GWJ OOTP League Thread

Nice time to go 9-1.

Dammit, doesn't look like we'll be in the playoffs this year.

Nice. I sign my setup man to a new contract before he becomes a free agent and he decides to get injured for 14 months.

New file! Clinchings ahoy!

Pittsburgh, Dallas and San Diego are all into the playoffs. Atlanta's two games up on Miami, while Seattle's 4 1/2 game lead over Vancouver should lead to them clinching next week.

The wildcard has gotten fast and furious though. Vancouver and Buffalo hold the wildcard spots in the NL, but Denver is just one game behind, and even at 4 1/2 back, Baltimore's still not dead yet. In the SL, it looks like it'll be a fight between Miami and Charlotte (1 1/2 games back) for the final wildcard place.

Buffalo plays the two best teams in the division in three game sets to finish the season. I play the two worst. It could happen.

Mr Bismarck wrote:

How well did I do in my first season in OOTP13?

I'm glad you asked.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/39HQq.png)

Good news! I am now 35 times better at this game!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/vlAEt.png)

Best improvement ever?

Prederick asked me (on twitter) to inform everyone that:

Prederick wrote:

let everybody in the GWJ OOTP League thread know that i'm indisposed at work due to the hurricane, so i'm unable to update the league file. Hopefully, we'll be back to regular service on Wednesday.

New file!

And thus ends the 2014 North American Baseball League season, a year that will be remembered for a few things.

1.) Dallas setting a new standard for dominance with a 111-51 record that has the Dirigibles heavily favored to win the championship this season. There is some curious talk in the offseason however, as manager Manuel Lopez has opted to make Gerardo Ramirez, the team's closer, his #1 starter in the post-season this year. Ramirez is a fine pitcher, no doubt, but doesn't have much more than 6-inning stamina, so this gamble will arguably be the biggest storyline going into the postseason.

2.) San Diego's Brian Burke is the founder of the NABL .400 club, and it's only member, ending the season batting a ludicrous .428. Burke lead the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, weighted OBA, WAR, runs scored and walks, and in almost every category, led by a significant margin. Add the 22 HRs he hit, and you're looking at a 26-year-old who should dominate the league for years to come.

3.) Expansion blues. In their second year of existence, none of the expansion teams finished over .450, and a few actually saw their records get worse (Richmond was particularly putrid, going 49-113). At some point it's gotta turn around, right?

So here are your playoff match-ups for the Divisional Series!

Buffalo Breakfast Burritos (97-65) v. Seattle Rain (104-58)
Vancouver Kings (99-63) v. Pittsburgh Fighting Pierogies (100-62)

Charlotte Angels (93-69) v. Dallas Dirigibles (111-51)
San Diego Surfers (104-58) v. Atlanta Knights (95-67)

The NL West produced the most playoff teams, with three, but the SL West produced the two with the best records. How do we think things will shake out? Stay tuned for our prediction!

SO. Playoffs. Those of you who made it, make sure to SET YOUR ROSTER. Those of you who didn't, watch the playoffs, enjoy, take a second look at your roster and figure out what your offseason plans might be.

As far as the sim schedule goes, pretty much the same as last year.

The playoffs will start on Friday. When the playoffs start, we're not going to sit around and dibble-dabble. We will be simulating two games every day. I will pause for a day at the end of every round, to give people a chance to catch up and potentially shuffle their lineups in case of injury or what-have you. Ideally, we'll be through this and into the offseason pretty quickly.

I'm getting a no new file message.

nevermind, works!

Heh, forgot to hit that last little upload button.

Losing those minor league Sept 1 call ups is a bit of a problem. My outfield stinks. Guess I'll know for next season (assuming I make the post-season)!

The Pierogies forced our way into the playoff, mainly based on our record in the 2nd half.

We apparently have some bats with decent power but we'll see how we stack up against that Vancouver pitching staff.
This is a rematch of the NL Championship from last year when Vancouver bounced us from the playoff.

Note to self: Going 2-8 down the stretch is not how to get in the playoffs.

Congrats to all the playoff teams! Good luck! Beat Vancouver!

