Hamilton Silver Sox, An USCBL Dynasty

[Jacksono69]

Before we get into this, I would like to thank Westheim and his wonderful Portland Raccoons Thread for inspiration. A goes out to him and all those wonderful Coons. Check out his series here http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=221530


In this league, which will be composed of teams from USA and Canada, there will be 2 sub-leagues, the Henry League and the Metro League, as well as 2 divisions in each sub-league, creatively named the East and West Divisions, for a total of 24 teams. There will be no Spring Training, and trade difficulty has been cranked up to the max. Everything else is the default, except for the talent change modifier, which I set to 140, instead of 100. The schedule was automatically created with interleague play and an average series length of 3 games. There will be no DH in either league. Creating the teams was plenty of work (hitting the randomize button), so the sub-leagues aren't really organized by location or anything.

I simmed up to Opening Day and I let the AI draft the inaugural teams and set up the minor leagues. There will be 4 minor league levels for each team, Triple-A to Short-Season A.

We will be starting this league in 1972, the year of its inception, with the Hamilton Silver Sox of the Metro League East, a Below-Average Market team with the 21st out of 24th budget overall, located in Hamilton, Ontario.

NOTE: This game will be played on OOTP 16 until OOTP 19 comes out in a few weeks from now, because my computer broke a few weeks ago and when it broke OOTP 18 was deleted, weirdly after the "incident" the App Store said I hadn't purchased the game. I'd rather wait until March 22nd for 19 instead of buying OOTP 18 to use just for 3 weeks. (RIP San Diego Padres 2017-2052)


TEAM FIRST IMPRESSIONS

To start off, as mentioned before, we have the 21st ranked budget out of 24 teams, at exactly $4,000,000, and the 21st ranked payroll, at $1,769,944. According to the prediction office, we're a lower ranked team, projected to go 77-85, good for tied for last in the Metro League East. Cool side note: Our team abbreviation is HAM! We're only projected to have 1 top batter in the ML and zero top pitchers. That batter will come up later, so we'll leave it there for right now regarding the major league roster.

Farm system-wise, we have the 10th best system in the majors with the main highlights being led by Chris Hall, the 9th ranked 21-year-old prospect at 3rd base, who is rated as a potential all-around third baseman, with solid 50/50/45 hitting and plus-plus speed and fielding. Most of our other talent youngster-wise is either on the roster or a few years away, like 18 years old Mexican center fielder Javier Castillo, who looks to be a pure defensive and speed center fielder, with not much hitting to speak of.

Looking at the roster, the first impression is that we're a solid, yet unspectacular team, with some stars and solid depth batter wise, but pitching is a whole completely different matter. Our rotation is filled with guys who can be No.3-5 guys except for one bright spot at ace (I'm really building suspense aren't I?), and the bullpen has only three guys I would trust to truly give the ball to in a one-run affair.



Now it's time to meet your..........
Inaugural Hamilton Silver Sox of 1972

Rotation
1- Ruben Leyva, 24, B:R T:R
A true ace and still young. Rated as a 4-star talent by my scout and OSA. The only flaw that holds him back is some lack of pure stuff. Control and movement are excellent.

2- Malcolm Richardson, 34, B:L T:L
The greybeard on this staff. Nothing spectacular, a solid guy to have.

3- Scott Boyce, 27, B:R T:R
This is where the talent takes a nosedive. Boyce throws 88-90 with average control and stuff. Low stamina also.

4-Bill Blake, 27, B:L T:L
Better than Scott but would like to spread out lefties. Good movement and control, but seems to follow the common theme of not having a lot of stuff.

5-Tad Hulton, 26, B:R T:R
Basically the same player as Blake, but with a little more velocity and stuff, and a little less control. Good movement also


Bullpen
I'm not going to bore you with all of our AAA level relievers, so I'll keep it short.

