Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman0329
For sure I see the appeal in it, as you can build your own world with connections to fictional players.
However I struggle connected, as I love the aspect of taking real teams and building them to the top.
How do you all stay in interest with your leagues?
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Well, take Jayden "Big Mouth" Brown for instance. He started off his career in Boston but he fell out of favor. He was a problem in their locker room so the story goes. They thought that his batting numbers were inflated due to the favorable hitting conditions at State Street Stadium and they didn't want to piss off the great Pat "The Bat" Diaz. So they traded him to Philadelphia for DH William Mumford.
Mumford was a relief pitcher that I had found in the free agent pool in 1962 who who had toiled in the minors without success.
The funny thing was that I was looking for a filler bat in my minor league system at the time. My scouts picked up some news that Mumford had a little pop in his bat but that he was totally raw and had not had any experience since college swinging the bat. I just needed a piece of meat to cover some injuries so I signed him to a minor league contract and he developed rapidly. Within a season he was on my big-league roster. I still remember his 1st big league home run as if it was yesterday. The local fans here in Philly loved his story. Philly citizens are suckers for Rocky Balboa stories.
After the trade Boston fans were glad to see Big Mouth Brown go and Philly fans were pissed off to see Mumford go. But Jayden "Big Mouth" Brown carried Philadelphia in the 1st half of the season in 1964. He was elected to his 1st All-Star game. He was instrumental in our championship run last year. Most importantly, he put the past behind him. Yeah, he has a big mouth but the locker room accepts him for who he is. They know how hard he works.
Mumford now, while he is still a fan favorite in Boston--and in Philadelphia to some extent--has not quite lived up to his storybook hype. Oh, he can hit, mind you. It's too bad, though, that all of his previous organizations tried to box him in as a pitcher. Who knows what he could have become.
Anyway, I'm rambling. These two players both have a chip on their shoulders. Brown wants to stick it in Boston's face and Mumford wants to prove to Philadelphia that they were right by giving him a shot in the big-leagues.
Once you know the back story this early July game means so much more. Both players get up for this match-up:
