Virtual Baseball Season/Franchise Updates

[Mike_S]

48-games seasons.  I chose that number because it seemed like my interest in season-play always waned between 50 and 70 games in.

I like it now because it's roughly 1/3 of a full-season which makes stat-comparisons easy -- for example,  hitting 10 HRs in my season is comparable to hitting 30 in a full-length season, etc., and a pitcher winning 6 games has done REALLY well (like winning 18 in MLB).

Also, if I fall out of the pennant race, there's usually only 15-or-less games left.  Can't imagine being out of it and having 40 or 50 games left to play through!!

[Slumberland]

Some video from a nice day game at PNC park in my fantasy Pirates 'chise... we snapped a three-game losing streak, and now stand at 12-10 with only seven games left to go.

Padres at Pirates (Game 22 of 29)

[Mike_S]

We took 2-of-3 from the Yankees, who do not appear to be super-strong.

We then split 2 extra-inning games against Seattle. 

Randy Sanders pitched much better than his first start in the first game, but we couldn't hit.  We clawed back from 4-0 with 1 in the 7th, 2 in the 8th, and finally 1 with 2 outs in the 9th.  In the 12th I thought we won it on a grounder up the middle, but their shortstop got it home for a tag-out (I thought he was safe, it was REALLY close).  They finally homered in the 16th inning to win it 5-4.  Kyle Lohse was amazing with 5+ innings of scoreless relief.

Then in the second game John Brogna had his follow-up start after the awesome 1-hitter he threw in his first appearance.  Much to my surprise, he actually gave up a run in the second inning on two singles and an error.  He was really good again though, and left with us leading 2-1 in the 7th -- no earned runs allowed through 16 IP so far!!  Colby Lewis gave up a run trying to close it out in the 9th, but he was great after that and we scratched out a run in the 11th for a 3-2 win.

We're 4-4 so far in 2013, tied with 2 other teams for first in the East so far.  Our pitching -- and especially the bullpen -- has been fantastic, our ERA is best in the AL so far.  Our hitting has been poor, but at least we've had some timely power.

[Ted]

Unbelievable.  Top of the ninth inning with another perfect game going with Doug Fister of all people.  Pitched count is 78 of an 85-102 limit.  Count is 1-2 and I get injured again.  Upper arm injury.   Again this wasn't a game eligible for the contest, but I'm really aggravated that I've had two potential perfect games stolen by the pitcher injury bug.

[Mike_S]

That's horrible.

[Jason]

That sucks Ted. Hopefully the soon-to-be-released patch takes care of the issue.

[Mike_S]

Anybody still playing their seasons ?

I've slowly started playing a game here and there in my HH career mode again and it's been really fun.  My 2013 team is looking stronger so far.  Swept the Yanks in a 2-game set in the road, then blew out Anaheim before finally breaking the winning streak in a 7-2 loss.

We're 7-5, 1GB.  3 games at Baltimore (poor) next, followed by a huge early-season 3-game set against Tampa Bay (first place).

My hitting stats are around 9th in the league, but in a major surprise, my pitching is awesome so far -- 1st or 2nd in almost every major category.

[Ted]

I just have no time anymore, but I like your updates so please keeps sharing if you like.

[Jason]

I'll probably start one with MLB 2K11 once the baseball season winds down. I've had less time for gaming this summer than any other, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like Ted, I enjoy reading your updates too.

[Mike_S]

Over the last week or so I started playing more again.  Too much fun.

We won 2 in a row at Baltimore, then were beaten up in game 3.  This put us 0.5 game up in the AL East over Tampa, going into a big 3-game set in Tampa.  They had beaten us 2-of-3 in Fenway already, and we only play 2 series against AL East foes per season.

In the first game we went up 5-1 and seemed to be cruising.  But with 2 outs in the 6th they hit a 2-run homer, and our bullpen just couldn't hold the lead.  We lost 6-5.

