This is my first time doing a write up because I’m far from a top owner and only got to the final round due to charity. I mainly join draft leagues and the occasional $40M League so I rarely mess with a normal salary cap and I definitely don’t know the ‘Cookies’ y’all speak of. But if anyone wants to see how a lesser owner puts together a team, I’m your guy. Also, I usually spend 5% or so more on hitting than pitching just because.
Two True Outcomes ($70M - Modern Baseball)
Hitting: .239, .342, .478
Pitching: 3.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, .242 OAV
Stadium: Riverfront Stadium
I read the strategy of others in this league and I see a lot went with OBP over HR. Being a simple country boy, I went the (probably too) obvious route of HOMERS, HOMERS, HOMERS!!! I also sprinkled in a few that can steal a base in a pinch and added decent defense up the middle. All starters have at least 24 home runs and five have 37 or more. I’m also playing at Riverfront so I there will be home runs. I should have gone with a more homer-friendly park but I also wanted to limit singles because my pitching is atrocious and I’ll probably have the highest WHIP in the league (1.13). I toyed with different 2019 players and ended up with what I thought was an obvious choice (which means I’ll be the only one with him) – Yasmani Grandal. He’s a switch hitting catcher with a little pop and gets on base. He seemed a bargain with 632 PA at that price. As for pitching, my ace is pre Drug Running, Mobbed Up, Embezzling, 300+ LB Denny McLain and my #2 is 1951 Preacher Roe and his 1.21 WHIP and under 4 K/9. Lesson to be learned here kids - When you aren’t good at managing fatigue, you end up with 1951 Preacher Roe as your #2 starter.
30B + 50H = 75W ($90M - 30s + 50s)
Hitting: .320, .398, .493
Pitching: 2.35 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .224 OAV
Stadium: County Stadium
When I read the description that said the top owners aren’t as familiar with these two decades, I thought ‘So you’re telling me there’s a chance….’ I started with pitching and naturally grabbed 1933 Carl Hubbell. Then, I quickly realize I cannot afford 1933 Carl Hubbell (or the ’32 Hubbell, the 34 Hubbell, the ’36 Hubbell, etc) and I set my sites lower – much, much, much lower. Like a lot of teams, I settled in on Lefty Grove as my ace. Unlike those same teams, I chose the washed up, noodle-armed 1939 version. And it drops off from there. I centered around 1930s hitting and 1950s pitching with some exceptions. Heading up my bullpen is 1938 Dizzy Dean. I chose him for many reasons – He seems like a strong value with 80 innings at just over 3M and we have a similar mastery of the English language. My overall staff 1.12 WHIP and .5 HR/9 doesn’t exactly give me the warm and fuzzies but I’m hoping my hitting can carry us. I normally center around a strong D but gave up a lot to add hitting. The corner OF’s (Earl Webb and Earle Combes) can hit but can’t field (D/D+ and C/C-). Ben Chapman has range but can’t catch the ball (D+/A+). I went with five starting OFs with 1955 Musial at 1st and 1955 Aaron at 2B. Outside of the Earl(e)s, my defensive range is decent but I’ll be in the top 5 in errors. All told, call me an optimist but I’m banking on 75 wins (hence the name 30B + 50H = 75W – my 9th grade Algebra teacher would be so proud…).
Ball Four ($110M - Two Degree Twist)
Hitting: .299, .375, .499
Pitching: 2.27 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .217 OAV
Stadium: Sicks Stadium
I first read the Jim Bouton classic ‘Ball Four’ as an impressionable 13 year old who’s only dream was to become a professional baseball player. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a need for a shifty utility infielder coming off a one hit season for the mighty Klenco Construction little league team. But I digress….
I looked at different 80’s teams but couldn’t get any that worked and, since Sicks stadium is one of my favorites, I tried the 1969 Pilots and I was able to put a team together. It helped that I read the book and actually remembered most of the players. I really wanted Dooley Womack (Yes, that Dooley Womack) but couldn’t get it to work. I know it’s taboo but, due to my park and the options available, I went with home run hitters Bench, Aaron and Mays driving in Wes Parker, Pete Rose and Joe Morgan. I originally had the 1964 Yankees with Mickey Mantle but my conscience got the better of me and I went with the 70’s Giants. My three man rotation has 1966 Koufax, 1969 Marichal and 1968 Gaylord Perry (easily the weak link). When done, I looked at my $110M team with sub .300 batting average and a .5 HR/9 in a home run park and I thought ‘NAILED IT!!!’ I felt pretty good until I read a note on the board from a more experienced owner saying he started with the Pilots but found a MUCH better option. Balloon, meet pin…
Still Homerless in San Fran ($130M - The Storm)
Hitting: .347, .408, .533
Pitching: 1.83 ERA, .94 WHIP, .205 OAV
Stadium: Pac Bell
I completely bombed this league in round 1 and it initially cost me a spot in the finals. It was my only team below .500 and it wasn’t close to .500. That said, Ozomatli had a similar record in the same league so I felt a little better about myself (but just a little). In round 1, I went with extremes which, for me, is totally wrong. I like to have a little pop and I like stadiums that allow homers so, naturally, I did the exact opposite. I had limit of 6 HRs per player in my starting lineup and had a HR/9 of .18. Since I’m stuck with Pac Bell, I tried a lot of double and triple hitters this time around with a bit of pop for the road. I have 1920 Rajah, 1923 Speaker and 1923 Heilmann carrying my team offensively. My weak link is 1979 Garry Templeton but I waxed a tad nostalgic and I always liked him growing up. My starting pitching is shakier than most but my bullpen should help. My ace is 1978 Guidry and I need him to be lights out. This looks like at least a .500 team to me but my fear of pitching fatigue will probably cost me some wins. I ended up with 1494 innings (counting a cheap 26.3 inning mop-up) and that looks to be at least 50 too many considering my home park.
