Pasttime: An Alternative MLB History (OOTP)

[Young Drachma]

I was talking to a friend from the Mountain West and was trying to convey the main differences of how major league baseball is so ingrained in the culture of cities like New York, Boston and St. Louis among others.

So I started thinking about it and thought it might be interesting to see what it would be like if baseball hadn't gotten started or grown in the places it was originally..and to basically create the same setup that we're used to today, but have different franchises, from different places and with completely different histories.

Also, I wanted to see if I could create a pretty organic league where the talent came from high school and college feeders almost entirely. It hasn't been 100% that way because of the way the game is setup when you let it simulate multiple seasons while adjusting the league strategy and such...but, it's still interesting to see how it works.

So, I'm going to start in 2006...but before we get there, I'll be recapping each of the teams in the league and the histories of the teams and their standout players throughout history, to give you an idea of who we're dealing with.

Divisional play began in 1962 and the designated hitter rule has yet to be adopted as of the 1999 season.

The World Series is and remains a best-of-nine game tilt. There has never been interleague play and the LCS is best-of-seven games. The regular season lasts 162-games.


ALIGNMENT AS OF THE END OF THE 1999 SEASON



AL EAST
---
Tampa Yankees
Columbus Clippers
Miami Marlins
New York Highlanders
Montreal Royals
Baltimore Colts
Birmingham Barons

AL WEST
--
Los Angeles Angels
New Orleans Zephrys
Chicago Cyclones
Colorado Springs Sky Sox
Salt Lake City Bees
Seattle Pilots
San Francisco Seals

NL East
--
Atlanta Firecrackers
Memphis Blues
New York Bombers
Philadelphia Blue Jays
Boston Browns
Brooklyn Kings
Toronto Marlies

NL West
---
Fresno Grizzlies
Keokuk Comets
Los Angeles Stars
Vancouver Canadians
Chicago Whales
Kansas City Elites
Detroit Mustangs

[Young Drachma]

EXPANSION IN THE DIVISIONAL ERA
---
1962
---
Toronto Marlies
Vancouver Canadians
Seattle Pilots
Norfolk Tides (to Baltimore)

1977
---
Los Angeles Stars
Memphis Blues
Montreal Royals
Salt Lake City Bees

The only team in history to fold to date are the Billings Mustangs, the 1917 World Series champs and 1930 AL Champs folded at the end of the 1948 season. The Phoenix Firebirds were spawned in 1949 to replace them and that team became the Fresno Grizzlies in 1962.

[Young Drachma]

TEAM-BY-TEAM HISTORICAL CAPSULES (To the end of the 1999 season)

ATLANTA FIRECRACKERS
(1901-1952, Louisville Colonels, (1953-present, Atlanta Firecrackers)
WORLD SERIES TITLES (8):
1905, 1930, 1933, 1951, 1954, 1989, 1990, 1996
NL PENNANTS (21):
1905, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1921, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1953, 1955, 1971, 1972, 1994
NL EAST PENNANTS (8):
1971, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996

Legends of the Game:
ATLANTA FIRECRACKERS
#1 Sloan Sullivan (1949-1955), 2nd Base/3rd Base
Sullivan might have gone into the Hall of Fame as a Keokuk Comet, but he cut his teeth with the Louisville/Atlanta franchise. He went UNDRAFTED in 1950, but quickly established himself first at the 1950 NL Rookie of the Year with Louisville, before winning the 1951 NL MVP. He went with the team in 1953 to Atlanta and spent three seasons as a Firecracker before moving on to Phoenix in 1956.)

#38 TONY "The Tiger" MITCHELL (1965-1980), Left Field
Tony Mitchell is synonymous with greatness in Atlanta. He sent his entire career as a Firecracker and is still the franchise leader in homers with 414 and RBI at 1514. He won 3 gold gloves and was a 6-time All-Star during his career.

#18 RONALD ROSS (1973-1993), Pitcher
Another lifer who spent his career as a Firecracker, Ronald Ross is the standard bearer for Atlanta hurlers. He won 20+ games five times and ended his career with 308 wins, a franchise record. His 2.79 career ERA is 5th all-time in franchise history.

[Young Drachma]

BALTIMORE COLTS
(1962-1974, Norfolk Tides 1975-present, Baltimore Colts)
WORLD SERIES TITLES: 0

AL PENNANTS: 1:
1988

AL EAST TITLES 2 :
1988, 1989

If you're looking for a franchise that epitomizes futility, it's this one. Until their breakthrough seasons in 1988 and 1989 when they managed to win an AL pennant and won the division the following yea,r this team spent the first 25 years of its existence no higher than 4th place and they only did that three times during that span.

Since 1992, the team hasn't finished higher than 5th. Always a rumored candidate to be headed elsewhere, the Colts are the doormats of the American League.

LEGENDS OF THE GAME:
Fred "Daddy LongLegs White", #45, Pitcher
Fred White was born and raised in Baltimore and was drafted by Keokuk out of the University of Oklahoma in 1962. He spent from 1962-1974 as a member of the Comets Big Red Machine, winning 6 top pitcher award during that span.

In 1975, at 37-years old he requested a trade to his new hometown team in Baltimore and was allowed to go. He managed to win another three Top Pitcher awards in Baltimore and was named to five more All-Star games. He finished his career in Montreal where he won another Top Pitcher in 1980.

He's always said that he was glad he got to pitcher at home and even went to the lengths of living in the same house he grew up in during the season. "It was always a trip that I could walk out of the same door that I did as a schoolboy, but instead of going to learn reading for Mrs. Jones or arithmetic from Mr. Sadler, I was throwing heat at Memorial Stadium and not only was I not skipping school, I was getting paid for it. It was such a hoot."

In 1990, MLB renamed the Top Pitcher award the Fred White Award.

[Young Drachma]

BIRMINGHAM BARONS
(1924-present, Birmingham Barons)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: (4)
1946, 1949, 1971, 1980

AL PENNANTS (7)
1931, 1943, 1943

AL EAST TITLES (5)
1971, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984

I'll get back to the Legends of the game section eventually, I just want to get through all of the team's and to recap their histories a bit before moving on. If you decide to 'adopt' a favourite team, then I'll focus on them a bit more, too.

[Young Drachma]

BOSTON BROWNS
(1901-1913, St. Louis Browns, 1914-1948 Providence Browns, 1949-present Boston Browns)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (4):
1922, 1924, 1929, 1939

NL PENNANTS (8):
1910, 1941, 1978, 1980

NL EAST TITLES (5):
1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980

[Young Drachma]

BROOKLYN KINGS
(1924-1948, Omaha Royals, 1949-present Brooklyn Kings)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (4)
1931, 1959, 1997, 1998

NL PENNANTS (5)
1956

NL EAST TITLES (3)
1981, 1997, 1998

CHICAGO WHALES
(1901-1910 Indianapolis Greens, 1911-present, Chicago Whales)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (2)
1903, 1938

NL PENNANTS (5)
1902, 1918, 1949

NL WEST TITLES (3)
1978, 1988, 1994

CHICAGO CYCLONES
(1901-1961, Rochester Red Wings, 1962-present, Chicago Cyclones)

The Cyclones transferred from the National League to the American League in 1962, upon their move to Chicago to protect the territorial rights of the Chicago Whales, who play on the South Side of Chicago. The Cyclones are the team of the North Side.

WORLD SERIES TITLES (4)
1917, 1933, 1935, 1957

LEAGUE PENNANTS (9)
1919, 1923, 1934, 1937, 1958

AL WEST TITLES (3)
1969, 1973, 1975

COLORADO SPRINGS SKY SOX
(1901-1948, Tacoma Rainiers, 1949-present, Colorado Springs Sky Sox)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (3)
1934, 1977, 1984

AL PENNANTS (8)
1923, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1987

AL WEST TITLES (4)
1974, 1977, 1984, 1987

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS
(1901-1910, Saint Paul Saints, 1911-present, Columbus Clippers)

Say you're looking for a team that epitomizes greatness. Need a team that's the best at what they do year in and year out? Trying to find the 'evil empire' of this MLB universe?

Look no further than...Columbus, Ohio? Maybe it's that real world long-time Yankee affiliation that recently ended that's rubbed off into this game, but the Clippers are simply the class of Major League Baseball in this universe.

13 World Series titles are the most of any team, as are their 29 postseason appearances.

WORLD SERIES TITLES (13)
1901, 1908, 1912, 1913, 14, 1916, 1923, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1965, 1969

AMERICAN LEAGUE PENNANTS (26)
1904, 1919, 1932, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1954, 1957, 1968, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1993

AL EAST TITLES (11)
1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1990, 1993

If you want to feel better about your bandwagon jumping ways, you can simply tell anyone who teases you that the team hasn't won a World Series since 1972 and that they've only made two post-season appearances since 1976. So...it's surely sometimes rough, even at the top.

DETROIT MUSTANGS
(1901-1910, Sioux City Cornhuskers, 1911-1923, Nashville Sounds, 1924-1967 Dallas Travelers, 1968-present Detroit Mustangs)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (5)
1945, 1948, 1952, 1976, 1987

NL PENNANTS (7)
1901, 1914, 1924, 1944, 1946, 1950, 1970

NL WEST TITLES (5)
1970, 1976, 1986, 1987

FRESNO GRIZZLIES
(1949-1961, Phoenix Firebirds, 1962-present Fresno Grizzlies)

WORLD SERIES TITLES
1973

NL PENNANTS (1)

NL WEST TITLES
1962, 1973, 1980, 1997

KANSAS CITY ELITES
(1901-1910 Hartford Dark Blues, 1911-1923, Jersey City Whites, 1924-1952, Jersey City White Sox, 1953-1975 Jersey City Elites, 1976-present, Kansas City Elites)

WORLD SERIES TITLES (7)
1909, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1961, 1981, 1995

NL PENNANTS (12)
1908, 1915, 1917, 1960, 1962,

DIVISION TITLES (13)
1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1981, 1990, 1995

[Young Drachma]

I'll finish the team history capsules next, but I wanted to share a little story with you, that I think will whet your thistle about what's to come in this particular MLB iteration.


SLUGGERVILLE
If you want a glimpse at how the steroid era in real life might look to people looking at it in the future, the 1950-1970 era in The Major Leagues might be a good glimpse.

Prior to this time, no one hit home runs. It was just a rare occurrence and hardly a priority in the game. But the offensive explosion that commenced during this period of time in baseball was simply unparalleled and might never be matched again.

Among these was the man who simply in a class by himself. With a work ethic that was unparalleled in sports prior to his arrival, he simply approached the game with a focus and dedication that yielded results that no one ever expects to see duplicated.

Simply put, Sloan The Slugger Sullivan, established a pace that'll never be duplicated.

Here are just a smattering of his achievements:


16 Straight seasons of 70+ HRs (1954-1968),
Career .353 hitter
18-time All Star
18 -time Most Valuable Player award winner, (1956-1960, AL, NL, 1951-1955 1961-1968)
Career leader in Slugger pct (.750),
On base + Slug (1.175),
Runs (2818)
Hits (4246),
Total Bases (9024),
Home Runs (1416)
RBI (3199)



Fellow Hall of Famer, Josh "Detroit Red" Ferguson, whose 702 career homers for the Dallas/Detroit franchise between 1965-1980 would normally place him singularly ahead of most batters, had the misfortune of spending his career 'backing up' Sullivan in terms of accolades for the title of best power hitter in the game. But, he did manage to get his own place in the record books in 1968, by breaking Sullivan's single-season home run record of 91 HRs that Sully set back in 1961. Ferguson's record stands at 93. Only five men in history have hit 80+ homers. Sullivan did it seven times. Ferguson did it twice in 1968 when he set the new record (93) and again in 1969 (82) and new newcomer in the form of Panamanian slugger Adrian Rivera, who hit 82 homers back in 1993 with Vancouver.

[Young Drachma]

KEOKUK COMETS
So, you're the type looking for the Green Bay Packers of Baseball, eh?
Look no further than the Keokuk (IA) Comets.

The team spent from 1901-1913 in Kansas City. But in 1914, Bud K.P. Moore, purchased the team and decided to move it to his hometown of Keokuk, Iowa. The hamlet of less than 20,000 people on the Mississippi River was an unlike place for a major league baseball team, except maybe for the fact that it converges along the lines of the borders of Illinois and Missouri, too.

The team never won a pennant from the time it moved to Keokuk, its four previous World Series titles all came in Kansas City between 1904 and 1911.

Anyway, the team managed to survive well into the 1960s, but barely. Moore refused to sell and refused to move the team. But, when Moore was basically into his 100s and on the brink of death, many possible owners were salivating at the opportunity to buy the team and conversely, there were some MLB owners who felt the "small-town experiment" had come to to a close in the burgeoning era of big-business baseball to come.

But, a group of local investors spanning well into rural Illinois and Missouri -- all who have adopted the team as their own -- as well as the Iowa faithful from throughout the state, created the Keokuk Community Professional Baseball Club, Inc., and acquired the franchise in 1962, ensuring that the club will never be moved out of Keokuk, due to the community trust setup of the ownership structure.

The community luck must've worked. The team won its first World Series in 1963. Repeated in 1964 and won three straight from 1966-68. They went from the doormats of MLB to one of the recent standard-bearing franchises. But unlike a big city club, they're hard to hate and have a fan base that spans the nation and the globe.

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 9
1904, 1906, 1907, 1911, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968

NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANTS: 14
1965, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1985

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST DIVISION TITLES: 14
1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1996

[Young Drachma]

LOS ANGELES ANGELS
(1901-present, Los Angeles Angels)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 5
1902, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985

AMERICAN LEAGUE PENNANTS: 8
1951, 1976, 1998

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST DIVISION CHAMPS: 8
1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1998

LOS ANGELES STARS
(1977-present, Los Angeles Stars)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 0
NL PENNANTS: 0
NL WEST TITLES: 1 (1998)

MEMPHIS BLUES
WORLD SERIES TITLES: 0
NL PENNANTS: 0
NL EAST TITLES: 2 (1993, 1995)

MIAMI MARLINS
(1901-1948, Toledo Mud Hens 1949-1967, Philadelphia Colonials, 1968-present, Miami Marlins)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 2
1960, 1962
AL PENNANTS: 3
1982
AL EAST TITLES: 6
1962, 1963, 1964, 1977, 1982, 1991

MONTREAL ROYALS
(1977-present, Montreal Royals)
WORLD SERIES TITLES: 0
AL PENNANTS: 0
AL EAST TITLES: 1 (1985)

NEW ORLEANS ZEPHYRS
(1924-1952 New Orleans Pelicans, 1953-present New Orleans Zephyrs)
WORLD SERIES TITLES: 1 (1950)
AL PENNANTS: (7)
1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1996
AL WEST TITLES: (8)
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1990, 1996

NEW YORK BOMBERS
(1901-1910 Boise Hawks, 1911-1923 Wichita Wranglers, 1924-1962 New York Bombers)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 1
1910
NL PENNANTS: 3
1903, 1906
NL EAST TITLES: 3
1971, 1973, 1982

NEW YORK HIGHLANDERS
(1901-1948, Portland Beavers, 1949-1952, San Antonio Missions, 1953-present New York Highlanders)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 7
1915, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1925, 1928, 1986

AL PENNANTS: 11
1942, 1952, 1967, 1997

AL EAST TITLES: 6
1966, 1967, 1986, 1987, 1997, 1998

PHILADELPHIA BLUE JAYS
(1901-1948, New York Metropolitans, 1949-present, Philadelphia Blue Jays)
WORLD SERIES TITLES: 3
1936, 1987, 1991

NL PENNANTS: 6
1947, 1969, 1986

NL EAST TITLES: 9
1969, 1970, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992

SALT LAKE CITY BEES
(1977-present, Salt Lake City Bees)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 0
AL PENNANTS: 0
AL WEST TITLES: 1 (1988)

[Young Drachma]

SAN FRANCISCO SEALS
(1901-1910 Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 1911-present, San Francisco Seals)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 2
1937, 1944

AL TITLES: 9
1906, 1909, 1911, 1922, 1929, 1945, 1981

AL WEST TITLES: 3
1972, 1980, 1981

SEATTLE PILOTS
(1962-present, Seattle Pilots)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 1 (1970)

AL PENNANTS: 3
1991, 1995

AL WEST TITLES: 10
1967, 1970, 1971, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997

TAMPA YANKEES
Why in God's name would a team in the south call itself the Yankees? Simple. To let people KNOW where the owners are from. When oil and cattle magnate P.D. Barnes decided to relocate his ballclub from the Rockies in Casper, Wyoming to Tampa, Florida in 1924, most thought he was crazy for going from one extreme to the other. But in retrospect, it seems he's figured out pretty vividly that Tampa would eventually become snowbird country and that the swamplands would be come prime real estate for who else -- but lots of Yankees.

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 8
1926, 1927, 1940, 1947, 1958, 1992, 1994, 1999

AL PENNANTS: 8
1905

AL EAST TITLES: 8
1979, 1981, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

TORONTO MARLIES
(1962-present, Toronto Marlies)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 1974
NL PENNANTS: 1
NL EAST TITLES: 1

VANCOUVER CANADIANS
(1962-present, Vancouver Canadians)

WORLD SERIES TITLES: 3
1975, 1982, 1993

NL PENNANTS: 5
1983, 1992

NL WEST TITLES: 6
1975, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1993

[Young Drachma]

BOMBERS TO BECOME THE HEROES FOR 2000 SEASON
NEW YORK -- With many questioning the name 'Bombers' for a New York team after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing), team officials mulled over the name change, consulted fan groups and decided to change their name to coincide with the team's 100th season in professional baseball in 2000.

The team will officially be renamed the New York Heroes.

"Our goal is to use this as a motivator for change and for the future, long-term success of the Heroes baseball franchise in New York. This name is for all of our heroes. Teachers, Firefighters, Policeman and all of the people who go out everyday in the service of others. We want to be a testament to your dedication on this field," said Heroes owner Steven Bloomberg, who purchased the team last year.

The team broke ground on a new ballpark that will open next year and is rumored to be named Heroes Stadium, replacing the team's current stadium and will be adjacent to Central Park.

[Young Drachma]

There are no minor leagues in this particular universe.

There are two tiers of feeder leagues tho.

The High School League is a two-league setup of 20 teams total. The teams are simply named for posterity and it doesn't really matter where they're located or anything like that. It's designed more to be like a Junior Major setup like hockey. Players can't enter MLB until they're 18. And players in both the Developmental Leagues and the Collegiate Leagues are subject to the 20-round draft. I've rooted it so created players no longer enter the draft, which is how I wanted it, so we could in theory track a 15-year old kid from the Developmental Leagues, through his career in the majors knowing where he played and stuff. Using cities wasn't as fun, since it would be hard to make the game choose players by city/state, I chose the franchise approach. But for the purposes of this dynasty, those teams are nominal and don't affect where franchises are placed in the majors or anything.

In the Developmental Leagues (15-18), the teams are:

AMERICAN JUNIOR
---
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Blues
Baltimore Orioles
Houston Astros
Philadelphia Athletics
Washington Nationals
Colorado Rockies
Milwaukee Brewers
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees

NATIONAL JUNIOR
----
Philadelphia Phillies
St. Louis Cardinals
Brooklyn Robins
Chicago Cubs
Indianapolis Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates
New York Giants
Minnesota Twins
Boston Braves
Cincinnati Reds

For guys who need "more seasoning", we have the Collegiate League.

EASTERN COLLEGIATE
---
Seton Hall
Ohio State
Harvard
Yale
St. Louis University
Navy
Rutgers
Ferrum
North Carolina
Monmouth (IL)

WESTERN COLLEGIATE
---
Colorado
Oklahoma
Stanford
Air Force
Oregon State
Wyoming
Oregon
Colorado State
UCLA
Nevada

[Young Drachma]

1999 MAJOR LEAGUE LEADERS IN SELECT CATEGORIES

PITCHING (I have the settings on 4-man rotations, Relievers and Closers Often..not very often)
---
http://www.crayon.tv/pitching1999.PNG

BATTING
---
http://www.crayon.tv/battingstats1999.PNG

[Young Drachma]

The last expansion was in 1977, as you well know now. MLB officials have been debating for a while about when the next expansion would take place, with cities from all over the country seeking entry into the majors.

At the owners meetings in 1997, the MLB owners approved an expansion for the 2002 season, 25 years after the last expansion, with just two teams being added.

The realignemnt scheme has yet to be announced, but is expected in the coming days.

League officials are EXTREMELY wary of creating the setup preferred by most of the media these days, which is a four-team four-division per league setup, but in order to do this, two more teams would need to be added and MLB officials have rejected this despite the interest from more than enough ownership groups.

