We've just finished a major NYC tourney. It was hosted in my cousin's cockroach and rat infested upper west side apartment. Here were the participants:
Matt (GDavis)
Jeremy (BlylevenNoNo)
Joe (Big Apple RBI Champ)
Ethan (my cousin, our host)
Adam (my brother)
Levi (Jeremy's buddy..not sure if he's signed up on the forums)
As you can see, it was a GDavis family affair. The first round of the tournament was done Round Robin style with 2 groups of 3. Here were the pairings:
Group 1:
GDavis
Bly-NoNo
Ethan
Group 2:
Big Apple
Levi
Adam
Out of group one, myself and Blyleven advanced, and out of group two Big Apple and Levi advanced. As you can see, my relatives did not represent well, so it was left up to me to defend our family honor.
Now we went with a straight bracket. 2 out of 3 series. Also you are not allowed to use a team that you've already used.
I was matched up against Levi. I was Boston vs his Detroit. True powerhouse matchup. Luckily for me the Detriot bats were cold and I was able to pull out the win.
In the other series Blyleven used Cali, and Big Apple used NY. Although i didn't witness this series, it was hotly contested and I believe Blyleven won it with two Downing walk off home runs. (correct me if I'm wrong here guys).
It came down to GDavis vs Blyleven. I had used all my powerhouse teams earlier (Bos, Det, Cal), and Blyleven still had both Det and Bos left in his back pocket. I chose the Mets, hoping for an '86 like miracle. Blyleven chose Detroit.
I felt like a big underdog here, but thanks to incredible pitching performances by both Gooden and Ojeda and the Mets bullpen...THE BAD GUYS WON!!!
GDAVIS IS YOUR NYC RBI BASEBALL CHAMPION
Hopefully the rest of the crew will be on later with further comments, pictures and the full results. I have to say, that overall it seemed like Detroit played very shittily, they might be a worse curve pitch team than we previously thought. Trammell, Nokes and Shitaker were all ass in every series I was involved in. Their pitching was rather poor as well.
Great day of RBI guys.
Sounds like good times, gentlemen. Congrats, GDavis. Now you have no choice but to join us in the cousin to the cotut tourney.
Well done GD, avenged your previous series vs. Bly and Big Apple, correct?
QuoteI believe Blyleven won it with two Downing walk off home runs. (correct me if I'm wrong here guys).
This is a most impressive feat, I need more details here Bly. Did Potatoes not come through?
Good job, GDavis. There are a lot of casual players on these forums; I thought you were one of them but clearly you are not.
I know it gets tiresome, but you guys really should at least consider our tourney...if nothing else, it's a nice money maker for you (if you're good enough).
GDavis was impressive to say the least, although he did split his round robin games, but then swept semis and swept finals.
Lesson learned- go with teams you are comfortable with. I should not have chosen Mets in semis when I had Cal in back pocket, and Bly should not have chosen Detroit in finals- as he is not comfortable with them. My logic was that I knew the games would be close (which they were) and I figured I would take my chances with Mets bullpen over Cals' pen. Bad logic. The Mets lineup just isn't long enough- you can certainly pitch to them.
I would like to have kept Boston for the semis, but I had no idea how good Adam was, nor did I know he would take Houston (?!) as his first pick.
Downing definitely eliminated me with a walkoff in Semis Game 2. I do not recall if he hit one in Game 1. Bottom line, you have to pitch to someone in that lineup- I didn't want Reg to burn me, and Downing made me pay.
I didn't see much of GDavis, but from what I saw in the finals, he just peppered the outside corner, and took his chances that Umpire Eric Gregg would give him a few calls, which he did.
Interesting notes in tourney...
The widest fair ball Bly or I have ever seen- roller up along first base line- was halfway to dugout when first baseman fielded it- called fair.
Dave Henderson was ridiculous as most subbed him for Buckner and he hit seemingly a dozen bombs.
Surprisingly, each Tengen team was used at least once including the Houston surprise choice.
I'd be happy to pitch in to send GDavis to Columbus- as he seems a worthy NYC representative.
Good time had by all- looking forward to the next tournament- perhaps sometime this spring.
Nice work GDavis.
When anything is on the line, Detroit chokes, not a clutch team.
Quote from: ultimate7 on 01/31/05, 08:31:53 AM
Nice work GDavis.
When anything is on the line, Detroit chokes, not a clutch team.
King is just so bad, that it's hard to give him the ball in a big spot.
It's actually funny though- however much I bitch about the Mets- I have played in three tornaments/ competitions with guys from this site, and the winner used the Mets in the finals all 3 times. (GDavis won with Mets yesterday)
QuoteWhen anything is on the line, Detroit chokes, not a clutch team.
