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pauwoo · 03-08-2020, 01:40 PM

8/1 – 8/4: Pittsburgh Steelers (64-44, .593, 2nd NL East) @ Miami United (64-43, .598, 1st NL East)
Our first of four 4-game sets in the month of August comes against, arguably, the best club in the National League. Pittsburgh’s starting rotation is among the best in the majors – most of the baseball punditry would put them at 3rd best in the NL and no lower than 5th in the MLB – and their bullpen represents no significant drop off in quality. Essentially, when you play these guys, working the count to get the starters out of the game doesn’t always yield the intended result – the bullpen mostly throws beebee’s not beach balls. If their pitching is built on precision, then their offense is where the art of Pittsburgh’s hustle really shines through – led by 1B Tom Franzone and RF Remildo Puente, this Steelers club gets on base with some ease and excels at putting balls way, way out of the park. Pittsburgh has made the playoffs for the last 10 season, have finished 1st in the NL East in 6 of the last 10 campaigns, and, here with their lowest total payroll on the books in 11 seasons, look like a real contender to bring a World Series title back to Steel City – and with a list of upcoming FA’s that includes SS Ray Gerhold (PHX) and CF Otto Isaac (LAK) due to come on the market in the offseason, Pittsburgh’s dynasty has a real opportunity to go from perennial playoff contender to perennial championship favorite.

107 of 162: Loss, 4-3. Two late RBIs from Anaconda weren’t enough to compensate for the two unearned runs we gave up… Pittsburgh’s SP Beau Skrivan left with an injury after facing only two batters, their bullpen performed as advertised… Franzone goes hitless. 5th loss of the season for Kordell.
108 of 162: Win, 7-2. Harvey Allen fanned 10, solo HR for Gordon opened the floodgates in the bottom of the 4th, team cycle with a double and a triple from Magmo.
109 of 162: Win, 7-2. Another, lights out, complete-game performance from Rad… his 3rd in a row. Manning sends two over the LF fence, Dom smashed a 2-run blast… all systems go. Franzone took the day off… weird.
110 of 162: Loss, 4-2. Murray fanned 12 but allows all four of Pittsburgh’s runs…two SAC FLYS for OH HONG plate our only runs, Franzone gets a hit but fans twice.

Notes: An uneven, split series for both clubs – neither offense did its thing as intended – the stars did not align properly and the offensive standouts, from each club, went through the motions with not much of note to show for it… maybe we can handle these guys in the playoffs on our depth, or their lack thereof. Franzone continues to struggle against us this year – we are either his kryptonite or there is no such thing. Time will tell. Around the Horn… Chicago, Dallas, and the Los Angeles Kings are all hot, 7-3 in there last 10, with only the Kings’ current run contributing anything meaningful to the scrum – they now sit a manageable 2 ½ games behind the Phoenix Suns… maybe they will stem the tide of the proposed sea change Phoenix intends to complete. Vancouver CF Ethan Mullens has started to turn the corner it would seem (he earned his 2nd PotW honor for his efforts last week) – a breakout 4 for 4 game with 2 HRs in a 6-5 loss against them served as a reminder to fans that his talents are still formidable – he now has 24 HRs (good enough for 7th in the league), 82 RBIs, and a 5.0 WAR – his club, however, is dumpster diving in the AL West and coming up empty on forgotten treasures… could/should be an interesting offseason in British Columbia.

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Waiver Trade... I picked up Pepper Grant from the Los Angeles Galaxy on the cheap in a waiver trade… he doesn’t bring anything of real value to the table, but the cost was nada and I wanted him to taste the playoffs one more time in his less-than-illustrious career before shuffling along to the Bush League in short order… I’m nothing if not nostalgic...

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8/5 – 8/6: Brooklyn Citizens (54-58, .482, 5th NL East) @ Miami United (66-45, .595, 1st NL East)
Ace Cam Murphy has been either injured or not very good this season, yet they keep him at the top of the rotation and hope/wish/pray for the best, I suppose…pitching is wretched, 10th overall in the NL, 10th in Starters ERA, 10th in runs against – tenth, tenth, tenth. The offense has some pop (6th in HRs) but not much else (11th in AVG, 10th in OPS, 10th in wOBA)… their baserunning prowess (+18.9) helps, just not enough to turn any heads. There’s really not much to see here – yet… their system ranks 5th, they have enough budget room to fill some gaps in the offseason, and, despite what is likely to go down as their 2nd losing season in a row, look to keep things in the green for another season… 39-year old 2B Rich Hamilton’s dastardly $28M contract expires at the end of the year, should be an interesting offseason in Brooklyn – but, this is now and we are here… we gotta get both of these.

