The 1994 Seattle Mariners

[Magatsu]

Grettings.

Back in 1994 I started my first excessive managerial dynasty with Front Page Sports Baseball '94. I took the Seattle Mariners and despite reaching the playoffs every year I only made it past the ALDC once. So taking a chance at this scenario again was an obvious choice for my first Dynasty thread cause a) there is not one Mariners Dynasty far and wide and b) also I was tempted to try a 2005 Mariners Dynasty I didn't want this to turn into a fictional league over the years (btw they will do great this year on their own in RL ).

O.K., here are some things you might like to know:

* I use Ankit's Database 5.2 and will import Rookies every year but won't assign them to their original teams so everything that happens (First-year player Draft, free agent signings, etc.) is up to OOTP.

* I will use park factors and change Stadiums (Soxman's) as they did in real life.

* I will play out one game per series (preferable sun or mon and wed) and post after every week.

* Injuries are set to low since there are too few players (almost no minor leaguers). Trades are also set to low. Trading difficulty - hard, favor prospects.

As you can see this will be a very basic Dynasty. I'm not a good writer so I won't even try to do anything as brilliant as Tib or jazzmosis or jestor or all the others that helped making this the "golden era" of the dynasty forum but I hope you still enjoy. I will also track what's going on in the rest of the league so there should be something for everybody.

That's all I can think of right now but if you want to know anything just ask

Next I do a quick division check followed by a look at the M's rotation and lineup.

At this point i'd also like to thank LGO for his amazing work with the schedules and Soxman for his stadiums. Great stuff.

M

[Magatsu]

Atlanta Braves: Pitching domination throughout the '90s and the stage is set: Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz are young and still developing. With McGriff, Lopez and Justice they have some guys who might be able to provide the offense

Philadelphia Phillies: The defending NL Champs aren't getting any younger. Still they have Schilling or Morandini who can anchor this team for many years to come and the Veterans like Dykstra, Daulton or Kruk still look fearsome.

Montreal Expos: As mentioned here the Expos had one of the most impressive package of prospects in the early 90's: Pedro Martinez, Butch Henry, Mike Lansing, Wil Cordero, Cliff Floyd, Moises Alou, Rondell White, Marguis Grissom and Larry Walker. Pretty impressiv list .

Florida Marlins: In just their second year in the majors there's not much that stands out but at least their rotation features one of the more promising starting pitchers in the league with Robb Nen. But I fear Gary Sheffield and a veeery young Carl Everett won't be enough to win anything this year.

New York Mets: The Mets have a pretty good 1-2 punch in their rotation with Saberhagen and Gooden but that's it. On the other hand they have John Cangelosi, one of the best leadoff hitters in the league and a defensiv wiz followed by Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Kent and a young Jeromy Burnitz.

[cknox0723]

will definitely be reading a fellow front page sports' fan's dynasty! mag, you remember the offseason free agent draft in that game? man, did i ever love that!!

the mid-90's is right up my alley as well. look forward to seeing names like hamelin and listach and ducey!

[Jestor]

I hate Pat Listasch. Most overrated player the Brewers ever had play for them.

Looking forward to seeing how Rick Ankiel does this time around though, as he's my favourite player.

And nice dynasty start, Magatsu I'll be watching this.

[Magatsu]

Chicago Cubs: The Cubbies are unfortunately not a very good team. Their staff is anchored by Randy Myers and and Dan Plesac with 23 year old Steve Trachsel as their closer. Sammy Sosa is impressiv as is Mark Grace but Glenallen Hill is their clean-up hitter which is telling.

Cincinnati Reds: I like their staff. The men around Jose Rijo are young (o.k. barely under 30) and good. On Third Base they have slugger Kevin Mitchell and Mr. Barry Larkin plays short. It will be interesting to see how their prospects Brett Boone and Willie Greene turn out though.

Houston Astros: Their rotation features Pete Harnisch and Darryl Kile who might be futur stars and their closer Todd Jones is despite his 25 years already one of the top closers in the league. Their two brightest stars in the lineup Luis Gonzales and Jeff Bagwell are 25 and 26 and Ken Caminiti looks, as always like a mean SOB .

