2007 MLB PLAYOFFS
WORLD SERIES QUARTERFINALS
------------
Pennsylvania def. Seattle 3-0
Florida def. Arizona 3-0
San Jose def. Atlanta 3-1
Boston def. Chi. Comets 3-1

WORLD SERIES SEMIFINALS
----
Pennsylvania def. Florida 4-3
San Jose def. Boston 4-2


2007 WORLD SERIES
----
(San Jose's last World Series title came in 1970, the Colonials won the World Series just two years ago)

COLONIALS def. San Jose 4 games to 1

THE UP & DOWN REPORT ~ 2007
----
MLB
---
In: Nevada
Out: California

CONTINENTAL LEAGUE
---
In: Windsor, California
Out: Nevada, Portland

NATIONAL LEAGUE
---
In: Portland, Worcester
Out: Windsor, Boise

AMERICAN LEAGUE
--
In: Boise
Out: Worcester

Given this was the first year of relegation and promotion in all the leagues, it got confusing very quickly to make sure alignments were right and teams were in the right place. But it worked out okay and next season will go on just fine.

THE LA STRATEGY
October 20, 2007

So, the team went 33-28 from the time I took over in July. I need to craft a strategy short of going out and spending on tons of players and bloating payroll -- though it's not out of the question -- to determine how we're going to get this club into contention year in and year out.

The first order of business is developing the farm system. We're going to get a developmental team in the Area Code Baseball league along with seven other clubs (Royals, Cubs, Bees, Yankees, Cardinals, Cyclones and Nationals)

Beyond that, I'm not certain. I want to get a lineup together that truly exploits the benefits of Dodger Stadium and uses it to our advantage, because well...I think it can be an asset.

I have no idea how I'll go about this, but..it's the plan I guess.

The draft will come back next season, so NCAA players will be subject to it and NCAA players only.

2008 CAP FIGURES
CL: $60 million
NL: $47.5 million
AL: $20 million

We actually lowered the cap. It was too high for CL teams to the point where they were clearly competing with MLB teams for talent at the top tiers and MLB owners were extremely opposed to this, so an adjustment in the amount of media revenue these teams were allocated happened. I think the game allows teams over the cap if they're already there, but won't let them sign anybody else.

In the CL, California, Chicago and Tampa barely (just 863k over) are affected.

In the NL and AL, it's not an issue.

Hey DC,

I've just gotten in to playing OOTP, and I was wondering about your retiring numbers. I haven't seen any option to do that within the game, is this just something you are doing for the dynasty or is it an option in the game that I'm missing somewhere?

It's not an option in the game. That makes entirely too much sense when you could be playing with leagues in the Vatican.

Just kidding.

But no, it's not an option. It's the result of me playing with photoshop and using work time ineffectively. :) It's a lot of fun though, I encourage it. And it's a lot easier to follow it when you actually run the same team for a long time. I don't bother to go back now and see if the Yankees are maintaining my retired numbers from before or anything. But when I did, I was all over it.

D.C. BOLTS FROM LOS ANGELES
October 22, 2007
LOS ANGELES - D.C. Daly is on the move again. After just a half season at the helm of the Los Angeles Dodgers and saving the ballclub from relegation, club officials reportedly asked the 32-year old G.M. to resign.

No indication was given as to why the team asked him to quit or be dismissed, but, some reports indicate that the team's new owners never "seriously" considered keeping Daly on board past this year and that those who supported the move to sign him were "disconcerted" with moves he made, despite the fact that the team had a winning record in August and September with Daly at the helm.

Reportedly, ownership took exception to his refusal to a team mandate to shed nearly $20 million in payroll - most notably star outfielder Bobby Stewart, who still has three years and over $50 million on his deal. Stewart, along with prospect Harlan Minor and pitcher Paul Moneur were dealt to Nevada for five players on Saturday in a deal that was reported conducted directly by ownership of the two ballclubs.

Daly had no comment through his agent, but all indications are that the seeming journeyman GM is looking for a role that's "stable."

In seven years as a G.M., he's 637-425, winning the 2002 World Series with the Boston Yankees and the 2006 American League pennant with the Worcester Browns, who repeated in 2007 and will play 2008 in the National League.

His half-season with the Dodgers was his first time back in the bigs since 2004 with the Providence Bees, where he spent just one season.

DALY GIVES WORD, MIGHT SIT OUT THE YEAR
October 28, 2007
"I'm not sure what's next. All I know is, I'm tired of living out of a suitcase," said D.C. Daly, who after spending nearly a decade in New England GMing the Yankees, Bees and Browns, headed to LA on a whim at mid-season to help rescue the Dodgers from relegation.

"I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish in a short period of time and grateful they were so interested in having me that they made me such a great offer. It just wasn't a good fit. Some jobs in the real world come with a six-month probationary period for a good reason and this wasn't one, but would a lot like that. I'm not sure I'm a west coast guy," said Daly.

When asked what's next and if he saw himself as the journeyman type, he laughed.

"I'm always in search of a challenge. But more than anything, I want to build something. I want to go somewhere, be there a decade or so and really be able to see stuff go from concept to completion. I haven't been able to do that yet and well...if I take another gig anytime soon, that'll be precisely what my plan is."

Dude, sit still. :)

MONTERREY MATADORS SOLD TO PHILADELPHIA REAL ESTATE MAGNATE
November 4, 2007
The Monterrey Matadors were the first Mexican club to join the bigs, but after five years in the bigs with attendance never reaching more than 2.1 million fans per season, the team has been sold to a New Jersey-based Philadelphia real estate magnate W. Lyon Evans.

Evans, 48, has said that he desired to bring a big league team to Philly after the CL's Phillies failed to gain promotion since their inception and the Colonials moved an hour outside of the city.

The Matadors are likely, upon the likely approval of MLB to move to Philadelphia for the 2008 season.

"We're thrilled. I've wanted to do this for a long time and it seems the time was right to make it happen," said Evans about the deal reported worth $218million.