111 of 162: Loss, 7-5. Anaconda went 3 for 5, hit a 2-run jack… everyone else was trash. A 2-run double from Big Money Hamilton in the top of the 7th kicked off a 5-run inning for the Citizens and that was all she wrote. We gave Pepper the start at 3rd and he went 0 for 4 (didn’t strikeout though).
112 of 162: Win, 5-4. Kordell held Brooklyn scoreless through 7 innings on a technicality… they scored 3 unearned in the top of the 1st (most fans stayed anyway). Crawford scored twice, 5 RBIs spread across 5 batters… you get an RBI, you get an RBI, and you get an RBI. Magmo’s was the important one – walkoff, 1-run, two-bagger from our resident Cajun.

Notes: Another home split and as meaningless as the last one – we’re on the treadmill here, still ½ game ahead of Steel City. Anaconda managed to wake up in the 1st game a little bit, OH HONG didn’t have the best homestand I’ve ever seen tho – we need more out of him, he’s on the cover of the program for Pete’s sake… Pepper starts his Miami tenure off with a whimper at 0 for 6 with 6 LOB (still no K’s, so, that’s cool). We’ll get a much-needed respite from the grind before donning the pink tops and heading to Phoenix – nothing like playing in the desert in August, the threat of death by dehydration is an old fave of mine. Around the Horn... Toronto is on the cusp of being the first club to reach 70 wins and with Jacksonville up next on the docket, it seems like a lock… and, yes, I’m aware that first to 70 is sort of a fake milestone but adding undue import to meaningless statistics is the lifeblood of any baseball man worth his weight in pewter. Last thing – not because it’s meaningful, but because I just noticed it while looking at something else – we have the best record in the league against left-handed pitching at 23-12 (tied with Toronto)… this is, of course, merely happenstance and not by design, unless Yan Welli is engaged in some sort of witchcraft math that I am not aware of.

8/8 – 8/11: Miami United (67-46, .593, t-1st NL East) @ Phoenix Suns (63-49, .563, 1st NL West)
Phoenix is an expertly crafted ballclub – a rip-roaring, full-tilt boogie offense that leads the NL in AVG and OBP, is 2nd in Runs, OPS, and wOBA, and who, at 4th in HRs, has enough power to keep your Starters honest. Their pitching is serviceable on the whole – they have a really good starting rotation, but their bullpen hasn’t performed as advertised earlier this season. Nothing doing though – the bullpen slippage rarely holds these guys back. The offensive core includes SS Ray Gerhold (who’s always in the NL Boyce Rigg conversation), LF Tony Voorhis (that lunchbox carrying everyman who consistently gets the job done), and C Rex Englestad (who hits for average, has a little bit of pop, and has an arm like a cannon)… and is bolstered on the periphery by guys like 3B Rueben Johnson and base-stealing, OBP machine, RF Lonzo Gonzo… basically, there are no easy outs when Phoenix occupies the dugout opposite yours.

113 of 162: Loss, 4-3. Two homers for Dom (and 3 riblets)… not enough though as Harvey stumbles in the 6th, Funky stumbles some more in the 7th, and OH HONG/Anaconda combine to go 0 for 7 on the day.
114 of 162: Win, 8-3. Rad stays dominant, though his complete-game streak came to an end, and Magmo’s triple and 3 runs led the offense. 15 hits for the club, two of them belonged to Pepper.
115 of 162: Loss, 8-3. Murray got shelled – 7 runs and 2 HRA charged to his account today… Big Rex is the culprit here – 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer.
116 of 162: Win, 10-2. Sturdivant’s GRAND SLAM in the top of the 5th sealed the deal and Anaconda’s solo HR gives me some hope that he will wake up from his current malaise.

Notes: Our start in August has been less-than-stellar… 5-5 with three straight splits – we’ve sputtered out of the gate, but the check engine light hasn’t come on just yet (though, it could be an issue with the fuses). All things considered treading water when you start off the month by playing ball against the top two NL clubs, both in 4-game parlays, isn’t the worst way to navigate the stretch – we did lose top billing in the NL East though and now find ourselves ½ game behind the Steelers. Around the Horn… Aitor Cubas hit 3 total HRs in Seattle’s series against the Chicago Fire and is making a run at HR leaders Dontrell Gay (33), Tom Franzone (31), and Jo Jo Jackson (31) – too bad his club is hanging back in the rear with the gear and without any hope of improving their lot in life before the book closes on the 2080 campaign. Our schedule will start to ease up during the 2nd half of the month with sets against ho-hum clubs like the Chicago Fire, San Diego Chargers, and Philadelphia 76ers on tap (Toronto is sandwiched in there though, so could be some rough seas when we visit them for a 3-game gut check).

