough, the third round sees yet another starter in 18 year old Cesar Franco selected by us. He's 5'10" and 205 lbs. but also has 5 pitches and can get his fastball up to only 87 MPH so he works deception to help with his 71% ground ball rate. I finally take my first hitter in the 4th round, a 19 year old solid fielding LF named Jason Mullins with a 78 arm. What caught my attention was his speed (100 speed & 100 steal) along with his decent size at 6'3" and 195 lbs. Fifth round comes and I take a slick fielding 21 year old Michael Wilcox who plays solid SS. He has great speed (90) and can pull the ball. What caught my eye was his 83 range as I'm trying to get good defenders and hope they can hit afterwards. I take 20 year old reliever Jeremy Fish thanks to a 59% ground ball rate, 3 pitches, and can get his fastball up to 97 MPH which is exactly what a reliever needs. I add another reliever, Jim Gibbons who's only 18 and only has 2 pitches but has a ground ball rate of 57% and can get his fastball up to 94. I'm hoping he'll improve with some time at Single A. The final pitcher I nab in the 8th round, 18 year old Julius Mayer at 6'2" and 210 lbs. I'll convert him into a starter since he has a 6 pitch repertoire and a 62% ground ball rate. He can also hit 93 on the gun. In the 9th round I select Erik Akers who's 20 but can field at 3B or SS equally well (83 and 82). He's another pull hitter with decent stealing ability but again, defense is the main issue in regards to this selection. The final selection of the draft is spent on 19 year old RF Jonathan Myers who can play a mean RF (86) but has decent range only (68). He, like the others can swipe some bases with a 72 rating but he bats LH and can give us some depth at Double A for now. We finally get some good news when on 06/20, Terry Adams is eligible to come off the DL. I opt to send down Turk Wendell and his 8.16 ERA in 28.2 IP to get some room. My first contract extension of the season goes to Mel Rojas at $450K a year for 2 years. He currently has 15 S with a 3.25 ERA in 27.2 IP and 37 K vs. 6 BB. I also notice Rick Helling is up for arbitration but he's only 26 years old. I offer him a 3 year deal at $590K per year to try and get him on the cheap. He currently has a 4-7 record but an ERA of 3.24 with 51 K vs. 50 BB in 91.2 IP. The next day, Kevin Tapani is eligible to come off the DL but 34 year old Terry Mulholland refuses to get sent down to AAA. Giving that he has a 3-6 record with a 5.34 ERA, I decide to see if I can swing him on a trade. Unfortunately nobody wants him and he's making $300K on the year. I decide it's best to waive him and designate for assignment if nobody steps up to claim him. On 6/26, we learn that both Mel Rojas and Rick Helling have agreed to the extensions. Between them, that's $1.04 Million for the next 2 years. Not bad for a pitcher entering his prime and a lights out closer. At the end of the June, the Chicago Cubs are well in last place unfortunately, no thanks at all to our offense. We finished June with a poor 10-18 record. National League Central Standings Cincinnati: 48-34 Pittsburgh: 44-37 Houston: 43-39 St. Louis: 36-45 Chicago: 35-47 We only have two players with an OBP of .330 or higher in Mark Grace at .430 and Dave Hansen at .336. The star slugger of the team, Sammy Sosa is hitting a mind boggling .195/.222/.324 with 9 HR in 333 AB. One of the few bright spots has been Tyler Houston hitting .287/.319/.423 with 25 doubles in 279 AB. Pitching wise, without Turk Wendell and Terry Mulholland, our team ERA dips down to 3.25 which is quite amazing considering our team has a run differential of -60 on the year. We're actually 1st in BABIP (0.267) and 3rd in opponent BA (0.242). The only drafted rookie that has been producing is Jason Mullins at AA where he's hitting .300/.327/.360 in 50 AB with 6 SB in 6 chances. In deciding that my offense needs some spark, I call up Kevin Orie who's hitting .260/.389/.456 in 215 AB along with Robin Jennings hitting .315/.381/.462 in 279 AB. I demote Scott Servais and his backup line of .183/.194/.366 in 71 AB and put Dave Clark and his $2.05 Million salary on waivers to designate for assignment. He's hitting .211/.246/.275 and is currently backing up at LF.