The relocated Matadors would likely share Aramark Park with the Phillies until the team decides where to build a ballpark. Reportedly, Evans is looking at a site across the river in Camden, NJ, that's in full view of the Ben Franklin Bridge. The reported deal would also include several significant real estate developments.

"We're still hammering out the details, but we'd want a gleaming new ballpark."

The Matadors best season was 82-80 in 2004 (2nd in their division, but failed to make the playoffs.) The team's attendance record was broke this season at 2,173,951; which is 338 more fans than the team attracted in 2004, the previous record.

The recent success of the central PA based Colonials have left Philly faithful desperate for a successful ballclub.

"This city is much too proud in its legacy in the game to go without a team in the top level of baseball for this long," said Deputy Mayor for Sport Michael Wordley.

YOU WANNA TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?: INSIDE THE HEAD OF A WANDERING G.M.

So, you're reading along and sopping up all the tasty morsels my brain can concoct and in the process of trying to wrap your mind around all of the mindblowing changes that have happened to baseball since relegation and promotion were implemented is "What the HELL is D.C. Daly doing? It doesn't make any sense?!"

If you go back to the beginning, you have to think about who we're dealing with here. He's a kid that came into a job that all of us -- well, most of us -- dream of. He got the keys to a franchise and was told to do his best to get them out of the doldrums and given the scratch to make it happen.

So when he screws up and actually pulls off the impossible, he starts to think "well, this is easy." And starts to believe in his own magic too much.

Clearly, the kid has a gift. No team he's run has been relegated yet, even after he's left, but he hasn't exactly gone out of his way to be a finisher or even to necessarily prove his loyalty.

He'll say all of the right things in press conferences and the fans will believe him and then before you know it, he's gone.

The fact that he's such a primadonna that he needs the attention of even casual fans knowing who he is -- what other fourth division team had a GM whose departure was top news on Sportscenter? -- tells you that our friend here has some issues.

I think he thinks that it was supposed to all be as easy as it was in the beginning. And that he could even go and take money he got from "working hard" and investing well and maybe even from Daddy (we didn't mention that part, though...) to go and buy a baseball team and get the idea that "well, if I run them, we'll win, we'll be in the majors and I'll show those guys that I'm just as good as they are."

They, being his friends..the owners. See, he's obviously not the most patient and he's clearly not that inclined to take orders from the person writing the checks. He's like a kid who runs a school club and tries to turn it into his own fiefdom, not realizing that once he leaves, someone else has to try to navigate whatever mess he left.

I don't think the problem here is that he's a bad GM or that he'll be allowed to bounce around the league like this much longer. Far more talented individuals have been known to languish at the hands of owners who want someone they can trust and who'll keep their word.

The protagonist in our story has yet to find his way, in part because I'm not sure he knows what he wants or even how to get there. I think if I had to do some soul-searching just from what I've read, I'd say that he's probably trying hard to recreate what he had in Boston, but gave up because his ego got the best of him and he believed the grass was greener in Providence, before deciding that was a bad situation and getting a team in Worcester...and YOU KNOW what he was thinking by buying that particular team. (Worcester could've competed with Boston if they were in the majors....what guts this guy has?!)

I don't think the move to LA, even in what amounted to an interim capacity was a bad idea. Would've been better if everyone went into it with that understanding, but given that he managed to do his job -- even if it was controversial at times -- was all they wanted from him.

But back to what I was saying about redemption and recreating what you didn't have before....It's true that the Yankees have not won another World Series since D.C. left in 2003. But the team also hasn't missed the playoffs in the years since then, either and until last year, had a stretch of five straight division titles to their credit.

This is essentially with guys that D.C. Daly put together and a foundation he put in place when he took the job and he's not there to reap the benefits, get the credit or just enjoy it. Because he's been a nomad in search of a home ever since, taking time off and being confused about what it is he's trying to do.

So, as we move forward...I'd say that it will be interesting to see if he'll ever be able to find his soul and to find a place where he feels he truly belongs. He's only 32 and so, he could end up doing this for another two or three decades if he's lucky. But the question remains, will he ever truly be happy? Or will it be the story of the guy who bounces around and even when he wins, never seems to find the core of what he stands for?

I guess that's what's left for us to find out.

PHILADELPHIA WELCOMES THE QUAKERS
PHILADELPHIA - The Colorado Rockies are no longer the only baseball team named after a defunct hockey team. The Philadelphia Quakers were welcomed to town today in a ceremony in downtown Philadelphia near LOVE Park to a throng of nearly 8,000 fans.

The city has been without a big league team since the Colonials moved to central Pennsylvania for the 2004 season.

"We're excited to welcome the Quakers to town!"

The team -- owned by W. Lyon Evans, a local real estate magnate is expected to be a big player in the free agent market, to try to endear the local fan base early to their new team.

"We want people to embrace this team. We love Philly and we want bring titles to this city in a way no team previously has," said Evans.

I'm considering the following:

- Spinning off to a new thread, to make it easier to follow what's happening.

- Focusing almost exclusively on the bigs and only paying end-of-the-season promotion/relegation attention to the lower leagues.

- Taking a new job with a team and implementing rules very similar to what I did in my old Moneyball dynasty where I institute all sorts of spending limits, along with some other modern tweaks aimed at create lasting connections.

Now that I've got things setup, the relegation/promotion is in place and we know where the teams are for the most part, etc., I'm aiming to stabilize things a bit and get down to the business of building a true dynasty...somewhere.

I'm not sure which of these I'll implement, but..that's where I'm at with things.

SINCE THEN...
November 15, 2009
The Pennsylvania Colonials established themselves as the modern juggernaut after defeating the Atlanta Athletics in 2008 to win their third World Series title in four years.

Meanwhile, their new rivals to the east, the Philadelphia Quakers have emerged as a true rival in their former city.

The Quakers won the 2009 World Series, knocking off the Atlanta Athletics -- who won the '06 Series -- in seven games.

And the GM of that team in Philadelphia? None other than D.C. Daly himself, who took the job almost immediately after it was offered to him by W. Lyon Evans, owner of the Quakers and a friend of Daly's father R.B. Daly.