Suddenly the next game felt very intense.  Randy Sanders was our starter; he was a pre-season acquision, who had been big disappointment so far.  He gave up 2 early runs and was pitching terrible, but somehow kept getting out of ridiculous jams.  We got 1 back, and were down 2-1 forever.  After finally tying it at 2 in the 7th, our bullpen gave up 2 more and things looked bleak.  Larry Henderson, our best player, homered in the 8th to bring us within 4-3.    Then we got a man on 2nd with one out in the 9th.  Following a strikeout, Bill Montgomery (our singles-hitting catcher) got 2 quick strikes.  But he fouled a few off and finally delivered a single and we had tied it up!  Horribly, our pen again couldn't get it done and we lost it, 5-4.

Needing a win incredibly badly, we turned to John Brogna, our top pitcher so far this season who had 1-hit Tampa early in the season.  Brogna was extremely wild but still effective.  Tampa did get a homer in the 3rd, and led 1-0 while we were stymied at the plate.  Finally in the 6th we tied it.  Brogna walked a ton but gave up very few hits and kept it tied.  Through 8 innings each team had 1 run and 4 hits.  Somehow some way in the 9th inning we rallied for 2 runs and Colby Lewis closed it out for the big 3-1 win.

We then played 2 at home against KC who are battling for the lead in the AL Central.  In the first game we were on the verge of being blown out...we went down 4-0, were lucky it wasn't 6 or 7-0, and their pitcher had retired out first 14 hitters!!  But then, with 2 out in the 5th, we broke up the no-hitter with a single.  The next batter hit an infield grounder that was so slow that there was no play and we had 2-men on.  JD Drew followed with his first HR of the season and amazingly we were back within 4-3.  We went down 5-3, but Henderson delivered his league-leading 10th homer in the last of the 7th to tie it at 5!  We had turned 5 hits into 5 runs thanks to timely power.  We manufactured a run in the 8th, and Colby Lewis saved another win for a ridiculous 6-5 win.

KC absolutely drubbed us in the second game, our worst blowout loss this season; we lost it 10-1.

So we're now 11-9, tied with TB for first in the East, 1 game ahead of Toronto who we haven't played yet.  Our next 2 games are against lowly Baltimore, but then 4 of our next 5 will be against Minnesota and Texas who are 2 of the top teams in the AL.  Our pitching is still near the top of the AL even with a few shaky games; our hitting is poor for average, but we have a ton of power plus a decent amount of speed.

It's exciting...

[Jason]

Great stuff. I feel like I'm reading about the real thing when reading your posts. 

[Ted]

Same here.

[Mike_S]

Unexpectedly lost 2 at home against Baltimore.  The first was 5-4 in 10 innings, and then they put up a 10-spot and we got blown out in the second.  I was really down in the dumps after this; the team had fallen to third place, plus also Baltimore (who had seemed out of it) was creeping up within striking distance of us as well.

Then we had 2 against Texas, the top team in the AL with amazing hitting.  I was hoping we could at least a stop the bleeding and get a split.

Our Ace, John Brogna, pitched the first game.  For the first time all season he was roughed up some.  But our bats roared to life with 16 hits (our top output all year) and we won a wacky one, 7-5.  Brogna is now 4-0 with an ERA just over 2.00 (which leads the AL).

Pete Whiteside (whose very consistent) pitched the second game, and our bats continued to pound Texas pitching.  We went up 8-1 after 6 and it seemed like it was all over.  Then Texas' big bats exploded late as they crushed our bullpen, and they got it all the way back to 8-7 before Colby Lewis closed it out with men on base in the ninth!

We are now 13-11 at the halfway point of the season, 1 GB of Tampa Bay and 0.5 ahead of third-place Toronto.  We're around 9th in the league in most offensive categories, and 3rd in most pitching stats (but we were first, we've been falling a bit lately).