Most argue that this format would "water" down the product in MLB and the preference these days is to maintain the "integrity of the game" by maintaining the current alignment, with two teams going to one league and the other league waiting for a few years before expanding the same way.

Mums the word at MLB headquarters on the new alignment, as well as what two cities will be awarded expansion franchises for 2002.

[Young Drachma]

MLB UNVEILS NEW ALIGNMENT FOR 2002
NEW YORK -- MLB officials say they are "proud" to announce the new alignment for the 2002 season, which will include two new teams for the first time since 1977.

The two as of yet not announced franchises will play in the newly realigned AL East and the NL West. The realignment will cause for the first time a variety of changes that will alter the game forever.

The first, is interleague play. League officials have said that the current setup just wasn't something they could maintain long-term. "While we're as aware of history as anyone, the fact remains that this is something most people have wanted to see for at least the past fifty years and it's not practical for us to continue separating the entities when for all intent and purposes, they are the same organization," said MLB executive director Frank Robinson.

The new three-division setup will be the first realignment since 1962, when divisional play began. The new setup will also faciliate a second-place division team advancing to the playoffs. But the playoff berth is not called a wild card. Instead, all of the non-division leading teams will compete for a leaguewide playoff berth that's called the President's Division.

"Each League President has decided to award a playoff berth to team with the best record in their league that does not qualify for the post-season via the conventional regular season mechanism. This will improve competition, spur interest in baseball for the entire season and create deeper and more meaningful opportunities for teams to compete for as long as they can," said Robinson.

The new alignment is:


AL SOUTH
---
Tampa
Miami
Birmingham
Baltimore
New Orleans

AL EAST
---
Columbus
New York
Montreal
Chicago
EXPANSION

AL WEST
---
Los Angeles
Colorado Springs
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle

NL EAST
--
New York
Philadelphia
Boston
Brooklyn
Toronto

NL CENTRAL
--
Atlanta
Memphis
Chicago
Keokuk
Detroit

NL WEST
---
Fresno
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Vancouver
EXPANSION

[Young Drachma]

At this point, I'm working my way up to about 2006 when I decide to take over a team and then we'll focus on that. So these recaps are largely just fly-bys until then.

2000 PLAYOFFS
---
AL EAST: New York Highlanders (100-56)
AL WEST: New Orleans Zephyrs (99-63)
NL EAST: Atlanta Firecrackers (88-74)
NL WEST: Fresno Grizzlies (95-67)

ALCS: New York def. New Orleans 4 games to 3
NLCS: Fresno def. Atlanta 4 games to 2

WORLD SERIES: New York def. Fresno 5 games to 1

[Young Drachma]

2001 POST-SEASON
---
AL EAST: Tampa Yankees (102-60)
AL WEST: Chicago Cyclones (94-68)

NL EAST: New York Heroes (93-69)

NL WEST: Fresno Grizzlies (97-65)

ALCS: Chicago def. Tampa 4 games to 3

NLCS: Fresno def. New York 4 games to 1

WORLD SERIES: Fresno def. Chicago 5 games to 2

[Young Drachma]

With an added round of playoffs planned starting next season, MLB has announced that for the first time in the history of the modern World Series, the series will be shortened from a best-of-nine game series, to a best-of-seven games series.

This is to compensate for the new realignment next season with the addition of Portland in the National League West and Washington, D.C. in the American League East.

[Young Drachma]

MLB WELCOMES TWO NEW TEAMS

MLB's first expansion in 25 years will take place this month as the new Portland Beavers of the National League West and the Washington Senators of the American League East will get set for their first major league seasons.

Portland last had a major league from 1901-1947, in the form of the club that became the New York Highlanders.

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. has never had a major league entry and the Senators hope to give the D.C. faithful something to cheer about.

We don't do an expansion draft. We just let the new teams sign players as they will and while it kinda sucks for them, that's been status quo policy since the inception of the league.

[Young Drachma]

Now I'll be simming from 2002 until the 2006 season. I haven't decided if I'll start in 2007 or not. I think I might try to do that, though.

I have no idea what team I want to take over, at this point. But the history of having this league develop as it has, has me intrigued if nothing else.

[Young Drachma]

The new schedule is setup like this in 2002.

20 intra-division games, 6 games against inter-divisional opponents, 3 games against a primary inter-league divisional opponents, plus 7 games (a three-game set and a 4-game set) against two teams from other divisions in the other league.

[Young Drachma]

2002
---
AL EAST: Chicago Cyclones (93-69)
AL WEST: Los Angeles Angels (89-73)
AL SOUTH: Baltimore Colts (102-60)
AL PRESIDENTS: New York Highlanders (91-71)

NL EAST: New York Heroes (87-75)
NL WEST: Fresno Grizzlies (89-74)
NL CENTRAL: Memphis Blues (93-69)
NL PRESIDENTS: Los Angeles Stars (89-75)

2002 PLAYOFFS
---
ALDS: Baltimore def. New York 3-0
ALDS: Chicago def. Los Angeles 3-1

NLDS: Memphis def. Los Angeles 3-1
New York def. Fresno 3-0

ALCS: Baltimore def. Chicago 4-0

NLCS: New York def. Memphis 4-3

2002 WORLD SERIES
---
New York Heroes def. Baltimore Colts 4 games to 1
(First title for the New York Heroes franchise since 1911, back when they were the Boise Hawks.)

2003
----
AL EAST: New York Highlanders (97-65)
AL WEST: Los Angeles Angels (84-78)
AL SOUTH: Tampa Yankees (99-63)
AL PRESIDENTS: Chicago Cyclones (96-66)

NL EAST: Toronto Marlies (96-66)
NL WEST: Los Angeles Stars (101-61)
NL CENTRAL: Detroit Mustangs (97-65)
NL PRESIDENTS: Philadelphia Blue Jays (90-72)

ALDS
----
Tampa def. Chicago 3-0
Los Angeles def. New York 3-1

NLDS
---
Detroit def. Toronto 3-1
Philadelphia def. Detroit 3-1

ALCS
---
Los Angeles def. Tampa 4-1

NLCS
---
Philadelphia def. Detroit 4-1

2003 WORLD SERIES
---
Los Angeles Angels def. Philadelphia Blue Jays 4 games to 3

[Young Drachma]

2004
----
AL EAST: Montreal Royals (101-61)
AL WEST: Seattle Pilots (94-68)
AL SOUTH: Tampa Yankees (95-67)
AL PRESIDENTS: Chicago Cyclones (96-66)

NL EAST: Brooklyn Kings (95-67)
NL WEST: Fresno Grizzlies (94-68)
NL CENTRAL: Keokuk Comets (90-72)
NL PRESIDENTS: Vancouver Canadians (91-71)

ALDS
---
Montreal def. Seattle 3-0
Chicago def. Tampa 3-0

NLDS
---
Vancouver def. Brooklyn 3-2
Fresno def. Keokuk 3-1

ALCS
---
Chicago def. Montreal 4-1

NLCS
---
Vancouver def. Fresno 4-3

2004 WORLD SERIES
---
Chicago Cyclones def. Vancouver Canadians 4-0

2005
----
AL EAST: Montreal Royals (112-50)
AL WEST: Colorado Springs Sky Sox (88-75)
AL SOUTH: Baltimore Colts (92-70)
AL PRESIDENTS: Birmingham Barons (91-71)

NL EAST: Toronto Marlies (87-75)
NL WEST: Fresno Grizzlies (95-67)
NL CENTRAL: Chicago Whales (87-75)
NL PRESIDENTS: Los Angeles Stars (88-74)

ALDS
---
Montreal def. Birmingham 3-1
Baltimore def. Colorado Springs 3-2

NLDS
---
Chicago def. Fresno 3-2
Toronto def. Los Angeles 3-2

ALCS
---
Baltimore def. Montreal 4-2

NLCS
---
Chicago def. Toronto 4-2

2005 WORLD SERIES
---
Baltimore Colts def. Chicago Whales 4 games to 1

This was the first World Series title in Baltimore's franchise history.

[Young Drachma]

2006
---
AL EAST: Montreal Royals (115-47)
AL WEST: Colorado Springs Sky Sox (94-68)
AL SOUTH: Tampa Yankees (94-68)
AL PRESIDENTS: Baltimore Colts (90-72)

NL EAST: Brooklyn Kings (94-68)
NL WEST: Vancouver Canadians (86-76)
NL CENTRAL: Chicago Whales (93-69)
NL PRESIDENTS: New York Heroes (91-72)

ALDS
---
Montreal def. Baltimore 3-1
Colorado Springs def. Tampa 3-0


NLDS
---
Vancouver def. Brooklyn 3-1
New York def. Chicago 3-1

ALCS
---
Montreal def. Colorado Springs 4-1

NLCS
---
Vancouver def. New York 4-1

2006 WORLD SERIES
----
Vancouver Canadians def. Montreal Royals 4-1

2006 marks the first-ever All-Canadian World Series.

[Young Drachma]

ECONOMICS OF THE GAME
On the cusp of my taking over a team and starting to participate in earnest in this dynasty, I want to talk a bit about the economics of how all of this works.

In 1981, Major League Baseball organized the combined media trust, a pool of radio, television and other media rights of the collective teams. While there is no revenue sharing besides this, the teams each get an equal sum from this each year. In 2006, that amount is estimated at $50 million per team.

This is ultimately, how teams like Keokuk are able to survive in the current landscape of a major league sport.

There is no salary cap or salary floor, so teams can spend whatever they want based on their revenues/intakes each year.

With baseball in random places, there are always potential major league cities seeking to poach from other cities. MLB owners have been reluctant in recent years to approve team moves. The last team to move cities were the Jersey City Elites who moved to Kansas City in 1976.

But as it turns out, there are two targets within the bullseyes of several cities that smell blood.

The New Orleans Zephyrs, still grappling with the impact of Hurricane Katrina has had on the New Orleans community, are planning to move for the 2007 season, though they have yet to indicate where their new home will be. The frontrunner is Houston, Texas. San Antonio is also vying for the team.

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake City Bees are on the block, for sale after nearly 30 years in Utah's capital and largest city. The team has only had one playoff appearance during that time and ownership -- unwilling to sink more money into the team to create a winner -- have conceded that it might be time for a change of pace.

The front runner in that team's race is less certain. Both Las Vegas and San Diego have expressed strong interest in the ballclub, as have an ownership group in Tuscon, Arizona. The advantage that the Arizona group has over the previous two, is that state previously was home to a major league club -- the Phoenix Firebirds played there -- before moving to Fresno in 1962.

The idea with league alignment -- to some degree, but not completely -- has to be identify markets that baseball could be paramount. The idea of an entire city revolving around baseball for the season appeals a great deal to the owners the current MLB. It allows fans to be engrossed in the product on the field, it allows people watch on national television via The Baseball Network -- a broadcast station that broadcasts baseball 24-7 -- and gives fans unparalleled access to the sport.

It's how it's remained the national pasttime well into the 2000s, despite the fact that other sports are working hard to nip the game in the bud in a variety of ways.

But anyway, back to team moves.

MLB's owners meet November 1st. There will be an emergency vote to decide to approve where New Orleans move. Salt Lake City will not be sold by then most likely and as a result, that team will most likely spend a lame-duck year -- possibly more -- in their current locale.

[Young Drachma]

ZEPHYRS MOVE TO HOUSTON APPROVED BY MLB
NEW YORK - The New Orleans Zephyrs are on the move. But this time, the move is permanent. The ballclub will become the first move in nearly a quarter century in the major leagues, as they will play the 2008 season in their new home of Houston, Texas.

The Houston Generals will play at 42,000 seat Ambush Stadium in downtown Houston.

"We're excited for this new day," said owner Lee Evans. "This is a proud day for Houston and for all of the fans of baseball in that great city. We're thrilled to be major league!"

Houston becomes the first major league team in Texas since the Dallas Travelers moved to Detroit back in 1968.

"It was indeed a glaring omission on the part of Major League baseball to leave a state as great as Texas without major league representation for so long," said MLB spokesman Paula DeBerry.

[Young Drachma]

TAMPA OWNER TELLS REPORTER A 'HINT'
TAMPA -- Yankees owner Paul Waterbury, talking with a reporter with the St. Petersburg Times last week "off the record" said that he might be interested in moving the team when the Yankees lease ends at the end of next season. The Yankees have not made any secret of their desire to replace aging Wicketts Field, but the team refuses to invest its own funds to build a new ballclub and would prefer to play a new city-funded park.

The city of Orlando is consider building such a facility to woo a major league club and this would obviously cause serious problems for Tampa should the proposal pass.

When probed about the tip he gave, he says "there is no truth to that," but the reporter stands by the comments that Waterbury supposedly made. "We're not staying here. I want to do something different and I'd love to leave my mark on this club, by being somewhere else. Those were his words," said the reporter who prefers to stay anonymous.

The Yankees have been in Tampa since 1911, so to move them would be huge replacement of an "institution," said one local writer. But don't expect it to happen.

"They've been using their own name -- The Yankees -- as leverage that they'll move back north for about 60 years now. Most times, we just roll our eyes and tell them to go ahead. This guy isn't any different than his predecessors."

[Young Drachma]

DARK CLOUD TAKES OVER IN TAMPA

TAMPA BAY -- In a surprise move to everyone (including the author of this dynasty), the Tampa Yankees have quieted the talk about the team's rankling over its new stadium woes, by announcing that they have hired a new general manager and Team President.

Dark Cloud, who worked in the private sector and was not a baseball exec prior to his hiring, says that despite that, he's a student of the game and believes that he's the right guy for the job.

"I love baseball and not just that, but I understand how to right a organization that's trying to reach the next level."

As the CEO of The Centurion Corporation, Dark Cloud helped that company posted triple-digit returns over the past decade before retiring to run an equity fund.

"I'm looking forward to having the background of a stadium outside of my office is a welcome sight."

The Yankees last won the World Series in 1999. They've won the AL East in 2001, 2003, 2004 and again last season before being dispatched in the playoffs by Colorado Springs in three straight in the AL Division Series.

The Yanks need to shore up their hole in left field and could use another reliable arm in their rotation.

"We're going to be aggressive and we're going to win. That's what I was brought here to do."

[Young Drachma]

November 1, 2006

We're the defending AL East champions. Conversely, the goal is to win this year. If we can increase the stock of the team in the media, it'll be a lot easier to get suitors for the team in a play to get a new stadium from Tampa. That's what ownership is saying. That we're gonna throw the book at this season to try to win and to get the Yankees back in the news for winning, rather than our recent string of post-season choke jobs.

Here is the PDF of the 2006 Team Leaders (http://www.crayon.tv/2006yanksteamlds.pdf) on our squad from the past season. I'll go into detail about the current standouts on the team, the future stars on the reserve squad and a little bit about Tampa Yankees history.

But...this will at least let you know what we're dealing with at the moment.

Here's the current 25-man roster. (http://www.crayon.tv/11106roster.pdf)

[Young Drachma]

You can't really root for (or against) the franchise until you know the stars who have made it what it is today. So here are the historical:

BATTING LEADERBOARD (http://www.crayon.tv/yanksbattinghistory06.pdf)

PITCHING LEADERBOARD (http://www.crayon.tv/yankspitchinghistory06.pdf)

[BYU 14]

Lot of work into this, nice set up and background.....I'll be following.

[Young Drachma]

SCANNING THE ROSTER: TAMPA YANKEES (2006 OFF-SEASON)
------
WHAT WE GOT:
Outfielder Mark Thompson is the best offensive threat from last year. He hit .326 with 38 HRs and 102 RBI. The 6th overall pick of the 1987 draft, he was the 1993 Rookie of the Year and has won the Sullivan award twice, as the best offensive player in the American League. (1998, 2003) His 720 career home runs are sixth on the all-time list. He's within reach of Miami legend Vicente Vargo's 771 home runs for 5th all-time.

Leland Corbin. He's a 25-year old centerfielder. 1st round pick of the 2000 draft. In his second full-season in the majors, he hit .304 with 30 HRs and 118 RBI this past year. He's got a rifle for an arm, too.

Austin Taylor, a 31-year old catcher who is in his first season with the Yankees after 3 1/2 years in Boston. 2007 will mark the 2nd year of a three-year deal worth $26.4 million that signed back before the 2006 season.

The Chickasha, Oklahoma native hit 19 HRs last year with 90 RBI as the starting catcher for the Yanks.

Broderick James, 26-year old starting second baseman, who was the Yankees 1st round draft pick back in 2003. In his first full Major League season in 2006, he hit .276 with 17 HRs and 62 RBI. He's still got some power potential, too.

Gabriel Vega
28-year old first baseman from Bixby, Oklahoma. Four-straight seasons of .300 or above was completed after he hit .318 in 2006 with 16 HRs and 79 RBI. Durable, hasn't missed a game since 2003. The 1998 first-round draft pick of the Yankees, he won the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year award.

SS Scott Atkins, the 2003 AL Gold Glove winner at shortstop, Atkins was acquired in late 2002 near the trade deadline from Columbus in a four player deal. One of the best defensive players in the game, his offense came back in 2006, as he hit a career best 10 HRs, en route to a .260 batting average, 60 RBI season with 83 runs scored, also a career high.

The 29-year old right hander is one of the most popular members of the Yankees in recent years, too.

On the rotation side. the staff is anchored by Santiago Martinez, a 28-year old right hander from Houston, Texas. In his second season with the Yankees after being acquired from Kansas City, he matched a career high with 19 wins in 2006. (He won 19 back in 2004 with Kansas City) He walks a lot of batters (101 BB in 281 IP in 2006) and his ERA is pretty high 3.93 this past year, but he's a solid guy that could probably hang out in the 3 or 4 spot for most championship teams and we'd like to get him there on ours, ideally through acquisitions.

Jesus Alarcom, the 1998 1st overall pick of the draft by Boston, Alarcom was a storied junior pitcher, coming up with the Indianapolis Indians. His pro career has been all with the Yankees, after being acquired in 2000 and during that time, he's been a solid pitcher.

2006 ended his streak of four straight seasons of 16+ wins (14-15, 4.41 ERA, 125 K in 261 IP)

WHAT WE NEED:

The bottom line is, we need more offensive punch in this lineup. I'd like to replace 3B Ray Mack, who has manned the hot corner in Tampa for the past five years, with someone who can hit better. He's a career .214 hitter and he has some pop in his bat, but simply put that's not going to get the job done long-term.

Our pitching staff is woefully short of guys who can blow you away and I like a staff that's got the components of fire-breathing dragons. We might even go with a five-man rotation -- which isn't standard in this league -- simply because I'd like to put less stress on our aces and it'd be good to see if it can't help things.

[Young Drachma]

2006 GOLD GLOVE WINNERS
---
Scott Atkins won the 2006 AL Gold Glove at shortstop, the 2nd of his career. He was the only Yankee to win one this year.

AL
---
P: Jaime Aguilar, San Francisco
C: Ryan MacNaughton, Baltimore
1B: William Shaw, Montreal
2B: Adrian Bishop, San Francisco
3B: Corey Wills, Columbus
LF: Kazu Endo, Washington
CF: Hunter Thomas, Washington
RF: Bryan Larsen, Chicago

NL
---
P: Anthony Mobley, Atlanta
C: Carlos Jaramillo, Vancouver
1B: Alfredo Lopez, Portland
2B: Jeremy McCarthy, Portland
3B: George Owens, Brooklyn
SS: Jack Davis, Vancouver
LF: Jon Gregory, Toronto
CF: Javier Cortez, New York
RF: Pablo Lara, Keokuk

[Young Drachma]

DOWN ON THE FARM
----
We're woefully poor on the prospect front. None of our prospects are in the Top 20.

Our top rated prospect at present is 20-year old outfield prospect Dave Johnson. He was a 1st round pick of the Yanks back in 2005. He's got great speed, is left-handed and has the potential to hit for average and gap power.

He played his junior league ball with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was a two-time Junior League all-star.

1B Duncan Cole is a 20-year old from Overland Park, Kansas and was a 2nd round pick in this past year's draft. He played his junior league ball in Milwaukee. He projects well as a power hitter, but is a pretty awful fielder. He's one of those kids that might either be feast or famine.

The last of our players rated in Baseball America's Top 100 is Will Griffin. Another outfield prospect, he's 20 and was a 3rd round pick in the 2006 draft. He's got decent outfield range and could turn out to be a pretty good hitter, too.

------
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Washington's Paul Anderson won the AL Rookie of the Year award for 2006. He went 16-16 with a 3.52 ERA this year with 225 Ks in 278 innings.

