aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

So what's been going on with Kevin Bottoms lately?

Things are going good in the career of Kevin Bottoms, thanks for asking

I haven't wrote up an article for my current season because nothing too much of note has happened that has differed from the past couple years. I'm in the middle of June right now and starting at 2B for Atlanta. I actually got the call up from AAA on the first day of May just like last season, but I was immediately slated as the starting 1B, which was new, and a little boring I really like playing the other infield positions more. The coach must of known I wasn't thrilled at first, so it wasn't long after that that I began my normal routine of starting pretty much everyday in a different position in the infield. I have been doing really well offensively and defensively this season and I was named starting 2B at the start of June. I hope that holds up for a while, that's the position I want to play everyday. I did get thrown into the outfield for one game of the season, that was a thrill. One game out there is enough though.

I hear ESPN is going to be doing an article on me soon, so keep your eyes out

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

I make the 2009 All-Star game:




Before I start the second half of the season, I'm gonna have to do something about the difficulty. I really don't like messing around with sliders, especially in the middle of a season, but my batting average is just too high for my skill level. I'm rated as a B for contact and power according to my player card, so I have the skill to bat well, but this is too much. Todd Helton is leading the the majors with a .375 batting average and I think Soriano is second somewhere in the .350's. I might try the HOF difficulty the second half of the season, if that's too tough, then I might go on to messing with sliders. I just don't like the idea of trying to force a slump on my player :P

[nyisles16]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

even though you are on the Braves, your RTTS is looking good!

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

even though you are on the Braves, your RTTS is looking good!

Thanks It's a fun mode.

The Mets are tough in this game. I got them last season but they won the division in 2007 and are starting to pull away in this season.

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

from the blog of Kevin Bottoms

Well the 2009 season ended the same way as the previous year did, with us getting knocked out of the playoffs in the NLCS. We were really hot going into the playoffs and even in the first round, beating the Cards in 4 games, but we hit a thick brick wall called the San Diego Padres in the NLCS. The Padres swept us, actually destroyed us, in 4 straight games, they then went on the beat the Red Sox in the World Series in 4 games. I definitely didn't have as hot of a bat this postseason as I did last year. In 8 games this postseason I batted .267 with a homerun and 4 RBI. I did swipe 4 bases though. It was disappointing losing in the LCS again this year, especially when we were going so well at the end of the season. Most of the year we remained about 5 games back of the Mets in the NL East, but we gave them a bit of a scare the last couple weeks of the season as we won 9 of our final 10. We didn't catch the Mets, we ended up 1 game back from them, but we did win the NL Wildcard.

As for my performance in the regular season, it definitely was the best of my career. I got out to a really hot start when I was called up on May 1st and earned a spot on the National League All-star team. I went 0 for 1 in the ASG, but it was a great experience. Coming out of the All-star break I was still batting really well with an average of .438. No one thought I would be able to hold onto that average for the rest of the season, my critics were saying it was just because I didn't have as many at-bats as the rest of the big leaguers. Well, I finished the season with a .401 batting average, the first player to bat over .400 since Ted Williams in 1941. I almost didn't make it, the last month and a half of the season I hit a slump that threatened my average, but it never fell below .400. Actually this year, I improved every aspect of my game. Every category of statistics went up (except walks) this year and I think it directly relates to coach Murphy putting me in the starting 2B spot early in the year and never taking me out of it. I finished the year with 26 homeruns and 90 RBI. I really did well on the basepaths this year as well with 38 stolen bases (4th best in the league). In the field I was awarded with a NL Gold Glove for 2B as I only had 2 errors all season.

Coach Murphy promised me just a couple weeks ago that I was in Atlanta to stay from now on (as long as I don't screw it up) and for me to expect to be on the opening day lineup in 2010.



<---- TIME TRAVEL TO THE START OF THE 2010 SEASON ---->



The 2010 season is just around the corner, but before we get into what the Braves will look like, it's time to say goodbye once again to some of the old-timers. The Braves actually lost a couple major players to retirement this offseason. First was Jacque Jones. Jones wasn't a Brave for very long, just two years, but I'll miss him a lot. He was a great guy to hang around in the dugout and we were pretty good friends since we were both newcomers to the club around the same time. The other retirement was long-time and fan favorite John Smoltz. John had been with the Braves since his major league debut way back in 1988. Smoltz ends his 22-year career with 223 wins, 156 losses, and 155 saves.

