1974 Season Thread (Season File is up!)

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Valdosta serious is the most clutch team I've ever seen down the stretch. They just refuse to lose, it seems.

I sign alot of players that have a high clutch rating.

[Young Drachma]

Sept 10
Colorado 5, Quad City 4
Atlanta 6, Texas 5
Valdosta 6, Brooklyn 0
Compton 6, Columbus 2

PENNANT RACE STANDINGS
CL
---
Valdosta 94-55 - CLINCHES THE CL TITLE
Atlanta 6 GB

RL
---
Quad City 87-62 (M#: 2)
Columbus 4 GB

[Young Drachma]

Sept 11
Quad City 7, Colorado 2
Columbus 12, Compton 8

Quad City clinches a title for the RL title.

[kaosfere]

Congrats, Alan.

And Congrats, DC!

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Valdosta has clinched a tie for the CL title.

Impressive run once again alan

[Alan T]

It looks like we may have only for the second time since 1965 a RL champ that doesn't start with C

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Sept 11
Quad City 7, Colorado 2
Columbus 12, Compton 8

Quad City clinches a title for the RL title.

and a congrats to you as well DC

[Young Drachma]

1974 REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

Continental League Standings
			W	L	PCT	GB
Valdosta Peanuts	98	56	.636	-
Atlanta Firecrackers	92	62	.597	6.0
Baltimore Terrapins	81	73	.526	17.0
Rio Grande Roadrunners	81	73	.526	17.0
Texas Travelers		75	79	.487	23.0
Toronto Atlantics	74	80	.481	24.0
New York Highlanders	58	96	.377	40.0
Brooklyn Brownstones	57	97	.370	41.0

Republic League Standings
			W	L	PCT	GB
Quad City Thunderstorms	90	64	.584	-
Columbus Crusaders	86	68	.558	4.0
Hartford Harpooners	79	75	.513	11.0
Boston Settlers		76	78	.494	14.0
Compton Brothers	75	79	.487	15.0
Ann Arbor Wolverines	71	83	.461	19.0
New Orleans Rens	70	84	.455	20.0
Colorado Rancheros	69	85	.448	21.0

[kaosfere]

Can you post the final standings for us before you upload the file, DC? I want to know if I should drink my next beer in celebration or dismay.

Edit: Ah, you did. And dismay it is. Sigh.

Ah well. There's always next week.

Congrats to the winners. TV and booze time for me. I'll see if I can figure out how my hitting hosed up so bad over the weekend.

[Alan T]

Thanks guys, I'm thinking I'm at the end of my run as everyone on my team is old now, but I hope to end it in style with #4 in the classic.

[Cringer]

Congrats Alan. Though the FOOL tv ratings outside of Georgia tumbled at the end of the year I hear.

[muns]

Originally Posted by kaosfere

Can you post the final standings for us before you upload the file, DC? I want to know if I should drink my next beer in celebration or dismay.

HA HA thats good stuff right there

[Young Drachma]

Monday, September 16th, 1974: FOOL News: The All-Star Game Rosters Have Been Announced
It's time once again for the Front Office Offseason League All Star game!
The game features the top players from the Continental League and the Republic League slugging it out in a baseball extravaganza.

This year's Continental League standouts are:


SP C. Gonzáles (VAL)
SP A. Wiley (TOR)
SP T. Sparks (RG)
SP I. Flores (BAL)
SP C. Wilson (VAL)
SP P. Ortíz (ATL)
CL A. Barbosa (VAL)
CL T. Patrick (BAL)
CL C. Templeman (ATL)
CL F. Padilla (TOR)
CL J. Mockly (RG)
MR Z. Ball (TEX)
3B R. Inman (VAL)
LF E. Reyes (ATL)
CF C. Vázquez (ATL)
1B H. Matthews (ATL)
C H. Tanaka (RG)
RF R. Pagán (VAL)
2B A. Payton (RG)
SS O. Yamazaki (BKN)
C B. Jenkins (BAL)
3B A. Summers (BAL)
CF R. Lord (TOR)
RF J. Aguirre (ATL)
1B B. Arnold (VAL)
2B M. Jones (RG)
LF P. García (VAL)
3B A. Luján (TOR)