There are only 4 days left until the trade deadline, and I'd love to move on more starting pitching.  We have a legitimate ace and 2 consistent other starters, but our other 2 starters have been washouts.  The main issue is that we have no real depth to trade, and I haven't found a taker for a prospect.  In the meantime, we're moving Matt Moore (our long reliever) and Kyle Lohse (our secondary setup man) into the rotation to see if it helps.

This is clearly the best team we've had through the first-half of a season in the ten seasons of the Franchise.  Three more home games will start the second half.

[Mike_S]

Couldn't get anybody to bite on a trade to give me some better pitching for scraps, and didn't feel the need to add any unsigned free agents or bring up minor leaguers yet, so on with the season...

Matt Moore made his second start as we hosted Oakland who are around .500.  He is a decent long-reliever who I threw into the rotation since 2 of my starters have been getting lit up, but his first start was not strong.  This time, he was outstanding getting out of trouble 3 times and holding Oakland scoreless through 7 innings on 6 hits.  Unfortunately the A's starter was unbelievable, holding us to 3 hits.  In the 8th we went to the pen and hit a batter, and he came around to score.  We lost, 1-0, the first shutout against us this season -- a huge surprise considering how high-scoring all our recent games have been plus expecting nothing from Moore.  It was a real heartbreaker.

Next two home games against Minnesota who are very strong and the top hitting team in the league.  In the first game, Bobby Crouch pitched well but we against couldn't hit and we were down 3-1 through 7.  We manufactured a run in the 8th, then Larry Henderson hit his league-leading 12th home run in the 9th to tie it.  Colby Lewis pitched 4 innings of great relief in his longest outing of the season, but we couldn't buy him a run and he didn't have the stamina to finish it; we got crushed in the 13th inning, and lost 7-3.

Then Kyle Lohse made HIS first start of the season after being pretty good in the bullpen.  He cruised through 4 innings giving up only 1 run, and then we FINALLY exploded at the plate for 6 runs in the 4th.  Unfortunately, Lohse couldn't keep it going or hold the lead -- he gave up a 2-run bomb in the 5th, then a horrible wind-blown 3-run homer in the 6th.  Eventually Minnesota brought in 2 more against our bullpen for an 8-6 win.  It was a terrible defeat, and a painful 3-game losing streak.

Needing a win super-duper-badly, we turned to our Ace, John Brogna, who has been the top pitcher in the AL so far this season.  We were on the road at KC, who are also pretty strong.  Brogna was on his game, walking only 3 and striking out 8, and we got him a ton of support.  It wasn't easy, but we eventually pulled away for a big 6-1 win.  Brogna is now 5-0 through 6 starts with an ERA right around 2.00 (and the average AL ERA is about 4.50 -- remember that the game was made in 2003 when teams hit like crazy compared to now!!).

We now stand at .500, 14-14.  We are 3 games back in the AL East of both Tampa Bay and Toronto, who are tied for the lead.  Also, Baltimore is 14-14 and tied with us for third place.  We are similarly 3 games back in the Wild Card race with 20 games left to play.

We're heading into a crucial stretch with 6 more road games next against good teams -- the last three of which are at Toronto.

Unfortunately, I'm heading out for a family camping trip for the next week, so things will have to be put on hold for a little while.

[Ted]

I've started a new Franchise with MLB 2k11 (PC version).  With my playing time severely constrained I have decided to sim all the season games and only play the playoff games.  I will miss the variety of opponents, but this will allow me to get through multiple seasons like Mike is doing and also to play the minor league playoff games (AAA and AA) when those teams qualify.  I'm sticking with my Mariners and hope to improve the franchise to the point it is a playoff team again one day.  I've started with the latest official 2k roster which was dated 8/3/2011.  Just simming there is actually quite a bit to do, managing all the injuries and personnel moves through the organization.  There is also the amateur draft in June and I'll be keeping a close eye on my "homegrowns" to see who pans out and who busts.  The computer also initiates quite a few trades so that has to be managed as well.