Pittsburg Pirates: While their Rotation doesn't look that bad with Denny Neagle and Jon Lieber, their closer Ravelo Manzanillo and their clean-up hitter Andy Van Slyke indeed do. Their Outfield with McClendon and Varsho looks old and the only positive I can make out is Jay Bell at short.

St. Louis Cardinals: Uuuugh .... this rotation sucks. But then any rotation with Jon Habyan as their ace does. The lineup doesn't offer much hope either. Ray Lankford and Bernard Gilkey aren't ready yet but at least we can see Legend Ozzie Smith but he's 39 so this pleasure is probably short-lived. So ... maybe there is hope after all .

[Magatsu]

Thanks Jestor and Craig for the early praise. Glad you come along.

Originally Posted by cknox0723

will definitely be reading a fellow front page sports' fan's dynasty! mag, you remember the offseason free agent draft in that game? man, did i ever love that!!

the mid-90's is right up my alley as well. look forward to seeing names like hamelin and listach and ducey!

It's been a long time since I played it so I'm not sure what you mean but I remember that most of the created Amateurs had ridiculous low ratings which was annoying at the beginning but brought up the question how the league would look like when all the established Players had retired and the league would only consist of these baaad Amateurs. But I never made it this far.

Btw, do you remember the manual with its anecdots in the side column (which were there for some kind of password request)? My favorite was this one:

On August 17, 1957, Ritchie Ashburn of Philadelphia hit a foul ball that struck Alice Roth in the face, breaking her nose. The grandmother was being carried out of the stands at Connie Mack Stadium on a stretcher when play resumed against the New Yorkers. Ashburn fouled off the very next pitch ... and hit her again!

O.k. Listach, Haemlin, Ducey and Ankiel. I will keep an eye on them.

But now on to the NL West. I wanna get this started ....

M

[seth70liz76]

I still have my FPS loaded and once and a great while bring it out to 'watch' a game. And people think OOTP AI has problems. . .

[Magatsu]

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies will have a tough time this year (and probably the following years too). Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks are old and much worse than I expected. Darren Holmes is their ace and Greg Harris their No. 2 starter. After that their pitching is quasi non existent.

Los Angeles Dodgers: After seeing the Rockies the Dodgers make me rave. Hershiser and Candiotti anchor a very well balanced rotation, the bullpen is solid with Todd Worrell as their closer. The lineup features a group of the best prospects in the game with Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Dave Hansen, Delino Deshields, Jose Offerman and Henry Rodriguez. This is just a great team.

San Diego Padres: Well, this team is hard to figure out. Their whole pitching staff with Tim Worrell, Andy Benes, Scott Sanders, Andy Ashby and MR Doug Brocail and Tim Mauser is clearly above average and still developing but their lineup centers around the best contact hitter in the game with Tony Gwynn and not much else. But if Phil Plantier, Phil Clark and lead-off hitter Bip Roberts come through the Padres might even contend.

San Francisco Giants: While there is nothing much to fear from their pitching staff with Bill Swift and John Burkett (MR Rod Beck might turn out as one of the better closers) their lineup is all the more. Barry Bonds will tear up the league from start to finish and he is surrounded by (drugfree and/or "ghost-backed"? Maybe even "drug-backed" and ghostfree?) Darryl Strawberry, Robby Thomson and Matt Williams. Interesting tactic though - nearly no pitching but plenty of guys who can slug it out of the Park. Sounds familiar .

[Magatsu]

Originally Posted by seth70liz76

I still have my FPS loaded and once and a great while bring it out to 'watch' a game. And people think OOTP AI has problems. . .

Come to think of it I still have my copy somewhere and seeing the screenshots in the manual I think it would be fun to see it again. I just hope it runs on my computer

I take a short break to take advantage of this weather here and drink one or two beers. I'll be back with the AL in the evening (well afternoon for most of you).

Thanks for the response.

M

[Magatsu]

Baltimore Orioles: Wow, holy ****, their rotation has Jamie Moyer as their No 5 starter??? Led by Mike Mussina and an aging but unbelievable good Lee Smith it's a great rotation. Their Bullpen with Mark Eichhorn, Mark Williamson and prospects Arthur Rhodes and Armando Benitez also seem to have no flaws. Whereas their lineup has. Yes, they've got Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken and Harold Baines but they are old and won't provide the offense that's needed. So all hope lies on Catcher Chris Hoiles. But hey, pitching wins championships, doesn't it (if they get thus far)?