On the National League side, Chad Ford, center fielder for the Los Angeles Stars captured the award. Ford, 23, hit .300 with 19 HRs and 79 RBI.
-------
FRED WHITE AWARD:
34-year old Jay Milligan of the Montreal Royals won his first Fred White award as the AL's best pitcher in 2006 this past season, going 26-5, 2.60 ERA with 253 Ks in 280 innings.

On the NL Side, Edgar Stuart of the New York Heroes captured the award. He went 19-11 with 250 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA.
It was the second such honor for the 31-year old Syracuse, NY native. He won the award in 2004 as well.
----
SULLIVAN AWARD:
Ronnie Knapp, the Montreal Royals catcher won the Sloan Sullivan award for the AL in 2006, hitting 42 HRs and 132 RBI, with a .333 average this past year. It was his second straight season as the AL's Sullivan award winner and helped to lead the Royals to the AL pennant.

Matt Kirk, Fresno's second baseman bagged his first ever Sullivan award in 2006, hitting .337 with 36 HRs and 125 RBI in 2006. The 28-year old Kirk hails from Vineland, New Jersey.

[Young Drachma]

FREE AGENT EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
In past dynasties or OOTP games, I've been very much focused on ratings. Assemble the best ratings and talent and move on. For some reason, I don't know if it's vested history or whatever..but I'm look almost entirely at stats in this dynasty. Ratings matter, as they should. But I can tell you that most of my player evaluation will almost entirely come down to what a guy has put up numbers wise to decide who we're going to sign or not.

While winning makes for a better story on one level, signing guys and having them flop and trying to explain it, is a lot more interesting to write as a storyline.

So either way, I'm here to entertain. Let's go shopping.

[Young Drachma]

EARLY BIRD GETS WORM:
Yanks go dealing, get Sizemore and Kirk from Fresno.

TAMPA -- The era of Dark Cloud has officially begun in Tampa. The Yankees new GM wasted no time remaking his franchise, sending fan favorite and future Hall of Famer Mark Thompson, who has been patrolling the right field wall in Tampa for his entire career, along with his 720 career homers, along with four other players and cash to the Fresno Grizzlies for reigning MVP 2B Matt Kirk and 32-year old outfielder Michael Sizemore, along with two prospects.

Along with Thompson, whose entire $15 million contract the Yankees paid for Fresno to take, they sent 2B Broderick James, a talented young player who at 26, many believe still has the space to breakout to do even more damage in the future.

In fact, he was one of the players cited by Dark Cloud as the 'hardest to let go of'.

"He's got a bright future ahead of him still. The hardest part about developing fantastic players is dealing them. But in this particular case, we're happy with what we're getting back."

31-year old reliever David Eaton, who went 7-8 with 5 saves in 63 appearances last season was also included in the deal. along with a minor leaguer and a prospect.

In Kirk, the Yankees get a bonafide star. He signed a 3-year extension worth $42.5 million to sign the deal to come to Tampa and gives them a decisive bat and upgrades their defensive position at 2nd as well.

Meanwhile, Sizemore allows them to get a little younger in right field (he's 32) and while he'll never be mistaken for a power hitter (just 37 HRs in his career spanning over nine seasons), he's one of the best in the game on the basepaths (521 steals in his career and four straight seasons of 60+ steals currently) and is a career .330 hitter.

Some might say the Yankees gave up too much to make this deal work, but Dark Cloud has a swift rebuttal for that.

"We felt this was a great deal for us and at the end of the day, we did what we had to do to make it work. We're just getting started here and this is a statement in that direction."

The move dropped the Yanks budget room by $25 million, leaving the club about $42 million in budget room to make moves. The team's payroll is currently at $59 million after this deal.

[Young Drachma]

November 20, 2006
---
We dealt 2B Jeff Jones (.226 in 106 ABs last season) and pitcher LHP Chris Mobley (9-6, 4.37 ERA, 70 Ks in 23 starts, 28 appearances overall) SP Frank Williams, plus cash to the Philadelphia Blue Jays for OF Jeff Bowman and prospect SS Juan Juarez.

Bowman, 25, hit .274 last year with 3 HR and 24 RBI in 94 games with the big club, which was his rookie year.

Williams, 30, is a southapaw who was acquired by Tampa prior to the start of last season from Philadelphia in a three player deal.

He went 14-15 last year with a 3.38 ERA, with 77 Ks in 255 innings in his only season with Tampa.

For me, the most exciting part of the deal is seeing whether that Juarez kid will pan out to be anything special. Giving up two lefties is difficult, sure. But...I think this was a good opportunity for us to leverage our desire to get better, while still thinking of the future.

I have trading on "hard" by the way.

I've made a few offers on free agents, but we'll just have to see how things pan out before we know whether or not they'll bite on our offers.

[Young Drachma]

November 23, 2006
---
We dealt two more major leaguers, this time Arthur Groves who was 11-9 back in 2005 and made 26 relief appearances last year, along with reliever Adam Travis (6-2, 1 SV in 54 appearances last year) to Houston for three prospects.

The deal was handy from two perspectives. It saved us some money (about $6 million) and we got three kids that I think might help us later. The three players were 19-year pitcher Francisco Rivera, 19-year outfielder Mike Rivers and 22-year old pitcher Will Robinson

[Young Drachma]

November 24: Signed IF Tony Bauer to a one-year contract. (.276/1 HR/56 RBI for Chicago last year)

November 30: Signed SS Kris Corrigan to a one-year contract. (.285/3 HR/36 RBI from Kansas City)

December 5: Signed 3B Alberto Rivera to a 4-year deal worth $42.6 million. Rivera, 31, was an all-star for the first time with Vancouver last year and was part of their World Series title team. He hit .344 last year with 3 HRs and 67 RBI.

December 6: Signed SP Sean Blair to a four-year deal worth $74.1 million. Blair, 31, spent the past seven years with Baltimore. He's had back-to-back 20 win seasons. He was 23-9, 2.99 ERA with 268 Ks.

December 9: Sent SP Jesus Alarcom (14-15, 4.41 ERA in 2006) along with five minor leaguers to Keokuk Comets for P Pete MacNamara (4-0, 1 SV 3.00 ERA in 18 games in 2006) along with two minor leaguers.

December 12: Signed SP Danny McKinney to a three-year deal worth $44.2 million. 36-year old righthander went 12-20 last year with a 4.46 ERA in 41 starts. Struck out 223 batters.

Signed OF Hunter Thomas to a one-year deal worth $720,000. Has won four straight gold gloves at centerfield position. Hit .283 last year with 10 HRs and 60 RBI with Washington.

December 14: Signed OF Bang Lee to two-year deal worth $9.4 million. The 30-year old Taiwanese star hit .270 last season with 30 HRs and 104 RBI last year in Washington.

December 19: Signed OF Luis Silva to a four year deal worth $106.9 million. Silva, 28, spent the past six years in Los Angeles (NL). He hit 30 HRs last year with 103 RBI and a .313 average.

---
If you can't tell we're about 20 million bucks over budget. That makes this season even more of a make or break season for us. I'm perfectly okay with this, mind you, it's just...quite the investment into talent to see if we can't come out of it on top.

We're basically done. We have a few small offers on the board, but nothing major. I'm trying to pull the trigger on one more deal that'll get us from under a few of the contract we inheirted as the result of trades and well, one in particular...that if we can do, it'll be an arbitration number that was higher than I'm comfortable with.

-------
December 25: We sent catcher Austin Taylor, OF Leland Corbin and pitcher Michael Barton to Salt Lake City for SP Jerry Lucas and minor league reliever Bill Berry.

Lucas, 30, went 19-13 last year in Salt Lake with 3.76 and 271 Ks in 330 IP.

December 29: Signed P Ryan Messer to a 2-year deal worth $11.9 million (2-3, 3.76 ERA in 30 appearances last year in Salt Lake)

[Young Drachma]

Major Deals and Acquistions
---
I thought it might help to understand the context of the deals I've made, to know what other free agents were signed this off-season and for how much.

So here you go:

----
November 2006
--
Vancouver re-signed 38-year old pitcher Pepe De Jesus to a three year extension worth $12.4 million. De Jesus was 17-8 last year with a 3.46 ERA in 26 starts.

Columbus re-signed pitcher Howard Johnston to a 3-year deal worth $14.5 million, the third year is a mutual option year. The 36-year old southpaw was 15-15 last year with a 3.48 ERA. He had 200 strikeouts in 41 starts.

DECEMBER 2006
-----
Detroit signed third baseman Britt Warren to a four-year deal worth $72.9 million. In Montreal last year, the 29-year old Warren hit .317 with 28 HR and 107 RBI.

Keokuk re-signed catcher Tim Cox to a four-year deal worth $71 million. 32-year old Cox hit .272 last year with 25 HRs and 75 RBI with the Comets last season.

Atlanta signed reliever Gary Mitchell to a two-year deal worth $15.7 million. He went 4-6 last year with 6 saves in 63 appearances for Birmingham, with a 3.23 ERA. He's expected to be their closer.

Washington signed former Seattle first baseman Doug Donahue to a three-year deal worth $8.8 million. He hit .278 last year with 16 HRs and 72 RBI with the Pilots.

Houston signed former San Francisco 2nd baseman Tommy Glenn to a three-year deal worth $31.6 million. The final year of the deal is a team option worth $11.6 million. Glenn, 37, hit .318 last year with 5 HRs and 46 RBI for the Seals.

32-year old southpaw Joe Dixon will get the chance to start again after he inked a 3-year/$25.7 million deal with the Seattle Pilots after seven years with Miami. He hasn't been a regular starter since 2004 when he went 13-19 with a 4.90 ERA in 40 starts. Last year, he made 58 appearance (4 of them starts) and went 4-5 with 1 save and 4.73 ERA.

Colorado Springs re-signed SS Brendan Blair to a three-year extension worth $20.3 million. The 28-year old hit .289 last year with 8 HRs and 72 RBI last year.

Montreal re-signed Pedro Rodriguez to a 3-year deal worth $14 million. The 35-year old hurler went 23-10 last year with a 3.48 ERA.

As you can see, this is the sort of league where players can clearly start and finish their career with a team if they're productive. I think that's a cool aspect of things. With the added playoff format, there is more parity than before. Nine different teams have won the World Series since 1998.

[Young Drachma]

I just changed the minimum number of years necessary to become a free agent. It's now just 3 years from six. I also eliminated arbitration. The reason was, I didn't like how because we have so many kids in the minors due to backlog and stuff, that a lot of those guys don't get freed from their deals until late into their 20s. I think it'll be a problem we'll be able to completely remedy in a decade or so. But...at least now I'm actively aware of it.

I've also pulled back the trade deadline from August 31st to August 15th.

[Young Drachma]

We made a three-team deal with Boston and Miami on the eve of spring training.

The main parts that you'll care about are:

Boston acquired: 1B Gabriel Vega (.318/16 HR/79 RBI) from Tampa and SP Nick Dawson (14-19, 4.78 ERA) from Miami

Miami acquired: 2B Jose Molina (.273/5 HR/74 RBI) and a prospect from Boston. RF Michael Sizemore (.336/2/44), C Jose Valverde (.279 in 61 ABs) and three other players from Tampa

Tampa acquired: 1B Orlando Romero (.285/41/124), C Brandon Schneider (.315/32/78) and two other players from Miami.

[Young Drachma]

I'm not sure how we'll run this.

I think for the first season, I'm going to give monthly updates of the team's progress. Then I'm going to try..if we're in contention to update to the current date in the 2007 season and then run through each day by day until we get through the end of the season.

Just seems like a fun way to do it and I've NEVER run a dynasty that way.

If we're out of the race, it's an unlikely thing though. It'll just bore me.

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF MAY 1, 2007

American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Columbus Clippers 17 11 .607 -
Chicago Cyclones 16 14 .533 2.0
Montreal Royals 15 15 .500 3.0
Washington Senators 13 15 .464 4.0
New York Highlanders 10 20 .333 8.0

Western Division W L PCT GB
San Francisco Seals 20 10 .667 -
Los Angeles Angels 15 14 .517 4.5
Salt Lake City Bees 14 14 .500 5.0
Seattle Pilots 13 17 .433 7.0
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 8 21 .276 11.5

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Miami Marlins 18 11 .621 -
Tampa Yankees 18 11 .621 -
Baltimore Colts 14 15 .483 4.0
Birmingham Barons 13 15 .464 4.5
Houston Generals 10 19 .345 8.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Brooklyn Kings 19 10 .655 -
Boston Browns 17 13 .567 2.5
New York Heroes 17 13 .567 2.5
Philadelphia Blue Jays 15 14 .517 4.0
Toronto Marlies 15 15 .500 4.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Los Angeles Stars 20 8 .714 -
Kansas City Elites 15 13 .536 5.0
Portland Beavers 14 14 .500 6.0
Vancouver Canadians 14 15 .483 6.5
Fresno Grizzlies 13 16 .448 7.5

Central Division W L PCT GB
Detroit Mustangs 16 13 .552 -
Chicago Whales 14 15 .483 2.0
Keokuk Comets 12 17 .414 4.0
Memphis Blues 12 18 .400 4.5
Atlanta Firecrackers 9 20 .310 7.0


THOMPSON HAPPY IN FRESNO
After what will most certainly be a Hall of Fame in Tampa, Fresno outfielder Mark Thompson says that he's thrilled to be a member of the Grizzlies. "I couldn't be happier, man."

Thompson, 38, has showed no signs of slowing down with age. He's leading the majors in both homers (14) and runs batted in (40) to start the season, reiterating why Fresno pulled the trigger on the blockbuster deal to acquire the accomplished slugger.

Meanwhile in Tampa, GM Dark Cloud says that he's just fine with his team they way it is. "I'm pleased with these guys and there isn't anything about us that I'd change right now," said the head of the AL South leading Yankees.

"We haven't even peaked yet, so I'm excited about what's ahead for us," said DC about his ballclub.

SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR BLAIR, YANKEES
So far, the signing of SP Sean Blair, has panned out perfectly for Tampa. The 31-year old ace has started off the season 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in his first six starts with 40 strikeouts and just 13 walks so far this year.

"It's really great down here," said Blair about his new team. "It's been a focused, but relaxed atmosphere pretty much from day 1."

Blair is in a three-way tie for 2nd in the majors for most wins so far this year and fifth in the majors in ERA.

[Young Drachma]

We dealt Cuban defector and outfielder Juan Melendez (.213, 3 hr, 4 SB in 89 ABs), SS Scott Atkins (.343 in 67 ABs) and a prospect to San Francisco for four players including OF Takuya Yamasaki, who is the first player from Wales in the major leagues. Though of Japanese descent, he was born in Wales where his father was a diplomat and where is mother was born. His nickname is Tea-Time.

(Note: I changed his name to make the story more interesting. Nothing else..)

The 30-year old veteran is hitting .317 so far this year with 3 HRs and 9 stolen bases as the starting right fielder in San Francisco.

Melendez, 24, is a five-tool player with lots of upside and most are wondering if there is panick in Tampa at the growing gap (currently three games) between the Yankees and Marlins in the AL South.

"We think Takuya is an excellent addition to our ballclub and we think the other players we acquired in the deal have the ability to contribute for us down the road," said Yankees GM Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

TAMPA TO YANKEES: MOVE IF YOU WANT
Officials representing St. Petersburg and Tampa have both told the Yankees that if the team wants to seek out a new stadium deal elsewhere, that they have the blessing of the city.

"The taxpayers have spoken," said St. Petersburg county commissioner Beth Page, "and they're tired of sports teams trying to dictate what price that the people will pay for stadiums for billionaires."

The Yankees have been in Tampa for over 90 years, but it seems increasingly likely that the team will relocate as soon as 2008.

"We've identified a few cities that have been proactive in their communications with us and we'll begin to have discussions with them about our future," said Yankees spokesman Darryl Henderson.

[Young Drachma]

JUNE 2007 STANDINGS
American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Montreal Royals 34 23 .596 -
Chicago Cyclones 29 28 .509 5.0
Columbus Clippers 27 29 .482 6.5
New York Highlanders 23 35 .397 11.5
Washington Senators 21 34 .382 12.0

Western Division W L PCT GB
San Francisco Seals 33 24 .579 -
Los Angeles Angels 31 25 .554 1.5
Salt Lake City Bees 27 28 .491 5.0
Seattle Pilots 25 33 .431 8.5
Colorado Springs Sky Sox19 38 .333 14.0

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Tampa Yankees 35 21 .625 -
Miami Marlins 35 22 .614 .5
Birmingham Barons 28 29 .491 7.5
Baltimore Colts 25 31 .446 10.0
Houston Generals 23 34 .404 12.5

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Brooklyn Kings 35 21 .625 -
New York Heroes 31 26 .544 4.5
Philadelphia Blue Jays 29 27 .518 6.0
Boston Browns 30 29 .508 6.5
Toronto Marlies 30 29 .508 6.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Los Angeles Stars 31 25 .554 -
Kansas City Elites 31 26 .544 .5
Fresno Grizzlies 28 29 .491 3.5
Vancouver Canadians 27 30 .474 4.5
Portland Beavers 24 32 .429 7.0

Central Division W L PCT GB
Chicago Whales 30 27 .526 -
Keokuk Comets 30 27 .526 -
Memphis Blues 30 27 .526 -
Detroit Mustangs 28 30 .483 2.5
Atlanta Firecrackers 24 34 .414 6.5

[Young Drachma]

YANKEES OFFICIALS VISIT INDIANAPOLIS
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana was the first locale on the list of potential cities for the Yankees ownership group last week, after the team publicly announced plans to relocate the ball club or to explore options to that end.

Indianapolis, a major metropolitan hub in the midwest says it's the "perfect" locale for the ballclub.

"We're already home to a huge base of Yankees fans, but more importantly, we're a city on the rise," said Stuart McClellan, in a piece for the Indianapolis Star entitled, "Why the Yankees should relocate to Indianapolis."

Also on the list of potential visits are Newark, New Jersey, which recently built a new multipurpose facility, Las Vegas, Nevada, Orlando, Florida; Toledo, Ohio; Hartford, CT;,and the former home of the Yankees back in the early 1900s, Wyoming. But this time, the city of Cheyenne is vying for the team. The team's first decade were spent in Casper. Ownership said the last visit is more a courtesy than anything else.

"We feel it's a good way to assess where the Yankees brand penetrates and we feel like that part of the country is about where our signal ends in terms of carrying large swaths of the nation," said Team President and GM Dark Cloud.

It's anyone's guess what will happen with this process, but team officials said they hope to have a deal in place by August 1st. Tampa officials have already indicated the team can extend its lease for another year if need be, provided the team (if moved) is out for good in 2009. But..city officials say that they're not in a hurry to see the team go.

"They're great for business. But I don't know what they are doing," said Pete Mitchell of the Tampa-St. Pete Board of Tourism.

[Young Drachma]

2007 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT----
I'm just going to cover the notable picks from our side. It's a 25-round draft.

Generally speaking, high school and college stats mean nothing in the context of trying to assess prospects at this level.
----
ROUND (OVERALL)
1 (29): Dan Crowley, Catcher, 22, Seton Hall
Crowley is not the best prospect in this draft. But he is the best player at our pick who is ready for the majors right now. He boasts a 79 GAP and 76 Power number and is rated 92 at Catcher. That combination makes him the kind of kid that I'd like to have now, that can help us now and would allow me to deal one of my catching prospects for other players that can help us down the stretch.

2 (58) Pedro Montoyoa, Starting Pitcher, Dominican Republic.
95 STUFF/49 MOVEMENT/75 CONTROL

He's got lots of upside as a front-line starter if he pans out, but at age 19, it's going to be a while before we'll hear from him, if at all.

3 (87) Carlos Vargas, Closer, Seton Hall
POTENTIAL: 98/65/75
The closer on the College World Series champion Seton Hall Pirates, Vargas is a 22-year old hurler who has decent endurance (45) and might be worth exploring into a spot starter role down the line, once he develops, just purely on his intangibles.

4 (116) James Nelson, 2B, Randallstown (HS) Maryland
POTENTIAL: 62/68/18/48/63

He's not going to do much positionwise, he's just marginal and needs to bulk up, but he's got the ability to be decent with the stick down the road.

Now, I have a penchant for..in the later rounds of draft, recreating a whole pool of new players for the teams to choose from. You may say "THAT'S NOT FAIR?!" But here's the deal. The game is absolutely awful at draft modeling. Even in the lower leagues without massive tweaks. My tweaks will take hold in time, but they're just not here yet and I'm not happy with the talent distribution in this league. Part of it probably has to do with the lack of minor league development to track player progress.

