Swartwood 3 hits, 3 RBI give Beaters 4-3 win in 11 innings

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/SPB_SH5.txt

Spanish Harlem Leads 3-2

20 Resims: #20 - Platte Country Burnt Ends

Jeff’s Burnt Ends are our first team to show flashes of true high end play.  In resim # 5 they won 89 games and their max win potential ended up at 94, a ful l17 games better than the 21st ranked Detroit Tigers.  That gap is remarkable.

As we saw with the Tigers, the Burnt Ends were also very unlucky in the regular season, winning just 67 games while their resim Avg, OD Resim Avg, and Balanced Resim Avg were all appreciably better.  I tend to believe a more active owner could have reduced this gap, but that's a study for another day.

Their only great offensive player was Stan Musial (below) but Larry Walker (36 HR, 103 RBI), Benny Kauff (.346 OBP, .400 SLG center fielder with Vg defense), and Mickey Cochrane (.714 OPS at catcher) were all above average  at their respective positions.

Top to bottom, both the starting rotation and bullpen were slightly below average.  Among starters, only Herb Score (4.87, 1.57) could be said unworthy of a roster spot while Mark Prior (5.04 ERA, 1.53 WHIP) struggled similarly.  On the other hand, there were no above average starters in the rotation and their best relievers received the least playing time.

With a few tweaks to the roster the Burnt Ends could have competed at a much higher level.

800 OPS Batters:
.818 – Stan Musial

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
2.99 – Jason Isringhausen
3.01 – Tom Henke (in just 21 IP per season though)

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 26 – Tyler Clippard (1.27 WHIP, 3.89 ERA, 67 IP, 53 H)

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 5 – Hank Greenberg (.207 / .275 / .414).  One day, Greenberg will slip in the draft and a lucky owner will enjoy his services in a platoon.

20 Resim Results

24) 64 wins, Downsouth Brews

23) 66 wins, Colorado Green Sox

22) 72 wins, Lancaster Pretty Ladies

21) 69 wins, Detroit Tigers

Maddux human, Siever 0-2; Gagne records another 4-out save

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/SPB_SH4.txt

I went back and counted, this was Gagne's 5th (!) 4 out save of the post season.  He also pitched 2 2/3 innings against John McDonald in Game 5 of the ALDS.

Series is tied at 2's, game 5 tomorrow night at 10 PM.  Come watch!  www.anymeeting.com/alltimebaseball1

20 Resims: #21 Detroit Tigers

Compared to the Tigers 60-win regular season, this result must be considered a success for Bill N.  Detroit averaged 69 wins per season and maxed out at 83 wins in sim 3, narrowly making the playoffs, our first team to do so.

It just seems that Detroit ran into some fairly bad luck in the regular season.  Bill didn't make any lineup changes, Free Agent moves or trades in the regular season, so in essence the ATB XV season, Resim average, and OD Resim Average all use the same lineup.  It’s clear this team was much better than the 60 wins it tallied during our season

The Tigers opted to choose 1925 Rogers Hornsby as their first round pick, bucking the traditional trend in selecting 1924.  Lets see if it worked:

1924 Career -- .310 / .380 / .464
1925 ATB 15 -- .277 / .347 / .535
1925 20Resim - .266 / .329 / .504

Personally, I prefer 1924 for the OBP considerations.

Sandy Koufax was a nice surprise considering is shaky history.  During his ATB career Koufax has average a 4.49 ERA/1.47 WHIP but perhaps the new era data has been kind to him.  In ATB 15 he averaged 224 IP, 214 H, 76 BB, 210 K, 4.31 ERA, 1.30 WHIP.  Elsewhere Trevor Hoffman and Grant Balfour were about average relievers while Armando Benitez (see below) was top notch.

With an average of 69 wins in the regular season, the Tigers rank just ahead of the Ladies who average 72 wins.  Why?  The playoffs - the final ranking isn't solely based upon average wins, it also considers playoff appearances (both division titles and wild card) and Run Differential.