Boston Red Sox: Their rotation is led by (to quote Jason Robards in "Little Big League") "the greatest strike-out-pitcher of our time" Roger Clemens which is a good thing but other than 23 year old Aaron Sele and MR Cory Bailey there is not much to improve upon. The lineup looks even more like a cursed club with 26 year old Mo Vaughn as the only exception. But if Mike Greenwell (30), Otis Nixon (35) AND Andre Dawson (39!!!) can produce once again they might have a chance.

Detroit Tigers: The defending AL .... What? They were just 4th in 1993??? They were a real pain in the ass in FPSBB. Well, here they have David Wells as their No 1 followed by Storm Davis and Bill Gullickson. But the **** really hits the fan when they get to Mike Henneman who is a great MR. After his year in Japan (1990) Cecil Fielder still can't hit but when he does it's devastating. Nonetheless their lineup is filled with legends like Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Eric Davis and Tony Phillips. They also have 25 year old 3B Travis Fryman.

New York Yankees: Ha, this ought to be my favorite part since the Yankees were really down in this era but their rotation surprised me: From No 1 (Jimmy Key) To No 5 (Jim Abbott) they're quite solid and their bullpen around 22 year old closer Sterling Hitchcock also seems capable of doing their job. Their lineup features such illustrious names as Bernie Williams, Danny Tartabull (to quote another scene from "LBL": Billy:"All the big Players talk like that. Danny Tartabull ..." Mother:"Let Danny Tartabull's mother worry about her son!"), of course Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly but I doubt it will be enough to strike fear in the heart of pitchers as they did before and do nowadays.

Toronto Blue Jays: Ah, now, yes, the defending WS Champs of 1993 have a rotation which is (looking at No 5 Starter Pat Hentgen) not bad but Dave Stewart is obviously to old so he slips to the bullpen. The lineup in turn has something to look forward to with Carlos Delgado, Roberto Alomar, Shawn Green and Alex Gonzalez. It will also be interesting to see how Joe Carter and Paul Molitor will fare in the autumn of their career.

[Magatsu]

Chicago White Sox: Their rotation is a nice mix of old (Hammaker,Deleon) and young (Alvarez, Fernandez, McDowell) and their bullpen with Roberto Hernandez and Jeff Schwarz is also good. It will be interesting to see if 22 year old closer Jason Bere will some day be moving to the rotation cause he is able to go several innings. While their rotation looks good their lineup seems to be even better. Frank Thomas will provide the power for years to come and with Lance Johnson, Julio Franco, Tim Raines and Joey Cora who all are OBP-machines there should always be someone on the basepaths for The Big Hurt to knock in.

Cleveland Indians: Regarding a good mix of old and young players the Indians seem to carry it to an extreme as they have three starter older than 37 (Steve Farr, Dennis Martinez and Jack Morris) and 20 year old No 2 starter Julian Tavarez who will have trouble keeping his position over the season. Their bullpen on the other hand might help them in certain situations with young and promising Paul Shuey, Jose Mesa and closer Jason Grimsley. In the lineup we find Manny Ramirez(21!), Jim Thome(23) and Albert Belle(25) who are already three of the best sluggers in the league while Kenny Lofton is doing his best Willie Mays Hayes impersonation at the top of the order. And did I mention Carlos Baerga and Omar Vizquel as their middle infield? Yes, this is a very good team.

Kansas City Royals: KC also has a great rotation anchored by David Cone and Kevin Appier (led ERA in 1993) who won't depend often on their relativly weak bullpen and if they do there's still Jeff Montgomery who led the league in saves the year before. Unfortunately their lineup isn't even close to the quality of their pitchers. If you have to depend on Keith Miller and Wally Joyner as your No 3 and 4 hitters your in trouble. 26 Year old 1B Bob Hamelin will have a hard time getting the AB's he needs to blossom with 1B clearly in the hands of Joyner. Even their speed won't do them any good if aging Vince Coleman can't get on base and Terry Shumpert and Brian McRae aren't playing.

Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewer's No 1 (Teddy Higuera) and 2 (Jesse Orosco) starters are good, although they're to old to be around for long. After that I'm not sure (as opposed to the Scout) 24 year old Angel Miranda and 26 year old Cal Eldred can already hold their own. The bullpen with Mike Fetters and Mike Ignasiak seems solid but I'm not sure if I would trust a staff that has Bob Scanlan as their closer who just lacks the stuff to be a top closer. In their lineup Milwaukee does have guys like Greg Vaughn, Tom Brunansky or John Jaha who are able to get 20-30 HR a season but otherwise can't seem to make contact. They have a very promising Catcher in Dave Nilsson and on the bench (SS behind Jose Valentin) is Pat Listach waiting to make an impact with his extraordinary speed. All in all this is a well balanced team - but it balances out to be just average.

Minnesota Twins: With Rick Aguilera and Eddie Guardado (who is 23 and someday might be one of the top starters in the league) the Twins have a most impressiv 1-2 in their rotation but then the only outstanding pitchers are MRs Mike Trombley and Mark Guthrie with Jim Deshaies as their very mediocre closer. Like the Tigers their lineup is filled with legendary Players like Dave Winfield, Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek but age has caught up to them and they won't post the numbers they once did. Having one of the better leadoff men in Chuck Knoblauch is a cold comfort in this situation.

[Magatsu]

O.k., on to our last installment of the division reviews and thus to the divisionel rivals of the Seattle Mariners


California Angels: Chuck Finley and Ex-Mariner Mark Langston anchor an all-in-all solid rotation and the bullpen also is good especially set-up men Bob Patterson and Craig Lefferts. And they better should be cause their only big flaw in their staff is 21 year old closer Brian Anderson. Asside from their two prospect Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds who are destined to be top sluggers in the league the most outstanding part in their lineup is their defense at 2B (Rex Hudler), SS (Gary Disarcina) and 3B (Damion Easley) where not many balls will find their way into the outfield.

Oakland Athletics: Their rotation looks good. Even 25 year old No 5 Starter Mike Mohler (behind No 1 Ed Vosberg and No 2 Dennis Eckersley) seems capable of several strong innings. The only problem lies in their age which is also true for their bullpen. Hope comes with 22 year old Steve Karsay who is already an outstanding reliever. In their lineup they have Rickey Henderson, Ruben Sierra, Troy Neel and Mark McGwire, who is the monster hitter you'd expect him to be. Their team also includes speed (34 yr old Steve Sax is a great lead-off man) and even the slower guys know how to steal. I can't shake off the feeling that this will be a very tough division.

Texas Rangers: Their ace Kevin Brown has Cy Young potential but the main upside of Kenny Rogers or Rick Reed is that they're 29 and thus in their prime. The bullpen has Tom Henke and Jay Howell and not much more but they probably won't need it looking at the lineup: Juan Gonzalez and Dean Palmer are young, powerful Homerun-hitters and Jose Canseco and Will Clark are in their prime. Furthermore they have a 22 year old catcher named Ivan Rodriguez. Hmm, noone too old, solid defense, ... this isn't getting any easier ... (Btw 28yr old Rob Ducey seems to be stuck in AAA. The Ranger's outfield is just to deep )

[Magatsu]

So finally we get to our beloved M's. While in the division reviews I just threw out a few names this will be a bit more detailed (would you like to see the ratings too?).


The Pitching Staff

Rotation:

SP1 Randy Johnson
SP2 Chris Bosio
SP3 Greg Hibbard
SP4 Dave Fleming
SP5 Tim Davis

Bullpen:

MR Bill Risley
MR Bobby Thigpen
MR John Cummings

MR Rich Gossage
MR Bobby Ayala

CL Jeff Nelson


I made some changes to the initial AI generated staff which had "Goose" stated as a starter (as you could see in the previous posts the AI really doesn't know names which is not a problem for me. It's an alternate universe after all). But I liked the idea of two strong setup men and I think Bosio will handle the No 2 duties well and Fleming and Davis are young and hopefully will perform well in their limited starts. The only problem could be that I now have 4 leftys in the rotation.
The two prospect starters in AAA Jim Converse and Roger Salkeld are pretty similar so in case of an injury the one with the best record will be called up.

Jeff Nelson gained a whole star as closer compared to MR so he will be doing what he does best.