MR- Chris Mcdonald, 24, B:R T:R, Nothing special, just a long reliever that could get starts because of injuries to our starters.
MR- Tynan Clark, 26, B:L T:L, Solid two pitch lefty who's not a stud, but a team leader so we'll keep him.
MR- Matt Thompson, 32, B:L T:L, Another Tynan Clark but with a little more velocity and less control.
MR- Liu-Liang King, 31, B:R T:R, other than having an awesome name is a good reliever control and stuff wise, but doesn't have a lot of movement.
MR- Lee Thomas, 21, B:R T:R, good movement, solid stuff, OK control, named #49 best prospect for this year.
SU-Jake McPhun, 26, B:R T:R, Good reliever, good in all areas, has some velocity,
SU-Larry Stafford, 26, B:R T:R, Absolute beast, unbelievable stuff, great movement, and great control, 'nuff said.
CL/ST-Ryan Henderson, 27, B:L T:L, Great closer who is close to same player as Stafford, but with better stuff (if that's possible) and a little less control.

Pitching on this team has it's high points and low points. If we're to succeed we need our high talent to do their thing and our lower talent relievers and starters to just be solid. Hopefully our offense can pick up the slack (Knock on wood).

Batters
C-Max Wear, 27, B:R T:R, Team leader, max rated avoid k's, good defense, solid contact, just no power. Sounds like my type of guy.
C-Jeff Billings, 26, B:S T:R, No hitting ability, but solid defensively and team likes him. Decent back-up catcher, could be worse.
1B-Landon Rogalski,23, B:R T:R, Intelligent, Respected, good hitting ability, defensively limited to first base. Only 23.
1B/RF/LF-Dave Green,28, B:R T:R, Solid guy who can play multiple positions. Allows us to carry another pitcher. Decent on defense and offense.
2B-Tony Klein, 27, B:L T:R, Good on defense and can get some hits, despite OK contact.
2B-Charlie Banks, 25, B:S T:R- Our second base backup, can run the base paths and play gold glove defense to go with marginal hitting.
3B/1B-Wayne Minthorn, 29, B:L T:R- In his prime, our only representative among top hitters and pitchers predictions. Can play good defense at 1st and 3rd, steal bases, hit for contact and power, and is also a leader. Stud.
2B/3B/SS/RF-Brad Anderson,26, B:R T:R, is best fit at utility man because of ability to play 4 positions well and great speed, but will end up at SS because of lack of better option. Not bad but not good hitter.
LF-Hunter Jennings, 27, B:R T:R, Good left fielder with speed and good contact hitting, but no power. OK defensively.
1B/2B/3B/LF/RF/CF-Richard McDaniel, 26, B:R T:R, Can play everywhere except for pitcher,catcher, and shortstop with success. Speed to burn, can hit for OK power and good average, and is good at all those positions defensively. Great player, will deploy him in CF to start year.
LF/RF/CF-Hunter Sorensen, 27,B:L T:L, Can't do much. A backup outfielder with not much more time left in Hamilton.
RF/LF- John Livingston, 27, B:R T:R, Good player who can play good defense and produce some offense. Good power, OK contact.

The team has plenty of speed and contact, but except for McDaniel and Minthorn, not a lot of strong power. For sure a thing to look for throughout the season and offseason.

Lineups are as follows:
LHP- SS Anderson, C Wear, CF McDaniel, 3B Minthorn, LF Jennings, 1B Rogalski, RF John Livingston, 2B Banks, P

RHP- SS Anderson, C Wear, CF McDaniel, 3B Minthorn, LF Jennings, 1B Rogalski, RF John Livingston, 2B Klein, P


Next installment will be Opening Day and Apr. 3rd-10th

[Jacksono69]

To start the year we will have 3 games against the Baltimore River Bats and then another 3 game series against the Houston Priests.


Hamilton Silver Sox (0-0) VS Baltimore River Bats (0-0)

I believe that these games are completely winnable with good pitching and some run support, but that could be said for any game. Let's just see what happens. A good first week and month could determine what our aims are for this season.

Game 1: R. Leyva (0-0, 0.00) vs. T. Clark (0-0, 0.00)
Our first game in franchise history goes pretty swimmingly with Leyva going 7 innings strong, only allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs. After the 7th inning,
Henderson and Stafford came in and kept the game alive for the Sox and McDaniel responded, tieing the game at 2 in the bottom of the 8th with a solo home run. It would be McDaniel again in the bottom of the 13th, hitting a walk-off home run to give the Sox their first ever win, 3-2 in 13.