As excited as I am that I made it to a proper playoffs position, I'm pretty sure San Diego is going to crush me in the first round.

What's the schedule for playoffs Pred? Are you back to a normal life schedule yet?

Farscry wrote:

As excited as I am that I made it to a proper playoffs position, I'm pretty sure San Diego is going to crush me in the first round. ;)

Your hitting looks to be quite a bit better than mine (aside from one exception)!

Oh, and I completely forgot! Congrats to Miami's Thomas George who won the pitching triple crown!

Woody Wallace started both games for the Pierogies. What?

garion333 wrote:

What's the schedule for playoffs Pred? Are you back to a normal life schedule yet?

Yes. Finally. Hurricanes, amirite? Ugh.

As far as schedule goes...

As far as the sim schedule goes, pretty much the same as last year.

The playoffs will start on Friday. When the playoffs start, we're not going to sit around and dibble-dabble. We will be simulating two games every day. I will pause for a day at the end of every round, to give people a chance to catch up and potentially shuffle their lineups in case of injury or what-have you. Ideally, we'll be through this and into the offseason pretty quickly.

For the sake of everyone getting used to it, i'm doing the first two games tonight, I will skip Saturday, and then we'll get back on schedule on Sunday. A sim every day, two games, every day, except for Game 7's, a'course (i.e. - Game 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7).

So. New file!

It's that time of year again! The 2014 NABL Playoffs have begun, as eight teams fight to decide who will be crowned the champion.

Buffalo and Seattle are knotted at a game apiece after their opening two games. Seattle took Game 1 in dramatic style, rallying back from 3-1 down in the bottom of the 9th to win 4-3. In Game 2, Buffalo rode a fantastic pitching performance from Ed Moore (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R) to a 5-2 win to tie the series.

Defending champions Vancouver are in a 2-0 hole to Pittsburgh, wondering if their once-vaunted pitching can keep them in the series. Pittburgh chased Game 1 starter Donald Ray early, scoring eight runs in three innings on their way to a 10-3 victory that saw Vancouver hit into five double plays. In Game 2, Vancouver's pitching was outdone by Pittsburgh's bats again, as Jim Phillips fell apart in a five-run 6th inning that gave the Fighting Pierogies the lead for good to win 6-4.

San Diego leads Atlanta 2-0 in their series, thanks to some strong pitching and a bit of luck. Jason Huffman was masterful in Game 1, going seven strong innings, giving up five hits and just one run, but his team didn't put things out of reach until the 8th inning, when two doubles and a triple off Atlanta starter Ray Robinson keyed a five-run inning that gave them a 7-2 victory. Game 2 went wild, as both teams scored five runs in the first four innings. Atlanta managed to stake itself to a seemingly safe 10-6 lead in the 9th, but watched their bullpen cough up the game thanks to a wild pitch, a passed ball and three walks, as San Diego scored five and then closed it out in the bottom of the ninth to win 11-10.

Playoff favorites Dallas seem to have the new-kid jitters, and are down 2-0 to the seasoned veterans of Charlotte. Charlotte won a tight Game 1, plating four runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead in the series, and seized the initiative completely in Game 2 when Clayton Green's seven innings of one-run ball and Tom Decker's 1st inning three-run homer gave them a lead they'd never look back from. Multiple runs in the third and the fifth saw Charlotte win 8-2.

Only one series is split after just two games, but with venues changing, will fortunes change?

New file!

The 2014 NABL playoffs roll on, and through four games, everyone's still in contention, although some teams are in notably better shape than others.

Buffalo grabbed a 3-1 series lead after back-to-back walk-off wins. Seattle managed to tie Game 3 in the top of the 9th, but the usually assured Juan Perez gave the game away, loading the bases with just one out and then giving up a game-winning single to backup catcher Randall Grant. Game 2 saw some fine pitching, but Seattle just didn't make the most of its opportunities, stranding 11 men on base. The Rain outhit the Breakfast Burritos 9-5, but had to watch Buffalo take a grip of the series with a monster walk-off homerun by Simon Baggett.