Maxed Out (Variable Cap - Plus X & Y)
Hitting: .368, .435, .553
Pitching: 1.44 ERA, .86 WHIP, .195 OAV
Stadium: Pac Bell
I greatly appreciate Brianjw’s patience as this country boy has trouble figuring out the difference between adding and multiplying. It took him three tries but he finally dumbed it down enough where I could understand it. I found his marble example most helpful (If Joey has 16 green marbles and 14 red marbles, how many marbles does Joey have?). So I switched from a 3 X 10 formation to a 16 (years/green marbles) + 14 (seasons/red marbles) combo– I would have used a different combination but that would have required more math. I’m in the DEAL (Draft ‘Em All) league every year and I have really found that helpful with the higher cap leagues. I went with the best of Joss, Johnson and Mathewson and ended up with 1614.3 innings (including a 26.7 inning mop-up scrub just in case). Again, probably too many innings but I know from DEAL that you’ll have issues with much less than that. For offense, King Kelly and Tip O’Neill are my big money guys but I added Seymour, Brouthers and Speaker as I like the value/price combo. I like parks that allow more homers but I figured dead ballers would be the norm so I went with Pac Bell again since it worked so well in my first Storm team. I’m probably the most confident in this team making the playoffs than any of the others, especially since really don’t know what to expect at all out of my draft team.
Boyle County Rebels ($140M - Teammate Draft)
Hitting: .324, .384, .508
Pitching: 2.02 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, .214 OAV
Stadium: Tiger Stadium
I really like drafts and I always seem to do pretty well with them but I have no idea what to expect from this team. I made a list of draftable guys from each nominee and went through almost all of them before the draft midpoint. I wasn’t thrilled with the 17th pick but honestly, I probably would have picked the same guy if I was outside the top five. Sitting there watching him not go for the first 16 picks made me question what was wrong with me for valuing him that high. Also, props to Ozomatli for his spreadsheet. There were two times I checked his spreadsheet out of paranoia and realized I would have made horrible mistakes.
Round 1 – Pick 17: Lou Gehrig
I was all in with Lou from the beginning. Going into the draft, I thought that there many more quality pitchers than hitters (apparently I was alone in that thinking) so, as long as my top four pitchers were gone, I was going with the best hitter available. Who knew the best would still be available with pick 17? I also went in planning to take the best player regardless of where I pick next round. That really came into play with my early picks.
Round 2 – Pick 16: All Simmons
Going into round 2, my list was as follows: O’Neill, Joe Jackson, Jake Weimer. My last two went right before me and I wasn’t prepared. The next two were Al Simmons and Ted Williams and I couldn’t make up my mind. The next round didn’t matter since they were both from Foxx. I was afraid of running into cap issues (what was I thinking??) so I went with Simmons. In hindsight, I’m a moron.
Round 3 – Pick 19: Elton Chamberlain
Going into round 3, my top two were Elton Chamberlain and Sam Thompson. I wasn’t worried about picking last the next round as I think most were. Since they both fell to me, I struggled but figured since I didn’t have a pitcher yet, I’d go with the best on the board and one of the best eligible in the whole draft. I’m planning on using him until his arm falls off…
Round 4 – Pick 21: Rube Foster
This time, my list was destroyed so I went with Foster. There were better players out there but I got what I considered the best starter available. I had him equal with guys taken many before so I wasn’t too upset. Plus, I got to pick early for a change
Round 5 – Pick 1: Bernie Williams
It was between Williams and Magglio Ordonez and I went with defense.
Round 6 – Pick 20: Mike Bordick. Seriously, Mike Bordick??
The first of my defensive guys I took way too early. He provides defense and only defense. I panicked with the lack of shortstops and I knew I’d get an early next round pick. Also, I didn’t want to miss out on the few Ripken options still available. This is the first time I made the mistake of going for an early pick instead of taking best available.
Round 7 – Pick 3: Pie Traynor
I was originally considering Robin Ventura and Pedro Guerrero but when I saw the McInnis options were few and far between, I went with Traynor. I thought about taking Ventura and hoping Paul Waner would fall the next round but didn’t think he’d make it (good call as it turns out).
After that, the wheels came off a bit. My big regret was taking Hooks Wiltse in round 9 instead of Tuck Turner. I had trouble believing Turner was still there, I needed innings and I was afraid of using my double up that early. In summary, I like but don’t love my team. I probably took some defensive guys way too early (Mike Bordick anyone??) but at least I’m solid up the middle. Like Jfranco, I too look for A+ defense. Unlike Jfranco, I don’t have a good feel for the line where hitting and fielding intersect. My pitching may fail me but I really think this is my 2nd best chance of being above .500. In the end, I did actually have to watch the cap and draft accordingly but I still wish I had picked Ted Williams. I ended up right around 140M.
Best Picks: #1 – Lou Gehrig, #3 Elton Chamberlain, #16 Mike Piazza
Worst Picks: #2 Al Simmons over Ted Williams, #6 Mike Bordick over WAY too many to name, #9 Hooks Wiltse over Tuck Turner
Nomination: Jack Boyle
I was the 23rd to nominate so I had the advantage of seeing what was already out there. I had originally planned to nominate Enos Slaughter but by the time 22 were off the board, I thought quality was needed over quantity. I started looking late 1800’s and checked out the Browns. When I saw Boyle was attached to the Browns and the 1894 Phillies, I was sold. I wanted to give people a reason to pick late the next round and I like to think I accomplished that mission.