Detroit may be the best straight pitch team but they are not very good for anything goes. They are slow, play the worst defense, and probably have the worst pitching roation. Hernandez is good, but only good for an inning or 2. I once had 3 consecutive 9-3 put-outs against Dt.
Congrats GDavis. I would like to play against you online sometime. (for online play, I only do straight pitch though)
Detroit has 2 guys at the top that can run, which is more than many other teams. I wouldn't say they have no speed.
Their bullpen is just too shoddy.
I was definately shaking off the rust in the round robin games, but I got into a groove in the Semis and the Finals. I dunno what Adam was thinking with his Houston pick.
Houston was a more dangerous team for us back in the day before we learned that a simultaneous A+directional throw in the field yields a harder throw. With the correct subs, Houston would get a lot of infield hits and steals. In addition, we usually played with 2 SPs, and Ryan and Scott can be nasty, so I guess he was valuing pitching over hitting. Still it was a poor choice.
Quote from: GantryWell done GD, avenged your previous series vs. Bly and Big Apple, correct?
The previous tourney I did was against Bly and his crew, but Big Apple wasn't in attendance. And yes, I got worked, but that loss was avenged yesterday.
Quote from: JoeDirt on 01/30/05, 08:22:05 PM
Good job, GDavis. There are a lot of casual players on these forums; I thought you were one of them but clearly you are not.
I know it gets tiresome, but you guys really should at least consider our tourney...if nothing else, it's a nice money maker for you (if you're good enough).
Joe, I'll consider your tournament. I'm feeling good about my play. I should not be taken lightly if I join up. I'm a dangerous man with a NES controller in my hand.
Quote from: Big Apple RBI Champ on 01/31/05, 08:21:23 AM
I didn't see much of GDavis, but from what I saw in the finals, he just peppered the outside corner, and took his chances that Umpire Eric Gregg would give him a few calls, which he did.
Once your pitchers get fatigued I think this strategy is a must when you're going up against a nasty lineup like Detroit. You can't give those guys anything that they can turn on. Also Orosco's sidearm delivery is tailor-made for painting the corners.
I feel like the Mets match up with Detroit pretty well. Gooden is lights out, and Ojeda is a lefty, which gives him good matchups against the lefty hitters of Detroit. Same goes for Orosco.
Unfotunately, the way the brackets played out I didn't get to play Big Apple Champ. I'm sure our day will come. (I told you to take Cali instead of the Mets).
Thanks for the congrats guys.
Quote from: JoeDirt on 01/30/05, 08:22:05 PM
Good job, GDavis. There are a lot of casual players on these forums; I thought you were one of them but clearly you are not.
Joe Dirt has a list of all of us ranking our potential RBI abilities. :)
Quote from: ultimate7 on 01/31/05, 09:12:47 AM
Quote from: JoeDirt on 01/30/05, 08:22:05 PM
Good job, GDavis. There are a lot of casual players on these forums; I thought you were one of them but clearly you are not.
Joe Dirt has a list of all of us ranking our potential RBI abilities. :)
it helps with the cheating
Defen---YOU??? NO, not YOU! You're the good guy! Oh defen, how I miss the good ol' defen... :(
GDavis...for sure. I'm guessing you will definitely be a force to reckon with if you join our tourney. That's exacly what we're looking for, too. One thing I can guarantee--if you do play, you'll have a kickass good time.
stop kissing his ass
and start kicking yours?
I will pay GDavis' entry fee if that is what it takes to get his ass to the tourney. I'm not fucking joking either.
We actually have a bunch of photos that we will post this week from the tournament, it was great.
I went nuts when GDavis got a strike call when the ball was clearly off the plate, but hey, that's how RBI goes.
I will confirm that in my semifinal, Downing won BOTH games with walk off homers, the first being a 3 run dong but only the first run that scored counted.
GDavis was the better player on Sunday, I congratulate him and look forward to our next contest. It is so fun playing people who are actually good at the game, I almost never get to do that.
By the way, Alan Tramell had the coldest day out of any of the players. He consistently went hitless, it was unbelieveable. I also have to say that when I was MN against Ethan I got the incredibly rare pinch hit 2 run homer with Davidson. We had 0 through the wall homers, plenty of naturals, and remarkably few glitches, the NES systems didn't glitch once. I think GDavis ripped a double with Clemens, right?? I also had a money swinging bunt suicide squeeze play that worked perfectly.
Any other highlights??? Oh yeah, when the weed delivery guy came by, that was great!!