But anyway...to bolster the youth movement in the game, I created a glut of foreigners mostly (Dominican Republic, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Netherlands Antillies , maybe one or two others) and it's only like another 35 players that were any good of those that I created, the rest are crap. All we're at the level of "draft-eligible prospect" or "very young and raw" and the idea is...to have them into the lower rounds. It gives us the whole "hidden gem" effect, plus it just makes the draft a lot more interesting than drafting one-star guys in the 4th round.

And it's fair, because the computer gets its shot well before I do. And I'm all about making the computer teams better and spreading the wealth disproportionately in their favour anyway. Otherwise, there isn't a point in writing.

5 (145): Alfredo Velasco, Dominican Republic, Shortstop
POTENTIALS: 68/72/15/85/61

He's just 18. And there were NO DOUBT better players ahead of him on the board. But I decided it was more important for us to go with need, at this point, than to go with "best player available."

If he pans out, we have a solid shortstop for on our hands, with potential to hit for average.

6 (174): Vincent Lacy. 19, South Africa, Starting Pitcher
POTENTIALS: 57/66/60

7 (203): Steve Bradley, 19, Houston, TX, HS
POTENTIAL: 46/63/75

Next year's draft is going down to 10 rounds. The long draft is kinda silly with the lack of a minor league system. I might go lower after that, if I choose to. It's silly to drag it on for no reason when the players drafted will almost never make it to the majors anyway.

[Young Drachma]

2007 AL-ALL STARS
---
Here are the members of the Yankees selected for the 2007 All-Star game:


SP Sean Blair (10-3, 2.76 ERA, 85 K in 14 starts)

SP Francisco Rosado (9-3, 3.07 ERA, 103 K in 15 starts)

MR Joe Stanley (4-3, 14 SV, 27 K in 28 appearances)

2B Matt Kirk (.358/ 11 HR/ 44 RBI in 296 ABs)

C Brandon Schneider (.320/15 HR/ 44 RBI)

1B Orlando Romero (.317/15 HR/ 65 RBI)

LF Luis Silva (.336/12 HR/ 31 RBI)

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS WOOS THE YANKS
LAS VEGAS -- The North Las Vegas development complex is getting underway and the firm developing it are trying their best to create an entire town out of scratch just for the Yankees.

"Diamond Park, Nevada will be the most immaculately concieved area in the history of sports. It'll be a mixed-use, community-centered environment. So nice that players might want to live there, but besides that, it's just a beautiful place with a stadium as the anchor, but with schools, parks, businesses and much much more."

According to city officials, the nearly $1.1 billion project is being built "with or without the Yankees."

"We believe this locale is prime real estate for any baseball team. We believe in the future of baseball in the Interior West and want to be the crown jewel of that for whoever decides to come here."

The Salt Lake City Bees are looking at this with peering eyes, as the team is already established in the region and is looking at a potential move. San Diego and Tucson, Arizona is also wooing that team.

Meanwhile, Yankees officials are mum as to where they're looking at going. They've been cross-crossing the country in recent weeks and given that there has been "no communication" between the team and Tampa officials, the likelihood of the team staying in the city beyond this season seems increasingly unlikely.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore than you do," said GM Dark Cloud, when asked recently if he had any idea how the move was coming along. "I was brought here to construct a team to win a title and we're working hard at that. I'll let the folks in the upstairs office deal with all of that."

On whether he'd be with the team when they moved or not, DC was mum. "I'm focused on this season right now. Besides that, I'm not thinking about anything else. This season is the most important one to me at the moment."

[Young Drachma]

JUNE 25: Dealt prospect C Shaun Gordon, reliever Bill Berry, OF Kevin Pope and prospect pitcher Wade Cannon, plus cash to Columbus for reliever Tomas Martinez (3-5, 3 SV, 5.35 ERA with 25 K in 30 games) and SS Luis Bernal. (.301 BA/ 6 HR and 35 RBI in 276 ABs)

[Young Drachma]

ALL-STAR BREAK REVIEW

So here's the story. At the All-Star Break we lead the majors with 54 wins. At 54-31, we're 3 1/2 games up on the Marlins.

We're tops in the AL in batting and hits, 2nd in Homers, OBP, SLG and Runs scored.

Our pitching staff is the 2nd best ERA in baseball and the recent gutting of the bullpen has paid dividens as our Bullpen ERA is tops in te league too.

I don't forsee us making a lot of moves at the deadline, given we've done all we could during the off-season with this team, there won't be any big signings this deadline and we'll just have to hope this team as it's composed right now will be enough to get us over the hump.

I'm attaching our mid-season batting statistics and our pitching stats too, in case they are of interest to you.

Also, feel free to chime in on potential cities for this team to relocate to. I'm not 1000% sure that they'll go, but...the storyline itself is evolving and I'd love to get a bug in my ear if there is an interesting angle you can concoct. Besides the obvious "Yankees to New York" story, which obviously isn't going to happen.

Also, you do realize that the DH still has never been implemented. I'm tempted to consider doing this as early as next year. It'd be for both leagues, but the idea is..I'm kinda tired of hitting pitchers, because especially in this game, they stink and there isn't any real way around that. So if they offer nothing to the game at all, it seems kinda silly to keep allowing other than for tradition, which is a bad idea to me.

I think five-man rotations and changing the pitching setup of the league to allow more relievers has improved the pitching numbers dramatically, but also has quelled the hitting outbursts of past years.

BATTING STATS (http://www.crayon.tv/yanks07allstarbreak.pdf)-- ALL-STAR BREAK (TAMPA YANKEES 2007)

PITCHING STATS 2007 ALL-STAR BREAK (TAMPA YANKEES 2007) (http://www.crayon.tv/yanks07allstarbreakpitch.pdf)

[Young Drachma]

JULY 3, 2007 ~ ALL STAR BREAK
MLB STANDINGS


American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Montreal Royals 51 35 .593 -
Columbus Clippers 44 42 .512 7.0
Chicago Cyclones 44 43 .506 7.5
Washington Senators 36 48 .429 14.0
New York Highlanders 34 53 .391 17.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Salt Lake City Bees 42 43 .494 -
Los Angeles Angels 42 44 .488 .5
San Francisco Seals 40 46 .465 2.5
Seattle Pilots 40 47 .460 3.0
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 37 49 .430 5.5

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Tampa Yankees 54 31 .635 -
Miami Marlins 51 35 .593 3.5
Birmingham Barons 44 42 .512 10.5
Baltimore Colts 43 43 .500 11.5
Houston Generals 29 58 .333 26.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Brooklyn Kings 51 34 .600 -
Philadelphia Blue Jays 50 36 .581 1.5
New York Heroes 49 37 .570 2.5
Boston Browns 41 46 .471 11.0
Toronto Marlies 39 49 .443 13.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Vancouver Canadians 46 40 .535 -
Fresno Grizzlies 44 42 .512 2.0
Los Angeles Stars 43 42 .506 2.5
Kansas City Elites 41 44 .482 4.5
Portland Beavers 37 47 .440 8.0

Central Division W L PCT GB
Memphis Blues 53 34 .609 -
Chicago Whales 46 40 .535 6.5
Detroit Mustangs 44 43 .506 9.0
Atlanta Firecrackers 38 49 .437 15.0
Keokuk Comets 38 49 .437 15.0

[Young Drachma]

REPORT: BEES TO NEVADA IN 2008
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- An unconfirmed report out of the All-Star Game festivities is that the Salt Lake City Bees are off the market. The team is reportedly being acquired by Devin Smart, the son of Madras Palace Casino owner Bobby Smart, for $382 million.

Smart, 41, would be one of the youngest owners in the game. But the team would, after a year at Cashman Field, move to the gleaming new Diamond Park complex in North Las Vegas.

No comment was available when we tried to reach Smart, MLB or the current owners of the Bees.

[Young Drachma]

MAJOR LEAGUE LEADERS (BATTING & PITCHING) (as of July 3, 2007)
http://www.crayon.tv/07ASbreakbat.PNG

http://www.crayon.tv/07ASbreakpitch.PNG

[Young Drachma]

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY OFFICIALS SAY "WHY NOT US?"

New Jersey's last major league baseball entry left in 1975, when the Jersey City Elites headed west to Kansas City. Despite vying for several clubs during the last expansion and attempting to woo teams, the city has been unsuccessful in its bids for teams.

The number one reason? It has nothing to do with usual city problems such as crime or even the lack of a suitable stadium. It has everything to do with the behemoth to the north. New York City.

"Teams are afraid to come here, because they feel all of our fans are already rooting for New York teams," said baseball writer for the Newark Star-Ledger Paul Kiper.

"But I think they'll find a much more nuanced environment and that New Jersey people like to root for New Jersey teams."

The most likely candidate on the block at present, are the Yankees, who are strongly considering a relocation from Tampa at the end of the season. While Indianapolis has privately emerged to be the frontrunner for the ballclub, Newark officials -- who say they have yet to talk to the team -- believe that their city is the perfect place for the team.

"Our brand new ballpark is less than a year old and has the ability to be expanded. Major League Soccer put its team just over the river in Harrison, NJ and the New Jersey Devils hockey team are moving this fall. It's the right time to be in Newark," said Mayor Cory Booker.

The city's woes in other areas such as crime and woeful schools say that "they should be focusing their efforts on other things," but the city says that "We're in the midst of a renassiance. Into the early 50s, Newark was still one of the largest cities in America. We're on the doorstep to the world's economic powerhouse. We believe this is the right place for a major league team and baseball's legacy here is long."

When asked about this, Yankees spokesman Randy Winter said, "I've heard nothing about this before."

[Young Drachma]

I've noticed that the most important thing that revenue sharing does (and we don't have it, but revenues are still pretty evenly distributed as it turns out anyway) is that it allows teams to keep their best players locked into long-term deals.

At least, that's what the AI in this game does almost universally. It's an interesting thing, because the landscape isn't anything resembling what we see in the status quo.

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF AUGUST 1, 2007

American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Montreal Royals 66 43 .606 -
Chicago Cyclones 56 53 .514 10.0
Columbus Clippers 54 55 .495 12.0
Washington Senators 49 58 .458 16.0
New York Highlanders 42 68 .382 24.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Salt Lake City Bees 56 52 .519 -
San Francisco Seals 54 56 .491 3.0
Los Angeles Angels 50 59 .459 6.5
Seattle Pilots 49 61 .445 8.0
Colorado Springs Sky Sox45 64 .413 11.5

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Tampa Yankees 68 41 .624 -
Miami Marlins 64 45 .587 4.0
Baltimore Colts 58 51 .532 10.0
Birmingham Barons 56 52 .519 11.5
Houston Generals 40 69 .367 28.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Philadelphia Blue Jays 64 45 .587 -
Brooklyn Kings 62 45 .579 1.0
New York Heroes 58 50 .537 5.5
Boston Browns 49 60 .450 15.0
Toronto Marlies 49 62 .441 16.0

Western Division W L PCT GB
Los Angeles Stars 60 48 .556 -
Vancouver Canadians 58 51 .532 2.5
Kansas City Elites 53 55 .491 7.0
Fresno Grizzlies 51 58 .468 9.5
Portland Beavers 49 59 .454 11.0

Central Division W L PCT GB
Memphis Blues 68 42 .618 -
Detroit Mustangs 55 55 .500 13.0
Chicago Whales 53 56 .486 14.5
Atlanta Firecrackers 49 60 .450 18.5
Keokuk Comets 49 61 .445 19.0

[Young Drachma]

Yankees first baseman Orlando Romero will be out 7-8 weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Romero, 30, who is in his first year with the Yanks is the team leader in home runs this season with 23 and RBI with 84.

The team called up Billy Howard from the reserve roster today. The 26-year old rookie was acquired in the off-season from Keokuk and during spring training was a hit among all of the veteran players.

"I think the kid will shine in his chance to show us what he can do," said GM Dark Cloud.

Howard, 26, was a first-round pick of the Comets in 2002 and played his college ball at Ohio State.

[Young Drachma]

August 7, 2007

THOMPSON ON THE MOVE, AGAIN
PHILADELPHIA -- After being dealt in the off-season, future Hall of Famer Mark Thompson (.354/36 HR/ 113 RBI) felt that the Yankees, his long-time team figured he didn't have much left to offer them.

But the 39-year old slugger is vying for a triple crown, with less than six weeks left in the season and with his Fresno Grizzlies in last place, he quietly asked management for a trade.

"I don't know how many years left I have here. They were gracious and I'll always appreciate that."

The slugger was dealt to Philadelphia today for three prospects.

The Blue Jays are a half game behind the Brooklyn Kings in the NL East.

[Young Drachma]

August 9, 2007

In 9 games with the big club, Billy Howard is hitting .368 with 2 HRs and 9 RBI. I got him this off-season specifically because I saw his potential numbers and thought he was suffering from not being able to play everyday. I think he'll develop into a real talent.

But we're in a pennant race. And to be honest, we're 7 games up in the division and even if we somehow blow that..we'll probably get the Presidents (Wild Card) title and so, I'm not overly concerned about that.

We're a decently veteran ballclub.

I'm wondering more about the playoffs and how we match up with potential opponents, so being able to get a veteran producer..even if he's just a month long rental, is almost worth it to me.

There might be an offer on the table for us to pick up a veteran 1st baseman who is in his walk year. I might have to give up a pretty good prospect to get him, but I'm almost tempted to do it.

I think the coin flip is like this. Our team is good enough to win for years to come. Most of our core guys are locked into long-term deals and our payroll is capped pretty much where it is, so we can't take on any major deals.

But, I hate making the assumption we can win later, when you don't know what'll happen later. I'd rather take the chance to roll the dice now and let the future play out however it does. Plus, I've done a good job of getting the farm system on track and so, I'm not as concerned about it as I was when I took the job.

It'll be an interesting thing to see whether I pull the trigger or not, as the deadline approaches on August 15th.

[Young Drachma]

August 13, 2007
We dealt SS Luis Bernal (.319/5 HR/17 RBI) and outfield prospect Will Griffin to Detroit for 1B Skip Gustafson. Gustafson, 30, is in the last year of his deal with the Mustangs. He's hitting a major league leading
.350 with 13 HR and 75 RBI this year. He's spent the past six years in Detroit and refused to sign an extension last month, opting instead for free agency.

"I'm tired of losing. It's nothing personal, I love the people in Detroit. But I've only been to the playoffs once in my career (2003, the Mustangs lost to Toronto in the ALCS) and I was really excited to know a team of this caliber wanted me to contribute. Shoot, I'll be the bat boy if it means I can wear my jersey and get on the field a bit in the playoffs," he said about his impending move to Tampa.

Meanwhile, GM Dark Cloud said that the move was "really about us doing the best possible thing we could for our team. I mean, we're really excited about the work that Billy (Howard) has done in relief of Orlando during his injury. But we wanted to make a proactive move towards a World Championship and I'm convinced that when this deal came available that it was the best thing for us and we couldn't be happier about Skip coming to town."

Howard, 26, is expected to replace the departed Bernal -- who was desirous of a starting position with a ballclub and still has a year left on his deal -- as the team's lead infield backup, because he can play all four infield positions.

"I'm all about winning, man. It's as simple as that for me," said Howard, after hearing news of the deal.

The MLB trade deadline is August 15th at 11:59pm.

[Young Drachma]

I imagine the pace will slow down now. I intend to do a day-by-day account of the team's regular season up until the end of the year and through the playoffs. It'll be difficult for me to stay patient that long with it, so I welcome (invite? demand? beg?) feedback, questions and other league interest because otherwise...I'll just succomb to my impatient side and sim the rest of the year to see how my team does.

[Young Drachma]

August 14, 2007

I just got a trade proposal from Boston. They offered me David Morgan (21 HR/78 RBI/.284), a centerfielder for starting pitcher Sean Blair. (13-7, 3.25, 147 K).

No way in hell I'll make that deal. But, knowing that Morgan, 33, is available is alluring to me and so, I've taken to negotiating with them.

Morgan would be a nice addition to our weakness in center field. He's another rental player (last year of his deal), but the only regular player I'd have to give up to get him at the moment is SP Santiago Martinez (7-9, 3.97 ERA, 172 K in 24 starts) and a fifth outfielder named Steve Knapp. The other three players I'd send are prospects. And of those, only Tom Sims (20 years old, 80/76/84 potentials) is worth screaming about.

Sims is from Connecticut and having him in New England might be good for that franchise and conversely, I don't have time to worry about pitchers who might be four years out, when I'm trying to win a World Series now.

Needless to say, I'm working out the trade as I post this. So it's more of a running commentary.

But the deal is done now and is about to be official.

BOSTON GETS A BOUQUET OF PROSPECTS FROM TAMPA AT DEADLINE

BOSTON GETS:
SP Santiago Martinez (7-9, 3.97 ERA, 172 K)
MR Steve Bradley (19)
SP Tom Sims (20)
3B Eyal Fassman (25)
OF Steve Knapp (25)

TAMPA GETS:
CF David Morgan (.284/21/78)
P Brian Cox (4-11, 4.80 ERA, 103 K)
SS Dennis Smith (.241/5 HR/26 RBI in 245 ABs)

[Young Drachma]

Here's the schedule for August and September. I'll post September's again when we get to that month, but I figured just so you could see what's on the horizon.

If you'd like the whole league schedule or a particular team's updates, lemme know.

http://www.crayon.tv/aug2007schedule.png

http://www.crayon.tv/sep2007schedule.png

[Young Drachma]

I think I've decided rather than sim through the rest of this first season slowly, I'm going to make the team move and let all of that stuff take care of itself..and then I'll come back and run through 2008 a little slower. I'd like to get invested in it that way, but..not to the point where it's uninteresting or something.

My dilemma was figuring out where the team was headed, but now that I know..I'd prefer not to lame duck through another year.

[Young Drachma]

In other news, for 2008 and beyond, I think I'm going to eliminate the developmental leagues and create two levels of minors. I'll keep the draft going, but I'll create the draft pool using the 'create player' mechanism each year, so I can control the flow of where players are coming from each year.

One of the leagues will be a regular minor league that runs all year. The other league will be a developmental winter league.

[Young Drachma]

Speaking of team moves in 2008, though there wasn't a release about it, the Salt Lake City Bees are indeed moving to Las Vegas, Nevada next season.

In anticipation of the new NEVADA SILVERHAWKS, here is a sneak peak at their uniform, as modeled by #1 prospect center fielder
Gerald Jacobs

http://www.crayon.tv/hawksin2008.png

[Young Drachma]

In other news:

The BOSTON BROWNS are likely to announce their plans to move west next year. The Denver suburb of Loveland, Colorado has wooed the team to come west and given sagging attendance and the team's woeful performance, it's a welcome for many of the fans in Boston.

The Browns last made the postseason in 1980 and won their last World Series title in 1939 as the Providence (RI) Browns.

"Just because they've been around these parts seemingly forever, let's not mistake that loyalty for devotion. They're way too bad for that," said Bob Ryan in a recent Boston Globe article lamenting the loss of the team to Colorado.

Here's the slick new look for next year's COLORADO RANCHEROS (The team is officially called the Colorado Ranchers Baseball Club, but in an effort to attract Hispanic fans, a growing demographic in Colorado and the west as a whole, the team plans to brand itself as the Rancheros.

Here is ace pitching Prospect Sinclair Adams showing off the new Rancheros look:

HOME
http://www.crayon.tv/rancheroshome.png

ROAD
http://www.crayon.tv/rancherosroad.png

[Young Drachma]

DOMINO EFFECT PLAGUES BASEBALL

NEW YORK -- After going a quarter century without a team move, Major League Baseball experienced one last year and there are at least two official and three moves likely this coming off-season.

"It's the cyclical nature of the game," said J.B. McCaskill, an economist with Smith College in Massachusetts.

"The sport is spread in random outposts of the country and the team locations haven't kept up with the nation's growth. So this is just a natural correction of those market forces."

MLB officials have had no comment regarding any of the team moves, most notably the absence of any public comment on where the ballclub plans to locate itself next season.

Yankees officials say that they'll have comment on it, after the post-season.

"We're not even going to talk about that right now, so forget it," said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

MELTDOWN TO SEPTEMBER
TAMPA With a month to go in the regular season, the Tampa Yankees have seen their lead in the AL South, which was once as many as 6 1/2 games, dwindle down to a 1/2 game defecit in the division, against their in-state rivals the Miami Marlins.

At 10-18 in August, the team had its worst month of the season and their first losing month all year.

Is the team getting tired?

"I don't know what it is," said GM Dark Cloud, clearly frustrated at the team's performance. "But we've assembled one of the best teams in baseball and we expect them to play like it," he said.

When asked if the team's impending move is a distraction to the winning effort, he said, "No, I don't think that matters. These guys have a job to do and that's on the field every day. If we put the damn field in Alaska, they'd better get out there and give 100% each night. That's what we're asking and what we expect," he said.


