OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

pauwoo · 03-01-2020, 11:29 AM

Montreal Alouettes (50-45, .526, 3rd NL East) @ Miami United (54-39, .581, 1st NL East)
The first thing that sticks out about the Montreal Alouettes is how bad they are offensively. They are, for all intents and purposes, the worst offensive club in the National League – 11th in runs scored, 12th everywhere else. It’s true that two of their best offensive contributors are currently listed on the IL – RF Mack Ramirez has a partially torn labrum that he suffered nearly a month ago during a trip to Carolina that will keep him out for a couple more weeks and 3B Raymond Haynes is listed as DtD for a couple more weeks after suffering a concussion during a wild and wholly unathletic headfirst slide attempt. But that’s not the whole story here – they might climb a few rungs if those guys weren’t hurt, sure, but they’d still be a piss poor offensive unit. It’s their pitching that keeps them afloat – 2nd in Starters ERA, 4th in Bullpen ERA, 1st in FIP, and 2nd in runs against. This motley assortment of flame-throwing ne’er-do-wells operate with the precision of a well-oiled blackjack dealing crew that are moved in and out of the card-dealing rotation by their mad scientist pit boss, Pitching Coach Ryan Burns, who, at 64-years old and with an excellent reputation, has an uncanny ability to make sure that the scale is always tipped judiciously in the house’s favor. So, to win, to keep this magical streak going, we’ll need our pitching to stay focused and our offense to not waste a single opportunity that slips by Burns’ watchful eye. We’re 4-5 against these guys so far this season – playing with house money – but, given the law of averages, it’s entirely possible that the house will strike back, move us out of the penthouse suite, and take away our free buffet coupons if we fail to bring all of our weapons to bear during this 3-game set.

94 of 162: Tchaiber Gakhokidze (1-0, 5.19) @ Harvey Allen (8-5, 2.73)
Loss, 3-0. The only thing more confusing than the pronunciation of Tchaiber’s last name tonight was his splitter and despite a good, solid, and focused effort from Harvey (7 innings, 6 hits, 0 earned, 9 K’s), Montreal’s late offensive shenanigans (3 scored in the top of the 9th) against RP Adam Sullivan was all that would be required to embarrass us in front of our recently rabble-rousing fans. Anaconda hit a double, Steve Green, back up from Havana, went 0 for 2, OH HONG got a couple of singles added to his permanent record, and we left 6 runners stranded over the course of the game. Harlem Peterson’s run-scoring double broke the tie and it was all downhill from there…

Elsewhere: 3B Pepper Grant (LAG) went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer in the Galaxy’s 6-5 loss against the Golden State Warriors – your boy is hanging on to his post as a bona fide major league ballplayer by the skin of his teeth at this point… .217/.274/.296, 5 dingers, 33 RBIs, and a 0.1 WAR isn’t enough to get it done at this level. But, as they say, he was born to be a captain of men, is a great presence in the clubhouse (despite the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded his night club side hustle’s failure) and sets a great example for the young guys when it comes to work ethic. He’s also one of my faves – so, I’m biased – but, the realist in me knows that our boy, the one, the only PEPPER GRANT is likely headed to the Bush League next season as he slowly meanders towards the finish line of what has been a fun career.

Name: Pepper.png
Views: 616
Size: 279.1 KB

Name: Pepper.png
Views: 616
Size: 279.1 KB

95 of 162: Hudson Dorsch (10-4, 2.74) @ Rad Taylor (10-5, 2.53)
Loss, 4-3. Man, not this again – Rad pitches well, 7-innings of work with 3 earned runs, but the club can’t get much going against the opposition and therefore fails to provide him with the necessary support to come away with the win here – RP Ardolph Goldberg comes away with the loss (he gave up the game-winner in the top of the 12th), Magmo hit a solo HR, OH HONG hit a 2-run dinger, and Steve Green finished 0 for 4. This was a tough loss – these 1-run games have been killing us all season… we’re 7-18 in these kinds of contests now. Of course, it could be worse – IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE – we could be Denver who is a league-worst 5-22 in 1-run games.