03-08-2020, 01:40 PM	#596
pauwoo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,266	2080 Season (8/1 – 8/11) 8/1 – 8/4: Pittsburgh Steelers (64-44, .593, 2nd NL East) @ Miami United (64-43, .598, 1st NL East) Our first of four 4-game sets in the month of August comes against, arguably, the best club in the National League. Pittsburgh’s starting rotation is among the best in the majors – most of the baseball punditry would put them at 3rd best in the NL and no lower than 5th in the MLB – and their bullpen represents no significant drop off in quality. Essentially, when you play these guys, working the count to get the starters out of the game doesn’t always yield the intended result – the bullpen mostly throws beebee’s not beach balls. If their pitching is built on precision, then their offense is where the art of Pittsburgh’s hustle really shines through – led by 1B Tom Franzone and RF Remildo Puente, this Steelers club gets on base with some ease and excels at putting balls way, way out of the park. Pittsburgh has made the playoffs for the last 10 season, have finished 1st in the NL East in 6 of the last 10 campaigns, and, here with their lowest total payroll on the books in 11 seasons, look like a real contender to bring a World Series title back to Steel City – and with a list of upcoming FA’s that includes SS Ray Gerhold (PHX) and CF Otto Isaac (LAK) due to come on the market in the offseason, Pittsburgh’s dynasty has a real opportunity to go from perennial playoff contender to perennial championship favorite. 107 of 162: Loss, 4-3. Two late RBIs from Anaconda weren’t enough to compensate for the two unearned runs we gave up… Pittsburgh’s SP Beau Skrivan left with an injury after facing only two batters, their bullpen performed as advertised… Franzone goes hitless. 5th loss of the season for Kordell. 108 of 162: Win, 7-2. Harvey Allen fanned 10, solo HR for Gordon opened the floodgates in the bottom of the 4th, team cycle with a double and a triple from Magmo. 109 of 162: Win, 7-2. Another, lights out, complete-game performance from Rad… his 3rd in a row. Manning sends two over the LF fence, Dom smashed a 2-run blast… all systems go. Franzone took the day off… weird. 110 of 162: Loss, 4-2. Murray fanned 12 but allows all four of Pittsburgh’s runs…two SAC FLYS for OH HONG plate our only runs, Franzone gets a hit but fans twice. Notes: An uneven, split series for both clubs – neither offense did its thing as intended – the stars did not align properly and the offensive standouts, from each club, went through the motions with not much of note to show for it… maybe we can handle these guys in the playoffs on our depth, or their lack thereof. Franzone continues to struggle against us this year – we are either his kryptonite or there is no such thing. Time will tell. Around the Horn… Chicago, Dallas, and the Los Angeles Kings are all hot, 7-3 in there last 10, with only the Kings’ current run contributing anything meaningful to the scrum – they now sit a manageable 2 ½ games behind the Phoenix Suns… maybe they will stem the tide of the proposed sea change Phoenix intends to complete. Vancouver CF Ethan Mullens has started to turn the corner it would seem (he earned his 2nd PotW honor for his efforts last week) – a breakout 4 for 4 game with 2 HRs in a 6-5 loss against them served as a reminder to fans that his talents are still formidable – he now has 24 HRs (good enough for 7th in the league), 82 RBIs, and a 5.0 WAR – his club, however, is dumpster diving in the AL West and coming up empty on forgotten treasures… could/should be an interesting offseason in British Columbia. Waiver Trade... I picked up Pepper Grant from the Los Angeles Galaxy on the cheap in a waiver trade… he doesn’t bring anything of real value to the table, but the cost was nada and I wanted him to taste the playoffs one more time in his less-than-illustrious career before shuffling along to the Bush League in short order… I’m nothing if not nostalgic... 8/5 – 8/6: Brooklyn Citizens (54-58, .482, 5th NL East) @ Miami United (66-45, .595, 1st NL East) Ace Cam Murphy has been either injured or not very good this season, yet they keep him at the top of the rotation and hope/wish/pray for the best, I suppose…pitching is wretched, 10th overall in the NL, 10th in Starters ERA, 10th in runs against – tenth, tenth, tenth. The offense has some pop (6th in HRs) but not much else (11th in AVG, 10th in OPS, 10th in wOBA)… their baserunning prowess (+18.9) helps, just not enough to turn any heads. There’s really not much to see here – yet… their system ranks 5th, they have enough budget room to fill some gaps in the offseason, and, despite what is likely to go down as their 2nd losing season in a row, look to keep things in the green for another season… 39-year old 2B Rich Hamilton’s dastardly $28M contract expires at the end of the year, should be an interesting offseason in Brooklyn – but, this is now and we are here… we gotta get both of these. 