STANDINGS AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Montreal Royals 84 53 .613 -
Columbus Clippers 73 65 .529 11.5
Chicago Cyclones 67 69 .493 16.5
Washington Senators 62 74 .456 21.5
New York Highlanders 54 82 .397 29.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Salt Lake City Bees 69 68 .504 -
San Francisco Seals 69 70 .496 1.0
Los Angeles Angels 65 72 .474 4.0
Seattle Pilots 65 74 .468 5.0
Colorado Springs Sky Sox56 81 .409 13.0

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Miami Marlins 79 57 .581 -
Tampa Yankees 78 59 .569 1.5
Baltimore Colts 72 66 .522 8.0
Birmingham Barons 71 67 .514 9.0
Houston Generals 51 85 .375 28.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Philadelphia Blue Jays 81 55 .596 -
Brooklyn Kings 77 59 .566 4.0
New York Heroes 73 64 .533 8.5
Toronto Marlies 65 73 .471 17.0
Boston Browns 61 76 .445 20.5

Western Division W L PCT GB
Los Angeles Stars 76 61 .555 -
Vancouver Canadians 75 62 .547 1.0
Kansas City Elites 68 69 .496 8.0
Portland Beavers 61 76 .445 15.0
Fresno Grizzlies 59 77 .434 16.5

Central Division W L PCT GB
Memphis Blues 83 56 .597 -
Chicago Whales 72 64 .529 9.5
Detroit Mustangs 64 72 .471 17.5
Keokuk Comets 63 74 .460 19.0
Atlanta Firecrackers 62 75 .453 20.0

[Young Drachma]

Here's the first Baseball America Top Farm Systems report.

http://www.crayon.tv/sep07prospects.png

[Young Drachma]

LAST PLACE COLORADO SPRINGS ADMITS: WE'RE GOING TO ARIZONA
TUSCON -- For the first time in more than forty years, Arizona will be home to Major League Baseball once again, as the Western U.S. went from just two teams (Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs) to three teams starting next year, but all in different locales than they started.

The Sky Sox saw the writing on the wall as their dwindling fan base and lack of access to a significant part of the Denver market, was exploited by the move of the Boston Browns, who'll be playing outside of the region's largest city starting next year.

The Sky Sox will become the Arizona Sidewinders in 2008.

The team had no statement, but Tucson officials did.

"We couldn't be happier that Arizona will once again be home to Major League Baseball next season. We're excited for Sidewinders baseball on the field and in the community."

Here's minor leaguer Nick Norris wearing the new Arizona Sidewinders duds.

http://www.crayon.tv/sidewinders08.png

[Young Drachma]

September 18, 2007
Our magic number is 8 with 11 games to go. With those 11 games to go, includes a three game weekend set against Miami in Tampa, that will likely determine the division title, if it gets to that point. With 3rd place Birmingham facing us first, they'll want to play spoiler beforehand.

But if we can win that series, I feel confident that so long as we get 2 out of 3 against Miami, we'll claim the division title. Our 4th AL South title in the past five years and and sixth in the past nine years, if we manage to get it.

But the bottom line is, the post-season is where this team makes it money and has its bread and butter and our last title came in 1999. So we're being measure on championships and little else.

But one step at a time, to get to where we want to be.

[Young Drachma]

September 21, 2007
We won two of three against Birmingham and sit 2 games up in the AL South. If we sweep the Marlins, we clinch a tie for the division title.

September 22, 2007

We won the first game in the Miami series. (5-4) Magic number down to 4 with six games to go.

ALREADY CLINCHED
---

NL East: Philadelphia (94-62)
NL Central: Memphis (91-66)
AL East: Montreal (99-57)
AL West: Salt Lake City (81-75) clinched a tie.
AL Presidents: Miami (90-66) or Tampa (93-63) clinched the Wild Card.

STILL IN PLAY
---
NL West
---
LA Stars (90-66) 3 games up in Vancouver, Magic number of 4

NL Presidents:
Brooklyn (87-69)
Vancouver (87-69)

[Young Drachma]

SEP 22: Tampa 9, Miami 1
(Magic # 2 for Tampa in AL South)
SEP 23: Tampa 5, Miami 0
(YANKEES CLINCH THE AL SOUTH, MIAMI CLINCHES THE WILD CARD, 5 GB in division with 4 games to go)


TAMPA YANKEES, 2007 AMERICAN LEAGUE SOUTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS

[Young Drachma]

BROOKLYN WINS PRESIDENTS DIVISION TITLE, ADVANCE TO PLAYOFFS
In the NL Presidents, Vancouver and Brooklyn went into the last day of the regular season tied for the final playoff spot in the National League.

As a result, the two teams played a one-game playoff to determine the winner of the President Division (Wild Card) and the 4th and final National League playoff berth.

The Kings of Brooklyn stave off a late 9th inning rally from the Canadians, to win 5-4 knocking off the defending World Series Champs to advance to the playoffs.

The Kings won back-to-back World Series titles in 1997 and 1998 and won the NL East last season. This is their third playoff appearance in four years.

[Young Drachma]

FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS ~ 2007

American League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Montreal Royals 104 58 .642 -
Columbus Clippers 85 77 .525 19.0
Chicago Cyclones 81 81 .500 23.0
Washington Senators 73 89 .451 31.0
New York Highlanders 66 96 .407 38.0

Western Division W L PCT GB
Salt Lake City Bees 85 77 .525 -
Seattle Pilots 77 85 .475 8.0
Los Angeles Angels 74 88 .457 11.0
San Francisco Seals 74 88 .457 11.0
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 67 95 .414 18.0

Southern Division W L PCT GB
Tampa Yankees 98 64 .605 -
Miami Marlins 93 69 .574 5.0
Baltimore Colts 84 78 .519 14.0
Birmingham Barons 82 80 .506 16.0
Houston Generals 60 102 .370 38.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB
Philadelphia Blue Jays 97 65 .599 -
Brooklyn Kings 91 72 .558 6.5
New York Heroes 85 77 .525 12.0
Toronto Marlies 76 86 .469 21.0
Boston Browns 73 89 .451 24.0

Western Division W L PCT GB
Los Angeles Stars 93 69 .574 -
Vancouver Canadians 90 73 .552 3.5
Kansas City Elites 77 85 .475 16.0
Portland Beavers 72 90 .444 21.0
Fresno Grizzlies 68 94 .420 25.0

Central Division W L PCT GB
Memphis Blues 93 69 .574 -
Chicago Whales 87 75 .537 6.0
Detroit Mustangs 81 81 .500 12.0
Keokuk Comets 75 87 .463 18.0
Atlanta Firecrackers 70 92 .432 23.0

[Young Drachma]

DIVISION SERIES RESULTS, 2007

DIVISION SERIES
---
ALDS
Salt Lake City v. Tampa
GM 1: Tampa 4 Salt Lake 2
GM 2: Salt Lake 9 Tampa 5 (11 innings)
GM 3: Tampa 6 Salt Lake 2
GM 4: Tampa 3, Salt LAKE 2 (11 innings)
TAMPA WINS SERIES 3-1

Miami v. Montreal
GM 1: Miami 4 Montreal 3
GM 2: Miami 3 Montreal 1
GM 3: Montreal 3 Miami 2
GM 4: Miami 7 Montreal 4
MIAMI WINS SERIES 3-1

NLDS
Brooklyn v. Memphis
GM 1: Memphis 5, Brooklyn 2
GM 2: Brooklyn 9, Memphis 4
GM 3: Brooklyn 3, Memphis 2
GM 4: Brooklyn 5, Memphis 1
BROOKLYN WINS SERIES 3-1

Los Angeles v. Philadelphia
GM 1: Los Angeles 8 Philadelphia 1
GM 2: Philadelphia 6, Los Angeles 3
GM 3: Los Angeles 9, Philadelphia 4
GM 4: Los Angeles 5 , Philadelphia 4
LOS ANGELES WINS SERIES 3-1

[Young Drachma]

ALCS
---
GM 1: TAMPA 10, MIAMI 4
GM 2: MIAMI 4, TAMPA 2
GM 3: MIAMI 5, TAMPA 0
GM 4: TAMPA 3, MIAMI 2
GM 5: TAMPA 2, MIAMI 1
GM 6: MIAMI 6, TAMPA 3
GM 7: TAMPA 2, MIAMI 0

TAMPA YANKEES ARE 2007 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

1905, 1926, 1927, 1940, 1947, 1958, 1992, 1994, 1999 were the previous AL pennants for the Yanks, making 2007 the 10th league championship in franchise history.
Since the club move to Tampa in 1911 and became the Yankees, the team NEVER lost a World Series. They are 8-0 in the World Series. The franchise's only loss in a World Series was in 1905 as the Casper Rockies.


NLCS
---
GM 1: BROOKLYN 7, LOS ANGELES 3
GM 2: BROOKLYN 8, LOS ANGELES 3
GM 3: LOS ANGELES 6, BROOKLYN 3
GM 4: BROOKLYN 4, LOS ANGELES 3
GM 5: BROOKLYN 3, LOS ANGELES 2
BROOKLYN KINGS ARE THE 2007 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

It's the 5th National League pennant in the history of the Brooklyn franchise. Their previous titles came in 1931 (in Omaha), 1956, 1959, 1997 and 1998. They won the World Series in all but one of those years (1956).

[Young Drachma]

Because of franchise relocations, I thought it would be interesting to see what team had the most World Series titles in their CURRENT city.

So, on the current list, the teams with the most titles are:


COLUMBUS 13
KEOKUK 9
ATLANTA, NEW YORK HIGHLANDERS, TAMPA 8
KANSAS CITY 7
LOS ANGELES ANGELS 6

But let's consider how many titles each team has won in their current city:

COLUMBUS (1911-present) 11 (2 as the St. Paul Saints)
TAMPA (1924-present) 8
LOS ANGELES ANGELS (1901-present) 6
KEOKUK (1911-present) 5 (4 as the Kansas City Cowboys)
*One notable anomaly is the city of Kansas City. It was home to four World Series champs before 1911 and upon the move of the Jersey City Elites to Kansas City in 1976, the city was home to two more World Series champions in 1981 and 1995, giving the city six World Series titles.


LONGEST PLAYOFF DROUGHTS
---
TEAM (PLAYOFFS) (WORLD SERIES TITLE)
ATLANTA (2000) (1996)
BALTIMORE (2006) (2005)
BIRMINGHAM (2005) (1980)
BOSTON (1980) (1939 in Providence)
BROOKLYN (2007) (1998)
CHI. WHALES (2006) (1938)
CHI. CYCLONES (2004) (2004)
COLORADO SPRINGS (2006) (1984)
COLUMBUS (1993) (1972)
DETROIT (2003) (1987)
FRESNO (2005) (2001)
HOUSTON (2000) (1950 as New Orleans)
KANSAS CITY (1995) (1995)
KEOKUK (2004) (1968)
LA ANGELS (2003) (2003)
LA STARS (2007) (NEVER, Team Founded in 1977)
MEMPHIS (2007) (Never, 1977)
MIAMI (2007) (1962, as Philadelphia Colonials)
MONTREAL (2007) (Never, 1977)
NEW YORK HEROES (2006) (2002)
NEW YORK HIGHLANDERS (2003) (2000)
PHILADELPHIA (2007) (1991)
PORTLAND (Never, founded in 2002)
SALT LAKE CITY (2007) (Never, 1977)
SAN FRANCISCO (1981) (1944)
SEATTLE (2004) (1970)
TAMPA (2007) (1999)
TORONTO (2005) (1974)
VANCOUVER (2006) (2006)
WASHINGTON (Never, 2002)

[Young Drachma]

2007 WORLD SERIES
(AL has home field)
---
GM 1: BROOKLYN 1, TAMPA 0
GM 2: TAMPA 14, BROOKLYN 6
GM 3: BROOKLYN 8, TAMPA 1
GM 4: TAMPA 8, BROOKLYN 6
GM 5: TAMPA 4, BROOKLYN 2
GM 6: BROOKLYN 5, TAMPA 4 (13 innings)
GM 7: TAMPA 3, BROOKLYN 2

TAMPA YANKEES WIN 2007 WORLD SERIES!



Frankly, this year was one of those World Series years that you wish there were best of nine like it used to be. The games were good, close and the two teams were worth opponents.

In the end, the Yankees go 9-0 in the World Series all-time, as they captured their 9th World Championship, knocking off Brooklyn in seven games.

[Young Drachma]

YANKEES HEADING NORTH..
BOSTON (AP) -- In a surprise move, Boston fans didn't have to wait long in their wait without baseball. In fact, the wait was less than 48 hours. After the Boston Browns officially packed up and headed west -- to Colorado -- the city of Boston let the cat out of the bag.

The World Series champion Yankees are headed to Beantown. A local radio station had already had fans calling in to come up with nicknames for the new team. "They're already the Yanks in the hearts of most Bostonians. A few called them the Tea Party Crashers, King Henry's Worst Nightmare and The Boys in Blue. But the Yanks are already a hit for a city starved for a winner on the diamond."

"We've known about this for about five months now," said Boston Mayor Tom Menino. "But we've had to keep it quiet. I'm really glad to finally be able to pop the court and welcome the World Champions home to Boston."

In a statement, Yankees officials "Thanked the people of Tampa for decades of support and friendship and look forward to a new generation of Yankee excellence in the city of Boston, a place starved for championships and hope to bring them more."

Boston has never won a World Series title in its tenure as a major league city and despite rabid support for the Browns at different points, especially after the team moved from Providence, city and team officials of that franchise said "that a change was needed on both ends," and it manifested itself in the form of being wooed by Denver, which wanted its own team in the major leagues.

The Boston Yankees will play their games at Yankee Field and naming rights are expected to be signed this week to name the stadium Yankee Field at John Hancock Stadium, as insurance giant John Hancock seeks the deal with the new team.

The team unveiled its first new look since they became the Yankees in 1911 today.

Boston 3rd jersey
http://www.crayon.tv/yanks3rd.png

Home & Road jersey
http://www.crayon.tv/homeandroad.png

Sunday Classics 4th Jersey
http://www.crayon.tv/oldyanks4th.png

http://www.crayon.tv/road4th.png

[Young Drachma]

REALIGNMENT FOR 2008
---
Here are the divisions for the 2008 season and beyond after the spate of team moves from this year. Don't expect any others for a long time.

---
AL EAST
---
MONTREAL
BOSTON
COLUMBUS
CHICAGO CYCLONES
NEW YORK HIGHLANDERS

AL WEST
---
NEVADA
SEATTLE
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
SAN FRANCISCO
ARIZONA

AL SOUTH
---
MIAMI
BALTIMORE
BIRMINGHAM
WASHINGTON
HOUSTON

NL EAST
---
PHILADELPHIA
BROOKLYN
NEW YORK HEROES
DETROIT
TORONTO

NL WEST
---
LOS ANGELES STARS
VANCOUVER
COLORADO
PORTLAND
FRESNO

NL CENTRAL
---
MEMPHIS
CHICAGO WHALES
KANSAS CITY
KEOKUK
ATLANTA

[Young Drachma]

DH to begin in 2008

Starting in the 2008 season, rosters are going down to 25-man (from 27) and we're adding the designated hitter in both leagues.

It will spike offense, yes. But..frankly, OOTP doesn't handle hitting pitchers well and short of editing it to make them better (which I've been tempted to do), this will make things more interesting generally for me.

And that's all that I care about.

On a more serious note, league average ERAs have been around 4 runs per game since the 1950s. So I'll be curious to see what the change will do, because save for the change from 4-man to 5-man rotations and the increased load of closers the past season (none of which had a noticeable impact on scoring), this will be the biggest wholesale move we've made to the rules since the league was founded in 1901.

[Young Drachma]

December 1, 2007

I don't forsee any major changes to the lineup for next year. I'm going to stand pat this off-season and if I make a signing at all or a deal, it'll be something that even surprises me. I just don't know what we should do, really. But I think last year sorta set us up to be okay for a few years down the road.

I'd like to be successful our first year in Boston to set the tone for the franchise in its new home, but...I don't want to press too much. Plus, realize the Boston faithful haven't seen a team in the post-season since 1980 and have never witnessed a World Series on their home turf.

We want to excite them early on, but also be smart enough to keep the run going year after year.

The fun, will be seeing how it pans out.

Coming next, the pre-season report.

[Young Drachma]

TEAM PAYROLLS ~ 2008

Rank Team Payroll
1 Boston Yankees $193,793,600
2 Montreal Royals $134,936,800
3 Chicago Whales $129,906,000
4 Memphis Blues $126,470,600
5 Detroit Mustangs $115,416,400
6 Keokuk Comets $108,773,336
7 Toronto Marlies $103,012,600
8 Chicago Cyclones $94,481,187
9 Philadelphia Blue Jays $89,383,200
10 Fresno Grizzlies $88,844,544
11 Kansas City Elites $88,154,000
12 Los Angeles Stars $86,656,544
13 Birmingham Barons $84,261,872
14 Baltimore Colts $82,811,332
15 Brooklyn Kings $81,373,387
16 New York Heroes $75,871,900
17 Houston Generals $68,764,600
18 Portland Beavers $68,686,000
19 Vancouver Canadians $68,456,844
20 New York Highlanders $66,269,000
21 Columbus Clippers $63,749,200
22 Miami Marlins $61,526,800
23 San Francisco Seals $59,253,926
24 Atlanta Firecrackers $56,480,200
25 Seattle Pilots $52,550,000
26 Nevada Silverhawks $46,732,400
27 Washington Senators $46,358,600
28 Colorado Rancheros $42,429,304
29 Arizona Sidewinders $37,208,000
30 Los Angeles Angels $37,044,200


TOP PLAYER SALARIES

Rank Player Team Salary
1 Jason Hall Chicago $31,450,000
2 George Owens Brooklyn $28,150,000
3 Luis Silva Boston $25,487,600
4 Skip Gustafson Fresno $24,270,000
5 Jeffrey Joyce Los Angeles $24,090,000
6 John Parker Chicago $22,808,600
7 Darrell McKee Houston $22,697,400
8 Mike Moody Memphis $22,060,000
9 Jon Gregory Toronto $21,313,200
10 Brock Simpson San Francisco $21,040,200
11 Luis Canó Memphis $20,980,800
12 Roy King Chicago $20,970,000
13 Bob Taylor Kansas City $20,350,000
14 John Taylor Chicago $19,237,800
15 Vicente Archibequi Keokuk $18,754,400
16 Luis Ramos Houston $18,327,200
17 Jim Gunther Kansas City $18,060,000
18 Britt Warren Detroit $17,634,200
19 Sean Blair Boston $17,537,200
20 António Marengo Portland $17,400,000
21 Tim Cox Keokuk $17,169,200
22 David Morgan Boston $16,710,200
23 Eric Hill Seattle $16,451,600
24 Brandon Schneider Boston $16,090,000
25 Bruce Metcalf Memphis $16,023,600

[Young Drachma]

OPENING WEEKEND 2008

In a fate of irony that not even the funniest scheduler could've predicted, the opening weekend matchup for Boston's new team -- The Yankees -- will pit them at their new home against the old team from the city of Boston, that moved to Denver, Colorado this season -- the Colorado Rancheros.

[Young Drachma]

I mulled over whether to keep writing this story, because I didn't know if it had any interest and I having such a good time with it, that I didn't want to slow it down if people weren't paying attention.

Anyway...the 2008 season is in the books.

The Yanks won the AL East title, but fell short in the playoffs, being upset by the Washington Senators, who were making their first playoff appearance in franchise history.

The Sens went all the way, knocking off the New York Heroes in seven games, to capture their first World Series in just their 7th major league season. I haven't checked the records yet, but it just might be one of the fastest in history of any expansion club.

In other news, we've had some more issues with teams moving. Baseball is a sport of regional markets and this league is no different. Teams were concentrated in locales that didn't really allow them to take advantage of their regional market better than others and so, a few teams have opted to shift elsewhere for the 2009 season, after being heavily wooed by a variety of familiar cities (to us) that have gone without major league baseball either forever or for at least, a very long time.

I'm considering starting a rival third league, not because it was part of the story -- it wasn't -- but because it actually makes a lot of sense given how many markets are just downright neglected (Keokuk has a team but Minneapolis doesn't?) and how that sound of groundswell would exist in real life.

Plus, there are just tons of players in the game that sit on minor league shelves without being touched and don't play much and I'd rather see them put to good use.

MLB won't expand any further is the main point, though. Which is why such a thing might be necessary. It won't be next year though.

As for the team moves here they are:

Memphis Blues become the Cleveland (OH) Blues.