Elsewhere: SP Bubacar Garba (CAL) was at it again for the Calgary Flames (a Montreal affiliate) in a complete-game, 2-hit shutout that included 13 K’s – the Flames defeated the Hartford Whalers by a score of 4-0 thanks, largely, to the efforts of Buba-G. Our own, SP Adony Moya, of your BARBADOS TRIDENTS, pitched a complete-game, 6-hitter where he allowed only one runner to plate and fanned 7 during a 1-0 victory over the Mobile Mallards. The young Columbian looks to be a scant year or two away from making the big club… our pitching pantry is so stuffed right now, maybe Yan will use the kid as trade bait and bring in some offensive talent to develop. Who knows… And, lastly, the amazingly named, 2B Randy Ranger, went 3 for 3 with THREE HOMERS, 4 total RBIs, and a free pass in his Columbia Blowfish’s 5-1 win over the Dearborn Dill Pickles. Ranger got some AB’s for Jacksonville and Brooklyn before taking his talents to the Bush League – his ‘career’ MLB average is a paltry .195 but he did manage to put 6 balls out of the park though…

96 of 162: Mikhail Poppen (10-5, 2.90) @ Murray Wagner (6-4, 5.16)
Win, 3-0. We avoid abject embarrassment thanks, in large part, to Murray’s phenomenal complete-game, 4-hit shutout performance that included 9 K’s and a shouting match with Harlem Peterson after a pitch zoomed a bit too far inside. Gordon finished at 2 for 4 with a run-scoring two-bagger, Anaconda scored, OH HONG went 2 for 4, Green fielded both 2B & SS AND got a hit (1 for 9 in this series), and Manookian caught Randall Berger trying to get cute on an OF assist that gunned the ol’ boy down at 3rd. It was, undoubtedly, nice to avoid the sweep, but at the end of it all, Montreal accomplished what they set out to do, Pittsburgh reclaimed their perch atop the NL East, and we are back down to 2nd on the table. It’s a sad state of affairs indeed.

Notes: Palmer Parker (SEA) took home Batter of the Week honors in the American League while Tony Voorhis (PIT) did the same in the National League – Parker put 4 balls out of the park in the last 7 days and Tony batted .444 with 4 jacks of his own. Next up for us is a trip to St. Louis where we’ll engage in a 4-game parlay on their turf followed by a visit to Jacksonville… neither club represents anything to worry about, but, given our ability to underperform, it’ll be on us to get some good results over the next 7 on the road.