Heading into his third year with the ballclub, Daly has taken the relocated Monterrey Matadors to the top. In 2008, the team was Top 5 in payroll, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The team shed about $20 million in payroll and rode what was left to the first World Series in franchise history.

The Washington Nationals, who were relegated in 2009 will be returning to MLB after knocking off the Providence Bees in seven games. The AL Was won by Toledo, the NL by Worcester and Washington beat Windsor in six games to win the CL before capturing the Commissioner's Pin against Providence to return to MLB after a one-year absence.

THE QUAKERS TAKE OCTOBER: PHILADELPHIA CAPTURES ITS FIRST WORLD SERIES TITLE
PHILADELPHIA -- With one swing in the bottom of the 9th, Ron Olden, who was on this team when it was still in Monterrey and who is 2nd in franchise history with 187 home runs, hit one for the ages when he put an end to the 2009 World Series and led the Quakers to their first-ever World Series title in the franchise's 13th year of existence and in just its sixth year in the bigs.

The Quakers are also the first team from the "promotion era" to win the World Series -- no team from a lower league had ever laid claim to the title before now.

The team, which was promoted to the majors in 2002 and spent five years in Monterrey before being sold to W. Lyon Evans and moved to Philadelphia in 2008, the team has been successful for its two years in town and will move to brand-new Johnson & Johnson Park, just across the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden, NJ this coming season and expects to continue participating at the top tier of major league clubs.

"We're not going to experience any dropoff. We're on the same page here and we're going to make Quakers baseball the class of the majors. It helps that we have a team right down the road that we're competing with and so, we're not going to make this a fluke by any stretch. We're just gonna reload," said Daly.

Asked if he was happy to be in a city where he felt comfortable, he smiled and said, "Well, I dunno. When it's all said and done, it's about wins and losses. If we're not getting it done on the field, no one is going to care what I do up here in a suit and tie, they're gonna send me away and bring someone else in to do the job.

---
DIAMOND NOTES ~ NOVEMBER 2009
It was sad to see Providence get relegated without so much as returning to the World Series after I left. I hope they make it back soon, especially since they've invested so much in a short period of time to that ballclub being there.

Seeing Worcester on the doorstep of the majors starting next year will be interesting. We called getting to the majors and the plan surrounding it "The Blueprint" and well, it's just cool to see "The Blueprint" is well underway. It'll be tough to get out of the Continental League, but...the fact that they made it out of the National League in just two years surprised me a ton, because it's a place that can consume a ballclub really quickly if they're not proactive. Just ask the Minnesota Twins, who've been stuck down there for three years now and still haven't gotten out and are sitting the lowest of any ballclub who have big league experience.

In 2004, the White Sox were actually pondering moving. But increased cap numbers in the Continental League and recent success -- despite no playoff appearances -- have helped that team come full circle attendance wise.

Starting in 2010, the Guinness Cup Series playoffs will be two best-of-five playoff series, rather than just one series title between the top two teams. This is borne out of the fact that teams with a lesser record (as Washington was in 2009) are managing to get into the Guiness Cup Series and are winning out, to get into the majors. So the league finally gave in and playoffs will be expanded for the first time in that league starting next year.

But enough of this lower league business. Let me introduce you to the Quakers of Philadelphia.

I made the championship banner for the '09 Quakers

2009 PHILADELPHIA QUAKERS TEAM STATS
PITCHING

BATTING

2009 FINAL MLB STANDINGS

The Quakers steamrolled to their 2nd straight Eastern Division title, but as the Colonials manager said last year, as his team won it all, "all winning your division means is that you beat up on the bad teams more than anybody else. The real wins that count start in October."

Taking that message to heart, the Philadelphia Quakers put on their hard hats and went to work in the 2009 playoffs. After battling hard to get past the Cincinnati Reds in the Quarterfinals, they swept the Kansas City Royals -- who in 20 playoff appearances have just one World Series title (1971) -- in the semis.

That setup a showdown with the Atlanta Athletics who were making their 3rd World Series appearance in four years.

Despite being up 3 games to 1, the Quakers lost two straight, to force a decisive Game 7 at Aramark Park in Philadelphia.


Game 7, was tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th, when Ron Olden, who has been with the club since 2006, smashed a 1-2 fastball out of the ballpark to send the Philly faithful into a FRENZY, giving the Quakers their first-ever World Series title.

2009 WORLD SERIES GAME 7 GAME LOG
GAME 7 BOX SCORE

Randall Dorsey
The 27-year old Atlanta native joined the bigs in 2005 after he signed a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals after spending his rookie year with the Cleveland Indians of the CL playing third base, as he does now.

He's had five straight seasons of 40+ HRs and had a career high for at-bats (646) and hits (183) this past season for the Quakers.

After three years with the Cards, he was traded in 2007 to the Quakers and in 2009, signed a four-year extension to keep him in Philly through 2013.


Ron Olden
The hero of the 2009 World Series isn't just a one-trick pony. Over the past two seasons, he's got 102 HRs and 253 RBI. At just 26-year old, Olden is the spirtual leader of this ballclub and has a huge following locally. The team signed Olden to a 6-year extension worth $119.9 million.


Dan Warren
If you've been reading a while, then you know this guy. He was on the World Series squad in Boston back in 2002 and spent until 2007 with the Yankees, before inking a three-year deal with the Quakers in 2008. He didn't even play the whole year in 2008, only playing in 71 games, but after we dealt the incumbent, Warren became the full-time first baseman in Philly.


Nick Blackstone
Was acquired from the Worcester Browns in 2007 and after a brief adventure in the minors, he's been in the majors for the past two years and is 32-14 with an ERA just over three. He's just 23.

Jorge Morales
28-year old hurler signed a 5-year deal worth over $86 million in the off-season, after starting his career with the San Francisco Giants.

In his first year in Maroon, he went 19-7, matching his career high in wins and coming within one strikeout of tying his career single-season record of 275.