The Republic League stars will represented by:


SP C. Miner (HAR)
SP R. Ramos (ANN)
SP J. López (CLB)
SP G. Riggs (QCY)
SP F. Yarbrough (QCY)
SP D. Adams (HAR)
CL X. Tien (QCY)
CL D. Brewer (COL)
CL T. Ishibashi (COM)
CL A. Dailey (CLB)
CL D. Hennessey (HAR)
CL K. O'Quinn (ANN)
RF M. Rasmussen (QCY)
1B L. Mendoza (QCY)
C J. Moya (COM)
C Á. Ramírez (CLB)
2B A. Ledezma (ANN)
LF N. Hunter (ANN)
3B M. Montoya (QCY)
CF R. Mendoza (CLB)
SS A. Stanley (ANN)
C S. Jones (BOS)
LF J. Hunt (BOS)
RF W. Magner (BOS)
1B W. Little (HAR)
2B C. Larsen (QCY)
RF M. Suárez (HAR)
1B C. Moore (BOS)

[Cringer]

Couldn't even get 3rd all to myself, bummer.

Congrats to DC as well. Good luck to both guys.

[Young Drachma]

The All-Star Game is October 4th, after the Classic. We'll be even more like the NFL now.

[Young Drachma]

I'm packing the file now.

[Cringer]

So, I think a couple guys picking me to be there at the end got my hopes up a little. I am not really disappointed though. My plan was (with Tanaka maintaining the status quo I hope) was to be better next year. My whole roster is locked up for next year already except my backup C and Conner Daniels. I have not decided what to do about Daniels who looks to have slid just a touch further this year again. He wants a lot of money still.

Signing him or not though I should have enough money to hopefully get a pitcher to help the rotation next year.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

1974 REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

Continental League Standings
			W	L	PCT	GB
Valdosta Peanuts	98	56	.636	-
Atlanta Firecrackers	92	62	.597	6.0
Baltimore Terrapins	81	73	.526	17.0
Rio Grande Roadrunners	81	73	.526	17.0
Texas Travelers		75	79	.487	23.0
Toronto Atlantics	74	80	.481	24.0
New York Highlanders	58	96	.377	40.0
Brooklyn Brownstones	57	97	.370	41.0

Republic League Standings
			W	L	PCT	GB
Quad City Thunderstorms	90	64	.584	-
Columbus Crusaders	86	68	.558	4.0
Hartford Harpooners	79	75	.513	11.0
Boston Settlers		76	78	.494	14.0
Compton Brothers	75	79	.487	15.0
Ann Arbor Wolverines	71	83	.461	19.0
New Orleans Rens	70	84	.455	20.0
Colorado Rancheros	69	85	.448	21.0

Ill gladly take third place. I thought id finish 4th so im happy with the way the season turned out for Hartford.

Columbus came out of no where, and DC good gosh, you pulled away, fine season for you as well.

[Young Drachma]

Columbus reminds me of Ann Arbor in '66. No one pegged that happening at all. I didn't expect to pull away, either. The most notable difference for us, was moving the lines out. Strange, but...a few years ago when we were still struggling, I moved the lines in, to try to get an offensive boost. But it was killing our pitchers. I'd forgotten that I did it though and so, when I noticed it in spring training, I thought that it had to help. It helped us in Compton when we started winning there.

I don't think that was the only thing that helped, but..we'll take it.

Just when I thought I was done making championship banners for Valdosta...

That said, this matchup pits the #1 and #2 highest winning percentage managers in FOOL history for the first time ever.

I feel like I gotta step my game up. Alan has more FOOL Classic rings than me.

[Young Drachma]

Also, gotta say that muns I think you're almost there. You blew your team up at the right time and took a page out of Alan's book on how to build a team from scratch. After the next decade, we might be writing a book on how you perfected the fire sale in FOOL.

Also, gotta clap my hands to Texas for making it to 5th place in the CL. That team was in the doldrums for a good while now and it seems they've got a really bright future on the horizon now. That farm system is downright SCARY.

Atlanta and Baltimore are still forces to be reckoned with, I think, going forward too.

