Just Joined First Post- My Best Winners Rom! :D

[obiwanobiwan]

The 2008 Phillies would make a great video game team. So, go fuck yourself

Hey, we had a vote- the 2008 Phillies didn't get enough votes, enough said.

Enjoy that NL East Title- while you can.

The Mets got overconfident, and we choked- your turn.

This WILL be the year (boo away Philly boo birds.)

1986 Mets (a TRULY GREAT TEAM EVEN WITH THE DRUGS) coming up........

[Attezz]

The Mets got overconfident, and we choked- your turn.

What position do you play?

[obiwanobiwan]

The Mets got overconfident, and we choked- your turn.

What position do you play?

lol ok point taken, I'll rephrase:

The Mets got overconfident, THEY choked, I threw my pretzels and remote in anger- your turn.



Speaking of the Mets, here's how the 1986 team plays:

Well, if you're familiar with the vanilla RBI Baseball Mets, you'll be familiar with these Mets- same team.  So to save time I won't waste time going into detail about how Gooden's great when he's on and frustrating when he's not and how Mookie and Backman are like twin slap hitters and Strawberry's one of the biggest guns in the game.

So we'll skip to- how do they measure up against the other NL teams?  I played one game against each, and here is what I found:

Against the 1908 Cubs: A near massacre- the Cubbies were in over their heads against Gooden, and Strawberry alone scored more than the whole Cubs team.

Against the 1934 Cardinals: An exciting game, featuring two teams that have great potential and yet don't always bring their A games.  The Cardinals brought their A game- the Mets didn't.  Gooden didn't have it, and even Strawberry couldn't save the Mets.  Close until about the 7th inning, and then a 4 run inning against Gooden killed the Mets' hopes.

Against the 1954 Giants: A near reapeat of the Cubs game, the Mets, pitching Gooden again, hammered the Giants while the Giants, outside of Wille Mays, couldn't seem to buy a hit.  In the 8th inning, however, Godden's fastball finally gave completely, and the Mets, after a late inning rally by the Giants just fell short, barely escaped with the win.

Against the 1965 Dodgers: Ojeda started this game (had to look at the whole staff, and Gooden had already pitched three straight games) and he and Sandy both pitched well early.  Sandy cracked a bit first, giving a couple runs, but so did Ojeda.  Sandy proceeded to throw beautiful pitch after beautiful pitch, as each curve and slider and fastball landed just perfectly.  But the Dodgers' one glaring weakness then showed its ugly head- lack of run support.  Ojeda in real life was a good pitcher- Sandy was 100x better, a top 5 ever pitcher.  The same goes in this game- Ojeda's a capable and occaisionally great #2 starter, Sandy's either the top pitcher in the game or at least in the top 3.  But when it comes to scoring runs, both in real life and in RBI, the '65 Dodgers pale in comparison to the '86 Mets.  So eventually, with no run support, Sandy was forced to pitch too much for really any pitcher with practially no offense, and gave up the lead and was yanked from the game in the 7th, looking like the losing pitcher.  And then the Dodgers revealed their biggest strength- the best pitching staff in the game, a staff that features besides Sandy Drysdale, Claude Osreen, and Johnny Podres: all good to great starters.  The Dodgers thus trotted out Drysdale to completely ice the Mets, and he even, true to form, got a base hit to start a late inning rally that capped a great comeback for the Dodgers and a great game overall for both teams.

Against the 1975 Reds: Ojeda started again, but this time against Jack Billingham, someone more on his level.  Neither pitcher pitched terribly, but neither pitcher is a great strikeout machine, both relying on grounders and soft flies to win.  Those soft flies became HRs and the grounders became singles and doubles, and a slugfest was underway.  The Mets put up a good number of runs and a good fight, but in a gaime in which both teams scored in double digits, the Reds ultimately had more firepower and won out.


The end conclusion: The Mets went 2-3, with the two wins easily won (for the most part) and the three losses just barely lost to teams who either had just a bit better luck, a bit deeper bullpen, or a bit more firepower.  Gooden started 3 games and pitched well in two of them; Ojeda started twice and pitched well but was anot enough of a shutdown-type pitcher to win either.  When the pen came into play, it was always Orosco, who finished off the Giants and was rocked by the Reds.  In the end, the starting pitching is good, top 3, runner up to the Dodgers when Gooden is on.  The offense is decent; however, if two out of the three of Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, and Darryl Strawberry are shut down, the Mets offense doesn't die, but it really limps along and becomes totally dependent on Mookie and Backman scratching out singles and stealing bases to get into scoring postion- not a great postion to be in. 

