Daylight Fading: A solo fast-sim dynasty - Page 2

muns · 10-05-2009, 04:27 PM

Who you starting over with DC? You decide yet?

I like the Fresno Haymakers as a name

Young Drachma · 10-05-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muns

Who you starting over with DC? You decide yet?

I like the Fresno Haymakers as a name

Yeah, I use ballcap.com and baseball-reference.com a lot these days to come up with names because honestly I've run out of good names over the years. And I saw a minor league team called the Troy (NY) Haymakers and loved it and thought, "that's sweet. I gotta use that." So I wanted to find an agricultural place and it needed to be a California team and there you go.

I haven't figure out where I'm gonna start over yet. I'm currently in 1918 in the sim (I haven't updated the HTML since 1898) and the league now has 30 teams (3 divisions of 5 teams in each league) but the playoffs are the same size.

Anyway, I dunno. I'm still debating it, but I need to figure out when I wanna come back. Soon, though.

JetsIn06 · 10-06-2009, 02:03 PM

DC,

I'm using your Manager Firing tool and loving it so far.

However, I've come across something odd. I'm most likely doing something wrong here...

So, I took over a team from Chicago. They were in dead last the year before. We have a terrible 39 win season in my first year. It gives me a score of 89. My next year, I won 50 games. That have me a score of 25.

Now, I'm in my 3rd year, and I'm typing in scores to figure out how many wins I need to keep the job. When I get to 100, it gives me a score of 0. But when I type in 101, it goes to -49.

What am I doing wrong here?

JetsIn06 · 10-06-2009, 02:05 PM

dola

It might make a difference that I have two 8-team leagues with no divisions and no playoffs. Winners of each league play in the series.

Edit: Nevermind. I get it now. You don't get the playoff +50 bonus because you SHOULD be there. Any further and you still get a bonus. Am I on the right track?

I think what I'll do is give out a bonus for coming in 2nd and 3rd place or something like that.

Young Drachma · 10-06-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

dola

It might make a difference that I have two 8-team leagues with no divisions and no playoffs. Winners of each league play in the series.

Edit: Nevermind. I get it now. You don't get the playoff +50 bonus because you SHOULD be there. Any further and you still get a bonus. Am I on the right track?

I think what I'll do is give out a bonus for coming in 2nd and 3rd place or something like that.

Yeah, precisely. It's setup for leagues with playoffs, so if you don't have them, you'll want to edit it to reward you for finishing in second or third or whatever.

It probably needs to be edited for a scenario like yours, too, because I wasn't developing it thinking about people taking over crap teams and making them average or above, I was thinking about taking over good teams and if they're not better, firing said manager.

I'll make some tweaks and upload a new one later.

Young Drachma · 10-06-2009, 03:58 PM

Here's a tweaked version of the Manager Firing tool (I've dubbed it FireMe)

It's been updated to award points if you win 20 games more than the previous season, so if you go from 30 wins to 50 wins and so forth, you get 25 points. And I've edited the instructions so you should give 50 points to 3rd place teams in non-playoff leagues and 100 points to 2nd place teams in non-playoff leagues, though people can do whatever they want with those bonuses if they think they're too high or something.

JetsIn06 · 10-06-2009, 04:42 PM

Awesome, DC.

I restared my UBA solo league and am doing basically the same thing you are here...FOOL concept. Makes things so much fun and adding in the firing aspect of it is great.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is this: What team should I be allowed to take over? I've been playing for 10 or so seasons and have taken over lowly teams each team and I've yet to have a winning record. So, I don't think I should be able to take over anyone I want. But maybe I can take over a middle of the road team.

I'd love to come up with a system to determine who I can take over. Might have to work on something like that later.

Young Drachma · 10-06-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

Awesome, DC.

I restared my UBA solo league and am doing basically the same thing you are here...FOOL concept. Makes things so much fun and adding in the firing aspect of it is great.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is this: What team should I be allowed to take over? I've been playing for 10 or so seasons and have taken over lowly teams each team and I've yet to have a winning record. So, I don't think I should be able to take over anyone I want. But maybe I can take over a middle of the road team.

I'd love to come up with a system to determine who I can take over. Might have to work on something like that later.

I tend to think that you should takeover whatever you want. I mean, playing solo fast-sim is hard when you take over bad teams. But I tend to think you ought to give yourself more time than you would normally, because it takes longer to be better in fast-sim than it does in slowcook.

Like, if you're fast-simming like I do (pretty much the FOOL schedule but several seasons in a day, as opposed to per week) then you only start to get to know the players around the league after a few years. I don't really restrict myself a ton, other than on trading (I turn trading up to hard) and I only give myself two opportunities to make bids throughout the entire off-season.

If you come up with a system though, lemme know. I tend to do it based on the jerseys I like.

That's why I move teams and create new ones. New opportunities to make new duds or to make use of jerseys I find that I like.

Another idea is to take over a good team or build one for a while and then after you've won for a decade, start doing rebuilding jobs. Because that might make it easier because on a good team, I find I tend to know all of the guys in the league that way and start to notice guys I want on my ballclub, etc., and while I don't get them, start to see other teams that have a core of talent and start to think I can make them better. That's where trading a lot helps me, because I start to notice how other teams are composed and I generally spend less time on the player development aspects of things (aka, I almost never worry about drafting when I play solo fast-sim...because it takes too much time and I like the randomness of it.)

Another thing I tried when I first started this dynasty was to hire staff (Mgr/Coaches) and only allow them to make all of my moves on the field and I didn't control lineups or anything. I stopped eventually because they just create more manager cards to upload and I got tired of hiring staff, but...it's another idea.

Young Drachma · 10-07-2009, 01:18 AM

Well, the last time I checked in it was 1898. It's over 20 years later and things have changed in the league somewhat. Let's recap and get you familiar with 20th century baseball, shall we?

First, there are now two leagues instead of just one. The Presidents League was created in 1897, from 12 teams in the UL. There are now 15 teams in each league, after a series of expansions led to a total of now 30 teams.

Inevitably, some teams have left the stage since we last met up and some new ones have joined the scene.

SAY GOODBYE TO (last season)
Memphis Elephants (1909)
Shreveport Gassers (1917)

SAY HELLO TO (first season)
Albuquerque Dukes (1910)
Augusta Tigercats (1910)
Dallas Steers (1916)
New York Knights (1910)
Newark Terriers (1916)
South Bend Greens (1918)

FROM HERE TO THERE
Buffalo Blue Wings became the Baltimore Blue Wings in 1910.

Santa Rosa Peanuts became the San Francisco Peanuts in 1918.

Wilmington Quicksteps became the

Miami Amigos in 1920.

Santa Ana Oranges became the Hawaii Islanders in 1918.

WHERE YOU GOIN'?
I'm still debating where I'll go, but I think I'm going to take over a team starting this off-season. So many of the older franchises are having a devil of a time winning titles (which is kinda what I wanted when I started, this push of old v. new franchises, etc., history and all that) and it'd be interesting to help some of them end their droughts. Los Angeles's drought isn't all that long, but it's notable is that they made the playoffs 14 of the first 17 years of the franchise existence and won 3 titles during that stretch, but haven't won another since. (1874)

Here are a few notables: (last title)

Bantam (1833)
Cleveland (1829 in Evansville)
Philadelphia (1827 in Pacific)
San Francisco (1854 in Santa Rosa)
Victoria (1860)

So it'd be interesting here, as three of these franchises are in new cities (or in the case of Philadelphia, their 3rd city and haven't won it since their first) and it'd be cool to see if they could manage to win one.

I'm still debating my next move, but I should know soon what I'm going to do. It'll probably be Bantam, since that's my FOBL team.

Young Drachma · 10-07-2009, 04:21 PM

As I mentioned earlier, I've created an entirely new GM to start my career with and I'm going to use GMEXcel to determine how long I get to keep my job, based on my performance.

Since it's a new guy I'm creating he has no pedigree and therefore, won't be able to shoot for the top. Instead, we'll get a team that's down on their luck.

Just for readers of this dynasty, here's an updated version of GMEXcel already. I've added a section that helps you figure out what sort of team you can go to after you've decided you wanna move.

So say you want to GM a 85-win team? Well, you input that figure into the column and based on your performance that past year, you'll be told whether you can go to that team or not. It factors in your owner confidence score and how well your team did that year to come up with a decision as to whether you can go.

Check it out, as I'll be using it going forward in this dynasty.

Young Drachma · 10-07-2009, 05:10 PM

I'm already about to make another tweak to it. I'm thinking about what team I should pick and the question is "if you take over a 100-win team, shouldn't a 75-win season get you fired?" Probably not, because you could be in rebuilding mode. But the owner might not care about that. So I'm thinking of a formula that could can you after the first year if you fall too fast or something.

I've updated the link above to reflect my most recent changes. Now, take whoever you who want. If you say, take over a 100-win team and somehow managed to end up in a rebuilding job and only won 49 games, you'd be fired after your first year. If you won 80 games, you'd be skating on thin ice and would need a playoff appearance the second season in order to keep your job. I like the tweaks because it really does keep you on the proverbial hot seat as you play solo.