Final Score: 3-2 (13) Victory W- L.Stafford (1-0) L- P.Brooks (0-1)

Game 2: M. Richardson (0-0, 0.00) vs. J.Alba (0-0, 0.00)
The team had another very good outing today led by Malcolm Richardson's 8 K's in 7 innings and another monster game from Richard McDaniel, who backed up his 2 HR 2RBI game yesterday with a 1 HR 3RBI day today. Wayne Minthorn had an overlooked 3-5 day in Game 1 with 2 doubles but made himself known today with an HR and 2 RBI day. To end the day Ryan Henderson went 2 innings with 3 K's and 2 BB's to end Baltimore's hopes.

Final Score: 6-3 Victory W- M.Richardson (1-0) L-J.Alba (0-1) SV- R.Henderson (1)

Game 3: S.Boyce (0-0, 0.00) vs. A.Baldwin (0-0, 0.00)
Both pitchers got rocked early and often with both being pulled by the 4th inning, with Boyce giving up 9 ER in 4 and Baldwin giving up 6 ER in 3. A comeback was in order and the offense delivered with a 2 run 7th to give us a lead we would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Our bullpen again leaned on our heavy hitters to get the job done, with Stafford making another appearance along with McPhun and Thomas. Tony Klein had a good day with 3 RBIs and a Homerun. Minthorn and McDaniel also contributed RBI's to continue their white-hot starts to the season.

Final Score: 10-9 Victory W- L.Thomas (1-0) L- T.Walker (0-1) SV- L.Stafford (1)


Hamilton Silver Sox (3-0) VS Houston Priests (1-2)


Houston has an anemic offense who can't seem to do anything and has no players on that side of the ball rated 4.5 stars or above by our scout but has a very good pitching staff, led by 26 years old SP Dave Hughson (5.0,5.0). I think we can sweep this team if we keep their offense on the same trend they started the season on and find a way to hit against their pitching.

Game 1: B.Blake (0-0, 0.00) VS J.Schmitt (0-0, 0.00)
A terrible performance, I don't know to rip into this team or put it off as beginning of the season jitters or overconfidence. Schmitt 5-hit shutout us and our pitching got rocked for 8 runs. Terrible game, nothing much else to be said.

Final Score: 8-0 Loss W- J.Scmitt (1-0) L- B.Blake (0-1)


Game 2: R.Leyva (0-0, 2.57) VS D.Hughson (1-0, 1.29)
The projected ace battle was exactly that, but Hughson, probably the better pitcher, prevailed in a 1-0 shutout pitcher's duel. Hughson 1 hit shutout us for our second outing putting up a goose egg in a row. Again, don't know to be mad at us underperforming or be forgiving because we got beat by a dominant pitcher. Leyva was good today, going 7.1 and only giving up 4 hits, but those 4 hits ended up costing us this one.

Final Score: 1-0 Loss W-D.Hughson (2-0) L- R.Leyva (0-1)



Game 3: M.Richardson (1-0, 3.86) VS J.Anderson (0-0, 0.00)
My faith in the team has been restored with a dominant 6-1 win. Richardson had a complete game, only allowing the one run and 5 hits, Dave Green had a home run and 3 RBI, Minthorn had 2 RBI, and McDaniel also had an RBI. A great game to end this week and the first 2 series of the year and our history.


Final Score: 6-1 Victory W- M.Richardson (2-0) L-J.Anderson (0-1)




Other News

April 3rd- Ed Jones of the Philadelphia Sabercats 4 hit complete game shut out Charlotte, striking out 2.
April 6th- Isaac Hopper went 5-5 for the Milwaukee Hurons against the Jacksonville Sunbirds, hitting 4 singles, a double, and driving in 2 runs.
April 8th- Dave Hughson pitched a complete game shutout of the Hamilton Silver Sox, only allowing 1 hit.
April 8th- The Baltimore River Bats have traded 27 years old Rickey Sweeney and 22-year-old 2B William Milligan to the Dallas Ignition in exchange for 26-year-old LHP Kevin Rice.
April 10th- The players taking home the player of the week honors for their respective leagues are 34-year-old 2B Johnathan Wagner of the Vancouver Falcons, who hit .438 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 7 games, of the Metro League,
and 25-year-old RF Alejandro Perez of the San Francisco Reign of the Henry League, who hit .419 with 1 HR and 12 RBI in 7 games.

