The Legend of Nolan Ryan: Star Crossed

[AC]

Baseball > Proper English tbh

[royals19]

Quote: Originally Posted by AC

Baseball > Everything tbh

Fixed that for you my friend.

******

Before we get back to the action, here's what the standings look like coming into our latest USER played game. Prince Fielder is playing like an MVP right now, Jon Lester has been worth every nickel and the bullpen hasn't blown that many games. Do I smell a World Series brewing? It's too soon to tell but from the smell of it, something good is cooking.



Last season, I remember the Twins being the other punching bag of the league but this season, they've just gotten randomly good all of a sudden. Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Kenny Vargas are raking and 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in Rookie of the Year voting. Whatever Minnesota is doing is working apparently.

They apparently aren't satisfied with a .301 batting average and all star performance for Buxton though because they've been pestering us about trading him for Nick Tepesch the past two weeks. Smh... you know how the CPU logic works.



Don't worry though, we've had our share of random players doing work though. Dallas Beeler who should've been working in AAA at this time has been pressed into service with the injury to Derek Holland. Beeler has come in and done some serious work though and he's looked really sharp. When Holland returns, we're going to have a serious log jam in the rotation with a lot of guys clearly ready for a chance.



But wait, there's more randomness aloof! For whatever reason, the Twins blew pretty much all their offseason budget on Victor Martinez... Not going after Jon Lester, James Shields or Hanley Ramirez... No, Victor "Broken Knee" Martinez. They handed the man a 50 million dollar contract over 5 years and now he's coming off the bench and serving as a pain in the ***.

When he was announced as the pinch hitter, I did a double take and almost started laughing. With Alexi Ogando on the bump all we had to do was put 1 down three times and be on our merry way.

We got him to two strikes but and went for the classic fastball up and in to ring him up. Somehow, someway though, that jack wagon hit a 97 MPH fastball into the right field seats.... Umm.... *Facepalm*.

Heh... But we would have the last laugh when Prince Fielder sat on a hanging curveball and sent it over the center field fence for a two run walk off. #Tigers

[royals19]

I hate Oakland. The ballpark is ugly as all get out, the fans never bother to show up and even though they're the Athletics, they aren't very Athletic.

We sent Nick Tepesch out to handle the business and get us out of town before we died of boredom. Surprisingly, Tepesch plowed through the Oakland lineup relatively easily without problems from any of the usual suspects. But if there's one thing I've learned in this dynasty, it's that when good things happen, bad things aren't off.


It wouldn't be Nate Freiman dropped a 500 ft bomb or Jesse Chavez throwing a no-hitter... No it would be whoever the hell this jackwagon is behind the plate that stood in our way. This man simply refused to call anything 4 inches in on the plate.

Let me say that again:

This man simply refused to call anything 4 inches in on the plate. On 2 strikes, Tepesch was throwing it over the middle of the plate because the umpire refused to call anything remotely close to the black. I understand we're the best team in the league but at the same time, the A's don't need that much of an advantage.



While I cussed out the umpire every other pitch, Brock Holt went HAM on the Athletics with a nice 4-4 game. He's been something of a spark for this team coming off the bench. He's played everywhere but catcher (I want to get him a start there soon) and he's doing something neat every time he goes out there. For someone who was signed as a minor league free agent after he was non tendered by the Red Sox, I think this was a genius signing.

[royals19]

But wait, there's more!

After leaving the crappy confines of Oakland, we headed back home to play the Toronto Blue Jays. They've become something of a rival for us because we both have potent offenses and good pitching staffs. When we've got Lester or Darvish on the mound, it's usually a win for us but anyone else and you better buckle your seat belt because it'll be a bumpy ride.



Right from the get go, it appeared as though we were doomed to fall to the Blue Jays. On the very first play of the game, Adrian Beltre lets a ball go right through the wickets and into left field.



*Sigh*

And the rest was pretty much history. The Blue Jays feasted on Luke Jackson because of his inability to place pitches in the strike zone. What pitches he did throw for strikes were smashed over the walls or to them.



You can't win em all and unfortunately, you just have to tip your hat to a team like the Jays and move on to the next one.

Despite the loss, there was an even bigger story brewing in relation to this game. A story that makes me shake my head and wonder why.

[royals19]

In a year where we expected Michael Choice to take his game to the next level and become a key player for our franchise, he lets us down with a lackluster effort. He was horrible in the spring, mediocre early in the season and then somehow looked like a star the past month.

Unfortunately for Choice, this could very well be the end of his time in Texas and potentially be the end of his career. We have plenty of young outfielders in AAA and there are plenty of better options on the upcoming free agent market. This year was critical for Choice because he had a chance to establish himself and secure a role on this team before the prospects got their shot.

Logically, I don't see where Choice would fit in next season. He will have to rehab the injury and would probably be forced into a 4th outfielder type role. For the time being, we're going to call up Mitch Moreland and use him in right field with Grady Sizemore making an occasional appearance.

That's a bummer brah
-The Editor

[CameRoN0407]

Quote: Originally Posted by royals19

AC: Baseball > Everything tbh Fixed that for you my friend.

Best Post Ever.

[KHarmo88]

Love your stuff. Really blows me away haha

[tcsox11]

[quote=royals19;2046959505]Due to the volume of players we have in camp vying for spots on the roster, I have decided to divide the position players onto 2 different squads. The A-Team will include most of our major league regulars and a couple guys battling for spots. The B-Team will include most of the minor leaguers in camp in addition to some other guys battling for spots. All pitchers will be available to both squads because we need to get them as many innings as possible to evaluate them and piece together a bullpen.

Love your posts. Curious as to how you divided into an A team and B team with only 40 players on the ST rosters