So check that out.

JetsIn06 · 10-08-2009, 01:23 PM

Hey, just out of curiosity, are you using any custom modifiers or just default modern-day?

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

Hey, just out of curiosity, are you using any custom modifiers or just default modern-day?

Default, modern day. Early on, I had pitcher endurance at normal and I've lowered it since then to Low. But I only did that because I intentionally wanted guys in these generations to have a harder go of breaking records set by the earlier guys.

muns · 10-08-2009, 04:59 PM

This is a real good read. Ive been away for a few days and just got caught up. Looking forward to Bantam team

I still cant force myself to try a solo league again, but maybe if i nab ootp X here soon ill want to try your GMEXCEL

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 08:33 PM

I have indeed taken over the Bantam Originals for the 1922 season. The O's won the PL East last year with 85-77 and lost in the PLCS in six games to eventual Daylight Series champion St. Petersburg.

I made some pretty large wholesale improvements to the roster. Or at least what I perceive to be improvements, whether they'll work out or not, is anyone's guess.

What's interesting is, I've increased salaries over the years, not just as a house rule, but as a way to ensure that good teams can't stockpile a ton of great talent cheaply. If they want star players, they're gonna have to pay.

The cash max is $15m and the salary structure is (in order) 8m/4m/2m/1.275m/1m/775k/500k/325k Min sal: 125k

So anyway, we'll run the year, see how it goes and then break down the team after that happens.

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 10:06 PM

1922 BANTAM ORIGINALS

REGULAR SEASON FINISH: (76-86) 4th, PL East

Well, it looks like I completely misread the market. I picked the wrong guys, put them in the wrong spots and picked the wrong division and team in which to be competitive. Now, I'm on the hot seat. If we don't make the playoffs next year, I'm out of a job already.

I spent $10.4 million on 36-year old infielder Alvin LaBrie and he did pretty much what he does, gave us decent production, yet it was really a bad signing in retrospect. He had a career high in home runs (20) and tied his RBI production last year (89) and was the team leader in both categories, but...we needed a lot more and we just didn't get it.

9th in the PL in batting average, 10th in ERA and it just didn't get it done. I think I might have thought the division was weak, but I didn't take a look at the other teams in the division like I should have -- one of the peril situations of playing fast-sim fast, you just wanna go and don't assess the lay of the land as well as you should -- and well, I paid for it pretty badly and now it might cost me my job.

The good news is that the team can improve and I can make some tactical moves that might benefit us next season, but really...this situation might be completely unsalvagable and as it stands right now I have NO idea how I'll fix it.

That said, this is a ton of fun for solo play and the most immersed I've been in years.

Code:

FINAL 1922 STANDINGS
Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Philadelphia Quakers	105	57	.648	-
Miami Amigos		90	72	.556	15.0
New York Gothams	86	76	.531	19.0
Newark Terriers		66	96	.407	39.0
Boston Yanks		65	97	.401	40.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Cleveland Broncs	95	67	.586	-
St. Louis Perfectos	88	74	.543	7.0
Minneapolis Millers	85	77	.525	10.0
Eau Claire Paws		73	89	.451	22.0
Chicago Blue Collars	63	99	.389	32.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
San Francisco Peanuts	86	76	.531	-
Salt Lake City Elders	85	77	.525	1.0
Los Angeles Seraphs	84	78	.519	2.0
Colorado City Gold Sox	73	89	.451	13.0
Victoria Cougars	73	89	.451	13.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago Red Caps	97	65	.599	-
Baltimore Blue Wings	89	73	.549	8.0
Pittsburgh Grays	79	83	.488	18.0
Bantam Originals	76	86	.469	21.0
New York Knights	64	98	.395	33.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Augusta Tigercats	87	75	.537	-
St. Petersburg Pelicans	80	82	.494	7.0
South Bend Greens	78	84	.481	9.0
Washington Maroons	77	85	.475	10.0
Carolina Wrens		66	96	.407	21.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	95	67	.586	-
Hawaii Islanders	85	77	.525	10.0
Dallas Steers		83	79	.512	12.0
Fresno Haymakers	83	79	.512	12.0
Albuquerque Dukes	74	88	.457	21.0

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 10:49 PM

OWNER CONFIDENCE SCORE YEAR 1: The team had 85 wins last year, we had 76 this year, leaving me with an owner confidence score of 41.

That means, that in order to keep my job next year we need to:

1. Make the playoffs and/or
2. Win 97 games

Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. Time to get to work.

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 10:59 PM

1922 PLAYOFF RESULTS
-----
Philadelphia def. San Francisco 4-3
Cleveland def. Miami 4-1
Chicago def. Augusta 4-3
Baltimore def. Houston 4-1

ULCS
Philadelphia def. Cleveland 4-3

PLCS
Chicago def. Baltimore 4-1

122ND DAYLIGHT SERIES
Philadelphia def. Chicago 5-4

Young Drachma · 10-08-2009, 11:36 PM

1923 BANTAM ORIGINALS OFFSEASON

I'm pretty much dead set on eating Alvin LaBrie's contract. Because he's a high star player, someone would take him off of our hands , especially since he's an expiring contract. I'd just as well release him all together, though and that might be what I do. He'll make $11.15 million next year and I could allocate that a lot better I think understanding the league a bit better.

The goal is to build through pitching right now. I'm going to make offers on guys specifically who can do just that...and try to retool the roster a bit otherwise.

I'll also update the HTML tonight, so when I link to player cards, they're not from a bunch of years ago.

I don't think I'll steamroll through the off-season tonight, mostly because I want to take a bit of time, see what's out there and then make offers that really make us better or at least, try...and then go ahead and sim the season after that and see where we land.

Should be an interesting off-season though in Bantam, for sure. Stay tuned.

Young Drachma · 10-09-2009, 05:57 PM

I deleted that Detroit move, because it didn't happen. Instead, the two relocated franchises in the PL are:

Albuquerque Dukes ---> Portland Roadrunners
South Bend Greens ---> Toronto Blueshirts

And yes, I intentionally have both Canadian teams as former Stanley Cup winning hockey clubs. I wanted to name them the Maple Leafs since that name was a baseball team name, not a hockey club name first, but...when I saw those guys were the Blueshirts in a past life, it was an easy choice.

Young Drachma · 10-09-2009, 07:31 PM

Thanks to some beta testing and suggestions by dynasty readers, I've updated GMExcel again, still just tweaking FireMGR to version 2.0

Here's the link to the newest version.

Here are the changes:

- Reformulated Owner confidence.
- Adapted criteria for GM's to be able to go to new teams.

I tested it a bit and I think it works more realistically than it did before, but if you see anything else, feel free to keep letting me know.

JetsIn06 · 10-09-2009, 07:42 PM

Getting an error.

Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Young Drachma · 10-09-2009, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

Getting an error.

Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Try it again. I was updating the link when you clicked on it.

Young Drachma · 10-09-2009, 07:59 PM

I didn't manage to get the HTML updated (I was tired and forgot, along with forgetting to run FOOL-H) but...I'm going to go ahead and do the off-season anyway.

Yet another update to GMExcel (And the last one I'm going to do, so I can start playing for a while) puts my owner confidence at 53 and again in jeopardy of being fired if we don't do something next year. I like that better, honestly. My goal was to create a proverbial hot seat and this does that from the outset.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 01:51 AM

You know your solo dynasty is starting to take things over when you start to confuse guys on your solo team with one of your online clubs. But that's precisely what I did today.

I kept trying to figure out why Bill Bishop wasn't on my roster on my FOOL team. That's because he was in THIS league. Oops.

In any case, the priority for us this off-season will be acquiring pitching. I think our failing last year was securing major arms. Offensively, we're still slouches, but there might not be a whole lot I can do about that and in fast-sim, pitching really is the premium weapon of choice. You can slug your way to a title, but..it's just not something that's common or easy to do, especially with fiscal restraints that make that a pretty tough cookie.

On the same token, there might not be a lot of free agent talent we can acquire and we do have a budget. So we're just going to have to see, I guess, what we can do.

Now that I look at the squad a bit more closely, maybe I'm wrong. We just need some players who rake.

Our rotation had a 16-game winner in Guillaume Adam and a solid closer in Pablo Tovar.

Hmm...I've got some thinking to do here.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:43 AM

Clearly, the Houston Astros aren't using GMExcel: Former Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta to interview with Houston Astros - ESPN

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 01:31 PM

1923 BANTAM ORIGINALS

SAY HELLO TO:

Quote:

CL Philippe Maillet (Trade)
RF Tony Williams (Trade)
1B Silas Barnes (Trade)
LF Vern Hewitt (Trade)
SP Eric Baker (FA)
SP Bobby Arnold (FA)
P Carl Tait (FA)

SAY GOODBYE TO:

Quote:

CF Larry Boyer (Trade)
2B Alvin LaBrie (Trade)
SS Al Joyner (Trade)
RF Dan Mooney (Trade)
SS Juan Zavala (FA)
3B Ollie McDermott (FA)

The Originals, two years removed from a division title and with a new GM at the helm in youngster D.C. Daly backslid a bit last season. With a year under his belt, Daly went and remade the ballclub in his own image, taking some risks along the way that he hopes pays off in the form of a much improved team or Bantam's notoriously trigger-happy ownership might decide they've had enough.

