The Philadelphia Crackers in OOTPX (Renamed to the Philadelphia Firecrackers a couple of seasons ago)...
This was a league that I had started just to test something. An OOTP member had said to trade away all of your stars for scrubs because it didn't matter, he always did well. I decided to test this by making a new fictional league, and took over the Philadelphia Crackers. I traded away all good players, and, as expected, went 53-109 after that season. I was content and was going to delete the league, but I figured, "What would be better than the ultimate rebuild?". So, I just decided that the team owner was very patient and didn't fire me.
Season 2 came around, and we went 38-124. However, it was during that season that I picked the one man that would turn my franchise around, in catcher Esteban Negron, who joined the team as the first overall pick. The third year was a big improvement, at 58-104, but still poor. I used the first overall pick that year on starting pitcher Brian Carlson. The next season, season 4, was another improvement, as we went 71-91, and expended the first overall pick on Edwin Walsh. Remember those three names.
After 4 consecutive last place finishes (the league began as 2 4 team conferences, with only the top team from each conference making the playoffs), we jumped all the way to second, at 86-76. That was the year that Esteban Negron had his rookie year, at 25, as well as Carlson, as 22. Negron hit .308 with 29 homers while Carlson went 7-7 with a 2.88 ERA in 23 starts. The next year was a heartbreaker. We finished the regular season 98-64, tied with San Antonio for the top spot in the conference, but lost the tiebreaker game to miss out on the playoffs. The next year was a bit of a hangover from the previous year, as we fell to 83-79, and went 90-72 the following year, both 2nd place finishes.
After that, I expanded the playoffs so the top 2 teams made it per conference. That also happened to be the year that we dominated the league, going 105-57 and finishing first in the division. The losers that won just 38 games in a season had finally made the playoffs for the first time! We missed out on the championship, but I was so happy to finally make the playoffs. The next year, I expanded both conferences to 6 teams, so every team in the league except for the expansion teams had above .500 records. Despite a 92-70 record, we finished 4th, although only 4 games back from first. What happened next, is what most call a dynasty.
e went 101-61 the net season, topping our conference, but didn;t win the championship. The next season, we went 90-72, finishing second and not winning the championship, again. In the next 3 seasons, we won 105- 101 and 101 games, as well as 2 championships! However, rather than being the unrealistic tycoon that I usually am in OOTP games, trading guys away as soon as they show aging for young, fresh stars, I held on to my guys and it all came down right there. We had two consecutive 86-76 seasons, finishing in second in both years and not winning the championship in either year. The next year we went 82-80, ending our run at 7 consecutive playoff seasons. After that year I went into a full rebuild, going 67-95. I followed up on that by going 89-73, finishing in second and getting swept in the first round. Here I am now, 20 seasons into this league, having so uch fun.
As for the 3 names mentioned earlier, all 3 had HOF careers. Negron played 17 seasons in the majors (all with Philadelphia), taking significant at bats in 15 of those 17 seasons. He isn't retired yet, but it's a safe bet that no one will pick him up (I hated to release him, but I needed the roster spot). His final stat line was:
2690 hits in 8847 at bats, .304/.371/.555/.926, 580 HR, 1762 RBI, 3 time MVP, 14 time AS, 10 time GG at catcher.
As for starting pitcher Brian Carlson, his career brought him to the hall of fame, having retired at age 36 after 14 seasons (he chose to hang em up after his first bad season in his career). Here are his stats:
228-113, 3.26 ERA, 3089.1 IP, 676 BB, 2147 K, 1.11 WHIP, 11 AS, 3 OPA, 1 no-no (I nicknamed him the date of the no hitter
).
Edwin Walsh is still going, and I'm at something of a crossroads for him. No doubt, he's the best hitter in league history, but at age 34, he's getting up there and I still feel that my team needs some more rebuilding, so I may trade him. At the moment, though, his stats look like this:
2565 hits in 8464 at bats, .303/.362/.574/.936, 575 HR, 1749 RBI, 730 BB, 477 K, 221 SB, 6 GG in left field, 1 GG in right field (and near GG defense in CF for the last 5 seasons), 14 AS, 6 MVP.
As for the team right now, I went through a short rebuild, going from 67 wins to 89 this year, but I don't feel as if it is enough. My team's future isn't looking spectacular, and I'm not trying to build a team, I'm trying to build a dynasty. I have my future stars in place (an SP who may be more talented than Carlson in the minors, and a CF who is a better fielding Walsh with less hitting ability, but still plenty), but I don't have any support pieces, whereas I have a team right now that has the right type of offense, and has a star at pitcher, but no support pieces (only 3 effective starters and a shaky bullpen). Am I going to continue chugging along and hope to get the pieces I need, or will I go back to a full on rebuild? I love this OOTP save file.