FOSL - A FOOL solo dynasty
 

FRONT OFFICE SOLO LEAGUE (FOSL)

FOSL is an adapted league based off the FOOL Home Kit, the 1971 league file turned home kit for those who might be interested in playing with the wildly successful online league's universe of talent.

To make it easier to immerse myself, I simply moved all of the teams in FOOL to different cities than their original FOOL locations and also created divisions, which FOOL doesn't have currently. That way, the league felt like it was truly mine and it gave me a chance to create new jerseys. Always a good time for me. I also added four teams to make it a 20-team league.

The league champions play in a best-of-seven game LCS and the winners play in a best-of-seven game championship series entitled the Fossil Cup.

So with that, here we go with the alignments:

I liked Commo Solider's rules that he set for himself in his dynasty, so I'm gonna do the same thing.

My draft strategy was to get the best pitcher in the first round. We have the 3rd overall pick in the draft. I spent the next five rounds going after the best available player who was 30 or under. Then after that, I wanted to pile up on prospects.

In the first round, I took Carlos Gonzales. In FOOL, pitching rules supreme. So I wanted to load up on those assets from the start, especially seeing what was out there.

In the second round, I debated between taking a fielder or finding another starting pitcher to have a strong 1-2 punch. With Rich Lang out there at just 23 years old and a guy who has all-star potential for another decade, I had to decide whether I wanted him or to go after Floyd Yarbrough formerly of El Paso, because he's a 5-star guy whose never played on a good team before.

I decided to take Yarbrough. In the end, I felt like the strong 1-2 punch would just be a nice way to start our new team out.

With our 3rd round pick, you start to think "what would it be like if we had 3 starters who were money..." but I decided against that. CF Rich Lang was available in the 3rd round, so I snapped him up immediately.

In the 4th round, I had to decided on 3B Teruo Miyahara. He's a young guy, plays a position that's hard to fill in this league and hits the cover off the ball.

In the 5th round, the AI made it hard for me. Guys like Hidaeki Tanaka, Rick Inman, Riley Hollis and Roberto Pagan were all available. I didn't really know which way to go, to be honest. It was hard to decide. I ultimately went with Alfredo Alvarado, the unheralded catcher, formerly of Colorado. He has great vitals, is only 27 and a great catcher is hard to find.

Round Six and it's getting obvious that I need to really weigh out whether we're gonna try to compete this year or do what I initially said and build a team that can compete down the road. It's hard to say, though. I think this is where I start trying to pick off prospects. It's a little early, but...I feel like if we don't do it now, we'll have a bunch of established vets and no one else to fill the roster out with. Then again, I could draft guys and try to trade them before the season starts, as there will be other teams that have gaps to fill, too.

looking forward to reading this

6th: CF Ivan Garcia
7th: CL Aaron Dailey
8th: 2B John Bruce
9th: 1B Tom Campbell
10th: RF Fernando Spindola
11th: SP Pepe Santana
12th: CL Stan Miller
13th: MR Marvin Lott
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It's officially prospect time now.

14th: SP Ivan Valle
15th: 2B Carlos Hernandez
16th: SS Paco Gonzalez
17th: C George Carr
18th: LF Christian Weighell
19th: 3B Ignacio Costa
20th: 3B Tyson Jones
21st: RF Reid Huff
22nd: C Dan Parks
23rd: LF Akihiro Shimizu
24th: SP Mike Nash
25th: 2B Clay Darby

After this, I let the AI determine the rest and decided to go out and see what deals I could make to balance out my team.

I imported the schedule. All Star game is on September 1st. Teams play 21 games within their division and 14 outside of it. I turned on "very high" after the draft. The Vulture League was deleted too and I stripped the farm system down to just Triple-A to Single-A, because that's enough for me.

I find trading on hard provides enough of a challenge that you get screwed and that it's pretty hard to find a 1 for 1 deal, which is a good thing.

The first trade we made sent:

We needed a third starter and I stocked up on good relievers since there were so many and I think this bodes well for us. We signed Anthony Payton from the Vulture League, so Bruce, while a good player wasn't as necessary for us.

Top Prospects List as of February 1971

We went 18-6 in spring training, along with New York Gothams, the tops in either league. Anchorage led the RL west at 15-9, The New York Rens led the CL North at 15-9, the CL South was led by Tampa at 14-10.

I'll set my lineups and start the season now.

Before I go there, in case you were wondering how some of the old teams correlate to the new ones, I'll do this lil' thing for you once:

FOSL team (FOOL Team)

Here's our lineup:



Here's our rotation:


We are really weak in middle relief, boasting a few kids who are career minor leaguers or prospects who aren't ready yet, but I'm hoping will grow up fast.

The notables from the bullpen include Marvin Lott and Stan Miller, as the closer.

It's hard to say how things will go, but I expect us to be at or near the top of the division and contending. If we do lose, it'll be because of our bullpen or due to a lack of depth. But I'm not sure what to think, it'll be a crapshoot just starting out with the new league, more teams than FOOL boasts and the whole divisional setup.

Here we go.