Frankie Azcarreta
In his second season with the Quakers, he had his fourth-straight 30+ save season. The 31-year old hurler is heading into the 3rd year of a four-year deal worth $26.2 million.


Aaron Larkin
The prize of the 2007 off-season was this 30-year old righthander from Okemos, Michigan. In his second year with the Quakers, he won 20 games for the fourth time in his career. Larkin began his career with the Seattle Mariners, spending from 1998-2004 in the Pacific Northwest, before spending three years in Nevada with the Silverhawks prior to their ascent to the major leagues. He's the first player to win both a Cy Young and a CL Charlie Cousins Award for best pitcher over two different years.

He has three years left on a five-year deal that will pay him $69.875 million.

My goal with this team is really to get through this first generation of players, have a legacy of whatever the legacy that's left by them. Whether it's titles and hard-fought battles with the Colonials or if it's coming close to winning and pulling what the Royals do -- make the playoffs and lose at some point year in and year out -- I want to assume whatever the mantle is, then come back and look at the team again and see what the next generation of players will be faced with.

At this point, this team has nothing like my past teams have had. In both Boston and in Providence, I had a farm system to speak of or at least, kids that I knew would eventually be able to come up and contribute.

On this team, our prospects are basically near-done or done kids that are going to try to force my hand and make me figure out where to play them as time goes on and eventually, I'll have to deal them for established players or for pennies on the dollar.

So right now, I see this team a lot more like what the Yankees of the 1990s looked like, than anything like my past teams have and so, the real issue will be whether we'll find success in this window or not.

I do think it's important for an upstart team in a new city to establish a legacy early. The reason expansion teams in some cities fail to penetrate the market to where it's a true baseball city early on, is because the team's do a poor job of creating a culture of winning early. Spending money sucks, sure...but when you're the envy of the league, you do that by winning and creating a methodology for the way your organization does business and then, if you do that for a decade on the outset, it's a lot easier when you've created that to get fans to stick with your team after that in the lean years if they come.

But expansion teams in the modern era start out bad and expand fans to support them through it and while die-hard fans always will, in a sport like baseball that's become increasingly regional, if you're in a transplant city -- we're not, but go with it -- you're going to find yourself having a difficult time attracting the sorts of fans whose kids grow up with fond memories of going to Quakers games as a kid.

PLAYOFF DROUGHTS UPDATE
---
Here are the teams still in MLB (e.g. some teams with MLB tenure have droughts and have since been relegated). Teams that made the playoffs in '09 are listed with number of consecutive appearances.

PAST WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS (1969-2009)

2010 TO USHER NEW PLAYOFF SYSTEM IN MLB
In addition to renaming the rounds of baseball's playoffs, MLB has ushered a new system.

Starting in 2010, MLB will "test" a system that will include the four Wild Card teams playing in a five-game series before the first-round Division Series (formerly MLB Quarterfinals) which is now a best-of-seven series.

After the five games, the standings will be readjusted and the top four non-division champs will advance to the playoffs to face off against the four division champs.

What happens if there is a tight division race that goes down to the wire? Then head-to-head record will decide the division champ and the loser will end up in the Wild Card Week playoff, followed by division record and inter-division record.

MLB's "Wild Card Week" will count in the regular season standings, but only the 8 teams who haven't won their division will be able to qualify.

The Wild Card Week will pit the teams against each other in a separate bracket essentially, with 1 v. 8 2 v. 7 3 v. 6 and 4 v. 5, the teams that emerge from this week with the best records will advance to the playoffs.

"It's the best alternative we could concoct to fully expanding the playoffs," said MLB Spokesman Josh Canty. League officials have not referred to the format as anything other than "experimental" and have not committed to it past the 2010 season, but believe that it will "provide incentives for teams that are on the cusp of the playoff bubble to do their best to get in, while giving the division champions a rest before the start of formal playoff play."

The season will start a week earlier to accomodate the change.

Ed Note: After realizing you can edit the playoff schedule, I just am curious to see how this model will work. It would help me not to have to expand the playoffs and while five more games for players will affect end of the year stats to some degree, I don't know that I care enough to mind the benefit of having the playoff be more competitive. So we'll see how it goes and if it works, we'll continue it.

In case you were wondering, the worst team to win a World Series still remains the Boston Yankees of 1975, who went 87-76, won a tiebreaker to get in and then manage to run the table on the entire playoffs that year, including knocking off the top two seeds en route to winning it all.

The 1977 St. Louis Cardinals won it all after having gone 88-74 that year. The 1996 Toronto Blue Sox (now Blue Jays) won it all after an 89-73 season and the 1999 Seattle Mariners went 90-72 en route to their first World Series title.

One of the benefits of the single-table, four division setup in MLB is that all of the teams play each other throughout the year and so, you're far more likely to get two teams in the World Series that are not just battled tested or streaky, but who are truly great teams. And it's possible for a team that's not a juggernaut to win out, as the four examples above point out, but they're going to have to earn their way in.

One of the main criticisms of expanding the Division Series to seven games, was having a bad team getting to "hang around" and so, with the Wild Card Week setup, the teams jockeying for Wild Card position will be able to play each other for the right to advance, rather than resting on the laurels of playing in an easier division or being penalized for playing in a harder one. Plus, it gives the games down the stretch more meaning and keeps fans engrossed for longer.

2009 OFF-SEASON
You can take a look at our stats and decide for yourself on what you think the team needs, but we've decided to go out and try to get some bullpen help, a frontline starter (even an ace...) and most important, a starting shortstop.

We're prepared to spend money and yet, I won't be opposed to going the "cheap" route to find players via trade or something.

We'll just have to see, I guess.

It would be wise not to mess with the chemistry we've developed with the ballclub this past season, short of going out and try to bolster the ballclub the best way we know how.

I'll talk more about our specific off-season acquisitions once we get into the team previews, but here is an account of the deals we made this off-season up to this point.

OFF-SEASON DEALS BY THE QUAKERS
Sunday November 15, 2009
Traded 25-year old right fielder J. Esparza, 22-year old minor league left fielder A. Bravo and 25-year old minor league starting pitcher L. Pérez to the Houston Astros, getting 30-year old center fielder J. Brandon in return.

Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Traded 26-year old right fielder A. García, 26-year old third baseman M. Robichaux and 26-year old minor league starting pitcher L. Morris to the New York Bombers, getting 25-year old shortstop J. Balencia and 31-year old starting pitcher M. Martínez in return.

Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Traded 25-year old minor league shortstop J. Balencia, 28-year old shortstop G. Dollard, 21-year old minor league closer B. Piper and $500,000 in cash to the Columbus Clippers, getting 28-year old reliever G. Flores, 29-year old second baseman R. Álvarez and 33-year old starting pitcher G. Walker in return.

DECEMBER 16, 2009
As I set the roster just to see who we had on the team, I smiled. I'm really happy with this new lineup and don't see any reason to change it at all. We'll go and get a depth first baseman and get rid of 33-year Gabe Martinez in favour of someone who is more defense-minded and look for some more depth help in the outfield and infield, but...that's it.

I still haven't gotten the #1 starter I'm looking for. And you might look at our staff and say, "what? are you serious?" And I sure am. We need a guy who is automatic on every fifth day, because I feel like while we've got a good crew "for now" that it might not hold up long term. I might be wrong, but...I just feel like we need to go after someone on the market and I have one particular guy in mind that if we get him, that would be great and if not, well, then we'll make do with what we've got.

The Colonials are right on our heels and not just that, but they're still leading the "hearts and minds" battle among the faithful in Philly, despite being in central PA.

The camps of the teams in the metro-Philly region fall like this. The blue collar fans root for the Phillies, despite the fact that the team plays in the second-tier Continental League. They market themselves heavily as "The People's Team" and the fact that you can go to a Phillies game with a family of four for the same price of a ticket to a Colonials or Quakers game, makes them a fan favourite to be sure.

The Quakers are exciting to people who want a team based in Philly that wins. But the team has only been in town going on three years now and so, it remains to be seen whether they can sustain that sort of following and success over time. Moving to Jersey pissed off a few people, but people who follow the team regularly said that it was hard for a major league team to play in the park of a club that's supposed to be a "lesser" team to them, so....as long as they keep winning, it ought to be okay.

And the Colonials still attract fans because they've been around since the beginning, even if they moved and changed their name in that time.

December 17, 2009
We signed 28-year old starter Antonio Lopez (25-8, 2.99 ERA, 261K) to a four-year deal worth over $69 million. The 2006 Cy Young Award winner, he spent the past five years with the Atlanta A's going 102-50 over that five year period, with 1285 strikeouts over that time and a 2.84 ERA.

I felt like getting him on board wasn't just a plus for us, but a minus to our competitors, especially once it seemed evident that he was willing to come here.

He joins Aaron Larkin ('03) as the only Cy Young Award winners in the Quakers pitching staff.

"We really feel like we're building something special here," said General Manager D.C. Daly, "so I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to announce this deal just before Christmas. We're going to be able to have quite a holiday in Philly this year, let me tell you."

The 34-year old GM has seven and half years as a GM in the bigs, spending four with the Boston Yankees, one with the Providence Bees, half a season with the LA Dodgers and just completed two years with the Quakers in Philly.

He signed a contract extension that will keep him with the club until at least 2013.

MARIO RIVERA SIGNS WITH BROOKLYN
We made an offer for him, but in the end, star centerfielder Mario Rivera, signed a seven-year deal worth $214.2 million with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Rivera, 29, spent the first eight years of his career with the Cincinnati Reds registering 300 HRs, 832 RBI and a career .265 average over that time.

The 2004 MLB Most Valuable Player, he was a hotly contested player by most of the majors for the entire off-season and finally committed to the Cyclones, saying it'd always been a dream of his to play in New York.

The Cyclones also signed Marcus Parker, a free agent pitcher to a four-year deal worth over $79 million. Parker, 28, went 19-12 last year with 170 K and a 4.01 ERA for the Chicago Cubs.

THE BRANDON DEAL
The deal we made with the Houston Astros might seem quizzical if you're not sure why we made it. We sent three players to the Houston Astros for John Brandon. He hit 28 HR and 105 RBI last year on a .286 average during his second season with the Astros.

Not only is he a talented player, he's also the team leader in most categories historically for the Quakers/Matadors franchise. He's obviously never played in Philadelphia, because he was dealt less than a month before I took over the job in Philly. He was in Monterrey from 1999 until the end of the 2007 season, logging two 40+ HRs seasons during that time and moving up with the team to the bigs after winning the Continental League.

The 2002 Jack Curry Award winner for CL MVP, He's a three-time MLB All-Star and says he couldn't be happier to be in Philadelphia.

"I was happy in Houston, but I knew a lot of these guys from our time in [Monterrey] and it's just really cool to be here in new digs, a new city and to have the energy that this team has. It's just awesome to be here and I can't wait to pitch in and do my part to keep it up."

The Astros last playoff appearance came in 1991.

I didn't know much about it until I took a look at the team's records, saw who he was and realized that he'd fill a need for us in centerfield, while also introducing the Philly faithful with someone who played a key role in the franchise being where it is today.

So I pulled the trigger and found a deal that worked for both teams -- far more fair than the original deal the PC made that sent lots of junk to Philly in return for him -- and we'll see how it goes, but having him in the lineup is a huge boon to the ballclub on paper.