File is 37%

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Columbus reminds me of Ann Arbor in '66. No one pegged that happening at all. I didn't expect to pull away, either. The most notable difference for us, was moving the lines out. Strange, but...a few years ago when we were still struggling, I moved the lines in, to try to get an offensive boost. But it was killing our pitchers. I'd forgotten that I did it though and so, when I noticed it in spring training, I thought that it had to help. It helped us in Compton when we started winning there.

I don't think that was the only thing that helped, but..we'll take it.

Just when I thought I was done making championship banners for Valdosta...

That said, this matchup pits the #1 and #2 highest winning percentage managers in FOOL history for the first time ever.

I feel like I gotta step my game up. Alan has more FOOL Classic rings than me.

I'm pretty happy with this banner, I didn't think I was going to be able to get it. Then when everyone was talking about Atlanta, Rio Grande and some Baltimore it made me wonder if I was overrating my team some. I don't think there are many more legs left on this old dog, but it's been a fun ride.

[Young Drachma]

[Cringer]

Oh shut up, your team isn't done.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I'm pretty happy with this banner, I didn't think I was going to be able to get it. Then when everyone was talking about Atlanta, Rio Grande and some Baltimore it made me wonder if I was overrating my team some. I don't think there are many more legs left on this old dog, but it's been a fun ride.

Well let this be a lesson to everyone. Dont ever listen to me and my predictions. I have only EVER gotten one correct in my 15 years..... pretty sad

I will say that i forgot that you kept some of your pitchers on the DFA list, and didnt look like you had the pitching..... I keep forgetting to do that when I looking at the teams....... sckews me for sure...

[Young Drachma]

79%

[muns]

I cant wait for the file, i gotta hit the sack im beat. Good season again guys..... Looking forward to the great match up agaisnt the 2 best gm's in our league for the classic....

[Young Drachma]

File is up.

[TeachEnEspanol]

Thanks DC for the vote of confidence. After less than a week, I'm happy with how things have gone and how the team is shaping up.

[Young Drachma]

There wasn't a no-hitter this year. FOOL has still never had a perfect game. Ivan Flores of Baltimore pitched a 15 strikeout game for the first time since '72.

[Young Drachma]

Valdosta went 12-2 in September. Whoa.

[Cringer]

May and June killed me, 24-33 in that stretch.

[Cringer]

RG pitching=5th or 6th in most categories. Yup, that will do it to you.

[Young Drachma]

Anthony Payton was as good as advertised. Man. (.284/23 HR/111 RBI)

[Cringer]

WOW! Compton had a 40 HR guy. First time that has happened since '67, and only the 2nd time since '63 (which is when i figure Ben's setting were put into the game).

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Anthony Payton was as good as advertised. Man. (.284/23 HR/111 RBI)

Only guy in FOOL with over 100 RBIs this year, very solid. Helped get Sparks up to 16 wins I would say as his run support went up almost a full run from last year to 3.68.

[Young Drachma]

Valdosta signed my old first baseman Bob Arnold who went to Toronto in a dumb trade for a pitcher I made a few years ago...and now we'll have to face him in the Classic. Yeesh. Not to mention Rick Inman, who I traded while I was still in Compton (er..St. Petersburg?) and that was also a bonehead move. Luckily, it's many years later. But still, great to see how well his career blossomed and I'm glad that he got to stay in one place for the majority of it, versus the vagabond life that might have befell him had he made the move out west with us.

[Alan T]

I have to imagine that Rick Inman is one of the top possibilities for the CL Batter of the Year. If he wins it, this will be his third time, but he is anything but a prototypical MVP type player. The most Home runs he has ever hit in a season was 25. He did however hit 53 doubles this season which ties him for 9th best single season total in FOOL history. This also means that of the top 9 best season totals for doubles, Inman has 5 of the entries.

The season of the K: Prior to this season, the record for K's in a season for a batter was 212 by John Clark, formerly of Hartford in 1972. This season not only was that total topped, but three batters beat it. Jay Schultz and Jorge Moya of the freeswinging Compton teams both had more than 212 strikeouts this season, but the new record holder for K's in a season is Jimi Belanger of Baltimore with 226.