Other major retirements around the league were Pudge Rodriguez whose career ends with a .300 average and 326 homeruns, Craig Biggio with a .283 average over 22 seasons, and Frank Thomas ends his career after 20 years with a .306 lifetime average and 563 homeruns. One time Brave Javy Lopez also said goodbye this offseason at the age of 39.

The offseason was a mess for our Braves GM, not only did we lose starters like Smoltz and Jones to retirement, we lost two other starters to free agency. The Braves decided against the resigning of two of my fellow infielders, SS Edgar Renteria and 1B Scott Thorman. Both guys had really been an important factor for us on both offense and defense for the past 4 or 5 years, so they will be hard to replace. Thorman actually had won back-to-back Gold Gloves prior to the 2009 season. To replace those guys, the Braves signed Kevin Barker, who had been in Toronto, to play 1B. Barker will be given the shot at the beginning of the season, but making a name for himself in AAA is a guy named Chauncey Grossman who could find himself in Atlanta if Barker can't get it done. Eric Bruntlett has been signed to replace Edgar at SS. Eric has been in Houston backing up Adam Everett for all 7 years of his MLB career. He's real anxious to show what he can do in a starting role. Coach Murphy is also planning on using Mark DeRosa some at SS this season until one of the two firmly lock down the job. To replace the spot in the outfield due to the retirement of Jacque Jones, the Braves signed former Brave JD Drew to a multi-year contract. Drew spent a year in Atlanta in 2004 where he batted .305 but has been in LA ever since. He is slated to be the everyday right fielder this season. The Braves decided not to make any signings in the starting pitching rotation, instead Kyle Davies will be given another shot with the club. Davies has been hanging around the Braves organization for a few years now, longer than me, but just hasn't been able to stay in the starting rotation in Atlanta.

As for me, I will be the starting 2B on opening day in Atlanta. Not only that, I will be in the lead-off spot in the lineup opening day against the Astros. The coaches think with my ability to hit for a high average and my fast feet on the basepaths, that I can give the Braves a big advantage early on in games. They've set a personal goal for me to score at least 100 runs this season, that's 38 more runs that my career high, so that will be a good challenge for the year. I have a contract incentive if I score more than 75 times in a season, but I want the 100.

When the season starts next week, this is what our projected starting lineup is expected to be:

2010 Starting Lineup
2B Kevin Bottoms
LF Matt Diaz
RF JD Drew
CF Andruw Jones
3B Chipper Jones
C Brian McCann
1B Kevin Barker
SS Eric Bruntlett

Bench
IF Mark DeRosa
IF Martin Prado
C Jason Varitek
RF Jeff Francoeur
CF TJ Bohn

Starting Pitchers
Tim Hudson
Jeff Weaver
Chuck James
Mike Hampton
Kyle Davies

Relief Pitchers
Mike Gonzalez
Macay McBride
Tyler Yates
Rick Bauer
Rafael Soriano
Kevin Barry

Closer
Benton Darby


I think we've got a strong lineup this season and hopefully it will take us all the way this season.

Finally here's a breakdown of my career statistics:

#13 - Kevin Bottoms - Career Statistics
Year	League	G	AB	AVG	H	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	Fld %	RISP
2009	MLB	116	426	.401	171	62	22	5	26	90	38	4	48	.990	.380
2008	MLB	103	339	.360	122	50	22	2	17	62	23	5	52	.991	.370
2008	AAA	17	69	.333	23	11	4	0	6	18	6	0	8	.964	.563
2007	MLB	62	171	.333	57	11	10	0	4	17	8	1	18	.975	.214
2007	AAA	35	135	.274	37	21	10	2	8	17	7	3	28	1.000	.125
MLB Totals		281	936	.374	350	123	54	7	47	169	69	10	118	.987	.351

[NCAAFootballFreak]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

Not to sound like an A-hole, but you shouldn't have won the batting title with only 426 at-bats. Major league rules state that you have to have at least 3.1 at bats for every game your team plays. That number comes out to 502 at bats. Again, not to sound like a jerk -- just reporting what the minimum is to be eligible for the award.