2010 PHILADELPHIA QUAKERS
2009 finish: 112-50, 1st place in Eastern Division, 21 games ahead of Pennsylvania; Won World Series

Arrivals: RHP Marc Martinez, OF John Brandon, RHP Antonio Lopez, 2B Ricardo Alvarez, RHP Gerardo Flores, OF Barney Everett, SS Bobby Jennings

Departures: RF Juan Esparza, SS George Dollard, 1B Gabe Martinez, 3B Mat Robichaux, RF Andres Garcia, RHP Lenny Perez

Rotation: Jorge Moralez, Aaron Larkin, Antonio Lopez, Nick Blackstone, Curt Brown, Travis Barron

Relievers: Frankie Azcarreta, J.J. Medina, Marc Martinez, Gerardo Flores, Vincente Barron, Steve Fuller

Regulars: RF Kenny Jones, 2B/SS Anselmo Cachiera, DH Ron Olden, 3B Randall Dorsey, OF Jon Brandon, OF Jackson Mason, C Lou West, 1B Dan Warren, 2B/SS Ricardo Alvarez

Role Players: C Felipe Magana, 2B Bobby Jennings, SS/OF Josh Monroe, CF Barney Everett

Rotisserie Sleeper: 24-year old righthander Travis Barron went 9-4 in the spot starting role for the Quakers last year and if there is an injury in the rotation, Barron, who was the team's 2nd round draft pick in 2008 will be slated to hit the rotation and could be poised for a big year. he's a big righthander with a power arm and could easily win 12-15 games as a starter.

Rundown: The defending World Series champs reloaded, picking up the ace of the team they beat in the World Series -- Antonio Lopez -- a 25-game winner who is slated as their third starter. With luck like that -- or more like, deep pockets -- put the expectations of this club at winning a World Series or else.

With the 2nd highest payroll in baseball heading into this year (the Royals are tops at $170m), the team is betting that inserting John Brandon into the fifth spot in the lineup that the former club legend during the franchise's time in Monterrey will give the team even more depth from 3-5, which bumps Jackson Mason to the sixth spot.

The real question marks for this team is how will it deal with adversity. If the team is hit with a rash of injuries or if there are some slow starts out of the game, there won't be a whole lot of wiggle room for management to get the team out, so they've essentially cast their lot with whatever they have on the active roster all year, save for any deals they make later in the year.

That said, they look as complete as almost any team in the majors and should be the presumptive favorites when the post-season rolls around.

Prediction: 105-57, 1st place Eastern Division

2010 SEASON PAYROLL ~ OPENING DAY

2010 MINOR LEAGUE REPORT ~ OPENING DAY

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STANDINGS as of May 1, 2010

REFLECTING ON THE SEASON THUS FAR...
MAY 26, 2010

I'm gonna tell you that it's already making me nervous to think about having to play five more regular season games at the end of the year to determine if we even get into the playoffs. But I like how it makes teams have to fight to win their division, if you want a guaranteed spot. If you look at the current standings, the 5-8 teams are within 2.5 games of the 8th overall seed and so, a five game set of games is surely going to wreck havoc on someone's post-season plans at the end of the year. Which I like.

In OOTP, it might cause some problems with division titles, if a team is close to the division lead or whatever. But....if it were real life, the best-of-five would be a playoff and the four division champs would get a week off. But since we can't do it naturally in OOTP, we'll do it artificially and see how it works for Year 1.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: I don't know if it's really a "surprise" as much as more of the same from Nick Blackstone. He's 7-3 so far this year with a 2.01 ERA. He's on pace to match his 17-wins from a year ago, too.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Antonio Lopez. I don't really know why I let my eyes get bigger than my mouth when it came to paying close to $70 million over four years for a pitcher. I just am not too sure what was going on in my head. But whatever. He went 1-2 with a 9.97 ERA in April, but has settled down since then, winning 3 of his last four decisions and bringing his ERA down to 2.51. We'll see, but the jury is still out.

JUNE 7, 2010
PHILADELPHIA -- Sitting six games out in the tough eastern division, the Philadelphia Quakers aren't content to stand pat much longer. G.M D.C. Daly went out for help and made his first deal of the season acquiring reliever Mark Martin(1-1, 3 SV in 32 innings) and IF Jose Ramirez from the New York Bombers of the Continental League for reliever J.J. Medina and IF Josh Monroe.

Medina, 25, was 1-3 with 1 SV in 21 appearances this year, boasting a 6.55 ERA.

The deal saved the Quakers about $1m in salary and is intended to help with depth and bullpen issues.

"We're going to try to tweak what we have. We're not in a bad spot and all it takes is one hot month and we're right back in [the division race]," said Daly after announcing the deal today.

STANDINGS AS OF SEPT. 27, 2010

BROWN & OUT: CURT BROWN OUT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON
Curt Brown had chronic elbow problems which will force him out for the rest of the season. The 25-year old lefthander was 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 16 outings this year.

The Quakers called up Billy Henson from the minors, he'd pitched in seven games this year in the bigs, all in relief and inserted Travis Barron (3-2, 4 SV, 30 K) into the rotation, He's started six games this year.

"We're going to keep pressing along," said G.M. D.C. Daly.

The New York Rens are riding a 12-game winning streak that's vaulted them to the lead in the Eastern Division, with the Quakers sitting a game out.

Both have gained some ground on the perennial contenders in the east, the Pennsylvania Colonials, who sit 7 1/2 games out.

JULY 28, 2010
Catcher Lou West is out 4-5 weeks with a fractured hand, the 2nd injury by the Quakers in the past week.

"We're going to adjust."

West will be a big loss for the team. Despite hitting just .237, he had 25 HRs this year and 68 RBI as the starting catcher for the Quakers.

The 25-year old righthander was hoping that the injury would only be for two weeks as was originally reported, but after going to the doctor, he discovered that it would be more like 4 to 5 weeks.

DEALING...
The Quakers made two deals, as the deadline nears to cover the spate of injuries the team has been hit with lately.

They acquired starting pitcher Cody Adams and shorstop Cesar Rodriguez from the National League's Portland Sea Dogs, for pitcher Vicente Sanchez (3-1, 3 SV 1.87 ERA, 44 K in 34 appearances.), outfielder Barney Everettwho spent most of the year split between minor league Trenton and Philadelphia and prospect starting pitcher Olly LaRoche, who was a third round selection for the Quakers in this year's draft.

Two days later, the ballclub sent minor league reliever Tetsu Kobayashi and infielder Bobby Jennings (.222/8 RBI in 230 minor league ABs) to the LA Dodgers for catcher Jose Valadez.