[Magatsu]

The Position Players

Catcher:

- Mackey Sasser: Although he won't draw many walks Sasser makes good contact, won't strikeout much and has at least an average arm. He will start for us.

- Jerry Willard: Backup Catcher Willard has more power and thus will also be a good pinch hitter.

- In AAA we have Bill Haselman and Dan Wilson. Dan has still a year till he is a gold star player but may come up to the big leagues this season if Willard or Sasser struggle.


1st Base:

- Tino Martinez: Tino has a decent range at 1B, is young and has some pop in his bat.

- Reggie Jefferson: Reggie sucks at 1B but might be good enough to DH for us if needed. Over the season he might also make a good trade bait at age 25 if we need one.

- Down in single A Greg Pirkl will slug HRs at will and will certainly advance to AA or even further in the course of the season.


2nd Base:

- Rich Amaral: Rich can pretty much play any position but he will be most valuable for us at 2B. He has an average contact rating but it is hopefully good enough to leadoff for us since he is by far the fastest guy on our squad.

- Felix Fermin: Felix is the spitting image of Amaral ... just worse. At least he doesn't strikeout that much which makes him a good pinch hitter. Oh, and he's got great defense at 2B, SS and 3B.

- In the Minors there's only 28 year old Torey Lovullo and he's only in AA. Oh well ...


3rd Base:

- Mike Blowers: O.k., this was a tough decision. I sent A-Rod to AAA for a few weeks to get the most out of him and see what happens. That move sent up Mike Blowers who's not a good hitter but at least my best 3B.

- Edgar Martinez: Normally our DH, Edgar can take over 3B if necessary.


Short Stop:

- Dale Sveum: He's just a temporary solution as I'm anxiously waiting till A-rod is ready. Not the best SS defensivly Dale is hopefully able to do the job.

- Like mentioned before Felix Fermin is a fantastic SS and if all else fails there's still Utility Man Luis Sojo who can also field nearly every position.

- In all my previous test sims A-Rod was very major league ready but I thought anyway to start him in AAA. Just in this start of the league he's not quiet ready which made my decision easier (but maybe it's only my lame scout )


Outfield:

- Eric Anthony (LF): He's a great outfielder, just 26 and one of the better hitters on my team.

- Ken Griffey Jr. (CF): Aaah, "Junior" .... What can I say? He can do it all: power, hit for average, draw walks, steals a few bases and is a vacuum in CF (excursus: as you might know Ankit's has no defensiv ratings assigned to the players so OOTP assignes random numbers. With Junior I got lucky as he has a clean 5 (of 5) in range at CF. In return A-Rod gets only a 1 at SS )

- Jay Buhner (RF): We might not get Ichiro but as long as we have "Bone" that's not a problem. He won't bat .300 but his power is great as is his defense .

- As backup there is aforementioned Luis Sojo (whom I'm not a big fan of - maybe because he played to long for the Yankees ) and Keith Mitchell who is a 24 Year old prospect with already balanced, decent batting skills. I like him so I'm not sure if I should use him as trait bait, but ....

- ... in AAA 21 Year old Marc Newfield (good leftfielder) has plenty of time to develope as is the case with Darren Bragg. He's only in Single A at age 24 but I think he will blossom relativly quick.

[cknox0723]

just got caught back up, mag. really looking forward to this one. and of course being a yankee fan i love luis sojo and will be hoping for some injuries so he gets a shot at 600 at-bats!

i enjoy the no-ratings look, of course, and my opinion is that your summaries are excellent as is. really, this is a great era as there are so many recognizable names. troy neel? jeff montgomery? marc newfeld? i love it!

oh, and almost forgot...

It's been a long time since I played it so I'm not sure what you mean but I remember that most of the created Amateurs had ridiculous low ratings which was annoying at the beginning but brought up the question how the league would look like when all the established Players had retired and the league would only consist of these baaad Amateurs. But I never made it this far.

Btw, do you remember the manual with its anecdots in the side column (which were there for some kind of password request)?

YES! loved the manual and hadn't recalled the ashburn story until you posted it! loved that one!

my pal and i used to play that game for hours on end, he as the rockies and me as the yanks. never made it more than two or three years, though, but i will never forget his first round pick from our first amateur draft - the brilliantly named al ake. oh, what a nickname i could make out of that one!

may be a long year considering your division's quality but you'll have at least one reader along for the ride!