111 of 162: Loss, 7-5. Anaconda went 3 for 5, hit a 2-run jack… everyone else was trash. A 2-run double from Big Money Hamilton in the top of the 7th kicked off a 5-run inning for the Citizens and that was all she wrote. We gave Pepper the start at 3rd and he went 0 for 4 (didn’t strikeout though). 112 of 162: Win, 5-4. Kordell held Brooklyn scoreless through 7 innings on a technicality… they scored 3 unearned in the top of the 1st (most fans stayed anyway). Crawford scored twice, 5 RBIs spread across 5 batters… you get an RBI, you get an RBI, and you get an RBI. Magmo’s was the important one – walkoff, 1-run, two-bagger from our resident Cajun. Notes: Another home split and as meaningless as the last one – we’re on the treadmill here, still ½ game ahead of Steel City. Anaconda managed to wake up in the 1st game a little bit, OH HONG didn’t have the best homestand I’ve ever seen tho – we need more out of him, he’s on the cover of the program for Pete’s sake… Pepper starts his Miami tenure off with a whimper at 0 for 6 with 6 LOB (still no K’s, so, that’s cool). We’ll get a much-needed respite from the grind before donning the pink tops and heading to Phoenix – nothing like playing in the desert in August, the threat of death by dehydration is an old fave of mine. Around the Horn... Toronto is on the cusp of being the first club to reach 70 wins and with Jacksonville up next on the docket, it seems like a lock… and, yes, I’m aware that first to 70 is sort of a fake milestone but adding undue import to meaningless statistics is the lifeblood of any baseball man worth his weight in pewter. Last thing – not because it’s meaningful, but because I just noticed it while looking at something else – we have the best record in the league against left-handed pitching at 23-12 (tied with Toronto)… this is, of course, merely happenstance and not by design, unless Yan Welli is engaged in some sort of witchcraft math that I am not aware of. 8/8 – 8/11: Miami United (67-46, .593, t-1st NL East) @ Phoenix Suns (63-49, .563, 1st NL West) Phoenix is an expertly crafted ballclub – a rip-roaring, full-tilt boogie offense that leads the NL in AVG and OBP, is 2nd in Runs, OPS, and wOBA, and who, at 4th in HRs, has enough power to keep your Starters honest. Their pitching is serviceable on the whole – they have a really good starting rotation, but their bullpen hasn’t performed as advertised earlier this season. Nothing doing though – the bullpen slippage rarely holds these guys back. The offensive core includes SS Ray Gerhold (who’s always in the NL Boyce Rigg conversation), LF Tony Voorhis (that lunchbox carrying everyman who consistently gets the job done), and C Rex Englestad (who hits for average, has a little bit of pop, and has an arm like a cannon)… and is bolstered on the periphery by guys like 3B Rueben Johnson and base-stealing, OBP machine, RF Lonzo Gonzo… basically, there are no easy outs when Phoenix occupies the dugout opposite yours. 113 of 162: Loss, 4-3. Two homers for Dom (and 3 riblets)… not enough though as Harvey stumbles in the 6th, Funky stumbles some more in the 7th, and OH HONG/Anaconda combine to go 0 for 7 on the day. 114 of 162: Win, 8-3. Rad stays dominant, though his complete-game streak came to an end, and Magmo’s triple and 3 runs led the offense. 15 hits for the club, two of them belonged to Pepper. 115 of 162: Loss, 8-3. Murray got shelled – 7 runs and 2 HRA charged to his account today… Big Rex is the culprit here – 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer. 116 of 162: Win, 10-2. Sturdivant’s GRAND SLAM in the top of the 5th sealed the deal and Anaconda’s solo HR gives me some hope that he will wake up from his current malaise. Notes: Our start in August has been less-than-stellar… 5-5 with three straight splits – we’ve sputtered out of the gate, but the check engine light hasn’t come on just yet (though, it could be an issue with the fuses). All things considered treading water when you start off the month by playing ball against the top two NL clubs, both in 4-game parlays, isn’t the worst way to navigate the stretch – we did lose top billing in the NL East though and now find ourselves ½ game behind the Steelers. Around the Horn… Aitor Cubas hit 3 total HRs in Seattle’s series against the Chicago Fire and is making a run at HR leaders Dontrell Gay (33), Tom Franzone (31), and Jo Jo Jackson (31) – too bad his club is hanging back in the rear with the gear and without any hope of improving their lot in life before the book closes on the 2080 campaign. Our schedule will start to ease up during the 2nd half of the month with sets against ho-hum clubs like the Chicago Fire, San Diego Chargers, and Philadelphia 76ers on tap (Toronto is sandwiched in there though, so could be some rough seas when we visit them for a 3-game gut check). __________________ Be excellent to each other. the Portland Pioneers \| the Los Angeles Leopards Last edited by pauwoo; 03-08-2020 at 07:09 PM.