03-14-2008, 11:58 AM	#33 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	July seems so swell, with birds a'singing and no bell On a side note: I created college & high school feeder leagues so I'm excited about that for future drafts. On 07/04 we receive word that nobody wanted Terry Mulholland. Yeah, I'm just as shocked as you that no team wanted a 34 year old SP with a 5.34 ERA making over $2 Million. I decide to bite the bullet and officially release him, taking on $140K in expenses. The only Cubs player to make the All-Star team was Mark Grace but was deserving on the addition. On 07/06 we get bad news as Tyler Houston is out for 3 weeks with a strained Achilles tendon. Scott Servais gets called back up to start in his place. The 1997 All-Star Game goes to the American League (7-0). Mark Grace went 0-1 as a pinch hitter. On 07/11, Dave Clark refuses to be sent down and will cost almost $3 Million in player expenses if I cut him. I decide to shop him around and actually get some interest from Minnesota who are offering me Paul Molitor but he's 40 years old. He's only making $347K and does have a .265/.302/.293 line at age 40 in 41 AB. I decide to be a little greedy and try and get some more fruit. I spot 27 year old 1B Scott Stahoviak. Between AA and AAA he's hitting .346/.452/.561 in 315 AB with 21 doubles and 17 HR. He also has 55 BB vs. 49 K. The trade goes through and I also improve my budget room by $640K. Here's hoping I've landed another Jack Cust to my squad. I send Stahoviak (what a great name) to AAA and find out that option years can be a pain in the ass. I put Ryne Sandberg on waivers to designate for assignment in order to make room for Paul Molitor. It's okay 'cause Mr. Cub was only hitting .176/.200/.284 in 102 AB. Nobody claims Sandberg and he'll cost $418K to release. Unfortunately nobody has any interest in the 37 year old so I again threaten to incur fan wrath by releasing him and taking the pill monetarily. Injuries continue to pile up as Scott Servais goes out for 2 weeks on 07/23. Tyler won't be healthy for a week so I call up Mike Hubbard from AA where he was hitting .327/.383/.448 with 20 BB vs. 30 K in 223 AB. Before you jump out of your seats, he is 26 years old. On 07/29 we get Noodle Arm back and thank Hubbard for his 19 AB .263/.333/.474 line before shipping him back to AAA. Of course he's out of option years so I put him on waivers and pray that nobody else snaps him up. On the day of the trade deadline, I'm finally too fed up with Sammy Sosa so I decide to shop him around. I get a slew of offers and begin to peruse them. I finally opt on 25 year old CF Jason McDonald who can play a decent enough RF as well (62). He only has 193 AB for Oakland but he's hitting .281/.343/.373 with 15 BB vs. 42 K. And he's making the minimum salary. In comparison, Sosa is making $2.47 Million while being 3 years older and hitting .205/.234/.337 with 12 HR in 415 AB. He also has 15 BB vs. 110 K. I also try and get them to throw in 29 year old reliever Billy Brewer who's stuck at AAA. He has a 3.94 ERA in 29.2 IP with 35 K vs. 14 BB and 4 HRA. Opponents are hitting only .221 off him. The trade meets their approval and yet again, we save on budget room this time to the tune of $742K. At the end of July, the National League Central Standings are as follows... Cincinnati: 59-48 Houston: 59-49 Pittsburgh: 59-50 Chicago: 50-59 St. Louis: 45-63 We had our best month yet, going 15-12 and we're 28-24 at home on the year. Kevin Orie in 63 AB has 2 HR and is hitting .302/.362/.476 with 5 BB vs. 10 K. We only have 4 pitchers with an ERA of 3.77 runs or more and Kent Bottenfield is going nuts to the tune of a 1.10 ERA in 41.0 IP with 33 K vs. 13 BB. Rodney Myers and Amaury Telemaco fresh off their call ups have combined for an ERA of 3.24 in 50 IP with 36 K vs. 23 BB. In some minor league news... Jonathan Myers is hitting .301/.318/.357 at AA in 143 AB with 12 SB in 16 chances. He also has only 3 BB vs. 26 K... not a good sight.

03-14-2008, 04:24 PM	#34 (permalink)
Ric915 All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Prescott, Arizona Posts: 649	Great stuff so far, enjoying the read

03-14-2008, 08:17 PM	#35 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	Boys of Summer riding the heat Thanks for the comments. I start off the month making a few contract extension offers. The first goes to Frank Castillo for 3 years at $835K per year to bring him through his age 30 season. He currently has a 3.26 ERA in 102 IP (8-7 record) with a somewhat pedestrian 5.38 K/9 but a more solid 3.26 BB/9. With Mark Grace likely leaving and despite having Paul Molitor signed through next year, he could retire as well so I'm left to offer Scott Stahoviak an extension while he's only 27. It'll be a 2 year deal at $570K per season and he'll be hitting the bigs very shortly. He's continued hitting at AAA: Now at .286/.423/.635 in 63 AB. My final extension goes to Kent Bottenfield who is arbitration eligible but a 2 year deal at $375K sounds workable and will probably be a lot cheaper than if he went through arbitration. The next day, I get confirmation that Castillo and Stahoviak have agreed to their extensions. On 8/4, Bottenfield accepts his extension and I couldn't be more pleased. We now have a good core of players signed at cheap prices during their prime years and hopefully we'll begin to do much better next year. I'm relieved to see Mike Hubbard clear waivers and he's sent down to AAA along with the healthy Scott Servais on 8/8. We manage to do even better in August, going 16-12 all without Sammy Sosa. The current NL Central standings look like this... Houston: 77-59 Pittsburgh: 74-63 Cincinnati: 72-63 Chicago: 66-71 (Pyth = 65-72) St. Louis: 61-75 Looking back at the trades... In 112 AB with Oakland Sammy Sosa is hitting .313/.330/.598 with 8 HR but still only has 3 BB vs. 24 K. In only 18 AB, Jason McDonald is hitting .167/.250/.167 but has 2 BB vs. 4 K. Billy Brewer has produced a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 IP at AAA for us and could get a shot at a bullpen spot next season. In Minnesota Dave Clark has been stuck in AAA while Paul Molitor has been hitting .310/.355/.310 in 29 AB for us. Stahoviak has been talked about enough. None of our draft picks are making much noise outside of Jonathan Myers hitting .308/.335/.372 in 172 AB at AA with 14 SB in 19 chances (74%) and Jason Mullins hitting .290/.328/.383 in 183 AB at AA with 19 SB in 22 chances (86%). The following players can be expected to get some time thanks to September Call Ups... CF Alex Diaz: The waiver wire grab has been hitting .291/.350/.398 with 25 doubles in 337 AB. He also has a 26 BB/31 K ratio. LF Brooks Kieschnick: Hitting .261/.340/.502 with 12 HR in 207 AB and has 25 BB/39 K. That'd be 29 HR in 500 AB. 1B Scott Stahoviak: Hitting .304/.421/.545 in 224 AB combined at AAA with 11 HR and a ratio of 39 BB/45 K. That'd be 25 HR in 500 AB. As an aside, my third basemen Dave Hansen and Kevin Orie have been really good offensively. They have combined for a line of .262/.353/.379 with 9 HR and 86 BB/120 K.