Carlos Gonzales from Valdosta had a triple crown of pitching way back in the 1968 season when he led the league in Wins, ERA and Strikeouts that season. He almost did it again this year as he led in ERA and Wins once again, but he finished short in Strikeouts this time around with only 219. Arte Wiley of Toronto led the CL with 235. Gonzales likely won't go home empty handed however as he has to be the favorite to win the pitcher of the year award after setting new records in six different pitching categories, including ERA where he absolutely crushed Benny Myers 10 year old record of 1.93 ERA with a new record of 1.61 this season.

Speaking of Artie Wiley, who came over the offseason from the VL and was signed by Toronto... not only did he lead the CL in K's this season, but in his first year in FOOL, he set a new record for holding opponents off base with only a .236 OOBP this season. Who's previous record did he beat? Yep you guessed it Benny Myers who had a .2399 OOBP 10 seasons ago. Myers dropped to third all time now however as Carlos Gonzales barely edged him out with a .2391 OOBP this season.

Quad City finally made it to the postseason for the first time in their franchise history. Much of the thanks can go to their closer Xinpeng Tien whom tied the FOOL record for saves this season with 50!

First to 200! Congrats to Gabriel Prado of the Atlanta Firecrackers. He became the first pitcher in FOOL history to get 200 Wins this season.

[Young Drachma]

I wonder what hat Prado is gonna wear into the HoF?

[Cringer]

Crap, I missed a couple soon to be FA's that matter to me. Betancourt, whom I should be able to re-sign no problem. The shit one is that after a career year, 2B Mike Jones (SS for me) wants to go into free agency and won't re-sign. If George Stewart was ready to come up into the bigs I would be ok with that, but I don't think he is yet....

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I wonder what hat Prado is gonna wear into the HoF?

Good question. He won POY awards with St.Louis and Hartford. Won the FOOL Classic with St.Louis and Valdosta. Had his best season (win total) with Hartford, his best season (ERA/WHIP) with Valdosta. Pitched the most seasons (4) with Atlanta and St.Louis.

His records with the various teams:
St. Louis 66 - 16
Hartford 50 - 23
Compton 12 - 7
Valdosta 31 - 15
Atlanta 49 - 32

Seems like he had his best years when he was the youngest in St.Louis.. but if he stays with Atlanta much longer, he would have spent most of his career there.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Crap, I missed a couple soon to be FA's that matter to me. Betancourt, whom I should be able to re-sign no problem. The shit one is that after a career year, 2B Mike Jones (SS for me) wants to go into free agency and won't re-sign. If George Stewart was ready to come up into the bigs I would be ok with that, but I don't think he is yet....

It could be worse. I tried to get cute with Carlos Gonzales before the season started because he was asking for a 7 year contract and I only wanted to give 5. Then he went out and had the best year of any pitcher in FOOL history... his asking price is a tad bit higher now and he still wants 7 years. Doh

[Cringer]

Interesting RG fact. We have never, never ever eva, finished within single digits of first place. Even in 2nd place we were 14 and 17 games back, and our 3rd place finishes in the 20's. Of course the year we won the CL is the only year that breaks that up.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by magic_number

Well, Time to tink away for opening day. I can smell the hotdogs & beer already . I can't wait til my boy is a bit older to really enjoy the new Yankee stadium, too bad he will never remember the old one. I grew up in the South Bronx & had many good times there while cutting school with my best friend. He's a Mets fan so we would flip flop between Shea & the Yanks. I'm sad to see the old girl go, just as I was to see the "real" Joe go. If my Yanks don't make it, then I hope L.A. takes it all. Kinda just like when I cheered on the Mets in the 86 WS .

As an Angels fan, I can't really see anything wrong with this statement.

Hey, magic number, last month I made it a point to fly out to New York to catch a game at Yankee Stadium before they tear it down. I had a blast, lots of fun, although New Yorkers need to figure out that plain yellow mustard is pretty good on hotdogs, too--you don't need to only have spicy brown everywhere (oh, yeah, and where's the m'f'n relish?!?).