800 OPS Batters: 
0.820 – Rogers Hornsby

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
2.93 – Armando Benitez

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 22 – Grant Balfour (3.63 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 57 IP)

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 2 – Hugh Duffy (.281 / .319 / .439, .757 OPS).  Decent numbers, but not enough for a second rounder

20 Resim Results

24) 64 wins, Downsouth Brews

23) 66 wins, Colorado Green Sox

22) 72 wins, Lancaster Pretty Ladies

21) 69 wins, Detroit Tigers

Haddix brilliant in 3-1 win; Beaters lose Burkett for games 4 & 5

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/SPB_SH3.txt

20 Resims: #22, Lancaster Pretty Ladies

This result is one of the biggest surprises of the resims.  Sure, with  only 73 regular season wins the Ladies may have been candidates to score low in the resims, but I would have bet decent money this was an 80 win team.  I liked Cy Seymor, Edgar Wesley, Eddie Collins, Honus Wagner, Frank Baker, and Carl Yastrzemski on draft day but they never played well for Lancaster.  The team had above average power (11th in ISO) but their on-base average was simply too low when compared with the successful teams.

Honus Wagner even had a somewhat muted line (.290 / .342 / .448), 14 points off his career average OPS.

Taking a step back to the draft itself, you'll recall Lancaster held off on drafting a pitcher until round 12 and this strategy didn't work for two reasons.  1) If you take 11 consecutive batters you better have a well above average offense, and 2) Ted assumed he could piece together a rotation.  Starters averaged a 4.61 ERA with Red Faber the best of them (4.31 ERA, 1.35 WHIP.

The bullpen was better, holding two above average relievers in Darren Holmes (3.58 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) and Buddy Groom (3.34 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) but unfortunately these two saw the least playing time out of any team.

Finally, like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, we need to mention Lancaster’s Max Win Potential. In resim 12 they scored 750 runs and in resim 4 they allowed just 680.  That[s a very good run differential of +70 and would have likely led to a 91 win team.  From this we can surmise what Ted envisioned with his draft strategy.

800 OPS Batters: 
None

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
None

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 25 – Mike Donlin (.286 / .333 / .391, 25 2B in 496 AB)

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 3 – Frank Baker (.248 / .287 / .401 with 72 R and 58 RBI)

20 Resim Results

24) 64 wins, Downsouth Brews

23) 66 wins, Colorado Green Sox

22) 

Tudor no-no lasts through 7; Charelston injured for 5 in 4-1 win

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/SPB_SH2.txt

Win at all costs?

Not sure Owner Justin P agrees with that adage.  Star slugger and centerfielder Oscar Charleston went down with an injury tonight and will not return until game 6.  Letting two hits drop in front of him in the 8th, his replacement Ed Swartwood arguably cost start John Tudor a shot at a no-hitter tonight.

Elsewhere star ace Jesse Tannehill remains injured and will not return until game 5.

Game 3 heads to Sparta where Harvey Haddix (11-4, 3.92) will face Frank Sullivan (13-10, 3.47).

A Trip Down Memory Lane - the ATB II Draft

I stumbled across a file that contains the first every ATB draft using Diamond Mind software.  It was a 14 team, 40 round draft.  It seems we had reserves.

Babe Ruth was still #1 but Greg Maddux was drafted 2nd overall, and I guess considered better than Pedro Martinez who dreopped down to 28th overall.  Other first round headscratchers include Luis Tiant, and a trio of Tony 3 phenom's that didn't translate to DMB - Dutch Leonard, Mordecai Brown, and Carl Lundgren.

Random other atrocious picks
- 2nd Rd Nomar G.
- Gehrig dropping to 32nd overall with Hornsby right behind him
- Barry Bonds in the 5th?  Awful, but ATB II used 2000 seasonal data, before his monster seasons
- John McGraw in the 6th
- and Rickey Henderson in the 22nd

Some positional oversights
- Arod before Honus Wagner
- Bruce Sutter as the #1 reliever
- Jack CLements as the #1 catcher, 10th overall.
- George Davis at 3rd before George Brett
- Jackie Robinson as the best 2B

Oh, and I would be resims in neglecting the best part of ATB II - the team name of "Devon Sucks Goat".

We've come a long way!  Thanks!

Maddux, Gagne pick up where they left off, Sparta wins 4-2

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/SPB_SH1.txt

Sparta Leads 1-0

World Series Begins Tonight

http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/World_Series_ATBXV.htm

Broadcast Schedule

Sunday - 9.30 PM

Monday - 9.30 PM

Tuesday - 10.00 PM

Wednesday - 9.30 PM

Thursday - 10.00 PM

Friday - TBD

Saturday - TBD

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