OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

luckymann · 10-06-2023, 03:27 AM

Up there with the most frantic, hectic and manic two-month periods I can remember, at our club in particular but all around the league as well.

We lose Cobra Parker for a minimum IL stint in the first couple days of June courtesy of a back strain, but it coincides with the return of Willie Montanez and we simply swap one for t’other. Still, it is an horror start to the new month as we drop a home sweep to the Reds, then another one to the Giants, as both George Hendrick and Woodie Fryman pick up niggles that will need some managing.

This ends up being one of the worst periods in recent memory for our club as we just keep getting beat and beat bad with our pitching just pathetic. In a fortnight we go 2-10, which moves us from one game ahead to 7 GB until the lads sort themselves out and win all four games of a homestand against the Mets near the end of June that eventually stretches to 10 straight. Suddenly, we are right back in the thick of it.

We’re all square at the time of the Hebner-Bibby double switch and immediately Ron Brand – without a word of a lie, suddenly up there with the players we can least afford to get hurt – gets hurt. It’s a soft-tissue problem that won’t require an IL stint, thankfully, but still it increases the strain all the same. By now, the Mets have started running hot again and there’s no doubt my off-field machinations are proving to be ill-timed, especially when Brand’s return is delayed and he does end up needing an IL stint, forcing us to promote ineligible C Larry Howard as a short-term measure to make his MLB debut.

While this is a nice touch, it nevertheless adds to an unsettled feeling around the place that is reflected by an up-and-down series of performances in which we are neither scoring enough runs nor being protective enough of those few we do score.

Over the same stretch that the Mets win 16 straight, we go 7-9. In nearly every one of those losses, one or another of our relievers has a meltdown, and in those 16 games our hitters clear the fences just 5 times and eventually go homer-less in 12 consecutive games. By the time the Mets do finally lose one, they are off to the races with a 7-game lead.

We limp into the ASB with a few more horrendous performances as we once again struggle against the West Coast clubs (1-8 against the Giants, for example), falling 9 GB and into 3rd place. I’ve not seen anything like what has transpired in these past two weeks: 4-12 since the trades. These guys have given so much over the past two seasons that I’m willing to say this one’s on me. But as a standalone affair it sets a few of them in a rather unflattering light, especially with regard to leadership.

At our midpoint management meeting it is agreed upon that we sacrifice whatever entrails of expectation we have left for this season on the altar of progress and not long after use our final trade ticket for the year on the following switch with the Brewers:

DJ has been one of our better hitters this season, but there was little chance of us exercising the $300k team oppy for next season and so this is a good deal for us on that basis alone. Dave (who was an IRL Pirate from 1969-73) is under contract thru 1976 on relatively easy terms from our side of the equation, but it’ll be touch-and-go as to whether he stays on past that.

I’m nothing if not a man of my word and we do, in fact, use what is now one of our three free CC slots on a backup IF. With no dice for now regarding Stennett and with the asking price for our next pick too steep, Woody is a handy pickup for us and we quickly pay $85k per to hang onto him for another year with an option for a second as our IF defence is pretty poor.

That means Bailey should go to AAA – not something he deserves but that’s how it works sometimes. We decide instead to do so via the Waiver Wire to at least give other clubs a chance to take him and play him as should be the case. He does indeed get claimed by Atlanta, and we wish him all the best for the future.

As for the present, things don’t improve and we finish up with a 10-18 record for July that leaves us 9½ games adrift at 58-49.

Those metrics paint a picture of a team not doing anything particularly well, or poorly.

With all of the changes in personnel, these mean very little for us this season. I do feel this power outage is only a temporary thing and should right itself at some point.

I believe the BP issues are also transitory and transitional. Gossage, Garber and Forster are very young and raw, so hopefully this is a formative experience.

While they just fade a tad at the end of July, how about them Indians! The Royals, too! Plenty of twists and turns left across the board, methinks, but there's some chance of the playoffs rolling around with all four combatants seeking their first title. That would be pretty cool indeed.

