Milwaukee Riders Fan Club Topic

kermit
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Milwaukee is my entry in Robin4's new progressive league, the "Amazin' Progressive League", which is starting in 1969.
Historical results:
1969: 75-87, 4th place in the PL West, 42 games out of first, 792 runs scored (18th in league), 843 runs allowed (17th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 76-86, payroll = $68.6M
1970: 64-98, 4th place in the PL West, 36 games out of first, 753 runs scored (tied for 19th in the league), 1050 runs allowed (23rd in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 57-105, payroll = $67.2M
1971: 70-92, 3rd place in the PL West, 22 games out of first, 572 runs scored (24th in league), 710 runs allowed (11th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 65-97, payroll = $66.2M
1972: 89-73, 1st place in the PL West, seven games in front of Kansas City, 684 runs scored (15th in league), 609 runs allowed (5th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 90-72, payroll = $83.4M
Milwaukee drops first round playoff series to Minnesota.
1973: 113-49, 1st place in the PL West, 49 games in front of Kansas City, 961 runs scored (third in league), 562 runs allowed (first in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 118-44, payroll = $79.4M
Milwaukee defeated Chicago in the divisional playoffs, three games to one. Milwaukee was swept by New York in the League Championship Series, four games to none.
1974: 99-63, 1st place in the PL West, 22 games ahead of Oakland, 888 runs scored (ninth in league), 610 runs allowed (first in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 108-54, payroll = $74.4M
Milwaukee was defeated by Minnesota in the divisional playoffs, three games to one.
1975: 102-60, 1st place in the PL West, 2 games ahead of Anaheim, 853 runs scored (9th in the league), 660 runs allowed (3rd in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 100-62, payroll = $73.5M
Milwaukee was defeated by New York in the divisional playoffs, three games to two.
1976: 103-59, 1st place in the PL West, 19 games ahead of Oakland, 938 runs scored (3rd in the league), 644 runs allowed (T5th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 108-54, payroll = $91.0M
Milwaukee won a tense five-game series against Chicago to advance to the PLCS, where they beat Cleveland in seven games to advance to their first World Series. Facing San Diego in the World Series, Milwaukee won the first three games and then lost the next three to force a seventh game. The Riders erupt in the fourth ininings against Burt Hooton and win the game 10-5.
1977: 110-52, 1st place in the PL West, 23 games ahead of Anaheim, 1096 runs scored (1st in the league), 740 runs allowed (6th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 109-53, payroll = $88.7M
Milwaukee beat the New York Mammoths in four games to advance to the PLCS, where they defeated the Cleveland Salt Dogs in six games (a rematch of the '76 PLCS). They nearly had a rematch in the World Series as well, but former PL West member Oakland, now part of the DH-less NL, swept San Diego in tn the NLCS. They kept rolling in the World Series as well, sweeping the Riders in four games.
1978: 82-80, 3rd place in the PL West, 12 games behind Anaheim, 822 runs scored (12th in the league), 814 runs allowed (15th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 82-80, payroll = $87.6M
Disappointing season as the league's second highest payroll struggles to finish over .500. Six-year reign as PL West champion is over.
1979: 83-79, tied for 4th place in reconfigured 10-team AL after contraction, 28 games behind Anaheim, 882 runs scored (9th in the league), 979 runs allowed (15th in league), Pythagorean W-L (with 1.83 exponent) = 73-89, payroll = $76.4M
Recovered somewhat from horrible start to finish over .500 for eighth straight season but were never part of playoff picture.
1/22/2007 9:46 PM
Angry Beaver
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What!?! No Seattle Pilots in your first 5 rounds? You are doomed to mediocrity, my advice to you is to drink heavily. At least you picked a heck of a city to play in. Go Brewers!
1/23/2007 8:21 AM
peajay
Posts: 82 (0)
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Wait, you mean choosing Milwaukee didn't already doom him to mediocrity?
1/23/2007 2:46 PM
kermit
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Quote: Originally Posted By peajay on 1/23/2007Wait, you mean his questionable managerial skills didn't already doom him to mediocrity?
1/24/2007 5:46 AM
antoncresten
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MILWAUKEE SCHLUBS!
1/24/2007 10:47 AM
kermit
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In a snake draft, I ended up with the 19th pick in odd rounds, sixth pick in even rounds.
Our initial draft went something like this:
1) Tommy John, a solid pitcher who should provide a decade or more of valuable performance
2) Thurman Munson, a promising young catcher with a sweet swing
3) Ron Reed, another workhorse for the rotation
4) Richie Hebner, handed hitting third baseman with patience and a little pop
5) Nate Colbert, an all-or-nothing type free swinger to play first base
6) Risky pick here, but I'm assuming that we won't be in a position to win this first season so we were looking for as much "future value" as we could find. Flaky pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee is on his way to Milwaukee.
7) A run on middle infielders causes a bit of panic in the draft room, and Milwaukee reaches a bit to take Ted Sizemore here. He should at least provide solid defense without completely killing the offense.
8) To make up for the harm that Sizemore might do to the lineup, Milwaukee drafts a speedy outfielder with power in the eighth round, Larry Hisle. He and Colbert figure to compete for the league strikeout title but can turn the game around with one swing.