He signed 16-game winner Eric Baker to a deal in the off-season to help anchor a rotation with returnees Ronald McAuliffe (9-12, 153 K, 4.27 ERA last season) and surprise 16-game winner Guillaume Adam

Rounding out the rotation are free agent pickups Bobby Arnold (9-13, 132 K, 4.35 ERA with St. Louis last year) and closer turned starter Carl Tait (4-6, 31 SV, 2.99 ERA with the Chicago Blue Collars last season)

Offensively, adding three 100+ RBI guys is surely a step in the right direction. CF Julian Ayala hit 33 HR and 123 RBI last year in Hawaii, the 28-year old was 2nd in the league in RBI and inked a six year deal this off-season.

Joining him is hard hitter Silas Barnes who spent the last three years in Cleveland and hit 35 HR/118 RBI and has 12 triples while hitting at a .255 clip. He should add some much needed punch to the O's offense. Rounding out the 100+ club is 25-year old free agent signee Mike Strickland who hit .278 with 29 HR and 115 RBI in Philadelphia last year.

If nothing else, the new middle of the order (Barnes-Strickland-Ayala) should take immense pressure off guys who remain from last season like 2B Ben Day who is two years removed from a 100 RBI season before faltering last year, his first in the Nutmeg State (.268/12 HR/ 75 RBI)

All in all, the Originals are a remade ballclub. Whether they're better or not, is subject to debate. But one could probably say they're going to have to be a better ballclub than last year's. Whether this installment of club is enough to get them to the postseason is another guess.

PREDICTION: 88-74, 3rd place PL East

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 01:40 PM

Here are the standings at the all-star break

STANDINGS AS OF JUNE 26, 1923

Code:

Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Newark Sentinels	55	30	.647	-
New York Gothams	45	38	.542	9.0
Philadelphia Quakers	44	41	.518	11.0
Miami Amigos		44	44	.500	12.5
Boston Yanks		32	52	.381	22.5

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Minneapolis Millers	52	34	.605	-
Cleveland Broncs	50	33	.602	.5
St. Louis Perfectos	43	41	.512	8.0
Chicago Blue Collars	42	43	.494	9.5
Eau Claire Paws		35	49	.417	16.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Victoria Cougars	46	39	.541	-
Los Angeles Seraphs	44	40	.524	1.5
Colorado City Gold Sox	43	43	.500	3.5
San Francisco Peanuts	41	44	.482	5.0
Salt Lake City Elders	25	59	.298	20.5

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York Knights	47	37	.560	-
Pittsburgh Grays	47	39	.547	1.0
Baltimore Blue Wings	43	40	.518	3.5
Bantam Originals	38	47	.447	9.5
Chicago Red Caps	34	50	.405	13.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Toronto Blueshirts	47	38	.553	-
Washington Maroons	43	43	.500	4.5
Carolina Wrens		43	44	.494	5.0
St. Petersburg Pelicans	40	43	.482	6.0
Augusta Tigercats	36	47	.434	10.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	45	39	.536	-
Fresno Haymakers	45	41	.523	1.0
Hawaii Islanders	44	40	.524	1.0
Dallas Steers		41	43	.488	4.0
Portland Roadrunners	37	50	.425	9.5

If you're wondering what our problem is, it's a pretty easy answer. We are 1st in the league in batting average, OBP, hits, runs scored, 3rd in home runs and 2nd in walks.

Pitching? 14th in ERA, 15th in hits allowed, 14th in strikeouts.

If we don't turn it around, I'm basically done. And it looks like we've got quite a hole to dig out from.

We were 6-2 in March, 11-15 in April, 13-16 in May and 8-14 in June. Let's hope they can score runs and offset our pitchers not being good.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 02:10 PM

Well, I guess that's why they play the games out.

After sputtering through June at 10-15, the Originals went 16-11 in July, 18-10 in August and 13-6 in September to finish 87-75. (Just a game behind my prediction!) But that was good enough for 2nd place in the PL East and strangely enough, 3 games better than the Carolina Wrens (84-78) for us to claim the PL Wild Card for 1923. We face Pittsburgh in the first round, but before we get to that, let's just recap.

Julian Ayala led the league in home runs with 44. Darby Mason who hit .195 last year for us, really had a hell of a year, hitting .306 with 17 HR and 66 RBI, all career highs. Pushing him down in the lineup was precisely what the doctor ordered it seems.

As for the pitching staff? The leader for wins were Eric Baker and Carl Tait[/b] who both won 12 games. It was a decidedly average below average year as only one (Bobby Arnold) had an ERA under 4.00 (3.93) and that points to a notion that this ballclub basically had to slug its way to victories this year.

Ultimately, I'm fine with this because it means that we did what we came to do and I wasn't ready to be done with this team yet, because I felt like another year with them and we could really put it all together. Well I looked at the Run Support per game for our starters and for all of them, it was about 3.5 runs per game for each of them.

That kinda makes sense then.

1923 FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

Code:

Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Newark Sentinels	94	68	.580	-
Philadelphia Quakers	88	74	.543	6.0
Miami Amigos		82	80	.506	12.0
New York Gothams	80	82	.494	14.0
Boston Yanks		71	91	.438	23.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Minneapolis Millers	99	63	.611	-
Cleveland Broncs	97	65	.599	2.0
St. Louis Perfectos	78	84	.481	21.0
Chicago Blue Collars	77	85	.475	22.0
Eau Claire Paws		70	92	.432	29.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Los Angeles Seraphs	88	74	.543	-
Victoria Cougars	83	79	.512	5.0
Colorado City Gold Sox	77	85	.475	11.0
San Francisco Peanuts	74	88	.457	14.0
Salt Lake City Elders	59	103	.364	29.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Pittsburgh Grays	94	68	.580	-
Bantam Originals	87	75	.537	7.0
New York Knights	81	81	.500	13.0
Baltimore Blue Wings	78	84	.481	16.0
Chicago Red Caps	68	94	.420	26.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Toronto Blueshirts	88	74	.543	-
Carolina Wrens		84	78	.519	4.0
St. Petersburg Pelicans	83	79	.512	5.0
Augusta Tigercats	78	84	.481	10.0
Washington Maroons	77	85	.475	11.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	93	69	.574	-
Dallas Steers		82	80	.506	11.0
Fresno Haymakers	76	86	.469	17.0
Hawaii Islanders	74	88	.457	19.0
Portland Roadrunners	70	92	.432	23.0

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 04:34 PM

DIVISION SERIES
Pittsburgh Grays (94-68) v. Bantam Originals (87-75)

We were 6-15 against Pittsburgh in the regular season, but we only need four wins to advance against them in the LDS.

It'll be a tough test. They had the #1 pitching staff in the PL this year and were 5th in hitting. So basically, they're the opposite of us, as we hit well and don't pitch much. They hit some and are lights out on the mound.

They're led by 24-game winner Brad Blanchard and 16-game winner Rob Crocombe. Offensively, they have LF Matt Lloyd (.271/20 HR/104 RBI) and another guy who scored a lot of runs, but couldn't hit much in CF John Crawford (.236/28 HR/99 RBI)

I think we could beat them offensively, but I don't know if our pitching will hold up.

I made some tweaks to the rotation, installing Phiippe Maillet into the rotation and putting Carl Tait in the closer role. It might work, it might not, but I'm debating the idea that a fresh harm might be just what we need to make this deal work out for us, along with a 4-man rotation rather than the 5-man for the playoffs.

So we're gonna run the post-season now and see how it all flops out for us, I guess. I have no real expectations, just getting here saved my job and so, I can't really set the bar much higher than that at this point, to be honest. But it'd be fun to go on a ride for a bit throughout the post-season if the boys can put it together.

Here goes nothing.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 04:43 PM

1923 ULDS RESULTS
----------
Minneapolis def. Los Angeles 4-2
Cleveland def. Newark 4-3

1923 PLDS RESULTS
-------------
Pittsburgh def. Bantam 4-3
Toronto def. Houston 4-3

1923 ULCS RESULTS
----------
Cleveland def. Minneapolis 4-1

1923 PLCS RESULTS
------------
Pittsburgh def. Toronto 4-1

123rd DAYLIGHT SERIES (1923)
-----------
Pittsburgh def. Cleveland 5-2

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 04:46 PM

1923 AWARDS
---------
Union League (UL) Johansen Award: Damien Savary, St. Louis

Presidents League (PL) Johansen Award: Juan Cabrera, Baltimore

UL Mares Award: Sergio Sanchez, Cleveland
PL Mares Award: Brad Blanchard, Pittsburgh

UL Rookie of the Year: Alphonse Ritchie, New York Gothams

PL Rookie of the Year: Michael Carroll, New York Knights

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 04:53 PM

1923 BANTAM ORIGINALS
Season Recap

Well, the good news is, I live to see another day. My owner confidence score went down one point to a 52., but still, the team did what it had to do in order to survive and I appreciate that, because it looked pretty bad at mid-season.