STANDINGS OF AS JUNE 1, 1971

We went 10-16 in April, but went 21-7 in May to take 1st in the RL East heading into the dog days of summer.

We've got the best starters ERA in the RL, which I'm cool with. We're the 3rd best hitting team in the league.

At least things are interesting...

STANDINGS AS OF JULY 1, 1971

AUGUST 1, 1971 STANDINGS

We're pulling away, it seems. Things are heating up in the CL, though. We'll finish out the year and see how it all pans out.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS, 1971


I love it. We've got a tie for the division title in the CL North and the CL South's champ only won it by a game.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that half of those spects are in my system :)

1971 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Cleveland v. Biloxi

PREVIEW
Cleveland Lakers is led by 1B Holden Matthews who hit .344 this year for the CL's 9th ranked offense. Sancho Lopez played second base and hit 31 HR and 96 RBI leading the team in both categories.

On the pitching side, the team had the 4th best team ERA in the CL this year and are led by Raul Ramos (15-10, 3.14) and Sam Godbout (15-10, 3.26). Mike Terry won 16 games this year, as well for the team, giving them quite the punch going into the post-season. Their closer is Albert Barbosa who went 2-3, with 46 saves and a 2.32 ERA

Biloxi Seabees are led by 19-game winner and VL refugee Nat Praet who won 19 games out of the 5th spot in the rotation. Other standouts on the CL's best pitching staff this year include Sadaharu Kobayashi (14-8, 2.98 ERA) and Gabriel Riggs (13-12, 3.03 ERA), with closer Takamasa Ishibashi (6-5, 44 SV, 1.94 ERA) holding it down for the late inning run.

Offensively, the team was 1st in home runs, 4th in batting average, but 8th in hits and stolen bases. Mauro Suarez patrols right field and hit .313 this year. First baseman Gary McDowell had 99 RBI to lead the team and LF Jose Espinoza was the team leader in home runs with 29.

Given Cleveland barely squeaked by to win their division, you have to think that Biloxi's deep pitching will serve them well in this matchup.

Prediction: Biloxi in 6 games.

1971 REPUBLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Anchorage v. Rhinelander
The Kodiaks of Anchorage make the playoffs on the arm of 16-game winner Whit O'Neal whose sparkling 1.98 ERA (16-4, 209 K) make him a Cy Young candidate. Dale Morgan also won 16 games for the 3rd best pitching staff in the RL this year. (16-11, 4.23 ERA)

Offensively, the team was 10th in the RL in home runs, but 3rd in batting average. They were led by LF Roberto Pagan who hit .308 with 22 HR and 100 RBI during the regular sason. Lorenz Heijnen hit .274 with 18 HR and 91 RBI and CF Ruben Mendoza was the team leader in batting average, hitting .314

The most balanced team in FOSL was based in Northern Wisconsin, as the Rhinelander Superiors muscled their way to the RL East title. They were led by [b]Alfredo Alvarado[b] who hit .345 and 3B Teuro Miyahara who hit 31 HRs and 97 RBI. VL newcomer Anthony Paytonsizzled in his first FOSL season, hitting (.284/25 HR/117 RBI) in his first campaign in the majors.

On the pitching side, the team had the best ERA in the RL (3.26) and were led by the tandem of Carlos Gonzales (19-5, 2.94 ERA) and Charles Wilson (14-5, 2.70 ERA, 214 K). Overall the team had four starters with 200+ strikeouts and boasted the 5th best bullpen in the RL led by closer Stan Miller (3-6, 41 SV, 2.41 ERA)

The Superiors should be too tough for the Kodiaks and should advance to the FOSL Cup for the first time.

Prediction: Superiors in 5 games.

CL CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 1: Cleveland 6, Biloxi 3
Game 2: Biloxi 2, Cleveland 0
Game 3: Cleveland 10, Biloxi 2
Game 4: Cleveland 4, Biloxi 3
Game 5: Biloxi 5, Cleveland 4
Game 6: Biloxi 7, Clevelad 4
Game 7: Biloxi 5, Cleveland 4

BILOXI WINS CL PENNANT 4 GAMES TO 3

RL CHAMPIONSHIP
GAME 1: Rhinelander 6, Anchorage 1
GAME 2: Anchorage 12, Rhinelander 5
GAME 3: Rhinelander 6, Anchorage 1
GAME 4: Anchorage 7, Rhinelander 6
GAME 5: Anchorage 8, Rhinelander 7
GAME 6: Rhinelander 12, Anchorage 1
GAME 7: Anchorage 9, Rhinelander 7

ANCHORAGE WINS RL PENNANT 4 GAMES TO 3

1971 FOSSIL CUP SERIES


BILOXI SEABEES WIN THE 1971 FOSSIL CUP SERIES!


AWARD WINNERS, 1971

The Windsor Whales are moving to Portland, Oregon for the 1972 season and will become the Portland Sockeyes.

Salt Lake City Strikers are moving to Louisville, KY to become the Louisville Seabiscuits. The teams will switch divisions in the RL for the 1972 season.