This team, if it puts it all together, can contend.

So, now theat they're all done in the NL, predictions:

1. 1975 Reds: The pitching has shown it can do enough to support the Machine, the best offense in the NL
2. (Wild Card) 1965 Dodgers: The best pitching staff can shut down anyone, the only question's the offense.....
3. 1986 Mets: The darkhorse team of the division, if it all clicks, they could challenge for the Wild Card
4. 1934 Cardinals: When they click they're great, but still don't have the firepower to take on the Reds or Mets
5. 1954 Giants: A good offense and even Willie Mays can't save the worst pitching staff in the division
6. 1908 Cubs: A good defense, and Three-Finger Brown's great, but outside of that, this team has no firepower

Reactions?

1991 Twins coming soon. 

[Baines]

Reds.

[obiwanobiwan]

OK, so the Twins are just about done and ready for a few test-games.

But Idid want to mention one thing about the team that's important.

RBI of course has no DH, a huge issue for both the 1991 Twins and 2004 Red Sox,
whose DH's obviosuly played a huge role in the teams' successes.

I'll adress the 2004 Sox when the time comes.

As for the 1991 Twins, there's Puckett, obviously, Shane Mack, Dan Gladden, and Chili Davis all
in position for the outfield spots.

Puckett's obvious, and Shane Mack had teams best offensive stats along with Pucket that year.

Now, granted Gladden usually played OF and Davis DH, but Davis' stats far surpass Gladden's.

So I am putting Chili Davis in the starting lineup as an outfielder, and having Gladden the top
person on the bench.

If you choose to switch that once I finish the MOD, by all means, it's really an open question,
just know that's the lineup for the games in my league and the tournament upcoming.

[obiwanobiwan]

1991 Twins done, just one more team- the 2004 Red Sox- to go! 

So, about those '91 Twins:

First of all, I should tell everyone that each team has a unique newspaper nickname;
for instance, for the Mets, instead of the newspaper saying "NEW YORK" it says
"AMAZINS", as that was and is the nickname for the Miracle Mets and later Met teams
that seemed to have miracle seasons ('73, '86, etc.)

So why do I mention this now?  Because the Twins' nicknames a bit..... irregular.

I looked on the Internet for the "unofficial" Twins nickname of the period, and every search
turned up........... "Twinkies."     (If there are any Twins fans out there, please explain.)

So without further ado, the report for the 1991 Twinkies- ahem, Twins.

This team is a sort of cross between the '54 Giants and the '86 Mets, with it's won unique issues
and bonuses and such.

Why Giants and Mets?  Because the Twins, offensively, have the same need for their 3-6 spots (Puckett,
Davis, Hrbek, and Harper) to produce big-time as the Giants.  The sad issue is that they are NOT the Giants.
Kirby Puckett, as good as he is here (didn't use the bad Vanilla RBI Puckett) IS like a poor-man's Willie Mays-
he can hit for average and power and fly around the bases- but is really just that.  He ISN'T as good as Mays.
The same can be said of pretty much the entire Twins lineup- where they're good, they just aren't better than
the teams that also rely on the 3-6 spots, which are the '34 Cardinals, '54 Giants, '75 Reds, and if I were to guess, the 2004 Red Sox.

There ARE a couple areas where the Twins DO beat a few of those teams; Chili Davis is as dominant as ever, and Shane Mack is surprisingly good- it's just that even those two can't go up against the likes of Gehrig, Monte Irvin, Johnny Bench, Garry Carter, Tony Perez, and Frankie Frisch, who occupy one or both of those batting order spots for other teams.

One other tidbit before we move on to pitching- this team has, for some reason, the largest hit-to-HR ratio; I'm not doing this mathematically, and I'm throwing out the Yankees here, since they ruin any curve, but out of the rest of the teams, the Twins seem more dependent on players like Mack and Puckett and Davis and Hrbek hitting doubles or HRs than any other team.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if those four can be held to mostly singles and some doubles, the Twins may be stopped cold.