Portland Beavers become the Carolina (Raleigh-Durham, NC) Pirates.

Fresno Grizzlies become the Texas (Dallas, TX) Wranglers

Montreal Royals become the San Diego (CA) Marines.


NAME CHANGES

The Brooklyn Kings became the Brooklyn Athletics in 2008.

The Keokuk Comets became the Keokuk Cardinals in 2008.

HISTORICAL FACT
The only original franchise (1901-) playing in its original city are the Los Angeles Angels. Birmingham was founded in 1924 and have never moved, either.

REALIGNMENT 2009

The shifts of teams meant there need to be some semblence of realignment for 2009.

San Diego moves to the NL West.
Kansas City moved to the NL Central
Carolina moves to the AL South
Washington moves to the AL East

I'm sure that's somewhere between confusing and you're like "yeah, so?" But...I'll recap where the teams are once we get into next season

[Young Drachma]

GET INTO THE GAME?
It's always fun when people sign up to put themselves or a character they can follow into the game and watch him develop -- or bust -- into something.

I'd like to extend an opportunity for you to sign up to play in this particular dynasty, too. To the point where you can even sign up with the team you want to play for. Players will start off young for the most part, but some will be further along than others.

So, what do you say?

List your name/position/birthplace and I'll get you in the game.

Also,
I've begun saving box scores and game logs from every game starting last season, so I'll try to eventually start to focus with more detail on individual players, teams and looking more at the history of the league and such alike.

[Young Drachma]

Takuya Yamasaki (.271/6/28 in 229 ABs in 2008) is a good playe and has been solid for us since we acquired him from San Francisco back in 2007.

But, we decided to deal him, along with reliever Jacob Roberts and a prospect to Keokuk for 34-year old right fielder and Massachusetts native Frank Lord.

Lord is a future hall of famer with 650 career home runs and a career .296 hitter. The Malden, MA native has played his entire career in Keokuk and has one year left on his career, plus a player option for 2010.

He hit 30 HRs last year with 97 RBI and a .258 average. He could very well be on the decline to some degree, but we believe getting him and bringing him back home will invigorate the fan base AND help him as he heads towards 700 career home-runs and beyond.

[Young Drachma]

2009 MLB ALIGNMENT
----
AMERICAN LEAGUE
---
EAST
--
Boston Yankees
Columbus Clippers
Washington Senators
Chicago Cyclones
New York Highlanders

WEST
---
Seattle Pilots
Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Sidewinders
Nevada Silverhawks
San Francisco Seals

SOUTH
---
Austin Red Sox
Carolina Pirates
Baltimore Colts
Miami Marlins
Houston Generals

NATIONAL LEAGUE
---
EAST
---
Philadelphia Blue Jays
New York Heroes
Atlanta Firecrackers
Toronto Marlies
Brooklyn Athletics

WEST
---
Texas Wranglers
San Diego Marines
Colorado Rancheros
Vancouver Canadians
Los Angeles Stars

CENTRAL
---
Chicago Whales
Keokuk Cardinals
Kansas City Elites
Cleveland Blues
Detroit Mustangs

[Young Drachma]

My goal all along was about spreading the wealth in terms of where teams were located, while also being representative of population trends current and future, throughout the country.

I think right now, we have an alignment that's setup better than at any time in the history of the game.

Here's a map (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=107011263023411354395.00043812b606344386a62&ie=UTF8&ll=37.160317,-95.888672&spn=35.105572,81.738281&z=4&om=1) that has points of all of the cities that currently have teams.

The most glaring omission you'll see by viewing the map is probably that there are no real teams in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota) and so, those teams probably have to overly rely on Chicago as base to root from.

You might argue the southeast is overrepresented with four teams now and argubaly, six if you count Baltimore and DC.

That said, don't be surprised if you see teams considering break for the Upper Midwest OR Texas.

If you were wondering and can't count, here are the teams by state (in states with multiples)

CALIFORNIA 4 (LAS, LAN, SD, SF)
NEW YORK 3 (BKN, NYA, NYN)
OHIO 2 (CLE, CLB)
CHICAGO 2 (CHA, CHN)
TEXAS 2 (HOU, TEX)

BY REGION
---
MID-ATLANTIC (8): BOSTON, PHILLY, NY, NY, BKN, BALTIMORE, DC, TORONTO)

SOUTHEAST (4): ATLANTA, CAROLINA, BIRMINGHAM, MIAMI)

MIDWEST (7): DETROIT, CLEVELAND, COLUMBUS, CHICAGO, CHICAGO, KEOKUK, KANSAS CITY)

SOUTHWEST (4): TEXAS, HOUSTON, ARIZONA, LAS VEGAS

CALIFORNIA (4): LA, LA, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO

NORTHWEST (3) COLORADO, SEATTLE, VANCOUVER

http://ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=99335&stc=1&d=1187557091

[Young Drachma]

BALTIMORE ANNOUNCES MOVE TO AUSTIN, TX
Despite winning the World Series in 2005, the Baltimore Colts ownership have confirmed what many had been thinking for weeks -- that the DC metro market just isn't big enough for two teams in the same league. Ownership today confirmed that the team would relocated to Austin, Texas for the 2009 season, becoming the 5th team to move this season.

Commissioners Office officals said that the owners are "okay" with the moves, the Commisioner himself is livid, believing that it will "hurt fan support" long-term of the sport, while others are echoing what many have been saying for years, that baseball's new economics are part of a 'market correction' that should've occurred thirty years ago.

"The sport is placed in bottlenecking regional markets. It's a game that's got national appeal and yet, the teams are ignoring certain markets. MLB has stated it will not expand again for at least twenty years, but how can they really hold onto that idea, when teams are just going to markets when being offered relocation deals, new stadiums and renovation deals," said Fred Marchand, a sports economist at Dartmouth.

Baltimore owners were confident their move to Texas would approved because it wouldn't require anymore realignment. MLB officials just released the 2009 alignment and it was unlikely that a team move to a geographic region outside of a team's division would get approved at this late stage of the game.

With just three months until catchers and pitchers report, fans throughout the country are wondering "is my team next?" But most owners have gone on record as saying, "we're not all being bought and sold. Some of us have integrity and others are out to make a quick buck," said New York Highlanders owner Mark Lansing.

But quickly defending a team's right to move was Boston minority owner Paula Witmore, whose team moved from Tampa, Florida after a World Series title and close to a century in the same city.

"Businesses move all of the time. People act like this doesn't happen in real life. When Maytag moves to Mexico, people get upset. But this isn't anything like that. It's about sports and about putting teams in a position to be appreciated by their fans and also, to play in conditions that allow ownership to succeed on and off the field. It's got to be a tandem deal or else, it simply doesn't work."

When MLB spokesman said three years ago that we shouldn't expect anymore moves, most believed him. But it seems like many things these days, reality doesn't always match up with what ought to happen.

[Young Drachma]

I went through the current list of the top 35 or so metropolitan areas in the U.S. without teams and that are distinct enough generally not to be considered part of current team's market area.

Here are the distances these markets are from a major league team and their ranking among the top metro areas in the country.


Riverside, CA (14th) - 59 minutes to Los Angeles

Minneapolis, MN (16th) - 6 hours to Keokuk or Chicago, 6 1/2 hours to Kansas City

St. Louis (18th) - 3 hours to Keokuk

Tampa (19th) - 4 hours to Miami

Baltimore (20th) - 1 hour to Washington, D.C.

Pittsburgh (22nd) - 2 hours to Cleveland, 3 hours to Columbus

Portland (23rd) - 3 hours to Seattle

Cincinnati (25th) - 1 hr 45 minutes to Columbus

Orlando (27th) - 3 hours 42 minutes to Miami

San Antonio (29th) 1 1/2 hours to Austin

Indianapolis (33rd) 3 hours to Chicago, 2hrs 45 minutes to Columbus

Norfolk (34th) 3 hours to Carolina, 3 hours to DC

[Young Drachma]

BARONS HEAD NORTH, COMMISSIONER FURIOUS
Normally, baseball has a flurry of moves between players going to different teams during the off-season. This off-season, the cities have been working with the teams to create a whole shadow free agency movement.

The sixth team to move this off-season, the Birmingham Barons, who have been in that city since 1924, set off a firestorm of emails, calls and notice from cities that have lost teams, prompting baseball's governing authority -- the Commissioner's office -- to issue a warning to team owners.

"We have the trust and faith of communities, that are often identified by their teams. We have an interest to do our best to ensure that long-standing relationships remain in order, for that reason."

The Barons were on the block for the past four years, but no one seemed to want them and local owners were rebuffed, as current ownership didn't want the team to stay in the city. Their last World Series win was in 1980 and they've made one post-season appearance since 1985.

Minnesota on the other hand, had been wooing teams for much of the past thirty years with no success, until a referedum passed three years ago, prompted the city to begin building a new ballpark - Metropolitan Field - near the downtown area. This led to a ramping up of efforts to attract a team, especially after a local ownership group was secured.

The discussions had been on-going and much like the Tampa to Boston talks, these were pretty much off the radar.

MLB's scheduling office approved a move to realign the division prior to the schedule being released next month (January 2009). The realignment will be another one that shifts teams across leagues.

The Cleveland Blues will move to the AL East from the NL Central, the Washington Senators go back to the AL South and the new Minnesota Mets will head to the NL Central, a division that itself is now full of interesting rivalries.

One team does stick out among them all though. The Keokuk Cardinals are obviously the smallest market in any major sport in the U.S., but the team cannot move, due to its corporate form which was setup in the 1960s, after their team won its first of several World Series titles.

Based on the original "Articles of Incorporation for the Keokuk Community Professional Baseball Club" put into place in 1965, if the Keokuk franchise was sold, after the payment of all expenses, any remaining monies would go to the Keokuk National Cemetary." This stipulation was enacted to ensure the club remained in Keokuk and that there could never be any financial enhancement for the shareholders. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Keokuk National Cemetary to Southeastern Iowa Community College.

The Keokuk TV market obviously doesn't exist, but the team's games are broadcast throughout Iowa, Western and Central Illinois and stretches all the way west to Omaha and as far south as St. Louis and recently, Memphis TV networks and radio started covering Cardinals games.

Speaking of money, here are the team budgets heading into 2009.

TEAM BUDGETS

Rank Team Current Budget
1 Brooklyn Athletics $415,900,000
2 Los Angeles Stars $408,400,000
3 New York Highlanders $387,600,000
4 Chicago Cyclones $382,900,000
5 Toronto Marlies $344,900,000
6 Keokuk Cardinals $322,300,000
7 Boston Yankees $303,900,000
8 Austin Red Sox $295,700,000
9 Texas Wranglers $290,200,000
10 San Diego Marines $289,500,000
11 Cleveland Blues $255,500,000
12 Detroit Mustangs $236,700,000
13 Chicago Whales $235,300,000
14 New York Heroes $224,800,000
15 Houston Generals $222,600,000
16 Carolina Pirates $220,700,000
17 Columbus Clippers $220,200,000
18 Nevada Silverhawks $218,800,000
19 Kansas City Elites $218,400,000
20 Philadelphia Blue Jays $216,200,000
21 Vancouver Canadians $215,300,000
22 Minnesota Mets $213,900,000
23 Atlanta Firecrackers $207,600,000
24 Seattle Pilots $207,600,000
25 Colorado Rancheros $191,200,000
26 San Francisco Seals $189,700,000
27 Miami Marlins $189,700,000
28 Washington Senators $186,800,000
29 Arizona Sidewinders $171,800,000
30 Los Angeles Angels $169,400,000

[Young Drachma]

I'm going to try in 2009 what I couldn't do in 2008. I'm going to try the game-by-game thing. I don't know if it'll create more interest in what we're doing or more connection to the players, but...I'm going to try it nonetheless, complete with box scores and stuff. We'll see how it works out for this season and if it does, I'll continue it.

[Young Drachma]

2008 OFFSEASON
---
Last year, we struck out too much (14th out of 15 AL teams in strikeouts), but besides that, we had one of the most potent offenses in baseball.

The adoption of the DH didn't really do anything to team scores overall. I've taken a look at league ERA going back to the 1960s. When you consider what those guys were doing to the baseball back then having 70 and 80 home run seasons, I think the DH and the fact that things aren't like that anymore..just means that we're probably about on par with what was going on back then, except now lineups aren't saddled with an essentially useless hitter (for OOTP purposes, especially).

Down the stretch, we faltered. 14-12 in the month of September and getting bounced in 4 games of the ALDS means that we just didn't have a team that had the staying power to make it work long-term.

We need to tweak some things. On paper, we're fine. We need to bolster the bullpen, as the bullpen ERA was 11th in the AL last year at 4.88. We also allowed the 4th most home runs of any team at 173.

So I'm going to make some moves, but I think the goal is to keep the core intact. After a record setting attendance season (4.2 million), I'm excited about what's to come, but I want to keep that momentum.

[Young Drachma]

DECEMBER 5th:

We sent 31-year old 1B Orlando Romero (.256/18/81 last season) and a minor leaguer to Keokuk for 27-year old reliever Mike Smith (8-3, 39 SV 59 K) and a prospect.

We're kinda stocked at the first base position anyway, Romero is in the last year of his deal and makes a good amount of money. It worked out to be a good deal for us short-term and I think, long-term as well.


The player evaluation option for this league is:

RATINGS: 35
Current year: 30
Previous year: 20
2 years ago: 15

So...it means that I can rely a little better on the stats of a guy over a career, rather than relying solely on ratings. In other words, making it more realistic. Because potential is cool and all, but...it doesn't mean much at the end of the day if the guy doesn't produce.
------

December 7, 2008We signed Ted Durham, a reliever with Philadelphia last year (3-3, 3 SV 36 K in 37 appearances) to a 1-year deal worth $750,000. We're going to turn him into a starter. He's a southpaw and I think he'll project well, especially at just 26.

DEC 8, 2008
The LA Stars signed Catcher Clint Mills to a 5 year deal worth $181.9 million. Payrolls are going through the roof and teams are starting to splash the cash to keep up with the Joneses.

He is, for the moment the highest paid player in baseball making $32.74 million next season.

I imagine by the time we're done, someone else will be at that rate on the list.

MY FAVORITE PLAYER - FEATURE

I'm going to start a new feature called "my favorite player". Basically, I notice guys all of the time that I find interesting or cool or who just rake and that you ought to know about. But for one reason or another, I always forget to bring them up -- or I sign them. In this dynasty, I'd rather just admire them from afar.

But there is one guy that I had absolutely no hand in creating whatsoever, who makes for the best story that I could never concoct on my own.

Because I have foreign players being created by the computer at a random clip, it's hard to know where guys will come from.

That doesn't tell you how Halim "Lightning" bin Taysir became the first Iraqi in the major leagues last year with the Salt Lake City Bees. But when the team moved to Nevada this season, bin Taysir came along for the ride and played the entire season.

The shortstop hit .335 with 5 HRs and 67 RBI and was named American League Rookie of the Month in September. His .335 average was 3rd best in the majors this past season. Not bad for a 21-year old.

http://crayon.tv/bintaysir.png

So how does an Iraqi start playing baseball? When he moves to the United States at age 15 and decides that soccer isn't interesting anymore.

"I figured out that I would rather do something else. All of my friends played baseball after school, so I would go to the field and watch them. One day, the coach told me to try out. I told him I only played soccer growing up. He said, "I grew up playing football. We can all learn."

So bin Taysir started playing baseball in Encinitas, California where his family settled as his father was a doctor and his mother was a teacher.

"It was an adjustment, but once I started, it was just addictive. Like, I just wanted to be at the cage every day and all I wanted to do was hit after school."

And boy, did it pay off.He played two years at a community college rather than signing immediately and finally decided to sign a deal last year that brought him to Nevada.

"It's been awesome."

As for being a pioneer, he says that his situation isn't like most people's.

"I realize that not many Iraqis even know what baseball is, let alone bother to play it. But, I am glad that I got the chance to do it and that I'm making the most of my opportunity now. My parents are just glad that I'm making my own money," he said, laughing.

[Young Drachma]

December 20, 2008

I'm mulling over a trade right now that would officially signal in an era that says we're going younger or at least, we're going to win, but only in the interest of not spending $200 million a year to maintain that sort of lifestyle.

It would include fan favorite and former 20-game winner Sean Blair, who is 33 and still has two years and close to $40 million left on his deal with us. He was 15-13 last year with a 3.42 ERA in 33 starts. The reason I'd send him away is pretty much about money. I don't know if we'll get the value for him over the next two years to warrant spending that money. I'd almost rather put the money up or put it into younger kids and we don't win it all for two years, I have less regrets than if I go with him.

Same goes for Luis Silva, a 30-year old outfielder. He hit .308 last year with 13 HRs and 45 RBI in limited action for us, but that's because of the fact that we carried too many outfielders last year and it so it turned out, that we ended up paying him a good chunk of change to sit on the bench and not play. He's still got two years left on a $106 million deal.

We've found a willing taker in both players, along with two other relievers.

We'll know after Christmas whether we're going to pull the trigger or not. In return, we'd get younger and still have proven players. It's just a matter of whether those players will perform for us in the same way.

[Young Drachma]

December 22, 2008
We signed 42-year old reliever Edgar Garcia to a one-year deal worth $1 million. He spent his entire career in Toronto and has 535 career saves and 1178 strikeouts.

Last year in 27 appearances, he was 1-2 with 1 save and a 5.26 ERA and 23 strikeouts.

I figured he'd offer some sort of veteran help for us.

December 24, 2008
As I scan through the free agents list, I just can't justify the money some of these guys are asking for, compared to their numbers. I realize that's what the market is bearing right now and where it's headed. But I like our farm system and what we have on the team already enough that I just don't feel the need to tinker all that much.

December 27, 2008
The Sean Blair deal is complete. We sent Blair, Luis Silva and two relievers for Cisco Martinez, a 23-year old starter, reliever Jim Richards and 28-year old starter Pedro Pacheco.

Martinez split last season between Arizona and the New York Highlanders. He was 11-13 with a 3.26 ERA and 186 K. He was dealt to Philadelphia a few weeks ago and the Blue Jays put him on the block immediately after being acquired.

Meanwhile, Pacheco was 9-14 with a 5.17 ERA in 34 starts last year and will likely come out of the bullpen for the Yanks next year, as will Jim Richards who was 7-1 with 7 saves in 51 appearances last year. He pencils in as the setup man for us next year.

Most of all, this deal saved us about $30 million in salary and puts us down to #2 in overall team payroll at $136.8 million.

KNAPP-TIME IN KEOKUK
Overshadowing this deal on a busy day this off-season was the signing by the Keokuk Cardinals of free agent catcher and masher Ronnie Knapp. The 26-year old Knapp spent the past six years in Montreal, averaging 36 HRs a season and 117 RBI. Last year, he hit just .238 in 445 ABs, but he battled injuries for most of the year and was out for 4 weeks in the middle of the year, which didn't help his cause any.

Ultimately, the two-time Sloan Sullivan award winner ('05, '06) will spend the next six years behind the backstop in Keokuk, the city where it's always baseball season.

"I'm elated," he said about the 6 year/$254.3 million deal he signed with the club that makes him -- by far -- the highest paid player in the history of the game.

"I just want to live up to the expectations that I'm sure everyone has of me," said the Edison, New Jersey native.

And boy, what expectations they are.

http://crayon.tv/knapp.png

[Young Drachma]

December 28, 2008
The Boston-area native train came in again today, as we signed 27-year old hurler Woody O'Toole, a Norwell, MA native to a three-year deal worth $22.8 million.

In three major league seasons, he's compiled a 40-43 record with a 3.69 ERA. Last year for the New York Heroes, he was 14-11 with a 3.28 ERA and had 211 strikeouts.

I got him because he seems to be a horse, that could eat innings and if he's got the right guys behind him -- namely ours -- he can be an effective middle of the rotation guy. And at that price, it's worth it to me.

http://crayon.tv/woody.png

[Young Drachma]

We dealt MR Joe Stanley to Brooklyn along with a prospect and cash, for three prospects.

He's 33 years old and has spent his entire career with the Yankees and spent from 1997-2007 as the team's primary closer, racking up 375 saves and a 72-56 record during that time.

After he was demoted from the closer role last season, it was pretty likely that he was going to ask for a trade to get an opportunity to pitch more and we gave him that chance once a deal came up that worked for both parties.

http://crayon.tv/joestanley.png

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/cosh2.png

Jan 3, 2009
--
We signed the best Jamaican ballplayer since Devon White today, when Brendan Cosh a reliever signed with us today.