We have about $22 million in salary coming off the books after this season, which means we can go out and try to shore up the team's offense. We lose Silas Barnes, Guillaume Adam and some other marginal players, but our core come backs from this year, which means that we have an opportunity to really be better if we make the right sorts of moves -- which we know revolve strong around hurlers, though there are some batters that we're going to want to take a look at including 5-time MVP RF Damien Savary.

We'll just have to see what's out there and who we can afford. But I anticipate we'll be back and better than ever.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 07:14 PM

Just for some perspective as to how parity is working for this league. Since 1897, the year that we went to the two-league format, only one team - the St. Louis Perfectos of 1897-98 have won back to back titles.

Since 1910, 13 different teams have claimed titles including the past 11 champions. So it's really a pretty fair system that's probably got a lot to do with the overall decline in talent over the past 75 years (I went to default creation modifiers about 65 or so years ago, maybe more) and things are far more open now.

Philadelphia ended their 95-year championship drought in 1922, claiming the title that year over the Chicago Red Caps.

That leaves Cleveland with the longest drought now, that franchise's last title came in 1829 as the Evansville Triplets. Next in line? The Bantam Originals, whose last title came in 1833.

Are we any closer this year? We're about to find out.

1924 BANTAM ORIGINALS TEAM PREVIEW
Well, so fed with the pitching staff's performance last year was Originals GM D.C. Daly that he ditched the entire staff. All of them were shipped out this past off-season in exchange for a mix of free agents and trade refugees that he's hoping will work better with the potent offense he's put together.

The notable addition is 19-game winner Adrian Davenport who came over as a free agent from St. Louis. The others are guys who underachieved in other places last season but the hope is that with a better offense and defense behind them can really put something together. These include Dan White, a 27-year old righthander who came over in a trade from Victoria (10-13, 3.19 ERA, 210 K, 60 BB in 33 starts) who is three years removed from a 17-win season. He's a strikeout artist though, lacks the control issues that befell this club last year. Another standout hope is 29-year old Queens native Eddie Garrett who went 14-11 last year in St. Petersburg, the team where he spent his entire career until now. He signed a 7-year deal worth over $32 million this off-season, so O's fans should get used to his face around here.

Philippe Maillet is back in the bullpen as the one pitcher last year who delivered. He went 4-6 with 37 saves in his first year in Bantam, striking out 95 in 67 innings.

Offensively, the team is more balanced and should be potent -- perhaps more so -- than year's team, if that's possible. Julian Ayala and his league leading 44 home runs are back, as is 2B Ben Day who chipped in 105 RBI last year. New additions to the offense include 1B Scott Taylor who came over in a trade with Miami and outfielders John Trahan (.243/26 HR/87 RBI with Eau Claire) and Paramjit Thukral (.290 with St. Louis last year)

After sliding into the finish last year to make the playoffs, the bar is set higher this year. Nothing short of a playoff berth will save D.C. Daly's job this year and fans are getting restless as the team seems to creep closer towards the promised land, but always seems to fall short. After all, 1833 isn't just the last time this team won a title, it's the last time it appeared in a Daylight Series Final period.

So Year 91 of the drought is about to begin now.

PREDICTION: 91-71, 1st place, PL EAST

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 07:23 PM

STANDINGS AS OF JUNE 22, 1924

Code:

Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Newark Sentinels	46	34	.575	-
Philadelphia Quakers	44	36	.550	2.0
New York Gothams	41	39	.512	5.0
Miami Amigos		39	41	.487	7.0
Boston Yanks		36	44	.450	10.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago Blue Collars	45	36	.556	-
Cleveland Broncs	42	37	.532	2.0
St. Louis Perfectos	40	40	.500	4.5
Minneapolis Millers	37	43	.463	7.5
Eau Claire Paws		35	43	.449	8.5

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Victoria Cougars	49	31	.613	-
Salt Lake City Elders	38	41	.481	10.5
San Francisco Peanuts	36	43	.456	12.5
Colorado City Gold Sox	35	45	.438	14.0
Los Angeles Seraphs	34	44	.436	14.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Bantam Originals	48	30	.615	-
Pittsburgh Grays	46	35	.568	3.5
Chicago Red Caps	42	37	.532	6.5
Baltimore Blue Wings	40	41	.494	9.5
New York Knights	36	44	.450	13.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Washington Maroons	47	33	.588	-
Toronto Blueshirts	43	37	.537	4.0
Augusta Tigercats	42	38	.525	5.0
Carolina Wrens		35	44	.443	11.5
St. Petersburg Pelicans	27	52	.342	19.5

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	45	34	.570	-
Portland Roadrunners	41	38	.519	4.0
Dallas Steers		38	42	.475	7.5
Hawaii Islanders	35	43	.449	9.5
Fresno Haymakers	31	48	.392	14.0

After starting off roaring out of the gates into the Wild Card lead, we eclipsed Pittsburgh several weeks ago to take over sole possession of 1st in the PL East. In terms of where the team stands, offensively the team is 7th in league batting, 4th in slugging and 2nd in Home runs and strikeouts. Not exactly the performance of last year, but that was somewhat expected.

On the other hand, the pitching revamp worked well so far. The team is 2nd in ERA, runs allowed, home runs allowed and 1st in strikeouts.

I dunno if the team can hold up, if the offense continues to play like that, but...so far, so good.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 07:37 PM

1924 FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

Code:

Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Newark Sentinels	89	73	.549	-
Philadelphia Quakers	87	75	.537	2.0
Miami Amigos		80	82	.494	9.0
New York Gothams	78	84	.481	11.0
Boston Yanks		71	91	.438	18.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Cleveland Broncs	92	70	.568	-
Chicago Blue Collars	88	74	.543	4.0
Minneapolis Millers	88	74	.543	4.0
St. Louis Perfectos	80	82	.494	12.0
Eau Claire Paws		68	94	.420	24.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Victoria Cougars	89	73	.549	-
Los Angeles Seraphs	79	83	.488	10.0
Colorado City Gold Sox	77	85	.475	12.0
Salt Lake City Elders	74	88	.457	15.0
San Francisco Peanuts	65	97	.401	24.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Bantam Originals	92	70	.568	-
Pittsburgh Grays	88	74	.543	4.0
Baltimore Blue Wings	87	75	.537	5.0
Chicago Red Caps	87	75	.537	5.0
New York Knights	78	84	.481	14.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Washington Maroons	95	67	.586	-
Toronto Blueshirts	93	69	.574	2.0
Augusta Tigercats	89	73	.549	6.0
Carolina Wrens		76	86	.469	19.0
St. Petersburg Pelicans	49	113	.302	46.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Portland Roadrunners	83	79	.512	-
Houston Buffalos	82	80	.506	1.0
Dallas Steers		81	81	.500	2.0
Fresno Haymakers	73	89	.451	10.0
Hawaii Islanders	72	90	.444	11.0

Well, the first part of our challenge is complete, I guess. We have a steep test as the Wild Card this year is Toronto and they won a game more than we did. We went 3-3 against them during the regular season. No changes to the team this off-season, just gonna run it in the style that I used to run these where we just do the whole thing -- no alterations -- all season through the postseason and see who emerges.

I think this team has the talent to do it, but I just don't know if it'll come together. I hope so, though.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 07:46 PM

ULDS RESULTS
Cleveland def. Minneapolis 4-1
Victoria def. Newark 4-1

PLDS RESULTS
Portland def. Washington 4-3
Bantam def. Toronto 4-1

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 07:53 PM

ULCS RESULTS
Cleveland def. Victoria 4-1

PLCS RESULTS
Portland def. Bantam 4-2

124TH DAYLIGHT SERIES (1924)
Portland def. Cleveland 5-2

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 08:06 PM

For those scoring at home, my owner confidence score after 3 seasons is now at 99. Not enough points for me to leave Bantam if I wanted to (there isn't a team bad enough that wants to hire me, based on the tool) but...I am safe for at least two more years and given we're bringing our entire team back save for a few random guys, we'll be in a good shape I think.

This season's off-season priority? A top of the rotation arm. I don't know if we can even find one, but I'm convinced that's what's going to get us through the playoffs.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 08:10 PM

Our payroll this off-season is starting at $70.9 million and the cap is at $75 million, meaning we don't have a lot of flexibility at all. I might move a guy or two, but I'm thinking we'll keep the core relatively intact.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 08:42 PM

Two of the best pitchers in the league are on the market this year in the form of Sergio Sanchez and Robert Owen. I'd love to have Sanchez, but he's just not the sort of guy who fits. Owen would be a fit for us, but I'm just not sure I can really move the sorts of people I'd need to move to make either possible, as both are commanding salaries in the 10-15 million range per year and for Sanchez, trending towards $20m/year towards the back half of his deal. Is he worth it? No doubt. But that's a lot to invest in a guy that'll tie up your franchise's financials and Cleveland didn't win when they were still paying him peanuts.