If I ever figure out how to upload my photos from the trip, I'll put up some shots here from my trip there. I know you have seen it all, but I think a couple of my shots are pretty neat. The Yankees fans I met were great, although it helped me blend in that I was wearing a Yankees cap.

Only downer was the Yanks absolutely blasted the Royals that day, so the game was practically over by the 2nd inning.

I sorta regret not going to Shea, but if you want to tease your friend, tell him you know someone who specifically made a trip to see Yankee Stadium AND stayed at a place that was literally a couple blocks away from Shea--and yet I did not catch a Mets game (not even sure they were in town, actually).

[Young Drachma]

Yes, I had fun making this.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Maybe it is because I've played OOTP leagues with Chief since almost as long as OOTP multiplayer existed, but he's always been one of my favorite coaches. Some pretty huge shoes to fill coming in after Chief I think.

Thanks, Alan! I do appreciate that. You're one of my favorite coaches as well. I alwys think it's a positive if I see you're involved.

Of course, I wish you were slightly less successful sometimes.

[Chief Rum]

Shocking stat of the season that I have seen so far: 7.

As in 7 SBs...for an entire team for a whole season! Compton! Geez, magic number, did you have that team on strict orders to go station to station or what?

[Chief Rum]

Okay, I am truly befuddled. I hadn't even looked at the CL. 5 SBs, Alan?

How on Earth do you guys steal so little. I didn't think you could even get a team to steal that little.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Okay, I am truly befuddled. I hadn't even looked at the CL. 5 SBs, Alan?

How on Earth do you guys steal so little. I didn't think you could even get a team to steal that little.

That's what I was gonna mention. I couldn't imagine how he had so few either. I noticed it and thought, "really? no way!?"

But I guess at least they know their limitations?

[Chief Rum]

BTW, congrats to the league champs. It may be old hat to Alan, but you have to acknowledge the dominance his team has established. Truly the top dynasty there.

And, DC, I have to think this is the most satisfying season for you, with how long this has taken and from where Chicago was when you took it over. So way to go on finally completing your rebuild.

Good luck to you both in the FOOL Classic.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Hey, magic number, last month I made it a point to fly out to New York to catch a game at Yankee Stadium before they tear it down. I had a blast, lots of fun, although New Yorkers need to figure out that plain yellow mustard is pretty good on hotdogs, too--you don't need to only have spicy brown everywhere (oh, yeah, and where's the m'f'n relish?!?).

If I ever figure out how to upload my photos from the trip, I'll put up some shots here from my trip there. I know you have seen it all, but I think a couple of my shots are pretty neat. The Yankees fans I met were great, although it helped me blend in that I was wearing a Yankees cap.

I sorta regret not going to Shea, but if you want to tease your friend, tell him you know someone who specifically made a trip to see Yankee Stadium AND stayed at a place that was literally a couple blocks away from Shea--and yet I did not catch a Mets game (not even sure they were in town, actually).

Oh man, talk about one of my big pet peeves.. I despise that spicy mustard, but that is almost all they have in the cafe at work.. I'm totally a yellow mustard guy, I always feel like I'm asking for some huge special order when I ask for my burgers or hot dogs to have yellow mustard instead.

Speaking of Shea, when I first moved up to Massachusetts, I used to go down to Shea every time the Braves played there on a weekend to see it. As I've gotten more kids, more responsibilities and less patience with the Braves, I've stopped that though. Shea really is a dump though, it would have been cool for you to catch a game there before you left, but seriously I can't think of many stadiums worse than Shea.. maybe Tropicana field, maybe the old Arlington stadium.. but those are the only two I've been in that compare.. ugh!

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Okay, I am truly befuddled. I hadn't even looked at the CL. 5 SBs, Alan?

How on Earth do you guys steal so little. I didn't think you could even get a team to steal that little.

Heh, look at my numbers from the season before.. I stole 2 bases.. I actually upped my steal setting two notches this season and only stole 5. I tend to have low steal attempts in almost every team I manage, but I let good steal guys be the ones who try alot... All of my good steal guys all left two seasons ago though. (Reyes, Reyes and Mendoza) all were my main baserunners. I have a couple of guys on my team now who have speed, but for the most part they are backups or not full time players.