Vancouver desperately needed a win in Game 3, and Miguel Angel Cortez delivered, pitching eight strong innings, giving up just two runs, allowing three early runs to do the majority of the damage as Vancouver won 4-2. But Game 4 saw more bad pitching let down the Kings again, as Pittsburgh belted three home runs and four doubles off Vancouver pitchers, chasing starter Jeremy Drew after 2 1/3 innings on the way to a 11-5 victory and a 3-1 series lead.

German Rivera had a terrible time in Game 3 of Atlanta's series against San Diego, surrendering five runs in the first inning, digging the Knights a hole they just couldn't dig out from. Atlanta had 11 hits to San Diego's 7, but left 10 men on base, and didn't manage a single multi-base hit. In Game 4, Atlanta finally managed to claw one back however, Rafael Ramos spinning a beauty, seven innings of three-hit, one-run baseball, but he was matched (exceeded really) by San Diego's Jason Huffman, who struck out seven and gave up one run and five hits in just eight innings. It took a double from Jon Reed in the top of the 9th and a slightly fidgety final frame by Ken Newman to get Atlanta to return the series to 3-1.

Finally, Dallas finally flexed its muscle, crushing Charlotte in Game 3 and 4 of their series, winning by 10-4 and 12-1 scores to knot the series at two games apiece. Highlights included Culley Daniels setting a all-time record with two doubles in a playoff game in Game 3, and Fernando Bojorquez's five-RBI performance in Game 4, marked by a monstrous grand slam in the 3rd inning.

So, one series finely balanced, three series one game from ending. Can any of the teams down 3-1 pull off a semi-miraculous return? And can Charlotte recover from two beatings to defeat Dallas?

The series is going about as well as I expected for the Knights.

You're getting the hits, just not all in a row!

New file!

Ding-dong, the champs are dead! Pittsburgh's hitting lead the way in a 4-1 series win over the Vancouver Kings.

Buffalo ousted Seattle 4-1, and Charlotte rallied to defeat Dallas 4-2.

The only series left is headed for a Game 7, with San Diego and Atlanta tied at three games apiece. Who will move on to the League Championship Series? We'll see

(Abbreviated update due to work and election day. Also, I won't live-broadcast this Game 7, but any in the LCS or Championship i'll totally consider.)

Good series, Vancouver, we are glad to have revenged our defeat from last year's playoff.
On to the next round. Buffalo, bring on your burritos, wings and beek on weck just the same.

The NL League championship is the Battle of the Ethnic Foods!

Wow, I really didn't expect to pull the series back to 3-3! Regardless of who wins, it was a good match-up!

To inspire the team I'd like to dedicate this next game to children everywhere, for they are the future.

So tired. So very tired. That said, this was a fantastic Game 7 that came down to the final at-bat, when, with the bases loaded and two outs, Brian Conway smacked a single up the middle that scored Vern Bennett and sent Atlanta to the League Championship series to face the Charlotte Angels. German Rivera outdid all expectations, completely making up for his Game 3 shellacking, out-pitching San Diego's young star Jason Huffman by throwing a four-hit, two-run, five-strikeout complete game.

With the win, Atlanta pulled off an absolutely jaw-dropping comeback, from three games down and dead and buried, to 4-3 series winners.

So, new file, and our LCS matchups are Buffalo v. Pittsburgh and Charlotte v. Atlanta.

So the World Series will definitely be Man vs. Machine then, right?

Prederick wrote:

So tired. So very tired. That said, this was a fantastic Game 7 that came down to the final at-bat, when, with the bases loaded and two outs, Brian Conway smacked a single up the middle that scored Vern Bennett and sent Atlanta to the League Championship series to face the Charlotte Angels. German Rivera outdid all expectations, completely making up for his Game 3 shellacking, out-pitching San Diego's young star Jason Huffman by throwing a four-hit, two-run, five-strikeout complete game.

...WOW. I did not expect that. This series of 7 games actually mirrors my team's performance over the course of the season very closely; we started way down with a long string of heavy losses, and were reaching a point where I figured reaching the playoffs was going to be all but impossible, then the team started clawing its way back all the way up until the very end of the season.

Regardless of how the next playoff series goes, I couldn't be more proud of Atlanta, they've had an absolutely smashing season and exceeded my expectations. GO TEAM!