Reflections
This week was a very good week with good showings for our stars but showed our clear lack of depth at the bottom of the rotation. The shutouts weren't fun to witness, but the team showed very good offensive prowess in the other games and I'm excited to see how the team develops over the course of the season. The star of the week for us has to be Richard McDaniel, who put together 3 HR and 7 RBI in 6 games. We are ranked a deserved 4th in the power rankings to end the week.

[Jacksono69]

Note: After writing the first gameplay part of this story I’ve decided to change things up for the game recaps to help me and be more direct.



For this week we will be taking on the Jacksonville Sunbirds and the San Antonio Thieves.


Hamilton Silver Sox (4-2) VS Jacksonville Sunbirds (4-3)

Game 1
S.Boyce (0-0, 15.75) vs. D.Woods (1-0, 4.05)

Silver Sox 0 - Sunbirds 2
W- D.Woods (2-0)
L-S.Boyce (0-1)
SV- E.Hudson (2)
J.Lee (JAX) 1-4 1 HR 2RBI
R.McDaniel (HAM) 1-3

Was hoping for the win, but need up being shut out again. Don’t know what to expect of this team, are we a contender or not really a bottom feeder, but a lower ranked team? Hopefully, this is sorted out by the trade deadline.


Game 2
B.Blake (0-1, 17.18) vs. O.McKinney (0-1, 18.00)

Silver Sox 5 - Sunbirds 3
W- B.Blake (1-1)
L- O. McKinney (0-2)
SV- R.Henderson (2)
R.Schultz (JAX) 1-3 RBI
W.Minthorn (HAM) 2-3 2HR 5RBI

Inconsistency strikes again. Like I said at the end of last installment, we need our stars to perform well to win, which shouldn’t be the case (furthering the notion in my mind of that our team isn’t as good as our beginning of the year record says we are), and today Wayne Minthorn came up big to secure us the win., driving in all 5 of our runs.



Game 3
T.Hulton (0-0,0.00) vs. G.Kerfoot (0-1,3.86)


Silver Sox 3 - Sunbirds 11
W- G.Kerfoot (1-1)
L- T.Hulton (0-1)
J.Lee (JAX) 2-4 4RBI 3B
W.Minthorn (HAM) 2-3 HR RBI

Terrible, just terrible. I could rant on and on but will keep it inside for now. Hopefully, we can capitalize against a tiny market San Antonio Thieves team next series. We NEED consistency!!!



Hamilton Silver Sox (5-4) VS San Antonio Thieves (4-6)


Game 1
R.Leyva (0-1,1.88) vs. J.Haas (0-1,4.15)

Silver Sox 2 - Thieves 1
W- R.Leyva (1-1)
L- J.Haas (0-2)
B.Yarbrough (SAN) 1-4 RBI
R.Leyva (HAM) 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB, 6 hits allowed, 0-2 RBI

Ruben Leyva is quickly becoming a true ace, right now sporting a clean 1-1 record with a 1.61 ERA. I still know there’s more to be found with this team though, as we only have one ace to bail us out on the pitching staff. Let’s see how the next 2 games go.


Game 2
M.Richardson (2-0, 2.25) vs. B.Harris (1-1, 2.77)


Silver Sox 13 - Thieves 2
W- M.Richardson (3-0)
L- B.Harris (1-2)
D.Kauffman (SAN) 1-1 HR 2RBI
R.McDaniel (HAM) 3-5 2HR 4RBI
W.Minthorn (HAM) 2-4 HR 2RBI
T.Klein (HAM) 1-1 3RBI
M.Richardson (HAM) 9.0 IP, 2 ER, 7K, 2BB

Great game from the team. Great hitting combined with Malcolm Richardson pitching like an early pitcher of the year candidate gives our team great chances to win ballgames. Don’t know whether to get too excited because this San Antonio team is pretty pitiful, but I’ll still give a resounding GO SILVER SOX!!