[Magatsu]

The Lineup

1. 2B Rich Amaral
2. C Mackey Sasser
3. CF Ken Griffey Jr.
4. DH Edgar Martinez
5. 1B Tino Martinez
6. RF Jay Buhner
7. LF Eric Anthony
8. 3B Mike Blowers
9. SS Dale Sveum


Random Thoughts:

I'm not that happy with the lineup especially after seeing the other teams in my division. The middle of the lineup (No 3 - No 7) can do some damage but Amaral and Sasser might totally fall apart. The positiv side is that in this case I can mix up the order a bit before taking more drastic measures like benching, demoting or trading.

We'll see what happens ...

[Magatsu]

To begin with a heartly thanks, craig. You can't imaging how much it means to get response from someone who created such a milestone in this forum (I still wasn't able to read the first part but the locker room post you linked somewhere was brilliant. It's definitely on my must-read-list).

Originally Posted by cknox0723

just got caught back up, mag. really looking forward to this one. and of course being a yankee fan i love luis sojo and will be hoping for some injuries so he gets a shot at 600 at-bats!

Either injuries or I trade him to someone who finally lets him play.

Originally Posted by cknox0723

i enjoy the no-ratings look, of course, and my opinion is that your summaries are excellent as is. really, this is a great era as there are so many recognizable names. troy neel? jeff montgomery? marc newfeld? i love it!

I thought so too. One of the (many) reasons I enjoy the Strawberry Dynasty from BL so much. And I will point out both players that performed well in the week played as players who underperformed excepionally. Could be fun to see.

Originally Posted by cknox0723

YES! loved the manual and hadn't recalled the ashburn story until you posted it! loved that one!

You just gave me this idea of inserting other funny or interesting storys from this manual from time to time. Thanks.

Originally Posted by cknox0723

my pal and i used to play that game for hours on end, he as the rockies and me as the yanks. never made it more than two or three years, though, but i will never forget his first round pick from our first amateur draft - the brilliantly named al ake. oh, what a nickname i could make out of that one!

LOL ... but you get your share of funny names in OOTP as well .

Originally Posted by cknox0723

may be a long year considering your division's quality but you'll have at least one reader along for the ride!

Yes, I do my very best but it might be really a tough year especially considering that I generally take a very patient approach in my first year with a team not changing (or even trading) that much but in this case it might be inevitable.

Hope you (and everybody else who's reading) continue to enjoy this.

M

Edit: Oh, and congrats for the Series win and this brilliant performance by Buehrle.

[Magatsu]

Now that you know a few things around the league and the Mariners we can finally get started.

My owner is a "bad dude" but he expects me just to finish better than .500 so maybe I can survive this year (which raises the question how all you great dynasty writers handle the threat of getting fired at some point? ...and yes, craig, given your record I am looking at you ...).

I play on average difficulty level and have balanced knowledge as my basic skill and selected negotiation skill as my special skill (I never chose this but thought it might come in handy when trying to resign all these guys )

Coming up next is the season opener between the Cardinals and the Reds and this week for the M's:

4/4: @ Indians*
4/5: OFF DAY
4/6: @ Indians
4/7: @ Indians

4/8: @ Blue Jays
4/9: @ Blue Jays*
4/10: @ Blue Jays

4/11: vs. Twins*

* Just for the record: that will be the games I play out.

If I forgot something in my craving to get started feel free to point it out or ask.

Oh, and did I mention that I not only failed in FPSBB to take the M's to a WS but also never managed to get a ring in my fictional leagues in OOTP 5&6 as well ? So if you think at some point "What a stupid stupid thing to do!!!" just say it. I appreciate any help ...

But now: Play ball!

M

[ifspuds]

This'll be a lot of fun to watch, and you picked a great year to start, considering what happened in 1995. Ahh, the memories.

You'll have another loyal reader along for the ride.

[jeheinz72]

This is great. The hey-day of when I enjoyed baseball.

Rich Amaral...man, hadn't thought about that guy in a long long time. My buddy and I used to play Ken Griffey baseball and I was the Giants and he was the M's. For some reason Amaral was uber-clutch in that game. It was nuts.

Count me as another one who will keep an eye on this one.