"We're going to try to keep ourselves moving forward and headed towards what we hope will be a spot in the playoffs. We're excited about this team and we're not panickning," said manager Jose Cardenas, who is in his 2nd year with the club.

2010 REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS

WILD CARD WEEK, NOT SO WILD
Well, one of the things I didn't consider about Wild Card Week was evidenced this season.
There will be years that none of the teams beyond the 8th playoff spot (or 4th wild card) will be
within striking distance to claim a spot in the playoffs by playing extra games.

In some years, like last year, there were no less than four teams within striking distance and so, all of the
teams that year would've played in Wild Card week. In years when the teams have won enough games to avoid that
they just simply don't have to participate. This year, the only four teams that participated were
Kansas City -- who was in the 7th seed, Atlanta and Cincinnati who were tied for the 8th spot and Los Angeles, who needed
to sweep the Royals and get help to get into the playoffs as the 8th seed.

In the end, Atlanta took 2 out of 3 from the Reds -- who they'd won the season series against -- and the Royals took
2 of 3 from the Royals. This was reduced from the original 5 games that were scheduled.

MLB officials are not sure the experiment will gain enough traction to happen again next season. It just causes too many
issues. "They're afraid of a scenario in which a Wild Card team wins enough games to win a close division according to the winning
percentage."

But the original premise -- trying to expand the playoffs -- is a concern that's important to MLB officials, because the regional nature
of the sport means that once teams lose the division, fans are less likely to follow the games.

"We play a long regular season. A win in baseball is almost twice as important as a win in another sport, because of the magnitude of our schedule," said an MLB spokesman.

The 162-game schedule and four division setup has been the same since 1969 when MLB reformed to its current setup. A change might be in order.

"We'll evaluate it and see what's best for the game now and in the future."

DIVISION SERIES


2010 is the first playoff year for the Colorado Rockies since 1998, the first ever appearance in the MLB post-season for the NY Rens.

It's Atlanta's sixth straight appearance, the sixth straight appearance for the Colonials and 3rd straight for the Quakers. Florida's back after an absence from last year.

This is the first season that I've ever employed a staggered playoff schedule. I like this, because it's like real life, I just didn't know you could edit the playoff schedule once it's set and since we pushed the regular season back an extra 10 days, the regular season ended the 2nd week of September, way early...but it's nice that the Division Series, now that it's staggered lasts almost through September, leaving October for the League Series and World Series.

Also, if you didn't notice by looking at the MLB standings, we have the first tie ever for last place and so, I have to figure out how to break the tie. I guess a one-game playoff would be prudent, though I'm too lazy to look back now..I believe we said before that head-to-head record would determine who went to the Challenge Series in the event of a tie.

BRAVES ESCAPE CHALLENGE SERIES FOR 2ND STRAIGHT YEAR BY CLAIMING SEASON SERIES AGAINST THE PIRATES

The Milwaukee Braves have dodged a bullet for the 2nd straight year in the majors. Last year, the team lost 100 games and was nearly certain for the MLB Challenge Series, just a year after being promoted, but the ballclub managed to get lucky because the Providence Bees lost 103 games, to save the Braves from likely relegation.

In 2010, the team finished with the worst record in the bigs, tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

MLB rules state that the Challenge Series tiebreaker would start with head-to-head record, largely because MLB didn't want relegation to be determined in a "coin-flip" of a game that would detract from playoff baseball going on at the same time.

The Braves won the season series against the Pirates 7-5, so as a result, the Pirates are MLB's candidate for relegation and will play the winner of the Continental League's Guinness Cup Series.

DIVISION SERIES RESULTS
SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
The Philadelphia Quakers are en route to defending their World Series title after knocking off the Atlanta A's in a rematch of last year's World Series 4 games to 0.

The Quakers won the series without deploying Antonio Lopez who they acquired from the A's as a free agent during the off-season. Lopez, 28, went 11-6 with a 3.04 ERA in 21 career post-season starts for the A's in five seasons.

He'll likely be the Game 1 starter for the team in the MLB League Series against the winner of the Florida Marlins/Kansas City Royals series.

The arrival of John Brandon to Philadelphia has been a boon to the Quakers playoff effort. Brandon, playing in his first playoff series since 2002 when he was with the Monterrey Matadors (the club the Quakers used to be), he hit .313 with 3 HRs and 5 RBI during the series against the A's.

"It's good man. It feels really good to back in the swing of things," said Brandon.

LOWER LEAGUE REPORT
September 24, 2010
AMERICAN LEAGUE: Hartford win the AL pennant, knocking off Grand Junction in seven games. In that league, no team from the Pacific Conference has ever won the league title in five tries.

The Birmingham Barons of the National League will be relegated to the AL in 2011 after a 53-101 season.

LEAGUE SERIES PREVIEW
The Philadelphia Quakers will take on the Florida Marlins, the latter of whom, have never won a World Series despite 9 career playoff appearances.

The Quakers are gunning for their 2nd straight title.

In the other League Series matchup, the New York Rens are continuing on their miracle run in their first ever MLB playoff appearance and are trying to become the first native CL team to win the World Series. The Quakers won the CL as the Monterrey Matadors in 2002, but the team moved to Philadelphia three years ago

The Rens are taking on the Colorado Rockies who last won a World Series in 1978 and are in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.

OCTOBER 8, 2010

FAMILIAR FACE THROWS OUT THE FIRST PITCH FOR BIGGEST GAME IN BROWNS HISTORY

WORCESTER -- Five years ago, D.C. Daly had the dream that he could get a team from the lowest levels of Major League Baseball -- the 4th division American League -- to the major leagues.

And he'd do it as fast as he could.

"We really believe that it could be done here. Boston isn't far away, the area loves great baseball and the city was committed to the ballclub. It was a fantastic match and still is," said Daly, about the decision that sent him from the bigs down to the 4th division.