News, Leaders and Top 20s

Monthly Award Winners

June

American League

Batter – Bernie Carbo (Royals): 348 / 5 HR / 21 RBI
Pitcher – Ken Holtzman (Indians): 4-1 / 2.41 / 26 K / 52.1 IP
Rookie – Wayne Garland (Rangers): 3-1 / 2.25 / 19 K / 44 IP

National League

Batter – Richie Zisk (Expos): 416 / 2 HR / 22 RBI
Pitcher – Gary Nolan (Phillies): 5-1 / 1.47 / 23 K / 49 IP
Rookie – Don Hood (Astros): 3-0 / 1.69 / 27 K / 37.1 IP

July

American League

Batter – Doug Rader (Royals): 348 / 7 HR / 24 RBI
Pitcher – Jim Palmer (Orioles): 5-1 / 1.50 / 26 K / 48 IP
Rookie – Doug Bird (Royals): 2-0 / 0.87 / 7 SV / 7 K / 10.1 IP

National League

Batter – Joe Morgan (Reds): 299 / 6 HR / 12 RBI
Pitcher – Rick Wise (Mets): 5-1 / 1.95 / 30 K / 60 IP
Rookie – Jackie Brown (Dodgers): 3-1 / 0.69 / 28 K / 39 IP

Milestones and Observations of Note

400 HR: Frank Howard
2000 Hits: Harmon Killebrew
Bert Blyleven remains on top of all three TC stat cats.
The Expos lose Jeff Burroughs for 5 weeks with a back injury, while veteran Willie Mays goes down for a month with elbow inflammation.
Jerry Koosman’s 1973 season is cut short by the need for elbow surgery, one of four Yankees pitchers out with injuries, while former Bucco Tommy Helms will miss anywhere up to two months with an oblique strain.
Giants young gun Darrell Evans is currently at 36 HR for the season, which puts him on pace for 55.
On the topic of the longball, I may have spoken prematurely about the Mick being done as he adds 7 more over June and July to take his career total to 620. Henry Aaron, meanwhile, has 25 for the year and 576 all up. In a nice touch, that's 44 behind.
IRL career minor-leaguer Orestes Minoso jr, son of the great “Minnie”, actually breaks into the bigs in this timeline as a member of the Giants organisation.
Here are the swaps of note from a fairly uneventful Deadline period:

S+ HOME

REPORTS HOME

PIRATES HOME

10-06-2023, 03:27 AM	#2336
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 14,176	The View from the Gangplank August 1, 1973 Up there with the most frantic, hectic and manic two-month periods I can remember, at our club in particular but all around the league as well. We lose Cobra Parker for a minimum IL stint in the first couple days of June courtesy of a back strain, but it coincides with the return of Willie Montanez and we simply swap one for t’other. Still, it is an horror start to the new month as we drop a home sweep to the Reds, then another one to the Giants, as both George Hendrick and Woodie Fryman pick up niggles that will need some managing. This ends up being one of the worst periods in recent memory for our club as we just keep getting beat and beat bad with our pitching just pathetic. In a fortnight we go 2-10, which moves us from one game ahead to 7 GB until the lads sort themselves out and win all four games of a homestand against the Mets near the end of June that eventually stretches to 10 straight. Suddenly, we are right back in the thick of it. We’re all square at the time of the Hebner-Bibby double switch and immediately Ron Brand – without a word of a lie, suddenly up there with the players we can least afford to get hurt – gets hurt. It’s a soft-tissue problem that won’t require an IL stint, thankfully, but still it increases the strain all the same. By now, the Mets have started running hot again and there’s no doubt my off-field machinations are proving to be ill-timed, especially when Brand’s return is delayed and he does end up needing an IL stint, forcing us to promote ineligible C Larry Howard as a short-term measure to make his MLB debut. While this is a nice touch, it nevertheless adds to an unsettled feeling around the place that is reflected by an up-and-down series of performances in which we are neither scoring enough runs nor being protective enough of those few we do score. Over the same stretch that the Mets win 16 straight, we go 7-9. In nearly every one of those losses, one or another of our relievers has a meltdown, and in those 16 games our hitters clear the fences just 5 times and eventually go homer-less in 12 consecutive games. By the time the Mets do finally lose one, they are off to the races with a 7-game lead. We limp into the ASB with a few more horrendous performances as we once again struggle against the West Coast clubs (1-8 against the Giants, for example), falling 9 GB and into 3rd place. I’ve not seen anything like what has transpired in these past two weeks: 4-12 since the trades. These guys have given so much over the past two seasons that I’m willing to say this one’s on me. But as a standalone affair it sets a few of them in a rather unflattering light, especially with regard to leadership. At our midpoint management meeting it is agreed upon that we sacrifice whatever entrails of expectation we have left for this season on the altar of progress and not long after use our final trade ticket for the year on the following switch with the Brewers: DJ has been one of our better hitters this season, but there was little chance of us exercising the $300k team oppy for next season and so this is a good deal for us on that basis alone. Dave (who was an IRL Pirate from 1969-73) is under contract thru 1976 on relatively easy terms from our side of the equation, but it’ll be touch-and-go as to whether he stays on past that. I’m nothing if not a man of my word and we do, in fact, use what is now one of our three free CC slots on a backup IF. With no dice for now regarding Stennett and with the asking price for our next pick too steep, Woody is a handy pickup for us and we quickly pay $85k per to hang onto him for another year with an option for a second as our IF defence is pretty poor. That means Bailey should go to AAA – not something he deserves but that’s how it works sometimes. We decide instead to do so via the Waiver Wire to at least give other clubs a chance to take him and play him as should be the case. He does indeed get claimed by Atlanta, and we wish him all the best for the future. As for the present, things don’t improve and we finish up with a 10-18 record for July that leaves us 9½ games adrift at 58-49. Those metrics paint a picture of a team not doing anything particularly well, or poorly. With all of the changes in personnel, these mean very little for us this season. I do feel this power outage is only a temporary thing and should right itself at some point. I believe the BP issues are also transitory and transitional. Gossage, Garber and Forster are very young and raw, so hopefully this is a formative experience. While they just fade a tad at the end of July, how about them Indians! The Royals, too! Plenty of twists and turns left across the board, methinks, but there's some chance of the playoffs rolling around with all four combatants seeking their first title. That would be pretty cool indeed. News, Leaders and Top 20s Monthly Award Winners June *American League* Batter – Bernie Carbo (Royals): 348 / 5 HR / 21 RBI Pitcher – Ken Holtzman (Indians): 4-1 / 2.41 / 26 K / 52.1 IP Rookie – Wayne Garland (Rangers): 3-1 / 2.25 / 19 K / 44 IP *National League* Batter – Richie Zisk (Expos): 416 / 2 HR / 22 RBI Pitcher – Gary Nolan (Phillies): 5-1 / 1.47 / 23 K / 49 IP Rookie – Don Hood (Astros): 3-0 / 1.69 / 27 K / 37.1 IP July *American League* Batter – Doug Rader (Royals): 348 / 7 HR / 24 RBI Pitcher – Jim Palmer (Orioles): 5-1 / 1.50 / 26 K / 48 IP Rookie – Doug Bird (Royals): 2-0 / 0.87 / 7 SV / 7 K / 10.1 IP *National League* Batter – Joe Morgan (Reds): 299 / 6 HR / 12 RBI Pitcher – Rick Wise (Mets): 5-1 / 1.95 / 30 K / 60 IP Rookie – Jackie Brown (Dodgers): 3-1 / 0.69 / 28 K / 39 IP Milestones and Observations of Note 400 HR: Frank Howard 2000 Hits: Harmon Killebrew Bert Blyleven remains on top of all three TC stat cats. The Expos lose Jeff Burroughs for 5 weeks with a back injury, while veteran Willie Mays goes down for a month with elbow inflammation. Jerry Koosman’s 1973 season is cut short by the need for elbow surgery, one of four Yankees pitchers out with injuries, while former Bucco Tommy Helms will miss anywhere up to two months with an oblique strain. Giants young gun Darrell Evans is currently at 36 HR for the season, which puts him on pace for 55. On the topic of the longball, I may have spoken prematurely about the Mick being done as he adds 7 more over June and July to take his career total to 620. Henry Aaron, meanwhile, has 25 for the year and 576 all up. In a nice touch, that's 44 behind. IRL career minor-leaguer Orestes Minoso jr, son of the great “Minnie”, actually breaks into the bigs in this timeline as a member of the Giants organisation. Here are the swaps of note from a fairly uneventful Deadline period: S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME __________________ HISTORICAL DO-OVERS A'S RED SOX DODGERS PIRATES MARINERS CUSTOM SAVES LGB NEXUS Last edited by luckymann; 10-06-2023 at 04:20 AM.