So, I'm gonna have to pass, sadly.

spleen1015 · 10-10-2009, 08:44 PM

DC, what's the story with Lars-Erik Johansen? He started out as a SP from 1840-1848, then he started playing a lot of 1B and LF. Did you edit him to be a hitter in 1849?

I'm also interested in knowing what you have your player development and aging modifiers set to.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spleen1015

DC, what's the story with Lars-Erik Johansen? He started out as a SP from 1840-1848, then he started playing a lot of 1B and LF. Did you edit him to be a hitter in 1849?

I'm also interested in knowing what you have your player development and aging modifiers set to.

Yeah. I did. He had some hitting talent and I decided I wanted a historical Paul Bunyan/Babe Ruth type of dude back then who had done both and so yeah, he's a human engineering project. He was a hitter, than a pitcher, then went back to being a hitter again, then was a pitcher before closing out his career as a hitter I think. There were a few other pitcher/hitter types in those days, but he's the most notorious.

Back in those days, player development modifiers were set to 1.200 across the board. For the past 75 years or so, it's been set to 1.000 and everything is default. I did that purposely, as I wanted the initial set of players to put up huge numbers that the guys in the future would have a hard time catching and thus, making records pretty meaningful.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 09:02 PM

Retooled the offense, with only four guys coming back from last year's division-winning squad including John Thompson, Tony Soriano, Julian Ayala and Darby Mason. I wanted to deal Mason, but the fans love him and so, I decided he'd just be Mr. Original and that he's pretty much untouchable during my career and that even when I thought it was dumb to resign him, that he's one of those guys that just has to be here.

Sergio Sanchez signed with Portland (6 yrs/$113.6 million), Robert Owen signed with Eau Claire (3 yrs/$47 million) but in a twist of interesting fate, he's apparently from a place called Rib Mountain, Wisconsin and so, the signing at least sorta makes sense. I love when those twists happen.

LF Damien Walec was the 1st pick in the 1925 First-Year Player draft by the St. Petersburg Pelicans. He's a created player from someone on the OOTP Boards (I realized I needed to add that for context over here.)

I'm preparing to do a write-up preview for the 1925 season, too. I think this team should be much better pitching-wise, offensively it's a bit of a mystery to me, though.

I don't do my own drafting and I don't usually control lineups. Last season I did at the beginning of the year, but usually I automate it and just play GM. Seems more realistic that way.

I'm going to update the HTML so the player cards are fresher, but eventually we'll get to the 125th season of speedy fake baseball.

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:22 PM

File are uploading, but it takes forever and it's not like that many of you are checking out the HTML anyway. So I'm gonna keep going. If there's something you're curious out, do please let me know.

1925 BANTAM ORIGINALS TEAM PREVIEW
After a breakthrough 92-win season and a trip to the league championship, Originals management decided to get serious about turning this club into a championship contender. 3/5ths of the rotation has once again changed with 20-game winner Richard Monroe brought in as a free agent and Paul Franklin (18-5) and Jimmy Hooper (17-4) acquired in trades. 17-game winner Dan White remains from a year, along with youngster Bernardo Davila who will vie with Eddie Garrett and Carlos Alomar (16-8) for the 5th spot in the rotation.

31-year old Chris Miller takes over as the closer in his 2nd season in Connecticut.

Offensively, the team lacks the punch it had two seasons ago when it slugged its way into the post-season. Julian Ayala is still here, along with mainstay Darby Mason. They're joined by newcomers 1B/DH Chris Sweet (.254/20 HR with St. Louis in '24) and new catcher Cecil Killough should help the team defensively and might help hurlers keep games close.

To summarize this year's Bantam team, the assessment would have to be that they're on the right track. But it's hard to really know whether this team can hang with the top teams in the Presidents League. They've got the arms to do it, so really this will just be one of those situations where we'll have to see how the team does heading down the road. If they get into the postseason, anything is possible.

PREDICTION: 90-72, 1st place, PL EAST

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:44 PM

I sat here and watched the half-season unfold and knew my bullpen was killing me, but come to find out, that's not quite it.

We were sweating it out for a while there, before coming together slowly and creeping towards the top as the mid-season arrived. We're the #1 pitching staff in the league at the All-Star break, no small thing when you consider the teams that are out there. Offensively, we're 7th in batting, 9th in HRs and 6th in OBP, SLG and Strikeouts.

Code:

	
Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York Gothams	49	37	.570	-
Newark Sentinels	43	43	.500	6.0
Philadelphia Quakers	41	46	.471	8.5
Boston Yanks		39	48	.448	10.5
Miami Amigos		38	48	.442	11.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Eau Claire Paws		52	34	.605	-
Cleveland Broncs	50	37	.575	2.5
Minneapolis Millers	48	39	.552	4.5
Chicago Blue Collars	37	52	.416	16.5
St. Louis Perfectos	32	56	.364	21.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Los Angeles Seraphs	53	33	.616	-
Salt Lake City Elders	48	39	.552	5.5
Colorado City Gold Sox	39	49	.443	15.0
San Francisco Peanuts	37	49	.430	16.0
Victoria Cougars	36	52	.409	18.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Bantam Originals	47	39	.547	-
Chicago Red Caps	47	40	.540	.5
Baltimore Blue Wings	45	44	.506	3.5
New York Knights	43	44	.494	4.5
Pittsburgh Grays	36	53	.404	12.5
Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Washington Maroons	55	32	.632	-
Augusta Tigercats	47	40	.540	8.0
St. Petersburg Pelicans	40	46	.465	14.5
Toronto Blueshirts	40	46	.465	14.5
Carolina Wrens		33	53	.384	21.5

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	59	27	.686	-
Portland Roadrunners	52	35	.598	7.5
Fresno Haymakers	47	40	.540	12.5
Dallas Steers		41	47	.466	19.0
Hawaii Islanders	30	56	.349	29.0

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:50 PM

Sergio Sanchez went 20-8 wtih a 1.99 ERA and 322 strikeouts this year for Portland in the first year of a six-year, $113.6 million dollar deal.

They missed the playoffs.

Code:

Union League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York Gothams	99	63	.611	-
Newark Sentinels	80	82	.494	19.0
Miami Amigos		78	84	.481	21.0
Philadelphia Quakers	77	85	.475	22.0
Boston Yanks		67	95	.414	32.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Eau Claire Paws		90	72	.556	-
Minneapolis Millers	89	73	.549	1.0
Chicago Blue Collars	81	81	.500	9.0
Cleveland Broncs	79	83	.488	11.0
St. Louis Perfectos	60	102	.370	30.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Los Angeles Seraphs	100	62	.617	-
Salt Lake City Elders	86	76	.531	14.0
Victoria Cougars	79	83	.488	21.0
San Francisco Peanuts	78	84	.481	22.0
Colorado City Gold Sox	65	97	.401	35.0

Presidents League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Bantam Originals	97	65	.599	-
Baltimore Blue Wings	87	75	.537	10.0
Chicago Red Caps	83	79	.512	14.0
New York Knights	80	82	.494	17.0
Pittsburgh Grays	70	92	.432	27.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Washington Maroons	89	73	.549	-
Toronto Blueshirts	85	77	.525	4.0
Augusta Tigercats	83	79	.512	6.0
St. Petersburg Pelicans	72	90	.444	17.0
Carolina Wrens		65	97	.401	24.0 

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Houston Buffalos	99	63	.611	-
Fresno Haymakers	88	74	.543	11.0
Portland Roadrunners	84	78	.519	15.0
Dallas Steers		76	86	.469	23.0
Hawaii Islanders	64	98	.395	35.0

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:52 PM

Ok, here are the playoff matchups:

Minneapolis v. Los Angeles
Eau Claire v. New York
Fresno v. Houston
Washington v. Bantam

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:52 PM

Here are the results from the LDS phase:

Los Angeles def. Minneapolis 4-3
New York def. Eau Claire 4-3
Fresno def. Houston 4-3
Bantam def. Washington 4-0

Young Drachma · 10-10-2009, 11:57 PM

Another year same result.

Los Angeles def. New York 4-2
Fresno def. Bantam 4-1

125th DAYLIGHT SERIES (1925)
Los Angeles def. Fresno 5-3

10-06-2009, 02:05 PM	#54
JetsIn06 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rahway, NJ	dola It might make a difference that I have two 8-team leagues with no divisions and no playoffs. Winners of each league play in the series. Edit: Nevermind. I get it now. You don't get the playoff +50 bonus because you SHOULD be there. Any further and you still get a bonus. Am I on the right track? I think what I'll do is give out a bonus for coming in 2nd and 3rd place or something like that. Last edited by JetsIn06 : 10-06-2009 at 02:09 PM.