Despite coming in 2nd in their division, they benefitted from joining the Continental League in the first year of that league's expanded playoffs, which let the two best non-division teams into the Guinness Cup Series. This was done to prevent a team that barely wins its division or has a worse record than a 2nd or 3rd place team in another division from getting passed over and winning a short series to get a shot at the bigs.

The Browns dropped just one game in the CL playoffs, beating rival Memphis (formerly Windsor) Red Sox in four games, then sweept through the Puerto Rico Leones in 3 straight games, the top two teams in the Western Division to capture the CL pennant in their first year in the league and a date with the Pittsburgh Pirates -- and destiny.

Just five years ago, this team was just getting its start and now, the ballclub is just one win away -- playing in Game 7 of the MLB Challenge Series -- to getting to that ultimate prize. The team could see no better person to throw out the first pitch than the architect himself.

"It's crazy. I never saw it happening this fast. But it's really fun to watch," said Daly about his former team.

Alfie Penrice, a 28-year old Englishman who has spent all but two years of his career in New England, said that he didn't know when he came to play here that the team would be able to get to the bigs at all, but he was willing to go along for the ride.

"It was hard for me starting out. But D.C. knew me when he drafted me with the Yankees and so, it was his influence that helped me come here and try to do what I could to help." The Browns captain is the all-time leader in games played with the team and has said that a packed Iron Mountain Stadium hosting a big league game would be amazing.

"Man, I don't want to get ahead of myself. But trust me, there have been more than a few dreams about it for me."

As for Daly, does he have any regrets about leaving?

"No. I mean, it was time for me to go. I had other stuff I felt I needed to do. The Dodgers thing was mostly about me seeing if I still had it. Even if it had only been a year, everyone always said that Boston and Providence were 'easy' jobs because the owners spent money. But look at the Bees now [relegated to the CL in '09] and the Yankees aren't the force they once were and even still, they only won that one title during that streak.

So I feel like what I did here, just setting the foundation was huge, because no matter what you call it...they've won three pennants in four years in three different leagues. That's nuts."

Daly came because the Quakers -- tied 1-1 in the World Series with the Colorado Rockies -- had a travel day.

"I had to be here. Sure, it's an important time for me and for my ballclub and the guys knew. But they're the ones who told me to come. They know what this club means to me and well...it's just great to see and I hope they pull it out."

BROWNS WIN 9-2 IN GAME 7 OF MLBCS: FIRST AL TEAM TO MAKE BIGS

WORCESTER -- A capacity crowd was on hand at Iron Mountain Stadium in Worcester, as the Browns laid claim on the Commissioner's Pin, staking their claim as the first-ever lower division team (3rd division (NL) or 4th division (AL) to earn a bid to the major leagues. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-2, who were the worst team in MLB after finishing with the worst record and losing the season series to the Milwaukee Braves, who tied them for the worst record

"This is astounding," said Browns owner Jason Flores., "This is just..a great day for all of Worcester."

Box Score | Game Log

WILL D.C. LEAVE PHILADELPHIA FOR WORCESTER?

On the morning of Game 3 of the World Series, the newest distraction for the Philadelphia Quakers isn't whether they can get a win at Coors Field in Denver, but whether the team's GM will be leaving the ballclub after spending the team's travel day with the Worcester Browns as they won the 2010 MLB Challenge Series.

Daly said that he's not sure how he became the topic of discussion and is frustrated.

"I'm a GM, people. Go talk about someone important like the stars on my ballclub or the great talent the Rockies have. I'm the GM of the Philadelphia Quakers and that's all there is to it."

Daly addressed the media as he got onto a private team plane to fly to Denver this morning in time for the team's game at Coors Field.

The Series is tied 1-1.

2010 WORLD SERIES


Needing just one win to capture their 2nd straight World Series title, the Quakers sent starter Aaron Larkin to the mound, the Philadelphia Quakers were dialed in. the team went up 2-0 in the top of the third. The Rockies cut into that lead in the bottom of the sixth to make it 2-1, but in the top of the 7th, the Quakers knocked three, off a double by Kenny Jones and that was all they needed. They tacked on two more in the 8th to make it 7-1 and despite a late rally by the Rockies in the bottom of eight to make it 7-3, they couldn't string together enough to capture the victory and the Philadelphia Quakers are the World Series champs for the 2nd straight year.

BOX SCORE // GAME LOG

THE UP & DOWN REPORT
----

I felt bad for the Minnesota Twins. They lost the NLCS in seven games to the Oklahoma Red Hawks and miss out on their 2nd shot at promotion in the past few years. I guess as cool as it is to see upstart teams make the majors, especially in major markets, it's sad to see familiar teams languishing in the lower levels.

But I love the merit of it all.

QUAKERS OFF-SEASON REPORT

We're going to lose Dan Warren, Ricardo Alvarez and John Brandon to free agency. Alvarez had a team option at just over a million for next year, but we declined that. I'm obviously tempted to re-sign Brandon. He plays center field well, he hits great and the fact of the matter is, he was clutch in the playoffs. But we're starting to get cheap and trying to set priorities about who we want to keep and who we get rid of and so, it's getting harder to rationalize some of these deals, is what it is.


2010 PITCHING REPORT ~ PHILADELPHIA QUAKERS


2010 BATTING REPORT ~ PHILADELPHIA QUAKERS

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS...
The Quakers have won their 2nd straight title, the Browns are headed to the bigs and an AL team is moving to London, England for 2011.

The future of baseball is evolving faster than we can keep up with and yet, as much as it gets different, much of it stays the same.

Do we know where the game will go in the next decade? The next millenium, even?

D.C. Daly is 35-years old and has already amassed success beyond his own wildest dreams and yet, you're never sure if this guy is going to stick to one place and stay for a long time or if he'll bail and head to greener pastures after getting bored every few years.

With so many personalities and a future that's hanging in the balance, it'll be interesting to see where the future takes the game, D.C. and what new challenges and adventures lie ahead.

THE END

would you post the final file here? Id be interested in fiddling with it more.

If I can find it. I moved all my files to my portable hard drive, so I'll scour and if I have it, I'll send 'er along.