OUT!
Bly, you've gotta get the photos up here. The picture after the controversial Orosco called 3rd strike was amazing.
My double with Clemens vs Levi was huge. He had intentionally walked Armas and there was 2 outs. Clemens came through in a big spot with a legit double to the gap. Burks followed it up with a 3 run dong.
Another highlight was I hit a legit homerun with Pettis off of Ethan. Probably about as rare an occurance as the Davidson blast.
Trammell was terrible, for sure.
Eric King was awful too, but that is to be expected.
Hernandez hitting game tying 9th inning HR for me vs. Bly after he hit one for Bly vs. me in the 9th just a few weeks ago was the kind of irony that only RBI can produce.
GET GDAVIS TO COLUMBUS AND REPRESENT MONEY MAKING MANHATTAN!
Another highlight was Hurst taking a perfecto into the 7th in the first series of the tournament vs. Houston.
He ended up going 8 1/3. Boston swept the series without using Schiraldi.
Quote from: Blyleven_No-No on 02/01/05, 12:00:44 PM
We actually have a bunch of photos that we will post this week from the tournament, it was great!
Hey, if you have a lot of pictures, you can post 'em for free at www.ofoto.com, which is a site by kodak.
And can you guys somehow give us a visual of exactly how far outside this fantom strike was?
Quote from: Big Apple RBI Champ on 02/01/05, 01:02:21 PM
GET GDAVIS TO COLUMBUS AND REPRESENT MONEY MAKING MANHATTAN!
Maybe you guys could/should have a satellite tourney for $25 each, with the winner getting enough $ to fund a trip?
Quote from: Noah G. on 02/01/05, 06:22:10 PM
Quote
Joe Dirt has a list of all of us ranking our potential RBI abilities. :)
Quote
...seriously?
I was joking, though it seems as though it may be possible.
Quote from: JoeDirt on 02/01/05, 07:16:34 PM
And can you guys somehow give us a visual of exactly how far outside this fantom strike was?
I was a good six or seven tokes in... but I would say it was a borderline pitch. Bly was playing to the crowd with his displeasure. Nothing like Livan Hernandez Eric Gregg Braves/ Marlins '97.
Then again, I was so high I could barely see.
Quote from: Big Apple RBI Champ on 02/02/05, 10:02:16 AM
Quote from: JoeDirt on 02/01/05, 07:16:34 PM
And can you guys somehow give us a visual of exactly how far outside this fantom strike was?
I was a good six or seven tokes in... but I would say it was a borderline pitch. Bly was playing to the crowd with his displeasure. Nothing like Livan Hernandez Eric Gregg Braves/ Marlins '97.
Then again, I was so high I could barely see.
It was a close pitch, but I think it nicked the plate. The previous pitch was called outside by a very small margin. So this time I put a little last-second inside curve into the pitch. Orosco was fatigued so that curve didn't move the pitch much...but it was enough to shave the outside corner.
NO WAY....IT WAS OFF THE PLATE!!!!
:D
i don't want to cause trouble on this thread or anything but i believe i posted somewhere else that the balls and strikes are called on where the catcher catches the pitch, so it is possible for a pitch to be off the plate and still called a strike.
I think it is time for Nightwulf to come in and figure out the exact moment when a pitch is determined to be a ball or a strike. Then we can tell him we don't believe him, he always enjoys that.
Does Levi still have those pictures from the tourney?
Quote from: Teddyballgame113 on 02/07/05, 02:27:51 PM
i don't want to cause trouble on this thread or anything but i believe i posted somewhere else that the balls and strikes are called on where the catcher catches the pitch, so it is possible for a pitch to be off the plate and still called a strike.
And how do you know this is the case?
Quote from: JoeDirt on 02/07/05, 04:29:06 PM
And how do you know this is the case?
on somebody's rom hack (with a cubs all starteam??) one of the relievers tires after like one pitch and then you can throw pitches that take a LOOOONG time to get to the plate. you can move the pitch all around and actually have it go completely around the plate and then into the catchers glove behind the plate for a strike. i can post the rom here tomorrow from work so anyone can try it for themselves. but suffice it to say that it is possible to throw a called strike (in the rbi universe) that is off the plate, therefore; unhittable. is this where being back in the box might help to foul it off or can you still not hit it? that i do not know.
Quote from: fknmclane on 01/31/05, 11:16:46 PM
I will pay GDavis' entry fee if that is what it takes to get his ass to the tourney. I'm not fucking joking either.
bump.
Yeah, you are fucking joking either, aren't you?!
Ummm...
M-A-R-S. Mars, bitches!
bumpst!