03-01-2020, 11:29 AM	#588
pauwoo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,266	2080 Season (7/19 – 7/21) Montreal Alouettes (50-45, .526, 3rd NL East) @ Miami United (54-39, .581, 1st NL East) The first thing that sticks out about the Montreal Alouettes is how bad they are offensively. They are, for all intents and purposes, the worst offensive club in the National League – 11th in runs scored, 12th everywhere else. It’s true that two of their best offensive contributors are currently listed on the IL – RF Mack Ramirez has a partially torn labrum that he suffered nearly a month ago during a trip to Carolina that will keep him out for a couple more weeks and 3B Raymond Haynes is listed as DtD for a couple more weeks after suffering a concussion during a wild and wholly unathletic headfirst slide attempt. But that’s not the whole story here – they might climb a few rungs if those guys weren’t hurt, sure, but they’d still be a piss poor offensive unit. It’s their pitching that keeps them afloat – 2nd in Starters ERA, 4th in Bullpen ERA, 1st in FIP, and 2nd in runs against. This motley assortment of flame-throwing ne’er-do-wells operate with the precision of a well-oiled blackjack dealing crew that are moved in and out of the card-dealing rotation by their mad scientist pit boss, Pitching Coach Ryan Burns, who, at 64-years old and with an excellent reputation, has an uncanny ability to make sure that the scale is always tipped judiciously in the house’s favor. So, to win, to keep this magical streak going, we’ll need our pitching to stay focused and our offense to not waste a single opportunity that slips by Burns’ watchful eye. We’re 4-5 against these guys so far this season – playing with house money – but, given the law of averages, it’s entirely possible that the house will strike back, move us out of the penthouse suite, and take away our free buffet coupons if we fail to bring all of our weapons to bear during this 3-game set. 94 of 162: Tchaiber Gakhokidze (1-0, 5.19) @ Harvey Allen (8-5, 2.73) Loss, 3-0. The only thing more confusing than the pronunciation of Tchaiber’s last name tonight was his splitter and despite a good, solid, and focused effort from Harvey (7 innings, 6 hits, 0 earned, 9 K’s), Montreal’s late offensive shenanigans (3 scored in the top of the 9th) against RP Adam Sullivan was all that would be required to embarrass us in front of our recently rabble-rousing fans. Anaconda hit a double, Steve Green, back up from Havana, went 0 for 2, OH HONG got a couple of singles added to his permanent record, and we left 6 runners stranded over the course of the game. Harlem Peterson’s run-scoring double broke the tie and it was all downhill from there… Elsewhere: 3B Pepper Grant (LAG) went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer in the Galaxy’s 6-5 loss against the Golden State Warriors – your boy is hanging on to his post as a bona fide major league ballplayer by the skin of his teeth at this point… .217/.274/.296, 5 dingers, 33 RBIs, and a 0.1 WAR isn’t enough to get it done at this level. But, as they say, he was born to be a captain of men, is a great presence in the clubhouse (despite the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded his night club side hustle’s failure) and sets a great example for the young guys when it comes to work ethic. He’s also one of my faves – so, I’m biased – but, the realist in me knows that our boy, the one, the only PEPPER GRANT is likely headed to the Bush League next season as he slowly meanders towards the finish line of what has been a fun career. 95 of 162: Hudson Dorsch (10-4, 2.74) @ Rad Taylor (10-5, 2.53) Loss, 4-3. Man, not this again – Rad pitches well, 7-innings of work with 3 earned runs, but the club can’t get much going against the opposition and therefore fails to provide him with the necessary support to come away with the win here – RP Ardolph Goldberg comes away with the loss (he gave up the game-winner in the top of the 12th), Magmo hit a solo HR, OH HONG hit a 2-run dinger, and Steve Green finished 0 for 4. This was a tough loss – these 1-run games have been killing us all season… we’re 7-18 in these kinds of contests now. Of course, it could be worse – IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE – we could be Denver who is a league-worst 5-22 in 1-run games. Elsewhere: SP Bubacar Garba (CAL) was at it again for the Calgary Flames (a Montreal affiliate) in a complete-game, 2-hit shutout that included 13 K’s – the Flames defeated the Hartford Whalers by a score of 4-0 thanks, largely, to the efforts of *Buba-G. Our own, SP Adony Moya, of your BARBADOS TRIDENTS, pitched a complete-game, 6-hitter where he allowed only one runner to plate and fanned 7 during a 1-0 victory over the Mobile Mallards. The young Columbian looks to be a scant year or two away from making the big club… our pitching pantry is so stuffed right now, maybe Yan will use the kid as trade bait and bring in some offensive talent to develop. Who knows… And, lastly, the amazingly named, 2B Randy Ranger, went 3 for 3 with THREE HOMERS, 4 total RBIs, and a free pass in his Columbia Blowfish’s 5-1 win over the Dearborn Dill Pickles. Ranger* got some AB’s for Jacksonville and Brooklyn before taking his talents to the Bush League – his ‘career’ MLB average is a paltry .195 but he did manage to put 6 balls out of the park though… 96 of 162: Mikhail Poppen (10-5, 2.90) @ Murray Wagner (6-4, 5.16) Win, 3-0. We avoid abject embarrassment thanks, in large part, to Murray’s phenomenal complete-game, 4-hit shutout performance that included 9 K’s and a shouting match with Harlem Peterson after a pitch zoomed a bit too far inside. Gordon finished at 2 for 4 with a run-scoring two-bagger, Anaconda scored, OH HONG went 2 for 4, Green fielded both 2B & SS AND got a hit (1 for 9 in this series), and Manookian caught Randall Berger trying to get cute on an OF assist that gunned the ol’ boy down at 3rd. It was, undoubtedly, nice to avoid the sweep, but at the end of it all, Montreal accomplished what they set out to do, Pittsburgh reclaimed their perch atop the NL East, and we are back down to 2nd on the table. It’s a sad state of affairs indeed. Notes: Palmer Parker (SEA) took home Batter of the Week honors in the American League while Tony Voorhis (PIT) did the same in the National League – Parker put 4 balls out of the park in the last 7 days and Tony batted .444 with 4 jacks of his own. Next up for us is a trip to St. Louis where we’ll engage in a 4-game parlay on their turf followed by a visit to Jacksonville… neither club represents anything to worry about, but, given our ability to underperform, it’ll be on us to get some good results over the next 7 on the road. __________________ Be excellent to each other. the Portland Pioneers \| the Los Angeles Leopards Last edited by pauwoo; 03-01-2020 at 11:35 AM.