On to the pitching-

The Mets have two quality starters, Gooden and Ojeda (and Ojeda pitches pretty well for me, nice control and curve to complement Dr. K's fastball, so I don't know what the others have against him), a good middle reliever in McDowell, and a quality, if sometimes inconsistent, closer in Orosco.  Sometimes, I've found, in a pinch, McDowell can go some good distance, and really I think could be a third stater against some teams- but with Ojeda and Dr. K, i've never found a reason to try it.

The Twins have a pitching staff that's similar- three starters (Scott Erickson in his 20-win season, Jack Morris, and Tapani) and a closer in Rick Aguilera.  I took the players with the best stats, so these four are the ones on the team.

Does anyone see the first HUGE issue?

If you're a big baseball fan like me- no, I'm a Mets fan, not a twins fan, so on the surface it'd look OK to me.

But if you're a big Twins fan you probably see it..........

ALL RIGHT-HANDED.

That's right, not a lefty among them.

They have the best stats in the regular and postseason of that year, so they're on the team- but still:

4 RIGHTIES!

Needless to say, regardless of the quality of the staff, this is a team in trouble.  Erickson and Morris are fine starting pitchers that can go deep and complement each other like a Koufax-Drysdale Lite, and the relief pitching seems solid if unspectacular, but with four righties, this staff is really hit-or-miss.  If you're playing a team like the Giants or Cardinals, where it's either 50-50 or more right-handed batters, then this staff can really become a big factor and make things happen.

But against such teams as the Reds, who are 50-50 but have Rose, Morgan, and Griffey Sr. all righty, or the Mets with mostly lefties and Darryl Strawberry leading the attack, or, worse of all, the in-division YANKEES, who do have mostly righties but also have Earle Combs leading off lefty and then, one batter later, RUTH AND GEHRIG BACK TO BACK AS LEFTIES- this is a staff that WILL get rocked.



The Twins have the blessing and curse of playing in the AL.  If they played in the National League, with 6 teams and two playoff spots, then they'd be buried most likely behind powers like the Reds, Dodgers, Mets, and Cardinals.

But they're in the AL, so only four teams to play- and it really does look like the 1913 A's are definitely the weakest team in the division (maybe even in the who 10-team league.)  So the Twins are thus looking to be in third place, just one spot away from a playoff birth.  However, those two teams are the Yankees and Red sox (assuming the 2004 Red Sox play as well as I and everyone should expect them to), and because they're in a smaller division, they'll see them more often.

The season's 5 games long, so every team in the NL will play each other once.  But AL teams will end up playing two out of their three opponents TWICE- and two games against the Yankees and/or Sox could easily crush the Twins' playoff hopes.

Bottom line- there's talent on this team, and a playoff run could happen.  But with so many obstacles it won't be easy...........

Comments?


The last team, the 2004 Red Sox, coming up- and then the tourney!

[obiwanobiwan]

The last team- the 2004 Red Sox- is finished.

The 2004 Red Sox are just what you'd expect them to be- powerful offense, great Schilling-Pedro-Lowe pitching staff: a major threat to the Yankees.

There really isn't too much that can be said about this team that's unexpected or really would be unkown, knowing the real-world 2004 Sox.  Damon's still fast, Manny's still flashy, Ortiz still crushes the long ball, Pedro and Schilling still throw smoke.........

This team really DOES hit a lot of HRs- only the Big Red Machine Reds and the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees have hit more so far in the test games.

Which reminds me- the season is officially ready to start!

Here are the "Preview Power Rankings":

1. The 1927 Yankees/"DA YANKS" in the newspaper
2. The 1975 Reds/"RED MACH" in the newspaper
3. The 2004 Red Sox/"IDIOTS" in the newspaper
4. The 1965 Dodgers/"BLUE CREW" in the newspaper
5. The 1986 Mets/"AMAZINS" in the newspaper
6. The 1934 Cardinals/"DA GANG" in the newspaper
7. The 1991 Twins/"TWINKIES" in the newspaper
8. The 1954 Giants/"DA G MEN" in the newspaper
9. The 1908 Cubs/"DA CUBS" in the newspaper
10. The 1913 A's/"MACK MEN" in the newspaper

The schedule:

NL:

Cubs- Giants, Reds, Mets, Dodgers, Cardinals
Cardinals- Dodgers, Giants, Reds, Mets, Cubs
Giants- Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Reds, Mets
Dodgers- Cardinals, Mets, Giants, Cubs, Reds
Reds- Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers
Mets- Reds, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Giants

AL:

A's- Red Sox, Twins, Yankees, Yankees, Twins
Yankees- Twins, Red Sox, A's, A's, Red Sox
Twins- Yankees, A's, Red Sox, Red Sox, A's
Red Sox- A's, Yankees, Twins, Twins, Yankees

May the best teams win- I'll keep you poster.  Comments?

[Attezz]

I looked on the Internet for the "unofficial" Twins nickname of the period, and every search
turned up........... "Twinkies."     (If there are any Twins fans out there, please explain.)

You seriously don't get it?

[BDawk]

I mean, it's common knowledge that fatties Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett loved Twinkies and were even caught on TV eating them DURING A GAME!
It was a big story for a while.  The nickname was a natural fit

[Attezz]

Why are the Phillies called the Phils?

Why are the Blue Jays called the Jays?

[Shooty]

Why are the Phillies called the Phils?

Why are the Blue Jays called the Jays?

Because they had alot of guys named Phil and Jay on their teams?

[obiwanobiwan]

Alright, alright, calm down, sorry, should've caught the fat thing........

In all fairness, Puckett was before my time- I grew up with Piazza and the Mets (I know, ouch, but I wouldn't trade 'em, the Mets.  I only saw Mike Piazza, my favorite player ever and reason I came to love the Mets and stop being afraid of the baseball when playing catch, play in person once- and that game he hit a huge homer over the right-centerfield fence, and I was sitting along the mid-level seats on the first-base side of Dodger Stadium, so it seemed so much closer, and so did Mike as he rounded first............. I'll never forget it........)

So- any predictions for the tourney?

[Attezz]

Piazza had unheard of opposite field power.

[obiwanobiwan]

Week 1:
CHI@NYG: 17-24 STL@LAD: 15-13 CIN@NYM: 6-27
PHIA@BO: 6-8 NYY@MIN: 17-13

As the line scores show, it was a wild first week. The A's-Red Sox game was the only one where the pitching seemed to be able to somewhat contain the offenses.  Two out of the three NL games were blowouts, while the other three games were reasonably tight, with the Cardinals-Dodgers game being decided in the 9th.

Week 1 MVP:
A Yankee, but not one you'd probably guess.  The Yankees hit 8 HRs against the Twins in their game, with one of those belonging, unsurprisingly, to the great Babe Ruth.  But our Week 1 MVP outslugged the mighty Ruth that day, hitting 3 of the 8 HRs by the Yanks that day.  That man: Joe Dugan-NYY.

Week 2 coming...... comments so far?

[obiwanobiwan]

Week2:
CHI@CIN: 9-14 STL@NYG: 8-11 NYM@LAD: 10-18
PHIA@MIN: 16-17 NYY@BOS: 6-24

Week 2 MVP:
Plenty of deserving players this week, but when you hold the Murderer's Row Yankees to 6 runs on a complete game for the win with 7 K's, you win out.                                  That man: Curt Schilling- BOS.                          

Week 3:
CHI@NYM: 7-13 STL@CIN: 8-15 NYG@LAD: 8-6
PHIA@NYY: 11-14 BOS@MIN: 10-11

Week 2 MVP:
Another week with a lot of big-time heroes.  Lou Gehrig swatted 2 HRs, each after the A's had walked Ruth intentionally to pitch to him.  Johnny Antonelli pitched 6 great innings against the Dodgers, the first 4 of them perfect, with 7 K's while hitting a 2B and a 3B and scoring twice.  This week's MVP comes from that Giants-Dodgers game, but is not Antonelli, who might be called the unofficial runner up this week.  For going 5 for 5 in that same game, with two 3B and 2 HR with 4 of the Giants' 8 runs coming off of his RBIs, including the winning run, this week's MVP is Willie Mays- NYG.

Comments?