Great job batting .401, though -- I'm loving reading your dynasty.

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

Not to sound like an A-hole, but you shouldn't have won the batting title with only 426 at-bats. Major league rules state that you have to have at least 3.1 at bats for every game your team plays. That number comes out to 502 at bats. Again, not to sound like a jerk -- just reporting what the minimum is to be eligible for the award.

Great job batting .401, though -- I'm loving reading your dynasty.

I didn't win it. I was just saying that I batted over .401. Doesn't really match up with what Ted Williams did, but I was proud of myself anyways Berkman won it with like a .340-something average. I think I found a good level of difficulty to go on this next season, as my playoff performance seemed to show

[bkrich83]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

RTTS is awsome. Great thread to follow.

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

RTTS is awsome. Great thread to follow.

Yeah RTTS is very awesome, I hope I can make it all the way to retirement. Thanks for reading

[bkrich83]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

Yeah RTTS is very awesome, I hope I can make it all the way to retirement. Thanks for reading

You still the spokesman for 7-up?

I have been playing RTTS on my PSP. Still stuck in AAA. I had a brief stint in the bigs, and started off ok, but went in to the tank, and got sent back down.

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

You still the spokesman for 7-up?

I have been playing RTTS on my PSP. Still stuck in AAA. I had a brief stint in the bigs, and started off ok, but went in to the tank, and got sent back down.

Sounds like my first stint. Yeah, I'm still the spokesperson, the motto is "Bottoms Up with 7-Up"

[nyisles16]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

at least you guys started in Triple A.. i got sent down to Double A to start my Mets career..

[Texasrangers13]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

LOL I was excited to be assigned to AA (it fit my storyline for my diary better)...but I cannot wait to be promoted.

[NCAAFootballFreak]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

My LF started in AAA, but that's because I made sure to find a team with very little depth in LF. I started with the Cubs, but the manager promoted me in my first year around July or so and had me riding the pine, occasionally pinch-running for the pitcher. (I never understood that -- let me pinch-hit for the pitcher if you're going to replace him anyway!!!) I did eventually start the last 30 games of the season due to an injury to Murton. Ended up winning the NL Playoff MVP after hitting three homeruns and driving in 9 runs. Sadly, though we fell short to the Yanks in the World Series. It was cool getting to play WS games at Yankee Stadium and then the home games at Wrigley. We won game 1 and then got routed from then on.

My second season I started in AAA again, but was quickly promoted to the Show where again I was a pinch runner and starting LF against LH pitchers. But again, Murton got injured, this time in Mid-August so I started the last 45 games. Finished with even better numbers, but the team fell short in the playoff chase just two games out of the Wild Card.

At that point, I was tired of coming in for the pitcher, only to be quickly replaced so I wanted to go to the AL.

Well, my beloved Rangers offered me a 5-year $540,000 contract. I like to see what the club will do with me, though so I talked them into a 2-year $220,000 deal with an option for both me and the club. (I was going to do spring training, but after a few save and restarts just to see what would happen, I've determined that no matter how well I do I'm going to begin the year in AAA) But the Rangers want me to be the starter, so I'm going to give it a shot, even though they have a rookie LF that is rated a little bit higher than me. It will give me a good challenge, so we'll see what I'm made of. I did go 0-4 in the opener, but responded with a 3-4 game with a HR and 3 RBI in game 2. I drove in another run going 1-3 in the third game. Hopefully I can keep my average up and stay in the lineup.

[aukevin]

Re: aukevin's MLB 2007 The Show Career mode updates

LOL I was excited to be assigned to AA (it fit my storyline for my diary better)...but I cannot wait to be promoted.

The Braves were really thin at 2B, so that's why I probably made AAA right off as well, just like NCAAFootballFreak. I knew going in that I wanted to play for the Braves and be one of the middle infielders. I knew I had a better chance taking the 2B job faster, which it turned out that's how it happened. Now if I would just get my darn number back! LOL