The 35-year old southpaw was dealt to the New York Highlanders before last year's trade deadline after 11 years with the New Orleans/Houston franchise. Last year, he was 5-5 with 17 saves in 46 appearances and a 4.33 ERA. Most interestingly, his ERA was over 6 (6.90 with Houston last year, but was a svelte 1.13 in 15 appearances with the Highlanders.

The two-year deal is worth $3.8 million and is all in the interest of bolstering the bullpen.

[Young Drachma]

2009 SEASON PREVIEW
---
I'm excited about this season and our division as a whole. It's going to fun forging new rivalries in cities like Cleveland, Raleigh and Austin.

The ballclub is probably going to depend more heavily on its youth now than in recent years, but that's probably a good thing.

Let's go through the 25-man roster as it stands right now.

The most notable thing is, we're bringing back quite a few starters from last year or in general, guys who we had on the team last year. Should help in terms of cohesion, because Frank Lord is the only notable change after being acquired from Keokuk earlier this off-season.

Here's the notable list of starters and their info:

CF Stan Braden
23-year old from Canada, LHB, hit .295 with 15 HR and 54 RBI in 424 ABs last year, his first full MLB season.

OF Manny Gomez
30-year old from Utah, LHB, hit .313 with 20 HR and 94 RBI last season with the Yanks. This year is is third season with the team.

LF David Morgan
35-year old outfielder in his third year with the Yankees, after being dealt from the original Boston club in 2007, he's back there with the Yankees for another year.

He hit .294 last year with 14 HR and 88 RBI with a whopping 12 triples and 49 steals. The switch-hitter is one of the most productive bats in the lineup.

2B Matt Kirk
30-year old LHB from New Jersey, hit .310 with 19 HR and 110 RBI in his second season with the Yankees, completing his fifth straight 100+ RBI season.

1b Guillermo Castro
23-year old switch hitter from Newark, New Jersey hit .274 last year with 15 HR and 44 RBI after being acquired near the deadline from San Francisco. Hit 36 HR and 107 RBI overall last year, his first full major league season.

SS Devlyn Boyle
22-year old Canadian infielder spent his rookie year as part of the '07 World Series winning squad as a utility player. In 2009, he's coming off his first full season as a starter, hitting .255 with 7 HR and 46 RBI. He'll be expected to contribute more with the bat, if he wants to keep his job.

RF Frank Lord
The 34-year old LHB and Massachusetts native comes home after a Hall of Fame career in Keokuk. Two years ago, he hit 46 HR and 115 RBI, his third straight 40+ season and 10th straight 100+ RBI season. He's fallen off that pace the past two years, averaging 34 HR and 96 RBI over the past two years with a batting average around .262. The Yanks are hoping a little home cooking will give him something more to play for, as well as the drive towards 700 HRs. (currently at 650 for his career.)

C Dan Crowley
23-year old catcher hit 24 HR and 68 RBI in his rookie year as the starting backstop for the Yanks. The sweet-swinging switch hitter is poised for a big year in '09.

3B Roberto Gomez
Manny's cousin played his first year with the Yanks last year and his sixth overall. He hit .257 with 16 HR and 69 RBI. A talented defensive player, the Yanks are hoping he can return to the form that had him hitting 31 HR and 111 RBI in 2006 with Memphis.

PITCHING STAFF
Francisco Rosado, RHP, 33
(12-8, 4.25 ERA, 229 K with Boston in 2008)

Pancho Flores, RHP, 23 (18-5, 3.57 ERA, 290 K with Boston in 2008)

Pedro Montoya, RHP, (15-5, 4.05 ERA, 211 K with Boston in 2008)

Cisco Martinez, LHP, (11-13, 3.26 ERA, 186 K with ARZ/NY Highlanders in 2008)

Woody O'Toole, RHP (14-11, 3.28 ERA, 211 K with New York Heroes in 2008)

Mike Smith, RHP (8-3, 39 SV, 2.31 ERA with Keokuk in 2008)

[Young Drachma]

If I had to say I had concerns, it's simply that you wonder if the team can hold up for a whole year. I mean, someone is bound not to pan out, right? Or to flop completely.

I think that's where I wonder or worry about the ballclub.

Next up, salary info and schedules.

[Young Drachma]

TEAM PAYROLL NUMBERS -- 2009
--------

Rank Team Payroll
1 Keokuk Cardinals $150,452,800
2 Boston Yankees $141,542,976
3 Cleveland Blues $131,029,400
4 San Diego Marines $121,724,600
5 Philadelphia Blue Jays $121,263,400
6 Detroit Mustangs $119,538,400
7 Chicago Whales $115,703,400
8 Toronto Marlies $115,073,244
9 Carolina Pirates $114,256,800
10 Kansas City Elites $111,972,200
11 Austin Red Sox $95,259,600
12 Minnesota Mets $93,545,200
13 Chicago Cyclones $91,911,558
14 San Francisco Seals $89,920,200
15 Los Angeles Stars $79,816,944
16 Columbus Clippers $78,467,000
17 Vancouver Canadians $76,736,800
18 Miami Marlins $69,356,000
19 New York Highlanders $68,326,000
20 Texas Wranglers $66,848,344
21 New York Heroes $61,903,200
22 Atlanta Firecrackers $55,291,000
23 Nevada Silverhawks $54,168,800
24 Houston Generals $52,950,600
25 Brooklyn Athletics $52,533,856
26 Seattle Pilots $50,191,600
27 Washington Senators $46,242,800
28 Colorado Rancheros $44,435,904
29 Arizona Sidewinders $40,513,200
30 Los Angeles Angels $28,429,200


TOP PLAYER SALARIES

Rank Player Team Salary
1 Ronnie Knapp Keokuk $42,390,000
2 Clint Mills Los Angeles $32,740,000
3 Jason Hall Chicago $31,450,000
4 John Roy Detroit $29,920,000
5 George Robbins San Francisco $28,560,000
6 Teddy Sexton Carolina $28,050,000
7 Luis Silva Philadelphia $25,487,600
8 Darrell McKee Miami $24,967,200
9 Skip Gustafson Austin $24,270,000
10 Jeff Joyce Los Angeles $24,090,000
11 Jim Mathis Kansas City $23,160,000
12 Mike Moody Cleveland $22,060,000
13 Jon Gregory Toronto $21,313,200
14 Brock Simpson San Francisco $21,040,200
15 Luis Canó Cleveland $21,000,000
16 Roy King Carolina $20,970,000
17 Bob Taylor Kansas City $20,350,000
18 John Taylor Chicago $20,154,000
19 Sean Blair Philadelphia $19,537,200
20 Britt Warren Toronto $18,850,400
21 Vicente Archibequi Keokuk $18,754,400
22 Tim Cox Keokuk $18,353,400
23 Jim Gunther Kansas City $18,060,000
24 António Marengo Carolina $17,400,000
25 Raúl Garza Columbus $16,870,000

[Young Drachma]

TOP MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEMS

Minor League Systems
# Team Points Top 5 Prospects
1st Washington Senators 143 CF J. Merritt (1st), CF J. González (4th), LF P. Garza (30th), 2B P. Prince (38th), C S. Díaz (70th)
2nd Atlanta Firecrackers 101 LF F. Hernández (8th), P R. Johnson (12th), CF D. Riddock (20th)
3rd Arizona Sidewinders 96 LF P. Colón (3rd), LF B. Reyes (5th)
4th New York Highlanders 90 LF M. Benítez (23rd), P J. Ibáñez (28th), 1B S. Ventura (32nd), 2B C. Alldritt (34th), RF E. Wells (90th)
5th Los Angeles Stars 90 3B A. Oliver (2nd), CF M. Sánchez (43rd), 2B K. Hutchence (45th), P J. Aragón (58th)
6th Toronto Marlies 81 C C. Rodríguez (10th), C T. Méndez (17th), 1B T. Davigan (59th), CF J. Galván (81st)
7th Boston Yankees 80 2B C. Costenla (7th), SS D. Boyle (14th), P M. Éthier (71st)
8th Keokuk Cardinals 68 P J. Suárez (18th), 2B A. González (31st), P B. Neal (37th), LF R. Ramos (91st)
9th Brooklyn Athletics 64 RF J. Elizarraraz (11th), CF J. Gallardo (21st), P A. González (75th)
10th Austin Red Sox 61 LF A. Ruíz (19th), RF J. García (25th), RF K. Allison (62nd), LF H. Frost (96th)
11th Minnesota Mets 61 SS K. Lord (15th), RF M. McMenemy (29th), 3B P. Féliz (83rd), P J. Bannatyne (99th)
12th New York Heroes 55 2B R. Colón (9th), SS F. Heap (68th), P S. Márquez (78th), P M. Durand (97th)
13th Chicago Whales 54 CF J. Morán (36th), LF T. Guzmán (39th), P R. Soriano (55th), LF J. Clarke (60th)
14th Columbus Clippers 51 P G. López (16th), 1B R. Ramales (27th)
15th Houston Generals 49 1B J. Chávez (13th), C H. Sato (53rd), C H. Herrera (85th)
16th San Diego Marines 48 CF I. Hernández (6th), CF J. Vargas (66th)
17th Vancouver Canadians 46 3B R. Docherty (22nd), P R. Sánchez (46th), P B. Kearley (64th)
18th Philadelphia Blue Jays 44 SS J. Chen (41st), 2B B. Pak (52nd), RF M. Ramos (69th), P V. Hernández (74th), C S. Trejo (80th)
19th San Francisco Seals 42 P C. Velázquez (33rd), P C. Ortíz (44th), C A. Zasko (61st)
20th Detroit Mustangs 41 C D. López (26th), CF D. Christian (35th)
21st Carolina Pirates 37 RF A. De Los Ríos (24th), 3B K. Herring (48th)
22nd Colorado Rancheros 32 P C. Esquivel (40th), P L. Díaz (77th), RF V. Calderón (79th), P F. Gai (87th)
23rd Nevada Silverhawks 30 SS H. bin Taysir (49th), P R. Lorenzo (54th), P W. Barry (84th), RF J. Villa (93rd)
24th Seattle Pilots 28 1B H. Tremblett (51st), P M. Collazo (67th), P T. Holden (76th), RF G. Jacobs (89th)
25th Chicago Cyclones 26 P P. Colón (47th), P J. Marés (57th), P Y. Navegero (94th)
26th Los Angeles Angels 22 RF F. Gutiérrez (63rd), 3B G. Chio (82nd), RF J. St-Amant (86th), P W. Bentley (88th)
27th Kansas City Elites 20 SS C. Mendoza (42nd), RF Y. Osada (92nd), LF G. Milley (98th)
28th Miami Marlins 18 C Á. Gutiérrez (56th), P F. Laferrière (65th)
29th Texas Wranglers 14 P L. Ruíz (72nd), CF D. Robinson (73rd)
30th Cleveland Blues 13 LF R. López (50th)

[Young Drachma]

To start the year, we've got a home and home series of 2 games against the Atlanta Firecrackers. We then head to Carolina to face off against the Carolina Pirates for the first time ever, before hosting a 13-game homestand against Cleveland, Seattle and Columbus.

http://www.crayon.tv/apr09.png

The bottom line is, the month of April is always tougher than we like to give it credit for and the games are more pivotal than in any other major sport. In other sports, a loss early in the year might not usually make or break a team's playoff chances. But in baseball, it's still the case.

We love that about the game and look forward to another year of exciting, MLB action.

Let's get it started!

[Young Drachma]

HISTORY RESETS
Mostly because of the flaws in the game with unretired/retired players (if a guy retires and you unretire him, there is a bug that will duplicate his stats) and that messed up my record book when I realized this and was trying to simply unretire a guy to give him a jersey to wear and to freeze his picture. So I just removed the retired.dat file from the league and basically, the records we have now are from players who basically got their start in the 1990s to present day. It sucks, sure. But...it doesn't matter. We'll call that old record book the "historical" record and we'll call these new records the "modern" record books.

So from now on, we'll cite only "modern" records. You know the historical figures that loom over the game and the awards are still named for them, but to me, this is the best way to do this. So..that's what we're doing.

[Young Drachma]

GAME 1: ATLANTA @ BOSTON
March 30, 2009
---
PREVIEW
The Braves come into this four game home and home set (2 in Boston, 2 in Atlanta) with a lineup comprised mostly of lower-tier guys on paper.

The guys to look out for on their ballclub include Hunter Davis, a 25-year old right fielder who is in his second full season with the club. Last year, he hit 16 HR and 69 RBI. The sweet-swinging leftie hit .305 in his rookie year.

19-year old phenom Fernando Hernandez is one of the many young Dominicans who taking the entire league by storm. He hit .299 with 51 HR and 135 RBI in his rookie year. Did I mention he's just a pup?

The last player worth mentioning is Atlanta's third baseman Cole Butler, a right-handed vet who is heading into his sixth year with the team. He hit .277 last year with 23 HR and 81 RBI.

On the mound for the Firecrackers is ace Victor Swaneveld. tHE 21-year old southpaw is a native of South Africa and ironically was dealt to Atlanta by the Yankees when they were still in Tampa back in 2007 en route to the World Series title that year.

One of the players who was received in the three-team deal was the guy on the mound today for the Yankees, Francisco Rosado.

The Firecrackers boast a face that might be familiar to many fans of the Yankees, Kris Corrigan was the shortstop on that World Series winning team in '07 and he's now playing in Atlanta after playing in San Francisco last year.

MATCHUPS
Cole Butler is 2 for 5 with a homerun lifetime against Francisco Rosado. And Kris Corrigan is 6 for 11 with one home run against him.

On the Yankees side, David Morgan is 3 for 6 with a 1 HR career against Swaneveld and Guillermo Castro is 4 for 4 with a homerun against him.

GAME
A four-run seventh inning capped broke a 3-3 tie and despite a late rally in the ninth, the Boston Yankees held on to win their season opener against the Atlanta Firecrackers at Yankee Field 7-5.

Boston reliever Brendan Cosh got the win, Mike Smith earned his first save as a Yankee.

BOX SCORE (http://crayon.tv/game12009.pdf)

[Young Drachma]

GAME 2: BOSTON 3, ATLANTA 2

Pancho Flores struck out 12 and Mike Smith notches his second straight save as the Yankees sweep Atlanta at home and head now to Atlanta for two games before ending the series.

BOX SCORE (http://www.crayon.tv/game22009.pdf)

GAME 3: ATLANTA 7, BOSTON 1

The Yankees were completely outclassed by 18-year old hurler Robby Johnson who was making his first career start. He struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings to get his first major league in style.

BOX SCORE (http://www.crayon.tv/game32009.pdf)

GAME 4: BOSTON 16 ATLANTA 11
The four-game home and home interleague soiree to start the season comes to an end, with Boston taking three of four. The last game was a doozy, with the two teams combining for 39 hits and 27 runs.

BOX SCORE (http://www.crayon.tv/game42009.pdf)

[Young Drachma]

A NEW TROPHY FOR BASEBALL'S FALL CLASSIC
NEW YORK -- The foundation named for the the 37th President of the United States Jackie Robinson, today announced the donation of a new trophy to be awarded to the winner of baseball's World Series called the Robinson Trophy.

Robinson died last year at the age of 89 and was best known as the first African-American elected President of the United States. The former lawyer and long-time activist actually got his start as a star athlete at UCLA. He was wooed heavily to play baseball in the pros, but opted against it saying that he had a "higher cause" to fight for. He later became a U.S. Senator from California and after Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for a 2nd term, the insurgent candidacy of Robinson was just what the doctor ordered for a country rankled by race riots and a war on the road.

He served two terms and spent his later years working with his Jackie Robinson Foundation, started by his wife and becoming a world leader.

A longtime lover of the game and of the Los Angeles Stars, President Robinson left in his will money to provide a "proper trophy befitting the best team in all of Major League Baseball." The trophy best resembles the Stanley Cup in hockey and will work similarly. The entire team of the World Series champions will be put onto the cup each year, just like the Stanley Cup and will be given to the winning team for one year.

"This is a fantastic tribute to the life of a great man and a great legacy of American service," said MLB spokesman Darryl Kennedy.

"We're ecsatic that President Robinson chose to do this in his departure from this world and believe that baseball will do great in the future to have this fantastic legacy in our most hallowed tradition and event."

The Robinson Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the 2009 World Series and each subsequent winner.

[Young Drachma]

Longest World Series droughts (in a continous franchise city) (as of 2009)
---
CHICAGO WHALES - 71 years (1938)
SAN FRANCISCO - 66 years
BOSTON (Browns/Yankees) - 60 years
KEOKUK - 41 years
SEATTLE - 39 years
COLUMBUS - 37 years
TORONTO - 35 years

[Young Drachma]

For some strange reason, I've wanted to make championship banners for teams. Most teams only have the years they won titles in that city on their banner. For instance, Keokuk doesn't claim the five titles the franchise won in Kansas City in the early 20th century as its own.

Speaking of Keokuk, they're the first one I did one for.

http://www.crayon.tv/keokuk_banner.png

[Young Drachma]

The Columbus Clippers

http://www.crayon.tv/clippersbanner.png

[Young Drachma]

http://www.crayon.tv/yanksbanner.png

Here's our banner. Since the team became the Yankees in 1924, we've never lost in the World Series, hence no reference to A.L. pennants.

Here's the banner for the San Francisco Seals. This poor franchise's fans have suffered for a while now. Their last playoff appearance was in 1981 and they've only been to the post-season three times since 1945.

http://www.crayon.tv/sealsbanner.png

Here's the Seattle Pilots banner.
http://www.crayon.tv/pilotsbanner.png

[Young Drachma]

With banners, I've pretty employed the theory that if a team kept the same nickname or stayed in the same city, that they get the champions from that particular era.

So the Keokuk Kernals/Comets/Cardinals are the same organization and get all of the titles. The Tampa/Boston Yankees are the same organization. But the Dallas Travelers and the Detroit Mustangs...not so much or the New York Metropolitans/Philadelphia Blue Jays, no.

[Young Drachma]

I've decided to go a different route with this dynasty. Either on this thread or a new one, I've decided to sim at the pace that I'm accustomed to. I can't sustain a slow-pace dynasty without lots of feedback and reader interest. That's no knock on any of you, it's just...that's the only way to motivate myself to get interested in the storylines.

And the thing is, I write at such a volume that it's not really realistic for me to expect anyone to keep up with me. :)

Sooo...my plan is to do something a little unorthodox. I'm going to go through and actually play out the 20-30 or more years of history and then go back and recall for you the highlights and low-lights of that timeframe. It'll be fun, because I can talk about players, the stuff that happened, what they did and of course, focus on the teams and the storylines therein.

I think that'll be a more interesting way of doing it and also, the pace won't be such that stuff is happening all of the time. It'll be like a dynasty on ESPN Classic, rather than watching it on Sportscenter.

We'll see if it works, but..I like the idea of trying it out.

[Young Drachma]

It's 2022, I've retaken over a team again and I'm going to recap not only what's happened over the past decade or so, but to talk about where I'm at now, what we're doing and all of that.

[Young Drachma]

2009: Philadelphia Blue Jays (NL) def. Nevada Silverhawks
The Blue Jays are one of the best teams in recent memory, stringing together their third straight NL East title en route to the franchise's first World Series since 1990.

At the end of the 2009 season, the San Francisco Seals moved to Oakland, California to become the Oakland Seals.


2010: Boston Yankees (AL) def. Keokuk Cardinals
At 124-38, this team might go down as the best in history. Wait until I go back and talk about the talent this team had on it, when I recap. Just amazing how well they worked together and the combination of young developed talent and veterans meshed perfectly culminating with the Yankees first World Series title in Boston and the franchise's 5th World Series since 1992.

At the end of the 2010 season, the Chicago Whales moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin to become the Green Bay Giants.

2011: Boston Yankees def. San Diego Marines
Yankees become the first team to repeat since Brooklyn back in 97-98

At the end of the 2011 season, the Los Angeles Stars moved to San Jose, California to become the San Jose Orioles.

2012: Boston Yankees def. Philadelphia Blue Jays
The two best teams of the 2000s face off in a World Series for the ages and Boston becomes the first three-peat champion since Keokuk from 1966-68

2013: Portland Beavers (NL) def. Boston Yankees
In their first year since moving from Vancouver, the new Portland franchise captured the first World Series in Portland since 1928, when the AL Portland Beavers (who later moved to New York) won their 5th and final World Series that season. This Portland team twarts the desire of the Yankees to become the first four-peat champ in baseball history.

At the end of the 2013 season, the Brooklyn Athletics moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to become the Albuquerque Athletics.