10-07-2009, 05:10 PM	#61
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I'm already about to make another tweak to it. I'm thinking about what team I should pick and the question is "if you take over a 100-win team, shouldn't a 75-win season get you fired?" Probably not, because you could be in rebuilding mode. But the owner might not care about that. So I'm thinking of a formula that could can you after the first year if you fall too fast or something. I've updated the link above to reflect my most recent changes. Now, take whoever you who want. If you say, take over a 100-win team and somehow managed to end up in a rebuilding job and only won 49 games, you'd be fired after your first year. If you won 80 games, you'd be skating on thin ice and would need a playoff appearance the second season in order to keep your job. I like the tweaks because it really does keep you on the proverbial hot seat as you play solo. So check that out. Last edited by Young Drachma : 10-07-2009 at 05:15 PM.

10-08-2009, 10:06 PM	#66
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1922 BANTAM ORIGINALS REGULAR SEASON FINISH: (76-86) 4th, PL East Well, it looks like I completely misread the market. I picked the wrong guys, put them in the wrong spots and picked the wrong division and team in which to be competitive. Now, I'm on the hot seat. If we don't make the playoffs next year, I'm out of a job already. I spent $10.4 million on 36-year old infielder Alvin LaBrie and he did pretty much what he does, gave us decent production, yet it was really a bad signing in retrospect. He had a career high in home runs (20) and tied his RBI production last year (89) and was the team leader in both categories, but...we needed a lot more and we just didn't get it. 9th in the PL in batting average, 10th in ERA and it just didn't get it done. I think I might have thought the division was weak, but I didn't take a look at the other teams in the division like I should have -- one of the peril situations of playing fast-sim fast, you just wanna go and don't assess the lay of the land as well as you should -- and well, I paid for it pretty badly and now it might cost me my job. The good news is that the team can improve and I can make some tactical moves that might benefit us next season, but really...this situation might be completely unsalvagable and as it stands right now I have NO idea how I'll fix it. That said, this is a ton of fun for solo play and the most immersed I've been in years. Code: FINAL 1922 STANDINGS Union League Standings Eastern Division W L PCT GB Philadelphia Quakers 105 57 .648 - Miami Amigos 90 72 .556 15.0 New York Gothams 86 76 .531 19.0 Newark Terriers 66 96 .407 39.0 Boston Yanks 65 97 .401 40.0 Central Division W L PCT GB Cleveland Broncs 95 67 .586 - St. Louis Perfectos 88 74 .543 7.0 Minneapolis Millers 85 77 .525 10.0 Eau Claire Paws 73 89 .451 22.0 Chicago Blue Collars 63 99 .389 32.0 Western Division W L PCT GB San Francisco Peanuts 86 76 .531 - Salt Lake City Elders 85 77 .525 1.0 Los Angeles Seraphs 84 78 .519 2.0 Colorado City Gold Sox 73 89 .451 13.0 Victoria Cougars 73 89 .451 13.0 Presidents League Standings Eastern Division W L PCT GB Chicago Red Caps 97 65 .599 - Baltimore Blue Wings 89 73 .549 8.0 Pittsburgh Grays 79 83 .488 18.0 Bantam Originals 76 86 .469 21.0 New York Knights 64 98 .395 33.0 Central Division W L PCT GB Augusta Tigercats 87 75 .537 - St. Petersburg Pelicans 80 82 .494 7.0 South Bend Greens 78 84 .481 9.0 Washington Maroons 77 85 .475 10.0 Carolina Wrens 66 96 .407 21.0 Western Division W L PCT GB Houston Buffalos 95 67 .586 - Hawaii Islanders 85 77 .525 10.0 Dallas Steers 83 79 .512 12.0 Fresno Haymakers 83 79 .512 12.0 Albuquerque Dukes 74 88 .457 21.0

10-09-2009, 07:31 PM	#71
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Thanks to some beta testing and suggestions by dynasty readers, I've updated GMExcel again, still just tweaking FireMGR to version 2.0 Here's the link to the newest version. Here are the changes: - Reformulated Owner confidence. - Adapted criteria for GM's to be able to go to new teams. I tested it a bit and I think it works more realistically than it did before, but if you see anything else, feel free to keep letting me know. Last edited by Young Drachma : 10-10-2009 at 01:21 AM.

10-09-2009, 07:59 PM	#74
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I didn't manage to get the HTML updated (I was tired and forgot, along with forgetting to run FOOL-H) but...I'm going to go ahead and do the off-season anyway. Yet another update to GMExcel (And the last one I'm going to do, so I can start playing for a while) puts my owner confidence at 53 and again in jeopardy of being fired if we don't do something next year. I like that better, honestly. My goal was to create a proverbial hot seat and this does that from the outset. Last edited by Young Drachma : 10-10-2009 at 01:29 AM.

10-06-2009, 02:03 PM	#53
JetsIn06 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rahway, NJ	DC, I'm using your Manager Firing tool and loving it so far. However, I've come across something odd. I'm most likely doing something wrong here... So, I took over a team from Chicago. They were in dead last the year before. We have a terrible 39 win season in my first year. It gives me a score of 89. My next year, I won 50 games. That have me a score of 25. Now, I'm in my 3rd year, and I'm typing in scores to figure out how many wins I need to keep the job. When I get to 100, it gives me a score of 0. But when I type in 101, it goes to -49. What am I doing wrong here?

10-06-2009, 04:42 PM	#57
JetsIn06 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rahway, NJ	Awesome, DC. I restared my UBA solo league and am doing basically the same thing you are here...FOOL concept. Makes things so much fun and adding in the firing aspect of it is great. The one thing I'm trying to figure out is this: What team should I be allowed to take over? I've been playing for 10 or so seasons and have taken over lowly teams each team and I've yet to have a winning record. So, I don't think I should be able to take over anyone I want. But maybe I can take over a middle of the road team. I'd love to come up with a system to determine who I can take over. Might have to work on something like that later.

10-07-2009, 01:18 AM	#59
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Well, the last time I checked in it was 1898. It's over 20 years later and things have changed in the league somewhat. Let's recap and get you familiar with 20th century baseball, shall we? First, there are now two leagues instead of just one. The Presidents League was created in 1897, from 12 teams in the UL. There are now 15 teams in each league, after a series of expansions led to a total of now 30 teams. Inevitably, some teams have left the stage since we last met up and some new ones have joined the scene. SAY GOODBYE TO (last season) Memphis Elephants (1909) Shreveport Gassers (1917) SAY HELLO TO (first season) Albuquerque Dukes (1910) Augusta Tigercats (1910) Dallas Steers (1916) New York Knights (1910) Newark Terriers (1916) South Bend Greens (1918) FROM HERE TO THERE Buffalo Blue Wings became the Baltimore Blue Wings in 1910. Santa Rosa Peanuts became the San Francisco Peanuts in 1918. Wilmington Quicksteps became the Miami Amigos in 1920. Santa Ana Oranges became the Hawaii Islanders in 1918. WHERE YOU GOIN'? I'm still debating where I'll go, but I think I'm going to take over a team starting this off-season. So many of the older franchises are having a devil of a time winning titles (which is kinda what I wanted when I started, this push of old v. new franchises, etc., history and all that) and it'd be interesting to help some of them end their droughts. Los Angeles's drought isn't all that long, but it's notable is that they made the playoffs 14 of the first 17 years of the franchise existence and won 3 titles during that stretch, but haven't won another since. (1874) Here are a few notables: (last title) Bantam (1833) Cleveland (1829 in Evansville) Philadelphia (1827 in Pacific) San Francisco (1854 in Santa Rosa) Victoria (1860) So it'd be interesting here, as three of these franchises are in new cities (or in the case of Philadelphia, their 3rd city and haven't won it since their first) and it'd be cool to see if they could manage to win one. I'm still debating my next move, but I should know soon what I'm going to do. It'll probably be Bantam, since that's my FOBL team.

10-08-2009, 01:23 PM	#62
JetsIn06 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rahway, NJ	Hey, just out of curiosity, are you using any custom modifiers or just default modern-day?

10-08-2009, 04:59 PM	#64
muns Pro Starter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Baltimore MD	This is a real good read. Ive been away for a few days and just got caught up. Looking forward to Bantam team I still cant force myself to try a solo league again, but maybe if i nab ootp X here soon ill want to try your GMEXCEL

10-08-2009, 08:33 PM	#65
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I have indeed taken over the Bantam Originals for the 1922 season. The O's won the PL East last year with 85-77 and lost in the PLCS in six games to eventual Daylight Series champion St. Petersburg. I made some pretty large wholesale improvements to the roster. Or at least what I perceive to be improvements, whether they'll work out or not, is anyone's guess. What's interesting is, I've increased salaries over the years, not just as a house rule, but as a way to ensure that good teams can't stockpile a ton of great talent cheaply. If they want star players, they're gonna have to pay. The cash max is $15m and the salary structure is (in order) 8m/4m/2m/1.275m/1m/775k/500k/325k Min sal: 125k So anyway, we'll run the year, see how it goes and then break down the team after that happens.