Game 3
S.Boyce (0-1, 6.75) vs. W.Webber (0-0, 6.30)


Silver Sox 6 - Thieves 0
W-S.Boyce (1-1)
L- W.Webber (0-1)
SCOTT BOYCE (HAM) - 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 HITS ALLOWED, 3 K, 5 BB

There are multiple players that could go up there for featured players of the game (Dave Green, who went 3-4 with an HR and 3 RBI), but I’ll give the unlikely hero Scott Boyce the spotlight. He threw the first no-hitter in team and league history, in only our 12th game!! Yes, he’s still walking more batters a game then he strikes out, and is averaging 6BB a game to only 4.5 K’s, but he’s part of the Silver Sox and he just threw the first no-hitter of the league and team history!! Three cheers for Scott!!!!



Other News
April 11th- Rookie Shi-xian Chang of the Phoenix Colonels threw a complete game shutout against the San Diego Purple Rage, one of the favorites to go deep into the postseason
April 15th- The oldest player in the USCBL right now, Mississauga 2B Jerome “BOO” Lopez at 40,
left their game against Winnipeg in the 5th inning after being hurt making a defensive play. Before the injury, Lopez was hitting .389 with 4RBI in 11 games.
April 16th- Scott Boyce of the Hamilton Silver Sox no-hit the San Antonio Thieves for the first no-hitter thrown in Hamilton history and in USCBL history.
April 17th- The players of the week are named, and going home with the honors are CF Ken Glenn of the Milwaukee Hurons in the Metro League, batting .481 with 4 RBI for the week, and 1B Rod Avery of the Detroit Steel Pigs of the Henry League, who hit .400 for the week with 4HR and 8RBI in 5 G.


We finish the week tied for first in the power rankings with the Mississauga Avatars and tied for first in the division with the before mentioned Mississauga Avatars.

[Jacksono69]

For this week, April 17th-April 24th, we will be taking on the Columbus Lake Monsters in a 4 game series and the Milwaukee Hurons in a 3 game set, with Milwaukee first. Milwaukee is right now 6-7 on the back of a very contact hitting offense and middle of the pack pitching, and Columbus is 5-7 riding good starting pitching.



Hamilton Silver Sox (8-4) VS Milwaukee Hurons (6-7)



Game 1
B.Blake (1-1, 8.44) vs. C.Frazier (2-0, 1.20)



Final Score: Silver Sox 2 - Hurons 4
W- C.Frazier (3-0)
L- B.Blake (1-2)
SV- J.Jones (5)
K.Glenn (MIL) 1-4 HR 2RBI
L.Rogalski (HAM) 2-4 RBI

Was a close game but two back to back innings with runs for the Hurons sealed our fate. Got to find a way to get some more offense against their pitching if we want even a chance to win a game in this series.


Game 2
T.Hulton (0-1, 14.73) vs. D.Aucoin (2-0, 5.52)


Final Score: Silver Sox 5 - Hurons 6
W- D.Aucoin (3-0)
L- T.Hulton (0-2)
J.Allen (MIL) 2-4 3RBI BB
B.Anderson (HAM) 2-5 2RBI
L.Rogalski (HAM) 1-4 HR 2RBI

When I said I wanted more offense, I didn't mean at the expense of our pitching. Hulton and Matt Thompson allowed 6 runs in 7 innings, and even Larry Stafford, who didn't give up any runs in 2 innings, couldn't keep us from losing this one.



Game 3
R.Leyva (1-1, 1.61) vs. H.Crosby (0-2, 4.82)


Final Score: Silver Sox 2 - Hurons 3
W- H.Crosby (1-2)
L- R.Leyva (1-2)
SV- J.Jones (6)
M.MacLagan (MIL) 2-5 1HR 2RBI
H.Jennings (HAM) 2-4 1RBI

A sweep at the hands of the Hurons sends us down to the basement of the division and to 1 game above .500. Leyva pitched well, but in these games, you really want a guy who can get outs by striking out guys and Leyva's 1 K isn't really going to cut it. I know it's early, but I'm starting to look for a potential SP with some raw stuff in exchange for one of our surplus outfielders.





Hamilton Silver Sox (8-7) vs. Columbus Lake Monsters (5-10)


Game 1
M.Richardson (3-0, 2.16) vs. J.Brown (1-2, 5.14)


Final Score: Silver Sox 4 - Lake Monsters 3 (13)
W- L.Stafford (2-0)
L- J.McCoy (0-3)
SV- M.Thompson (1)

No stars of the game for this one because of how weird it was. 0-0 going into the 13th inning and after 3 guys on our team reach on walks and errors, an error drives in 2 on a Charlie Banks pinch hit. Then another error drives in two more on a Brad Anderson grounder. They get out of the inning and load the bases also. A Bob Wilkerson pinch-hit double drives in all three, but he is thrown out trying to go for third. We then get the rest out to come out victorious in a wild game.


