The Doug Henderson Chronicle

[Juxapose]

Since I have found these forms last month I have been inspired by some dynasty reports to create one myself and see where it goes with some controls but with some things left up to the computer.

First things to lay out are how the results will be obtained:
1) The league was generated using the game and though inaugural draft was selected I simmed the entire draft as I hate the inaugural draft. (But I love the Entry Draft..go figure)
2) I selected Cleveland as the starting team before rosters were generated
3) I actually will play all games individually as I feel that this is a better way to see how the players are playing and aids me in creating a personality for them. I do not know if this will be a bonus for the club or a detriment as I am new to OOTP. If it does appear to swing the game to far one way (losses or wins I will switch to simming the games and merely watch as the results go)
4) I have the game set to "Can't Fire" as I intend to play out 3 seasons as Manager without interruption (as it fits my storyline) but if the team fails miserably I will allow myself to be fired as it would only be appropriate.
5) Financials are on but that may change as the game has only alotted me 10 mil for a budget for staff and players and that may be unrealistic in any sense.

Now to style... after purusing the dynasty reports I have decided that the ones that I most enjoy are the ones that develop it as a story and not just a mash of stats. Though the thing that I enjoy most about pro baseball is the stats I do not really enjoy reading some one elses stat set from a fictional baseball world. I do enjoy reading a good story with baseball as the back drop that intorduces characters that you can either like or hate.

The most influential dynasty I read was the Mark Jazzington story and it is with that in mind that I will attempt to create this story but from a more seasoned approach (in regards that I have long passed the drinking stage and I think Mark should be dead from alcohol poisioning.)

Schedule I will post a new chapter each week on Wednesday unless I post otherwise indicating that I will have alternate posting schedule (more, delay or break) The idea behind the 1 chapter a week is that it should provide me with ample time to write one as it takes about an hour to write and it will allow me to create a stockpile for when I won't have time. I am married and have 2 small children and have all those responsibilities that go along with it and life does seem to happen.

First chapter coming up in mere minutes.

[Juxapose]

One might ask how a 28 year old from the Maritimes region of Canada becomes the General Manager for a big league club and that would not only be a valid question but be a question that does not have an easy answer.

Personally it’s a feat that I wish that I did not achieve but am stuck with the cards that were dealt to me. My baseball career comes to notice while I am playing college ball at Wake Forest. Though I wasn’t much of a power hitter I do hold the school’s career batting average and SB records, to compliment that I was also a top defensive player through out my college career. When it came time for the draft I was ecstatic to learn that the Toronto Sea Gulls had selected me with the 3rd overall pick.

My pro career began much like my college career had ended; on top. I played in the Sea Gulls’ minor system for almost 2 years before getting the call to go up to the big club as a September call-up to help with the playoff push. The game went extremely well, I hit 3 for 4 and had 2 SB’s while keeping the composure on the defensive end of the field.

After the game I decided that I would visit my grandmother in Oshawa, ON and it was on my way to Oshawa that my life in one sense ended. I had a near fatal car accident on the 401 as a tractor trailer merged my car into the concrete barrier at 130 KM/H (about 80 mph) I was in a coma for 6 months and when I did come to was advised by the doctors that I would never play baseball again and most likely would never walk again. Though the doctors were wrong about the walking part they were right about baseball. It’s hard to steal bases when you hobble down the base line at a slower speed than a baby can crawl.

Two years after the accident my life was a shell of its former self with nothing but emptiness and crossword puzzles to fill the void that baseball had left. It was on that faithful day that I received a call from my former college coach. I hadn’t talked to him since a few days after coming out of the coma. He had asked if I had any interest in taking over for him at Wake Forest, he was retiring and had advised the Director of Athletics that I would make the perfect replacement.

I had jumped at the opportunity as I could finally put down the crossword puzzle book and take on baseball at a new level where my new infirmities didn’t matter. With this new zeal for baseball I dove in and was able to lead the team to 2 College World Series championships in as many seasons, something I wasn’t able to do as a player. It was after my second season had wrapped up and was waiting for the contract extension from the Athletics Director that I received a call from a man by the name of Clyde Stevens.

“Hello, is this Doug Henderson?” came the questioning voice on the other end of the phone.

“Uh… yes but I am not interested in what ever ‘As Seen On TV’ product that you are peddling” was my quick response.

“Ha ha ha…that is too funny. Actually my name is Clyde Stevens. Do you know who I am?”

I had searched my memory and I remember the name from somewhere but couldn’t place where I knew the name from so after an uncomfortable pause I simply said “Nope.”

“That is somewhat disappointing, but fair enough. I own the Cleveland Rage and am looking for a general manager. I was informed by a mutual friend that you might be the guy for the job.”

At this point I was shocked and am sure that if anyone was in my home office at the time they to may have seen my jaw on the floor. The rest of the conversation with Mr. Stevens was kind of blurry but I was asked if I would like to come up and have a chat with him in Cleveland about the possibility of taking over as General Manager of the Rage.

After talking it over with my wife we decided that we would make a weekend out of it and go up for the weekend and see the tourist type things in Cleveland, like the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and I would sit down with Mr. Stevens on the Monday morning and head back after that.

The ‘talk’ with Mr. Stevens, who insisted that I call him Clyde, went along the lines of sitting down and catching up with an old friend. We talked baseball in general along with some strategies and ideas of what I thought are needed to make a contending team and how to go about getting there. I had finally left his office after lunch with my wife waiting for me slightly perturbed that I wasn’t hungry because I had just polished off a steak diner with Clyde and now she would have to eat by herself.

It was about a week after this that I received a call from Clyde again asking me if I had wanted the job in Cleveland. He had liked what I considered the way to win and more importantly liked the fact that I would rather build from with in than spend big to try and win now, he had been burned that route 4 seasons ago and still hadn’t fully recovered financially from it.

So it is with that tale of up and downs that I find myself in charge of the Cleveland Rage, a basement dwelling team, of the major leagues.

[kenyan_cheena]

A friendly tip...

It's best to compose your posts in notepad rather than Word and then copy and paste them to the forum.

[Juxapose]

Thanks..will be editing it.