10-08-2009, 10:49 PM	#67
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	OWNER CONFIDENCE SCORE YEAR 1: The team had 85 wins last year, we had 76 this year, leaving me with an owner confidence score of 41. That means, that in order to keep my job next year we need to: 1. Make the playoffs and/or 2. Win 97 games Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. Time to get to work.

10-08-2009, 10:59 PM	#68
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1922 PLAYOFF RESULTS ----- Philadelphia def. San Francisco 4-3 Cleveland def. Miami 4-1 Chicago def. Augusta 4-3 Baltimore def. Houston 4-1 ULCS Philadelphia def. Cleveland 4-3 PLCS Chicago def. Baltimore 4-1 122ND DAYLIGHT SERIES Philadelphia def. Chicago 5-4

10-08-2009, 11:36 PM	#69
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1923 BANTAM ORIGINALS OFFSEASON I'm pretty much dead set on eating Alvin LaBrie's contract. Because he's a high star player, someone would take him off of our hands , especially since he's an expiring contract. I'd just as well release him all together, though and that might be what I do. He'll make $11.15 million next year and I could allocate that a lot better I think understanding the league a bit better. The goal is to build through pitching right now. I'm going to make offers on guys specifically who can do just that...and try to retool the roster a bit otherwise. I'll also update the HTML tonight, so when I link to player cards, they're not from a bunch of years ago. I don't think I'll steamroll through the off-season tonight, mostly because I want to take a bit of time, see what's out there and then make offers that really make us better or at least, try...and then go ahead and sim the season after that and see where we land. Should be an interesting off-season though in Bantam, for sure. Stay tuned.

10-09-2009, 05:57 PM	#70
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I deleted that Detroit move, because it didn't happen. Instead, the two relocated franchises in the PL are: Albuquerque Dukes ---> Portland Roadrunners South Bend Greens ---> Toronto Blueshirts And yes, I intentionally have both Canadian teams as former Stanley Cup winning hockey clubs. I wanted to name them the Maple Leafs since that name was a baseball team name, not a hockey club name first, but...when I saw those guys were the Blueshirts in a past life, it was an easy choice.

10-09-2009, 07:42 PM	#72
JetsIn06 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rahway, NJ	Getting an error. Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

10-10-2009, 01:51 AM	#75
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	You know your solo dynasty is starting to take things over when you start to confuse guys on your solo team with one of your online clubs. But that's precisely what I did today. I kept trying to figure out why Bill Bishop wasn't on my roster on my FOOL team. That's because he was in THIS league. Oops. In any case, the priority for us this off-season will be acquiring pitching. I think our failing last year was securing major arms. Offensively, we're still slouches, but there might not be a whole lot I can do about that and in fast-sim, pitching really is the premium weapon of choice. You can slug your way to a title, but..it's just not something that's common or easy to do, especially with fiscal restraints that make that a pretty tough cookie. On the same token, there might not be a lot of free agent talent we can acquire and we do have a budget. So we're just going to have to see, I guess, what we can do. Now that I look at the squad a bit more closely, maybe I'm wrong. We just need some players who rake. Our rotation had a 16-game winner in Guillaume Adam and a solid closer in Pablo Tovar. Hmm...I've got some thinking to do here.

10-10-2009, 11:43 AM	#76
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Clearly, the Houston Astros aren't using GMExcel: Former Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta to interview with Houston Astros - ESPN __________________ Current Dynasty:The Zenith of Professional Basketball Careers (FBPB/FBCB) FBCB / FPB3 Mods

10-10-2009, 02:10 PM	#79
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Well, I guess that's why they play the games out. After sputtering through June at 10-15, the Originals went 16-11 in July, 18-10 in August and 13-6 in September to finish 87-75. (Just a game behind my prediction!) But that was good enough for 2nd place in the PL East and strangely enough, 3 games better than the Carolina Wrens (84-78) for us to claim the PL Wild Card for 1923. We face Pittsburgh in the first round, but before we get to that, let's just recap. Julian Ayala led the league in home runs with 44. Darby Mason who hit .195 last year for us, really had a hell of a year, hitting .306 with 17 HR and 66 RBI, all career highs. Pushing him down in the lineup was precisely what the doctor ordered it seems. As for the pitching staff? The leader for wins were Eric Baker and Carl Tait[/b] who both won 12 games. It was a decidedly average below average year as only one (Bobby Arnold) had an ERA under 4.00 (3.93) and that points to a notion that this ballclub basically had to slug its way to victories this year. Ultimately, I'm fine with this because it means that we did what we came to do and I wasn't ready to be done with this team yet, because I felt like another year with them and we could really put it all together. Well I looked at the Run Support per game for our starters and for all of them, it was about 3.5 runs per game for each of them. That kinda makes sense then. 1923 FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS Code: Union League Standings Eastern Division W L PCT GB Newark Sentinels 94 68 .580 - Philadelphia Quakers 88 74 .543 6.0 Miami Amigos 82 80 .506 12.0 New York Gothams 80 82 .494 14.0 Boston Yanks 71 91 .438 23.0 Central Division W L PCT GB Minneapolis Millers 99 63 .611 - Cleveland Broncs 97 65 .599 2.0 St. Louis Perfectos 78 84 .481 21.0 Chicago Blue Collars 77 85 .475 22.0 Eau Claire Paws 70 92 .432 29.0 Western Division W L PCT GB Los Angeles Seraphs 88 74 .543 - Victoria Cougars 83 79 .512 5.0 Colorado City Gold Sox 77 85 .475 11.0 San Francisco Peanuts 74 88 .457 14.0 Salt Lake City Elders 59 103 .364 29.0 Presidents League Standings Eastern Division W L PCT GB Pittsburgh Grays 94 68 .580 - Bantam Originals 87 75 .537 7.0 New York Knights 81 81 .500 13.0 Baltimore Blue Wings 78 84 .481 16.0 Chicago Red Caps 68 94 .420 26.0 Central Division W L PCT GB Toronto Blueshirts 88 74 .543 - Carolina Wrens 84 78 .519 4.0 St. Petersburg Pelicans 83 79 .512 5.0 Augusta Tigercats 78 84 .481 10.0 Washington Maroons 77 85 .475 11.0 Western Division W L PCT GB Houston Buffalos 93 69 .574 - Dallas Steers 82 80 .506 11.0 Fresno Haymakers 76 86 .469 17.0 Hawaii Islanders 74 88 .457 19.0 Portland Roadrunners 70 92 .432 23.0

10-10-2009, 04:34 PM	#80
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	DIVISION SERIES Pittsburgh Grays (94-68) v. Bantam Originals (87-75) We were 6-15 against Pittsburgh in the regular season, but we only need four wins to advance against them in the LDS. It'll be a tough test. They had the #1 pitching staff in the PL this year and were 5th in hitting. So basically, they're the opposite of us, as we hit well and don't pitch much. They hit some and are lights out on the mound. They're led by 24-game winner Brad Blanchard and 16-game winner Rob Crocombe. Offensively, they have LF Matt Lloyd (.271/20 HR/104 RBI) and another guy who scored a lot of runs, but couldn't hit much in CF John Crawford (.236/28 HR/99 RBI) I think we could beat them offensively, but I don't know if our pitching will hold up. I made some tweaks to the rotation, installing Phiippe Maillet into the rotation and putting Carl Tait in the closer role. It might work, it might not, but I'm debating the idea that a fresh harm might be just what we need to make this deal work out for us, along with a 4-man rotation rather than the 5-man for the playoffs. So we're gonna run the post-season now and see how it all flops out for us, I guess. I have no real expectations, just getting here saved my job and so, I can't really set the bar much higher than that at this point, to be honest. But it'd be fun to go on a ride for a bit throughout the post-season if the boys can put it together. Here goes nothing.

10-10-2009, 04:43 PM	#81
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1923 ULDS RESULTS ---------- Minneapolis def. Los Angeles 4-2 Cleveland def. Newark 4-3 1923 PLDS RESULTS ------------- Pittsburgh def. Bantam 4-3 Toronto def. Houston 4-3 1923 ULCS RESULTS ---------- Cleveland def. Minneapolis 4-1 1923 PLCS RESULTS ------------ Pittsburgh def. Toronto 4-1 123rd DAYLIGHT SERIES (1923) ----------- Pittsburgh def. Cleveland 5-2

10-10-2009, 04:46 PM	#82
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1923 AWARDS --------- Union League (UL) Johansen Award: Damien Savary, St. Louis Presidents League (PL) Johansen Award: Juan Cabrera, Baltimore UL Mares Award: Sergio Sanchez, Cleveland PL Mares Award: Brad Blanchard, Pittsburgh UL Rookie of the Year: Alphonse Ritchie, New York Gothams PL Rookie of the Year: Michael Carroll, New York Knights

10-10-2009, 04:53 PM	#83
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	1923 BANTAM ORIGINALS Season Recap Well, the good news is, I live to see another day. My owner confidence score went down one point to a 52., but still, the team did what it had to do in order to survive and I appreciate that, because it looked pretty bad at mid-season. We have about $22 million in salary coming off the books after this season, which means we can go out and try to shore up the team's offense. We lose Silas Barnes, Guillaume Adam and some other marginal players, but our core come backs from this year, which means that we have an opportunity to really be better if we make the right sorts of moves -- which we know revolve strong around hurlers, though there are some batters that we're going to want to take a look at including 5-time MVP RF Damien Savary. We'll just have to see what's out there and who we can afford. But I anticipate we'll be back and better than ever.