Game 2
S.Boyce (1-1, 3.86) vs. A.Carter (1-1, 2.96)


Final Score: Silver Sox 2 - Lake Monsters 6
W- A.Carter (2-1)
L- S.Boyce (1-2)
B.Rollin (COL) 3-3 3RBI
W.Minthorn (HAM) 1-4 HR RBI

Scott Boyce walking 6 and striking out 1 makes me think even more that the no-hitter was a complete fluke and not much else more. Only one player (Landon Rogalski, an unsung hero) had more than 1 hit today and combine that with the already mentioned sketchy pitching and you have yourself a recipe for defeat. We're falling toward that 77-85 finish projected for us, and it's not fun.


Game 3
B.Blake (1-2, 7.13) vs. A.Hill (0-2, 3.18)


Final Score: Silver Sox 1 - Lake Monsters 2
W- J.McCoy (1-3)
L- R.Henderson (0-1)
C.Banks (HAM) 1-2 RBI
M.Lewis (COL) 2-4 HR RBI

A walk-off inside the park home run in the bottom of the ninth to a guy described as OSA and my scout as slower than molasses leaves a bitter taste in the fans mouth and in mine. No hitting isn't going to get us anywhere, but know that I'm thinking of life in the cellar, I'm not that upset. Constant beatings, damp floors, crappy baseball. I can't wait! (SARCASM)

Game 4
T.Hulton (0-2, 6.97) vs. A.Callahan (1-1, 2.55)



Final Score: Silver Sox 6 - Lake Monsters 4
W- L.Stafford (3-0)
L- A.Callahan (1-2)
SV- R.Henderson (4)
D.Green (HAM) 1-1 HR 2RBI
S.Brastad (COL) 1-4 HR 4RBI

A good win with a 4 run 8th that took us the lead feels good after a week filled with disappointment. We finish the week 10-9, good for 4th in the division, behind Baltimore by 3 games, Jacksonville by 2 games, and Boston by 1/2, and ahead of Mississauga by 1/2 and Washington by 1/2 also. We have fallen to 10th in the weekly power rankings. If anybody's interested (Please be somebody out there caring enough to let me know they care about Hamilton and more importantly me), the team leaders are as followed:
BA- Hunter Jennings- .289
HR- Wayne Minthorn- 6
RBI- Wayne Minthorn- 16
ERA- Ryan Henderson- 0.46
W- Malcolm Richardson- 3
K's- Malcolm Richardson- 25

Out of the ML, We rank 4th in Runs Scored, 11th out of 12th in BA, 10th in OBP, 4th in HR, t-6th in SB, 7th in Runs Against, 9th in Starters ERA, 3rd in Bullpen ERA, and 2nd in defensive efficiency.

Other News
April 18th- The Toronto Curve and the Ottawa Magic close a deal, with the Curve trading 29-year-old RHP Matt Howell (1-2, 5.23 with TOR) in exchange for 30-year-old SS Dave Thistle (No stats prior to the trade) and 22 year old minor league CF Curt Graham (not rated to have any potential by my scout)
April 19th- The Philadelphia Sabercats trade 30-year-old 1B Randy McDonald (.333, 2HR, 7RBI, .385/.556/.940) and 21-year-old RF prospect Tim Baker (another Curt Graham) for 39-year-old CF Robert Galloway (.364, 0HR, 5RBI, .447/.485/.932 before the trade)
April 20th- Robert Green of the Montreal Mighty Bass throws a CG shutout against the San Francisco Reign, only allowing 6 hits and 1 BB.
April 24th- The players of the week are named and LF Max Henderson of the Missauga Avatars (.500, 0HR, 4RBI for the week) and HL Detroit LF Bob Shannon (.435, 3 HR, 5RBi for the week) go home with the awards for the week of April 16-24.

[Jacksono69]

In case you readers want stats. I created a google account to put these out because I couldn't find another way.https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1...y5U4U_Bqk/edit