2014: Boston Yankees def. Detroit Mustangs
Only two franchises in history have won four titles in five years. Columbus (1912-14, 1916) and Keokuk (1963-64, 1965-66)

2015: Boston Yankees def. Philadelphia Blue Jays
It's fitting that the record-tying World Series victory for most in one span, comes against such a formidible opponent. Only Keokuk (1963-64, 1965-67) has ever won five titles in a six year span. This title marks the 14th in Yankees franchise history (Tampa/Boston) and breaks the record for most titles by any team, previously held by Columbus with 13.

2016: Arizona Sidewinders (AL) def. Albuquerque Athletics
The first all-Southwest World Series. These sorts of regional title bouts are what MLB was looking for, in its recent spate of moves to create more geography in baseball and to reflect a sport that "looks like America" with teams in a variety of cities and locales, rather than turning baseball into a "big city, big money" sport. This sort of expansion to markets often deemed "too small" by other sports prompted revenue sharing by owners and turned baseball into a global business enterprise and the game experiences huge growth in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Africa

2017: Portland Beavers (NL) def. Seattle Pilots
The Pilots were looking for their first World Series title since 1970, the only time the team has won one. They faced off against interleague and regional rival, Portland. This battle was one of the most exciting and eletrifying in the history of the World Series. Another regional series to capture the nation and it results in another Portland victory, their 2nd in five years.

2018: Boston Yankees def. Detroit Mustangs
A repeat of the 2014 series, Boston captures the 15th title in Yankees history and the sixth since coming to Boston in 2008.

2019: San Jose Orioles def. Seattle Pilots
Another West Coast World Series results in more Sleepless nights in Seattle as the team can't win the big one and the Orioles of San Jose capture the first title in franchise history and are the first California team to win a World Series since 2001.

In 2014, baseball had announced plans that in 2020 it would expand by an unprecedented 10 teams to cap both leagues at 40 teams. There was some talk, that it would be just 32 teams, but in the end, baseball officials felt that it made more sense to 'shock' the league once and keep its numbers fixed, rather than not. Plus, the rapid interest in baseball around the country demanded such moves and gave the owners all of the motivation they needed to make the decision to expand. The new cities were: Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Norfolk, Jackson Mississippi, Newark, Boise, Wichita, Indiana, San Antonio and Tampa.

Baseball realigned to eight divisions of five teams apiece. The playoffs were determined using first half and second half champions for 2020 and 2021 and a best-of-five game "Regional Series" preceded the best-of-five game Division Series.

2020: San Jose Orioles def. Chicago Cyclones
Another year, another AL city of suffering fans looking for a break. The wait of Cyclones fans has only been 16 years, but...San Jose ensured it'd be at least another year before the Windy City could claim a world title, as they took their 2nd straight series win. As this was the first World Series of the expanded playoff era, baseball's season began in mid-March and both San Jose and Chicago were champions of their respective divisions.

2021: Portland Beavers def. Columbus Clippers
The Clippers were once the juggernauts of baseball, but in recent years, they can't seem to get over the hump. Their last World Series came in 1972 and it wasn't to be in '21 as the Beavers claim their third title in modern franchise history. 91-win Portland knocked off 91-win Columbus in the first-ever battle of two Wild Card teams for the World Series title.

Baseball officials ended the 1st half/2nd half champions format after 2021 and decided for 2022 to go back to calcuating entire season standings and giving four wild cards in each league, after fans complained about the old system. In the new setup, a best-of-three game Wild Card Series would come before a best-of-seven game Division Series, followed by the League Championship and finally, the World Series.

2022: Atlanta Firecrackers def. Cleveland Blues
The Firecrackers claim their first World Series since 1996 with a win over Cleveland, who have never won a title, the fourth straight NL victory. The 88-win NL Central championships from Atlanta were the lowest regular season record team to win a World Series, knocking off 93-win Cleveland in the first playoffs of the Wild Card Series format.

It's important to note that my last season running the Yankees was in 2011. I didn't make anymore decisions for the club and actually quicksimmed until 2017 after the 2011 season. So the results you see here are a testament perhaps to good scouting and more importantly, a great farm system and a willingness -- which happens all around this game more than real life -- to sign your own players to long term deals.

To see the names of prospects I cultivated dotted through their championship rosters was staggering to me and actually, the coolest feeling I've had in ages regarding a team I could connect to.

In 2022, I ended my hiatus and took over the New York Heroes (who in 2023, switched their name slightly to the Heroes of New York). The Heroes, since moving to New York in 1962, have just nine playoff appearances and a lone World Series title (2003) to their credit in their 61 year history.

I decided that New Yorkers were tired of such suffering and decided to do for them what I did for Boston. Or at least, to try. Talentwise, this team doesn't come close to the core of what I had in Tampa/Boston when I started there. But, I still tried to do some things to get the club on solid group pretty early on.

[Young Drachma]

We began the year 19th in payroll and we're 16th to end the year.

Here we go with the playoff qualifiers:
http://www.crayon.tv/mlbplayoffslogo.png

AL EAST: Cleveland Blues (94-68)
For the first time since 2005, the Yankees did not win the AL East title. The streak of 17 division titles in a row is obviously unprecedented and may never be broken by anyone. Cleveland's second-straight playoff appearance results in a division title and perhaps, the start of something more significant as the reigning AL champions look for more in '23.

AL WEST: Arizona Sidewinders (93-69)
First playoff appearance since 2018 for a club that last won the World Series back in 2016.

AL SOUTH: Houston Generals (100-62)
Back-to-back division titles for the Generals, who have made just three playoff appearances since 2000.

AL CENTRAL: Columbus Clippers (96-66)
Fourth straight playoff appearance for the Clippers, who are two years removed from an AL pennant.

AL WILD CARDS:
Boston Yankees (93-69)
This is the first time the Yankees have ever qualified for the playoffs via the Wild Card. I once said that when I ran the team, that if we ever qualified via the Wild Card (back when there was just 1) that we'd decline the invitation to the playoffs. Needless to say, they won't be doing that this time.) The Yankees have 22 playoff appearances (21 division titles) over the past quarter-century.

New York Nine (90-72)
In 2011, the NY Highlanders changed their nickname to the New York Nine, honouring the first baseball game ever played in Hoboken, New Jersey. This is their third straight playoff appearance. Last WS: 2000

Los Angeles Angels (85-77)
The only charter franchise in the majors still playing in their original city. The Angels are making their 2nd appearance in 3 years. Last WS: 2003

Seattle Pilots (85-77)
Fifth straight appearance and sixth in seven years. Only WS title came in 1970. But won the AL pennant as recently as 2017 and 2019.

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (102-60)
Dark Cloud's boys had another good year, after rebounding last year to make the playoffs, this time they up the ante and claim their first NL East title since 2011. The team's only World Series came in 2002 and they last won the NL pennant in 2008. Let's see how they handle the pressure of being the juggernaut.

NL WEST: Salt Lake City Bees (90-72)
The expansion Bees make their first playoff appearance in their fourth year of existance.

NL CENTRAL:Atlanta Firecrackers (87-75)
The defending World Series champs are back in the playoffs, claiming their third straight division title along the way. Can they make it two in a row?

NL NORTH:Green Bay Giants (99-63)
The third straight playoff appearance for the G-men and their 5th in seven years. 99 wins is the most wins since the franchise moved to Green Bay. Last WS victory: 1938 as the Chicago Whales. Will this be the year the drought ends?

NL WILD CARD
Washington Senators (99-63)
Fourth straight playoff appearance for the Sens, but their streak of three straight NL East titles was snapped by the upstart New York squad.

Minnesota Mets (94-68)
Second appearance in four years for the Mets.

Omaha Royals (85-77)
Omaha makes a return to the playoffs after a two year absence.

Portland Beavers (85-77)
The 2021 champs make their fourth straight appearance in the post-season.

[Young Drachma]

Here are the matchups in the AL & NL Wild Card Series. The idea is simple. A best-of-three game series. Why a three-game set? It's the most common event in a baseball season. It separates the wheat from the chaff. And I just like the idea of something we could condense into a whole weeklong event, so basically you could come home and there would baseball on regular TV for a whole week after work. Like on NBC and ABC and maybe a third game on ESPN.

For the first two years after the mass expansion and realignment, we had something called the Regional Series. It was a best-of-five game event before the best-of-five game Division Series. It worked okay, but that coupled with the weird half game champions thing, was too much for the fans and while attendance and viewership was up, the new system has been a huge hit.

It's be exciting, pressure-filled and even if a fluke team makes it out of here, their depth has to last them through a seven-game series just after it, in the Division Series which was expanded from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.

So far, it's ensured we have better matchups in the World Series and I like the real world nature of it, so....there ya go.

http://www.crayon.tv/American_League_Wild_Card_S.png

Seattle v. Houston
Los Angeles v. Columbus
New York v. Cleveland
Boston v. Arizona


http://www.crayon.tv/National_League_Wild_Card_S.png

Portland v. New York
Omaha v. Green Bay
Minnesota v. Salt Lake City
Washington v. Atlanta

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/aldslogo.png
Seattle (def. Houston 2-0) v. Columbus (def. Los Angeles 2-1)
New York (def. Cleveland 2-0) v. Boston (def. Arizona 2-1)

http://crayon.tv/nldslogo.png
Green Bay (def. Omaha 2-0) v. New York (def. Portland 2-1)
Atlanta (def. Washington 2-1) v. Salt Lake City (def. Minnesota 2-1)

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/alcslogo.png
Boston (defeated New York 4-1) v. Columbus (defeated Seattle 4-2)
It is fitting that the teams with the most World Series titles among them meet on even ground to settle a score that will send on to the World Series. The juggernaut of a past era versus a modern day juggernaut.

http://crayon.tv/nlcslogo.png
Green Bay (def. New York 4-3) v. Salt Lake City (def. Atlanta 4-2)
In this matchup, it's all about the upstart. Green Bay arrived as a major league city in 2011 when the Chicago Whales moved north. The franchise hasn't won a World Series since 1938. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City was a major league city from 1977 until 2007, when the original Bees moved to Nevada. So it took 47 years, but the city is on the cusp of hosting the World Series for the first time ever. Either way, the winner of this series comes out a pioneer and a trailblazer.

[Young Drachma]

This was asked on the other boards, but I thought it might be a useful question to some here too.

What's your criteria for deciding when/if/where a team should move?

In this particular universe, my only criteria was 1) poor results over a period of time, signaling a long-term ownership group that may or may not have done well with the club. I also started to consider more and more, the idea that 2) baseball should be represented around the country, rather than having multiple teams in cities, when say, a team in a adjacent locale could still blanket that area.

For instance, Green Bay. They were close enough to Chicago, that I believe some of the old fan base would support the ballclub so long as it began to become successful.

Same with San Jose's move from Los Angeles.

In a few random cases, it was just me going "that move would make sense and I have a uniform to match that locale or could make a good looking one."

But that one is usually after considering other things.

The realism in terms of what we consider today to be a real-life market versus what we don't is not employed here. Because I believe cities that have minor league clubs would support a major league team provided it was close enough to a population centre and given that MLB had revenue sharing to ensure that teams weren't provided with a huge advantage by simple matter of geography in the case of say, New York or Philadelphia.

That said, the current alignment and team locales are pretty much fixed at this point, as I can't really see too many other places to move teams to or teams to move. Will it happen? It might. But, I think looking at the map (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Baltimore,+MD&ie=UTF8&ll=39.352352,-76.600113&spn=33.930698,82.265625&z=4&om=1), you can see that we have a good part of the country covered and that's my preference for baseball and what the original premise of this dynasty was about anyway.



<iframe width="850" height="700" frameborder="yes" scrolling="yes" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&om=1&msa=0&msid=107011263023411354395.00043812b606344386a62&ll=37.160317,-95.888672&spn=35.105572,81.738281&output=embed&s=AARTsJoUN1hdXS7uTh27hy1ZajiMq1IRPQ"></iframe><br/><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&om=1&msa=0&msid=107011263023411354395.00043812b606344386a62&ll=37.160317,-95.888672&spn=35.105572,81.738281&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left;font-size:small">View Larger Map</a>









To that end, the only region that's technically underrepresented is the Caribbean, but I preferred to keep MLB an essentially American league, with the exception of a Canadian team represented. Other countries don't let their top flight leagues go willynilly across borders and I felt ours shouldn't either out of respect for other countries leagues and simply out of convenience for ours.

I also pour pretty heavily over population projections and because I've been to all of the lower 48 states, I tend to use ancedotal research in determining which markets can support teams from what I've seen from them.

So there is a method to my (seeming) madness.

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/2023worldseries.png

Salt Lake City won this series in seven games, claiming the first title in their franchise history, knocking off the juggernauts from Boston, who were looking for their 16th World Series. This Series was akin to the Marlins beating the Yankees in real life, except the Bees really weren't that great and if you went up and down their roster, the talent was comprised largely of veterans and a few key young guys, but it was mostly a bunch of castoffs who played REALLY well together.

Boston had the 2nd highest payroll in baseball and Salt Lake City were 32nd I believe. So it was truly David v. Goliath. But to make it that far, you have to peak exceptionally and manage to navigate three other rounds just to get there.

[Young Drachma]

2024 PLAYOFFS
http://www.crayon.tv/mlbplayoffslogo.png
AL EAST: New York Nine (106-56)
AL WEST: Nevada (92-70)
AL SOUTH: Miami Marlins (83-79)
AL CENTRAL: Chicago Cyclones (97-65)
AL WILD CARD:
Cleveland Blues (92-70)
Columbus Clippers (88-74)
Arizona Sidewinders (87-75)
Seattle Pilots (86-76)

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (119-43)
NL WEST: Salt Lake City Bees (86-76)
NL CENTRAL: Atlanta Firecrackers (99-63
NL NORTH: Detroit Mustangs (96-66)
NL WILD CARD:
Minnesota Mets (91-71)
Omaha Royals (88-74)
Colorado Rancheros (85-77)
Green Bay Giants (85-77)

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/wildcardserieslogo.png

AMERICAN LEAGUE
---
Seattle v. New York
Chicago v. Columbus
Arizona v. Nevada
Cleveland v. Miami

NATIONAL LEAGUE
---
Green Bay V. New York
Atlanta v. Colorado
Omaha v. Detroit
Minnesota v. Salt Lake City

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/aldslogo.png
CHICAGO (def. Columbus 2-0) V. SEATTLE (def. New York 2-1)
ARIZONA (def. Nevada 2-0) v. CLEVELAND (def. Miami 2-0)

The defeat of the top two seeds in the AL, will likely result in a change to the playoff format next season. But the benefactors of the best-of-three game Wild Card series include Arizona (who beat Nevada) and Seattle, who edged out top-seeded New York in the Wild Card Series.

http://crayon.tv/nldslogo.png

GREEN BAY (def. Heroes of NY 2-0) v. ATLANTA (def. Colorado 2-1)
DETROIT (def. Omaha 2-0) v. SALT LAKE CITY (def. Minnesota 2-0)

Not only did the top two seeds in the AL lose, but the #1 seed in the NL lost and well, that's just not going to fly, because one of the criticisms of the new playoff format is that it diminishes the importance of the regular season in a way that baseball isn't used to.

Proponents say that the regular season is still meaningful, but that feasting upon bad teams in the regular season shouldn't be as important as beating the best teams each league has to offer during the playoffs.

Either way, Green Bay, the 8th seed in the NL, are pleased that the format is how it is and took advantage of it.

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/alcslogo.png
ARIZONA (def. Cleveland 4-2) v. CHICAGO (def. Seattle 4-0)

The #2 seed facing off against the #7 seed.

http://crayon.tv/nlcslogo.png
GREEN BAY (def. Atlanta 4-3) v.
DETROIT (def. Salt Lake City 4-3)

The #3 seed taking on the #8 seed. Needless to say, this isn't what the God's had in mind for baseball playoffs.

Lower attendance has baseball officials scrambling at a new solution for the 2025 season. But at the same time, having three mid-western teams in baseball's Final Four has been an exciting boost for TV audiences in that part of the country.

Others are complaining that the long playoffs are bad for rotations and teams that are already tired and that a shorter season would be in order.

[Young Drachma]

http://crayon.tv/2024series.png
#7 v. #8 isn't normally something to warm the hearts of many. But the storyline of the team from Green Bay was enough to reign in fans from the Midwest and the southwest packed the house for the Sidewinders, who since 2009 are the only AL team other than the Boston Yankees to win a World Series.

The experience of the Sidewinders came through, as they won their 2nd World Series in franchise history, knocking off the upstart Giants in five games to capture their first title since 2016.

[Young Drachma]

2025 SCHEDULE CHANGES
For the 125th season of Major League Baseball, we're going to go a different route. We're keeping the same alignment, but for the first time ever we're playing just a 120 game schedule. The 40-man roster expansion date is now August 1st (from September 1st) and the trade deadline has been moved back to July 15st (from August 15th).

The Wild Card Series is now a best-of-seven game series, meaning teams have to win an unprecedented 24 games to win the World Series.

I know that on paper, this will affect things negatively in that, a lot of records won't ever get broken again.

But if it weren't OOTP, I'd be able to start a new record book to assuage that and it would alleviate the pain of the steroid era (had we had one..) and make things anew heading into the next 125 years of baseball history.

To compensate, we're going to 4-man rotations again, normal endurance for pitchers and I've lengthened the aging for players so guys last longer than they ordinarily would, allowing to break records that they'd otherwise not break.

And 120 games, the season is still longer than that of any other sport and makes baseball more like a long endurance race, than a slogging series of meaningless games in April and September. Right now, the season will end on August 31st, meaning that September is now playoff month in baseball and the World Series should start in early October at the latest, meaning that folks can stop watching baseball just around the time that the football season starts to heat up.

This article (http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_6725751) makes my argument for me.

We've also changed the 40-man roster to a 50-man roster, though teams can still only call up 40 guys at a time after August 1st and the active roster size is now 27-man from 25. This was a concession the owners made due to the shortened season and the fact that teams would simply have guys that probably wouldn't play as much.

[Young Drachma]

The economics of this league might be a mystery and so, to clarify...the way that the teams are able to survive in far-flung places is pretty simple.

In this particular universe, the media money from all of MLB's teams -- radio rights, internet broadcast rights, TV rights and such alike -- local and national are negotiated by MLB Media Properties, LLC.

This company would collect these funds, negotiate rates and then disburse the funds equally to all of the clubs in the game. This allows teams in Wichita, to survive, the same way it gives money to big-market teams to spend.

Can an owner funnel his own cash into the team? Sure. There is no salary cap. But that's how media money is distributed and of course, ticket money is spread across the league too, but it's split 75/25 in favor of the home team.

[Young Drachma]

http://www.crayon.tv/mlbplayoffslogo.png
2025 SEASON
---
AL EAST: New York (72-48)
AL WEST: Nevada (67-53)
AL SOUTH: Miami (69-51)
AL CENTRAL: Chicago (77-43)
AL WILD CARD:
Cleveland (65-55)
Seattle (65-55)
Austin (64-56)
Boston (63-57)

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (78-42)
NL WEST: Portland (59-61)
NL CENTRAL: Texas (75-45)
NL NORTH: Green Bay (72-48)
NL WILD CARD:
Detroit (69-51)
Minnesota (68-52)
Atlanta (65-55)
Orlando (62-58)

[Young Drachma]

http://www.crayon.tv/mlbplayoffslogo.png

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago def. Boston 4-3

Austin def. New York 4-2

Miami def. Seattle 4-0

Nevada def. Cleveland 4-3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
New York def. Orlando 4-1

Atlanta def. Texas 4-2

Green Bay def. Minnesota 4-3

Portland def. Detroit 4-3

ALDS
--
Chicago def. Austin 4-3
Miami def. Nevada 4-3

NLDS
---
New York def. Atlanta 4-2
Green Bay def. Portland 4-1

ALCS
---
Miami def. Chicago 4-2

NLCS
---
Green Bay def. New York 4-3

2025 WORLD SERIES
----
GREEN BAY def. Miami 4-0
First title in franchise history for the Giants of Green Bay.

[Young Drachma]

ALWCS
---
New York def. Cleveland 4-1
Chicago def. Miami 4-3
Seattle def. Austin 4-2
Cheyenne def. Florida 4-2

NLWCS
---
Heroes of NY def. Boise 4-3
Atlanta def. San Diego 4-1
Texas def. Albuquerque 4-0
Indiana def. Orlando 4-3

ALDS
---
New York def. Chicago 4-2
Seattle def. Cheyenne 4-2

NLDS
---
Heroes of NY def. Atlanta 4-2
Texas def. Indiana 4-3

ALCS
----
Seattle def. New York 4-3

NLCS
---
New York def. Texas 4-3

2026 WORLD SERIES
----
Seattle def. New York 4-2

Seattle's first World Series title since 1970, 2nd in franchise history.