10-10-2009, 07:14 PM	#84
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Just for some perspective as to how parity is working for this league. Since 1897, the year that we went to the two-league format, only one team - the St. Louis Perfectos of 1897-98 have won back to back titles. Since 1910, 13 different teams have claimed titles including the past 11 champions. So it's really a pretty fair system that's probably got a lot to do with the overall decline in talent over the past 75 years (I went to default creation modifiers about 65 or so years ago, maybe more) and things are far more open now. Philadelphia ended their 95-year championship drought in 1922, claiming the title that year over the Chicago Red Caps. That leaves Cleveland with the longest drought now, that franchise's last title came in 1829 as the Evansville Triplets. Next in line? The Bantam Originals, whose last title came in 1833. Are we any closer this year? We're about to find out. 1924 BANTAM ORIGINALS TEAM PREVIEW Well, so fed with the pitching staff's performance last year was Originals GM D.C. Daly that he ditched the entire staff. All of them were shipped out this past off-season in exchange for a mix of free agents and trade refugees that he's hoping will work better with the potent offense he's put together. The notable addition is 19-game winner Adrian Davenport who came over as a free agent from St. Louis. The others are guys who underachieved in other places last season but the hope is that with a better offense and defense behind them can really put something together. These include Dan White, a 27-year old righthander who came over in a trade from Victoria (10-13, 3.19 ERA, 210 K, 60 BB in 33 starts) who is three years removed from a 17-win season. He's a strikeout artist though, lacks the control issues that befell this club last year. Another standout hope is 29-year old Queens native Eddie Garrett who went 14-11 last year in St. Petersburg, the team where he spent his entire career until now. He signed a 7-year deal worth over $32 million this off-season, so O's fans should get used to his face around here. Philippe Maillet is back in the bullpen as the one pitcher last year who delivered. He went 4-6 with 37 saves in his first year in Bantam, striking out 95 in 67 innings. Offensively, the team is more balanced and should be potent -- perhaps more so -- than year's team, if that's possible. Julian Ayala and his league leading 44 home runs are back, as is 2B Ben Day who chipped in 105 RBI last year. New additions to the offense include 1B Scott Taylor who came over in a trade with Miami and outfielders John Trahan (.243/26 HR/87 RBI with Eau Claire) and Paramjit Thukral (.290 with St. Louis last year) After sliding into the finish last year to make the playoffs, the bar is set higher this year. Nothing short of a playoff berth will save D.C. Daly's job this year and fans are getting restless as the team seems to creep closer towards the promised land, but always seems to fall short. After all, 1833 isn't just the last time this team won a title, it's the last time it appeared in a Daylight Series Final period. So Year 91 of the drought is about to begin now. PREDICTION: 91-71, 1st place, PL EAST

10-10-2009, 07:46 PM	#87
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	ULDS RESULTS Cleveland def. Minneapolis 4-1 Victoria def. Newark 4-1 PLDS RESULTS Portland def. Washington 4-3 Bantam def. Toronto 4-1

10-10-2009, 07:53 PM	#88
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	ULCS RESULTS Cleveland def. Victoria 4-1 PLCS RESULTS Portland def. Bantam 4-2 124TH DAYLIGHT SERIES (1924) Portland def. Cleveland 5-2

10-10-2009, 08:06 PM	#89
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	For those scoring at home, my owner confidence score after 3 seasons is now at 99. Not enough points for me to leave Bantam if I wanted to (there isn't a team bad enough that wants to hire me, based on the tool) but...I am safe for at least two more years and given we're bringing our entire team back save for a few random guys, we'll be in a good shape I think. This season's off-season priority? A top of the rotation arm. I don't know if we can even find one, but I'm convinced that's what's going to get us through the playoffs.

10-10-2009, 08:10 PM	#90
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Our payroll this off-season is starting at $70.9 million and the cap is at $75 million, meaning we don't have a lot of flexibility at all. I might move a guy or two, but I'm thinking we'll keep the core relatively intact.

10-10-2009, 08:42 PM	#91
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Two of the best pitchers in the league are on the market this year in the form of Sergio Sanchez and Robert Owen. I'd love to have Sanchez, but he's just not the sort of guy who fits. Owen would be a fit for us, but I'm just not sure I can really move the sorts of people I'd need to move to make either possible, as both are commanding salaries in the 10-15 million range per year and for Sanchez, trending towards $20m/year towards the back half of his deal. Is he worth it? No doubt. But that's a lot to invest in a guy that'll tie up your franchise's financials and Cleveland didn't win when they were still paying him peanuts. So, I'm gonna have to pass, sadly.

10-10-2009, 08:44 PM	#92
spleen1015 Coordinator Join Date: Sep 2003	DC, what's the story with Lars-Erik Johansen? He started out as a SP from 1840-1848, then he started playing a lot of 1B and LF. Did you edit him to be a hitter in 1849? I'm also interested in knowing what you have your player development and aging modifiers set to. __________________ Why choose failure when success is an option?

10-10-2009, 09:02 PM	#94
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Retooled the offense, with only four guys coming back from last year's division-winning squad including John Thompson, Tony Soriano, Julian Ayala and Darby Mason. I wanted to deal Mason, but the fans love him and so, I decided he'd just be Mr. Original and that he's pretty much untouchable during my career and that even when I thought it was dumb to resign him, that he's one of those guys that just has to be here. Sergio Sanchez signed with Portland (6 yrs/$113.6 million), Robert Owen signed with Eau Claire (3 yrs/$47 million) but in a twist of interesting fate, he's apparently from a place called Rib Mountain, Wisconsin and so, the signing at least sorta makes sense. I love when those twists happen. LF Damien Walec was the 1st pick in the 1925 First-Year Player draft by the St. Petersburg Pelicans. He's a created player from someone on the OOTP Boards (I realized I needed to add that for context over here.) I'm preparing to do a write-up preview for the 1925 season, too. I think this team should be much better pitching-wise, offensively it's a bit of a mystery to me, though. I don't do my own drafting and I don't usually control lineups. Last season I did at the beginning of the year, but usually I automate it and just play GM. Seems more realistic that way. I'm going to update the HTML so the player cards are fresher, but eventually we'll get to the 125th season of speedy fake baseball. Last edited by Young Drachma : 10-10-2009 at 09:03 PM.

10-10-2009, 11:22 PM	#95
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	File are uploading, but it takes forever and it's not like that many of you are checking out the HTML anyway. So I'm gonna keep going. If there's something you're curious out, do please let me know. 1925 BANTAM ORIGINALS TEAM PREVIEW After a breakthrough 92-win season and a trip to the league championship, Originals management decided to get serious about turning this club into a championship contender. 3/5ths of the rotation has once again changed with 20-game winner Richard Monroe brought in as a free agent and Paul Franklin (18-5) and Jimmy Hooper (17-4) acquired in trades. 17-game winner Dan White remains from a year, along with youngster Bernardo Davila who will vie with Eddie Garrett and Carlos Alomar (16-8) for the 5th spot in the rotation. 31-year old Chris Miller takes over as the closer in his 2nd season in Connecticut. Offensively, the team lacks the punch it had two seasons ago when it slugged its way into the post-season. Julian Ayala is still here, along with mainstay Darby Mason. They're joined by newcomers 1B/DH Chris Sweet (.254/20 HR with St. Louis in '24) and new catcher Cecil Killough should help the team defensively and might help hurlers keep games close. To summarize this year's Bantam team, the assessment would have to be that they're on the right track. But it's hard to really know whether this team can hang with the top teams in the Presidents League. They've got the arms to do it, so really this will just be one of those situations where we'll have to see how the team does heading down the road. If they get into the postseason, anything is possible. PREDICTION: 90-72, 1st place, PL EAST

10-10-2009, 11:52 PM	#98
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Ok, here are the playoff matchups: Minneapolis v. Los Angeles Eau Claire v. New York Fresno v. Houston Washington v. Bantam

10-10-2009, 11:57 PM	#100
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Another year same result. Los Angeles def. New York 4-2 Fresno def. Bantam 4-1 125th DAYLIGHT SERIES (1925) Los Angeles def. Fresno 5-3

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