9) Darold Knowles is the choice here, in the hopes of finding at least one guy who can be counted on to provide reliable relief over the next few seasons.
10) With starting pitchers falling off the board and right, Milwaukee grabs the aging Jim Maloney here in the hopes of coaxing one more decent season out of his arm.
11) Still looking for strong arms, Milwaukee drafts Don Cardwell.
12) While Milwaukee may not be a contender early on, drafting reliever Ted Abernathy gives them something of value to use in a trade over the first few seasons.
At this point, Milwaukee looks to have just over 1000 innings available for the inaugural season... nowhere near enough but probably enough to avoid a complete disaster.
The infield of the future is mostly set with Hebner, Sizemore, Colbert and Munson, though Munson can't be counted on much in 1969 and a more durable catcher will need to be selected later. The outfield is in trouble, with only Larry Hisle penciled in at this point.
1/30/2007 11:03 AM
kermit
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13) Outfielder Mike Lum gives us another -handed bat and provides a little future value
14) Another outfielder joins the team as we draft Wayne Comer. Comer can also fill in behind the plate, which might be valuable.
15) Looking for more innings, Gary Waslewski is the 15th round pick.
Starting with Round 16, each team selects two players at its spot.
16) Another reliever, Bob Humphreys, is selected along with a utility infielder, Eddie Leon. Leon looks to be worth more next year than this season, but is the first shortstop we've drafted.
17) Trying to fill more holes in the lineup, catcher Jake Gibbs and outfielder Al Ferrara are drafted here. Gibbs won't be a full-time answer at C so we may need to draft another one before we're done.
18) Ken Johnson helps bolster the bullpen and utility IF Terry Harmon figures to get a lot of playing time this season.
19) Catcher Jerry May and OF/Util Bob Aspromonte are added to the roster. With May, Gibbs, and Munson we should be able to cover the catcher spot well enough. Aspromonte can play outfield or infield, none of them very well but he could see some time in the middle infield since Harmon and Leon don't have a lot of at bats
20) Reliever Gary Wagner adds a few more innings to the bullpen and SS Ray Oyler finish the draft. Oyler allows us to avoid playing Aspromonte in the infield although he won't contribute much at the plate.
2/5/2007 9:26 PM
kermit
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In honor of the city's Harley heritage, we are the Milwaukee Riders.
2/9/2007 11:09 AM
antoncresten
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BOO!
2/9/2007 8:37 PM
kermit
Posts: 10956 (0)
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The league is realigned and will start play by the weekend!
2/13/2007 10:24 PM
kermit
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Milwaukee begins the season at home against the Detroit Stars. Tommy John will be our Opening Day starter. The AAA crowd will get a good workout in these first 12 games before divisional play begins, to get a sense of what we're working with.
2/14/2007 10:23 PM
bagchucker
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a better name would be the Sportsters
2/15/2007 2:44 AM
kermit
Posts: 10956 (0)
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Too late for that!
2/15/2007 9:44 AM
kermit
Posts: 10956 (0)
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520 478 124
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The Riders are in the Patriot League's West Division with the following teams:
Oakland Invaders (ernestleifb; $95.0M payroll, first in league)
Hells Angels of Anaheim (peajay; $68.3M payroll, 18th in league)
Kansas City Sith (cccp1014; $77.2M payroll, 14th in league)
The Riders have a $68.6M payroll for 1969, 21st in the league.
Things look bleak for the inaugural season... but we were building for the future so that's to be expected.
2/15/2007 9:49 AM
kermit
Posts: 10956 (0)
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Game 1: The Riders win their first game! Tommy John throws seven strong innings, allowing only two runs despite nine hits, and Milwaukee pounds Catfish Hunter for 13 hits in five innings. The Riders end up with 16 hits, four by Ted Sizemore, and win 8-3. Sizemore drives home three runs.
Roy White singled off John in the first at bat of the season. Glenn Beckert followed with one of his four hits, and Ron Santo's sacrifice fly brought home the first run of the season.
AAA infielder Josef Clutch doubled in the first Rider at bat and later scored their first run on a single by Nate Colbert.
Colbert also doubled in the game, but the Riders are still looking for their first home run.
Wayne Comer made the first out, grounding to short after Clutch's double.
Richie Hebner drew the first walk, right after Comer's grounder.
Colbert's RBI single was the team's first one-base hit.
Larry Hisle struck out right after, another first.
Game 2: AAA pitcher Denny Sharritts strikes out seven batters in four innings, but also allows three runs. The bullpen throws five scoreless innings in relief, but the Stars' Dick Drago pitches a complete game shutout, limiting the Riders to five hits. The only extra base hit for Milwaukee is a double by AAA C Scot Pickeral.
Game 3: After that surprising outburst on Opening Day, it appears the Riders may have some problems at the plate. Earl Wilson throws eight and two-thirds shutout innings against them in the finale, and Jack Aker gets the last out for a save, as Detroit wins this one 1-0. Milwaukee outhits Detroit 8-5 but strands seven and hits into two double plays.
Our first road trip is to Cleveland to face the 2-1 Flames.
2/15/2007 9:56 AM
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